tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post5031291859578234742..comments2024-03-25T22:48:31.750-04:00Comments on Dreams in the Lich House: Dungeons & Deep Ones, Dagon & Dragons - Musings on Call of Cthulhu as a D&D GameJohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-13281051787605779302011-06-06T18:09:13.503-04:002011-06-06T18:09:13.503-04:00Doc, I'm a big fan of Ken Hite's - he wrot...Doc, I'm a big fan of Ken Hite's - he wrote Trail of Cthulhu and Gurps Horror (two of my favorites) and I'm always on the lookout for Tour de Lovecraft.<br /><br />I think we're on the same side about a sanity mechanic - I'm firmly against adding a sanity mechanic, and achieving fear and horror through other ways. For instance, by legitimately making the players concerned about what could happen to their characters. Even a simple dungeon trick like a slide trap that drops 1-2 guys to a lower level, in the dark, with monsters, spikes the tension at the table and creates a moment rife with horror. The article on horror has a lot of similar ideas.<br /><br />I read Shane's post and tend to agree with his sentiment, that for extraordinary beings (in Cthulhu terms, "sanity blasting visions of the Elder Gods" and whatnot) the DM could always use a D&D spell effect like feeblemind or confusion as one of the entity's powers.Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-64636520321469632402011-06-06T17:02:39.165-04:002011-06-06T17:02:39.165-04:00Good post, though I'm not entirely certain I a...Good post, though I'm not entirely certain I agree about the sanity mechanic. Worrying about mechanics interfering with the proper flow of the story speaks to players not in the proper mindset for horror gaming. Horror gaming isn't about "winning" or even your character surviving. It is about experiencing the feeling of fear. <br /><br />I highly recommend Ken Hite's book Nightmares of Mine, as the finest work about horror gaming (maybe about any kind of gaming) ever written.DocStouthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13239520630901083975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-19029288463932292292011-06-06T13:58:10.898-04:002011-06-06T13:58:10.898-04:00I think a D&D/Cthulhu mix would work best in a...I think a D&D/Cthulhu mix would work best in an urban setting, investigating cults and dealing with their machinations. The basic D&D fight would be against the cultists, the horror dealing with the aliens gods they deal with (and would be helpless against).<br /><br />For XP I'd either come up with some clue/investigation based awards, or just let them level up after events of import.<br /><br />The spells in LotFP books would work well, maybe with a few tweaks or omissions. Some of those spells fit well (especially the Summon spell).Simon Forsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01243845335993440168noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-77613362451179735112011-06-06T10:50:16.341-04:002011-06-06T10:50:16.341-04:00You are echoing many of the same thoughts and conc...You are echoing many of the same thoughts and conclusions I covered when I began my blog. D&D and Lovecraftian horror mix very well, if handled correctly. Weaving the correct atmosphere is essential to achieving this kind of game. If you haven't read it, this post might come in handy when trying to build a weird atmosphere using the rules as written in any version of D&D or retro-clone:<br /><br />http://swordandsanity.blogspot.com/2010/01/spelling-out-horror-and-sanity-in.htmlShane Mangushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03865733072718219138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-1514860083648205172011-06-06T10:19:03.487-04:002011-06-06T10:19:03.487-04:00I'm on board with that sentiment - just adding...I'm on board with that sentiment - just adding a tentacled monster to your game doesn't make it a horror game. That's not what I'm talking about here, though, I actually mean running a Lovecraftian (horror) sandbox as a horror game with D&D mechanics.<br /><br />BTW, I did a popular post some months back on adding Horror to your D&D game:<br /><br /><a href="http://dreamsinthelichhouse.blogspot.com/2011/01/horror-in-dungeons-dragons.html" rel="nofollow"> Horror in Dungeons & Dragons</a>Johnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18031181424520125213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4353391426294254427.post-16253412932896525532011-06-06T10:08:06.604-04:002011-06-06T10:08:06.604-04:00D&D already has lots of horror elements - goin...D&D already has lots of horror elements - going into a tomb to fight the undead is a standard adventure - and it's not horror. So I think that adding Lovecraftian creatures wouldn't necessarily make it horror either. It might be a good idea anyway, but I don't think it'd make it horror.<br /><br />In any case I think that HP Lovecraft is largely read as science-fiction/fantasy these days, not horror.anarchisthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05546197561922726279noreply@blogger.com