Eldritch Abomination/Tabletop Games: Difference between revisions

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* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons|Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has whole races of Eldritch Abominations; from 3rd edition onwards, they have been increasingly linked with the Far Realm, [[Eldritch Location|an impossibly vast, incomprehensible place]] far beyond the cosmology of most ''D&D'' settings. A 3.5 sourcebook, ''Lords of Madness'', gave greater detail to the "Aberration" creature type, which is mainly used for such creatures (many of the weirder/most horrible Outsider-type creatures also count).
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has whole races of Eldritch Abominations; from 3rd edition onwards, they have been increasingly linked with the Far Realm, [[Eldritch Location|an impossibly vast, incomprehensible place]] far beyond the cosmology of most ''D&D'' settings. A 3.5 sourcebook, ''Lords of Madness'', gave greater detail to the "Aberration" creature type, which is mainly used for such creatures (many of the weirder/most horrible Outsider-type creatures also count).
** One of the various backstories of Asmodeus, the Lord of Nessus and King of Hell, is that he is actually one of these. What others see when dealing with him [[Fighting a Shadow|is actually an advanced illusion]]. Asmodeus' real body is that of a titanic, ''miles long'' serpentine creature who is still injured from being thrown into hell. Because he was some sort of [[Time Abyss|primordial entity who predated the Gods]], and who literally created the Nine Hells when the Gods threw him into them.
** One of the various backstories of Asmodeus, the Lord of Nessus and King of Hell, is that he is actually one of these. What others see when dealing with him [[Fighting a Shadow|is actually an advanced illusion]]. Asmodeus' real body is that of a titanic, ''miles long'' serpentine creature who is still injured from being thrown into hell. Because he was some sort of [[Time Abyss|primordial entity who predated the Gods]], and who literally created the Nine Hells when the Gods threw him into them.
** The subterranean illithids (also known as mind flayers) are inhumanly dispassionate, squid-headed alien creatures with vast psychic powers who raise human (and other two-legged) cattle to feed on their brains. They prefer "wild" game, though, as unlike muscles, brains apparently taste better when they've been getting proper exercise. They, at least, are more humanly understandable than most Eldritch Abominations, though their physical form is ''definitely'' inspired by Cthulhu.
** The subterranean illithids (also known as mind flayers) are inhumanly dispassionate, squid-headed alien creatures with vast psychic powers who raise human (and other two-legged) cattle to feed on their brains. They prefer "wild" game, though, as unlike muscles, brains apparently taste better when they've been getting proper exercise. They, at least, are more humanly understandable than most Eldritch Abominations, though their physical form is ''definitely'' inspired by Cthulhu.
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** Perhaps closest to the Lovecraftian mold are the aboleths, giant psychic fishlike aberrations that dwell in the deepest, darkest parts of the world in unspeakable aquatic cities and have racial memories stretching back to before the births of many gods ([[Time Abyss|and maybe even the current universe]]). They can enslave people by sliming them; the slime turns skin transparent. Ironically, these monsters are terrified of the illithids, who they, despite their long memories, have no recollection of.
** Perhaps closest to the Lovecraftian mold are the aboleths, giant psychic fishlike aberrations that dwell in the deepest, darkest parts of the world in unspeakable aquatic cities and have racial memories stretching back to before the births of many gods ([[Time Abyss|and maybe even the current universe]]). They can enslave people by sliming them; the slime turns skin transparent. Ironically, these monsters are terrified of the illithids, who they, despite their long memories, have no recollection of.
*** {{spoiler|That's because illithids are from the future, refugees from the destruction of their vast empire at the end of the universe's lifespan.}}
*** {{spoiler|That's because illithids are from the future, refugees from the destruction of their vast empire at the end of the universe's lifespan.}}
** Aboleths are too arrogant to worship anything, but they ''respect'' beings they call the Five Elder Evils. These are [[Expy|thematically based on]] [[H.P. Lovecraft]] horrors, and include flames surrounding a body that will [[Go Mad From the Revelation|drive you mad if you see it]] (if it does not kill you outright), a ball of sentient goo the size of a planet, and a drilling subterranean squid / centipede thing that appears to be eating its way very, very slowly through the crust of the planet. [[Brown Note|Whose feces will make your head go wonky if you get too close to it.]]
** Aboleths are too arrogant to worship anything, but they ''respect'' beings they call the Five Elder Evils. These are [[Expy|thematically based on]] [[H.P. Lovecraft]] horrors, and include flames surrounding a body that will [[Go Mad from the Revelation|drive you mad if you see it]] (if it does not kill you outright), a ball of sentient goo the size of a planet, and a drilling subterranean squid / centipede thing that appears to be eating its way very, very slowly through the crust of the planet. [[Brown Note|Whose feces will make your head go wonky if you get too close to it.]]
*** It's not so much that they are arrogant, they are just older than pretty much all of the modern day Gods and have seen how they came to power. They pretty much view them as young upstarts who have no business messing with them or demanding worship from creatures far older then they are.
*** It's not so much that they are arrogant, they are just older than pretty much all of the modern day Gods and have seen how they came to power. They pretty much view them as young upstarts who have no business messing with them or demanding worship from creatures far older then they are.
**** 4e suggests that aboleths aren't even intelligent, thinking creatures; rather, everything they do is the result of a guiding, species wide instinct that is unfathomable by mortals.
**** 4e suggests that aboleths aren't even intelligent, thinking creatures; rather, everything they do is the result of a guiding, species wide instinct that is unfathomable by mortals.
*** Aboleths have enough parallels to abominations of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] that the question was directly addressed in the ''Lords of Madness'' sourcebook:
*** Aboleths have enough parallels to abominations of the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] that the question was directly addressed in the ''Lords of Madness'' sourcebook:
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*** Since most of said world-threatening Elder Evils described in the book are actually beatable (in some cases ''killable'') by non-epic (i.e. non-godlike) characters, quite a few cases of [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]] can result. On the flipside, many of these cases are either fighting the monster before they've fully awoken/recovered from crash impacts, facing down a cult that was about to flood reality with beings like the one that just almost killed the party, or taking down an alien weapon designed to soften us up for invasion.
*** Since most of said world-threatening Elder Evils described in the book are actually beatable (in some cases ''killable'') by non-epic (i.e. non-godlike) characters, quite a few cases of [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?]] can result. On the flipside, many of these cases are either fighting the monster before they've fully awoken/recovered from crash impacts, facing down a cult that was about to flood reality with beings like the one that just almost killed the party, or taking down an alien weapon designed to soften us up for invasion.
**** Atropus is a [[Genius Loci]], so you kill his aspect. The Leviathan wraps around the world, and all you can do is defeat minor aspects of it and put the thing back to sleep. Pandorym is probably the toughest being in the cosmos, so powerful that its stats (the strongest monster in the book) is only a fragment of its consciousness. Stats are not given for its fully released mind because it would be too much for the party, and when it unites with its body it's stronger than ''all the gods combined.'' You fight Ragnorra while she's regenerating from her crash-landing on the planet. Sertrous is fought after you force him to manifest in a weaker-than-normal form. Zargon has some very powerful abilities that only affect gods. Father Llymic, the Hulks of Zoretha, and Kyuss are all fought at their full power.
**** Atropus is a [[Genius Loci]], so you kill his aspect. The Leviathan wraps around the world, and all you can do is defeat minor aspects of it and put the thing back to sleep. Pandorym is probably the toughest being in the cosmos, so powerful that its stats (the strongest monster in the book) is only a fragment of its consciousness. Stats are not given for its fully released mind because it would be too much for the party, and when it unites with its body it's stronger than ''all the gods combined.'' You fight Ragnorra while she's regenerating from her crash-landing on the planet. Sertrous is fought after you force him to manifest in a weaker-than-normal form. Zargon has some very powerful abilities that only affect gods. Father Llymic, the Hulks of Zoretha, and Kyuss are all fought at their full power.
** 3.5 Edition also included the Alienist class. The class features made all your Summoning spells summon creatures from the aforementioned Far Realm, which took the forms of creatures you could normally summon, but took on a template that gave them more hit points, resistances, tentacles or other deformities, and the ability to shift into their "true(r) form" which scared everything like crazy. Further, your familiar became one of these creatures. Basically, you're calling tiny C'thuloid monsters. In addition to that, the caster who takes the class eventually starts ''becoming'' like one of these creatures, goes more then a little insane, and (with the timeless body class feature) is taken to the Far Realms by the unspeakable Eldritch Horrors when they would normally die of old age, specifically ''never seen again'' by people on the prime material plane. If you manage to reach the maximum level, you can cheat dying of age altogether, gain the "Outsider" trait and become a [[Humanoid Abomination]]. Your character grows a tentacle or two at this point.
** 3.5 Edition also included the Alienist class. The class features made all your Summoning spells summon creatures from the aforementioned Far Realm, which took the forms of creatures you could normally summon, but took on a template that gave them more hit points, resistances, tentacles or other deformities, and the ability to shift into their "true(r) form" which scared everything like crazy. Further, your familiar became one of these creatures. Basically, you're calling tiny C'thuloid monsters. In addition to that, the caster who takes the class eventually starts ''becoming'' like one of these creatures, goes more then a little insane, and (with the timeless body class feature) is taken to the Far Realms by the unspeakable Eldritch Horrors when they would normally die of old age, specifically ''never seen again'' by people on the prime material plane. If you manage to reach the maximum level, you can cheat dying of age altogether, gain the "Outsider" trait and become a [[Humanoid Abomination]]. Your character grows a tentacle or two at this point.
** 4th Edition introduces an Origin classification for Eldritch Abominations called "aberrants". Naturally, any aberrant creature is almost guaranteed to have numerous tentacles or mind and reality-warping abilities -- usually both.
** 4th Edition introduces an Origin classification for Eldritch Abominations called "aberrants". Naturally, any aberrant creature is almost guaranteed to have numerous tentacles or mind and reality-warping abilities -- usually both.
*** 4E also has the Primordials -- a primeval race of elementals who ''created the universe'', and are powerful enough to ''destroy gods''. They would like nothing more then to [[The End of the World as We Know It|destroy said creation]], since as their nature as elementals dictate, they wish to continue an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Most mortals are perfectly fine with the world as it is now, especially since said death and rebirth would include them.
*** 4E also has the Primordials -- a primeval race of elementals who ''created the universe'', and are powerful enough to ''destroy gods''. They would like nothing more then to [[The End of the World as We Know It|destroy said creation]], since as their nature as elementals dictate, they wish to continue an endless cycle of death and rebirth. Most mortals are perfectly fine with the world as it is now, especially since said death and rebirth would include them.
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** The First Edition was no stranger to Eldritch Abominations as well. Aside from the Nightmare creatures (like the Diaboli and the Malphera), whose physiology was utterly alien and horrific to humanity, there were also the creatures from the Vortex, a place beyond all dimensions and planes of existence who could cause inexplicable phenomenons with their mere presence. Even the [[Physical God|Immortals]] are afraid of such things.
** The First Edition was no stranger to Eldritch Abominations as well. Aside from the Nightmare creatures (like the Diaboli and the Malphera), whose physiology was utterly alien and horrific to humanity, there were also the creatures from the Vortex, a place beyond all dimensions and planes of existence who could cause inexplicable phenomenons with their mere presence. Even the [[Physical God|Immortals]] are afraid of such things.
* The [[Forgotten Realms]] has three Elder Evils. Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater was created when the blood of the orc god Gruumsh and the elven god Corellon Larethian merged. Its appearance is Lovecraftian-inspired (a massive body supported by three legs, tentacles everywhere) It lives in between the planes and is occasionally released by mad cultists (mostly of Malar) to, well, eat elves. And anything else in its way, of course, but it takes pleasure in destroying elven towns and cities and slowly devours them over hundreds of years. The second is Kezef the Chaos Hound, who appears as a massive, skinless hunting dog, its coat covered in maggots. It hunts for the Faithful, those who worship a god, and kills them, and then the maggots swarm over the body before returning to Kezef. The soul of the person slain is utterly destroyed, and not even the gods can bring them back. It also [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|bit the hand off Tyr when the gods were trying to chain Kezef down]]. The third is Dendar the Night Serpent, a serpent several hundred feet long that came into being when the first creatures had a nightmare. It feeds on (and causes) nightmares of every sentient being in the world. As far as Eldritch Abominations go, Dendar serves a somewhat useful purpose: if she wasn't around, people would remember every nightmare they've had in exact, excruciating detail, never wanting to sleep again, for fear of adding to their terror.
* The [[Forgotten Realms]] has three Elder Evils. Ityak-Ortheel the Elf-Eater was created when the blood of the orc god Gruumsh and the elven god Corellon Larethian merged. Its appearance is Lovecraftian-inspired (a massive body supported by three legs, tentacles everywhere) It lives in between the planes and is occasionally released by mad cultists (mostly of Malar) to, well, eat elves. And anything else in its way, of course, but it takes pleasure in destroying elven towns and cities and slowly devours them over hundreds of years. The second is Kezef the Chaos Hound, who appears as a massive, skinless hunting dog, its coat covered in maggots. It hunts for the Faithful, those who worship a god, and kills them, and then the maggots swarm over the body before returning to Kezef. The soul of the person slain is utterly destroyed, and not even the gods can bring them back. It also [[Does This Remind You of Anything?|bit the hand off Tyr when the gods were trying to chain Kezef down]]. The third is Dendar the Night Serpent, a serpent several hundred feet long that came into being when the first creatures had a nightmare. It feeds on (and causes) nightmares of every sentient being in the world. As far as Eldritch Abominations go, Dendar serves a somewhat useful purpose: if she wasn't around, people would remember every nightmare they've had in exact, excruciating detail, never wanting to sleep again, for fear of adding to their terror.
* [[Greyhawk]] has a few of these as well:
* [[Greyhawk]] has a few of these as well:
** The most horrifying example is Dread Tharizdun, a monstrosity that threatens all of existence and that the rest of the gods were forced to cooperate to imprison. Since 3E, Dread Tharizdun has also evolved to become a more general Abomination for the whole D&D cosmology.
** The most horrifying example is Dread Tharizdun, a monstrosity that threatens all of existence and that the rest of the gods were forced to cooperate to imprison. Since 3E, Dread Tharizdun has also evolved to become a more general Abomination for the whole D&D cosmology.
** Another example is the Elder Elemental God, a bizarre entity that, from what little we see of it, is all tentacles, eyes and sluglike bodies. Worshipped by some particularly depraved drow, some people think that the god is in fact another form of Dread Tharizdun, although canon remains unclear on the issue.
** Another example is the Elder Elemental God, a bizarre entity that, from what little we see of it, is all tentacles, eyes and sluglike bodies. Worshipped by some particularly depraved drow, some people think that the god is in fact another form of Dread Tharizdun, although canon remains unclear on the issue.
** An entity that actually exists on Oerth itself is the Mother, a bizarre entity served by a colony of degenerate and inbred humans who found it while they fled the destruction of their old empire. Physically, the Mother looks like a large mass of disgusting white ooze that slithers across the walls, floor and ceiling of the caverns it inhabits, with the ability to drain the life out of anything it makes physical contact with. Unlike the other examples, it's possible for the [[Player Characters]] to actually [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|punch the Mother out]], as it's mentioned in one of the adventure ideas provided by [[Gary Gygax]] in the original 1983 Greyhawk boxed set.
** An entity that actually exists on Oerth itself is the Mother, a bizarre entity served by a colony of degenerate and inbred humans who found it while they fled the destruction of their old empire. Physically, the Mother looks like a large mass of disgusting white ooze that slithers across the walls, floor and ceiling of the caverns it inhabits, with the ability to drain the life out of anything it makes physical contact with. Unlike the other examples, it's possible for the [[Player Characters]] to actually [[Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?|punch the Mother out]], as it's mentioned in one of the adventure ideas provided by [[Gary Gygax]] in the original 1983 Greyhawk boxed set.
* The [[Psychic Powers|psionic]] Slarecians of the third-party (by a [[White Wolf]] subsidiary, unsurprisingly) ''[[Scarred Lands]]'' setting. They're revealed to originally have been beings of pure thought, who were trapped in the world as it was forming, and now they want out. They've decided the only way to do that is to completely destroy the world. The guide book detailing them goes into details of their various experiments during their time on the world Scarn, which, befitting their origins, are pretty damn weird.
* The [[Psychic Powers|psionic]] Slarecians of the third-party (by a [[White Wolf]] subsidiary, unsurprisingly) ''[[Scarred Lands]]'' setting. They're revealed to originally have been beings of pure thought, who were trapped in the world as it was forming, and now they want out. They've decided the only way to do that is to completely destroy the world. The guide book detailing them goes into details of their various experiments during their time on the world Scarn, which, befitting their origins, are pretty damn weird.
** To a lesser extent, the Titans, the original rulers of Scarn. While they usually appear humanoid, and can easily interact with mortals without driving them insane, they're also powerful to the point of not having statistics, they usually see mortals as irrelevant, and their mindsets are incomprehensible.
** To a lesser extent, the Titans, the original rulers of Scarn. While they usually appear humanoid, and can easily interact with mortals without driving them insane, they're also powerful to the point of not having statistics, they usually see mortals as irrelevant, and their mindsets are incomprehensible.
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** Sixth, well, apart from Gugs, plenty other Mythos creatures found their way to the setting, such as the [[Blob Monster|Shoggoths]], [[Clock Roaches|Hounds of Tindalos]] and [[Humanoid Abomination|Denizens of Leng]]; in fact, [[Eldritch Location|Leng]] is [[Another Dimension]] that has infrequent bleedovers with Golarion, [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|with obvious results]].
** Sixth, well, apart from Gugs, plenty other Mythos creatures found their way to the setting, such as the [[Blob Monster|Shoggoths]], [[Clock Roaches|Hounds of Tindalos]] and [[Humanoid Abomination|Denizens of Leng]]; in fact, [[Eldritch Location|Leng]] is [[Another Dimension]] that has infrequent bleedovers with Golarion, [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|with obvious results]].
* Naturally, Chaosium's ''[[The Call of Cthulhu]]'' game is just ''full'' of them. One of the basic stats of PCs, along with the normal STR, DEX, CON, WIS, INT and such, is SAN. That's ''[[Sanity Meter|Sanity]]''. It's arguably the most important single stat unless you ''want'' to keep rolling up new characters.
* Naturally, Chaosium's ''[[The Call of Cthulhu]]'' game is just ''full'' of them. One of the basic stats of PCs, along with the normal STR, DEX, CON, WIS, INT and such, is SAN. That's ''[[Sanity Meter|Sanity]]''. It's arguably the most important single stat unless you ''want'' to keep rolling up new characters.
** And, driving the trope home, increasing your Cthulhu Mythos skill ''directly'' [[Driven to Madness|reduces the extent to which]] [[Go Mad From the Revelation|your lost Sanity]] can be regained. [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]] indeed.
** And, driving the trope home, increasing your Cthulhu Mythos skill ''directly'' [[Driven to Madness|reduces the extent to which]] [[Go Mad from the Revelation|your lost Sanity]] can be regained. [[Things Man Was Not Meant to Know]] indeed.
** There's also a board game based on Call of Cthulhu by [[Fantasy Flight]] called ''[[Arkham Horror]]'' which has tokens for hit points, knowledge of other worlds, and (you guessed it) sanity. Every turn, there's a high chance of a gate opening to another universe, and as more gates open, more monsters come flooding through ... and as the game progresses, the Doom Count slowly rises. If it gets high enough, the Old One (Cthulhu or one of his cousins) appears and the players have to battle it. (Each [[Eldritch Abomination]] has special powers -- Azathoth's power is "if summoned, the game is over. [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|Azathoth destroys the world.]]")
** There's also a board game based on Call of Cthulhu by [[Fantasy Flight]] called ''[[Arkham Horror]]'' which has tokens for hit points, knowledge of other worlds, and (you guessed it) sanity. Every turn, there's a high chance of a gate opening to another universe, and as more gates open, more monsters come flooding through ... and as the game progresses, the Doom Count slowly rises. If it gets high enough, the Old One (Cthulhu or one of his cousins) appears and the players have to battle it. (Each [[Eldritch Abomination]] has special powers -- Azathoth's power is "if summoned, the game is over. [[Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies|Azathoth destroys the world.]]")
*** And now there's spinoff game ''Mansions of Madness'', which is contained in a compact [[Haunted House]] format.
*** And now there's spinoff game ''Mansions of Madness'', which is contained in a compact [[Haunted House]] format.
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*** The three kinds of Primordial Exalted -- Alchemicals, Infernals and Abyssals -- are gradually evolving into something closer to their patrons. Alchemicals gradually turn into cities, but the others have only existed about three years and as such have had nowhere near enough time to turn into... whatever it is they end up becoming.
*** The three kinds of Primordial Exalted -- Alchemicals, Infernals and Abyssals -- are gradually evolving into something closer to their patrons. Alchemicals gradually turn into cities, but the others have only existed about three years and as such have had nowhere near enough time to turn into... whatever it is they end up becoming.
*** ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' revealed Yozi charms which define the ability of Primordials to exist in their [[Genius Loci|worldform jouten]]<ref>Technically, ''all'' of a Primordial's jouten are defined by charms (as are all of their capabilities and personality aspects). The most accurate way to describe a Primordial is as a sentient collection of charms built around a central theme.</ref>. Which a Green Sun Prince can learn. Which means that ''[[Transhuman Aliens|every Green Sun Prince is actually an infant Primordial]]''.
*** ''Return of the Scarlet Empress'' revealed Yozi charms which define the ability of Primordials to exist in their [[Genius Loci|worldform jouten]]<ref>Technically, ''all'' of a Primordial's jouten are defined by charms (as are all of their capabilities and personality aspects). The most accurate way to describe a Primordial is as a sentient collection of charms built around a central theme.</ref>. Which a Green Sun Prince can learn. Which means that ''[[Transhuman Aliens|every Green Sun Prince is actually an infant Primordial]]''.
*** To up the fun, PDF supplement ''The Broken-Winged Crane'' gives the Green Sun Princes another path to transcendence, the Heresy charms. Instead of turning yourself into a world, you gain the ability to create worlds within yourself.
*** To up the fun, PDF supplement ''The Broken-Winged Crane'' gives the Green Sun Princes another path to transcendence, the Heresy charms. Instead of turning yourself into a world, you gain the ability to create worlds within yourself.
*** Did we also mention that once the Exaltation shard becomes redundant, it is released to be implanted in another Infernal...?
*** Did we also mention that once the Exaltation shard becomes redundant, it is released to be implanted in another Infernal...?
* The Greater Titans of ''[[Scion]]'' are beyond mortal ken. They're beyond ''divine'' ken. They are so divorced from reality [[Logic Bomb|(despite being incarations of its primal concepts)]] that they had to divide their power among Avatars just to have a clue what they were doing. Each one is its own internal world.
* The Greater Titans of ''[[Scion]]'' are beyond mortal ken. They're beyond ''divine'' ken. They are so divorced from reality [[Logic Bomb|(despite being incarations of its primal concepts)]] that they had to divide their power among Avatars just to have a clue what they were doing. Each one is its own internal world.
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* In the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[Monsters and Other Childish Things]]'', one of the types of monsters used in its dark and twisted take on [[Mons]] are Eldritch Abominations. The non-statted sample monster Dewdrop is an Eldritch Abomination take on a unicorn, while one of the statted sample monsters is a Lovecraftian monstrosity merged with a teddy bear named [[Shout-Out|Yog-So`Soft]]. Both these and the more "normal" monsters tend to cause bouts of panic and madness in people who see them as well, further adding to it. There are also a few non-[[Mon]] antagonists that are also abominations.
* In the [[Tabletop Game]] ''[[Monsters and Other Childish Things]]'', one of the types of monsters used in its dark and twisted take on [[Mons]] are Eldritch Abominations. The non-statted sample monster Dewdrop is an Eldritch Abomination take on a unicorn, while one of the statted sample monsters is a Lovecraftian monstrosity merged with a teddy bear named [[Shout-Out|Yog-So`Soft]]. Both these and the more "normal" monsters tend to cause bouts of panic and madness in people who see them as well, further adding to it. There are also a few non-[[Mon]] antagonists that are also abominations.
* In ''[[The Whispering Vault]]'', the player characters are all minor Eldritch Abominations who act as a "police force" that apprehends and retrieves other abominations who have illicitly made their way to Earth. {{spoiler|Reality is also literally [[All Just a Dream]] cooked up by those abominations who haven't gone rogue.}}
* In ''[[The Whispering Vault]]'', the player characters are all minor Eldritch Abominations who act as a "police force" that apprehends and retrieves other abominations who have illicitly made their way to Earth. {{spoiler|Reality is also literally [[All Just a Dream]] cooked up by those abominations who haven't gone rogue.}}
* ''[[Warhammer 40000]]'' has the Chaos Gods and their Daemons who reside in [[The Legions of Hell|The]] [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|Warp]].
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]'' has the Chaos Gods and their Daemons who reside in [[The Legions of Hell|The]] [[Hyperspace Is a Scary Place|Warp]].
** The Enslavers, who at first take on almost comprehensible forms of cyclopean octopi and swim in the warp currents. Seem kind of cute until you realize that even the hiveminded Tyranids and other creatures of the warp like Daemons have trouble with them.
** The Enslavers, who at first take on almost comprehensible forms of cyclopean octopi and swim in the warp currents. Seem kind of cute until you realize that even the hiveminded Tyranids and other creatures of the warp like Daemons have trouble with them.
** While the Tyranids may seem more like a [[Horde of Alien Locusts]], the utterly alien nature of said [[Hive Mind]] and the metaphysical effects of a Hive Fleet's presence (the Shadow in the Warp, which screws with communication, sensors and navigation and causes insanity in psychically sensitive beings) is rather telling. And at one point it was hinted that they were running from [[Always a Bigger Fish|something even worse]].
** While the Tyranids may seem more like a [[Horde of Alien Locusts]], the utterly alien nature of said [[Hive Mind]] and the metaphysical effects of a Hive Fleet's presence (the Shadow in the Warp, which screws with communication, sensors and navigation and causes insanity in psychically sensitive beings) is rather telling. And at one point it was hinted that they were running from [[Always a Bigger Fish|something even worse]].
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*** To clarify further: The player's role is that of a Planeswalker, one of the most powerful kinds of beings in existence. The starting life total is sufficient to survive multiple attacks from [[Kraken and Leviathan|Leviathans, Kraken]] or [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|Ancient Dragons]]. Marit Lage will kill you in ''[[One-Hit Kill|one hit]]''.
*** To clarify further: The player's role is that of a Planeswalker, one of the most powerful kinds of beings in existence. The starting life total is sufficient to survive multiple attacks from [[Kraken and Leviathan|Leviathans, Kraken]] or [[Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons|Ancient Dragons]]. Marit Lage will kill you in ''[[One-Hit Kill|one hit]]''.
*** The fluff for the ''Zendikar'' block strongly hints at the existence of an ''entire race'' of Cosmic Horrors called the Eldrazi, all of which got locked away inside planets by a coalition of aforementioned planeswalkers. The name of the final set in that block? [[Oh Crap|Rise of the Eldrazi]]. The (comparatively) good news is that this is probably localized for now to Zendikar, and (hopefully) will be stilled there by Jace and/or Chandra. Still, there's something very unsettling about them. In M:tG, everything except lands and artifacts have at least one out of the five colors of mana associated with them; those mana colors define what aspects of reality they are most attuned to. Lands, meanwhile, almost always supply mana, and when colorless mana is supplied, that usually means mana too raw to have a particular slant; think of "colorless" as actually meaning "no particular attunement to a specific aspect of existence". The Eldrazi in question? ''They don't '''have''' a color.'' And no, they're not artifacts (the only type of colorless spell card until then). They're alien to ''the structure of the known multiverse''. And if that Annihilator keyword is anything to go by, wherever they go, a bit of the multiverse there gets destroyed. And to think that they were once worshipped as the main gods of Zendikar...
*** The fluff for the ''Zendikar'' block strongly hints at the existence of an ''entire race'' of Cosmic Horrors called the Eldrazi, all of which got locked away inside planets by a coalition of aforementioned planeswalkers. The name of the final set in that block? [[Oh Crap|Rise of the Eldrazi]]. The (comparatively) good news is that this is probably localized for now to Zendikar, and (hopefully) will be stilled there by Jace and/or Chandra. Still, there's something very unsettling about them. In M:tG, everything except lands and artifacts have at least one out of the five colors of mana associated with them; those mana colors define what aspects of reality they are most attuned to. Lands, meanwhile, almost always supply mana, and when colorless mana is supplied, that usually means mana too raw to have a particular slant; think of "colorless" as actually meaning "no particular attunement to a specific aspect of existence". The Eldrazi in question? ''They don't '''have''' a color.'' And no, they're not artifacts (the only type of colorless spell card until then). They're alien to ''the structure of the known multiverse''. And if that Annihilator keyword is anything to go by, wherever they go, a bit of the multiverse there gets destroyed. And to think that they were once worshipped as the main gods of Zendikar...
**** Now that the whole set has been revealed and released, there are THREE Mythic Rare Legendary Eldrazi: Kozilek, Emrakul and Ulamog. These can't be killed permanently unless you exile them since as soon as they hit your graveyard from anywhere, you shuffle your entire graveyard into your deck. There are six more non-Legendary Eldrazi, the smallest of which is a 7/7 and is COMMON. Of these six, 2 are common, 2 are uncommon, and 2 are rare. All of them have the Annihilator ability. Plus there are several cards that create Eldrazi Spawn (small creatures that can be sacrificed for mana to help cast the big guys). And there are four non-creature colorless Eldrazi spells with considerable power. Notably, the mythic rare ''All is Dust'' [[Kill'Em All|destroys everything that has a color]] and the rare ''Eldrazi Conscription'' [[One-Winged Angel|turns any creature into an extremely powerful Eldrazi]].
**** Now that the whole set has been revealed and released, there are THREE Mythic Rare Legendary Eldrazi: Kozilek, Emrakul and Ulamog. These can't be killed permanently unless you exile them since as soon as they hit your graveyard from anywhere, you shuffle your entire graveyard into your deck. There are six more non-Legendary Eldrazi, the smallest of which is a 7/7 and is COMMON. Of these six, 2 are common, 2 are uncommon, and 2 are rare. All of them have the Annihilator ability. Plus there are several cards that create Eldrazi Spawn (small creatures that can be sacrificed for mana to help cast the big guys). And there are four non-creature colorless Eldrazi spells with considerable power. Notably, the mythic rare ''All is Dust'' [[Kill'Em All|destroys everything that has a color]] and the rare ''Eldrazi Conscription'' [[One-Winged Angel|turns any creature into an extremely powerful Eldrazi]].
** Of course, there was the original [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2093 Cosmic Horror] if you go WAAAAAY back to the ''Legends'' expansion. The art says it all.
** Of course, there was the original [http://gatherer.wizards.com/Pages/Card/Details.aspx?multiverseid=2093 Cosmic Horror] if you go WAAAAAY back to the ''Legends'' expansion. The art says it all.
** The "Horror" creature type was actually used as a grab-bag for a blend of vat-grown monsters, demons, experiments [[Gone Horribly Wrong]] ([[Gone Horribly Right|or worse]]), and other creatures that shouldn't have been for various reasons. That said, many are indeed unbelievably horrific things that will burn your sanity.
** The "Horror" creature type was actually used as a grab-bag for a blend of vat-grown monsters, demons, experiments [[Gone Horribly Wrong]] ([[Gone Horribly Right|or worse]]), and other creatures that shouldn't have been for various reasons. That said, many are indeed unbelievably horrific things that will burn your sanity.
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** Now with a second expansion, based on [[The Unspeakable Vault of Doom]], with artwork by the webcomic's artist! [[Catch Phrase|Yum Yum!]]
** Now with a second expansion, based on [[The Unspeakable Vault of Doom]], with artwork by the webcomic's artist! [[Catch Phrase|Yum Yum!]]
* ''[[Betrayal at House on the Hill]]'' has, as one of its 'haunt' scenarios, 'The Stars are Right'. Just guess what survivors are trying to stop, and what the traitor is trying to do.
* ''[[Betrayal at House on the Hill]]'' has, as one of its 'haunt' scenarios, 'The Stars are Right'. Just guess what survivors are trying to stop, and what the traitor is trying to do.
* ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' {{spoiler|deliberately subverts this trope, at least in a way. What's scary about the universe isn't that it's so alien and vast and inhospitable to humans. What's truly scary is that}} [[Arc Words|You Did It.]]
* ''[[Unknown Armies]]'' {{spoiler|deliberately subverts this trope, at least in a way. What's scary about the universe isn't that it's so alien and vast and inhospitable to humans. What's truly scary is that}} [[Arc Words|You Did It.]]
* [[Precursors|The Ancients]] in ''[[Traveller]]''. {{spoiler|Especially Grandfather, who uplifted the rest, and exterminated them by himself after [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|they outlived their usefulness]].}}
* [[Precursors|The Ancients]] in ''[[Traveller]]''. {{spoiler|Especially Grandfather, who uplifted the rest, and exterminated them by himself after [[You Have Outlived Your Usefulness|they outlived their usefulness]].}}
* The [[Mad God|Mad Gods]] from ''[[Witchcraft]]''. When they intrude on our reality, they spread [[The Corruption|taint]], which causes [[Body Horror|mutations]], [[Go Mad From the Revelation|madness]] and [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|a weakening of the veil separating universes]], potentially allowing more to come through. In the follow-up game ''Armageddon'', a [[Religion of Evil]] dedicated to one of them called the Leviathan is currently trying to conquer the world in its name; [[It Got Worse|it's about halfway done]]. You know it's bad when most angels and demons get to the conclusion that [[Enemy Mine|they have to work together if they want any chance of stopping it.]]
* The [[Mad God|Mad Gods]] from ''[[Witchcraft]]''. When they intrude on our reality, they spread [[The Corruption|taint]], which causes [[Body Horror|mutations]], [[Go Mad from the Revelation|madness]] and [[Reality Is Out to Lunch|a weakening of the veil separating universes]], potentially allowing more to come through. In the follow-up game ''Armageddon'', a [[Religion of Evil]] dedicated to one of them called the Leviathan is currently trying to conquer the world in its name; [[It Got Worse|it's about halfway done]]. You know it's bad when most angels and demons get to the conclusion that [[Enemy Mine|they have to work together if they want any chance of stopping it.]]
* [[Eclipse Phase]]: Encountering ''any'' alien life triggers a stress check, and the only canon sapient species that transhumanity has contacted resemble [[Starfish Aliens|giant slime molds]]. And then there's the [[Deus Est Machina|Seed AI]] that can potentially achieve god-like intelligence and the effects of some strains of the [[The Virus|Exsurgent virus]] are not [[Body Horror|pretty]].
* [[Eclipse Phase]]: Encountering ''any'' alien life triggers a stress check, and the only canon sapient species that transhumanity has contacted resemble [[Starfish Aliens|giant slime molds]]. And then there's the [[Deus Est Machina|Seed AI]] that can potentially achieve god-like intelligence and the effects of some strains of the [[The Virus|Exsurgent virus]] are not [[Body Horror|pretty]].
** Warning, GM only info ahead {{spoiler|the ETI, [[Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun and Profit|a Kardashev III or maybe IV entity]] that created the Exsurgent Virus. Described as being [[Time Abyss|eons old]] and capable of megascale engineering with an understanding of physics, matter, energy, and universal laws that makes all of transhuman knowledge seem insignificant. And for some reason it has seeded the galaxy with probes that infect near-singularity intelligences with civilization destroying viruses.}}
** Warning, GM only info ahead {{spoiler|the ETI, [[Abusing the Kardashev Scale For Fun and Profit|a Kardashev III or maybe IV entity]] that created the Exsurgent Virus. Described as being [[Time Abyss|eons old]] and capable of megascale engineering with an understanding of physics, matter, energy, and universal laws that makes all of transhuman knowledge seem insignificant. And for some reason it has seeded the galaxy with probes that infect near-singularity intelligences with civilization destroying viruses.}}
* In Glorantha (as seen in [[Rune Quest]] and other sources), Chaos is like this. One major empire has an enslaved Chaos god/demon/thingy called the Crimson Bat. It's huge, it flies, it is covered with eyes, it glows with unholy energy, and it will eat your soul. It ''is'' crimson, and I suppose it's at least as much like a bat as it's like anything else... which isn't much.
* In Glorantha (as seen in [[RuneQuest]] and other sources), Chaos is like this. One major empire has an enslaved Chaos god/demon/thingy called the Crimson Bat. It's huge, it flies, it is covered with eyes, it glows with unholy energy, and it will eat your soul. It ''is'' crimson, and I suppose it's at least as much like a bat as it's like anything else... which isn't much.
* ''[[Nobilis]]'' has three main types. First, the True Gods- some of the earliest gods to come into being, to be found below the world in an enormous mass of tentacles and weirdness, [[Interplay of Sex and Violence|simultaneously fighting and mating with each other]]. Next, the Excrucians, beings of not-being from outside reality who aim to destroy the universe, and finally the Actuals, the precursors to the True Gods- the movement like life, before it learned to live. The Actuals are vital to the existence of reality- but if one is summoned into the world, it will consume ''everything'' in a futile attempt to attain self-awareness if it isn't stopped. The True Gods, on the other hand, could quite possibly be the guys who empower the PCs.
* ''[[Nobilis]]'' has three main types. First, the True Gods- some of the earliest gods to come into being, to be found below the world in an enormous mass of tentacles and weirdness, [[Interplay of Sex and Violence|simultaneously fighting and mating with each other]]. Next, the Excrucians, beings of not-being from outside reality who aim to destroy the universe, and finally the Actuals, the precursors to the True Gods- the movement like life, before it learned to live. The Actuals are vital to the existence of reality- but if one is summoned into the world, it will consume ''everything'' in a futile attempt to attain self-awareness if it isn't stopped. The True Gods, on the other hand, could quite possibly be the guys who empower the PCs.
* The ''Gumshoe System'' has openly embraced the concept for its first settings- there is of course ''[[Trail Of Cthulhu]]'', their own take on the [[Cthulhu Mythos|Mythos]], but there is also the basic campaign world for ''Esoterrorists'' and ''Fear Itself'', which they have given the [[Sarcasm Mode|cutesy moniker]] of '''[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|World of Unremitting Horror]]'''. The monsters, most of them described in the supplement ''The Book of Unremitting Horror'', are for the most part ghastly [[Humanoid Abomination|humanoid abominations]] that seem straight out of one of [[Clive Barker]]'s more horrifying stories, many also blurring the line with other monster types such as [[Our Demons Are Different|demons]], [[The Undead|undead]] and [[The Fair Folk|fairies]], the worst being [[Reality Warper|Reality Warpers]] from "The Outer Black"; many others [[The Heartless|feed on and/or are created by the worst aspects of human nature]] (for example [[Snuff Film|the Snuff Golem]]). The entries, which include numerous fiction pieces and detailed descriptions of how to identify the things' depredations through forensic sciences all add up to some seriously [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* The ''Gumshoe System'' has openly embraced the concept for its first settings- there is of course ''[[Trail Of Cthulhu]]'', their own take on the [[Cthulhu Mythos|Mythos]], but there is also the basic campaign world for ''Esoterrorists'' and ''Fear Itself'', which they have given the [[Sarcasm Mode|cutesy moniker]] of '''[[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|World of Unremitting Horror]]'''. The monsters, most of them described in the supplement ''The Book of Unremitting Horror'', are for the most part ghastly [[Humanoid Abomination|humanoid abominations]] that seem straight out of one of [[Clive Barker]]'s more horrifying stories, many also blurring the line with other monster types such as [[Our Demons Are Different|demons]], [[The Undead|undead]] and [[The Fair Folk|fairies]], the worst being [[Reality Warper|Reality Warpers]] from "The Outer Black"; many others [[The Heartless|feed on and/or are created by the worst aspects of human nature]] (for example [[Snuff Film|the Snuff Golem]]). The entries, which include numerous fiction pieces and detailed descriptions of how to identify the things' depredations through forensic sciences all add up to some seriously [[Nightmare Fuel]].
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' RPG has the DarkStryder, a self-aware supercomputer created by a [[Precursor]]-type race that has created several species of its own and looks like [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080922130707/starwars/images/6/6b/DarkStryder.jpg THIS], and the Mnggal-Mnggal, a sentient fluid adept at [[Grand Theft Me|possessing bodies]] so horrible that even the Celestials (a [[Precursor]] race even more mysterious than the DarkStryder's creators, and believed to be nearly omnipotent) didn't want anything to do with it and sealed it away. [[Word of God]] from the creator of the latter abomination says it's supposed to be the same type of being as fellow ''[[Star Wars]]'' abomination [[The Crystal Star|Waru]].
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' RPG has the DarkStryder, a self-aware supercomputer created by a [[Precursor]]-type race that has created several species of its own and looks like [http://images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20080922130707/starwars/images/6/6b/DarkStryder.jpg THIS], and the Mnggal-Mnggal, a sentient fluid adept at [[Grand Theft Me|possessing bodies]] so horrible that even the Celestials (a [[Precursor]] race even more mysterious than the DarkStryder's creators, and believed to be nearly omnipotent) didn't want anything to do with it and sealed it away. [[Word of God]] from the creator of the latter abomination says it's supposed to be the same type of being as fellow ''[[Star Wars]]'' abomination [[The Crystal Star|Waru]].
* Well, though the RPG of [[Mortasheen]] isn't out yet, there are three creatures in the setting so powerful they might as well be some of these. Called [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Destroyers]], these unfathomably powerful weapons are as follows.
* Well, though the RPG of [[Mortasheen]] isn't out yet, there are three creatures in the setting so powerful they might as well be some of these. Called [[Names to Run Away From Really Fast|The Destroyers]], these unfathomably powerful weapons are as follows.
** There is [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/hestermoan.htm Hestermoan], a horrible Nuckleavee-esque monstrosity created "as an instrument of genocide against an entire civilization, and so effective that their very name remains unrecoverable". It is basically every variant of [[Plaguemaster]] rolled into one horrible monstrosity, including a [[Hate Plague]] to boot.
** There is [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/hestermoan.htm Hestermoan], a horrible Nuckleavee-esque monstrosity created "as an instrument of genocide against an entire civilization, and so effective that their very name remains unrecoverable". It is basically every variant of [[Plaguemaster]] rolled into one horrible monstrosity, including a [[Hate Plague]] to boot.
** Then there is the [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/tormanshee.htm Tormanshee], a creature that creates that can be best described as a neural network of [[Mind Rape]]. [[Oh Crap|And every mind it adds to the the network increases its horrible mind rape radius]]. Oddly enough, it is also a [[Non-Malicious Monster]], which just serves to make it even more disturbing.
** Then there is the [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/tormanshee.htm Tormanshee], a creature that creates that can be best described as a neural network of [[Mind Rape]]. [[Oh Crap|And every mind it adds to the the network increases its horrible mind rape radius]]. Oddly enough, it is also a [[Non-Malicious Monster]], which just serves to make it even more disturbing.
** And finally, there is [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/mothneaser.htm Mothneaser], an enormous pillar of flesh with such perfect control over its blood that it can create massive [[Shapeshifter Weapon|Shapeshifter Weapons]], enormous Blood [[Golem|Golems]], and even use victims as [[People Puppets]]. And also, [[From a Single Cell|even a single blood cell of it's can multiply inside other creatures]] and consume them from the inside-out.
** And finally, there is [http://www.bogleech.com/mortasheen/mothneaser.htm Mothneaser], an enormous pillar of flesh with such perfect control over its blood that it can create massive [[Shapeshifter Weapon|Shapeshifter Weapons]], enormous Blood [[Golem|Golems]], and even use victims as [[People Puppets]]. And also, [[From a Single Cell|even a single blood cell of it's can multiply inside other creatures]] and consume them from the inside-out.
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