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Realms of Crawling Chaostm, Labyrinth Lordtm, Advanced Labyrinth Lordtm, Mutant Futuretm, Mutants & Mazestm, and Goblinoid Gamestm Are Trademarks of Daniel Proctor

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Realms of Crawling Chaostm, Labyrinth Lordtm, Advanced Labyrinth Lordtm, Mutant Futuretm, Mutants & Mazestm, and Goblinoid Gamestm Are Trademarks of Daniel Proctor By Daniel Proctor and Michael Curtis Cover art by Sean Aaberg Interior art by Sean Aaberg and Mark Allen Editing by Daniel Proctor and Ben Monroe Copyright 2008-2011 Daniel Proctor, All Rights Reserved; Realms of Crawling ChaosTM, Labyrinth LordTM, Advanced Labyrinth LordTM, Mutant FutureTM, Mutants & MazesTM, and Goblinoid GamesTM are trademarks of Daniel Proctor. All art is copyright of its respective artist and is used under license. No actual Old Ones were summoned in the writing of this book. FOREWORD I had the pleasure of sharing oblivion with H. P. Lovecraft until he was born on August 20, 1890. I have to confess that we weren’t able to converse much before his birth, and since he had gone back to oblivion before I began my vacation from it, I’ve had to learn everything I can about him secondhand or through his writings. I think everyone who is a Lovecraft fan should go back and read his work with a fresh eye, forgetting about what other writers have “added” or “fleshed out” over the years. I did precisely that as I was writing this book, and for me it was easy to take Lovecraft on his own terms because to date I haven’t read most of the work by those who came after him. Most people reading this know that Lovecraft’s creations have been the subject of role-playing games for many years. However, although we have seen a few creatures presented here or there for fantasy RPGs, no one has attempted to systematically comb Lovecraft’s work to create a Lovecraftian sourcebook that is not as influenced by outside writings. What you have before you is the result of months of research, both in reading Lovecraft’s fiction and in reading about his life and background, so that I can present something that is as close to his cosmic point of view as is feasible in a supplement for a role-playing game. I present this material for Labyrinth Lord, with material usable in classic race-as-class format as well as advanced classes and races, like those in the Advanced Edition Companion. The material in this book is usable with other Advanced and Basic Edition games. When I talk about going back to Lovecraft’s original fiction, I don’t mean to say that I haven’t made my own interpretations, because I have. I’ve even extrapolated to create new material that fits with Lovecraft’s literary themes, and included material inspired by two selected writers (R. E. Howard and C. A. Smith) who were Lovecraft’s contemporaries, peers, and partners in what Lovecraft termed “Yog-Sothothery.” This approach is necessary to create something that is fun and playable; this book should be used as a tool to create your own Lovecraftian dark fantasy worlds. Thoroughly explore the horrors Lovecraft suggests, and do so expeditiously. One never knows when that crawling chaos will reclaim us into oblivion. Today I give you Realms of Crawling Chaos, and may your dark fantasy gaming never be the same. Dan Proctor January 2011 “Personally I should not care for immortality in the least. There is nothing better than oblivion, since in oblivion there is no wish unfulfilled. We had it before we were born, yet did not complain. Shall we then whine because we know it will return? It is Elysium enough for me, at any rate.” -H. P. Lovecraft Quoted from a letter written by H. P. Lovecraft, presented in “H. P. Lovecraft: A Life,” by S. T. Joshi All quotes from “H. P. Lovecraft: A Life,” by S. T. Joshi are used by permission of S. T. Joshi d Table of Contents c Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 The Insignificance of Man ...............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 The Vastness of the Universe ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................4 An Uncaring Natural World ....................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 The Reality of Man as an Animal .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Superior Otherworldly Beings ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Science as a Double Edged Sword ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 5 Realms of Crawling Chaos ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 6 The Lovecraftian Dark Fantasy Genre .......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Campaign Types ................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 Cults ...................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Places ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Other Sources ............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 7 Game Systems .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Character Races ..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Sea Blood ......................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 Subhuman ........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ 9 White Ape .................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 White Ape Hybrid ..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................................
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