THE MISKATONIC FILES
New England, 1922. Follow impossible cases from smoky jazz clubs to ancient ruins, where the dead have a habit of complicating matters.
$25.00
/ Session
Details
7 players following this game
Weekly / Thursday - 7:00 PM UTC
Session Duration / 2–3 hours
2 / 4 Seats Filled
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One of StartPlaying's top-rated GMs, a player favorite and highly recommended.
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Meet your party members
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About the adventure
Pulp Cthulhu | New England, 1922 The whiskey was illegal, the jazz was magnificent, and the woman sitting across from the private detective had just informed him that her husband was dead. That wasn't particularly unusual. Dead husbands were good for business, especially when wealthy widows were involved. What made this one interesting was the photograph she placed beside his drink. Taken three days earlier at a warehouse on the Boston waterfront, it showed her husband looking rather healthy for someone buried five years ago. The detective studied the photograph, then the woman. "Lady, either your husband's got a remarkable constitution, or somebody owes you one hell of an explanation." She smiled for the first time that evening. "That's why I'm paying you." Across town, a professor at Miskatonic University was examining documents recovered from an abandoned church: Salem witch-trial testimonies, correspondence with a society that officially never existed, and an inventory of objects impossible to manufacture in seventeenth-century Massachusetts. One had recently appeared in Boston. Somebody was prepared to kill for it. Welcome to New England in the Roaring Twenties: elegant hotels and smoky speakeasies, ruthless bootleggers and crooked politicians, charming scoundrels and dangerous romances. Archaeologists chase forgotten civilizations, detectives investigate cases the police would rather forget, and eccentric scholars argue about whether the dead can be persuaded to stay dead. Beyond Boston lie the old towns of Massachusetts, the haunted hills around Arkham, isolated fishing villages and family estates whose owners have spent generations keeping certain doors locked. There are mysteries worth solving, treasures worth finding and people worth saving. There are also things beneath New England that have been waiting far longer than anyone suspects. Perhaps a missing person, a stolen manuscript or an expedition brings you here. Perhaps a charming stranger offers a small fortune for a favour that sounds harmless. The people you meet have ambitions, secrets and desires of their own. Your discoveries can change lives, expose conspiracies or unleash consequences far beyond a single investigation. This is Pulp Cthulhu with the spirit of classic detective fiction, grand archaeological adventures and supernatural mystery. Expect clever investigations, dangerous expeditions, gunfights, ancient conspiracies, sharp dialogue and dark humour. You'll have room to negotiate, improvise, fall in love, make terrible mistakes and occasionally save the day through intelligence, courage and outrageous luck. There is still good whiskey to be found, a beautiful stranger might be waiting at the bar, and somewhere in an old university library lies the answer to a question nobody has been foolish enough to ask. Welcome to The Miskatonic Files. Some mysteries are worth dying for. Others are worth living to tell. Mythveil Chronicles — Worlds That Remember.
Game themes
Meet the Game Master
5.0
(51)
4 years on StartPlaying
538 games hosted
Highly rated for: Storytelling, Creativity, Sets the Mood
Average response time: 5 hours
Response rate: 100%
About me
You’re looking for a world that remembers what you do. I’m Dunchan, the GM behind Mythveil Chronicles. My campaigns span horror, fantasy, science fiction and the World of Darkness. NPCs have their own motives, factions act between sessions, and player choices carry forward. New to tabletop roleplaying or a particular system? Many of my campaigns welcome newcomers. I’ll guide you through character creation and help you find your footing; each listing explains its own experience requirements. I build atmosphere with story, sound, visuals, maps and handouts where they fit. Platforms and preparation vary by game, so each campaign page lists the system, tools, schedule, group size and content notes. The per-session price shown on a campaign listing is that game’s price; private bookings use the profile rate. Mythveil draws on real history, mythology and belief to create worlds shaped by the people inside them. You don’t just visit the setting—you leave a mark.
View Profile →Character creation
Creating your character
Character creation happens collaboratively before the first session, live on Discord. No homework and no system mastery required. You will create a capable Pulp Cthulhu investigator tied to the Department of Psychical Research at Miskatonic University: perhaps a scholar, journalist, doctor, detective, veteran, occult survivor, sailor, artist or local who knows a little too much. We build skills, contacts, history, personal stakes and reasons to care into the campaign together. New players are welcome. The rules are explained at the table; what matters most is curiosity, initiative and the willingness to follow the evidence when it becomes uncomfortable.
What to expect
Preparing for the session
You need a computer, stable internet, a microphone, Discord and Quest Portal. Quest Portal runs in the browser: no complicated installation, mod list or homework. Before play, join the Discord server and attend the free Session 0 / character-creation meeting. I provide rules guidance, character sheets, handouts, maps and case files.
What Dunchan Hunter brings to the table
This is a Mythveil living-world campaign with the spirit of classic detective fiction, grand archaeological adventures and supernatural mystery. I bring researched settings, atmospheric music and handouts, cinematic scenes, distinct NPC personalities and open investigations with more than one way forward. The people you meet have ambitions, secrets, loyalties and desires of their own. Some may become friends, others enemies, and a few might be considerably more than they appear. Your discoveries can change lives, expose conspiracies or unleash consequences that reach far beyond a single investigation. While you pursue one lead, other people continue making their own plans. Expect smoky jazz clubs, eccentric personalities, dangerous expeditions, sharp dialogue and occasional encounters with things that even the bravest investigator would prefer not to understand. You'll have room to investigate, negotiate, improvise, fall in love, make terrible mistakes and occasionally save the day through a combination of intelligence, courage and outrageous luck. Romance is optional, and your character's feelings and decisions remain yours. The world is dangerous, but it is also beautiful, fascinating and full of life. Failure changes the situation and creates new choices. Friends remember a kindness, rivals adapt, and the people you save have lives beyond the case that introduced them. Your investigator can build lasting relationships and leave a genuine mark on New England. I provide rules guidance, character sheets, handouts, maps and case files through Quest Portal and Discord. New players are welcome, with a free Session 0 to create characters and agree on tone and boundaries.
Equipment needed to play
Computer
Headphones
Internet
Microphone
Platforms used
Safety
How Dunchan Hunter creates a safe table
Player safety comes before story, horror and immersion. Before the campaign, we use Session 0 to establish Lines, Veils, tone and boundaries. You never need to justify a limit. At any moment you may use the X, N and O tools in voice, chat or a private message. We pause, cut, fade to black, reframe or skip content immediately. We also use breaks, check-ins, aftercare and an open-door policy. Concerns can always be raised privately and confidentially. This game may involve cosmic horror, death, grief, crime, paranoia, historical prejudice, occult material and frightening imagery. We calibrate intensity together. The story is never more important than the people at the table.
Content warnings
Safety tools used