Star Spawn or Moon Beast Pros...

[Uncle Mike]

Working on a couple of Lovcraftian beasties for my game Strange Aeons. As far as I can tell Lovecraft didn't mention Star Spawn at all and Moon Beasts only in his dream cycle of books...do any of you adventures know of other reference stories, manuscripts, stone tablets adding more detail? And what about powers? Do they do anything except shuffle about wiggling their feelers?  Any clarity would be greatly appreciated.  

Would it be out of the question for a Star Spawn to 'shoot' a ball of virulent goo as an attack? Could you be swallowed whole by a Moon Beast? And are these creatures intelligent? Moon beasts seen to have their own culture...but what of Star Spawn?

Beware: answering these questions will only lead to me asking more and stranger ones...still, thanx, in advance.

[Uncle Mike]

...over 80 lookie-loos and not a responce among 'em. I can talk to myself at home...any thoughts on the affore mentioned questions would be greatly appreciated. And truth be told I'm kinda stumped, any solution is better than reading another 80 mythos stories...I'll be well bonkers by the end of that...

[Hammers]

To be honest I intentionally stay away from questions about the Outer Gods etc. Not theat I fear I will be institutionalized, but I think explaining them and categorizing them would make them somewhat lesser.

It is as helpful as creating the childhood stories of a nazgul.

[Plynkes]

Just to make you feel better, Uncle Mike, I didn't respond because I had nothing to contribute, not because I don't want to talk to you.

I've never come across either of those beasties in my Cthulhu-reading. The only place I've ever seen them is in the Call of Cthulhu RPG rule book.


(You're not my Uncle Mike from down the road, are you? You don't look like him, but with the internet you just never know.)

[Uncle Mike]

Thanx guys, I was starting to hear eldritch crickets.

I've got a lot of old Call Of Cthulhu RPG stuff around the house that I'll go thru later today, once I unearth it...my main problem is that the game I want to use these baddies for is a tabletop skirmish...so, they need to have a defined set of abilities/attacks/whatever...so they play well on the table.

And Hammershield has hit the nail on the head, as far as Outer Gods go anyways. There will be a big point cost monster, called a 'Godling' that players can customize with a sub-list of godling type extra stuff. Extra eyes, flying, barfing goo ect...should to help keep it eldritch enough and entertaining beyond the first couple of plays.

In conclusion, No, I am not your Uncle Mike from down the road...unless you are my nephew Plynkes from down the street... :

...seriously thou, No, I'm not him.

[Plynkes]

Sorry if you already have this info, but I've just dug out my copy of the Cthulhu rulebook.

Moonbeasts seem to be noted for their sadism, so you might want some whips, ball-gags and very pointy shoes with 8" heels. Monstrously cruel, apparrently, and spend all their spare time torturing things.

Seriously, it seems that the only weapon the are described as using is a spear, but that they are a high-tech race so could be expected to have something more powerful in reserve. They employ slave races as soldiers, but the book doesn't mention what races. Firearms do minimum damage to them (as with most Lovecraft nasties).

They also do magic.

Half a mo, I'll see what it says about the other things in a minute...

[Plynkes]

Star Spawn have tentacle and claw attacks, have thick blubbery skin acting as quite robust armour, and they regenerate damage done to them.

That's all it says, really. No mention of magic or any other powers or abilities.

[Uncle Mike]

Thank you sir, my third editiom C.O.C. doesn't even have Moon Beasts in it at all...I don't suppose either of those monsters comes with a text description from a story?

[Skrapwelder]

Moon beast stats would be in the Dream lands supplement.

"great greyish-white slippery things which could expand and contract at will, and whose principal shape — though it often changed — was that of a sort of toad without any eyes, but with a curious vibrating mass of short pink tentacles on the end of its blunt, vague snout”

[Plynkes]

They do, as it happens, for moon-beasts, at any rate:

"Great greyish-white slippery things which could expand and contract at will, and whose principle shape - though it often changed - was that of a sort of a toad without any eyes, but with a vibrating mass of short pink tentacles on the end of its blunt, vague snout." - H.P. Lovecraft, "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath."

The picture that sucked the least that I found with a quick net search is below. Not too different from the picture in the book, except they're not exactly what you'd call 'greyish-white':





The text quote for the Star Spawn doesn't describe them, but they are said to look just like daddy, only smaller. So something like this:

[Plynkes]

My latest CoC is 5th Edition from 93 (though I have a much earlier one, too). It has moonbeast stats in it (obviously, unless I'm making all this up ).

[Uncle Mike]

Thanx again for all the help. Love that photo of the Moon Beasts...I'm off to the toy shop to find a couple of toy frogs to sculpt some tenticals on...

Think I'll leave out the Star Spawn for now thou...save the 'Thulhu for the final baddie.

[Plynkes]

RAFM make a moon-beast figure, by the way. I don't think it really captures the toad-like-ness of them (though of course, they shape-shift, so that don't really matter).

Here's our very own Prof's painted figure of it:
http://www.witchhunter.net/galerie_call_of_cthulhu_moon_beast.html

And on the RAFM site:
http://www.rafm.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=RAF&Product_Code=RAF02941&Category_Code=COCMM

[Uncle Mike]

That is a pretty good model...I guess...he's got eyes?

I thought they didn't have eyes...I guess he shape-changed hisself a couple...

Like the artwork better. Looks more like a toad/dog thingy...

...how big are they? Just a little bigger than a man? I would assume...

[Hammers]

funny Plynkes should mention that. I've got that mini on my workspace as i type. An yes it's got eyes. It also comes with a cockroach looking kind of footman.