Chaosium Digest Volume 22, Number 10 Date: Sunday, December 7, 1997 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: The Devil Arcanum (Peter Larsen) NEPHILIM Days of Wine and Roses: A Mythos Deck (Cedric Chin) MYTHOS Knee Deep in Leng: A Mythos Deck (Cedric Chin) MYTHOS Announcement: Convulsion 4 (Lewis Jardin) MISC Editor's Note: This week in the Chaosium digest: an alternate take on the Devil Arcanum for Nephilim, two Mythos deck outlines, and the announcment of next year's British Glorantha and Cthulhu convention. I'd like to get one last set of digests out this year, so send in those articles. Shannon NEW RELEASES: * Call of Cthulhu - _Scroll of Thoth_ (Chaosium, 400 pp., $12.95) by Richard L. Tierney is the complete set of Richard Tierney's sole-authored short stories about Simon of Gitta. There are lots of hard to find Mythos stories collected in this book of swords, sorcery, and horror. All the stories are placed in chronological order with lots of introductory material setting up the first century background. (FRENCH) RELEASES: * Hawkmoon - _Les Seigneurs des Sans-Masques_ (Oriflam, 144 pg.) is a new sourcebook complete with 4 scenarios. French Pendragon fans should watch for _Noblesse Oblige_, the translation of _Lordly Domains_, due out in January, also from Oriflam. As always, thanks to Frederic Moll for various French sightings. RECENT BOOKS OF NOTE: * Elric! - _The War Amongst the Angels_ (Avon, $24.00), Michael Moorcock's conclusion to his "Second Ether Trilogy", is finally available in the United States. Together with _Blood_, and _Fabulous Harbours_, _The War Amongst the Angels_ provides a new look at Michael Moorcock's Multiverse. (Also of note is the _Michael Moorcock's Multiverse_ comic still being published by DC, presenting a new view of the "Second Ether Trilogy".) (FRENCH) MAGAZINE SIGHTINGS: * Call of Cthulhu - "Bon Sang Ne Saurait Mentir", an eight page scenario set in Paris of 1922, Casus Belli #111 [Dec, 1997] NEW ELECTRONIC RESOURCES: The Delta Green Web Site http://www.delta-green.com Those with proper security clearance are invited to browse the data herein. The Shub Niggurath Web Site http://www.missouri.edu/~c638625 Mythos fiction, soundbites, screenshots, a photo gallery and more, much of it dedicated to Shub-Niggurath him-her-itself. The Civ2 Glorantha Site http://members.aol.com/~thecam/ Mods for Civ2 so you can play Gloranthan peoples, and more. French Chaosium Scenarios http://www.virandia.org/Jeux/Scenariotheque/Material/JeuTempo.html Scenarios for Cthulu, Elric, Nephilim, Pendragon, and Stormbringer. All in French. Call of Cthulhu MiniMux telnet://highfiber.com:6666 A miniMux about Call of Cthulhu. Nightscapes #5 http://www.toddalan/~berglund/ The newest issue of the online Nightscapes 'zine, with new fiction, a Bob Price essay on Brian Lumley's Mythos work, an essay on the Mythos in comics, poetic parodies, poetry, and a reprinted review of H.P. Lovecraft: A Life. -------------------- From: Peter Larsen Subject: The Devil Arcanum System: Nephilim Major Arcana is a fine addition to the Nephilim game, answering many questions and inspiring many plots. However, I am dissatisfied with the rational behind some of the Arcana. For the Arcana to work, they all need to have access to "The Truth," whatever that is. The Devil Arcanum as written seems to be more of a thuggish social club than an organization of immortal spirits dedicated to occult exploration and trancendance. What follows is my attempt to reconcile Mr. Hite's work with my own vision of the Devil Arcanum. The Devil was once a very different group of nephilim. Dedicated to the absolute denial of the Golden Path and human nature, they lacked the qualities necessary to organize and defend themselves. As their fortunes waned (see the "Secret History" below), some Devils made compromises and slowly changed into the less cosmology-driven, more malicious, Shab Devils of the Major Arcana write-up. For the readers who haven't seen Major Arcana yet, I include a small section of notes explaining the new terms. If this seems interesting, I highly recommend picking up the book itself. ** THE DEVIL General Philosophy The Devil is the Arcanum of reverse and negation. It seeks to destroy the Human "taint" in the Nephilim and rejects the Golden Path. It seeks the KaIm state instead of Agartha, preferring Elemental Chaos to Solar-Ka and Material Order. The conscious human mind of the Simulacra is a distraction and a fraud and must be subdued and destroyed. Khaiba is the state of KaIm thought and should be prized and cultivated, not cured. Agartha is a lie; order, Solar-Ka, and progress are tricks by nephilim deluded by human thought. "The Gate is open behind us." Enemies and Allies Only the Moon, the Hanged Man, the Selenim, and some Hermits understand the failures of the Golden Path. Some Lovers are willing to offer aid, although they enjoy the human world too much to be trusted. All other Arcana are hostile, especially Strength, the Magician, and the Sun. The Empress is especially horrified by the Devil's reaction to the human mind. The Devil rarely interacts with human groups of any kind. Only the most debased and insane humans are tolerated for long, and the Devil's hatred for the human heirs of Prometheus/Logos is nearly equal to the Tower's. Simulacrum Destroy the mind completely and accelerate Metamorphosis as much as possible. Devils who have completely dominated their simulacrum leave a much greater mark on the physical body than other nephilim: the dead simulacrum often shows severe physical distortion including bizarre bone and tissue growth, odd skin texture, malformed internal organs, and so on. These alterations, when discovered by humans, are usually attributed to strange diseases (Elephant Man's Disease, Elephantitis, etc) or birth defects. The Mundane The Devil has little or no contact with humans. Sometimes a "pure" Devil will interact with Devils in Shabs for a specific end but they are by nature loners, associating only for specific purposes. ARCANE SECRETS Initiation For the last 1500 years or so the dificulty of true Devil initiation is finding a teacher and getting it to teach. The mentor sets whatever tests it feels necessary. These are usually degrading and occasionally fatal. The inconstant nature of the Devil also makes life hard on the prospective initiate. This is another reason why the Shabs have become more powerful. As a rule of thumb, however, true Devil initiation requires a Ka of 35, 50 Khaiba, Arcanum Lore (Devil) at 50%, Survival and two other physical skills (Climb, Bite, Listen, etc) at 70%. At that time, the Initiate will be taught the following spell. Once the spell has been used to break the simulacrum's mind, the Initiation is complete and the Initiate gains 20% (to a maximum of 70%) in Arcanum Lore (Devil). Break the Monkey Mind Circle: Initiate Spell (Devil) Ka-Element: Moon Threshold: Arcanum Lore (Devil) 50%, Ritual Magic, Khaiba 20 Range: Caster Area: Caster Duration: Permanent Common Components: Mirrors, treasured posessions from the simulacrum's life. Description: A lengthy (3hr +) ritual which must be cast on a night with a positive Moon-Ka modifier. The nephilim accesses the simulacrum's mind and, by pitting its Moon-Ka against the simulacrum's Solar-Ka, attempts to destroy the simulacrum's personality and consciousness. Each successful casting destroys 1d3 INT and CHA, 1 Solar-Ka, 1d10% Life Experience, and 1d10% from 1d3 unassimilated skills (intellectual and social skills are destroyed by preference). If the casting fails, the nephilim loses a point of Dominant Ka. Once INT=0, the simulacrum's identity is destroyed and all unassimilated sills lose 2d10%. If the simulacrum's Solar-Ka drops to 0, the simulacrum dies. If Solar-Ka drops below 6, the body may suffer health problems. Secret History The Devil was once a considerably more prosperous and unified Arcanum, the most numerous and powerful opponents to the Golden Path outside of the Selenim. However, the Age of Heroes saw the destruction of many great Devils. The defeat of the Titans in Greece, the Jotuns in Scandinavia, and the Formors in Ireland are some of their more noted failures. The deeds of "heroic" Devils, like Seth's defeat of Apep, were later discounted or attributed to other, more human-friendly, figures. Devil-Selenim cooperation was common during the Age of Heroes and, as the Selenim were defeated, the Devils were decimated. By the time of Anhkenaton, the Devil Arcanum was willing to be part of his new plan, despite their continued opposition to the Solar teachings. It was at this time that the "true" Devils began to lose ground to the Shabs, who picked up ideas from the Hierophant, the Lovers, and the Tower. As the most powerful old Devils were defeated or, possibly, attained the KaIm state (or Agartha or whatever), fewer teachers were available. The Shabs, with their limited understanding and their confusion of Elemental Freedom with malice, became the dominant expression of the Devil. A significant number of Shabs turned to worship of "The Dragon" and other spirit beings, reversing the usual role of Nephilim dominance of the elemental world. By 500 AD, with the rise of Christianity in Europe and the identification of the Devil with Satan, the modern Devil world-view was pretty much in place. A few pockets of organized old Devils still existed in the far west, north, and east, but they would collapse under pressure from other nephilim and the new religion. Secret Places The disorganized nature of the old Devils did not allow for many "Arcanum Sites." Most of those (like the Brocken in Germany) were taken over by the Shabs. Individual old Devils may claim territory including Nexi, Plexi, and areas of occult interest, but these claims only last as long as the nephilim has use of or interest in them and usually attain no lasting significance. Arcane Techniques The old Devils developed the techniques of Nesheni and 'Ari-Kheperu used by the Shabs. After the simulacrum's mind is destroyed, the nephilim's body becomes much more sensitive to the elements. All Metamorphoses act as if they were 3 points higher. The body also heals more quickly, tripling recovery times and allowing the nephilim to recover from any wound that is not immediately fatal. Some old Devils are able to exchange passions, changing their Metamorphosis over time and picking up different traits and abilities. Notes The Shabs are groups of "modern" Devils, often associated with human "Satan" groups. They are generally hostile to humans but more malicious than philosophical about it. Nesheni is a nephilim technique that creates panic in humans (Pan was, I suppose, a Devil Satyr). 'Ari-Kheperu is a set of techniques that allow a nephilim to manifest Khaiba. There are seperate versions for Gigantism, Elementalism, Dwarfism, and Etherialism. Various Shabs have access to some of these techniques but usually not all. Shabs also have access to a lot of strange summonings that are not used by old Devils. Obviously, my conception of the Devil is not really suitable for players. I just feel that they didn't make much sense in Major Arcana. I mean, why would Anhkenaton want to include a gang of malicious hooligans in his New World Order? Peter Larsen -------------------- From: cchin@frk.com (Chin, Cedric) Subject: Days of Wine and Roses: A Mythos Deck System: Mythos Days of Wine and Roses Introduction: Days of Wine and Roses, Come Sail Away, and Perchance* have a high overlap of cards, making it rather difficult not to have these three Adventures in the same deck. The deck is an interdimensional deck between Kingsport and Celephais. Sets: Dreamlands, MSGS optional. Summary: Interdimensional deck between Kingsport and Celephais. Artifact / Tome deck. Munchkin cards: None. Investigator: Any. Adventures: * Days of Wine and Roses * Come Sail Away * Perchance * The Interesting Shop (optional) Cards for Days of Wine and Roses: - House Location in Kingsport: Any such cards, including those from MSGS. - Sun Spots: Sun Spots, Event, Day (x2). - Harbor of Celephais: Harbor of Celephais, Celephais (x2) - Lute of Oonai: Lute of Oonai, Artifact, Unique. - Wine of Pnoth: Wine of Pnoth, Artifact (x2). This Artifact is assigned to an Ally. - Evening: Evening, Event, Day (DL version). Or Evening, Event, Night (MSGS version). (x2) The MSGS version is slightly better since it allows you to discard a card and draw a new one. - Steadfast Ally: Captain of the White Ship, Any Water (x2). Ibbix the Harbormaster, Celephais. See Come Sail Away's Seaman requirement. - Awful Doom of Cerrit: Awful Doom of Cerrit, Yellow Sign-icon card. Other cards: - Tome with the Yellow Sign-icon: Such a Tome is needed to hold the Awful Doom of Cerrit Spell. - Gate of Oneirology, Diamond-icon Spell (and a Tome to hold this Spell): This Spell is used for interdimensional travel between the Waking World and the Dreamlands. - Silver Key, Artifact: This Artifact allows you to use a Gate for interdimensional travel between the Waking World and the Dreamlands. Cards for Come Sail Away: - Kingsport Location: [Any House Location in Kingsport] - Seaman: [Captain of the White Ship, Any Water (x2). Ibbix the Harbormaster, Celephais.] The Terrible Old Man, Kingsport, Unique (MSGS). - Travel by Sea: The White Ship (x2), Event, Travel by Sea. With the Captain of the White Ship, you may use this Event for interdimensional travel. - Basil Elton: Basil Elton, Kingsport (x2). - Lighthouse: North Point Lighthouse, Kingsport (x2). - Port: [Harbor of Celephais, Celephais (x2)] - Dreamlands Location: Any such Location. This deck should have enough Dreamlands Locations that this requirement isn't important to consider for deck construction. Cards for Perchance*: - Day: [Evening, Event, Day. Sun Spots, Event, Day] - Wine of Pnoth: [Wine of Pnoth, Artifact (x2)] - Twister: Twister, Event, Storm (x2). - House: [Any House Location in Kingsport (x2)] - Palace: The Palace of Seventy Delights, Celephais (x2). - Monster: Any such card (x2). - Event: Any such card. This deck should have enough Events that this requirement isn't important to consider for deck construction. Cards for The Interesting Shop (Optional): - Four different Locations with the Tome and / or Artifact Attribute: [Harbor of Celephais, Celephais.] Many Locations from the MSGS set satisfy this Attribute, as do Celephais Locations. - Any Artifact or Tome costing at least one Sanity: [Lute of Oonai, Artifact, Unique] Any such Tome or Artifact. -------------------- From: cchin@frk.com (Chin, Cedric) Subject: Knee Deep in Leng: A Mythos Deck System: Mythos Knee Deep in Leng Introduction: This is the only deck that uses a Location in the North (in the Dreamlands), namely the Plateau of Leng. This Location's Special Effect is that its Gate is reusable for one Sanity, or for free if a Star is in play. Obviously, this is a Location usable with Knee Deep in Doom (+5). Pair this up with the best reusable Gate in the game, 197 Pickman Street, Arkham, and you now have two Locations in different Regions. This is the most difficult requirement for The Strange Case of Charles Fort (+11). Since 197 Pickman Street is in Arkham, it's easy to add The Interesting Shop (+5). The Strange Case has a Star, Aldebaran Moves in the Sky, which allows you to reuse the Plateau of Leng Gate with no Sanity loss, and which adds two to the value of Byhakees, a 4-point Monster useful for Knee Deep in Doom. Start playing in Arkham, where you can bring out the Allies, Tomes, and Artifacts you need for the deck. You may wish to try the Pragmatic Hobo or Homeless Waif with this deck. These Investigators have the advantage of the widest range of Minimum and Maximum cards (0 to 7), and draws a card every turn. But they have a hand size of only seven cards. Thus, they work best with decks in which you can play nearly any card in the deck easily, like this one: The Strange Case of Charles Fort requires mostly Events. Knee Deep in Doom requires Monsters and you should find plenty of Gates in this Arkham deck. The Interesting Shop requires four City Locations with the Tome and / or Artifact Attribute, which should be easy to play in this Arkham deck. Sets: Dreamlands, Limited Edition. Summary: Dreamlands / Limited Edition deck. Tome / Artifact deck. Arkham, The North. Investigator: Any. Try the Pragmatic Hobo or Homeless Waif with this deck! Munchkin cards: - Aldebaran Moves in the Sky, Event: This Event, required in The Strange Case of Charles Fort, removes all non-Travel Events in play. It's most useful to remove Phobias on your Investigator, without having to arrive at a Sanitarium, or rely upon an Ally. It's also useful to remove Events that hamper your movement (e.g. Powerful Storms, which prevent your playing a Travel by Air card). Adventures: * The Strange Case of Charles Fort (+11) (Moderate - Easy) * Knee Deep in Doom (+5) (Moderate) * The Interesting Shop (+5) (Moderate - Easy) Cards for The Strange Case of Charles Fort: - Professor or Inventor: Any such Professors, Arkham. - Aldeberan Moves in the Sky: Aldeberan Moves in the Sky, Event (x2) - Full Moon: Full Moon, Event, Night (x2) - Eclipse: Eclipse, Event, Day (x2) - Earthquake: Earthquake, Event (x2) - Storm: Any Storm, Event, Storm (x2) - Drought: Drought, Event (x2) - Two Locations in different Regions: Any Arkham Location. Plateau of Leng, The North, Dreamlands (x2). Recommended cards: - Gate of Oneirology, Spell, Diamond icon: This Spell allows you to play a non-Exotic Location in another dimension. - Create Time Warp, Spell, Eye icon: This Spell allows you to return to a Location in your Story Deck. This is useful to return to a Location in another Region or Dimension if you have no other means. - Silver Key, Artifact: This Artifact allows you to use a Gate to play a non-Exotic Location in another dimension. Cards for Knee Deep in Doom: - 20 points of Monsters: 40 points of Monsters, including Byhakee, Dimensional Shamblers, and Shantaks (Limited Edition). These cards provide the most points of Monsters for the least Sanity cost. Recommended Cards: - 197 E. Pickman, Arkham: This Location has a reusable Gate, for one Sanity. - Create Gate, Spell, Eye icon: This Spell allows you to play Monsters to your Threat, for one Sanity, without needing to use a Gate. This Spell may be cast during Combat, after Defending Allies have been assigned. Thus, after you cast this Spell and play a Monster(s), your opponent will not be able to use his Allies against your Threat. Cards for The Interesting Shop: - Four different City Locations with the Tome or Artifact Attribute: Any such Locations, Arkham. - A Tome or Artifact costing at least one Sanity: Any such Tomes and / or Artifacts. -------------------- From: Lewis Jardine Subject: Announcement: Convulsion 4 System: Misc Hi All To dispel any confusion caused by the incorrect email address for me on the Convivium Website and to also allow any interested parties to sign on now. Here is the long awaited Convulsion 4 flier in emailable form. The return form is in simple space formatted ASCII text so this should print out properly and be easy to fill in and return. By all means send me email returns, but please note that our bank does not accept email cheques... Cheers Lewis ** Convulsion The Next Generation College Hall, Leicester 24th to 26th July, 1998 England, the final gaming frontier. This is the continuing Convention that boldly goes where no convention has gone before. This episode features: Greg Stafford as the legendary Glorathan commander (with all his own hair) Sandy Petersen as the Cthuloid Science Officer (with none of his own hair) Michael O'Brien as the MGF lovable tribble (hairsuit or hirsute, that is the question) **** Gasp at the decadent splendour of The Life of Moonson Gloranthan freeform. How many Quatloos will the gamesters bet on the winner of the Mythos tournament? Find out which of the security team will not return from the next mission to the Cthulhu homeworld. Find out all the latest gossip from planet Chaosium. ******** Book now to avoid disappointment! This is an action-packed and fully interactive programme with: freeforms, seminars, panels, free gaming, tournaments, singing, eating, drinking, the Auction, and every other decadent pleasure your mind can imagine (and your body can perform), all packed into a tense and fast-paced weekend. Events commence on Friday evening, and the Con formally closes on Sunday evening (though there are "informal" last-night social events afterwards). What the critics said: "I've never had a Convulsion like it" - Sad Trekkie Monthly "Makes Voyager look like an epic" - The Lonely Lozenge The Convention is limited to 250 places. Rooms at the Convention will cost: * 20 ukp for 1 night * 36 ukp for 2 nights * 50 ukp for 3 nights and include a hearty English breakfast with that special regional delicacy - fried bread. However, we only require a 10 ukp (non- refundable) deposit now. There will be a nominal charge for the larger freeform games, to to cover the printing costs, graft and suchlike. In order to sponsor the trip for Greg, Sandy and MOB we have created the Teelo Norri Poor Box, for which we will gratefully accept any donations (either money or games to be sold at the auction). Because of licensing laws, attendance is limited to those who will be 18 or over at the time of the Convention. There is no admission on the door, so please book as soon as possible to guarantee your place. Return the form below to: Lewis Jardine CONVULSION 43 Windermere Liden Swindon WILTS SN3 6JZ United Kingdom email: jardine@rmcs.cranfield.ac.uk ____________________________________________________________________ Name: ___________________________ Membership Information: Badge Name: _____________________ Residential [ ] (20 ukp) Address: ________________________ Non-Residential [ ] (30 ukp) _________________________________ Room Deposit [ ] (10 ukp) _________________________________ (non refundable) Postcode: _______________________ Teelo Norri Poor Box: Telephone: ______________________ ________________________ ukp Email: __________________________ (thank you kindly Guv'nor) I would like to run the following I enclose a cheque/PO for: game/event: _____________________ ________________________ ukp _________________________________ Made payable to "Convulsion" _________________________________ Special Requirements (food etc.): I will be over 18 _________________________________ on the 24th July 1998. _________________________________ I agree to have my membership Signature: ______________________ information stored on a Date:____________________________ computer database. ____________________________________________________________________ --