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Message: <blockquote data-quote="JeffB" data-source="post: 2009555" data-attributes="member: 518">The first supplement for D20 Cthulhu is here: The GM's Pack.Here's what you get:A 3 panel GM Screen4 Bookmarks which also are printed with page references to various areas in the D20 CoC rulebookA fairly meaty 50 page book filled with a variety of useful things for your CoC game.A  finally a Booklet of various forms and sheets.all for $19.95 US.The GM ScreenThe GM screen is a 3 panel affair that has the cover picture from the 5.5/6 Edition of the CoC BRP system Core book on the side facing the players (nice art by the way), and on the GM's side has many of the most useful tables for the D20 version of CoC, as well as a mini-index. Tables include: DC examples (with generic difficulty levels, i.e. easy, avergae, tough, etc. No specific tasks are referred to), Object Hardness, the Ability Score modifier table, Fleeing (how appropriate!), Action Types, Combat "Spot" Rules, Cover, Attack roll Modifiers, "Spot" Rules for Spellcasting, Detecting Invisible creatures, "Spot" rules for Insanity, Short & Long term Insanity effects, Sanity Loss examples, Temporary Insanity, and finally a few of the symbols/glyphs of the Mythos. It sounds like alot, but the screen is actually pretty small compared to most screens, and is not over-crammed. It makes good use of the space, but due to the simpler nature of the CoC rules (regardless of version), you probably won't need much more in the way of tables for in-game use. Some of you may be wondering what "Spot" rules are. "Spot Rules" are a  term used  for quite some time by Chaosium to put a small, but sufficient amount of rules mechanics to run the game in one "spot" or that can be looked up "on the spot". Essentially it's a few paragraphs or a page of needed rules and mechanics to run one aspect of the game, be it firearms, spellcasting, etc. If you are familiar with Angramainyu's 3E's reference sheets, then that should give a general idea of what "Spot rules" are like. The Screen itself is a bit flimsy and not of heavy stock, but I don't find it any worse than the original 3E DM screen from that standpoint. Overall a solid, utilitarian GM screen.The BookmarksThe bookmarks (4 of them) are just that: Bookmarks. However, each is printed with a mini-index of sorts. One has a Character & Euipment Index. Another is for Creatures,Cults, and other horrors. A third is for Combat and other Dangers (Such as fire, falling, etc), and the last is (at least in my GM pack) a repeat of the 1st (Characters and Equipment). Nothing groundbreaking here, but they should prove useful at times. The BookletAhh, here is the meat of the CoC GM pack! This 50 page booklet is filled with a variety of things. First off is a rather "pulpish" CoC adventure entitled "the Lost Temple of Yig". I won't go into details here, other than to say the PC's will be going to Brazil to explore a lost Temple (imagine that!), should prt well to any era, and that it's 28 pages in length. Overall a decent work, but nothing special. BRP stats are included at the back for the major NPC's and there is a new (D20)spell too. Next up in the booklet is an "Adventurers Guild" the PC's could become involved with named "The Vanguard Club". The organization is a group of world-spanning explorers whose motto is "Semper Primus ad Limes", which translates to "Always First to the Frontier". The Club's History, Organization, Internal Politics, etc are given a brief (5 page) but enough to work with, overview. Included is a small writeup on the Arkham Club. The Club, like the "Lost temple" has a very (intended) Pulp-ish 1930's feel. However, with a minimal amount of work the GM could bring it into a modern-day era game, if desired.After that is the official D20 CoC Eratta; about 3 pages worth and a "new" monster. I somehow find it hard to believe this ALL of the Eratta in the D20 CoC book, though by no means am I certain of the matter.Then we find an expanded D20 to BRP (or vice versa) Conversion section. It's only 3 pages, but is more detailed that the material in the D20 CoC core book for converting established CoC products to D20.Lastly we have some Record Sheets. These include a new PC Record Sheet (which I prefer over the WOTC version, as it's "cleaner" and easier on the eyes), a  Minor Character sheet (for NPC's), and a Monster Master. The Monster Master has a main area for whatever "main baddie" you are using, plus smaller sections for up to 3 of it's minions. Again, nothing groundbreaking, but solid, utilitarian, and useful.The Forms and SheetsOk, I have to admit, I'm a sucker for this type of stuff. This booklet includes various "props". Included are "Official" Arkham Sanitarium Admission Forms, a Commonwealth of Massachusetts Certificate of Insanity, Arkham Sanitarium Letterhead (both generic and for Dr. Eric Hardstrom, the Chief of Staff), a Arkham Sanitarium Patient record, a Arkham Sanitarium Patient transfer form, a Arkham Sanitarium Patient Psychological Profile form, Arkham Sanitarium Service/Equipment Invoice, a Arkham Sanitarium Visitor Registration Form, Miskatonic University Letterhead,  Arkham, Mass Police Department forms (one for criminals, another for crimes/cases), a Dental record, a Death Certificate, an Award for Meritorious Service from the (Generic town) Mayor, and finally a "Keeper's (GM) Choice Award for the Superlative Demise of (insert deceased investigator's name here) Award", which obviously is a gag, but fun nonetheless. Of course all of the sheets are blank and meant to be filled out by the GM as "clues' or whatnot in-game. Way cool stuff, and they certainly help to evoke the CoC moodConclusionAs I said about some of the individual items, there is nothing groundbreaking here. Nor is it a typical D&D/D20 release full of "crunch" like feats, spells, etc. This accessory lives up to it's name: it's simply a set of useful items for the CoC GM. The scenario is decent and should keep PC's busy for a few hours, there arequite a few ideas/seeds present for a GM to mine in the Vanguard Club section, the Eratta is obviously helpful, the somewhat expanded Conversion section is more than welcome so that the D20 fan may buy and use with relative ease any of the plethora of excellent existing CoC material from Chaosium, and the various forms will help to add atmosphere to the game.  Considering that most DM screens run $10 to $12, and a 28-32 page D20 adventure runs from $8 to $10, I feel this is $20 well spent for any D20 CoC GM.JeffB [<img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />]</blockquote>

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