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Chaosium Digest Volume 18 Number 11
Chaosium Digest Volume 18, Number 11
Date: Monday, March 31, 1997
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
The Care and Feeding of Sanitariums (Cedric Chin) MYTHOS
New Mi-Go Technology (Arthur Boff) CALL OF CTHULHU
Keyboard Music: A Tale of Terror (Arthur Boff) CALL OF CTHULHU
Editor's Note:
Welcome to another issue of the Chaosium Digest. Submissions have been
light lately, no doubt due to Spring Break, Easter, and other
vacations, so if you've been thinking about sending in an article,
please do!
Shannon
RECENT MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS:
* Pendragon - "Adventure of the Knight Sinister", by Allen Varney, a
two page mini-adventure set in Camelot and western Cumbria, Pyramid
#24 [March/April 1997]
--------------------
From: Cedric Chin <cchin@frk.com>
Subject: The Care and Feeding of Sanitariums
System: Mythos
The Care and Feeding of Sanitariums
Sanitariums are one of the trickier cards to play. Because the Mythos
system forces players to attack with Monsters, and Phobias are easy
cards to play, Investigators with high Sanity are easy targets of
these attacks. This pretty much makes Sanitariums less attractive than
they may first seem. (Players in games where Investigators with low
Sanity are regularly targets are welcome to ignore the disadvantages
of Sanitariums, and jump to how to play them...!)
DECKBUILDING
Disadvantages
The more Sanitariums you travel to, the more likely you will be
attacked (whenever Adventure points do not make a difference).
Furthermore, Sanitariums typically cost three turns of game play (one
turn to walk, one turn to arrive, and one turn to walk away),
preventing you the opportunity to play cards, and effectively giving
your opponents two free turns each.
Alternatives To Sanitariums
1. Using Allies to Deal with Phobias
In certain regions, Phobias can just as easily be removed with Allies.
The disadvantage is that the Ally can die, but the advantage is that
you will not have to travel to a new Location, where you may lose the
opportunity to play Tomes, Artifacts, and Allies, if you were at a
"good" Location.
2. Using Locations to Deal with Phobias
Some Locations remove Phobias. These locations are typically easier
to travel to, and attract less attention, than Sanitariums, and thus
prevent the loss of game turns and other costs Sanitariums have.
3. Sanity-Gaining Artifacts and Allies
Because they typically only give you one Sanity, Sanity-gaining
Artifacts and Allies pose less of a "magnet" for Monsters and Phobias
than Sanitariums do. They should only be played if they count toward
Adventures or have other benefits.
How Many Sanitariums in a Deck?
Two per deck per region is a useful number, depending on how offensive
your opponents are, and how much Sanity your deck will cost. Add
another Sanitarium for decks that cost sanity, or if you have
opponents who play Monsters.
Sanitarium Costs
The worst fate for a card is the Discard Pile. Here's a ranking of
best-to-worst Sanitarium costs, based only on my play style:
1. Skip a turn
2. Put a card in play into your Story Deck
3. Discard a card from your Mythos Deck
4. Discard a card from your Story Deck
5. Discard a card from your hand
Sanitarium Benefits
Here's a ranking of the best-to-worst Sanitarium benefits:
1. Tome attribute
2. City Location in same sub-region as the rest of your deck
3. Qualification of the Sanitarium towards an Adventure
What often happens is that a Sanitarium with a good benefit may have a
bad cost. The rest of this article includes tips and tricks for
playing Sanitariums.
PLAYING A SANITARIUM
Avoid Walking to a Sanitarium
Most Sanitariums are in Country locations, requiring that the
Investigator walk to the Sanitarium. Because Sanitariums are obviously
beneficial cards, opponents will be happy to prevent your Investigator
from arriving. Earthquake and Town Folk Riot are examples of
anti-Location cards that may be used.
Travel cards prevent giving opponents an opportunity to play such
cards, although anti-Location cards will prevent removing phobias, of
course.
Walk to a Sanitarium as a "feint"
Conversely, walking to a Sanitarium and being "attacked" by an
anti-Location card gives one less anti-Location card for your
opponents to play. Thus, if you must stay at, or walk to, a Location
that is vulnerable to an anti-Location card, you may wish to sacrifice
a Sanitarium to play the other Location.
Staying at a Sanitarium vs. Shuffling it Back into Your Draw Pile
Obviously, it's a good idea to have the Sanitarium buried in your
Story Deck before scoring an Adventure -- especially if your opponents
have Monsters in their decks, and don't mind ending the game quickly.
However, there are a few reasons to stay at a Sanitarium.
* Less likelihood of being targeted for Phobias
* Ability to play Tomes at Sanitariums with the Tome Attribute
* Ability to play Allies at certain Sanitariums
* Ability to play Events
In addition, you're a target for a phobia when you're leaving a
Sanitarium. Playing a Phobia on someone leaving a Sanitarium (by
Walking with the new location oriented crosswise) will cost the player
a minimum of three turns (one to arrive at the new Location, one to
play a new Sanitarium crosswise, and one to arrive).
Minimizing Sanitarium Costs
The following are some comments and tips about the costs of Sanitariums.
1. Skip a turn
If you skip a turn, it's possible that there will be two passes,
especially if you have many opponents.
2. Put a card in play into your Story Deck or Skip a Turn
If you choose to put the card into your Story Deck, make sure it's not
needed to score the Adventure after the one you're working on.
3. Discard a card from your Deck
If you've built your deck with the "Two of a Card" rule, make sure you
haven't already discarded a card you need to satisfy the Adventure
you're working on.
4. Discard a card from your Story Deck
Such Sanitariums are easiest to play after you've just scored an
Adventure. Of course, this doesn't apply if you've set yourself up so
that the first Location of your Story Deck is required to play the
Adventure you're working on.
5. Discard a card from your hand
This has the same problems as 3. Myself, I tend to work on Adventures
that are in my hand, and only have one of an Adventure in a deck. If
your decks have two of an Adventure in a deck, such Sanitariums are
not as bad.
PLAYING AGAINST A DECK FULL OF SANITARIUMS
Your best strategy is to call attention to an opponent Walking to a
Sanitarium, and let your opponents deal with it.
Another option, as mentioned above, is to play a Phobia whenever an
opponent is leaving a Sanitarium. Iatrophobia (Fear of Sanitariums) is
less subtle, but also works, as do Monsters, and anti-Location Events
(Earthquakes, Townsfolk Riot, etc.).
In general, though, work on your Adventure and only worry about an
opponent if the game is close to ending. If player A uses Sanitariums
and player B spends his turns attacking player A, player C will spend
the game working on his Adventure and winning.
--------------------
Sender: theboffs@dircon.co.uk (Arthur Boff)
Subject: New Mi-Go Technology
System: Call of Cthulhu
Prodigious Surgical, Biological, Chemical, and Mechanical Skills
- Creating New Technology for the Fungi from Yuggoth -
We are often told that the Mi-Go have technology vastly superior to
our own. But, how do you go about making suitably advanced and alien
technology, without your game losing the Lovecraftian atmosphere,
taking on the atmosphere of a BLOOD BROTHERS-style game? The
guidelines below can help you create the sort of devices you want your
Investigators to run from, steal, or wonder at in your Call of Cthulhu
game.
GUIDELINES FOR CREATING MI-GO TECHNOLOGY
1: No Mi-Go Should Be Without One
No intelligent life form would make something it couldn't use unless
it was part of a trade agreement. For example, since the Fungi can fly
through space, they don't need to build a rocket. And, since they
don't build rockets, they need a way to take entities back through
space with them, hence the brain-cylinders.
2: Anything Earth Can Do Yuggoth Can Do Better
Since the Fungi's technology is much more advanced than our own, we
can assume that they invented all the things we have now long ago
(within the bounds of guideline 1, of course). The "speech machine"
and the machine used to give "tubed" brains sight that appear near the
end of "The Whisperer in Darkness" are obviously adapted loud speakers
and video cameras, for example. Many examples of Mi-Go technology can
be created by improving our own.
3: Make Sure That the Mi-Go Can Use It
Take a look at the picture of the Mi-Go in the _Call of Cthulhu_
rulebook. How will something like that use machinery? Buttons can be
used, and levers, but dials will be harder unless they're of the type
found on old telephones. It probably won't be able to push something
along using a bar like on a supermarket trolley, but with proper grips
on the top a Mi-Go could fly about with it.
TWO EXAMPLES
Here are two examples of Mi-Go technology, created using these
guidelines.
The Spellcaster
Sold to cultists who can't properly pronounce such mouthfuls as
"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn". The cultists
simply give a sample of how their species speak, type in the spell,
and then start the spellcaster. Whilst they do the actions, the
spellcaster intones the incantations.
(Note: No Outer God will ever let itself be Called or Contacted by a
machine. Minor Great Old Ones might if the spell was cast for a
sufficiently good reason.)
The Educator
This looks like a small box with sticky pads on it. Whenever a baby
Mi-Go is born, the pads are stuck to its sensory feelers. This fills
the young Fungi with all the knowledge known to the Mi-Go, giving it
the equivalent of an EDU of 25. This means that baby Mi-Go can live
independently from a few minutes after birth, so "nurseries" are not
needed.
Because of this, there are no Mi-Go teachers. But then again, you can
imagine a classroom full of Fungi, with an adult at the front. The
adult pushes a button, projecting onto a nearby screen a picture that
would drive most humans mad. It speaks, in a buzzing voice...
"And this Great Old One's name is Cthulhu. Can you say kuh-THOO-loo?"
Copyright Arthur Boff 1997
Writing from Ulthar, beyond the River Skai.
--------------------
Sender: theboffs@dircon.co.uk (Arthur Boff)
Subject: Keyboard Music: A Tale of Terror
System: Call of Cthulhu
Keyboard Music: A Tale of Terror
The radio was jealous of the computer keyboard, the writer could see
that now. He had written his radio scripts with the keyboard, and they
had been played on radios across the world. Except his own. He didn't
want to hear his own plays; they were so much better in his imagination.
But, the radio was fed up at not even being able to be a part of its
master's success. The writer realized that as soon as the keyboard
started playing music.
Possibilities:
1.) The writer has been doing a lot of work recently, and is just
tired. What actually happened was that he left the keyboard by the
radio, and due to a trick of acoustics the music seemed to originate
from the keyboard.
2.) It's true. The radio has developed an evil intelligence.
3.) The writer recently was asked to write a censored, non-SAN
threatening version of _The King in Yellow_. This is Hastur's
vengance. It is just part of a long campaign to drive the writer
insane.
Copyright Arthur Boff 1997
Writing from the Masonic Hall, Innsmouth
--------------------
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