What Shelob Taught Me

*THE TWO TOWERS BOOK SPOILERS HEREIN*

A friend (Faylor's player) had just finished J.R.R. Tolkien's The Two Towers and expressed that the reason the book is so fulfilling is because it satisfies a desire for both "high" and "low level" adventure. I thought for a while about what he meant -- the more I did, the more I agreed with him. 

Whenever I witness a particularly mighty character in fiction my first question always is, 'how did he/she get that way?' In one chapter of The Two Towers readers witness powerful heroes capable of dreadful slaughter. But the reader witnesses the separate and pitiable trudge of the remaining fellowship in the very next chapter. But most interesting to me, is the transition or 'leveling' the hobbits undergo.

I've been thinking about how Tolkien's telling of Sam's battle against Shelob informed the original designs of Gygax and Arneson. The hobbits are 'low level' in comparison to the rest of the fellowship. As such they must rely more on guile than force to accomplish their goals. Sneaking past a few orcs is a feat, but slaying a monster as vile as Shelob is an altogether more epic challenge. Such would take much grit and careful cunning.

Perhaps this is why 'magic items' have become such a staple in most iterations of the classic game. The 'Phial of Galadriel' as well as the elven forged 'Sting' are essential to Sam's survival against the psuedo-mythic spider-demon, Shelob. Even a hobbit of Sam's resolve couldn't survive against such a threat without the aid of supernatural means. And though victorious, the battle left Sam exhausted to his absolute capacity in enemy territory.

Both in DnD and LotR, magic items don't substitute hard-won experience. But they do provide the necessary edge to perhaps offer survival in an otherwise impossible encounter. Because all low level encounters are potentially lethal, every decision must be made with the absolute strategic proficiency to prevent untimely character deaths.

Because magic is limited in LotR as it is in DnD -- low level players/ characters are desperate for creative solutions. Sam's seemingly counter-intuitive assault from beneath was just the unexpected strategy he needed to wound the beast. In all likelihood Sam would have been killed had he not eventually driven the beast away with the elvish phial's light.

Oddly the turning of Shelob seemed akin to the DnD cleric's 'turn undead' ability. And yet arguably Sam's first strike is comparable to a thief's 'sneak attack.' Of course, as treasure equates experience, perhaps it's not quite fair to rate Sam and Frodo as low level.

Indeed both have remarkable elvish gifts as well as the Ring of Power. But even if Tolkien's texts dont seamlessly translate into the DnD experience,  the influence is sufficient enough that I personally enjoy 'low level' DnD more than the advanced levels. For me, low level character-growth is more palpable and satisfying.

Call of Cthulhu: New World Colonists

After my pal and I watched the Black Goat short film he suggested I run a historical game about the Roanoke colony. While I'm not sure the campaign will be about Roanoke exactly, the game will take place sometime during the 16th-century and focus on the colonial experience.

I expect a rather different tone to emerge in this game than a classic 1920's/30's era CoC scenario.  Though the Age of Exploration is so removed from Lovecraft's 1920's and 30's, the Cthulhu mythos seem particularly suited to the mysteries lying in wait behind the veil of discovery in the New World.

The Age of Exploration evokes desperation and tested-faith particularly well. The benefit of operating outside of a Lovecraftian purist setting is that I feel more comfortable experimenting. Specifically this game will emphasize survival horror elements more than the traditional CoC session might.

CoC is an investigation and horror game. Adding a survivalist edge will take some research on my part. In New World Colonists, maintaining ones scarce resources, shelter, and warmth are sufficient distractions to keep most from questioning the uncanny. The survival component of this game applies just as much to the cold in pathless woods as it does to horrors from deep space.

Technology is also a significant consideration. Firearms are slow and unwieldy, light requires oil or wood, and medicine cannot alleviate some of the malady's modern science solves with a few pills. But perhaps the most interesting element of this game will be the developing relationship players will make with the indigenous peoples.

The Hurting

My level of want certainly corresponds to the obscene Amazon price tag on this rare, now out of print Beyond the Mountains of Madness module. But if I were to snap and buy this, it would be an irrevocable deathblow to my reason. I would soon spiral into a depraved state of impish lunacy. Can't have that. Looks like I'll have to do some forum investigating to find this arcane tome at a reasonable price.

If Beyond the Mountains of Madness is anything like The Thing (1982) I'm totally sold. Kidding aside, Lovecraft is my favorite genre writer. Sure I think there a defter, much more profound genre writers, absolutely. But I find Lovecraft's cosmic terror inescapable. Horror is always present when I run an RPG, it is the assumed crossover along with whatever stock stetting the game provides. But no game is scarier than Call of Cthulhu. The game recognizes that vulnerability and sanity are the pillars of excellent horror (i.e. fear for ones corporeal state and fear for ones mental/spiritual state).

Lovecraft's horror is so inspiring because it feels at once close enough to touch, and yet somehow foreign. Lovecraft's tales take place in an era decades before my time. Cultural sensibilities from the 1920's and 30's are only a frail and rattling echo in the ear of today's reader. Lovecraft's bizarre cults and rites for ancient gods renders a mysticism that fractures man's pillar of moral sanity. Lovecraft's alien superscience defies the logic of man, or rather supersedes it, leaving man incapable of trusting his reality. Lovecraft translated the fear of God into commercial fiction.

I will keep my current DnD campaign running until there is a TPK "total party kill." Even if just one player-character survives an ordeal, the campaign will continue and the other players can roll up new characters after a character's death. However, once/ if all the player-characters die together, the campaign ends. The deceased heroes will join the ranks of the eulogized and a new DnD campaign will start anew. But not before I run a Call of Cthulhu game a while. Ill likely run Masks of Nyarlathotep because it is infinitely easier to find than Beyond the Mountains of Madness. Besides, I've never run a CoC module before -- why not start with a classic?