Miskatonic Monday #319: Stage Fright at the Playhouse

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: Stage Fright at the Playhouse
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: John Hedge with The Miskatonic Playhouse

Setting: Arkham, 1923
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-Nine page, 36.38 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: It’s a sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’
Plot Hook: Arcane marks add to the mystery of the theatre
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, six NPCs, six handouts, one map, seven Mythos artefacts, and three Mythos monsters.
Production Values: Excellent

Pros
# Sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’
# Can be played using the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set

# Part of ‘The Next Adventure’ series
# Part of the Call of Cthulhu – Ongoing Horror BUNDLE

# Seedy feel of small town theatre with big dreams

# Suitably overwrought

# Kinemortophobia

# Theatrophobia

# Achondroplasiaphobia

Cons
# Needs a slight edit

# Alternative hook stronger than the sequel hook

# Pre-generated Investigators an odd Miskatonic Repository medley

Conclusion
# Once it gets going, turns into a frothy Mythos farce
# Underwhelming sequel, but an entertaining scenario

Miskatonic Monday #318: Beyond the Edge of Darkness

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: Beyond the Edge of Darkness
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Matthew Tansek

Setting: Egypt, 1923
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-Seven page, 36.38 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: It’s a sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’
Plot Hook: If the father cannot be saved, then at least the son can be.
Plot Support: Staging advice, five NPCs, two handouts, one map, seven Mythos artefacts, and one Mythos monster.
Production Values: Decent

Pros
# Sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’
# Can be played using the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set
# Part of ‘The Next Adventure’ series
# Part of the Call of Cthulhu – Ongoing Horror BUNDLE

# Alternative hooks provided

# Solid set-up for a sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’

# Heliophobia
# Pyrophobia

# Achondroplasiaphobia

Cons
# Needs a slight edit

# ‘Speakeasies’ [sic] of Cairo?

# Clues to the finale location could have been stronger

Conclusion
# Investigation loses momentum
# Suitably straightforward sequel to ‘Edge of Darkness’

Miskatonic Monday #317: One Step Further

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: One Step Further
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Quico Vicens-Picatto

Setting: Boston, New England, 1920
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirteen page, 3.62 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: It’s a sequel to ‘Paper Chase’
Plot Hook: None
Plot Support: No staging advice, three NPCs, two Mythos spells, and one Mythos monster
Production Values: Reasonable

Pros

# Sequel to ‘Paper Chase’ from the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set and the Cthulhu Companion – Ghastly adventures & Erudite Lore
# Can be played using the Call of Cthulhu Starter Set
# Part of ‘The Next Adventure’ series

# Part of the Call of Cthulhu – Ongoing Horror BUNDLE

# Nice artwork

# ‘Hauntophobia’
# Ostraconophobia

Cons
# No plot

# Who are Keiko and Jessie?

# No plot hook or Investigator motivation

Conclusion
# A sequel to ‘Paper Chase’ in name only
# A stream of consciousness does not a scenario make

# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Miskatonic Monday #316: The Echoing Whispers

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 Echoing Whispers
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ekin Ergün

Setting: Boston, New England, 1920
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirteen page, 3.76 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: It’s a sequel to ‘The Haunting’
Plot Hook: The Chapel of Contemplation is congregating again
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, one NPC, two Mythos spells, and six Mythos monsters
Production Values: Reasonable

Pros
# Sequel to ‘The Haunting’
# Part of ‘The Next Adventure’ series

# Part of the Call of Cthulhu – Ongoing Horror BUNDLE

# Can be played using the Call of Cthulhu Quick-Start
# ‘Hauntophobia’
# Oneirophobia
# Blennophobia

Cons
# Needs an edit
# Not all of the information is where it is needed
# Too many unnecessary skill checks
# Needs to tell the Keeper the plot, not have her discover it
# Minimalist background

Conclusion
# Overwritten and underdeveloped, the Keeper will need to prepare this hard
# A sequel worthy of ‘The Haunting’ is yet to come

Miskatonic Monday #315: Night of the Frizzi-Nocs

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: Night of the Frizzi-Nocs

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: Dark Forest of Gloon, the Dreamlands

Product: Scenario for Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos
What You Get: Sixty-Two page, 32.64 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “If you go down in the woods today, you’re sure of a big surprise” – Teddy Bears Picnic, Henry Hall

Plot Hook: The besieged are not always the victims

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, one handout and twelve portraits, twenty-two NPCs, three maps, one Mythos artefact, one Mythos tome, and one Mythos monster

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# ‘Oyster’

# Excellent overview of the Dreamlands and Call of Cthulhu

# Extensive notes to adjust for Dreamers to have come from any Call of Cthulhu setting, including waking world parallels

# Highly detailed scenario, but a simple situation

# Cute monsters

# Potential sequel to The Schoolmarm’s Ghost

# Hylophobia

# Oneirophobia

# Scelerophobia

Cons

# ‘Twinkletown’

# Overly detailed in places

Conclusion

# Highly detailed investigation of the enemy within and the monster without

# A rustic horror side quest for The Dreamlands

Miskatonic Monday #314: The Arkham Witch Trials of 1693

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 Arkham Witch Trials of 1693
Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Duncan Heystek

Setting: Arkham, New England
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-one page, 1.37 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Suffer the children to come unto the hands of Keziah Mason
Plot Hook: “How do you know she is a Witch?” – Sir Bedevere, Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, four NPCs, one Mythos tome, three Mythos spells, and five Mythos monsters
Production Values: Execrable

Pros
# Perfect for the Keeper who likes to modify (or rewrite) her scenarios
# Potentially interesting setting
# Wiccaphobia
# Hylophobia
# Autophobia

Cons
# Claims to have been edited
# Needs a clear explanation for the Keeper to understand
# Does involve the slave status
# Wanders into a random discussion of a 19th century detective agency
# Minimalist background

Conclusion
# Almost unreadable, let alone playable
# Difficult to tell if the witch or the Keeper is on trial
# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Miskatonic Monday #313: Starport Helios

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: Starport Helios

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Geoff Bridges

Setting: Edge of the Milky Way, 2370

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Ten page, 1.43 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Moon in deep spaaace…!

Plot Hook: Déjà vu in, yes, deep spaaace…!

Plot Support: Staging advice.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# One Investigator, one Keeper Science Fiction Future Era horror scenario

# Easy to run

# Can be played in an hour (or a lot less if the Keeper provides a pre-generated Investigator)

# Thanatophobia

# Trypophobia

# Autophobia

Cons

# If the aim is evolution, what is the aim of the evolution?

# Very, very short

# Science Fiction rather than Mythos horror

# No real Investigator agency

Conclusion

# Leaves player and Keeper with the question, “Yes, and?”

# Serviceable in all senses of the word, except a positive one