Reviews from R'lyeh

Saturday, 2 November 2024

Miskatonic Monday #310: For Whom The Bells Toll No More

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: For Whom The Bells Toll No More

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Borja Morrow

Setting: Spain 1924

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-four page, 3.07 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: History never dies. It just comes back to haunt us.

Plot Hook: A culture of silence could be a culture of secrets

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, six handouts, two maps, four NPCs, and one Mythos monster.

Production Values: Plain

Pros

# Interesting setting

# Engaging sense of history

# Ypositismosphobia

# Blennophobia

# Catholophobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# No floor plans

# Needs a timeline on which to hang the plot

# Needs development to clarify the plot

Conclusion

# Too densely presented to use with any ease

# Decent setting and idea undermined by lack of clarity

Miskatonic Monday #309: Temple of the Crawling Chaos

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Name: Temple of the Crawling Chaos

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Man Of Thousand Hobbies

Setting: Egypt 1923

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Ten page, 287.19 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Is there more to the tomb of Tutankhamun?

Plot Hook: Something has been stolen from the tomb of Tutankhamun... possibly.

Plot Support: Staging advice, one map, three NPCs, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Slapdash

Pros

# Intended to be a starter scenario

# Something of a ‘Doer-Upper’ for the Keeper

# Taphephobia

# Claustrophobia

# Egyptophobia

Cons

# Not a starter scenario

# Does not clearly state the plot

# Needs a slight edit

Conclusion

# Too bare bones and not enough clarity

# Underdeveloped and ‘Pay What You Want’ is still underdeveloped
# Reviews from R’lyeh Discommends

Miskatonic Monday #308: The Game is Rigged

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Name: The Game is Rigged

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ryan Graham Theobalds

Setting: Gulf of Mexico

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-seven page, 2.63 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The Thing, but on an oil rig

Plot Hook: Some diversions are just not worth the danger

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, four maps, eleven NPCs, one Mythos tome, and six Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# Tightly plotted scenario

# Dramatic set-up

# Nice build up of tension

# Cinematic style

# Myxophobia

# Oleophobia

# Hoplophobia

Cons

# More maps of the oil rig would have been useful

# Tightly plotted
# Not every NPC has stats
# Could have been a shoggoth

Conclusion

# Tensely plotted, paranoid disaster versus Mythos film

# The Thing, but on another platform

Friday, 1 November 2024

Miskatonic Monday #307: No Witness

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Name: No Witness: a 1940s Film Noir Mystery

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Brendan Lahey

Setting: Montreal, 1943

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-one page, 10.18 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Serial killer, murder Mythos mystery

Plot Hook: A suicide is murder by any other name... Unless it’s an actual murder

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, twelve handouts, one map, eleven NPCs, two Mythos tomes, one Mythos spell, and six Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Good

Pros

# Clue rich, delightfully investigative scenario

# Suitably plotted like a Film Noir

# Good use of period photographs

# Could be the start of a series

# Hemophobia

# Wiccanophobia

# Foniasophobia

Cons

# A would be singer with no Sing skill?

# Needs a slight edit
# Many photographs could be handouts if organised better
# A floorplan or two would have been useful

Conclusion

# Enjoyably muscular investigative mystery

# “Down these Mythos streets, a man must go who is not himself Mythos, and who is neither insane nor afraid.” (with apologies to) – Raymond Chandler

Miskatonic Monday #306: Chaos in Chiapas

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Name: Chaos in Chiapas: A Modern Call of Cthulhu Adventure

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: David Waldron

Setting: Modern Day Mexico

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-one page, 29.06 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Tourist Terror in Mythos Meltdown

Plot Hook: Some diversions are just not worth the danger

Plot Support: Staging advice, five pre-generated Investigators, one handout, four maps, six NPCs, and three Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Shaky

Pros

# Scenario for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos

# Solid set-up

# Brawling, gunfest of a scenario

# One night, one session scenario
# Decent use of setting photographs

# Feels like it needs miniatures for the showdown

# Megalophobia

# Xylophobia

# Hoplophobia

Cons

# Needs a good edit

# More action than investigation
# Feels like it needs miniatures for the showdown

Conclusion

# Low budget horror shoot ’em up in the jungle

# More miniatures and the Mythos than classic investigation

Miskatonic Monday #305: Millan’s Tomb

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: Millan’s Tomb

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Maude Cort

Setting: A U.S. mining town

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Two page, 1.52 MB Black & White PDF
Elevator Pitch: Have you read the plot synopsis?

Plot Hook: Is there gold in them hills, or is it haunted?

Plot Support: Staging advice, ten named NPCs, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Sparse

Pros

# Barebones presentation
# Easy to adapt to different eras

# Multiple plot hooks

# Good for the Keeper that really, really likes to improvise

# Cleithrophobia

# Claustrophobia

# Phasmophobia

Cons

# Presented in a backwards fashion

# Needs development

# Keeper will need to supply stats

# Needs a slight edit

Conclusion

# All the right elements, not necessarily in the right order

# In need of development to flesh out the story, let alone the stats

Miskatonic Monday #304: Last 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: Last Call of Cthulhu: Player Drinking Rules & Modern-Era Scenario

Publisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Pete Burgess

Setting: The Lake District

Product: Scenario
What You Get: Sixty-one page, 29.06 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Late-night lock in horror hell

Plot Hook: It’s gonna be one hell of a night down the local…

Plot Support: Staging advice, four pre-generated Investigators, eight handouts, three maps and floorplans, nine NPCs, and two Mythos monsters.

Production Values: Outstanding

Pros

# The layout and graphic design are excellent!
# Actual rules for drinking whilst playing Call of Cthulhu

# Beer mats as Investigator sheets?

# Understated creepy horror until it’s really NOT

# Scope for fish out of water navigating British pub culture

# Tight, one night, one session scenario

# Excellent artwork and handouts
# Chorophobia

# Dipsophobia

# Tavernaphobia

Cons

# Actual rules for drinking whilst playing Call of Cthulhu

# Cover and extraneous artwork suggests fifties, not modern day

# ‘S’MPANPAMPANPANIOMPANION’?

# Needs a slight edit

Conclusion

# Very well presented single session, one-night horror

# What if the monster was already inside at The Slaughtered Lamb?

# Reviews from R’lyeh Recommends