Event Title

FSM06 - Visual Analysis of the Cthulhu Mythos in Horror Roleplaying Games

Presenter Information

James Cosper, Towson University
Brigid Brockway, Ashland University
Barbara Martinson, University of Minnesota

Location

CB1-117

Streaming Media

Start Date

3-11-2017 11:15 AM

Description

Howard Phillips Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos is a foundational aspect in roleplaying games. Lovecraft's writing is a formative part of the fantasy and horror genres, widely referenced in literature and pop culture. His stories depict existential fears, extra-dimensional terrors, and madness. Tabletop roleplaying games (RPGs) are collaborative storytelling games typically played by teens and adults. Roleplaying games are rooted in fantasy, and the first RPG, Dungeons and Dragons, referenced Lovecraft in early publications. Lovecraft holds a complicated position as one of fantasy's principal writers who was also racist. Lovecraft's stories and racial views have affected writers of the late 20th and early 21st Centuries including World Fantasy Award Best Novel winners Nnedi Okorafor and China Miéville. Literature is the basis for roleplaying games. This analysis examines how gender and race are depicted in games based on the writings of Lovecraft. Similarly, it describes how the appearances of the games change over the course of thirty years. The illustrators have interpreted the world created by Lovecraft without incorporating his racial bias. The authors often explicitly reject his views. However, there is little positive representation of women and minorities portrayed in the games. CthulhuTech is striking because it introduces a fantasy space-faring alien race that suggested the African slave diaspora.