Weekly Wonders - Eldritch Archetypes Volume X - Archetypes of Yig

Revenge is a Dish Best Served Cold-Blooded…

The eldritch, the strange, and the weird are often relegated to the domains of villains and NPCs in fantasy, with the good guys being the ones who stand in the way of the dark things that remain just beyond our perception, which we can never truly understand. But sometimes, it can be fun to take on the mantle of the otherworldly, and to embrace the alien terrors of the cosmos. Each installment of Weekly Wonders: Eldritch Archetypes contains five archetypes for eldritch characters—those that are weird, alien, and otherworldly, who don’t fit in with normal society—as well as a cleric domain devoted to a specific mythos entity or race.

For this book, we focus on Yig, a mythos deity known as the Father of Serpents, who first appeared in The Curse of Yig, by Zealia Bishop and H.P. Lovecraft. A cruel and vindictive deity of serpents and reptiles, Yig is the patron of all things cold-blooded and scaled, and the inspiration of numerous serpent cults. Beyond this, Yig is known mostly for his terrible and malicious vengeance, which has no peer. Whether or not they mention this dark deity directly, each archetype in this book builds upon these themes of reptilian abilities, birthing terrible reptilian-human hybrids, and seeking dark vengeance. This book contains the following archetypes:

• The serpent warrior, a fighter archetype that gains numerous serpentine powers, including a poisonous bite and legs that fuse together into a serpentine tail.
• The snake charmer of Yig, a mesmerist archetype that is particularly effective at entrancing others, and can even transform his victims into snakes.
• The Yig bloodline, for sorcerers descended from this dark god, who gain mastery over serpents and slowly become more reptilian themselves.
• The Yig’s cobra, a swashbuckler archetype that fights with serpentine grace.
• The chosen of Yig, a warpriest archetype that can control snakes and even sire the dreaded children of Yig.
• A bonus cleric domain devoted to those who worship Yig.

Whether you're about to embark on a campaign of eldritch horror (such as the official Paizo adventure path dealing with strange and alien entities), or you just want an excuse to play a servant of the unknowable and uncaring cosmic entities of the Cthulhu mythos, this book has lots of tantalizing options to offer. Even GMs can get in on the fun, as several of the archetypes here are perfect for insane cultist NPCs as well, and can make for exciting and memorable encounters.