Dave

Aha! Now I see it. I spotted only the key before, one of the dangers of single-page view in PDF docs.

Is there an umlaut in the place name? From what I can tell, the umlaut is for the family name, as in Matthias Grünewald, but not, say, Grunewald Forest or the city borough. I've virtually no German, however, so you might have a special insight that my Google skills lack.

I'm one of those who likes to run the game from the PDF, so I don't mind buying only that edition or both print & PDF. That said, for initial reading and browsing, the print editions are lovely artifacts. I just wish they were also more readable.

It became available last October, but it just popped up as "new" again because they split it into two seasons. Same content, different numbering.

Incidentally, if you want to get into the mood for this excellent sourcebook, I wholeheartedly recommend reading Jason Lutes' Berlin trilogy of comics and viewing the crazy, uneven, but ultimately glorious Babylon Berlin (available on Netflix).

I love the new editions of classic Call of Cthulhu products, especially the revisions and expansions to the content of classic campaigns. There is one element that I feel is less good than previous editions, however, and that's the readability of the type. The type is a decent size (for me), but when there's a non-white background, especially one including lines or other darkish elements, it can be a real impediment to reading. Often I've begun reading hardcopy of a recent product and had to give up, going back to the PDF and an enlarged type size or else omitting the background, when the PDF is layered. I very much enjoy the graphic design of the recent products, but I'd love it if you could ensure that the type appears on white or near-white backgrounds. Even with some of the earlier B&W products, a gray screen that's too dark makes the text difficult to read.

Good call. In my humble opinion, the revision and expansion to the New York chapter makes the new edition worthwhile all by itself.

I think it could work with only two investigators if you don't mind adjusting some of the threats. Having each player run a couple of investigators wouldn't hurt, either, and a helpful NPC is always useful--as long as the players are never sure which NPCs are true allies and which are treacherous infiltrators.

In addition to expanded campaign material, the latest edition includes many flashback scenarios that allow the investigators to play the historical events that they otherwise only read in summary. They're excellent scenarios, complete with pregenerated characters. There's one more that doesn't appear in the new edition: Reign of Terror, which appears as its own product, complete with a guide to revolutionary France. Highly recommended, and arguably the best of the flashback scenarios.

I wholeheartedly second this suggestion.

You know, some historical newspaper clippings from this discovery would make an AWESOME supplemental handout.

Here's the Shanghai business I was working on before I had to set it aside for a deadline. You'll note a few gaps as I skipped around, but I hope it's useful if there's still time to incorporate it. Page 519 Not the Lovecraft quote, but the precis below it: omit the comma after “against evil.” In the sidebar, omit the comma after “1920s period.” At the end of the first graph, the use of a semicolon rather than a comma to introduce “deep one hybrids” should be a comma. As an aside, too many parenthetical notes can cause speedbumps rather than aids to reading. Generally, I would suggest you use them more sparingly. Page 520 In the first graph, omit the comma after “September 1924.” Demote the semicolon to a comma after “Carlyle Expedition dead.” Change “which” to “that” after “a fact.” In the second graph, either omit the comma after “sanitarium” or add “he” before “strenuously.” Speaking of “strenuously,” it seems an odd adverb to apply to “avoids.” Perhaps “strictly” or “conscientiously” would be more appropriate. Column 2, graph 3, change “towards” to “toward.” In the next graph, revise the punctuation: “One final if difficult-to-decipher clue could lead…” After The Carlyle Expedition in Shanghai, omit the comma after “Gray Dragon Island.” Add a comma after “Great Race in Australia.” Page 521 Love the maps. The old ones were fine, but these are lovely. Page 522 Graph 3, omit the comma after “error of some sort).” Page 523 In the last graph, add a comma after “Australian Oriental Line’s ships.” Page 524 In graph one, add a comma after “i.e.” Remove the comma after “although” in “although, kind Keepers.” Next graph, change “realms of possibility” to “realm of possibility.” Next graph, change “which had ruled” to “that had ruled.” Page 525 First graph, move the modifiers: “...could be tried only under…” “…whether or not their crimes were committed in the concessions.” Under The People, please change that “etc.” to “and so on.” In the last graph of column 1, please revise that first sentence for clarity by keeping the such/that clause tight: “As a result of several disastrous wars with foreign powers, the collapse of the Ching (Qing) Dynasty, and the rise of the warlords, China’s economy by the 1920s was in such ruin that foreigners of even moderate income could afford opulent possessions and princely living conditions.” Page 526 First graph, hyphenate “sought-after.” In the Green Gang sidebar, second graph, move the modifier: “…the Green Gang could make either a valuable ally…” Under The Political Climate, first graph, add a word: “Now that the war is over, renewed…” In the second column, first graph, add a third period to the ellipsis and omit the full stop after “Where is…?” In the next graph, change “at an absolute pinch” to “in a pinch” to make it more idiomatic to North American usage. The rest of that sentence has a distant pronoun, so I’d suggest revising the final phrase: “…to convey the intended message.” Page 530 In the Compradors sidebar, change “amongst” to “among.” Same graph, hyphenate “number-one.” In the second graph, omit the comma after “humble comprador.” In the second graph under Li Wen-Cheng, omit the comma after “without family.” Under Weather, omit the comma after “wettest time of year.” Page 531 First graph, omit a comma and the word “equipped” after “female humanoid.” Second column, first graph, rather than “miss words out” you might want the more idiomatic “leave words out.” In the following graph, enclose “quite literally” in parentheses to complete the parallel joke established in the previous parentheses. Page 532 The line return after Isoge Taro, 34, looks peculiar. Consider leaving at least “undercover agent” on that first line before the return. In the first graph, omit the comma after “last two months undercover” or else add “he” before “has recruited.” In the fourth graph, omit the word “themselves” to avoid an unnecessary nouns-pronoun disagreement. Page 533 In the first full graph under Lin Yenyu, demote the semicolon after “share their secrets to a comma” or change it to an em-dash. Alternatively, revise the phrase after the semicolon to an independent clause. XXX Page 622 Under EXTENDING THE CAMPAIGN, change the question mark to a full stop after “Perhaps the story continues.” “Put paid” is an unfamiliar expression to most North American readers. Final graph, omit the comma after “in his lifetime.” Likewise after “an old man.” Page 623 Under Revenge Most Foul, lowercase “high priest” after the colon. XXX Page 648 Column 2, graph 2, omit the comma after “rituals of the Order of the Bloated Woman.”

You did a great job, Doc. I'm impressed by how many and what type of issues you caught. Agreed, it's a fantastic revision of the classic. I'll run the Peru chapter (and "The God of Mitnal" from the Companion) at a little convention in October in anticipating of launching the entire campaign early next year. Maybe this time we'll make it to the end!

I have a little more already proofed but not posted. Are we out of time? If not, I'll at least try to wrap Shanghai.