When it comes to game books I think there should be designations. The top of these would be Core Books. These are the ones that you absolutely must have in order to play the game. I would allow some flexibility as a Monster Manual is not absolutely needed but I think it is. The next would be Essential Books and these would be ones that without the game in either playability or overall feel would suffer. The next would be Optional Books which add optional rules that may affect the play in minor ways. The last would be Adventures or Accessories. Since this is not an exact science there would be a level of subjectivity to anything but the Core classification. In my world Keeper's Compendium falls into the Essential Category. This version was issued in 1993 is 80 pages in length. It was reprinted in 2000 with additional material.
From the back of the book:
"Things Players Were Not Meant to Know.
Drawing from the tales of H.P. Lovecraft and many other authors, the information contained in this book supplements and expands upon that given in the CALL OF CTHULHU rulesbook, and is divided into four main sections.
FORBIDDEN BOOKS: expands upon the most famous Mythos tomes listed in CALL OF CTHULHU providing lists of suggested spells, study times, descriptions, and the benefits acquired from studying the books. Some of the two dozen books covered include: The Necronomicon, The Book of Dyzan, Cultes des Goules, Massa di Requiem Per Shuggay, The Revelations of Glaaki, and The R'lyeh Text.
SECRET CULTS: stereotypically, the cultist is a cackling madman dressed in hooded robe and armed with a wickedly curved knife. In fact, cultists are of wide description; cults are essentially religious organizations holding certain beliefs and attempting to induce some sort of change. Described here are differing cults drawn from fiction, game scenarios, and history: The Starry Wisdom Sect, Brotherhood of the Beast, The Nestarian Cult of Cthugha, Brothers of the Yellow Sign, The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Witch Cults, Order of the Sword of St. Jerome, and the Cult of Cthulhu.
ALIEN RACES: this section defines the aims, values, and goals for various frequently-encountered races including Deep Ones, Fungi From Yuggoth, Ghouls, Insects From Shagghai, Old Ones, Serpent People, and the Voormis.
MYSTERIOUS PLACES: shrouded in legend and obscured by misinformation and disinformation, the following forgotten and exotic places are all referred to in Mythos tomes: Atlantis, G'harne, Hyperborea, Irem, Kaddath in the Cold Waste, K'n-Yan, Lemuria, Lomar, Mu, The Nameless City, R'lyeh, Valusia, Y'ha-Nthlei, and Yuggoth and beyond."
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