D&D 5E (2024) Cthulhu Confirmed!

[Reynard]

Because Strange Aeons AP and a warlock patron?

Lovecraft was a big influence on early D&D, and that influenced other RPGs, but not as big as Tolkien and Conan, why are you not complaining about those?

Because Cthulhu is also boring, in addition to being the product of one of the most vile people ever to grace our hobby's inspirational texts? But mostly because it is boring. At least people have the decency to re-invent elves every time they appear. Cthulhu is just the same big dumb monster that fails to be either scary or interesting.

 

[Azzy]

Is there a more overused thing in TTRPGs than Cthulhu?

While I read and enjoyed Lovecraft's fiction when I was younger, I've reached capacity for the Mythos and now could do with much less of it.

 

[dave2008]

Because Cthulhu is also boring, in addition to being the product of one of the most vile people ever to grace our hobby's inspirational texts? But mostly because it is boring. At least people have the decency to re-invent elves every time they appear. Cthulhu is just the same big dumb monster that fails to be either scary or interesting.

Well boring is subjective. I definitely find some of HP's stories interesting, but not all of them (haven't read all of them either). On the subject of Cthulhu itself, i think there are interesting things there too, it just depends on how you make use of the material IMHO.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Well boring is subjective. I definitely find some of HP's stories interesting, but not all of them (haven't read all of them either). On the subject of Cthulhu itself, i think there are interesting things there too, it just depends on how you make use of the material IMHO.

I could definitely see using the mythos -- although probably not by that name, since it's too familiar and not mysterious enough for most players -- in Alien or Mothership, for instance.

Coming across a blasted alien ruin of a planet that's apparently uninhabited, but there's signs that something big is alive beneath the black waters of the great pool central to the extinct alien society's temple city, and the PCs slowly translating the writings on the ruins to say that there's an alien god slumbering there who will devour all life if he awakes? Now we're cooking. (For the record, I think this is what Prometheus was trying to achieve, in its clumsy way.)

 

[ersatzphil]

I could definitely see using the mythos -- although probably not by that name, since it's too familiar and not mysterious enough for most players -- in Alien or Mothership, for instance.

Coming across a blasted alien ruin of a planet that's apparently uninhabited, but there's signs that something big is alive beneath the black waters of the great pool central to the extinct alien society's temple city, and the PCs slowly translating the writings on the ruins to say that there's an alien god slumbering there who will devour all life if he awakes? Now we're cooking. (For the record, I think this is what Prometheus was trying to achieve, in its clumsy way.)

By way of agreeing with you, Dan O'Bannon literally described "Alien" as being an inverse Lovecraft story - in HPL, aliens from beyond the stars come to earth, in "Alien" people from earth go beyond the stars and find the horrors where they come from.

 

[Remathilis]

in addition to being the product of one of the most vile people ever to grace our hobby's inspirational texts?

Not to defend HPL, but that's a strong statement considering who all is in Appendix N.

That said, he's dead. His characters are public domain and lots of good people have done good things with those characters. I can understand some people not willing to accept Death of the Author, but in this case he's well and truly dead and his creations have far exceeded his own influence on them.

 

[Reynard]

Not to defend HPL, but that's a strong statement considering who all is in Appendix N.

That said, he's dead. His characters are public domain and lots of good people have done good things with those characters. I can understand some people not willing to accept Death of the Author, but in this case he's well and truly dead and his creations have far exceeded his own influence on them.

Does Cthulhu count as a character? I am not so sure.

 

[Remathilis]

Does Cthulhu count as a character? I am not so sure.

What else would he count as?

 

[Reynard]

What else would he count as?

A force of nature? Foil? Obstacle? He is no more character than Moby Dick.

 

[Clint_L]

But mostly because it is boring. At least people have the decency to re-invent elves every time they appear. Cthulhu is just the same big dumb monster that fails to be either scary or interesting.

Some (me) would say the same thing about dragons. To each their own!