Not Quite Canon: BYAKHEE for Old School Fantasy & Horror

Byakhee/ Lisa Free

A re-model rather than a conversion; * for optional.

The TLDR/Basic Byakhee.

Hybrid winged things composed of conventional material. Summoned by mortal sorcerers as guardians and mounts. Called by cultists to receive sacrifices. 

Have the ability to probability travel anywhere in the universe in 1-12 hours. They cannot enter a planetary atmosphere this way, but they can leave - vanishing without trace.

They can carry a single adult human and their equipment on these journeys. They always arrive hungry.

Armour Class: As Leather.

Hit Dice: 4 (Medium/ Human-sized; wingspan comparable to Gargoyle or Harpy).

Movement: 50% of Normal Human on the ground; x2 Normal Human in flight in the lower atmosphere; x3 in upper atmosphere; x6 through space (if not using probability travel).

If carrying an adult human at the same time, reduce flying speed to x1 in lower atmosphere and x2 upper atmosphere. Encumbrance does not affect space flight or probability travel.

Attacks: 2 per round (all +1 for Strength):

• Claw/hoof/paw d3 damage.
• Bite/ram/slam d6 damage.
• Horn/spike/sting/tail d4 damage.

Special Attacks:

• If both claws hit, auto-bite or carry off (max. adult human) next round.
• If bite hits, can drain d3 pints of blood etc. per round. Will continue until you're empty, not just dead.
• If sting hits, save vs. venom as for Centipede, Giant. You will have nightmares of flight and space and cold *and Carcosa while sick.
• Swoop with surprise for double-damage; crit/natural 20 to carry off (max. adult human).
• Victims carried off can be dropped from height for falling damage.

Special Defences:

• Immune to cold (magical and normal), disease, poison, radiation, sleep and vacuum/asphyxia.
• *blink away (as Blink Dog) if it uses probability travel to escape.
• *can see invisible, ethereal, duo-dimensional and out-of-phase things.

*Spells: 40% chance of 1-4 spells. These can be blur, light, mage hand and minor illusion, if you like.

Morale: 9 (*10 vs. Mi-Go; 12 if commanded by Hastur).

Alignment: Neutral Hungry, or compatible with Hastur.

*Traditional association with Hastur as worshipper-servitors and co-inhabitants of Carcosa.

Grenadier Byakhee.

Advanced Byakhee.

They were not altogether crows, nor moles, nor buzzards, nor ants, nor vampire bats, nor decomposed human beings; but something I cannot and must not recall.

…hybrid winged things that no sound eye could ever wholly grasp, or sound brain ever wholly remember.

Bits in bold are more important than the rest of the description.

While Byakhee are composed of conventional material, they are not anchored in conventional space-time.

Not being anchored in conventional space-time means they exhibit certain characteristics of hyperspace entities. This accounts for the mortal inability to absolutely perceive their objective physicality; also the wild variations in size and appearance from encounter to encounter.

You do not wholly see Byakhee, you interpret them: ‘winged’ is an abstraction, much like ‘hound’ is for the tindalosi.

Byakhee visually de-code as devils, hippogriffs, bees, wasps, valkyries, youwarkees, skeletal butterflies with stone knives on their wings, harpies, imps, bats, angels, nightgaunts, tyranids, pterodactyls, pegasi, wyverns, star vampires, shantaks, flying polyps, jabberwockies, and -men (hat-, moth- and shadow-).

And they can also look like whatever you are primed for a Byakhee to look like (whether you've been reading The Festival or The House on Curwen Street).

Byakhee are immune to enlarge/shrink and polymorph. Neither can they be dismembered or decapitated. Certainly, not by mundane mortals.

They are affected by spells etc. as are summoned creatures - even in Carcosa.

Intelligence: Average (human-level), but rarely credited.

Telepathic and understand all languages, but communicate only in clicks, croaks, screams, squawks, squeals and whistles. Traditionally respond to whistled directions and simple commands.

Capable of mimicking a surprising range of sounds, including laughter, weeping, and incomprehensible muttering, as well as following (and formulating) complex plans.

They are unconcerned with the morality of actions they are bound/commanded to perform, as well as ethical concerns over their choice of sustenance. They mostly (privately?) find humans to be ridiculous things - fragile, limited, pliable.

Size: Roll d4:

1. Small: imp

• HD 1-1 (or d6 hp)
• 1 attack per round
• reduce damage dice increments by one step; no damage bonus for Strength
• drains 1 pint of blood in d6 rounds
• if sting hits, save vs. poison or d3 non-lethal/subdual damage
• Swoop with surprise for x2 damage, but cannot carry off targets

2. Medium: gargoyle

• as the Basic Byakhee
• if it's carrying you off, you are at -2 to hit it and score only minimum damage, but it is at -2 to hit you

3. Large: wyvern

• HD 6 to 7
• 3 attacks per round; can split between 2 targets
• +2 to damage for Strength/size
• does not drain blood, but auto-bites/continuous damage
• if sting hits, save or 0 hp/Casualty state
• can carry an armoured adult human without flying movement penalty
• Swoop with surprise for x2 damage; crit/natural 18-20 to carry off (max. armoured adult human)
• can carry off in its jaws as well as its claws
• if it's carrying you off, you are at -2 to hit it and score only minimum damage, but it is at -2 to hit you

4. Giant: dragon

• HD 10 to 12
• 4 attacks per round; can split between 3 targets
• +4 to damage for Strength/size
• does not drain blood, but auto-bites/continuous damage
• if sting hits, save or die and d3 acid splash damage to everyone within 5' of the target
• can carry up to three armoured adult humans without flying movement penalty
• Swoop with surprise for x2 damage; crit/natural 16-20 to carry off (max. armoured horse)
• can carry off in its jaws and tail as well as its claws
• if it's carrying you off, you are at -2 to hit it and score only minimum damage, but it is at -2 to hit you
• Morale +1

Their size changes relative to mundane mortals because they are arriving from fourth-dimensional hyperspace - the Byakhee is always the same size from its own perspective.

Armour Class: Roll d6:

1. Tough hide (as Leather)
2. Scaly hide (as Leather + Shield)
3. Chitinous (as Chain + Shield)
4. Hard carapace (as Plate)
5. Equivalent of descending Armour Class 0
6. Invulnerable Monster/ magic weapon to hit, and reroll for AC; any additional 6s increase the + of the weapon needed to hit

Tactile feedback does not necessarily correspond to visual expectation.

*Personal Reality Distortion: Roll d8 (except when encountered in space or Carcosa):

1. blurred (-4 to hit it the first time, then at -2 thereafter; Byakhee gets +1 to all saves)
   
2. displacement (it appears to be 3’ from where it actually is; -2 to hit it; Byakhee gets +2 to all saves)
   
3. duo-dimension (as the spell, but no portion of the Byakhee extends into or is vulnerable from the Astral Plane)
   
4. ethereal (can only harm and be harmed by other ethereal beings, but can use its spell-like abilities; can semi-materialise for feeding only; cf. Ghost)
   
5. gaseous form (as the spell, but can use its spell-like abilities; can semi-materialise for feeding only)
   
6. improved invisibility (-4 to hit, +4 to saves)
   
7. mirror image (recasts d6 rounds after images destroyed/dispelled)
   
8. statue (as the BECMI spell; the Byakhee cannot move except by probability travel, but gets AC equivalent to descending -4, plus immune to normal and magical fire; can use its spell-like abilities; can partially de-petrify for feeding only)

Stacks with and/or overrules Armour Class results.

Tactile feedback does not necessarily correspond to visual expectation. 

*Spells: 40% of 1-4 spells from this list (taken from A Ghastly Affair). Roll d10:

1. bewitch cattle

2. blacken sky

3. blast crops

4. change/steal gender (only 1 per day)

5. obtain oracle (on another's behalf)

6. protection from bullets/normal missiles (depends on milieu)

7. rain of blood/ fish/ frogs/ flesh/ shower of stones (only 1 per day)

8. raise storm

9. steal milk

10. witch’s mount (on another's behalf)

All spells are supplementary effects of the ability to probability travel - they detect as psionics rather than magic, but are vulnerable to dispel magic.

It can know spells other than these, and is able to grant a casting to, as well as perform them on behalf of, another - given the right incentives.

*The Black Man at the witches' sabbat is not Nyarlathotep.

Loic Muzy/ Byakhee vs. Shantak - not much between them, eh?

Space Mead.

Whatever space mead is and however it is made/obtained (sometimes a bee-like by-product of the Byakhee themselves), it is an absolute requirement for mortals accompanying Byakhee when they probability travel. As well as protecting the imbiber from the physical effects of space travel, it also places them in a hypnotic stupor that lasts until they arrive at their destination.

The journey takes 1-12 hours (depending on distance and/or random factors) for purposes of strict time records, but for anyone travelling without space mead it will be longer than you think and they must immediately retire the character on arrival at their destination, either dead or irrevocably, self-destructively insane.

There are theories as to why and what, but no-one alive knows for sure.

*Maybe space mead is only the best known and most widely available product for surviving probability travel with the Byakhee, and there could be rare/unique alternatives.

Erol Otus/ 1e AD&D Deities & Demigods

Commentary.

Visual shorthand is space bees and alien vultures. General consensus is that they're the things described in The Festival, but otherwise they're extrapolations in the Derleth-Petersen tradition.

I'm going to guess that they're not many people's Mythos favourites, but only the most fervent Lovecraft purist would leave them out of the bestiary - how else are you getting to Carcosa?

The RAW CoC rpg Byakhee is at the lower end of the threat range (for comparison, my conversion comes out at 3+3 HD, AC as Leather), and has no special defence against a hail of bullets, so you too could exterminate a genuine sapient extra-terrestrial in your own back yard with a few of your friends.

The Byakhee in A Happy Family (Adventures in Arkham Country). It's only pretending to be bound. I misremembered it as having chosen to do so for comfort and security - my foundation for their psychology.

Tiny B & W photograph of the Grenadier miniatures in White Dwarf had me de-coding Byakhee as winged humanoids, wearing beaded skirts and clawed gauntlets before I ever opened the CoC 2e rulebook.

In Biblical Carcosa, they de-code as Pre-Colombian Meso-American cyber-Skeksis.

DHAX: Monster Conversion - Lone Wolf to D&D adjacent and Call of Cthulhu 5e

The snickering, ghoulish Dhax.
Gary Chalk.

One of the monsters from Lone Wolf that made an impression on me - the Dhax from Castle Death.

Canine skull, caracal ears, whale-like hide (or black scales, or short fur), webbed forepaws with retractable claws, and hoof-like feet - they're pack hunters, skilled trackers and craving for fresh meat. 

Sometimes armed with devastating Power Staves - these are not of Dhax manufacture, but are attuned only to them. 

The Dhax are intelligent and cruel, but their lifecycle, culture (material or otherwise) and non-predatory habits are unknown.

Dhax for Old School D&D Adjacent.

Armour Class +4     Hit Dice 6     Move 125% Normal Human     Morale 9 

• Claw/claw/bite for 1-6/1-6/1-8
• Dexterity min. 15 (+2 AC included)
• In their dungeon lairs, surprised only on a 1.
• Keen sense of smell and highly developed tracking skills: surprise on 1-3.
• Intelligent - at least high human average (12).
• Power Staff: damage as mace, morning star or staff (or just use d8) + d6 for baleful energy 
• save vs. wands to avoid 2d6 baleful energy blast/ bolt (60' range); recharges on a 1-2 on d6 at the end of each round.
• trying to pick up and use a Power Staff causes d6 baleful energy damage to non-Dhax per round. And it won't work for you.
• as an alternative to the above, a Dhax Power Staff is equivalent to an Int 9 Ego 12 sentient sword which tries to take control of anyone who touches it - you deliver yourself to the Dhax. If it fails to master you, take d6 damage and leave it alone.
• On death, Dhax immediately begin to smoulder, then burst into flames and are reduced to fused and stinking clinker in a matter of moments: 2-8 hits to anyone within 10'.

Rich Longmore's Dhax, giving it the old Anubis via Russ Nicholson vibe.

DHAX, Ghoulish Snickering Trackers for CoC 5e.

The Dhax are (d6):

1. Ancient astronauts once worshipped as gods, long since trapped on Earth.
2. From the Dreamlands, but physically present in the waking world at certain times, in certain places, or when certain words have been spoken.
3. One of the lesser known types of Ghoul.
4. One of the lesser known monstrous humanoid species of Earth.
5. Extra-terrestrials accidentally or deliberately transplanted to Earth by the Mi-Go.
6. Formless Spawn bound into this form by the will of Nyarlathotep at the behest of some long dead sorcerer.

I've no particular ideas on how the Dhax fit into a Mythos setting (canonical or otherwise) - I just like 'em.

STR 4d6 (14)     CON d6+12 (15-16)     SIZ 2d6+8 (15)     INT 2d6+6 (13)     POW 2d6+6 (13)

DEX 3d6+3 (13-14)

Hit Points 15               Damage Bonus +d4     Move 10

Weapons:

• Eight-fingered Claw Swipe 50%, d6
• Powerful Bite 30%, d8, automatic against grappled targets
• Power Staff:
• Strike 65%, d6 + db + d6 baleful energy
• Bolt 100%, 2d6 and destroys armour, point-for-point (Dodge, Jump or block to avoid injury)
• non-Dhax attempting to handle a Power Stave must match their current magic points with the Dhax's POW or lose d6 magic points per round - at 0 magic points, the victim will deliver themselves willingly to the Dhax in their lair. The same magic points vs. POW match is required to release a Power Stave once it has been taken up
• On suffering a death blow, the Dhax bursts into flame and burns to almost nothing in a matter of moments - 2-8 fire damage to anyone within 10' when this happens.

Armour: 2-point hide.

Skills: Tracking 60%, Sense of Smell 80%, Swim 70%, Jump DEX x3, Sneak 75%, Snicker Ghoulishly 85%, Dodge DEX x2

Spells: roll under INT on d20 for d6 spells

Habitat: Forbidden necropolises, nameless cities, lost temples. 

Sanity Loss: 0/1d6 to see the Dhax; 0/d2 to hear their ghoulish snickering and the soft thump of their hooves echoing through the tunnels ahead.

Commentary.

I found some 2e AD&D stats in a very unofficial looking Monstrous Compendium supplement that I probably shouldn’t haven’t been looking at/ for online:

AC +4 Mv 12 HD 3 Att. d4x2/d6 or weapon Size M (4’-6’tall) Morale Average  INT 8-10

How the author came up with the stats, I don't know - because this seems more like a rung on the humanoid threat ladder, rather than monsters 'among the most powerful of all the mutant guardians’ - ‘so evil, cunning and physically strong that they resemble the Agarashi’ (Bestiary of the Beyond, p. 92).

By a crude measure, Lone Wolf could be a 7th level character (one with numerous special abilities, too) when they encounter the Dhax, and there's a good chance of being killed - even without going toe-to-toe.

There's no mention of their signature weapon - the Power Stave - either; there's nothing beyond the stats, pic and reference to the book of origin. It is significantly more formidable if given the special abilities and the Power Stave described above.

(Converted to Coc, this Dhax would have characteristics close to that of a Ghoul, which has characteristics close to that of a Normal Human.)

Sam Manley. From the LW Bestiary of the Beyond.
Just looks a bit like something on the humanoid threat scale, or an AD&D demon.

Bestiary of the Beyond and https://www.lonewolfitalia.com/ are -I suppose- canon sources and helpful (the Dhax, as far as I'm aware, didn't feature in the Lone Wolf d20 game), but I'm mainly going by my memories of playing through Castle Death, Gary Chalk's somewhat ambiguous attitude towards fur and scales, and where my imagination took me.

While they're described as mutants, hybrid of human and beast, I think there's a definite whiff of the demonic about them.

OARD: Monster Conversion - BECMI D&D to Call of Cthulhu 5e

I recently did a CoC to D&D conversion for Mi Go, and mentioned the Oards as a front for the Mi Go - so here's a version in BRP format. 

OARDS, Cat's Paws of the Mi Go.

Grown in vats, augmented with technology, the Oards are the things behind most of the commonly recognised types of UFOnaut -and some of the more bizarre Men in Black encounters- using cloaking devices and cerebral dampeners to manipulate human witnesses. 

Physically, Oards are humanoid and very similar in appearance to each other. Diversity of appearance is dependent on cultural expectations of the intended human audience. Oard technology can be used to disguise their appearance or to confuse human senses, but this is a projection rather than a changing of form. 

Their general appearance, behaviour and technology will superficially reflect the historical background of your game, and what people at the time were describing/ experiencing when they encountered an unidentified flying object and/or its crew - aliens, fairies, German spies, Napoleonic troops, flying saucers, rockets, airships, ornithopters, balloons, even boats lifted by evaporating dew.

Oards are intelligent and self-willed, but are the creations of the Mi Go and ultimately serve them, consciously or unconsciously. Only the Mi Go know whether the Oards are the source of or are built on the template of the cross-culturally common characteristics of the UFO abduction/encounter experience.

Oards do not know that they are constructs of Yuggoth, and believe themselves to be a galaxy-spanning civilisation of ancient pedigree. The lack of clear cross-references in Mythos sources concerning the Mi Go suggests that the Fungi have either been successful in hiding their authorship or that the creation of the Oards is of a comparatively recent date.

All Oards are programmed not to harm or interfere with the Mi Go. An Oard encountering a Mi Go will either be utterly unable to detect its presence, or immediately stop what it was doing and await orders. A Mi Go can command an Oard to harm another Mi Go, but rival Fungi can match POW to wrest control from each other.

Humans can be converted into Oards. The process is comparatively simple for the Mi Go, and an Oard body is sometimes used instead of a brain cannister. If carried out by the Oards, conversion is much more protracted (it can be done over several years and multiple procedures) and much more like torture - it has more to do with Mi Go terror-tactics than efficiency.

Most Oards are STR, SIZ and INT 10, with those having 13 SIZ and 14 INT representing leader types. 

STR 18 Oards are combat/ invasion ready - it has no bearing on their apparent rank.

STR 10 or 18    CON 20     SIZ 10 or 13     INT 10 or 14     POW 0     DEX 13

Hit Points 15 or 16              Damage bonus nil or +d4     Move 8

Weapons: 

• Air Rifle: 95%, range and damage as whatever is the best similar projectile weapon available to the characters for their historical period, but preferably one that they do not possess or have easy access to.
• Smoke- and heat-less, nearly silent, and the ammunition can be envenomed, drugged, explosive etc.
• 6 shots when fully loaded.
• Flame Pistols: 100%, 2d6 + sets fires 
• Discharges a 20' streamer of burning gas - Dodge or block.
• Fully charged, good for 6 shots.
• Ray Glove: 100% for single shot in a combat round, 50% each for two, 30% each for three, d6+1 and ignores most armour, up to at least late 20th Century Earth tech.
• You can attempt to Parry or grapple to push it away in melee, otherwise Dodge, Jump or get behind good solid cover.
• A single shot has an effective range of as far as the Oard can see.

Armour: Minimum damage from impales. Unaffected by terrestrial poisons and venoms. 

Immune to mind-reading, mind-control and emotion - except when caused by Mi Go or some kind of genius computer hacker.

Oards may wear a protection belt that generates an invisible personal forcefield - this becomes especially common from the 1960s onwards.

This gives 10 armour points vs. frontal attacks from hand weapons and directed energy (including explosions), and complete protection from non-magical projectiles (either deflecting or dropping them, you decide).

The wearer is unaffected by extreme environmental heat & cold, and has limited anti-gravity - they can descend straight down 50' without harm, can cross 20' of water or similar without danger of sinking, and walk across any distance of snow, sand, dust or similar without hindrance and without leaving footprints 

Spells: None - Oards do not use or understand magic. 

In a pre-modern (and/or magic-heavy) setting, their technology will be seen as magical.

Skills: Abduct 100%, Cattle Mutilation 99%, Probe 100%, Resistance is Futile 80%, Misunderstand Human Subtleties 95%, Misuse Human Artefacts 35%, Appear Benevolent 15%.

Habitat: It seems likely that they maintain secret bases on the Earth and its Moon, not being truly extra-terrestrial. Oards will sometimes be in the entourage of Mi Go, or disguised Mi Go will be mixed in with the group.

Sanity Loss: To see the true form of an Oard, 0/d3; to be abducted, 0/d6; to survive conversion, 0/d10; to discover that Oards are a front for the Mi Go, 0/d6.

Using Oard Technology.

The short answer is that you can't - Oards interface with much of their equipment through cybernetic implants, so their weapons are unlikely to have something as simple as a trigger to squeeze, nor their computers a keyboard and mouse.

Partial Oard conversion or a surgical intervention by the Mi Go could equip a human to use Oard equipment - while possibly to the character's advantage, this will be to create more useful minions.

If even this seems too generous, you can rule that this is part of Nyarlathotep's portfolio and will be done only to further the designs of the Outer Gods - or to simply further humanity's plunge toward bloody chaos and extinction.

I wish these two were holding hands so they could exchange long protein strings - if you can think of a simpler way, I'd like to hear it.

Commentary.

The Oards are time-travelling aliens from the 1985 BECMI module Where Chaos Reigns by Graeme Morris (CM6 UK). They're androids or cyborgs, combining technology with their organic body, that are attempting to prevent the development and ascendancy of magic on the world of Aelos by interfering at critical points in history.

Which seems to me like the kind of thing the Mi Go would do.

I've seen unsupported statements that they were the prototype for the Borg in Star Trek, but they seem more likely to be descendants of the Cybermen from Dr. Who.

Not Quite Canon: MI GO for D&D adjacent.

I did this - once upon a time.
I think I painted it with a wooden skewer on (what looks like) a bit of a box.

I like the Mi Go, and I think that they should be able to turn up in pretty much any setting or genre that doesn't specifically exclude them.

These are 'common' Mi Go - they come from 'Out There' but are not ultraterrestrial horrors from an anti-matter universe.

Converting from Call of Cthulhu 5e, we get the following D&D-adjacent Mi Go:

AC +2     HD 2     Mv. 75% Normal Human (Flying 125% Normal Human or 75% Bat)     ML 8

• 1 nipper attack for d6 hits, or by weapon, or grapple (then drop you from a great height)
• the AC bonus is for a high average Dex, and they can wear armour 
• average Int is 13, with a 25% chance of being able to cast d3 spells (or same % of 1-3 caster levels, though that's much the same)
• any Mi Go weapon (including all but the most straightforward hand weapons) has a 40% chance of being used incorrectly by a human - 50/50 it's aimed at the wielder/ aimed at the floor
• they are unaffected by silence/deafness and darkness/blindness because of their weird eyeless heads - you might choose to extend this to all visual and aural effects, including illusions
• my gut tells me that Mi Go are familiar with psionics, but might not be psionicists - they might even be completely immune and unable to use them

This is a fairly typical conversion profile for a CoC monster with human-range characteristics (compare to Ghouls and Serpent People), so you might want to tweak it depending on your vision for the Mi Go - those from the old AD&D Deities & Demigods are stupid giant space lobsters that communicate by clicking their nippers.

If you kill one of these Mi Go...

1. It bubbles and rots away in 1 round, leaving a slimy puddle.
2. It abruptly transforms into dense mineral - Dex check at -3 or the killing weapon is stuck. It crumbles to dust in 1-4 rounds.
3. Its flesh blackens and shrivels away, leaving an apparently human skeleton - on the next round, the bones explode for 1-6 hits to all within 10'.
4. It dissolves into a 10' acid pool that evaporates in 1-6 rounds - d8 hits per round and you have to throw away your boots.
5. It bursts into flames, causing 2-8 hits to all within 10'.
6. It transforms into a lifeless duplicate of whoever struck the killing blow, appearing to be a normal dead body in all respects until it disintegrates into black soot after 3 days.

These are Draconian death-throes, from Dragonlance, and I think they suit the weird alien/ 'mysterious Little People' Mi Go just fine.

To these Mi Go, human brains are...

1. Delicious, extracted messily in 1-4 rounds.
2. A delicacy if prepared correctly, extracted carefully over 1-4 turns.
3. Crude computers for their organic robots, shelled like peas in 1-4 rounds.
4. Part of their dastardly plans for infiltration and conquest, carefully removed and sustained with uncanny surgery over 1-4 turns.
5. The raw material for spawning servitors and minions, harvested enthusiastically in 1-4 rounds.
6. Delicate experimental subjects for developing psionic biotechnology, painstakingly and reverentially separated from their host over 1-4 turns.

They definitely want brains, of that I'm sure.

The hummadruz of these Mi Go...

1. Makes humans of 0-1st level drowsy - save vs. spells at +2 per round or nod off; they will have forgotten the 2 minutes prior to nodding off (AD&D 1e forget spell).
2. Hits the Brown Note - save vs. paralysis each round or become nauseated/sick (BECMI Centipede venom, Cave Locust spit, Troglodyte stench etc.) and you have to throw away your underwear.
3. Makes eyes vibrate, ears buzz and noses tickle - save vs. paralysis each round or be afflicted by AD&D 1e blur spell.
4. Fills you with unease and intrusive thoughts - save vs. spells each round or be subject to fear.
5. Prevents spoken, written, telepathic and electronic/mechanical communication.
6. Causes bleeding from every orifice - 1 hit per round, plus save vs. effects as 2 above.

It might require several Mi Go to produce an effective hummadruz - it might even just be a secondary effect of their mass presence in an environment. HPL's The Whisperer in Darkness suggests it can be used by human agents of the Mi Go (presumably through surgical modifications).

In addition to any hand weapons and projectiles, some of these Mi Go are armed with...

1. Energy Mantles: + 5 AC, +5 to all saves; if you strike them, take 2-12 hits plus save vs. paralysis or stunned 1-4 rounds; primarily defensive, but they can make a touch attack vs. unarmoured AC with the same effect; can levitate 12 turns/day, capable of leaving planetary atmosphere/gravity and can sustain one air-breathing prisoner/passenger.
2. Flame Pistols: 1-6 charges, fires a 20' streamer of burning gas for 2-12 hits.
3. Shock Pistols: 1-8 charges, fires a 20' burst of blue sparks for 1-4 hits, but you must also save vs. death (or your heart stops, go to 0 hp) and save vs. paralysis or stunned 1-4 rounds.
4. Cloaking Devices: non-magical illusion to appear as a humanoid up to 10' tall; cannot be disbelieved, can only be seen through with truesight or second sight. Anyone looking at them with dark- or infra-vision will also be fooled, but must save vs. paralysis each round or be affected as hummadruz result 3.
5. Hypnotic Lanterns: flickering blue-white octagonal cylinder mounted on a pole; save vs. spells at +2 each round or fall under non-magical hypnosis - cannot look away from the Lantern and will move as directed by the Mi Go (perfect for brain extractions). Anyone with dark- or infra-vision looking at the Lantern must save vs. paralysis each round or roll 2d3 against the hummadruz results above.
6. Personal Force Fields: protection from normal missiles, resist cold/fire, +3 AC, +1 to all saves, repel anyone within 5' once per round, hurling them 20' for 2-7 hits unless they save vs. dragon breath; can levitate 6 turns/day, but cannot use repel attack while doing so.

Wot no mist projectors or living armour? They're not compulsory.

The purpose of these Mi Go is...

1. To civilise the savages.
2. To domesticate the animals.
3. To uplift the primitives.
4. To extract rare resources.
5. To go boldly/ "What Is This Earth Thing You Call Kissing?"
6. To exterminate all the brutes.

If it isn't clear, by savages, animals, primitives and brutes, I mean you humans. Emergent psychics and/ or spell-casters might be rare resources.

In human terms, these Mi Go are...

1. Absent-minded professors.
2. Evangelists of galactic transhumanity.
3. Unsentimental project managers.
4. Millennially patient and reclusive.
5. Benevolent colonisers heartbroken to punish you for your ingratitude.
6. Full-on Mars Attacks space-bastards.

Even though they seem like the kind of monster that might not, roll Reaction for Mi Go -  though ultimately they aren't really Friendly at all, and their Neutrality can get very chilly, very fast. 

In this case, the Mi Go are fronted by...

1. Scro (Spelljammer space orcs).
2. Mind Flayers and/or Doppelgangers.
3. Oards (BECMI module Where Chaos Reigns).
4. Human agents/cultists (up to and including national governments and 'deep states').
5. Elves.
6. Dragons and/or Githyanki (1st edition AD&D, when they were pals with Red Dragons).

There doesn't need to be a front, and the fronts may use fronts of their own, but Mi Go will always have some indigenous allies, agents or servitors.

KALKOTH: Monster Conversion - Lone Wolf to D&D adjacent and Call of Cthulhu 5e.

Kalkoth by Rich Longmore.

One of my favourite Lone Wolf monsters, from one of my favourite (and my first) Lone Wolf gamebooks - The Caverns of Kalte.

These big cats with paralytic venom dwell in the tunnels and chambers of Ikaya, a fortress built by the Ancients. There is a bit of At the Mountains of Madness flavour to the set-up, as the Ancients are long gone and -even though claimed as a palace by the ruler of the Ice Barbarians- Ikaya is basically a big dungeon, crawling with ancient monsters (including the shoggothesque Akraa’neonor) and leftover unstable magic. 

I think the Kalkoth would make a decent non-canon CoC monster, because of  association with some of those Lovecraftian themes. I've based the stats on the Panther (common to both RQIII and BECMI), though the CoC version is of more than animal intelligence. I don't know how I'd convert directly from the original gamebook system.

For Call of Cthulhu 5e... 

Kalkoth, Venomous Predators of the Snow-bound Ruins. 

A shaggy feline predator with a barbed, venomous tongue, Kalkoths are an artificial species that has survived and thrived. They’re mundane cryptids of conventional matter; their DNA is decipherable, but unlike any known living mammal species.

Their venom is effective against Mythos entities native to Earth and of conventional matter, such as Deep Ones, Ghouls and Serpent People. 

They have a particular animosity towards Mi-Go, going into a violent frenzy if they should scent one, suggesting that they may have been bred/created to guard against or even hunt down certain Mythos entities.

Kalkoths never hunt alone - there will always be at least two, working in concert. They are intelligent, but millennia without the conditioning of their creators means that they have lost what tool-culture they may have once had, beyond the use of doors and simple, pre-existing mechanisms (including traps).

It is rare that a Kalkoth will stray far from its home city, as they prefer the tunnels and sheltered streets to being in the open.

They are absolutely afraid of fire, and will retreat from a naked flame.

Unfamiliar with firearms, Kalkoths will only become afraid or wary of them through experience.

Their creator(s) seem more likely to have been from the Edgar Rice Burroughs end of the spectrum, rather than the Lovecraftian, and at least resembling humans (or Hyperboreans) - and are from thousands rather than millions of years in the past.

STR 3d6+6 (16.5)     CON 3d6 (10.5)     SIZ 2d6+8 (15)     INT 2d6 (7)     POW 3d6 (10.5)

DEX 2d6+6 (13)

Hit Points 12-13       Damage Bonus +d4    Move 9 (unimpeded by snow)

Weapons: 

• Bite 30%, d8 plus Tongue Barb attack
• Tongue Barb 100%, injects a paralytic poison of POT equal to the Kalkoth's SIZ. Subject is paralysed and oblivious for d3 hours, recovering with no memory of the attack
• Fore Claw 50%, d6 and if both hit, the Kalkoth can make an automatic Bite attack until the subject breaks free or is released (STR vs. STR)

Armour: 3 points of thick fur (0 vs. firearms)

Skills: Jump 40%, Climb 80%, Track by Smell 40%, Organised Hunt 25%, Sneak 45% (65% in snow)

Spells: None.

Habitat: The abandoned, snow-choked cities of their creators - inside the Arctic Circle, Antarctica, and in mountain ranges of the Americas and Asia.

Sanity loss: None.

...and for Old School D&D Adjacent

Armour Class +5     Hit Dice 4     Move 115% Normal Human      Morale 8

• Claw/claw/bite for 1-4/1-4/1-8 + paralysis (as above).
• Surprise 1-3 on d6.
• In the snow and ruins, surprised only on a 1.
• Must make Morale Checks every round if confronted with fire.

 

 

SHADOW/SLUAGH: Monster Conversion - D&D adjacent to Call of Cthulhu 5e.

SHADOWS/SLUAGH, The Pieces of the Peel of the Fruit of Evil.

A network of hostile holographic data coexistent and coterminous with mundane shadow, the Sluagh are an environment inimical to conventional lifeforms.

Manifesting as apparently normal shadows, the Sluagh can exhibit the characteristics of specific individuals and objects. This is suggestive of post-mortem existence, but is more likely to be assimilated code downloaded in response to the subtle stimuli presented by prey creatures. Nor does this confirm intelligent behaviour, or even if individual Sluagh are anything more than extruded units of a super-entity (Sommers, 2013).

Sluagh are able to alter their silhouette, appearing as any living being consumed/destroyed. They have not been observed to imitate inanimate objects. Sluagh are able to take cover in mundane shadow, hiding their shape. As long as there is shadow, the Sluagh can move anywhere with it.

The only condition for Sluagh manifestation is the presence of light within a certain range - they are neutralised (but not harmed) by darkness, and are obliterated by direct application of strong ultraviolet light. They are at their most active in interior spaces with artificial light, and the opportunities for this have only increased from the 19th Century onwards. Electric street lamps have significantly extended their potential range.

Interactions with the uncommunicative Sluagh are normally deleterious to human life, but they have been observed in non-hostile behaviour:

• Casting. A lone unit extends itself the length of a bare horizontal, or the height of a bare vertical, surface. This has been observed in the prelude to hostile interaction, but drawing conclusions at this stage would be unwise (Shavelson, 1966).
• Flitting. Lone or multiple units ‘jumping’ between zones of shadow, altering their outlines as they go. This has been described as ludic performance by some (Wagner, 1975).
• Congregation. Multiple Sluagh units gathering at the same location, unresponsive to attempts at communication and even limited aggression (Llewellyn, 2003).

The other significant behaviour of the Sluagh is their ability to detect and terminate those of human or part-human ancestry who have unnaturally extended their lifespan or otherwise cheated death. Once a unit makes contact with such an individual, other units are summoned (or spontaneously appear) to swarm the subject.

This is the only time they are known to make any noise, which has been described as the sound of babies crying, reversed and slowed down (Wheat & Bruner, 1990).

An obscure 14th Century Rabbinical tradition may reference the Sluagh as the Pieces of the Peel of the Fruit of Evil, thrown away by Adam and Lilith, and the first rubbish generated in the Creation. While widely considered to be an 18th Century hoax, it does seem to derive from an older Arabic source (Pepper, 2020).

INT 2d6 (7)     POW 2d6+6 (13)     DEX 3d6 (10.5)

Hit Points n/a     Damage Bonus n/a     Move 6

Weapons: Chilling Touch 100% (bypasses armour), 1-4 STR damage. Characteristic loss is recovered at a rate of half-an-hour per point. Anyone reduced to 0 STR decomposes to an agonised sooty patch in one round, and then rises up as a new Shadow on the next.

Armour: none, but Shadows can only be destroyed by the direct application of strong ultraviolet light or fire (flamethrower or house burning down, not a flaming torch - though this will hold them off/ drive them back) and electricity (at least strong enough to kill an average adult human).

Enchanted weapons can be used to defend against and drive back a Shadow, but cannot do them lasting harm. Spells should be adjudicated on a case-by-case basis. 

Skills: Dodge 60%, Undetectable As Anything Other Than A Shadow 90%, Move Silently 100%.

Spells: None.

Habitat: Everywhere where there is neither absolute darkness nor strong ultraviolet light.

One interpretation of parts of Neil Armstrong's unedited memoir manuscript and several photos from the ISS in 1999 suggest they are able to survive outside the Earth's atmosphere.

Sanity Loss: 0/1d6 to see a Shadow/Sluagh, 1/1d6 to hear them for the first time.

Commentary.

Yep - this is the D&D classic, via the groaning shadows in Ghost and the Sluagh from The Time Killer and The Tomb of Terror (Slaine stories from 2000AD).

CROGLIN VAMPIRE: Monster for Old School D&D Adjacent & Call of Cthulhu 5e.

A dusty slice of #BOSR, the Croglin Vampire IRL is the monster in a true story from UK olden times.

And, by true story, I mean the kind of ghost/horror story that is presented as being something that actually happened in places that can actually be visited, but that you can't because it didn't because it isn't. 

It was pointed out long ago that the whole incident sounds identical to an episode from Varney the Vampire.

Croglin -though it's a place-name- is also quite a Nintendo-sounding word, so I've kept it to define a monster type. Here are three different versions, two D&D adjacent and one for BRP/CoC 5e - they all play differently.

Stefano Tambellini, from The Vampire of Croglin by Terry Deary.

Croglin Vampire for Old School D&D Adjacent (Basic).

Armour Class +4     Hit Dice 2     Move 125% Normal Human     Save F2     Morale 10

• Claw/claw/bite 1-3/1-3/1-3 + paralysis
• Regenerates 1 hp/round
• Always strikes first in the first combat round (unless surprised), and gets +1 to Initiative thereafter.
• The hideous appearance and ferocious attack of a Croglin Vampire requires mortals of 3HD/levels or fewer to save vs. death ray or flee in terror.
• Turn as Ghouls (alternatively, Morale Check if confronted with flaming torch or holy symbol).

• Cross between a Giant Shrew and a Thoul, reskinned. 
• Treasure and Number Appearing as Ghouls. 
• Probably as intelligent as and friendly with/tolerant of Ghouls. 
• Undead, but victims do not become more Croglin Vampires.

Croglin Vampire for Old School D&D Adjacent (Advanced/Expert).

Armour Class +3     Hit Dice 2+4     Move 125% Normal Human     Save F3     Morale 9

• Claw/claw/bite for 1-3/1-3/1-3; if both claws hit, the bite does automatically.
• The bite causes paralysis (save applies), and drains blood (1-3 hp/round - or 1 STR/turn, if it has the leisure).
• If you are alone and you see a Croglin Vampire, you must save vs. paralysis - this paralysis is broken by the arrival of an intelligent living being, the monster moving out of sight, or the monster causing you damage (although by then you may be paralysed by the bite).
• Regenerates 1 hp/round, except from fire and/or holy damage.
• At 0 hp or lower, it falls helpless and can be destroyed by any of the usual methods for dispatching a Vampire in your setting, but will be able to move and fight as soon as it reaches 1 positive hp.
• The hideous appearance and ferocious attack of a Croglin Vampire requires mortals of 3HD/levels or fewer to save vs. death ray or flee in terror (50% dropping handheld objects).
• Turn as Wights (alternatively, Morale Check if confronted with flaming torch or holy symbol).

• Number Appearing as Wights; Treasure will be Incidental.
• Undead; STR drained victims not blessed/destroyed/dismembered will return as Croglin Vampires within a week - they are not automatically under their creator's command.
• Immune to sleep, charm, hold and cold.
• Not destroyed by sunlight, but must immediately flee to their lair at the breaking of the dawn.

Les Edwards.
One of the plates that someone cut from the copy of CoC 5e I got from a charity shop.

Croglin Vampire, Is It 'A' or 'The'?

A withered, shrivelled, mummified lich of a Vampire, with glaring eyes, pointy teeth and bony claws. It might be naked or clothed.

Or it looks like your favourite illustration of the Vampire of Croglin Grange.

Or it looks very much like a certain Walter Corbitt, Esq.

If you are alone and you see the Vampire, match magic points vs. its POW or be unable to act (check each round) - this hold is broken by the arrival of an intelligent living being, the monster moving out of sight, or the monster causing you damage (at which point it will be Grappling you anyway). 

Alternatively, use Corbitt's mind-clouding ability from The Haunting scenario.

It is rendered immobile and insensible when exposed to the rays of the sun, and can be destroyed in the traditional manner.

It has only dim memories of its mortal life, and little remaining understanding of the things it once knew and practiced. It does not speak and it is not clear whether it comprehends language, though it can communicate and be communicated with in a basic, non-verbal manner.

STR 2d6+6 (13)     CON d6+12 (16)     SIZ 3d6 (10.5)     INT 2d6 (7)     POW 3d6 (10.5)

DEX d6+12 (16)

Hit Points av. 13     Damage Bonus nil     Move 10

Weapons:

• Grapple DEX x 3% or STR/SIZ vs. STR/SIZ, every successful Grapple is followed by an automatic Bite (roll only for impale)
• Bite DEX x 3%, 1-3 damage + blood drain (1 STR)
• characteristic loss is recovered at the rate of 1 point per full day of rest or per week of normal activity

Armour: None, but bullets and other impaling weapons cause minimum damage.

It regenerates all damage, except that done by fire, at the rate of 1 hit point per hour of inactivity - returning to its resting place during the hours of daylight.

Skills: Climb 60%, Dodge 25+DEX%, Jump DEX x 3%, Move Quietly 80%, Seek Out Fresh Victim 60%, Human Psychology 30%.

Spells: Normally none.

Habitat: Crumbling tomb, mossy burrow, dried-up well, abandoned cottage - but always near human prey.

Sanity Loss: 1/1d8 to see it.