Miskatonic Monday #213: The Thing in the Pines

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: The Thing in the Pines

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ted Hart

Setting: Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, November of 1927

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-two page, 4.14 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “There is no hunting like the hunting of man, and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never care for anything else thereafter.” ─ Ernest Hemingway

Plot Hook: A missing man, a missing girl, will the Investigators join them?
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, four handouts, one map, one NPC, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Detailed, single location encounter with the Mythos

# Nicely detailed pre-generated Investigators

# Easy to adjust to other times and settings

# Suitable for novice Keepers

# Xylophobia

# Diokophobia

# Chionophobia

Cons

# Could be better structured for the novice Keeper

# Maps needs work

Conclusion

# Classic, trapped in the woods with a ravenous monster scenario

# Nicely done pre-generated Investigators, but maps needs work