The Elder Things bred shoggoths to perform any number of duties, from protectors, to workhorses, to, believe it or not, companions. The companion was a smaller shoggoth, bred for a limited intelligence and telepathy that allowed it to read its master’s emotions and react to them.
With the revolt against their masters, the majority of the companion shoggoths were destroyed by their larger cousins as a matter of survival of the fittest. However, a small number survived to the present day. Enter Chopstick and Samantha.
Chopstick is a companion shoggoth that’s managed to survive by observing the fact that humans seem to adore cute animals. It’s lived as a stray dog for centuries, ingratiating itself in with one group or another, and using its rudimentary intelligence and telepathy as it was designed. It’s the perfect, most loveable, and protective pet anyone could possibly want. A few years ago while living as a stray, Chopstick was captured and brought to a pound where its intelligence was noted and it was selected as a companion animal for a special needs child.
Samantha is a lovely 8-year-old girl on the autism spectrum. She was paired with Chopstick so he could help with her anxiety and to bring her out of her shell. The two have become inseparable. Chopsticks telepathy allows him to remain perfectly in tune with Samantha’s emotional state and respond to her every need instantly. The adults in her life have been amazed at the bond they’ve formed and are very happy with the progress she is making.
For its part, Chopstick is following programming, which means it’s both very attentive and extremely protective of Samantha. Timmy Derkins used to bother her at the bus stop, but he hasn’t been seen in months. His missing child posters are up all over the neighborhood and his parents are heartbroken. But he doesn’t bother Samantha anymore and that’s all that’s important to Chopstick. Chopstick currently appears as a male black lab, roughly 3 or 4 years old. It’s studied enough to mimic the animal perfectly. Imagine Lassie—that’s how Chopstick acts and treats Samantha. The dark side is that Chopstick will react violently against anything that upsets Samantha’s emotional state, and it’s capable of much more than just a bite.
CHOPSTICK, emotional support shoggoth
Dog Form
STR
CON
SIZ
DEX
INT
POW
APP
Hit Points:
Damage Bonus:
Build:
Magic Points:
Move:
35
50
35
70
35
35
70
8
-1
-1
7
1
Shoggoth Form
STR
CON
SIZ
DEX
INT
POW
Hit Points:
Damage Bonus:
Build:
Magic Points:
Move:
120
250
50
15
35
35
30
+1D6
2
7
10 rolling
Combat
Attacks per round: 2
In its dog form, Chopstick behaves in combat as one would expect a typical dog to, with the occasional exception of a pseudopod lashing out. In shoggoth form, Chopstick covers an area 2 yards square and is able to produce tentacles, claws, or any manner of appendages at will with which to perform a crushing attack. Those unfortunate enough to be hit may also be engulfed.
Engulf: Due to its smaller size, Chopstick may only engulf one victim at a time. The target must make a successful opposed STR roll or be sucked apart. Those held within Chopstick’s black bulk can strike back only on rounds in which they successfully roll STR or less on 1D100. Each round a victim is held within a shoggoth, he or she loses hit points equal to the shoggoth’s damage bonus, with the damage describable as rupturing, crushing, and being sucked into pieces.
Fighting (dog form) 50% (25/10), damage 1D6+DB bite or corrosive pseudopod.
Fighting (shoggoth form) 70% (35/14), damage DB or it can choose to engulf the target (see above)
Dodge (dog form) 42% (21/8)
Dodge (shoggoth form) 8% (4/1)
Skills
Attend to Samantha’s Needs 99%, Listen 75%, Mimic Loveable Dog 99%, Scent Something Interesting 90%
Armor: None; fire and electrical attacks do only half damage; physical weapons such as firearms and knives do only 1 point of damage per hit; Chopstick regenerates 2 hit points per round (death at zero hit points).
Spells: none.
Sanity: 0 as it is refreshing to see such an adorable, and thoroughly devoted support dog such as Chopstick; to see a shoggoth like Chopstick in its true form, it is 1D6/1D20 Sanity points.
*The differing physical characteristics reflect the unwavering adherence to programming that companion shoggoths tend to follow, even to the extent of limiting themselves in one form or another to ensure compliance for their master.
Christian lives in Rhode Island where all this started. He thinks people are much more terrifying monsters than any nameless thing from the stars. He’s one of the hosts of the DMsAfterDark rpg stream.
