HP Lovecraft was an arse - EVERYONE ROLL FOR SAN LOSS!

[Walsingham]

I learned a lot Brit slang from that post.

 

 

Actually in honour of the thread I'm trying to invent as many euphemisms as possible for having your rented rowing boat contain one too many passengers.

[Orogun01]

 

I learned a lot Brit slang from that post.

 

 

Actually in honour of the thread I'm trying to invent as many euphemisms as possible for having your rented rowing boat contain one too many passengers.

 

Hey! I own my boat, its the other guy that's renting.

[Nonek]

Usually when I wanted to make one of my players nervous or paranoid I would not do anything untoward to the person in question, instead i'd pass notes to everybody else at random intervals, usually concerning the individual in question. Then let the hints and glances work there magic, by the end the target would be quite paranoid if not a few sandwiches short of a picnic.

[ShadySands]

I learned a lot Brit slang from that post.

 

It reminds me of the English English scene from one of the Austin Powers movies, Goldmember I think it was. 

[Monte Carlo]

Apparently we have a residual tolerance to stress. Some of this is chemical, genetic, experiential. In much the same way as low exposure to a toxin will encourage resistance, ditto with stress. For example, emergency service crews see a lot of dead bodies in accidents. They are often exposed to this incrementally, and build up a tolerance to it. They also have coping mechanisms, ranging from peer support through to sardonic humour through to self-medication on alcohol or other drugs. A continuum of coping that might, or might not lead to problems later on.

 

As one travels through life, a lot of trauma is compartmentalised. Put in a mental box, stored away and dealt with. Until some event kicks the box over and all the Bad Stuff goes slithering all over the place. Like a bucket of roaches kicked over, it's difficult to bundle it all back in at once. This is, for want of a better word, a nervous breakdown. It's the classic cliché of the 'shell-shocked' / PTSD suffering war vet going loco at the sound of a car back-firing.

 

Depression is a controversial subject. Suffice it to say that a settled view in the mainstream psychiatric world is that the chemicals in our brains are sent askew by these episodes. Modern antidepressants are designed to address this.

 

So:

 

(a) Stressors are manageable

 

(b) contingent on coping mechanisms, stress is manageable for prolonged periods

 

(c ) extraordinary stressors, for the patient, can lead to mental health problems over either a short or protracted period of time

 

(d) Recovery is possible, either partial or complete

 

 

 

Hey, I hear you ask, that's great but we're talking about Call of Cthulu, right?

 

Yes. My point is that the SAN mechanic in CoC sort of makes sense. 'Investigators' in CoC aren't paramedics. Nobody says, "hey, Hank, here's a tiny tentacle to look at for you to build up a residual resistance to eldritch horror."

 

No, in CoC the player is immediately exposed to the totality of the Elder Races in one super-hit. It is meant to be irreparably shocking. It's like living in a unicorn-filled paradise for all your life then being shipped out to The Somme on Day One. Overwhelming. Terrifying. Mind-manglingly horrible.

 

When we played CoC back in the day the GM allowed characters to use drugs to control their SAN, as a coping mechanism. Of course, there was an in-game quid pro quo (my barn-storming WW1 vet pilot, for example, became an opium fiend and couldn't fly anymore). But it added some resilience to characters while maintaining the SAN aspect as a mechanic.

 

Just, as usual, my two copper pieces.

[Walsingham]

Use of drugs is an interesting one. I mentioned controlling perception using ketamine. I guess you could use opiates to dull the brain's interest in interpreting the input. Leaven that with a little marijuana or speed to keep interested.

[Monte Carlo]

Booze, dear boy. The oldest and the best.

[redneckdevil]

Ive always viewed it as the people who go insane are people who finally grasped the "truth". This being shines with the "truth" and defys and shows that everything around us, our rules for reality is a lie. They are shown the truth and their mind accepts the "truth" and throws out the lie which is "reality". That explains why they all want everything to die and welcome the void of the Great Ones embrace.

[Walsingham]

The truth which negates the logic making it true negates itself, and becomes a lie.

 

~~

 

ANYWAY

 

~~

 

I voiced some of the concerns in this thread and just got thrown out of my RP group! LOL

 

I did some research on my lunch break today and came up with some damned interesting stuff from the USMC (of all places). I'll try to stay motivated tomorrow and write it up.

[Orogun01]

This is why it's best to RP in person, that way you can punch your GM when they go into a power drunk tirade about how its their game and their rules.

[Walsingham]

This is why it's best to RP in person, that way you can punch your GM when they go into a power drunk tirade about how its their game and their rules.

 

I'm not sure even the GM likes the damn rules, though. He likes character driven stuff. Which can't work without interesting characters.

[Orogun01]

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

[ManifestedISO]

 

The truth which negates the logic making it true negates itself, and becomes a lie.

 

 

Oh, that is very nice. Would make a great retort in the Easter thread. But I won't go there, because that which is pointless is inherently dull. Oh man, see what I did there ...  

[Walsingham]

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

[Whitefox789]

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

 

 

You have so much to teach us.

[Orogun01]

 

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

 

I noticed that you dodged the question, if you didn't want to answer it you should just have said so. I think you're going into the ignore list...

[Walsingham]

 

 

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

 

I noticed that you dodged the question, if you didn't want to answer it you should just have said so. I think you're going into the ignore list...

 

 

Hold on. I think I did.

 

It probably wasn't what I said. It was how I said it.

[Orogun01]

 

 

 

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

 

I noticed that you dodged the question, if you didn't want to answer it you should just have said so. I think you're going into the ignore list...

 

 

Hold on. I think I did.

 

It probably wasn't what I said. It was how I said it.

 

Now you're saying that I'm too dumb to understand your posts, you're terrible.

[Walsingham]

 

 

 

 

Then what was the reason for getting kicked out?

 

It's a gift I have. Although I hate to say it but I usually only infuriate women that way.

 

Typically when I'm being very respectful and/or busy I say something or text something and end up fleeing for my life. Sometimes to a different city.

 

Merely being thrown out of a RP group is pretty mild by comparison.

 

I noticed that you dodged the question, if you didn't want to answer it you should just have said so. I think you're going into the ignore list...

 

 

Hold on. I think I did.

 

It probably wasn't what I said. It was how I said it.

 

Now you're saying that I'm too dumb to understand your posts, you're terrible.

 

 

I think on reflection that perhaps _I'M_ too dumb to understand _your_ posts.

 

You comedically misconstrued what I said...

[Orogun01]

Well better late than never. I guess I should use emoticons more often.

[Great_Awled_One]

Dunno if related, but will this article explain why Lovecraft was an arse? 

[Bryy]

Guys, I'm a Lovecraft RPG newbie, mainly because the rules make me roll my eyes. How can I best play whilst making sure I can play the way I want?

[Orogun01]

Guys, I'm a Lovecraft RPG newbie, mainly because the rules make me roll my eyes. How can I best play whilst making sure I can play the way I want?

What's the way you want to play it?

[Bryy]

 

Guys, I'm a Lovecraft RPG newbie, mainly because the rules make me roll my eyes. How can I best play whilst making sure I can play the way I want?

What's the way you want to play it?

 

Poor choice of words, but I really long for a GM or a rulebook that doesn't cling to the "established" Lovecraft rules for dear life.

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Guys, I'm a Lovecraft RPG newbie, mainly because the rules make me roll my eyes. How can I best play whilst making sure I can play the way I want?

 

Dunno about that, but certain people are making a noise about the Trail of Cthulhu ruleset being vastly superior to CoC. Never looked into it (I can do pretty much whatever I want from CoC in W40K), but maybe you should give it a try?