- Paperback: 295 pages
- Publisher: Chaosium Inc.,U.S.; Expanded English Ed edition (1 Jan 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1568821794
- ISBN-13: 978-1568821795
- Product Dimensions: 27.4 x 21.1 x 2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 562,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Gathering together details of myriad creatures from the extended Cthulhu Mythos and associated occult activities, the Malleus Monstrorum weighs in with enough monsters to amuse the most active of Keepers. While illustrated with various images - from books, painings, adverts, etc. - that contain slightly unnerving associations with the Mythos, the lack of pictures of every monster somewhat detracts from my overall rating of this tome. I like having all the information in one place - and in that respect this volume provides great reference value - but not having pictures as a frame of reference disappoints. On the other hand, all creatures come with some reference or description in writing, so ultimately imagination can take over in describing these monstrosities to your quivering players.
Want to GM Call of Cthulhu? Get yourself a copy of the main rulebook (doesn't matter which edition to be honest), a compilation of Mr Lovecraft's work and this sourcebook and with a dash of wit, planning and Fhtagn you should be all set.
As a GM this sourcebook is essential, covering the gods, deities, beasts and beings we've all come to love and lose sanity points to. Excellent quotes, illustrations and research make this compilation of horrors from the CoC canon a fascinating read for the Lovecraft scholar and a top-notch resource for the GM who's fed up with using Deep Ones and Hounds of Tindalos and wants to present something a bit different to scare his or her players.
Outside of the 'Delta Green' series of sourcebooks this is the best resource for discerning CoC gamesmaster and provides enough material for dozens of sanity rending investigations.
As a GM this sourcebook is essential, covering the gods, deities, beasts and beings we've all come to love and lose sanity points to. Excellent quotes, illustrations and research make this compilation of horrors from the CoC canon a fascinating read for the Lovecraft scholar and a top-notch resource for the GM who's fed up with using Deep Ones and Hounds of Tindalos and wants to present something a bit different to scare his or her players.
Outside of the 'Delta Green' series of sourcebooks this is the best resource for discerning CoC gamesmaster and provides enough material for dozens of sanity rending investigations.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5 reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Not At All Essential, But An Interesting GM Resource
14 Jan 2011
Anyone new to Call of Cthulhu, especially those coming from the D&D world, could be forgiven for thinking the game might benefit from a "Monster Manual".
I can tell such people that because of the completeness of the rulebook back to the earliest versions, the need for this volume is imaginary. The latest version of The Call of Cthulhu has a bestiary which should fuel any campaign for years (remember that Mythos Creatures are often repeat performers, not single-episode walk on targets for players to coat with arrows and fireballs). I have a very extensive collection of published scenarios and campaigns for the game and I can't recall ever seeing anything in them that wasn't either in the rulebook or described in the publication itself.
That said, this volume contains a staggering amount of information on just about every monstrous thing that should not be that has ever waved a tentacle or pulsed with colors unknown to earthly beings. A Keeper/GM will find a wealth of useful information with which to pad out his bad-guy arsenal.
The incidental artwork is superb too, depicting circus posters, tarot cards, Mesoamerican antiquities and so forth, all subtly (and not-so subtly) altered in some vile mythos fashion. I found myself doing spit-takes on more than one occasion while browsing through it.
Production-wise, what you have is a perfect-bound paperback, with black and white printing throughout on almost 300 pages. The only color you'll find is on the cover. Personally, I wish they'd put out this one as a hardback with stitched signatures and a cloth binding so that it would be easier to use in-game and harder wearing, but if wishes were pennies we'd all be living on our own Tropical Islands. Should Chaosium ever make a hardcover version, I would buy it (and I already have this volume *and* several versions of the rulebook).
As it stands it is good value for money as these things go, notwithstanding my earlier assertion that this is definitely a Call of Cthulhu luxury item rather than an essential addition to the core rulebook (there is in fact no such thing - the rulebook, some RPG supplies and a few friends are all you'll need).
I would even go out on a limb and say that the Trail of Cthulhu GM and the Realms of Cthulhu GM would also find this volume of interest, if not so immediately usable without some conversion work.
I can tell such people that because of the completeness of the rulebook back to the earliest versions, the need for this volume is imaginary. The latest version of The Call of Cthulhu has a bestiary which should fuel any campaign for years (remember that Mythos Creatures are often repeat performers, not single-episode walk on targets for players to coat with arrows and fireballs). I have a very extensive collection of published scenarios and campaigns for the game and I can't recall ever seeing anything in them that wasn't either in the rulebook or described in the publication itself.
That said, this volume contains a staggering amount of information on just about every monstrous thing that should not be that has ever waved a tentacle or pulsed with colors unknown to earthly beings. A Keeper/GM will find a wealth of useful information with which to pad out his bad-guy arsenal.
The incidental artwork is superb too, depicting circus posters, tarot cards, Mesoamerican antiquities and so forth, all subtly (and not-so subtly) altered in some vile mythos fashion. I found myself doing spit-takes on more than one occasion while browsing through it.
Production-wise, what you have is a perfect-bound paperback, with black and white printing throughout on almost 300 pages. The only color you'll find is on the cover. Personally, I wish they'd put out this one as a hardback with stitched signatures and a cloth binding so that it would be easier to use in-game and harder wearing, but if wishes were pennies we'd all be living on our own Tropical Islands. Should Chaosium ever make a hardcover version, I would buy it (and I already have this volume *and* several versions of the rulebook).
As it stands it is good value for money as these things go, notwithstanding my earlier assertion that this is definitely a Call of Cthulhu luxury item rather than an essential addition to the core rulebook (there is in fact no such thing - the rulebook, some RPG supplies and a few friends are all you'll need).
I would even go out on a limb and say that the Trail of Cthulhu GM and the Realms of Cthulhu GM would also find this volume of interest, if not so immediately usable without some conversion work.
5 of 6 people found the following review helpful
More monsters than you can shake a stick at
22 Jan 2008
I play Call of Cthulhu by Chaosium and this resource book is great for Keepers to draw from. Enough monsters and Old ones for any investigation. BRP is easy to convert to D20 so those folks into that will have no problem throwing into a D20 scenario/campaign. The most notable thing outside the content is the art work. Seems to take old photos/Ads/Artwork and splice mythos flavor into it. I recently used an avatar of nylarthotep in the book in one of my games with fun results. Makes designing encounters easier and fun.
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Best collection of monsters ever for a RPG
22 July 2008
At my heart im a D&D players and love monster books. In the last few years I have gotten in Lovecrafts works and have begun to pick up the games books by chaosium. Then I found this little gem.
A collection of almost evey God, Old one, Elder, monster and normal animal from Chaosiums books. Im sure there are more, but that only means there will be a Malleus Monstrorum II.
THe Lore is well written and the book is made of good quality, though I wish there was a Hardcover.
My only complaint is there werent enough pictures of the beasties to give me a good idea of what they looked like, only a vague description. Now I have pretty good imagination but an imagincation usually needs something to go off of. And This is where the product fails. It doesnt give you enough of a physical description. The lack of pictures would have been fine if replaced by some great descriptions.
Overall though this is a great book. Any Lovecraft fan should buy this book, evne if you do not play the game.
A collection of almost evey God, Old one, Elder, monster and normal animal from Chaosiums books. Im sure there are more, but that only means there will be a Malleus Monstrorum II.
THe Lore is well written and the book is made of good quality, though I wish there was a Hardcover.
My only complaint is there werent enough pictures of the beasties to give me a good idea of what they looked like, only a vague description. Now I have pretty good imagination but an imagincation usually needs something to go off of. And This is where the product fails. It doesnt give you enough of a physical description. The lack of pictures would have been fine if replaced by some great descriptions.
Overall though this is a great book. Any Lovecraft fan should buy this book, evne if you do not play the game.
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