Age of Cthulhu: Death in Luxor
Age of Cthulhu: Death in Luxor is the first Call of Cthulhu release from Goodman Games. This worthy addition marks Goodman Games’ membership amongst a growing list of licensees for Chaosium’s classic and highly regarded roleplaying game of Lovecraftian Horror. Penned by Harley Stroh, it is set in Egypt in the mid-1920s during the game’s classic period. It is designed for a small group of relatively experienced investigators who between them should have some archaeological and Egyptological experience or knowledge. Playable in an evening or two, Death in Luxor can be used to kick-start a campaign, but is better suited as an addition to existing campaign, perhaps even one of the classics such as The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep or The Day of the Beast.
Death in Luxor shines in its strong plot and background that nicely blends Mythos elements with events from Egypt’s ancient past. Visually it is supported with some nice handouts and maps by artists Tom Martin and Brad McDevitt, whilst the writing remains clear throughout barring the occasional highly wrought flourish. Still, it is all too obvious that this is Goodman Games’ first Call of Cthulhu scenario because Death in Luxor lacks the historical background and detail and those all too important Sanity losses and rewards that underpin any Call of Cthulhu game. Sadly, the effect of this is to leave too many of the little things for the Keeper to fill in or make up on the spot, which may be a problem for someone new to the game. More than likely, this will not be a problem for the experienced Call of Cthulhu Keeper though, who should be able to take Death in Luxor’s strong plot and turn it into a good game.
As its title suggests, Death in Luxor is a scenario set in Egypt, specifically the city of Luxor on the River Nile. Since it takes place in 1926, during Call of Cthulhu’s Classic Period, it is impossible for a group of investigators to be flown there from over the “Pond.” After all, Alcock and Brown only made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in 1919 and it would not be until May,1927 that Charles Lindbergh would make his historic solo flight across the Atlantic. There were other crossings in between, but commercial transatlantic travel, mostly via Zeppelins would not begin until the 1930s (and would end soon enough) and transatlantic travel by aeroplane would not begin until after World War II. Unfortunately, this historical inaccuracy — which could easily been altered with a modicum of research — appears in the scenario’s introduction and is only the first of the problems in Death in Luxor, but I shall return to the others a little later.
What brings the investigators to Luxor in 1926 (or is it 1927 as on the given map of the city?) is a telegram from Professor Aaron Bollacher, the head of the Oriental Institute based in Luxor and established by the University of Chicago in 1924. Known to them as an acquaintance, colleague, or teacher, the Professor states that he has discovered a new crypt at Medinet Habu, the Mortuary Temple of Ramesses III (something that I had to look up on-line because the scenario lacks this sort of background detail), with clues that could reveal how the Pharaoh was able to defeat the Sea Peoples. Because of this discovery, Bollacher demands that they join him in Egypt.
The investigators arrive at Luxor’s “airstrip” in midst of a storm and for the remainder of the investigation the rain does not let up. Right from the outset, the situation does not look good for the investigators with the police on the airstrip ready to turn them back. Once the investigators do reach the headquarters of the Oriental Institute, known as Chicago House, events take a definite turn for the worse. Inside they discover a bloodbath, the building ransacked, and Professor Bollacher dead by his own hand.
The investigators need to find out what happened at Chicago House before they become suspects themselves. Could the reason behind the massacre be connected with the Professor’s archaeological researches? Quickly, the investigators discover there are other agencies with an interest in these researches and the scenario becomes a three-horse race between the investigators, the cultists and a set of occultists, to get to the site of an ancient evil before it can be released.
The scenario only has five or six locations and scenes, and in the main, places an emphasis upon interaction and roleplaying over guns and fists. Very little research is involved though, and this may disappoint some players, though there are clues and handouts aplenty to interpret. The interaction scenes are nicely handled and described, so it is a pity that some of the NPCs involved are just thrown away close to the scenario’s climax. The latter is definitely action orientated and potentially fatal to one of the investigators. This comes after a couple of nasty scenes, one of which will have the investigators scrabbling to get out of a locked building! It is also a pity that one of the protagonists shares the same surname as that of the famous expedition from Masks of Nyarlathotep.
Five pre-generated investigators are provided, but to a man and a woman alike, they are turgid, lifeless affairs lacking in either flavour or anything approaching historicity. The quintet favours a pulp style of play, indicated by extraordinarily high Dodge and weapons skills (amongst others), but this style of play is not supported by the scenario itself. Similarly, if the author suggests that the scenario be best played with key skills, why not ensure that the pre-generated investigators have all of those skills between them? I can only suggest that the Keeper dump them immediately and create his own, or if he is desperate, send me an e-mail and I can create a superior five upon request.
Further, Death in Luxor definitely needs another proofread and edit. For example, archaeology is spelt “archeology” almost the whole way through, which is absurd given the scenario’s archaeological underpinnings. Why is a bar owner storing “bichor” — either a small town in India or a type of fish — in his storeroom? Why is a Persian cultist writing in English? Where is the map of the dig site? Why is one location described as having three stories, but only two are actually described? Which begs the question, where do the current occupants of the building sleep when they are holding the investigators prisoners? Also missing is an illustration of the scenario’s Mcguffin, an idol that the various parties are trying to acquire.
On the plus side, the maps are decent, although there should have been more of them, and the artwork is reasonable too. The handouts are also nicely done and the players should enjoy analysing them. The writing itself occasionally strays into the florid, and it does leave some elements completely unexplained. Why frogs?
Unfortunately, Death in Luxor also is missing two elements vital to a Call of Cthulhu scenario. Most disturbingly, it lacks the Sanity losses for many of the events, which are necessary because there are some quite shockingly bloody instances. This forces the Keeper to create them ahead of time or make them up as he goes. Similarly, no Sanity reward is given for successfully concluding the scenario, just as it never really addresses what will happen if the investigators fail. Also, why are so few of the NPCs actually given their full stats? For example, every Deep One is given its full stats, but almost everyone else is not.
Worse still, for a scenario set in a foreign country, there is absolutely no background given on either Egypt or the city of Luxor itself, which reduces the usefulness of Death in Luxor once played to nil. Nor is there background on the cult or the occultists involved in the scenario. And what, exactly, is the Egyptian language? Does the author mean Arabic? Or ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics? Also what languages do the NPCs actually speak?
Ultimately, Death in Luxor feels as though the publisher decided to write a Call of Cthulhu scenario after never having read one before and gave the project to an author who had never read one either. It does not feel as if it has been under-researched, it actually is under-researched, and this really, really shows. This is unfortunate, because underneath the scenario’s flaws and omissions, there is a decent enough plot, but Goodman Games hides it by getting so many of the small things wrong. In every case I am nitpicking, but I am not nitpicking once, I am nitpicking more than twenty bloody times. For more than twenty bloody reasons. If only Goodman Games had shown Death in Luxor to someone with more experience with Call of Cthulhu, then these faults could have been corrected and the scenario would have been a fine start to the publisher’s planned series.
For anyone new to Call of Cthulhu, this scenario could be an off-putting introduction, and that is a shame. For the experienced Keeper, Death in Luxor demands more work and it should to be easily run.
January 11th, 2009 at 02:57
Thanks for the thorough review. Would you be interested in getting a preview of the next Age of Cthulhu adventure? While I disagree with some of your points, I think the next adventure might benefit from your review.
September 7th, 2009 at 04:14
[...] Cthulhu, the RPG of Lovecraftian horror published by Chaosium, Inc. It follows the first scenario, Death in Luxor, set in the same shared world of the late 1920s. Possessing the same high production standards, [...]