|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Nov 23, 2014 5:27:42 GMT -6
It's 3 am right now, and I've been reading different articles about Carcosa all evening. While I won't be headed to the Dreamlands for a while (isn't insomnia great?), here are a few thoughts that won't leave me in peace until I post them:
Using other systems for Carcosa: It's not too hard to do when using any old-school D&D edition or retro-clone. But how about using 5e or another system like Rolemaster? I once thought of converting Carcosa to Traveller, although I never got around to it. Stormbringer may be another option. Even mixing editions work. In my second game, I allowed B/X ability score modifiers to give my players a bit of a break, although almost everything else is still done OD&D-style.
Carcosa LARP: I'm not into LARP or cosplay, but those two things can be fun for a Carcosa game. Ideally it would be set in an exotic location, but since those aren't too common, and most of them are public areas, it may not be possible. Still, break out the costumes and body paint, and have at it!
World Hopping: I mentioned this in the Terrans on Carcosa thread. While PCs can come from the different TSR settings, I'd rather stick with classic fantasy/SF novels and even some OSR settings. A partial list of worlds would include:
Barsoom
Amtor
Zothique
Saturn
Hyboria
The Young Kingdoms
Fomalhaut
Algol
The PCs can come from these worlds, as well as Carcosa. How they get around is still to be determined. But it would be an interesting campaign, especially if it lasts a while.
More musings when my deranged mind comes up with them.
|
|
|
|
Post by cadriel on Nov 23, 2014 7:50:09 GMT -6
Carcosa would do pretty well with Metamorphosis Alpha, I think. The mutations would blend well and offer an alternate power source, although sorcery would still be available. MA's system starts characters at full capability, which would be a good match for Carcosa's terrors. Stormbringer/BRP would be another natural choice; you could use Call of Cthulhu for the Cthulhu Mythos creatures.
Other sword and planet worlds are natural fits, with Carcosa being easily the worst of the lot.
|
|
|
|
Post by jcstephens on Nov 23, 2014 9:11:11 GMT -6
Tunnels & Trolls might work well. The magic system is psionics based, and the main difference between classes is the ability to use it. Plus it makes statting out the various gribbling horrors a breeze; assign Monster Rating and a few special abilities and you're done. The only real problem is the use of Luck as a characteristic. People on Carcosa are pretty much the definition of Not Lucky...
|
|
|
|
Post by burningtorso on Nov 23, 2014 13:27:51 GMT -6
I have been converting Carcosa to a home brew BRP/Stormbringer/Runequest style rules system over the last two years in my spare time. Wrote a character creator program, as I have added a lot to it over that time. Makes it so much easier to have someone start a new character if all they gotta do is hit enter a few times and print.
|
|
|
|
Post by geoffrey on Nov 23, 2014 14:38:32 GMT -6
Carcosa would do pretty well with Metamorphosis Alpha, I think. The mutations would blend well and offer an alternate power source, although sorcery would still be available. MA's system starts characters at full capability, which would be a good match for Carcosa's terrors. My very first Carcosa games used a mix of AD&D and Gamma World (1st edition of both, natch). |
|
|
|
Post by cadriel on Nov 23, 2014 16:26:37 GMT -6
My very first Carcosa games used a mix of AD&D and Gamma World (1st edition of both, natch). That sounds about right given its vibe. I used MA as an example because it's re-entering public visibility and I see the non-level-based system as a closer fit for Carcosa. It seems to me like a world where advancement should come through sorcery and technology rather than XP and levels. |
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Nov 23, 2014 17:19:52 GMT -6
All good ideas, thanks. I'm still looking for an isolated location with weird architecture and/or terrain for a Carcosa LARP.  |
|
|
|
Post by geoffrey on Nov 23, 2014 18:17:57 GMT -6
I'm still looking for an isolated location with weird architecture and/or terrain for a Carcosa LARP. Socotra: www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/most-alien-looking-place-on-earth.htmlI never noticed it before, but you can almost form the name "Carcosa" by re-arranging the letters of "Socotra". (Just two letters difference: You can get Cartoso.) Coincidence? I think not! |
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Nov 23, 2014 18:49:08 GMT -6
I'm still looking for an isolated location with weird architecture and/or terrain for a Carcosa LARP. Socotra: www.darkroastedblend.com/2008/09/most-alien-looking-place-on-earth.htmlI never noticed it before, but you can almost form the name "Carcosa" by re-arranging the letters of "Socotra". (Just two letters difference: You can get Cartoso.) Coincidence? I think not! Good call! I have thought of using the Dragon's Blood and Desert Rose trees in my game, located in the Green man village in Hex 0904. The houses look like the Flintstone House in Hillsborough, CA. The village is named "Chel." I originally used that name for a country in a homebrew setting. I decided to keep it so that the characters can "Chel out" at home when not adventuring. *rimshot* Now where did I put that jale body paint? |
|
otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133 
|
Post by otiv on Nov 24, 2014 3:05:45 GMT -6
BRP would work pretty well with bits grabbed off of Call of Cthulhu and Runequest.
This is gonna sound like heresy, but a while back I started thinking about how I would run the Carcosa setting in 4E D&D. I would use rules from the most recent version of Gamma World, encourage the use of martial and psionic classes only, and allow Carcosan rituals to be performed using the Ritual Caster feat instead of requiring a dedicated class for it.
I was also working on my own homebrew system with Carcosa in mind, but I haven't worked on it in a while.
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Nov 24, 2014 3:57:22 GMT -6
I don't have a lot of experience playing Gamma World or 4e. Call of Cthulhu and Runequest are good choices. Stormbringer's magic system is closer, though, since they involve summons and banishments.
|
|
otiv
Level 4 Theurgist
Posts: 133
|
Post by otiv on Nov 24, 2014 4:14:15 GMT -6
I think Ron Edwards was talking about using his game Sorcerer for Carcosa. That also features summoning and banishing and there's even a swords & sorcery supplement. I haven't played that system yet, but it sounds promising.
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Jul 31, 2015 16:17:27 GMT -6
How about making the planet itself weirder? Don't worry about obeying the laws of astronomy and physics; they don't necessarily work in Carcosa. Maybe Carcosa is geocentric, where the suns orbit the world. Maybe it's flat. Or make it doughnut-shaped, and the suns rise and set through the hole. Or even weirder. Make the sun a gigantic lightbulb in the center that automatically turns itself on and off at a predetermined time.
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 4, 2015 14:18:31 GMT -6
The Lankhmar sourcebook for AD&D has a list of disfigurements that practitioners of black magic suffer as they grow in power. You can use those to add to the list of mutations PCs may suffer in Carcosa. They can also be used in place of (or in addition to) unnatural aging for sorcerers who botch rituals.
Has anyone used the Stormbringer rpg with the Carcosa setting? I've been thinking of doing that.
|
|
|
|
Post by burningtorso on Aug 7, 2015 15:03:10 GMT -6
The first campaign I ran for Carcosa was done with rules based on the Stormbringer RPG. My newer more D&D styled campaign is now borrowing some elements from the D20 Dragon Lords of Melnibone.
Wanted to give Sorcerers a way to bind captured Shub-Spawns into weapons and items (Stormbringer style), via a ritual related to Shub-Niggurath. I think I called it the "Biomorphic Reconfiguration of the Dark Mother".
It's been years since I saw the AD&D Lankhmar book. That would have been handy when doing the Sorcerous mutations for my games.
|
|
|
|
Post by Red Baron on Aug 7, 2015 16:45:19 GMT -6
It's 3 am right now, and I've been reading different articles about Carcosa all evening. While I won't be headed to the Dreamlands for a while (isn't insomnia great?), here are a few thoughts that won't leave me in peace until I post them: Using other systems for Carcosa: It's not too hard to do when using any old-school D&D edition or retro-clone. But how about using 5e or another system like Rolemaster? I once thought of converting Carcosa to Traveller, although I never got around to it. Stormbringer may be another option. Even mixing editions work. In my second game, I allowed B/X ability score modifiers to give my players a bit of a break, although almost everything else is still done OD&D-style. Carcosa LARP: I'm not into LARP or cosplay, but those two things can be fun for a Carcosa game. Ideally it would be set in an exotic location, but since those aren't too common, and most of them are public areas, it may not be possible. Still, break out the costumes and body paint, and have at it! World Hopping: I mentioned this in the Terrans on Carcosa thread. While PCs can come from the different TSR settings, I'd rather stick with classic fantasy/SF novels and even some OSR settings. A partial list of worlds would include: Barsoom Amtor Zothique Saturn Hyboria The Young Kingdoms Fomalhaut Algol The PCs can come from these worlds, as well as Carcosa. How they get around is still to be determined. But it would be an interesting campaign, especially if it lasts a while. More musings when my deranged mind comes up with them. The Hyborian Age is time, not a place. Hyperborea is the continent. Adventures in Hyperborea and Zothique would involve time travel, as they are set in antediluvian times and the dying earth respectively. |
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 7, 2015 16:48:20 GMT -6
Good point. But if the players will be travelling in space, why not in time as well? My Doctor Who in Carcosa idea is starting to sound really good to me right now.
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 9, 2015 23:59:14 GMT -6
The different races of Carcosa view one another with suspicion. How do they view people of their own race who come from different villages? Would a village of Blue Men take in a Blue Man stranger whose village is miles away? Would they accept him as a sort of distant relative and welcome him, or will they see him as just another stranger who should be viewed with suspicion?
|
|
|
|
Post by burningtorso on Aug 10, 2015 5:09:48 GMT -6
With the limited size of settlements it would seem likely that smaller villages would welcome more of "our own kind" with the appropriate rites of passage and banishing of old ways, if they have compatible ideologies. If nothing else they might bring them in as second class citizens. Better than slaves, but still not equals.
|
|
|
|
Post by funkaoshi on Aug 10, 2015 9:47:00 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 10, 2015 21:47:31 GMT -6
Thanks for the replies and Traveller rules. I was considering a Traveller adventure in Carcosa. Also thinking of putting X1: The Isle of Dread in Carcosa. It can be one of the islands in hexes 0207 and 0308.
|
|
|
|
Post by crusssdaddy on Aug 10, 2015 21:57:58 GMT -6
That's pretty cool, I hope he decides to do the sector map. |
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 15, 2015 12:30:46 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 17, 2015 1:12:41 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 17, 2015 1:26:27 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Aug 30, 2015 1:11:04 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Sept 7, 2015 1:04:40 GMT -6
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Sept 10, 2015 0:27:43 GMT -6
I've been on a Highlander kick lately. Why not bring immortals to Carcosa? The last one standing can gain enough power to banish the Great Old Ones, or join their ranks.
We can't call it "Highlander," how about "Bone Man"?
|
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Sept 12, 2015 18:29:17 GMT -6
This idea is a bit gross, so I'll put in in spoilers. When first meeting the People of the Consumed God, pass around some Raisinets to the players during the feast. |
|
|
|
Post by tkdco2 on Oct 11, 2015 19:28:01 GMT -6
The Star Frontiers game has not just high tech projectile weapons, but a few high tech melee weapons. Maybe they can be added to the Space Aliens' arsenal.
|
|
