Miskatonic Monday #91: Secret Santa

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: Secret Santa

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Thomas Newman

Setting: Jazz Age Devon

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-eight page, 25.75 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Coal for Christmas! How naughty were you?

Plot Hook: A black tie soirée becomes a loathsome lockdown!

Plot Support: Twenty NPCs, eleven good handouts, two plain maps, and six pre-generated Investigators.

Production Values: Good.

Pros
# Second Albion’s Ruin title

# Locked room monster hunt

# Linear plot

# Self-contained scenario

# Good artwork
# Excellent handouts

# Can be run as a Christmas-themed convention scenario

# Can be run as a Christmas-themed one-shot

Cons
# Linear plot

# Too many NPCs

# Needs an edit

# Locked room monster hunt
# Locked room solution hunt

Conclusion

# Self-contained, linear scenario

# Locked room monster hunt

# Christmas-themed one-shot or convention scenario

# Excellent artwork and handouts