DCC Bestiary - Deep Ones

So, expanding my home-grown bestiary book for my Aquerria campaign world, and I came across Deep Ones in the Core Rulebook.  The concept is cool, regardless of which roleplaying game rules you use -- immortal fish people who worship Cthulhu and enslave or mate with villagers in remote areas to create abominations, but the Deep Ones in the DCC Core Rulebook are ... meh?

I have always thought that monsters should not be bags of hit points -- the DCC core rules gives them a club attack, 5 hit points, and that's about it?  They could be orcs, goblins, bandits -- nothing different.

I took the baseline Deep One, added a mutation chart much like the Chaos Beastmen from Sailors on the Starless Sea, or Primordial Slimes, gave them water breathing, immortality and darkvision.  At least they could be unpredictable in their abilities (but if I ran a whole group of Deep Ones, I would give the whole group the same mutation to make running them not overly complicated).

I also added a 'Deep One Priest' and made them a more focused style of opponent (and got rid of all the DCC Core rule referring to war-wizards, chieftains, etc).

Thoughts or ideas about deep ones?  Drop me a note at archadethered@gmail.com.

"I think their predominant color was a greyish-green, though they had white bellies. They were mostly shiny and slippery, but the ridges of their backs were scaly. Their forms vaguely suggested the anthropoid, while their heads were the heads of fish, with prodigious bulging eyes that never closed. At the sides of their necks were palpitating gills, and their long paws were webbed. They hopped irregularly, sometimes on two legs and sometimes on four. I was somehow glad that they had no more than four limbs. Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked ... They were the blasphemous fish-frogs of the nameless design—living and horrible. 

    -- HP Lovecraft, Shadow over Inssmouth.

 

Deep One

     The deep ones are tough, sluggish, goggle-eyed, amphibious fish-men who reek of brine. They are believed to live in dark cities under the frigid Umber Sea and worship Cthulhu with human sacrifice and unspeakable rituals. Deep ones are often mutated in unique ways due to the influence of the Old One.  The people of Almengard and the Farinlands whisper dark tales of deep ones coming in the night to take their children, for slaves or sacrifice.  

     Deep ones are always encountered in well-armed war parties supported by clerics of their enigmatic gods, often found in groups of 5d6 warriors armed with sharkskin leather and shields (AC 13), and armed with spears. These war parties also carry nets and rope for retrieving victims alive. For every 10 warriors there is a Deep One Priest.

     Deep ones mate as do fish, leaving eggs in undersea spawning grounds, but are also able to mate with surface-dwellers to produce horrid half-breeds. With sufficient generations some of these half-breeds resemble man save for subtle hints of ichthyoidal ancestry, such as gills, webbed feet, and wide unblinking eyes. Small communities of degenerate deep one hybrids exist on wind-swept ocean shores, shunned by their human cousins but willing to aid their deep one progenitors in their infrequent treks to the surface.

 

     Deep One: Init -2 Atk spear +2 melee (1d8+3) or other weapon; AC 13; HD 1d8+2 (7 hp); MV 20’ or swim 40’; Act 1d20; SP Breathe water, darkvision 30’, immortal, mutation, resist damage from cold; SV Fort +3, Ref -1, Will +3; AL C; Crit III/??

     Deep ones are often mutated in unique ways due to the influence of the Old One – roll on the mutation chart below.

 

     Deep One Priest: Init -2 Atk dagger +4 melee (1d4+3) or net +4 ranged (entangle); AC 13; HD 4d8+8 (28 hp); MV 20’ or swim 40’; Act 1d20; SP Breathe water, darkvision 30’, immortal, spells (maddening rune, 3/day, choking mist 3/day), mutation; resist damage from cold; SV Fort +4, Ref +0, Will +6; AL C; Crit III/??

     Deep one priests are often mutated in unique ways due to the influence of the Old One – roll twice on the mutation chart below.

     A deep one priest will try to capture victims with a net – if successfully thrown at an opponent within 10 feet, the victim must make a DC 12 Reflex save or be entangled until 5 points of cutting damage is made to the net, or a DC 18 Strength check is made to burst free.

     As priests of Cthulhu, these deep ones can invoke a maddening rune to appear in front of any creature within 30 feet, causing them to have to make a DC 14 Will save or lose 1d6 points of Personality – if personality is reduced to 0, the victim goes permanently insane, gibbering and drooling (and cannot take any actions).  They can also exude a choking mist up to 30 feet away from themselves, causing all non-deep ones within the mist to take 1d6 damage. (DC 14 Fortitude save for half damage). 

   1d8    Mutation

     1     Needle-like teeth, granting a bite attack that does 1d4+3 damage, as a second attack with a d14 Action Die.

     2     Rubbery, thick skin granting +2 to Armor Class

     3     Large bulbous eyes on either side of their head, +2 to searching or spotting checks, and cannot be surprised.

     4     Hulking and large, with gangly arms, +2 to attack and damage

     5     An alien mind unlike that of a mortal human, +2 to Will saves and immune to fear effects.

     6     Elongated frog-like legs, granting +4 to Jump checks and +10 feet base movement.

     7     Slimy, and skin exudes a mild poison, any one who touches or is struck by a Deep one must make a DC 6 Fortitude save or become lethargic, losing 1d3 temporary points of Agility.

    8       Roll twice more on this chart.