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Chaosium Digest Volume 03 Number 09
Chaosium Digest Volume 3, Number 9
Date: Sunday, August 22, 1993
Number: 2 of 3
Contents:
1930s Anthropology (Guy Bock) CALL OF CTHULHU
1930s Archaeology (Guy Bock) CALL OF CTHULHU
1930s Astronomy (Guy Bock) CALL OF CTHULHU
1930s Chemistry (Guy Bock) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
The articles in this Digest are all taken from the Mythos Delvers
Chronicles (1989-1991), a digest of Lovecraftia run by Guy Bock.
Together with the article on books which was in V2.7, they reflect the
majority of the Call of Cthulhu discussion from the Mythos Delvers
list. Archives of the old list, which primarily discussed Lovecraft's
earlier works, are available for FTP on soda.berkeley.edu under the
directory: /pub/chaosium/cthulhu/mythos-delvers.
Shannon
--------------------
From: Guy Bock
Subject: 1930s Anthropology
System: Call of Cthulhu
Inspired by the forensics section in the Cthulhu Now suplement, I
decided to do the same with each of the CoC player character skills.
I wanted to pay particular attention to the science skills with
respect to what was considered the 'cutting edge' in the '30s. The
following are game master suggestions for using CoC skills.
ANTHROPOLOGY - This skill covers several sub-branches of human
sciences, but the field of knowledge which the CoC rulebook describes
is known as ethnology.
My 1937 Compton's Illustrated Encyclopedia states:
"This field deals with the physical differences between the white
and black races, between the American Indian and the Chinaman. It
compares the skeletons and skulls of prehistoric men with those of
modern types. It deals also with the customs and religions of
various tribes and peoples, their arts and languages - all with a
view to finding out how the races differ and how they developed."
It is anthropologists who may suddenly recall tales of
devil-worshiping eskimos or the strange ancestor worship of the Ponape
Islanders. Ethnologists coming face to face with a Mytos horror that
is represented in the legendry of a familiar culture should make an
anthropology roll. If succesful, extra SAN will be lost due to the
ethnologist's increased understanding of the Thing.
The 1930s showed great improvements in anthropology. Previously, many
anthropologist were engaged with collecting 'evidence' that allowed
them to create classification systems of different cultures. These
systems were of dubious scientific value and tended to protray white
anglo-saxons as the pinacle of human development. Sadistic GMs may
saddle his players with such an 'expert' when they are desperate for
anthropological information.
1930 Anthropology Bibliography
(ie books with weird or sinister sounding title to impress your players with)
_Strange Peoples_ by Frederick Starr (pub. 1901)
_Human Origins_ (2 vol.) by G.G. MacCurdy (pub. 1924)
_Races of Man_ by J.V. Nash (pub. 1931)
Leading anthropologists alive in 1930s
Frazer, Sir James George (b. 1854) Author of the _Golden Bough_
Hrdlicka, Ales (b. 1869) Curator U.S. National Museum
Keith, Sir Arthur (b. 1866) Expert on resconstrution of prehistoric
human remains
Guy
--------------------
From: Guy Bock
Subject: 1930s Anthropology
System: Call of Cthulhu
ARCHAEOLOGY - As it is stated in the CoC rulebook, this skill is
pathetically overestimated. An ancient artifact, in and of itself, is
practically worthless as a source of information. It is the site of
the archaeological dig and the relative placement of each artifact
that provides the data that researchers use. It is only with time and
labor-intensive efforts that even the most bare bones hypothesis may
be formed.
If forced to make an evaluation of a single artifact, an archaeologist
might be able to place its source to one part of a *continent* and
guess it's age within a few *thousand* years. And even this is only
possible if the artifact is a commonly known type. A simple arrow
head, a fragment of a clay pot or an ancient Grecian vase may be
identified in this way. An object from a previously unknown culture
could not be.
Detecting frauds are even more difficult. For each method of dating
an artifact there are a half dozen way of foiling proper analysis,
even with modern detection equipment. Almost any archaeologist would
refuse to authenticate an object removed from its original setting.
1930 Archaeology Bibliography
_The Children of Mu_ by James Chruchward (pub. 1931)
_The Lost Continent of Mu_ by James Churchill (pub. 1931)
_Indigenous Races of the Earth_ by Josiah Nott (pub. 1868)
_The Tebtunis Papyri_ edited by J. Gilbart Smyly (pub. 1902)
Leading archealogists alive in 1930s
James Henry Breasted (b. 1865 d. 1935) One of the greatest authorities
on Egypt. Professor of Egyptology at the University of Chicago.
Conducted archaeological expeditions in Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine,
and Persia.
Howard Carter (b. 1873) English Egyptologist. Discoverer of the tomb
of Tutenkahamon.
Sir Arthur John Evans (b. 1851) English archealogist. Noted for work
on Aegean civilizations.
Sir Flinders Petrie (b. 1852) English archealogist. Professor of
Egyptology at University College, London. directed excavations in
Egypt and Palestine.
Guy
--------------------
From: Guy Bock
Subject: 1930s Astronomy
System: Call of Cthulhu
ASTRONOMY - This skill combines a high school level knowledge of the
the night sky with a touch of astrophysics.
Most of the information obtained by possession of this skill can be
obtained from reading any star map or 'star wheel'. You can probably
find one at a university bookstore. If nothing else, you can potocopy
one out of the 'astronomy' article in an encyclopedia.
If you don't want or need a paticularly accurate source, I've cobbled
together a rough chart that should meet most adventure requirements.
.................. ..................
JAN Rigel JUNE Arcturus
Aldebaran ..................
.................. JULY Antares
FEB Capella ..................
Betelgeuse AUG Vega
Sirius ..................
Procyon SEPT Altair
.................. Deneb
MAR Pollux ..................
.................. OCT Fomalhaut
APRIL Regulus ..................
.................. NOV
MAY Spica ..................
.................. DEC
..................
(November and December are intentionally left blank)
To determine what stars are visible at a given time, locate the month
you've selected. The stars listed under that month and the two months
above and below it will be visible. Stars three months above and
below may be visible but will be very close to the horizon.
Example: In June, Regulus, Spica, Arcturus, Antares, and Vega will be
visible in the night sky. Pollux, Altair and Deneb might be.
This chart assumes the viewer is in the northern hemisphere viewing
the stars at 9:00pm. To adjust for diferent viewing times, shift down
the list one month for every two hours after 9:00pm and up one month
for every two hours before 9:00pm.
Example: At 11:00pm on a night in June, Spica, Arcturus, Antares,
Vega, Altair, and Deneb will be visible. Regulus and Formalhaut might
be.
Following is a summation of what is known of the Solar system as of
1937. In general, the distance from the Sun, length of year and
diameter of each planet is known (and is accurate by modern
standards). Little else is.
I have tried to include only information that contradicts modern
knowledge or information that is stated to be unknown. Any other
information about the Solar system can be easily found in an
encyclopedia.
As far as I can tell, the scientific knowledge needed in determining
the surface conditions of the other planets was available in the 30s.
But, apparently this knowledge had not been applied to creating the
needed technology to do so. If an adventure is set in the 1930s or
earlier the 'determing surface conditions of other planets' part of
the astronomy skill should be disallowed.
Mercury - It is not known how long a Mercurian day lasts. It is
possible that one side of the planet faces the Sun constantly. The
temperature of Mercury is unknown, but it assumed to be very high.
Venus - Conditions on Venus are very much like conditions on Earth.
It is the same size and probably has similar atmosphere, but with more
water vapor. Like Mercury, Venus may present one side to the Sun at
all times. The day side would be a sun-baked desert, but the night
side could be a steamy tropical land. The planet's cloud cover makes
determining the length of its day difficult. The usual method of
measuring the movement of land features as the planet rotates is
useless with Venus. However, at least one observer has reported
bright spots which may be the snow covered peaks of mountains.
Mars - Mars is of interest because of its "canals", which are dark
lines on the surface of the planet that change with the seasons. Some
astronomers believe that this is evidence of life on Mars. The theory
is that Mars is a desert planet and the inhabitants make use of the
water frozen in Mars' ice caps by digging irrigation canals.
Jupiter - Through a telescope, Jupiter is revealed to be a light and
dark striped planet. The darker stripes are actually immense bands of
clouds, each several thousand miles wide. The light bands are the
actual surface of Jupiter. Dark spots appear from time to time,
gradually turn red and then vanish. They are probably caused by
clouds of gas or vapor thrown out from hot internal fires. This
internal warmth would raise the surface temperature above comfortable
levels despite Jupiter's great distance from the Sun. Jupiter has
nine moons.
Saturn - The gravity of Saturn is 2 2/3 times as strong as the gravity
of Earth. It has nine or possibly ten moons.
Very little is known about the other planets. Uranus has four moons;
Neptune has one; Pluto may or may not have a moon. Pluto is also the
only planet for which the diameter is unknown.
Earth's Moon - The craters of the Moon are thought to be volcanic in
origin. Astronomers cannot explain the light-colored material
radiating like spokes from some of the larger craters. These rays may
be lava flows, but scientists cannot account for the fact that these
flows apparently run over mountains and valleys with no respect for
gravity.
Comets - The origins of comets are still mysterious, but some progress
has been made in determining their composition. Spectroscopes have
confirmed that comets are largely gaseous. In fact, the Earth has
recently passed through the tail of two comets, once in 1861 and again
in 1910, with no noticeable consequences. Only the nucleus of the
comet is thought to consist of relatively solid material. One theory
is that the nucleus is actually a swarm of meteors surrounded by a
cloud of gas and dust. Despite old superstitions, there is no need to
fear the approach of a comet. Even a collision with one of these
celestial wanderers would not result in anything more serious than a
spectacular shower of meteors.
Meteors - There is little question that some meteors are bits or
particles of comets that have disintegrated. One proof of the
conection between comets and meteors is that swarms of meteors often
travel in orbits which were once occupied by comets. [This theory has
actually not been disproven yet, although it has never been proven
either]
Meteorites - Objects similar to meteors sometimes strike the Earth.
These are known as meteorites or aerolites. It is possible that they
are simply large meteors that did not brun up in the atmosphere, but
the materials from which they are formed sugest a different origin.
Scientists think they may be the remains of planets which were broken
up by some celestial accident. Meteors are mostly of a stony
character, though one in ten is largely composed of iron. This iron,
combined with other metals, forms alloys different from any alloy
found on Earth. No new element has been reliably documented as coming
from a meteor.
(Ok, I confess. I added the bit about 'reliably documented' because
of "The Color from Outer Space". No new element had been found,
period.)
1930 Astronomy Bibliography
_Other Worlds Than This_ by Elena Fontany (pub 1930)
_The Aryabhatiya of Aryabhata; an ancient Hindu work on astronomy_ by
Aryabhata, edited by Walter Eugene Clark (pub 1930)
_Marvels of the Universe_ by Henry Davenport Northrop (pub 1887)
_Minerals of Earth and Sky_ by Fredrick William Foshag (pub 1929)
_Ptolemy's Catalogue of Stars_ by Ptolemy, edited by Christian Heinrich
Friedrich Peters (pub 1868)
_The Star People_ by Gaylord Johnson (pub 1921)
_Through Space and Time_ by Sir James Hopwood Jeans (pub 1934)
1930 Astronomers
Annie Jump Cannon (b 1863) American astronomer associated with Harvard
observatory. Discovered 300 variable stars, five new stars, and one
spectroscopic binary. She compiled a bibliography of variable stars
and a catalog of 225,000 stellar objects. She was the most eminent
woman astronomer of her time.
Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington (b 1882) British professor of astronomy
at Cambridge University. Noted for researches on the motions of
stars, stellar evolution, and relativity.
George Ellery Hale (b 1868) American astronomer. Made special study
of spectroscopy, invented spectroheliograph, and directed Mount Wilson
observatory.
--------------------
From: Guy Bock
Subject: 1930s Chemistry
System: Call of Cthulhu
*DISCLAIMER* I have no great knowledge of chemistry. The following
information is selected for being out of date and streamlined for game
purposes. Anyone using this information to make REAL explosives,
poison, etc. is probably going to get a nasty suprise. Remember what
the typical penalties are in CoC for meddling with things you don't
undestand.
CHEMISTRY - This is a very wide area to cover, but the rulebook seems
to focus on four main areas:
1) Blowing things up
2) Disolving things
3) Poisoning things
4) Analyzing what's left after you've done 1,2, and 3
First, a few notes on Chemistry in the 1930s. There are a few
differences in the periodic table. Sulfur is spelled 'Sulphur';
Niobium (No. 41) is known as Columbium; Astatine (No. 85) is known as
Eka-Iodine; Francium (No. 87) is known as Eka-Cesium; Protactinium
(No. 91) is known as Eka-Tantalum; All elemement from No. 93 on up are
unknown.
Chemists in the 30s did not know about neutrons. In modern chemistry
it is known that each element has a neutron for each proton it
possesses. A neutron has the same mass as a proton, but carries no
charge. To make up for what scientist saw as a discrepancy in weight,
they doubled the number of protons that the element contained, added
yet one more, and then included electrons *as part of the nucleus* to
make the charge come out properly. Electrons that orbited the nucleus
were called 'planetary' electrons to distinguish them from the
electons that were part of the nucleus.
Elements of intrest to the player chemist
Hydrogen Burns with a very hot flame.
Lithium When thrown in water, liberates hydrogen which ignites from
the heat produced by the reaction.
Nitrogen Used in making explosives
Fluorine Very chemically active element.*
Sodium Very chemically active element.* Explodes on contact
with water.
Sulphur Important reagent in analytical chemistry.
Chlorine Very chemically active element.* Forms a poisonous gas.
Potassium Reacts with water much like Lithium.
Bromine Very chemically active element.* Gives off poisonous vapor.
Mercury Forms violent poison with Chlorine.
Radium Radioactive
Actinium Radioactive
Thorium Slightly radioactive.
Eka-Tantalum Radioactive
Uranium Very radioactive.
* i.e. reacts violently in chemical reactions.
Explosives are divided into two catagories: rapid burning and
detonating. Rapid buring substances are substances in which a flame
spreads quickly. These substances are used for accelerating
projectiles. Gunpowder is an example. Detonating substances are
substances in which a violent chemical reaction takes place throughout
the mass. Nitroglycerin is a common example.
Any substance that can be made to burn quickly can be made to explode.
Coal gas, hydrogen, automobile gas, alcohol, ether, turpentine or any
vapor can explode when mixed with the right porportions of oxygen.
Most manufactured explosives contain the element oxygen in their
chemical makeup to provide the right porportion, independent of the
environment they are used in.
The most common explosive players will come into contact with will be
dynamite. The main component of dynamite, nitroglycerin, was
discovered in 1846 by an Italian scientist. It is made by treating
glycerin with a mix of nitric and sulphuric acids. It proved too
unstable for blasting purposes untill Alfred Nobell finished his
experiments with the substance in 1866. Dynamite is a mixture of some
absorbent substance impregnated with liquid nitroglycerin. Wood pulp,
sawdust, charcoal, and plaster of paris have been used for making
dynamite. Ordinary dynamite is usually made in the form of eight inch
long sticks, two inches in diameter. They are covered with brown
paper wrappers coated with paraffin to keep out moisture. A small
quanity of dynamite, set on fire, will burn normally, but if the
burning dynamite is subjected to pressure or vibration, it will
explode. Dynamite is usually set off with a detonator or blasting cap.
For game purposes, if a chemist can obtain nitric acid and some
absorbent material that burns easily, he has enough to construct an
explosive.
I don't have the space or intrest to explain how acids work. Here's a
list of common 1930s acids:
Benzoic a perservative
Carbolic an antiseptic
Carbonic seltzer water
Chromic used in dyes
Hydrochloric a strong solvent
Hydrocyanic a poison
Nitric a strong solvent, used in explosives
Salicylic an antiseptic
Sulphuric a strong solvent
Tartaric used in dyes
Poisons are classed by the way they react on the human body.
1) Corrosive Poisons - act by 'burning' the skin
Examples: bichloride of mercury, carbonic acid, hydrocloric acid,
nitric acid, oxalix acid, suplhuric acid
2) Irritant Poisons - act by causing inflamation. Usually react slowly.
Examples: Arsenic compounds, Copper compounds, Lead compounds,
Phosphorus compounds, Zinc compounds
3) Nerve Poisons - act directly on the nerves. Small amounts can kill very
quickly.
Examples: aconitin, belladona, cocaine, cyanide compounds, heroin,
hydrocyanic acid, opium, purussic acid, strychnine
4) Gas Poisons - act by irritating lungs or by interfering with blood oxygen.
Examples: bromine, carbon monoxide, chlorine, suplhur fumes
I tried to come up with a 'field kit' for chemists, a sort of portable
chem lab for doing general analysis. I decided that any kit small
enough to carry probably would not be specialized enough for the
strange things the players would run into. Just give the players a
ten kilo box to lug around. When they try to examine anything with
it, tell them the tests give ambigious results (roll some dice, if you
really want them to be paranoid) and then suggest they take it to a
proper lab.
1930 Chemistry books
_Chemische Briefe_ by freiherr Justus von Liebig (pub 1878)
_Out of the Test Tube_ by Harry Nicholls Holmes (pub 1934)
_Chemistry and its Mysteries_ by C.R. Gibson (pub 1920)
1930 Chemists
Leo Hendrik Baekeland (b 1863) American chemist who developed a
quick-acting photographic paper.
James Bryant Conant (b 1893) American chemist born in Mass. Proffesor
of organic chemistry 1922-33 at Harvard U.
Irving Langmuir (b 1881) American chemist engaged in research for
General Electric. Developed Lewis-Langmuir theory of atomic
structure. Won Nobel Prize in 1932.
Elmer Verner McCollum (b 1879) American biochemist. Authority on
relation of diet to growth and disease. Proffesor U. of Wisconsin and
John Hopkins U. Frederick Soddy (b 1877) English professor of
inorganic and physical chemistry at Oxford. Explained nature of
radioactive elements. Advanced theory of elements. Won Nobel Prize in
1921
Theodore Svedberg (b 1884) Professor of physical chemistry at U. of
Uppsala. Won Nobel Prize in 1926. Directed research at U. of
Wisconsin 1922-23. Svante August Arrhenius (1859 - 1927) Swedish
chemist and physicist. Director Nobel Institute for Physical
Chemistry. Nobel prize winer 1903. Advocate of theory that the
energy of the world is self-renewing. Author of theory of surface
conditions on Venus.
Sir William Crookes (1832 - 1919) English Chemist and physicist. Studied
electric discharges through rarefied gases. Interested in psychic phenomena.
Wilhelm Ostwald (1853 - 1932) German scientist. Leader in modern
physical chemistry. Won Nobel Prize in 1909.
--------------------
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