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Is there still anything new to be done with the Mythos?

Started by RPGPundit, January 24, 2013, 05:40:40 PM

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RPGPundit

#105
February 17, 2013, 02:06:16 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;628960I am reading a short story by Neil Gaiman called A Study in Emerald, which you can read for free at that link.  It was created as a mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and the Mythos.

Without spoiling it much, the story takes place 700 years after The Old Ones conquered earth.  The royals are beings from Out There, and there are clever marketing pieces sprinkled throughout the story that reference characters such as Vlad Tepes, Victor Frankenstein, Spring Heeled Jack, Dr. Jekyll., etc..  England has some scattered members of a seditionary 'restorationist' anarchist movement to restore humanity to self-rule.  

I think it could make for a very interesting Mythos campaign, and it feels like a "new" take to me.

I didn't actually read the story, but from your description this doesn't sound like the Mythos to me at all... because one of the premises of the Mythos is that if the Old Ones do arrive on earth, whatever happens after won't be recognizable to us. If humans survive, they will look both inhuman and totally insane to us.

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Mistwell

#106
February 17, 2013, 04:43:57 PM Last Edit: February 17, 2013, 04:50:50 PM by Mistwell
Quote from: RPGPundit;629127I didn't actually read the story, but from your description this doesn't sound like the Mythos to me at all... because one of the premises of the Mythos is that if the Old Ones do arrive on earth, whatever happens after won't be recognizable to us. If humans survive, they will look both inhuman and totally insane to us.

RPGPundit

They look inhuman and totally insane.  Few people are ever exposed to royalty, and royalty drive humans insane and feed off their madness...or so the Restorationists claim.  The story begins with an encounter with an old one, and the one human who survives is a shriveled wreck driven nearly mad by the mere site of it.

It's definitely the Mythos.  You should read it.  It's a good story.   It won the 2004 Hugo Award for Best Short Story (and the Locus), and was published in the collection New Cthulhu: The Recent Weird.

gattsuru

#107
February 17, 2013, 04:58:43 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;629127... whatever happens after won't be recognizable to us. If humans survive, they will look both inhuman and totally insane to us.
It's worth reading.  I don't want to spoil it, but Gaiman makes a very good argument by the end that the protagonist is glossing over a lot of things that are incredibly incompatible with what you'd expect or consider sane.

Daddy Warpig

#108
February 17, 2013, 06:16:33 PM
Quote from: gattsuru;629207It's worth reading.  I don't want to spoil it, but Gaiman makes a very good argument by the end that the protagonist is glossing over a lot of things that are incredibly incompatible with what you'd expect or consider sane.
In particular, since it's first person it has an unreliable narrator. He glosses over a lot of things.

The story is a real kick.
"To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."
"Ulysses" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson

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TristramEvans

#109
February 17, 2013, 06:20:03 PM
Quote from: Mistwell;628960I am reading a short story by Neil Gaiman called A Study in Emerald, which you can read for free at that link.  It was created as a mash-up of Sherlock Holmes and the Mythos.

Without spoiling it much, the story takes place 700 years after The Old Ones conquered earth.  The royals are beings from Out There, and there are clever marketing pieces sprinkled throughout the story that reference characters such as Vlad Tepes, Victor Frankenstein, Spring Heeled Jack, Dr. Jekyll., etc..  England has some scattered members of a seditionary 'restorationist' anarchist movement to restore humanity to self-rule.  

I think it could make for a very interesting Mythos campaign, and it feels like a "new" take to me.

Yeah that was part of a collection called Shadows Over Baker Street from about...'04? I think. It was pretty good.

Rogerd

#110
February 18, 2013, 06:14:49 AM
I think it has plenty of mileage yet.

Someone has already mentioned Cthulhu Rising, Clockwork and Cthulhu and the Cthulhu Britannica IIRC.

Babylon 5 I thought was great for showing how small humanity actually was; and EU Vorlons are pretty damn terrifying. Doctor Who is good as well showing that alien menaces invade the Earth and were it not for outside help we'd be long dead already.

In a way Elric tried to imitate that with the Lords of Order and Chaos. Two incomprehensible forces beyond human-ken.

Fiction-wise a Xeelee would be perfect Lovecraft material, a 19th Century person seeing one run off screaming.

So yeah, the mythos has a lot of life left in it, as long as it is approached the right way.

The Traveller

#111
February 18, 2013, 08:10:00 AM
Quote from: Opaopajr;628039The big purple is only a legend in its own mind. Like many things on the internet, it is not worth the effort to engage.
I wouldn't conflate the site, admins and objectionable inhabitants with everyone who frequents rpgnet though, there are still loads of decent posters over there for some reason. One of my favourite creative threads is this one. Rpgnet doesn't do much right but riffs it is good at.
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

Simlasa

#112
February 18, 2013, 02:47:54 PM
Quote from: The Traveller;629422I wouldn't conflate the site, admins and objectionable inhabitants with everyone who frequents rpgnet though, there are still loads of decent posters over there for some reason.
I agree. I've slowly learned how to navigate the place and not let myself get steamed over the stupid stuff... just sift out the gold instead... and there's a good bit of it, enough to justify going there.
It's similar to The Miniatures Page, which is full of quasi-Fascists but also loads of good information and ideas. I just need to ignore the political baiting and arguments about what color Napoleon's shorts were.

Opaopajr

#113
February 18, 2013, 03:24:42 PM
Fair enough, but engaging is not the same as sifting. ;)
Not everything needs a response, even here. :p
Just make your fuckin\' guy and roll the dice, you pricks. Focus on what\'s interesting, not what gives you the biggest randomly generated virtual penis.  -- J Arcane
 
You know, people keep comparing non-TSR D&D to deck-building in Magic: the Gathering. But maybe it\'s more like Katamari Damacy. You keep sticking shit on your characters until they are big enough to be a star.
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Simlasa

#114
February 18, 2013, 03:40:42 PM
Quote from: Opaopajr;629588Fair enough, but engaging is not the same as sifting.
Oh, I'll happily engage over there as well... if the thread seems lively and creative... vs. some form of do-it-yourself rectal exam.

There have been many good threads about CoC over there that I've participated in happily... as long as they're about ideas and actual gaming vs. 'why this game is broken' or 'why this would be better if it was FATE'.
I pretty much avoid the 'Industry Analysis' threads here the way I avoid the 'Stat my transgender snowflake' over there.

RPGPundit

#115
February 19, 2013, 02:29:16 AM
Quote from: Simlasa;629593There have been many good threads about CoC over there that I've participated in happily... as long as they're about ideas and actual gaming vs. 'why this game is broken' or 'why this would be better if it was FATE'.

Seems to me that there's way more of the latter, and that the former eventually turn into the latter as soon as someone claims that CoC is a useless system and that RPGnet Darling of the Week #5859 is a "much better fit" for the mythos stories (with said poster usually completely misrepresenting what happens in the actual literature in the process).

RPGPundit
LION & DRAGON: Medieval-Authentic OSR Roleplaying is available now! You only THINK you\'ve played \'medieval fantasy\' until you play L&D.


My Blog:  http://therpgpundit.blogspot.com/
The most famous uruguayan gaming blog on the planet!

NEW!
Check out my short OSR supplements series; The RPGPundit Presents!


Dark Albion: The Rose War! The OSR fantasy setting of the history that inspired Shakespeare and Martin alike.
Also available in Variant Cover form!
Also, now with the CULTS OF CHAOS cult-generation sourcebook

ARROWS OF INDRA
Arrows of Indra: The Old-School Epic Indian RPG!
NOW AVAILABLE: AoI in print form

LORDS OF OLYMPUS
The new Diceless RPG of multiversal power, adventure and intrigue, now available.

Simlasa

#116
February 19, 2013, 07:18:55 AM Last Edit: February 19, 2013, 07:21:23 AM by Simlasa
Quote from: RPGPundit;629793Seems to me that there's way more of the latter, and that the former eventually turn into the latter
Well, yeah... there's a certain inevitability about the place... given how many folks frequent it. But until Johnny Fuckwad shows up some good/useful conversations can be had.
The thread I started tonight got to two whole pages before people started attacking me.

The Butcher

#117
February 19, 2013, 01:03:01 PM
Quote from: RPGPundit;629127I didn't actually read the story, but from your description this doesn't sound like the Mythos to me at all... because one of the premises of the Mythos is that if the Old Ones do arrive on earth, whatever happens after won't be recognizable to us. If humans survive, they will look both inhuman and totally insane to us.

I love Neil Gaiman's writing, and find "A Study in Emerald" a great read, but I'm inclined to agree with Pundejo here. Eldricht abominations holding public office doesn't feel true to Lovecraft's Mythos (though it did make for an entertaining yarn in this case, that's less horrific than intriguing).

I found Charles Stross' "A Colder War" both a better Mythos story and a more satisfying horror story.

The Traveller

#118
February 19, 2013, 01:06:09 PM
Quote from: The Butcher;629940I found Charles Stross' "A Colder War" both a better Mythos story and a more satisfying horror story.
Likewise, the almost offhand punchline was a toe curler, it remains one of my all time favourite pieces of fiction.
"These children are playing with dark and dangerous powers!"
"What else are you meant to do with dark and dangerous powers?"
A concise overview of GNS theory.
Quote from: that muppet vince baker on RPGsIf you care about character arcs or any, any, any lit 101 stuff, I\'d choose a different game.

jhkim

#119
February 20, 2013, 02:07:05 AM
On the subject of Mythos figures as good guys, I was just re-reading Shadow Over Innsmouth, and I was struck by how the Innsmouth residents mostly seemed to want to keep to themselves and follow their own ways, and keep their secrets - and it sounds like the entire town was assaulted with genocidal fury once their secret got out.  

I'm pondering now if I could run a game of Deep Ones trying to keep their secret and hold off the genocidal threat to them.  How far would they go to keep a stranger from leaking their secrets?
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