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Call of Cthulhu as a Horror Game
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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 7543983" data-attributes="member: 4534"><p>Is cosmic horror still frightening to a modern audience? Let us first define cosmic horror. In a nutshell, cosmic horror is about the insignificance of humanity and our powerlessness in the face of a cold indifferent universe. The horror in a Lovecraft story mainly comes from people learning some facet of the true nature of the universe combined with their inability to make any meaningful changes in broad scheme of things. This is a fairly abstract fear and I don’t think it would work on most people in 1932 never mind in 2019. But that doesn’t mean cosmic horror can’t be used effectively. </p><p></p><p>A decent horror story involves a threat to something we hold valuable. Losing a child scares the hell out of most people so we could relate to the Freeling family’s search for Carol Ann in <em>Poltergeist</em>, <em>Get Out</em> deals with bodily autonomy and racism, and Jeff Goldblum’s <em>The Fly</em> touches on the uncontrollable changes that come to our bodies during our lifetime. So for cosmic horror to be effective it’s got to be targeted at something we care about. Let’s take a look at one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, <em>The Shadow Over Innsmouth</em>.</p><p></p><p>Part 1: The narrator in Shadow is an antiquarian doing a little genealogical research and happens upon Innsmouth where an old man named Zadok tells him a lurid tale of the town's history of sex, murder, and the worship of some damned God in the pursuit of material wealth. </p><p></p><p>The narrator finds Zadok's story unnerving but doesn't believe it. When he finds that the bus has broken down and he must remain in Innsmouth overnight he's apprehensive but doesn't feel endangered.</p><p></p><p>Part 2: The deformed citizens of Innsmouth with their wet bulging eyes, pale bloated bellies, and peculiar gaits come for the narrator at night. The narrator escapes and when he gets a really good look at the strange creatures chasing him he passes out. When he awakens he tells the authorities and the US Navy and Marines show up, kick ass, and all seems well. </p><p></p><p>So in this part we have the risk of losing life and limb but more importantly it confirms that Zadok's story is true. There's intelligent life in the sea, they're breeding with humans, and they've killed to keep their secret. Not only that but this life has a good deal of control over what goes on in the ocean. Learning that there's another intelligent species on Earth that's malevolent has got to change your worldview, right? </p><p></p><p>Part 3: Many years after the threat of Innsmouth has abated the narrator comes to a realization. He's related to Obed Marsh and the blood of those fish things runs through his veins. He's turning into one of them and soon he will slip into the sea forever. But first he's got to break his cousin out of the asylum so they can go to sea together. </p><p></p><p>So the horror here is that the narrator really isn't human any more and has come to not only accept his fate but to embrace it. </p><p></p><p>Cosmic horror can be effective but it's got to threaten things the player character cares about. It's got to threaten their families, their sense of identity, their faith in the pillars of society, etc., etc. The cosmic horror comes when the things the players care about are either destroyed or his faith in them are destroyed. </p><p></p><p>Lovecraft had it easy because he had narrative control over his stories. As a GM you don't have it so easy because your players might now allow their characters to feel any genuine fear.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 7543983, member: 4534"] Is cosmic horror still frightening to a modern audience? Let us first define cosmic horror. In a nutshell, cosmic horror is about the insignificance of humanity and our powerlessness in the face of a cold indifferent universe. The horror in a Lovecraft story mainly comes from people learning some facet of the true nature of the universe combined with their inability to make any meaningful changes in broad scheme of things. This is a fairly abstract fear and I don’t think it would work on most people in 1932 never mind in 2019. But that doesn’t mean cosmic horror can’t be used effectively. A decent horror story involves a threat to something we hold valuable. Losing a child scares the hell out of most people so we could relate to the Freeling family’s search for Carol Ann in [I]Poltergeist[/I], [I]Get Out[/I] deals with bodily autonomy and racism, and Jeff Goldblum’s [I]The Fly[/I] touches on the uncontrollable changes that come to our bodies during our lifetime. So for cosmic horror to be effective it’s got to be targeted at something we care about. Let’s take a look at one of my favorite Lovecraft stories, [I]The Shadow Over Innsmouth[/I]. Part 1: The narrator in Shadow is an antiquarian doing a little genealogical research and happens upon Innsmouth where an old man named Zadok tells him a lurid tale of the town's history of sex, murder, and the worship of some damned God in the pursuit of material wealth. The narrator finds Zadok's story unnerving but doesn't believe it. When he finds that the bus has broken down and he must remain in Innsmouth overnight he's apprehensive but doesn't feel endangered. Part 2: The deformed citizens of Innsmouth with their wet bulging eyes, pale bloated bellies, and peculiar gaits come for the narrator at night. The narrator escapes and when he gets a really good look at the strange creatures chasing him he passes out. When he awakens he tells the authorities and the US Navy and Marines show up, kick ass, and all seems well. So in this part we have the risk of losing life and limb but more importantly it confirms that Zadok's story is true. There's intelligent life in the sea, they're breeding with humans, and they've killed to keep their secret. Not only that but this life has a good deal of control over what goes on in the ocean. Learning that there's another intelligent species on Earth that's malevolent has got to change your worldview, right? Part 3: Many years after the threat of Innsmouth has abated the narrator comes to a realization. He's related to Obed Marsh and the blood of those fish things runs through his veins. He's turning into one of them and soon he will slip into the sea forever. But first he's got to break his cousin out of the asylum so they can go to sea together. So the horror here is that the narrator really isn't human any more and has come to not only accept his fate but to embrace it. Cosmic horror can be effective but it's got to threaten things the player character cares about. It's got to threaten their families, their sense of identity, their faith in the pillars of society, etc., etc. The cosmic horror comes when the things the players care about are either destroyed or his faith in them are destroyed. Lovecraft had it easy because he had narrative control over his stories. As a GM you don't have it so easy because your players might now allow their characters to feel any genuine fear. [/QUOTE]
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