[freeroleplay] Re: Lovecraft (was Project Gutenberg)
- From: Ricardo Gladwell <president@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: FRPGC <freeroleplay@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 10 Jan 2005 21:33:03 +0000
On Sun, 2005-01-09 at 12:44, Samuel Penn wrote:
> On Sunday 09 January 2005 11:51, Ricardo Gladwell wrote:
> > The idea I had is that the madness caused by coming to understand the
> > Mythos is actually a sort of psychic infection spread by the various Old
> > Ones. This psychic madness is like a computer virus: it can be encoded
> > in mathematics, written into books (such as the Necronomicon).
>
> This is quite a nice view of it (have you read "Snowcrash" btw?
> Cyberpunk with a similar idea of memes being spread as a sort of
> computer code in people's minds).
I have read Snow Crash and I did enjoy it. But, the whole "mind eating
computer virus artificial intelligence god" thing is a now a pretty
common staple of modern science fiction, so it's not really an original
idea: even Stephenson was ripping it off people like Vernor Vinge. There
are elements of it in the Delta Green books too, but I think a horror
game that places the emphasis on the metaphysical aspects of the Old
Ones rather than the physical ones might make a nice change from clunky,
old CoC RPG.
> My big problem with Cthulhu (as a game) has always been the
> madness bit. Why should reading a book about the Great Old Ones
> drive you insane? Why is such knowledge treated any differently
> to reading any fantasy or horror fiction? Any modern person reading
> or hearing about the Mythos is probably going to discount it as
> fiction anyway.
I suppose there is a difference between merely hearing about the Mythos
as we discuss it on this forum to actually reading about the Mythos in
excruciating, grizzly detail in the Necronomicon. Plus, the pictures are
much better in the old Necro'.
> Even seeing Great Cthulhu shouldn't drive someone insane - scare
> the hell out of them yes, but insanity?
Again, I suppose its difficult to ascertain precisely how people will
react when faced with immortal horrors beyond spacetime - after all,
there isn't much real world experience. People react strongly to the
"milder" horrors of war, for example.
Compared to coming face-to-face with humanities own puny insignificance
and ultimate destruction in the face of the overwhelming forces of the
Mythos is probably going to tear something out of you.
It puts me in mind of a Chick spoof I once read where a Cthulhu cultists
approaches a prospective convert offering the chance to be one of the
few lucky ones to be eaten first. The convert asks "but why would I want
to be eaten first?" To which the cultist replies; "So that you don't get
to see the horrors of everyone else getting eaten." The recruit happily
signs up.
> > It is through this madness that the means to hold them back is found. By
> > subjecting ones self to the Old Ones corruption one becomes sensitive to
> > their attempts at intruding into our reality.
>
> I'm doing something similar for Habisfern magic - opening yourself
> up to use magic gives magic a chance to use you, and pushes you
> away from 'normal' reality. Initially it will manifest in dreams,
> but gradually the dreams will leak out into the real world.
I love this kind of magic effect.
--
Ricardo Gladwell
President, Free Roleplaying Community
http://www.freeroleplay.org/
president@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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