Cthulhu Dreamt TTRPG: Sci-fi Horror & Metal Soundtrack
Created by Action Fiction
An original near-future Sci-Fi tabletop RPG system, including a fully-illustrated campaign with an accompanying heavy metal soundtrack.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
68k - A HUUUUUUGE UPDATE!
about 1 year ago
– Thu, Aug 24, 2023 at 07:57:12 PM
Greetings, Dreamers. We’ve done it.
Hey gang, Jaron here - thanks to your untold otherworldly support, the team and I will now have the privilege of charting the loathsome shapes that seeped down from the dark stars; The R’lyeh Map Stretch Goal has been unlocked! This is one I was super stoked to hit, because we’ll get to make a very cool sci-fi style map of the risen island of R’lyeh, including topography and ecology. We’re gonna go BIG for this map, so be ready. We’re hoping it will give you context and maybe even inspire you to head off the beaten path and into the weird wilderness.
Honestly we’ve been rocketing through a few stretch goals; another one we hit was the Writer Raise, which is AWESOME for our guest writers! We’ll be raising their word rates, and now they’ll be paid more for the Encounters they write for us (like R’lyehian March and Springfield Nocturne).
Speaking of Springfield Nocturne...
Community Support
Our Discord community has been abuzz with fun things to share! One of my favorites is this video posted after a group finished Session Two of our free preview adventure, Springfield Nocturne. Watch as this cat-and-dad team rock out to Grevious Malintent, the finale track in the Encounter!
Additionally, some of our Discord Dreamers managed to snap some screenshots of big milestones for the Kickstarter:
Cthulhu Dreamt got over 666% funded!
We broke $66,666!
Metal AF! We’ve also had our NEXT WINNER OF THE ARG! Our Discord community member Kimber was the second person to solve the ARG, and will get a free Deluxe Kickstarter-exclusive edition of the book, plus all kinds of Salien-Welf goodies! CONGRATULATIONS, KIMBER!
Troy and Jon were an absolute delight, and I can’t wait to talk to them again. We might even wind up running a game on their stream - who knows!
Our Next Preview Encounter
R’lyehian March, our next preview encounter, is nearly complete! We’ll be releasing an early alpha version of it once we do an internal dry-run playtest. This adventure was designed by Brad Roberts, and I got to put a lot of words into it as well. It will let players take control of EDGe Troopers on the day that Cthulhu awoke, when the island of R’lyeh was first evacuated! It serves as a great prequel session for the main Cthulhu Dreamt campaign, and gives you the chance to play the “bad guys” of our world for a change. The character dynamics are stacking up to be very cool, and the story is going to have some WOEFULLY beautiful tragedy baked in. So prepare yourself.
How can I not love Mecha vs. Kaiju?! I was a HUGE, MASSSSSSSIVE fan of Pacific Rim (I even watched the Netflix Anime, which was pretty neat - and I almost got to write a story for the Pacific Rim TTRPG that I was VERY excited about. Maybe someday!). This anime-inspired RPG uses 5th edition rules, so if you’ve ever played DnD 5e, you’ll feel right at home battling the giant monsters of this world.
In their words: Imagine a world where every giant monster movie is real! Mecha vs. Kaiju is the 5th Edition anime RPG that puts YOU in the pilot seat of a giant robot fighting giant monsters! Use 17 anime archetypes and narrative traits like Personality, Style, and Values to create characters, and build your own powers, talents, and tools to customize your mecha. MvK adds storyteller tools to 5th Edition by replacing static bonuses with dice, giving you more freedom to narrate your actions. Impact replaces damage, allowing you to do stress, create conditions on enemies, or boons on yourself all in the same action! And we replace prescriptive ability lists with a modular system of perks and drawbacks, allowing you to create any power you can imagine. Mecha vs. Kaiju has an extensive GM section with a starter campaign, mods, and options, famous mecha and kaiju in history, and a complete setting.
Until Next Time
You’ll be hearing from us again REALLY soon, as we’re already creeping up on the next stretch goal! Thanks again SO much for all of your support. Please consider coming over to our Discord and saying hello - we’d love to chat more with y’all and answer any questions you might have about the game! Once R’lyehian March is completed, you might even see us running some public playtests there, where YOU could play Cthulhu Dreamt WITH US!
See you again soon in the Waking World, Dreamers.
Jaron R. M. Johnson and the Cthulhu Dreamt design team
Livestream tomorrow! Cthulhu Invades Neverland (48 hours left!)
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 07:23:43 PM
WHAT’S UP GANG
It’s ya boi Jaron! Sorry for double-posting today, but I had a few last-minute things I wanted to share with you:
One is a live-play of a Cthulhu Dreamt scenario that’s happening on Thursday at 7:30 PM EDT,
The other is a very cool Cthulhu-themed Kickstarter project that’s ending in FORTY-EIGHTHOURS.
Let’s jump in together.
Rook & Rasp play Cthulhu Dreamt
Our friends over at Rook & Rasp will be taking on the Cthulhu Dreamt encounter “Springfield Nocturne” TOMORROW NIGHT at 7:30 PM EDT.
Be sure to head over to their Twitch Channel so you can catch the livestream! (Also, while you’re there, you should follow them. Y’know, to be polite—and also because they’re AWESOME.)
Alright look I’m gonna be real with y’all. When I saw this premise, I did a triple take before I put together, “yeah, this is exactly what I think it is.” This is a MASSIVE graphic novel (see: comic book, but longer/cooler/better) from a ton of different artists which depicts Cthulhu crashing into Peter Pan’s world. You wanna see Hastur ham it up with Tinkerbell? The Lost Boys going to heaven? This is where you do it. Plus, they’ve got other books on offer, including Cthulhu Invades Wonderland, where Cthulhu hangs out with Alice and the Cheshire Cat. This premise is super fitting for us, because we know Cthulhu is a multidimensional being, so it makes perfect sense that we’d see Cthulhu dimension-hopping to his gargantuan heart’s content. Oh, did I mention Cthulhu Invades Oz? You can guess where that one goes.
~If I onlyyyy ate your braiiiiin...~
In their words: Over 70 incredible comic creators got together to bring the blending of two different universes- the world of Peter Pan called Neverland and the horrifying world that is the work of Lovecraft's Cthulhu. When the Great Cthulhu invades Neverland, we will learn what happens when a world is full of fairies, mermaids, pirates, and of course, Peter and the Lost Boys. How will they deal with a real war? With the stakes being higher than ever before, learn what will change the landscape of Neverland forever!!
See y’all real soon <3
That’s it for today’s (second - oops!) update! Thanks for taking the time to check everything out. We’ll be posting some of our upcoming interviews, podcasts, and even more actual plays right here, so try not to lose your mind until then. Cheers!
Jaron R. M. Johnson,
And the Cthulhu Dreamt design team
Week 2 Begins!
over 1 year ago
– Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 10:53:09 AM
Hello There!
Generally speaking, good news everyone! The first week of the Cthulhu Dreamt Kickstarter is over and was by all accounts a ROUSING success! In this update we’ll review the highlights of this past week, review some news for the future, let you know where you can catch Cthulhu Dreamt content across the web, AND give you a special: early limited release listen to a song.
Accomplished Dreams:
First off, WE’VE ALMOST HIT 60K, wahooooo, let’s keep this hype train a-rolling down the track!
As mentioned previously in the week, our Q&A with members of our Discord and the entire dev team went fantastically! We looooooved answering your questions and getting to hang out with you all! If you’d all like another, show off in the comments and we’ll make sure to get one scheduled!
We’ve got some great progress on our Discord with our ARG! Including, as of this morning, our first winner! A reminder that The first 5 successful ARG winners will receive the Kickstarter Exclusive Phys. Edition, Plus EXTRAS tier, as well as some goodies not available ANYWHERE ELSE Here’s a screenshot of some noodling and hints happening. If you wanna get in on the action, This Video should do for starting ya!
C’thulnews!
Hey, wanna see more Cthulhu Dreamt Content?
Check out Pint Of Cthulhu’s 2-part (Click here for part 1, click here for part 2) Springfield Nocturne actual play with ARG mastermind Snails!
Be on the lookout for interviews and actual plays coming out soon from
GMS Magazine!
High Shelf Collective, the creators of THIS amazing video you may have seen on our kickstarter page!
World of Game Design
Horrorific Chat
Avalon De Rol
Seriously Let's Play
And more!
What’s next?
Well, we aRe steadiLY hEading towards our next stretcH goal! TypIcally speAking, thiNgs slow MAssively in the second and thiRd weeks of a kiCkstarter, but between tHat 60k writer’s raIse being So close we can basically taste it, the 65 thousanD world map stRetch goal, and you all being sO amazing, I wouldn’t exPect to stoP hearING from us anytime SOON!
Additionally, we’ll be trying new and improved advertisements to attempt to reach an even BIGGER audience to bring you all even more amazing things, so please, if you see one you like please let us know so we can know if it's working, lol.
Conclusion
As always: thank you all for your support, it means several parallel worlds to us all, we look forward to keeping you updated with more very soon.
Lastly, and I truly do mean this from the bottom of my heart: let us know what you’d like to see from us for this campaign? Have a favorite elder being you wanna see mentioned in future updates? Want us to go into more detail on an aspect of the game or campaign? Let us know in the comments!
ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, though not for long :)
Brad and the Cthulhu Dreamt Team
Primordial Scriptum
As a reward for sticking around, here’s a link to an unspeakable thing that you all should look upon with your ears and listen carefully to with your eyes!
55k! Where to start with the ARG
over 1 year ago
– Sat, Aug 12, 2023 at 10:54:50 AM
Greetings, Dreamers.
Snails here to say two things.
First: Holy Cosmic Guacamole, we hit 55k! Thank you so much for your support and help bringing this game to life! Now we’ll get to add even more horrible creatures to the book, plus new tools to help you fight back against them.
Second: If you’re interested in the ARG but are uncertain of where to start our, Discord is a great resource! If you're in need of more concrete guidance, might I suggest this music video?
No one has solved the ARG yet, so all five victory slots are still up for grabs! You could be the first to claim the prize!
Project We Love: The Secret Art of Game Mastery
Hey, gang! Jaron here. When Action Fiction was running and designing Monsters of Murka, I wish this resource had existed. This is The DM Lair’s Secret Art of Game Mastery, which is a huge resource book FILLED to the brim with all the GM Tips you could possibly want. The cool thing about this book is, it’s system agnostic (see: it’s not just for 5e), so you could get some tips from this book and apply them in Cthulhu Dreamt!
In Their Words: Have you ever felt overwhelmed by all the ins and outs of running a role-playing game? Are you a new game master looking to learn the ropes quickly? Are you a veteran that wants some new tips and tricks to take your game to the next level?
Look no further than The Secret Art of Game Mastery, the latest book from the DM Lair team. We’ve combined over 100 years of real-world, game master experience into one easy-to-use book! With advice on planning sessions, engaging your players, and making combat more fun, the Secret Art of Game Mastery will become an indispensable tool in your GM toolkit!
Thanks to everybody for helping this Kickstarter kick so much ass. I know you read stuff like this a lot, but consider sharing our Kickstarter on Reddit, Facebook, or Twitter—orX now, I guess). Our team of designers is small; we’re basically just a group of friends like yours, who play tabletop games at the same table where we design them (my kitchen table, lol).
Word of mouth shares are such a huge impact for a team like ours. I’m sure you’re inundated with hundreds of requests to “like and subscribe and share” throughout your day from huge influential creators - I hope you’ll consider doing the same for us. Liking this Kickstarter update is an easy start, which you can do by clicking the heart icon below! Thanks, y'all. You are the best of the best. See you soon, Dreamers.
Free Preview
over 1 year ago
– Tue, Aug 08, 2023 at 07:35:22 AM
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
