Refractions of Glasston, a standalone scenario for Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition, has a more interesting genesis even than most of the publications in Chaosium's Miskatonic Repository of third-party resources and materials. The creators are all students at Taylor University in Upland, Indiana, many of them members of the Professional Writing major, and RPG writing first-timers. As explained in Professor T.R.Knight's foreword, "Refractions of Glasston was the final project of Tabletop Game Writing Lab, a new prototype course at the university during the Fall 2019 semester. For this first course, Chaosium agreed to collaborate with Professor Knight to publish an adventure module for the Call of Cthulhu RPG on their Miskatonic Repository community content resource on DriveThruRPG."This is a step forward in establishing RPG writing as at least as much of a creative professional discipline as screenwriting, or writing for PC games. Thanks to its origins, it also opens up "an atypical setting" for CoC gamers, and yields a scenario deeply rooted in local industrial and social history.
This short (48 page) scenario is set in small-town Indiana in the classic 1920s era, although it could be adapted at a stretch for modern CoC. Glasston, the titular small town, is enjoying a surprising boom thanks to the new glass-making process invented by Elias Taylor Winters, CEO of TWJ Co. Needless to say, this being CoC, the secret behind this success is horrid and unnatural, as the hapless characters will find out when they investigate the town and the glassworks. They're liable to come up against some very tough and alarming opposition.
Much of this story is rooted in actual historical developments in Indiana - seen through a glass darkly, of course. As well as local history, including the urban history of the Indiana glass industry dominated (real life) by Ball Glass, the book includes a rundown of Indiana local folklore and myth, including the Mud Mermaids, who sound like a gift for future scenarios. Even the pre-generated characters are fleshed out with more complete backstories than usual, which allow for extra wrinkles to the narrative. Plus, that riff off industrial history has given Refractions of Glasston a unique theme for its descent into Faustian bargaining and unnatural contamination. Astute readers and gamers might be able to figure it out before any big reveal, from the title and initial premise of the investigation, but it nonetheless makes for fun and distinctive play. The physical quality of the production is on a par with most of the current generation of 7th edition products - that is, extremely good. The nemesis and Big Bad is a minor Mythos deity with a very untypical specialization. If you are going to come up with an entirely new Mythos entity, you might as well make it interesting and genuinely different, and this one certainly is.
As an initiative to foster the successors to Brian Sammons, Gareth Ryder-Hanrahan, Sarah Newton and their ilk, the program that created Refractions of Glasston looks good for its participants and the RPG industry both. Also, by sticking close to its roots, it's managed to bring some new and inventive thrills to the gaming table. What's more, it's now available for free on DriveThruRPG, so you can sample the fruits of the project without even shelling out.That sounds like a win : win all round.
