Torrents of the Spellhoarder and Crown of the Oathbreaker

Stretch Goal Unlocked: 12 New Subclasses!
about 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 24, 2022 at 05:47:12 AM

Hello, unique Intellects one and all!

Thanks to your support and contributions, the campaign has reached a new milestone, and we have unlocked 12 new subclasses, doubling the number of options to be included in Torrent of the Spellhoarder. 

The 12 new subclasses will be included in every copy of Torrents of the Spellhoarder, one for each class. There is no difference between the tiers in this respect. But what are these subclasses? Let's see:

• Shark Totem Warrior: Barbarians of this subclass wrestle swordfish for fun, outswim dolphins on a whim, and grow their teeth back after every bar fight. Their love and respect for sharks is well-known; some even claim they can talk to aquatic creatures. If you are out fishing, don’t fear the shark. Fear the shark totem barbarian!
• College of Sirens: Bards who studied the song of sirens and survived can use the mystical song themselves, even changing it in creative ways. Listeners will be more than charmed to hear them sing!
• Travel Domain: Clerics of the Travel domain are kept in high respect by sailors, merchants, pilgrims, and explorers everywhere. Blessed by the Boundless Wonderer, the god of travel, these holy people dedicate their lives to travel and swear to help the pious on their way to reach their destination safely.
• Circle of the Five Winds: Druids who harness the power of the wind can make a ship’s sails swell, blow their enemies off the deck, rise in the air on the wind’s back, and with enough practice, even tame a hurricane. They are the fiends of sea birds, and masters of bending their preferred element to their will.
• Buccaneer: Fighters of this subclass have some serious sea legs! But walking in a steady line on the deck while the raging waves threaten to flip the whole ship over is not the only skill these sea dogs learned through the years. Give them some heavy artillery, and they will show their enemies a really bad time.
• Way of the Wave: Even the hardest rock will give in to the relentless waves of the ocean. To find true wisdom and perfection, monks who study the Way of the Wave learn how to move, breathe, and even think like the ocean, while letting their emotions roam freely like foaming waves.
• Oath of Grandeur: Magnificence. Splendor. Glory. These paladins made the solemn oath to shine brighter than anyone else in the room. They find incredible power in their grandiose sense of self through flamboyance, ceremoniousness, or by becoming the pinnacle of beauty.
• Explorer: Rangers of this subclass are driven by endless curiosity. Danger is their friend, and the unknown is their love which always slips out of their hand the moment they think they have reached it. Some say they are cursed, and that’s why they can’t stay in one place for longer than a couple of days. They would say that’s just the way they are and there are no limits to exploring the world.
• Pirate: Pirate rogues believe that there is no such thing as a fair fight, and they have endless tricks up their sleeves to bag that pirate booty. Trustworthy friends and terrifying foes, pirates are not to be underestimated.
• Efreeti Bloodline: Some have fire in their veins. Those with the blood of powerful fire elementals inherit not only some of the abilities of the efreeti, but can also learn their passion and confidence. Efreeti sorcerers are rumored to have a dark side to them, but those who have had their weapons imbued with flames by one know the warmth these gifted people carry with them.
• Great Wyrm Patron: Some warlocks made a pact with a great wyrm - an ancient dragon of almost god-like power and immense knowledge. The wyrm can lend some of its power to devotees who swear to further their agenda. On Xantharos, this is considered the highest honor.
• School of Force: This school of wizards harnesses the raw power of magic to become more efficient in destruction than it should be possible. Force wizards can turn magic missiles into deadly barrages by focusing on perfecting just a few spells. And they never miss.
  

If you want to upgrade your tier, it is still not too late to do so! We hope that with your help, we might unlock our next stretch goal: new location maps! To get there, you can also add individual items that were unlocked so far as add-ons to your current pledge.

Thank you for the amazing support, and stay tuned for more updates coming soon, detailing all the subclasses that are included in Torrents.

Please also join the hivemind on our Discord server to discuss all the subclass options!

Team Elderbrain

Monsters in Torrents of The Spellhoarder
about 2 years ago – Sun, Oct 23, 2022 at 12:04:36 AM

Hello Brilliant Minds!

We want to show you more about the bizarre and memorable monsters that populate Xantharos and the surrounding seas. Here are a few with amazing illustrations that really capture the wonders and horrors that these monsters bring to your table:

The Anglerwyrm is an aquatic draconic predator living in the deepest part of the ocean. It is feared by fishermen and sailors alike, although it is rarely seen. It is huge and is known to hunt for sperm whales that dive deep enough into the ocean. As the old merfolk saying goes: “If you see a strange yellow light in the deep dark… like, don’t go checking it out, mate.”

Sea Giants are not afraid of anglerwyrms, or much of anything to be frank. Their underwater lifestyle allowed them to grow larger than any of their land-roaming cousins but restricted their reign to the water. They love to hunt in packs, loot and collect trophies, and kill anything in their way - much like your average adventurer. Only worse.

Finally, here is the most metal monster: the Death Jelly, with the remnants of its latest meal still tangled in its tentacles. As the name suggests, it’s not something you wanna mess with. Without spoiling anything, there are a few more fearsome monsters you could come across during your adventures in Xantharos, with a legendary poison that is said to be the deadliest in the world. You should be fine though. Just don’t let it touch you… or at least use a stick if you want to poke it so badly.

We hope you like the monsters we prepared for today. Stay tuned, because further updates are coming soon with new monsters that have been unlocked through our stretch goals. If you have any suggestions for monsters or monstrous abilities, or you’d just like to hang out with some other members of the Elderbrain collective, please join our Discord server!

Team Elderbrain

Stretch Goal Magic Items
about 2 years ago – Wed, Oct 19, 2022 at 07:20:52 AM

Hello Fellow Brainiacs!

After deciding to reevaluate our stretch goals, we immediately shifted gears, and over the past couple days of working with our wonderful illustrators, we can already present the illustrations for the unlocked items in Torrents of the Spellhoarder and the new illustrations for Crown of the Oathbreaker.

By donning the cape of the barracuda, you can swim at amazing speed and breathe underwater. Its hood can also employ a bite attack delivered at savage speeds.
 

The Trident of the Shark Lord is perfect for underwater fights, or for catching some sea monsters for dinner. It allows its wielder to grab opponents with reach and rip their flesh in a jawlike vice, causing them to bleed out swiftly.  Be careful, those jaws are incredibly sharp!
 

This incredibly fast waterborne vehicle is powered by a water elemental. It has cramped space for four passengers and can hold little cargo. However, it can pierce the highest waves and cover large distances in record times.

 

This magical amulet is carved from wood, depicting a forest of vines that shift about forming paths. It can lead the way to any destination one seeks.
 

This magical mirror is 5 feet high and decorated with silver filigree, showing various musical instruments in the tracery. The mirror reflects the image of any creature that stands before it, however, the background shows the animated illusion of a crowd of spectators of all cultures. The mirror has four command words that create various effects: light, cheers, costume, and stage.
 

This magical rapier is always warm to the touch. It can also expend charges to heat metal or smelt through any unattended metal object.
 

We next turn our attention to the new monsters in the stretch goals, which we hope to illustrate in the coming days. Thank you for all your contributions to the project and wonderful enthusiasm!

Please also join the hivemind on our Discord server to discuss the items in even more detail!

Team Elderbrain

Magic Items in Torrents of the Spellhoarder
about 2 years ago – Tue, Oct 18, 2022 at 03:11:38 AM

Dear Inhabitants of the Collective!

We want to show you more about the high-level magic items that can be found on the Isles of Xantharos. While we work on the stretch goal illustrations, here are some details and amazing illustrations that really show the power of animated items of high magic from the Isles:

The Dragon Chariot in this epic illustration has a gilded metallic body, wings on its sides, and a terrifying horned blue dragon-head that shoots lightning. Its pair of studded wheels are equipped with razor-sharp scythe blades on each axle. These alone would make the dragon chariot dangerous, but this vehicle requires no mounts, instead, it has an artificial dragon heart beating inside it that drives the cart faster than any horse could. The dragon chariot’s horns can impale enemies, and it can even use a breath weapon. There are dragon chariots with different elemental breaths, depending on the type of artificial dragon hearts inside them. Chariot races featuring several Dragon Chariots are a stunning but deadly spectacle in the Seat of Scales.

The Flamedrake is a legendary artifact that appears in sailor’s tales from the Calhay Sea. It rows itself faster than any humanoid crew ever could, splitting the sea with its flame-colored armored hull. Its sails are dragon wings that are fabled to be able to lift it above the waves. The ship has underwater vice-like claws that can grab onto other ships, creatures, or rocks, and it has a fire-breathing head that puts fear into the heart of anyone who sees it. The dangers of the sea could never harm the Flamedrake - or so they say.

Silverfrost is an intelligent short spear with the soul of a silver dragon inside it. Embued with long-range telekinetic energies, the item is a representative of the Scaled Council, and if the characters work with the council, they are obligated to take the spear with them. Silverfrost has a paralyzingly cold freezing tip that glows dark blue, forged from the heart of a living iceberg.

We hope you like the magic items we prepared for today. Stay tuned, because we have much more content to show you, even the stretch goal items we have been working on over the weekend. If you have any suggestions for items, or you’d just like to hang out with some other like-minded hive-dwellers, please join our Discord server!

Team Elderbrain

An absolutely Chaotic Good move...
about 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 17, 2022 at 07:44:35 PM

Hello, Wonderful Intellects!

Thanks to your support and contributions, the campaign has reached its first major milestone: $100k in pledges and almost 1000 backers! Our plans for stretch goals were overly optimistic, world domination must wait. 

We have decided to create a more realistic stretch goal structure despite the rise in costs. This way we can include as much as possible in all reward tiers according to our original plan. We simply don't want you to miss out on all the goodies we had planned initially. Let's make Torrents as epic as possible!

Wait, what? This also means that we have already unlocked four stretch goals! 

If you pledge the Deluxe Box tiers for either TOTS or COTO, or the Accessory Boxes add-ons, you'll find the new cards in the boxes.

It's the best time to upgrade your pledge to receive the new item and monster cards, printed character sheets, and poster maps! With your help, we can increase the chance that we unlock our remaining stretch goals which have also been decreased! If you don’t want to upgrade but still want to have the shiny collector’s cards or the maps, you can add the booster card decks or accessory boxes to your pledge as add-ons.

Unfortunately, we are unable to modify live reward tiers and that is why these show the 100k steps for the stretch goals.

Thank you for the amazing support, and stay tuned, because the next updates will reveal more about new items and monsters in Torrents of the Spellhoarder with previews of their cool illustrations. 

Please also join the hivemind on our Discord server to discuss the adventure in even more detail!

Team Elderbrain