The Inside Scoop on Gaming

This supplement is subtitled A Core Game Book for Keepers. However, I found this slightly misleading. The book is by no means necessary to run the game, as the Monstrous Manual is to AD&D Dungeon Masters, for example. The basic Call of Cthulhu rulebook has more than enough deities and minor creatures to last for years. Especially so since CoC is not a "monster of the week" game. No, I think this book falls in the nice-to-have category, being handy but not essential.

If you happen to own Ye Booke of Monstres 1 and 2, consider carefully whether you need this book. The Creature Companion collects together all the non-Dreamlands creatures from those supplements, adding some creatures from the basic book (revising some entries) and also a bunch of all-new horrors. For example, some of Donald Wandrei's and Brian Lumley's critters are presented here for the first time.

The monster listings are divided into Deities and Creatures, both of which have several sub-categories. The descriptions follow the familiar format of the basic CoC book, giving a quote from a story which featured the being, a textual description and game statistics. Some of the avatars of the deities are also portrayed. Nyarlathotep, he of a thousand different forms, shines here with a dozen avatars, whereas others have to manage with only a couple. Four of the deities, Azathoth, Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath, are given special treatment: they have full-page descriptions, and in the center of the book there are superb color plates by Nick Smith depicting each of the Greatest Gods, as they are called here. The picture of the court of Azathoth takes up a two-page fold-out spread.

Finally, scattered here and there are excerpts from the journals of Sir Hansen Poplan, a notable scholar and knighted war hero. His essays are speculative, based mostly on eight years of Mythos research (as opposed to first-hand experience), but they can still be useful to Investigators. These sections are written by Shannon Appel and they help to break up the monotony of cosmic horrors... um, was that a contradiction in terms?

The layout is very similar to the CoC basic rulebook, that is, clear and functional. The black-and-white illustrations by Earl Geier and Rodell Sanford vary in quality from good to dull, but then again, some of the creatures really defy our three-dimensional view of the universe and are thus hard to describe using only two dimensions. Still, some of the pictures could have been replaced with some additional text.

Any book containing the Martians of H.G. Wells (complete with battle machines, black smoke and heat rays) cannot be all bad. And the Creature Companion is a solid, professional supplement. However, its usefulness depends on every individual Keeper. Some are perfectly happy with the monster selection of the basic Call of Cthulhu rulebook, and will never have a need for a book like this. Some find a new creature or two just the thing to surprise jaded Investigators who think they have seen everything. If you are one of the latter, you could do far worse than purchase this book. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle.

Style: 4 (Classy and well done)
Substance: 3 (Average)

The Creature Companion
Author: Scott David Aniolowski with Lee Gibbons and friends Category: game Company/Publisher: Chaosium Line: Call of Cthulhu Page count: 112 ISBN: 1-56882-133-6 SKU: 2375 Capsule Review by Mikko Kauppinen on 10/11/99. Genre tags: Modern_day Historical Horror	This supplement is subtitled A Core Game Book for Keepers. However, I found this slightly misleading. The book is by no means necessary to run the game, as the Monstrous Manual is to AD&D Dungeon Masters, for example. The basic Call of Cthulhu rulebook has more than enough deities and minor creatures to last for years. Especially so since CoC is not a "monster of the week" game. No, I think this book falls in the nice-to-have category, being handy but not essential. If you happen to own Ye Booke of Monstres 1 and 2, consider carefully whether you need this book. The Creature Companion collects together all the non-Dreamlands creatures from those supplements, adding some creatures from the basic book (revising some entries) and also a bunch of all-new horrors. For example, some of Donald Wandrei's and Brian Lumley's critters are presented here for the first time. The monster listings are divided into Deities and Creatures, both of which have several sub-categories. The descriptions follow the familiar format of the basic CoC book, giving a quote from a story which featured the being, a textual description and game statistics. Some of the avatars of the deities are also portrayed. Nyarlathotep, he of a thousand different forms, shines here with a dozen avatars, whereas others have to manage with only a couple. Four of the deities, Azathoth, Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep and Shub-Niggurath, are given special treatment: they have full-page descriptions, and in the center of the book there are superb color plates by Nick Smith depicting each of the Greatest Gods, as they are called here. The picture of the court of Azathoth takes up a two-page fold-out spread. Finally, scattered here and there are excerpts from the journals of Sir Hansen Poplan, a notable scholar and knighted war hero. His essays are speculative, based mostly on eight years of Mythos research (as opposed to first-hand experience), but they can still be useful to Investigators. These sections are written by Shannon Appel and they help to break up the monotony of cosmic horrors... um, was that a contradiction in terms? The layout is very similar to the CoC basic rulebook, that is, clear and functional. The black-and-white illustrations by Earl Geier and Rodell Sanford vary in quality from good to dull, but then again, some of the creatures really defy our three-dimensional view of the universe and are thus hard to describe using only two dimensions. Still, some of the pictures could have been replaced with some additional text. Any book containing the Martians of H.G. Wells (complete with battle machines, black smoke and heat rays) cannot be all bad. And the Creature Companion is a solid, professional supplement. However, its usefulness depends on every individual Keeper. Some are perfectly happy with the monster selection of the basic Call of Cthulhu rulebook, and will never have a need for a book like this. Some find a new creature or two just the thing to surprise jaded Investigators who think they have seen everything. If you are one of the latter, you could do far worse than purchase this book. Personally, I fall somewhere in the middle. Style: 4 (Classy and well done) Substance: 3 (Average)