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.
