A Torrent of Black Quicksilver

The formless spawn of Tsathoggua are yet another mythos horror, intelligent black oozes able to change form at will. They appear to be very similar to the much more powerful shoggoths.

The formless spawn are the creation of Clark Ashton Smith, first described in his short story “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros” (1931).

When we approached and peered over the brim, we saw that the bowl was filled with a sort of viscous and semi-liquescent substance, quite opaque and of a sooty color. It was from this that the odor came—an odor which, though unsurpassably foul, was nevertheless not an odor of putrefaction, but resembled rather the smell of some vile and unclean creature of the marshes. The odor was almost beyond endurance, and we were about to turn away when we perceived a slight ebullition of the surface, as if the sooty liquid were being agitated from within by some submerged animal or other entity. This ebullition increased rapidly, the center swelled as if with the action of some powerful yeast, and we watched in utter horror, while an uncouth amorphous head with dull and bulging eyes arose gradually on an ever-lengthening neck, and stared us in the face with primordial malignity. Then two arms—if one could call them arms—likewise arose inch by inch, and we saw that the thing was not, as we had thought, a creature immersed in the liquid, but that the liquid itself had put forth this hideous neck and head, and was now forming these damnable arms, that groped toward us with tentacle-like appendages in lieu of claws or hands!

—Clark Ashton Smith, “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros”

As the name implies, the formless spawn are a servitor race of Tsathoggua, a Great Old One that was incorporated by H.P. Lovecraft into the Cthulhu mythos. Smith, in the “The Seven Geases” (1933), describes Tsathoggua as dwelling in a secret cave in the bowels of Voormithadreth: “You shall know Tsathoggua by his great girth and his batlike furriness and the look of a sleepy black toad which he has eternally. He will rise not from his place, even in the ravening of hunger, but will wait in divine slothfulness for the sacrifice.” The formless spawn, as shown in the Tale of Satampra Zeiros, are often often found in basins or pools in Tsathoggua’s temples, where they act as guardians.

The “Primal Horrors” pack for Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder kickstarter contained not one, but four formless spawn miniatures. These are really great sculpts that were a lot of fun to paint up. I tried out a new technique for painting glowing red eyes that worked reasonably well: I did a base coat of red, followed by a highlight spot of yellow, followed by another highlight of white. Then I did some very thin glazes of transparent red over the eye and surrounding areas. The glaze blurs the highlights and as it spills outside the eye creates a glowing effect. I wasn’t fully satisfied with the results, but it seems like a very promising technique that I’ll be playing around with in the future.

The third adventure in Paizo’s Strange Aeons adventure path, Dreams of the Yellow King contains a CR 12 version of the formless spawn. The Petersen bestiary has a CR 10 version that is a bit more to my liking—I’ll do a conversion to 0e and 3.5e once the book is released.

What's Hiding under the Earth in these Hills

The dark young of Shub-Niggurath are Lovecraftian monsters, servitors of the dread Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young. They are described as huge, black tree-like horrors made of tentacles and snapping maws. They walk upon great hooves.

It came crawling up the hillside to the alter and the sacrefice, and it was the black thing of my dreams—that black, ropy, slimy, jelly tree-thing out of the woods. It crawled up and it flowed up on its hoofs and mouths and snaky arms. And the men bowed and stood back and then it got to the alter where they was something squirming on top, squirming and screaming.

—Robert Bloch, “Notebook Found In a Deserted House.”

Both the Reaper Miniatures Bones 3 set and Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder contained very cool miniatures of the dark young. The two sculpts are of similar size, though the Petersen version fits on a Large sized base, while the Reaper 3 version fits on a Huge one. I based both of them on Huge bases for consistency sake.

The Reaper dark young (right) has long, serpentine tentacles and a weird central maw in the top center of its trunk.

The Petersen dark young (left) is somewhat more alien, and its circular maws are filled with rows and rows of nasty teeth, a grotesque little detail that really adds to the creepy factor.

There were some annoying flash lines on both figures that I either missed or couldn’t quite eradicate. But all-in-all, I was pretty happy with how both of these models painted up.

Paizo included stats for the dark young in Pathfinder Adventure Path 46: Wake of the Watcher (2011), but I honestly found this take a bit pedestrian. Once the Petersen version is out I will probably do conversions to 0e, 3.5e, and 5e.

A Huge, Slimy Leprous Gray Mass: The Giant Slug

The giant slug is a classic monster that goes all the way back to the original Greyhawk supplement (1974), and was included in the AD&D Monster Manual (1977).

The origin of the slug can be traced directly to L. Sprague de Camp, who expanded a Robert E. Howard fragment into the Conan short story “The Hall of the Dead,” which appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, February 1967 issue. The slug in de Camp’s story is a dead ringer for the D&D version, complete with the acid spit.

The slug made it into the 2nd Edition Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), but does not appear to have made the leap to 3e or beyond. Fortuantely Necromancer Games salvaged the slug in their indispensable Tome of Horrors (2002), giving us a nice OGL base to work with.

And Otherworld Miniatures makes not one, but two giant slug miniatures in resin. As with all Otherworld stuff, these cleave pretty closely to the old AD&D illustrations. I painted the one shown to the right, which is a really nice sculpt. I based my color scheme on Duke of the Blood Keep, who did an amazing speckling design on the slug’s hood that far exceeds my skill or patience.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Slug, Giant

Though many times larger, this creature appears to be an enormous grayish slug. A large slime trail marks the ground as it moves.

Scavengers and Predators. Giant slugs are found in moist or wet environments such as swamps, marshes, rain forests, and dungeons. They feed on both plants and animals.

Nocturnal Creatures. Giant slugs spend the daylight hours away from the heat of the sun. On extremely hot days, giant slugs bury themselves in debris where they secrete a thick coating of mucus that covers their entire body and protects them from the heat.

Larger Versions of Normal Slugs. Giant slugs are pale gray in color with a dull white underbelly. They have a single pair of long, thin tentacles or antennae. The giant slug uses them to sense brightness, heat, and to smell.

A typical giant slug is 20 feet long but can grow to twice that length.

0e

Giant Slug CL 13 (2,300 XP)

These tremendously large masses of slimy, rubbery flesh are completely immune to blunt weapons. In addition to their powerful bite, giant slugs can spit their acidic saliva at one target at a time. The base range for spitting is 60 feet, and within this range the slug’s spittle will be 50% likely to hit (no other to-hit roll required). For every additional 10 feet of range, the chance to hit decreases by 10%. On its first spitting attack, the slug only has a 10% chance to hit within 60 feet, and no chance of hitting beyond that range.

HD 12; AC 8 [11]; Atk bite (1d12) or acid; Move 6; Save 3; AL N; Special: spit acid (6d6)

3.5e

Giant Slug CR 8

Always N Huge vermin

Init +0; Senses blindsight 60 ft.; Listen +0, Spot +0

Defense

AC 16, touch 8, flat-footed 16
(+8 natural, -2 size)

hp 102 (12d8+48 HD); DR 10/slashing or piercing

Fort +12, Ref +4, Will +4

Defensive Abilities vermin traits; Immune critical hits

Weakness vulnerability to salt

Offense

Spd 20 ft., burrow 10 ft.

Melee bite +15 (2d6+8 plus 1d8 acid)

Ranged acid spit +7 (4d8 acid)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks acid, spit acid

Tactics

During Combat A giant slug begins combat by spitting a line of corrosive saliva at an opponent. It then moves into combat and uses its bite attack.

Statistics

Str 27, Dex 10, Con 18, Int –, Wis 10, Cha 2

Base Atk +9; Grp +25

SQ rubbery hide, malleable

Ecology

Environment temperate and warm marshes and underground

Organization solitary

Treasure none

Advancement 13–21 HD (Huge); 22–36 HD (Gargantuan)

Special Abilities

Acid (Ex) A giant slug’s saliva is highly caustic. Any melee hit deals acid damage.

Blindsight (Ex) Giant slugs have no visual organs but can ascertain all foes within 60 feet using sound, scent, and vibration.

Malleable (Ex) A giant slug can squeeze its body through openings it normally could not pass through (up to Medium sized openings).

Rubbery Hide (Ex) A giant slug’s rubbery hide grants it immunity to critical hits.

Spit Acid (Ex) Every 1d4 rounds, a giant slug can spit a line of acid at an opponent within 60 feet (no range increment). A successful ranged touch attack is required to hit. If struck, a target takes 4d8 points of acid damage.

Vulnerability to Salt (Ex) A giant slug is highly susceptible to salt and takes 1d6 points of damage per pound of salt it contacts.

5e

Giant Slug

Huge beast, unaligned
Armor Class 15 (natural)
Hit Points 161 (14d12 + 70)
Speed 20 ft., burrow 10 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
19 (+4)	10 (+0)	21 (+5)	1 (-5)	10 (+0)	2 (-4)
Damage Immunities bludgeoning
Senses blindsight 60 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages –
Challenge 7 (2,900 XP)
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +7 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d8 + 4) piercing damage plus 28 (8d6) acid damage.
Acid Breath (Recharge 5–6). The slug exhales acid in a 30-foot line that is 5 feet wide. Each creature in that line must make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw, taking 49 (11d8) acid damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

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Reaper Bones IV

I just backed Reaper Miniatures Bones 4: Mr. Bones EPIC Adventure! on Kickstarter