This is a good solid product as a gamer's/GM's aide. The floor plans are a little strange to my south-western eyes, but I suppose they might make sense in the context of a major city where space is at a premium like New York or Chicago.

Floor plans are provided in a top-down "bird's eye" view as well as an orthogonal projection (sort of 3D-ish) to provide some perspective on heights of objects and so on. Scales are not provided, but are internally consistent, so you can easily determine what's human sized and so on. There is some scaling info (total size of the building or whatever), so again, it's not impossible to figure out.

Most of the floor plans have at least one, and several have multiple, plot hooks provided with them -- an excellent addition to this particular floor plan set. Additionally, there are blank square grid and hexagonal grid sheets included in the back of the .pdf.

The reproduction by DriveThru met their usual impeccable standards. I rate this one a "4," if for no other reason than because it is merely a play-aid and not a fleshed-out product per se. Still, if you need some stock locations in a hurry, this one works pretty well.

I picked this up to give me some ideas on running pulp-content scenarios in my Call of Cthulhu campaign. I wan not disappointed. This is an excellent summation with enough information to permit the GM to run pulp style adventures for just about any system, and the scenario generator, though a bit mechanistic, does allow the GM to create a basic outline which he can then flesh out with as many plot twists and turns as he has time to develop.

The essay on why Pulp is not a "genre," while interesting, used space that could have been better spent elsewhere. Frankly I don't care as much whether my label usage is "correct" as I do about the nuts and bolts of running an adventure. Perhaps replacing this with more information on the Cliffhanger style of play or a more in depth discussion of how to create fleshed out scenarios using the scenario generator (such as clue placement, etc, etc) might have been a better use of the time and space.

As usual, DriveThru did a bang-up job reproducing the document and I had no problems with legibility or bleed through or anything like that. I'll give this one a good, solid "4."

Actually, I got this for some ideas on things I could do to spice up my Call of Cthulhu campaigns (my group tends to be more adventurous than the stereotypically pedantic "Investigators" that CoC tends to focus on).

I was very pleasantly surprised. The material is descriptive enough by its nature to not be limited to the Thrilling Tales game or D20 system. The materials is complete and provides enough of a feel for the events (and some possible motivations and outcomes) that it is very easy to place them in any system. All in all, it was a surprisingly good job of providing some one-off encounters with ramifications beyond the expected for the players.

As usual, DriveThru's reproduction of the material was exceptional. All things considered, this one clearly deserves a "4."

Megan Robertson did a pretty in-depth job of addressing the nuts-and-bolts of the game, so consider what she said to be a baseline, and I'll just add my $.02 worth.

First, I still don't think that an entirely new game system needed to be created to deal with this one glaring problem. In fact, I had already dealt with it in a somewhat similar fashion in my own games -- simply ensuring that the necessary clues WERE found by the players (along with enough distractors to keep it from being obvious). However, having said that, if you DO have to design a new version of CoC, then this is a pretty good one.

It's worth noting that the folks who created ToC did so in a very thorough manner. They have excellent detail, provide great insight into the period of the 1930's, provide a ton of information in a very short amount of space (the sidebars could very well set the standard for everyone else to try and follow) and tie their system together very well. The sample adventure is excellent and could easily be adapted back into the original CoC with minimal difficulty. The addition of the "Special Advantage" concept allows players to "suddenly remember/discover" something germane to the investigation and speeds the investigative section of play very nicely, without being permitted to overwhelm normal play. This is another concept that could easily be added to the original CoC without significantly changing the game.

The addition of the "pulp" rules also makes for a more fast-paced, "Indiana Jones" style of game, which most players enjoy very much. The biggest problem here is that the rules want to force the Keeper to be consistent by either playing a Pulp style game or more of a "purist" type game more in keeping with HPL's original concept. Why the Keeper can't fluctuate between the two occasionally, I don't know, but it does seem to be somewhat discouraged. Personally, I always found it nice to vary things up a bit by giving the players something more "pulpish" to do occasionally instead of just sitting around the library tables watching each other for signs of incipient madness.... However, by the same token, the pursuit of "things man was not meant to know" OUGHT to be a serious business, and despite the occasional interlude of gun-slinging, the players need to be working to save the world from the outre menace.

As usual, DriveThru did a wonderful job on the scan, and the material in the rule book is legible and easily readable. The only weird thing is that when I purchased this, I actually got two versions -- the original, and one with bookmarks. The Bookmarks are excellent and should really be the only one offered in my opinion. Still, I suppose there are some folks who would object to that...somewhere in the world. At any rate, despite my personal ambivalence over the need for a completely new rules set, I give this one a solid "4" for attention to detail, excellent writing, and the excellence of DriveThru's reproduction.

First off, the title of this one is pretty misleading. In point of fact, all the adventures are at least initially set in NYC, not Arkham. Nor is there any apparent connection with Arkham in the scenarios. All in all, the title is definitely a case of false advertising.

Second, a warning, this is not a Classic "Call of Cthulhu" product. Instead it is based on the Gumshoe system with CoC elements liberally used as the basis. The primary difference between this system and CoC is that the players WILL find the necessary clues to ensure the advance of the game. Actually, I'm not sure that concept required an entirely new game system to be applied, but whatever.

The scenarios are well designed, and the clues (which the players will automatically get, given enough time) are scattered around sufficiently to require the players to pursue multiple lines of inquiry to collect all the data (which is what "investigators" worthy of the name OUGHT to be doing regardless). As previously noted, the adventures are all set in New York City, but there are several opportunities to go pretty far afield (and a wily Keeper can probably create a few more). The scenarios all seemed pretty interesting and able to keep the players involved. The plot details are a bit on the "stock" side -- typical for Cthulhoid menaces; but there are a few unexpected twists and turns that will force the players to stay on their toes. While I am frankly much more interested in CoC than I am in ToC, I invariably find the scenarios and plot details in ToC to be well crafted, well thought out, and very usable in a traditional CoC game. Indeed, as previously noted, I usually use some of the mechanics of Gumshoe to ensure my players get the "absolute must-have" clues anyway, all without requiring either them or me to go through a completely new game system to achieve it. Given the multiple lines of inquiry they can pursue in these scenarios, most players shouldn't feel too railroaded by the scenarios, even though they will all wind up at the same place sooner or later. If the Keeper really wants to be nefarious about the whole thing, he can even arrange to have a couple of these scenarios (especially "The Kidnapping" and "Return to Red Hook") serve as red-herrings for each other and even unfold simultaneously, leading to a great deal of confusion and some excellent role-playing opportunities for the players.

As always, the reproduction of the document by DriveThru is outstanding, with excellent production quality all around. Indeed, the only odd thing is that they felt it necessary to split off the cover and download it as a separate file. I'm not sure precisely why simply "zipping" the entire file wouldn't work to ensure quicker download and less file space, but I imagine they must have had a reason for it. Overall, I rate this one a solid "4" due to production quality, the in-depth nature of the designs and the high-quality of the reproduction.

I picked this one up as part of a bundle for use with Call of Cthulhu (I was really interested in the "Barrow Tomb"). Of the three, this one would be rated number two in my book. The layout is intriguing and there are a lot of halls and tunnels that interconnect in unexpected ways -- excellent for my purposes in that it gives the bad guys multiple escape routes and the good guys lots of opportunities to stumble upon the bad guys unexpectedly -- with the ensuing opportunities for mayhem for everyone.

The product is stunning graphically, though, of course, it's merely a set of pregenerated maps you can use to show an area in your world. You, as the GM will find you need to do almost as much work as if you drew it yourself in terms of filling in the details of what's in the rooms, what the corridors look like, etc. However you are provided with the overall map showing everything in the area, a players version that is more limited in what it depicts (e.g., no hidden doors on theirs) and a blown up version that you could either reproduce for miniatures use, or use to show exactly where everything in a give room or hallway was in excruciating detail.

The pdf is the usual high quality we've come to expect from DriveThru RPG and I had no trouble whatsoever reading the material or seeing anything in the reproduction. Overall, I'll give this one a four since it's more in the "nice-to-have" category than it is either necessary for play or exciting TO play. If you, as the GM, need someplace relatively quickly you can drop into your world (but still have the time to flesh it out), this can work quite well for you. And at least you have really high-quality maps to work from!

I picked this one up as part of a bundle (I was really interested in the "Barrow Tomb") for use in Call of Cthulhu. Generally the quality of these products is simply outstanding. They are well laid out, the graphics are incredible, and they present the material in several different ways, including for the GM, for the Players, and in a blown-up view that makes it very easy for the GM to reproduce the layout for miniatures, or, if not using miniatures to set down in excruciating detail where everything in the place actually is. There is, of course, no content -- the GM must take the maps and fill them out.

I found the "Sinister Ruins" to be the least interesting of the three that came in my bundle, seeming somewhat derivative of the old "Keep on the Borderlands" from back in the late 70's or early 80's. Still, as noted, the graphics were amazingly well done, and there is plenty of space for the clever or evil GM to put some surprises in place for the unwary player. Personally, I think I'd find this one more interesting for a Fantasy Campaign than for Call of Cthulhu, but still, I may find some use for it if I can think of a reasonable plot line to get my players to it.

The pdf was the usual excellent quality that we expect from DriveThru RPG, and I had no trouble reading or seeing any part of this document. Overall, I'm rating it a four since it is a "nice-to-have" kind of thing and not really necessary, but if you need something for your players to explore and have enough time to flesh it out (even if not enough to design it yourself), then you'll find this a useful and worthwhile addition to your game -- especially your fantasy game.

I picked this one up to use with Call of Cthulhu. Basically it appears to take a floor plan devised by the same company as a generic game aid, and then build a generic "horror" scenario around it.

The scenario is a one-shot and is well devised, with interesting characters and even pregenerated Player characters to help out if you just want to run a quickie adventure. It's set in the mid-20's in New England (probably Boston -- though you could put it anywhere you like). The characters are provided via general description and easy enough to flesh out with the exact skills you wish to use from your particular game rules (remember, this is a GENERIC scenario). The mystery is intriguing, the NPCs are provided with plenty of detail to aid in GM roleplaying, and there are several red herrings you can use to distract or annoy your players or even as the seeds of additional adventure. The "bad guy" provides the players with a real dilemma and could easily escape and turn up again sometime. In fact, this whole scenario could serve as a "red herring" itself and be set within some other adventure your characters are having, leading in turn to yet other adventures. In short, I think it is extremely well done and very flexible in its possible uses. The scenario itself is somewhat linear and the timeline drives the action -- which is pretty common it seems, though a clever GM can tinker with it and give it a more flexible format fairly easily if he wants to take the time and effort.

The production quality is generally excellent, though some additional player handouts would have been nice. The document is marred by mis-spellings, improper adjective use ("his" when they really mean "hers") and incorrect grammar, especially in the latter half of the document, so I'd rate the actual production quality as low in that regard. However the pdf is the usual high quality we expect from DriveThru and is very crisp and legible. I'm rating this one a "five," despite it's flaws in terms of production/editorial attention to detail, but the price (currently FREE) makes it well worth taking the time to download! If it becomes a charged item, then I'd rate it a four overall due to the production/editorial issues.

This one is a new one, and was intriguing to me because of its use of Lovecraft's "The Horror at Red Hook" (one of his more creepy short stories) as both the lead in, and an integral part of, the scenario. Basically it is a very long, one-shot scenario that the Keeper should probably treat as such as opposed to a mini-campaign. Assuming it's treated that way, the linear nature of the adventure becomes less annoying than it would otherwise be. There aren't a lot of easily usable plot hooks in this one that would allow you to send the Investigators off on wild goose chases or anything, though with a little work, the Keeper could probably flesh it out quite a bit -- and it's easy enough to get the players involved in the adventure thanks to "the Malone Manuscript."

As written, the scenario is good to excellent, with plenty of creepy overtones and enough events of the kind that should force your players to make some very tough decisions (is killing the bewitched kid who's doing something to ruin your plan a good thing or a bad thing?) during the course of play. Lilith makes an interesting character in her own right, and may be worth bringing back somewhere along the way as one of those evil ones that periodically reappear in the Investigator's lives (after all, she'll have motive enough if they thwart her here; and, being immortal, time enough too).

The pdf quality is superb and well above even the normally high quality products from DriveThru. Quite obviously this one was drafted on a computer, and not the result of a scan from an old hard-copy. The cover illustration was sort of hokey and looked more like a line drawing of the "children of the corn," or something derivative from Tim Burton, than anything remotely Lovecraftian, but still. The price on this one is excellent, though. All in all, I give this one a solid four stars -- down from five mostly because it IS pretty linear and does require quite a bit of work on the part of the Keeper to get it to where it could have been with a little more development on the part of the authors. Still, overall, I'd say it's well worth picking up.

This is another very early supplement, originally published by Chaosium back in 1984. It contains a short two-scenario campaign and an extra bonus scenario ("The Haunted House" -- one of the most difficult scenarios my players ever had to work through). The campaign is set in Greenland and British Columbia and requires a lot of outdoor and cold-weather activity. I found it difficult to come up with a really convincing way to get my players involved without feeling like I was forcing the play along a certain path. Still, if the circumstances had ever worked out, I think both scenarios would have been a lot of fun for them. "The Haunted House" is set in Grand Rapids Michigan, though it would be easy enough to relocate to some other location in the English-speaking world. Neither of my play groups ever made it to the campaign, but both suffered through the haunted house scenario -- one of the most complex and challenging scenarios I ever ran for them) and really enjoyed it. The price made it irresistible to me when I discovered it on DriveThru RPG.

The reproduction quality of this one meets DriveThru's usual high standards with everything being clear and crisp and easy to read. I'm going to rate this one a four -- not because of the reproduction, but simply because the campaign scenarios are sort of hard to fit into your play in a neat, seamless way -- though the Haunted House scenario is a winner all by itself. Still, elements of them are usable in other scenarios you may devise. The price on this one makes it well worth picking up in my opinion, despite the difficulties I note above.

This was the very first campaign supplement published by Chaosium for the then-brand new "Call of Cthulhu" RPG. While I see where the other reviewers were coming from, I've run this one on several occasions for groups of players and they always seemed to have a blast. While it does sometimes require a little fast foot-work on the part of the Keeper, it rewards that with a lot of fun for the players. There are plenty of little hooks that can be used to move the players off of the main track of the campaign or to send them on wild goose-chases, though, again, the Keeper will need to flesh those out to make it work -- or he can purchase other scenario packs if he needs to. In addition to the seven "chapters" of the actual campaign itself, there are two additional scenarios ("The Warren," and "People of the Monolith") the latter of which is an excellent very first scenario for totally inexperienced investigators. Player handouts are scanned on separate sheets so they could easily be produced for your players as well. Finally, the price on this one makes it an amazing deal no matter how you cut it. Besides, you've GOT to love a campaign that ties in so many of HP Lovecraft's actual stories in some way or another and takes you to places like Easter Island. If you feel like you have to "railroad" your players too much, I'd recommend simply making sure the clues they need show up -- heck there's an entire RPG rules system that does just that! Be flexible, folks!

As usual DriveThru did an excellent job of reproducing the manual -- especially given that the original was printed in a brownish text that tends to make scanning very difficult. All of the illustrations and textual material is easily read, and even the gray-on-gray information boxes are crisp and clear. Overall, I rate this one a solid five both for quality of the reproduction and because of the otherwise unavailable nature of the material. And did I mention the price? Worth it, by all means!

This is another older supplement for "Call of Cthulhu," originally produced in 1990. Basically there are five separate scenarios, one of which is loosely based on the original "Corbitt" scenario from the rulebook (probably the most-played scenario ever published), though it is edited out of all resemblance to the original and is much more complex. There is a separate "handouts" section at the back, which, in the original book, was set up so the Keeper could cut out the handouts and provide them to the players as and when they found the pertinent information.

As usual, DriveThru has done a wonderful job of recreating this document with all illustrations and textual material being complete and very legible. Price-wise, this one seems a bit high to me, though the quality of the material (both in terms of the actual material itself and the quality of the reproduction) is excellent. All things considered, I'm going to give this one a four based on the (relatively) high price more than anything else, but I will tell you that if you want some good haunted house scenarios which are very well reproduced, you can do a lot worse than buy this supplement.

This particular supplement to "Call of Cthulhu" is designed to describe several different ways for the Investigators to travel in the 1920's. Each method of travel is accompanied by a scenario that can be used by the Keeper to complicate the Investigators' lives. The first three methods are the "calssic" methods; plane, train and automobile; the next three are more "esoteric" (to quote the introduction of the book), airship, diving suit and canal boat -- of these three only the airship probably makes sense to the casual observer, but since many "Call of Cthulhu" scenarios involve the sea and underwater, the diving suit can come in really handy for the Keeper. The canal boat is a bit strange, but who really knows how a scenario, especially in Europe will work out? Finally, the last three methods are really obscure -- Armored Cars, elephant back, and horse-drawn sledges. While none of these last three are very likely to be met with, just think of the fun you can have trying to work them into your campaign! Finally there is a section on automobile chases which is intended to replace the rather skimpy rules included in the original CoC. This last section is an excellent addition to the game all by itself. The vehicle descriptions, and the rules for using them are excellent, and the accompanying scenarios are fun and full of potential plot hooks to either send the Investigators chasing after false clues or off into a brand new campaign.

DriveThru RPG has provided another excellent electronic copy. Everything was reproduced very well, and I had no trouble viewing any of the illustrations or descriptions. This one is a bit pricier than most of their reproductions, however given that it contains nine scenarios AND a section on car chases, it is also quite a bit longer than most of the others. I frankly don't remember how much I paid for this one back in the day, but I'm guessing it was at least as much as this one costs, and probably a bit more. Now if we can just get DriveThru to find and scan a copy of "Horror on the Orient Express!" This one earns another solid five from me, both for content and for the quality of the reproduction.

This is another excellent scenario pack produced originally by Chaosium back in 1984. I was pleasantly surprised to find it available on DriveThru RPG and bought it as soon as I could. The underlying theme of the book was "earth dwellers" and all four of the scenarios involve going underground or creatures of the earth (as opposed to the sea or the air or the Dreamlands) in some way.

The Scenario pack contains four scenarios including "Dark Carnival," an unpleasantly Stephen King-ish kind of adventure with many different levels of drama for the investigators to uncover; "The Curse of Shaugnar Faugn," a very dangerous adventure almost guaranteed to kill off one or more investigators -- especially if they are inexperienced -- and with plenty of plot twists and turns; and finally, a two-scenario mini-campaign that drives the players into Egypt and the Arabian peninsula composed of "Thoth's Dagger," and "The City Without a Name." These two scenarios should allow the Keeper to easily create the same kind of atmosphere that the movies "The Mummy" and "The Mummy Returns" did. Finally, the book contains an essay on "the Kabbalistic Science of Gematria," which describes Gematria (the science of assigning numerical values to letters in the alphabet in order to determine mystical links between words -- historically done in the Torah -- thus the "Kabbalistic Science" -- though it could be done with any language) in game terms. The article provides enough information that it could be easily used as an adventure hook, or as an apparent plot hook that turns out to be a harmless red herring, and is just plain interesting regardless.

The reproduction provided by DriveThru RPG is excellent -- even the illustrations which I would have expected to have been nearly illegible came out as actual pictures instead of blobs of gray and all the information is very easy to read and clear. Given that the price is probably about 30% cheaper than what I paid back in 1984 for this, and that I can store it on a disc drive instead of taking up shelf space. I strongly recommend this particular scenario pack and sincerely hope DriveThru comes out with some more soon! I rate it a solid five stars.

I actually purchased this for use with "Call of Cthulhu" and it is perfect for that game. It is easily able to serve as the archetypal archeology "dig," or the secret lab buried out beyond the old Curwen Farm, or even, in a pinch, some handy ghoul tunnels beneath the rotting, gambrel-roofed houses of ancient Arkham. Be warned though -- this is not a standard CoC supplement -- it's simply a set of maps and layouts with places for you to note things and describe the rooms, halls and tunnels in more detail. It's a major time saver for the Keeper that needs something now and doesn't have a lot of time to make it up himself, but it will still require some work to be useful.

The production quality of the product was outstanding, and the reproduction quality from DriveThru RPG was excellent. I actually purchased this as part of a "bundle" including "Vampire Lair," and "Sinister Ruins." Of the three products, this one was the best for my purposes, though all were well done and potentially useful. Overall, I rate the "Barrow Tomb" as a solid five.