Cthulu? Wtf..?

WayneLigon said:
'The Arcanum', a book I just finished, features Houdini, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Marie Lavoux, and a very young HP Lovecraft as members of a secret society protecting the Book of Enoch, the book that chronicles the mistakes of God.
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Sweet! Is the book as good as it sounds (hint hint review review)?
 

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TheAuldGrump said:
Me in Darth Vader voice: I find your lack of feet disturbing.
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Thanks, now I had to spend ten minutes explaining to the guy next to me what I was laughing about - and he recognised neither the Star Wars quote or the Cthulhu reference.

Oh well, he already knew I was weird. :)
 

Kristivas said:
Anyway, what in the holy bejesus is a Cthulu? I've heard a lot of viciousness about Hastur and other such names, and on this guy's website.. his gaming party ended up on this place called Ryleh and into Cthulu's toilet (at which point all of the players screamed "NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" and horidity happened). My mind is blown. Someone give me a run-down on these Cthulu and why they're so feared..
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For the D&Dnatics:

A Cthulu is sort of a big, bad uber-epic-divine-Mindflayer with plans of world domination, that was invented by a Guy named H.P.Lovecraft about a century ago.
 
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jdrakeh said:
It was a limited license from day one. WotC obtained the rights to publish the main CoC d20 rule book and a few supplements, but nothing further. Only Chaosium can say why the license was set up like this, as they were the ones doing the licensing, but the limitations of the license itself were announced at the same time as WotC's procurement of said license.
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Good. Frankly, I thought d20 Cthulhu, as an overall concept, blew monkey chunks. The book had some cool stuff in it, but simply the idea of melding Cthulhu and d20 was ill-advised. Long live the classic system! :]

There's an online site, the name escapes me now, that deals with Cthulhu/Lovecraft memorabilia. One of their items, and it runs for about a grand, is a postcard sent by ol' HP about a trip to an ice cream store in RI where they boasted 32 flavors but, alas, only had 28 available when HP and his friend visited. I'm paraphrasing here, but there was some line about how delightful the 28 were (yes, apparently they sampled all 28), but "our pleasure was diminished by the absence of the remaining four". Like I said, I'm paraphrasing, but it was a riot to read.

I can just picture HP at home, writing in his study... "Mankind is blissfully ignorant of the impersonal cosmic forces which regard man's achievements with as much interest and compassion as we regard mere ants...I need some chocolate-chocolate chip, right now!" :)
 


Flexor the Mighty! said:
Anyone know of any good sits that sell Mythos T-shirts and stuff? I need to replace my "Campus Crusade For Cthulhu" tee and grab a few more.
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Although they don't have that particular one, SighCo has an HP Lovecraft section of shirts they sell at the HP Lovecraft Film Festival every year.
 


Psimancer said:
Sweet! Is the book as good as it sounds (hint hint review review)?
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It's a solid 'B'; some of the descriptions of people dealing with the effect the Mythos has on the human mind sounded a little off to me - almost as if he had in fact read the game books but hadn't quite gotten it correct. All in all, though, it's a very rousing pulp-like adventure. Chases, grim doings, horrific demon murders, etc. Wheeler is a screenwriter doing his first novel, and it shows. That's not nessarily a bad thing though if you just keep that fact in mind.

Another book you might like is Nevermore by William Hjortsberg

From Amazon:
Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle join forces in this historical mystery with occult overtones. In his later years, Doyle has become a true believer in mediums who speak with the spirits of the dead. Houdini, as a master of illusion, takes pride in exposing and debunking such fraudulent people. Despite their opposing views, a mutual interest in the occult draws them together in a respectful friendship. When murders patterned after the tales of Edgar Allan Poe begin to occur, Houdini and Doyle are as fascinated as the rest of the citizens of New York.

It's a good book; better in a technical and well-researched sense than Wheeler's book, though there is only the hint that some of the occult happenings are real.

Both books do make a point of bringing up something most others forget about Houdini: his almost superhuman athleticism.
 

Jack of Shadows said:
Best... Adventure... EVER!

Jack
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Yes, the Gnarly Mask of Hotep was one of those adventures that I still haven't run my poor beleaguered Investigators through, but was an amazing read. I still may do it...

Personally, I have a soft spot for Fungi From Yuggoth, which was the first globe-trotting CofC adventure I ever ran. :)
 

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