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Chaosium Digest Volume 21 Number 10
Chaosium Digest Volume 21, Number 10
Date: Sunday, September 14, 1997
Number: 3 of 4
Contents:
Review: My CoC Collection (Eamon Honan) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: "Eamon Honan" <spire@indigo.ie>
Subject: Review: My CoC Collection
System: Call of Cthulhu
In my just over two years I've amassed a pretty large amount of
Cthulhiania, mostly games related. So out of sheer boredom and the
goodness of my heart here are capsule reviews of just about every book
I can find in my collection.
Note: I haven't run all this stuff nor have I used it all.
Key:
[J] - I have used extensively/run completely and in the original form.
[K] - I haven't used, but have cannibalised for ideas/characters.
[L] - I didn't consider worth using.
[#] - I have used a little/run in a modified/shortened form.
[?] - Stuff I haven't run yet.
NOTE TO PLAYERS
This article is intended for those poor barely sane overworked sods
who usually shell out for this kind of stuff, that is Keepers. I have
a fairly extensive collection of gear and it is possible that I may
spoil some of the surprise for you if you read this article, you have
been warned.
One last point, this article was written based on the assumption that
the average Keeper is smarter then the average player. No disrespect
to CoC players intended, but we're smarter than you are, honest. Of
course this is a personal opinion, and is of course open to debate.
When I aired this particular opinion with two of my players one of
them pointed out a certain flaw in my reasoning.
"If you're so smart how come we come to your house every week and play
for three hours, have fun, enjoy ourselves, and go away and live
relatively normal lives for the rest of the week, while you spend your
time trying to find out how to escape 19th Century Russian prisons or
nwhat sort of tortures the Spainish Inquisition used."
Any Keeper with a sort, pithy response to this particular line of
argument will earn my eternal gratitude. Answers on a postcard please.
** NON-CTHULHU BOOKS **
REFERENCE BOOKS
A 1934 Streetmap of Chicago [J]
A gift from a kind-hearted distant relative of mine who works for the
Chicago Tribune, here as an example of how you can use a period
document to engage the players. This old map has seen more car chases
then you've had hot dinners.
The Bootleggers [J]
(Arrow Books)
Kenneth Allsop's brilliant book on Chicagos' gangsters in the 1920's.
Essential reading for gangster campaigns. Long, but very detailed.
Encyclopedia Brittanica CD [J]
Just about the best general reference book you will ever find ever.
With the option of using either the macropedia or micropedia you can
get as much or as little information as you like. As a rule: clear,
accurate and unbiased. The print version is bulkier (it takes up two
shelves in my room) but just as informative.
Find out about Secret Codes and Messages [#]
(Treasure Press)
A kid's book, but with more then enough material to keep an budding
cryptographer going. I use it mostly for secret cultist stuff and as a
guide for creating believable weird languages for translation. Nice,
but hardly essential.
Funk & Wagnall's Encyclopedia [J]
(as part of the Infopedia CD package)
Useful for filling in the gaps in my knowledge of American History and
Americana in general. No where near as useful as the Briattanica
however, though the pictures can be printed out and used for other
purposes (I've used several 19th century Prohibitionists as cultists).
Illustrated History of Small Arms [J]
(Tiger Books International, London)
Everything you ever needed to know about guns and then some. Also
useful when you need to go to the toilet/get some food; my players go
through it while I'm gone and look at the pretty pictures. Again,
accurate and clear, covering all major firearms from muskets to
assault rifles, so you only have to buy one book no matter what era
you play in. Also includes statistics for most weapons (calibre, rpm,
magazines, etc) making it relatively easy to extrapolate CoC stats.
Instruments of Terror [#]
(Vision paperbacks)
An easily accessible look at how modern terrorists and cultists work,
with particular attention being paid to the possibilites of weapons of
mass destruction in their hands. Chilling stuff, useful for 1990s
Keepers.
New Larousse Encyclopedia of Mythology [J]
(Hamlyn)
All you ever wanted to know about world mythology and then some.
Plenty of material for Keepers to work with here. Casual occultists
may want to look for a less expensive and weighty volume, however.
Obscure Deseases of the Abdomen [K]
A gift from my father (Thanks Dad!). The only book more horrifying
then the Necromonicon. Useful for icky medical sounding terms for use
in autopsy reports.
OTHER GAMES
GangBusters [J]
(TSR)
I got my hands on a copy of the 2nd edition. Increibly useful for
anybody running a gangster oriented 1920s campaign. It describes
Lakefront City (a thinnly disguised Chicago) and provides plenty of
scenario ideas, npcs (including two gangs, independents and police),
and an array of low dives, ritzi nightclubs and hideouts to suit
anybody's taste. It also includes good information on living in the
1920s as well as workable rules for dealing with numbers rackets,
bootlegging and other such stuff. Highly recommended.
GURPS Cliffhangers [J]
(Steve Jackson Games)
A useful potted guide to the '30s for more action oriented
investigators. Invaluable for any Keeper wishing to run more
"two-fisted" scenarios then the norm. I've used it to run a couple of
one shots using my own "Full-Auto" CoC Action Movie System (see
V13.6). Chock full of weird and wonderful ideas.
Indiana Jones and the Rising Sun [#]
(West End Games)
An occidental Keeper's potted guide to Japan in the '30s. On the one
occasion the investigators did visit Japan I was able to make the
place seem relatively real and distinct from other nations, without
having to structinise long winded academic treatises on the correct
way to recite Haiku or eat Sushi. Though I did have to fall back on
my knowledge of Mr. Moto films at one point (*shame*).
** CALL OF CTHULHU GAME BOOKS **
CTHULHU: 1990s
The 1990s Handbook Supplement [J]
"How to Kill things in the 1990s" would have been a better title. The
information on guns and the military is useful for anybody running
military/mercenery games (I've run a couple of Merc:2000 one shots
using these rules). There is some infromation on organised crime and
hit locations. The Story Seeds were pretty miserable, any decent
keeper could have come up with them in the space of an hour. Surely
the space could have been filled with a single scenario, rather then
this padding? There is also some information on computers, that is
again pretty basic, but functional, though I'm sure a computer
literate Keeper (unlike myself) could come up with a better
system. All-in-all a disappointing product from a CoC point of view,
but useful in other ways.
A Resection in Time Mini-Campaign [J]
An excellant introductory scenario for novice players, particularly
due to its "X-Files-sy" atmosphere. With dozens of handouts for puzzle
solvers to muddle through, characters for roleplayers to interact
with, and bad guys for computer gamers to kill (or at least try), it
has something for everyone. Ideally suited to beginners, as it
introduces them to the Mythos without giving them any major tomes and
gives them a hint of what is happening in the "big picture" vis a vis
us and the Old Ones. Playable in about 8-10 hours.
Utatti Asfet Campaign [L]
I'm sure this a playable campaign and that it would prove a highly
enjoyable one to the players. However the style of the campaign just
doesn't sit right with me. There are too many non-Mythos magical
elements (voodoo, Egyptian mythology, and Tongan Shark Cults) given
credence to satisfy the Mythos purist in me. This is purely a personal
prejudice on my part, though I must admit the campaign did seem
stylisticly speaking to be closer to early '80s horror movies than
Lovecraftian Horror, and the mind boggles at the thought of any Keeper
seriously contemplating using a Hunting Horror as part of a Mardi-Gra
float. Not my kind of thing, but then again that's just me.
CTHULHU: ANY ERA
Keeper's Compendium Supplement [J]
A non-essential reference work for Cthulhu. The best section is about
Forbidden Books, expanded and more detailed than the Mythos Tomes
section of the CoC Rulebook. There are also sections on Cults,
Beasties, and Mythos Sites. What really makes this book shine is the
fact that it gathers together all the material from the stories and
organises it into categories, which allows you to fiddle with it and
dismember it and put it back together, without having to trawl through
them. My copy is very well thumbed.
Strange Aeons One-Shot Scenarios (3) [J]
Three adventures. One set during the Spainish Inquisition, a sparkling
scenario, great fun (in the early stages it resembled our early
Paranoia games, "Heretic!"--The Inquisition is your friend), with a
tip of the hat to one of Bram Stoker's oft-neglected characters. One
set on a Lunar base in 2010, that I found unappealing and will
probably never run, again a strictly personal prejudice--anybody who
liked some of the cornier Dark Conspiracy games will like this. The
last scenario I itch to run and will do so soon. Set in Elizabethan
London, to a background of plague and ignorance, it mixes some
wonderful settings around the city and offers the chance for any of
the players to exercise their Errol Flynn fantasies with a good
swashbuckling climax.
Taint of Madness Supplement [J]
I must admit it was strictly the completist in me and the fact that
Shannon Appel's name was on the front cover that got me to buy this. I
was pleasently surprised; time spent in asylums was glossed over in my
games up to then. Now, armed with a full knowledge of the sort of
torture I could legally inflict on my players, it crawls by with the
speed of a snail doing the run from Siberia to Moscow. Basicly it
boils down to the following: incredibly detailed information on
aslyums and insanity in general and the legal implications of insanity
and the way it was treated through the ages. The 1890s scenario
shines; insanity at close quarters is twice as scary. The 1920s and
1990s scenarios are competant, but uninspiring. The physciatric
interview is particularily well dealt with and is now a permanent
feature of my games. The book also includes complete statistics for
numerous asylums scattered across the world, useful for globe trotting
and mentally unstable investigators.
Tales of Terror Supplement [J]
A collection of scenario ideas for CoC, all based around a beginning
with three different endings and/or explanations. Adaptable to just
about all eras and situations. All of these can fleshed out in about
15-20 minutes. Some are duds, others are bloody good.
CTHULHU: 1920s
The King of Chicago & ... Mini-campaign/Suppl. [K/J]
I don't know quite what to make of this, but I think it's brilliant.
The book consists of two long scenarios that could be run over
two-three sessions or could be stretched out to last for a whole
campaign, as a sort of background story to scenarios set in the same
milieu. The section on Marseilles is excellent, the criminal gangs of
the port city and the gangster sub-culture is very well dealt with. I
always knew the French were aliens! The section on Chicago is nowhere
near as good. I just took the characters and used the gang war as a
background against which to set a short Chicago based campaign. One
niggle is the fact that it doesn't make it clear that the Chicago
Police were incredibly corrupt, and that well-heeled investigators
could literally get away with murder. Also the Mythos involvement
seems pretty incidental to the gang warfare. There is also a small
section on the economics of crime at the back, as well as black market
weapons. Nice, but hardly essential. Buy this book, if only for the
Marseilles section.
Fearful Passages Scenarios(10) [#]
A collection of ten scenarios all centered around travel in the
twenties, each scenario taking as its base a different form of
travel. As a rule the scenarios are good, suited to a mixture of
playing styles. You'll find something you'll like in this for sure.
"Slow Boat" - Full of pathos, horror, and dark romance, it terrified
my players. It's nice to know somebody else knows Zothique exists as
well. Evokes C.A. Smith's world very well.
"Furious Driving"/"Along the Indus" - Two scenarios for investigators
of a more philosophical bent, focusing on personal horror and
enlightenment. A must for the more jaded CoC players.
"Armoured Angels"/"Sleigh Ride" - Real Boy's Own paper stuff. Two
excellent adventures for the physically inclined. Sleigh Ride is
almost a mini-campaign, depending on whether the Keeper uses all of
it; it would make an interesting addition to The Compact Trail of
Tsathoggua. Both the adventures use their respective settings very
well (India/Bolshevik Russia) with plenty of opportunities for
roleplaying as well as adventure.
"Fear of Flying"/"The Iron Ghost"/"Rigid Air" - Good quality standard
Mythos stuff.
"Crash Dive" - An excursion rather then a scenario, suitable for when
not everybody can make it. However, the Dream Plate can easily be
swapped for whatever Mythos doodad the investigators are after at the
moment and can be tacked on to an existing campaign with ease. Also
useful for allowing the investigators to pick up some diving skills.
"Auto Chase Rules" - A two page appendix, simple and relatively
streamlined while maintaining suspense for gangster/action games.
Recommended.
Fatal Experiments Suppl./Scenarios (3) [J]
An unusual book, composed of some new weapons for CoC (with pretty
pictures) and three scenarios.
"New Weapons for CoC" - Deals with black powder guns and weird
weapons, as well as big game shotguns and the dragon's breath round
(decide whether you want your players to have this or not; mine
couldn't live without them). Nice but hardly essential.
"Tatterdemalion" - An excellent scenario centred around The King in
Yellow. Keepers who are going to run it might look up the Annotated
Unspeakable Oath #1 for some extra stuff on Carcosa. A weird trip with
some excellent role-playing opportunities.
"The Songs of Fantari" - A scenario ideally suited to novice players,
giving an unusual introduction to the game. A strange close up look at
an often over-used Mythos race.
"The Lurker in The Crypt" - A lengthy and very deadly adventure that
can be coupled with The Wail of the Witch from Curse of Cthulhu very
easily. An interesting adventure, however there are two major pitfalls
in it. It must not be allowed to degenerate into a "dungeon bash" and
it must be made clear to the investigators that they will die unless
they seek official help, something my players were very loath to do.
The Compact Arkham Unveiled Supplement [J]
An essential item for any beginning Keeper. With the adventures in the
CoC Rulebook and this book, any Keeper will be well prepared to start
an Arkham based Lovecraft Country campaign. The book consists of a
catalogue of the city and all its Mythos sites, as well as the
inhabitants. Plenty of campaign material.
The London Guidebook Supplement [#]
A comprehensive Guidebook to London in the 1920s. It covers the
capital well and will well serve any Keeper too short of time to do
his own research. Covers all aspects of 1920s London life and contains
maps and illustrations that you can photocopy and use. Also contains
one rather lack-lustre adventure. Manages to impart some of the
atmosphere of the city, however I'd recommend checking out the city
itself and any old films featuring it (anything to do with Basil
Rathbone or Sexton Blake is a good bet).
Cthulhu Casebook Scenarios (9) [J]
Seven scenarios and two mini-campaigns running the gamut of CoC
playing styles and subjects, with everything from world threatening
horror to small town fear. An excellent buy for any beginning Keeper,
as it provides her with a good base on which to build, most of the
adventures being textbook examples of good CoC. A Campaign could very
easily be cobbled together from these scenarios, and with a little
work this book could keep an average group going for at least six
months. Also included are Sinister Seeds (that's plot ideas to you and
me - OK), Insta-plots (filler), Death Reports (nice, but not terribly
useful), and The Ten Commandments of Cthulhu Hunting (very useful - my
players swear by them and eaten every time). My first CoC supplement
ever *sniff*.
Escape from Innsmouth Suppl./Scenarios (2) [J]
A good buy for anybody running a Lovecraft Country campaign. The
corrupt township and its various denizens are dealt with in detail.
Maps are provided and the whole place is dealt with comprehensively
and well, with interesting supporting characters and sub-plots. The
book contains two scenarios and three pages of ideas for others.
However it would be a good idea to allow the characters to explore
Innsmouth first, as after the first scenario they will be unable to
return.
The second scenario, however, is a real gem, a recreation of the 1928
federal raid on Innsmouth. The investigators are split up amongst the
attackers and other players take the part of minor personalities in
those forces (marines, submariners, etc), the action cutting from each
assault group like a well cut film. The idea of supporting characters
is an excellent one and one I've used again, allowing the players to
really cut loose for once and have fun. The novelty of being part of
Lovecraftian "history" really seemed to make it more enjoyable, to the
extent that during the Arkham section of A Resection of Time, one of
the players (the only who had been there) went to the now ruined
Innsmouth... just to gloat. All in all an excellent supplement.
[Editor's Note: A new, expanded edition of this is going to press
very soon.]
The Cairo Guidebook Supplement [#]
A very well researched book, covering just about everything you ever
wanted to know about Cairo during the 1920s. The only problem is that
the whole thing is so chock full of information that you have to keep
flicking through the index to find stuff, which can break the
atmosphere. To get the full use out of this book, you would have to be
setting a campaign or at least a good portion of it in Cairo. A
scenario would have been nice (it helps to let players get the feel of
the place through play ). A very well produced book, but non-essential
to the casual visitor to Cairo; watching Death on the Nile and The
Ghoul and grabbing a book on Eygptian archeaology from the library
every so often will do.
Return to Dunwich Supplement [#]
A comprehensive tour of the sites and personalities of the township of
Dunwich. No scenarios as such are included, though all the data
required to re-stage the events in the story are gathered together in
an appendix at the back. The organisation and layout of the supplement
encourage a sort for meandering approach to the investigation of
Dunwich's various horrors. This not being to my taste, I haven't used
it as much as it deserves. However, given a bit of work, I'm sure a
Keeper could concoct a scenario that would have the investigators
scurrying about the countryside in fear of there lives. There is
plenty of material in this book, with no one Mythos God or Beastie
being the source of all the horror. This, as well as the mundane Rural
Gothic Horror that infests the place, adds considerably to the
longevity of the supplement. Not to my taste; I am far too much in
love with cities to remain in the country for long.
Curse of Cthulhu Campaign/Scenarios (3) [K]
I haven't played the campaign in this volume; however I have used the
NWI and Hauptman (with a touch of the hat to Bela Lugosi and Gary
Aldman's Dracula) and his castle. The campaign seems well put together
and eminently playable (the Celeano chapter needs rewriting--it hardly
seems atmospheric enough--but that's another personal gripen), though
without playing it I can't really judge. It would prove a much easier
feat for a novice Keeper to run then The Masks of Nyarlhotep while
still having the majesty of the world shattering campaign.
"The Case" - This scenario, based on The Strange Case of Charles
Dexter Ward, is a must for Lovecraft aficionados, especially people
who would recognise the story and enjoy the re-staging of a classic.
Perfect as a one-shot adventure to be played at a convention or where
CoC Keepers gather together. Definitely recommended.
"The Wail of Witch" - A standard CoC adventure, partially based on The
Dreams in the Witch House. A textbook example of what a CoC adventure
should be, with a good mixture of investigation, exploration, and
going very, very crazy.
"The Haunted House" - A beautifully crafted adventure revolving around
the haunting of a large country house. Not your standard fare and
investigators will have to be very clever to solve this on their first
try, due to the masses of investigation necessary and the non-standard
source of the haunting. For any aspiring Holmes or Sexton Blake. It is
a sad testament to my players failings that they burned the place to
the ground in frustration after the third session.
The Compact Trail of Tsathoggua Mini-Campaign [?]
An unusual pair of CoC scenarios close in style to the story "At the
Mountains of Madness". The planet is not threatened and survival and
knowledge will be the player's only reward. However, the possibilities
for investigation and role-playing abound. While I haven't played this
yet, I'd say it would take about 10-12 hours play to go through, as
written. Based on C.A. Smith's writings, this looks like a treasure of
an adventure.
The Thing at the Threshold Campaign [L]
This campaign didn't appeal to me at all, which is a pity since I was
looking forward to playing this amateur British effort. The whole
affair seems to have been put together hastily. It requires the
investigators to make several rather tenuous connections to complete
the campaign. This is coupled with the use of Mah Jong at the end of
the first section and a ridiculous parody of the Headless Horseman
story. Stylistically it didn't appeal either. The idea of dispelling
Nyogtha using what amounts to a "holy water mortar round" just doesn't
seem right. In terms of presentation it was a far cry from the usual
CoC layout; some of it being in grey sidebars that were hard enough to
read while I was browsing through it, hardly conducive to a quick
scanning in mid-game frenzy. I'd be delighted to hear from anybody who
can prove me wrong about this, but I found the book very disappointing,
but then again that's just me.
The Complete Masks of Nyarlathotep Campaign [?]
Someday when I'm all grown up and I have dedicated players, the skill,
the tenacity and the two years required to play this monster, I
will. Is it the best campaign ever written? I don't know. If it isn't,
it's bloody close. A sheer work of art from beginning to end, it's an
honour just to read it. The Everest of Call of Cthulhu... someday I
shall be worthy.
** FINAL COMMENTS **
If I was a novice Keeper and I was planning on splashing out on a few
supplements, knowing what I know now, this is what I'd get, in
order:
* Call of Cthulhu 5th Ed. Rule book - duh...
* Arkham Unveiled - A base around which to set my first campaign.
* The Cthulhu Casebook - An excellent collection of adventures to
allow me to find my feet.
* Escape from Innsmouth - Simply because it's excellent.
That, for just under L50, should keep any Keeper going for at least a
year and a half, assuming she isn't without a scrap of adventure
writing talent.
EAMON GETS COWARDLY
Before a great wave of fellow Cthulhu fans bury me beneath a kicking,
clawing, biting mass of avenging gamers for having the temerity to
criticise their favourite supplement or campaign... I'd just like to
say that the above is simply my opinion and I am deeply sorry if I
have offended any writer of CoC by criticising his/her "baby". To my
fellow Keepers that's my two cents... take it as you will. To any
players who happened to have learned something they shouldn't have,
you were warned.
--
