Miskatonic Monday #234: Thing torments poet, Daimyo calls on greatest help, Will the players fail?

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: Thing torments poet, Daimyo calls on greatest help, Will the players fail?

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Steven Goodison

Setting: Edo period Japan

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-two page, 51.73 MB PDF

Elevator Pitch: A Japanese yōkai story is anything but...

Plot Hook: A favoured poet is suddenly speaking in two voices not his own. Whose are they and where is his?

Plot Support: Staging advice, fourteen handouts, nine maps and floorplans, thirteen NPCs, three spells, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Underwhleming
Scenario Title: Overwhelming

Pros

# Set in Edo era Japan

# Start of a five-part mini-campaign

# Could be adapted for use with Japan – Empire of Shadows: A Call of Cthulhu sourcebook for 1920s Imperial Japan

# Metrophobia

# Teraphobia

# Ligyrophobia

Cons

# Needs a strong edit

# Plot could be much clearer

# No suggestions as to how to create the Investigators

# How is the unnamed foreign play related to the plot?

# Why are the needed haikus left for the Keeper to write instead of the author?

# Possibility of ending both scenario and campaign in the second scene

Conclusion

# Interesting period for Lovecraftian investigative roleplaying is left unsupported

# Poor presentation of the plot does disservice to said plot and leaves the Keeper to connect the dots