A strong idea that develops into a wonderful scenario. However, the actual scenario takes up about 3 pages. For a scenario set in an unfamiliar time and place for many Cthulhu players and Keepers, this module could really benefit from some additional background information being included, if even just 2-3 pages worth for the use of Keepers to set the scene.

An excellent framework, but it requires legwork from the Keeper to become a full scenario.

Nothing but the Wind is short, one-session, tale of frozen terror set in North America during the Dark Ages for Call of Cthulhu 7th edition.

The players take the role of Vikings settlers on the continent (presumably along the shores of Newfoundland) where, its noted, relations between Norse newcomers and the Native population have been largely amicable. With an eye towards fostering continued warm relations, the player characters are tasked with investigating mysterious disappearances from nearby Native villages.

The adventure begins with the party arriving by boat at Howling Rock, a village on the verge of extinction. Here, in true CoC fashion, they interact with some creepy people, and then over the course of a few tension-filled days go about investigating the village and nearby woods and ultimately slaying the beast(s) bedeviling the region.

Author JP Stephens has crafted a fun, if decidedly deadly, adventure here. Player characters will know the culprit almost from the very beginning (players may in fact suspect it from the very get-go), and there is only so much plot you can fit into a handful of pages, but Stephens does an excellent job at creating a supernatural slow burn.

With an eye towards quick play, Stephens has provided four well-designed pre-generated characters and offers suggested timeframes for each scene – you can sit down and run this adventure in less than two hours, which makes Nothing but the Wind ideal for conventions or pick-up games.

The only drawback of this focus on instant playability is a lack of detail. The adventure certainly can be run as is (I did), but Keepers may want to invest some time in fleshing things out a bit. Another drawback is the pricetag: $4.99 is too steep for such a brief adventure, especially one without art.

Relying more on mood than in-depth story, Nothing but the Wind may be short but packs a Cthulhu-sized punch with a number of scenes that have the potential to stick out well after the dice have stopped rolling.

I had the pleasure of playing through this one-shot scenario recently. A band of viking explorers come across the remains of a tribal village that has been ravaged by something horrible that lies in the woods. The disappearance of dozens of villagers has decimated the small village and only a few survivors remain who can shed any light on what has happened.

The scenario provides a nice mix of role play, investigation and combat all packed into a few hours of fun.

And who doesn’t love Vikings! Recommended.

I get to review this both as someone who has played (as a player character) in the scenario, and as someone who has read it afterward. From a players perspective, I had a great time in this Viking themed murder-mystery one shot. Shortly before the game, we were giving the concepts of the pregens, and I chose to play the Berserker. I found enough information on the sheet to roleplay what felt to me like a memorable character who was already worked into the rest of the group through various relationships. Our intrepid band of Vikings began investigating, and I don't want to throw out too many spoilers, but we had a grand old time finding clues, getting paranoid, going mad, and eventually exploding into a bloody climax!

After the game, I read the scenario, and was surprised by how minimalistic it was! To me, this is definitly a good thing. While I appreciate carefully detailed scenarios and campaigns, I find that when I am running a game myself, unless I have carefully prepared by highlighting or painstakingly annotating everything, I often accidentally skip over all those cool details and fill in with whatever is coming off of the top of my head in the moment. What is included in the scenario is all of the bits of information needed to investigate, all of the npcs and their motivations, and a timeline showing when things happen as the scenario progresses. What I really appreciate about Nothing but the Wind is the ability to read over it pretty quickly and be ready to run a full length, memorable game session. I've noticed this trend the CoC community (one page scenarios and scenario brochures), and for certain types of Keepers (myself included), I think they are fantastic! Less prep, more gaming!

This is more of a summary or brief outline of a scenario that an actual scenario. The actual scenario takes up all of three pages. The scenario is split into three days with each day only getting a brief and very general summary of what happens. Most of it is taken up with various suggestions for skill check results. The final, climactic day only gets a couple of paragraphs with a couple of sentences each. There are no maps. There is no artwork at all beyond the cover which is a photoshopped photo. There are no events or anything specific. You are pretty much left to fill it in yourself. Most of the book is taken up by pre-gen characters. They take up more than twice as many pages as the actual scenario. The setting is interesting but the scenario itself is very bare bones to say the least and a prospective Keeper will have to do a lot of the work fleshing it out on their own.