Coc/Cursed Empire - A Womans Perspective

[Mirren]

Hello All.

I'm what you would call an new 'older' girlie gamer (35 and not ashamed to admit it). For the past 3 years I've been going to Conception in Dorset UK and have a real passion for Call of Cthulhu and Cursed Empire (www.cursedempire.co.uk). I like any games that are dark and atmospheric and that get the heart racing. I've only just started looking at the different forums and this is the first thread I've posted on ENW. I've given below, an insight into my first impressions of these games, and would really like to get your views.

CoC - Firstly let me apologise as until my first visit to conception I'd never read any of the books, that by the way has now been remedied. I was then introduced to a CoC cuddily plush! yes the one with the tentacles (first impressions). I decided to sign up for a game and must admit it had a brilliant start, the gamers were fab, and the location was excellent, v. atmostpheric - toward the end of the senario, sanity had obviously gone out of the window and we were being lead toward the final confrontation. Yes you've guessed it, at that point C. rises out of the ground, and all see is the plush! I think at that point, I regained some sanity. I'm glad to say that I've since sorted the visual factor and appreciate now exactly what it was we were facing...

Cursed Empire - Well the thing that attracted me to this game was again the darkness of it, the art is superb, (women rock - no bimbos) - also the first gm, dm, abcm that I saw running a game was also a girlie who after speaking to her said it was easy to run. I must admit though character generation was slight daunting at first, but there were some really nice touches, character traits, sanity (but this time with factors like nightmares) and renown points which I'm still getting my head around, but its linked to character fame.

 

[Frostmarrow]

I've never really got the Cthulhu monsters. I don't see why they are supposed to be more scary than a regular werewolf. In fact, something that really scares me is the mundane tiger. I'd face a deepone anyday before one of those nasty cats.

Still, what makes CoC is the atmosphere you can create with all those old books, the frailty of your alter ego, and the general unfriendlyness of the setting. I think CoC is probably the best RPG in the world. I prefer D&D but my memories of CoC are fonder to me.

In case no one has beat me to it: Welcome to the EN-Boards. -A friendly place.

 

[S'mon]

Cursed Empire - Well the thing that attracted me to this game was again the darkness of it, the art is superb, (women rock - no bimbos) - also the first gm, dm, abcm that I saw running a game was also a girlie who after speaking to her said it was easy to run.

Hi Mirren - funny thing, players in my previous D&D campaign tried this (Crimson Empire it then was) out at a Convention in 2004 I think it was, one of the female players told me she hated the art, which she said was all naked women being sacrificed... she also didn't think much of the female GM at the Con, who spent most of the session playing in another game! Apparently the GM's displayed cleavage was impressive though... The general Internet impression of Crimson/Cursed Empire seems good though, maybe her experience was atypical.

Technically I think this General forum is for D&D-related discussion but it's never been too clear to me whether non-d20 games discussion goes here or not - non-d&d d20 gets banished to its own forum on ENW.

 

[Mirren]

Thanks to you and FM for the welcome

one of the female players told me she hated the art, which she said was all naked women being sacrificed... [/QUOTE=S'mon]

I think she probably got the impression that it was all naked women etc because of the art that they used to have on their stand - trying to promote the work of the artist which is separate from the game.

As for the art in the books especially the women I think they are stunning, especially the work by Rik Martin - sample of some of characters in the book (ps my favourite is the druidess with the puma) http://www.rik-martin.com/Black%20and%20white%20illos%20pge%2012.htm. The art is definiately unique and personally I'd love to be any one of the female characters shown as I'm sure they'd be able to stand on their own two feet in any situation.

As for the GM, sorry to hear she had a bad experience, mine was different.

As for the forum, apologies if I'm in the wrong place, did try to ensure selected the right section. Like you I'm not sure that its that clear... nice talking to you.

 

[Thanee]

Don't know Cursed Empire, but Call of Cthulhu (especially the original version) is a pretty cool game.

...she also didn't think much of the female GM at the Con, who spent most of the session playing in another game!

Awesome GMing!

That's even better than the guy who dropped this insane puzzle on his group and then settled down to read a book in the meantime.

Bye
Thanee

 

[S'mon]

I think she probably got the impression that it was all naked women etc because of the art that they used to have on their stand - trying to promote the work of the artist which is separate from the game.

Ah, right - I checked the Cursed Empire website & didn't see anything like what she described.

I like Call of Cthulu (BRP version) a lot, one of the easiest games to GM and fun to play. Writing a good Call of Cthulu scenario is difficult, but running a good published CoC scenario is much easier than running 3rd edition D&D I'd say. "The Haunted House" is my all-time favourite intro scenario to a game, it never gets old & runs differently every time.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

Technically I think this General forum is for D&D-related discussion but it's never been too clear to me whether non-d20 games discussion goes here or not - non-d&d d20 gets banished to its own forum on ENW.

It's for the discussion of RPGs in general, as it says in the main list of forums:

"Discuss D&D and RPGs in general, DM/player issues, settings, etc. Please look to see if there is a more specific forum first."

Emphasis mine.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

I've never really got the Cthulhu monsters. I don't see why they are supposed to be more scary than a regular werewolf.

Because the werewolf is a much more personal threat - it sees a certain value in its human prey, even though it is often not much more than food.

To Cthulhu and the other Great Old Ones, we are nothing more than insects. Their eventual return is inevitable. And whatever humanity might have achieved in the meantime - its most moving religions, its pinnacles of science and social development - becomes utterly meaningless and vanishes along with humanity itself.

A werewolf will only kill you - but your death doesn't take the meaning of your life until that point away. On the other hand, the mere existence of the Great Old Ones implies that there is no grand meaning in humanity at all. Live or die, the universe won't care - and there is not a damn thing you can do about this.

 

[Dirigible]

I've never really got the Cthulhu monsters. I don't see why they are supposed to be more scary than a regular werewolf. In fact, something that really scares me is the mundane tiger. I'd face a deepone anyday before one of those nasty cats.

A tiger won't drag your pliant, screaming body down to the depths of the ocean and impregnate you with its gurgling, bastard fish-spawn.

And that's regardless of your sex.

The art from the Cursed EMpire game does look nice - yoinked for Midnight. Isn't it nice how interchangeable dark fantasy is?

 

[Mirren]

On the topic of monsters

one of the main things I liked about the monsters in CE is that most of them are human. Characters like the Darkuns embody evil through their actions. Personally I find these types of encounters alot more scary than mythical creatures.