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Cthulhu by Gaslight: Investigator’s Guide
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 7, 2025
Alas, that this is another in the growing pile of Call of Cthulhu supplements that I don't have time to run until I've put my players through Berlin, Pulp, Regency, the orient express, several one-shots, and a couple of large-scale globe-trotting adventures, AFTER they conclude the campaign we're already on! Because by george if I don't want to hand them all top-hats, capes and walking sticks and send them out onto the misty streets of London now, exploring the subway tunnels, ancient moldering family estates in the country, or tussling with furtive criminals in overpopulated warrens!
Cthulhu By Gaslight: Inestigator's guide, is another in a string of lovely CoC books that have been coming out. These books are great because they answer the questions they KNOW that you as a keeper or player will have, questions like "How much is it to get on a train?" and "Ooh, can I be an indian officer who's come to London?" or "Surely I don't need to get a cab, I can just walk across London, right? It's a small place, right? What's the population?" and other stuff like that. It gives you a broad, yet useful peep through a historical lens, giving you good info, and good jumping-off-points to do your own research and find inspiration.
It is not entirely a PERFECT book. I caught one or two little 'whoopsies' of grammar and sentence here and there that I'd like to have hoped would have been ironed out of a professional product like this. Furthermore, I'm not quite sure that this really needed to be presented in a 'super special, jumping-in-point' the way it did; the 'Investigator's Guide', partnered with the 'Keeper's Guide' are supposed to be a minor 'alternative entry point' to Call of Cthulhu, separate from the standard 1920's setting that the core book gives you. There are a couple rules outlined in this book that give you the very basics, and (though I haven't read it yet, I can presume) though the Keeper's Guide will offer a few more rules, I can see that there may be a need for the basic Core Book in the end. It's an optimistic view to divide Gaslight between something you can hand to players to read and something a keeper will need to run games, but that level of optimism - that you could hand your players a 200+ page book and expect them to read it so they can 'get into character' - verges on the insane. In the end (though again, I have not yet read the partner 'keeper's guide' just yet, so my opinion might change) I may have preferred another single-book 'era supplement' akin to Regency, Berlin, Pulp, or Down Darker Trails.
Yet, those are nit-picks. If you're an RPG player it's likely you've committed yourself to having to make regular and ritual sacrifices of your cash, and I don't think buying this book is a poor use of it. It was informative, flavorful, and inspiring!
Cthulhu By Gaslight: Inestigator's guide, is another in a string of lovely CoC books that have been coming out. These books are great because they answer the questions they KNOW that you as a keeper or player will have, questions like "How much is it to get on a train?" and "Ooh, can I be an indian officer who's come to London?" or "Surely I don't need to get a cab, I can just walk across London, right? It's a small place, right? What's the population?" and other stuff like that. It gives you a broad, yet useful peep through a historical lens, giving you good info, and good jumping-off-points to do your own research and find inspiration.
It is not entirely a PERFECT book. I caught one or two little 'whoopsies' of grammar and sentence here and there that I'd like to have hoped would have been ironed out of a professional product like this. Furthermore, I'm not quite sure that this really needed to be presented in a 'super special, jumping-in-point' the way it did; the 'Investigator's Guide', partnered with the 'Keeper's Guide' are supposed to be a minor 'alternative entry point' to Call of Cthulhu, separate from the standard 1920's setting that the core book gives you. There are a couple rules outlined in this book that give you the very basics, and (though I haven't read it yet, I can presume) though the Keeper's Guide will offer a few more rules, I can see that there may be a need for the basic Core Book in the end. It's an optimistic view to divide Gaslight between something you can hand to players to read and something a keeper will need to run games, but that level of optimism - that you could hand your players a 200+ page book and expect them to read it so they can 'get into character' - verges on the insane. In the end (though again, I have not yet read the partner 'keeper's guide' just yet, so my opinion might change) I may have preferred another single-book 'era supplement' akin to Regency, Berlin, Pulp, or Down Darker Trails.
Yet, those are nit-picks. If you're an RPG player it's likely you've committed yourself to having to make regular and ritual sacrifices of your cash, and I don't think buying this book is a poor use of it. It was informative, flavorful, and inspiring!
January 16, 2026
I’ve read the core rule books for the main game but was fascinated enough with the more familiar Victorian London era that I bought the latest edition of this supplement.
It’s a marvellous book, balancing several chapters of ‘lore’ with character generation and skills. We also get a core rules supplement at the end too, which is a truncated version which shows you need little system to play.
It’s the granularity of the setting which elevates this book for me. Remarkably good
It’s a marvellous book, balancing several chapters of ‘lore’ with character generation and skills. We also get a core rules supplement at the end too, which is a truncated version which shows you need little system to play.
It’s the granularity of the setting which elevates this book for me. Remarkably good
December 6, 2024
Absolutely excellent guide to the period which, thanks to its focus on player-facing material, doesn't include much Mythos content and therefore can be a great resource for any Victorian-set RPG campaign taking a detail-oriented approach to the history. Full review: https://refereeingandreflection.wordp...
December 17, 2024
Absolutely love this book. Perfect for those interested in Victorian era and history. Covers everything a player needs to know about the era to flesh out their character and feel immersed in the setting. I loved it so much, I am going to get the leatherette for me and keep the hardcover for use.
October 26, 2025
Excellently researched book on the late Victorian period. Great background for running any RPG in the period, notvjust Cthulhu.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews