Anyone is welcome to comment on these questions.

Three of those responding have mentioned Gaslight. Does it have to be London? What sort of story would you want? What sort of characters?

Two mentioned American colonial. What period between 1650 and 1750? Does it have to be New England? What sort of story would you want? What sort of characters?

I'd think somewhere in the 1660s, when there were just enough settlers that not everyone was known by name and the colonies were mostly random batches of cultists (in the archaeological sense, i.e. members of relatively small non-mainstream sects, but also potentially in the CoC sense - there'd probably be a certain amount of blurring that could furnish plot hooks).

I'd suggested New England because there's the historical wiggle room and known variables of Lovecraft Country in there, but if someone else wanted to explore, say, furnishing a Mythos explanation for how the Lost Roanoke Colony dropped off the map (did they get a local war declared on them? what did they do?) or colonial Newfoundland etc. I'm not adverse.

For stories, there's the Roanoke idea up there, but down in what'd become the Arkham area it'd be interesting - I use the word with a slight wince, but you know what I mean - to see colonists breaking stuff, in this instance the adaptations the natives had made to living around the existent weirdness (it's implied that Y'ha-nthlei was down there at something like "current" size before Innsmouthers built a village next to it, for instance - was there a pact for locals and feeple to ignore each other? Help each other in certain circumstances? What happens when a colonist shoots one instead of helping? What if everyone who knows how to keep those horrible tree-things they see sometimes outside the area where traplines are set dies of measles?), or living without existent weirdness until some fools from a congregation with a name like Starry Wonders plonks it down there like leadworking byproducts in the water supply.

A tenuous peace provides considerable tension to a more ordinary plot of "that village next to us seems to be suspiciously insular/eccentric/childless and someone has stolen my pumpkins/grandma/baby for Dark Rites" - especially as Native folk won't necessarily know what normal European behavioural patterns are like. ...and then there's witches! In the folkloric/pan-cultural sense witchcraft seems to be a kind of bad madness (as opposed to neutral- or holy madness), which means corrupted spiritual dealers aren't really on anyone's side and might stir trouble for their own devices. Which could be Very Bad if they show colonists eyeing up your home ground your village's weaknesses, for instance.

...or if they, the village priest, campaign to infuriate the locals into mass action that could be taken as a raid, and go all Lord Summersisle on that little shack church when the terrified incursors huddle themselves in for prayer and protection. Also bad! Either way, if preventing such a situation wasn't the plot itself, such a massacre is a) prime horror fuel and b) a level of sacrifice that could call up a lot for Investigators to deal with.

For characters, I think letting people pitch what they felt like would give the Keeper the best idea on who would fit with a relatively niche idea. You might get all Europeans, which'd be disappointing but better than giving a local slot to someone who turns out to be wholly lacking in sensitivity and/or desire to research. You might get all Narragansetts/the odd surviving Pequot assimilated to some other people but with divergent goals, which'd be really interesting and lead to a very different story angle. A good group of players on that would remember it forever.

Personally, I'd say the further the timeline moves back, the more interesting and uncharted it becomes.  I luv the early colonial idea mentioned as well as the dark age ideas as well.  You have some really incredible time periods to work with and, theoretically, Cthulhu and the like have been there for all of it.  Hell, early vikings landing on U.S. shores and facing such things has a ring to it as well.

I've always though that CoC could be mashed up with The Scooby Gang (there are even stats out there for Freddy, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma, and Scooby).

I actually liked the way that the tv series Supernatural handled both the Supernatural hero’s and the Scooby heroes. Enjoyable, but I think that would be hard to manage real horror verses just a greedy attorney (that is redundant, I guess) dressed in a scary costume

In reply to Bod Man (msg # 11):

I'd probably be more inclined to invent stats for Ted, Patty, Val, Sonny, and Groovy: https://venturebrothers.fandom...wiki/The_Groovy_Gang

I think incorporating the actual horror elements would be great. You've got the starting templates there. A group of amateur supernatural detectives. I think it could be done really well, mixing Cthulian horror with comedy.

Fanworks directly working off existing propeties aren't my personal thing at all at all, but I thought I'd throw in that a halfway point between depressing-parody-played-for-horror and comedic-characters-in-horror-system-too-complex-for-them would be to have the Scooby Gang gradually become aware of their existence as characters via Mythos contact.

That they've been driving about for decades searching for something, never ageing or being aware of more than the last couple of jobs, only occasionally remembering their family or other friends...and they've been unerringly deflected from finding The Thing to the nearest guy in a rubber mask every time. That they've developed powers to warp space when presented with any hallway with multiple doors, emerge improbably unscathed from sabotaged mines and old houses, consume foodstuffs bigger than their own head in a matter of seconds.

...basically Nyarlathotep leads them to realise they're toons, is what I'm saying. If they survive that with any SAN left, it drops them in a more traditional CoC plot where they get a chance to finally find the Thing.

There was a supplement somewhere about CoC in Stalinist era Soviet Union.  I never played, but always thought it was a great fit.  Awfulness on both sides of the equation.

The New England colonists idea posted above sounds cool, too.

Just an update.

I'm working up a game for 17th century Innsmouth. However, I have some medical appointments this coming week and probably will be another week getting it to a starting point. I'll post a link here when it's up.

I'm not all that versed in Cthulhu lore, but what about setting it in Los Angeles during the Zorro era? Seems like there'd be a lot of leeway to invent new twists and plots.

In reply to Gaffer (msg # 18):

Best of luck with your medical appointments and consider me interested.

Good luck and god speed sir!

And count me interested as well :D

an interested player here as well :)

Interesting. 7th Sea was basically CoC in the 16th/17th century. Swashbucklers and ancient gods seems like a really interesting and neat concept!

 I know it's been a few years since I last did a game with you, but I would love to do a COC one again now that my life has settled down and I have time to play again.  I still remember the games I did as Constance fondly.

As to what, I am not picky. historical, modern, whatever. The more historical though  the more one has to do a bit of research to get a feel for the time period if you don't know much about it, especially if it is a more obscure one.

  If I recall before I left RPOL for a while you were throwing around an idea of rich Hollywood like people in the 30's doing monster hunting or something like that. It HAS been a while though, so my memory might be fuzzy.  ;-)

In reply to wissp (msg # 24):

I remember you well as a fun player. When I can get something going again, I'll hope to see you.

I have not been able to get a colonial Innsmouth game to a point where I feel it is worth starting. I'll continue to tinker with it, but I don't expect it to be playable anytime soon.

So, what about a Gaslight game?

I was thinking something set in the slums and rookeries of the East End of London--Limehouse/Whitechapel--among the lower orders. The only toffs would be the dissolute and disgraced.

If an American background is preferable to potential players, it could be a comparable location in New York.

What interest in this?

Gaslight works for me, any location

An East end of London setting would be great!

I'm fine with that I just have no clue about that region in general so expect some very bad cliches, american style :D

Sounds good to me.

Gaslight game is almost ready to open.

Quick, Players, the game is afoot!

link to a message in another game

[Sorry, there is no connection to Sherlock Holmes, but I couldn't resist.]
This message was lightly edited by the user at 20:24, Fri 19 June 2020.