Miskatonic Monday #294: The Assignment

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 Assignment

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Marco Carrer

Setting: Cthulhu Invictus

Product: One-on-One Scenario
What You Get: Ten page, 310.87 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Sometimes a femme fatale lives up to her name

Plot Hook: A Finder doesn’t always want to find what he’s looking for
Plot Support: Staging advice, one pre-generated Investigator, four NPCs, one handout, floorplans, and one Mythos creature.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Scenario for The 7th Edition Guide to Cthulhu Invictus: Cosmic Horror Roleplaying in Ancient Rome

# One Keeper, one Investigator one-shot

# Short, one session noir-style investigation

# Plot could be adapted to a Noir-style setting

# Strigiformophobia

# Necrophobia

# Teraphobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# Familiar noir-style plot

Conclusion

# Short and bloody noir-style investigation

# Serviceable and easy to use