arise DAGOTH !!!

[Anonymous]

hey, love Conan the movies and D&D and the Cthulhu Mythos... i was wondering how many Lovecraftian references/influences there were in the Conan RPG?

i assume that Dagoth, the dreaming god, was heavily influenced by Lovecraft as in Cthulhu and Dagon.

check out my Cthulhu Mythos midwest convention link: http://www.darkmusicdomain.com/cthulhu.html

thanks, D

Hail Cthulhu One !!!

 

[mthomason]

The nature of magic in Conan has a very Cthulhu Mythos feel to it.

Sorcery is "tainted", and comes with a price to pay. Reading the Book of Skelos brings both arcane knowledge and terrifying dreams... Necronomicon, anyone?

Oh, and take a look at the Yaggites of the planet Yag. Rather than being summoned from some hell-dimension, they're travellers from another world.

What I love is that magic in Conan is the weird-ass evil scary s--t it's meant to be, not a Harry Potter-esque waving of wands with a sparkly trail (or if it is, the sparkly trail is liable to flay the flesh from someone's bones). The safest way to take down a sorcerer is to lop off his head when he's not looking, not to learn magic to go up against him head on, because that just leads to the effects of corruption coming down on you.

I'm not a big fan of crossovers, at least not when trying to run a serious game. They work great when you want a laugh, but mostly you end up with two things that just feel "forced together". However, if Cthulhu himself were to pop up a tentacle in a Conan game it'd just feel natural to me.

So yes, lots of Lovecraftian parallels and they work perfectly in the setting

 

[InsomNY]

It goes beyond being forced together or a crossover. Howard and Lovecraft were more than contemporaries; they were correspondents. They discussed their works and mythoi by post, and Howard is known to have made an effort to include Cthonian elements into some of his writing. The evidence for this is in some of his letters and his writing notes, not to mention the various critiques on this very subject. I also have a book of Cthulhu Mythos short stories written by Howard. This isn't a new revelation.

 

[XcomSquaddie]

It goes beyond being forced together or a crossover. Howard and Lovecraft were more than contemporaries; they were correspondents. They discussed their works and mythoi by post, and Howard is known to have made an effort to include Cthonian elements into some of his writing. The evidence for this is in some of his letters and his writing notes, not to mention the various critiques on this very subject. I also have a book of Cthulhu Mythos short stories written by Howard. This isn't a new revelation.

That's okay. It's always cool to see someone newly excited by old stories. That's what keeps them going.

That must have been an interesting time to write. Like you said, Howard and Lovecraft were part of a whole circle of writers that borrowed names, plot elements and even characters and deities freely. The cross referencing enhanced the various stories, making them seem both familiar and mysterious.

Sadly, that could never happen today, with all the legal bullshit.

 

[InsomNY]

Ugh, you're right. I did come off a little bit harsh and crusty. Apologies, Darrick.

 

[mthomason]

Sadly, that could never happen today, with all the legal bullshit.

I think it could, but it'd come with a near-incomprehensible Open Literary Licence inside the back cover preventing anyone who isn't a lawyer from working with it

Which actually reminds me of an idea I was thinking of for an Open Campaign Setting under an OGL-derived licence, but I digress...

 

[René]

I also have a book of Cthulhu Mythos short stories written by Howard. This isn't a new revelation.

Can you give me the title / ISBN of the book? Thanks!

 

[XcomSquaddie]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=377&item=4500621524&rd=1&ssPageName=WD1V

Here's a link to an ebay copy.

This book is a damn good read. My copy is a dark blue paperback with artwork of a cthulhu statue on the cover.

Hope that helps.

 

[Mythos]

Chaosium has recently reprinted there collection of Howard's Mythos stories.
It's titled; Nameless Cults.

 

[Voltumna]

So... would you buy Call of Cthulhu or Dreamlands to use with Conan? I have been tempted to bay Dreamlands to stage some lotus dreams. I am totally unfamiliar with the Chaosium games, but Dreamlands has come to my atention, since I want to present my group with weird experiences throuhg the use of the lotus.