Dungeons & Dragons Announces Horror Subclasses Unearthed Arcana

WanderingMystic said:

I view Innistrad as a domain in Ravenloft

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I've considered that angle. I'm not sure who the Lord would be. Edgar Markov? Olivia? Emrakul? Avacyn? Griselbrand? Lots of options, but none of them quite fit the "Dark Lord" requirements.

Remathilis said:

Well, two of them are Ravenloft sourced, so there's that.

If you look at Van Richten's Guide, the character options in it are basically "monsters fighting monsters". There are three species/lineages that are essentially a PC-playable vampire, hag, and undead. While optional, the game assumes most PCs will have a Dark Gift. These options are absolutely in the vein of 5e's Ravenloft options so far. It has a very Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense or League of Extraordinary Gentlemen vibe. Very in line with modern supernatural horror.

(You can make an argument it's not in line with classic 2e Ravenloft. I can see that but have zero desire to discuss that further.)

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Update those Species options, change the Dark Gifs to 2024 Backgrounds with distinct Feats, develop a few Campaign Models and throw in some Spoooooky Bastions qnd Monsters...got the makings of a book.

Parmandur said:

Update those Species options, change the Dark Gifs to 2024 Backgrounds with distinct Feats, develop a few Campaign Models and throw in some Spoooooky Bastions qnd Monsters...got the makings of a book.

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I actually don't know if the Dark Gifts would be good as feats. They do have drawbacks and are supposed to be either started with or acquired in play. They also don't feel like good backgrounds as "losing your shadow" doesn't feel like a background. I would kinda like to leave them as a unique Ravenloft mechanic.

But I absolutely would love new ones!

We may agree Ravenloft is more focused into the personal torment of the dark lords and the fight against the influence of the Dark Powers but someDMs would rather a game style "monster of the week" and the lore of World of Darkness is a too strong influence to be avoided. More of a player will want to be a Brujah or a Cangrel.

I like the dark gift of the second skin because it may add a great potential for storytelling. Let's imagine when vampire-hunters are fighting against a suspect and then suddenly this shows her true shape, for example a shardmind, dragonborn, plasmoid, thri-kreen, deep one localath or pureblood yuan-ti.

Other dark domain could be based in New Capena. There is magitek but this needs "halo" and this can't be gathered easily. There are weapons like firearms but this uses halo instead gunpowder therefore we shouldn't worry about the power balance.

Abigail(2024) movie may be a good example of a horror story in a relatively small space. Tarot (2024) is other example of modern horror.

Some times players only want "action horror", to kick-ass monsters. Other players want to play "monstertouched" who hunt worse creatures. It is not a right or wrong way when the players have fun. It's like you buy the pizza dough and after you add the ingredients you wanted.




* Other idea is the "demiplane of the suspense". It would be like if the shadow rift "had got the indepencence". It seems a domain of delight in the cover, but it hides a hell behind the curtains, or like if you use the dark feys to create a horror story for children.

I've been rereading the older Ravenloft books to see what WoTC might draw inspiration from, and I really like the Arak from Shadow Rift. They're neat Fey tied to shadows, and they come in 9 different varieties, each with unique abilities and alignments.

Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft name dropped them, changed a bit of their lore (they live underneath Mount Arak in Tepest now, not in their own domain), but I hope that's not the extent to which they'll be present in 5e. It does seem doubtful though.

There's a few other Ravenloft monsters that I hope will make it, like the bruja (Chaotic Good hags), and head hunters (arachnid monsters that replace humanoids' heads and puppet their bodies)… provided that this is indeed a Ravenloft supplement!

I do tend to put the cart ahead of the horse at times

Remathilis said:

I actually don't know if the Dark Gifts would be good as feats. They do have drawbacks and are supposed to be either started with or acquired in play. They also don't feel like good backgrounds as "losing your shadow" doesn't feel like a background. I would kinda like to leave them as a unique Ravenloft mechanic.

But I absolutely would love new ones!

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I crunched the numbers on them back in the day, they were basically just Feats same as Supernatural Gifts. Reworking them to be in line with the new PHB would make a lot of sense.

Remathilis said:

I've considered that angle. I'm not sure who the Lord would be. Edgar Markov? Olivia? Emrakul? Avacyn? Griselbrand? Lots of options, but none of them quite fit the "Dark Lord" requirements.

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The angel?

Seems like they have a certain tragedy, overbearing nature, a story that could easily repeat itself forever in a horrifyingly tragic manner, etc.

But it’s been a while since I read up on the plane so I could be way off.

Kurotowa said:

It's funny. This version of the Hexblade is pushing the "bonded with a cursed runeblade" style of character flavor, which has shown up all over fiction thanks to Elric and his influence, but mechanically it's fairly neutral. Scrub the ability names and all that's left is a couple instances of Necrotic damage. There's no soul eating or undead summoning to be found, otherwise.

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The wielder is only part of the equation. Elric was a powerful wizard/warlock having generational pacts with many powerful beings. But Stormbringer was an entity all unto itself.

You want to emulate Elric - and all the soul sucking involved - more closely, let that Hexblade get their hands on Blackrazor

For non-weapon melee wielding Hexblades, an item like Rod of the Pact Keeper could even be a manifestation of Blackrazor.

"Bruja" (caothic good hag-like creatures) is the Spanish word for "witch". In Galicia (North-West Spain) there are "meigas". If you allow me, the European folklore could be a great source of inspiration. Can you find in internet a traslation of "Legends" by Gustavo Adolfo Bequer? (I warn the tale "the Rose of the Passion" may be offensive for the current standars).

Hexblade may be interested to play a dark-hero but it doesn't allow enough diversity to be a class with its own subclasses. The duskblade from 3.5 PH2 may be a different thing. How would be an update of swordsage class with long melee weapons like spears or spike chains (let's remember the vampire-hunters from Castlevania saga).

* How would be a dungeon warlock subclass where the patron was a sentient dungeon (or other kind of building)? She could create walls and place traps like a tower defense videogame (style "Fortnite: Save the World" or "Orcs must die").

* How would be a dark domain like "Dark City" movie?

* What creatures from "Creepypaste" fiction would you add to your Ravenloft stories?

* I would like sentient weapons and sentient dungeons (by Roll for Combat) were added like 3PP PC species to D&D beyond.

* What are your favorite 3PP horror setting besides Grimm Hollow (3.5 or 5e)?

* Ghostwalk could be recycled for 5e, I don't mean the original Manifest city but a "clone" or copy created like a new dark domain.

How would be an update of the "bone collector" prestige class(Ghostwalk)?

After our play test last sunday, I had a pretty good time.

• I was not enjoying the bard multiclassing twice just to make some jank build that topped of their AC. Spirit Guardians is good enough without granting everyone half cover. I miss the out-of-combat flavor.
• The Hollow Warden was cool, but I lacked some out-of-combat feature. Also +AC is too dangerous on a class that already has medium armor and shield. Stacking AC can make gameplay that is unfun for me as a DM at the table. The player had a lot of bad luck in our game, but I actually liked how Hunter's Mark worked with the other features overall.
• The Phantom Rogue was good. I love the subclass even with some changes. Good balance of out-of-combat utility IMO, though some flavor is lost with Augury.
• The Shadow Sorcerer couldn't show off their features apart from summoning an undead spirit and a draconic spirit in one turn. I miss the dog, undead is more for necromancer.
• I don't know what the Hexblade is now. It has lost its flavor for me, and I wish they made the subclass less finicky. Lots of small features that we have to track. I prefer big showstoppers, even if they are used less.
• The Grave Cleric looks fine. I don't like disadvantage on saving throws for monsters, but I prefer it over cancelling crits or vulnerability.
• The Undead Warlock looks fine too.

Overall it looks like WotC is listening to the crunch crowd more and more, removing ribbons and only adding combat power. That is not what the game at my table revolves around.