Altering "Monsters"

[Michael Hopcroft]

On 5/4/2016 at 9:13 AM, TRose said:

 I kind of like that idea of Monster wanting be left alone and live in  Peace. One of the reason Ebberron isone of my favorite fantasy worlds is it has Orc Farmers who are just interested in getting their crop in and raising their children in peace.

But lets look at the Medusas and how to have fun with that legend. According to some legends Medusa was a beautiful Maiden who was raped by Poseidon in a Temple of Athena. And instead of kicking Poseidon butt for being a low life thug, Athena decided to punish the victim and turned Medusa into a monster..

 So perhaps the Medusas in your world could be suffering a similar unjust curse and the players meet one who just wants the curse removed and enlist the players aid.

The person who finds a way to stop her "stone gaze" would have her eternal gratitude, Even changing it to an at-will ability as opposed to the original form which is outside the creature's control (if she looks at a being, even without making eye contact, it becomes a statue regardless of her intentions) will be a marked improvement for her.

[soltakss]

On 5/11/2016 at 2:00 AM, TRose said:

First time I played we got two monsters and I drew a Goblin(Great biggest wimp in game) and a Basilisk. So I put the Basilisk in a bag and had the Goblin wander around with the bag  and when ever some human guards showed up the goblin would sit down and whimper  , Its mine , its mine don't take my precious. And of course when the Guards grabbed the bag and looked inside...

I did the same thing with a peephole in a wall, behind which was a basilisk. The PCs just could not help looking through the hole ...

[Atgxtg]

On 5/16/2016 at 4:41 PM, Michael Hopcroft said:

 

Getting back to the original topic, I'm thinking that without a true alignment system in BRP/RQ/CoC It would be possible for an enterprising GM (who has tolerant players) to break a setting without neccesarily breaking any rules. For example, one of the core principles of the Lovecraftian universe of CoC is that those parts of the Universe that care about Humanity at all are implacably hostile. We are an accident of nature that nature wants to erase.But what if there exists one or two massively powerful beings who actually kind of like us? Who see something in Humanity that would sadden them if it no longer existed? Such a campaign would not be Lovecraftian. The very idea is sacreligious to the dedicated CoC fanbase, and few of them would want to play in it. Yet under the rules is it quite possible. (Of course, so is running a Mythos campaign starring the cast of Scooby-Doo Where Are You?, which was actually a Gen Con fixture for a while.)

Actually, that's pretty much what August Derleth did to the setting. He assigned the Mythos being into pantheons, and has some of them be more pro-human. Now, yes, many of the fanbase dislike this "alteration" (if it is an alteration is debatable). 

As far a playing in it goes. I doubt anybody would actually want to play in a Lovecraftian universe without such. Not much point to it. Humanity is doomed, and there is not much the players  can do about it. It more or less waiting for something to actually take notice of us and wipe us out.

 

The RPG tends to take the approach that the PCs can prevent (or at least forestall) this, but only if they succeed in the adventures. Now one thing that is at odds with his though is that, in Lovecraft's Mythos stories, things tend to work out in a way that preserves humanity's survival. Individuals can go mad and die off, but the species goes on. For example, Yog Soggoth is prevented from destroying the world as we know it by a dog.  

 

 

[rust]

On 5/16/2016 at 10:41 PM, Michael Hopcroft said:

But what if there exists one or two massively powerful beings who actually kind of like us?

Lovecraft himself introduced such a being into his Cthulhu Mythos, the deity Nodens.