This is a one-off scenario, with pre-generated characters provided, set in a military hospital located just behind the lines in Belgium during the First World War. It's written as a purist adventure, but if you prefer to go a bit more pulp some ideas are provided to enable you to run it in that style.

There's some background that explains what is going on at the hospital, then it's on with the action, with the opening scene being in an ambulance convoy heading towards the hospital. Those characters who are injured and who will become patients at the hospital should determine with the Keeper what wounds they have and how they acquired them, this can be dealt with in a flashback scene (which may be held in reserve by the Keeper to be run at a dramatically-appropriate moment). For those who have been posted to the hospital, likely as medical staff, there's a slightly calmer introductory scene... but everyone ends up in the same ambulance convoy, although they do not know each other at this point. Then it comes under fire...

Assuming they survive the attack, everyone arrives at the hospital. It's pretty chaotic. Injured characters will have to be assessed and assigned to wards, those who have come to work here need to report in and be assigned their duties. There's also a rather excitable chaplain to deal with. From then on in it is a case of trying to figure out what is going on, with a host of NPCs to get to grips with, and various events and encounters as they figure out what is happening and how it can be halted.

Designed for a single evening's play it has the scope to be intense and highlight how even worse war can become if the Mythos gets mixed in. However, the mix of characters provided may not be ideal - it's hard to see how they will gel into a team - and an endnote suggests possible solutions mostly based on creating your own characters. Intended as a one-off, there are no thoughts for a follow-up - although it might possibly be used as a 'prequel' to a regular game: this is where the Investigators met and first encountered Things That Should Not Be, then skip ten years or so and they meet again to commence their adventuring careers.

I had the chance to run "Not So Quiet" on a convention, only noticing it flaws while running it. I can't imagine running it anywhere but a con simply because it's hard to follow up on and so isn't suited much for being woven into a longer narrative.

Players did not really buy very much into the horror which may be a bit subtle to begin with. Their explorations did not necessarily follow the suggested outlines or find much of the connections and clues suggested in the adventure. As a clear plus for the adventure is that it did not matter sooo much if you found everything out because getting the players into the ending is not too hard, making it even more suitable for convention play.

On the plus side, the opening scene is very strong and can be staged to great effect. The same is true for the finale which engages players to enter into shared hallucinations and provides some good roleplaying and playacting opportunities.

The layout, as often with "Trail of Cthulhu" releases, is a wall of text divided in columns with little to ease the eye. Illustrations are few and of the very few in there one is even repeated. Maybe one picture in five pages. No visuals for the pregens or major NPCs. The adventure still benefits from the basic framework and structure most "Trail of Cthulhu" modules have which aids GMs.

There are many excellent adventure modules for "Trail of Cthulhu". "Not So Quiet" is below par in comparison to several others but may be of interest for groups which might want to explore the time period of the Great War instead of the usual 1920s fare from "Call of Cthulhu" or 1930s time frame of "Trail of Cthulhu".

Yet another successful scenario for Trail of Cthulhu. The players are either injured men/women or posted military personnel in a hospital on the front lines in World War I. Everything is not as it seems as forces move to carry out nefarious plans. The players must do what they can to stop the evil or die trying (or go insane). Filled with flashbacks and scenes for both the injured and the posted, everything converges as the players learn the horrible truth. ToC is an easy system to learn and play. The pregenerated scenarios with characters to boot are a great way to get new players into the game and cut your teeth on a new system. Give it a few reads through and you are ready to go. I love the adventures for ToC because they're always interesting and you always get your money's worth.