Review Of The Cairo Guidebook By Chaosium
-== What is it? ==-
The Cairo Guidebook is a Call Of Cthulhu supppliment from Chaosium. It was written by Marion Anderson and released in 1995. The book is quite old but I managed to get a copy so I’m sure you can too. 😉
The book has a yellow, red, black, and white cover and an entirely black and white interior. The book is 8 1/2? x 11? and is 108 pages in length. I have read the book cover-to-cover. I also utilized some of the material in my Victorian era Terra Incognita campaign.
-== What I Like ==-
The author states that he is Egyptian in the introduction and it really shows in the product. The information on Egypt is very detailed and thorough. In many places throughout the text local terms are used which really helps convey a sense of the environment.
Included in the detailed information are maps and travel information. This is a really nice touch as it again really pushed the atmosphere.
The sections on People In Egypt and the Timeline are great. They have lots of historical detail. The people section is great when you want to have a famous someone make a guest appearance.
-== What I Don’t Like ==-
My biggest complaint is really a big one. There is not a lot of RPG material for such a large book. In fact it is probably at most 20% of the book. Plot hooks are weak and very very short. The book does not contain a longer adventure of any kind. As far as RPG material there is really nothing useful except for a few cool NPC.
The art on the product is really terrible. It is all black and white and very amateur.
-== Summary ==-
I really only recommend this product if your PC are planning to spend a lot of time in Egypt.
I give it 4 out of 10 paws.
