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: 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.