Call of Cthulhu and D&D

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've bought CoC d20 yesterday, and I must say that I'm quite impressed by the various game mastering advice chapters - these provide a really good overview for the Cthulhu Mythos and plenty of hints how to put the Mythos into adventures.

However, the short page on incorporating the Cthulhu Mythos into D&D really caught my eye. It suggests using the Mythos as the "true reality" behind a "normal" fantasy world - all true clerics would essentially be worshippers of the Great Old Ones, and the only good-aligned PC healers would be druids and rangers. All "human" gods would either be figments of the human imagination, or weak entities that are incapable of protecting their followers from alien forces. And meanwhile, Cthulhu lies dreaming beneath the oceans, Azatoth dances madly at the center of the universe, and Nyarlathotep sows chaos and destruction to prepare humanity and the other goodly races for the inevitable End Times...

Now I want to know: Has anyone ever used this as written? Has anyone used the Cthulhu Mythos as the "ultimate truth" of his fantasy campaign world, instead of just inserting a few Lovecraftian entities as generic bad guys?

 

[S'mon]

It sounds a lot like REH's Hyborean world of Conan the Barbarian. Conan d20 is out soon, I believe. REH used Lovecraft's idea that there are no gods, just bizarre alien entities from the Outer Dark. In this kind of campaign either there are no Cleric-class characters, or their powers are either derived from a Great Old One or from their own strength of faith.

 

[dave_o]

In my homebrew, that's pretty much exactly how it is.

Basically, the known universe is divided into thirteen "planes", which are concentric spheres (like those dolls, that open up to a smaller one inside, to a smaller one inside, etc.). The first sphere is the actual planet of Eldram, the second is the space immediately outside it, and that's where the influence of the Benevolence (a strong, yet incredibly young cosmic entity that recently, on the cosmic scheme, freed Eldram from the Great Old Ones) stops. The third ring is contains Eldram's moon, where the demons Igigi and Nanna live - they believe they are the true evil of the universe.

Then we've got nine layers of just space, and on the thirteenth? Space ends. Guess what lives out <i>there</i>?

There's an organizaton, in Eldram, called the Seekers. Founded long ago by a man who saw a great squid demon (Cthulhu) weakly rising from the ocean, and then quickly get shunted back (thanks, Benevolence!), they are basically the protectors of Eldram - though are just as clueless about the Great Old Ones and everyone else.

 

[Gellion]

'Twas done then as it had been promis'd aforetime, that He was tak'n by Those Whom He Defy'd, and thrust into ye Neth'rmost Deeps und'r ye Sea, and placed within ye barnacl'd Tower that is said to rise amidst ye great ruin that is ye Sunken City (R'lyeh), and seal'd within by ye Elder Sign, and, rag'g at Those who had imprison'd Him, He furth'r incurr'd Their anger, and they, descend'g upon him for ye second time, did impose upon Him ye semblance of Death, but left Him dream'g in that place under ye great waters, and return'd to that place from whence they had come, Namely, Glyu-Vho, which is among ye stars, and looketh upon Earth from ye time when ye leaves fall to that time when ye ploughman becomes habit'd once again to his fields. And there shall He lie dream'g forever, in His House at R'lyeh, toward which at once all His minions swam and strove against all manner of obstacles, and arrang'd themselves to wait for His awaken'g powerless to touch ye Elder Sign and fearful of its great pow'r know'g that ye Cycle returneth, and He shall be freed to embrace ye Earth again and make of it His Kingdom and defy ye Elder Gods anew. And to His brothers it happen'd likewise, that They were tak'n by Those Whom They Defy'd and hurl'd into banishment, Him Who Is Not to Be Nam'd be'g sent into Outermost space, beyond ye Stars and with ye others likewise, until ye Earth was free of Them, and Those Who Came in ye shape of Towers of Fire, return'd whence They had come, and were seen no more, and on all Earth then peace came was unbrok'n while Their minions gather'd and sought means and ways with which to free ye Old Ones, and waited while man came to pry into secret, forbidd'n places and open ye gate.


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Concern'g ye Old Ones, 'tis writ, they wait ev'r at ye Gate, & ye Gate is all places and all times, for They know noth'g of time or place but are in all time & in all place togeth'r without appear'g to be, & there are those amongst Them which can assume divers shapes & Features & any Giv'n Shape & any giv'n Face & ye Gates are for Them ev'rywhere, but ye 1st. was that which I caus'd to be op'd, Namely, in Irem, ye City of Pillars, ye city under ye desert, but wher'r men sett up ye Stones and sayeth thrice ye forbidden Words, they shall cause there a Gate to be establish'd & shall wait upon Them Who Come through ye gate, ev'n as Dholes, & ye Abom. Mi-Go, & ye Tcho-Tcho peop., & ye Deep Ones, & ye Gugs, & ye Gaunts of ye Night & ye Shoggoths, & ye Voormis, & ye Shantaks which guard Kadath in ye Cold Waste & ye Plateau Leng. All are alike ye Children of ye Elder Gods, but ye Great Race of Yith & ye Gt. Old Ones fail'g to agree, one with another, & boath with ye Elder Gods, separat'd, leav'g ye Great Old Ones in possession of ye Earth, while ye Great Race, return'g from Yith took up Their Abode forward in Time in Earth-Land not yet known to those who walk ye Earth today, & there wait till there shall come again ye winds & ye Voices which drove Them forth before & That which Walketh on ye Winds over ye Earth & in ye spaces that are among ye Stars For'r.


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Then shal They return & on this great Return'g shal ye Great Cthulhu be fre'd from R'lyeh beneath ye Sea & Him Who Is Not to Be Nam'd shal come from His City which is Carcosa near ye Lake of Hali, & Shub-Niggurath shal come forth & multiply in his Hideousness, & Nyarlathotep shal carry ye word, to all the Gr. Old Ones & their Minions, & Cthugha shal lay His Hand upon all that oppose Him & Destroy, & ye blind idiot, ye noxious Azathoth shal arise from ye middle of ye World where all is Chaos & Destruction where He hath bubbl'd & blasphem'd at Ye centre which is of All Things, which is to say infinity, & Yog-Sothoth, who is ye All-in-One & One-in-All, shal bring his globes, & Ithaqua shal walk again, & from ye black-litt'n caverns within ye Earth shal come Tsathoggua, & togeth'r shal take possession of Earth and all things that live upon it, & shal prepare to do battle with ye Elder Gods when ye Lord of ye Great Abyss is apprised of their return'g & shal come with His Brothers to disperse ye Evill.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

It sounds a lot like REH's Hyborean world of Conan the Barbarian. Conan d20 is out soon, I believe. REH used Lovecraft's idea that there are no gods, just bizarre alien entities from the Outer Dark. In this kind of campaign either there are no Cleric-class characters, or their powers are either derived from a Great Old One or from their own strength of faith.

Actually, it goes further than that - REH liberally used elements of Lovecraft's stories in his own (with Lovecraft's blessings) - and vice versa.
This site tells of some of the elements he used...
But still, that's not quite D&D (though the Conan stories certainly influenced D&D...) - there are no elves, dwarves, spell slot magics, and so on.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

In my homebrew, that's pretty much exactly how it is.

Basically, the known universe is divided into thirteen "planes", which are concentric spheres (like those dolls, that open up to a smaller one inside, to a smaller one inside, etc.). The first sphere is the actual planet of Eldram, the second is the space immediately outside it, and that's where the influence of the Benevolence (a strong, yet incredibly young cosmic entity that recently, on the cosmic scheme, freed Eldram from the Great Old Ones) stops.

Nice. Though in a true Lovecraftian vein, "Benevolence" should either impotent, or a cosmic evil in its own right.

Perhaps it caught the Great Old Ones slumbering, threw a few wards over them that should barely hold for a millenium or two (if that), and then took credit for "saving the world" (yeah, right...).

Or perhaps it is just another of the Masks of Nyarlathotep playing mind games with humanity...



Fun story: Among those who discuss the Cthulhu Mythos, a popular theory is that the "burning bush" that Moses saw on Mount Sinai was actually a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth. Letting the investigators learn of this theory is a nice way of adding to the "You are soooo screwed" feeling that is so essential to Lovecraftian horror.

And of course, the same thing can be done with other worlds - if some stout Defenders of the Faith (i.e. religious-minded PCs) learn that some angelic or divine manifestation that appeared to one of the religion's prophets or founders was actually a vile alien entity that the ramblings of a madman turned into something beautiful and good in religious doctrine...

...well, if any of you do this to your PCs, tell me about the looks on your players' faces.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

'Twas done then as it had been promis'd aforetime, that He was tak'n by Those Whom He Defy'd, and thrust into ye Neth'rmost Deeps und'r ye Sea, and placed within ye barnacl'd Tower that is said to rise amidst ye great ruin that is ye Sunken City (R'lyeh), and seal'd within by ye Elder Sign...

Now I know why Mythos tomes require language checks to read...

 

[Henry]

Fun story: Among those who discuss the Cthulhu Mythos, a popular theory is that the "burning bush" that Moses saw on Mount Sinai was actually a manifestation of Yog-Sothoth.

Really? I would have thought Nyarlathotep - Yog-sothoth was never much one for talking...

If you really wanna screw with a player, have them catch a reference of him turning into a burning bush in an ancient Vedic or Chinese Manuscript... Watch the SAN fly!

Now I want to know: Has anyone ever used this as written? Has anyone used the Cthulhu Mythos as the "ultimate truth" of his fantasy campaign world, instead of just inserting a few Lovecraftian entities as generic bad guys?

I've thought about it, but I have several players who would do "ye liveliest awefulness" to my PC next time I play in a game if I did this. I have one player (the other regular DM in my group) who HATESHATESHATESHATES call of Cthulhu as a regular game, because it depresses the heck outta him. As a one-shot, he has not problem. As the basis behind a D&D campaign, I could NOT get him to like it.

I wonder if he'd throw a (softback) book at me if I tried it.

 

[Desdichado]

Not exactly that, no. I've incorporated a lot of "Lovecraftian" ideas into my ever evolving homebrew, but right now I'm not running it; I'm gearing up to run Star Wars.

Frankly, I have a problem with Lovecraftian elements; they're not really scary, they're just weird. I use something that comes out a bit more like Warhammer Fantasy Roleplaying Chaos gods rather than Lovecraft Elder Ones, but of course, the resemblances between them are fairly striking to begin with.

 

[Gellion]

Nor is it to be thought, that man is either the oldest or the last of earth's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, They walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They have trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. By Their smell can men sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance can no man know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on mankind; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them. They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons. The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness. They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest or city behold the hand that smites. Kadath in the cold waste hath known Them, and what man knows Kadath? The ice desert of the South and the sunken isles of Ocean hold stones whereon Their seal is engraven, but who hath seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? Great Cthulhu is Their cousin, yet can he spy Them only dimly. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them. Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet. Man rules now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man rules now. After summer is winter, and after winter summer. They wait patient and potent, for here shall They rule again.