Welcome to Yog-Sothoth.com
PoC & YSDC on Twitter - @YSDC

 Create an AccountYour Account | Downloads | Product Database | Find Players | Play Online | Wiki | Yog Radio | Shop | Patronage | Forums  

Main Menu
· Home
· Articles
· Contact us
· Downloads
· FAQ
· Forums
· Journal
· Links
· Members List
· News Archive
· News Search
· Private Messages
· Reviews
· Sections
· Surveys
· Top 10
· Your Account

"Tatters" Audio Game

Forum Posts
Latest Forum Posts

Call of Cthulhu T-Shirt For Sale
Last post by MechSpike in For Sale on Nov 20, 2009 at 21:50:57

London Sourcebook
Last post by chicklewis in Classic era on Nov 20, 2009 at 21:32:15

A sudden realization and now a question.
Last post by chicklewis in The Game on Nov 20, 2009 at 20:49:40

Designs for Innsmouth in 3D - What do you think?
Last post by PoC in Book of Dark Wisdom on Nov 20, 2009 at 20:31:56

[NMN] Human Corpse Fat Ring Broken Up???
Last post by spookyparadigm in Anything else... on Nov 20, 2009 at 19:58:54

Our Ladies Of Sorrow reviewed on Lost Coast Mythos
Last post by csmithadair in Miskatonic River Press on Nov 20, 2009 at 19:21:24

HotOE question for people who have played. SPOILERS
Last post by Karloff in Classic era on Nov 20, 2009 at 19:00:07

Hello and a question or two
Last post by csmithadair in Trail of Cthulhu on Nov 20, 2009 at 18:40:48

Guestbook (Introduce Yourself!)
Last post by Fallingtower in Meetings & Greetings on Nov 20, 2009 at 18:03:56

Mr. Wick's Meme
Last post by Talionis in Anything else... on Nov 20, 2009 at 17:48:16



Forums RSS Feed

Help Keep Yoggie Going...
Yog-Sothoth Needs You!
Donat-o-Meter Stats

November´s Goal: $99.00
Due Date: Nov 30
Gross Amount: $40.00
Net Balance: $37.23
Left to go: $61.77

©
Donations
Anonymous
moonbeast
Anonymous
Anonymous

Become a Patron
Support from $5/month
gains you access to extras, (over 9 GB of extra content) while helping to keep YSDC online.
Click for More Info
Login Name

Last 5 Journal entries
· The Phantom of Wilson Creek 2.5
(Max_Writer)
· The Phantom of Wilson Creek 2
(Max_Writer)
· The Phantom of Wilson Creek 1.5
(Max_Writer)
· The Phantom of Wilson Creek 1
(Max_Writer)
· Music of the Spheres 2
(PetersKill)


PoC on Twitter

Newest 10 Downloads
· 1: HPL Film Festival 2009 Video Report by Rev Danno
· 2: Yog Radio #39
· 3: Direct Podcast Feed for Tatters of the King
· 4: Tatters of the King episode 01
· 5: Tatters of the King episode 00 - Character Creation
· 6: Tatters of the King Characters - First Generation
· 7: Lairs of Cthulhu - Treadwell Lecture by James Holloway
· 8: Mythos Mysteries for Meddling Kids
· 9: Burning Stars handouts
· 10: Horror on the Orient Express handouts by WatsonSE
   ———
  of 680 downloads on YSDC


  
Carl T. Ford (DAGON magazine)




Page: 1/2


Photo of Carl Ford Carl T. Ford will be remembered by many as the owner and editor of DAGON, an early and influential British CoC / Lovecraftian fanzine. At its height DAGON ran to more than 1000 copies per issue, featuring articles and scenarios by the likes of Sandy Petersen, Mark Morrision, Marcus L. Rowland and Steve Hatherley along with the literature of Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, Thomas Ligotti and Neil Gaiman - to name just a few. More than 10 years after it's last publication Carl talks to Yog-Sothoth about his trials & tribulations as the power behind one of the most famous CoC 'zines.

YS: How were you introduced to Call of Cthulhu?

CTF:I had just started college and hooked up with a group of role-players who were mainly into D&D and Traveller. I used to visit the old Games Workshop site in Dalling Road, Hammersmith and it was ran by a big cheerful bloke called Tim, this was in the days before GW became BIG and Tim would stock lots of fanzines in the shop to encourage gamers and fans. I had always been keen on the horror genre and would collect magazines, books, films (video had just arrived), and anything gruesome I could lay my claws on. I had started reading Lovecraft and then Chaosium brought out that Call of Cthulhu box set. I bought that with cash given to me by my parents for Christmas and was hooked.

YS:Why do you think the game has been so successful?

CTF:Unlike the majority of RPGs, CoC is fantasy based game in a world we all know. There are crazy occultists out there and we often give thought to that dark realm of nightmare that might possibly exist. The game goes to many lengths to make the terrifying worlds of Cthulhu et al believable. RPCs mental stability is affected if encountering anything from the dark side; characters waving guns in public are likely to get arrested, etc. On top of this the game gives us a real insight into the background details of the era in which the adventures take place so it is valuable as an information source too. But, aside from this its the monsters that prove fascinating as they are drawn from the incredible imaginings of the world's greatest writers of horror fiction.

Dagon Issue 11YS: Do you have any memorable moments from play?

CTF: Well it was always scary to play the game at night on a winter's evening with a thunderstorm outside. My fondest memory was particpating in a tournament at Reading University one year. I went there with a good pal called Del Boon and we both dressed up as a couple of 1920s gangster types. We got a few strange looks on the student campus as we ponced about looking like pimps.

YS: What is your favourite era (& why)?

CTF: The early 20th Century. At the time occult society was the "new thing" on the underground. All those 'sinful' activities which seem tame nowadays were afforded a shady touch of class; brothels, illegal drinking holes, gambling dens, drug taking.... Hollywood was about to get its first taste of censorship, and the Mafia were becoming big news. Somewhere amongst all that was a group of writers that became known as the Lovecraft circle, who sat at typewriters, in safe homes away from the sin-houses knocking out some incredible tales that related darker things than anything reality had to offer.

YS: Do you have a favourite CoC supplement/scenario?

CTF: I have enjoyed lots but I remember Masks of Nyarlathotep by Larry DiTillio and Lynn Willis as being particularly clever and ambitious with its global coverage, spanning New York, London, Cairo, Kenya, Shanghai and Australia. I'm a fan of the cultist character Carl Stanford too (I always wondered whether someone was having a laugh with me there - Add SAN (CoC's prime trait) to my name and you get CARL sTan FORD.... And I also love the scenarios of the Aussie writers Richard Watts and Penny Love, "Tatterdemalion" in the adventure pack Fatal Experiments (based on R. W. Chambers' The King in Yellow) is a particularly fine example of translating fictional themes to the game. Mark Morrison is yet another Aussie who writes subtle creepy scenarios and two he wrote for DAGON based on the tales of T.E.D. Klein "Landscrapes" (later reprinted in At Your Door) and "In a City of Bells and Towers" based on the writings of Thomas Ligotti are especially haunting.

YS: How did DAGON come about?

CTF: Well as I was saying, I started playing Call of Cthulhu and armed with a little knowledge of the Mythos gleaned from many mis-spent years collecting and reading as much horror related stuff I could get my claws on. I thought I could write a few scenarios and share them with a few people. As I said the Games Workshop premises at Dalling Road stocked a few fanzines so I wrote my first scenario "No Room at Innsmouth" and thought it would be fun to let a few other gamers read it. I published it in 3 parts in DAGON, in extremely limited quantities. I had to pay about 10p per page to photocopy it in them days and tried to smuggle photocopies out at work (a girl I knew at the time called Nicola, also helped rip her bosses off) and I hand stapled the things at home. A few friends came on board to provide illustrations and cartoons and it proved popular in Games Workshop. Word got about amongst CoC players and a few die-hard Lovecraftians and the print run expanded enough to allow professional printing with issue #7. By this time I had been fortunate to attract quite a few decent contributors so readers wouldn't have to stomach my crap any longer. I never made any money from the magazine but the fact that it received such positive feedback was enough payback. Dagon was fortunate to win the Best Amateur Gaming Magazine three years running at the Games Workshop Gamesday Awards and attract the likes of Brian Lumley, Ramsey Campbell, Sandy Petersen, and artists such as Dave Carson which put me on a big enough high to continue publishing the monster.

YS: What were your experiences of running the magazine?

CTF: Almost all great. Publishing the magazine has to be the best thing I've done with the little talent I possess. It gained me lots of friends, helped keep me out of the pubs and betting shops a little longer and introduced me to lots of talented writers and artists whom I feel incredibly privileged to have met and got drunk with. I was especially taken aback by the encouragement I received from Chaosium - whose creator Sandy Petersen fully endorsed what I was trying to do and ended up contributing a regular column for the 'zine. DAGON also had a very loyal fan base that has helped spread the word of HPL that bit further, I still ocassionaly get enquiries about the zine, from people wishing to buy back issues, - I still have some! (plug, plug...)




Next Page (2/2) Next Page


You can syndicate our news using an RSS/XML feed RSS/XML feed via backend.php, and our forum posts via backendforums.php
Logos and trademarks are property of their respective owners. Comments are the responsibility of their posters.
Call of Cthulhu is a Trademark of Chaosium Inc.



Web site engine code is Copyright © 2009 by PHP-Nuke. All Rights Reserved. PHP-Nuke is Free Software released under the GNU/GPL license.
Page Generation: 0.18 Seconds