What exactly is Eldrich magic and where does it come from?

Shellman

First Post
Some of the more recent WotC books mention Eldrich magic and I was wondering what is it and where does it come from?

Is there a specific book or source that gives good information about it?

What makes it from the most coomon form of magic in 3.5?

Grateful for any help!
 

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Eldritch is simply a cool sounding word, often used by H.P. Lovecraft and pals to describe things. I am not aware that the word has any game-rule significance in D&D.

From dictionary.com:

el·dritch (adj.)
Strange or unearthly; eerie.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Perhaps Middle English *elriche : Old English el-, strange, other; see al-1 in Indo-European Roots + Old English rce, realm; see reg- in Indo-European Roots.]
 

Eldritch is a word made popular by horror writers at the end of the last century. This genre is sometimes called 'Gothic' horror because of its appeal to classical and Pre Raphaelite images.

It often means ghostly, creepy, and very old. Usually the older the better. Lovecraft extended the time frame back before human evolution. In the D20 universe I tend to think that traditional folk creatures, often especially elves, are eldritch. There is no real requiement that an elf be more 'eldritch than a bugbear but it tends to work out that way. :)

Sigurd
 

Monte Cook's Book(s) of Eldritch Might of course use the term "eldritch" to define a particular kind of weird magic and feats associated with it are giving the [eldritch] descriptor. But otherwise, it can pretty much come from anywhere and be whatever you want it to be. :)
 


Eldrich has also quickly become trite. Everybody and their brother uses it in D20 products these days. It's kind of like the phrase "no quarter asked and none given" in Scarred Lands products. Time to crack open the thesaurus and dig up something else.
 

Or just make up new words. My wizard has some really dingdangwoozle magic!

Estlor said:
Eldrich has also quickly become trite. Everybody and their brother uses it in D20 products these days. It's kind of like the phrase "no quarter asked and none given" in Scarred Lands products. Time to crack open the thesaurus and dig up something else.
 

[pure guesswork]

Given that "eldritch" is frequently used with warlocks (i.e. "eldritch blast"), it wouldn't surprise me, in WotC products, to see "eldritch" come to refer primarily to warlock magics, as another option from "arcane" and "divine." I don't think this will be a formal useage--as in, there won't be rules for arcane vs. divine vs. eldritch--just a common one that writers pick up and take advantage of.

[end pure guesswork]
 



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