Sixty years ago, the Cult of Hastut recorded a film of a performance of "The King in Yellow". Now YOU must recover the footage before it falls into the wrong hands!
'Cages of Light and Lenses' is a Call of Cthulhu 7th ed horror adventure about lost film media, available now on DriveThruRPG. Written, designed and with layout all by Alison Cybe, award-nominated horror author, this adventure was unveiled at conventions in 2009 and is only now available to the public.
This is my first attempt at creating a single-person produced and published RPG suppliment, entirely by my own hand! This adventure comes complete with handouts and premade investigators, perfect for a night of horror. If you're a fan of lost films from the golden age of cinema, this is for you!
It is often said that Lovecraft's works (namely, Call of Cthulhu) are unadaptable due to their nature and content. However, this has been proven to be not entirely true. There was an independent adaptation of "Call" some years ago done in the style of a 1920s silent movie that effectively captured the feelings that the story is supposed to invoke.
However, that was just an indie thing. With today's audience preferences for big explosions at a constant pace and current studio trends, is it truly possible for a big studio to faithfully adapt "Call of Cthulhu" in a big budget manner and still be successful with a mainstream audience?
I truly have doubts that a big studio could pull it off and be successful if they were going for accuracy. In the story, Cthulhu himself only really appears at the climax. This would translate to a lot of buildup (that I think could build truly spectacular atmosphere and suspense/tension), world building, and then, maybe, tops, 10 minutes of screentime if the scene was stretched out slightly. Studio temptations to make Cthulhu appear onscreen throughout the movie and as a giant rampaging CG Godzilla clone aside, audiences themselves would probably go in expecting a monster movie and leave disappointed that he was only there in the end and was never presented as another threat when he WAS there, instead being shown as a cosmic force beyond human comprehension with no possible way to stop. They'd be expecting a giant fight and never really get it. It would probably be a box office bomb after word of that disappointment spreads.
Do you think it's possible to be faithful, mainstream, and still successful?
This past week I've been reading through the CoC investigator handbook, and I'm very excited to give the system a shot, be it in a one shot or something more long term.
I'm a 22 year old uni student from Sweden who loves to explore new ttrpg systems, and I have experience from a number of systems including D&D 5e, the Witcher ttrpg, Lancer and GURPS. I normally prefer to play on roll20 using Discord for voice communication, but I'm open to alternatives. Time-wise I prefer afternoon or night sessions, two to five hours apiece.
If you're interested, shoot me a message on here! Thanks.
I got the Fantasy grounds ruleset for 7th edition some months ago at full price. I and the players have been running it for quite some time, but it has always been a constant struggle with items missing, things just not working at all and core mechanics glossed over.
If you wonder what Fantasy grounds is, Fantasy Grounds is a virtual tabletop program in which you and many other players can sit down and play tabletop role-playing games even though there is an ocean dividing you. Think of it as roll 20 but more complex and maybe even convoluted.
Yesterday I sat down for 2 hours adding items to the item list that for some reason was not included in the core ruleset, even though they are mentioned in the core rule book. Some of you might say βassets donβt really matter.β Ah, but they do when it comes to role-playing, and Call of Cthulhu is a role-playing heavy game that does not focus that much on combat. When it comes to the character creation process, assets are a part of that character creation process in regards to your credit rating. Me, the keeper, would normally expect somebody that is rich to wear rich clothing. Me, as a keeper, would also have NPCs treat PCs differently if they are dressed poorly, rather than wealthy, depending on what part of society the players are in.
I should not have to add all these items to the game, they should already be there! All of them are there for Dungeons and Dragons for example, why not Call of Cthulhu? I should not have to do the developers job.
Then it comes to Vehicles. The vehicle section is completely empty. There are NO vehicles in the vehicles section. You can add Vehicles and then try to make your way through the reference manual from the core rule book, but you cant add the build, the armour players get and how many seats they are. And the vehicle stats just sit there and cannot be added to chases, so this results in you having to do extra work as a keeper since there is no way for you to keep track of the car in-game. Normally I would be able to do this hassle-free in real life with pen and paper, and I could still do so now, but this SHOULD exist in the module. Especially since we are expected to pay full price to this.
I reached out to the fantasy grounds forum and voiced my complaints that vehicles should be added and fixed. Instead of a βwe are working on itβ response, I got this instead. https://i.imgur.com/DKB4wII.jpg
Taken aback with the response I responded with this https://i.imgur.com/6kSzn
... keep reading on reddit β‘Does the combination of 1970s Grindhouse Horror and the Cthulhu Mythos sound like a good time for you and your game group?
Set in The Devil's Backbone of West Texas in 1975, Highway of Blood is a highly detailed sandbox scenario that presents the Keeper with a fleshed out setting full of creepy locations and NPCs, multiple plotlines, a horrible cult, a new servitor race for the Mythos, a new ritual spell, new optional rules for cinematic chases and desert environs, numerous handouts, and pre-generated characters for a couple of different example scenario hooks. It can also be used for Delta Green or any other horror RPG system of your choosing with very little effort. If you enjoy films such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Hills Have Eyes, Race With The Devil, The Devil's Rejects and so on, this is a scenario you don't want to miss!
Warning - Highway of Blood contains adult content including drug use, graphic violence, and profane language. It is strictly Rated R and not recommended for anyone 17 or under.
https://preview.redd.it/zmaamy43lkc41.jpg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=95f914b908412be91b1849092b71360752a4e8d8
D&D was my introduction to tabletop RPGs a few years ago, and I'm finally branching out to new systems! I'm making this video series to help myself learn Call of Cthulhu and to help others familiar with D&D broaden their RPG horizons. The video linked above covers:
- investigators vs. adventurers
- basic game mechanics
I would love to hear more tips from people who play both games!
Hello, RPG hivemind!
My boyfriend has expressed some interest in running a CoC game for me and some friends. This would be his first time GMing, though he's been playing D&D, FATE, Fiasco, Paranoia, and probably some other games for a while now. So I was thinking of getting him the starter set for christmas.
I took a look at the books proper as well, but even one of them is twice as expensive as the starter set, and it seems like you need both the Keeper's and Investigator's book. Am I understanding that right, or could he - as a newbie GM, mind - make do with one of them? If so, which one?
Now, for the starter set, have any of you used it? Is it good? What are the premade adventures (no spoilers, please) and characters like? Would you recommend it?
I'm very new to lovecraft. I've just watched video essays over the topic. So in Swedish class (I live in Sweden) we were assigned to read a book (Didn't matter if it was in Swedish or English), make a review/analysis of it and then make a text about the author, and I thought of reading any of Lovecrafts books. So should I pick one of the books in the title, or any of his other book.
PS.
This is a pretty small project, we have until easter or something. So I can't read a 1000 pages book (Edit: didn't know about him writing short stories. I first saw a book that looked like just one story with 500 pages, but actually had multiple of them)... I know Cthulhu is already pretty long, at least in comparison to Innsmouth (said that Cthulhu had 500 pages (edit: it doesn't...) and that Innsmouth had around 100).
Update: Iβve read βthe unnameableβ now and I really liked it. I decided to read a bunch of his novels to then make an analysis of his work in general. We had a really short class today so I didnβt want to read something really big right of the bat.
Be careful because this shit is VERY spoilery. I really want this game to gain more hype. So please upvote. We need more lovecraft games and we need to vote with our wallets! Please help this game gain some hype!
This is the trailer:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POU3H8JC0GQ&feature=youtu.be
and here are the images obtained by 0.25x speed on youtube:
https://imgur.com/a/MccOzHu
https://steamcommunity.com/games/399810/announcements/detail/1699437995151837106 This one really got me hyped for it. Look at all the inspirations!! Blade Runner, Citizen Kane, Caspar David Friedrich and ZdzisΕaw BeksiΕski!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow just look at some of these famous painters they took inspiration from! It certainly shows in the gameplay theyve shown thus far!
Ive compiled the art of their inspiration here:
https://imgur.com/a/Ktp5gzn
1.0(a)_(33564) was released at some point, relatively recently, but I'm not sure exactly when. No thread on the forums and GOGDB has no build-related information. GOG doesn't appear to have posted a changelog.
EDIT: The correct GOGDB page: https://www.gogdb.org/product/1189711155#builds
If I understand correctly, the Steam version was updated as well: https://steamdb.info/depot/22341/ (no thread on the Steam forums either)
UPDATE:
> After comparing 1.0_(14415) and 1.0(a)_(33564) side by side, it seems the only difference is one line in goglog.ini on the newer version.
>
> DelSubKey_0=false was added under both [1189711155] and [1189711155_remote]. Still have no idea what this effects.
Why you might care what I have to say.
I am a well-known game designer and horror personality. In 1981, I wrote the cult roleplaying game Call of Cthulhu, which has been translated into many languages and is still played world-wide. I developed or wrote dozens of supplements for that and other RPGs, and co-designed or designed Runequest, Stormbringer, Elfquest, and the Ghostbusters RPG.
In 1988, I entered the computer game world. I worked for Microprose, id Software, and Ensemble Studios, where I was on the teams creating Civilization, Doom, Quake, and the Age of Empire series, among others.
From 2009-2011 I was an instructor at the Guildhall at Southern Methodist University, where I taught game design to Masterβs degree candidates and helped develop the curriculum.
In 2011, I was Executive Producer for the film The Whisperer in Darkness, based on a story by H. P. Lovecraft.
From 2013 on, I have been president and lead designer of Petersen Games, behind a series of successful tabletop projects, including the notorious Cthulhu Wars. Earlier this year I launched Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder, a 500+ page definitive tome on the Mythos for RPGs.
My games have sold tens of millions of copies worldwide, and I've received dozens of awards. The two awards I am most proud of are my 2013 Howie award from the Lovecraft community and my 1990 Gaming Hall of Fame plaque, which is chosen by vote by the fans. I am regularly a guest at game and horror conventions around the world.
I still love games and host a weekly game night at my home in Rockwall, Texas. I have five children, eleven grandchildren as of 2018, and two mongrel dogs.
Be sure to check out our kickstarter campaign for Cthulhu Mythos for 5e - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petersengames/sandy-petersens-cthulhu-mythos-for-5e
Verification: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/petersengames/sandy-petersens-cthulhu-mythos-for-5e/posts/2306210
https://twitter.com/SandyofCthulhu/status/1047865293580787713
Contains major spoilers for The Curse of Nineveh campaign!
I ran The Curse of Nineveh campaign in Call of Cthulhu which lasted for more than twenty sanity-rending blood-soaked sessions. To commemorate it I commissioned artist @ChrisCantArt to paint us a picture of the climax. And boy did he deliver!
The climax started when the British monarch George V was possessed by the baddie, and one of my PCs murdered him right at the center of the annual royal garden party. This was just as London was about to be attacked by an avatar of Yog-Sothoth. It decimated the artistocracy at the soiree, and the characters barely survived - although one quite lost his mind.
Here the PCs have commandeered one of the many anti-air batteries scattered around London. It took quite a few barrages for it to finally fall. Fantasy Grounds VTT supported throwing "only" 30 dice at one time, so we ended up having to roll for damage in batches. They ended up dealing 12,461 HP of damage before the avatar went back to whence it came.
A few days later the same PC executed Edward VIII as part of the epilogue - another possession, or so he claims to this day. Later the whole thing was explained away by a German superweapon attacking London and their agents murdering the kings, so Weimar Republic took the blame. This paved the way for the eventual (expedited) rise of Hitler, more appeasement of Nazi Germany, and the start to an Achtung! Cthulhu campaign we're thirty sessions in, some players still using the same characters from the campaign in the 20s - if battle-weary and low on Sanity.
The PC who killed the two kings even met the next king George VI as the king personally launched a special section of the intelligence services at the onset of WWII to investigate the budding Nazi research into the Cthulhu Mythos. The king understandably has quite a keen interest in Cthulhu Mythos himself as a result of his dad and brother being murdered under rather curious circumstances. This time the king survived the encounter.
We couldn't be more thrilled how the image turned out! It captures the chaos of the scene, and even shows the PCs as I described them to Chris.
This paragraph on the first page has already got me hooked:
βThe most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little, but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.β
β H. P. Lovecraft, 1926
I don't know if this has been posted before, but I just realized that The Shining(Stanley Kubrick) is a perfect Call of Cthulhu, non-mythos type exposition. The evil, haunted hotel that slowly drives its tenants mad, with a rather extensive history of strange deaths and dealings. The crazy father with hidden agendas and the odd conversations with the hotel of horrors. The mother, noticing the suspicious, slow mental decline of the father, attempting the protect her son. And last but not least, Danny, with his psychic gift and the weird possession that takes over him. Plus, the NPC of the main chef, with background knowledge and the gift, as he comes back to help, only to get slaughtered by the BBEG.
I just thought I'd mention it.
Hello everyone!!
I would like to know if anyone has played this game yet, it was released in 2018 as you can see in this link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_of_Cthulhu:_The_Official_Video_Game
I played it and liked a lot, a good and very atmospheric experience... but I don't know if all the legend is correct while studying the game's plot... and also there is a monster named The Shambler that I have never seen before... I think it is not related to Cthulhu after all... I just got disappointed because I was expecting the summon of Cthulhu himself and after that some kind of battle or run for your life chapter....
I know several of his stories include other creatures such as Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth and Nyarlathotep but is there other stories about Cthulhu? Thanks.
It was really great fun to watch and it'd be brilliant to see CR branch out more into other tabletop games besides D&D. It would be amazing to have more to watch!
D&D was my introduction to tabletop RPGs a few years ago, and I'm finally branching out to new systems! I'm making this video series to help myself learn Call of Cthulhu and to help others familiar with D&D broaden their RPG horizons. The video linked above covers:
- investigators vs. adventurers
- basic game mechanics
I would love to hear more tips from people who play both games!
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