H.P. Lovecraft, the giant of horror fiction who created the Cthulhu mythos, scared his readers in all kinds of ways, filling his works with nightmarish elder gods and a sense of humanity's insignificance in the cosmos. But many of his works relied on the same handful of universally frightening themes, and studying those themes can pay off for RPG adventure designers and game masters alike. In particular, Lovecraft's treatment of corruption as an unstoppable force that rots away the body, mind and the entire world presents adventure designers with a versatile means of getting under a player's skin.
Fear provokes such visceral reaction in humans that it's no wonder many of the most celebrated role-playing adventures lean on horror elements. Tomb of Horrors and Ravenloft spring immediately to mind. But when it comes to Lovecraftian role playing, Call of Cthulhu is the place to start. The venerable game, currently in its seventh edition, builds on Lovecraft's mythos and plunges characters, called investigators, into mind-bending cosmic plots involving evil deities, extra-planar monsters and murderous cults. The 7th edition Keepers Rulebook contains a fabulous section of advice on weaving Lovecraftian themes into role-playing games, and its exploration of corruption as a universal force that degrades all that is good, pure or familiar is useful reading for any adventure designer.
The Keepers Rulebook describes it this way: "Many of Lovecraft's stories carry a sense of decay in their surroundings and settings, as well as in the mental and physical decay of the protagonists. The slow, but inevitable creep of corruption can be a useful backdrop to a scenario to inspire a theme of foreboding and dread."
This sort of corruption presents such a universal source of fear that game masters can use it to great effect in virtually any setting or system they choose. If you want to set your players on edge, present them with a sign of corruption in their surroundings. For example, maybe a familiar city or village suddenly experiences the outbreak of a plague. Or maybe the plants and the animals of a wondrous enchanted forest are turning up dead in surprising numbers. Such corruption of the game world helps game masters plant the seeds of terror in their adventures, but getting those seeds to blossom into something truly horrific may require allowing corruption to spread directly into the bodies and minds of the player characters.
Call of Cthulhu reinforces this sense of corruption with a mechanic related to madness. Direct experience with horrific events corrupts the minds of investigators and depletes their sanity, increasing the odds they'll sustain some sort of madness-related effect in the game. The 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide contains optional rules for sanity as well.
Corruption can originate from a range of sources: a political leader handed limitless authority, cursed and evil magic or simply the passage of time. Perhaps the most frightening use of corruption arises from players having to confront the inevitability of death. "Everything good crumbles away and is replaced with a mocking, choking darkness," according to the Keepers Rulebook.
So maybe Cthulhu or Nyarlathotep don't fit in the game you're running, but Lovecraft can still inform the adventures you design for your players through his use of universal themes such as corruption. A touch of corruption instantly creates a more tense and immersive atmosphere for players. But game masters should take care to introduce these Lovecraftian themes sparingly, lest they drive their players into stark-raving madness.
contributed by Fred Love
Fear provokes such visceral reaction in humans that it's no wonder many of the most celebrated role-playing adventures lean on horror elements. Tomb of Horrors and Ravenloft spring immediately to mind. But when it comes to Lovecraftian role playing, Call of Cthulhu is the place to start. The venerable game, currently in its seventh edition, builds on Lovecraft's mythos and plunges characters, called investigators, into mind-bending cosmic plots involving evil deities, extra-planar monsters and murderous cults. The 7th edition Keepers Rulebook contains a fabulous section of advice on weaving Lovecraftian themes into role-playing games, and its exploration of corruption as a universal force that degrades all that is good, pure or familiar is useful reading for any adventure designer.
The Keepers Rulebook describes it this way: "Many of Lovecraft's stories carry a sense of decay in their surroundings and settings, as well as in the mental and physical decay of the protagonists. The slow, but inevitable creep of corruption can be a useful backdrop to a scenario to inspire a theme of foreboding and dread."
This sort of corruption presents such a universal source of fear that game masters can use it to great effect in virtually any setting or system they choose. If you want to set your players on edge, present them with a sign of corruption in their surroundings. For example, maybe a familiar city or village suddenly experiences the outbreak of a plague. Or maybe the plants and the animals of a wondrous enchanted forest are turning up dead in surprising numbers. Such corruption of the game world helps game masters plant the seeds of terror in their adventures, but getting those seeds to blossom into something truly horrific may require allowing corruption to spread directly into the bodies and minds of the player characters.
Call of Cthulhu reinforces this sense of corruption with a mechanic related to madness. Direct experience with horrific events corrupts the minds of investigators and depletes their sanity, increasing the odds they'll sustain some sort of madness-related effect in the game. The 5th Edition Dungeon Master's Guide contains optional rules for sanity as well.
Corruption can originate from a range of sources: a political leader handed limitless authority, cursed and evil magic or simply the passage of time. Perhaps the most frightening use of corruption arises from players having to confront the inevitability of death. "Everything good crumbles away and is replaced with a mocking, choking darkness," according to the Keepers Rulebook.
So maybe Cthulhu or Nyarlathotep don't fit in the game you're running, but Lovecraft can still inform the adventures you design for your players through his use of universal themes such as corruption. A touch of corruption instantly creates a more tense and immersive atmosphere for players. But game masters should take care to introduce these Lovecraftian themes sparingly, lest they drive their players into stark-raving madness.
contributed by Fred Love