Crooked Dice - Beneath the Mountains of Madness review We take a look at Crooked Dice's latest release: Beneath the Mountains of Madness. Continuing their mission to blend weird retro aesthetics, cinematic gaming mechanics, and a smidgen of history, Crooked Dice have released Beneath the Mountains of Madness. As with many of Crooked Dice’s releases, this one started as a Kickstarter; with that crowdfunding campaign fulfilled, we can all get our hands on the 7TV expansion (Feature Pack), along with a range of quirky figures connected to the release. Packaged inside a VHS tape box, which adds nicely to the retro feel, you’ll find all the bits you’ll need to immerse your group of brave players in a Lovecraftian horror movie-like adventure. The Episode Guide book, the Cast cards (character options), Make Up and Prop cards (extra gaming modifiers), and Grimoires (magic abilities) add a lot of richness to the Antarctic-during-World-War-Two setting, and the wild adventure that occurs there. From Greater Shoggoths to Mutant Penguins As you have probably guessed, the Nazis have been meddling with the occult again! Rather predictably, they’ve dug up some badness in the ice, and things have gotten rather… messy! The US have sent an OSR (Occult and Science Reserve) team into the frozen landscape to investigate what’s going on. This is where the gaming gets into its swing, but there’s a fair bit of background provided first, allowing you to immerse yourself in the film-like world. This sets up the environment and key cast members (many of whom get new miniatures) before a five-part campaign. This takes up about two-thirds of the book, and features special themed rules, along with a good dose of classic historical adversaries, all given a bit of a cold-weather twist (rather fitting for this month’s Winter War theme). There are far stranger gaming options to choose from, too, with everything from ancient, otherworldly horrors to monstrous mutant penguins out for blood. It’s an intriguing blend of horror and quirky comedy of which the likes of Sam Rami and Bruce Campbell would be proud! Beneath the Mountains of Madness does a great job of adding new mechanics to each of the scenarios, building up the tension, dread, and isolation for players as the games progress. Each scenario result impacts the next game: a minor victory might weaken a key opponent, or gain you the initiative, whereas a major victory will give the conqueror bonuses such as new Props (bits of equipment) to use, or specialist cast members to bring into play. Under the Microscope There are 26 neat accessory cards included, split into Props and Special Effects. The Props are more your good-guy basics: a Hand Camera that can immobilise
