Miskatonic Monday #209: Deer Camp

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: Deer Camp

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Edward Kabara

Setting: Thirties Michigan

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Twenty-nine page, 4.14 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Assault on the Cabin in the Woods 28 Hours Later

Plot Hook: A hunting trip turns on the hunters.
Plot Support: Staging advice, one pre-generated Investigator, one Mythos tome, three Mythos spells, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Plain.

Pros

# Short survival horror scenario

# Straightforward, tightly plotted 

# Easy to adjust to other time periods

# Suitable for one or two Investigators

# Makes use of the Chase rules

# Xylophobia

# Chionophobia

# Kinemortophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Exact relationships between pre-generated Investigator unexplained

# Makes use of the Chase rules

# No NPC stats

# No Maps

# One pre-generated Investigator (multiple times)

Conclusion

# Short survival horror scenario which is easy enough to run, but needs further development to be even easier

# Physical chase scenario that is easy to adapt to other time periods