Miskatonic Monday #371: Shadows in the Trees

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: Shadows in the Trees

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Jared Tallis

Setting: Modern day Australia

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twelve-page, 10.25 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch:  Big cat horror on the Sunshine Coast

Plot Hook: Big cat hunt for your YouTube channel

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, three handouts, three maps, two NPCs, and two Mythos creatures.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# First in the ‘Short Cosmic Horror Collection’ series

# Short, intense encounter with the monsters you could become

# Parallels to Viral

# Can be adapted to other settings or time periods with cryptids

# Flexible running time up to a single session

# Good Keeper advice

# Ailurophobia

# Diokophobia

# Scoleciphobia

Cons

# Parallels to Viral

# Needs a slight edit

# Plain handouts

# Pre-generated Investigator motivations could be stronger

Conclusion

# Intense encounter with monsters and the Mythos on the Sunshine Coast

# Solid advice for the Keeper on how to dial it up or down

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends

Miskatonic Monday #370: Rryonn

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: Rryonn: The Room You Can’t Escape Without Eating Tangerines

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Choya

Setting: Tonight

Product: Tangerine Dream
What You Get: Eight-page, 360.25 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch:  “I must not fear fruit. Fruit is the mind-killer. Fruit is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fruit. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fruit has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.” – With apologies to Dune, Frank Herbert

Plot Hook: An amber room with amber fruit

Plot Support: Staging advice.

Production Values: Orange

Pros

# The first Korean scenario translated into English?

# Could be run as a LARP

# Thirty-minute filler (dream sequence?)

# Very Korean

# Esperidoeidiphobia

# Fructophobia

# Chrysophobia

Cons

# Very Korean

# No Mythos

Conclusion

# Short and easy to run, but extremely Korean and extremely physical

# Fruit is the only fear

Miskatonic Monday #369: Operation Werewolf

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: Operation Werewolf

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: John Mack

Setting: Germany, May 1445

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-three page, full colour, 10.20 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Broken dreams on the eve of peace

Plot Hook: Werewolves at war, the Nazis strike back!

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, five handouts, two maps, twelve NPCs, one Mythos tomes, one Mythos artefact, three Mythos spells, and five Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Serviceable

Pros

# Plays on fears of Nazi resistance

# Includes World War II espionage Experience Packages and NPC Screen Hangers! 

# Detailed description of a village after war

# Detailed chase sequences included

# Well done pre-generated Investigators

# Oneirophobia

# Lycanthrophobia

# Pistanthrophobia

Cons

# Could use a stronger, clearer briefing for the players and their Investigators

# Some pre-generated Investigators are more complex than others

Conclusion

# Growing sense of paranoia as the werewolves strike again and again!

# Horrors of war versus the horrors of the night

Miskatonic Monday #368: The Ballad of Lost Danava

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 Ballad of Lost Danava

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Kevin Kreiner

Setting: The far future

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifteen page, 1.58 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: H.G. Wells’ The ‘Planet’ of Dr. Moreau

Plot Hook: Forced to land on a planet where no man has been before

Plot Support: Staging advice, six pre-generated Investigators, one handout, three Mythos tomes and recordings, two Mythos monsters, and one dinosaur.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# 2nd Place Winner in Stars Are Right Scenario Outline Writing Contest

# Curiously old-fashioned Science Fiction feel

# Dinosaurs optional

# Decently done pre-generated Investigators

# Deinophobia

# Radiophobia

# Cleithrophobia

Cons

# Fairly obvious in its plotting

Conclusion

# Escape from H.G. Wells’ The ‘Planet’ of Dr. Moreau

# Short and easy to run, more of a classic stranded and escape situation than an investigation

Miskatonic Monday #367: The Lair of Dreams

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 Lair of Dreams

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Nick Edwards

Setting: Paris, 1890s

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Seven page, 330.92 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What if art is the vector?

Plot Hook: Has a down on his luck artist fallen back into his old ways?

Plot Support: One Mythos monster

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Inspired by ‘The Mask’ from The King in Yellow by R.W. Chambers

# Short, direct, single session investigation

# Easy to prepare and run

# Easy to adapt to other cities and time periods

# Xanthophobia

# Oneirophobia

# Automatonophobia

Cons

# Keeper will need to provide NPC/monster stats

# What happens if the Investigators fail?

Conclusion

# Short, direct, and dreamy encounter with the servants of the Yellow King

# Easy to run for Cthulhu by Gaslight (and other cities and time periods)

Miskatonic Monday #366: The List of Historical & Fictional Figures Statted for Call of Cthulhu

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 List of Historical & Fictional Figures Statted for Call of Cthulhu

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: All of time and space

Product: Supplement
What You Get: Seventy page, 9.76 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Who (or what) appeared where and when?

Plot Hook: Have I got that scenario or supplement?

Plot Support: No staging advice, actual NPCs, handouts, maps,

Mythos artefacts, Mythos or occult tomes, Mythos entities, or indeed, plot (in the traditional sense, otherwise lots of NPCs and Mythos entities)

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Annotated list of historical and fictional figures itemised by product from Call of Cthulhu, Third Edition to Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition

# Listed separately by history and fiction

# Index of all individuals, great old ones, gods, and unique entities listed in The List of Historical & Fictional Figures Statted for Call of Cthulhu

# Engaging foreword and afterword

# There does not appear to be a phobia of lists, but there really should be

Cons

# Annotated list of historical and fictional figures itemised by product from Call of Cthulhu, Third Edition to Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition

# Listed separately by history and fiction

# Index of all individuals, great old ones, gods, and unique entities listed in The List of Historical & Fictional Figures Statted for Call of Cthulhu

# There does not appear to be a phobia of lists, but there really should be

# Highlights the fact that there really should be a similar product for scenarios

Conclusion

# Exhaustive reference guide to everyone and every ‘thing’ that has appeared in Call of Cthulhu

# Highlights the fact that there really should be a similar product for scenarios

Miskatonic Monday #365: The Haunter

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 Haunter

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Joshua S. Vallejo

Setting: Jazz Age Baltimore

Product: Outline
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 2.94 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What if the Investigators failed both ‘The Haunting’ and ‘Of Wrath and Blood’?

Plot Hook: Walter J. Corbitt lives!

Plot Support: Staging advice, six NPCs, sixteen handouts, one map, 

six Mythos artefacts, thirteen Mythos & occult tomes, & four Mythos entities

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Sequel to a sequel, Of Wrath and Blood, sequel to the classic, ‘The Haunting’

# Turns the ‘The Haunting’ into a trilogy

# One half-investigation, one half-bloody battle

# Atychiphobia

# Cloacaphobia

# Coimetrophobia

Cons

# Sequel to a sequel, Of Wrath and Blood, sequel to the classic, ‘The Haunting’

# Turns the ‘The Haunting’ into a trilogy
# Really, really encourages the Investigators to arm up for ghouls

Conclusion

# Absolutely only necessary of the Investigators failed both ‘The Haunting’ and ‘Of Wrath and Blood’

# Assault on the Chapel of Contemplation

Miskatonic Monday #364: The Borrowed

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 Borrowed

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean Liddle

Setting: World War II Plymouth

Product: Outline
What You Get: Eleven page, 948.91 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Three Go Mad in Devon (Again)

Plot Hook: How did Daisy the cow leave her field without a trace?

Plot Support: Staging advice

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Sequel to HUM

# Pleasing sense of a rural idyll

# Detailed outline

# Potential for child-like curiosity and terror

# Potential for sequels

# Petraphonia

# Claustrophobia

# Entomophobia

Cons

# No pre-generated Investigators
# Outline rather than scenario

Conclusion

# Engaging low key scenario accross a landscape of secrets

# Detailed outline still leaves the Keeper with lots of work to do, exactly like HUM

Miskatonic Monday #363: Cold Brood

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: Cold Brood

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Mitchell Harrop, Eric Jong, & Alex Shermon

Setting: Ballarat, 1925

Product: Scenario for Terror Australis: Call of Cthulhu in the Land Down Under

What You Get: Sixty-two page, 19.21 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: “Is this going to be a stand-up fight, sir, or another bug hunt?” – PFC Hudson, Aliens

Plot Hook: “Them! Them!” – The Ellinson Girl, Them!

Plot Support: Staging advice, nineteen NPCs, eight handouts, two maps, and one monster

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Ballarat, Mythos (Monster) central, Australia?

# Big bug hunt!

# Highly detailed and organised investigation

# Well researched scenario

# Entomophonia

# Ombrophobia

# Selenophobia

Cons

# Ballarat, Mythos (Monster) central, Australia?

# No pre-generated Investigators

# No Investigator motive

# Big bug hunt!

# Not a Mythos scenario

# Needs an edit

Conclusion

# Highly detailed investigation

# Classic big bug hunt!

Miskatonic Monday #362: Bunny The Eldritch Slayer

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: Bunny The Eldritch Slayer

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andrew Edward

Setting: Late nineties teen television

Product: Scenario for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos
What You Get: Sixteen page, 2.30 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Not the Buffy you know

Plot Hook: Rescue the Bunny in lurve...

Plot Support: Staging advice, five Scoobies, two NPCs, three handouts, one map, one Mythos spell, and one Mythos monster

Production Values: Decent

Pros

# Great cover

# It knows, you know, and it knows you know

# Either a loving pastiche or a knowing rip-off

# Gelotophonia

# Turophobia

# Ephebiphobia

Cons

# Vangelis

Conclusion

# Cheesetastic pastiche or parody that does what you expect

# Cultist-punching action in a pink highlighter love letter to a nineties classic

Miskatonic Monday #361: HUM

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: HUM

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Sean Liddle

Setting: World War II Plymouth

Product: Outline
What You Get: Six page, 173.34 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Three Go Mad in Devon

Plot Hook: What is the source of the constant HUM in the forest?

Plot Support: Staging advice

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Pleasing sense of a rural idyll

# Detailed outline

# Potential for child-like curiosity and terror

# Potential for sequels

# Misophonia

# Entomophobia

# Hylophobia

Cons

# No pre-generated Investigators
# Outline rather than scenario

Conclusion

# Engaging low key scenario with intriguing sense of an idyll spoiled

# Detailed outline still leaves the Keeper with work to do