Graeae

Haggard and hunched, this blind and snaggletoothed crone guides herself by a gruesomely bloated eyeball she clutches in her claws.

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Ecology

Description

Coven (Ex) Like hags, graeaes also form covens. A graeae coven can be composed entirely of graeaes, or could or include hags or witches with the coven hex. A hag or witch with the coven hex counts as a graeae for purposes of joining a graeae’s coven. Likewise, a graeae counts as a hag for purposes of joining a hag’s coven.

Eye of the Graeae (Su) Each graeae possesses a mystic eyeball. A graeae can sense the location of her eyeball from anywhere on the same plane. She must remain within 30 feet of her eyeball or she becomes completely blind and cannot use any of her spell-like or supernatural abilities. The eyeball only works for its graeae. If a graeae is slain, her mystic eye instantly turns to dust.

Fate Casting (Su) A graeae has the ability to predict future events. On a creature’s request, a graeae can expend a use of mythic power as a full-round action to answer a single question as if by the divination spell.

Luck Ripple (Su) A graeae can use her mystic eye to alter the circumstances of any creature within 30 feet. As a swift action, she can cast her eye on a single creature, causing the target to take a –2 penalty or gain a +2 bonus to one of the following (graeae’s choice): AC, ability checks, attack rolls, saving throws, or skill checks. A successful DC 19 Will save negates the effect, which otherwise lasts for 1d6 rounds. This is a mind-affecting gaze effect. The DC of the save is Intelligence-based.

A graeae is a haglike creature, though more human in appearance. Some describe them as emissaries of the gods, while others believe graeaes to be physical manifestations of fate.

GRAEAE COVEN Whenever three or more graeaes of the same coven are within 10 feet of one another, they can work together to use any of the following spell-like abilities: clairaudience/clairvoyance, commune, contact other plane, speak with dead, and tongues.

All three graeaes must spend a full-round action to take part in this form of cooperative magic. All coven spell-like abilities are CL 9th (or at the highest caster level available to the most powerful graeaes in the coven).

Great Old One The Great Old Ones are otherworldly entities of almost unimaginable power—beings completely alien to humanity, both physiologically and spiritually. They exist in the forgotten corners of distant worlds or lost dimensions, yet their power is so great they can influence certain sensitive mortal minds in their dreams and nightmares, even if such influence is as accidental as a star’s gravitational pull on a tiny mote of dust adrift in space. In such ways, cults devoted to the Great Old Ones can rise on worlds throughout the Material Plane, even without prior contact between these worlds. Some of the Great Old Ones grant access to the domain of Void and its associated subdomains (see below).

While not all of the Great Old Ones are evil, all are forces of chaos. Their cults are almost always evil and cause harm and madness, but the Great Old Ones are generally content to ignore lesser life such as humans, elves, and dwarves. Yet when their attention is garnered, the results can be catastrophic on an immense scale— for just as the ant who bites someone’s toe invites swift destruction on a scale its feeble mind can’t envision, so too does humanity invite unimaginable ruin by delving into the affairs of these powerful creatures.

The Great Old Ones themselves often serve and worship even greater powers, such as Azathoth, Nyarlathotep, Shub-Niggurath, and Yog-Sothoth. Those creatures are the Outer Gods, and whereas the Great Old Ones can be thought of as akin to demigods, the Outer Gods are themselves true deities.

VOID DOMAIN Granted Powers: You can call upon the cold darkness between the stars to gain flight, travel to other worlds, or summon monsters from beyond to do your bidding.

Guarded Mind (Ex): You gain a +2 insight bonus on saving throws against all mind-affecting effects.

Part the Veil (Su): At 8th level, you can lace spells you cast with the raw madness that waits in the outer darkness. Activating this ability is a swift action that you must use as you cast a spell that targets a single creature and that allows a Will saving throw to negate or reduce the spell’s primary effect. If the target fails to resist the spell, the target is also confused for a number of rounds equal to the spell’s level as visions of the void cause temporary insanity. The victim must succeed at a new saving throw each round to end the effect— these additional saving throws apply only to the additional confusion effect and not to the original spell effect. Part the veil is a mind-affecting effect. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 1/2 your class level. Domain Spells: 1st—feather fall, 2nd—levitate, 3rd—fly, 4th—lesser planar binding, 5th—overland flight, 6th—planar binding, 7th—reverse gravity, 8th—greater planar binding, 9th—interplanetary teleport.

DARK TAPESTRY (VOID SUBDOMAIN) Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the guarded mind power of the Void domain.

It Came from Beyond (Su): Once per day, when you cast a summoning spell, any one creature you summon is more powerful than normal. The creature gains the advanced creature simple template. If you summon more than one creature with a spell, only one of the summoned creatures gains the advanced creature simple template. A summoned creature that gains the advanced creature simple template in this manner appears unnervingly deformed or unnaturally hideous, bringing with it a whiff of the emptiness of the void. This ability only works on spells you cast as a cleric— it does not work on spellcasting abilities gained from any other spellcasting classes you might have.

Replacement Domain Spells: 2nd—summon monster II, 5th—summon monster V, 7th—insanity.

STARS (VOID SUBDOMAIN) Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the part the veil power of the Void domain.

The Stars Are Right (Su): If you prepare your cleric spells while the stars are visible to you, you may spontaneously cast any of your Stars subdomain spells by swapping out a spell of an equal spell level. Any Stars subdomain spell that you cast while the stars are visible to you heals you of hit point damage equal to the spell’s level as you cast the spell.

Replacement Domain Spells: 2nd—hypnotic pattern, 7th—sunbeam, 9th—meteor swarm.

Other Great Old Ones Bokrug, Cthulhu, and Hastur are but three of the Great Old Ones—countless others exist on distant worlds or other dimensions, yet are still able to influence the world through their dreams and cults. The central concept of the Great Old Ones was created by H. P. Lovecraft, one of the most influential writers of weird fiction—and horror fiction in general—of the 20th century. Lovecraft actively encouraged his writer friends to add to his mythos of creatures, and today we have Great Old Ones created not only by Lovecraft’s contemporaries like Clark Ashton Smith, Robert E. Howard, Henry Kuttner, and August Derleth, but also by modern writers like Ramsey Campbell, Brian Lumley, and Stephen King. Chaosium’s excellent Call of Cthulhu roleplaying game is a perfect place to start delving into the realm of Great Old Ones evoked in RPG form. By creating new Great Old Ones for your game, you can become part of a tradition of shared mythology nearly a century old! Graeae–Great Old One Great Old One, Bokrug This great reptilian monster is an aquatic lizard with a beard of tentacles and a sting-tipped tail.

Source: Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary 4