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Chaosium Digest Volume 30 Number 06
Chaosium Digest Volume 30, Number 6
Date: Sunday, February 20, 2000
Number: 1 of 2
Contents:
* The Thirteenth Man (CTHULHU)
by Matt "Monster Fashion" Sanborn
monsterfashion@earthlink.net
* Personality Rules (ELRIC!)
by Alexandre Lanciani alexanl@tin.it
Editor's Note:
First off, a hearty welcome to all the new subscribers that have shown up the
past couple of weeks. Since getting mentioned on the Chaosium homepage, a day
hasn't gone by without at least one new subscriber showing up!
This week we have a classic horror movie style Call of Cthulhu adventure and
rules for adding personality traits to Elric! games. As noted last issue, all
Call of Cthulhu, Elric! and Nephilim articles qualify for the quarterly Chaosium
Contest. Even though they don't count for the contest, I still gladly accept
Pendragon, Delta Green and Glorantha submissions.
The deadline for the next contest will be March 31st. The winner gets a copy of
the upcoming Call of Cthulhu Keepers Screen
<http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/rpg/2387.shtml> for their winning Cthulhu,
Elric! or Nephilim submission. So, keep those submissions coming!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Radio Free Leng: FREE AGAIN!
After 162 days of siege, the Leng Embassy has finally beaten back the Lloigor
hoards who have jammed our transmissions since September 1999. Those Lloigor
REALLY didn't want you to hear our broadcasts. To read the rest of the story,
check out our previous R'lyeh Reports at the Chaosium
website: http://www.chaosium.com
Thank you Shannon Appel for that way cool Dismiss Lloigor Scum spell. You're no
average sorcerer!
So much has happened since our last broadcast that one hardly knows where to
begin.
Our Call of Cthulhu soft-cover Rulebook (2376) went out of print and has been
replaced by a swell hardcover version (2386). Our Cuddly Cthulhus released and
went out of print immediately. We released Last Rites (2379) for modern day
COC. We Released Tales Out of Innsmouth (6017). Our Elder Party Nomination Kit
(2383) came and went, but we have a Presidential kit in the works. The Website
has seen some action bringing (mostly) into the new millennium.
Web Page Happenings
As most of you know, our web page is being dragged into the 21st century one URL
at a time. Recently, we added a Call of Cthulhu intro section, a section about
H.P. Lovecraft, a section for the Necronomicon, a web resources section, a new
nifty links section, and plenty of general updates to much of the site. You can
access all the new sections through our new page footer. More changes are just
around the corner, so keep an eye out for them. The Book of Dzyan (6027) is now
at the printer.
Planning for the Big Cons
It's hard to believe but the first event deadlines for Origins and GenCon have
already come and gone. If you plan on attending either event, why not run some
Chaosium games? We'll provide prizes for your event so long as we know about it
in advance. You can submit events online and read more about the conventions at
the WOTC/Hasbro website: http://www.wizards.com/origins/ORG2K/Welcome.asp
Want To see more "X"?
Would you like to see more Chaosium releases? Do you want to see more books for
your favorite game line? Well you, the individual gamer can make that happen. Go
to your local retail shop, game club, or convention and run some Chaosium games.
Show some new folks how to play your favorite games. When those new gamers start
buying books on their own, demand for your favorite game increases at your local
shop, with their game distributors, and finally right here at Ye Old Chaosium.
Since we're not independently wealthy or owned by a mega-entertainment
corporation, and since we rely upon our books to pay the rent, we (and any
other professional game company) can only afford print what we can profitably
sell. You folks are all-powerful when it comes to deciding what game lines any
given company can support. The adventure games market is a pretty small pond: go
make some waves!
Upcoming Shows & Appearances: FEB & MAR
You can catch the Chaosium or Wizard's Attic dudes at the following shows. Swing
by and say howdy!
DunDraCon
Website: http://www.dundracon.com
Email: Steve Henderson(ashland@ccnet.com)
Where: Concord, California USA
Dates: February 18, 2000 - February 21, 2000
Location: Marriott Hotel in San Ramon
Description: Gaming Convention.
Charlie Krank (Chaosium) and Eric Rowe (Wizard's Attic)
Sign up to run some games!
GAMA Trade Show
Website: http://www.gama.org/
Email: Wendy(OneGamaGal@aol.com.)
Where: Las Vegas, Nevada USA
Dates: March 20, 2000 - March 23, 2000
Location: The Orleans Hotel and Casino
Description: National Trade Show
You can meet Chaosium dudes Charlie Krank and Dustin Wright.
Eric Rowe & Dustin Wright of The Wizard's Attic will be here too.
AggieCon 31
Website:
http://charlotte.tamu.edu/MSC/CepheidVariable/aggiecon/
Email: (aggiecon@msc.tamu.edu)
Where: College Station, Texas USA
Dates: March 23-26, 2000
Location: Memorial Student Center on the Texas A&M campus
Description: Gaming, Science Fiction Convention.
The southwest's oldest and largest student-run Gaming Convention.
The Leng Embassy staff will be here! Sign up to run some games!
**RECENTLY RELEASED!**
Last Rites four adventures for Call of Cthulhu
2379 $14.95 ISBN 1-56882-137-9
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/2379.shtml
Call of Cthulhu RPG (Hardcover)
2386 $37.95 ISBN 1-56882-148-4
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/rpg/2386.shtml
** UPCOMING CHAOSIUM RELEASES**
MARCH
>Book Of Dzyan
6027 $13.95 ISBN 1-56882-114-X
At The Printer Now!
Nonfiction. A discussion of Blavatsky's famous book, the mysterious Book of
Dzyan, the heart of the secret books of Kie-Te, once known only to Tibetan
mystics. Includes lengthy quotes. Excerpts from the Society for Psychical
Research's 1885 report on the eye-opening phenomena connected with the
Theosophical Society. Editor Maroney's biographical essay for Madame Blavatsky
starts off the volume with a fascinating portrait of an amazing woman. Mention
of Dzyan in H.P. Lovecraft's writing is made.
>CALL OF CTHULHU Keeper's Screen
#2387 $14.95 ISBN 1-56882-149-2
CALL OF CTHULHU GM's (Keepers of Forbidden Lore) can now keep their secrets in
style. This new three panel Keepers Screen is jam-packed with vital GM
information presented in any easy to use at a glance format. The player's side
of the screen features awesome Philippe Caza artwork worthy of its own sanity
check. This product includes a new introductory scenario perfect for beginning
investigators and keepers alike, as well as three 4-page game aids (weapons
table with an alien weapons section, a new 4-page summary of nearly all the rule
book spells, and some character sheet masters to jump-start your new Call of
Cthulhu game).
-----------------------------
The Thirteenth Man, a 1920s Call of Cthulhu Adventure.
By: Matt "Monster Fashion" Sanborn
Setting: This adventure is set in Maine, near Christmas 1925. It is made for
players of newspaper reporters or freelance writers. When we play tested it,
two reporters were sent up to Maine as a punishment for writing pro-Darwinism
articles in their paper's editorial columns. They ended up getting a much
bigger story than they had been planning.
Players Information: The player's editor or agent received a phone call the day
before Christmas from a woman named Wanda. She informed him that world-renowned
avante garde film director Max Krieg, has arrived in America and hidden himself
away in Maine at a private camp to film his ultimate work, Der Dreizig Mann,
(The Thirteenth Man). This would be a huge scoop on all the other papers in the
country. "The great Max Krieg filming his masterpiece in America under total
privacy, and we will have the exclusive!!!!" The day after Christmas, the
investigators are to travel to Sebago, Maine, to see what's going on.
The scenario could be set for a private investigator who is hired by an American
film company to see if the rumors of Max Krieg's film are true. Any and all
information is needed about the movie, so that the studio can create a similar
film, and release it before Krieg, making him look like a sham, and destroying a
good deal of his box-office potential. Either way, get the people up there.
Keeper's Information: The rumor is true that Max Krieg has arrived in America
and is hiding in Maine with his crew. They have set up several stages, but are
only filming stock scenes to be used for filler in company films. Max is much
too busy to be bothered with filming right now. The sixty one year-old Krieg is
about to do some extremely nasty work for his sworn master, Nyarlathotep.
The world famous director has been a devoted follower of Nyarlathotep since the
age of 21, when, as a seminary student on a mission in Nairobi, Kenya, was
invited to hear a local preacher. Krieg, whose real name is Max Eissen, a
devote' of St. Damien, (a man who treated and cared for lepers until falling
prey to the awful disease), attended a service in the basement of a local
church. His life changed forever the moment Nyarlathotep took the podium.
Speaking to a jammed room of over 300 men and older boys, the unholy messenger
was in the form of the Black Man. Insanity and an undying loyalty towards
Nyarlathotep was forged into Eissen's brain that night.
Eissen changed his name to Max Krieg in 1916, and, with help from Nyarlathotep,
became a world famous director by the end of 1918 with his film about the
apocalypse Das Tot, (The Dead). His next three movies Das Phantom, (1919), Die
Fraulein, (The Girl), (1920), and Mein Gott (My God), (1923). My God, was a
direct attack on the Catholic and Jewish dogma, and hinted at a force more
powerful
than any monotheistic god. This film was not allowed into America, but was
quickly embraced by German bohemian societies.
Because of his loyal devotion, Nyarlathotep has given him a task with a reward.
Krieg is to find somewhere to hide. The weather must be cold and the area not
exposed to a great deal of sunlight. Using the blood of two healthy adult men,
he is to bring back the vampire Drexel Link from the
netherworlds. Link is a creation of Nyarlathotep. This monster has been around
since 1599, when he was given to some disciples as a gift in Oxford, England.
See the Drexel Link section for much more information on this beast. As a
reward for bringing the vampire back, Nyarlathotep has instructed Link to stay
for 14 days with Krieg. Link has a great deal of knowledge about the "true"
history of the world and universe(s), (i.e. - Cthulhu Mythos). He is to teach
Krieg some of this history during his two week stay. As you will see in the
Link section, the vampire follows his master's directions about as well as
Nyarlathotep responds orders from his overlords.
I have given a lot of background for the keeper. You can easily not include
almost all of it, and still have a really scary game. I wanted to give as much
information as possible, as the deeper a keeper's knowledge of the adventure and
the more prepared you are, the greater chance of a very memorable game. During
game play, players will go in directions you didn't anticipate and you may need
to play off the cuff, throwing some of your scripted events out the proverbial
window. A strong familiarity with the history of the characters here virtually
assures you of not looking like a fool if things don't go as
you plan.
Time-Line: Keeper's should make themselves very familiar with the timeline in
order to run a smooth game.
December 14, 1925, Monday: Members of Krieg's crew and staff arrive at the Black
Bear Woods Private Camp Grounds and begin setting up sets and preparing for the
rest of the people. A lot of drinking, drug use and sex take place during the
following week.
December 21, 1925, Monday: Max Krieg and Producer Udo Werner arrive at the
campground with 12 other people. Included in the arriving party are actors
Cosmo Stille and Ut Braun. These two men are drugged during dinner and lead to
Krieg's building. They are then knocked unconscious and their throats slit. The
blood is used in a ceremony to bring Drexel Link, the vampire, back into this
world.
December 22, 1925, Tuesday: Winter Solstice, and at 12:01 am Drexel Link is
brought back to undeath. Nyarlathotep is present for this occasion, but is also
at 998 more places throughout the universes.
December 23, 1925, Wednesday: Twenty two year-old director's assistant Katy
Manning goes missing. She is one of 6 Americans at the camp who are working for
Krieg's company in the states. Manning is abducted by Krieg and Werner, dragged
back to Krieg's building, and thrown at the feet of a very thirsty vampire. Link
does not kill her, but does feed from her. She now becomes his undead slave,
taking up residence in his lair. Krieg has two set builders create a few
coffins for "a few scenes we'll be filming in about a week."
December 24, 1925, Thursday: Thirteen of the workers leave the camp and head
elsewhere for the holidays. Krieg specifically encourages all the men to leave.
They are paid and told to return in three weeks. Left at the camp are Krieg,
Werner, actress Wanda Lipinski, (a.k.a. Bess Beauty), assistant
Jo Jo Johnstone, five hands from Germany, an older married German couple who do
the cleaning and
cooking for the crew and their granddaughter.
December 25, 1925, Friday: Drexel Link, (in wolf form), attacks Wanda Lipinski
in the woods as she returns from the outhouse. Her screams are heard throughout
the woods. Fear or drug induced stupors in the other residents lead to no one
helping the girl. Krieg and Werner attempt to film the
event.
December 26, 1925, Saturday: Investigators arrive around 3:30 p.m. - 31 minutes
before sun down. They are let in by Jo Jo Johnstone who immediately brings them
into her cabin and bursts into tears. She composes herself and tells
investigators that something is very wrong here. All the cars have been
tampered with and no one else can leave. She couldn't get a seat in a car the
day before Christmas and got stuck here. She believes something terrible has
happened to Katy Manning and Wanda Lipinski. She knows neither had anywhere to
go for the holidays.
Ms. Johnstone believes there is a werewolf terrorizing this area. Recently
wolves have howled at night, and sometimes they seem to be right at her door,
ready to taste her blood. She is scared and also concerned for the other girls.
Ms. Johnstone is articulate and believable. It is the Keeper's job to sell her
story to the reporters.
Players then take residence in their own cabin. Ms. Johnstone will refuse to
have men stay with her. A woman may stay with her, and even sleep in the same
bed with her. However, sometime during the night, she will be called into the
woods for a meeting with Drexel Link and the two man film crew. The wolves howl
like mad all night.
Twist Number One: Here's the first twist in this adventure. Players should be
under the assumption that there is a werewolf on the prowl. Because there is no
full-moon, this creature must be quite powerful. Perhaps darkness triggers it
off. If there are any NPCs with the investigators, introduce some of these
theories through them. This will get the characters going down the wrong path
in preparations for destroying the beast, which is probably going to be their
only hope.
December 27, 1925, Sunday: Jo Jo Johnstone is gone from her cabin without a
trace. Investigators will also find their car is no longer working. Someone
has destroyed the steering wheel and severed the gas line....
And Now.... As investigators find they cannot leave and no one will tell them
anything, more than likely they will start snooping around, trying to find out
what's what. You can control the game and build some tension. Always make the
game seem survivable, and allow intelligent game play to be rewarded by a near
miss, or a low sanity loss every once in a while. If characters drop like rain,
who's going to find the game enjoyable? (However, never, ever have pity on the
stupid).
Setting: White Sands Pond Escape is located in Sebago, Maine, and is a private
campground for people such as celebrities, gangsters, high rolling bootleggers,
and the like. The property is owned by a Rhode Island gangster. It is about
one and a half miles into Black Bear Forest, which is filled with brown bears.
The campground is surrounded by 10 foot tall chain link fence. The front gate
cannot be locked, but is secured by a sliding metal bolt, which is operated
manually from inside the fence. Being the off season, the place is abandoned
giving Krieg and his crew the run of the place. Police never venture into here
because of the animals, and no one else knows about the place. It's a perfectly
secure, and perfectly secluded, area.
THE CAST
Max Krieg, Director, heroin addict
Str 6
Con 6
Siz 7
Int 13
Pow 15
Dex 12
San 0
Hps 7
Mps 15
Direct Film: 94 Acting: 88 Edit Film: 88 Lighting: 92 Occult: 67 Cthulhu: 35
Handgun: 66 Drive Auto: 57 Psychoanalysis: 74 Psychology: 44 German: 91 English:
12 Spot Hidden: 20 Persuade: 94
A former seminary student, this 61 year old heroin addict, has been a devout
follower of Nyarlathotep for decades. He was given his ability to direct, as
well as the "lucky break." His films are avante garde
silent films, which, when viewed by someone with a Cthulhu Mythos score of 20 or
more will recognize these movies as thinly disguised homages to Nyarlathotep.
Krieg stands 5'2" and appears emaciated. His two decades of alcohol and heroin
abuse have made him appear 20 years older. Krieg will inject himself at least
three times a day, and is physically and mentally incapacitated for about an
hour after he takes an injection. After that he may expose himself to extremely
cold weather without proper clothing, which could lead to hypothermia or
pneumonia.
Krieg is almost inseparable from his lover Udo Werner. He will not talk to
investigators and is usually too whacked out on drugs to notice that they
shouldn't be on the campground. The director spends most of the day having sex,
sleeping, and shooting up. At night he is around Drexel Link as much as
possible. He also spends a great deal of time early in the morning watching a
graphically violent film, which is detailed in The Unseeable Snuff section.
Udo Werner, Film Producer, heroin addict
Str 9
Con 13
Siz 17
Int 13
Pow 15
Dex 8
San 0
Hps 15
Mps 15
Credit Rating: 89 Fast Talk: 91 Bargain: 96 Handgun: 42 (due to addiction) Spot
Hidden: 32 Persuade: 91
This 61 year-old self made millionaire has been a devout follower of
Nyarlathotep for 40 years now. He was a high ranking member of the House of the
Pale Man, a coven of powerful Europeans who gain knowledge and power from the
beast. The House of the Pale Man gathers every year at a pre-determined
location in Europe to call forward Nyarlathotep in the form of the Pale Man. The
Pale Man gave Werner the knowledge of upcoming inventions, such as a mass
production of automobiles and new communication products, allowing him to make
key investments.
He met Werner 4 years ago at an exclusive homosexual party in Berlin. Six
months later Krieg had him hooked on heroin and from there on, he was trapped.
He has been the producer of all Krieg's films, and the two men pray homage to
the messenger every night after watching "the film," (again see The Unseeable
Snuff section). He has military experience, and is very skilled with his 9mm
Luger he keeps on him at all times. His drug addiction has made him quite
less-than-aware of his surrounding and a poor shot.
Both Werner and Krieg's rancid, drug infected blood is of no use to Link. It is
the equivalent of drinking from a corpse, which can kill a vampire.
Rolf, Ernst, Erik, Wolf, und Fritz, Film workers: cameraman, carpenters, etc.
Str 14
Con 14
Siz 14
Int 9
Pow 9
Dex 14
San 75
Hps 14
Mps 9
Make Sets: 95 Camera: 77 (one character) Lighting: 97 (one character) Spot
Hidden: 45 Punch: 60 Handgun: 50 German: 77 English: 20
These men have worked on all of Krieg's films, and are terrified about what is
going on. They all share an overwhelming sense of dread. They will not speak to
Americans, and spend most of their nights drunk, hiding in their cabins. These
men, within two nights of the investigators arrival, will all move into
one hut of the Keeper's choice.
Oscar "Opa" Rauchen, cook and cleaning man, former jockey
Str 7
Con 9
Siz 6
Int 12
Pow 6
Dex 8
San 73
Hps 8
Mps 6
Cook: 86 Ride Horse: 78 German: 88 English: 5 Spot Hidden: 13
Opa Rauchen, 71, a former horse jockey in Germany, has worked for Krieg for
years now. He is a superstitious and devout Catholic. Very frail build, with a
slight hunch. Opa will not want anything to do with investigators, and speaks
almost no English. If cornered, he will be too scared to say anything,
continuously making the sign of the cross.
Elsie "Oma" Rauchen, Cook and Maid
Str 5
Con 12
Siz 16
Int 10
Pow 8
Dex 4
San 83
Hps 14
Mps 8
Cook: 85 German: 88 English: 6 Bake: 94 Knit: 81 Spot Hidden: 11
A heavy set frau who is an excellent cook. She dominates the relationship with
her husband. She is a devout Catholic and very protective towards her
granddaughter. In an emergency situation, she would attempt to give her own
life to save Anna.
Anna Rauchen, the Rauchen's grand daughter
Str 6
Con 17
Siz 12
Int 11
Pow 17
Dex 13
App 17
San 79
Hps 15
Mps 17
Ride: 58 Swim: 62 Sing: 72 Quote Passage: 55 Hide: 71German: 81 English:61
Anna is the 15 year old granddaughter of The Rauchens the youngest daughter of
their thirteenth child. She is stunningly beautiful, with a robust and
attractive figure. She can easily be mistaken for a 21 - 22
year old woman. She is charming, with a beautiful allure about herself. She is
the translator for her grandparents.
If investigators approach her, they will find she has been warned not to speak
to them. If cornered, she will feign the inability to speak English. If
pressed in her native tongue, she will begin to cry and bless herself. Although
very sexual in her innocent way, she is as devout of a Catholic as her
grandparents, wishing to spend an entire life in service to the Lord. Any
sexual advances by investigators receive screams and the wrath of the cleaver
waving Oma.
Link has his eye on her....
(continued)
--
