Miskatonic Monday #433: Off to the Races

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: Off to the Races

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Montsho Shelby

Setting: 1930, USA

Product: Urban horror one-shot
What You Get: Twenty-four page, 37.2 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Gambling: The sure way of getting nothing for something.” – Wilson Mizner

Plot Hook: Ten races. Ten bets. Ten wins. One man. A sure thing?
Plot Support: Staging advice, three pre-generated Investigators, twelve(?) NPCs, and three monsters.

Production Values: Messy

Pros

# A tap dancer, an ex-convict, and a hellfire and brimstone nun investigate crime...

# Very much a one-shot
# Radical change of tone and pace

# Eutychemaphobia

# Neophobia

# Tachophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Cartoonishly over the top stream of consciousness

# Underdeveloped Investigators

# Not a Call of Cthulhu scenario, but written for Call of Cthulhu

Conclusion

# A Mage: The Ascension or Unknown Armies scenario for Call of Cthulhu

# Not sure if the author is off to the races, or the scenario is...

# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Miskatonic Monday #417: Party Favour

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: Party Favour

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: PJC

Setting: Australia, 1932

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Fifty-four-page, 11.61 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Revolution and reaction on the bloody streets of Sydney

Plot Hook: The favour is a hunt for missing Party loyalists

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Communist Investigators, two major NPCs, twenty-eight handouts, two maps.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# Politically-themed scenario for Terror Australis: Call of Cthulhu in the Land Down Under

# Beer mat as a handout! (How very Australian)

# Historically detailed and annotated scenario

# Adjustable to run as a convention scenario

# Punch a Fascist moments built in

# Nice period maps

# Tyrannophobia

# Trypophobia

# Cuprolaminophobia

Cons

# Layout could be tidier

# Running it as a convention scenarios misses some of cultural subtleties

Conclusion

# Showcases the Great Depression’ effects from an Australian angle

# Politically-charged punch-up of a scenario

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Miskatonic Monday #405: The Mortal Muncher

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: The Mortal Muncher

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jared Tullis

Setting: 1930s New Orleans 

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-one page, 42.87 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Fear upsets the Big Easy

Plot Hook: A monster stalks the streets of New Orleans and the Investigators may need to turn to crime to defeat it

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, eleven NPCs, seven handouts, four maps, one floorplan, one Mythos Tome, two Mythos spells, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Cramped

Pros

# Scenario for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

# Easy to adapt to other modern eras

# Highly detailed investigation into victims old and new
# High action monster hunt

# Includes detailed descriptions of New Orleans

# Works with Tales of the Crescent City: Adventures in Jazz Era New Orleans

# Sanguivoriphobia

# Haemophobia

# Kinemortophobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Cramped and information heavy

Conclusion

# Highly detailed vampire stakeout in the Crescent City

# The Gothic in Southern Gothic in a ‘B’ movie spine tingler

Miskatonic Monday #403: The Island of Insanity

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: The Island of Insanity

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jay Sojdelius, Jonas Morian, Alison Cybe, and The Yellow Hand

Setting: New England, Argentina, and Antarctica, 1937

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-eight page, 25.72 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The island that time should have forgot

Plot Hook: A race against the clock to find a missing author

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, four NPCs, eleven handouts, and five maps, and one Mythos entity.

Production Values: Superb

Pros

# Pacy race against the clock 

# Easily adapted to other eras

# Easy to add to a campaign or run as a one-shot

# Very good looking scenario

# Great handouts
# Decent pre-generated Investigators

# Well presented background

# Automatonophobia

# Carceroophobia

# Antarcticaphobia

Cons

# No Sanity rewards

# Undeveloped in terms of cult reaction

Conclusion

# Superbly appointed, fast-paced race against time

# Cult antagonists need development in terms of motivation, action, and a human presence to lift into a full recommendation 

Miskatonic Monday #388: Pulp Cthulhu: Heroes’ New Talents!

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: Pulp Cthulhu: Heroes’ New Talents!

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Davide Quatrini

Setting: 1930s

Product: Supplement for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos
What You Get: Three page, 2.70 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: When some Talents are not enough, then you need more!

Plot Hook: More Pulp Action Talents for Pulp Action heroes.

Plot Support: Twenty-four Talents for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos 

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Twenty-four Pulp Cthulhu Talents

# Broken down into four categories—Alternate Physical Talents, Alternate Mental Talents, Alternate Combat Talents, and Alternate Miscellaneous Talents

# Some very specific, so suit specific character types, such ‘Miner’ who always knows depth underground and time of day outside, good for a miner or a spelunker

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Some very specific, so not always useful such as ‘Chopper’ which reduces fumble chances when using a chainsaw as a weapon or ‘True Singer’ which lets a character counter any music- or song-based spell or eldritch power with a Hard Art and Craft (Opera Singer) roll

Conclusion

# If you absolutely have to have more Pulp Cthulhu Talents

# Cheap