Chaosium Digest Volume 9, Number 4 Date: Wednesday, December 21, 1994 Number: 1 of 3 Contents: The Blight Before Christmas (Penelope Love) CALL OF CTHULHU Deadwave, Part One (Mark Morrison) CALL OF CTHULHU Editor's Note: Hey all. Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and all that jazz. I've been meaning to get this issue out since Sunday, but time has been tight. Finally, here it is: two terrific articles from Down Under. HAPPY HOLIDAYS FROM CHAOSIUM: Chaosium wishes happy holidays to everyone through their greeting card, now available for FTP from ftp.csua.berkeley.edu:/pub/chaosium/MERRY-CHRISTMAS.tif. How's that for the age of computers? ANOTHER NEPHILIM CALENDAR: Another Nephilim Calendar is now available for FTP. This one is ftp.csua.berkeley.edu:/pub/nephilim/nephchart.perl, and it's of course written in the perl programming language. It's slightly different, making available details such as the Zodiac sign and Nexus existence. However, it doesn't have quite as snazzy of an output. Check it out if you use a UNIX machine. NEW CHAOSIUM CATALOG: Of final note to FTPers is the fact that there is a new Chaosium catalog now available on ftp.csua, as well as a list of upcoming products. The files catalog and new-products are both in the /pub/chaosium/info directory. RETURN OF THE DEEP ONES: I picked up so many good books last time I visited Dark Carnival that I forgot to mention one last week. Fans of Lovecraft will be happy to know that Brian Lumley's RETURN OF THE DEEP ONES AND OTHER STORIES (ROC, #4.99, ISBN 0-14-017303-X) is now out in a British Edition. Has been for a few months, I'd guess. The book contains: "Return of the Deep Ones", "Inception", "Lord of the Worms" and "Beneath the Moors". Note that "Beneath the Moors" is one of Lumley's AH novels that has been out of print for 20 years. -------------------- From: Penelope Love Subject: The Blight Before Christmas System: Call of Cthulhu THE BLIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS 'Twas the night before Christmas at the Crack'd & Crooked Manse, And I cursed all weak stomachs as I set out the traps. I had pleaded for strychnine, and pleaded in vain, For the mice were all stirring as Christmas time came. My meditations were ruptured by a rap on the door, Of such force and foreboding I was flung to the floor. To the front room I hastened; through the curtain I saw, A caller not human, but a tiny jackdaw! His beak sharp and wicked; his feathers a'bristle, And affixed in his beak was a well-sealed epistle! The door at once opened, and the strange message given, The black bird took flight 'cross the moon's gibbous ribbon. I called out a cheer, as he gave one last caw, For what did I hear but a faint, `Nevermore'! I read the crabbed Latin to my friends' sleepy faces: `Fellow searcher after horror haunting strange and far places-, `College chum, soul-buddy, companion in fright, `Yours, Wilbur Whateley (Arriving tonight).' Oh the flurry! The scurry! The things to be done! My friends made excuses and left at a run. I searched out my copy of the Necronomicon, And removed and then hid that damned p. 751. The dog lay by his kennel with a .44, And fired off six shots as Wilb stepped through the door. For yes! there he was, my companion of years, His face, lean and saturnine, wreathed in fond leers; A bundle of tentacles wrapped round his waist, And his byakhee steaming from the black gulfs of space. Oh the merriment, the riots, the japes and the shouts! The volley of fire from the back of the house! We talked of old times and our pals in the brood, Then raided the kitchen for cephalopod food. Wilb exclaimed in delight at the small noises off, `Tis not a mouse but a tiny shoggoth!' So we piped a weird tune, and lured it into a sack, (Would make a good present for Y'Golonac). By then dawn was afoot, and Wilb had to take flight; His byakhee would melt were it touched by the light. A handshake, a grin, one more chorus we sang; And his last words called back as the winged horror sprang: `The greeting for all seasons, if I'm not mistaken, Is "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn."' By Penelope Love, with Mark "Black Gulfs of Space" Morrison. Apologies to Clement Clarke Moore, H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allen Poe. Happy holidays, everyone! -------------------- From: Mark Morrison Subject: Deadwave, Part One System: Call of Cthulhu DEADWAVE, PART ONE by Mark Morrison Copyright (c) 1994 SCENARIO CONSIDERATIONS This scenario is not set in an unknown mansion of madness, but in an investigator's own home. The events outlined below are revenge, enacted on one of the player characters. The horror comes to the victim's doorstep, and encompasses their friends and family. Slow breakdown and madness are the inevitable result. Use this scenario simultaneously with another if you can; let this one be a sleeper, something nasty for them to come home to at night. This scenario targets one player character as the victim; most of the writing centres around this investigator (hereafter referred to capitalised, to avoid confusion). The scenario is, however, designed for group play. It is unlikely that the Investigator will get through without some stalwart friends. KEEPER'S INTRODUCTION Somebody is back from the grave. Somebody bad. Somebody the Investigator killed with good reason. Somebody who should have stayed dead. Somebody who didn't. Somebody who wants to get even. Somebody bad. PEOPLE AND PLACES Before you run this scenario, you must identify a number of key characters. These have been given labels only, so that you can tailor them to suit the person you are going to harass. You must build these elements into your campaign first. No use telling the player that their investiagor has a pet on the very day it disappears; introduce it a few games earlier, let them adopt it and have it follow them around. Similarly, let them hear of a relative's sickness and quiet death a few weeks beforehand, so that it hits harder when the body is dug up and stolen. Here are the things to settle on before you can begin: The Investigator This is obviously the first thing for you to decide: who. He or she should be a character who has been in play for a while; at least half-a-dozen scenarios, and preferably a full campaign. It's totally unsuitable for a starting character. Here are three different methods for making your choice: - the one who has done the most damage to the Mythos. He or she would be the logical choice for a vendetta. - the one with the most SAN. A pragmatic decision by you, the keeper, as lesser people might crack too early. - the player in your roleplaying group who is the most quiet. This brings them to the fore, and give them a good go for once amidst the rowdier and more outgoing players. The Fiend This is the villain of the piece, the one plotting revenge. Choose someone whom the Investigator came up against in a previous scenario. They should be somebody who caused the Investigator much pain and grief whilst alive, somebody they remember with revulsion and loathing. They can be a major league evil (like Baron Hauptmann from FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH) or a minor league psycho (like Jerry from "Pickman's Student", from DREAMLANDS). Here are some criterion: - their body must not have been totally destroyed (blasted to smithereens, melted by acid, crumbled to dust, etc). They must be someone whom it is possible to dig up and reanimate. - the Investigator you've chosen to hound must have been instrumental in their death. - they must have been familiar with technology in life. For example, our Fiend steals and drives a bus; an insane bedouin could not do that. The House Have a think about the Investigator's home. Is it an apartment? A house? Single story? Does it have a cellar? An attic? A back door? Have an idea for a map ready. Perhaps it has already been a feature of your campaign. Get the player's thoughts on it, but only when you need to; any player knows to get suspicious when the keeper starts asking odd questions. The general assumption in the scenario is that the Investigator has a house in the suburbs. If they live in an apartment, or upstairs above a pizza parlour, or whatever, you'll probably have to modify some events. Neighbors also figure in the scenario; you might like to draw up a little street map and identify the people that live in each house. This gives them a sense of place and community, and shock them more when death kicks open all the doors in their street. If they live out of town, on a large estate or in the old Van Laaden place or wherever, you may need to change events further still. The Pet The Investigator's pet: if they don't have one, introduce one. A dog is best, a cat is a good second, after that you can do a budgie or a hamster or something if you must, but it just wouldn't work too well. Fish are right out. How about letting them adopt a monkey in some Egyptian scenario? Whatever you use, make sure they have time to get fond of it. The Dead Relative This should be someone recently dead (although not necessarily). It can be an old person, say a grandmother or an uncle, or a young person, say a nephew or a cousin. Decide how they die, work it into the campaign, and have the Investigator attend their funeral. Their death should be sad, but apparently natural. A SAN roll would still be appropriate for normal everyday grief, costing 1 point if failed. The Ex-Investigator This is someone dead; someone who fought alongside the Investigator, and died a horrible death at the hands of the Mythos. If you haven't got someone from the campaign you can use, deploy one of those famous 'dead friends' that many scenarios start up with (e.g. Jackson Elias from MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP). As per the Fiend, they must have been buried with body intact. Further Ideas This scenario is yours to shape and mold. By now you've got the idea; by plotting the past, home and family of the Investigator, you open up a lot of vulnerable spots. You can use more as needs be. Perhaps some of their living relatives might be kidnapped and killed. Or their friends, lovers, workmates, etc. The Fiend has no scruples or mercy when it comes to getting back at them. The reanimated non-player characters in the scenario have a particular balance and order of appearance; you may wish though to add more. The Fiend could be intact with its henchmen from life, now all dead and twice as unpleasant; more of their relatives could come back from the grave, including the ones they never liked in life; and if the keeper really wants to go berserk, bring on every person the Investigator has ever killed, all eager for revenge. INSANITIES Appropriate insanities arising from the course of this scenario include: fear of death; fear of being buried alive; the conclusion that everyone else in the world is dead; and good old catatonia (sometimes it's easier just to shut down). MORE ABOUT THE FIEND Nyarlathotep, the Messenger of the Outer Gods, has doubtlessly suffered many indignities at the hands of the Investigator. Time and again plans for the world's destruction are foiled (e.g. FUNGI FROM YUGGOTH and MASKS OF NYARLATHOTEP) or favorite servants are killed (e.g. Hesper Payne from "Season of the Witch" in DREAMLANDS). This revenge is as much Nyarlathotep's as it is the Fiend's. One dark and moonless night the great beast Nyarlathotep lands by the lonely grave of the Fiend. It scoops the lifeless corpse out of the earth, and gashes open the corpse's throat with one long nail. Into the wound it pours a quantity of its own black blood. The corpse stirs. A bargain is struck. The black God has given the Fiend life only if it will destroy the Investigator. The Fiend, ignited with the bitterness of memory, agrees. Nyarlathotep enfolds it and launches into the ether, great dark wings beating. First they call at the grave of the Ex-Investigator, to retrieve the body, for future amusements. Nyarlathotep then flies to the home town of the Investigator, and sets the Fiend and corpse down. Terrible laughter rolls against the stars as the black shape wings away. The Fiend exists for this task alone. It has the patience of the dead. It would be easy just to lie in ambush, and catch its quarry and eat it alive; too easy. It wants a more total victory, a complete levelling of mind and spirit. No deed is too foul in accomplishing this end. It is diabolically clever. Every action is carefully thought through, and judged against the possibility of discovery. The slow dead mind turns it all over, and concocts the most appalling and cunning plans. THE FIEND, Dead Villain from a former scenario STR original x1.5 CON original x1.5 SIZ original INT original POW 01 * DEX original x0.5 APP original -12, -1/each year dead HP equal to (not the average of) new CON + orig SIZ ** * Being dead, the Fiend has no spirit or soul. It has no magic points, no POW, and cannot cast any spells. ** The Fiend has double hit points, by virtue of its sheer hatred. Even if reduced to 0 hit points, it must be utterly annihilated to stop it from continuing its attack. Armor: 1 point of armor (for mummification) for every year it has been dead. Weapons: Claws, DEX x5%, 2D3 * .45 automatic, DEX x5%, 1D10+2. * Once it hits, it continues to throttle for 1D6 per round. Skills: Cthulhu Mythos (as life + 25)%, Dead Sense 75%, Mesmerize 90%, Other Knowledge Skills (as life)%, Other Physical Skills (as life x0.5)%. Notes: All weapons used against the Fiend do half-damage, except impaling weapons (including bullets), which only ever do 1 point of damage. The Fiend prefers not to resort to hand-to-hand combat, but if absolutely everything else fails, it springs on the Investigator and chokes him or her to death. SAN loss: it costs 1/1D8 to view the Fiend. If anyone had seen it when it was alive, cost is 1D4/1D8. The designated Investigator loses 1D6/1D10. If the Investigator goes permanently insane: the Fiend fades into the background. It lurks in the shadows of society and pops in at the asylum from time to time to taunt the victim, subject to Visiting Hours. If the investigator is killed: a satisfied grin crosses the Fiend's face. The grin cracks, and its jaw drops off. Unable to curse "You tricked me, Nyarlathotep!" because of the lack of a lower jaw, it can do nothing but gurgle in protest and outrage as the black blood floods out of it and into the ether. The Fiend collapses, lifeless once more, as do all of its zombie cohorts. Dead Sense This is the perception of the dead, and includes Spot Hidden and Listen. It is the skill by which the undead unerringly find their way in the dark, and no human can truly understand it. Certainly the enticing aroma of the fresh brains of the living are one of the prime ways that zombies track their prey. Mesmerize The dead exude a sickly fascination. Successful use of this skill holds the victim at bay, as per the Fast Talk skill, for as long as the dead person takes no violent of harmful action to them. If the victim is aware of what is happening, or can see plainly that the user is in fact dead, they receive POW x5% chance to snap out of it each round. The Blood of Nyarlathotep This baleful black ichor flows sluggishly in the dried veins of the Fiend. By opening the jugular of a corpse and dripping in a few drops, the Fiend can cause that body to animate, and has command over it. These drone zombies are mindless, and can only be used to perform menial tasks (e.g. lift that, stand there, attack). Drone zombies have a craving for raw meat, hot blood, fresh intestines and living brains. By pouring a larger amount of black blood in, the Fiend can bring that person wholly back from the dead, again under the Fiend's power. These are full memory zombies. The revived person can fight against the Fiend's control, but the effort wracks them with pain as the black blood turns to acid inside them. They take 1D4 damage per round, until either they do the Fiend's will or their body is destroyed. However, after three rounds of resistance they must roll CON x3 to be able to go on withstanding the agony of the boiling blood. If they fail, they revert to the Fiend's control, too exhausted to try again for another 24 hours. The Fiend has the equivalent of its SIZ in pints of black blood inside it. One pint animates up to 5 drone zombies, or 1 full memory zombie. Keep track of the amount of black blood it has used in this fashion. It must retain at least one pint to stay functional itself. Zombie Statistics Calculate each zombie's statistics by their original stats, as follows: STR orig x1.5 CON orig x1.5 SIZ orig INT none *, or orig x0.5 ** POW 01 DEX orig x0.5 APP orig -12, -1/each year dead HP average of new CON + orig SIZ * Drone zombies have no INT, and do not speak. They growl sometimes. ** Full memory zombies have half of their original INT. They are capable of slow rasping speech. Those with an original INT over 13 are aware that they are back from the dead; those with lower INT are not aware, but know that they feel ill, tired and confused. Weapons: any tool, DEX x5%, + damage bonus Claws, DEX x5%, 1D4 Bite, DEX x5%, 1D2 and hangs on Notes: Weapons to half damage, impaling weapons do 1 point only. Walking Dead Zombies are disgusting. They ooze, stagger, lurch, grunt, and drip. Without mind or soul, possessed of demoniacal hunger and incredible strength, only by battering them to pieces can you prevent their hideous assault. There are plenty of zombie films available on video for keeper inspiration. [Continued in V9.5] -------------------- 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.