TTRPG Thoughts: Call of Cthulhu 7e Starter Set

Like a great many people who witnessed WotC’s fall from grace in January of 2023, I was filled with a sudden curiosity to play new tabletop games. I had already been playing small indie games from itch.io such as Apothecaria and Ebb Tide, but those were all solo games; I wanted to bring something to my regular D&D players to tempt them away from WotC and broaden their horizons.

I got the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set in physical form for Christmas, and when it went on sale in PDF form I couldn’t exactly say no—so, my players and I migrated to Chaosium’s eldritch fields. We’ll probably finish up our Eberron campaign in D&D 5e before switching to Pathfinder 2e for good, but so far we’ve been enjoying our time in the 1920s with Chaosium.

This “review” is going to cover two Call of Cthulhu adventures from the Starter Set: Alone Against the Flames (a solo adventure) and Edge of Darkness (an adventure designed for 2-4 investigators/player characters and 1 Keeper/GM). I had a good time with both of the two adventures, but there were definitely some drawbacks.

TTRPG Thoughts: A Torch in the Dark

A Torch in the Dark is a solo TTRPG by Michael Elliott with a focus on fantasy dungeon crawling. One plays as a survivor of the Peoples’ Revolution, a person who is haunted by the ghost of the mother of that revolution as they attempt to silence the unquiet spirits of the slain nobility through a series of nine subterranean dungeons. The mechanics are described as a “stream-lined” version of John Harper’s Blades in the Dark, and are here optimized for a single player, GM-less experience. This game doesn’t have the journaling aspect that I’m often drawn to in solo TTRPGs, but since Elliott cites one of my favorite video games as inspiration (Darkest Dungeon by Red Hook Studios) I couldn’t not play it.

TTRPG Thoughts: The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe

The Lighthouse at the Edge of the Universe is a solo journaling TTRPG created by Ella Lim. The game was originally published in English, but German, Italian, and French translations have been added as well! And you know what makes me really happy? …A dyslexia-friendly version is already in the works! That’s so great! (If you’ve been following my reviews at all, y’all know that I am very keen on dyslexia-friendly game design).

TTRPG Thoughts: Ebb Tide

Ebb Tide is a solo journaling TTRPG by Stephen Kohler that uses the Wretched & Alone system inspired by the creations of Chris Bisette. In a nutshell, the game focuses on the single survivor of a shipwide massacre who finds themself in far too close of contact with the eldritch being that has awoken from its slumber and is rising from the ocean’s floor. There is no way forward but through one’s own madness, and very little hope of survival.

I made a mistake in choosing to start this game at two o’clock in the morning.

Learn to Play: Ironsworn (pt. 2)

Part One of this series was composed of me talking about Shawn Tomkin’s TTRPG, Ironsworn, in a general way, followed by a sample of solo play. I really enjoyed my time with Guðveig, the character I had developed for that sample, and wanted to return to her quest to rescue her family and avenge the destruction of the town where she lived. So, here’s Part Two!

Learn to Play: Ironsworn (pt. 1)

Ironsworn is a highly adaptable, dark fantasy TTRPG created by Shawn Tomkin. The PDF of the base game is free to download, although I did get the softcover editions of Ironsworn and Ironsworn: Delve from DriveThruRPG after realizing that my affinity for physical copies of my games was going to drive me to distraction if I didn’t. (There is also a sci-fi version of the game called Ironsworn: Starforged that had a successful Kickstarter campaign; the preorders will ship in November/December of 2022, and I’m very excited to hear what people say).

TTRPG Thoughts: Goblin Market

Goblin Market is a journaling RPG created by Eliot Silvarian. It requires no GM and can be played solo or (as Eliot recommends) with 1-4 players. This game was inspired by the poem of the same name by Christina Rossetti, as well as the creations of the early twentieth century British illustrator known as Arthur Rackham. I admit, I was initially attracted to this game because I saw the illustration on the cover of the PDF and thought, “Wait, is that Rackham?” and went in for a closer look. I was immediately hooked!

TTRPG Thoughts: Anamnesis

Anamnesis is a solo journaling game by Sam Leigh of Blinking Birch Games that uses the symbolism of a deck of Tarot cards to fill in the blanks of an amnesiac character’s missing memories, and to provide guidance for how they cope with their memory loss. It’s a highly introspective game that encourages reflection and contemplation.

TTRPG Thoughts: Her Odyssey

Her Odyssey is a solo journaling TTRPG that uses the Caltrop Core system developed by Titanomachy. The game was created by Kaiya and is free to download and play. In Her Odyssey, you play as a wanderer who is going on a journey—the wheres, whys, and hows of that journey are up to you—and whom you must flesh out into a unique character.

Apothecaria Playthrough 1

So, I mentioned in my post about Apothecaria that I was going to write out my first week of playing through the game, written as though in my character’s journal. I really enjoyed this as a writing exercise, since I haven’t done any story-form creative writing in… well, it feels like forever. I ended up writing 1,000-ish words on Day One of playing the game, and then slammed through another 3,000 words on Day Two to finish up my character’s first week as the witch of High Rannoc. I don’t think anyone is interested in reading about my character’s downtime activities in the village or initial investigation of the old witch’s cottage, so I chopped out those sections; what you’ll find under the cut is my character’s arrival in High Rannoc + their first foraging adventure.

Please enjoy your stay in my imagining of the world of Apothecaria!