Chaosium Digest Volume 23, Number 7 Date: Sunday, March 1, 1998 Number: 2 of 4 Contents: Parasitic Spawn of Tsathoggua (Peter Devlin) CALL OF CTHULHU The Black Ziggurat, Part Two (Cry.Sys) CALL OF CTHULHU -------------------- From: pdevlin@scotsys.co.uk Subject: Parasitic Spawn of Tsathoggua System: Call of Cthulhu Parasitic Spawn of Tsathoggua Copyright (c) 1998 Peter Devlin pdevlin@scotsys.co.uk This suggestion is a rather warped addendum to the Formless Spawn monster type. It was inspired by the Brian Lumley short story "The Conch Shell". This ritual is an ideal way for a sorcerer to bind a Spawn and have it available as a bodyguard or manservant. It is most appropriate for priests of Tsathoggua. Ingredients: 1 x Formless Spawn of Tsathoggua 1 x Living humanoid host-to-be Utensils: 1 x Secluded prison cell 1 x Summon/Bind Formless Spawn spell ritual Assorted sorcerous papraphenalia Directions: Bind Formless Spawn into service or make a pact. Imprison humanoid without liquid nourishment. Wait until humanoid is near the point of death from thirst. Carefully insert Formless Spawn into cell. Spawn should flow into humanoid host taking up space occupied by conventional body fluids. Host should look swollen as if subject to bad case of water retention. Notes: The sorceror must match the SIZ of the Spawn to the SIZ of the intended receptacle, allowing a little leeway for that bloated look. The Spawn can now animate the (now doubtless insane) host with POW vs POW resistance rolls. The Spawn should have motor control over the host body but does not necessarily have the ability to use the host's mind, knowledge, and skills. The longer the Spawn is in residence, the better it will become at animating the host. The host mind continues to function but must contest with the Spawn in POW vs POW resistance rolls to do anything during a given turn; this presumes that the host mind is sane. SAN losses at Keeper's discretion, although I'd suggest 2d4/2d10 for the invasion, over and above losses for seeing the Spawn. Probable host mind reponse when driven insane would be catatonia, allowing the Spawn a free reign. The host takes damage as normal, although the Spawn will only suffer from attacks which can affect it. At any time the Spawn may leave its host, appearing as a black viscous bile ejected from the orifices of the host body. This will take 1 combat round. The host mind may regain control at this time although the host body will be in a poor physical condition. A survivor's mind is probably shattered by the experience. A given Spawn may choose to later return to the warm and cozy host. This presumes that the Spawn keeps the host alive by sharing its "nourishment" with the host. Another variant might involve the Spawn assuming control of a corpse. New hosts would be required fairly frequently as corpses decay within 1 week to the point where they cannot be reliably controlled. Lastly, I'd caution against allowing this as a universal power possessed by all Formless Spawn. It is better as a ritual used to prepare a host. Especially if that host is a PC who was presumed kidnapped or dead in a previous session. Cheers :-) --> :-0 Peter Devlin. pdevlin@scotsys.co.uk -------------------- From: Hamdula@neosoft.com Subject: The Black Ziggurat, Part Two System: Call of Cthulhu The Black Ziggurat By Cry.Sys [continued from V23.6] PART THREE: DOWN THE MAIDIRA The next morning, anyone looking over the deck will find the table over turned and the chairs knocked over (unless they stopped the bunyip last night when it searched for food). Watery footprints can be seen on the deck's edge. Call for Spot Hidden rolls as people come up from under the deck. Looking along the sides of the river, one can see a small campground where there is little ground cleared away. The campground, if visited, has three items of note. The first is the embers of a fire. With a successful Idea roll, one can find out that from the look of the embers, a pot or other large cooking instrument was placed on it. The second is a broken metal pipe with a red spongy substance in it. A Medicine roll can determine it is marrow. The third is a pile of loose dirt. If dug up, pieces of a human skeleton can be found. If the Captain is asked about the campsite, he'll shrug and suggest natives. If asked about the skeleton he'll suggest that maybe his friends were here before him and left the site after a meal. If asked about the metal, he'll demonstrate how it's inserted into broken bones, then sucked on to get at the human bone marrow. Once underway again, John will begin shouting and pointing into the jungle. The Captain will slow the boat and ask him what he saw. John is pointing to a large statue out in the jungle. It stands, its lower body hidden by the brush of the jungle, with its arms raised to the sky. Red eyes glare out at the river, almost looking like its gaze is on the ship alone. Should the investigators stop to investigate, they will find little about the statue. Should they get up to the eyes, they can pry the rubies loose that are set there. Each is worth quite a bit of money; keepers, you decide exactly how much. Once it begins to get dark, call for Listen rolls. It's not a sound they are looking for, but the silence. All the sounds of the jungle have died completely. Another Listen roll and the investigators can hear the sound of flapping. Soon it's gone, and the noise of the jungle floats on the air again. (Keeper's Note: If you are wondering what this is, it's the Hunting Horror looking for food.) Finally, the Mary Kay reaches the mouth of the Canuma River. Here, after a quick dinner of soup, the NPCs go to bed. Everyone is exhausted. Should anyone stay on the deck, call for Listen rolls. Again, the sound of flapping. After that, call for a Spot Hidden roll and let them catch a full glimpse of the Hunting Horror as it flies overhead, a jaguar in it's claws. Blood falls on the boat, and before anyone can react, the Horror is gone. (San Loss: 0/1D10 to see a Hunting Horror.) PART FOUR: THE CANUMA RIVER AND THE NAKI In the morning the deck will be splashed with blood, and everyone will seem very unnerved by this. Allow a Psychology roll to show that Rivin seem to be faking his distress, while John and the Captain seem scared. John will suggest turning back, Rivin will insist on pressing on, and the Captain will suggest they find the Naki who are waiting down the Canuma River for him. In the end, Captain will win the arguement, and he'll start the boat downstream. If the investigators try to stop him, he'll ignore them. If threatened or attacked, John will protect the Captain, to the death if required. Should the investigators actually come to blows over this, Rivin will slip away and sabotage the boat as he planned to later down the river (If the investigators don't come to blows, Rivin will sabotage the boat further on in the campaign). Soon, a trail of smoke can be seen through the edge of the jungle. The Captain stops the boat, and says those are the Naki. He will jump into the shallow water and wade up on to the shore, with or without the investigators. John goes with him, and Rivin stays on the boat. Should the investigators stay behind, Rivin will sit with them and tell them the most disgusting stories of his personal injuries while hunting. This is an attempt to get them to follow the Captain, so that he can do a little evil in the cabins below, but he could still do this with investigators on the ship, faking going to sleep (the evil he plans is the snake, which appears at the end of this Part). Following the Captain, the investigators will come to a small encampment full of natives. They sit around a boiling pot. Once they see him, they call the Captain over to sit with them, as well as the investigators. The Captain talk with the Naki, and anyone with "Other Language: Naki" will understand greetings and normal conversation. After some chatting, the Naki pass around soup. The Capt takes one bowl and eats, saying to the investigators that the Naki are great cooks. Should any investigators take the soup, have them make CON x3 rolls. If they fail, they get a stomach ache and lose 1D3 CON for 24 hours. Should the investigators ask what is in the soup, the Captain says "Enemies of the Naki, of course." After eating, the conversation grows darker, as the Naki ask if the Captain is planning to go on farther downstream to the Acari River. He informs them of their mission and the Naki grow silent. The oldest Naki, an elder no doubt, from the scars and tattoo marks covering almost all his body, warns the Capt and investigators with the tale below. If the investigators fail their language rolls to understand the conversations, the Capt will translate. "You whiteskins should stay away from Acari River," the Elder warns. "No good can come of those places. Past the second statue and your warnings run out. I remember the tale of when my uncle went there, many years ago. He told me that his hunting party came across another tribe, and was going to harvest them for the soup. So, silently they moved into ambush positions, while watching the other tribe's rituals. Just before they planned to attack, the other tribe called up a flying demon from the skies. It swooped down and attacked the hunting party in the bushes, sensing their presence. My uncle and the survivors ran, but the flying demon chased on. Quickly they stopped and used Naki tribal magic to scare the flying demon away!" At this point, the Elder offers to teach the ritual to "scare away flying demons". Only those that succeeded the Other Language: Naki roll can learn the spell, since the Capt refuses to translate "this mumbo jumbo foolishness!" The Elder teaches the spell: Curse of Darkness (see the Call of Cthulhu rulebook). As everyone wraps up the party, the Elder insists the investigators and the Captain rethink their plan to enter the Acari River. He will also notify them at this time that a number of Naki warriors have disappeared during the night. Once back at the boat, the investigators might be scared and try to turn back (shame on them!) or may want to continue. If they want to continue, let them. If they try and turn back, the Captain will scoff at them and say they shouldn't belive the Naki's tales of monsters. Again he will try and steer the boat downstream. If attacked or threatened, John will fight to the death if required. If this happens, Rivin will sabotage the boat, just like before. Should Rivin somehow be stopped, have the Hunting Horror fly by and pick up investigators by night as they retreat, steering the boat back upstream. This will be hard because the investigators will have to secure John, Capt, and Rivin, else they will try and stop them. Let night fall at about this time, and everyone retire. Make a roll for each investigator. The one with the highest roll gets a Listen roll as he enters his cabin. Hidden here by Rivin is a python. It will attack the unlucky investigator. PART FIVE: THE ACARI RIVER AND SABOTAGE The Captain sails on, and the Mary Kay comes to the mouth of the Acari River. Here, there is a second statue. This one has its hands above it, as if summoning all it's strength into one place. Heading into the mouth of the river, after a few minutes, the engine abruptly dies. The Captain goes into a cursing fit, and heads down into the engine room with John to try and fix the machine. Rivin can be found in his room below. (Keeper's Note: Rivin has removed a important piece of machinery in the engine and has it hidden in his stateroom. He acts like he was asleep, even in his evening wear.) The Captain and John come out, looking angry. The Captain orders everyone onto the deck. Here he explains that someone has tampered with the engine, and removed a piece of equipment that would eventually cause a breakdown. He looks suspicious of everyone. Call for dice rolls; the investigator with the highest roll suffers the Captain's wrath. He accuses the investigator of taking the machinery at Manaus or sooner and threatens to abandon him or her if they don't hand over the part. Fast Talk or Persuade by anyone can make the Capt realize he's lashing out without evidence, and he apologizes. He says that the boat is stuck, and suggests everyone get there most vital things together to travel back upstream to the Naki encampment to get a lift back to Manaus. "The expedition is over." he says grimly. Let the investigators gather up their things, only those that they can carry, and get off the ship. Traveling upstream along the shore, call for Listen rolls. All those that fail don't get to act for the first combat round, as the Danku ambush the investigators. All the Danku will be using bow-darts, so don't worry about them killing the investigators. If the party can whup all 10 Danku's asses, have the Hunting Horror swoop in to help the Danku out, but this probably won't be a problem. Eventually, all the investigators will end up asleep. They will awaken in the Danku village. PART SIX: DANKU VILLAGE AND THE ESCAPE Once drugged the investigators will be taken to the Danku village and locked up in the wooden cage. Also here in the cage are the captured Naki warriors. By the time night comes, the investigators will awaken to a strange ritual taking place in between them and the docks. Rivin is with them, as well as an ancient looking figure, leading the ritual. The ritual consists of the warriors of the tribe celebrating the capture of the investigators. They dance around a huge bonfire (Rivin dances with them) and the leader (whose name is over heard - Vakish) leads a menacing chant. From the cage a Naki warriors is taken, sliced open, and his heart eaten by Vakish. One guard is watching the cage, which is just outside the light of the fire, and he is slowly falling asleep. Let the investigators do Spot Hidden rolls. Success means that they found a weak part in the cage, and can slip out. A note on the pit: the pit in the center of the village belongs to the Hunting Horror, summoned up by Vakish. The Horor is responsible for protecting the village. If the investigators fall in or get in the pit for some reason, there is a fall. The impact causes 1d6 hit point loss. Jump rolls are allowed unless thrown in. There is a 70% chance the Horror is in here, willing to get a meal. If he's not, allow the investigators a Spot Hidden roll to see a tunnel at the bottom. The tunnels are described in Part Seven. If the investigators slip out and go for the docks: have them stopped by the warriors with blowguns. If the investigator's battle turns in their favor, let the Horror fly in and pluck them up. If the investigators wait: make a roll for each investigator the next morning. The investigator with the highest roll is taken from the cage, boiled alive, and eaten. San cost 1/1d4. If the investigators slip out and head for the paths on the other side of the village: make a roll. There is a 30% chance that the Horror will hear them pass and will alert the warriors. Make another roll. There is a 35% chance that the sleepy guard will notice them and alert the warriors. Let them run onto the paths, and be chased if the warriors were alerted. Just when the warriors close in, or the investigators get close to the Ziggurat, let the ground separate beneath them and a taloned hand pull all them down. "Do not be sssssssscared." A voice says. Hopefully, you can somehow get them onto the paths, where they will be abducted by Nooka. The campaign can still be defeated in other ways then with Nooka's help. Hopefully they'll take the Naki warriors with them, which will aid their battle. Part Seven: An Unlikely Ally Nooka the Serpant Man is the creature that pulls the investigators underground. He quietly asks the investigators to remain silent while he closes the roof of the tunnel he is in. He lights a torch and quickly leads the investigators along the tunnel. "You must stop the Danku," He explains, "They plan to summon a Outer God by the name of Naaganaaga. With his enterance to this planet he will cause much suffering, as well as the destruction of these rainforests." He will show the investigators a tunnel that leads to the clearing that holds the Black Ziggurat. He will offer to teach them the spell of Dismiss Naaganaaga, and supply the components. He will not want to carry on a conversation, only telling the investigator that they must stop Naaganaaga and the Danku. If attacked he will fight back, but will insist they stop and help him for their own sake. He might use the spell Enthrall Victim if only one investigator or two are attacking while others stand back. If his life is in danger Nooka will run away, dissapearing off down the tunnels. When in the tunnels alone, the investigators have a 20% chance of finding the tunnel to the Ziggurat, a 44% chance of finding a tunnel to the paths, and a 10% chance of finding a tunnel into the Horror's Pit. The Pit is described above in part Six. PART EIGHT: THE BLACK ZIGGURAT The ritual to call up Naaganaaga can happen whenever the Keeper decides is appropriate. The warriors go to the Ziggurat, surrounding it, while Rivin and Vakish stand on the top and begin the ritual. It consists of a huge fire and a number of sacrifices thrown into it, while chanting. Rivin throws prisoners in, and Vakish chants. If the investigators escaped, the Danku can capture more Naki with the help of the Hunting Horror. If they didn't escape, they are here as the sacrifices. Allow STR vs STR rolls against the ropes the investigators are tied up with will allow escape. The ropes are STR 14. The first person to be sacrificed is the person with the highest percentage roll. Don't forget to roll for the other 4 Naki prisoners. If the investigators kill Rivin: There are back up warriors to toss sacrifices in. If the investigators escape and free all the prisoners: The ritual will be delayed and start again tomorrow with sacrifices from other tribes. If the investigators kill Vakish: He is the only one who knows the Call Naaganaaga spell, so the investigators succeed. If the investigators kill all the Danku: No Danku, no Naaganaaga. If the investigators use the Curse of Darkness spell on Naaganaaga: This is dangerous because if the investigators go insane from seeing Naaganaaga, the spell probably won't get cast. If the investigators fail: Naaganaaga causes a atomic blast, destroying the Danku and the surrounding area. Magical fires from his blast wipe out the Amazon's rainforest in a few months. If the investigators stop Naaganaaga: Award 1d10 sanity points. There are probably many other ways the investigators will cook up that would stop Naaganaaga. It's your option to if these succeed or not. A search of the village after the investigators succeed will reveal the missing piece of machinery in a small Danku hut. Sometime during the night on the boat or shore, John will go insane, attack someone randomly, and disappear into the forest. Once back at home, Captain Horner will become drunk and be found in his Manaus hotel room, after he slits his wrists. The world exists for another day. AUTHOR'S WORDS This campaign can use a little work, and I hope that you will add much more to it. I suggest you go see some films like _Anaconda_, _At Play in the Fields of the Lord_, and _Emerald Forest_, which show the Amazon rainforest and the natives that live there. I didn't really research the tribes that much, just used some ideas that came to me. I hope you enjoy this campaign as much as I enjoyed writing it. STATS CAPTAIN JACK HORNER, Drunken Steam Boat Driver STR 11 CON 10 SIZ 16 INT 13 POW 14 DEX 7 APP 7 EDU 17 SAN 70 HP 13 DB: +1d4. Weapons: Fist 60%, damage 1d3+1d4 Fish Gutter 40%, damage 1d6 MR. FRANKLIN RIVIN, Servant of Naaganaaga and Big Game Hunter STR 11 CON 7 SIZ 13 INT 17 POW 13 DEX 12 APP 7 EDU 16 SAN 0 HP 9 DB: +0. Weapons: Fist 70%, damage 1d3 Elephant Gun 50%, damage 3d6+4 Rivin was introduced into the cult of Naaganaaga and the Danku on his last journey into the Amazon. The expedition he organized was a attempt to get sacrifices for the ritual to call Naaganaaga. JOHN, the Horny First Mate STR 11 CON 11 SIZ 17 INT 9 POW 13 DEX 12 APP 10 EDU 10 SAN 65 HP 14 DB: +1d4. Weapons: Fist 60%, damage 1d3+1d4 Club 40%, damage 1d8+1d4 AMAZON NATIVES A bunch of Natives (Use stats over and over if you like. Can be used for Naki and Danku.) STR CON SIZ DEX POW HP #1 18 07 15 07 10 11 #2 09 13 14 14 04 14 #3 16 10 11 15 12 11 #4 11 08 16 08 10 12 #5 17 11 15 08 07 13 #6 10 15 15 12 17 15 #7 07 16 15 11 14 13 #8 10 09 13 07 11 11 #9 09 13 17 07 06 15 #10 16 06 09 13 12 08 Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1d3+DB Blowdart (only on Danku) 40%, poison (Con x2 roll or fall asleep) Club 40%, damage 1d6+DB VAKISH, Nasty Flesh Eating Priest of Naaganaaga STR 12 CON 11 SIZ 16 INT 16 POW 20 DEX 10 APP 10 SAN 0 HP 14 DB: +1d4. Weapons: Fist 50%, damage 1d3+1d4 Large Sacrifice Knife 60%, damage 1d6+1d4 THE HUNTING HORROR, Eater of Jaguars STR 27 CON 16 SIZ 47 INT 14 POW 22 DEX 7 HP 32 DB: +0. Use stats for combat from rulebook. NAAGANAAGA, Scorcher of Worlds and all around Bad Dude STR 32 CON 99 SIZ 102 INT 20 POW 48 DEX 4 HP 101 DB: +7d6. Weapons, Sit on Investigator 60%, damage 7d6 Flame Burst 40%, Damage 1d6 per turn untill flames put out. NOOKA, the Serpent Ally Underground STR 6 CON 12 SIZ 11 INT 19 POW 14 DEX 11 HP 12 DB: +0. Use Serpent People stats in rulebook. Spells: Contact Yig, Curse of Darkness, Dust of Suleiman, Entrall Victim, Hands of Columbra, Voorish Sign. THE PYTHON IN THE STATEROOM STR 18 CON 11 SIZ 14 POW 13 DEX 10 HP 13 DB: +1d4. Weapons: Crush 40% Damage: 1d6+1d4 THE HUNGRY BUNYIP STR 47 CON 25 SIZ 48 INT 18 POW 39 DEX 18 HP 38 DB: +2d6. Use stats from rulebook. --