No Time to Scream: Review

No Time to Scream is a new book of scenarios for Call of Cthulhu. As usual, my review is divided in a summarized “TL;DR” section, with no spoilers, and a longer review, which, in this case, has only very light spoilers. This is a before-playtest review. I will write an update once I have ran the 3 scenarios in this book. I hope you enjoy.

TL;DR:

Positives:

• The scenarios offer quick, engaging sessions that balance roleplay, combat, and player agency, making them interesting for both new and experienced players.

• Two of the scenarios can become demo classics, for conventions or one-shots.

• One scenario features a rarely-used Lovecraftian monster in a fitting and satisfying way.

Negatives:

• The artwork feels amateurish and detracts from the overall atmosphere.

• Organisation is dense, could be streamlined for easier use during gameplay.

• The second scenario's tone is overly pulpy and silly, lacking in cosmic horror 

Summary:

No Time to Scream offers three short scenarios with strong potential for demo play, though it suffers from some organisational and artistic shortcomings.

Full Review (with spoilers)

No Time to Scream tries to fill the relatively meagre choice that the Call of Cthulhu adventure repertoire offers for compact scenarios, designed to run between one and three hours. These three scenarios, despite their brevity, manage to create an eerie atmosphere while leaving room for roleplay, combat, and meaningful player agency. They strike a good balance between quick, digestible play sessions and the depth expected from Call of Cthulhu.

The introductory text provides a good discussion on how to run the game, with useful notes on staging and rules that will benefit new Keepers and those transitioning from the Starter Set. I think this is an excellent idea. For many starting groups, the quickstart rules or the Starter Set are often enough to enjoy Call of Cthulhu for a long time. For these groups, the added complexity of the Keeper’s Rulebook can actually make the game harder to approach. Having scenario books that explicitly support play without requiring the Keeper’s Rulebook is a great move. Moreover, even experienced Keepers may find it helpful to reread these notes as a refresher. Having run Call of Cthulhu for more than 30 years, I know how easy it is to develop idiosyncratic styles of play or incorrect interpretations of the rules that you have repeated so many times that you don't notice.

The three scenarios are the following:

A Lonely Thread: The investigators are called to visit an old friend, a respected professor, ant his lonely cabin in the woods, only to find that he is acting strangely. Unbeknownst to them, an alien entity has taken control of his mind. As the professor tries to delay the investigators with confused conversation and odd behaviour, something horrific is quietly growing in the annex to his home, a grotesque creation that threatens them all if they cannot uncover the truth in time.

Bits and Pieces: the investigators must hunt down and destroy the animated, separated body parts of a magical corpse, spread across the morgue of a hospital. These limbs work together to protect themselves and evade capture, turning the investigators’ task into a grotesque chase. The horror escalates as the pieces of the body exhibit a disturbing degree of cunning and coordination and make concerted attacks at the investigators.

Aurora Blue: a team of Prohibition federal agents raids a suspected bootlegging operation on a remote farm. But what starts as a routine bust quickly turns into a nightmare. As the agents move in, they uncover a terrifying secret—a Color from out of space has infested the farm, twisting the land and its inhabitants into something alien and monstrous. The investigators must survive the unknowable horror that has taken root there and maybe try to save the innocent from a horrible fate.

The first and third scenarios have the potential to become demo session classics, sitting comfortably alongside The Lightless Beacon and Dead Light (though Dead Light remains, in my opinion, a much stronger scenario overall than all the others). These scenarios are tight and engaging, perfect for conventions or one-shots.

A particular highlight in the third scenario is the inclusion of one of my favourite Lovecraftian monstrosities, the Color Out of Space, which is rarely featured in other official scenarios. Its appearance in one of these stories feels both fitting and satisfying—though the option to "destroy" it detracts from the nihilistic horror inherent to Lovecraft’s cosmology. In my opinion, such a creature should be beyond destruction, as it is the perfect incarnation of that hopeless nihilism that is at the centre of the concept of “cosmic horror”.

However, the book does have some drawbacks. While the layout is clean and functional, the artwork leaves much to be desired, and many of the illustrations feel amateurish. And in particular, the character portraits are very bad, recalling that uncanny valley where the human figure is replaced by some grotesque imitation of it. Putting it another way, every investigator/NPC portrait seems to be of a deep one hybrid (or a spawn of Yog-Sothoth).This art in fact diminishes the sense of dread the scenarios should inspire.

Regarding the organisation of the scenarios, while there is a clear attempt to provide ample guidance for Keepers, I question whether the dense presentation is the best approach. I would prefer a stronger separation between preparation materials and in-game reference material. Preparation materials should be detailed and give you a good setting/plot overview, but the gameplay materials should be concise and easily accessible. I don’t think this is accomplished here.

Take for instance the concept of "obvious" and "obscure" clues. It borrows from the Gumshoe system of Trail of Cthulhu, where essential clues are guaranteed to be found, while others provide additional context or advantages. Though not a bad idea, I find the implementation here less usable, as the Leads section—where clues are marked as obvious or obscure—is separate from the scenes or locations where the clues are discovered. 

(Note: I personally prefer other solution to make sure the plot progresses on a mystery investigation, like the “3 clue rule” - always having 3 clues in 3 different places/scene to lead to each new scene-location of the scenario - or, even better, the “countdown to catastrophe” that triggers revelations at the cost of increased danger for the investigators and NPCs).

The mixed presentation, blending staging advice with in-game structure, is neither pleasant to read during preparation nor handy during gameplay. Given Chaosium’s extensive experience, it’s surprising that the structure isn’t more efficient and streamlined, especially here, where there was clearly a lot of effort put in this particular aspect. In contrast, Trail of Cthulhu scenarios have a clearer structure, with scene headers that indicate lead-in and lead-out scenes, and core clues marked directly in the text.

Another weak point, in my opinion, is the tone of the second scenario, which leans heavily into over-the-top B-movie horror. While this may appeal to fans of the Re-Animator films, it lacks the cosmic dread that made me (and many others) fans of Lovecraft’s works.

Finally, the third scenario attempts to tackle social issues by featuring marginalized characters, such as people of colour and women, and addressing racism in the 1920s. However, these elements feel disconnected from the main plot. The use of flashbacks to illustrate the investigators’ experiences with discrimination doesn’t add much depth to the characters, reducing these moments to simplistic depictions of prejudice. While I strongly believe that historical role-playing games can be enriched by addressing the morals issues of the times, the approach here feels too simplistic and too prominent without being meaningfully integrated into the plot. If the goal was merely to remind players that 1920s America was deeply racist, a simple sign saying "whites only" would suffice. If the goal was to explore these issue, the scenario needed a stronger, more thoughtful connection to these themes.

Conclusion:

No Time to Scream delivers three short, engaging scenarios that expand the options for quick Call of Cthulhu sessions. Two of the scenarios have strong potential to become demo classics. Despite some artistic shortcomings and a second scenario that leans too far into B-movie territory for my personal taste, the book remains a solid addition to any Keeper’s collection. The third scenario’s attempt to address social issues, though well-intentioned, feels underdeveloped and could benefit from more integration into the plot (as it is, I am more likely to tone it down). 

One wonders if better scenarios, at lower prices, can be found on the Miskatonic Repository…

(I know you can: try my own three-hour scenario Kane’s Tone!!! It is straightforward to run, tense, and exciting. It does have potential for PvP conflict, which may be challenging for novice Keepers, but that element can be removed without sacrificing tension or excitement. Available on DriveThruRPG: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/476571/kane-s-tone ).