Convicts & Cthulhu: Roleplaying Game Review

We’re very excited to welcome Leigh Carr, the newest contributor to the Games vs Play team. Check out his great review of the recently released Convicts & Cthulhu supplement for the classic horror RPG, Call of Cthulhu. Welcome to the team, Leigh, and may all your Sanity rolls be successful ones.

Review by Leigh Carr

This 100 page extension to the Call of Cthulhu Terror Australis sourcebook outlines how to play 7th edition rules set in the period England colonised Australia.

Either my public education has failed me or I have learned alot about the first colonies with over 50 pages of history, maps and information on role playing in that era. Every page is filled with easy to understand comprehensive information that will ignite a Keepers imagination, raring them to throw investigators into a situation which is already horrifying as it is! Times were tough back then and the book doesn’t sugar coat Australia’s dark past.

The historical information is to the point, allowing any Australian Keeper of Arcane Lore to quickly transport players into the relevant setting with the greatest of ease. Keepers and Investigators who aren’t familiar with Australia’s geography, climate and wildlife would be recommended to read the Cthulhu source book Terror Australis before attempting.

The Cthulhu Mythos in the colonies is outlined briefly spanning 6 pages, giving Keepers sources they can project into scenarios with ease. An introductory scenario and adventure seeds feature in the remaining 30 pages. The scenario throws investigators fresh off the boat and onto the shores of hell itself!

Now lets talk money. This high quality, well laid out book is available at a price of your choosing on DriveThruRPG. This includes the price of zero dollars, the book downloaded as a free pdf or you can buy a physical copy at the price it costs to print and mail to your location. Personally, I paid $20 for my copy not including the costs for printing and posting. That’s because I recognise the writers and creators are Australian based team CthulhuReborn. They have been producing quality free to download adventures, sourcebooks and props for years and have not ONCE asked me for anything in return. While you’re grabbing your copy be sure to browse their other wares and lob a huge stack of cash at them.

You can find out more about Convicts & Cthulhu and other CofC resources on the excellent Cthulhu Reborn website. If you feel like buying yourself a copy of Convicts & Cthulhu, go to DriveThruRPG.com. Games vs Play wishes to thank Cthulhu Reborn for permission to use images in this post.

About Leigh

Born of a Jackal, Leigh decided to devote his life to all things horror at a young age. Now that he’s an adult not much has changed. He enjoys Board Games, Tabletop Role Playing Games and Electronic games, has a loving family that have put up with his crippling addictions, and is an ordained priest of the First United Church of Cthulhu. In his spare time he is a facilitator for a bank.

Leigh is also the creator and moderator of the Call of Cthulhu Melbourne Facebook community, where he goes by the madness-inducing pseudonym of “Leigh Carrthulu”. If you love Old Squidface as much as we think you do, ask Leigh to join the Facebook community. (Before you ask – you don’t have to be from Melbourne to join. Great Cthulhu has enough love to go around for us all.) You can also read an interview with Leigh here on Games vs Play to find out why he started the Facebook community and, more importantly, just how to pronounce “Cthulhu.”