Miskatonic Monday #265: Mad Sci – How to Train your Shoggoth

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: Mad Sci – How to Train your Shoggoth

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Kurt Havelock

Setting: Miskatonic University

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Thirty-eight page, 142.16 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Miskatonic Mad Science
Plot Hook: Cartoonish capers with chemistry and whatnot causes chaos

Plot Support: Eighteen NPCs, one map, and sixteen Mythos monsters, plus one robot.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Entertainingly cartoonish art

# Interesting set of NPCs/Mythos Monsters

# Variant Great Race of Yith

# Myxophobia

# Teraphobia

# Science Anxiety

Cons

# EDU as a stat is NOT stupid

# Variant Great Race of Yith

# All set-up, no plot

# No staging advice

# No investigation

# Unusable as written without a lot of effort

Conclusion

# All set-up, but no plot, investigation, adventure, or advice on how to use it

# Actually more the bible for an anime-style Saturday morning Miskatonic University mad science cartoon