Chaosium Digest Volume 30, Number 10 Date: Saturday, March 18, 2000 Number: 2 of 2 The Balance and the Girl, pt. 2 A night attack The feeling that they are being watched and followed is not without a true reason. The Orgians have spotted the group and there is a small band that watches their moves. Due to their knowledge of the forest and of hiding they will remain undetected by the characters. In a few days the Orgians could gather a bigger war band and kill or arrest the characters, but in the mean time those four get greedy and ambush the characters during a night when most of them will be asleep. They are mainly after the horses, or some of the characters' belonging, so they probably mount a diversion attack, while one of them steals what they want. In the dark of the night they would look like devils. If one of them gets killed they try to take him, leaving no bodies behind. Orgians STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP Hp db #1 18 14 13 5 7 10 2 14 +1d4 #2 17 19 12 6 7 11 2 16 +1d4 #3 22 19 12 5 6 10 2 16 +1d6 #4 17 15 1 3 7 8 11 2 14 +1d4 Armor: 1d2-1 thick muscle Weapons: Cleaver 60%: 1d6+1+db Lamb of wood 60%: 1d8+ db Dodge: 35%, Jump: 70%. Erekose Erekose may find them at a time of danger for them, or they may find him if they are successful enough in finding the right way to the hut. He will treat their wounds and heal their diseases, if any. He lives in a hut in the middle of a pond of fresh water, just north of the second swamp (Mudmere). He knows the ways of the forest. It seems, also, that the Orgians are afraid of the big black man and they consider him an evil spirit. A young girl leaves with him. He calls her Agnes. The girl is of the right age (about 6) and has black hair and piercing black eyes that resemble those of Anna. She is actually her daughter. Erekose would not like the girl to leave. He was like a father to her and he knows that her father is a man that cannot be trusted. He does not say much, but it is clear that the presence and the purpose of the characters upsets him. Agnes will immediately recognize the reason of the characters "visit". Her trust could be gained by a sincere and, preferably, female character. Nevertheless Erekose will not be easily persuaded to give them the child. Intense role-playing and maybe a successful Oratory roll could change his mind. Nevertheless, he will escort them out of the forest, not leaving the girl unprotected. There are a lot of interesting things in the hut. The man has a great variety of herbs and potions, mainly for healing or protecting purposes (not an ointment of Invulnerability though). Apart from that, a successful Search roll could reveal an old but impressive set of armor, some weapons, a golden comb that belongs to Agnes and a few other things from the world of Erekose. The strange man will set fire to the hut before they leave. After that he speaks even less, his face becomes even darker and his eyes seem to attend Fate that is about to strike. The way out The Orgians know their moves at all times. They would be afraid to attack Erekose and they would not hurt the girl since they recognize divine qualities in her; instead, they will try to capture the girl and kill or capture the characters. Erekose knows all these and will propose to follow a trail through places like Mudmere, The Deep Tree, The Barrow Glen or/and The Old Thing. Erekose can provide the priest with details for his diary. These include a theory of the Orgians being unevolved humans (which means that humans where once like that), hints of the long gone existence of a certain people called The Doomed Folk, and anything the GM would feel appropriate and upsetting enough for the Vilmirian priesthood. Mudmere could provide them with the bark of the silver trees, which after the proper preparation can enhance stamina for a few days. It should be kind of difficult to attain it, needing successful Climb and DEX rolls. With it they will be able to move fast and they will be out of the forest in three days. With Erekose close to them, the characters will have no problem finding fire wood, fresh water, or avoiding the bogs. With his knowledge of natural potions, the chance of being affected by the Madness comes true with only by a roll above CONx6. Since the Orgians are following them, they will have to move fast and carry the girl as well. The girl can feel them, but the characters would need a critical Search to spot them. If one of them looses a CONx5 roll, the Orgians will catch them. If such a thing happens, Erekose will propose a duel between two warriors, one of the Orgians and one of the characters. There are 20 Orgians. Use the statistics of the four above. The leader, though, would be tougher. Warband leader STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP Hp db 24 17 13 6 6 11 2 15 +1d6 Weapons: cleaver 78%, 1d6+1+db Armor: 1d2 thick muscle thrown rock 50%, 1d4+2+db/2 Dodge 40% If the character wins, they will let them go. If the characters still have any of their horses, offering them to the Orgians would be even more convincing. Leaving Troos When they are, at last, out, they will be tired and hungry. Since they cannot cross the river they will have to head south. The same night Agnes will face the character from the Weeping Waste and will say to him: "Your mother is dead". This is true, since the old woman could not bear the work in the mines any more. If asked she will say simply that she just knows. Insight rolls will reveal that she means what she says, but there is no other way, for him, to verify her words. This twist is added in order to free the character (assuming that he believes her) from his duty to his mother, and force him to make a personal choice. Erekose's face will be like of stone. He says almost nothing and Insight rolls will show that he looks like man with death in his eyes, that he is ready, either to give or to take death. A day after, they will be encountered by a rider from the guardhouses in the south. He will give them some food and water and order them to follow him across the river without explaining anything else. If pressed he will say that these are his orders from the Duke. They will cross the river by a boat, at some point. After that they can leave the soldier and head for the place where Anna had asked them to meet her, just a few miles north, or follow him where count Fornova is waiting. No matter what they do, there should be a dramatic closing to the story, with both groups facing each other and the adventures, while waiting for their decision. Assuming that the characters follow the soldier (the most conservative choice), they will arrive at a hilly field, somewhere in eastern Nadsokor. Some people are waiting for them. There are ten riders standing silent and a heavy dark coach behind them. As soon as they arrive, the soldier will depart without another word. The riders are obviously of the Gray Defenders and they are actually foot soldiers using horses for transport. At the head of them is Brother Rodrigo, knight-monk of the military order of the Cleansing Flame. The coach hides the duke and his friend, Chancellor Pedron, but only Rodrigo will do the talking. He may consult the passengers of the coach, but will not reveal their identity. Rodrigo is distant and offensive, he is the only one to make questions and he will only tolerate answers coming from the priest character. He will demand the diary and a briefing of what they encountered. This is a critical moment; depending on what the characters say they may be considered dangerous heretics, or receive their payment. If, for example, they speak of missing links in human evolution and of lost races that created Troos, they will be immediately arrested. Even if they are careful on what to say, Rodrigo will demand them to leave Vilmir, except for the priest. After that he will ask for the girl. At that point, a strangely armored rider, obviously follower of Chaos will come riding down a slope, being followed by four other riders. This is Anna with some bandits that she hired at Valkark Gorge. She will shout that she is the mother of the child and call for the help of anyone who wants to help. Erekose will protect the girl, not giving her to anyone. He will do nothing else and will be killed, probably by Rodrigo who is close to him. After that Rodrigo and most of his men will attack the other party, leaving behind two soldiers to guard the girl. The coach will depart on the first sight of hostility. What will the players do? Will they part with Law and the father of the child, or with Anna risking with the company of Chaos, or they will just try to keep the child protected, as Erekose did. The fate of the girl and of themselves is in their hands I played this adventure with two different groups of players. They all sided with one or the other of the opposing groups and only one thought of taking the child away without taking any part, but rather late and he did not succeed to keep the balance. If Ana wins, she will take the girl (who is to be named Sorana) on her horse, pay the characters that helped her and leave. Obviously the characters have to leave Vilmir and not come back for a long time. If the Law party wins they will take the girl to the count. The characters that helped them will receive their payment, but are expected to leave Vilmir. The surviving ones who opposed them will be executed. The characters should also receive some Chaos, Law or Balance points, according to their acts. Appendix-Characters and parties Anna, Warrior priestess from the East, mother of the girl Tall, feminine, well built, with black hair and round charming eyes. She is a woman with a lot of secrets, who knows how to get what she wants. Her life is dedicated to Lady Eequor. She is wearing a characteristic black jewel round her neck. Age 27, C81 B16 L20 STR 14 CON 15 SIZ 13 INT 17 POW 20 DEX 16 APP 16 HP 14 DB +1d4 Longsword 105%, 1d10+1+db Small Shield 60%, 1d3+db+knockback Akras 59%, 1d3+3+db Desert Bow 55%, 18+2+db/2 Armor: Demon plate 1d10+2+1d10 Magic: Sphere of Flesh, Rune of Enhancements. Among other effects, she can produce the following: Demon's Eye, Seduction (Chaosium digest), Horns of Hionhurn, Linken Shape, Speed of Vezhan. Skills: Dodge:66%, Ride:100%, Potions:70%, Insight: 40%. Hired bandits from Valkark Gorge STR CON SIZ INT POW DEX APP HP DB #1 15 14 11 12 11 13 09 13 +1d4 #2 14 12 14 10 10 15 12 13 +1d4 #3 12 16 13 12 12 13 14 15 +1d4 #4 16 15 13 13 12 14 13 14 +1d4 Sample weapon statistics: Broadsword 65%, 1d8+1+db Flail 70%, 1d6+2+db Spear, Thrown 50%, 1d6+1+db/2 (db of the horse, if charging) Shield, small 55%, 1d3+db Hunting bow 60%, 1d6+1+db/2 Armor: Various, mostly leather and rings: 1d6+1 Skills: Hide: 50%, Ride: 70% They fight on horseback. They are quite loyal to Anna, expecting a handsome payment. Erekose, Old Hero from another world A tall, heavy build black man approaching the winter of his life. He is a man of few words and most of the times he seems lost in deep thoughts. It is not known how he got in this world. He might have been serving Fate, or he tried to get away from her. He lives the life of a hermit by choice, not wanting to get involved in the affairs of men or the gods anymore. Age 60, C27 B88 L124 STR 17 CON 16 SIZ 17 INT 17 POW 23 DEX 14 APP 13 HP 17 DB +1d6 Weapons (though he would never use them against another man): Warsword 180%, 1d10+1+db Staff 120%, 1d6+db Large shield 90%, 1d4+db+knockback Skills: Follow Fate:85%, Dodge:79%, Know Troos:85%, Natural world: 90%, Physick: 80%, Potions(healing):70%, Protect Agnes:99%. Calvan Fornova, remorse haunted noble Of medium height, with nicely cut blond hair and small brown eyes, Calvan would not be someone to remember as special. That, of course if there had not been his royal blood and his education that makes him a quite capable arguer. He has also a good knowledge of Vilmirian Theology. Age 32, C13 B05 L34 STR 11 CON 11 SIZ 11 INT 12 POW 10 DEX 12 APP 13 HP 11 DB 0 Weapons: Dagger 35%, 1d4+2 Skills: Art(Conversation):45%, Insight:25%, Vilmirian Geography:60%, Law Theology: 55%, Myths and Legends: 35%. Chancellor Pedron Tall and gaunt with straight brown hair. Deep wrinkles cut across his face, which hosts an ever-expressionless mouth of thin lips and à pair of grim brown eyes. He is the only man that Calvan trusts almost absolutely. He is cunning and he would do anything to preserve order, the high status of the Church and his position in it. Age 51, C18 B09 L75 STR 11 CON 12 SIZ 13 INT 16 POW 15 DEX 10 APP 12 HP 12 DB +1d4 Weapons: none Skills: Art(Organ):35%, Art(Conversation):48%, Bargain:65%, Fast Talk:30%,Insight:68%, Oratory:70%, Theology:80%, Politics:90% Rodrigo, knight of the Church, religious fanatic Tall with extremely close cut hair. Age 34, C08 B11 L70 STR 16 CON 16 SIZ 13 INT 13 POW 13 DEX 13 APP 12 HP 15 DB +1d4 Armor: Chain mail 1d10 Weapons: Cavalry lance:80%, 1d8+1+db Broadsword:115%, 1d8+1+db Full Shield:75%, 1d4+db+knockback Skills: Dodge:50%, Give orders:80%, Obey orders:95%, Ride:96%. Gray Defenders Sample statistics are given for the nine soldiers. HP 12, DB +1d4 Weapons: Broadsword: 55%, 1d8+1+db Kite shield: 45%, knockback Skills: Ride 45% They fight on foot. ---------------------------- Review of the Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion Name: Nephilim Gamemaster's Companion Company: Chaosium Authors: Shannon Appel, Adrian Czajkowski, Kenneth Hite, Ross Isaacs, Eric Rowe, Sam Shirley, Greg Stafford, Ian Young Price: $11.95 Pages: 96 Overview -------- Nephilim, a game of occult role-playing published by Chaosium and originally designed by MultiSim, impressed me with its extensive and well-researched background and novel idea. Unfortunately, the original Nephilim book had flaws in organization, lacked key content and was plagued by typos and grammatical errors. Fortunately, the Nephilim GM Companion not only fills in all the gaps left in the main sourcebook with grace but also has Chaosium's usual standard for quality in both organization and text. Part I: A Nephilim Timeline --------------------------- Written by Kenneth Hite (who also wrote the Nephilim supplement Major Arcana) this section gives a detailed timeline of world events according to Nephilim history. The timeline spans 4 billion years - but goes into more detail only for the last 500,000 or so - and expands greatly on the Nephilim chronology presented in the main book. But the timeline isn't useful just as a reference and every bit given could be used as a scenario seed by industrious GMs with an itch for playing Nephilim in the past. It also includes a chart summing up the possible Nephilim past lives that were described on the main book and on Chronicle of the Awakenings. This chart includes the supplement and page where each past life can be found, as well as indicating the Arcanums and Secret Societies that were active during the period. This part accomplishes its purpose gracefully and succinctly, and while a familiarity with history help enjoy it more it is useful for all GMs equally. Part II: Items of Power ----------------------- The second section, written by Ross Isaacs, does a great job of describing magical items in the Nephilim world. These are separated in Artefacts, Relics and Masterpieces. Artefacts are - mostly - your standard magical items, but on Nephilim they are rare, hard to create and even harder to find. Since they are created using jewels and other materials relevant to the spell to be inscribed, artefacts can become beautiful works of art. Relics, abominations created when a Nephilim is trapped inside an artifact during its creation, are more NPCs than magical items. As the living things that they are, relics have their own knowledge, goals and mood swings. Finally, we have masterpieces. These are strange and unfathomable, intended to be a plot element spanning several scenarios - or even campaigns - and not goodies for your players. Items of power have always been a part of occult mythology, and why they were left out of the main book is beyond me (to be sincere, I hadn't noticed until I read this section). In the end, this part of the book helps complete the picture of the Nephilim world in a colorful way. Part III: The Creatures ----------------------- The Nephilim sourcebook already included several interesting creatures, and this section by Adrian Czajkowski (thanks goodness there's copy-paste!) and Shannon Appel expands on that lore. First we get a brief explanation of the nature of elemental creatures, and then some guidelines for summoning and controlling these beings. It also includes an expanded bestiary that presents Nephilim's take on drakes, ghouls, banshees and other nasties, including a few original ones. This part is not too bad, even if a little on the short side. While it certainly isn't a monstrous manual, it does give you a peek on the Nephilim way of interpreting mythical beings. Part IV: Campaign Design ------------------------ Finally we get to what I consider the most important part of the book, a section that no GM should be without. What's a Nephilim campaign supposed to be like? It starts with a direct chapter by Eric Rowe and Shannon Appel with advice on how to prepare, start and run a Nephilim campaign. As befitting the occult backdrop, it focuses on designing a campaign built on layer upon layer of secrets, with stratification provided for these layers. The next chapter details different possibilities and ideas for Nephilim scenarios. Written by Ross Isaacs, this chapter expands its topic for over ten percent of the book's length and does give you an idea of what the mood of a Nephilim scenario is intended to be. The third chapter contains advice by Ian Young on how to design antagonists that fit the Nephilim style and themes. There's also a rambling non-explanation of the concept of the soul in Nephilim by Sam Shirley. Instead of explaining, it gives you a "feeling" for where the truth might be. I hadn't run into this issue, but Michael Bishop of the Nephilim mailing list commented that it's one of the questions many players want answered when first introduced to the setting. The fourth and final chapter on this section - also by Mr. Young - suggests a way of using the tarot for Nephilim both to flesh out your characters and as an extra skill for them. As a future Nephilim GM, I'm deeply grateful for this section. It's the most entertaining and useful part of the whole book and answered a lot of questions that the main sourcebook left. Part V: The Campaign Setting ---------------------------- Crafted by Eric Rowe and Gregg Stafford, it paints a light coat of Nephilim over the San Francisco Bay Area. While they only have seven pages to work with, the authors manage to include NPCs, places of interest, Nephilim slang, story ideas, secret societies and more in it, giving you a good idea of what society is like when you throw Nephilim into the mix. Bibliography: Books of Note --------------------------- And finally, there's a page with an annotated bibliography of moves, TV series and books that can serve as inspiration for Nephilim. The TV series seem pretty generic, but those books I've read are great suggestions for getting the flavor of the world. In conclusion ------------- With the only exception of detailed information for Nephilim games set in the past, the GM Companion fills every gap I had noticed on the main sourcebook and a couple I hadn't, making it a must for GMs seriously interested in the setting. --