The Dying of St. Margaret’s
Scenarios for Pelgrane Press’ clue orientated RPG of Lovecraftian investigative horror, Trail of Cthulhu, fall into two camps. The first is the Pulp style of play, where the player characters are tough and capable of facing a Mythos threat and withstanding its Sanity-blasting terror. Most Call of Cthulhu scenarios are like this, and to date so are the scenarios available for Trail of Cthulhu. The second is the Purist style of play, wherein the investigators are less capable of withstanding the horrors of the Mythos, and worse, rarely capable of fighting them off. This Purist style is the closest to Lovecraft’s own writings, and is the style employed by The Dying of St. Margaret’s. Only available as a PDF, this is a combat-free one-shot scenario set off the Scottish coast in 1934. Its investigators are amateur occultists, following in the footsteps of colleagues, together known as the “Seekers of Truth,” who disappeared while looking into a mystery near a remote island-set school. The focus of the scenario is almost entirely on each investigator’s Drive – that is, the aspect of his personality that pushes him to investigate the horrors of the Mythos. And in this case it is this very Drive that the horrors of the Mythos will confront in return…
The Dying of St. Margaret’s is written by Graham Walmsley, the author of Play Unsafe, a discourse on applying techniques learned in “Improv” or “Improvised Theatre” to better your role-playing. Certainly, this scenario feels as if it has been influenced by the author’s thoughts on role-playing, because of the way in which it focuses heavily on the investigators’ Drives and uses them to pull the investigators through the scenario. It does this by giving three scenes for each type of Drive in the game, covering any Drive that an investigator might have. The first scene illustrates the Drive, the second scene boosts the Drive as the investigator makes successful discoveries, whilst the last scene undermines the Drive in the scenario’s climatic confrontation with the Mythos. This is not the only factor that the author uses to pull the investigators through the increasing grey and dull world depicted in The Dying of St. Margaret’s, but it is the primary one. It is also a logical development and application of the Drive concept, and perfect for use in a one-shot or convention scenario. This is exactly what The Dying of St. Margaret’s is: a perfect one-shot or convention scenario. Well, not quite perfect, as the ending is very downbeat, but then that is also perfect. Perfectly Lovecraftian.
The author provides both a guideline to creating Purist investigators for the scenario (including a new Drive – Power, in which the character sees the Mythos as an incredible source of power and authority) and a set of five ready-to-play investigators that do three things. First, they support the author’s use of the Drives. Second, they tie in neatly with the “Seekers of Truth,” the occult group that has gone missing on St. Margaret’s. Third, they support the multiple avenues of investigation written into the scenario. These avenues are class-based (measured in game terms by an investigator’s Credit Rating value), not only highlighting the British class system of 1934, but also giving time for each investigator to shine as they pursue different lines of inquiry with the staff and servants at St. Margaret’s School, and with the local inhabitants of the island. This is just one more reason why The Dying of St. Margaret’s would make a good convention scenario.
Physically, The Dying of St. Margaret’s comes as 1.6 Mb PDF in two parts – the first its cover, and the second, the 28-page scenario itself. As with other Trail of Cthulhu titles, the scenario is illustrated by Jérôme Huguenin to great effect. The artist’s photo-montage style ably captures the gloom of the school and its environs.
If the scenario has a weakness, it is that it lacks a good overall introduction for the players. A more specific introduction is provided with each of the pre-generated investigators, but if the players are creating their own, the Keeper will have to work with them to tie into the scenario and the “Seekers of Truth.” The Keeper will also need to encourage players to create investigators with differing Credit Ratings and thus different social backgrounds, so enabling them to pursue the various avenues of investigation present in the scenario. Once the investigators reach the island of St. Margaret’s and begin working at the school, either as staff or servants, the Keeper is better supported. The various NPCs are nicely described, each accompanied by suggested means of portraying them, and the clues push the investigators through the grey and worn world of the school and its surrounds. Eventually the clues will lead them to the fate of the “Seekers of Truth,” and a horribly anti-climatic encounter with a Mythos entity. This will be a being familiar to regular players of Call of Cthulhu, but in keeping with Trail of Cthulhu, the author has rendered it “unknowable.”
Although The Dying of St. Margaret’s includes rules for running it in a Pulp style, these feel like an afterthought and very much at odds with the strengths of the scenario. These are its strong sense of deterioration and dilapidation, its unflinchingly grey mood, and the efforts made to draw the investigators into the fate of the “Seekers of Truth.” 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.
June 6th, 2009 at 16:38
Just purchased the PDF based on your review. Thanks!
June 9th, 2009 at 11:47
Thank you very much for letting us know. Feedback is always welcome.
If you do like the scenario, let the publisher know and tell them where you read the review.