How many times have I used that sentence? many times my friends…many times since 1985 when I first got my hands on CHILL then published by pacesetter.The rules were easy to understand that once you opened the box you were able to play within the hour of opening. I missed those games – Edward Fink ran by my friend John Karnay and Conner Mccloud ran by the great statesman Alan Kaltman. We ran chill from 1985 til 1999 when I left New York and started a new life with my wife. Jump ahead to present, I stumble upon the rebirth of pacesetter when I found ROTWORLD online. I was ecstatic and grabbed a copy quicker then my wife saying no. I loved the rules, but it still wasn’t the same as chill.. it felt like a natural extension to the game I loved . Jumping ahead as a whim, I went back to the pacesetter site and what did I find? Crypt world! again I snagged up a pdf of the game and added it to my kindle. I am home… I feel the need to transpose my old chill campaign (I still have the 1st & 2nd edition) to this new version. One note – I was one of the few people who play tested the doomed 3rd edition. Which is now dead in the water and maybe its not a bad thing. What should you find on this blog?
Things stats – all of my 20 + years creations posted here for your games
Adventure seeds & ideas – something to help the crypt masters with coming up with adventures on the swing.
an 8-page Introductory folio that included four pages of instructions on how to use the action table that governs all activities in the game, and four pages of pregenerated characters;
a 64-page Campaign Book;
a 32-page Horrors of the Unknown;
a full-color map of the world;
140 double-sided die-cut cardboard counters;
a range stick;
three 10-sided dice;
and a 16-page adventure, “Terror in Warwick House”.
Following a near-fatal bus accident, which the characters survive unscathed, they begin to notice that they are being followed by gaunt cadaverous beings with ashen skin and eyes the color of frozen meat dressed in drab gray Victorian suits; their faces are locked in a deathlike grin associated with rigor mortis.
When the characters are together, these beings stay their distant, watching the characters with their cold unblinking dead eyes. Once the characters break up or go their own way they attack that individual investigator working their way until they have killed everyone who survived the encounter.
Possibilities
1 The beings are apparitions of accident victims on that stretch of land. They are haunting the investigators to see if they can get released into the other side. However, after several days of being ignored, they no longer seek release but instead seek to make the investigators one of them.
2 The investigators escaped death – they should have died that night. The cadaverous beings are minions of the grim reaper, sent to kill the investigators and uphold the balance of nature.
3 The investigators did not escape the accident unhurt; they are all in a local Hospital in comas. The beings that they are seeing are the warped form of their visiting friends and loved ones.
STR: NA WPR: 7 (105) DEX: NA PER: 6 (90) AGL: NA PCN: 6 (90) STA: NA PWR: 130 ATT: 1/* WND: 0* MV: F 75 (incorporeal) Experience: 1,000 Ghost Powers Excise Living Supernatural Touch Weakness: can be held at bay with ghost script engraved glass The Pilgrimess is the ghost of Isabella Smith. In 1675, Isabella sailed across the Atlantic Ocean in search for a warm comfortable home in New England, but the tight-knit townsfolk didn’t trust outsiders and isolated her from the town. The town’s livestock began to die mysteriously so the local preacher accused her of witchcraft. As more livestock started to fall ill, the preacher acquired a mysterious illness. The town rallied into a frenzy, cornering Isabella in a barn, which they lit on fire. Isabella miraculously crawled out, still alive without a single burn. So instead, she was sentenced to a slow death in the stocks, where she stayed for weeks on end while children stoned her, women cursed her, and men spat on her. The humiliation grew far worse than the pain, so finally Isabella succumbed to starvation. Her ghost is walking around with her hands still locked in the stocks.
Supernatural Touch: With this power, a ghost can deal physical damage to an opponent. It uses the opponent’s unskilled melee score as the column for resolving damage. With a C result, the character also feels a bone-numbing chill that paralyzes him for one round.
Excise Living: A ghost may use its supernatural powers to terrorize a victim, instilling fear in him. This costs 5 WPR per round and may affect all characters in a 30’ radius. Each character resolves the specific check for the attack separately against his WPR column. S = The victim finds himself unable to move for one round, though he may stand in one place and attack or use other skills or abilities. L = The victim is frozen from fright and can only defend against melee with column 1 or column 3 for missile attacks. M = The victim runs away in fear as fast as he can for as many rounds as the power is in effect, accounting for any Stamina loss from sprinting or running. In addition, the victim loses two points of WPR per round the effect is active. H = Same as L, and the victim loses two points of WPR per round. C = The victim is overwhelmed with fright and loses consciousness for as long as the power is active. In addition, the victim loses two points of WPR per round.
Harker is a recently admitted solicitor from England, who is deputed by his employer, Mr. Peter Hawkins, of Exeter, to act as an estate agent for a foreign client named Count Dracula who wishes to move to England. Harker discovers in Carfax Abbey, near Purfleet, Essex, a dwelling that suits the client’s requirements and travels to Transylvania by train in order to consult with him about it.At Bistritz Harker takes a coach to the Borgo Pass where at midnight another coach drawn by four black horses, waits to take him to Castle Dracula high in the Carpathian Mountains. At the castle, Harker is greeted by the mysterious and ominous Count Dracula and finalizes the property transaction. Soon, however, Harker realizes he has been made a prisoner by his host who is revealed as a vampire. Harker also has a dangerous encounter with the three seductive Brides of Dracula, whose designs on him are only thwarted by the intervention of the Count.
Later, he manages to escape, finding refuge at a convent. He has a mental breakdown upon arriving at the convent because of his encounters with Dracula; his fiance, Mina Murray, comes to nurse him back to health with the nuns’ help and marries him there. He returns home to England and later sees Dracula in London. After learning Dracula killed Lucy, he joins Van Helsing, Seward, Holmwood, and Morris. His clerical skills prove very useful for collecting information and for tracking down Dracula’s London lairs by means of paperwork. He vows to destroy Dracula and, if he could, to send “his soul forever and ever to burning to hell[..]!” even if it be at the cost of own soul. When confronted with Mina’s curse, however, he is unsure how to react; Mina asks the others in the group to kill her if the need comes. While Harker says he would, in the privacy of his journal says that if it is necessary, that he would become a vampire himself out of his love for her. However, Harker manages to avoid that because along with Van Helsing and the others he manages to destroy Dracula. At the book’s climax, he pries open Dracula’s coffin mere moments before sunset and slashes open Dracula’s throat with a kukri knife, possibly decapitating him, while Quincey Morris stabs him in the heart with a Bowie knife.
In a note following the end of the novel, it is revealed that seven years have passed. He and Mina have a son whom they have named after all four members of the part, but call Quincey, after Quincey Morris. Noting Quincey Harker’s birthday is the day Quincey Morris died fighting Dracula, Mina likes to think that some of Morris’ spirit is in their son. Jonathan Harker eventually visits Dracula’s castle along with his wife and son and their surviving friends to reminisce. He returns home with his wife and son and is told by Van Helsing that one day his son will learn the whole story. STATS STR 58 PCN 68 DEX 52 WPR 58 AGL 66 Luck 42 PER 50 STA 62 Unskilled Melee : 62 Penetration Bonus : +5 Wounds : 14 Skill Rank Score Journalism Expert 80 Language (German) Specialist 78 Language(Latin) Specialist 78 Investigation Specialist 74 Prenatural Lore Specialist 78 Social Sciences (Sociology) Expert 93
Part anaconda, part piranha all killer mutant giant snake. The favorite method of attack is to attack with a bite first then follow up with a constriction attempt.
Unsettling Powers
Amphibian: Is able to exist on land or in the water
Swallow whole: on a natural C result with a bite attack, the victim is swallowed whole.
In this sequel to Sharktopus, two Piranhacondas hunt down their stolen egg. The scientist who stole the egg hitchikes the island and meets up with a movie crew on-set of filming. The star, the scientist, and some crew-members get kidnapped by some money-craving people who put them on ransom for some dough. Meanwhile, a Piranhaconda roams the island, along the way eating an island-goer, and some scientists searching for a rare flower. The snake comes to the kidnappers’ hideout and attacks. The crew and the scientist escape. The lead kidnapper finds a camera and realizes that the scientist stole the egg, which caused the snake to attack, and he decides to kill the snake, and the crew. The snake follows the crew, who are in a truck, but is wounded by a grenade. The second Piranhaconda arrives and, sensing blood, attacks its wounded mate. It then decides to track down the crew. The scientist reveals that he had the egg, so they try to escape via boat. But the Piranhaconda stalls their plans. The scientist pretends to get rid of the egg, but doesn’t, causing the creature to follow them. The crew become trapped by the kidnappers, but the Piranhaconda crashes the party and eats the ransomers. The scientist and two crew members get back to the boat, but the man stays on shore to destroy the snake. In the water, the girl realizes that the scientist had the egg all along. She throws it in the river and shoves him overboard. He is then killed by the Piranhaconda. The girl goes back to shore and finds the boy. They lure the Piranhaconda to a waterfall using the egg. Jack slips a bomb into the case and threw it at the beast, then he and the girl jumped into the river below. The bomb went off and decapitated the snake. The two then decide to go on a date. They kiss as a third Piranhaconda devours them both. The camera switches to a shot of the waterfall, and the growl of the Piranhaconda is heard.
The zombies in Romero’s films are your slow lumbering zombie who one on one poses no threat but they normally attack en mass.
In Romero’s series, anyone who died during the zombie apocalypse, no matter whether bitten/exposed by other zombies, would turn into a zombie themselves. The one and only thing that would prevent a human to turn into a zombie upon death/dying are either massive brain trauma (such as a gunshot wound to the head) or having their brain incapacitated post-mortem. No Romero film has definitively revealed the cause of reanimation, but several have featured characters speculating on possible causes, including radiation from a NASA probe, divine intervention, and viral infection. The length of time between death and reanimation seems to vary, but in most instances, it is only a few minutes.
If a character is bitten by a zombie, they will become violently ill and die within three days. The interim till death seems to be dependent on the location and degree of the bite (meaning that bites on or near major arteries or veins will spread the infection much faster than small bites or scratches). Multiple bite wounds will cause the infection to spread all the faster. Also, massive blood loss caused by one of these bites will speed the death of the victim.
George Romero Zombies – Dawn of the dead 1978 version
In the Cajun legends, the creature is said to prowl the swamps around Acadiana and Greater New Orleans, and possibly the fields or forests of the regions. The rougarou most often is described as a creature with a human body and the head of a wolf or dog, similar to the werewolf legend.
Often the story-telling has been used to inspire fear and obedience. One such example is stories that have been told by elders to persuade Cajun children to behave. According to another variation, the wolf-like beast will hunt down and kill Catholics who do not follow the rules of Lent. This coincides with the French Catholic loup-garou stories, according to which the method for turning into a werewolf is to break Lent seven years in a row.
A common legend says that the rougarou is under the spell for 101 days. After that time, the curse is transferred from person to person when the rougarou draws another human’s blood. During that day the creature returns to human form. Although acting sickly, the human refrains from telling others of the situation for fear of being killed. A rougarou’s only weakness is fire, which can destroy them, as well as decapitation
EWS: 75 (Notable) REF: 80 STA: 80
Injury: Superficial, Minor –10, Serious –20, Major –30, Critical –50, Lethal
Disciplines: Hunter’s Mark
Aspects: Deadly Attack (Serious; creature form only), Regeneration (creature form only), Shapeshifter, Sturdy (creature form only), Supernatural Speed (creature form only), Vigor (creature form only) Special Weakness: Fire
Welcome to the first installment of grave plots, a weekly feature where we will post-adventure ideas for Cryptworld and Rotworld. These ideas can come from movies, Tv shows, and my own warped imagination even a kick-ass song can help create a plot for a game. This week being the first installment I decided to go old school and post some of my favorite plots from games long gone.
1. Suffer the Children – children in the sleepy hamlet of Bethpage, NY are vanishing in the middle of the night – the only clue is a toy Doll is found in the bed of the missing child.
2. Fanboy – someone is going around committing horrid murders, the throats of the victims are slashed open and there is evidence that some of the blood has been drunk and always found nearby is a puddle of vomit mixed with blood. The murders are being committed by Terrance Joshua, a social outcast who is suffering from a psychological imbalance – he believes himself to be a vampire
3. The PCs are sent to investigate a carnival ride, where riders have claimed to have been attacked by the animatronic characters. The ride was once part of the famous jolly rogers playland located in Levittown, NY. Before the closing of the fun park, there was a hideous accident when a child who wanted to see what made the characters move left the ride car he was in and went backstage, where he witnessed the ride attendant rape and murder a young woman. Found out, the attendant grabbed the kid and threw him under the track where he got crushed to death by the next ride cart that passed over him. The “accident” was the final straw, the owners of the park decommissioned the ride and sold it off to the Phelan traveling show, a small mom and pop carnival that traveled the east coast until 2013, where the owner of the carnival was found dead in the funhouse – cause of death was a heart attack. Again the funhouse was sold, this time to a private collector named Kenneth Yee – who contacts the PCs to investigate the funhouse as part of his reality series “Live undead” on the local public access.
Next week, I will post some of my favorite PC’s from the old school chill days converted to Crypt World.
Highgate Cemetery was constructed in London, England in 1839 as a burial place for the elite. After many years of neglect, the cemetery is now allegedly the home of a terrifying vampire. According to The Highgate Vampire Society, the sightings started in the late 1960s. A tall figure with red eyes was spotted and repeatedly reported, launching an investigation into the area and these claims.
The strangest and most disturbing sighting came in 1971. A young girl passing the cemetery was attacked by a very tall, white-faced dark figure that threw her to the ground so hard that she suffered from scrapes on her arms and legs. Luckily, the shadow figure immediately disappeared when a car pulled up to the scene. The girl, who was in a state of shock, was taken to the police station and eventually told her own story. That story supported the sightings reported by so many other members of the community, and sightings of the “vampire” continue to this day.
Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in north London, England. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East Cemeteries. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for some of the people buried there as well as for its de facto status as a nature reserve. The Cemetery is designated Grade I on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. It is one of the Magnificent Seven cemeteries in London.
Initial Reports
A group of young people interested in the occult visited the cemetery in the late 1960s, a time when it was being vandalized by intruders. According to a report in the London Evening News of 2 November 1968:
On the night of Halloween 1968, a graveyard desecration by persons unknown occurred at Tottenham Park Cemetery in London. These persons arranged flowers taken from graves in circular patterns with arrows of blooms pointing to a new grave, which was uncovered. A coffin was opened and the body inside was “disturbed”. But their most macabre act was driving an iron stake in the form of a cross through the lid and into the breast of the corpse.
Though the identities and motivations of those responsible were never ascertained, general consensus at the time linked the desecration to events surrounding the Highgate Vampire case. Then, in a letter to the Hampstead and Highgate Express on 6 February 1970, David Farrant wrote that when passing the cemetery on 24 December 1969 he had glimpsed “a grey figure”, which he considered to be supernatural, and asked if others had seen anything similar. On the 13th, several people replied, describing a variety of ghosts said to haunt the cemetery or the adjoining Swains Lane. These ghosts were described as a tall man in a hat, a spectral cyclist, a woman in white, a face glaring through the bars of a gate, a figure wading into a pond, a pale gliding form, bells ringing, and voices calling.
Sean Manchester claimed the figure was a vampire and the media quickly latched on, embellishing the tale with stories of the vampire being a king of the vampires, or of practicing black magic.
March 1970
The ensuing publicity was enhanced by a growing rivalry between Farrant and Manchester, each claiming that he could and would expel or destroy the spectre. Manchester declared he would hold an exorcism on Friday 13 March 1970. ITV interviewed Manchester, Farrant, and others who claimed to have seen supernatural figures in the cemetery. These were broadcast on ITV early on the evening of the 13th; within two hours a mob of ‘hunters’ from all over London and beyond swarmed over gates and walls into the locked cemetery, despite police efforts to control them. Some months later, on 1 August 1970, the charred and headless remains of a woman’s body were found not far from the catacomb. The police suspected that it had been used in black magic Farrant was found by police in the churchyard beside Highgate Cemetery one night in August, carrying a crucifix and a wooden stake. He was arrested, but when the case came to court it was dismissed.
A few days later Manchester returned to Highgate Cemetery. He claims that this time he and his companions forced open the doors of a family vault (indicated by his psychic helper). He says he lifted the lid off one coffin, believing it to have been mysteriously transferred there from the previous catacomb. He was about to drive a stake through the body it contained when a companion persuaded him to desist. Reluctantly, he shut the coffin, leaving garlic and incense in the vault.
Chill Adventure Seeds
Reports of sightings of the vampire have been increasing following a renovention project of the cemetery. S.A.V.E decides to send the envoys to investigate these reports.
a corpse of a homeless person is found by the cemetery caretaker prompting public uproar. The coroner determined that the cause of death was from blood loss from a massive wound in his throat.The daughter of David Farrant reaches out to S.A.V.E to investigate before anyone else is hurt.
Inspired by the zombie universe of George A. Romero, “Day of the Dead” takes place in a small town where an ordinary day takes a terrifying turn when the dead begin to rise. Townspeople Mayor Bowman is up for reelection, Jai is hours away from his wedding, Luke has a party to attend, Lauren is going to lead a funeral, McDermott has a mystery to solve, and Cam has a lawn to mow. This ode to Romero’s flesh-eaters is a reminder that sometimes all it takes to bring people together is a horde of hungry zombies trying to rip them apart
Looking for adventure ideas? Look no further than The Lost Tapes on discovery plus. Each episode focuses on a specific creature in a well-written scenario. The series also introduces a s.a.v.e like organization called the Enigma Corporation; a Pinkerton detective/security group that deals with the unknown.
Looking for adventure ideas? Look no further then The Lost Tapes on discovery plus. Each episode focuses on a specific creature in a well written scenario. The series also introduces a s.a.v.e like organization called the Enigma Corporation; a Pinkerton detective / security group that deals with the unknown.
One of my favorite episodes deal with the Strigoi the original Romanian vampire.
Horrors of the Unknown Vol. 1 is the first supplement for Horrors of the Unknown Vol. 1 is the first supplement for Chill 3rd Edition from Salt Circle Games. Inside, you'll find thirteen new creatures, new creature Aspects, and ideas for featuring these monsters in your Chill cases. 32 pages, color cover, black and white interior illustrations.
Why am I mentioning this? Several reasons :
1. One of the most original supplement for the third edition of chill.
2. The wretched cat - one of my original creations grace the pages of this supplement.
You can purchase the Horrors of the Unknown Vol 1 by clicking here
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