So, a couple months back, in one of my many creative tangents, I was reading a number of sourcebooks - mostly D&D 3.5's Heroes of Horror and the d20 adaptation of Call of Cthulhu - and I started wanting (again) to run or find a horror-themed campaign. I was particularly inspired by the aforementioned Call of Cthulhu conversion, which had a section near the end describing how a Dungeons and Dragons game might go if the only deities were the almost-all-evil-by-D&D-standards eldritch gods of the Cthulhu Mythos.

It's certainly an interesting idea, with clerics being, essentially, practitioners of dark magic, where healing is rare and anyone could be a cultist to dark gods. Doom lurks just out of sight, with countless elder evils ready to descend on the mortal world.

So, I came up with a setting to run in such a case, based largely off an indie action-platformer called Odallus: The Dark Call, which also contains mind-bending horrors and distant, impersonal gods. And maybe a touch of Dark Souls, too.

Spoiler: The Dark Call
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Once, humankind was in darkness.

Beset on all sides by beasts and savages, they struggled to survive in a hostile world. Their insignificance was perhaps their greatest asset - in this world, they were just a minor prey species. Though extinction was unlikely, greatness was impossible under these conditions.

Then, They came, the beings who would eventually become known as, variously, the Old Gods, the Dark Ones, or the Fell Powers. Wielding great power, they promised humanity a taste of power and freedom, but demanded sacrifice and obedience in exchange. Humanity accepted.

With the power of their new gods, humanity rose to prominance. They beat back the darkness, and forged great empires, ruled by the gods and their servants. It was a time of prosperity, of a sort. Survival demanded sacrifice. Mercy, while not frowned upon, was a luxury in a hostile world.

Then the Old Gods began to fade. None are truly certain why. Perhaps they had a task, now completed. Perhaps they were simply bored. But either way, they slowly retreated from the world, eventually leaving their priests to rule in their stead. Meanwhile, humanity, having had a taste of power, yearned for more. Eventually, they rose up and overthrew the servants of the Old Gods, and found no retribution coming for them. Thus, they believed the true Age of Man had come.

Their nations grew and flourished, while their understanding of the world deepened. Yet their rulers, uncaring of the greater world, lost themselves in petty politics and wars, while the wizard-scholars grew frantic as every question they answered raised two more... and some went mad as they to piece together true knowledge of the world.

Philosophers and commoners alike claim there are no gods, and that humans are masters of their domain. Hubris will not protect them, for there are far worse things than the Old Gods that lurk amongst the stars, ever vigilant for prey...


...Riiiiiight. So, essentially, the setting and campaign are about the discovery of the Many Bad Things that lurk in the world. Humanity has scorned the protection of the Old Gods, leaving them vulnerable to countless threats. Can the threats of the world be fought back? Is the only hope to beg the Old Gods to claim them once more? Or do other options exist?

So anyway, it's kinda fun to think about what such a D&D setting would be like. In particular, since religion is considered evil, divine magic (and with it, its healing properties) is rare and taboo. Clerics and Adepts are the slaves of fell gods. Paladins are absent, if they ever existed (though perhaps they were once the champions of the Old Gods, albeit not tied to good or evil). Druids and Rangers, while not considered evil per se, serve a different calling than that of king, country, or even humanity.

Arcane magic is seen as a liberating force, meanwhile. Wizards are akin to the scientists of the Enlightenment period, busily researching the universe and performing wonders. Bards and Sorcerers are seen as examples of humanity's potential.

But of course there are other sources of power as well. Monks refine their bodies to perfection as always, while Warlocks consort with dark powers.

Now, since I need to curb my habit of really long OPs, thoughts? Suggestions? Modifications?