Dungeons and Tentacles

[Jürgen Hubert]

Building a DnD Campaign from the Ground Up using Lovecraft as the primary influence:
It can't be DnD. At least not as we think of it.

I sense a challenge...

First issue: Magic and magic using classes.

You can still use them as written. The "magic" featured in the classical Lovecraft stories was often insufficiently understood technology which the limited intellect of humanity was incapable of truly understanding. Within the framework of D&D, the "standard" magic would be the equivalent of the "safe" human technology of the 1920s Mythos setting. Yes, it is capable of astonishing feats, but the true magic available to the forces of the Mythos is more powerful still, and human can only learn some basics of those - and only with a horrifying cost to sanity.

Second issue: Gods.

"What Gods?"

Divine magic might result from certain philosophical concepts that sprang from the human mind, or come from gods that are either weak (like the Dreamlands Great Ones) or imaginary. Ultimately, it might just be another subset of magic, and the clerics who use it are only deluding themselves.

The Lovecraftian gods don't want your worship any more than you want the worship of ants. There are a few possibly exceptions to that, and they may be responcible for what passes as a DnD pantheon, all of why would just be masks for a single unknowable entity who is manipulating humanity for its own ends.

Blaming Nyarlathotep for everying is boring.

Third Issue: Tone. A Lovecraft game isn't heroic. Humanity is doomed, and PCs are doomed a little more quickly than others.

Even that can be done with D&D. Even 18th level characters are like specks of dust when compared to Great Cthulhu.

And even if the PCs are near-invulnerable to "lesser horrors", you can still tell stories of Lovecraftian horror with them - but with the difference that the PCs aren't the victims, but those around them are. If they fail to stop the final, large outbreak from occurring, then they might be able to defend themselves from the individual members of the Nameless Hordes - but can they also defend the thousands of innocents in their paths?

How "heroic" will they feel when the lands they grew up in and cherished is swept away under a dark tide, and all they can do is protect some tiny enclaves whose survival is in doubt?

(Though of course, in one sense Lovecraftian protagonists can be the most heroic people of all - they are going against impossible odds with nothing but their wits and wholly inadequate weapons even though they know that ultimately their cause is probably doomed...)

Having said all of that, however, I am all in favor of using Lovecraft as ONE influence among many. In such a case I would have the normal DnD universe invaded, or infected, by a lovecraftian God of Aberrations.

For a truly Lovecraftian universe, this is the wrong approach - for it is the humans who represent the aberrations...

 

[dcollins]

You should also consider picking up Cthulhu d20 for stats of official Lovecraft monsters & gods.

 

[hexgrid]

You should also consider picking up Cthulhu d20 for stats of official Lovecraft monsters & gods.

Not only that, the book specifically discusses the topic of Lovecraft influenced D&D.

 

[Dragon-Slayer]

Another suggestion is to step away from Lovecraft and step up to the Mythos. Many authors have written outstanding Mythos work that is much better than Lovecraft for incorporating into a game of DnD. Robert E. Howard, to name just one, combined heroics and horror in his Mythos work, both fantasy (references to Mythos deities and creatures abound in his Conan works) and in his pulp stories set in the early 20th century.

 

[Imruphel]

Let's also assume that the cosmology is to be recreated from the ground up. How would you go about it?

I think Law would be in the ascendancy but on the verge of collapse. Some of the Lawful deities no longer have any power and instead chaotic entities from the Far Realms provide the necessary power to the clerics that, over time, become more and more corrupted.

What would the political landscape on such a world be like?

Think of Singapore: everyone believes that it is such a lawful and well-run country not knowing that beneath the surface lies a system that is both inherently corrupt and that facilitates smuggling, drug-trafficking, money laundering, people trafficking etc... across the region.

Would the ancient gods be worshipped, or would they be hidden?

I think Pholtus from Greyhawk and his church would be an interesting inspiration for the religious life of such a campaign. Think LN but with strong evil overtones but also LG orders that have no idea of what is really happening.

What would the heroes do in this setting?

Discover the truth... and try to stay sane.

 

[Stormborn]

OK, I realize I was the one who said that a real Lovecraftian campaign could not be done as straight DnD, however I do like the concept and have some further thoughts:

Adventure for a Low Level party: Party arrives in a fishing village with a secret and are asked to help by a local cleric of standard good god who is concerened with the rash of missing persons. A sahuagin colony is nearby that has a problem of its own, low to zero birth rate. They have prayed to their god, Dagon, and recieved an answer. A spell that can transform humanoids into sahuagin. Led by a high priest of Dagon - The Bringer of the Blessing - they are stealing people away from villages up and down the coast.

 

[Voadam]

Political landscapes, lots of isolated towns. Places where things can grow in the dark. Sprinkle in centers of learning where dark old books are kept under lock and key and occasionally raided.

I ran my Ravenloft game as a mix of Cthulhu flavor in D&D game. Lots of dark tomes, scary things half defined, plenty of investigations, only the heroes charged after (some of) the horrors and dispatched them instead of turning into gibbering insane asylum inmates who are torn apart by things man was not meant to know.

 

[painandgreed]

D&D using Lovecraft. First, I'd use my d20 Call of Cthulhu before Lords of Madness but might use that later. To really get the Lovecraftian D&D, you'll have to intertwine D&D with the Lovecraft or you'll just be playing Call of Cthulhu using D&D rules.

It would begin by hunting down some evil cultists which would lead to deep ones. Beign low level will prevent them from following the trail of the deep ones into the sea and search out other clues. These other clues would most likely result in investigating tombs and tunnels that exist under cemetaries as existed in Lovecraft stories which would result in fighting undead. These clues would hint at deeper threat and corruption. Feed the party some more evil priests and humanoids that follow the elder gods. From there things would lead to ancient cities in the jungle or deep in the underdark. IMC, these would be mostly the older reptilian races which do worhsip the elder gods such as Yaun-Ti, Kobolds, Sahaugan, and Kua-Toa. Probably throw in some more evil priests back in normal civilization that they'd have to take on. Eventually it would lead to a expedition to some far off mountains to investigate ruins which would involve Mi-Go, the Elder Race and Mind Flayers. Perhaps forcing them into an alliance with one of the races in order to fight the other (most likely against the mindflayers). They'd have to stop some rituals and end up seeing the awakening of some creature like a Shoggoth far above their CR. At that point, if they've learned, they should run. If they haven't learned that there are things that they cannot handle in this pantheon, then they deserve a TPK. Perhaps later they can get more powerful and track it down and kill or dispell the creature.

 

[victorysaber]

Think of Singapore: everyone believes that it is such a lawful and well-run country not knowing that beneath the surface lies a system that is both inherently corrupt and that facilitates smuggling, drug-trafficking, money laundering, people trafficking etc... across the region.

Eh Singapore facilitates drug-trafficking, money laundering, people trafficking, and smuggling? How come so many people still get arrested?

LKY is watching... haha.

 

[Imruphel]

Eh Singapore facilitates drug-trafficking, money laundering, people trafficking, and smuggling? How come so many people still get arrested?

LKY is watching... haha.

Only the small fish get arrested (and hanged). The big fish continue to "play play".

Anyway, the point of my post was not to sledge Singapore but to give a real life example of a place that is perceived as being incredibly lawful and yet is not once you get to know what really happens.