Mike Mason, Scott David Aniolowski, Sean Branney, Allen Carey, Keris McDonald, Jason Durall, Paul Fricker, Bob Geis, Lynne Hardy, Bridgett Jeffries, Jo Kriel, David Larkins, Mark Morrison, Thom Raley, Mathew Sanderson, Becca Scott, Seth Skorkowsky
Details from Amazon:
About this item
- This pocket-sized guide to running games of Call of Cthulhu has an old-school black & white interior in a premium leatherette hardcover.
- ADVICE FROM THE VETERANS: Tips, essays, and contributions from experienced and diverse Call of Cthulhu Keepers including Jason Durall (RuneQuest), Becca Scott (Good Time Society), Sean Branney (H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society), Allan Carrey (Type40), Lynne Hardy (The Children of Fear) Bridgett Jeffries (The Miskatonic Repository), Mike Mason (Call of Cthulhu), and many, many others!
- ALL TOPICS COVERED: The advice in Keeper Tips is spread across a wide range of topics, including preparation, gameplay, inclusivity, designing scenarios, combat, monsters, horror, sanity, and much more!
- TRANSFERABLE SKILLS: While the advice in Keeper Tips is specifically geared towards Call of Cthulhu, much of the information is transferable to other games as well. The knowledge in this book is easily ported over to games such as RuneQuest and King Arthur Pendragon!
- Perfect for fans of the Call of Cthulhu series or newcomers to the game!
A gathering of wisdom, advice, and tips from Keepers for Keepers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game
- 113 pages, Hardcover
First published December 5, 2021
Initial Thoughts:
So, full disclosure, I read this book when it first came out in 2021 but never posted a review. Then I was at Chaosium Con UK this year (in Cranfield), and I noticed they had the book in a nice hardcover edition, so I had to get it. I read it a second time, and now I’m posting this review. Akso please do forgive the quality of the image, I wanted to show the new edition I bought and couldn’t find a high quality one online.
Main Points:
This is a book for Keepers (Cthulhu’s term for Dungeon Masters) and gives a tremendous amount of useful advice. As other people have said, it does not give any context or introduction to each chapter; it just dives right in. Sure, the book could have been better with more history, narrative examples, and explanations of terms, but it would only have made it a longer read, and I quite enjoyed the lightness and brevity.
Much of the advice here could be applied to anyone who runs a tabletop RPG, but it fits better with Cthulhu. I don’t agree with everything written here, but that’s ok (the author even says so), but I would say that 80-90% of the tricks, tips and advice are incredibly helpful to anyone interested in either running Cthulhu or a veteran keeper who may be looking for ways to improve/spice up their game.
Final Thoughts:
While you could speed through reading this book in a day, I am glad I spent a week or so going through it slowly, giving it time to sink in. My only real complaint is that I wish there were more; some chapters felt far too short. I also thought that while the chapter on creating your own scenarios was excellent, there was no mention of creating your own monsters or spells; hopefully, this is added to future editions. Since the “Call of Cthulhu” RPG is not meant for kids, I would say this book is best for mature readers as well, ages 16+. If you’re a fan of the Cthulhu RPG and have ever thought about being a Keeper, this is a must-read. I give it a solid 8.5 out of 10.