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Chaosium Digest Volume 07 Number 12
Chaosium Digest Volume 7, Number 12
Date: Monday, October 10, 1994
Number: 1 of 3
Contents:
The Cult of Maluk, Part One (Pascal Poizat) ELRIC!
Editor's Note:
As promised, another large digest. You'll find an excellent
background article for Elric! in this issue and V8.1, and the
long-delayed Cthulhoid computer game reviews in V8.2. I've also got a
Nephilim review and a Nephilim glossary in hand, and another Nephilim
review pending. I'll send out what I have very soon (perhaps
Wednesday; next Sunday at the very latest).
alt.horror.cthulhu Discussions: Over in alt.horror.cthulhu, a regular
discussion group has been created, to discuss, in chronological order,
HP Lovecraft's stories. This is the same type of thing that was done
on the Mythos Delvers Digest a few years ago (the archives of which
are available on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu). If you're interested in
Lovecraft's stories, I highly suggest you join in the discussion. The
discussion of Lovecraft's first extant story, The Little Glass Bottle,
was just begun last Wednesday.
More French Releases: French Readers will be happy to know that
Descartes Editeur has released another batch of Call of Cthulhu
supplements, including: L'evasion d'Innsmouth and La Chose sur le
seuil (The Thing at the Threshold). Manuel du Gardien (the Keeper's
Compendium in French) is due out in October.
Shannon
Recent Sightings:
Another couple of of French sightings, thanks to Frederic Moll. If
only these games got this type of support in the states!
Call of Cthulhu - "La maison reste ouverte pendant les travaux", a 15
page scenario set in 1940s France, which is quite an unusual period
for CoC. It can be for old 1920s investigators or for "young"
investigators during this difficult period. This scenerio is not only
for CoC but also for Chill, Casus Belli #83 [October/November, 1994]
Elric! - "Crime et chatiment", a four page investigation scenerio,
Casus Belli #83 [October/November, 1994]
Nephilim - "Les lumieres du bois", a four pages scenerio for
beginners, Casus Belli #83 [October/November, 1994]
--------------------
From: poizat <poizat@ensinfo.univ-nantes.fr>
Subject: The Cult of Maluk, Part One
System: Elric!
THE CULT OF MALUK
Maluk the Silent Watcher (Elric! p27) is a minor deity in the Young
Kingdoms. But, the worshippers of this Lord of Chaos are among the
more interesting characters to play with or against.
Maluk is the God of spies, secret police (e.g. in Pan-Tang), scribes,
scholars and all person maddened by their quest for knowledge. This
allows a wide range of playable characters.
Maluk only has one, shining, eye and no mouth. He is said to see all
but say nothing. His symbol is the open-eye (The $1 US Bill has this
sign on it). It's both on the worshippers' clothes (unless they are
on a secret mission) and on the buildings of the Cult. It could be
used as a recognition sign between two members of the cult.
_
/ \
/___\
/(_O_)\
/_______\
I) THE CULT HIERACHY
This includes:
- Basic worshippers | The low cult
- Students |
--------------------------
- Novices |
- Priests |
- Knowledge Keepers | The high cult
- The Great Librarian |
THE LOW CULT
------------
a) Basic worshippers
1 to 5% of city inhabitants
1% anywhere else (including ships sailing all over the world)
$: 2-5 bronzes for information
Only a few people belong to the Maluk Cult, without being really part
of this Chaotic Church (e.g. being students or more). This is one a
their favorite proverbs:
"watch out not to be watched after"
This explains why 90% of them are working due to fear (see some police
movies to know more about this kind of people). The other 10% are
player characters wishing to worship Maluk and NPC scholars who
worship Maluk and use his spells. There is an example of a scholar in
Elric! p113. Just add some Maluk spells and 10D10 allegiance points.
Maluk Worshipper, age 17-50
He did something wrong and has been caught.
A higher cultist is blackmailing him. He has NO choice.
Coward; one can easily turn him over.
Drinks a lot, so needs a lot of bronzes.
Law: 20 Balance: 5 Chaos: 50
|
|-Maluk: 20
STR 10 CON 11 SIZ 12 INT 10
POW 9 DEX 15 APP 9 HP 12
Damage bonus: none
Weapons:
Brawl 50%, 1D3
if fears being caught, % increases up to 80%
Dagger 80%, 1D4+2
Strangle cord 90%, strangle (see Elric! p70)
the % decreases by 5% for each 1D6 people near him
(roll the D6 each time he uses this cord)
the % decreases by 5% each time he fails strangling
but comes back to 90% after he succeeds
Other: the weapons he used before he worshipped Maluk
reduced by 10-20%, more (reduced up to 50%) if the weapon is
"huge" (axes, long swords, ...). He fears to be seen killing,
so the % decreases.
Armor:
None, Never wears it since you can run faster without any armor
or shield.
Skills:
Dodge 40%, Insight 50%, Listen 35%, Move quietly 25%,
Search 30%, Cry 50%, Complain 99%, Tell lies to a higher
Maluk cultist 5%, Tell lies to anyone else 50%, Drink without
getting drunk 60%,
plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk
b) Students
Only in cities.
10 to 50 in the "Universities of the Silent Watcher"
$: nothing but some food and a bed
Some young boys and girls wish to become priests of Maluk. Other are
sold by their parents or kidnapped. The cult of Maluk is open to both
males and females. After all, Maluk needs both to spy.
They spend at least 5 years in huge black buildings in the center of
some cities: the Universities of the Silent Watcher.
The first month they stay alone in individual rooms and can't see
anyone. They receive food by a small opening in the huge wooden door.
They must learn how to keep silent. If they don't (some cry at night
after 10 or 20 days) they are locked up for one more month.
After this period, called "dumb song", the door is solemnly opened by
the Knowledge Keeper of the University. There are two kind of people
found in the room: future novices and the insane.
In Elric!:
0) at the beginning, the student's Insanity Value is
- 0 if the student decided to worship Maluk
- 1 if he was sold by his parents
- 2 if he was kidnapped
1) at the end of the month roll 1D100
- if Luck Roll (Pow x5) suceeds, go to step 2
- If Luck Roll fails, then the student cried at night. Add
1 to the Insanity Value, and return to step 1 for another
month.
- If the Insanity Value ever reaches 10, the the student goes
mad. He is thrown out of the University.
2) the door opens... roll 1D100
- if roll > Insanity Value * 10
the student successfully passed through "dumb song".
- else
The student managed to be silent but also went mad! He is
thrown out of the University.
If the student survived, he is allowed to carry on his studies. In
the ceremony of "Great Silence", his lips are hand sewn by a priest
(each speaking related skill falls to 1%). This priest will be the
"mouth" of the student during the next 5 years. He will help the
student learn from the thousands of books in the library, telling him
how to become a novice.
In Elric!:
- if you use a Memory or Special Knowledge Skill:
add 1% to it for each [(priest-student)/10 skill hours of study]
eg: Student Skill = 20%
Priest Skill = 90%
(90-20)/10=7
When the student studies with the priest, he can increase
his Skill by 1% each 7 hours.
This works up to 50% of the priest Skill
eg: the student above can't increase his skill higher than 45%.
- if not:
I just don't know!
I really think you should use (in this cult context) a skill
named "University Knowledge". see IV-OTHER NOTES.
More about a student's life:
The students eat through a straw. They must do all the work of the
University. They can't go out of the walls of the University. If
they do, see below (the part where a Student fumbles in the ceremony
of "Revelation") for what will happen to them.
Five years later...
The student's mouth is freed, at last! During a two hour ceremony,
the Knowledge Keeper asks the student about what he learned during the
last five years. This ceremony, called "Revelation" is private. Only
the Knowledge Keeper, the Student, the "mouth" (see above) of the
student and 1D8 guards attend it.
If you use an Elric! GameSystem with a Memory (or Special Knowledge)
skill, then roll 1D100 under Memory-10%. Else, roll 1D100 under
Idea-20%.
Result:
- fumble or fail by more than 50%:
The Knowledge Keeper feels insulted.
He throw the Student AND his "mouth" (the priest) out of
the University. See below for what happens first.
- fail: try again next year
If more than 28 years old, thrown out of the University.
But first, the priests make sure that he will never reveal the
secrets he learned. His hands are cut off (so he can't write)
and his tongue and teeth are pulled out (so he can't talk).
Lots of beggars without hands, teeth and tongue are wandering
near the Universities, asking for money (or trying to). The
priests usually give them some. Others decide to head for
Nadsokor, Realm of the beggars.
- success: the student becomes a novice.
He adds 5 points to the Maluk allegiance box and 1 to the Chaos one.
He can choose to sew his mouth shut again. If so, he adds 5 points
more to the Maluk allegiance box and 1 more to the Chaos one.
Maluk Student, age 10-28
He decided to sew his mouth to get closer of Maluk.
Law: 5 Balance: 5 Chaos: 12
|
|-Maluk: 10
STR 12 CON 10 SIZ 13 INT 12
POW 14 DEX 12 APP 8 HP 12
Damage bonus: +1D4
Weapons:
Brawl 45%, 1D3+1D4
Dagger 30%, 1D4+2+1D4
Other: the weapons he used before he worshipped Maluk,
reduced by 10-20%. More (up to 50%) if the weapon is
"huge"
Armor:
Not really useful in the University.
Skills:
Insight 30%, Listen 35%, Young Kingdoms 30%, Oratory 15%, Fast
Talk 20%, Being impressed by the Knowledge Keeper 99%, Finding
a book in a library in less than 1 minute 30%, (Memory or University
Knowledge 35%),
plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk
THE HIGH CULT
-------------
c) Novices
All over the world
2 and more in the "Universities of the Silent Watcher"
$: 5-10 per day, given by the University treasurer
5-10 for information, given by the University treasurer
after a jury of priests has decided on the information value
Must give all the money they get outside the University to
the University treasurer.
rights: 1 room for 2 novices, free ink, paper, oil and oil lamp,
free dagger
Becoming a novice, the students enter the High Cult of Maluk. They
have full access to the library (except for the room of the hidden
secrets, see III-PLACES).
Novices must prove that they are good enough to be priests. They
usually try to please the priests and the Knowledge Keeper by
accomplishing some missions:
* being a soldier in the city secret police for some time. The
character will then have a dual-profile, both a Maluk-Cultist one
(good % in knowledge related skills) and a military one (see Elric!
p111 - City Guard). Soldiers must have an APP between 10 and 15 (at
the gm's discretion), and have decided not to sew their mouth.
* being a headhunter (if paid, the student must give all the money he
gets to his University).
* searching the world for secrets to report to the University. This
is quite dangerous since other Novices could kill to get them first.
When they have more than 50 points in Maluk allegiance and a
University Knowledge skill higher than 60%, Novices can try to become
priests, once a year (the same date they became novices). See
II-INCREASING to learn how to reach these 50 points.
The ceremony where the Novice becomes a priest is called "Fidelity".
The Knowledge Keeper is the Master of Ceremony. All priest must
attend. If they are abroad, they must come back before the ceremony
can begin. Finding a priest out in the world is one of the jobs
novices can do.
Novice candidates are lined up, and the Knowledge Keeper gives
commendations to Maluk. The former mouth of each novice (or one of
his sucessors if he is dead) tells the assembly all the great
achievements of the novice. Finally, the two best novices (those who
have the highest Maluk allegiance scores) are acclaimed priests.
Maluk Novice - Soldier in the secret police, age 15-35
Always tries to capture without killing: to ask questions.
Law: 5 Balance: 5 Chaos: 12
|
|-Maluk: 36
STR 13 CON 12 SIZ 12 INT 12
POW 15 DEX 14 APP 12 HP 12
Damage bonus: +1D4 MP: 12
Weapons:
Brawl 85%, 1D3+1D4
Dagger 60%, 1D4+2+1D4
Rapier 95%, 1D6+1+1D4
Torture tools 25%, 1D4+1D4
Armor and Shield:
Small shield
Leather & Rings armor, 1D6 NO HELMET
Spells:
Hell's Armor (1-4)
Skills:
Insight 40%, Listen 55%, Young Kingdoms 35%, Oratory 25%,
Fast Talk 40%, Being impressed by the Knowledge Keeper 89%,
Finding a book in a library in less than 1 minute 30%, Torture
and ask questions 25%, (Memory or University Knowledge 35%),
plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk
Maluk Novice - Secret Finder, age 15-35
He decided to sew his mouth to get closer of Maluk.
Law: 5 Balance: 5 Chaos: 12
|
|-Maluk: 51
STR 12 CON 10 SIZ 13 INT 15
POW 15 DEX 12 APP 9 HP 12
Damage bonus: +1D4 MP: 15
Weapons:
Brawl 65%, 1D3+1D4
Dagger 110%, 1D4+2+1D4
Armor:
Soft Leather, 1D6-1
Spells:
Buzzard Eyes (1)
Skills:
Insight 40%, Listen 45%, Young Kingdoms 50%, Oratory 20%,
Fast Talk 25%, Being impressed by the Knowledge Keeper 95%,
Finding a book in a library in less than 1 minute 30%, Scribe
30%, 3 languages (other than his own) 40%, (Memory or University
Knowledge 55%),
plus all the skills he had before he "decided" to worship Maluk
[continued in V8.1]
--------------------
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