D&D 5E (2024) Cthulhu Confirmed!

Remathilis · 2026-03-05T17:05:54+0000

Reynard said:
there are non-elf games that include Cthulhu, while nearly all elf games ALSO include Cthulhu. Ergo, Cthulhu is more over used than elves (dark, hawt or otherwise).

Call me skeptical, but elves are pretty ubiquitous in nearly all fantasy games, but not all fantasy games have cosmic horror. Even those that do don't have the big Cth man himself.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-03-05T17:08:54+0000

Remathilis said:
elves are pretty ubiquitous in nearly all fantasy games

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

Remathilis · 2026-03-05T17:20:31+0000

Paul Farquhar said:
Plus computer games, anime, fantasy literature and Santa’s workshop.

I was trying to keep it to ttrpgs like the poster mentioned. But certainly elves are huge beyond gaming.

Parmandur · 2026-03-05T17:36:14+0000

Reynard said:
Is there a more overused thing in TTRPGs than Cthulhu?

Metaphysically impossible to overuse Cthulu.

Parmandur · 2026-03-05T17:38:42+0000

dave2008 said:
Not sure if this has been noted elsewhere, but I ran into the image below from the artist of the Ravenloft: The Horrors Withing cover on my Artstation feed. You can see just behind Strahd a page for Cthulhu with a statblock. Just thought people might be interested.

View attachment 431116

Also in case you missed it, the Great Race of Yith:

They seem to be going big with Mythos material here, which is new.

Reynard · 2026-03-05T17:39:10+0000

Whizbang Dustyboots said:
I don't think you can get your ergo on without some numbers attached to that.

Let's say there are six or seven Cthulhu-centric RPGs. It's probably a few more than that, but not much more, since Call, Trail and Delta Green soak up 90% or more of that audience.

For elf-including fantasy RPGs that include Cthulhu we have Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder. Any others?

And then for RPGs that include elves we have dozens, maybe hundreds of them.

Hyperbole for effect is a lost art.

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

Clint_L · 2026-03-05T17:51:41+0000

If this was just a Strahd book, I'd be a hard pass. Now it's a must-have.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-03-05T18:00:54+0000

Parmandur said:
Also in case you missed it, the Great Race of Yith:

View attachment 431131

They seem to be going big with Mythos material here, which is new.

Aside from them and the usual deity-level dudes there were also stat blocks for Shoggoth, elder things, and fungi from Yuggoth in the 1980 book. I would be surprised if we didn’t see shoggoth at least.

Parmandur · 2026-03-05T18:06:28+0000

Paul Farquhar said:
Aside from them and the usual deity-level dudes there were also stat blocks for Shoggoth, elder things, and fungi from Yuggoth in the 1980 book. I would be surprised if we didn’t see shoggoth at least.

Yup, given the full some page count that this apparently has and having two such central Mythos elements, I reckon that they are going big.

Paul Farquhar · 2026-03-05T18:10:14+0000

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

Because Strange Aeons AP and a warlock patron?

Lovecraft was a big influence on early D&D, and that influenced other RPGs, but not as big as Tolkien and Conan, why are you not complaining about those?