Supplement V: Carcosa (split)
James_Nostack:
Ralph, Carcosa only makes sense in the cultural context of the Old Skool D&D "renaissance" going on, on the web, which is ostensibly about appreciating the design priorities prevalent during the early days of the hobby. Several games have been created in this vein, including Encounter Critical, Mutant Future. Some very good discussions of this stuff can be found at Grognardia, Jeff's Gameblog, and, as an example of this stuff in use, World of Thool.
There's been a lot written in this little community about the literary influences on D&D, which extends from various High Fantasy writers (Dunsany, MacDonald) through the Pulp Guys (Howard, Lieber) to Horror (Lovecraft) to the writers of Weird Fantasy. There's been an equal emphasis on some of the satanic edginess that used to give the game some cred among the Black Metal crowd back in the day, before the game got all censored in the 2e days.
Thus, as a matter of genre, Carcosa sets out to be an extremely bare-bones Setting, with virtually no Color or Situation, and a fetishistic appreciation of random d100 charts. In terms of content, Carcosa is an attempt to create a thoroughly non-Tolkien-ized version of Dungeons & Dragons, as far into Pulp and Horror as the rule set allows, with a strong emphasis on all the demonic sacrifice stuff that freaked people way-the-fuck-out in the early 80's. (The hysterical negative reaction to Carcosa among gamers in 2008 is extremely interesting to me, but surely off-topic.)
I think Carcosa is a flawed product, in large part because the most horrifically transgressive thing the author can conceive of is human sacrifice, and because it's not at all clear how the OD&D mechanics (dungeon delving, quick highly-abstracted combat) supports the Pulp & Horror experience. But the setting would actually make a pretty nifty spin for Sword & Sorcerer.
I believe the author wrote that he was inspired by Sword & Sorcerer, but had never read Sorcerer's core rules nor played the game.
greyorm:
From what I've read of it, sexual assault and drug-use are included as transgressive acts as well. I'm rather jazzed to learn about the magic lotus stuff, being that I've had a rough draft of the same idea written up for 3E for some time.
Clinton R. Nixon:
I need to buy this in order to have a more educated opinion, but the author's notes about his D&D game imply that he uses a sorcerous ritual structure that almost exactly mirrors the rituals in Sorcerer.
James_Nostack:
Yes, it does. There are the same six rituals, all of which (except the banishment-analogue) involve rituals requiring human sacrifice and/or rape, described clinically in the text. As an example,
Quote from: Geoffrey McKinney
The Ninety-Six Chants of the Leprous One: This ritual takes a little over three hours to complete. Thirteen Yellow (non-virgin) females of at least 60 years old are the required sacrifices. The sorcerer must slay each by smothering her with a bag made from the leathery bark of a particular mutant tree in the Mutated Forest. Also required is a chain at least 12’ long and at least 1,000 years old. Upon the ritual’s completion the Leprous Dweller Below will be bound to the sorcerer’s will for seven days.
This sort of content doesn't bother me much at all, but it's not to everyone's taste. These rituals are described in a way as to interact with the Carcosa race and class list, the bestiary, and the map, and is well-done overall, but does remove some of the spontaneity of creating this stuff at the table.
Ron Edwards:
Just in case anyone was considering it ...
There's already been a weary, predictable, and nauseatingly pious outcry (well, a couple voices, merely loud and repetitive) about whether the Carcosa book is offensive, permissible, should-be-banned, immoral, or whatever the fuck.
No one's gone there yet here, but pre-emptively, let's not.
Best, Ron
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