D&D 5E (2024) Cthulhu Confirmed!

Reynard · 2026-03-05T20:27:46+0000

Charlaquin said:
I gotta disagree with you there. It’s a slow burn, but many of the best horror stories are.

I mean to each their own, but the thing is it NEVER gets scary. it does not slow burn toward anything horrifying. At least IMO. Not like Color Out Of Space, which I think is legitimately disturbing, or Herbert West, which (while being blatantly, disgustingly racist) is actual horror.

Charlaquin · 2026-03-05T20:32:51+0000

Reynard said:
I don't know a lot about Ravenloft beyond what is in the 5E setting book, since we never really played it back in the day, but I do like the idea of inscrutable forces ruling domains, with their whim and traumas shaping the very world the PCs are forced to live in.

My own take on Ravenloft borrows a lot from the final season of The Magnus Archive. The Dark Powers are very much like the Fears, and the Dark Lords are their Avatars.

Charlaquin · 2026-03-05T20:41:50+0000

Reynard said:
I mean to each their own, but the thing is it NEVER gets scary. it does not slow burn toward anything horrifying. At least IMO. Not like Color Out Of Space, which I think is legitimately disturbing, or Herbert West, which (while being blatantly, disgustingly racist) is actual horror.

I don’t think The VVitch ever really gets scary, though I suppose I probably would find it much scarier if I was a Puritan settler in 1600s New England. Likewise, Mountains of Madness isn’t scary to me, but might be if I was a white supremacist. I appreciate both works more for their atmosphere, mood, and tone, rather than eliciting a genuine fright response. Though, I’m a bit biased, as I consume enough horror content to be largely desensitized to it, and tend to enjoy horror more cerebrally than viscerally as a result.

Remathilis · 2026-03-05T20:57:39+0000

Charlaquin said:
My own take on Ravenloft borrows a lot from the final season of The Magnus Archive. The Dark Powers are very much like the Fears, and the Dark Lords are their Avatars.

My own Ravenloft game used the Dark Powers as Fears setup, but I made many Dark Lords oblivious to the fact they are being used. A few have greater knowledge (like Strahd) but most serve a particular fear in blissful ignorance. The Vestiges of the Amber Temple and other certain actors (like the Caller) had more direct connection, and the big reveal of my game was Azalin escaping Darkon by making a deal with a New Dark Power: Extinction and promising to destroy reality starting with the domains of dread.

LuisCarlos17f · 2026-03-05T21:27:53+0000

My doubt is if mr.Squid was in the demiplane of the dread then it can't be in our Earth. Although maybe this is not really the "100%" but also the summoned incarnation, like the divine avatars from 3.5 Miniature Handbook.

Other point the potential stories about conflicts between Lovecraftian factions, for example Bluespur against the great race of Yith.

I don't like Lovecraftian lords like invincible but my style is more action-horror where the monsters cause a lot of damage and suffering but they are defeated by the monster-slayers/heroes in the end.

Reynard · 2026-03-05T21:28:01+0000

Here's an interesting idea: could you run a D&D campaign in a DoD without telling the players and have it be a slow reveal? Would that work? Would it be fun?

Whizbang Dustyboots · 2026-03-05T21:30:23+0000

Reynard said:
Here's an interesting idea: could you run a D&D campaign in a DoD without telling the players and have it be a slow reveal? Would that work? Would it be fun?

Yes, yes and yes.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-03-05T21:59:36+0000

Reynard said:
Have you ever tried to actually read At The Mountains Of Madness? It is a SLOG.

Yes I have, and seen it performed on stage. And it’s excellent. Definitely my favourite work by Lovecraft. Slog? I’ve heard a lot of people use that word to describe LotR.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-03-05T22:01:31+0000

Reynard said:
Here's an interesting idea: could you run a D&D campaign in a DoD without telling the players and have it be a slow reveal? Would that work? Would it be fun?

Yeah, done that.

Works better than having the players bringing out all their meta knowledge. The best way to run a Ravenloft game. Horror protagonists generally are not aware that they are in a horror story (unless it’s a Scream movie).