Deep One
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | sea, coast |
| Frequency | very rare |
| Organization | tribal/city |
| Activity Cycle | any |
| Diet | omnivore |
| Intelligence | very (mean) |
| Treasure | Z |
| Alignment | chaotic evil |
| No. Appearing | 1-100 |
| Armor Class | 3 |
| Movement | 12"//24" |
| Hit Dice | 4 |
| THACO | 17 |
| No. of Attacks | 2 or 1 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-4/1-4 or weapon |
| Special Attacks | nil |
| Special Defenses | nil |
| Magic Resistance | nil |
| Size | M(6') |
Description
Appearance
The Deep Ones appear as anthropoid amphibians, with fishlike heads. They have both infravision and normal sight.
Combat
In battle, they can attack with their claws, or use weapons. Due to their great strength (18), they cause +2 to damage.
Habitat/Society
Deep Ones live in large undersea cities, often near populated shores. While they are evil, they are not particularly aggressive, being more inclined to seek the worship of their neighbors than their destruction. They are the servants of Cthulhu and his lieutenants Dagon and Hydra, and the furtherance of their goals are the primary interests of the Deep Ones. To that end, they seek to expand their influence and numbers by accepting human worship and expanding their own numbers.
Ecology
Deep Ones are immortal, as long as they are not slain by violence. They are capable of breeding with humans (and possibly certain demi-human or humanoid races), in such a way that the child is born human in appearance, but grows progressively batrachian in appearance and/or manner. Between the ages of 21 and 40 (1d20+20), the hybrid will undergo a transformation: within a few months, he will develop into a full Deep One. Typically, he will then take to the sea and live with his nonhuman ancestors (often stretching back many generations).
Variants
Deep Ones are a standard humanoid race, indeed more intelligent than most humans. In consequence, many individuals will have character classes, with unlimited advancement as fighters and clerics (of Cthulhu), although they are limited to the 16th level of advancement as mages. Some physiological aspect of the Deep Ones' brains prevent them from retaining spells of ninth level, a source of considerable frustration to them. However, given both their origins and the influx of new genetic material due to their mode of reproduction, the chances of mutants capable of casting ninth level spells are high.
For more information, see "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" and "The Thing on the Doorstep" by H.P. Lovecraft.