Nuketown

Catalyst Game Labs & WildFire partnering on CthulhuTech RPG Line

Posted in by Kenneth Newquist on Thu, 11/13/2008 - 5:30am

WildFire's horror vs. mech CthulhuTech RPG is moving to Catalyst Games. It's a logical fit, given that Catalyst has taken over publication of the classic Battletech miniatures game (and seems to be doing a great job of it, given the reactions from the Battletech fans in my gaming group).

I don't know how if feel about the basic premise of this setting. On the one hand, I can appreciate the attraction: if you're going to be fighting Ancient Old Ones risen from the depths of the oceans, you're going to want the biggest damn guns you can get your hands on. At the same time though, the Cthulhu Mythos is about a subtle, insideous horror that inevitably gives rise to insanity. While this would change in a world in which the Stars Are Right, I'm  not sure you can have infinite cosmic horrors fighting giant robots and still retain the fundamental horror aspects of the mythos.

Still, I'm curious, and if I ever get a chance to play in a game, I'll take it.

Dave T. Game (not verified) said,

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 12:43pm

I got a chance to flip through this at a friend's house last weekend. That's exactly how I feel... I'm not sure I'd want to run it based on my vision of Lovecraftian stuff, but I'd love to play in a game of CthulhuTech. I also worry more and more often about the "buy-in" necessary to enjoy complex games, but that's a different issue.

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Kenneth Newquist said,

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 1:09pm

Yeah, I'd love to play a game of it too. I'm particularly interested in how they handle the mech-side stuff. Is it role-play, role-play, role-play and then jump over to Battletech for the showdown with the Unspeakable Tentacled Horrors that just climbed out of the Atlantic? Or is it some house rule system?

Integrating a role-playing component into Battletech is something my group's talked about on and off for years (leading to a post in which I tried to mash up BT and Risus). It's one of the drawbacks for me honestly; I'm cool with the having mech battles, but it would mean a lot more to me (and be a lot more fun) if my character was involved in a larger story arc (and we could interact with that story outside of the mechs). Blowing stuff up is grand, but for me that works for the occasional one shot, not something I'd want to play every week.

But back to CthulhuTech. If I can, I'll certainly try and get into a game of this at Origins 2009. 

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Rick Signer (not verified) said,

Thu, 11/13/2008 - 2:23pm

I know of one person who's referred to the mash-up as chocolate and peanut butter - two great tastes that taste great together. I think a more accurate comparison would be ketchup and eggs. Not just 'tastes', but essential building blocks of the diet (or geek culture, in case I'm straining the metaphor too much). Combining them, however, results either in joy or revulsion.

The books could be better written, and the system is...wonky, but the setting allows for a great deal of different stories, both with and without Mechs - most of the horror aspects seem to come up in games not on the front lines, dealing with cults and conspiracies in a crushing dystopia. Plus, the nods to the various source material are nice. My friends and I all like the premise, but decided we'd try converting it to Savage Worlds if we wanted to actually run it - not to mention, as none of us are big Evangelion fans, there was some talk of making the Engels more like Big-O. (Ah, for the days when Japan made Sci-fi anime...heck, just for the days when Japan made GOOD anime!)

Though, their Mech rules are definitely very crunchy - each mech even comes with a 'point cost' for those putting together armies for a skirmish. Hopefully they did the same for all of the giant monsters, but I can't remember for sure at the moment.

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