A Lark in a Cage by Noah Lloyd is a role playing game supplement published by Chaosium Inc. for use with Call of Cthulhu, the horror role playing game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. This is a scenario for the Gaslight setting of 19th century London.
The supplement is available as a Pay What You Want supplement from DriveThruRPG. There are two versions of the main PDF, one in a page spread format, though the single page format will be the one used to review. The PDF has 58 pages with two being the front and back covers, one the front matter, one the Table of Contents and one an advert. A zip file has six 2-page PDF with pre-generated characters.
The introductory paragraphs explain that the scenario is suitable for a Gaslight campaign but can also be run as a standalone adventure, using the pre-generated characters, who have connections to NPCs.
The Keeper’s Introduction explains how a friend of the investigators, if using the pre-gens, recently gave birth to her first child and contacts them, sure her daughter has been replaced. She’s correct, else this would be a pretty short scenario. The reason why the child was abducted is given, as well as some background on the East End at that time and Oscar Wilde’s trial. The trial has no direct bearing on the adventure, but it is in the news and will explain the caution of some NPCs. Details on transportation is next. A sidebar explains that firearms are generally illegal.
Dramatis Personae covers the major NPCs that the characters will come into contact with. There is also a serious problem that the investigators are highly likely to encounter, which will start the clock ticking on one or more of them.
The adventure itself starts with the characters getting involved. This is followed by descriptions and maps of the various locations that can be visited.
Running the Finale sorts out the adventure and covers investigator rewards.
Appendix 1: Non-Player Characters gives the stats of the various NPCs.
Appendix 2: Handouts has a number of player handouts.
Appendix 3: Maps of the East End has player and Keeper maps of the area.
Appendix 4: Pre-generated Investigators lists these, though not on character sheets.
Bulwark of the Hudson is a one-page scenario. It ties in with A Lark in a Cage to a degree, because both feature a tunnel. Another page has four pre-generated characters and a final page has eight Sanity loss cards.
A Lark in a Cage in Review
The PDF is decently bookmarked with the more major sections linked. The Table of Contents is to a similar level of depth and is also hyperlinked. Navigation is decent. The text maintains a single column format and the main errors noted were in a number of places where “(page XX)” hadn’t been replaced with a page number. There are a number of sidebars in places giving more information on the setting. There are custom maps and a number of stock images by the looks of it. Presentation is decent.
There are a number of ways players can run through this scenario, and they don’t necessarily need to visit every location, as this is not a linear adventure. There is one location that is potentially extremely dangerous, to TPK levels, to visit if the characters approach it too aggressively. The pre-generated characters tie in better with the scenario than others would, as they have connections to the adventure starter, but it could easily be run without them; it just needs to draw the characters in. A Lark in a Cage is a decent little adventure with quite a bit of detail to it and it can be found by clicking here.
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