This article originally appeared in Pyramid #21

Pyramid Pick

The Golden Dawn

Published by Pagan Publishing
Written by Scott Aniolowski, Garrie Hall,
Steve Hatherley, Alan Smithee, John T. Snyder,
and John Tynes
$19.95

The Golden Dawn, Pagan Publishing's third large-scale addition to the world of Lovecraft-inspired gaming, is perhaps their strongest effort yet. The Golden Dawn, at 192 pages, offers well-researched and accurate historical information on the development and membership of England's most famous occult society, broadens the scope of Call of Cthulhu gaming through the addition of the Astral Plane as a setting, and provides four scenarios that further explore a potential left largely untapped in Cthulhu by Gaslight. An amble bibliography, extensive player handouts, excellent artwork and maps, and a Golden Dawn character sheet round out this solid product.

While the summary above details a number of The Golden Dawn's merits, its subtitle ("A Sourcebook of Victorian Occult Intrigue for Call of Cthulhu") best defines, for me, its strength. By shifting the emphasis of the game from outre horror to occult intrigue, Pagan Publishing has broken the standard paradigm of Call of Cthulhu. Instead of portraying doomed investigators who scramble to prevent Mythos minions from scouring the earth clean, the players are members in a social club who must consider the ramification of their actions in light of their impact upon the order as they become embroiled in the machinations, bids for control, and potential scandals that eventually . . .

This article originally appeared in the second volume of Pyramid. See the current Pyramid website for more information.



Article publication date: September 1, 1996

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