Whispers of the Dead (Dagon and Hydra)

pixel art by Brian "ink" T

Mutable Godhood

The exact nature of Father Dagon and Mother Hydra's existence is unclear. Some say they're a pair of alien gods, some say they're just extremely powerful Deep Ones. Others claim this distinction is meaningless. The two leading theories are that they're either the ancient progenitors of the Deep One 'species,' or an aspirational future goal, when the children of the ocean become just like the Old Ones. 

Likewise, the ritual can be performed in two modes: communing with Dagon and Hydra as if they were Deep Ones of immense power or as if they were Great Old Ones in their own right. The only difference seems to be the operator's perspective on the matter and how willing they are to push through the boundaries of reality. If contacted as Deep Ones, the ritual costs 9 WP and 1D6 SAN. The operator gains an overarching sense of the Deep Ones' plans. Without a high or critical activation roll, the visions are mostly limited to wherever the operator performs the ritual, or the locale of whatever tradition they learned the ritual from. If they spend 1 POW, the operator contacts the pair as Great Old Ones and loses 1D8 SAN. They are overwhelmed with visions of the Deep Ones' past, present, and future.

The Ritual

First the operator carves alien symbols into a clay tablet. This usually takes five hours, though Agents with Art and Craft skills can get it done faster. Then they ritually wash the tablet in saltwater and trace over the glyphs with blood. This costs 1 HP unless someone has the Surgery skill or succeeds on a First Aid test. Using animal blood imposes a -20% to the Ritual Activation roll. The operator stands ankle to knee deep in a body of water frequented by Deep Ones (or visited by them in the past) while chanting something long and guttural. After finishing the chant, the operator tosses the tablet as far as they can so it can sink as deep as possible.

Alternate Names: Batrachian Ascension, Commune with the Progenitors, Song of the Ocean

SAN Loss Flavor

1-2 points: The operator's eyes roll up into the back of their head, convulsing in a brief seizure.

3-4 points: There's a rumble from the deep. Any witnesses who succeed on a POW test lose 1 SAN and gain 1% Unnatural as they're caught in the foam of the crashing psychic wave.

5+ points: The mutation manifests immediately. Any onlookers lose 0/1D4 SAN as the operator's body rapidly changes or their mutation goes hyperactive, oozing gallons of slime or discharging electric currents into everything nearby.

Boon

Something awakens in the operator. It's unclear whether it was always there, waiting to emerge when humanity joins the Deep Ones in shouting, killing, and reveling as Cthulhu rises, or if it's a novel mutation. The operator gains a Deep One mutation (rolled or chosen by the Handler from the options below). Each time they cross a Breaking Point or suffer a permanent injury, the operator manifests another mutation. Just like a Disorder, it may appear immediately or maybe only later in a Home scene. Mutated operators must also succeed on a SAN test after every Home scene or lose 1 point of SAN for every mutation they possess. At 0 SAN, they complete their transformation into a Deep One NPC. Newly transformed 'fish' require immersion in water to stop their new gills from malfunctioning and killing them.

Blessing

The Handler secretly rolls for two mutations every time the operator would gain one and gives them a rough idea of what each one is. The premonitions increase in clarity with lower SAN and higher Unnatural scores. The operator picks which one they want to manifest by meditating on an aspect of aquatic or amphibious life that matches the desired mutation.

Deep One Mutations (roll a D20 or pick)

Some mutations on this list are capable of 'deepening.' This can occur as the operator gains more mutations or when they gain a mutation they already have.

1. The operator loses 1D4 points of CHA and gains an equal amount of Armor. One point could be flabby skin or scales, while four points might represent shells or bony plates.
2. The operator grows gills, allowing them to breathe saltwater. They're also immune to the freezing cold and crushing pressure of the ocean. Freshwater is choking, like smoke is to us. Gulping down water and expelling it through the gills costs 0/1 SAN but grants a +20% bonus to all tests (except for SAN) made underwater. At the Handler's discretion, this bonus may still apply in freshwater, only halved. As this mutation deepens, it may allow the operator to breathe freshwater too, or raise the bonus to +40%.
   
3. The operator grows talons, spines, or razor sharp fins. Their unarmed attacks do 1D4 damage with 3 AP. As this mutation deepens, their natural weapons become harder to hide but the damage rises to 1D6 and 1D8.
4. The operator's skin secretes toxins. Analysis is inconclusive, but finds similarities to existing toxins present in amphibious or aquatic species. The toxins act as a poison (Agent's Handbook, pages 60-61) with a Lethality rating of 5% and a Speed of 1D4x10 minutes. Collecting a dose costs 0/1 SAN from unnatural. Anyone who bites the operator or has prolonged skin-to-skin contact is poisoned on a failed Luck roll. They also taste bad enough that most creatures won't eat them. Antidotes can be synthesized with Medicine or Pharmacy. As this mutation deepens, the poison's onset time shortens to 1D4 minutes and eventually 1D4 rounds.
5. The operator grows suckers, webbing, new musculoskeletal structures, etc. They can can spend 1 WP to roll a movement-related test at +20% or briefly overcome obstacles that would stop normal humans. The operator can also choose to lose 0/1D4 SAN instead of spending WP and benefit from the same effect for the rest of the scene. During that time, they can roll movement-related tests at 0 WP instead of automatically failing, just without the +20% bonus. This froggy movement costs 0/1 SAN for onlookers. As the mutation deepens, the operator can spend 2 WP or lose 0/1D6 SAN to roll with a +40% bonus, or +20% if they're at 0 WP.
   
6. The operator's skin secretes a slimy mucus under stress, imposing a -20% penalty to all tests to grapple and restrain them. They also get a +20% to wriggle free of bonds. As the mutation deepens, the operator might gain the ability to glide across surfaces like a penguin on ice or the modifier might increase to 40%.
7. The operator can regenerate. They recover all temporarily lost stat points overnight. Permanently reduced stats recover 1D4 points per day. Other permanent injuries heal in 1D4 days. Each night of regeneration costs 0/1 SAN from unnatural. Whenever the operator rolls CON to recover HP by resting, they shift the result up one level. Fumbles become failures, critical successes restore twice as much HP. This doesn’t cost any SAN.
   
8. The operator grows to mimic the Deep Ones' physical prowess, gaining 1 point of DEX, 1D4 points of CON, and 2D4 points of STR. If this raises their STR score above 18, they add +3 damage to all hand-to-hand attacks. If it somehow gets up to 30, this increases to a +4 damage bonus.
   
9. The operator can spend 1 SAN to fly into an inhuman rage, gaining a +10% bonus to all STRx5, CONx5, and hand-to-hand attack rolls for the next few minutes. If they're at 0 WP, they can roll normally as if they had 3+ WP. If the operator is already temporarily insane, they can spend 1 WP instead.
   
10. The operator gains night vision. So long as there is some light, all penalties from darkness are halved (or ignored if it's merely dim). Their eyes are more sensitive, but the operator can always close them and echolocate instead. This can reveal their position and requires an Alertness test in combat.
11. The operator gains electroreceptive organs, allowing them to feel the earth's magnetic field (+20% to Navigate tests) or powerful electromagnets. They can also sense nearby creatures underwater or in high humidity.
12. The operator can spend 2 WP to shock anyone they're touching like a stun gun. As this mutation deepens, the stun may become automatic and the penalty to all actions after the stun wears off (or is resisted entirely) may last for longer.
13. The operator can detach any limb or body part to automatically escape from a grapple or pin. This costs 0/1D4 SAN from helplessness but no HP. The body parts don't normally grow back, but can be reattached with timely intervention with Surgery (or First Aid or Medicine at a penalty).
14. The operator's jaws sprout sharp teeth, which replace their regular ones and regrow if knocked out. Bites use Unarmed Combat at -20%. They do 1D6 damage with 5 AP. This rises to 2D4 and 2D6 damage as new rows grow and the teeth get stronger.
15. The operator can spew a mixture of vomit, foam, and slime from their mouth. It can be used to form a protective barrier which counts as cover and provides Armor equal to WP spent. The operator also rolls SAN, losing 1 point on a failure for each person that could take shelter behind the structure. For example: a bulwark capable of shielding 3 Agents would cost 3 SAN on a failed SAN test. It can also be used to suffocate people if sprayed into their nose and mouth.
16. The operator's tongue swells and becomes a prehensile appendage like a frog. It allows them to make hand-to-hand attacks at range and attack even if Pinned. Witnessing the operator's tongue impossibly extend out of their mouth costs 0/1 SAN from unnatural.
17. The operator's skin grows mottled and sometimes involuntarily changes color, camouflaging with its surroundings under stress. It's subtle, but enough to disrupt pattern recognition. The bonus to Stealth ranges from +10% to +40% based on the amount of skin showing and the surroundings. Unfortunately, it looks really unhealthy and reduces the operator's CHA score by 1 point.
18. The operator has a psychic awakening. They gain INT points in Alien Language (Deep One) and half that much in Unnatural, rounding up. Their POW also increases by 1D6 points.
    
19. Fragments of the Deep Ones' genetic memories of hypergeometry surface. The operator loses 1D4 SAN and learns that many rituals related to Cthulhu, Deep Ones, or the ocean with no additional SAN cost. They also get a +20% to all rolls to operate Deep One hypergeometry.
    
20. The operator can unhinge their jaw to swallow things as big as their own head. They don't suffer ill effects unless it's actual poison, though a ball of barbed wire might deal a hit point or two of damage. Regurgitating objects requires a successful CONx5 roll in combat; failure means the operator loses their next action as they cough it up. Even if they can't digest something, they can usually break it down enough to pass out the other end.

If an Agent wants to resist their new mutations they can spend 1D4 WP and then make a SAN test, reducing a Bond by the same amount as rolled on the D4. With a successful SAN test, the Agent will not mutate again until they cross another Breaking Point or suffer another permanent injury. A critical success permanently stops the transformation process (or until exposure to Deep Ones or their hypergeometry pushes them past a Breaking Point or results in a permanent injury). Failure simply postpones the mutation until the next session or Home scene, where the Agent can try to resist it again. A fumble does nothing.

Curse

The operator is marked for death by the Deep Ones. They take a -20% penalty to any test to resist Deep One hypergeometry. If wielded by human intermediaries, the penalty is only -10%.

Side Effects

There are none. The mutations should be enough to satisfy any Handler.

If you're confused as to what this is about, check out this post.