I love Call of Cthulhu, so I was excited by Strange Aeons, and started thinking about terrain for the game. I like the fact it is intended to be played on a small area. Most of my wargaming terrain will work quite nicely as is for mundane stuff. But some things will need to be made. I'll definately need a some derelict/still lived in houses for any Innsmouth or Dunwich games. Some altars and the like are in the works too, I was inspired by what you all have done with old Plasticville churches so I got one from Ebay.
Having not grown up in New England but the west coast in Oregon and Washington, I have a fairly good idea of what old houses look like. One thing that always strikes me is how much paint is eroded away by the elements. Does anybody have any suggestions as to how that effect can be painted on a model building? I'm thinking maybe a painted greyish layer with white glue painted on top to represent the pulled up paint, then a faded paint job on top of that. Another thing is to get the right sag in a roof. Old houses in the Pacific Northwest warp. The roofs tend to bow in almost like a medieval roof if not repaired. And moss, lots of moss on the roofs as well. Any exterior woodwork will probably be a little bit warped as well. Most wooden porches develop a bit of a downward curl as a result. My great grandparents house started out as a chicken house that they just added on to it. The basement was recessed into the hillside and was forever damp and musty, with warped wood that felt like it would give way if you weren't careful. There were some very old houses in Coos Bay and North Bend, mostly of Victorian style, or a simpler style. Innsmouth should look like the houses I described. Warped, in disrepair, mossy and weatherbeaten, and faded in color. For those of you who have never been into an old church that has been unused or abandoned, they are creepy! The vegetation grows fairly rampant and if it is an old building it will have things growing inside of it like ivy, and briars.
OK, enough house talk. I guess one of the reasons I empathize with Innsmouth and Dunwich is that I lived around areas that were very much like those descriptions. Don't get me started about inbred families and the like: they existed. Nuff said. There were many isolated places, including all of the beaches and coves. Coastal pines tend to get bent, stunted and grow a little oddly becuase of all the salt air. Old graveyards are often overgrown with the characteristic sunken spots where the coffins were buried. Some of the churches and the Masonic Halls though modern looked far older because there were no human activity around them except for Sunday. Nice and eerie, eh?
22 March 2009, 03:35:48 PM