Quote from: Cole;458019I think that is probably a better adventuring timeframe, really.

It's the time frame most people associate with "Rome", even if they can't pinpoint it themselves. I think it's the best time period for a true classic Roman vibe personally, because you still may have memories of the Republic, all the greatest minds like Virgil, Livy and others were around and that's the point of view we have absorbed today as Classic, the Emperors are the present of Rome, Christinanity arises as one of the million different cults that exist in the shadow of the zillion other cults coopted by Rome, etc. There's a frame of reference anyone will instinctively "know" from watching movies and reading books about Rome, you know.

Quote from: The Butcher;457970Cthulhu By Gaslight just got a new edition, and I've read some praise for it in these very forums. What's it like? Just a "guide to Victorian life", or does it have interesting Cthulhu-specific material?

The new, 3rd, edition is not out yet, but what I read from it sure sounds proimising.

Quote from: The Butcher;457970The location books look interesting, which ones are the best?

All three available Lovecraft Country sourcebooks are great, but H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham is my personal favourite of the three.

Quote from: Benoist;457997(...)The strength of the Malleus Monstrorum is that it blends the mythos with actual archeological illustrations, mythological accounts and basically provides a lot of sketchy fluff and references that makes it feel "real" in the context of CoC. That's why it is such a great book. Absolutely a must-have, if you ask me, for the inspiration alone. It'll rock your socks and come up with billions of ideas just by looking at the art.

I also love this book. Just paging through it, reading bits here and there and looking at the art, will make new ideas pop up in your head.

I really like Secrets of Morocco, it's highly stylish to hang out with a fez and a pistol.  

I've heard good things about Mysteries of the Raj. This seems like it would be a no-brainer, given the prevalence of India stuff in horror/fantasy of the early part of the 20th century.

Finally, although they're uneven, I adore the Halloween series. Very fun and often quite good.

Quote from: The Butcher;457970...
First I thought of picking up Delta Green, which is, of course, out of print and goes for $200+ on Noble Knight when it shows up. So that's a no.

Then there's The Laundry. I admit to never having read the novels, though I'm vaguely familiar with the idea (a British government agency dealing with paranormal phenomena and mired in bureaucracy and office politics). How's that as a game book? I'm not inherently opposed to the idea of humor in my CoC games (I almost picked up Blood Brothers), but "Delta Green meets The Office" is not really what I'm looking for right now.

...

Delta Green is worth having, but the fellas are working on a updated edition (post-9/11) so I'd wait a bit.

The Laundry is excellent. Its not really Delta Green meets The Office though. It does have a little humor but that is mostly the main protagonist's way of dealing with awful situations, and there are awful situations. The characters are more resilient than typical CoC games and there is a stress on the Sci-fi elements.

Just picked up the new Cthulhu Invictus Campaign The Legacy of Arrius Lurco...this looks awesome!

Quote from: Aos;457985I like Dreamlands. The adventures in my copy (I'm not sure which edition I have) are unbearably rail roady, but I'm big fan of the rest of the book. I think the problem that a lot of folks have with it is that it can more or less turn your CoC campaign into a S&S game. Personally, I'd love to play in a dreamalnds S&S game.

I confess to never having read the Dreamlands cycle, or more generally what HPL deemed his "Dunsany pieces" (as opposed to his "Poe pieces"). What little I know makes me feel that this would make from a somewhat different game than I'm used to, less horrific and more fantastic, which might be OK but it's not the first thing that springs to mind when I think "CoC". So, until I get around to reading some Randolph Carter pieces, I'll hold out on this one.

Quote from: Benoist;457997The strength of the Malleus Monstrorum is that it blends the mythos with actual archeological illustrations, mythological accounts and basically provides a lot of sketchy fluff and references that makes it feel "real" in the context of CoC. That's why it is such a great book. Absolutely a must-have, if you ask me, for the inspiration alone. It'll rock your socks and come up with billions of ideas just by looking at the art.

SOLD. The skimpy write-ups in the core book were inspirational enough, but this sounds great!

Quote from: Benoist;458002The Bestiary______________________________________________________________ 101
Apep 102 • Ataka 102 • Azi Dahaka 103 • Ba'al Hammon 103 • Bardi 104 • Basajuanak 104 • Basilisk 105 •
Blemmyes 105 • Blue Men of the Minch 106 • Bouda 106 • Brocken Spectre 107 • Buggane 107 • Centaur 108 • Cerberus 108 •
Cercopes 109 Charybdis 110 • Children of Cthugha 110 • Children of Lamia 110 • Cu Sith 111 • Cuegle 111 • Cyclopes 112 •
Dea 112 • Dybbuk 113 • Furies 113 • Gandareva 114 • Gorgons 114 • Grindylow 115 • Harpies 115 • Horses of Diomedes 115 •
Jinn 116 • Kalikantzaris 118 • Keto 118 • Kul 119 • Laestrygonians 119 • Lamia 120 • Lesij 120 • Lou Carcolh 121 •
Magliore 121 • Mas-da Sakkaru 121 • Mazikeen 122 • Meretseger 123 • Minotaur 123 • Mot 123 • Muses 124 • Pegasus 125 •
Sandwalker 125 • Satyr 125 • Scorpion Men 126 • Scylla 126 • Sirens 127 • Taranushi 127 • Tengri 128 • Trenti 128 • Typhon 129
• Ut'ulls-Hr'ehr 129 • Vodyanoy 130 • Zaratan 130

Cults and Secret Societies_____________________________________________ 131
Argonauts 131 • Beag ma Aisus 132 • Blade of Zarthosht 132 • Bull Dancers 133 • Christianity 133 •
Cult of Magna Mater 134 • Custus Notitiae 134 • Daughters of Isolation 135 • Fishmen of Lierganes 136 •
Followers of Dagon 136 • Followers of Urakhu 137 • Gnosticism 138 • Harii 138 • Kukeri 138 • Lotophagi 139 •
Mithraism 139 • The Olympians 140 • Priests of Melkarth 141 • The Qore 142 • Republicans 142 •
Sicarii 143 • The Titans 143 • Vestal Virgins 144

I had sort of glossed over Cthulhu Invictus, but damn. Those two chapters alone are looking like they're worth the cover price.

Quote from: JDCorley;458063I really like Secrets of Morocco, it's highly stylish to hang out with a fez and a pistol.  

I've heard good things about Mysteries of the Raj. This seems like it would be a no-brainer, given the prevalence of India stuff in horror/fantasy of the early part of the 20th century.

Finally, although they're uneven, I adore the Halloween series. Very fun and often quite good.

The Maghreb and India sound like great locations for a pulpy game. I also like the idea of Westerners a long way from home, confronted with unfamiliar myths and names, and the horrors that inspired them -- a cheap but easy way to emphasize the alienness of the Mythos (and lest I get flamed, I do think that it can be done in a culturally sensitive manner, i.e. without making every Bedouin a slavering cultist or something similarly idiotic). I once played a particularly memorable game set in China during the Boxer Rebellion years, with a mixed party of Western and Chinese PCs, and the Keeper did a great job of emphasizing the alienness of the whole experience to the Western PCs (it took the Chinese PCs a bit longer to freak out, but freak out they did, and how ).

On a similar vein, does anyone own Secrets of Japan? What's it like? The blurb makes it sound like the game is geared towards modern-day play, and the cover hints at J-horror inspiration. I am intrigued.

Quote from: hanszurcher;458100Delta Green is worth having, but the fellas are working on a updated edition (post-9/11) so I'd wait a bit.

Great news! I'll be on the lookout for this.

Quote from: hanszurcher;458100The Laundry is excellent. Its not really Delta Green meets The Office though. It does have a little humor but that is mostly the main protagonist's way of dealing with awful situations, and there are awful situations. The characters are more resilient than typical CoC games and there is a stress on the Sci-fi elements.

Now this is very interesting. I am of two minds on the resilience thing, though.

Quote from: The Butcher;458106...
Now this is very interesting. I am of two minds on the resilience thing, though.

The Laundry uses BRP's optional rules for Personality Types to create more competent characters. I guess it helps simulate training and experience that usual CoC characters lack. But you could probably ignore the Personality Types phase of character generation if you prefer a more traditional approach.

Quote from: The Butcher;458106(...)I also like the idea of Westerners a long way from home, confronted with unfamiliar myths and names, and the horrors that inspired them(...)

For this, I like Secrets of Kenya a lot. Plenty of well-researched background information for this exotic and "uncivilised" alternative setting plus IIRC four pretty decent adventures.

Oh, and The Laundry is excellent. Just pick it up already!

Which CoC supplements are worth getting, of course, depend on what kind of campaign you want to run.

If you want to run an epic, world-spanning campaign, Masks of Nyarlathotep is widely regarded as the gold standard.

If you are running a more 'episodic' style of game, Mansions of Madness is quite good.  (I'm running this sort of CoC campaign right now, as we play CoC pretty sporadically, so MoM has been very helpful.)

Dreamlands is a great book, but as Aos and others have noted already, a Dreamlands campaign will differ quite a bit from a standard CoC campaign.  

I have Cthulhu Invictus, along with the first supplement, and very much like it.  The feel of the setting seems more Robert E. Howard (a la "The Worms of the Earth") than Lovecraft, but there certainly is nothing wrong with that (IMO)!

The Laundry RPG looks great, but I've been putting off reading it until I read The Fuller Memorandum, as the RPG book contains quite a few spoilers.

I'm really curious and interested in both Laundry and Invictus, and i just love that there's a lot of cool CoC books coming out. In my opinion the sourcebooks from Chaosium the last couple of years, maybe almost 10 actually, have been below par, especially in layout and art.

Of the older books that are still pretty attainable I would recommend both The Stars are Right and Unseen Masters for modern/90s games. For classic games I'll echo the praise for the town-books, Insmouth, Kingsport, Arkham, Dunwich - all cool and oozing with atmosphere and cool plot hooks.

And keep an eye out for a reasonably priced Delta Green – it might be expensive, but it's worth every penny.

Quote from: Aos;457985Personally, I'd love to play in a dreamalnds S&S game.

I ran a Dreamlands S&S game when Avalon Hill's RQ first came out. Since it's all BRP based it was very easy to translate the cult magic/divine magic system of RQ into the Dreamlands setting. It also allows for some very unusual character types. In the party of 8 that I ran for we had a cat sorceror (turned out to be very effective) and a Ghoul (graverobber/thief). One their major problems was getting involved in a pissing match between a group of Nyarlathotep cultists and the temple of Bast...bloody but a lot of fun.

Supplements I've really loved:
'Green and Pleasant Land.' The U.K. setting for Gaslight and '20s.

'Mansion's of Madness,' really nice one-shot adventures.

'The Stars are Right,' offers some good solid modern adventure, but I seem to remember there was a clunker in there as well (I've not looked at my copy for a very long time).

Almost all of the big city sandbox settings are worth getting (Arkham, Dunwich, Kingsport, Morroco, Cairo). They are usually well researched and cleanly presented. That said, it won't do you much good if you don't plan to set a game in them. The Kingsport book is very well done, but I've yet to run a game set in Kingsport...so, oh well.

Of the epic campaign settings the big winner is probably 'Masks of Nyarlathotep.' I have a personal weakness for 'Horrorr on the Orient Express,' but it has some very weak sections in it and you will have to be on your toes to run it. I also like 'Walker in the Wastes,' mostly because it uses Ithaqua and he just doesn't pop up that often. It's from Pagan Publishing, I believe.

Grace Under Pressure is an awesome one-shot. CoC is pretty much the only game that I'll play modules for.

This game has been blessed with so much good material, it might be easier to just ask "which supplements AREN'T worth picking up", because they'll be in the minority.

RPGPundit

Okay then, what if i wanted to integrate one of the cities into my sometimes horror themed supers game/setting, which one would be best?

Quote from: Aos;458702Okay then, what if i wanted to integrate one of the cities into my sometimes horror themed supers game/setting, which one would be best?

Is it set in the modern day? Generally speaking I recommend Kingsport but I'm not sure about the changes modern technology might make to any of the "Lovecraft Country" areas.

Quote from: Cole;458705Is it set in the modern day? Generally speaking I recommend Kingsport but I'm not sure about the changes modern technology might make to any of the "Lovecraft Country" areas.

No, the main time line is moving through 1950 right now. Kingsport is prohibitively expensive, sadly.  (~80$ new/used on amazon).