D&D 5E (2024) Cthulhu Confirmed!

[Parmandur]

Looks like 385 Hit Points which seems a tad light IMHO.

...lets hope Cthulhu doesn't run afoul of a group of 13th-level Adventurers.

I mean, Lord have mercy on anything that runs afoul of a group of Level 13 Adventurers fresh from a long rest.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Since this seems pretty clearly similar to Forge of the Artificer, I reckon there will be Campaign Frames and Bastions

It seems to be quite a lot longer, so certainly those! If you build a bastion in Ravenloft, does that make you a dark lord?

One thing that occurred to me is that as well as being a mechanical patch for VGR, it might also be a mechanical patch for CoS, in terms of updated monster stat blocks. 5.0 stat blocks work with 5.5 rules, but the style is a little different and they are a little weaker. Strahd at least looks like getting a new stat block, but we might also get the likes of Baba Lysaga (sp?) and her creeping hut updated.

Also, as I said, I think there will be a couple of brand new domains. Godsbreath perhaps? I’ve been trying to work out how to do a Stephen King/Stranger Things domain, but I’m hung up on if it’s okay to have bicycles in D&D!

 

[Mind of tempest]

Well, not exactly. But I can understand why he might be less sexually appealing to folks who are not into men. Cthulhu has a pretty distinct masculine energy, and you kinda gotta be up for finding out what them tentacles do.

what does determine monster gender energy anyway?

I just think if something is supposed to be an indescribable, mind melting horror. No way our measly sheet of numbers could convey it's power!

You woke up an Elder God! That's game over. An extremely fun and memorable game over, but still!



My nerd-nitpicking aside - what is Cthulhu doin the Strahd book anyways lol?

He is a great old one, he is the pope king of a relevant faith of the elder gods, also a full arcane caster.

 

[Charlaquin]

what does determine monster gender energy anyway?

It’s all vibes, really, but some physical and behavioral traits can have a pretty significant impact on the vibes.

 

[Parmandur]

It seems to be quite a lot longer, so certainly those! If you build a bastion in Ravenloft, does that make you a dark lord?

This seems longer, though Rising from the Last War is also a fair shake longer than Van Richten's and largely edition agnostic.!

Plauable Dark Lords does not seem very on brand, but who knows? I expect we will get some pretty wild options for "safe" home bases. Maybe players can get their own walking hut.

One thing that occurred to me is that as well as being a mechanical patch for VGR, it might also be a mechanical patch for CoS, in terms of updated monster stat blocks. 5.0 stat blocks work with 5.5 rules, but the style is a little different and they are a little weaker. Strahd at least looks like getting a new stat block, but we might also get the likes of Baba Lysaga (sp?) and her creeping hut updated.

Oh, yeah, one of the main criticism I recall of Van Richten's (thst wasn't "why is it not jsut a 2E reprint???") was the lack of any Dark Lord stat blocks...I reckon we will get a lot of unique BBEG here, which is honestly useful even for those not using Ravenloft as such.

Also, as I said, I think there will be a couple of brand new domains. Godsbreath perhaps? I’ve been trying to work out how to do a Stephen King/Stranger Things domain, but I’m hung up on if it’s okay to have bicycles in D&D!

The current designers seem much more open to "anachronism" than prior regimes (though anachronism was the original name of the game, time is a circle). Modern fantasy in general is way more varied in setting details like tech level and what not. Brandon Sanderson right now is working on the 8th Mistborn novel which is set in a Hugh Fantasy at 1980s tech levels in terms of computers and weaponry (albeit with magical flying cars) and his preview chapter had a character wearing a Walkman like device listening to modernist music on the way to a science fiction fan convention in a fantasy world.

 

[TravDoc42]

It’s all vibes, really, but some physical and behavioral traits can have a pretty significant impact on the vibes.

Cthulhu has masculine energy, from my point of view. I don't know why!

 

[Mind of tempest]

It’s all vibes, really, but some physical and behavioral traits can have a pretty significant impact on the vibes.

Cthulhu has masculine energy, from my point of view. I don't know why!

But what makes these energies fit, what makes a think feel feminine beyond a bow on it's head? What makes a thing feel masculine, what makes a thing feel neither?

 

[Charlaquin]

Cthulhu has masculine energy, from my point of view. I don't know why!

Oh, I absolutely agree

But what makes these energies fit, what makes a think feel feminine beyond a bow on it's head? What makes a thing feel masculine, what makes a thing feel neither?

Sorry, didn’t realize you meant the question earnestly. So, this is entirely culture-dependent, because masculinity and femininity are social constructs. But, in most of the modern developed world, masculinity is treated as the default. This is why we often use gender signifiers like a bow, a skirt, makeup, jewelry, an hourglass figure, etc. because things will tend to be assumed masculine unless otherwise specified. For an example, look no further than Men’s and Women’s restroom signs - the former is an unadorned stick figure, while the latter is the same stick figure with a silhouette that flairs near the knees like a skirt.

Cthulhu’s description in the original short story is deliberately somewhat unclear, but the statue representing him is described in a lot of detail, and it doesn’t mention any such common gender signifiers. In addition, visual depictions tend to give Cthulu broad shoulders, large and well defined muscles, which tend to be associated with masculinity.

As for less overt traits that convey masculinity or femininity, the former tends to be associated with power, strength, directness, high-energy activity, violence, etc. The latter tends to be associated with grace, gentleness, passivity, warmth, nurturing, etc. Again, these are cultural associations and not inherently tied to gender or sex. But, within the social structures we exist within, those are the things most commonly associated with masculine or feminine “energy”.

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

Kūko Yasaka from the anime "Haiyore! Nyaruko-san". (Automatically you have lost ten sanity points, and you will lose twenty more if you watch the image created by AI of the girls of Monster-High like a group of Ravenloft adventurers)

* I suposse this time we can say it is no-binary.

* Godbreaths is possible in Ravenloft because it hasn't to be the original land. For example we have got the Barovia from the material plane and the dark domain within the demiplane.

* Technically always it would be the right stelar conjuntion to summon an elder power, or at least the cultists would believe it.

* Now my fear is youtube videos with AI-animation telling "could Chulthu defeat Strahd von Zarovich?"

* Maybe you don't remember but there was an episode of "Ghostbusters" cartoon with Chulthu mythos. Mr Squid appeared but of course had to be defeated by our loved heroes who wanted to save the day.

* If the creature of the black lagoon met a deep one... would be gothic horror or weird fiction?

* Evil Dead could be a dark domain.

 

[M.L. Martin]

Is there a more overused thing in TTRPGs than Cthulhu?

Demons and devils, perhaps, but it's a close-run thing.