Lovecraftian Horror/Adventure

[Shireling]

<p>


Something I've wanted to do for a long time is make a successful RP based off of the works of HP Lovecraft. I have had several ideas as to how to go about this and have attempted a few, but the truth is that there is a marked shortage of people who have read Lovecraft and would be interested. So I guess this thread serves the dual purpose on hashing out an idea for an RP and getting a group of, maybe not specifically Lovecraft readers, but horror enthusiasts together to ensure a successful endeavor. For those who maybe know a little about Lovecraft but haven't read him, you can read most of his works here at:<a href="" rel="external nofollow">https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.dagonbytes.com/thelibrary/lovecraft/&ved=0ahUKEwiwrsT3gY_OAhXlJJoKHdAuAZkQFggsMAA&usg=AFQjCNGVJLFM2GL4HdiUrz0HIwXS6piLWg&sig2=Pc-OrV_Ol0ix0XqzoAuh_g</a> On to the setting and plot ideas! So, I have several. I'll run through them in some detail. 1. Modern Arkham/Modernized Lovecraft The premise behind this idea is that in the years since most of the events of the Cthulhu Mythos (circa 1920's) Arkham has changed at a much slower rate than the rest of the country due to its isolation and close-knit structure. It is now modern day (2016), however, Arkhamites live and behave as they have since the 1950's with Puritanical social and political beliefs, extremely conservative modes of dress, and having access to barely any digital age technology. All phones in Arkham are landlines, no Internet, no chain restaurants, etc. It is late summer time, and while arriving for classes at the Miskatonic University, a group of young individuals (some of the player characters) from other parts of the country descend on Arkham. They are part of a handful of people who were born outside of Essex County with presumably modern tastes and attitudes that mix uncomfortably with the out-of-time Arkhamites (the other player characters). Beginning in August, a string of ritual killings is investigated by the Arkham Police Department. The out-of-towners are astonished at the lack of amazement or particular horror by the natives, and decide to lend their services as vigilante investigators. Meanwhile, the Police and assorted townsfolk are hot on the trail yet again of a cult that has evaded capture for fifty years. Has potential for sequalization involving the cult's use of alternate dimensional portals. 2. Submarine Debacle The crew of a German u-boat go missing in the Pacific supposedly carrying an experimental weapon from Germany to German East Africa and after the war the British government hires a team of divers to track the sub down and search the wreckage. The divers find more than what They bargain for after finding the source of the sub's disappearance: the underwater city of R'lyeh and its famous resident. 3. Antartic Expedition Basically a retelling of <em>At the Mountains of Madness</em> with more character interaction and original characters. 4. Noir with Tentacle Monsters A seductive femme fatalle hires an unwitting PI in Arkham to investigate a ddisappearance. Assisted by friends in law enforcement and academia, the detective learns that his employer might have darker motives. 5. Alternate Arkham Characters are the survivors of a cataclysmic war between Humanity and an aggressive extra-dimensional race. Arkham is filled with ghouls and ghosts, products of dimensional distortion, and corpses reanimated by the mysterious Red Mist.


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[sakigamis]

!!!!!!!!! I'm actually just getting into Lovecraft, working my way through a huge-ass annotated collection bit by bit. I think I've read maybe 10 or so stories as of now? most of which take place in the general region of Arkham if not the town itself. The modern(ish)!Arkham idea caught my eye Sadly, I kind of suck at making OCs so I probably wouldn't join, but if you want I can help spread this! I know a couple of people that would probably be into this.

 

[Shireling]

!!!!!!!!! I'm actually just getting into Lovecraft, working my way through a huge-ass annotated collection bit by bit. I think I've read maybe 10 or so stories as of now? most of which take place in the general region of Arkham if not the town itself. The modern(ish)!Arkham idea caught my eye Sadly, I kind of suck at making OCs so I probably wouldn't join, but if you want I can help spread this! I know a couple of people that would probably be into this.

That'd be great actually.

 

[Grey]

Are you familiar with the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game?


Has tons of useful mythos stuff, locations, and fully plotted scenarios - and a significant fanbase. Good to plunder for material, good to namedrop to attract fans.

 

[Shireling]

Are you familiar with the Call of Cthulhu tabletop roleplaying game?
Has tons of useful mythos stuff, locations, and fully plotted scenarios - and a significant fanbase. Good to plunder for material, good to namedrop to attract fans.

I'm familiar with Arkham Horror, but not Call of Cthulhu.

 

[Saccharine Cyanide]

I'm so interested!


I've been dying for a Lovecraft-type rp.


I really like idea #1, though I feel it may be missing a bit of the element of supernatural horror. Maybe that's just my personal taste speaking, though.

 

[Shireling]

[QUOTE="Saccharine Cyanide]I'm so interested!
I've been dying for a Lovecraft-type rp.


I really like idea #1, though I feel it may be missing a bit of the element of supernatural horror. Maybe that's just my personal taste speaking, though.

[/QUOTE]
It's a cult of sorcerers, so hopefully supernatural enough for ya.

 

[Grey]

Not to derail anything, but I thought you might be interested on something I'm working on, Shireling.


Ooh, and a really good example of modernized Lovecraft that served as my inspiration and which might be useful to you, in addition to being a good read.


A Colder War - a novelette by Charles Stross

 

[Shireling]

Not to derail anything, but I thought you might be interested on something I'm working on, Shireling.
Ooh, and a really good example of modernized Lovecraft that served as my inspiration and which might be useful to you, in addition to being a good read.


A Colder War - a novelette by Charles Stross

I read over your thread and quite liked it. If you want, we can sort of pool resources into yours and see how It does.

 

[Grey]

Possibly, but I tend be... not quite a control freak, but I don't collaborate very well. Tend to fall into a directorial role.


I'd be happy to offer my years of experience to help with your plans if you want, though. Advisory I can do, and I like quite a few of the ideas. The first one is a solid introductory concept for people unfamiliar with the Mythos and genre in general.


The submarine debacle would make a really good short-form RP. Pers'nally I think it'd work better as a short story, though.


Antarctic expedition... I can see the appeal, but I dunno, feel like you'd be missing a good opportunity to do something else.


Noir/Lovecraft is a fuckin' great mashup that's been gaining traction in a few forms of fiction the last decade or so. I've been prodding at that idea myself.


Alternate Arkham is a decent starting point, but I think you can take it to more interesting places. Puts me in mind of King's The Mist.





I think you could probably get the most out of the first and fourth concepts, and possibly the last one but it'd take a lot of work. Since you're unlikely to get a useful number of votes or feedback, which one really excites you? Best to work on that one.


Also, have you heard of Cthulhutech? Not necessarily recommending it, but in short it's the Mythos in a sci-fi anime setting - mankind using mecha to fight Mi-Go. That's selling it a bit short, but it's pretty dense to try and explain.

 

[Shireling]

Possibly, but I tend be... not quite a control freak, but I don't collaborate very well. Tend to fall into a directorial role.
I'd be happy to offer my years of experience to help with your plans if you want, though. Advisory I can do, and I like quite a few of the ideas. The first one is a solid introductory concept for people unfamiliar with the Mythos and genre in general.


The submarine debacle would make a really good short-form RP. Pers'nally I think it'd work better as a short story, though.


Antarctic expedition... I can see the appeal, but I dunno, feel like you'd be missing a good opportunity to do something else.


Noir/Lovecraft is a fuckin' great mashup that's been gaining traction in a few forms of fiction the last decade or so. I've been prodding at that idea myself.


Alternate Arkham is a decent starting point, but I think you can take it to more interesting places. Puts me in mind of King's The Mist.





I think you could probably get the most out of the first and fourth concepts, and possibly the last one but it'd take a lot of work. Since you're unlikely to get a useful number of votes or feedback, which one really excites you? Best to work on that one.


Also, have you heard of Cthulhutech? Not necessarily recommending it, but in short it's the Mythos in a sci-fi anime setting - mankind using mecha to fight Mi-Go. That's selling it a bit short, but it's pretty dense to try and explain.

That sounds pretty interesting. The story involving the Mi-go was the creepiest one to me. (can't remember the name, but it was the one where the guy was writing to this dude out in the country and he shows up and they put his brain in a jar and took his body).

 

[Shireling]

Also, personally I like the modern Arkham or the noir idea the best. I like anachronistic stuff, so the whole men out of time dynamic for the Arkhamites appeals to me.


Also, I just like noir.

 

[Grey]

Good choices.


For the modern Arkham, I think you could stand to modernize it just a bit more - maybe drag it up to the 80s or 90s, but retain the kind of archaic provincialism stereotypically attributed to the Deep South (I reckon Lousiana is great for modern mythos stuff, incidentally). Not to mention New England is infamously primeval territory - maybe they do have cell phones, but coverage is basically nil.


Also, how many players do you expect to have? Do you think it'll be a split between locals and visitors?


Having some players be locals will be tricky, but could be really rewarding. I think the easier option, for reference, is that players are all visitors. In fact, consider this - one or two players left Arkham to go to college and have decided bring some friends back for the Summer. But one of them is going to hear the Call soon and begin transforming into a Deep One...


Remember, it's horror - so isolation and powerlessness are important. Too many players, with too much knowledge, can make that tough to do.


Tricky to build a party for Noir. Can't say much about it with just that short description.


Here's a good trick for that kind of story, though - start with the incident. What event kickstarts the plot, and what things lead to it, and what are the natural consequences? Far easier and more organic than trying to plot things out.

 

[Shireling]

Good choices.
For the modern Arkham, I think you could stand to modernize it just a bit more - maybe drag it up to the 80s or 90s, but retain the kind of archaic provincialism stereotypically attributed to the Deep South (I reckon Lousiana is great for modern mythos stuff, incidentally). Not to mention New England is infamously primeval territory - maybe they do have cell phones, but coverage is basically nil.


Also, how many players do you expect to have? Do you think it'll be a split between locals and visitors?


Having some players be locals will be tricky, but could be really rewarding. I think the easier option, for reference, is that players are all visitors. In fact, consider this - one or two players left Arkham to go to college and have decided bring some friends back for the Summer. But one of them is going to hear the Call soon and begin transforming into a Deep One...


Remember, it's horror - so isolation and powerlessness are important. Too many players, with too much knowledge, can make that tough to do.


Tricky to build a party for Noir. Can't say much about it with just that short description.


Here's a good trick for that kind of story, though - start with the incident. What event kickstarts the plot, and what things lead to it, and what are the natural consequences? Far easier and more organic than trying to plot things out.

You raise good points. I wanted to make Arkham stuck in the 50's because the value systems of the 50's were pretty similar to those of the 20's and before, but the 70's and 80's were wildly different due to the influence of the counterculture. There was no counterculture in Arkham during the 60's, henceforth no change in value systems.


That said, it's pretty anachronistic. The cars are mostly from the 70's, 80's, and 90's. Arkhamites don't own cellphones because there's no reception anyways so why bother? Also, no Internet except maybe at the University, spotty satellite internet. No company will carry a fiberoptic line out that far and the weather limits the effectiveness of satellite internet.


Men have worn suits since the dawn of time until recently so as far as fashion goes, the average Arkhamite is more formally dressed than anyone else. I didn't imagine the women would wear petticoats, but probably just simple plain or floral print knee-length dresses. You know, your typical 50's housewife look.


(If you haven't noticed, I'm a sucker for detail.)


The typical Arkhamite is probably pretty religious, at the very least inclined heavily to believe in the supernatural. They're also probably more than a little racist, anti-semetic, and sexist.


Basic gist is, Arkham changes but it never REALLY changes.

 

[Grey]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I was thinking more that technology maybe had managed to progress than anything else. Some parts of the real USA still think it's the 50s, afterall.


Make sure you're prepared for not just players, but characters to realize how weird it is, though. Maybe start asking questions or freaking out.


Goddamn, and now I have the urge to run a game about a group of CIA operatives trying to keep eldritch artefacts out of the wrong hands without official government approval or humane rules of engagement.

 

[Shireling]

Yeah, that sounds about right. I was thinking more that technology maybe had managed to progress than anything else. Some parts of the real USA still think it's the 50s, afterall.
Make sure you're prepared for not just players, but characters to realize how weird it is, though. Maybe start asking questions or freaking out.


Goddamn, and now I have the urge to run a game about a group of CIA operatives trying to keep eldritch artefacts out of the wrong hands without official government approval or humane rules of engagement.

It's supposed to be weird. Its Lovecraft. xD

 

[Grey]

Oh, I know, but sometimes players can struggle to suspend their disbelief. It's got to be weird, but to start with weird in a way that is just left of reality. Sometimes, a thing making too much sense is disquieting.

 

[Shireling]

Oh, I know, but sometimes players can struggle to suspend their disbelief. It's got to be weird, but to start with weird in a way that is just left of reality. Sometimes, a thing making too much sense is disquieting.

True.

 

[Shireling]

Oh, I know, but sometimes players can struggle to suspend their disbelief. It's got to be weird, but to start with weird in a way that is just left of reality. Sometimes, a thing making too much sense is disquieting.

I finally figured out who I'm going to use as the baddies. After Innsmouth was mostly destroyed by Federal agents in the 1920's, the Esoteric Order of Dagon retreated into the marshes of Essex County and slowly recultivated a following in Ipswitch and Arkham of cultists using the guise of the Atlantic Order, a supposed gentlemanly secret club founded in Arkham in the 1950's. They are angry that humanity spurned their cousins and their god, Dagon, and plan to commit a ritual sacrifice to awaken Dagon's spouse, Hydra, from a deep slumber to wreak havoc on the world's coasts and make Humanity fear the Deep Ones, wherein the Atlantic Order cultists will become the rulers of a defeated human race.


Pretty typical stuff.

 

[Grey]

Hey, if it works it works. Plenty of nice conspiracy twists and breadcrumbs for the players in that.

 

[Shireling]

Hey, if it works it works. Plenty of nice conspiracy twists and breadcrumbs for the players in that.

Yup. Here's your prologue.

Spoiler

Prologue


December 1927


The trucks bounced on the rutted wagon roads as they converged, bearing their payloads of death, on the mouldering and rotting New England town. A convoy approached from Arkham, and another from Boston. Sixty trucks. Biplanes flew overhead spotting out the terrain in the bright moonlight. The town of Innsmouth rose up sullen and malicious on the horizon.


Long into the night, the clustered farmhouses built on the small islands of dry land surrounded by the Innsmouth marsh shook with the force of explosions. Automatic gunfire rang out through the night. When the morning light dared to show it's face in that damnable wetland, smoke trailed up from the oceanfront and the trucks were driving out, the stone-faced soldiers riding in the back were rigid with terror, and a careful observer would find some of the trucks were empty.


And if that same keen observer had turned his attention towards the marsh, they might have seen the form of a bulbous, slimy head sticking out of the water--topped by a man's felt hat.


See, canonically, Barnabus Marsh was supposed to die in the Innsmouth raid, but I let him live so he could exact his revenge. And since he was one of the Deep Ones who most retained his humanity, he would also be a somewhat sympathetic villain. As in, people would feel somewhat sorry for him.

 

[Shireling]

Hey, if it works it works. Plenty of nice conspiracy twists and breadcrumbs for the players in that.

Here, I have a list of locations. This is just in Arkham, I plan to add Dunwich, Ipswitch, Newburyport, Innsmouth, and Boston as visitable locations.

Spoiler

Miskatonic University at Arkham


Arkham's claim to fame is the Miskatonic University, the most prestigious in Massachussets and perhaps the Northeast. Being a private college, only the spawn of more affluent New Englanders typically attend. Students from around the country can, however, apply for the Tuition Lottery and be awarded four years tuition and board free if their name is drawn. Miskatonic is known for its collection of eldritch manuscripts donated in the 18th Century by the Orne family, and it's rather odd student codes which forbid participation in "Occult Activity" and "the reading of ungodly manuscripts except under supervision."


La Guarde House


With the dormitories reserved for paying students only, students involved in the Tuition Lottery are given board in the La Guarde House in French Hill. The boarding house has strict curfew and conduct policies and is run by an owl-eyed board master. It also functions as Arkham's low-cost motel.


National Grocery, Arkham


National Grocery went out of business as a chain in the mid-20th Century, but the owners of the local NG merely continued to use the old store name and run it as a mom-and-pop grocer.


Miskatonic Riverfront


The Riverfront is populated by warehouses, wharfs, and abandoned textile mills that were the heart of the city in the early 1800's.


Arkham Uptown


Uptown is home to Arkham's more affluent families. The rows of well-kept antebellum and Victorian houses exudes old New England wealth.


Arkham Downtown


Downtown is the commercial heart of Arkham, populated by shops and craftsmens' workshops. The Arkham Police Department is headquartered here as well as City Hall.


Hangman's Hill


The old hill was once used to execute criminals by hanging. In modern times, it is a purportedly haunted graveyard.


St. Paul's, Bethesda, and First Baptist Church


The worship centers that service most of the city, St. Paul's is an ancient Catholic Church in Downtown. Bethesda is a congregationalist church populated primarily by Arkham's elite, and the First Baptist Church is located on the Riverfront and primarily services the poor and working class.


The Smoking Horse Tavern


The only establishment in Arkham allowed to sell alcohol as per city ordinance, the Smoking Horse has survived for two centuries against occasional incursions of Puritan citizenry against it. During Prohibition, the Tavern became a lackluster restaurant until the 18th Ammendment was repealed and it went back to being a mediocre bar.


Arkham Sanitarium


Although old and decrepit, the Sanitarium still services the physically and mentally ill of Arkham. In absence of a true hospital, Sanitarium staff also serve as the town's urgent care.


Atlantic Order Hall


The headquarters of a gentlemanly secret club that organizes once a month, with their largest ceremonies being held outside of town every May Eve and Halloween. Most of the town thinks nothing of them, but some of the older residents of the town are wary of the building.


Masonic Hall


The headquarters, in Arkham, of the Free Masons, a secret society. It is located in Uptown, across the street from the hall of the Atlantic Order and conduct their ceremonies primarily in secret. Rumors abound that the Masons have access to secret catacombs that run under the city. Most of the town regards them as harmless, but youngsters and out-of-towners are generally wary of the imposing edifice.


Indian Island


An island on the Miskatonic River as it flows into the Atlantic. It is uninhabited, but presumed to be the center of occult activity. Archeological expeditions to the island have turned up ruins from an unknown Pre-Columbian civilization.

 

[Grey]

As long as Marsh isn't necessarily the end of the line, this all looks good.


I only say that because sympathetic antagonists are not wholly in the spirit of the mythos, but definitely a more timely and functional device in tandem with the classic cosmic horrors. It's good to contrast that with human evils, in my opinion.

 

[Shireling]

As long as Marsh isn't necessarily the end of the line, this all looks good.
I only say that because sympathetic antagonists are not wholly in the spirit of the mythos, but definitely a more timely and functional device in tandem with the classic cosmic horrors. It's good to contrast that with human evils, in my opinion.

Well Marsh is basically just an intermediary. He's by no means the big baddy. Can you explain what you mean by contrasting with "human evils"? I'm not really sure what was meant.

 

[Grey]

I gen'rally feel it can be effective to prime players with exposure to things like police brutality, negligent parenting, and the gruesome results of some corrupt governance. Even moreso if you have NPCs doing horrible things for what they believe to be the right reasons.


Because then the veil is drawn back and it provides that alteration of perspective that can push a character to breaking point - these awful things done, all that suffering, and it turns out to be for nothing.


I got great results from making players witness the atrocities of a third world dictator for an hour and half before any Mythos stuff showed up at all.