Chaosium Digest Volume 5, Number 8 Date: Sunday, February 6, 1994 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: New Spells for Elric! (Stefan Matthias Aust) ELRIC! German Titles for Mythos Books (Ralf Wagner) CALL OF CTHULHU Errata: Credo! (Greg Stafford) CREDO! Announcement: Glorious ReAscent of Yelm (Sam Shirley) MISC Recent Sightings: Thanks to Frederic Moll for passing along a number of Recent Sightings from French magazines. The following Articles are all in French: * Hawkmoon - "Laboratoires et Bibliotheques" (Laboratories and Libraries), a five page article about these useful places for scientific and scholarly characters, Tatou #16; "La Tour de Varna Zak Varna Zak" (The Tower of Varna Zak), an eight page scenario spotlighting the weird and baroque science of Hawkmoon, Tatou #16 * Pendragon - "Les Animaux Mythiques" (Mythical Beasts), a four page article about the creation of mythical beasts, Tatou #16; "Les Cerfs Blancs" (The White Deer): a six pages adventure set during the second year of King Arthur's reign, Tatuo #16 * Stormbringer - "La Magie Loyale" (The Magic of the Law), a seven page article giving modifications and new rules for the second French edition of the Stormbringer rules. [Tatou is the house organ of Oriflam, a publisher of french supplements for Chaosium games (except for Cthulhu which is published by another company : Jeux Descartes)] -------------------- From: Stefan Matthias Aust Subject: New Spells for Elric! System: Elric! The following four spells are similar to spells listed in GURPS Conan. Because I liked the format for describing spells given in V3.4 (A Melnibone Grimore), I've imitated it, although the quotation aren't authentic. Burning Death (6) [Spells of War] "Suddenly, he cried out! An immense heat inside his body began to melt his flesh and to evaporate his blood. Stunned from the pain and unable to move, he died a cruel death." Range is sight. Chaotic. The caster causes the target, which has to be a living being, to lose 1D6 internal damage per round, for as long as the spell lasts. Each round, the victim can make a successful MP:MP Resistance Table roll to end the spell. Crystals of Communication (12) [Ritual] "Plundering the treasure room, they found a small piece of crystal that felt warm and full of life. Rhowan, trying to find out the secret of this jewel, pressed it with both hands and an electrical magic force shot through his body. Pressing stronger made him dizzy for a moment, then he was elsewhere, standing in another room, decorated with red carpets. Before him was a sorcerer. 'What do you want, foolish being?' the sorcerer asked." This ritual creates a communication device. You need a large crystal. Each part of it that is broken off can be used to communicate with the holder of the large part. This costs 1 MP. The enchanting costs 3 points of POW for the large crystal plus 1 point for each additional piece made. If the caster fumbles his luck roll, the large crystal cracks and becomes useless. The ritual to break off a piece of the large crystal takes 1D6 hours per piece. If the communication is established, the holder of the crystal fragment sees the holder of the large crystal and feels as if he were in front of him. This is an illusion. He can only communicate, not physically interact with the holder of the large crystal. Simulacrum (varies) [Ritual] "Rhowan's final blow killed the sorcerer. He fell down, his dead corpse crashing to the floor. Immediately, the corpse began to crumble into dirt. Rhowan had to use all of his strength to pull his broadsword from the destroyed body. As Rhowan looked about nervously, another door opened. The same sorcerer advanced through it, laughing evilly." This spell allows the caster to form an earth golem into exactly the image of a particular target. The caster needs to sacrify three points of POW. He also needs the heart of a person from the same race as the target, as well as some of the target's blood. The spell costs MPs equal to the SIZ of the target. Spheres of Devastation (1-4) [Spell of War] "The weapons of the attackers couldn't harm Rhowan in his plate armor. Protecting himself with his large metal shield, he ran through them, killing two with mighty blows. Only one warrior stood between him and the exit. Just a few steps lay between Rhowan and his last enemy when the man cast a spell and hurled a white cloud-like sphere at Rhowan. He tried to block this attack, but the cloud hit his shield and blasted it apart." Range is sight. Chaotic. The sphere is harmless, except when it touches metal, whereupon it bursts with an explosion doing 1D6 damage per MP spend. This spell especially destroys armor points of metal weapons and armor. --Stefan Matthias Aust -------------------- From: zca41122@rpool1.rus.uni-stuttgart.de (Ralf Wagner) Subject: German Titles for Mythos Books System: Call of Cthulhu Some Notes on German Titles for Mythos Books (0/-1 Sanity; +0 Mythos; no spells; skill check for German) While skimming through the Keeper's Compendium, I noticed some obvious mistakes in the titles of several mythos tomes. Some of them _might_ be explained by obscure/archaic grammar, but I don't think that the English speaking authors who invented the books knew that much about German. UNAUSPRECHLICHEN KULTEN / NAMELESS CULTS: This one hurts. Really. Three grammatical mistakes and a mistranslation all in one title. First of all, the right spelling for the adjective is "unaussprechlich". Second, the given title is a mixture of two declensions. It should either read: "Unaussprechliche Kulte" = "Nameless Cults" or "Von unaussprechlichen Kulten" = "Of Nameless Cults". Finally, the title isn's translated properly: unaussprechlich = unspeakable, ineffable namenlos = nameless Personally, I'd stick to "unaussprechlich" which sounds creepier. This mistake might be attributed to the pirated Bridewell edition, which is, as the Compedium states, "...full of mistranslations...". CTHAAT AQUADINGEN: Apart from the fact that I think this title is exceptionally stupid, the German word for "things" is "Dinge", which then becomes "Cthaat Aquadinge". NEW MYTHOS TOMES (p. 34): Ghorl Nigral: The translator's name is given as Gottfred Mulder, Gottfried sounds more German. Secret Mysteries of Asia: The German title might be "Die Geheimlehren Asiens" or "Die geheimen Lehren Asiens" or "Die Mysterien Asiens". Unter Zee Kulten: This should read "Unterwasserkulte" and doen't sound very German. Better don't use it. Uralte Schrecken: This is a truly good one and means "Ancient Horrors". Von denen Verdammten: The correct declension is "Von den Verdammten" = "Of the Damned"; I don't know the word "Kazaj" in the author's name, so I assumme it is actually "Karl-Heinz Vogel" with "Karl-Heinz" being the first name. If anyone is interested, I could do a short write-up of the pronounciation of the German titles. Ciao Ralf Wagner (zca41122@rpool1.uni-stuttgart.de) -------------------- From: Greg Stafford Subject: Errata: Credo! System: Credo! Here is a provisional errata (January 26, 1994) based upon questions received from various sources. I am responding in part to questions asked, and answering questions which are already given in the text. QUESTIONS & ANSWERS: Q: Are Patriarchs treated as Bishops? Or are they immune to cards and events that effect bishops? A: See page 6, col 2, 10. Anytime a card says Bishop, it means Bishops and Patriarchs; if Patriarch, it means only Patriarchs. Q: When you draw a new Article and put it on your display, do you put it into any empty slot? Could it be any slot, perhaps bumping another article to a new location? A: Place it in any blank spot. Once placed, Articles may not be moved on the display. Q: What are the wins and losses when a double article (1&2, for example) is passed? A: When a multiple doctrine is passed, it takes up BOTH slots. In this case, everyone who does not have the article loses for BOTH articles on their own display, but whoever's Article was passed collects for only ONE doctrine being passed. Likewise, if the double doctrine is rejected, the holder of it loses only once. Q: When I "Take" a flock, do I rifle through my opponent's hand or just accept his largest Flock? A: Just ask for his biggest flock, and Take it. I thought p 2, col 2, para 10, last sentence, covered this. Q: I play an Event which allows "Seculars May Persecute." Whose Seculars? How many times? Once per Secular? Who chooses what to Remove? A: Persecution is basically an act of revenge. A result of Persecute is exacted only once, not once per Secular. The player who is doing the Persecution exacts his revenge by choosing which cards to Remove. If you failed a Proselytize, for instance, your attempted "target" may Persecute (if he has a secular in that half of the empire). Q: I am holding a duplicate of my own Article, which is Refuted by a Church Father. Can I then replace my lost Article with the one in my hand? A: No. See page 6, col 2, para 5. I thought that you might be able to replace it anyway, perhaps by using your own Church Father. However, the designer and developer were quite adamant on this point. Q: When does the Emperor card come out? A: With the deal. Otherwise, treat him as a Secular in every way, except that it is placed Aside when eliminated so that it can be re-entered with an Event card. Yes, this means that there may be no emperor, which gives everyone quite a hand when they begin to negotiate. Q: The IN THIS SIGN CONQUER card says that the church helped the emperor to a great victory and they can take a single secular from anyone. Does this include the emperor? A: This includes the emperor: Constantine himself would have gained the Emperor card by playing "In This Sign Conquer" on its previous holder. The Emperor is *always* treated as a secular. Q: When one player Takes a card from another's Flock does the losing church have to display all its flock cards, or does the victor have to pick blindly, or perhaps in a "go fish" style? A: We usually stack flock cards from highest to lowest, which makes a lot of work in the game easier. In our games (and per the rules, page two, second column, penultimate paragraph), "Take" means the victor gets to pick the highest; your variant is fun and sensible and does not revolt me as a house rule. (It sometimes worries me that a couple of "One Million Flock" cards changing hands in the last round can effectively decide the game, but as I don't play it for money I'm not too bothered by this). Q: On page 2 of the rules, it says to place the dummy deck of Church Cards on the "Church Deck." But the Card Layout Guide has no "Church Deck." A: Oops, we had used "Office Cards" as a catch-all phrase for "everything in the Church Deck that isn't Flock", and it crept in the final version by mistake. Use the "Office Deck" space for the "Church Deck," and if you keep it covered by a deck of cards then nobody need ever know of our error. CORRECTIONS TO THE RULES: Page 2, col 1, Step 2: You MUST use as many of the dealt Articles as possible. You may discard only those which have a duplicate Article. Page 2, Col 2, Para 8, first sentence. Should say: It is dealt out equally among the players and... Page 6, col 1, add to end of first Paragraph: "Players must use as many Article cards as possible; only duplicates may be discarded." CORRECTION TO THE CARDS: Correct the following cards to be "Play Immediately.": (Regrettably, the software skipped a layout Return line someplace.) Julian the Apostate Plague In West Plague in East CLARIFICATION FOR REGENCY: If the Empress card is in play, the Emperor card goes to whoever has her card. If there is no Empress in play, the Emperor goes to whoever plays the card. -------------------- From: Sam Shirley Subject: Announcement: Glorious ReAscent of Yelm System: Misc NEW GLORANTHAN DOCUMENTATION AVAILABLE NOW! The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm, by Greg Stafford This is the first new Gloranthan material since King of Sartar. The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm is 82 8.5"x11" pages of ALL NEW information about Glorantha. It is made up of two major sections and a glossary. 1. The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm. A translation of the oldest written material from the Dara Happan Empire. It details the earliest Dara Happan mythology, indicating mythology of the popular gods of the pre-Lunar (ie: circa 221 ST) Empire. It includes an index. 2. The Gods Wall. Facts about the prehistoric monumental sculpture of Dara Happa which serves as the basis for its mythology. Shows the 111 Gods and Goddesses of their pantheon. 3. Glossary, listing and summarizing the deities of the previous two parts. Includes good art by Dan Barker, and maps and crude art by Greg Stafford. The Glorious ReAscent of Yelm is a xeroxed, spiral bound collection of background material which will be refered to in Greg's upcoming "Lunar Book". This is a limited, small printing, of interest to collectors and Glorantha enthusiasts. AVAILABLE ONLY THROUGH WIZARDS' ATTIC, for $25. Call 1-800-213-1493 to Order Today! Or send check or M.O. to: Wizard's Attic, P.O.Box 718, Hayward, CA 94543 -------------------- 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.