Looking into the Abyss

Lessons from Cthulhu Dark

I recently had the opportunity to run a lot of Cthulhu Dark as part of A Weekend With Good Friends. I’m back to my existing Call of Cthulhu campaign now, of course, but this all reminded me of some ways that Graham Walmsley’s streamlined game has helped me improve my ability to run CoC well.

Improving my Keepering with Cthulhu Dark

Call of Cthulhu may not be overly complex in its rule system, but certain components can certainly seem intricate. The heart of this game, however, lies in storytelling rather than rule navigation. A beautifully narrated and spine-chilling narrative can exist and captivate players without an extensive, detailed knowledge of rules underpinning it.

Let's look at how this translates to actual gameplay. Whenever the dice roll in the players' favor and success knocks at their door, I don't relent on the horror. On the contrary, this victory becomes a doorway into deeper, more terrifying parts of the tale. When their dice roll low, I have them witness the unspeakable, hear the inaudible, and learn what they wish they’d never known. They find themselves in situations where perhaps failure would be preferable to confronting the ghastly truths awaiting them. Give them more than monsters and corpses to disturb them and open their minds to the reality of the Mythos. Though this may seem harsh for the characters, the players themselves will enjoy the ride!

Also, I analyze each scenario for its themes and motifs - then hammer them as we play through it. I try to consider each session as a canvas on which I using those themes and motifs as my palette. Blending and layering these elements will paint a horrifying, vivid image of a universe that's relentlessly hostile and inscrutable. The game then highlights the futility of human struggle against cosmic horrors and the grim realities of their encounters with the unknowable.

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By the way, Graham has a Substack too! I encourage everybody to go follow him there if you haven’t already done so:

During the same online convention, I had the great privilege of playing in Cosmic Dark, his space horror game that is a follow-up to Cthulhu Dark with some tweaks and streamlining. It includes creating characters as part of the actual roleplay, which is the first time I’ve ever experienced that approach and it worked amazingly. I feel like I ended up playing the “straight man”, as it were, in the group, because the other players did a fantastic job of getting straight into the idea of losing their minds as their experiences changed them. Hopefully we’ll get our hands on this game late this year or maybe next!

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What I’m Reading and Watching

Play Report and Prep: Separation Anxiety: Weird Writer goes into how he also prepares and runs Call of Cthulhu scenarios with Cthulhu Dark. I always learn a lot from his posts.

On “The Outsider” by H.P. Lovecraft: A thoughtful and empathetic rumination on one of Lovecraft’s best stories that does not shy away from the nuance about who Lovecraft was and why.

The original Indiana Jones Trilogy on Disney+: While I haven’t watched either of the final two films yet, the ones from my childhood provide a fantastic template for Pulp games. (Caveat: “The Temple of Doom” has lots of problems and does not hold up today, if it ever did. The other two are better than that in most ways, including representation as well as films in general.) Everyone’s probably seen them… but maybe it’s worth watching them again.

This video essay delves deeply into “Cosmic Cinema” with a focus on the psychedelic, including thinking about how we process unthinkable experiences.

The Old Ways: A horror movie on Netflix that deals with themes of reconnection and addiction. While I found the pan-Latino approach a bit jarring (it mixes together Puerto Rico and Mexico folklore), otherwise I enjoyed it. If nothing else, it’s nice to get something like this that isn’t focused on Western Europe.