Miskatonic Monday #277: Hail to the King

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: Hail To The King

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Marco Carrer

Setting: New York State, 1989

Product: One-on-One Scenario
What You Get: Nine page, 448.60 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Modern music is as dangerous as narcotics.” – Pietro Mascagni

Plot Hook: This is one rare record you won’t want to rave about

Plot Support: Staging advice, one pre-generated Investigator, and four NPCs.

Production Values: Untidy.

Pros

# One Investigator, one session scenario

# Easy to adapt to other modern time periods with recorded sound

# Straightforward investigation

# Melophobia

# Hemophobia

# Pharmacophobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# Linear

# Needs an opposition to mix up its noir nods and make it a MacGuffin hunt

Conclusion

# Seedy, direct investigation that feels just a bit too easy

# Tell, me have you heard the Yellow Sign?