question Elder Gods verses Great Old Ones?

[Dethstrok9]

Why do I keep seeing this? People talking about a war in heaven where the good Elder Gods fought and defeated the evil elementals called the Great Old Ones, is this a cannon idea? 

I certainly read nothing of the kind in any of Lovecraft's work...

[Darius West]

This is derived from the work of August Derleth primarily, but the war between the Outer Gods and the Elder Gods and the subsequent entrapment of the former along with their servants, the Great Old Ones in this universe seems to be an idea other authors have used too.

[Ali the Helering]

Unfortunately, Derleth had trouble coping with Lovecraft's vision of pure cosmic horror.  I think Stross put it best with the idea that Bob knows his god is coming back, so he's waiting with a loaded shotgun.  Lovecraft's universe has neither hope nor redemption. 

[Old Man Henerson]

I personally prefer a more Lovecraft Lite kind of perspective when I am writing or working on my game. Though I have never read any of H.P.'s or Darleth's work, I much prefer William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land to the Cthulhu mythos, where the monsters are still dark and powerful cosmic beings, but they are not the only force at work in the universe and must always give way to the power of The Light.

While I have never read any of the mythos books, I have read plenty about them, and above all the characters the one I have liked most is Darleth's Character Nodens, as one of the lonely heroes who faces off against the mythos. I have even made a character based of Nodens in the campaign I am working on to help the PCs in their adventures.

You can see a little bit about my campaign idea over in this thread. 

 

Edited December 27, 2019 by Old Man Henerson
Adding a line and a link

[Ali the Helering]

2 hours ago, Old Man Henerson said:

I personally prefer a more Lovecraft Lite kind of perspective when I am writing or working on my game. Though I have never read any of H.P.'s or Darleth's work, I much prefer William Hope Hodgson's The Night Land to the Cthulhu mythos, where the monsters are still dark and powerful cosmic beings, but they are not the only force at work in the universe and must always give way to the power of The Light.

While I have never read any of the mythos books, I have read plenty about them, and above all the characters the one I have liked most is Darleth's Character Nodens, as one of the lonely heroes who faces off against the mythos. I have even made a character based of Nodens in the campaign I am working on to help the PCs in their adventures.

You can see a little bit about my campaign idea over in this thread. 

 

Hodgson offers a very playable universe, with the imminent likelihood of utter catastrophe.  Very cool👹

[Old Man Henerson]

2 hours ago, Ali the Helering said:

Hodgson offers a very playable universe, with the imminent likelihood of utter catastrophe.  Very cool👹

I am very surprised that nobody has thought of building a game around The Night Land before. Call of Cthulhu is so popular these days, and H.P. even wrote a whole essay on this book, so it seems rather strange no one has looked into gaming it before.

There is some good stuff in this thread I made a while ago to if you're interested. 

 

[EricW]

There is a reference to magic which can be used against deep ones in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth";

Quote

 

...

“Wal, as I says, the natives met the things on the little volcanic islet—goin’ thar in canoes with the sacrifices et cet’ry, and bringin’ back any of the gold-like jools as was comin’ to ’em. At fust the things didn’t never go onto the main island, but arter a time they come to want to. Seems they hankered arter mixin’ with the folks, an’ havin’ j’int ceremonies on the big days—May-Eve an’ Hallowe’en. Ye see, they was able to live both in an’ aout o’ water—what they call amphibians, I guess. The Kanakys told ’em as haow folks from the other islands might wanta wipe ’em aout ef they got wind o’ their bein’ thar, but they says they dun’t keer much, because they cud wipe aout the hull brood o’ humans ef they was willin’ to bother—that is, any as didn’t hev sarten signs sech as was used onct by the lost Old Ones, whoever they was. But not wantin’ to bother, they’d lay low when anybody visited the island.

...

“Wal, come abaout ’thutty-eight—when I was seven year’ old—Obed he faound the island people all wiped aout between v’yages. Seems the other islanders had got wind o’ what was goin’ on, an’ had took matters into their own hands. S’pose they musta had, arter all, them old magic signs as the sea-things says was the only things they was afeard of. No tellin’ what any o’ them Kanakys will chance to git a holt of when the sea-bottom throws up some island with ruins older’n the deluge. Pious cusses, these was—they didn’t leave nothin’ standin’ on either the main island or the little volcanic islet excep’ what parts of the ruins was too big to knock daown. In some places they was little stones strewed abaout—like charms—with somethin’ on ’em like what ye call a swastika naowadays. Prob’ly them was the Old Ones’ signs. Folks all wiped aout, no trace o’ no gold-like things, an’ none o’ the nearby Kanakys ud breathe a word abaout the matter. Wouldn’t even admit they’d ever ben any people on that island.

...

 

Whether the "Kanakys" had magic from a good god, or were simply rival cultists, is not revealed.

The Terrible Old Man may or may not be a worshipper of a more benign entity than the usual horrors. In the story The Terrible Old Man, he demonstrates his mastery of horrific magics against three burglars, so he is no saint; but he also tolerates children taunting him and smashing his house windows without hurting them. In The Strange High House in the Mist, he almost comes across as benign. 

I think evidence for good vs evil in the original HP Lovecraft is pretty sparse, though there is more variation than is supported by the usual Cthulhu game mechanics - not everyone who encounters the mythos goes hopelessly insane, a few characters like The Terrible Old Man and Randolf Carter seem to be able to encounter and manipulate mythos elements without completely losing their sanity.

I recently visited the South Pacific to try to find out more about mythos deities. The locals invited me to participate in their intriguing folk rituals. After I gave them money they agreed to let me leave, though they were saddened that I wasn't keen to fully explore the more esoteric elements of their culture. 

Edited December 29, 2019 by EricW

[General Kong]

Giving a new meaning to the invitation: "Welcome to the club! Maybe you wanna stick around."

Edited December 31, 2019 by Der Rote Baron

[seneschal]

See, if the Rotarians and Moose guys were a tad more assertive in their recruitment efforts their clubs could prosper again!