Bookhounds of London
By Matt Staggs
Bookhounds of London, Pelgrane Press, Supplement, $34.95, www.PelgranePress.com.
Bookhounds of London is a supplement for Trail of Cthulhu, the role-playing game of Lovecraftian horror from Pelgrane Press. In a departure from Trail of Cthulhu’s scholars, antiquarians, and detectives, Bookhounds of London plunges players deep into the sordid world of that city’s occult book trade. Taking a page from Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Club Dumas, players assume the roles of forgers, thieves, hustlers, and bargainers in the business of buying, selling, and trading tomes of forbidden lore.
While there are plenty of stories in the Cthulhu Mythos featuring researchers who stumble upon the dreaded Necronomicon or the Book of Eibon only to find themselves shortly thereafter knee-deep in tentacles and indescribably squamous Elder Things, few, if any, tell the story of how those books came to be there in the first place. This is the meat of Bookhounds of London. As the titular bookhounds, the players are inevitably drawn deeper into the Mythos as they seek out the rare books their often unsavory customers require.
While the topic of London’s occult book traders may seem a little esoteric to some readers, the author, respected Lovecraft researcher Kenneth Hite, does a fantastic job of fleshing out this world and the limitless possibilities of adventure it offers to those brave enough to venture forth.
If you enjoyed reading this, please consider subscribing to Realms of Fantasy.
