tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post265341330560452231..comments2024-03-29T07:58:31.156-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: The Prehistory of Call of CthulhuJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-88080633666971459832010-08-23T11:11:32.095-04:002010-08-23T11:11:32.095-04:00One little added thing about the pre-Sandy Peterse...One little added thing about the pre-Sandy Petersen version of Call of Cthulhu referred to as "Dark Shadows" or "Dark Worlds". In speaking with Greg and Sandy about this, the only thing they said ever actually written for that manuscript (and why the project was scrapped for Sandy's) was a "spooky sounds in the graveyard" table.Rick Meints - Chaosiumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256174944047814981noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5348002568268260102010-08-17T13:31:54.615-04:002010-08-17T13:31:54.615-04:00Don Jolly, yes, there's an extensive Dreamland...<b>Don Jolly</b>, yes, there's an extensive Dreamlands supplement for <i>CoC</i>, and very good it is too, but I've never been able to get anyone to play it.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85418567879229403762010-08-17T09:47:46.760-04:002010-08-17T09:47:46.760-04:00> So when was the Cthulhu info printed in Deiti...> So when was the Cthulhu info printed in Deities and Demigods? Was Call of Cthulhu already out by then? <br /><br />D&DG 1980, CoC 1981.<br /><br />There were other Mythos refs in print previously but, yes, perhaps surprising that Lovecraft wasn't higher profile earlier on; perhaps continuing to reflect the influence of EGG's particular idiomatic slant onto RPing rather than other influences such as RJK ( http://www.greyhawkonline.com/grodog/gh_kuntz_bibliography.html )<br /><br />D&D's expansion into such realms was probably hampered by a general lack of vision (/product, in general) and imposition of increasingly dogmatic viewpoints on what had been a more "free-form" system in earlier days: D&D /was/ BRP, after a fashion...irbyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10193584357850337816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48260153682687604182010-08-17T08:23:27.528-04:002010-08-17T08:23:27.528-04:00So when was the Cthulhu info printed in Deities an...So when was the Cthulhu info printed in Deities and Demigods? Was Call of Cthulhu already out by then?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-48166499198097655762010-08-17T06:46:20.832-04:002010-08-17T06:46:20.832-04:00Weren't there some supplements dealing with th...Weren't there some supplements dealing with the Dreamlands, though? The 5th edition rulebook includes a small section advertising it, I think. <br /><br />Probably not, but I wonder if the rules are connected at all to this primordial game.Don Jollyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01638044199376609034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-14991973954066659072010-08-17T03:32:37.485-04:002010-08-17T03:32:37.485-04:00I suspect most people coming to the table to play ...I suspect most people coming to the table to play <i>Call of Cthulhu</i> want gribbly horrors lurking in rotting locales, and so the Dreamlands stuff has always seemed a hard sell. Which is a shame, as it's a unique fantasy setting.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36275059984836169192010-08-17T02:08:45.697-04:002010-08-17T02:08:45.697-04:00@ John:
Years ago I played in a CoC Master's ...@ John:<br /><br />Years ago I played in a CoC Master's round at GenCon in which we started as powerful Dreamlands characters who found themselves transported to this world. As least in that limited sense, using Dreamlands as the "home" for the PCs worked marvelously.Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-91330141011413079882010-08-17T01:59:54.797-04:002010-08-17T01:59:54.797-04:00@Zarmoff: I've considered it myself, but it wo...@Zarmoff: I've considered it myself, but it would never make a mainstream CoC game, imo. I've often thought of using the information in the Dreamlands set as a basis for a weird swords & sorcery campaign using BRP or T&T, for example. I reckon it suits that use better.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14011319464542156037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-7504808061019158552010-08-16T23:22:02.557-04:002010-08-16T23:22:02.557-04:00I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's Dreamlands ma...I'm a big fan of Lovecraft's Dreamlands material. I'm rereading DREAM-QUEST OF UNKNOWN KADATH right now. I'm surprised not many games have used this material as a springboard for adventures.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12563806398221625146noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-14459372786557476202010-08-16T19:15:17.368-04:002010-08-16T19:15:17.368-04:00@ John: Actually, according to Sandy Petersen in a...@ John: Actually, according to Sandy Petersen in an interview on Yog radio, the Haunted House was actually a scenario he developed for his own home brew rules and ran before every working on CoC.Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-64729682613526785932010-08-16T18:27:33.295-04:002010-08-16T18:27:33.295-04:00There's a video interview with Greg Stafford i...There's a video interview with Greg Stafford in the Lovcraftian Tales from the Table DVD in which he talks a bit about the origins of CoC along these lines.<br /><br />His description of the first CoC game played at Chaosium after Petersen sent in his manuscript is hilarious. Something like, "So at the end of the game we looked around and thought, 'Right, your guy's dead, your guy has no face, and your guy is trapped in alternate dimension...'."David Larkinshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04133630988557116729noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71845613776703571722010-08-16T18:25:24.399-04:002010-08-16T18:25:24.399-04:00> For example, in the February 1982 issue of Di...> For example, in the February 1982 issue of Different Worlds<br />q.v. http://www.yog-sothoth.com/content/898-Call-of-Cthulhu-Designers-Notes-%28Petersen%29<br /><br />> There was also something called American Gothic, which seems to be some kind of modern-day Lovecraftian D&D variant created by Stephen Marsh and also unpublished. <br /><br />A couple of lines in passing only as a suggestion in the perszine that Steve ran for one of his PBMs; http://www.yog-sothoth.com/local_links.php?catid=24<br /><br />> In any event, it's fascinating to consider that Call of Cthulhu began its existence as a Gothic fantasy RPG set in the 19th century rather than as a straightforward evocation of Lovecraft's cosmic horror.<br /><br />*nods* D&D in Lake Geneva several years prior to that was actually closer to CoC than CoC started off itself. :)irbyzhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10193584357850337816noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-6929582965801219152010-08-16T18:15:23.039-04:002010-08-16T18:15:23.039-04:00The comment about time tables makes me think of th...The comment about time tables makes me think of the of the 1920's sourcebook that was packed in with first edition CoC. It included such info as well a variant character creation system and character sheet. It did not mesh exactly with with BRP or CoC 1ed. - maybe it's what became of the material created for Dark Worlds.Captain Jackhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10682678777940123469noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-27557476152194748182010-08-16T17:43:26.445-04:002010-08-16T17:43:26.445-04:00The Stephen Marsh materials are discussed extensiv...The Stephen Marsh materials are discussed extensively on The Acaeum, if you're interested in digging around.<br /><br />Allan.grodoghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11800184312511280050noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30793685371885972012010-08-16T17:33:12.425-04:002010-08-16T17:33:12.425-04:00Very interesting. I consider myself a CoC "nu...Very interesting. I consider myself a CoC "nut" (It's my favorite RPG overall), and I'd never heard of this earlier attempt, nor the Dark Worlds/Dark Shadows* earlier draft that became CoC. A neat bit of trivia you've uncovered here!<br /><br />*(I wonder if this title was an homage to the wonderfully awful horror soap opera of the same name?)Anthonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01254215329246851683noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24099939754265217942010-08-16T16:17:26.018-04:002010-08-16T16:17:26.018-04:00Well, that explains a lot about the classic CoC sc...Well, that explains a lot about the classic CoC scenario, "The Haunted House". That adventure has been in every edition of CoC since at least 2nd (the earliest I have), and it reads and plays more like a ghost story than a Cthulhu Mythos story.<br /><br />Knowing that CoC was originally meant to be a gothic horror game explains why this adventure is the way it is.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14011319464542156037noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85402925557394777842010-08-16T16:17:08.004-04:002010-08-16T16:17:08.004-04:00There was also something called American Gothic, w...There was also something called <i>American Gothic</i>, which seems to be some kind of modern-day Lovecraftian <i>D&D</i> variant created by Stephen Marsh and also unpublished.thekelvingreenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01928260185408072124noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-35364468324173486762010-08-16T16:05:18.406-04:002010-08-16T16:05:18.406-04:00More fun facts:
Issue 7 of Sorcerer's Apprent...More fun facts:<br /><br />Issue 7 of Sorcerer's Apprentice magazine (Summer 1980) contained an article called "The Lovecraft Variant," which was a Tunnels & Trolls rules hack for playing 1920s Cthulhu Mythos adventures. It was pretty damn cool.<br /><br />It later evolved into Mercenaries, Spies, and Private Eyes.Ed Hhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01262472490580424119noreply@blogger.com