New Year’s Eve – a very short expedition into the great white north

Some months ago I found out that Chaosium has published some adventure game book using the Call of Cthulhu game system. I was super excited, and bought the lot of them. Today, I finally got a chance to sir down and play… Alone Against the Frost.

So, I’m Dr Nadellmann and I’ve assembled a band of grad students and a local/native guide to explore the remote reaches of the Northwest Territories of Canada. We’re hoping to map some unexplored areas, maybe make contact with some First Nations people who live out this way, and definitely not be found as a bunch of beheaditated corpses like the last few expeditions were.

The scene opens in our canoe heading toward some rapids. We make it through just fine, though, and decide to take an easy pace and rest for the night. The Luck roll grants us a peaceful night’s sleep, and we’re back in the water in the morning. So far, so good!

There’s a smell of sulfur, which reminds us of hot springs said to be in the area. Now that would be a good find, may even be worth naming after myself. (Them’s the rules – first white person to write it down in English, gets to rename it.) We tie up the canoe and head in, exploring the steaming pools, the mineral deposits, the gigantic and hideous crab monsters with freeze ray guns. Oh hell! Run!

But I don’t make my Dodge roll. A freeze ray hits me and I fall to the ground. I black out as I’m dragged away…

…and wake up as a severed head in a jar, next to my own detached body. I try to scream, but they just turn out the lights and walk way, leaving me in darkness.

Whew! That was AWESOME! Granted, it was a lot shorter of an adventure than I expected, but I did wave down the Mi-Go to say hi even though I know they won’t be friendly. But what anthropologist could possibly resist? Worth it.