Finger-Biter by Michael LaBossiere is a role playing game supplement published by Chaosium Inc. through their Miskatonic Repository Community Content Program for use with Call of Cthulhu, the horror role playing game system based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft. This is a short scenario set in the 1920s.
This is a 12-page PDF that is available as a Pay What You Want supplement from DriveThruRPG. One page is the front cover, one the front matter and one the Contents.
The Introduction has a brief paragraph that explains the adventure is set in 1920s Scotland, but could be modified for other times and places.
Getting the Investigators Involved has the hook for the adventure which is the sadly common one often seen in Call of Cthulhu, in which an investigator is contacted by an old friend that they’ve never heard of before. This friend wishes them to come to Scotland.
Keeper’s Background gives the details about how one of the ancestors of the investigator’s friend made a deal with a mythos being in exchange for gold. This was, unsurprisingly, foolish, and only one member of the family survived, who went to America with the gold. The others were killed and transformed into creatures called Finger-Biters.
Investigation has the information that the investigators can get from several sources; the friend, his associate, the local villagers and church records. Newspaper reports also have details of new attacks.
The places visited are described, although the village is only briefly covered. The ruins of the friend’s ancestors’ tower are covered in more detail, as are the burrows below them.
Details of the major NPCs are given, as well as the Finger-Biter, a new creature, and a new spell for creating such. There is also a note stating that the adventure was partially inspired by “The Little Finger on the Left Hand” by Ardath Mayer.
The final three pages have a handout and colour maps of the two locations.
Finger-Biter in Review
The PDF is technically bookmarked but the bookmarks only link the cover and front matter, so the bookmarks are essentially useless. The Contents is to a moderate level of detail and is also hyperlinked. Navigation is adequate, but it could be better. The text maintains a two column primarily two-colour layout and appeared to be almost free of errors. There are a number of black and white public domain illustrations for NPCs and two colour maps. Presentation is okay.
Perhaps the primary problem with the adventure is the hook; it could do with modifying so that the investigators aren’t being contacted by a previously unknown acquaintance. This is, as mentioned, a common problem in Call of Cthulhu. For the time period, casually traipsing across the Atlantic because a friend asks is not that easy. So perhaps the investigators should already be in the same country for some reason. Other than that, this is a nice little investigative adventure, with a new and unpleasant monster. Finger-Biter can be checked out for free by clicking here.
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