From: To: Subject: Chaosium Digest v36.04 Date: Sunday, May 05, 2002 10:18 PM Chaosium Digest Volume 36, Number 04 Date: Thursday, May 5, 2002 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: * Refugees From the Sunken Land (CTHULHU) by Jerzy Cichocki * A Wing and A Prayer (CTHULHU) by Lawrence Cornford Editor's Note: Welcome one and all to the latest issue of the Chaosium Digest! This issue presents an adventure for Call of Cthulhu, translated by the author from his own Polish Cthulhu 'zine for then enjoyment of the linguistically impaired of us. (Note that I include myself among this group.) We also have another article of game mastering advise, this time on the fine art of improvisational game mastering. I must also note that here ends my backlog of submissions. Now's the time for those with a creative bent to send in some material for publication here in the Digest. As always, any articles dealing with currently supported Chaosium games (Call of Cthulhu, BRP and D20 as the supplements will be published by Chaosium, and Stormbringer/Dragon Lords of Melnibone) will qualify for the quarterly Chaosium contest and its $40 gift certificate prize. I also accept submissions for Nephilim, Delta Green, Pendragon, Glorantha, Cthulhu Live and similar systems, though they don't qualify for the contest. Enjoy! ANNOUNCEMENTS * From Issaries, Inc. To All, Greetings! We have a couple of announcements to make, so I thought we would send out a dispatch rather than making you all wait for the newsletter next month. Happy Heroquesting! Stephen Martin Issaries, Inc. CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS The conventions page on the web site has been updated, and also has been split into two separate pages: Official events are at www.glorantha.com/tribes/schedule.html Other events are at www.glorantha.com/tribes/events.html The "Schedule" page will list conventions and other events at which Issaries will have an official presence. Coming up in the near future are Tentacles and Origins. Greg will be hosting the GTA Party at Tentacles, which has a "Postcards from Glorantha" theme. Greg is a guest of honor at Origins, but he will still have time to host some events. In fact, if anyone is going to Origins and can spare an hour or two to help Greg out, let us know by emailing us at . The "Events" page will list conventions and other events at which Issaries will not have an official presence. If you are going to be running a Hero Wars, HeroQuest, or other Gloranthan event at a local convention, let us know at , and we'll help you find other fans by putting the information on this page. ONLINE POLICY Issaries, Inc. has modified its online policy recently. We want like to thank everyone for respecting our policies by following the on-line policy regarding trademark and copyright notices and compliance. On the trademark front, we are excited to ask everyone to change the notice on their web site to reflect the following changes: Glorantha and the Glorantha Trading Association are trademarks of Issaries, Inc. HeroQuest and Hero Wars are trademarks of Issaries, Inc. Issaries, Inc. is a registered trademark of Issaries, Inc. On the copyright front, we recently had requests from people asking if they could use some of the artwork from www.glorantha.com on their own web site. We already allow use of the various runes at http://www.glorantha.com/library/corerunes.html, but have not allowed any other artwork to be used. Until now. Although we cannot give blanket approval to use all of the artwork (in many cases, we do not have the rights to grant this), we are pleased to make some changes to this policy. As of now, you may use Simon Bray's wonderful Heortling Art on non-commercial web sites. Use of these images must be in accordance with the following rules: 1. Only the images on the Heortling Art page at http://www.herowars.com/new/art/art_heortling.html may be used in this manner. No other images from this site may be used without express permission from Issaries, Inc. 2. No more than three of these images may be used on a single web page. There is no limit to the number that can be used on an individual site as long as this restriction is followed. 3. Each image must link back to either www.HeroWars.com/new/art/art_heortling.html or www.HeroWars.com (or www.glorantha.com or www.issaries.com). 4. Each page that includes one or more of these images must contain the trademark notice indicated above as well as the following copyright notice: "The Orlanthi deity images by Simon Bray used on this page are copyright © 2000-2002 by Issaries, Inc. and are used with permission." If any of these images are used on any page on the site, this same notice must also appear with the trademark notice on the site's main page or main Glorantha page. 5. These images may not be cropped or altered in any way, other than to resize them as needed. 6. Use of the images must be in accordance with the rest of the online policy, which can be found at http://www.glorantha.com/tribes/online-policy.html. ISSARIES PRESS RELEASE Oakland CA and Battle Creek, MI May 3, 2001 DARK AGES MINIATURES RELEASES GLORANTHAN CLASSICS MINIATURES SET TWO The second set is here! Dark Ages Miniatures and Issaries, Inc. are pleased to announce this second set of the Gloranthan Classics Miniatures series. As with the first set, these miniatures are part of the 25th anniversary re-casting of the first licensed Gloranthan figures originally produced by Archive Miniatures between 1976 and 1980. Originally produced in lead, these new figures will be cast in a lead-free white metal for a VERY LIMITED time. Issaries, Inc. has licensed Dark Ages Miniatures (a USA based company) to produce these miniatures through December 31st, 2003, after which the molds will be destroyed. The second group is now available, with the third set tentatively scheduled for release in August. The second set of the Gloranthan Classics Miniatures contains these figures: GLO-011 Water Wyrm Dragon $ 20.00 GLO-012 Delecti the Necromancer $ 2.50 GLO-013 Centaur with club $ 5.00 GLO-014 Centaur with bow $ 5.00 GLO-015 Centaur with axe $ 5.00 GLO-016 Jar-Eel the Razoress $ 2.50 GLO-017 Serpent Guardian $ 2.50 GLO-018 Walktapus $ 6.00 GLO-019 Grazelander Shaman $ 2.50 GLO-020 Ironhoof the Centaur $ 5.00 GLORANTHA-SET-TWO All 10 Figures $46.00 + $10.00 S&H worldwide -- a savings of $10 off the suggested retail price when purchasing all 10 pieces. ORDERING Figures can be ordered individually or as a set, by MAIL, FAX, ONLINE, or using PAYPAL. If you have not yet ordered set one and would like to combine set one with set two, mail or PayPal a payment of $93.50 in U.S. funds; this includes S&H worldwide. Here's how to order: BY MAIL Full set only. Send payment in U.S. funds drawn on a U.S. Bank payable to: Discount Hobby, Inc. 2376 W. Michigan Avenue Batte Creek, Mi. 49017 USA BY FAX Full set only. Include credit card number and expiration date, full order details, billing address, and shipping address (if different). FAX orders to 616-969-0064. ONLINE Full set or individual figures. Shipping & Handling are calculated per piece. Go to www.discounthobby.com or www.dragglestown.com for details. PAYPAL Full set only. Go to www.paypal.com to place the order and make payment, which should be sent to user . In the Subject line or text box, put "GLORANTHA-SET-TWO". For more information, or if you have any questions, please contact . For more information about Glorantha, please contact . ------------------- Jerzy Cichocki Refugees from the sunken land Based on Jennifer Westwood's THE ATLAS OF MYSTERIOUS PLACES & my article "Prawda o górze Shasta" published in Polish MAGIA I MIECZ magazine. On 22 May, 1932 Edward Lanser published an article in "The Los Angeles Times Star". He wrote about strange phenomena he had seen a few days earlier during his train travel to Portland, Oregon. While he was sitting in his compartment, he observed "mysterious, red and green lights" at the top of Shasta Mountain, California. He inquired a ticket controller about these strange things and the answer was, that these were "Lemurians who chanted their ceremony". Lanser was possessed by the thought to get to know everything about Shasta Mountain. He went on holiday to California promising his boss a super article on the subject. And that is how the story begins... This text is a summary of Lenser's discoveries. Game Masters can easily adapt it into one-night scenario, where players are involved in action as Edward Lanser's friends (climbing team, a porters or whoever needed) or as a rescue team, the police etc, searching for Lenser after his disappearing. So, dear players, be so kind and do not read on... During his journey, in the town on Weeds, Edward Lanser meets people who saw several times the phenomena on the incredible mountain. These people inform him of the fact, that nobody has ever reached the top of Shasta Mountain. Lanser hears rumors that strange residents of the mountain appeared some days in Weed to buy indispensable products and cash in gold dug up in their mines in Shasta. Thanks to reports from the nearby villagers, Lanser makes a profile of the - so called - Lemurians. They appear to be "tall, barefoot, noble looking men in long, white gowns". Lanser becomes obsessed with the mysterious people to such an extent, that he forgets about his regular work as a journalist. Day by day he discovers more and more about Lemurians. One day, it is said, he climbed Shasta after dark. The day after he was found near Weed unconscious and wearing a white gown... Nobody knows if he really obtained his new theories during this trip, or was it just a dream, however he suggests that the mysterious lights commemorate the Lemurian's lost home - Lemuria. It is said that their continent cracked into several pieces during an enormous natural catastrophe between 136 and 60 billion years ago. Lemuria sank afterwards, but nobody knows when. For thousands of years the Lemurians lived in some areas in North America, invisible due to the secret knowledge of their masters, that allows them to merge with surrounding Nature. Supposedly, their village at the top of Shasta Mountain is guarded by an invisible barrier. Lanser discovered a significant part of the mystery of the Shasta thanks to professor Edgar Lucin Larkin's notes. That outstanding scientist and occultist was in charge of the astronomical observatory on the Lowe Mountain. According to Lenser's diary, professor used a big telescope to observe Lemurian's village and noted his discoveries. Unfortunately, Larkin died of unknown reasons in 1924 and Lanser couldn't discuss his observations with him. Professor Larkin however inspired his friend, Frederick Spancer Oliver, to write an occult novel "A Dweller on Two Planets" (1924). Apparently, in the late professor's house Lanser found a manuscript with lots of priceless notes. Thanks to them he is able to find his way to the hidden village of Lemurians. Lanser's spectacular reports and his theory of the land of Lemuria provoked world's scientists a great discussion on the works of Darwin. They wondered how possibly the animals like lemurs, inhabiting mainly Madagascar and Africa, could appear also in India and the Malay Archipelago. This concerned also other species. The most famous and, so far, the most rational answer is a land pier that must have existed billions of years ago, before the continents assumed their modern shapes. A strong argument FOR that theory is the fact, that both in middle India and South Africa there are rocks and fossils of the same kind. Based on that theory an English zoologist, Phillip Scalter, made a suggestion about the existence of a continent that connected Africa with India. This continent he called Lemuria - after the mammals that used to live there. A German naturalist, Ernst Haeckel, thought even that Lemuria could be the cradle of mankind. Rumors about sunken land reached also Poland. Helena Blavatsky, the creator of Theosophy, had an isolated opinion on this matter. Her illegible at times arguments - put in "The Secret Doctrine" - could originate from the Book of Dzyan, the old Atlantian manuscript, that was given to her during a spiritual séance. According to Blavatsky's theory, evolution proceed in seven stages. The third of that stages should be Lemurians. For unknown reasons Lemuria fell under water, and only after that Atlantis rose and it was again only afterwards that the world known to us came into being. Continuators of Blavatsky's theory specified occupants of the sunken continent in a better way. On a certain stage of their evolution Lemurians crossed with animals and that's how apes appeared on the planet (sic!). The gods of Lemurians didn't like it and they fell into disgrace. In that time Lemurian gods were changed by the Lords of Fire, newcomers from the Venus planet, who brought them immortality by reincarnation. When they reached upper level of civilization and started to resemble humans, Lemuria drowned. Blavatsky's followers believe that Aborigines, Hottentots and Papuans are the descendants of Lemurians. There were also other occultists that thought that Lemuria should be connected with legendary Mu, proposed by American James Churchward. He believed that Mu has the answer for the mystery of the statues from the Easter Islands. However there is no good evidence for existence of that continent or its residents. Shasta Mountain still conceals mystery... Who were the Lemurians observed by Lenser then? I don't know, feel free to make any suggestions in your scenario. Maybe it was a Mi-go base and their "ceremony with lights" was performed to commemorate their destroyed home planet far behind Yuggoth...? Take care, Jerzy (cierzy@mag.com.pl) I'd like to thank my sister Paula for help in translation. Dear sister, thank you very much :) --------------------- A Wing and A Prayer Geoff Smith's article "The Basics of Being a Keeper" (issue v35.12 - editor) was full of sensible advice. In fact there are only two things I'd seriously disagree with him about. The first is about new players rolling-up their own characters. In my long experience spending hours rolling-up a character and learning complex game systems is a serious turn-off for many newcomers. Give them a character, explain the what the stats represent ("Your character has high INT and DEX so she's is clever and nibble but her closeted upbringing hasn't made her particularly strong"), tell them role playing is like acting without a script and then talk them through things like combat when they arise in game. This may detract from the atmosphere at first, but learning the rules by example is so much easier. The other disagreement, and main subject of this article, concerns the need to always have an adventure all plotted out and studied in advance. If you're new then by all means use an existing adventure, but even Geoff acknowledges that there will be times when you will need to fill in a scene or "wing it". And if you can wing a scene or two then you can wing a whole adventure too without your players noticing. I know because I've done it. The most important part of winging an adventure is to know where you are going. In other words you need a final scene or enemy's goal. This will give you three vital things: a villain, the villain's goal and a location. Let's take an example - how about a human cultist who's read a book and found the location of a Deep One city. He contacts the Deep Ones and gets them to take over the local fishing village. In two weeks time a powerful politician will visit the village on a tour. The cultist plans to swap minds with the politician and use his new position of power to take over the government, while his old body, containing the politician's mind, is disposed of by the Deep Ones. Once you've got your goal you'll need a starting point. How about the players are out for a drive in their new car and they run a man down. The man dashes out from some bushes and under their wheels. He lives long enough to whisper that the politician is in danger, or when the adventurers try to drive him to the nearest doctor (in the fishing village, of course) he mutters "Don't take me back! Don't take me back!" and struggles to escape again. Either way he dies soon after. This is the start of our adventure (obviously you would tailor the start to your adventurers). So now all we need to do is know who our villain is and who the man is. The man is the reporter on the local weekly paper who has discovered the scheme and was chased out of town by the villain's henchmen (maybe a Spot Hidden noticed them lurking in the nearby field). The villain could be the town mayor (after all he needs to know something of politics), but, you could throw in a twist and have the REAL villain shown to be an old sailor or the local librarian? Let's go with the librarian, who's an amateur magician. He found the book in the library archives and has hypnotized those people who haven't been replaced by the Deep Ones. You can use pretty much standard stats for these people and monsters. What you WILL need are names. The trick I learned a long time ago was to make up a page of names. Try flicking through a telephone directory and choosing names. Write down the initials and surnames on one side of the paper. Choose a range of names so they appear natural. You can get several hundred on a page with care. Don't indicate sex - the initials will suggest the NPC's first name, which you tailor depending on the NPC's sex. I advise you to carry such a list anyway, even with pre-written adventures, as players often seem to want to know the name of the second under-butler or the bellboy which is exactly the sort of information most writers leave out of adventures. Once you've used a name cross it through or otherwise mark that you've used it so that you don't use it again. Lastly, when players ask for a name don't take time pondering over the list, just pick one and say it. That way it looks like you're not just making it up as you go along, but are maybe reading it from a printed adventure. You might also want a map of the fishing village and its surrounding location. This can simply be done with a road atlas or "street-finder" book. Re-using a real map will also automatically give you features like government buildings, libraries, police stations, fire stations, doctors and graveyards. Even a modern map can be simplified into a 1920s map (downgrade roads, remove motels, shopping malls, etc). A map of the villain's "lair" might also be useful (in this case the Deep One city?). Think through the villain's plan to see if there are obvious holes and once you are happy with it you can begin the adventure. If you are not happy, and want more information, certainly work it out. A bullet point list of "clue points" may help. For example: * Papers on the man say he was a reporter. * the local doctor says the man had suffered a breakdown which made him irrational; * searching the newspaper office finds a half-written article about personality changes in the village, Critical Library Use role notices article about the politician; * a visit to the library reveals the legend of the singing cliffs - a set of rocks where mermaids were said to dwell; * The local sheriff seems uninterested in the crash or the man's death, he seems more interested in convincing the players to go home; * Going to the coast the players find a curious piece of what looks like gold jewelry. Now once you're ready to go run the first scene with the car crash and then follow through whatever your players choose to do. Your players may do unexpected things, but that's fine, go with the flow. All you have to do is keep asking yourself the question "Does this effect the villain's plans?" If the answer is yes (for example the villain should eventually realize that the adventurers are investigating the case) then ask "How does the villain need to change his plan to insure success?" (Kill the adventurers or lay a false trail?). If there's one piece of advice I would emphasize it is to understand your villain and his plan. He is the driving force of the adventure - if you understand what he's doing the rest will fall into place. This is true of professional adventures too, but because you've invented the plot of your adventure you won't need to study it to understand what's going on like you will with adventures by others, even "sinister seed" type plots. The other thing is to try a compartmentalize your NPCs. If the local sheriff becomes suspicious of the players the mayor won't also be suspicious unless the sheriff has had time to contact him or they have a telepathic link. The villain can be as misinformed as the players. Several sessions I've played have been ruined by omnipotent police officers and villains anticipating the player's every move. Also because you are winging characters there will be a tendency to use stereotypes. However you should take the opportunity to act against this. Try to give people some quirk which sets them apart from the average. If the players go completely off track you may have to do something to get them back on course. Maybe a fisherman could drown off the coast (an accident?)... That's something to decide at the moment you think they've floundered about too much. You should plan for one "incident" per game session. In our example the first session is about the car crash; the second session should tell the players the village is suspicious; the third session might reveal the plan itself; and session four is the countdown to the politician arriving... that's four weeks game play out of a page of text, a few names and a lot of imagination! One thing you might not have is a load of player handouts. Things like handouts is one of the things which will alert your players that this is not a published adventure, so be careful. On the other hand because you're not bothering about details you might actually find you have more time to write handouts. Short story plots can also be easily adapted using this method - this source already gives you names and motivations, but requires you to study the story more and you run the risk that your players have read the story too. Plots from television programs can also be adapted (usually by changing genre) and winged with considerable success. The minimum you need is the villain's goal, a list of names and a location for the adventure. You will also need the rule books (keep the pre-generated stats to hand) and I strongly advise a screen so the players can't see that you're winging it. The rest are extras - helpful, but not vital. If you feel comfortable give it a go. You'll be surprised how often the play sessions go well. -- To unsubscribe from the chaos-digest ML, send an "unsubscribe" command to chaos-digest-request@chaosium.com. Chaosium Inc., Call of Cthulhu, and Nephilim are Registered Trademarks of Chaosium Inc. Elric! and Pendragon are Trademarks of Chaosium Inc. All articles remain copyright their original authors unless otherwise noted.