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Chaosium Digest Volume 17 Number 12
Chaosium Digest Volume 17, Number 12
Date: Sunday, January 12, 1997
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
Fate Rules (Doantam Phan) CALL OF CTHULHU
From Beyond: A New Adventure (Ricardo Christe) MYTHOS
The Fractal (Jon Preedy) CTHULHU NOW
Editor's Note:
Welcome to issue 204 of the Chaosium Digest, the end of another
volume. This issue starts off with some Fate Rules for Call of
Cthulhu, to make adventures more livable, and also a new Create Your
Own Adventure for Mythos.
In the "Fractal Gods" adventure in _The Stars are Right_, the Fractal
realm was very briefly introduced. It was a nice enough place to
visit, but anyone trying to live there would go very quickly
insane. In this issue of the digest, "The Fractal" describes a
slightly kinder Fractal realm in more detail, and makes it a viable
alternate dimension for Cthulhu Now adventures. If you're interested
in using this realm, you'll find that the stats on the Fractals
Creatures are in _The Stars are Right_ and _Ye Booke of Monstres 2_.
The bad news this week is that Mythos: The Dreamlands has been
delayed. Apparently the fierce cold that has been blanketing the
mid-western United States has caused severe problems at the South
Dakota plant where Mythos is being cut and sorted. At last check, it
was illegal to drive on the roads of South Dakota, making the trouble
even worse. According to the revised schedule, Mythos: The Dreamlands
should go on sale in stores February 7.
Shannon
NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES:
The Soleil Noir Web Page
http://www.columbia.edu/~pwm17/SoleilNoir/index.html
This is the web page for Soleil Noir, one of the Nephilim fanzines. It
contains art, subscription info, summaries of the first two issues,
and lots more of interest to Nephilim players.
--------------------
From: cdoan@ix.netcom.com (Doantam Phan)
Subject: Fate Rules
System: Call of Cthulhu
Call of Cthulhu: Fate Rules
I thought up this idea after a combination of looking over the Full
Auto rules for CoC (in V13.6), playing Deadlands, and running a
session or two of _Masks of Nyarlathotep_ for my friends.
Essentially, there's no way in Call of Cthulhu to reward good
roleplaying, or good ideas and plans by the players. In addition,
_Masks of Nyarlathotep_ is quite deadly without the players getting
some aid. Therefore, I present the Fate system as a way to help the
players through the complete adventure and as a way to reward them.
How it Works:
=============
First, you need poker chips (Blue, Red, and White).
White Chips are worth 1 point, Red are worth 2 points, Blue are worth
3 points.
All Chips are given out for good roleplaying or good actions. This
differs from just insight. If a player just says "hey, maybe there's a
secret chamber here", don't give a chip for that. It's only if they
actually go looking for a secret chamber and ask to make a roll that
they deserve a chip.
Give out chips depending on how "good" the action is. However, I would
suggest that White chips and Red chips be given out most commonly, and
the Blue chips be reserved for the most extreme, most groundbreaking
actions. I realize it's very subjective, but it all depends upon the
group that you're playing with.
What they can be used for:
==========================
Only ONE chip may be used per roll.
Chips may be exchanged with the Keeper, on a point for point
basis. So, you could exchange a Blue Chip for 3 White Chips, or vice
versa, if you wanted. However, the fact that you can only use one chip
per roll makes it less clear-cut which kind of chip is better.
You may also give chips to other people, but at a 1 point reduction in
value (ie, Blue Chips become Red when given to someone else, Red Chips
become White Chips, and White Chips become nothing).
* Altering Percentile Checks (Except SAN Checks)
White Chips: 4%
Red Chips: 8%
Blue Chips: 12%
You may subtract the listed percentage from your check. For
example, If you had a 20% in Dodge, and you rolled a 27% on your
check, then if you had a Red Chip, you could subtract 8% from your
roll, ending up with a 19%, thereby making the check.
* Preserving Life
White Chips: 3 HP
Red Chips: 6 HP
Blue Chips: 9 HP
Essentially, if someone attacked you and you took 4 damage, you
could spend a White Chip and only take 1 damage. You could also
spend a Red Chip and take no damage. But you can't gain life :)
* Preserving SAN
White Chips: 1D12 -or- White: 1D6
Red Chips: 2D6 -or- Red: 2D6
Blue Chips: 3D4 -or- Blue: 3D6
After you tell a player that they will lose X amount of Sanity,
they may spend one chip, and roll the dice listed next to the
amount, to see how much Sanity loss they don't take.
If someone saw a Chakota, and took 9 points of Sanity loss,
than if they spent a Red chip, you'd roll 2D6, and subtract that
from the amount they would lose. Ie, they rolled a 5, so 9-5=4
They would only take 4 points of Sanity Loss. They cannot gain
sanity from this.
I know Sanity loss is the point of the game, but still, this isn't
so bad. Because you roll to see how much Sanity loss you prevent, it
isn't as if you can spend 1 Blue Chip and know automatically that you
won't take any sanity loss whatsoever.
I have two charts there for one reason, and that is because I can't
decide between the two.
The first chart's advantage is that you are more assured of
preventing SAN loss with higher chips. (I don't know probabilities,
but it seems to be that way to me). Also, you can only prevent 12 SAN
loss maximum, instead of 18 as with the other. Finally, the fact that
a White Chip may save as much SAN as a Blue Chip simulates fate. I
think :). I came up with this method after I wrote the first one,
and I think this is the better method.
The second chart's advantage is that it's clear cut which chip is
better. Also, you may consider it better if you can save more SAN
than the first.
Final Notes
===========
First of all, try not to let players become dependent on these fate
chips. Second of all, I'm only using this for my _Masks of
Nyarlathotep_ campaign, and I don't know if its suited for all CoC
games. I do think that it works well, and that it helps reward players
for good ideas and such, something that I think CoC currently lacks.
Finally, any comments or criticisms should be sent to
cdoan@ix.netcom.com
Thanks!
--------------------
From: Ricardo Christe <rchomsi@ibm.net>
Subject: From Beyond: A New Adventure
System: Mythos
Liked Lovecraft's 'From Beyond'? Then grab your Mythos cards and tune
your deck for this new Mythos Experience!
FROM BEYOND
+8 Victory Points
+3 Sanity
Mythos Experience
Summoned by your long unseen colleague CRAWFORD TILLINGHAST in the middle
of the NIGHT, you fear this time his researches might have gone a bit
too far. At his abode, he invites you to turn on a strange machine in the
attic, THE ULTRA-VIOLET. The weird light enables you to see THREE INVISIBLE
MONSTERS flying about the room! Stifling a scream, you start running for your
life, and have to resort to your faithful WEAPON when Tillinghast's servant,
a CORRUPT ALLY, tries to prevent your escape. Hiding until DAY comes, you
decide to visit a PRESS LOCATION and tell the REPORTER on duty a disturbing
story...
Copyright (c) 1997, Ricardo Christe
rchomsi@ibm.net
--------------------
From: Preedy <goat@ozemail.com.au>
Subject: The Fractal Realm
System: Cthulhu Now
_Call of Cthulhu; the Fractal_
The Dreamlands is a very popular and diverse setting for scenarios and
even entire campaigns to evolve in (ala _Dream-Quest of Unknown
Kadath_), but this setting has a decidedly festive, kind of "kick
back, relax, and get some SAN points back" feel, no matter how adverse
one tries to make the conditions. For the 1990s, without delving into
the entirely bizzare use of "Space Mead" (as defined in the 5th
edition rulesbook), an attractive, and wonderfully horrific
alternative is the Fractal Realm.
The Fractal is an alternate realm populated by energy-based life forms
(the "Fractal Creatures" described in _Ye Booke of Monstres 2_) who
exist purely it seems, to serve an avatar of Yog-Sothoth. Players
entering The Fractal should be given the impression of being thrust
into a bad Virtual Reality nightmare with connotations of a Cyberpunk
novel. Contrasting technicolour flares, bizarre data structures and
swarms of the fractal creatures should be given a decadent, almost
Gothic feel, and any Computer Progammers in a party should easily
realise that from this realm, they can access any data stored on any
computer in the world. And they get free internet time.
Keepers can convert any monster from _Call of Cthulhu_ to The Fractal
(within reason) but remember that the only real "servitor race" in The
Fractal are the Fractal Creatures in YBOM2 and thus PCs won't
encounter Fractal Shantaks or Nightgaunts, are unlikely to encounter
Fractal Mi-Go or Moon Beasts (unless something gets broken) and will
only rarely meet things like Fractal Dimesional Shamblers. Fractal
Dholes may be encountered in the form of high-key polymorphic viruses
and Fractal Elder/Outer/Other Gods about as frequently as anywhere
else.
Having been unable to find any Mythos fiction on which to base
suppositions, I developed this Keepers' guide to the Fractal with only
the rules given for fractal creatures in _Ye Booke of Monstres 2_ and
books like _Neuromancer_ and _The Diamond Age_ and the movie _Blade
Runner_ in mind.
*Welcome to The Fractal. Please wipe your feet.*
Very little has been said about how The Fractal Dimension works, very
little has been said of the actual existence of the place, and this
circumstance allows keepers to be as diverse and bizarre as they
choose.
As The Fractal is a completely energy-based system (Fractal creatures,
if they pass through a gate to earth depend upon consumption of Magic
Points from living things in order to sustain themselves), the Earth's
Fractal is only as large as our currently existing power grid. Picture
something to the extent of the telephone grid which is occasionally
superimposed over maps of the world, and you'll know the sort of map
I'm thinking of.
Access to the Fractal is limited to a certain computer program which
is capable of extremely radical mathematical calculus, and as such can
only be feasably run on a high-end computer. This program generates a
weird flash of technicolour light before shattering the computer
screen (allow a Dodge roll for any standing near the screen when it
shatters, otherwise 1D3 damage from flying glass), essentially opening
the gate to The Fractal.
Entering the Fractal should be kept realistic. The gate under
analysis, remember, is only as big as the monitor of the host computer
(ie no one of SIZ 16 is going from Earth to the Fractal via a 12"
monitor). This does not pertain to Fractal entities such as the avatar
of Yog-Sothoth who rules the Fractal, or the Fractal avatars of other
GOOs, Old Ones, Outer/Elder Gods, etc, who are capable of changing
their shape/dimensions. For effect, a wall-sized bank of monitors is
perfect; imagine the horror of the PC's still dusting themselves off
when Fractal Cthulhu comes romping through the gate...
Traversing to The Fractal from Earth is a matter of "passing into" the
monitor. At this point, the being undergoing "relocation" experiences
intense needling of the skin as though they are being charged, and
then an intense release of this charge akin to a static shock is
experienced (3 magic points are lost) and the hapless invesigator
finds himself an amalgamation of polygons in a bad Virtual Reality
nightmare (1/1D6 Sanity loss, and 0/1D4 for anyone watching from
outside the gate).
Watching this transport from the outside of the gate, PCs are witness
to the traveller reduced to a series of pixels on the screen. This
image gradually dwindles in size (impress the image of vanishment into
the distance here) until it blinks out. The entire process takes about
twenty seconds (unless the traveller enters the gate at speed).
The reverse applies to those who manage to gate back out of The
Fractal, and those watching the gate for "things" coming through
(Thing gets bigger from distance until it reaches its maximum possible
size, then "pop"). Three magic points and another 1/1D6 Sanity points
are lost on this return trip as well.
Gates, unless heavily guarded should only be opened for short periods
of time, lest the Fractal avatar of Yog-Sothoth attempt to pass
through to the mortal world (1D10+5 minutes until it tries to break
through). Gates may be closed by switching off or rebooting the host
computer. Anything still "visible" on the "screen" is terminated at
this point, but entities fully in one realm or another remain. Inside
The Fractal, gates appear as "windows" with the room where the gate is
located a low-resolution image on the window. Gates inside The Fractal
are two-dimensional, like a picture hung on an invisible wall.
Anyone who safely gates to the Fractal finds themself in an outpost of
Fractal creatures (usually builder and inspector Fractals) the size of
which depends on the city that the character was in prior to gating
(ie, If a PC was in downtown nowheresville--population 46 including
the dogs--then there would be relatively little activity going on due
to the lack of usable energy superimposed from Earths' power grid, but
if the PC activated the gate in New York then there would be a hive of
intense, fervent activity with Fractals of all kinds. A city of this
size on Earth may well in The Fractal be the "home" of Fractal
Yog-Sothoth.)
*First, I'm gonna crash some airplanes...*
Computer Programmers entering the Fractal will experience joy when
they figure out exactly what they are capable of when in this realm.
Firstly, any roll for Computer Use/Programming or Hacking skills
receive a +20% chance of success.
Secondly, hackers are not restricted to a single network. They can
access ANY data, regardless of its security restrictions, on ANY
computer, wherever it is. The only catch will be familiar to anyone
who has seen _Johnny Mnemonic_ or read anything by William Gibson.
Security software (firewalls etc.) are conscious entities in this
realm, and if a given hacker takes too long trying to wipe the
criminal records of everyone in his party off the FBI's computer
system, then they are gonna get it. The security (Ice) will manifest
in a variety of ways (use your discretion, but be subtle until you can
strike) and always pursue the hacker until one or the other is nothing
but corrupt data. If the Keeper wishes, a budding hacker may run into
a Firewall program. Literally.
Ice:
INT: 3D6 to 4D10
(depending on what computer system is being hacked into)
POW: 3D6 to 4D10
DEX: 2D6 to 3D10
Hit Points: 3DPOW
INT, POW and DEX are the only factors necessary to most fratal
creatures. When various Ice programs attack, match POW with the
victim on the resistance table instead of rolling to hit. The Ice
then drains anything from 1D3 to 1D20 POW or CON points from the
victim (agin, depending on the kind of data being hacked). POW and
CON points lost in this manner can not be regained by normal
means. When an Ice is destroyed, it shatters into a rather pretty
display of 0's or 1's floating through the air until they
dissolve. An investigator reduced to Zero CON or POW points is as
effectively dead as though they had been reduced to Zero Hit Points.
*BANG-BANG-BANG... Why isn't it dead yet?*
Anything in The Fractal can be destroyed, including inanimate objects
(ie, if, when blasting away at Fractal Whomever-it-is the PCs
accidentally take out a weirdly shaped inverted Pyramidal structure,
then when they get back to earth they might hear that the World Trade
Center just lost all its electrical appliances in an unprecedented
power surge.)
Normal weapons are generally useless against Fractal Beasties on
Earth, the only really devastating weapon not being an AK-47, but a
Stun Gun (or Stunner). The reverse applies INSIDE the fractal. As
living things are effectively "bitmapped" when they enter the fractal,
so is everything non-living that gets carried in too. So, a PC
realises that stunners fairly Nuke these fractal bastards and takes
one in with him, as well as his trusty .45. Next time he tries to stun
a Fractal creature, it and many more will swarm around the stunner
(and the PC) and begin a feeding frenzy. The .45 however, releases a
"bullet" of negatively charged ions, and a hit counts as normal
damage.
Point blank and extended range rules need not apply in the Fractal,
but this is a two edged sword. PCs might not get a +10% to hit chance
for a point-blank shot with a .22, but they get the full 4D6+2 damage
for a successful hit with a ten-guage shotgun, regardless of range.
The only thing is that there are no gun shops in the Fractal, and
unless the PCs get a constant supply chain of bullets in, then they
are quite likely to be swamped and consumed by the thousands of hungry
Fractals.
Melee weapons and close-combat remains unchanged, but the Keeper
should describe things differently (eg, on a successful Fist/Punch
roll, James Brown finds that his hands sprout claws which rake his
opponent for the 1D3+DB damage for Fist/Punch skill). Martial Arts
rolls do not affect damage, but a successful Computer Programming roll
in a combat situation may (or may not) yield an additional damage
bonus, at the Keepers' discretion.
*Mmm, Incapacitated*
Death in the Fractal is just that. Death. Maybe the luckless
investigator sees a brief flash of "Game Over", but otherwise nothing
is different. Death can occur from:
a) 0 or less Hit Points
b) 0 or less CON Points
c) 0 or less POW Points
The latter two occurring if the PCs are sloppy in their hacking work.
Being stuck inside the Fractal Realm when a gate is shut on Earth is a
tricky situation for a PC, but not neccessarily a death sentence.
Remember that PCs are capable of manipulating data on Earth's
computers whilst within The Fractal, thus a PC "trapped" in this
situation may send email to his companions back on Earth, he may
tamper with Paging services or screw around with televisions in trying
to convince other PCs to repair the original computer monitor, and
re-open a gate so that their Fractalised companion might return to
reality.
This may present a way to introduce players to the Fractal Realm (ie,
players get "noticed" by a hacker stuck in the Fractal who hunts them
down and "poltergeists" their electronic gear, ala _Ghost in the
Machine_, until the PCs agree to open a gate and let him out... Then
along comes Fractal Hunting Horror; munchety-crunchety...)
Remember that major beasties in the Fractal are only avatars, ie, the
destruction of the Fractal Yog-Sothoth will only serve to piss off the
REAL Yog-Sothoth. Moreso for a Great Old One like Cthulhu, who's
Fractal avatar is really his only way of screwing people up
(presenting a possible link to several of history's plane crashes,
power failures...), and if IT gets waxed...
Running a Fractal scenario places a heavy burden on the Keeper to set
the mood. It should be suitably fast-paced and convoluted of plot with
a lot of wires and joints left un-soldered for room for PCs to return
and hack again.
If anyone has ANY notes or quotes regarding the "real" Fractal realm,
then please email 'em to me so that I can modify my playing conditions
suitably.
--------------------
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