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 Strange Case of Mr CardewPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Raphael Merriman

Setting: Modern Day Birmingham
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 793.88 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Criminal suspicions expose an empty coffin and a missing body. Plot Hook: Did a criminal kingpin steal a body?
Plot Support: Staging advice, thirteen NPCs, and two handouts.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# Gloriously Poundland cultists# Lots of NPCs to interact with# Easy to adapt to other time periods# Easy to adapt to other cities# Solid plot with decent amount of investigation
Cons# Ghouls and a funeral director? A cliché seen before in Secrets and Realm of Shadow# Multiple options for getting the Investigators involved# A shoal of red herrings
Conclusion# Decent if dense investigative scenario involving a host of nicely done NPCs, including some utterly naff cultists# Primary suspect all too obvious and all too much a cliché

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: Annals of Flint's Detective Agency: The Case of the Stolen Golf ClubsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Mark Potter

Setting: Jazz Age Chicago
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-six page, 2.35 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The Case of the Cosmic Golf Clubs!Plot Hook: Detectives hired to investigate a theft which leads back to Egypt and beyond!
Plot Support: Staging advice, four NPCs, five handouts, seven maps and floorplans, and six Mythos Monsters.Production Values: Undermining.
Pros# Solid plot with decent amount of investigation# Easy to adapt to other cities# Easy to adapt to Cthulhu by Gaslight# Connects an Egyptian cult to a different Mythos entity
Cons# A butler called Jives# A professor called DeWho# Really, REALLY needs an edit# Underwritten staging advice# No hue and cry for a missing baby?# Requires more preparation than it really should# Set in Chicago or the United Kingdom?
Conclusion# Potentially solid investigative scenario undone by underwhelming production values and lack of editing which force the Keeper to decide which details are correct and which are not.# Set in Chicago, but makes poor use of the city.

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: Sermon of SludgePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Bored Stiffs

Setting: 1970s Los Angeles
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-four page, 18.37 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: End of Days and ‘high’ madness in L.A.Plot Hook: Fringe science is about to get freaky!!!
Plot Support: Staging advice, nine NPCs and nine NPC portraits, fifteen handouts, five maps, one Mythos Monster, and five pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Fabulously freaky.
Pros# Fringe science meets the end is nigh on the streets  of L.A.# Entertainingly gonzo layout and art inspired by Gilbert Shelton# Investigator sheets done as comic book small adds# Could be adapted for Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos# Easily pushed back to the sixties# Connection to Plagues of Egypt hints at possible sequels
# Potential convention one-shot
Cons# Period piece# May need careful timing to run as a convention one-shot
Conclusion# Thematically entertaining scenario# Counterculture calamity as fringe science clashes with freaky faith in a downtown doom!

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: At One With NaturePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Graham James

Setting: Jazz Age Scotland
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twent-six page, 5.01 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Horror comes home to the HighlandsPlot Hook: Holiday in the Highlands leads to horrifying revelations close to home
Plot Support: Staging advice, seven NPCs, six handouts, and three pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Vibrant.
Pros# Scenario for Shadows Over Scotland: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in 1920s’ Scotland
# Strong roleplaying advice throughout# Bucolic clash between morality and duty # Good mix of interaction and investigation# Part of RPG Writer Workshop Summer 2021 Call of Cthulhu Vol. 1

Cons# Horridly vibrant background# Needs an edit# No guidance on using scenario in a campaign
# No maps
# Undeveloped pre-generated Investigators pulls it back from being a fully rounded one-shot
Conclusion# Scottish set scenario strong on roleplaying, interaction, and investigation against a macabre, grotesque clash between morality and duty

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: A Night at DarkbankPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Andy Miller

Setting: New Mexico, 1879
Product: Scenario for Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos
What You Get: Twenty-four page, 14.72 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: The hunt for an outlaw turns outlandish as the criminal turns up a curse!Plot Hook: Classic posse hunts wanted man.
Plot Support: Staging advice, three maps, two NPCs, one monster, five NPC portraits, and one pre-generated Investigator.Production Values: Adequate.
Pros# Scenario for Down Darker Trails: Terrors of the Mythos
# Short one-player, one-session one-shot
# Solidly done background and context# Easy to add to a campaign# Creepy atmosphere
Cons# Written for one investigator or multiple investigators?# No advice for running with multiple investigators?
Conclusion# Straightforward posse hunt turns strange in a serviceably scary scenario inspired by Adventures into the Unknown #13

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: Horror in the HighlandsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: David Wright

Setting: Jazz Age Scotland
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Forty-four page, 51.22 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Madness and murder beset the Mackintosh Clan on MoyPlot Hook: Bottling of a newwhisky is disturbed by dark dreams made realPlot Support: Staging advice, thirteen NPCs, ten handouts, elven maps, one illustration, one monster, six Mythos tomes and books, two spells, and six pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Scenario for Shadows Over Scotland: Call of Cthulhu Roleplaying in 1920s’ Scotland?
# Scottish Gaelic folkloric horror# Decently done background# Pleasingly ordinary pre-generated Investigators# Solidly Scottish one-shot
Cons# Needs an edit# Some handouts have Mythos rules# No guidance on using scenario in a campaign
# Classic ‘unstoppable monster unless you find the solution’ set-up
Conclusion# Engagingly Scottish murder, mayhem, and monster one-shot showdown in the highlands # Solidly written up background and support

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: Operation FoxglovePublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Chad Briggs

Setting: Norway, 1944
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-three page, 9.561 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Nightmare in NorwayPlot Hook: The mission or the monster?
Plot Support: Staging advice, eight pre-generated Investigators, two handouts, three maps, multiple NPCs, and a non-Mythos monsters.Production Values: Adequate.
Pros# World War (non) Cthulhu
# Solid bibliography# Straightforward plot# Potential convention scenario# Folkloric foe# Possible adaptation to Pulp Cthulhu: Two-fisted Action and Adventure Against the Mythos?# Part of the RPG Writer Workshop Summer 2021 Call of Cthulhu Vol. 1
Cons# World War (non) Cthulhu# Underwritten pre-generated Investigators# Action and combat orientated# Faceless NPCs# No real investigation

Conclusion# Action and combat focused scenario with a simple plot: Trollhunter with Nazis versus SOE

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 Hounds of SalemPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Anthony L. Wolf

Setting: Jazz Age Lovecraft Country
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-Three page, 9.21 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What drives the moral to act immorally?Plot Hook: Missing Mythos missives
Plot Support: Staging advice, two Mythos tomes, one spell, one map, one floorplan, three floorplans, two handouts, two Mythos monsters, and four pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Reasonable.
Pros# Miskatonic University scenario
# Easily adapted to other periods# Straightforward, but decent  investigation
Cons# Underwhelming and unsympathetic villain motivation# Too much Cthulhu Mythos reward# Salem description undeveloped# Odd title versus new Mythos creature, why not a Hound of Tindalos?

Conclusion# Potentially too deadly an encounter for straight students rather than a mix group of Investigators # Decent investigation clashes with underwhelming and unsympathetic villain

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: Nightmare in the SanitariumPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Rudy Peverada

Setting: An asylum
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Elven page, 3.61 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: An Escape Room meets Murder in the DarkPlot Hook: Can you escape the asylum?
Plot Support: Staging advice, two floorplans, some NPCs, and some Night-Gaunts.Production Values: Adequate.
Pros# Murder in the dark one-shot
# Nice cover
Cons# Murder in the dark# Sanitarium as a reverse dungeon# No investigation
# No background# No plot# No pre-generated Player Characters# Devoid of roleplaying potential as written# The Player Characters have ‘special powers’# Choice of ‘special powers’ limited to three# Cuts the Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition rules down unnecessarily for brevity 
Conclusion# Murder in the Dark combined with an Escape Room set in a sanitarium, reverse dungeon-style.# Potentially mildly interesting set-up undone by a lack of plot, background, or pre-generated Player Characters, leaving the Keeper to develop the roleplaying possibilities they would provide.

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: Passenger OlympusPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Mitchel Bonnema

Setting: Gulf of Mexico, 1921.
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Thirty-One page, 11.53 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Fear on a Freighter!Plot Hook: When a ship goes adrift, could it have been cursed by the mermaid it pulled aboard?
Plot Support: Straightforward plot, six NPCs, five pre-generated Investigators, one deck plan, ten handouts, and two Mythos creatures.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Sea-bound one-shot# Scares amidst a stormed-tossed sea# Escalating song of sanity!# Strong sense of isolation# Detailed steamer description# Decent handouts
Cons# Needs another edit# Dense# Uneven Sanity loses# No portholes!# A lot for the Investigators to explore
Conclusion# Maritime madness as the Investigators confront a mermaid # Isolated horror aboard a vessel adrift at sea, not in space—and you can hear the siren's song!

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: Crepid FornicationPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Philip G. Orth

Setting: Jazz Age Hamburg, 1928
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-eight page, 15.69 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: A one-shot soirée at a snail’s pacePlot Hook: An artists’ affair turns abstrusely abhorrent in a hunt for a missing girlPlot Support: Spiraling plot, staging advice, two NPCs, six handouts, eight pre-generated Investigators, two new Mythos spells, one new Mythos tome, and one new Mythos creature.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Molluscophobia# Interesting period setting# Oozes artistic otherworldliness into another direction # Nicely detailed octuple of pre-generated Investigators# Could be adapted to other time periods# Part of the Miskatonic Repository Halloween 2021 Collection# Potential crossover with Berlin: The Wicked City – Unveiling the Mythos in Weimar Berlin
Cons# Molluscophobia# Needs a strong edit# Plot not always clearly explained# No advice for adding it to a campaign
Conclusion# Unclear plotting slightly obscures a molluscophobic meeting# Engaging sense of the strange and creepy creativity combined with an encounter with an otherworldly horror inspired by reality. 

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: Missing in the WoodsPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Brandon Estelle

Setting: Blackwood National Forest, Modern Day USA.
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fourteen page, 648.65 KB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Can the investigators find the missing, before they become missing too?Plot Hook: A search for a missing girl turns strange Plot Support: Straightforward plot, one handouts, and one monstrous entity.Production Values: Plain.
Pros# Modern day, backwoods one-shot# Easily adapted to other periods# Eerie sense of unreality# Folk horror more than Mythos horror
Cons# Needs an edit# Short and linear# Emphasises physical skills rather than mental# Folk horror more than Mythos horror# Not much for the Investigators to do
Conclusion# Easily adaptable, short piece of folk horror with a sense of the eerie that is all too straightforward with little for the Investigators to do

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.
Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. A more recent retroclone of choice to support has been Old School Essentials.
Published in Autumn 2020, Planar Compass Issue One begins a journey that takes Dungeons & Dragons and the Old School Renaissance out where it rarely goes—onto the Astral Realm and out between the planes. Of course, the option for travel in this liminal space has always been there in Dungeons & Dragons, most notably from Manual of the Planes all the way up to Spelljammer: Adventures in Space and the Planescape Campaign Setting. Whilst those supplements were for Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, First Edition and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Second Edition, the Planar Compass series is written for use with Old School Essentials, and it not only introduces the Astral Realm, but adds new Classes and rules for one very contentious aspect of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons—psionics! Planar Compass Issue One can be divided into two halves. In the first half, it explores a place of refuge and calm amidst the Astra Sea and provides a number of adventures on and below that location, whilst in the second half, it details both the four new races and their  Classes, as well as the new rules for psionics for Old School Essentials. The second half has been collected into a booklet of its own. The Planar Compass Player’s Booklet and thus the four new Classes and the rules for psionics are reviewed here.
Planar Compass Issue One starts with a quick introduction, explaining how old Palio One Eye, once a fearsome and notorious pirate on the Astral Seas, accidentally discovered the location of what was to become Dreamhaven by wrecking his ship upon it. Then when another ship anchored off its coast, instead of capturing the ship and resuming his career of piracy, he instead started selling his cargo of Aldhelsi mead to the other ship’s crew and thus he had a bar. Soon others were coming to Dreamhaven—the Onauk, behorned barbarian pirates, the Aldhelsi, short fey psionicists, the short and furry Belsorriso known for their charming smile (very Rocket Raccoon-like!), the Skullga, goblinoids with deer-like heads who are excellent shipbuilders and tinkerers, Chanicoids, clockwork beings serving a higher master, and of course, Humans. (The Onauk and the Aldhelsi, along with the Psion and the Astral Sailor are detailed as Classes later in Planar Compass Issue One and also in the Planar Compass Player’s Booklet.) Dreamhaven is actually quite small, but has extensive docks, adheres to Central Ordo Time or the time of Ordo, the plane of Law as marked by a series of clocks around the island, and although there is no night and day, no sun which sets and rises on Dreamhaven, the island keep to a day and night cycle of Central Ordo Time.
‘Beach Psiombies’ is the first of two short adventures in which Palio, still short of supplies, takes the Player Characters out on his clockwork, glass-bottomed boat, to go fishing for dinner. Unfortunately, they reel in something much worse—Psiombies! This is primarily a combat encounter, but again there are some moments for levity. The second shorter adventure is ‘All That Glitters’. Leonid, extravagantly wealthy high-Level Wizard and patron of The Slipstream Bar, covets an item of jewelry, currently in possession of his rivel, the Half-Ogre, Otis. Leonid will pay handsomely, or provide a significant discount to his magical services—including the casting of Teleport if the Player Characters are eager to get off Dreamhaven, if they can retrieve the necklace from aboard Otis’ ship, the Rude Awakening. As written, this is an assault upon the docked ship amidst a Psychic Storm which makes it all very challenging, but it is only the Psychic Storm which makes this encounter interesting. In fact, ‘All That Glitters’ is decidedly underwhelming in comparison to the other three scenarios in the Planar Compass Issue One.
The fourth and longest scenario in Planar Compass Issue One is ‘Deepwarren’. Various inhabits of Dreamhaven have an interest in what might be found in the Deepwarren, so by the time the Player Characters decide to explore it (they have an opportunity to do so earlier, but advised not to), they may have several motivations or at least several employers willing to pay for what they discover. The Deepwarren is a short, but detailed dungeon, which hides several secrets, including Dreamhaven’s  true nature. Revealing that nature has disastrous consequences for Dreamhaven, which will bring the mini-campaign to an exciting conclusion. However, these secrets need not be revealed all at once and if the Game Master hands out the offers of employment in a more piecemeal fashion, the Player Characters can explore the Deepwarren more than once and have the consequences of their exploration play out at a less tumultuous pace. One location in the Deepwarren does consist of a maze and it really does not serve any purpose in the dungeon except to get the Player Characters lost. It is nicely done, but really the Player Characters could just wander around to no real effect. Otherwise, ‘Deepwarren’ is a nicely detailed and flavoursome dungeon whose contents will bring the campaign in Dreamhaven to an end.
Physically, Planar Compass Issue One is very nicely done. It is engagingly written, the artwork is excellent, and all together, it is a lovely little book.
Where Planar Compass Issue One does feel lacking is suggestions on how to get the Player Characters there given the far off and  very strange location of Dreamhaven. Where it disappoints—in a way—is in probably bringing a campaign on Dreamhaven to an end. There is no doubt that it does so in a satisfying and appropriate fashion, but Dreamhaven is such a fun little place to adventure that more scenarios on the island would be more than welcome! After all, pirate coves and haven are not exactly uncommon in roleplaying fantasy, but the combination of its location on the Astral Sea and psionics serve to make Dreamhaven genuinely unique. It would be lovely to have a further anthology of adventures which would get the Player Characters there and give them the opportunity to explore the island a little more before the campaign proper in Planar Compass Issue One begins.

Whether it is the rules for psionics, which are as simple and straightforward as they can be, or the description of Dreamhaven, its inhabitants, and its adventures, Planar Compass Issue One is an impressively fantastic and self-contained first issue of a very well-done fanzine. If Planar Compass Issue Two is going to be as good as Planar Compass Issue One, then fine. If it is better, then Planar Compass Issue Two is going to be very good indeed.

On the tail of the Old School Renaissance has come another movement—the rise of the fanzine. Although the fanzine—a nonprofessional and nonofficial publication produced by fans of a particular cultural phenomenon, got its start in Science Fiction fandom, in the gaming hobby it first started with Chess and Diplomacy fanzines before finding fertile ground in the roleplaying hobby in the 1970s. Here these amateurish publications allowed the hobby a public space for two things. First, they were somewhere that the hobby could voice opinions and ideas that lay outside those of a game’s publisher. Second, in the Golden Age of roleplaying when the Dungeon Masters were expected to create their own settings and adventures, they also provided a rough and ready source of support for the game of your choice. Many also served as vehicles for the fanzine editor’s house campaign and thus they showed another DM and group played said game. This would often change over time if a fanzine accepted submissions. Initially, fanzines were primarily dedicated to the big three RPGs of the 1970s—Dungeons & Dragons, RuneQuest, and Traveller—but fanzines have appeared dedicated to other RPGs since, some of which helped keep a game popular in the face of no official support.
Since 2008 with the publication of Fight On #1, the Old School Renaissance has had its own fanzines. The advantage of the Old School Renaissance is that the various Retroclones draw from the same source and thus one Dungeons & Dragons-style RPG is compatible with another. This means that the contents of one fanzine will be compatible with the Retroclone that you already run and play even if not specifically written for it. Labyrinth Lord and Lamentations of the Flame Princess Weird Fantasy Roleplay have proved to be popular choices to base fanzines around, as has Swords & Wizardry. A more recent retroclone of choice to support has been Mörk Borg.
Published in November, 2020, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is one of three similar fanzines released by Philip Reed Games as a result of the Strange Citizens of the City Kickstarter campaign, the others being Strange Citizens of the City and Strange Visitors to the City. It follows on from the publisher’s Delayed Blast Gamemaster fanzine, by presenting a set of tables upon which the Game Master can roll and bring in elements to her game. Whilst Delayed Blast Gamemaster detailed monsters, environments, and more, with a cover which reads, “Roll 2d6 and say hello to Evil”, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest all about the encounter and all about encounters with evil. 
The issue opens with the eponymous ‘Strange Inhabitants of the Forest’ which presents a table of villains or villain-like NPCs to be encountered in the forest. Each is given their own two-page spread, with a large illustration, a full page of text providing background, and of course, notes and stats. The notes typically suggest how money the Player Characters might make from their loot or handing in proof of their deaths, though not always. They include the Armoured Suit of Despair, Being of Animated Evil is a suit of armour forged in the deepest pits of hell with only one purpose—slaughtering the living! However, there is no means of destroying it and upon their first encounter with it, the Player Characters will find it doing something unspeakably evil. A handful of options are included. Jannick Pückler, Undead Huntsman, was a huntsman of the undead in life, and even in his unlife as a skeletal huntsman, he has continued his calling. Despite being dedicated to destroying evil, he has a hard time persuading others that he himself is not evil. Zakari Echautz is a Frustrated Angel, driven to act against evil in the face of infighting amongst his kind, who has become intolerant and unlikely unable to determine who or what is exactly evil and who or what is not. A huge pack of rats drive the Player Characters to find refuge at the isolated mansion of Lady Jeni Dargonmir, but she is not what she seems, but a ‘Connoisseur of Blood’. A night in her demesne should set up a night of horror. What all eleven entries have in common is that they appear to be evil, though this is not necessarily the case—as evidenced by Jannick Pückler. Most though, are tough opponents, some more than the players and their characters might imagine, and if there is another common theme, though not to all of the entries, it is that a few of them are actually bodies animated by items of clothing or armour, and in many cases, should a Player Character decide to don such an item or clothing or armour, then he is dead! Or at least an NPC turned to evil. Nevertheless, there is a good mix here and definitely are encountering one or two of these, the Player Characters are going hate being in the forest.
‘Strange Inhabitants of the Forest’ takes up over half of Strange Inhabitants of the Forest. It is followed by ‘Strange Encounters’. This provides twelve encounters, or locations, which the Player Characters can come across on their journeys through the forest. These are shorter, just a paragraph long. For example, ‘The Collapsed Bridge of Neumark’ is a ruined bridge across the Soulless River, leaving dangerously rabid waters to cross or the ‘The Woodcutter’s Hut’, home to the friendly and helpful Arno Schottenstein who does not tolerate rudeness. These are uninteresting, even banal, as encounters go, at best contrasts to others such as ‘The Mound of Skulls’, literally a pile of hundreds of human skulls and so evil that anyone of that persuasion has a bonus to their damage rolls when in that vicinity, or ‘The Wizard’s Walking Hut’, an animated walking hut, who has little time for intruders now that his master is dead! Can the Player Characters loot the hut before it galivants off? Overall, the weird encounters outweigh the mundane, and again, these are going to make the Player Characters hate the forest even more!
Lastly, ‘1d12 Travellers on the Road’ presents exactly that. This is the third table in the fanzine and like ‘Strange Encounters’, it consists of single paragraph entries. The travellers encountered might include Soli Kamolov, a cheesemaker on his way to market who might sell the Player Characters some of his hard cheese; Karolina Strle, a terrified deserter who fears her former employer, a powerful warlord might be after her and so would be happy to sell her sword and armour which identifies her as one of his soldiers; and Nusret Oblak, a bamboozled merchant who will be happy to see the Player Characters because the men he hired to guard his goods swindled him, leaving him penniless, but he wants revenge and will pay if he can get his good back! These are generally more mundane encounters than in the previous articles, and so act as contrasts.
Physically, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is very nicely presented. Although it makes strong use of colour, it uses a softer palette than Mörk Borg, so is easier on the eye. The artwork throughout is excellent, but the one of Jannick Pückler really stands out.
To be honest, none of the encounters in Strange Inhabitants of the Forest actually have to take place in a forest and there are possibly too many encounters for one forest—unless it is a very big forest! Yet, Strange Inhabitants of the Forest is full of dark and deadly encounters, to varying degrees, that the Game Master can pick and choose from, all to make her Player Characters fear the forest.

There is a lonely farm. Perhaps the last in the village, for everyone else has left, their farms abandoned. This last, lonely farm has been in the Polotnikov family for generations. Behind the farm is an old stone wall—broken in two places—which separates it from an ancient field of high grass, worn paths, and long abandoned buildings. It is said that the field behind the farm is cursed and that this curse is the cause of the other farms failing and being abandoned. It is taboo to enter the field, so no one does, not even the Polotnikovs. Mother Galina Polotnikov knows a little of the old ways, but is nowhere near the witch that her grandmother, the one-eyed Elena, was, nor as strange as her mother, who disappeared in her old age, so perhaps she knows about the curse? None of the Polotnikov family has been heard from in many days, and Piotr—Galina’s husband—has not been seen at the nearby market which he always attends. Thus, Andrei, Piotr’s brother is growing concerned. What secrets are the Polotnikov family hiding? Have they broken the taboo and entered the field behind their farm? And if so, what happened?

This is the set-up for Where the Wheat Grows Tall, a scenario which describes itself as an ‘Agrarian Adventure’. It is written to be used with the Old School Renaissance retroclone of your choice, but the stats and numbers are relatively easy to adapt to your preferred roleplaying game and its mechanics. In terms of setting, it is another matter. Where the Wheat Grows Tall  is set on a peasant farm and in its neighbouring field that together are caught between the competing desires of two sister spirits… One of whom has had her idol destroyed in the field, and unfettered, The Noon Lady has risen, and where her gaze drew the farm labourers’ sweat, soothed their rest with its warmth, and made the crops grow tall, now it falls cruelly upon the labourers’ backs with sunstroke and the crops grow wildly. Her sister, The Midnight Maiden, is secretive and playful, watching over men from the shadows and easing their sleep with dreams, but where her sister is unfettered, she is broken—perhaps by abundant growth encouraged by The Noon Lady. In the wake of this upset order, Barstukai, Children of the Crops, stalk the unwary, Night Goblins invite others dance and steal from their new dancing partners, roots snake and entangle, Turnip Jack searches the field for light to eat, and Likho, the One-Eyed Witch, watches, one eye at a time…

Where the Wheat Grows Tall is a deep, dark descent into Slavic myth and fairy tales played out across two halves. First, there is the ‘farm crawl’ where the Player Characters have an opportunity to get hints of what might have happened to the Polotnikov family and suggestions that they will need to break the taboo and go over the wall. Second is the ‘field crawl’, where the Player Characters will encounter all manner of the weird and the whimsy as they explore the area in search of the missing Polotnikovs. None of what they might encounter is necessarily dangerous, the dangers likely arising because the Player Characters are either careless or discourteous when comes to interacting with the inhabitants of this whimsical world. Some will want to dance or play, some to be left alone, and others happy to enjoy the company of visitors such as the Player Characters. The Game Master will find herself portraying a wide cast of characters and creatures—there are no real monsters in Where the Wheat Grows Tall —and imparting a fair bit of information as the scenario very much emphasises interaction and investigation.

The scenario is written in a very concise, bullet point fashion, style, and that has both benefits and issues. The benefit is that its information, whether background, location details, or NPC descriptions, are all easy to grasp, but the issue is that often, they do feel underwritten. Some of the NPCs could have done with a little more information as to what they will and what they will not tell the Player Characters. The advice for the Game Master, which most consists of hooks and rumours, along with suggestions on how to shorten the scenario as a one-shot or due to time, is also underwritten, making the scenario that much bit harder to prepare than should really be necessary.

Physically, Where the Wheat Grows Tall  is ably presented. The writing style is short and to the point, but still packing a lot of description into its terseness. The artwork, done by Evlyn Moreau, is excellent, primarily because it absolutely fits the wonder and the whimsey to be found in the field beyond the stone wall. The map is clear and easy to read, but two of the scenario’s locations, both underground, are not included on the map. Both of course could be anywhere in the underground of the field, but their depiction would have been useful. In places, the scenario could have been better organised, the map placed somewhere more readily accessible, and arguably the overview of the scenario at the beginning could have been stronger.

As delightful as Where the Wheat Grows Tall  is—and it really is—another issue hampering it, is its genre and mythology. Fitting it into an ongoing campaign is going to be challenging given its strong use of Slavic mythology, but there are settings and supplements that the scenario would work with and work well. Older supplements would include Mythic Russia and GURPS Russia, but more recent settings suitable for Where the Wheat Grows Tall would be that of Kislev of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and the Hill Cantons of Fever Dreaming Marlinko.

Where the Wheat Grows Tall is charming and challenging, weird and whimsical. It presents an utterly disarming excursion into lands beset by long summery days and barely soothed by nights of Moon-lit shadows, where there is a mystery to be solved, a family to be rescued—perhaps, and a restoration to be made…

The Gutter Prayer is a fantastic novel of worldbuilding and tumultuous change. The debut from Gareth Hanrahan—an author best known for his many roleplaying credits, from The Persephone Extraction to The Pirates of Drinax—and much more besides, it opens with a prologue written in the second person that narrates a burglary upon the House of Law in the city of Guerdon. It gives a strange, almost impersonal point of view to the beginning of the novel, the identity of the narrator not quite clear, but oh so important as the events of the story reveal later. The burglary though is a failure, forcing its perpetrators, Carillon, an orphan newly returned to the city after years away as a refugee, Rat, a young Ghoul not wanting to his kind below, and Spar, a Stoneman, cursed with a disease which causes him to ossify into stone, and ultimately die if he does not receive injections of the serum, alkahest, to flee. In the wake of an explosion they know nothing about, the trio splits up, chased by the Tallowmen, waxworks which keep going as long as their wick remains alight, created by the Alchemists Guild to help enforce the laws and keep the peace. That explosion and the identity of the narrator in the prologue set off a chain of events which reverberate throughout the rest of novel.

Guerdon stands at the heart of the novel, a fantasy-industrial city-port which remains neutral in the ongoing Godswar afflicting other nearby nations. Religious strife underlies its history though, religious freedom allowed in the city because the Church of the Kept Gods threw down the dark rule of the Black Iron Gods and their vile servants. In recent times, the influence of the Kept Gods has diminished as the power and influence of the Alchemists grew and turned Guerdon into the soot-strewn industrial powerhouse that it is today. In the narrow streets and through the warrens of the smugglers’ tunnels lurks the Brotherhood, the city’s thieves’ guild—of which the novel’s central trio are members—whilst below are stranger factions still. Both are Lovecraftian in nature, the Ghouls feeding upon the city’s dead lowered into corpse chutes by the Church of the Kept Gods, whilst the Crawling Ones, amorphous collective masses of worms which can take on humanoid shapes, plot for greater power and influence in the city above at the expense of the Ghouls.

Once past the prologue, the story switches back and forth between character points of view, initially Carillon, Rat, and Spar, in turn providing different views of the city and building and building Guerdon. They counterpart each other, Carillon impulsive and impatient, Spar physically slowed into terminal patience, with the pragmatic Rat between them. Guerdon though, forms a character of its own as the author serves up one aspect of the city after another, often seeming to throw them away before moving onto the next, leaving the reader to wonder if he will ever return to explain or expand. The three central protagonists, plus Guerdon itself, are not the only characters given time in the spotlight. Carillon has a starchy cousin, Eladora, who provides a different perspective upon their extended family; the three are hunted by Jere, a thief taker with connections; and Aleena, foul-mouthed and weary, who as a Saint of the Kept Gods channels their power. Not all of the other characters in the novel are accorded such treatment and consequently, some are underwritten.

The Gutter Prayer is also a tale of responsibilities, each of the three central characters gaining them, often unwillingly, due to the events of the novel, in the case of Carillon coming to the prologue. In turn, they pull each of the three away from their central friendship which is so strong at the beginning of the novel, especially as the pace of the book picks up and up as their stories and the book comes to a climax.

Most obviously, in terms of genre, with its guilds and gods, thieves and cults, The Gutter Prayer is a dark fantasy, and whilst the industrialisation of alchemy in Guerdon does push it towards the steampunk genre, the novel is neither pseudo-Victorian nor obsessed with mechanical technology. It is rather Dickensian in both its character and its griminess, but The Gutter Prayer is ultimately more of a horror story, and whilst the author’s depiction of the Crawling Ones and their servants is suitably Lovecraftian, the truly creepy creations in the novel are the Tallowmen and the Gullmen. The latter appear only a few times in the novel, but that is enough, because seagulls given arms and legs is not something that you want to be thinking about. The former though, are a constant presence and threat—chasing, watching, guarding, herding… Each is the facsimile in stretched wax of their former self, vaguely self-aware, but always knowing that if their wick is extinguished, then so is their soul.

Throughout it is interesting to see the author going through the process of world-building through the narrative rather than the construction we are used to seeing done via roleplaying supplements. Although there are mentions of the wider world and then just the one fantastic excursionary scene, the action of The Gutter Prayer is confined to Guerdon itself. As much as the city is brought to life, there is still very much left for the reader to wonder at and hope that the author returns to in later books. Were The Gutter Prayer a roleplaying supplement, then perhaps it would be a different matter. In terms roleplaying, any number of rules sets could be used to portray Guerdon and its inhabitants, for example, Into the Odd would work.

The Gutter Prayer is a fast-paced—sometimes too fast-paced as the reader tries to keep up—and grim and grimy dark fantasy. It evokes a wonderfully sooty and tarnished sense of place in Guerdon and explores it through a cast of engaging characters who face difficult choices and undergo often traumatic transitions. The Gutter Prayer is a great introduction to Guerdon and the Black Iron Legacy series, and an exciting and engaging debut novel.

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 Dragon of WantleyPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: SR Sellens

Setting: Jazz Age North Yorkshire (sans Jazz).
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Fifty-Two page, 17.57 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: What evil hides behind an elopement?Plot Hook: How far will the cultists and Investigators go in determining the aims of the cult?Plot Support: Straightforward plot, staging advice for the Keeper, two maps, thirteen handouts, ten detailed NPCs, one Mythos tome, one ballad, and five pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Ferroequinology# Lambton Worm-like scenario grounded in classic English folklore# Decent background introduction to England# Excellently done handouts and photographs# Gentility hides a nasty little plot# Nobility hides a dark secret# Huge potential to disastrously break Yorkshire (a bit) # Roleplaying opportunities amongst the manners and mores the English Class system# Can be run as part of Day of the Beast, Masks of Nyarlathotep, or Tatters of the King
Cons# Needs an edit# Mummies feel like a red herring# Underdeveloped in places# Needs an area map# No hooks for Day of the Beast, Masks of Nyarlathotep, or Tatters of the King
# Huge potential to disastrously break Yorkshire (a bit) 
Conclusion# Nicely supported scenario which twists classic English folklore
# Plenty of roleplaying opportunities amongst the manners and mores of the English Class system as the Investigators winkle out a dark secret.

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 Dilemma in the DesertPublisher: Chaosium, Inc.
Author: Ryan Graham Theobalds

Setting: The Desperate Decade, Death Valley.
Product: Scenario
What You Get: Twenty-Seven page, 49.63 MB Full Colour PDF
Elevator Pitch: Death, distrust, and derangement in Death valley.Plot Hook: How far will the cultists and Investigators go in determining the aims of the cult?Plot Support: Detailed plot strands, staging advice for the Keeper, two maps, five handouts, six detailed NPCs, one avatar, and four pre-generated Investigators.Production Values: Decent.
Pros# Desert-bound one-shot# Initiates or Investigators, Investigators or Initiates?# Interesting real world location, Scotty’s Castle# Potential for paranoia# Potential campaign starter# Potential link to Cult of Starry Wisdom# Decent handouts and photographs# Investigators could become cultist NPCs in a campaign
Cons# Needs an edit# Maps upside down versus the photographs# Plot strands not clearly explained before they occur# Mythos mish-mash
# Floorplans left unmarked and undescribed# Weird cult initiation to murder mystery plot and back again# Crucial antagonist’s ultimate aim included as an aside# Crucial Investigator/Player decision decided by a die roll 
Conclusion# Possible played through background for cultists in a campaign?
# Oddly plotted and often initially underexplained murder mystery/cult initiation where ultimately, the dilemma of whether or not to turn to the Mythos is out of the players and their Investigators’ hands.

Much like the Miskatonic Repository for Call of Cthulhu, Seventh Edition, the Jonstown Compendium is a curated platform for user-made content, but for material set in Greg Stafford’s mythic universe of Glorantha. It enables creators to sell their own original content for RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha, 13th Age Glorantha, and HeroQuest Glorantha (Questworlds). This can include original scenarios, background material, cults, mythology, details of NPCs and monsters, and so on, but none of this content should be considered to be ‘canon’, but rather fall under ‘Your Glorantha Will Vary’. This means that there is still scope for the authors to create interesting and useful content that others can bring to their Glorantha-set campaigns.

—oOo—

What is it?
A Site to Die For is a scenario for use with RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha in which the adventurers participate in a week-long ceremony of building and protecting a shrine for a Greydog Clan Hero.

It is a thirty-one page, full colour 2.57 MB PDF.

The layout is scrappy and the scenario requires development and editing.
Where is it set?
A Site to Die For is specifically set along the Starfire Ridges on the lands of the Orlmarth Clan.
Who do you play?A set of six pre-generated Player Characters is provided to play A Site to Die For.
If played using other Player Characters, the assumed default is that they are members of the Greydog Clan. Ideally, the Player Characters should number at least one worshipper of Orlanth amongst their number. It is also assumed that Humakti not be part of the scenario.
What do you need?
A Site to Die For requires RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha as well as The RuneQuest Gamemaster Screen Pack for wider information about the clans living along the Starefire Ridges. The RuneQuest: Glorantha Bestiary will be useful for details of some of the encounters.
Sartar: Kingdom of Heroes and The Sartar Companion will useful for background on the Greydog Clan..
What do you get?
A Site to Die For centres on week-long ceremony to construct and protect a shrine to a Greydog Clan hero. Unfortunately, this has to be done on Starfire Ridges, lands held by the rival Orlmarth Clan, which will object to both the intrusion by the Greydog Clan members and their task. The feud between the two clans has run for generations and sees no sign of being put to rest. Once the Player Characters have ascended into the steep hills—possibly assailed by ghosts of long dead clans, harassed by Orlmarthi hunters, and overcome environmental hazards, they can begin the ceremony. This takes place over the course of the week, involving the sacrifice of Magic Points and Rune Points—and even permanent points of Power(!), the erection of an ugly totem pole as an insult to the Orlmarth, and a small personal sacrifice to the hero, Tao. 

Throughout the week, the Player Characters will face the changing nature of the weather as it switches from one Rune-associated day to the next and a mix of encounters both planned and random. The planned are linked to the Rune-associated days, for example, a gang of wild Trollkin will attack on Freeze Day as it is associated with Darkness. Other encounters are random, whilst others will be with those known to the Player Characters, some of whom will support their quest, some of whom will wonder why they are provoking the Orlmarth by establishing the shrine?

A Site to Die For is nicely thematic and strengthens the Rune associations through the encounters and tasks that the Player Characters need to perform. There is actually more to the story than is obvious at first, though the likelihood of that full coming to light will depend upon whether the Player Characters completely fail to set up the shrine, or do so with a cost.
However, A Site to Die For is written in both a stream of consciousness style and in a style that keeps the players and their characters as ignorant as to what is going on as it does the Game Master. This primarily shows in the all, but complete lack of background for either in the opening stages of the scenario, even to the point where neither knows that the scenario actually comes with six pre-generated Player Characters—and the Game Master only knows this when she reads the last twelve or so pages.

A Site to Die For initially reads as toolkit to run the scenario, but it is a proper scenario that the Game Master really, really needs to read through and prepare a lot of information up front that the author does not. As a one-shot, with the given six pre-generated Player Characters, the scenario is probably too long for a single session given the likely number of combat encounters they will have with those wanting to stop the ceremony. With players roleplaying their own characters, this is less of an issue, and one of the potential uses of A Site to Die For is as a template for the Game Master to run a similar scenario for her players and their characters, though not one necessarily one involving either the Greydog Clan or the Orlmarth Clan. In some ways this is actually made all the easier by the amount of preparation the Game Master would have to do even if A Site to Die For was being run as written.
Is it worth your time?Yes—A Site to Die For presents an interesting clash between clans and Rune-themed encounters, especially if the Player Characters are members of the Greydog Clan, which could be adapted to other clans.No—A Site to Die For presents an interesting clash between clans and Rune-themed encounters, but if the Player Characters are not members of the Greydog Clan or they are not combat focused, then the scenario may not be suitable for them.Maybe—A Site to Die For presents an interesting clash between clans and Rune-themed encounters, which is perhaps too combat focused, but which could be adapted to explore the relationships between other clans.

3,2,1…Action! is designed to play fast and easy. When a player wants his character to undertake an action, he rolls a ten-sided die and aims to roll low—typically under a stat rated between two and nine. If the task is challenging, then the Game Runner can impose modifier of +1, +2, or +3 to the roll, depending upon the difficulty of the task. Likewise, if it is less challenging, she can add a bonus of -1, -2, or -3, depending on how easy the task is. Equally, combat is also simple. The Player Characters always go first, unless they faced by an ambush or a trap. Instead of rolling to hit an opponent, both player and Game Runner rolls damage inflicted, again on a ten-sided die, modified by the weapon’s damage modifier. Damage is deducted not from a Player Character’s Hit Points, but his Luck. Thus, a Player Character’s Luck can literally run out and so he would be dead. Luck can be replenished by the application of a first aid kit or at the end of each gaming session. Movement is done by weapon type. A lighter weapon does not slow a Player Character down, whilst a heavier one would, but in either case, the Player Character is ready for action and has his weapon aimed.

Two rules encourage great roleplaying and inventiveness in 3,2,1…Action! First, at the end of each session, there is an awards ceremony in which every votes for the Best Comedy moment, Best Action Sequence, and Line of the Night, the winners gaining one, two, or three points of Luck respectively. Second, player are encouraged to improvise and creativity, in effect, develop their characters by filling in ‘plot holes’. Whenever a player wants his character to do something out of the ordinary or unexpected, the Game Runner is not expected to answer, “Yes, but…”, but rather, “Yes, but tell me how your character can do that and tell me two sentences.” 

For Gayle needs to make contact with someone on the inside of crime boss’ gang and knows that they will be meeting at local restaurant. A very good restaurant, famed for the standard of its service. Gayle’s player tells the Game Runner that she will go undercover as a waitress. The Game Runner asks her player if Gayle has any experience as a waitress, especially a siler service waitress. Gayle’s player explains that in high school she got the role of a waitress in a play, but did not know how to be waitress. Fortunately, her uncle Ross, who worked for a fancy French restraint did, and he showed how, and she was so good that actually got a job as a silver service waitress during high school. The Game Runner accepts this explanation and lets Gayle’s player to pass herself off as a waitress with just a -2 penalty.

A Player Character in 3,2,1…Action! has four physical and mental stats—Action, Brains, Brawn, and Charm, and two survival stats—Cool and Guts. Cool is mental fortitude and Guts is physical fortitude and endurance. If a Player Character can keep his Cool, his player can gain boosts to his rolls, but conversely, gain penalties if the Player Character (literally) looses his Cool. Failing three Guts Checks reduces a Player Character’s stats by one, whilst failing a fourth means that he has died. A first aid kit or the expenditure of five Luck Points will reverse a failed Guts Check. A Player Character has a backstory consisting of just three lines (everything else is filled in via the Plot Hole rule) and four items in his inventory. He also has a role, which improves one stat, whilst also reducing another by a point. For example, a Journalist might be +1 Brains and -1 Action, or Tax Inspector, +1 Brains, -1 Charm.

To create a Player Character, a player rolls a ten-sided die six times and assigns the results to the six stats in any order he likes. He selects or creates a role and applies its modifiers, rolls another ten-sided die and add twenty to the result to get his character’s starting Luck, chooses the four items in his inventory (this includes armour, which takes up a slot in the inventory), and writes his backstory. A player Character may or may not have a Special Ability, which the Game Runner and player can agree on and typically adds a two-point boost under certain circumstances.

Robert Borkowski
Power Loader Operative
Action 7 Brains 4 Brawn 9 Charm 2 Cool 9 Guts 9
Luck: 29
Special Ability: Pack Horse – Robert can carry two extra items in his inventory
Inventory: Comlink, Toolkit

Backstory:
Born on a space hauler and doesn’t like being on the ground
Knows the best places to hide things on a space ship
Loves Poker, but never gets a winning hand

So that is 3,2,1…Action!, a set of rules which can be explained in a few minutes and a Player Character created in a few more. It fulfils its aim of emphasising fun and the story over physics, and keeps everything simple and fast. It is also the ruleset for Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure, a one-shot RPG (and scenario) published following a successful Kickstarter campaign. Although published as part of ZineQuest 3, it is very much a mini-roleplaying game rather than a fanzine, and at one hundred pages in length, is very much larger than most of the titles released as part of ZineQuest, let alone ZineQuest 3.

Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure takes its cue from the Predator series of films and the Contra run-and-gun shooter video game. A madman has crazy on a mysterious tropical island, which until recently was the site of a super science programme run as a joint operation between the USA and the USSR. Someone has to stop him before he does something terrible—and that someone would be the Player Characters. Assembled as a clandestine clean-up crew, the Player Characters are delivered to the island, armed and ready to deal with whatever they find, or so they believe. They have just over twelve hours to locate the madman , thwart what he has planned, and get off the island via the designated extraction. The Player Characters are going to need more than their fair share of good luck, because once they up onto the island, they are on their own. 

Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure is a Special Forces, military Sci-Fi horror which begins with a hunt for a soldier gone rogue who begins a hunt for the Player Characters. Then it gets weird because there are monsters on the island—piscine or batrachian and cephalopodic, and very nasty they are too. Plus they are really not very happy with anyone human. They are prepared to deal with humanity though, which sets up some very creepy scenes, as the Player Characters go in search of their quarry. That said, the quarry will come in search of them and much of the scenario is one of a cat and mouse chase from tropical clearing to another. Along the way, there are opportunities to discover more about what is going on, traps and hazards to avoid, and chances for the Player Characters to be heroic in service of their country!

Besides the scenario and the rules, Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure comes with seven pre-generated Player Characters, descriptions of numerous weapons, and full write-ups and stats for the scenario’s monsters and more. It is entirely possible that the Player Characters might not encounter all of them, and if that is the case in their play through of Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure, then the Game Runner could easily create a sequel and use them in that. The book ends with optional rules like ‘Cheese It!’, which enables the Player Characters to retreat and regroup if a combat gets too tough, ranges and reloads, and more.

Physically,  Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure is solidly presented. If the cover is underwhelming, the excellent internal artwork more than makes up for it.

Rocket To Russia: A Sci-Fi Survival Adventure nicely balances the action with opportunities to introduce some storytelling, but ultimately, it is a batrachian blast ’em up which should provide a big bag of cheesy, cliché eighties action movie machismo which the players can play up to or undercut as is their style.