Our First Principles

 

"Eulogy of Light" by Sevenics (resized) is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0

As I made my way through Lovecraft, Moore, and Chambers in 2022, my husband and I discussed bringing the Mythos into our games. We had many options to choose from, but we soon realized what we really wanted was to develop our own take, for our own tastes, with our own creative juices. So we laid out some founding principles and interests and set up fresh campaigns. The major choices we made in those early talks have stayed the same and guided everything we've made, so if you want to know what drives us, keep reading.

Less of This

De-Centering Cthulhu

Sometimes the old saying is true: familiarity breeds contempt. It didn't take us long to decide we'd seen and heard enough about Cthulhu. And except for a few brief references, we've left it waiting in the wings and haven't missed it. In the meantime, we've had a blast putting entities like Hastur, Shub-Niggurath, and Yog-Sothoth in the spotlight.

Ditching Derleth

The more we encountered Derleth's hand in the Mythos after Lovecraft's death, the less we liked his approach. His elemental classifications and good vs. evil dualism felt unnecessary and clashed with our other goals. We decided to pass on his notable additions, including the term "Mythos"; we've opted to use "eldritch" instead. We may change our minds whenever we sit down with his works directly, but it's unlikely.

More of That

Cultivating Nuance

We want a lot more from the eldritch than cosmic horror, so that is only one of many possibilities in our work. We employ mystery, wonder, and science fiction far more often because we've had enough of dread and hopelessness. While some of our eldritch creatures are callous or cruel, they might not be every time and others certainly aren't. Madness and ruin are not foregone conclusions, not when the right word or situation can make all the difference. From motives to methods to outcomes, nuance excites us. For this reason, some of our creations clash with well-known variants on purpose and others come with a range of options.

Embracing Eldritch Romance

We've been greatly inspired by Robert W. Chambers, not just Lovecraft. In Chambers' weird tales, the strange and the beautiful are intertwined and romance is a common feature of characters' lives. Their relationships matter and whatever else happens, however strange, that remains true. We run social games with relationships of all kinds, including romantic and sexual ones. That's always been our norm, apart and together, so we feature relationships in our eldritch games. Romance may not be a major focus on this site, but it'll always be in the cards.

Staying Loosely Inspired

It's impossible to keep up with all the Mythos material out there and we aren't going to try. We consult stories and wikis when we want or need to, but we don't rely on them. At most, we take small inspiring pieces and spin them as we please. We make some homages but don't aim to reproduce anyone else's work or vibe. We mean no disrespect to any creators or their works - or other people's expectations and tastes - but we serve our needs and desires first, and the only precedent we care about is our own. This approach is by no means new; others have done the same, and we can't recommend it enough. It leaves us more room to take things in different directions and just have fun.

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