Nocturnum is a large (300 pages or so) softcover adventure anthology for Call of Cthulhu d20, priced at $29.95 and I paid full price for it*. It's from Fantasy Flight Games, most famous to d20 fans for making the Dragonstar d20. But apparently they put out 3 Call of Cthulhu products in the past, and this is essentially a combined, updated version of those products.
Nocturnum is set in modern day, though it was apparently written in 1998-1999 or so. While that's only a few years, I think it's left some of the material in it dated politcally, as well as technologically. So it is perhaps best to play it in 1998/1999 or so. Except, that's also problematic, since the events in this book are earth-shaking, and would greatly affect things - you could never put things in line with modern day.
That's my main problem with this book. While it's largely excellent, it's really best run as a campaign, not being integrated into an existing campaign (though that's just my opinion, I'm not knocking the score because of it). And while it's nominally for Call of Cthulhu, there's actually not all that many traditional Call of Cthulhu elements, so it can be run simply as a modern day horror game, using other d20 horror systems. Probably not quite apropriate for Pinnacles's d20 Weird War 2 setting, or Deadlands d20, for that matter, since you need technology at a fairly high level (say the 1960s or so), but could make a decent Spycraft/Series Archer game. And actually, this campaign seems far more suited to the d20 system, because instead of the traditional CoC game where the PCs are academics and reporters and such, they need to be fairly active and tough, almost Buckaroo Banzai types. Or mercenaries. At least that would be a big help in many scenarios in this book. They also tend to be fairly passive in this book, going along with the flow (ie, railroading), instead of reactive. Railroading I don't like.
From a stylistic point of view, FFG did a very good job invoking a sense of horror by including several short pieces of fiction (a few paragraphs). Most are the sort that make you go 'eeeew' or cringe a bit. The artwork is on a whole pretty good, and in some places, downright gruesome, though it also features Earl Geier, who I don't generally like much (his stuff in Shadowrun books is okay, but only just). The portraits of NPCs are awful, almost like caricatures instead of pictures.
Spoiler Space:
Basically, the PCs have to save the world from being hit by a comet (it seems these critters are trapped in the Earth, and need it to be hit by a comet to escape). Because this is absolutely well, huge, it's not suitable for most pre-existing campaigns. Including mine. So I've only run the first few adventures in the book, which aren't too closely related to the plot. Much of the rest is salvageable, though.
The first 30 pages or so give an overview of the plot, and introduces some key NPCs and some new monsters/villains/baddies. These are sort of Cthulhu related, but not really. They are sort of the offspring of Azathoth, but completely separate from any other Mythos critter, and even some of the gods like Nyarlthotep
The first adventure (about 30 pages) takes place when the PCs get stuck in a remote mountain town in wintertime by a blizzard. It seems there is a rash of horrible, werewold like killings. And so the suspicion for that now lies on the PCs, since they are strangers.
Unfortunately, the PCs don't really get to do much about it, just watching the werewolf kill other people. Until they are contacted by a mysterious american indian who tells them how to defeat the monster.
So, basically this adventure is nothing more more than a tourist excursun, where the PCs really do nothing more than sight-seer and watch people get killed. Oh, there's a bit of combat, but it's mostly scripted. Sort of interesting, but not much fun for my players. D-
The second scenario (about 22 pages or so) is much better. In this one, the investigators get to actually do some investigating in a college town. It seems that a old friend of theirs is in trouble. Occult trouble. So of course they have to come and help him.
Anyway, it seems there is a drug epidemic in this town. Not the typical drug either, a new, magical drug. Presumably, the PCs get to the bottom of it, with the help of this being in something of a parallel dimension. It's hard to describe concisely, but it's all very weird and eerie. And it lets the PCs take a fairly active role. A-
The 3rd scenario has the PCs tracking down the missing daughter of a complete stranger who writes to them asking for help. Why? Because they are knowledgeable in the paranormal/occult, and it seems there is some connection with that. (Why that never happens to me in real life, I don't know. Oh well.)
Basically, this guy's daughter went to a mountain in California on vacation, and disappeared. Being California, it's a weird mountain, with a monestary full of weird monks, as well as an observatory with weird astronomers. Reminds me of something of a combination of stories about 2 different mountains in California - Mt. Shasta, which is rumored to house a group of mysterious tibetan monks, and Mt. Palomar, which has a connection (albeit loosely) to some contactee cults.
It's not a very long scenario, because there is not exactly a lot of places for this young woman to be, but it does let the PCs drive the story (mostly - they have help from an unlikely ally) and do a decent amount of roleplaying, interviewing people. Still, this could have been fleshed out a lot more, I think. It's also not that hard, since the end show down is basically a case of let's you and him fight. B+
This also basically starts the story arc of the book. The girl was kidnapped by the villains of the book to help destroy the Earth, so they aren't too happy with the PCs.
The forth chapter is not really a scenario per se, but it seems the PCs have been set up by the villains in the campaign as murderers. And so the FBI is now chasing them. This details how that would work. This is one of those things that probably wouldn't fit a modern day game, since the FBI is probably busy either catching terrorists, or harassing people downloading music.
Chapters 5 - 7 are similar things. Not really scenarios, but mini-events that can happen to the PCs. The last one is a meeting with something of an ally.
Chapter 8 is a scenario, but fairly tied into the story arc. The benefactor/ally tells them to find this guy, who happens to be in a sanitarium. So they have to break in and visit him.
This one I had a lot of trouble with. I didn't run it, but one of the odd things, is this place has a combination of serial killers and just slightly disturbed people as patients. Call me crazy, but aren't these places segregated by how dangerous the patient is? I mean, would you put a teen aged girl whose only problem is compulsive lying in the same place as a guy who killed a dozen campers in a state park? Uh, I really hope not. I also think that it's quite possible that a PC would recognize this killer, since serial killers of that magnitude aren't that common.
Chapter 9 is a scenario, about 20 pages. It's pretty much tied into the story arc, but can be altered to remove that part fairly easily. Basically, the PCs go to this town to investigate an NPC important to the story arc, but find weird things afoot. They must solve it.
There's some interesting bits here, with white slavers, a swamp monster, and apparently a priest who has problems which quite probably are similar to what have been in the news for the last year or so. All in all, pretty good. B
Chapter 10 is pretty much a story arc only scenario. Basically, the PCs meet a contact, only he runs into some trouble with his waiter. And so the PCs end up in trouble, too. This is where the railroading really starts, as they end up being captured by the bad guys.
From here on out, all the scenarios are pretty much connected to the story arc.
In Chapter 11, the PCs find themselves in a brig on a ship. This chapter must have been written by a hippie/leftist/greenie/Woody Harrelson, who thinks all governments are evil (including that of Norways!) and have nothing better to do than blow up oil refineries and blame them on eco-terrorist groups. I mean, c'mon, yes, France sank one of Green Peace's ship, but well, insert your own French joke. So, I found this chapter to be just downright stupid, at least in terms of plot. At least that part. Anyway, the PCs end up on an oil rig that has been attacted by Deep Ones. Why? Well, it seems because a prominent Deep One (in human form) is being kept there (as part of the ongoing story arc).
Anyway, I found this whole scenario to be implausible and full of silliness. I mean, why couldn't someone on the oil rig just call for help? And in a lovely scene, the mean, despicable guvmint agent kills a guy on the ship, then in a matter of moments, chops him up and throws his body out the window. Oh please. You do get deck plans for an oil rig, though. So it's not a complete loss.
Chapter 12, the PCs wake up in a Danish hospital. Basically, and I'm selling this scenario a bit short, they run around Copenhagen getting chased. Well, not quite, but there's not much point to this scenario if you aren't running the campaign's story arc, and I didn't. And the fact that the comet is going to hit earth is important in this scenario, as the panic in the streets lets them escape from the people chasing them.
Chapter 13 again is very story arc related, but it can be removed from it pretty easily (I just had the PCs investigate mysterious disppearance of passersby). The PCs are after this important piece of information, which can only be found in a mysterious tomb of a Danish King. So, they go to this tiny town in Denmark. There they run afoul of the ancient Norns of Norse myths. It seems the Norns are up to no good. Anyway, the PCs can end up foiling their plot and getting the piece of information they need at the same time. B, but gets a - because of a stupid and pointless X-files reference.
Chapter 14 just has the PCs heading for Moscow. Didn't use it.
Chapter 15 has them in Moscow, investigating a tractor factory. There's no real reason for them to do so that is not story arc related, so I didn't run it.
Chapter 16 has the PCs on a train from Moscow to Irkutsk, and then on to Mongolia via truck. I hope they brought their passports. The train trip has some interesting PCs, and so can be possibly recycled for something else. The truck ride is pretty dull. Didn't run it. Some Russians might object to some of the stereotypes of Russians.
Chapter 17 has the PCs headed for Nepal. They don't really do much but sight-see. Didn't run it.
Chapter 18 has the PCs explore this mysterious ancient artifact the villains of the book are using to draw the comet to the Earth. Here it gets somewhat James Bond-ish. Didn't run it.
Chapter 19 has the PCs rescuing a super-genius Dr., so he can fix this gizmo that will save the Earth. Again, somewhat James Bond-ish. Didn't run it.
The last part of the book is about 30 pages, and is full of player handouts (not perforated or anything, so you'll probably want to photocopy them)
So, to sum up, this is actually a pretty good product if you are looking for a Call of Cthulhu d20 campaign. I can't recommend it all that much if you want to integrate it into an existing campaign, since a lot will go to waste. I also think it fits Call of Cthulhu d20 much better than it would have fit BRP CoC. For one, it's a bit too physical. PCs in BRP die, and die often. For another, the setting of Call of Cthulhu d20 is slightly different. It's more ambiguous for one. Nocturnum requires that all other Mythos critter on the planet sit back and do nothing to save the Earth. I mean, supposedly the Mi-Go are doing something to humans for a reason. They hang out in space - surely they would be able to divert the comet. And so on and so on. Nyarl-whatever investigates, and helps the PCs a bit, but then decides to try to kill the PCs. Yet he likes humanity, sorta. We're kind of like his ant farm. And pyschics. This adventure needs psychics. As far as I know, that doesn't fit the regular CoC universe, but it does fit the CoC d20 universe which even has rules for pyschics.
On the downside, if you do run it as a campaign, at the end, regardless of the outcome, it's going to be a changed world than our Earth. Obviously if the PCs fail, the world will be destroyed. But even if they suceed, there will be a lot of explaining to do. How does science try to explain just how the comet disappeared? How was society changed by the near catastrophe? What happens to the PCs? And so on and so on. I think the story arc would have made a better novel than a campaign.
* I actually bought 2 copies of this at full price. I was just going to buy it from my local game store, but they were sold out, so I ordered it from a mail order company. When it didn't arrive in about a month, I thought it lost in the mail (as I had ordered from a company that I had dealt with in the past and trusted). So when I saw my local store finally got in another copy, I bought that. A week later, the copy I bought via mail order finally showed up.
