The Laundry Files are an iconic series of spy thrillers with a twist, written by Charles Stross. Instead of nation states engaged in an escalating war of mutually assured destruction, we have Lovecraftian states – specifically the Cthulhu Mythos. Charles Stross took a fear of looming destruction by powers we do not fully understand, similar to what people experienced during the cold war, and applied it to the cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft and the coming of the great old ones.
Facing off against these nameless horrors is the Laundry (so called because it was initially located above a Chinese laundry); a small and chronically under-funded British agency chartered with protecting the world from the scum of the universe. However, as it is part of the British government, The Laundry is subject to government regulations and good practice guidelines in order to maintain ISO9001 compliance for quality management systems.
The result is the Laundry Files, where the only thing standing against the Cthulhu Mythos is the British love of bureaucracy. Needless to say, it is funny and chilling in equal measure (read our review of the books here).
It is worth noting that the series is no stranger to role-playing games. In 2010, Cubicle 7 released the first edition of The Laundry Roleplaying Game. Earlier this year, the book A Conventional Boy was released, where only a gamer from the Laundry can stop a ritual disguised as a role-playing scenario being held at a gaming convention.
The first edition of The Laundry Roleplaying Game was based on the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Although these games share many themes, they are tonally quite different and the Call of Cthulhu system could not adequately represent that. There is a defiant edge to the Laundry Files that is not present in the Call of Cthulhu. As the protagonist Bob Howard says in The Atrocity Archives: “If being a smart-arse was an offence, the Laundry would not exist in the first place.”
Cubicle 7 have recently released the core books for their new edition of The Laundry Files Roleplaying Game. The rules have been replaced with a brand-new system that simplifies the mechanics and streamlines the experience to create a character-driven experience.
The focus is on the skills and – just importantly – having the correct training and clearance to use a particular applied computational demonology gadget. Is your character in a tight situation without the necessary clearance to use a Level 3 ward? If so, just hope they can reach a PC in time to complete the necessary online training webinar before they are eaten…
This role-playing game is a joy to read. The writing perfectly captures the tone of the novels. Charles Stross was involved in the writing of the game, which incorporates his wry humour. There are neat touches, such as the game master being called the ‘Supervisor’ and character sheets referred to as ‘personnel records’. A particularly vicious supervisor might require players to complete their personnel records in triplicate…
The Laundry Files are expansive; in the novels, the setting has evolved to incorporate vampires (PHANGs) and superhuman abilities, as the world comes ever closer to CASE NIGHTMARE GREEN (when the stars are right and the boundaries between worlds collapses). The role-playing game is set during the first few books (before PHANGs and superheroes), but the developer David Chapman has intimated that future sourcebooks will include rules for people with transhuman abilities.
Players take on the role of new recruits for the laundry and have been assigned to one of the many departments within the labyrinthine organisation. There are a vast array of techno-occult roles on offer, from computational demonologist to counter-possession unit… and of course the door kickers from OCCULUS (special forces teams that banish first and ask questions later).
The magic system is heavily regimented, which makes sense for role-playing a government agent tasked with regulating occult powers. Gameplay wise, all spells and summonings have a rating of 1 to 5 and are resisted by similarly graded wards or banishments. For example; a Level 3 ward blocks a Level 2 spell. The game further notes that occult ritualists may be disappointed when their elaborate ceremony for Shroud of Nyarlathotep’s Shadow is dismissed as just a Class 1 ward by a cranky Laundry agent…
Bringing together a diverse team of characters can be frustrating, but The Laundry Roleplaying Game makes this easier by everyone working in the structured hierarchy of the agency. The joys of matrix management means that groups of player characters can have multiple team leaders when there are characters from different departments. Characters can therefore be brought together for specific projects due to their skills (and being noticed by the management).
The initial core releases for the 2nd edition of The Laundry Files role-playing include:
- The Operative’s Handbook
- Supervisor’s Guide
- Introduction to Applied Occult Computing
- Black Bag Jobs Reopened
The Operative’s Handbook and Supervisor’s Guide are essential for running the game. The Operative’s Handbook provides all the rules for the game and characters, whilst the Supervisor’s Guide details the various entities and organisations within the setting, as well as further rules on how to run the game.
Introduction to Applied Occult Computing is a quick start guide, but comes with a great adventure that acts as sequel to The Concrete Jungle (a short story included at the end of The Atrocity Archives) and a sample background of setting the game in Milton Keynes, which can be easily adapted for other towns and cities.
Black Bag Jobs Reopened is a reprint of the 1st edition adventure book but using the new system. The adventures scale in complexity and threat, and provide a great example of the types of stories that can be told in the game. The only disappointment here is the lack of overarching narrative.
Although Introduction to Applied Occult Computing and Black Bag Jobs Reopened are not essential to running the game, both are so useful that they are well worth getting anyway.
Overall, there is a lot to like in The Laundry Roleplaying Game second edition. It is perfect for any fan of the novels by Charles Stross, but remains sufficiently accessible for players that are looking for something more from their role-playing games, but have not read the books.
