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Recently, this Unearthed Arcana article was released, which includes a new archetype for the Warlock class: the Lurker in the Deep patron. It's pretty obviously geared towards having a Kraken as a patron (with a bit of wiggle room to allow other patrons such as an Aboleth or Water Elementals, but it still seems pretty Kraken-centric to me).

However, whilst discussing these new recent Unearthed Arcana releases with other gamers at my local store, they mentioned that there was already a patron for the Kraken from a previous Unearthed Arcana. I tend to keep up to date with the Unearthed Arcana articles, especially when they include new class archetypes, so the fact that I had never heard of this was surprising to me.

They then showed me a web page on some unofficial D&D site (not dndwiki.com; it wasn't swamped with homebrew, but it still wasn't something official; I can't remember what it was called but it had the tagline "a pretty basic D&D wiki" or something similar). This archetype was called "The Kraken" and was listed alongside patrons I recognise, but it claimed it was Unearthed Arcana (with no source or date to validate it). I remember that the final class feature was called "Unleash the Kraken", but not much else.

Does anyone else recognise this? Is this an Unearthed Arcana archetype that I've missed, or is it just someone's homebrew posing as official content (or some other mix up)?

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They are half-correct that a Pact of the Kraken Warlock does exist, but it was not released in Unearthed Arcana. Dungeons and Dragons Franchise Creative Director Mike Mearls made it for the January 30, 2018 episode of his Happy Fun Hour stream. It is intended for community play-testing and feedback (like Unearthed Arcana), but has not been released as a part of an official Unearthed Arcana to my knowledge.

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  • \$\begingroup\$ Ah, I don't keep up with Happy Fun Hour (largely because, after what I believe what was his first one, the Order Domain, made it into UA, I assumed anything significant would likewise be released as UA and so stopped paying attention). Thanks! Also, that link you've provided was the exact page they showed me (I recognise it, even beyond the tagline) so double-thanks! \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:18
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    \$\begingroup\$ Note: HFH streams aren't necessarily "intended for community play-testing and feedback", but rather just an insight into the design process. Occasionally, they do show promise and make it into a proper UA for playtesting. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:24
  • \$\begingroup\$ @V2Blast Just wondering, why is the "Think DM" link better? Is it because it doesn't show non-SRD stuff like the other one appears to? Does "Think DM" not run afoul of that? \$\endgroup\$
    – NathanS
    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:26
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    \$\begingroup\$ @NathanS: That is why I changed the link, yes. The other site includes a lot of non-SRD content. \$\endgroup\$
    – V2Blast
    Oct 7, 2019 at 9:28
  • \$\begingroup\$ Are Kraken "otherworldly", did I miss a memo? \$\endgroup\$
    – Slagmoth
    Oct 7, 2019 at 12:18

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