Quaint Mysteries & Curious Ghost Stories: A Review of The Predestination Engine & Other Stories

So dear reader, please allow me to indulge myself with a little story, one that harkens back to the airy days of late 2022, when half asleep and somewhat saddened by the prospect of travelling to work, your erstwhile reviewer was drawn once more into the world of quaint mysteries and curious ghost stories. We all know the story, an innocuous Facebook post, the lightest of clicks on a seemingly innocent link and the next thing you know you’ve suddenly added yet another book to your already overgrown RPG library… sigh…damn you DrivethruRPG!

Now, while, I know that little scenario was a little facetious, in this case at least, it does act as an appropriate lead into my experience of purchasing the wonderful The Predestination Engine & Other Stories; a collection of six scenarios by Paul StJohn Mackintosh and Tobias Cooper for Mr Mackintosh’s much respected Casting the Runes. That said, while my alter ego seems as if he was somewhat fooled or coerced into this purchase, I was overjoyed to delve once more into a new supplement for this fantastic roleplaying game.

For those of you who might not know of Casting the Runes, it is a game I’ve waxed lyrical about previously (see my review here). However, to save you time, let me reiterate my quick introduction with the following: Casting the Runes (or Casting the Runes: Occult Investigations in the World of M. R. James, to give its full name), is an impressive implementation of Pelgrane Press’ GUMSHOE open game system, set against the world of M R James’ unique late Victorian and Edwardian ghost stories. Of course, for some of you, the writings of Montague Rhodes James might not ring too many bells, but rest assured, if you’re a fan of horror, you will have most definitely felt his (indirect and direct) influence in everything from modern fiction, television, movies, and more. In fact, M R James’ stories are so much a part of the British ethos that even today his tales are still regularly being brought to life through a variety of media old and new.

First Impressions

The Predestination Engine & Other Stories is a sixty-page supplement that includes six scenarios and is available both in a PDF format and as a soft cover, staple bound book (both of which can be purchased through DrivethruRPG). It is laid out in the same easy-on-the-eye format seen in the Casting of the Runes core book; a very readable two-column design coupled with period-appropriate text styles (reflecting, quite intentionally, I’m sure, the various publications of the ‘Jamesian’ era). However, while the core rulebook was fully black and white (barring the cover), here we get a splash of colour, both in the illustrations and the sidebars, which goes a fair way to lighting up the general page design.

The colour art found throughout the book is well conceived and well matched to each scenario, utilising an ‘oil painting’ style that blends nicely with the themes of the ‘gaslight’ horror gaming. Each adventure gets at least a couple of these pieces, with the standouts being the illustration of the running figures on page 17 (the use of light and shadows here really do make this image ‘pop’), and the body on the altar appearing on page 57. In fact, my only real criticism of the art is that it is both a little too dark on the page and just too darned small! On this second point, it looks as if most of the illustrations were originally drawn as full-page pieces but have here been shrunk to about a quarter of this size. Of course, I realise that this ‘resizing’ was likely done to save space (20 full-page artworks would have likely added another quarter again to the final page count), but it does feel as if we are missing out on seeing the lovely works at their best.

Of additional note are the maps that appear throughout the book, from the full-page topographical map of Britain and Ireland on page 4 (upon which the locals of the supplement’s six adventures are clearly marked) to the numerous building blueprints and location plans accompanying each scenario. These are all very readable and can easily be used as ‘in-game’ handouts/guides if printed.

The Content

As mentioned, The Predestination Engine & Other Stories contains six scenarios, each ranging from around ten to twenty pages in length. None of these are quite what I’d call ‘fully formed’ adventures, and instead, all feel more like detailed ‘outlines’¹. For each scenario, we get the same basic structure including an introduction to the mystery, details around the adventure’s key site(s)/events, and an explanation of the plot’s trigger and/or cause. These points are rounded out by sections on important Non-Player Characters and a summary of the adventure’s main threat(s); be they mundane, ghostly or something else altogether! While I’m loathed to reveal too much detail around the individual scenarios, I thought it might be of interest if I quickly summarise the mysteries in this ‘sixpack’ of occult horror.

Opening with The Malvern Mystery, this scenario focuses on the recent rise of psychic disturbances in Malvern Parva Court, a small villa and long abandoned priory close to England’s Welsh border. Here the investigators will learn of the latest disturbances at the Court and discover the truth behind an ancient artifact and its portents of a coming doom.

• The Eastminster Enigma, set in the fictional Cambridgeshire Cathedral City of Eastminister, is one of the more dynamic scenarios of the series. In this mystery the Investigators are confronted with a known charlatan claiming that demons are real, and a rising death toll, the source of which might challenge even the bravest of heroes.
• In The Fiend of the Fens, the characters encounter a creature in the Holme Fen and must face it down if they have any chance to save the poor village and its inhabitants. From marshes to dark nightmares, the investigators will be forced to learn the terrifying truth behind the legend of the devil dog Black Shuck.
• The Predestination Engine see the investigators head to Scotland to discover the truth behind the madness and devastation arising from one man’s simple question – ‘Am I to be saved or damned in the next life’? The desire to answer what should be an unknowable conundrum will lead to a trail of mad alchemists and driven spiritualists, that may well also result in the characters’ own destinies being irrevocably altered.
• The source of The Oakhill Haunting is surely nothing more than a few bumps in the night? This mystery is a good old-fashioned ghost story, that will test the nerves of even the hardiest of souls. While the source of the haunting is not too difficult to determine, here we have a scenario where the journey is as much the experience as is its resolution.
• Between St. Magnus & St. Mary Overie, the final scenario in the collection is set in London and is the supplement’s most ‘traditional’ of horror RPG adventures (at least in structure, if not plotting). Here the investigators will be drawn into the machinations of long-forgotten spirits, foolish would-be sorcerers, and church traditions, in what will become as much of a personal tragedy as it is a ghost story.

The Positives

As I read through The Predestination Engine & Other Stories, I kept on asking myself, so, what makes a scenario an “Occult Investigation in the World of M. R. James”? Well, the adventures in this book are your living answer to that query. So please let me take a few moments to break that down.

Taking the second part of that question first, the ‘world of M R James’ can be broken into a few core aspects; it is religious in nature, focuses on relics and artifacts, explores the histories of churches and cathedrals, involves men (and women) of faith, and centres on the righting of old (and not so old) wrongs. To live in this world we need erstwhile priests, terrifying demons, lost spirits, and plenty of long-lost historical drama.

And the ‘occult investigations’? Well, that one is easy to explain. We need traditional ghost stories, or in other words, tales that are not in themselves solely about their mysteries (or even their solutions), but rather weave narratives that revel in the experience of their telling. Obviously, in a roleplaying game, it would be a little unsatisfying if the players were simply passengers in the narrative, and so they must become the protagonists; but beyond that, the key is to focus not so much on the story, but the fun and enjoyment of the gaming experience!

The Predestination Engine & Other Stories is what happens when you bring those two elements together. Ghosts, churches, and old traditions all combine as a fun experience for players and Game Masters alike at the table.

The Negative

That all said, I’m not going to let the collection get away without some criticisms… beyond what I’ve already voiced about the size of its art. You see, while this supplement is both more than I was expecting it is also less. Now, it’s difficult to articulate exactly why I make this statement, but after reading the book cover to cover, it just feels as if it is ‘missing’ something. I mean here we have six very well-thought-out, interesting scenarios, which I know are going to provide great fun at my game table, but there is still that small nagging at the back of my mind that lowers my overall satisfaction with this book… just a smidgeon.

Maybe it’s the absence of a through-line narrative, a plot binding the six very individual mysteries together? Or is it that the motivations of the players are never explored at any length in the context of the mysteries themselves? In that, I feel like the authors missed a trick in not creating some sort of wider construct that would have reflected on the investigators and the overall outcomes of the collection. I really don’t know…

In Summary

I realise that by raising those criticisms it might sound as if I didn’t appreciate the supplement (despite all the praise I gave it earlier, but the truth is that those points are as about as critical as I can get about The Predestination Engine & Other Stories. It really is a fantastic series of adventures for a game and setting that I already adored. Hell, if the creation of an overarching plot and a bit of character motivation is all that a Game Master needs to add to run these scenarios then – in any sense of the word – you are on to a winner!