Call of Cthulhu d20!

[Urizen]

Thanks Gareth.

This is really informative.

 

[Urizen]

Short answer, stay away from anything that appears solely in a Chaosium product.

Sound Advice!

I know the mythos is a big one. If I remember correctly, Chaosium forced TSR to remove them from the original Dieties and Demigods, though Cthulhu himself could still be used.

My interest is more in line with developing new Cthulhu-inspired material; Adventures and game supplements, cults, locations, etc..

I don't want to re-hash what's already been done.

 

[Committed Hero]

Interesting new takes on the Mythos have been bandied about on rpgnet for a while.

Here is one example.

And another.

 

[talien]

To point to specific products that clearly challenge the whole "you can't use Cthulhu in RPGs", there's CthulhuTech: http://www.cthulhutech.com and Fragile Minds for Spycraft: http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=50801.

I should point out that it took oh, under 24 hours or so for someone to post to Yog-Sothoth that Spycraft "stole" the Cthulhu intellectual property from Chaosium somehow: http://www.yog-sothoth.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=116325

If anyone ever needs a writer for a Cthulhu-type RPG supplement, look me up. I'm running a D20 Modern/Dread/Delta Green hybrid right now and loving every sanity-dripping moment of it.

 

[Urizen]

Thanks for the input, guys.

There are a bunch of ways to go without smashing Canon all to R'lyeh and back.

I'm really interested in developing new aspects of the mythos which carry a distinct Lovecraftian feel but (out of pure respect) stay away from what Chaosium's brilliant staff have done over the decades.

Since the truth of the universe is unknowable, I don't see why new "Cthuthonic" entities couldn't begin to take notice of the human race and begin to extert their own influences upon the people of this world.

Maybe they were always there, reflected in various long dead cultures such as those of Sumeria, or Akadia. beings like Lilith or Gilgamesh might be interesting to explore in a Cthulhu-inspired book.

Then there's William Blake and the tale of a demon called Urizen and the Book of Thel.

It could be alot of fun.

 

[Urizen]

Oh and, email me, Tresca, we can talk about it

 

[Henry]

Since the truth of the universe is unknowable, I don't see why new "Cthuthonic" entities couldn't begin to take notice of the human race and begin to extert their own influences upon the people of this world.

I seem to recall reading that this, in fact, was what Lovecraft had in mind when encouraging his circle of writers to write their own horror tales. He really didn't mean for Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, et. al. to become the nigh-mythic-canon that they have become over the years thanks to us gamers and companies like Chaosium; he was all for making your own little corner of the mythos, using the storytelling techniques that he exemplified.

 

[Achan hiArusa]

To point to specific products that clearly challenge the whole "you can't use Cthulhu in RPGs", there's CthulhuTech: http://www.cthulhutech.com

30 pounds, OMG! They are darn proud of that thing. This is the reason I rarely buy Mongoose's stuff. Spending $30 to $40 a pop for your run of the mill rulebook is one thing, and yes I paid almost $50 for the Classic Battletech Tech Manual, but still.

 

[GMSkarka]

I seem to recall reading that this, in fact, was what Lovecraft had in mind when encouraging his circle of writers to write their own horror tales. He really didn't mean for Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, et. al. to become the nigh-mythic-canon that they have become over the years thanks to us gamers and companies like Chaosium; he was all for making your own little corner of the mythos, using the storytelling techniques that he exemplified.

Very true -- in fact, Lovecraft himself didn't use any "Mythos" -- he dropped occasional references to earlier works into his stories, but that was just for a sense of verisimilitude, not any attempt to create a cohesive pantheon (which, truthfully, is pretty much counter to the whole 'chaotic meaninglessness' which was his theme -- how do you have random embodiments of blind cosmic whim, but organized into a structure? Duh.)

The whole "Mythos" thing (even the term) was an invention of August Derleth's, after Lovecraft's death.

Were Adamant to revisit our "LOVECRAFT D20" idea, we'd give some example entities and such from Lovecraft's stories (and ONLY Lovecraft's) -- but would devote a fairly large chunk of the book to what "Lovecraftian horror" really means, and guides for coming up with your own thematically-true elements.

After all, Lovecraft himself said "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

How can you fear the unknown if it's layed out for you in a "monster manual"? A player in a Lovecraftian game should expect to be encountering things that they've never heard of, which creep them the hell out. That's the whole point.

 

[Committed Hero]

I seem to recall reading that this, in fact, was what Lovecraft had in mind when encouraging his circle of writers to write their own horror tales. He really didn't mean for Cthulhu, Nyarlathotep, Yog-Sothoth, et. al. to become the nigh-mythic-canon that they have become over the years thanks to us gamers and companies like Chaosium; he was all for making your own little corner of the mythos, using the storytelling techniques that he exemplified.

What irks me the most about Chaosium's claim to a license is that it contradicts Lovecraft's collaborative vision.