Tag Archive for: Cthulhu

Alienation: A Mind Adapted to the Unknown

/in /by

Contrary to popular belief, encountering Mythos entities, reading texts that convincingly upend the supposed laws of reality, confronting the dark miracles of sorcery, or witnessing the dark miracles of alien gods do not drive you mad—at least, not in the conventional sense.

Alienation in Cthulhu Awakens

“Madness” is used as a casual term for mental illness, a phenomenon that is partly neurological, partly social, and entirely within the realm of ordinary human experience. Sometimes the word is used as a tool of discrimination. But in Cthulhu Awakens, encounters with the unnatural do not have any special power to cause mental illness beyond the ordinary effects of stress. The Mythos inflicts psychic harm because you start to understand it—comprehend a cosmos beyond what your fat-and-blood brain is adapted to as it muddles through the four dimensions of spacetime. There is an order to the unnatural in its unresolved paradoxes, the unearthly biology of its beings, and the implications of its symbols, which is incompatible with human life and thought—and it is in the nature of the Mythos to embed such paradoxes in witnesses, so that they know what should be impossible to know, perceiving impossible colors, principles, and dimensions beyond our cage of spacetime. We call this phenomenon Alienation.

The game systems for Alienation divide Mythos phenomena into four categories:

Entities (test Willpower (Courage))

Monsters combine a terror coded into our genes from ancient predation with an alienness for which our ancestral memory offers no counsel. Mythos creatures are evidence of alternate lines of evolution inimical to human life, or of anti-ecologies, incompatible with all Earthly life, yet horribly entwined with it.

Visitations (test Willpower (Faith))

Your gods mean nothing when the other gods come, breaking your faith with their undeniable, terrible reality. Even secular pillars of understanding melt before the Outsiders, who are bound to a science and metaphysics where all human thought is an error, and our existence a fragile, temporary outlier in cosmic probabilities.

Phenomena (test Willpower (Morale))

When you see something rotate across five or more dimensions; when sorcery opens doors in the Void; when you stand at the Cyclopean gates of a citadel made when we were microbes, hinting of a civilization we will never match; when you see the curves of time blister into its angles—all are evidence of a universe where everything we know is a provincial exception to a callous, life-destroying rule.

Revelations (test Willpower (Self-Discipline))

The Necronomicon is the most famous source of Alienating revelations, but many other texts, artworks, oral traditions, scientific papers, and even the masterworks of corrupted geniuses can contain seeds of toxic wisdom that, when studied, flower into knowledge that leaves no room for the human condition.

Failing a test provides Enlightenment and Terror: special Bonds (we’ll cover these in future updates) that fuel special effects. Enlightenment in a source of Alienation provides useful insights as your mind filters the strange into the pragmatic. Terror is used against you when your spirit strains against the threatening truth. Accumulating Enlightenment and Terror may eventually lead to distortions, habits of thought that are rational within the context of your extraordinary experiences but interfere with more prosaic matters.

Cthulhu Awakens Game Master’s Kit!

/in /by
Game Master's Kit

Available now as an Add-on during our Kickstarter campaign!

This morning we are pleased to announce that we will be making a Game Master’s Kit for Cthulhu Awakens!

The Cthulhu Awakens Game Master’s Kit is a collection of resources that help you smoothly deliver terror and adventure to your players. It provides a sturdy Game Master’s screen that displays stunts and other essential Cthulhu Awakens information at a glance–and it keeps players from stealing a look at the dangers you have in store for them, too. 4 quick reference cards provide further assistance with commonly used rules, and a dry-erase friendly combat tracker helps you follow violent moments of triumph, or doom. But the true power of this offering may lie in Unexpurgated Texts, a booklet detailing a dozen fell grimoires and their modern counterparts, each in an expanded, 2-page format listing the eldritch workings and other strange secrets each of them contains.

You can now select the Cthulhu Awakens Game Master’s Kit as an additional add-on for the discounted price of $25 by clicking on the “Manage Your Pledge” button in the upper right of the campaign page. It will also be available in the Backerkit pledge manager after the campaign, but adding it now helps us unlock additional stretch goals, and will automatically add it to your rewards when it comes time to pay for shipping.

The Cthulhu Awakens Menagerie

/in /by

Cthulhu Awakens Monsters
Cthulhu Awakens is a game of fear and weirdness, and that includes the people you meet, from mortal conspirators to otherworldly monsters. I thought folks might like to see all the listings with full game statistics provided in Chapter 9 of the book.

Mundane Creatures: Entries that might exist even in a world without the Mythos

  • Assassin
  • Burglar
  • Clever Crook
  • Enforcer
  • Guard Dog
  • Hooligan
  • Police Detective
  • Police Officer (Uniformed)
  • Security Guard
  • Socialite
  • Soldier
  • Veteran Private Eye

Touched by the Mythos: Individuals who’ve been radically affected by the Cthulhu Mythos, as resisters, victims, or pawns.

  • Angry Civilian
  • Cult Adept
  • Cult High Priest
  • Eldritch Scholar
  • Minion
  • Witch
  • Yithian Operative

Mythos Entities: The monsters and aliens of Cthulhu Awakens. These have expanded entries including extended descriptions and story hooks.

  • Blended
  • Deep One
  • Deep One Hybrid
  • Dimensional Shambler
  • Ghoul
  • Ghast
  • Gnoph-Keh
  • Godspawn, Major
  • Godspawn, Minor
  • Gregarian
  • Gug
  • Mi-Go
  • Night-Gaunt
  • Primordial
  • Shoggoth
  • Skotomorph
  • Tendril From Beyond

In addition, you can use creatures from Modern AGE, especially the Enemies & Allies book, in Cthulhu Awakens with minimal adjustments. Use Gritty Health in default games or convert Cinematic Health to Fortune if you’re using Fortune. Assign combat stunts using the packages in Cthulhu Awakens—something new to how AGE describes creatures we introduced in this game.

Cthulhu Awakens With Modern AGE

/in /by
Cthulhu Awakens in Modern AGE

Art by Natalie Bernard

As part of the AGE System family of games, Cthulhu Awakens is substantially compatible with Modern AGE, our multi-genre modern era RPG. In fact, Cthulhu Awakens was originally designed as a Modern AGE supplement, but eventually merited being broken out into a dedicated game. Nevertheless, the two games are similar enough that we’ve offered Modern AGE books as part of the campaign, because it’s relatively easy to use them together. Here are some notes about doing just that.

Mode: Modern AGE includes special rules for three modes. “Realistic” Gritty Mode, the low-key enhanced reality of Pulpy Mode, and the larger than life Cinematic Mode. Cthulhu Awakens notes that in Modern AGE terms, it is pre-set to Gritty Health (it doesn’t improve with level) but Pulpy Toughness (your character can absorb blows from things like edged weapons as well as fists, but not bullets).

Enemies & Allies: The core Modern AGE book and its supplement Enemies & Allies provide a whole bunch of pre-generated NPCs and strange beings for your use beside Cthulhu Awakens Mythos-based counterparts. Use the Cinematic Mode stats if you use Fortune in Cthulhu Awakens (and covert their Health to Fortune) and Gritty stats otherwise (but Cthulhu Awakens’ rules for Toughness) and the entries are usable as-is. Enemies & Allies in particular includes game statistics for criminals, government agents, renegade scientists, strange psychics, and various mythic and weird creatures.

Powers: Magical Arcana from Modern AGE provide a more traditional version of magic compared to the dangerous eldritch workings of Cthulhu Awakens, while eldritch workings can be used in Modern AGE with no special rules. Modern AGE psychic powers convert to Cthulhu Awakens counterparts easily. The extraordinary items and other options for powers in Modern AGE supplements allow you to add superhumans, cyberpunk augmentations, and other genre variations to Cthulhu Awakens.

Stunts: Cthulhu Awakens and Modern AGE take different approaches to stunts. Cthulhu Awakens uses a small, tightly curated list of streamlined stunts, while Modern AGE takes an expansive approach. You can swap approaches or mix and match for the stunt options you prefer.

Adventures and Settings: Cthulhu Awakens could be just one world in the Modern AGE Threefold setting, and various adventures for Modern AGE would be suitable for Cthulhu Awakens with minimal conversion.

AGE games intended to be hacked and customized! Do what you like, using the common framework of AGE to find your way, and you’ll find immediate support for Cthulhu Awakens through Modern AGE.

The Expanse Meets Cthulhu Awakens!

/in /by
Expanse meets Cthulhu!

Art by Tentacles and Teeth

The Kickstarter for Cthulhu Awakens, which brings cosmic horror from the unimaginable past, through the 1920s, and into the 21st Century, is now live! Both The Expanse RPG and Cthulhu Awakens are powered by AGE: the Adventure Game Engine, which opens new realms of possibility for both universes.

Cthulhu Awakens: On Kickstarter Now

Live on Kickstarter now!

The stars have truly aligned….

Part of the appeal of The Expanse are the elements of horror carefully blended within a science fiction setting. Certainly, some chapters are as chilling and terrifying as any horror novel. The changes that the protomolecule causes in humans are ghastly and reflections of Frankenstein’s monster can be seen in Project Caliban. And, of course, the entities beyond ring space could step right from the pages of the Cthulhu Mythos. By now, I suspect you know where I’m going with this: how can Cthulhu Awakens be used with your Expanse game? Even if you don’t want to bring the eldritch horrors into the Expanse universe, Cthulhu Awakens offers both players and narrators some intriguing new possibilities.

Alienation

Let’s start with the good stuff. In Cthulhu Awakens, alienation represents the influence of eldritch forces on the psyche. Through Holden’s eyes, we see throughout the Expanse series how much effect close encounters with the protomolecule can have on an individual, particularly through his ability to communicate with “ghost” Miller. A protomolecule connection like Holden’s could easily be replicated by the use of Enlightenment stunts which give Cthulhu Awakens characters insight into the Mythos. The other aspect of alienation—terror—could also be implemented to manifest the primal fear and horror resulting from many encounters with the protomolecule.

Bonds

Cthulhu Awakens has Bonds that are very similar to Relationships in The Expanse, but they are greatly expanded in both concept and utilization. Personal Bonds, which are much the same as Relationship Bonds in The Expanse RPG, are broadened to include a character’s ideals, oaths, or beliefs. There is also a completely new kind of Bond called External Bonds. These represent involuntary influences on characters and can be used by the GM to generate Stunt Points that put characters at a disadvantage. Interestingly, External Bonds may appear on the surface to be advantageous (membership in an OPA faction, a close relationship with a friend or sibling), but the GM controls them. Examples of External Bonds might be ties and obligations to organizations (the OPA, religious group, or employer), or individuals(someone you care about so much that it can become a detriment to you). And as with personal bonds, they could also be personal ideals, beliefs, or oaths. Alienation is also a form of External Bonds.

Talents

The talents in The Expanse are tightly focused and allowing some of the new talents from Cthulhu Awakens could offer some diversity that could make for interesting character development. Talents such as Bootlegger, Emergency Care, Esthete, and Hard Case could all fit quite comfortably into an Expanse campaign.

The Mythos

Finally, Cthulhu Awakens contains an enormous amount of information about the Mythos that has been adapted for the Adventure Game Engine. The two games are compatible and require very little tinkering to tell Mythos stories beyond the Weird Century. Or perhaps you want to take your Expanse campaign in a completely different direction and surprise your players with true cosmic horror. Perhaps the entities beyond the gate are something other than described in the novels and are, in fact, the Outer Gods, now awakened after untold millennia of slumber. Or maybe the Ring builders were the Mi-Go or the Elder Things. The possibilities are endless. The universe is yours to make as you will.

Weirdness Overflowing: Cults of the Mythos

/in /by
Strange Cults exist in the Mythos

Art by John Anthony Di Giovanni

 

As mentioned in our last update on the subject, Weirdness Overflowing is a PDF supplement that grows with the campaign, adding new chapters as we go. The first chapter, which qualified backers will be receiving, since we have unlocked the first Weirdness Overflowing stretch goal, is Cults of the Mythos. This is exactly the kind of thing suited for an expansion because the core books mention the following cults and other groups:

· Carter-West Agency

· Children of R’lyeh

· Church of Starry Wisdom

· Court of the Dead

· Enfants du Prêtre

· Face of the Sphinx

· Esoteric Order of Dagon—and its later manifestation, Thalassology

· Illuminated Fraternity of Azathoth

· Implicit Cartography Group

· LOCK

· Mass Cult

· Pickman’s Shelter

· Red Mask

· Society For a Brighter Tomorrow

· Society of the Silver Key

· Society of the Yellow Sign

· Sons of Arkham

· Temple of the Faceless and Unnamed

· Three-Lobed Burning Eye

· Unnamed Conspiracy of the Reanimated

· Unnumbered Directorate

While each group gets varying degrees of coverage in the core book, Cults of the Mythos will describe these groups, and possibly others (we had to cut some from the core, and this would be a decent time to bring them back!) using a common format for reference. Furthermore, we’ll add systems for running cults and other organizations so you can chronicle how cults and conspiracies rise, prosper, fight, and fall.

And now that we have  funded this? Keep going, because next up is the Demimondes Gazetteer, a guide to alternate universes reachable through the mysterious Corridor. We’ll have more to say when it approaches closer!

The Gregarian – Cthulhu Awakens Entity Preview

/in /by
The Gregarian!

Check out the Cthulhu Awakens Kickstarter for more details!

When insects and worms feast on the remains of certain psychics, sorcerers, and certain strong-willed individuals, they sometimes copy the residue of that individual’s personality, and a Gregarian is born. These flesh-eaters develop a collective will, and even acquire some of the deceased’s knowledge. Here are the Cthulhu Awakens statistics for these entities.

Gregarian

Abilities (Focuses)

Accuracy 1, Communication 3 (Deception, Disguise), Constitution 4 (Tolerance), Dexterity 0 (Forgery, Stealth), Fighting 1, Intelligence 5 (Occultism, Research, Theology), Perception 2, Strength 1 (Climbing, Intimidation), Willpower 3 (Self-Discipline)

SpeedFortuneHealthDefenseArmor RatingTough-ness
10424210015
WeaponAttack RollDamage
Ritual Blade+01d6 + 2 IW

 

Qualities

Combat Stunts: Trickster

Alienating: When it reveals its true nature to an individual or establishes a hive contact (see below), the Gregarian provokes a TN 11 Entities Alienation Test. It usually hides its true nature with a mask, and although this might be discomforting, a masked Gregarian doesn’t provoke Alienation.

Absorbed Occultism: A Gregarian knows one eldritch working, but no praxes, after absorbing this information from whoever it devoured, or from whatever eldritch lore it instinctively hoards.

Hive Contact: By concentrating on an individual within 20 yards, the Gregarian can use the Activate action to contact that person’s mind. The target can resist contact with a TN 15 Willpower (Self-Discipline) test. If they succeed, they shut out contact for the rest of the encounter. If the Gregarian makes contact, they can communicate with the target through projected images and other sensory perceptions, though not words. This exposes the Gregarian’s true nature to the target, activating its alienating quality if the target hasn’t already witnessed its undisguised form.

Living on the Fringe: Gregarians are practiced at covering their tracks. Other characters suffer a penalty of -2 to any tests to find information about Gregarians or their activities.

Swarm: As they comprise of a swarm of insects, worms, and other small vermin, a Gregarian is impervious to bullets taking no damage, and takes half damage, after applying Toughness, from all other forms of damage except for fire, electricity, and attacks or hazards that target an area, such as grenades or sudden flooding. Area-effect hazards and damage sources inflict double damage after applying Toughness.

Equipment: Dagger, Fragments of Occult Lore, Tattered Robes, Wax Tablet and Stylus. Notepad and Pen, or Smartphone.

Threat: Moderate

Blue Rose Meets Cthulhu Awakens!

/in /by


What does Cthulhu Awakens have to offer players and Narrators of Blue Rose? A great deal, as it turns out, even if you don’t want Outer Gods and Great Old Ones threatening the world of Aldea. Let’s look at some of the possibilities:

Bonds

While Blue Rose has Relationships, Cthulhu Awakens has Bonds, a development and expansion of the basic concept of Relationships to “represent your character’s special ties to other characters, ideals, obsessions, and more.” In particular, there are Personal Bonds, which are much like Relationships, but can also include your ties to ideals and beliefs. There are also External Bonds, which are largely involuntary and can be detrimental to your character.

If you want to expand upon the basic system of Relationships in Blue Rose, then Cthulhu Awakens has done some of the work for you.

Cthulhu Awakens on Kickstarter now!

Live on Kickstarter now!

Talents

Cthulhu Awakens has talents spanning the Weird Century (from 1920 to the 2020s) and some of them would be right at home in a Blue Rose game, such as Dreamer, Esthete, Improvisation, Strange Inheritance, or even Inhuman Legacy (for those affected by the work of the Sorcerer Kings).

Conditions

Cthulhu Awakens includes various character conditions, shorthand for packages of game mechanics to describe things from being blinded, defenseless, or at a disadvantage, to name a few. These would be easy to import into a Blue Rose game to use for similar quick-use and -reference in play.

Alienation

Whereas Blue Rose has Corruption, Cthulhu Awakens has Alienation, the bending of the human mind towards the inhuman and the alien. It offers inspiration for modifying the Corruption system, or introducing a whole new risk associated with the eldritch arts of sorcery (or other forbidden practices). Both Enlightenment and Terror Stunts offer inspiration for similar sorts of stunts for Blue Rose characters wrestling with the temptations of Corruption and Shadow.

Fortune

Cthulhu Awakens offers an optional version of the Fortune system (which originally appeared in The Expanse RPG) as a replacement for Health, representing more the characters’ ability to evade damage than withstand it. Fortune may suit the often swashbuckling and daring style of Blue Rose and offer a more cinematic and fictionalized approach, wherein it is a character’s importance to the story that determines their survival.

Eldritch Workings

This whole chapter of Cthulhu Awakens offers riches for a Blue Rose game: strange rites that some call “magic” (or “arcana” or “sorcery,” perhaps) with far-reaching effects. Eldritch Workings can greatly expand the strange sciences of sorcery in the game and well suit the practices of the Sorcerer Kings. Some Eldritch Workings might see use even among heroes, although they must beware when learning and using them, just as with sorcery.

The Dreamlands

Material on the Dreamlands literally opens up a whole new world for Blue Rose characters to explore, well suited to the kind of psychic talents much of them possess. Even if you don’t want to use the Mythos Dreamlands wholesale, the rules and guidelines for them can easily be adapted for an Aldean version or similar “psychic plane” where characters can travel and adventure.

Artifacts

“The Mythos is rife with strange artifacts, arcane symbolism, dead languages, incomprehensible geometries, and objects beyond human reckoning.” So Cthulhu Awakens offers numerous strange treasures you can use in your Blue Rose game, many of them suited as artifacts of the Old Kingdom or the Empire of Thorns. Envoys may be dispatched to deal with one or more of these artifacts resurfacing, in the possession of a cult leader, or for-sale in one of the Night Markets of the Silence. The material on dangerous texts well suits treatises on sorcery left behind by corrupt adepts to tempt the unwary.

Entities

Cthulhu Awakens offers a chapter of strange, otherworldy, and hybrid entities easily adapted for use in a Blue Rose game as darkfiends, shadowspawn, or even stranger creatures arrived through a shadowgate from … elsewhere. It also includes numerous people as allies or adversaries, including cultists and eldritch scholars.

The Mythos

Last, but certainly not least, Cthulhu Awakens contains a wealth of information about the Mythos adapted for the Adventure Game Engine, allowing you to include pulp-era, eldritch fantasy elements in your Blue Rose game. Perhaps the Mythos has always been a part of the world of Aldea, or perhaps the shadowgates of the Old Kingdom opened onto … something, something that seeped into the awareness and understanding of those ancient adepts, brought about the rise of the Sorcerer Kings and the Empire of Thorns. Something (or somethings) that slumber still, just waiting for the stars to be right and shadowgates to re-open.

Press Release: Cthulhu Awakens Kickstarter is Live!

/in /by

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 02/15/2022

Cthulhu Awakens: On Kickstarter Now

The Cthulhu Awakens RPG Kickstarter is Now Live!

 

Seattle, WA: Green Ronin Publishing is pleased to announce that the Cthulhu Awakens RPG Kickstarter, first revealed last month, launched today and its campaign will be live until March 23. Cthulhu Awakens is a complete roleplaying game where a diverse set of protagonists confront the horrors of the Cthulhu Mythos in the Weird Century, a period from the 1920s until today.

Cthulhu Awakens is Green Ronin’s take on the Mythos. It’s powered by the company’s popular Adventure Game Engine (AGE), a dynamic and easy to learn system whose games include Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE, Blue Rose: The Roleplaying Game of Romantic Fantasy, and the licensed RPGs Dragon Age and The Expanse. Cthulhu Awakens evolves the Modern AGE rules, customizing them for the Cosmic Horror genre, but the game is also substantially compatible with other AGE RPGs.

The Kickstarter offers four editions of Cthulhu Awakens for backers to choose from: Standard Edition, PDF Edition, Special Edition, and Roll20 Edition. The Standard Edition is a 270+ page full color hardback book, with additional material unlockable through stretch goals. The PDF Edition is the same book in digital form. The Special Edition, a Kickstarter exclusive, has a foil-stamped and embossed cloth-bound cover and ribbon bookmark. The Roll20 Edition is optimized for use on the Roll20 virtual tabletop platform, which allows people from across the globe to game together online. Backers who jump in during the first 48 hours of the campaign will receive Issue #0 of the DREADCRAWLS zine for free with their rewards.

Visit https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/greenroninpub/cthulhu-awakens-roleplaying-game to back Cthulhu Awakens! On the Kickstarter page, you can also learn more about the game and see the campaign’s stretch goals and add-ons. Updates over the next month will preview rules, art, and more.

About Green Ronin Publishing

Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle based company dedicated to the art of great games. Since the year 2000, Green Ronin has been a force in tabletop roleplaying games, publishing such RPGs as Blue Rose, The Expanse, Dragon Age, and Mutants & Masterminds, and winning over 40 awards for excellence. Green Ronin has also worked as a design house for hobby giants Games Workshop and Wizards of the Coast on such titles as Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay (Second Edition) and the Dungeons & Dragons (Fifth Edition) supplements Out of the Abyss and the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.

The Cthulhu Awakens FAQ, Version 0.5

/in /by

As we recently announced, we’re making a new standalone AGE System game, Cthulhu Awakens, which will start crowdfunding over at Kickstarter on February 15, 2022. Go here to sign up for alerts. But one of the challenges of the press release format is that we have just a page to present a mixture of high level information, distinctive zingers, and necessary clarifications. That’s why this FAQ exists! A variation of it will probably find a home in the FAQ of the Kickstarter itself, after launch. That’s why this is version 0.5.Cthulhu Awakens The AGE RPG

What Is Cthulhu Awakens About, Anyway?

Cthulhu Awakens is about roleplaying in the Weird Century, a span running from the 1920s to the present that features increasing influence from bizarre, terrifying forces. The greatest of these are the Outsiders: Cthulhu, Yog-Sothoth, and other entities who exist within both our own realm and the Unseen Dimensions that make the invisible majority of existence. The ancient Earth was a battleground between competing alien colonists from across time and space, and past participants such as the Yithians and Mi-Go still operate from the shadows—along with secret societies of the dead, sorcerers, and even human operatives from other universes called demimondes. Cthulhu Awakens treats the Mythos as components of a century-spanning setting for open-ended roleplaying.

Is It a Supplement or What?

Cthulhu Awakens is a standalone original roleplaying game using the Adventure Game Engine, containing the full rules for play. It’ll be a hardcover in the 270-300+ page range.

Is It a Licensed Game?

Cthulhu Awakens expands upon elements of the Cthulhu Mythos found in the public domain and uses Green Ronin’s own AGE System, so there was no need to license anything.

What is the AGE System?

Originally designed for the licensed Dragon Age roleplaying game, AGE is short for the Adventure Game Engine. All AGE games use standard six-sided dice (d6s) for everything. One die—called the Stunt Die or Drama Die in various AGE games—is visually distinctive. To do something, roll 3d6 + bonuses to meet or beat a target number. If any of the two dice match, the number on the distinctive die becomes stunt points that can be spent on special effects ranging from a cutting remark to a powerful blow in combat.

What AGE Games are Cthulhu Awakens Compatible With?

The other AGE games Green Ronin currently have in print are Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE, Blue Rose, as well as the licensed roleplaying games for The Expanse, and Dragon Age. Fantasy AGE and Modern AGE have optional settings, while the others have specific ones. Cthulhu Awakens is at least partly compatible with elements of all these games, particularly Modern AGE, as the game began life as a supplement for that line. Many elements can be introduced with no changes at all. This is why some Modern AGE offerings will be included in the Kickstarter. However, Cthulhu Awakens does do a few things differently, and has a substantial number of original systems—and some of them work well with Modern AGE, too.

What Level of Realism or Modern AGE “Mode” Does Cthulhu Awakens Use?

Folks who know Modern AGE know the game has three “Modes,” or preset rules options, based on the degree of “realism” groups want to use in their games. Cthulhu Awakens’ pre-set Mode is a combination of Modern AGE’s Gritty and Pulpy, in that your character’s Health doesn’t go up over time, but sometimes, you can grit your teeth and bear getting stabbed—but not shot.

Cthulhu Awakens also includes an option for more heroic characters called Fortune that makes protagonists tougher and luckier. Fortune was originally designed for The Expanse RPG but works well for more action-focused Cthulhu Awakens campaigns.

How and Why Does Cthulhu Awakens Deal with Lovecraft Being a Racist?

H.P. Lovecraft was a white supremacist whose racism was notable even in his time, as attested to by letters from his own friends. Our position is that anything in Mythos sources that reinforce these elements are lies or errors as far as the setting of Cthulhu Awakens is concerned. Standing against that kind of discrimination is morally obligatory, and it leads to more interesting possibilities than treating Lovecraft’s work as “canon.” In general communication we’ve had to emphasize this both because of Lovecraft’s notorious reputation and to ward off various people with terrible opinions, not to congratulate ourselves for not following the example set by a long-dead racist. Cthulhu Awakens isn’t a purist game and was designed from the basic position that as important to the Mythos as he was, it doesn’t belong to him anymore. He’s dead. It belongs to all of us now.

Aren’t There Already a Bunch of Mythos Games Out There?

There are! And lots of them are fantastic. Some of them emphasize investigation. Others are essentially a tribute to the works of Lovecraft’s circle, the era they take place in, and their approach to the Weird Tale, and many bake a cycle of discovery, horror, and loss into the mechanics, essentially framing the basic story ahead of time. Cthulhu Awakens takes a more open-ended approach; we provide deep support for the Weird Century period, but ultimately encourage you to tell whatever stories you wish. Plus of course, we wanted to express our own fandom and run our own games using the AGE System, which we rather like.

Is there “Madness?” “Magic?”

No—well, there’s Alienation, and eldritch workings (oh, and separate psychic powers too). They’re not quite the same as what you might expect.

Early in design and development we decided that not only was delineating the relationship between the sort of “literary madness” seen in the stories and mental illness not a great idea for Cthulhu Awakens, but that we also wanted to reexamine what it means exactly when exposure to the Mythos alters consciousness. Alienation is about adapting to the alien rules of the Mythos. Since these are incompatible with ordinary human thinking, which takes place in three dimensions plus time and interacts with a fraction of the universe—the reflexive dream of Azathoth, say some—Alienation produces undesirable effects, but it also leads to bursts of inspiration. With Enlightenment comes Terror.

Eldritch workings are neither science nor sorcery—and both. Workings can be learned, but they’re not things you just put on a character sheet. Given the right text to work from and the ability to understand it, anyone can cast an eldritch working without using up any spaces for other powers and abilities. These are mighty, reality-twisting procedures that require specific components and methods, but they offer everything from immortality to the ability to create spacecraft—or call beings who should not be called.

Why Are You Using Kickstarter?

So, with all of the controversy over Kickstarter’s interest in the blockchain, why continue to work with them? The question is a reasonable one, and in ordinary circumstances we’d love to explore other options and find sources for crowdfunding that are more mindful of environmental impact.

The past couple of years are not ordinary circumstances. The truth of the matter is we don’t have that kind of luxury right now. Kickstarter’s market share is such that, if we want this game to reach the widest possible audience and do as well as it can, there aren’t any suitable alternatives—at least, not yet—for this particular project. We’re focused on doing the best we can with the tools we have, while we explore all possible options for connecting our community of players with our games. In any event, Cthulhu Awakens will be up for general sale after we conclude the Kickstarter. For starters, you’ll be able to back the campaign as a late pledge on BackerKit. The finished print book will be available from our online store, game stores, and bookstores, and you’ll be able to get the PDF from our online store and DriveThruRPG. You will have options, in other words, if you don’t want to use Kickstarter.

How Finished Is It? When’s It Coming Out?

As of this time of writing, Cthulhu Awakens’ core book has been through final drafts and two rounds of development, and it is currently going through a final round of development before it enters editing, to better incorporate some internal innovations in the AGE System. The Kickstarter begins on February 15th. The game will be coming out in the fourth Quarter of this year, 2022.