D&D 5E (2024) Cthulhu Confirmed!

[Paul Farquhar]

Makes me wonder if Polyps will be in the book as well

There is very little description of the polyps in the book, so it would be a case of making them up from scratch. You could substitute a standard D&D monster, such as mind flayers or phaerimm, to the same effect. I’m pretty sure the flying polyps were not stated in Deities and Demigods for that reason.

I assume by "polyp" HPL was thinking of a cancerous growth, not coral.

I'm inclined to think of this:

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Do we? I thought people still find most 1970s horror greats, including Jaws, to be very effective.

I showed it to my kids, who love horror, and the music alone made my youngest freak out mid-film.

Jaws is a great movie, and my partner’s all time favourite, but I never considered it scary* (and I was pretty young the first time I saw it). It’s very like Jurassic Park - exciting, not frightening. But scariness is not a measure of if something is good or not.


*I think scariness depends a lot on what the viewer believes could be a real threat.

 

[Maxperson]

Plus computer games, anime, fantasy literature and Santa’s workshop.

Don't forget the cookies.

 

[Maxperson]

Hyperbole for effect is a lost art.

The point is: Cthulhu and things like it are way overused in TTRPGs.

Not really. I can count on one hand and have all my fingers and thumb left over the number of times I've actually seen Cthulhu used in an RPG, even in games where he is included in the rules. Elves, Vampire, Strahd, and tons of others are used FAR more often than he is.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Don't forget the cookies.

There are cookies?!

 

[Maxperson]

Because Cthulhu is also boring, in addition to being the product of one of the most vile people ever to grace our hobby's inspirational texts? But mostly because it is boring. At least people have the decency to re-invent elves every time they appear. Cthulhu is just the same big dumb monster that fails to be either scary or interesting.

Really?! At least in D&D they are pretty much the same in 5e as they have been in 1e, 2e, and 3e. Not sure about 4e.

 

[Maxperson]

View attachment 431161

 

[Maxperson]

Why? He was killed by a boat.

Temporarily dispersed. He started to reform.

 

[Maxperson]

I dunno, I think becoming powerful enough to kill a god and take their place is kinda part of the tradition of D&D.

With a MacGuffin like Ao taking away most of the god's power, yes. Simply growing in power and killing a god? Not that I've seen in official products. The one exception is the guy who was powerful enough to do it in the Forgotten Realms died in the process.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

With a MacGuffin like Ao taking away most of the god's power, yes. Simply growing in power and killing a god? Not that I've seen in official products. The one exception is the guy who was powerful enough to do it in the Forgotten Realms died in the process.

It's built into the Immortals rules of the Basic D&D sequels, and is certainly a well known trope. I guess it comes from Moorcock, who quite often kills off gods, usually with Stormbringer. My group killed Tharizdun as the level 20 boss, but failed to make it permanent.