I have been reading Lovecraft and derivative works since I first discovered the Cthulhu Mythos via the unlikely vector of the AD&D first printing of Deities and Demigods. That book also led me to Moorcock’s Elric stories and to Lieber’s Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser tales. I’d already taken steps into Middle Earth, Narnia, and Prydain, but this opened up whole new realms for me, and I really dove heavily into fantasy fiction and somewhat less into science fiction and horror.
Just recently, I finally got to spend some time as a player in a game of Call of Cthulhu 7th edition, run by the owner of a local game store. Before this, I’d never actually played. I had always been the person behind the screen, driving the characters insane as they discovered the truth of the world and the uncaring cosmos.
I loved it. I’m looking forward to the next session, where we finally try to banish the creature an old family friend and his associates summoned. Hopefully it ends well.
The first game I ran of CoC was in high school, as a Halloween activity for a group of my friends. We went all out in the dining room of my house, with candles, dim lights, and music (record or tape, as I recall, I’m that old).
My players were investigating the disappearance of an artist by the name of Richard Upton Pickman, since Pickman’s Model was one of my favorite stories by the old gentleman of Providence.
At first, they followed the clues, finding Pickman’s workshop and the covered passage downward in the basement, and it was there that everything took a completely different turn. They managed to take down an ambushing ghoul, but instead of following the information, they turned to weapons, recruited a couple of police officers, and dove straight into the sewers of Boston.
How many of you remember the Colonial Marines in Aliens? That’s what happened.
Waist deep in water, they kept getting ambushed and picked off, although they did discover that emptying a full drum from a tommy gun will definitely kill a ghoul. Unfortunately, they were outnumbered, in the ghoul’s territory, and woefully unprepared.
This was the first TPK I ever ran, and I don’t think I’ve run one since, but I suspect, if it ever happens again, I’ll be behind the screen facepalming while the party is eaten by the eldritch abomination they poked with a stick.
The great thing was that everyone had an absolute blast of a time. It was the first time I’d managed to catch the mood properly, build tension, and keep all my players on the edge of their seats. Despite the characters becoming ghoul chow, the players had a great time and everyone left happy. I don’t think they expected to live, but managed to go out with a bang.
Anyway, to me, that’s what gaming is about, the joy of coming together, seeking mystery, and getting scared out of your socks by words and the roll of dice. Win or lose, you have to have fun doing it.
IA!
Cthulhu fhtagn!
