Elder Thing
Level 5Abilities
This monster can see in all directions simultaneously and therefore can't be flanked.
The elder thing doesn't breathe and is immune to effects that require breathing (such as inhaled poison).
(2d6+6) bludgeoning, DC 22 fortitude The monster deals the listed amount of damage to any number of creatures Grabbed or Restrained by it. Each of those creatures can attempt a basic Fortitude save with the listed DC.
The elder thing enters a state of hibernation after focusing its thoughts for 1 minute. While hibernating, an elder thing is Unconscious. The elder thing can remain in hibernation as long as it wishes—while hibernating, it doesn't need to eat or drink, nor does it age. Time effectively stands still for a hibernating elder thing. Any effect that would normally rouse an unconscious creature can end an elder thing's hibernation, but the elder thing must attempt a DC 25 will save. On a success, the elder thing awakens in 2d4 rounds; otherwise it takes 1d4 days to wake from hibernation. The elder thing can set the length of its hibernation when it enters this state, so that it can awaken after a set amount of time has passed. When awakening in this way, the elder thing does so in only 1d4 rounds, with no Will save necessary.
The elder thing's wings allow it to fly in regions where flight is normally impossible, such as outer space. It gains a +2 circumstance bonus to checks made to Maneuver in Flight, and on saving throws against effects that impede flight.
Requirements The monster's last action was a successful Strike that lists Grab in its damage entry, or the monster has a creature Grabbed or Restrained Effect If used after a Strike, the monster attempts to Grapple the creature using the body part it attacked with. This attempt neither applies nor counts toward the creature's multiple attack penalty. The monster can instead use Grab and choose one creature it's grabbing or restraining with an appendage that has Grab to automatically extend that condition to the end of the monster's next turn.
Description
The typical elder thing is a scientist first and anything else second, but they don't hesitate to use force to achieve their needs or defend their laboratories. When one does deign to speak to a non-elder thing, it's either out of fear (for a creature they know vastly outstrips their own power) or with an insufferable sense of narcissistic superiority and impatience, like how an arrogant professor might speak to a student struggling with what they perceive to be a simple concept.
Known by various names on various worlds, but most often as "elder things" or "old ones," these alien creatures are interested in creating lasting works of art, architecture, and even life (such as the legendary and dreaded shoggoth). Matched with their boundless capacity for egotism and enormous life spans, elder things often see themselves as the most learned and advanced species on any planet they visit, and tend to treat most other forms of life like a scientist might treat experimental stock. While not generally inimical or violent, their nature often puts them at odds against other societies they encounter, and war is a time-honored solution. The elder things rarely shy away from using violence to secure their own territory and their perceived right to experiment and explore.
A typical elder thing is 6 feet tall from head to foot, with a 7-foot wingspan. Their bodies are radial in nature, with five wings, five tentacle-like arms that each end in a writhing nest of tendrils, and five eyestalks. At one end of their barrel-shaped bodies are several larger tentacles they use for combat and locomotion, while at the other, at the center of their five eyes in their starfish-shaped heads, sits a single mouth surrounded by multicolored cilia. An elder thing's language is a mix of piping and whistling sounds, but they can vocalize a wide range of other languages as well—albeit with a strange, high-pitched accent.
Space Travelers
An elder thing can travel through outer space via flight, but it doesn't do so at a greater speed than its normal fly Speed. When an elder thing wishes to travel through the void of space, it typically aims itself in the direction it wishes to go, then enters a timed hibernation so that it wakes at a point where it nears its destination.