Hitler+Cthulhu=Fun!

[Tewligan]

So, I'm flipping through channels last night, and I come across "Raiders of the Lost Ark." During the Ark's freak-out scene, I decided that CoC crossed with Indiana Jones-type shenanigans just might be hella fun. Hell, throw in some Casablanca stuff, some hard-boiled private dicks, and stir 'em all up into one big 1940ish mess and see what happens. Anyone else played CoC in that kind of setting? If so, how'd it work? Ideally, I'd be able to have a Nazi riding around on a Hunting Horror at some point. That would rock.

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

The Delta Green sourcebook has details on an SS Mythos cult, the Karotechia.

 

[danzig138]

The Karotechia from DG, and if they ever get it released, Pulp Cthulhu might be what you're looking for.

 

[Turgenev]

Call of Cthulhu + Pulp Heroes = Lots of fun!

Course I've been adding a pulp flavour to my CoC games for years (I'm an old school CoC fan). When I play any game of CoC, I prefer a campaign set in the 20s-30s (even sometimes the early 40s) over a setting set in contemporary times anyday.

As for some ideas that I have used...

The Nazi SS was heavily influenced by occult trappings so it isn't much of a stretch to have them allied with some Cthulhoid entity (Mi-Go, Serpent People, Moon Beasts, Nyarlathotep - all work well).

I even used the Hellfire Club (based on the historic version, NOT the Marvel comic version ) in one campaign. The decadent excess of the Hellfire club meshed well with some Cthulhu occult madness.

My last CoC campaign had German SS spies, the London based Hellfire club (as mentioned above), the Mi-Go and their inhuman scientific experiments (can you say brain cannisters & strange genetic monsters ), zeppelins, high octane action all mixed together for fun for all.

Cheers,
Tim

 

[kengar]

Not to hijack, but here are a couple "pulp" style films that I've always thought would make good CoC fun:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (I agree totally)

The Mummy

Big Trouble in Little China

They Live

Boys from Brazil (but make it a resurrected cult leader or old one hybrids)

Puppet Masters

..you get the general idea

 

[haiiro]

Pulp Cthulhu

Chaosium is doing a sourcebook for d20 CoC called Pulp Cthulhu, which revolves around (surprise!) 1930s pulp adventuring.

Here's the link:

http://www.chaosium.com/cthulhu/d20cthulhu/8800.shtml

You'll have to wait until Fall 2003 (or later), though.

 

[sotterraneo]

So, I'm flipping through channels last night, and I come across "Raiders of the Lost Ark." During the Ark's freak-out scene, I decided that CoC crossed with Indiana Jones-type shenanigans just might be hella fun. Hell, throw in some Casablanca stuff, some hard-boiled private dicks, and stir 'em all up into one big 1940ish mess and see what happens. Anyone else played CoC in that kind of setting? If so, how'd it work? Ideally, I'd be able to have a Nazi riding around on a Hunting Horror at some point. That would rock.

I did, many years ago after reading some very imspirational White Dwarf articles (hey, I did say it was many years ago) a campaign where the PCs were all members or associates of an US occult club with its own magazine. Many European occultists of some fame started to be assassinated and the last victim managed to send a letter in the US warning of an unspecified 'impending doom for Europe and the world'. Of course, the PCs went to Europe to investigate. The campaign was set in the '30s, with the Depression in full swing and Nazis and Fascists quinckly rising to power. To make it short, they discovered a conspiracy from one Mythos group to develop an almost powerless and unknown party (the Nazis) to power, of course with a leader of their own choosing and killing (or worse) any rivals. The PCs ended sacrificing themselves to kill the leader of the party, not Hitler but another one, an avatar of good old Nyatlathothep beautiful, intelligent, charismatic, 'reasonable' - and utterly alien to humanity... It was a very successful campaign: the players were really into it and showed the highest enthusiasm for foiling this plot, attempting to save Germany, Europe and the world. Of course, history has a way to assert itself so Hitler rose to power after having been the faithful lackey of the avatar: this gave him powers (for example, an incredible charisma), but madness too and in the edn, he and his regime were defeated...

This campaign was strongly based on historical facts: for example, how was possible that Hitler rose to power instead of the various right wing groups then active in Germany, some as ther Steel helmets numbering hundreds of thousand of members (many soldiers and ex soldiers)? What gave to this man - short, ugly and a stridule voice - such an incredible charisma on the German people? How could hs party rose from nothing to be the most voted in the last free election before the end of WW II? What made such a cultured, intelligent people as Germans embrace an utter demonic philosophy? And what made Hitler mad? It's a known fact that many Nazis were occultists and thet thet exterminated oll of the 'enemies' in the occult field.

 

[WayneLigon]

Tynes Publishing has the first four (now annotated) issues of The Unspeakable Oath online. The fourth issue has this 'Message in a Bottle', which may be great for any Hitler-Mythos connections.

 

[Henry]

Hell, throw in some Casablanca stuff, some hard-boiled private dicks, and stir 'em all up into one big 1940ish mess and see what happens.

1930ish mess, you blasphemer!

Seriously, I used to entertain the notion that the original Call of Cthulhu rules were good enough to run realistic campaigns of any era - wild west, pulp fiction, you name it. For pulp fiction, however, I would almost recommend either d20 CoC, or more readily d20 modern. The only problem is that d20 Modern needs to be slightly stripped down to do a pulp version - but it could be easily done.

 

[Yuan-Ti]

How about Spycraft-CoC? I've been tinkering myself with a Spycraft pulp campaign (has not gotten past the tinkering stage) but I was thinking my Nazis needed more occult mockups, which had me turning to my CoC d20, which got me thinking Nazi scientist/sorcerer. You get the picture. Obviously, though, I am not convinced that pulp heroes should have sanity scores.

For more film inspiration, there was an HBO movie some years ago...

http://us.imdb.com/Title?0101550

Yes, "Cast a Deadly Spell" in which Fred Ward plays sleuth Phil Lovecraft. I believe it was set post-WW2 but was still good fun and hardboiled.