1/4/2023 0 Comments Carcosa pages pdfIn terms of layout, I feel like Carcosa is one of the weaker darlings of the OSR. Make it happen!) I really appreciate what Rich added to this book. (If Chance Phillips happens to read this – I want to see Rich draw pictures for a future Phantasmagoria zine. The intricate detail and style of his work is really appealing to my eye and honestly I’d love to see many more books with his art. Rich Longmore’s art is perfectly suited to the grim science fantasy, pulp-influenced world of Carcosa, and the decorative pieces framing pages throughout are terrific. It is a place where the magic is awful beyond belief, but possibly necessary depending on the threats faced to encourage its use. It is fascinating to read about, but running a game there is a bizarrely tall order unless you are fully committed to the gimmick of an amoral or cosmically immoral universe being made aggressively clear over and over. The world of Carcosa is dangerous, malevolent, sad. The rewards for doing so are not commensurate to the task. It is so incredibly grim, so unyieldingly horrific and agonizingly unpleasant and hostile to life that it seems practically hopeless and pointless to fight the uphill battle to improve it at all. It pits the players against a harsh and unyielding world where they are an endangered species by default, where a happy ending is extraordinarily unlikely. It is violent and barbaric science fantasy, sort of like a sword and planet pulp world viewed through a kaleidoscope of carnage and unforgivably dark magic and ancient evils and a complete lack of morality. The world presented in Carcosa is Lovecraftian and horrifying. James Raggi IV of LotFP has often invited controversy, or at least never shied away from it, so it is no surprise whatsoever that the book has been a successful part of the generally excellent Lamentations lineup for years. Carcosa generated considerable controversy when it was released, and has continued to do so over the years since then. It was originally produced by Geoffrey McKinney in 2008, and won big in 2011 when it was reprinted in a “complete” format by Lamentations of the Flame Princess. No more restarting this article, though – let’s give it a go, once and for all.Ĭarcosa is a setting book for use with your preferred OSR system (though you could also play it in 5E with some numbers work, I am sure). But regardless, it has been a challenge to properly put my final thoughts down on paper when my thoughts are still busy all these years later. That alone is probably a testament to Carcosa and its author, one way or another. I have a few conflicting feelings about some of the book, and because of that I think about this book a lot. Carcosa is a complex book, and it’s complicated (for me, at least) to review adequately. I’ve probably started, deleted, and restarted this review a dozen times since I began this blog.
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