Miskatonic Monday #110: Horror in the Highlands

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: Horror in the Highlands

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: David Wright

Setting: Jazz Age Scotland

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-four page, 51.22 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Madness and murder beset the Mackintosh Clan on Moy

Plot Hook: Bottling of a new

whisky is disturbed by dark dreams made real

Plot Support: Staging advice, thirteen NPCs, ten handouts, elven maps, one illustration, one monster, six Mythos tomes and books, two spells, and six pre-generated Investigators.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Scenario for Shadows Over Scotland: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in 1920s’ Scotland?
# Scottish Gaelic folkloric horror

# Decently done background

# Pleasingly ordinary pre-generated Investigators

# Solidly Scottish one-shot

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Some handouts have Mythos rules

# No guidance on using scenario in a campaign
# Classic ‘unstoppable monster unless you find the solution’ set-up

Conclusion

# Engagingly Scottish murder, mayhem, and monster one-shot showdown in the highlands

# Solidly written up background and support