Miskatonic Monday #151: The Flooding of Black Tarn

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 Flooding of Black Tarn

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jonas Morian

Setting: Jazz Age Sweden

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-three page, 3.06 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Change must come, even if not all want it.

Plot Hook: The secrets of the past stand in the way of modernisation.
Plot Support: Staging advice, ten NPCs, seven pre-generated Investigators, one handout, and one (Mythos) monsters.

Production Values: Decent.

Pros

# Gold medalist for the 2022 national Swedish Call of Cthulhu scenario competition

# Eerie Sweden-set investigation

# Backwoods folkloric horror

# Engaging portrayal of period Sweden

# Good NPC portraits

# Easy to adapt to other time periods

# Gerontophobia

# Hippophobia

Cons

# Pre-generated Investigators need mechanical development

# Map would have been useful

Conclusion

# Gold medal winner in the 2022 national Swedish Call of Cthulhu scenario competition sees the modernity of the Investigators clash with the past in backwoods folkloric horror

# Eerie, under-played one-shot drawn from Swedish history and Norse folklore.