cthulhu live

I C C i: t L

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

CTHULHU LIVE LIVE ACTION HORROR GAME

SET IN THE WORLDS OF

H. P. LOVECRAFT

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adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

CTHULHU VRITTEN BY

:OVER PHOTO BY

INTERIOR PHOTOS BY

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

PROJECT AND EDITORIAL

BOOK DESIGN BY

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ROBERT MCLAUGHLIN GIVES SPECIAL THANKS TO: Julia McLaughlin, for your love, patience, and support and Frank Vocilka, for your assistance and constructive criticism.

Phil Harbin, Alan Isom, Mary Jo Pupala, John Hughes, Geoffrey Barnett, Tim Trammel, Stephanie Zoeller, and all the other play-testers who helped along the way.

H E ALSO GPJES BEST WISHES TO:

Cthulhu Live: Live action horror game set in the worlds of H. f! Lovecraft.

Pictured on the cover (1-r): Ken Perata, Chris Hudnall, Clare Burmeister, Jason Ford, Michael Blum, Janice Sellers (seated). Photograph staged by Julie St. Germaine. Assistant: Elaine Fuller. Tentacles by Drashi Khendup.

Project coordinated and edited by Janice Sellers. Editor-in-chief Lynn Willis. Proofreading by Alan Glover. Monster illustrations by Earl Geier. Diagrams by Steve Gallacci.

Cthulhu Live is published by Chaosium, Inc. Cthulhu Live is 01997 by Robert McLaughlin, with the exception of the combat section (pp. 29-35) which is 01997 Chaosium. All photographs are copyright by their respective owners. All other contents and materials are 01997 by Chaosium, Inc; all rights reserved. Call of CthulhuB is a registered trade- mark of Chaosium, Inc. Similarities between characters in this book to other persons living or dead is coincidental. The reproduction of material from within this book for the purpose of personal or corporate profit, by photographic, digital, or other electronic methods of storage and retrieval, is prohibited.

Photograph of H. I! Lovecraft 01983 by The Strange Company. We invite anyone from The Strange Company to contact us.

Please address any questions and comments concerning this book, as well as requests for free notices of Chaosium publications, by mail to Chaosium, Inc., 950 56th Street, Oakland, CA 94608, U.S.A. Visit our web site at http://www.sirius.com/-chaosiudchaosium.htm1.

ISBN: 1-56882-041-0

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Chaosium publication number 6502. Published in March 1997. Printed in Canada.

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http://www.sirius.com/-chaosiudchaosium.htm1

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INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

C thulhu Live is a live-action horror game set in the universe of eldritch horror created by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. It is a game in which players interact with other gamers and actors as they explore arcane mysteries. Players actually

have a chance to handle props and converse with a variety of characters. Every player creates a fictitious character to be his alter ego in the game universe.

Often these characters are quite different from the players themselves, and may represent idealized professions and personalities. The characters work together to solve puz- zles, overcome obstacles, and face dangers standing between them and their final goal. They mil also have their hands full just trylng to stay alive and sane.

There is no set number of gamers required for Cthulhu Live, but a typical session usually has about ten to fifteen gamers. Four to eight player characters is the average. There’ll be a variable number of non-player characters (NPC‘s), who perform the roles of everyone encountered by the players. The Keeper of Arcane Lore, or Keeper for short, is the referee for the game and sees that everything runs properly during the adventure. All characters have a set of ability scores defining their mental and physical capabilities.

Players use these skills, and their own wits, while they struggle to save their lives and sanity from unspeakable cosmic horrors. Various props, costumes, special effects, and interesting locations contribute to a richer playing environment, and support the illusion of reality the Keeper and NPC’s create.

This rulebook is broken into two sections: The Player’s Guide and The Keeper’s Guide. Persons playing the game as investigators should refrain from reading The Keeper’s Guide, since it contains details on the technical aspects of the game and how to run an adventure. That information is for the Keeper and his NPC’s. There’s nothing bad about players reading this part of the rules, but it’s not necessary for them to play the game as investigators.

The Keeper and NPC‘s need to be thoroughly familiar with the entire game system. They can’t always carry a rulebook and copy of the adventure’s script with them. When players become familiar with the game system, the Keeper may invite them to play NPC roles. It’s a nice change of pace occasionally to rotate positions in the gaming group.

Cthulhu Live is based on the role-playing game Call of Cthulhu. Experienced role- players will notice that the rules of Cthulhu Live are streamlined and simpler than many role-playing games. The intent is to accommodate the requirements of live role- playing. Neither dice nor complex tables are used in this game. The design of the entire rules system is to facilitate smooth, uninterrupted role-play.

For convenience, the masculine gender is used throughout most of this rulebook, but of course there are no such restrictions on the gamer’s physical (or practiced) gender.

Fantastic role-playing experiences await in Cthulhu Live. These rules provide great flexibility to gaming groups wanting to recreate the terrors of the Cthulhu Mythos and to confront the supernatural fiends of conventional horror fiction.

A lot of work is put into each adventure, but the reward is well worth it. The players have a terrific time, and supporting the game as an NPC or Keeper is great fun as well. Many sessions of Cthulhu Live end with a large party. Give the gamers a chance to relax. Let the players meet the monsters and discuss the evening‘s adventure. On a more practical note, it’s a good chance for the Keeper and NPC’s to enlist the players’ help cleaning up after a game session.

Characters also have a set of skills representing their accumulated knowledge.

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It’s important to build a large gaming group. Make sure you have several members that can do the job of the Keeper, and try to maintain a dozen or more garners from which to draw players and NPC‘s. Always try to recruit more players. New faces and ideas keep the game fresh and constantly changing.

Keep safety foremost in mind. Only play in locations legally authorized and declared safe. Never trespass or break the law while playing Cthulhu Live. The trouble for all players involved is simply not worth the risk. Always be alert for unsafe acts and don’t be afraid to halt game play in the name of safety.

Be sensitive to people not involved in the game. Certain segments of the game may occur in public areas with no major complications. Combat, spell-casting, and intensive role-playing should only be held in secluded spots and enclosed areas. This is to avoid undue public attention and distractions for the players. If a problem is foreseen, be sure to alert the proper authorities beforehand. This is in case your well-meaning neighbor calls in a report of a ritual murder he witnessed through your living-room window. Some discretion is advised when playing Cthulhu Live.

Above all, have a good time. The Keeper is the authority in the game, but that does not mean he discourages player creativity or initiative. Allow players to try to solve the problems on their own, instead of guiding them through a rigidly defined script. These adventures are meant to be entertaining, and a certain sinister humor is written into many of them. I hope you have as much fun playing this game as I’ve had developing it.

Robert “Mac” McLaughlin

INTRODUCTION

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DEFINITION OF TERMS Ability: One of four special scores generated for every character defining his physical and mental powers. They include Education, Constitution, Dexterity, and Power. A character’s ability scores determine the success and failure of many actions in the game. Action: When a character attempts a specific task, he performs an action. The Keeper decides the outcome of the action based on a Test. Character: The persona adopted by a player for the evening’s role-play. The character is often quite a different person from the player himself, and is limited only by the basic rules of character creation, the referee’s discretion, and the player’s role-playing capabilities. Characters are also referred to as investigators. Difficulty Category: Difficulty Categories are templates used by the Keeper when determining Success Scores. When the Keeper resolves a test, he quickly establishes the Success Score by categorizing the action as Simple, Routine, Difficult, or Impossible, and applying the corresponding score. Gaming Group: The collected gamers involved in live role-playing; including players, non-player characters, and the Keeper. Investigator: See Character, Keeper of Arcane Lore: The referee of Cthulhu Live, who accompanies the players as they go through the adventure. The Keeper ensures certain events happen on schedule and steps forward to resolve rules issues. He adjudicates the use of character skills, and is the final authority on disputes that may arise during the adventure. Magic Test: When an investigator casts a spell or attempts a feat of psychic power, the Keeper makes a Magic Test to determine the results. Non-player Character (NPC): Any other person or creature encountered by the player characters during the game session. NPC’s may be benevolent, provide useful information, and might even aid the characters. A sheriff, a librarian, a grave-digger, even a wealthy patron are but a few examples. Other NPC’s may be direct opponents of the investigators: a deranged cultist, a necrophagous ghoul, or a bullying thug. Player: The actual person playing a session of the game. Meant to identify clearly the real world individual as opposed to his character. Health Test When the character is exposed to a toxic substance, the Keeper makes a test to determine the effects on the investigator’s health. Sanity Test A test the Keeper makes for each investigator that determines his reaction to horrific sights and blasphemous secrets not meant for mankind. Panic or insanity may result from failed Sanity Tests. Script Seen only by the Keeper and the NPC’s, the script is a detailed description of the adventure and the non-player characters, and a timeline of important events. It describes most of the events that will occur during a gaming session. Skill: One of many special fields of knowledge acquired by a character and used during the game. Skill Test When an investigator performs an action based on one of his skills, the Keeper makes a Skill Test to determine if the character succeeds or fails. Success Score: This is the minimum Supporting Ability score required to succeed in an action. Tougher actions have higher Success Scores. If the Success Score to identify a Mayan statuette were EDU 14, then the character would need an Education score of 14 or more. Success Scores are tools of the Keeper and are never known to players. Supporting Ability: Every skill and test has a Supporting Ability that is critical to success (History and Education, Sneak and Dexterity, Sanity and Power, etc.) A character’s score in his Supporting Ability establishes his l i e l i ood of succeeding in a test. Test: Many times during the game, the Keeper makes tests to determine the results of skill use, poisoning, fear, magic use, and similar resolutions that vary from one character to another. The test is analo- gous to a dice roll in other role-playing games. It’s when the outcome of an event must be determined based on the abilities and skills of the investigator. When the Keeper makes a test, he compares the Success Score to the character’s Supporting Ability.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

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adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

CHAPTER 1: THE CHARACTER

PLAYER’S GUIDE

ach player starts out with a conception of his character. Will he be a brilliant academic or a two-fisted detective? An abrasive reporter or a charming dilet- E tante? Look through the character templates provided at the end of this chapter.

They present the likeliest professions of an investigator in Cthulhu Live. Find one that best suits your conception of your alter ego.

An investigator’s mental and physical capabilities are defined by the following four abilities: Dexterity, Education, Constitution, and Power. A score of 20 is the maximum ability level for a human. All characters start with 45 points distributed among these four categories. The average human ability scores are between 7 and 10. Most investigators are a cut above average.

A character’s skills go hand in hand with his profession. Skills are specialized fields of knowledge the character acquired in his profession or picked up through special interests and hobbies. The initial number of skills available to the character depends on the value of his Education score.

Make use of the character templates provided. Most calculations have already been made. Arealistic set of skills has been chosen for each specific profession, and the character’s attributes are preset to a basic profile required for his line of work.

There are still a number of extra points left in each template for you to personalize your character as you see fit. You may elect to make the investigator better educated, healthier, faster, or whatever you decide best represents your persona.

Extra non-weapon skills can be purchased if you add more points to the character’s Education. These extra ability points are subject to the following limitations:

Only DEX, EDU, CON, and POW are eligible for these points. No ability may have an initial score less than 3 or greater than 20.

After the initial 45 points for abilities, each character has 5 points which may be applied to any skill. Many players will choose to add a weapon skill a t this point.

After the template is selected and all points are distributed, it’s time to determine several additional scores that are important to game play. Establish the investigator’s Sanity Points by multiplying Power by five. Magic Points are equal to the character’s Power. Wound Points are equal to a character’s Constitution.

Experienced players may construct their own character templates, subject to the Keeper’s approval. Character templates are a method to outfit quickly a player with a set of skills and abilities logically associated with a particular profession, and to dis- courage efforts to create unrealistic super characters.

A final note on abilities: A few ability categories seen in many role-playing systems are omitted. Cthulhu Live’s rules are streamlined, allowing for smoother play. It permits players to use their own strengths and forces them to cope with a few of their individual weaknesses.

No Strength score is used (to the chagrin of thousands of armchair barbarians). Combat should occupy only a small part of any game session, and physical contact is forbidden. No Intelligence score is used. You must use your own wits to solve the puz- zles with which you’re confronted. No Charisma score is used. You’ll have to rely on your natural charm, or lack thereof, to fast-talk NpC’s. Dexterity (DEX): An investigator’s agility and manual dexterity. The Keeper uses a character’s DEX when settling the outcome of all actions requiring agility, sleight of hand, or the performance of delicate operations. A few examples are picking a lock, firing a gun, and repairing mechanical or electronic equipment. Someone with a DEX of 3

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can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. A character with a DEX of 20 could be a stage magician or an Olympic gymnast. Education (EDU): Knowledge and learning capacity. EDU determines the number of initial skills a player may purchase. EDU is considered by the Keeper when resolving many actions. Translating a foreign language, recalling historical facts, diagnosing a disease, and all Skill Tests when a character relies on his acquired knowledge and “book learning” rely on his level of Education. An EDU of 3 probably means the character was raised by wolves. A 20 EDU means the character is a certified genius. Constitution (CON): This is the investigator’s physical health and toughness. CON establishes a character’s Wound Points. It’s also a factor when the Keeper determines the effects of poisons, electrical shock, radiation exposure, and other instances when an investigator depends on his physical toughness. A character with a CON of 3 passes out after one beer. Someone with a CON of 20 is probably invulnerable to everything except kryptonite.

Power (POW): An investigator’s psychic and spiritual awareness. POW determines a character’s initial Sanity Points and comes into play when performing magical or psychic feats. It also indicates how strongly a character is tied to intuition and emotion rather than hard logic.

Power is considered by the Keeper when judging the tests of spell-casting, mind reading, psychic combat, resisting possession, and other times when a character relies on his innate psychic and magical powers. Characters with high POW are more attuned to the supernatural and fare better during Sanity Tests than investigators with low POW. A person with a 3 POW is frightened by his own shadow. Someone with a POW of 20 could be a psychic or march straight into the depths of Hell without flinching. Sanity Points (SP): An investigator’s mental stability and a guideline for how the character reacts when confronted with arcane horror. Sanity ranges from 0 to 100 and is initially determined by a character’s POW multiplied by five. From then on, Sanity is independent of POW, and each may be raised or lowered without affecting the other. Sanity will be lowered when the character encounters supernatural entities, witnesses ghastly acts, or reads terrifymg secrets. Magic Points ( M P ) : While POW is a sum of a character’s total magical awareness, Magic Points represent the actual magicaUpsychic energy available to a character. At the start of the game, MP are equal to an investigator’s POW. During the course of an adventure, a character may attempt psychic or magical actions, expending MP in the process. Magic Points are regained through rest and meditation. Wound Points (WP): Critical in combat, this is a rating of how many wounds an investigator sustains before losing the use of a limb, falling unconsciousness, or dying. A character’s Wound Points are equal to his CON score. If a character loses half or more of his original Wound Point total in a single attack, he is knocked unconscious. If a character is reduced to 2 or fewer Wound Points, he is unconscious. If a character is reduced to 0 or fewer Wound Points, he is dying, and will die in one minute (or five combat rounds) unless he receives First Aid, in which case he is stabilized.

Remember that no player may create a character with ability scores higher than 20.


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SKILLS You have a number of “skill points” with which to purchase skills. Investigators receive an allotment of skill points equal to their EDU. Most skills cost three or four points to purchase. Some advanced skills first require the possession of a separate prerequisite skill.

As live role-playing requires a streamlined rules system, fewer skills are used than in traditional role-playing games. There are no levels of mastery for skills. There are no dice to be rolled. A character’s SI-ICCPSS or failure is judged by the Keeper and i s based on the character’s ability scores.

Some practical skills such as Dodge, Fast Talk, and Spot Hidden are not used. Players must rely on their own personal talents in these areas. If you want a skill not covered in these rules, consult the Keeper to reach an agreement on the cost and limitations of specialized skills. The Keeper has the final word on the development and use of new skills. It’s his responsibility to maintain the game’s balance.

skills. As you distribute your extra ability points, you may be allowed to purchase one or two extra skills to represent special hobbies and interests. Each extra point added to EDU is a point that is also applied to buying extra non-weapon skills.

This rule applies only during character generation. A player using experience points to raise a character’s EDU later in the game will not get these free skill points. Raising EDU through experience increases the chance of success in skills the character already has, but does not automatically allow the purchase of new skills. Skills are bought separately after the initial creation process.

Obviously, a player giving his character a high EDU can choose more initial skills. Remember, though, that many tests require high scores in abilities other than EDU. While a learned academic is a great benefit to any party of investigators, he may lack the physical abilities to use some skills effectively, and be hopelessly inept in combat. In the same regard, any player designing a physically oriented character with high DEX and CON scores will be a valuable asset when the fur starts flying, but is limited in his initial number of skills.

No character has enough points to begin the game as a learned scholar and a physical stud. Each group of investigators should include an assortment of academics, physically oriented characters, and a few that fall somewhere in the middle. Work together to complement your strengths and balance out your weaknesses.

Skills represent various physical and mental fields of expertise the character picked up during his life. The character templates are designed to reflect this accumulation of skills through special paths of study. For example, an Archaeologist has Archaeology, Anthropology, Geology, and History to simulate the skills he learned in his profession.

If you elect to design your own template, you must obtain the Keeper’s approval. Wait until you’ve become familiar with the game system and you’ve learned what skill combinations work best together. Beginning game groups should stick with the basics for their first few games.

Choose wisely and realistically. Skills like Mysticism sound attractive, but they are prohibitively expensive for most characters. Outfit your party of investigators wisely. Most characters should have at least one Weapon skill. More than one character needs First Aid training. Languages are always useful. Practical skills like Mechanical Repair are needed in many adventures. A balanced party is the key to success.

When you use one of the character templates, you already have an initial set of

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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Each skill is listed with its name, the supporting ability(ies) in parentheses, the purchase cost, and a brief description. More details on skill use are presented in “Playing the Game” (see page 27).

SUMMARY OF CHARACTER CREATION

(1) Choose one of the character templates that best represents the investigator you wish to create. Each character starts with 45 points distributed among the following abilities:

Dexterity Education Constitution Power

Most points have already been placed to create a basic profile for the profession. Distribute the extra points to areas you wish to build up, but remember that no ability may be raised higher than 20. (2) Calculate points derived from the ability scores.

Sanity Points = Power x 5

Magic Points = Power Wound Points = CON

(3) The character has Skill Points equal to his EDU. Basic professional skills are calculated into the templates. If you raised the character’s EDU, you may purchase additional non-weapon skills equal to the extra points put into EDU. Select from the following list, or discuss new skill ideas with the Keeper.

SKILL PURCHASE COST SPECIAL NOTES Accounting 2 Anthropology 4 Archaeology 4 Biology Botany

4 4

Chemistry 4 Computer Programming 4

requires History

requires Mathematics Cthulhu Mythos 6 NIA during character creation Electrical Repair 3 Fine Arts 3 First Aid Forensics

2

2

- per each field

- requires Medicine

- Geology 4

History Language

4 2

- per each language


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SKILL PURCHASE COST SPECIAL NOTES Law Library Use Linguistics Mathematics Mechanical Repair Medicine Meditation Mysticism Navigation Occult Physics Pilot Aircraft

Psychoanalysis

Psychology Sneak Surgery Track Weapon

4

2 4

4 3 4

2

8 3 3 4 3

4

4

2

2

2

vanes

- -

requires Language - -

requires First Aid/Biology

requires Occult/l3 POW

-

-

-

requires Mathematics -

requires Psychology _.

-

requires Medicine - -

(4 ) The character has 5 skill points to apply to any skill, weapon or otherwise. (5) The investigator’s name, nationality, and background are chosen by the playel: (6) Complete the character by selecting an appropriate costume and props. After a while, the gaming group builds a “prop room” to rummage through when outfitting investigators.

As most adventures occur during the 1920’s and 199O’s, costuming won’t be much of a problem. Consider what someone in the investigator’s profession might wear. Used clothing stores are a gold mine.

Special props like weapons, flashlights, or a doctor’s bag will usually be provided by the Keeper. The nature of the adventure may limit the investigator’s resources. Players shouldn’t show up in full spelunking gear, carrying a crate of dynamite and an elephant gun.

Most Keepers don’t mind if you equip your investigator with a watch, pencil, note- pad, calculator, magni@ng glass, Swiss Army knife, gloves, and similar small personal items that are still in keeping with the time period of the adventure.

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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This photo, taken in Peru (the real country in South America) years before the game was played, was antiqued and used as a prop in the game. Pictured: Charlie Twobears (Sean Branney) Keeper: Andrew Leman Photo by Darrel Tutchton (July 1992), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

I

CHARACTER TEMPLATES The following templates are designed to speed character creation and build realistically designed player characters. A total of 45 ability points is allocated to each character. Most of these points have been spent to create a basic profile of the profession, but no weapon skills have been purchased. Extra points are placed as desired, as long as no ability climbs above 20.

Players should choose one of the ready-made templates. Any template designed by the player must be approved by the Keeper in the interests of game balance and the simulation of realistic fields of study.

Each additional point put into EDU provides one point with which to buy extra non- weapon skills. These skills represent hobbies or special interests. Extra points put into CON increase a character’s Wound Points and resistance to toxins. Points added to DEX increase the chance of succeeding in many physical skills. Last, but certainly not least, POW determines the initial Sanity and Magic Points.

All character templates have been created with at least a POW of 10. Smart players will raise it even higher. Insanity can be a killer. All the skills and Wound Points in the world won’t mean a thing if your character is curled up, weeping and trembling in terror before the alien horror of the Great Old Ones. ARCHAEOLOGIST

EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 7 POW 10

Extra Ability Points: 7 Skills: Archaeology, (Anthropology or Biology), Geology, History.

Scholars studying ancient cultures often stumble upon forgotten mysteries. Some research leads to great discoveries or lost treasures. Other mysteries are best left unsolved.

an Archaeologist and this character is definitely on the academic side. Choose either Anthropology or Biology, depending on whether your character digs for pottery and stone tools or for dinosaur bones. Players that can’t imagine an Archaeologist without a whip and a fedora can always put extra points into CON and DEX and save up those Experience Points. A more cautious player might want to stock up on POW, since characters always end up in a downward Sanity spiral.

This investigator isn’t exactly Indiana Jones. It takes a great deal of study to become

AUTHOR EDU 11 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Ability Points: 14 Skills: Fine Arts, Language, Library Use, Psychology.

This is a very flexible character template. With so many extra points, players can do a lot to personalize the Author. Beefing up CON and DEX makes for an adventurous, Hemingway-style writer. Additional skills like History or Occult add depth to the Author and define his interests and hobbies.

Whether he’s researching an idea for a new book, living out an inspiringly adventurous lifestyle, or simply has too much time on his hands, the Author can easily be swept into a dark web of horror and intrigue.


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BURGLAR EDU 8 CON 5 DEX 15 POW 10 Extra Ability Points: 7 Skills: Electrical Repair, Mechanical Repair, Sneak.

Not the most common of characters, the Burglar is a likely companion to the Gangster template. The Burglar is designed to be more of a sneak-thief or cat burglar than a heavy thug or mob leader. His skills make him an excellent scou,t as he’s well equipped to break into places and move about unnoticed. His extra points are best used reinforcing his CON or POW. CORONER

EDU 16 CON 8 DEX 8 POW 10 Extra Ability Points: 3 Skills: Biology, Chemistry, First Aid, Forensics, Medicine.

The peculiarly mangled state of many a victim of the Old Ones is likely to arouse the professional curiosity of any skilled Coroner. Essentially, this character is just a doctor who’s studied forensic science. He is a likely companion for a police detective.

He has fewer extra points to distribute than the standard Doctor template. A little more DEX is required to cut open and study dead tissues. We also felt that any Coroner needs a boost to his CON as well. When undecided, always add to POW. DOCTOR (GENERAL PRACTITIONER)

EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Ability Points: 9 Skills: Biology, Chemistry, First Aid, Library Use, Medicine.

Damn it, Jim! I’m a doctor, not a brick-layer! Every group of investigators should have a doctor of some sort with them-simple insurance. This template is good for a general practitioner. More than just the group’s first aid man, all Doctor templates come with useful skills.

Three variations of the doctor template (Coroner, General Practitioner, and Surgeon) are presented to support the investigators with whichever variation seems most logical for the characters and adventure a t hand. GANGSTER

EDU 10 CON 10 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Points: 10 Skills: Accounting, Law, Psychology.

This character was designed to represent a mob leader or other professional criminal. There are enough extra points available to personalize him with extra skills or a more physical profile. While most Gangsters are in the money-making business (and sensi- bly refrain from chasing slime trails into open crypts), strange cults or valuable artifacts occasionally surface into their business dealings. DEX and POW are good candidates to increase.

I i

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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This photo was used as a prop in the game. Pictured: General Bart Brookstone (Mark Ruebling) Keepers: Jamie Anderson, Rob Cimmarusti, Katia Herbst, Sue Marker Photo by Jamie Anderson (May 1994), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

GOVERNMENT AGENT EDU 13 CON 7 DEX 7 POW 10 Extra Points: 8 Skills: Language, Law, Mechanical Repair, Sneak, Track.

From 1920’s G-men to the modern CIA, this is a basic template for Government Agents. Usually, the activities of underground cults run contrary to the interests of national security. On the other hand, there are many government research projects that are not meant for the eyes of the general public. Secrets need to be kept secret and most Agents never truly understand the motives behind all their assignments.

HISTORIAN EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Points: 9 Skills: Anthropology, History, Language, Library Use, Linguistics.

Much like the Archaeologist, the Historian is another professional who frequently stumbles across long-forgotten fragments of ancient cultures. Historians tend to concentrate on areas within the past millennium or two, while Archaeologists often dig even deeper into the past. Most Historians tend to be skilled linguists as well. Many adventures are initiated from disturbing legends Historians extract from dusty old books. LAWYER

EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Points: 9 Skills: Accounting, Language (Latin), Language (player’s choice), Law, Library Use, Psychology.

Just what the world needs. Another lawyer. Nevertheless, when the investigators find themselves in any legal difficulty, this is the man to call.

Just as in the real world, Lawyers tend to surface in Cthulhu Live with disturbing regularity. They have some useful skills and still come with enough extra points for the player to modify the basic template to suit his taste. Many adventures are introduced through legal matters. A n inheritance from an eccentric relative or trying to free a friend from prison or an asylum are two prime examples. MECHANIC

EDU 6 CON 10 DEX 10 POW 10 Extra Points: 9 Skills: Electrical Repair, Mechanical Repair.

This profile is meant to be your average Joe. He’s solidly built. He’s not a rocket scientist, but he knows a couple of practical skills. He has enough extra points to pick up a skill or two, but he’s probably best used with increased POW, DEX, or CON to build a mean monster-basher. Not a bad template to start with, and he can be placed easily into most adventures as a chauffeur or handyman working for another one of the investigators.


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MILITARY OFFICER EDU 11 CON 10 DEX 7 POW. 10

Extra Points: 7 Skills: First Aid, Language, Navigation, Psychology.

During the 192O’s, most military officers were still from the upper class of society. This has changed in modern settings, but the skills and profile are essentially the same. Any officer in a 1920’s setting should carry a swagger-stick and bore his fellow investigators with stories about “the Regiment” and “the Great War.”

Modern military officers have dropped on the social ladder and are less likely to hob- nob with the landed gentry. Those that also learn a science may become involved in classified research projects. Some adventures may make specific use of military personnel as investigators. MYSTIC

EDU 13 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 13 Extra Points: 9 Skills: Meditation, Mysticism, Occult.

This is a unique profession. The Mystic template represents a serious mystic and occultist, not someone who’s just lucky at guessing ESP cards. The Mystic is more in the realm of mainstream horror than the Cthulhu Mythos, but as long as the Keeper has nothing against it, the investigator should be allowed to play a Mystic.

Players hoping to bend steel bars with their mind and cause their foes to burst into flames are better advised to spend more time at the gym and to mix up some napalm in their basement. The Mystic can be a useful character, but most of his help comes in subtle hints and impressions.

The Mystic may obtain clues through the use of his powers, but they will seldom be much more valuable than other characters might obtain with academic skills. Impressions and images of previous owners can be read from some objects. When dealing with the Great Old Ones, you often won’t want to see such images. Sometimes those previous owners might be looking back at you!

Some adventures will be written specifically for the presence of a Mystic in the group. These adventures provide more opportunities for the use of psychic powers and often feature confrontations with incorporeal entities or human serial killers. The best advice is to talk it over with your Keeper before selecting the Mystic template. If you take a Mystic, I recommend bringing POW to 19 or 20 so you’ll make maximum use of your abilities. PARAPSYCHOLOGIST


Extra Points: 10 Skills: Library Use, Meditation, Occult, Psychology, Psychoanalysis.

Players who want an academic character that dabbles in the occult re best advised to become a Parapsychologist. This is a great profession to draw investigators into all kinds of trouble. Lurking around cemeteries and exploring shunned houses is all part of the job.

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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This photo was used as a prop in the game. Pictured: Dr. Jaffrey Moore (Jamie Anderson) Keepers: Jamie Anderson, Rob Cimmarusti, Katia Herbst, Sue Marker Photo by Katia Herbst (May 1994), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

A Parapsychologist is great to have in the party. He has a high EDU and several commonly used skills (including Psychoanalysis). He still has enough points left to raise CON or POW to a very respectable level and equip him better for dealing with the unknown.

ally look upon the Parapsychologist as a bit of a quack. On the down side, many scientists are not likely to take him very seriously and usu-

PILOT CON 5 DEX 10 POW 10 EDU 12

Extra Points: 8 Skills: Electrical Repair, Mechanical Repair, Navigation, Pilot Aircraft.

The Pilot isn’t a bad template, though many players are probably wondering when they’d ever need the Pilot Aircraft skill. His technical skills are good for any group to have and he still has enough extra points with which to play around.

The Pilot is likeliest to be used in adventures when the party has flown into the depths of a jungle searching for a lost temple, or to distant islands to study ancient carvings on mysterious stone figures. Players looking for logical links with other members of the group can easily associate the Pilot with the Mechanic or Military Officer. PRIEST

EDU 13 CON 5 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Points: 12 Skills: Lkguage, Linguistics, Occult, Psychology.

The Priest is a surprisingly flexible template and can be logically drawn into all manner of bizarre adventures. His Linguistics and Occult skills make him ideal for assisting more academic characters translate ancient books of forbidden knowledge. A wise choice is to raise his EDU enough to pick up Psychoanalysis (‘‘Be at peace, my Son.”) and possibly even First Aid. Put the remaining points into POW, and you’ve got a solid character that can be a lot of fun to role-play. He won’t be a combatant, but he’ll have some very important support skills for the group. PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR

EDU 12 CON 10 DEX 5 POW 10 Extra Points: 8 Skills: Law, Psychology, Sneak, Track.

Always a popular choice among 1920% groups, the Private Eye is another character whose line of work often draws him into investigations he’ll later regret.

with a decent CON score, but a few more points in CON and DEX will make him tougher in a scrap. He’s one of the professions likely to be carrying a gun, and you want to be able to hit what you’re aiming at. Of course, extra Sanity Points don’t hurt.

The PI is a good template for a physically oriented character. You already start out


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PLAYER’S GUIDE

PSYCHIATRIST POW 10 EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 5

Extra Points: 9 Skills: Anthropology, Library Use, Language, Psychoanalysis, Psychology.

One of the few templates with the Psychoanalysis skill, the Psychiatrist is a good person to have around when Sanity Points start plummeting. A word of advice: Drop a lot of your extra points into POW. Psychoanalysis won’t do anyone any good if you’re the first character to go insane. Many Psychiatrists are drawn into adventures when they decide to check out the deranged ravings of lunatics (many of whom were former player characters). REPORTER

EDU 10 CON 5 DEX 10 POW 10 Extra Points: 10 Skills: Language, Library Use, Psychology, Sneak.

Reporters are always trying to get the true story and poking around where no one wants them, especially secretive cults, reclusive hermits, and the grim-faced residents of curious, backwoods villages. Anywhere there’s the possibility of a story, you can find a Reporter.

This template needs to be developed by the player. With 10 points to spend, one or two extra skills and an increase of CON or POW is a good way to personalize the Reporter. Will he be a smooth correspondent from the society pages, or a muck-raking sensationalist? SCIENTIST


Extra Points: 9 Skills: Language, Library Use, Mathematics, plus any two of the following skills (Biology, Chemistry, Computers, Geology, Physics).

Loaded with powerful academic skills, the Scientist will provide lots of good advice and assistance to investigators. Depending on which two sciences you select, you can even place your Scientist in a realistic field of study (biochemistry, cybernetics, geophysics, etc.).

If you’ll be going into an adventure that requires a lot of lab work and scientific expertise, the Keeper will advise you beforehand. Most groups bring several scientists to cover all bases and allow for strong team efforts on complicated research actions.

The Scientist template is pretty frail. Instead of an additional skill, you’d be better off investing extra points in CON, DEX, or POW. SOLDIER

EDU 7 CON 10 DEX 10 POW 10 Extra Points: 8 Skills: First Aid, Mechanical Repair, Sneak.

Not surprisingly, this is an excellent physically oriented template. He comes with three useful skills and a solid fighter’s profile. Putting extra points into CON makes this

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investigator a tough match in combat. If the group has to reach out and touch someone, boost his DEX and make a sniper. Put at least two or three points into POW. Physically oriented characters are employed as point-men to clear the way for the academics. That means they’ve got to be able to keep their cool when they stumble on something nasty. At least one weapon skill should be purchased to relfect the character’s military training. SURGEON

EDU 16 CON 5 DEX 10 POW 10 Extra Points: 4

Skills: Biology, Chemistry, First Aid, Medicine, Surgery. The third Doctor template, the Surgeon doesn’t have many extra points to spare. DEX and POW seem the best choices since you can’t make a significant difference with your CON. Insanity or malpractice suits. Which seems worse for you?

THE SKILLS ACCOUNTING (EDU) 2 POINTS Accounting and bookkeeping procedures. All characters have a basic knowledge of math, but this skill is used to check financial ledgers and books for inconsistencies and embezzlement. The investigator understands complex financial transactions and may search old ledgers for clues as to how a person or business made its money and how the money was spent. ANTHROPOLOGY (EDU) 4 POINTS This skill pertains to the study of human culture. It’s used to glean information on the practices and beliefs of various cultures, as well as to identify the cultural or racial origins of a particular individual. The anthropologist may make simple predictions of an individual’s behavior based on what the character knows about the person’s background and beliefs.

A character uses this skill to identify the time period and source of ancient and prehis- toric artifacts. If the character has the opportunity to study an archaeological site thoroughly, he may make deductions about the culture of the former inhabitants. History is a prerequisite.

The study of living creatures, from amoebae to zebras. The biologist can identify animal species known to mankind, their behavior, tracks, and habitat. He may study an unknown species or individual creature and make educated guesses about its lineage, diet, and habitat. BOTANY (EDU) 4 POINTS The science of identifying plants and knowledge about their uses and misuses. It’s used to identify any plant or fungus known to mankind and make educated guesses about those which are unknown.

ARCHAEOLOGY (EDU) 4 POINTS

BIOLOGY (EDU) 4 POINTS


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PLAYER’S GUIDE

CHEMISTRY (EDU) 4 POINTS Given time, a character can analyze and identify a host of chemical compounds. With the proper chemicals and equipment, the investigator can concoct simple explosives, poisons, gases, or acids. COMPUTER PROGRAMMING (EDU) 4 POINTS Only available for modern-era investigators. Knowledge of this skill goes beyond day- to-day word processing, to advanced programming and hacking techniques. The character can access guarded files, bypass computer security programs, and plant, elahorate computer viruses. Some systems may be an Impossible task to hack, but if anyone can, it’s the computer scientist. The character must have the Mathematics skill. CTHULW MYTHOS (Pow) 6 POINTS (SPECIAL) This skill is unique in that it may never be purchased in the character creation phase. Only between adventures, after surviving an encounter with the alien nightmares of the Cthulhu Mythos, may a character learn this arcane branch of study.

Usually the character will have to survive two or three adventures (which can be a feat in itself) before having the experience necessary to study the Mythos. The Keeper will also require the player to have a source of knowledge: ancient, forbidden writings, or a deranged sage. ELECTRICAL REPAIR (EDU & DEX) 3 POINTS Knowledge of the construction and repair of electrical equipment. The character can repair or modify electrical gadgets and attempt to identify the purpose of an unknown piece of technology. This skill is used to disarm alarm systems, repair damaged radios and transmitters, hot-wire cars, and numerous similar actions. Special tools may be required. FINE ARTS (EDU) 3 POINTS This is not only an appreciation and knowledge of art, drama, and literature, but also the requisite talent to produce works of creative genius. The character can identify rare works of art and recall basic facts on the person or culture which produced it. This skill is necessary for any successful artist, author, or actor. The player specifies whether his character will specialize in graphic, literary, or performing arts. While the character has a basic understanding of all fine arts, more information is gleaned by this skill when the work identified is in his primary field of interest.

This skill is a basic understanding of how to treat shock, bind wounds, set broken bones, and other simple medical tasks. A successful use of First Aid restores EDU/3 (round down) Wound Points to a character. An investigator may benefit from this treatment only once per combat or ‘(damaging situation.” A character may not be healed for more points than he received in the combatJdamaging situation. Of course, the wounded character must still be alive for the treatment to have any appreciable effect. Investigators also use First Aid to revive unconscious characters. Unconsciousness and wounds are discussed in (‘Playing the Game” and The Keeper’s Guide.

The investigator knows the police science of forensics and can perform autopsies on recently deceased bodies. He may examine a corpse to identify the manner and general time of death. He can discover if the body was moved after death, how long the victim

FIRST AID (EDU) 2 POINTS

FORENSICS (EDU) 2 POINTS

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took to die, and possibly discover clues to the murderer’s identity on the victim’s body. The Medicine skill is a prerequisite to Forensics.

This permits a character to tell the approximate age of rock strata, recognize fossils, and identify rocks and minerals. He recognizes potential landslide areas, earthquake zones, and places that are likely to contain caves, underground springs, and oil deposits. HISTORY (EDU) 4 POINTS The character is knowledgeable about important events in human history. The character can recall background information on personalities, cultures, artifacts, or events in human history.

A character speaks all languages his player actually knows at no cost, but this skill allows the character to be familiar with other languages beyond the scope of his real- world education. This is an understanding of the modern, commonly used form of the language. The character can converse in the language and read newspapers, letters, and diaries dating back the last couple of centuries. Most texts older than 300 years, or written in an obscure dialect, also require the purchase of the Linguistics skill.

Optional rule: If a character has a skill in one language and would like to try to read something in a language that is closely related linguistically (e.g., the character knows Spanish and would like to try to read something in Italian), the Keeper may allow a player one half of his EDU to try to read the text.

The investigator has an extensive understanding of the legal system. He may ascertain the legality of various actions, cut through legal paperwork and red tape, use his knowledge of Law to gain access to certain restricted areas, and filibuster with the best of them. LIBRARY USE (EDU) 2 POINTS Use of this skill enables a character to find a given book, newspaper, or reference in a library, assuming that the reference exists. The investigator may need to employ charm or bribery, however, to get into certain restricted cases or rare-book collections.

This is a comprehensive understanding of ancient dialects and root origins of any language spoken by the character. Languages undergo so many changes through the years that this skill is required to translate properly any document dating before the mid- 1600’s. Regional dialects, alternative spellings, and archaic phrases all contribute to the difficulties faced by the linguist. Once purchased, the Linguistics skill is applied to all languages spoken by the character, but only to those languages.

Financial expertise and bookkeeping are covered by Accounting. This skill is a knowledge of higher math and abstract equations. It is a prerequisite for several of the sciences and it permits the character to solve staggeringly complex mathematics and geometric calculations.

GEOLOGY (EDU) 4 POINTS

LANGUAGE (EDU) 2 POINTS PER LANGUAGE

LAW (EDU) 4 POINTS

LINGUISTICS (EDU) 4 POINTS

MATHEMATICS (EDU) 4 POINTS


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MECHANICAL REPAIR (EDU & DEX) 3 POINTS The investigator has a special understanding of mechanical devices. He can identify and repair machinery, fur broken autos, pick locks, and similar actions. Special tools may be required. MEDICINE (EDU) 4 POINTS The big brother of First Aid. The investigator may diagnose disease, treat poisoning, and deliver babies, and has a knowledge of drugs and their effects. The doctor usually has a medical bag in his possession, containing drugs and eqnipm.ent. t,o diagnose and treat ailments. The drugs in the medical bag may be used once during the game to save the life of a character who would otherwise perish. Treatment must begin within five minutes of the character’s death. Both First Aid and Biology are prerequisites.

A character uses the Meditation skill to regain expended Magic Points at a faster rate. Every ten minutes a character spends in meditation restores one MP. Otherwise, all Magic Points are regained after eight hours of sleep. MYSTICISM (POW) 8 POINTS An investigator must have the Occult skill to purchase Mysticism. A minimum POW of 13 is also required. This is a step far beyond the study of the occult. The investigator has trained his mind to the point where he can perform psychic feats. The character can read psychic residue from an object and learn information about past owners and handlers. He may sense positive or negative emanations from individuals, objects, or locations, and can attempt other psychic feats a t the Keeper’s discretion. The Keeper explains the use of psychic powers to any character who has Mysticism. The intensive training and study required to become a Mystic make it beyond the reach of most characters, save those who dedicate their lives to Mysticism. NAVIGATION (EDU) 3 POINTS The investigator is familiar with map reading, polar coordinates, and compass navigation. Successful use of this skill allows pilots to plot their courses correctly, and scholars to identify and decipher ancient maps. If the investigators become completely lost, they may become reoriented through the use of this skill. OCCULT (EDU) 3 POINTS The investigator recognizes occult paraphernalia and words, as well as magic gri- moires and occult codes, when he sees them. Note that this skill does not apply to spells, books, legends, and magic of the Cthulhu Mythos, but as the Mythos is often tied to traditional occult beliefs, this skill may be useful.

The investigator has an excellent knowledge of the scientific principles which move and shape our universe. He is familiar with nuclear physics, applications of the theory of relativity, space sciences, and a host of other fields on the cutting edge of modern science. The character may identify complex scientific equations and realize the ramifi- cations of space-time manipulation through non-Euclidean geometry. He is familiar with the known planets of our solar system and astronomical science. Mathematics is a prerequisite.

MEDITATION (POW) 2 POINTS

P ~ S I C S (EDU) 4 POINTS

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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PILOT AIRCRAFT (EDU &/OR DEX) 3 POINTS The character can safely fly (and land) a wide variety of aircraft. 1920’s era investigators may fly propeller driven planes, hot-air balloons, and dirigibles. Modern investigators are unlikely to be familiar with dirigibles but can fly planes, helicopters, and jets. No Skill Tests are required for normal flight, but emergencies or special maneuvers are supported by EDU and/or DEX. PSYCHOANALYSIS (EDU) 4 POINTS Investigators use this knowledge of the human psyche to cure temporarily a neurotic or psychotic patient. It takes time to perform, but will permit the madman to behave somewhat normally through the rest of the adventure. A character must have the Psychology skill before purchasing Psychoanalysis. PSYCHOLOGY (EDU) 4 POINTS An understanding of the workings of the human mind and emotions; a knowledge of how outside influences affect a person’s behavior, and how to manipulate the emotions. This skill allows the investigator to study an individual and tell if he is overtly psychotic or not. Given time to conduct observation, the investigator may try to learn from what specific ailment the individual suffers, and guess as to his desires and needs. Not only the realm of the purely academic, Psychology is also used extensively by such professions as detectives, writers, and artists. S m (DEX) 2 POINTS The individual must notify the Keeper when he wants to employ this skill. There must also be a reasonable amount of cover, concealment, and shadows. The character hides or moves through the shadows with exaggerated, tip-toeing movements. If successful, he is ignored by whatever NPC’s or creatures are in the area. The character reveals himself by any loud noise, combat action, or overtly stupid act (such as sneaking out in the open or directly in front of Nyarlathotep). SURGERY (EDU & DEX) 2 POINTS The Medicine skill is fine for general practitioners, but the Surgery skill is required for a doctor who wants to open up his patients (and put them correctly together again). The surgeon may remove cancerous growths, diseased organs, and foreign objects deep within the body, and may even attempt organ transplants or the reattachment of severed members. Medicine is a prerequisite. TRACK (EDU) 2 POINTS An investigator uses this skill to follow trails left by passing animals, monsters, or humans. Many factors influence the success of this skill. Weather and soil conditions, vegetation, size of the creature, and the time elapsed will all affect a tracker’s success.


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WEAPON (DEX) POINTS VARY BY TYPE OF WEAPON In order to use a weapon effectively in combat, a character must have had some training and practice with that weapon. If a character has to use a weapon he is not trained in, only half of his Dexterity is available for use in the combat phase. See “Combat” (page 29) for more information on weapons.

OFFENSIVE BONUS WEAPON CosT Unarmed Combat 1 +O Brawling 2 +I Thrown Weapons 2 +1 Martial Arts 4 +2 Small Melee 2 +1 Large Melee 4 +2 Small Missile 2 +1 Medium Missile 4 +2 Large Missile 8 +4

DEFINITIONS: Unarmed Combat: Fisticuffs or wrestling Brawling: Using dirty tricks, brass knuckles, blackjacks, and other small weapons Thrown Weapons: Rocks, stars, darts, and other hand-held weaponry Martial Arts: Karate or other martial art Small Melee: Knife, hatchet, sword-cane, foil, blackjack, whip Large Melee: Sword, axe, lit torch, large club Small Missile: .22 automatic, .25 Derringer Medium Missile: .32 automatidrevolver, crossbow, shotgun Large Missile: Elephant gun, Thompson machine gun

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CHAPTER 2: PLAYING THE GAME

his is a live-action game, and you’ll immerse yourself in your character to a greater degree than in most other games. The less you act like yourself, and T more like the character you play, the more fun and realistic the gaming adven-

ture will be for everyone. Set your day-to-day world behind you and lose yourself in these few hours of illusion.

During free-play periods when the investigators roam and explore at will, don’t break the spell by talking to your friends about the latest movies. Stay in character and think about what your investigator would do in such situations. Discuss the impact of early 18th-century witch trials upon modern views of pagan religion with your colleague, “Professor Armitage.” Or ask “Captain Johnson” about his experiences with the American Expeditionary Force in France. Encourage others to live out their alter egos in a similar fashion.

NPC’S AND THE KEEPER During the adventure, you’ll meet a number of non-player characters (NPC‘s). These are actors helping the Keeper present the adventure. Each actor might play several NPC’s, so don’t be surprised if you later see the same person in a totally different role. NPC’s provide clues, local color, and valuable background information. They might even assist the investigators to battle eldritch nightmares, provided the characters convince the NPC’s they’re not raving lunatics. Other NPC‘s will be the villains of the adventure, plotting the destruction of the prying characters and hatching plans to unleash ancient evils on an unsuspecting world.

Each NPC has his part prepared ahead of time, and knows his role in the grand schemes of the Keeper. While the actor is familiar with the whole plot of the evening‘s adventure, the non-player character he portrays will know only a small piece of the puzzle. Most NPC actions are described in the script; however, an NPC will modify or even change his reactions based on what the player characters do.

Interact with non-player characters. Be alert to their personalities and reactions. Is the NPC hiding something? Are you winning his trust, or making him hostile? Treat non-player characters as real people. You’ll rarely know for certain who is a friend or a foe. Treating neutral NPC’s well can earn their respect and assistance.

The Keeper is the grand puppeteer of the evening‘s story. Both he and the NPC’s put a great deal of effort into preparing the adventure. The Keeper is the narrator, describing subtle feelings and impressions intruding into the investigators’ minds. He resolves all skill use and answers questions about persons or objects encountered. Sometimes the Keeper becomes an investigator’s “inner voice”, leaning over the player’s shoulder and whispering thoughts, doubts, or facts known only to that one character.

Most of the time, the Keeper shadows the investigators, makes notes, ensures NPC’s and monsters don’t miss their cues, and steps in only from time to time to resolve special actions.

The Keeper is an “invisible” entity. Player characters and NPC’s should ignore his presence during much of the game. If you want to use a skill, or if you have game- related questions, talk quietly with the Keeper. Never approach a non-player character about an issue involving rules or game mechanics. Good NPC’s will just stare at you blankly. The NPC’s have their roles to play and they will adhere to them.

The Keeper must be recognized as the ultimate authority in the game. If you have a legitimate problem with one of his decisions, take the Keeper aside and discuss it with-


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out disrupting play. He’ll be fair, but his judgments are final. Don% get involved in pointless arguments.

observed a dangerous act, or too much is happening at once and he needs time to resolve several issues before play continues. Generally speaking, this doesn’t occur very often.

If the Keeper calls a freeze on play, stop everything and wait. The Keeper may have

USING SKILLS Whenever you want to use one of your character’s skills, get the Keeper’s attention. Explain the intended action. “I want to use my Medicine skill to learn what this beggar is suffering from.” The Keeper will make a Skill Test. He compares your Supporting Ability of the relevant skill with the Success Score of the action. This determines if you’re successful, and to what degree. If your character tries to translate a Latin text, he may get the gist of the document but misunderstand a couple of key points if his EDU is too low. Of course, you may not be aware of this until your error results in a nasty surprise.

Success Score of a test, but can still have an idea of how well they might perform. You know which of your investigator’s abilities are high, average, or low. Just think about how difficult the action is and how skilled a person might need to be. You never know for sure unless you try7 although an application of common sense will help. Someone with low scores in EDU and DEX probably shouldn’t try to disarm a nuclear warhead.

It’s possible to attempt an action for which you lack the proper skill. If you are locked in your chambers by a suspicious Bulgarian count, you may try to pick the lock even if you don’t have the Mechanical Repair skill. Don’t expect spectacular results, however, unless you have a phenomenal DEX. In these instances, the Keeper still makes a Skill Test for your character, although at a higher Difficulty Category than if you had the actual skill.

Investigators may pool their efforts. As they say, two heads are better than one. The Keeper should allow several characters to work together to accomplish difficult actions with an increased chance of success.

One hopes that you and your companions choose your professions and skills well. It’s a sad scene when the party is torn apart by ghouls, and you realize there’s not a single doctor in the house. Equally frustrating is when a crew of hardened street fighters and mercenaries stare dumbly at a manuscript in medieval French. Balancing skills is the key to success. The Keeper will make suggestions as you create your characters.

As a tip to players, the Keeper usually increases your chance of success if you’re doing a good job of role-playing. Always stay in character. Don’t just point a t a mysterious statue and say that you want to use your Archaeology skill. Pick it up, if you can, and examine the craftsmanship. Test how hard the material is with a thumbnail, tap to see if it’s hollow, and pull a notebook from your pocket to check your “notes.” This applies to all skills. Pretend to putter around for a while with that electrical or mechanical device; get down and scratch around that lock with a paper clip; tie some rags around your wounded friend’s arm and help him drink some water. An excellent acting job enhances the illusion that the NPC’s and the Keeper create. The Keeper rewards good role-players when they need just a little help to succeed.

The Skill Test is something only the Keeper resolves. Players never know the

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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Decks of combat cards should be prepared prior to the beginning of the game. The easiest way to make them is to use blank index cards. Each deck should include cards for each number 1 through 20, plus a Flee and a Dodge card. When a combat situation develops, give each player involved a combat deck.

TIME IN THE GAME Most of the game is played in real time. A minute of actual time is a minute in game time. Circumstances may arise in which the Keeper alters the passage of time. If there is a gap of several days or weeks between scenes in the adventure, the Keeper notifies the players and provides a synopsis of all that occurred during this ghost time.

A more common occasion is when the players choose to jump the clock ahead. If an investigator is wounded, he or another character may apply First Aid to restore Wound Points. The procedure requires ten minutes of treatment. In the same manner, an insane character must be calmed by Psychoanalysis for ten minutes before he may return to play.

If there are no conflicting interests (such as a mob of enraged cultists smashing down the door) the players may wish to “jump” time and allow for the instantaneous passage of these ten minutes, instead of standing around with nothing to do. This has no negative impact on the adventure, and prevents players from becoming bored.

Some adventures will be running on a precise timeline. The investigators must stop a ghastly ritual before midnight, for example. Players may still perform these time- jumps, if they so choose, but the Keeper and NPC’s adjust their schedules accordingly.

COMBAT During the course of an adventure the investigators perform tasks using real time. The investigators must spend real time interviewing, researching, and searching for clues. However, an adventure may also feature a physical confrontation between the investigators and the foul creatures of the Cthulhu Mythos. Cthulhu Live uses an abstract system to resolve combat situations.

A Cthulhu Live game shifts from real to abstract time when a combat situation develops. A combat situation occurs when someone commits an offensive act. Offensive acts include drawing a ranged or melee weapon, starting to cast a spell, a verbal threat, or the appearance of a creature that requires a Sanity test. When any of these events occurs the Keeper should call for the commencement of combat rounds.

Game: Oscar Pictured: Charlotte Gimfalk, Ian Fagan, Brian McInnis Keepers: Rebecca Strong, Michael Tice Photo courtesy of Michael Tice.


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PLAYER’S GUIDE

COMBAT ROUND Fights occur in a series of combat rounds, each representing about ten seconds of real time. The combat round is divided into five distinct phases: declaration, movement, melee combat, ranged combat, and resolution. The Keeper announces the start of each phase and moderates the actions taken during the phase. All actions within a phase are considered simultaneous, but actions in a preceding phase affect actions taken in a later phase. DECLARATION PHA._sE During the declaration phase a character should begin to role-play the actions he will take during the rest of the round. A character who wishes to make a ranged attack should aim at the intended target a t this time. A character casting a spell should begin to gesture and chant. A character using a non-combat skill should role-play the necessary procedure. A character who needs to reload or draw a weapon will also begin these actions during the declaration phase.

MOVEMENT PHASE Characters conduct movement during combat rounds by taking a number of steps equal to or less than their movement rate. Normal humans have a movement rate of eight steps, but some creatures may have a greater or lesser rate. Regardless of the character’s movement rate, all steps should be one yard in length.

When the Keeper announces the start of the movement phase all characters not locked in melee combat may move up to their maximum distance. During the course of the movement phase a character must halt movement if he comes within one step of a conscious enemy. The characters are now considered locked in melee combat, and may only move by choosing the Flee option during a melee phase. The Keeper makes the final determination as to who is or is not locked in melee combat.

A character who chose to aim, cast a spell, or use a non-combat skill may not normally move during the movement phase. If a character chooses to move for any reason the action chosen during the declaration phase is canceled.

All movement is done simultaneously. To best simulate this, the Keeper will slowly count up from one to eight (or however many the maximum move is in the combat). On each count, a character may take a step (no greater than one yard). If a character does not move on a number, that step is lost and may not be taken later in the phase. Characters within one yard of an enemy are locked in melee and cannot move.

Characters locked in melee combat may make attacks on each other during this phase. When the Keeper announces the start of the melee combat phase each participant should ready a combat card (either a number, Flee, or Dodge card). On the Keeper’s command the characters should reveal the cards they chose.

Melee attacks are conducted by dividing a character’s Dexterity score into offense and defense. A character using a weapon without the appropriate skill may only use one half of his Dexterity. The player should choose a combat card with a number equal to the points placed in offense. The number placed in defense need not be revealed to an opponent.

A character loses a number of Wound Points equal to the offensive number of an attack minus the number of points devoted to defense. If the result is 0 or less the attacker has missed the target. Certain monsters may also subtract their armor pro-

MELEE COMBAT PHASE

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tection and special defenses from the damage. Any remaining points should be deduct- ed from the target’s Wound Point total.

Certain melee weapons and some creatures have an offensive bonus number. This offensive bonus is added to the points of Dexterity allotted to offense. This offensive bonus may not be added to the points devoted to defense. The “Creatures” section (page 56) lists the offensive bonuses for all monsters. Offensive bonuses for weapons are listed below:

WEAPON Unarmed Combat

Brawling Martial Arts Small Melee Large Melee

Bows +O +1 +2 +1 +2

One of the attacks allowed in this phase is a “Grab.” In order to grab, a character must be within arm’s reach and must say “Grab” as he reveals his number card to his victim. The number shown will be the character’s DEX plus any offensive bonus from Brawling. If the number shown is higher than the victim’s defensive value, the victim is grabbed. Any attack the victim was making is carried out; if the victim chose “Flee”, the Grab is negated.

When in a Grab, neither party may do anything else that would require their hands, nor can either defend from other attacks. In the melee combat phase of succeeding rounds after a successful Grab, the following occurs:

1. The victim may try to break free by telling the grabber his CON plus any offensive bonus from Brawling. If the victim’s total is higher than that of the grabber (again, CON plus any offensive bonus from Brawling), the victim escapes. In this circumstance, or if the grabber decides to let the victim go, all parties involved are at half DEX for their defensive value for this phase. 2. If the victim cannot break free, the grabber can damage the victim by saying “Crush.” The victim loses a number of hit points equal to the difference between the grabber’s (CON plus offensive bonus from Brawling) and his own.

Other characters may help free the victim by moving within arm’s reach and adding half of their CON (plus any offensive bonus from Brawling) to the victim’s CON. When doing this, the allies have 0 defensive value.

Multiple characters may attempt to Grab a single target. The above procedure is followed, adding together the values from all characters involved except when causing damage. If the characters try to cause damage, they compare their individual scores to that of the victim when determining the damage caused.

Characters who chose to aim, cast a spell, or use a skill during the declaration phase may only defend during the melee phase. A character may only use one half of his Dexterity in this case, and if the attack causes damage the action is canceled. If the attack causes no damage the character may finish the action during the proper phase.

A character may also decide to fight defensively by choosing the Dodge combat card. In this case the character may apply full Dexterity against the first melee or ranged attack of the round, and receives a cumulative -1 modifier against all other attacks. The character may not make any type of attack while dodging.

A character who wishes to escape from melee should display the Flee combat card.


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While fleeing the character uses one half of his Dexterity to defend against all attacks for the remainder of the round. A character who chose the Flee card may move eight steps during the resolution phase unless rendered unconscious by melee or ranged attacks. A character who chooses the Flee card may not come within one step of an enemy during this extra movement. A character who is surrounded may not choose the Flee card.

A character under attack by multiple opponents may apply his offensive total against only one enemy. The character may apply his full defensive total against that opponent, and half against all other attacks (melee or ranged).

A character who chose to aim or cast a spell during the declaration phase may make an attack during the ranged combat phase. Anyone within the area defined by the Keeper may be affected by ranged attacks. If the character moved or suffered damage earlier in the round the action is lost. The character also loses the Magic Points and any Sanity needed to cast the spell.

A character making a ranged attack should show the target a combat card with a number equal to his Dexterity. Unskilled weapon use reduces the attacker’s Dexterity by one half.

The identification of targets can be assisted by threats and jibes straight out of film noir: “Eat lead, Herr Doctor!”, “Got something for you, flatfoot!”, or even “Write about this, Shakespeare!” This can get a little silly, but can add to the spirit of the game.

A character suffers a number of Wound Points of damage equal to the offensive number minus any points devoted to defense. A result of 0 or less means that the shot missed. A character who has already defended against an attack (melee or ranged) may only apply one half of his defense number against subsequent attacks. However, a character who chose the Dodge card may apply his entire Dexterity against the first attack, and a cumulative -1 against all subsequent attacks.

Certain ranged weapons add an offensive bonus to the attacker’s Dexterity due to their power or rate of fire. Offensive bonuses for ranged weapons are listed below:

RANGED COMBAT PHASE

WEAPON BONUS Thrown Weapon +1

Small Missile +1 Medium Missile +2

Large Missile +4 A character may increase a shot’s accuracy by aiming for more than one round. A

character receives a +1 bonus for each additional round he takes to aim. The character must keep the target in sight for the entire aiming time to receive the bonus. The character may pivot in place to keep a target in sight, but may not move. If the attacker moves or suffers damage while aiming the entire bonus is lost. No aiming bonus may ever exceed +5.

Each gun carries a certain number of shots, after which the gun must be reloaded. All revolvers may be fired six times before reloading. For simplicity’s sake, semi-automatic handguns are all considered to carry seven rounds. Rifles and pump-action shot- guns may be fired five times before reloading. Automatic rifles like the M16 or Thompson may fire ten bursts before they must be reloaded. The feared elephant gun carries just two rounds.

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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A character casting a spell should inform the target of the effects. The target’s defense number may not be used to avoid spell damage. Certain spells may be avoided with a Power test. RESOLUTION PHASE A character who declared skill use during the declaration phase may succeed during the resolution phase. The Keeper will inform the character if the skill use has succeeded or failed, or requires more time. The Keeper makes the final determination as to how long a skill takes to use in combat.

to his full movement during the resolution phase. The moving character must move away from the enemy, and may not come within one step of another enemy.

A character who began in the declaration phase to reload or to draw and ready a weapon finishes during the resolution phase. EFFECTS OF DAMAGE Wound Points measure a character’s health and resistance to damage. The Wound Point total is equal to the character’s Constitution ability. Creatures have greater Wound Point totals based upon their size and toughness. The Wound Point total is reduced by successful melee or ranged attacks, spells, and poisons.

Some creatures have tough skin, and characters may decide to walk around in a suit of armor. Armor of any sort will prevent a character from losing a set number of Wound Points for each blow taken. After determining the number of Wound Points lost from damage, the armored character subtracts the value of the armor before losing the Wound Points. Some damage (such as poisons) will go beyond the effects of armor, and this will be specified by the Keeper.

At the Keeper’s discretion, a character may lose the use of a limb due to damage. A character may still stand with one crippled leg, but must move at a slow hobble. A character must fight from the floor and crawl if both legs are crippled.

to 2 or less. A single attack which causes one half or more of a character’s original Wound Point total to be lost will also knock him unconscious. A successful use of the First Aid skill will restore a character to consciousness.

A character reduced to 0 or fewer Wound Points is dying. A dying character may be stabilized by receiving a successful First Aid skill use within five rounds of the lethal injury. A stabilized character has 1 Wound Point, and is capable of recovering additional points from First Aid or rest. A character who does not receive First Aid within five rounds is dead.

A character who chose the Flee option during the melee combat round may move up

A character will fall unconscious immediately when his Wound Point total is reduced

A COMBAT EXAMPLE While searching for clues along the waterfront, Kim Lovecraft and Alexander Murphy come face to face with three deep ones. The Keeper announces a Sanity Test, which both investigators pass. The 2 points of Sanity lost does not affect either investigator’s ability to continue. Lovecraft carries a 9mm handgun (+1 offensive bonus) at the ready, while Murphy has his ever-present baseball bat (+2 offensive bonus). The deep ones will use their sharp claws (+1 offensive bonus) in combat. Lovecraft has a Dexterity of 15 and 12 Wound Points, and Murphy has a Dexterity of 12 and 12 Wound points. The deep ones have identical abilities, a Dexterity of 11 and 13 Wound Points. The thick


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skin of the beasts grants them 1 point of armor protection. The Keeper announces that combat has begun. The Keeper announces the beginning of the declaration phase. The deep ones want to advance into melee, so they take no action in the phase. Murphy hopes to hold off the fiends long enough for Lovecraft to fire her gun, so he takes no action. Lovecraft, who had her gun ready, takes aim at the deep one on the left. The Keeper announces the beginning of the movement phase. All participants have a movement rate of 8. Lovecraft chooses to remain still to keep up her aim. Murphy advances three steps to place himself between two sets of shelves. If the deep ones want to get a t Lovecraft they will have to go through him. The deep ones advance, but only two can face Murphy in the narrow aisle. The third deep one lurks several steps to the rear. The Keeper announces the beginning of the melee combat phase. Murphy and two of the deep ones are locked in melee combat. Murphy puts 5 of his Dexterity points into offense. The offensive bonus of +2 for his bat makes his offensive total 7. Murphy chooses the combat card marked 7 from his deck, and makes a mental note that his defensive total is also 7. The deep ones, sensing easy prey, each put 8 points in offense and 3 points in defense. The +1 bonus from their claws makes the offensive total 9. The Keeper calls for melee participants to show their cards. Murphy shows his 7 to the creature on his left. His 7 minus the creature’s defense of 3 inflicts a total of 4 Wound Points of damage on the deep one. The deep one’s armor reduces the damage to 3. The deep one’s counterattack inflicts 2 Wound Points of damage on Murphy (offensive bonus of 9 minus Murphy’s defensive total of 7). Murphy can only use one half of his defense against the second attack. The second deep one causes 5 points of damage on Murphy. As the phase ends Murphy’s Wound Point total is 5 and his opponent’s is 10. The Keeper announces the beginning of the ranged combat phase. Lovecraft, who has been aiming, fires her gun at the deep one on the left. Her dexterity is 15, and the +1 offensive bonus of her handgun makes her offensive total 16. She shows her combat card to the deep one. The creature can subtract only half of its defense from the shot because it had to defend against Murphy’s attack. The deep one subtracts 2 from the attack, resulting in 14 points of damage. Armor reduces the damage to 13, but this total reduces the creature to fewer than 0 Wound Points, so it collapses. As the phase ends Murphy is conscious with 5 Wound Points, one deep one is dying, and the other two are healthy. The Keeper announces the start of the resolution phase. No character has an action to take, so the Keeper declares that the combat round is over. The Keeper announces the start of a new combat round. During the declaration phase Lovecraft draws a bead on the deep one currently in melee with Murphy. The rest of the players take no action. The Keeper announces the start of the movement phase. The remaining deep one moves into combat with Murphy, who cannot move because he is locked in melee combat with the other creature. Lovecraft, who is aiming, holds her ground. The Keeper announces the start of the melee phase. The three melee combat- ants choose a card. Murphy thinks about fleeing, but feels that he might not survive two attacks with his back turned. Murphy chooses the Dodge option to give him a

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defensive total of 12 against the first attack of the round and 11 against the second. The deep ones know that they must get past Murphy to stop Lovecraft’s lethal gunfire. Each creature puts its full 11 points of Dexterity into offense, for an offensive total of 12 with the +1 bonus for claws. On the Keeper’s command the participants show their cards. Murphy’s Dodge allows him to escape damage from the first attack, but the second deep one claws him for 1 point of damage. As the phase ends Murphy’s Wound Point total falls to 4, and both opponents still have 13 Wound Points each. The Keeper announces the start of the ranged combat phase. Lovecraft fires a shot a t the deep one on Murphy’s right. Her offensive total is 16 for the shot, and since the creature has placed no points in defense it falls over dying. The phase ends with Murphy facing the last healthy deep one. The Keeper announces the start of the resolution phase. The first deep one to fall prey to Kim’s handgun counts off one round toward death. No other player has an action. The combat will continue until one side has defeated or driven off all opponents.

HEAVY WEAPONS AND EXPLOSIONS Some adventures may introduce heavy weapons to the game. Machineguns, rocket- launchers, hand grenades, and similar pieces of combat hardware may appear in special scenarios. These are best dealt with on an individual basis in each script, but here are some general guidelines.

Explosive weapons deliver a variable number of Wound Points. This simulates damage from shrapnel. Variables include the type of weapon, distance from the center of the explosion, and what parts of the investigator’s body are exposed.

There’s no easy, fast way to simulate damage from an explosion. The best thing for the Keeper to do is immediately freeze play at the instant of the blast, assign casualties, and then resume play. It’ll give players respect for the carnage produced by a large explosion.

in two yards of the exploding grenade. 6 WP are suffered within a five-yard radius. Characters up to ten yards away sustain 2 WP, unless prone or behind cover. Substantial cover may protect characters, but Keepers should inflict partial damage and crippling injuries to any exposed limbs.

Four deep ones surprise two investigators in the study of an old house. Neither character panics, but they quickly sum up the situation and decide to vacate the premises. Earlier in the adventure, the Private Investigator had found a grenade on a shelf of war trophies. He pulls the p i n and tosses it at the monsters. Screaming, the PI dives back into the hallway. The Reporter isn’t as quick, and a deep one seizes her from behind when she reaches the door. The Keeper shouts, “Freeze!” Everyone stops moving. The grenade lies at the feet of two of the deep ones. They are facing the grenade, and the Keeper assigns 12 W P damage to each of them. A third deep one is on the other side of the room, standing behind a desk. I t is four yards from the grenade, but its legs are protected by the heavy desk. The Keeper assigns only 4 W P of damage, instead of the usual 6 WP at that range.

A fragmentation grenade, for example, delivers 12 WP to all exposed characters with-

This seems like a good time for a practical example.


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The last deep one and the Reporter are three yards from the grenade. The Keeper decides both are exposed to the blast. He assigns 6 WP of damage to each of them, and rules that the grabbed reporter is hurled free by the explosion. The PI is prone, in the hallway, and is only lifted a couple inches off the floor by the explosion.

which body parts are exposed. Players will quickly learn respect for such nasty weapons and not go tossing them casually about.

Unless a character is deep in a foxhole or behind several feet of concrete, assume he’s nothing but a red smear. Modern combat weapons are extremely deadly. Fortunately, they are seldom encountered.

These rules also apply to dynamite, exploding oil tanks, or volatile chemicals. A single stick of dynamite could inflict 10 WP to anyone within a &yard radius, and 2 WP within ten yards. Specific details of these explosions are left to the script writer.

modern M-60, these weapons divide a very high damage bonus across all targets in a specific area. Concentrated on a single target, such a burst could rip the target to shreds. Fired into a crowd, automatic weapons deliver devastating casualties. The Keeper may rule for reduced damage against targets partially behind cover, much like explosion damage.

Heavy weapons like these should be avoided in many adventures. They can be entirely too deadly for all concerned. Certain scenarios might be specially designed around military units, terrorist organizations, or government-funded monster-bashing. Keepers just need to realize the added complications of introducing such weapons.

The Keeper must freeze play so he can estimate range from the explosion and decide

A rnrk~t or artillery shell delivers even more damage, and across a wider area.

If the investigators get their hands on a machinegun, such as an antique .30 MG or a

WOUNDS If your character is knocked unconscious in combat, lie down or slump against a wall. An unconscious investigator will be out of the game for ten minutes, or until revived by a character with First Aid. Don’t shout suggestions or encouragement to your fellow investigators as they’re being valiantly dismembered.

Players and NPC’s keep track of their own Wound Points during combat. A certain degree of honor is required. You’ll know how many wounds your character can sustain, and the Keeper has that information on his clipboard. In the heat of a pitched battle, however, the Keeper will never be able to track injuries accurately. Don’t rely on the Keeper to tell you when you must fall down. Keep track in your head and honorably deduct any wounds you sustain in combat. The NPC’s and monsters do the same and they’ll collapse after you’ve inflicted a specific number of Wound Points on their oily hides. HEALING INJURIES A character with First Aid can use his skill to wake an unconscious character before the standard ten-minute penalty. Only a few seconds are required to revive the investigator. The Keeper announces when the investigator is awake.

The successful use of First Aid also restores Wound Points to an injured character. Ten minutes of treatment are required. Characters with the First Aid skill should care for all injured comrades, even time does not permit full Wound Point restoration. Wounds need to be cleaned against infection. A useless arm should be set in a sling. Otherwise, diabolical Keepers may rule that the investigator’s arm will be crippled for

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CURING INSANITY Curing an insane investigator is a lengthy, involved process. A character with the Psychoanalysis skill must spend ten minutes reasoning with an insane investigator to calm him to a semblance of his former self. The investigator may then function nor-


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course, such a character now walks the knife-edge of sanity and may easily relapse into madness.

At the end of an adventure, the surviving characters will be awarded a few Sanity Points by the Keeper if they were successful. At the Keeper’s discretion, various therapy techniques and psychoanalytical treatments might return Sanity Points to an insane character. Generally speaking, however, Sanity Points usually spiral downward throughout an investigator’s career. This is part of the reason why an initial high POW is so important to beginning investigators.

EXPERIENCE When the adventure is complete, the Keeper awards Experience Points to the surviving investigators. These points may be used to purchase new skills or to increase abilities, or may be saved for future use. Two to three points is the average experience reward. An exceptionally difficult adventure or a spectacular job of role-playing may merit the player more points.

Abilities and skills are purchased by Experience Points at a one-to-one ratio. Each Experience Point may increase an ability score (DEX, EDU, CON, or POW) by one point. No human may raise an ability score higher than 20.

You must remember that EDU only determines the initial skill point allocation during character creation. After that, the EDU level and total sum of skill points are separate figures. Additional points added to EDU through experience do not provide extra skill points. Skills must be purchased separately. By the same token, the total sum of your skills may be raised higher than your EDU level. This is quite common with very experienced characters.

Experience Points convert directly to skill points, so that two or more may be used to purchase a new skill from the list in the Character Creation section (see page 13). If you have an idea for a new skill, discuss its cost, capabilities, and limitations with the Keeper.

Depending on how your Keeper has chosen to run his universe (forgiving or merci- less) you may even be allowed to purchase additional Sanity Points to make up for those lost during the adventure. This option is the prerogative of the Keeper. If he is running a traditional Lovecraftian universe, your character will descend further and further toward complete insanity.

PLAYER’S GUIDE

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CHAPTER 3: TEST RESOLUTION

11 skills are linked to the character’s four ability scores. The Supporting Ability is the name given to the ability score inextricably linked to a specific skill. A, very skill has one ability score, or occasionally even two, supporting it. These

are listed in the Skills section of the Player’s Guide (page 21).

Supporting Ability of Sanity and Magic Tests. All Health Tests are supported by CON. Other tests, not related to skill use, also have Supporting Abilities. POW is the

SUCCESS SCORE In addition to the Supporting Ability, a second figure is used in test resolution. The Success Score is the minimum ability score required to complete successfully the test. The higher the Success Score, the tougher the action is to complete.

RESOLUTION The Keeper merely compares the Supporting Ability to the Success Score. If the Supporting Ability is equal to or higher than the Success Score, the attempt is good. If the Supporting Ability is less than the Success Score, the test failed. The results of success or failure are explained in the following pages and are covered in each adventure script.

Test resolution is intended to be transparent to the players. All players know their own ability scores, but the Keeper should never reveal Success Scores and special modifiers. Don’t talk your way through the process. Hmmmm. You have a 14 Education, and it would normally take a 16 with your History skill to recall the name of the Crown Prince of Liechtenstein in 1895. Of course, it says here that your character is actually from Liechtenstein, so I’d allow 2 points in your favor to succeed.

Never do this. It opens a hole in the veil of illusion by introducing game mechanics the players don’t need to know. The Keeper maintains his cool, quiet aura while silent- ly deciding the Skill Test. Inform players of their success or failure and pass on any relevant information without revealing the process of the test.

tem. It will become clearer through the following examples. Test resolution is a very simple process and is the heart of Cthulhu Live’s rules sys-

SKILL TESTS Attempting a skill-related action, and the Keeper’s comparison of the Supporting Ability versus the Success Score, is a Skill Test. EDU is the most common Supporting Ability, since the majority of skills in Cthulhu Live are academic. A few skills rely on DEX or even POW. Many common physical actions have no corresponding skills (e.g., Dodge, Jump) and are not resolved through Skill Tests. The players must complete these actions on their own.

As explained earlier, the Keeper checks whether the character’s Supporting Ability equals or exceeds the Success Score of the test. Each adventure script details the Skill Tests characters are likely to attempt. Skill Tests are listed in the description of each scene. For simplicity, the Supporting Ability and the Success Score are usually written as a single requirement. The following is an example as it might appear in a script:

The deep ones beat the characters to their auto and took steps to prevent their escape. The hood of the car is thrown open and torn hoses and wiring spill over the front grill in a tan-

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gled mass. A character with Mechanical Repair may repair the engine. The character must have an EDU of 10 in order to effect repairs. Described in this manner, EDU is the Supporting Ability and the Success Score is 10.

A few tests may rely on more than one Supporting Ability and Success Score. To illus- trate:

The stench of blood is overwhelming as the stunned investigators gaze at the horror that was their friend, Professor Rosberg. Crimson flaps of torn skin and muscle form a macabre nest around the shiny carapace of the scarab-like creature, six inches across, which has burrowed through sinew and bone to nestle against Rosberg’s still-beating heart. Any attempt to attack the scarab or tear it loose will kill the good professor. A doctor with the Surgery skill and his bag of surgical instruments may attempt to remove the giant insect and save Rosberg’s life. To be successful, the character must have an EDU of 15 or higher and a minimum DEX of 12. As you can see, the Keeper only needs to consult his notes to determine the success

or failure of a Skill Test.

LEVELS OF SUCCESS A special category of Skill Tests arise when different degrees of success are possible. A character might only achieve partial success in his action, but won’t completely fail the test. A n attempt to translate a foreign language is a good example. Some characters may be unable to translate a document in its entirety or with total accuracy. This becomes even more difficult when the text is written in an archaic dialect or if it is damaged by age. Take the following notes on a page written in medieval Latin: The page is from the diary of a priest who traveled to the Holy Lands in the Third Crusade. Crumbling with age and smudged with soot, the manuscript is very difficult to read. Four main points are found in the text. A character who reads Latin and has the Linguistics skill may decipher the page. The detail of his translation depends on his EDU score.

(1) EDU ll+. The priest was present at King Richard‘s massacre of more than 3000 prisoners at Acre. Appalled by the bloodshed, the priest smuggled a score of prisoners out of the crusaders’ camp to freedom. A wizened Saracen blessed the priest for his kindness and, in his gratitude, told the priest where to find a fabulous treasure that had been hidden from the crusaders. The treasure was found, but was lost again later.

(2) EDU 13+. The treasure had been hidden by Acre$ alchemists. It was the mummified head of a Persian wizard, executed centuries before by the army of Alexander the Great. The head was supposedly a mystic talisman thought to bring great luck and wisdom to the alchemist who possessed it. The head had been passed down through the centuries by a series of legendary sorcerers.

(3) EDU 15+. The head was still alive, and the way it imparted its knowledge was by whispering the ghastly secrets of demonology and necromancy to those sorcerers when they burned certain grasses before it and moistened its lips with their own blood.

(4) EDU 18+. Upon his return to England, the priest presented the evil thing to the Archbishop of England as proof of the wicked ways of eastern magicians. The Archbishop confiscated the head and sent it via special envoy to Rome. Neither the envoy nor the head ever reached the Vatican.

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Obviously, some characters are only capable of incomplete translations, based on their language skill and corresponding level of Education. Other instances of partial success are possible, and will be detailed in the adventure’s script when required. Recalling obscure historical details or analyzing an unknown chemical substance are two more examples where the Keeper may rule that partial success is possible. Granting partial success is a good technique to provide small hints to investigators who just barely miss their Success Score.

DIFFICULTY CATEGORIES Gamers traditionally love complex charts and graphs. However, too many possibilities exist for live action role-play. The Keeper would always slow the game as he fumbled through endless tables of possible actions, related skills, and minimum ability scores. It’s much simpler for the Keeper to note a few Skill Tests in the script and determine the rest as the game progresses.

Categories to establish the Success Score of the new test.

feats. Don’t panic, this is easier than it sounds. Each category has a recommended Success Score.

When investigators attempt actions not addressed in the script, use Difficulty

The Keeper categorizes Skill Tests into Simple, Routine, Difficult, and Impossible

(1) Simple Skill Tests might include translating an easy text, reviving an unconscious character, or recognizing a common cultural artifact. A Success Score of around 5 or 6 should be sufficient.

(2) Routine Skill Tests may be fixing a broken machine, diagnosing most common diseases, recalling basic historical facts, analyzing a common substance, healing a wound, reviewing financial records, or any action that is considered to be the basic function of a skill. Set the Success Score of such actions between 9 and 11.

(3) Difficult Skill Tests are those that push the limits of most characters. Analyzing rare or complex substances, recalling obscure historical facts or cultural details, manufactur- ing explosives, or saving the life of a critically wounded investigator are all just a few Difficult tasks which the characters may attempt. The Success Score should range between 14 to 16.

(4) Impossible Skill Tests are beyond the capabilities of all but the most experienced investigators. Many are so tough that they may only be attempted through team effort. Impossible tasks may include disarming a nuclear weapon; translating a lost, ancient code; or synthesizing a new drug. The Success Scores of Impossible Skill Tests are at least 19 or 20, and are often even higher.

The Keeper uses these Difficulty Categories to guide him when scripting and referee- ing an adventure. If players propose some bizarre new Skill Test during the middle of the game, the Keeper need only decide whether the action is Simple, Routine, Difficult, or Impossible. Assign it the corresponding Success Score and decide if any outside factors may modify the Success Score by a couple of points (+/-I.

The Keeper may opt to break a complicated process into several easier component parts, giving investigators a greater chance of success a t the expense of a greater time investment. For example, instead of one ten-minute action with a Success Score of 25, the Keeper may allow for two ten-minute actions with a Success Score of 15 each. Perhaps the investigator knows what he’s doing, but is just a little slower than more

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The only doctor of the investigative group is dead. Other characters are wounded, but there is no one else in the party with the First Aid skill. Any investigator could attempt the Skill Test to restore Wound Points. The test is Routine for an investigator with the First Aid skill. For other characters, however, the test will be Impossible. Merely waking an unconscious character, normally a Simple test, will be increased to a Difficult one.

Even though the investigator with EDU 18 has the highest Supporting Ability, he cannot be the team leader since he doesn’t have the Chemistry skill. The chemist with the EDU of 17 becomes the team leader, and the other characters are his assistants.

skilled members of his profession. “Sorry, ma’am, but your car’s not ready yet. Ernest likes to take his time and do things right.”

UNSKILLED ATTEMPTS A character can still attempt most actions for which he lacks the proper skill. The Keeper should permit the character to try the Skill Test, but a t two Difficulty Categories higher (about a 10-point increase to the Success Score).

attempts is a pretty sound rule that can be applied in almost all circumstances. Perhaps investigators should pool their abilities in a team effort.

The Keeper decides which Skill Tests may not be attempted by unskilled characters. If no one in the party can read Chinese, there’s no way that they’ll translate an ancient Mandarin scroll, no matter how many of them try.

This leap of two Difficulty Categories (or about 10 Success Points) for unskilled

TEAM EFFORTS Investigators are allowed the benefits of team efforts. Any two people invariably have different talents, strengths, and weaknesses. Working together, they may perform tasks that neither might accomplish alone. It’s a little more complex to establish the Supporting Ability of the team effort, but the calculations can be quickly done by the Keeper while the characters fuss about, role-playing their attempt. (1) Designate a team leader. If only one character has the proper skill required for the test, he must be the team leader so he can direct the others. When more than one investigator has the proper skill, take the one with the highest Supporting Ability.

(2) Divide Supporting Abilities. Divide the Supporting Abilities of any characters assisting the team leader by two. Drop any fractions. Do not divide the Supporting Ability of the team leader.

(3) Add Abilities. Add the Supporting Ability of the team leader and the modified Supporting Abilities of his assistants.

(4) Apply Success Score Modifiers. As an easy rule of thumb, as long as at least 50% of the investigators have the necessary skill, the team effort is treated as a normal test. On the other hand, if more than 50% of the team lacks the skill, the test must be treated as an unskilled attempt and the Difficulty Category raised accordingly. This simulates the “assisting” characters bumbling about and making dumb mistakes.

Three investigators find a sample of shoggoth tissue in the hidden research lab. Numerous journals in the lab document secret government biological experiments revolving around the alien tissue. Fearing what they might find in the basement, the characters decide to analyze the tissue and synthesize a compound designed to break shoggoth tissue down into its basic amino acids.

This is a pretty tall order. The script calls for a Success Score of 30 to complete this process using the equipment and documents available in the lab. Two of the three inuesti- gators have the Chemistry skill, with EDU’s of 16 and 17. The other character lacks the skill, but has an EDU of 18.


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KEEPER’S GUIDE

When the Keeper adds the leader’s Supporting Ability and the modified abilities of his assistants, he ends up with a team ability of 34 (17+8+9=34). Since more than half the investigators know the Chemistry skill, the test will not be treated as an unskilled attempt. The Success Score remains at 30. The characters have succeeded. This “team effort” effect can be used to accomplish complicated research projects, or

very difficult feats of skill. It may be the only way that a group of unskilled investigators can complete certain tests.

tants. Some actions are simply one-man jobs: lock-picking, soldering, gem-cutting, etc. You just can’t fit a crowd of investigators around such delicate acts with any success.

The Keeper rules which Skill Tests prohibit team efforts or limit the number of assis-

ROLE-PLAYING BONUS As mentioned in the Player’s Guide, an exceptional role-playing job should earn the character a helping hand by the Keeper. Don’t abuse this by awarding bonus points to characters who have absolutely no chance of succeeding. The Keeper never awards more than one or two points.

Why should the Keeper do this at all? It’s a motivating factor for the players to support the illusion that the Keeper and NPC’s have spent so much time and effort to construct. It’s very disappointing to have a player say, “I’m going to use my First Aid skill,” then stand around twiddling his thumbs. Players must understand that this is live role-playing and they’ll have to make some attempt at acting.

When the player cleans an investigator’s wounds with a damp cloth, tears up rags to bind the injury, and calms his patient with reassuring words, he’s made a far greater contribution to the atmosphere of the game. If he’s repairing the motor of a broken elevator, let him rattle tools, tighten bolts, chip away at some corrosion, and actually pretend that he’s doing something constructive.

Characters are often only one or two points shy of success. Only award the bonus point(s) if the player has really done a fantastic job of role-playing throughout the evening and deserves a little help. Awarding an occasional bonus point is meant to reward good role-playing, not unbalance the adventure. The better the players perform, the more convincing the entire game becomes.

TIME REQUIREMENTS Cthulhu Live has no hard and fast rules about time requirements to complete actions. Skill Tests are acted out to the best of the player’s abilities. Recalling historical facts, identifying a mineral deposit, or reading through a short note in modern Spanish should require little time to complete. Lengthy or difficult translations, complicated technical work, and certain medical and psychoanalytical tasks all require more time.

A standard time block of ten minutes is the easiest answer when the Keeper is uncertain of a specific requirement. Characters not involved in the action may go about their business as normal, or the group of investigators may choose to “jump” the clock ahead. They will then rapidly complete the action and move on to the next event. Assigning a requirement longer than ten minutes, even if it’s more realistic, soon produces bored players.

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~ CRITICAL FAILURES Critical failures occur when a character bravely attempts an action he had absolutely no business performing in the first place. A difference of 10 or more points between the character’s Supporting Ability and the Success Score results in a critical failure. The players will never know Success Scores. Let them decide whether to attempt an action or not on their own. The results of a critical failure will be left for the Keeper to decide, but should be unpleasant.

A character tries to pick the lock of a strongbox, which requires a DEX of 15. The klutz has an abysmal DEX of 3. The Keeper is fully within his rights to have the character’s tools or penknife snap off in the lock, preventing further attempts and alerting “PC’s who later discover it.

actions. Remember how the Difficulty Category rises when attempted by an unskilled character? Imagine a character f f ing a damaged electrical transformer without knowing Electrical Repair.

Normally, it might be a Difficult action, requiring an EDU of 15. Since the character doesn’t have the necessary skill, the Keeper decides it’s an Impossible task, requiring an EDU of 25. The investigator only has an EDU score of 12. He doesn’t just fail, he fails miserably, The Keeper may rule that he’s started a fire, sustained an electrical shock, or both.

The critical failure rule is a realistic option when characters attempt unskilled

1 SANITYTESTS An investigator’s Sanity Points represent his mental balance and are a guideline for how the character reacts when confronted by unearthly horrors. Sanity Points are determined during character creation by Power x 5, producing a score from 15 to 100. The higher the score, the better the character is able to cope with fear. Since Sanity is usually lost faster than it is regained, investigators tend to live longer if created with high Power scores.

Several times during the adventure, the Keeper makes Sanity Tests for the investigators. The most common causes of a Sanity Test are confronting unnatural creatures, reading terrible secrets, and witnessing unspeakable acts of violence and depravity.

A Sanity Test is resolved exactly like a Skill Test. POW is the Supporting Ability, and the Success Score is determined by what exactly is encountered. The loss of Sanity Points is regulated by the test result. A character who succeeds in his Sanity Test loses fewer Sanity Points, while an investigator who fails the test may run screaming from a major Sanity loss.

Sanity Tests are detailed in each script. Here are two examples: The dimensional shambler emerges from the smoky portal and glares at the investigators. The characters must make a Sanity Test. The Success Score is POW 12. Successful investigators lose 3 Sanity Points. Those who fail lose 6 points.

Any character who reads the evil book must make a Sanity l k t . The Success Score = POW 11. The Sanity loss is 215.

Sanity Tests are described in this manner. When the Sanity loss is divided by a slash, the first value is the loss for success, while the second score is the loss for failure.


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RESULTS OF SANITY LOSS The investigator reacts in different ways, depending on how many Sanity Points are lost. The loss of a few points leaves the investigator shaken, but essentially unharmed. Negative reactions intensify as the Sanity loss increases.

Panic (5-Point Loss): The loss of 5 or more Sanity Points a t once sends the investigator into a panic. Direct the player to flee the room or freeze in fear. If the investigator flees the room, he should find a nearby place to hide for the next five to ten minutes, or until retrieved by the Keeper. If an investigator is frozen with fear, he can make no offensive action nor attempt any manner of test until given permission by the Keeper. He may only defend himself by dodging or parrying an opponent’s attack. This paralysis from fear will only last for a few seconds and is the lesser alternative to sending the investigator running in terror.

The loss of 5 or more Sanity Points from reading an unhallowed document or grimoire is a much more gradual shock and does not produce either of these results. It merely leaves the investigator profoundly disturbed and a shade paranoiac.

Insanity (20% in 1 Hour): The loss of 20% or more of an investigator’s Sanity Points within one hour drives him insane. Instruct the player to become catatonic, curl in a fetal position, or whatever seems most appropriate to the circumstances. In any case, the investigator is of no more use to the party in this state. He may be led around with the group, but makes no effort to flee or defend himself if attacked. According to the Keeper’s instructions, the insane character may remain dead silent, whimper, bab- ble, or laugh non-stop to the considerable annoyance of his fellow investigators, who may be trying to sneak to safety.

may reappear in a subsequent adventure as an NPC. A character with 0 Sanity Points is hopelessly insane with no chance of recovery. He

Pictured: Theodore Hubbard (Sean Branney) Keeper: Sean Branney Photo by Andrew Leman (December 1985), courtesy of the H. E Loveaaft Historical Society.

KEEPER’S GUIDE

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Agood Keeper decides any Sanity Tests before the encounter happens. You’ll know when the encounter takes place and what the investigators will see. It’s easy to establish Sanity losses and decide the results of success and failure ahead of time. When the investigators open the door to see blood-spattered walls and a hideous man-thing feast- ing on the entrails of the missing character, the prepared Keeper immediately issues Sanity results to the investigators.

Keep the Sanity point score on each player’s record up to date, so the 20% Sanity loss may be accurately tracked as the investigators descend into the depths of madness.

As mentioned in the Player’s Guide, anyone with the Psychoanalysis skill may attempt to calm an insane investigator. Ten minutes are required and either a Routine or Difficult Skill Test, depending on whether or not the insane investigator has been moved to more relaxed surroundings.

If the Psychoanalysis test is successful, the investigator may resume normal game play. By this time, of course, he’ll have lost so many Sanity Points that it won’t take much of a scare to send him back over the edge. The investigator will probably require professional care after the adventure is over. As a service to your players, make sure the character with Psychoanalysis has a

POW high enough to prevent him from being the first to go insane. Players who have little experience with the Cthulhu Mythos often fail to realize the importance of Sanity in the game. REGAINING SANITY At the end of the adventure, the Keeper awards experience and Sanity Points to surviving players. Each adventure script makes recommendations for these awards, but the Sanity regained will rarely equal the Sanity lost. All Lovecraft’s characters tended to go gradually insane.

This is an entirely optional rule and is left to the discretion of each Keeper.

Cthulhu Mythos. Many scenarios feature foes such as vampires, werewolves, ghosts, demons, and blood-thirsty psychos in hockey masks.

Groups that play many mainstream horror adventures should probably lighten the severity of Sanity loss. While terrifymg, such beings are still closer to human understanding than the alien horror of the Great Old Ones.

The best technique is to let Sanity Points increase with Power. Whenever an investigator spends Experience points to buy a new point of POW, raise his SP by 5.

Only the Keeper may decide in favor of this option. It allows investigators to survive much longer, but groups faithfully remaining within the Lovecraft universe should not allow Sanity to be so easily regained.

CURING INSANITY

BUYING SANITY POINTS

Some gaming groups opt not to adhere to a strictly traditional approach to the

HEALTH TESTS When investigators are exposed to toxic substances, radiation, or electrical shock, the Keeper makes a Health Test to determine the outcome. A Health “est is conducted like any other test. Constitution is the Supporting Ability. The Success Score represents the toxicity or power of the invading element.


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Health Tests resolve exposure to any toxic matter or shock to the investigator’s system. The situation may range from venomous animal bites, to drugs, to radiation sickness, to electrical shock, to exposure to dangerous biological agents. Results of success and failure are detailed in the text of each adventure. Here are some examples: A black, tar-like venom is smeared on the high priest’s dagger. Any investigator wounded by the weapon must take a Health Test at CON 11. Failure results in the loss of one Wound Point every ten minutes until death, or until the character is cured.

Any character drinking the drugged wine must take a Health Test at CON 12 or full unconscious for ten minutes. Successful characters feel woozy and realize something is amiss. No wounds are caused.

Any investigator injected with the drug must take a Health Test at CON 14 or lie helpless for ten minutes, experiencing hallucinogenic visions. No wounds are caused, but the trip- ping character must also make a Sanity Test at POW 11 with a Sanity loss of 012.

A blazing arc of electricity flares from the computer console and throws the investigator across the room. He must make a Health Test at CON 13 or suffer 1 Wound Point damage and immediate unconsciousness.

As one can see, the results of a Health Test can vary widely. For this reason, the effects of any Health Test must be detailed within the adventure script.

TREATING POISONED INVESTIGATORS A character with the Medicine skill may treat poisoned investigators. The doctor’s EDU is the Supporting Ability. Take the same Success Score that was tested against the victim’s CON. E.g., if the victim made a Health Test with a Success Score of 15, then the doctor must also test against that score to treat the victim.

Treating a poison victim rarely takes longer than a few minutes. A successful treatment stops the continuing Wound Point losses suffered by a poisoned investigator, or it may revive a drugged character. It might halt the advance of a biochemical agent or lessen the impact of radiation poisoning.

The Keeper should feel free to modify any time requirements and Success Scores based on available medical facilities and equipment. With access to specific anti-toxins and drugs, the doctor’s success is almost assured. Most doctors’ medical bags, however, have only common medicines and anti-toxins. If a doctor anticipates what poisons might be encountered ahead of time (e.g., exploring a rattlesnake-infested cave) he may notify the Keeper that he will stock his bag with the appropriate antivenin from his office or hospital.

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rcane magic and superhuman psychic feats are part of the alternate reality of Cthulhu Live. Magic draws on supernatural cosmic forces, of which man is but a A, inor player. Psychic powers are generated from the unexplored recesses of the

human mind. Both are resolved by the Magic Test. Magic and psychic abilities are primarily used by powerful NPC's. These powers are

beyond the reach of most humans. Investigators may resort to magic when battling horrors from the Cthulhu Mythos, but this always comes with a price. No human may keep his sanity if he delves too deeply into eldritch sorcery.

The talent and discipline required for psychic powers is one in a million. Keepers must be very selective about allowing Mystic player characters. Mysticism plays only a small part in the traditional Cthulhu Mythos and is more appropriate for mainstream horror adventures.

Very few specific spells are included in this chapter. Spells are very personal things and should be tailored to the requirements of each adventure. While certain spells are widely known and are found in many occult tomes, others are unique and known only by the sorcerer that developed the spell. After reading the guidelines in this chapter, you should be fully capable of scripting whatever spell is needed for your adventure.

MAGIC TESTS The Magic Test is resolved much like any other test in the game. Even the simplest magical spells are Difficult actions and most are categorized as Impossible. Complex summonings oRen require Success Scores of more than 30 points. Spell-casting involves complex rituals and usually requires a team effort. There's a reason cults operate in large numbers.

Characters don't fling fireballs or lightning bolts with gay abandon. Magic is the manipulation of the very fabric of reality. It's brought about through non-Euclidean geometric constructs, projecting the mind through maddening channels of alien logic, and bold petitions to unimaginably powerful beings existing beyond space and time.

POW is the Supporting Ability of a Magic Test. The Success Score is based on the complexity of the ritual or psychic feat. Most spells are so difficult that several characters must participate in the ritual. Only team efforts can muster the power necessary to breach the boundaries of time and space.

essary incantations and gestures of the ritual, or concentrate to awaken their psychic energy. The Keeper compares the investigators' Supporting Abilities to the Success Score of the Magic Test.

Magic in Cthulhu Live is not the same sort of magic familiar to fantasy role-players.

Characters notify the Keeper when they attempt a Magic Test. They perform the nec-

MAGIC POINTS Many Magic Tests force the investigator to make a Sanity Test. All require the expen- diture of Magic Points. The investigator loses these MP whether his test is successful or not. Magic Points measure an investigator's reserves of spiritual energy. They fuel sorcerous rituals and act as "psychic wound points" during psychic combat.

It's dangerous for a character's MP to dip too low. If a character expends all of his Magic Points, he may not attempt a Magic Test. It also leaves his mind unprotected from domination and possession. Powerful Mystics and supernatural creatures may conduct psychic attacks against an investigator with the intent of gaining control of his

CHAPTER 4: MAGIC

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Upon a moonless night, make you the Pentacle of the Black Man upon the solid earth with a fresh-cut hazel wand. Burn a black candle at each point of the Pentacle and dress yourself in proper vestments before stepping into the center. Take care not to break the lines in the earth, lest evil befall you. With a dagger raised in one hand, and a sprig of mistletoe in the other, call five times in a loud, steady voice: la! la! P’stha nach dram da Nyarlathotep! Ing clastharac dornos sha quentis ploriscurn! Nyarlathotep da Aegyptus velos thoringen! Iu! Zu! Nyarlathotep! la! la! Insig sed ak-Ceddi!

la! Sh’tak h i nu Yog-Sothoth erklos! Ceddi-ak nash trinh Azathoth! la! la! Radagastrask certos mortia sihn! lii! la! M‘glwi ptah Yog-Sothoth!

body. If the character lowered his magical energy through sorcery or psychic feats, he’s even more vulnerable to such attacks.

Magic Points are regained through meditation and sleep, Every ten minutes of meditation restores one Magic Point. Otherwise, all Magic Points are regained after eight hours of sleep.

MAGIC Magic predominantly consists of ritual summonings and bindings, and ritual protection. The magic of the Cthulhu Mythos is not something to be taken lightly, and it’s dangerously easier to summon something than to control it.

Any spell featured in an adventure should be convincingly prepared. Hunt around the local stationery shop for parchment paper and calligraphic pens. The ritual can be as simple or complex as the Keeper chooses.

A summoninglbinding spell breaches the barriers of time and space to bring powerful beings into our world. These entities are extremely dangerous and usually very unco- operative. The Keeper decides if the creature arrives bound, or if the summoner must then make a second Magic Test to bind it. It might depend on the version of the spell that the characters have found. Also, sometimes a binding spell can be used to control a creature that was come upon unexpectedly.

A protective circle or pentacle should be made to contain the creature being summoned. The characters may also be within a second protective circle when casting the spell. If the summoning is successfid, the creature appears shortly thereafter and prowls around the inside perimeter. (You hope no investigator blew a Sanity Test and fled from the protective circle.)

If necessary, the characters then immediately cast the binding spell. Even if the binding fails, the creature may still be unable to penetrate the circle.

The Outer Gods and Elder Gods are too powerful for most sorcerers to bind. Extremely rare and powerful spells may exist, but usually the summoner presents some sort of gift or sacrifice and hopes for the best. PROTECTIVE MAGIC The most useful spells for investigators are protective spells against the minions of the Great Old Ones. Make a stock of “Elder Signs” to keep in the prop room. Use artist’s clay that hardens when exposed to the air, and fashion the Elder Signs as elaborately as you like.

Each spell is addressed in detail by the script. Special notes on spell effects or variations are explained for the Keeper. The information on the Invocation of the Elder Sign may read:

SUMMONINGS/BINDINGS

Any investigator who invokes the powers of an Elder Sign makes a Magic Test against a Success Score of POW 15. The invocation costs the investigator 3 Magic Points and he makes a Sanity Test of POW 12 with a 1 / 2 Sanity loss.

If the characters make a new Elder Sign, the Success Score is POW 25. 10 MP are required and participants make a Sanity Test of POW 12 with a 214 Sanity loss. One investigator enchants the new symbol by permanently sacrificing a point of POW.

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Photo courtesy of Robert McLaughlin

The investigator may drive back some creatures and servitor races with the Elder Sign as i f it were a “holy symbol.” The Elder Sign may also be used to seal a portal or passage from most lesser creatures and even some of the more powerful entities. Specialized rituals, designed to dismiss or protect against specific creatures, are com-

mon. Magic spells or amulets giving invulnerability to firearms or various melee weapons might appear in some adventures, although this sort of protective magic is strictly limited. Cthulhu Live’s adventures are not overly forgiving and the Keeper should have no qualms about generating a high investigator body count. OFFENSIVE MAGIC Curses are an option, whether caused by a spell or by close association with some evil object. A curse may manifest as a penalty to Supporting Abilities during tests, or as a slow, creeping sickness. Offensive magic spells are rare, but they do exist. Shrivelling is one example of an offensive magic spell:

The caster makes a Sanity Test at POW 15, 113 Sanity loss. He makes a few arcane gestures and rattles o f f some unintelligible phrase. 2 Magic Points are expended.

The Keeper makes a Magic lkst with the victim’s POW as the Success Score. I f successful, the target loses 2 Wound Points to a limb of the caster’s choosing. These Wound Points may be healed only by magical means. The victim also makes a Sanity Test at POW 15, 215 Sanity loss, from the sight of his flesh withering and crumbling beneath the magic attack. If the spell fails, the victim suffers no injury or Sanity loss.

TEAM EFFORTS Most spells must be cast as team efforts. Use the same rule guidelines described in Test Resolution (page 43). There is no specific skill required for spell-casting, so the Keeper never increases the Success Score for “unskilled attempts” at sorcery. The investigators only need the correct ritual. Spells are difficult enough without further penalizing the characters. Critical failures are still possible, however, and can be quite vicious when dealing with magic.

All investigators casting the spell make Sanity Tests. The Magic Point loss is divided equally among the characters. One sees the advantage of team efforts when casting complex summoning and binding rituals.

LIVE ROLE-PLAYING NOTE In Cthulhu Live, the players are intended to act out their character’s actions in a convincing manner. The Keeper enforces spell failures if the investigators perform the ritual incorrectly, stumble over the incantations, or forget to take any special preparatory step.

During any live role-playing game, complications arise if the adventure is not held in a controlled area. This problem is exacerbated when dealing with magic. The gaming group needs to use common sense when setting up the adventure. Investigators shouldn’t be burning candles and shouting incantations in a public park. It’s a bad idea. Concerned citizens often fail to appreciate role-playing games, especially live RPGs featuring magic rituals. Spell-casting should be limited to indoor locations, where the gaming group can control the access of bystanders. Don’t attempt outdoor rituals unless you’re certain that the game will not disturb or offend passersby. Notify the proper authorities well in advance.

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PSYCHIC POWERS Magic alters reality with outside cosmic forces controlled by the will of the sorcerer. Psychic powers alter reality directly by the will of the Mystic. Consequently, only a very few individuals have the capability to perform psychic feats. Only investigators with the Mysticism skill have trained their minds to a level where they can exert their wills on the outside world. THE TEST The Magic Test resolves psychic powers. The test process is identical, except that no rituals or special preparations are required. The Mystic notifies the Keeper and con- centrates for a few moments to awaken his psychic energy.

with magic, every psychic feat drains a certain number of Magic Points from the Mystic. All Magic Points are lost, whether the test succeeds or fails.

POW is the Supporting Ability. It’s compared to the Success Score of the test. Just as

PSYCHIC AURAS AND MIND READING A Mystic may use his psychic power to read the auras of people or objects. Very general information is obtained with a Routine test. A person’s mood and thought pattern is read (anger, guilt, sorrow, complacency) or general facts about an object are determined (tied to violence, fashioned by a non-human artisan, greatly desired by another). This costs the psychic merely 1 Magic Point.

With a Difficult Test and the loss of 2 Magic Points, the Mystic gleans more detailed information. A person could be psychically identified as a murderer, associated with magic, having extensive contact with non-human entities, and so on. The Mystic may read an individual’s “magic aura” to tell the approximate POW and Magic Point scores of the target. An object may be identified as a murder weapon, as associated with a particular creature or deity, the previous property of a specific person, etc.

If the Mystic successfully performs an Impossible Test, with the loss of 3 Magic Points he receives visual images from an object or reads the surface thoughts of a person’s mind. The dagger used in a ritual killing assaults the Mystic’s mind with terrifying images of blood and death: snatches of chanted invocations, leering faces of deranged cultists, and perhaps a glimpse of an unearthly horror slipping from the darkness to claim the victim’s soul. More mundane objects provide glimpses of the lives of past owners, or may enable the Mystic to find the current location of the most recent owner.

Keeper provides this information to the Mystic. It could be useless drivel: “My back hurts. Why won’t these nosy people go away? Boy, I could sure go for a beer and a big bag of potato chips ... mmmm ... potato chips ....

two hours before the ritual begins. I still must find a brain for the master ....”

in the mind of an insane or non-human NPC, he is forced to take a Sanity Test.

The Mystic can also read an individual’s surface thoughts and intentions. The

On the other hand, the Mystic could obtain valuable information for the party: “Only

If the Mystic reads particularly horrible images from an object, or delves too deeply

PSYCHIC ATTACK Mystics and certain supernatural creatures may initiate psychic attacks. The attacker projects a blast of mental energy intended to strip away the defender’s Magic Points. If successful, the attack weakens the defender’s mind, renders him unconscious, or leaves him open to psychic domination or possession.

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Psychic attacks are probably the most complex tests in Cthulhu Live. They rarely occur in most adventures. Powerful NPC Mystics are few and far between. Mystic player characters usually find better uses for their Magic Points than mental arm- wrestling. These rules are included for the Keeper who enjoys scripting psychic phe- nomena or disembodied entities.

The attacker’s POW is the Supporting Ability. The defender’s POW is the Success Score. Each attempt drains 2 Magic Points from the attacker. He makes a Sanity Test at POW 15, l/2 Sanity loss. The attacker may invest additional MP to increase his Supporting Ability. Each extra MP put into the attempt increases his Supporting Ability by one point.

Defending Mystics and disembodied entities protect themselves by spending their own MP to increase the Success Score. Only Mystics and disembodied entities may use their Magic Points in defense. Other characters rely on their natural POW.

Protecting one’s own mind is easier than attacking the mind of another. Every Magic Point put into defense raises the Success Score by two. No Sanity Test is required for defense. A mental battle between two Mystics becomes a blind bidding contest. Neither knows the Power of the other, so each must decide how many MP to sacrifice.

Psychic attacks are very costly. Amateur Mystics quickly exhaust themselves and produce little effect. Only very powerful Mystics, with extremely high POW, use psychic attacks with any frequency. Not only do they have the extra MP to burn, but their high POW allows them to invest fewer points for dramatic effects. Persons with very low POW are most vulnerable to psychic attack.

defender loses Magic Points equal to the difference of the scores. He makes a Sanity Test a t POW 12 with a l/3 Sanity loss. A Mystic with an 18 POW attacks the mind of an investigator. The Mystic automatically loses 2 Magic Points, and decides to invest another 5. The psychic now has a Supporting Ability (modified POW) of 23. The two points lost initiating the attack are never calculated into the Supporting Ability.

If the attacker’s Supporting Ability exceeds the Success Score, he wins the test. The

The investigator has a POW of 12. He clearly loses the test. The Keeper lowers the investigator’s Magic Points to 1, due to the tremendous difference in scores (23-12=11 point loss). An appropriate Sanity Test is made, and the results applied. Another psychic attack will certainly blow the investigator away, even if the attacking psychic doesn’t invest additional Magic Points and uses only his natural POW score.

If the Supporting Ability equals the Success Score, the attack is a draw. All invested MP are lost and the defender has the unsettling realization that someone is crawling around in his mind (Sanity Test a t POW 12 with a 0/1 Sanity loss).

If the Supporting Ability is less than the Success Score, the attack failed. Any invested Magic Points are lost and the defender merely feels a strange chill pass through his body (no Sanity Test required). The attacking psychic loses MP equal to the difference of the scores as the defender’s mind hurls back the blast of psychic energy. A Mystic NPC with a 20 POW initiates an attack against an investigator. The player character is also a Mystic, and he senses his mind is under attack. The attacker spends his 2 MP for the attempt, and invests an additional 5 points. His Supporting Ability is now 25.

The investigator has a 15 POW. He doesn’t know the NPC‘s POW or how many Magic Points are invested in the attack, but he’s sure the NPC is powerful. He decides to spend 8

CHAPTER 4: MAGIC

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KEEPER’S GUIDE

MP to increase the Success Score. In defense, each Magic Point raises the Success Score by two points. The Success Score is now 31 (15+(8x2)=31).

The attacker fails to beat the Success Score and loses the test. In addition to the 7 Magic Points the NPC already spent, he loses an additional 6 MP from the energy thrown back to him (31 -25=6).

If someone is lowered to 0 Magic Points from psychic combat, he is knocked unconscious for ten minutes. No physical damage is inflicted, but he is extremely vulnerable to psychic domination and possession. DOMINATION AND POSSESSION When a character is reduced to 0 Magic Points, from psychic attack or overuse of his own magic powers, he becomes a target for domination and possession.

A Magic Test is conducted, as in a psychic attack, pitting the attacker’s POW against the POW of his target. Even if the target is unconscious, his mind will make a final, feeble attempt to resist the invader. 2 Magic Points are spent in the dominatiodposses- sion attempt. Magic Points may be invested to increase the Success Score, but usually are not required. The attacker needs to equal or exceed the defender’s POW. Even if the defender is psychic, he has no more MP with which to protect himself.

If the Magic Test for domination succeeds, the defender’s psyche is subdued and rendered dormant. The Mystic commands the dominated character to do his bidding. In game play, the Mystic simply tells the player what to do, and his character carries out the instructions like an automaton.

Disembodied supernatural creatures possess the body of an investigator. The test is made in the same manner as described above. The Keeper explains what happened to the player and instructs him in any special role-playing notes.

up small changes in the investigator’s personality and behavior. Some possessions are dramatically apparent: The investigator screams, froths a t the mouth, gibbers in an alien tongue, and crawls awkwardly around as the entity learns to control its unfamil- iar new body. ESCAPING DOMINATION AND POSSESSION Domination: If the dominated individual has a lower POW than the Mystic, he cannot break free of his own will. If the dominated character has a higher POW than the Mystic, then the Mystic must spend one additional Magic Point every ten minutes in order to retain control. This represents how exceptionally strong wills may break domination on their own.

Domination immediately ceases if the Mystic is knocked out or killed. Otherwise, psychic domination lasts a maximum of twenty-four hours.

Possession: Possession is much more difficult to escape, since the creature actually resides in the character’s body. There is no time limit on the length of possession, and the investigator may not break free of his own will. Any MP the character regains are used by the possessor as an energy pool before investing its own points.

The possessor may leave at any time it chooses, but usually remains in the host body until it completes its goals and/or runs the character’s body to death. Death of the host expels the possessor, but causes no damage to the disembodied entity.

Other characters may not even realize their companion is possessed, unless they pick

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Only exorcism frees the investigator. Exorcism may be attempted by Mystics or holy men who have the Mysticism skill. The possessor must be weakened and cast out of the host body.

own and the host's MP for defense. Reducing possessor and host to 0 MP is difficult. Exorcism is best performed by a team effort.

to cast out the entity. By this time, the host is likely unconscious, but the entity remains in the character's body until successfully driven out. Exorcism is a long, involved process and the exorcists should physically subdue the host body.

Exorcists conduct psychic attacks against the possessor. The possessor uses both its

When host and possessor are reduced to zero points, a separate attack test is made

TEAM EFFORTS Psychc powers require the Mysticism skill and extensive training. Team efforts involving psychic powers (exorcisms and seances, for example) are considered unskilled attempts if more than half of the participants do not have the Mysticism skill.

Pictured: Roxy Ross (Gabbye Birchak), Cynthia Holbourne (Rebecca Johnson), Frank Long (Steven Einspahr) Keeper: Sean Branney Photo by Sean Branney (October 1988), courtesy of the H. I! Lovecraft Historical Society.

CHAPTER 4: MAGIC

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CHAPTER 5: THE LOVECRAFTIAN UNIVERSE hroughout most of Lovecraft’s stories, he develops a grim alternate reality lying beneath the surface of everyday life. These ideas put forth by Lovecraft, and T later expanded by other authors, are referred to as the Cthulhu Mythos.

Lovecraft’s vision is a cold, unforgiving universe where man is but an insect beneath the feet of ancient evils striding between the stars. Legends of these creatures survive in occult traditions across the world, although most facts have been twisted and con- fused through the eons.

Unable to bear the horrible, empty truth of his own pitifid existence, man wove a protective veil of ignorance and an exaggerated view of his own importance in the cos- mos. When this veil is swept aside and man witnesses the awful truths of the universe, his mind usually plummets into the depths of blackest madness.

Powerful alien beings descended to Earth from the stars when the planet was still young. The Great Old Ones built cities and dug their lairs in the infant Earth. Long- forgotten races served the Great Old Ones and worshiped them as gods.

They warred among each other for eons and committed terrible abominations. But “after summer is winter, after winter summer”, and the domination of Earth slipped from the grasp of the Great Old Ones.

Many of the Great Old Ones slipped into a state of hibernation, as the stars spun in the heavens to positions unfavorable to their waking existence. Others were apparently imprisoned by a race of Elder Gods. Some are still free, lurking unseen in the dark corners of the Earth, or just beyond the limits of our five senses.

Even though dormant, the Great Old Ones still exert their malevolent wills from their resting places. Many humans and non-human races built cults around the Great Old Ones. These ancient beings encourage their worshipers to set changes in motion that will free them once again from the sleep of millennia.

other nightmare beings beyond man’s comprehension or understanding.

CATEGORIES OF CREATURES Chaosium has created a set of categories to define the creatures of the Cthulhu Mythos. Lovecraft was not quite so concerned with organizing his nightmares into any clear hierarchy, but this category system simplifies matters for role-playing garners.

The Great Old Ones are alien beings of incredible power and malevolence. They are not true gods, but they are often worshiped as deities by lesser life-forms. While immortal, many of them are forced into periods of dormancy by natural cycles in the stars. Cthulhu is the most infamous of the Great Old Ones, and lies dreaming in his sunken city beneath the South Pacific.

The Outer Gods are the true rulers of the universe and have little to do with humanity. Meddling with the Outer Gods inevitably brings madness and death. The ruler of their hellish court is the demon sultan Azathoth, a blind, idiotic monstrosity the size of a star, writhing eternally in the center of the universe.

Several Outer Gods take special interest in the affairs of mankind. Yog-Sothoth, for example, is a being coterminous with all time and space. He is called the Key and Guardian of the Gate, and is petitioned in almost every ritual of summoning. Yog- Sothoth desires to enter this plane to feast on the life it contains, but may only do so when the way is opened to travel from his usual domains between the universes.

Besides the Great Old Ones and their minions, this dark universe crawls with many

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Nyarlathotep is an Outer God who has visited mankind throughout history. Delighting in spreading madness and despair, Nyarlathotep is often a bringer of dark secrets and forbidden knowledge man is not yet ready to know.

The Elder Gods are rarely mentioned in the stories of the Mythos. They seem to be a race of gods neutral to, and are possibly rivals of, the Outer Gods. Few Elder Gods are known by name; Nodens, H y p o s , Bast, and Vorvadoss are some exceptions. The five- pointed Elder Sign, respected and feared by the Great Old Ones, draws upon the strength of the Elder Gods.

Great Old Ones and the Outer Gods. This isn’t quite Lovecraft’s original vision of a vast, cold, malevolent universe. This idea may be used by Keepers wanting to add a ray of hope in the darkness of these adventures. The Elder Gods should not be abused as a d e w ex machina to pull the investigators’ bacon out of the fire whenever they run afoul of the Great Old Ones.

Non-humans are divided into Independent and Servitor Races, depending on how strongly they are connected to a particular god or Great Old One. Servitor races carry out the bidding of various dark powers and often enlist humans into the worship of the Great Old Ones. Independent races usually have agendas of their own. They maintain a healthy respect and sometimes a working relationship with other beings of the Mythos.

egories and are designated as unique entities.

Some writers after Lovecraft used these deities as cosmic foils against the evil of the

Finally, a few creatures in Lovecraft’s universe don’t clearly fall into any of these cat-

MAKING MONSTERS Simulating monsters requires some work. NPC’s must pitch in to help the Keeper with pregame preparations. A well crafted monster is the mind-blasting revelation at the climax of the adventure. It should be a matter of personal pride for the Keeper and NPC’s to construct something really terrifymg.

Most players enter the game thinking that truly alien horrors are impossible to simulate. This makes the effect all the better.

As the game progresses, the players are put under stress by plot complications, a cultist ambush, and the loss of a few fellow investigators. Suddenly, the corroded portal in the basement swings open with a rush of smoke, and they see an immense, heaving shoggoth-ten feet across-slither into the room. A half dozen ropy tentacles lash about in the chaotic flickering of a strobe light, as the unearthly terror rushes down upon them. The screams of terror may well be genuine.

All monsters have a set of abilities similar to those used by the characters. Often these abilities are much higher than the human maximum of 20. Those are the benefits of eating all your sacrificial victims as a growing young monster.

illustrating the creature’s relative intelligence and agility. Creatures knowing magic spells or possessing psychic powers are specially noted. POW and Magic Points often reflect the increased psychic energies of their alien minds.

No skills are listed, but special defenses apply to certain monsters. Some creatures have tough hides or scales that function as armor. Others are immune to physical weapons.

MONSTER ABILITIES AND SKILLS

Monsters rarely need to make Skill Tests, so consider EDU and DEX to be guidelines

CHAPTER 5: CREATURES

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KEEPER’S GUIDE

Sanity Tests and Sanity Point losses are suggested for each monster. Individual Keepers should tailor the tests to suit the requirements of their adventure. The shock of seeing an old friend stumbling along in a crowd of undead is far worse than seeing a few anonymous zombies. BASIC BODY TYPES In Cthulhu Live, most creatures can be described as belonging to one of three basic body types. Monsters in each body type share physical similarities and common COS-

tuming techniques. These body types are: anthropomorphic amorphous (alien) giant

Anthropomorphics include deep ones, ghouls, mi-go, nightgaunts, zombies, and similar monsters following the basic outline of a human form. They’re played by a single NPC with appropriate make-up and costume pieces. They are generally the easiest creatures to make.

Amorphous creatures include flying polyps, formless spawn, shoggoths, and all entities which are blob-like or utterly alien. Creatures like the Great Race and chthonians have definite body shapes, but are included in this group since the costume techniques are very similar. Amorphous monsters are usually played by two or more NPC’s.

Giant monsters include dark young, gugs, Dagon, Tsathoggua, and other creatures that have a definite body shape, but are much taller than an average human. Usually a single NPC plays these creatures, but with special costume items to increase his apparent size. These are often the most complicated creatures to replicate. USEFUL ITEMS Costume pieces are used in different combinations to create dozens of monsters. Don’t throw anything away. As you play more adventures, you’ll stockpile interchangeable costume pieces. These are a few useful materials for monster making:

theatrical make-up latex masks large bed sheets an assortment of foam rubber

spray paint Before we start talking about specific creatures, we’ll run through a few basic tech-

niques. Once you know the basics, it’s easy to mix and match effects to create an endless variety of unsavory beasts.

USING MAKE-UP Theatrical make-up is useful for human NPC‘s as well as monsters. You’ll use make-up on most anthropomorphic entities encountered by the investigators. Base creams and powders of various colors, plastic fangs, stage blood, blood capsules, and liquid latex all prove valuable investments. There are several cost-cutting techniques to maximize a gaming group’s budget. BASE CREAMS The base creams you’ll need are white, black, green, and brown. Pick up a bottle of white base from a costume shop. You’ll need it when making pallid beasties. Talcum

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Photo courtesy of

~

Robert McLaughlin.

powder is an inexpensive option to white base. Apply a thin sheen of baby oil to the skin first, then lightly dust on the talcum powder.

Packages of camouflage make-up are available in hunting stores and army surplus shops. Buy the tubes of cream, not the hard camouflage sticks. Cream goes on and comes off much easier. Brown, black, and green are the standard colors, and these are perfect for almost any monster requirements. POWDERS Powders take us into more advanced make-up techniques. Commonly combined with colored base creams, powders accent special features and provide for effective blending techniques. Black, green, red, purple, and blue are all commonly used colors.

The hollows of cheekbones, the shadows of the neck and throat, and the depths of the eyes are often treated with powder. A dusting of red around the eyes of a white- skinned mutant gives him a terribly fierce appearance. The subtle application of blue, purple, and green adds a horrible cadaverous look to a corpse. The secret is not to over- do the powder. Just a hint of color is required.

Red, blue, purple, and black powders are also used to simulate bruises on NPC’s. Dab the colors on with a small sponge wedge. Use lighter hues at the edges, then let the skin grow darker a t the center of the bruise.

If you’re watching your budget, avoid the professional make-up powders. They’re good, but can become rather expensive. An alternative is buying boxes of pastel chalks and charcoals from an art store. Crush them into a fine powder and you’ll have a rain- bow assortment of make-up. Store them in shallow jars and apply the crushed chalk with a make-up brush or sponge. FANGS AND BLOOD Plastic fangs and blood capsules are easy to find around Halloween, but may require some effort to pin down during other times of the year. There are several companies offering great prices on horror make-up and effects all year round. Look in the classified ads of horror and science fiction movie magazines.

Besides buying blood, play around with different home formulas. Sometimes this is a cheaper source than professional stage blood. Corn syrup with red and blue food color- ing, ketchup and Worcestershire sauce, whatever. You’ll find lots of inspiration around the kitchen.

Fake blood shouldn’t be overused. Even if you find a cheap supply, don’t run the risk of spoiling players’ clothing. I haven’t found a blood formula yet that was completely washable from fabrics.

LIQUID LATEX For a detailed treatment of latex make-up effects, check a book on stage make-up out of your local library. We’ll just examine a few basic techniques here. To make rotting skin, pour small puddles of liquid latex on a sheet of wax paper.

Using a spoon, spread the latex out into very thin, irregular shapes. When the latex dries, it may be carefully peeled away, making thin flaps of “skin.”

of the NPC. Bunch the “skin” in places to produce wrinkles and blisters, and leave it unattached in others to produce gruesome shreds of flesh.

Use only a tiny amount of spirit gum, or the NPC will hate you for life. Prevent spirit gum from entering the eyes, and avoid eyebrows, beards, and mustaches. This works best if the NPC is clean-shaven.

Using a small amount of spirit gum, attach these pieces to the face, neck and hands


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Photo courtesy of Robert McLaughlin.

Apply make-up to blend the latex with the NPC’s skin color. Lurid shades of base

Latex prosthetics are molded bits of latex simulating open wounds, horns, warts, and creams and powder complete the decaying flesh.

strange bone growths. Prosthetics are used to change the appearance of chins, noses, and cheekbones. If you take care not to tear the prosthetic when removing it, these pieces may be used many times. Costume shops and mail-order horror emporiums sell ready-made latex prosthetics. Just attach with spirit gum and blend them with make- UP-

While professionalIy made prosthetics look very nice, it’s more economical to try making your own. We’ve already discussed how to make pieces of latex skin. One technique is to trim, fold, and paste these latex pieces to create the desired three-dimensional shape.

of the object you wish to produce. Coat the walls of the mold with latex, and let it dry before peeling away the mold.

Tissue paper soaked in latex is perfect to fashion the edges of open wounds. Shape the wet latex and paper into the desired cut, bullet hole, claw marks, or whatever. Allow it to dry on wax paper. Attach with spirit gum and add make-up and fake blood to create grisly effects. LATEX MASKS With masks, it’s wiser and more economical to wait until the group needs a specific mask, rather than a blanket purchase of every one that looks remotely useful. Look at the ads in the back of horror movie magazines to get the addresses of mask suppliers.

Full-head masks are the best, unless you combine the mask with a hood or wig. Apply black cream around the NPC’s eyes to minimize the contrast through the eye sockets of the mask.

break them down into several categories. Fish Creatures Maniacs

Vampires

Werewolves Zombies

Weird Stuff

Another technique is to make a “mold” out of foil. Shape it into a negative impression

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of masks on the market. For our purposes, we

FISH CREATURES: Make-up can be used to get the early stages of “the Innsmouth Look”, but mature deep ones are tough to simulate. Fish-creature masks are your best bet when creating these salt-water fiends.

MANIACS: Wide-eyed mad men and scar-faced killers. What a waste. They never look as good as in the photos, and a good make-up job is far superior. I recommend giving these a wide berth.

VAMPIRES: Some adventures feature vampires, but you’ll be much better off using make-up and plastic fangs for these blood-suckers.

There are a few vampire masks on the market representing the Nosferatu style of vampire. These have canine faces, pointed ears, and large, protruding fangs. Nosferatu masks are some of the best I’ve ever seen to create Lovecraft’s ghouls.

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WEREWOLVES: If you want werewolves in your adventure, I recommend masks. The make-up techniques are too complex for most role-playing groups. Werewolf masks for ghouls are a possibility, but these masks are usually too hairy for my tastes.

ZOMBIES: One of the largest mask categories, these run the gamut from rotting corpses to fresh victims with ghastly head wounds. If you’re running an adventure with a lot of undead creatures, try to stick with make-up. The undead usually roam in large groups. Buying masks for everyone can be expensive. A good make-up job usually looks better than a mask. The only advantage with masks is that they allow quicker costume changes.

WEIRD STUFF: A lot of useless junk, but a lot of good stuff too. I’ve seen masks that make perfect gugs, dimensional shamblers, lab mutants, and even more bizarre things. A few of the anthropomorphic creatures are hard to make with simple make-up, but weird masks may fit the bill perfectly. BED SHEETS These are very useful items you’ll use over and over. They are essential when creating amorphous and giant monsters. Dye the sheets a dark color (gray or brown) and try for an uneven appearance. Experiment with tie-dying the sheets gray, allowing them to dry, then making a second tie-dye pattern in brown. This creates a blotched, mottled surface. Besides tie-dying, spray painting is another option. Paint whorls, textures, and the tracery of veins and arteries. I once made great use of spray paint on an old set of brown drapes. Cut several slits in the sheet, large enough for a head or arm. If you really want to add a nice touch, sew strips of Velcro on the edges of the sheets so several of

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Photo courtesy of Robert McLaughlin

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FOAM RUBBER Large creatures require a lot of foam rubber, so look for a cheap supply. An assortment of shapes and sizes is handy. Fashion the stuff into large tentacles, eyestalks, claws, pincers, alien heads, etc.

use scissors and hobby knives. Don’t worry about cutting perfect forms and precise edges. The playing environment and lighting effects help to obscure the creature. The finished pieces are painted to an uneven, mottled appearance. 1. The best tentacles are made with several roughly cylindrical pieces of foam rubber carved out of a block (see left).

Proper tools for cutting foam rubber are uncommon and expensive, so you’ll probably

2. Punch holes through each segment and run a strong cord through the pieces, connecting them together. Tie a knot in the cord at the tentacle’s tip and tape the excess securely. Tie the cord from the base segment to a short wooden dowel. 3. Fashion an arm-length “sleeve” from a thin foam sheet. Overlap the sleeve around the base of the tentacle and wrap the junctures in cloth. The NPC slips his arm through the sleeve and grips the dowel. You may wrap the tentacle in duct tape for strength. Cover the joints with scraps of ragged cloth or burlap. This conceals gaps between segments and adds a mangy, unclean look to the whole piece. The same techniques apply to creating eyestalks and giant pincers.

Mount immense foam rubber claws on broom sticks or retracted crutches. Pad them and wrap in dark cloth. The NPC grips the handles of the crutches and plants the padded tops against his shoulders. Use care with these appendages; don’t hit anyone with the wooden “arms.”

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MAKING WINGS Several anthropomorphic races require wings. Byakhee, mi-go, and nightgaunts are some examples. The techniques are the same for all. Once a few pairs of wings have been made, set them aside in your prop room for the next time you need a winged creature. The internal skeleton of the wings is made from stiff wire. Bent coat hangers are an easily available option, but are of limited length when unfolded. Most hardware stores sell 14-gauge steel wire commonly used for fences. This is strong enough for the internal frame and it can be trimmed to whatever size is required. Fashion the wings into either an open or folded position. Open wings are very impressive but can’t be used indoors without breaking things. If used outside, they frequently snag on bushes and branches. I recommend a nice, half-folded position, unless the encounter occurs in a large room or open clearing. Mount the wire skeleton onto a harness to be worn by an NPC. Old belts can be trimmed and riveted for this purpose. A weight belt is an excellent choice for this. Another excellent option is to visit an Army surplus store and buy a nylon and aluminum rucksack frame. Paint the frame black and mount the wing skeletons on the aluminum frame. We once built a set of wings on such a rucksack frame with a bed- spring linking the two wings near their bases. When the NPC shrugged his shoulders, the wings flapped menacingly. Stretch lightweight black cloth or tattered nylon over the frame. If the cloth is too heavy, you’ll bend the wire skeleton. Secure the cloth with black tape, staples, or strategic stitching.

MAKING AN AMORPHOUS MONSTER The process of making flying polyps, formless spawn, shoggoths, and similar alien beasties is virtually identical. Three to five NPC’s are usually required, depending on how large the creature should be. Drape the pattern-dyed sheets over the NPC’s. It may be necessary to use more than one sheet, since a lot of excess material is preferred. You don’t want sheets lift-


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Giant puppet of Nodens made by Andrew Leman. It was built in four sections (head, torso, left arm, right arm). Keeper: Andrew Leman Photo by Sean Branney (August 1988), courtesy of the H. E! Lovecraft Historical Society.

ing up to expose the feet of NPC‘s. Velcro strips sewn on the edges of the sheets are ideal. Each NPC has at least one foam-rubber appendage (tentacle, eyestalk, etc.) to extend through a slit in the sheet. The exact positioning of NPC’s beneath the sheet, and the configuration of appendages, depends on the creature in question.

MAKING A GIANT MONSTER A giant monster is usually simulated by a single NPC, but he requires a lot of extra costuming to increase his size. One method is to make a set of short, strap-on stilts. Use 2”x4” pine boards to construct a set of stilts raising the wearer two to three feet in height. A good technique is to rivet and tape an old pair of lace-up boots to the stilts. The NPC can lace his feet into the stilts and walk about with comparative ease. You may want to experiment with flat wooden “feet” nailed to the bottom of the stilts for extra stability. Don’t forget that the human foot flexes with each step. Some practice is required to walk safely with these large rigid feet. Depending on the monster simulated, a few blocky foam rubber pieces are built about the stilts into monstrous feet or hooves. Tentacles, pincers, and claws are made from foam rubber, as described earlier. Drape one of the pattern-dyed sheets over the NPC’s body. It should hang low enough to conceal the upper part of the stilts, unless you’ve padded the stilts and the NPC’s legs with cloth and foam rubber all the way up. The sheet increases the NPC’s body mass, especially if foam rubber pads are laced to his shoulders beneath the cloth. The crowning touch, the costume piece used to cover or conceal the NPC’s head, depends on the creature in question. Latex masks, foam rubber hoods, or masses of tentacles are all possible options. An alternative way of building a giant creature is to add height above the actor instead of below him. For this construction method you start with a sturdy frame pack (available at sporting goods stores in the backpackinghiking or camping department). This type of pack comes with a sturdy belt for back support. Build the framework for the creature’s body from PVC pipe or something similar. Create a general blocked-out shape of the monster and attach the framework to the frame pack. Take the time to make sure that all joints are secure and strong! Drape the framework with fabric appropriate to the creature being represented. Make sure that the fabric skirt is long enough to cover the actor. Insert a strip of some kind of see-through fabric (such as cheesecloth, which is easily dyed to match the rest of your fabric) a t eye level so the actor can see where he’s going. If appropriate, make a head (a Styrofoam wig stand makes a good model to work from) and attach it to the top of the framework. If you want to get really elaborate, it is possible to build a skull cap for the actor that connects to the creature’s head so the head can rotate. Limbs and wings can also be made and attached to the framework. Because of the height and weight of the this type of construct, and of the restricted vision, it is mandatory that the actor have one or two “spotters” to help him maneu-

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ver. The spotters can also manipulate limbs if the creature has any. The team should practice to ensure the safest performance. Due to the top-heavy nature of this type of costume, it is necessary to put it on while seated. The frame pack should be on the seat and the rest of the costume should be leaning against a wall. The spotters hold up the “skirt” and the actor belts on the frame pack. The spotters then help the actor stand and drape the skirt over him. Reverse the procedure to get out of the costume.

BESTIARY Each monster is presented with an average range of ability scores, notes on special defenses and magic use, and a short summary of how to create the monster. Particularly large examples of some creatures have higher ability scores than those listed in this chapter.

Due to the fact that some creatures are much larger than they are dexterous, there may be a separate combat value listed after DEX. This indicates that the creature is slow and strong. In such cases, the combat value is used instead of DEX in melee combat, but no more than the listed DEX may be used in defense. The rest must be put into offense.

put up to 8 points in defense. The other 24 must be used in offense. Example: A chthonian has a DEX of 8, but a Combat Value of 32. Thus, it can only


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In addition, all non-humanoid creatures may have the following statistics. These will only be listed when they differ from the norm.

SPEED: The number of steps the creature may take during the movement round of combat. The Keeper will need to count up to this number when counting off steps. (Speed for normal humans is 8.) If a creature is flying, the NPC must make this clear, and the creature can not engage in melee.

round. The creature splits his DEX+Damage Bonus between all attacks and defense as desired.

DAMAGE BONUS: Some creatures, due to their size, get a natural offensive bonus on melee attacks. This is added to the offensive number of their melee attack and to all numbers when involved with a grab.

This is by no means a complete treatment of all entities in the Cthulhu Mythos, but it is sufficient to get any gaming group started. It also includes common creatures from traditional horror fiction. Keepers may easily invent new creatures or import others from books, films, and Chaosium’s Call of CthuZhuB role-playing game. BYAKHEE (LESSER SERVITOR RACE)

ATTACKS: Some creatures have the option of attacking more than one target in a

EDU 10-15 DEX 13-18 CON 15-19 POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15 Speed: 5 walW20 fly Attacks: 2 Damage Bonus: +1 Special Attacks: After grabbing, may Bite for 1 point of CON drain instead of crushing. Special Defenses: 2-point armor Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 3/6

Byakhee are a hideous race of interstellar beings often serving Hastur the Unspeak- able. They may fly through the air and through the vacuum of space. Byakhee are often summoned by humans to serve as steeds, take part in occult rituals, or perform murderous deeds.

The exact appearance of the byakhee is unclear. They’ve been described as bearing similarities to crows, buzzards, ants, and decomposed human beings. Use some imagination when creating your byakhee.

Make a set of wings as discussed earlier in the chapter. Dress the NPC in black or dark brown clothing and wrap one of the pattern-dyed sheets around his body. Split- toed tabi boots are good choices for the feet. Look for some strange mask to conceal the NPC’s features. Something bird-like or insect-like should work nicely.

Byakhee never use weapons. They either claw at their opponents or seize and bite them. They have a taste for blood and may try to drain their victim dry. The bite drains 1 point of CON each round. This will return at the rate of 1 CON per day. Usually, once a Byakhee has begun to bite, it will continue this every round until its victim is slain.

magical ceremonies with human wizards. A few byakhee know spells related to Hastur and his minions. They may take part in

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CHTHONIAN (GREATER INDEPENDENT RACE) EDU 15-25 DEX 7-10 CON 40-45 POW 15-25 WP MP 15-25 Combat Value: DEXx4 Speed: 6 Attacks: 4 Damage Bonus: +7 Special Attacks: Psychic attack Special Defenses: 5-point armor. Regenerates 5 WP/round once wounded, but dies immediately upon reaching 0 WP. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

These immense beings have a slime-dripping, worm-like body and a mass of thrashing tentacles for a head. They have a complex life cycle that begins with hatchlings the size of a common earthworm and that leads to adults fifty to one hundred feet in length. Each of these burrowing horrors lives well over a thousand years.

Largely unconcerned with surface dwellers, chthonians spend most of their time deep beneath the earth. Chthonians are very protective of their young. They will hunt down and destroy anyone stealing one of their eggs. Evil sorcerers occasionally summon chthonians to cause terrible earthquakes.

ties. They may communicate telepathically and can search the minds of humans for information they require. A chthonian may telepathically communicate with a human anywhere on Earth, but it takes time before the creature determines the human’s exact location.

A chthonian may match its POW against the POW of its intended victim. If the POW of the chthonian is higher, the victim is psychically bound to a particular spot. He may not leave that area under his own power. This prevents the escape of the victim. A single chthonian may psychically bind only one individual at a time.

Three or four NPC’s are required to simulate a chthonian. Because of the tremendous size of an adult chthonian, only the head of the creature is actually replicated.

In an outdoor adventure, you’ll need a pit dug in the ground at least four feet deep and about six feet in diameter. If the adventure is indoors, remember that the chthonian would only burst into the basement or ground floor. Some sort of depression in the floor or an unused doorway is required. You’ll need two foam rubber tentacles and a dark cloth hood for each NPC. A single pattern-dyed sheet is often sufficient.

Beyond those requirements, it’s fairly easy to make a chthonian. The NPC’s put the cloth hoods over their heads and slide foam rubber tentacles over their arms. They stand very close together and extend the tentacles over their heads. Wind the pattern- dyed sheet around their bodies.

moment when the chthonian breaks the surface. They suddenly stand up and lash out with their tentacles at anything that comes near.

Obviously, the chthonian is limited in that it can’t move from its hole. It has a won- derful shock value, however. The Keeper must coach the NPC’s to keep their bodies close together and their tentacles in a tight group.

Besides attacking with their tentacles, chthonians have several special psychic abili-

Crouching down in the hole, or on the other side of the door, they wait for the


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CRAWLING ONE (LESSER SERVITOR RACE) EDU 10-15 DEX 4-8 CON 15-20

MP 18-25 POW18-25 WP Special Attacks: None Special Defenses: Firearms and melee weapons do only half damage, rounded up. Fire, magic, and enchanted weapons do normal damage. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

Crawling ones are a vile race of servitor beings that often traffic with both the Great Old Ones and human wizards. Each crawling one is composed of thousands of wriggling worms and maggots that hold the general shape of a human body.

Crawling ones must use weapons in combat, and they are difficult to injure with bullets or melee attacks. They are incapable of speech, but may write messages and communicate telepathically with their alien masters. All crawling ones are capable of using magic. Their sorcery is not hindered by their lack of speech.

An NPC playing a crawling one should wear human clothes. Everything from stained rags to a business suit may be appropriate depending on the adventure. In this way, only his head and hands need special treatment.

Find a very inexpensive, full-head latex mask. It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as it’s still in the shape of a human head. You’ll also need a pair of gloves.

From here, there are a couple of options. At large hunting and fishing stores, you can often buy bulk quantities of rubber fishing worms. Pick out a few nice colors and buy a couple pounds of rubber worms. Another option is to make scores of worm-like strands on wax paper with a bathroom caulking gun.

Start gluing the worms to the mask and gloves. “ry to space the worms to get maximum surface coverage, while still leaving a few worm ends to dangle and jiggle. If you used bathroom caulking, paint them an appropriate color. A good compromise is covering most of the mask with caulking worms, paint it, then add a few rubber worms to finish the mask and gloves.

If you don’t want to go to the trouble of making a full head mask, buy one of those blank white-plastic masks available a t most costume shops. These are the ones with a semi-rigid plastic face and a rubber band to secure it around the head. Decorate the mask with worms, then use a hood to cover the NPC‘s hair. CTHULHU (GREAT OLD ONE)

CON 100 EDU 45 DEX 20 POW 50 WP 160 MP 50 Combat Value: 100 Speed: 24 walW2O s w i d l 6 fly Attacks: 2 claws or 4 tentacles Damage Bonus: +22 claws, +11 tentacles Special Attacks: None Special Defenses: 21 points of armor; regenerates 6 WP/round Sanity Test POW 16 Sanity Loss 4/15

Cthulhu sleeps in the sunken city of Rlyeh, deep beneath the Pacific Ocean. Of all the Great Old Ones, his cult is the most active and can be found all over the world. Cthulhu is served by the beings known as deep ones, and by the giant octopoid things known as his spawn. It has been surmised that Cthulhu is perhaps the high priest and ruler of his terrible race.

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Cthulhu will rarely, if ever, actually make an appearance in Cthulhu Live. He is presented here to show that there are ways of simulating even the largest beings from the Mythos.

Cthulhu’s servants and cultists are dangerous enough. In person, his power is incal- culable. A miracle is needed to save the lives of any mortals unfortunate enough to meet this Great Old One. He might appear at the climax of a series of adventures, or be featured during an adventure session for a gaming convention.

Cthulhu is vaguely anthropoid with an octopus-like head, a bloated, rubbery body, tremendous claws, and wings. He is so large that only parts of his body can be replicated by the gaming group. This might be in the form of a tremendous, flabby arm, or more commonly his head. A possible appearance of Great Cthulhu could be his tenta- cled face emerging from the darkness or through a doorway.

If your group decides it wants an adventure with Great Cthulhu himself, his head can be made from pattern dyed sheets stretched over a light frame. Wood, plastic tub- ing, even the frames of large camping tents could be used to create the basic shape of his head. His facial tentacles are wielded by a group of NPC’s hidden inside the head, in a manner similar to the chthonian mock-up. I suggest using red-gelled lights for his eyes.

There’s really no way a party can hope to defeat Cthulhu with physical means. Even a nuclear device may not destroy this horror from the stars. Only powerful magic, or perhaps intervention from the Elder Gods themselves, has any hope of stopping Great Cthulhu once he’s released. Use this Great Old One with care, unless you’re planning a nice end-of-the-world scenario. DARK YOUNG OF SHUB-NIGGURATH (GREATER SERVITOR RACE)

EDU 15-20 DEX 15-20 CON 25-30 POW20-25 WP MP 20-25 Combat Value: DEXx2 Attacks: 4 Damage Bonus: +4 Special Attacks: After successful Grab, may Bite for 1 CON drain per round (permanent). Special Defenses: Firearms do 1 point of damage. Heat, blast, corrosion, electricity, and poison do no damage. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

These enormous black masses of ropy tentacles and puckered mouths stride around on great hoofed legs. They accept sacrifices for Shub-Niggurath and participate in cultist rituals worshiping the Black Mother. They know spells related to Shub-Niggurath, the forests, and darkness. Not pleasant creatures to encounter on an evening stroll through the woods!

great tentacles in combat, and their non-terrene flesh is particularly resistant to firearms.

A single NPC is used to replicate a dark young, although the costume requires a great deal of work. The basics of the costume follow the guidelines for giant creatures discussed earlier.

pair of hoofed legs. This costume is rather top-heavy; adding flat wooden feet to the stilts may help the NPC keep his balance.

Dark young are only encountered in or near forested areas. They strike with their

Build up the strap-on stilts with foam rubber and cloth so that they look like a stout


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homemade alternative can be used. However, care must be taken to not make the creature appear too comical, or the illusion of the game will be broken by uncontrollable laughter. Game: 23 Skidoo Pictured: Michael Tice Keeper: Michael Tice Photo courtesy of Michael Tice.

The NPC wears foam-rubber tentacles on his arms and drapes a pattern-dyed sheet over his body. An exaggerated set of shoulder-pads is constructed to slip over the NPC’s head. These shoulder pads sprout smaller foam rubber tentacles and lengths of black rubber hose. Pull a black-cloth hood over the NPC’s head to hide it in the mass of tentacles. DEEP ONE (LESSER SERVITOR RACE)

EDU 10-15 DEX 10-15 CON 13-18 POW 10-15 WP CON MP 10-15 Special Attacks: May use large melee weapons (+2 offensive value). Special Defenses: 1-point armor Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 215

These amphibious, batrachian creatures serve Great Cthulhu, Father -agon, and Mother Hydra. They often interact with evil humans inhabiting remote coastal villages, inbreeding with the humans to produce immortal hybrids who gradually turn into deep ones as they mature.

The fish-frog faces of deep ones are too diEcult to reproduce with make-up. Latex fish-creature masks are the best choice if the script calls for these sea-dwellers. The NPC wears a loincloth or a few ragged scraps of clothing. Cover his skin in green make-up cream. The chest and belly should be white or a paler shade of green. The overall effect is still not very satisfactory, and should be enhanced by shreds of “sea- weed” draped on the body and irregular dark splotches on the skin. Deep ones are hard to make convincing, so the gaming group needs to use shadows and special lighting effects to maximize the appearance of these creatures.

Deep ones attack unarmed with their claws and with simple knives, clubs, spears, or tridents. Deep one priests know spells related to Cthulhu and the sea. They often participate in rituals with human worshipers of the Great Old Ones. DIMENSIONAL SHAMJ3LER (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

EDU 6-9 DEX 10-15 CON 22-27 POW10-15 WP MP 10-15 Speed: 7 Damage Bonus: +2 Special Attacks: On successful Grab, may take a victim to another dimension. Special Defenses: 3-point armor Sanity Test: POW 13 Sanity Loss 316

These enigmatic beings spend little time at any one planet, but endlessly wander between the planes and worlds of the universe. In combat, dimensional shamblers claw at their opponents or try to sweep them up in a bone-crushing embrace.

Dimensional shamblers are large, bear-like creatures with thick, loose hide and a terrifyingly insect-like visage. The NPC should wear dark clothes and wrap a pattern- dyed sheet around his body. If you have the funds to make a really excellent costume, visit a large fabric store and buy a few yards of dark imitation fur. The fake fur is quite cheap, and can easily be tailored into a loose-fitting suit. Look through the more off-the-wall mask designs to find an appropriate head, or try to make a large, insect- like helmet out of foam rubber.

Dimensional shamblers may leave a plane at will. They begin to shimmer and fade away, and are vulnerable for these few seconds before vanishing completely. They have

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been known to seize other objects or creatures and carry them away to other dimen- sions, never to be seen again. FATHER DAGON AND MOTHER HYDRA (GREATOR SERVITORS)

EDU 23 DEX 20 CON 40 POW 30 WP 40 MP 30 Speed: 12 Damage Bonus: +3 Special Attacks: May use large melee weapons (+2 offensive value). Special Defenses: 5-point armor Sanity Test: POW 13 Sanity Loss 316

Ancient deep ones grown to an enormous size, Father Dagon and Mother Hydra roam the depths of Earth’s oceans. They are the rulers of the deep ones and know all spells related to Cthulhu, the deep ones, and the summoning and binding of lesser Mythos creatures.

The NPC requires a strap-on pair of stilts and huge foam rubber claws. The stilts can be built up to look like tremendous clawed feet. If possible, green cloth is draped over the NPC’s body and wound around his arms and claws. Lacking green cloth, one of the pattern-dyed sheets will work fine.

A fish-creature latex mask is the easiest solution for the NPC’s head, although it may seem slightly out of scale. If you’re feeling particularly creative, a large fish-like mask can be made from thin pieces of foam rubber. Leave a gaping fishy mouth, screened with black nylon, through which the “PC can see.

FLYING POLYP (GREATER INDEPENDENT RACE) EDU 15-20 DEX 10-15 CON 25-30 POW15-20 WP MP 15-20 Combat Value: DEX per attack, with DEX in defense Speed: 8 walWl2 fly Attacks: 7 Damage Bonus: +1 Special Attacks: Wind Special Defenses: Only takes 1 point damage from any one physical attack. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

This fearsome race came out of space about six hundred million years ago. They fought and were finally forced underground by the Great Race of Yith. Near the end of the Cretaceous era, they rose up from their caverns and exterminated the Great Race. Still dwelling in their deep subterranean haunts, the flying polyps seem content to remain there and devour the few beings chancing across them.

These beings are only partly material. They have a monstrous plasticity and tempo- rary lapses of visibility. They are created much like any other amorphous monster in Cthulhu Live, with several NPC’s beneath pattern-dyed sheets. Tentacles, eyestalks, and other foam rubber limbs are in order. There is no firmly established description of a flying polyp; they’re just chaotic growths of malevolent, otherworldly tissue.

A flying polyp attacks with its foam limbs. It also has the power of controlling incred- ibly powerful winds which it may use to knock over opponents, strip the flesh from their bones, or suck them into the polyp’s lair. It can do an attack at DEX+4 on all creatures in a 10-yard cylinder within line of sight. It can also slow down the movement of a character by the polyp’s POW minus the character’s POW.


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FORMLESS SPAWN OF TSATHOGGUA (LESSER SERVITOR RACE) EDU 10-15 DEX 15-20 CON 20-24 POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15 Combat Value: DEXx2 Speed: 12 Attacks: 4 Damage Bonus: +2 Special Attacks: After a Grab, may Bite instead of cmsh, doing 1 point the first rmnd, 2 the second, etc. Special Defenses: Immune to physical weapons. Sanity Test POW 13 Sanity Loss 3/6

These amorphous lumps of viscous black slime are closely associated with Tsathoggua and are often found in his temples and in underground caverns. They are extremely fluid beings and throw out whip-like appendages and pseudopods at will. They are immune to all physical weapons, and may only be injured by magic, fire, chemicals, or other such forces.

89). Formless spawn are smaller than the average shoggoth, and only two or three NPC’s are required. A black sheet is preferred for a formless spawn, instead of the standard pattern-dyed sheet.

The NPC’s climb under the sheet and attack with foam-rubber tentacles through slits in the cloth. The tentacles should be painted black or wrapped in black cloth. NPC’s may feel free to shift and roll beneath the sheet, to increase the illusion of fluid- ity. Compare this to the shoggoth technique, which requires the NPC‘s to keep the sheet taunt between them. GHOUL (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

These creatures are replicated using the same techniques as for a shoggoth (see page

EDU 10-15 DEX 10-15 CON 13-18 POW 12-16 WP MP 12-16 Special Attacks: After Grab, can Bite instead of crush, doing 2 WP/round. Special Defenses: Firearms do half damage, rounded up. Sanity Test POW 12 Sanity Loss 2/5

These rubbery, loathsome humanoids dwell in tunnels beneath many of mankind’s cities. Known to dig into graves and mausoleums in search of food, they’ll eagerly add a bit of fresh meat to their diet when the opportunity arises. The ghouls’ language consists of “gibbering“ and “meeping” noises. They tend to roam in small packs.

Due to a ghoul’s canine facial structure, a really complex make-up job is beyond the ability of all but the most skilled effects artists. I recommend fang-faced “Nosferatu” vampire masks. There are several inexpensive models on the market that are perfect for Lovecraft’s ghouls.

The NPC will be clad only in a loincloth or a few ragged pieces of clothing. Use a white base cream, or simply lots of baby oil and talcum powder, to get that leprous skin tone. Add a few brown and green streaks to simulate dirt and grave mold. An appropriately stooped, loping gait and a veil of shadows are all that’s needed to complete the illusion.

Nosferatu masks are the best option, but there are less expensive alternatives to latex masks. Most cheap plastic fangs are ill-fitting, make the wearer drool a lot, and

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I I 1

cause his mouth to assume a swollen, muzzle-like shape. Comb back the hair with gel, and apply powder and streaks of “dirt” and “mold.”

Ghouls make unarmed clawing attacks or close to strangle and bite their opponents. They are relatively intelligent creatures, despite their animalistic appearance, and may also use simple weapons. Splintered bones and broken tombstones are neat ideas for a ghoul’s weapons. GHOST (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

EDU 10-15 DEX N/A CON NIA POW 20-25 WP NIA MP 20-25 Special Attacks: Psychic attack Special Defenses: Immune to physical damage Sanity Test: POW 13 Sanity Loss 3/6

Ghosts, wraiths, and disembodied spirits may occasionally appear in Cthulhu Live adventures. These immaterial creatures conduct psychic attacks against their foes with the intent to dominate or possess their victims. Some spirits prefer to drive their victims insane. Keepers may rule that an investigator lowered to 0 Magic Points in psychic combat with a ghost immediately loses 10 Sanity Points.

Spirits are immune to physical damage, with the exception of certain very rare, enchanted weapons. They may be attacked with magic or engaged in psychic combat by a Mystic. An incorporeal entity reduced to 0 MP is banished for a t least a week. Certain rituals and exorcisms permanently banish spirits from our universe.

ness, or by an extreme injustice that resulted in the person’s death. After the worldly affairs of a ghost are set in order, it may quietly depart to its eternal rest.

Wraiths are extremely evil and malignant ghosts that jealously resent all forms of life. Poltergeists are rare ghosts that may manipulate physical objects. They can be extremely dangerous, throwing knives and dropping heavy objects on investigators.

There are many options available if you choose to run an adventure with these creatures. Try not to have NPC’s running around in white sheets with rusty chains. A ghost may appear as a pale individual dressed in the garb of its original time period. It may bear the horrible marks of violent death. It may appear as real and solid as any one of the investigators.

Another option is not to use an NPC at all. Lighting effects may be used to represent the spirit. The Keeper can carry a small, powerful flashlight with petroleum jelly smeared on the lens to soften and diffuse the beam. The absence of light and the skillful use of controlled shadows can have a terrifying effect when combined with the descriptions of an eloquent Keeper. GREAT RACE OF YITH (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

Many a ghost is not evil, but may be tied to our world by important, unfinished busi-

EDU 20-25 DEX 8-12 CON 25-29 POW 10-15 W!? MP 10-15 Attacks: 2 claws or 1 gun Damage Bonus: +7 claws, +2 gun Special Attacks: Lightning gun Special Defenses: 8-point armor Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 215

The members of the Great Race are a species of mental entities that fled the destruction of their own world and inhabited the bodies of a race of cone-shaped beings in


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KEEPER’S GUIDE

Earth’s distant past. Members of the Great Race are skilled scientists and are devoted to the study of history, both future and past. Members of the Great Race may project their consciousness through time and swap bodies with other creatures. In this way they move about and study other cultures. The displaced entity is then in the conical body of the creature, and is asked to write down everything he knows about his own time.

The Great Race is fairly kind and permits its captives to travel about and even meet other displaced victims like themselves. The displacement period usually lasts for about five years before the displaced entity is returned to its own body with its memory blanked to forget what occurred. This technique isn’t perfect and the victim often has dreams recalling what took place while he was in the past.

A cult on present-day Earth is devoted to aiding visitors from the Great Race. In return, the visitors give them technological or magical knowledge.

In the unlikely event that investigators encounter a member of the Great Race in its cone-like body, one or two NPC‘s are required. You’ll also need one or two pattern-dyed sheets, four foam-rubber tentacles, stiff wire, and some cord.

Slight modifications are needed on the foam-rubber tentacles. Add small pincers to two of them, make an eyestalk out of the third, and create a small cluster of four red- dish, trumpet-like appendages on the fourth. See the accompanying illustrations.

Fashion the wire into a circular ring approximately six to eight feet in diameter. You’ll need a strong wire, like 12- or 14-gauge steel, so that the ring will keep its shape. Cut two lengths of strong cord and fashion them into straps suspending the wire ring from the shoulders of the tallest NPC. The ring should float just above the floor. Fold the edges of the pattern-dyed sheets over the edge of the ring and pin them in place with safety pins. At this stage the sheets may be gathered around the head of the NPC and the sheets should be pulled down in a conical shape by the wire ring. Imagine an antique hoop skirt. Alternatively, if you have an appropriate specialty store near you, you can order a ready-made hooped petticoat and drape the pattern- dyed sheet over it.

through the top of the cone formed by the sheets and wire ring. It’s possible to use two NPC‘s, each controlling two appendages. This requires the second NPC to walk immediately behind the first, sharing the burden of the suspended ring. Cover the heads of the NPC‘s in black masks, or wrap them in excess cloth from the dyed sheets.

A second option is with only a single NPC. Make the eyestalk and trumpet appendage fairly short and mount them on the NPC’s shoulders. He uses his arms to control the two pincers. This option is less convincing than the first. Four independently moving appendages sprouting from the top of a fleshy cone is infinitely more disturbing than just two.

The NPC’s playing the member of the Great Race extend the four appendages

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GUG (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE) EDU 10-15 DEX 10-15 CON 25-30 POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15 Speed: 10 Damage Bonus: +5 Special Attacks: After Grab, may Bite for 2 points instead of Crush. Special Defenses: 8-point armor Sanity Test: POW 13 Sanity Loss 3/6

These vile creatures worship the Great Old Ones with ceremonies so abhorrent that they were banished, long ago, beneath the Earth’s surface. They aren’t picky about what they eat, and almost any creature smaller than them is fair game.

The most striking thing about a gug is its ghastly head, with a great fanged maw that splits the skull from top to bottom and opens vertically instead of horizontally. Large staring eyes jut out on either side of the terrible mouth.

forearms at the elbow, giving the creature four large, hairy paws.

Dreamlands. There are many places in our world where the borders of dream and reality are worn perilously thin, however, and these terrible creatures might wander into our world in search of prey.

smaller creatures like the plague. Mortals venturing through gug-infested caverns would be wise to form an alliance with ghouls to accompany the party.

clawed feet. Modifications must be done to the foam rubber claws and extenders to allow for two claws on each arm. The body is draped in a pattern-dyed sheet.

was so convincing that it was one of the main reasons this Dreamlands creature is included in this basic rules book.

If you prefer to build your own, the head of a gug is best made with a thin sheet of foam rubber, folded in the middle and pinned at the top and bottom to create the verti- cal maw. Stretch black nylon across the inside of the mouth to hide the NPC‘s face, and add some yellowed fangs. Short eyestalks with staring eyes are attached to each side of the head. Wm, THE UNSPEAKABLE (GREAT OLD ONE)

Besides its strange skull, a gug also has very unusual arms. Each arm forks into two

Fortunately, gugs are rarely encountered outside of their caverns in Earth’s

For some unknown reason, gugs are unnaturally terrified of ghouls, and avoid these

Gugs are built on the basic giant monster body. Build up the strap-on stilts into huge

There was a latex mask on the market that is perfect for a gug. Frankly, the mask

EDU 15 DEX 30 CON 100 POW 40 WP 100 MP 40 Speed: 20 walW50 fly Attacks: 3 Special Attacks: Death upon successful attack Special Defenses: 30-point armor Sanity Loss: POW 16 Sanity Loss 4/15

Hastur the Unspeakable dwells near the star Aldebaran. He is known to be connected with the mystic Lake of Hali, the Yellow Sign, and a rare, exceedingly horrible play titled The King in Yellow. His exact appearance is unknown, and may be left up to the Keeper. Whatever shape is settled on should be large and terrible.


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Hastur, like Cthulhu, is another Great Old One that shouldn’t make an appearance except a t the climax of a series of adventures. He is far too powerful a being to be repeatedly popping in for terrestrial visits. HOUND OF TINDALOS (GREATER INDEPENDENT RACE)

EDU 15-20 DEX 10-15 CON 25-30 POW20-25 WP MP 20-25 Speed: 6 walW40 fly Damage Bonus: +2 Special Attacks: Poisonous claws, or can drain 1 POW through tongue attack instead of physical damage. Special Defenses: 2-point armor; regenerates 4 WP/round. Mundane weapons do no damage. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

If the investigators get one of the hounds of Tindalos on their trail, they’re in serious trouble. These evil, hungry predators lived in Earth’s distant past. They inhabit the angles of space and time, while mankind inhabits the curves.

Because of their relationship with the angles of time, the hounds materialize from geometric angles such as the corner of a room. They cannot pass through smoothly flat or curved walls.

The hounds are friendly with most races in the Cthulhu Mythos, and may seek to enlist their aid. Hounds of Tindalos may know several spells, usually related to contacting alien races and the Great Old Ones.

The entire body of a hound is covered with a toxic blue pus. Any successful claw attack does an additional 12-CON points of damage.

A hound of Tindalos starts with a tall, slim NPC in a loincloth. Use talcum powder or a white base cream to add a pallor to his skin. Use black make-up cream to accentuate his ribs, the ridges of his spine, and the natural curves of his muscles. The result should be rather skeletal and shocking to the eye. Highlight his body with a blue powder.

choice would be a white or gray werewolf mask.

lights and ultraviolet make-up do wonders to enhance a hound of Tindalos. These are extremely alien and terrifylng creatures. LIVING DEAD (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

Several “Hell Hound” masks that have been on the market are perfect. A second

Use disturbing lighting effects and even mist when the hound manifests itself. Black

EDU 3-4 DEX 3-6 CON 20-24 POW8-12 WP MP 8-12 Speed: 4 Special Attacks: After Grab, may use Toxic Bite for 1 point damage instead of crush. Special Defenses: Only killed by destroying brain. Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 2/5

The living dead are caused variously by chemical spills, strange radiation, and numerous scientific experiments gone awry. Some unholy force gives them a blasphemous mockery of life and a rudimentary, reptile-like intelligence that drives them to con- sume living flesh.

the living dead soon becomes one himself. The Keeper briefs slain characters on what Their saliva contains the same toxin which gives them unlife. Any character killed by

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they need to know to join the ranks of the living dead. If the Keeper is feeling particularly nasty, he may force wounded characters to take Health Tests, joining the dead if they fail the test.

to destroy their brains with a bullet or weapon strike to the head. Living dead NPC’s lose mobility and the use of their limbs when wounded by melee weapons. They never actually die, however, until they are struck in the head by a melee weapon, or take a bullet in the brain. Any wound to the head kills the living dead, regardless of how many Wound Points the creature still has.

in a big, ugly herd. They use the group Grab attack (described on page 31). Since they move so slowly, this method of offense is also their best defense. Any investigator engaging them with a melee weapon risks being seized by the dead and destroyed.

Those monsters attacking singly or in small groups try to close and “strangle” the investigators. The living dead may only attack in these two modes. They are too slow and uncoordinated to make unarmed strikes.

Simulate large groups of the dead by allowing NPC’s several “unlives.” When they are killed by the investigators, they wait for the undead mob to pass over them, then rejoin the back of the herd. They stay “dead” after two or three killing blows, or as dic- tated by the Keeper.

Use make-up and liquid latex to obtain a suitably rotten appearance, or else pick out a few nice zombie masks. Dress the NPC‘s in tattered clothing and they’re ready to go. The Keeper should keep a compact case of white powder on hand to add a quick pallor to any new additions to the ranks of the living dead. lMAN OF LENG (LESSER SERVITOR RACE)

Dismembering the living dead slows them down, but the only real way to kill them is

Usually appearing in large numbers (six or more), living dead tend to shuffle forward

EDU 10-15 DEX 10-15 CON 10-15

Special Attacks: None Special Defenses: None Sanity Test: POW 11 Sanity Loss 012

POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15

These almost-human denizens of the legendary plateau of Leng were conquered by the moon beasts long ago. The moon beasts eat their plumper slaves, and send the leaner men of Leng to act as their go-betweens with mankind.

A few of the brighter men of Leng may know a few spells. They have no natural attacks and fight with normal melee weapons.

A man of Leng looks like a traditional satyr, with cloven hooves, goat-like legs, tiny horns, and an excessively wide mouth. When dealing with humans, they conceal these deformities beneath long robes and humped turbans.

These are easy creatures to represent. For a disguised man of Leng, all that’s needed is a turban, a robe, and maybe a little make-up to exaggerate the mouth and add a goatish cast to the features. To make an unclothed man of Leng, buy some inexpensive imitation fur available at

any large cloth store. If you can’t sew a pair of pants from scratch, just staple strips of the fake fur to a pair of sweatpants. Walk with the back straight, but the legs bent slightly at the knees. Use spirit gum to attach a pair of small devil’s horns purchased at a costume shop, or made with liquid latex and a mold.


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MI-Go (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE) CON 13-18 EDU 13-18 DEX 13-18

Speed: 7 walW9 fly Attacks: 2 Damage Bonus: +1 Special Attacks: On successful Grab can fly up, with intention of dropping victim from a height (1 point of damage for each round the mi-go flew straight up). Special Defenses: Firearms and impaling weapons do 1 WP each. Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 21.5

POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15

The fungi from Yuggoth are an interstellar race who descended to Earth from Yuggoth (Pluto) in the Jurassic period. They set up mining colonies in mountainous areas, where they dug for mineral ores to support their technologically advanced civilization. They speak human languages with a buzzing, droning voice, and are known to use human agents to carry out specific missions.

Mi-go look rather like winged lobsters with a convoluted mass where a head should be. They are supposed to be pinkish-gray in color, and fight with large pincers. Ordinary photographic emulsions can’t record them, but a smart chemist could design a special film that picks them up.

Mi-go usually appear in small groups. If you don’t want to go to the hassle of pattern-dyeing a whole new batch of sheets pinkish-gray, then just use the typical brown- gray monster coloration. Players can argue the finer points of mi-go anatomy all they want when they’re dead.

head. A small window covered in nylon provides visibility. Paint the helmet to look rather like a human brain.

Wings and foam rubber pincers are required. Wrap the NPC’s body in a pattern-dyed sheet. Extravagant groups might like to play around with two or three extra pairs of skinny arms made from rolled up cloth, tied tightly at intervals to simulate joints. Pin the bases of these arms to the NPC’s side, and connect them to his pincers with fishing line. When he moves the big pincers, the smaller arms move as well. Trust me, it looks good in a darkened room.

Use thin sheets of foam rubber to create a large “helmet” for the NPC to wear on his

NIGHTGAUNT (LESSER SERVITOR RACE) CON 13-18 EDU 3-4 DEX 10-15

POW10-15 WP MP 10-15 Speed: 6 walW12 fly Special Attacks: After Grab can “tickle” victim, leaving him helpless for 3 rounds. Can then fly off with victim. Special Defenses: 1-point armor Sanity Loss: POW 12 Sanity Loss 215

Nightgaunts are black, winged man-things with smooth, oily skin and featureless faces. “hey serve the Elder God Nodens. Nightgaunts often seize and fly away with their victims, dropping them from great heights or leaving them in horrible, remote places to die. “hey are stealthy and silent.

The NPC wears a close-fitting black suit. Dancer’s leotards and a tight turtleneck shirt will do nicely. Tight black gloves and dark shoes are required. Split-toed tabi

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boots, available a t most martial-arts stores, work very well since they create a taloned effect. Make a pair of wings, as discussed earlier in this chapter.

Pick up a black ninja mask for the NPC and pull a black, nylon stocking over his masked head. This creates a smooth, featureless face, and still allows the NPC to see what he’s doing. Hunt around for something to make little horns, if you’re a tradition- alist. NYARLATHOTEP (OUTER GOD)

Human Form (Monstrous Form) EDU 90 (90) DEX 22 1221 CON 22 150) POW 100 (100) WP 15 1701 MP 100 {loo) Combat Value: DEX (DEXx3l Speed: 12 (16) Damage Bonus: +2 with weapon {+20 claw) Special Attacks: See below. Special Defenses: See below. Sanity Test: None in human form; POW 16 Sanity Loss 4/15 for monstrous forms.

The Black Man, the Crawling Chaos, the Messenger and Soul of the Outer Gads- Nyarlathotep is one tough customer. He may appear in any one of a thousand forms. When dealing with humans, he often takes the form of a swarthy, Middle Eastern-looking man. He appeared as a muscular man with jet-black skin to ancient witch cults. His other forms are the stuff of madness.

Nyarlathotep is an Outer God. His power is immeasurable. He knows every spell imaginable and delights in granting dangerous knowledge to civilizations not yet capable of handling the responsibility. He has appeared time and time again throughout the history of mankind, bringing turmoil and destruction in his wake.

Investigators should hope never to go toe to toe with Nyarlathotep. His human form can be slain, transforming into a hideous creature that flies off into the sky. Few investigators can hope to best him in one of his monstrous forms.

Nyarlathotep is good to have make an occasional cameo appearance, or use as the dark force behind dangerous cults. Madness and insanity are more enjoyable to Nyarlathotep than mere death and destruction. He delights in bringing suffering and chaos to the world, tempting men with knowledge they haven’t the wisdom to use. He’s one of the most interesting creatures of the Mythos, since he actually has a personality and a malevolent sense of humor.

Use free reign when designing a monstrous avatar of Nyarlathotep. Several of his one thousand forms are described in Cthulhu Mythos literature. You may wish to duplicate some of those shapes, using the techniques described in these rules, or you may wish to design your own form. Special attacks and defenses are always possible. Just design the nastiest creature you can imagine, and you’ll be doing fine. SERPENT MAN (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

EDU 17-22 DEX 10-15 CON 10-15 POW 10-15 WP MP 10-15 Special Attacks: Poisonous bite (treat as normal melee attack) Special Defenses: 1-point armor Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 2/5

This ancient race flourished in the Permian era. They built black basalt cities and were known as fearsome sorcerers and scientists. Most of them are now long extinct,


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save for a few individual sorcerers or the dwarfed, degenerated species living in bur- rows beneath the British Isles.

Serpent people may fight with any weapon known to man. They may also move in close to bite with their venomous fangs. The victim makes a Health Test with a Success Score equal to the serpent man’s CON (in other words, compare the CON of the attacker to the victim). If the investigator fails, he loses an additional Wound Point every ten minutes until successfully treated.

Serpent people know a wide variety of spells, including one that transforms their appearance into that of a normal human. Thus cloaked, the sorcerous reptile is free to mingle in human society and go about his dark business.

Serpent people are quite easy to make. They often wear long, flowing robes. Cover the NPC’s hands in a green make-up cream. Let him wear a latex serpent or reptile mask to get a nice ophidian head-shape. Since serpent people often take the guise of normal humans, a mask allows a very fast change to their true forms. SERVITOR OF THE OUTER GODS (GREATER SERVITOR RACE)

CON 15-20 EDU 20-25 DEX 15-20 POW20-25 WP MP 20-25 Speed: 7 Attacks: 4 Damage Bonus: +4 Special Attacks: None Special Defenses: May only be injured by fire, magic, enchanted weapons, or chemicals. Sanity Test: POW 13 Sanity Loss 316

These amorphous beings seem to have a visual kinship with frogs or octopi, but it’s hard to be certain because of their ever-shifting forms. The servitors of the Outer Gods may accompany their masters, or be summoned by human cults. They know a variety of spells, and often assist human sorcerers summoning more powerful entities. The servitors play haunting pipes and flutes, and these unearthly instruments are linked to their spell-casting abilities.

A servitor is created with one or two NPC’s. Cover them with pattern-dyed sheets and arm them with foam-rubber tentacles, eyestalks, and other appendages. These creatures are often accompanied by an eerie piping music; a hidden tape recorder with suitably eerie tunes can be turned on when the creature makes its appearance.

SHOGGOTH (LESSER SERVITOR RACE)

POW 10-15 WP CON Combat Value: 60 Attacks: One for each target within 15 feet Damage Bonus: Special Special Attacks: Will try to Grab each person within 15 feet. Divide its Combat Value by the number of people grabbed for purposes of escaping and doing damage. Special Defenses: Physical attacks do 1 WP each; fire and electrical attacks do half damage. Regenerates 2 Wlround. Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/10

EDU 5-10 DEX 3-4 CON 45-50

Among the most feared creatures in the Cthulhu Mythos, shoggoths are protoplasmic servants of several Mythos races. They are dangerous to have around, since these surly

KEEPER’S GUIDE

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monsters have a rudimentary intelligence and have been known to rebel against their masters.

The statistics given for the shoggoth are for one of average size. They may be much larger or smaller than this typical specimen.

Shoggoths are big, and three to four NPC’s are required. Connect several pattern- dyed sheets to produce one massive cloth. The NPC’s fan out beneath the sheet and extend foam rubber tentacles through the slits.

If desired, you may paint a number of small “eyes” on the sheet in W paint to be picked up by a black light a t the encounter location. The NPC’s under the sheet can see their way about through the unused slits.

Watch the NPC’s rehearse. Make sure they keep the sheet taut enough that the whole assembly looks like a shifting blob, rather than four guys under a dirty bed- spread.

TSATHOGGUA (GREAT OLD Om) Shoggoths normally attack with their foam-rubber tentacles.

EDU 30 DEX 30 CON 50 POW 35 WP 75 MP 35 Speed: 24 Damage Bonus: +5 Special Attacks: Will Grab and eat victim. Victim loses 1 point from each statistic per round, recoverable only by one month in the hospital per point. Special Defenses: 30-point armor for physical weapons. Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 2/5

Tsathoggua dwells in caverns far below the surface of the earth, in the black gulf of NKai. He has a fat, furry body and a toad-like head with large bat ears. His toothy mouth is extremely wide and his eyes are always half-closed, as if he were sleepy. He’s one of the less malevolent beings of the Mythos, but still terrible to anyone unlucky enough to stumble on his lair. Even though he spends much of his time asleep (or pre- tending to be asleep), Tsathoggua moves surprisingly fast when he wants to.

A race of black, formless beings serve Tsathoggua and are likely to be found in N’Kai or in any of Tsathoggua’s temples. Unlike most of the Great Old Ones, Tsathoggua doesn’t appear bent on world domination. He seems relatively content to doze in his cavern, snacking on the occasional sacrifice or luckless spelunker.

A single NPC represents this Great Old One. Strap-on stilts, giant foam-rubber claws, and a pattern dyed sheet form the basic body. Tie a few pillows to the NPC’s waist, beneath the sheet, to give him a paunchy appearance. If your gaming group has a large patch of fake fur lying around from previous adventures, drape it over the NPC’s body. A few latex masks on the market may serve for representing Tsathoggua, but it’s probably better to create a large helmeumask out of foam rubber. Add large ears, sleepy eyes, and a toothy grin.


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KEEPER’S GUIDE

VAMPIRE (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE) CON 15-20 EDU 10-15 DEX 10-15

POW15-20 WP MP 15-20 Speed: 10 Damage Bonus: +2 Special Attacks: Domination; after a Grab, may Bite for 1 point STR drain each round instead of Crush. Special Defenses: See below. Sanity Loss: POW 11 Sanity Loss 0/5

These princes of the undead may fight with weapons or seize their victims and bite at their throats. Vampires may make psychic attacks with the intent to dominate their victims (see page 54).

the Keeper. The eficacy of crosses, holy water, wooden stakes, and normal versus enchanted weapons may vary from one vampire to another.

films vary widely. Most vampires have fangs and pale skin. Others obtain their blood with knives and may even walk about during the day. Decide details about these monsters for yourself. If the investigators are a group of vampire hunters, details might even differ from one adventure to the next, just to keep them on their toes. WEREWOLF (LESSER INDEPENDENT RACE)

So many legends exist about the vulnerabilities of vampires that details are left up

Outfit your vampires as you choose. Even in this regard, ancient legends and modern

CON 15-20 EDU 8-14 DEX 10-15 POW 10-13 WP MP 10-13 Damage Bonus: +1 Special Attacks: After Grab, may Bite for 3 points instead of Crush. Special Defenses: 1-point armor; regenerates 1 WP/round. May not regenerate silver damage. Sanity Test: POW 11 Sanity Loss 1/5

An old horror classic, these individuals bear the curse of lycanthropy and may transform into wolves, or into half-human monsters. Some werewolves may be unaware of their condition and transform only when the moon is full. Some evil souls relish their powers and the taste of human flesh. They may transform to their animal states at will.

Werewolves fight unarmed with their claws. They may try to close in with a victim and bite at his throat. Whether or not the bite of a werewolf spreads lycanthropy is left to the individual Keeper.

Dress a werewolf in ragged clothes and a frightening latex wolf mask. For these creatures, masks are recommended, since good werewolf make-up effects are labor- and time-intensive.

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Y’GOLONAC (GREAT OLD ONE) CON 50 EDU 30 DEX 15

POW 30 WP 75 MP 30 Combat Value: 50 Attacks: 2 Special Attacks: On successful hit, drains either 1 EDU and 1 POW or 2 WP (permanent); possession. Special Defenses: None Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 4/20

Y’Golonac is a headless, bloated, pale creature walled up in a lost, subterranean ruin. He is a minor god, but an extremely malignant one. Y’Golonac has been known to come when his name is read or spoken in the presence of evil.

Y’Golonac has only a small cult, but actively tries to increase his following among the most evil and perverted minds of mankind. An occult book called the Revelations of Glaaki details the existence of Y’Golonac and its blasphemous passages create a bridge to the reader’s mind that Y’Golonac may attempt to cross. Y’Golonac is quite clever a t getting persons to read passages from that horrid book without them realizing they have done so.

Anyone who has read a page or more of the Revelations of Glaaki may be psychically attacked by Y’Golonac (see page 53 for a description of psychic attack). If successful, Y’Golonac devours the individual’s soul and possesses his body. At will, Y’Golonac may mutate the body into his true form-a pale, headless, bloated corpse with wet mouths opening in the palms of its hands.

Normal weapons may injure or kill this avatar of Y’Golonac, and banish his spirit back to his dark lair.

Y’Golonac is created from a single NPC equipped with strap-on stilts, huge foam rubber claws with mouths in the palms, and a couple of pillows tied to his chest and stom- ach for mass. While the creature could be wrapped in pattern-dyed sheets, white sheets would be more appropriate for this white, glistening horror.

This sits on the shoulders of the NPC and conceals his head. Spray-paint the foam to match the color of the sheets, and cover the side openings with hanging flaps of cloth. Cut a small hole in the “chest” and cover it with nylon, so the NPC can see what he’s doing.

Fold a thin sheet of foam rubber in half to create a built-up set of headless shoulders.

YOG-SOTHOTH (OUTER GOD) EDU 45 DEX 1 CON 200 POW 100 WP 400 MP 100 Combat Value: 50 Speed: 100 Special Attacks: Withering touch (successful hit drains 2 CON); energy bolt (costs 4 MP; kills instantly if victim has defense value of less than 15; goes in 5-yard wide path). Special Defenses: Only injured by spells and enchanted weapons. Sanity Test: As spheres POW 13 Sanity Loss 3/6. In other forms POW 16 Sanity Loss 4/15

Yog-Sothoth is a powerful Outer God dwelling between the planes making up the universe. Because of his position outside the planes, he exists simultaneously in all places and times. Fortunately, he’s rarely able to enter into our universe unless brought forth by a ritual summoning.


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Photo courtesy of Robert McLaughlin.

Yog-Sothoth is called the Key and the Gate, and is often petitioned in rituals involving a breaching of dimensional barriers. He knows where the Great Old Ones entered our world long ago, and when and where they will return.

Like many of the other super-powerful entities described in this chapter (Cthulhu, Hastur, Nyarlathotep), Yog-Sothoth should not be written lightly into a script. The fearsome majesty of Great Old Ones and Outer Gods is cheapened if they show up on a regular basis.

One of Yog-Sothoth‘s most common forms is a collection of iridescent globes. He certainly has far more terrible visages, if he chooses to wear them. One form of this Outer God is called Tawil at-‘Umr, the Opener of the Way. This is a mysterious, veiled figure who may create gates and wormholes through time and space.

Any part of the body touched by this Outer God instantly withers and becomes useless. A touch to the chest, abdomen, or head brings instant death. He may also hurl bolts of energy, inflicting one WP damage to targets that do not die instantly.

door adventure around a mock archaeological dig and a huge stone monolith (a concrete rappelling and climbing tower). When the Outer God finally made his appearance, he was simply a collection of about twenty white, helium-filled balloons kept together with a light nylon net. Two NPC’s lay on their backs on top of the tower, holding the line to the balloons and playing colored flashlights across the “spheres.” It was used primarily for a shock effect, since the investigators had their hands full with a group of cultists and were not ready to tangle with Yog-Sothoth himself. The dimensional gate was sealed when an investigator smashed a clay tablet, and the NPC’s on the tower simply cut the netting and let the balloons scatter and disperse into the night sky.

As an example of a way to use this Outer God, we once used Yog-Sothoth in an out-

ZOMBIES (LESSER SERVITOR RACE) EDU 3-4 DEX 3-6 CON 20-24 POW 8-12 wp CON MP 8-12 Speed: 6 Damage Bonus: +1 Special Attacks: None Special Defenses: See below. Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 215

While casual observers think zombies and the living dead are one and the same, any horror aficionado worth his salt knows the difference.

real minds of their own and are directed by the sorcerer or shaman who created them. Zombies are stopped by counter-magic, the death of the animating wizard, or hacking the zombies into little quivering bits.

Only edged melee weapons have any effect. Zombies stagger and stumble under unarmed strikes, blunt weapons, and gunfire, but only complete dismemberment destroys them. Zombies never fall unconscious and merely collapse in a festering heap when reduced to 0 Wound Points on their body.

melee weapons or make unarmed strikes.

Zombies are corpses reanimated by magic or prepared by Voodoo rituals. The have no

Zombies make group Grab attacks. They are too slow and uncoordinated to use

KEEPER’S GUIDE

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Zombies are often used as servants and guards by evil sorcerers and Voodoo high priests. They may be “programmed” to come alive only when certain conditions are met (e.g., someone entering a room, or taking an object from its resting place).

Use make-up and liquid latex to simulate rotten, decaying flesh. A few latex zombie masks can also be used if quick and easy costume changes are required for NPC’s. Tattered rags suit zombies fine; no one’s too concerned with making his zombie servants a model of haute couture.

FINAL MONSTER NOTES This has been only a sampling of creatures at the disposal of the Keeper. Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu role-playing game is an excellent sourcebook on these and other nightmares from the Cthulhu Mythos. Witches, golems, demons, psycho-killers, and other horror favorites are all waiting to be designed and included in your own adventures.

As you’ve seen, many costume pieces used to build monsters can be used over and over again. After a few games, the prop room is well stocked to mix and match pieces for a host of otherworldly horrors. It requires a little effort to build these creatures, but the results are quite rewarding. As discussed in “Setting the Stage” (see page 95), lights, smoke, and other special effects are used to enhance the dramatic appearance of these creatures.

Remember that these creatures are best encountered in dark, forbidding surroundings. Give the players time really to get into their roles, and they’ll actually “see” the monster before them. Capitalize on the value of surprise to blur the players’ senses. They’ll almost believe they’ve truly run into a roaring, clutching terror from beyond the stars.


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CHAPTER 6: NPC’s AND THE KEEPER

KEEPER’S GUIDE

PC’s include every other person or creature the investigators meet during the course of an adventure. In a traditional role-playing game, the Keeper assumes N the roles of all NPC‘s. Actors fill NPC roles in Cthulhu Live, speaking and

interacting with the players as if they were real people.

game are human. Several classic roles leap to mind. Deranged scientists who’ve pressed their quest for knowledge too far and dark cults protecting the secrecy of their blasphemous rites are two common motifs in Lovecraft’s stories. Many more NPC possibilities are available. Not all NPC‘s should be foes of the player characters.

Carefully select the actors playing the roles of NPC’s. They all must be convincing actors and adept a t improvisation. NPC‘s, as a whole, have a greater impact on the adventure than the Keeper. They interact with players, provide them with information (or misinformation), and further the development of the plot.

Requirements depend on the script of each adventure and human resources a t hand. Most games are played with six to ten NPC’s.

Although monsters are also considered non-player characters, most NPC’s in the

There are no minimum or maximum numbers of NPC‘s used in the game.

MAJOR AND MINOR NPC’s All adventures feature a t least two to three major NPC’s. Any actor assigned the role of a major NPC plays that one role for the entire adventure. Major NPC’s are seen frequently by the characters, and these roles can be quite demanding. Cast your most capable actors in these roles. Major NPC’s are given the most attention in costuming and make-up, since they’ll be in close, continual contact with players.

Minor NPC‘s are encountered by the players only once, or a t irregular intervals. Minor NPC’s are employed to provide clues, color, or cannon fodder. Orchestrate the appearances of minor NPC‘s, so that each actor plays several different roles throughout the course of the adventure.

eral times, their costumes and make-up are simpler than those of a major NPC. Time the entrances and exits of actors to allow for costume changes, and stagger their appearances so players don’t see the same face every time they turn around.

A minor NPC may appear in the first scene of the adventure as a ragged, wild-eyed street preacher. The actor might reappear in the third scene playing a government agent with an expensive suit, slicked-back hair, and mirror shades. In the adventure’s climax, the same actor could be one of several gibbering, leprous ghouls rushing the players from the depths of the cellar. The job of an NPC is a busy one, whether cast in a major role or several minor ones.

In this way, a cast of eight actors may offer the Keeper a pool of three to four major NPC’s and a dozen minor ones to draw from. These rapid turnovers of roles and COS-

tumes can be a handful for beginners. Stay with a relatively small cast of NPC’s for your first few games.

Rotate players and NPC’s. Being a good NPC requires a lot of work and attention to detail. After a while, it’s only natural that they’d like to play an investigator for a change. The Keeper soon learns which of his players are strong actors. He may want to cast them as major NPC’s in the future.

Some corners are cut when outfitting minor NPC’s. Since they may change roles sev-

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1 BEINGANNPC One thing is very important for all NPC’s to understand: You are not competing against the players. NPC’s play their roles, they do not play to win the game. You support the plot of the adventure, interact with the players according to your scripted roles, and help the Keeper maintain a convincing illusion of reality. Some NPC’s even aid the characters, such as a local mystic or a police detective.

All antagonist NPC‘s have certain restrictions and limitations placed on them in the script and as determined during play by the Keeper. If NPC’s were allowed unrestrict- ed play against the investigators, they’d defeat the players every time by virtue of their knowledge of the adventure.

This doesn’t mean that the Keeper or NPC’s are unduly merciful. If players make stupid blunders and bring destruction on themselves, so be it. Let the Keeper decide any drastic changes to your scripted courses of action. If he tells you to back off, then lighten up your pressure on the players. Don’t strike for their throats every time you see them make a mistake. On the other hand, the Keeper may give you new instructions to set up traps and obstacles not covered in the script.

Once the Keeper casts his NPC’s-selects the actors and assigns them their roles- he brings everyone together and discusses the adventure’s script in detail. You’ll have your own copy of the script, and should become familiar with the plot and how your role (or roles) impact on the game.

Even though an adventure is scripted in general terms, players often surprise the Keeper and NPC’s with a novel approach to a problem, an unexpected course of action, or off-the-wall questions. That’s why selecting good NPC’s is so important. Quick improvisations are crucial to live role-playing.

tives in Amsterdam, or the history of the neighborhood surrounding the shunned house, you need to improvise quickly and smoothly your reactions and responses in a way that preserves the cohesion of the adventure. Stuttering, red-faced NPC’s, or a Keeper constantly rushing to whisper responses into an actor’s ear, totally destroy the mood that the Keeper worked so hard to develop.

It’s crucial that the Keeper and NPC‘s meet beforehand to discuss the plot in depth. Try to anticipate any player actions that steer the adventure away from the script. Talk through the script. Discuss how the players may react and what actions they might take at key points in the game. This way, everyone is ready if the adventure takes a new direction during play. Even if unanticipated events occur, all the NPC’s are in the right frame of mind to improvise new actions and responses.

If the adventure drifts away from the original script, this isn? always a bad thing. The players feel more in control of their characters and less like cattle herded down a chute. The Keeper decides if the situation has strayed too far from his conception of the plot. If so, he directs NPC‘s to refocus discretely the attention of the players.

NPC’S IN THE GAME The adventure should progress at a pace acceptable to the Keeper and all players involved. Don”t rush the players, or they’ll miss valuable clues. On the other hand, the players should never be allowed to get bored. Give them too much time, and they’ll start slipping out of character and ruin the illusion of the game.

If an investigator suddenly turns to you and asks about your college days, your rela-

CHAPTER 6: NPC’s AND THE KEEPER

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gain for clues with a cryptic Moroccan importer. Pictured (1-r): Roxy Ross (Gabbye Birchak), Cynthia Holbourne (Rebecca Johnson), Dirk Mitchell (John A. C. Kennedy), Faraz A1 Hazrad (Sean Branney) Keeper: Sean Branney Photo by Steven Einspahr (October 1988), courtesy of the H. I? Lovecraft Historical Society.

KEEPER’S GUIDE

Keep things moving at a brisk pace, so players are never too comfortable in their decisions. It keeps them nervous about what happens next. If there’s a minor NPC to spare, and if it’s in keeping with the plot, maybe a sudden death or disappearance will keep the players on their toes.

Some adventures require changing scenes. The Keeper is usually busy with the players, so NPC‘s have to do the dirty work. The Keeper appoints an NPC to oversee scene changes and provides him with diagrams showing where furniture and props are placed in each different setting. Scene changes must be rehearsed several times with all NPC’s so the changes can be done quickly and with no embarrassing mistakes. Usually the Keeper double-checks the scene before bringing out the players.

about game rules or anything outside of your NPC’s frame of reference, just stare at him blankly or act as though he’s talking nonsense. Only the Keeper should answer rules questions and entertain questions about the game. He is the player characters’ link between the real world and the game. All NPC‘s stay firmly within the game world.

GETTING THE MOST OUT OF NPC’S The NPC’s make each adventure a success or failure, The Keeper handles Skill Tests and works hard to see that things run smoothly. NPC’s, however, are the “meat” of the game. They present the adventure to the players and interact with them throughout the evening. If you have a weak crew of NPC’s, you’ll risk unwanted holes and gaps opening up in your adventure.

Many adventures feature diaries, lab journals, and other written insights into the minds of NPC’s, just waiting to be discovered by the player characters. The Keeper should have the NPC’s personally write any text linked to their characters. The script provides guidelines for each text used in the game, but these texts should be written by the NPC’s, not by the Keeper. This takes a lot of the burden of adventure preparation off the Keeper, and allows a chance for the NPC’s to develop their characters.

Don’t slip out of character. Make your role convincing. If a player asks you a question

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KEEPER’S GUIDE

THE KEEPER DURING GAME PREPARATION The Keeper and his NPC’s work together to get everything ready for a gaming session. The script is modified to suit the gaming area, props are built, diaries and letters are written, costumes are selected, and special effects are tested.

Everyone in the gaming group can take part in recruiting new players, but the Keeper is usually a reliable point of contact for questions. The Keeper is also a good candidate to negotiate issues outside of the group. Arranging for the use of a building or wooded property is a fine example. Since the Keeper should be a rather mature, responsible individual, he is an excellent choice to make arrangements for the legal use of a gaming area.

Give the NPC’s time to study the script. Bring everyone together on several occasions to discuss the game, take a look at the gaming area, and get familiar with special effects, costumes, and props.

If the adventure calls for scene changes at a single location, rehearse the changes so that everything runs like clockwork when the game is in progress. Don’t expect to be able to pull everything together overnight. Just as with a theatrical play, it’s important to have plenty of rehearsal before you present the adventure to the players. They are your interactive audience.

It’s a good idea for the Keeper to appoint a senior NPC to oversee scene and costume changes and other actions taking place behind the scenes. The Keeper is closely tied to the players throughout the evening and can’t micromanage everything. Delegate certain responsibilities to a senior NPC, and the job of a Keeper will be much less stress- ful. CHARACTER GENERATION Oversee character generation and help any players having difficulty. The process of generating an investigator is actually quite easy when using the templates included in this book. You’ll have to guide players wanting to design their own templates, and provide advice about the composition of the party.

Some adventures will require a few specific professions among the investigators. This sets up the background of the adventure and assures that the group has certain skills necessary to complete the adventure. Help the players choose professions that make sense and mutually support one another during the adventure.

When the game is in progress, the Keeper often acts as a narrator. You’ll describe certain sensations and feelings to the investigators and provide background material that they should know. The Keeper usually speaks for a few minutes a t the beginning of each adventure, “setting the stage” and introducing the adventure to the players.

During the rest of the game, retire into the shadows. Stay with the players, but don’t get in the way of them and the NPC’s. Feel free to drift from room to room, checking on how the game is progressing. Remain alert to preprogrammed events. Keep in touch with your NPC’s. They can provide you with information which might cause a plot change. Perhaps an NPC witnessed players searching through his desk, or pocketing a strangely carved stone.

See that the NPC’s aren’t missing their cues or straying too far from the storyline, but don’t hang over their shoulders. Let them do their jobs. If you need an NPC to do something special, discretely whisper in his ear when the players aren’t around.

An adventure should be planned out a t least a couple of weeks prior to its execution.

THE KEEPER DURING THE GAME

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Non-player characters may use their skills just as the players do. If the investigators try to blow through a police line with a set of false credentials, one of the NPC’s might have a high enough EDU to call their bluff.

Watch out for players committing any potentially dangerous acts, or straying into off- limits areas. NPC‘s will do the same, but you are the primary safety officer for the game. You should always seem calm, cool, and collected. Appear confident in your decisions and with the game rules, even if you’ve reached a point where you’re making it up as you go. Carry a copy of this rulebook, the script, and a clipboard containing player data sheets and extra notepaper. Aclassy tradition is having the Keeper wear a tuxedo, or a nice black suit in keeping with the time period of the adventure.

tion, decorations, props, and solid acting jobs by NF’C’s helps players overcome any inhibitions they may have about live role-playing. Do your best to assist. Use the investigators’ names, not the players’, when you talk to them. Drop occasional role- playing hints as you talk the players through skill use.

Besides helping the players assume the personae of their characters, make sure that all have an enjoyable evening and a sense of contribution to the adventure. If a player is particularly shy, or uncertain of the game rules, don’t hesitate to offer subtle suggestions and hints to get him involved with character interaction and problem solving.

TEST RESOLUTION The basics of tests and skill resolution have already been covered. Most instances are fairly straightforward. You often have to make a call on whether or not to apply modifiers to a player’s chance of success. Make a call based on your best judgment and go with it. Live role-playing is a rather loose, free-wheeling game environment. Just try to remain fair and consistent.

Players will frequently call your attention and ask details about certain objects and people. They may describe new Skill Tests they wish to attempt. This is where the Keeper’s creativity comes into play. You want to encourage players to make maximum use of their skills.

Honestly, only a handful of Skill Tests in each adventure are really critical for success. These are usually described in the script. There are endless opportunities for skill use, however, and players shouldn’t be discouraged by an impatient Keeper.

For example, imagine that one of the props is a small watercolor of a church. It actually has nothing to do with the game. One of your NPC’s found it at a flea market and picked it up to add to the prop room. When a player asks about the picture, don’t just dismiss his question and tell him it’s not important. Make something up.

If the player uses his Fine Arts skill, you could tell him that he recognizes it as the work of one Allison Kinkaid, a Rhode Island artist of the last century. She went mad after her husband was killed in a train wreck. She spent her final years in an asylum, cursing unseen spirits she claimed were circling and taunting her.

Maybe the player used his History skill on the painting. You could tell him that the church is the old Ashton Hill Church in Boston, which burned down under mysterious circumstances in 1896. The church housed a rather obscure sect that had more in common with medieval Gnosticism than any contemporary faiths.

In short, feel free to make up interesting facts and background information to encourage players to use their skills. NPC’s make such improvisations throughout the evening. Skill Tests are the Keeper’s chance to add his own creativity to the game.

Encourage players really to become their characters. The combination of a good loca-

CHAPTER 6: NPC’S AND THE KEEPER

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KEEPER’S GUIDE

Lovecraft’s universe has a sinister web of coincidence and half-understood truths underlying everyday existence. Players swallow such improvisations eagerly. Even if the information has nothing to do with that specific adventure, it creates a wonderfully rich gaming environment. Players whisper these new findings to each other and try to piece them together with their other clues.

If you make such improvised background material, you must remember to pass it on to your NPC‘s as soon as you’re able. Don’t get your NPC’s in a bind when players confront them with facts you just made up moments before. Keep NPC’s informed of new developments, and make sure any background information you invent wonk disrupt the entire script. In this circumstance, it’s possible to be entirely too creative for your own good. THE KEEPER AND COMBAT Call out the beginning of each phase loudly. During the movement phase, call out the movement numbers slowly enough for people to think and keep up, but not so slowly that it is boring. Watch for people passing within one yard of each other, as that locks them in melee. Watch to see that steps are kept under one yard. Keep the combat phases moving.

tle any use of the First Aid and Medicine skills. All injured investigators should be treated. Even if no Wound Points are to be healed, wounds should still be cleaned and bandaged. Incapacitated limbs should be properly cared for, lest the damage becomes permanent. Make sure that doctors have a supply of cloth scraps in their bags to use as bandages.

their handicaps. It’s a good idea to have injured arms set in slings, and makeshift splints and bandages applied to injured legs.

If an investigator is killed early in the adventure, don’t send him off into a corner to wait for the end of the game. That’s miserable for the players. On the other hand, don’t allow dead investigators to shadow the party for the rest of the evening. Use them behind the scenes, or as minor NPC’s. Turn them over to the care of a senior NPC or an assistant Keeper.

monsters themselves. This is especially helpful in adventures featuring herds of undead or warrens of ghouls. Get the players in costume and explain what they need to do.

After the fight is over, make notes on wounded player characters and be ready to set-

Keep an eye on players who’ve lost the use of limbs and make sure they don’t “forget”

The “dead” players can help with scene changes, dress the monsters, or even become

HANDLING SANITY Sometimes a party can be decimated by the effects of insanity. If the investigators have lost a significant amount of Sanity during the adventure, or had low POW to start with, any encounter with a horrible monster will wreak havoc with their minds.

Always figure out the results of the next Sanity Test before it happens. Be ready to announce immediately Sanity results when the horror is unveiled.

Don’t pamper the players, but if you realize that the next encounter will incapacitate the entire party, consider lightening the results of the Sanity Test. Panic can be used flexibly for this purpose. If investigators panic a t the sight of a creature, you have several options. You can have them drop in a whimpering ball or send them screaming out of the room. Not very noble, but it gives them a chance of survival.

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Other panic results are possible, and can be used if you realize that the party will be otherwise totally helpless. A panicked investigator might react by drawing his pistol and unloading the entire magazine into a group of ghouls. Others may be granted a “special insight” of a creature’s Achilles heel. Stand behind investigators and scream instructions in a high, panicky voice. “Oh, God! Shoot it! Shoot it!”

If players genuinely screw up, don’t have any regrets if the entire party is wiped out. An example springs to mind when a player once forgot to bring a page from an old grimoire with him to the final encounter with a priest of Yig. He doomed his entire party to death beneath a sea of serpents. Needless to say, the player never forgot that particular lesson.

Sometimes, you may decide that the investigators deserve a helping hand to deal with the next encounter. You want to make the evening enjoyable for the players. You must decide, as the Keeper, when to help the characters by bending the rules and when to clobber them.

encounter aren’t likely to return any time soon, but investigators who freeze or swoon should only be out of action for a brief period of time. Unless they have enough level- headed companions to protect them until they recover, they’re likely to become the creature’s next meal.

If an investigator goes insane from losing 20% or more of his Sanity within one hour’s time, he needs psychoanalytical treatment before he functions normally again. He may be a mindless automaton, or he may be an uncontrollable hysteric. Decide what seems most appropriate in the situation, and from what you know about the character’s personality.

A character with Psychoanalysis spends ten minutes reasoning with the insane investigator. Good role-playing on the part of the players is a real boon for the entire adventure, as one character tries to soothe and rationalize the fears of his hysteric companion. If the situation permits, however, most players opt to make a ten-minute time jump and get on with the game. RUNNING CAMPAIGNS Campaigns are a serious of related adventures played by the same set of investigators. They allow much more complex plots to be developed over the course of several adventures, and permit players to build up their investigators’ skills and abilities through experience.

It’s great fun to allow certain NPC villains to reappear in subsequent adventures. The players can devote themselves to hunting down and destroying a particular cult, or may find themselves led deeper and deeper into plots and conspiracies of cosmic proportions. A classic campaign in the traditional horror milieu could follow the adventures of a party of vampire-killers. Maybe the party is a group of government agents, routinely investigating cases with ties to the supernatural.

Not all adventures in a lengthy campaign need to be related to one another. It’s good to throw in something new as a wild goose chase, or simply as a break in the campaign. Often items and bits of information obtained in one adventure may not be fully utilized until much later. Start with an overall concept of the campaign before starting to detail individual adventures.

If the campaign is a long and dangerous one, not all investigators will live to see it completed. Allow players to generate new characters, or introduce other garners into the campaign. It’s a smart idea for investigators to keep a diary detailing their adven-

Investigators who panic are only affected for a few moments. Those that run from an

CHAPTER 6: NPC’S AND THE KEEPER

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KEEPER’S GUIDE

tures. Even if the entire party is wiped out, a relative or police detective might acquire the journal. You now have a starting point for a new group of investigators to continue the campaign.

If you trade players and NPC’s during the middle of the campaign, make sure that you didn’t let your NPC’s have too much information they could use to their advantage as players.

Players in long campaigns welcome the chance to improve their investigators with experience points. Raising ability scores through experience is logical, since the investigator is constantly using these abilities throughout the game.

Some Keepers don’t like players purchasing new skills without a certain amount of downtime between adventures. After all, each skill represents a sizable field of knowledge, and a certain degree of study is required. The Keeper might rule that the investigator was already pursuing this area of study, and the extra experience finally allows him to make full use of the skill. Use whatever method best suits your campaign.

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CHAPTER 7: SETTING THE STAGE

lot of preparation goes into a session of Cthulhu Live, and the Keeper can’t do everything by himself. His team of NPC’s helps prepare the game. Roles are A ast, parts are learned, and the script is adapted for whatever locations and

resources are available. Props are found, purchased, or constructed by the gaming group. Monsters are roused from their slumber to await their hapless victims.

THE ILLUSION These rules often refer to “the illusion.” This is the veil of false reality drawn over the eyes of the players. While a degree of artificiality will always exist, the Keeper creates as realistic an environment as is safely possible. If the players, for just these few hours, actually “become” their characters, the entire group enjoys an unparalleled gaming experience.

Whenever possible, Cthulhu Live is designed to support this illusion. There should never be pauses to roll a handful of dice and flip through a series of ponderous rule- books. The Keeper has everything at hand to make fast, accurate assessments of test resolution. The NPC’s should know their roles by heart, and take time to consider all possible plot twists that can develop from the actions of the player characters.

Good costuming and make-up does wonders to enhance the illusion, and a cleverly staged presentation adds terrifying life to even the most alien of creatures. Make-up and costuming can age or alter the appearance of NPC’s, and provide clues to their professions and personalities. Research and select props carefully, to allow hands-on investigation by the characters.

approves the props, weapons, and playing area, keeps the game running smoothly, and stays alert to sudden changes and modifications to the plot.

It’s ultimately the Keeper’s job to maintain the illusion. He casts the NPC’s,

THE PLAYING AREA The locations available to your group have a major impact on game play. Atmosphere, accessibility, safety, legality, and a degree of isolation from the outside world are required of any location. You can’t expect to play Cthulhu Live wherever you choose. LEGALITY AND SAFETY Without a doubt, the two most important requirements are legality and safety. Abandoned factories and moon-lit cemeteries make terrific settings, but aren’t always proper candidates for game play.

The first aspect to consider is legality. Entering old houses and abandoned buildings without the owner’s consent is trespassing. Creeping through cemeteries with flashlights and fighting running battles between the graves may be great fun for the players, but it’s considered illegal and in bad taste by the general public.

site for game play. Explain what would be happening, when, and how many people would be present. Don’t be surprised if your request is denied. No one wants to be the target of a lawsuit if a player is injured on the premises. Many people look at live role- playing games with some skepticism and mistrust.

If you don’t obtain legal permission to inspect or use an area, don’t sneak out and play there anyway. Games are meant to be fun; don’t ask for trouble. Look for another location that is almost as good and that can be enhanced with a little work.

Contact the rightful owners of the property and ask for permission to investigate the


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In the lobby of their rooming house, the investigators sift through clues. Pictured (1-r): Henry Blackwood (Jamie Anderson), Lillian Blackwood (Katia Herbst), Alexandra Stark (Gail Stern), Barnum Brown (Andrew Leman) Keepers: Jennifer Anderson, Paul Nyhus, Kevin O’Brien, Matt Sieger Photo by Matt Sieger (August 1993), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

The investigators follow their Egyptian guide into the expansive wastes of the Sahara (this game was played in Great Sand Dunes National Monument in Colorado). Pictured(1-r): Harry Tuttle (Stef Nicovich), Ansep Ma Sa (Philip Bell), Digby Dolmen (Andrew Leman), Johnson Kravat (Ken Robertson), Flo Denison (Peggy Cope), Sam Buchannan (Darrell Tyler) Keepers: Philip Bell, Sean Branney Photo by Judy Ruha (May 1986), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

Old houses, factories, and caves can be spectacular locations. They must be inspected beforehand to make sure they’re absolutely safe. Rotting floors and staircases, open pits, and the danger of weakened construction can be disastrous. Such locations are very tempting, but you should probably look for safer places.

Only after an area is thoroughly approved and inspected should you plan on it as a gaming location. Prominently seal dangerous areas and mark them as off-limits to players and NPC’s alike. Since the Keeper usually accompanies the investigators, he’s there to pull back any players straying into danger areas.

Remarkably good adventures can be set in a single play-area. A medium-sized to large house, a large basement area, or a few rooms in a hotel or convention center offer great flexibility. Live role-playing has to be handled differently than traditional role-playing games.

Ideally, Cthulhu Live adventures take place within a single evening, and within only a few locations. A classical unity of time and place is the most manageable.

If the script calls for multiple locations, plan for added complications. NPC’s must be shuttled to the next location early, in order to prepare the place before the players arrive. Alternatively, you may be able to provide complete teams of NPC’s at each location. Plan on providing transportation for players, plus any possible requirements for a clean-up team at each site.

Multiple locations add flavor to the game, but generate additional requirements in human and material resources. If you think you can surmount these problems, go for it. Otherwise, consider modifying the script. Play the adventure over several sessions in a campaign format, or develop ways to maximize your gaming area.

If you use several different locations, find ones located fairly close together. This facilitates moving NPC’s and players around, and it prevents major time lags. An advance party of NPC‘s should arrive at the site at least fifteen minutes before the investigators. They’ll make sure the area is clear and set up any special props or effects. After the players and Keeper depart for the next location, a small clean-up team should stay and handle any props or trash left behind. Multi-location games obviously require a large pool of NPC‘s and several autos. EXPANDING THE GAMING AREA Creative script-writing and design can enlarge a single gaming area dramatically. One of the adventures at the end of this book is set in a multistoried psychiatric hospital. The adventure can be played in as few as three rooms, a central hallway, and a walk-in closet.

Each room is a different location on every floor of the hospital. The walk-in closet becomes an elevator. Any extra rooms available can expand the hospital, provide for prop storage, and give NPC’s a place to hide out when not needed.

When the investigators go from one floor to another, the Keeper leads them into the elevator and provides background facts and subtle impressions picked up during the previous scene. While they huddle in the closet, NPC’s scramble to rearrange the furniture and set out any new props required for the next “floor.” An NPC is assigned the task of overseeing the set change. He gives a soothing, elevator-like “ping” through the door before scrambling to his position. This signifies that the elevator has reached its destination (and the set change is complete).

SINGLE VERSUS MULTIPLE LOCATIONS

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A few signs and a lot of imagination can go a long way to establishing the scene. Game: Oscar Pictured (I-r): Shawn Crosby, Judy Goldstein, Mike Donohue, Dave Yarden Keepers: Rebecca Strong, Michael Tice Photo courtesy of Michael Tice.

DECORATING THE PLAYING &EA The best term to describe decoration for Cthulhu Live is “theatrical minimalism.” Each location should have enough props and decorations to add an air of authenticity without bogging down game play, or causing unnecessary headaches for the Keeper.

Many scenes in Cthulhu Live are set in houses, apartments, hospitals, and other areas likely to be full of stuff. It seems an easy idea to rearrange someone’s apartment for the game. Sometimes this works. It can also be a recipe for chaos.

Investigators love searching for clues, no matter how obscure or well hidden they may be. Any book that looks remotely suspicious, wardrobes? cabinets, and closets are all likely to be rifled by player characters. If you play in someone’s apartment, move anything you don’t want the players to touch into an extra room or closet. Mark ((off- limits” doors with a small sign or a strip of red tape. Tell players before the game to ignore the existence of these marked doors.

The best locations are furnished with only minimal decorations, to which you introduce whatever books, artwork, and game props are required. Anyone familiar with the theater understands this minimalist approach quite well. Stage hands don’t have time to relocate the British Museum every time the lights go out.

SUGGESTIONS The gaming location doesn’t have to be overdecorated. A few chairs, a table, a bookcase, lamps, and a few pictures on the walls are great for studies and living rooms. Books on witchcraft and the occult, mysterious artwork, and strange clay statues can all be tied into the adventure, or merely serve as red herrings to mislead the players. Nice old hardbound books are far more impressive than dog-eared paperbacks. Keep an eye out in flea markets and used book stores for old hardbound books. Add a few detailing touches like carpets, a nice clock, or a hat rack to polish the scene.

If the script calls for multiple scene changes at a single location? think about reusing props in different ways. Dramatic changes can be accomplished with simple rearrange- ments and the addition of small, detailing props.

A simple table in one scene becomes a desk with the addition of a pen-set and a few small photos. Cover it with a sheet and it’s an operating table. Add pillows and a blanket and it’s a bed. The table becomes an altar when covered in black cloth and decorated with candlesticks and a dusty old book.

Shuffling a few tables and chairs around, and changing the detailing props, turns a conference room into a dining room, or a hospital ward, or a research lab. Look for old photographs, inexpensive art prints, and medical and chemical charts to dress up the walls. Diagrams from a copy of Gray’s Anatomy can be incrementally increased at a copy shop until you have a large mosaic.

Arrange personal computers, television sets, printers, painted boxes, and assorted gadgets into a bank of complex research equipment. A computer-literate gamer can produce a simple program to display a sinister corporate or government logo. Hypertext and multimedia presentation programs are excellent for this purpose. The computers can spill out reams of confusing calculations, or valuable clues.

We once set up a local area network between two computers in different rooms. The players sat before one terminal? attempting to “hack” into a government mainframe. An NPC sat a t the computer in the next room, sending back responses that progressed from simple log-on information to the chilling dialog of an evil intelligence.


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Photo courtesy of Robert Mclaughlin.

fashion. Pictured: Creelle Ryan (Jennifer Anderson) Keepers. Jamie Anderson, Andrew Leman Photo courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society (November 1992)

Far Right: From The Testimony of Randolph Carfer Posed photograph of Carter. He is leaning against a Ford Model A. Pictured: Randolph Carter (Darrell Tyler). Keeper: Andrew Leman. Photo courtesy of the H. I? Lovecraft Historical Society (July 1987).

There’s more to Cthulhu Live than just indoor adventures, however. While monsters are notorious for lurking in cellars, closets, and even under your bed, there’s a whole wicked world out there for the investigators to explore.

dozen or so Styrofoam slabs carved and painted to look like tombstones. Some creative design work on a toolshed turns it into a mausoleum.

A large sand pit becomes an archaeological dig when you set up a digging grid with wooden stakes and twine. Dig a few deeper levels here and there and scatter broken pottery, old metal scraps, and a few interesting-looking stones. If tents, or reasonable facsimiles, are erected in the area, so much the better.

Besides thinking about what can be added, also consider what should be removed. Adventures set in the 1920’s shouldn’t have televisions or computers sitting around in plain view. Move or conceal them. The same goes with color photos, stereos, digital clocks, and other blatantly anachronistic decorations.

A woodland clearing, or your own back yard, transforms into a cemetery with a

COSTUMES AND PROPS Good costumes and props enhance any live role-playing game. Gaming groups may be taken aback, afraid that stocking a good prop room could get rather expensive. This isn’t the case at all. Remarkable props and costume accessories may be found quite inexpensively, especially if you know where and for what to look.

as the official prop room. Otherwise, distribute the items to other gamers for storage. Make an inventory of all props and costume items, so you know what resources you have for each adventure and where they’re located. An inventory also helps to ensure that all items are recovered after each game.

Ideally, someone in the gaming group will have space in his basement or attic to use

COSTUMES Costume requirements are usually easy for both modern and 1920’s scenarios. Most players should be able to provide their own costumes. An inexpensive suit, or a jacket

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This statue of Cthulhu was made by Joe Givan for The Alchemisf’s Secret. Givan is an award- winning stage magician. The statue is 01990 by Joe Givan. Keeper: Joe Givan Photo by Andrew Leman (September 1990), courtesy of the H. I! Lovecraft Society.

and slacks, is excellent for doctors, lawyers, male dilettantes, government agents, and gangsters. More casual clothing serves other occupations quite well. The gaming group should have a few lab coats, doctors’ bags, and other accessories ready to outfit appropriate professions.

than they would today. All men should wear button-up shirts and trousers. Only a few laborers would be wearing jeans or coveralls. Trenchcoats are great for private eyes and police detectives. Leather jackets are fine for pilots and rugged adventurers. Don’t show up in basketball high-tops; leather shoes or boots are the norm.

Generally speaking, investigators in 1920’s games should dress a little more formally

A lot can be done with detailing touches. Hats were more common among gentlemen in the twenties than today, and suspenders were quite typical. Pocket watches are nice additions, if you can find them.

Ladies in the twenties rarely wore trousers or jeans. Most female investigators and NPC’s should look for dresses and skirts. The designs should be fairly conservative, unless the ladies want to go for a “flapper” image. There are exceptions to this rule, of course. There were a number of female explorers and pilots during this period. Other female investigators may also wish to challenge the views of 1920’s society.

Garners can find a lot of what they need in used clothing stores. Look for those that handle old costume sales for local theaters. They’re a great source for out-of-date jackets, tuxedos, shirts, hats, dresses, and uniforms at very reasonable prices. It doesn’t have to be a fancy costume. Even a rumpled shirt, a tie, and a suit vest does wonders for the doctor or private eye who shows up for the game in torn jeans and a heavy- metal T-shirt. When all else fails, strive for that “theatrical minimalism” discussed earlier, and allow your imagination to fill in the rest.

Basic costume requirements should be left up to the players. The gaming group provides special props and maintains a small stock of clothing articles in the prop room for players to borrow if they can’t furnish their own.

If you want to run a scenario at a gaming convention, you should plan on bringing costume items for the players to borrow. Many conventioneers might be running around in barbarian costumes and space uniforms. That’s great stuff for the convention, but not quite the mood we want to achieve in Cthulhu Live. Ask that player to take off the spandex and those pointy ears, and get ready to face the minions of darkness. Resign yourself, however, to the fact that a t a convention not everyone will be in appropriate costume. A good rule of thumb is, “Costume admired, but not required.” PROPS Many props must be constructed by the garners. Weapons, interchangeable monster bits, Elder Signs, pieces of unearthly statuary, crumbling old papers, and hair-raising diaries are put together by the gaming group and retained. They’ll be used over and over.

Weapons can be made of foam rubber and cardboard, or children’s toys can be used. The most commonly recurring melee weapons seem to be clubs, oversized monkey wrenches, fire axes, and knives. The group should have several of each, since they’ll see a lot of use. Swords, maces, syringes, and chainsaws also show up at irregular intervals. These can be prepared and kept in the prop room.

Toy cap guns simulate firearms. These days, most cap guns are molded in brightly colored plastic to keep nervous policemen from shooting children. For that same reason, these garish cap pistols are not a bad idea for game props.


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the game Halloween 2. Keepers: Philip Bell, Sean Branney, Andrew Leman Photo by Andrew Leman (October 1985), courtesy of the H. I! Lovecraft Historical Society.

researches that led to that fateful night in the old cemetery (The Testimony of Randolph Carter). Book pages designed and made by Darrell Tutchton. Book binding by Andrew Leman. Keeper: Andrew Leman Photo by Andrew Leman (July 1987), courtesy of the H. I! Lovecraft Historical Society.

Fantastic props are found at flea markets, yard sales, and even toy stores. Many objects can be used as props and decorations for a variety of game environments. If you find them inexpensively, these items should be added to the prop room:

Musty old books (especially in foreign languages) Interesting candelabra

Unusual statues and figurines (piscine ones are particularly nice) Antique photos Weird artwork Skulls and bones (real and imitation) Old-fashioned clocks and pocket watches Inexpensive throw-rugs Medical glassware Play money

Latex Halloween masks and body parts Period magazines and newspapers Briefcases and old suitcases

Rubber knives Toy cellular phones and pagers

and so on ... A Polaroid camera is very useful in modern adventures. Shots can be taken of simu-

lated crime scenes, NPC’s, and suspicious activities to be used as player hand-outs and props. Everyone should provide passport photos from a photo machine. The Keeper uses these to construct phony detective credentials and security access badges for top secret government projects.

Crumbling tomes of eldritch lore are focal points to many Cthulhu Live adventures. A neat trick is to find a few old leather-bound books at a flea market or garage sale. I have a great pair of old dictionaries from the 1930’s.

Hand-write pages of sinister text and magic rituals on “parchment paper”, or on normal typing paper that’s been soaked in tea and allowed to dry. Tuck these pages into the books and you’re ready to go. If you’re very lucky, you might find old books printed in foreign languages to scatter about the scene.

Another option is available for the particularly ambitious gamer-write your own Mythos text (that’s what the author of The Sussex Manuscript did). It’s not easy. I’ve worked on one, on and off, for over a year. A dedicated individual could probably draft a presentable text in about a month.

I’d advise writing it on a word processor. You’ll do lots of editing when you develop the text. Print it out using a nice calligraphic font, preferably on a laser printer. Artificially age the pages, or photocopy them onto “parchment” or gray recycled paper. Bind them in thick leather and hand-paint details on the cover or on the pages themselves. Illuminated manuscripts can be hand-tinted with watercolors.

for many gaming groups. It’s a fantastic prop, however, and it’s also nice to have on your coffee table to frighten unwanted guests.

MYTHOS TEXTS

Making a book like this is an extremely involved project. It may be too much trouble

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Above: Andrew Leman applies make-up and does final prep for the John Wilkes Booth costuming, while Vince Gatton sits patiently and gets into character. Below: On the way to his cold prison cell, the aged and immortal Booth (Gatton) enjoys his last moment in the light. Game: Dirt Keepers: Jamie Anderson, Andrew Leman Photos by Julie Anderson (November 1992), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

Compile interesting passages from Lovecraft’s stones and other horror and occult books. Add cryptic diagrams, tongue-twisting phrases, and your own text to try to tie everything together. Creativity is required to link scores of separate passages into a cohesive text.

There are a t least two books on the market claiming to be copies of the Necrono- micon. That’s a rather ridiculous claim, but they have lots of good stuff you can use to flesh out home-made Mythos texts. You can find them in the New Age section of most large bookstores.

The idea is to make a text that is general enough to be used for almost any of the famous Mythos books. Make sure that most of the Great Old Ones, Outer Gods, and alien races are addressed at some point in the text. Add any “spells” that might come in handy.

When the book is found during the game, just direct the investigators’ attentions t o the relevant pages for whatever mind-wrenching revelations are in order.

While many props and costumes may be cheaply obtained, they’re not free. Assembling a large gaming group is a smart idea. Not only will there always be enough gamers for large adventures, any game costs are divided to a very reasonable investment.

Before any shopping is done, the gaming group should scrounge through old closets and ask for donations. This often provides enough old clothes to meet your needs. Most people have dozens of interesting artifacts, books, and candle holders that they’ve kept in a closet for years and have no intention of ever using. Gather as much as possible through donations and house-cleaning.

The next step, of course, involves purchasing prop requirements. Each group should decide for themselves how to do this. A small playing fee for each game session is one idea. If the gamers have a truly bureaucratic flair, they may designate an official Treasurer and Prop Master to maintain their cash fund and prop accountability.

If you acquire most of your props for free, a member may simply buy a few extra requirements from his own pocket and be reimbursed by the rest of the group. Over time, the prop room expands as new items are acquired and constructed.

SPECIAL EFFECTS Sessions of Cthulhu Live are greatly enhanced with special effects. Good effects take practice and preparation, however, and they must be planned and tested well before play begins. MAKE-UP A few make-up tricks are described in the “Monsters” chapter (page 56). A detailed treatment of special-effects make-up techniques is too complex to cover in the confines of this rulebook. Check out a book on stage make-up from the local library for step-by- step instructions on special-effects techniques. A few members of your group may want to specialize as make-up artists for all the games.

FUNDING


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LIGHTING Good lighting effects are essential to Cthulhu Live. Some effects are quite subtle; others are meant to shock the investigators like a splash of icy water. A few general guidelines work in almost all situations:

Keep the place gloomy. Create shadowed corners and a somber atmosphere. A gloomy setting enhances the mood of the piece and helps conceal minor flaws in make-up, costuming, and props. Gloomy doesn’t mean pitch-black. Don’t keep it so dark that players blunder around and injure themselves.

Most hospitals and research labs are brightly lit, but this isn’t always as effective in Cthulhu Live. Sterile white rooms, shining steel, and rows of mainframe computers capitalize on bright lighting, but these are difficult and expensive to reproduce convincingly. A better effect for most groups is achieved with desk lamps, the glow of computer monitors, and a few colored lights placed at strategic locations.

Avoid overhead lighting. Rely on table lamps, desk lights, candles, and standing lamps to illuminate the game area. Overhead lighting is usually too bright, and it washes out any interesting shadows. Lamps and candles cast great illumination across faces and walls. Arrange decorations and props to cast long, angular, disquieting shadows.

Interviewing a demented physician in a well lit office is not very intimidating. Change things around a bit, and put the investigators in a darkened room. Scattered papers reflect a ghostly glow from a single, low-angled desk lamp and strong shadows are cast up across the doctor’s leering, saturnine face. This is far more disturbing.

Overhead lighting can be used when combined with various colored gels. Use a red gel to simulate a photographic darkroom, or to add that special ambiance to the cluttered domicile of chainsaw-wielding cannibals. Blue gels create terrific ghostly effects. Orange gels are a good lighting effect that’s useful for many situations. Orange gels tone down the available light and add an unnatural quality that’s most unsettling.

Experiment with special lighting effects. Ultraviolet lamps or bulbs are inexpensive and can be found in most novelty shops. I recommend using UV lights in conjunction with candles and normal bulbs. A room illuminated only in ultraviolet looks like a cheap disco.

Magic symbols painted in special paints suddenly blaze from the shadows when the Keeper flips on an ultraviolet spotlight during spell casting. Mix ultraviolet with dim conventional lights to create a very eerie atmosphere. Special make-up and UV reflec- tive paint look great on some monsters.

An inexpensive strobe light is very effective during a climactic encounter with an alien horror. It plays tricks with the players’ eyes and minds, and throws them into a state of chaos. Have the strobe positioned and ready to be activated by the Keeper when the encounter occurs. It creates an effective sense of terror and madness, the soul of Cthulhu Live.

SMOKE Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em. Smoke effects are not as easy as lighting tricks, but are very nice if you can safely manage them. Magic rituals, creepy cemeteries, and unearthly creatures floundering in the dark are all excellent occasions for smoke and fog.

Theatrical fog machines are ideal, but are too expensive to be practical for many garners. Perhaps someone in your group works with a local theater and can talk the owner into lending or renting the machine. Otherwise, dry ice and water are the best solution for creating fog. Use caution when handling dry ice. It’s dangerously cold, and should never contact bare skin.

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A sacrificial victim suddenly sprouts tentacles from within after a strange ritual invoking the Black Man. Pictured: Lydia (Lydia Pfieffer) Keepers: Philip Bell, Sean Branney Photo by Sean Branney (August 1988), courtesy of the H. I? Lovecraft Historical Society.

GORE Blood capsules and bottles of stage blood are obtained from novelty shops and theatrical supply stores, Alternatively, you can experiment with your own fake-blood concoc- tions.

Contrary to what you might believe, combat is not the time to use gore effects. Gore is far too messy to use during combat. You’ll ruin players’ clothing. The best times to spring gore effects on players are when their characters stumble in on hellish rites, murders, mutilated bodies, and nocturnal feedings.

The murders of NPC‘s can be nicely staged for the players’ delight. You have more control over the NPC, and can plan for any costumes to sacrifice for the effects. It’s always gratifying for the Keeper (and a shock to the players) when monsters rip apart a trusted NPC friend.

Experiment with blood capsules and blood packs taped beneath clothing. Prepare old shirts with a series of tiny cuts, so they’ll tear open easily beneath a creature’s claws. If you really want to get gruesome, play around with entrails made from rolled cloth soaked in fake blood.

This sort of evisceration is suited to ghouls, werewolves, deep ones, the living dead, and similar flesh-eating humanoids that are able to move in close and rip into the prepared blood-packs. This won’t work with creatures wielding large foam-rubber appendages, unless the NPC rips open the shirt and blood-packs himself.

of pork chitterlings spilling from torn, bloody shirts and gnawed by glassy-eyed undead. While spectacular and profoundly disturbing, using actual meat for these effects is a very unhealthy idea and is strongly discouraged.

Trick stage knives and razors are available which create frighteningly effective cuts. They have a plastic bulb or special reservoir-handle filled with blood. When the handle is squeezed, the blood runs out along the edge of the blade. It creates terrific flowing wounds as it’s dragged across throats or wrists. These are never to be used in combat, only in staged bloodlettings.

Thin tubes and plastic bulbs full of blood create gruesome “spurting artery” effects for ruined throats. The NPC holds the bulb in his hand and the tube is taped to his arm, beneath his sleeve. The tip of the tube should just be concealed by the shirt collar.

Always watch out for interesting items. Mannequin parts offer dozens of fiendish uses for the Keeper. Several companies produce severed limbs, gouged eyes, make-up accessories, and other special items for haunted houses, Halloween events, and die- hard splatter-punks. One company even sells a gelatin mold shaped like a human brain, with instructions for mixing flesh-colored gelatin. Imagine what depraved scenes a few twisted individuals could set up with edible gelatin brains.

The minds of overly enthusiastic splatter-punks are now probably alight with visions

THE SCRIPT All adventures require a written script. Every NPC needs his own copy to study before the game. The Keeper always has a script on hand to use as a reference. Scripts must be clearly written, describe all NPC roles, detail pertinent tests, and still be flexible enough to allow for independent player decisions.


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Each script begins with a list of NPC‘s and a suggested number of players. Recommendations about the player characters occur a t this point-required skills, suggested professions, etc.

The Keeper’s Zntroduction describes recent events in great detail and is a valuable source of information for the Keeper and NPC’s alike. It tells the real story about what’s going on in the adventure.

The Players’ Zntroduction contains considerably less information. It primarily describes how the investigators were brought into the affair. It provides them with enough information to get started, and this section is oflea read or paraphrased by the Keeper a t the beginning of the game.

story in the sequence in which they occur. Learn this timeline, but be prepared to modify it when players disrupt the scripted flow of events. The Keeper always has the timeline on hand and makes sure NPC’s don’t forget their individual responsibilities. The timeline ends with a discussion of the game’s resolution and projected end-state. Recommendations for Experience and Sanity Point awards are given.

The next section of the script discusses each NPC. It details his motivations, goals, strengths, and weaknesses, and provides tips for costuming and role-playing. Each actor tailors the NPC to match his own skills, but this section helps the Keeper cast his actors to the roles best suited for them.

Following the NPC descriptions, the script details the playing area(s) and includes special notes on props. It may include floor plans, set design suggestions, and any special-effects equipment that could be used. Each scene should be simply described, leaving most design and decoration ideas to the gaming group.

Many members of your gaming group will certainly want to try writing scripts. It’s great to have a bunch of possible adventures to choose from, and to trade with other garners. Use the two sample adventures included in this rulebook to give you an idea of how scripts are put together.

Remember that the scriptwriter and the Keeper don’t always have to be the same person. Obviously you can’t be a player if you wrote the script, but maybe you have a special NPC role in mind. Perhaps you always thought it would be fun to play a scheming cult leader or an insane killer. If you have a good idea for an adventure, produce a script and watch your ideas come to life.

A detailed timeline for the adventure follows, describing the critical events of the

USING CALL OF CTHULHU ADVENTURES Adapting Call of Cthulhu adventures for live role-playing in Cthulhu Live is a great

idea, and not that hard to do. There are so many adventures in print, you have an excellent choice of story ideas.

Most Call of Cthulhu adventures require slight modifications, since they usually take place in many locations and over an extended period of time. We’ve already seen how this can complicate live role-playing. Obviously, some adventures transfer to Cthulhu Live better than others, but many are surprisingly easy to incorporate into live role-playing.

Plan on combining some scenes, especially if there are numerous small encounters scattered over multiple locations. Think about how sections of the adventure can be rewritten to use fewer locations and to minimize any time lags.

three indoor locations and one or two outdoor gaming areas. NPC‘s can make scene You can live role-play most Call of Cthulhu adventures if you have access to two or

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changes while the players are in transit, so that driving back and forth between two apartments simulates visiting multiple locations around the city.

Another option is to break up single Call of Cthulhu adventures into a “campaign” format which is played over the course of several evenings. Most sessions of Cthulhu Live last around three to five hours. If the adventure will take longer than that to play, it’s a smart idea to break it up into several different game sessions,

Ability scores translate to Cthulhu Live with few changes. Several ability scores are simply not used, but the range of scores used in the two games is very close. Many skills used in Call of Cthulhu are not replicated in Cthulhu Live. Apply a little common sense, and you can transfer character statistics quite easily.

the two games. I used a loose system weighting Sanity Loss in Call of Cthulhu to determine the Sanity Tests and loss in Cthulhu Live. It looks something like this:

The way that Sanity Tests and Sanity losses are handled is a little different between

CALL OF CTHULHU CTHULHU L m Olld6 POW 12 215 l/ld6 POW 12 316 Olld10 POW 13 316

ld3lld20 POW 14 4/10 ld10/d100 POW 16 4/15

Once again, this is just a general system, and you should feel free to adjust it as you see fit. The idea is that there’s always a chance that an investigator won’t panic, even when confronted with the most terrible of creatures. The more hideous a monster is, the harder it is for a character to succeed in his Sanity Test. With extremely vile creatures, there’s always a possibility that a weak-minded character will go insane.

OTHER SOURCES Other sources for adventure ideas include horror films and fiction. Try turning some of your favorite movies or books into a live role-playing experience. Take a break from the Cthulhu Mythos and send the investigators up against chainsaw killers and vampires.

Another good source is the collection of “murder mystery“ games that were recently in vogue. Already live role-playing scripts, just add elements of the supernatural and a few other personal touches to make these games enjoyable mystery challenges for the sleuths among the players.


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CHAPTER 8: REFERENCE SHEETS

c I"

KEEPER'S REFERENCE LIST SKILL PURCHASE COST SUPPORTING ABILITY

Accounting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Anthropology . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Biology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Botany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU

Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Cthulhu Mythos . . . . . . . . . . . .6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POW

Electrical Repair . . . . . . . . . . .3 ....................... .EDU/DEX Fine Arts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU FirstAid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED U Forensics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Geology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 ......................... .EDU History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Law ..................... 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED U Library Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Linguistics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Mathematics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Mechanical Repair . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU/DEX Medicine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .......................... EDU Meditation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POW Mysticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .POW Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Occult .................... 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Physics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Pilot Aircraft . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU/DEX Psychoanalysis . . . . . . . . . . . . .4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU Psychology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . EDU Sneak .................... 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DEX Surgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .EDU/DEX Track .................... 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ED U Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . varies ........................ DEX

Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 .......................... EDU

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REFERENCE SHEET SKILL TESTS

HEALTH TESTS

SANIR TESTS

Supporting Ability vs. Success Score

Constitution vs. Success Score

Power vs. Success Score

DIFFICULTY CATEGORIES To determine the Success Score of a test, decide what Difficulty Category best describes its complexity and apply the appropriate Success Score. Add or subtract modifiers depending on the specific situation.

SIMPLE: Success Score 5-6 ROUTINE: Success Score 10-11 DIFFICULT: Success Score 14-15 IMPOSSIBLE: Success Score 19+

UNSKILLED ATTEMPTS If the character lacks the necessary skill for a Skill Test, the Difficulty Category is raised by two steps (the Success Score is increased approximately 10 points). Some Skill Tests may not be attempted by an unskilled character, as determined by the Keeper. TEAM EFFORTS

Designate a team leader. He must have the necessary Skill, and should possess the highest Supporting Ability.

Divide the Supporting Abilities of all assisting characters by two. Drop fractions. Add to the team leader’s score.

If half or more of the investigators have the requisite skill, the test takes normal modifiers. If half or more of the characters lack the proper skill, the test is treated as an Unskilled Attempt and the Success Score is increased.

The Keeper decides whether or not a specific test is allowed a Team Effort. SANITY TESTS Each Sanity Test has a Success Score and accompanying Sanity Point loss. If the investigator succeeds in the test, he loses fewer Sanity Points than if he fails. These are specific results of Sanity loss:

Panic (5 Point Loss): A character panics when he loses 5 or more Sanity Points at once. He flees or freezes in terror (as directed by the Keeper). Insanity (20% in one hour): A character who loses 20% of his Sanity Points within the space of an hour goes insane. The Keeper directs his actions. The investigator may be treated with the Psychoanalysis skill to restore him to a semblance of his former self.

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I BASIC COMBAT OUTLINE

Begin casting, drawing weapons, aiming ranged weapons; begin skill use.

Count from 1 to 8 slowly, having characters step on each count.

Divide DEX into offensive and defensive, adding bonuses for weapons.

2. MOVEMENT PHASE

3. MELEE PHASE

4. RANGED COMBAT PHASE

Missiles and spells go off a t this time.

Skill use may result in success, failure, or requiring more time. Characters selecting “Flee” as a combat option move 8 steps at this time. Reloading or drawing weapons is complete.

5. RESOLUTION

HEALING WOUNDS

FIRST A I D

Simple test revives character. Routine test cures EDU/3 WP. Only one successful application per damaging instance per character.

MEDICINE

death. Saves “dead” person with Difficult test if treatment begun within five minutes of

Used to treat poisoned characters.

MAGIC TESTS Magic and psychic powers are both resolved by the Magic Test. A certain number of Magic Points are expended every time a Magic Test is made. The Magic Test is:

POW vs. SUCCESS SCORE. Most Magic Tests are Impossible actions and require team efforts for success. There

is no “Magic” skill, so there are no Unskilled Attempts for Magic Tests. Ritual gestures and invocations are included in each spell description. Anyone who takes the proper steps may attempt a magic ritual.

Psychic feats may only be attempted by someone with the Mysticism skill. Usually no special gestures or rituals are required.

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COMBAT ALTERNATIVE If you wish to handle combat in a less realistic but more rapid manner, use the following procedure.

DECLARATION PHASE: First, gather everyone that wants to be in the combat in a circle.

On the count of three, each person points to whom he is attacking with melee or missile weapons. If someone wants to run away from the combat or be completely defensive, he crosses his arms in front of his chest. If someone wants to cast a spell, he indicates this by putting the palms of his hands together.

ATTACK PHASE:

Those attacking with missiles or melee add their offensive bonus to their DEX, and tell the persons they are pointing at the total. A person being attacked subtracts his full DEX if he is pointing at the attacker, or half of his DEX (round down) if he is not pointing at the attacker. If there is anything left over, those points are taken as damage and subtracted from the Wound Point total. A person being defensive subtracts his full DEX from each attack. A person casting spells subtracts no DEX from each attack.

RESOLUTION PHASE:

Any spellcasters that did not get attacked may declare the effects of their spells at ths time. Anyone that was defensive may choose to leave the combat a t this time. (This is the ONLY way to leave a combat while it is going on). At this point, anyone that wants in the combat may join, and a new round starts. If two people both leave combat on the same round, and if either one desires, they must immediately start their own combat.


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THE OOZE TIME SETTING: 1925 NPC’s BLAKE HARRISON: Owner of the Harrison Mining Co. h k ~ . HARRISON: A ravenous, undead evil (a.k.a. Mother) SPECIAL AGENT PHILIP BLACK: A cruel, sadistic man with a badge DR. WILLIAM MCCRORY The sympathetic company doctor MINERS: Four to six miners

enturies ago, a meteor fell to Earth bearing a terrifymg hitchhiker, a semi-intelligent organic ooze from the depths of space. Almost destroyed by the intense C heat while entering the Earth’s atmosphere, the injured star spawn would have

perished if it had not been found by an Indian warrior investigating the impact site. Gathering its remaining strength, the ooze attacked the young brave and entered his

body. He died from the shock as the evil slime spread via his bloodstream and throughout his tissues. The body lay twitching in the crater for days while the ooze learned how to use the brave’s muscles and nervous system. Finally, late one afternoon, the ripening corpse lurched upright. A pair of vultures pecking at his face squawked indig- nantly and fluttered away.

Following the few sparks of memory remaining in the warrior’s rotting brain, the star spawn directed the undead thing back toward its village. The horror that followed was long remembered in whispered Indian folklore.

Driven to nourish and reproduce itself, the mutant zombie burst into the wooden lodges of its village and savaged screaming kinsfolk. As it tore bleeding chunks of flesh from its victims, the star spawn spread through the mutant zombie’s infected saliva into new hosts.

By dawn, the entire village was transformed into undead terrors. One young girl managed to escape the carnage and warned the neighboring tribes. A force of warriors quickly assembled to battle the mutant zombies. Led by a wise old shaman bearing a mystic stone talisman, the war party descended upon the cursed village.

The mutant zombies retreated before the shaman’s talisman and stumbled into an ambush laid by the braves. After a fierce struggle, the dead were dismembered into hundreds of wriggling, grasping pieces. The shaman built a raging bonfire and the braves cast the mutant zombies into the flames.

severed head and crept away toward the forest. The shaman spotted it and captured the star spawn in a stone jar.

sealed the ooze deep within a cavern and imprisoned it beneath his magic talisman. Piling boulders and scrub before the mouth of the cave, the assembled tribes believed they had rid the world of the nightmare forever. They were wrong.

A puddle of the glowing ooze tried to escape. It flowed from the mouth and nose of a

No one can say why the shaman didn’t destroy the last of the star spawn. Instead he

KEEPER’S INTRODUCTION Richard Harrison founded the Harrison Mining Company in 1901. Back in the hills of rural Pennsylvania, Harrison’s property sat astride a rich iron deposit. Hailing from Boston, Massachusetts, Harrison purchased the land cheaply from the county. None of the locals would build on it. Evil legends hung over the site, handed down through old Indian legends from before the white man seized the lands.

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Harrison had a good head for business and treated his employees well. The little company grew rapidly and Harrison amassed a small fortune for his young wife and his infant son. Unfortunately, a tragic accident in the mine claimed Richard Harrison’s life in 1916.

Company when Richard passed away. Blake was only in his mid-teens, and didn’t come into his inheritance until 1922.

Edith always knew that Blake was a sensitive boy without real business sense, so she took it upon herself to direct the company’s operations, even after Blake became the legal owner. Under her leadership, the working atmosphere of the company changed dramatically. She had little respect or tolerance for the mine workers, whom she viewed as ignorant commoners and untrustworthy immigrants. Her ruthless policies earned her the hatred of the employees, but dissenting voices promptly received their walking papers.

Problems with the miners reached a climax in the bitter winter of 1921, when two miners and their families froze to death because Edith wouldn’t authorize extra coal for her employees above their minimal heating allowance. To pacify the miners, Edith finally allowed the mine workers sufficient coal to last the winter.

In the fall of 1923, Mrs. Harrison announced a series of layoffs and wage cuts. The unrest began again, led by a number of socialist hot-heads among the miners. She hired Special Agent Black, from the Masterson Detective Agency, to handle security at the mine and to ferret out troublemakers.

Drillings in mid-December of 1923 breached a hidden cavern in the hills. The miners discovered a number of ancient Indian artifacts and a stone coffer sealed with a strangely carved stone. The seal broke beneath the blow of a pick, but instead of a cache of Indian gold, the disappointed miners found a small stone jar. A glowing goo trembled in the bottom. Deciding there was nothing of any value, the miners turned everything over to Edith.

stance in the jar. It grew brighter with each passing day. One morning, as Edith idly stirred the ooze with a hair-pin, it leapt from the jar without warning and rushed through her screaming lips. Gagging and coughing, she reeled toward the door, but collapsed in excruciating pain as the burning green liquid swept through her veins and insinuated itself in her terrified brain.

Blake found her dead an hour later. Refusing to accept what he saw, he dragged Edith to her bed and tucked her beneath the quilts. Convinced she had taken ill, he rushed to brew a pot of tea.

When he returned, Blake dropped the tray with an anguished scream. Mother lay atop the body of one of the miners, growling and tearing at his throat. She turned her gore-streaked face toward Blake, and the staring, glassy eyes bore no trace of recogni- tion. Blake trapped Mother beneath the quilt before she could rise, and managed to tie her with cords from the drapes.

A heavy hand slapped down on his shoulder and Blake turned to find himself gazing into the hungry face of the dead miner. Blake snatched a fire axe from the wall and dismembered the groaning, clutching corpse. Bundling the twitching pieces in a sheet, he cast them into the furnace.

Quite unhinged by this time, Blake realized Mother was a flesh-eating abomination, but couldn’t bring himself to destroy her. He chained her in a chair by her bed and told

Always a brash woman, Edith Harrison took charge of the Harrison Mining

Edith kept the artifacts in her room and was strangely fascinated by the curious sub-

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with the assumption that the group of investigators is built around the research team from Miskatonic University. At least two characters must be Historians or Archaeologists. Geologists from M.U. are another good possibility, since they’re often employed in archaeological digs. Alternative introductions are possible, and can provide viable reasons for the presence of other investigators. Scripting additional documenta- tion about the old Indian legends can bring in Parapsychologists with the Miskatonic research team. A private investigator could be hired by the family of one of the dead miners to look into the series of mysterious “accidents” at the mine. You will need to produce additional props and background data to support these alternative introductions.

everyone she was sick. He refused Dr. McCrory’s requests to see her and insisted on caring for Mother himself. Edith Harrison just wouldn’t eat what Blake prepared for her, however, and her drooling jaws seemed more intent on biting the hand that fed her.

Knowing what she craved, Blake arranged a series of fatal accidents in the mine to provide meals for Mother. Tensions rose as the miners decided the mysterious deaths were too suspicious to be coincidental. Blake offered Special Agent Black a hefty cash bonus to quell the unrest among the miners, a task which the sadistic Black took to with relish.

the Indian artifacts found in the mine. When Blake found out about the correspondence, he was furious. Terrified that his secret might be discovered, he demanded McCrory write the university and cancel its planned research expedition. It was too late, as M.U. had already sent a small team to explore the find. Enter the investigators.

In the meantime, Dr. McCrory wrote to a friend at Miskatonic University, detailing

PLAYER’S INTRODUCTION Professor Abram Bethnell, head of the Miskatonic University Anthropology Department, called you (the characters from M.U.) into his office three weeks ago. “How’d you fellows like a shot a t your own research project? I got a letter from a friend of mine in Pennsylvania. He’s the company doctor for a mining company not far from Spruce Creek. Seems that the miners discovered a hidden cavern containing some old Indian artifacts. It doesn’t seem to be any sort of burial chamber, but some of the items sound as if they belonged to a local shaman.

“Christmas break is coming up, and I don’t want to cut into your holidays. Plan on heading to Pennsylvania during the first week of January. I want to look up some information on these artifacts and write Dr. McCrory to let him know you’re coming. Pack some warm clothes. If you don’t see me when you return after New Year, pick up your tickets from my secretary.”

Professor Bethnell was at home with the flu when you returned from your winter holidays. Tickets were waiting, along with a note from the professor saying that he had found some more information on the artifacts and had sent it in his letter to Dr. McCrory, which also detailed the date and time of your arrival.

The train from Arkham arrived at the Spruce Creek Station at half-past four in the afternoon of January 5, 1924. Deep snow blanketed the countryside and long icicles hung from the roof of the station-house. A green flat-bed truck waited beside the platform with “Harrison Mining Company” stenciled on the doors in yellow paint. Two young men in work clothes hopped out of the truck and introduced themselves.

“Afternoon. I’m George, this is Lenny. Doc McCrory couldn’t make it down here himself so he sent us to pick you up. I hope you don’t mind riding in the back.” The men loaded your bags onto the truck and helped you climb onto the truck bed.

For almost an hour, the truck struggled up the icy Appalachian roads into the frozen, forested hills. Dragging out your heaviest coats, you huddled together on the bed of the truck, shivering in the bitter cold. Twenty minutes outside of Spruce Creek, the truck passed a repair crew working on downed telephone lines which had collapsed under the weight of ice. Soon, even this vestige of civilization was left behind as the truck climbed farther into the hills.

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the elevator into the mines. NPC’s inform the players that all artifacts have been brought to the surface. If players insist in going into the mines, pack them into the elevator and have NPC’s clear out the hallway. Turn out all lights in the hallway except for a very dim light with an orange gel. When the investigators enter the mines, they’re met by the foreman and a couple of miners in hard-hats. After a few moments of talking by the elevator, fire a few bursts from a sbobe light or a flash- bulb. The Keeper describes the thunderous explosion that knocks everyone to the ground and shakes the mine. An accident or sabotage? Feel free to kill a couple of miners and wound an investigator. Everyone should promptly get back in the elevator and retreat to the surface.

Finally the truck turned off down a side road and bounced through an open wooden gate. An enameled metal sign reading “Harrison Mining Company, Established 1901” was nailed to the gate. Twilight shadows spread across the land as the winter night approached.

of the administration building. Numbed with cold, you stumble off the bed of the truck and toward the inviting glow

ADVENTURE TIMELINE 1. The investigators arrive. McCrory takes them to the miners’ common area to warm up and tells them the background of the mine and a little about the artifacts. 2. McCrory takes them to Blake’s office. Blake is generally unhelpful and hurried. He gives the Indian artifacts to the investigators for study and examination, all except for the broken Elder Sign. Anytime Blake is asked about the Elder Sign, he promises to retrieve the object, but always seems to forget. If pressured he hysterically shouts about what a busy man he is, how the characters have enough to occupy them, and how he’ll get the damned stone when he has time. Blake feels that there is something important about the broken Elder Sign, but can’t quite put his finger on it. He is loath to turn it over to the investigators. 3. The investigators are given a free-play period. They can explore the area and talk to NPC’s. Historians and Archaeologists might use this time to make notes and sketches of the artifacts, while permitting other characters to talk with the NPC’s. This is a good time to run into Agent Black, and to try to win the trust of a few miners.

McCrory assists the investigators working with the artifacts. Allow investigators to make Routine and Difficult History and Archaeology tests to obtain various interesting facts about Indian religion and culture. Get some details out of an encyclopedia. They’ll be interesting, but are red herrings for any investigator who thinks they have a lot to do with the adventure.

McCrory mentions that one piece is missing from the artifacts, a broken stone seal. He describes it and sketches the symbol. Any investigator with the Cthulhu Mythos skill recognizes it immediately. McCrory mentions that Professor Bethnell identified the symbol as an Elder Sign. If an investigator thinks to ask, McCrory pulls out Professor Bethnell’s letter from his bag.

into people, and spilling papers. He should appear to be an annoying, harmless geek. Agent Black should build himself to be a threatening character during this time, to shift suspicion from Blake.

to break into Blake’s locked bedroom. When Blake is tending to Mother, or distracted elsewhere, a character may search his office and try to open his safe. The players can try to put together a plan to occupy Blake or provide a warning system. If Blake catch- es an investigator searching his office, he’ll be furious. Agent Black puts the character under house arrest. 4. During this free-play period, foolish investigators are weeded out while the NPC mutant zombies are reinforced. Trim down large groups of investigators. Blake lures away the more trusting characters one at a time. It’s done with subtlety; Blake is not a stupid NPC. He approaches players individually, with a favor to ask or a secret to impart. If other players spot him, or more than one investigator tags along,

Blake makes an occasional appearance, rushing around on various errands, bumping

Enough traffic passes through the main hallway so that no investigator has a chance

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Blake turns it into something benign, like stoking the fire in the furnace or helping him move his safe around the office.

person to his office or bedroom and kills the character with a few quick blows of a knife. Blake tries this several times if there are enough players that stupidly go off alone. Make sure a t least four to five players are left alive.

He stacks the bodies up like cordwood in the bedroom, intending to feed them to Mother. The sight of this smorgasbord is too tempting for Mother and she breaks free, gorges herself, and spreads the evil star spawn into new mutant zombies.

Leave the dead investigators in Mother’s care. While Blake hunts, she applies make- up to the characters and briefs them on being a mutant zombie before they make their big entrance.

The NPC playing Blake must really be good. He tries his best not to get caught. If Blake is caught in the act, or is directly accused, the script shifts to a new direction. He vehemently denies any knowledge and points a finger a t Agent Black. If still pressed, he flips out and attacks the investigators with a knife. Blake may kill one or two people this way, but is likely to be quickly killed or knocked unconscious, With luck, Blake has put away several investigators by that time, as a confrontation with the dead will be accelerated. 5. During this free-play period, a fight breaks out between two miners. It’s not serious, but there’s enough pushing and shouting to draw everyone’s attention. While the others focus on the fight, Blake slips into the room and puts formaldehyde into one of the miner’s mugs. If Blake caught a player searching his office, he may try to poison that character instead. If a player sees him do it, kudos for him; otherwise nothing is known about it until someone collapses choking, vomiting, and with intense abdominal pains. A Health Test is made at CON 16. Failure results in the loss of 1 Wound Point every ten minutes. 6. McCrory moves the stricken individual to a cot and treats him. Any character with the Medicine skill may assist. The poisoned character is now unconscious, even if he still has more than 1 Wound Point. 7. McCrory identifies the man as being poisoned if the investigators do not. He tells them not to let the miners know this, because they may not. He asks any investigator with the Medicine skill to continue treatment, while he informs Blake. Investigators may amuse themselves by retrieving the miner’s mug, testing it, and hunting around for clues to the murderer.

Chemistry skill identifies the formaldehyde on a Skill Test of EDU 15. Formaldehyde poisoning can be treated with milk, activated charcoal, or tap water to dilute and deac- tivate the poison. Afterward, the victim must be treated for shock and liver shutdown. Any character with the Medicine skill may perform the correct treatment with a test of EDU 16. Suspicion spreads, and the miners quietly whisper dark thoughts to each other. 8. McCrory returns and talks with the miners. He manages to calm them a little, and urges them to go about their business. 9. Meanwhile, Blake calls Special Agent Black into his office (the players may or may not observe this). Blake tells Black that McCrory is trying to incite the miners, and promises him a large cash bonus if he eliminates the Doctor.

If Blake lures a single investigator away, unnoticed by his companions, he brings the

With the poisoned mug in his possession, a character with the Medicine or

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This is an example of a staged gore scene similar in style to #18 (right). Pictured Bob Hibdin (Andrew Leman) Keepers: Jamie Anderson, Andrew Leman Photo by Rob Kimmel (April 1991), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

10. Blake returns to check on the sick individual. A belligerent miner shouts at him, demanding to know what’s going on. All the miners suspect foul play, and no one is above suspicion. Blake tries to calm them down and says something condescending. A miner leaps at Blake and they scuffle. 11. Dr. McCrory slips out of the room, possibly with a word to the investigators that he’s off to fetch sedatives. 12. “he investigators and miners separate Blake and his attacker. Blake is sob- bing and nursing a bloody nose. Two miners drag their belligerent comrade out of the room and into the central hallway. 13. A shout and the sounds of a fight come from the hall. Investigators see the miners grappling with Agent Black. They caught him dragging McCrory‘s strangled corpse into the tool room. Black drew his pistol and they’re scuffling for control of the weapon. A few shots are fired; one of the miners is wounded (a chance for a doctor character to do his stuff). Black is subdued. Seeing their murdered friend Dr. McCrory costs the investigators a Sanity Test of POW 13 with a l/3 Sanity loss. 14. McCrory’s doctor bag lies open on the floor of the hall, its contents scattered. The players should find the letter from Professor Bethnell detailing the Elder Sign if McCrory has not already given it to them. 15. Give the players time to weigh this new information and to interrogate Black. The miners drag Black into the common area, moving the entire party out of the hallway. This permits the NPC playing McCrory to disappear into Blake’s bedroom and become one of the dead. Any corpse generated by this point and left unattended will vanish into Blake’s room. Two miners watch over Black; the rest discretely go about arming themselves. 16. After a bit of stony silence, Black breaks under the miners’ threats and admits Blake’s involvement in the doctor’s murder. The miners, armed with melee weapons, drag Blake into the room. If the investigators made no special head- way befriending the miners, they find themselves surrounded and their weapons confiscated. One of the miners has Black’s gun, and their grim expressions should convince any player not to cross them. If the miners trust the investigators, they won’t be threatened.

The miners want to hang their prisoners, or perform even less savory forms of mob justice. The investigators should reason with them to avert a lynching. Blake cries hysterically and repeatedly asks if anyone’s seen Mother. She wandered away and he can’t find her. Any players that investigate discover Blake’s door open and the room empty, except for some grisly leftovers. The characters are given this opportunity to discover just what a sick character Blake really is, and to find half of the Elder Sign (the other half is in the safe). 17. The dead NPC’s take their places while the drama unfolds in the common area, and before the players go to check out Blake’s bedroom. A bunch can hide in the prop storage area in the tool room. Others may slip into Blake’s office, and a couple should get into the elevator. While everyone’s debating Agent Black and Blake Harrison’s fates, the dead overrun the mining camp. Several descend into the mines, where they chew their way through the terrified workers below. 18. If the players are just emerging from Blake’s bedroom, a great introduction is having the elevator buzz its arrival and the doors slide open to reveal a pair of the dead chewing on an eviscerated miner. Blood is spattered and smeared inside the elevator and a Sanity Test of POW 14 with a loss of 316 is neces-

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SCENARIOS

sary (the normal Sanity Test for the dead is only POW 12 with a 2/5 loss). The dead start streaming out of the woodwork, with accompanying Sanity Tests required. Once the players have seen two or three mutant zombies, they shouldn’t need to test against them again for the rest of the evening. 19. Extra NPC’s should be the first to go. This provides more bodies for the army of mutant zombies, and leaves the players on their own. The miners are quickly torn apart by the teeth and talons of the dead. Blake and Agent Black shriek and run away, to fall victim to other corpses animated by the star spawn. Blood packs and special effects can be prepared ahead of time to disgust the players. Gruesome disembowel- ments and other horrid sights cost the characters further Sanity losses, as determined by the Keeper. 20. From here, it’s free play. Since the dead have penetrated into the mine, there are scores of mutant zombies returning to the surface to replace those killed by the players. Don’t forget that the ones the characters hack apart will rise again in a few minutes unless the pieces are burned. Ideally, the mutant zombie NPC’s should out- number the player characters by two or three to one. The Keeper has an initial cast of eight to ten NPC’s who should all be dead by this time. The dead aren’t particularly fast or skillful fighters, but they are a lethal, unrelenting force. A couple of investigators are likely to panic and freeze when they first encounter the dead. Unless their companions pull them to safety, these helpless characters fall prey to the star spawn and its mutant zombie army.

The investigators can gain a short break by retreating into the common area and barricading the doors. mutant zombie NPC’s can herd the players into the room and allow themselves to be locked out. The players will need a few moments to collect themselves. They need time to treat wounded and insane characters, catch their breath, and make their plans. The dead groan and hammer at the doors, providing a constant distraction and making investigators think the doors could collapse at any minute. The Keeper can allow the investigators some time to treat the wounded, but if players delay too long, he should permit some of the dead to begin breaking through.

RESOLUTION The investigators should recover both pieces of the Elder Sign. Holding the broken halves together and reading the invocation contained in Professor Bethnell’s letter magically rejoins the stone with a Magic Test of POW 14. The test costs 3 Magic Points and requires a Sanity Test of POW 12 with a 112 Sanity loss.

Brandishing it like a holy symbol, an investigator may drive back the mutant zombies, but the Elder Sign will not destroy them. Prompt the investigator with the Elder Sign to repeat continually the magic formula. It adds a note of panic to the scene and grates on everyone’s nerves.

If the investigators haven’t found the complete Elder Sign and are clueless, the Keeper may remind an investigator about the letter from Miskatonic. If the characters left the letter or pieces of the Elder Sign lying in dead-infested rooms, they’ll have to form a well armed team to cut their way through to these props. Shame on them for leaving clearly useful items behind.

If the players have the letter from Professor Bethnell, the Keeper may allow them to create their own Elder Sign with a Magic Test of POW 20 and the permanent sacrifice of one point of Power. It won’t be quite as effective as the original Elder Sign, and an

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occasional mutant zombie will be immune to its power. Maybe they can draw the sign in “blood on paper or wood-something satisfyingly dramatic.

through, but the investigators will starve to death before there’s any hope of rescue. Any brilliant character who wants to burn the whole building should be reminded that once the blaze dies down, the characters will quickly freeze to death in the sub-zero winter temperatures.

Ideally, the investigators can use the Sign to herd the dead toward the furnace. Characters armed with melee weapons can strike out a t mutant zombies, keeping back any that try to move around the Elder Sign. The characters can drive the dead back to the tool room and into the furnace, or force them into the elevator. The furnace is the better solution, as it destroys the dead and the star spawn that controls them.

are still more down in the mines. If you were able to build both the elevator and the furnace connected to the prop storage area, some of the incinerated dead can sneak through to the elevator and appear as fresh mutant zombies rising up from the mines below. This could go on for some time. The only real way to end this is for the characters to load a case of dynamite into the elevator, light a fuse, and send it down into the mines. The resultant fireball blasting up from below may injure or kill anyone stupid enough to stand too close to the elevator shaft. The collapsing mine tunnel buries the mutant zombies-at least for now.

An Elder Sign on the door to the common area keeps the dead from breaking

Even if the investigators incinerate all the dead roaming through the building, there

CONCLUSION Investigators who survived the adventure should receive a reward of 2 Experience Points. Players who did an exceptional job of role-playing should be awarded 3 Experience Points.

receives 10 Sanity Points. The investigator(s1 that did the most to contribute to the success of the group receives a bonus of 2 Sanity Points.

When all of the mutant zombies are destroyed or sealed in the mines, each character

1 NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS ’ BLAKEHARRISON EDU 14 DEX 8 CON 12 POW 13

Skills: Accounting, Chemistry, Geology, History, Library Use, Small Melee

Notes: Has concealed knife

~ WP12 MP 13 Sanity 0

i GENERAL The awkward, retiring mine owner. All his life Blake has been dominated by Mother, to whom he is entirely devoted. His two years at Boston University were his only foray into the outside world. Withdrawn from his fellow students, Blake spent his time in his books and writing back home to Mother. He quit after two years and returned to Pennsylvania. Even though he inherited the Harrison Mining Company when he turned 21, the title is hardly worth the paper it’s printed on. Mother was always the real power behind the company after his father’s death.

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SCENARIOS

ROLE-PLAYING Blake’s uncomfortable with other people. Mother made decisions for him throughout his life, He divides his time between the office, trying to keep the business afloat, and his room, where he can tend to “Mother.”

Blake is in his mid-twenties, nearsighted and uncoordinated. His clothes are wrin- kled and disheveled now that he must care for his own wardrobe. He’s nervous, paranoiac, and constantly rushes around on various errands. His speech is rapid and he easily becomes hysterical when confronted by complicated or threatening circumstances. He often talks lovingly of Mother and of his childhood memories.

Blake’s recent experiences and activities have left him quite insane. Most of his evenings are spent sitting and talking to Mother, feeding her scraps of his victims. RELATIONS

INVESTIGATORS: He looks at the investigators as an unwanted intrusion. He’s afraid they’ll discover what happened to Mother and take her away.

MOTHER: Since she’s “taken ill” he’s terrified of the creature that she’s become, but will do anything to protect her. SPECIAL AGENT BLACK: Blake is intimidated by Special Agent Black, but is grateful for the man’s loyalty. He doesn’t realize Black thinks he’s a sniveling fool and works just for his paycheck and his love of power. DR. MCCRORY: While Blake used to be friends with the doctor, they’ve recently become estranged. Blake is furious about McCrory contacting Miskatonic University. He refuses McCrory’s requests to examine his mother with hysterical paranoia. THE MINERS: Blake believes all the miners are savage, primitive brutes. That’s what Mother always taught him. He keeps all contact with the miners to a minimum. He has absolutely no guilt about murdering an occasional employee for Mother.

MRS. EDITH HARRISON EDU N/A DEX 6 CON 24 POW 12 WP 24 MP 12 Sanity 0 Skills: None Notes: Only injured by edged weapons; reanimates in three minutes with full WP

unless burned.

GENERAL Mrs. Harrison is dead. Unfortunately, she’s not resting peacefully. The evil energy of the star spawn pulses through her veins and decaying tissue. Blake keeps her chained to a chair in his room, but can’t bring himself to destroy her. More information is found in the entry about the dead.

See the entry on the dead.

None. Everyone is a potential meal and new host for the star spawn.

ROLE-PLAYING

RELATIONS

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SPECJAL AGENT PHILIP BLACK EDU 13 DEX 13 CON 15 POW 11 WP 15 MP 11 Sanity 40 Skills: First Aid, German, Mechanical Repair, Medium Missile, Psychology, Sneak Notes: .32 automatic pistol in shoulder holster

GENERAL From the Masterson Detective Agency, Special Agent Black is an extremely violent and brutal man. The Masterson Detective Agency made a name for itself around the turn of the century by union busting and infiltrating radical mine-workers’ parties. It was infamous for heavy-handed tactics and a disregard for civil rights. Agent Black embod- ies the worst of these elements.

Black served as a sergeant in the American Expeditionary Force in France. He was highly decorated, but was the subject of several investigations into the alleged mis- treatment of his own troops and the torture of prisoners of war. He joined the Masterson Detective Agency in 1920. His skills and willingness to do dirty jobs earned him rapid promotions.

Mrs. Harrison hired Agent Black in October 1923, when the unrest began once again over layoffs and wage-cuts. He initially posed as a new employee, but the clannish miners were suspicious of his sudden arrival and Black was unable to win their trust. In November, Mrs. Harrison officially hired him as “Chief of Mine Security” after unknown persons dynamited an ore-processing shed.

ers and personal belongings were searched while employees worked shifts in the mines. Circumstantial evidence linking two of the miners to the bombing proved enough for Mrs. Harrison. The two employees were turned over to the police after Black beat a full confession out of them. Black’s investigations into equipment thefts and smaller acts of sabotage have been just as subtle.

Black has no clue about what’s happened to Mrs. Harrison. He thinks she’s merely sick, and he isn’t too thrilled about taking orders from her idiot son. Since he respects Mrs. Harrison, he listens to Blake for the time being. Sensing trouble in the air, he’s increased his efforts to root out troublemakers in the company. Black feels something bad is about to happen. He’s quite correct. ROLE-PLAYING Black is Chief of Security and he lets everyone know it. Player characters are treated as suspects and he’ll want to know everything about their backgrounds and what brings them to the site. Investigators with Irish- or Italian-sounding surnames are forever labeled in Black’s mind as drunkards, murderers, and thieves. Female investigators are dismissed as frilly sex objects. If the players leave any bags or coats unattended, Black rifles through them for contraband.

Any conversation with Agent Black quickly reveals his distrust of all the miners and his dislike for Dr. McCrory. He is convinced that socialist radicals are behind the miners’ resistance, so overly liberal investigators are chalked up as communists and possible conspirators. Conservative investigators are soon treated to Black‘s war stories, tales of abusing POWs, and a lengthy tirade against socialism and unions. Black and McCrory never speak to each other and exchange bitter glances when in the same room.

Black made the most of his new position. He detained and questioned dozens of min-

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SCENARIOS

If trouble develops, Black waves his pistol around and tries to take charge of the situation. He’s not likely to listen to any tall tales about the supernatural, and won’t hesitate to threaten any character challenging his authority. Confronted with the dead, he’s likely to go quickly insane. Black’s a good candidate for a spectacularly gory death. RELATIONS

BLAKE HARRISON: An effeminate momma’s boy, worthless and weak. Agent Black pretends to listen respectfully to Blake’s instructions, but he dislikes the man and only follows orders because R h k e qigns his paycheck.

MRS. HARRISON: Agent Black has a lot of respect for Edith, since he feels they’re a couple of ruthless, kindred spirits. He always speaks well of her, and hopes her illness isn’t serious. DR. MCCRORY: “A damned liberal, and I’m glad Blake had the common sense not to let that red bastard sink his claws into Mrs. Harrison.” Agent Black and Doctor McCrory hate each other intensely. Black is convinced that the man is a socialist, and somehow in league with the miners’ conspiracy. MINERS: A bunch of lazy, ungrateful, un-American thugs. No love is lost between Agent Black and the miners. Agent Black doesn’t trust any of them, and sleeps with his pistol beneath his pillow.

DOCTOR WILLIAM MCCRORY EDU 16 DEX 12 CON 11 POW 11 WP 11 MP 11 Sanity 55 Skills: Biology, Chemistry, First Aid, Library Use, Medicine Notes: Carries doctor’s bag

GENERAL McCrory has been with the Harrison Mining Company for ten years. He was friends with Richard Harrison and was fond of Blake as a boy. When Richard Harrison was crushed between two ore cars in the summer of 1916, McCrory tried everything to save Richard’s life, but there was nothing he could do.

He’s not fond of the way Edith has run the company but has stuck with it, since he felt responsible for seeing that Blake was properly raised. The two had been quite close until the last couple of weeks, when Blake suddenly seemed to transform to a new personality. Doctor McCrory is deeply hurt by Blake’s new mistrust, his refusal to let him see Mrs. Harrison, and his uncharacteristic anger when he discovered that McCrory had contacted Miskatonic University. McCrory thinks he’ll probably seek new employ- ment in the spring.

tration. He’s always treated them as equals and listened to their problems. He has often spoken to Blake and Mrs. Harrison on the miners’ behalf. Agent Black is convinced that McCrory and the miners are in cahoots, although McCrory knows nothing about who’s behind the acts of sabotage. ROLE-PLAYING Dr. McCrory is extremely important in the initial stages of the adventure. He greets the players and gives them the background of the mine. He also carries the letter from Professor Bethnell in his bag, which is critical for the investigators’ success and survival.

McCrory is in his mid-forties. He’s a likable character with a sense of humor and genuine concern for the well being of the miners. Conversations with the doctor reveal

The miners trust Dr. McCrory more than any other person in the company’s adminis-

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his anguish over Blake’s change of character and his beilef that somehow Agent Black may be involved. Convinced the man is a fascist, McCrory thinks that since Mrs. Harrison fell ill, Agent Black increased his own power in the company by manipulating Blake. McCrory thinks that Black has been telling lies to Blake, turning him against the doctor and convincing Blake not to allow him to care for Mrs. Harrison. McCrory thinks Agent Black wants Mrs. Harrison to stay sick, or even to die, and to force Blake to sign over large shares of the company. RELATIONS

BLAKE HARRISON: Once a good friend. Now McCrory is deeply disturbed by Blake’s recent change. McCrory admits that Blake was always a weak-willed lad, and he’s certain that Agent Black is behind everything. MRS. HARRISON: McCrory and Edith have grown somewhat distant in the years since Richard’s death. Too many times they’ve argued over the miners’ rights and various company policies. He admits, however, that she’s better equipped for the stress of running the business than Blake. He certainly doesn’t want her to pass away, and is troubled by Blake’s insistence that he stay away from her sick bed. SPECIAL AGENT BLACK: The thorn in his side. Special Agent Black has been nothing but trouble since he arrived. His militant tactics only further distanced the miners from the Harrisons, and his blatant civil rights violations disgust the doctor. McCrory has heard about Black’s exploits in the Great War and is convinced that the man is a deranged sociopath. MINERS: Dr. McCrory is the only one of the company officers that treat the miners like fellow human beings. He is friends with many of them, and they have a mutual trust. They often cooperate to negotiate working and salary conditions with the Harrisons.

THE DEAD GENERAL The mutant zombies animated by the star spawn exhibit many of the symptoms of the classic living dead. They are treated slightly differently, however. They are totally brain-dead, unlike the living dead, and destroying their brains will not kill them. The star spawn that directs the limbs of the dead and drives their hunger has spread throughout their bodies. Only dismemberment stops them, and all pieces must be burned. The star spawn reproduces itself by cellular division and spreads to new bodies through the bites of reanimated hosts.

loss of 215. The test is taken at POW 14 when faced with more than one mutant zombie, or when watching them feed. Rarely should more than two or three Sanity Tests be taken, At that point, the character is numbed to their appearance.

Anyone bitten by Edith or by one of the reanimated dead is attacked by the star spawn. When passed through the saliva, the star spawn is weak and a living person’s immune system destroys the invading spawn with a Health Test of CON 13. If the test is failed, the infected person dies horribly inside of five minutes.

A character killed by a failed Health Test, or slain in some other manner and gnawed on by the mutant zombies, reanimates in two minutes unless dismembered and burned. By now, the star spawn is quite familiar with human anatomy and can quickly animate a corpse. The disjointed pieces slither about and rejoin one another unless promptly incinerated. Only edged weapons damage the mutant zombies. They’ll stagger beneath the impact of bullets and blunt weapons, but no Wound Points are sub-

Seeing a reanimated mutant zombie requires a Sanity Test of POW 12 with a Sanity

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Dr. McCrory brings the investigators to the Miners’ Common Area to warm up and talk for a bit. The investigators will return there to examine the artifacts. It is the best place for the characters to talk to the miners. Serve the investigators something to eat or drink while they’re in the common area. Other tables are occupied by miners playing cards or chatting.

tracted. It’s possible to keep a mutant zombie at bay while repeatedly whacking him with a blunt object, but more are likely to arrive until the character is overwhelmed.

6. In combat, they usually apply all of their DEX toward offensive attacks and grabs. Since they move and attack rather clumsily, a character handy with a knife or axe could quickly dismember one. Unless burned, however, the pieces will rejoin and the mutant zombie reanimates within three minutes with all Wound Points restored. ROLE-PLAYING The animated dead stagger about clumsily, making a beeline for any living creature. They stare with unfocused eyes, groan a bit, and tend to drool a lot when in sight of their next meal. Make-up effects or masks are used to enhance rotting mutant zombies. A touch of powder and some dark shadows beneath the eyes will be sufficient for most recent additions.

These animated corpses attack most effectively in large mobs. They often travel in groups, and try to pull victims into their midst. Anyone dragged into the mutant zombie herd is slain immediately. This makes it tough to fight multiple mutant zombies with a melee weapon.

Single mutant zombies choke and bite a t their victims. Once caught in this manner, an investigator cannot free himself unless the mutant zombie is hacked apart by someone else. RELATIONS None. Mutant zombies are never invited to parties.

THE GAMING AREA

The mutant zombies all have CON and Wound Point scores of 20, and DEX scores of

“The Ooze” requires a set consisting of four to six rooms and a central hallway. The following scene descriptions are merely guidelines, and must be adapted to the resources a t hand. AREA 1. CENTRAL HALLWAY This is the entrance hallway, into which the players first arrive. It opens onto most of the other rooms. It’s kept fairly plain. A few pictures are hung on the walls, and a bookcase and carpet are in the hallway. If the group finds a nice old photo that could represent Richard Harrison, it should be prominently displayed. A fire axe is on one wall. Some winter coats and hard-hats can be hung from a hat rack.

If a walk-in closet is available, turn it into an elevator that descends into the mines. Otherwise, build a small room to represent the elevator, using scrap wood, cardboard, and sheets. It doesn’t need to be fancy, just a place large enough to pack in six or seven standing people. See the description of the tool room for an alternate placement of the elevator.

This is a large room with tables and chairs for the miners to eat, play cards, and relax when not on shift. If the room is large enough, one side can be used as the miners’ sleeping area, with a few cots or beds. Detailing props should be added to give an air of authenticity.

AREA 2. MINERS’ COMMON AREA

SCENARIOS

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A character with Mechanical Repair can open the office safe with a Skill Test of DEX 16. The combination is written in the margin of the first page of the dictionary. Any player who thinks he can blow the safe open with dynamite will kill himself and anyone else stupid enough to stand in the room. The safe, and everything in it, will be destroyed. If the characters are unable to open the safe in any other way, permit them to batter it open with an axe or other large tool. Obviously this will make a lot of noise and bring the NPC’s running to investigate. An investigator with the Chemistry or Medicine skill can identify the formaldehyde with a test at EDU 12. Anyone who recklessly drinks the contents must pass a Health Test of CON 16 or lose 1 Wound Point every ten minutes until dead. The diary should go back to at least a week before the artifacts are found, listing mundane occurrences and concerns. It details the find and tells the story of Mrs. Harrison’s death and subsequent reanimation. Blake describes how he murdered the miners and fed Mother her grisly fare. It notes Blake’s discovery that only incineration will destroy the mutant zombies. Whoever reads the diary takes a Sanity Test at POW 13 with a 2/3 Sanity loss. The financial log contains no special clues, but an Accounting Test of EDU 10 reveals that the company has been steadily losing money over the past few months. It also shows that Agent Blake received several large pay bonuses in the past few weeks.

Finding Rlake’s little butcher shop requires a Sanity Test of POW 15 with a 2/4 Sanity loss. The small jar is where the shaman sealed the star spawn centuries ago. Chemical, Botany, or Biology tests provide little information without proper laboratory equipment. Seeing the glowing goo requires a Sanity Test of POW 12 with a 0/1 Sanity loss. A list of about thirty names is on the table: every employee in the company. Seven are crossed out (the murdered miners). Other names have hand- written notes beside them such as ”suspected saboteur”, ”no known relatives”, “plump”, or “lean.” It‘s Blake’s shopping list for Mother. Investigators realizing this make an additional Sanity Test of POW 13 with a 112 Sanity loss.

AREA 3. COMPANY OFFICE This is Blake’s office. It has a desk and several chairs, a bookcase, and pictures on the walls. Detailing props such as a typewriter, a pen set, a desk clock, and scattered papers are nice additions. Several crates in one corner are prominently labeled “DYNAMITE.” A cardboard box is modified to represent a small safe. Several important clues are found in Blake’s office.

In the safe - half of the broken Elder Sign - Blake’s diary - financial log

9 Idon the desk - unlabeled bottle containing formaldehyde - dictionary

AREA 4. BLAKE’S ROOM There is a bed, a nightstand, a table, and chairs. Detailing props are added as desired. Broken chains lie on the floor and a chair is overturned.

On the table - bloodstained knife - bone saw - stained cutting board - clay or stone jar with a glowing residue inside - list of employees On the nightstand

On the floor - half the broken Elder Sign

- large cloth bag, stiff with dried blood AREA 5. TOOL ROOMPROP STORAGE “his room is divided into two parts by a false wall of sheets or curtains. The prop storage area is behind these curtains and only the Keeper and Npc‘s are allowed access.

The room is dominated by a tremendous furnace. Make the furnace out of a large cardboard box. Hang yellow, red, and orange strips of crepe paper in the furnace and put a light with an orange or red gel inside. This should provide the only light for the tool room, giving the place an eerie red glow. Set the furnace against the curtains and leave the back of the box open. “here needs to be a passage to the storage area through the furnace, so the NPC’s can hide as their bodies are consumed by the flames.

If the room is large enough, this is another location for the elevator to the mines. Set the elevator against the curtain wall, like the furnace, so that incinerated mutant zombies can sneak through the prop storage area and emerge from the elevator as animated miners rising to the surface.

Extra tools (i.e., weapons) are on the walls: axes, shovels, and picks.

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Create other rooms if you have the resources. Possibilities include a miners' sleeping area, Dr. McCrory's office, or Agent Black's room. The Keeper and NPC's should decorate these rooms and adds propsfclues as they see fit.

WRITTEN PROPS Blake's diary is R key prop to be composed by the NPC playing Blake. The financial log and any business papers and correspondence the gaming group wants to generate for the adventure add a hands-on element to the players' investigation. They should be written by Blake and someone writing for Edith Harrison. Blake should write his annotated employee list. The Keeper may want to write notes from Professor Bethnell to the characters, or generate letters and clues useful for private investigators checking out the deaths a t the mine.

On the following page is Professor Bethnell's letter to Dr. McCrory. The spell contained therein is critical for the success and survival of the investigators. If the characters don't pick up on the hint in the introduction that they should ask McCrory for this letter, they will have several other opportunities to get it. "he Keeper is welcome to recopy the letter if he prefers to have it actually hand-written. WEAPONS Agent Black has a gun. Blake's room has a knife and a bone saw. Axes, shovels, and picks will be needed for the tool room, and one fire axe should be in the hallway. MISCELLANEOUS Break open a Cyalume light-stick and pour the glowing chemical inside a small jar. This is residue from the star creature. It's not really dangerous, but the players won't know that.

You will want one broken Elder Sign and one whole one. L

'Ihis page may be pnurucupieu rur perbuiidi ube

only.

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This page may be photocopied for personal use only.

Miskatonic University History Department Arkham, Massachusetts December 21, 1923

Dear Bill,

Happy Holidays. Thank you for writing about these artifacts your friends unearthed. The University would be very interested in examining the items, and possibly in purchasing them from Mrs. Harrison for our Indian collection.

interest. The symbol you sketched from that stone seal looks remarkably like an obscure charm that appears in certain European and Middle-Eastern treatises on the occult. It’s remarkable how some elements of primitive superstitions appear time and again, even in different cultures having no known trade or exchange of ideas. If we can prove this charm is of American manufacture, and was not brought over by European colonists, then it would be of great interest to Professor Bromley and his papers on the collective unconscious.

I showed the sketch to one of our graduate students compiling a treatise on pagan European religions, and he confirmed that this symbol is an ancient charm that he’s found in some very sinister books that we maintain in the library. I managed to charm our librarian into letting me into the rare book room, and I paged through a ponderous old grimoire entitled the Necronomicon. I found the symbol, referred to as an Elder Sign, and it spoke of it as some sort of protective charm. There was an outlandish charm associated with it, which I have written down for you.

Some of the details seem quite curious indeed, and are part of the reason of our

The Invocation of The Elder Sign Ia! Sh‘tak lui na Yog-Sothoth erklos!

Ceddi-ak nash trinh Azathoth! Enos Nodens uns alwa borcephal!

Ia! Ia! Radagastrask certos mortia sihn!

There was also some nonsense about sealing the gate and rejoining the sundered seals that I didn’t quite follow.

Professor Bromley and I would love to get our hands on these artifacts. I’m afraid neither of us will be able to visit personally, however. Charles is in the middle of grad- ing mid-term research projects and I’m coming down with a terrible case of the flu. I’m sending one of my brightest junior instructors and a few of his companions. I’m certain they’ll do a fine job. They’ll arrive in Spruce Creek on January 5, at half past five in the afternoon. Could you arrange to have them picked up at the station?

Thank you again for thinking about the University. Please feel free to stop by the next time you pass through Arkham. Elizabeth and I haven’t seen you in years.

Sincerely,

Abram Bethnell

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SETTING: 1925 HORROR IN THE ASYLUM NPC’s

DR. TREVOR RAVENSCROFT: Chief physician of the Kingstree Asylum ANTHONY FREITAG: Personal assistant to Dr. Ravenscroft TED ROBBINS: A friend committed to the Kingstree Asylum Eight to ten minor NPC’s are required for this adventure. Most roles are “extras”, playing staff and patients. NPCs constantly switch costumes and bustle about in the background. They’ll get in the action at the climax of the adventure, as insane mutants and their victims. Several minor NPC roles stand out from the others and give the actors greater interaction with the investigators. Cast the following roles among your minor NPC‘s. These are not ”full- time” roles, but they provide a little more personality than most minor NPC’s. They are not addressed as separate roles in the non-player character section, but are described where they appear in the Adventure Timeline. HEAD NURSE ELECTROSHOCK PATIENT “DR. BENWAY” GROUNDSKEEPER

INVESTIGATORS They are accompanied by a doctor and lawyer hired to check Ted’s health and possibly get him transferred from the asylum.

If this isn’t your first adventure, there’s probably an old player character who went mad during a previous game, For a personal touch, replace Ted Robbins with this insane investigator and bring his concerned companions back to check on him. There will be strong bonds between friends who’ve survived a brush with the Great Old Ones.

It seems odd to have eight friends dropping in on an asylum all a t once. The Keeper may have other groups of investigators drawn to the adventure as journalists writing an article on Dr. Ravenscroft’s new techniques, as visiting physicians, or simply as concerned friends and family members checking on their committed loved ones. Investigators with different agendas add depth to the game.

mission all his own. One of his buddies had gone mad from the incessant shelling and brutal horrors in the trenches of Verdun. The friend had recently been transferred from a VA hospital to Kingstree Asylum for Ravenscroft’s electroshock therapy.

The soldier couldn’t stand the idea of his buddy suffering the agony of electroshock and hoped to break his friend out of the asylum. Other players suspected him of being an NPC planted in their group, because of his lone-wolf nature and furtive behavior. It built a nice level of uncertainty and paranoia in the investigators.

The Keeper must be prepared to produce special props and introductory material for characters drawn into the adventure through alternate introductions.

When this adventure was play-tested, it featured one character playing a soldier on a

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KEEPER’S INTRODUCTION Dr. Jonas Pickman founded the Kingstree Asylum in 1879. A surgeon in the Civil War, Dr. Pickman witnessed brave men driven mad by the grim specter of battle, and swore to establish a facility for the humane treatment of the insane.

The Kingstree Asylum is a reputable and fairly progressive facility for the 1920’s. Insane patients are rarely treated with the same care and understanding as today. True therapy and psychoanalysis are still in their infant stages. Patients are provided with beds, meals, a nice garden to walk through, and enough drugs to keep a rogue elephant docile.

Straitjackets are a common sight, and padded cells are available for unruly patients. Electroshock therapy is regarded as state of the art, and it’s typical treatment for the most violent patients. Too many families see Kingstree as an easy place to unload their family burdens.

Dr. Ravenscroft attended medical school at the University of Wisconsin and studied psychiatry at Boston University. For several years, Ravenscroft worked on the staff at the Sisters of Mercy Hospital in Boston.

He applied for the Kingstree position after patients assaulted and killed his prede- cessor, Dr. Cagle, in 1921. During the past four years, Ravenscroft has settled comfort- ably into his position as Administrator and Chief Physician. He keeps Kingstree up to date with the latest advances in psychiatric medicine.

his own finances to purchase two systems for the asylum. Ravenscroft believes that periods of great stress and negative emotion trigger electrochemical imbalances in the brain. Imbalances lead to madness, and electroshock therapy tries to correct the problem at the core. Ravenscroft is convinced the effectiveness of electroshock may be further enhanced by a series of mood-flattening chemical formulas injected into the patient’s bloodstream and catalyzed through electricity.

The electrochemical process in the brain is Ravenscroft’s primary area of research, and he’s written a number of papers on the subject. He maintains a small laboratory in the sub-basement of the asylum, where he continues his experiments with the aid of Anthony Freitag.

Anthony Freitag has worked at the asylum for two years and has managed to make himself indispensable to Ravenscroft. Unknown to the doctor, F’reitag was kicked out of Miskatonic University Medical School three years ago for misconduct. Certain ideas and practices in his research greatly disturbed the faculty. Everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief when Freitag was caught stealing lab equipment and thrown out by the Honor Council.

Freitag‘s thesis revolved around enzymes controlling growth and cellular development. Almost thirty years before James D. Watson’s discovery of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), Freitag was searching for the biochemical map of cellular development.

Freitag‘s sources included medieval medical texts and esoteric philosophic works. He was convinced that ancient alchemists possessed a forgotten scientific knowledge that was now half-remembered in legends of magicians, changelings, and lycanthropes. Freitag believed he could discover a lost chemical process to alter natural cellular growth and control the development of living tissue. With such knowledge, a man might grow a new arm, a liver, or a replacement for any diseased organ from vats of primal tissue.

Ravenscroft is an avid supporter of electroshock therapy and invested a great deal of

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players to read Two or three should be sufficient.

Before his expulsion from Miskatonic University, Freitag obtained an ancient formula from a nameless tome in the library’s rare book section. While a few of the ingredi- ents sounded like medieval superstition, Freitag‘s experiments with the formula were startlingly successful. He injected the compound into fetal rats still within the womb. Three weeks later, Freitag stared aghast at the unspeakable shapes that chittered and thrashed in the nest, fighting for a place at their mother’s teats.

Subsequent tests revealed that even mature animals experienced accelerated and uncontrolled cell growth when the compound was stimulated with high voltage electricity, passed through the animal’s bodies at an amperage low enough to prevent serious injury or death.

His expulsion from M.U. was a heavy blow to Freitag. Taking his notes and chemicals, he searched for a place to continue his experiments. Freitag learned of Dr. Ravenscroft’s research in electrotherapy and realized he had found the perfect niche. Faking a set of nursing credentials, he applied for a position on the staff a t Kingstree Asylum.

Ravenscroft was impressed by the young man’s medical knowledge and selfless dedi- cation. When the doctor’s assistant died in a mysterious hunting accident, Ravenscroft naturally asked Freitag to fill his shoes.

While Freitag helped Dr. Ravenscroft develop the mood-flattening serum for electroshock therapy, he continued his own research into tissue manipulation. Secretly, Freitag introduced his own formula into the doctor’s serum, which was routinely injected into electroshock patients. Over time, many of the patients showed signs of unnatural tissue growth and mutation. Minor cases sported accelerated bone growth or strange warts on the skin. The more serious mutations soon could no longer be concealed from the other patients.

Distressed by these unforeseen reactions, but convinced he was still looking after the best interests of humanity, Ravenscroft locked the most horrific mutations in the sub- basement of the asylum. With Freitag‘s assistance, he forged documents showing these patients had passed away or had been transferred to other facilities. Guilty about the byproducts of his research and blaming only himself, Ravenscroft knew that he could allow no one but F’reitag to know of these mutated patients, but he couldn’t bring himself to destroy them.

Freitag was pleased by the dramatic results of his own secret experiments and redoubled his efforts to unlock the mystery of controlling the cellular mutation. He maintains a room of his own, near Ravenscroft’s personal laboratory, where he continues his dark research.

PLAYER’S INTRODUCTION The year is 1925. One of the investigators has received a series of disturbing letters from Ted Robbins, who suffered a breakdown of sorts four months ago. His family formally committed him to the Kingstree Asylum when it was apparent he could not be cared for at home.

Several letters arrived from Robbins within the past weeks, displaying a growing level of fear and paranoia. He made claims of patients disappearing overnight, unearthly screams echoing through the hospital, and the asylum staff conducting inhu- mane experiments on the helpless patients. His own family has dismissed his letters as insane delusions, and he now considers the investigators to be his only hope.

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pencils. All forms must be filled out in ink, and the nurse insists that forms written in pencil be recopied Some players won’t read the fine print before writing.

The investigator knew Robbins for years before his breakdown, and always considered him to be a perceptive, level-headed individual. If Robbins is a former player character, perhaps the investigator knows exactly why Robbins was committed. He recognizes the fact that things in our world aren’t always as they seem.

In either case, the investigator decided to look into his friend’s wild claims. Assembling a doctor, a lawyer, and possibly a few other friends, he departed for Kingstree Asylum. His intent is to check Robbins’ health and possibly to have him transferred to his own care.

on Ravenscroft‘s new techniques, as visiting physicians, or as friends and family of other patients. Additional material should be created to give each investigator a good reason for participating in this venture.

Kingstree Asylum is a large, three-storied brick hospital built near the end of the last century. The white wooden shutters and trim shine in the afternoon sun as the characters’ auto turns into the long, gravel driveway.

A high brick wall surrounds the grounds of the institution, which cover some eight acres of neatly trimmed grass, hedgerows, and wooded groves. A few patients sit on lawn chairs and benches, carefully watched by burly, white-clad orderlies.

The characters park in front of the asylum and walk into the entrance hallway. Once inside, they witness a startling transformation. In stark contrast to the lovely exterior of the facility, the interior of Kingstree Asylum is a cold, sterile environment. The smell of ammonia and disinfectant hangs heavily in the whitewashed hallways.

As stated before, other investigators may be introduced as reporters covering a story

Driving up to the asylum, the characters have a chance to study the facility.

A sign hanging on the wall directs all visitors to the reception room.

ADVENTURE TIMELINE 1. The investigators arrive at the hospital. If they don’t immediately head to the reception room, an orderly stops them and politely requests they register as visitors. 2. The head nurse of the asylum greets the investigators in the reception room. She explains that all visitors are required to fill out a registration form before touring the hospital. If the investigators are separated into different groups, this is the perfect time for them to meet.

“he nurse bustles in and out of the room. She explains the asylum rules and kibitzes as the investigators struggle through their forms. This scene is intended to frustrate several players, so she should give them a hard time.

When all forms are completed to the nurse’s satisfaction, she hands out visitor tags for them to wear and asks them to wait for Freitag. 3. Freitag enters the room, shakes hands all around, and asks the investigators to accompany him to Dr. Ravenscroft’s office. Investigators have a chance to study the directory and floor plans posted on the wall by the elevator.

On the elevator ride to the second floor Freitag chats amiably with the investigators. He’s trying to learn the reason behind their visit, but presents himself as a likable character. He tells them he’s worked at the hospital for a couple of years and is Dr. Ravenscroft‘s assistant. He continues to question investigators and improvise conversation about himself, the asylum, and Dr. Ravenscroft until the scene change outside the elevator is completed.

The investigators may notice that there is a second basement level that can only be accessed by a special elevator key. Asked about the sub-basement, Freitag says it’s only

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occupy some of the beds. They are also useful later in the game as dead bodies.

1~ .~~ .. I he dark man was the h?oundskeeper, who otten meets with Ravenscroft to discuss ;he finer points of gardening. He’s been bringing the doctor tulip bulbs for his garden at home. Ifs perfectly innocent, but suspicious investigators will draw all sorts of conclusions.

used for long-term storage, and that only the groundskeeper has the key. (This is the level of the secret lab and cells. Freitag and Ravenscroft both possess the key for this level.) 4. Stepping onto the second floor, Freitag leads the group to Dr. Ravenscroft’s office. Minor NPC’s pass through the hall, some giving a familiar nod to Freitag. This is a chance for the investigators to catch a glimpse of “Dr. Benway” leaving one of the wards and dashing into the elevator. 5. Dr. Ravenscroft greets the investigators and ushers them into their seats. He asks Freitag to fetch coffee for any investigator that cares for a cup. Ravenscroft and the investigators talk for a while about their friend, the hospital, and Ravenscroft’s treatment techniques. He dismisses Robbins’ claims and describes the poor fellow as suffering from paranoid delusions since he arrived at the asylum. He is visibly annoyed by the presence of the doctor and lawyer.

Ravenscroft assures them that his patients are all well cared for, in excellent health, and present at the behest of their families. The group will have a chance to meet their friend and have a tour of the facility.

He’s too busy to accompany them on the tour, but Ravenscrofl invites them to watch one of his electroshock therapies, scheduled for later in the afternoon. He remains guarded about the details of his serum, since it’s still in the development stages. 6. Freitag takes the investigators back to the elevator and the playing area is rearranged for the third floor.

The group enters one of the wards, where several patients are present. Afew sleep in their beds; others play checkers, draw vaguely disturbing pictures with fat crayons, or stare vacantly out the windows.

Ted Robbins recognizes the investigators immediately. The group may withdraw to a corner of the ward, but Freitag hovers nearby. He attends to a few patients while eavesdropping on the conversation.

Robbins repeats his fears and demands the investigators get him out of the asylum. When told of Ravenscroft’s denials, Robbins gives them the names of six or seven patients that have disappeared during the last several months. He claims Ravenscroft is killing off his patients in some gruesome experiment and that he’s seen Ravenscroft speaking with a dark man who appears from the woods at sunset. Several times the dark man gave Ravenscroft a handful of strange roots before vanishing back into the forest.

firms that Robbins is quite unhinged, but seems to be telling the truth. He isn’t in the best physical condition, but any staff member can tell the investigators that Robbins mistrusts the food at the asylum and only sleeps a few hours a night. 7. Robbins begins raving loudly and upsets the other patients. Freitag asks that they move on and tour the rest of the asylum. Orderlies rush in to constrain Robbins, who struggles wildly and attempts to bite them. They wrestle him into a straitjacket and give Robbins an injection that quickly puts him to sleep. Freitag apol- ogizes for the scene and leads the players out of the ward.

Freitag decides that both Robbins and the investigators need to be permanently silenced. He plans on setting up an “accident” without Ravenscroft’s knowledge, since the doctor might not agree to the murders. 8. During the time that follows, Freitag leads the investigators on a tour of the asylum. He continues to work at winning the investigators’ confidence, all the

Robbins is unkempt and wild-eyed. Anyone making a Psychology test at EDU 12 con-

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while trying to determine how seriously they take their friend‘s ravings. He’s smart enough to drop remarks to shift suspicion toward Ravenscroft and away from himself.

The group passes through several rooms during the tour, and has a chance to speak with other patients and members of the hospital staff. An initial meeting with “Dr. Benway” occurs during this time.

At some point during the tour, Freitag excuses himself and goes over some charts and medical records with another staff member. A nervous fellow in a doctor’s lab coat sidles up to the investigators and whistles conspiratorially. He introduces himself as Dr. Benway and asks the characters what they are doing in Kingstree.

After a few initial pleasantries, Benway leans in close and tells the investigators that a great evil is afoot in the asylum. If the investigators press for more information, Benway passes on several tidbits of information. Some may be factual; others are complete falsehoods. They should at least have a faint ring of truth to arouse investigator suspicions. Everything from the asylum being a front for Illuminati mind-control experiments to a ring of bootleggers operating in the sub-basement is fair game. Seeing Freitag returning, Benway whispers, “We’ll talk again soon!” and disappears into the elevator.

pharmacist, but should still be on vacation in Tangiers. The group finally ends up in the electroshock room. 9. Ravenscroft is busy with a table full of chemicals, but nods to the investigators as they enter the room. Several orderlies adjust the electroshock chair, which looks disturbingly like an execution device. Freitag rattles off some useless statistics about voltage and amperage to fill the void.

The door opens and two more orderlies enter, firmly gripping a terrified patient. The orderlies remove his straitjacket and strap him into the chair. They attach electrodes to the patient’s forehead and place a rubber bit between his teeth. Dr. Ravenscroft approaches with a syringe and cotton ball. The patient whines pathetically as the doctor injects his serum. Orderlies double-check the straps as Ravenscroft walks over to join the investigators.

Ravenscroft explains the injection is his experimental mood-flattening formula. It slows the activity of the brain and pacifies the patient. It even reduces delusions and hallucinations by dampening the higher brain functions responsible for fear, dreams, and imagination. He mentions that Freitag assisted him in developing the formula, which he hopes to introduce to the American Medical Association next year.

to begin the treatment. The chair powers up with an ominous hum. An orderly turns up the voltage and the patient groans and throws himself against his restraints. The lights flicker. The patient’s struggles soon cease and he slumps in the chair with a whimper. All investigators except Psychiatrists (or others likely to have experience with electroshock) are required to make a Sanity Test at POW 12, with a 1/2 Sanity loss. The orderlies free the patient and lead him, meek and glassy-eyed, back to his ward. 10. At this time, the investigators probably want to question Ravenscroft about the missing patients named by Robbins, examine the machine, and try to obtain a sample of the doctor’s serum.

The tour continues. If asked about Dr. Benway, Freitag mentions that he’s the staff

The group has only a few moments to talk before Ravenscroft instructs the orderlies

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Minor NPC’s not involved in the cafeteria should start getting ready for the final scenes. NPC’s in complex mutant costumes need enough time for changing clothes and make-up.

Any player may try pocketing one of the bottles of serum. If Ravenscroft or Freitag spots the theft, he quietly notifies the Keeper. Depending on the previous behavior of the players, the doctor or his assistant may arrange one of several possible “accidents.”

If a character with the Chemistry skill spends ten minutes in one of the asylum’s laboratories, he may analyze the serum. With a Skill Test of EDU 17, he reveals the compound to be lithium-based with a number of complex polycarbons and organic acids. Several strange elements in the serum defy identification.

Investigators may inspect the electroshock equipment a t their leisure. The Keeper adjudicates any Skill Tests and answers questions. There is nothing unusual about the system.

If the group questions Ravenscroft about the missing patients, he invites them back to his office. Apparently unconcerned, Ravenscroft chats the whole way there about the progress seen in violently insane individuals, the staggered therapy cycle, the importance of diet and exercise, and a host of similar topics. 11. Back in his office, Ravenscroft opens his safe and removes two folders. He produces patient transfer receipts for several of the patients and death certificates for the rest. All missing patients seem to be accounted for. Additional notes on these documents are provided later in the script.

Further questioning of Ravenscroft reveals little. If they ask Ravenscroft about Dr. Benway and his strange information, Ravenscroft tells them that Benway is on vacation in Tangiers and demands to know where they got such ridiculous information. 12. Suddenly, there is a loud commotion in the hall. Ravenscroft and Freitag bolt out of the office to see what’s wrong.

Investigators accompanying them see several orderlies struggling with a patient. The madman somehow obtained a knife, and at least one orderly is already wounded. Characters may help subdue the patient and assist treating the orderly. Other characters might realize that Ravenscroft will be out of his office for a bit and they can search the place.

Ravenscroft leaves his safe open as he runs from the office, and investigators easily gain access to his files and personal diary. Ravenscroft will be busy for several minutes with the patient and wounded orderly. This is the players’ big chance to get some dirt on Ravenscroft.

Investigators may take several files or the pistol from Ravenscroft’s desk without him immediately noticing the loss. If they take his diary, or leave obvious signs that they searched his office, Ravenscroft decides they are too close to discovering his dark little secrets and starts working on a plan of his own.

Ravenscroft might try to have a few investigators trapped in a ward with violent, armed patients, or he could try to arrange an accident with the electroshock system to electrocute an investigator. If this is the case, both Ravenscroft and Freitag are working on their little murder plots independently of each other. Interesting complications may arise. 13. After the commotion settles, Freitag takes the group to the cafeteria to relax. Provide the investigators with a few refreshments and a table where they can sit and talk. Freitag excuses himself to attend to a few things and says he will return shortly.

This is a free-play period in which the investigators may plot among themselves, compare notes, and talk to patients and staff in the cafeteria. The groundskeeper is at

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another table, sipping coffee. In his dirty coveralls, he stands out from the rest of the hospital staff, and can provide useful information to any character who talks with him.

The groundskeeper helped Ravenscroft and Freitag install a second electroshock system in the second basement two years ago. He hasn’t been there since, and doesn’t think that it’s ever used. He knows Ravenscroft has an elevator key. He might have the spare, but isn’t sure. If pressed, he flips slowly through a tremendous ring of keys, muttering to himself. Finally, he remembers that Ravenscroft asked him for his spare key not long after installing the electroshock system. This is another good time for the reappearance of “Dr. Benway”, who dishes out

bizarre new leads to the investigators, before finally being apprehended by a pair of orderlies. “Hey! What are you doing out of your room?“

If Ravenscroft has decided to take direct action against the players, he shows up at this time to try to lure part of the group away.

Players wanting to sneak around the asylum without an escort won’t get very far. All employees of the asylum stop visitors not accompanied by a staff member. Since the staff is fairly small, everyone knows each other. There’s not much chance of successfully disguising oneself as a staff member.

During this time, Freitag takes Robbins from his ward and locks him in the secret laboratory. It’ll take him ten to twenty minutes before he returns for the investigators. 14. If the investigators are still in the cafeteria when Freitag returns, he tells them Ravenscroft took Robbins into the sub-basement and he fears for their friend’s safety. Freitag says he stole an elevator key from Ravenscroft’s office and urges them to accompany him to the sub-basement. Players may be a bit suspicious of Freitag, but are still likely to follow him. 15. Arriving in the dark sub-basement, the player characters probably draw any weapons they have, anticipating a trap. Freitag tries to place himself in the middle of the group, but won’t resist if paranoid investigators force him to walk in front. When Freitag locked Robbins in the secret lab, he freed the imprisoned mutants.

through the door draws the attention of the investigators.

places. There should be at least five or six mutants. All investigators make a Sanity Test at POW 12, 215 Sanity loss.

The mutants are unarmed. They fight with their claws and tentacles or try to close with the investigators and strangle them. In the chaos, Freitag makes a dash for the elevator and escapes into the upper levels of the hospital. It shouldn’t be very difficult. A few investigators may be frozen in panic, and the rest will have their hands full fighting off the mutants.

The mutants hit hard and fast, trying to kill as many investigators as possible. Once half their number is killed, the mutants try to flee. Several try to escape to the elevator. In any case, the Keeper describes shifting shapes in the darkness and the scraping of bare feet on the cold floor of the basement. Most of the sounds come from the darkness near the elevator, encouraging players to retreat into the secret lab. 16. Besides the secret lab, there’s another door marked “Anthony Freitag - Private.” It doesn’t matter if the player characters go here before the secret lab, or after. The lock can be picked by a character with Mechanical Repair making a Skill Test a t DEX 13. Otherwise it can be battered down with a shoulder or axe.

The door of the secret lab, at the far end of the corridor, is ajar. The light spilling

Once the investigators are well into the hallway, mutants pounce from their hiding

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.".*rl'"B?,T .....*,. - . . ~ 1. , -..r ;,.-...'"m ,. -., , ~ ~ ,

'lhc acid is a good idea and much safcr than fighting the creature. Reward that player with an extra Experience Point at the end of the game.

While the players are catching their breath in the secret lab, the NPC's need to get ready for the final scene. Most of them are dressed as mutants; a few need to change back to patients and staff, smeared with gore. If dummies were used in previous ward scenes, you're in good shape. Prepare them as slaughtered patients and staff.

Inside the small room are the clues necessary to unravel the rest of the mystery- Freitag's journal and research papers. Strange chemicals and curious dried herbs are scattered across the desk. The players may take the time to read through the journal while attending to wounded investigators. Occasionally, a mutant lurches down the hall and roars menacingly. A single mutant wandering in a t irregular intervals won't be a major threat, but it keeps the players' nerves frazzled. 17. The secret lab is a cluttered mess of mysterious machines and racks of bubbling test tubes. The door of the lab can be closed and locked from the inside against the mutants.

Another electroshock chair is in the center of the room, but this one has signs of strange modifications. Notebooks and papers litter the work area. Several large bottles labeled "Hydrochloric Acid" sit on one of the tables.

Peering through the bars, investigators see Ted Robbins chained to the wall on the far side of the small, darkened cell.

Hidden around the corner, unseen to the players, is the most hideous of Ravenscroft's mutated patients.

A Mechanical Repair Skill Test with a DEX of 12 opens the barred gate. Otherwise, the players can splash acid on the bars and bash through them with an axe and a little determination. Robbins is barely conscious and groans incoherently.

Once the investigators breach the bars, the creature moves into action. Flailing its tentacles a t the investigators, it crawls across the floor toward Robbins. Investigators seeing the horror must make a Sanity Test a t POW 14 with a 4/8 Sanity loss.

The investigators must act quickly to save Robbins. Unless they leap forward and engage the horror, or immediately begin firing rounds into its body, the creature reaches Robbins and tears him apart (Sanity Tests at POW 13, 2/4 Sanity loss, required). If the investigators succeed in getting the creature's attention, it leaves Robbins alone and attacks the player characters.

patch this horror with melee weapons. It's tough, but not impossible to kill. Another option is throwing acid on the creature, causing it to howl, burble, and expire in an unsavory manner.

lab. Investigators probably need to take a break at this time to treat injured and insane characters. This is also a good chance for them to read through the lab papers or study Freitag's journal. 18. Recovered to the best of their ability, the investigators are probably ready to leave Kingstree Asylum far behind. They'd better not let down their guard just yet.

The sub-basement is quiet and empty when they finally open the door of the secret lab. In order to preserve game continuity, make sure several mutants lie dead on the floor. There is nothing for the investigators in the sub-basement besides the lab and Freitag's room, so they should make for the elevator. 19. When the elevator opens onto the ground floor, the investigators step out into another nightmare. All characters take a Sanity Test at POW 14 with a 3/6 Sanity loss. Escaped mutants from the sub-basement run amok through the asylum, killing any staff member or patient they encounter.

Bodies are strewn across the floor in pools of blood. Screaming employees struggle with the hideous creatures. This is the perfect opportunity for special effects, so the

A feeble cry for help drifts through a barred doorway on the far side of the room.

As long as not too many investigators are dead or insane, they should be able to dis-

If he's still alive, Robbins can be freed and carried to the relative safety of the secret

SCENARIOS

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gaming group should go wild during this scene. Limbs are ripped from shoulders, entrails are clawed from screaming victims, orderlies and patients collapse in blood- soaked uniforms. The players see Ravenscroft torn apart by escaped mutants. His terrified eyes plead with the investigators for salvation they are unable to provide.

Freitag stands between them and the exit, wielding a gory axe. He laughs maniacal- ly and prepares to attack the investigators, but then he too is overwhelmed by one of the terrors.

The investigators shouldn’t have too hard a time fleeing out the exit. Only a few more mutants stand in their way. By this time, of course, several investigators may be dead or insane. The battle may prove a tough one.

With no other way out, the investigators are forced to engage the mutants. Swinging their weapons, they’ll either go down heroically, or break out into the surreal tranquili- ty of the cool night air.

CONCLUSION Police and fire-fighters converge on the Kingstree Asylum, now blazing brightly in the night. Assuming any investigators survive, they’ll be rushed to a local hospital for treatment, It’s possible to role-play questioning by the police, but most Keepers with a streak of humanity will finally give the players a break.

Several “madmen” rushed the police when they arrived, but were shot on sight by the terrified officers.

All investigators who survived the adventure receive 2 Experience Points. Players who did an outstanding job of role-playing or who made great contributions to the game receive an extra one or two points.

the asylum. If Robbins is rescued, all investigators are awarded 10 Sanity Points.

terrible night.

The asylum is utterly consumed by the blaze, along with the bodies of the dead.

Award the characters 5 Sanity Points if they survived but Ted Robbins perished in

An article (see handouts on page 147) appears in the local paper two days after the

NON-PLAYER CHARACTERS DOCTOR TREVOR RAVENSCROFT

EDU 20 DEX 10 CON 9 POW 12 WP9 MP 12 Sanity 35 Skills: Biology, Chemistry, Electrical Repair, Medicine, Psychoanalysis, Psychology

GENERAL The brilliant, if misguided, administrator of the Kingstree Asylum is in his mid-forties. He’s built a fine reputation during his four years a t the asylum. His research into the electrochemical causes of madness are well known to any investigators in the health or scientific professions. He’s usually a friendly character, but is frequently distracted by the endless stream of ideas flashing through his mind. ROLE-PLAYING Imagine your classic, absent-minded scientist. Ravenscroft uses frustratingly complex terms and rambles endlessly on theories few others comprehend. At the same time, he often loses his glasses when they’re sitting on his head.

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Ravenscroft projects a forced air of friendliness. It’s apparent that he’s not terribly comfortable with visitors to the asylum, and he clearly resents any medical personnel brought in to check on the condition of his patients. In spite of everything, Ravenscroft still believes he’s running a fine institution and doesn’t take kindly to characters challenging the quality of the Kingstree Asylum.

He’s not as cool-headed a character as Freitag. If hounded by questions and backed into a corner, he grows more and more nervous. If pushed too hard by investigators, he’ll explode in an angry tirade and order them out of his office.

Havenscroft wears a conservative suit and puts on a lab coat when working with chemicals or laboratory equipment. He should have wire-rimmed glasses and possibly a mustache or goatee. The NPC‘s hair can be dusted lightly with talcum and a few subtle age lines applied with make-up. RELATIONS

INVESTIGATORS: The presence of the investigators is a considerable inconvenience. They should be reassured about their friend’s health and the quality of his treatment, and then moved out promptly. ANTHONY FREITAG: Ravenscroft has nothing but praise for this dedicated, hard-working young man who’s helped him so much in his research. Since Freitag is Ravenscroft’s confidant and partner in crime, he’ll try to protect Freitag and even cover his tracks if necessary. TED ROBBINS: Just another patient, although one who’s starting to bring outsiders to the institution. If these troublesome delusions continue, extensive electroshock therapy is the only solution. Asnm STAFF: A fine bunch of professional men and women. They take pride in their work and are happy to be part of the Kingstree staff. PATIENTS: Insanity is one of the unfortunate burdens borne by the paragon of animals. Enhanced brain capacity helped man fight his way to the top of the evolutionary ladder but such a delicate organ is sensitive to electrochemical imbalances. Ravenscroft genuinely wants to help patients and believes everything he’s done is in their best interests.

h T H O N Y FREITAG EDU: 16 DEX 12 CON: 10 POW 11 WP 10 MP 11 Sanity 0 Skills: Biology, Chemistry, First Aid, Library Use, Medicine, Psychology

GENERAL This scheming NPC is much more than what he seems. Having faked a set of nursing credentials, he’s used his extensive medical knowledge to secure a position as Ravenscroft’s trusted assistant. No one knows that he is a former medical student thrown out of Miskatonic University. He’s quite insane at this point, and ready to kill anyone who stands in the way of his hellish research.

Despite his sociopathic madness, Freitag wears the guise of a charming, well spoken young man. He’s adept a t manipulating people to get what he wants. Throughout most of the adventure, Freitag works to win the confidence of the players and tries to obtain as much information about them as possible.

ROLE-PLAYING

Freitag wears white slacks and a white shirt, as do all the other asylum staff.

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CON 13 POW 12 Sanity 25

RELATIONS INVESTIGATORS: Meddling imbeciles standing in the way of research. Unless their suspicions are allayed, they must be eliminated. TREVOR RAVENSCROFT: A skilled scientist in his own right, but a silly, trusting fool. Never sus- pecting Freitag of tampering with his ridiculous mood-flattening serum, the old doctor is a convenient means by which the cellular experiments may be continued. TED ROBBINS: A troublemaker standing in the way of progress. He signed his own death war- rant the moment he mailed those letters. ASYLUM STAFF: Smug, happy fools.

PATIENTS: Lab rats.

TED ROBBINS EDU 14 DEX 9 WP 13 MP 12 Skills: N/A

GENERAL Robbins was a close acquaintance for years and his nervous breakdown came as quite a shock to friends and family After trying to care for him at home, his family finally sent him to Kingstree Asylum. Additional background material should be tailored by the Keeper, or Robbins can be replaced by an old investigator driven mad during a previous adventure.

In either case, this is quite a disturbed young man. While many of his claims are grounded in truth, many innocent occurrences take on sinister new forms from his paranoid delusions. A conspiracy is everywhere. ROLE-PLAYING Robbins trusts no one except the player characters. Ravenscroft and the rest of the hospital staff are engaged in hideous experiments, torture, and devil worship. Any other patient could be one of their agents. No one can be trusted. During the few times the investigators see Robbins, he’s wild-eyed and half-delirious. He begs for help getting out of the asylum and accuses the staff of the most horrible atrocities. In person, he’s decidedly more disturbed than his letters seemed to indicate. Some investigators may wonder if his ravings are attributable only to madness, and that his family was right to ignore his outrageous claims.

Robbins is dressed like the other patients, probably in pajamas and a bathrobe. RELATIONS

DR. RAVENSCROFT: Evil incarnate! He controls the others!

INVESTIGATORS: The last hope of escape. They must believe! That fiend Ravenscroft must be stopped!

ANTHONY FREITAG: Igor! Ravenscroft’s evil toady! The investigators must not believe his glib lies! ASYLUM STAFF: All work for Ravenscroft and assist him in his gruesome work! PATIENTS: They might be innocent, certainly some of them suffer a t Ravenscroft‘s hands as well, but any one of them could be an agent planted to root out troublemakers! Trust none of them!

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SCENARIOS

THE MUTANTS EDU 6 DEX 10 CON 17 POW 10 WP 17 MP 10 Sanity 0 Sanity Test: POW 12 Sanity Loss 215 Skills: N/A

GENERAL These poor souls are twisted physically and mentally from both the mutagen in their system and their long imprisonment in the sub-basement. Some bear horrible bone and skin mutations; others sport tentacles and animalistic claws. They are incapable of rational thought and are driven to kill by the cold fury still throbbing in the depths of their twisted minds.

The Sanity Test for these mutants need only be taken once per character. ROLE-PLAYING These mutants have degenerated into total sub-humans. They hop along in a crouching, animal-like stance. The worst mutants may even lack legs and may crawl on the ground, pulling a slithering snake-like tail. Their speech consists of growls, snarls, maniacal laughter, and an occasional recognizable phrase.

Some mutants may have foam rubber tentacles, pincers, or oversized claws. They wield these as weapons according to the combat rules. Other mutants conduct unarmed attacks. If the mutants tight in a narrow passage, they may bunch together and attempt to pull investigators into their midst. At least four mutants must be present to conduct this group Grab attack.

THE THING IN THE LABORATORY EDU 3 DEX 5 CON 40 POW 15 WP 40 MP 15 Attacks: 3 Sanity Test: POW 14 Sanity Loss 418 Skills: NIA

sanity 0

GENERAL The most hideous of the mutations, this thing is kept locked away in the secret laboratory. It’s mindless and formless, but has a nasty temper and a voracious appetite. Entering melee combat with this creature will be costly for the investigators, since it attacks with multiple appendages and can soak up a lot of damage. Smart players will “soften up” the creature with firearms or splashes of acid. The creature has no special invulnerability. ROLE-PLAYING One or two NPC‘s play this monster. See the Special Effects section for costume notes. The NF’C’s crawl around, groan miserably, and attack anything that comes in range of their tentacles.

~

I ~ ASYLUM STAFF

ROLE-PLAYING The staff usually float about in the background, going about their business. They rarely initiate conversations with investigators, but are willing to take a break from

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their schedule to answer any questions. They know general information about Ravenscroft and the asylum. A few know of the existence of the sub-basement, but only one or two know that there is a second lab down there used by Ravenscroft and Freitag.

cially since many will be stained with blood later in the adventure). Most members of the staff wear white slacks and white shirts (T-shirts are fine, espe-

PATIENTS ROLE-PLAYING Most patients are of little use to the investigators. They wander through the hallways, or sit in their wards engaged in whatever passes their time. Some stare vacantly and make no response to outside stimuli, while others draw pictures or play games.

Patients will pester the investigators from time to time, tugging at their clothes and asking inane questions. Most patients are relatively harmless, but players shouldn’t let them anywhere near a weapon.

Most patients won’t carry on coherent conversations. “Dr. Benway” is the exception. He’s convinced he’s the real asylum pharmacist and tells outrageous lies to any gullible players.

The patients wear pajamas and bathrobes. One or two are in straitjackets.

THE GAMING AREA “The Horror in the Asylum” can be played in just three rooms, a central hallway, and a walk-in closet. This is the bare minimum. Such a set-up slows the game slightly and complicates costume changes for NPC’s. Having one or two extra rooms makes things much easier. The room descriptions given here assume the three-room minimum.

there are three basic environments in the asylum. One room on each floor is comfort- ably furnished with a desk, chairs, and a more human touch than the rest of the asylum. Another room has several tables large enough to be used as cafeteria tables or to be covered in sheets to make hospital beds. The third area is always a laboratory or medical area. Scene changes are accomplished by rearranging furniture, changing wall decorations, and adding new props appropriate to the scene.

If you have extra rooms, set up complex areas permanently, like Ravenscroft’s office and the secret lab. When players move to another floor, change the door signs to make these areas uninteresting or off limits. Extra rooms allow a prop storage area and changing room.

When this adventure was play-tested, we had the luxury of using the entire basement level of an empty apartment building. There were a dozen rooms and a long, drab hallway available. Think about this adventure’s unique requirements to come up with the most suitable playing area and room arrangement. ELEVATOR This adventure replicates a multistoried asylum. An “elevator” is critical, so the Keeper can shut away the players while the NPC’s change the set. If no walk-in closet is available, partition off an area with hanging sheets and a sliding cardboard door. Mount a small panel inside the elevator with four buttons. These are for levels one through three and the basement. There will also be a keyhole in the panel for the sub- basement.

The best way to plan your game area and handle scene changes is to remember that

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A character with Botany recognizes the tulip bulbs with a Skill Test of EDU 10. Characters with a high EDU might still recognize them with an Unskilled Test. Otherwise, let players come up with their own ideas.

Whoever reads the diary takes a Sanity Test at POW 12 with a 0/1 Sanity loss.

NPC’s must rehearse set changes so that everything can be accomplished within one to three minutes. Don’t keep players shut up in the elevator forever. FIRST FLOOR AREA 1.1 RECEPTION ROOM This room is fairly comfortable. Pictures hang on the walls and there’s a nice carpet on the floor. A large desk dominates the room, with a folder of registration forms and a jar of pens and pencils. Chairs are set up along the walls and there are several small tables with lamps t,n light the rnnm

AREA 1.2 CAFETERIA A large room with several tables spaced throughout. Chairs are available a t each table. Pictures on the walls and a small vase with a couple of flowers at each table is a nice touch. One table should have a tray of cups and pots of coffee and tea. If you really feel like going all out, add a tray of soggy, paper-wrapped sandwiches. AREA 1.3 EXAMINATION ROOM A few tables with lab equipment and bottles of colored liquids and powders line the room. A table in the middle of the room is covered in a sheet and serves as an examination table. Lab coats hang from hooks, and posters and diagrams of the human body are on the walls. SECOND FLOOR AREA 2.1 RAVENSCROFT’S OFFICE This room is quite comfortable. A bookcase, a large desk, and several chairs are in the room. A small safe is beside the desk (may be a black-painted cardboard box). Pictures, photos, and diplomas hang on the walls. A box on the bookcase contains a half dozen tulip bulbs the groundskeeper gave to Ravenscroft.

The safe contains files on the deceased and transferred patients. These files are detailed in the Props section. The transfer documents for the missing patients list a telephone number for the New York asylum. Investigators who try to call the number receive an auto repair garage. Calls to the operator reveal that the asylum in New York closed two years ago.

Ravenscroft’s personal diary is also in the desk. This is written by the actor playing Ravenscroft, and is detailed in the Props section.

Inside the desk are miscellaneous props: notepads, pens, a few cigars, etc. There is also a loaded revolver. Ravenscroft rarely looks in that drawer, so he wouldn’t immediately notice if the pistol were taken by a player character.

This room has a number of beds (possibly tables covered in sheets) and a few chairs. A small table is there for a checker board and some sheets of paper and crayons. A couple of floral or landscape pictures are appropriate. Have a few pieces of patients’ artwork taped to the walls. Many are simple and cheery drawings, but some can be quite disturbing.

This is just Area 1.3 rearranged slightly. All of the day-to-day lab work at the asylum is done here. There may be several staff members at work. Ravenscroft does some of his research here, and there can be a few notebooks full of chemical formulas pertain-

AREA 2.2 WARD

AREA 2.3 LAB

SCENARIOS

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A brain made by Andrew Leman from cotton upholstery cording, liquid latex, paint and hardware. Keeper: Andrew Leman Photo by Andrew Leman (August 1988), courtesy of the H. E Lovecraft Historical Society.

Reading the journal requires a Sanity Test of POW 13 with a 113 Sanity loss.

ing to his experiments. A quivering brain, bristling with electrodes, floats in a tray of murky fluid. THIRD FLOOR AREA 3.1 STAFF LOUNGE A place where the staff can relax. Several chairs and a bookcase are in the room. A desk is against the wall; on it a few cups and a pot of coffee are available for characters. AREA 3.2 WARD Virtually identical to Area 2.2. AREA 3.3 ELECTF~OSHOCK ROOM Rearrange the lab room to make space for the electroshock system. This can be a small platform with a wooden chair on top. Silver-painted boxes, studded with dials, are underneath and beside the chair. Coils of wire lead to electrodes which are taped to the patient’s head. Straps for the hands, feet, and body are required. The whole system looks disturbingly like a prison’s electric chair. BASEMENT ALL AREAS The first basement level is only used for storage and is of no interest to the players. If they insist on taking a look, put “Storage”, “Coal Room”, or “Generator” signs on all the doors and confound investigator attempts to pick the locks. SUB-BASEMENT AREA 0.1 FREITAG’S ROOM Freitag‘s hidden study. The desk is scattered with research papers and Freitag’s personal journal, in addition to chemicals and dried herbs. AREA 0.2 SPARE ROOM “his room isn’t required for this level, so it’s a good place for the mutants to hide out. It can represent the cells where the mutants were imprisoned.

This room is set up much like the electroshock room. There is more technical equipment filling the room and the electroshock chair is even more forbidding. Bottles of colored liquids and mysterious powders line the shelves. A couple of large plastic bottles full of water are labeled “Hydrochloric Acid.”

Put a few lights with colored gels in the corners of the room, angled upward. It’ll make the place look extra creepy. Thick medical texts and pages of scrawled chemical formulas litter the tables.

Ted Robbins and the Thing in the Laboratory shouldn’t be in this room, but in an adjacent one. If there’s no connecting doorway to a separate room, try to partition off a second area with curtains. Experiment to see what works best.

PROPS

AREA 0.3 SECRET LAB

WRITTEN PROPS This adventure requires a number of hand-written props to be generated by the NPC’s. The Keeper has enough to do on his own.

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The NPC playing Ted Robbins writes several letters to his friend. These paranoid notes nostalgically recall their good times together and detail Robbins’ fears of the asylum. These are simple to produce on regular stationery.

Ravenscroft’s diary and Freitag‘s journal need to be written. Art stores and stationery shops sell small, hardbound journals in both blank and lined paper formats. Let the actors playing Freitag and Ravenscroft write their own journals, since it helps them to develop their characters.

Ravenscroft’s diary goes back at least three years. Entries may skip about with gaps of weeks OF months between them. About twenty to thirty pages of hand-written text is a good goal.

thoughts on his research, routine business at the asylum, new patients arriving, and similar mundane entries. It mentions choosing Freitag as a research assistant and how much the young man helped with the development of Ravenscroft’s mood-flattening serum. The entries describe the first appearance of the mutations and Ravenscroft’s anxiety as the mutant strains increased. The book tells of his decision to lock them away and continue his research in secret until the problems are corrected.

Freitag‘s journal should be at least ten to twenty pages of hand-written text and details such things as his early experiments, his expulsion from Miskatonic, and his arrival a t Kingstree. He gloats over murdering Ravenscroft’s previous assistant and his success a t winning the old man’s confidence. The journal describes Freitag’s research and his experiments derived from ancient texts of alchemy and black magic. Ravenscroft is often ridiculed as a romantic fool, trying to cure his hopelessly insane patients and ignoring their greater potential for medical experimentation.

Asylum documents must be prepared. Folders of death certificates and patient transfer receipts are required for Ravenscroft’s safe. Blank forms are provided at the end of this script and should be photocopied and filled out by the NPC’s.

All death certificates from the last four years are signed by Ravenscroft. A few from 1921 and earlier have Dr. Cagle’s signature. The death certificates increase dramatically during the past year and a half. All the bodies of these patients are listed as donated to science or turned over for state burial. They were not returned for private burial by the families. Plan about ten or eleven death certificates going back five or six years.

Early transfers by Cagle or Ravenscroft are to several different asylums in the north- eastern United States, or back to the care of the family.

Recently transferred patients were moved to an asylum in upstate New York. The signature of the receiving doctor is the same on each paper. These recent transfers are signed by Freitag, using a false name. When Freitag‘s journal is discovered, characters with an EDU of 14 or higher see that the handwriting is identical. Twenty transfers from the past five or six years is a good number to have in the folder.

tions. Copy complex formulas out of textbooks or create your own. Don’t worry about them making sense. If the investigators successfully use their skills to decipher the information, the Keeper tells them the gist of the paperwork. Save them in your prop room to be reused in future games.

Much of the diary is routine and uninteresting. Most of it details Ravenscroft’s

Patient transfers also show a marked increase during the last eighteen months.

You also need many pages covered in incomprehensible chemical formulas and equa-

SCENARIOS

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WEAPONS If one or two characters are in professions which typically carry firearms, they may be armed at the start of the game. No other players may start with weapons.

weapons with the nurse, who locks them away for the duration of the visit. Most investigators aren’t likely to surrender their pistols, and will probably stay quiet during visitor registration.

One pistol is hidden in Ravenscroft’s desk and may be taken by any player that finds it. Melee weapons are available, but may be difficult to obtain. The asylum obviously doesn’t want sharp objects lying around for the patients to find. Investigators scaveng- ing weapons during the adventure must hide them in their coats or handbags, lest they are confiscated by the staff.

similar items lie on tables in the laboratories. A single knife may be left in the cafeteria. A large “toolbox” sitting in the hall on the first basement level provides hammers and screwdrivers.

Weapons are technically illegal in the asylum. Visitors are supposed to leave

A single fire axe is hung on each floor of the asylum. Scalpels, knives, bone saws, and

LABORATORY EQUIPMENT Use your imagination when outfitting the labs. Try to get beakers, test tubes, and other items of medical glassware. Make large pieces of lab equipment from cardboard boxes painted silver and black. Stick dials and switches on their surfaces. Cut a few holes in the boxes and cover them from the inside with colored plastic. Put small lamps inside to make creepy looking devices glowing in the darkened laboratory. MISCELLANEOUS You will need a supply of visitor’s badges. The ideal thing would be to have laminated badges with clips. Alternatively, you can use stick-on badges with ”Visitor” written across each one.

SPECIAL EFFECTS CHANGING SCENES Rehearse! Rehearse! Rehearse! Don’t leave players stranded in the elevator forever. Make one minute your goal, and never take more than two or three. Draw detailed diagrams of each floor showing where the furniture goes and which props are needed. Appoint a responsible NPC to oversee scene changes.

Make a set of door signs and a floor directory for each level. Post the floor directory across from the elevator, with arrows pointing to different rooms. If your group is playing in a very large area with many unused rooms, make signs like “Storage”, “Electrical Room”, “Laundry’’, “Kitchen”, and similar places that would exist in such a large institution, but that won’t interest the players. Do all this well, and you’ll create the illusion of a very large facility. Every time the investigators step out of the elevator, they’re confronted by a different floor directory and door signs.

MUTANTS Most mutants are fairly simple make-up jobs. Use some white base cream and a red powder to make several mutants unnaturally pallid with red-rimmed eyes. Brown base cream is another option, with some splotches of dark red and purple. Plastic fangs and tattered clothes complete a simple mutant.

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a playful after-the-fact demonstration of the mi- go altar. During the final ritual, a baby mi-go hatched from the chest of the NPC, complete with sound effects and exploding, wet entrails. Pictured: Rob Cimmarusti Altar Design: Jamie Anderson, Chris Lackey Keepers: Jamie Anderson, Rob Cimmarusti, Katia Herbst, Sue Marker Photo by Jamie Anderson (May 1994), courtesy of the Revisionist Historical Society.

Apply latex prosthetics if you want warts, boils, or bone and skin mutations. A few mutants use foam rubber tentacles or pincers sprouting from the shredded sleeves of their shirts. Use imagination and some simple costume techniques to create a ghastly band of creatures. To make the Thing in the Lab, connect two pattern-dyed sheets together. Put two

NPC’s beneath the sheet, with a few tentacles to slip through the cuts in the fabric. One NPC sticks his entire head through a hole in the sheets. Apply make-up to his face and neck to blend in with the colors of the cloth. He gibbers, spits, and gnashes his teeth at the investigators. Besides the tentacles, the other NPC can stick out an arm to clutch at the player characters and help drag the creature’s bulk across the floor. The whole thing stays pretty low to the ground and lashes out with its tentacles at anyone who comes too close.

The final scene is a great chance for some nasty effects. Many of these effects can get very messy. Make sure NPC‘s are wearing expendable clothes, and be careful not to mess up the gaming area too badly. Plan effects carefully so you won’t mess up the player characters. Many players wear fairly nice clothes as 1920’s investigators. They’ll be quite upset if their clothes are ruined by buckets of fake blood.

Cloth rolled and tied into a long tube can be packed into a staff member’s T-shirt along with a large blood-pack. A mutant can tear into the shirt (and bloo- pack) and pull a long cord of entrails from the screaming NPC. Make a few fake limbs to be torn from their sockets. Sculpted latex hands, arms, and even heads are available on the market and many aren’t that expensive. Make good use of any dummies created for the game session.

A few solid “puddles” of blood can be slapped down on the floor, underneath dead staff members and mutants. Pour red latex paint onto large sheets of plastic wrap. They’ll dry solid in a few days and the plastic can be pulled or cut away: instant blood puddles with no mess.

GORE

SCENARIOS

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

The following pages contain sample forms that may be photocopied for personal use only. They have been placed on the outside edge for easier copying.

night, utterly destroying the historic landmark. The fire spread so guickly that most of the patients and staff were unable to escape.

Rescue workers sifting through the charred remains found the bodies of

Dr. Trevor Ravenscroft, administrator of the asylum for the past four years and vice-president of the Kngstree Historical Trust Committee, has been confirmed among the casualties. The entire community mourns the

HORROR IN THE AYLUM

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

092381-26

c)Address:

Kingstree Asylum Visitor Registration Form

Section 1. Visitor Information I

(d)Reason for Visit:

e)Height and Weight: (f)Blood Type: (g)Next of Kin:

Have you ever been diagnosed as schizophrenic or manic-depressive?

Have any of your relatives been diagnosed as schizophrenic or manic-depressive?

Have you ever been hospitalized for a period longer than one week?

Do you have any allergies to medication?

Do you have a history of dizziness, fainting spells, or loss of breath?

Are vou currentlv diamosed as having anv communicable diseases?

Are you suffering from loss of sleep, loss of appetite, or easily excitable nerves?

(b)Explanation of answers checked "yes" in 2a.

Section 3. Asylum Rules AU visitors must register and wear a visitor badge at all times. Visitors must be accompanied by a member of the staff at all times. Weapons are not permitted in the asylum. Animals are not permitted in the asylum. Any gifts for patients must first be inspected by a member of the staff. No food or medication may be brought to patients without prior written approval.

Section 4. Additional Information W e visiting hgstree .bylum, every effort will be made to ~ssure your cumfort and secunty. l b s is why d wsitors are obliged to fallow

all Asylum rules. h p t r e e Asylum is not liable for any injury or loss of life resulting from a violation of these rules Visitors are advised always to remain with thetr stafl escort and refrain from talldnp or drawing tnn dnse to the patients. Many are unpredictable and hpstree hylum wishes to avoid any regrettable inadents AU members of the staff are trained professionals and are ready to assist y m in any way to make your visit to bgstree more enjoyable.

dedicated to the progressive treatment of the m m e , and demonstrations of new techniques and therapies can always be professional visitors

visitor More a visitor's p~ss will be handed out. &Sitars are responsible for these p ~ s s e s and are required to turn them back in at the completion of their visit

Wsiting psychiatrists or physicians are requested to contact the Chief Physician to mange a special tour of the facility. Kingstree Asylum is for

Ampy of t h i s form WLU be retained by Kngstreehylum for a period of one year. AU forms are to be B e d out in ink and s p e d by the

All the information on this form is correct to the best of my knowledge, and I have read and will adhere to all rules and regulations of Kingstree Asylum.

Signature: Date:

SCENARIOS

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

1092381-15 Kingstree Asylum

Patient Transfer Form Patient's Name: I Sex: Age:

Address: Weight: I Next of Kin:

Address:

Phone Number:

History of treatments and medications:

Reason for transfer:

Initial impressions:

Treatment rendered to patient:

Management during transport:

Status of patient when transferred:

Name of physician refemng patient: Signature: Phone number: Date:

Name of physician and hospital receiving patient:

Signature of receiving physician: Date:

_____ ~_______

HORROR IN THE AYLUM

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

HEA 2717 5152-06 I Decedent's Name: I Sex:

Date of Death: Marital Status:

Place of Death:

State File No.:

Registrar's No.: State Department of Health

Vital Statistics

Certificate of Death

Age-Last Birthday :

Under 1 year - monthddays:

Under 1 day - hours/minutes:

Hospital:

€I Inpatient Outpatient DOA u Other (specify)

Facility Name (Address if Residence): I I Father's Name: I Mother's Name:

I Informant's Name:

Residence: I Method of Disposition:

Burial

Cremation

Removal from State

Donation

Other (specify)

Date Pronounced Dead:

Date of Disoosition: I Certifying Physician:

I Certifyrng Physician's Signature:

I Coroner:

Immediate Cause: I Underlying Cause(s): I Other significant conditions: I

I Manner of Death:

Pending Investigation E Could not be determined

Natural

Accident

Suicide

Homicide

SCENARIOS

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

APPENDIX A: H. P. LOVECRAFT

oward Phillips Lovecraft was born on August 20, 1890, in Providence, Rhode Island and died at the age of 46 on March 15, 1937. His father was institution- H alized when he was three, and Lovecraft and his mother moved into the house

of his maternal grandfather. There he discovered the myths of ancient Greece and Rome, and the works of Edgar Allen Poe. His precocity and avid interest in books com- pensated for his chronic nervous disorders, which kept him from regularly attending school.

In 1898 Lovecraft’s father died; his beloved grandfather passed away some years later, when Lovecraft was thirteen. A series of bad business deals forced the sale of his grandfather’s house, and Lovecraft and his mother moved in with his two aunts. These events triggered a nervous attack in Lovecraft, who suffered two more in 1905 and 1908. He never finished high school. Lovecraft supported himself with the dwindling family fortune and what little he earned as a ghost-writer and revisionist. His first attempts a t selling his own fiction work were an unqualified success, and his stories appeared in nine of eleven issues of Weird Tales published between 1923 and early 1925. During this time, he formed a small core of avid fans, many of whom were writers themselves, and corresponded with them at length.

Ashton Smith and Robert E. Howard, as well as younger writers like August Derleth, Frank Belknap Long, and a teenaged Robert Bloch. Before Lovecraft died, he had written over 100,000 letters, whose recipients included such notables as Henry Kuttner, C. L. Moore, J. Vernon Shea, E. Hoffman Price, and Fritz Leiber. The exchange between Lovecraft and the others was not limited just to discourse on philosophy, literature and science, but also led to sharing ideas, deities, and themes: Smith created the god Tsathoggua; Long created the Hounds of Tindalos.

When editorship at Weird Tales changed hands, Lovecraft’s fortunes turned for the worse. He met with rejection more often than with success now, and grew so discouraged he refused to submit any more of his work. “Dreams in the Witch-House” was secretly submitted by Derleth, who urged Weird Tales editor Farnsworth Wright to accept it. Wright rejected both “At the Mountains of Madness” and “The Shadow out of Time” (both were eventually published by Astounding Stories), and the superb The Case of Charles Dexter Ward didn’t see print until years after Lovecraft’s death. The revision work Lovecraft did at this time was mostly actual ghost-writing; Zealia Bishop’s “The Curse of Yig” and Hazel Heald’s “The Horror in the Museum” were in fact 90% or more the product of H. P. Lovecraft. Ironically, these stories were accepted by Wright while work under Lovecraft’s own name was continually being rejected.

After a brief marriage and a two-year residence in New York City, Lovecraft returned to Providence in 1926 and moved in with his two aunts. On March 15,1937, Howard Phillips Lovecraft died of Bright’s disease and a virulent cancer. His death was in near obscurity, but his writings were kept alive by his circle of correspondents. Lovecraft’s writing influenced many writers over the years, and a renewed interest in his work was sparked by Ramsey Campbell’s Lovecraft-inspired fiction in 1964. In 1971, Brian Lumley added to Lovecraft’s menagerie with the chthonians. Other contemporary writers such as David Drake, T. E. D. Klein, and Thomas Ligotti produced work that was directly influenced by Lovecraft’s writings.

Lovecraft himself is ascribed the father of modern American horror fiction.

Lovecraft’s circle of correspondents included professional authors such as Clark

Today, many horror writers cite Lovecraft as an influence in their work, and

APPENDIX

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

APPENDIX B: CTHULHU LIVES

APPENDIX

fter a few years of informal play, a group devoted to Cthulhu Lives was officially formed in 1987 in Denver, Colorado, and called The H. I? Lovecraft Historical A, ociety. Sean Branney served as president, while Andrew Leman and Philip

Bell served as co-vice presidents. Game activities continued under the auspices of the new organization, with membership growing to approximately eighty persons across America and in several foreign countries, including England, Australia, Germany, Canada, and Italy. Live-action games were produced in the United States and in England. The HPLHS began publication of a monthly newsletter, edited by Andrew Leman and Philip Bell, entitled Strunge Eons, and also founded the HPLHS Press, which published very limited editions of books of interest to the membership. The HPLHS Press subsequently issued bound sets of the first two volumes of Strange Eons.

The HPLHS sank into the Pacific and went to sleep in the early 1990's when its three executive officers all moved to different cities, making organized work nearly impossible. Although game activity continued in separate locations, regular publication of the newsletter was discontinued, and membership fees were no longer collected.

Role-playing activity subsequently took place in Los Angeles, under the direction of Sean Branney, and in the midwest, where Andrew Leman and Jamie Anderson formally named the Revisionist Historical Society in Chicago as an organization for Cthulhu Lives activity in 1991. Now the stars have turned and the HPLHS is stirring to life once again: A new game is in production in California for the spring of 1997.

Cthulhu Lives has never relied on printed rules or made use of dice or mathematical calculations or tables of any kind. The games have focused on story elements and character interaction, and have deemphasized adherence to rigid guidelines. (However, strict safety standards are maintained at all times, and there have never been any injuries arising from game play.) HPLHS and RHS games are known for elaborate props and costumes, and are played as much as possible in authentic locations.

In the twelve years since Cthulhu Lives was first created, its players have produced sixty-two original live-action adventures, involving a total well over three hundred people as active participants. The games have been as small as a one-evening dinner party and as large as a three-part epic lasting for eight months that involved, among other things, a mummified corpse in a hidden basement, thirty-five live rats, rooting around a mountaintop cemetery, and the midnight banishment of a very powerful deity. Games have been played in diverse locations: ghost towns of the Colorado Rockies, the Great Sand Dunes, Death Valley, the Pacific Ocean, a Gothic mansion in Iowa, and the British Museum in London. Investigators have witnessed manifestations of mi-go, hounds of Tindalos, deep ones, ghouls, a Yithian, Nodens, Shub-Niggurath, and several avatars of Nyarlathotep. They've met Aleister Crowley, John Dee, Rasputin, Harry Houdini, John Wilkes Booth, and an entire village of Miskato Indians. Investigators have traveled to the Dreamlands, Egypt, the Gobi, Russia, England, and medieval France, not to mention the halls of Miskatonic University. They've jumped off roofs, escaped from asylums, exhumed corpses, crawled down mine shafts, explored tunnels, waded into seaside caves, climbed cathedral towers, dredged lakes, scaled mountains, sailed in ghostly boats, battled some congregations of cultists, and run like hell from others. All for real.

would be fun." The motto of the HPLHS and RHS is Ludo Fore Putavimus, Latin for "we thought it

Andrew Leman, Sean Branney, and Jamie Anderson

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

A Ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

B Ba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Ba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 Be . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Byakhee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

C Call of Cthulhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Character . . . . . . . . . . . . Character Data Sheets .

Melee Phase . . . . . . . . . Movement Phase . . . . . Offensive Bonus . . . . . . Ranged Phase . . . . . . . . Resolution Phase . . . . .

Combat Alternative . . . . . . Combat Example . . . . . . . . Constitution . . . . . . . . . . . .

defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cos tu m e s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crawling One . . . . . . . . . . Cthulhu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cthulhu Lives . . . . . . . . . . . .

D Dark Young . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . . 15

. . . . . . 67

. . . . . . 29

. . . . . . 32 . . . . .33, 36 . . . . . . 30 . . . . .3 1-32 . . . . .31, 33 . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . 36 . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . 31 . . . . . . 32 . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . 109 . . . . . . 33 . . . . . . 13 . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . 98 . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . 68 . . . . . . 151

. . . . . . 69 . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

. . . . . . . . . . . .42, 107 defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Dimensional Shambler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70 Domination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

E Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57. 126

gArea .................... 96 Experience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Explosive Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Explosives Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

F Father Dagon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Flying Polyp . . . . . . . . . Formless Spawn . . . .

G Game Preparation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90 Gaming Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Getting the Most Out of NPC's . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88 Ghost . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Ghoul . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72 Great Old Ones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 GreatRace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73 Gug . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

H

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 92

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 Hastur . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47, 107 defined . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35-36 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

I Illusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95

Investigator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Insanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

K

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Keeper and Combat . . . . . . . . . Keeper's Reference List . . . . . .

L Lighting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102 LivingDead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Lovecraft. H . E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151 Lovecraftian Universe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

INDEX

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

M Magic

Offensive Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Team Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Magic Points . . . . .

MagicTest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49. 108 defined . . . . . . . . .

Bed Sheets . . . . . . Blobs . . . . . . . . . . .

Giants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tentacles . . . . . .

Man of Leng . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

Mi-go . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mind Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

MonsterTypes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 MotherHydra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

Masks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Monster Abilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

N

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

0

P OuterGods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56

Panic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Player . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Legality and Safety Playing Area . . . . .

Props . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99 Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 MythosTexts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Protective Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 PsychicAttack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Psychic Auras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Psychic Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

l’sychic test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Team Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

R Reference Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Running Campaigns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Revisionist Historical Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

S Sanity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37’47

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45, 107

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . an . . . . . .

Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Skill Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40, 107 Critical Failures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Levels of Success . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 Role-playing Bonus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Team Efforts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43, 107

. . . . . . . . . .43, 107 Time Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

. . . . . . . 101 . . . . . . . . . . 101 . . . . . . . . . . 102 . . . . . . . . . . . 40

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

INDEX

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

SummoningsR3indings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Supporting Ability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

T Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Test Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40. 91 The Ooze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112 Time in the Game . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Tsathoggua . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

V Vampire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Vorvadoss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57

W Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Werewolf . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82 Wound Points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13. 33

defined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Y Y’Golonac . . . . . . . . . . Yog-Sothoth . . . . . . . .

Z Zombie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

INDEX

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

Are you eager to play Cthulhu Live, but don’t have any cool props? Do you have cool props, but want more?

Then head on over to the

WIZARD’S ATTIC where the elite meet to get freaky treats!

Here at the Wizards Attic, we have all kinds of neat stuff to litter around as clues for your unwitting vic ... uh, investigators. - FROM THE HALLS OF MISKATONIC UNIVERSITY

M. U. Mug #WA2005, $7.95 A handy ceramic mug for you supporters of Miskatonic University. It is imprinted with the standard school initials and the school’s slogan.

Miskatonic University Pin #WA0003, $6.00 Support the old school with this handsome Miskatonic

A -

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Athletic Department T-shirt #WA2000M, $14.95 You can now proclaim your allegiance to the M. U. Athletic Department with these distinguished gray T-shirts.

M. U. Baseball Hat #WA2002M, $15.00 Our standard university hat. This orange and green baseball cap is a must for attending local sporting events. Wear it proudly to support your local school. Elder Sign front and back for added security.

Inscribed Miskatonic University Degree While some people say you can‘t put a price on education, we can, and we have! By enrolling in the University School of Medieval Metaphysics, you can immediately earn your degree, imprinted with the name of your choice. Please clearly print your full name to be inscribed. #WA0025, $5.95, Bachelor’s Degree #WA0026, $9.94, Master’s Degree #WA0027, $14.95, Doctorate

adam pratt (order #531889) 108.82.252.177

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