Trail of Cthulhu is nifty and gorgeous. It's also a $40 core rulebook. And Cthulhu campaigns are notoriously short. So Pelgrane Press has done something I think is very smart. They're selling a player's guide for $11.

Now, for most systems, a player's guide is extra material... an extra expense. But in this case the player's guide is a subset of the core rulebook. Just what the players need to play the game, but not something extra for the GM to buy.

Pelgrane also offers PDFs of the ToC rulebook. I've seen from experience that, when a PDF is available for an RPG, especially a short campaign, the GM will often buy a copy of the core rulebook and spread the PDF around among the players... who never buy the book for themselves. With an inexpensive player's guide, I think Pelgrane is opening up a way for non-GM players to support the company and the product line, and they're not overcharging for it. In other words, I think many players who might otherwise be inclined to violate the copyright now have a very reasonable alternative.

It's good for everybody, and it's smart. I would sure like to see this model catch on. Way to go, Pelgrane!