Paul Fricker has excelled himself once again.  A brilliant ye olde 'Ripping Yarn', straight out of the pages of a pulp novel of it's time.  This adventure will have players on the edge of their seats/ hammocks as Paul Fricker successfully weaves and evokes a sense of dread as the story develops.  Paul has got some great writing pedigree behind him, (co-writing the 7e CoC rules with P Mason, helping create the new Masks of Nylarlathotep amongst others!).  I first encoutered Paul's work in what I would call his early signature work, which successfully blends popular culture and the Mythos: Dockside Dogs (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/102669/Dockside-Dogs-Call-of-Cthulhu).  This latest tale is in this tradition, since he is primarily blending themes from Moby Dick and Call of Cthulhu.  Another similarity is that both tales are tense affairs, with events and action flowing quickly to a brutal conclusion.  Paul knows how to keep players engaged, horrified and on edge!

Another key reason here as to why Paul is able to 'pull you in' to the story, and make you feel as if you are there, is his succinct, clear and well written prose, as well as his ability to immerse the players in the setting (mid-19th century whaling ship). Paul has clearly done his homework, and done some good quality historical as well as literary research, with the good use of Moby Dick, creating a rich storytelling backdrop.  Even a bit of Shakespeare is thrown into the mix.  At the same time, you the reader/ GM are not overloaded with details.  Paul provides just enough to create the sense of immersion/ depth without overloading you.  He gets the balance perfectly right.

Not only is this a fantastic and flavoursome one shot Cthulhu adventure, it has an amazing amount of GM aides to boot, including the ship's crew of over 20 pregens, so that PCs, as they are whittled down, have plenty of options to choose from; a crew roster page, with faces and names of all the PCs and NPCs; 2 plans of the ship for players, one a cross-section, one a top down map.  As well as having a portrait of each PC and NPC (hint: can this become the new normal Chaosium?), there is plenty of atmospheric art and some glorious full colour pieces.

5 tentacle/ elder signs from me. Thanks Paul for a fantastic adventure.  Can't wait to unleash this on my group.

Another excellent book from Arc Dream. Ivey and Stolze team up with the help of Detwiller's art, to throw players into different immersive environments. There are 3 initial scenarios starting with the infamous BLACKSAT. Surviving PCs then can be initiated into DG for scenario 4. Gripping, intense horror. Highly recommended! 5*

Excellent resource for Handlers. Either for giving players PCs in one shots all statted out or for important NPCs. An essential piece of labour saving kit! And at a bargain price! What's there not too like?

Love the adventure. Conjures up that pulp Swords and Sorcery vibe of Moorcock, Lieber and Howard amongst others. The art really helps too. Really enjoyed reading it and look forward to running it after the summer.

Shane Ivey is creating a unique setting which can be used/ cannibalised or discarded when using these modules. The Broken Empire setting which reminded me of the Elric! rpg and books. An evil empire which consorted with demons was overthrown…. 'civilisation' has imploded…. Creating a classic 'Points of Light' setting….. but with lots of nasty S&S adventuring sites laden with loot but full of peril.

Players are immediately thrown into the action. A storm hits their boat. When they get to the island, everything is very weird. Art very 1970s pulp S&S feel. The PCs delve into the temple in the rock…. Can they survive physically…. As well as spiritually?

Lover in the Ice is an awesome Delta Green scenario you can play with the basic rules in Need to Know and it's pregens.

It is a mature scenario (though it could be argued to be more teenage male in..... design!)......

Agents are plonked into an ice storm and have to secure a Green Box (secret storage facility) whose alarm has gone off in the storm.

It is very entertaining. There is a fantastic podcast of it online run by its creator Caleb Stokes. Well written. Sandbox in style but with a tight time line of events.

No city map is included. Google La Fontaine map and you should find one of Springfield altered to work.   You will need to work out where events happen.   The end part needs some fleshing out by the Keeper as well. Caleb has written a fantastic overview of events and problems. The Keeper needs to polish to taste. The podcast helped me a lot in this regard. I don't want to give away the story..... but certainly making sure the Keeper is conversant with the threat, it's strengths and weaknesses is essential.

Highly recommended. Read up on other advice online. I only had a 3 hour window to play this in. Thus we focused on the missing content from the Green Box. It was an intense and at times hilarious session!

Like the other DG scenarios, this is a dark tale of modern conspiracy horror. Likewise it is really well written and organised. This is probably a scenario for slightly experienced keepers. Whilst it's creator Shane Ivey has created various time lines in the scenario, the Keeper will need to create a master mind map & overall time line of events. It is an intense and intellectually challenging scenario.   Rewarding. Dark.

Yet again another unique exploration of the Mythos.. none of the all too familiar deep ones or other staple Mythos fare. Ivey et al are truly expert in bringing Lovecraftian horror alive in new, unique and challenging ways. In each scenario pcs are challenged to really think on their feet.

There are now approximately half a dozen Delta Green scenarios with more to come. Not only is the DG rule set the best on the market IMHO for Lovecraftian rpging, it is being brilliantly supported. Highly recommended!

I played this in the original playtest run by the author, Kelvin. Thus personal bias may creep into this brief review of the main game (I have not played the mini-games yet).

The main game is a fun murder-mystery story riffing off The Thing as a previous reviewer rightly said. See their review for details on the plot etc etc. All spot on. Although it was nearly 2 years since we played it - it was an interesting adventure with a variety of ways in which it could be solved.

It is lovely having the book. It is a high production OSR/ early WFRP feel / look product - one that would have set well in the days of Hogshead/ Green Ronin's publication schedule for example.

Kelvin has done an excellent job of creating a total art piece - the maps, graphics, art and text all sit well together and complement each other. The A5 format works very well too with the adventure - something that one could easily put into your cargo trousers/ coat pocket. Fading Suns - whilst looking totally different - was another game which comes to mind which had the same art/text synergy. Handy when the writer can draw and does the art. Too often art in rpg products is poor unless it is done by a major company.

Great example of how to create an rpg product. And a bargain at that!