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Chaosium Digest Volume 10 Number 07
Chaosium Digest Volume 10, Number 7
Date: Sunday, May 14, 1995
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
The Adventure of The Good Knight (Eric Rowe) PENDRAGON
Editor's Note:
I've seen a *lot* of stuff of interest to Chaosium gamers in the last
two weeks. Thus, I've taken a new tact in this 'Editors Note', and
arranged things into a number of sections below. I hope you'll find it
of use, and until next time, keep sending submissions for the Digest
my way.
Shannon
RPG RELEASES:
* Pendragon - _Beyond the Wall_ (Chaosium, 128 pg., $19.95), contains
tons of background on the North of Britain, ideas for campaigns, and
also "The Adventure of the Treacherous Pict", which is written by
Eric Rowe, a frequent contributor to the Digest.
MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS:
* Call of Cthulhu - "Smuggler's Run", an 11 page 1930s Whispering
Vault scenerio, with a full page of conversion notes for Call of
Cthulhu, Adventures Unlimited #2 [Summer, 1995]
* Nephilim - "A Tigger by the Tail", a 14 page Nephilim scenerio
centering around the Sun Arcanum, Adventures Unlimited #2 [Summer,
1995]
RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE:
* Call of Cthulhu - _The Second Wish and Other Exhalations_, by Brian
Lumley (350 pg., New English Library, UK #4.99, ISBN 0-340-62300-4)
is the third collection of Brian Lumley's horror fiction. It
contains a number of his out of print Lovecraftian stories including
"What Dark God?", "The Second Wish" and "The House of the Temple".
_The Howling Man,_ by Charles Beaumont, edited by Roger Anker (Tor,
US $4.99, ISBN 0-812-50552-2) is not really a new book, but it was
mentioned by IrishSpy@aol.com as an excellent source of CoC
material, in response to my notes on other good collections in
recent issues (V10.3, V10.4). Charles Beaumont has been a very
influential writer of tales of horror in the last 50 years, and this
book collects many of his macabre tales.
* Nephilim - _Tales of the Knights Templar_, edited by Katherine Kurtz
(307 pg., Warner Books, $5.50, ISBN 0-446-60138-1), is a book that
will be of interest to most Nephilim players. It is a collection of
nine short stories, by Katherine Kurtz, Poul Anderson and others,
which lays out a history of the Templars, from 1099 to the present.
Historical commentary is interleaved with the fiction, and overall
the whole package is very good.
* Ringworld - _Flatlander_, by Larry Niven (360 pg., Del Rey, $5.99,
ISBN 0-345-39480-1), is a repackaged collection of Known Space
stories, consisting of all the Gil Hamilton stories. It contains all
three stories from _The Long Arm of Gil Hamilton_, the out-of-print
novel _The Patchwork Girl_, and a new short story called "The Girl
in Del Rey Crater". If you have the earlier two Gil Hamilton books,
this one will net you only 40 pages of new material. As a side note,
advertisements inside _Flatlander_ mention that the third Ringworld
novel, which I believe will be called _The Ringworld Throne_, is due
out in 1996.
NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
* Chaosium WWW Page
http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/chaosium.html
This is the official Chaosium Web page. Not only will you find
information on all the in-print and upcoming Chaosium supplements, but
also lots of pointers to other cool WWW sites of note.
* Necronomicon Press Catalog
ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/cthulhu/necropress/catalog95.txt
The newest Necronomicon Press catalog contains the usual wide variety
of Lovecraftian and Mythos fiction that NecroPress has been publishing
for 19 years. You'll also want to check out 'update95-1.txt', also
uploaded in the last week, which contains the brand newest, newest
stuff.
* Pagan Publishing Catalog
ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/cthulhu/paganpub/catalog
The electronic version of Pagan Publishing's new catalog, The Outsider
#3, contains all of the usual PaganPub materials as well as Winged
#Cthulhu Dolls, hardcover Fedogan & Bremer books and lots more.
* Winhelp Chaosium Digests
ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/chaosium/archives/windows
Winhelp versions of all of the first nine volumes of the Chaosium
Digest are now available. These are fully indexed and catalogued
archives, that were created by Joab Stieglitz. If you have any
comments on the archives, drop a line to stieg@ix.netcom.com.
--------------------
From: "Eric Rowe" <rowe@glorantha.berkeley.edu>
Subject: The Adventure of the Good Knight
System: Pendragon
The Adventure of the Good Knight
INTRODUCTION
The player knights in this adventure come across rumors of an evil
knight rampaging about the countyside at night. When the menace is
tracked down to his castle, the players find no evil-doer, only a
pious and christian knight. Unfortunately for the surrounding
countryside, the good knight is under a horrble curse. Each night he
rides out and fulfills the evil intentions of a wicked enchantress,
but cannot recall any of his foul deeds the next day.
When the players learn of this, they must try to stop him, but can
they do so without killing him? If the knight is stopped, there still
remains the problem of the curse. When the enchantress is sought out,
she turns out to be the wife of a powerful local noble. The players
must find a way to get her to remove the curse and then mete out the
king's justice.
BACKGROUND
Sir Gwegon the Kind is a notable knight, living the quiet life of an
older gentleman. He is just getting used to the ease and tranquility
of retirement from a life of adventure and questing. One of his last
great acts was the slaying of a terrible dragon that had come to
destroy a nearby village. Unbeknownst to him, the dragon had been sent
by Lady Meleri, a powerful enchantress, to avenge perceived wrongs
done to her by the people of the village. Meleri was incensed at her
failure and placed a powerful curse upon Sir Gwegon for spoiling her
revenge. Each night, he now takes the place of the dragon and travels
the countryside completeing wicked deeds for the enchantress. Each
morning, he forgets the horrors done the previous night. This has
continued for several weeks and both Sir Gwegon and the local peasants
are getting very tired due to the actions of the evil knight.
START UP
This adventure can be placed near the home region of the player
knights, or it can be set as an encounter to be met while off knight
erranting. In either case, rumors of an evil knight wreaking havok
about the countryside should reach the ears of the player knights. It
is said that the evil knight comes out only at night, wearing the
blackest armor in which to commit his foul deeds. He has the strength
of ten men and fears nothing, not even the wrath of god. Several of
his victims have been pious holy men.
Let the player knights ask around for more information on the evil
knight if they wish. It should become clear to them that the evil
knight only travels at night and that he is new to the area; the
violence only began a few weeks ago. Whenever you get the chance,
reinforce upon the players the great atrocities committed by the evil
knight. Make up mutilations, violations, murder, rape, arson, etc. to
increase the urgency of the situation.
TO CASTLE CORINAETH
Simply wandering about looking for the evil black knight, even during
his hours of activity, yields no success. The players must track down
some of his past victims and then follow the trail back from the scene
of the crime. [Hunting. Success = Follow the trail back to the area of
castle Corinaeth. Critical = Follow the trail into castle Corinaeth.
Fumble = Follow the trail to an innocent's home] If the players have
no success in tracking down the evil knight, let a local suggest they
ask the Good Knight, Sir Gwegon, for assistance. He is very
knowledgable on the local area. [Heraldry: Success = Sir Gwegon has
recently retired from a life of chivalric duty. Critical = Sir
Gwegon's last victory angered Lady Meleri, the wife of the local
Count.]
AT THE CASTLE
When the player knights finally arrive at castle Corinaeth, they are
eagerly greeted by Sir Gwegon's servants. A young serving boy then
leads them to meet Sir Gwegon. Due to recent events, Sir Gwegon is now
forced to spend most of the day in bed recovering. It is there he
greets the player knights, offering them all the hospitality they
want. Sir Gwegon's condition is not good, and successful First Aid or
Chiurgy rolls reveal Sir Gwegon's body has been greatly overtaxed by
all his past adventuring. The gamemaster should play up what a
chivalrous knight Sir Gwegon once was, and have the servants comment
on what a tremendous master he is.
When questioned, Sir Gwegon has little information of use to add
beyond what the players already know. All he can do is bemoan the foul
condition that weakens him and forces him to bed, or he would be out
chasing the scoundrel now. He has had his shining white armor brought
into his room in case his strength does return.
The players may wish to search the castle, but you should point out
that it would not be very hospitable to do so. If they insist, then
they should be told it would be best to wait until nightfall, when the
servants have gone to bed.
THAT NIGHT
Once darkness falls, whether the players are asleep or searching the
castle, Sir Gwegon falls into a trance, dons a suit of blackened armor
hidden in the dungeon and rides off into the night. This is usually
done without the knowledge of the servants, but this night is
different. A young serving maid having trouble sleeping decided upon a
late night stroll. She sees the Black Knight riding off and her
screams wake the castle's inhabitants (or alert searching players).
When Sir Gwegon is checked, his bed is found empty.
TO STOP THE BLACK KNIGHT
The trail of the Black Knight is so fresh that it is easy to follow
despite the darkness. As the players follow the trail, they soon spot
a glow in the distance. The glow comes from a nearby village. Upon
entering the village, they view a horrific scene in the glaring light
of a burning church. The Black Knight has hauled the priest out of bed
and into the village square. Just as the players arrive, he beheads
the helpless man. The head is rolled into the center of the village
square and then the Black Knight lifts the body of the priest and
hurls it into the burning church. Because the church is over fourty
feet away from the Black Knight the players should understand that he
has immense strength.
The Black Knight casually mounts his charger and begins his return to
Castle Corinaeth. Unfortunately, the player knights are in the way.
They will have to decide what to do at this point. One obvious choice
is to do battle with and slay the Black Knight. If this is done, the
nearby lands will be given a brief respite, until Meleri's wrath is
again roused. Sir Gwegon's servants and castle are taken back by the
local count and they live unhappily ever after.
If the Black Knight is incapacitated or captured he can safely be
brought back to the castle. Iff allowed to pass freely, he returns to
the castle and crawls back into bed just before the crowing of the
roosters. In either case, he remembers nothing of his actions the
previous night. When told what he has done, he becomes almost
catatonic with grief, and demands to be killed to stop his actions.
Fortunately, he might settle to be tied carefully and guarded at
night. When questioned about the cause Sir Gwegon has but one suspect,
Meleri.
LADY MELERI
Lifting the curse from Sir Gwegon can be done by any blessing of
strength 120 or more. If no one of sufficient ability is available, or
in the event that the players decide to seek justice for the slain
villagers, then Meleri must be visited.
Lady Meleri is easy to find. Her husband is the local count and he
wields great authority and respect in the area. Alas, Meleri has
ensorcelled him with love elixers and he tolerates no hostility
directed at his wife. This is a major hurdle in bringing her to
justice and gamemasters must decide how intractable she is.
If she is fairly nice, then well-behaved players may be able to talk
her into removing the curse. This requires much sweet-talking and
role-playing by the players.
If she is average, then she requires something before she removes the
curse. This may be a local monster slain, a special flower obtained
from a local glade, or even a sleepless night with the most handsome
player knight. This can lead to another entire adventure.
If she is vengeful, or if the players decide lifting the curse is not
enough and she must be brought to justice, then the players must
remove her from power. This is the most difficult task, and it may not
in fact be possible. The easiest way would be to remove her
ensorcelment of the count or to prove it to a higher authority. A more
difficult way would be to join the count's court and use intrigue to
build up evidence against her. Then, she could be killed without loss
of honor, for with her death the count would then listen to reason. If
she is just killed then the players lose the 2 honor for killing a
noblewoman. Of course, the players will probably think of something
else entirely different and succeed that way.
RESOLUTION
Event Glory
Stopping the Black Knight 50
Removing the Curse on Sir Gwegon 75
Killing Meleri honorably 100
NPCS
Sir Gwegon the Kind (The Black Knight)
Glory 8,525
SIZ 15 Move 3 Major Wound 6 (22)
DEX 9 (14) Damage 4d6 (7d6) Unconscious 5 (9)
STR 7 (26) Heal Rate 2 (5) Knock Down 15
CON 6 (22) Hit Points 21 (37) Armor 14 +shield
APP 10
Attacks: Sword 23 (26), Lance 22 (24)
Possessions: Charger
Lady Meleri(enchantress)
Insight 5,620
SIZ 12 Move 3 Major Wound 10
DEX 15 Damage 4d6 Unconscious 6
STR 11 Heal Rate 2 Knock Down 12
CON 10 Hit Points 22 Armor none
APP 15
Attacks: Dagger 16
Significant Skills: Sight 16, Geomantic Lore 14, Celestial Lore 15
Magical Talents: Banish 5, Curse 20*, Healing 17, Travel 15, Weather
Control 12.
* - Natural Talent
Magical Limit: 82
Magical Defense: 82
Personal Life Force: 5d20
--------------------
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