HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: srb@athena.mit.edu (Steve Balzac)
Subject: Re: Von Junzt :(
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 22:35:00 GMT


I don't know... given the words used by so many Lovecraft wizards
(Cthulhu f'tagn etc) "unpronounceable cults" might be perfectly
accurate. 

-Steve
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: mgrossman@hamp.hampshire.edu
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Fritz Leiber--dead?
Date: 12 Jan 93 16:16:19 EDT
Organization: Hampshire College
NNTP-Posting-Host: hamp.hampshire.edu


Wow, three posts in one day...

I recently heard a rumor that Fritz Leiber had died sometime in September.
Could someone please tell me if this is true?  If true, it really sucks.
From: sayre@bird (Kirk Sayre)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: horror music
Date: 12 Jan 1993 19:11:03 GMT
Organization: CSIS American University
NNTP-Posting-Host: bird.cas.american.edu

In article <cesnyd01.726863259@starbase.spd.louisville.edu> cesnyd01@romulus.spd.louisville.edu (Cris Snyder) writes:
>
>Hi guys.  Question : what music do you have that reminds you of Lovecraft's
>creepies or just that type of setting?  I want to avoid songs that are
>directly related to the mythos, i.e. 'The Thing That Should Not Be' or 
>'Call of Ktulu' by Metallica.  I am looking for stuff that can set a mood 
>real well.

*Stuff Deleted*

If you want to hear some scary, moody music, listen to the majority of
songs by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult or by Skinny Puppy.
Particular songs to look for are:

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult:
1. Point of Shock Six
2. A Daisy Chain for Satan
3. Universal Blackness

Skinny Puppy:
1. Love
2. Harsh Stone White

This is very fun music.

                             Cheers,
			             Kirk Sayre



Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: fout@second.cis.ohio-state.edu (Charles Fout)
Subject: horror music
Organization: The Ohio State University Dept. of Computer and Info. Science
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 19:22:16 GMT

My votes for:
 Best Creepy Music: soundtrack to ALIEN
 Best Crazy Music: Tales of Mystery and Imagination - The Alan Parsons Project

-Fout
From: 6500njk@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu (Nicholas Kibre)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: a CoC mag
Date: 4 Jan 93 19:40:43 GMT
Distribution: alt.horror.cthulhu

I just picked up a couple issues of a Journal called "The Unspeakable
Oath", which aims to supplement CoC.

The writings nothing extraordinary, but they did come up with a 
few promising single-evening adventures.


--
Das ist nicht todt, was Zeit nicht kann verderben; 
Nach fremden Altern kann der Tod selbst sterben. 
   -- Nach der Nekronomikonuebersetzung von Olaus Wormius
6500njk@ucsbuxa.ucsb.edu --- Nicholas Kibre
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: lmbabik@rocdec.roc.wayne.edu (Lisamarie Gemma Babik)
Subject: Re: Elder Signs...
Organization: Wayne State University, Detroit
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 02:24:29 GMT

In one campaign I played in, we got an Elder Sign after about 8 months
of play.  I the other campaign I played, we played for two years and
never saw an Elder Sign....we did, though, get a nifty "meat train"
spell!

(We were playing though the Orient Express "module" they put out...)

LM
Organization: University of Maine System
Date: Wednesday, 6 Jan 1993 23:02:51 EST
From: <IO20011@MAINE.MAINE.EDU>
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: test

this is a test, this is only a test
From: karna@pobox.upenn.edu (Animesh Karna)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: The Thing that should not be
Date: 12 Jan 93 03:32:13 GMT
Organization: University of Pennsylvania

In article <C0ppBA.5vz@unccsun.uncc.edu> ebstokes@uncc.edu writes:
>Any of you who listen to heavy metal, listen to "The thing that should not be"
> on Metallica's Maste4 of Puppets. It's cool. Sample lyrics:
. . .
>
>Now tell me this song doesn't have a few references to Big "C". Cool Huh? 
>If you want, I have a text file of the complete lyrics and I'll post it

In "Ride The Lightning", they have a musical piece (no words) called
"The Call of Ktulu".  I'm not sure why, but the name "Ktulu" sounds vaguely 
familiar . . . ;-)
From: srb@athena.mit.edu (Steve Balzac)
Subject: Re: Elder Signs...
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 18:26:21 GMT


Keep in mind that the Elder Sign was an invention of August Derleth or
one of the other authors who followed after HPL.  In the HPL stories,
if it appears at all, it doesn't really do much.  I have used this to
greatly discomfit players in my Lovecraftian games.

-Steve
From: vociacdi@w352zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de (Frank Vocilka)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Von Junzt :(
Date: 7 Jan 93 18:27:46 GMT
Organization: ZRZ/TU-Berlin
NNTP-Posting-Host: w352zrz.zrz.tu-berlin.de

The correct spelling of that name could be either 'von Junz' or 'von Juntz'. I
don't know if this name exists, but it could be posible. The name of the book
is 'Unaussprechliche Kulte' - though it would rather mean 'unpronouncable
cults' than 'unmentionable cults' which I presume was how H.P.L. meant it.
-frank
From: mgrossman@hamp.hampshire.edu
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: conversion of players to CoC
Date: 8 Jan 93 11:08:22 EDT
Organization: Hampshire College
NNTP-Posting-Host: hamp.hampshire.edu

In article <cesnyd01.726496713@starbase.spd.louisville.edu>, cesnyd01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu (Cris Snyder) writes:
> Ok, I have a Dnd group, and they said they would play a game of Cthulhu with me as GM.  No problem.  They are a good Dnd group, used to all sorts of nastys.
> Problem.  
> 
> How does one take a person who has fought deamons and ghoulies and (literaly!)
> had lunch with dieties go to a game system where part of the goal of the GM is 
> to scare the socks off of him?  I don't think these folks are going to be 
> impressed when a Bakee (Sp?) come fluttering down the hall way - they'll laugh!
> 
> What do I do?

	Let 'em laugh.  Then eat them.
	Seriously, after the first couple parties try to go up against a
shoggoth with baseball bats and get smushed, the players will figure it out,
and start using their heads instead of just trying to bash through.  You must
make sure to reward using thought rather than violence.  After they've got the
point, you can ease up a bit and concentrate on campaign development and 
subplots.
	Another thing you might try is getting them to read HPL before the
game.  I find that people who are already familiar with Lovecraft figure out
the way the game works a lot faster than people whose only exposure to horror
bad movies.

> 
> I'm already planning to use physical eliments - low lights, candles, dark colors
> etc. maybe even some spooky music in the background - I think this will 
> deffinetely help.

	I don't use props much myself (because I'm somewhat lazy) but this
sounds ok.
> 
> 	(paragraph about powergamers deleted to get the @#*! article to post)
> 
> Any other thoughts? 

	One thing that I have discovered is that there are some players who
really cannot understand the concept of a game where they usually "lose".
It's not necasserily a reflection on their role-playing ability, just that they
don't seem to understand the fun inherent in role-playing doomed and insane
characters.  How strange ;)
	If your players are this type, though, you'd probably be better off 
playing a more conventional rpg ("Storm Knights Conquer the Galaxy Smashers",
maybe).
> 
> 					AlberCrombie. 
> 
> 
> -- 
> --==-=-=-=-=-====-==-----===-=-====-----=-==-=-=-=-=-===-=-====-=----===-===---=
> 			cesnyd01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu		
> 
> 		AlberCrombie ---- The One And Only Space Gopher
> 
> 				.sig?  what .sig?
> -===--=--==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==---===-=--===-==-==-=---===----=-=-=-=---=-=-=-=-=--



Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: Dexter
Subject: Re: horror music
Organization: Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 20:24:40 GMT

In article <1iv547INNlb8@au-ns.american.edu>, sayre@bird (Kirk Sayre) writes:
|> In article <cesnyd01.726863259@starbase.spd.louisville.edu> cesnyd01@romulus.spd.louisville.edu (Cris Snyder) writes:
|> >
|> >Hi guys.  Question : what music do you have that reminds you of Lovecraft's
|> >creepies or just that type of setting?  I want to avoid songs that are
|> *Stuff Deleted*
|> |> If you want to hear some scary, moody music, listen to the majority of
|> songs by My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult or by Skinny Puppy.
|> Particular songs to look for are:
|> *Stuff Deleted*

Lords of the New Curchs (Lords of the) New Curch

no.sig
From: chuahl@ocf.berkeley.edu (Chua HakLien)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: Fritz Leiber--dead?
Date: 13 Jan 93 03:17:45 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley Open Computing Facility
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandstorm.berkeley.edu

In article <1993Jan12.161619.1@hamp.hampshire.edu> mgrossman@hamp.hampshire.edu writes:
>
>Wow, three posts in one day...
>
>I recently heard a rumor that Fritz Leiber had died sometime in September.
>Could someone please tell me if this is true?  If true, it really sucks.

Yep, it's true, I'm afraid.

A great loss to the SF community....
Chua
+==+
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: ldoering@engin.umich.edu (Laurence Doering)
Subject: Re: Edward Gory
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 02:26:27 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor

In article <C0Fx98.H7H@demon.co.uk> James Petts <pettsj@visigoth.demon.co.uk> writes:
>In article <cesnyd01.726331107@starbase.spd.louisville.edu> Cris Snyder,
>cesnyd01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu writes:
>>Also any info on him in general would be helpful. (Like, is he still
>alive?)
>
>There are several anthologies of his work available, and yes, I believe 
>he is still alive. However, the spelling of his surname is Gorey. Any 
>halfway decent bookshop, even B.Dalton or Waldenbooks, is likely to have 
>some of his stuff. Look under humour.

If you can get access to back issues of the _New Yorker_, look for an
extensive interview of Edward Gorey (complete with photo by Richard
Avedon) in December.  (Don't remember which issue offhand, though.)

ljd
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: jgoodric@dante.nmsu.edu (GOODRICH)
Subject: Re: Elder Signs...
Organization: New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 20:44:57 GMT


	to be totally honest, I loved allowing my characters 
spells and books (after three years, they had a library that
would make August Derleth blush).  Nobody had read all of the 
books, and many had only read two or three.  Their sanities 
couldn't take the strain.  They had a copy of the Necronomicon,
and NOBODY would touch it for an entire year.  
	Sure they got spells, but the CoC spells are designed
so that you were often better off using something else.  I let
them have all the magic they wanted.  After watching two
sorcerors go down the toilet, many of them wouldn't touch 
magic if their sould depended on it.  It was fun, every now and
then the characters would HAVE to use magic, and boy did
they try to avoid it.  Never tell them the SAN die, never tell
them ioof they're dealing with Magic Points or POW untill the 
spell is done.
	SAN loss?  I also charged them 1d6 for the first person 
they ever killed.  It was my sort of 'welcome to the grey areas'
statement.  I believe with Nietcsldkfjha (whatever the smeg his
name is) that rthe Monster hunters should take care not to become
monsters themselves.  It's a really fine line, and characters often
cross it.  I only had one incorruptible character.  I offered most
of the party large payments for5 their souls, and two lived long 
enough to reap the benefits (3, excuse me).  
	Spectre made the Unspeakable Oath, and sold his sould to 
You Know Who (john Tynes, right?).  He did this because the party 
was being ripped apart.  Soon afterwards, he was getting help on
all his spells in regards to The Unspeakable One (Blair Reynolds?).
	Another character took posession of a wonderful magic stone
that gave her two points of power whenever she was near it.  When she
involuntarily was taken beyond its influence (the Moon), she found that
it had been slowly feeding on her, and had drained six points of Power
out of her.  She was not Happy.
	Magic is its own crime in CoC.  It is also its own punishment.
C;ever (and modest) keepers can figure out ways to really nail it to
the players.  It was my goal in the last year of BTS to claim as many
souls as possible.  I got more then I thought I would.


	The Laughing Priest!  {Jgoodric@nmsu.edu}

Player: "I read the last Page of _Revelations of Glaaki_
	  so I know how it ends."
Keeper: "Put a big "Y" at the top of your character sheet."
From: mgrossman@hamp.hampshire.edu
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: Is the group at it's proper place?
Date: 12 Jan 93 16:01:14 EDT
Organization: Hampshire College
NNTP-Posting-Host: hamp.hampshire.edu

In article <1993Jan12.194625.25248@cc.umontreal.ca>, royd@ERE.UMontreal.CA (Roy Daniel) writes:
> 
> I have noticed an increasing number of posts that talked about CoC. Maybe this
> newsgroup should be moved to rec.arts.games.frp.coc?

	Actually, the "proper" place to discuss CoC is rec.games.frp.misc
> 
> I think this place is better without things like debates of D&D/CoC.
> 
> I enjoy both, but here is the place to discuss aspects of the Myth, rather that
> a related game.
> 
> Any opinions?
> 

	You have a point.  I think it could be argued, though, that Call of

Cthulhu is an addition to the Mythos, rather than a related game.  Here's a
 
thought:  pure role-playing discussion (i.e. "How do I scare my players?"

should be moved to rec.games.frp.misc .  However, something like "How should

I present Ithaqua in my CoC game" should be kept here, or crossposted, since

the question is implicitly "How is Ithaqua presented in the stories?"

	This seems a reasonable division to me; anyone else have any thoughts?


> 
> Daniel Roy
> 
> -- 
> Mr. Cole's axiom:
> 	"The sum of the intelligence on the planet is a constant;
> 	 the population is growing."




Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: chavis@thumper..bellcore.com (Dennis Chavis)
Subject: Lovecraft books 
Reply-To: chavis@thumper.UUCP (Dennis Chavis)
Organization: Bellcore MRE
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 93 22:00:23 GMT

I had never heard of Lovecraft before I found this group, from all the 
chatter I believe this is something I want in on.  
Could someone please give me a list of Lovecraft books and related books.
Also give me the order in which they should be read.


Dennis " The Curious"

Organization: Freshman, MCS general, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 15:37:58 -0500 
From: Dennis Jay Ferguson <df2m+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Fwd: NecronomiCON: The Cthulhu Mythos Convention

---------- Forwarded message begins here ----------

X-Andrew-WideReply:
netnews.alt.fandom.cons,netnews.alt.fandom.misc,netnews.alt.horror
X-Andrew-Authenticated-as: 0;andrew.cmu.edu;Network-Mail
Received: via nntppoll with nntp; Mon, 11 Jan 1993 21:51:23 -0500 (EST)
Newsgroups: alt.fandom.cons,alt.fandom.misc,alt.horror
From: antunes@astro.psu.edu (Sandy Antunes)
Subject: Re: CoC: Grrrrrr
Organization: Department of Astronomy and Astrophysics, Penn State University
	<1993Jan12.000301.26375@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu>
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 02:20:15 GMT

As far as sanity checks in CoC-- skip the mundane stuff.  First dead
body for the character is worth it, but then you can skip checking for
dead animals, etc... don't bother unless it's something that escalates
the horror.  You're trying for a mood here anyway, not "1001 things to
scare players with".  Things should build rather than shock.

Anecdote time: when I run a game with a new player using a character who's
been around a bit, I ask "what kind of things has your character experienced
already".  One player responded "Well, the worst was probably seeing an
undead corpse rise out of his grave and rip the throat out of his living
girlfriend with his teeth."  He got to skip a lot of mundane sanity rolls
for that... things like a mutilated cat wouldn't phase him.

In short, keep sanity as part of the plot, and be flexible.

cheers,
sandy
alex@astro.isas.ac.jp
From: ebstokes@uncc.edu (Edward B Stokes)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: CoC: Grrrrrr
Date: 11 Jan 93 22:55:21 GMT
Reply-To: ebstokes@uncc.edu
Organization: University of NC at Charlotte

I am a novice at CoC RPG, but one thing I notice instantly is how quick Sanity goes. It seems ridiculous at times:"

"The fridge has a two month old piece of pizza in it, roll sanity."
"Your guide just stubbed his toe and yowls about it. Roll Sanity."
"The guy across the table forgot his RightGuard. Roll Sanity."
"That fat bitch just flashed you. Roll Sanity." (ok mabye that's legit.)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: cesnyd01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu (Cris Snyder)
Subject: conversion of players to CoC
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 12:38:33 GMT
Organization: University of Louisville
Keywords: Dnd, CoC

Ok, I have a Dnd group, and they said they would play a game of Cthulhu with me as GM.  No problem.  They are a good Dnd group, used to all sorts of nastys.
Problem.  

How does one take a person who has fought deamons and ghoulies and (literaly!)
had lunch with dieties go to a game system where part of the goal of the GM is 
to scare the socks off of him?  I don't think these folks are going to be 
impressed when a Bakee (Sp?) come fluttering down the hall way - they'll laugh!

What do I do?

I'm already planning to use physical eliments - low lights, candles, dark colors
etc. maybe even some spooky music in the background - I think this will 
deffinetely help.

Another big problem is how do you get it thru their heads that taking a week
(game time) and living in a library can almost be expected of them?  We're 
talking about Fantasy gamers who are used to obliterating anything they dont
understand with the exception to the fact that it's trying to eat them!

Any other thoughts? 

					AlberCrombie. 


-- 
--==-=-=-=-=-====-==-----===-=-====-----=-==-=-=-=-=-===-=-====-=----===-===---=
			cesnyd01@starbase.spd.louisville.edu		

		AlberCrombie ---- The One And Only Space Gopher

				.sig?  what .sig?
-===--=--==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==---===-=--===-==-==-=---===----=-=-=-=---=-=-=-=-=--
From: ST601142@brownvm.brown.edu (weaver)
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: Edward Gory
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 11:59:36 EST
Organization: Brown University - Providence, Rhode Island  USA
NNTP-Posting-Host: brownvm.brown.edu
News-Software: BNN via BNN_POST v1.0 beta

his name is Edward Gorey (not a pseudonym).
he is still alive.
he has illustrated works of others (Edmund Wilson _The Rats of Rutland Range_,
TS Eliot _Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats_, etc), but is better
experienced in his own (written and illustrated) books.  Any halfway decent
bookstore will have something by him, probably one of the collections
(_Amphigorey_ or _Amphigorey Too_ although there is supposedly, though I've
not seen it, _Amphigorey Also_ (maybe I've confused this and _Too_)) of
his short storys (some which can be found as individual books at better
stores).  These collections are not complete, but are a good start.

a library will usually list books he's illustrated in an author search.

weaver   (fan of Ogdred Weary)
From: corleyj@helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu (Jason D Corley )
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
Subject: Re: CoC: Grrrrrr
Date: 12 Jan 93 00:03:01 GMT
Organization: University of Arizona, Tucson

In article <C0pp09.5It@unccsun.uncc.edu> ebstokes@uncc.edu writes:
>I am a novice at CoC RPG, but one thing I notice instantly is how quick Sanity goes. It seems ridiculous at times:"
>
>"The fridge has a two month old piece of pizza in it, roll sanity."
>"Your guide just stubbed his toe and yowls about it. Roll Sanity."
>"The guy across the table forgot his RightGuard. Roll Sanity."
>"That fat bitch just flashed you. Roll Sanity." (ok mabye that's legit.)

Your GM isn't doing things right (aaagh!  No wait!  Let me explain! Ouch!
Ouch!  getoffame!  AAAgh!)
We just finished a prepared module, and every time Sanity checks were being
made, the actual _players_ themselves were squirming in their chairs and
twitching a bit.  Yelling "I pull my gun!  I pull my gun!" and "I panic and
run away!" all at the same time.  If the mood and the descriptions are right,
you should be able to see why each sanity roll is being made.
Though it may be that your GM is running a very Sanity-roll-heavy module
(there's a bunch of, I'm sorry I have to say this blasphemy, very poor
CoC modules out there, but the game as a whole and the large majority
of the modules are excellent!), and you just happened to come in at a 
bad time.

	Jason
	Pals o' Nyogtha
Newsgroups: alt.horror.cthulhu
From: sprooney@unix1.tcd.ie (Simon Rooney)
Subject: Re: conversion of players to CoC
Organization: Trinity College, Dublin
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 03:07:18 GMT

>Ok, I have a Dnd group, and they said they would play a game of Cthulhu with me as GM.  No problem.  They are a good Dnd group, used to all sorts of nastys.
>Problem.  
> 
>How does one take a person who has fought deamons and ghoulies and (literaly!)
>had lunch with dieties go to a game system where part of the goal of the GM is 
>to scare the socks off of him?  I don't think these folks are going to be 
>impressed when a Bakee (Sp?) come fluttering down the hall way - they'll laugh!
> 
>What do I do?
> 
>I'm already planning to use physical eliments - low lights, candles, dark colors
>etc. maybe even some spooky music in the background - I think this will 
>deffinetely help.
> 
>Another big problem is how do you get it thru their heads that taking a week
>(game time) and living in a library can almost be expected of them?  We're 
>talking about Fantasy gamers who are used to obliterating anything they dont
>understand with the exception to the fact that it's trying to eat them!
> 
>Any other thoughts? 

The way I got around all those problems was just to give the players
a brief idea of who they're playing (ie. normal human beings thrust
into... strange happenings), and tell them to act as hey think a
normal person would. When they started trying to beat their way
through the situation a la D&D, I let them.. they all (but one)
died. They DID enjoy it though, and that's wot you've got to do...
make it enjoyable for the players, while still showing them that
it's impossible to fight directly.

It's nice when they get the scale of wot they're up against... I
remember one of them was complaining that his stats were really bad.
I explained... if an opponent like Yog Sothoth has a strength of
400, what difference does his strength of an extra 9 points make?
They kinda shut up, and roleplayed when they finally copped on... 


MNSiosi