Introduction to the Call of Cthulhu Setting - LunarNeil/Call-of-Cthulhu-Campaign GitHub Wiki

Call of Cthulhu is a game of dark mysteries, corruptive temptations, and unspeakable horror. Players enter this world unwillingly, pulled by forces beyond their control or sought by monsters unimaginable, and take command of an Investigator seeking to end the madness... one way or another. You will encounter sanity-blasting entities, monsters, and insane cultists. Within strange and forgotten tomes of lore you discover secrets that man was not meant to know. You and your companions may well decide the fate of the world, if you can keep your grip on reality long enough.

If you are interested in reading the actual story "Call of Cthulhu" you can do so online, as Lovecraft's work have entered public domain and are available many places, free of charge. I recommend starting with the eponymous "Call of Cthulhu" itself, which is an engaging and quick read, before moving onto "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and "At the Mountains of Madness." That would give you a good overview of the kinds of stuff you're getting into.

Table of Contents

• History of the Cthulhu Mythos
• The Role of the Players
• The Role of the Game Master
• Skill-based Roleplaying
• Conflicts and Consequences
• The Loss of Sanity

##History of the Cthulhu Mythos The Cthulhu Mythos is a shared fictional universe, based on the work of American horror writer H. P. Lovecraft. An ongoing theme in Lovecraft's work is the complete irrelevance of mankind in the face of the cosmic horrors of the universe, and man's inability to comprehend and accept this inconsequental place in the grand scheme of the time. This was first established in "The Call of Cthulhu", in which the minds of the human characters deteriorated when afforded a glimpse of what exists outside their perceived reality. Lovecraft emphasised the point by writing the following as the first paragraph of that story:

"The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far. The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age."

Writer Dirk W. Mosig notes that Lovecraft was a "mechanistic materialist" who embraced the philosophy of cosmic indifferentism. Lovecraft believed in a purposeless, mechanical, and uncaring universe that human beings, with their limited faculties, could never fully understand. The cognitive dissonance in man's view of himself and his world and the cosmic uncaring that manifests itself through discovery leads to insanity. Lovecraft's viewpoint made no allowance for religious belief which could not be supported scientifically, with the incomprehensible, cosmic forces of his tales having as little regard for humanity as humans have for insects.

Lovecraft made frequent reference to the "Great Old Ones": a loose pantheon of ancient, powerful deities from space who once ruled the Earth and who have since fallen into a deathlike sleep. There have been attempts at categorizing this fictional group of beings, and Phillip A. Schreffler argues that by carefully scrutinizing Lovecraft's writings a workable framework emerges that outlines the entire "pantheon" – from the unreachable "Outer Ones" (e.g. Azathoth, who apparently occupies the centre of the universe) and "Great Old Ones" (e.g. Cthulhu, imprisoned on Earth in the sunken city of R'lyeh) to the lesser castes (the lowly slave shoggoths and the Mi-go).

David E. Schultz, however, believes Lovecraft never meant to create a canonical Mythos but rather intended his imaginary pantheon to merely serve as a background element. Lovecraft himself humorously referred to his mythos as "Yog Sothothery" and at times had to remind readers his mythos creations were entirely fictional. The view that there was no rigid structure is reinforced by S. T. Joshi, who stated "Lovecraft's imaginary cosmogony was never a static system but rather a sort of aesthetic construct that remained ever adaptable to its creator's developing personality and altering interests... [T]here was never a rigid system that might be posthumously appropriated... [T]he essence of the mythos lies not in a pantheon of imaginary deities nor in a cobwebby collection of forgotten tomes, but rather in a certain convincing cosmic attitude."

##Author's Note: The Age of Darkness No, I'm not talking about the world you play in, I mean the world that the writer himself came from. Lovecraft was a fantastic horror and science fiction writer with a tremendous influence on those to come after him, but his works contain a few recurrent viewpoints that today's readers will understand as Racist, anti-Semitic, Sexist, or just plain strange. This can be a source of frustration for players that feel unwelcome in a game that memorializes Lovecraft's work, and this is a legitimate point for discussion among the group. I'll answer with some words of another influential author, paraphrased.

I come to bury H. P. Lovecraft, not to praise him. The evil that men do lives after them, The good is oft interred with their bones, so let it be with Lovecraft. Unlike the remainder of that speech I will not rouse us with stirring words, for I do not think we need to defend a work from its author's biases, it can stand or fail on its own. Lovecraft imbued his work with themes that challenge our significance, offer tantalizing views on the limits of human perception, horrify us with inversions of our norms, and yet was a man with just as horrible notions of his own. It even seems likely that they offered the genesis for much of his macabre writing:

"Early apologists viewed Lovecraft's racism as an unimportant element that occasionally surfaced in the background of his literature; today it is viewed as a key element in understanding Lovecraft's fiction and the nature of the world he created with it."

Bruce Lord, The Genetics of Horror: Sex and Racism in H.P. Lovecraft's Fiction*

My view is that Lovecraft's world was one bound by unreasonable fears, but it was just these fears which make the world so compelling. Just like other realms where just below the surface lurks magic and wonder, in Lovecraft's world lurks terrors and fears and self-loathing. We should not ignore Lovecraft's racism, nor defend it, not condemn all his works to a forgotten corner simply because we find the man's views repugnant. Off would go all of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Sherlock Holmes with him, Ronald Dahl would take Willy Wonka down the tubes, and everything with the Walt Disney name attached to it as well. The ability to separate fiction from its past (and its author) is an essential skill, without which our libraries would be very small indeed.

But it is my perspective, as the author of this game, that we should not allow ourselves to he constrained by authorial intent or even by the use of language. I freely advise all Keepers to change or ignore anything they find frustrating in the rules of this game, and so we should all freely change or ignore anything we find offensive in the source material. The fundamental rule of roleplaying still applies: the point of the game is to have fun.

##The Role of the Players The players play the role of Investigators, those too brave and foolish to run and hide when confronted with terrors from beyond human understanding. Investigators are a special sort, often defying madness rather than embracing it, and fighting back where Lovecraft's protagonists would falter and go screaming into the night. It is for these reasons, and others, that Investigators often meet a grisly end where Lovecraft allows his characters a dignified enough retirement that it allows them to write down the terrible events they experienced. If you choose to play a true Lovecraftian character, the focus should be on survival, rather than conquest. If you choose to play a more heroic archetype, it is recommended you prepare an additional character as a backup.

Investigators can come from any walk of life, but it helps if they have a strong reason not to turn and run at the first sight of paranormal horror. The stronger their motivation the more sensible it is that they continue working with their allies, continue fighting against the horror, and don't just kill themselves to end it now.

The Investigators are usually normal people with a dark secret, an unfortunate relative, or astoundingly bad luck. They can be a Pinkerton Special Agent sent to investigate some trouble, a local townie who has kept their head down until things got just too weird to ignore, a wealthy heir to a strange estate... it is up to the player to decide what kind of Investigator they want to play.

Doctor Frankenstein and Doctor Faustus, two scholars who sought knowledge not meant for men, are good examples of the kind of Investigators who get swept up in Mythos affairs through their own hubris. Indiana Jones is a good example of an accidental Investigator, never expecting the legends to be real.

The character sheets you use to make your characters will help guide you towards a developed Investigator with some good reasons to stick around. Remember, normal people don't go looking for unspeakable horrors. Why do you? Why aren't you normal?

##The Role of the Game Master The game master is the Keeper, who holds tight the secrets of the arcane and eldritch. Together with the Investigators they unravel a story, working as a team to advance the plot towards an exciting conclusion and opposed by the Mythos creatures and cultists that seek to end the world as we know it.

Keepers are the Game Master in Call of Cthulhu, the Keeper of Arcane Lore. Keepers design the campaign and manage the hard work of keeping the narrative exciting, often with the use of a scenario document that provides them with volumes of characters, environments, and possible plots for the players to uncover. They also fulfill the role of referee, fairly arbitrating a contest of wills between the Investigators and the dark world of the Cthulhu Mythos, which wants not to be investigated.

The operative phrase here is "fairly arbitrate," since it is not the goal of the Keeper to destroy the Investigators on behalf of the eldritch abominations, nor is it their responsibility to save the players from their own failures. The world of the Cthulhu mythos is horrific and deadly, and sometimes the most a simple man can hope for is to live just long enough to die a hero instead of a victim. The Keeper should not undermine this terrible fact, either by weakening the cosmic powers set against you or by unfairly focusing their indifferent gaze into a more purposeful malevolence.

However, the Keeper is still a friend to the Investigators, and will do their best to help players get the most out of their game. They just can't pull punches or fudge the dice to help them. Death isn't the worst thing in Call of Cthulhu, since it is only through death that anyone can escape the chaos that lurks in forgotten corners of the world. What they can do is try to help you keep having fun. If you're not having fun just playing the game, without the chance of killing Cthulhu himself, talk to the Keeper and see what can be done to make the game itself worth the price of your sanity.

##Skill-based Roleplaying Skill-based roleplaying is a game that requires players to use their own intelligence to gather information about the game world and make decisions to survive and succeed at both planned and random encounters. This is a game for the players, not for the Investigators!

You don't roll a die to determine if your Investigator finds and open a secret door, you gather information by asking questions and using your personal smarts to make choices to test the situation to discover the door. Then you make choices about how your Investigator can open the door. Investigators don't have talents to remove interesting experiences from the game, the talents of the Investigator are designed to help you as a player invest in your first and foremost tool (your character) so that it becomes a better tool when you know how to use it.

When the Investigators encounter a character they need to convince to let them into a Library, Keepers don't just judge the players on arbitrary and capricious standards. The character is a puzzle like any other. He has needs, traits, and desires that investigation (i.e. talking, to him, other people, or context clues) can discover. Then the players make choices about how to handle the situation - choices that if the investigation is done properly they will have a good idea about the results. Keepers present these choices explicitly to the players.

When you encounter a monster, players use their own skill to try to avoid being surprised by making choices about how you travel through the ruin, how you use your light sources, and your marching order. If you discover the monster before it discovers you, you make an effort to avoid it safely. All of these things are choices that the players are making, and making good choices is representative of their skill.

##Conflicts and Consequences Call of Cthulhu is a game that pits average people against incomprehensibly ancient cosmic horrors with the power of ancient pagan gods, so it is entirely reasonable to assume that you are doomed from the outset. In all likelihood, you are. The goal is not to conquer the kingdom, slay the shoggoth and marry the princess... the goal is often to insure the survival of the human species, and maybe to survive yourself. Ending up a madman in the asylum is a small price to pay for the continued existence of life on Planet Earth.

If you suddenly feel the urge to run in terror at every bump or gurgle you hear in the darkness, you're right! Running away is always the smartest thing to do. Always! But sometimes you can't get away, or getting away means sacrificing an ally. Sometimes you'll have to do just that, and not even just to save your own hide. What is the life of one Investigator when the stakes are the survival of everyone, everywhere?

##The Loss of Sanity The last thing to consider is your own sanity. Sanity is a major problem in Call of Cthulhu, as madness resulting from exposure to Mythos threats and situations are a major theme in the works of H.P. Lovecraft, and a hallmark of the horror genre. It isn't a question of if your character will suffer Sanity loss, but a matter of how much and how often. This will be an important element of roleplay, and situations to avoid Sanity loss through smart roleplaying are much more common than situations that force you to fight monsters or avoid physical injury.

You also need to contend with the very human reactions to violence, death, injury and loss. Humans are emotionally fragile creatures unsuited to the oppressive atmosphere of danger and helplessness that Mythos threats inspire, so the longer you fight the harder you'll have to struggle to keep your grip on sanity.

Sanity loss isn't just "going bonkers" and hearing voices. When trying to roleplay Sanity loss, remember that a deterioration of mental health has many features. Sanity loss is also loss of empathy, loss of hope, increasing distance from friends and family, an inability to cope with problems, and a trend towards violence and self harm. This isn't to make you less excited about roleplaying the effects of encountering horrible creatures, just some ideas to help you think about when trying to visualize the kind of effect this would have on your Investigator when the time comes.

One of the best examples of sanity loss can be seen in beginning of Terminator 2. In the previous movie, Sarah Connor was a normal young woman. She worked as a waitress, she liked to wear pink, had terrible 1980's hair and no real mission in life. But after the traumatic events of the first movie, the extended period of travel between Terminator 1 and 2, and the incarceration at the mental facility at the beginning of Terminator 2, Sarah had become a bitter, withdrawn, terrified, panic-prone killer that seemed both emotionally dead and incapable of feeling hope. All she had to fight was an unstoppable killing machine wrapped in human flesh that had come from the future to murder her before she can give birth to the savior of the apocalypse... you may not be so lucky.