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Message no. 1
From: jhubert@***.de (JÃŒrgen_Hubert)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:26:21 +0200
Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
problem.

The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that adding
aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect all
kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on, but
extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build up to
them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for those,
too?

Also, what kind of equipment might a medium-sized Antarctic research station
have? What kind of transport vehicles, and what supplies? I do have
"Target:Wastelands", but any advice beyond that book would be greatly
appreciated...


- Jürgen Hubert

Urbis - A World of Cities
http://juergen.the-huberts.net/dnd/urbis/index.html
Message no. 2
From: scott@**********.com (Scott Harrison)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 12:27:28 -0400
On Saturday, Aug 16, 2003, at 08:26 US/Eastern, Jürgen Hubert wrote:

> Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to
> Shadowrun -
> to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can
> foresee a
> problem.
>
> The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that
> adding
> aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players
> expect all
> kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on,
> but
> extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build
> up to
> them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for
> those,
> too?
>
>
In one of my ancient groups we did not have that much of a problem
putting RuneQuest characters into a Call of Cthulhu setting.
Therefore, I would not imagine it too difficult to integrate Cthulhu
things into Shadowrun. Note that I would imagine the toughest thing
will be to determine how to handle sanity -- should you create a new
attribute, or base if off current ones. I would think you would also
want to use a character's essence as well since the lower the essence
the farther from their normal humanity -- and this may make it easier
for someone to become insane.

--
Scott Harrison PGP Key ID: 0x0f0b5b86
Message no. 3
From: tim.lau@**********.com (Tim Lau)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 18:32:16 +0100
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Harrison" <scott@**********.com>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 5:27 PM
Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos



On Saturday, Aug 16, 2003, at 08:26 US/Eastern, Jürgen Hubert wrote:

> Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to
> Shadowrun -
> to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can
> foresee a
> problem.
>
> The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that
> adding
> aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players
> expect all
> kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on,
> but
> extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build
> up to
> them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for
> those,
> too?
>
>


One word "Horrors"
Message no. 4
From: flakjacket@***********.com (flakjacket@***********.com)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 19:48:07 +0100 (BST)
Jürgen Hubert wrote:

> Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
> to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
> problem.

[SNIP]

> So how can I build up to them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend
> their disbelief for those, too?

The two main routes that I could see you going are using Horror's, maybe a soupçon of
toxics or possibly really powerful free spirits. The latter bring my prefered choice. I
mean, what's out there in the astral plain and beyond? They've explored maybe a hundredth
of it at the very /most/.

Who knows what's lurking out there? And it certainly doesn't have to be human, or have
thought processes like us. Something completely alien. And IIRC, MitS has a very small
mention in the front where it's going over different kinds of magic a Madness magic or
somethign similar. Says something along the lines of great power can be had by pushing
your mind over the edge and out beyond the boundries etc.

Simon
Message no. 5
From: anders@**********.com (Anders Swenson)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 12:09:30 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Lau" <tim.lau@**********.com>



> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Harrison" <scott@**********.com>
> Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos

> On Saturday, Aug 16, 2003, at 08:26 US/Eastern, Jürgen Hubert wrote:

> > Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to
Shadowrun -
> > to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can
> > foresee a problem.
> >
> > The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> > genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and > >
horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that
> > adding > > aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the
players
> > expect all > > kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons,
spirits and so on,
> > but > > extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I
build
> > up to > > them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their
disbelief for
> > those, > > too?
>
> One word "Horrors"
>
>
I've seen different solutions for Sanity around the web, I suggest a save vs
something to avoid mental stun, which lasts until cured.
You might want a separate track, or just a sumbol in the regular stun track.
There aren't many shrinks in Antarctica. There are some other
SR and D20 modern Antarctica adventures on the web to find, they might help
for color or to add to the PC's workload.

The Cthulu Mythos magic provides a challenge of its own, should you care to
dabble with it
Classically, Lovecraft's magic can be learned by anybody, with a little
study and a lot of consequences. You could have a Street Sam
Dispelling some minion, or a chemist brewing Space Mead. Since the Mythos
entities aren't spirits, Shamans won't have any edge on them.

'M'ountains' was written by some friends of mine. They really worked hard
for years to make it happen, and I'm always happy to hear somebody is
running this huge campaign!
You must keep us posted.
Any questions, you can PM me if you want.
--Anders
Message no. 6
From: tim.lau@**********.com (Tim Lau)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 20:25:08 +0100
> Also, what kind of equipment might a medium-sized Antarctic research
station
> have? What kind of transport vehicles, and what supplies? I do have
> "Target:Wastelands", but any advice beyond that book would be greatly
> appreciated...
>
>
> - Jürgen Hubert

On another note about the "Arctic" weather stuff , this is merely pure
conjecture on my part but I'm assuming a lot of canned/dried foodstuffs, a
radio or two, maybe some kind of half track vehicles and some snowmobiles?
(Fuel for said vehicles too something that will go bang quite impressivley
I'm imagining) Maybe an LAV (I wouldn't want to risk it personally
considering melting through the ice and etc etc) Some kind of prop planes or
something for short hops around? If it's a scientific research station be
sure to include lots of high tech stuff and maybe beakers full of things
that go gloop and bubble?

Some skiing equipt lying around and snow shoes for when people just want to
go out, have a walk and take a look around maybe. A lot of heating equipt
aswell.... I'm assuming this is a corp research station or something of the
kind?
Message no. 7
From: The_Sarge@***.de (MatthÀus_Cebulla)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:31:15 +0200
[snip]suggestions for equipment.[/snip]

For your scenario, just don't forget an _easily sabitagable_ generator,
which _isn't_ in direct reach from the main base.

Prepare a reason for this, which is reasonable enough for the players
to swallow and run with it. This will make some things easier for you.

Matthäus Cebulla
--
Matthäus is now listening to "Covenant - One World One Sky".
05:01m is the length.
Message no. 8
From: jhubert@***.de (JÃŒrgen_Hubert)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:29:44 +0200
----- Original Message -----
From: "Scott Harrison" <scott@**********.com>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 6:27 PM
Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos



> > The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> > genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> > horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that
> > adding
> > aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players
> > expect all
> > kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on,
> > but
> > extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build
> > up to
> > them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for
> > those,
> > too?
> >
> >
> In one of my ancient groups we did not have that much of a problem
> putting RuneQuest characters into a Call of Cthulhu setting.
> Therefore, I would not imagine it too difficult to integrate Cthulhu
> things into Shadowrun. Note that I would imagine the toughest thing
> will be to determine how to handle sanity -- should you create a new
> attribute, or base if off current ones. I would think you would also
> want to use a character's essence as well since the lower the essence
> the farther from their normal humanity -- and this may make it easier
> for someone to become insane.

Actually, I don't think I'll use any kind of obvious Sanity mechanics for
this. I'll just require Willpower rolls in certain situations, and leave it
at that.

Since we switch the task of GMing around, I don't want to introduce any new
game mechanics - and however Lovecraftian it might be, I don't want the PCs
to be permanently saddled with any insanities enforced by game mechanics.
Sure, they might be mentally scarred for life, but that should be left as a
role-playing exercise for them...

Of course, a nice solution would be to increase the target number for every
time they fail a Willpower roll while they are on this adventure...

Regarding Essence and Sanity: I probably won't use this, either. With the
current group, PCs tend to be either heavily cybered sammies - or mages
(three at the moment, depending on how many players show up...). And while
the mages might start out with a better mental stability, their supernatural
senses would make them even more endangered in a Mythos adventure...

Or do you have any good suggestion how to handle these? Alienation from
normal humanity through Essence loss vs. alienation through supernatural
awareness?


- Jürgen Hubert

Urbis - A World of Cities
http://juergen.the-huberts.net/dnd/urbis/index.html
Message no. 9
From: jhubert@***.de (JÃŒrgen_Hubert)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 21:32:02 +0200
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tim Lau" <tim.lau@**********.com>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 7:32 PM
Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos


> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Scott Harrison" <scott@**********.com>
> To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
> Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 5:27 PM
> Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
>
>
>
> On Saturday, Aug 16, 2003, at 08:26 US/Eastern, Jürgen Hubert wrote:
>

> > The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> > genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> > horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that
> > adding
> > aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players
> > expect all
> > kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on,
> > but
> > extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build
> > up to
> > them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for
> > those,
> > too?

> One word "Horrors"

Normally, yes, but that wouldn't work in this case, because

***SPOILERS for "Beyond the Mountains of Madness"***











the Elder Things do some pretty horrible things, but in the end it turns out
that they have an _extremely_ good reason for their actions, and the PCs
will end up having to do the same to save themselves and many, many
others...

So the Elder Things can't be Horrors.


- Jürgen Hubert

Urbis - A World of Cities
http://juergen.the-huberts.net/dnd/urbis/index.html
Message no. 10
From: ra002585@**.unicamp.br (Bira)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sat, 16 Aug 2003 17:04:08 -0300
On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:26:21 +0200
Jürgen Hubert <jhubert@***.de> wrote:

> Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
> to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
> problem.
>
> The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that adding
> aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect all
> kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on, but
> extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build up to
> them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for those,
> too?

It depends on how much your players know about the Mythos, really. You
don't need to tell them what the Elder Things actually are. If you want,
you could test your ground by asking them to make up the craziest
Shadowrun crossovers they'd still be willing to play in. If the average
is further "out there" than SR/Lovecraft, you're safe :).

If all else fails, you could just say any Mythos creatures you include
are actually Horror Constructs. Horrors are Lovecraftian
extradimensional creatures from Earthdawn, a fantasy RPG that supposedly
talks about Shadowrun's "mystical past".

--
Bira
http://www.shadowlandbr.hpg.com.br ou
http://www24.brinkster.com/shadowlandbr/index.html
Message no. 11
From: sf_fuller@********.com.au (Simon & Fiona)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 11:36:31 +1000
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jürgen Hubert" <jhubert@***.de>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2003 5:32 AM
Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos


> > One word "Horrors"
>
> Normally, yes, but that wouldn't work in this case, because
>
> ***SPOILERS (snipped)

How about some variation on insect spirits?Alien thought processes,
undefinable motives, it's all there. They don't have to be actual insect
spirits, they could be something even more alien, with no Earthly
counterpart.
If you were feeling really adventurous, you could introduce Cthulu and tell
the players that the whole reason why there has been a rise in magic is
because the Great Old Ones are coming closer, or something similar.


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.509 / Virus Database: 306 - Release Date: 12/08/03
Message no. 12
From: anders@**********.com (Anders Swenson)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sun, 17 Aug 2003 08:15:09 -0700
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bira" <ra002585@**.unicamp.br>
To: "Shadowrun Discussion" <shadowrn@*****.dumpshock.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 16, 2003 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos



On Sat, 16 Aug 2003 14:26:21 +0200
Jürgen Hubert <jhubert@***.de> wrote:

> Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to
Shadowrun -
> to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee
a
> problem.
>
> [snip]

If all else fails, you could just say any Mythos creatures you include
are actually Horror Constructs. Horrors are Lovecraftian
extradimensional creatures from Earthdawn, a fantasy RPG that supposedly
talks about Shadowrun's "mystical past".

--
No reason you couldn't just -gasp- 'add' them to the SR universe. They are
just another
spacefaring race, really.
--Anders
Message no. 13
From: davidb@****.imcprint.com (Graht)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 08:18:05 -0600
At 02:26 PM 8/16/2003 +0200, Jürgen Hubert wrote:
>Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
>to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
>problem.
>
>The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
>genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
>horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that adding
>aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect all
>kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on, but
>extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build up to
>them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for those,
>too?

Maybe use Great Spirits?

--
To Life,
-Graht
ShadowRN Assistant Fearless Leader II
http://www.graht.com
Message no. 14
From: frontendchaos@**********.com (Jim Montgomery)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:23:03 -0400
> Also, what kind of equipment might a medium-sized Antarctic research station
> have? What kind of transport vehicles, and what supplies? I do have
> "Target:Wastelands", but any advice beyond that book would be greatly
> appreciated...

Dunno, I'd just watch John Carpenter's The Thing and jot down some notes.

Jim
Message no. 15
From: frontendchaos@**********.com (Jim Montgomery)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:27:49 -0400
>>>
> So the Elder Things can't be Horrors.
>>>

There could be Horrors that would kill other Horrors (some just kill
everything). There could be astral entities that are not pro-humanity
but are anti-Horror (maybe they like pure untainted astral space, and
humans can corrupt it so they're as bad as Horrors). Mad Passions (er...
bad Idols?) might fill the role, or any other purely alien astral entity.

After reading the story in Threats 2 about master shedim, my players
would probably be willing to accept any astral, alien thing.

Jim
Message no. 16
From: anders@**********.com (Anders Swenson)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 08:31:04 -0700
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 08:18:05 -0600
Graht <davidb@****.imcprint.com> wrote:
> At 02:26 PM 8/16/2003 +0200, Jürgen Hubert wrote:
> >Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun
> -
> >The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
> >genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
> >horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that adding
> >aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect
> all kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on,
> > but extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build
> >up to them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief
> > for those, too?
>
> Maybe use Great Spirits?
>
Do it the Lovecraft did it in just about all his stories. Re-read Call of C,
the novella, not the game. There are a lot of scenarios where ordinary people
got their noses rubbed in the 'mythos' and learned to deal with it. That's
how HPL did his horror, the slow destruction of reality as the characters
knew it, and the realization that the major players in the universe just
don't give a frag about humanity. Remind me to write an essay on this
sometime.
--Anders
Message no. 17
From: loneeagle@********.co.uk (Lone Eagle)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 16:33:28 +0100
At 01:26 PM 16/8/2003, Jürgen wrote:
>Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
>to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
>problem.
>
>The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
>genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
>horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities. And I'm afraid that adding
>aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect all
>kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on, but
>extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build up to
>them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for those,
>too?

The biggest problem IMHO with Cthulhu in the sixth world is one of Sanity;
The shock value of the vaguest evidence of the Elder Ones is totally lost
in a world where magic exists, where a kid putting on a hundred odd kilos
at puberty while also developing horns and bony deposits below the skin is
not terrifying, it's a troll. SURGE makes it even less shocking, who's
going to worry about the fact that this sleepy fishing town is full of
people who have a decidedly fishy look about them when half the people in
certain Seattle nightclubs it seems glory in the fact that they have scales
or fur...

I would recommend therefore ignoring Sanity as it would be used in CoC and
run it more in the roleplaying side... people giving the team slightly odd
looks, like they're on chips, perhaps even recommending they visit their
dealer again when asked for information.
After all, what would people think of someone who was telling everyone
their experiences in Mission: Mars, granted Big D's will makes it more
believable...
The film "Conspiricy Theory" also provides some ideas, we the viewer know
that a lot of what he believes appears to be true but those around him don't.

However, even that is lost to a degree on a group of career criminals for
whom paranoia is less an affliction and more a survival trait.

I'm writing (eight chapters and counting) a piece in this vein myself, and
sanity is one of the real problems I've had.


--
Lone Eagle
"Hold up lads, I got an idea."

www.wyrmtalk.co.uk - Please be patient, this site is under construction

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Message no. 18
From: paul@*********.demon.co.uk (Paul Squires)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 18:17:56 +0100
In message <5.1.1.6.0.20030818161051.00bc9fa8@www.wyrmtalk.co.uk>;, Lone
Eagle <loneeagle@********.co.uk> writes
>I'm writing (eight chapters and counting) a piece in this vein myself,
>and sanity is one of the real problems I've had.
Am I the only one that had a chuckle at that..?

I've got somewhere a magazine with a SR/C of C crossover style
adventure, which definitely included some sanity rules. I suspect it's
buried deep in a pile of stuff at my parents house and due to the fact
it must be over 10 years old is probably 1st ed anyway. I'd go with the
notion that anyone who is used to magic, cyberware, goblinization and
SURGE is probably not going to be too screwed up by anything else
anyway...

I've always thought that something like that works really well in SR,
especially if you can bring in a couple of conspiracy groups and tie it
all back to Atlantis... (but then I've read Illuminatus! *waay* too many
times).


--
Paul Squires
paul@*********.demon.co.uk
Message no. 19
From: anders@**********.com (Anders Swenson)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:46:56 -0700
On Mon, 18 Aug 2003 16:33:28 +0100
Lone Eagle <loneeagle@********.co.uk> wrote:
.
>
> I'm writing (eight chapters and counting) a piece in this vein myself, and
> sanity is one of the real problems I've had.
>
>
> --
> Lone Eagle
> "Hold up lads, I got an idea."

Yes, writing 8 chapters of CoC would cause potential sanity loss...
((8>) --Anders
Message no. 20
From: ShadowRN@********.demon.co.uk (Paul J. Adam)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 21:13:36 +0100
In article <000801c36412$0bb77ff0$a9ff06d5@**************>, Jürgen
Hubert <jhubert@***.de> writes
>Sometime soon, I plan to convert a Call of Cthulhu adventure to Shadowrun -
>to be specific, "Beyond the Mountains of Madness". However, I can foresee a
>problem.
>
>The problem is that Shadowrun is a mixture of the cyberpunk and fantasy
>genres. _Not_ a mixture of cyberpunk and
>horror-with-powerful-extraterrestrial-entities.

It lurched that way with Harlequin II and the Horrors.

> And I'm afraid that adding
>aliens like the Elder Things might be just too much - the players expect all
>kinds of fantasy tropes like magic, elves, dragons, spirits and so on, but
>extraterrestrials belong to a whole other degree. So how can I build up to
>them so that the _players_ are willing to suspend their disbelief for those,
>too?

Hey, just why do magicians go insane when they astrally percieve outside
the Gaiasphere? They see the Elder Gods circling Earth, dancing blindly
and probing for a way to come back.
>
>Also, what kind of equipment might a medium-sized Antarctic research station
>have? What kind of transport vehicles, and what supplies? I do have
>"Target:Wastelands", but any advice beyond that book would be greatly
>appreciated...


Watch the John Carpenter remake of "The Thing". A caterpillar-tracked
bulldozer or two, maybe a helicopter for transport; pretty comprehensive
survival and medical supplies; maybe some law-enforcement weapons (a
couple of revolvers and shotguns). Carpenter gave them flamethrowers
because his plot needed them, not sure they're real Arctic equipment.

Comms gear would be good and redundant, and they'd have plenty of tools
and people to use them (if something breaks, you either use the spare,
or fix it, or do without)

--
Paul J. Adam
Message no. 21
From: l-hansen@*****.tele.dk (Lars Wagner Hansen)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 23:12:09 +0200
From: "Paul Squires" <paul@*********.demon.co.uk>
>
> I've got somewhere a magazine with a SR/C of C crossover style
> adventure, which definitely included some sanity rules. I suspect it's
> buried deep in a pile of stuff at my parents house and due to the fact
> it must be over 10 years old is probably 1st ed anyway.

That would be Game Masters International issues 13 & 14. The scenario is
fair, but the rules are next to useless. A review can be found here
http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/shadowrun/magazine%20adventures.html#gmi13

If you wan't other magazines you should try and find Interface #6 (issue 2,
volume 2) and The Unspeakable Oath #7. Especially Interface #6 is very
usable. They have 56 pages abouth using the Mythos in Cyberpunk, and only 7
pages are rules. The rest is ideas, cults, background, scenarios and
cyberware. Very usefull.

Role Player International #2 also tries to add the Mythos to Cyberpunk.

NAGEE #1 has some sanity rules.
http://plastic.dumpshock.com/nagee/NAGEE_01.pdf or
http://plastic.dumpshock.com/nagee/index.html if you want other formats.

And if you can read Danish there is some rules at
http://home4.inet.tele.dk/l-hansen/sr-coc.html.

There are also lots of Cyberpunk/CoC crossowers on the net, and a few
SR/CoC. Most of them are concerned with the rules, but you can actually find
a few gems here and there. Here is a few links:
http://www.rpg.net/realm/cyber/
http://www.davidjrodger.com/DJR%20Web%202000%20-%20New%20Folder%20for%20Completed%20Pages/GAME/game1.htm
http://bull.dumpshock.com/sr/cthulhu.html :-)
http://www.fortunecity.com/underworld/virtuality/789/shadowrun/cthulhu.html
http://membres.lycos.fr/imaginaute/toiledudragon/shadochaosium.htm
http://archive.dumpshock.com/ArchiveShowArticle.php3?IDP3
http://www.mwrycraft.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/den/files/Cthulhu.pdf

Lars
Message no. 22
From: gurth@******.nl (Gurth)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2003 19:24:42 +0200
According to Paul Squires, on Monday 18 August 2003 19:17 the word on the
street was...

> I've got somewhere a magazine with a SR/C of C crossover style
> adventure, which definitely included some sanity rules. I suspect it's
> buried deep in a pile of stuff at my parents house and due to the fact
> it must be over 10 years old is probably 1st ed anyway.

That must be Games Master International, which had a two-issue adventure
that crosses SR with CoC back in 1991 or so.

--
Gurth@******.nl - Stone Age: http://www.xs4all.nl/~gurth/index.html
Don't you know you know what's right?
-> Probably NAGEE Editor * ShadowRN GridSec * Triangle Virtuoso <-
-> The Plastic Warriors Page: http://plastic.dumpshock.com <-

GC3.12: GAT/! d- s:- !a>? C++(---) UL+ P(+) L++ E W--(++) N o? K w(--)
O V? PS+ PE@ Y PGP- t- 5++ X(+) R+++$ tv+(++) b++@ DI- D+ G+ e h! !r y?
Incubated into the First Church of the Sqooshy Ball, 21-05-1998
Message no. 23
From: Moryarti@**********.worldnet.att.net (Griff M. Warren II)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Wed, 27 Aug 2003 13:19:27 -0400
There is actually a mention of the Cthulhu mthos in Dunkelzahn's will.
He mentions giving a copy of Al Azif to someone. Al Azif is another
name that Lovecraft used for the Necronomicon. As for sanity you could
give the players drain tests and apply penalties to their actions equal
to stun damage, and when it reaches deadly damage they could just faint
away or something, and every time they take deadly fear damage they
might lose a permanent point of their stun damage box. That could show
the effect of repeated mental trauma. Initiate mages could get a
resistance bonus based on their grade to reflect the exposure of their
psyches to the metaplanes. When they lose all the boxes they could go
permanently loopy, equal to dying for the char. Or you could make heavy
use of the critter Fear power.

Griff Warren


Jim Montgomery wrote:

>>>>
>> So the Elder Things can't be Horrors.
>
> >>>
>
> There could be Horrors that would kill other Horrors (some just kill
> everything). There could be astral entities that are not pro-humanity
> but are anti-Horror (maybe they like pure untainted astral space, and
> humans can corrupt it so they're as bad as Horrors). Mad Passions
> (er... bad Idols?) might fill the role, or any other purely alien
> astral entity.
>
> After reading the story in Threats 2 about master shedim, my players
> would probably be willing to accept any astral, alien thing.
>
> Jim
>
>
Message no. 24
From: loneeagle@********.co.uk (Lone Eagle)
Subject: Shadowrun and the Cthulhu Mythos
Date: Sun, 31 Aug 2003 15:41:39 +0100
At 06:19 PM 27/8/2003, Griff wrote:
>There is actually a mention of the Cthulhu mthos in Dunkelzahn's will.
>He mentions giving a copy of Al Azif to someone. Al Azif is another name
>that Lovecraft used for the Necronomicon.

I believe it was the author rather than an alternative title <checks> Ah
no, The Al Azif of Abdul Alhazred... wish I hadn't said anything now :D.
Yes, I'm aware that the book was in fact an invention on Lovecraft and
therefore Lovecraft was in fact the author but he didn't write much
really... :)
But taking the idea that the Necronomicon exists does not imply the
existence of Cthulhu in the 6th world, as has already been suggested the
things "(Which are) not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange aeons
even death may die." may refer to the Horrors.
I'm babbling now though so I'm going to stop.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.



--
Lone Eagle
"Hold up lads, I got an idea."

www.wyrmtalk.co.uk - Please be patient, this site is under construction

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