'Anyone check out Memento Mori yet? Supposed to be like a Bloodborne/Blasphemous inspired game made in Italy.
The quickstart is pay what you want on DTRPG and they released the core book and monster book I think, "Memento Mori" and "Memento Mori - Codex Gigas"';

'>>92633781
I still think about "A Jug of Sirup" sometimes in that book, I think it's one of the best ghost stories of all time and I hate ghost stories.';

'CoC newbie keeper here again, reading through the rulebook, and honestly, should I just not allow automatic weapons? The rules are ... really dumb for them.

I'm getting a little nervous and wish I had a way to practice combat and chase scenes, the horror and story telling and skill checks are all really easy and fun to do but... man, combat and chase stuff is killing me.';

'>>92633952
Check out the Delta Green lethality rules for automatic weapons if you haven't already.

As for practice, find a few pre-gens and/or monster stat blocks and run through combats and chases playing everyone until you feel comfortable with the mechanics to be able to improvise';

'What would people consider the top horror TTRPGs?
I know CoC, Delta Green, after that.... which ones are worth owning the core rulebooks for?';

'Book Club starter questions:
>What works?
>What's cool about it?
>Why is it so effective?
>What is the best part of it in your opinion?
>Thoughts on the characters?
>Is the villain effective?
>If you had to pick a moment that really scared you, which would it be?
>Is there anything you feel could have been expanded upon?
>What would you change?
>Would you use it as inspiration for a game?

We don't change Book Club topics that quickly, by the way. We keep them up for at least a couple weeks before switching.';

'>>92634834
Esoterrorists and Fear Itself are the main ones, being the ones this general talks about the most frequently behind CoC/DG. Vaesen is also really good. I also rec Unknown Armies, KULT, and Don't Rest Your Head.

Brazil has Ordem Paranormal/Paranormal Order, which is essentially their own take on Esoterrorists that's super popular over there. Can't say much about the game itself though since it's only in spanish.';

'>>92635107
>We don't change Book Club topics that quickly, by the way. We keep them up for at least a couple weeks before switching.
My apologies, I tried to do my best as it had been the better part of a day with no thread.
The Great God Pan is pretty straight forward though, with most of the content being in the last few chapters, hope I didn't mess up things too bad.
Tried to add a book most people wouldn't have read before but is definitely worth reading for horror/weird fiction.';

'>Imagine Azathoth floating out there in the middle of nowhere with all those beings around him
>Realize these things are all in the darkness unless they have bioluminescence or there are suns nearby
>Get even more scared';

'>>92635107
Does anyone even do this shit? I never see anyone even reply to it.';

'>>92635828
Yes, people do reply to it. Used to happen more before the 7 day autosage limit though.';

'>>92635107
>>92635889
I have an honest question, are you autistic?
They way you frame questions and state things seems very unemotional and kind of pompous.
If so, what are your favorite horror/weird fiction books? Out of curiosity.';

'>>92635814
>middle of nowhere
Azathoth doesn't reside "somewhere in outer space". He resides BEYOND dimensional space as we know it in "Ultimate Chaos".';

'>>92636064
Not sure what that has to do with anything. The questions are phrased that way simply because they're broad general questions.

>If so, what are your favorite horror/weird fiction books?
I really got into stuff like Nethescurial and the Red Tower, the Secret of Ventriloquism and more like that. Personal favorite is probably the Night Land.';

'>>92636132
Actually no, Azathoth does exist in our space, somewhere in the universe.
You might be thinking of Yog Sothoth, who is locked outside of our space time but has an active will.
Some people say Yog Sothoth is the active part of Azathoth, but the truth is Lovecraft created Yog as the big bad, but then made Azathoth as the ''blind idiot god'', so I see how it can be confusing.';

'>>92633781
Werewolf is always the answer to both questions. Or sometimes the Gilman.';

'>Be one of the many outer gods tasked with keeping Azathoth asleep so he doesn't wake up and the entirety of everything disappears when he wakes up

That has to be stressful.';

'>>92636345
Gillman is goated. I think due to all the other Universal monsters being remakes of older stories, whereas Gillman was 100% original to Universal.';

'>>92636321
Don't you fucking contradict me, I who autistically study the Lovecraft's works and letters to the extent it impinges on my mental health, and you who only spurts information from the wiki or the CoC game.
>There were, in such
voyages, incalculable local dangers; as well as that shocking final peril which gibbers
unmentionably outside the ordered universe, where no dreams reach; that last amorphous
blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the centre of all infinity—the
boundless daemon-sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws
hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time
>The legend of Yig, Father of
Serpents, remained figurative no longer, and I started with loathing when told of the
monstrous nuclear chaos beyond angled space which the Necronomicon had mercifully
cloaked under the name of Azathoth';

'>>92636395
I'm sorry, but you are wrong.
It's OK to be wrong.
Also I think you're copy/paste greentext from whatever wiki you were using messed up.
lol.
lmao.';

'>>92636440
>stated to be beyond Time
>stated to be beyond dimensioned space
>stated to be beyond angled space
>uh.... he's just floating somewhere in the universe';

'>>92636440
Derleth is that you?';

'>>92636501
Who the hell thought letting a ouija board connect to the internet was a good idea?';

'>>92633812
Is your picrel from the book? That's pretty cool.';

'>>92633781
>What is the most successful campaign you have run/played in?
If "successful" means well-received, then it was probably a d20 CoC 1920s campaign that started off as a simple whodunit and ended as an unholy congress of Lurking Fear and Hellbound Heart. That one helped to lock everyone in for four games a year with rotating GMs.
>What tools do you use besides the rulebooks?
Anything I need from oracles from solo games to soundscapes to physical documents (handouts or letters).
>How do you instill fear as a GM?
I aim for creepy and skincrawling, instead. Something that the group can take home with them to help unsettle the tedium.';

'>>92633781
what even is horror? is it when 'things are bad'? is it when stuff unravels on a deeper level? do you guys approach from the angle of trying to make players feel a particular thing, or from an aesthetic standpoint...? taking something that unsettles *you* irl?
the standard language of horror doesn't do much for me I guess, so I'm curious';

'>>92636668
I was trying to call up Mr. NoGood, sorry.';

'>>92637052
I played few horror campaigns, I come here most for art and interesting lore. In my experience people go for aesthetic since true horror, ie disturbing shit, always makes someone in the table uncomfortable. The ones with truly. It seems people only go for more usettling material when everyone already know each other well and everyone at the table dig the content. But if everyone is fine with, let's say serial killers, it is truly horror? Never saw someone getting scared in RPGs from horror tropes, only shit like "oh damn we are out of X resource, we gonna die".

But that's my very scarce experience, I too want to know more about others.';

'>>92636854
It is, for some reason this thread seems very uninterested in it.';

'>>92637139
I can't speak for everyone but gore/real life is boring, uninteresting, and dull.
Yeah Ed Gien had a nipple belt great he was insane who cares.
But something like a being beyond our comprehension turning even 1% of it's attention to me? Terrifying.
Imagine being in some infinite black space naked and slowly floating toward something that makes you want to cry and pass out just looking at it, and it's only becoming bigger and bigger, almost impossibly so with every moment you keep getting closer.
You keep getting closer but you aren't waking up, you can't wake up, and you are still slowly drifting toward this undescribable thing living darkness.';

'>>92637188
See, I feel almost exactly the opposite. Indescribable, incomprehensible super beings might be interesting to you at an intellectual level, but they're not something you can actually engage with, either in real life or in a game. A psycho with a knack for leatherwork, on the other hand, demands a response.';

'>What is horror?
I run a lot of successful Delta Green games. The horror comes from the mystery and paranoia. Players are given a briefing and set out looking into their initial clues, making assumptions about what’s going on. They start encountering more weird stuff and usually pretty quickly with what MIGHT be happening. Throw in a bit of paranoia that they’re being watched or manipulated, pretty soon people are exclaiming out of character that they’re very creeped out.
Hitting the right tone from the start is important though. Appropriate background music, playing their delta green NPC contacts as shifty/untrustworthy. Also encouraging them to mentally buy into their character by forcing a little home scene at the start where they have to try and excuse their sudden absence from their bonds. Now they’re not just a piece of paper, they’ve had to envision their mother or spouse as a real thing. They want to get back in one piece.

Even if they complete the operation and live, it’s very rare that they will understand the full picture of what happened. Leaves the players unsure of everything and usually unsettled.


Making sure to vividly describe the violence or gore helps keep those things horrible. The crunch of bone, the implosion of a skull, steam melting from boiled eyeballs of someone who was just your partner.

And yeah I’m not afraid to include rape or the occasional human trafficked sex slave or woman pregnant with a hybrid baby. When used correctly it’s very effective and surprisingly female players buy into it the most.

It’s about the journey not the destination, as cliche as that sounds.';

'>>92637314
I think it really boils down to be willing to have a higher sense of disbelief to get into the story.
If you can't connect with cosmic horror, then I can see how the real life terrors would be much more frightening.';

'Soon to be new keeper here, was thinking about running The Haunting but...
I really feel like I'd be more comfortable running a game from one of the many horror and weird fiction stories I've read.
Would this be a bad idea?
A game based on Laird Barron's "Blackwood's Baby" or Algernon's "Wendigo" or something.';

'>>92637314
>>92637396
Direct player interaction with cosmic beings should be extremely rare. These things operate on such a higher level of time and space and take no notice of humans. It’s dealing with how other humans have chosen to try and tap into these powers that creates the best situations for horror.

That, and forcing players into a situation where they have to make decisions that go against their morality no clear correct answer or sign that what they did was ultimately the right choice.';

'>>92637356
I think the fall of delta green is the last horror piece that got me excited (for those unfamiliar it's a gumshoe relative of delta green set during the second half of the 20th century; I haven't read regular delta green), just the sheer detail put into giving an impression of the PC's lives, the psyche of the world at the time, *who* was looking out for the world and how fragile it was, the mundane shit and the mindblowing shit... super cool. really made it feel 'real' to design an adventure.

I think I get you... I think my instinct is to get them to buy in, yeah. Idk if it's the deeper sense of 'horror' i was getting at, but I think it's the most practicable; simple investment in the world and a lack of control or certainty';

'>>92637150
The premise sounds fun and the art's great, but the preview on drivethru doesn't provide much in the way of mechanics and only d6 means I'm probably going to be changing a lot. Even if I like it I've still got to sell the players on a Plague Era setting.
So, interested - just haven't had time.';

'>>92637458
No players should be dancing with Azathoth.
No shit dumbass, 1% is maybe interacting with some cult.
You're the same guy that does the book club shit huh
Ask me how I knew.';

'>>92637563
The quickstart is pay what you want.
It really just seems like Bloodborne, the fan game.';

'>>92633812
Looking up Memento Mori takes me to a Gacha Game.';

'>>92637396
We might also just be talking about different things. I certainly don't hate cosmic horror. Oftentimes it's the thing that really sticks with me after I finish a story. I love the sense of deep time and cosmic insignificance you get in Lovecraft, Ligotti, etc. I just feel like that's the spicy aftertaste to good horror, and not the meat. It's the more immediate elements of physical threat that make the horror land in the moment.';

'>>92637417
Run what you're comfortable with, that's all. The Haunting is just a suggestion.';

'>>92638051
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/464206/memento-mori-quickstart-guide';

'>>92637417
You do you. The main reason to suggest running prefabs is to get the feel of investigations and the ways players interact with them so that when you make your own you are ready to handle stuff like weird leaps of logic and the proper set up of clues.';

'Well, after handing out 25 flyers at a local game store, no one has contacted me yet.
Sad times.
I guess just keep printing them off.';

'>>92640205
I think we are, in the end fear is a universally shared human trait, but what immerses us in it differs between people. I agree without a present threat it's less fear and more of a underlying itch of possible fear.';

'>>92641914
Sorry to hear that fren. I know it can be very frustrating with how many people are clamoring for infantile power fantasy games and how few want to experience horror and despair. You might have better luck finding the online hub for the game you’re after and organizing games there.';

'Guess I'll be the one to bite the bullet and help let people preview these.';

'>>92636321
>>92636395
Akchually there's no lore behind azathoth and yog-sothtot, not even nyarlathtotep, lovecraft only invented funny names and reused them each time he needed a menacing sounding god in his stories.
Again, they are just names that were supposed to sound meanacing and myserious, he never expected his readers to actually try to compare these deities across his different stories, he wrote for fucking magazines for god's sake.';

'>>92637052
I just stole this post from /v/, feels more related than it should to your question.

>There's a way this image makes me feel that I can't exactly put into words. It's adjacent to being frightened, or unnerved maybe. In a sort of Lovecraftian way, where the fear comes not from explicit danger, but from a sort of alien nature to a creature/object that renders it impossible to understand. Most of the time, I look at a human being, any human being, and I imagine that even though we have different opinions on things, different life experiences and different mental strengths and weaknesses, at the end of the day our brains still operate mostly (mostly) in similar ways, that can be similarly understood.

>But I look at this and it's just alien to me. Like there is a completely different suite of software running on their brain. They look human, and sometimes act human, but I feel like I have more in common with the thought process of any higher-order mammal like a bear or a dog than with whatever these individuals have going on. It's just something off about them that puts me extremely on edge. I couldn't sleep in the same building they were present in.';

'>>92643334
Go fuck yourself, retard.';

'>>92644070
Anon, I love his writings but you gotta admit that Shub-niggurath was just an ominous name with no lore behind. Same for Nyarlathotep. Most of the headcannon lore of those two entities was actually created by later authors such as Derelth who wanted to expand upon his universe.
This is the same reason why Lovecraft also frequently used the names of some of his pen-pals in his stories, he never expected people to investigate further, it just sounded cool.
Am I saying that his stories are bad? No, they aren't. In fact, this technique of leaving gaps and implying more than showing achieved exactly what Mr. Lovecraft intended: to sparkling the imagination of the reader.';

'>>92644206
Cthulhu is kinda an exception though, since there's a whole story about him.';

'>>92644206
It's never been more blatantly obvious that someone hasn't read jack shit of Lovecraft.
As I said, take your bait and fuck off, retard.';

'>>92643334
You have to be at least 18 years old to post here.';

'>>92644070
He is not wrong. A lot of Lovecraft mythos comes from later authors, he was very cryptic about his own creations.';

'>>92644247
i've read all of his cthulhu mythos stuff, except The case of charles dexter ward which I almost finished.
Want to know something cool? Nyarlathotep, which is always described as a being with a tentacle for a head, was never described by lovecarft as such. That was a detail invented by Derleth in a kinda-humorous story.
I bet you have never read August Derleth, but don't worry, neither do I have.';

'>>92644287
>neither do I have
Like I said, you need to be at least 18 years old to post here.';

'>>92644300
Lmao i'm not reading derleth garbage, he tried to shoehorn his christian beliefs into lovecraft alien gods
All his cthulhu mythos stuff, term which, btw, he coined, is all a bad pastiche.';

'>>92644287
>lovecarft';

'>>92644310
I was talking about your shit use of English. ''Neither do I have'' doesn't make any fucking sense, retard.';

'>>92644314';

'>>92644323
American education, ladies and gentlemen.';

'>>92644354
>I bet you have never read August Derleth, but don't worry, neither do I have.
You are obviously fucking high or drunk if you think that sentence makes any fucking sense.
Lovecraft alluded to the features and aspects of the various names he used throughout his works, if you read them.
It's very obvious you're some shit troll.
Fuck off out of the thread already. you aren't wanted.';

'>>92643124
Cheers, anon.
It will be interesting to get to see this at some point.
My impression from just seeing the previews of quickstart and codex gigas gave me Berserk vibes, not Bloodborne. Also, I'm not sure what a Drifter's motivation to interact with the world beyond the veil would be. But to be fair, the preview was pretty short - maybe a few more pages in it mentions if monsters come OUT of the veil.';

'>>92644449
No problem, they are currently being ''cleaned''.
I would feel bad but their kickstarter is funded off the charts and the print books are hundreds of dollars shipped to USA.';

'>92644206
>92644262
Lovecraft intentionally left things open so the rest of his circle could add and expand to things as they saw fit. Even then, he still co-wrote Silver Key and that one defines Yog-Sothoth. He wrote Dream Quest, and Nyarlathotep is the feature character right next to Randolph Carter.';

'Look out, fellow people who like playing pretend ghost detective. There appears to be a Very Tough Guy in this thread. Upset him at your peril.';

'lmao imagine being so delusional as to unironically believe the cthulhu mythos and the dream cycle share a single world
thanks for proving my point, retard';

'>>92633952
Automatic weapons really aren’t likely to come up, especially in a one-shot. I’ve been playing for years and it’s never been a factor.';

'>>92644287
>Want to know something cool? Nyarlathotep, which is always described as a being with a tentacle for a head, was never described by lovecarft as such. That was a detail invented by Derleth in a kinda-humorous story.
No? The God of the Bloody Tongue’s appearance is based off of a letter Lovecraft wrote.
https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/tm.aspx
I believe it was Chaosium that tied it to Nyarlathotep, but Derleth had nothing to do with it.
And besides, HPL explicitly said Nyarlathotep had 1,000 other forms. It’s not canon-breaking to give him alternate appearances. Bloody Tongue isn’t even Nyarlathotep’s default form, it’s his combat form. That’s why it shows up so often: It’s one of the more applicable forms for stuff like video games, board games or RPGs.';

'>>92645258
Don't engage the idiot, he's just trolling.

>>92644449
The artwork is certainly on point.';

'>>92645258
Actually no, it was Derleth who described it as such in this story:
https://lovecraft.fandom.com/wiki/The_Dweller_in_Darkness
I never said it was canon breaking, I just presented it as a fun fact to illustrate my point.
And yes, it's the most recognizable form of Nyarlathotep, my point is that Lovecraft had nothing to do with that.
>>92645301
keep seething';

'>>92645258
http://www.wyrmis.com/blots/2011/41/blot21350-dweller-in-darkness.html';

'>>92645337
>>92645347
Alright, fair enough on Derleth being the one to connect the form to Nyarla. But HPL still came up with the tentacle head design first, given the letter I cited is from 1927 and published in 1941 while Derleth’s story is from 1944.
I will say, I think you have a partial point in that Lovecraft had a looser definition of canonicity than people probably think, but I don’t think it’s fair to say every appearance by an entity is wholly disconnected to every other instance. Cthulhu is fairly consistent across Call of Cthulhu and Shadow Over Innsmouth. Nyarlathotep is always depicted as a schemer with implications of multiple forms and a joy for driving people to madness by showing them things beyond their comprehension. He’s also described multiple times as the soul of the Outer Gods, and depicted as a kind of servant to other deities.
It’s more like Lovecraft was making cosmic horror archetype characters, and then using those characters and letting other authors use those characters in moment where that particular deity or entity would fit. Not wholly disconnected, but not necessarily a hard canon either.';

'>>92645439
>But HPL still came up with the tentacle head design first
Idk about that. It's never stated that the creature from The Thing in the Moonlight is Nyarlathtotep, in fact, that was just a dream Lovecraft had. But yeah, this evades the real point.
>I don’t think it’s fair to say every appearance by an entity is wholly disconnected to every other instance
I mean, it could be, or maybe not. It's very vague indeed.
Cthulhu is the most consistent one, I will concede that, but even then, I sometimes wonder if the mentions of Cthulhu in other stories aside from Call of Cthulhu are either expansions on its lore or mere references/easter-eggs.
In The rats in the walls, for instance, Nyarlathotep is mentioned very randomly and for no reason, so my theory is that he was either just referencing his previous work, or he just wanted to use that name to evoke the feeling of fear of the unknown. That has lead me to believe that most of the time he uses these names are for this purpose too.';

'>>92645572
>Idk about that. It's never stated that the creature from The Thing in the Moonlight is Nyarlathtotep, in fact, that was just a dream Lovecraft had. But yeah, this evades the real point.
Ignore this part of this post, I think I misread. I'm sorry';

'>>92645572
So you admit you just wanted to argue.
Thanks for your contribution and I wish you a horrible restless night filled with bad dreams.
Thanks.';

'>>92645671
Ok i'm soooooorrrryyyyyy for sharing knowledge and new perspectives.
Geesh, how do you even exist being this close-minded?';

'>>92645694
>>knowledge and new perspectives.';

'>>92643823
Honestly, I feel the opposite of what the poster is trying to convey. Insertion is one of the oldest literary elements and yet here is some guy being existentially terrified of it and claiming it is due to some lower order of creature that has infiltrated humanity.';

'>>92635107
Just finished The Great God Pan, so I want to answer these, even though it was technically the topic for last thread.
>What works?
The opening and closing chapters are fucking fantastic. They booth ooze with menace and terrible implications. The first chapter feels like the start of a Universal Horror movie, what with a lab experiment occurring on a dark and mysterious night. The final chapter, meanwhile, freaks you out by describing everything after the fact, letting you imagine additional horrors not remarked upon by the narrators.
>What's cool about it?
The recontexualization of a Greek myth. Pan, in the classic sense, never appears, and it's more so using his name to represent something greater. Makes me think of Yog-Sothoth being the name for the Supreme Archetype or that quote about the name Azathoth being a cloak for the ultimate chaos.
>Why is it so effective?
It grabs you right from the start and then slow burns things until a fantastic ending. I do feel it could have been shorter, but I struggle to suggest which middle chapters should be removed, as they all add to the tension and mystery.
>What is the best part of it in your opinion?
Definitely the first chapter. Seeing what happens to Mary after she sees the Great God Pan, and imagining what she actually saw, is just fantastic cosmic horror writing.
>Thoughts on the characters?
Probably a little too many. Our main heroes aren't very interesting, but that's common for weird fiction. I liked Raymond though, and thought it interesting we never really meet Helen despite her ostensibly being the antagonist.
>Is the villain effective?
Yes and no. Helen is a villain who works best due to you imagining her actions and motives. However, I wish we got to know more or got more hints about her capabilities outside of the ending.
(1/2)';

'>>92645886
>If you had to pick a moment that really scared you, which would it be?
The doctor saying there's nothing to be done for Mary because she's "seen the Great God Pan." Just left me wondering what she saw and why it so blasted her mind.
>Is there anything you feel could have been expanded upon?
As mentioned, Helen's capabilities. The ending seems to imply she's a shapeshifter of some sort, but the story never really seems to utilize that. Does she have some method or manner of showing people the Great God Pan? She seems to drive people to horror/suicide a lot, but there's not even the slightest implication of how.
>What would you change?
Again, I felt it could have been shorter. The beginning and ending are the best parts, and a lot of the events of the middle could have been summarized or told better. Also, too many characters. Not sure why we needed both Villiers AND Austin, when only one of them was necessary.
>Would you use it as inspiration for a game?
The way the doctor spoke about seeing The Great God Pan at the start has me inspired, as the way people describe the wealthy men before their suicide.
In terms of the Lovecraft inspirations I've read:
The King in Yellow>The Great God Pan>The Wendigo.';

'>>92645886
>>92645933
Oh, I will also throw in that while I have given high praise to Great God Pan, I do think Lovecraft surpassed it with Dunwich Horror. He more extensively explored the implications of contact with a higher being, and Wilbur has more of a hook to him than Helen with his invisible, destructive brother, and the fact he didn't just kill himself when ordered to. Though it is still lame he dies to a guard dog.';

'>>92635107
>What works?
Any by William Hope Hodgson
>other questions
I'm too tired, but I'm promise to answer them later. Also there is a channel called HorrorBabble, they make audiobooks from old pulp stories, lots of great material for free. They even have a unabridged recording of The House in the Borderland. With all those channels that does old warhammer books had this quality.

https://www.youtube.com/@HorrorBabble';

'>>92647505
He's asking about the book in the topic, not what books you like.
The previous book was The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen. I goofed and changed it in this one because I haven't seen a horror thread all day and assumed it changed every week.
Are you the same person with the poor reading and English comprehension from earlier? It's cool if English is your second language.';

'>>92647654
No need to get pissed or passive-aggressive with him anon.';

'>>92647711
My apologies.';

'>>92637139
>>92637188
maybe I'm the asshole bc neither of these are hitting it for me lol. serial killers are more often than not, not scary and not fun to portray. they're just sick, they're people malfunctioning; you have to dig deeper to get to any social horror in that, though they can just be immediately dangerous. and I feel the same >>92637314 about cosmic horror; I feel like I'm told this is supposed to be scary and it's not. maybe it's like being hypnotised lol? like it's fun to invest in the idea of unknowable terror, but it only has as much power as you think it does?
>makes me want to cry and pass out just looking at it
always struck me as a weird example of telling not showing
idk that's probably not helpful lol.
I think what I'm wondering is like; is horror a feature of the world, or is it a genre? does horror actually happen irl? it seems very nebulously defined, and maybe I'll find some clearer terms that'll help write horror
but ty for the replies

>>92640205
this person sounds... unsettled? I mean, I know that feeling; suddenly the way you thought things worked doesn't make sense, and you realise you might be less safe and less equipped than you thought. I think this is kind of a dumb melodramatic example lol. there's nothing especially unnerving about people having different approaches, standards and motives when they make stuff.';

'>>92647900
I'm both >>92637314 and >>92640205
Not sure what about the second post has you thinking I'm unsettled... Maybe you meant to reply to a different post?

To answer your question of what makes for horror in a tabletop game, though, there's probably four ways of looking at it:
1) Horror aesthetic (spooky mansions, zombies, slashers, etc)
2) Disempowered PCs (high lethality, unpredictable enemy capabilities)
3) Disturbing themes (futility, existential dread, grievous bodily harm)
4) Spooky environment (dim lighting, creepy music, playing in an abandoned building)

I could be missing something, but I think most horror games hit one or more of those categories. Whether it actually works for your players depends on you (and on them, of course).';

'>>92647654
>Are you the same person with the poor reading and English
Jesus that's what no sleep do to a mf reading comprehension, thanks for the explanation. Also I nta you mentioned.

>>92635107
Anyway, Great God Pan is great, read many years ago. The eerie atmosphere goes back-to-back with another tale from Machen, The White People. Machen is really good at hinting a fucked up invisible world very near to us that seems inoffensive at first glance but it will mess with anyone who dares to take a peek. Still not answering all those question, I would had to re-read for that, but from what I can remember I mostly agree with >>92645886


>>92636177
>Personal favorite is probably the Night Land
Original or retold? I read both and as much as I love Hodgson the man went too deep in that one. The purple prose + the BDSM/foot fetish put me off.';

'>>92636440
It's pathetic when someone claims to know all about Lovecraft's writings but doesn't recognise Lovecraft's writings.';

'>>92648094
>Not sure what about the second post has you thinking I'm unsettled... Maybe you meant to reply to a different post?
I'm not that Anon but I think there is some communication barrier with this certain Anon, I believe he was trying to say you like the feeling of being ''unsettled'' as horror/fear.';

'>>92644449
If you are familiar with the URL shortener the share thread uses, this will make sense.
/RememUdie';

'monster girls general?';

'>>92649320
>recognise
Where are you from.';

'>>92650083
Thanks for this!';

'CoC new keeper here, what are some house rules as a GM that you use to make your life easier?

Reading Memento Mori and it looks amazing but only D6 and everyone would have to into the corruption mechanic and the grimdank setting I guess.';

'>>92652272
For longer campaigns, I allow each PC one opportunity to do the Pulp “Spend 60 Luck to avoid death” once. If they have less than 60, they can spend it all. This is only for shit like Orient Express or Masks of Nyarlathotep though.
Also, if they have a bout of madness in combat, they can roll to break out of it when they’re halfway through the duration by taking another Sanity check.';

'>>92650086
Not here. Pretty sure that's one of the generals I keep filtered.';

'Does anybody have that screencap about the horror game with PCs exploring a cave on Mars?';

'What do people think about Memento Mori's corruption system?';

'What would you say is Call of Cthulhu's strengths? What do you find having to asspull or make up on the spot with it?
It feels like all systems have a little of this.';

'>>92633952
Check out the ones for 5e. They're significantly simpler if less balanced. They work better on a VTT.
>>92634126
These also work fine, but you will be losing a bit for firepower and damage. It also won't let you magdump a 50 round drum.';

'>>92654288
Its strengths are it is great at making almost any type of character you want and naturally creating fun moments of whoops I tripped and a bookcase fell on me, or went nuts and shot my friend.

The hard part is not killing your players. Also auto-calcing all of the derived stats is something most people just can't do which is why i largely don't have have non-full stats for anything that's not a key monster or key NPC.
The rules can seem complex but they are incredibly simple with a lot of optional complexity.

Its not great at naturally giving players a connection to the world. You need to force the players to give you friends or loved ones they lean on.
Also the madness system doesn't always make sense which is why it's always an option for gamemasters to just choose instead of letting the dice decide.';

'>>92654288
It’s a game with no meta.
There are no “builds” in Call of Cthulhu. There is no way to make an objectively strongest character. There are no correct careers, spells or so forth to consider.
It’s a roleplaying game that’s truly focused on roleplaying and the narrative. Not endlessly calculating crunch until you reach optimization.
Fucking love that about it.';

'>>92645874
If you need something to look, act, sound, and behave like you. In order for you to identify with it, yes; you're less intelligent than others.
If you're single, date other races. You will notice the dumb ones (the dumb people, not races) only watch shows, movies and consume products that fit an exact mold of themselves.
It may be common. But stupidity is more common.';

'Anyone ever played a game in a setting combines the Post-Apocalyptic and Dark Ages settings?';

'>>92655464
I think that's what I love about it.
I brought up rolling for stats and some DnD players got super angry about it until I told them this isn't a power gamer thing, it's almost 100% how you RP and the choices you make, and rolling helps give you an original character.

>>92655626
How would this work? Total reset? Then it would just be dark ages setting ya? Would tech still be around.';

'Memento Mori is such an excellent entry to horror TTRPG's for video gamers, and it's so easy to run from a GM perspective, thanks for sharing it.';

'undefined';

'>>92655959
As someone who rolls stats even when doing something like DnD, I cannot imagine the mindset of people who only do point-buy and refuse to roll for stats. Seeing your highs and lows helps inform your character. Who cares if someone has better stats than someone else? Actions matter most, and you can use disparities like that to tell a story.';

'>>92656159
It's hard to sell people these days on taking less than others, so point buy is king in DnD 5E.
They don't want to RP, they want to roll dice and "win".';

'>>92655492
Stop playing reach around with yourself.';

'I'm tired of bumping this to save it. If you want it to live, then post.';

'>>92656176
The weird thing for me is my game group has been playing since 3.5 and we always did rolling for stats. So now whenever I meet people who started in 5e who only do point buy (as seems popular with 5e onlies), it just seems so bizarre. When did the norm change? I don’t even like 3.5e these days, but I also never thought I’d have a “back in my day” moment.';

'>>92656545
What does that even mean? I'm telling someone to experience life. That somehow relates to fucking my own ass and jerking myself off?
Yes, people with low intelligence need things that look like them. Nothing about that has to do with me.';

'>>92656020
>>92656081
Man, I love these demon designs.';

'>>92633781
>>What is your favorite Universal Monster Movie?
The Gillman. He doesn't get nearly enough love.

>>Which one would you choose to be if you could?
Dracula, naturally. Sex appeal and immortality. Hard to go wrong there.';

'>>92655492
>Acts like he's super smart
>Can't even type a coherent post

Lol. Lmao, even.';

'>>92659137
Gillman is great, the effects in the first movie hold up very well. The problem is, he's basically a walking boner. It gets far worse in the sequels, but his only motivation is to shaggy the lead actress in every one of them.

He redesign in Monster Squad was goat.';

'>>92657358
If you're behind in stats in 5e you're a liability, you're strictly worse when it comes to gameplay and it's both annoying for your party and less fun for you and it's more noticeable now because there's a slight semblance of balance between classes as opposed to 3.5 where you automatically became a self-gimped liability by not running a codzilla, wizard or ubercharger. On top of that 5e is way gayer and flatter with the bounded accuracy and no magic item economy so your starting stats are like 5 times as important as in 3.5. Probably a lot more reasons could be included.

I personally prefer point buy in my 5e games so that it's easier to reference and compare things between campaigns and parties. It's "fair" that way. But I've always preferred point buy or stat arrays in 3.pf too.';

'Shadows Over Innsmouth. The protagonist’s family has a Deep One ancestry which eventually causes you to want to seek rejoining your kind in the ocean. They seem to have an ancestral memory or something. Okay. But…why don’t all the other Innsmouth people with the same apparent Deep One ancestry also go down to live with the Deep Ones in the ocean? Why are all of them hanging around Innsmouth and not living within the tiered cyclopean glory of Y'ha-nthlei? Is it because they all want to but, being human hybrids just aren’t allowed in? Or is moving in more involved than simply wanting to?';

'>>92648094
oops, yeah, I replied to the wrong post.
>disturbing themes
I feel one of these is not like the others and is much trickier to implement. I'll stow this for somewhere down the line, thanks for the replies though!
>>92649873
sorry if I talk too autistic lol; I meant to reply to this one >>92643823';

'>>92660157
Did you read the same book, had a stroke or this is bait? Everyone goes to the sea in the end. The Innsmouthians have very long lives, they keep changing until they are barely human and the sea calls them.

Also a few weeks ago I read an anthology that revisited the Innsmouth story, one from the POV of the soldiers raiding the town (I may be crazy but I think that one was the origin of the Delta Green), another post-raid story called The Doom That Came to Innsmouth was penned by Brian McNaughton. That man name must be in some list, you cannot write about murder and rape like that for years without consequences.';

'>>92660157
They explain this in the story, anon. Hybrids become progressively more Deep One-like as they age until they reach a certain point where they become a full Deep One, at which point they go down to Y'ha-nthlei.
Chaosium even added a detail to this, saying until they become a full Deep One, the Hybrids can’t breathe underwater, only can hold their breaths for a very long time.';

'>>92659403
>Thinks my post are above basic intelligence
>Only argument is it's hard for them to understand
You could just swallow my cum next time.';

'>>92633781
>What is your favorite Universal Monster Movie?
Can't go wrong with the Wolf Man or the Gillman.

>Which one would you choose to be if you could?
Drac probably. Wolf if I could control it.';

'How far do you find "basic mystery investigation" overlaps with horror roleplay?
At first I thought this was mixed up in my mind because I mostly play Delta Green lately, but it was a huge factor in the WoD stuff I played too.
Obviously there's a lot of "the unknoooown" in horror, and upsetting revelations are a core part of most of horror's thrilling climaxes, but I'm interested to hear how often it is part of other peoples' actual games.';

'>>92633781
I have never run a ttrpg in my life, but delta green looks pretty cool. Is it a dumb idea to try to DM it with no DM experience?';

'>>92663577
If you’re going into it with no prior GM experience, I’d recommend running a pre-made module. Luckily Delta Green loves that kind of thing and there’s tons of options.
I’m more of a Call of Cthulhu guy, so I can’t suggest a specific module, but I’m sure someone else in the thread could or you could look around on the Internet for good beginner modules.';

'>>92663577
Look up Seth Skyorskikiskidki’s video on “Last Things Last”. It’s the default “I’m new here” DG scenario. You can get the basic rules for the game and the scenario in the free “need to know” quick start pdf.';

'>>92659997
> He redesign in Monster Squad was goat.

Monster Squad as a whole is pretty GOAT for the monsters.';

'>>92663636
>>92663804
Alternatively google Shotgun Scenarios - fan-made two-page jobs, usually reasonably straightforward.
Last Things Last was one of the earlier Shotguns, that was good enough to be later picked up by Arc Dream.
Signal Smugglers is another good one.

Generally DG is easy to run, it is the story/mystery that's sometimes tricky to manage.';

'undefined';

'undefined';

'For me it comes down to the players. There's many camps a player can fall into, but the most relevant for horror games are:
Willing to be scared.
Willing to engage the disturbing.

Regarding the former camp, you want the type of people who scream when they see a horror movie. It's a choice to let yourself get immersed to that level and the kind of person you want in your game.
The later camp is a tricky line to walk as a keeper. If a person only wants to enter a horror game if they know that they won't be confronted by their greatest fears or trauma triggers then that's fine for them. But that takes away from the horror quite a but doesn't it? To know you're safe in that way at least. It's best to find someone who isn't too damaged for horror. I never would have thought it could be done, but I've made players scream before while playing CoC. It's an intensely satisfying feeling.';

'>>92664459
>city-sized dragon
Good shit.';

'>>92660225
>Disturbing Themes
I didn't intentionally make this an odd-one-out, and at least from my perspective. Any of the four can be done well or poorly, and a "horror" game that only has one of them probably won't scratch the itch for most people.';

'>>92665116
Yeah, in Memento Mori his stats are ???/???
and he is the one thing you cannot defeat.';

'>>92633781
>What is the most successful campaign you have run/played in?
Tie between a one-shot I ran where the players were trapped in a slasher movie time loop orchestrated by an Eldritch deity who created the time loop so it could get a never ending blood sacrifice. The big reveal was that they had been in the loop for thousands of years already, and only a recent glitch in the spell meant they could remember the loop. and a homebrewed CoC campaign I ran where the PCs were all mobsters in Chicago investigating why their prostitutes were going missing They were being kidnapped and sent through a portal by a cult to be hunted by Ithaqua.
>What tools do you use besides the rulebooks?
Cthulhu Mythos Music on YouTube is useful for ambience. Also, never leave home without my Keeper Screen.
>How do you instill fear as a GM?
Separating a player from the group works best, I find. Nothing freaks someone out more than having no one else to rely on.

>Favorite Universal Monster Movie
Wolf-Man. The best werewolf movie. Lon Chaney Jr. really sells the tragedy of the character. Runners up are The Invisible Man and Creature from the Black Lagoon.
>Which one would you choose to be if you could
Probably Dracula for that sweet, sweet immortality.';

'>>92666442
>Cthulhu Mythos Music
He really is the GOAT on YouTube.
>Wolf-Man
It's strange how this doughy big guy with a catchers mitt of a face can show how god damn horrified he is of the entire situation. Easily one of the best.';

'>>92662568
You can do a horror game without an investigation. Look at Dead Light. It's basically a straight horror scenario with no real detective work. The entire mystery is solved once you find the journal, the scenario's sole clue.
That said, the reason a mystery investigation and horror pairs so well is that it allows you to slowly reveal details about your monster while not giving up the game all at once. This slow drip of details is great at building tension.
BTW, does anyone find it funny private detective is considered an archetypical Lovecraftian character role, when none of Lovecraft's characters are P.I.s and he only had a single (police) detective character?';

'>>92666527
It is kind of funny, but most of his stories are ''guy that ends up looking into stuff and gets fucked up''.
I guess it kind of pads and adds to the growing horror, but you can just jump right in.';

'>>92666545
Lovecraft's stories are almost entirely "Boy, wouldn't it be fucked if..." types of horror stories.
Like, the dude cannot write characters. All of his main characters are basically the same person, with maybe the sole exception of Herbert West. But that's OK, because he writes short stories, and his actual horror ideas are great. We don't need to get attached to the characters, we need to get invested in whatever horrific shit is happening to them.';

'I am obsessed with trying to make a player character work properly in a horror setting, who is a professor of psychology and who no matter how supernatural the things he encounters are, tries to always find a rational explanation. He should even be involved in the treatment of people with mental illnesses, maybe own an asylum or work there sometimes, so he could potentially have the power to institutionalize other players and treat them. Of course I wouldn‘t abuse that power. If anything that might prevent a bad end for some players, who would get stuck with another doctor.

My plan eventually is to flip his attitude towards the supernatural entirely, where he is trying to understand and control it. Maybe even with the possibility of being unhinged and conjuring a disaster.';

'>>92666779
I had a PC who went with this angle in a game I ran... and he in fact held it all the way through.
>Surgeon who makes money on the side patching up gangsters while not questioning where they got their injuries
>Encounters a seemingly invisible man noticeably only by the heavy winter coat he's wearing taking multiple gun shots without being injured
>"Clearly it was a man high on some kind of powerful narcotic and in my fear I imagined there was no one in the coat."
>Gets transported by a portal to a snowy, alien world and chased by Ithaqua
>"Clearly I was knocked out and given a powerful hallucinogen while being locked inside of a walk-in freezer."
It was admittedly fucking hilarious.';

'>>92666779';

'>>92666842
based';

'Any Dreams in the Witch House enjoyers here?';

'>>92668074
Naturally. Having got your yes answer, was there anything you wanted to say or was your whole point just getting that almost certain yes on a board where a lot of people like Lovecraft's fiction?';

'>>92668156
I don't know anon please be nice to me';

'>>92668689
Yes. It's a flawed story but with some elements so brilliant that it transcends those flaws


>>92668156
I don't think he was trying to start stuff dude.';

'>>92650083
Would you kindly reupload pls, anon? Folder is empty';

'>>92668074
I’ve gained a new appreciation for it after watching a video explaining what exactly Lovecraft meant by “non-Euclidean geometry” and what he was trying to portray with it.
Turns out people saying Lovecraft just didn’t understand math are wrong as hell, and he was actually portraying some pretty sophisticated concepts.';

'>>92669629
gofile (DOT) io/d/MbCyWJ';

'>>92668074
Definitely a good one. It shows a blending of his earlier "antiquarian" topics (ex. Charles Dexter Ward, Shunned House, etc.) with the later "cosmicist" material (Call of Cthulhu, Shadow Out of Time, etc.) The initial premise was really relatable for me: I spent my college years in a creepy attic apartment, and one winter I caught some kind of flu that gave me the craziest fever dreams. And of course a rat with a human face is such a perfect witch's familiar. The ending didn't stick with me as much.';

'>>92670959
Dude made me reupload and no one has gotten it yet lol.';

'>Be new to RPG's
>No one around me running anything
>A new store opens
>Volunteer to run CoC for anyone interested
>Buy book and read cover to cover
>Hand out flyers
>No responses
>Later someone mentions the CoC game they are in
>They just made one without me and didn't tell me because they thought I was too normal socially and it made them feel uncomfortable
>mfw';

'>>92670959
>>92673259
Thanks anon, just got from work, managed to download this time.';

'>>92673542';

'>>92674069
Good shit, it really is a fantastic game that does corruption super well. As the CoC game fell through at the shop I'm just gonna try to find 2 people to run Memento Mori with.';

'>>92669504
>I don't think he was trying to start stuff dude.
Neither do I, which was the exact point of my question.
>go to board where many people like Lovecraft
>ask if people like Lovecraft
A closed question with an obvious answer. It was a go nowhere post that offered no opinion of its own and didn't invite discussion. I asked if anon meant for it to go somewhere. If >>92668689 is the same anon and why would anyone jump in and pretend, then even he doesn't know the point of his post.';

'>>92675097
You sound like someone who loves the smell of their own farts.
Even if he was jump bumping the thread and trying to start discussion on one of Lovecraft's lesser loved stories.
You think you're being smart by posting ''Ah yes, do people who love Lovecraft like a Lovecraft story, AH HA, AH HA HA. AH." when in reality you're an obnoxious shit and no one can stand you.
Thanks for bumping the thread though.';

'>>92675166
Now who's trying to start stuff?';

'>>92675289
Oh I'm unrelated to the guy who was posting about you before, I don't mince words, quit being a shithead, shithead.';

'>>92673542
I'm sorry dude.

You'll get to run a game. Do you have any friends, an RPG club at a college nearby?

Just keep trying anon. You'll make it.';

'>>92675378
I agree. Not everyone is a connoisseur of horror media and knows that it follows, halloween or etc. are pretty much universally beloved.

We need to be open to people who don't know everything about the genre and are here to ask questions. Otherwise we die. And I don't see a purpose to that.';

'So we all love Lovecraft, but I'm curious: What is everyone's favorite Lovecraft story?
I have to go with Colour Out of Space. It's the story where Lovecraft hit the right balance between exploring high-concept cosmic horror while also writing in an entertaining manner with a captivating story. I would consider it his scariest story as well, and the Colour is just such a unique monster unseen elsewhere in the genre.';

'>>92676648
It really is a great complete story.
I'm personally a fan of The Dunwich Horror due to how accessible it is. That and Dagon I think are good intros to Lovecraft.';

'Need Ideas to help setting cults of Hastur and Nyarlathotep apart. In my view they're two of the most approachable mythos gods even bothering to assume multiple human friendly forms for different occasions';

'>>92677275
Hastur is all about meme viruses. Reading the King in Yellow or seeing the Yellow Sign infects you and makes you obsessed with the King, unconsciously or not. Therefore, his cult should all be about spreading these meme viruses as far and wide as possible. Big focus on propaganda, media messaging and such. Also, Hastur has a focus on entropy, particularly on destroying things once held in high regard, so they should target the wealthy and upper-classes.
Nyarlathotep is all about inflicting madness upon people by showing them things they can't handle. Such as in the original story with the terrible future he showed the audience, or when he tried to take Randolph Carter to the Court of Azathoth. A cult around him should be about bringing on terrible revelations. Perhaps they have a cursed film or a device which lets you see beyond the common world? Remember also Nyarla is the servant of the other Outer Gods, so that could factor into his cults. He also messes with humans for his own bemusement, as that's how he gets reprieve from working for mindless entities like Azathoth, so wanton cruelty should also be a focus.';

'>>92676648
Colour out of Space is the only Lovecraft story that's really able to get me. It doesn't horrify me or anything, but it ticks all the right buttons to make me not want to read it before bed. So I'd probably also have to call it one of my favorites, though I've always been partial to At the Mountains of Madness';

'>>92676648
I would say that The Dunwitch horror is probably his most accomplished story, though, The shadow over Insmouth would be number one if not for those long-ass travel scenery descriptions. The plot twist of that one is very good.
But my favorite has to be The rats in the walls, which I think is very underrated: it's not connected to the Cthulhu mythos but the tone is still very creepy, it's interesting, mysterious, and the plot twist at the end really hits hard.';

'>>92668074
Would be a good story if not for the fact that it ends in a fist-fight with the witch.';

'I need your recommendations for what Delta Green operation I should run next. We've already played Last Things Last, The Child, PX Poker Night and The Last Equation.

My group is just me and two players. I'm specifically looking for something that's relatively "short" (not a one-shot, but not a full-on campaign either), and most importantly, a scenario that's fairly "isolated."
By isolated I mean something that takes place in a single location (or a small number of locations). So, something more like PX Poker Night, which takes place in an AF base, and not something like The Last Equation - an open-ended operation which takes place in two whole states with many locations and characters to visit.

I've read Lover in the Ice and Ex Oblivione, which seem really interesting, but still maybe a bit longer than I'd like. I've also been eyeing the Observer Effect, Convergence and A Victim of the Art, but I have not read those and I'm not sure if they'd be good matches.';

'>>92677275
Hastur is also all about aesthetics, the look and feel, grand mansions, architecture and vistas contrasted with horrific mutations of the flesh';

'>>92679194
Sentinels at Twilight from the Handler's Guide would be pretty good if you scale back the lethality a bit. That's what our handler did during the brief stint we ran it.

He also added a second kid.,';

'>>92679416
I've read Sentinels and it looks like a good scenario, but it just doesn't interest me much thematically. But thank you for the recommendation!';

'>>92679504
Music from a Darkened Room is also decent, but the issue with that one is it's significantly more lethal and hard to solve than you would expect.

Lover in Ice is pretty great but can also fridge characters with 3 bad rolls. It's also not wholly isolated.';

'>>92679532
>Music from a Darkened Room
Oh yeah, that's one I wanna look into. Thanks!

>Lover in Ice is pretty great but can also fridge characters with 3 bad rolls. It's also not wholly isolated.
True, but at least it all takes place in one isolated town.';

'>>92679194
Music from a Darkened Room';

'>>92679171
Shadow Over Innsmouth used to be my favorite one for a long time. It’s funny because Lovecraft didn’t think he was any good at writing action, and then Shadow turns into one of his best stories due to how much action there is in it, something a lot of his stories sorely lack.
The Call of Cthulhu, for example, suffers because the main character is never actually in any active danger himself. He’s just reading about crazy encounters other people had. Call would have been vastly improved if there was a scene of a cultist tailing him in the course of his research, or one even breaking into his house or something.';

'>>92677549
>>92679300
So from what I can gather Hastur has a thing for regality and entropy so it can come down to decadance and the futility of human power hierarchies? As decadent aristocrats I can see cults organizing balls, theathre plays and other high class events but I can also picture cultist as people who try to present themselves as more rich than they actually are like impoverished nobility or those african dandies. Maybe this can relate with Hastur humble origin as a god of shepherds?

In contrast Nyarlathotep is more of an agent of chaos, happy to direct humans towards self destruction

Thoughts?';

'>>92680788
You pretty much hit the nail on the head. Another thing is that Hastur’s followers could have a belief they’re going to become the new rulers once their plans are enacted.
If you’ve never read the original “The King in Yellow” book, the first story, Repairer of Reputations, deals with a guy who believes he’s going to become king of the world by assassinating his brother and marrying his sister in law. It’s utter bullshit, of course, but he’s 100% convinced that’s what’s going to happen.';

'I like what Delta Green does with the King/Hastur. Take the Lonely, for example. It's about every-day people who happen to be miserable; not artists, royalty, or even cultists. But the memetic power of the King is still very much potent with them and it all leads to entropy just the same.
It feels much more realistic, gritty, and frankly, horrifying.';

'>>92679194
Shotgun Scenarios on Fairfield, if you're good with episodic slightly less exhaustively fleshed/statted out material.';

'>>92682081
Just took a brief look at the list. Damn, there's a lot lol.Which one would you recommend?';

'>>92680788
You're basically correct.';

'>>92677275
In my mind, the cult of Hastur is like a plague. It spreads like a wildfire with only the intention to consume and proliferate. The dance is the goal and the means by which they reach it. The more they expose others the more they will be drawn in, as all will be participants and spectators in the final play that ends with the curtains being drawn over the stage of earth as all life is pulled into the eternal decay of Carcosa

Meanwhile, the cults of Nyarlarhotep are all over the world in many forms and with many different guises. It's entirely possible that two cults worshipping two different masks could come to blows. They are spread across the world in all circles of societal strata and kept sharp like hidden weapons ready to perform a deed when he needs if. They can last much longer and blend in as needed compared to Hasturs mad parade, but are no less dangerous because it will be made up of hardened acolytes and with potential guidance from higher powers';

'>>92680194
I think you are right, the part of which the police raids the cult in call of cthulhu is probably the best.
That's what lovecraft needed the most, to be honest, to be more "pulp" and less "it's clear that there's some kind of alien shenanigan going on here and the necronomicon confirms it, but it's probably just superstition, or maybe i'm just mad idk"';

'https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkbFeu6IZwY

Kek or cringe?';

'>>92686979';

'>>92650083
Alas, I am far too late.
Thanks anyway, I'm sure I'll come across it again at some point.';

'>>92687159
Alas, I uploaded it again later in the thread, here it is because I am awesome:

gofile (DOT) io/d/MbCyWJ';

'>>92684826
I do think it's something he got better at with his later stories, perhaps influenced by other pulp writers like Robert E. Howard. At the Mountains of Madness ends with a chase by a Shoggoth. The Haunter of the Dark has the main character personally getting hunted by the titular villain. The Shadow Out of Time has the encounter with the flying polyp at the end.
Not always the case, but he got better at making his stories entertaining as well as intellectually fascinating.';

'>>92668074
I thought the Twilight Abysses were really similar to the feel of Steve Dikto Doctor Strange art. Pretty cool stuff.';

'>>92637314
The horror from cosmic horror doesn't come from interacting with cosmic entities in any direct way. It's not about "can I punch Azathoth in the face" or "maybe Azathoth could eat me."

The horror comes from the simple realization of how insignificant you are/humanity is.';

'>>92682272
I'm pretty sure they name the winners each year, which are usually good (though sometimes that's the voting community picking a scenario that does something new and interesting rather than flat good.
Black Buzz, A Flame Unto My Path, 46 Second Preview, Apoptosis and An Excitable Girl were good from 2023.';

'>>92687345
Thank you!';

'>>92688794
Yeah I got real Dark Dimension vibes from it';

'>>92688961
Right. I'm saying that "oh no, I realized humanity is insignificant" isn't actually that interesting on its own.';

'>>92688961
>>92690548
A major part of cosmic horror is the upsetting of out established natural laws and the feeling of total "outsideness". I wouldn't consider anything cosmic horror without these attributes.';

'>>92690548
Nowadays, at least. There's a good cosmic horror manga by Junji Ito called Romina. In it, a star-like creature with that name devours planet earth, and people go crazy trying to stop it, but they can't do anything. All people's dreams, worries, fears, etc. were meaningless to Romina, which after eating this planet, just moved on to eat another. All earth's history, art, and countless cultures banished in an instant of madness and chaos. Like tears in the rain.
I think that's really what the essence of cosmic horror is about, horrors beyond our comprehension and scope. You can't do anything to stop them, because we are insignificant compared to them.';

'>>92692135
This was so good until it super jumped the shark right before the end.';

'>>92692135
This is a great post and an excellent recommendation. However, I regret to inform you the living planet was called Remina.
But seriously, Junji Ito is basically the modern Lovecraft in my view. Not just for cosmic horror, but for writing weird fiction in general.';

'How do you guys feel about Memento Mori's corruption system? Gradually filling in your sheet so it gets darker and darker as the plague takes you completely.
Knowing you only have 6/7 sessions max before you die is kinda awesome in practice.';

'>>92692183
Yeah it was good except for the part when everyone starts flying. Junji ito always tries to make it weirder somehow.
But the idea is still very lovecraftian.
>>92692348
ups my bad';

'I really like the idea of someone interpreting a Lovecraftian entity as something Christian or otherwise "conventionally" religious (Midnight Mass, Bioshock 2's tapes about the origin of ADAM, hell even Carrie had some throwaway lines to this effect, with her mom talking about "the black man" and "the three-lobed burning eye"). I'm reading Amidst the Ancient Trees for COC and I think a neat addition would be if the zombie Union soldiers thought Gla'aki was God and sang some distorted version of Battle Hymn of the Republic while attacking.';

'>>92693230
This is a pretty common thing and it is fun. Hell, Lovecraft himself used it in Haunter of the Dark. People were holding up crosses and shouting prayers to ward off the Haunter, not realizing it was only light it was avoiding.
I’ve always liked having Nyarlathotep being the inspiration behind Satan, at least in his aspect of “making you sign your soul away for power.”';

'>>92687945
I actually think the Flying Polyps might be one of the scariest encounters in Lovecraft because you don't ever see it, and it lands with a significant impact because of how well written it is vs the earlier stories which do the same thing. There's a lot of great art of flying Polyps which is incredibly varied, and it's to the point that I still can't pick a favorite.';

'>>92692621
It's really cool, but if can sort of make you want to speedrun everything as swiftly as possible since you're on a hard timer.';

'>>92693922
I think, if done right, it just encourages the PC's to make bolder choices. I didn't feel rushed, but I felt like everything I did needed to have an impact, or that it was worth it.
Easily my game of the year so far.';

'Going to bump this with my favorite Lovcraftian movies of all time:
The Ritual
The Colour Out of Space
Black Mountain Side
Event Horizon
Reanimator
From Beyond
Annihilation
The Empty Man
Underwater
Glorious
Dagon
The Void
In The Mouth of Madness';

'>>92677275
Thanks guys, i'm trying find suitable ways to flavor the mythos cults without stepping too much on eachother's feet and so far

>Hastur
Only found in urban areas, rituals are more like high class social events and cultitst often wear theater paraphernalia. Not as obscene as other cults but when they have to be they do it with morbid flair. Promises riches, power and enlightment

>Nyarlathotep
As trickster god it has multiple masks to manifest itself but unlike Hastur who does it to better blend with the society it's infecting Nyarla also uses it to disseminate chaos and confusion. Each cult can be wildly different and promise anything of interest for the cultists, usually faustain bargains

>Cthulhu
Cthulhu cults mostly have one goal in common: Wake up the dead god so they can get on to learning new ways to shout and kill already. It's all the typical stuff that gets brought up whenever the Mythos gets referenced in media "The stars are right", deep one breeding, maddening dreams and sunken cities. Don't really need to go into more detail

>Yig
I see it as more as forgotten god, there's no active cult of Yig in recent history, the time of it's true worshippers is long gone. Still, in the depths of ruined cities and temples, even some man-made ones, there are echoes and remains of the worship of Yig, the largest cult in all the history of Earth

Anyone wants to add more?

>>92681007
>>92681118
>>92684785
It's kind of funny the idea of Hastur cult spreading like a plague to the point people don't even know they're part of it considering it's one of the most popular mythos gods without even being created by Lovecraft and only scarcely mentioned on his stories';

'>>92695044
Some days ago I was just looking for this image and couldn't find it. Thank you for posting it, what a coincidence.';

'>>92695044
I'll just dump my thoughts here in case they are useful to you in any way - regarding Hastur, after reading the original King in Yellow by Chambers I got inspired into designing a Delta Green scenario where a bunch of similar acts of general evil occur in a small region of a state and the party is sent to investigate, and it'd seem like a straight up cult war is going on with multiple groups acting at the same time, fighting one another amongst other things. The deal would be that a copy of the stage play "The King in Yellow" has emerged and switched hands a few times (through random events, theft and something else maybe), and whoever read it considered themselves to be hand-picked by Hastur to fulfill his plans (and become second in command), and were invested with power of incredible suggestion helping them gain minions, and upon learning there were others they'd consider them competition to destroy or at least outdo in gaining the favor of Hastur. The party would then have to gather info in the middle of this shitstorm, disable all the separate cults and recover and dispose of the cursed stage play book.
I haven't ran this yet, as we're playing something else right now, but I'm keeping it in my vault of scenarios/ideas to use. That means if you have any worthwhile feedback/advice/suggestions I'll happily take it.';

'Are there any good collection books for Lovecraft's stories he co-wrote or ghost wrote for people?
Feels like all the "complete" collections leave out stuff like The Horror in the Museum or The Curse of Yig, and it bothers my collecting brain.';

'>>92696107
The Horror in the Museum DelRey book has twenty four stories split into primary and then secondary revisions, but doesn't include Imprisoned with the Pharohs which shows up in The Road to Madness (also DelRey).';

'>>92696576
Would you mind posting the cover to that one? Just searching for it is giving me imprecise results.';

'>>92696676
Cover and contents:
https://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/sources/hmdr.aspx';

'>>92676648
I remember hearing a Delta Green game where they managed to make use of Herbert West Reanimator so I can't help but imagine "sequels" to some of the main stories especially Colour out of Space where I imagine someone had to deal with the Colour that stayed in the Well before the valley was flooded.';

'>>92696708
Cheers, thanks anon.';

'>>92580074
>>92579591
>Why do you push this so hard

I just want to thank the guy "pushing this so hard" I haven't used IRC in years and it reminded me of the value, so thank you to the guy "obnoxiously" pushing it, you're way more useful than the people pushing /co/ horrorverse with no conversation for 4 years - it's a great useful channel, actually probably more useful than the share thread has been. I'm just one guy but it opened up a bunch of things I've enjoyed reading. Thank you!';

'CoC's Malleus Monstrorum Volume II - Deities of the Mythos describes an avatar of Hastur called the "Amber Elder" (AKA Divine Teacher, He Who Reveals, the Unholy Monk, Yellow Lama).
It's pretty interesting, and I've even used the deity in a scenario in the past, but where does it come from? Like, in what what novel/scenario/sourcebook does this Amber Elder appear in? Or was it a new invention made exclusively for Malleus Monstrorum II?
I couldn't find any good info about it anywhere.';

'>>92633781
Something I scooped up recently- waiting for it to arrive but I haven't seen anyone saying anything about it (it's relatively new)-
When Nightmares Come- Osprey Games
Basically modern day monster-hunting, but miniatures skirmish game, co-op. Miniatures agnostic, so you can use whatever you have (or have an excuse to buy stuff and have a use for it).
Has anyone heard of this? Played it?
I know it's an Osprey game, so there's gonna be some flaws and an inevitable FAQ/Errata somewhere- but it's also an Osprey game so it's not like it'll be fucking up any competitive games.';

'>>92644247
Restricting the Mythos to only what HPL wrote is missing the point and also the complete opposite of what HPL himself wanted';

'>>92698358
Pretty certain it's an original creation.';

'>>92693767
I just wish they weren't called Flying Polyps';

'>>92698679
Gotcha. Was it featured in older editions too, or it really just that new?';

'I outright refuse to use CoC terminology
>Outer Gods? Who are they? You mean "the Other Gods" right?.';

'>>92699204
All terminology is wrong. Every name, title, hierarchy, or family tree of the "gods" is just a man-made (not necessarily man as in "human," but still) construction. Truth is we do not know, and are unable to know, the reality behind these "deities."
Whatever you, your NPCs, or your PCs call them at your table is valid.';

'Do you guys have any recommendation for a longer call of cthulhu scenario?
I want something a little longer then the normal one-shot scenarios, but not a campaign.

I've run Tatters of the King for my players and we had a blast, so we are looking more longer play or connected scenarios before we try Masks of Nyarlathotep.';

'>>92699204
That’s not CoC terminology, that’s Derleth terminology. The latest version of CoC says you can freely ignore those titles if you want to.
Honestly, I think the distinction between Outer/Other God and Great Old One is worthwhile. There’s a pretty clear power gap between some of the deities. Cthulhu is on Earth trapped under the ocean, while Azathoth swells within ultimate chaos, the center of all reality and Yog-Sothoth permeates all of creation but is separate from it. Seems clear Cthulhu isn’t on the same level as those other two.
The big problem comes with the Elder Gods and them being “good” deities.';

'Faggot: NPCs and Tomes dump the CoC wikipedia when revealing the truth about a monster
Swaggot: NPCs and Tomes give you completely random info';

'>>92695221
Maybe the only way to beat these cults is to pose as mediators sent by Hastur, which would require a whole lot of convincing, or to actually help one of the cults win sending the victor into a downhill spiral. Let the players be Grima Wormtongue for once

>>92695152
Maybe we're all bound to some cosmic will we don't particularly understand';

'I know some GMs can be adversarial, but does anyone else find themselves actively wanting their PCs to "win?" In general, but I'm thinking specifically of Delta Green.';

'>>92700453
That’s healthy GM behavior. You should at least in part be rooting for your players. For stuff like Call of Cthulhu, I’ll generally not go full gloves off until the final encounter, since that means we’ve played the whole investigation. I’ve had a TPK mid-investigation before and it’s just unsatisfying for everyone.';

'>>92700503
I'm currently planning a God's Teeth campaign and I'm looking at some of the additional scenarios that can go along with it. I really want my players to succeed in stopping the motley threats optimally, but I don't plan on fudging anything to make that happen. I feel like I'd be robbing them of something by doing that.';

'>>92700611
I don’t mean to fudge rolls. More so stuff like “monster doesn’t always fight optimally” or “monster breaks off pursuits earlier.” That kind of stuff. Plus, it lets you save some of the freakier powers for the finale.';

'>>92700453
Yes.

My group typically tends to win but only occasionally do I flub stuff in their favor. When I write stuff I try to make it so they can beat the antagonist while also having them be plausible in their stats and abilities, but also a challenge.

Because of this my characters have insane skills, one has over 90% in Alertness and Firearms so anything sneaking up on them is nearly impossible.';

'>>92699553
Most of the scenarios in Mansion of Madness are pretty good even if some are shorter. I liked Mansion of Madness but I'm a weirdo.

>>92698684
They aren't named in the original story. Most of the names we use in Lovecraft stories aren't even the real names of these creatures, just the names humans have given them or vague descriptors like "deep ones"';

'>>92701171
>They aren't named in the original story. Most of the names we use in Lovecraft stories aren't even the real names of these creatures, just the names humans have given them or vague descriptors like "deep ones"

I forgot the thesis of this sentence which is that most of the modern names we use for Lovecraft's creatures are Sandy Petersen inventions which explains why most of them are very vague and kinda suck.';

'>>92700453
Me and my group are fairly new to Delta Green, and we've only played about five CoC scenarios before we started DG, and they are still pretty "green" with how an operation should play out. They are struggling with both understanding the fact that DG takes place in the real world - during modern times - and most importantly, with how US authorities and crime investigators work. It also doesn't help that there's only two players.

So yeah, I'm pretty loose with them. It's not necessarily that I fudge rolls, it's more that I sometimes allow obvious mistakes to happen without heavy consequences instead of taking advantage of them. For example, in our previous session, their Agents (FBI) were looking at evidence in a local police station evidence locker. They had the legal right to be there, but they also wanted to tamper with said evidence. They did so successfully, however, they failed to even ask me if there was CCTV in the room. I just let that slide without repercussion and warned them about it out-of-game after the session, so that they are more aware next time.';

'>>92701275
A BIG tip for this would be to let the players know things their characters as Agents or people in the field would know.

This will help a ton as the game goes on and if you are genuinely unsure if they might know something, roll a hidden INT test.';

'>>92701388
Yep, indeed, I do do that. I like to let the players know any information their characters would obviously know, especially now that they are still new to roleplaying as law enforcement.';

'>>92700611
I roll in the open, you've just got to know when to pull your punches.';

'>>92698805
I think it was specifically created for the Malleus Monstrorum.';

'>>92703124
Got it, thank you!
Kinda sucks, I wish there was more about it I could read, but it makes sense.';

'CoC, diving for cover. Why the fuck do you lose your next attack? Just to make guns OP?';

'>>92701080
Seems fair, monsters and enemies can have their own agendas, styles, and stuff that makes them behave differently.
>>92701275
This also seems pretty reasonable to me. I might think feds are cool and read about it, but it's not reasonable to assume everyone interested in sitting down for a game will be. They might have fun with a game of Delta Green playing as FBI agents chasing the paranormal, but they're not exactly thumbing through real world FBI literature and procedures for fun.';

'>>92703274
You have to get up.';

'>>92703665
Truth.';

'>>92700453
>I know some GMs can be adversarial, but does anyone else find themselves actively wanting their PCs to "win?"
Yes and I want them to win without scare quotes. If that means the story has gone from horror to dark fantasy, so be it. Everything is rolled openly and nothing is rerolled or ignored unless some mechanic calls for, but I also let the players keep running his or her character even if things have become quite queer. For example, one character botched a ritual, ended up partially merged with an alter ego with physical mutations almost like the worm thing from that 90s Doppelganger film, and had to be carried around by the rest of the group. Unconventional, but there were tradeoffs that often gave them an edge.';