A quote from Graham Walmsley's new adventure, Watchers in the Sky. I was concerned it might not be as bleak as The Dying of St Margaret's.
"The last clue is only available by dissecting Alice."
I needn't have worried.
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There is a review of the Esoterror Fact Book over on the Pelgrane Press forums.
I just didn't get what Esoterror was supposed to look like ... The Esoterror Factbook changed all that for me.
...
The part that really struck me was the section on the Special Suppression Forces. To be sure, all the crunchy combat rules you could possibly want are available here. The good news is, they stick to the theme of genre and narrative use, and do not take GUMSHOE too far down the wargame path. But here's the better part: embedded in this section, along with the sample adventure, is a thinking man's wargame. Mr. Laws has managed to show how the GUMSHOE paradigms of resource management and clue finding can be used in a tactical combat environment. Now, taking down the bad guys guns blazing is more about managing your pools, and using your noggin to get the best advantage.
And one by Pookie on
Game Cryer for Trail of Cthulhu supplement, The Dying of St Margaret's:
There is something awful about the Purist nature of The Dying of St. Margaret’s, but a stark beauty too, one that exemplifies Lovecraftian horror’s uncaring nature.
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I'm pleased to report that two Pelgrane releases made it on to the RPG Countdown top ten list. These were XPS 7/8 - Tooth, Talon and Pinion for the Dying Earth and The Dying of St Margaret's for Trail of Cthulhu. Listen here. In it, Graham Walmsley comes up with a good working definition for a Purist adventure. If you do use a gun, it will only be to shoot yourself!
Trail of Cthulhu has been nominated for an Origins Award. Let us say that we are up against somewhat stiff competition (D&D 4e and Star Wars Saga), so we won't win. Still, it's good to be nominated - that gets us more metaphorical silver for the cabinet. The excellent Mouseguard from Archaia Studios Press by Luke Crane and David Petersen also has a nod.
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Dan Harms has written a review of DoSM, here.
...this is a chilling scenario epitomizing Lovecraft’s cosmic horror. It not only recommends itself to Trail of Cthulhu purist players, but it’s also an excellent resource for Call of Cthulhu players who want more cosmic horror in their games.
Also, Graham and I were also rather chuffed to note this comment from Dr_Locrian on the yog-sothoth forum:
The Dying of St. Margaret's is an awesome scenario, all kinds of win! I just love the story, it feels like an old school Val Lewton production (is it a leftover from Shadows Over Filmland?). I'm tempted to contact the writer so I can write a screenplay adaptation!
I think it also has what I would consider the Platonic ideal for Trail of Cthulhu scenario writing format: a non-linear collection of scenes and clues and multiple ways of obtaining information listed. Also liked the hints on how to roleplay the key NPC's.
Bravos all around!
Finally, Indie Pete reviewed it on
RPGnow.com. Watch out for the very early spoiler.
"The Dying Of St Margaret’s" is a professionally presented and evocative Mythos scenario in the Purist vein...Cheerful stuff, presented in a no-nonsense fashion... this is great, more scenarios and RPG-writing should be so direct.
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