Elder Thing
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | sea, land, space |
| Frequency | very rare |
| Organization | city |
| Activity Cycle | any |
| Diet | ? |
| Intelligence | high (mean) |
| Treasure | A |
| Alignment | lawful neutral |
| No. Appearing | 1-8 |
| Armor Class | 6 |
| Movement | 18"/12" |
| Hit Dice | 8 |
| THAC0 | 13 |
| No. of Attacks | 3 |
| Damage/Attack | 1-6 x3 |
| Special Attacks | nil |
| Special Defenses | immune to heat and cold |
| Magic Resistance | nil |
| Size | L(9') |
Description
Appearance
Elder Things appear as barrel-shaped creatures with starfish heads and bases, and membranous wings radiating from their bodies.
Combat
In combat, they can attack with three of their tentacles, although they would prefer to send in their slaves or use more advanced weaponry.
Habitat/Society
Elder Things live in quite organized cities, both on planetary surfaces and underwater. They are quite advanced scientifically, especially in the biological (particularly genetic) sciences, and all share a deep scientific curiosity. They created the shoggoths, and are capable of significant biological research leading to the creation of an astounding variety of creatures. It is believed that they started the process of evolution on the planet Terra in the home planes of the Mythos. They will typically use, if possible and necessary, the most advanced weapons available; usually these will be more advanced than those of their opponents.
Ecology
Elder Things are capable of flying through space with a Ship's Rating of 4. They have no need of air for breathing.
Variants
Some colonies of Elder Things that have long been on the ground without occasional forays into space have atrophied wings, robbing them at least partially of their spelljamming powers.
For further information, see "At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft.