June 19, 2015

Lovecraft Update

Someday something's coming
From way out beyond the stars
To kill us while we stand here
It'll store our brains in mason jars
          -Lovecraft in Brooklyn - The Mountain Goats

There's a terror in the darkness, watching you lie awake at night, hidden just outside the furthest penumbra of shadow. There's a hideous truth carved into the face of the universe, and even its vaguest hints drive you toward madness. There's a monster behind your face, and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Celebrating our favorite horror author here at the Middle Finger of Vecna, we bring you the Lovecraft Update. These four sub-classes inject a little bit of madness into your home campaign, and might even give you a fine cross-over between the D&D 5e and Call of Cthulhu campaigns in your life. To use a slightly larger party with the same theme, don't be afraid to use the Entropy Domain cleric or a Great Old One warlock (PHB). and be sure to throw in the DMG Insanity Rules as well, for good measure.

Coming up in the near future will be the conclusion of Class Pack 2, which will include 12 subclasses, specifically all those classes not included in the theme updates: the Magitech Update, the Lovecraft Update, and the Wild West Update. Did we say Wild West Update? Yer darn tootin'! It's in the works, so expect it to begin releasing following Class Pack 2.

Finally, what do you guys think about releasing our classes in bundles? Do you prefer big bundles (like Class Pack 1), small bundles (like this update), or no bundles at all?

Also, we'll be expanding our content in the coming weeks to include more than just sub-classes. Would you most like to see custom races, d100 tables, variant rules, rules-ambiguous quests, or something else entirely?

As always, leave comments, criticism, and questions below or send us an email at middlefingerofvecna@gmail.com.

 



Art credits:
Zdzisław Beksiński
Triune Vessel by Brom

Nothing can hate you as much as the Middle Finger of Vecna. It imposes every status condition, and deals necrotic damage.


Changelog:
Unspeakable Circle 6/19/15: Clarified that inhuman sight only confers advantage on sight.
Keeper of the Elder Sign: 6/19/15: Aura of Mental Fortitude now gives immunity to psychic damage, instead of resistance. Also, range changed is now 10 feet until 18th level, when it becomes 30 feet.
Aberrant Bloodline: 6/19/15: Armor class no longer has a static increase, and instead is 13 + Dex. Scrapped indiscernible anatomy
Unspeakable Circle 6/20/15: Removed darkvision from the base Aberration Form and added double your proficiency bonus to Perception checks in All Around Vision. Inhuman Vision now grants see invisibility, and no longer grants advantage. Unnaturally Quick, Durable Form, and Colossal Form now only grant advantage on saving throws. Antimagic eye only has a range of a 15 feet cone, rather than 30 and requires . Tentacles deal 4d6 with a save. Base Aberration form has 15+5*level HP. Extract Brain deals 6d10 damage. Wording changed on Bestial Hide to no longer allow for many bonus AC sources.
Aberrant Bloodline: 8/2/15: Hideous Appearance separated from Aberration Blood. Hideous Appearance grants double proficiency rather than advantage on intimidation.

11 comments:

  1. 'Finally, what do you guys think about releasing our classes in bundles? Do you prefer big bundles (like Class Pack 1), small bundles (like this update), or no bundles at all?'

    Bundles are cool, though if making a bundle like Class Pack 1 means you HAVE to make 1 archetype for each class, it might force you to make archetypes you didn't really plan to do, or didn't have a great idea for. Like, 'oh fuck, we're missing a barbarian archetype for the pack, let's throw one together'. All in all, small bundles are probably the way to go.

    Also, we'll be expanding our content in the coming weeks to include more than just sub-classes. Would you most like to see custom races, d100 tables, variant rules, rules-ambiguous quests, or something else entirely?

    All of these would actually be great.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have D100 tables for days. Not quite ready to post, but they'll be worked on. We also have a couple full classes floating around our drive.

      I'm working on variant rules for stuff right now actually. The re-inclusion of some exotic weapons (around which I'm also working on a Fighter archetype), several custom items, and one or two surprises in store!

      As for races, we've got our own version of the Thri-Kreen race on the way, based on a hastily cobbled-together version we used for my character when we switched from 3.5e over to 5e. I also have some ideas for a non-humanoid player race in the works (think intelligent arthropods)!

      Delete
  2. I was hoping you guys would have more Lovecraftian archetypes before moving on (Maybe an investigator? You know how H.P. loves his bookish, fainting investigators). Either way, excited for more archetypes, and the Wild West update!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We can totally still make more themed class archetypes without having them in a pack. Any other ideas you'd like to see done?

      Delete
    2. I'd really love to see an investigator archetype (but now that I think about it, most of the archetypes I can think of can already be made by base classes/ multi-classing). Some monsters would be awesome, some vaguely lovecraftian aberrations, like dark spawn or whatever Wilbur's twin brother was. What I'd really love would be some new rules, maybe to make combat with extra-planar beings more deadly, or some kind of spellcasting change. And now that I think of it, I don't think I would have been able to think of the archetypes you guys created for this Lovecraft theme, so maybe I don't know what I'm talking about at all!

      Delete
    3. Ooooh, hadn't even thought about homebrew monsters!

      As for rules...
      Back in the days of my first DMing experience, I made some frankly stupid decisions (ranging from the "This guy killed the BBEG by blinking, making him obviously worse!" approach to using the internet meme Zalgo as the basis for a BBEG), but from that experience came lots of hastily scribbled notes made on the fly involving non-euclidean dungeon and combat rules, reality warping, and even a rudimentary sanity mechanic.
      I once had a quest where this 5-dimensional creature was harrassing the party. The problem was that only 3-d cross sections of him could fit into the material plane. It ended up basically as a fight against this thing's colossal, writhing limbs that kept phasing in and out of reality all around the party in random spots, whle to this massive entity, it was just like trying to squash moving pieces of paper.
      We can totally refine some of that stuff and post it eventually, once we get through the huge list of already scheduled releases!

      Delete
  3. I like the bundle format a lot, because it replicates the feel of a splat book and its easy to allow players to use a group of classes that fit a theme of the setting. Races and Monsters would both be cool to see in the future, keep up the good work with all this content!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Always nice to hear people sing our praises on here. I know the "like, comment, and subscribe" spiel is a youtuber thing, but we'd appreciate more publicity in any way y'all folks can manage it. Upvote our reddit posts on /r/dnd, /r/dndnext, and /r/unearthedarcana, share our stuff with your friends, blog, facebook fanpage, or orbiting mothership. We need all the help we can get!

      Delete
  4. Your homebrew was reviewed by /r/boh5e and received a 9/10! You did an exceptional job in both the mechanics and the lore, making this your greatest class pack yet. The balance is also right there, along with of course your amazing visuals and Photoshop, fantastic job.

    To see the full review, click here: https://www.reddit.com/r/boh5e/comments/3j94nj/lovecraft_update_by_middle_finger_of_vecna/

    ReplyDelete
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