RPG: A New Take on Cthulhu from Cubicle 7
Cubicle 7 is answering the Call of Cthulhu with a game where players take on the role of cultists…
That’s right! There is a Cthulhu game coming out–but rather than putting investigators in the 1920’s, an alternate universe where Cthulhu helps Nazi Germany, the future, space, the dark ages, or a small coastal town in New England, The Unspeakable Sigil and Sign instead focuses on the gormless henchmen who are [era-appropriate weaponry]-fodder for heroes from other games.
I’m excited about this idea–there’s something fascinating about exploring the Mythos world from the other side. I think this will be a fascinating way to look at what could drive someone to following one of the elder gods, or what it means to try and serve them. Presumably you won’t be mouth-foamingly insane, but will instead have some pathos–or maybe the world will find you just as monstrous as your actions.
My personal hope is that it’s actually fairly mundane, kind of like the Neil Gaiman story, Shoggoth’s Old Peculiar, and that the cult stuff is an attempt to add a little color to an otherwise dreary life–color that is cut all too short when some nosey investigator starts throwing dynamite and burning books all while cackling about how he and Old Man Henderson are going to shut this place down.
via Cubicle 7
UK games publisher Cubicle 7 Entertainment has forged a partnership agreement with Make Believe Games, the company of legendary Vampire: The Masquerade creator Mark Rein-Hagen. They have announced their intention to release a tabletop roleplaying game inspired by the cosmic horror of writers like H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.
In Unspeakable: Sigil & Sign expectations are flipped on their heads, and players take the role of cultists, members of an apparently evil organization, dedicated to the destruction of mundane reality. The game explores the multifaceted themes of what it means to be monsters, looking out on a world that is as disturbing and maddening to them as they are to it.
Advertisement“For me, the entire concept of The Unspeakable setting is like a final exam of game design,” added creator-developer C.A. Suleiman. “Without abandoning what’s central to it, nor even leaving its classic pulp era, we get to pull back the veil on some of the deeper mysteries of the Cthulhu Mythos, in the process rendering a game environment as rich and compelling as that of any tabletop game setting.”
Work is now underway on the core set for Sigil & Sign, which introduces the characters and setting as it establishes core rules and themes. It launches on Kickstarter in April. All products in the series will run on the Axiom System, first launched in MBG’s “Toxploitation” RPG, I Am Zombie.
So there you have it. Which elder god will you serve? Will you hope the stars are right? Will you learn the secrets man was not meant to know and actually get to enjoy it for once? All these and more will be answered sometime after April (my guess is early next year sometime for a print release), but in the meantime, keep an eye out for this game.
Ia! Ia! Read all about it… wait on second thought maybe don’t!
