Chaosium Digest Volume 13, Number 3 Date: Sunday, March 3, 1996 Number: 1 of 3 Contents: Announcement: Soleil Noir #1 (Ian Young) NEPHILIM The Ooze Brother, Part One (Chris Hodgson) GHOSTBUSTERS Editor's Note: And now for something _completely_ different. Following the good news on the publication of the first Nephilim fanzine, you will find, in three parts, a terrific, funny adventure involving Nazis, the Blues and Adolf Hitler's ghost. But, it's not for Call of Cthulhu or Nephilim. Rather, it's an adventure for the Ghostbusters RPG. Ghostbusters in the Chaosium Digest? Wasn't that put out by West End Games? Well, kind of. Although Ghostbusters was published by WEG, the design was all Chaosium's. Pick up the original 1986 box, and you'll see the Chaosium dragon. Opening the rulers reveals the Designers to be Sandy Petersen and Lynn Willis, with Greg Stafford, and there's that familiar dragon again. Ghostbusters doesn't use BRP, but instead has a very unique system, all its own. It's light on mechanics, but heavy on drama and fun. Definitely worth a look, if you've never noticed this Chaosium designed product before. Shannon (FRENCH) MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS As always, thanks to Frederic Moll (fm10@calvanet.calvacom.fr) for these French magazine sightings. If you know of any non-US Chaosium-related releases or articles, please drop me a line! * Call of Cthulhu - "Le jour des Lumieres", a four page scenerio, Casus Belli #91; "L'affaire Dorgeroux", a 10 page scenerio for Cthulhu by Gaslight in France, inspired by a novel of Maurice Leblanc, Aspara #12 * Pendragon - "Les Cathares", a three page adaptation of the Cathars for French Pendragon games, Aspara #12 RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE * Pendragon - _The Skystone_ (Tor: Forge, $22.95), by Jack Whyte, is another book in the Historical Arthurian vein. It's quite interesting it that this, the first book in a six-part series, starts two generations before Arthur, and tells the story of how the old Roman empire fell in Britain, and what replaced it. The Skystone was an easy and enjoyable read, and I look forward to the rest of the series (although, given the normal publication rate of series, I fear I won't see it all this millenium). NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES The Chaosium Digest FTP Site ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/chaosium Not exactly new, but many of you have no doubt noticed that the Chaosium Digest FTP site has been unavailable for the last few weeks. It is finally back now, and has been updated with all the Digests up to V13.2. You might also want to check out /pub/rpg-index on the same machine, which has indexes for Different Worlds, lots of RQ fanzines, Beaumains, and lots more. -------------------- From: Brilliant Mistake Subject: Announcement: Soleil Noir #1 System: Nephilim SOLEIL NOIR, Ventures in the Occult A magazine dedicated to the Nephilim role-playing game ----------------------------------------------------------------------- We are pleased to announce that Soleil Noir #1 is now available for sale. Soleil Noir is a magazine dedicated to publishing quality, playable material for players of Chaosium's occult role-playing game, Nephilim. In addition to publishing articles, new Metamorphoses, Past Lives, Spells and an adventure in each issue, we include translations from the orginal french Nephilim material from MultiSim. We at Soleil Noir hope to encourage a rapport between the two versions of Nephilim to benefit the players of both. Soleil Noir #1 features the following articles: Enigmas - A discussion of the first trump, The Magician Les Mysteres - Translations from the MultiSim supplement by the same name The Sphinx - A new Metamorphosis Past Lives - The Mediterranean, 10,000 BC; Granada, Spain 1492 The Emerald Tablet - The first two parts of an original adventure set in North Africa Origins - A comprehensive list and description of the Nephilim products available from MultiSim Subscriptions are available world-wide at the following rates: - In Canada, Mexico and the US, $20.00 for four issues - In Europe and the Western Hemisphere (excluding Canada, Mexico and the US), $28.00 for four issues - In Africa, Asia and the Pacific Rim, $32.00 for four issues All figures are in US Dollars and include all postage. Payment must be made in advance and in US funds only, please. In the US, payment may be made by check or money order made payable to "Soleil Noir". For orders outside the US, payment may be made by certified check or money order, or by check drawn on a US account. Another option for foreign subscribers is to send cash in US currency via certified mail. While this may seem un-orthodox, it is effective and avoids the high cost of foreign money orders, and the postal certification will also serve as a receipt for the subscriber. Subscriptions should be sent to: Soleil Noir P.O. Box 272 Bellingham WA 98227-0272 USA Please include a complete address where you wish to receive your subscription. Paul McRandle and Ian Young Soleil Noir, Ventures in the Occult Email: idyoung@az.com -------------------- From: Chris Hodgson Subject: The Ooze Brothers, Part One System: Ghostbusters TEN YEARS LATER NOTES The eighties arrival is here; and you saw it first on Chaosium Digest! To me, Ghostbusters the Role Playing Game was the best send up of role playing I had ever seen. So much so, that it did hamper the playability of the game itself. The rules were a joke. Often literally. At the same time, the general philosophy of "Keep the game moving and ignore everything else" destroyed my belief in good game design but improved my GMing skills 100%. Recomended for anyone taking the whole thing too seriously. This scenerio is very much in the mindset of the game, which actually is more DUMB and DUMBER than either GHOSTBUSTERS or the THE BLUES BROTHERS, and since it was written by a Brit, some pythonisms did find their way in also. It should ideally be played at the end of a long campaign, and the session should be liberally lubed with beer... The amount of obvious connections between GB and BB are best left to devotees of Saturday Night Live (we didn't get to see it over here), but you may wish to know that Bill Murray's part in Ghostbusters was originally to be played by John Belushi. Still sadly missed. ****************************************************************************** "Its 150 miles to Chicago. We've got a full tank of gas, half a packet of cigarettes, it's daylight and we're wearing Ecto-goggles" THE OOZE BROTHERS A scenario based on A Famous Film Concerning Blues Musicians For Ghostbusters International (and AD&D) by Chris Hodgson Playtested by Guy Robinson Chris Messer Richard Price Dave Lermit Suzzana Raymond NOTE Because of the somewhat epic nature of the climax, this scenario is best played at the end of a long campaign. All those vengeful NPCs from previous encounters can add to the impact of the adventure. Perhaps the persecuted victims of your players' previous exploits have grouped together in a sort of self-help group and moved to the quiet town of Landisburg to try and forget their collective trauma. Perhaps the've been biding their time and listening intently to police broadcasts for months. This could be the emotional, cathartic, reconciliation rabid enemies need to become balanced members of society again. Or maybe not. PART 1: THE PROMOTIONAL TOUR For some reason, Mr. Tully has rewarded you with some PR work a long way from New York. Away from the grime and business of the Big Apple! Away from the grim weather! Away from the unpredictable natives! Yes! Its a promotional visit of... Chicago. So far, the Chicago media hasn't treated you with much respect. The last news report on you came shortly after Nemo the Scuba Diving Badger. So, it has been hell all week. Living uncomfortably on GBI expenses at the Chicago Hilton, the players have had to deal with non-existent reporters and an inexhaustible room service. But, no worries. It's Friday. They will just have to make a fresh start on the Monday. HEDONISM NOTE: An entire week dodging responsibility in the Imperial suite at the Hilton could be a scenario in itself. The Hilton also has a very strict policy on pets for instance (Possibly not strict enough, but more about Sparky the Wonder Dog later). If crazed guerilla warfare with the furnishings does break out, don't forget the crabby neighbour across the hall who needs his sleep (See the Superbowl warm-up in the film "Where the Buffalo Roam"). FRIDAY. MAY 30th. 21:00 Assuming they haven't destroyed it, a man visits the player's room. FATHER CHARLES BRAINS 3 Remember blues numbers 6 COOL 6 Bargain 9 MOVES 3 Play Keyboard 7 MUSCLE 2 Bash Bible 5 Goal: Serve Humanity Distinctive Mannerisms: Blind, but with a Jedi-like awareness. Father Charles has been helped out before by Venkman's gang. Just before the Zuul problem, Winston and Ray rid his hotel room of a Class 1 repeater. Since then, he has provided certain unnamed materials for GBI. But, he needs help again, and this time on his own turf. The Sesame St. Orphanage for Ugly Children which he helps run for the church, has had a terrible week. On Monday, they received a court order to pay $50000 in taxes by June 1st or have the place closed down. But, this isn't even the real tragedy. If the church would let them (which it won't) they could try and sell THE BLACK POTTERY MADONNA OF ST. TESCOE, An Object of Great Occult Significance, which is the orphanages' most prized possession. But even this impossible option is not open to them, as the Madonna was stolen Wednesday night! The police (who are on "the take"), not believing anything that valuable would be kept in the orphanage, and fearing some publicity stunt to stop the orphanage from closing, have invoked the Hitchcock clause and will not interfere. Father Charles believes the Madonna could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands and asks the players to find and return it for the good of their souls. Now, since the Ghostbusters are not being offered any money at all, and this is not strictly kicking spectres, they might refuse. If they do, a bright light will shine down through the gaping hole where the windows were and the players will immediately get the feeling of a divine presence. Before they get a chance to Vape the Holy Spirit, they should realize that this assignment is no less than A MISSION FROM GOD. By accepting this they will no doubt receive supernatural assistance now and in the future. They should be suitably awestruck. Stress to the players that this assignment should not be refused unless they want to see the top of the Ghost Dice a lot more often. If threats don't work, beg. If that doesn't work, halt the game, and present them with a large case of beer (Player Aid #1). It will make them more contemplative and they'll need it later. Father Charles urges haste; if the Madonna can be recovered before the orphanage closes, he can try and ask permission of the Pope to sell it to a museum. He might also hint that this item could be very dangerous in the wrong hands. If they fail BRAINS rolls, Father Charles suggests they start looking for clues at the Orphanage. Luckily the players have an entire ectomobile full of new, untested equipment with them. Among the devastatingly expensive pieces of Spengler Science they have been asked to wave at the Chicago Media are: *********************** NEW EQUIPMENT FOR GHOSTBUSTERS EGES (Ectomobile Ghost Engagement System) This allows operators to engage and capture ghosts from within the Ectomobile itself! Ray had only just finished installing it before Venkman ordered the players to Chicago. It is completely untested, possibly dangerous and looks flashy, BUT YOU ARE NOT TO USE IT. It consists of: The Ghost Trap Mortar Turret mounted on the roof and operated from within the ectomobile by an Ghostbuster using Moves; this can fire a ghosttrap out to a distance of 40 feet! (Sadly it will not take the connecting wire with it, making it useless as anything but a one shot launcher of broken Ghost Traps.) Sonic Transmission of Ectopresence Reduction, Ectomobile Operated (STEREO) This chaotic masterpiece is centred around a 21st century grammar phone funnel mounted on the turret next to the mortar. More surround sound artillery is spotted about the roof. It is intended to weaken and paralyse any apparition short of a Metaspectre; this device is a doomed experiment in anti-ghost sonics. It requires one operator using Brains (!). Once activated, there is one deafening whine of feedback and then a doom laden pause before the Apocalyptic sound of Tom Jones's "It's Not Unusual" is launched in a earsplitting barrage of sound from the car in the vague direction of wherever the turret happens to be pointing. A difficult Brains roll is required to prevent vaporizing any windows in that vicinity and a Very Difficult roll is required to turn it off. A Ghost Result will result in temporary deafness for the operator (role play with hand signals for a game day) and terrifying electrical feed back running through the ectomobile which could have any kind of effect ("Congratulations... you have decided to clean the car..."). Egon effectively deduced that this particular sonic wave played at very high volume resulted in deep, paralytic shock in most spirits. The fact that it has a similar effect on anything sentient never occurred. If, as a GM, you cannot obtain a copy of this sanity crushing sound then anything in a similar vein will do. (Barry Manilow, ABBA). Players might want to play their own music but this requires a Very Difficult Brains Roll to rebuild it, assuming it still works. Perhaps a secondary, morale boosting music selection exists with a choice of "Ride of the Valkyrie" (topical) or the theme from Mission Impossible (tragic). Whatever it is, play it loud. Other stuff: The Machine That Goes Ping A large red box with red flashing lights mounted behind the driver. The ultimate in flashy hardware, all it actually seems to do is go "PING!" at completely random intervals (though a large red "Manual" button can give one ping on order). And, it cannot be turned off or tampered with, as it seem to be almost indestructible. Sonar? No. Psychological Infuriator? Possibly. Egon Spengler's only answer is that it's very expensive and he's working on a man portable version. All Terrain Spirit Pursuit Vehicle (A.T.S.P.V.) Ray's contribution. A Space Hopper. Comes in a flashy flat, black box with the name and "A.T.S.P.V.-IN CASE OF EMERGENCY ONLY" on the top in evil letters. As the box is opened, the contents inflate immediately. ***************** An added technical problem in this scenario is the lack of a containment grid. In our campaign, a ghost trap will only hold a weak ghost for 24 hours, and if the nearest containment grid is in New York, this can make for an interesting epilogue to the scenario. The players also have at their disposal anything they can rip off from the hotel (fending off a demon with towels and soap will get extra Brownie points) and a wide range of interesting but tacky local souvenirs. Lucky concrete overshoes for instance. Arcane Research. Whichever ghost tome the players have will tell them this about the missing object after an easy brains roll: "Made by Dario Tescoe, the patron Saint of Mass Produced Artifacts and Strange But Lovable Children, in Genoa in 1791, the BLACK POTTERY MADONNA is one of the great misused Christian artifacts. Charged with spiritual power it was intended for use by missionaries to help the case of good heathens in hell. "Used in a ceremony over the heathen grave, it reputedly proved to heathen relatives that god even cared for ignorant savages in the netherworld, even if they went to hell anyway. Unfortunately, the Madonna fell into the wrong hands and became linked with ceremonies bringing spirits back from the spirit world. According to legend, these attempts nearly always failed to produce the desired result, possibly because of the contrived nature of the ritual, which can only effectively be performed each year, at midnight on the 31st of May. PLEASE REFER TO 2ND EDITION ERRATA SHEET." Yes, this occult book has an errata sheet. Feel free to keep them in suspense for a while by having them find it later or have them leave it in New York. It is significant. Honest. "FURTHER NOTES ON THE BLACK POTTERY MADONNA "A recent study of one of the rituals performed in Haiti in 1923 has suggested that the whole ceremony and perhaps the item itself is flawed in some way. (Later descriptions of the Madonnas weight do not co-incide with earlier testimony, suggesting clever fakes may also exist.) "One account of a failed resurrection ceremony describes how the Madonna succeeded only in returning the spirit to the sacrificial component of the spell shortly before she was killed. At least 20 different resurrection spells are known to have been written for the Madonna, using pacts with the Great Old Ones SHUG BUBBLEBATH and YEUCH SAUSAGE." Bad news huh ? -------------------- The Chaosium Digest is an unofficial electronic 'zine about Chaosium's Games. In no way should it be considered representative of the views or beliefs of Chaosium Inc. To submit an article, subscribe or unsubscribe, mail to: appel@erzo.org. The old digests are archived on ftp.csua.berkeley.edu in the directory /pub/chaosium, and may be retrieved via FTP.