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Chaosium Digest Volume 18 Number 02
Chaosium Digest Volume 18, Number 2
Date: Sunday, January 26, 1997
Number: 2 of 2
Contents:
Dangerous Toys (Eamon Honan) CALL OF CTHULHU
CF: Giant Albino Penguins (Shannon Appel) MYTHOS
--------------------
From: "Eamon Honan." <spire@aoife.indigo.ie>
Subject: Dangerous Toys
System: Call of Cthulhu
DANGEROUS TOYS
An article for the '20s CoC player dealing with firearms
One of the marks of the neophyte CoC player is his (this behaviour
seems to be more pronounced in males) tendency to rely on firearms and
other weapons to deal with the mind destroying horrors of the
Mythos. This behaviour usually ends after several of his characters
meet bad and somewhat crunchy ends. However, more experienced players
disdain firearms as crude and counterproductive. Both viewpoints are
wrong.
Firearms are tools. Dangerous tools. They're less dangerous (in a
metaphysical sense at least) then Mythos tomes and certainly less
important, but never the less they are useful tools that can be used
against the Mythos. Firearms can not and never will solve the
character's problems for them, but used in conjunction with
intelligence, quick thinking and a healthy sense of respect for both
the weapon, other people, and the law, they can be instrumental to the
character's success.
This article is not comprehensive and is merely a collection of my own
observations and thoughts on how guns (and I am the first to admit
that I am no expert on firearms) could be used a little more
intelligently in the game.
TO BRING OR NOT TO BRING?
One of the most important things an investigator can do with a gun is
leave it behind. There are just some situations where a gun, or a
certain type of gun, is simply not appropriate. Shotguns might be
perfectly acceptable in an English country house, but would not be in
a New York speakeasy. This question should be considered particularly
carefully before a character brings a dangerous weapon into other
people's company. Factors in this consideration should include the
legality of the weapon and how likely it would be, if fired, to hurt
innocent bystanders. When an investigator is considering bringing a
weapon into a situation he (or she) should ask him (or herself)
several questions.
1. Will I need a weapon?
Many players arm their characters to the teeth and then say defiantly
"Jake always carries this stuff". This means that Jake will be carting
around a lot of usually useless iron-mongery. However, since many
characters, after several game sessions, will have become so paranoid
that they will not shed their weapons even while in the shower, the
argument that they may not need weapons will sway few. The answer to
this question is usually "yes, just to be on the safe side".
2. Will the weapon cause trouble?
I hate people around me carrying guns. It makes me nervous and jumpy,
and that is a perfectly normal and reasonable feeling to have. People
often react badly, are more restrained, and are less likely to
volunteer information to someone with a gun. The police will certainly
take an interest and will arrest (or shoot while trying to arrest) the
gun(wo)man who is carrying an illegal weapon. Weapons are certainly
not allowed in high society, where those who carry them will be
considered violent boors and will be reported to the police.
While carrying a weapon may be perfectly all right to you because you
are trying to defeat the horrors that face mankind, your fellow humans
will not see it this way. If you must carry a weapon make it as
discrete and legal as possible, and avoid carrying a weapon at all if
it would be counterproductive.
3. Is it of any use?
No one suggests bringing a fire starting kit in a submarine adventure,
or packs evening dress in their pack when they are about to go
spelunking. Unfortunately guns seemed to have acquired an aura of
usefulness that makes investigators loath to live without them. If you
are going to R'lyeh is it really necessary to bring a pistol? Would it
make the slightest bit of difference should you meet up with the Big
C? The answer, you would probably agree, is no.
So, think seriously about the possible usefulness of a gun before you
bring it along. Bring one if you really feel the need. They are an
invaluable tool for signalling (three shots is the internationally
recognised distress call or so I'm told), using as an impromptu
hammer, and for opening locks, and they certainly are useful for
scaring the hell out of people (just don't try asking them for help
afterwards), but don't feel that the heavy ordinance must be brought
on every little jaunt.
4. Will I kill or injure innocent people?
This is a question that investigators all too often forget to ask
themselves. I know that NPCs are just little collections of stats and
names possibly with a shred of personality lodged in between, but it
often disturbs me how casually players deal with "collateral damage".
Remember everyone you kill has a family and friends, and they can
always try and take revenge, perhaps hunting you down like the
murderous bastard that you are*. You are here to save humanity, not
destroy it. While it may not matter to you if a stray bullet or two
hits an old dear that just happens to cross the road at the wrong
time, because it meant that Cthulhu's schemes may have been thwarted,
remember other investigators might consider your life as expendable as
hers.
*or worse, they could sue.
ADVICE FOR SELECTING A WEAPON
Here are a few basic principles that any firearm an investigator is
going to carry should conform to.
* It should be reliable. No matter how much damage it does, or how
cool it is, if it's broken it's not going to do you much good.
* It should be legal, wherever possible. Of course more powerful
weapons are illegal and may still be "necessary". Just remember that
the last thing you need when Cthulhu's hunting you down, are the cops
breaking down your door for possession of illegal weapons.
* It should have high average damage. While that dosn't really matter
with humans (99 times out of a 100, they get hit, they fall over,
bleed and bother you no longer), creatures like Shoggoths or Deep Ones
can take a lot of damage and keep on coming. Being able to dish out a
high average amount of damage per round is much better then hoping for
a high roll with a weapon which may or may not stop whatever is coming
at you.
* They should have a high rate of fire. Investigators tend not to have
great weapon skills, because they're usually scientists, academics, or
boffins of some kind or other. A character with a mediocre or
nonexistent skill with a firearm is much more likely to hit if they
have several shots (usually with less damage unfortunately) then with
one, it stands to reason.
THE GUN CABINET
(or what the well armed investigator is carrying)
This section was written in desperation after my players spent half an
hour yesterday debating the pros and cons of various weapons.
The Tommy Gun - The submachine gun most available to American
investigators (Europeans might try an pick up a German war-surplus
M28). The large calibre bullet and ability to fire bursts (very
important at close range, the range most CoC combats are fought at)
make this an excellent weapon for investigators who don't mind being
hunted by the police.
The .45 MA11 Automatic - The American Army is one of the best killing
machines ever to walk the earth, and such was their faith in this
weapon that they stuck with it (in various incarnations) for 74 years
(1911-1985). You'd have to be mad to neglect a weapon with such a
providence. The .45 does decent damage, is very reliable and while it
is fairly slow to fire (1 shot per round), it can be reloaded quickly
and its large size make it an effective weapon of intimidation.
The Lee-Enfield .303 MK3 Short - Simply the best combat proven rifle
available to 1920s investigators. Used by the British Army through two
world wars in every theatre of operations from the Middle East to
Ireland. The Lee-Enfield fires a heavy rifle cartridge inflicting a
respectable 2d6+3 in damage, is extremely reliable, though like the
.45 slow firing. Its range and the shorter and easier to handle
overall length of the carbine, should make it the rifle of choice for
any expedition.
Shotguns - Shotguns and CoC seem to go together in most people's
minds. This is good because they are the best all round weapon any
party can carry. Carnage at short range? Use pellets. Long range
death dealing? Slugs. Homicidal maniac? Thermite rounds. Shotguns are
cheap, lethal, and legal in virtually all countries. A small .410
sawn-off is about as small as an ordinary sidearm, but very deadly at
close range when loaded with pellets. In the 1920s, the best the
investigators can get legally is the 1897 Winchester 12-gauge, a
pump-action shotgun with a 5 round capacity and a frighteningly high
rate of fire.
.38 Revolver - A very popular gun, reliable, relatively cheap ($25),
and widely available. An excellent murder weapon that can be disposed
of quite easily without hurting the pocket unduly.
B(rowning)A(utomatic)R(ifle)- The nearest thing 1920s investigators
are going to get to an assault rifle. Powerful, reliable, and capable
of firing bursts, this would be CoC players ideal weapon, except for
the fact that its hard to get hold off and real illegal.
1911 Lewis Gun - Anybody who has seen Michael Collins will recognise
this weapon, developed as an infantry weapon when it was discovered
that machine guns could be used in attack as well as in defence. It's
about as lethal as the BAR, with the disadvantage of being bulkier,
but equipped with a 47 round magazine.
The Very Pistol - Keepers across the world will probably hate me for
suggesting this, but this particularly evil idea was dreamt up by a
player of mine. A Very pistol was a flare gun issued to RFC pilots
during the first world war. It was basically a 10-gauge sawn-off
shotgun barrel with pistol grip. It will take flares or ordinary
shotgun rounds with equal ease. However a player of mine wondered what
would happen if you loaded one with a thermite round. In essence, you
have a single shot hold out flame thrower, and if you saw the barrel
down some more and add a trip wire, you have a very lethal trap. There
are several disadvantages however to counteract this rather psychotic
tactic:
* San loss. Using a weapon as hideous as a thermite round on another
human being, will provoke feelings of guilt in any half decent human
being.
* If used as a hold out, strong wind can blow the thermite particles
back at the user.
* In confined spaces the only place the expanding gases can move is
backwards, which can be problem (MU Student flambeau!).
* If you fumble with this weapon you are in real deep doo-doo.
Explosions could remove fingers, hands and even arms. The
napalm-in-your-pocket nature of the weapon making it particularly
dangerous.
NOTES ON GUNS IN COC
Just a word to the wise regarding the material presented above: you
may get the impression that I run a gun heavy game, I don't. 95% of
the time in CoC, if you run in with guns blazing, you will die. I, or
any other Keeper worth his/her salt, will kill you. Intelligence is
the best weapon in CoC, and it will get you much farther then any gun.
The other thing is that a gun is an unearned source of power (like
Elric's Stormbringer) and power almost always corrupts. An
investigator with a gun hasn't earned the power to kill another human
being. He hasn't spent the time and energy required to learn how to
produce a finely machined and highly lethal weapon. He hasn't worked
out how to produce cordite from nitro-cellulose or how to make the
bolt action work efficiently on his rifle. By picking up a gun, you
have written a blank check on another person's life and have made
yourself a little less human into the bargain. Guns are not to be
trifled with.
--------------------
From: Shannon Appel <appel@erzo.org>
Subject: CF: Giant Albino Penguins
System: Mythos
** THE CARD FILES: GIANT ALBINO PENGUINS **
THE CARD
--------
Name: Giant Albino Penguins
Set: Mythos Limited
Type: Monster
Value: 0
Subtype: Lesser Independent
San: ?
Special Effect Box: At the time of playing this card choose the Sanity
point loss, from 0 to -2 points. Joins with any other Monster card.
THE SOURCE
----------
"To say that the white thing did not profoundly frighten us would be
in vain. We were indeed clutched for an instant by a primitive dread
almost sharper than the worst of our reasoned fears... then came a
flash of anticlimax as the white shape sidled into a lateral
archway... for it was only a penguin--albeit of a huge, unknown
species larger than the greatest of the known king penguins, and
monstrous in its combined albinism and virtual eyelessness."
-_At the Mountains of Madness_, H.P. Lovecraft
Deep in the Antarctic is an ancient city that was old before Man first
walked the Earth. It was once the residence of the Elder Things. Now,
the occasional shoggoth may haunt the ruins, but for the most part,
the City of the Elder Things is ruled by a strange race of mindless
Giant Albino Penguins.
CLARIFICATIONS
--------------
Giant Albino Penguins (along with the Buopoth, the Men of Leng, and
the Tcho-Tcho People in MYTHOS: THE DREAMLANDS) can Join with lots of
different things. This required a clarification in how Joining was
supposed to work. It was officially introduced in the DREAMLANDS
rules. It says "Two cards may Join as long as one of them allows this
in its Special Effects box. More than two cards may Join as long as
every combination of two cards in the group Joins".
In essence, Joining isn't super-glue. You can put any number of
Penguins down together with any number of cards that would normally
Join, but can't use them to draw together two groups of cards which
couldn't normally Join. Ie, a Joined set of two Penguins and two Elder
Things is legal; a Joined set of two Penguins and a Shoggoth is legal;
a Joined set of two Penguins, two Elder Things, and a Shoggoth is not
legal. Elder Things and Shoggoths don't get along.
QUESTIONS
---------
Q: I don't understand about spending different points of Sanity!
What's up!? Does the Penguin become more powerful if I spend more
Sanity?
A: No. Giant Albino Penguins are always 0 value. The ability to spend
varying amounts of Sanity is an advantage in itself, as noted in a
few of the STRATEGIES below.
Q: What happens if I use the Kitab Al-Azif to make a Penguin an Ally?
A: It has no value, and thus is immediately buried. This is a clever
way to quickly get a Monster into your Story Deck without waiting
until the end of the Turn.
Q: If you play an Asylum which requires you to flip the top card of
your Mythos Deck, and take the revealed Sanity Gain or Loss, what
happens if you flip a Penguin?
A: Choose the Sanity point loss, from 0 to -2 points.
STRATEGIES
----------
* Drive Yourself Insane - As bizarre as it sounds, you can
occasionally win the game after you've gone insane. This occurs if
your number of points of completed adventures exceeds your
opponent's adventure points plus his Sanity. Usually, even when you
get the opportunity it's hard to pull off. You have to avoid
Sanitariums, desperately cast spells, and even that's often not
enough. Giant Albino Penguins can reduce your Sanity really
quickly. Not only can each one cost up to 2 points (meaning that you
can blow 8 Sanity if you have four in your hand), but they'll also
make your opponents over-react, and put big Monsters opposite
you. When you're sitting at 8 Sanity, but will win if you go insane,
you can put down a two Sanity Penguin, and then take it in the teeth
when your opponent reveals the Shoggoth he mistakenly pointed at
you. 8 Sanity points are gone, and you win!
* Don't Drive Your Opponent Insane - Sometimes, you'll be in the
opposite situation. Your opponent wins if he goes insane, but you
really need to get a Monster out (for A Day in the Life of a
Miskatonic University Student, or a similar Adventure). Penguins are
the perfect harmless critter. They even make great pets.
* Hide Big Monsters - Opponents will react different if you put out a
single -2 Sanity Monster (immediate assumption: a 6 point Monster),
then if you put out two Monsters that total -2 Sanity (immediate
assumption: two 3 point Monsters). If you want to really thump an
opponent, Join a Penguin with a big Monster, and then point the
big Monster at the opponent you want to thump, and the Penguin at
some other rube. Your victim will probably defend appropriately for
a 3 or 4 point Monster, and you'll be able to sneak a few, hopefully
critical, points of damage through. This tactic is especially useful
with the Gnoph-Keh and the Martin's Beach Monster, since they also
get rid of Allies. If you join a Gnoph-Keh and a Penguin, and attack
an opponent with just the Gnoph-Keh, he may block with a single
three point Ally, who is destroyed by the Gnoph-Keh's cold,
resulting in your opponent taking 5 points of very unexpected
damage.
* Hide Special Monsters - If you drop down two Monsters, and declare
that they total -1 Sanity, expert players of Mythos will assume
you've put down either a Deep One and Dagon/Hydra or two Living
Dead. But, you could really have played a Penguin and a Nightgaunt,
perhaps resulting in some Allies very unexpectedly being flown away
(after all, your opponent never expected a Nightgaunt, given the
combined Sanity value). My Gnoph-Keh example, above, actually
took advantage of this strategy as well. The opponent didn't expect
a Gnoph-Keh when the combined Sanity value of two Monsters was -2.
* Bait! - If you're putting enough Monsters out to attract Instability
in the Mythos, Penguins are very helpful. If you're playing other
Lesser Independents into your threat, and your opponent is sitting
on top of a Summon/Control Lesser Independent Spell, Penguins will
also be useful. Decks heavy in Joining Monsters or in Lesser
Independents can both be supported by Penguins for this reason.
* The Great Menagerie - This DREAMLANDS adventure requires that you
play Monsters of four different subtypes. Penguins work well with
this Adventure because they can be joined with a different subtype
of Monster, thus you can play two subtypes at the same gate. Works
great with Father Dagon, Mother Hydra and Deep Ones, though you'll
still need a Greater Independent, a Living Dead, a Great Old One, or
an Outer God.
* Adventures Requiring Multiple Monsters - A few other Adventures
require two or three Monsters. If you use N'gah-Kthun, the Mi-Go,
and Penguins, you can have up to 9 Joining critters. If you use
Father Dagon, Mother Hydra, Deep Ones, a Shoggoth, and Giant Albino
Penguins, you can have up to 11 Joining critters. Either way, you'll
be able to finish the Adventure more quickly, because you'll be able
to play more Monsters at a single gate. (Thanks to Cedric Chin.)
COUNTER STRATEGIES
------------------
* Know Your Opponent - Once you know your opponent has Penguins, and
can account for this when figuring out how to block his Monsters,
you're a little bit ahead of the game. However, he still can
counter-bluff you.
* Know Your Opponent's Threat - For the first time, in DREAMLANDS,
you'll find cards that can be used to look at an opponent's threat.
Make use of these powers when you think your opponent is trying to
bluff. The Ring of Eibon can also be useful in this instance (and
see V17.8 for even more reasons to use the Ring of Eibon).
--
Past card files may be found at:
http://www.sirius.com/~chaosium/mythos.html
--------------------
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