A Lovecraftian interlude in the children’s 80-page graphic novel The Secret of The Stone Frog, a book in which 7-9 year-old advanced or assisted readers get a very palatable and gentle lead-in to a later sampling of Spirited Away, Alice in Wonderland, and even H.P. Lovecraft (the end of “The Festival”)…

Secret of The Stone Frog was the debut hand-drawn book by David Nytra of Canada, in 2012. I liked the art and layouts but wasn’t overly keen on the main dialogue lettering, which often seemed too computerised for my taste. If you’re going to the trouble of hand-drawing everything, why spoil the effect with digital lettering? But I guess school library sales are important at this end of the publishing market, and librarians probably assume they need ‘lettering clarity’ for ease of reading by their less able patrons. Currently the book is only available in paper.

It would be a fine Christmas stocking filler for intelligent and imaginative 7-9 year olds. If the primary dialogue were to be re-lettered, the whole book colourised in a soft watercolour underlay, and a better cover added, then it would probably sell nicely as a Kindle ebook.

Nytra took the same characters on a similar but fantasy medieval-themed 120-page dreamlands outing in 2015, Windmill Dragons, but I haven’t seen that one.

Mockman, maker of the graphic novel of Lovecraft’s Kadath and the fine Dreamlands map, now has a note on the map page to say that the map has sold out, but a reprint is planned in…

2018 connected to my Kickstarter for my Dreamlands-specific Lovecraftian roleplaying game, “Dreamland”

The game appears to have been in development since Christmas 2015, was scenario tested at NecronomiCon 2017, and was again convention play-tested at Big Bad in October 2018. The blurb for the latter event now suggests it’s gone beyond being ‘pure Lovecraft’ and is…

inspired by the fantasy worlds of Lord Dunsany, H.P. Lovecraft and Italo Calvino.

Though potentially still being restricted to Jason’s Lovecraft Dreamlands map in terms of the terrain and places, I’d guess.

I like Jason’s idea of preventing modern ‘yo-speak’ and encouraging acting by making the game run so that…

each character receives bonuses for their in-game use of language to deepen the fairytale mood.

A comment on the event page by Jason has more details…

Rules-wise, the game uses dice, but the biggest element of the game is Words. Dreamland style stories (Lord Dunsany etc) are all about evocative language. In game terms, this is represented by 240 Word Tokens (see attached) with words which ’embody’ Dreamland — divided into 5 categories, Wonder, Loathing, Mystery, Exoticism and Poetry. These elements are the Five Pillars of Dreamland.

During the game, the DM gradually distributes the Words into a common pool, and players gather and combine Words to fuel their powers by making flowery speeches. Different Roles (like character classes) and Memories are associated with different types of Words, so different characters (and their players) are encouraged to speak in different ways. There’s some simple dice, too, but Words are the main mechanic. But use too many Words and you risk breaking one of the Pillars of Dreamland, causing terrible and bizarre effects…

I’d also suggest the possible need for a demerits system, removing points for cringe-inducing hokey cod-medieval use of words such as “dost”, “thee” and “thou” and “verily” etc. And extra points for confabulating mellifluous new words from two words that one has already been dealt, then giving them an instant definition that pleases the gamemaster.

For instance, Eldritch and Ulthar = ‘Ulthitch, the thick tangled thatch on the peasant houses of the Dreamlands, in which Ul-worms sometimes make their nests’. Other player, in response: “Dost thou tell me, lord, that I sleep under a roof of [uses a dealt word] horrors, and am likely be-wormed with these Ul-worms? How may I rid myself of such vermin?”. One point deducted for the cod-medieval “dost”, two added for a good player response and use of a dealt word. The gamemaster would have the option to dismiss the new definition: “You have drunk [heavily of the strangely perfumed wines of Hatheg], and babble nonsense…” etc.

[Warning: Plot-spoilers ahead]

Jason’s NecronomiCon 2017 events showed off what sound like the game’s early scenario ideas…

DREAMLAND: THE PARADISE OF THE UNCHANGING (Thursday, 6-10 PM)
Olathoe, the beautiful city which knows no age nor death, is besieged by a monstrous terror. Can a small group of Olathoeans (you) save the only home you have ever known? Summoned by the king, the task of saving the timeless city falls to a small group of farmers, merchants and craftsfolk… united only by your dreamlike memories of another life in another world…

DREAMLAND: ON THE WINGS OF DREAM (Friday, 8 PM-Midnight)
After a hazy night in the Enchanted Wood, you awaken with strange marks on your bodies and the chattering of birdsong in your ears. What happened to you in those forgotten hours? What sinister bond connects you to the fangs of snakes, the jaws of dragons and the claws of crows? Slipping back and forth between waking-world London and the world of Dreamland, you and your fellow dreamers must solve the mystery before the terror which comes with the rooster’s crow of dawn…

DREAMLAND: TO THE END OF THE WORLD (Saturday, 2-6 PM)
You have traveled far, seeking the legendary edge of the world which no living dreamer has beheld. On your side: the greatest science and magic of the Six Kingdoms. Standing before you: deserts and jungles, monsters beyond belief, and cities of nightmare. Succeed in your quest, and gain fame and knowledge beyond your wildest dream. Fail, and infinities away, your waking-world body will pay the price…

Looks good.

“… a vast series of raids and arrests occurred, followed by the deliberate burning and dynamiting — under suitable precautions — of an enormous number of crumbling, worm-eaten, and supposedly empty houses along the abandoned waterfront.” — from “The Shadow over Innsmouth”.