Miskatonic Monday #397: Operation Bottleneck

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. 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: Operation Bottleneck

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Chicho ‘Arkashka’ OCARIZ

Setting: World War II Spain

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-nine page, 20.62 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A rock hunt takes Allied stalwarts from the Rock deep into Spain

Plot Hook: Spain is ‘neutral’ right now, but will it be after Tartessos Suchexpedition?

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, five NPCs, nine maps, two Mythos monsters, and a giant robot.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Can be run using Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

# Sequel to Operation Midnight Sun

# Nicely detailed with lots for Investigators to do in Gibraltar

# Lovely period maps

# Batrachophobia

# Speluncaphobia

# Robophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Initial Sanity penalties overblown

# More military operation than Mythos investigation

# Not clear what the Investigators achieve

# Ends in a big fight with little to discover

Conclusion

# Action and stealth-focused World War II scenario

# Ultimately does not feel as if the Investigators achieve much or push the plot forward very far

Miskatonic Monday #263: Operation Midnight Sun

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: Operation Midnight Sun

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Chicho OCARIZ ‘Arkashka’

Setting: World War II Iceland

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 13.25 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Nazis versus dinosaurs versus ‘hoard of the Nibelungs’ meets Journey to the Centre of the Earth under Iceland… in World War II

Plot Hook: Iceland is neutral right now, but will it be after Operation Weserübung?

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, eight NPCs, three maps, and one dinosaur type.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Can be run using Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

# Straightforward scenario

# Easy to run one-shot or convention scenario

# Nyctophobia

# Speluncaphobia

# Ornithoscelidaphobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# No location map

# More military operation than Mythos investigation

# No Mythos content

Conclusion

# Short, action and stealth-focused World War II scenario

# Ultimately more military operation than Mythos investigation