The Inside Scoop on Gaming

The Cthulhu mythos stories remind me of a huge, wonderfully spooky gothic mansion built by twenty different construction crews working simultaneously with different blueprints. The net effect is great, but trying to find one particular room in the maze of construction is a headache. The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (EC) is your blueprint to the mythos.

The sheer breadth of entries in this tome is enough on its own to warrant it as a must have for the CoC gamer. But even more useful, especially for the neophyte, is the inclusion in each entry of a list of related topics covered in the EC. Look up Deep One, and not only do you get the skinny on our favorite aquatic Romeos, but you also get pointed in the direction of Innsmouth, Dagon, Mother Hydra, etc. The book does a very good job not only describing the mythos but fitting them all in to the greater scheme of things.

Plus, each entry lists relevant fiction and gaming products. A history of the Necronomicon, a timeline of the mythos , and a commentary on the literary history of the mythos each help further create a sense of cohesion.

One warning, though. Not every creature or being referenced in the entries has its own entry. For instance, I still have no idea who or what a "worm wizard" is, even though they are referred to in several entries. The book also lacks CoC game stats, which is understandable considering that it was published as a part of Chaosium's line of fiction. Game stats would have bloated the book and cut down on the number of entries, a trade-off that would have made this book much less useful, considering how much easier it is to create CoC stats than CoC background.

The EC is the keeper's little helper. Harms has done a great job of pulling all of the mythos together into a coherent, easily referenced volume. Considering how many authors have written mythos fiction and how often the stories are contradictory (HPL himself saw no reason to keep the mythos the same from story to story) the EC is an indispensible resource. Kudos to Daniel Harms and Chaosium for a job well done.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Encyclopedia Cthulhiana 2nd Edition
Author: Daniel Harms Category: Reference Book Company/Publisher: Chaosium Cost: $14.95 ISBN: 1-56882-119-0 Playtest Review by Mike Mearls on 03/02/99. Genre tags: Horror	The Cthulhu mythos stories remind me of a huge, wonderfully spooky gothic mansion built by twenty different construction crews working simultaneously with different blueprints. The net effect is great, but trying to find one particular room in the maze of construction is a headache. The Encyclopedia Cthulhiana (EC) is your blueprint to the mythos. The sheer breadth of entries in this tome is enough on its own to warrant it as a must have for the CoC gamer. But even more useful, especially for the neophyte, is the inclusion in each entry of a list of related topics covered in the EC. Look up Deep One, and not only do you get the skinny on our favorite aquatic Romeos, but you also get pointed in the direction of Innsmouth, Dagon, Mother Hydra, etc. The book does a very good job not only describing the mythos but fitting them all in to the greater scheme of things. Plus, each entry lists relevant fiction and gaming products. A history of the Necronomicon, a timeline of the mythos , and a commentary on the literary history of the mythos each help further create a sense of cohesion. One warning, though. Not every creature or being referenced in the entries has its own entry. For instance, I still have no idea who or what a "worm wizard" is, even though they are referred to in several entries. The book also lacks CoC game stats, which is understandable considering that it was published as a part of Chaosium's line of fiction. Game stats would have bloated the book and cut down on the number of entries, a trade-off that would have made this book much less useful, considering how much easier it is to create CoC stats than CoC background. The EC is the keeper's little helper. Harms has done a great job of pulling all of the mythos together into a coherent, easily referenced volume. Considering how many authors have written mythos fiction and how often the stories are contradictory (HPL himself saw no reason to keep the mythos the same from story to story) the EC is an indispensible resource. Kudos to Daniel Harms and Chaosium for a job well done. Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty)

Encyclopedia Cthulhiana 2nd Edition