De Profundis: Cthulu gaming on the edge of madness
Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2011 5:19 am
In my delirious influenza I was happy to receive this small book through the post this morning.
Funnily enough the author writes to his readers as if we are recovering from a fever so it was perfect.
http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es ... ts/CB71401
Cubicle 7 game recently revised into second edition. It seems a bit mad but similar to Dogs in the Vineyard ideas. However there is no GM and the 'game' or should I say narrative unfolds through a series of letter writing between players. Yes, actual letters with an envelope and a stamp too. The rules clearly express that the format of email would kill the atmosphere. (Some gamers have bypassed this rule by setting their game in present day and scanning their handwritten letters, not quite the same but it worked for them.)
No dice involved either! In that sense it is not an rpg game in the normal sense but an exercise in creative writing, building a narrative as a group and possibly some psychodrama thrown in depending on how far players let themselves get immersed. It's not your traditional play by post game either.
I may use this method as a way of communicating with existing players from my previous games. This set of ideas is designed for a Lovecraftian environment but in theory you could use these ideas for any rpg set in a time where e mail was not the preferred method of communication.
The book does aim to bring back the art of letter writing and re explore the depth and humanity that may have been lost in modern communication. I'll probably send out a few letters this week to try and get the ball rolling. I know many of you will think, "When do I have time to write a letter and why would I want to play a game that might not have an end and I can't theoretically win?" Well, I guess that would be up to the writers of the narrative. Think of Bram Stokers Dracula, Shelley's Frankenstein or other Victorian horror that is paced out in a series of letters and diary extracts. In many ways it would be creative writing with a bit of method role playing thrown in. Don't anyone start training like De Nero or going jogging like Dustin Hoffman though. It's more conceptual than that. Kind of like, "Oh it's started to rain, I must finish here and run to the post office before the storm comes." You can write your characters letters either as a classic Lovecraftian character from the 20's where HP Lovecraft does not exist and the stories he wrote are unknown but the places are there, Innsmouth, Dunwich, Arkham etc. Or you play as yourself (be careful) in the modern setting where Lovecraft is a writer of weird fiction from the beginning of the last century. He and everything else in our world is as it is.
Wherever players are writing from in the world they form a narrative from daily experience around them that may seem a bit odd or out of place. As a group of letter writers a story and kind of game will be formed where the mythos atmosphere can be experienced as role play or merely imaginative writing. The emphasis is on horror of course and the unknown.
If you are interested I recommend this book merely for the joy of reading if nothing else. I have the pdf if you would like a copy but I think the book is one to buy.
Yours in sanity,
Ash.
Funnily enough the author writes to his readers as if we are recovering from a fever so it was perfect.
http://shop.cubicle7store.com/epages/es ... ts/CB71401
Cubicle 7 game recently revised into second edition. It seems a bit mad but similar to Dogs in the Vineyard ideas. However there is no GM and the 'game' or should I say narrative unfolds through a series of letter writing between players. Yes, actual letters with an envelope and a stamp too. The rules clearly express that the format of email would kill the atmosphere. (Some gamers have bypassed this rule by setting their game in present day and scanning their handwritten letters, not quite the same but it worked for them.)
No dice involved either! In that sense it is not an rpg game in the normal sense but an exercise in creative writing, building a narrative as a group and possibly some psychodrama thrown in depending on how far players let themselves get immersed. It's not your traditional play by post game either.
I may use this method as a way of communicating with existing players from my previous games. This set of ideas is designed for a Lovecraftian environment but in theory you could use these ideas for any rpg set in a time where e mail was not the preferred method of communication.
The book does aim to bring back the art of letter writing and re explore the depth and humanity that may have been lost in modern communication. I'll probably send out a few letters this week to try and get the ball rolling. I know many of you will think, "When do I have time to write a letter and why would I want to play a game that might not have an end and I can't theoretically win?" Well, I guess that would be up to the writers of the narrative. Think of Bram Stokers Dracula, Shelley's Frankenstein or other Victorian horror that is paced out in a series of letters and diary extracts. In many ways it would be creative writing with a bit of method role playing thrown in. Don't anyone start training like De Nero or going jogging like Dustin Hoffman though. It's more conceptual than that. Kind of like, "Oh it's started to rain, I must finish here and run to the post office before the storm comes." You can write your characters letters either as a classic Lovecraftian character from the 20's where HP Lovecraft does not exist and the stories he wrote are unknown but the places are there, Innsmouth, Dunwich, Arkham etc. Or you play as yourself (be careful) in the modern setting where Lovecraft is a writer of weird fiction from the beginning of the last century. He and everything else in our world is as it is.
Wherever players are writing from in the world they form a narrative from daily experience around them that may seem a bit odd or out of place. As a group of letter writers a story and kind of game will be formed where the mythos atmosphere can be experienced as role play or merely imaginative writing. The emphasis is on horror of course and the unknown.
If you are interested I recommend this book merely for the joy of reading if nothing else. I have the pdf if you would like a copy but I think the book is one to buy.
Yours in sanity,
Ash.