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View Full Version : Getting rid of a worm[CoC]



mr.fizzypop
2009-04-14, 02:06 PM
In my current Call of Cthulhu D20 campaign, we recently accidentaly summoned a Giant Worm(a Dhole to be specific). We are level four and are running out of ideas. It has already destroyed a coastal town and is now reeking havok on the countryside. Our only plan that is sure to work, is to summon Cthulhu. We hopefuly won't have to come to that. Does anyone have any ideas?

Tamburlaine
2009-04-14, 03:09 PM
Run away. As far and as fast as possible.

SurlySeraph
2009-04-14, 03:20 PM
Lure it somewhere that's a somewhat less problematic place for it to be. I'm assuming there are no convenient volcanoes or giant chasms around to trick it into falling into, but it would sure be nice if there were. You could try luring it ioff a cliff nto the sea, to see if it can swim. If it can, it might swim somewhere else, hopefully not a major city. If it can't, problem solved.

Alternately, get the highest-flying aircraft you can and drop explosives on it. The viability of this approach depends on a) whether you can find a plane and b) how many explosives you can make/buy/steal.

Katrascythe
2009-04-14, 03:21 PM
Any way for you to nuke it from orbit?

Fan
2009-04-14, 03:29 PM
Well, if they can steal a NASA space craft on route to one of our weapons sattelite installations you could certainly nuke it from orbit. You'll just be international criminals that will be drawn and quatered anywhere you go.

Lycan 01
2009-04-14, 03:29 PM
YOU'RE GONNA SUMMON CTHULHU TO KILL A FREAKING DHOLE?! ARE YOU MAD, MAN?! :smalleek:

There's a spell to dismiss those things! I don't remember what its called, but its in the Grimiour or whatever the spellbook in the rulebook is called!

Of course, I play d100 CoC, but I'm sure the spells are still the same for both game. I don't remember what its called, but there's a spell to dismiss otherworldy beings, such as Dholes, Dimensional Shamblers, and Nightgaunts.

What you need to do is head towards Miskatonic University, or some other place where you could gain access to the Cthulhu Mythos and/or people who understand it. If this is the 20's, find Dr. Armitage. He knows the spell, because its what he used to dismiss the Son of Yog-Sothoth in The Dunwich Horror. He can either teach it to you, or go back with you to help dismiss it.

Seriously, if you Summon Cthulhu, it'll be far worse than just letting the Dhole rampage about the coastline. HE EATS 1D3 INVESTIGATORS PER TURN, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!!! :smalleek:

Arachu
2009-04-14, 03:30 PM
Well, there's always the old tried-and-true method of digging an implausibly large/deep pit and placing spikes in it. Better use a giant mousetrap-like spike mechanism, for good measure :smallwink:

Nothing says 'get the **** away from my hometown' like a giant mousetrap-jaw :smallcool:

Tsotha-lanti
2009-04-14, 03:37 PM
Our only plan that is sure to work, is to summon Cthulhu.

What kind of drugs are you taking? "Mr. President, terrorists are threatening to detonate a bomb in a bank in New York!" "Nuke them! Ten times!"

You get a Dismiss Dhole spell, obviously. You'll probably need a pretty big dimensional gate to get it back to... er, did they come from Jupiter or the Dreamworld? I forget. Either way, a pretty big gate to admit a miles-long worm.

Telonius
2009-04-14, 03:40 PM
Any chance of summoning a very large bird?

Other than that, I'm out of ideas. :smalleek:

Revlid
2009-04-14, 03:55 PM
Any chance of summoning a very large bird?

Other than that, I'm out of ideas. :smalleek:

And then what, summon a gigantic cat?

(I know I'm setting myself up for a lolcat here)

Lycan 01
2009-04-14, 03:57 PM
Or try the spell "Summon Fish"... :smallconfused:


Edit: (Thats a real spell in d100 CoC, btw...)

Callos_DeTerran
2009-04-14, 04:05 PM
Or try the spell "Summon Fish"... :smallconfused:


Edit: (Thats a real spell in d100 CoC, btw...)

Genius! The Fish will eat the Worm after it is summoned on land and then die because of no water! :smallbiggrin:

Alternatively, call the DPPDC. But then you'll have bigger problems on your hands.

Telonius
2009-04-14, 04:06 PM
And then what, summon a gigantic cat?

(I know I'm setting myself up for a lolcat here)

Exactly! Then a dog, then a pig, a cow, a horse, and finally an old lady. I'm not 100% certain it'll work without a spider and fly, though.

chiasaur11
2009-04-14, 04:16 PM
Use fire.

If that fails, use more fire.

Arachu
2009-04-14, 04:33 PM
Use fire.

If that fails, use more fire.

Alternatively, gather up ten corpses and a ****load of wizards, and stuff the corpses with Delayed Blast Fireballs.

EDIT: Okay, gather up depth charges in something it'll eat, then detonate them amongst the fluid-laden muscles. Rinse, and repeat :smalltongue:

Tsotha-lanti
2009-04-14, 04:35 PM
Or try the spell "Summon Fish"... :smallconfused:


Edit: (Thats a real spell in d100 CoC, btw...)

Of course it is - it's one of the handful of spells in the novels. (Shadow Over Innsmouth).


Alternatively, gather up ten corpses and a ****load of wizards, and stuff the corpses with Delayed Blast Fireballs.

D20 CoC is not D&D.

hamishspence
2009-04-14, 04:46 PM
Except on the rare occasions when it is.

(D&D game, CoC D20 monsters carefully dropped in- with appropiate 3.5 chnages to stats)

the CoC d20 gods actually have statblocks more like D&D ones than anything else in the book.

One of the options, anyway.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-04-14, 05:09 PM
the CoC d20 gods actually have statblocks more like D&D ones than anything else in the book.

They are D&D (3.0, I think) statblocks, 100%. Not d20 CoC stat blocks. They're in the "using this book with D&D" section toward the end.

mr.fizzypop
2009-04-14, 05:44 PM
There's a spell to dismiss those things! I don't remember what its called, but its in the Grimiour or whatever the spellbook in the rulebook is called!

Well we have the spell dismissal, but the worm has so high of a will save, it'd have to roll a 1 for it to work.

Oh yah, I forgot to mention, we're playing in the 1950's so we can't nuke it from orbit or whatever. Anyway we've eliminated the summoning cthulhu idea. But now some other guys in the group wants to summon Hastur.

Tsotha-lanti
2009-04-14, 05:51 PM
The Keeper should probably just let them, if they're that stupid.

"You summon the King in Yellow. You all die in horrible agony and the world ends. Great job, guys. Let's play another game, you idiots."

Also, your Keeper probably is doing a bad job at Keeping if the players think for a moment summoning any Great Old One or Elder God is ever a good idea (or they're all just using OOC knowledge IC, i.e. are bad players).

Lycan 01
2009-04-14, 09:45 PM
Well we have the spell dismissal, but the worm has so high of a will save, it'd have to roll a 1 for it to work.

Oh yah, I forgot to mention, we're playing in the 1950's so we can't nuke it from orbit or whatever. Anyway we've eliminated the summoning cthulhu idea. But now some other guys in the group wants to summon Hastur.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?!? :smalleek:


Uuuurgh... *whips out CoC rulebook. Skims over Dhole section. Checks stats. Puts down book. Facepalms.* So... Who orchestrated the summoning of a Dhole in the first place? Because that person needs to be SHOT.

Who knows, maybe you can argue to the DM that their death severs the spell. :smallbiggrin:


No but seriously, unless you can get the military involved, you won't have any ordinance capable of penetrating its armor, let alone the manpower to keep it at bay. An airstrike or two might work... Or since you're on the coast, get the navy involved. Oh, and they hate light... but it doesn't hurt them, so thats not really of much use.

Looks, if you have to summon somebody, summon Nyarlathotep. He's evil, but he can be bargained with. At best, he'll get rid of the Dhole in exchange for the sanity of one of the Investigators. At worst, he'll kill you all for interupting whatever he was in the middle of. But that possibility is the ONLY possibility you'll have with all the other things you guys seem to intent on calling upon.

Seriously... first Cthulhu, then Hastur? Why not try Yog-Sothoth while you're at it?

Actually, he's quite reasonable depending on the circumstances... *scratches chin* He deals in knowledge and learning, and asking him how to defeat a Dhole may peak his interest, or at least buy you a few moments of not-instant-death... :smallconfused:


So yeah, Yog-Sothoth and Nyarlathotep are your best bets if you want Outer God/Great Old Ones help. Just be sure you ask Yoggy for knowledge on how to kill/banish the Dhole, or you offer Nyarlathotep something (preferably a soul or sanity) in exchange for help.

If you want mortal means of victory, the army/navy/air force is your only option...




PS: Running is always an option. :smalleek:

DarknessLord
2009-04-15, 12:44 AM
Or try the spell "Summon Fish"... :smallconfused:


Edit: (Thats a real spell in d100 CoC, btw...)

Then you can fix that by casting summon bigger fish (http://darthsanddroids.net/episodes/0033.html)!

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-15, 01:05 AM
WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE!?!? :smalleek:


:biggrin:

I hope you weren't drinking anything when you started reading this thread.

Yeah, I can't say I've ever been in a game where "summon Cthulhu" was ever the plan. Not even Plan Z, which involves finding the 8 Dragonballs and wishing away the problem :smalltongue:

I am in a game where a Deck of Many Things was occasionally brought up as a potentially viable plan :smallamused:

EDIT:
Oh hey, another plan! How about you scuttle two battleships directly into the open mouth of the Worm, and then remotely detonate their magazines once they're inside?

What? It worked on Gaghiel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_(Neon_Genesis_Evangelion)#Gaghiel) :smalltongue:

Lycan 01
2009-04-15, 01:17 AM
1) I don't drink. :smalltongue:

2) My random outbursts would be, word-for-word, my exact same reaction to my players suggesting the same ideas. Its just madness... Their actions, I mean. Not my reactions.

3) I thought there were 7 Dragonballs? Or was it 9? :smallconfused:

4) Hah hah, Evangelion reference... I loved the first few episodes, including that one. Not so much the rest of the series...

NPCMook
2009-04-15, 01:23 AM
What about summoning Quanchil Uttaus? he touches it, it dies, he leaves, everyone is happy... except the people who witness the event.

I mean seriously if you are going to resort to summoning an Old One, wouldn't he be the best one to summon?

Lycan 01
2009-04-15, 01:30 AM
...

You know what, he has a point...


Wait. That's the guy who's a shrivelled corpse and turns you to dust on contact, right? Well, IIRC, he can't move away from the spot he was summoned to, and he has to touch the target to destroy them. And Dholes are pretty big things that move pretty fast...

Basically, it'll be nigh-impossible to get him and the Dhole to come in contact before the spell runs out. I seem to recall it being on a time limit...


Wait...


Unless you performed the ritual inside of it. The Dhole can swallow you whole, and you stay alive inside of it until you suffocate or escape. Well, go ahead and prepare most of the spell, and then finish it right when the Dhole eats you. The Great Old One will pop up inside the Dhole, and BOOM! You just caused a coastal Dust Bowl... Granted, you'll probably also make up a small portion of that fine silt now polluting the air, but hey! You saved the day... :smallbiggrin:

Or the spell fails and you have to slowly suffocate inside of an acid-filled mouth while your friends try not to get insta-squished by a rampaging worm... :smalleek:

You know what, lets try to be optimistic on this one...

NPCMook
2009-04-15, 01:34 AM
...

You know what, he has a point...


Wait. That's the guy who's a shrivelled corpse and turns you to dust on contact, right? Well, IIRC, he can't move away from the spot he was summoned to, and he has to touch the target to destroy them. And Dholes are pretty big things that move pretty fast...

Basically, it'll be nigh-impossible to get him and the Dhole to come in contact before the spell runs out. I seem to recall it being on a time limit...


Wait...


Unless you performed the ritual inside of it. The Dhole can swallow you whole, and you stay alive inside of it until you suffocate or escape. Well, go ahead and prepare most of the spell, and then finish it right when the Dhole eats you. The Great Old One will pop up inside the Dhole, and BOOM! You just caused a coastal Dust Bowl... Granted, you'll probably also make up a small portion of that fine silt now polluting the air, but hey! You saved the day... :smallbiggrin:

Or the spell fails and you have to slowly suffocate inside of an acid-filled mouth while your friends try not to get insta-squished by a rampaging worm... :smalleek:

You know what, lets try to be optimistic on this one...

No a light is cast upon the target and he descends upon them swiftly the target can not escape the fate that has been bestowed upon them, he is in fact immobile, but he will get you

Lycan 01
2009-04-15, 01:43 AM
Ah...


Yeah, go with that guy. :smallbiggrin:


And how on earth are you guys getting all these "Summon X" spells, anyway? Its taken my players months (real life) to get even a few minor spells, like Heal and Summon Shark. Although, one of them does know Summon/Bind Dimensional Shambler, which is always a hoot for them to use...

NPCMook
2009-04-15, 01:51 AM
Ah...


Yeah, go with that guy. :smallbiggrin:


And how on earth are you guys getting all these "Summon X" spells, anyway? Its taken my players months (real life) to get even a few minor spells, like Heal and Summon Shark. Although, one of them does know Summon/Bind Dimensional Shambler, which is always a hoot for them to use...

Well if the guy who actually plays CoC agrees with my idea, I think you know what to do... Post results :smallbiggrin:

Oracle_Hunter
2009-04-15, 02:10 AM
1) I don't drink. :smalltongue:

Oh, I was talking more about a Spit Take (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpitTake) situation. It's bad for the keyboard :smallamused:

BobVosh
2009-04-15, 03:34 AM
[b]PS: Running is always an the best option. :smalleek:

Fixed it for ya.

I vote lure it/just RLH.

Thrud
2009-04-15, 04:09 AM
1, Yep, gotta agree with running away. The sign of an experienced CoC player is that he is the one who is the best at running away, and also has the lowest Spot in the party. (But not listen. Hearing something bad first lets you run away from it quickly, and may cost you a little sanity. Seeing something bad costs you lots and lots of sanity.)

2, I second whoever said that at no point should summoning Cthulhu ever be considered a good idea, or any other Great Old One, Elder God, or anything similar for that matter. Including Dholes. Oh, and anything else in the game that is preceded by the word "Summon. . ."

3, You could run away.

4, Even though this is set in the 50's that doesn't mean nuking it isn't an option. It is just nuking it FROM ORBIT that isn't an option. You could nuke it from a plane instead. You know, the original deployment method, and only deployment method that has actually been used during wartime.

5, Have you considered running away?

Seriously, this is now totally out of the players hands, and in the hands of the army. They are the ones who are going to have to deal with it, and they will have to call in serious ordinance, up to and including a Nuke.

And that is good, because it lets you get down to some serious running away.

:smallbiggrin:

Coidzor
2009-04-15, 05:19 AM
...Where is this set and how big of a city did it destroy? :smallconfused: And how have you not seen the huge military buzz that's sure to descend upon such a thing if it happened in any industrial nation?

If this is the 1950s then this is pretty much guaranteed to be an international incident, with both sides accusing the other of creating this monstrosity.

Starshade
2009-04-15, 12:22 PM
How did you guys end up summoning a giantic monster as a Dhole? Instead of something even bigger, bader, mader and more dangerous like Hastur or Cthulhu, um, find some good spells who do the job, as ppl has suggested? :smallwink:

DeathBD
2009-04-15, 02:43 PM
The whole "Hey, guys! Let's summon X!" ideas are just reminding me of "You get a cat to eat the mouse, a dog to kill the cat, a snake to kill the dog, a raptor to kill the snake..." thing. Yes, I said raptor. :smallbiggrin:

I think this question REQUIRES backstory. Immediately.

Oh, and Lycan. You can bet that "Plan Z" is now in my repertoire of game-destroying plans. Seriously, why has that never occurred to me? I need to start a list of plans A-ZZZ. :smallwink:

Comet
2009-04-15, 02:57 PM
Summoning Cthulhu to counter some relatively mild worm demon sounds excactly like something a bunch of investigators with powerful grimoires but no knowledge of the mythos would do.
"Hey guys, I found this ritual we could do to summon some god to banish the giant city-eating worm!"
"Cool, let's do it! We can negotiate with this god and save the planet!"
"A'rite. Gather round, heroic friends. HASTUR COME FORTH!"

I think the best way to defeat this worm would be to let it eat you whole, then proceed to have surreal adventures inside it's stomach. After hours and hours of this mad living dungeon, you will find it's only weak spot, destroy it and get vomited out in a blaze of glory. And then you'll be big goddamned heroes.

Or you could change continents and hope the worm is afraid of water.

Kurald Galain
2009-04-15, 03:54 PM
Speaking of which...

What makes you think the PCs are capable of summoning Ctulhu in the first place? Honestly, if it was that easy to call him to Earth, then all of those cultists would have had a much easier time.

Nahal
2009-04-15, 04:54 PM
Because one of the key components of the binding placed upon Cthulhu is that it's impossible to summon him if you a) have the slightest inkling as to what he/she/it truly is, and b) have the slightest clue what you're doing. He can only be revived by a bunch of complete idiots blindly stumbling onto the ritual and reading the spell aloud for funsies. Preferably while drunk. What the cultists haven't realized is that all they need to do to revive their god is literally send the grimoire to a frat house with a bottle of tequila that has "drink me" written on it in black permanent marker.

Xuincherguixe
2009-04-15, 06:10 PM
Not too familiar with Dhole's unfortunately. If fire is one of the things that can kill them, drop napalm on it. Alternatively, toss a big chunk of thermite (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermite) into it's mouth. Ideally in such a way as to spread it all throughout it's digestive system so it burns right through it.


The trick to getting the military involved, is to explain how the communists unleashed some kind of new super weapon they had developed. That being a giant worm. Remember, don't say anything TOO crazy, or they'll through in the loony bin. Giant Communist Worm? Not so crazy sounding. An impersonal universe without a god, in which humanity is utterly meaningless, with all kinds of monsters? Electroshock therapy for you!

How about making powerlines fall on it?

Collapse a building?

Less effective than thermite, but cover a cow in dynamite, and let it eat that?

Nerve Gas, or large quantities of some kind of sufficiently nasty poison.


Drop a REALLY big, sharp metal thing on it. In fact, make it several. Especially if it will immobilize the thing.

Give it self awareness, such that it understands that even though it's a giant worm, ultimately it's insignificant in a vast universe, full of horrors beyond it's own comprehension. It would then kill itself.


...You could also just run and hope that the army or the CIA gets called in.

mr.fizzypop
2009-04-15, 06:59 PM
I think this question REQUIRES backstory. Immediately.

Well pretty much we were investigating attacks on a small coastal village(oddly named "Innsmouth"). We traced the problem back to a church and summoned a Dhole because we accidently activated a strange artifact. We fled the town, leaving it in ruin. So we are currently a few towns away and the army is try in vain to stop it(however they have not resorted to tanks or air strikes yet).

@Xuincherguixe: I like your "blame the communists idea"...it just might work...

Dixieboy
2009-04-15, 07:04 PM
YOU'RE GONNA SUMMON CTHULHU TO KILL A FREAKING DHOLE?! ARE YOU MAD, MAN?! :smalleek:

Well he would kill the Dhole >>

Talic
2009-04-15, 07:12 PM
Let's see. I can see how this started...

"Sir, there's a demonic housecat in here... We could take a swat team, and kill it. We'd likely lose one or two people, but..."

"No no, I'll just summon a Dhole."

"Um, WHAT?"

Later...

"Sir, what are we going to do about the Dhole? It doesn't want to go home."

"I can summon Chtlulu?"

Graymayre
2009-04-15, 07:26 PM
Hm... do elder creatures of pure madness like the Dhole have a catalogue-able physiologly? I only know a scant smattering of anything Cthulhu, but that's may be a road you can lead the DM down to try and find a solution that the investigators themselves can do to destroy the Dhole.

In fact, all you have to do is say "investigation" in front of your GM and he'll/she'll cook up some kind of most excellent adventure to destroy the thing.

Alternatively: Get the biggest bucket of salt you can find and...

hamishspence
2009-04-16, 01:40 PM
Cthulhu isn't on the list of deities than can be Called with the Call Deity spell.

On the other hand, Azathoth is. And "is never alone. Even if called or summoned, he manifests with 1 flautist and 1d4 other gods described in this book"

Perhaps.... not a good idea. To say the least.

RebelRogue
2009-04-16, 02:08 PM
Not too familiar with Dhole's unfortunately.
...and your suggestions reflect this fact :smallwink:

Xuincherguixe
2009-04-16, 04:45 PM
...and your suggestions reflect this fact :smallwink:

Of course, I have the suggestion to trump all others now.

Lead it into Innsmouth.