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Chaosium Digest Volume 17 Number 01
Chaosium Digest Volume 17, Number 1
Date: Sunday, November 10, 1996
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
Murder! (David Elrick) CALL OF CTHULHU
Dangerous Play: A Tale of Terror (Mauro Reis) CALL OF CTHULHU
Review: Horror's Heart (Mike Lay) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
Welcome (finally) to a new issue of the Chaosium Digest. A darned
exciting issue too, because not only is this the start of Volume 17
(issue 193 in all), but this is also the first issue to be sent out to
over a thousand subscribers (1002 subscribers to be precise). Keep on
spreading the word!
This week, a trio of articles for Call of Cthulhu: a fun beginner's
adventure for Call of Cthulhu, a short Tale of Terror, and a review of
Horror's Heart. Next week, I have another adventure for CoC lined up,
but all the same, keep those submissions coming in! In particular,
Nephilim, Pendragon, and Elric! have been under-represented of late.
Reviews, such as the one in this issue, haven't appeared much in the
Digest recently, but they're very welcome as well.
Shannon
RECENT RELEASES:
* Call of Cthulhu - _The Necronomicon_ (Chaosium, 334 pg., $10.95) is
#12 in the Cthulhu Cycle fiction line. It contains obscure tales
concerning the Necronomicon, by Wellman, Brown, Pohl, Dockweiller,
Lowndes, Tierney, Silverberg, Aletti, Brunner, and Chappell;
versions of the Necronomicon by deCamp, Long, Carter, Pelton, and
Smith; and commentary on the Necronomicon by Lovecraft, Albans, and
Price.
_Cthulhu's Heirs_ (Chaosium, 270 pg., $10.95) is a reprint of #3 in
the Cthulhu Cycle fiction line. Contents are identical to the
original edition, but it now has a nice Harry Fassl cover, like the
newer books in the series.
FRENCH SIGHTINGS:
* Call of Cthulhu - "Le Pacte" (The Pact), a four page scenario in New
Orleans of September 1926, Casus Belli #99 [Nov, 1996]
* Hawkmoon - "L'homme au Masque de Soie" (The Man with the Silk Mask),
a four page scenario, Casus Belli #99 [Nov, 1996]; A review of the
French second edition Hawkmoon, Casus Belli #99 [Nov, 1996]
* Nephilim - A review of the French second edition Nephilim, Casus
Belli #99 [Nov, 1996]; a two page play aid for Nephilim second
edition, Casus Belli #99 [Nov, 1996].
* Pendragon - "Le Loup Dans la Bergerie", a four page scenario, Casus
Belli #99 [Nov, 1996]
--------------------
From: David Elrick <David.Elrick@ps.co.uk>
Subject: Murder!
System: Call of Cthulhu
Here is an outline of an adventure I prepared for Halloween last year.
Cluedo is the british name for a boardgame - the American name is Clue.
You could make this more Cthulhu-oriented just by using a Mythos
creature as the murder 'weapon' (although it would be only fair to
tell your players that you're not just using the weapons from the
boardgame). If you were doing that, you'd probably want to map out the
wings of the house (imagine the characters creeping through darkened
rooms where everything is covered with dust-covers, looking for the
creature which murdered Dr Black!).
*************************************
Murder!
by David Elrick
Last Halloween I was asked to run a short adventure for a group of six
people, most of whom hadn't played RPGs before. I had decided to use
Call of Cthulhu, but not to run a Cthulhu mythos-based scenario, which
left me with the task of writing a short adventure.
Unfortunately inspiration had taken a brief holiday that week and I
found myself, two days before the game, in the rather embarrassing
position of still having no scenario to run. My most common (and often
most successful) tactic when inspiration fails to strike is to tidy up
my study and so it was, while finding new homes for some review
products in the games cupboard, that my eyes lighted on a rather
battered copy of Cluedo lurking amongst the "big-box" games.
Cluedo is basically a murder-mystery for two to six players. The
entire action takes place in the ground floor of a rambling old house,
and the players each take the part of one of six people (one of whom
is the murderer) in the house where the body was discovered. Play
consists of moving from room to room, gathering clues and eliminating
possible weapons and suspects until the murderer is unmasked. Perfect
for my purposes.
Setting The Scene
Cluedo does not pre-suppose a specific time period, but Call of
Cthulhu does. I decided that the adventure would be set somewhere in
rural Britain during the late 1920s or early 1930s. The owner of the
house (shortly to make a starring role as the deceased) has found
himself steadily falling prey to the financial hardships of the era
and has been forced to release his staff, one by one, until only the
housekeeper remains.
Because of this, only the main part of the house is still used. The
rest of the house, closed up and disused, lies silent under dustcovers
and dust (if you're using the board from the boardgame, assume that it
represents only the central section of the house and that the two
wings are disused). Five of the six player characters have been
invited to spend the weekend with the host (the sixth player is the
housekeeper, Mrs. White). They have known their host for many years
and he has recently hinted, in letters and telephone conversations, at
some great secret he intends to share with them all.
The guests arrived at various times on Friday and have spent the day
walking in the grounds, or browsing in the library. All around them
they find evidence of their host's reduced circumstances.
As the adventure opens, the player characters are in their rooms
preparing for dinner, apart from one of their number, who is
desperately blotting out chalk marks and wondering what to do with the
chicken entrails (figuratively speaking anyway, the actual events will
depend on the method of murder). Suddenly, the silence of the house is
shattered by a single scream...
Cast of Characters
The characters (and the single important NPC) were based on the main
characters from the boardgame. Although I did create game statistics
for the player-characters (for my own use while I was GMing the game -
I didn't hand them out), I haven't included the stats here. They
weren't much use during the game and you may want to run this scenario
using a system other than Call of Cthulhu. If you decide not to have
the players generate characters, you will at least need to determine
INT stats for each of them.
The main characters are:
The Ecclesiastical Gentleman (Rev. Green): This gentleman has been a
friend of the deceased since they were young men together at
university (in the latter part of the previous century). Time has been
kinder to this gentleman than to his contemporaries, almost certainly
due to this gentleman's Church duties in Africa. He was, for a time,
secretary to the Bishop of Barotseland, and he is now in charge of a
mission station and orphanage in East Africa.
The ecclesiastical gentleman would seem a most unlikely murderer, but
perhaps this makes him the best choice. If he is the murderer, his
host's recent property deals in East Africa have put the mission's
funding under threat - possibly forcing the closure of the mission and
the orphanage. Unable to make his host and one-time friend see reason,
the ecclesiastical gentleman sought the only way he could think of to
save the orphans in his care.
The Learned Gentleman (Prof. Plum): This gentleman is the oldest
member of the group by far. He was acquainted with the deceased during
the deceased's university days (and, thus, also knows the
ecclesiastical gentleman). The learned gentleman's motive, if he is
the murderer, is likely to be the most obscure, but paradoxically the
simplest - greed.
The deceased has made a habit of "acquiring" (not necessarily with the
original owner's consent, perhaps) rare manuscripts and documents.
Into his possession has recently come a rare and valuable find, which
the learned gentleman desires. The learned gentleman sought (and
received) his host's permission to study the work, which has only made
him desire it more - enough to murder for.
The Career Army Man (Col. Mustard): In the 1920's almost every man had
some military background based on service in the First World War, but
this gentleman has been an army man since before the turn of the
century. He is also a contemporary of the ecclesiastical gentleman,
the widow and the deceased.
The career army man and the deceased served together in the campaigns
in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) during the First World War. After the war
the deceased went back to civilian life, while the career army man
carried on with his service.
The career army man's motive is based upon a shared secret. During
their campaigning in Mesopotamia, the two men stumbled upon an ancient
treasure-trove. Unable to smuggle it out at the time, they re-buried
it and made a map so that they could find it again. This map was
brought home by the deceased and locked away. Now the career army man
has returned for the map - and he intends to have it at any cost.
The Ingenue (Miss Scarlet): Barely half the age of most of the people
in the house, this young lady is really the odd one out of the
group. In fact, she is a guest because she is the (until now,
unacknowledged) illegitimate daughter of the deceased (but let
everybody else think she's his mistress if it diverts suspicion away
from her).
If she is the murderer, her motive is revenge for the way that she and
her mother were treated.
The Widow (Mrs. Peacock): This lady is the widow of a high-up official
in the Colonial Office. Because of this, most of her life has been
spent in far-away corners of the Empire. She is also a contemporary of
the deceased, and she knew the career army man and the ecclesiastical
gentleman briefly through their friendship with him.
This lady's motive, if she is the murderer, is to end forever the
possibility of the deceased blackmailing her: somehow, the deceased
found out a secret that she has kept from her husband and the world
since she was a young woman (an illegitimate child born of a teenage
indiscretion, perhaps, or an affair when she was a young wife, alone
and friendless in some foreign country). Whatever the secret, she is
determined that it will remain secret, but she cannot afford to pay
what her blackmailer demands.
The Housekeeper (Mrs. White): The other odd character out (apart from
the ingenue) is the housekeeper. She is the only one of the player
characters who isn't a guest, and she is socially inferior to the
others too. She is only likely to play a big part in this scenario if
she has a very forceful character (so give her to a noisy, bossy
player!).
She has spent her entire adult life in domestic service (girls went
into domestic service at 13 or 14 in this era), and has spent the last
few years working for the deceased. She was betrothed once, but, in
common with so many others, he died in the killing fields of Flanders.
If she is the murderer, the housekeeper's motive is fear. Over a long
period of time she has been stealing small amounts of money from her
employer. She now has enough money to be comfortable for the rest of
her life, but at the cost of her conscience. Recently her belief has
grown that her employer suspects her and is preparing to have her
arrested. The shame that arrest would bring to her (along with the
possibility of going to prison) has made her desperate enough to
murder.
The Deceased (Dr. Black): There isn't a lot to say about the deceased
that isn't said elsewhere. His remains were discovered at the top of
the cellar stairs (or, depending on the cause of death, splattered
down the cellar stairs). The cause of death will very much determine
the state of his remains. Be creative with your descriptions as this
will probably be the first major source of clues to the identity of
the murderer.
When the Murderer is a Player Character
This is usually one of the most difficult situations to carry off when
the player characters don't know that one of their number is the
murderer. It might seem almost impossible in a game where the whole
point of the scenario is that one of the player characters is the
murderer, but, with a little bit of preparation, it needn't be too
difficult.
Ideally, the murderer should be chosen some time (at least a day, if
possible) before the game session, so that the player and the referee
can arrange a few details beforehand.
The referee should work with the player to determine the background to
the murder and as much of the murder plan as the player character can
influence. This can be done either as a one-on-one adventure, or it
can merely be discussed between player and referee. Encourage the
player to develop as elaborate a plan as they desire, to come up with
an alibi and, if desired, to divert suspicion onto other player
characters. Rough timings should be worked out now. If possible, try
to get hold of the Encyclopedia of Forensic Science by Brian Lane -
this book is invaluable if you are running a murder mystery of any
kind.
After you have done this, you must establish the number and type of
clues left by the murderer. Roll 2D10 and compare the total to the
player character's intelligence characteristic. If the result of the
die roll is higher than the intelligence characteristic, the
difference is the number of clues left by the murderer, if the result
is lower, the difference is the number of false clues pointing away
from the murderer (for example, the ecclesiastical gentleman has an
intelligence of 12. When the dice are rolled, they total 15. The
ecclesiastical gentleman has left three clear clues pointing to his
involvement in the murder).
If the player has decided to incriminate another player character,
these false clues all point to that character, otherwise the referee
should devise false clues for a variety of characters.
The referee and the player must decide between them what the clues
will most likely be (if the character wore gloves, fingerprints are
unlikely). Care should be taken that the placement of clues is logical
and realistic, but that they are not impossible to find. In order to
preserve some suspense, the referee might want to create a much larger
list of possible clues and make the roll to see how many clues are
left without the player's knowledge. This means that the player can
never be really sure what clues have been left.
Once the adventure has begun, the player playing the murderer will
most likely want to suppress evidence (and possibly other player
characters) in an attempt to shift suspicion away from themselves. To
a great extent, this will happen as a result of the player's actions
throughout the game, but there are things the referee can do to make
the player's task easier: Encourage the group to split up and pursue
separate lines of inquiry. Then make sure that everything the player
characters do and say is communicated only to the referee and any
other player characters in the vicinity. The best way to do this is to
have a separate room where the action can take place, but it can be
done just as effectively by the passing of notes between referee and
players.
--------------------
From: Mauro Reis <mauro@pluto.njcc.com>
Subject: Dangerous Play: A Tale of Terror
System: Call of Cthulhu
Dangerous Play: a Tale of Terror
Wilfred Higgs is an author. A brilliant one. And he's also a madman.
He's written a new play, "The Coming of the Master" and is currently
rehearsing it with a troupe of actors. A relative of one of the
investigators was part of the cast, until he was committed to an
asylum a few days ago, totally insane. Now all he says is: "They're
there! I know that now, I saw them! They know, they wait, and they're
coming!". If the investigators decide to ask around, they will find
out that several actors went insane in the last few
months. Surprisingly, no one seems to have noticed that. There's no
mention about them working for Wilfred Higgs, either. Contacting
relatives of these actors may reveal that they were trying to get a
role in Higgs new play.
Higgs is very cautious in the approach of his candidates, conducting
private tests and lectures. All the candidates are interviewed on an
individual basis. It's not the usual procedure, but no one really pays
much attention to that. Every director has their quirks, after all.
All the actors currently on the cast are normal people, without any
discernible mental problem.
An investigation about Higgs will turn up that he, himself, had been
committed to a mental institution many years ago, but was considered
cured a couple of years later.
Possibilities:
1) Wilfred has made a deal with a powerful entity he contacted many
years ago, just before he went mad from the sight of it. The creature
spared him, because it knew Higgs could be useful in the future. Higgs
incorporated the spell needed to bring it to our world in his play,
and intends to sacrifice the entire cast to complete the spell,
poisoning the wine they are supposed to drink during a toast in a
certain scene.
2) Wilfred always wanted to present "The King in Yellow" to the
public, but the general rejection of the book on the part of the
producers proved that impossible. He doesn't understand why; a book
that opened his mind to the truth shouldn't be repressed like
that. So, he tried another approach. He cleverly disguised that play
within his own creation. The story changed, but the awful truths he
saw are still there, so this new play is as dangerous as the previous
one. The sanity of the cast hasn't been affected too much, as Higgs is
presenting the story little by little. But as the work continues, they
will probably become more and more disturbed. Higgs hopes that this
gradual exposure will make them see the "truth" and join him in his
quest.
3) Wilfred is only a madman, and considers his madness to be true
freedom. He thrives in "freeing" other people too. To that end, during
the interviews he chooses persons who are already unstable, and
reproduces the accident that gave him his liberty (he was once trapped
inside a mausoleum for several days); he traps the victim inside a
cellar full of dead bodies, without food or water, until their sanity
snaps. Sometimes the victims kill themselves, sometimes they survive,
eating the bodies. Either way, they're now free from their bonds.
Copyright (c) 1996 Mauro Reis
mauro@pluto.njcc.com
--------------------
From: michael.lay@ctsu.ox.ac.uk (Dr M. D. Lay)
Subject: Review: Horror's Heart
System: Call of Cthulhu
Horror's Heart is a recent supplement by Chaosium for Call of
Cthulhu. The book is shorter than most campaigns (it weighs in at 80
pages), and should probably be called a mini-campaign. It is set in
Montreal, nominally in 1923, though that date can quite easily be
altered to anytime in the 1920s, and, with slight juggling, to the
1890s or 1990s. To quote the blurb (on Chaosium's web page):
"This dangerous investigation is set in Canada, in the 1920s. The
investigators meet the powerful Lavoie family of Montreal and learn
what imperils them, they glimpse a strange cult that now thrives in
Quebec and the ancient nemesis that guides it, they come to understand
the significance of the corpse discovered in the foundations of a
former seminary, they at last perceive the true motives of Father
Philip McBride, and they gather at last the full truth about a Churchly
saint who has long fascinated McBride."
The plot for this week-long mini campaign is actually two somewhat
intertwined threads with a few misleading red herrings. This I
like. It means that there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the
events, and avoids the flaw of many campaigns; whilst most things are
still relevant to a plot, it is not immediately clear what any
particular clue refers to. Furthermore, it offers the investigators
plenty of room to dream up their own fantastical plots and dive off at
wild tangents. One of the plots has a strong mythos base to it, whilst
the other is firmly seated in Canadian folklore, perhaps adding to the
confusion.
This campaign also has the advantage that the ending is not
particularly earth shattering; if the investigators fail, R'lyeh will
not rise, nor will the stars become right. Instead, Mythos influence
in Montreal will be subtly increased. The investigators will probably
be dead, but c'est la vie... this feature makes it particularly easy
to integrate this supplement into an on-going campaign.
The blurb continues:
"There are plenty of puzzles to solve and investigation to be done up
until the final day of play, an unusually complete blend of action,
deduction, and interesting situations. Player-characters have time to
get their bearings, making this adventure a good one for beginners,
but even old hands are soon challenged by a succession of deadly
perils. Horror's Heart is designed to be finished over several
evenings. It includes about twenty handouts, many illustrations,
several new spells and magical traps, and lots of murders and
murderers."
And here, I think Chaosium do themselves down, as this reads rather
like an advert for a particularly nasty AD&D dungeon. There are plenty
of puzzles to solve, but they are of the "whats going on?" sort,
rather than the "how do we open this door?" sort. I would also
question the phrase "making this adventure a good one for beginners".
In my humble opinion, this is way too tough for beginning players, at
least without a certain amount of Keeper intervention. It does seem
suitable for experienced players and beginning characters, and would
provide a good way to kick off a campaign.
The supplement itself has a number of other things going for it. The
keeper's summary is unusually detailed, and contains a particularly
useful "who's who" section listing the 30 or so people and
organisations involved. A full set of handouts can be found at the
back, and some of the artwork could also serve as handout materials. I
do have a few minor criticisms; the description of Montreal is a bit
brief; there is no player's map of the city (the map that is provided
shows all the locations involved in the game!); a couple of possible
avenues of research are not discussed. However, these really are minor
criticisms.
Summary: Horror's Heart looks to be an excellent supplement; Keepers
should be able to slot it into their campaign with minimal effort. The
plot is well paced and sufficiently complicated to keep the players
confused. Do I recommend it? Well, having bought and read it, I decided
to include it into my own campaign at the earliest opportunity. Having
run the first couple of sessions, it is my humble opinion that this is
one of the best supplements to have been released recently for Call of
Cthulhu. Go and buy it!
Mike Lay, November 1996.
--------------------
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