''Dire Documents'', subtitled "Diabolical Dossiers of Doom", is a supplement published by
Chaosium
Chaosium Inc. is a publisher of tabletop role-playing games established by Greg Stafford in 1975. Chaosium's major titles include ''Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game), Call of Cthulhu'', based on the horror fiction stories of H. P. Lovecraft'', R ...
in 1993 for the horror role-playing game ''
Call of Cthulhu''.
Contents
Chaosium first published the
Lovecraftian horror role-playing game ''Call of Cthulhu'' in 1981, and subsequently produced a number of editions, including the 5th edition in 1992. The following year, Chaosium produced two supplemental products for use with the 5th edition under the subtitle "Diabolical Dossiers of Doom": ''
Investigator Sheets'', a set of blank
character sheet
A character sheet is a record of a player character in a role-playing game, including whatever details, notes, game statistics, and background information a player would need during a play session. Character sheets can be found in use in both tr ...
s; and ''Dire Documents'', a pack of nine blank two-color forms, including:
* a certificate from the mayor for Meritorious Service
* an in-patient admission form for Arkham Sanitorium
* several letterheads of various firms, including an import-export company, an exotic-sounding society,
Miskatonic University
Miskatonic University is a fictional university located in Arkham, a fictional town in Essex County, Massachusetts. It is named after the Miskatonic River (also fictional). After first appearing in H. P. Lovecraft's 1922 story "Herbert West–Rea ...
, the chief of staff of Arkham Sanitorium, and a legal firm
* a blank invitation to a formal reception
* a tongue-in-cheek award certificate for the Superlative Death of a
player character
A player character (also known as a playable character or PC) is a fictional character in a video game or tabletop role-playing game whose actions are controlled by a player rather than the rules of the game. The characters that are not control ...
Each of these can be used by the
gamemaster
A gamemaster (GM; also known as game master, game manager, game moderator, referee, or storyteller) is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are m ...
as player handouts in a role-playing game.
Reception
In the October 1993 edition of ''
Dragon'' (#198),
Rick Swan
Rick Swan is a game designer and author who worked for TSR.
His work for TSR, mostly for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, appeared from 1989 to 1995.
Swan also wrote ''The Complete Guide to Role-Playing Games'' (1990), published by St. Martin's Pr ...
called these "indispensable for Keepers who like to make their own clues or bewilder their friends." However, Swan questioned why Chaosium did not include a folder or envelope for storage.
Other recognition
A copy of ''Dire Documents'' is held in the "Edwin and Terry Murray Collection of Role-Playing Games, 1972-2017" at
Duke University.
References
Call of Cthulhu (role-playing game) supplements
Role-playing game supplements introduced in 1993
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