CoC Fragments of Fear.pdf

Fragments

of Fear

HoP. Lovecraft

1890-1937

Sandy Petersen, Bob Heggie, Lynn Willis,

William James Hamblin III, Ph.D.

cover and interiors

Tom Sullivan

lnnsmouth map

Carolyn Schultz

including material drawn from the previous work of

William A. Barton, Eric A. Carlson, John Scott Clegg, La"y DiTillio,

David A. Hargrave, Keith Herher. Marc Hutchison, Tani Jantsang,

Randy McCall, and Mark Pettigrew

CONTENTS

CALL OF CTHULHU QUESTIONS ••.•.• 0

• o. 3

NEW MYTHOS DEITIES, RACES, AND

MONSTERS ......•........ 0

RITUAL CURSES 0

•• 0

•

••••••••• 0

••• 0

•

MYTHOS COMPARATIVE SIZES 0

VALLEY OF THE FOUR SHRINES [A Scenario]

••••• 0

•••

ON THE UBIQUITY OF CTHULHU . 0

••••••• 5

•••••• 0

•••• 0.0.0 ••••••••••••••

Encounter Tables "

. 0

36·37

INNSMOUTH MAP 0

••• 7

•

•• 0

•

••

•••• 0

••••••••••• 0

Dorffman Map .... 0

Floating Temple Plan ..........•..... 41

Shrines Plan . . . • . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . . .. 45

EXTRACT: EDWARD MORDAKE 0

•• 8

•

••

•• 0

•

A CTHULHU GRIMOIRE "

o••..••. 0

••• 8

LlONSANDTIGERSAND BEARS, ETC. 0

••• 18

NEMESIS.o. 0

.0' 0

•• 00

••• 0

•••••••

SIZE COMPARISONS 0 o.......... 0

•• 0.'

THE UNDERGROUND MENACE [A Scenario]

•••••• 0 • 0 ••••••••• 0 •• Page A, Centerfold

SIZE COMPARISONS FOLD·OUT

Page E, Centerfold

•

•••••• 0

•

The Second Cthulhu Contpanion

Introduction

Welcome to Fragments ofFear. In the introduction to the first Cthulhu Companion, I previewed the second edition

of Call of Cthulhu, describing in detail a new system of character generation. Those ofyou who purchased the

second edition are well-aware that the previewed system did not make it into print. After playtesting it, we decided

that the new system took too much time to use, and forced investigators to spread their precious skill points very

thinly. Instead, we increased the number ofskill points available to all investigators and dumped the previous system

before Call ofCthulhu 's second edition saw pri'll.

We here at Chaosium are very happy with Call ofCthulhu 's second edition. In fact. the new text has only two

e"ors worthy of discussion. On page 42, the description ofFather Dagon and Mother Hydra states that these indi-

viduals stand over 30feet tall. This should read, "over 20 feet tall. .. The other e"or is on page 23 ofthe Sourcebook.

The second sentellce under the head "Automatic Weapons" should read "For each shot fired in a burst, the attack

chance is RAISED by 5%: except that no matter how many shots are rued, the chance will not raise above twice the

user's proficiency with the weapon." Tn the example given. the second sentence should read "He has a 15% chance

to hit, and the magazine holds 20 shots, so 1 00% nonnally would be subtracted from his chances ofhitting, but the

most he can be increased by is twice his nonnal chance to hit. or 30% in this case." The rest ofthe description does

not change.

The Call ofCthulhu system continues to grow and prosper. A l this writing (June, 1985). Chaosium has nine Call

of Ctlzulhu supplements, counting Fragments of Fear. Under license from us, other companies have produced six

more. The game and many supplements have been translated into French. A Gemlan translation will be released this

year. and we are negotiating for other foreign language rights, including Japanese and Italian. An excellent line of

25mm-scale lead figures is made and marketed by Grenadier Miniatures. Several imitation games, produced by rival

companies hoping to capitalize on Call ofCthulhu 's success, have even been released.

The continued prosperity of Call ofCthulhu depends upon gamers. So we'd like to hear from you. What would

you like to see in future supplements? Rules for Lovecraftian investigation in the 1980s? Or in the 1890s? Extensive

campaigns or elegantly-sltort scenarios? Brutal bloodbaths or sinister mental puzzles? Adventures for beginning

im'estigators or old campaigners? Please, let us know.

If you have an especially good idea for a Call of Cthulhu monster, spell. or scenario, send it to us. Write to:

Cthulhu, c/o Chaosium {nc., PO Box 6302-0302. Albany CA 94706, U.S.A. Be sure to enclose a self-addressed

stamped envelope.

- SANDY PETERSEN

by Chaosium Inc.; ,Ill rights reserved.

Except in this publicatioll and associated advertising, all original artwork for FRAGMENTS OF FEAR

remains the property ofthe artist; all n"ghts reserved. All material odginally submitted by the authors

remains under their separate copyrights: material added by Chaosium Inc. remains the property of

alaosillm Inc.

QUOTES: page 4, Leyden Papyms is from Grevel, TilE DEMOTIC MAGICAL PAPYRUS OF LONDON

AND LElDEN, 1904; page 4, the Hindu curse is from Griffith, THE HYMNS OF THE ATHAR VA·

VEDA, 3rd. ed.. 1962; 01/ page 8, the Edward Mordake tale is {rom Gould and Pyle. ANOMALIES AND

CURIOSITIES OF MEDICINE, 1896, republished 1956 by 17Ie Julial/ Press Inc.: 011 page 20, H.P.

in the volume BEYOND THE WALL OF SLEt'P; on pages A·D, "The Underground Menace" is reprinted

Campbell.

Reproduction ofthe materials within this book for purposes ofpersonal or corporate profit, by photo-

graphic, electronic. or other methods ofduplicatiOIl or retrieval, is strictly prohibited.

FRAGMENTS OF FEAR is intended to be used with the roleplaying game CALL OFCTHULHU®

which is the copyrighted and registered product ofChaosium Inc. To fully enio)' this book, readers need

familiarity .....ith the rules to CALL OF CTHULHU®

To direct questions or comments concerning this book, or for a free catalog ofC/zaosium games and

supplements, write to Chaosium 1nc., Box 6302-FOF. Albany CA 94706·0302.

By Permissioll ofArkham House.

ISBN 0·933635·23·0

Printed ill the United States ofAmerica.

Call of Cthulhu Questions

Answered

by Sandy Petersell

unclear. A bored reader misses facts and knowledge. So

one can't read for too long at one time.

A formula could be derived giving the different reading

times of Mythos tomes, as affected by a character's educa-

tion, reading ability, intelligence, and Cthulhu Mythos

knowledge, but such a formula would be difficult to cre-

ate, use, and implement, and add little to play.

How Do I Learn a Language in Call of Cthulhu?

Any scientific or language skill can be learned by tak-

ing university courses or by being tutored by a competent

scholar with at least 75% skill in the subject. Each four

months of study permits the student to attempt to increase

the relevant skill. This is done in the same manner as an

increase by experience - the student's player rolls 10100

and, if the die roll exceeds the student's current skill level,

the skill increases by ID6 percentiles.

This system obviously teaches skills more slowly than

does experience. However, it offers more certain success.

Q: Why does it take so long to read a Cthulhu Mythos

book?

There are many reasons.

(1) These fat books are clumsily scribed by madmen,

hand-written in horribly-cramped script, and use archaic

language. Large portions of these manuscripts are not even

in the Roman alphabet - they are occult ciphers which

must be cracked before the reader can learn the impor-

tant truths they conceal. The books are written for other

sorcerers or cultists, not laymen, and they employ terms

without explaining them. There is no index. There is no

glossary. Probably there is not even a table of contents.

There may not be chapters, paragraphs, or even breaks be-

tween words, or any punctuation of any sort. Different

books are written centuries apart from each other, and by

authors of widely-varying philosophical persuasions, who

use completely different technical phraseology. One must

learn the jargon anew with each book.

(2) Skimming through one of these volumes of antique

lore gains the looker no true understanding. All he receives

is a SAN loss. He must read the book deeply. He must not

only peruse every syllable, but also compare it with other

books related to the subject. Not just occult books either.

The reader might completely miss or be confused by a

reference to "Arthur's Grail" in some arcane book be-

cause he didn't know that the Holy Grail of Arthurian

lore symbolizes tne Black Cauldron of Celtic myth. And,

unless he knew that the Black Cauldron resuscitated dead

men boiled in it and that it came from Hell, he might not

perceive the implications. And even then he may not real-

ize for some time that the pillase "he drank from Arthur's

Grail" might refer to somebody raised by the Resurrec-

tion spell. And if he knew nothing of the Resurrection

spell, the pillase might remain obscure and unknown to

him forever.

(3) The books are physically difficult to read. Almost

without exception, they are of enormous age and must be

handled with care. The reader must wear thin. thin gloves,

and turn the pages with padded forceps. There are no

photocopy machines in the 1920s with which to take

quick and sturdy copies.

(4) Mostly the books are of enormous length. Even the

fairly innocuous Golden Bough by Sir James Frazer is

composed of 13 turgid volumes. It has been abridged re-

cently into a single volume (one still several hundred pages

long), but the abridged verSion, in Call of Cthulhu terms,

has no useful powers.

(5) Lastly, in reading these books one easily grows

tired and bored. The books are long, poorly-written, and

Must My Character Lose Multiple Sanity for Seeing Multi-

ple Monsters?

Unless the keeper feels particularly nasty, the maxi-

mum SAN an investigator can lose for seeing multiple

monsters in rapid succession (i.e., less than a few hours

apart from one another) is equal to the maximum possible

Sanity loss from that type of monster.

Thus, jf a character spent a day on a desert island en-

countering hordes of Deep Ones every hour, the maxi-

mum SAN lost by that individual during his day of terror

would be 6 points, since the maximum loss from a Deep

One is iD6 SAN.

However, if the character also encountered flocks of

Byakhee on the island, his maximum SAN loss would in-

crease to 12, losing the maximum 6 SAN points for Deep

Ones and another maximum 6 for the Byakhee.

Why Can 'f My Investigator Get 'Used-To' Seeing Common

Types ofMonsters?

An accommodating keeper may wisll to set standards

permitting experienced investigators to psychically adjust

to seeing certain monsters. An acceptable optional rule

follows: each investigator must keep track of the number

of times he encounters a certain monster and the number

of times San rolls succeeded against that type of monster.

When an jnvestigator has received a number of successful

SAN rolls against a monster type equal to the maximum

SAN point loss provoked by that monster, the investigator

has become used to the entity.

For instance, the maximum SAN loss delivered by a

Deep One is 6 points. Once a character has six successful

SAN rolls against Deep Ones, he is accustomed to them.

The maximum SAN loss for seeing a Dimensional Sham-

bIer is 1010. When a sorcerer has succeeded in 10 SAN

rolls provoked by Dimensional Shamblers, he has become

accustomed to them. The maximum SAN loss Cthulhu

can deliver is 100 points. Once a character has received

100 successful SAN rolls inspired by Cthulhu's presence,

he has grown accustomed to Cthulhu. Obviously, before

this could happen, the investigator has long since reached

a SAN of zero - a point at which SAN loss no longer mat-

lers to the character.

"Becoming accustomed to" a monster means that the

character automatically succeeds in all SAN rolls caused

by that type of monster. Of course, he may still suffer

SAN loss from that monster, since even successful SAN

rolls offer imperfect protection against the more powerful

entities. A person accustomed to shoggoths would simply

lose 106 SAN each time one was encountered. An investi-

gator accustomed to 8yakhee would lose I SAN on each

meeting. A person accustomed to Deep Ones or Dimen-

sional Shamblers, however, would suffer no loss of SAN

when seeing one of these monsters, since a successful SAN

roll results in no SAN loss.

Ritual Curses

Gathered by Sandy Petersen

Here follow actual ritual curses [rom human history. Uses

for these should spring to the mind ofevery keeper worth

his salt.

When thou wast cast out of Egypt and out of the country

thou wast

entitled, He

that destroyeth all and is

unconquered.

I invoke thee, Typhon Set, I perform thy ceremonies

of divination for I invoke thee by thy powerful name in

words whlch thou canst not refuse to hear:

10 erbeth, lopakerbeth, lobolkhoseth,

Iopatathnax, losoro, Ioneboutosoualeth,

Aktiophi, Ereskhigal, Neboposoaleth,

Aberamenthoou, Lerthexanax, Ethreluoth,

Nemareba, Aemina,

entirely come to me and approach and strike down him or

her with frost and fIre; he has wronged me and has poured

out the blood of Typhon beside hlm or her: therefore I do

these things.

Excommunication Ritual by Pope Clement VI

Let him be damned in Ius going out and in his conting in.

The Lord strike him with madness and blindness.

May the heavens empty upon him thunderbolts and the

wrath of the Omnipotent burn itself unto him in the

present and future world.

May the Universe light against him and the earth open to

swallow him up.

Gypsy Curse

May you wander (lver the face of the Earth forever,

never sleep twice in the same bed,

never drink water twice from the same well,

and never cross the same river twice in a year.

from the Leyden Papyrus

A Hindu Magician's Curse Against an Enemy

Herewith I pierce this man. With poverty I pierce him.

With disappearance I pierce him. With defeat I pierce him.

With Grahl* [ pierce him. With darkness I pierce him.

I summon him with the awful cruel orders of the Gods.

I pla(;e tum between Vaishvanara·s..... jaws. Thus or

otherwise let her swallow hlm up.

Him who hates us may his soul hate. and may he whom

we hate hate hlmself.

We scorch out of heaven and earth and firmament the

man who hates us.

Suyaman son of Chaksus!t

Here I wipe away the evil dream on the descendant of

Such-a-one, sone of Such-a-woman.tt

Whatsoever I have met with, whether at dusk or during

early night, whether waking or sleeping, whether by day

or by night. Whether I meet with it day by day, from that

do I bribe him away.

Slay him; rejoice in this; crush his ribs.

Let him not live. Let the breath of life forsake him.

Ritual Curse of the Todas (India)

Die, may he:

Tiger, catch him;

Snake. bite him;

Steep hill, fall down on him;

River, flow over him;

Wild boar, bite hlm.

Curse Upon the City of Babylon

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in

from generation to generation: neither shall the Arabian

pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their

fold there.

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their

houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall

dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there.

And the wild heasts of the islands shall cry in their des-

olate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces: and her

time is m:ar to wine, and her uays :;hall not be prolonged.

- Isaiah 13: 20-22

THE A THAR VA-VEDA. Book 16, Incantation 7

• a type of female fiend.

•• a name for Agni, god of fire.

t refers to the charm itself, personalizing it, and roughly meaning,

'Well-Met, son of Vision."

tt here insen the victim's name, and the name of his mother.

Ancient Egyptian Curse to Inflict Catalepsy or Death

I invoke thee who art in the void air, terrible. invisible.

almighty, god of gods, dealing destruction and making

desolate, 0 thou that hatest a household well established.

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