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Chaosium Digest Volume 38 Number 05
Chaosium Digest Volume 38, Number 5
Date: Thursday, July 15, 2004
Number: 1 of 1
Contents:
* Symbiot Armor (CTHULHU)
by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com).
Editor's Note:
Here's a bunch of announcements, and a new article giving a sci-fi bent to
CoC. We're still here and still accepting submissions, so please keep them
coming. Just to be sure things are working, I'm asking for those who receive
this issue to let me know with a quick reply. Otherwise, enjoy this issue.
Letters to the Editor
I have not seen the new 6th edition yet, and I will probably buy it but I am
not very happy abut it. From what I hear Chaosium keep making minor changes
and
banging out a 'new edition' when it should be, at most a small increment on
the last one - 5.8 or so.
We do need a proper revised edition, all this 'reprint' does is put the real
new edition back another year or two, of course it probably keeps Chaosium
afloat so I should not be too unkind. I hope they are working on a revised
edition - basically start with a clean slate and rewrite the lot. I don't
think we need radical rule changes but a rewrite would be nice - and this
would doubtless introduce a whole new set of errors that would require
iterative releases to fix.
Michael
(The thing to remember RE: Call of Cthulhu editions is that they really
don't follow the same standard as, say, D&D editions. It seems that every
couple of reprints, Chaosium will reorganize the book, add some new art
and/or some new optional rules and/or rename some skills and call it a new
edition. It keeps the line fresh with some new perspective every few years,
yet the core of the game has remained the same. If one is happy with the 2nd
edition rules, one can easily run current material with those rules. Many do
quite successfully. - editor)
ANNOUNCEMENTS
* Transmitted by Dustin Wright of the Leng Embassy, from Silverton Colorado.
Save The Meatball!
The R'lyeh report is here to bring you up to speed on many things Chaosium.
For more Chaosium news check out our website at http://www.chaosium.com
Howdy Folks!
We're back from a successful Origins Game Expo. This year's pilgrimage to
Columbus Ohio was quite enjoyable. We got to meet plenty of Chaosium
friendly folks, check out the new Call of Cthulhu CCG from Fantasy Flight
Games (it's way cool), and sold a fair number of books & T-shirts. Thanks to
everyone who swung by our booth. We'd like to especially thank our Buca
Companions (Save the Meatball!), our volunteer staff, and the Rogue Cthulhu
gang for bringing the joy of COC to so many. On a personal note, I'm very
thankful to the folks at Continental and the Columbus Airport security for
letting me board my flight without my drivers license. Columbus is a fine
place to visit, but I was unprepared to stay there until I could get a
replacement ID. :)
Chaosium to attend Continuum UK
Charlie Krank, Chaosium el Presidente, will be attending Continuum July 23 -
26, 2004 at Leicester University in the United Kingdom. If you reside in the
UK, or if you can get there, by all means come to this convention. There
will be plenty of Call of Cthulhu, Glorantha, and Stormbringer happening. If
you do attend, run an event! Run two or three events! Check out the Con
website at http://www.continuum.uk.net/ for more info.
Chaosium to Attend Gen Con - big time.
We will of course be attending Gen Con August 19-22nd in Indianapolis, IN.
We'll be in booth 420 (aka the Friendly booth) right next to our buddies at
Fantasy Flight Games. You can look forward to all sorts of mayhem, including
a Cthulhu for President 2004 rally, three Cthulhu roleplaying tournaments,
the return of the M.U. Skulls, the Chaosium booth bizarre, and lots of Call
of Cthulhu CCG events by the FFG dudes. We hope to see you there. For more
information about
Gen Con Indy, check out http://www.gencon.com. For more information about
the Call of Cthulhu card game check out http://www.cthulhuccg.com, tell them
Chaosium sent you.
H.P. Lovecraft Birthday Con
All the usual eldritch party favors can be found at this year's annual H.P.
Lovecraft's Birthday Party gaming convention in Vancouver BC Canada (at the
Marpole Curling Club), August 27-29. Lots of Call of Cthulhu, Hills Rise
Wild, Mythos and other Lovecraftian pastimes will be run in addition to the
usual RPG & Clix favorites that one can find at these Vancouver Gaming Guild
events, plus some Cthulhoid movies will be shown. Our ticket prices are so
low, we must be at 0
SAN! For more info visit http://www.vancouvergamingguild.com
Chaosium.com Update
Since the last report, Chaosium.com has seen quite a bit of action. We've
several new T-shirts, a new Monograph for COC roleplaying in ancient Rome,
some new books, restocks of jewelry and mini's, etc. Swing by
http://www.chaosium.com and see for yourself.
Release Schedule Update
Please let your favorite local shop know you want these titles. The more
copies we ship upon their initial release, the faster we can finish printing
our next book.
July Releases
6023 The Yellow Sign & Other Stories $19.95 (reprint) - Delayed at printer.
Boo! It should ship to us soon.
2392 Secrets of Japan $34.95 - At the Printer.
August Release
2397 Shadows of Yog Sothoth $23.95
0091 Cthulhu for President 2004 Kit $19.95 - The various parts of this kit
are in various stages of completion and incompletion. We expect it to be
available at Gen Con.
September & Beyond.
The Cthulhu Dark Ages Companion (working title) for Cthulhu Dark Ages, The
Stars Are Right! 2nd edition (COC RPG), The Terror & Other Tales (COC
fiction) are all in the works. Additionally, we have several Fiction titles
to reprint. Three Impostors, The Necronomicon, and Nameless Cults are among
them. Just how many of these books end up printed this year is of course
dependent upon sales and the continued sanity of our staff.
Rumors, Rumors, Rumors.
Chaosium needs GM's. We still need some COC demo GM's to cover some of our
Gen Con Cthulhu Dark Ages events.
The Pulp Cthulhu project lives. It's being worked on now.
Fantasy Flight will be printing the Arkham Horror Boardgame later this year.
The Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth Computer game looks awesome.
It's expected to release this Fall.
A crack team of Leng Embassy COGs (Covert Operation Gugs) has recently been
sent to Defiance Ohio.
Thank you for supporting the Chaosium!
The Chaosium dudes.
--
Dustin Wright- Chaosium Colorado "Leng Embassy"
/|\_(@jjjj@)_/|\ http://www.chaosium.com
28 Years of Quality Mayhem and still counting...
* A Sweltering Hello to All.
As the heat rises and even the fearsome shoggoths ooze ever deeper into the
bowels of the earth, frantic to avoid the warming air, Chaosium wants you to
stay cool. So cool, in fact, we have trekked to secret places and unknown
ruins to bring you a huge cache of artifacts and tomes of great import. Read
on and learn of these great treasures, sure to spark comment and foster
friendships.
The first of these great treasures is the secret, and never-spoken-of,
monograph known to some as CTHULHU INVICTUS. Making its debut at Origins
2004, demand was great and the reception fantastic - so much so that authors
Chad and Andi simply disappeared into the ether, like so many Buca di Beppo
meatballs.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=525
Everybody loves tee shirts during summer, and Chaosium fans can stay one
fashionable step above the rest with Chaosium¹s catalog of swell shirts.
Come see the new ELDER SIGN TEE, as well as the new MU ASTRONOMY CLUB tee.
Chaosium also has the CTHULHU DARK AGES tee, and an impressive portrait of
Lovecraft himself on our newest shirt, the H. P. LOVECRAFT TEE!!
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=33
A new stock of both CTHULHU MASH and MONSTER MASH has arrived, and you may
come see this neat (and scary!!) board game by clicking here.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=40
Chaosium does on occasion enter our extensive, though musty, private library
to dig up special and rare volumes. We are quite happy to now offer the fine
H. P. LOVECRAFT ENCYCLOPEDIA, once only a rumor and source of mysterious
passages. Own this fine manuscript before we hide them away from human eyes
again.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=536
Chaosium has also found a crumbling chest full of books thought gone.
Within, we beheld copies of the delightful THE YEAR 1000, THE DREAM CYCLE OF
H. P. LOVECRAFT, and SHADOWS OVER BAKER STREET, amongst others. Behind a
worm-eaten tapestry, we were alarmed to discover a cache of frightful books
unknown to us. Perhaps these books would be of use to you, for your hidden
schemes or steadfast investigation. For more Cthulhu Dark Ages source
material, we offer THE LAST APOCALYPSE, a narrative treatment of the world
and the violent changes shaping it in the year 1000. For keeperss we have a
guide to investigators and investigative techniques called JUST THE FACTS,
MA'AM. Please click on the links right here, and can view these new books.
THE YEAR 1000:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=468
THE DREAM CYCLE OF H. P. LOVECRAFT:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=408
SHADOWS OVER BAKER STREET:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=403
THE LAST APOCALYPSE:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=534
JUST THE FACTS, MA'AM:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=535
Want painted figurines to use in your Call of Cthulhu games? Have the
dexterity of a hybrid degenerate? Check out these swell painted guys!! Get
your box of DUNWICH DETECTIVES (sets 1 & 2), and play with them right outta
the box!! Click here to see these nifty, pre-painted pewter figurines.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=532
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=531
Chaosium of course also has the collection of great RAFM Call of Cthulhu
figures, and we did receive a recent restock of these tainted tokens. Click
here to see all the figures we carry.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=36
For the infrequent summer storms that ruin you outdoor play, or days that
find you infirm, Chaosium has a perfect solution. Stop the daydreams! Quit
staring at the right angles in your room! Pass this special time with THE
CTHULHU RAINY-DAY ACTIVITY BOOK. Connect the dots! Finish puzzles and mazes,
and otherwise lose yourself in the Mythos. Read more about this friendly
little coloring book by clicking here.
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=533
And for the thinking keeper, we found a few tomes at recent conventions
including BookExpo and Origins. If you keep up on your reading and know your
Ambrose Bierce, you might know that he was a columnist for the San Francisco
Examiner in the late 1800s. He wrote tales of the Civil War soldiers and
citizens. We collected a couple copies to judge your interest. Also, there
is a critical examination of those stories. If you are keen on Machen, a
very fine writer, there is a collection of his letters to collector and
philanthropist Montgomery Evans, providing keen insight to Machen and his
work. On the more gruesome side, Kent State University Press published IN
THE WAKE OF THE BUTCHER: THE CLEVELAND TORSO MURDERS, a case from the '30s
that stymied even the legendary Elliot Ness. If you are looking for scenario
inspiration, and period description, you need look no further than this.
TALES OF SOLDIERS AND CIVILIANS:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=537
AMBROSE BIERCE'S CIVILIANS AND SOLDIERS IN CONTEXT:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=538
ARTHUR MACHEN AND MONTGOMERY EVANS:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=526
IN THE WAKE OF THE BUTCHER:
http://www.chaosium.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=35&products_id=527
This summer finds the Chaosium crew very. We have many projects under way,
we travel far and wide to speak to our friends and we will continue to bring
many fun and spooky things to our fans and friends around the world. We hope
you enjoy some of the new things we offer, and future classics are in the
works!!
Thanks to all, and watch the Stars.
Chaosium Inc.
Charlie, Lynn, Dustin, Fergie, Dennis, (and some who must not be named).
Please send any questions to: fergie@chaosium.com
****************************************************************************
*
Chaosium Inc.
895 B Street #423
Hayward, CA 94541
www.chaosium.com
* Check out the following link for an interesting story:
http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0%2C4057%2C4811363%255E13762%2C00.html
------------------
Symbiot Armor
by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com).
This was developed for a Call of Cthulhu setting in 2471. It could easily be
adapted to a present day campaign as well. It's a little harder fit for
Cthulhu by Gaslight or Cthulhu Dark Ages (but I'm sure that an enterprising
Keeper could figure something out...).
Symbiot Armor
Symbiot armor is a biological product that forms a symbiotic relationship
with its host (the person that wears it).
Symbiot Armor.
STR 1*+ CON 1*+ SIZ 4*+
POW 1 DEX 1*+
Move 1+ HP 3.
Av. Damage Bonus: Damage bonus is based upon the combined Strength and Size
of the host and the symbiot armor.
* STR, CON, DEX, and Move are dependent upon SIZ (STR+DEX+CON+Move cannot
exceed SIZ).
+ Shog Strength, Constitution, Size, Dexterity, and Move scores are added to
the host's attributes (whoever wears the armor).
Armor: The symbiot is only harmed by fire and magic. The host does not
receive these same immunities to damage and the host loses Hit Points before
the symbiot.
Attacks: Attach (25%) for Absorption.
Symbiot armor begins play with one stationary mouth (usually located near
one of the host's hands, but the host may determine the exact location).
This stationary mouth can Attach to biological targets and absorb attribute
points from that target. The target can attempt to break free (STR vs. STR;
if successful, the symbiot does not absorb attribute points, but the target
does lose 1d6 Hit Points) at the end of each round. Once the symbiot armor
has attached, Absorption may begin on the following round. The armor may
absorb 1d6 attribute points per round (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution;
the host decides which attribute at the beginning of each round). The target
is immobilized when any attribute reaches 0; at this point, the armor may
begin absorbing Size points as well. Attribute loss may (or may not) be
permanent (Keeper's discretion). Once absorbed, attribute points may be used
in three different ways. First, one attribute point allows the host to
regain one Magic Point (Magic Points cannot exceed the host's Power).
Second, one attribute point allows the host to heal one Hit Point (Hit
Points cannot exceed the character's full amount; Healing goes to the
symbiot or the host, not both in the same round). Finally, attribute points
may be added to the Size of the symbiot. Attribute points allocated to Size
may increase the armor's attributes (Strength, Constitution, Dexterity, or
Move). Move cannot exceed half the armor's Dexterity and refers only to
ground movement. Additional types of Move may be added with the Shape skill
(see below). Points allocated to armor attributes cannot be removed at a
later date. Size points that are not allocated to Strength, Constitution,
Dexterity, or Move may be utilized with the Shape skill. The symbiot armor's
size cannot exceed the modified Strength (Strength of the host + the symbiot
armor's Strength).
New Skill
Shape (00%): Shape allows the host (anyone wearing symbiot armor) to use
Size points (those points that are not allocated to Strength, Constitution,
Dexterity, or Move) to alter the physical form of the armor. The skill
allows the user to create natural armor, natural attacks (claws, mouths,
tentacles), or mimic physical appearances. Shaping can be rapid, but
requires concentration (the host cannot Shape and attack in the same round).
Size points Shaped in one round cannot exceed the Shape skill divided by 10,
round down (Shape 47% could manipulate 4 Size points in one round).
Appearance: The armor's appearance may be shaped by the host without
allocating Size points. An appearance change should be considered to require
five Size points when determining the speed at which the shaping will take
place (i.e., Shape 50% or better would be required to shape the armor's
appearance in one round). Utilizing this ability, the host can gain a bonus
to their Disguise skill (add half the Shape skill to Disguise). Armor: Six
Size points creates one point of Armor. Armor cannot exceed the Move rate.
Armor also protects the symbiot from fire and magic damage. Claws: Two Size
points creates one claw capable of delivering 1d6 points of damage (use the
Fist/Punch skill for Claw attacks). Four additional points will increase the
damage of the Claw attack (1d6 additional points per claw). If you used 10
Size points to create a claw, it would inflict 3d6 points of damage.
Environmental Adaptation: Gills will cost three Size points (allows the user
to breathe underwater). Repertory protection (gas mask or a similar
modification) costs two Size points. Environmental protection for a specific
environment (i.e., the South Pole, the Sahara Desert, etc.) costs six Size
points. Complete Environmental (i.e., protection capable of surviving the
vacuum of space) costs ten Size points. There is some overlap within
Environmental Protection (i.e., if you are protected from the vacuum of
space, you can survive underwater).
Movement: Three Size points allows the host to swim (host's Move + symbiot
armor's Move) or walk on walls (again, host's Move + symbiot armor's Move).
Six Size points allows the host to burrow (symbiot armor's Move rate). Eight
Size points allows the host to fly (symbiot armor's Move rate). Mouth: Four
Size points creates a second stationary mouth capable of 1d6 points of
damage (or Attachment and Absorption). Each Symbiot has one stationary mouth
(unallocated Size points are not necessary for this mouth). If the host
wishes to move the stationary mouth to another location on the armor, treat
the initial mouth as having cost four points for purposes of the Shape skill
(i.e., if the Shape skill exceeds 39%, the mouth can be moved in one round).
Six Size points increases the mouth's damage by 1d6 (i.e., the symbiot's
primary mouth could absorb 3d6 attribute points if the host allocated 12
Size points to it).
Tentacle: Six Size points creates one tentacle. A tentacle modifies the
host's Grapple (+10% to the host's skill for each tentacle, additional
tentacles still allow only one Grapple attack), has a reach equal to six
yards, and can inflict an additional 1d6 points of damage. Three additional
Size points will increase the tentacle's reach (+3 yards) or damage (+1d6
points). The host's Strength (for the purposes of the Grapple attack)
receives +6 per tentacle.
Author's Notes
Symbiot armor might be linked to shoggoths, genetic manipulation,
nanotechnology, or something else entirely. There are rumors that the
symbiot is intelligent, but most regard that as an urban legend (if you
chose to make the armor Intelligent, you open a host of roleplaying
possibilities).
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