Miskatonic Monday #280: Mail Order Bribe

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: Mail Order Bribe

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Jade Griffin

Setting: Jazz Age Boston, Massachusetts

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-Five page, 11.37 MB PDF

Elevator Pitch: Marriage or madness. Is there a choice?

Plot Hook: Ownership of a new possession turns into a fight for possession and possession.
Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, sixteen handouts, one a map, one NPC, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Good.

Pros

# Excellent title

# Potential sequel to Taken for Granite and Deep-Seeded Secrets

# Potential addition for a Lovecraft Country campaign

# Delightfully creepy, creepy antagonist

# Decent handouts

# Pediophobia

# Gamophobia

# Scoleciphobia

# Ophidiophobia

# Arachnophobia

Cons

# Needs a slight edit

# Does force the Investigators into a terrible situation

Conclusion

# Which is worse? The monster you deal with or the monster she wants?

# Why I do declare, that Southern accent is pure evil. Evil, I tell you!