Miskatonic Monday #197: Horror at El Dorado Royale

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: Horror at El Dorado Royale

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ben Burns

Setting: Modern Day Mexico

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-four page, 38.40 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Some bridezillas never forget, never forgive.

Plot Hook: Wedding of a friend at a five star resort. What can go wrong? Then the dreams and the deaths begin...
Plot Support: Six pre-generated Investigators, seven handouts, no NPCs, one map and two floor plans, one non-Mythos monster.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# One-two session one-shot

# Encourages the use of mobile phones and Wikipedia by the Investigators
# Non-Mythos horror scenario
# Non-Mythos monster not new to Call of Cthulhu

# Nicely detailed ritual

# Good mix of interaction and investigation

# Solid staging advice

# Easy to replace the pre-generated Investigators

# Decent artwork

# Thalassophobia

# Aquaphobia

# Gamophobia

# Heortophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit. No, it really does.

# Tightly plotted

# Handouts a little bland

# Monster timeline unclear

# Monster stats could be better placed separately

# No NPC stats or portraits

Conclusion

# Despite the lack of NPC stats, a solidly serviceable movie style one-shot which combines holiday horror and wedding woes.

# The best scenario by Ben Burns for Call of Cthulhu to date