Tommy's Take on Achtung! Cthulhu - Zero Point Pt. 2: Heroes of the Sea

Previously, I reviewed Three Kings, the first Achtung! Cthulhu adventure. Now, it is time to take a look at the second adventure (Heroes of the Sea), in the wake of the new Achtung! Cthulhu Kickstarter, which is hoping to turn Achtung! Cthulhu from a series of adventures into a full-fledged setting. As with the last review, this review focuses exclusively on the Savage Worlds version.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: While the Achtung! Cthulhu adventures are also available in Call of Cthulhu and PDQ, I’m way more familiar with (and interested in) Savage Worlds, and so I’m focusing on that. The PDF is 63 pages at $14.99, and is meant to be ran after Three Kings, though it can also be ran completely standalone. As with Three Kings, you will want a copy of the Savage Worlds rules and Realms of Cthulhu.

As always, I will try to run light on spoilers, but that does get difficult, so be aware.

After the events of Three Kings, an undercover agent has gone missing shortly after uncovering a secret German project. It is up to the PCs to move in and try to figure out what has happened. If you think this is a cut and dried investigation, however, you clearly are not paying attention.

So now it’s 1940, the Allies are retreating from the Germans so they aren’t driven into the sea, and the PCs are having to find a missing intelligence agent in the embattled Dunkirk region. The opening of the adventure is a chaotic affair filled with all kinds of random encounters, including an encounter chart with options like booby traps, troops on sinking ships, dive bombers, criminal activity and more.

There are five “episodes” to the adventure, but the adventure professes that the “how” and “when” of each encounter is up to the PCs. Realistically, I don’t see a TON of variance in how the first couple of chapters play out, but I could be wrong.

The PCs should find the agent pretty early, though she is quite incapacitated. There are a couple of handy crazed notes that can be passed out to the PCs that ominously warn of things to come.

From there it does get a bit free flowing. There is potential for the PCs to travel into another dimension, where they can force an early encounter with the villain of the adventure, as well as catch a sneak peek at what the Nazis are up to. The grand finale is an epic confrontation in a raging storm while Allied Forces are retreating to boats en masse, only to face the end result of the Nazi plan (and fans of the Mythos probably have some idea what is coming). There are three likely outcomes included, one of which is a colossal failure for the PCs, one of which is a straight up victory, and one of which is very, very poetic.

When the smoke clears, there’s enough questions about what the Nazis are into, leading to the formation of a new branch of British intelligence designed to deal with just these things.

Four pregenerated characters are included, though ranks/XP aren’t listed. The Rules appendix adds a new skill that everyone gets at d4 (Dreaming), as well as a number of new Powers, many of which are utilized by the villains. For instance, Mindblast forces the target to roll a Guts check against the spellcasting roll or take 2d6 Mental Anguish AND suffer temporary insanity. Finally, rules are provided for trying to slip through a full on firefight.

Other appendices include new monsters and relevant vehicle stats for the adventure.

Several printable handouts are included, which can be used to give the scenario that extra punch.

An ad for Zero Point: Code of Honour, set in Constantinople, drops hints at the future of the campaign, as well as an ad plugging Weird War II, which has material that could be useful in a campaign like this.

The adventure does include a pair of alternate openings to the adventure, one of which casts the group as academics (archaelogists) whose explorations lead to them stumbling across the Nazi plot, and a second (very interesting) one, which features the PCs as German agents at odds with the SS!

WHAT WORKS: The adventure really is very flexible after the opening chapter or two, something I always appreciate. The gradual reveal of the Lovecraftian elements in the campaign continues and it’s a good thing. The alternate openings are also nice, if you don’t want to go the British Intelligence route and/or you want to skip Three Kings. The production values generally look fantastic. Nice ending, setting up the next adventure.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: A lot of material is repeated in the book, especially the handouts, which are included at the relevant parts of the adventure as well as one of the appendices. Organization didn’t feel quite as tight in this book as it did in the last adventure, though I couldn’t tell for sure if that was layout or writing.

CONCLUSION: Another very good entry in the Zero Point series, continuing the theme of Nazi occultism in World War II/Mythos influence while still feeling very different from the previous adventure. I also deeply appreciate that while the author has things that they assume will happen, notes are provided to help the GM along if the PCs go “off script” (like if they successfully take on the Big Bad of the adventure in Episode 3, or even if they completely skip Episode 3 altogether). Some organizational issues hamper the overall product, in my view, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons, with some nice new rules, cool powers and a fairly open adventure for your money.

Tommy's Take on Achtung! Cthulhu - Zero Point Pt. 1: Three Kings

Achtung! Cthulhu is a new setting for multiple systems, including Savage Worlds, Trail of Cthulhu and Call of Cthulhu. This review, and likely all future reviews, will focus entirely on the Savage Worlds versions. Achtung! Cthulhu is a melding of Mythos and World War II, and Three Kings is the first part of the first campaign for the setting, called Zero Point.

WARNING!

SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW!

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: For maximum effect, you will need Realms of Cthulhu by Reality Blurs and a copy of the Savage Worlds rules. The PDF, by Modiphius, is $9.99 for 42 pages (a print compilation is promised when the campaign is complete), kicking off the wartime campaign. The book is very nice, having a layout that evokes an “old book” feel, with notes attached to the pages and handwritten bits in the margins.

The adventure is set in Czechoslovakia in 1939, and the PCs are assumed to be special operatives being dropped into the region to link up with the leaders of the underground resistance movement known as The Three Kings.

The book is split into Episodes, with the first featuring multiple options for getting the PCs into the region. The first option assumes the British Special Ops backstory and has the team parachuting in. A second option has the team slipping into the country as spies, while yet a third option is presented with the PCs being academics at the University of Prague, hearing rumblings of unnatural things occurring at Castle Karlstein.

Episode 2 provides us with a very nice map of the region, and hinges on the PCs making contact with the resistance. The PCs also gain the opportunity to pick up some rumors that hint at the true nature of the adventure here. Two sidebars are provided here, on regarding the efforts of the resistance agent known as Codename ANGEL, and the second covering the horrifying options if a PC is captured: Suicide by cyanide, or torture at the hands of the Nazis.

Episode 3 gives the PCs the chance to meet up not only with the Three Kings, but also Codename ANGEL, where the PCs can join Codename ANGEL’s rescue mission.

Episode 4 is the assault on Castle Karlstein, and it may shock you to discover that it is NOT a standard Nazi operation at work here. Doktor Von Hammerstein is hard at work on an army of supersoldiers, and he’s using the occult to do it. This is played open-ended, with the layout of the castle and its defenses provided, and the approach and attack up to the PCs. And there’s a stunning twist that can make the whole situation worse…and downright nightmarish.

Episode 5 is the (optional) resolution, with the PCs hopefully extracting themselves from the situation. A sidebar also points out the elements from here that are meant to play a larger role in the Zero Point campaign.

Stat blocks are provided for NPCs (two major NPCs are covered in the adventure itself when they first appear), and rules work was credited to Dave Blewer, meaning they should be in capable hands. Four pregenerated PCs are also provided, along with standardized equipment lists.

A second appendix covers rules for Parachuting, guards being on alert, Half-Track vehicles as well as torture and interrogation.

The book ends with some swell handouts you can print and give to your players, plus a blurb for Heroes of the Sea, the second adventure in the series.

WHAT WORKS: The production values look great. The writing on the adventure is loose enough that if the PCs take an alternate approach to something, you aren’t scrambling to figure out how to make it all fit. Some potentially unnerving twists, especially if your PCs aren’t aware it’s a horror adventure.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: Realms of Cthulhu plus Savage Worlds plus this volume is a steeper than normal buy in. That said, you can get Realms and Three Kings in a bundle for $15, which is a pretty great deal. Having the new rules material printed within the adventures as well as in an appendix seems a tad wasteful.

CONCLUSION: Very promising start to the campaign. I believe this is their first product for Savage Worlds, but they got a Savage Worlds guy that knows his stuff. I would love to run this for a group that’s not aware we’re doing a horror adventure. Being American, I would have also preferred an opening for American Investigators (military or not), but that’s easy enough to remedy. I’m far from a World War II or Mythos enthusiast, but I know what I like, and this is a really nice addition to the Savage Worlds ranks.

Tommy's Take on Panzer-Ritter, Werewolves & Stormtroopers

DER PANZER-RITTER

This ICONS BattleScene isn't the first encounter with a giant robot, but this one is markedly different than the previous one, a Japanese Robot in Operation: Bookbinder. In this one, Der Panzer-Ritter is a fusion of magic and technology, powered by a combination of German scientists and Thule wizards.

In fact, this one has an interesting extra option that can be unleashed if the fight with the Panzer-Ritter goes too easily, as the robot's very power source can prove to be hazardous to the PCs.

This one feels incredibly "to the point", and a bit lighter than some of the other Battlescenes, but is also a very nice twist on a similar encounter that has already been used.

THE WEREWOLVES OF THE GESTAPO

Again, we keep the focus on the Germans, this time with their lycanthrope stormtroopers.

Like the previous WWII adventures, it is assumed that you are using Vigilance Force, The People's Revolution or The Crown Guard, though you can make your own characters for it. There are two separate "set-ups" provided, with one being for the Russians and the other being for either Americans or British.

In either case, it is an extraction scenario, requiring that you deal with the werewolf gestapo (as the name implies), with the actual target changing based off of your "home" faction.

While none of the Battlescenes are meant to be in-depth (they are, in fact, meant to be combat set pieces), this one does have a little more potential for variation in the outcome of events, with the PCs approach possibly altering the number of soldiers - werewolf or otherwise - that they have to deal with, as well as potentially taking it from an extraction scenario into a chase scenario.

Provided are stats for werewolves, Silver Warwolves and Psychic Agents of the Nazi Occult Bureau, which can easily be lifted for your own scenarios. A very nice addition to the line-up.

STORMTROOPERS OF THE DEEP

This scenario puts the PCs out to see, guarding a mysterious package on a convoy, amid the news that the Nazis have another new trick up their sleeve, some kind of aquatic attack force. Though it is only mentioned as a possibility, if you're running the scenario, the PCs will encounter the new bad guys.

This Battlescene entry is pretty robust, providing a new heroic NPC as well as a few new NPC statblocks. The scenario is easily expanded to switch from merely having the PCs hold off the convoy attack, to allowing the PCs to find the undersea base that the Nazis have launched from and try to take it out.

Plenty of bang for your - literal - buck with this one as Vigilance Press continues to impress with their WWII entries for ICONS.

Tommy's Take on The Ice Palace

The Ice Palace, like previous ICONS adventures by Vigilance Press, assumes that you are playing in World War II, as Allied heroes. In fact, any of the previous team books can be used with no adjustments at all, both as PCs and NPCs.

The product is very light on art, which translates into being a lot of text crammed into the $2 package.

To be safe, there are spoilers after the jump:

Tommy's Take on Undead Stormtroopers, Dark Elves, People's Revolution

BATTLESCENES: THE UNDEAD STORMTROOPERS OF GRUNWALD

This is, apparently, the first in a series of "drop in and go" mini adventures, brought to you by Vigilance Press, who are offering up much awesomeness in their line of WWII PDFs.







***SPOILER WARNING***




Set in the waning months of the war, it is a last-ditch effort by the Nazis to bolster their numbers through the use of necromancy, raising the dead to become their new wave of soldiers. The main problem being that the dead hate the living.

Oops.

This is mitigated by mind control helmets on the commanding officers, which work so long as nothing removes the helmet.

The scenario is played very loosely, setting up the situation, and dropping the PCs into it (the Allies have figured out that the Nazis are up to something at Castle Grunwald, and arrive to see zombie being pumped out en masse)...from there, the whole thing is left very open. The castle and its guards are described (such as the troopers on jetpacks in the air), with the PCs getting to handle it however they see fit.

Important details are listed, along with two Optional Details (one involving a mystical artifact and the other allowing for an explosive conclusion to the Battlescene), and none of them contradict the rest, so they can all be used together.

Additionally, a couple of plot twists are provided, in case the GM feels like everything is going too smoothly.

Two pages of stats are included, for the various zombies, as well as the sorcerers powering the machine, and an optional megazombie foe.

It is not a complicated scenario, at all...but it is not meant to be. For $1, you get a few stat blocks, as well as an encounter that could take up an entire short session, depending on how it plays out. Combined with the PC teams provided in the other PDFs in the series, it could make for a great ICONS demo, or just a cool diversion in your game.

Honestly, you could even use it outside of the WWII timeline just by twisting things a bit, and maybe having the man responsible be Count Fenrise (see Eugenics Brigade) having survived the end of the war and hoping to cause the Nazis to rise once more (this time from the dead). Definitely buy it if you're digging the other PDFs in this series, it's well worth your dollar.

MONSTER BRIEF: DARK ELVES

Meant to go hand-in-hand with Player Races: Dark Elves, this Monster Brief provides some variations on Dark Elves, to be used as monsters and adversaries.

Two Edges and two Hindrances are included, though Poison Resistance and Obligation are reprinted from Player Races: Dark Elves.

The first variation present is the "Dark Elf Arachni", which are pretty much Driders (dark elves morphed into half-spiders), but this thing is freaking scary. A single arachni is absolutely dangerous both up close and at a distance, from throwing weapons to using crossbows to casting spells AND having a poisonous bite.

Honestly, I don't remember Driders being that scary.

Deepstalkers are Dark Elf assassins who are all part of a cult, said to worship something other than what Dark Elves worship. In addition to being specialized sneaky assassins, they also have access to miracles.

Dark Elf Painlords are dark elves who are also masters of torture, knowing how to strike in order to inflict the most pain in combat.

Next are the Dark Elf Priestess and High Priestess, who occupy the same real estate, just one is higher up the food chain than the other. Fit, capable combatants, they are also blessed with Miracles and more than a few Power Points.

Finally, we have the Dark Elf Warlock, which is really as close to magic power as most male Dark Elves get, and that tends to pale next to the Priestesses.

A very good listing of Dark Elf variations, hitting all of the common ones, as well as a new one in the Pain Lord. Very highly recommended if you run Savage Worlds and like your dark elves.

THE PEOPLE'S REVOLUTION

We have had the Americans, The Germans, The British and the Japanese...and now, we get the Russians.

This is an interesting product, as it can be used as a group of heroes in World War II, or a group of Villains in a Cold War era...and, either way, doesn't "officially" exist in the Vigilance Press chronology.

Up first is Red Hammer, a Russian supersoldier who essentially becomes kind of a Captain America/Superman to them. He is said to be immune to aging, which isn't mechanically represented anywhere in his stats. I think I understand why, as - aside from Immortality - there IS no "immune to Aging" power...though I think I might would have added Immunity with a new specification (since Immortality would mean he can't be killed, period). As it is, the only thing he has on his sheet that backs it up is Regeneration.

Night Witch is a female Russian pilot with control over electricity.

Ice Fang is a werewolf and soldier, who defends Russia but refuses to make an army of werewolves for them.

Trans-Siberian Express is Ice Fang's closest ally, a superspeedster. The two of them commonly coordinate together on ambushes.

The Red Legionnaire is kinda like what would happen if the Green Lantern ring fell in Russia.

Battle Czar really is kind of a Superman type for the People's Revolution, and is bitter that Red Hammer has assumed control of the team. This leads to potential internal conflicts because of the two.

Sovi-ape was Stalin's one successful attempt at cross-species Eugenics, a simian genius who feels alone in the world.

Revolutionary Fire, as the name sounds, controls flames, but he was also the cheerleader of the team, keeping morale up.

Killer Whale is an outcast from Oceana and a bitter rival of Swordfish of the Crown Guard.

Also included are the necessary rules for using them as a PC team, per the ICONS team rules.

Every character has art, with most of it being provided by Dan Houser and the rest by Jon Gibbons and Darren Calvert. It is a noticeable clash of styles again, but it's still awesome to see every character depicted. Personally, I didn't find the characters to be quite as inspired as in previous supplements, but the usability as heroes or villain, depending on the era, is tremendous. All in all, it's probably my least favorite entry in the line-up (especially among the villain teams), but that has as much to do with how high the bar has been set as anything...if you've enjoyed the series so far, no reason to stop now.

Tommy's Take on Vigilance Force, Eugenics Brigade and Crown Guard

VIGILANCE FORCE: HEROES OF WWII

Vigilance Force: Heroes of WWII is the first supplement for ICONS by Vigilance Press.

Here's the thing about ICONS: I want to like it, I really do. The whole package looks very charming. The Marvel FASERIP influence is great. The writing is just...I feel like too much got glossed over with a "Hey, if you don't like a rule, change it, champ!" approach. And in actual play, I didn't really feel like it held up.

Why am I saying all of this? Because there is some cool third party stuff coming out for ICONS, like ION Guard. Vigilance Force is the first book establishing a World War II setting for ICONS, and it is not all happy, Silver Age fun like the ICONS core leans towards. Instead, it comes across fairly hard nosed, with some very lovely, gritty art by Jon Gibbons (supplemented by art by Dan Houser which is nice, but a sharp contrast).

For $2, you get 14 pages of setting and superheroes, designed to be used as PCs for a WWII game. They do provide the Team Qualities, Challenges and Resources for those who wish to use the team rules in the ICONS rulebook.

There are some very cool characters here, my favorite being Freight Train, a super speed brick (not a combo you usually see outside of Superman). Agent Liberator is a lot like an amalgam of Captain America and The Comedian (from the Watchman) and Marauder sure seems heavily inspired by (though far from ripped off of, don't get me wrong) Wolverine.

In fact, there are very cool influences all over Vigilance Force that are nice homages and not just "serial numbers filed off".

The downsides? Unless I am just missing it, Captain Miracle has no backstory. Dan Houser contributes one piece, and it's fine, but it sticks out like a sore thumb next to Jon Gibbons. Not calling either style better than the other, just saying they clash...bad. I would have liked individual pics, instead of trying to figure out who was who in the group shot, personally. Finally, I don't run games with pregens, so for a guy like me, a team of superHEROES isn't incredibly useful. Not useLESS, just not the most useful. That said, for $2, there is some great inspiration in here.

I'd jump all over a BASH version, personally.

THE EUGENICS BRIGADE: VILLAINS OF WWII

The Eugenics Brigade are the counter balance to the Vigilance Force. In fact, they are the reason Vigilance Force was formed, and they are far more useful because villains tend to be far more useful for a GM than heroes do.

One of my gripes from Vigilance Force is present here as well, as several characters don't get any art, though there seems to be more individual art here than there was in Vigilance Force.

The first villain we get is a scantily-clad, nazi slutbomb stereotype (though she is a ballerina and not a dominatrix) named Charismatic, and thankfully she gets a picture. She has a twin sister with Luck Control powers to complete the ensemble.

Fireproof is the Nazi answer to the fiery hero Old Glory, and War Hound plays the Sabretooth to Marauder's Wolverine.

The two that impress me the most are Uberkrieger and Ubermensch, the Super Soldier and the Super Man. Underkrieger is just UGLY, with a large rifle and metallic jaws, while Ubermensch is, thankfully, not nearly as versatile as the real Superman.

There are other villains, as well as some cannon fodder such as soldiers in jetpacks, mystics and the rejects from the Eugenics program.

For $2 this offers much more bang for its back than its predecessor, due to villains simply being more useful, as noted above. Definite recommendation.

THE CROWN GUARD: HIS MAJESTY'S HEROES OF WWII

The latest in the ICONS WWII releases by Vigilance Press, The Crown Guard were the British super team that was fighting WWII before the US got involved, fending off the Eugenics Brigade.

Despite being outgunned and outmanned, the Crown Guard managed to keep Winston Churchill alive and convinced the Eugenics Brigade that they were better off attacking Russia than England.

As with Vigilance Force, this is a collection of heroes, so there is probably less utility for the average purchaser than there is with, say, a villain collection.

The PDF does include the necessary Team rules to fit the ICONS Team rules, if you wanted to run a Crown Guard game.

We get Big Ben, the prototypical giant brick.

Espirit is a French agent with phasing and invisibility, hence the name. Reminds me a lot of a random character I generated back for Marvel FASERIP who was ALSO a spy, and also had Mind Control...so I have a certain fondness for the character type.

Excalibur actually carries Excalibur, as well as a couple of other artifacts, making him a tough customer.

Grizzly is an animalistic Canadian hero, who seems a bit like a Wolverine riff taken the opposite direction from Marauder in Vigilance Force.

Illustrious is a bit of an enigma...a compulsive liar with amazing luck and an assumed name.

Ironclad is a living machine, the greatest creation of a dying scientist.

Repulse is The Crown Guard's Master of Magnetism.

Swordfish is the setting's answer to Namor/Aquaman.

Armorer is a supergenius inventor, trying to liberate his native Poland.

And last is John Bull, the only "successful" attempt at recreating the Nazi supersoldier project...leaving him with the appearance of a minotaur.

Again, like with Vigilance Force, there are a lot of obvious homages, but nothing I would call overtly ripped off. Even Swordfish feels like his own man and not like either Namor or Aquaman specifically.

There's the odd piece of art, but there is a big, group picture that you can use to suss out just who is who in the group. It's a good product in a good line...if World War II in ICONS interests you, then I recommend picking it up.