Lovecraft Priests?

[dcollins]

This is sort of an academic/literary question, in the planning stages for a Lovecraft-heavy D&D campaign. In Lovecraft's stories, particularly those set in the Dreamlands, he identifies certain people as "priests" or "high priests" in certain temples dedicated to his fantasy gods. (For example, see Kadath p. 2 and p. 66). The thing is, they don't seem to evidence any special powers that I can find other than simple knowledge. I'm wondering if this implies that I should only provide arcane magic in a campaign of that sort.

So here's the question: Can anyone find an occurence in any original H.P. Lovecraft story where someone identified as a "priest" evidences any special abilities? (... other than simple Knowledge)

 

[gizmo33]

It's probably the case that the "magic" in HPLs story comes mainly from arcane "formula" rather than such concepts as devotion and piety and such (which are probably alien to the setting). However, there is mention of an "Elder Sign" against evil, which would imply that "Good" has some power.

However, DnD is a game system, and classes are designed to be balanced and so on. Adaptations of novels/stories IMO must walk that line between accuracy and playablility.

The Lovecraftian mythos intersects with the real world and real world mythology. This means that you can some latitude in interpreting real-world folk lore in a Lovecraftian way and expanding upon the mythos. IMO a long running campaign setting would benefit from such an expansion. I would not consider the stories that Lovecraft wrote to be a complete description of a campaign world suitable for adventuring - IMO game settings require more completeness (of course the info would probably only be known to the DM) than settings for a novel requires. I'm not a purist though, and I put capturing the spirit of the setting at a higher priority than simulating HPLs stories.

Have you considered the other writers in the Mythos (Clark Ashton Smith, etc.)? Also, maybe the Call of Cthulu game has some info.

 

[LostSoul]

So here's the question: Can anyone find an occurence in any original H.P. Lovecraft story where someone identified as a "priest" evidences any special abilities? (... other than simple Knowledge)

Well, The Dunwich Horror

Spoiler

had the Whateleys summon Yog-Sothoth and impregnate Lavina (I could have the names wrong). Prof. Armitage used the powder of Ibn-Gazi to reveal the horror, so that may have been a spell, but he's not a priest at any rate.

I'd have to read it over again, but from what I can remember they seemed to have powers like a typical New England witch.

I could be wrong, it's been a while since I read it.

 

[Bardsandsages]

There is no "priest" class in Call of Cthulhu, because casting even a Magic Missle spell could cost you sanity points. True magic is the domain of strange horrors, and mankind was not meant to wield it. If you're running a true Lovecraftian game, magic should be rare, and when evidence of it does show up it should be terrifying.

If you're just adding Lovecraftian elements to an existing fantasy story, you can do whatever you want.

 

[grodog]

Dan---

If you read through the history of the Necronomicon, you should have plenty of examples of how HPL and others in the circle attributed supernatural powers to the priests/followers of the Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, et al. I wrote several papers on HPL in high school and grad school and can provide some good, though likely now obscure and OOP, references for you that summarize that kind of info in one place. If you're interested, let me know. (Some of this kind of material was probably later reprinted by Chaosium in their Necronomicon book, too).

 

[dcollins]

Yep, definitely interested in whether "priests" (in a civic church/temple situation) are ever given specific effect in an original Lovecraft story. I have a lot of the literature, could do pretty well at finding stuff here with citation.

Again, arcane "followers", "witches", etc. I'd be quick to call "sorcerers" in D&D (under 3.0 Variant). It's actual "priests" I'm looking for at the moment.

 

[grodog]

Thanks for the clarification. IIRC the Esoteric Order of Dagon has priests in it, as did several other groups, but I'll see what I can dig up. Fortunately for you, I unpacked all of my HPL books and research materials on my previous trip back to KS

 

[Sigurd]

Hey Grodog

If you have HPL essays etc... I'd love to see them.

 

[Shemeska]

Thanks for the clarification. IIRC the Esoteric Order of Dagon has priests in it, as did several other groups, but I'll see what I can dig up. Fortunately for you, I unpacked all of my HPL books and research materials on my previous trip back to KS

Yeah but they tend to all boil down to generic cultists of powers antithetical to mankind of bygone and - *insert additional adjectives as per Lovecraftian style * - eras.

The DnD mechanics of, and any dichotomy between, arcane and divine magic are rather alien to attempt to insert into Lovecraft's world. Magic was hazy, dangerous, and it, or those alien powers who granted knowledge of it, almost inevitably negatively altered, damaged, or consumed those mortals who practiced it.

Lovecraft's universe was cold, alien, and devoid of anything but temporary hope really. There was not any benevolent pantheon out there willing to help humanity. At most there were equally alien entities who were ambivalent towards us out there, the Elder Gods, as opposed to the Great Old Ones and others.

There weren't really 'priests' in the sense of DnD clerics and other divine spellcasters. There was simply magic, and some alien entities might offer such knowledge, and it might give power, but any worship they were given by humans didn't honestly seem to interest them at all unless it happened to give them something to eat, or breed with, or host within. Divinity didn't really exist in the DnD sense of gods and worshippers (though Azathoth, Shub-Niggurath, Yog-Sothoth, and Nyarlathotep would conceivably be best represented as entities of vast, deific type power, though they tended to be personifications of abstract concepts, more like DnD archfiends rather than DnD gods).

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Dunwich Horror has a few little things that could be considered spells of the "witchy" type...mind control/clouding, that kind of thing.

And there are definitely "rituals" performed to open connections between the humans and the otherworldly beings they worshipped.

As I recall, the "priest" in Dagon called forth wealth from the sea.

But on the whole, the Lovecraftian mythos shares with Moorcock's Eternal Champion story arc the characteristic of magic being more the purview of powerful otherworldly beings- almost everything supernatural is due to pacts or bindings of some kind. Humans are generally limited to making contact with those beings, in exchange for powers or favors.