One of the things I loved about the old Call of Cthulhu campaigns were that almost invariably you would end up running into at least one historical figure, usually years before said historical figure "hit it big"; became famous for whatever he was going to become famous for.

I've often considered what time periods other than the 20s I would enjoy doing this for; two that spring immediately to mind would have been the Beatles in Hamburg in the very early sixties, or Che Guevara in his "motorcycle diaries" tour.  Another one that would be great would be Hunter S. Thompson back when he was writing the "Rum Diary" in Puerto Rico in 1960, before he went all gonzo... I mean, maybe Cthulhuesque experiences were what made him Gonzo?

What sort of characters along this line could be interesting in Cthulhu? Or other period-set RPGs, for that matter?

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditOne of the things I loved about the old Call of Cthulhu campaigns were that almost invariably you would end up running into at least one historical figure, usually years before said historical figure "hit it big"; became famous for whatever he was going to become famous for.

I've often considered what time periods other than the 20s I would enjoy doing this for; two that spring immediately to mind would have been the Beatles in Hamburg in the very early sixties, or Che Guevara in his "motorcycle diaries" tour.  Another one that would be great would be Hunter S. Thompson back when he was writing the "Rum Diary" in Puerto Rico in 1960, before he went all gonzo... I mean, maybe Cthulhuesque experiences were what made him Gonzo?

What sort of characters along this line could be interesting in Cthulhu? Or other period-set RPGs, for that matter?

RPGPundit

Howard Hughes. Maybe a meeting with the indescrtibable horrors from beyond drove him nutz and made him a hypochondriac.

Donald Trump. Maybe he sold his soul to nyarlathotep, that would explain why he's so soulless and evil.

Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. Story Musgrave, also.

Marvin Gaye. He would soon hear something through the grapevine....

Regards,
David R

I always thought Winston Churchill would make a hell of an addition to a CoC party.

Amelia Earhart (She's not lost, she knows EXACTLY Where she's going...)
John Lennon (Imagine THIS!)
Jack Ruby (He saved us from far worse than the drawn-out trial of a Presidential Assassin.)

Quote from: jrientsI always thought Winston Churchill would make a hell of an addition to a CoC party.

I seem to recall a certain adventure that had Churchill in it... but I don't recall where it was.  Anyone recall?

Brilliant character; I always thought that it would be cool to have him show up in a gaslight cthulhu game back when he was a young officer in Africa.

RPGPundit

Pol Pot - Imagine introducing him when he went by the name Saloth Sar, to the pcs in 50's France or maybe in some Eastern European country. In a rpg context this fuck is a Mythos waiting to happen.

Regards,
David R

Quote from: jrientsI always thought Winston Churchill would make a hell of an addition to a CoC party.

In the 1920's when he was the Liberal MP for Dundee?

H. P. Lovecraft
R. E. Howard
Novalyne Pryce

You think Lovecraft and Howard died? You're wrong. They're our last chance to prolong our meaningless existence for a few more years...
(Pulp adventures. Enemies would probably include Nazi Cultists)

...or for a more serious game you might discover that REH's suicide wasn't about his mother. Or at least that his mother's death wasn't from natural causes...

Quote from: SosthenesH. P. Lovecraft
R. E. Howard
Novalyne Pryce

You think Lovecraft and Howard died? You're wrong. They're our last chance to prolong our meaningless existence for a few more years...
(Pulp adventures. Enemies would probably include Nazi Cultists)

...or for a more serious game you might discover that REH's suicide wasn't about his mother. Or at least that his mother's death wasn't from natural causes...

Not to be critical, but I think you somewhat missed the point of the thread.  We're talking about historical characters, we're talking about not altering their history, and we're talking about these individuals before they became famous.

Also, "you meet H.P. Lovecraft" Is second only to "You meet Aleister Crowley" as a CoC idea that had every last drop of juice sucked out of it about 15 years ago already... in other words, its been done. Its usually not nearly as cool as the GM imagines it would be.

RPGPundit

Quote from: RPGPunditI've often considered what time periods other than the 20s I would enjoy doing this for; two that spring immediately to mind would have been the Beatles in Hamburg in the very early sixties, or Che Guevara in his "motorcycle diaries" tour.  Another one that would be great would be Hunter S. Thompson back when he was writing the "Rum Diary" in Puerto Rico in 1960, before he went all gonzo... I mean, maybe Cthulhuesque experiences were what made him Gonzo?

Before I got to the end of the paragraph, I was thinking about the realization of who Tlaloc really was could explain what turned Che into a bloodthirsty psychopath.  The Hunter thing's cool too (can't get sober, I'll remember...).

Oh, and I'll see your 1950s pol pot and raise you an early 1920s Nguyen Ai Quoc, living in Paris and desperately trying to convince any of the Versailles conference participants to listen to his pleas for a peaceful and equal role for the vietnamese people in French Indochina, optimistically convinced that the United States would surely help a people who's only desire is independance from their colonial overlords...

...it was still a few years before he became Ho Chi Minh.

RPGpundit

Quote from: RPGPunditNot to be critical, but I think you somewhat missed the point of the thread.  We're talking about historical characters, we're talking about not altering their history, and we're talking about these individuals before they became famous.

Yep, imagination was running wild, leaving my memory in the dust. I'd still like to see a game with those characters, using CoC D20. Just to make the CoC-suicide-fascists explode...

Another half-stolen idea would be Göring and von Richthofen during their WW1 days. One ends up dead, the other a fascist morphine addict. Fun for everyone...

Jim Morrison?

Robert Johnson?

Raffael (no, not the TMNT). Bonus points if you use Michelangelo as a cult leader. Special bonus points if you use a mean Charlton Heston imitation while doing that.

Mata Hari.

Sylvester Stallone, Buddy Holly, Michael Jackson.

Ho Chi Minh, you're raising 'em pretty high.

Now he is known in his country as Quaid -e -Azam but when the pcs first meet him and his sister he is just a disillusioned young muslim coping with his estranged wife's death and the lack of unity amongst his fellow faithful in their talks against the British and his fellow Indians.

No quiet life of practising law for you Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, after all the birth and subsequent growing pains of Pakistan will be anything but peaceful.

Regards,
David R