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Chaosium Digest Volume 29 Number 07
Chaosium Digest Volume 29, Number 7
Date: Friday, December 31, 1999
Number: 1 of 5
Contents:
* Campaign Background: The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory HO HO
HO (The Truth Behind Santa Claus) (CTHULHU)
by Jorge Palinhos neonaeon@mailcity.com
* A Night at the Gallery (CTHULHU)
by Ricardo J. Méndez Castro rmendez@sheertalent.com
* Children of the Night (CTHULHU)
by James D. Collins (collwood@gte.net)
* The Lighthouse (CTHULHU)
by Shane Jackson liche@mindless.com
* The Trail of Ysgar (CTHULHU -- DREAMLANDS)
by Frank Sronce fsronce@myriad.net
Editor's Note:
Here it is folks, the last Chaosium Digest of 1999! It's
hard to believe that it has already been a full year since I
was picked by Shannon Appel to take over the Digest. I hope
that it has been as fun for all of you as it has been for me
and I hope that next year will be even better.
This issue, we've got five excellent Call of Cthulhu
articles that range from grim to lighthearted. These
articles, plus one other that's long enough to merit its own
issue, will be the last ones to qualify for the Call of
Cthulhu Hardcover giveaway, from the good folks at Chaosium.
I'd like to ask that those of you who appreciate Chaosium's
support of the Digest, and the great submissions we've
gotten as a result, send the folks at Chaosium an email and
let them know what you think.
Lastly, I'd like to thank Shannon Appel for choosing me for
the job, the good folks at Chaosium without whom there
wouldn't be a need for a Chaosium Digest, and everyone of
you who reads the Digest and submits articles without which
there wouldn't even be a Chaosium Digest. My deepest thanks
to all of you. Have a joyous and prosperous 2000!
John W. Thompson
Editor
Chaosium Digest
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* The RTF version of Woods Haven is at
http://www.sheertalent.com/rmendez/scenarios/woodshavenrtf.z
ip
instead of the address that was included in the text last
issue.
Sorry for the mix-up.
Cheers,
Ricardo J. Méndez Castro ICQ 45996385
Sheer Talent Developments http://www.sheertalent.com/
------------------------------------------------------------
"The problem with you hackers is you never stop working."
"That's what a hacker is," Hiro says.
Neal Stephenson, _Snow crash_
**RECENTLY RELEASED!**
Happy Holidaze from Chaosium Inc!
We've just shipped our latest release for Call of Cthulhu
<http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/index.shtml>.
Thanks for your support!
Dustin Wright
Chaosium SW
LAST RITES [#2379, $14.95] Four challenging horrors for
today. A book of wretched poetry, an incautious summoning, a
Satanic coven, and a house with a suspicious history are the
basic ingredients. Useful as stand-alone adventures, or for
a change of pace when inserted into an ongoing campaign.
Though suitable for beginning player characters, these
adventures are dangerous, and incautious beginners will come
to regret rash decisions. Written by Ian Winterton. ISBN
1-56882-137-9
Graphic available at:
http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/rpg/2379.shtml
Includes the following adventures:
Last Rites - The death of retired professor Henry Ennis
brings family and friends to the small town of Runville
Massachusetts. New funerals and Mystery soon follow.
Lethal Legacy - An ordinary mummy has been stolen from
Miskatonic University in Arkham. Something stalks the snow
covered countryside.
The House on Mckinley Boulevard - Within an abandoned house,
evil lurks awaiting the unwary.
The Priestess - When a less than talented poet is ridiculed
by his publishers, he seeks vengeance. But there is much
more to this murder than meets the eyes, and who knows what
horror may reach out across time and space when blood is
spilled.
>>> DECEMBER Releases
For Call of Cthulhu
> Call of Cthulhu RPG (Hardcover)
2386 $37.95 ISBN 1-56882-148-4
The Great Old Ones ruled the Earth aeons before the
incidental rise of man. They came from the gulfs of space,
waged war upon one another, and then were cast down by even
greater beings. Remains of their cyclopean cities and
forbidden knowledge can still be found in the remote
extremes of our planet. Upon uncharted islands, within dark
ocean depths, under burning desert sands, locked within
polar ice, miles below the Earth's crust, they lay
imprisoned. But when the Stars are right they will awaken
and walk this earth once more.
Call of Cthulhu is our classic role-playing game of
Lovecraftian horror in which ordinary people are confronted
by the terrifying and alien forces of the Cthulhu Mythos. A
bestseller with over 300,000 copies sold world-wide. Call of
Cthulhu has won dozens of game awards. In 1996 Call of
Cthulhu was elected to the Academy of Adventure Game
Designer's Hall of Fame. Call of Cthulhu is well supported
by an ever growing line of high quality game supplements. No
Gaming library is complete without a copy of this book!
This new hardback edition is completely compatible with all
our previous 5th edition supplements for Call of Cthulhu.
Some sections of the book have been revised and clarified,
and the book includes some new interior art. This book is a
complete role-playing game in one volume! All you need to
Play Call of Cthulhu is this book, some dice, and your
friends.
>>>JANUARY Release
For Call of Cthulhu Fiction:
>Book Of Dyzan
6027 $13.95 ISBN 1-56882-114-X
Nonfiction. A discussion of Blavatsky's famous book, the
mysterious Book of Dyzan, 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.
-----------------------------
Campaign Background: The Ultimate Conspiracy Theory HO HO HO
(The Truth Behind Santa Claus)
Listen carefully, I will write this only once,
In the end of the last century a group of cultists of
Nyarlathotep created a potion that when imbibed in large
quantities turned its drinker in a mindless cultists of the
Crawling Chaos. Experimenting further they discovered that
instead of drinking a huge amount of the potion but just
giving small doses regularly for a long time the effect
would be pretty much the same.
So Nyarlathotep came up with one of his most nefarious plots
ever.
He had a company set up to sell the potion as a medicine,
but it wasn't very successful. Then mixing other ingredients
like sugar and other sweeteners, he discovered that humans
could be convinced to drink it as a regular drink.
And hence one of the most successful soft drinks whose name
we will not mention came to be. Refreshing and sweet (and
with a massive ad campaign for good measure) has found its
way to the heart and the stomach of humanity. It destroys
the brain cells and turns humans into servants of the
Messenger of the Gods. It has caused most of the misery and
violence you witness around you and it his the harbinger of
the end. Yep, that brown liquid in funny-shaped bottles is
slowly turning you into a mindless servitor. And you thought
that was just something to help you digest the burger and
fries. All comes into place, doesn't it? Why they have the
recipe a
safely guarded secret, why they sponsor pretty much
everything, why they bomb you with relentless ad
campaigns... and you thought that it were just a few filthy
rich who wanted to be filthy richer. Ah! If you still have
doubts just find someone drinking a bottle of the soft drink
whose name I will not mention and ask him/her if he/she is a
servant of the Crawling Chaos. If he/she replies something
like "I don't know what you mean." you can be pretty sure
he/she indeed is and you better pack up your things and move
to another planet since they already know you, like me, know
their plot.
But if that is not enough let me tell you the most horrid
secret of all. The secret of Santa Claus. You think that
Santa Claus doesn't exist? You think that he was just a holy
man who became a folk lore personality that on Christmas eve
brings presents for children? Ha! How wrong you are! Santa
does exist. And is far worse than you can imagine.
You see, usually during winter and especially Xmas people
used to drink less soft drink I will not mention because of
the cold. This disrupted the need to sustain a regular
taking of the potion vital for it to accomplish the desired
effect: turning the drinker into a Nyarlathotep-cultist.
Well, a few
strong ad campaigns took care of the cold in winter. Usually
advertisements stated that if drank the potion you wouldn't
be thirsty. But usually people aren't thirsty during winter.
So the new ad campaigns focused on how cool and fashionable
and bright and handsome people who drink the potion are.
Thirst is on an all time low during the cold season but the
desire to be cool and fashionable is always on top. That
settled it. Well almost. On Christmas people had this
bizarre concept of valuing family and tradition above status
and coolness. And they drank more traditional beverages,
so...
The Crawling Chaos wouldn't be Crawling Chaos if he wasn't
always coming with evil plots so created one of the most
devious and horrid stratagems ever: he supported Christmas.
The soft drink whose name I will not mention Christmas ads
exalted family, happiness, tradition and love. And more they
rehabilitated a mythic person who was long lost: Santa
Claus. The ads started displaying a fat, white bearded,
jolly happy, red-dressed man who loved children and was
always giving them presents. The trucks that carried the
aforementioned potion displayed portraits of Santa looking
happy and drinking a bottle of the potion. Movie makers were
paid to produce movies with Santa so that people started
unconsciously believing in him.
Thanks to Nyarlathotep and his followers Santa Claus become
the
greatest icon of Christmas. People forgot about Jesus,
Christianity, about sharing and so forth. Christmas become
just about buying expensive presents, giving expensive
presents, receiving expensive presents and watching cheesy
film and series on TV and hearing even cheesier music
everywhere. Share became give and take, love became cheap
drama, introspection became overall dumbness, a celebration
of the birth of a child in a cave, in a cradle made of hay
between a donkey and a cow became the exaltation of a big,
fat, red-faced, all buying, all eating, all drinking man.
Such a grand transformation and subversion could only be the
work of him, the Messenger of the Thousand Faces and Shapes.
But of course being Nyarlathotep involved, there must
something
else, there is always something else with him. He made Santa
real. Yes, Santa is real. He is just quite different from
what you think he is. First. It isn't him. It is they! There
are several dozens. How do you think that they are able to
cover the entire world in one night? Second. They aren't
helped by elves nor reindeer. Elves are characters from
children stories and who has ever heard of such nonsense has
flying deer. Third. They aren't human. Precision, they don't
even resemble humans. They are actually undeveloped
Star-Spawn of Cthulhu dressed in huge red robes with bells
on the tentacles. Using a spell that allows them to slide
down chimneys to enter houses and do their duty. Fourth.
Their duty isn't leaving presents for children. Are you
nuts! We are talking about Mythos creatures. Mythos
creatures eat children, they don't leave presents for them.
No, their task is much worse. Their job is to drop small
amounts of the potion whose name I still don't mention on
the food and drinks of the house and therefore assure that
humans keep receiving their regular amount of the potion.
Well, sometimes they leave presents behind to keep up to the
myth. And that explains all those loonies who appear boldly
declaring to have seen Santa. Actually some see Santa doing
their work. Some see them close enough to see want he truly
is. Such witnesses usually appear dead on the next day
either due to a terrible accident or suicide (with a brief
note explaining how unhappy and lonely they felt on the
joyful times). Other times the Star-Spawn just gets hungry
and eats a member of the happy family who are asleep
(breaking the strict orders of not harming humans unless to
protect their disguise - Nyarlathotep thinks it's much more
fun to see humans destroying themselves mutually).
There, I have told you everything I know. Now you and me are
the only two people alive who know this terrible secret
about Santa Claus and we must... Wait! There is noise
downstairs, let me see what it is...NOOOOOOO, I am being
attacked by Star-Spawn with bells on the tentacles and
holding giant bottles of C... I mean the potion.. Help!
Help! Help! Ouch, ugh, that hurts...
Captain P.R. Noid
end of transmission
Campaign Notes
This is the background of what could be a playable,
half-humorous full-fledged campaign. In case you want to
play it (are you feeling all right?) I offer this advice.
- You players should create a family. I don't mean being all
cousins, I mean one of the players will be the father, other
the mother, the remaining will be the children. There can be
no childless couple nor single-parent since that is very
un-Christmas-like.
- The campaign should start during Christmas eve when one
(or more) child hides awaken waiting to see Santa arrive and
the shock when he/she sees what Santa really his. (Think how
traumatized you would be if as a child you discovered that
Santa was a black, tentacled - with bells on the
tentacles - beast pouring Coke on the family turkey.
- Afterwards, the family should try to find the truth about
Santa, then its connection with a famous soft-drink company
and then try to destroy the potion to prevent humanity from
destroying itself.
- The campaign should end with the players (I mean the
players not the investigators) all engaged in a big hug of
friendship, love and sharing. (Unless you are a sadistic GM
like me and their characters end up at the asylum's
Christmas party among a bunch of raving lunatics and a few
asylum clerks with cold faces.)
-.. And Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone
(hysterical laughter)
--------------------
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