Dateline Lovecraft EXTRA! – Bottoms Up! (OC) by Rachael B. Randolph is a role playing game supplement published by Cthulhu Reborn for use with Open Cthulhu, an OGL horror role playing game system based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.
This is a 36-page PDF that is available from DriveThruRPG as a Pay What You Want supplement. It is intended to be used with Dateline: Lovecraft #1: Arkham, 1928. The latter is a newspaper prop that is designed like an issue of the Arkham Advertiser in a period-appropriate manner, combined with instructions on how to use it. Bottoms Up! is a scenario built around some of the articles found in the prop. The final page has reproductions of the four labels found within the supplement for ease of printing.
The Introduction explains that this is a short Mythos scenario that is set in Arkham and the industrial town of Bolton to the north. It is nominally set a few weeks after the Dateline: Lovecraft newspaper. It revolves around the soda-producing industry, known as tonic in New England. A producer in Bolton can no longer make the alcoholic drinks it used to and its tonics are coming under threat from other producers around the country. Links to Dateline: Lovecraft and a sidebar explain which clippings from the newspaper are relevant.
Game Moderator’s Introduction explains that the owners of the Bolton Brewing Company, a brother and sister, have gone to extraordinary lengths to ensure the continuance of their company with the coming introduction of new and unusual tonics. The sister has been the primary mover in this and has used Mythos knowledge to enhance the drinks. A sidebar explains that there are various tonic labels throughout the supplement and collected at the back which can be printed off and stuck to the bottles of less widely known modern drinks to create props. Players drinking those props could have consequences for their characters. Spies from another tonic company went to Bolton and ended up dead.
Three Mythos Motivations gives the standard three different options for the plot, involving the Dreamlands, human derivatives and ghouls. Involving the Investigators has three different hooks to get the characters involved.
The scenario starts with Interview with Rose, who is the representative of a Boston tonic company. She wants the investigators to look into the Bolton Brewing Company and the deaths of her two men. Once the characters start investigating, they will likely start in Arkham before heading to Bolton and the Bolton Brewing Company itself. Some parts have different results that can be discovered, depending on which of the three Mythos options is chosen as the motivation. A sidebar explains what will happen if characters try the tonics; again, the effect depends on the motivation. The final confrontation also changes depending on the motivation and there is a sidebar on having it happen in a different place.
Rewards and Penalties has these and Statistics has game statistics for Open Cthulhu for the NPCs, monsters that may be encountered and four new spells.
Dateline Lovecraft EXTRA! – Bottoms Up! (OC) in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks although it does have some internal links. Navigation is quite poor. The text maintains a two-column format and a few minor errors were noticed. There are a number of illustrations, in colour, monocoloured and black and white and all appear to be custom, as well as a map of the factory. Presentation is decent.
The variants for what is truly happening, as is consistent in these supplements, makes things more interesting. It does make the supplement longer, but it means that a variety of different things can be the root cause and can change the adventure. Fortunately, the differences are all presented in the places in which they occur, reducing the need to refer to multiple pages. The scenario’s date and location can be altered to a degree, and the prop newspaper is not definitely needed, but it is far more interesting and immersing if it is. Converting the scenario to such as Call of Cthulhu should also be easy. The addition of the drinks labels which can be used to make some unusual props, and ones that have in-game consequences, is a nice touch. Dateline Lovecraft EXTRA! – Bottoms Up! (OC) is another nice little scenario in this series and it can be found by clicking here.
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