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Cthulhu .... any advice on how to run it?
- Thread starter Angelsboi
- Start date
Epametheus
First Post
Someone else is sure to plug that website for HPL stories, so that's covered.
First of all, the stories that may well serve best as educational for the sake of running a CoC campaign are The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath and The Dunwich Horror. Randolph and the Professor are just humans, but they don't just curl up and die before exposure to the Mythos. They have goals to accomplish, and God help them, they'll do it. Their exposure to the Mythos scars them, but it doesn't break them the way it does most of the protagonists of HPL's stories.
Most normal people can't deal with even a hint of the Mythos. They block exposure to it out of their minds, assuming they don't die or are driven insane.
The investigators are the exception, not the rule. They suffer from the horrors of the Mythos, and are scarred by their experiences, but they keep coming back for more. All investigators are potential cultists, and probable masochists.
CoC's all about the flavor. Investigators are not great & daring heroes; they're just ordinary people who are getting involved in things ordinary people have no business being involved in. Combat should be used relatively sparingly -- concentrated gun fire will kill people quickly, and any Mythos creature higher up the food chain than a ghoul will kill people faster. Don't always take the "combat is a way to punish PCs" approach, though; sometimes, players need to vent, and few ways of venting are better than looking Cosmic Horror in the face and blowing the #$^& out of it.
Keep in mind that one of the common beliefs about CoC is its mortality rate. If a PC doesn't die in battle, his or her brain will be saurkraut soon anyways. Try to avoid this. The horror factor is much greater if players are attached to their characters; it'll be almost meaningless if new characters are brought in every few sessions.
I hope that helps.
First of all, the stories that may well serve best as educational for the sake of running a CoC campaign are The Dream-quest of Unknown Kadath and The Dunwich Horror. Randolph and the Professor are just humans, but they don't just curl up and die before exposure to the Mythos. They have goals to accomplish, and God help them, they'll do it. Their exposure to the Mythos scars them, but it doesn't break them the way it does most of the protagonists of HPL's stories.
Most normal people can't deal with even a hint of the Mythos. They block exposure to it out of their minds, assuming they don't die or are driven insane.
The investigators are the exception, not the rule. They suffer from the horrors of the Mythos, and are scarred by their experiences, but they keep coming back for more. All investigators are potential cultists, and probable masochists.
CoC's all about the flavor. Investigators are not great & daring heroes; they're just ordinary people who are getting involved in things ordinary people have no business being involved in. Combat should be used relatively sparingly -- concentrated gun fire will kill people quickly, and any Mythos creature higher up the food chain than a ghoul will kill people faster. Don't always take the "combat is a way to punish PCs" approach, though; sometimes, players need to vent, and few ways of venting are better than looking Cosmic Horror in the face and blowing the #$^& out of it.
Keep in mind that one of the common beliefs about CoC is its mortality rate. If a PC doesn't die in battle, his or her brain will be saurkraut soon anyways. Try to avoid this. The horror factor is much greater if players are attached to their characters; it'll be almost meaningless if new characters are brought in every few sessions.
I hope that helps.
Darkness
Hand and Eye of Piratecat [Moderator]
Angelsboi:
Here's a link to a thread about this very topic. And there are more around here somewhere... Look for them; they might have what you need.
CoC Survival Tips
edit:
Also, have you been to Monte Cook's d20 Cthulhu message board yet? Whether you want to run Cthulhu d20 or the Chaosium version - the people there ought to be able to help, too.
Especially Monte himself.
Monte Cook's d20 Cthulhu message board
Here's a link to a thread about this very topic. And there are more around here somewhere... Look for them; they might have what you need.
CoC Survival Tips
edit:
Also, have you been to Monte Cook's d20 Cthulhu message board yet? Whether you want to run Cthulhu d20 or the Chaosium version - the people there ought to be able to help, too.
Especially Monte himself. Monte Cook's d20 Cthulhu message board
Last edited:
Eben
First Post
Be sure to read these:
"At the mountains of madness", this is actually a novella and gives a great feel of his style and the mythos;
"The shadow out of time", yet another aspect of the above,
"The call of Cthulhu", Why settle for the lesser evil?
And as Epametheus said: "The Dunwich horror" I think this is one of his best stories set in "Lovecraft-country"
(actually: read it all: its really creepy if you dig his style.)
"At the mountains of madness", this is actually a novella and gives a great feel of his style and the mythos;
"The shadow out of time", yet another aspect of the above,
"The call of Cthulhu", Why settle for the lesser evil?
And as Epametheus said: "The Dunwich horror" I think this is one of his best stories set in "Lovecraft-country"
(actually: read it all: its really creepy if you dig his style.)
Old Fezziwig
Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin.
If you read some Lovecraft, and decide you like it, I'd recommend S.T. Joshi's two books the Annotated H.P. Lovecraft and More Annotated H.P. Lovecraft — I've found that the notes that Joshi includes (although sometimes not exactly helpful, because of vagueness or incompleteness) are mostly excellent. Not to mention, the first book, in particular, has some good primary source stuff in the back (some letters, an essay, etc.) that can help you get a pretty good idea of Lovecraft's views on his fiction and what he thought he was trying to do.
Best,
tKL
Best,
tKL
Old Fezziwig
Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin.
Eben said:
I absolutely agree with this, and would go so far as to add that if you like Edgar Allan Poe, you'll probably dig Lovecraft — HPL's style owes a lot to EAP, as does his subject matter and style. I believe that "The Fall of the House of Usher" was one of Lovecraft's favorite stories.
Best,
tKL
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