Realms of Crawling Chaos - First Look

There is no way I could fully review Realms of Crawling Chaos at this point.  There is just too much to absorb, and plowing thru it would defeat the purpose.  Instead, I'm flipping thru the virtual pages and stopping here and there to read a bit more in depth.

First things first: Dan Proctor and Mike Curtis have put together a really nice looking piece of work.  The art by Sean Aaberg and Mark Allen are damn close to perfect for the feel of the book.

Dan and Mike give us an interesting perspective on Lovcraftian Dark Fantasy.  It's a different take than LotFP Weird Fantasy, which works on the idea of the weird and evil being unique.  With Realms of Crawling Chaos, we are shown the Labyrinth Lord rules skewed by the touch of Cthulhu and the rest of the old ones.

We are given four new races, that can either be played as race=class, or the standard AD&D method of race+class.  The new races are Sea Blood (race as class is a Cleric / Fighter combo), Subhuman, White Ape and White Ape Hybrid (race as class is a Thief / Fighter hybrid).  These could be added to non-Lovcrafitan campaigns with little problem, even if just for NPC use.  Heck, I'm already thinking of borrowing some of this for Tunnels & Trolls.

There are new spells, which I'll admit I  didn't give more then a quick once over at this point.  The same with the new monsters section, which appears to be extensive.  I'll get back to these with a later blog post.

Hey, Cthulhu only has 350 HP!  I need to put his trophy next to Asmodeous when I kill him ;)

Psionics are included for use by the badies, not the PCs.  Which makes sense, I guess.  It wouldn't be very Lovcraftian to give the PCs powers beyond the norm.

As I said earlier, this is just a first look.  Way too much to absorb in a single sitting.  That being said, I did catch an editing gaffe on page 14.  In one sentence, it mentions that in some campaigns there are no "true gods" and no traditional magic in the fantasy sense,  which eliminates clerics, magic users and their sub classes.  The next sentence then states that in this type of campaign, the only appropriate classes from the LL rules would be the fighter, thief and - magic user.  Either he belongs, or he doesn't.  I'll assume if there is no magic in the world, there are no magic users.  They might want to revise this before going to print.

Still, this is a small quibble.  I've gotten my money's worth and I've barely scratched the surface.  All that and I want to crib stuff for T&T.  Props to Dan and Mike :)

From the blurb:

In R'lyeh, Cthulhu Stirs...

Evil cultists consummate their union with Shub-Niggurath in dark woods no other mortals dare go. Alien terrors lurk in the underworld; their vast riches wait, or their incomprehensible powers could leave you broken, dead, or worse. Adventure in underworlds filled with horrible entities, or the ruins of alien beings that enslaved the ape-like ancestors of mankind. Seek hidden secrets from the arctic wastes to dark, briny seas. But as you approach the ocean, what are those strange longings you feel?

Realms of Crawling Chaos is a Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy campaign supplement for Labyrinth Lord and the Advanced Edition Companion.

In this book you will find:

• New player races, including white apes, white ape hybrids, sea blood, and subhumans.

• New spells

• New monsters

• New artifacts and a system for designing unique artifacts

• Rules for psionics, compatible with Mutant future