"A Cthulhu Cult" Topic

More pics on my blog
ananasisland.blogspot.com

Looks like a normal monday morning at my work ;)

Very cool!

I just loss some sanity, thank you very much!!!!

Looks Great!!

Looks very good to me!

Awesome!

That Bag o Cthulhu from Fantasy Flight is great, isn't it.

Where is the big statue & cultists from?

Ia!

The Cultists I believe are from Bob Murch's Pulp Figures line….I've got a few of them…

AAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGH….

Very nice!!!

"Steampulp"??? What the heck is "steampulp"???

Wow !!!

I hope it's supposed to be underground? Otherwise, the lack of discretion would imply that the Cult is already the local official religion…

Great job! The 'Deep Purple' is brilliant. The female Cult Leader adds a nice touch of… tenderness?

The big statue is a resin cast 6 inches high sometimes appearing in WG / RPG / figurines shops, in specialized comics shops and on ebay
auction
Half the size of the SOTA model but some 17 times less expensive!
And seen from the side looks far less 'Constipated Cthulhu' than the Fantasy Flight one.

Not my favorite period (I prefer Cthulhu, as gaming-wise almost anything else, 'in tricorne' link but I follow!

:
YouTube link

Thanks for all you comments yes it is pulps figures and resin statues with fantasy flight bag … i'm demasked :) hmmphhh
steampulp is the rsesult of my indecision to choice beetween steampunk and pulp and .. i decide to make a melting-pot of the two :/

>>steampulp is the rsesult of my indecision to choice beetween steampunk and pulp and .. i decide to make a melting-pot of the two :/<<

…ummmm…that isn't possible. Steampunk is science fiction in the Victorean Era which ends in 1901. The pulp era begins around that time and ends in the mid 1950's. How would you combine the two?

The pulp-police are knocking on the door!

Pulp isn't a "period". It's more of a publishing medium or format that promoted a certain flavor of fictional subject matter to a variety of audiences. It was at its most popular during a real historical period but that has little to nothing to do with the time periods where various pulp fiction stories can be or were set. A story told in the style of some form of pulp tale set in pseudo/alternate Victorian times with advanced clockwork and boiler powered actinic machinery is probably fine.

thepulp.net

From the site:

Pulp magazines offered readers a variety of genres, or categories, from sword and sorcery to Westerns, from love stories to science fiction, from hero pulps to railroad stories. Just about every conceivable genre was covered at one time or another during the pulpsí half-century run.

Genres offer a way to categorize pulp magazines and the stories in them. As a result, genres are broad topics and typically include many subcategories within them. Not all pulps or stories fit nicely into a single genre, or category.

After some discussions on the Pulp Mags mailing list at Yahoo Groups, these main categories coalesced:
Crime
Fantasy/science fiction
General
Hero/Character
Horror
Jungle
Miscellaneous
Mystery/detective
Romance
Saucy/spicy
Sports
War
Western

Within each of these broader categories are subcategories, such as weird, menace, hardboiled, or space opera. These subcategories are discussed within the entry of the broader genre.

>>The pulp-police are knocking on the door!<<

OK Captain. Explain how "steampulp" would work.

Explain how it wouldn't work. One method is a simple mashup where you combine elements. What is not going to work ?

It works by thinking outside the box, promoting the hobby, and letting imagination manifest itself in the enjoyment of the game participants.

I believe it works via appreciation too. Appreciation in the efforts of all gamers as artists and the art they create. No contribution to the hobby is insignificant, and one never knows where the next great idea is coming from.

>>One method is a simple mashup where you combine elements.<<

Example please.

>>It works by thinking outside the box, promoting the hobby, and letting imagination manifest itself in the enjoyment of the game participants.<<

Wow! I've never heard such a bunch of baloney as an excuse to say that you have no idea how steampunk and pulp era fiction can be combined in any sensible way in my life! If you have an example feel free to post it.

Ever read any Joseph Conrad?

The everlasting debate between the fundamentalists following the *letter* of their Holy Texts and those faithful to their *spirit*.
A typical example is provided by 'Call of Cthulhu' players. Since the original stories were set in the 1920-30, many feel compelled to play in this time frame. BUT Lovecraft stories were so much the more impressive as they were contemporary of their readers. So it would be faithful, not to the letter, but to the spirit of the novel to play CoC adventures *in 2012*.

More widely, since Cthulhu and his (its?) kind were here before humankind and started recruiting cultists as soon as the brains of humanoids could be influenced through dreams, a 'Lovecraftian' game can be set anytime from the 'cave girls in fur bikini' era to an uncertain future.
Howard and Lovecraft were in correspondence, and some of the monsters encountered by Conan in 'Hyborian times' are very 'Lovecraftian' ('The thing on the monolith', the Pickman model ghouls…).

More specifically, Lovecraft judged himself as 'a man from the 18th C.' and several of his best stories are rooted in the 'tricorne' period. To play 'Lovecraftian' games such as 'Strange Aeons' in the 18th C. link is specially fitting. The new game Carnevale vesper-on.com TMP link has 'Deep Ones' and other Lovecraftian types invading 18th C. Venice, conveniently during the Carnival.

In the same way, 'Chaos in Carpathia' can be played outside the 'Gothic 19th C.' period, and specially (human weapons and mentality wise) in earlier times: a 18th C. example: link .
They are what they are, but the 'van Helsing' movies could be set in the same time frame as the 'Solomon Kane' one.
And don't forget 'Pride and Prejudice and Zombies'! TMP link
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link
YouTube link

Indeed pirates (of the Caribbean type) are reported quite often to meet cannibals, sea 'monsters' , zombies, 'Deep Ones' and their 'like' , Atlanteans, comely cavegirls & irascible dinosaurs, King Kong, 'normal' and 'octopus"-faced cultists / if not Great Cthulhu itself.

.

'Pulp' is *genre*, and the traditional elements of 'Pulp' adventures: Egyptian mummies can be resurrected since the New Empire; Templars or Cathars secret successors (guardians of 'Elohim' knowledge, and of great Artifacts of Power such as the Spear of Destiny, the Grail or the Witchblade…) could exist since the late Middle-Ages. Thus 'Pulp' adventures can actually be set in any period from the Renaissance (Leonardo di Vinci!) on. The name is extremely convenient to describe the *nature* of such adventures / games: "18th C. Pulp" is commonly used, e.g. for years on the NPU wargaming forum link link ; indeed Lacepulp was proposed for 'Horror / 'Pulp' games set during the Lace Wars. Steampulp simply covers 'Pulp' type adventures (King Kong? Raiders of the Lost Ark?) set in Victorian times – no problem at all.
While if you define 'Pulp' stories by their original support, Conan the Barbarian would have to be a 'Pulp' hero.

>>Ever read any Joseph Conrad?<<

Sure. Also "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court", "The Jungle Book" and other adventure novels written in the Victorean Era that are now considered literature, and like "Lord Jim" would never be considered either pulp fiction *or* "steampunk". So what's your point?

I hope it's supposed to be underground? Otherwise, the lack of discretion would imply that the Cult is already the local official religion…

That would be an interesting country to live in!

Er… It could be a good idea for some scenario.

Heart of Darkness, although first published as a serialized magazine publication in three parts, beginning in 1899, and not published in it's entirety until 1903, has all of the components necessary for a scenario for miniatures gaming in multiple eras, including a 20s-50s pulp setting.

It would require very little imagination to take the basis of Conrad's work and use it in a steam-pulp scenario, using many of the miniatures available in both Pulp Figures ranges and Darkest Africa. It requires only the desire and enthusiasm to do so.

The nice thing about the hobby, is that if there is a game in which one does not want to participate one does not have to, but it should not preclude others from playing, if that is what they wish to do. Opening one's mind should not close doors in this hobby, IMHO.

Abdul and Palaeoemrus

First let me say thanks to both of you for replying to my question with such interesting and knowledgeable posts. It's always a pleasure to actually discuss the pulp era and pulp fiction in the pulp group. Much of what you both said is essentially the same, so rather than go through lengthy replies to each of you i'll try to address the most salient points.

>>'Pulp' is *genre*, and the traditional elements of 'Pulp' adventures: Egyptian mummies can be resurrected since the New Empire; Templars or Cathars secret successors (guardians of 'Elohim' knowledge, and of great Artifacts of Power such as the Spear of Destiny, the Grail or the Witchblade…) could exist since the late Middle-Ages. Thus 'Pulp' adventures can actually be set in any period from the Renaissance (Leonardo di Vinci!) on. The name is extremely convenient to describe the *nature* of such adventures<<

First, I should say "my bad" for the way I posed the question. I thought that we all understood that i'm not just asking how you can combine "pulp" with the Victorian Era. I'm asking how you can combine the "steampunk" genre which is set in the Victorian Era with pulp fiction from the pulp era. When I say pulp fiction from the pulp era I would not include fiction that is widely defined as literature, like the work of Steinbeck or Hemingway. I mean pulp fiction defined as being sanguinary, violent, lurid, frequently prurient, occasionally adolescent and always disposable. It's fiction that was written for no other reason but to be sensational and a helluva lot of fun, but has no lasting value. For example:

link

link

link

link

link

link

Now, I agree with *some* of what you both say, but "pulp" is far too ambiguous a term to be useful. After all, stories by Hammett, Bradbury and many other authors that were originally published in pulp magazines, like "The Maltese Falcon", are now considered literature, so i'm always careful to use the terms "pulp fiction" and "pulp era" to qualify what i'm saying when I discuss the very nebulous term "pulp". As Pal pointed out there were many pulp magazines that produced mainly historical stories, like "Adventure" magazine, and there were other that produced science fiction, fantasy and western stories, but those genres are already well served at other TMP boards, so why include posts involving those genres here at the pulp gaming board? I can see where some stories, like the Cthulhu stories, cross over between horror, fantasy and pulp fiction, but others, like westerns, will have their true audience at the western board. The same goes for Conan. There's a fantasy board for posts that discuss his adventures. That's not to say that you *can't* or *shouldn't* discuss them here. It just doesn't make sense to me when I believe that the main purpose of this board is to discuss pulp fiction from the pulp era.

>>A story told in the style of some form of pulp tale set in pseudo/alternate Victorian times with advanced clockwork and boiler powered actinic machinery is probably fine.<<

I don't see how. If you set a horror tale in the Victorian Era with a gizmo like the swinging ax in "The Pit and the Pendulum", but the pendulum ran on steam, that would simply be considered a horror story set in the Victorian Era. The whole point of "steampunk" is to combine anachronistic elements, right? If a detective is out there catching crooks in the Victorian Era he's Sherlock Holmes. But maybe i'm just not getting the point, so how about an example?

" I don't see how."

Obviously not. I wonder how hard you have to to work to not see how.

" The whole point of "steampunk" is to combine anachronistic elements, right?"

No. Anachronism is not really the heart of it. A P-51 in ancient Rome is not steampunk. And anyway, a pit and pendulum trap is a pretty lousy example of technology achieved though obsolete manufacturing techniques,materials, and mechanics that is so effective and sophisticated that it seems anachronistic. Pendulums and sharp blades are both doable in the bronze age.

" If a detective is out there catching crooks in the Victorian Era he's Sherlock Holmes. "

Again, no. Detectives in the Victorian era do NOT become Sherlock Holmes. Why would they? The Victorian era is a time period and a setting. It is not a genre that imposes its own conventions and rules. Really neither is pulp. Nor is pulp a time period. Pulp is a

"But maybe i'm just not getting the point, so how about an example?"

I agree that you are not getting the point and the point is so obvious that I think an example would be wasted given that it must confront such unintuitive esoteric zaniness as " If a detective is out there catching crooks in the Victorian Era he's Sherlock Holmes. ". It's nonsense. One does not demand examples to pick apart for silly reasons from atop a strange mound of nonsense. One hasn't the right to reverse the rules of evidence without providing a reason that the reversal is necessary and proper.

It was you who initially objected and said it would not work. Demonstrate that is does not work and why it is impossible in terms that make sense to most other people. If you cannot or will not, then the reasonable position is to simply presume that it WILL work and mark you down as highly confused on the issue of genres and the supposed mechanics of what divides them.

For my part I see no problem with hybridization of fiction genres or medium. One can have a horror mystery or a horror romance or virtually anything, especially in a gaming background. Trying to impose unnecessary rules to shift the categories so they do not ever overlap is completely silly.

>>It was you who initially objected and said it would not work. Demonstrate that is does not work and why it is impossible in terms that make sense to most other people.<<

In the pulp era science is considerably more advanced than in the Victorian era and "steampunk" is futuristic science from a Victorian writer's point of view which is based on the most advanced scientific knowledge of Victorian times. As soon as you include an automobile or airplane with a combustible engine, or include a Thompson Submachinegun, or any of the other weapons or vehicles that were invented during the 20th century and commonly included in fiction from pulp magazines you have taken the story right out of the "steampunk" genre and it becomes science fiction.

>>The Victorian era is a time period and a setting. It is not a genre that imposes its own conventions and rules.

The Victorian Era isn't a genre, but "steampunk" *is* a genre with it's own conventions and rules. If it didn't have it's own conventions and rules the term wouldn't have been coined in the first place. Same goes for "pulp fiction". It can be defined and I think that the way that I described it in my previous post is pretty good. :-)

>>Detectives in the Victorian era do NOT become Sherlock Holmes<<

Of course they don't, but I think you know what I meant.

>>Trying to impose unnecessary rules to shift the categories so they do not ever overlap is completely silly.<<

Sometimes rules *are* necessary to prevent categories from overlapping. Would you allow aircraft in a historic ACW game? Would those rules be silly and unnecessary? But let me be clear about this. I don't *care* how anybody plays their games. I'm not telling you or anyone else that they *can't* include jet planes in a game and still call it "steampunk" if they want to. You can do whatever you like. I'm not in charge of your fun. I just don't think that it's logical to try to combine "pulp fiction" that is set in the pulp era with "steampunk".

Often in human endeavor, far too often in fact, reconciliation of beliefs becomes impossible, or fanaticism prevents the basis of even finding common ground.

Certainly tolerance, acceptance of differences, and mutual respect are the desired conditions of peaceful coexistence. Sometimes this is not possible, dialog ends, and parties involved need to agree to disagree, and disengage before something unfortunate is said or done.

Wow………. i just say … steampulp….
Because i like the two genre and i make a world where is all that i like live… from the last decade of XIX century to first half part of XX century… that all… I'm french and i haven't so english practise to débate about this
… but i have no problems with that :)…

>>Certainly tolerance, acceptance of differences, and mutual respect are the desired conditions of peaceful coexistence. Sometimes this is not possible, dialog ends, and parties involved need to agree to disagree, and disengage before something unfortunate is said or done.<<

I think that you're right there Captain. We've pretty much beaten this horse to death. :-) I'll let Pal have the last word if he wants it and let it go at that.

LOL. Sorry Artekaos. If you want to call it steampulp who am I to tell you that you're wrong? :-)

Precisely.

Captain

I'm gonna start a blog about pulp era heroes fighting against fruit and vegetables. Like Spy Smasher vs. "The Red Rutabaga" and Flash Gordon meets "Ming the Muskmellon". I plan to call it "Orangepulp". :-) Picture this; the hero is attacked by a giant sugar cane being from another dimension. Only he doesn't go mad. He gets type II diabetes! I wonder if Murch can do the minis for it.

This really is "A Cthulhu Cult" topic…

I think that Azathoth's mighty hand did interfere here somewhere.

>>This really is "A Cthulhu Cult" topic…<<

I know. LOL. We should all be arrested for hijacking.

For the sake of keeping this blog on track, where again can one obtain the large Cthulhu…..Ia, Ia, Fhtagn…..sorry, I got carried away….where can one find the large Cthulhu statue? Ebay and where?

where can one find the large Cthulhu statue?

At the nearest church, if it is the local official religion (as someone has suggested).

" The whole point of "steampunk" is to combine anachronistic elements, right?"
Not to send the thread off-topic again, but the best (imho) differential between Steampunk and VSF I ever read (and it was on TMP) was: 'Women wear their corset under their dress in VSF, over it in Steampunk' .

"where can one find the large Cthulhu statue?"
My daughter gave me one for my 60th birthday, *long* ago: she bought it in a 'gadgets & various amusing junk' shop now closed. No manufacturer, no origin, nothing engraved under the base; probably an unlicensed Chinese casting?

'Women wear their corset under their dress in VSF, over it in Steampunk'

Applies to other 'Erapunk' periods, hence these Lacepunk ladies:

(from: link )

Very nice set up! A place to be avoided whatever the genre.