Ibnhotep’s Scarab Amulet

The obsidian scarab is set in a bronze mounting, which is connected to a beaded necklace. Etched into the scarab is an inverted ankh; where the ankh is normally associated with life, the inverted ankh suggests an association with death. The bronze mounting is also etched with pictograms, but close inspection confirms that they are not Egyptian hieroglyphs. The symbols were etched by Ibnhotep himself, and they are a degenerate form of Hyperborean (Cthulhu Mythos roll).

The scarab is infused with alien energies. Anyone wearing the necklace is empowered with the same deeper magic version of Shrivelling that the shoggoth lord is wielding. The wearer can intuitively feel the power within the scarab; that same intuition informs the wearer how to wield that energy.

Each time the wearer of the amulet makes use of the power stored within the scarab, it exposes the wearer’s psyche to the dark and intelligent forces that enchanted it. After the wearer has paid the required magic and Sanity points, the wearer must also make a Sanity roll as the victim is being desiccated, but this Sanity roll is not because of the horror being inflicted on the victim. Instead, it gauges the wearer’s psychic defense against the scarab. With a failed Sanity roll, the wearer gains +1% to their Cthulhu Mythos skill. Once the wearer has gained +10% from the scarab, then the wearer can hear the madness-inducing whisperings of Yog-Sothoth, triggering a new Sanity roll (1D2+1/1D10 loss).

Shrivelling (deeper magic variant)

• Cost: 10 magic points; 5 Sanity points
• Casting Time: instantaneous

This version of the spell is designed to not only shrivel the intended target, but to also transfer life-sustaining fluids from the target into the caster. These fluids can heal injuries and prolong the caster’s life. This version of the spell requires the caster to touch the intended target; an opposed POW roll against the target is also required.

This version of the spell is so powerful that, even if the caster loses the opposed POW roll, the victim is still subjected to terrifying energies that blacken and wither their flesh for 10 points of damage; if the caster wins the opposed POW roll, then the target is wreathed in energies that desiccate the body and inflict an excruciating 1D6+10 points of damage. In addition, the caster gains 1D6+2 hit points (not to exceed maximum hit points) and, barring injury, the caster’s life is unnaturally extended another 1D10 years.

If the victim survives the devastating damage inflicted by this spell, then they must make a Sanity roll (1D4/1D10 loss). Their STR and CON are also reduced by half for as long as their body is desiccated. Other than the caster, anyone witnessing the desiccation must also make a Sanity roll (1D3/1D6 loss).

Alternate names: Desiccating Touch, Death’s Cold Embrace, Kiss of the Mummy

Diary of Dr. Berger

This is the diary of Dr. Berger, head warden of Danvers State Hospital. It is a leather bound daily planner. The cover has some blood splatter on it. The pages are browned and crumpled and some pages have come loose. It starts as a normal diary, but after a seal was found and broken at the building site of the amphitheater, the writing gets more erratic. Text is hardly legible and is dotted with doodle depicting strange beings, violent scenes and mutilations.

Sanity Loss: 1D6
Cthulhu Mythos: +1/+2
Mythos Rating: 9
Study: 1 week
Spells: Finger of Dread

Finger of Dread

• Cost: 12 magic points; 1d6 Sanity points
• Casting time: instantaneous

Causes a soul-chilling dread, breaking the target's concentration and disrupting his or her actions. The caster must be able to see and point a finger at the target while invoking the curse. The sudden unnerving costs the target 0/1D6 Sanity points, and they feel compelled to retreat to a safe place anywhere the person would normally feel safe and secure.

Dominate

• Cost: 1 magic point; 1 Sanity point
• Casting Time: instantaneous

Bends the will of the target to that of the caster. For the spell to take effect the caster must succeed in an opposed POW roll with the target. If successful, the target obeys the commands of the caster without exception until the next round concludes.

The spell can affect only one individual at a time and has a maximum range of 10 yards. Obviously the command or commands must be intelligible to the target; the spell may be broken if a command contradicts the target's basic nature (such as instructing a human to fly).

Dominate can be cast and recast as many times as the caster finds possible, allowing a target to be controlled without interruption for several minutes. Each casting of the spell has the same costs and limits. Recasting is instantaneous.

Alternative names: Command of the Wizard, The Chant of Possession, Baleful Influence, Speake to the Inner Voice.

How Sorcerers Get That Way

Though investigators rarely have the chance, sorcerers and cultists sometimes swagger around with unseemly amounts of Power (POW). Where did it come from?

When a character successfully casts a spell requiring an opposed POW roll to affect the target, this creates a chance for the caster’s POW to increase through this “exercise”. If the caster wins the opposed POW roll, a subsequent roll to increase his or her POW may be attempted. If the result of a 1D100 roll is greater than the caster’s POW (or the roll is 96 or greater), the caster’s POW increases by 1D10 points permanently.

As a reward for any Luck roll result of 01, POW can be said to have been exercised. Roll the percentile dice and if the roll is greater than the character’s POW, or if the roll is 96 or greater, the character’s POW increases by 1D10 points permanently.

The character may be able to arrange a gift of or a trade for POW from some Mythos deity. The rationale for this is best left to the Keeper. Such an event is likely to increase Cthulhu Mythos as well, and would cost additional Sanity points besides those lost in communicating with the entity.

Increasing Power does not increase current Sanity points.