Into the De(ath)pths: A Deep Dive into Cthulhu: Death May Die, Part IV: Local Pets

What you may be wading through (or trying to avoid) on your way to dealing with the Big Bad, it's really a remarkable list of potential opponents (just like the stories!)

On its face, Cthulhu: Death May Die is not a complicated game. There isn't a 6-point font phone book of rules with decimal citations in the manner of old school Avalon Hill productions (yes, here I am showing my age to all of you who have no memory of things like Panzerblitz.) However, the key to games like Death May Die is their complexity, in which there are a whole bunch of simple things all acting in concert that produce any number of decision points that, along with the randomness inherent to repeated die rolls, lets the game tell the stories that it does. One of those simple things are the monsters and cultists that players will be facing far more often than the Great Old One, whenever it finally arrives on the board. The cultists themselves almost never change, since they do nothing other than roll two green dice every time they attack and never have anything but two wounds that they can take. (There are a few exceptions when it comes to abilities of the big bads, but we'll cover that when we get to them.) But each monster has an ability combined with their varying number and color of dice, varying number of wounds, and varying number of them available to be on the board. Those abilities are rarely mindbending (pun mildly intended) and, in some cases, seem fairly similar. But when combined with the Old One's constant abilities, the ritual conditions of each episode, and the interactions with the abilities of the Investigators, that's a lot of factors that have to be accounted for when it comes to making progress through those episodes. For example, I played a game recently where not only did the GOOs monsters (Dark Spawn) have an ability that made it better for them to be one-shot, but so did one of the episode monsters (Ghouls), while the other one (Star Vampires) inflict damage for every Elder Sign rolled against them, which casts shade on Arcane Mastery. So, idealized Investigator selection would try to find the narrow path between someone that's a high combat producer (on top of things like Brawling or Marksman) but isn't as focused on those fabled stars to do the work. Or you could just pick Investigators that you feel like playing and not worry about efficiency, which is what I do most of the time. In the end, on your first run through the game, it should mostly be a question of being interested in taking on an Elder Thing, anyway. So, I figured that, like the Investigators, I'd take a look at the various creatures involved (all 40(!) of them), both in general interest (HPL stories!) and gameplay terms.

Season 1:

Right up front in Episode 1, the weird is not held back, as you're squaring off with Byakhee and Fire Vampires. The former first appeared in one of the earliest Mythos stories "The Festival" as a space-faring race later known to serve Hastur. In Death May Die, they have Arcane Mastery (i.e. every Elder Sign rolled is another success) on 2 green and 1 black dice. Meanwhile, Fire Vampires were created by Lovecraft contemporary Donald Wandrei and create Fire tokens when they attack. There's only 2 each of either of them, though (3 and 4 wounds, respectively), so it's not a huge challenge to keep them off the board. In contrast, next time you're running into Ghouls and the Chthonic Entity. Ghouls are just, y'know, ghouls and appear in many Lovecraft stories but first show up in "Pickman's Model." However, they can be a little more challenging, since if they're not one-shot (i.e. are wounded but not killed), they summon another one and there's 5 in the pool. They do only have 2 wounds, so it gets easier to sweep them up, but they also use the same dice (2 green, 1 black) as the Byakhee, so it can start to pile up. Likewise, the Entity is one of the genuinely threatening creatures in the game, with 8 wounds and an attack that hits everyone in their space on 1 green and 3 black dice, as well as adjacent spaces. There is no such named creature in the tales; the closest being the Chthonians created by Brian Lumley, which are giant worms that follow Shudde M'ell.

Then we meet the Deep Ones, first appearing in the famous story known as "The Shadow Over Innsmouth." They're the converse to the Ghouls in that if they deal any wounds when attacking (only 1 green and 1 black), they summon another Deep One. But they also have 3 wounds each (and still 5 in the pool), so they're tougher to get rid of, early on. Alongside them appear the Hunting Horrors, who first appear in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" as servants of Nyarlathotep. They have 4 wounds (and 3 black dice) and if they survive an attack, the attacker loses an additional Sanity, in addition to what's on their dice. In the end, they're often pretty mid as far as threat goes. The last monster from Season 1 is the famous Shoggoth, first appearing in the novella "At the Mountains of Madness" and generally becoming one of the iconic creatures of the Mythos entire. Unfortunately, there's only one of them and our experience in episode 4 is that if you can get through its 10(!) wounds and remove it, the likelihood of it returning to play is pretty small. However, like the Horrors, when it's attacked or attacking, each Madness symbol costs an additional Sanity to the Investigator involved. The possibility for a very bad day for someone is there, but it hasn't lived up to its Mythos reputation in our plays.

Season 2:

Our first encounter in this season is with the Tcho-Tcho. They were created by August Derleth and Mark Schorer in their story "The Lair of the Star-Spawn" but, gaming-wise, they've become much more notorious as one of the factions for Cthulhu Wars that was semi-broken on release (and has since been patched.) They're not a significant threat, since they only use 2 black dice and get an extra success if there are no Investigators besides the target in that space. Might be an issue for people like Bruno, but not much else. But there are 5 in the pool and they do have 3 wounds. Alongside them is the Elder Thing, the species of which also first appear in "The Mountains of Madness." It has 7 wounds and can take no more than 3 wounds in any attack, so whomever is dealing out the beatdown is going to have to take up their entire turn doing so if they're starting in the same space with it. If they don't, since it only doles out 2 black and 1 green when it attacks, it's probably not that much of a crisis. But next up are the Flying Polyps and the Nightgaunts. The former are one of the stranger conceptualizations of the entire Mythos (seriously, who imagines a mucous membrane growth as a monster?) and first appeared in "The Shadow Out of Time." Unfortunately, despite having 4 wounds and decent dice (2 black, 1 green) they only add 2 Madness to their attacks if the target Investigator has a Condition, which most players will do their best to avoid. The Nightgaunts, alternately, are a little more interesting, gameplay-wise. They're Dreamlands creatures who first appear in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath" and, unlike most of the assembled monsters, are actually "good guys" in the tales, as they serve Nodens, rather than the Great Old Ones. Their 3 wounds and 3 black dice make them fairly mid as a threat, but if they survive an attack, they deal a wound to the attacker and then flit off to the Starting space. That makes them a fairly constant annoyance (i.e. interrupting Investigations), which can make them more of a challenge, even though, like the Polyps, there's only 2 of them in the pool.

Next up are one of the most provocatively-named monsters of our collection, the Star Vampires. These things were created by Robert Bloch for his story "The Shambler from the Stars" and their representation in the game is very different from most others that I've seen; resembling a dog with serious tongue problems (But, really, what does a "star vampire" actually look like?) Unlike other 2-pool creatures, the Vampires can often be a serious threat, since they deal wounds back to an attacker equal to the number of Elder Signs rolled. So, the anti-advertisement for Arcane Mastery. Alongside them is Bokrug, who is actually cited as a deity, rather than just a monster, in "The Doom That Came to Sarnath." Bokrug is a solo threat and with 5 wounds is fairly durable but also, unlike the Shoggoth, has multiple cards in the episode where he appears that return him to the board. Combine that with his 4 green dice and the fact that Investigators have to take 1 Stress (or 1 wound if they can't take Stress) to even attack him and he turns into a pretty serious threat (as would be appropo for a god...) Next up are the Hounds of Tindalos, who first appeared in Frank Belknap Long's story of the same name and are easily one of the coolest creatures in the Mythos, since they can appear wherever angles are present like, say, where two walls come together in your house. They only have 1 wound and there's only 2 of them, but you have to discard an Item or take 2 wounds to attack them, so it's an even steeper cost than Bokrug. Alongside them is a Yugg, created by Lin Carter for his story "Out of the Ages." They have a variation of AM, since Elder Signs on their rolls can either be an additional wound or the loss of 2 Sanity to Investigators (providing the choice is an advantage to the player.) With 3 green and 1 black die, it can do some serious damage before you get through its 7 wounds. Finally, the Dimensional Shambler can be one of the most significant offensive threats in the game, as it rolls 3 black dice base, but if it's within 1 space of a gate, it adds 3 green dice to the roll. Plus, you need to dole out 6 wounds to get rid of it. It first appeared in a Lovecraft tale titled "The Horror in the Museum." Straight out of base Elder Sign (the game.)

Season 3:

This season is led off by Ghasts, which in D&D were always just "better Ghouls", but were first mentioned by Lovecraft in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath." And, in some ways, they are better Ghouls, in that they have 3 wounds and if they're not one-shotted, they deal a wound to the attacker. But they also have only 2 green dice, so "better" is debatable. They appear together with The Unnamable who first shows up in one of his stories of the same name about an... unnamed, unidentified monster. So, yeah. On the board, though, it's something to remember, with 6 wounds, 1 green and 3 black dice, and which can't be wounded while there's another monster or Cultist in the same space. He's usually annoying. After that we encounter the Fisher From Outside, which sounds like either a nature show or a political podcast, but which first appears in the Lovecraft story "The Outpost." Like other "mid" monsters, there's only 2 of them and they only have 3 wounds, but their dice are decent (2 green, 1 black) and when attacking or being attacked, the Investigator involved has to take 1 Stress for each Elder Sign. That's an easy way to initiate regular Rest actions and it has proved that way in our encounters. And fishers need worms, right? So we have a Dhole (occasionally called "bhole" by various writers), which are sandworm-sized creatures that first showed up in "Through the Gates of the Silver Key." The Dhole has 7 wounds, so it'll stick around, and only rolls 2 green and 1 black die, but each success counts as 2 wounds, which means it can instantly gank any Investigator in the game on a good roll.

Accompanying the worm are the Gyaa-Yothn (among the more exotic pronunciations in the Mythos and that's saying a lot) which were created by Lovecraft for a serialized novella in Weird Tales, called "The Mound" that he wrote as a ghostwriter. They're a decent threat for a mid, with 4 wounds and 3 green and 1 black die, but they also heal for each Elder Sign rolled when they attack. Late game they're not all that, but in the early and midgame, that healing factor makes them a constant problem. But also introduced here are one of the more famous of Mythos denizens, the Gugs. They have 5 wounds, but only 1 green and 2 black dice, but also gain another green if they have any wounds. So, again, not a huge threat in the later game, but early on they can be a surprising offensive force. Gugs are another Dreamlands inhabitant and, thus, first appeared in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath." Finally, we have another of the more famous denizens in the Serpent Men. What makes them famous is that they were invented separately by both Robert E. Howard (of Conan fame and in whose stories they make a couple appearances) and Clark Ashton Smith and then later expanded upon by HPL and others. They're a 5 pool creature with only 2 wounds, but Madness results on their 1 green and 2 black dice also count as successes, so their results can add up quickly, even if it often means they're empowering the Investigators laying waste to them.

Season 4:

Opening the season, we have the Men of Leng. Most people are more familiar with the spiders of that place but the Men also appear in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath." They've been kind of a non-factor in our encounters, since they only have 2 wounds (5 pool) and attack with only 2 black dice and force Investigators to use 2 Stress to reroll a die, rather than 1. That is a step up, but with all of their other stats on the low end, they haven't really had an impact. Coming right along with them are said more famous Spiders of Leng. They have 3 wounds and 3 black dice, but any dice involving them (attacking or attacked) that have Madness symbols can't be re-rolled. As with most of those situations, a lot of the time Investigators are all about climbing the Sanity track, so this isn't really a drawback... until the late game, when it's often fatal. Next up are the Albino Penguins. In Cthulhu Wars, they're known as Giant Albino Penguins and they're still pretty large here, with 4 wounds. But they're only wielding 1 black and 1 green die when attacking, as their ability comes out when being attacked as, if they're wounded, they deal wounds back equal to the number of Madness results rolled, which is appropriate for a creature first appearing in "At the Mountains of Madness." Like most mid creatures, they're a presence in the early and midgame, but fade in the later stretches. First appearing in Lovecraft's revision of William Lumley's "The Diary of Alonzo Typer", the Ancient One is usually more story than gameplay. It can dish out some serious damage with 4 black and 1 green die, but since it's a loner, there's a good chance its Mythos card won't reappear to summon it again once you deal with its 5 wounds initially. But dealing with it the first time can occasionally be a challenge, since it can only be attacked if it's within one space of a gate. Like real estate, ancient or otherwise, location is key.

And speaking of weird names, whereas Flying Polyp is a "How did you come to that?", White Polypous Thing is a "How did you not get past that to something more interesting?" I mean, maybe it's related to the Flying ones? This is a monster from the immortal "Call of Cthulhu" and it's very much a tweener for a big creature. It has 9 wounds, more than anything in the game except the Shoggoth and Great Old Ones, and attacks with 3 green and 1 black dice. But its only ability is that when it's destroyed, everyone within 1 space take 2 Stress. Eh? This is something we've mostly just ignored. Almost as big is the Monstrous Frog. with 8 wounds, but a much bigger potential threat. On 1 green and 2 black dice, if any Elder Signs are rolled, wounds are doubled. Like the Dhole, that's a potential one-shot of any Investigator in the game. Finally in season 4, we have the Sand Dwellers. This is an interesting shift on the 5-pool creatures, especially in the late game. They're among the weakest monsters out there, with only 1 wound (and 2 green and 1 black die.) But if they take more than one wound when you're sweeping them off the board, they deal out a wound to the attacker. Late game, when every action is key and you're trying to clear a path through The Unnammable, which means you have to wipe out the riff-raff, these guys could be the deciding point between a Rest action you absolutely don't want to take and taking a huge risk.

Lost Episodes/Unknowable box:

Disclaimer time: I haven't played any of these, so rather than speaking from experience from here on out, it's all speculation based on what I know about the game. Speak Fhtagn or Die! introduces Cultmasters. These are boss Cultists still with 2 wounds, but now with 3 green dice, who can't be wounded while a regular Cultist is in their space. So you have to clean up the garbage before taking out the trash. There are, of course, the alternate Cultist rules from the Comics Extras, vol. 1, but we've only tried those once. Bright Lights, Big Monsters introduces both Yithians and Mi-Go. Why were such canonical monsters left to an add-on? Dunno. The Yithians are on 3 wounds and 3 black dice, but before they're attacked, they and the attacker move to the nearest gate, which might be disruptive to your movement plans. The normally-titled Great Race of Yith first appeared in "The Shadow Out of TIme." The Mi-Go (also known as the Fungi from Yuggoth), of course, are the central element of "The Whisperer in Darkness" and they're a direct response to the power increase among the players, since they normally only have 1 green and 1 black die (and 2 wounds) but they gain a green die for every Sanity threshold the target Investigator has reached, which means they'll pack a punch in the late game. A little less iconic are the Cats from Saturn, who are perhaps the most devastating of the 5-pool monsters. Only 2 wounds and 1 green and 2 black dice, but if they deal any wounds, that Investigator must discard an Item or Companion. That can be huge in many episodes and, since there's 5 of them, can happen frequently. The Cats first appeared in the Dreamlands in "The Dream Quest of Unknown Kadath." Similarly, the Coleopterans strike me as one of the more dangerous of the mid monsters. There are three of them with 4 wounds each and they only attack with 1 green and 1 black die, but when they attack they heal all of their wounds and inflict another success for each wound they heal. That could grow annoying right quick. They're perhaps the ultimate expression of the monster that really needs to be finished off.

Somewhat less on the danger scale are the Grokos. They (2 of them) do have 5 wounds and do have 3 green dice, but when they're killed they just leave a Fire token. Now, don't get me wrong: those tokens can build up to a significant threat. But it doesn't happen that often and multiple encounters with far more fire-prolific enemies (like Fire Vampires) have muted what might seem like a problem to deal with. I honestly have no idea where these guys come from and I have a couple extensive Lovecraft encyclopedias. Another CMON mystery god? In meta contrast, the Inhabitants of the Nameless City are familiar to me from the story "The Nameless City" (which, y'know, tends to follow.) They're a very average opponent with 3 in the pool, 3 wounds, and 3 dice (2 green, 1 black; the number shall be 3...) but if 2(!) or more Elder Signs are rolled when they attack, they deal a wound to every Investigator in the space. I can see that becoming a thing in those late game scenarios where you just don't have time to clear them all out. Next up are the Voormi. These are worshippers of Tsathoggua who first appear in Lin Carter and Clark Ashton Smith's story "The Scroll of Morloc." There are 4 of them with 2 wounds each and 2 green and 1 black die but if they attack and deal no wounds, they attack again (only once.) So, pretty straightforward obstacle-in-a-space kinda thing. There are also 4 of the Y'm-bhi (YIMBY?), who are basically zombies from HPL's "The Mound" with 3 wounds and only 2 black dice, but if they survive an attack, they can't be attacked again this turn. That's almost guaranteed to be a point of frustration when trying to get past them without Stealth. And finally, finally, we come to the last letter of the alphabet, the Zoogs. These are among environmental factors on the Cthulhu Wars Dreamlands map that sometimes can be really annoying and sometimes are just a shrug. Same thing here. There are 6 of them with 1 wound each and attacking with 1 green and 1 black die, but all Zoogs in the same space attack as a single enemy. So, too many Mythos cards that move monsters toward you could become a real threat. But most of the time I'd bet they're just chaff that you're waving away.

Alrighty, then. That's the exhaustive list. Next time, we start in on the stars of the show, the Great Old Ones (which will probably be a two-parter, just because.)