Copy Link
Add to Bookmark
Report
Chaosium Digest Volume 05 Number 01
Chaosium Digest Volume 5, Number 1
Date: Sunday, December 5, 1993
Number: 1 of 2
Contents:
The Castle Wakely (Eric Rowe) PENDRAGON
More Thoughts on Cthulhu Literature (Simon Hibbs) CALL OF CTHULHU
Book Reviews (John Breakwall) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
Several new things out from Chaosium this week. First is Credo!, the
game of Dueling Dogmas (Chaosium, $14.95). It's a fun card game where
you determine the doctine of the early church. The author of the game
(Chris Gidlow) is considering writing up some errata, answers and
expansions to Credo! for the Chaosium Digest. If you have any
questions or suggestions on the game, please send them to me, and I'll
forward them on.
Also out are the first two Cthulhu Cycle Books, The Hastur Cycle and
Mysteries of the Worm (Chaosium, $9.95 each). These are books of
Cthulhu fiction containing lots of out of print stories. The Hastur
Cycle contains stories by Bierce, Chambers, Wagner, Blish, Machen,
Lovecraft, Lupoff, Campbell, Wade, Derleth and Carter, while Mysteries
of the Worm is full of fiction by Robert Bloch.
Lynn Willis sent a question to me a bit ago. He said: "as the
Lovecraft Country books sell out, we can reprint all the background
material in a single fat, relatively expensive (about $30) book with
the foldout maps as they currently exist, OR do each town separately,
in 48-64 pages, at $8.95-$10.95 each, fold-out maps reduced or
redrawn. We would probably re-illustrate the interiors in either
case. Should we keep this material in print? In which form?" Again,
feel free to send comments to me, and I'll forward them on.
Finally, some random administrative notes. The Chaosium Digest is now
up to 325 subscribers, which is an increase of 76 members in the last
couple of months. Also, I'd like to remind everyone about the
Chaosium Information List, which is a distribution point for press
releases, promotional mailings and other information maintained by
Chaosium. If you'd like to be added, send the command:
subscribe chaos-info
to: majordomo@erzo.berkeley.edu
Shannon
--------------------
From: Eric Rowe <rowe@soda.berkeley.edu>
Subject: The Castle Wakely
System: Pendragon
This ancient decaying castle sits restlessly between two large
hillocks that stand guard to a large, fertile but untended valley. It
was abandoned years ago when the last lord of the castle threw himself
off its great battlements. Now, the current lord of the entire region
has for some reason bequeathed it to a player knight. Perhaps it is
an older knight reaping his long deserved reward, or a younger knight
who has done some great worthy deed. For a more mundane reason, it
may be simply that the lord needs it manned by trusted stewards to bar
the way from increasingly violent raids from that direction. Whatever
the reason involved, it is possible for the players to find themselves
with the daunting task of refortifying the castle and re-establishing
the local community.
This castle can be used to base a campaign out of or as a short run of
adventures, in setting up the area for habitation. All the usual
politics of a normal campaign should continue, with the players being
asked to support various local factions and power plays. In addition,
the players are now responsible for stopping raids upon their lord's
lands as well as their own, not to mention providing funds and men
when they are requested.
The castle's vast empty halls should echo menacingly when players
first arrive. Let them know this will not be a simple task. All they
have is the shell of the ancient castle, a supply train and a group of
peasants. They must set up to survive a possibly devastating winter.
All the details will be under their control, from perimeter defenses
to choosing the priest for the new church. This is a lot of work;
make the players do it for you. Lastly, in addition to normal
campaign activity, they have the castle itself to deal with.
THE HAUNTING OF CASTLE WAKELY
The problem, to put it simply, is that the castle is haunted. The
spirits of those who once ruled this castle are not at rest and have
no intention of letting the players have any either.
There are three ghosts who remain imprisoned within the castle walls.
Each is a past head of the Wakely family who died unhappy and
unfulfilled. John is the eldest and was undone by his gluttony.
Sigmund, his son, was lost before God and William, Sigmund's
offspring, fell prey to jealousy. Since their deaths, these traits
have magnified and festered within their tortured souls. The ghosts
will try to corrupt any new residents to the sins that destroyed them.
The methods of each differ and will be detailed in their descriptions.
John Wakely, son of the castle's builder, was raised spoiled and
pampered. At a very young age, he grew obese and only his wealth
secured him a bride. This wealth was squandered not only on women,
but also on fancy food and drink from far off lands. Years later,
there was a great famine in the land and the people were hungry. John
cared not though and continued his gluttonous excesses. The starving
people of the nearby lands took offense and soon his fat head stood
atop a pike.
The haunting of John Wakely will take the form of his spirit appearing
during mealtimes. He will complain bitterly about the quality of the
food and service, while encouraging the players to upgrade their
standard of living. Over time, players must resist several times
using their Indulgent/Temperate. Each Indulgent success should add to
the financial burden of the castle. When several Temperate rolls have
been made, John will give up on convincing the players to follow his
manner, but will often taint and ruin their food until either they are
driven away or he is.
Sigmund Wakely was understandably affected by the death of his father.
All his beliefs were shaken and his outlook upon the world grew dim.
His rule was benevolent, but firm. He cared little for the church,
the opinions of the clergy or the beliefs of the people. In the end,
his sense of good fiscal management even brought about the forclosure
of the local church. This did not please the peasants, but as their
life was good, they complained little. God, however, was not as
forgiving. Sigmund was plagued by many illnesses over the years and
eventually succumbed to high fever.
Sigmund only appears on Sundays. When he decides to appear, it is
only to harass those who are actively worshipping. He likes to set
small fires, knock over objects and disturb prayers. First, he will
try to convince player's of the worthlessness of religion. As with
John, the personality trait (Worldy/Pious) should be checked several
times. The more wordly checks there are made, the more the influence
of the local clergy upon the castle should decrease. Once several
Pious checks are successful he too will simply give up and become a
tremendous annoyance.
William, last lord of the castle, was even more irrational. He saw
plots for his life and his wealth behind every bush. When he married,
he was greatly in love, but his paranoia spelled an end to his
happiness. His wife had many friends, some male. These quickly
became rivals and plotters in Williams twisted reality. In a fit of
Jealousy he had his wife and several male friends slain for
infidelity. However, he later discovered the letters of his wife
which revealed her faithfulness and love for him. In perhaps the most
rational decision of his life he then leapt from the battlements.
With no heir and a history of trouble, the knights and peasants of the
land soon departed.
As a ghost, William encourages Suspicion and Vengeance among the
players. He will appear any time one of these traits is expressed and
try to build on it. He especially thrives on fomenting his traits
between the player knights. Successful Suspicious checks are their
own reward and as with the other spirits, several Trusting and
Forgiving checks will drive him to simple yet tedious haunting.
BANISHING THE GHOSTS
It should be quite apparent that the players need to remove the
ghosts. They scare the staff and the animals. Unfortunately, they
would not want to go even if they could leave. In fact, it is not
their own actions which keep them bound to this place, but the
memories of the land. Until such acts take place which restore the
land the traits it has lost, the ghost will be bound to the castle.
Each ghost will flee the earth forever when a deed of value to the
land is done which reflects most the traits of which the previous
lords were incapable. Feel free to use your own ideas to come up with
appropriate actions. The following are just three obvious
possibilities.
Getting rid of John. During a famine or food shortage, the keepers of
the castle show great sacrifice, sharing in the hardships of the
people.
Getting rid of Sigmund. The church is destroyed in a fire. Players
go to great lengths to rebuild it a soon as possible, despite great
financial and logistical problems.
Getting rid of William. The wife of a player character has come under
suspicion of infidelity. Despite much circumstatial evidence, she is
trusted. Or, if she has strayed, she is forgiven.
Until they are rid of, the ghosts should be played with relish and
enjoyment. They do after all enjoy this. The actual method of
removing the ghosts should not be divulged either. Only the true
expression of the needed traits will cause them to be expunged and the
castle to be freed of their curse.
--------------------
From: yfcw29@castle.ed.ac.uk (Simon Hibbs)
Subject: More Thoughts on Cthulhu Literature
System: Call of Cthulhu
In-Reply-To: V4.12 Cthulhu Literature Within CoC
In fact, there is one alternative which Alquier has missed and which I
feel would be the most appropriate. All of H.P.L.'s material is
presented in the form of first-hand accounts, ie journals and memoirs
of the people who actually experienced the events of the stories. The
obvious deduction is that H.P.L. never existed in the "True" CoC
universe; he becomes an unnecessary intermediary. Everything
described in the journals actually happened and the journals really
were written by the people that experienced them.
If you realy wanted to, you could present H.P.L. as a dedicated
collector and publisher of other people's reportage. This could be
quite interesting; he would effectively be a passive investigator and
could pass useful information on to the players.
As I understand it, the proposition that all the events described in
the stories actualy happened is the premise behind the whole game, and
particularly the Lovecraft Country series. Presenting H.P.L. as an
original author in a CoC campaign seems to me to miss the point. In
the CoC game these things REALLY HAPPENED.
Simon Hibbs
(Please mention my name in the subject line of all e-mail)
--------------------
From: John Breakwell <johnbrea@microsoft.com>
Subject: Book Reviews
System: Call of Cthulhu
[this article is excerpted from The Green Goblin. also see V3.12 for
more Cthulhu book reviews]
Dagon
Fred Chappell
St Martins Press 1968 - 181pp
I picked up this book from a bargain bin because of the title and its
obvious Cthulhu connections. This volume certainly backs up my policy
that you can get some gems there (and even if you don't, you haven't
splashed out a fortune). Like most Mythos books, the emphasis is on
atmosphere and there is definitely tonnes of the stuff here. Maybe too
much, as the author seems to spend 90% of the book describing the slow
destruction of the main character's persona without too much actually
happening. Chappell's descriptive powers are quite good and you can
almost feel the heat of the deep south where the story is set, the
alienness of Mina's personality and the horrible inevitability of
Peter Leland's "demise". In conclusion, not a "source book" but a
good read in its own right. Don't take the title as meaning Dagon is
centre-stage as he isn't, but then the omnipotent god is probably
there all the time and you just don't notice...
Carrion Comfort
Dan Simmons
Headline Book Publishing 1990 - 992pp
A Christmas present from the wife, if I remember rightly, because I
happened to like Dan's later book, Summer of Night, so much. The
cover relates a lot of the story so I won't give anything away if I
tell you the book is about humans with psychic ability using normal
people for their own selfish uses. Thinking about it, ALL the "Mind
Vampires", as they were termed, were pretty nasty pieces of work.
("Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely",
John Acton 1887.) The book follows the efforts of three weak humans
to track down and destroy these vampires and their plans, which on the
face of it seems next to impossible. As in Summer of Night, don't
expect lead characters to make the epilogue!
I was impressed by how well Dan explained the mechanisms of mind
control and to what uses it could be put. With nearly 1,000 pages he
certainly has the space! Equally enjoyable were the ingenuity and
inventiveness of both sides in their long-term plans and reactions to
unexpected situations. On the downside, sometimes the vampires had to
let the heroes "escape" to let them play a part in their devious plans
which came across once or twice as a bit contrived.
This book is basically a thriller with some horrific bits in it. How
the Israeli family was killed, for example, had me squirming whenever
I thought about it for weeks afterwards. From a gaming perspective,
it gives a very good overview for any mind control scenarios. Highy
recommended.
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's
Games. To submit an article, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. All
articles submitted to the Digest remain copyright their respective
authors, unless noted otherwise.
