Kingbeast's Lair

-== 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.

-== What is it? ==-

Death In Luxor is the first Call Of Cthulhu adventure in the Age Of Cthulhu line from Goodman Games. I purchased the PDF version from DriveThruRPG so that is what I will be reviewing.

The document is comprised of the covers, the adventure with interspersed art and maps, several pages of handouts, and five sample characters. The PDF has a color front and back cover and an entirely black and white interior. The format is 8.5? x 11? and is 50 pages in length.

I have read the product from cover-to-cover. I ran the adventure for my gaming group after converting it to Fudge for my Terra Incognita campaign. (See the session logs on this very blog for a complete recap of how the adventure ran for my group.)

-== What I Like ==-

The adventure was very solid with strong hooks to move the players from one scene to the next. I had no trouble keeping things moving along even with my unpredictable set of players.

Several of the encounters created a lot of great drama. One scene that went particularly well with my group involved an encounter where the tomb guardians lock the PC into a tomb that is filling with water and releasing deep ones. It was awesome watching the PC scramble for a solution. Great stuff!

The module is set in the 1920’s but it was very easy to convert to the 1890’s where my campaign was set. Simply replacing cars with camels did the trick.

I really enjoyed the interior art and the cover. The cover art is pretty dramatic and eye catching.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

Some of the handouts and the maps print out very dark. One of the handouts is not even viewable unless the copy is lighted by quite a bit. Even though the maps are dark they are nicely detailed.

During the adventure the PC encounter several bits of text that they translate. Some of these translations are critical to the story. I really wanted more of these translations available as handouts. Even if it is just a copy of the text in a tiny box that would have been nice. I was forced to create a separate document then copy out the text from the PDF. If I had not purchased the PDF I would have been forced to drag out the old copy machine.

-== Summary ==-

Overall I liked the adventure. It was linear but not overly so and the action was great. If this is their first attempt at a Call of Cthulhu scenario they are off to a great start. The price point for the PDF is fantastic at only $7.99.

I give it 7 out of 10 paws.

-== What is it? ==-

Pulp Egypt : Adventures Along the Nile, 1933-1939 is a PDF product from Griffon Publishing Studio. The PDF is written by Peter Schweighofer. It details Egypt in the 1930’s with a heavy emphasis on how it can be best utilized for pulp style adventuring.

The PDF has a color cover and essentially a black and white interior. The artwork is taken from published photos. The book is 8.5? x 11? and is 175 pages in length. I have read the book cover to cover and used some of the material in my Terra Incognita campaign.

-== What I Like ==-

The Egyptian Exotica section is in my opinion the best chapter in the book and is frankly worth the price of the book. This section goes into the myths and legends of Egypt with focus on how it can be used for roleplaying. The section has many adventure ideas imbedded in the text.

The section that contains a sample campaign with an archaeology feel is very well done. The story is fresh but has a strong Indy feel which is just great.

The Who’s Who In Egypt section is also neat. It mentions the various figures who were traipsing around Egypt during this time frame. These folks are just awesome for guest appearance or even as opponents in some cases.

The art in the book is comprised of photographs from the time period that are taken from published photo sites. Normally this turns me off but for this book it really works. Some of the photos of buildings and indigents are just great.

-== What I Don’t Like ==-

The Travel section is pretty bland. There is not a lot to use and tips are missing for incorporation into games.

The espionage and criminal campaign sections are not great. In fact the criminal campaign section really does not have an ending in my opinion. These could use some additional content or maybe better stories.

-== Summary ==-

This book is the best examination I have read regarding Egypt in this time frame and how it can be used for gaming. My Terra Incognita campaign is set in the Victorian era but I still found this book to be very useful. If you want to run a game in Egypt anywhere near this time frame I highly recommend this book. If you want to get some free pulp adventures set in Egypt there are a couple on the Griffon Publishing Studio site at this URL: http://griffonpub.home.att.net/.

Pulp Egypt sells for $20 from Your Games Now. This is a great price point for the amount of material in the product.

I give it 8 out of 10 paws.