Cthulhu!

[NecroticPunch]

I got bored, so I decided to make a thread on how we can all make Homebrewed monsters and races and classes based off the Cthulu mythos. More information shall be forthcoming!

[Kuma Kode]

Nothing better than some Lovecraft in my D&D...

I've got some monsters in Shadow Theory that could be modified to D&D 3.5.

Gatekeeper


Large Outsider
Vitality Dice: 10d8+20 (65 VP)
Wound Points: 14
Initiative: -2
Speed: Fly 20 ft. (Perfect)
Defense: 14 (-1 Size, +2 Deflection, +5 Natural, -2 Dexterity)
Base Attack/Grapple: +10 / +20
Attack: Tentacle claw +15 melee (1d4+6)
Full Attack: 6 Tentacle claws +15 melee (1d4+6)
Space/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft. / 10 ft.
Special Attacks: Seal of the Other, Dark Magician
Special Qualities: Body of the Beyond, Darkvision 60 ft., Immunity to Cold and Electricity, Acid Resistance 10
Allegiances: The Others
Action Points: -
Reputation: -
Saves: Fort +9, Reflex +5, Will +13
Abilities: Str 22, Dex 7, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 23, Cha 15
Sanity Drain: 1d3/2d6
Skills: Concentration +15, Escape Artist +11, Forbidden Lore +21, Hide +7, Knowledge (Physical Sciences) +16, Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences) +16, Psychic Focus +19, Listen +19, Search +16, Sleight of Hand +11, Spot +19
Feats: Sixth Sense, Second Sight, Shadow Aspect
Talents: -
Challenge Rating: Undecided
Gatekeepers are large, tentacled monstrosities of mind-bending geometry. They are horrific to view, as their grey, leathery, inexplicably moist flesh ebbs and flows with sensory organs and vestigial appendages, many of which have no earthly analog. They appear to be a floating mass of toothy tentacles, which inexplicably warp and disintegrate at random only to reappear elsewhere. Strangely, this vanishing may only happen to a certain chunk of their eldritch body, causing a tentacle to appear to hover, detached, despite the creature still being able to move and utilize it.

They constantly emit a low-frequency, electrical hum that some older humans cannot hear.

Gatekeepers are not Entities, and share no love of them. They are skittish and dubiously threatening of humans, but violently attack Entities and Tainted Ones. It is believed that Gatekeepers hail from a plane of existence that lays between our world and the Otherworld, and that the Gatekeeper's world has been caught between. It is possible that they see the Otherworlders as the "aggressors" in this planar war and seek to push them back into their own world.

While these abominations do not immediately attack humans, they are easily spooked and, because of their alien minds, are nearly impossible to communicate with. Even simple concepts of "I'm just passing through" cannot be grasped, so it is important to stay away from the creature and avoid any kind of threatening behavior.

Gatekeepers are not called such because of their theoretical position as the occupants of a world between ours and the Otherworld. They are called such because of their unusual penchant to block halls, doorways, and other portals. They do so by casting a unique version of the Seal of Tora, called the Seal of the Other, in the location and then hovering within the protective field. No one knows why they do this.

Combat
Gatekeepers are mostly solitary creatures, preferring to set up a kind of nest in an abandoned location and remain there, hovering peacefully in their supernatural ward. If the creature is attacked or feels that its Seal is in danger, it will lash out, attacking from cover or its Seal if possible. Despite their extradimensional abilities, they do not flee. It is possible that, like the Entities, death means something different to them than it does to humans.

Seal of the Other (Sp): This special power functions similarly to Seal of Tora, except that it blocks both corrupted and uncorrupted creatures and objects as well as both psionics and magick. It essentially functions as both a Seal of Tora and a Seal of Eibon, whichever is least beneficial to the trespasser. The Gatekeeper can summon these at will, but may only have one Seal at a time. They appear much like the Seal of Tora except with a greenish glow and a different, unidentifiable sigil.

The echelon of the Seal depends on how long the creature spends casting, up to its caster level maximum of Echelon 4.

Dark Magician: Gatekeepers know Lot-aug (Corrode), Nanyothua (Shadow), and 2d4 other whispers and any utterances they can learn from them. They have a caster level equal to their Hit Dice. They make frequent use of Dissolution, making them invaluable to survivors who know how to utilize these alien creatures.

Body of the Beyond (Ex): A gatekeeper's strange body and warped physics are due to the fact that it occupies more than three dimensions at any given time, causing its appendages and parts of its body to appear to vanish into the other dimension. In much the same way that a two-dimensional creature would see humans as a frightening cross-section or a ring as two separate ovals, so too do we see an incomplete, warped image of the creature's true self.

Gatekeepers enjoy the benefits of the Blink spell, granting them a 50% miss chance against attacks. If an attacker can see invisible creatures (such as with the Second Sight feat) or attack ethereal creatures, the miss chance is only 20%. If the attacker can both see invisible creatures and strike ethereal creatures, they do not suffer a miss chance against Gatekeepers. Gatekeepers do not suffer a chance to miss their own targets.

An individually targeted spell has a 50% chance to miss the Gatekeeper unless the spell can strike invisible, ethereal creatures (Such as Black Bolt) The creature takes only half damage from area effects unless they can affect ethereal creatures.

These eldritch monsters may also move through solid matter, shifting into higher dimensions to bypass the object in much the same way that an artist can lift her pen to get inside a circle without breaching the edge. This appears to require a bit of "squeezing", however, and the creature only moves at half speed while doing so.


Could replace Seal of the Other with a specialized version of Magic Circle Against Evil, then have Dark Magician let them cast as a sorcerer of their hit dice?

Tindalos

Huge Aberration (Entity)
Vitality Dice: 10d8+30 (66 VP)
Wound Points: 32
Initiative: +2
Speed: 0 ft.
Defense: 14 (+2 Dexterity, -2 Size, +4 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +7 / +25
Attack: Tentacle bite +11 melee (2d8+9)
Full Attack: Tentacle bite +11 melee (2d8+9)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. (Special, see text) / 15 ft.
Special Attacks: Improved Grab, Devour
Special Qualities: Manifestation, Entity traits, DR 5/+1, Blindsense 60 ft.
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: -
Reputation: +0
Saves: Fort +6, Reflex +5, Will +5
Abilities: Str 23, Dex 15, Con 16, Int -, Wis 6, Cha 2
Sanity Drain: 1d4/1d10
Skills: -
Feats: -
Talents: -
Challenge Rating: Undecided
No one really knows what a tindalos looks like because no one has ever seen the creature and lived to tell the tale. Only a long, red, toothy tentacle protruding from a swirling disk of utter darkness is ever seen of the creature. A tindalos occupies an extradimensional nest, a pocket of the Otherworld, and reaches through into our world to snatch prey and drag them beyond the veil, never to be seen again. The tentacle is massive, nearly twenty feet long and three feet thick, with tough red skin and vicious hooks on the underside. These hooks clamp down into grasped prey, securing and damaging the victim before the tentacle drags them back through the extradimensional hole. If the victim manages to tear itself away, or if it is too big to pass through the portal, the tindalos uses muscular action to pass chunks of meat down the tentacle and into its mouth in the Otherworld.

The presence of a tindalos can be deduced by the smears of blood that drag along the floor, up a wall, and end abruptly near the ceiling with no visible remains.

Because a tindalos is merely an extension of an Otherworld entity, it follows unusual rules for space and reach. When running a combat involving a tindalos, pick a 5 ft. by 5 ft. section of a wall, floor, or ceiling. This is the creature's space, representing the black portal through which the tentacle reaches. Attacking this square is always a viable method of attacking the creature. Alternatively, the creature is considered to be occupying the square adjacent to its previous target and closest to the portal, so individuals hoping to assist a victim of the tindalos may attack either square, whichever is more advantageous.

A tindalos can be detected with a radio under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant only when it has fully manifested. Its closed portal merely gives off a dim aura.

Combat
A tindalos lies in wait in the Otherworld, peering through the veil. When it detects prey, it manifests, tearing open a portal and reaching through.

Improved Grab: To use this ability, the tindalos must hit with its tentacle attack. If it gets a hold, it automatically deals tentacle damage every round it maintains the hold and can attempt to devour the opponent. Unlike with most grapples, the tindalos need not move into its opponents square.

Devour (Ex): Every round the creature maintains a hold, it attempts to drag the victim into the Otherworld. The victim and the tindalos make opposed strength checks. If the creature succeeds, it pulls its victim 5 feet towards itself, plus an additional 5 feet for every 5 points by which it beat the victim. If the victim succeeds, he may break free from the creature's grip, but suffers 2d8 points of damage in the process. Allies may assist in this strength check to tear their companion free.

If the victim is dragged into the tindalos's square by this ability, they are pulled through the veil and devoured by the creature in the Otherworld, becoming irrevocably lost. A final Reflex save (DC 21) allows the victim to grab the edges of the portal and continue making strength checks against the creature on subsequent rounds. The DC of this save is Strength based. A failed strength check while grasping the edges indicates the victim has been torn from their last salvation and drawn into the Otherworld.

Manifestation (Su): A tindalos lives slightly out of phase with our world, never truly entering our plane of existence. While in this ethereal state, the creature cannot be harmed in any way, and only gives off a dim Otherworld aura. It can only detect the environment using its blindsense while so incorporeal. As a standard action, it may tear open the veil between realities and manifest physically. In this mode, it may attack other creatures, but it can be attacked as well, and its normal aura is revealed. As a full-round action, it may disengage from any grapples it is partaking in and withdraw itself through the portal, returning to its disembodied state.

Damage Reduction (Ex): Tindalos are supernaturally resilient, and ignore the first 5 points of damage dealt by a piercing, slashing, bludgeoning, or ballistic attack. Magick weapons with at least a +1 enhancement bonus bypass this ability.Other than a few setting adjustments this one could be used as-is.

[NecroticPunch]

Those are cool, and I shall add them to the Monster List once I get around to adding a Monster List XP

Edit: And I agree with what you said :smallwink:

[tommy19]

I would really like to see a stat block for Cthulu himself. My players are all long time veterans and I'd love to find something to unleash on them that will cause their characters to scream in terror and wet themselves.

Cthulu should fit that bill perfectly. (:

[Zaydos]

I would really like to see a stat block for Cthulu himself. My players are all long time veterans and I'd love to find something to unleash on them that will cause their characters to scream in terror and wet themselves.

Cthulu should fit that bill perfectly. (:

Not Cthulhu himself, but a slime eidolon made in imitation of the Great Old One. Part of the stat block almost seems to be missing, but I know I ran it. He was part of a boss fight when the PCs took on a rogue sect of illithids who worshipped Cthulhu R'lyeh the Elder God of Chaos; I quoted the Call of Cthulhu when describing it... no one caught the reference :smallsigh:

Give it an Int score and some feats and it might could be used as Cthulhu.

Slime Eidolon CR 15
NE Gargantuan ooze (evil)
Init -2; Senses Blind, Blindsight 60-ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0
Languages None (understands ullitharid’s mental commands only)
Auras: Fear (60-ft/sight, Will DC 22 negates, a creature that fails is shaken, whenever a creature is attacked by the slime eidolon it must save again or become shaken/frightened/panicked)
AC 16 (+12 natural, -4 size, -2 Dex)
hp 446 (34 HD); DR 3/-
Immune mind-affecting spells and abilities, poison, acid, critical hits, flanking, blind,
Resist fire 10, cold 10, electricity 10
Fort +19, Ref +9, Will +11.
Speed 40-ft
Melee 2 slams +34 (2d6+13)
Space 20-ft; Reach 20-ft
Base Atk +25; Grapple +50
Atk Options Improved grab, acid (any creature grappled for 1 round by the slime eidolon takes 33 acid damage), Breath Weapon (cone of slime 40-ft long, deals 2d4 Wisdom damage to all non-aberration,Fort DC 34 negates).
Abilities; Str 36, Dex 6, Con 27, Int -, Wis 10, Cha 1
SQ ooze traits

Edit: And a base class I made a year and a half ago.

Tentacle Channeler (or Cthulhian Anti-Paladin or Hentai Cultist or Tentacled Horror):
{table]Lv| BAB |Fort| Ref| Will| Special|
1| +1| +2 |+0 |+2 |Tentacle (1d8), Aura of Evil, Aura of Chaos, Madness Blast (1 Wis)
2| +2 |+3 |+0 |+3 |Darkvision +30-ft, Aura of Madness
3 |+3| +3 |+1 |+3 |Reach 10-ft, DR 1/lawful
4 |+4 |+4 |+1 |+4 |2 Tentacles, Preserve Mind, Improved Grab
5 |+5 |+4 |+1 |+4 |Aberrant Strike (Magic), Summon Tentacle Beast,
6 |+6 |+5 |+2 |+5 |Tentacle (2d6), Blindsense 20-ft, Profane Grace
7 |+7 |+5 |+2 |+5 |Deeper Darkvision, DR 3/lawful, Madness Blast (2 Wis)
8 |+8 |+6 |+2 |+6 |3 Tentacles, Climb Speed
9 |+9 |+6 |+3 |+6 |Reach 15-ft, See Invisibility
10 |+10 |+7 |+3 |+7 |Aberrant Strike (Evil), Image of Horror, Aberration Type
11 |+11 |+7 |+3 |+7 |Tentacle (3d6), Recover Self, DR 5/lawful
12 |+12 |+8 |+4 |+8 |4 Tentacles, Darkvision +30-ft, Blindsense 40-ft
13 |+13 |+8 |+4 |+8 |Twist Reality, Channel Wings, Madness Blast (3 Wis)
14 |+14 |+9 |+4 |+9 |Devour Minds, Step between Dimensions,
15 |+15 |+9 |+5 |+9 |Reach 20-ft, Aberrant Strike (Adamantine), DR 7/lawful
16 |+16 |+10 |+5 |+10 |6 Tentacles, Tentacle (4d6), Summon Spawn of Cthulhu
17 |+17 |+10| +5 |+10| See in Deeper Darkness, Consume Madness
18 |+18 |+11 |+6 |+11 |Blindsense 60-ft, Devour Soul
19 |+19 |+11 |+6 |+11 |True Seeing, DR 9/lawful, Madness Blast (5 Wis)
20 |+20 |+12 |+6 |+12 |8 Tentacles, Aberrant Strike (Epic), Shape of Cthulhu[/table]

HD: d10
Skills per level: 2 + Level
Class Skills: Climb, Concentration, Hide, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (any), Listen, Move Silently, Spot, Use Magic Device.
Weapon and Armor Proficiencies: Simple weapons and light armor, no shields.
Class Abilities:
Tentacle: You gain a primary natural weapon a tentacle dealing 1d8 damage; unlike most natural weapons you may not combine this attack with weapon attacks. As you level you gain more attacks per round with tentacles (capping at 8 at Lv 20) and deal more damage (capping at 4d6 at Lv 16).
Madness Blast (Sp): 1/day per level you may fire a blast of madness. This is a ranged touch attack dealing the designated wisdom damage. This is mind-affecting effect and counts as a spell with a level equal to the Wisdom damage it deals +1.
Darkvision +30-ft: You gain darkvision 30-ft or your existing darkvision extends 30-ft.
Aura of Madness (Su): All creatures including yourself within 30-ft of you suffer a -2 penalty on all Will saves. This is mind-affecting effect.
Reach: You gain the listed reach with your tentacles.
DR (Su): you gain the listed DR
Preserve Mind (Ex): Whenever you would suffer mental ability score damage or drain you take 2 less ability damage/drain. You gain a +2 on all Will saves against such effects, and mind-affecting effects.
Improved Grab (Ex): You gain the improved grab ability, and a bonus on grapple checks equal to the number of tentacles used to grab target x2.
Aberrant Strike (Ex): Your tentacles overcome DR as if they were weapons of the listed type(s).
Summon Tentacle Beast (Su): 3 times per day you can summon a tentacle beast within 60-ft for 1 round/level. This takes a full round action and you must make a DC 15 Will save to control the summoned creature. If you fail to control the tentacle beast it turns on you attacking you in preference of all others.
Blindsense (Ex): You gain blindsense out to the designated range.
Profane Grace (Ex): This ability functions identically to a paladin’s divine grace… except its evil.
Deeper Darkvision (Su): Your darkvision functions in magical darkness.
Climb Speed (Ex): You gain a climb speed equal to your land speed.
See Invisibility (Sp): You gain a continual see invisibility effect with a caster level of your class level. This may be dispelled but doing so only suppresses it for 1d4 rounds.
Image of Horror (Su): Any creature within 30-ft which can see you must make a DC 10 + ½ your class level + your Charisma modifier Will save or take 4 Wisdom damage. A creature which successfully saves or fails its save is immune to this ability for 24 hours. You have no immunity to this effect, nor do your allies. This is mind-affecting effect.
Aberration Type: Your type changes to aberration and you gain proficiency in all simple weapons.
Recover Self (Ex): You heal ability damage at an accelerated rate of 1 point per round. This does not apply to Constitution or Charisma damage.
Twist Reality (Su): You gain SR 13 + your class level.
Channel Wings (Su): You may sprout wings giving you a fly speed equal to your land speed with poor maneuverability. To do so requires a full-round action and these wings last 1 minute. You may use this ability 3 times per day.
Devour Mind (Sp): 1/day as a standard action you may use Devour Mind. One target within 60-ft takes 4d4 Wisdom damage a successful Will save (DC 10 + ½ class level + Charisma modifier) halves this damage. This counts as a spell of ½ your class level. This is mind-affecting effect.
Step between Dimensions: 3/day you may use Dimension Door as spell. 1/day you may use Teleport or Plane Shift as the spell but doing so requires a DC 15 Wisdom check.
Summon Spawn of Cthulhu (Su): 1 time per day you can summon a spawn of Cthulhu within 60-ft for 1 round/level. This takes a full round action and you must make a DC 25 Will save to control the summoned creature. If you fail to control the spawn of Cthulhu it turns on you attacking you in preference of all others.
See in Deeper Darkness (Ex): You may now see as easily in absolute, even magical, darkness as in full sunlight.
Consume Madness (Su): Whenever a creature including yourself within 60-ft of you takes Wisdom or Charisma damage you heal 15 hp per point of ability damage taken.
Devour Soul (Sp): 1/day as a standard action you may use Devour Soul. One target within 60-ft takes 1d6 Wisdom drain and 3d6 Wisdom damage, as well as panics the target. A successful Will save (DC 10 + ½ class level + Charisma modifier) halves the Wisdom damage and is only shaken not panicked but has no effect on the Wisdom drain. This counts as a spell of ½ your class level. This is mind-affecting effect.
True Seeing (Sp): You gain a continual True Seeing effect with a caster level of your class level. This may be dispelled but doing so only suppresses it for 1d4 rounds.
Shape of Cthulhu (Su): 1/day as a move action you may assume the form of an Avatar of Cthulhu gaining all its stats (and losing your own) except for hp. You gain +100 temporary hp when you use this ability. You can remain in this form for 1 round/level and when you leave this form you take 2d8 damage to each mental ability score and are exhausted until the end of encounter.

Summons/Shapes:

Tentacle Beast:
Large Aberration
HD: 6d8+30 (57 hp)
Init: +0
Spd: 15-ft, climb 15-ft.
AC: 17 (-1 size, +8 natural), t 9, FF 17
BAB/Grp: +3/+14 (includes +4 racial bonus to grapple)
Atk: 4 tentacles +5 melee (1d6+2)
S/R: 10-ft/10-ft (15-ft tentacle)
SA: Tentacle Rape (+4 racial bonus to grapple checks), Improved Grab, Constrict (1d6+2), Visage of Horror.
SQ: Aberration traits, immunity to wisdom damage and mind-affecting effects, amorphous, blindsight 30-ft.
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +5
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 18, Int 4, Wis 10, Cha 12.
Skills: Spot +5, Listen +4.
Feats: Weapon Focus (Tentacle), Improved Toughness, Ability Focus (Visage of Horror).

Visage of Horror (Su): All creatures within 60-ft able to see you must make a DC 16 Will save or take 4 Wisdom damage. No creature may be affected by this ability more than once per day, and a creature which successfully saves is immune to this ability for 24 hours. This is mind-affecting effect.


Star-Spawn of Cthulhu:
Huge Aberration
HD: 24d8+192 (300 hp)
Init: +0
Spd: 40-ft, fly 100-ft (clumsy)
AC: 28 (-2 size, +20 natural), t 8, FF 28
BAB/Grp: +12/+30
Atk: 2 Claws +21 melee (3d6+10), tentacle-maw +18 melee (3d6+5)
S/R: 15-ft/15-ft
SA: Mind-Rending Aura, Foul Telepathy
SQ: DR 10/good, SR 20, Fast Healing 15, Amorphous
Saves: Fort +17, Ref +8, Will +17
Abilities: Str 30, Dex 10, Con 24, Int 16, Wis 12, Cha 16
Skills: Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +36, Spot +34, Listen +34, Hide +25, Move Silently +33
Feats: Weapon Focus (Claw), Multiattack, Ability Focus (Mind-Rending Aura), Ability Focus (Foul Telepathy), Improved Natural Weapon (Claw), Improved Toughness, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Power Attack.

Mind-Rending Aura (Su): All creatures within 30-ft of the star-spawn of Cthulhu feel feelings of unease and horror. They must make a DC 27 Will save or be sickened for as long as they are within the aura and 1d4 rounds afterwards. Any creature within the aura which has not been affected must make a save every round. This is mind-affect effect.
Foul Telepathy (Su): A Star-Spawn of Cthulhu has telepathy with a 300-ft range, but any non-aberration that communicates with the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu (willingly or unwillingly) must make a Will save DC 27 or a take 1d6 Wisdom damage. This save must be made every round the creature communicates with the star-spawn. A creature which successfully saves is immune to this ability for 24 hours. It requires a move action to communicate with an unwilling creature. This is mind-affecting effect.
Amorphous (Ex): Made of semi-solid preternatural material similar to slime and are therefore immune to critical hits and sneak attack.

Avatar of Cthulhu:
Gargantuan Aberration
HD: 34d8+340 (493 hp)
Init: +0
Spd: 50-ft, fly 120-ft (clumsy)
AC: 40 (-4 size, +34 natural), t 6, FF 40
BAB/Grp: +17/+47
Atk: 2 Claws +32 melee (6d6+18), tentacle-maw +29 melee (6d6+9)
S/R: 20-ft/20-ft
SA: Mind-Rending Aura, Foul Telepathy, Mental Blast
SQ: DR 15/good and adamantine, SR 35, Consume Madness, Fast Healing 20, Amorphous
Saves: Fort +21, Ref +11, Will +26
Abilities: Str 46, Dex 10, Con 30, Int 20, Wis 18, Cha 20
Skills: Knowledge (Dungeoneering) +44, Spot +43, Listen +43, Hide +27, Move Silently +39, Knowledge (Arcana) +44, Knowledge (the Planes) +44.
Feats: Weapon Focus (Claw), Multiattack, Ability Focus (Mind-Rending Aura), Ability Focus (Foul Telepathy), Improved Natural Weapon (Claw), Improved Toughness, Iron Will, Great Fortitude, Power Attack, Ability Focus (Mental Blast), Cleave, Great Cleave.

Mind-Rending Aura (Su): All creatures within 30-ft of the star-spawn of Cthulhu feel feelings of unease and horror. They must make a DC 34 Will save or be sickened for as long as they are within the aura and 1d4 rounds afterwards. Any creature within the aura which has not been affected must make a save every round. This is mind-affect effect.
Foul Telepathy (Su): An Avatar of Cthulhu has telepathy with a 500-ft range, but any non-aberration that communicates with the Star-Spawn of Cthulhu (willingly or unwillingly) must make a Will save DC 34 or a take 1d6 Wisdom damage. This save must be made every round the creature communicates with the star-spawn. A creature which successfully saves is immune to this ability for 24 hours. It requires a move action to communicate with an unwilling creature. This is mind-affecting effect.
Mental Blast (Su): An Avatar of Cthulhu can focus its will on a single target as a full-round action. If it does so it can blast the target’s mind dealing 2d6 Wisdom damage and stunning the target for 1 round (Will save DC 34 halves and negates stun). This is mind-affecting effect.
Consume Madness (Su): Whenever a creature including yourself within 60-ft of you takes Wisdom or Charisma damage you heal 15 hp per point of ability damage taken.
Amorphous (Ex): Made of semi-solid preternatural material similar to slime and are therefore immune to critical hits and sneak attack.

[Bhu]

I have a couple critters that would fit the mold for being Lovecraftian in my monster thread.

[Maroon]

I would really like to see a stat block for Cthulu himself.
Cthulhu: 1d6 people die.

[elpollo]

Cthulhu: 1d6 people die.

Yeah, this is the problem I have with doing a Cthulhu (or horror at all, really) d20 system. Unless Cthulhu has crazy immunities (to everything) the PCs will kill it. Maybe it will be back, but then the PCs kill it again and this time move its body to the centre of a star. This kinda reduces the horror aspect and makes it a comedy, giving you a sort of "What's that, Lassie? Cthulhu's eating his followers again? That crazy Cthulhu and his hijinks" situation.

[tommy19]

Unless Cthulhu has crazy immunities (to everything) the PCs will kill it.

Why wouldn't he have crazy immunities to everything? I mean, he is Cthulu after all. I'm not intimately familiar with the mythos but from what I understand Cthulu is like the penultimate icon of underwear stainage.

[Zaydos]

Why wouldn't he have crazy immunities to everything? I mean, he is Cthulu after all. I'm not intimately familiar with the mythos but from what I understand Cthulu is like the penultimate icon of underwear stainage.

He is, but he was also driven away by a boat (he has regeneration, though, as it showed) and managed to be fought to a point where he gave up on conquering the Elder Beings that lived at the Mountains of Madness by their Shoggoths and laser wands so lasers can hurt him. Really the Cthulhu Mythos wasn't made to interact with epic fantasy that well, and even Conan could take on such horrors and win (seeing as how Robert E. Howard wrote Conan and in the Mythos) so even a badass normal can. Cthulhu is from a world of level 1 commoners, maybe some Lv 5 experts; housecats are deadly there (the Cats of Uthar? Uster? I forget the name of the Lovecraft story right now).

[Owrtho]

It might be worth noting though that Cthulhu is only a high priest of his race. He isn't actually a god or similar being.

As a side note, this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536) class might be useful in a Lovecraftian type setting (though likely not for the players).

Owrtho

[some guy]

Why wouldn't he have crazy immunities to everything?

I have the D20 Call of Cthulhu book right here and it's not open game content so I can't quote directly from that. But suffice to say it has very high divine damage reduction, very high divine fast healing, spell resistance (enough to pose a problem for epic characters, I think) and fire and sonic resistance. It also has a bunch of other divine qualities.

[Zaydos]

I have the D20 Call of Cthulhu book right here and it's not open game content so I can't quote directly from that. But suffice to say it has very high divine damage reduction, very high divine fast healing, spell resistance (enough to pose a problem for epic characters, I think) and fire and sonic resistance. It also has a bunch of other divine qualities.

Yeah and optimized blaster could kill him in a round; now a normal 20th level mage couldn't but could still hurt him pretty bad. And that's with him being made a demigod which he wasn't in the actual stories.

[some guy]

Yeah and optimized blaster could kill him in a round; now a normal 20th level mage couldn't but could still hurt him pretty bad. And that's with him being made a demigod which he wasn't in the actual stories.

Well, like you said:


Cthulhu is from a world of level 1 commoners, maybe some Lv 5 experts;

A group of four level 20 investigators wouldn't have a chance against him. That's the problem with bringing things from one genre into another genre, I suppose.

[hamishspence]

Maybe the Dicefreaks "cosmic entity" rules (deity rules for beings not traditionally considered deities) rules might do it?

Might be a good way of fixing the CoC d20 rules for a D&D world.

[Gorgondantess]

It might be worth noting though that Cthulhu is only a high priest of his race. He isn't actually a god or similar being.

As a side note, this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153536) class might be useful in a Lovecraftian type setting (though likely not for the players).

Owrtho

Not a god, but close enough! He is worshiped as one and acts as one. He's not so much a part of a race as a progenitor: all others are noted as his spawn.
Anyways, you could stat up Cthulhu, but he'd essentially be CR: infinite. Can't be killed or bound in space & time except by a genuine deity: any time Cthulhu would suffer enough abuse, he/it just dissipates into a cloying green gas and reforms ten minutes later, good as new. In the Cthulhu: Now book, it brings up the problem of investigators who get enough support/funding to nuke Cthulhu- "he just reforms ten minutes later, but now he's radioactive!" The understanding of radiation is unsound, but the premise is valid- NOTHING can destroy Cthulhu, not even something that unmakes matter at its very core. And remember, there is magic in the Cthulhu-verse, just as powerful as D&D (though less common and the repercussions of using it is much greater), and not even that can stop big C.
Long story short? Winning is getting away. And even if you somehow managed to threaten his existence, I'm sure Cthulhu would know that and would have the foresight to make a faustian pact with Nyarlathotep... against whom you lose even harder, considering he has the deities the godlike entities regard as gods at his back. The very existence of a being like Cthulhu invalidates the capability of humanoid creatures to rise to such power as to be able to threaten it- it's like a paladin that exists in a world where good & evil are not palpable forces.
Also: I demand you change the title so that it is spelled correctly.

[hamishspence]

One Salient Divine Ability D&D deities can have makes them reform unless killed by a deity more powerful than them.

This might fit Cthulhu. If something like Nyarlathothep, Yog-Sothoth, etc, were to try killing him, could they do it? Maybe.

[Gorgondantess]

One Salient Divine Ability D&D deities can have makes them reform unless killed by a deity more powerful than them.

This might fit Cthulhu. If something like Nyarlathothep, Yog-Sothoth, etc, were to try killing him, could they do it? Maybe.

That's the good one- maybe.
I'm sure they could... defeat Cthulhu? Do something that would take him out of commission for a while. But I think Cthulhu is forever- in the end, he'll always be there. He was sortof a "primal evil" figure for Lovecraft- so long as there will be evil, there will be Cthulhu. No matter what you do, no matter how powerful a blow you deal to it, it'll still be there, and it'll reemerge stronger than ever.
That is not dead which can eternal lie
And with strange eons even death may die.
I read something about "eons' being a misnomer, and it more means "strange times". And any time Cthulhu is active is a strange time.

[hamishspence]

I thought Nyarlathothep was closer to the primal evil type- at least in his role as tempter and corruptor. "As long as there is evil, there is Nyarlathothep" seems to make more sense in the context of the stories.

Might depend on the setting though.

[Zaydos]

Cthulhu wasn't actually a major player in the books; his cultists assigned that line to him (in the story it was left vague whether they were right) and he was powerful enough to take a large portion of territory from the Elder Things which were barely a step up from humans on Lovecraft's food chain and still managed to make him offer a truce.

Actually the stories show a world without Cthulhu when the cone people rule in the future, so no Cthulhu wasn't a primal evil in Lovecraft's works, he has been made that in the works of later authors. If you want a primal evil in Lovecraft's works you go to Nyarlathotep, or one of the Outer Gods he served. Derleth was the first one to give Cthulhu god-like powers.

Edit:
Kind of ninja'd


I thought Nyarlathothep was closer to the primal evil type- at least in his role as tempter and corruptor. "As long as there is evil, there is Nyarlathothep" seems to make more sense in the context of the stories.

Might depend on the setting though.

That makes possible sense in Lovecraft's works. Cthulhu just caught on and became popularized. In later works they gave him much more powers (canon we know wand-like things that shot rays of light and heat could hurt him and his spawn... this was before lasers) such as actual immortality.

[hamishspence]

The main interesting thing he had was the fact that his dreams seemed to influence mortals, in the original story.

I think At The Mountains of Madness suggested that Cthulhu and his spawn, the "cosmic octopi" weren't entirely material beings.

[Zaydos]

They were part matter, but not matter as was known in this part of the galaxy.

As opposed to the truly immortal Outer Gods which were beings that were not matter at all.

Which is the thing do you want Lovecraft's Cthulhu or the fandom's?

Lovecraft's you could probably make as a CR 15-18 monster, maybe even 20. You could make him the tarrasque with worse melee, and no caraspace and some psychic attacks.

Fandom's Cthulhu you give this statblock: "Cthulhu wins. The PCs die or go gibberingly insane. No save."

[Gorgondantess]

Cthulhu is the only Great Old One present on earth, and is the most commonly worshiped Great Old One on earth. That's why he's brought up a lot.
Also, Zaydos, do you mean the Great Race of Yith? They inhabited the earth before Cthulhu, not after.


In later works they gave him much more powers (canon we know wand-like things that shot rays of light and heat could hurt him and his spawn... this was before lasers) such as actual immortality.
Hurt... not kill. The passage "that is not dead which can eternal lie" refers to Cthulhu- he is quite immortal.


Lovecraft's you could probably make as a CR 15-18 monster, maybe even 20. You could make him the tarrasque with worse melee, and no caraspace and some psychic attacks.
I think you're underestimating Lovecraft's Cthulhu. Despite his lack of power relative to the rest of the Mythos, he is still immensely powerful. No, not CR 15-18 range, much higher than that. Maybe not infinite, but still very high. Then again, we still don't know much about Cthulhu from Lovecraft's works. I was trying to represent Chaosium's Cthulhu, which is the only comprehensive one that describes his abilities in full.

EDIT: Hamishspence: They aren't... exactly solid. They are entirely amorphous: the anthropomorphic, winged octopus we see is simply what Cthulhu is comfortable with.

[Kuma Kode]

d20 Call of Cthulhu pegs him at CR 34, if I'm not mistaken. Azathoth is around 56.

The only characters who could even dream of taking on even a relatively weak horror like Cthulhu are god-like in their own right, since their CRs are about the same as D&D gods.

Though the Sanity loss is 1d10 or 1d100, so that could end the fight before it begins.

[tommy19]

Actually a high CR without being completely unstoppable is actually really great for me.

You see, I'm currently running a game in which the characters will determine if a long ago imprisoned evil god is allowed to escape his celestial bindings. If the players succeed the campaign ends with everyone living happily-ever-after. If they fail however, an evil so great it was only through intense effort (and quite a bit of luck) that the gods were able to contain it will be unleashed on the world.

Now, being trapped for thousands of years the evil deity is quite angry and wishes to make away as quickly as he can before the gods realize his return. In order to deal with the pesky insects that attempted to thwart his plans for freedom he leaves his lieutenant, Cthulhu, to squash them.


This serves a special purpose for my group as we have, on several occasions, played the Arkham Asylum board game and they are familiar with good ole Big C. This strikes the cord of terror and the inevitable "Oh $@#&, this guy is an underling?!" realization.

[Zaydos]

Well what CR would you like?

[tommy19]

Something that would give a 6 player Pathfinder party of optimized 20th levels a run for their money. :D

[Zaydos]

Something that would give a 6 player Pathfinder party of optimized 20th levels a run for their money. :D

Well someone better versed in Pathfinder than I will have to help there.

[tommy19]

Actually if you wanted to put together a 3.5 version I can convert it to pathfinder myself.

I'd be happy to re-post it afterwords of course.

[Morph Bark]

I once had a Detective PrC on the WotC forums someone called "Lovecraftian". I don't quite know myself but I could try see if I can locate it again - or recreate it.

[tommy19]

I once had a Detective PrC on the WotC forums someone called "Lovecraftian". I don't quite know myself but I could try see if I can locate it again - or recreate it.

That would be really awesome as I've been looking for a class combination that would accurately replicate the detective persona in a D&D setting. If you can find or recreate your original work I would love to see it and possibly included in my current game.