Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla The Tabletop Roleplaying Game Review

I finally got around to running Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla, a Savage Worlds tabletop roleplaying game from Ravendesk Games and Action Lab Comics, and I really like the game. I would say this is pulp style of Cthulhu but honestly it all depends on your GM style. You could easily run this game in a pulp fashion or a hardcore Lovecraftian Cthulhu style. I had loads of fun running an adventure over the last two weekends even though there were some flaws that I should have anticipated before running it. I think the game I ran started out as a pulp version but by the time we got to the last scene it was more reminiscent of a Cthulhu game where 2 of the 3 player characters died and the last ran away in babbling frenzy of fear. MUWAHAHA!

This 180 page book contains the typical character creation and setting rules along with new edges and hindrances. The first 57 pages contains the player section while the remainder of the book is for the GM's eyes only. Included within are 45 pregenerated Novice characters, 5 Seasoned characters, and 5 Veteran characters. You also get a character sheet, a two page spread of 20's slang, a 10 page bestiary, 6 one sheets, and 5 adventures. As part of the Kickstarter campaign I took part in, I also got an adventure titled A Fistful of Dholes.

The setting book itself is a rather fast read that I enjoyed. In this game the players are part of the Mythos Resistance, a secret organization of people from all walks of life (mostly famous people and celebrities) who are trying to protect John Q Public from the invasion of unnatural beings during the roaring 20's. They "keep the world safe and ignorantly blissful." Cosmic horror and invaders from beyond the stars is what this game is all about. There isn't any magic therefore there are no arcane backgrounds. Saying there isn't magic is a rather broad statement but it doesn't mean there isn't really magic. It just means that if it’s not normal or un-explainable then it’s not natural or "unnatural". There certainly could be magic in your version but in order to maintain the pulpy feel of the game then it should be explained in a way such as weird science rather than magical.

This setting uses the Fear mechanic from the Savage Worlds Deluxe core rulebook with a slight twist. It's up to the GM when a Fear check is called for but it shouldn't be used for anything weird or mysterious. This is more for Cosmic horror or unnatural encounters. "Being surprised by a bear in the woods is natural." Seeing giant 3 foot long worms erupting from a rotting corpse towards you is a Fear check. They also replace the d20 fright table with a 2d6 Cosmic Horror Chart. While you can still use the standard fright table, this new chart changes things up a bit. Most notably by removing the heart attack effect.

If you've already purchased other Cthulhu style games then this book may not be for you. Don't get me wrong, this is a good book but the ideas presented here aren't entirely new. What you're getting are some new edges, hindrances, Tesla tech gear, lots of pregenerated characters, bestiary, and some adventures to run. Having said that, I think it's worth the $24.99 PDF price tag. The artwork is fantastic and looks like it came straight out of the comic books. The style and feel of this game via the artwork, time period, and Tesla inventions are what sets it apart from other Cthulhu games.

I decided to run the Dhole adventure for my friends Blaine, Jamie, and Stephen. As I said before, I had a blast putting my friends in the Mythos Resistance and seeing how they reacted to the situations they were put in. This adventure had two major flaws that I should have caught beforehand. One was a scene where the player characters talk to a condescending university professor as one of the clues they were provided. This scene has way too much information to convey to the players that it almost fell apart halfway through. There's nearly a full page and a half of text that your supposed to read aloud along with a requirement to have them pass a short oral exam of what they just listened to. If they fail the exam then they miss out on some vital information. I should have anticipated this ahead of time and adjusted how the information was conveyed. The second flaw comes in the final scene where the players are supposed to summon an Egyptian demi-god who helps them eliminate the threat. The problem with this is that it turns into an NPC vs NPC encounter taking away any heroic acts of the player characters. I think the right word for this is anticlimactic.

As a side note, I just saw that the characters should have had some equipment that is supposed to be standard issue. The Lightning Pistol is a hand held lightning bolt projector that ignores armor. Oh well, at least I know for next time. Sorry fellas, I'm just a dumb dora that's full of banana oil.

As far as the setting book goes, I'd give it 4 out of 5 Jalizaran Moons. I think the sheer number of pregenerated characters and combination of one sheets and adventures bump it up a notch. The adventure A Fistful of Dholes on the other hand would get 3 out of 5.

P.S. Some friends of mine have a new podcast about the Genesys RPG from Fantasy Flight Games. It's called Finding The Narrative: A Genesys RPG Podcast. The link will take you to Podbean and you can also find them on the Nerds-International Google+ subcategory page. Check it out and you wont be disappointed. 

Nerds-International Google+ community page

Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla

Today I finally got around to downloading the digital Kickstarter rewards for Herald: Lovecraft & Tesla from Ravendesk Games. Part of the rewards were three Action Lab comic books titled, wait for it, Herald: Lovecraft and Tesla. I must admit that these comics do a good job of inspiring me to want to play this new game. The only problem is that I don't have the RPG yet. Eventhough the Kickstarter campaign has ended you still have a chance to get in on this and preorder a copy for yourselves. You can follow the link above to the Kickstarter page.

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!

The first comic of the History in the Making series, is an introduction to the characters and the beginning of the story arc. We are introduced to Amelia Earhart, Nikola Tesla, H.P. Lovecraft, Harry Houdini, and Albert Einstein. It starts out in October of 1923 and Amelia is taking flight in her history making trip to become the first female pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (its fun to read fiction that incorporates historical fact). As we break away to Nikola in his workshop, he discovers that a prototype engine has just disappeared in front of his very eyes. Now we break away again to see Lovecraft shaking down Houdini in order to get him to investigate a man called The Beast. The next day Nikola meets up with Albert Einstein at the local patent office where Einstein works. Nikola tells Albert that an unfinished prototype engine is in Amelia's airplane. Einstein informs Tesla that this engine will take her to a different dimension. As Nikola is leaving the patent office, a man waiting in line overhears the whole conversation and tells Tesla that H.P. Lovecraft can help him. Nikola then seeks out Lovecraft to ask him for help in finding his betrothed, Ms. Earhart. Suddenly they are attacked by a Mi-Go. The end. Ha-ha, hows that for a cliff hanger?

In the second comic, Nikola uses his Tesla pistol while H.P. uses some sort of arcane power to defeat the Mi-Go. After some arguing between Lovecraft and Tesla, the Mi-Go comes back to life and kills Lovecraft. The Mi-Go disappears out of sight and H.P.'s mother comes down into the basement to find her dead son. She scolds Tesla and tells him to not speak of this incident with H.P. whilst she revives her dead son through the use of magic. After some discussion on what to do next, it is decided that they would go to Brown University to seek out Lovecraft's former professor. He may or may not be in posession of a tome of Necronomicon, or at the very least know where to obtain it. Meanwhile, back at Nikola's workshop, Peter Mackleroy Esquire, a debt collector working for Thomas Edison is going through the inventions to catalogue and inventory Mr. Edison's new belongings. Back to Brown University where we meet Dr. Carlow, Lovecraft's occult professor. Howard Phillips Lovecraft is dismayed that the good professor doesn't remember him with his excuse being that he has lectured many students and can't be bothered to rember names. Howard tries to jog Dr. Carlow's memory of him only to incite an argument between the two, which reveals the location of the Necronomicon to be at the Anthenaeum Library. After leaving Dr. Carlow's office, Tesla and Lovecraft get into a squabble in which they decide to go their own ways. Unbeknownst to each other, they each break into the library after dusk. Tesla through a basement window and Lovecraft stealing the keys from a librarian. Both of them inadvertently walk into a trio of trouble in the basement of the library (as seen on the cover of the next issue).

The third comic begins with Amelia flying somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean and her plane disappears into thin air. Then we go back to the library where Nikola and Howard discover the three cultists who are trying to awaken the great Cthuhlu who's wrath will birth the world anew. Matilda, one of the cultists, discovers that the Necronomicon is a copy and she needs an original tome. Just then Dr. Carlow walks in to confirm his suspicion that Lovecraft wouldn't let go of searching for the tome and Matilda shoots him in the gut. Tesla and Carlow are then dragged into a small room and locked inside. Dr. Carlow proceeds to pass away and Nikola escapes from his cell. Then Tesla rescues Lovecraft from the cultists by causing an explosion in the basement of the library which allows the two to escape.

Overall the three comics are good. Some of the scenes need to be more descriptive or perhaps even more scenes added because I don't feel like I got all the information I needed. Who are the cultists and what about Edison's henchmen? What happened to Harry Houdini? I left out the last scene in the third comic because it doesn't make sense to me at all. It appears to be an everyday conversation between two older gentlemen and a younger man. One of the older men has a unique ring on his left ring finger which leads me to believe it is a much older Nikola Tesla but I'm unsure. They definetly left some questions that need to be answered. Maybe they will be answered in the RPG book but I sure hope the comics will continue into a full series at Action Lab Comics.