First Impressions - Svalbard

 

Svalbard - system agnostic modern horror

The PDF and print codes for Svalbard dropped over the weekend, and I ended up reading through the whole scenario as it's on the shortlist I have as potentials for Furnace.

This is a 96-page scenario with a different and clever feel to it. Set in the modern-day, the characters are members of a small strike team who have been sent to investigate a Russian owned mine complex on the island of Svalbard. The complex has potential links to super-weapon development and a warning has been received that something dangerous has happened.

The character's job is to infiltrate the complex, find out what is going on and stop it. There's more, but I'll put it below a spoiler break below.

The game is written with a very lightweight game engine included but has guidance on converting to other systems, with Call of Cthulhu being the most notable. I think it would work well for Delta Green, but I think that I'd prefer to use the game engine as presented as it would focus on the story.

I like the way that this is set up; the locations within the complex seem well structured and it looks like it could be quite good fun to play. The artwork is good and the layout clear. The supporting GM screen is really useful as a reference. Svalbard is certainly on my list to try.

Spoilers follow the break...

The complex presented is effectively a modern Cthulhu mythos puzzle-dungeon where the characters need to find keys to progress. The unique part is meant to be a surprise to the players, but it's blown on the cover of the book! This is a Roguelike scenario, which means that the characters will respawn at the start of the mission if they die or if they delay too long. Space and time are distorting as they have stumbled into a weapons project that is seeking to draw upon the power of Azathoth, the nuclear chaos. Much like the movie, Edge of Tomorrow, they will live, die and repeat as they try to find a solution before everything ends. It's not a complex plot, and it would be underwhelming if they hadn't added this element.

The game engine is clever in that in most cases the characters will always succeed, but the real question is how long will it take them. On each run, the world ends after 8 Time Units; if you are skilled the right way, actions don't cost time, but if you aren't specialised they'll always delay you. Finding the right path cuts out time spend, and gets you closer to the final heart of the mystery; if you fail there, you've failed. In principle, you can have as many runs through it as you like, but they suggest eight runs maximum may be sensible, especially if the characters start to kill themselves to get back to the start and reset a run.

Part of me was a little disappointed about the way that this defaulted into 'someone in the project is a bad egg', giving a classic villain. I think it would be more interesting if the potential for ending the world came about as an accident and wasn't what the project team intended. They start a summoning and can't control it, much like the first time my Call of Cthulhu players cast 'Summon Dimensional Shambler' without knowing it had a 'Bind Dimensional Shambler' counterpart. They thought they could control it, and now have to live with what they've done. In fact, the final scene could have been the 'cultists' trying to stop what they've done but being short the right number of people to stop the ritual and needing the players to help. Anyway, I digress.

Overall, this looks good and worth a run.

16 August 2021