Miskatonic Monday #105: Crepid Fornication

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 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.

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Name: Crepid Fornication

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Philip G. Orth

Setting: Jazz Age Hamburg, 1928

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-eight page, 15.69 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A one-shot soirée at a snail’s pace

Plot Hook: An artists’ affair turns abstrusely abhorrent in a hunt for a missing girl

Plot Support: Spiraling plot, staging advice, two NPCs, six handouts, eight pre-generated Investigators, two new Mythos spells, one new Mythos tome, and one new Mythos creature.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Molluscophobia

# Interesting period setting

# Oozes artistic otherworldliness into another direction 

# Nicely detailed octuple of pre-generated Investigators

# Could be adapted to other time periods

# Part of the Miskatonic Repository Halloween 2021 Collection

# Potential crossover with Berlin: The Wicked City – Unveiling the Mythos in Weimar Berlin

Cons

# Molluscophobia

# Needs a strong edit

# Plot not always clearly explained

# No advice for adding it to a campaign

Conclusion

# Unclear plotting slightly obscures a molluscophobic meeting

# Engaging sense of the strange and creepy creativity combined with an encounter with an otherworldly horror inspired by reality.