What's in a Word?

There’s a great post over on Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeonesque about "Two Reasons Why Call of Cthulhu is One of the Great Horror RPGs." One of those reasons is the Sanity mechanic, which does an excellent job of simultaneously evoking an in-game effect on the characters and creating out-of-game tension with the players. I think the only other mechanic that has a similar effect is old school level drain, which made undead fully as terrifying to players as to their player characters. As the post points out,

Used liberally, Sanity loss in Call of Cthulhu is an unstoppable spiral into the abyss. Players should be incentivized to involve their character in the scenario for an important reason (stopping something awful from happening, keeping the people they love safe, etc.), but the act of involving their characters should also always put them in a position where losing precious Sanity is a preeminent threat.

But if Sanity is a great game mechanic, it is also “a poor representation of actual mental illness.” There’s just no getting around that fact. (Hit Points are probably an equally poor representation of physical trauma, too, but that’s a discussion for another time.)

But what if the biggest problem with the Sanity mechanic is just one of terminology. What if, instead of calling it Sanity, we called it … Humanity. Humanity is nice, abstract, and isn’t an actual mental health term. But more importantly, it perhaps better reflects the actual genre phenomenon. Fundamentally, Call of Cthulhu characters really aren’t so much threatened by loss of their rational minds—that’s just a symptom—as the loss their very humanity by contact with alien horror.

Alas, I rarely have the opportunity to play Call of Cthulhu but I do occasionally use the Sanity mechanic in Traveller (detailed in Traveller⁵ as well as in the Mongoose Traveller Companion) to model the effect of post-humanist technology. Personality copying, consciousness transfers, exposure to alien and AI tech, even anagathic drugs could potentially be balanced through use of the Sanity mechanic but again, Humanity is really what we are talking about here: the potential loss of a Traveller’s humanity through repreated exposure to posthumanist tech. Consider, for example, the Ghouls from the old Regency Sourcebook:

One of the most visible symbols of the disenfranchised nobility are the so-called “Ghouls,” young (by apparent age anyway), nihilistic, disenfranchised nobles who spend their dissipated lives and what remains of their noble fortunes by seeking excitement in personal and various near-death experiences (16).

The Ghouls basically suffer from loss of Humanity due to use of a new drug, Anagathic B, which also induces jumpspace intolerance into the users.

Father Dagon

“With only a slight churning to mark its rise to the surface, the thing slid into view above the dark waters. Vast, Polyphemus-like, and loathsome, it darted like a stupendous monster of nightmares to the monolith, about which it flung its gigantic scaly arms, the while it bowed its hideous head and gave vent to certain measured sounds. I think I went mad then.” —H.P. Lovecraft, “Dagon.”

The Dagon model was one of the last rewards unlocked as part of the Reaper Bones 3: The Search for Mr. Bones Kickstarter, and one of several very large figures produced as part of that campaign. Like the Shub-Nigurrath, it’s another Kevin Williams sculpt of a Cthulhu monstrosity.

Dagon has a special place in the Great Dungeon of the North, even though Delvemount is many leagues from the Lythian Sea. Rumors claim that one or more gates in the deeper levels lead to an Abyssal layer of dark ocean, filled with sea monsters. I’ve previously written about the Dagonites, his horrid servitors. One of my sample Inhabited Idols is a Gargantuan statue of Dagon. And I’ve provided some details of Dagon as a Demonic Patron.

Like one of the ancient Deep Ones, this Dagon model lay for many a long year in the dark of my basement, dreaming and awaiting its time. I took a good run at this in the early summer, right before I tackled the Shub-Niggurath model. 

I started by assembling the entire model, though I did not attach Dagon to the terrain. There were some significant gaps with the limbs that I filled using Green Stuff. I then primed Dagon with the Army Painter’s Uniform Gray out of a rattlecan, but this model would have definitely benefited from a zenithal undercoat.

I put down a base coat of Reaper MSP Sapphire Blue, then gave it a wash of Army Painter Dark Quickwash. I drybrushed the figure with more Sapphire Blue, then added highlights with Reaper MSP Clear Green, and then another layer of highlights with MSP Clear Yellow. One of the things I liked about using the yellow on the model is it brightened everything up and looked a bit like filtered sunlight playing on underwater surfaces.

I then set the model aside for a few months as I was unsure how to tackle the terrain, which consists of two stone idols in a sandy substrate. I wasn’t quite sure how to paint up a sand texture—many modelers use actual sand or textured material when working on sand terrain, and I didn’t want to go there. I also had partially embraced object source lighting (OSL) with Dagon, and really wasn’t sure how to extend this technique to the terrain section.

After a few months experimenting with other techniques I returned to Dagon’s terrain. I started by putting down a base coat of white, then colored the sand sections with Army Painter Light Tone, and the stone statues with Army Painter Dark Tone. The Quickshades gave both the sand and stone a diffused, mottled appearance which to my mind worked well with the underwater theme. I then highlighted both surfaces with more Clear Yellow, which helped tie the terrain with Dagon. Although it’s not really an OSL technique, I really liked the contrast of the golden sand with the dark blues and green of Dagon.

I then glued Dagon to the terrain. I made a glaze out of 2 parts Pure White to 3 parts Matte Medium and 3 parts water, and used this filter to lighten up Dagon’s teeth, claws, and tentacles. I also lightened up the many spots along the demon’s three tails. 

To create a glowing eye effect I painted the large eyes white, then put down a line of Clear Green around the outermost rim of the eyes. I then made a ring of Clear Yellow just inside the green. I then made a glaze out of pale, pale yellow and began running this around the outside of the eyes, gradually adding more yellow to the eye and the surrounding flesh. A few layers of the glaze helped blur the three colors together and created the appearance of a glow.

To finish I sealed the model with Testor’s Dullcote. I didn’t really have a gaming base big enough to suit this model, so decided to leave Dagon as is.

Williams did a great job sculpting this model: Dagon neatly combines the features of a frog, eel, octopus, and anglerfish into a sleek, sinuous form that looks like it could be swimming through water. I felt very vexed at several points while painting this model, and more than once figured I had wrecked the job beyond recovery. So it was very satisfying to stick with it and end up with a miniature I am pretty happy with. Ad astra per aspera.

The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young

Ever Their praises, and abundance to the Black Goat of the Woods. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! Iä! Shub-Niggurath! The Black Goat of the Woods with a Thousand Young!

—H.P. Lovecraft, “The Whisperer in Darkness” (1930)

This enormous Shub-Niggurath miniature, sculpted by Kevin Williams, was an add-on to the Reaper Miniatures Bones 3 Kickstarter from back in 2015. Around the same time I also pledged the Delta Green: The Roleplaying Game as well as the Sandy Peterson’s Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarters, which demonstrates how deeply the Mythos was occupying my mind eight or so years ago. Yet despite my best (or perhaps worst?) intentions I still have yet to run a real Cthulhu campaign for any system. I have previously written about the Dark Young of Shub-Niggurath, and even painted up a couple different models of those lesser monsters, but it took me a long time to finally try to tackle their foul mother.

Rob Kuntz and Dr. J. Eric Holmes might have been the first to write up Shub-Niggurath for fantasy roleplaying games. “The Lovecraftian Mythos in Dungeons and Dragons” appeared in The Dragon 12 (February 1978). Their description of her is certainly vivid:

[This] fountain of uncleanliness is a huge grey pool, 100 feet across, in the caverns beneath Mount Voormithadreth, constantly bubbling and putting forth mouths, limbs, pseudopods and whole creatures. 1-10 small monsters are created from the pool per melee round and go crawling, flopping and flying away up to the surface. Some fall back into the pool which then grows mouths and devours them. … Thus the god is the source of all the foul and unclean creatures of the earth. The growing little monsters usually ignore strangers, but they will attack on Shub-Niggurath’s command.

Similar language is included in the first printing of the AD&D Deities and Demigods book, which also includes this sanity-destroying Erol Otus illustration of Shub-Niggurath. In the lonely wilderlands of my own Great Dungeon of the North campaign, certain foul madmen are said to venerate this abomination. Her dark young stalk the most desolate places of the farthest North, and one of the deepest levels of the Great Dungeon is said to consist of living caverns out of nightmare, a vile place corrupted with the fecundity of Shub-Niggurath.

I struggled to formulate a plan of attack for the Shub-Niggurath model, which is large and complex with many different parts. I was torn between assembling everything first and then painting, or painting everything first and then assembling. In the end I compromised: I used poster tack to put the model together long enough to prime and lay down a base coat, then I disassembled the pieces to work on the small, hard-to-reach features. Even with lots of poster tack it was tricky to keep the various legs, tentacles, and whatnot hanging together: the process was a bit like working an abhorrent Jenga puzzle.

I primed the model using Army Painter Uniform Gray out of a rattlecan, then used my airbrush to put down a base coat of Army Painter Barbarian Flesh. If I were to do this over again, I probably would have skipped the gray primer and used zenithal priming instead. Although the airbrush saved a lot of time, the Barbarian Flesh didn’t provide great coverage and looked very orange; in retrospect a more pallid tone like Reaper MSP Fair Skin might have worked much better as a base coat. A bolder and more interesting choice might have been to use Reaper Ghoul Skin, which would have both suitably grotesque as well as thematically appropriate.

In any case, I then disassembled the model and began working on the smaller details on the individual components. Between eyes, mouths, teeth, horns, tumors, lacerations, and suppurations, the model has loads of gross detail that I steadily picked off. 

Once I had blocked out these smaller details, I reassembled everything with superglue. There were a few nasty gaps that I tried to fill using Vallejo Plastic Putty, which is a product I have admittedly never had much luck with. In retrospect I wish I had gone with Green Stuff, which requires more work but gives me better results, particularly with larger gaps.

I then began shading the model using a variety of Army Painter Quickshade washes followed by several rounds of drybrush highlighting. I then started on cleanup and lining, which took a long time to complete. I spent a lot of time watching videos on painting eyes, since these are one of the most prominent features of the model. I was nearly done and feeling fairly satisfied with how all the eyes were turning out when I realized, to my horror, that goats have very, very weird eyes with horizontal slits for pupils—and I had painted all the eyes with round pupils. Although I tried to convince myself that round pupils were fine, just fine, in the end I broke down and went back to try and add horizontal slits. The result was a little disappointing—just five minutes with some reference art earlier in the project would have saved a lot of headaches.

I sealed the miniature with a couple of coats of Testor Dullcote, and then went back over the eyes and mouths with Vallejo gloss varnish. I would have preferred a somewhat glossier finish for Shub-Niggurath’s flesh, but I still haven’t found a varnish or blend of varnishes that isn’t too glossy. 

Finally, I mounted this miniature on a Reaper Miniatures 160 mm round base, suitable for a Colossal size monster. The figure’s native base was a little too big and I ended up trimming it back with an x-acto knife to fit. 

This model was technically the most difficult and easily the most time-consuming I’ve yet worked on. Though there were many steps I would have done differently if I had to start over, but in general I am fairly happy with how this figure turned out. I don’t know when or if I will ever be able to drop this beast into a game, but it certainly makes for a conversation piece!

In addition to my backlog of Reaper Bones miniatures, I also have a sizable collection of figures from the Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder Kickstarter. One of the more striking miniatures from that lot is the hunting horror, a Huge flying aberration.

I primed this figure with the gray Army Painter rattlecan primer, then broke out the airbrush to do a basecoat of Reaper Blood Red, following the illustration in the hardcover book. I used my Vallejo Umber Wash and then did some simple dry brushing for the highlights. It was a fairly simple paint, but the figure looks pretty decent. Although it already has a round 50mm base, I may still mount it on a 75mm Huge base more appropriate for its size.

The Pathfinder stats for this beast are pretty complicated, with numerous special abilities. I didn't try to simplify those too much for the 3.5e conversion presented below. For the 5e conversion, I dropped several ancillary abilities in keeping with Fifth Edition's design ethos, but this is still a pretty tough and complex monster design.

My only real complaint about this monster is that, at Challenge Rating 16, this is an upper echelon monster and it's hard to imagine encountering more than 2 or 3 at once—but I have a lot of these figures as part of the Kickstarter.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Hunting Horror

Flowing down directly from the sky, like black lightning, this wormlike creature appears before you, reeking of ancient rot. From between its armored plates seeps a grotesque mucus falling constantly like an unholy rain. Its many eyes stare at you with vile hatred.

Hunting horrors are very large, and their serpentine bodies act like tentacles to grip victims while their mouths grow impossibly wide to swallow foes whole. An individual hunting horror usually has a wingspan of 20+ feet, and an even longer body length. It weighs from 3000–6000 pounds, and could never fly if it was restricted to normal laws of physics.

Slimy Horror. Their flesh secretes a mucus so rapidly that it constantly drips off as if the hunting horror were falling apart. After sloughing off, the thick piles of mucus begin to harden, becoming like mud. It is possible to slowly plod through it, but not swim in it like water. The mucus begins to pile up during a fight, eventually covering the horror’s prey and holding them in place so they cannot escape when the horror swallows them whole.

Playing with their Food. Hunting horrors speak to their prey mentally. They send fantastically horrible images to the minds of those they are going to swallow.

Part of a Terrible Whole. Hunting horrors are all a branch of the same immense organism that spans great reaches of space. They are each the nerves and nerve endings of this being. This is how they can appear instantly and avoid sunlight. The creature as a whole is practically a Great Old One in terms of power.

3.5e

Hunting Horror CR 16

Always CE Huge aberration

Init +11; Senses scent, see in darkness; Listen +29, Spot +29

Languages Aklo; telepathy 300 ft.

Aura mucus (10 ft.)

Defense

AC 31, touch 15, flat-footed 24 (+7 Dex, +16 natural, –2 size)

hp 237 (19d8+152 HD); DR 10/—; fast healing 10

Fort +14, Ref +15, Will +19

Defensive Abilities amorphous; Immune cold, electricity, mind-affecting effects; SR 27

Weaknesses daylight powerlessness

Offense

Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft. (perfect)

Melee bite +26 (6d8+14), tail slap +24 (4d6+7)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 15 ft. (30 ft. with tail slap)

Special Attacks constrict 4d6+14, improved grab, swallow whole, telepathic assault

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th)

At will—greater teleport (self only), plane shift (self only)

Statistics

Str 38, Dex 25, Con 27, Int 19, Wis 26, Cha 24

Base Atk +14; Grp +36

Feats Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Flyby Attack, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Multiattack, Snatch

Skills Knowledge (geography) +25, Knowledge (planes) +25, Listen +29, Move Silently +28, Spot +29, Survival +29 (+31 on other planes)

SQ shared consciousness

Ecology

Environment any

Organization solitary, pair, or pack (3–5)

Treasure none

Advancement 20–38 HD (Huge), 39–57 HD (Gargantuan)

Special Abilities

Amorphous (Ex) A hunting horror is not subject to critical hits. It cannot be flanked.

Constrict (Ex) A hunting horror deals an automatic 4d6+14 damage with a successful grapple check.

Daylight Powerlessness (Ex) A hunting horror is utterly powerless in natural sunlight (not merely a daylight spell) and flees from it.

Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, a hunting horror must hit an opponent of any size with a bite or tail slap attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can constrict or swallow the opponent.

Mucus (Su) A hunting horror’s “flesh” constantly weeps thick foul mucus, seemingly melting off its serpentine frame as swiftly as it rebuilds and restores its shape. When a hunting horror lands on a surface, the mucus swiftly spreads out in a ten-foot radius around the creature and hardens into a thick mud-like consistency. This area is treated as difficult terrain by all save hunting horrors. Each round a creature other than a hunting horror begins its turn within this area, it must make a successful DC 27 Reflex save or become entangled for as long as it remains within the area. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Shared Consciousness (Ex) All hunting horrors are branches of the same immense organism that has spread throughout several dimensions across the reaches of space, and anything one hunting horror experiences is experienced by all. When multiple hunting horrors are encountered, none of them are considered flat-footed unless all of them are.

Swallow Whole (Ex) A hunting horror can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of up to two sizes smaller by making a successful grapple check. The swallowed creature takes 4d6 points of bludgeoning damage and 4d6points of acid damage per round. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 23 points of damage (AC 18). A hunting horror’s body constantly reforms and repairs itself. The hole created when a creature cuts its way out of a hunting horror instantly seals as soon as the escaping creature exits.

A Huge hunting horror can hold 2 Medium, 8 Small, 32 Tiny, or 128 Diminutive or smaller opponents.

Telepathic Assault (Su) As it attacks, a hunting horror bombards its prey’s consciousness with its mind, sending grisly and horrific images into the victim’s thoughts in an attempt to undermine the potential meal’s defenses and to flavor the flesh with the tang of fear and despair.

Whenever a hunting horror attacks a creature, regardless of whether the attack successfully hits or not, that creature must make a successful DC 26 Will save or be staggered for 1 round by despair and horror at the images projected by the hunting horror. An already staggered creature that fails this saving throw is also stunned for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting fear effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.

5e

Hunting Horror

Huge aberration, chaotic evil
Armor Class 18 (natural)
Hit Points 195 (17d12 + 85)
Speed 40 ft., fly 80 ft.
Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
23 (+6)	20 (+5)	21 (+5)	19 (+4)	20 (+5)	19 (+4)
Saving Throws Str +11, Con +10, Wis +10, Cha +9
Skills Perception +10
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities cold, lightning, poison
Condition Immunities charmed, poisoned
Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 20
Languages Aklo, telepathy 120 ft.
Challenge 16 (15,000 XP)
Magic Resistance. The hunting horror has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.
Mucus. The ground in a 10-foot radius around the hunting horror is difficult terrain. Each creature that starts its turn in that area must succeed on a DC 10 Strength saving throw or have its speed reduced to 0 until the start of its next turn.
Sunlight Weakness. While in sunlight, the hunting horror has disadvantage on attack rolls, ability checks, and saving throws.
Actions
Multiattack. The hunting horror makes two attacks: one with its bite and one to constrict.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 20 (4d6 + 6) piercing damage plus plus 20 (4d6 + 6) psychic damage.
Constrict. Melee Weapon Attack: +11 to hit, reach 10 ft., one Large or smaller creature. Hit: 20 (4d6 + 6) bludgeoning damage plus 20 (4d6 + 6) slashing damage. The target is grappled (escape DC 19) if the hunting horror isn’t already constricting a creature, and the target is restrained until this grapple ends.
Swallow. The hunting horror makes one bite attack against a Medium or smaller target it is grappling. If the attack hits, the target is also swallowed, and the grapple ends. While swallowed, the target is blinded and restrained, it has total cover against attacks and other effects outside the hunting horror, and it takes 21 (6d6) acid damage at the start of each of the hunting horror’s turns. A hunting horror can have only one creature swallowed at a time. If the hunting horror takes 30 damage or more on a single turn from the swallowed creature, the hunting horror must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw at the end of that turn or regurgitate the creature, which falls prone in a space within 10 feet of the hunting horror. If the hunting horror dies, a swallowed creature is no longer restrained by it and can escape from the corpse by using 15 feet of movement, exiting prone.
Teleport. The hunting horror magically teleports, along with any equipment it is wearing or carrying, up to 120 feet to an unoccupied space it can see.

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    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4, © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Savannah Broadway, Ross Byers, Adam Daigle, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, James Jacobs, Matt James, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney- MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Tork Shaw, and Russ Taylor.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 5, © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Creighton Broadhurst, Robert Brookes, Benjamin Bruck, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Joe Homes, James Jacobs, Amanda Hamon Kunz, Ben McFarland, Jason Nelson, Thom Phillips, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, Wes Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, Mike Shel, James L. Sutter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer. Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary, © 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary, © 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Brian Cortijo, Adam Daigle, Mike Ferguson, Joshua J. Frost, James Jacobs, Rob McCreary, Erik Mona, Sean K Reynolds, F. Wesley Schneider, Lisa Stephens, James L. Sutter, and Greg A. Vaughn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, © 2009, Paizo Inc.; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, © 2009, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, © 2010, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Author: Jason Bulmahn, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, and Skip Williams.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Horror Adventures, © 2016, Paizo Inc.; Authors: John Bennett, Clinton J. Boomer, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, Jim Groves, Steven Helt, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Brandon Hodge, Mikko Kallio, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney- MacFarland, Alistair Rigg, Alex Riggs, David N. Ross, F. Wesley Schneider, David Schwartz, Mark Seifter, and Linda Zayas-Palmer.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Mythic Adventures, © 2013, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Stephen Radney- MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Dennis Baker, Jesse Benner, Ben Bruck, Jim Groves, Tim Hitchcock, Tracy Hurley, Jonathan Keith, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Ryan Macklin, F. Wesley Schneider, Amber Scott, Tork Shaw, Russ Taylor, and Ray Vallese.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Occult Adventures, © 2015, Paizo Inc.; Authors: John Bennett, Logan Bonner, Robert Brookes, Jason Bulmahn, Ross Byers, John Compton, Adam Daigle, Jim Groves, Thurston Hillman, Eric Hindley, Brandon Hodge, Ben McFarland, Erik Mona, Jason Nelson, Tom Phillips, Stephen Radney- MacFarland, Thomas M. Reid, Alex Riggs, Robert Schwalb, Mark Seifter, Russ Taylor, and Steve Townshend.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Combat, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.
    • Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Ultimate Magic, © 2011, Paizo Publishing, LLC; Authors: Jason Bulmahn, Tim Hitchcock, Colin McComb, Rob McCreary, Jason Nelson, Stephen Radney-MacFarland, Sean K Reynolds, Owen K.C. Stephens, and Russ Taylor.
    • Skreyn’s Register: The Bonds of Magic, © 2002, Sean K Reynolds. The Book of Experimental Might, © 2008, Monte J. Cook; All rights reserved.
    • The Book of Fiends, © 2003, Green Ronin Publishing; Authors: Aaron Loeb, Erik Mona, Chris Pramas, and Robert J. Schwalb. The Book of Hallowed Might, © 2002, Monte J. Cook; .
    • The Tome of Horrors III, © 2005, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene.
    • The Tome of Horrors II, © 2004, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene.
    • Tome of Horrors III, © 2005, Necromancer Games, Inc; Author: Scott Greene, with Casey Christofferson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Ian S. Johnston, Patrick Lawinger, Nathan Paul, Clark Peterson, Greg Ragland, Robert Schwalb and Bill Webb. Tome of Horrors, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene, with Clark Peterson, Erica Balsley, Kevin Baase, Casey Christofferson, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Patrick Lawinger, and Bill Webb; Based on original content from TSR.
    • Adherer from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Authors: Scott Greene and Clark Peterson, based on original material by Guy Shearer.
    • Decapus from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Jean Wells.
    • Flumph from the Tome of Horrors Complete, © 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc.; published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Ian McDowell and Douglas Naismith.
    • Flumph from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Ian McDowell and Douglas Naismith.
    • Kamadan from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Nick Louth.
    • Slime Mold from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Spriggan from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene and Erica Balsley, based on original material by Roger Moore and Gary Gygax.
    • Yeti from the Tome of Horrors, © 2002, Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Zombie, Juju from the Tome of Horrors Complete, © 2011, Necromancer Games, Inc., published and distributed by Frog God Games; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Zombie, Juju from the Tome of Horrors, Revised, © 2002,
    • Necromancer Games, Inc.; Author: Scott Greene, based on original material by Gary Gygax.
    • Sandy Petersen’s Cthulhu Mythos, © 2017, Petersen Games; Authors: Sandy Petersen, Arthur Petersen, Ian Starcher.
    • Hunting Horror, Copyright 2023, R. Dorman.

Mashaaf, Great Old One

Although I am still very much a beginner with the airbrush, the tool has worked wonders in breaking up my miniature logjam. I had one big model left over from Reaper Miniatures Bones II: The Return Of Mr Bones! that had been haunting my painting queue since 2015: Mashaaf, the Great Old One. This is a massive, multipart figure sculpted by Kevin Williams. I had prepped it years ago for painting but failed my morale check every time I sat down to start work.

The airbrush, though, helped steel my resolve. I was also bolstered by a nice Build and Paint video by Michael Mordor. His YouTube channel has greatly helped me approach some of the larger and more complex models on my workbench. Michael has very mellow, encouraging demeanor, sort of like the Bob Ross of monster modeling. Michael makes you feel like no figure is too tough to tackle as long as you have a plan of attack. Although I am trying to learn how to use my new airbrush, I appreciate that Mordor seems to primarily use brushes on his models, so his videos would be a great resource for any beginner modeler.

I primed this model with Army Painter gray spray primer and then assembled most of the model. Overall, the old Bones material pieces fit together well enough, though I needed quite a bit of Green Stuff on the weird mouth wings. I then airbrushed Mashaaf with a basecoat of Army Painter Greenskin, followed by a wash of Army Painter Quickshade Strong Tone. This was my first time using Army Painter washes, and I have to say I really liked the overall effect. The product seemed to have better coverage and smoother effect than my Reaper or Vallejo washes, which seem to be a little more gritty. I also followed Mordor's general advice on highlighting with greens and yellow: I was skeptical about using a bright yellow highlight on such a dark base, but it worked really well.

Once the paints were dry, I varnished the model with Testor Dullcote, and used Vallejo gloss varnish on the mouth. I then mounted the figure on a Litko 152mm round model presentation base, suitable for a Colossal sized monster. Mashaaf is a very heavy model to hold in the hand, and combined with the Litko base, which is also heavy, feels like a real brick of plastic. In retrospect I might have done with a less substantial base like the Reaper 160mm Base Boss.

Overall, I was happy with how the model turned out, though I would have liked to have gotten a more dramatic glowing eye effect. (The Dullcote always seems to knock the glow down and I haven't figured out how to compensate.) This a great sculpt with a twisting, dynamic form: it really looks like Mashaaf has just burst out of the earth and is about to wreak havoc on some poor adventurers.

Mashaaf looks like some sort of Lovecraftian horror: though it's too small to be a Dhole, it might work as one of the Chthonians, a monster from Brian Lumley's 1975 novel The Burrowers Beneath. I swear there was a 3e monster that looked very much like Mashaaf, right down to the little scythe arms, but I can't put my hands on the illustration I'm thinking of. Third edition had many nasty, giant verminous monsters, including the Avolakia, Neothelid, Psurlon, and Ulgurstasta, and while Mashaaf could stand in for any of them, none of these quite fit the bill. (I think the model could probably fit on a Gargantuan, 125mm base.) There might be a closer match somewhere in the Age of Worms adventure path—I even think I got this figure specifically to use in that campaign, though it obviously never panned out.

Aboleth Equipment

One of the great appeals of the aboleth as a monster is its versatility. Although it debuted in a classic high fantasy module, its alien appearance and body-horror abilities (it transforms victims into water-breathing slaves!) fit well within Lovecraftian settings. And because its mental abilities are psionic in nature, the aboleth could easily work in a science fiction campaign. This last point was first developed by Brandon Grist in “The Ecology of the Aboleth: The type best known is also the least dangerous,” from Dragon Magazine (March 1988). In addition to statting out a series of progressively more powerful aboleth variants, Grist explicitly connects aboleths with use of advanced technology. For example, the noble aboleth “is almost never encountered outside an aboleth city, where its role is that of the scientist. It does research, conducts experiments, and travels to alternate worlds to gather information.”

I have to admit, at the time Grist’s article appeared I didn’t much care for mixing D&D with science fiction. (I didn’t dig Barrier Peaks, either.) But something about the idea must have stuck with me.

“After Strange Gods” was a proposed mini-campaign of mine explicitly intended to be a temporary change of pace from D&D. I had found a game system I liked and had written notes and an outline, but unfortunately, the campaign never quite got off the ground—schedules just never aligned. I was going to use Bad Axe Games’s Grim Tales rules, which are an excellent adaption of d20 Modern for low-magic, fantasy settings.

The primary inspiration for “After Strange Gods” was the fantastic Tripods series of books by John Christopher: The White Mountains (1967), The City of Gold and Lead (1968), and The Pool of Fire (1968). I was introduced to this series through a nifty comic adaption that ran in Boys Life magazine during the early 1980s. Given the recent popularity of young adult fiction, I am shocked that Christopher’s series has not been revived for television or the movies.

Another important inspiration was Steven Spielberg’s 2005 underrated remake of War of the Worlds. The first ninety percent of this movie is unalloyed greatness, which makes it all the more of a letdown when Spielberg loses his nerve at the very end. That aside, I found his depiction of the alien tripods completely terrifying.

Other, lesser inspirations included movies like Planet of the Apes (1968), Zardoz (1974), Logan’s Run (1976), Stargate (1994), and the Mist (2007).

The campaign was to begin as a classic, low-magic setting, with the PCs all members of a tribe of bronze-age hill folk living on the edge of civilization, caught between a howling wilderness filled with unknown terrors and a decadent kingdom ruled by distant, heathen princes. Typical perils included cannibal humans, mutated animals, giant vermin, aberrations, oozes, and carnivorous plants.

In the first few sessions the PCs would have discovered that their world was actually a post-apocalyptic landscape. The Ancients of legend had been humans defeated by an alien invasion. The victors had installed themselves as the distant and unseen Masters, ruling through mind-control and brute force. The most visible representatives of the Masters were the Seraphim, masked creatures in golden armor who flew through the air in silver chariots, and the omnipotent Tripods.

As the campaign progressed the PCs would have explored the kingdom, eventually discovering that the Masters were aboleths and their Seraphim servants skum in power armor. The Masters were working to open dimensional rifts that would completely transform the planet into a Lovecraftian hell. The culmination of the campaign was to have been a battle in the City of the Masters to close the rifts and drive the aboleths from the sunlit world.

Once I made the connection between aboleths and the Masters of Christopher’s Tripods series, a lot of the campaign fell quickly into place. I was also inspired by reading “Operation: Counterstrike,” an old AD&D adventure by Marcus L. Rowland from White Dwarf 28 (Dec 1981/Jan 1982). This adventure was an experimental mashup of science fiction and fantasy elements; the villains of the piece, the ralkans, are based on the Martians from H. G. Wells' the War of the Worlds.

Fortunately, d20 Modern provides useful rules for supra-science equipment that could be easily ported into a 3.5e game. Although aboleth tripods wouldn’t make sense in every D&D campaign, I think they have a lot of potential.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Aboleth Equipment

Aboleth employ alien knowledge to construct organic devices.

Aboleth Cap: This strange device resembles a small net made of slimy, pulsing seaweed. When placed on the head of a living creature an aboleth cap immediately bonds to the host and can only be removed with a DC 23 Heal check. Failure inflicts 1d6 points of Intelligence damage to the host. An aboleth cap occupies the same magic item slot as a helmet or hat. While worn, the host has a -4 circumstance penalty to all Will saves to resist an aboleth's enslave ability. Further, an enslaved creature wearing a cap is only entitled to a new Will saving throw once per month, and the aboleth's control is extended to 24 miles.

Aboleth Tripod: These towering fighting machines consist of a large, turreted body on top of three long legs. The body has a large window recessed under a deep cowl. While within the tripod, an aboleth has the following changed statistics:

Tripod CR 11

Gargantuan aberration (aquatic)

Init +0

AC 21, touch 7, flat-footed 21 (+8 armor, +0 Dex, +7 natural, -4 size)

hp 476; hardness 15

Ref +0

Immune critical hits

Spd 40 ft.

Melee 2 claws +22 (4d6+20/19-20) or tentacle +20 (2d8+20)

Ranged gas projector +6 touch (gas)

Space 20 ft; Reach 15 ft

Special Attacks lightning gun

Str 50, Dex 10

Grp +26

Gas Projector (Ex) This weapon fires cylinders of poisonous gas. Each tripod can hold up to 4 cylinders. This is a thrown splash weapon, range increment 250 ft, that on contact generates a 20-ft. radius bank of black smoke, similar to a fog cloud. These vapors automatically kill any living creature with 3 or fewer HD (no save). A living creature with 4 to 6 HD is slain unless it succeeds on a DC 15 Fortitude save (in which case it takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on the aboleth's turn each round while in the cloud). A living creature with 6 or more HD takes 1d4 points of Constitution damage on the aboleth's turn each round while in the cloud (a successful Fortitude save halves this damage). Holding one's breath doesn't help, but creatures immune to poison are unaffected by the effect. The cloud lasts for 1d4+1 rounds.

Hardness (Ex) A tripod has hardness 15. Subtract 15 points from all damage the tripod would take.

Lightning Gun (Ex) 180 ft line, once every round, damage 6d6 electricity, Reflex DC 15 half.

Skills The aboleth suffers a -8 armor check penalty on the appropriate skills while within the tripod.

Arms and Armor of the Seraphim: The Seraphim are skum outfitted with golden armor covered with elaborate decorations and featuring a fearsome articulated mask. The armor weighs about 20 lbs. and provides a +7 armor bonus, with a maximum Dexterity bonus of +4 and an armor check penalty of -3. Seraphim armor also augments the skum’s physical abilities. A skum wearing Seraphim armor is stronger, faster, and more nimble than ever before. The armor augments physical strength, granting a +4 bonus to the skum’s Strength score. The armor augments reaction times, granting a +2 bonus on all Reflex saves. Additionally, Seraphim armor can improve traction and augment the ability to move quickly, increasing the skums’s movement speed by 10 feet.

A Seraphim rod is a ranged weapon that fires a pulse of destructive sound at the target, dealing 2d6 points of sonic damage. In addition, any creature damaged by the sonic pulse must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be deafened and shaken for 1d4 rounds. A Seraphim rod weighs about 3 lb. and has a range increment of 40 ft.

Seraphim CR 2

Usually LE Medium aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +5 (+9 underwater), Spot +5 (+9 underwater)

Languages Aquan

Defense

AC 20, touch 11, flat-footed 19 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 11 (2d8+1 HD)

Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +3

Offense

Spd 20 ft., swim 40 ft.

Melee bite +7 (2d6+6), 2 claws +2 (1d4+3)

Ranged Seraphim rod +2 (2d6 sonic plus special)

Special Attacks rake (+0, 1d6+2)

Statistics

Str 23, Dex 13, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 6

Base Atk +1; Grp +7

Feats Alertness

Skills Hide +0 (+4 underwater), Listen +5 (+9 underwater), Move Silently +0, Spot +5 (+9 underwater), Swim +8

SQ amphibious

Special Abilities

Rake (Ex) Attack bonus +0 melee, damage 1d6+2. A skum also gains two rake attacks when it attacks while swimming.

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    • Open Game License v 1.0a, Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
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The Secret Masters: Aboleths

Aboleths are a classic D&D monster that go all the way back to the 1e module Dwellers of the Forbidden City (1981). The Pathfinder supplement Sunken Empires: Treasures and Terrors of the Deep includes a nice essay by the designer David Cook, who created the aboleth for Dwellers. Cook notes that “the aboleth was a nod to things Lovecraftian, an unspeakable horror silently dreaming of ancient secrets more terrible than man can bear.” Aboleths were also the ultimate villains behind the huge 2nd edition Night Below boxed set (1995).

Aboleths are exceptional boss monsters because they are individually powerful, with formidable mind-control and illusion abilities. But they also have an interesting and mysterious back story that blends D&D with eldritch horror as well as elements of weird supra-science.

That said, the first time I ever had a chance to use an aboleth was in a long-running 3e retro-campaign: we had played through conversions of the Giant (G1-2-3) and Drow (D1-2-3) modules. However, rather than move on to Queen of the Demonweb Pits, the group sailed out of the Vault of the Drow down to the Sunless Sea, where I used some Night Below set pieces before running a conversion of the 2e Kingdom of the Ghouls.

The single toughest encounter in that entire campaign was an aboleth, which dominated the party tank, the Bold Salamander. The Salamander, a heavily armored, hard-hitting fighter then proceeded to slaughter his teammates, very nearly resulting in the first TPK of my entire DMing career. In a campaign that had a lot of great moments, my first chance to use an aboleth remains one of my favorite memories.

Despite the ongoing popularity of aboleths, there has been a surprising lack of miniatures for these horrors. I don't think one was ever produced for 1st, 2nd, or 3rd edition. In fact, as far as I known the first and only official D&D aboleth figure was the rather uninspiring “Aboleth Slime Mage” for the 2009 Dangerous Delves set. The distinctive appearance of the aboleth makes it a little tricky to produce a third party miniature without infringing on the intellectual property of Wizards of the Coast. Reaper Miniatures has therefore produced a comparable monster with its own look: the goroloth, sculpted by Michael Brower. This figure was part of an expansion set of the second Reaper Bones Kickstarter.

The goroloth is a nice sculpt that took me a long time to get around to paint—I just never found a reference illustration that really grabbed me. I originally started by painting directly onto the figure, but I have never had much luck with painting large unprimed figures. I quickly abandoned this effort, soaking the figure in Simple Green and starting from scratch. For round two I primed the figure using Army Painter Uniform Gray, and then thin translucent layers to get a color I liked. Although there is a hole in the bottom of the figure, it does not come with a mount so I used a LITKO 3 inch RPG Flight Stand, which worked really well. I attached the figure to the stand using green stuff, but was pleasantly surprised to find that the model balanced on the stand very nicely without anything.

The following text is Open Game Content.

Aboleth

Four long tentacles writhe from this three-eyed fish-like creature’s flanks, and its green body glistens with thick, greyish slime.

Alien and Cold and Endlessly Plotting. The aboleth is a revolting fishlike amphibian, very rarely seen but greatly feared for its powerful mental abilities. These evil, alien creatures prefer to act from a distance through enslaved proxies.

Largely Unknown to the Surface World. Aboleths are found primarily in subterranean lakes and rivers, and are rumored to have erected immense cities in the underground seas deep below the earth.

Among the World's Oldest Forms of Life. They once ruled the world with vast empires, and today view most other forms of life as either food or slaves—and sometimes both.

An aboleth has a pink belly. Four pulsating blue-black orifices line the bottom of its body and secrete gray slime that smells like rancid grease. It uses its tail for propulsion in the water and drags itself along with its tentacles on land. A typical aboleth is nearly 20 feet long and weighs about 6,500 pounds. Particularly large specimens are said to be over 40 feet long.

Aboleth CR 7

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +16, Spot +16

Languages Aboleth, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 15
(+1 Dex, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 76 (8d8+40 HD)

Fort +7, Ref +3, Will +11

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +12 (1d6+8 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks enslave (DC 17), mucus cloud (DC 19), slime (DC 19)

Psionics (CL 16th)

At will—hypnotic pattern (DC 15), illusory wall (DC 17), mirage arcana (DC 18), persistent image (DC 18), programmed image (DC 19), project image (DC 20), veil (DC 19)

Tactics

Before Combat Aboleth encounters are particularly dangerous, as the creatures are highly intelligent and rarely met by chance.

During Combat An aboleth attacks by flailing with its long, slimy tentacles, though it prefers to fight from a distance using its illusion powers.

Morale If faced with powerful foes or reduced to less than 30 hp, the aboleth will use its illusions and any servitors to distract opponents while it makes its escape, often through an underwater tunnel.

Statistics

Str 26, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 15, Wis 17, Cha 17

Base Atk +6; Grp +22

Feats Alertness, Combat Casting, Iron Will

Skills Concentration +16 (+20 casting defensively), Knowledge (any one) +13, Listen +16, Spot +16, Swim +16

Ecology

Environment underground

Organization solitary, brood (2–4), or slaver brood (1d3+1 plus 7–12 skum)

Treasure double standard

Advancement 9–16 HD (Huge); 17–24 HD (Gargantuan)

Special Abilities

Enslave (Su) Three times per day, an aboleth can attempt to enslave any one living creature within 30 feet. The target must succeed on a DC 17 Will save or be affected as though by a dominate person spell (caster level 16th). An enslaved creature obeys the aboleth's telepathic commands until freed by remove curse, and can attempt a new Will save every 24 hours to break free. The control is also broken if the aboleth dies or travels more than 1 mile from its slave. The save DC is Charisma-based.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) An aboleth underwater surrounds itself with a viscous cloud of mucus roughly 1 foot thick. Any creature coming into contact with and inhaling this substance must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or lose the ability to breathe air for the next 3 hours. An affected creature suffocates in 2d6 minutes if removed from the water. Renewed contact with the mucus cloud and failing another Fortitude save continues the effect for another 3 hours. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Slime (Ex) A blow from an aboleth's tentacle can cause a terrible affliction. A creature hit by a tentacle must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or begin to transform over the next 1d4+1 minutes, the skin gradually becoming a clear, slimy membrane. An afflicted creature must remain moistened with cool, fresh water or take 1d12 points of damage every 10 minutes. The slime reduces the creature's natural armor bonus by 1 (but never to less than 0). The save DC is Constitution-based.

A remove disease spell cast before the transformation is complete will restore an afflicted creature to normal. Afterward, however, only a heal or mass heal spell can reverse the affliction.

Skills An aboleth has a +8 racial bonus on any Swim check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. It can always choose to take 10 on a Swim check, even if distracted or endangered. It can use the run action while swimming, provided it swims in a straight line.

Psionic Aboleths

Campaigns using the psionics rules should make the following changes to the standard aboleth described above:

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic, psionic)

Special Attacks slime

Feats Alertness, Combat Manifestation, Iron Will

Spell-like Abilities A psionic aboleth does not possess spell-like abilities or the enslave ability of the standard aboleth. Instead, it has psi-like abilities, including psionic dominate.

Psi-Like Abilities (ML 13th)

At will—disable (30-ft. cone, 12 HD, DC 20*), false sensory input (five targets, DC 16*), mental disruption (20-ft. radius, DC 18*), mindlink (unwilling, nine targets, DC 14*)

3/day—ego whip (ML 7th, 2d4, DC 17*), id insinuation (ML 7th, three targets, DC 17*), psionic dominate (any target, 24 hours, DC 20*), thought shield (power resistance 21, 3 rounds*)

1/day—psionic modify memory (DC 17), remote viewing (DC 17), wall of ectoplasm (DC 17).

*Includes augmentation for the aboleth’s manifester level.

Advanced Aboleths

Although aboleths typically advance by hit dice, their great intelligence also allows them to advance by class levels. Aboleths with class levels often serve as researchers and savants for aboleth communities.

Aboleth Mage CR 13

Aboleth wizard 10

Usually LE Huge aberration (aquatic)

Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Listen +15, Spot +17

Languages Aboleth, Aquan, Undercommon

Defense

AC 18, touch 11, flat-footed 15
(+3 Dex, +7 natural, -2 size)

hp 177 (8d8+56 plus 10d4+70 HD)

Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +16

Offense

Spd 10 ft., swim 60 ft.

Melee 4 tentacles +18 (1d6+9 plus slime)

Space 15 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Special Attacks enslave (DC 16), mucus cloud (DC 21), slime (DC 21)

Psionics (CL 16th)

At will—hypnotic pattern (DC 14), illusory wall (DC 16), mirage arcana (DC 17), persistent image (DC 17), programmed image (DC 18), project image (DC 19), veil (DC 18)

Typical Wizard Spells Prepared (CL 10th)

5th—hold monster (DC 22), empowered lightning bolt (DC 18), wall of force

4th—greater invisibility, phantasmal killer (DC 21), scrying, stoneskin

3rd—dispel magic, displacement, fly, lightning bolt (DC 18)

2nd—blur, bull's strength, darkness, fox's cunning, see invisibility

1st—alarm, charm person (DC 18), color spray (DC 18), mage armor, magic missile (2)

0—daze, detect magic (2), resistance

Tactics

During Combat The aboleth mage uses a number of spells, such as displacement, greater invisibility, and wall of force, to protect itself while seizing control of its foes with spells and innate abilities.

Morale An aboleth mage fights until reduced to 70 hp.

Statistics

Str 28, Dex 16, Con 24, Int 20, Wis 16, Cha 14

Base Atk +11; Grp +28

Feats Combat Casting, Empower Spell, Eschew Materials, Extend Spell, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Lightning Reflexes, Scribe Scroll, Spell Focus (enchantment), Spell Focus (illusion)

Skills Bluff +13, Concentration +25 (+29 casting defensively), Decipher Script +15, Diplomacy +6, Disguise +2 (+4 acting), Intimidate +4, Knowledge (arcana) +15, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +25, Knowledge (history) +15, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Listen +15, Search +11, Sense Motive +14, Spellcraft +20, Spot +17, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks, on other planes, and underground), Swim +17

SQ summon familiar

Special Abilities

Enslave (Su) Will DC 16 save resists.

Mucus Cloud (Ex) Fortitude DC 21 save negates.

Slime (Ex) DC 21 Fortitude save resists.

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