Chaosium Digest Volume 18, Number 3 Date: Sunday, February 3, 1997 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: Initiation for Sorcerers (Tal Meta) RUNEQUEST/BRP The Cthughan: A New Monster (Mikal Phillips) CALL OF CTHULHU All Hands On...: A Mythos Deck (Danny Bourne) MYTHOS Editor's Note: This week starts off with a RQ/BRP Sorcery variant. I don't commonly run RQ articles here, because of the very busy Gloranthan ML, but when an article comes around that is non-Gloranthan, and of general interest to BRP players, I'm willing to include it. Also this issue, you'll find a new Monster for Call of Cthulhu, based on the Relic, and a deck for Mythos. Next week I'm planning to include a few different Mythos articles, including recent Card Files, and the updated errata for the Dreamlands. Articles for Mythos, and other systems as well, will be quite welcome. Danny Bourne (d.bourne@dial.pipex.com) is currently endeavouring to set up some Mythos tournaments in the UK. One tournament is to be held in Sheffield in March, with one in Leeds in May. It is hoped that the National Championships will be held at EuroGencon in July. The exact format of the tournament is yet to be decided, but the wishes of participating players will be taken into consideration. Any interested parties should contact Danny by email or at 174 CUNDY STREET, WALKLEY, SHEFFIELD S6 2WP. More details will be posted on the digest in due course. Shannon RECENT RELEASES: * Call of Cthulhu - _The Compact Trail of Tsathoggua_ (Chaosium, 48 pg., $8.95), by Keith Herber, is a reprint of a classic 1984 adventure. It involves expeditions to Greenland and Canada to uncover ancient mysteries, and is the first in a line of short, inexpensive Call of Cthulhu adventure books. It should be on sale by the end of the week. Mythos enthusiasts will be happy to know that The Dreamlands is finally going on sale this Friday, February 7th. More on The Dreamlands next week. RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE: * Call of Cthulhu - _The Cthulhu Mythos_ (Barnes & Noble, $9.98) is a very nice hardcover volume containing the majority of Derleth's non-collaborative Mythos work. It contains all of _The Mask of Cthulhu_ and _The Trail of Cthulhu_, as well "The Dweller in Darkness", "Beyond the Threshold", "The Thing That Walked on the Wind", "Ithaqua", "The Passing of Eric Holm", and "Something from Out There". This is an exclusive Barnes & Noble straight to remainder book, so you'll need to go to one of their stores to pick it up. * Elric! - _Fabulous Harbours_ (Avon Books, $24.00) is the second book in Moorcock's newest trilogy, that started with _Blood_ and ends with _War Amongst the Angels_. It's been out in Britain for a year, but this is its first US release. _Harbours_ is a collection of Von Bekian short stories. There's a one-story overlap with 1995's US collection _Lunching with the Antichrist_, and another one-story overlap with _Tales of the White Wolf_, but most of the tales have only appeared previously in magazines. This is the continuation of Moorcock's pulpish take on the Chaos v. Law idea, as well as the concept of cosmic archetypes. The finale in the series is now available in Britain. -------------------- From: Tal Meta Subject: Initiation for Sorcerers System: RUNEQUEST/BRP I am a big fan of Sandy Petersen's Sorcery system. The only problem I've ever had with it is that since it describes Sorcery as it is in Glorantha, it lacks something when taken away from that world. In Glorantha, sorcerers are worshippers of the Invisible God, and his prophet Malkion, and can gain unique powers through the patronage of a variety of Saints. All of this is well and good for Gloranthaphiles, but what if your Sorcerer -isn't- from Glorantha, and/or is a devout athiest? The group I am roleplaying with is currently playing Shadowrun. What's that got to do with Runequest, or Sorcery? Well, while developing my current character, a combat mage, I had one of those quirky insights into what to do to add the powers of Glorantha's Malkioni Saints without the whole religious overtone it implied. Initiation. In this document, I'm going to be synthesizing a number of ideas from a variety of sources. Chief among those sources is Sandy Petersen himself, as well as Paul Reilly, Loren Miller, and probably a slew of other people whose names I have forgotten or lost track of. If I've trampled anyone's copyrights, it is purely by accident. Send no lawyers, please. INITIATION FOR SORCERERS When a sorcerer chooses to follow the path of initiation, he sets himself apart from his fellows by making a deeper commitment to his studies. He also places himself at risk, as the deeper levels of magical interaction open him up to domination by the very powers he has sought to master! Initiation creates a source of 'shadow POW', usually refered to as a Twin (some cultures refer to it as a Shadow, or Doppleganger, etc). Like a shaman's fetch, this POW exists on the Spirit plane, and makes the sorcerer subject to a certain degree of distraction. However, unlike the shaman's fetch, the sorcerer has no access to his Twin's magic points, nor will it assist him in spirit combat. The Twin is comprised of the sorcerer's suppressed desires, darker emotions, and whatever other 'spiritual baggage' the sorcerer seeks to purify himself of. However, by the very act of concentrating such emotions into the spirit plane, the sorcerer slowly forges an enemy which may someday come to challenge him for the control of his own physical body! The Vows which sorcerers take during later initiations are a good source of ideas concerning what the Twin is comprised of: they all make good 'repressed' desires. THE FIRST INITIATION A sorcerer's first initiation is generally the most taxing, requiring a sacrifice of POW equal to half his original POW attribute, rounded down. The Twin starts with a POW equal to half of the POW expended. It is strongly recommended that the sorcerer in question have a current POW higher than his original stat. If it is too low, a battle between the Twin and Sorcerer may occur, as noted in THE GROWING SHADOW, below, possibly resulting in tragedy. With the first initiation, the sorcerer gains the ability to expend POW in spellcasting for certain direct benefits (i.e. a spell can be cast with no MP cost in exchange for one POW, spells that strike a random hit location can be made to strike specific hit locations, etc). In almost every case, the initiated sorcerer gains the ability to trade POW for distinct effects that would otherwise have been random. LATER INITATIONS Each initiation after the first requires a POW sacrifice equal to one quarter the sorcerer's original POW attribute. These later initations give the sorcerer access to injunctions (see below). These injunctions allow the caster to expend POW in order to gain specific advantages. They can be acquired in any order, at any time, but the POW sacrifice for each new initiation must be made all at once (i.e. you can't save up several small sacrifices; the POW must be given up in one continuous ceremony for each new initiation.) An initiate's Twin grows in POW at a rate of 1/2 the POW sacrificed for individual injunctions. [Example: Fred Parker, sorcerer extraordinaire had an original POW of 15, and a current POW of 18. He becomes an initiate, costing him 7 POW (his Twin is founded with a POW of 4). Each future initiation he undertakes will cost him 4 POW and increase his Twin's POW by 2. Each time a sorcerer takes a new initiation, he must take a Vow that limits him in an emotional context. Vows such as Celibacy, Never Kill a (species), Shun Element, Shun Harm, Abjure Rune Magic, and Abjure Spirit Magic all make good initiation Vows. Players and GMs are encouraged to create new Vows as needed to add flavor to their individual games. Using (invoking) initiated abilities does not add to the time required to cast a spell. If a sorcerer has access to more than one type of injunction, he can use them all at once (i.e. he can use the Injunctions of Permanancy & Intensity with the casting of the same spell to render a truly large spell permanent...) Examples of secondary initiations are as follows: Injunction of Concentration: Until next nightfall, the initiate has great force of mind. He automatically succeeds in any INT roll, including Concentration rolls. He automatically succeeds in sorcery spell casting and manipulation, with no die roll necessary, and no critical successes possible. Injunction of Hold: Invoked only when a spell is cast using the Art of Hold. It enables the user to Hold that spell in mind even if he already has a Held spell. Any number of spells can be Held, each requiring a separate invocation. Once the spell is cast, the user can re-Hold the extra spell without re-invoking this injunction, but only if it is the exact same spell. (i.e. if this injunction were Holding an Evoke Fire 5, Range 3, Multispell 4, Hold 5 spell, it could only be refilled by another Evoke Fire 5 R3/M4/H5 spell.) Injunction of Intellect: The user's mind is expanded. For the next week, all research and experience checks automatically succeed, plus the amount of increase is always the maximum possible (this last also applies to training). Thus, if the initiate does research in Mace Attack, and uses this injunction, not only does he automatically increase, he gets 4 full points. Injunction of Intensity: Invoked only while casting a sorcery spell. The POW of the initiate's Twin is added to the spell's Intensity at no additional MP cost. Injunction of Multiplicity: Invoked only while casting a sorcery spell. The POW of the initate's Twin is added to the casting's Multispell at no additional MP cost. Injunction of Permanency: Invoked only when a Permanent sorcery spell is cast. This turns the spell into an enchantment, so that it no longer requires maintenance, and cannot be dispelled. The sorcerer must, of course, have access to the Art of Permanence to use this initiation. Injunction of Power: When invoked, the initiate's POW doubles, and remains thus for a full day. At the end of the day, POW drops back to normal. Any POW expended during this period comes from the initiate when the injunction wears off. [Example: Joe Barghest, a sorcerer with a POW of 12, invokes this power. His POW jumps to 24, increasing his magic points, Presence, spellcasting skill, etc. He spends the next few hours crafting an enchantment requiring 8 POW. When the injunction ends, instead of his POW dropping to 11 (12 minus 1 for the injunction) it drops to 3 (12 minus 1 minus 8). Injunction of Presence: Invoked only when a sorcery spell is cast. The affected spell takes no Presence to maintain (if temporal), but cannot be maintained for more than one day. Injunction of Range: Invoked only when a sorcery spell is cast. The POW of the initate's Twin is added to the casting's Range at no additional MP cost. THE GROWING SHADOW Once an initiate's Twin has a POW equal to that of the initiate, every time the sorcerer loses a point of POW (either to disease, casting ritual magic, using injunctions, etc) the Twin has the opportunity to match its POW vs. the POW of the sorcerer. If successful, the Twin will dominate the sorcerer for a number of days equal to the amount the percentile roll succeeded by. [Example: Fred Parker and his Twin both currently have a POW of 14. Fred, needing to guarantee that a Palsy spell he is hurling at an attacking warrior strikes him in the head uses an injunction to insure that it does so, bringing his POW down to 13. His Twin attacks, and rolls a 41 (the Twin's POW of 14 vs. Fred's POW of 13 gives it a 55% chance of success), defeating Fred by 14 points. For the next two weeks, the Twin dominates him. For the sake of example, we'll say that Fred had the Vows of Celibacy, Shun Darkness, and Abjure Rune Magic. The Twin spends its time alternating between a whorehouse and a Temple to the local Night Goddess. When Fred's mind reasserts control over itself after those two weeks, he's broken one of those vows and dented the other two...] -------------------- From: "TLove" Subkect: The Cthughan: A New Monster System: Call of Cthulhu Leapin' lizards and tearin' talons! I just got back from seeing the new Mythos-inpired movie The Relic (and boy, is my hypothalamus tired!). In my opinion, this movie is so far the best example of how just ONE Mythos-monster can ruin your whole day, as many an unfortunate investigator can attest. If you haven't seen this movie yet, why not?!? The Great Old Ones command you to sit through it six times in a row, so your sanity will become completely turned to mush by the end ot the experience! Anyway, I don't want to spoil any surprises for those who haven't had a chance to enjoy this very well done Mythos-Horror movie, so read no further until after you have seen The Relic! I was so impressed with this monster and its potential that I created game statistics for its use in Call Of Cthulhu. I specifically had Cthulhu Now in mind when creating the stats, but this beastie can be incorporated into any era's campaign. So, briskly juggling apples and oranges, I would like to introduce you to a new horror... A NEW MONSTER FOR CALL OF CTHULHU: CTHUGHAN Mutated Creation of Cthugha In a remote region of the Brazillian Rainforest, an unknown tribe calls upon the protection of Great Cthugha by means of an ancient, sacred fire ritual, to bring forth an avenger that will slay their enemies. A potion containing many different types of local fungus, plants, frogs, lizards, and insects is brewed over the fire that is used to contact Cthugha during the ritual. After contacting Great Cthugha, the tribe honors him with some sort of sacrifice (Keeper's decision as to what, or who,the sacrifice is to be). Then Cthugha rewards the tribe's sacrifice by enchanting the potion being prepared. A human volunteer (or victim) drinks the prepared potion and in 3D6 hours, an avenging abomination manifests... The Cthughan. THE CTHUGHAN, Avenging Abomination of Nature STR 40 CON 20 SIZ 50 INT 18 POW 30 DEX 20 MOVE 12 (6 Climbing) HP 50 Damage Bonus: +5D6 Weapons: Claw 70%, Damage 1D6 + DB Tail-Swipe 50%, Damage 1D6 + DB + knocked off feet Bite* 50%, Damage 1D10 + DB * If used on grappled target, to hit is 90% and Damage is 2D10 + DB and Cthughan will keep biting until decapitation. Armor: 5 points of slimy, scaly, leathery hide and muscle Spells: none. Sanity Loss: 2/1D10 to see a Cthughan, 1/2D6 to see how a Cthughan eats its prey, 1/1D4+1 to see what's left of a Cthughan's prey. A Cthughan is a huge (over 20 feet long from maw to tail), very fast creature that combines human, insect, batrachian, and other unknown (or perhaps alien) strains of DNA into a ferocious mutation. It feeds on human hypothalamus glandular systems and their extracts, and will automatically attack any human it comes across in order to obtain its next meal. It must keep eating a continual supply of fresh hypothalamus systems on a regular basis. If unable to feed on human hypothalami, the Cthughan will start to lose 20 Hit Points every 12 hours (after its last meal) until it either feeds again, or reaches zero hit points and dies. The hungrier it is, the more ferocious this beast will be. If it starts feeding again, it will regain 5 Hit Points per victim untill it reaches its original max Hit Points. The Cthughan has shown that it can hunt its prey with great cunning, dexterity, speed, and stealth. It is not known for certain if any of the original intelligence or memories of the human host are retained by the monster, but it does use its high intelligence to meet its own goals as needed. In addition to the stats listed above, the Cthughan has the following skills: because of its size and strength, it can Jump (99%) up to 70 feet forward, 50 feet backward, or 50 feet straight up in one mighty leap. It can run very quickly by a combination of leaps and bounds (similar to the running style of a large jungle cat). By using its powerful claws and talons, it can climb any surface up to and including soft stone (wood, concrete, brick, aluminum siding, etc.) at a Climb skill of 90% and can even hang upside-down indefinitely (as long as it can maintain its grip on the climbing surface). Smoother or harder surfaces are climbable only at the Keeper's descretion. It also can Track 70%, Hide 70%, and Sneak 80%. Despite its massive size, this beast will use any means of cover and/or concealment it can in order to surprise its prey. The Cthughan prefers to ambush its prey when the target is alone or in a small group. If forced into the open and engaged in a standup fight, the Cthughan will let loose with all of the ferocity it can muster. If the Cthughan is vastly outnumbered, it will kill as many targets as possible before it makes a hasty retreat to safety. The Cthughan makes its lair in a dark, deserted and isolated location, preferrably underground in a quiet cave or tunnel where it take its victims back to feed on them and sleep during the daylight hours. If encountered in its lair, there is a 20% chance of interrupting a meal in progress and a 10% chance of finding the beast sleeping off its last meal, but it is a light sleeper! If it is awake, then the Cthughan will smell any tresspassers approaching it's lair and make preparations for the soon to arrive dinner guests. A Cthughan is very territorial and will try to kill as many humans as it can. A Cthughan can attack up to three tagets simultaneously, using one or more of its four clawed legs, its massive tail (to lash at targets, similar to an alligator tail-swipe), and its horrible maw. If the Cthughan makes a successful claw attack on a target with a front claw, it will attempt to grapple the target and bring it in close so it can use its maw to bite the head off of its victim and get at the juicy meal inside of the skull at a later time (or immediately, if it is alone and hungry). After taking the initial claw attack damage, the target can attempt to make a successful Dodge Roll to avoid being grappled by the Cthughan. If that fails, the target can try to make a successful Strength Versus Strength roll on the Resistance Table in order to get one last chance to be free from the monster's embrace (which ends in a very messy kiss from that horrible mandibled, fanged maw). If a Cthughan's blood or remains are analyzed (depending on the pathology/science level of the era) it will be revealed that the component DNA of the creature is a mixture of many different creatures who have totally different genetic structures and that this combination was not possible in Nature. A by-the-book scientist or professor could say that such an abomination of nature was produced by "the Calysto Effect", a theory stating that major evolutionary changes sometimes occur in a rapid, chaotic, and cataclysmic manner rather than the traditionally accepted theory of a gradual evolution of species. (Although anyone surviving an encounter with a Cthughan and making a successful Cthulhu Mythos roll might gain a little more insight into what the creature's true origins are...) The primary mutagen that enables the Cthughan to grow is an unidentified fungus that is indigenous to only one area of the Brazillian Rainforest and grows on only one specific type of green broadleaf plant. This fungus is the key ingredient in the potion that the Brazillian Tribe brews to create the Cthughan. They also feed it to the newly formed Cthughan in order to speed its growth cycle. If a Cthughan gets within 100 feet of this growth fungus, it will automatically smell it and do anything in its power to get to and eat that fungus. By consuming the fungus, the Cthughan will: be automatically raised back up to full original hit points, or if already at full hit points, add 1D10 new hit points to its maximum and increase its SIZ by 1 (per seperate feeding of the fungus) due to the renewed growth/evolution process that the fungus stimulates. It will consume the fungus untill there is no more available and each time it eats the fungus it gains the benefits described above. If Investigators/Scientists manage to isolate the fungus and/or the ingredients of the mutagenic potion, the accellerated growth/evolution effect will take place in 1D6 turns after it is first tested on any living subject (insects, lab rats, etc). The results will be unknown and chaotic to the investigators (and a great opportunity for the Keeper to see how nasty the mutated animals will be). If tested on any mammals, the potion will start them off as smaller, weaker Cthughan-type creatures. If left alone to feed on the potion, fungus, or other living things, the investigators would have a very rapidly growing problem on their hands). Investigators will not be able to create the mutagenic potion from scratch (unless they are taught the specific list of ingredients and the ancient, sacred ritual, i.e. Contact Cthugha, by the Tribesman, and the Tribesman really do not like outsiders. When they create a Cthughan to kill their enemies and thin out the population of the surrounding area, they simply go into hiding untill the Cthughan has nothing (nobody) left to eat and starves to death. Well Cthulhu Fans, that's all for now... I hope Keepers will enjoy the challenge that this new moster will pose for their intrepid investigators, and I hope the investigators will enjoy the horror or realizing that just ONE mythos monster can ruin their whole day... UNTIL THE STARS ARE RIGHT ONCE AGAIN, Mikal "No, YOU hold the lantern" Phillips TLOVE@MICROSYS.NET -------------------- From: d.bourne@dial.pipex.com (danny bourne) Subject: All Hands On...: A Mythos Deck System: Mythos Here is the All Hands On.... deck (one of the few Mythos jokes you can do) which came midtable in a Sheffield Tournament. You'll have to wait to see what the winning deck was. ADVENTURES The Expedition The Temple The Cruise ALLIES George Birch Raymond Legrasse Wakalea x2 Harry Houdini Howard Lovecraft Mrs Sonia Lovecraft Albert Shiny Frank Belknap Long ARTIFACTS Diving Suit Disk of the Hyades EVENTS Amnesia x2 An Unexpected Calamity Influenza Powerful Storms U-boat x2 Surprise Meeting Tramp Steamer Mauretenia Titanic Portaphobia Discover Secret Cache LOCATIONS Arkham Sanitarium Miskatonic University Orne Library Lost Temple of Atlantis Retoka Otaheite Easter Island American Museum of Natural History Bellevue Hospital Congregational Hospital Red Hook Penn Central Train station MONSTERS Shoggoth Shantak Hunting Horror x2 Gnoph Keh Goody Fowler's Ghost SPELLS Angles of Tagh Clatur Sign of Eibon Create Time Warp Fly Sign of Barzai TOMES Ponape Scriptures (Glyphs) De Vermiis Mysteriis Hutchinson Cypher Drawbacks: this deck relies on an investigator that speaks Latin. It is also susceptible to phobias. It would possibly be better to use Providence locations rather than New York locations to get the Glyphs speaking allies (and also find Locations to remove phobias). Advantages: Many of the cards needed for adventures are denial cards, Amnesia & Unexpected Calamity. These, with luck and played well, can wreak havoc with opposing decks. Although you have to travel quite a bit, Create Time Warp and Fly make this deck surprisingly versatile. The idea behind this deck was to play only the cards needed directly for an adventure and then finish the turn as soon as possible, ideally completing the game at the Temple of Atlantis. -------------------- 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.