Looking for low-magic D&D world for Cthulhu crossover

[diaglo]

I have it, but it is a bit too low-key for my tastes, and it isn't recognizably D&D either, if that makes sense...

WTF??? it is more recognizably D&D than say the Forgettable Realms. Harn at least was around and available for purchase in the 1edADnD days.

 

[Desdichado]

WTF??? it is more recognizably D&D than say the Forgettable Realms. Harn at least was around and available for purchase in the 1edADnD days.

That doesn't make it recognizably D&D. Harn has always had a small fan segment, and is a setting meant to go with it's own custom system, first and foremost.

Of course, this ignores the fact that you're probably doing your typical subtle trolling about old editions.

 

[diaglo]

Of course, this ignores the fact that you're probably doing your typical subtle trolling about old editions.

still you can visit www.columbiagames.com

 

[Desdichado]

But, as you state, Harn was available for 1eAD&D, so it's already past your preferred version to begin with.

 

[diaglo]

it ports over well to the real thing.

 

[Emirikol]

Hyboria - Conan D20

Hmmmm. You're describing Hyboria, the world of Conan, the Old Gods Kull, and Red Sonja as what you want. You've got maps and game material galore. WEBSITE BELOW.

Next, the Cthulhu mythos ARE ALREADY a part of Hyboria because Robert E. Howard and H.P. Lovecraft were penpals and frequently used each other's material (Yog & Dagoth anyone????).

Most of the Cthulhuoid stuff I've read for that setting have been in Border Kingdom and from the steaming jungles.

Clerics: hmmm..mostly charlatans and sorcerers

Gods: never come to the planet, and debateably don't exist (although creatures from beyond space and time most certainly do)

Magic items: extremely rare and typically cursed or strangely potent

Sorcerers: well, there's a lot of these xenophobic bastards..almost always evil and definatley power hungry. They don't make magic items for adventurers to steal and use against them.

Grit: hmm, ancient dry cities, powerhungry warlords on horseback, sexy slaves and maidens to be rescued, the lotus blossom drugged stupor of many, bloody combats, superstition by all, evil spirits and best of all NO REEKING ELVES except if you wantto put them in Asgard and Vanaheim as part of the 'pantheon' of creatures of that region!!!!

Now, the Conan Role Playing Game will be coming out in January. It's supposedly based on d20, but there's also all the material thats' already out there. Come check it out and download whatever you can find:
www.yahoogroups.com/group/d20conan

You should go to your local used book store and get: "CONAN" by Robert E. Howard. It's a short read and is obviously the best introduction to fantasy you'll ever get. REHowards stuff is the best, but there's tons of other stuff out there that works great for adventure ideas.

See you on the d20 discussion group!

Jay Hafner

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Isn't Scarred Lands supposed to be a lower-magic setting?

That may be argueable, but its very setup and geography involve too much mythology to make it a good fit. And really, the titans were the local equivalent of Great Old Ones - adding the GOOs to the mix would be a disservice to both mythologies.

 

[Voadam]

After reading the advice in Call of Cthulhu d20 on doing a D&D/Cthulhu crossover, I'm wondering how to pull this off. While it would feel the most realistic to create a new D&D fantasy world from scratch and incorporate the Cthulhu Mythos in it, that would require a lot of work - and I'm already involved in a major worldbuilding effort (see my signature).

So I thought it would be best to seek out an existing, published D&D campaign setting to use as the "mundane layer" above the Cthulhu Mythos, just as our modern-day world represents the mundane layer that obscures the terrible realities of the Mythos universe. To be useable, it should fulfill the following criteria:

- It should be a relatively "low-key" setting - most people won't live much differently than in our Middle Ages (or Renaissance), and magic and magic items should be relatively rare. It should be recognizeable to the players, and not have a huge number of fantastic elements. In other words, something like the Scarred Lands would be right out - it's hard to make the Cthulhu Mythos work effectively when the very land is formed out of the bodies of gigantic creatures (the titans). Humans and near-humans should be the dominant species, and truely abnormal monsters should mostly be legends or live in far-off land (at least, as far as most people know...).

- Divine powers should be low-key. There should always be some uncertaincy whether the gods of humanity exist (and in a Mythos universe, they of course don't exist, or are weak, feeble things before the Great Old Ones and Outer Gods). It should be possible to remove clerics entirely from the setting, or reduce them to some sort of prestige class, without making the setting inconsistent.

Does anyone know of a published setting that fits this descriptions? From what I've heard, Kalamar is supposed to be fairly low-key, but I don't know all that much about it...

Ravenloft,

dark powers=Cthulhu mythos easily

divine powers are hidden with no contact in default ravenloft. who actually grants a clerics powers is an open debate, with possibilities for false religions that have powers.

Magic level varies by domains, some are low magic others have wizard rulers.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Well, Chaosium is supposed to have Cthulhu Dark Ages coming out soon, based on the German game. I'm pretty sure it's not D20, but it might be good for source material and inspiration. I think it's set around 1150 AD or so.

You're probably right about it not being d20. I hope your wrong though. I mean, d20 is a huge fanbase and there are many who enjoy Call of Cthulhu who'd just want to add the beasties and other goods to their d20 game. Ah, if only Chaosium had the ability to come out with Pulp Cthulhu in a timely fashion...

 

[Byrons_Ghost]

I actually have the German version

Of course, you being from Germany and all. I knew that one!

Incidentally, Chaosium has been putting a ton of their foreign languge supplements for sale on their site, if anyone is interested. There's even some hard-to-find stuff like Horror on the Orient Express.

I, too , was seriously psyched about Pulp Cthulhu, and sad to see it go. Now that the basic setting books are out, I really don't expect to see too much more in the way of dual-stat Cthulhu stuff. Possibly Delta Green, if it ever comes out...