Miskatonic Monday #204: To The Tolling of The Bell

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: To The Tolling of The Bell

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: J. Michael Arons

Setting: United Kingdom

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Nine page, 3.13 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: For Whom the Grounded Bell Tolls

Plot Hook: When an unmounted bell rings, ghosts walk the streets
Plot Support: Staging advice, one handout, two NPCs, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Plain.

Pros

# Underplayed, but decent small village mystery

# Potential priests in peril

# One-session investigation

# Leans towards Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

# Needs development, but can be slotted into an ongoing campaign

# Could work with one or two Investigators

# More Hammer Horror than Cosmic Horror

# Easy to adjust to Cthulhu by Gaslight or the modern day

# Kampanaphobia

# Ecclesiophobia

# Religiophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Undeveloped set-up for the Investigators

# The NPC has his own Investigator sheet?

# Unclear if the NPC is an NPC or an Investigator

# No pre-generated Investigators

# No maps

# More Hammer Horror than Cosmic Horror

# Leans towards Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

Conclusion

# Underdeveloped, but promising ecumenical horror, which with work, would slot easily into a campaign

# More Hammer Horror than Cosmic Horror