Chaosium Digest Volume 4, Number 4 Date: Sunday, September 26, 1993 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: A Keeper's Guide to Small Group Combat (Alex Antunes) CALL OF CTHULHU Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten (Kaid Ramdani) CALL OF CTHULHU More Potions for Pendragon (Shannon Appel) PENDRAGON Magical Enchantments (Shannon Appel) ELRIC! Editor's Note: I am almost done with an Index of Different Worlds Magazine, which I hope to make available some time in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, there is one issue of Different Worlds that I do not own, and can not easily get ahold of: #22. If anyone is interested in helping me finish this index, by providing information on that issue, please drop me a line. I'd appreciate it. New out this week is the fourth edition of Pendragon (Chaosium, 352pp, $26.95). It's a truly impressive book, especially due to its inclusion of a Celtic magic system (see V2.3 for a preview of that magic system). Finally, for those you of you interested in random statistics: the distribution list of the Chaosium Digest is now up to 249 persons. I'm quite impressed by the growth that the list has shown in the last month. Shannon -------------------- From: Alex ANTUNES Subject: A Keeper's Guide to Small Group Combat System: Call of Cthulhu "Firefights and The Cultist Exception" or, a Keeper's Guide to Small Group Combat Even in the gentle milieu of Call of Cthulhu, the poor Investigators often run up against police, cultists, paramilitary units and other small groups of armed people intent on doing harm. How should the Keeper play these units? Whereas a normal monster can be expected to attack until it kills or is killed itself, groups of people react quite differently. In this article are some extremely simple guidelines, in which a generic "Unit" of forces is engaging the Investigators in combat. These are intended to discourage the Investigators from getting involved in such situations in the first place. Unless the investigators are a trained mercenary unit themselves, they should rarely attempt direct assaults. Weapons For simplicity, assume all members of a given Unit have the same weapon. This makes some realistic sense. They may have robbed the same warehouse or had the same trainer. For flavor, let the leader (or nearest equivalent) carry a heavier or longer-range weapon. You can then play this up: "well, you all survived the first round of pistol fire, but I still have to roll for the woman with the sniper's rifle..." Cover Anyone that is being shot at will seek cover. This is simple common sense. So, in a firefight, make sure that you emphasize that the position of the Unit is NOT out in the open. Also, making a simple -2 to any "to hit" roll is a good idea. This will suggest to the Investigators that they need to get to cover also. Further, anyone wishing to engage in hand-to-hand combat must break from cover, and the Keeper should emphasize that this makes them a very appealing target. "Okay, Hadji, you wish to leap forward and kung-fu the temple leader? Just charge that twenty feet across the open ground while bullets wing around you and you're there! What, you've changed your mind?" Losses, Retreat, Panic Unlike your average monster, people tend to get worried when their friends are dying around them. Rather than using a complicated set of equations for morale, judge it by the "kick-ass" yardstick. If the Unit is doing serious damage to the Investigators, they will try to advance. If the Unit is being seriously hurt by the Investigators, and more than 1/2 of them are unconscious or dead, they will run. Fighting to the last man is VERY unusual in a semi-realistic setting such as CoC, especially for police (who have better things to do than die) and gangsters (who are more interested in money than blood). The Cultist Exception The one time to ignore all rules and common sense is when you are handling a cult on its home turf. Here, religious fervor and perhaps a dose or two of drugs will goad the cult into suicidal acts of bravery: no retreat, no use of cover, kill or be killed. This makes them strongly resemble the relentless gods they worship. You can ignore tactics and generally have them rush the Investigators in wave after wave of human cannonfodder. -------------------- From: NUMERIK1@ze8.rz.uni-duesseldorf.de (Kaid Ramdani) Subject: Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten System: Call of Cthulhu Have you ever been in a situation, where you wished you could give your players a handout in its proper language? Then, even if they don't know the languages, they can read some familiar words, which will make them quite nervous. For example: "I read this manuscript, and it says K'thooluh again and again." I always try to give my handouts the most realistic touch, so I am looking for "original" textes in foreign languages. If you have one, please email me. Maybe we can collect them and publish them in the digest. Included here is an excerpt from Von Juntz's "Von Unaussprechlichen Kulten", printed in 1839 in Duesseldorf, a city near Cologne in Germany: "Einer der erschrecklichsten Kulte aber ist der Kult des Gesichtlosen aus Ghorma Slann. Jener blasphemischen Monstrositaet, die ihre abscheulichen Riten nur in dunklester Nacht unter den Augen einer Schar deformierter und abschreckender Rattenwesen abhaelt. Der Kult allein ist Schuld am Tode hunderter unschuldiger Seelen und nur wenige wissen, dass die Rueckkehr des Gesichtslosen unmittelbar bevorsteht." English Tranlation: "One of the most terrible cults is the Cult of the Faceless of Gorma Slann. A blasphemous monstrosity, it celebrates its perverted rites in the darkest of the nights, under the eyes of a horde of deformed and frightening ratlike beings. The cult alone caused the death of hundreds of innocent souls and there are few who know of the nearby return of the Faceless One." As a scenario idea, to go with this text, I would suggest a German immigrant, who left Germany in 1720 in fear for witchhunters. In his belongings was a relic of the cult of the Faceless of Gorma Slann. It is a statue or perhaps a flute. The immigrant was the sole survivor of the rat-plagued sailing-ship that he reached America in. Two hundred years later, an ancestor of his has discovered his family's past. Corrupted by the mythos, he prays to the Faceless again. Soon after, a serious rat problem has appeared in the city where this ancestor lives. For further ideas, I suggest James Herbert's "The Rats". As a special mythos monsters, I would suggest the Rat-things from "Cthulhu by Gaslight", a lesser servitor race. Remember the scratching in the walls. KAID -------------------- From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel) Subject: More Potions for Pendragon System: Pendragon In Pendragon, women may posess a number of different gifts. One of the most interesting of these is the gift, "potion brewer", which allows women to make a number of magical salves, poisons and potions. Unfortunately, the basic potion table given in Pendragon (P4, pg 141 or KA, pg 79) is a bit short. Below, I have included a number of new potions, which could either be used as interesting elements in game play or to expand the Potions Result Table given in the basic rules. EXPANDED POTIONS RESULT TABLE 1 Rhiannon's Caress 2 Dona's Kiss 3 Branwen's Brew 4 Arionrod's Song 5 Ceridwen's Embrace 6 72-herbs 7 The Kiss of the Forest 8 Blodeuwedd's Blessing 9 Llew's Cloak 10 Pwyll's Philter The Kiss of the Forest: A healing potion made from the leaves of certain rare faerie plants. The result is a bad smelling salve which may be rubbed into wounds. When applied, the Kiss of the Forest will heal the permanent effects of a major wound (that is, any statistic that was lost, not the actual hit points damage). Blodeuwedd's Blessing: Fertility Potion. A sweet tasting potion which must be drunk. That winter, the knight who imbibes it will be blessed with children. Roll a D10+10 on the Childbirth Table (P4, pg 188) rather than the standard D20 (assuming, of course, that the knight has some consort). Llew's Cloak: Potion of Valor. When a knight drinks this bitter potion, he gains the characteristics of a lion. For a full day, his Valor will be +10, and his Cowardly -10, with no maximum. If the knight survives the day, his characteristics will return to normal. Pwyll's Philter: Potion of Valor. While under the influence of this tasteless potion, a knight will feel no pain. He will feel no immediate effect from his injuries, and will not fall unconscious until he is quite near to death (ie at 0 hit points). Finally, it is also rumored that to the East of Logres, there is a woman who knows the secret to making another type of potion. It is not on the above table, for the ingredients and methods are both a secret, known only to Culwyn, wife of the unfortunate knight, Sir Merin. It is described below: Culwyn's Concotion: This potion, made of certain roots and herbs which are brewed into a soup, protects a woman from pregnancy. When the winter phase comes, it is not necessary to make any rolls upon the Childbirth Table. Clearly, a wife secretly drinking this potion could make life most miserable for her husband if he is still seeking an heir. -------------------- From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel) Subject: Magical Enchantments System: Elric! Chaosium's newest game of the Young Kingdoms, Elric!, offers an impressive magic system which allows characters to cast many of the small spells seen in the Elric novels. Although I was originally somewhat leery of the idea, I think the result is a good one. There are sufficient detriments to spell casting, that parties of adventurers are unlikely to wander about the Young Kingdoms, Hell's Razor constantly upon their blades. However, even with the minor magics of Elric!, the system still seems somewhat incomplete. I first hit upon this problem when designing the Melnibonean Spell, The Runesleep [see V3.4]. The normal procedures for spellcasting, which allow for short-lived spells which may be cast very quickly, seemed inappropriate. Since then, I've considered the problem a bit more, and I now offer, as a solution, a new manner of spells: Enchantments. The Elric! rules touch briefly upon Enchantments, saying that they are: "a form of magic which imbued objects and places with one or more qualities that permanently changed its characteristics or behavior" (Elric! rules, page 107). I would suggest that that is only one aspect of Enchantments. More completely, an enchantment is any spell that has some type of permanent effect upon the world. These might be the Armoring, Binding and Matrix Enchantments of RuneQuest, or the ancient enchantments alluded to in Elric! or modern rituals, known by the most powerful of sorcerers. All enchantments have three defining characteristics: * LENGTH OF CASTING - Enchantments take an extended amount of time to cast. Most modern enchantments will take 1D8 hours to cast. More powerful enchantments, such as the ones described on page 108 of the Elric! book could take considerably longer. * DURATION OF SPELL - Universally, enchantments are of a permanent duration, although some of them (such as The Runesleep and The Hidden Soul) may be broken under certain conditions. * EXPENDITURE OF POWER - Due to their strength, Enchantments take something out of their caster. The weakest ones, such as the examples given below, drain but one POW. Greater ones might require the sacrifices of entire villages. As examplse of enchantments, I would first offer two extant spells, Brazier of Power (Elric! pg 77) and The Runesleep (vol.3.4). Clearly, they meet two of the criteria of enchantments already, for they each require a point of POW to be spent and they both have permanent effects upon the world. By naming them enchantments, we also extend their casting time to 1D8 hours. In both cases, it seems appropriate. Finally, I offer one new enchantment, a spell of the East, drawn from the Elric books: The Hidden Soul (4) [Spells of the Unseen World] "He had put his soul into the body of a cat so that no rival sorcerer might steal it when he slept." -The Bane of the Black Sword III, 1 Enchantment. Cost is 1 POW. Range is touch. Chaotic. With this spell, the sorcerer is able to put his soul into the body of an animal, protecting himself from certain foul enchantmants (notable among them, the soul stealing abilities of Stormbringer). However, in turn, the sorcerer also increases his vulnerability. If the animal which holds the sorcerer's soul should die, so shall he. This enchantment may be brought to an end if the sorcerer and the animal exchange blood. Knowledge of this enchantment is limited to the unknown kingdoms of the east. However, it might be known by travellers to the Young Kingdoms who originated in those far away lands. -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's Games. To submit an article, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. The old digests are archived on soda.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP.