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View Full Version : It Came From Planet 9!!! Cthulhu and Retrofuture space adventures



Anderlith
2016-08-26, 11:09 PM
Does there exist a game system or setting that features 1930-50s retrotech themed World of Tomorrow type background mixed with Eldrich horrors? I don't know why but I think it would be fun to play or run a game like this. Lantern-jawed Atomic age spacemen with ray guns & fishbowl helmets dealing with madness and Lovecraftian creatures just seems like a cool setting. I know I could just roll something like this up in Fate or Gurps/M&M but I dont fully like the system. I was kinda thinking Traveller but its got a lot of Hard Scifi in it, & a pretty realistic take on space.

Cealocanth
2016-08-27, 09:21 AM
Short answer: no.

Long answer: This is a brilliant and demi-genius level idea that no one has quite thought of before. There isn't going to be an established game system for it, unless you make your own. At the moment your options look like FATE, Savage Worlds, and GURPS, all of which offer enough homebrew potential that you could make this setting work to its full potential.

I suggest you head on down to the Homebrew section of the forum and get started on making your RPG system.

ImNotTrevor
2016-08-27, 09:27 AM
Does there exist a game system or setting that features 1930-50s retrotech themed World of Tomorrow type background mixed with Eldrich horrors? I don't know why but I think it would be fun to play or run a game like this. Lantern-jawed Atomic age spacemen with ray guns & fishbowl helmets dealing with madness and Lovecraftian creatures just seems like a cool setting. I know I could just roll something like this up in Fate or Gurps/M&M but I dont fully like the system. I was kinda thinking Traveller but its got a lot of Hard Scifi in it, & a pretty realistic take on space.

You could probably hack Stars Without Number to do this pretty well, actually.

But there is a law of game designers that has been invoked here:

If you ask "is there a game like X" and the answer is No, it's now your responsibility to make it happen.

Good luck, friend!

Knaight
2016-08-27, 09:29 AM
I know I've seen exactly this before, but I'm spacing the name at present.

Fri
2016-08-27, 01:59 PM
Bulldogs: Sci-fi That Kicks Ass (http://www.galileogames.com/#/bulldogs/)

snowblizz
2016-08-28, 10:59 AM
You are basically describing what at least in miniature gaming circle is referred to as "pulp gaming". Try looking for "pulp rpg" it seems like it could have what you need.

Fri
2016-08-28, 03:11 PM
More less known things I remember, though I've never personally tried them.

http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/94125/Cosmic-Patrol-Core-Rulebook
http://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/145136/Amazing-Roleplaying-Games-193Q

Atomic Robo RPG is basically also what you're thinking, though it's based on Fate and you said you want somethign else.

raygun goth
2016-08-28, 05:02 PM
It's called "Spaceship Zero" and it's by the lead singer of the Lovecraft band "The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets."

It even has a soundtrack album: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDG2nmpKwX8&list=PLYK-WgDbjAlZtrIGZ0xL6JlfLXX45IC-e

http://greenroninstore.com/products/spaceship-zero-the-roleplaying-game-print
(http://greenroninstore.com/products/spaceship-zero-the-roleplaying-game-print)

Anderlith
2016-08-28, 11:18 PM
Thank you guys for the comments, Cosmic Partol and Spaceship Zero do seem to come close but I dont like the systems. Ill probably tool Savage Worlds to fit, Ive just started looking at the system recently & i think ill like it.

Ill give a shot at homebrewing, so the next question is what should i name it? Its gotta have pulp & eldritchness. Which sounds cooler, Atomic Tentacles or Dagon Sector?

Any suggestions for title? (Im liking Dagon Sector)

raygun goth
2016-08-28, 11:37 PM
If you can pick it up, and you're looking to use Savage Worlds, snag a copy of Slipstream. It's got a great race creation system and lots of ideas for working out awesome pulp space adventures.

"Dagon Sector" sounds pretty swell, but Dagon was an Earthly creature that evolved here on our world.

Lovecraft stuff has a leg-up into being incorporated into space simply due to the fact that the Mythos is basically about aliens we can't understand - though once we start flying faster than light, they'll become a lot more relatable. You might even be able to get away with making Elder Things into a PC race >_>

Anderlith
2016-08-29, 12:20 AM
Im thinking space travel will be psionically fueled, Dune, 40k, Wrinkle in Time, etc. Then using rockets once back in realspace, maybe star gates powered by psychics (maybe even sacrificing psychics) or even darker would be blood sacrifices of vigins, babys, etc.

The Dagon Sector could be a region of space the game takes place in, on the edge of cosmic sized evil , the titanic corpse of an Old One, a black sun, & alien servitor races, where astromen with rayguns fight a desperate battle for their souls.

Joe the Rat
2016-08-29, 07:48 AM
If you're going to retool, the question is how you want it to play. If you are seriously going for two-fisted pulp action, Savage Worlds is a really good base model. If you want to go more gritty/horror, Call of Cthulu's base system (Chaosium's BRP) has a variety of setting add -ons. It will eat characters though (1d4 a round against the Big C).
Psi-jumping is used in various ways in Aeon. The world -breaking ahuman nature of the Aberrant is a good starter for cosmic horrors (warning: Storyteller system)
Fading Suns will get you a lot of the elements you need, including psionics and magic (for them horror-summoning star cults), but you will need to trade used future Gothic aesthetics for something with more fins.

Knaight
2016-08-30, 11:51 AM
If you're going to retool, the question is how you want it to play. If you are seriously going for two-fisted pulp action, Savage Worlds is a really good base model. If you want to go more gritty/horror, Call of Cthulu's base system (Chaosium's BRP) has a variety of setting add -ons. It will eat characters though (1d4 a round against the Big C).

If aiming between the two, Nemesis is perfect. You'll have to adapt it to fit the futuristic aspects, but it already handles everything else. It's also a beautiful system in general.

Anderlith
2016-08-30, 02:42 PM
Created new post in Homebrew forums. Follow it here, http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?498993-It-came-from-the-Dagon-Sector!-Retrofuture-mixing-Eldritch-Horror-amp-Pulp-Sci-fi

Max_Killjoy
2016-08-30, 04:17 PM
Does there exist a game system or setting that features 1930-50s retrotech themed World of Tomorrow type background mixed with Eldrich horrors? I don't know why but I think it would be fun to play or run a game like this. Lantern-jawed Atomic age spacemen with ray guns & fishbowl helmets dealing with madness and Lovecraftian creatures just seems like a cool setting. I know I could just roll something like this up in Fate or Gurps/M&M but I dont fully like the system. I was kinda thinking Traveller but its got a lot of Hard Scifi in it, & a pretty realistic take on space.


So in a way, this is Forbidden Planet (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_Planet#Plot), the RPG.

Anderlith
2016-08-30, 07:57 PM
Pretty much, yeah.

GungHo
2016-08-31, 10:57 AM
Thank you guys for the comments, Cosmic Partol and Spaceship Zero do seem to come close but I dont like the systems. Ill probably tool Savage Worlds to fit, Ive just started looking at the system recently & i think ill like it.

Ill give a shot at homebrewing, so the next question is what should i name it? Its gotta have pulp & eldritchness. Which sounds cooler, Atomic Tentacles or Dagon Sector?

Any suggestions for title? (Im liking Dagon Sector)

The Event Horizon

Max_Killjoy
2016-08-31, 11:50 AM
The Event Horizon

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Horizon_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_(2000_film)

MrZJunior
2016-08-31, 12:01 PM
There's also Rocket Age which already has the 1930's pulp sci-fi setting. I can't speak to the mechanics but the setting is interesting.

GungHo
2016-08-31, 12:44 PM
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Event_Horizon_(film)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supernova_(2000_film)

The Black Hole was also pretty pulpy once you progress toward the end. Same with The Sphere and, even though it's derided, Prometheus. The lines between SCIENCE!, pulp, and horror blur once you get past some of the gross out features.

Arbane
2016-09-02, 11:22 PM
Also, take a look at Danger Patrol - very fun pulp sci-fi RPG. I don't know how easy it would be to lever cosmic horror into it, but my heroes had to fight a PLANET EATER FROM THE FIFTH DIMENSION, which is pretty close...

Anderlith
2016-09-03, 06:45 AM
I've decided to go with savage worlds for the system.
My current list of races are;
Human-Just like you but with better hair
Mutant-Mutated by radiation, cosmic energy, or horrific experimentation
Atlantean-Human deviation, from the planet New Atlantis
Lezonian- All woman race, created by scientifically minded women
Rebel Krell- Servitor race for the Old Ones, these are those who seek freedom from their evil society
Robot- Atomic powered A.I.

I'm thinking of adding more but I don't want bloat. Humanity should sill be the focus of the game.

Trying to create rules for Rocketship travel into the Dreamlands or Dark Dimension. Rules for alternate robot bodies, and rules for psionics