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Chaosium Digest Volume 25 Number 01
Chaosium Digest Volume 25, Number 1
Date: Sunday, April 5, 1998
Number: 5 of 5
Contents:
>From Foreign Shores, Part 5 (Paul Williams) CALL OF CTHULHU
--------------------
From: "Paul Williams" <paulw@betanet.co.uk>
Subject: From Foreign Shores, Part 5
System: Call of Cthulhu
Scene 51: The God awakens!
At some point during the Investigators' exploration the magic chaining
Father Dagon fades, releasing him from a four thousand-year
slumber. Wherever the Investigators are in the tomb they feel the
walls and floor vibrate heavily for a few moments. Then everything
stops and a deathly silence hangs over the tomb. Seconds later a loud
and bloodcurdling roar echoes through the tomb, its source unknown.
Hearing so alien a sound in such claustrophobic conditions causes the
Investigator to make a SAN roll or lose 1d2 SAN points.
Father Dragon has been released in the main shrine and the only
passageway he can take is the one to the outside world. Unfortunately
he tries to widen one of the other passageways first and begins to
smash the walls, sending vibrations throughout the entire tomb. He
keeps this up for several minutes before giving up and going outside.
If the Investigators rush straight to the shrine they see Father Dagon
in his full horror and must make appropriate SAN checks. Should they
delay in investigating then when they arrive they see the shrine
covered in pieces of fallen masonry and notice that the large statue
of the fish-man god Oannes is missing. The horrifying implications of
this are enough for the Investigators to make a SAN roll or lose 1d2
SAN points.
Unless Father Dagon is stopped by the Investigators he marches through
the desert towards the temple the Investigators visited earlier in
their investigations. Along the way he destroys three villages and
devours their populations. Four thousand years of hunger needs to be
sated, remember. Once at the temple he enters the pool and travels
along the tunnels to the Mediterranean Sea, emerging roughly one month
later.
Investigators who willingly shy away from destroying him and
eventually return to civilisation soon find out about the massacred
villages and must make SAN checks or lose 1d4 SAN through knowing that
they could possibly have prevented the wanton destruction.
Scene 52: Epilogue
Once the foul Father Dagon has been thwarted the Investigators are
free to leave the tomb. Come dawn the tomb reseals itself for another
four thousand years, shutting off its ghastly inhabitants from the
world of man. The horror is over, for now.
Getting back to Alexandria should be a matter of course for the
intrepid Investigators and once there they are free to depart back to
America armed with more knowledge of the Cthulhu Mythos. Hopefully the
Investigators have made some good friends in Alexandria and will feel
the urge to visit the land of Egypt again in the future.
They have no trouble removing the Mythos books or items they have
acquired from Egypt and the trip back is uneventful, and indeed
extremely boring, compared to the adventures they have had in the last
week.
And Professor Hutchinson? He is tried under Islamic law and found not
guilty of murder. The case regarding the missing students is listed as
Death by Unknown Causes and is generally attributed to a cave-in in an
underground tomb. The professor is sent back to America. On the
journey back he jumps ship into the Atlantic two days before it docks
in Boston and is never heard from again. The story is reported in the
Arkham papers.
Scene 53: Recovering SAN
Throughout the adventure the Investigators can recover some of their
SAN by defeating the various Mythos creatures they encounter.
Defeating the cultists in the desert is worth only 1d6 San points, as
is fighting off the Sand People (the first because they are human, the
second because the only possible way out of the situation is to flee).
For completing the entire adventure and protecting the world from
Father Dagon for a few more millennia each Investigator receives an
extra ld20 SAN points, on lop of the rewards for defeating Father
Dagon.
THE END?
** APPENDIX A: TOMES & SPELLS
THE DARK TRUTHS OF THE EGYPTIAN PEOPLE
- In Latin, Septimus Philo, c. 325
Although not a true Mythos tome, it accurately describes several
Egyptian legends, which have a basis in the Mythos. Some of the
stories, such as that of the great sphinx, are well known to
historians as a myth but others, such as the real nature of the Sea
People, are not known at all. The author claims to have travelled to
Egypt and seen many unspeakable sights with his own eyes but his
location descriptions are very vague and only one site has a temple as
described by the author.
Sanity loss 1d2/1d4 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +3 percentile, spell
multiplier x2
Spells:
- Bringing Life to the Children of the Stars (Summon/Bind Fire
Vampire).
- Invoke the Power of Thoth (Call/Dismiss Azathoth).
- Summon Forth the Howling Wind of the Underworld (Contact Flying
Polyp).
PAPYRUS SCRAP FOUND AT CEREMONY
in Arabic, unknown, c. 1458
This is little more than a scrap of papyrus containing a spell. The
villagers who worship Dagon use the spell when they wish to make
contact with his children, the deep ones. Anyone skimming the text
will immediately know that virtually the entire text is one long
ritual although the exact nature of the ritual is unknown.
Sanity loss 1/d2 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +1 percentile, spell
multiplier x4
Spells:
- Ritual to Bring Forth People from the Western Sea (contact Deep
One).
GEMHETEP PAPYRUS
[originally appeared in White Dwarf magazine]
in Egyptian hieroglyphics, Gemhetep, 1437BC
A powerful sorcerer wrote this papyrus in the time shortly after the
Black Pharaoh reigned. It covers standard Egyptian topics, such as
rites for embalming the dead, giving the dead protection in the
afterlife and also for bringing their spirit back to the mundane
world. A section at the back covers Egyptian alchemy and lists
instructions and ingredients needed to create a number of poisons and
elixirs.
Sanity loss 1d8/2d8 Sanity points, Cthulhu Mythos +15 percentile,
spell multiplier x5
Spells:
- Chant of Attracting the Nomads of the Endless Desert (contact
Sand-Dweller).
- Incantation of Gaining the Wisdom of Thoth (Contact Nyarlathotep).
- Sacred Compound of Revealing the Things that cannot be seen (Powder
of Ibn-Ghazi).
- Spreading the Spawn of Apep upon the Earth (Summon/Bind Hunting
Horror).
- The Magical Elixir of Journeying to the Home of the Gods (Brew Space
Mead).
RITUAL OF CONTACTING THE GREAT FATHER (Contact Father Dagon)
This ritual must be cast within twenty miles of a deep one settlement
if the caster wishes it to work. Once cast the caster receives a
vision from Father Dragon when he next sleeps. Whether the vision is
beneficial, meaningful, or even relevant to the caster is up to the
individual Keeper. Using the spell and having the subsequent vision
costs the caster 1d4 SAN points.
** APPENDIX B: STATISTICS
BLACK PHARAOH ASSASSIN
STR 12 CON 14 SIZ 12
INT 11 POW 10 DEX 10
Move 8, HP 13, Sanity Points 0
Weapons:
Dagger 50%, damage 1d4+2
Garrotte 20%, damage 1d3 choke per round, STR vs. STR to break free
Skills: Archaeology 5%, Astronomy 5%, Conceal 45%, Cthulhu Mythos 35%,
Hide 75%, listen 55%, Occult 20%, Other Language (English) 15%, Sneak
60%, Spot Hidden 45%
BYAKHEE
STR 19 CON 9 SIZ 17
INT 9 POW 11 DEX 13
Move 5/20 flying, HP 13 Sanity loss 1/1d6
Weapons:
Claw 35%, damage 1d6+1d6
Bite 35%, damage 1d6 + blood drain
Armour: 2 points of fur and rough hide
Skills: Listen 50%, Spot Hidden 50%
CULTIST PRIEST
Attributes are all 11, except POW 15
Move 8, HP 11, Sanity Points 0
Weapons:
Punch 55%, damage 1d3
Dagger 45%, damage 1d4+ 2
Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 15%, Occult 40%, Speak Arabic 55%, Speak
English 20%, Spot Hidden 20%
Spells: Summon/Bind Byakhee, Contact Deep Ones, Contact Cthulhu
TYPICAL CULTISTS
Attributes are all 11
Move 8, HP 11, Sanity Points 20
Weapons:
Punch 55%, damage 1d3
Rifle 30%, damage 1d6+2
Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 5%, Occult 20%, Speak Arabic 55%, Speak English
20%, Spot Hidden 30%
SAND DWELLERS
STR 10 CON 13 SIZ 17
INT 10 POW 11 DEX 13
Move 8, HP 15, Sanity Loss 0/1d6
Weapons:
Claw 30%, damage 1d6 +1d4
Armour: 3 points of rough hide
Skills: Hide 60%, Sneak 50%, Spot Hidden 50%
SHOGGOTH
STR 62 CON 14 SIZ 75
INT 3 POW 10 DEX 4
Move 10 rolling, HP 59, Sanity Loss: 1d6/1d20
Weapons:
Crush 80%, damage 8d6
Armour: none but (1) Fire and electrical attacks do only half damage;
(2) physical weapons such as firearms do only 1 point of damage,
impaling or not; (3) it regenerates 2 hit points per round.
FORMLESS SPAWN
STR 17 CON 14 SIZ 26
INT 17 POW 15 DEX 19
Move 12, HP 20, Sanity loss 1/1d10
Weapons:
Whip* 90%, damage 1d6
Tentacle** 60%, damage 2d6
Bludgeon 20%, damage 2d6
Bite 30%, damage special
* May seek to Grapple rather than do damage, range is the Spawn's SIZ
in yards.
** May strike 1d3 opponents in a round, and may seek to Grapple rather
than do damage; range equals the Spawn's SIZ in yards.
Armour: They are immune to all physical weapons, even enchanted ones
and wounds made by them simply snap closed after being opened. Spells
may affect them, as may fire, chemicals and other forces.
FATHER DAGON
STR 52 CON 50 SIZ 60
INT 20 POW 30 DEX 20
Move 10, HP 65, Sanity loss 1/1d10
Weapons:
Claw 80%, damage 7d6
Armour: 6 point skin
Spells: although Father Dagon knows many spells he is hungry and
confused after his long imprisonment and will not use any during this
adventure.
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