Les Cinq Supplices

In 2013, our Masks of Nyarlathotep campaign imposed a conclusion: this ancient RPG relic has aged poorly. However, the work done by éditions Sans-Détour boded well should they ever decide to publish their own campaign. Although some hard-hitting reviews shook my confidence, Sans-Détour managed to restore it thanks to their baby, finalized in 2016: Les Cinq Supplices, a campaign by Samuel Tarapacki (co-founder of éditions Sans-Détour).

This article is a first look: I give you my opinion here after reading the book, as well as two first play sessions. A more informed opinion will be offered to you in late 2017, then a Post-Mortem will complete the whole thing, at the end of our campaign (mid-2018).

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Presentation

To my knowledge, Les Cinq Supplices is the first French-language campaign published by éditions Sans-Détour ^[1] for Call of Cthulhu. At any rate, that is how it was presented to us, in 2015, during its crowdfunding. Initially developed around the 2000s, it was accepted by éditions Descartes just before the latter closed their doors, an event that threw the French-language production of Call of Cthulhu into limbo until its takeover by éditions Sans-Détour. Sensing that the time had come to dust off his work, Samuel Tarapacki did what was necessary to bring it up to the standards of the game's two latest versions. The text also grew richer with contextual information about China - the kind of welcome attention that made the publishing house's reputation. As for the material, it is in line with the other Sans-Détour productions: a luxurious box and a script spread over several booklets. The quality sets an example - here again, a Sans-Détour tradition - and I can only recommend buying the Prestige version (if any are left on the market), which provides recap cards for each NPC and game aids galore. At a rough estimate, I would say between 25 and 35 four-hour sessions will be needed to complete the adventure, a duration similar to that of Masks of Nyarlathotep.

The pitch

The action takes place in 1931. For many years, Japan, Russia and the Western powers have been quartering China and grabbing its territory. The local communists and the Kuomintang compete essentially over the retaking of the south of the territory, leaving the Soviets and the Empire of the Rising Sun to fight over Manchuria - birthplace of the last Chinese dynasty's rulers. In this social maelstrom, an ambitious, nationalist Manchu sorcerer decides to conquer his native land using occult forces. His name? Sayk Fong Lee. An assumed and modern adaptation (read: less anxiety-inducing and racist) of the infamous Fu Manchu. Politically, Fong Lee dangerously plays on every front, but human alliances matter little to him; in reality, he covets the power of a legendary creature, which will allow him to entrench his domination over Manchuria and - why not, eventually - over China and the whole world. Fong Lee's plan is thwarted by an occult group, which thereafter incurs his wrath. He hunts his enemies down to Europe, where, by chance, the latter benefit from the unexpected support of a band of bystanders involved, willingly or not, in this story that exceeds them. Yes, you guessed it: I am talking about the PCs. From then on, the investigators will take part in a very pulp chase of Sayk Fong Lee all the way to Manchuria, where they will try to foil his plans while preventing other infamous bastards from taking advantage of the situation.

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Not your usual Mythos campaign...

One thing strikes you very quickly, from the reading of the first booklet: Les Cinq Supplices does not offer a typical Call of Cthulhu adventure (scifi-universe even adds that the campaign gives the impression of having been adapted for Cthulhu). Almost every Call of Cthulhu scenario respects three of Lovecraft's obsessions: (1) the vacuity of our ambitions, (2) the subordination of the human being to superior creatures, (3) the threat of the occult and / or technology to our ways of life. In addition, the Mythos' bestiary is methodically wrung out, each new creation systematically referring back to a preexisting entity. Corollary: the cultist NPCs are either in denial about their condition, or openly slaves to extraterrestrial Gods with nefarious "intentions". This statement implies an awkward Manichaeism in which the adventures in the Mythos universe wallow, despite certain notable exceptions (Les Oripeaux du Roi, Eternal Lies).

With Les Cinq Supplices, the author calls everything into question. Call of Cthulhu fans, hold on tight:

• Mr. Tarapacki creates a parallel pantheon inspired by Chinese culture, rarely tied to the Mythos' classic deities. Ouch!
• He stages a thoroughly human antagonist, though perfectly aware of his acts, who can reach his goals without devoting himself to a superior entity. Scandal!
• Said goals do not boil down to destroying humanity, or to corrupting it. Unthinkable!

You are thus warned: diving into Les Cinq Supplices hoping to find "a modern Cthulhu campaign" is running headlong into a disappointment. Instead, you would do better to consider it for what it is: a UFO in your Call of Cthulhu library. Admit it, it needed one!

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On the campaign's unfolding

Lovers of semi-historical games can only appreciate a campaign that takes place in Manchuria - a zone little explored by role-playing games - at a period as tense as that of the 1931 Japanese invasion. The author tackles the subject seriously, letting each dimension cohabit harmoniously: the pulp side (therefore caricatural), the Mythos side and the historical side. The latter aims to be detailed - respectful of a certain duty of remembrance - while avoiding sinking into the unhealthy. To tell the truth, I even spent a few hours poring over articles about 20th century China, so much does the whole book kindle the desire to learn more about this era, whose ramifications are still felt today.

The scenarios themselves follow one another logically, without giving the impression of repetition. As it should be, they skillfully mix recurring characters and new faces, all have a perceptible "micro-climax" evident from reading alone, and the whole builds up to an explosive finale. I am therefore hopeful that after a somewhat sluggish start for my group (cf. below), the rest of the adventure will fall into place without my players feeling they are forcing their characters' hand.

All these good impressions will need to be confirmed, dice in hand, as our sessions go. I hope this first positive feeling proves right!

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Our team

2015 and 2016 were laborious years in terms of availability to play, leaving time the leisure of finishing our Masks of Nyarlathotep group. For this Cinq Supplices campaign, a new team of five players + GM (including three women) was thus put together. On the PC side, it includes:

• Jacques d'Oye, a French psychologist who collaborated with the Asian medical world on the development of psychiatric treatments in China. Proud of his logical mind, he is ready to do a lot to prove that the supernatural is nothing but vain beliefs. His good contacts with his Chinese colleagues earned him an invitation to a certain shadow theater, one fateful evening...
• Marie-Joséphine Pompidou, inflexible and bigoted sister of a convent in the Paris suburbs. It is chance that pushed her to take care of the capital's "Asian sinners", whom she puts back on the right path through many an abuse. Out of concern for the soul of a Chinese sinner, Sister Marie-Joséphine enlists in the adventure.
• Jeanne Lefebvre is the daughter of a renowned archaeology professor. More than competent to take up the baton from her late father, she looks for a way to be officially recognized without suffering the era's sexist prejudices. Her indirect contacts with a collector, an old friend of her father, open the doors of the campaign to her.
• Fernand Legoffe, a Breton farmer. Cultivated but fed up with academic life, the man secluded himself in his native Brittany to work the land. When chance has him receive a letter of invitation to the inauguration of the Gare de l'Est's extension, addressed to a rich namesake, he seizes the opportunity and ties his fate to that of a very dark story.
• Ki Qua, a Chinese vagabond born of the forced immigration at the beginning of the 20th century. She flees the French authorities like the plague, no doubt deeply self-conscious about being de facto a criminal in society's eyes. Her expatriate contacts invite her, too, to a perfectly innocent Chinese shadow show...

The partial summary of our first session can be found on our forum. The second is still waiting to be written up!

Any advice?

In bulk, here are a few ideas and observations for you, who wish to start this campaign:

• "Les Cinq Supplices" is a campaign about NPCs. Or rather, about one NPC (singular). Sayk Fong Lee alone crystallizes almost all the considerations; his characterization must necessarily be careful for the players to latch on. Fortunately, the first booklet expounds at length on his motivations, his history and his weaknesses.
• The reproaches addressed to "Masks of Nyarlathotep" were heard. The author insists that the campaign is not lethal per se: if danger threatens the PCs, the latter always have options to get out of it while avoiding death. The characters' fate is up to the players, rather than the dice. Beware if you prefer a more "swashbuckling" vision of role-playing, where deaths can occur around every corner.
• Cthulhu campaigns (often) stage common folk grappling with the supernatural. Thus, players are used to overestimating the reasons that would push their characters not to embark on the adventure, rather than accepting to trust 3 jokers met at the corner of an inn (as in most role-playing games). The first book provides a list of preliminary adventures to play in order to reinforce the reasons to hunt down Sayk Fong Lee: do not neglect them. I made the mistake of thinking we could do without, but it would have been better to follow the author's wise advice, so much did the players feel their character was quickly catapulted into the middle of an adventure that gains momentum very quickly.

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Impossible to close this article without a small conclusion, all the more useful for those who jump straight to the bottom of the page. In short, the "Les Cinq Supplices" campaign seems up to the expectations it raised, both in form and in substance. It knows how to draw on Sans-Détour's good habits (material, historical context, general tone) while having corrected the disturbing aspects of the most venerable campaigns (high mortality, background NPCs). At this price, it also allows itself to question many "Lovecraftian" conventions to which many RPG players remain attached: be warned that you will not be playing a typical Call of Cthulhu adventure!

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1. 09.04.2017 Thanks to Valkann for the correction: there existed at least one other French-language campaign before this one: Nightmare Agency, published by Descartes in 1993. ↩︎