Unnatural Selections #40 - reviews for the new year

Posted by Michael O'Brien on 27th Jan 2021

The 'Unnatural Selections' series is our regular round up of notable Chaosium reviews worth a look. Here are some new reviews for 2021...

The H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society gives Mansions of Madness Vol 1: Behind Closed Doors an overall 5/5: "This collection of tales of troubled real estate offers a variety of fun and innovative approaches to a well-worn horror trope. Investigators and Keepers are likely to get some great gaming out of this collection."
Harlem Unbound 2nd Edition featured in Gnome Stew's highlights of 2020: "A treasure trove of historical information and perspective, as well as a great Call of Cthulhu campaign book. For anyone that caught 'Lovecraft Country' at the end of the year, this is a great product to explore."
"Great job Chaosium! - this is going to be a really useful product for Keepers"—RPG Imaginings unboxes our new Malleus Monstrorum Keeper Deck (video review).
Meanwhile over at BRP Central, Klecser (aka RPG Imagings on YouTube) has posted chapter-by-chapter detailed reflections on a first read-through of The Children of Fear—"This one is going to go down in history as one of the greats... I think this campaign is exceptional, with an incredible amount of depth... this is my style of Call of Cthulhu game. The emphasis here is largely on role-playing interaction, learning, exploration, and investigation [in a] a region of the world hitherto not explored in-depth in Call of Cthulhu history... So, Lynne Hardy I hope to hell you're proud of this work, because you should be."

In their video review Really Dicey highly recommend the new Secret Societies source book for 7th Sea - "the storywriting is excellent, very immersive, and instantly pulls you into the world."

“The future looks bright for Pendragon, and this Quick-Start is a great first product in the new product line—it’s short, concise, and the rules support the action-packed scenario. As far as Quick-Starts and introductory adventures go, The Adventure of the Great Hunt is a great example of one done right!”—Rolling Boxcars takes a look at Greg Stafford's The Adventure of the Great Hunt, our free preview of Pendragon 6th Ed.
"This book is so good I want to kiss it."—SF&Fantasy writer Dan Wells gives Pendragon's The Book of Sires "17 out of 5 stars", so we think he liked it.

John O'Neil of Black Gate Magazine takes a detailed look inside the "gorgeously designed and well written" RuneQuest releases The Smoking Ruin and The Pegasus Plateau – John concludes both are "essential purchases for serious RuneQuest players."
In Echoes of the Past I Hear, reviewer James Nicholl says RuneQuest - Roleplaying in Glorantha is "an impressive effort. RQG returns to its 1st and 2nd edition roots, with a system firmly planted in Greg Stafford’s Bronze Age fantasy world Glorantha, specifically the Dragon Pass region... As with earlier editions, characters are defined by their culture, religion, and family. RQ is not a game for people who like to play wandering murder hobos who exist outside civilized society."