PARANOIA

Keith Herber, longtime designer and line editor for Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu, passed away suddenly Friday morning. Keith was 60. (More at Yog-Sothoth.com.)

Keith gained early prominence among Cthulhu designers with his great globe-spanning campaigns Trail of Tsathoggua and Spawn of Azathoth, among others. As CoC line editor (1989-94), he initiated (with the excellent Arkham Unveiled) the "Lovecraft Country" series of location sourcebooks that remains a staple of the line. Parting from Chaosium on bad terms, he wrote a couple of Vampire novels for White Wolf. After some years away from the field as editor of Cinescape magazine, he had returned to roleplaying in May 2008 with his own Chaosium-licensed CoC imprint, Miskatonic River Press.

In what is, hands down, the most stupendous scenario line in roleplaying, Keith stood out among CoC's best writers. Though the Lovecraft Country books are his great legacy, my own favorite Herber work is the spectacular CoC Dreamlands scenario "Pickman's Student," a bravura interweaving of real and dream worlds. Escape From Innsmouth, were it for any game line less brilliant than Call of Cthulhu, would certainly be regarded as one of the most ambitious feats in roleplaying history. Set immediately at the end of Lovecraft's "The Shadow Over Innsmouth," the scenario weaves the Investigators everywhere throughout a simultaneous five-pronged amphibious combat operation against the story's infestation of Deep Ones. The ambition and execution were both breathtaking.

I met Keith only once, almost in passing, but from that brief encounter I'm willing to confirm the universal perception of his keen intelligence and love of the Cthulhu Mythos. My condolences to his friends and family. This is an unexpected and terrible loss.