Deep One

Deep ones are as at ease dwelling in the most remote of ocean trenches as they are in the shallows that hug secluded shorelines, although their favorite haunts combine the two. The largest deep one cities are located at places not far off shore but nestled in vast submerged canyons unusually close to those coastlines. This proximity allows deep ones to pursue one of their favorite goals—commingling with and corrupting surface-dwelling humanoids. Unlike skum, a similar aquatic race that reproduces with surface dwellers, deep ones do so not out of a biological need but as a way to spread their blasphemous religion above the ocean waves. The hybrid children of deep ones and humans form a race of their own. These offspring typically live near others of their kind, assuming positions of leadership in their small towns.

Deep ones usually worship the alien entities known as the Outer Gods or the Great Old Ones, with Cthulhu the foremost among them. Deep one settlements that contain a deep one elder instead typically venerate that powerful deep one, who in turn serves one of the eldritch gods. Many deep ones gain levels as clerics, inciting religious fervor in their kinfolk and promoting their chosen deities as the greatest among the Outer Gods. Those few who instead choose to take up a less focused devotional path, such as that of an oracle, still venerate the Old Ones as a whole.

Deep ones seek out humans to kidnap and draw into their cults, and as breeding stock, producing a race of hybrid spawn of humans and deep ones. Hybrids are most comfortable with others of their kind, and typically cluster in small, insular settlements where they can assume positions of authority. They keep any humans within their towns subservient and cowed, making sure those other residents know better than to act against local laws. Though deep ones are devoutly religious, they usually cloak their true beliefs under a facade of more conventional worship, believing that by doing so they can avoid suspicion from visitors and nearby societies.

Deep One Hybrid Characters

These creatures are the result of a union between a deep one, creatures that live in the depths of oceans, and a land-dwelling species, most often humans. The offspring become deep one hybrids, sharing the aesthetics of both species. Young hybrids tend to look more like the land- dwelling species from which they were birthed, but they appear more like a deep one as they age. This includes the enlarging of ocular organs, flesh expanding to become fatty and grey, hair loss, and the growing of gill-like ridges along the neck.

Deep One Hybrid Template

The deep one hybrid template may be added to any humanoid creature without the aquatic subtype.

Ability Adjustments: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex

Size and Type: Deep one hybrids retain the size of their base creature and gain the deep one subtype.

Deep One Hybrid Speed: Reduce the land speed of the base creature by 10 feet, minimum 5 ft. A deep one hybrid has a swim speed of 30 feet and gains a +8 racial bonus on all Athletics checks made to swim.

Deep One Hybrid Sight: Deep One Hybrids gain low-light vision. If the base creature already has low-light vision, they gain darkvision 60 ft. instead.

Deep One Hybrid Skin: When wearing light or no armor, a deep one hybrid’s thick skin and dense fatty tissue grants a +1 racial bonus to AC.

Final Change: A deep one hybrid ages at twice the speed of its land-dwelling parent. A mere 1d12 months after a deep one hybrid reaches venerable age, it dies a painful, agonizing death, only to have its body transform into that of a mature deep one. This transformation functions as the reincarnate spell, with the newly formed deep one gaining the following additional modifications to its physical ability scores: +4 Strength, –2 Dexterity, and +4 Constitution.

Sea Longing: Every 24 hours a deep one hybrid spends in an area more than 10 miles from a large salt-water body, it must succeed at a Will save (DC = 10 + character level) or take 1 point of Wisdom drain.

Take to the Water: A deep one hybrid can hold its breath 10 times longer than its land-dwelling parent can and gains a +2 racial bonus on Initiative checks and Reflex saving throws while under water.

Deep One Hybrid

This subtype is applied to deep one hybrids and creatures related to deep one hybrids.

Traits: Low-light vision, swim speed, gains Athletics as a master skill; if the NPC is of the deep one hybrid race, it also gains the final change, sea longing, and take to the water racial traits.