Darius West Posted August 24, 2016 Share Posted August 24, 2016 (edited) For those who haven't heard with regards to Lovecraft scholarship, one of the most original things about Lovecraft's writing is his creation of the philosophy of Cosmicism. The central notions of Cosmicism include an indifferent universe with no guiding intelligence (as realised in the mindlessness of the deity Azathoth), and the utter irrelevance of humanity in the scheme of things within that universe. In fact even the deities of the C'thulhu Mythos are no more than fish in an endless cosmic ocean that dwarfs them and makes them merely a scale larger than humanity but not necessarily more meaningful within the scheme of things. This probably even includes the Elder Gods, who, even as they created this universe were no doubt merely the products of another equally vast and indifferent universe. Lovecraft evokes these ideas in his horror fiction through the following means: 1. Deep Time. The use of geological time in the billions of years in stories such as At The Mountains of Madness. Within the scope of geological time, even on Earth, our home, humanity's entire history is miniscule. The inferrence being that we are but one more species that will come and go like many others before and after. 2. Ignorance is bliss. The juxtaposition of the revelations of science and progress with the notion that ultimately our pursuit of knowledge is a trap that is unravelling our sanity and humanity, and may ultimately destroy us. Thus we choose between a disempowering ignorance that feels comfortable and a monstrous truth that threatens to consume any meaning in out lives even while such knowledge may yet save our species. 3. Powerlessness. The idea that the forces we are dealing with are utterly beyond human ability to affect, even as a whole society. That the whole planet Earth is just a microscopic dot to an endless universe. Also, that humanity's ultimate destruction is as inevitable as our own personal deaths, and that humans are not only powerless, but they aren't even particularly interesting in the grand scheme of things. There are probably other techniques he used as well, of course. Now the questions... (a) What do you as a Keeper do to evoke Cosmicism in CoC that you think works best? (b) If you are mainly a player, what did your Keeper do that made you best feel Cosmic Horror ? and (c) Which Chaosium adventure best evokes Cosmicism in your opinion. (d) White chocolate is neither white nor chocolate. Discuss... Edited August 25, 2016 by Darius West 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clarence Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 Very good description of Cosmicism. And a helpful abstraction of Lovecraft's writing. (a) I think point 2 and 3 are the most effective in RPGs, though I've been using all three. (d) Exactly. Quote FrostByte Books M–SPACE d100 Roleplaying in the Far Future Odd Soot Science Fiction Mystery in the 1920s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TK Nyarlathotep Posted August 25, 2016 Share Posted August 25, 2016 (a) While I'm still working on the specific hows and whys, Graham Walmsley's absolutely seminal Stealing Cthulhu is a critical help for instilling a sense of cosmicism and existential horror into your games by drawing from the well of the original sources. (c) In my humble (and sure to have me shot) opinion, precious few Chaosium supplements are especially cosmic horror-y or overly "true" to the source material. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as they are designed to facilitate a style of play more suiting to an actual tabletop game, rather than a slavish recreation of Lovecraft's tropes and idioms (which, while perhaps fun to read, would likely be miserably boring to play). That said, a few do stick out to me - The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse from Mansions of Madness is a deliriously frightening scenario where the truest sense of victory comes from having fled from the uncontainable /thing/ at the end of the scenario. Of newer fare, the current ongoing organized play campaign, A Time to Harvest, has had a delightful time in instilling within my players a sense of hopelessness and a sense that they'd have been better off not knowing. It has done little in the way of Deep Time, but pull the right strings and you could likely have all three elements available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darius West Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 Wow. Graham Walmsley's "Stealing C'thulhu" looks like the bomb! Gotta get me a copy! As for "The Crack'd and Crook'd Manse" I know it very well indeed. It was the first CoC scenario I ever played back in the 80s in a tournament, and I happened to win it. As a result I have a certain fondness for the scenario and have keepered/kept/GMed it a few times over the years for friends. It is also really well written, and yes, the need to flee is palpable, I agree. I can't say I am familiar with "A Time to Harvest" sadly. I will seek it out on your suggestion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darius West Posted August 25, 2016 Author Share Posted August 25, 2016 (edited) Edited November 9, 2016 by Darius West Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.