Azathoth, the Daemon Sultan
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Sandy Petersen's Cthulhu Mythos - Pathfinder
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Azathoth, the Daemon Sultan

CR 30; XP 9,830,400
CN Outer God of entropy, madness, and mindless destruction
Primary Source H. P. Lovecraft, “Azathoth”

Cult

Domains Chaos, Destruction, Madness, Sun, Void
Subdomains Catastrophe, Dark Tapestry, Entropy, Insanity, Nightmare, Stars
Favored Weapon warhammer
Symbol eight-pointed star
Temple devastated terrain, impact craters, ruined buildings
Worshipers doomsayers
Servitors worshipers of the Outer Gods

Influence (DC 35)

Speed 2 miles, fly 4 miles, swim 2 miles
Area 90-ft. radius (initial area); Nucleus 30-ft. square (initial nucleus)
AC 48; Saves +31; hp 760
Effects cosmic force, oblivious, pseudopods, ruinous growth

Defeat

Combat Azathoth can be banished though battle by reducing its hit points to 0. Note that each round its ruinous growth continues, however, it heals all damage suffered. Only by reducing its influence hp to 0 in a single round can it be banished via violence.

Disinterest Fortunately, in Azathoth’s mindless rage, it might decide simply to return to its throne at the center of the universe and stop its destruction. At the end of any round that its ruinous growth has occurred, there is a flat 10% chance (–1% per Elder Influence that overlaps his own influence, i.e. a Great Old One, Outer God, or servitor of the Outer Gods found within its influence) that Azathoth simply leaves and its influence immediately vanishes.

Influence Effects

Cosmic Force Once Azathoth is enraged, it fills its area of influence with a disruptive cosmic force. A creature that begins its turn exposed to this cosmic force gains a –1 penalty on all saving throws. Penalties from multiple rounds stack and persist as long as the creature remains in the area of influence. All accumulated penalties vanish as soon as a creature starts its turn outside of Azathoth’s area of influence. Any spellcaster that begins its turn in Azathoth’s influence must make a DC 35 Will save or lose one randomly determined spell slot or prepared spell. A lost spell slot or prepared spell is recovered normally the next time the creature regains spells. This is a curse effect.

Oblivious When Azathoth’s influence is first established, the Outer God does not immediately notice or react. Its cosmic force, pseudopod, and ruinous growth effects do not function while it remains oblivious. At the end of each round, there is a chance that Azathoth becomes enraged. Any attack against its influence automatically enrages it. In order to calculate the percentage chance that Azathoth becomes enraged without being attacked, divide 100 by the number of worshipers present in the influenced area. Each servitor of the Outer Gods present in this area counts as 100 worshipers, and each Outer God or Great Old One (including overlapping influence) present (other than Azathoth itself) counts as 1000 worshipers. Multiply the result by 100 and that is the percentage chance at the end of any round that Azathoth becomes enraged. If no worshipers, servitors, Great Old Ones, or Outer Gods are present in the area, the chance of Azathoth becoming enraged at the end of a round is 100%.

Pseudopods When Azathoth is enraged, its pseudopods thrash out randomly in the area of its influence. All creatures and objects in the area automatically take 2d6 points of bludgeoning damage. In addition, 1d6 creatures are specifically targeted each round. These targets are randomly determined from creatures that attacked Azathoth in a previous round. If no creatures attacked, the targets are randomly determined from all creatures in the area. If only one pseudopod attacks, it makes a +41 melee attack against its target. For each additional pseudopod beyond the first that attacks in a round, all pseudopods suffer a cumulative –5 penalty on the attack roll, so if all six thrash out in one round, they effectively have a +16 melee attack against their targets. A hit from one of Azathoth’s pseudopods inflicts 1d100 points of bludgeoning damage.

Ruinous Growth Azathoth’s influence is immobile, but once it is enraged, it begins to rapidly grow in size. At the start of the second round of enragement, the area of Azathoth’s influence and its nucleus doubles in size. Thus, at the start of the first round of enragement Azathoth’s influence has the basic 90-ft. radius, which increases to a 180-ft. radius at the start of round 2, then to a 360-ft. radius at the start of round 3, to a 720-ft. radius at the start of round 4, and so on. Each round Azathoth’s influence grows, it heals all damage it has suffered. At the GM’s option, certain rituals that can prevent this healing or even stop its ruinous growth could exist, but once Azathoth’s anger is roused, typically only its disinterest (see “Defeat”) can save the world. Otherwise, after just over 2 minutes (22 rounds to be precise), Azathoth grows so large and inflicts so much harm that the entire world is devastated.

Azathoth is a personification of both the original cosmic explosion and the mindless hostility of the universe. It roils and churns forever at the center of reality, writhing mindlessly to the droning chants and flutes of other Outer Gods. Azathoth is claimed to be both blind and idiotic, but its primal urges are immediately fulfilled by Nyarlathotep, its messenger. Azathoth does not usually have a true cult, for in its mindless purity, it is incapable of gratitude or reward. Only the psychotically malign would ever attempt to contact or awaken such a being.

When Azathoth is summoned, an aspect or avatar of the Daemon Sultan is made to appear at the summoning site. It starts out comparatively small— only thirty or so feet across—but it soon begins to grow. It expands larger and larger, growing ever less stable. The risk is immense, for there is truly no limit to this growth process, and whole worlds—nay, entire solar systems have been destroyed by Azathoth's appearance. As a result, typically Azathoth is only summoned by error, or by someone who is reckless beyond normal sanity.

Azathoth Enraged

When Azathoth appears, it has a chance of being angered and beginning its cycle of growth and destruction. This chance is reduced in the presence of large numbers of worshipers chanting and playing instruments to soothe it. The presence of servitors of the Outer Gods or even other Outer Gods or Great Old Ones themselves also has a more potent calming effect.

Once Azathoth is angered, its influence grows with terrifying speed. The area blasted by its rage is totally ruined and blackened. Azathoth’s vast pseudopods do catastrophic damage even as Azathoth also emits cosmic force at the nuclear level that disrupts magic.

Fortunately, Azathoth’s mindless thrashing is but a small thing to it, and it might decide simply to return its avatar to its personal presence out of disinterest, stopping the destruction. Azathoth's avatar also immediately returns to its source and the attack ends if it takes sufficient damage in a single round (as it generally heals all damage at the start of each round).

Typically, it draws all present Great Old Ones or Outer Gods back to its eternal court at the center of reality. Sometimes, servitors of the Outer Gods remain behind in its wake.

Sandy's Notes: Obliviousness and Disinterest in Action

Under Nyarlathotep’s personal tutelage, a mad wizard calls up Azathoth, after first summoning four Servitors. The total “worshipers” count as 1000 (Nyarlathotep), 400 (the servitors) and 1 (the wizard), for a total of 100/1401. This gives a 7% chance of Azathoth awakening each round, which the wizard feels is a fair trade for the massive power and knowledge he hopes to tap from Azathoth. After the first few rounds of Azathoth’s presence, though, Nyarlathotep suddenly and unexpectedly departs. Now Azathoth’s chance of being angered is 100/401, or 25% each round. Even the mad wizard is worried about those odds, and he immediately starts the process of trying to dismiss Azathoth, hoping to achieve this before the Daemon Sultan begins to explode outward with terrifying force. If Nyarlathotep and four Servitors were present when Azathoth was awakened, Azathoth’s chance of spontaneously vanishing after awakening are 10 – 5, or 5%.

Note that the same forces which keep Azathoth placated and (relatively) amicable tend to maintain its state of rage once activated!

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