Coming soon! 40th Anniversary Keeper Tips Book: Collected Wisdom for Call of Cthulhu

[MOB]

A gathering of wisdom, advice, and tips from Keepers for Keepers of the Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game.

Imagine, if you will, that you are sat with a group of experienced Keepers, each sharing ideas drawn from their experience of playing and running Call of Cthulhu. 

Commemorating the 40th anniversary of Call of Cthulhu, this handy pocketbook is aimed at anyone—whether veteran or novice—who plays this well-loved tabletop game, but is particularly aimed at those who run games and potentially craft their own scenarios.

What’s Inside?

 

Advice From The Veterans

Tips, essays, and contributions from experienced and diverse Call of Cthulhu Keepers, including:

• Scott David Aniolowski - Call of Cthulhu writer (Malleus Monstrorum, etc.)
• Sean Branney - H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society
• Allan Carey - TYPE40, creator of the 'Seeds of Terror' range (Miskatonic Repository)
• Jason Durall - BRP and RuneQuest creative director
• Paul Fricker - co-author of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, co-host Good Friends of Jackson Elias podcast
• Bob Geis - Keeper, You Too Can Cthulhu
• Lynne Hardy - Call of Cthulhu associate editor, The Children of Fear
• Bridgett Jeffries - Miskatonic Repository community ambassador, co-host Miskatonic University Podcast, cast member on The Calyx
• Jo Kreil - Call of Cthulhu writer (The Unspeakable Oath, etc.)
• David Larkins - author of Berlin the Wicked City, Pendragon line editor
• Mike Mason - Call of Cthulhu creative director
• Keris McDonald - Call of Cthulhu writer (Cthulhu by Gaslight, etc.)
• Mark Morrison - Call of Cthulhu writer (Horror on the Orient Express, Reign of Terror, etc.)
• Thom Raley - Keeper, Into the Darkness
• Matthew Sanderson - Call of Cthulhu writer (Grand Grimoire, Dead Light and Other Dark Turns, etc.)
• Becca Scott - Twitch streamer and Keeper on The Calyx
• Seth Skorkowsky - Fantasy/horror novelist and YouTube personality

All of the contributors have provided what they consider to be their most useful and insightful advice.Their collected wisdom is aimed to help you get the most out of Call of Cthulhu!

 

All Topics Covered

The advice in Keeper Tips is spread across a wide range of topics, including preparation, gameplay, inclusivity, designing scenarios, combat, monsters, horror, sanity, and much more!

 

Transferable Skills

While the advice in Keeper Tips is specifically geared towards Call of Cthulhu, much of the information is transferable to other games as well. The knowledge in this book is easily ported over to games such as RuneQuest and King Arthur Pendragon! 

The stars are right on November 13th, 2021

Keeper Tips releases in PDF worldwide on November 13th, 2021—the day in 1981 (a Friday) copies of Call of Cthulhu first edition were delivered to the Chaosium offices. The 128 page leatherette physical book will hit the shelves in early 2022. Remember, as always, when you buy the PDF at Chaosium.com, you’ll receive a coupon for the full price of the PDF off the hardcover when it releases!

Edited October 22, 2021 by MOB

[harunmushod]

This is more like the type of thing I’m interested in to celebrate the 40th anniversary, rather than the 40th edition faux-leather rule book. Substance over style. 
 

(Mind you, doesn’t explain my backing of the Cthulhu classic box set Kickstarter)

[MOB]

To commemorate Call of Cthulhu's 40th birthday (today!), our Keeper Tips book is a gathering of collected wisdom for running the game.

Out now in PDF and will be released as a 128 page leatherette pocketbook early next year.*

*Buy the PDF now and get the cost of the PDF off the physical book.

Our Keeper Tips book features tips, essays, and contributions from experienced and diverse Call of Cthulhu Keepers including Jason Durall (RuneQuest), Becca Scott (Good Time Society), Sean Branney (H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society), Allan Carrey (Type40), Lynne Hardy (The Children of Fear) Bridgett Jeffries (The Miskatonic Repository), Mike Mason (Call of Cthulhu), and many, many others!

[stadi]

Because the format / layout is quite different than your usual products, it would be great if this was available as an epub (or some other e-book format) as well. Would be easier to read than the PDF till the print version is available.

[greger]

20 pages in, and I  like how easy it is to read.
The layout is very plain, but not all books would benefit from an intricate layout. I am guessing also that it will look much nicer on paper.
Books that are plain text on white background often get better from the paper structure, which might be all it needs.

I do wish there was an indication on who each tip came from. At least the longer ones, that has some oppinion behind them.
Like when a tip starts off with "The reason we run You Too Can Cthulhu...", it would come off more meaningful to know who the "we" refers to. I can deduce it if I start looking through the biographies, but when reading the book, it is easy to have thoughts that the "we" might be all the contributores to the book, or Chaosium, or, whatever.

And when it says "Personally, I wholeheartedly recommend Seth Skorkowsky’s YouTube channel.." it feels weird not knowing which person this is.

 

[MOB]

Chaosium Unveiled checks out Keeper Tips:

 

What The Critics Say

• "Regardless of your Keeper/GM style, or whether you’re a newcomer or a veteran in the role, there’s some very useful pearls of wisdom in here – and it’s well worth adding to your RPG bookshelf (or that of any Keeper/GM friends you might have) as a result."— Game On Aus, Keeper Tips reviewed.
• "Warm encouragement to tell horrible stories in a kindly way. I bloody love it."— Mark Morrison (Horror on the Orient Express, Terror Australis, Reign of Terror, etc).

Available now from all five Chaosium fulfilment warehouses (US, EU, AUS, CAN, UK):
$USD17.99, price includes PDF.