I remember when I was doing Call of Cthulhu at Chaosium, the people there had contempt for Lovecraft – they thought he was a hack writer – but they wanted me to work on the game. If you were to ask someone in 1979 who Cthulhu was, they’d have no idea! These two things hit pop culture from completely different directions, and from there Cthulhu became more and more of a household name. Then in the early 1980s two things happened: Stuart Gordon came out with Re-Animator, and the other was the tabletop RPG. There were a couple movies, a few editions of his books, but few people really knew his work. Lovecraft film festival, and we talked about how, before 1981, Lovecraft was pretty much unknown.

It’s always Call of Cthulhu, that’s the one people love! I worked on the original Doom, Civilization, Quake, I was involved in the Age of Empires series that sold tens of millions, but when I’m invited to conventions around the world it’s never because of those games. I’ve designed a lot of games that sold better than Call of Cthulhu. SP: Well, it’s my baby! Let me put it this way. How does it feel to be Cthulhu’s godfather? You’ve dozens of Call of Cthulhu credits, and are pretty much the main author of the tabletop game. It’s due for release Halloween 2014, though backers already have an advance PDF proof copy, and in preparation for that fatal day when the stars will be right I sat down to talk with Sandy Petersen, the designer who started it all, about what things were like back in the day, and what he’s looking forward to now. First released in 1981, the original rule set has been published again and again, with minor variations, ever since, but just a little over a year ago its publisher, Chaosium, decided to Kickstart a new, 7th Edition which actually – gasp! – changes significant portions of the rules. If you have any love in your heart for tabletop horror gaming, then at some point you’ve probably dabbled in the nightmarish vistas of Call of Cthulhu.

The 7th Edition is due any minute, and here’s what the man who started it all has to say about his time with Cthulhu.

Sandy petersen chaosium