THE ILLRIGGER
Added 2021-04-14 18:01:01 +0000 UTC
Double, double, toil and trouble...
Two years have passed since we signed our own deal with the devil to undertake a most unholy task.

We've scoured the depths of hell and sacrificed the last withering shred of our humanity to bring unto you a new Class of evil—the likes of which only MCDM could have wrought:
THE ILLRIGGER
Illriggers are versatile armored warriors with a wide array of supernatural abilities that reflect the infernal source of their power (aka they're metal AF). Depending on their devilish contract, known to mere mortals as their "Subclass", they can be:
🗡️ Highly mobile and stealthy assassins 🤺

🛡️ Heavily armored battlefield commanders ⚔️

😈 Or fighting illusionists! ✨

And that's not the end of our sorry tale, dear patrons: we entreated with the witches to craft five new spells, traveled with Lady Dazran, the ruthless battlefield commander of Dispater, and rounded up three Illrigger retainers to act as scapegoats the next time you raise some hell.
We must atone for our grievous sins against humanity and, if they are to be found, game design. We wail in gratitude for those who tried to steer us from the left-hand path. The gallows await.
Look on our Works, ye patrons, and DESPAIR!

Asmodeus demanded that we send the Illrigger far and wide, and we are pleased to deliver the Illrigger to Roll20 so you can unleash hell with your friends across the world! 🔥
FAQs
Q: How long will I be able to download the Illrigger PDF attached to this post?
A: Until Hell has frozen over. If we update the Illrigger, we’ll let you know and you'll be able to download the updated version directly from this post.
Q: My friend wants to get the Illrigger, but isn’t a Patron. How can they get it?
A: The Illrigger has joined the legions of dope products on the MCDM Shop where your friends can pick it up for a mere $11.99 — less than the cost of one immortal soul (depending how good you've been, I suppose).
Q: Are you going to release an ARCADIA issue this month (April 2021)?
A: We are not, but ARCADIA will be back soon. Right now we’re reading the results of our Patreon survey and assessing how to move forward in the future. The devil's in the details!
Q: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously?
A: Do not cite the deep magick to me, witch. I was there when it was written.

Q: Why is there no art of JUDGE in this? The only Illrigger who matters?!
A: Well, we asked Jason, our Art Director, and he provided this….

And Anna said...
“no
no weird judge art!
he's too hot for this!!”
So we passed.
Q: What is this... an FAQ for IMPS? I have a question and it's not one of the ones listed here!
A: Right, fair enough! If you need help with anything MCDM-related, email our support inbox and we'll respond as soon as we can. We're looking forward to reaching the point where we can bring on a dedicated support team member to help everyone lickety-split, but until we get there we try to check for new messages every week or two. We've got many tools at our disposal, so rest assured that when you hear back from us we will do everything we can to make sure you're taken care of! :)
💌 hello@mcdmproductions.com
Can you please update the fantasy grounds unity module to the current rules found on d&d beyond? With the d&d beyond class release the class has become very popular, but when making one under fantasygrounds you quickly find out how weak that release is compared to the new version.
Tosari
2025-01-17 19:25:21 +0000 UTC
Pretty please!
Aaron Richardson
2024-02-25 20:34:04 +0000 UTC
The Talent is easy to understand. It even names Jean Gray and a few other recognizable Talents/psyoinics. But I don't know what an illrigger is? Is the Witcher? Hellraiser? 🤷♂️
Anthony Fontana
2023-12-06 19:07:52 +0000 UTC
Is this going to get a beautiful character sheet option like the Beastheart and Talent??
itchyboar
2023-12-05 23:50:37 +0000 UTC
Linking back to the OG Illrigger post reminded me how much I miss the Chain of Acheron and the Book of Judge. Regardless, excited to check this out! I hope the changes make it into Foundry and everyone else's favorite VTTs! Side note, D&D Beyond is finally doing 3rd party content with Ghostfire Gaming. Might be a new digital front to get your 5E classes and books on for additional exposure!
Krahnin
2023-12-05 16:36:02 +0000 UTC
The file name is 1.0 but if you download it you'll see that 2nd page of the pdf it says version 2.4
Edge
2022-05-31 15:59:49 +0000 UTC
I think that there were previous playtest versions and this is the official release, but I could be wrong. It's more well fleshed out than the last time I read through it, now it's much more unique and less like just a devil paladin than what I think it was originally.
Dysprosium66
2022-05-20 05:58:02 +0000 UTC
Is this version 1.0 listed above the most up to date version of the class? I thought I read somewhere there had been revisions.
Bob Driver
2022-02-11 02:41:10 +0000 UTC
Oh, yeah! Just rediscovered this class for my campaign: Knight & Sage!
It is a Strongholds & Followers (and hopefully soonish Kingdoms & Warfare) heavy campaign in a home-brewed arthurian kingdom and the two PCs (Knight & Sage) are good souls, so I wanna use the illrigger for the bad guys.
Any chance we will see some more illriger NPC stat blocks?
Tintenteufel
2021-06-06 10:04:58 +0000 UTC
I finally put my hands onto the lord I wanted to be
Piero Valle
2021-05-07 17:04:29 +0000 UTC
Awesome Content! loved your channel for a couple of years, and decided to back! damn the content is good!
Andrés Carmelo Micalizzi Casali
2021-05-05 21:14:30 +0000 UTC
I mean if you don't give it to them then it just promotes a hex-blade dip. +charisma to ac. I'd much rather them take the two handed weapon chr thing tbh lol
Thisjus10
2021-05-04 02:57:20 +0000 UTC
Not sure if this is the place for asking rules clarifications, but for the Architect of Ruin ability Submit!(pg 17) does that apply to all saving throws against the spell(like Hold Person or Phantasmal Killer that allow the target a new save every turn) or does it only apply against the initial save? It does say it imposes disadvantage on their saving throws(plural) but I wanted to confirm that was the intent.
Joey Z
2021-04-24 18:55:42 +0000 UTC
I'm hoping to introduce a gang of rival adventurers to my group very soon, and I think Illrigger will be a fine addition to the enemy party. #IDontTakeOrdersFromDeadMen
ZorkFox
2021-04-23 07:22:55 +0000 UTC
i was worried that was gonna be the case. ty for the explanation though. if playing the illrigger has to wait till i have another in person game set up then so be it lol
2021-04-22 00:59:50 +0000 UTC
Unfortunately MCDM (and other third parties) have very little way to get themselves on DND Beyond. The deal they made with Critical Role to add the Blood Hunter is likely related to their sponsorship. If you want MCDM products on DND Beyond, then the best thing you can do is tell DND Beyond themselves.
2021-04-22 00:02:37 +0000 UTC
Having looked through it properly now, awesome work by all involved. The flavour and the mechanics are great!
The only thing I'd scrap is the charisma for great weapon attack and damage, seems unnecessary and promotes players dumping STR, an already under valued stat, and pumping Dex, the god stat.
Optic
2021-04-21 13:35:22 +0000 UTC
My players just arrived to Avernus, thank you for including NPC stat blocks, they are perfect for the DM!!
Also - now this is the class I want to play when I stop being forever DM, I can't wait!
Santi
2021-04-21 08:48:59 +0000 UTC
No need to apologize. I realized I hadn't processed the "cities" portion of the text in my excitement over the product. Its awesome to hear that it might be a future product. I'd buy the hell out of a campaign setting book or even smaller 5-10$ portions in an arcadia-like format.
Dammerung
2021-04-20 21:17:46 +0000 UTC
Sorry, that was me (Matt).
We'd like to do a future book about Orden's multiverse, but I have no idea when that product might materialize.
MCDM Productions
2021-04-20 20:51:00 +0000 UTC
Oh! Thank you for the answer.
Dammerung
2021-04-20 12:16:29 +0000 UTC
There aren’t seven or nine hells in the Timescape, there’s only one. Hell. It’s a world dominated by seven cities that war through eternity, each ruled by a different archdevil.
MCDM Productions
2021-04-20 02:52:05 +0000 UTC
I can't find the answer elsewhere, and the Illrigger description is what triggered the question so I thought I'd ask here: "I'm used to there being 9 hells, if there are only 7 in Matts world what are they and where would I read up on this?"
Dammerung
2021-04-19 21:19:04 +0000 UTC
dang
2021-04-19 06:46:44 +0000 UTC
No
Adam Karis
2021-04-19 06:27:03 +0000 UTC
ive never done anything with patreon and im not the most tech savvy, is there a way to access the book on dnd beyond?
2021-04-19 05:53:55 +0000 UTC
In addition to the mistake with Lady Dazran’s statblock, I believe there is a typo in one of the headers on page 17: “Asmoedus’s Blessing”
Thjumus
2021-04-18 10:27:11 +0000 UTC
This is one of the most beautiful PDFs my eyes have ever laid eyes on.
David
2021-04-17 03:22:56 +0000 UTC
This is great! Loved it on a first read. Anywhere where we can provide feedback on some copy clarifications that *may* be worth doing?
Gabriel Bergevin-Estable
2021-04-17 01:10:53 +0000 UTC
Im a forever DM, so I will probably never get to play a PC Illrigger but the possibilities of NPC Illriggers is really exciting to me.
Brady Hargett
2021-04-16 23:47:50 +0000 UTC
Matt - I just wanted to add that I think this storyline that you have been slowly adding to piece by piece is fantastic, and filling my head with so many awesome ideas. I was wondering if perhaps the idea had occured to you to turn it into a product at one stage - because to me, it feels like a Matt Colville campaign, something on a similar scale to others like the Night Below or the Red Hand of Doom. Personally, I would play the fuck out of The End Of The Timescape (and it would tie all of your lore together into one awesome package). Apologies though if I am overstepping myself!
Will
2021-04-16 15:10:19 +0000 UTC
Its another great project from you guys! Thanks for all the hard work and care you put in every thing you release.
Jaime Morales San Román
2021-04-16 14:58:12 +0000 UTC
Absolutely loving the Illrigger concept. I am running a game where the local kingdom is being invaded by an army of hell worshiping cultists and the Illrigger is perfect for their commanders. Only problem is that our game is running in Pathfinder 1E, not D&D 5E. Gotta see if I can come up with a conversion...
Michael Dykes
2021-04-16 14:46:17 +0000 UTC
Was looking at the Lady Dazran statblock, because I love it and might lift it for my campaign, and spotted a mistake!
In her reactions the Telekinetic Seal is named Telepathic Seal (which got me confused because telepathy is not used to push folks away). The mistake is also present in the accompanying text, 5th line from the bottom.
Thjumus
2021-04-16 08:17:06 +0000 UTC
Hey Matt, thanks for the options. I think a version without art and maybe the border as well would be print friendly. The original font would be best to keep.
Otto
2021-04-16 05:58:37 +0000 UTC
You mean like a version without art? Or a black and white version? Or a black and white version without art? Like an RTF file? -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 05:13:43 +0000 UTC
I would rule that resistance or immunity means you roll your dice, but nothing happens. -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 05:13:08 +0000 UTC
If you insist! :D -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 05:12:30 +0000 UTC
I think an MCDM Beastmaster is in the cards, but probably not until after the MCDMonster Book. -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 04:51:32 +0000 UTC
We're gonna wait on an Illrigger Stronghold until after we revise Strongholds & Followers, I think that product needs a lot of work now, compared to Kingdoms & Warfare. But Lars did a prototype Illrigger stronghold, maybe ask around in the Discord. -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 04:50:26 +0000 UTC
I think we'll see more MCDM stuff in Fantasy Grounds, but right this second we got bigger fish to fry. -Matt
MCDM Productions
2021-04-16 04:48:58 +0000 UTC
Hello again, is it possible to get a “print friendly” version of this class? I would like to add it to my “unofficial” content binder.
Otto
2021-04-16 03:03:40 +0000 UTC
I was later able to use a different device and the cover popped up. Must have been my phone.
Otto
2021-04-16 03:01:27 +0000 UTC
Sounds like a fun interpretation. I do wonder why the concept of 1/4 casters, 1/3 casters, and 3/4 casters has gone out the door in 5e tho.
Dustin Hammersmith
2021-04-15 23:31:15 +0000 UTC
My partner essentially reacted, like Anna. "Oh, this is what i actually wanted when making a Paladin. But the Paladin didn't really provide this."
Also as GM; i highly appreciate the NPC Options.
Lennart Peters
2021-04-15 18:19:17 +0000 UTC
I apologize if this has been answered somewhere else, but when using the Infernal Conduit ability on an unwilling creature, what happens if they are resistant or immune to necrotic damage? Based on the wording, it seems like the "transfer" is based on the roll, not the damage that is dealt.
Sean Higgins
2021-04-15 17:30:51 +0000 UTC
When y'all make more custom classes, please continue adding the NPC (and how to run them) and retainer section. Having those resources as a DM saves so much time and provides so much brainstorming!
Sam
2021-04-15 17:24:03 +0000 UTC
I have a clarification question that the team may want to address in a future version. All Illriggers can use a bonus action to place a seal (CHA mod) times per rest. Then the subclasses get new ways to apply seals. It's not clear to me whether abilities like By the Throat are limited to that first pool of seals or can be used with no limit. To me, a lawyer's reading of the rules would indicate the latter, but I don't believe that was the intent.
For instance, I might change the language from By the Throat saying "place a seal on an enemy" to "place one of your seals on an enemy." Another idea would be to word the introduction of Baleful Interdict to indicate this is your pool of seals from which they all come.
Benjamin Russell
2021-04-15 14:14:23 +0000 UTC
This is incredible. Great work MCDM! I have a retired C.o. Whispers Bard that had been a spy master for a couple of nations. My DM and I decided he was probably actually an Illrigger and are going to run a solo campaign to resolve his story.
Travis Winquist
2021-04-15 13:49:17 +0000 UTC
It is so cool that the class is "Knights of Hell" and the subclasses are "Paladinlike-", "Roguelike -" and "warmagelike knight of Hell". Each subclass is so distinctive and clear in it's flavour. I think that is a great way to make a class.
Jeppe Juul Rasmussen
2021-04-15 09:28:28 +0000 UTC
That artwork is insane! Such cool visuals.
Jack Charlton
2021-04-15 09:25:41 +0000 UTC
Matt is not a huge fan of multiclassing in general, and while the testers did think of some scenarios, it wasn't explicitly tested for bullshit multiclassing combinations. That is, IMO, up to the DM to either allow or shut down.
That said, we did spend a lot of time trying to figure out how the Architect of Ruin's non-standard spell progression would work in multiclassing, and ultimately decided to just use the half-caster rules, even though that would mean Architects of Ruin could *lose* spells by multiclassing. Asmodeus takes a dim view of Illriggers who stray from strict commitment to the path of Hell.
Pesto Enthusiast
2021-04-15 06:28:36 +0000 UTC
MCDM is trying to get their content into Roll 20. That and D&D Beyond were by far and away the most popular VTTs in the survey, each having more than everything else (FG, Foundry, etc.) combined.
If you program it into FG, you can share it with your group, but you cannot make it public to people outside your table (otherwise that'd be a copyright violation).
Pesto Enthusiast
2021-04-15 06:26:48 +0000 UTC
I'm not able to replicate the issue. Try another browser?
Pesto Enthusiast
2021-04-15 06:24:53 +0000 UTC
Wow! As much art as an issue of Arcadia! Plus some tasty Colville prose. Who could ask for more?
Daniel Robino
2021-04-15 04:14:14 +0000 UTC
There are a couple homebrew illrigger strongholds from the community up in the r/mattcolville subreddit, but yeah, it would have been cool to have an official stronghold in the release.
Christopher
2021-04-15 03:30:33 +0000 UTC
Yes! I'm dying to beat my players up with a Painkiller, haha.
Christopher
2021-04-15 03:25:46 +0000 UTC
I'm so excited!!! I played a Shadowmaster through 8th level using the v2.0 rules in a homebrew campaign and it was my favorite character I've ever played. Now I need to find a campaign to play a Painkiller in because I really want to try their abilities out! :-D :-D
Can't wait to see the next custom class you folks come up with! (For that matter, I would still love to see the updated version of Tom's beastmaster ranger with the additional ferocity abilities.)
Christopher
2021-04-15 03:22:57 +0000 UTC
I've been playing a Painkiller for the past 12 or so months in our homebrew campaign 'Pimp my Imp'. It's been an absolute blast! I have to congratulate all of MCDM on releasing such a high quality polished product. The art, writing and design are the same high standard I've come to expect of the company and I would have to agree you guys need to price this stuff at a higher level to reflect the amount of work that's gone into it. Keep up the great work guys, looking forward to Kingdoms and Warfare!
Troy McMahon
2021-04-15 02:28:16 +0000 UTC
Definitely going to tinker with this and make a certain NPC villain in Waterdeep: Dragon Heist into an Illrigger!
J. Griffin Orr
2021-04-15 02:19:30 +0000 UTC
Just Hell Freakin Yeah man! #JudgeLand
JRy
2021-04-15 01:50:29 +0000 UTC
I was actually looking into making my planned NPC anti-paladin of Asmodeus into an illrigger (free) and then well you post this!! and Mote of Hell is the perfect spell for me to seed more clues to one of my PCs origins, of how the Aitkin power there warforged (through stealing souls from hell , hell isnt to fond of the practice)
Ty Hall
2021-04-15 00:53:39 +0000 UTC
Did you/testers do a Multi-Classing pass on abilities? This is where most things become "broken". Things like Coffeelock, or Pali/Hexblade/Sorcerer come up, as this is another Cha focused thing I think its the interactions with other Cha based classes in a multi-classing scenario might end up busting some things, but as requested I'll reserve judgement until I give it a whirl.
Dustin Hammersmith
2021-04-15 00:18:37 +0000 UTC
Finally. I wanted this to come out so much.
2021-04-14 22:24:32 +0000 UTC
I haven't read through the release version yet, but I can't wait to roll an Illrigger. I also felt the need to comment about the masterful use of Goat GIFs. Fantastic!
StabbyQuest
2021-04-14 21:47:47 +0000 UTC
Oh, I'm going to enjoy this.
Kevin Tibbs
2021-04-14 21:44:13 +0000 UTC
Woooo, so awesome. Thanks MCDM, looks so sweet! I was excited when playtesting this, now excited for all the dope art.
Roman Penna
2021-04-14 21:41:04 +0000 UTC
In Original and Basic D&D, evil clerics were a recurring theme for villains. This seems to fit that archetype perfectly for 5ez
B. J. Boyd
2021-04-14 21:24:53 +0000 UTC
This is rad! Quick question: if an Illrigger has a Stronghold, what are the demesne effects and such? Will S&F be updated to have that?
Grand Admiral Flair
2021-04-14 20:23:12 +0000 UTC
DOPE. The dopeness went to the max here. Have fun running your Illriggers ya'll!
Kalerei
2021-04-14 20:20:01 +0000 UTC
How is Anna the original player of the Illrigger, not a labeled playtester?
Kristopher lee oneill
2021-04-14 20:13:00 +0000 UTC
So damn cool. So I have no experience in this and no plans to do it at the moment, but a couple of my players are really interested in this and might want to use it in our Fantasy Grounds campaign. Will you guys be selling this as a module for Fantasy Grounds? If not, would you mind if I program it in manually to share with them?
Justin Gillman
2021-04-14 20:04:44 +0000 UTC
I didn't have the time to read everything yet, but I wanted to say that even just scrolling through it, it is simply SO BEAUTIFUL! The style, the colors of every piece of art are far above any other D&D thing I ever read !
Making Tlon
2021-04-14 20:03:05 +0000 UTC
So excited. Definitely vibes of the 4e fighter in here, with dashes of some other classes. I really want to try it out.
Bryce Petersen
2021-04-14 19:47:58 +0000 UTC
Thank you Matt & Company
Charles Farrell
2021-04-14 19:31:59 +0000 UTC
The art, concept and layout everything in this is just screaming with flavor. I'm here for this
Brendon Speed
2021-04-14 19:29:14 +0000 UTC
Incredible art, the Illrigger on page 9 makes me think of Heden from Priest, but if he'd fallen in love with Dispater instead of St. Lynwen <3
Asher Winnie
2021-04-14 19:10:55 +0000 UTC
Dropping this directly into my Descent Into Avernus campaign... Painkillers are a perfect fit for Zariel's cultists fighting in the Blood War.
Brandon Vock
2021-04-14 19:10:39 +0000 UTC
Goat Gifs on point!
Hypnoticflame
2021-04-14 19:05:56 +0000 UTC
Beautiful artwork, as usual!
Matt MauDib
2021-04-14 19:01:27 +0000 UTC
The goats in this post are the cherry on top of a sundae from hell.
Kevin M.
2021-04-14 18:59:25 +0000 UTC
Nice.
The Panelist
2021-04-14 18:28:12 +0000 UTC
I've never been one to want more classes but the Illrigger is ligit.
Edward Pizzella
2021-04-14 18:26:59 +0000 UTC
So stoked, this could be a lot of fun as a BBEG as well.
I don’t know if I’m the only one but, when I download the PDF the cover disappears. The rest of the content is there which is great.
Otto
2021-04-14 18:26:05 +0000 UTC
I cant believe Jason made Fancy Squidward Judge art
John Champion
2021-04-14 18:25:29 +0000 UTC
This is awesome! I find the best way to get players interested in something like this is to kick their butt with one haha. Challenge rating 11 should do the trick 😁
TURNIP SLOP
2021-04-14 18:21:54 +0000 UTC
Sick. Really well put together
Cirosmar
2021-04-14 18:19:17 +0000 UTC
This graphic design, layout, and art is amazing. Honestly, I may need to go up to the $10 tier to pay you folks for the quality that you're putting out.
Brian Case
2021-04-14 18:18:04 +0000 UTC
I've never wanted to play an evil character... until now.
Daniel Quaresma
2021-04-14 18:14:55 +0000 UTC
Jason is an imp and should provide judge-smut as an apology :3
Jan Plewa
2021-04-14 18:10:06 +0000 UTC
HELL YEAH
GGSigmar
2021-04-14 18:07:47 +0000 UTC
Already up and running, but now I can create Illrigger NPCs to decimate them.
Glenn Rittenhouse
2021-04-14 18:07:10 +0000 UTC
Hell Yes! I'm excited to put this in my games and present it as an option to my players.
Nicholas Renzetti
2021-04-14 18:04:16 +0000 UTC