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[GiglameshDespair]

They were only partially matter, but still solid enough to affect and be stopped by normal materials; this additionally gave them resistance, if not outright invulnerability, to normal means of damage, though they could be destroyed by certain forms of electrical energy. Their minds were so strange that the Great Race of Yith could not perform psychic transfers with them.

They are able to levitate and fly despite lacking any visible means of doing so, and leave telltale massive footprints when on the ground. Their amorphous bodies can turn invisible at will, though this ability appears somewhat negated by whistling noises associated with them in general. In battle, their ability to control and direct powerful winds is put to use as a weapon.

So they're kind of incorpeal? They were sealed in their underground lairs by the Yithians via big trapdoors, so physical matter does block them.

[scrdest]

This thread (among a couple other things) made me seek out and read Lovecraft in English (read some stuff, mostly the various not strictly Mythos stories). I. Regret. Nothing.

On that note, I'm currently reading In The Mountains of Madness, though, and I noticed an interesting detail - pretty much all post-Lovecraft references to the Mythos treat reading the Necronomicon as a sanity risk, if not making you go mad instantly, but the ITMoM narrator, along with several other members of the science team have read it and remained perfectly fine.

[Spehss _]

This thread (among a couple other things) made me seek out and read Lovecraft in English (read some stuff, mostly the various not strictly Mythos stories). I. Regret. Nothing.

On that note, I'm currently reading In The Mountains of Madness, though, and I noticed an interesting detail - pretty much all post-Lovecraft references to the Mythos treat reading the Necronomicon as a sanity risk, if not making you go mad instantly, but the ITMoM narrator, along with several other members of the science team have read it and remained perfectly fine.

Yeah, Lovecraft's idea of the Necronomicon portray it as a collection of "forbidden" knowledge, basically all the eldritch horror stuff. There's tons of Lovecraft's stories where the main character or a side character just so happens to have read it. Aside from knowing what horrible forces of nature they're up against, they're otherwise sane.

That being said, many of Lovecraft's characters who have read the book knew what they were getting into, or are "hard-boiled" or just weird enough to not be phased by such reading material. No idea how a normal passerby with no knowledge of any of the material might react to it. Probably would just think it's a work of fiction.

[GiglameshDespair]

Hell, the good guys in Dunwich horror do out-and-out eldritch magic rituals against the titular horror.

[Angle]

Yup. Also note, the sanity destruction in the mythos isn't a supernatural effect - it's just an assumed consequence of coming to understand the truth of the universe.

[nenjin]

Which I'm guessing in Lovecrat's mind, isn't accomplished just by reading the Necronomicon. To his characters it's more like a scholarly resource.

Now adays it's like the book is made out of faces and tentacles slap you around as soon as you open it.

[scrdest]

Hell, the good guys in Dunwich horror do out-and-out eldritch magic rituals against the titular horror.

Not only in Dunwich Horror - in the Case of Charles Dexter Ward (probably my favorite one so far) the protagonist does pretty much the same thing, although the victory is a bit bittersweet.

[Willfor]

Oh man, I didn't even see this topic here until today. Haven't read it yet, just want to post pictures from my last game. It's been so rare to see it discussed on the internet since its release.

My best friend bought me the new big box expansion for it, and we played a game last week:

Spoiler: Big pics (click to show/hide)

It came down to Patrice and Lola battling the survivors of the lost race in a combination of multiple dimensions and the freezing Antarctic. Patrice long since turned into the icy shell of a human carrying the very heart of winter along with her double barreled shotgun. Lola haunted by so many injuries taken in the name of saving the world. It was a pretty fun run.

[wierd]

Many of Lovecraft's protagonists make use of Eldritch magic, or have knowledge of the Mythos creatures and their plans for mankind. You have to consider what "madness" meant in the 1910s and 1920s, when the stories were written though.

We have a VERY different view of what constitutes "insanity" today, than what was considered "Insanity" back then. Most of us on this forum would be considered "Dangerously insane" by the standards of the time.  All the homosexuals and transsexuals here for certain, just as a for instance.  Basically "Defiance of societal norms" was considered grounds for "insanity."

This means that learning the truth about the Great Old Ones, and as a result, being a little odd, would get you into trouble back then.

our more forgiving societal framework actually fits with what Lovecraft envisioned for the "corrupt future" the old ones have in stock for us, at least in the early stages of progression.

[Angle]

our more forgiving societal framework actually fits with what Lovecraft envisioned for the "corrupt future" the old ones have in stock for us, at least in the early stages of progression.

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Ftaghn!

[Xantalos]

Yeah, the thing all the Republicans were talking about where 'IF MEN CAN MARRY MEN WHAT'S TO STOP POTATOES FROM MARRYING TRANSVESTITES' back when gay marriage was being proposed in the US is basically the end stage of society in Lovecraftverse.

[Angle]

Yup. That was the source of the horror and terror in lovecrafts works - "The things we know about the universe might be wrong! We might need to rethink our values and morals! No, it can't be true! Say it isn't so!"

[Spehss _]

Yup. That was the source of the horror and terror in lovecrafts works - "The things we know about the universe might be wrong! We might need to rethink our values and morals! No, it can't be true! Say it isn't so!"

Also stuff like alien creatures wanting to wipe mankind from the earth before dragging the planet into another dimension. Or ghouls eating people. Or the countless reveals that a person's lineage is actually not that pure and wholesome.

[wierd]

Pure and wholesome?  You mean, like being around 11% neanderthal?

We handled that little revelation pretty well as a species.  I am sure we could handle having Father Dagon as a distant in-law, or perhaps being a 3rd generation removed ape-human hybrid.


And the aliens wanting to wipe out human kind? NOTHING cements differing human ethnic groups together like a mutual enemy! Alien invasion would only unite the whole world in glorious world governance. (until the aliens were dealt with-- then all hell would break loose.)

See, we are ALREADY pretty far down the road Lovecraft found terrifying.

[Bohandas]

Yup. That was the source of the horror and terror in lovecrafts works - "The things we know about the universe might be wrong! We might need to rethink our values and morals! No, it can't be true! Say it isn't so!"

Also stuff like alien creatures wanting to wipe mankind from the earth

You're misunderstanding the Mythos. The Old Ones are indifferent to mankind; in the same way that a land developer is indifferent to the creatures of a bulldozed forest.