Miskatonic Monday #9: An Invitation in Yellow

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 them 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 a Five Go Mad in Egypt, Return of the Ripper, Rise of the Dead, Rise ofthe 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 far reaches of the Miskatonic Repository.

—oOo—

Name: An Invitation in Yellow: A Call of Cthulhu Scenario for 3-4 players

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.

Author: Patrick Viggo Moeller

Setting: Jazz Age

Product: Scenario

What You Get: 1.3 MB, 14-page black & white PDF
Elevator Pitch: Friends, Romans, countrymen, don't come to dinner.

Plot Hook: The investigators are invited to dinner by an old acquaintance who has scientific discoveries of a medical nature to share.

Plot Development: A bad dinner, madness, missing folk, and a frienemy.

Plot Support: Six NPCs; Six good handouts.

Production Values: Needs a edit.

Pros

# Short, self-contained investigation 

# Limited number of NPCs

# Simple, but weird plot
# Only one major NPC for the Keeper to portray
# Adaptable to the period of the Keeper’s choice# Good scenario for a Doctor investigator
# Adaptable to the Mythos entity (Yog-Sothoth?) of the Keeper’s choice

Cons

# Sanity rewards slightly high
# Sanity losses slightly high

# Fails to take advantage of the Sanity depleting effects of being under the influence

# Fails to take advantage of the horror effects of being under the influence
# Only one scenario hook given

Conclusion

# Decent one-session scenario

# Suitable for the new Keeper