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Chaosium Digest Volume 06 Number 12
Chaosium Digest Volume 6, Number 12
Date: Sunday, July 3, 1994
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
The Treacherous Pict (Eric Rowe) PENDRAGON
The Trail of the Mermaid (Eric Yin) PENDRAGON
Editor's Note:
Jan Engan (LadyeJan@aol.com) is currently moderating a "round robin"
discussion group regarding Call of Cthulhu. Current topics include
women in gaming, cross-gender characters and gaming couples. There is
an emphasis on the needs and interests of Keepers. If any subscribers
are interested in being a part of this, drop Jan a line, and she will
send information and guidelines for posting.
New out this week is Nexus (Chaosium, 136 pg, $19.95), the first of
Chaosium's "Play This Book" LARPs. It's a game for 44 players and
several gamemasters. I'd like to get a review of Nexus for the
Digest, so if you're interested in writing one, drop me a line.
Recent Sightings:
More French sightings, thanks to Frederic Moll.
* Call of Cthulhu - "La Poussiere a la Poussiere", a seven pages
adventure which begins as a cruise and finishes in Egypt. As a bonus,
there is a page about the Egypt of the 20s and 30s, Casus Belli
Special #12 [July, 1994]
* Nephilim - "Les Yeux d'Esmeralda", a seven page adventure, Casus
Belli Special #12 [July, 1994]
- --------------------
From: Eric Rowe <rowe@soda.Berkeley.EDU>
Subject: The Adventure of The Treacherous Pict
System: Pendragon
INTRODUCTION
This adventure is set in Caledonia and is best dated in Phase 3 of
Arthur's reign. This year has seen a marked increase in Pict raiding
of Strangorre, in an area just north of King Brangore's capital,
Alclud. In the past, King Uriens has always come to the assistance of
Strangorre, but these days he and his son spend most of their time at
Camelot. Gorre's steward is Urien's nephew Bagdemagus, also a round
table knight. Bagdemagus is willing to help Strangorre, but only if
he thinks there is real need. Small raids in the northern territory
do not an invasion make. Thus, Strangorre finds itself having to deal
with the raids itself.
The players may be knights of Strangorre, knights on adventure in the
north or even sent there by Arthur, perhaps to escort a new priest to
the north so that he may continue his plan of pacification through
conversion. In any case, the players knights (and likely others as
well) are asked to travel north from Alclud to investigate the cause
of the increase raids. They should always be alert for Irish raiders
(Scots) as well.
BACKGROUND
A Shaman from the Pictish highlands lost his family to an expedition
of Arthurian knights several years ago. This event increased and
twisted his hatred of knights and the English far beyond normal
Pictish levels. In such a mindset, he ventured south to study his
enemies. After more than two years away, he has returned with
knowledge he believes will help him destroy his enemies.
Since his return, he has been banding several of the smaller clans
together under his leadership, letting each in on his master plan. He
plans first to strike against nearby Strangorre. He will begin by
softening up the land through many small raids. Then, using the
methods and beliefs of the Strangorre knights against them, he will
destroy their best knights. When the kingdom is finally weakened
enough, the massed clans of Picts will invade.
HUNTING PICT RAIDERS
Several days to the north of Alclud are the lands where the Picts are
concentrating their raids. When players knights arrive, they can find
several small feudal areas that have been plundered recently by Picts.
The Picts are raiding in small bands of 5-10 men and striking quickly,
immediately retreating afterwards. They leave many depressed
survivors to tell their tales.
After the players have talked to some of the survivors of the raids,
they should begin attempting to track the raiders down. Successful
Hunting rolls allow them to eventually track down one of the Pict
bands. If you wish to make this stage of the adventure harder, the
players may also mistakenly pick up the trail of a band of Irish
raiders. While this will provide an entertaining fight, it brings the
players no closer to their goal of stopping the Pict raids.
THE PICT BAND
When the Pict band is finally discovered, the player knights do not
find the bunch of blue-painted madmen they would expect to find, based
on the past history of Pictish raids and the descriptions of the raid
victims. The men they find are indeed painted blue, but they are not
mad. In fact, they don't even look angry. Their leader will attempt
to parley with the party in broken English. Assuming chivalrous
knights, the players listen.
The Pict has a deal for the knights. If the champion of the knights
fights the Pict champion in an honorable combat, the Picts will leave.
If the player knight's champion wins, the Picts will withdraw and
promise not to raid for at least a year. If the Picts win, the player
knights must withdraw to Alclud for a like time. Of course, other
knights may try to follow, but they too must face the Pict champion
before the Picts agree to cease their raiding. If no deal is made,
the Pict bands continue to raid.
The Picts leave and return with their champion in a day; he is nearby.
This means the players must decide upon a champion amongst themselves
or find a way to delay the battle until a more suitable champion for
Strangorre can be found. That is up to them and their Prudent and
Proud scores.
THE PICT CHAMPION
The Pict champion is an enormous man wearing reinforced chain and
helm, no doubt pillaged from the south. His armor is covered with
blue mud and paint and he wields a massive great axe. He fights from
the ground and his spokesman demands his opponent do so as well. He
will fight a foe on horseback if necessary, but this would not be a
Just or fair fight.
The Picts have no intention of being Just or fair. The blade of the
Pict champion is coated with a horrible poison concocted by the
Shaman. It can only be noticed if an Awarness roll is a critical
success. As the fight progresses, the Pict just tries to wound the
Strangorre champion in any way. Once a wound is scored by the Pict,
no matter how small it is, the Pict yields and begs for mercy. The
Picts will then sorrowfully depart back to the north, promising not to
return for at least a year.
The victim of the poisoning must roll under his CON or face the full
wrath of the poison. That is, of course, death, though it takes
several days to wreak its full course of bodily destruction. If the
CON roll is a success, the lucky knight only finds himself in a light
coma.
If the Pict champion is defeated without striking a blow, the Picts
become enraged and claim the knights cheated. They all attack and
shortly are joined by another raiding band that was hiding nearby.
AFTER THE FIGHT
The Picts will not keep their promises, though they may have made many
to convince the knights to fight fairly. Raids continue, as will more
treacherous challenges to other groups of knights. Pict bands fight
any group that has already been tricked once or for some other reason
refuses the honorable challenge.
CONCLUSION?
After the discovery of Pictish treachery there will still be many loose
ends to tie up.
1. The poisoned knight. Since the poison is not immediately lethal,
there is hope to save a life. It is rumored that in the wild lands
between Stangorre and Lothian there resides a powerful magician or
witch. They could probably purge the poison and save him, but what
would they ask for in return?
2. Obtaining the aid of Gorre. Bagdemagus is an honorable man. If
worthy and true knights are able to sufficiently sway his mind in
court, he could be convinced to send more knights to help Strangorre.
This would require the players impressing or persuading many or the
court powers to take their side.
3. The Shaman. The players still know nothing of their original
mission. It is possible that they could capture some Picts to
question, but they are notoriously uncooperative, even under extreme
duress. One possiblility would be to travel into the highlands
themselves to seek the source of the raids. This would be very
dangerous, but is possibly the only way to prevent eventual invasion
of Strangorre from many united Pict clans.
4. The Irish. Dalriada is one of the prime suspects for provoking the
increased Pict raids. If they are not behind the raids, then they are
most likely taking advantage of the situation. Perhaps the Picts can
be convinced to turn their wrath in a westerly direction.
WILD PICT WARRIOR
Use stats from Pendragon 4th ed. p. 330.
PICT CHAMPION
SIZ: 20 Move 3(+2)
DEX: 14 Damage 6d6+1d6
STR: 16 Hit Points 36
CON: 15 Armor 12 + 3(magic tatoos)
Attacks: Great Axe 20 (1d6 damage bonus)
The Pict Champion will not use the double feint tactic common to
Picts. He instead intends simply to pound his way through an
opponents armor.
- --------------------
From: Eric Yin <eyin@nml2sun.hsc.usc.edu>
Subject: The Trail of the Mermaid
System: Pendragon
In V5.5 of the digest, I presented my "oriental adventures" rules for
Pendragon. Here are two short vignettes, based on Rumiko Takahashi's
Mermaid Saga (Mermaid Forest and Mermaid's Scar) published in Japan by
Shogakukan, and here in the U.S. by Viz Comics. The scenarios
presented can be easily converted for use in a regular Pendragon
campaign by changing names and locations, and altering weapon damage
to standard Pendragon format.
The Trail of the Mermaid
Many Chinese emperors were obsessed with immortality, and would go to
great lengths for the chance to live for eternity. In these
vignettes, the characters can be commisioned by the Emperor to seek
the flesh of a mermaid, which is said to grant immortality to those
who eat of it.
Mermaid Hill
Setting: Fukien Province, an isolated mansion on the coast.
Plot Devices: The corpse of a girl without any feet. The legend of a
mermaid buried beneath a hill.
Characters: Foam, a crone; Fan, a young woman with prematurely white
hair, stricken by infirmity; Dr. Wan an aged physician; a young
servant girl newly come to the mansion.
Secrets: Foam and Fan are actually twin sisters. In their youth, Foam
was chosen by their father to become guardian of the Mermaid Hill and
its secrets. In her desire for immortality, she tested the effects of
the mermaid's blood on her sickly sister Fan, for fear of the effects
on herself. The experiment failed. Fan's hair turned white overnight
in the excruciations she endured, and her feet became that of a
monster's. Foam decided that it was best to tell her father that Fan
had died. They maintained the fiction until their father died, with
the help of Dr. Wan. Now, she is old and burdened with guilt.
Merely existing, Fan stayed unchanging while her sister was able to
lead the life of an ordinary woman; to wed, raise a family, grow old
and eventually die. Fan knows her sister knew of the dangers of the
mermaid's blood and experimented on her. Now, she lives only for
vengence. She seeks to discover the location of Mermaid Hill to make
her sister eat of the mermaid's flesh to repay her for her "gift".
Fan seeks the hill more urgently now, for while appearing young but
for her white hair, she is old like her sister, and will not live much
longer. She will not hesitate to use the life of the servant girl as
a bartering tool to get others to fulfill her ends.
Dr. Wan has stolen the feet of newly deceased girls to replace the
monstrous extremeties of his once-betrothed and alleviate her pain.
However, after a few years, her feet once more return to their
abominable form, and with the transformation, the pain returns.
The Mermaid Hill has a secret entrance leading into a cave beneath the
hill. Within, in a barred pit, is the corpse of a mermaid, impaled
upon the wall. Guarding the corpse is a Lost Soul. If the mermaid is
disturbed, the Lost Soul will attack the nearest human. If the
creatures are defeated, a successful Awareness roll allows the
character to find a jar of mermaid poison.
Solution: The characters get Foam to lead them to the mermaid's
corpse. At this point, if the characters help Fan, they may receive a
Vengeful or Cruel check. If they help Foam to destroy the mermaid's
corpse, check Merciful. If they let the scenario play itself out, and
do not interfere, they may receive a Prudent check. In any event, the
mermaid's corpse should be destroyed, either by a despairing Foam, or
(once) purposeful Fan, so that the characters can continue on to the
next part.
Village of the Mermaids
Setting: The Eastern Isles, Cape Nosuri.
Plot Devices: Coruscant scales the size of one's palms found near Cape
Nosuri. A cliff riddled with caves opening into the sea. A village
with no men, where all the old women have the same faces.
Secrets: The women of the village are mermaids. They buy young girls
from other areas, and raise them, seeking the *one*, for just as the
human who eats the flesh of a mermaid gains immortality, the mermaid
(in human form) who eats the flesh of a human who has successfully
gained immortality is restored to youth. The mermaid who has lived
the longest is chosen to sacrifice her life so that the young girls
can eat mermaid's flesh. All those who become Lost Souls are banished
to the sea caves.
Solution: Drive the mermaids back into the sea, and rescue the girls.
Mermaids
The mermaid is a being that appears to be half woman, half fish, but
upon seeing the creature, there is nothing human about it. Its face
is like a bleached skull except for large bulging eyes and gaping jaws
filled with sharp teeth.
The flesh of the mermaid is said to grant immortality to those who eat
of it, but it is a deadly poison. It is only the rare and exceptional
person who is lucky enough to be gifted with eternal life. The vast
majority of those who eat the mermaid's flesh are unable to withstand
the violent changes it brings upon the body, and either die or become
monsters cursed for eternity.
SIZ 12 DEX 16 STR 18 CON 40 HP 52
Harpoon (in human form) 1D3+1
Claw 1D6
Bite 1D8
Regenerate 6HP per round, only kill by a critical success.
Armor: 1 point scales.
Lost Souls
The lost souls are those who have eaten the flesh of a mermaid and
failed to gain immortality. They become grotesque fish- or frog-like
parodies of human beings, with great lumpy bodies crisscrossed with a
network of bulging veins and corded muscles, big goggling eyes, huge
clawed hands, and gaping mouths filled with sharp needle-like teeth.
Like mermaids, they can only be killed by decapitation, massive head
trauma or mermaid poison.
SIZ 18 DEX 14 STR 21 CON 40 HP 58
Claw 1D8
Bite 1D10
Regenerate 6HP per round, only kill by a critical success.
Armor: 2 points of rubbery skin.
Mermaid Poison
Poison made by allowing the corpse of a mermaid to rot in a mixture of
poisonous herbs.
POT 100.
Notes: If the characters decide to eat the mermaid's flesh themselves,
remember that it is deadly poison, and only one person in a century
(or fewer) have the luck of being able to gain eternal life. To
paraphrase Bramt Hex in Michael Shea's "In Yana" after refusing
immortality: "It is better to first learn how to taste of this life
before taking a second helping."
- --------------------
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