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The Call of Cthulhu game is in the middle of a mild revamp. Various out of print books are being collated, and being sold at relatively bargain prices. It seems that Chaosium is going to release a new rules set, a new monsters book, a keeper's guide, and two player's guides for the 1920s and the 1990s. This is the first release in their revamping.

The 1920s Investigators Companion seems to include material from two books that were previously released by Chaosium for investigator's, and for the price of 18.95 you can get the contents of those older books, with a little new stuff mixed in. As the title says, this book is for investigators/players, and not necessarily for GMs. It includes a lot of historical information for the time period, that someone might or might not know on their own, various rules modifications for the careers of investigators (for instance, someone who is in law enforcement wouldn't take the sanity losses for seeing a murder scene that an ordinary person might), lists of weapons, cars, skill modifications for the 20s, and a nice section on investigative techniques. The part on how to tell if a suspect was lying was especially informative.

Conceivably a player could start from this book and just start playing, but I do have to question the utility of this book. One of the prime virtues of Call of Cthulhu is its relative simplicity, and some of the new special career benefits complicate things. You might have to remember more regarding whether Bible salesmen were more susceptible to sudden shocks than say hit-men. Otherwise, it is a nice piece of work. Well-written, nicely put together and edited -- but it still feels as if something is missing. It might prove very useful to people unfamiliar with the twenties, and with novice gamers, but that might be it. The section on skill modifications for the twenties time period was very well done. It was nice to know that microphones were a little to big to hide in someone's room, but that part alone doesn't justify the price of this book.

I just don't feel that this book is worth. Save your money, and buy the whole rulebook when it comes out. I would grade this book as a "C." Nothing about this product really seems to grab your attention.

Style: 3 (Average)
Substance: 3 (Average)