Chaosium Digest Volume 15, Number 5 Date: Sunday, July 7, 1996 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: Necronomicon Adventures (Shannon Appel) MYTHOS At the Mountains of Madness (Eric Rowe) MYTHOS Elemental Creatures (Shannon Appel) NEPHILIM Editor's Note: This week, some new Mythos adventures from myself and Eric Rowe, and also a couple of creatures for Nephilim, acting as a sort of preview of one chapter of the upcoming _Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion_. Shannon MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS: * Call of Cthulhu - "Crude Oil, Part 1", by DBA Productions, a ten page adventure centering around oil wells, set in 1928. Part two of this adventure, which will appear in the next issue, promises to be a Cthulhu Now adventure, Shadis #26; Four pages of reviews of the Cthulhu Line, and several Pagan Publishing Cthulhu products, Shadis #26 * Mythos - "Mythos Player's Guide", a five page spoiler list for Mythos, Expeditions of Miskatonic University and Cthulhu Rising, including all attributes and card rule text, Inquest #16 [August, 1996]; a one-page Review of Mythos, Shadis #26 NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES Annotated Unspeakable Oath http://www.halcyon.com/rev/pagan.html Web versions of issues 1-4 of The Annotated Unspeakable Oath are now available under this HTML link. If you don't have access to a WWW browser, you can also find these issues in the /pub/chaosium FTP site at ftp.csua.berkeley.edu. Black Sands Preview http://www.halcyon.com/rev/bs.html Blair Reynolds is working on self-publishing a Cthulhu Mythos adult horror graphic novel called Black Sands, the first issue of which is scheduled for this fall. This link contains a preview of the series. Cthulhu Mythos Database ftp://ftp.csua.berkeley.edu/pub/cthulhu/sources/mythos.zip If you have acccess to windows, you should take a look at this new Mythos Database program for windows. It contains tons of references to Mythos-related books and stories. As a quick warning, the ftp.csua site has recently been having problems with netscape-type browsers. To access this file, you should try and use a normal FTP client. -------------------- From: appel@erzo.org (Shannon Appel) Subject: Necronomicon Adventures System: Mythos Following is a set of adventures all based at least partly on the third Mythos expansion, _Legends of the Necronomicon_. Although Necronomicon is the last Mythos expansion for a few months, watch for _The Art of Playing Mythos_ at the very end of July, and then _Mythos Standard Edition_ a few months down the road, in October. THE CASE OF CHARLES DEXTER WARD * NECRONOMICON ADVENTURE * Corrupt Adventure +8 Points, +2 San When CHARLES DEXTER WARD called you to the WARD MANSION and revealed his plans to return his ancestor to life, you thought him mad. Then, he showed you his TOME with a RESURRECTION SPELL and his GRECIAN LEKYTHOS. You agreed to help, and searched TWO different CEMETERIES for the essential saltes of the dead. Ward was able to resurrect JOSPEH CURWEN, but was lost in the process (he must be in your story deck). Nosy DR. MARINUS BICKNELL WILLETT discovered Curwen masquerading as Ward, and thought the young man insane. You quietly snuck into the night as Curwen was confined to an ASYLUM. May not be used in conjunction with SEEKING EVERLASTING LIFE I or II. THE GODS OF BAL-SAGOTH * CTHULHU & NECRONOMICON ADVENTURE * Mythos Experience +9 Points, +3 San When the TYPHOON destroyed your boat (any TRAVEL BY SEA), stranding your STEADFAST ALLY and yourself on the island of BAL-SAGOTH, all seemed lost. Then, you had a SURPRISE MEETING with a (different) FEMALE ALLY, and learned the island was inhabited. The natives had treated your female ally as a goddess, but when she displeased them, they set their other gods, the dark thing (a NIGHTGAUNT), the bird thing (a SHANTAK) and the ape thing (a MARTENSE KIN) upon her. You slew them all, killed the CORRUPT CULTIST who had controlled them, and then fled the island IN THE NICK OF TIME, ahead of AN UNEXPECTED CALAMITY. PICKMAN'S MODEL * NECRONOMICON ADVENTURE * Mythos Experience +5 Points; +2 San Your friend, RICHARD UPTON PICKMAN, has disappeared. You begin to look for him in PICKMAN'S APARTMENT, and then investigate a MUSEUM where his art is exhibited. Unfortunately, you are unsucessful. Not even speaking with his closest associate (a different STEADFAST ARTIST or STEADFAST POET) is helpful. The horror begins to loom when you search the CEMETARY and an UNDERGROUND LOCATION (two different locations, which may not be Pickman's Apartment). To your regret, you discover a gibbering GHOUL! Pickman's model was a photograph from life! -------------------- From: rowe@csua.berkeley.edu (Eric Rowe) Subject: At the Mountains of Mythos System: Mythos AT THE MOUNTAINS OF MADNESS * MU & CTHULHU ADVENTURE * Heroic Adventure +9 Points; +3 San You and TWO colleagues (PROFESSOR or STUDENT ALLIES) begin your famous expedition at a MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY LOCATION and TRAVEL BY AIR to the great southern continent. There, you brave POWERFUL STORMS and the corpses of strange creatures (ELDER THINGS, which can be in your threat when this Adventure is played) to use your TOME in GLYPHS to translate the strange runes you find. Suddenly, you are chased away by a SHOGGOTH, only surviving when GIANT ALBINO PENGUINS get in the monster's way. Finally, you return home to publish your story in the ARKHAM ADVERTISER. -------------------- From: appel@erzo.org (Shannon Appel) Subject: Elemental Creatures System: Nephilim _The Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion_, a nifty little tome which contains history, artefacts, creatures, background and advice, all designed to help Gamemasters run a Nephilim Campaign, is currently at the printers. The book won't be ready to ship until the very end of the month, but in the meantime, here's a short article with some new Nephilim critters, to whet your appetite. There's lots more in the _Companion_, on a variety of subjects; this article only gives a preview of one chapter of the book. The Stymphalian Birds would have appeared in the _Companion_ if not for space constraints. The other creatures in this article are both new, but were written with the new rules and creatures of the _Companion_ in mind. The _Companion_ makes some ties between Creatures and Emotions, much as _Chronicles of the Awakenings_ did for Nephilim. That is reflected in the article below. Shannon FIRE CREATURES Candle Flames Appearing as floating, flickering flames no more than an inch in height, Candles Flames would seem to be fairly insignificant. However, they can be a major nuisance to certain Nephilim. Candle Flames are attracted to magical artefacts. If any is within their range, they will flock to it, hovering near it like agitated fire flies. Certain secret societies have taken advantage of this ability, and so keep candle flames in their headquarters to warn of assaults, or use them to help hunt down Nephilim. Nephilim besieged by Candle Flames often have troubles doing away with them. This can cause extreme problems when they are trying to interact with the human world. STR 1 CON 1 DEX 3d6 Personality Trait: Creative Ka-element: Fire 1 Hit Points: 1 Move: 5 Actions: 3 Attack: None Armor: None. Destroyed only by Orichalka, or the touch of a Water Elemental Creatures. A Water Elemental so destroying a Candle Flame loses one point of CON. Abilities: SENSE ARTEFACT. Any Candle Flame within a quarter mile of an artefact, relic or masterpiece will be drawn towards it at its maximum Move. BURN. Whenever a Candle Flame is flickering about an area of highly flammable items, it has a 20% chance of accidently setting something on fire every hour. Note: When Candle Flames are spontaneously created, 1d10 or more usually form at the same time. They do not remain together, but rather disperse in a random manner. MOON CREATURES Dogs of the Other World These creatures appear to be lean, wiry hunting dogs, but have a rather unusual coloration. They are pure, unsullied white, except their ears, which are blood red. No appearances of the Dogs of the Other World are known previous to the Tuatha de Danaan coming to Ireland at the start of the eighth century, BC. Even today, they seem most common in Ireland and the British Isles. The Dogs of the Other World usually appear in packs. They are most frequently hunting something, perhaps a small elemental creature, an unfortunate human, or even a weakened Nephilim. After the relentless dogs capture their prey, they drag it away, disappearing into whatever other realm they came from. A player making a critical success on a Hunt roll may follow the Dogs of the Other World as they lope towards their home. After doing so, she will find herself on the Subtle Planes, and unless she has been well-trained, or is near to Agartha, she will probably have a hard time finding her way home again. STR 2d6 CON 2d6 DEX 3d6 Personality Trait: Energetic Ka-element: Moon 2d6 Hit Points: equal to CON Move: 8 Actions: 4 Attack: Bite 60%, Damage 2d6 Armor: 2 points of tough hide. Abilities: HUNT. When a Pack Other World Dogs is set upon a scent less than 5 days old, they will follow it unerringly (70 + 5 times the Number of Dogs in the Pack) % of the Time. They will go without food, water or even rest as they Hunt. PASS WITHOUT TRACE. The Other World Dogs tread upon the Earth so lightly that they are almost impossible to Track. A critical Hunt is needed to follow them. Note: Dogs of the Other World usually appear in pack no less than 1d6 dogs in size. COMBINATION CREATURES Certain combination creatures may be formed when two cataclysmic elements come together. These combination creatures may also be born of a nexus. Stymphalian Birds Though creatures of the Air, the Stymphalian Birds, named for an ancient swamp where a permanent nexus once lay, are clothed in the Earth. Their plumage is entirely made of beautiful, glittering bronze, sharp and deadly. The Stymphalian birds are quite large, at least the size of a stork. This, combined with their voracious appetite for human flesh, makes them one of the more dangerous elementals. The only weakness of the Stymphalian birds is that they are cowardly. A sudden, loud noise may drive them off if they are caught by surprise. STR 2d6+3 CON 2d6+3 DEX 2d6 Personality Trait: Hungry Ka-Element: Earth 2d6 Ka-Element: Air 2d6 Hit Points: equal to CON Move: 5 Actions: 2 Attack: Bite 40%, Damage 1d6+1. Fling Plumage 30%, Damage 1d6 Abilities: None. Armor: 5 points of bronze feathers. Note: Stymphalian birds usually appear in flocks no less than 2d6 birds in size. -------------------- 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.