Ghoul Island Act 2: Ghoulocracy 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. This is the second part of the campaign and continues on from Ghoul Island Act 1: Voyage to Farzeen.
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 has 60 pages with two being the front and rear covers, one the front matter, one the Table of Contents, two the Open Game License and one an ad.
A map of the city of Farzeen is included for reference.
Act 2: Ghoulocracy begins with a synopsis of this adventure and what happens when Captain Censa comes up in conversation.
Act 2.1: Discovery starts with a synopsis of the act, which is aimed at 4-5 5th level characters. The characters discover a temple to an Elder God below the island, and after they return to the surface, they will probably have to go on the run following a change in the power structure.
Act 2.2: Repression again starts with a synopsis, which is aimed at 4-5 6th level characters. In this, the characters find refugees from Farzeen and discover details on what has happened to the priesthood of the Goddess of Light and what the cult of Ghatanothoa is up to. The characters must help defeat an attack on the camp and infiltrate Farzeen to secure arms and armour.
Act 2.3 Rebellion starts with the usual synopsis and is aimed at 4-5 7th level characters. They are led to a library and are involved in a two-pronged attack for retaking the city. The characters may take a couple of paths in this, and it ends in a battle that is supposed to be more cinematic than rolled. The campaign then continues in Ghoul Island Act 3: Clean Up Crew.
Appendix: NPCs, Spells, and Items of Interest has stats for various NPCs, some new monsters and some magic items. Despite the title, there are no spells.
Ghoul Island Act 2: Ghoulocracy 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.
This continues the Ghoul Island series and, being another Cthulhu Mythos-inspired adventure use the Cthulhu Mythos for 5e rules, it is probably more dangerous than most 5E players expect, though not as dangerous as a true Call of Cthulhu adventure would be; 5E characters are simply more powerful. Again, it could be adapted for use with the normal rules turning it into a normal 5E adventure, though it would lose something in the process. It continues with the straightforward level progression, with completing part of an act resulting in a level gain. Again, this is something that is neither 5E nor Call of Cthulhu and may not appear to fans of either as a result. Ghoul Island Act 2: Ghoulocracy can be found by clicking here.
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