Monthly Archives: October 2021

Playtesting a Homebrew System in the Black Pyramid of Cha’alt

An Unusual Game Night

Since two members of my usual gaming group weren’t able to make it to game night, I invited those who could make it to playtest the homebrew system I’ve been working on. I decided to playtest the system using the Black Pyramid, the megadungeon found in Cha’alt—the gonzo, eldritch, science-fantasy, post-apocalyptic setting book by Venger Satanis. Since Cha’alt is fairly game system neutral, and more-or-less compatible with OSR/5e and Venger’s own Crimson Dragonslayer d20, it wasn’t too much of a stretch to get it to work with this new homebrew system.

The homebrew system I’ve been working on is based on something older than Dungeons & Dragons.

“What?!” you exclaim. “No roleplaying game is older than D&D!”

Ah, but as the saying goes, there is nothing new under the sun. Perennial ideas are often lost and rediscovered. The principles were there all along, waiting. But that’s enough philosophizing. On to the playtest!

Continue reading →

Lovecraft and Gurdjieff: Part 2: Gods

Conception of a Supreme Deity: AZATHOTH

Readers familiar with the weird tales of H.P. Lovecraft know that his fictional representation of the universe is not a godless one. At first, one might think the author’s fiction is contrary to his personal belief in atheism, as expressed in his letters. But it is not. Rather, he conveys his representation of an impersonal and indifferent universe of mindless and blind forces through his fictional deities.

Lovecraft’s universe contains a whole pantheon of alien gods with strange names and agendas foreign and sometimes malevolent towards the insignificant humans of the planet Earth. And at the center of this pantheon is AZATHOTH, the blind idiot god who mindlessly sloughs off creation. This is Lovecraft’s caricature of an ultimate deity, his own conception of God.

“[O]utside the ordered universe [is] that amorphous blight of nethermost confusion which blasphemes and bubbles at the center of all infinity—the boundless daemon sultan Azathoth, whose name no lips dare speak aloud, and who gnaws hungrily in inconceivable, unlighted chambers beyond time and space amidst the muffled, maddening beating of vile drums and the thin monotonous whine of accursed flutes.” – Dreamquest of Unknown Kadath

“… ancient legends of Ultimate Chaos, at whose center sprawls the blind idiot god Azathoth, Lord of All Things, encircled by his flopping horde of mindless and amorphous dancers, and lulled by the thin monotonous piping of a demoniac flute held in nameless paws.” – The Haunter of the Dark

Continue reading →

Gurdjieff and Games, Part 5: Roleplaying Games, Alignment, and Villains

Alignment

There are a variety of game mechanics used in roleplaying games to represent the characters’ morals and attitudes. These are often called “alignment”. Dungeons & Dragons has the “Lawful-Chaotic” dimension and often the “Good-Evil” dimension of alignment. Storyteller games use some form of “Humanity-Monster” dimension. Palladium has its Principled, Scrupulous, Unprincipled, Anarchist, Miscreant, Aberrant, and Diabolic alignments.

Since the PCs usually take on the roles of individual heroes and adventurers, PC alignments tend to be away from the “evil”, “monstrous”, or “miscreant” and more towards the “good” and “human”. Though there are exceptions, by and large most PCs tend to be good or at worst neutral.

The game master, meanwhile, plays the balance of the characters in the world across the wide spectrum of alignments. It’s like one PC is Frodo, another is Sam, and the game master is Sauron, Gandalf, Gollum, Saruman, the orcs, the ents, the elves, and so on, good guys and bad guys alike.

In Gurdjieff’s writings, in terms of “alignment”, humans have subjective morality and objective morality. Subjective morality is acquired from external factors of upbringing, parents, teachers, siblings, and peers. Since it is acquired, it has a very local or tribal character. To give an extreme example, it would be immoral for a member of the Korowai tribe of Papua New Guinea to not engage in ritual cannibalism. Whereas a typical Westerner views cannibalism as immoral. Both are doing what they believe is “good”.

Objective morality is different. It is not acquired, and as such, is universal. 

Continue reading →