Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!

[omro]

August Derleth coined the term "Cthulhu mythos".

My belief is that he coined it after hpl death.
And fed on the image of Lovecraft as a writer involved in the Chtulhu Mythos.
What is coined the "Chtulhu Mythos" was just a part of hpl work and life that others took and represented as THE work of lovecraft.
Exemples like hastur or this citation from Lovecraft:
'Yog-Sothoth' is a basically immature conception, & unfitted for really serious literature... (H.P. Lovecraft to Frank Belknap Long, 22 February 1931)
shows that the chtulhu mythos as a whole is not the work of Lovecraft, nor went in a direction he endorsed.
Yet, as a source of inspiration for role playing, it's worth a lot. I started dmging with the old coc, and i found the depth of it as a gaming universe incredible (and the game was excellent too). I even advised someone lately to use yog sothoth in one of his campaign.
But not to the point to blind myself as where this material of inspiration comes from.
As a writer hp Lovecraft's work goes beyond the myth of chtulhu. The writing i found of the greatest quality are pieces like:
The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath
The Night Ocean
The White Ship
His work was about moods and dreams invading "real life", the incapacity of the human mind to cope with this and finally "moods and dreams" becoming real life. The chtlhuoid things were just one of the avatars of this idea, the nightmare part of it. But he cant be reduced to it.

 

[jdavis]

If you actually look into the Cthuhlu mythos it contains the world of Conan among other things. Several of the writers of the time fed off of each others work, I'd love to read Lovecraft's letters he wrote back and forth with these other authors. I won't comment on August Derleth except to agree that he used the Cthulhu mythos after Lovecrafts death, and that he coopted alot of peoples work in uniting the mythos. "Was he a good author in his own right or was he just feeding off of other people's work to make his look better?" is a discussion that has been going on for a long time.

Chaosium had done a wonderful job with the Cthulhu mythos.

 

[Sanackranib]

Re: Re: Hastur! Hastur! Hastur!

You mentioned the unspeakable one by name! Great Cthulhu protect us!

Uh, that probably won't happen, so here goes....

Hastur is a demigod from the Cthulhu Mythos. If you say his name, you draw the attention of said deity.

In 3e terms, think 600 h.p. with 40/+4 damage reduction, fast healing 25 h.p./round, and 50% miss chance for any attack against him (including area effects). Good luck in the battle.

don't forget his Godly SR

 

[WayneLigon]

I'd love to read Lovecraft's letters he wrote back and forth with these other authors.

http://www.arkhamhouse.com/ has several volumes in their Selected Letters series available.

Derleth, Campbell, and a few others surely have a career that owes a lot to Lovecraft and the others that made up his circle of writing friends and correspondants.

 

[Deedlit]

Thanks for the info. It looks like I rolled well and he didn't appear.

 

[omro]

If you actually look into the Cthuhlu mythos it contains the world of Conan among other things.
Chaosium had done a wonderful job with the Cthulhu mythos.

Howard's work had Sprague de Camp also )
I read all conan back then, a few weeks after the movie. Ahh Basil Poledouris Music!! Half an hour of movie until the hero finally speaks. "crom!!".
Well, i don't hesitate in saying that the CoC rpg was the crowning of the mythos.
As much as I think of it as a lowering of hpl works, yet it did make a lot of sense in itself as a background for frightening tales, and what is best than rpg for storytelling ?

 

[Utrecht]

This was also used as one of those self-immolation things. You know that you are going to die - so you figure you have a 25% chance of taking you killer down with you - regardless of what they are.....

 

[Henry]

Hastur was also known as / connected with other inferences in the Mythos, specifically the Yellow sign, and a supposedly blasphemous French Play, called The King in Yellow.

For some 3E Cthulhoid fun, check out the Freeport: City of Adventure Sourcebook from Green Ronin games. Some of Lovecraft's work actually makes it into the Freeport Setting.

 

[Mytholder]

That a d20 product? I glanced at the Warehouse 23 order page, but it didn't say.

No, it's for Call of Cthulhu classic. That said, the original Delta Green book is being reprinted with d20 stats soonish.

Both DELTA GREEN and DELTA GREEN: COUNTDOWN are amazingly, amazingly good sourcebooks. If you see them, get them.

 

[alsih2o]

It usually results in madness followed by a quick death.

I think it's originally a call of Chtulhu thing, or a really old school demon-lord of some kind.

curiously "marsha marsha marsha" does the same ??????