Your party hears rumors of cultist activity around the Sword Coast and are given an assignment by the Emerald Enclave to investigate. There are 3 sights to investigate, an abandoned graveyard, a seaside port town and a mountain ruin. The Abandoned Graveyard is inhabited by ghouls and ghasts, there is a mausoleum which is the lair of a cult of Azathoth worshippers led by an Eldritch Lich (see Monstrous Compendium: Spelljammer Creatures) who has a copy of the Necronomicon. The Seaside Port Town lives under the thumb of the Cult of Cthulhu and is regularly visited by a pack of Deep Ones (see the original Deities and Demigods), just outside the town is a cove with a ritual sight inhabited by cultists, six Star Spawn Grues, two Star Spawn Hulks, two Star Spawn Manglers, one Star Spawn Seer and a Star Spawn of Cthulhu (see Tome of Beasts 1 or Cthulhu by Torchlight), if you fail to stop the ritual they will awaken Cthulhu. The mountain ruin is inhabited by a deranged Tempest Cleric who worships Hastur, he is accompanied by two Byakhee, there is an imprisoned Yithian (see the original Deities and Demigods) within the ruin.
Yeah, it is a decent foundation for an adventure. Depends on level, cause some of those would shred PCs that aren't a little more powerful than the usual adventures, but like, this is a solid premise.
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He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player. The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call To rise up in triumph should we all unite The spark for change is yours to ignite." Kalandra - The State of the World
The linnords, evil cousins of the dragons, could be the leaders of Lovecraftian-style cults, and they can be used for a softer introduction. Don't forget the infernal obyrith
I bought the translated edition of Sandy Peterse's Chulthu 5e.
Pathfinder also has got its own d20 version of some Lovecraft's monsters because now they are public domain.
Lovecraft was an inspiration for the game, from the Mind Flayers to the Kuo Toa. And Curse of Strahd showed Gothic Horror was a great way to play the game. So some Lovecraftian horror, especially with things like Beholders, krakens, and Aboloths are asking for it. And we still have monsters like Star Spawn, Worms that Walk, and other critters from supplemental books. I do not see why you can't go nuts.
Good bones for an adventure. I'm surprised by the lack of Mindflayers, but they are by no means mandatory for a Lovecraftian adventure.
I will say this, I've been on the receiving end of a Star Spawn Mangler ambush. Those guys can become anti-fun really fast and they punch way outside of their CR. A trio of them nearly TPKd a level 8 party of five.
I remember adapting the Byakhee from Deities and Demigods into 5e as chaotic evil aberrations with an armor class of 10, 2 attacks per turn, 45 hit points, intelligence 10 and large size. With a walking speed of 30 ft, a flying speed of 120 ft and the ability to fly at spelljamming speeds.
Good bones for an adventure. I'm surprised by the lack of Mindflayers, but they are by no means mandatory for a Lovecraftian adventure.
I will say this, I've been on the receiving end of a Star Spawn Mangler ambush. Those guys can become anti-fun really fast and they punch way outside of their CR. A trio of them nearly TPKd a level 8 party of five.
The funny thing is that I had considered using an Illithilich instead of an Eldritch Lich when I thought of this.
Now that Cthulhu by Torchlight has come out I got the idea for an adventure involving the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. The realms that the book sends you to could all be demi-planes. The first is inhabited by Ghouls, Ghasts, Zombies, Skeletons and an Eldritch Lich. The second is inhabited by Flying Polyps, the third is inhabited by Elder Things, the fourth is inhabited by a cult of Mindflayers led by an Illithilich. The fifth demi-plane is inhabited by Obyrith type demons, the sixth is occupied by Angels of Decay and the last is occupied by Shoggoths.
Good bones for an adventure. I'm surprised by the lack of Mindflayers, but they are by no means mandatory for a Lovecraftian adventure.
I will say this, I've been on the receiving end of a Star Spawn Mangler ambush. Those guys can become anti-fun really fast and they punch way outside of their CR. A trio of them nearly TPKd a level 8 party of five.
Huh. They're kinda low hit points for their CR (about CR 4), but their damage output is way out of hand. If they never get advantage it's still an attack bonus of +7 with a raw dpr of around 40 (around CR 6), which is reasonably enough for CR 5... but with advantage they're up to 72 raw.
I mean .. the gods of the mythos don't really mix. Why are Hastur, Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu all active in basically the same spot? Not saying they can't be or shouldn't be - but if I were in your game, I'd wonder why.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Well, it's the cults that are all active. They're in three separate sights not the same place. Only the Cult of Cthulhu is trying to summon their God at the moment. Also, I said Azathoth not Nyarlathotep.
Fair. I'd still wonder why this area was crawling with cults to different great old ones or elder gods.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Your party hears rumors of cultist activity around the Sword Coast and are given an assignment by the Emerald Enclave to investigate. There are 3 sights to investigate, an abandoned graveyard, a seaside port town and a mountain ruin. The Abandoned Graveyard is inhabited by ghouls and ghasts, there is a mausoleum which is the lair of a cult of Azathoth worshippers led by an Eldritch Lich (see Monstrous Compendium: Spelljammer Creatures) who has a copy of the Necronomicon. The Seaside Port Town lives under the thumb of the Cult of Cthulhu and is regularly visited by a pack of Deep Ones (see the original Deities and Demigods), just outside the town is a cove with a ritual sight inhabited by cultists, six Star Spawn Grues, two Star Spawn Hulks, two Star Spawn Manglers, one Star Spawn Seer and a Star Spawn of Cthulhu (see Tome of Beasts 1 or Cthulhu by Torchlight), if you fail to stop the ritual they will awaken Cthulhu. The mountain ruin is inhabited by a deranged Tempest Cleric who worships Hastur, he is accompanied by two Byakhee, there is an imprisoned Yithian (see the original Deities and Demigods) within the ruin.
Yeah, it is a decent foundation for an adventure.
Depends on level, cause some of those would shred PCs that aren't a little more powerful than the usual adventures, but like, this is a solid premise.
He/Him. Loooooooooong time Player.
The Dark days of the THAC0 system are behind us.
"Hope is a fire that burns in us all If only an ember, awaiting your call
To rise up in triumph should we all unite
The spark for change is yours to ignite."
Kalandra - The State of the World
Thanks!
The linnords, evil cousins of the dragons, could be the leaders of Lovecraftian-style cults, and they can be used for a softer introduction. Don't forget the infernal obyrith
I bought the translated edition of Sandy Peterse's Chulthu 5e.
Pathfinder also has got its own d20 version of some Lovecraft's monsters because now they are public domain.
I know that Pathfinder has the Cthulhu Mythos and I knew about the Obyrith. I just wasn't sure on how to implement Fiends into it.
I would've liked it better if the Tome of Beasts listed the Star Spawn of Cthulhu as aberrations instead of fiends.
Lovecraft was an inspiration for the game, from the Mind Flayers to the Kuo Toa. And Curse of Strahd showed Gothic Horror was a great way to play the game. So some Lovecraftian horror, especially with things like Beholders, krakens, and Aboloths are asking for it. And we still have monsters like Star Spawn, Worms that Walk, and other critters from supplemental books. I do not see why you can't go nuts.
Don't Star Spawn Larva Mages already fill the niche of the Worm that Walks?
Probably. I think one is more sentient than the other,
I thought they were both sentient with the difference being that one is a Star Spawn while the other is a Wizard's consciousness.
Been a while since I read either, so you might be right
Good bones for an adventure. I'm surprised by the lack of Mindflayers, but they are by no means mandatory for a Lovecraftian adventure.
I will say this, I've been on the receiving end of a Star Spawn Mangler ambush. Those guys can become anti-fun really fast and they punch way outside of their CR. A trio of them nearly TPKd a level 8 party of five.
I remember adapting the Byakhee from Deities and Demigods into 5e as chaotic evil aberrations with an armor class of 10, 2 attacks per turn, 45 hit points, intelligence 10 and large size. With a walking speed of 30 ft, a flying speed of 120 ft and the ability to fly at spelljamming speeds.
The funny thing is that I had considered using an Illithilich instead of an Eldritch Lich when I thought of this.
Now that Cthulhu by Torchlight has come out I got the idea for an adventure involving the Seven Cryptical Books of Hsan. The realms that the book sends you to could all be demi-planes. The first is inhabited by Ghouls, Ghasts, Zombies, Skeletons and an Eldritch Lich. The second is inhabited by Flying Polyps, the third is inhabited by Elder Things, the fourth is inhabited by a cult of Mindflayers led by an Illithilich. The fifth demi-plane is inhabited by Obyrith type demons, the sixth is occupied by Angels of Decay and the last is occupied by Shoggoths.
Huh. They're kinda low hit points for their CR (about CR 4), but their damage output is way out of hand. If they never get advantage it's still an attack bonus of +7 with a raw dpr of around 40 (around CR 6), which is reasonably enough for CR 5... but with advantage they're up to 72 raw.
I mean .. the gods of the mythos don't really mix. Why are Hastur, Nyarlathotep and Cthulhu all active in basically the same spot? Not saying they can't be or shouldn't be - but if I were in your game, I'd wonder why.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Well, it's the cults that are all active. They're in three separate sights not the same place. Only the Cult of Cthulhu is trying to summon their God at the moment. Also, I said Azathoth not Nyarlathotep.
Fair. I'd still wonder why this area was crawling with cults to different great old ones or elder gods.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Meh.