The Various Lovecraft Roleplaying Games: a Comparison

[Pookie]

What do you fellows disagree with? I'm curious to know.

I would echo much of what has already been said, especially by Tigger_MK4. The main issue though is that you are merely giving your brief thoughts upon each of the three main titles available, and that you fail either to elaborate upon or illustrate said thoughts. Certainly,you fail to identity, for example, what are the main strengths of Call of Cthulhu -- its mechanics for handling sanity and mental deterioration, the simplicity of its rules, and of course, the aforementioned wealth of support in terms of background and scenarios. Each of the three titles has its strengths and weaknesses, and if you are to compare and contrast them, then doing so requires much more time and attention.

Further, from what you have written it would suggest that you are only looking at each title from a contemporary standpoint as there is no context for any of the three titles you write about. I appreciate that this might call for more knowledge, but it is easy to pick with some reading.

Oh, and you should add Cthulhu Dark, The Laundry, and Achtung! Cthulhu to the list of RPGs influenced and inspired by the works of H.P. Lovecraft.

[LoneKharnivore]

I've found this on the web

You mean http://www.yog-sothoth.com/threads/2...-a-Comparison?

[rylehNC]

And De Profundis.

I have no issues with your conclusions, just the sample size.

[garethdurasow]

"If one is going to be arrogant then one should at least have the decency to excel at something."
- Abraham Lincoln

"90% of internet-sourced quotations are of questionable authenticity."
- Abraham Lincoln

[Zarozinia]

What do you fellows disagree with? I'm curious to know.

I agree with other posters on this thread that if you are going to write negative reviews I think you really ought to provide more reasons for those conclusions. If, for example, you find Call of Cthulhu to be "very average" I think you really should go into more detail about why you think that.

I think this is particularly true for Call of Cthulhu when the game is so highly regarded. See for example this post by Ken Hite explaining why he thinks it is the "greatest role-playing game ever made," or have a look at the top ranked RPGs on RPGGeek, where Call of Cthulhu proudly occupies the top spot with Trail of Cthulhu currently coming in at number 4. I know that appeals to popularity should not be the be-all-and-end-all of a discussion about merit, but I do think that if you are going to stick your neck out and criticise such a successful game, you should provide some justification.

I have to say as well that I think some of your statements are rather contradictory. Again, I think more detail could possibly clarify these potential misunderstandings. For example, you acknowledge the debt that the horror genre owes to Lovecraft, but then go on to say that "most of his stories" merely "have solid enough concepts." While I certainly agree that Lovecraft's fiction is of variable quality, I think his best concepts have rarely been equalled for their effectiveness in horror, which is why so many writers, artists and gamers still turn to his work for inspiration. Also, I notice that in your blog you say you "wouldn't call [yourself] a fan", but in your profile here on Yog-Sothoth you describe yourself as a "Lovecraft devotee and scholar." Perhaps if you qualify these statements I might understand them better.

I hope I do not come across as being unduly critical. I fully respect your right to your opinions, even if I disagree with them; I simply think that your review would be greatly improved if you provided more justification for your assertions.

[Malik]

The others have articulated thoughts on the reviews better than I could, so I'll just stick my head in long enough to as what made you choose 'The Thing In The Moonlight' as your example of HPL's work?
The bit that's written by him is almost a fragment as it was a recounting of his dream, and the edited short story doesn't really add anything to the piece. As you wrote that you find his writing style tedious, I assume you were going for a very short piece, but I can't help thining a better example could have been chosen. Something like 'The Rats In The Walls', or 'Under The Pyramids' for example. Though both of those are significantly longer admittedly.

[Clangador]

Wow. CoC is a flawed game? This is news to me. In fact, I don't see the need for other systems based off The Mythos when CoC works so well for it.

[Gaffer]

You know, I love Call of Cthulhu. I've been writing and running and playing it, almost exclusively, for over a decade. I've played a bit of Trail of Cthulhu (only online). I've played some Savage Worlds, though never Realms of Cthulhu and only online.

I don't necessarily disagree with Josha Petronis-Akins characterizations of the three systems, though they are just brief impressions.

As Chaosium readies 7th edition, I hope they'll take note and improve the layout (which can be a bit clumsy) and try to make the book a bit more attractive. The Gaslight Traits is a helpful nod to more contemporary RPGs, as an option, and I think it's a step in the right direction.

Fire away.

[Gwion]

I agree that the review are too short to be helpful.
Also it would have been great to include the other less know games.

When a challenge where this skill would be useful comes up, the character can burn skill points to temporarily increase their chances of success. This means that a character can be very skilled in a certain area for a while, and then suddenly become incompetent, which doesn't make much sense.

ToC don't really work or feel like this when you play it. Check out the ToC forum, there is very interesting discussions on the subject.