Miskatonic Monday #135: The Pharaoh’s Sacrifice

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.

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Name: The Pharaoh’s Sacrifice

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Keith DEdinburgh

Setting: Jazz Age Edinburgh

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty page, 2.66 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Some moves in the game will make you lose more than the game.

Plot Hook: Missing anthropologist leads to ludographic horror!
Plot Support: Eight NPCs, twelve handouts, two maps, one Mythos spell, one Mythos tome, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Solid Edinburgh-set investigation

# Potential addition to a Shadows Over Scotland campaign

# Engaging combination of themes

# Good handouts

# Intriguing twist upon the widower bringing wife back from the dead set-up
# Ludophobia

Cons

# Intriguing twist upon the widower bringing wife back from the dead set-up

# More maps would have been useful
# Unnecessary Sanity losses in places

# Potential for Investigators and players to get lost in rabbit holes

# Jumpity is not a real game

Conclusion

# Clichéd backstory and motivations are enlivened by solid investigation and engaging combination of themes

# Decently done handouts support a scenario easily added to a Scotland or United Kingdom-set campaign