Cthulhu By Torchlight

Thank you for the update!!

Mearls or DND Beyond:Which one is behind on this?

Anything since June? I'm heading into a battle with an ancient dragon and all of her spawn, and I would really like to use Dust of Suleiman - do we know if and how it can move?

I’ve been playing around with the Shadow Stalker subclass, and I realized that the Shadowy Reflection raises some really interesting questions that don’t seem to be explicitly covered by the rules.

I’d love to hear how the Shadow was intended to work from the designer’s perspective:

1. How physically “real” is the Shadow?
   Is the Shadow meant to be opaque, translucent, or completely transparent? For example, does it actually block line of sight, or is it more like a supernatural silhouette?
2. Does the Shadow have normal physical needs?
   Does it breathe, or otherwise interact with things like air? For example, would a poison gas effect affect the Shadow?
3. When I use Cunning Action to control the Shadow, is the Shadow’s movement considered an additional action?
   The wording says that I can control the Shadow and move it as part of the Bonus Action when using Cunning Action. I’m wondering whether that movement is the entirety of what the Shadow can do on that turn, or whether the Shadow has its own separate action economy.
4. Can I use Cunning Action to move the Shadow and then have the Shadow use an action for something else on the same turn?
   In other words, does the Shadow effectively have its own action available after being moved, or is controlling/moving it the Shadow’s only available activity for that turn?
5. Does the Shadow use the Rogue’s defensive statistics?
   For example, does the Shadow have the Rogue’s AC, or is its AC intentionally undefined? Since the Shadow disappears when it takes damage, I’m particularly curious how attacks or effects targeting the Shadow are supposed to work.
6. How much can the Shadow physically affect the battlefield?
   The subclass gives examples such as manipulating objects, retrieving unattended items, and pouring a vial. Would this extend to things like scattering ball bearings on the ground, pulling a lever, knocking over a small object, or otherwise creating a minor environmental effect?

I’m asking mostly because the Shadow seems intentionally different from a normal creature, familiar, or summoned companion, and I’m curious where the intended boundaries are.

Thanks! Shadow Stalker has quickly become one of my favorite subclasses to think about, precisely because it seems to leave so much room for creative interaction with the environment.

Quote from rupertgood >>

Came here to raise Renwick_Larkin’s issue for Feline Chaos!

Another one that seems OP is Dread Curse of Azathoth. The target dies if you go 3 rounds without losing concentration. So just get within 120ft of the Tarrasque at level 13, cast the spell then teleport or plane shift out and you’ve defeated it or anything else! Even better if you have Spell Sniper or Distant Spell. I think I'd have less of an issue if you had to stay in range for the duration, though that in turn gives the target an incentive to flee, so I'm not sure the best solution.

For me, I think some creature types should be immune to Curse of the Putrid Husk, especially undead, and potentially some elementals and aberrations. I can't see a lich being distressed to learn it is slowly decaying! Also, it says if the spellcaster takes the second option, the target takes the Dash action, and makes an Unarmed Strike against any enemy in 5ft of it. Does it need an Action or Reaction to make this attack? Does it Dash even if it doesn’t need to do so to reach an enemy? When and how often does it make this attack?

Fist of Yog-Sothoth - not a major issue, but the fact that the tendril can only make a target move 40ft within the spell’s range is a weird stipulation. The spell has a range of 120ft, so if I make a tendril 110ft away can it only move someone another 10ft away, but 40ft toward me?

Call Deity - I assume this works on any Mythos deity you choose? (The wording in Contact Deity is like Contact Other Plane, and I always thought that was to an entity you choose.) So can I just summon Cthulhu for an hour (without concentration) with this level 8 spell then run away? If so it’s not even worth comparing to the level 7 Conjure Celestial or level 6 Summon Fiend… I hope cultists don’t know this one!

Fist of Yog-Sothoth. What stops you from moving the target the 40' straight up? It's a direction. Target is laying down for the whole ride.