Quote from: Hastur T. FannonThe thing is, I quite like the way that the Chaosium Cuthulu Mythos skill sets a maximum point on your sanity...

Can you expand on what do you like about it?

Quote from: blakkieCan you expand on what do you like about it?

I think that I like the idea that it represents no matter how mentally tough you are, the human mind just isn't ready for these ideas yet.  It also represents knowledge coming at price on an inherent level

Quote from: Hastur T. FannonI think that I like the idea that it represents no matter how mentally tough you are, the human mind just isn't ready for these ideas yet.  It also represents knowledge coming at price on an inherent level

That's what I was going for. Knowledge has a nasty, nasty price. I actually put a colour quote right in there  of Ecclesiastes 1:18 "For in much wisdom is much grief: and he that increaseth knowledge increaseth sorrow.".

Gaining knowledge either by using the magic, engaging or observing rituals, reading books, and ultimately experiencing just peversely wierd alien shit, ups your Kišpu (a Sumerian word for magic, with bad connotations). The higher your Kišpu the wierder the crap you have to experience to even have a chance to gain.  And all the time, even if you are doing it purposely, your Steel (a mental fortitude stat, basically nerve) is fighting against you raising. If the character's Steel fails them not only does the Kišpu progress upwards (actually a number of ticks per 1 point moved up) but they are also either slackjacked for a few seconds (depending on how badly it failed) or the character (at the player's choice) suffers a mental break and runs screaming for a while (the later will very likely gain some sort of additional mental quirk).

Also once you reach say Kišpu 5 you can read whatever books you want. They don't phase you. They also don't progress your Kišpu. Same with the other experiences, there is a point at which they don't have effect because they have become mundane, relatively speaking.

If you ever reach a Kišpu of 10, voluntarily or involuntarily, you either die, self mutilate till death, or turn veggie for the rest of your life.  The veggies can still function somewhat but only by being ordered around by someone with the knowledge of how to reach in past the fog and motivate (a Skill linked to Kišpu called Dictum).

Did you read through the rules yet? I know it's kinda long, but not a whole lot more than a thread here.

BTW UA is a no go. Unfortunately I haven't played it, though it's been on my "yeah, I'll sign up for that if the opportunity comes along" list for a while. And my personal guideline is "I don't screw with games I haven't played". So the timeline I'm under doesn't really allow me to work that in, otherwise I'd consider it (and likely would have already).

QuoteI'm wondering if there could be a parallel between the mystic and Mythos cultist.

Dude, you already described a Mythos Cultist to a tee in #75.

You get right down to it, the meaning your life has is your responsibility. Finding something to do is up to you. That is the great flaw in free will, you can blame no one else for a lack of purpose.

I ran a long-running d20 Call of Cthulhu game, and I managed to evoke quite a bit of horror in my players.

It wasn't really the existential "life is meaningless" kind of horror, because as others have mentioned, that's tough to shoehorn into a game.

I found that what frightened my players the most were...

(1) Sanity.  They could see that score eroding slowly, knowing they were one step closer to a fate worse than death with every adventure.

(2) Fragility.  They knew they couldn't stand up to a monster of any kind; if it didn't blast their mind, it could rip up their bodies.

Those two factors worked to make everything else even scarier.  When you throw those into the mix, 'fear of the unknown' becomes hugely successful.  In many other games, you might not be frightened if your character wakes up in the middle of the night and hears scratches on their door.  In CoC, that's hugely scary.

Another successful tactic - although much tougher in the long run - is a slow and dawning realization that everything they thought they knew isn't true, and that the places they thought were safe havens aren't in fact safe at all...  When they run to a safe spot, take that safe spot away from them.  In my game, they were members of an international organization.  A few hints that the organization wasn't all it appeared to be was all it took to make them think they were really screwed.

It helps a lot to have players who are there to experience the game for what it is, too.  In fact, I'd say it's crucial.  You can't run a workable CoC game if the players are there to crack jokes, hunt monsters with shotguns, and so on.  If your players want to be scared, it's not too tough to scare them.  There were at least a few times over the course of the campaign where I literally made them jump.

I threw in a lot of dirty tricks, too.  For example, when I was describing a door set into the ground, I kept a slow and somewhat scary pace of description, and when I lulled them into it, I slammed my hand on the table.  Screams all around.

I made liberal use of sound files - in one case, I created some funky flute-like music, added 3 minutes of silence to the beginning, ran back to my PC at one point, pressed PLAY, upped the volume and came back.  When my spidey sense told me 3 minutes was almost up, I started to mention the strange, unearthly fluting sound they heard...  When it actually started, the girls in the group screamed and kind of curled up.

It's a good game, but you can't do it exactly like the books unless your players are really into that kind of thing.  Still, there is abundant fright to be found.

-O

Quote from: obryn...I created some funky flute-like music...

That screwed up (Japanese?) flute music? I remember that. I'm pretty sure I have that saved on my HD somewhere.

I've thought about using mood props too. Part of the trouble is I'll likely not do this in my own house (too many little kids with late bedtimes). I'll have a better idea where to go with the props when the setting and direction of the sessions are set. Hopefully with the one group (the single player one) that'll get set this weekend. I'm suppose to see Pan's Labyrinth with the key member of the other group on Wed. (the group is likely him plus his two sons), although I already know in his case he's sweet on At the Mountains of Madness (he's a paleontologist, so like a geologist only geekier ) and the 'feeling insignificant' angle.

Quoteis a slow and dawning realization that everything they thought they knew isn't true,

That´s such a angsty cliche GM quote, and it never is realized, at least not by Lovecraft.

Quote from: SettembriniThat´s such a angsty cliche GM quote, and it never is realized, at least not by Lovecraft.

I'd rephrase that: "Everything they know and can know is a brief aberration in an otherwise incomprehensible universe", or "Any description of Cthulhu which doesn't drive you insane isn't accurate." In the Mythos, you cannot know the truth while remaining human and sane; consequently, if you do remain human and sane, the truth which you might think you know isn't the ultimate truth.

I think I have it:

Blakkie is saying, that the "maddening truth" is a placeholder in Lovecrafts writing. It´s not spelled out. It´s an axiom:  "the Mythos drives you crazy", but it is never explained what drives you crazy, and there is nothing inherintly maddening in the Mythos-stories.

Blakkie is turning this around and says:
" This truth must be totally horrible, because it drives you crazy!"

So he fills in this blank spot himself. He isn´t convinced by Lovecraft, he´s convincing himself.

Correct?

Suspension of belief.  I don't believe in vampires or The Thing that can look like my buddy and the eat my motherfucking head off either. I consider both to be extremely unlikely. Ironically I consider them marginally less likely than too much info causing you to act inhuman. Like the supposed infamous Dolly Parton quote "You can't stuff ten pounds of mud into a five-pound sack". Do a search for "turnip farmer" up above. I just don't expect it is as easy and involuntary a process as is suggested in a lot of the stories.

However I am able to say "what if" and imagine it from there.  If you just can't imagine then it isn't going to work for you. What I do think is that you steadfastly refuse to imagine. That you dwell too much on you knowing things are concrete, that you are Right™, and it couldn't be any other way. It is like hypnotising someone that is determined not to be, it jus' don't work that way.

Quote...but it is never explained what drives you crazy...

In vague terms, he does. To get more specific would fall into ham-handed yapping about about midi-chlorians and such. Unmask it and it becomes humourous at best.  Before we saw Freddy Kruger he was spooky shit. When we saw him? :roofle:

So a koan; How do you explain the unexplainable?

Quote from: SettembriniI think I have it:

Blakkie is saying, that the "maddening truth" is a placeholder in Lovecrafts writing. It´s not spelled out. It´s an axiom:  "the Mythos drives you crazy", but it is never explained what drives you crazy, and there is nothing inherintly maddening in the Mythos-stories.

Blakkie is turning this around and says:
" This truth must be totally horrible, because it drives you crazy!"

So he fills in this blank spot himself. He isn´t convinced by Lovecraft, he´s convincing himself.

Correct?

OK.... so what?

This is just one of those things that's taken as a given in Call of Cthulhu.  It's like fireballs in D&D, or a warrior being able to sling his way through hundreds of orcs.

It's a trope of the Lovecraftian/Cosmic Horror genre.  It's axiomatic and needs no further explanation.

Hating on Lovecraft for it is like hating on fantasy for magic.

-O

I like Lovecraft.

Quote from: SettembriniI like Lovecraft.

OK, Mr. Literal.

Replace "Hating on the CoC RPG" for "Hating on Lovecraft" above, if that's what you need to do.

-O