DEEP ONE

scourge of the seas

*And yet I saw them in a limitless stream—flopping, hopping, croaking, bleating—urging inhumanly through the spectral moonlight in a grotesque, malignant saraband of fantastic nightmare. And some of them had tall tiaras of that nameless whitish-gold metal… and some were strangely robed… and one, who led the way, was clad in a ghoulishly humped black coat and striped trousers, and had a man’s felt has perched on the shapeless thing that answered for a head.

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.*– The Shadow Over Innsmouth, Howard Phillips Lovecraft, 1931

This race of amphibious sea creatures has made its home in the dark trenches of the deep sea and on the reefs off the coasts of humans for a very long time. There they built cities, established their empires and there they worship their gods Dagon and Hydra and above all the Great Cthulhu. Deadly hunters underwater, deep ones are just as deadly on land.

Their stature is human-like, but far more powerful, and their heads are more fish-like. Their skin is grayish-green with a white belly and a scaly dorsal crest. They have webbed feet and gills and raspy, barking voices. In principle, Deep Ones are immortal and so one can see the knowledge of the aeons in their eyes – if one survives an encounter with a Deep One. This depends in large part on whether the deep one has an interest in the other person at such a moment. Animals fear and shy away from them, dogs bark at them, and the Deep Ones themselves fear the Elder Sign like nothing else.

Deep ones have maintained a special relationship with humans, particularly those living in remote locations near the sea, for thousands of years. They also mate with humans and enter into pacts with them, e.g. The Esoteric Order of Dagon.

Y’HA-NTHLEI

This city of deep ones lies off the coast of Innsmouth, Massachusetts in a spot also known as Devil’s Reef. In 1928, during the storming of Innsmouth by US authorities, Y’ha-nthlei was damaged by submarine torpedoes. To what extent this led to the destruction of the entire structure of the city or only caused superficial damage cannot be said.

However, since the Deep Ones’ activities never entirely ceased, there is some evidence that Y’ha-nthlei still exists. Or there are more of their cities along the coast.

DEEP ONE HYBRID

As a rule, common human-deep one descendants are largely human-looking at birth. However, they develop increasingly bizarre anatomy over the course of their lives, although not all hybrids transform at the same rate. The heads become strangely elongated, the noses flatter. The bulging eyes protrude and finally seem to hardly close anymore. Hair is lost, skin is wrinkled and scaly, and as they age, hybrids develop gills on the sides of their necks and webbed fingers and toes. Many evolve into full-fledged Deep Ones over time and enter the water, where they become immortal and join the Deep One colonies. Some, however, remain stuck at one point in the course of this development. They then often retire because of their appearance, which has been dubbed the “Innsmouth Look“.

SPECIAL POWERS 

Amphibious Life Form: Deep Ones can breathe indefinitely both on land and in water. However, they dry out if they are separated from water for too long. A long-term separation from the water means the death of a Deep One.

Reproduction: Deep Ones can breed with other species. This happens either voluntarily or under the influence of the call of the deep. The resulting hybrids have some fishy body features, but otherwise possess the same characteristics as normal members of their species. However, rumor has it that hybrids evolve into Deep Ones during their lifetime and then disappear into the sea. Even small amounts of the unnatural genetic information are said to be sufficient as a prerequisite and this can remain undetected for generations. What exactly triggers a transformation has not yet been clarified. This might even be the basic way this species reproduces.

Knock Down : If the victim is still alive after a successful attack, the swipe knocks them through the air and lands them on the ground.

Call of the Deep: Deep Ones can force other beings under their control. Once per round, in addition to its action, the deep one can make a comparative Willpower check against another being to bring it under control. Once under the Deep One’s influence, the victim has no control over their actions. However, if the victim is aware of their situation, after each action they take they may make a comparative Willpower check against the Deep One in order to free themselves. A Deep One can usually only control one victim at a time. But there should be particularly powerful specimens that can control several victims at the same time. Becoming aware of mind control costs 1/1d8 SAN.

Unnatural Armor: The armor value is due to the overall toughness of the deep ones. deep ones can always absorb some damage easily. They therefore ignore the attacker’s armor piercing value.

Immortality: Deep Ones are inherently immortal. However, that doesn’t mean that damage inflicted can’t harm them.

DEEP ONE, Scourge of the seas

STR: 25

CON: 30

DEX: 13

INT: 15

POW: 20

HP: 28

Damage Bonus/Lethality: +#D#

Build: Large

Willpower Points: 20

ATTACKS

Attacks per round:1 

Fighting attacks: .

Rake 50%, Lethality 10%, Armor Piercing 3 (see Knockdown ).

Dodge: ##%

Armor: 3 points through thick skin (see Unnatural Armor ).

Skills: Athletics 40%, Stealth 40%, Swim 80%, Vigilance 60%.

Rituals: Aklo Sabaoth (Dagon and Hydra), Summon Creatures (Dagon and Hydra).

Sanity Loss: 1/1d8.