From: "John & Christy Thompson" To: Subject: [The Chaosium digest] Chaosium Digest v37.08 Date: Tuesday, April 29, 2003 4:23 PM Chaosium Digest Volume 37, Number 08 Date: Monday, Apr. 28, 2003 Number: 1 of 1 Contents: * THE QUICK AND THE DEAD (CTHULHU) by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com) * THE YLL VIRUS (CTHULHU) by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com) Editor's Note: Dave "Mechlord" has been selected as the winner of last quarter's Chaosium Contest for his article "Creating the Right Atmosphere for Call of Chthulhu." Great work! This issue features two cool CoC articles by James D. Collins. "The Quick and the Dead" offers a means of putting some cinema favorites into your Cthulhu game, while "The Yll Virus" features a staple of the CoC genre, a malevolent space virus. Keep those submissions coming and enjoy the articles! ANNOUNCEMENTS * ALL HAIL THE REACHING MOON! Sedenya delights in the opportunity to teach the barbarians the glories of the Empire. She blesses who reads this. IMPERIAL LUNAR HANDBOOK, VOLUME 1: THE LUNAR EMPIRE Issaries, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of Imperial Lunar Handbook, Volume 1: The Lunar Empire. This first volume in a series details the peoples, homelands, and religions of vast Peloria. It is the first release in our new HeroQuest line of roleplaying supplements, and also the first book released by Issaries under our distribution and co-branding deal with Steve Jackson Games. The Lunar Empire is a study in contradictions. It is Many, yet One. It is new, yet founded on the ancient Dara Happan Empire, with a history stretching back before the dawn of Time. A common philosophy unites a wide range of peoples and races: 'We Are All Us.' It believes in peaceful assimilation, and yet has the most powerful, advanced army in Glorantha. It accepts Chaos as a part of existence, but fiercely opposes its destructive aspects. Imperial Lunar Handbook is the essential guide to the vast Lunar Empire. Mighty and magical, decadent and dynamic, conquering and liberating, the Empire is rich and complex, a land of heroes, soldiers, and missionaries. It is a fusion of many disparate regions, each with its own beliefs, customs, and magic. Over all, the Red Moon guides and the Son of the Goddess rules. Imperial Lunar Handbook debuted at Gloranthacon to great acclaim. It is available now from Steve Jackson Games' Warehouse 23 (www.warehouse23.com), and should be available in fine retail stores everywhere within 1-2 weeks. Glorantha Trading Association member copies will be mailed beginning on Monday, March 17th. Mugs, t-shirts, and other merchandise featuring artwork from Imperial Lunar Handbook will available soon from Issaries through our CafePress.com online stores. For more information, see or go directly to and . ISS 1302 Imperial Lunar Handbook, Volume 1: The Lunar Empire ISBN 1-929052-04-9, 72 pg. 8 1/2" x 11" paperback, $15.95 Stephen Martin Issaries, Inc., publisher of HeroQuest, Roleplaying in Glorantha P.O. Box 272914 Concord, CA 94527 Phone: (925) 680-8897 See our extensive web site at * Cthulhupalooza webzine updated Feast your eyes! http://www.cthulhupalooza.50megs.com * The long awaited second issue of THE BLACK SEAL focuses on the UK's Paranormal Intelligence Section for Counter-Intelligence, Espionage and Sabotage - PISCES - as featured in Pagan Publishing's award winning DELTA GREEN: COUNTDOWN sourcebook for CALL OF CTHULHU and CTHULHU LIVE: DELTA GREEN for CTHULHU LIVE. The second issue of THE BLACK SEAL is now available. THE BLACK SEAL #2 runs to 84 pages, full colour cover, perfect bound, and has a cover price of GBP 7.99 in UK games shops. The Black Seal #2 should be in UK games shops from the week starting 7 April 2003. THE BLACK SEAL will also be available from these fine on-line retailers: THE OUTSIDER (http://www.tccorp.com) and TRADETALK (http://www.tradetalk.de). Alternatively you can order THE BLACK SEAL #2 directly from our web site: http://www.theblackseal.org/orders/ for only GBP 7.00 / EUR 12.00 / USD 14.50. -- Adam Crossingham Editor - The Black Seal editor@theblackseal.org Full magazine details at http://www.theblackseal.org * Transmitted by the Leng Embassy, Silverton Colorado. Howdy Folks! The big news so far this month is the return of our Online Catalog. You can now order Chaosium books at http://chaosium.com/online-store/scstore/ if you're having trouble finding them locally. At present, you can buy all of our in print books as well as Miskatonic University Diplomas there. Our latest release, H.P. Lovecraft's Arkham shipped to distributors in March, and should be on store shelves by now. This city sourcebook includes Call of Cthulhu d20 stats and can be used with both Classic Call of Cthulhu and the WOTC d20 version. More details about this book can be found at the end of this update. Our next release, Disciples of Cthulhu 2, is still at the printer. I expect this book to ship to distributors in early May. That would put it on store shelve by mid-May in all likelihood. Of course the book might ship sooner if all goes well, so think happy thoughts everyone! More details about our newest Call of Cthulhu fiction anthology can be found at the end of this update. After Disiples of Cthulhu 2, the next four books to release will be H.P. Lovecraft's Kingsport (COC & COC d20), Secrets of Japan (COC), The White People and other Tales (COC Fiction), and a reprint of our Encylopedia Cthulhiana (COC & COC Fiction). The exact order in which these titles release will depend upon how fast we get the last art bits for the new books. Right now, it appears that White People and Other Tales will be the next book to be printed. We're still looking for some GM's to run demonstration games of Call of Cthulhu at the upcoming Origins Convention. If you'll be attending and have some time to spare, drop us a line! (mailto:dustin@chaosium.com) Once again, we'd like to single out steadfast web monkey Matt "Trollboy" Wiseman for helping us get our site and email lists transferred to the new server, as well as helping us with our upcoming online catalog. Thank you Matt! Thanks for your continued support everyone! Charlie, David, Dustin & Lynn. The Chaosium Dudes New Release: H. P. LOVECRAFT'S ARKHAM Unveiling the Legend-Haunted City CHA 8803 ISBN 1-56882-165-4 MSRP $28.95 By Keith Herber Dual Stat d20 and Classic (BRP) Call of Cthulhu 248 Pages Fold Out Map Arkham Advertiser "Behind everything crouched the brooding, festering horror of the ancient town . . . the changeless, legend-haunted city of Arkham, with its clustering gambrel roofs that sway and sag over attics where witches hid from the King's men in the dark, olden days of the Province. "It was always a very bad time in Arkham . . . ." -H. P. Lovecraft ARKHAM is a small town along the Massachusetts coast-the setting favored by author Howard Phillips Lovecraft in his tales of monstrous horror. All in all a quiet place, Arkham is best-known as the home of Miskatonic University, an excellent school becoming known for its esoteric and disturbing volumes residing in its library's Restricted Collection. These tomes form the foundation of all current efforts to thwart the dire desires of the Mythos legion. H.P. Lovecraft's ARKHAM contains extensive background information about this haunted New England town-written to be used by serious investigators as a base from which to further explore the mysteries of the Cthulhu Mythos. Pertinent buildings, useful people, and important locations are described in depth. A 17x22" players' map of Arkham is bound into the back, and four thrilling adventures complete the package. Includes the H.P. Lovecraft short story "The Dreams in the Witch-house" (1933) New Layout New Artwork Fully compatible with both Call of Cthulhu from Chaosium Inc. and Call of Cthulhu d20. Part of our expanding 1920's Lovecraft Country line. This book contains material previously published as Arkham Unveiled (1990) and Compact Arkham Unveiled (1995). Each book long out of print. (EDITOR's NOTE: It also contains the adventure "The Books of Uncle Silas" by Mervyn Boyd that originally appeared here in the Chaosium Digest. Congrats Mervyn! Check out the archive for details.) May Release: Disciples of Cthulhu II Blasphemous Tales of the Followers Horror Anthology CHA 6033 $13.95 240 pages ISBN 1-56882-143-3 Trade Paperback 5.25 X 8.5 inches Call of Cthulhu Fiction Edited and Introduced by Edward P. Berglund Bad things tend happen to people who go where they are not wanted, or who over-stay their welcome once they reach their destination. This book contains thirteen new personal explorations of the Cthulhu Mythos. As its title suggests, this is a companion volume to Edward P. Berglund's earlier classic Mythos collection, _The Disciples of Cthulhu_. Both books are published by Chaosium, but their contents are entirely different. All of the stories in _Cthulhu II_ are original and have never been published before. All the stories record the dire fates of people whose destinies intertwine with the Mythos. This book is part of an expanding collection of Cthulhu Mythos horror fiction and related topics. Call of Cthulhu fiction focuses on single entities, concepts, or authors significant to readers and fans of H.P. Lovecraft. Includes 13 new works of fiction based upon the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Part of our ever expanding Call of Cthulhu fiction series. Contents Editor's Preface -- Edward P. Berglund The Bookseller's Second Wife -- Walter C. DeBill, Jr. Eldritch -- Brad Linaweaver and Fred Olen Ray The Web -- Gary Myers Passing Through -- Robert Weinberg The Idol -- Scott David Aniolowski Time in the Hourless House -- A. A. Attanasio Special Order -- Henry Lee Forrest Lujan's Trunk -- Donald R. Burleson The San Francisco Treat -- C. J. Henderson Acute Spiritual Fear -- Robert M. Price The Eldridge Collection -- Will Murray An Arkham Home Companion -- Brad Strickland The Last Temptation of Ricky Perez -- Benjamin Adams -- Dustin Wright- Chaosium Colorado "Leng Embassy" /|\_(@jjjj@)_/|\ http://www.chaosium.com 27 Years of Quality Mayhem and still counting Support your local game shop! * Hi Folks, The Chaosium online shopping catalog is now live. We have hooked the catalog up to our familiar product pages so that now, when you order, we get your information directly across our secure, encrypted system. We invite you to stop by the website and the catalog and to take a look around. To get to the catalog directly point your browser to the address below. You can also get there by pressing the ORDER button on Chaosium site product pages. http://chaosium.com/online-store/scstore/ We have our current, in-print products currently represented. In the coming weeks we will be adding more product we feel might interest you. Please forgive us if you happen to receive this notice more than once. We are sending it to members of the Miskatonic University Library Association, the Strange Aeons mailing list and our other lists, and a host of other places. So, thanks for your interest in our products and we hope to serve you well when you visit our site. Thanks again! The Chaosium Guys Chaosium Inc Publisher of Books & Games 895 B Street #423 Hayward, CA 94541 phone 510-452-4658 ? Fax 510-452-4659 http://www.chaosium.com/ ------------------- Call of Cthulhu (THE QUICK AND THE DEAD) by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com) THE QUICK... There are beings among us that do not age, possess a fantastic ability to heal, and are difficult to kill. They are known as the Quick and they walk among us. Each Quick possesses a Quick attribute. The Quick attribute may rise or fall within the character's career. When the Quick attribute falls to 0, the character is no longer considered a Quick. While the Quick attribute is 1 or better, the character will not age, heals rapidly, and may rise from the dead. The Quick never grow older, but retains bonuses or penalties accrued prior to gaining their Quick attribute. Quick regain a number hit points equal to their Quick attribute per hour (e.g., a Quick 10 means 10 hit points per hour). When a Quick receives damage that exceeds their hit points (but see below), they appear to die (no life signs, but if monitored by the proper equipment, there will be low level brain activity). While appearing dead, the character will begin to heal. When their hit points equal 1 (or more), they return to life and lose one Quick point (which may drop their Quick to 0). Quick points are gained when in the vicinity of another Quick's final death. A Quick will meet their final death when they receive damage that exceeds their hit points and drops their hit point total to a negative value that exceeds the sum of their Hit Points and their Constitution score (e.g., a Quick with 10 Hit Points and a 10 Constitution will meet final death when hit points reach -21 Hit Points). When a Quick dies their Final Death, their remaining Quick points are absorbed by those around them (range equals one yard per point of Power of the dying Quick). Here's an example: Conrad (CON 15, POW 15, Hit Points 15, QUICK 10) and David (CON 10, POW 10, Hit Points 10, QUICK 5) are in a battle to the death. David delivers 31 points of damage to Conrad and Conrad dies his final death. David gains 10 points of Quick. If David had too far away when Conrad died, (more than 15 yards away), he would not have gained any Quick points. If there had been other people within 15 yards of Conrad, then each of them would have gained a point of Quick (I recommend starting with the individual with the highest POW and continuing until the number of Quick points are used up - that is how new Quicks are created). It is a shock for a Quick to die (Sanity Loss: 0/1d6), but can usually be overcome (once the character has lost 6 points of Sanity due to death, they are hardened to this type of Sanity loss). You might want to penalize a Quick's associates as well (Sanity Loss: 0/1d6). AND THE DEAD. There are creatures that rise after death, wearing a semblance of humanity, but remaining apart. They do not breathe or age. They are immune to disease and poison. They do not age and they do not heal. They are known as the Dead. Sometimes when a person dies, they're not quite ready to move on. It doesn't really matter why they stay, but how they stay. Tying your soul (or spirit or essence or...) to your body (by will, luck, or chance) makes you one of the Dead. Becoming a Dead is more traumatic than being a Quick (Sanity Loss: 1d20). Once you become a Dead, further Sanity Loss due to your own death does not occur (but it probably will for your associates: 0/1d6). As a Dead, you are granted certain advantages. You don't breathe (no drowning or gas attacks) or require food (no metabolism). You're immune to poison and disease (no bodily functions to process either malady). And you no longer age (you're dead, remember?). Of course, there are some disadvantages as well. Your appearance takes a turn for the worse (APP * 1/2). You don't have body heat (no metabolism to generate such). And you don't heal (you have to repair Hit Point damage). So now that you're Dead, you can't die again (when damage exceeds Hit Points, your spirit remains tied to your body; you can't act to repair the damage and you can't move on either - that's a quick road to insanity). You can be destroyed, but it requires that your soul (or spirit or essence or...) be extinguished or separated from your body. Your Dead state does allow you to sacrifice attributes points instead of Hit Points. When you take damage, you may chose to sacrifice points from your Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution instead of losing Hit Points (These attributes may be repaired as well). How does a Dead get repaired? First Aid and Medicine help (two hours and a successful use of either skill will repair one Hit Point; it requires four hours to repair an Attribute point). Most Dead possess Craft skills that make bodily repair easier (with the appropriate Craft skill, it takes one hour to repair a Hit Point and two hours to repair an Attribute point). I'll leave it up to an inventive player or Keeper to determine the necessary materials to effect repairs (I suggest that you tie the material to the type of character; if the Dead was very interested in clocks and mechanics, maybe he uses gears and machine parts to repair himself...). The Dead do sleep (and death in the Dreamlands is one way to separate their soul from their body). It is said that only the Dead can enter Heaven and Hell (perhaps that is a realm within the Dreamlands?). -------------------- Call of Cthulhu (THE YLL VIRUS). by James D. Collins (collwood@harborside.com) THE YLL VIRUS The Yll is a viral intelligence. Each strain of the virus possesses only Intelligence and Power (similar to a ghost). Yll use their Power attribute for their Hit Points, but they are immune to many forms of damage. They are vulnerable to Magic and magical damage harms the host and the infecting Yll virus. Practitioners of magic should take care when confronting Yll (Mind Exchange and Mind Transfer frees an infected host, but at the expense of the caster's freedom). Each strain of Yll can infect (and control) a number of humans equal to their Power. Infection occurs when the Yll chooses and is resolved by a POW vs. CON resistance test; Yll success indicates infection. Distance decreases the chance of infection (subtract one from the Yll's POW for every yard that the virus must cross) and protective gear can prevent infection. An individual Yll can use the Magic Points of all the humans it has infected (there is no range limitation to the Yll's ability to do this), but can only expend a number of Magic Points equal to their Power at any one time. A Yll's Power attribute can be increased by expending the Power of the infected (e.g., a Yll with a POW 14 can increase its POW to 15 by expending 15 points of POW). When an infected human's POW falls to 0, they die and the Yll is free to infect another. Yll can expend one Power point per hour for this purpose and Power points do not have to come from one specific host. Once infected, the human becomes Yll. Yll cannot access the skills or memories of their host without expending Magic Points (e.g., if the Yll wished to learn a host's Own Language/English 75%, they would have to expend 75 Magic Points to learn that skill). Skills learned in this manner remain with the Yll regardless of the host's fate. Yll possess the ability to alter reality similar to a Dreamer's ability to alter the reality of the Dreamlands (incidentally, Yll cannot dream or enter the Dreamlands). The Thought Form skill is similar to the Dreaming skill, but works in the waking world. Use the description of the Dreaming Skill found in The Complete Dreamlands rulebook. Melding a host to inanimate objects is a simple application of the Thought Form skill. Melding does not require a Thought Form skill roll. Melding has several advantages for the Yll. Melded weapons or vehicles allow the Yll to use different skills. They use the Martial Arts skill when melded with a melee weapon. They use Throw when melded with ranged weapons (including firearms). They use Ride when melded to vehicles. It takes one Magic Point per hit point of the tool, vehicle, or weapon (i.e., melding a bullwhip to a host's hand requires 4 Magic Points). Melded weapons cannot be taken away from the host without damaging the host, but the Yll can choose to unmeld the object. Unmelding requires another expenditure of Magic Points. Yll may release hosts at any time, but death is the usual end of infection. Medical technology may be used to combat the Yll. There may be magics that can prevent infection. Cats possess the ability to sense Yll infection. They will hiss or growl at the infected, leaving the area if possible; fighting only if cornered. Other animals (dogs perhaps) may possess the ability as well. Yll do not seem to be able to infect lower animal forms (but strains may develop that can) and it's up to the individual keeper if creatures of the mythos are susceptible to the Yll. _______________________________________________ Chaos-digest mailing list Chaos-digest@chaosium.com http://www.chaosium.com/mailman/listinfo/chaos-digest