It seems that the stars are right.
Just last week I dipped my toe back into the world of Green Ronin’s Modern AGE with a character build and then a few days later, they launched the Kickstarter for their Modern AGE adjacent game Cthulhu Awakens. This game is a fresh new take on the cosmic horror and Cthulhu Mythos of “the weird century” that takes place between 1920 and today using the AGE system. And while this is a fully standalone title playable with nothing else, right now the campaign has unlocked both the Modern AGE Core Rulebook and the Modern AGE Companion as bonus digital stretch goals with a potential third book from the line further down that can all be mined for ideas and additional material.
Now, I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of this genre – I do like to draw inspiration from that well for my own settings, but a modern day (or pre-modern in the case of many Cthulhu games set in the 1920s and 30s), cosmic horror isn’t necessarily my cup of tea. And even if it were – there are already so many other games out there that use the setting. There’s obviously the classic Call of Cthulhu to the more recent Delta Green and many other versions of the Mythos in as many different rulesets. So what makes this one the game that made me sit up and take notice?
Two things, specifically: one, condemnation of biases present in the source materials and two, changing the conversation on the way that both sanity and mental illness have long been portrayed in these games. I won’t dwell too much on the first part here – many other people have spoken at length and certainly much more intelligently about the problems inherent with Lovecraft’s works based on his own, frankly abhorrent, private views. And so the game has taken a stance that anything within the source material that references these views are lies and errors. And it’s a step that I applaud Green Ronin for, because as they say, the Mythos belongs to all of us now – and no one should be forced to engage with that when they come to the table.
The second part, and how that works at the table is the bigger thing for me though. While a dwindling Sanity score as your character engages deeper and deeper with things man was not meant to know is a central image to games like Call of Cthulhu, mental illness is a serious issue and I’ve long had issues with horror games attempting to “gamify” it. For every game master or storyteller that is equipped to handle it properly and with the respect and care it needs, there’s many more that just aren’t. It’s likely (hopefully) not a malicious thing – but it takes a lot of work and effort to engage with it as respectfully and carefully as it needs to be.
So instead, the designers of Cthulhu Awakens have instead introduced a mechanic called Alienation. From the FAQ they have assembled about the game –
Early in design and development we decided that not only was delineating the relationship between the sort of “literary madness” seen in the stories and mental illness not a great idea for Cthulhu Awakens, but that we also wanted to reexamine what it means exactly when exposure to the Mythos alters consciousness. Alienation is about adapting to the alien rules of the Mythos. Since these are incompatible with ordinary human thinking, which takes place in three dimensions plus time and interacts with a fraction of the universe—the reflexive dream of Azathoth, say some—Alienation produces undesirable effects, but it also leads to bursts of inspiration. With Enlightenment comes Terror.
Again, I applaud the team for this – I think it’s a very good direction that they have taken the conversation. It’s still focused on what engaging with cosmic horror does to a person, but in a way that doesn’t feel voyeuristic or cheap to people that deal with very real mental illnesses, and I’m excited to see how it actually handles when it comes out and the dice hit the table.
As for the game itself, the images that they have already shared on the Kickstarter campaign are stunning as always. One place that Green Ronin products never fail to deliver is on production quality. And the creative team for the project is absolutely stacked with talent including AGE veterans like Malcolm Sheppard, Jack Norris, and Ian Lemke, but also horror luminaries like Howard David Ingham. You can see the full list of creatives involved with the project along with any bona fides on the Kickstarter page.
I’m thrilled to see what they do with a more open look at the Cthulhu Mythos free from the shackles of a certain time period. What does this timeline for this “Weird Century” they’re constructing look like? And how can player actions in the past alter that timeline for better or for worse? This is probably the thing that I am the most excited for.
Anyway, there is still plenty of time to get in on this project, and there are plenty of ways that you can get in on the action with options for PDF copies, a Roll20 Edition of the game, and of course the special Kickstarter Edition of the physical book. So head on over and take a look! As it stands, you’re already getting a LOT of value for your pledge, and it only looks like it’s going to get better as they unlock more stretch goals.
So why not take a look? What’s the worst that could happen? It’s not like it’s the end of the world or anything…
Ben Erickson
