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Chaosium Digest Volume 11 Number 07
Chaosium Digest Volume 11, Number 7
Date: Sunday, August 27, 1995
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
CoC Skills Training (Adam Crossingham) CALL OF CTHULHU
The Fedogan & Bremer Books (Shannon Appel) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
Welcome to another issue of the Chaosium Digest, this one centered on
Call of Cthulhu and the Mythos.
Shannon
NEW RELEASES:
* Misc - The Chaosium Twenty Years of Chaos T-Shirt (Wizard's Attic,
$15.00) is a nice green and red t-shirt that displays the Twentieth
Anniversary symbol which has been featured on Chaosium products this
year. You can order products from Wizard's Attic by calling
1-800-213-1493.
* Call of Cthulhu - _Made in Goatswood_ (Chaosium, 268 pg., $10.95) is
the eighth book of fiction in the Cthulhu Cycle series. V10.2 of the
digest contains a complete Table of Contents for the book. This book
features 18 stories, including a new one by Ramsey Campbell himself,
as well as a nice map of the Severn Valley region.
--------------------
From: <Adam_Crossingham@aldgen.ccmail.compuserve.com>
Subject: Call of Cthulhu Skills Training
System: Call of Cthulhu
The following are the house rules I use for skills training in my Call
of Cthulhu campaign. The need for them arose when a player decided his
character ought to advantage of the further education system and
become educated. He took his character out of play for the three years
of game time, and when the character came back into play he had gained
a degree in Engineering. The suggestions are pretty much
British-university based but I imagine American universities hadn't
switched to credits in the 1920s.
CALL OF CTHULHU SKILLS TRAINING
by
Adam Crossingham
There are times in an Investigator's life when circumstances change.
If he or she does not die or go mad, the survivor may want to change
certain things in their life. Skills are one aspect that may be
reviewed. The Investigator may want to do things that he or she is not
qualified or able to do. It might involve a radical career change. It
is time to go back to school.
The fifth edition Call of Cthulhu rules have rules for training, but
these only apply to one skill at a time and are time consuming. An
investigator may want a shorter introduction to the subject, or may
want to train several skills at once over a longer period. These
training rules cover crash courses, night school and university
training.
SINGLE SKILL TRAINING
The Call of Cthulhu 5th edition rule book has guidelines for training
a single skill on page 40. Due to the benefit one might gain from the
study, a Keeper may rule the study as intensive and that it precludes
investigation during the six-month training period. If the study is
interrupted, the skill gain can be downgraded to a lesser amount.
A single skill may be studied less intensively, such as at night
school, allowing a degree of investigation. Homework, library study,
essay writing etc. must still be continued for the study to be
worthwhile, so investigative activities cannot be full-time or lead to
travel, etc. Every 6 months of moderate study will add 1d6% to the
chosen skill being studied.
CRASH COURSE TRAINING
If a skill needs to be learned or improved quickly, existing rules for
skills training cannot cope. A crash course gives intensive training
in a single skill. The tuition is often full-time and one to one, but
could be very expensive. There are finite limits to how much an
individual can learn, as a crash course can only act as an
introduction to a subject.
A crash course may last between one to four weeks. Because of the very
intensive tuition, no investigative activity should be possible
without penalty. A crash course successfully completed should add 1d5%
to 1d20% (depending on the length of the course) to the chosen skill.
A finite limit should be set for the skill gain from crash courses,
otherwise investigators will continually attend crash courses. The
maximum benefit received for completing a crash course should not
exceed a suitable characteristic multiplied by one (i.e. INT x 1 or
DEX x 1). The skill categories on page 238 gives some indication of
which skills might be influenced by a characteristic i.e. Locksmith is
a manipulation skill and could be influenced by DEX. This caps the
effectiveness of a crash course, yet still yields a useful gain to the
skill.
TRAINING MULTIPLE SKILLS
Technical schools, polytechnics, universities, etc. are establishments
which can offer courses to train multiple skills. They offer training
to build or improve occupations and careers, as well as to broaden
human knowledge. These establishments may well have entrance
qualifications that will have to be satisfied by applicants before
they gain access. In game terms these can be represented by minimum
skill levels, such as 20 - 25% in the primary skill of the course.
There will also be fees that will have to be paid. If the Student does
not have a private income, finance for the duration of the course may
become a problem. Scholarships or sponsors may have to be found, or
an alternative course at a state funded institution found.
The course of study that a student follows can be based on a selection
of skills from an Occupation in the rule book (5th ed. page 22), or
other skills may be chosen to simulate a subject course. A list of
skills that might make up a course for some subjects follows at the
end of the article. All courses must be agreed upon by the Keeper,
before the training starts. The investigator will be virtually retired
from play during his or her studies. Occasional 1 or 2 day forays are
acceptable during term time, and the summer vacation offers
opportunity to the thrill seeking Student. However, any insanity or
injury received may well have a detrimental effect to study in the
succeeding months.
In the 1920s there were usually 3 terms per academic year; so, for
every term of study completed successfully the Student can add 1d6% to
each of the chosen skills in the course, resulting in 3d6% per skill,
per academic year if study was maintained. But, if study was
interrupted for any cause, the Student can only 1% to each skill for
each interrupted term. In extreme circumstance, the Student may not
receive any gain to his chosen skills.
An interruption might be defined as a period of insanity, missing
lectures for a prolonged period of several weeks, or failing to hand
in project work. An interruption is also defined by the type of course
studied, as some courses require greater attendance and commitment. A
scientific subject requiring lots of practical experience will be
easier to interrupt than a Humanities subject that involves only
reading, seminars and the occasional lecture.
At the end of the course, there are exams to be sat, and
qualifications to be gained. This can represented in game mechanics by
a successful test of the majority of the skills studied. These can be
classified as follows:
First class degree or equivalent: the test was successful, and the
course's primary skill was a critical success
Second class degree or equivalent: a successful test but the pprimary
skill was not a critical success
Pass or equivalent: the test was failed, but a minority of the skills
were successfully tested
Failure: none of the skills were successfully tested, the Student
fails the course.
EXAMPLES OF COURSES FOR TRAINING MULTIPLE SKILLS
The following are some examples that may be used as a basis for a
course of study. Some of them are related to existing occupations. The
examples are limited to four skills so that the benefits are not
overpowering in game terms, even though the Investigator may have been
out of play for several game years. The skill are listed as Subject:
Primary skill, Secondary skills (in order of relevance to the
subject).
* Law: Law, Library Use, Persuade & History
* Engineering: Physics, Mathematics, Mechanical Repair, & Electrical
Repair
* Philosophy: Philosophy, Persuade, & Own Language
* Astronomy: Astronomy, Physics
* Archaeology: Archaeology, History, Foreign/Ancient Language &
Anthropology
* Geology: Geology, Chemistry, Biology & Psychics
NOTES
The key difference between my suggestions and the rule book, is that
several skills can be improved at once. The average difference in
skill points gained from either 6d10 or 9d6 is only 1.5, but if you
opt for the 6d10 option you can only train one skill over three years
(unless the Keeper agrees otherwise), rather than three or four
skills. I specifically designed training to reflect a student's time
at college, where the student's experiences are broadened by more than
just his study, hence the improvement in multiple skills with the
possibility of losing skill points.
The crash course option is useful if an investigator needs to acquire
a new skill quickly, or needs to refresh a skill in the light of
technological improvements. The Keeper should strictly enforce the
capping restriction, as this will prevent the crash course option from
being exploited. Training will remove a possibly pivotal investigator
from a group for a long period of game time, and may have an impact on
the survivability of a group which a Keeper should point out before
the decision is made. The decision to take training may have far
reaching consequences for the group that is left behind or the student
who is called to help his colleagues just as his or her finals
start...
--------------------
From: Shannon Appel <appel@erzo.org>
Subject: The Fedogan & Bremer Books
System: Call of Cthulhu
In the past, I've provided notes on Chaosium's Cthulhu fiction (V5.3
and V10.2), and also written reviews on other assorted Cthulhian
fiction (V7.7). Herein, I'd like to write some quick comments about
another big publisher of Mythos Fiction, Fedogan & Bremer.
Fedogan & Bremer has been in the publishing business for somewhere
around five years. They've been publishing a variety of "weird"
fiction, with a definite emphasis on the Lovecraftian genre. Their
books are all nice hardcovers, with glossy covers. Their content
reminds me a lot of the older Arkham House books.
I've had some troubles getting ahold of the Fedogan & Bremer books,
but I've found in general that they're well worth the trouble.
Below I've given mini-reviews and content lists of three of Fedogan &
Bremer's books. They've also published a number of books of pulp
horror, by Robert Bloch, Carl Jacobi and others. At various times,
Fedogan & Bremer has listed two additional Mythos books as
forthcoming: Tales from Arkham, by Robert Bloch, and The New Lovecraft
Circle, ed. by Robert M. Price. Hopefully, these are still planned.
The House of the Toad
by Richard L. Tierney
ISBN 1-878252-03-8
published 1993
Richard L. Tierney is one of my favorites of the current batch of
Mythos writers, primarily because of his historical stories, such as
The Seed of the Star God, recently published in the Shub-Niggurath
Cycle. His mythos writing can also be found in the novel, The Winds of
Zarr, and in Crypt of Cthulhu #86.
However, The House of the Toad isn't one of Tierney's historical
stories, but rather a modern novel. It centers around spies, Mexico,
the Mississippi, Ghatanothoa, and lots more. Tierney is very good at
his craft, and a mythos novel by him is well worth picking up.
Contents:
The House of the Toad (a novel)
Shadows Over Innsmouth
edited by Stephen Jones
ISBN 1-878252-18-6
published 1994
This book has a very interesting premise: it promises to tell a
history of the town of Innsmouth, beginning with Lovecraft's original
story, and moving on towards the current day. The book falls a little
bit short of this goal, because the backgrounds of the various stories
don't always mesh well. Still, the stories do present an interesting
variety of views concerning Innsmouth, the Deep Ones that live there,
and their goals of conquest.
Contents:
The Shadow Over Innsmouth, by HP Lovecraft
Beyond the Reef, by Basil Copper
The Big Fish, by Jack Yeovil
Return to Innsmouth, by Guy N. Smith
The Crossing, by Adrian Cole
Down to the Boots, by DF Lewis
The Church in High Street, by Ramsey Campbell
Innsmouth Gold, by David Sutton
Daoine Domhain, by Peter Tremayne
A Quarter to Three, by Kim Newman
The Tomb of Priscus, by Brian Mooney
The Innsmouth Heritage, by Brian Stableford
The Homecoming, by Nicholas Royle
Deepnet, by David Langford
To See the Sea, by Michael Marshall Smith
Dagon's Bell, by Brian Lumley
Only the End of the World Again, by Neil Gaiman
Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos
edited by Robert M. Price
ISBN 1-878252-02-X
published 1992
In this book, Robert M. Price, who also edits many of the Cthulhu
Cycle collections, as well as Crypt of Cthulhu, has brought together a
number of the stories from the pulp era of horror. The collection is
tremendously useful, because many of the stories have been unavailable
for 60 or more years. Also of note is the fact that a number of the
stories listed below are actually alternate versions of more commonly
available texts (for example, Lord of Illusion is an early draft of
the story that eventually became Through the Gates of the Silver Key).
Contents:
The Thing on the Roof, by Robert E. Howard
The Fire of Asshurbanipal, by Robert E. Howard (original version)
The Seven Geases, by Clark Ashton Smith
Fane of the Black Pharaoh, by Robert Bloch
The Invaders, by Henry Kuttner
Bells of Horror, by Henry Kuttner
The Thing that Walked on the Wind, by August Derleth
Ithaqua, by August Derleth
The Lair of the Star-Spawn, by August Derleth & Mark Schorer
The Lord of Illusion, by E. Hoffmann Price
The Warder of Knowledge, by Richard F. Searight
The Scourge of B'Moth, by Bertram Russell
The House of the Worm, by Mearle Prout
Spawn of the Green Abyss, by C. Hall Thompson
The Guardian of the Book, by Henry Hasse
The Abyss, by Robert A. W. Lowndes
Music of the Stars, by Duane W. Rimel
The Aquarium, by Carl Jacobi (original version)
The Horror Out of Lovecraft, by Donald A. Wollheim
To Arkham and the Stars, by Fritz Leiber
--------------------
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