Having been a fan of the Cthulhu Mythos and Live Action games for years, I was thrilled when I came across a book that merged the two. I first discovered Cthulhu Live years ago in its 2nd Edition format and had a blast running the game, creating characters and designing plot hooks for players. I had a lot of fun with the game and was really excited when I heard there was a 3rd Edition in the works.

Most of us who love the horror genre have at least heard of H.P. Lovecraft. His influence spreads out like the tentacles of the beings that populate his stories–into movies, comics and role-playing games, as well as the works of today’s great horror writers.

In this interview we talk about Delta Green and Call of Cthulhu and other upcoming products.

Nox Arcana delves headfirst into the darkness with its musical tribute to the Cthulhu mythos. Creating a haunting festival of sounds to this is a challenging feat—every day that passes Cthulhu transforms into more of an icon than a mere concept of Lovecraft’s imagination. Nox Arcana delivers its tribute in a jarring way; this is not a CD that should be idly played in the background, this is a performance that demands your attention.

Delta Green is a new take on H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos, bringing the fight against darkness and horror to the 90’s and beyond. Delta Green is made up of government agents secretly working against a larger conspiracy of horror and madness. This anthology offers us eight tales from around the world of various agents and the missions that bring them into conflict with creatures of terror.

There were parts that I loved, terribly, which were almost all thematic and setting/scene based. There were parts that I very very much hated, and that was all gameplay-based.

Here’s what I loved:

The sanity system. If you look at stuff closely (the priest crucified on the cross, for example) you get More out of the game, but you also lose more sanity points (which gradually recover over time). When you’re low on sanity, you start talking to yourself and hearing things. Apparently when you run out of sanity, you take whatever gun you’re holding and kill yourself.

In this interview Toren tells us about his work as an artist on several RPGs and gives us the scoop on his band, Darkest of the Hillside Thickets.

Waking up Screaming is an anthology of tales written by H.P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft today is considered to be the father of modern horror. Before picking up the work, I read some accounts of his background through the Flames Rising links. Entranced with the trappings of a colonial life, Lovecraft lived in the early 1900s casting out all things modern. He frequently wore older styles of clothing, and made his home in Providence. Upon his death, his work was posthumously published by two of his friends. Lovecraft enjoyed some success during his lifetime, however, it wasn’t until World War II that his work gained in popularity.

Cthulhu Live is set in the universe of eldritch horror created by Howard Phillips Lovecraft. Cthulhu Live is a theater-gaming experience of horror, action and suspense. The participants are both actors and audience. The game is a full evening’s worth of fun every time it is played.

LARP (Live Action Role Playing) offers players a chance to get into costume, test their acting skills and interact with many more characters than the standard tabletop game usually entails. Several different LARP games are available; Cthulhu Live remains one of the most widely played in several countries.

John tells us about the development of Unknown Armies and even talks about his work on Delta Green and Call of Cthulhu.

Artist Ann Koi tells us about her work on the Call of Cthulhu d20 core book and other interesting projects in this interview…

The creator of Cthulhu Live discusses Lovecraft fiction and Live Action Role Playing. We also discuss the rise of video games and their affect on “traditional” games.