For a little over a year I ran a biweekly OD&D game set in the doomed world of Carcosa. My goal was to play up the more silly and gonzo setting elements of Carcosa: the aliens, mutant dinosaurs, etc. Carcosa was the first setting I encountered that some how managed to communicate what it was all about, while leaving so much up to the individual GM to figure out.

One day I will make a zine for my Carcosa game, and when I do it’ll open with these quotes.

I have always been reticent about answering questions about Carcosa. There is no Single Ideal Carcosa to which other referees’ Carcosas must conform. I tried with Carcosa to lightly sketch (but in lurid colors) a weird world of nightmare. I want to awaken feelings of the weird and of horror and of awe with Carcosa, such that the referee can then use Carcosa to satisfy within himself and his players the deep desire for darkness and the weird.

I shudder to think of rules lawyers or canon lawyers playing their tricks with my books. The books are meant for the opposite use, the use of creative and imaginative referees who basically say when reading my books, “Ah, I see what you’re trying to do here. Let me finish all your sentences for you.” I never want to effectively tell a referee to sit down and shut up. — Geoffrey McKinney on ODD74

Of course anyone can do anything he likes with Carcosa. There is no One True Wayism about Carcosa, nor is there an “Official” Carcosa. My attitude towards my creations is that of Gary towards D&D in 1974, not Gary towards AD&D in 1982. — Geoffrey McKinney on Dragonsfoot

My words do not even pretend to be Official Carcosa. There is no such thing as “Official” Carcosa. There is only YOUR Carcosa. Do with it as you will, and may the Old Ones mutate your thoughts into an indescribable campaign. — Geoffrey McKinney on Dragonsfoot

Players, don’t get too attached to your characters, because the game isn’t about them—the game is about the warren. Individual rabbits are cheap and the continuity of the warren is everything. Death is explicitly on the table and will occur as the fiction demands, so breed early and often. Your kits are your legacy (and the pool from which you will probably draw your next character).

Think of the game as a generational saga rather than an heroic narrative. Although your characters may well be leaders, poets, and scofflaws, they are still at the bottom of the food chain in a world determined to kill them. Perhaps their children can finish what you so bravely started. Generational play is great fun, and having a strong connection to the warren as a living community pays great dividends over time. You’ll start to care about its health and goals, and build a mythology around the exploits of previous generations. And, despite all these lofty assurances, in the end making up a new rabbit takes only minutes. - Marshall Miller, The Warren.

The Warren is a Powered by the Apocalypse game about rabbits—picture Watership Down.¹ I’ve tried to play it a few times with my daughter, though without much success. My daughter is a scaredy cat. She doesn’t like games with conflict or danger.² Most RPGs aren’t particularly interesting without either.

The Warren is full of writing I could imagine being pulled right out of an old-school D&D book. Stories about rabbits are often stories about survival and horror. Watership Down is very much in this vein. Your rabbits struggle against the world, and many will die so others may live. One can picture running some real meat grinder games playing a by the book game of The Warren.

I’ve wanted to run a session of this game with people closer to my age for a while now. Bully Pulpit Games has published several “playsets” (basically very terse setting documents) to help kickstart games of The Warren. They’re all quite good, but sometimes it’s fun to make your own.

Of course anyone can do anything he likes with Carcosa. There is no One True Wayism about Carcosa, nor is there an “Official” Carcosa. My attitude towards my creations is that of Gary towards D&D in 1974, not Gary towards AD&D in 1982. — Geoffrey McKinney on Dragonsfoot

World of Carcosa is a playset for The Warren that is set in the doomed world of Carcosa. If you have been reading this blog you know it’s one of my favourite settings for D&D. I’m not sure what the Venn diagram is for people interested in Carcosa and people interested in a game about rabbits. Perhaps it’s very small. This is for my people!

I haven’t had a chance to run this playset yet. Buyer beware!

Download World of Carcosa.

Trey wrote about Westerns, and it reminded me of this half finished blog post I had written about my (now on hiatus) Carcosa game.

I had pitched the D&D campaign as Masters of the Universe crossed with Carcosa. Looking back at it now, i’m not sure that’s what I was ever really running. It was often goofy and light hearted, which I like, but without all the Masters of the Universe overtones I was hoping to inject. What I had been running, in hindsight, was a Western. Perhaps this is coloured by my reading a Blood Meridian, but it feels like the line between post apocalypse science fiction and the Wild West is quite fine. You have lawlessness, violence, and a collapse of societal norms and obligations in both. My players spend their time wandering a dangerous wilderness, visiting towns with their own rules of law. They go on missions escorting caravans, and hunt slavers for bounty.

Because I am so chronically underprepared, I went with XP for gold as the means of gaining levels. Rather than simply giving people XP for killing slavers directly, I gave my players gold in the form of a bounty in their home base. The end result is they travel the wastes cutting off heads to prove they have killed a vile Jale slaver. Gruesome, no doubt, but it’s all sort of abstract in the game. No one really dwells on the fact they are carting around a big bag of heads. After reading McCarthy’s book it feels far more dark and grizzly. It’s easy to project one story on top of the other.

Westerns are one of my favourite genres of film, but they aren’t what I had intended to run. When I pick up my Carcosa game again I need to think harder about what themes and tropes made Masters of the Universe the show it was. Also, I need to run a D&D game again.

As I mentioned in my last post, I ran Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer, the sample adventure in Carcosa, over the weekend. Because I was nervous about running a game at a convention, for strangers, I was perhaps more prepared than usual for this game. Going through the process of prepping for the game has caused me to rethink (some) of the opinions I had on what I want from an adventure, and what I should really be doing when I run a game.

I ran Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer more or less directly from the book. I think this remains one of the key things I want from any adventure. I have some modules where room descriptions are so long I could never hope to find pertinent information in their walls of poorly organized text. In contrast the Fungoid Gardens of the Bone Sorcerer is neatly laid out, well organized, and terse. I had no trouble quickly parsing out what each room was about while my players were exploring. I’m never going to run anything that requires me to re-write it to use it.

To help speed things up during the game I made a little monster tracker for the dungeon: for each room with a monster I had the monsters stats, and the HP of each monster encountered. I rolled up the number of monsters encountered and the HP ahead of time, for any room where these numbers were random. This is the sort of handout that seems like it should be more common than it is. I can’t imagine when it wouldn’t be useful to a GM.

I also pre-rolled all the random encounters that would happen during the game, and made a similar monster tracker for those. During the game I let players roll a d12 to see which of the pre-generated encounters they hit. (I could have just had them encounter them in sequence, but I also like some surprise at the game table.) This was actually more handy than I thought it would be. Random encounters felt as seamless as expected ones.

The Sorcerer has two apprentices (1st-level Ulfire Sorcerers) who wear chain mail and are armed with swords (and one has a short bow and a quiver of 20 arrows). Neither knows any rituals.

The above is one of the room descriptions from the dungeon. I can read this to myself quickly and not stutter when players walk into the room. Well, until they ask me what else is in here. I don’t think I realized how useful some amount of (interesting) dungeon dressing is till I came across rooms like this while running the adventure. I’m not good at coming up with this sort of thing on the spot. (Or not on the spot, for that matter.) What I ended up describing when I ran the module wasn’t particularly interesting. I think a few extra words about what some of the rooms are like would go a long way to improving this module.

Do these two apprentices like each other? Do they like their master? Are they vain? Are they insane? McKinnon leaves this all up in the air. Like the rest of Carcosa it’s up to you to decide some of the finer details of the adventure. The relationships between everyone in the dungeon isn’t fleshed out. There is a Bone Sorcerer, his two apprentices, and an alchemist all operating within this dungeon, along with a tribe of Deep Ones: what is their deal? Again, a few more words here would again go a long way at the game table.

That said, I do think the approach McKinnon took here is reasonable. There has to be a trade off made when your goal is tweet-sized room descriptions. From reading what’s he has written online, I think he is more interested in providing GMs with skeletons and frameworks for adventure rather than something more richly detailed.

I shudder to think of rules lawyers or canon lawyers playing their tricks with my books. The books are meant for the opposite use, the use of creative and imaginative referees who basically say when reading my books, “Ah, I see what you’re trying to do here. Let me finish all your sentences for you.” I never want to effectively tell a referee to sit down and shut up. — Geoffery McKinnon on ODD74

Still, it does introduce more work for the DM. I made a sheet that listed each NPC and a couple words about them, just so I wouldn’t be ad-libbing when the players encountered someone. This wasn’t much work, and helped flesh out the dungeon a little bit more.

Running a convention game was a good experience, much better than I thought it would be. I had 4 small A5 sheets of paper with some sparse notes, but that was more than enough to help me feel like I was ready for most anything. In my regular game I prep the bare minimum I can get away with and still feel like i’m ready for a game. After running this convention game I can see that just a tiny bit more effort would probably improve my games immensely, and take away a lot of the stress I feel when I run a game.

Thanks to the hard working people at Wikipedia we have the following life lessons from He-Man:

1. Man-at-Arms tells viewers they’ll all make mistakes, but to “try, try again” and remain confident.
2. Orko tells viewers some strangers are dangerous, so never accept gifts from or talk to any.
3. Man-at-Arms tells viewers He-Man’s brain helped more than his muscles in that problem, and that brains can and should be exercised.
4. He-Man tells viewers to be cautious, whether or not a public safety official is around.
5. Teela tells viewers caring adoptive parents deserve the same love caring biological parents get.
6. Man-at-Arms tells viewers to first consider whether any practical jokes they play on friends may cause accidental serious injury.
7. Orko tells viewers animals should not be treated as tools, but with kindness and respect.
8. He-Man tells viewers drugs can not make their problems go away, and will often cause more.
9. Teela tells viewers to admit their mistakes rather than lying to cover them up.
10. Teela tells viewers they should question everything that does not seem right, but “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.
11. Teela tells viewers they should obey their parents, who have their best interests at heart when disallowing fun things.
12. Teela tell viewers to check with a doctor before physical exercise, and to start off slow.
13. He-Man tells viewers courage is not so much about braving danger as it is about sticking to personal principles in times of temptation.
14. Orko tells viewers to not eat any strange fruit they find, no matter how alluring, as it might be poisonous.
15. Adam tells viewers to share big problems with someone who cares, rather than feeling ashamed to ask for help.
16. Adam tells viewers money can make others act nicely toward them, but it can not buy a true friend.
17. Zodac tells viewers to protect their ecosystem from wasteful and dangerous pollution.
18. He-Man reminds viewers what Prince Adam said after “Daimar the Demon”; if a problem is too much, ask for help from someone you trust.
19. He-Man tell viewers attention seeking attracts a bad kind of attention, while being polite and helpful makes people like you.
20. Teela tells viewers music can help them feel better, and suggests singing, humming or whistling when sad.
21. Teela tells viewers they may get away with a bad deed for a while, but it will eventually be punished.
22. Teela tells viewers cooperation makes a job easier, and by respecting others’ contrary opinions, they may learn something.
23. Man-at-Arms tell viewers to resist the impulse to do something their wiser parent says is dangerous.
24. Orko tells viewers to appreciate the greatest magic of all during their daily life, which is life itself.
25. He-Man tell viewers anyone can change their bad habits, and the first step is telling themselves, “I can.”
26. Orko tells viewers parental love is the strongest love there is, and suggests telling their parents “I love you”.
27. Orko tells viewers to have three meals each day, and to not overeat.
28. He-Man tells viewers books are a viable entertainment alternative to television.
29. Man-at-Arms tells viewers they owe much to the adventurers through history, bravely facing unknown dangers so we may follow safely.
30. Sorceress tells viewers they all have the Starchild’s invisible power to bring people together; it is called love and is invoked through being kind and gentle.
31. Teela tells viewers to respect trees along with all life, and be a happier person for it.
32. Orko tells viewers to avoid heavy eating or exercise before sleep, which should be at the same time each day.
33. Zodac tells viewers it is just as important to know when to use great power as when to not.
34. Orko tells viewers to admit their mistakes and deal with them, rather than run away.
35. He-Man tells viewers to enjoy nature, but to leave things where they are.
36. He-Man tell viewers of the Magna Carta, which they praise as the first step toward social equality, or “the way it should be”.
37. Man tells viewers that while headbutting walls and doors looks like fun, it is actually quite dangerous.
38. Adam tells viewers to stay out of abandoned buildings, where they could be hurt or trapped.
39. Orko tell viewers repetition and rehearsal are key to remembering things like lines.
40. Man-At-Arms tell viewers to honor their promises, to say what they mean and mean what they say.
41. Orko tells viewers they do not need talent or possessions, they are special just for being themselves and real friends will know it.
42. Teela tells viewers nightmares are no more real than fairy tales, and suggests talking about them with someone.
43. He-Man tells viewers museums are storehouses of knowledge, and knowledge is a power more precious than gold or jewels.
44. Teela tells viewers fear is a common and natural warning of danger, and to heed it without shame or guilt.
45. Man-at-Arms tell viewers that accepting responsibility can instantly turn a boy to a man.
46. He-Man tells viewers not to blindly follow orders from leaders who may be irresponsibly selfish, but consider what is right and wrong for themselves.
47. Man-at-Arms tells viewers to judge people on their behaviour, not their appearance.
48. Man-at-Arms tells viewers to accept and learn from their mistakes, rather than beat themselves up about them.
49. Orko tells viewers carelessness is dangerous, and to “play it safe”.
50. He-Man tells viewers to not let the spirit of competition lead to injuries or anger in games, and to “play it safe”.
51. Teela tells viewers beauty is skin deep, that ugly people are often the “most beautiful to know” and those who look beautiful can be ugly inside.
52. He-Man tells viewers a symbol like a sword can’t make a leader, but intelligence, respect for others and an unselfish desire to do good can.
53. Adam tells viewers historical figures were once real people, like them.
54. He-Man tells viewers the threat of drowning is very real, and to never swim alone.
55. He-Man tells viewers it takes more courage to not fight when someone calls them a coward.
56. Orko tells viewers to not boast when playing games, to be a good winner and a good loser.
57. He-Man tells viewers everybody deserves a second chance, but if they keep getting into trouble, they might not be worth keeping around.
58. Teela tells viewers than being calm and reasonable during arguments, rather than angry, is the best way to solve a problem.
59. Teela tells viewers their parents are their best friends, since they help and care through illness and other bad times.
60. Orko tells viewers to not fear others for looking different, but to appreciate their thoughts and actions.
61. Adam tell viewers to not discriminate by race or religion, rather by actions.
62. Orko tell viewers patience can keep them from rushing into trouble.
63. Teela tells viewers to accept responsibility for their mistakes, and not shift the blame onto others.
64. again tell viewers “Don’t judge a book by its cover”.
65. Teela tell viewers the “Golden Rule” of treating others the way you’d like them to treat you.
66. Orko tells viewers to ask for help with their problems, rather than just feeling sorry for themselves.
67. Orko tell viewers there are vast quantities and varieties of entertainment and information in books.
68. He-Man tells viewers to help their fellow humans when they see a problem too big for one alone.
69. Teela tell viewers that, while human progress will inevitably destroy many trees, it is important to leave some areas of wilderness for everyone to enjoy.
70. Fisto tells viewers to lend a hand when they see others struggling with a task, and to not be too proud to ask for the same.
71. Teela tell viewers meeting responsibilities for a workload breeds dependability, the “first step to becoming a winner”.
72. Orko tells viewers to not discount old people, who often have much wisdom to combine with the vitality of youth, resulting in a better time for everyone.
73. He-Man tells viewers everyone makes mistakes, and everyone deserves a second chance (as he did in “The Golden Discs of Knowledge”).
74. He-Man tells viewers treating an animal with respect and kindness is far more fun than forcing it to fight.
75. Man tell viewers to keep calm in arguments with friends, lest they say something hurtful they’ll later regret.
76. Man-at-Arms tell viewers the best and quickest way to end a battle is an act of compassion, not of revenge.
77. Teela tells viewers to not “let a few bad apples spoil the bunch”; that is, not blame or judge a group of people for an individual member’s actions.
78. Man-At-Arms tell viewers play is just as important as work, but to always consider the safety rules of any game.
79. Cringer tell viewers to trust their instincts, whether feeling fear or courage.
80. Teela tell viewers a good idea can come from an unexpected place, so to keep an open mind.
81. He-Man tells viewers fears which might be called phobias can often be healthy and normal deterrents from dangers like fire, water or heights.
82. Adam tells viewers accepting a dare is oten a foolish path to trouble, and they should do what they feel is right, regardless of peer pressure.
83. Orko tells viewers a lie not only hurts others, but themselves; lying to cover lies and forgetting which were already told makes a small lie into a big one.
84. Adam tells viewers cooperation can make a tedious or impossible task much easier and even fun.
85. Teela tells viewers to let those who’ve been kind and helpful to them know how much that means.
86. Squinch tells viewers their maximum level of ability isn’t as important as their effort to work at that level.
87. Teela tells viewers to consider the victim’s safety and feelings before playing a practical joke.
88. Orko tells viewers to not take a rumor about someone at face value, and ask for their side of the story before judging.
89. Teela tells viewers to not jump to conclusions; a somewhat bird-like creature lands on her shoulder and repeats this twice.
90. Man-At-Arms tells viewers not to touch or especially ingest anything labeled with a face like Skeletor’s; just like Skeletor, they spell bad news.
91. He-Man tells viewers books are the closest thing they have to a working time machine, while holding three fiction books: Moby Dick, Huckleberry Finn and The Time Machine.
92. Orko tells viewers those with living grandparents are especially lucky.
93. Orko tell viewers if they practice hard at anything they want to do well, the results will eventually surprise them.
94. Orko tell viewers revenge just leads to more revenge, and to forgive rather than continue the cycle.
95. He-Man tells viewers to treat envy not with theft, but by asking politely to share; they might even make a friend.
96. Orko tell viewers their parents punish them to teach right from wrong, not because they like it.
97. Man-At-Arms tells viewers imagination and intelligence are more wonderful than physical strength, and to exercise their brains along with their muscles.
98. Man-At-Arms tells viewers to listen to their conscience, and if they’re still confused after that, ask someone they trust.
99. Adam tells viewers to not gamble with things that aren’t theirs.
100. Man-at-Arms tells viewers to not feel bad for failure, as long as they did the best job they could do.
101. Orko tells viewers not to make up stories or exaggerate, lest nobody trust even their true stories.
102. Man-At-Arms tells viewers to generally be safe, and specifically, to wear a seat belt and not play with fire.
103. Man-At-Arms tells viewers there is no such thing as absolute good or evil in any group. Orko suggests judging people on their actions, more than appearance or even words.
104. Teela tells viewers drugs can make them sick, dead or dangerous, and to check with someone they love before taking any.
105. Teela tells viewers there’s often no time to think about helping a friend, they just have to do it; it may come back to them in an unexpected reward.
106. Man-At-Arms tells viewers to be good winners, showing mercy and respect to defeated opponents.
107. He-Man tells viewers of the unstoppable progression of time and its effect of change.
108. Man-At-Arms tells viewers to resist gluttony and greed.
109. Orko tell viewers sometimes fairy tales come true. The king says acting beautiful matters more than looking ugly.
110. Orko tells viewers to leave potentially dangerous practical jokes to the pros, like him.
111. Marlena tells viewers helping others helps themselves, by making them feel good.
112. Orko tell viewers not to exaggerate in anecdotes, as it can lead to wildly inaccurate gossip and difficulty in discerning truth.
113. Man-At-Arms tells viewers that people with different abilities can combine them into an ability greater than the sum of its parts, and this can make many jobs much easier.
114. Teela tells viewers to be careful when running or climbing, and that it’s more important to get somewhere at all than get there fast.
115. Adam tells viewers it’s fun to lose and to pretend, but that there’s a line between make-believe and outright lying they shouldn’t cross.
116. Orko tell viewers not to take gifts from strangers, or keep any secrets they ask you to keep from parents.
117. Teela tells viewers violence isn’t the best answer to any problem, as it only causes more problems.
118. He-Man tells viewers doing chores keeps a house running smoothly, even if they seem pointless or boring.
119. Man-At-Arms tells viewers they can’t win if they don’t try, so to keep persisting even when it looks hopeless.
120. Ricky tells viewers that having an genuine interest in something makes it seem less like work.
121. Man-At-Arms tells viewers to weigh out all the evidence and consider the sources before jumping to conclusions.

There are 124 episodes of He-Man, sadly three were missing lessons. I was planning on concluding my session re-caps with words of wisdom from He-Man.

Potions and poultices prepared by an experienced hand can temper the addictive and dangerous properties of the desert lotus, producing powerful restoratives. There is always a risk associated with the lotus, but they are perhaps greatly outweighed by the rewards.

Each usage of a potion or poultice produced by a desert lotus apothecary has a 1 in 20 chance of producing a great feeling of a addiction in the user. All powders have a 1 in 6 chances of being addictive. Players who are currently addicted to what they have just ingested must take another dose (which grants additional positive effect) or be at a -1 on all rolls for the session. Using a desert lotus product more than once a session increases the chance of addiction by 1, 2, 4, 8, etc.

Apothecaries that work with the desert lotus will generally have a random selection for sale week to week, prices varying based on the availability of flowers.

The default setting for Carcosa is full of xenophobia. I wanted a list of reasons why a group of adventures of various races might be adventuring together. I started writing one, but got stuck fairly quickly. So, I asked my friends to help out. The good entries below were all written by people other than myself. They call that Gygaxian Democracy.

Why are we together?

1. Awoken from a lotus induced stupor you have fled from a sorcerer. I’m sure they want you back.
2. Escaped from Slavers! One day you will have your revenge on those bastards—unless they get you first.
3. Members of a traveling troupe of actors. You know one play, which you tweak based on your audience to play up on the local prejudices.
4. Members of a janissary regiment, put together by long gone—perhaps?—Alien overlords.
5. After years of wandering with your herd the symbiotic fronds were yanked out from the backs of your heads. Who knows how many years you lived as root heads.
6. Returned to Carcosa after being experimented on by the Space Aliens. Hopefully they don’t come looking for you again.
7. Cultists! (Must share a common alignment.)
8. Foundlings raised by Lawful spawn hunting illuminati.
9. The wrong coloured children of an otherwise homogenous village. Did they treat you well?
10. Refugees who have fled a natural disaster. Famine? War? God damn Aliens with laser guns?
11. Kidnapped orphans raised deep in the desert by a mad, but kindly, old couple.
12. Psychically summoned to a crashed space ship. You have no memory of the recent few months.
13. Members of a diseased community of outcasts. Everyone shares a common (mostly harmless) mutation.
14. Emerged from a sorcerer’s birthing vats deep within an abandoned complex. (Thousands of other pods full of replacement PCs available as well.)
15. Once from a religious community, where all members wore body obscuring clothes and lived as equals without colour based caste. After the sorcerer’s troops/raiders/slavers/shaggoths came that dream, and the obscuring robes and windings, have been cast aside.
16. A bad medicine show went through some villages a while back selling poisonous mutation causing ‘snake squeezings’. The adventurers are relatives of the slain, banded together to hunt down huckster and deliver ‘justice’.
17. All that remains of the local criminal underworld, driven out by an unspeakably violent new boss or spawn inquisitors.
18. Each character bears the same tattoo, which causes horror amongst village elders Carcosa wide. (The characters have no memory of when or how tattoo appeared.)
19. The former retainers of a group of strangely coloured people who spoke a weird language and claimed to be from another world called Dirt (or Earth or something like that). The original adventurers are all dead, but retainers continue to adventure together. Some continue to search for a portal to this world of Dirt, because there are no shoggoths there.
20. You each have vague memories of a past life as a White Man sorcerer, until you performed some ritual that split you into different facets of your core personality.

In the game I am running now, the players rolled a 3 when starting the campaign. So, they are all members of the acting troupe The Rainbow Connection. Their back story has been far more fun than I had thought it would be.

Thanks to Stuart P, Brendan S, Evan W, Gus L, and David R and everyone else for their ideas and suggestions.

Carcosa is not Tolkien, high fantasy, or mainstream fantasy. It is equal parts horror, science-fiction, and swords & sorcery. It is H. P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Robert E. Howard’s “Worms of the Earth” and “A Witch Shall Be Born,” Lin Carter’s “Carcosa Story about Hali,” and Michael Moorcock’s “While the Gods Laugh.” — Carcosa, pg 3

I have read almost none of the source material that inspired Carcosa. As I am now in the middle of running a campaign set in that world, I thought I should try and remedy that—if only so I can better understand what a Cyclopean City might look like or what the hell a Primordial One is all about. Since we live in an age where you can basically ask anyone anything, I thought I’d go right to the source and ask the author what specific books he recommends one read to get in a Carcosa frame of mind:

Of the pure Lovecraft stories, read these:

• The Call of Cthulhu
• The Whisperer in Darkness
• At the Mountains of Madness
• The Shadow over Innsmouth
• The Shadow out of Time

Of Lovecraft’s revisions, read these:

• The Mound
• Out of the Aeons

Read the original five Elric stories by Moorcock:

• The Dreaming City
• While the Gods Laugh
• The Stealer of Souls
• Kings in Darkness
• The Flamebringers (later retitled The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams)

Read R. E. Howard’s:

• Worms of the Earth (a Bran Mak Morn story)
• The Shadow Kingdom (a Kull story)
• A Witch Shall Be Born (a Conan story)

If you can find Cthulhu Mythos stories by Lin Carter, read those.

Hopefully someone else will find this list handy. It seems like a good fantasy reading list even if you aren’t interested in Carcosa.

Sorcerer’s in Carcosa are creepy and despicable, and the magic of the setting is totally horrific. I had originally assumed no one would want to play a sorcerer in the game I was running because they are quite villainous. Since everyone is using my random character generator to make characters there is a 20% chance of anyone playing ending up with a sorcerer. There are currently two in my game.

It only took two sessions before one of my players turned to cannibalism. The goal was to learn some sorcerous rituals, and eating the brain of your rival sorcerer seemed like as good a way as any.

Running Carcosa has been fun and lighthearted thus far—seriously.

Eating Sorcerer Brains

Sorcerers may attempt to learn new sorcerous knowledge by devouring the brains of other sorcerers. This isn’t an ideal way to learn ritual magic, but sorcerers are often quite secretive about their sorcery, and reticent when it comes to sharing what they have learned.

The player should roll under their constitution score. Success indicates they have learned some new ritual(s). The number you succeed by indicates how many rituals the player learns, which are selected randomly from those the dead sorcerer knew. Those who fail this check should roll on the I shouldn’t have ate that brain … table. Brains need to be harvested and eaten as quickly after the death of the sorcerer as possible: impose a penalty of 1 to the roll for each minute that passes after the death of the sorcerer.

Players who are not playing sorcerers, but decide to eat a sorcerer’s brain, should just go ahead and roll on the I shouldn’t have ate that brain … table.

I Shouldn’t have Ate that Brain

At the start of 2014 I decided I would finally run a game of D&D, rather than always being a player. It was a sort of gaming New Years resolution. If you read this blog you can probably guess what I wanted to run: a game set in the doomed world of Carcosa! I started writing up rough notes for where the campaign would begin, and fleshed out a small region within the larger world map for players to explore. I then sat on those notes for 8-9 months.

Deciding what to run and how to run it wasn’t that difficult. My main stumbling point was getting over myself and actually running a game. I hadn’t DM’d anything in probably 20 years, if not longer. It seems weird to feel apprehensive about an activity little children do without much fuss. I’d talk about running a game, eventually, and leave it at that. Until yesterday.

Being on the other side of the DM screen was a strange experience. I didn’t find it as stressful as I had thought it would be. Because everyone I normally game with was busy it was just me and two players, Eric and Gus, but that was probably for the best. I found the logistics of managing players was probably easier. I decided to run an OD&D, a system so poorly fleshed out you don’t really have to worry about playing the game wrong. The nice thing about our group is that we all have a rough sense of how to play an OD&D game, and make the same sorts of assumptions when playing. The adventure we were playing was one I made myself. That familiarity with the material probably helped the game run smoothly.

I think the session went well enough, but I have been trying to reflect on what I need to do better. I want to run a Carcosa game with a healthy dose of He-Man, but this first session lacked anything that would suggest a Masters of the Universe vibe. I don’t think I did that great a job highlighting what makes the world weird. The dungeon I had made was supposed to seem mostly empty, with the big reveal being, “oh shit it’s actually full of Bone Men!” I think the actual result of the session lacked that critical, “oh shit.” From the game side of things, I need to firm up when I roll for random encounters. I was too inconsistent here, sometimes letting the players search without consequence or travel through larger chunks of the dungeon unmolested.

All in all it was a lot of fun. In hindsight there was really no way it wouldn’t have been. I think the people you play with really make or break this stuff.

Fungoid Garden of the Bone Sorcerer is the adventure that is included within Carcosa. The adventure presents a detailed look at Hex 2005, outlining several places within the hex that could be a source of adventure. If you wanted to make something like this yourself, but weren’t sure where to start, Doyle Tavener has you covered. Many years ago he started writing a guide for randomly generating these sorts of detailed hex maps. I thought it was a shame his work was languishing on a long dead thread on ODD74, and decided to republish it with some nicer formatting. This version has been updated by Doyle, based on running a campaign set in Carcosa recently.

Generation of Detailed Carcosa Hex Maps by Doyle Tavener

I also wrote this up some time ago for a Carcosa campaign I may never run. Jeff Rients suggested 20 questions about your campaign setting that would provide just enough backstory that your players could figure out what’s up without needing some crazy info-dump they’ll just tune out anyways.

1. What is the deal with my cleric’s religion?

   There are no clerics. Problem solved!

   There isn’t much proper religion to speak of in the world of Carcosa. Some people worship the Old Ones and their spawn, others ancient technology. No one is worshiping otherworldly benevolent beings. There are certainly no centralized religious organizations.

2. Where can we go to buy standard equipment?

   Characters begin in the town of Invak. One can find most standard equipment for sale in the town in a large shop run by “the Infinite Keeper”. The Brown Men village of Jahar to the South may have other items that are trickier to track down. Trade caravans run between the two towns.

3. Where can we go to get plate mail custom fitted for this monster I just befriended?

   You are unlikely to find anyone in the region who knows how to produce plate mail, let alone the metal you would need to produce it. “The Ocean of Humility” in Invak may be able to fashion something out of leather. Most people have little idea how to fashion useful armour that fits people, let alone monsters.

4. Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?

   The most evil of all the Purple Men, “the Icon of Judgment,” is known throughout the land for his mastery of sorcery. He rules a small village protected by advanced weaponry and battle armoured soldiers. The Old Ones yield to his will.

5. Who is the greatest warrior in the land?

   You know of no greater soldier than “the Swift and Silent Beginning,” the leader of the Bone Men village Invak.

6. Who is the richest person in the land?

   “The Icon of Judgment” is said to possess vast amounts of wealth.

7. Where can we go to get some magical healing?

   Nowhere. Sorcery is only used for evil and wickedness.

8. Where can we go to get cures for the following conditions: poison, disease, curse, level drain, lycanthropy, polymorph, alignment change, death, undeath?

   The desert lotuses can heal the sick and dying. Of course, they can also kill you.

9. Is there a magic guild my MU belongs to or that I can join in order to get more spells?

   There are no traditional magic-users, and sorcerers are definitely not forming guilds: they are two busy harvesting each other for fuel for their spells.

10. Where can I find an alchemist, sage or other expert NPC?

    “The Falling Flower” is a Desert Lotus Apothcary who lives in the village of Invak. He operates a small stall in the ex-slaves quarter of the town. He may be addicted to the lotuses he sells.

    The nearest sage you know of is “He of the Air,” who lives in Jahar.

11. Where can I hire mercenaries?

    The town of Invak maintains an informal standing milita. Most of the men and women in the town have served. For a little money it won’t be hard to find people willing to have an adventure.

12. Is there any place on the map where swords are illegal, magic is outlawed or any other notable hassles from Johnny Law?

    Most people consider magic wicked. You are best to hide any sorcerous tendencies you may have. On the other hand, no villagers are likely to complain about a person carrying a weapon: it’s rough out there.

13. Which way to the nearest tavern?

    This Way to Death in Invak serves fermented drinks and is the place to go for all sorts of shadiness.

14. What monsters are terrorizing the countryside sufficiently that if I kill them I will become famous?

    A large spherical hunter-killer robot stalks the wastes around Invak at night. No one knows who created it or for what purpose, but it has been stealing away men and women for as long as anyone can remember. Few have encountered the machine and lived to share their tales.

    “The Swift and Silent Beginning” will pay for proof of any killed slaver or spawn.

15. Are there any wars brewing I could go fight?

    Occasionally a town and its leader may get bold and try to expand their reach or power: this rarely ends well for anyone involved. There are currently no large scale wars of note.

16. How about gladiatorial arenas complete with hard-won glory and fabulous cash prizes?

    A castle of Orange Men to the North run a gladiatorial arena of sorts: there are no prizes and the winners of the games are fed to the Spawn of Shub-Niggurath the Orange Men worship as a god.

17. Are there any secret societies with sinister agendas I could join and/or fight?

    Maybe, but they are secret.

18. What is there to eat around here?

    In Invak people subsist off the meats and eggs of the various lizards that make their home in the wastes, along with mushrooms and all sorts of strange roots. There is nothing good to eat anywhere.

19. Any legendary lost treasures I could be looking for?

    The Elder Signs, rune inscribed stones that keep the Old Ones at bay, would probably be quite handy.

20. Where is the nearest dragon or other monster with Type H treasure?

    Few creatures are interested hoarding treasure on Carcosa besides the various races of Men. Of course, it’s not clear what anyone actually does with their piles of gold and jewels: Carcosa is a crap hole world with nothing good to buy.

I wrote this up some time ago for a Carcosa campaign I may never run. Brendan of Necropraxis suggested answering these questions as a way to help new players quickly get a sense of what’s up with your particular game of D&D. I haven’t ran a game since I was a little kid, but if I did it’d probably look like the sort of games I’ve been playing since I got back into old-school D&D.

1. Ability scores generation method?

   3d6 in order, just like God intended.

2. How are death and dying handled?

   If your hit points drop below or are equal to zero make a Save vs. Death Ray and Poison: success indicates your character is merely unconscious, completely incapacitated until they can get a full week of rest; failure indicates your character is oh-so dead. If you roll a natural 20 on your saving throw roll, your character not only survives, but is invigorated by his near death. In this case your character re-rolls their HP for the session.¹

3. What about raising the dead?

   The ancient snake-men may have had a ritual for raising the dead, though it is currently lost to the ages. Perhaps intrepid adventurers may uncover such a spell, though I am sure the costs to cast it would make death look like the better choice.

4. How are replacement PCs handled?

   Roll up a new character and we will jam them into the game somehow. It’s handy to have henchmen for such a situation.

5. Initiative: individual, group, or something else?

   Individual: roll a d6, high roll goes first, your dexterity score is used to break ties.

6. Are there critical hits and fumbles? How do they work?

   Yes: a 1 is always a miss, a 20 is always a hit and you deal the maximum damage for the attack.

7. Do I get any benefits for wearing a helmet?

   Of course: helmets shall be splintered! 10% of hits that would damage a character will be to a character’s head. If the character is wearing a well made helmet it will shatter protecting them from the blow.

8. Can I hurt my friends if I fire into melee or do something similarly silly?

   Yes, targets would be chosen at random when firing into the fray.

9. Will we need to run from some encounters, or will we be able to kill everything?

   You will probably want to avoid some fights.

10. Level-draining monsters: yes or no?

    Hells no: they are the worst.

11. Are there going to be cases where a failed save results in PC death?

    Yes, but hopefully that won’t feel stupid. What’s the point of a Save vs. Death Ray if you don’t have death rays in your game?

12. How strictly are encumbrance & resources tracked?

    Strictly! Bust out that spreadsheet, asshole.

13. What’s required when my PC gains a level? Training? Can it happen in the middle of an adventure, or do I have to wait for down time?

    Leveling happens during down time. There is no need for special training.

14. What do I get experience for?

    Finding treasure, killing monsters and terrible people, freeing slaves, stopping sorcerers, exploring the wilderness and anything else I can think of.

15. How are traps located? Description, dice rolling, or some combination?

    Description, mostly.

16. Are retainers encouraged and how does morale work?

    Yes, the more the merrier. Morale is handled using the obscure rules hidden within OD&D. When a morale check is required roll a 2d6, adjusted by a retainers loyalty, the higher the roll the better.

17. How do I identify magic items?

    Characters may encounter ancient magical snake-men artifacts, or the great technologies of the Primordial Ones or the Great Race. Chances are nobody in Carcosa will know what’s up.

18. Can I buy magic items? Oh, come on: how about just potions?

    Sorry, no.

19. Can I create magic items? When and how?

    It is possible, through some long lost terrible sorcerous ritual that’s probably not worth the trouble when you can just go hunting for laser guns.

20. What about splitting the party?

    That never works out, right?

The world described in Geoffrey McKinney’s Carcosa is very open ended. The Dungeon Master must extrapolate from the brief descriptions in the book what their version of Carcosa will look like. It’s a big change coming from the overly detailed TSR-era campaign settings like Dark Sun. McKinney stresses in the book and in interviews there is no canonical Carcosa.

Jeff Rients of Jeff’s Game Blog has a list of 20 questions he suggests Dungeon Masters answer. The goal is to provide players with information about their game, but avoid boring them with too much detail. These questions also provide a simple approach to world building: answering them would flesh out enough of the game world to start playing quickly. This is a simpler alternative to playing J.R.R. Tolkien when it comes to this sort of thing.

The 4th question in this list asks, “Who is the mightiest wizard in the land?” I could of course make up my own mighty wizard, but there is one described ever so slightly in Carcosa that is perfect for the role:

0614: Village of 500 Purple Men ruled by “the Icon of Judgment,” a chaotic 16th-level Sorcerer who is immune to age, infirmity, and contagion. The village has an array of impressive defenses, including several high-technology cannons and a handful of battle armored warriors. Vast riches are rumored to be stashed within the village’s vaults.

This fellow comes to us from Chris Robert, who provided the additional hex descriptions in the expanded edition of Carcosa. An immortal chaotic 16th-level sorcerer protected by a bunch of Mech Warriors? That’s what I’m talking about.

Now, I am left wondering if all Purple Men evil. Carcosa doesn’t provide any clues. Their are 13 races of men, but there is nothing particularly interesting about any of them. Besides being different spell components the races of men are all interchangeable. I’d like to make them more interesting and unique, but I’m not sure how to start just yet. Perhaps this is the sort of thing to let the players sort out.

Re-reading Carcosa confirms my initial feelings about the book: I am a huge fan. Whenever I read Carcosa I want to play some D&D.

Continuing with the theme of my last random encounters for Carcosa, here are an additional set of weird encounters for your PCs to stumble upon.

In How Brightly Coloured Should Carcosa Be? Richard Guy discusses the relationship between He-Man and the Masters of the Universe and Carcosa. It’s probably one of the most enjoyable things i’ve read since getting back into gaming.

With that in mind, here are 16 new hex descriptions for your Carcosa game.