The Egyptian Adventure: Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos, Part 2

Mummified Egyptian Priest

Nyarlathotep, that dastardly villain, can call on all kinds of bad guys to join his plan for world domination, pain, and suffering. From In Her Majesty's Name he can have a Mummified Priest and regular mummies. A regular Mummy is 21 points, 4+ for Pluck and does not have the Numb talent or any mysterious powers. You can give them a hand weapon for the associated costs.

 You can never have enough mummies to help you take over the world.

 Nyarlathotep can also recruit various bandits, thieves, scum and villany.

Nyarlathotep "recruits" a new follower using his, which seem to humans, "mystical powers".

"There's gold? I'm in." Nyarlathotep also has many willing followers pursuing the dream of a new Egypt.

 "Bugs Professor! Six of them!"

Name: Giant Scarabs (okay, they are plastic toy bugs)

Move: 6"

Pluck: 5+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +1

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Fearless

Basic Equipment: Bite (Attack Bonus +2 with a -1 modifier)

Armor: 8
Points:18

Worm Monsters! (or something). I use the stats for a Demon for the big guy and lesser demons for the little guys but do not give them Mystical Powers.

 "What the . . ?"

More Worm Monsters (I think).

The Deep Ones. The Deep Ones are an ocean-dwelling race, as evidenced by their name, with an affinity for mating with humans (ewww!) They are humanoid beings with fish, human and amphibian-like traits, and described as having grey-ish green, glossy and slippery skin. They have scaled, ridged backs, as well as webbed hands and gilled necks. Notably, they have a head similar to that of a fish, with eyes incapable of blinking. They move about in an inhuman fashion, by hopping oddly, and occasionally move on all fours. The Deeps Ones near Egypt are a sub-species with horned claws on or near their hands and some with the ability to carry crude weapons. Unfortunately for our heroes, the Deep Ones have access to Egypt because of the Nile River.

Name: Egyptian Deep Ones

Move: 6"
Pluck: 5+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +2

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Swimming, Terrifying

Basic Equipment: Some have claws: +2 bonus and -1 pluck; others carry crude axes.

Armor: 8
Points: 20 with claws or axe

 The Deep Ones prefer to stay near the water . . . but will venture out.

The Egyptian Adventure: Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos, Part 1

The false pharaoh Nyarlathotep.

Nyarlathotep is an inter-dimensional alien entity who often manifests in the form of an Egyptian pharaoh, especially when he confronts his nemesis Randolph Carter. Nyarlathotep differs from the other aliens in a number of ways. Most of them are exiled to stars, like Yog-Sothoth and Hastur, or sleeping and dreaming like Cthulhu. Nyarlathotep, however, is active and frequently walks the Earth in the guise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man. He has "a thousand" other forms, most of these reputed to be maddeningly horrific. Most of the other inter-dimensional beings use strange alien languages, but Nyarlathotep uses human languages and can be mistaken for a human being. 

"We have stopped you before and we will stop you again - there are new players in the game," states Nyalathotep's arch-nemesis Randolph Carter.

Nyarlathotep delights in cruelty, is deceptive and manipulative, and even cultivates followers and uses propaganda to achieve his goals. Nyarlathotep is also known as the "Crawling Choas"; a name that describes his true form and his malevolent acts against humanity. The faculty and staff of Miskatonic University are convince is ultimate goal is to destroy the human race and possibly the Earth as well. And that it will start in Egypt at the excavation site at Dara . . . 

Here are the game stats for In Her Majesty's Name and they can be easily converted for other popular games:

Name: Nyarlathotep, The Crawling Chaos

Move: 6"
Pluck: 2+

Leadership: 2+

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Dreadful, Erudite Wit, Immortal (campaigns only) Martial Artist, Terrifying
Mysterious Powers: Up to 30 points of Mystic Powers 

Basic Equipment: The Pearls of Madness (Armor 13)

Armor: 13
Points: 84 (not counting Mystic Powers or Immortal (10 points) for campaigns)

Nyarlathotep's true form.

Aa Akhon is the deadliest warrior of Ancient Egypt and brought back through space and time to serve as Nyarlathotep's body guard and enforcer - his most important, evil plans are successful because of his loyalty. He uses two khopesh (Egyptian sickle sword) when fighting and is deadly in their use.

Updated Talent: Sword Master. Sword Master is similar to Gunslinger allowing the splitting of their FV with a blade weapon against 2 opponents. If the character has two blade weapons, and only uses their FV against one opponent, they can use one blade to add +1 to their armor. If they only have one blade weapon and are attacked, they can add +1 to their armor but cannot attack that turn.

Name: Aa Akhon

Move: 6"
Pluck: 4+

Leadership: 0

Speed: +1

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Duelist, Fanatic, Fearless, Lightning Draw, Sword Master

Basic Equipment: Two Khopesh (Military Swords), 

Armor: 9
Points: 56

Maahes is a solar inter-dimensional being who was worshiped as a fire war god. However, Maahes was rarely referred to by name. Rather he was usually referred to by his most common epithet, “The Lord of the Massacre”. He was given a number of other bloodcurdling epithets including; “Wielder of the Flaming Sword”, “The Scarlet Lord” (referring to the blood of his victims) and “Lord of Slaughter”. Yet, he was not seen as a force of evil. He is.

Name: Maahes

Move: 6"
Pluck: 4+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +4

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Fireproof, Fortitude, Intuitive

Basic Equipment: The Flaming Sword of Ra (See Flame Weapons in In Her Majesty's Name Gothic), Breastplate

Armor: 11
Points: 44

The Destroyer of Anubis

The ancient Egyptians believed that in the netherworld, the Duat, there were various gates, doors and pylons crossed every night by the solar boat (Atet) of the sun-god Ra and by the souls directed to the world of the dead. Every gate was guarded by a minor god who allowed access only to the souls capable of pronouncing the secret name of the god himself, as a sort of "password". Well, here's one of the them. The good news is he will only be found in ancient ruins, tombs, ancient temples, etc.; the bad news is our adventurers will be going to ancient ruins, tombs, ancient temples, etc.

Name: The Destroyer of Anubis

Move: 6"
Pluck: 4+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +5

Shooting Value: +0

Talents: Beserker, Terrifying, Tough

Basic Equipment: The Axe Scythe of the Destroyer (2 handed weapon, +3 weapon bonus and -2 to pluck), Ancient Armor

Armor: 11
Points: 55

Next: Other Nastiness that Nyarlathotep can use for his nefarious plans.

 What's the use of having an evil inter-dimensional alien who dresses like he's from ancient Egypt if we can't have mummies?

"The whole world will bow to me in pain and suffering!"

The Call of Cthulhu

Well this is not good.

After his classic defeat at an Oyster-Eating Contest in Fogburyport by the great Homer Simpson, Cthulhu decided to stick to the pulp era and now limits his inter dimensional evilness strictly to the time frame of 1895 to 1950. The H.P. Lovecraft Mythos are going to start playing peripheral and primary roles in our upcoming games.

The Star Spawn of Cthulhu is another Wizkids primed resin figure from their Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures Dungeons and Dragon range of figures. I've placed a 28mm Copplestone Miniature (Sam) next to Cthulhu to give an idea of the scale of the figure which was approximately $13 US. For the base coat I watered down some Vallejo Flat Yellow and applied it to all of the body area though a little dripped onto the "portal" area of this evil inter dimensional being. All paints used are Vallejo.

I then took US Dark Green, and you guessed it, I watered it down to create a wash and went over the yellow as I wanted to give my Cthulhu a putrid like effect.

Next up was to paint the claws (which are desperately in need of a manicure) Buff.

The back of the model. I wasn't quite sure at this stage what I wanted to do with the base so I painted it Dark Prussian Blue and of course I super glued it to the figure crookedly.

I repainted the eyes with Yellow and used some Leather Brown which I watered down to apply as a wash to the claws. I added just a touch of Flat Red to the "ears". At this stage I was still concerned with how the overall figure would look because frankly, in my opinion, the base looks awful. A good base can hide a multitude of sins and for once I did a great job on the monster only to screw up the base!

Another view of The Star Spawn of Cthulhu manifesting.

I did some highlighting by dry brushing with Olive Green and a little touch up with Buff to make the claws look really menacing (BWAH HAH HAH!). I still don't like the base.

Suddenly it dawned on me since Cthulhu was manifesting, why don't I put some cotton around the entire figure to hide the botched job on the base?

Now that looks like an evil inter dimensional creature showing up to do some bad stuff to good ole humanity!

The view from the other side . . .

. . . and from the back.

"My name is Randolph Carter, Keeper of the Silver Key and you shall not pass!"

"You know Randolph. Not only do I like punching Nazis, but I like messing up evil inter dimensional beings too."

The Deep Ones

 “Certainly, the terror of a deserted house swells in geometrical rather than arithmetical progression as houses multiply to form a city of stark desolation. The sight of such endless avenues of fishy-eyed vacancy and death, and the thought of such linked infinities of black, brooding compartments given over to cob-webs and memories and the conqueror worm, start up vestigial fears and aversions that not even the stoutest philosophy can disperse.” 

The academics at Miskatonic Univeristy have discovered that there is a bargain between the town of Innsmouth and the Deep Ones and humans, in which the aquatic species provides plentiful fishing and gold in the form of strangely formed jewelry. In return, the land-dwellers give human sacrifices and a promise of "mixing"—the mating of humans with Deep Ones. Although the Deep One hybrid offspring are born with the appearance of a normal human being, the individual will eventually transform into a Deep One, gaining immortality—by default—only when the transformation is complete. 

This abomination must stop and the men and women of Miskatonic University are just the ones to do it!

The "Deep Ones" are primed resin figures from Dungeon & Dragons Nolzur's Marvelous Miniatures line of unpainted primed resin figures from WizKids. They are the Gray Slaad & Death Slaad and come 2 to a pack and I plan on getting a few others. What is also great, the same line has a Chulthu that looks just great and it is only a matter of time that I pick it up - and its only a little more than $12 US. The entire range has useful figures and accessories for Victorian Sci Fi, Steampunk and Pulp games.

"Let's see if you'll eat hot lead!"

It's Professor Calculus to the Rescue!

Randolph Carter: "Professor Calculus. I am so glad that you are finally here."

Professor Calculus: "Why are you mad and there is nothing wrong with my ear."

Randolph Carter: "Unhhh . . . my name is Randolph Carter."

Professor Calculus: "There is dandruff on my collar?"

Randolph Carter: "No, not your coat."

Professor Calculus: "Are you calling me a goat?!!!"

Randolph Carter: (Sigh). Maybe we should let the Old One's win.

Professor Calculus:"I do enjoy pedaling on my Schwinn."

Professor Cuthbert Calculus is an eccentric scientist, engineer and inventor who is as clever as he is absentminded. Despite his very slight physique, he claims to have been a sportsman in his youth, leading Captain Haddock to mockingly refer to him as the “Olympic athlete.”

Although he is a capable scientist, Professor Calculus also practices the unproven method of divining using a pendulum. This mainly succeeds in infuriating Captain Haddock; however, this odd approach does prove to have some merit.


Weird Science: The Pendulum. This is a special Pendulum used only by Professor Calculus to find hidden treasure, missing persons, secret doorways, etc. The only problem is that it rarely, if ever works. To successfully utilize the object must be within 24 inches and Professor Calculus must roll his Pluck -2 to successful divine where the object, person, etc. is located.
Cost: 3 points

Sound Wave Projector: The Sound Wave Projector is a machine capable of destroying objects with sound waves. Needless to say, it is an invention far ahead of its time (thank you time travel) and is eagerly sought out by all of the nefarious, and sometimes not nefarious, agents of 1895. It is cleverly hidden in his umbrella. It may be triggered every other turn and has a range of 12" and is considered a shooting attack. It may be used in the Fighting Phase. The Sound Wave Projector ignores armor so treat all targets as having an armor of 7. Figures successfully hit must Roll Pluck -2. If unsuccessful, they are knocked down and any object they are caring, to include the last weapon they used, is instantly destroyed. To recover from the knock down, the figure must roll their Pluck -1. If they fail this roll, they are inoperable for the rest of the game. The Sound Wave Project can also be used against inanimate objects. If doing so, assign inanimate objects a Pluck rating based on your best guess (hey, I can't do all of the work!) For example, a wooden door would have a Pluck of 5+. A natural 1 is still always a miss. The Sound Wave Projector is cleverly hidden in Professor Calculus' umbrella.
Cost: 20 points.
SV Bonus: +2
Pluck Modifier: -2
Armor Modifier: All he has to do is push the button and it adds +2 to his armor unless in the Fighting Phase he attacks using Martial Arts.

Name: Professor Cuthbert Calculus

Pluck: 4+

Leadership: 0

Speed: 0

Fighting Value: +2

Shooting Value: +1

Talents: Engineer, Erudite Wit (his deafness), Fanatic, Martial Artist (Savate), Mechanic
Basic Equipment: Brigadine, Sound Wave Projector Umbrella, The Pendulum, Briefcase (Counts as a club)

Armor: 9

Cost: 50

The Boys are back in Town!

IHMN: The War of the Witches Season 5 Update, Part 2

Previously in Part 1:

President Cleveland has ordered Task Force Tombstone, consisting of US Marshals including the famous Earp brothers to get the Wicked Witch of the West dead or alive in retaliation for attacks on The Smithsonian Institute and the Gale Farm in Kansas. Thomas Edison has modified the gyroscope controls Professor Nightengale and Tesla's alternating-current (AC) system with his direct-current (DC) electric power on the only known American Tesla gate out in the wild, wild west. To quote the President in order to activate and put the posse right in WWW's castle. Operation Looking Glass successfully "gates" to the castle.

 It's the United States Branch of the Knights Templars! 

 Looks like we got here in the nick of time!

Deputy Marshall Rooster Cogburn, using pretty bold talk for a one-eyed fat man, captures the Wicked Witch of the West. She is now locked safely away behind Niagara Falls.

There are foolish and evil men who attempt to tampered with the Divine laws of the Universe in order to advance their nefarious schemes of world domination and personal illegal accumulation of wealth - no matter the threat to innocents throughout our fair creation. The Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!) is a group of international terrorists dedicated to hastening the return of the Great Old Ones. The Brotherhood is made up of people from all ethnicities and ways of life, and, believing that the Old Ones will awaken soon, conduct covert operations, such as attempted political assassinations. Few of its members are taken alive for interrogation, however, as most die shortly after carrying out their operations.

 The Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!)

Teddy Roosevelt, Tintin and Snowy - plus some friends, are not going to put up with this nonsense and discover that their secret headquarters are the ruins of the Tamblin-Goggin manor house, next to Piddle (snicker) Brook and the British Railway line to North Piddle, England. The Knights Templar have also discovered that the Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!) is also attempting to wake up one of the "Old Ones"; the evil, inter-dimensional aliens that want to rule the Earth. Oh, and by the way, Ann Darrow is a hostage of the
Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!)

 Ann Darrow and the Great Pooh Bah of the Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!)

 "Good shot", exclaims Ntando. Teddy replies, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing.”

"Miss Darrow, it's me. Snowy the Talking Dog!"

"What the . . . ?" 

"I am the gathering storm, I bring darkness and death to monsters."

"Grand Master, don't attack Snowy!" 

In a bizarre twist, the Knights seize Ann Darrow and make their escape. Tintin, Teddy Roosevelt and friends are baffled. Even thought The Black Brotherhood AKA The Cult of Doom(!) was destroyed, are heroes do not understand why the Knights betrayed them.

 "Mr. Roosevelt, why did they do it? asks Tintin.

"I don't know. If given the choice between Righteousness and Peace, I choose Righteousness and I will hunt them down and save Ann."

Epilogue: 

 Miskatonic University investigates and comes to the conclusion that this is not good!

A VILLAIN REVEALED!

 "Once again the world is at my mercy and they are now fighting against themselves. I have conquered not only the mysteries of all of the continents but now of the oceans too. In the tropical waters of the south Atlantic my hand stretches out to turn water into ice - and to transform safety into the deadliest peril. Soon the proof of my mastery will be complete."

More recaps to come!