Chaosium Digest Volume 6, Number 11 Date: Sunday, June 26, 1994 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: RQ-Con 2 Update #1 (Shannon Appel) MISC A Nephilim Preview (Shannon Appel) NEPHILIM New Spells for Elric! (Poizat Daniel) ELRIC! Ye Booke of Monsters Index (Chaosium) CALL OF CTHULHU Editor's Note: A few weeks ago, a new area was added to the FTP site for Necronomicon Press, a small publisher who puts out a variety of Horror & Cthulhu related books. /pub/chaosium/cthulhu/necropress on soda.berkeley.edu currently contains the following files: catalog94 ; the Necronomicon Press 1994 catalog checklist ; a list of everything that Necronomicon Press has ever ; produced hplcoll-1 ; the complete text of the HP Collector #1 update94-1 ; an update to the 1994 catalog Recent Sightings: * Call of Cthulhu - "Dance of Death", a four page adventure for either the 1920s or the modern era, Challenge #73 [June/July-ish, 1994]; "Les Enfants Terribles", a four page French adventure which may be used as an introduction to the Dreamlands, Casus Belli #81 [July/August, 1994] -------------------- From: Shannon Appel Subject: RQ-Con 2 Update #1 System: Misc Work on RQ-Con 2 has continued in the last two months. Here's a general update on the current status of things. ** GENERAL INFO As noted before, the Convention is going to be held January 13-16 in the San Francisco Bay Area. We've chosen the San Francisco Clarion Hotel for the Convention. It's in Millbrae, California, just a bit south of SF. Sandy Petersen has been officially added to our Guests of Honor list, which at this point also includes all four RQ2 authors as well as Greg Stafford. Wizards of the Coast has let us know that Ars Magica will be the spotlighted game that they are presenting on January 15. Jonathan Tweet, the co-author of Ars Magica and current editor of the Ars Magica line will be in attendance. ** SPECIAL EVENTS A number of old events will return for RQ-Con 2, many of them with new and interesting twists. Trollball this year will be held in balmy Dagori Inkarth, rather than on Valind's Glacier. It will be open to all Uz, not just Uzhim. Geo's will be hosting a look at the dishes of the Lunar upper class. Please bring a Pelorian delicacy, and the recipe (both Gloranthan and Terran). Entries should fit into the categories of Snack, Drink, Salad, Main Dish or Dessert. Braised Alticamelus tongue in ginger sauce, over a bed of saffron maize and bloodbeans? At this point, do not plan on cooking facilities other than those you bring yourselves. Orlanthi Storytelling this year is titled Trickster's Night Out. Please bring stories (not more than 10 minutes in length) about Eurmal, Bolongo, Ratslaff or some other Trickster figure from Gloranthan Myth. Our panel of Gloranthan sages will judge the contest based on mythic substance and humor. The game auction this year will feature all our Spotlighted games. This is your chance to pick up rare and prized items. Runequest and other Chaosium products, Skyrealms of Jorune and Ars Magica products are sought for the auction. We will have our information auction again, where you can ask Greg (or our other guests) any question and receive an answer. Our guests reserve the right to return your money if they can not or will not answer your question. This year we will introduce some new contests and displays: Gloranthan Introductions is a game of pure role-playing. Present yourself or another in the style of one of the Gloranthan cultures: Orlanthi boasting, Lunar bureaucracy, Praxian geneaology, etc. Introductions should be kept under two minutes. A Gloranthan Costume Parade is scheduled, as is a Display of Battle Standards and Banners of Glorantha. A brief description of the object and its history should be provided. As this is the first year of this event, we do not plan on making it a competition. All are welcome to enter; winners only receive the admiration of the audience. Please note that we do not want to have twenty copies of the Banner of the Empire of Wyrm's Friends (the Chaosium symbol). A display area will be provided to showcase your Gloranthan Miniatures. A similar area for your Gloranthan Artwork will be available. We do not plan on this being a competition. Entrants will be asked to proivide some information about their entry. Again, the only prize is admiration and envy! Several private and company collections of our featured games will be available for your perusal. These games will be available for viewing throughout the day for the run of the convention. ** SEMINARS We're still working on seminars for the con. Nothing is set in stone yet, but we should have talks on cultures and religions of Gloranthan, tips on gamemastering Glorantha and a discussion of Heroquesting for a start. If you have ideas for other seminars that you'd like to see at the Con, drop me a line. ** GAMES People are still needed to run RuneQuest, Call of Cthulhu, Elric!, Pendragon, Nephilim, Skyrealms of Jorune and Ars Magica games at RQ-Con 2. If you'd be interested in running something, please drop me a line. People running games will be given discounted admission to the Con. Shannon Appel appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (510) 649-7467 PS: If you're not already on the mailing list for RQ-Con 2 and would like to be, send me mail. -------------------- From: Shannon Appel Subject: A Nephilim Preview System: Nephilim A few weeks ago, I received a playtest copy of Chaosium's newest game, Nephilim. I thought I'd take a little bit of space here to give a preview of the game. I'm just touching upon a few of the things that I thought were really neat here, since it would take much too much time to try and explain the game top to bottom. GENERAL CONCEPTS Some of the general concepts behind Nephilim were outlined in the last issue of the digest (V6.10). Nephilim is set in a world of magic, where ancient entities have shaped history since before the dawn of civilization. The players are disembodied spirits (Nephilim), who take over the bodies of men (Simulacrum) so that they may once again walk the world, seeking spiritual fulfillment (Agartha). This is not the first time they have moved among men, and it will probably not be the last. At first, I was somewhat leary of the game, for it seemed similar to the World of Darkness and other trendy games. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I read through Nephilim. The Nephilim aren't angsting monsters, regretful of their very existance. Rather, they seem to be adventuring scholars, looking for lost knowledge, while, at the same time, staying half a step ahead of dozens of secret societies. Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco, is listed as a good source for Nephilim. I'd also suggest Shea & Wilson's ten or so Illuminatus! books and even the cinematic adventures of Indiana Jones. The lost treasures, ancient forces and secret organizations of the Jones movies would have made excellent Nephilim adventures. NEPHILIM CHARACTERS The character creation section of Nephilim takes up 60 pages in the draft that I have, and I wouldn't be surprised if it grows before the final edition. However, it's full of lots of good stuff. By the time your character is created you know a _lot_ about who and what he is. You start off by picking your magical affinity, that is the element that you are tied to. The choices are Fire, Earth, Air, Water and Moon. Then, you go on to choose your Metamorphis, which is the ultimate expression of your personality. There are two choices of metamorphis for each element (except moon, which has just one). For example, the two aspects of Fire are the Djinn and the Phoenix. As Nephilim move towards Argartha, they become more and more inhuman, reflecting more strongly their elemental connection. Afterwards, comes my favorite part of Character Creation, Past Lives. You get to pick various past eras in which you lived upon the Earth, and develop skills and knowledge from them. Finally, when everything about your Nephilim has been determined, you roll up the stats for your Simulacrum, which works pretty much like any other BRP character generation system. NEPHILIM MAGIC The one other bit about Nephilim that I wanted to mention was the magic system, or more correctly, the three magic systems, Sorcery, Summoning and Alchemy. Sorcery is a pretty standard magic system, elementally based. Summoning is, as one would expect, a system which the Nephilim may use to bring forth and control creatures from other worlds. The creatures summoned are quite unique and very in-character for the game (ie Adonai, the Premier Masters of Creation, Great Emerald Grail). I find most of them to really invoke the correct mood, and thus make the whole summoning system that much more interesting. Finally, there is Alchemy, the magic of transformation. OVERVIEW There's a lot that I haven't got into yet here, such as the extensive background, which touches upon the powers of the celestial bodies, Mu, Atlantis, the black moon, the fallen Nephilim and much more; the major trumps, which are the groups which Nephilim belong to; and the minor trumps, which are organizations of secret societies, including the Templars, the Assassins, the Teutonic Knights, and lots more. There are many conspiracies and secrets in Nephilim, and together they form what I believe will be a delightful game. -------------------- From: poizat@ensinfo.univ-nantes.fr (poizat daniel) Subject: New Spells for Elric! System: Elric! Burning Breath (3) [Spells of the Elements] Chaotic. Range is touch. Resting your hands upon someone's head will grant them the ability to breath flames. This gives a new attack. Base Chance: 20% Damage: 2d10 Distance: 1d10 yards The recipient of the spell automatically gains 2 chaos points. Kakatal first brought this spell to the Young Kingdoms, and his cultists are still quite possessive of it. Stolen Knowledge of Maluk (3) [Ritual] Chaotic. Cost is 1 POW. Range is touch. This spell may be cast on any book or sheet of paper. Anyone reading the book must pass a POWx2 test. If he fails, he will forget some of his knowledge (d6% from a random skill) and the caster of the ritual will learn it. A variant of this spells exists, where the knowledge stays in the book rather than being learned by the caster of the ritual. -------------------- From: Chaosium Subject: Ye Booke of Monsters Index [Unfortunately, half of the index from Ye Booke of Monsters was omitted. Included below is the complete index, A-Z] Creature Source Page ======== ====== ==== Abhoth CoC5 87 Adumbrali AC1 10 Aforgomon AC1 11 Ahtu CoC5 88 Ancient Ones AC1 12 Atlach Nacha CoC5 89 Azathoth CoC5 91 Bast CoC5 91 Bloated Woman AC1 12 Bokrug CoC5 92 Bugg-Shashd AC1 13 Byakhee CoC5 92 Byatis AC1 14 Cats from Saturn AC1 15 Chaugnar Faugn CoC5 93 Chaugnar Faugn, Brothers of AC1 15 Chthonians CoC5 93 Colours out of Space CoC5 94 Crawling Ones AC1 16 Cthugha CoC5 95 Cthulhu CoC5 96 Cyaegha CoC5 97 Cynothoglys AC1 17 Dagon CoC5 97 Daoloth CoC5 97 Dark Demon AC1 17 Dark Young CoC5 98 Deep Ones CoC5 98 Dholes CoC5 99 Dimensional Shamblers CoC5 99 Dwellers in the Depths AC1 18 Eihort CoC5 100 Eihort, Brood of CoC5 100 Elder Things CoC5 100 Faceless God AC1 19 Feaster from Afar AC1 19 Fire Vampires CoC5 101 Flying Polyps CoC5 101 Formless Spawn CoC5 102 Fosterlings of the Old Ones AC1 20 Ghasts CoC5 103 Ghatanothoa CoC5 103 Ghouls CoC5 104 Ghroth AC1 21 Glaaki CoC5 104 Glaaki, Servants of CoC5 105 Goatswood Gnomes AC1 22 Goblins AC1 22 Gol-Goroth AC1 23 Gnoph-Keh CoC5 105 Great Race of Yith CoC5 106 Great Race of Yith, New CoC5 107 Gugs CoC5 107 Hagarg Ryonis AC1 24 Hastur CoC5 107 Haunter of the Dark AC1 24 Hounds of Tindalos CoC5 109 Hunting Horrors CoC5 110 Hydra (Deep One) CoC5 97 Hydra (Great Old One) AC1 25 Hyperboreans AC1 26 Hypnos CoC5 111 Iod AC1 27 Ithaqua CoC5 111 Juk-Shab AC1 27 Karakal AC1 28 Keeper of the Moon-Lens AC1 28 King in Yellow CoC5 111 Leng, Men from AC1 29 Leng Spiders CoC5 112 Lesser Other Gods CoC5 112 L'gy'hx, Inhabitants of AC1 30 Lloigor (Great Old One) AC1 31 Lloigor (race) CoC5 113 Lobon AC1 31 Madam Yi AC1 32 Messenger of the Old Ones AC1 33 Mi-Go CoC5 114 Million Favoured Ones AC1 33 M'nagalah AC1 34 Moon-Beasts CoC5 114 Nath-Horthath AC1 34 Nightgaunts CoC5 114 Nioth-Korghai AC1 35 Nodens CoC5 115 Nyarlathotep CoC5 115 Ny'ghan Grii AC1 36 Nyogtha CoC5 116 Quachil Uttaus CoC5 117 Q'yth-az AC1 37 Rat-Things CoC5 117 Rhan-Tegoth CoC5 117 Rlim Shaikorth AC1 37 Saaitii ACI 38 Sand-Dwellers CoC5 118 Seekers AC1 39 Serpent People CoC5 118 Servitors of the Outer Gods CoC5 119 Shaggai, Insects from CoC5 119 Shantaks CoC5 120 Shoggoths CoC5 120 Shub-Niggurath CoC5 121 Shudde M'ell CoC5 121 Shugoran AC1 40 Shugoran, Children of AC1 40 Spawn of the Green Abyss AC1 41 Spectral Hunters AC1 42 Sphinx, Children of AC1 42 Star-Spawn of Cthulhu CoC5 121 Star Vampires CoC5 122 Summanus AC1 43 Tamash AC1 44 Tawil At'umr AC1 44 Tcho-Tcho People CoC5 122 Thing Hanging in the Void AC1 45 Tsathoggua CoC5 123 Travelers AC1 45 Tru'nembra AC1 47 Tulzscha CoC5 123 Ubbo-Sathla CoC5 123 Ubbo-Sathla, Spawn of CoC5 124 Voormis AC1 47 Vorvadoss AC1 48 Vulthoom AC1 49 Wendigo AC1 49 Worm that Walks AC1 50 Xada-Hgla AC1 51 Xiclotl, Beings from CoC5 124 Xothra AC1 51 Yaddith, Denizens of AC1 51 Yekub, Inhabitants of AC1 52 Y'golonac CoC5 125 Yibb-Tstll CoC5 125 Yidhra AC1 53 Yig CoC5 126 Yog-Sothoth CoC5 126 Yog-Sothoth, Sons of AC1 54 Ythogtha AC1 55 Yuggs AC1 55 Zhar CoC5 127 Zo-Kalar AC1 56 Zoth-Ommog CoC5 127 Zu-Che-Quon AC1 57 Zy'tl Q'ae AC1 58 -------------------- 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.