P a r a p s y c h o l o g i s t ' s H a n d b o o k

PARAPSYCHOLOGIST'S HANDBOOK
Written by Chris Jerome
Published October 2003 by Chaosium, Inc.
109 pp, tape bound
Price $14.95 (£9.06)
ISBN (none)
Available only from Chaosium's web site www.chaosium.com

Disclaimer: This review's author has done freelance work for Chaosium.

One of the unexplored areas in Cthulhu material has been the investigator as a parapsychologist. After all, this is the category into which most Call of Cthulhu characters fall – seekers of the paranormal prepared to risk their sanity and lives for truth. The game often flirts with the conventional paranormal, as the rulebook and scenarios often include ghosts, vampires, and psychics. Nonetheless, we've seen little on how to play out parapsychological investigation within Cthulhu. The Parapsychologist's Handbook seeks to fill that void.

The Handbook represents what may be the first in a series of 'Miskatonic University Library Association' books from Chaosium. These are unpretentious limited editions, on which the author has done much of the layout and editing work, will be sold strictly from the Chaosium website. Those that sell may be reworked and released as regular Chaosium releases. So, how does the inaugural volume measure up?

The initial look at the book does not inspire confidence. The book, including the cover, is black and white, and what illustrations it does contain are small and unimpressive. The binding on my copy is already coming loose, but I've yet to hear others complain. The layout is sometimes sloppy – the first line of the introduction is completely missing, for instance. As someone who's worked as an author and an editor, I can say that the Handbook is a good example why no one should perform both roles in the same book. The text probably could have used another shakedown – some portions are not clear, and some of the references to Call of Cthulhu and other games are dated by ten years or more. References to 'Page XX' are rife, and sometimes the book references a sidebar, or even a sample scenario, that is not in the final volume.

There's good news and bad news for potential readers. Chris Jerome, the author, has put up errata for the book on www.yog-sothoth.com, including an index and page references. In addition, these changes will be implemented in the book's next edition. With a print run of 50 copies per edition, it's likely these changes will have made it into the printed copy by the time you read this review. Then again, this is cold comfort to those who already bought the uncorrected book.

The book is written by a real-life paranormal investigator who has both examined ghost cases and worked with television shows on the topic. This has raised some doubts in the gaming community, but the author's perspective is used in the best possible manner. In other words, he provides his beliefs and opinions without insisting that the readers share them, and he gives enough material for players and Keepers to make up their own minds about the nature of the unseen world in their games. As a long-time reader of paranormal literature, I can say that much of the material in the book that may seem strange or unusual reflects what ghost-hunters I've known have said and written on the subject. Even if you consider all of the paranormal bunk, the bunk contained here is well-researched and often inspirational.

The book covers basic techniques and methods of investigation, both in the field and in the lab. We have notes on equipment that might be useful for the paranormal investigator. Most of this might be found in a catalogue, but Jerome notes what a real-life paranormal investigator might use and what is more fitted for the movies. Next we have a set of templates for characters in this field, ranging from ghost-hunters to stage magicians, with comments on what templates from the rulebook and Investigator's Companion might be useful.

The heart of the work, though it is not labelled as such, is the chapter on paradigms. These are the worldviews on the supernatural that inform paranormal investigation. Three options are presented – the spirit, the psychic, and the sceptical – and suggestions are made on how each one affects a Cthulhu campaign. Jerome encourages Keepers to choose one of these paradigms and use it to inform their campaign, along with some consideration as to how these might interact with the Mythos. Adopting a paradigm may not be necessary, but it is a good idea for those who want more than one or two paranormal adventures in their campaign.

Ghosts, poltergeists, and mediums get the treatment in the next few chapters. We are given various types and theories surrounding them, as well as common techniques for investigating their authenticity. Some longer sample cases might have been nice here, but nonetheless the treatment here is fascinating. After this comes an in-depth historical look at the various psychical research societies and their prominent members. Most of this is dry, but it is also the sort of material that many players and Keepers love.

The Keeper's section of the book covers much the same ground as the previous chapters, going into further detail on plotting adventures and campaigns. The three groups of phenomena already mentioned get more attention, as do options such as using demons or faeries. This might seem more suited to the paradigm chapter, but it does provide some unusual choices for the Keeper who knows how flexible their group can be. The book also provides rules on carrying out investigation and supernatural phenomena such as spirit guides and exorcism.

Many players have awaited official rules on psychic abilities from Chaosium for some time. The Handbook provides materials for both d20 and Basic Role-playing. The psychic feats for d20 seem fine, though they may be slightly overpowered. The abilities for the BRP system, on the other hand, are largely unusable. Many will only activate on a low roll that rarely increases (POW x1 or x2), and in most cases, a failure is treated as a botch in any other skill (e.g., providing erroneous information). Add on the susceptibility to the telepathic dreams of the Old Ones and their minions, and you've got a character with severe problems.

I can understand the author not wanting to make psychic characters outshine the others, but the system as presented makes psychic ability worse than useless. Many Keepers enjoy presenting rewards and special powers (psychic abilities, Mythos tomes, spells) and then snatching them away or making them liabilities strictly on principle. This system reflects that temperament. I cannot agree with this – why not let the characters get some small benefit? This is a system to examine carefully before giving to the characters, especially if they've played through published scenarios whose psychics are more powerful than this.

(One ingenious system suggested is for the Keeper not to tell the players if their characters have the psychic powers they believe they possess. This is a nice touch, though Keepers should probably warn their players beforehand if they use this idea!)

Jerome rounds out the book with a set of scenario seeds, a list of noteworthy issues of the Proceedings of the Society for Psychical Research, and a set of Zener cards for testing psychic ability that can be photocopied. All of this is competently done, but none of it is inspirational.

The book covers a great deal of material, but there's not a lot of support for going beyond it. We get timelines of paranormal events, but we don't have enough information to give us more information on any particular event. Among Jerome's suggestions for Keepers is to read the works mentioned in Lovecraft's 'Supernatural Horror in Literature' as a guide for inspiration. I admire the sentiment, but I think a more focused reading list would be more appropriate.

It's difficult to give a verdict on this book. It should be most useful to players and Keepers who want to include hauntings in their games but don't want to spend much time sifting through all the material on ghosts available. Those who want to run straight Mythos scenarios will probably find it useless, while those who are casually interested or read a great deal about parapsychology may find it less useful. Behind all of this hovers the spectre (sorry) of the Handbook's production values. Perhaps better binding, and encouraging subsequent authors to turn to outside sources for assistance, might make the Monograph line stronger and easier to assess in terms of content rather than presentation.

© Daniel Harms