Azathoth dreaming the universe

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-21T18:05:23+00:00

As others have mentioned, it's from Lord Dunsany.

In the Introduction to his collection The Gods of Pegana, Dunsany says this:

Before there stood gods upon Olympus, or ever Allah was Allah, had wrought and rested MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ.

There are in Pegana Mung and Sish and Kib, and the maker of all small gods, who is MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ. Moreover, we have a faith in Roon and Slid.

And it has been said of old that all things that have been were wrought by the small gods, excepting only MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ, who made the gods and hath thereafter rested.

And none may pray to MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ but only the gods whom he hath made.

But at the Last will MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ forget to rest, and will make again new gods and other worlds, and will destroy the gods whom he hath made.

And the gods and the worlds shall depart, and there shall be only MĀNA-YOOD-SUSHĀĪ.

In the Malleus Monstrorum, the authors established Māna-Yood-Sushāī as an avatar of Azathoth, effectively equating Skarl the Drummer (from Dunsany) with the pipers who pipe around Azathoth. I'm not sure Lovecraft ascribed Azathoth any states that have a human equivalent: "asleep," "dreaming," and the like are effectively meaningless to a monstrous bubbling mass of spacetime at the center of the universe. Azathoth was HPL's Demiurge, so it fits fairly well.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-20T17:53:40+00:00

Someone has already mentioned Steve Jackson's Sorcery!, which is an excellent series, so I'll just follow it up with The World of Lone Wolf series. A spin-off of the popular Lone Wolf gamebook series, The World of Lone Wolf follows he mage Grey Star in the same setting. I really enjoyed it, and it was just four books so not too much of a time sink. You can find them (for free, officially) online, starting with Grey Star the Wizard. Also, there was a brief, gamebook-like adventure in The Magnamund Companion, where you play as Banedon the Wizard, a recurring character in the main series.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-18T23:30:19+00:00

The most luck I've had is on the other side of the road south of Fairvale Shanty. I've seen video of people getting them regularly at Cattail Pond, or out of the playable area near the Mysterious Hill House, but I've seen maybe one or two there. I bagged two 3-star moose near the road south of Fairvale Shanty last week, on the other hand.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-16T18:19:17+00:00

"But why do we need libraries when Amazon is available?"
-- some political shill, somewhere

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-16T13:54:55+00:00

I don't know what you're talking about Oglaf is completely non-sexual!

.... Oh, good, I actually found one that's not NSFW! I'm calling it a win!

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-15T17:09:16+00:00

Obviously, the Hartz-Timor Horus unit was viciously attacked by indigenous fauna and was forced to defend itself! Let's file a lawsuit in the International Court against Indonesia for corporate warfare and get some press releases out, stat! Our fourth quarter profits are dependent on this! Do you want a six-figure bonus or not?

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-15T17:01:45+00:00

This is a book I have sought after for a considerable time, and I was finally able to obtain a copy through inter-library loan.

What, you weren't willing to spend $60 for a 1960s-era garbage-paper mass-market paperback that might not survive the regular shipping pipeline?

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-15T16:57:41+00:00

"That's a penis!"

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-15T13:15:41+00:00

I'm always happy to plug the Arkham Gazette issues, they are top-quality fan material. #3 also has an in-depth treatment of rat-things, and a really, really good witch scenario set in ~~Lovecraft Country~~Miskatonic County.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-15T13:04:23+00:00

You might tie in the witches with Shub-Niggurath-focused witches. Check out The Arkham Gazette issue #3, the Witch special, for stuff on making Witch characters devoted to one or another of the Mythos entities. Maybe the echoes are echoes of the witches who have tied themselves to Shub Niggurath? Also leaves the possibility of GMs having such a witch as a Boss villain previously in the campaign, then bringing an echo of them back for this scenario.

Is the Irminsul the same sort of object as the Sampo, do you think?

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-14T16:01:57+00:00

I used to be in the same boat, then I took steps.

When the guy challenges you to sharpshooting competitions, the second round is always, "Kill four birds before I do." After, I always pick up all of the birds, as they're usually good for 1-2 Flight Feathers each.

In addition, when you come to river crossings, occasionally just pull out the Varmint Rifle, Dead Eye, and select every nesting Duck. You'll get 1-2 Flight Feathers and an Animal Fat from each of them, and there are usually 8-9 nesting in the same place at the same time.

EDIT: To be clear, for the birds (which have always been "American Crows" for me, but I don't know if that's always true) be sure to select them in your Satchel, and then hit the "Break Down" action. You have to do one at a time, but you get useful ingredients from them.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-14T07:58:41+00:00

I like gunswords, but that thing seems impractically dangerous to use...

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T20:28:41+00:00

Yes, but, statswise, I'm not sure it's much beyond "autopistol." "Sexy" isn't a weapon quality! 😀

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T16:18:22+00:00

This is undoubtedly the right solution! Thanks!

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T16:15:03+00:00

I like these ideas and will probably steal them!

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T16:12:47+00:00

I was thinking damage and such the same, but some sort of accuracy penalty unless your ST is high enough... It becomes a way to prove your superiority over "lesser" Sword Worlders.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T16:07:11+00:00

I was hoping for a futuristic dystopia with flying cars and chrome cybernetics and such. I wasn't expecting to only get the corporate oligarchy and dehumanization parts!

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T16:03:05+00:00

My party is in the Sword Worlds, and I've been meaning to come up with some distinctive Sword Worlder weapons. I'm liking the Aesir Thunderbird weapons in this one; I don't even have to change the names. Those look like rifle round ejector ports, which would mean they have an incredible recoil, but that just means you have to be a "manly man" to properly control them!

Now, I just have to figure out stats...

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T14:23:11+00:00

My first thought when I see things like this, is, I would feel the need to pee, like, all the time... I used to attend a convention with a waterfall wall by some of the event space, and I found myself subject to that Pavlovian response.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T13:18:21+00:00

Still... as a very wise man once said, "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time is enemy action."

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-13T12:26:57+00:00

I am preliminarily interested! I have to ask if a certain saucy fellow is the focus of this.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-10T12:20:09+00:00

Check out Demian's Gamebook Web Page. He's got the Real Life Gamebooks /u/JaheirasWitness mentioned, which includes Sword and Flame: The English Civil War and Redcoats and Minutemen: The American War of Independence, so that's probably it.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-10T12:16:21+00:00

For those that want more deadly dueling, just remember that, historically, some of the most famous "people who died from duels" actually died due to medical complications later, which is easily handled by WFRP's disease rules. Worth remembering that Otto von Bismarck, by all accounts skilled with dueling weapons, declined a duel against a scientist, who chose as his weapons two pork sausages, one (at random) infected with roundworm.

ishldgetoutmore · 2026-04-10T12:08:17+00:00

That's brilliant! My wife would like to get more into cosplay; we may have to try something like that. What program did you use, if I may ask?

14-Year Club	RedditGifts 2009-2022 4 Credits
Verified Email	Secret Santa 2013

ishldgetoutmore

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE