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Chaosium Digest Volume 29 Number 09
Chaosium Digest Volume 29, Number 9
Date: Friday, December 31, 1999
Number: 3 of 5
A Night at the Gallery, pt. 2
The Knight comes calling
------------------------
Sometime after lunch time that day Block will go visit Lang
at the hotel, tired and weary after spending a night reading
the libretto. He will be carrying the tome itself with him.
When told that Lang is going to be visiting a friend for a
couple of days he will request to see whoever is traveling
with him. His tone is one of such sincere urgency that the
person attending him will put him in touch with the
gentlemen with whom Lang has been meeting steadily since he
arrived: the investigators.
Block will tell the investigators that Lang has been
kidnapped by Andersson and will tell them anything he needs
to tell in order to get them to stage a rescue operation,
going so far as lying if needed. The book, by the way, just
fell on his lap. He believes that Andersson is going to
brainwash Lang (he actually doesn't know how he does it) in
order to gain influence in several circles where Lang can be
of use. He'll also insist that since Andersson is such a
respected member of the community the police won't believe
their story and by the time the cops do decide to check on
Andersson the damage will be done.
When he finally convinces them to do the daring rescue,
Block will consider his own possible death and write a
letter to his order explaining his behavior and suggesting
that they do check on Andersson. The letter will be
addressed to somebody in the Vatican ("Commendatore
Giovanni", actually) and Block will request that the letter
be sent in case of his demise.
If one of the investigators has somehow convinced Block that
he can be trusted Block may drop a hint about the
possibility of the Order contacting him for details of the
events. Don't give away too much information, just hint
that Block is part of a larger group that might provide
support.
THE RAID
--------
Getting into Andersson's house
------------------------------
Block feels that it is his fault that Lang is trapped in
Andersson's lair, so he will offer to actively cooperate in
the raid. Since he usually visits the house, he can play a
small part by getting one of the investigators in with him
with the excuse of introducing him to Andersson. Block will
then draw Andersson's attention to an unfinished game of
chess while the investigator tries to sneak around the
house. The rest will have to scale the 2.5-meter wall that
surrounds the property.
Staging the raid
----------------
I've spared you from having to see a map of the house drawn
by my hand, since I'm assuming that you may need to keep
some sanity for the session. Here are the sketchy details
of the house.
As mentioned before the hostages are being held in rooms in
the third floor, which only has rooms for that purpose.
There is a guard at the end of the hallway. On the first
floor there will be Andersson's studio, the living room,
foyer, dining room, kitchen, etc. On the back of the house
there is a garage holding Andersson's cars. The second
floor contains Andersson's rooms, library, etc.
The investigators will have to plan the raid careful, since
a badly planned rescue would end up with the whole party
dead by the shotguns the guards use. Once the fighting
starts, Block will pull a .32 pistol and try to hold
Andersson hostage. Andersson will then mentally blast him
(which will render him unconscious) and go look for the
noisy investigators before they ruin his paintings.
Do keep in mind that Andersson has dominated all of the
guards, so they won't behave rationally and are likely to
fight to the death. Even if the investigators do manage to
release their friends from their prison, they will still
have to fight their way to the first floor where they will
likely encounter Andersson.
Andersson is by no means immortal, so he won't just walk
into the group's range of fire. He will instead try to find
them and then attack them with his mental powers (for which
he doesn't need to be in line of sight with the victim). It
should be quite interesting to see the investigators having
to come out of their hiding because they keep falling out
unconscious one after the other.
When and if Andersson gets killed, he will try to transfer
his consciousness to the body of the priest. If he doesn't
have enough magic points available, off he goes to wherever
it is that Matar stay when they're not in somebody's body.
Alas, if he can make it he will allow the investigators to
"save" him from the house and will sooner or later try to
exact his revenge on them from Block's body.
AFTERMATH
---------
Hopefully, after raiding a rich wizard's home the Old Crew
will have bonded already with the new recruits, making it
easier for them to get along. If the investigators didn't
handle things correctly, raiding Andersson's house may
become a serious stain that will chase them through their
operations in America. Fortunately for them, Lang will feel
that he owes them his life and will be willing to fund their
operations if they can be reasonably explained to him (and
hopefully their claims proved!). Lang can also become a
useful contact to recruit new investigators for the party
when someone goes to a better place.
If Andersson took over the priest's body, things could get
really interesting both for the investigators and the
Knights of Saint Jerome...
APPENDIX 1: THE PIECES - STATS
==============================
WHITE
-----
Father Anthony Block
Priest and Knight of Saint Jerome
STR 12 DEX 13 INT 17 CON 13
APP 11 POW 17 SIZ 15 EDU 16
SAN 31 HP 14 Age 43
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Accounting 30%, Art: Painting 29%, Bargain 20%,
Credit Rating 80%, History 63%, Persuade 61%, Religious
History 71%, Spot Hidden 33%, Throw 59% Languages: English
91%, Italian 45%, Latin 60%, Spanish 40%
Notes: Father Anthony is a tall, strong looking man with a
full beard that is already starting to show its white. He
has a deep voice with which he could well intimidate almost
anyone he wanted if it wasn't for his kind nature. He is
also incredibly intelligent, something that is betrayed by
the fact that nothing appear to escape his watchful eyes.
Donald Lang
Expedition funder and book collector
STR 10 DEX 9 INT 14 CON 14
APP 10 POW 13 SIZ 13 EDU 19
SAN 60 HP 14 Age 59
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 30%, Appraise 30%, Antiques 40%, Art:
Painting 29%, Art: Literature 45%, Bargain 60%, Credit
Rating 95%, History 63%, Occult 49%, Persuade 61%, Spot
Hidden 33%
Languages: English 80%, French 40%, German 20%, Spanish 60%
Notes: Donald Lang is almost pushing his sixties, although
he doesn't appear to feel it. His only presence is
commanding, and he is obviously used to having things done
his way. He usually dresses in a three-piece suit and
carries a gold pocket watch.
BLACK
-----
Ingmar Andersson
Matar art collector
STR 10 DEX 14 INT 20 CON 14
APP 13 POW 19 SIZ 14 EDU 21
SAN 80 HP 13 Age 72
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Accounting 45%, Art: Painting 60%, Art: Literature
59%, Bargain 65%, Credit Rating 95%, History 83%, Persuade
79%, Spot Hidden 40%
Languages: English 60%, Finnish 30%, German 79%, Latin 30%,
Swedish 87%
Attacks: Knife 40%
Notes: Ingmar Andersson looks at least thirty years younger
than his actual age. He currently has black hair that is
just starting to show some white and brown shifty eyes that
never wholly look at a person.
Paul Livingstone
Locura in charge of acquisitions
STR 10 DEX 10 INT 13 CON 13
APP 9 POW 9 SIZ 11 EDU 15
SAN 12 HP 11 Age 46
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 20%, Appraise 70%, Antiques 80%, Art:
Painting 53%, Bargain 60%, Credit Rating 55%, History 40%,
Spot Hidden 45%
Attacks: none above average
Languages: English 80%, German 13%
Notes: A thin man whose eyes are deep set in his skull and
who looks at least ten years older than his real age. All
of his movements are slow and deliberate, as if he was
afraid of giving something away. He will never be seen
alive wearing a short-sleeved shirt, since those wouldn't
hide the needle marks on his arms.
Alec Jason
Locura accountant
STR 9 DEX 13 INT 11 CON 12
APP 12 POW 10 SIZ 10 EDU 14
SAN 20 HP 14 Age 39
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Accounting 70%, Credit Rating 41%, Fast Talk 30%,
Forge signature 72%, Spot Hidden 21%
Languages: English 70%, German 5%
Attacks: none above average
Notes: A diminutive man with mouse-like eyes, Alec looks
like he expects a crazed killer to jump out of each and
every shadow. Soft spoken and evasive, he uses thin glasses
to read and never looks at anyone in the eye.
Robert Beryl
Locura social liaison
STR 10 DEX 13 INT 17 CON 13
APP 15 POW 10 SIZ 12 EDU 13
SAN 13 HP 11 Age 32
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Credit Rating 61%, Fast Talk 30%, Spot Hidden 43%
Languages: English 89%, German 40%
Attacks: none above average
Notes: A young man with hazel eyes and black hair, Beryl
hides his violent nature behind a calm and quiet façade.
Fred MacMahon
Locura bodyguard
STR 13 DEX 13 INT 8 CON 14
APP 11 POW 7 SIZ 11 EDU 9
SAN 80 HP 14 Age 34
Damage bonus: none
Skills: Intimidate 63%, Persuade 20%, Spot Hidden 30%
Languages: English 45%
Attacks: Fist/Punch 55%, Handgun 60%, Kick 40%, Shotgun 40%
Notes: MacMahon's black hair is usually dirty and his
clothes betray the contempt he has for personal appearance.
The only occasions where he looks presentable are when
Andresson literally forces him to be.
Nils Lindblom
Locura bodyguard
STR 13 DEX 15 INT 11 CON 13
APP 11 POW 7 SIZ 14 EDU 8
SAN 80 HP 14 Age 30
Damage bonus: +1D4
Skills: Intimidate 63%, Martial Arts 40%, Persuade 20%, Spot
Hidden 40%
Languages: English 12%, German (own) 50%
Attacks: Fist/Punch 65%, Handgun 45%, Kick 60%, Shotgun 45%
Notes: Lindblom's blond (almost white) hair, black eyes and
his square, drawer-like jaw are his most prominent features.
He is incredibly loyal to Andersson and would obey even if
he wasn't being mind-controlled.
APPENDIX 2: PLAYER HANDOUTS
===========================
Block's first telegram, a handout created with David
Harvey's Byakhee, is available on the RTF version of this
document.
APPENDIX 3: GROUPS
==================
THE KNIGHTS OF SAINT JEROME
---------------------------
It is funny how the Knights of Saint Jerome aren't really
explained in The Stage, given that the sourcebook is about
the order itself. Here are some bits of how I conceive
them:
· A person doesn't have to be a priest to get into the
Order, but they do have to be sponsored by a current member.
· On an interesting turn of events, the Catholic Church has
privately recognized that men and women are created equal,
so both sexes can become knights.
· The Knights don't just document or watch, but they are
quite cautious and like to look before they jump.
· The order runs on their own funds, most of which were
willed to it by a member.
· They answer to the Vatican directly.
· They have their own hierarchy inside the Catholic Church,
although few in it know about the Order.
THE MATAR
---------
Little is mentioned about the Matar on the sourcebook for
The Stage. They appear to be some sort of mental entities
much like the Lloigor, but with each having a conscience of
their own. Since they aren't explained there, here is a mix
of what they are like in my campaign with the information
provided in the sourcebook.
As it is mentioned on The Stage, the Matar like to dominate
Prime Loci so that they can control the future for their own
ends (which are never explained). When they take over a
host, they absorb all of their knowledge and past
experiences and then remove the original conscience of the
host. There isn't any sort of internal struggle going on:
the original person isn't on the driving seat anymore and
the body has become just a puppet of the Matar.
They are able to rejuvenate their hosts and alter their
appearance in a limited way using their own energy, but
while the host won't die of old age nor will it succumb to
any regular disease that is not to say that they are
immortal. A shot to the stomach will kill a Matar's host as
dead as any regular person, forcing the Matar to look for a
new host.
That is not to say that the Matar are as defenseless as a
regular human is. If winning on a POW contest against a
target, they are able to pour as many points of damage as
magic points they are willing to commit to the attack. The
target will feel the attack as is a huge invisible hand was
trying to squeeze them, constricting their bodies from all
directions at once. Do note that if a Matar is willing to
spend a sizeable chunk of their magic points on this, it is
quite possible to kill a person this way.
However, the Matar need their magical energy when
transporting to a new host. On the attempt the Matar must
succeed in a POW to POW contest against the target, being
able to raise their score by one for each magic point they
still haven't spent. Those magic points are spent and have
to be normally recovered.
The Matar also have the uncontrollable ability of lowering
the mental balance of those that spend prolonged periods of
time near them, putting people in contact with their basest
aggressions and desires. For this change to take effect, a
person must spend at least 20 hours a week with the Matar
host itself. It is possible that combined with drugs and
sleep deprivation this period of time can be significantly
shortened.
It isn't clear if there is a way to kill a Matar. The only
possibility may be to force it to continually switch bodies
until all its points are spent and it fails the attempt, but
that possibility would require the slaughter of many hosts
and hasn't been attempted.
As a side note: the Knights of Saint Jerome didn't find
their first record of the existence of the Matar until 1950,
so even if Father Block survives the adventure he won't be
able to recognize the influence of the Matar from the work
of a regular Juvat member.
--
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