Miskatonic Monday #448: The Horror

Much like the Jonstown Compendium for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha and The Companions of Arthur for material set in Greg Stafford’s masterpiece of Arthurian legend and romance, Pendragon, the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition is a curated platform for user-made content. 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 Horror

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Poul Erik Holmelund

Setting: Denmark, 1980s

Product: Scenario

What You Get: Forty-two page, 41.15 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Kidstigators do right by the Knights Templar
Plot Hook: ‘Troll’ terror at a Summer Camp gone Cthulhu

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Kidstigators and sixteen Kidstigator portraits, one NPC, five maps and floor plans, one Mythos spell, and four Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Excellent

Pros

# First scenario to use the ‘Kidstigator’ rules from The Dare

# Good one-shot or convention scenario

# Solid, food-based investigation

# Genuinely jolly policeman

# ‘Murdertoys’ are exactly what you think they are

# iä iä Krôll´Bôll

# Possible resolutions fully explored

# Nice cover

# Now with added Citronmåne (you’re welcome and where’s my slice?)

# Pediophobia

# Teraphobia

# Ornithophobia

Cons

# Needs a light edit

# There really should be a phobia of seagulls

Conclusion

# Linear, but entertaining scenario that nicely balances the joy of childhood versus the terror of ‘trolls’!

# Pleasingly captures the wonder of childhood summer before the horror

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Miskatonic Monday #287: Lost in Cremation

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: Lost in Cremation

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author Poul Holmelund

Setting: Noughties Denmark

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-six page, 11.09 MB PDF

Elevator Pitch: Creativity burns like the Sun...

Plot Hook: What is the mystery of the madness to an unsolved missing persons case?
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, nine handouts, five NPCs, one Mythos tome, and one Mythos spell.

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Sequel to The Art of Hygge

# Title is a clever play on words

# Straightforward, detailed investigation

# Very Danish investigation

# Pyrophobia

# Chorophobia

# Pyromania

Cons

# Artwork variable in quality

# Very Danish investigation. Everyone is almost too helpful

Conclusion

# Very serviceable sequel to The Art of Hygge
# Can an investigation be too Danish? Their help undermines the challenge.

Miskatonic Monday #211: A Network of Tunnels

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: A Network of Tunnels

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean F. Smith

Setting: 1920s London

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 1.63 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Never leave a lawyer in a locked room when death is on the line

Plot Hook: A lawyer missing from his locked room
Plot Support: One map, three NPCs, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: High School Power Point Essay.

Pros

# Interesting twist upon ‘Megapolismancy’

# More detailed outline than scenario

# Straightforward, tightly plotted

# Easy to add to a campaign

# Easy to adjust to other time periods

# Blennophobia

# Molluscophobia

# Gephyrophobia

Cons

# More detailed outline than scenario

# Underwritten

# Untidy layout

Conclusion

# Easy to add to a campaign ‘Megapolismantic’ scenario

# More underwritten outline than scenario, but otherwise a serviceable investigation

Miskatonic Monday #210: The Art of Hygge

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: The Art of Hygge

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Poul Holmelund

Setting: Pre-millennium Denmark

Product: One-shot
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 3.12 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Let’s get hygge before the horror

Plot Hook: Cultural fascination becomes fear... becomes frightening...
Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated (non) Investigators, eight handouts, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Reasonable.

Pros

# Short non-survival horror scenario

# Straightforward, tightly plotted 

# Excellent handouts

# Easy to adjust to other time periods

# Extreme hygge/horror divide

# Cherophobia

# Pyrophobia

# Xenophobia

Cons

# Needs a strong edit

# No relationships between pre-generated Investigators

# Reactive, not proactive scenario

# Limited scope for investigation

# Investigators have to die

# Extreme hygge/horror divide

Conclusion

# Short non-survival horror scenario with limited (non) Investigator actions 

# Extreme hygge/horror divide that contrasts the cosy and the cosmic