Cthulhu: Dark Providence

I had never played either Study in Emerald, so Cthulhu: Dark Providence arrived without any familiar landmarks. The tentacles have had a fairly busy career, to be honest, but after plenty of Call of Cthulhu RPG, bringing this one to the table felt appropriate. It was one of those rare evenings when a game does not need to make a fuss in order to hold the room.

On a first play, the thing that comes through is the flow. It moves with an easy rhythm, never seeming to pause merely to admire its own machinery, and the contact between players belongs to that motion rather than sitting on top of it as decoration.

I am not going to claim I had mapped every layer after one encounter. Its basic workings clearly leave more to uncover, while the choices at the table seem plentiful enough that nobody is simply playing beside everyone else; you watch what the others are building, then adjust your own course.

Cthulhu: Dark Providence pleased me precisely because it did not spend all its interest on the first meeting. With its gentle pace, its clear room to grow, and the stamp of the original Old One, it is quietly excellent.