JoeGKushner
Adventurer
Over at RPG.net, there was a post talking about using some Call of Cthulhu elements in the RPG. A lot of the responses seemed to want ot make it more like the Call of Cthulhu game as opposed to bringing elements of Call of Cthulhu to D&D. I probably come off a bit of an ass in that thread when the OP comes in latter and says that hes looking for game changing elements.
However, I figure, why not see what En World can do in terms of expanding Cthulhu elements in a standard D&D game. Without weakening the players, without making them insane, without Cthulhu eating 1d6 adventurers per round.
In many ways, Mythos elements have been in almost all editions of D&D.
1st ed: Deities and Demigods.
2nd ed: Works pretty much the same.
3rd ed: Call of Cthulhu d20 + various Pathfinder magazines
4h ed: Critter Cache Vol 6
Some of my thoughts cross posted:
The thing about 4e and Cthulhu, is a lot of it is already incorporated into the core system now.
Starts are evil sentient beings.
Warlorcks have pacts with them.
The Far Realm, introduced in the Gates of Firestorm in late 2nd ed, is part of the core of 4th edition.
Cthulhu, in 4e terms, is just another big bad. Like Orcus. Who can topple the Raven Queen in the adventure series if the players don't stop him.
If you were looking to pull some Cthulhu elements into the campaign, ask yourself why? If you want to add mythos monsters to the campaign, that's another kettle of fish entirely.
In 4e, there are elements that can be tweaked to give more of a cthulhu vibe. The only problem is a lot of that ground is already occupied by the rip off's that TSR/WoTC has been using for decades now; mind flayers, aboleths, etc...
Work on the age of things that involve the mythos. They tend to be older then recorded time. This can include languages. Read Languages may not work on something that's not a language as human brains understand it. This may require specialist to translate material or a rare ritual to shape the user's brain in a way that understands the language.
Dreaming: Depending on the author, Cthulhu has a dream avatar. There's also the whole Dreamlands, a pretty big wild ride with a book per edition from the old Call of Cthuhu game. Lots of text and worth reading.
Work on the inhumaness of it. This is hard to do because the very process of describing something makes it within the realm of the human. Think of things like colors that don't register, a strange taste in the air, a buzzing in the ears. Things should be described in some of the vague terms like being strangely inhuman, too many eyes and tentacles... etc...
Weird cyclopean towers. The angles are all wrong. It doesn't look like it should be able to stand in one piece but it does, sitting there, defying physics like it does.
Cultists: Lots of cultists with lots of different variants. This can be to the big guy or one of the others. Green Ronin yanked a lot of the Yellow Sign for Freeport so the Cults of Freeport Book is really good for that. In addition, EXP has a 4e version of Freeport out now so that might have some more monster stats.
As inhuman as the mythos tends to be, the players will probably come into contact with it through human agencies. They may wish to control it, they may wish to expose others to it, or they could merely wish for the voices in their head to stop telling them to burn the planes. But even as mysterious and otherness of the mythos, there will be points of contact that the players can reference and can understand.
You can describe a lot and showcase how normal people are handling it via the reaction of NPCs as opposed to beating the players over the head and screaming at them that they must fear Cthulhu.
Another thing to consider, is using some of the examples from Elder Evils in terms of what impact the rise of such a creature would have on the setting.
Elder Evils uses various environmental phenomena ranging from the dead rising, to magic acting different.
In Sigil, that might be an occassional portal failure or portal rewire at first as the stars alignment themselves and eventually the portals stop working all together or they only send people to one location.
The GM could also layer this into effects that summon monsters. The caster would feel something like an oily surface between him and the creature he is summoning and get brief flashes of the creatures being summoned being... wrong. At first there may be nothing unusual or perhaps there is something slightly off but the creatures still perform as bidded to do. If the GM is going to screw with the players actual abilities though, the GM should have something in place for the players to overcome these issues or something to compensate the player for lack of those abilities.
Other 'classic' bits are the moldy tomes that have driven previous owners insane. An apperance by the Necronomicon itself might not be a bad thing.
Another old favorite is a University type. In the CoC that's... Miskatonic? (Can never spell the damn thing.) Perhaps the players are initially hired as security for someone from a school of magic who has to do an interview with someone whose been locked up in (another Call of Cthulhu favorite) an insane asylum who keeps talking about being in a round room and how the hounds are coming for him!
A third thing typical of Cthulhu games, is hand outs to help the players in their investigations. This can be news clippings, ads, or other paper artifacts. Perhaps while waiting in a bar one of the players looking at ye old pole of help wanted signs sees something that draws their eye? Perhaps the Daily Sigil has some odd news. Or being Sigil, perhaps a Dabus (is that the name for those weird things that talk in images) starts spewing forth some really strange images?
For miniatures, Rafm has some greats: RAFM Miniatures & Games
Reaper has a few. http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStor...sku-down/65095 for example.
And there's this guys site for inspiration of Cthulhu miniatures.
Google Images
However, I figure, why not see what En World can do in terms of expanding Cthulhu elements in a standard D&D game. Without weakening the players, without making them insane, without Cthulhu eating 1d6 adventurers per round.
In many ways, Mythos elements have been in almost all editions of D&D.
1st ed: Deities and Demigods.
2nd ed: Works pretty much the same.
3rd ed: Call of Cthulhu d20 + various Pathfinder magazines
4h ed: Critter Cache Vol 6
Some of my thoughts cross posted:
The thing about 4e and Cthulhu, is a lot of it is already incorporated into the core system now.
Starts are evil sentient beings.
Warlorcks have pacts with them.
The Far Realm, introduced in the Gates of Firestorm in late 2nd ed, is part of the core of 4th edition.
Cthulhu, in 4e terms, is just another big bad. Like Orcus. Who can topple the Raven Queen in the adventure series if the players don't stop him.
If you were looking to pull some Cthulhu elements into the campaign, ask yourself why? If you want to add mythos monsters to the campaign, that's another kettle of fish entirely.
In 4e, there are elements that can be tweaked to give more of a cthulhu vibe. The only problem is a lot of that ground is already occupied by the rip off's that TSR/WoTC has been using for decades now; mind flayers, aboleths, etc...
Work on the age of things that involve the mythos. They tend to be older then recorded time. This can include languages. Read Languages may not work on something that's not a language as human brains understand it. This may require specialist to translate material or a rare ritual to shape the user's brain in a way that understands the language.
Dreaming: Depending on the author, Cthulhu has a dream avatar. There's also the whole Dreamlands, a pretty big wild ride with a book per edition from the old Call of Cthuhu game. Lots of text and worth reading.
Work on the inhumaness of it. This is hard to do because the very process of describing something makes it within the realm of the human. Think of things like colors that don't register, a strange taste in the air, a buzzing in the ears. Things should be described in some of the vague terms like being strangely inhuman, too many eyes and tentacles... etc...
Weird cyclopean towers. The angles are all wrong. It doesn't look like it should be able to stand in one piece but it does, sitting there, defying physics like it does.
Cultists: Lots of cultists with lots of different variants. This can be to the big guy or one of the others. Green Ronin yanked a lot of the Yellow Sign for Freeport so the Cults of Freeport Book is really good for that. In addition, EXP has a 4e version of Freeport out now so that might have some more monster stats.
As inhuman as the mythos tends to be, the players will probably come into contact with it through human agencies. They may wish to control it, they may wish to expose others to it, or they could merely wish for the voices in their head to stop telling them to burn the planes. But even as mysterious and otherness of the mythos, there will be points of contact that the players can reference and can understand.
You can describe a lot and showcase how normal people are handling it via the reaction of NPCs as opposed to beating the players over the head and screaming at them that they must fear Cthulhu.
Another thing to consider, is using some of the examples from Elder Evils in terms of what impact the rise of such a creature would have on the setting.
Elder Evils uses various environmental phenomena ranging from the dead rising, to magic acting different.
In Sigil, that might be an occassional portal failure or portal rewire at first as the stars alignment themselves and eventually the portals stop working all together or they only send people to one location.
The GM could also layer this into effects that summon monsters. The caster would feel something like an oily surface between him and the creature he is summoning and get brief flashes of the creatures being summoned being... wrong. At first there may be nothing unusual or perhaps there is something slightly off but the creatures still perform as bidded to do. If the GM is going to screw with the players actual abilities though, the GM should have something in place for the players to overcome these issues or something to compensate the player for lack of those abilities.
Other 'classic' bits are the moldy tomes that have driven previous owners insane. An apperance by the Necronomicon itself might not be a bad thing.
Another old favorite is a University type. In the CoC that's... Miskatonic? (Can never spell the damn thing.) Perhaps the players are initially hired as security for someone from a school of magic who has to do an interview with someone whose been locked up in (another Call of Cthulhu favorite) an insane asylum who keeps talking about being in a round room and how the hounds are coming for him!
A third thing typical of Cthulhu games, is hand outs to help the players in their investigations. This can be news clippings, ads, or other paper artifacts. Perhaps while waiting in a bar one of the players looking at ye old pole of help wanted signs sees something that draws their eye? Perhaps the Daily Sigil has some odd news. Or being Sigil, perhaps a Dabus (is that the name for those weird things that talk in images) starts spewing forth some really strange images?
For miniatures, Rafm has some greats: RAFM Miniatures & Games
Reaper has a few. http://www.reapermini.com/OnlineStor...sku-down/65095 for example.
And there's this guys site for inspiration of Cthulhu miniatures.
Google Images
