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Chaosium Digest Volume 36 Number 11
Chaosium Digest Volume 36, Number 11
Date: Saturday, Nov. 16, 2002
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
* Balancing Sanity Loss In Campaigns (CTHULHU)
by Pete Wright
Editor's Note:
This issue features some nice tweaks to the Sanity system in CoC by Pete
Wright. Check it out. Starting next issue, we've got new fiction from
Michael Blenkarn. Check out the archive for his previous stories here in the
Digest. Lastly, just a reminder that this quarter's Chaosium submissions
contest ends December 31, so keep those submissions coming. With all the
great new material coming out, a $40 Chaosium gift certificate can make for
a great Cthulhumas.
Enjoy!
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* After several years, the latest issue of "Beaumains", the Arthurian games
zine is imminent. The main subject is of course the ex-Chaosium game
"Pendragon".
I'll take no more space here. If you want to buy, sell, contribute, or know
what the hell happened to your subscription, talk to me at
GarethJohnJones@lineone.net
* YOUR NAME IN LIGHTS (OR AT LEAST IN HEROQUEST)
Issaries, Inc. will list ALL current GTA members in HeroQuest (except for
Anonymous members, of course), regardless of their membership level. This is
in addition to all other membership benefits, including members' original or
ongoing patronage choice, which will not change. GTA Observers will not be
so recognized.
If you have been thinking of joining the GTA or upgrading your membership,
now is the time to do it! This is your last chance to ensure that your name
is enshrined forever in HeroQuest, the game twenty-five years in the making.
Go to <www.glorantha.com/gta> for details on how to join or upgrade! Don't
delay: membership contribution must be received by December 31, 2002 to be
included!
As an example of membership benefits, Heroes now have access to the current,
near-final drafts of Imperial Lunar Handbook and HeroQuest. These drafts are
available to them, and only them. Go to <www.glorantha.com/gta/heroes>,
enter your password, and take a look. Be part of the process!
* HEROQUEST LIVES! AND OTHER UPDATES FROM ISSARIES, INC.
Issaries Announcement
Oakland, CA
November 8, 2002
HeroQuest is not quite done, but it is getting closer. The manuscript is in
the final stages of editing. It will to layout next month. Although this
means we will not quite manage to release it by the end of the year, we will
definitely have it in time for the release party at Gloranthacon VIII. All
public Glorantha Trading Association members will be listed in the book.
The HeroQuest table of contents has changed; go to
<www.glorantha.com/products/1001.html> for details. Moreover, Issaries plans
to make this edition special in many ways as a forthcoming announcement will
detail. GTA Heroes can see much more at <www.glorantha.com/gta/hero>, as the
entire current draft is now available for their review.
But before HeroQuest, the Imperial Lunar Handbook (ISS 1302) will arrive in
time for Christmas, absent colossal bad luck. For content information, see
<www.glorantha.com/products/1302.html>. Again, heroes now have access to the
draft manuscript.
As announced online and recently in a Hero Wars Dispatch, Issaries hosted a
contest for submissions of Lunar art. The grand prize of a gorgeous Lunar
map goes to two joint winners, since we could not decide between Fernando
Martínez Flores' Pelandan Silver Box and the sheer quantity of excellent
weapons and other spot illustrations by Darran Sims (he submitted a total of
33 separate illustrations--Mark Galeotti is even now preparing the Imperial
Lunar Weapons Handbook cataloguing and illustrating every single weapon type
used anywhere within the Lunar Empire. Just kidding!). Fernando's
illustration, and several of Darran's, will appear in Imperial Lunar
Handbook. We thank all of the people who contributed well over 60 images
total, we plan to use several more in future projects.
Kerofinela, Land of Thunder (ISS 1502) is next. It is also ready for final
editing, and will appear as soon as time and finances allow. This detailed
gazetteer of Sartar and the surrounding area includes a poster-size map of
the land (by Wesley Quadros, who drew the gorgeous Lunar Empire map) and
several additional maps of local sites of interest. Most of the information
in this book is new, and helps set the stage for future scenario books by
detailing the lands and myths of mystical Dragon Pass. Visit
<www.glorantha.com/products/1502.html>.
Mark Galeotti's Hero's Book has been delayed to ensure that it is compatible
with the HeroQuest rules. Its contents have been expanded to include some
material cut from HeroQuest due to space constraints, but that should not
delay its Spring release. We hope to release it soon after (or before!)
HeroQuest. For more see <www.glorantha.com/products/1002.html>.
Hero Bands (ISS 1303) has been pushed back to late Spring, until after the
release of HeroQuest. Its contents have changed only slightly since they
were made available to Heroes last month. A current Table of Contents is
available at <www.glorantha.com/products/1303.html>.
Finally, Gathering Thunder (ISS 1403) is the title of volume 3 of the Sartar
Rising series (it was formerly named Adventures in Dragon Pass). It is in
the final stages of content editing, to be ready to go well before Issaries
may have the resources to get it published. The target is a release no later
than early summer of 2003. For an updated description and table of contents,
go to <www.glorantha.com/products/1403.html>.
Stephen Martin
<administrator@glorantha.com>
Issaries, Inc., publisher of HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha
900 Murmansk St., Suite 5; Oakland, CA 94607
Phone: (510) 452 1648 Fax: (510) 302 0385
See our extensive web site at <www.HeroWars.com>
* ISSARIES, INC. RECOGNIZES COMPANIONS
Issaries Announcement
Oakland, CA
November 8, 2002
Issaries, Inc. gets along these days in large part through volunteers. Our
acknowledgement has been slow and late, but we want to finally take this
opportunity to recognize the roles and activities of several members of the
Glorantha Tribe. These people are official representative of Issaries within
the job that they do for us. They are the leaders of the Glorantha Tribe.
Some have been working for Issaries for months or years as non-employees,
volunteering their time and energy to help keep Issaries, Inc., HeroQuest,
and Glorantha running and growing.
This announcement recognizes their work, and grants them authority to speak
for Issaries within their specified areas:
Acquisitions Editor and Editorial Coordinator
Mark Galeotti is our Editorial Coordinator and overall Acquisitions Editor.
Send any unsolicited submissions to him at <acquisitions@glorantha.com> for
initial evaluation. If you wish to head up a project, contact him, but be
prepared to demonstrate your dedication and qualifications. We prefer not to
make assignments to anyone except those people who have proven their ability
to us. One way to do this is by submitting a finished scenario.
Mark will also work with each of the Project Coordinators (see below) as
necessary to coordinate their efforts for Issaries.
Project Coordinators
We have a staff of people established, already working on a variety of
projects for HeroQuest. We get many offers, but these people have
demonstrated their dedication and shown their ability to finish material.
They are the official Acquisition Editors for these projects, and they will
either write the entire book or will coordinate contributing authors.
Issaries will work with these editors (either directly or through the
Acquisitions Editor) as necessary.
Anyone interested in contributing to these projects/areas should contact
these editors directly. They will compile and edit material, then submit it
to Issaries. Issaries, Inc. naturally reserves the right to reject the
submission or ask for revisions, and of course to edit the material before
publication.
Shannon Appelcline: Aldryami series
<appel@erzo.org>
Ian Cooper: Kerofinela (Sartar gazetteer)
<ian_hammond_cooper@yahoo.co.uk>
James Frusetta: Uz series
<gerakkag@wam.umd.edu>
Mark Galeotti: Imperial Lunar Handbook series, Lunar Adventures 1
<Mark@galeotti.fsbusiness.co.uk>
Martin Hawley: Sailors and Oceans series
<Martin@hawley70.freeserve.co.uk>
Chris Lemens: Prax/Greatlands series
<chrislemens@yahoo.com>
Stephen Martin: Hero Bands
<stephen@glorantha.com>
Ian Thomson: Secrets of Pavis series
<pelgrane@yahoo.com.au>
Promotion Coordinators
Promotion coordinators receive requests from conventions for support and
send appropriate materials, coordinate the narrators and other
demonstrations for conventions or other events, and document the volunteer
efforts to get GTA credit for their work.
Rick Meints: Promotion Coordinator for North America.
Mark Galeotti: Promotion Coordinator for the United Kingdom and the rest of
Europe.
Rick and Mark are seeking individuals now to run HeroQuest games at local
conventions and game stores, and can be reached at <events@glorantha.com>.
We cannot pay, but convention coordinators will document volunteer time for
GTA credit. This will allow narrators to become members of the GTA, or
upgrade, in return for their sweat equity, and allow us to honor them in
that small way.
Glorantha Trading Association Steward
Mark Leymaster is our GTA Steward, keeping the organization moving forward
and growing. Anyone with any suggestions for the GTA should contact
<gta@glorantha.com> with your ideas. Let us know what you want to do and
see!
Volunteer Coordinator
We extend a very big thank you to Graham Robinson for his work as Volunteer
Coordinator for Issaries. If you are able to do some work for us (such as
entering typed manuscripts onto an electronic format, updating online
material, or anything else), contact Graham at <volunteers@glorantha.com>.
He will coordinate with Rick Meints and Mark Galeotti to document volunteer
work for GTA credit.
Glorantha.com Sysop and Host
Everyone seems to like our great website, and we want to recognize the
people involved in keeping our online presence online.
Nils Weinander is our sysop, who faithfully and consistently updates the web
site for Issaries, Inc. with the frequent assistance of Doug MacKenzie and
the occasional assistance of David Dunham and Stephen Martin. He can be
reached at <webmaster@glorantha.com>.
Graham Robinson's rpglist.org provides hosting space for Gloranthacon.com,
the Glorantha Digest, the new GTA Email Self-Manager, and other Gloranthan
community lists.
Official Issaries Lists Administrators
Three officially approved online lists serve our community. These are not
run, managed, or reviewed by Issaries, Inc.
Jeff Kyer is the administrator of the HeroWars list (for Hero Wars games set
in Glorantha). This is the beginner's place. Ask anything you want about the
world and about things in general at this site.
Steve Lieb is the administrator of the HeroWars-Rules list, and has also
done work for Issaries in the past. The rules list is the place to ask nitty
gritty questions about how to use the rules to enhance your game.
Graham Robinson is administrator for the long-running Glorantha Digest. The
Digest is the place for complex, deep or just long-winded discussions on the
esoterica of Glorantha.
Chief Merchandiser
Mark Galeotti is our Chief Merchandiser. He reviews licenses and oversees
our many stores on CafePress.com. Look there for a chance to purchase a
variety of coffee mugs, t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other amusing
articles. These items constantly change, usually not to be available again.
Contact him if you have suggestions for artwork, slogans, or other items to
add to the stores, at <cafepress@glorantha.com>.
Also, if you wish to make something (other than a computer game) with an
Issaries license, contact him. He will look at offerings, communicate with
the prospective licensee, and contact us with details.
Other Recognition and Thanks
Finally, Issaries thanks two other people for their extended assistance.
David Camoirano has been stepping in to help out with many projects. He has
playtested many scenarios with two groups of players (one beginning, one
experienced, both of whom we thank as well), has provided valuable
commentary, and has even contributed material for us at the last minute.
Without his work, the last few books would be less than they are.
Jonas Schiott has consistently provided commentary and errata for our books,
making future products better. He has now joined our editorial team as our
Final Proofer, and will be scrutinizing each manuscript to eliminate as many
errors as possible. (The fact that so many errors appeared in the errata for
Orlanth is Dead is not his fault, but ours.) His assistance has been
invaluable.
--------------------
Balancing Sanity Loss In Campaigns (CTHULHU)
by Pete Wright
Sanity mechanics for Call of Cthulhu focus on major shocks and episodic
gaming, yet for smooth campaign play, the little things count. Standardized
'minimum loss' rolls and limited resilience in the face of minor shocks
prevent the twin certainties of high-POW 'unshakeable' and low-POW 'flaky'
characters. The following house rules have helped my campaign - I hope they
help yours, too.
Whilst example maximum Sanity losses for different types of event are nicely
outlined by the core Call of Cthulhu rules, the minimum losses rarely
reflect the magnitude of the event. All too often, there is no minimum
loss - and those who make their rolls regularly get used to shrugging off
events that turn their unfortunate colleagues into quivering jellies. A
minimum loss of roughly 1/4 of the maximum works quite well, giving the
following modified 'example sanity loss' table:
Category Maximum Loss Minimum Loss
Unease, Anxiety (common) 1,1d2 0
Fright, Disgust 1d3 0
Panic, Nausea 1d4 1
Shock, Stupefaction 1d4+1,1d5,1d6,1d6+1 1
Raw Terror 1d6+2,1d8,2d4,1d10 1d2
Horror 2d6 1d3
Mind-blasting Horror 2d8,3d6 1d4
Extreme Horror 1d20,2d10 1d5
Soul-shattering Horror 3d10 1d6+1
Ultimate Horror 1d100 3d8
This also allows the 'multiple monsters' situation to be readily handled -
simply scale up the minimum loss by one place for every doubling of monster
numbers, up to the maximum for the monster type. So a single ghoul is worth
a 1/1d6 loss but two cost 1d2/1d6, four 1d3/1d6 - and so on, until 32 or
more ghouls cause a Sanity loss of 1d6/1d6.
Low-loss frights should be very common of course, though with little lasting
effect unless they accumulate into an Indefinite Insanity. Uneasiness
passes, minor frights are forgotten - these are 'the jitters' we get that
make us more susceptible to greater shocks, not mental scars borne by
Investigators through months of expensive psychiatry. Campaigns therefore
need a way to recoup these minor losses whilst tracking the more significant
traumas of Mythos revelations.
In fact, the little-used 'SAN' characteristic provides a convenient
mechanism, if we distinguish between Sanity Points and (characteristic) SAN
as follows:
a) Sanity Points indicate a character's current stability;
b) SAN indicates a character's 'equilibrium point' - the stability of
their world view within their normal society;
Sanity Points, whether lowered by shock or increased by reward, will return
to the 'equilibrium point' at a rate of 1 Sanity Point per full night of
restful, unthreatened sleep. Ongoing Mythos research prevents any such gain
(although not any losses), whilst real (non-scenario) rest breaks might gain
an extra Sanity point or two per week (although any excess will quickly be
lost, of course).
However, Sanity losses of 5 points or more affect both Sanity Points and
SAN. If this is prompted by a Mythos threat, the Investigator also gains 1%
Cthulhu Mythos (or 5% for their first ever encounter), whether or not actual
Insanity results. Once Insane however, characters may take modified Sanity
losses from new horrors - from zero to doubled losses, depending on how they
perceive the event in their current state. Existing eccentricities may be
aggravated by such shocks,
although new insanities are possible. SAN can only be restored by the
'normal' means of Psychoanalysis and personal achievement - and like Sanity
Points, cannot exceed 99-Cthulhu Mythos.
Short-term Psychoanalysis is little more than a morale-booster - hot cups of
tea, sympathy or a convincing pep-talk. Double the skill in this
circumstance, though it has no effect on either Sanity Points or SAN - it
merely suppresses nervousness or the symptoms of insanity temporarily. The
sufferer remains as vulnerable to further shocks as ever.
Long-term Psychoanalysis restores 1d3 SAN per month if successful (losing
1d6 if Fumbled) but cannot raise SAN above the Investigator's current POWx5.
Sanity Points will follow suit gradually, of course. If you use the 'Taint
of Madness' Institutionalization rules, roll every 1d6 months for survival
and release (+50% once cured) but a successful 'cure' roll regains 1d3 SAN
and failures have no effect - short of Fumbles, which lose 1d6 SAN, or 00
rolls, which might also prompt
some form of institutional disaster. Whatever form long-term treatment
takes, a Special roll adds 1d6 SAN and gets the 'presenting complaint' under
control, but further 'cures' gain no more SAN.
Personal achievement - mastering skills or defeating monsters - affects both
Sanity Points and SAN. However, end-of-scenario rewards should be limited to
1/2 of the maximum Sanity loss for the main threat or entity defeated, as
those who succeed rarely suffer maximum losses and high gains rapidly spiral
SAN upwards, diminishing the horror. Exceptional characterization, teamwork,
heroism or general good play can then earn an extra point or two (or indeed,
poor play may be penalized) without throwing the game off-balance.
In addition, religion can be regarded as a form of passive psychoanalysis -
a way (in earlier eras, if not today) of realigning one's own world view
with that of society. Regular attendance at weekly services might gain an
Investigator 1 SAN per 2 months, whilst strict adherence to a recognized
faith could be worth 1 SAN per month. Of course, such zealous characters
should fear for their immortal souls when Mythos 'demons' arise, perhaps
seeking inspiration in scriptures. Modified Sanity losses may also seem
appropriate at the Keeper's whim - perhaps 1 point less on success, 1 point
more on failure.
Finally, half of all Sanity Points and SAN lost in the Dreamlands is
regained upon awakening. Any remaining SAN loss UNDER 5 is also regained -
so individual losses of up to 9 Sanity Points can occur without permanent
effect.
These modifications focus concern on the severe traumas of Mythos
Investigations, whilst allowing lesser frights to have a short-term,
contributory effect. Overall, this seems to provide a smoother campaign flow
and a more manageable model of mental balance. I hope you find these ideas
useful.
--
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