A New Vampire for Eternity

[Mandragore]

I don't think this game needs the generic gothic horror expac that has become obligatory for fantasy rpgs. How about some originality instead of more genre mashup nonsense.

 

Off topic, but I would love to see some lovecraftian/cosmic horror elements in PE.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Mandragore

[Agelastos]

Off topic, but I would love to see some lovecraftian/cosmic horror elements in PE.

 

Yes, please! As long as it's actual lovecraftian horror, and not just "eldritch abominations". It's not about the monsters, it's about what they represent.

Cosmic nihilism, that feeling that we are all completely insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence, and that we could be wiped out at any moment just to be replaced by another species - and there is nothing we can do stop it from happening.There are no gods out there looking out for us, only the amoral and utterly indifferent aliens that created us.

 

I have a hard time seeing how that would fit in to the P.E. universe, though, since it's a high magic setting where gods definitely exist and probably even interact with their worshipers.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Agelastos

[Mandragore]

Off topic, but I would love to see some lovecraftian/cosmic horror elements in PE.

 

Yes, please! As long as it's actual lovecraftian horror, and not just "eldritch abominations". It's not about the monsters, it's about what they represent.

Cosmic nihilism, that feeling that we are all completely insignificant in the larger scheme of intergalactic existence, and that we could be wiped out at any moment just to be replaced by another species - and there is nothing we can do stop it from happening.There are no gods out there looking out for us, only the amoral and utterly indifferent aliens that created us.

 

I have a hard time seeing how that would fit in to the P.E. universe, though, since it's a high magic setting where gods definitely exist and probably even interact with their worshipers.

 

I don't see how that would be a huge problem really, it would just be more like derleth's additions to the Cthulhu mythos with some more humanized gods opposing the inscrutable elder-beings. Mostly I'd just like to see some cosmic horror themes in a fantasy game for once, madness, nihilism, alien gods, degenerate creatures from some dark pre-history period etc, rather than the "spooky" gothic horror crap these games usually saddle themselves with.

 

IMO vampires and werewolves are too human to really be scary or interesting anymore. Seeing as this is supposed to be a more "mature" game I think cosmic horror is the way to go; if there's going to be any horror at all that is.

[Agelastos]

I don't see how that would be a huge problem really, it would just be more like derleth's additions to the Cthulhu mythos with some more humanized gods opposing the inscrutable elder-beings. Mostly I'd just like to see some cosmic horror themes in a fantasy game for once, madness, nihilism, alien gods, degenerate creatures from some dark pre-history period etc, rather than the "spooky" gothic horror crap these games usually saddle themselves with.

 

IMO vampires and werewolves are too human to really be scary or interesting anymore. Seeing as this is supposed to be a more "mature" game I think cosmic horror is the way to go; if there's going to be any horror at all that is.

 

Good point.

I know of a few cRPGs that do have some lovecraftian elements. Two of them are MMOs, unfortunately.

Too bad Iron Tower Studio cancelled Cyclopean. There are way too few games of that kind.

Edited November 24, 2012 by Agelastos

[Mandragore]

I don't see how that would be a huge problem really, it would just be more like derleth's additions to the Cthulhu mythos with some more humanized gods opposing the inscrutable elder-beings. Mostly I'd just like to see some cosmic horror themes in a fantasy game for once, madness, nihilism, alien gods, degenerate creatures from some dark pre-history period etc, rather than the "spooky" gothic horror crap these games usually saddle themselves with.

 

IMO vampires and werewolves are too human to really be scary or interesting anymore. Seeing as this is supposed to be a more "mature" game I think cosmic horror is the way to go; if there's going to be any horror at all that is.

 

Good point.

I know of a few cRPGs that do have some lovecraftian elements. Two of them are MMOs, unfortunately.

Too bad Iron Tower Studio cancelled Cyclopean. There are way too few games of that kind.

 

I'm amazed anyone actually remembers Cyclopean, but yeah, I meant more fantasy games, not just computer ports of CoC (not that theres anything wrong with those)

 

What MMOs are those incidentally? Because I'm wondering how a lovecraft mmo would even work...

 

Quest Giver: "finally, you behold the shoggoth's true from"

 

PC: "so did that complete the quest?"

 

Quest Giver: "no, you realize the quest is insignificant against the vast nothingness of the mad, uncaring universe"

 

PC: "so do I level up?"

 

Quest Giver: "no, your mind breaks under the strain and you become a gibbering lunatic, confined to the psych ward of miskatonic general, where the whispers of nyarlathotep endlessly taunt your fevered brain"

 

PC: "well ****, I'm never going to make it out of the starting zone, am I..."

[Augusta Corvina]

I guess a lovecraftian mmo would work like the tabletop or somesuch, but it'd probably only ever achieve EvE Online levels of fame given how unforgiving that setting is. Especially since most people nowadays would probably bring up the question "Why does looking at it make me nuts? That makes no sense!". I know I certainly do whenever I speak about it to others.

[Agelastos]

What MMOs are those incidentally?

 

 

Age of Conan and Secret World. Both developed by Funcom.

Age of Conan had a few references to the Cthulhu Mythos. Not very surprising, considering Robert E. Howard was part of the Lovecraft Circle.

Secret World, which I haven't played myself (yet), is apparently full of references to Lovecraft and the Cthulhu Mythos. One of the first places you visit (IIRC), is a town called Kingsmouth (Innsmouth + Kingsport) which is located on an island off the coast of New England (Maine, I think), and has streets with names like Lovecraft Lane and Arkham Avenue.

In fact, the entire premise of Secret World seems a little Delta Green-y.

Edited November 26, 2012 by Agelastos

[Mandragore]

Age of Conan and Secret World. Both developed by Funcom.

Age of Conan had a few references to the Cthulhu Mythos. Not very surprising, considering Robert E. Howard was part of the Lovecraft Circle.

 

REH and Clark Ashton Smith were basically who I was thinking of with regards to cosmic horror in fantasy.

[Heresiarch]

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing). They just need the whole old-fashioned bloodsucking walking dead air about them that made the vampires in the first place.

 

The whole idea of vampires living within the society, paying taxes and whatever is absolutely ridiculous if you take into account that those guys are revenants, arising from the grave only to feed. So no glittering skin, no very human-like appearance (they are dead), no cravings other than bloodlust and you're pretty much set with a nice old-school vampire.

[Agelastos]

n

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing).

 

No one was asking for "lovecraftian vampires". Mandragore and I were just discussing whether it would be possible for Obsidian to include some lovecraftian horror elements in P.E., instead of using the same old gothic horror tropes (vampires, werewolves. etc.) that we've all seen in hundreds of games already (not to mention how prevalent they are in films and tv series right now). But I think we're done derailing the thread now, so...

[septembervirgin]

 

Because I'm wondering how a lovecraft mmo would even work...

 

If a Lovecraftian game really had starting zones, I do believe most of what the players would encounter through their characters would be clues. Clues would lead to criminals with vague hints of cultic influence. As the character gained ability, they'd be able to find links between crimes and investigate the cults but with few monstrous presences (and certainly not shoggoths). Only on expeditions to places like Antarctica or deep beneath the surface of the earth would they find shoggoths or similar beings.

 

And shoggoths are in their true forms usually speaking (they're amorphous not polymorphous).

[Cryticus]

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing). They just need the whole old-fashioned bloodsucking walking dead air about them that made the vampires in the first place.

 

 

Lovecraft is actually pretty much full of the undead, first thing that comes to my head would be Case of Charles Dexter Ward( Necromancy done in that style is something that I would actually like to see, but that besides)

Vampires in lovecraft are more of an alien sentinet clouds of bloodsucking mist, that serves Cthuga if I remember I could get that wrong.

 

And yeah this is something that I would like to see less, of the counts in spooky old castle with hungarian accent and play more one the undead beast, something like mix of gangrels and Tzimisce from old world of darkness

[Mandragore]

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing). They just need the whole old-fashioned bloodsucking walking dead air about them that made the vampires in the first place.

 

The whole idea of vampires living within the society, paying taxes and whatever is absolutely ridiculous if you take into account that those guys are revenants, arising from the grave only to feed. So no glittering skin, no very human-like appearance (they are dead), no cravings other than bloodlust and you're pretty much set with a nice old-school vampire.

 

I never said they should be. What I said was that I would rather see cosmic horror (shoggoths, deep ones etc) than gothic horror (vampires, werewolves etc) TES had vampires/werewolves along with virtually every game based on D&D. Do they have to be in every game?

[jezz555]

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing).

 

 

Did you just skip re-animator?

Edited November 28, 2012 by jezz555

[Mandragore]

Vampires don't have to be lovecraftian (whatever that means, since I can't remember any instance of undead creatures in Lovecraft's writing).

 

 

Did you just skip re-animator?

 

Not to mention Cool Air, The Thing on the Doorstep and The Case of Charles Dexter Ward... People need to read before they pontificate.

Edited November 28, 2012 by Mandragore

[Halsy]

Please. No vampires. Thanks.

 

Amen. For the love all things holy. Please, no more vampires or werewolves or zombies. That ****e is so played out They need to give them a rest...say for the next 10 years or so.

[PK htiw klaw eriF]

I wouldn't mind an aberration form of vampire, like some sort of hideous creature that feeds on a creature using tendrils or something, but the "standard" vampire is not something I want to see.

[Giantevilhead]

I would imagine that the concept of souls will be integrated into vampiric lore.

 

I think they could be similar to a combination of the Spirit Eater from Mask of the Betrayer and the vampires from Legacy of Kain. Due to their immortality, their souls do not go back to the reincarnation cycle so they feed upon mortals and use parts of other people's souls to take their own place in the cycle. They could have powers deriving from their ability to manipulate souls and knowledge of the reincarnation cycle. They could steal the knowledge and experiences of others or use the souls of those they consume to bolster their own. They could have greater power over souls and gain access to a soul's past lives.

 

They could also be great powers in the world. Having greatly influenced or even built up entire societies throughout the ages. People could flock to vampires seeking favors, offering up parts of their souls in exchange for information of their own past lives or for ancient knowledge and skills possessed by vampires.

[Augusta Corvina]

While I prefer gothic horror vampires ala Carmilla and Dracula over all else, I'm pretty much willing to settle for just about anything as long as it isn't twi****e in any shape or form.

[jezz555]

While I prefer gothic horror vampires ala Carmilla and Dracula over all else, I'm pretty much willing to settle for just about anything as long as it isn't twi****e in any shape or form.

 

Really? Wow that's a very unique point of view. I don't think you'll be very popular on these forums though, I definitely heard a lot of people on here talking about how cool twilight is and how much they want it in the game.

Edited November 30, 2012 by jezz555

[Malkaven]

I'd be shocked if a twilight fan knew project eternity existed. I really don't think putting a twilight vampire Easter egg in game would be a good idea because it wouldn't be funny or appealing the the fan base.

 

Twilight didn't kill vampire people. Sure the way they used them is lame but the book/movie is trying to appeal to female teenagers. Pick up a book and read Lovecraft, American Vampire(Love Scott Snyder, issue 1 he flips the birdie to the twilight style and has been amazing ever since), any of the white wolf books. These vampires go along the lines of the OP's comments and far beyond. These vampires are just badass.

 

[TrashMan]

[jezz555]

I'd be shocked if a twilight fan knew project eternity existed. I really don't think putting a twilight vampire Easter egg in game would be a good idea because it wouldn't be funny or appealing the the fan base.

 

Twilight didn't kill vampire people. Sure the way they used them is lame but the book/movie is trying to appeal to female teenagers. Pick up a book and read Lovecraft, American Vampire(Love Scott Snyder, issue 1 he flips the birdie to the twilight style and has been amazing ever since), any of the white wolf books. These vampires go along the lines of the OP's comments and far beyond. These vampires are just badass.

 

 

 

American Vampire was good yeah, Seriously there's something like a hundred years of vampire fiction out there, they existed long before twilight and will likely exist long after it. Twilight didn't define vampires, or redefine vampires, it basically just repackaged Anne-Rice for teenagers. So please for the love of god lets just forget about it already, if you guys hate it so much as you claim to, stop freaking bringing it up, for the love of god.

[Mandragore]

I'd be shocked if a twilight fan knew project eternity existed. I really don't think putting a twilight vampire Easter egg in game would be a good idea because it wouldn't be funny or appealing the the fan base.

 

Twilight didn't kill vampire people. Sure the way they used them is lame but the book/movie is trying to appeal to female teenagers. Pick up a book and read Lovecraft, American Vampire(Love Scott Snyder, issue 1 he flips the birdie to the twilight style and has been amazing ever since), any of the white wolf books. These vampires go along the lines of the OP's comments and far beyond. These vampires are just badass.

 

 

 

Inability to detect sarcasm detected, but you posted American Vampire, so all is forgiven.

Edited November 30, 2012 by Mandragore

[NOK222]

You know people, just cause' Twilight ruined the vampire image for years to come, doesn't mean we should try to monster them up one hundred percent just to help us forget about it.

 

They can still be both elegant, sexy and scary.