Friday, July 3, 2020

Adherents of the Unspeakable Oath

Adherents of the Unspeakable Oath (previously called Unspeakable Possessors) are creatures created by Hastur when it collects on a binding oath known as the Unspeakable Promise. Adherents have grey-green, scaly skin, with a bloated parody of a body. Their limbs also become boneless and fluid, like an octopus'.


In the RPG...

Once transformed, an Adherent's DEX and STR is doubled, CON is tripled, and SIZ is ×1½, while INT and POW simply become 75 and 175 respectively (Note: DEX used to remain unchanged). 
    Previously, one of the Adherent's attacks caused instant death, which was quite severe considering its 85% Fighting skill. Thankfully, this ability has now been removed, leaving it with its other attack, whereby it uses its mouthed fingertips to suck out the victim's bodily fluids. This does an average of 5 damage per round, and the drained points are multiplied by 5 and divided between the creature's STR and SIZ.  
    Unlike the similar Spawn of Nyogtha, Adherents do have one fatal weakness, and that is if they do not feed nightly, they lose an average of 55 from both STR and SIZ. If either stat reaches zero, they will die and dissolve.
    The 7e Malleus Monstrorum has removed the previous connection to Aldebaran, so they no longer fall comatose when it sets. I personally thought this was a neat element, adding a use for the oft-neglected Science (Astronomy) skill, so was disappointed to see its removal. It also removed the delay on transformation. This one seemed like an unnecessary addition to me, so is not missed.
    It should be noted that the 7e Malleus Monstrorum also has the incorrect hit-points listed. It should be 26, not 24.

In a video game...

They only have 6-point armour and no immunities, so are not unkillable, so could probably work now that they no longer have their Insta-Death ability.

In a film...

Though I'm not familiar with the source material—The Return of Hastur—the Adherents of the Unspeakable Oath could be pretty horrific under the right direction.

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