Sandy petersens cthulhu mythos 475

Neh-Thalggu
NEH-THALGGU

CR 8

XP 4,800
CE Large aberration
Init +7; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +17
DEFENSE

AC 21, touch 19, flat-footed 18 (+3 Dex, +2 natural, +7
insight, –1 size)
hp 105 (10d8+60)
Fort +9, Ref +6, Will +11
DR 10/magic; Immune confusion effects; SR 19

What You See
Blisters of flesh along this creature’s
back hold brains of various sizes,
and it moves about on spindly legs.
Crushing pincers move with precision
as it pushes flesh into its circular maw.

OFFENSE

Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (perfect)
Melee bite +13 (1d8+7 plus poison), 2 claws +13 (1d6+7)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks rend (2 claws, 2d6+7)
Sorcerer Spells Known (CL 7th; concentration +17)
3rd (5/day)—lightning bolt (DC16), hold person (DC 16)

2nd (7/day)—acid arrow, alter self, invisibility
1st (7/day)—grease (DC 14), magic missile, ray of
enfeeblement (DC 14), shield, unseen servant
0 (at will)—acid splash, dancing lights, detect magic,
mage hand, open/close, prestidigitation, read magic
S TAT I S T I C S

Str 24, Dex 16, Con 23, Int 19, Wis 18, Cha 17
Base Atk +7; CMB +15; CMD 35 (cannot be tripped)
Feats Arcane Strike, Combat Reflexes, Extend Spell, Eschew
MaterialsB, Improved Initiative, Power Attack
Skills Fly +15, Knowledge (arcana, dungeoneering, and
planes) +23, Perception +17, Sense Motive +17, Spellcraft
+17, Stealth +12, Use Magic Device +16
Languages Abyssal, Aklo, Common, Draconic, Protean,
Undercommon; telepathy (100 feet)
SQ brain collection, strange knowledge
ECO LO GY

Environment any
Organization solitary
Treasure double
SPECIAL ABILITIES

Brain Collection (Ex) A neh-thalggu can store up to
seven humanoid brains and use them to enhance
its knowledge and power. Each stored brain grants
a neh-thalggu a cumulative +1 insight bonus to AC,
concentration checks, and Knowledge checks. A nehthalggu can extract a brain from a helpless opponent
with a coup de grace attack, or as a standard action from

a body that has been dead for no more than 1 minute.
A neh-thalggu that has fewer than seven brains gains
one negative level for each missing brain. These negative
levels can never become permanent, but they can only
be removed by replacing one of its collected brains.

468

The stats presented here assume a monster with a full
collection.
Poison (Ex) Bite—injury; save Fort DC 21; frequency 1/
round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Strength damage and
staggered for 1 round; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save
DC is Constitution-based.
Spells A neh-thalggu casts spells as a 7th-level sorcerer. For
each negative level it takes from missing brains, its caster
level is reduced by 1. A neh-thalggu with no collected
brains cannot cast any of its spells.
Strange Knowledge (Ex) All Knowledge skills are class
skills for neh-thalggus.

Known also as brain collectors, the alien neh-thalggus
hail from distant worlds, traveling the gulfs of space
on immense living ships that swiftly decay when they
land upon a new world, leaving behind a deadly cargo
of hungry monsters. Neh-thalggus are carnivores, but
they do not digest humanoid brains they eat—rather,
these brains lodge in one of several bulbous blisters on
the creature’s back and help to increase its intellect.
Some speculate that neh-thalggus encountered

in this reality may merely be juveniles of their kind,
perhaps exiled from their home worlds by greater kin
until they can prove their worth on other worlds. Their
brain collections may be a morbid form of currency in
their home realm, or the thoughts in these brains may
merely be fuel for a dark apotheosis into an even more
sinister mature form.