Call of Cthulhu, Cthulhu Dark, and Horror TTRPGs Livestreams

During the early days of the pandemic, I stumbled across a few different things online that caught my interest. One of them was a role-playing game by the name of Call of Cthulhu (CoC). Based on the writings of HP Lovecraft (a super problematic dude, even by the standards of his era), I often describe the game as "like Dungeons & Dragons, but set in the 1920s and revolving around the nature of cosmic horror rather than anything having to deal with high fantasy." 

The two are really only similar in that both are games played by people who roll dice to see how the narrative plays out. Where the characters found in D&D become better, stronger, faster, more powerful and can potentially go to war with gods...the characters in CoC are normal human beings, pushed to the edge of their mental stability as they uncover more about cults, cultists, and the cosmic, uncaring beings they worship during the time of Prohibition (though other settings in other eras exist as well). 

I've found the horror aspect to be a good release for me. I've always preferred the content I consume or produce to be a little on the darker side of things, and this certainly scratches that itch. That it is a roleplaying game seems to heighten my enjoyment. Because I often run the games, I have the basic skeleton of the story and my players make their own decisions and let fate control their dice to see what specifics end up playing out while branching off from that skeleton. The best nights are when the least expected things occur and totally throw everyone for a loop. 

But this pandemic interest morphed into something more substantial and, through playing in person and finding other players and Keepers online, I've gotten to know more than a few great people along the way who also run these horror systems. I am fortunate enough to be playing a few livestreams with some of these people, helping to weave a collective story together where the ending will almost certainly be lethal, if not downright terrifying. 

I'll be playing in two streams. The first one begins on Wednesday, August 24th and runs for five weeks until the finale on September 21st. I'll be playing the character of Thuy Ly, a painting student, in a Cthulhu Dark campaign called "The Miskatonic Shoreside Conservatory." 

August 24th, 8pm EST / 7pm CST | Watch us on the Symphony Entertainment Twitch channel HERE. 

(5 episodes airing on August 24th, 31st & September 7th, 14th, and 21st)

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The second stream will be just a one-hour one-shot on Saturday, August 27th (the same week as the debut of the Miskatonic Shoreside Conservatory stream) at 2pm EST/1pm CST. This project is a pretty cool one, as the Hometown Horrors book contains 15 brief synopses of 15 cities east of the Mississippi river, as well as characters from that town and two potential scenario seeds specific to that area. Written by lovers and players of the Call of Cthulhu game, this opens up a lot of content about cities many of us have never visited, but now get a little insight into. 

I wrote a section on Kansas City, which will be published in the second volume coming out in the next couple months. The concept of this one (brought about by Symphony Entertainment's Bridgett Jeffries, who will also be running several of them) has us exploring all these cities by taking any one of the provided scenario seeds and improvising a story off of that. 

You can buy a copy of the first Hometown Horrors volume HERE. 

I'll be playing alongside Heinrich Moore, who recently put out an absolutely unbelieveable resource for use during character creation. The depth of background possibilities explored could really be translated pretty easily into a lot of other systems as well, not just Call of Cthulhu. 

You can purchase a copy of "Heinrich's Guide to Character Creation" HERE. 

If you'd like to check out either broadcast, simply check us out on the Symphony Entertainment Twitch channel at the times on the flyers. If you can't make it for the live broadcast, videos will be available for viewing on YouTube later. 

August 27th, 2pm EST / 1pm CST | Watch us on the Symphony Entertainment Twitch channel HERE. 

I hope you'll come join us for even just one of these nights. You might be terribly entertained and want to come back for more punishment. 

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Though I have always enjoyed inserting myself into most things horror-related or horror-adjacent, nothing has been as time or creativity-consuming as this, which is probably good considering my lengthy creative block (which is still in progress). It's also been profoundly good on my headspace when dealing with all that's happened in the last several years (pandemic, both parents dying...you know, normal stuff). That may seem counter-intuitive, but in speaking with my therapist some time ago, she wondered if perhaps my fascination with (and focus on) death in many facets has helped be a kind of emotional bridge getting me through what is easily the hardest five years of my life. Like I've been easing my way into mental wellness slowly but surely. 

To which I'll say: sure, okay. It's put my hands to work creating interesting props for my players to consume at the table and it's forced me to really think about improv storytelling, so it's keeping the creative juices flowing for sure. Much like the painting, it's simply another extension of a creative outlet, just manifested in a very, very different way. 

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