Proto-ShoggothHalf-formed eyes, toothless mouths, gaping throats, and countless other malformed organs constantly form and dissolve over this monster’s surface.Proto-Shoggoth CR 11Source Pathfinder #112: The Whisper Out of Time pg. 90
XP 12,800
N Medium ooze
Init +7; Senses all-around vision, low-light vision, tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +3DefenseAC 25, touch 17, flat-footed 18 (+7 Dex, +8 natural)
hp 138 (12d8+84); fast healing 5
Fort +13, Ref +11, Will +9
DR 5/—; Immune blindness, cold, deafness, disease, infestation, mind-affecting effects, ooze traits, sonic; Resist acid 10, electricity 10, fire 10; SR 22OffenseSpeed 30 ft., climb 30 ft., swim 30 ft.
Melee 4 slams +17 (1d6+8 plus grab)
Special Attacks constrict (1d6+8), create spawn, infect fleshStatisticsStr 26, Dex 24, Con 25, Int —, Wis 16, Cha 1
Base Atk +9; CMB +17; CMD 34
Feats Great FortitudeB, Iron WillB
Skills Climb +16, Swim +16
SQ compression, mergeEcologyEnvironment any
Organization solitary or mass (2–8)
Treasure incidentalSpecial AbilitiesCreate Spawn (Ex) A creature that dies while suffering from a proto-shoggoth’s infect flesh ability, either from the effects of the infection itself or from any other source, becomes a potential host for a new proto-shoggoth. Only 2d6 hours after death, as long as the majority of the creature’s body remains relatively intact, a new protoshoggoth tears itself out of the corpse. This destroys the old body, preventing spells like speak with dead or raise dead from functioning on the remains. A creature slain by an effect such as disintegrate that leaves no body behind can’t spawn a proto-shoggoth. Likewise, if an infected body is completely destroyed by fire, acid, or any similar effect, it can’t spawn a proto-shoggoth. A body infected with proto-shoggoth material is not contagious—it can’t infect other creatures through contact.
Infect Flesh (Ex) When a living creature takes damage from a proto-shoggoth’s constrict ability, the monster infects the creature’s flesh with its alien enzymes. The victim can resist this infection with a successful DC 23 Fortitude save. Otherwise, the creature becomes sickened as microscopic fragments of proto-shoggoth tissue infest the victim, slowly transforming it from the inside into proto-shoggoth material. In addition to being sickened as long as the creature remains infected, it must succeed at an additional DC 23 Fortitude save once every 24 hours or it takes 1d4 points of Constitution drain as its body begins to consume itself. This is an infestation effect. An infestation is similar to a disease, but it can be cured only through specific means; no matter how many saving throws a target succeeds at, the infestation continues to affect the target. While remove disease or similar spells can halt the progress of this infected flesh as if it were a disease, immunity to disease offers no protection. Application of negative energy can halt this infestation as well; each time an infected creature is reduced to negative hit points by such an effect, the victim can attempt a new DC 23 Fortitude save. On a success, the infection immediately ends as the negative energy scours the proto-shoggoth material out of the victim’s body. The save DC is Constitution-based.
Merge (Ex) As a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, two proto-shoggoths can merge together in an attempt to fuse. In order to do so, each proto-shoggoth must succeed at a DC 25 Fortitude save—if either fails, both proto-shoggoths become staggered for 1d6 rounds. Those two proto-shoggoths are then incompatible, and can never again attempt to merge with each other, although the individual proto-shoggoths can attempt to do so with other proto-shoggoths in the future. If both proto-shoggoths succeed at the Fortitude save, they immediately merge together and form a Large proto-shoggoth syncytium (see the stat block below).DescriptionEarly attempts by the elder things (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 4 85) to craft life resulted in strange, heaving masses of protoplasm that displayed a disturbing hunger for living flesh. Emboldened by this discovery, the alien scientists soon stabilized this matter, resulting in the creation of the first proto-shoggoths.
A proto-shoggoth appears as a tangled mass of roiling flesh and organs weighing approximately 160 pounds, and is capable of forming all manner of hideous and nauseating shapes.EcologyProto-shoggoths have a singularly unusual and disturbing life cycle. While certain vile procedures can result in the artificial creation of a new protoshoggoth, these creatures can also spawn new proto-shoggoths by infecting the bodies of other living creatures. Yet to grow, a protoshoggoth does not feed—instead, it seeks out others of its kind to perform a voluntary sort of cannibalism with them, consuming and being consumed, and ultimately combining to manifest a larger version of the whole. Protoshoggoths thus do not advance in power via the standard rules for increasing a creature’s size detailed in Appendix 2 of Pathfinder RPG Bestiary.Habitat and SocietyProto-shoggoths have no true society, and are driven by two overwhelming instincts: the urge to infect living flesh, and the urge to merge with other proto-shoggoths. Once a creature succumbs to such an infestation, a proto-shoggoth instinctually knows to linger in the area and attempts to merge with its freshly born offspring when it erupts from the victim’s body. A proto-shoggoth tends not to remain in proximity with others of its kind that it has failed to merge with, but is not hostile toward such incompatible specimens.
Once two proto-shoggoths successfully merge and form a proto-shoggoth syncytium, the syncytium gains a rudimentary intellect that allows it to more successfully seek out others to merge with and finish the growth cycle into a full-fledged shoggoth. It can no longer infect flesh, though, nor can it merge with other nonsyncytium proto-shoggoths, but it does understand that lingering in areas where other proto-shoggoths are active will, eventually, give it opportunities to grow. A proto-shoggoth syncytium often acts as a protector over its mindless “children” and has been known to use rudimentary cunning to lure (or more often chase) unsuspecting living creatures into proto-shoggoth nests.Creatures in "Proto-Shoggoth" CategoryHalf-formed eyes, toothless mouths, gaping throats, and countless other malformed organs constantly form and dissolve over this monster’s surface.
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