tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post985159255345574548..comments2013-11-17T17:17:39.923+00:00Comments on Pointless Philosophical Asides: The Call of CthulhuPatrick Hudsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08483247439912550014noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post-51166017631374348672011-05-10T15:45:57.001+01:002011-05-10T15:45:57.001+01:00"You"? I meant "Yes" not &quo..."You"? I meant "Yes" not "You in that first sentence there...Patrick Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08483247439912550014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post-52268383523225161062011-05-10T15:45:24.525+01:002011-05-10T15:45:24.525+01:00You, HPL's narrators are usually helpless witn...You, HPL's narrators are usually helpless witnesses. In the stories, the discovery of the shocking truth is usually where it ends, more or less (except, perhaps, to hint at a dreadful end). In a game, one expects it to go to the next stage of "so what do you do about it?" I think that addressing this is one of the design goals of ToC. <br /><br />I am impressed, though, at how many of the stories end with the portagonist/narrator in a state of mental distress that's highly familiar from games of CoC/ToC!Patrick Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08483247439912550014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post-58730572122661744342011-05-10T10:24:08.470+01:002011-05-10T10:24:08.470+01:00In many ways Lovecraft's characters are very u...In many ways Lovecraft's characters are very unlike PC in games as they are often passive or avoid taking more active choices. <br /><br />I do find running horror games to be hard as it can be difficult to really unsettle a group that already know each other and are there to enjoy themselves for an evening.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post-10256570939767664202011-05-09T13:54:24.681+01:002011-05-09T13:54:24.681+01:00Yes, the Dunwich Horror is another good model, but...Yes, the Dunwich Horror is another good model, but I haven't blogged that one yet! The problem is one of maintaining the horror atmosphere while preserving a degree of agency for the PCs. In the stories, the protagonst's rarely have many interesting choices - they just tend to let the story flow around them. In Under the Pyramids or The Nameless City, eg, the protagonists at least hint at other paths they might take. The Lurking Fear is the most RPG-like one so far - several other characters pass through the story, coming to sticky ends, and in the end the protagonist dynamites the Martense House to smithereens.Patrick Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08483247439912550014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7456818260601216123.post-50413938775764778062011-05-09T11:59:18.139+01:002011-05-09T11:59:18.139+01:00Probably the actions of Armitage, Morgan and Rice ...Probably the actions of Armitage, Morgan and Rice at the end of the Dunwich Horror are the closest to the classic roleplaying party in Lovecraft's fiction. Even then he doesn't directly narrate their actions, but has them described as watched by Earl Sawyer at a distance.Davehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11587938750309743961noreply@blogger.com