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Gunporn that is what this is. And, I am not afraid to say it. There has always been a segment of the Call of Cthulhu audience that has been obsessed with guns and the effects that they might have on the Mythos and the result usually entails the baddies getting even madder. As a result the character’s descent into madness becomes ever more acute.
Sixtystone Press has done a fabulous job here in culling together a sourcebook for Players-Keepers and historical enthusiasts alike. This volume deals with the so-called Classic Era (1920s/1930s) Call of Cthulhu where real world weapons of all sorts are stat’ed for the Basic Role Playing system. Subsequent volumes will address Modern and presumably archaic and maybe Future and/or exotic weapons. Currently, the work is only available as a PDF but I am given to understand that it will come in a print form later this year.
However, the breadth of this work and the research done is truly phenomenal, as it has meticulously researched the usage of weapons from not only the United States but Europe and Japan thus giving and laying the basis for globetrotting campaigns in which Keepers can use the right weapon for the right place. Not the use of term weapon, for not only do we have the standard array of pistols, rifles, machine guns, and shotguns (all good fun in any Call of Cthulhu game) but also some less than standard weapons that make their way into the game including the different forms of dynamite and flame throwers plus an array of cultist weapons, including silent and deadly ones like a blowgun. Each weapon is given a comprehensive history and their real world context – littered throughout are advertisements from the era giving an authentic feel to the material, as well as ready-made props for the Keeper to use. However, this creates a daunting task for this reviewer, as pages upon pages of gun history does cause things to blur – fortunately the author was aware of this downside and created a magnificently comprehensive index along with cheat sheets for the Keeper who just needs the stats. Making locating a particular weapon or part of the world where a particular weapon is commonplace so easy, the only thing is that it is currently a PDF and unless you have a tablet, using a computer might be a tad difficult as the pages are not hyperlinked.
Notwithstanding, if grounding Cthulhu in the real world was not good enough, it gets better. There are rules for everything and excellent rules that bring together rules from a variety of sources. Rules for bullet proof vests, rules for shooting underwater, rules for autofire, rules for shooting on mount/vehicle, rules for shooting in the cold, rules for shooting in a desert, etc. – rules that can cover almost any circumstance of the era that the players may find themselves in – thus allowing the Keeper to have the rules necessary to make that cinematic/pulp game a little closer to reality. Best rule – naturally, are the rules for recovery of gunshot wounds. There is also the nice touch of pairing different investigator occupations with particular guns – making NPCs a snap. Fortunately, again, the index does come to the rescue for these rules which are also nicely indexed.
Nevertheless, there is one slight drawback in all these rules is that they cross-reference a great number of the game’s canon including some pretty hard to get items from Pagan Publishing or the King of Chicago. I realize that the author does not want to be accused of plagiarism and hence must cite the source but it does become annoying a tad when there are references to products that I do not own nor can ever own. Nice background also on the regulation of weapons in the different parts of the world – allowing the Keeper to throw in a historical red herring or something for the players to consider before, they think that they can just go to the “gun shop” and cash out to kill some bad guys. Chances are the cultists are in league with the authorities or at the very least the gun shop owners and these facts give an excellent way of getting the players just where every Keeper wants them to be – screaming in abject terror and just not to have an easy run of it. This is Cthulhu kids, not, D&D.
The style of writing is witty and engaging with just the right tempo without reverting to a stiletto style. Lavishly illustrated with loads of real world photographs and period piece advertisements gives the impression that one is flipping through the Sears Roback or equivalent from the day. So the criticism is noted in the review, many rules cite game books and supplements that are very hard to find and that the copious abundance of the information is ill suited for a PDF. The latter will be rectified once the deadtree rolls off the presses and will be an excellent addition to any BRP gamer’s collection and the former – there is enough detail that one does not need the source material – one can just play this just out of the box.
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