Shoggoths appear as masses of fetid tissue, seem ingly ro ttin g w ith putrescence,

y e t filled w ith h o rrib le vitality. T h ey can fo rm eyes, maws, o r any o th e r organ o r

appendage at w ill, b u t rarely b o th er, usually preferrin g to flow o v er and crush
any living being they encounter.
S hoggoths w ere created by the E lder T h in g s and are typically en co u n te red

SHOGGOTH
in th e ru in ed cities o f th e m asters th ey slaughtered. Som e evidence suggests
th a t th e am ino acids o r prim al soup fro m w hich all ea rth ly life evolved was
a side-effect or discarded w aste p ro d u c t o f th e creatio n o f th e shoggoths.
G a rg a n tu a n A b e rra tio n D u e to th e ir g reat stren g th and stam ina, in a d d itio n to th e ir lo w in telli­
(G reater S e rv ito r R ace) gence, they are often used by o th e r beings o f the M y th o s as guardians, as­
Hit Dice: 30d8+300+30 (465 hp) sassins, o r test subjects. T h e y hate servitude, how ever, and eventually
Initiative: - 4 (Dex) 10 d are to com m and
Speed: 40 ft., sw im 40 ft., d ir iw ever, “ e v e n tu a lly ”
A rm or Class: 2 (-4 size, -4 I ■nay n o t com e fo r sev­
Attacks: Slam +35 melee eral cen tu ries o r even
D am age: Slam ld8+ 17 dllennia, as th e y are
Face/R each: 30 ft. b y 30 ft./ im o rta l an d p a tie n t,
15 ft. s itin g f o r th e r ig h t
Special A ttack s: C ru sh o m cn t to strike.
Special Q u alities: D ark - Shoggoths speak the
vision, blindsight, language o f th e ir cre­
im munities (im m une to a to r , th e E ld e r
critical hits, coup de T hings. T hese sinis­
grace, and death fro m te r, p ip in g s o u n d s
massive dam age d u e to have never b een
lack of vital organs; recorded, b u t various
im m une to acid, poison, A n ta r c tic e x p lo r e rs
and sonic attacks), nave rep o rted hearing
damage red u ctio n 10, :he cry “teke li-li/ ” In
intuit direction, regenera­ tru th , shoggoths are
tion 2, resistance (resistant a b le to fo r m a n y
to cold, electricity, and speech organs at will,
fire attacks; half dam age so w ith p a tie n c e ,
from each), resistant to any o n e w h o m asters a
bludgeoning dam age sh o g g o th can teach it
(30). th eir speech, w h eth er
Saves: F o rt +25, Ref +6, it be the ravings o f a
Will +9 m ad F ren ch -C an ad i-
Abilities: Str 45, D ex 3, an c u ltis t o r th e
C on 30, In t 7, W is 8, c o lo r-p a tte rn s o f th e
Cha 20
Skills: C lim b +25, L isten
+9, Spot +9, Swim +25
Feats: Pow er A ttack COMBAT
S h o g g o th s are te r ­
Psychic Feats: Sensitive,
Biofeedback T rance rible opp o n en ts, fear­
CR: 21 lessly a tta c k in g an d
f”
C lim ate/T errain : A ny, b u t le n tle s s ly a s s a u ltin g
shoggoths prefer cool tn e ir o p p o n e n ts until th eir
foes are dead o r have fled b eyond th eir reach.
«
caverns and ancient tunnels, as in th e ab an d o n ed city o f th e
E lder Things in A ntarctica, S hoggoths are u n h arm ed b y earthly W h at th ey lack in subtlety, th ey m ake u p in o
extremes o f heat o r cold and can survive in w ater as readily as stren g th and ferocity. T h e y often cry o u t
air. w ith evil glee (te k e li-li! te keli-li!) w h en
A dvancem ent: T heoretically, shoggoths can grow to any size. sp o ttin g new p rey and beginning to give
Smaller shoggoths o r masses o f shog g o th -tissu e (L arge o r chase.
M cdium -size) can som etim es be fo u n d in laboratories perform ing E x p e rie n c e in d ic a te s th a t th e best
specific tasks (driving a p o w er-p isto n , dissolving discarded speci­ things to d o w hen e n co u n terin g a shog­
mens, and so on). g o th is to ru n . T h o se w h o have en co u n ­
Sanity Loss: Id 6 /ld 2 0 tered shoggoths and survived generally
'S hoggoths receive a +10 racial b o nus to L isten and S p o t checks. credit th eir escape to collapsing pas­
sages o n to p of them , using pow erful
[T]he nightm are plastic colum n o f fo e tid black iridescence oozed tightly magic to c o n tro l them , o r sacrificing
o n w a rd . . . gathering unholy speed a n d driving before i t . . . the pallid abyss- o th e r investigators w hile fleeing. i/i
vapour. It was a tenib le, indescribable thing vaster than a n y subw ay train— a
shapeless congeries o f protoplastic bubbles, fa in tly self-luminous, a n d w ith
myriad o f tem porary eyes fo rm in g a n d unform ing as pustules o f greenish light all 181
over the tunnel-filling fr o n t th a t bore d o w n upon us, crushing the fra n tic penguins
and slithering over th e glistening flo o r th a t it a n d its k in d h a d sw ept so evilly free
o f all litter. Still came th a t eldritch, m ocking cry—T E K E L I-L I! T E K E L I-L I!
— H . P. L ovecraft, “A t th e M ountains o f M adness
 C r u s h (E x): A sh o g g o th ’s fav o rite atta ck is sim ply flo w in g o v er an o p p o n e n t
and sto p p in g to slo w ly c ru sh th e life o u t o f him . It can use this attack against
any foe tw o size categories sm aller th a n th e sh o g g o th (th at is, ty p ically Large
o r sm aller targets), b y p assin g all th e v ic tim ’s th rea te n e d areas. A c h aracter o r
crea tu re being c ru sh ed takes 4d6+25 p o in ts o f dam age p er ro u n d and can n o t
m ove o r attack unless it w ins an o p p o se d S tren g th check. Since shoggoths
long ago n o te d th a t d iscrete heads w ere a w eak p o in t o f E ld e r T h in g p h y s­ You cannot im agine the Shoggoth
iology, an y c h a ra c te r killed b y a sh o g g o th ’s cru sh attack is generally fo u n d L o r d ’s m astery o f shapes! H is race has
decap itated , th e head literally su ck ed rig h t o ff b y irresistib le force. bred sm aller since m odern m an last
A m o rp h o u s P h y sio lo g y (Ex): B ecause o f th e ir lack o f n o rm al organs, m e t w ith it. O h, b u t the Shoggoth
sh o g g o th s are very d ifficu lt to kill— any atta c k against th em just gets Lords are lim b er n o w ! Suprem est poly­
abso rb ed in to th e mass o f th e w hole. T h is m akes a sh o g g o th im m une to m orphs— though w h a t th ey are beneath
critical hits, death fro m m assive dam age, o r a c o u p dc grace. S hoggoths all else, is H o rro r itself.
are also highly re sistan t to b lu d g eo n in g d am age (30) and possess — M ichael Shea, “ F at Face”
dam age re d u c tio n 10, w hich c a n n o t be bypassed by any w eap o n , no
m a tte r how m agical. T h e ir alien p ro to p la sm is im m u n e to earth ly S h o g g o th s w ere o rig in a lly essen tially
acids and po iso n s, resistan t to cold, electricity, and fire (half dam age mindless, bu t sentience crept into them over
from each), and regenerates all dam age at th e rate o f 2 p o in ts per the aeons. In m odern times, som e shoggoths
ro u n d . have evolved into a new stage called “shog­
goth lords.” These beings are m uch sm arter

SHOGGOTH LORD
M ed iu m -S ize (h u m a n fo rm ) o r H u g e (s h o g g o th fo rm ) A b er­
ra tio n (G re a te r In d e p e n d e n t R ace)
H it Dice: !5d8+75 (87 hp)
In itia tiv e : +0
Speed: 30 ft. as hum an, 40 ft. as shoggoth
A rm o r C lass: 10 as hum an, 8 as sh o g g o th (-2 size)
A tta c k s: 3 punches o r slam s + 22/+17/+ 12 m elee (as
hum an); o r + 2 0 /+ I5 /+ 1 0 (as shoggoth)
D am a g e : P un ch ld 3 + 7 (h u m an form ) o r p seu d o p o d
ld 6 + 7 (eith er form )
F a c e /R e ac h : 5 ft. b y 5 ft./5 ft. as h um an, 15 ft. by 15 ft./
10 ft. as shoggoth
Special A tta c k s: Spells, engulf (as crush, except the
shog g o th lo rd need only m ake a successful o pposed
grapple check to pull a target o f up to one size cate­
g o ry sm aller th an itself in to its mass)
Special Q u a litie s: M aintain form , o th erw ise as shog­
goth
Saves: F o rt +14, R ef +9, Will +9
A bilities: Str 24 , Dex 10, C o n 20, Int 13, Wis II
C h a 7 (in hum an form ), o r 17 (as shoggoth)
Skills: In n u e n d o +10, In tim id ate +10, M ove
Silently +10, R esearch +8, Sense M otive +10,
001 CALL OF CTHULHU - CREATURES
than th eir fellows and also som ew hat smaller.
F u rth erm o re, w ith increased self-awareness,
they have m uch greater co n tro l over th eir form
and have gained distinct personalities. U n fo rtu ­
nately, the old adage th a t an abused child grows
up to be an abuser in tu rn has proved tru e in their
case: u n fo rg o tten to rtu res and unbearable aeons of
servitude to the E lder Things has produced a race
that delights in cruelty and m ayhem , creating chaos
and dealing the greatest possible m isery at every turn.
T he m ost fam ous o f th eir num ber, Mr. Shiny, works
closely w ith any num ber of cults in o rd er to forward
the w ork o f harvesting hum anity fo r the hungry gods
that w ait outside.
COMBAT
Shoggoth lords are cunning and prefer to play w ith their
prey fo r a w hile before m oving in fo r the kill. T hey have
en ough o f a sense o f self-preservation to n o t attack when
the o dds seem to be against them , and th ey are q u ite willing
to b reak off a fight o r negotiate if th eir intended prey makes
an intrig u in g offer. M ore often, they stop th eir assault and
pretend to consider such an offer, raising the hopes o f their in­
tended victim s. T h a t way, w hen they eventually reject the offer,

Speak O th e r Language (any tw o) +5, W ilder­ th ey tru ly enjoy th e despair and h o rro r they deal.
ness L o re +9 E n g u lf (Ex): A shog g o th lo rd ’s favorite attack is pulling a
(Shoggoth lords gain a +8 racial b o n u s on target h it by one of its p seu d o p o d s in to its mass, autom atically
Intim idate.) dealing 3d6+10 p o in ts o f dam age p e r ro u n d thereafter. It need
Feats: A m bidextrous, P ow er A ttack, T rack, only m ake a successful o pposed grapple check (a norm al attack, at
W ealth no penalty) to engulf a targ et up to one size category sm aller than
P sychic F eats: Sensitive, B iofeedback itself. A n engulfed ch aracter o r creature can only act if it makes an
T rance op p o sed S trength check, and even then it can o n ly undertake one
C R : 15 attack action o r m ove action each ro u n d . L.ike th e ir shoggoth fore­
C lim a te /T e rra in : Any. S hoggoth lords bears, shog g o th lords are fo n d o f decapitating th eir prey. A ny victim
are typically fo u n d in m ajo r cities, w h o dies of an engulfing attack will cither be eaten o r decapitated.
w here th e h u n tin g is best and the prey M a in ta in F o rm (Ex): E ach sh oggoth lord has a favorite form in
is anonym ous. w hich it prefers to appear. F o r exam ple, Mr. A lbert Shiny appears as a
S a n ity Loss: N o n e in h um an form ; as w holly bald, pudgy m iddle-age m an. Keeping in h um an form , or any
shoggoths (I d 6 /ld 2 0 ) in shoggoth o th e r false appearance, is taxing to the shoggoth lord. If injured o r under
form ; l / l d 3 to see tran sfo rm atio n great stress, the shoggoth lord m ust m ake a successful Will check (D C 15)
betw een form s. to be able to m aintain its cu rre n t form . Failure m eans th a t th e fo rm ripples
and d isto rts. U nless the sh o g g o th lord succeeds in a second check the next
ro u n d , it reverts to its natural (shoggoth) form . S hoggoth lords are able to
com press their mass w hen m im icking M edium -size creatures. O n e struggling
2 to m aintain his form often inadv erten tly shifts to Large size. In full shoggoth
form , shog g o th lords are H u g e (n o t G arg an tu an , as a tru e shoggoth).
Spells (Su): A sh o g g o th lo rd kn o w s as m any spells as it has p oints o f Intelli­
gence. It will use these as convenient, alth o u g h it prefers physical attacks when
it is safe to use them .