Adding Mythos books to D&D

[JoeGKushner]

So has anyone added any Mythos style books to D&D with any luck? Our current GM has added a few and it turned out interesting.

I wouldn't mind making a few notes on 'em. One of the things I liked about Wilderlands is that in one of the EN World Journals (when it was done by Goodman), is that it had some rules for old arcane books that pretty much fit the style of the mythos.

Part of my current interest is that I'm reading Nameless Cults, a Chaosium collection by Robert E. Howard, of most of his mythos works. Nameless Cults is also the name of one of the mythos books that several of the characters have run across or heard of.

Others would include the good old Necronomicon of course.

So what books of horror have you unleashed on the game?

 

[Gomez]

That gave me a really nasty thought. If you have a bard in your group have him find The King in Yellow. Just wait for him to perform the epic story at his next stop at a local tavern and sit back and watch the fireworks.

 

[Henry]

My players might definitely balk at finding the Necronomicon, but they are not sufficient Lovecraft fanatics to recognize a book named "The Book of Eibon", or, say, "The G'harne Fragments"...

 

[Starglim]

That gave me a really nasty thought. If you have a bard in your group have him find The King in Yellow. Just wait for him to perform the epic story at his next stop at a local tavern and sit back and watch the fireworks.

Or the Requiem par Shuggay. Maybe a bard would appreciate a Perform check to cast maximised, acid-laced meteor swarms.

 

[Vraille Darkfang]

While I DID add the King in Yellow book to my game the PC's never found. They did a WHOOOLLLLEEE lot better. Skipped the book went to the main guy himself.

The party's wizard (having finally divested him self of the Vile, Evil, Sentient Robe of the First Lich, was in desperate need of something to take over his body. (The running joke was he had a mystical aura of "This space for Rent" to all evil things capable of possession).

Thus, when the party started investigating mass murders committed by a tribe of orcs who all had a mysterious yellow symbol composed of 3 swirls in a pyramid, that need was answered. After seeing all the violence, mutilation and human sacrifice, they quickly realized these orcs of the "Yellow Sign" were excessively violent even by orcish standards.

The party tracked them down to their lair, stopped a human sacrifice by killing the high priest (who was wearing a golden robe that had a powerful enchantment about it), then ran like hell as all the other orcs were spontaneously killed and pushed together into a giant undead, golem titan bent on their destruction.

Wizard (in his greed) teleports back to the sacrificial altar, grabs the Yellow Robe of the corpse and puts it on.

Voice of Immense Power and Menace: "Frail, insignificant mortal, will you worship me & spread my will throughout the world?"

Wizard: "Can you give me knowledge and power?"

Voice: "Enough to conquer the world and all the planes of existence!"

Wizard: "I'm your Bi***!" (Paraphrased, yet accurate)

Voice: "Welcome my minion, new High Priest of Hastur."

Bard PC's Player: "HASTUR????!!!! NNOOOOOOOOO!!!!".

Only 1 Player realized who Hastur is, but the rest caught on pretty quick. Hastur not nice man.

So, they never found the book, just the main man himself.

PS. After going to a magic dead world, so the mage could fake his own death and escape from Hastur's grasp with his immortal soul intact....

First Spell he casts: Contact Other Plane. "Hey any gods out there got some info I need!"

Response: "Hey I thought you were dead. NO ONE FOOLS HASTUR AND LIVES!!!!! DEATH TO ALLLLLLLLLL!"

DM gets to look up MM Outsider CRS from highest on down.

Later,

 

[JoeGKushner]

The Mythos can certainly add some fun.

I may have to pick up one of the Chaosium Cthulhu Encylopedias just so I have a better grasp of all the various book titles out there.

 

[Narfellus]

There's supposed to be a real good Cthulhu Encyclopedia for the mythos out now. You can check on some reviews on amazon probably.

 

[Darkness]

My players might definitely balk at finding the Necronomicon, but they are not sufficient Lovecraft fanatics to recognize a book named "The Book of Eibon", or, say, "The G'harne Fragments"...

Unfortunately, one of my players is a walking Mythos encyclopaedia.

Good thing that I'm not half bad at drawing on other sources or just making stuff up.

 

[JoeGKushner]

There's supposed to be a real good Cthulhu Encyclopedia for the mythos out now. You can check on some reviews on amazon probably.

That's a good idea. I know that Chaosium has 'em but there may be others.

 

[DMH]

Darkness and Dread (FFG) has sections on research, madness and creating Great Old Ones.

I have seen dimensional shamblers used to great effect on a D&D party- they all learned where the shamblers go