Timewaster's Guide Archive
Games => Role-Playing Games => Topic started by: Entsuropi on September 19, 2002, 11:36:31 AM
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heres an interesting thing. i find that im more interested in Call of cthulhu and its rules than DnD, despite an identicle(sp) system. the only reason i can think of is that its all very well imagining galinus the elf fighting in a smoky building, but when you imagine Johnathan, the chalet turned investigator from san fransisco, it suddenly become more immediate. this just me, or does anyone else get this?
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I think it has to do with what fantasy writers call the "supsension of disbelief." Essentially, there is less that you have to imagine in Call of Cthulu, so it feels a little more real to you right away. It take more effort for you to get into a fantastic world because there is more that you have to imagine.
So yes, I think a lot of people would agree with your assessment.
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I, however, disagree. Personally, I hated CoC. I'm an escapist, myself; so when I role-play, I want to be somewhere else.
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thats the wierd thing, tage. so am i.
maybe it also has to do with the fact that DnD, in the books and the normal settings (feurun etc) is very sterotypical fantasy. normally i like that, but it just doesnt jive with me in the case of dnd. that and the fact that im fast getting bored with sterotypical fantasy settings - ive seen the dwarfs elfs etc already. i wanna see something more interesting, something that i havent already seen a thousand times already in books, games and films. and the fact that CoC is really dark, which is how i like my games (of all kinds).
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I think it's actually harder to incorporate fantastical elements well into a realistic setting. It's easy to imagine a dragon living in a cave in the forest, but it's harder to imagine one living in the back room of Joe's Garage on the corner. Fantasy settings would be challenging if they really did force you to imagine all-new settings and characters, but they usually fall back on familiar images with one or two little twists to keep complete boredom from setting in. That's why most fantasy relies largely on familiar things instead of working with entirely novel and foreign worlds. Fantasy RPGs that try to do the latter (Skyrealms of Jorune, Talislanta, World of Synnibar) are usually monumental failures. People can't really connect with them because everything about them is foreign.
It is as challenging to create a contrast of reality and fantasy as it is to cut a fantasy from whole cloth. Part of the attraction of Call of Cthulhu is that it posits the existence of the most unlikely things (octopus-headed gods, star-plant-creatures from space, fish-people) in a setting that requires a lot of strict realism and historical accuracy.
I didn't really want to weigh in on this topic, though. I just wanted an excuse to ask Charlie this question: So, how does a chalet turn into an investigator? I'm stumped - that requires a mixing of fantasy and reality that goes beyond my abilities.
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well... if he is a swiss herdsman's hut, which is what a online dictionary says he is, then the answer is "he doesnt".
if, however, he is a limo driver (car doesnt matter) then it could happen lots of ways. his boss is a cultist, his sister gets pregnant by a deep one (yummy!), he sees a Bykahee, he stumbles across a cultist hideout... anything really. how does a dwarf become an adventurer? same question.
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A cross between a chauffeur and a valet?
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Well, I have to agree with Kid a little. CoC is very fantastical. However, At the start of CoC it is usually very realistic and then it becomes fantastical as it progresses. About mid way it is as bizarre and fantastic as any D&D campaign. There is really just a sort of learning curve difference between the two systems.
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I think the reason CoC is so appealing is because we can imagine it happening right in our own back yards. Sauron can't come and threaten your shopping mall, but Great Cthulhu is certainly able to send his unspeakable minions scuttling up onto Miami Beach. Where typical fantasy might as well take place on a planet a thousand light years away and a zillion years ago, CoC is much more up close and personal.
Oh, and there are some pretty cool non-traditional fantasy worlds out there. I still love Talislanta (now in it's fourth edition, a huge hardbound book), which reads like tha bastard child of George Lucas and Lord Dunsenay. Dying Earth is another incredible game with a background that makes it a true role-player's dream and a very original rules system. Oathbound is another newer game that is little known, but a lot of fun and worth taking a look at. And I don't care what anybody else says: Star Wars isn't sci-fi; it is epic sword and sorcery fantasy that just happens to be set in space. Try playing it with a more fantastical twist and you might have something more than you ever thought possible. Hope this helps.
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I think most of the people in this forum will agree that Star Wars is not science fiction.
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I wouldn't say that Star Wars is not science fiction, but I would definitely say that it is fantasy. I don't see why the two have to be exclusive.
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it's a "space opra" which is a sci-fi fantasy mix, I agree with fell it's both. If it wasn't sci-fi then you wouldn't have lasers and spaceships and if it wan't fantasy it wouldn't have the force.
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Don't we all know better than to go down the road of whether Star Wars is fantasy or sci-fi? It's like tic-tac-toe - the only way to win is to not play. I'm glad that the Call of Cthulhu setting thread has been resurrected, though, as I just posted my Top Ten Horror RPG list, on which CoC has a prominent place. The problem with CoC, though, is that it isn't that much less remote than Tolkien's fantasy. Real Cthulhu stories take place almost a century ago, and that might as well be Middle Earth for all we know about life in the early 1900s. I always get a little squirmy playing in specific historic time periods, though, because I never feel like I'm being true enough to the period. I become the guy that looks for watches on the wrists of cast-members in The Ten Commandments.
I'm glad Slant brought up Talislanta, though. What a great game. I have two different versions of it, and I've always been of the opinion that its quality eroded with each edition, especially when Wizards first released their version. You can't beat an RPG with over 50 playable races, though, with each race having its own unique classes. Wow. Anyone else ever play this game/world-builder's-disease tumor?
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The other way to win Tic-Tac-Toe is to play against a stupid person.
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I had thought about picking up Talislanta a while back. I downloaded the preview from their site and was blown away by the detail, originality, and fun of the game. It's another one of those games that I'll probably pick up "someday."
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Actually if you want to sample Talislanta you can probably buy most of the books on Ebay for only a few dollars each. It's well worth the investment. Even if you don't use the game as a whole, you can still get a lot of good things from it like settings, story ideas, and a simple but very efficient system. I predict that if you do pick it up, you WILL run the game as a whole, though. It just really is that good. I played it for nearly three years running in college (along with Arduin) and it seemed like there was always something new to do or discover.
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Must....resist...temptation....
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Luuuke, give in to the Darrrk Side....
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I groaned when I read that Slant, since I hear some version of that nearly every day, or, more typically, "Luke, I am your father."
Then it dawned on me...You probably didn't know my name was Luke. ;D
Ahhhhh, it's funny because it's true.
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The Dark Side works in mysterious ways....
Hey, my name is Gary and I get much the same type of thing whenever the blokes in the gaming store discuss Gary Gygax, so I feel your pain.
::)