Cthulhu and the River of Doubt is the title given to FNH’s presentation of Teddy Roosevelt’s book: Through the Brazilian Wilderness. What makes this different from the original is that FNH has added information and thoughts from a Call of Cthulhu Keeper’s prospective. If you listen to FNH’s Cthulhu Podcast (and if not, you should), then you’ll know that he begins each episode by reading through an historical biography in easily digestible pieces of about ten minutes or less. He began with Through the Brazilian Wilderness, and now he’s onto How I Found Livingstone, by Henry M. Stanley. This book is a fascinating first-person account of The Roosevelt-Rondon expedition. A real jungle expedition participated in by the United State’s 26th President 4 years after his term of office was complete using the resources available in 1913. President Roosevelt goes into some detail about the process of organizing the expedition and the equipment involved, which can be very useful to Keepers and players when planning such a campaign. The thoughts and historical notes that FNH adds to the story are well thought out and have usefulness even if one were not planning to run a game through the same geography. This book is ideal for cherry-picking pieces to use in other settings. At the end of the book, FNH goes through and gives BRP stats for all of the people on the expedition, useful as NPCs or as pre-generated character archetypes. The only critiques I have are minor at best. I would have liked a little more in the way of stats from individual animals as they’re mentioned perhaps. Or stats/prices for the weapons and equipment listed. That’s something most Keepers can supply on their own with a little ingenuity, however. Many Call of Cthulhu campaigns will trek into unmapped wilderness at one point or another, and this supplement can add a sense or immersion and reality to that adventure. Cthulhu and the River of Doubt is available in PDF or print on demand format. Sure, you can get Teddy’s book for free online, but the Call of Cthulhu thoughts make the purchase well worth it in my opinion. See all of FNH’s list of games here. He also produced a similar book called Cthulhu and How I Found Livingstone. Print  DriveThru PDF]]>