Terror of the Deep
Welcome again to Masters and Minions, where I strive to give you interesting NPCs and encounters that can be placed easily into your game. This week’s encounter is with Yogg Tethys, an ancient neothelid who was sealed away in a temple deep beneath the sea. But now that the alignment of the stars is right, his prison has weakened and it is up to the PCs to stop Yogg Tethys once and for and all. The local high priest of the god of the sea has been plagued with nightmares of this terrible creature’s coming, causing him to hire the PCs and charter a sailing ship to take them to the location in his dream. Just before they reach their destination, Yogg Tethys breaks free from his watery prison and heads to the surface. When the ship is within Yogg Tethys’ sight, he unleashes his horrid wilting spell-like ability on the ship, killing most of the crew and leaving the PCs with two options of how to fight this monstrosity: they can choose to fight him head on and hope they can with stand his wrath, or they can choose to ram the ship into the horror and hope the boat doesn’t go down with the creature.
If the PCs choose to ram Yogg Tethys with the ship, out of sheer arrogance he chooses to do nothing to stop them. If the ship rams Yogg Tethys at its full speed (2 miles per hour), it deals 20d6 damage to both Yogg Tethys and the bow of the ship, and everyone on board the ship must make a Reflex save (DC 18) or be knocked prone by the force of the impact (this damage is subject to the ship’s hardness and Yogg Tethys’ damage reduction).
Tactics
Yogg Tethys prefers to travel via water rather than flying. If he is brought to below half his hit points, he dives beneath the ship and tries to cause the ship to sink, or, if it is already sinking, to speed up the process. Yogg Tethys’ pride causes him to refuse to use his ability to teleport in order to flee the PCs. When the fighting begins, he starts off with either of his acid breath weapons and then follows up on the next round with his acid cone breath weapon. If he swallows a PC, on the following round he submerges and begins to attack the ship while he tries to digest the PC.
Yogg Tethys
This serpentine horror looks much like it neothelid relatives, except for some key differences. Each of his four jaws bear a single reptilian eye, which can rotate inward so that he can see even with his mouth wide open. Four draconic wings protrude in a cross-like pattern several feet behind his head. Farther down, two clawed arms like tentacles writhe and flail.
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Mind Thrust (Su)
As a standard action up to three times a day, a neothelid can deliver a massive blast of mental energy at any one target within 60 feet, inflicting 15d10 points of damage. A successful DC 27 Will save negates the effect. This effect can only harm creatures with Intelligence scores. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Psychic Crush (Su)
As a standard action up to three times a day, a neothelid can attempt to crush the mind of a single creature within 60 feet. The target must make a DC 27 Will save or collapse, becoming unconscious and dying at –1 hit points. If the target succeeds on the save, it takes 6d6 points of damage and is sickened for 1 round. This is a mind-affecting effect. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Trace Teleport (Ex)
A neothelid telepathically and reflexively learns the mental coordinates of the destination of all creatures that teleport within 60 feet of it, gaining an awareness of the location equivalent to “seen casually.” This knowledge fades and is lost after 1 minute. This power does not grant any environmental information about the conditions of the destination.