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Chaosium Digest Volume 1, Number 7
Date: Sunday, February 28, 1993
Number: 2 of 2
Contents:
Comments on the Elric! Preview (Tom Zunder) ELRIC!
Alternate Backgrounds for Stomp! (Eric Rowe) STOMP!
The Adventure of the Hungry Tower (Dave Sweet) PENDRAGON
--------------------
From: Tom Zunder <tzunder@cix.compulink.co.uk>
Subject: Comments on the Elric! Preview
System: Elric!
Thanks for the note on Elric!
Sounds like Chaosium is trying to make what I thought was a good
recreation of the early Elric books into something playable. To give
Ken St Andre his due, his version does reflect the sheer chaos and
slaughter of the original books.
Of course the new Elric that Moorcock is writing is far more
considered, and Elric becomes ever nicer in each one, so maybe the
game should change too.
BUT.
I guess this sounds like a differently angled RQ. Do Stormbringer
players want people to have little RQ like magics? Many people I know
don't like RQ access to magic and play Stormbringer because it's
different.
I won't dismiss this game without seeing it and I'd guess it'll be a
good game, which I might well buy for another angle on Basic Role
Playing, but will it be the Young Kingdoms as I want them? Questions
questions...
I felt Stormbringer was mad, dangerous, unstable and lethal. Lunatic
Melniboneans rubbed out PCs and NPCs like flies with horrendous magic
that no one else had. No one quite knew if they would survive the
evening and all feared the b**t**d who had rolled the sorcerer.
This was GOOD and HOLY for it accurately reflected Moorcock's books.
Nowhere in the Moorcock books do people have little RQ type spells, it
has no precedence in the literature.
Can you still play a Melnibonean? Are the demon and sorcery rules
still there?
I don't mind some character stability, but not at the loss of the
world!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
tzunder@cix.compulink.com.uk
"May the Red Moon Illuminate You All!
--------------------------------------------------------------------
--------------------
From: Eric Rowe <rowe>
Subject: Alternate Backgrounds for Stomp!
System: Stomp!
The following are a collection of rules for changing the background of
STOMP! to various other Chaosium games. In all cases, the base rules
remain the same, but a few are added to adapt it a bit to the listed
game system. For those who don't know the game, the basic idea is
that a bunch of elves got into Lord Darn's garden and Thunderpumper
the giant is hired to get rid of them. He locks the gate and starts
squishing. The elves attempt to spear his sandals to the ground to
immobilize him until they can lasso him and pull him to the ground.
His fall will break the wall and the remaining elves will be able to
escape.
Call of Cthulhu:
The elves are now investigators. Thunderpumper is now Cthulhu.
Placement and movement remain the same. Go ahead and add the extra
three investigators, like it will help. Stomping remains the same,
but Cthulhu needs no club. Instead, in the club phase, he hands a
copy of the Necronomicon to any nearby investigator who must read it.
The investigator must then do a two finger resolution to remain sane.
Failure indicates insanity; the investigator must wander randomly
while gibbering until Cthulhu finally decides to squish him. The elf
spear phase is not needed, but should be done anyways. Speared
sandals do not affect Cthulhu or his movement. The two ropes are now
shotguns and the investigators are encouraged to shoot them at Cthuhlu
every turn. Unfortunately, they have no effect on Cthulhu. When the
investigators are finally all squished, the world will end. The elf
player is considered to have done well if this happens after turn 25.
Elfquest:
By marking the backs of the counters, group six of the elves into
three pairs. These are recognized pairs. If one of them is squashed
the other in the pair will be emotionally stunned for two rounds and
unable to move. On three different elves add a W. These elves have
wolves and their move is increased by 2 hexes. Make sure you name all
the elves so that you feel bad when they get squished. While playing,
comment frequently about the fact that there are two moons.
Thunderpumper the giant is now officially a really, really big Troll.
Panzer Pranks:
Movement may now be saved from turn to turn. Feel free to discuss
which other rules to ignore, then do so. Add things like off-board
artillery fire and a spear-in-sandal remover to the garden.
Pendragon:
The elves must now be called knights. The extra three counters should
be marked as Arthur, Merlin and Guenever. A knight on a hex adjacent
to one of these counters counts as two knights for spear (now lance)
resolution. However, if any of these counters are squished, then all
the knights will be too depressed to lance or rope that turn. The
extra counters may not aid in the battle.
Prince Valiant:
As with Pendragon, the elves are now knights. When completing any
action you must describe it to the other player (like, "I squash the
knight between my big toe and its neighbor, enjoying the sound of the
gentle crackling of its bones."). If the description is not given,
the other player may complain and dissallow the last move. If the
description is particularly good, the player should give his opponent
some sort of bonus in the next round (like extra movement).
Ringworld:
The Kzinti are hunting Bandersnatchi and have managed to corner one!
Now they must move and spear fast before the beserk Bandersnatchi
smushes them or smacks them with its artificial prosthetic limb. The
Kzinti do not use any of the available technology as it would lessen
the challenge of the hunt. When attempting to spear down the feet of
the giant food source the Kzinti player must always remember to scream
as he pounds his fist for the finger resolution. The Bandersnatchi
should occasionally think of the taste of yeast.
Stormbringer:
The elves are all now eternal champions and Thunderpumper is Agak.
The ropes are now both black swords (Stormbringer and Mournblade), but
still must have an immobile Agak to be used effectively. During the
game the eternal champions should be referred to as the eighteen who
are one, then the seventeen who are one, then the sixteen who are one,
etc... Other rules remain the same.
Superworld:
Thunderpumper is now an evil mad scientist who has drunk a growth
potion and the player must insist upon being called Doctor
Thunderpumper. The elves are all super-heroes. They should each be
given nifty names like Starburst and Firewalker. The whole group is
considered a super-team and should also be named. Detailed powers and
weaknesses should be given to each one, then ignored as the mad doctor
has placed a power draining device in his evil garden hide-out. The
heroes must use their wits, a bunch of sticks and a pair of ropes
someone left lying around to take down the bad guy. They should
continually remark how they could have just wasted the mad scientist
if they just had use of their special powers.
Troy:
Thunderpumper is now an angered Zeus who feels like squishing some
Trojans or Achaeans. Pick a side and name all your elves after heroes
from that culture. If two heroes both spend three turns in woods next
to each other they may build a giant horse. If it is made, Zeus must
head for it during his turn. When he reaches it, he must spend a turn
examining it, ignoring the heroes for that turn. During the game,
Zeus may throw one lighning bolt which will automatically kill the
poor hero so targeted. Three heros should be given chariots which add
two to their move, but they may not enter woods or marsh.
--------------------
From: dsweet@soda.berkeley.edu
Subect: The Adventure of the Hungry Tower
System: Pendragon
[This is an adventure that Dave Sweet ran for our Pendragon game last
week. Despite being insulted, eaten and almost digested, I quite
enjoyed it. So, I insisted he write it up for me for the Digest.
Enjoy. -sda]
And now for something completely different.
INTRODUCTION
This adventure should start off at some point when the player knights
are erranting about the countryside. To begin the adventure, have the
characters make an awareness check. Anyone character who makes it
will hear the cries of a woman far off from the road.
If the knights ride towards the source of the screams, a small tower
will shortly come into view. If the wind had not been blowing from
the direction of the tower, the troupe would not have ever been able
to hear the lady.
ENCOUNTER AT THE TOWER
The tower has a single window twenty-five feet off the ground. Inside
is the figure of a frantic lady, screaming continually. At the
tower's base, stands a fully armored knight. When the knights near
the tower, the lady will be discovered to be gorgeous, rivaling even
Gwenivere. Since first heard, the lady has not stopped yelling. Once
the troupe is close enough to hear individual words, things like,
"Help!", "Save me!", "Quickly now, do not hesitate, my life is in
danger!", "Your honor for my safety!", and "Oh God, help!" will be
heard.
The knight is clad from head to foot in the finest armour. He bears
the shield of a black knight. Upon close approximation, he will greet
the players, raising his right hand in salute. No amount of coaxing
will get him to speak. Meanwhile, the fair maiden is making up for
his silence.
Certainly the troupe will try to speak to the knight. However, if at
any point a member of the troupe should come into striking distance of
the knight, he will attack. If communication is preferred over
action, the troupe member who is the most vocal will be challenged.
The knight will draw his sword, rise it high, and then point at the
troupe member in question. The knight will then stand at the ready,
until the challenge is accepted.
The Knight will attack at 10, and do 5d6 damage. He will apparently
die from the first successful blow against him. If examined the
knight will in fact be dead. Though he will, of course, have fallen
over, his feet will be firmly attached to the ground. This is not so
terribly strange to mention unless he is moved.
The maiden will not stop asking for assistance. The hope is that a
Knight will climb up. A rope and grappling hook would work, but the
stone work is rough enough to be without rope though. A climber will
notice that the bricks are a little warm. If asked, the stone work
will be described as unusual. It seems to be hollow or plastic.
Insistence by the maiden will hopefully get the knight inside,
however. Once the knight is inside, the tower window will close.
At this time, the dead knight will jump up and grab a troupe member
(randomly from those closest). At this point, it will be revealed
that the knight is attacked to the tower by a strange flesh-like
appendage, which was concealed beneath the ground before the knight
grabbed the troupe member. Via this appendage, the tower will list
the knight to its mouth (the window). The knight will then pop the
troupe member in, like popcorn.
Either the grab or the subsequent pop into the mouth might be
unsuccessful. Creativity by a player character, not long after the
announcement should be rewarded, by a chance for the tower to fail its
hold or the following swallow.
The tower, with the knight attached will then run off to a nearby
menacing forest at a horrendous speed.
INSIDE THE TOWER
While the majority of the troupe is figuring out what to do, a quick
description should be given to any knights trapped in the tower. They
will find themselves in a square rooms. The walls will be slick and
membrane like. The floor is littered with armor and other knightly
equipment. Most of it is scarred and pitted, as if it were burned by
acid. We'll return to our trapped knights shortly.
TRACKING THE TOWER
The tower is easy to track, as it will have gorged huge chunks out of
the ground. Near the edge of the forest a nasty smelly mess will be
found in the middle of the tower's path. In the mess is a skeleton of
the same size as the first abducted troupe member.
Before the end of the day, any knight making another awareness roll
will hear a woman yelling in distress. When the troupe approaches the
screams, they will see the same scene as before.
INSIDE THE TOWER II
Before the second encounter with the tower is played, the several
hours inside the tower's stomach should be taken care of. To heighten
suspense, allow the troupe to believe the first abducted member is
dead as long as possible.
If the room is searched, the remains of up to two people will be
found. On and around then will be typical armaments and d6 librums.
Everything will be dissolving and discolored. The librum is
tenderable, and the weapons wieldable (though they are in
embarassingly poor shape), but the armor is useless (since the straps
went first). Another search will find d3 more librum in even worse
shape but still tenderable.
The knights will be able to damage the tower from the inside
Damage done inside counts, but forty points
of damage done will cause enough flooding to drown an occupant.
The only way out for a party member is to hack his way out either up
(thru the mouth) or down (the other end), but to even get started one
would kill oneself. As the walls of the stomach are wounded, fluids
will gush out. If forty points of damage are done, the fluids will
have risen to the top of the stomach, and the knights will be
drowning.
Once the stomach is flooded successful energetic rolls will represent
the occupant holding his breath. As long as he holds his breath, he
may still attack, one energetic roll per attack. The stomach bears no
armour. It will take a total of 110 points of damage to kill the
beast. This includes damage to the stomach, the maiden's room and the
knight. Theoretically, the people stuck in the beast's stomach could
kill the beast, but their best hope is to wait for help to arrive.
The stomach will absorb fluid at the same rate as it heals itself.
Therefore, if 10 pts is done to the wall then the occupants will be
about 1/4 of the way to killing themselves. After a very long time
all of this fluid should be reabsorbed, but the wall will no longer
have a wound. The stomach will take weeks to digest an occupant. A
good day will pass before any damage is done, but any exposed skin
will receive a rash. Enough of a rash in the right places will effect
appearance. Armour will be tarnished. An occupant can avoid real
damage a very long time if he sacrificed some armour so that contact
with the floor is avoided.
SECOND ENCOUNTER WITH THE TOWER
Meanwhile, the rest of the troupe will be again interacting with the
tower beast. If they try and speak with the beast, they will find
that neither the knight nor the lady are able to truly communicate.
Likewise, if the tower is attacked, it will prove ineffective. Doing
so is like hitting a brick wall.
The beast will not remember the last encounter, but once it sees that
it old ploy is not working, it will run away, only to repeat the same
process if it lives. Before it can run though, it must expose its
unprotected armour on its base. If damage is done here, these wounds
must be summed with all others, internal and external. If more than
110 points of damage are done, the beast will die.
When the beast is slain it will fall over. A particularly cruel story
guide could give it chance to land on and kill a troupe member. Once
the tower is on its side, a troupe member could cut his way through
either end. When the stomach is reach the occupants will pour out.
The troupe member cutting will, of course, be effected by the stomachs
acidity.
TELLING THE TALE
If the story of the tower beast is told in court then any armour will
be replaced, but Arthur will insist that the old armour is kept and
put on display as proof of the amazing tale. The slaying of the Tower
beast will be extraordinarily glorious (100 pts), and being swallowed
or just watching is ordinary (10 pts).
--------------------
The Chaosium Digest is a Discussion Forum for Chaosium Games which do
not have another specific area for discussion. To submit an article,
mail to: appel@erzo.berkeley.edu