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Tabletop Review: Achtung! Cthulhu Dossier: Tales From the Crucible (Call of Cthulhu/Savage Worlds)

Achtung! Cthulhu Dossier: Tales From the Crucible
Publisher: Modiphius
Cost: FREE
Page Count: 13
Release Date: 03/31/2014
Get it Here: DriveThruRPG.com

We all like free stuff, right? Well, Modiphius has given us our first free Acthung! Cthulhu supplement in Tales From the Crucible. This thirteen page PDF is fully compatible with the Savage Worlds version of the setting as well as the classic Call of Cthulhu game put out by Chaosium. In fact, you could use this PDF with ANY system you choose, as there are no mechanics to be had anywhere within its pages. In a way, the PDF is to sell you, the reader, on its core six characters that you’ll find throughout the Achtung! Cthulhu universe, the same way Paizo has its Pathfinder iconics or the characters that proliferate Fantasy Flight Games’ Cthulhu titles like Arkham Horror, Elder Sign and Eldritch Horror. These are the characters you see in art, short stories and (soon) miniature form. This PDF lets you know more about the reoccurring characters and aims to make you care more about them so that you continue to pick up the Acthung! Cthulhu products with a price tag attached to them (especially the upcoming Secret War campaign), so that you can thrill to their continuing adventures. In essence, Tales From the Crucible is an excellently done tease designed to hook you into wanting more.

The six characters profiled in Tales From the Crucible are:

  • Natalya Petrova – a Russian tank driver who appears to have picked up an otherworldly hitchhiker.

  • Professor Richard Deadman – the typical American Call of Cthulhu protagonist whose delving into things man was not meant to know has rewarded him with great knowledge, great magical ability… and little sanity.

  • Captain Eric “Badger” Harris – The commander of a unit within the secret British Intelligence organization known simply as Section M. He feels like a bit of a British Nick Fury. Of course, HIS commandos aren’t the howling type, literally or figuratively – YET.

  • Ariane Dubois – a beautiful and stealthy member of the French Resistance. One of the pictures in the PDF makes her look like Kitty Pryde with that dragon type thingy on her shoulder. Of course, this creature is not quite as benevolent as Lockheed, but at least it is on her side. (A bit sad that two of the four come off as VERY inspired by Marvel Comics characters.)

  • Corporal Akhee “The Eye” Singh – Although on the side of the Allies, Singh may be a bigger threat to his comrades than the Axis. As long as the eye on his pendant remains closed and his powers are kept in check (We don’t speak of “the Black Mist incident”), Singh is on the side of the angels.

  • Sergent Brandon Carter – An All-American army grunt who is never without an Elder Sign nor a SMG with a mind of its own.

    There isn’t a lot of content here, maybe a page or two on each character, but the snippets are well written and enough to make you want to learn more about each character so – mission accomplished. As a freebie teaser, Tales from the Crucible is a great peek at Achtung! Cthulhu and what it has to offer you as a gamer. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t pick this up. It is free, after all. Who knows? You might just find yourself deciding to pick up the Keeper or Investigator’s Guides after you’ve flipped through this.

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    One response to “Tabletop Review: Achtung! Cthulhu Dossier: Tales From the Crucible (Call of Cthulhu/Savage Worlds)”

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