Lovecraftian SpellJammer - Downloaded from the Wizards Community, all coding removed by Solauren

Lovecraftian SpellJammer

Post/Author/DateTime Post
#1
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 20:28:42 I am not sure how many of you here are familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft. But for those of you who are, do you think a Lovecraftian SpellJammer game would be cool? I am not exactly sure how you would run it. But a lot of the monsters from Lovecrafts stories came from the most remote reaches of space. Not to mention Azathoth dwells in the center of the universe. I think it would be really fun. And i was wondering what people here thought. I know there are the CoC forums, but i do not think a lot of them would be familiar with SpellJammer.
#2
nightdruid
Oct 08, 2003 20:37:59 I'm more familiar with the setting of his works, not with the actual stories themselves. Not sure how the two styles, swashbuckle & horror, would really come together, but I suppose Pirates of the Carribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl would be a good start. In terms of SJ, this might mean that some creatures might be able to "disable" the magic physics of SJ, causing, for example, ships to lose their protective air envelope and gravity. That would be a horrifying prospect for someone born & raised in the SJ universe, no doubt! :D
#3
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 20:48:37 I wonder what the will save would be for seeing Azathoth up close(well as close as you can get).
#4
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 20:50:27 Interesting idea...but i'd be more into the mysterious vibe of the Lovecraftian mythos than I necessarily would be into the actual characters of the mythos themselves. I've been in far too many CoC campaigns where the GM just didn't get it. The classic gods, demons, etc of the mythos treated like marvel comic villians or nazis from an Indiana Jones movie than as subtle manipulators of the machinations of the end times or what not.

BUT...I like the idea! If done right. The tone of a proper CoC game is something rather unique, that even classic Ravenloft campaigns can not capture....and I think the idea of that kind of tone applied to this (the Spelljammer) setting is a facinationing one! Use of the characters you mention could indeed make for one heck of a great game!

So when you run it, let us know how it goes!

#5
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 20:51:48 I once saw a picture of what Azathoth might look like. I imagine he would be much larger than even Jupiter. I have tried to imagine what it would be like to see something that large up close. It makes my head hurt.
#6
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 20:54:34
Originally posted by neverness

So when you run it, let us know how it goes!

Unfortunately, i have never DMed before. And i do not think i would be very good at it. I was really just throwing this idea out here, to see what people here thought of it.
#7
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 21:28:31 I admit, i have never even played CoC. I have however read some of Lovecrafts more famous stories. And i go to the CoC forums a lot. And i have read the SRD. So i think i have a general idea of what a CoC game is like. Our group might have had the chance to play, but one player did not want to. And the idea just kind of fizzled out. And my FLGS has gone out of business, so there is no reliable source for gaming books near where i live.
#8
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 22:06:11
Originally posted by Gellion
Unfortunately, i have never DMed before. And i do not think i would be very good at it. I was really just throwing this idea out here, to see what people here thought of it.

It's a good idea! The kind of ideas that make for campaigns that players talk about for years.... if you don't want to DM than don't be affraid to share your ideas with your DM or others (like us!) who might be inspired them!
#9
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 22:11:39
Originally posted by neverness
It's a good idea! The kind of ideas that make for campaigns that players talk about for years.... if you don't want to DM than don't be affraid to share your ideas with your DM or others (like us!) who might be inspired them!

Heh, i am glad that you think my ideas are good. Most of the ideas i post on these forums spiral down to forum oblivion.
#10
zombiegleemax
Oct 08, 2003 22:18:17 The idea of flying pirate ships through outer space atacking Neogi as an anthropomorphic millitant hippo sort of negates any chacne of Spelljammer being lovecraftian. It'd take a lot of work.

And within the non-eucilidian geometry of r'leyh, ther was... The Giant Space Hampster. :P
#11
mean_eyed_cat
Oct 08, 2003 23:07:19 I don't know, I think it can be done.

I'm thinking of the first Alien movie or Pitch Black. The scenerio would involve Spelljaming adventurers landing on a eerie planet once inhabited by humans (or other space faring race) but have now been taken over by creatures from the CoC (Star Vampires or Flying Polyps). Maybe even throw in a few Great Old Ones like Eihort or Glaaki.

Or establish a conection between spacefaring mindflayers and Cthulhu. That's just begging for a connection. :D
#12
wyvern76
Oct 08, 2003 23:26:36 Fading Suns has a bit of Lovecraftian flavor; you might be able to get some ideas from there. A good place to start would be The Dark Between the Stars sourcebook.

Wyvern
#13
wyvern76
Oct 08, 2003 23:32:46 Just thought of something else while reading Mean Eyed Cat's post. There's a terrifically Lovecraftian story on Beyond the Moons here.

Wyvern
#14
nightdruid
Oct 09, 2003 7:01:42
Originally posted by Gellion
I once saw a picture of what Azathoth might look like. I imagine he would be much larger than even Jupiter. I have tried to imagine what it would be like to see something that large up close. It makes my head hurt.

Hmmmm, sounds like Azathoth is another name for the most dreaded creature in the universe...Unicron! :D

(sorry, couldn't resist ;) )
#15
nightdruid
Oct 09, 2003 7:03:14
Originally posted by Mordenkainen's Rubber Duck of DOOM
The idea of flying pirate ships through outer space atacking Neogi as an anthropomorphic millitant hippo sort of negates any chacne of Spelljammer being lovecraftian. It'd take a lot of work.

And within the non-eucilidian geometry of r'leyh, ther was... The Giant Space Hampster. :P

I don't know...giant space hamsters are pretty terrifying to me...especially fire-breathing, phase-doppleganging giant space hamsters...:D
#16
sildatorak
Oct 09, 2003 21:47:18 If you're starting up a Lovecraftian SJ campaign from scratch, you might want to change your physics some for some flavor. I'd tweak the pholigiston so that it actually exists as another dimension (ala Dreams in the Witch House) and make the different crystal spheres actually into one continuous 3 dimensional space. To keep that from screwing around with things too much, I'd probably put the worlds so far apart that the only way to get between them in a lifetime is to enter into the phlogiston, though theoretically an undead (or other nasty undying beings :D) crewed jammer could go from one to another over the countless centuries. Basically the mechanics stay the same, but the flavor gets changed a little. You'd probably want to make the stars real but distant objects rather than light dots at a reachable distance away since you no longer have crystal sphere borders.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 20:28:42	I am not sure how many of you here are familiar with the works of H.P. Lovecraft. But for those of you who are, do you think a Lovecraftian SpellJammer game would be cool? I am not exactly sure how you would run it. But a lot of the monsters from Lovecrafts stories came from the most remote reaches of space. Not to mention Azathoth dwells in the center of the universe. I think it would be really fun. And i was wondering what people here thought. I know there are the CoC forums, but i do not think a lot of them would be familiar with SpellJammer.
#2 nightdruid Oct 08, 2003 20:37:59	I'm more familiar with the setting of his works, not with the actual stories themselves. Not sure how the two styles, swashbuckle & horror, would really come together, but I suppose Pirates of the Carribbean, Curse of the Black Pearl would be a good start. In terms of SJ, this might mean that some creatures might be able to "disable" the magic physics of SJ, causing, for example, ships to lose their protective air envelope and gravity. That would be a horrifying prospect for someone born & raised in the SJ universe, no doubt! :D
#3 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 20:48:37	I wonder what the will save would be for seeing Azathoth up close(well as close as you can get).
#4 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 20:50:27	Interesting idea...but i'd be more into the mysterious vibe of the Lovecraftian mythos than I necessarily would be into the actual characters of the mythos themselves. I've been in far too many CoC campaigns where the GM just didn't get it. The classic gods, demons, etc of the mythos treated like marvel comic villians or nazis from an Indiana Jones movie than as subtle manipulators of the machinations of the end times or what not. BUT...I like the idea! If done right. The tone of a proper CoC game is something rather unique, that even classic Ravenloft campaigns can not capture....and I think the idea of that kind of tone applied to this (the Spelljammer) setting is a facinationing one! Use of the characters you mention could indeed make for one heck of a great game! So when you run it, let us know how it goes!
#5 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 20:51:48	I once saw a picture of what Azathoth might look like. I imagine he would be much larger than even Jupiter. I have tried to imagine what it would be like to see something that large up close. It makes my head hurt.
#6 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 20:54:34	Originally posted by neverness So when you run it, let us know how it goes! Unfortunately, i have never DMed before. And i do not think i would be very good at it. I was really just throwing this idea out here, to see what people here thought of it.
#7 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 21:28:31	I admit, i have never even played CoC. I have however read some of Lovecrafts more famous stories. And i go to the CoC forums a lot. And i have read the SRD. So i think i have a general idea of what a CoC game is like. Our group might have had the chance to play, but one player did not want to. And the idea just kind of fizzled out. And my FLGS has gone out of business, so there is no reliable source for gaming books near where i live.
#8 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 22:06:11	Originally posted by Gellion Unfortunately, i have never DMed before. And i do not think i would be very good at it. I was really just throwing this idea out here, to see what people here thought of it. It's a good idea! The kind of ideas that make for campaigns that players talk about for years.... if you don't want to DM than don't be affraid to share your ideas with your DM or others (like us!) who might be inspired them!
#9 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 22:11:39	Originally posted by neverness It's a good idea! The kind of ideas that make for campaigns that players talk about for years.... if you don't want to DM than don't be affraid to share your ideas with your DM or others (like us!) who might be inspired them! Heh, i am glad that you think my ideas are good. Most of the ideas i post on these forums spiral down to forum oblivion.
#10 zombiegleemax Oct 08, 2003 22:18:17	The idea of flying pirate ships through outer space atacking Neogi as an anthropomorphic millitant hippo sort of negates any chacne of Spelljammer being lovecraftian. It'd take a lot of work. And within the non-eucilidian geometry of r'leyh, ther was... The Giant Space Hampster. :P
#11 mean_eyed_cat Oct 08, 2003 23:07:19	I don't know, I think it can be done. I'm thinking of the first Alien movie or Pitch Black. The scenerio would involve Spelljaming adventurers landing on a eerie planet once inhabited by humans (or other space faring race) but have now been taken over by creatures from the CoC (Star Vampires or Flying Polyps). Maybe even throw in a few Great Old Ones like Eihort or Glaaki. Or establish a conection between spacefaring mindflayers and Cthulhu. That's just begging for a connection. :D
#12 wyvern76 Oct 08, 2003 23:26:36	Fading Suns has a bit of Lovecraftian flavor; you might be able to get some ideas from there. A good place to start would be The Dark Between the Stars sourcebook. Wyvern
#13 wyvern76 Oct 08, 2003 23:32:46	Just thought of something else while reading Mean Eyed Cat's post. There's a terrifically Lovecraftian story on Beyond the Moons here. Wyvern
#14 nightdruid Oct 09, 2003 7:01:42	Originally posted by Gellion I once saw a picture of what Azathoth might look like. I imagine he would be much larger than even Jupiter. I have tried to imagine what it would be like to see something that large up close. It makes my head hurt. Hmmmm, sounds like Azathoth is another name for the most dreaded creature in the universe...Unicron! :D (sorry, couldn't resist ;) )
#15 nightdruid Oct 09, 2003 7:03:14	Originally posted by Mordenkainen's Rubber Duck of DOOM The idea of flying pirate ships through outer space atacking Neogi as an anthropomorphic millitant hippo sort of negates any chacne of Spelljammer being lovecraftian. It'd take a lot of work. And within the non-eucilidian geometry of r'leyh, ther was... The Giant Space Hampster. :P I don't know...giant space hamsters are pretty terrifying to me...especially fire-breathing, phase-doppleganging giant space hamsters...:D
#16 sildatorak Oct 09, 2003 21:47:18	If you're starting up a Lovecraftian SJ campaign from scratch, you might want to change your physics some for some flavor. I'd tweak the pholigiston so that it actually exists as another dimension (ala Dreams in the Witch House) and make the different crystal spheres actually into one continuous 3 dimensional space. To keep that from screwing around with things too much, I'd probably put the worlds so far apart that the only way to get between them in a lifetime is to enter into the phlogiston, though theoretically an undead (or other nasty undying beings :D) crewed jammer could go from one to another over the countless centuries. Basically the mechanics stay the same, but the flavor gets changed a little. You'd probably want to make the stars real but distant objects rather than light dots at a reachable distance away since you no longer have crystal sphere borders.