to whoever it was who...

[richardthinks]

...made me aware of Cookie Monster's deep introspection, thank you.
...suggested I go hot air ballooning, double thank you.
...put that leaflet concerning the Hermione replica ship project among the tourist attraction leaflet at the hotel, professional thank yous (how did I not know about this?).
...and thank you, scottbot, for telling me about the

Comments

[richardthinks]

For me, one of the main differences between CoC and Carcosa is that in the former, when things get too crazy your investigator gets taken away from you, but in the latter you keep playing.

...I find that a really interesting challenge, because the threat of the investigator becoming unplayable defines a clear line in CoC - a pale that, if you go beyond it, has no interaction on the other side. And that seems highly appropriate to its brand of bleak, atheistic horror. But if you take that pale away, do you also take the horror away? Is it actually possible to roleplay through the horror? If, as cdk suggests below, you become a monster, and keep playing anyway, does that really mean you are now a monster (either Vampire-style or Kafka-style) or does it mean that monsters are now potential PC races?

Carcosa doesn't say, but I contend that its ambiguity is different from the default anything-goes ambiguity of DnD - in the latter there might be a bit of inter-player theatre for a session while people get used to the idea, but ultimately the line between PC and NPC is stronger than any in-game line between monster races and PC races. So now your fighter is a Byakhee? A flying fighter that causes fear? Awesome - you just won't be able to come into town to spend your treasure, but that's OK. I genuinely don't know what the result would be in Carcosa.