Miskatonic Monday #58: Too Close to Home

 Between October 2003 and October 2013, Chaosium, Inc. published a series of books for Call of Cthulhu under the Miskatonic University Library Association brand. Whether a sourcebook, scenario, anthology, or campaign, each was a showcase for their authors—amateur rather than professional, but fans of Call of Cthulhu nonetheless—to put forward their ideas and share with others. The programme was notable for having launched the writing careers of several authors, but for every Cthulhu Invictus, The Pastores, Primal State, Ripples from Carcosa, and Halloween Horror, there was a Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise of the Dead II: The Raid, and more...

The Miskatonic University Library Association brand is no more, alas, but what we have in its stead is the Miskatonic Repository, based on the same format as the DM’s Guild for Dungeons & Dragons. It is thus, “...a new way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content including scenarios, settings, spells and more…” To support the endeavours of their creators, Chaosium has provided templates and art packs, both free to use, so that the resulting releases can look and feel as professional as possible. To support the efforts of these contributors, Miskatonic Monday is an occasional series of reviews which will in turn examine an item drawn from the depths of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: Too Close to Home

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Benjamin Schäfer

Setting: Modern

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twelve page, 31.04 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “It isn't hard at all to make a wish. The difficultly lies in how to make what you wish for a reality.”
Plot Hook: A strangely impervious corpse, a missing funeral director, could they be connected?

Plot Support: Simple and straightforward plot, detailed location descriptions, four maps, four NPCs, and a single ‘monster’.

Production Values: Clean and tidy, well organised, and reasonable maps.

Pros
# Easy to adapt to other time periods
# Short one to two session scenario
# Nicely detailed locations

# Monster light

# Mythic mystery

Cons
# Mythic mystery
# Mythos light

# Monster light

# Potential for handouts, but no handouts

# Mystery might not be revealed

Conclusion
# Mythic mystery, which might not be revealed

# Short and ineffable