I found my enjoyment of Dunwich was greatly enhanced by reading The Dunwich Horror before playing the campaign. I've lined up The King in Yellow by Chambers and An Inhabitant of Carcosa by Bierce - is there anything else I should be reading? Anything by Lovecraft?
Recommendations for Reading before Carcosa
I think you are good to go, with an emphasis on Chambers. Based on the spoilers FFG posted, it seems they were largely inspired by Chambers.
HP mentions Lost Carcosa/KiY/Hastur in passing only.
45 minutes ago, Meretrix said:
Yeah, but both of those are in the "King in Yellow", which he has.
21 minutes ago, Jobu said:Yeah, but both of those are in the "King in Yellow", which he has.
I mean, those are the only 2 stories I can recommend reading in preparation for SoC. The rest of The King in Yellow is not really about The King in Yellow and is quite boring, and while Bierce came up with the names Carcosa and Hastur, his stories have nothing to do with the current Mythos other than the names.
Edited by Meretrix11 minutes ago, Meretrix said:I mean, those are the only 2 stories I can recommend reading in preparation for SoC. The rest of The King in Yellow is not really about The King in Yellow and is quite boring, and while Bierce came up with the names Carcosa and Hastur, his stories have nothing to do with the current Mythos other than the names.
Good point.
I enjoyed the rest of the KiY, but I can see how others may not.
I would say there are some deeper thematic connections in the rest of the King in Yellow that also tie to Bierce's works. It's more to do with literary devices, theme and tone than it is obvious plot elements, though.
It's unclear how much inspiration will be drawn from that material, though. We'll see! I'm really hoping the cycle leans heavily on the idea of an unreliable narrator, for one.
Not a novel at all, but I got my playgroup to watch True Detective Season 1 in preperation for Path to Carcosa. I highly recommend it.
I think that's good for now. There is nothing in Lovecraft that would help specifically with Path to Carcosa, but Chambers, and the King In Yellow, was an influence on Lovecraft's ideas and themes in his stories. So depending on what you have read of Lovecraft so far, there are lots of possible suggestions.
We've just done an episode all about this: http://drawntotheflamepodcast.blogspot.co.uk/2017/08/episode-23-whats-deal-with-king-in.html Wahoo!
17 hours ago, blackhandgang said:I think that's good for now. There is nothing in Lovecraft that would help specifically with Path to Carcosa, but Chambers, and the King In Yellow, was an influence on Lovecraft's ideas and themes in his stories. So depending on what you have read of Lovecraft so far, there are lots of possible suggestions.
Personaly I'd pick Polaris. I like how the protagonist's view of reality shifts trough the story.
If you have the opportunity, the Lola Hayes passage in The Investigators of Arkham Horror ties perfectly (as though they were made for each other, hmm...) with the start of her narrative in Path to Carcosa.
Minh Thi Phan's story is about a copy of the play, and is an interesting read on the affect it has on those who read it.
William Yorick's might serve better as a tie-in to the Core Set's Night of the Zealot. However, it shows his motivation for getting into the thick of any campaign.
Personally I've enjoyed playing through Dunwich without any background on the story. It has really enhanced the experience being blind. (This is my first lovecraft game)