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Chaosium Digest Volume 28 Number 08
Chaosium Digest Volume 28, Number 8
Date: Sunday, August 15, 1999
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
* Call of Something Else? (CTHULHU)
by Adrian Forest dalziel@hotmail.com
* Cat's Cradle (CTHULHU)
by Andy Andyc2@netcomuk.co.uk
* Letalis Scientia (CTHULHU)
by Hamdula@Neosoft.com
Editor's Note:
Three articles dealing with Call of Cthulhu await you in
this issue. My thanks to all the authors for their
submissions. Keep 'em coming!
Call of... Something Else? by Adrian Forest discusses the
versatility of CoC's game mechanics and how the author uses
them for games other than investigating the machinations of
the Elder Gods.
Cat's Cradle by Andy involves a perennial aspect of the
Mythos, cats and the what happens to those that abuse the
children of Bast.
Lastly, Letalis Scientia is a new tome to bedevil
investigators. Enjoy!
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
* Greetings!
I am looking for a few GMs to run Call of Cthulhu, ,
Pendragon, Nephilim and Elric at two upcoming cons in Calif.
The first is ZellaCon which will be held in Sacramento on
Aug. 28 & 29 at the Holiday Inn near the Sunrise Blvd Exit
of Hwy 50. All of the gate proceeds of this one will go to
the Lukemia Society so I'd really like to help these guys
out! So far we have at least 1 Call of Cthulhu, Elric&
Nephilim game and a
Mythos tournament scheduled.
I could also use more GMs for the Strategicon event in L.A.
labor day weekend for all of the same games. It will be held
near L.A. International airport (I've forgotten the hotel
but it's on their website). They run a wonderful con and
treated all of the GMs that I sent to their last one very
well.
As usual all GMs who run 2 games will receive free admission
and a little swag from yours truly .
Those interested please reply to this e-mail address
paposehn@juno.com
* PAGAN PUBLISHING SHIPS DELTA GREEN: COUNTDOWN
Small Animals Seen To Behave Strangely Hours Before Dreaded
Event August 3, 1999
Amid a fanfare of trumpets and the cries of the damned,
Pagan Publishing shipped its long-awaited new Call of
Cthulhu sourcebook, DELTA GREEN: COUNTDOWN. A sequel to the
best-selling and Origins award-winning DELTA GREEN, DG:CD
presents 432 pages of all-new material. From castration
cults to warring ghoul factions, mind-controlling insects to
occult corporate mergers, paranormal television shows to
brainwashing facilities, DELTA GREEN: COUNTDOWN offers a
grim new world of horror and conspiracy.
Like a reunited Bangles tour, DG:CD features the original
stellar line-up of DELTA GREEN authors Dennis Detwiller,
Adam Scott Glancy, and John Tynes, as well as cover artist
Blair Reynolds and illustrators Toren Atkinson, Dennis
Detwiller, Heather Hudson, and John T. Snyder.
More information and a cover preview can be found at Pagan's
website:
http://www.tccorp.com
<- John Tynes - rev@tccorp.com -
http://www.John.Tynes.com/ ->
Our fate is told in the stars themselves. Our lives have
no meaning, our world has no hope. Nothing lies before us
but death and coleopterans.
* Dear Authors and Artists,
with your help and skills we would like to fill another
volume of Ybot - Ybot 3. We are looking for articles, myths,
stories, art, scenarios, notes, transcripts etc. for
Glorantha, Hero Wars, RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, Elric!,
Hawkmoon, Pendragon and Nephilim.
We do not have any specific guidelines or topic per issues,
we just want your stuff en gross. There is no limitation in
space per author so just send your stuff in.
Deadline will be the 1. March 2000 (1.3.2000). This is
because we would like to assign artists to special
articles/scenarios this time, improve our layout and
editorial work.
All files should be send in an email as plain text or as
word attachment. Artwork should be send versa email or
pc-readable disc/zip.
Yours
Fabian Kuechler
--
Fabian Kuechler
fabian.kuechler@medien.uni-weimar.de
~TENTACLES-Convention
-----------------------------
Call of=85Something Else?
Recently I have been working on a PbeM RPG based on Gainax=92s
Neon Genesis Evangelion (NGE) and using the Call of Cthulhu
rules. I had a look at all the two other systems I own
(White Wolf=92s =91Vampire: The Masquerade=92 and Dream Pod 9=92s
Heavy Gear), and those ten more odd systems owned by
friends, and finally decided on the CoC rules to base my
game on. I had to make a few little changes (such as taking
out the Cthulhu Mythos skill and related mechanics), but
other than that, it seems to fit perfectly. This set me
thinking about the CoC rules, how and why they work, and why
they seem to fit so well into other settings. This forms the
basis of the following article.
Why use CoC?
The reasons I chose to use the CoC rules for my PbeM game,
rather than any of the multitude of other systems I could
have tried may shed some light on the way the rules work,
therefore I will now explain those reasons.
So exactly why did I choose CoC? Well, for a start, I liked
the rules mechanics for skills. I have played many RPGs over
the years, and I have never encountered a system in which
skills work as well as they do in CoC. This, I feel, is
because the CoC rules allow you so much room to maneuver as
far as a character=92s expertise goes. I mean, a hundred
points! Most systems have skill grading systems that grade a
character=92s expertise out of five, ten, twenty or even fifty
points, but CoC allows one hundred points of variation
between absolute ignorance and total knowledge, and then
uses this huge grading range to construct a mechanism that
allows you to determine a skill=92s success or failure with a
single roll of two dice!
Another deciding point for me was the Sanity mechanics. Now
no other system that I know of has such an effective
mechanism for the effects of morale. Simple as that. A very
simple mechanism for a very simple concept, i.e. is the
situation you are faced with extreme enough to make your
character break down or not. In CoC=92s own setting, the
answer usually depends on whether the investigators have
done their job properly, but in my NGE game, I plan to use
the Sanity mechanics to determine the characters=92 reactions
to the inhuman menace of the angels, beings dedicated
seemingly dedicated to the destruction of man, and creatures
just as likely to cause catatonia or other unpleasant
effects as say, a minor Great Old One.
Seamless Blending
Another point where CoC is superior to other systems I have
encountered is the area of blending the rules with the
story. I see role-playing as basically a film or play where
the cast doesn=92t know the plot until it happens, with the
rules used to keep things fair. CoC=92s system allows you to
use the rules as a skeleton over which to place the story,
perhaps even removing a few unnecessary bones or moving
others in the process. I have had many reasons for this
posited to me over the few years I have been playing CoC,
and many of them may even have been right, but for me its
just the smooth craftsmanship of the rules, and a great
allowance for interpretation. For instance, in an example
from the 5th ed. Rulebook a Keeper uses the Biology skill in
combination with a Luck roll to determine whether or not a
character knows any biologists at MU. This is a great
example of the craftsmanship of the game, using a smooth
combination of rolls to decide a given dispute, and in my
experience most situations can be resolved by such a
combination at the most. Thus, very few are the occasions
when play must stop while the GM (or Keeper, whichever you
prefer) looks up the rules for say, exploding ships weighing
between 150 and 200 tons.
Cthulhu Rests
In conclusion, the reasons given above are among the many
why CoC works well in most campaign settings, with only
minor modifications, and why indeed the rules themselves
work so well. I have yet to see a better system for true
=91role=92-playing that favors interpretation over rules lawyer
literalism, and I will continue to use the system for other
campaigns in the future. On a last note, ask yourself this:
If the CoC game system wasn=92t so versatile, how then could
it have survived relatively unchanged from the first edition
to the present sixth?
--------------------------------
Cat's Cradle
-----------------
Over-view: This adventure is not so much concerned with the
mythos as it is with a fringe element of Cthulhu: Bast
(although strictly speaking she does not appear in this
adventure [not to the investigator anyway]). It may be
helpful to read 'The Cats of Ulthar' short story (By
Lovecraft for those who don't know) in order to understand
the tone of this adventure... Anyway, the adventure takes
place at a cat's home (located in or near the investigators
home town/city), where a series of bizarre and grisly
murders are puzzling the police.
What the Investigators can be told before the adventure:
The cat's home (feel free to select a name for this location
which demonstrates the human ability to find a silly pun for
any business proposition) has been the site of three grisly
murders, where the victim in each case has been a worker
found with all the flesh stripped from their bones. The
workers have been identified by their dental records. The
police are confused... Evidence suggests that the flesh
(which has never been found) was stripped from the bodies
while they were still alive, and yet took only ten minutes
at most in each case
(due to window of opportunity of other people passing
through etc.).
What is going on: The cat's home unscrupulously hires
people who can't find work anywhere else (immigrants are a
favorite), and pays them incredibly low wages. The cats
are not well treated, partly due to conditions at the cat
home (prospective clients are only shown a nice area, where
they believe their cat will be looked after in a luxurious
manner...), and partly due to low standards and poor
training. As a result, the cats have been getting annoyed,
to say the least (especially when several of their number
became afflicted with malnutrition), which has come to the
attention of
Bast. She has granted the cats the power to escape from
their cages on full moons and to subsequently feast upon one
victim on that night. So far, only minor employees have
been attacked, while the manager, who most deserves this
punishment, has been left unmolested, since he works from an
office elsewhere in cat home, not in the cage area.
Looking for Evidence: Here are some summaries of what
players may be able to find - feel free to add to or edit
the information given here depending on how hard you want
your players to work to get to the truth.
* Autopsy results: characters in the police force, or
forensic scientists may be able to find records of the
autopsy results. These suggest that the bones recovered
have many small scratch marks upon them. A comment is added
[in writing] by the police officer in charge of the
investigation that no animals were loose in the area. The
players will probably need to do some espionage and sneaking
around, as this document will quickly be recovered by Delta
Green and placed in classified section.
* Interviews with workers at the cat home: These should
reveal the lack of skill and experience among the workers at
the cat home, but is unlikely to reveal anything else, other
than that most are scared and would quit if they could find
work anywhere else. Some extreme cases may beg the players
to offer them manual work (e.g., mowing the lawn).
* Interview with the manager: He will claim that he follows
high standards at the cat home, and if the players manage to
see the location of the cat cages, he will try to bribe them
to keep quiet about what they've seen (this is how he
prevented the police from calling in the authorities in
respect to animals). He will be willing to pay up to
=A3/$/[currency of your choice]500. However, the players may
need to make ethical checks (as seen in a previous issue) if
they accept.
* Research in an occult library: [probably a firm favorite
for experienced players]: Will turn up very little, unless
a player is clever enough to search for references to cat
deities, in which case a reference to Bast will be found, as
well as modern claims by authors that Bast sometimes
punishes those who mistreat cats. Make sure the players are
aware that these latter claims are in the leagues of people
who claim that Elvis has been abducted by aliens...
What can the characters do?: The only way to prevent the
deaths (as they'll never be able to convince the police of
the truth) is to somehow bring the manager to justice. If
the players are moral, this will involve trying to find
non-corrupt police officers and showing them the state of
the cat home. If the players cannot do this, they might
want to contact the cat owners when they return from
holiday, who will either sue the manager (and ending the
business), or take the law into their own hands (some owners
have been known to kill for their pets...). However, it is
more poetic if the players work out from the dates of the
deaths that this occurs only on full moons, and than trick
the manager into being a victim of the cats, which will
finally end the killings.
The method of ending the suffering of the cats is not
particularly important, so long as it occurs. If the
players fail to solve this mystery, the following murders
will cost them 1d4 sanity per case, until about the 4th,
when they will gradually become callous to the murders. Of
course, the continued suffering of the cats may eventually
bring them to the home of the Investigators... If the
players do succeed, Bast *may* be grateful enough to reward
them with a SMALL gift. Remember that Bast is more likely
to send the players pet cats to care for, than a spell which
causes wide spread death...at most the spell might offer
some protection to the owner from mundane (or possibly
mythos) threats.
Hints to the Keeper: The horror in this adventure mostly
occurs off stage. If you want to bring the horror to the
investigators, casually comment on the increasing numbers of
alley cats in their neighborhood, and the way they always
stop to watch the players. When they go to the cage area,
comment on how the cats make a tremendous amount of sound
before they go through the door to the cage room, but become
completely silent when they enter the room. Little things
designed to make the players scared to death of cats...
--------------------------------
Letalis Scientia (Fatal Knowledge) by Cry.Sys
Unknown Author, one edition.
Written in Latin, only 5 works (4 copies of the original
body) exist,
written in pre-1300's.
+14 Cthulhu Mythos, x3 Spell Multiplier (Bah. Just use 2d6
weeks study
per spell. :P )
-1d4 to skim, -1d10 to read.
2d6 months study or one full year, Keeper's choice.
All copies were rebound in 1342 in metal covers and
bindings. Very clanky and loud when moved or disturbed, yet
very protected.
History:
Brucker Heimlich was a German Monk studying in the early
1300s, in Munich, Germany. He worked as a scribe, copying
books for the monastery's library. Within his first month
there, he came into possession of a text from the deeper
catacombs. He spent many years making copies, specially
bound in protective cases. The original was placed back into
the crypts below the monastery in Munich, in an unknown and
unrecorded alcove. In the 1800s, the alcove was cut off when
many of the tunnels became cut off from walling up the
passages for privacy. Of the remaining copies, one made its
way to Rome, one kept for the monastery in Munich, and two
were taken with Heimlich on his journeys to France. Heimlich
perished in 1348, when the Black Plague spread into France.
Among his possessions, neither of the two books could be
found by investigating priests.
Today, only two copies can be accounted for. One, the copy
that was sent to the Vatican was later taken by the Order of
St. Jerome when it split from the church. Their copy
currently resides in their secret monastery, hidden away in
a dusty library, and passed up by the Order when they could
study their copies of the Necronomicon instead. Two, the
original copy that was taken from the crypts under Munich.
There is no reason to assume that its location has changed,
even if all records of that location are lost.
The Curse of the Book:
The tomes contain a symbol around each page numbering that
are a trademark of the writer. For every month (treat as 4
weeks or so), the reader of the book must roll a POW vs POW
resistance roll to resist the vampiric powers of the book's
symbol. This should be a secret roll kept from the player.
On success, no effect takes place. On failure, the sign
shows up in the reader's dreams, unfolding like and origami
crane to reveal something icky and dripping of ichor. Roll
for -1d6 SAN points. As a result of the sleeplessness and
the dream, study of the book must be stopped for one day,
because the reader seems to think the letters are moving and
changing on him. If work is continued never the less, rule
that
the day of study was fruitless and must continue tomorrow
anew. There are two ways to avoid the sign. One, by dripping
a drop of the reader's blood on each sign before that page
is read. It is said that one could tell the reader of this
book from his hands, and the bandages over all his fingers
from the blood giving. Two, to actually read the book
backwards. This is no ordinary feat, and requires much more
time to work through the text, along with much note taking.
To do this, rule it takes twice as long to read. Research
into the symbol will find references in De Vermiis
Mysteriis, the Necronomicon, the R'lyeh Text, etc. While the
book is not as old as these texts, the symbol is.
Spells in the Book:
S/B Byakhee, S/B Hunting Horror, S/B Servitor of the Outer
Gods, S/B Fire Vampire, C/D Hastur, C/D Azathoth, Create
Gate, Elder Sign, Powder of Ibn-Ghazi, Body Warping of
Gorgoroth, Black Binding, Create Bad-Corpse Dust, Create
Mist of Releh, Flesh Ward, Eibon's Wheel of Mist, Enchant
Cane, Enchant Lance, Eye of Light and Darkness, Heal,
Implant Fear, Enthrall Victim, Mindblast, Voice of Ra,
Deflect Harm, and Wither Limb.
Author's Purpose for creating Letalis Scientia:
Necronomicon. Everyone recognizes its name, and will try to
capture a copy for the knowledge and power it brings. Same
thing with the other juicy Mythos tome names. All of those
are great, and Lovecraftian, but sometimes you want
something new. Letalis Scientia is found in no Lovecraft
story and no supplement. It is a complete mystery to the
Investigators. I wanted a powerful, Necronomicon-like tome
that would hold a little more mystery than the other well
known tomes.
Suggestions for games:
One, the Investigators could attempt to go after the
original text in the catacombs of Munich. The closed off
sections should be winding and collapsed, as well as filled
with other dangers. Perhaps something down there has been
attracted by the book?
Two, a group of occultists locate the book, and begin using
it to start a cult. This is what I personally have used it
for so far.
Three, create a small 'retrieval' type scenario where the
investigators must get a copy of it and insert it into your
scenario somewhere as a total unrelated red herring. I was
thinking about using it in 'Fungi From Yuggoth' to distract
the investigators in Romania, and give the Baron Hauptman
more time for his escape. Naturally, he would summon
something to his castle to watch it, and it would notify him
of the investigators arrival, allowing him to send the
message to Katif and not mess up the story line. :)
--
