Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2019/08/20/the-miskatonic-papers-an-exp.html
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If people enjoy the idea of this but want to try it out in a somewhat less complex (meaning fewer pieces) form, I highly recommend Building Stories by Chris Ware. Another box full of pieces of a story that you can read and experience in different order to see if you get anything additional out of them.
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It’s nice to see some other people making these types of artifacts and experiences like the Mysterious Package Company. The downside of all the customized stuff is that the cost makes a lot of people balk at the purchases. They make for great gifts if you know someone will be interested in the particular experience though.
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I’ve long thought it would be very cool to do a Lovecraftian story told as a collection of artifacts, in the way so many horror stories, like Lovecraft’s, were presented as collections of documentary evidence. But do a modern version - with documents, letters, newspaper clippings, photographs, videos, and even some artifacts (some cast items masquerading as ivory or stone, etc.).
The problem being that the more impressive - and fun - it would be to put together (i.e. more artifacts), the more expensive it would be to make. I could never see a way to do it without losing a large amount of money on each collection, much less have it be profitable.
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This reminds me of a more expanded version of S. by Doug Dorst, it was one of those story within a story book where there was a second story written in the margins and on artifacts stuffed between the pages, and something like Hunt a Killer. Seems like a better option than Hunt a Killer though because it from what I hear about it HaK kinda ropes you into extended monthly subscriptions before giving any kind of conclusion to the mystery.
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This would be of negative value to me, as all it would do is sit on a shelf gathering dust… unless, it arrives with the document seal already broken. In that case, I could dive right in. I just can’t bring myself to deface pristine items, even when that is the point. I’m okay with mundane packaging, but anything a bit arty, and I’m screwed.
@Shuck I guess you could do a very modern version, with digital files, including .stl files for printing out facsimile items for use in rituals.
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This would make a wicked set of props for a Call of Cthulhu campaign.
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Andrew Leman at http://hplhs.org/ has been doing this very thing for about 20 years. And he does it very, very well.
The price is a little too steep for me to be able to justify buying one of these for myself, but what a gorgeous item.
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Going digital rather defeats the purpose - or rather, it becomes something else entirely. I am working on a fully-digital version of that idea, where you have an interactive interface that presents “digitized” documents and photographs, “3d-scanned” objects, audio records, and even allows you to seemingly control a drone at an archaeological site to uncover new “evidence.” At this point it’s basically a video game (in the current, expanded definition).
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You can find lots of props here : http://hplhs.org/
for that very purpose! Enjoy!
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