After an incredibly popular Kickstarter, the Legends of Avantris' D&D 5e supplement is finally releasing on digital platforms tomorrow. Crooked Moon contains within it 600+ pages of horror themed after folklore and films, all set in the world of Druskenvald.
As far as Dungeons & Dragons sourcebooks go, this not a light read, not only does it include a level 1-13 adventure, but pretty much every aspect of Dungeons & Dragons has been added to with horror and halloween themed Sub-Classes, Species, Monsters, Items, Spells, Feats, and Curses.
Ahead of the book's release, TechRaptor has been given the privilege of exclusively revealing the pages for the Stoneborn and Threadborn Species from Chapter 2 of Crooked Moon.
Stoneborn Species Of Crooked Moon
Based on the idea of Gargoyles, the Stoneborn are native to Pholsense. An interesting aspect of Stoneborn is that each of them is usually crafted by a single person, Archbishop Danton Alexandre Renault, and then blessed by the Silver Path.
These are a gothic take on a Construct creature. For those who like variety in the kinds of characters they create, or a DM who enjoys unique NPCs to encounter, the book also specifies that there is a wide variety of different creatures that the Stoneborn are modeled after.
"... their biology can evoke a wide variety of creatures—including bats, fiends, dragons, birds, angels, dogs, and lizards—often combining features into a chimetric blend…"
As you'd expect with wings, they not only have a movement speed, but a flying speed equal to half their speed. If you have a feat like Mobile, or a Monk character, you'll be able to also ratchet up your fly speed as you level.
Each of the Stoneborn's special traits calls upon the same Silver Path's light that created them to bestow additional boons.
With the Argent Gleam once a Long Rest, you can cast Bless for no Material Cost or lets you take the Dash action to charge into a foe dealing Radiant damage.
Silver Bulwark lets you become resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage until the start of your next turn after you've been hit by Bludgeoning, Piercing, or Slashing damage.
Watchful Senses, leaning into the idea of a watchful Gargoyle, gives you proficiency in Insight, Perception, or Survival.
Playing A Puppet As A Threadborn Species
Hailing from Picco, the Threadborn are a species of doll-like creatures that are crafted by Blinski II, the master toymaker and lord of the province. The components of these dolls can be fabric, wood, metal, stuffing, and more.
As a species, they are driven to enjoy the joys and thrills of the world and to fill their lives with many different friends. For a world of Halloween and horror, this species is a bright light of jovial fun.
A lot of their features are tied to their unique assembly and the drive to care for their friends.
With their unique bodies, they are able to move through spaces as narrow as 1-foot wide as if it were difficult terrain, resist psychic damage, and don't require air, food, or drink.
For their friends, they always have the Guidance cantrip, at level 3 you have Sanctuary, and at level 5 you have Calm Emotions. Each of these spells can be cast once per Long Rest without spending a spell slot, but if you have the spell slots, you can cast them multiple times.
For friends in a bind, the "You've Got A Friend" trait lets them cast Guidance as many times as their proficiency when a friend within 30 feet fails an ability check.
There are a number of very powerful things about this, the first of which is that it allows for Guidance to be used at a range instead of as a Touch spell. Additionally, you can only do this when you know a creature has already failed. This means you won't accidentally be spending limited uses of this remote Guidance when it was never needed in the first place.
An ability like this has the potential to realign the campaign in a party's favor, who knows how many times over a long campaign, especially the one included that is level 1-13.
If you're interested in checking out the full Crooked Moon D&D supplement it will be available to purchase on D&DBeyond tomorrow, with physical editions of the book landing in stores in the Fall.
