Ghoul Island Act 1: Voyage to Farzeen by Sandy Petersen and Matt Corley is a role playing supplement published by Petersen Games for use with Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e. As such, it is covered by the Open Game License and some parts are considered to be Open Game Content as a result.
The supplement was purchased from DriveThruRPG as a PDF but it now only appears to be available as the PDF from the Petersen Games site. It is also available in printed form from sites such as Amazon. The PDF is the version reviewed, and it is two separate PDFs.
The first PDF is the Farzeen Gazetteer, which has 12 pages. This starts with an overview of the volcanic island, some details on Farzeen itself, its people and history, a sidebar on the Goddess of Light, represented by a towering statue in town, a colour map of the city and a d20 table of rumours, each of which is listed as being true, false, or some combination. Various locations of interest in the town are detailed, some with maps (oddly, the three mapped buildings are done in three different styles; black and white plan, colour plan and colour 3D view) and another sidebar covers the Church of Ghat.
The second PDF is the adventure itself and has 68 pages. One page is the front cover, one the front matter, two the Table of Contents and two the Open Game License.
Introduction to Ghoul Island has an intro from Sandy about Lovecraftian ghouls and whether they could serve a faith, even if they don’t care about it (the answer is yes). It also looks at how to use the book and what the Cthulhu Mythos is, along with details on Ghatanothoa, his history and mummification process; more is covered in the main book.
It then looks at Mythos ghouls, who are intelligent and not undead, and the deep ones. Following this is a synopsis of the different parts of the campaign, including the levels they are intended for, a map of Farzeen and some ideas for further adventures after the campaign is finished. Sidebars look at adjusting difficulty, milestone levelling and the availability of magic items on the island.
Act 1: Voyage to Farzeen starts with a synopsis of this adventure, along with a brief description of Resante, the port from which the characters set sail, Resante’s harbour, other locations of note, a general overview of the population and three adventure hooks to get the characters involved.
Act 1.1: The Storm starts, as the other parts do, with a synopsis of the section. This part is aimed at 4-5 1st level characters. In this one, the characters board a ship for Farzeen, which is mapped, but on the way the ship is hit by a storm and badly damaged, resulting in the characters ending up on the shore of Farzeen with the ship moored offshore.
Act 1.2: Mutiny again starts with a synopsis and is aimed at 4-5 2nd level characters. Whilst on the shore of Farzeen, most of the crew mutiny and the characters need to deal with this.
Act 1.3: The Mutineer’s Dilemma starts with the synopsis and is aimed at 4-5 3rd level characters and has the characters arrive in Farzeen itself, possibly as prisoners, selling the cargo, arranging to repair the ship and discovering Mythos ghouls eating some of the crew, who were arrested for their actions, which violates a treaty, and heading down to discover more.
Act 1.4: Investigation starts as usual with the synopsis. This is aimed at 4-5 4th level characters and sees the characters being asked to investigate some happenings in the town of Farzeen, which leads them into the caves below the island’s surface. Once the adventure is complete, the campaign continues in Ghoul Island Act 2: Ghoulocracy.
Appendix: NPCs, Spells, and Items of Interest has stats for some important NPCs, some new monsters and details on some new magic items; there are no spells.
Ghoul Island Act 1: Voyage to Farzeen in Review
The PDF lacks bookmarks and given its size and the number of sections it really needs them. The Table of Contents covers the major sections and subsections. Navigation is poor. The text maintains a two-column format and appeared to be free of errors. There are a variety of colour and black and white illustrations and maps, up to full page in size, which appear to be custom. Presentation is good.
The adventure, using as it does, the adapted 5E rules from Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for 5e, is likely more dangerous than the average 5E player would expect, though it’s also safer than the average Call of Cthulhu player would expect. Even though it uses the adapted rules, it shouldn’t be too difficult to use it with the regular rules, turning it into a normal Fifth Edition adventure. The setting is more typically fantasy than it is horror, however, though there are some horrific elements. There is a pretty straightforward procession in levels through the adventure. The end result is something that isn’t quite 5E fantasy, isn’t quite Call of Cthulhu horror, and may not cater that well to either group. Ghoul Island Act 1: Voyage to Farzeen can be found by clicking here.
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