Miskatonic Monday #226: The People of the Monolith

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 People of the Monolith

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Stephen Bull

Setting: 1920s Hungary

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-three page, 3.93 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sometimes a classic Call of Cthulhu scenario is worth revisiting.

Plot Hook: When a young poet goes mad, do you really want to follow in his footsteps?
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, seventeen handouts, three maps, a lot of NPCs sans stats, nine books, one (three) Mythos tome(s), and one Mythos creature.

Production Values: Reasonable

Pros

# Updates, expands, and explores ‘The People of the Monolith’ from Shadows of Yog-Sothoth

# Suitable for beginning Investigators

# Suitable for play with one or two Investigators

# Suggests links to classic Call of Cthulhu scenarios

# Highly detailed and supported scenario

# Lazily paced scenario—until the dénouement

# Includes a history of post-Great War Hungary

# Adds an extra plot strand to keep the Investigators in Hungary a little longer

# Ranidaphobia

# Megalophobia

# Petraphobia

Cons

# Needs an edit

# Possibly just a little too much detail?

# Lazily paced scenario—until the dénouement

Conclusion

# Richly detailed update of a classic Call of Cthulhu scenario that fills in the original’s blanks and lets the Investigators enjoy their enquiries until they go too far...

# A wealth of detail might just be a little too rich