MADNESS AT MISKATONIC - A 4-session Call of Cthulhu Campaign

Oct 6, 2026

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A four-session Call of Cthulhu campaign set in 1925 at Miskatonic University, guiding investigators who join an esoteric study group taught by Professor Mason Wade. The narrative follows doomed freshmen drawn into escalating, interconnected disturbances across Arkham: an escaped madman, Dr. Edgar Hall’s return from Egypt, and a classmate’s sudden suicide. A calendar of lectures, parties, and exhibitions reveals Hall’s plot to suppress the group’s dangerous curiosity, with victory demanding personal cost, criminal consequences, and sanity-straining confrontations with ancient knowledge.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages49

Reading Time1 h 15 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Acknowledgements

Campaign Overview

Campaign Summary

Player Prologue

Running this Campaign

The Other Students

The Professors

Miskatonic University Life

Session One overview

Session Two overview

Session Three overview

Session Four overview

MADNESSAT MISKATONIC A 4-session Call of Cthulhu CAMPAIGN featuring doomed freshmen, MYsterious academics and INSIDIOUS PLOTS that THREATEN BOTH MIND AND LIFE. [Brought to you by](Brought to you by rpgplotter.wordpress.com)[ rpgplotter.wordpress.com](Brought to you by rpgplotter.wordpress.com) MADNESSAT MISKATONIC CONTENTS Introduction 3 Acknowledgements 3 Campaign Overview 3 Campaign Summary 3 Player Prologue 4 Running this Campaign 5 The Other Students 6 The Professors 7 Miskatonic University Life 8 SeSSion one overview 9 Session One Introduction 10 Scene 1: The First Class 10 Downtime: Java Bazaar 11 Scene 2: Dr Hall’s Landing 11 Scene 3: The First Essay 12 Scene 4: The Egyptian Party 13 Scene 5: The Graveyard 13 Scene 6: The Suicide 13 SeSSion Two overview 15 Session Two Introduction 15 Scene 1: The Study Group atthe Ashbry House 16 SCENE: Visiting the Bootleggers 16 Scene 2: Exhibition Opening 17 Research and Downtime? 18 Scene 3: The Picnic on the Island 19 SeSSion Three overview 21 Session Three Introduction 22 Scene 1: The Dinner Party 22 Downtime: Research 22 Scene 2: Francis’‘Suicide’/ Capturing the Madman 23 Scene 3: Wade’s Departure 24 Scene 4: Vivian Confesses 25 Scene 6: Visiting Bishop in the Sanitorium 25 SeSSion Four overview 27 Session Four Introduction 28 Scene 1: The Hidden Collection and the Ritual 28 Scenes: Mind Control 28 Scene?: Breaking into Wade’s House 30 Scene?: Wade’s Phone Call 31 Final Scene: Conclusion 31 Option 1: A Ritual on the island 31 Option 2: Destroying the Device 32 Option 3: Police Assistance 33 OPTION 4: ? 34 Finale and summary 34 hAnDouTS AnD oTher uSeFuL MATeriALS 35 Version 3, 18 December 2011 Unless otherwise indicated, this work is licensed under the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit [http://creativecommons.org/l](http://creativecommons.org/l)icenses/by-nc-sa/3 .0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 444 Castro Street, Suite 900, Mountain View, California, 94041, USA. MADNESSAT MISKATONIC INTRODUCTION When I sat down to sketch out my first ideas for this mini-campaign I had one primary motive — to design something that was faithful to Lovecraft’s original source material. Where better to set it than Miskatonic University? Many of Lovecraft’s characters are professors at this infamous institutionso it seemed a fitting choice. It also has the benefit of novelty. Other than setting some small parts of The Dunwitch Horror, The Dreams in the Witch House, The Colour out of Space and The Thing on the Doorstep around the campus, very little is suggested in Lovecraft’s writings. This gave the campaign some (un)reassuring familiarity while keeping things fresh. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS By brief way of acknowledgement I am indebted to a few web sites for the use of their resources —notably the inspirational h. P. Lovecraft historical Society (who encouraged me to lift my game when it came to handouts and whose 1920s articles were judiciously retooled for the in-game copies of the Arkham Advertiser), the wikipedia entry on Miskatonic university (where my list of professors is drawn from) and an excellent site of jazz age slang (from which the list at the back of this guide is taken) . Thanks too go to my players, Ben, Berni and David. Without their creative input during each session this campaign would be vastly inferior. Finally, many thanks go to Peter Cruise in the UK and Joe Adams in the US who were kind enough to use their editorial skills to give this PDF a thorough proofing. Thanks too to G. Roby in Sweden for picking up on some key continuity and linguistic issues. Where materials from other sources have been used they have been duly credited. Any other errors are of course my own. CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW • Madness at Miskatonic is intended to be four sessions long and tells the story of a

FAQs

How long is the campaign, and when is it set?

The campaign is intended to run for four sessions and is set in 1925 during the classic setting.

What is the central connection between the investigators and the main professor?

The investigators enroll in the same esoteric subject taught by Professor Mason Wade and form part of a study group influenced by Wade’s promises and ideas.

What major events drive the plot across the sessions?

The story intersects an escaped madman, Dr. Edgar Hall’s return from Egypt, and the sudden suicide of a classmate, which lead to uncovering Hall’s broader plot.

Oct 6, 2026

Upload by Aldword