Miskatonic Monday #161: Tears of a Clown

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: Tears of a Clown

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Paul Mazumdar

Setting: 1890s Cambridge University
Product: Scenario

What You Get: Sixteen page, 3.88 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Dare to wear the foolish clown face.” – Frank Sinatra

Plot Hook: A missing friend might just have run away with the circus.
Plot Support: Five NPCs, five pre-generated Investigators, five  handouts and maps, one Mythos tome, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Cthulhu by Gaslight scenario

# Short, one session scenario

# Makes use of Operate Heavy Machinery

# Creepy, crawly, repugnant investigation

# Nice addition of the historical detail

# Entomophobia

# Seplophobia

# Festumtoyphobia

# Coulrophobia

# Scoleciphobia

# Autophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Makes use of Operate Heavy Machinery

# Underwritten in places

# Maps are small

Conclusion

# Creepy, crawly, repugnant investigation which combines a lot of  horrifying elements and things people are afraid of.

# Short and direct scenario which is underwritten in places, but supported with excellent illustrations