No Man's Land: WWI Mythos Action with the Lost Battalion

Call of Cthulhu RPG

by Sam Johnson

The date is October 2, 1918. In France soldiers huddle in hastily-dug trenches, faith their only protection against a never-ending artillery barrage. It is the time of World War I--the Great War--a time when mankind proves itself capable of atrocities never before conceived of.As above, so below. Beneath the cracked and shattered soil of the Argonne Forest there lives something that waits, lurking and feeding upon misery--something inhuman. Very soon the members of the doomed Lost Battalion will stumble upon this mystery older than Mu, and then the fate of the world will lie in their hands.No Man's Land includes rules for generating soldier characters in WWI, and a guide to a soldier's life in the period, detailing dangers from shell-shock tomustard gas. It is the first of the Cthulhu Master's Tournament books, which are designed to be run as stand-alone or tournament adventures. It originally formed part of the Cthulhu Master's Tournament at GenCon. No Man's Land can also actas the basis of a campaign set in the 1920s. Match your wits against the masters of Mythos horror!

Genres: Role Playing Games, Horror

80 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1998

Reviews

[Andy Simmons · Rating 3 out of 5]

On the whole this is a good, well written supplement. It concerns characters in the Great War who was part of the “Lost Battalion” who were separated from the allies in the Argonne Forest. This being a Call of Cthulhu adventure, things get a little weird. I will not comment on the adventure other than to say that it is a little linear. I have no problems with linear games but I know some GMs and keepers do.

I only have two issues with this book. Firstly, it feels like it should be set in the Somme offensive rather than 1918. But it was written for American players and it’s not hard to reset the game if you want.

The second issue is the interior artwork. I don’t like to criticise harshly, but it is not very good at all. It is bad. In fact, I initially felt annoyed that I had spend money on the book but felt somewhat mollified once I read the content.

All in all, for a one shot Cthulhu it is a pretty good game. Just try to ignore the illustrations.

[Uncle Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a well-written, well-executed Call of Cthulhu adventure. Considering that is was originally written as a one-off, the supporting information surrounding WW1-based characters and the Lost battalion's activities (when and where this adventure is set) is excellent.

This adventure requires more physical combat than a CoC adventure usually entails - but it does take place in a war zone.