Miskatonic Monday #171: Blood on the Chocolate

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.

—oOo—

Name: Blood on the Chocolate

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jarrod Lipshy

Setting: 1930s Pennsylvania
Product: Scenario

What You Get: Forty page, 2.21 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A night in Whishly Chocolate Factory

Plot Hook: Sabotage—unions or something else?
Plot Support: Staging advice, eight NPCs, three handouts, two maps, and one non-Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Highly detailed location-based investigation

# Solid mystery

# Claustrophobic setting

# Easily adapted to Cthulhu by Gaslight

# Easily adapted to other cities and countries

# Masklophobia

# Mechanophobia

# Neraidaphobia

# Xocolataphobia

Cons

# Folkloric rather than Mythos

# Highly detailed location-based investigation

# A lot for the Keeper to grasp

# Requires non-standard Investigators, but no pre-generated Investigators provided

Conclusion

# Highly detailed, location-based investigation which turns into a game of cat and mouse and something else...

# Pre-generated Investigators would strengthen player and character engagement in a thematically mechanical scenario