diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/BaseVertxMojo.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/BaseVertxMojo.java
index c568794..0629c9c 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/BaseVertxMojo.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/BaseVertxMojo.java
@@ -29,11 +29,14 @@
 import java.net.URLClassLoader;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 
 import static java.nio.file.Files.readAllBytes;
 
 public abstract class BaseVertxMojo extends AbstractMojo {
 
+  private Pattern CLASSPATH_DELIMITER = Pattern.compile(":");
+
   @Component
   protected MavenProject project;
 
@@ -60,6 +63,22 @@ public abstract class BaseVertxMojo extends AbstractMojo {
   @Parameter
   protected File configFile = null;
 
+   /**
+     * <p>
+     * The extra classpath for this verticle.
+     * </p>
+     * <p>
+     * If the path is relative (does not start with / or a drive letter like
+     * C:), the path is relative to the directory containing the POM.
+     * </p>
+     * <p>
+     * An example value would be src/main/resources/:src/test/resources/
+     * </p>
+   */
+
+  @Parameter
+  protected String classpath = null;
+
   /**
    * The number of instances of the verticle to instantiate in the vert.x
    * server. The default is 1.
@@ -73,6 +92,8 @@ public abstract class BaseVertxMojo extends AbstractMojo {
   @Parameter(defaultValue = "target/mods")
   protected File modsDir;
 
+
+
   protected JsonObject getConf() {
     JsonObject config = null;
     final String confContent = readConfigFile(configFile);
@@ -106,6 +127,7 @@ protected ClassLoader createClassLoader() throws Exception {
     List<URL> urls = new ArrayList<>();
     addURLs(urls, "src/main/platform_lib");
     addURLs(urls, "src/main/resources/platform_lib");
+    addClasspathResources(urls);
 
     return new LoadFirstClassLoader(urls.toArray(new URL[urls.size()]), getClass().getClassLoader());
   }
@@ -134,6 +156,20 @@ private void addURLs(List<URL> urls, String dirName) throws IOException {
     }
   }
 
+  private void addClasspathResources(final List<URL> urls) throws IOException{
+        if(classpath != null){
+            String[] paths = CLASSPATH_DELIMITER.split(classpath);
+           if(paths != null){
+                for(String path: paths){
+                    File dir = new File(path);
+                    if(dir.exists()){
+                        urls.add(dir.getCanonicalFile().toURI().toURL());
+                    }
+                }
+           }
+        }
+  }
+
   private static class LoadFirstClassLoader extends URLClassLoader {
 
     private final ClassLoader parent;
diff --git a/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/VertxFatJarMojo.java b/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/VertxFatJarMojo.java
index 5fcd7f0..da092e8 100644
--- a/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/VertxFatJarMojo.java
+++ b/plugin/src/main/java/org/vertx/maven/plugin/mojo/VertxFatJarMojo.java
@@ -44,9 +44,8 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException {
       if (createFatJar) {
         System.setProperty("vertx.mods", modsDir.getAbsolutePath());
         final PlatformManager pm = factory.createPlatformManager();
-
         final CountDownLatch latch = new CountDownLatch(1);
-        pm.makeFatJar(moduleName, "target",
+        pm.makeFatJar(moduleName, project.getBuild().getDirectory(),
             new Handler<AsyncResult<Void>>() {
               @Override
               public void handle(final AsyncResult<Void> event) {