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Nice offbeat game, with an uncommon ending. Scope for humour. Can be successfully completed without fighting.
Things I added/would like to see in future editions:
Character portraits for Edmund “Eddy” Irwing & William Andrews.
Handout: Obituary for Gregory Madson.
Handout: The folklore surrounding the Harbinger of Doom.
Setting: Middle America, around the historical advent of fast food; hence the location is somewhat flexible, the time period less so.
Pregenerated characters: (one star) Provided but not required.
Handouts: (three stars) Three, reasonable quality.
VTT assets: (three stars) Character portraits of two major NPCs (two others not provided), pictorial map of town.
Extras: (two stars) System for tracking horrific visions.
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This book is a grand tour to this interesting city in Tarsh. I am very glad the wonderful world of Glorantha expands to these new territories. Furthest has been made to look informative and beautiful with plenty of commisioned arts, but Simon has the advantage of being a master artist also himself. I liked a lot that this is not just a sourcebook, but also has a full scenario. It icludes plenty of stats, the minor cults and monsters, that make the book fun to use as a fully fleshed RQG book, that it is. Thank you Simon and friends for making this gem and keep these coming!
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I would not recommend it at all, at least not at full price. All characters you generate are the complete opposite to a classic call of Cthulhu investigator. 1 of 4 would be crazy or powerful sorcerers from the beginning.
I bought it expecting an interesting PC construction mechanic like traveller or mutant chronicles have, but this product try and fail to achieve that.
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Highly recommended one-shot.
Set in the early 80s, a period that some of us old farts actually grew up in, and hence can get quite nostalgic about.
The setting is a small rural US town, one with a terribile secret.
From a player point of view, there's a nice slow build-up as the normal gives way to the creepy and thence to the terrifying. The level of challenge seemed to be dead right for a Cthulhu adventure, we had two suriviors, one of whom then shot the other 'just in case'
For a GM, the adventure is clear. The structure is good, with more than one way to move things forwards at crucial points. There are a couple of very nice set-pieces to scare the bejeezus out of the players with and some great NPCs, from engaging to the sad and the loathesome.
I'm looking forward to seeing more by this promising author.
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It’s the first POD i read from jonstown and simply love it !
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Well-written and presented scenario with a hard-boiled noir vibe that has a refreshingly original take on The King In Yellow (no insanity-inducing theatre productions involved here!).
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Most adventures are straightforward affairs. Take your band of adventurers, perform some mighty deeds, solve some mysteries, explore some strange areas, and then go back home to popular acclaim. There's nothing wrong with that, and honestly, it might be what most people expect. However, on occasion, you stumble onto something weird and interesting.
Like the Crimson King.
On the surface, this is is a fun one-shot to play with people not too interested in rules, who likes freeform, and wants to have a bit of fun (beer and music optional). Maybe a cool break from your usual campaign, maybe a way to pull in a few new players who doesn't have to bother learning any complicated rules or take time to create characters. In other words, just a bit of fun.
That the "bit of fun" include six of the most powerful individuals in the Lunar Empire stuck at an awkward party, knee-deep in plots and secrets, is an added bonus. It might be a good way to humanize the opposition, to give people more insight into the people that run the world than a short GM exposition might supply. The "real world examples" of character tropes for the various people give even people who know very little about Glorantha an idea what that character is supposed to be like, so no studying needed for new players.
If you have players who likes to talk, interact, or make things up on the fly, this is a perfect adventure for them. If you don't, it might be scavenged for parts and ideas. Because the main draw for me didn't end up being what I thought I was getting into when I bought the book. It was what I found when I read it.
There are few adventures that plays with innovative structures and ideas, and even fewer that makes you feel that even if you never end up playing it, just studing the structure and ways to pull the players strings have leveled up your gamemastery. Such a wonderful little gem this is.
EDIT: I forgot about the Crimson Bat illustrations. I want to steal those and use for everything, or perhaps as a plushy. What a perfect little beast.
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I bought the Black Spear after hearing great things about it, even though my campaign is not set in 1625, Sartar, and has nothing to do with the Colymar. And oh boy, am I glad that I did. This adventure is grand and exciting, and truly weird and funny in places. It showcases Glorantha at its best (in my opinion), letting the characters walk the line between the realistic bronze-age world and the twisted weirdness where other realms leak through and gods, spirits and heroes act. If you have ever wondered how to handle accidental heroquests, or involve the more mythical aspects of Glorantha, this module is the place to go for inspiration. Even if you never play the entire quest, each episode can be mined for adventures and encounters usable for your own campaign. For me, personally, the scenes set in Sun County in 1625 was inspirational, and how Argrath was handled a revelation much in line with my own thinking.
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Buy it if you want to send your Sartarite players on an epic quest to Pavis, want to explore the nightmares of Argrath himself, find out what goes on in Sun County, or simply might wish to partake in a newtling spawning rave.
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Bonus point for being the downright best written RQ supplement I have read in ages, and a fun delight to read on its own. The gamemaster winks are another bonus point I ended up reading out loud to my partner.
- Another bonus point to the illustrations, as weird and irreverently evocative as anything I've seen in Glorantha. Some of the newtlings will haunt me forever...
A final comment: Whether you like the more "fourth wall breaking" parts of the story (mainly riffing on certain songs for villain speeches) or not, the author gracefully give you permission to disregard those and gives many other tips on how to adapt the adventure to suit your particular playing style. Me, while I love the Young Ones and Anarchy in the UK, I'm going to adjust those parts as I am gamemastering a bunch of metalheads who likes english humor and they'd pick up the references too easily and it might derail the table. My Glorantha varies in that regard...
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A well researched and atmospheric take on Romoanian folklore for a one shot event. Well written and I really enjoyed it.
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Had a great time playing this, really loved the character and the setting was great. Classic 80s horror movie kinda vibes. would recommend
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Wow, what an excellent, smart, detailed adventure. Apparently, the author does all of the art too. Wow, he is a talented artist. I got the Author's first title, On Air it was a shorter one shot but I thought it was brilliantly done. When I saw he put out a 2nd one I was hopeful. At the Gates of Carcosa lives up to the expectations he created with On Air. My party all agreed that when Chaosium releases any further Modules we are going to be sure to play through it. It is easy to tell after 2 of these the Author is detailed and has been running Cthulhu campaigns for a very long time.
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A decent and enjoyable intro scenario for CoC.
Pros: Well written, easy to follow storyline
Great introduction for new players
Doesn't try too hard to crowbar mythos into the plot
points
Cons: Jimmy
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とてもドラマティック・シネマティックで面白いシナリオでした。
章立ては7つに区切られていますが、身内では全4回のセッション(オフラインで各回6時間)で完走できました。
「女王たちの戦い」で女王カリルを失ったサーター・コリマー部族がシナリオの開始場所となり、竜王アーグラスに会うためにプラックス・パヴィスを目指します。
デフォルトでは戦闘場面は少なめのセッティングですが、暴力増々にするならば、という示唆も提示されています。
英語から日本語に翻訳する場合、著者の軽妙なノリを機械翻訳が上手く翻訳してくれなかったりするので、元ネタを理解するのに少々予備知識が必要となります。
かつて日本国内で翻訳出版された「サンカウンティ-太陽領-」や「ゆりかご河」が手元にある方ならば、その情報を活かして翻訳変換がスムーズにいくと思います。
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Awesome. So much detail. A great read even if one is not playing in Nochet yet. Plus new details of cults and backgrounds.
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Creator Reply: |
Thanks! Glad you're enjoying it! |
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Had lots of fun playing through with my friends, couple surprises and a nice amount of stuff to investigate. Got through it in 2 short sessions, about 5 hours total playtime and probably could have done some more if we had wanted. Got an ending we were happy with
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