Miskatonic Monday #115: The Strange Case of Mr Cardew

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: The Strange Case of Mr Cardew

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Raphael Merriman

Setting: Modern Day Birmingham

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 793.88 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Criminal suspicions expose an empty coffin and a missing body. 

Plot Hook: Did a criminal kingpin steal a body?
Plot Support: Staging advice, thirteen NPCs, and two handouts.

Production Values: Plain.

Pros

# Gloriously Poundland cultists

# Lots of NPCs to interact with

# Easy to adapt to other time periods

# Easy to adapt to other cities

# Solid plot with decent amount of investigation

Cons

# Ghouls and a funeral director? A cliché seen before in Secrets and Realm of Shadow

# Multiple options for getting the Investigators involved

# A shoal of red herrings

Conclusion

# Decent if dense investigative scenario involving a host of nicely done NPCs, including some utterly naff cultists

# Primary suspect all too obvious and all too much a cliché