Cthulhu .... where art thou?


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I need some help finding this Great Old One. But first .... let me explain why:

A couple weeks ago, I was in my buddy's vehicle being driven home. He had his phone on random, and as if a voice from a long lost age speaking to me, Metallica's "The Thing That Should Not Be," came through the speakers. As fate would have it, that was followed by their instrumental, "The Call of Ktulu!" So then is when my idea was born!

Over X-mas break, I will be starting a campaign with me GM-ing, my 14 year-old son, my 14 year-old nephew, his 16 year-old cousin, and one of my good friend's 13 year-old son who has just recently been turned onto the hobby and has begged me to GM for him once he found out that I play. This will be epic, and I can't wait. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces for the things I have planned!!

First, the background. The older cousin and my friend's son will be from Sandpoint. When they came of age, they packed their bags and dreams and headed north to the city of Freeport. (Green Ronin's book is amazing by the way people .... if you don't own it yet ... shame on you. Best $75 I have ever spent on 1 RPG purchase. Thank-you to all of you on here that pointed me in the direction of Freeport when I posted my question about a campaign defining city on here so long ago) While there serving in the local militia, (which explains them going from commoner to 1st level adventure,) they meet up with my son and my nephew who are also serving. When their time is done, they all decide to return to Sandpoint together to plan their next move.

Here is where things get fun! I will run them through the Beginner Box adventure to get them warmed up to the mechanics of Pathfinder. Once that is complete, they will return to Sandpoint just in time for a certain festival, and then we will be off and running through Rise of the Runelords. Once we get through that book, and they are sitting there at a high level feeling all good about themselves, thanks to the lovely goodness that is Dreamscarred Press, all psionic players will be hit with what feels like a god-like psionic blast. Shortly afterwards is when the reports will come in from all over that a certain immortal monster with a mix between a giant octopus head, with human-looking arms and legs and a pair of wings on its back, has risen from the sea off the coast of Freeport and ransacked that city and is now ripping it up in Golarion. My young players will need to act fast if they want to raise an army and save the world. And that is my problem .....

I have the Bestiary 4, but I do not have anything else on Cthulhu. Do any of you know if there is a Pathfinder compatible adventure somewhere that has Cthulhu attacking in a setting that is like Golarion? I have looked him up here, but all the books I'm finding seem to set him in the 1930's or later era. (which is understandable)

I wouldn't mind writing that last adventure myself, but between family, the holidays, work, and school .... I'm not sure if I'll have the time. Does Paizo have something like this? Do any 3PP have anything like what I'm looking to do?

One of the things I'm toying with also, is that since Cthulhu is immortal, obviously my players won't be able to kill him. But since Runelords will take us an age to get through ..... I'm hoping that when the time comes to throw down with this Great Old One, I can have the players hop through the realms of Aethera (the 400 page book should hopefully be available by then) to find a tool that will help them imprison him once again!
Yea .... go big or go home is my motto!!

So can anyone help me or at least point me in the right direction? Do any of the big players at Paizo know what I should get?

"Fearless wretch
Insanity
He watches
Lurking beneath the sea
Great old one
Forbidden site
He searches
Hunter of the shadows is rising!!!"

(oh ... please keep in mind that other than those Metallica songs and the info I have gained from years of role-playing, I know next to nothing about Lovecraft's writings. Sad ... I know. This is why I would rather buy an adventure than try to write my own and end up doing it's legacy a grave injustice.)


Pathfinder Adventure Path, Maps, Starfinder Adventure Path, Starfinder Maps, Starfinder Roleplaying Game, Starfinder Society Subscriber

There is no adventure path that has Cthuhlhu per se, though there are many with parts of Lovecraftian influences.

There are many Cthuhlhu RPGs out there. There is no APs that revolve around Cthuhlhu, merely touching on bits and pieces (Such as the backstory in Iron Gods).


I recommend getting Bestiary 5 if only for the Deep Ones.


From Shore to Sea seems inspired by Shadows over Innsmouth.

Sovereign Court

Officially, Cthulu is on earth.

I don't know if you want to take your players there, like Baba Yaga does in Rasputin Must Die.


There is nothing wrong with discovering Metallica first that is how I first heard about Lovecraft. Most of Lovecraft's work is short story format, you can buy a book with many stories in it. I think you would like it!


I'm right here in your mind and on the PF message boards. I consume your minds through there.


Great songs too by the way.


I'd recommend just finding some of Lovecraft's stories and reading them. (The Call of Cthulhu is the most applicable for your campaign, but I like At The Mountains of Madness the best personally.) But it's worth noting that what is Cosmic Horror to an early 20th Century writer is going to be 'a really tough encounter' to a bunch of high-level Pathfinder characters.

Fun fact: Robert E. Howard (who wrote Conan) was a pen-pal of Lovecraft's, and there's some crossover between their stories.

(Small warning: Lovecraft was kinda racist. Kinda really racist. Kinda so racist that a guy who grew up in 1920s Texas called him on how racist he was.)

Grand Lodge

You can pick up the 3rd to 5th editions or even 6th editions of Call of Cthulhu for low cost on Ebay. As a game system it is extremely user friendly.

Hard on the characters themselves where you are going to go insane and/or die but easy to play.

Chaosism or Drivethru RPG has a big selection of CoC books which contain up to 5-8 scenarios (with player handouts - always cool to hand them out) in each book depending on the book purchased.

Edit - I take the bit about ebay back but you can get the PDF of the rules at Chaosism or Drivethru reasonable cheap

Sovereign Court

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Frankly - a Lovecraft setting doesn't fit very well with Pathfinder. Pathfinder is generally about being awesome and beating things through strength/skill/cunning.

Lovecraft - and all hardcore horror for that matter - is about being powerless in the face of insurmountable and unknowable forces.

Both are good - but they don't mix well.


Charon's Little Helper wrote:

Frankly - a Lovecraft setting doesn't fit very well with Pathfinder. Pathfinder is generally about being awesome and beating things through strength/skill/cunning.

Lovecraft - and all hardcore horror for that matter - is about being powerless in the face of insurmountable and unknowable forces.

Both are good - but they don't mix well.

For the most part yes, but there are also heroes in Lovecraft fiction. Not everyone is a victim of cosmic circumstances. In The Case of Charles Dexter Ward the heroes actually win!


GURPS Cthulhupunk is an example of mixing the Cthulhu Mythos with another genre, in this case Cyberpunk, that works really well. I don't see why Pathfinder wouldn't mix just as well.

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