Wednesday, July 3, 2019

otyugh-kin

The otyugh is a typical example of the random monster encounters D&D is famed for. The monster itself is a living garbage disposal which, being neutral, will only attempt to eat the party incidentally; yet they are smart enough to serve as questionable allies. The oytugh comes in several different varieties beyond the typical garbage disposal.

  • The retro-otyugh is a smarter, psychic otyugh. They are believed to be throwbacks to an earlier period of the otyugh's history, when they were an intelligent race with an advanced civilization. They come in further variants like the crypto- and pseudo-otyughs. 
    • The crypto-otyugh is a smaller, thinner otyugh that relies on stealth and spells like invisibility, mirror image and blindness/deafness.
    • The pseudo-oytugh has shapeshifting powers similar to a doppelganger and a sleep attack.
  • The proto-otyugh is the opposite: a smaller, stupider and weaker otyugh covered in disgusting lesions. They believed to be atavistic remnants of the progenitors to the otyugh, though it is unclear if they appeared before or after the fabled retro-otyugh civilization.
  • The necro-otyugh is a catch-all for any oytugh that has become undead like a skeleton or zombie, typically after being killed and reanimated by a draug, mohrg or wight.
  • The diet and environment of an otyugh may result in various deformities or mutations:
    • The corpsefeaster otyugh prefers a diet of carrion and can vomit digested carrion as a defense.
    • The mutant otyugh is born with an extra tentacle, leg, or aquatic features (webbed extremities and gills).
    • The oozing otyugh lives in caustic environments or consumes alchemical refuse and can secret acid from its hide.
    • The plaguebearer otyugh has become infected with numerous diseases and look even more repulsive than usual. Oddly (or not), they ply their skills as soothsayers.

Filchers are oytughs known for their preternatural celerity and seeming teleportation.
  • The ethereal filcher is able to "phase" in and out of the ethereal plane. It is a kleptomaniac driven to steal mystical trinkets and making a quick escape, making it the bane of adventurers everywhere.
  • The temporal filcher is able to "blink" not only through space, but a few minutes forward through time as well. Not only that, they are able to levitate and scale sheer surfaces. Unlike typical otyughs, they are ambush predators that camouflage themselves before striking.

Ethereal Filcher by Joe Bichard

Alternate types

As [aberration], otyughs are either creatures from the realms of chaos that have manifested bodies of flesh in the mortal world to conceal the true horror of their existence, or bottom-feeders elevated and mutated by the forces of discord and chaos.

As [beast] or [monstrosity] (boy do I hate that type), otyughs are just another example of xenofauna in the fantasy world.

Sourcebooks

  • The ethereal filcher and temporal filcher from System Reference Document v3.5, reprinted in Forgotten Foes and Psionic Bestiary respectively
  • The retro-otyugh from Octavirate Presents: Lethal Lexicon Vol 2
  • The crypto-otyugh, necro-otyugh and proto-otyugh, pseudo-otyugh from Slaughtergrid
  • Otyugh variants from Pathfinder Chronicles: Dungeon Denizens Revisited

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