Graphically, this Keepers Screen is a beauty to behold. Both awe inspiring and terrible. Compared to the 5th Edition Keepers Screen (the one that most Keepers tend to use), the graphics of this screen are quite good on the side that the Investigators get to see. But...on the side of the Keeper, this screen is lacking in some of the necessary evils that the original 5th Edition screen had. Given that the 5th Ed. Keepers Screen was a 4 part fold out on a harder card stock, it made it easier to use and had more place for systems and such that Keepers regularly used. The 5.5 Edition Keepers Screen is made from a lower grade card stock which makes it easy for the Keeper to make out the shadowed figures of their Investigators through the screen in a well lit room, not a good thing in the opinion of this humble reviewer. Also, given its lack of space because it is only a 3 part fold out, the Keepers Screen simply does not have the space for those evils that the 5th Ed. Screen had. One disappointment was the missing numbers from the Resistance Chart. I know that every publisher has their bad days, but this was a necessary chart for the game. However, as compensation for the missing Resist. Chart, the kind Folks at Chaosium did decide to include a fold out piece of card stock with the corrected Resistance Table on it. So at least you do get one. All in all, it was a good attempt at revising the Call of Cthulhu Keepers Screen for the 5.5 and 6th Edition of the Call of Cthulhu role-playing game. Here is where I am going to give some advice to Novice and Veteran Keepers alike. For those of you that still have a copy of the original CoC Keepers Screen for 5th Edition, in my opinion as a Keeper and a reviewer, you would be better off using the 5th Edition Keepers Screen that you have rather than upgrading to the 5.5/6th Edition Keepers Screen. For those of you that do not have the 5th Edition Keepers Screen, you can always look on Ebay to get a copy of it, or take the simpler route and buy the 5.5/6th Edition Keepers Screen. When I bought my copy of the updated 5.5 Keepers Screen, it had the error of the missing numbers on the Resistance Table, and if you regularly shop at game store or on Ebay or online for that matter, the chances of getting one of the uncorrected 5.5 Keepers Screens is about 50% one way or the other. If you happen to get the corrected Keepers Screen, then good luck and happy gaming. If you managed to get the uncorrected 5.5 Keepers Screen, then here is a quick fix that you can do to correct the problems with the screen in one clean sweep. Go to FedEx/Kinkos and make a photo copy of the Resistance Table that the folks at Chaosium gave you to correct the Keepers Screen. Then, trim away the blank parts of the photocopy that you have until all you have is the Resistance Table. Use an Elmer's Glue Stick (which they likely have at the copy shop and glue the corrected photo copy over the misprinted one. There is one more step to take to finish your task, spend the 2 to 3 bucks to have the Keepers Screen laminated because this will give the Keepers Screen some extra durability and it will also allow it to stand on the table with a little more stability. It could have been better, but it could have been worse. I give this one 3 ( |
