That's the question.

I'd especially like to hear from the Cthulhu-curious, though I'm also interested in the ideas of our resident cult members.

I know almost nothing about CoC mechanically, but I love the idea of it. I would definitely be interested in learning if that's an option.

I'd like to play something contemporary, something that I may live in my real life.

As an old hand and long-time Keeper, I'd like to play instead of run. I'd also like to play something rules light or ultra-light. Something where the mechanics don't inevitably get in the way of the fiction.

I know Call of Cthulhu characters are "investigators," but I don't want to investigate much, I want to do stuff. I don't want to be Professor Angel or the narrator of Call of Cthulhu. I want to be Inspector Legrasse or Mate Johansen. Yes, they technically "investigated" stuff, but they never knew the whole story and got to deal first hand with exciting and horrible stuff.

I guess that depends on which version. Lol

I'm afraid, Yaztromo, that I never set my stories in the current period. I think 1992 is the latest year I've ever used.

As for the rest of you, my characters rarely know the whole story and get downright personal with the horrible and exciting. I use a somewhat-modified 7th edition, but never let mechanics interfere with narrative, thought the dice sometimes have their way with us. And it's always a learning experience as we go along, so novices are welcome (though rules arguments are not). Don't worry, I've got your back.

Still hoping to hear from more of you out there. Also, give me a bit more concrete ideas to work with. One game might not hit all of them, but let's see what we can come up with. I've run settings from late 19th to late 20th century, mostly American but some British. Throw in some ideas!

Ideas, you say?

How about Dark Age/med. Wales (Cadfael, but tentacles :D)? Mediaeval France (the Cathars were innocent, but what if the Perfects' end-of-life rituals were inherited from something darker?)? Soviet Russia (extra paranoia on your paranoia/yet another reason cruelty to indigenous peoples and their equilibrium with their territories is a terrible idea)? Recent post-purchase Alaska (investigators are Yupik/Russian refugees pushed into Avoided Areas by the American colonial influx and wholesale seizure of homes and land)?

I think I laid out more ideas last time you did one of these threads, but how about Roman Egypt for beginners? The option for sand things, water things, would-be rebels or agents of Imperial intriguing getting their hands on Artefacts of Terror in an environment already a seething soup of small strange gods hungry for worship, that kind of thing? If picking on Egypt as a source of ancient mystery is too...ah, cliché, the same might be said of Byzantium.

Beginners might honestly like some of the simplest white bread and plain butter, though, some '20s American stuff picked off the shelf.

Well so far I've played:

• An Irish opera singer who went to Italy to join Mussolini after she had a run in with some lesser servitors
• An American journalist in Wales who thinks he's safe after killing the first lot of My-Go he met
• My own grandfather - a trawlerman in 1930s Grimsby.
• A fortune teller in the nastier parts of 1890s London who ended up dying, sane and alone in somewhere MUCH Much Nastier.

I'd quite like to play:

• In Kievan Rus when the Mongols are coming
• In Tenochtitlan before the Spanish come
• In Chad before the Sahara forest becomes a desert
• In one of the Hindu kingdoms of Indonesia when the Chinese are coming from the North and the Moslems from the West.

The Conan stories loosely tie in to the Cthulhu Mythos, bizarrely (Howard and Lovecraft were part of a group of authors who regularly corresponded). The description of some of the 'old gods' in Howard's Conan stories definitely have similarities.

‘The nameless, forgotten ones. Who knows? They have gone back into the still waters of the lakes, the quiet hearts of the hills, the gulfs beyond the stars. Gods are no more stable than men.’

Soon your ghost will talk with the ghosts of the Dark Land, and they will tell you of the old gods which are not dead, but sleep in the outer abysses, and from time to time awake.

That said, I'm a big fan of more pulpy Cthulhu, either classic 1920s or the 1930s. I have a slight preference for the 1930s (slightly more reliable technology, particularly aircraft).  Coincidentally, the 1930s are also the setting for most of the (excellent) Sherlock Holmes pastiches by Mythos author August Derleth: the Solar Pons stories.

Generally speaking, I prefer to play characters that are insanely curious but have no idea what they are investigating but they keep getting thrown into strange circumstances.  My last character was a 10-year-old female street kid that dressed as a male (because it is easier being a male) that was constantly trying to steal anything that looked "expensive".  I do not think that would work with the adult policy though.

Maybe make a tequila smuggler from Mexico that just brought a large shipment to (whatever town) and gets drawn into a strange story.

I think the Weimar Berlin sourcebook would be fun to use.

Or something contemporary. I had some vague ideas about an ancient tome being unearthed in Iraq or Syria as an unintended consequence of the Daesh atrocities against museums.

Hyborian era would be awesome (I’ve run a couple of Conan games here)

For me as important as the theme / location of the game is also the style. I much prefer story / role playing over game mechanics / roll playing.

The last time I played CoC, it was with a Great, White Hunter named Lord Howard Hurtz. He had excellent tracking and shotgun skills, and with the weird twists the game took, he actually discovered the great Asiatic Elephant burial grounds.....in Japan. He encountered a unicorn and his only thought was to bag it as a trophy. He was a bit deranged, but Cthulhu weirdness never fazed him.
This message was last edited by the user at 13:46, Wed 08 June 2022.

I would definitely echo the desire for a Dark Ages game. The period is inherently hazardous on multiple levels even when the situation is reasonably grounded and sane, then you throw the Mythos into the mix.

I’m also genuinely curious about a game set in the American western frontier, circa the late nineteenth century. The period covered by Down Darker Trails.

I already played in some of Gaffer's Cthulhu games with pleasure and indeed the ruleset was never an hindrance to action, although the dice can occasionally be your most evil enemy on RPoL! ;P

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 03:11, Thu 09 June 2022.

This also has high potential, handled well, though it does increase the chances of running into the most dangerous animal in CoC about 1000%.

Currently my muse is not on speaking terms with me, but I thouht aout an 'Ars Magica' troop style game of Cthulutech.  I 3gad a lot of fun where we were competing with the Nazi's for artifacts before WW2 ala Indiana Jones, except the organization was Jewish, the Sepheroth were Elder Gods, and God was quite 'insane.'

Cthulhu Brittanica with healthy dose of Romans thrown in

Interesting responses.

I don't think I have enough background for a Hyborian/Conan/Howardesque setting (though I enjoyed the stories long ago). And Dark Ages/Invictus feels like a heavy lift in terms of set-up. Likewise, Weimar Berlin is quite appealing, especially after the fabulous Berlin Babylon series and I've considered it but feel like it requires too much backgrounding for the players (and quite a bit for me) to do it justice. Finally, what little I know about Cthulhutech I despise, sorry.

So in the end, what I really want to know is what sort of characters and story would any/all of you like to see for Cthulhu between about 1890 and 1960?

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 20):

If I'm not mistaken, talking about specific characters in an interest check thread is against the site's rules.
This message was last edited by the user at 18:33, Wed 15 June 2022.

This message was deleted by a moderator, as it was against the forum rules, at 03:11, Thu 16 June 2022.

Please remember that, per the rules of this forum, specific characters can not be discussed or selected here.

Thank you.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:17, Thu 16 June 2022.

 liblarva is extra-right! General sorts of characters aren't allowed either, in case anyone answers that question.

In reply to coded steve (msg # 19):

Zu Asche, zu Staub...

Weimar Germany would be awesome, it gives scope for a wide range of stories ranging from: cabaret in a haunted theatre; via life and dead struggles between Nazis and Communists on the Streets of Berlin with vile third parties arising to threaten all; to the misadventures of those who seek power through the occult.

In reply to Alcuin (msg # 25):

Didn't you love the echoes of the dance hall in the cult ceremony? What a great series! The books are good too, though quite different.

I may need to do something in 1920s Berlin after all.
This message was last edited by the user at 04:51, Fri 17 June 2022.

In reply to liblarva (msg # 21):

Was looking for something general, like "big game hunter in Africa" or "rum runner in Louisiana" or such.

That wouldn't push too far, would it, bbr?

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 27):

Nope, because those would be game themes, not individual characters.

To be honest, I have never read the Geryon Rath books.  I came to the TV series, what I could find of it (not living in Germany) via the song, which I LOVE.

That said, decades earlier, I had read Christopher Isherwood's books set in the same era - I am a Camera, Mr Norris Changes Trains and Goodbye to Berlin. And of course, there's the actual work of Weimar artists such as Brecht and Weil and Lotte Lenya.

Put it all together and it makes a marvellous sourcebook for horror in twenties Berlin.

In reply to Alcuin (msg # 29):

If you want, send me an rMail so we can fanboy about Berlin Babylon and Berlin: The Wicked City.
This message was last edited by the user at 03:40, Sat 18 June 2022.

Anyone else want to toss any ideas on the table?

The hippie era of the 1960's. Peace and love meet Lovecraft

Add to that: Make L R Hubbard your Call of Cthulhu nemesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard

A very relevant quote from his wiki page (you couldn't make this stuff up)



Plus he staged the largest spy operation against the american government... ever...


Members of the GO infiltrated and burglarized numerous government organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.[267] After two GO agents were caught in the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the IRS, the FBI carried out simultaneous raids on GO offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. on July 7, 1977. They retrieved wiretap equipment, burglary tools and some 90,000 pages of incriminating documents. Hubbard was not prosecuted, though he was labeled an "unindicted co-conspirator" by government prosecutors. His wife Mary Sue was indicted and subsequently convicted of conspiracy. She was sent to a federal prison along with ten other Scientologists.

He had his SeaOrg which reads like a cthulhoid cult write large

..

Plus you have flower power and 'love and peace man'.


Could be awesome

The 1970s: political disenchantment and corruption, assorted cults (including the Jonestown Massacre), lots of terrorist/criminal gangs (especially in Europe), organized crime operating with impunity, soldiers returning from war, lots of young people seeking escape through drugs, alcohol, wild fashions, and partying. A lot like the 1920s...

The 1930s.

Many cults were political at the time:  Father Coughlan in Chicago; Huey 'Kingfish' Long in Louisiana; Upton Sinclair's EPIC (End Poverty in California).  The IWW were still going strong.  There were Soviet, Nazi and Japanese agents.  The Wall Street Crash had crashed the economy.

Meanwhile, WHAT did Robert Johnson meet at the crossroads, and how did Americans begin to see the victims of the dustbowl as somehow monsters coming to steel the little they had?

1890s/1900s Edwardian/Belle Epoque style.

(That said, I did love the Elizabethan England in "Strange Aeons" and Anglo-Viking England of Cthulhu Dark Ages)

First of all... I never played Call of Cthulhu. I read the tales, however.

I always wanted to play in Argentina in early 1900s. Center and South. And make it a crossover. Crossover?
My idea:
Cthulhu=Gualichu

The Necronomicon awaits in the Library of the University of Buenos Aires.
Roca is still considered a hero for the "Campaign of the desert", a military campaign to commit genocide against numerous tribes in the center and south of the country, among them Mapuches, Tehuelches and Pampas.
The Tehuelches and Pampas feared Gualichu, an evil god. An evil god that manipulated emotions and minds. Some even said, that Gualichu itself was crazy and was now trying to recover sanity by eating it from ritualistic victims. Ranqueles, Pampas, Tehuelches and Mapuches feared Gualichu, trying to keep it at bay, both by evading the places where his presence was powerful and fighting against the individuals that worshipped him in secret.
That protection of the land ended with the Campaign of the desert. Roca assumed the presidency and some of his veteran soldiers formed... cults. In Buenos Aires. Cults that attempted to capture and kill animals from the zoo because they said that with certain rites, they could get some magical powers to control and make people kill other people at distance.
At the same time, in Rio Negro, 900 km south of Buenos Aires people went mad and killed people... and then confessed to the police that they suddenly felt the urge to kill random people. Again, 900 km in early 1900s in Argentina. No TV, No mail, no phone, no anything that could allow people to say "LOL, let's kill random people because some lunatics in Buenos Aires think they can order us to kill".
Another thing is the gift that Inacayal (Chief of Tehuelches) gave to Moreno... a book with papyrus and ebony? Where in the world would a South American chief get a book made of ebony and papyrus? The same chief that when it was a "guest/prisioner/hostage" in the Museum of La Plata, died in the morning when he was making a rite of protection against Gualichu.
The efforts of some groups trying to protect the few indigenous people after Roca's victory in his genocidical campaign, also seems to show two groups. A group that works for Gualichu and another against it.

Fun facts: In Valcheta, a town in Rio Negro, there is a zone with "wells that breathe". Holes in the ground, where it seems like the land itself breathes in and out... in turns of 36 hours. The sounds were studied, along with the pressure of the air and studies say it is the sea. Problem: The sea is kilometers to the east. So... it is either an inner and subterranearn sea with high and low tides every 36 hours or something very big is breathing under the ground.
Fun fact 2: There is a salt mine! "Gualicho's Salt mine"! It is very big and according to the legends, Gualichu is there. So... yes. The government has allowed to dig salt... that supposedly is containing Gualichu.