''Cthulhu Companion'' is a supplement published by

Chaosium Chaosium Inc. ( ) is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford (game designer), Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fic ...

in 1983 for '' Call of Cthulhu'' .

''Cthulhu Companion'' is a supplement with information on prisons, insanity, Mythos creatures, and the Necronomicon, and also contains poetry from H.P. Lovecraft, and three short adventure scenarios.

Publication history

''Cthulhu Companion'' is a collection of essays written by

Sandy Petersen Carl Sanford Joslyn "Sandy" Petersen (born September 16, 1955) is an American game designer. He worked at Chaosium, contributing to the development of ''RuneQuest'' and creating the acclaimed and influential horror role-playing game Call of Cthul ...

, Glenn Rahman,

Lynn Willis Lynn Willis (died January 18, 2013) was a wargame and role-playing game designer, best known for his work with Metagaming Concepts, Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), and Chaosium. Biography Willis began by designing science fiction wargames for M ...

, Morgan Conrad, Alan K. Crandall,

Gene Day Howard Eugene Day (August 13, 1951 – September 23, 1982) was a Canadian comics artist best known for his work on Marvel Comics' ''Star Wars'' licensed series and ''Master of Kung Fu''. He was considered a mentor by independent comic writer/art ...

, William Hamblin,

Keith Herber Keith Donald "Doc" Herber (January 3, 1949 – March 13, 2009)"United States Social Security Death Index," index, FamilySearch: accessed October 25, 2013), Keith Donald Herber, March 13, 2009; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death M ...

, Chris Marrinan, John Sullivan, Tom Sullivan, and Richard L. Tierney, and edited by Sandy Petersen and Yurek Chodak. It was published by

in 1983 as a 64-page book, with cover art by Chris Marrinan, and interior art by Gene Day, Tom Sullivan, and Lisa A. Free. It was republished in 2022 as part of the Call of Cthulhu classic boxed set Kickstarter.

Reception

Jon Sutherland reviewed ''Cthulhu Companion'' for ''

White Dwarf A white dwarf is a Compact star, stellar core remnant composed mostly of electron-degenerate matter. A white dwarf is very density, dense: in an Earth sized volume, it packs a mass that is comparable to the Sun. No nuclear fusion takes place i ...

'' #51, giving it an overall rating of 7 out of 10, and stated that "In conclusion, this tome is really of use only to the Keepers of Arcane Knowledge and given that this does not set out to fundamentally change any of the basic rules themselves, again this will limit appeal. The scenarios are quite good and altogether, this represents a predictable package and is reasonable value for money." Graeme Davis reviewed ''Cthulhu Companion'' for '' Imagine'' magazine, and stated that "there is nothing which is not immediately useful to any campaign, and it is to be hoped that future supplements will maintain the very impressive standard of the ''Cthulhu Companion''. The value for money is excellent, and no ''Call of Cthulhu'' referee can afford to be without it." In the September–October 1984 edition of ''

Different Worlds ''Different Worlds'' was an American role-playing games magazine published from 1979 to 1987. Scope ''Different Worlds'' published support articles, scenarios, and variants for various role-playing games including ''Dungeons & Dragons'', ''Rune ...

'' (Issue #36), Steve Marsh was slightly disappointed about this product, commenting that some of the material was very good, but some essays were of more questionable utility. He concluded, "Its only failure is that it is merely a good solid work instead of the brilliance I was expecting." James Maliszewski for '' Black Gate'' in 2014 said "Whereas the original 1981 rulebook depicted ''Call of Cthulhu'' investigators as reporters and academics, the ''Companion'' gave the impression of their being more like Indiana Jones: bold explorers venturing into forgotten tombs in search of treasure and knowledge. Combined with the lengthy article by Richard L. Tierney (yes, that Richard L. Tierney) on 'The Cthulhu Mythos in Mesoamerican Religion' and you have the recipe for a very different take on Lovecraftian horror."

References

{{reflist Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game) supplements Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1983

Contents

Publication history

Reception

References