Quote from: Dan Davenport;445382Just wondering if anyone here has been following the development of Eldritch Skies. I'm shamelessly spreading the word about the Kickstarter project, 'cause I'm seriously hoping this gets made.

I have been hearing a bit of chatter about this, here and there. I had dismissed it as some sort of Cthulhu-in-Space game. I did not realize John Snead was behind it though. Now I am interested.

Thanks for the heads-up.

Quote from: CRKrueger;447142I can see a case for Deep Ones.  They are capable of interbreeding with humans, so to spread their numbers rapidly, mass-breeding camps where rape is the method of conception makes sense.

Except in Cthulhutech, the technology exists to grow adult human bodies rapidly. The Migou have it, and the humans have at least a limited version of it (body parts).

Quote from: Aos;447147I am about equally tired of the HPL and JRRT influences on RPGs. There so much other awesome shit to loot; some of it is even by authors who were sexually aware.

"Women are People Too: A Game of Reality-Shattering Horror"

Quote from: RPGPundit;447289The Mythos, if done right, can add a lot of good and interesting elements to the externals of a game.  The problem is too many people don't know how to do it right.

Its a spice, and if you put too much, or you put it in the wrong dish, it really is going to cause more harm than good.

RPGPundit

Just about any game I run ends up being CoC to some degree... having Lovecraftian elements to it... doesn't mean Mythos names get dropped or that monsters/tomes start showing up... but I trend settings toward being cold and uncaring and things getting very strange/dangerous as soon as people start turning over rocks and wandering away from home (not that home was safe either).
More in the way that Lynch's 'Blue Velvet' and 'Mulholland Drive' was a better Lovecraft tale vs. various films that just trot out a bunch of weird monsters and ancient tomes.

Quote from: RPGPundit;447289The Mythos, if done right, can add a lot of good and interesting elements to the externals of a game.  The problem is too many people don't know how to do it right.

Its a spice, and if you put too much, or you put it in the wrong dish, it really is going to cause more harm than good.

RPGPundit

That was exactly my point. You can't just throw mo' mythos into a game and assume the AWESOME level will automatically kick up like BAM!.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmice;447475That was exactly my point. You can't just throw mo' mythos into a game and assume the AWESOME level will automatically kick up like BAM!.

-clash

I had fun throwing some unorthodox Lovecraftian elements into my Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel games, including a self-concious ghoul named Hugo and a friendly sewer-cleaning shoggoth named Sally.

Quote from: Dan Davenport;447667I had fun throwing some unorthodox Lovecraftian elements into my Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel games, including a self-concious ghoul named Hugo and a friendly sewer-cleaning shoggoth named Sally.

I always wondered how those sewers got so clean.

Quote from: flyingmice;447475That was exactly my point. You can't just throw mo' mythos into a game and assume the AWESOME level will automatically kick up like BAM!.

-clash

Indeed. I much prefer an apt handling of it--I don't know how well Eldritch Skies will manage, I wish them the best though.

I won't be putting up money though. 1)Poor 2) I don't pay for bribe..er you know those things.

The problem is largely with the cheapening of Cthulhu by making it too commonplace.  Tiny servings make for much better results.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;447912The problem is largely with the cheapening of Cthulhu by making it too commonplace.  Tiny servings make for much better results.

RPGPundit

I have to agree with you on that, so I wonder how well Eldritch Skies will pull off replacing bumpy-forehead aliens with Lovecraftian ones. Will familiarity breed contempt? Dunno.

Quote from: Dan Davenport;448627I have to agree with you on that, so I wonder how well Eldritch Skies will pull off replacing bumpy-forehead aliens with Lovecraftian ones. Will familiarity breed contempt? Dunno.

Klingons have formed an alliance with Cthulhu?

Quote from: StormBringer;448753Klingons have formed an alliance with Cthulhu?

Heh.

Really, though -- I do wonder how well the Mi-Go and their ilk will work as aliens that everyone knows about, even if they are, well, alien.

Quote from: Dan Davenport;448785Heh.

Really, though -- I do wonder how well the Mi-Go and their ilk will work as aliens that everyone knows about, even if they are, well, alien.

Well, most sci-fi presents aliens as an aspect of humanity they wanted to make a social comment about.  In the 30s, it was much easier (and safer) to write about the horrible treatment of the green-skinned Malthaxians on Rigel IV than to discuss 'whites only' lunch counters and water fountains.

So, in that context, I don't know if they would fit at all.  The completely un-human nature of Mythos creatures seems to block any attempt to present them as a facet of human nature.  Even the betrayal of fellow humans as a theme seems unrealistic; Elder Things don't seem to need any kind of assistance in annihilating humanity, or enslaving them, or whatever else.  In standard sci-fi, everyone but the betrayer knows the alien race will eventually dispose of the traitor as well, but at least the thirst for power is understandable.

I suppose a theme of perpetual war and the struggle to survive would remain intact.  The short run 80s comic Dynamo Joe explored some of those themes, and the enemy in that story was very similar to the inhuman monstrosities found in many Mythos stories.  As has been said, though, less is more.  A glimpse here or there, cults or mind controlled people that only hint at the extent of their infiltration, and so on.

I think it could work, because I really enjoyed Dynamo Joe.  But the balance is quite delicate.

What does work in this context is "loss of humanity", of humans either being changed, or finding out they weren't actually human to begin with, or finding themselves ever more alienated (pardon the pun) from humanity as they are exposed to these utterly inhuman things.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPundit;449139What does work in this context is "loss of humanity", of humans either being changed, or finding out they weren't actually human to begin with, or finding themselves ever more alienated (pardon the pun) from humanity as they are exposed to these utterly inhuman things.

That's a good point. From what I've read, the setting's version of cybernetics/genetic modification will result in a far more literal "loss of humanity" than is the case with tiresome "cyberpsychosis" rules. I don't really see someone who's lost a leg feeling "less human" after getting a replacement that works better than the original, but having said leg replaced with something out of your nightmares? That's a different story.