Chaosium Digest Volume 8, Number 12 Date: Sunday, December 11, 1994 Number: 1 of 4 Contents: The Groaning Arch (Matt Hyde) ELRIC! The Windigo Psychosis (Roland Franklyn) CALL OF CTHULHU A Note on Sages in CoC (Joab Stieglitz) CALL OF CTHULHU Authors Sought for Nephilim Companion (Shannon Appel) NEPHILIM Editor's Note: Lots of little things to mention this week. NEPHILIM GAMEMASTER'S VEIL: The first Nephilim supplement is now out. It's the Nephilim Gamemaster's Veil (Chaosium, $14.95), which includes an astrological modifier wheel (to calculate all those enthronements), a gamemaster's screen (complete with all the handy tables you need) and a 13 page adventure centered around an awakening. NEPHILIM CALENDAR PROGRAM: Now available on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium/nephilim is NephCal, a Nephilim Calendar program written by Fred Schiff. It prints nifty calendars with the astrological modifiers found in Nephilim. There's a DOS executable there as well as C source, which compiles fine on UNIX systems. MISCELLANEOUS WRITINGS REVIEW REVIEW: Roland Franklyn had a few comments on the Review of HPL's Miscellaneous Writings in V8.11 of the Digest. He said: "If you're interested in HPL as a person and want to gain some deeper insight into his personality, this book is excellent. If you're only picking it up for the Mythos material, as some people might, it's a waste of money. Only the first hundred pages or so contain fiction, and while this material has never been collected in one volume before, the majority of the book consists of essays by HPL on various subjects." He concludes by saying "I liked the book anyway." SHADOWS OVER INNSMOUTH: Mythos enthusiasts will want to pick up a copy of Shadows Over Innsmouth, a new anthology edited by Stephen Jones and published by Fedogan & Bremer, the same people who did Tales of the Lovecraft Mythos and House of the Toad. It's reportedly a collection of short stories written by British authors about Innsmouth and the Deep Ones. I can't offer too much more insight, since my copy is still on order. THE ETERNAL CHAMPION: I neglected to mention a few months ago that White Wolf is now coming out with omnibus volumes of Michael Moorcock's Eternal Champion stories. These are similar to the ones that Millenium did in the UK. Volume One is called The Eternal Champion (White Wolf, $19.99, ISBN 1-56504-176-3) and it contains The Eternal Champion, The Sundered Worlds, Phoenix in Obsidian (The Silver Warriors) and To Rescue Tanelorn. I assume it was released in September from the Copyright, although I just picked up my copy a few weekends ago. Recent Sightings: A few more recent French Sightings, all from Frederic Moll. If you see any Chaosium articles in places other than the standard American magazines which I can pick up easily in the US, or you notice that I've missed a recent release, please drop me a line and let me know. * Call of Cthulhu - "Les Thugs et le Mythe" (Thugs and Mythos), a three page article on thugs and how to create thug cultists for Cthulhu by Gaslight scenarios, APSARA #8 [October-December, 1994]; "Le livre des Atharva" (the Atharva Book), a four page scenario set in India in 1922, APSARA #8 [October-December, 1994]; "T'aurais pas un tuyau", a three page play aid about the professional contacts for CoC professions, Casus Belli #84 [December, 1994-January, 1995]; "La commanderie de New Sorans", a four pages investigation scenario for beginning players and Keeper, Casus Belli #84 [December, 1994-January, 1995] -------------------- From: "M.D. HYDE" Subject: The Groaning Arch System: Elric! THE GROANING ARCH A new landmark in Hwamgaarl for Elric! The groaning arch is a major landmark in the cursed city of Hwamgaarl, on Pan Tang. It is situated near to the Temple-palace of Chaos, toward the centre of the city. The arch itself is a free-standing structure of a pink flecked obsidian, seen nowhere else on the isle. The arch is plain in design except for the bodies of slaves, demons and animals that seem melted to the stone of the arch. Each of these bodies is very much alive, and though bonded to the stone, twitch and scream in agony incessantly. The watcher also finds that with long periods of watching the arch a distinct feeling of being watched occurs. The arch is, obviously, a malign creation of a past Theocrat of Pan Tang. It contains a hideously powerful demon that causes the obvious effects. THE GROANING ARCH, Hideous Demon CON 40 Description: A large pink flecked stone arch SIZ 100 in Hwamgaarl. Unbound it appears as INT 30 a cloud of pink, cloying mist. POW 35 DEX 13 HP 70 Abilities: Armour - 20pt stone skin Adsorb Flesh - This demon has the uncanny ability to consume organic materials. Any organic material touching the surface of the arch must make a POW:POW roll, failure means the victim sticks to the surface, a fumble means the victim instantly takes 1D10 damage. Thereafter the victim can make another resistance roll once a day. Another failure causes 1D3 damage to the victim and extreme agony. The only way of release is either a sucess in the resistance roll or removal of the body part stuck to the arch. By Matt Hyde -------------------- From: ROLAND FRANKLYN Subject: Windigo Psychosis System: Call of Cthulhu WINDIGO PSYCHOSIS This article is intended as a supplement to the material in Pagan Publishing's "Walker in the Wastes." It presents a brief, dramatic view of this disorder which may be of use to diabolical Keepers in their search for newer and more interesting mental problems. The windigo psychosis has only been documented among the native tribes of upper North America, though in CoC terms this could be expanded to include anyone suffering from windigo-induced insanity. Traditionally, this condition is caused by famine, cannibalism performed due to hunger, or dreams of the icy North. A child who eats snow and ice may become a victim of this condition later in life. A person afflicted with windigo psychosis may appear to be merely depressed at first, but soon the person degenerates rapidly. He or she becomes obsessed with eating human flesh, especially that of his or her family members. After time, the person loses their ability to speak, ceases to care for their appearance, and may even chew on their fingers and lips. While some windigos maintain some control over their action early in their condition, later they must be restrained and carefully watched so that they do not attack their kin and neighbors. The heart of a victim of windigo psychosis is considered to be made of ice. Thus, native cures for this condition include forcing the victim to eat hot bear-fat or to drink large quantities of alcohol while sitting next to a fire. Both of these techniques may be useful in melting the icy heart of the afflicted. On the other hand, often there is nothing that can be done for the victim other than execution. This is usually done with an axe, after which the heart of the victim is cast into a fire to melt it and complete the killing. It should be noted that in recent years, most anthropologists have concluded that the "windigo psychosis" is not in fact a true disorder at all, and is caused by a tribe's need for scapegoating in times of communal crisis. For game purposes, however, it can be assumed that a small minority of these cases, those which have been ignored by anthropologists, have been induced by actual sightings of the windigo. Individuals like this, whether NPCs or PCs, may cause serious dilemmas for a group of investigators: is the person actually undergoing a transformation, or are they only mentally ill? A Keeper should probably consider the matter carefully before assigning this particular insanity to an insane character. Sources: I've only touched on the windigo psychosis in the most superficial manner here. Interested Keepers should consult the books and journal articles of Morton Teicher and Louis Marano, a few of which may be found at any university library. The primary source for my own information was _"The Orders of the Dreamed"_, by Jennifer Brown and Robert Brightman. -------------------- From: stieg@ix.netcom.com (Joab Stieglitz) Subject: A Note on Sages in CoC System: Call of Cthulhu In Volume 3 Number 2 of Chaosium Digest, Kimbo Beattie described two concepts for individuals learned in arcane lore who present situations and/or assist the investigators in accomplishing their mission. Kimbo's "patron/sages" are beneficial for starting investigators on a path and guiding them, but what of the investigators who already have a direction and need some help? I recently completed running a three year 1920's campaign where I found the investigators needing some guidance. They had exhausted all their sources their meager funds and influence could manage, and were still up to their brain canisters in Mi-go and Serpent People. They needed professional help (in several areas). I found a reference in an excellent Chaosium module (Terror from the Stars, now out of print) called the Field Manual of the Theron Marks Society. The players found it among the effects of a victim after successfully routing a small Mi-Go nest (courtesy of the The Cabin in the Woods scenario found in the The Horrible Secret of Monhegan Island module from Grenadier Models, also out of print). The Theron Marks Society was "a group of part-time, low-rent occult investigators... hunting down and exterminating Cthulhoid phenomena wherever we found them." The purpose of the manual was to provide similar minded people with the knowledge needed to uncover and combat the preternatural threats to humanity. The book was paperback, and only about 30 pages, but it provided some needed morale as well as some tactics and organization. If you're interested in a sage organization for Call of Cthulhu, you should try and find a copy of Terror From the Stars and take a look. Joab -------------------- From: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu (Shannon Appel) Subject: Authors Sought for Nephilim Companion System: Nephilim Over the next few months, I'm going to be editing a Nephilim Companion for Chaosium. It's essentially going to be a resource for the Nephilim Gamemaster, providing him with new background, rules and ideas. Right now, I'm looking for two things: * Authors - If there's something in the Companion (see below) that you'd be interested in writing, let me know. Likewise, if you'd like to write something that gamemasters would find useful, but it isn't listed below, drop me a line and we can discuss it. * Ideas - My main question here is: "As a gamemaster, what do you wish was in Nephilim, but wasn't?" If there's anything that just would have made your life a lot easier when you were a running a Nephilim game, and you think it could be incorporated into the Companion, I'd love the input. Right now, I'm planning five main sections for the Companion. As I've said, I'm still quite open to suggestions, so don't hesitate to ask about things not in here. The five sections are: * History. A timeline for Nephilim, running from the far past, as described in the main Nephilim book, all the way up to the present. This section should not only provide good background, to put the game into perspective, but will also be full of possible hooks for adventures. I already have someone who has expressed interest in writing this timeline, so this section is probably taken care of. * Magic. Emphasis here will be on the greater magics: third circle sorcery, third circle summonings and second circle alchemy. I'm interested in new spells for all of these areas, preferably fit into well-defined traditions (for example, I consider the different realms of the summonings traditions. I'd like to see new spells fit together in similar ways, not included haphazard). I also have ideas for some other things that could be included in the magic section: metamorphosis related magic, an expansion of human magic, stasis related magic, an expansion of the occult books list, and rules for creating items, delaying effects of magic and writing spells into foci. If any of these strike a chord with you, I'd love to see something written on them. Most of these ideas should fit cleanly into the magical schools already listed, either as hidden, unique traditions, or as wide-spread ones (ie rules for creating items could be an expansion of the second circle of alchemy). * The Supernatural World. Nephilim aren't the only mystical beings in existence, as evidenced by the Bestiary of the Nephilim book. This section would include more information and ideas on the supernatural side of the Nephilim universe. I'll definitely want more creatures for this section. I'm also interested in tieing these creatures more closely into the world of Nephilim and Secret Societies that is described in Nephilim, as they feel like an add-on to me, and don't seem well integrated with everything else. This section may also include other things that emphasize the mystical nature of the Nephilim universe, such as places of power or mystical events. If you have ideas for any of these things, let me know. * Gamemaster Resources. For this section, I'd like: adventure ideas, campaign ideas and NPCs full of plot hooks. It should help gamemaster get a Nephilim game off the ground and run it. * Appendices. Finally, in this last section I want to include some random useful items: a glossary, some indices and a reading list to help people get the right feel for Nephilim. That type of thing. Anyways, that's pretty much the outline that I have right now. See something that you'd be interested in writing? If so, send me some mail. I've gotten a lot of high quality material for the Chaosium Digest over the last few years, and I'm sure that a lot of you could do a great job on writing stuff for this supplement. Shannon -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial discussion forum for Chaosium's Games. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP.