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Aug. 30th, 2022 12:57 pmA shining example of the ways in which I am ridiculous:
Step 1) "I should play a solo Call of Cthulhu game - that would be fun! This will be my first game not set on a secondary world, which is a little more intimidating because of Actual History, but it's a solo game so I can just handwave stuff, right? Historical accuracy isn't really required, since no one else will see it."
Step 2) "Ooh, I should set the game in 1920's Seattle instead of traditional Lovecraft country. The PNW is plenty creepy, after all."
Step 3) "The only thing I know about Seattle history is the song about the Great Fire at the MOHAI*, I should at least read some wikipedia articles first, right? It doesn't actually need to be historically accurate but I should have a vague idea of what the area was like at the time."
Step 4) "The Seattle Library had been founded by the 1920's, right? And the UW? Seattle is absurdly young, can't make assumptions."
Step 5) "Okay, yes, the CoC Keeper's Handbook helpfully lists the names of period newspapers but the Post-Intelligencer can't have been the only paper in the city at the time, right? Time to learn about other newspapers and their political bent in the 20s."
Step 6) "Oh wow, I really need to read some books about US labor history, huh?"
Step 7) "...this is why I don't play rpgs set in the real world."
My library hold list has just grown by several books. Now let's see if my dumb brain will let me play my silly solo horror game without researching the mosquito fleet and learning the whole history of the IWW in the Pacific Northwest first.
*The Seattle Museum of History and Industry has a lot of interesting exhibits and also the most buckwild thing I've ever seen at a history museum: a several-minute long mini-musical about the Great Seattle Fire performed by an array of inanimate objects, some of which were retrieved from the fire and some of which (like the infamous glue pot) are replicas. It is bewilderingly strange and would be wildly inappropriate if anyone had died in the fire (but fortunately no one did). I love it very much. If you are ever in Seattle, please go to the MOHAI and see it - it's entirely worth the price of admission.
Step 1) "I should play a solo Call of Cthulhu game - that would be fun! This will be my first game not set on a secondary world, which is a little more intimidating because of Actual History, but it's a solo game so I can just handwave stuff, right? Historical accuracy isn't really required, since no one else will see it."
Step 2) "Ooh, I should set the game in 1920's Seattle instead of traditional Lovecraft country. The PNW is plenty creepy, after all."
Step 3) "The only thing I know about Seattle history is the song about the Great Fire at the MOHAI*, I should at least read some wikipedia articles first, right? It doesn't actually need to be historically accurate but I should have a vague idea of what the area was like at the time."
Step 4) "The Seattle Library had been founded by the 1920's, right? And the UW? Seattle is absurdly young, can't make assumptions."
Step 5) "Okay, yes, the CoC Keeper's Handbook helpfully lists the names of period newspapers but the Post-Intelligencer can't have been the only paper in the city at the time, right? Time to learn about other newspapers and their political bent in the 20s."
Step 6) "Oh wow, I really need to read some books about US labor history, huh?"
Step 7) "...this is why I don't play rpgs set in the real world."
My library hold list has just grown by several books. Now let's see if my dumb brain will let me play my silly solo horror game without researching the mosquito fleet and learning the whole history of the IWW in the Pacific Northwest first.
*The Seattle Museum of History and Industry has a lot of interesting exhibits and also the most buckwild thing I've ever seen at a history museum: a several-minute long mini-musical about the Great Seattle Fire performed by an array of inanimate objects, some of which were retrieved from the fire and some of which (like the infamous glue pot) are replicas. It is bewilderingly strange and would be wildly inappropriate if anyone had died in the fire (but fortunately no one did). I love it very much. If you are ever in Seattle, please go to the MOHAI and see it - it's entirely worth the price of admission.
