The London Guidebook: 1920s Roleplaying in the Capital of the World

Call of Cthulhu RPG

by Lucya Szachnowski

For seven centuries the reach and power of the British Crown was regularly challenged, but never dispelled. The Crown's capital city, London, in the 1920s three times older than the Crown itself, grew to he the pre-eminent confluence of old privilege, new money, dynamic creativity, social class friction, madness, tuberculosis, science, education, and advanced medical research. Bumbling criminals, evil geniuses, refugee intellectuals, social deviants, harmless eccentrics, moral reformers, occultists, and millions of utterly normal people gravitated to London. The larger any city becomes, the more it becomes the place to be, and the more reasons people find for going there. London was the largest city in the world.

With detail chosen not only for social or political importance but also for the curious, bizarre, and supernatural, this book captures much of London's special flavor. Keepers and interested readers will find in it substantial background and a wide range of information, including new occupations for the game, famous people, London by district (with a half-dozen general maps, and many more detailed plans and illustrations of particular buildings and complexes), the suburbs, the Thames, parks, subterranean London, transport, annual events, law and order, crimes and criminals, institutions, recreation, occult London, a historical chronology of the city, a 1920s timeline by month, prices, how to get chloroform (or weapons, fireworks, or public records), how to send a letter or telegram, sample hotel and restaurant costs, a bibliography, an introductory scenario, and an index

Genres: Role Playing Games, Gaming, Horror

94 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[Mikael Cerbing · Rating 3 out of 5]

A really good supplement for London in the 20s. Very usfull to have. But also quite boring to read.

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basic Premise: A reference guide to the City of London for people who run the Call of Cthulhu RPG.

This book focuses on the 1920s setting, so it's most useful for that. Being as the general CoC setting focuses on America (as Lovecraft did), this is a new and unusual setting for all things CoC, but it works well! America of the 1920s still was a bit wild, and the "Old World" of Europe was seen as traditional and fully discovered. At least to us Yanks. This book gives us a seedier, creepier underbelly to that sense of tradition. There are a lot of good maps and some very solid information about the 1920s and how things were done that will translate well to the American settings as well. Great creepy fun!

[Dan Laufer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of useful information, that'll add color to the streets of 1920's London, when your investigators invariably fail their spot obvious roll, and meander away from your plot and into a world of intrigue all of their own.

Fantastically well researched, well presented and invaluable for anyone running the 20's game against an England Setting.