Dawn War + Cthulhu Mythos

TheIdeaOfGood · May 14, 2018

My current D&D5 campaign is set in a somewhat forlorn wilderness that has been heavily marked by the touch of Elder beings from other dimensions or from beyond the stars, among them the King in Yellow and his cult etc.

I only recently saw a video explaining the 4e Dawn War and I, as someone who did not really click with 4e, found this whole story and its epic scope absolutely amazing. Now, since the mythical background of my Setting has never really come up, I want to factor in the Dawn War and ist repercussions...but I have already given the setting a somewhat lovecraftian bent...is it possible to integrate these two concepts?

And if so...how would you suggest I go about it?

Tales and Chronicles · May 14, 2018

TheIdeaOfGood said:
My current D&D5 campaign is set in a somewhat forlorn wilderness that has been heavily marked by the touch of Elder beings from other dimensions or from beyond the stars, among them the King in Yellow and his cult etc.

I only recently saw a video explaining the 4e Dawn War and I, as someone who did not really click with 4e, found this whole story and its epic scope absolutely amazing. Now, since the mythical background of my Setting has never really come up, I want to factor in the Dawn War and ist repercussions...but I have already given the setting a somewhat lovecraftian bent...is it possible to integrate these two concepts?

And if so...how would you suggest I go about it?

You sure can. You only need to read a little further in this cosmology. There's a thing called the Living Gate, made from pure psionic crystal that separate the astral sea and the Far Realm where lovecraftian elder things live. During the Dawn war a three gods tried to breach that gate (IIRC) looking for new weapons against the Primordials. Only one had the time to peek through the gate and went instantly mad, forcing the other god to take his domain and throw it at the ''bottom'' on the Elemental Chaos, creating the Abysses. That god is Tharizdun and the 2 others, who never revealed that they were with him when he went mad, are Ioun and Pelor. The Gate was shattered, sending many fragment to the ground, creating a race of sentient pile of psionic crystals that only purpose is to find other member of its race to destroy it and send them back to the Astral Sea to recreate the Living Gate. For now, aberrations such as your Cthulhu-like monstrosities are on the loose.

If you can find infos on the living gate, the far realms, the living stars etc, I'm sure you'll find something that suits your needs.

SkidAce · May 14, 2018

Change the Dawn War to versus the Elder beings.

Primordials were not involved but have since gotten the blame.

Ymdar · May 14, 2018

For two seconds I literally thought you've written Dawn of War, Eldar and the Cthulhu Mythos and I was genuinely interested in how someone incorporates warhammer 40k to D&D. I misread, this topic is also interesting so carry on. I will be monitoring this thread.

MonkeezOnFire · May 14, 2018

If you'd like to read up more about the Dawn War setting I found a fan compiled timeline that has a ton of info. Unfortunately, the author didn't include their name in the document for me to give them proper credit, but whoever compiled it many thanks!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/gdpvh222zn8g54l/History of the Nentir Vale.docx?dl=0

As [MENTION=6871653]vincegetorix[/MENTION] said, the setting's Far Realm and entities from it are basically homage to the Cthulhu universe. It would not be out of place at all to just fill in and change aspects as you see fit.

I'd also be curious to see the video you talked about in the OP if you don't mind sharing it. As a fan of the setting I'm always looking for interesting tid bits about it.

Sadras · May 14, 2018

Great pdf, thank you for sharing it.

Eltab · May 14, 2018

4e The Plane Above: Secrets of the Astral Sea may help you with the background lore / legends.

The thing I got from it was, the gods are over-committed, with too many foes and too many concerns. They need reinforcements!

MechaTarrasque · May 14, 2018

Due to the long history of elementals in D&D, we tend to forget how alien what amounts to a spirit moving through an element that may not have to eat, sleep, reproduce, or do anything that would be considered biological life actually is. I think if you up the oddness of the elementals, it wouldn't be too hard to make them cthulu-esque.

Tony Vargas · May 14, 2018

TheIdeaOfGood said:
I only recently saw a video explaining the 4e Dawn War and I, as someone who did not really click with 4e, found this whole story and its epic scope absolutely amazing. Now, since the mythical background of my Setting has never really come up, I want to factor in the Dawn War and ist repercussions...but I have already given the setting a somewhat lovecraftian bent...is it possible to integrate these two concepts?

And if so...how would you suggest I go about it?

The Dawn War narrative includes the Lovecraftian 'Far Realms' in the story of the Living Gate and the mad god Therizdun (or however you spell it). Really, D&D's always had a strong Mythos influence.

jgsugden · May 14, 2018

The simple story is the Dawn War happens, and then later the survivors tap into the Far Realm and create the leaks by which the Lovecraftian threats begin to enter the campaign world. That is my campaign story world, basically.

The Far Realm is an ancient universe that is dying. As it dies, it is slowly, over perhaps millions of years, collapsing into the universe that the PCs occupy. For hundreds of thousands of years the residents of that universe have touched the worlds by creating madness - and that madness has spawned the Aberrations (which are pale imitations of the Elder Gods and the true residents of the Far Realm).

Dawn War + Cthulhu Mythos

TheIdeaOfGood

Explorer

Tales and Chronicles

Jewel of the North, formerly know as vincegetorix

SkidAce

Legend

Ymdar

Explorer

MonkeezOnFire

Adventurer

Sadras

Legend

Eltab

Lord of the Hidden Layer

MechaTarrasque

Hero

Tony Vargas

Legend

jgsugden

Legend

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