Free Role Playing Game Supplement Review: The Kirkwood Farmhouse Investigation

The Kirkwood Farmhouse Investigation by Fred Love is a role playing game supplement published by Chaosium Inc. through the Miskatonic Repository community content program. This is a modern day scenario for Call of Cthulhu, the horror role playing game based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

This is a seven page PDF which is available for free from RPGNow. One page is the front cover, one page the Credits and one page the Table of Contents.

This scenario is intended to be an introductory scenario for The Kirkwood Farmhouse Massacre. The Introduction explains that the investigators are a team of bloggers looking into some serial killings from 80 years ago. The Keeper’s background explains what really happened at the time, and how the killings were linked to a church of a Great Old One and an attempt to gain power in the Dreamlands.

Gathering Clues has the investigators gathering information on the killings from four different sources, and uncovering some information from the event that isn’t generally know.

Finally, Conclusions states that the investigators should be, after the information they discovered, questioning the report of the killings and should know where the farmhouse is located.

The PDF lacks bookmarks but does not really need them for this length. The Table of Contents covers the major and minor sections. Navigation is okay for a short supplement. The text maintains a two column format and one error in particular was noted; the Table of Contents page has the explanatory text from the template left in. Bar the stock image on the cover there are no illustrations. Presentation is adequate.

This is not really a complete scenario by itself, nor is it intended to be. What the adventure is supposed to do is add more depth and background to The Kirkwood Farmhouse Massacre. If that scenario isn’t run, it is suggested that the Keeper add their own scenario instead.

This means that The Kirkwood Farmhouse Investigation does not work on its own. It solely has the investigators discovering some clues; they do not then do anything with them. This is very definitely not a standalone scenario – it needs to be completed with other material, whether the intended scenario or something else.

This supplement is decent enough at providing background material, but it is difficult to truly judge it on its own, as it is not supposed to be run by itself. The Kirkwood Farmhouse Investigation can be downloaded for free by clicking here.