Cthulu

[hobbit]

Hi. I’m new here. I’m am trying to find a way to add Cthulu to my campaign. I know it was in SA. I don’t have access to it. I don’t want to invest in Call of Cthulu. Any suggestions? 

[apn]

Hi, and welcome to the board! Only reference I can find in my (admittedly) limited collection is in Sorcerers' Apprentice #11 'Know your Foe: The Monsters of the Cthulhu Mythos' and states 'This article makes no attempt specify blah blah for Tunnels and Trolls or any other FRP system'.

In terms of stats I would pick a few bad guys from say, HERE and adjust Monster Rating to suit your adventuring party. I wouldn't bother with the bigger stuff. Simply assume they are all bigger than a mansion and your puny lil axe won't make much of a dent. The Cthulhu stuff was more about finding some way to stop them with a landslide or big explosion than duffing them up in a fistfight, in my very limited experience! (We tried COC a couple of times and it never stuck, though i liked the idea of a pulp 30s setting with undead ghouls, zombies, vampires etc)

[mosker]

What apn said about monsters etc.

If you're looking for modelling sanity, I'd keep it simple: perhaps throw in one new thing to keep track of (instability rating?) and then call for periodic Saving Rolls (see thread elsewhere on low-level SRs, critical failures or that DT&T--assuming that's what you're using--sidebar in the magic section from Liz on spell casting in 7.x) to insure characters don't panic (i.e. stay and fight when they want to, don't slip into berserker mode, can cast spells successfully...)

[ProfGremlin]

You may be able to find some use and inspiration from TKD's thread, Tunnels & Terrors - Beta. It's been a decade, since the last post, so I couldn't tell you much about it. But! it should be right on point for what you're looking for.

Welcome to Tunnels & Terrors a Pulp-Horror variant for the Tunnels & Trolls engine.

Tunnels & Terrors takes place in the darkling collective world of classic pulp authors H.P. Lovecraft, Robert E. Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, Henry Kuttner and many others.

A world of hidden realms, of lost civilizations, of unspeakable gods & unknowable secrets. Where insanity and forbidden truth walk hand in hand and your characters are the last dim flames flicker railing against the final dying of the light.

Here you will find rules for modern character types, arcane magic & occult tomes, skills, equipment & sinister enemies. The very depths of madness and a gateway into a world of dark mystery & terrifying adventure.

Edit to Add:

Here's another thread on exactly what you're asking about: Cthulhu and T&T. You'll really want to read through this thread. The last page has some posts by TKD with detailed monster write ups.

[mgtremaine]

Like apn says SA 11 has a long article about the mythos.. But nothing specifically game related...

Here is the after note on the article.

NOTES FOR GAME PLAYERS
This article makes no attempt to specify the monsters of the Cthulhu Mythos in terms or T&T (or any other FRP system). It does attempt to supply enough specific information to allow a Game Master to rate them according to the needs of his or her own campaign.
Basically, a campaign should feature more cultists/wizards than monsters/inhumans, and more monsters/inhumans than gods. This latter is important, for unless a god is made unrealistically weak, ordinary players have no chance against him. Therefore, a god should appear only rarely - and then it is better to make it one of the lesser Old Ones (Dagon, Tsathoggua, Yidhra) rather than one which could destroy a planet with a thought (Yog-Sothoth, Azathoth, Zathog).

[bigjackbrass]

The article you’re after is The Lovecraft Variant from issue 7 (summer 1980). Although there was talk of it being republished separately a year or two ago I’ve seen nothing since.



It’s in many ways a proto-Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes and gives a full system for adapting T&T to more modern action. It’s pretty good, but if you can’t find a copy then using MSPE as a base along with details of Lovecraftian horrors from issue 11 or Call of Cthulhu will do the job nicely.

[mosker]

Oct 24, 2022 10:30:09 GMT -5 bigjackbrass said:

The article you’re after is The Lovecraft Variant from issue 7 (summer 1980). Although there was talk of it being republished separately a year or two ago I’ve seen nothing since.



It’s in many ways a proto-Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes and gives a full system for adapting T&T to more modern action. It’s pretty good, but if you can’t find a copy then using MSPE as a base along with details of Lovecraftian horrors from issue 11 or Call of Cthulhu will do the job nicely.

(One of the foundational pieces of my creative career: just starting to play games showed me how to take an established system and take it in a whole new direction.)

I brought this up with Steve on one of the FB forums. I think the issue is that the rights have reverted to the article's authors, who 40+ years later might be hard to track down...

[bigjackbrass]

Oct 24, 2022 11:39:32 GMT -5 mosker said:

I think the issue is that the rights have reverted to the article's authors, who 40+ years later might be hard to track down...

Philip Rahman died a decade or so ago, but I believe that Glenn Rahman is still around and was certainly still active in SF and gaming not so long ago. He was involved in a new edition of his Divine Right board game, although I don’t know what became of that after the falling out over a white supremacist being chosen to publish it. Anyway, he may not be so hard to find.

[mosker]

Oct 24, 2022 13:03:03 GMT -5 bigjackbrass said:

Oct 24, 2022 11:39:32 GMT -5 mosker said:

I think the issue is that the rights have reverted to the article's authors, who 40+ years later might be hard to track down...

Philip Rahman died a decade or so ago, but I believe that Glenn Rahman is still around and was certainly still active in SF and gaming not so long ago. He was involved in a new edition of his Divine Right board game, although I don’t know what became of that after the falling out over a white supremacist being chosen to publish it. Anyway, he may not be so hard to find.

Sweet! Thank you. Will ping Steve.

[sscrompton]

Cthulu Connections...
Ken St Andre and I have just finished the Monsterary of Zimrala which has quite a few Cthulu creatures in it The monster ratings in the book are compatible with Ken's most well known games. We also have a sub-human race of altered humaoids that live in a half-submerged ruined city. Thre are numerous dimenional gates that least to Zimrala and you could easiy use that as a place where players might go, or where there cthulu creatures dwell. The book also includes the Monsters! Monsters! rules...

Here's a direct link to the the 177 page pdf...
www.drivethrurpg.com/product/414074/Monsterary-of-Zimrala

If someone can find me Rahman's email I'd be happy to talk to him...

[tp]

I actually emailed Mr Rahman a year or more back and purchased the rights to reprint his article.

However... since then WS have announced they want to put and end to 3P products, so I don't think I am going to be able to put it out.

I am writing a lovecraftian setting for monsters! Monsters! (Which I've just been talking about elsewhere on this forum, so won't go into details.)

I had wondered whether or not to include the original article as this, I'm erring towards not as they are nit really the rules I will ve using for the setting.

It's possible I could put it out as a little booklet by its self, if I changed every reference of T&T to M!M!

Hmmm....

[stevemitchell]

An M!M! conversion of the original Rahman article would be interesting. But at this point in RPG history, if I wanted to do Cthulhu in the "classic" period, I would probably just go with Chaosium's Call of Cthulhu. A Lovecraftian setting book for M!M!, though, usable in Zimrala or a generic fantasy world, would be very welcome.

[sscrompton]

The Lovecraft Variant FOR MONSTERS! MONSTERS! IS AVAILABLE ON DRIVE-THRU and has been the number 1 best selling Tunnels & Trolls/Monsters! Monsters! title since it was launched in late January 2023. It's already a copper best seller.

This is a 60+ page booklet with everything you need to turn Monsters! Monsters! (or any other compatible rules set) into a full Lovecraftian system – featuring new classes, skills, character traits, weapons, monsters and much more!

In 1980 the Rahman brothers released a set of rules to convert the second oldest role playing game in the world to a Lovecraftian setting – not just a set of loosely inspired monsters, but a full system for investigating strange occurrences and uncovering ancient secrets, all while struggling to maintain the characters' sanity in the face of unimaginable terrors.
There are also more Lovecraftian M!M! products in development from Tom Pugh who obtained the rights to reprint the articles in this updated form.

www.drivethrurpg.com/product/423957/The-Lovecraft-Variant