Miskatonic University Podcast MUP 137 – The Repository of Horrors
Feb 4, 2018
01:14:32
This episode, the full crew is finally back after a long winter’s nap for a discussion about Chaosium’s launch of something called the Miskatonic Repository. This episode was recorded on January 11, 2018.
Campus Crier
Chaosium has introduced the Miskatonic Repository, a “way for creators to publish and distribute their own original Call of Cthulhu content.” This is also our main topic, so see more below for extra links. Lynne Hardy has been named as Call of Cthulhu assistant editor at Chaosium. Congratz Lynne! Legends of Tabletop did an interview with Adam Scott Glancy that is well worth a listen. They cover Horrors of War as well as some interesting political territory. Kudos to John H and Leah for delving into touchy ground. Hudson and Brand has been released on PDF… Matt Sanderson is doing a sequel scenario to Call of Cthulhu in collaboration with propmaker Delphes Desvoivres. Pelgrane Press has released Ex Astoria, a scenario for Cthulhu Confidential – Spine-Tingling New York Mythos Noir from the Newsfiles of Vivian Sinclair. This is the Ruth Tillman creation for Cthulhu Confidential. Promo copy: “A brawl between picketers from the miner’s union and scab laborers working on the Winn Water Tunnel has turned into a riot, and Vivian Sinclair is on the scene reporting. But it seems the scab workers are the least of the miners’ concerns. Can Viv prevent further injuries and an environmental disaster?” The Dark Brood for The Cthulhu Hack – “The Dark Brood offers content about the Black Goat and its Thousand Young, creatures horrible and mindless, including six examples of the Dark Brood, two investigation seeds, Mythos spells and dozens of elements to add the essence of Shub-Niggurath to your game.” A PDF is $3.95. Cult of Chaos Convention Scenario Competition 2018 – a list of pitches has been selected for writers to turn their work into full-fledged scenarios. Round One Results: Seven new spider species from Brazil have been named after seven famous fictional spider characters. Including a Lovecraft creation! In other random weird science news, there’s a spider that looks like a pelican.Listener Feedback
From Graham: Regarding those freshwater Deep Ones. I was re-listening to the most recent podcast episode and remembered that there is one scenario out there that has what could be freshwater Deep Ones in it. It was published twice, once in the late 80’s in a semi-pro fanzine called “North Coast Roleplaying” (Issue 7) and then in the early 90s in the first issue of “Vortext Magazine”. Entitled “Shadow Over Stockton” the scenario hook is someone catching a ‘strange creature’ (Deep One) on Lake Stockton in Missouri and then a sporting goods company puts up a huge reward for the next one captured. As an idea how this thing is supposed to play out, here is a small spoiler, the Phil Foglio illustration on the first publication depicts investigators coming across a boat-load of Deep Ones pretending to be ‘good old boy” fishermen complete with baseball caps, fishing rods and six-packs of beer. There is a writeup of the scenario on the YSDC wiki, based on the first printing, what if any changes were made for the second printing are unknown. – GrahamFrom Dave Sokolowski:
First, thank you so much for all of your great work. This year, which was rough and stressful for a few reasons, saw me spend a lot of time in my car, driving multiple hours from here to there. I decided to get back into podcasts, and ended up listening to a backlog of MUP that went back to mid 2015, more than two years ago — at least 50 episodes. I can be sentimental, and like many, memories tied to emotion grow deeper. I formed a connection with your podcast, and came to love your wacky but serious show on many levels. You’ve got a great thing going: topical and thoughtful conversation on game topics, intelligent and funny discourse about horror in general, and a congenial and friendly banter that is rare indeed. We, as a hobby, are much better off with you lot around, and I’m very thankful for all that you do. Here’s to many more fantastic episodes that I now listen to within a day of their release. With that done, I would now like to give you an exclusive release – I am currently working on another chapter in the Stygian Fox “Safehouse Series” called the Advocacy. Here is the elevator pitch for you: “The Advocacy is a modern day Safe House setting for Call of Cthulhu set in Washington DC. The PCs are fixers, soldiers and researchers who work discretely to solve problems in and around the home of the world’s largest bureaucracies. They have the best technology and resources in the world at their hands, which is important because their adversaries don’t play by the rules and often don’t even come from this world.” It’s in the same series as Hudson & Brand and is currently being written and play-tested. There is even a Facebook group for it, if you’re clever enough to pass your Computer Use skill check to find it. For all this work, I would love an opportunity to come on your show and discuss modern investigations. Not necessarily modern horror, which has been covered before, but contemporary investigations by professional investigators — how cameras have invaded every space, how data is available for those with the power, how even magic can be tracked on an app. With technology continually advancing, the methods for investigation grow more and more precise. Modern investigations have different tone and pacing that I’m trying to explore and embrace, and with an Advocacy playtest or two under my belt, I have lots of ideas to share and get feedback on. I would love to come on the show and talk about the Advocacy and all things modern, as well as just hear your lovely voices again. Thanks again for everything. Go Pods! -Dave