Alternative Great Old One Familiars

Sane minds shirk from attempting to comprehend the shear number of creatures that live beyond the borders of conventional reality, out past the stars where the Great Old Ones dwell. Indeed, the warped, alien chidren of the elder things are legion, and only madness comes to those that dwell on their myriad forms, faces, or lack thereof. Still, some of these elder spawn make ideal magical familiars for those who have struck the appropriate pacts of power. Warlocks seeking to understand the secrets beyond time and the cosmos are well-suited to have an eldritch companion to assist them in their journey skirting insanity. These creatures offer councel, or companionship, and protection to those mad enough to seek it from such a source.

Flumphling

Flumphs, while an eclectic and seldom-seen species, are nevertheless in the habit of seeding diverse and far-flung areas with their offspring in an attempt to grow new flumph colonies. Once every two or so years when the budding season is upon them, some flumphs travel to the far off reaches of the Underdark to allow a new home and plenty of growing room for the future flumphlings budding off the body of the adult. While the new flumphlings sometimes do generate new colonies, many young flumphs grow up without a colony to call their own, and typically wander around the Underdark, feeding on the ambient psychic energy from much larger threats.

Flumphlings need large amounts of energy and food to fully grow, and have been known to follow around powerful arcane casters as a reliable food source and source of companionship. Most flumphlings prefer to associate themselves with powerful beings on the good end of the alignment spectrum, but will usually get along just fine with neutral companions. Flumphlings may follow those with evil leanings if the food is good enough, but the flumph always bemoans their practices and entreats them to mend their ways.

While full-grown flumphs can sustain themselves on psychic energy alone, young flumphlings require protein to increase their body size. They will capture and consume lizards, frogs, and snakes, but will always prefer mice and rats, and will chase any they find relentlessly. Some flumphlings even consider the hunting of rodents to be a sacred duty - though none can fathom why.

Flumphling

Tiny aberration, lawful good

Armor Class 12
Hit Points 7(3d4)
Speed 5 ft, fly 40 ft

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
6 (-2)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)	11 (+0)

Skills Arcana, History, Perception, Religion, Stealth
Senses darkvision 60 ft
Languages Common and Undercommon but can’t speak, telepathy 60 ft

Advanced Telepathy. The flumphling can perceive the content of any telepathic communication used within 60 ft of it and it can’t be surprised by creatures with any form of telepathy.

Telepathic Shroud. The flumphling is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts without its consent. If the flumphling is serving as a familiar, this trait is shared by its companion as long as its companion is within 10 ft.

Magic Resistance. The flumphling has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Actions

Tendril. Melee Attack: +4 to hit. On hit: 1d4 + 2 piercing damage plus 1 acid damage. At the end of each of its turns, the target must make a DC 11 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d4-1 acid damage on a failure or ending the recurring acid damage on a success. A lesser restoration spell cast on the target also ends the recurring acid damage.

Stench Spray (1/Day). One creature with 15 ft must succeed on a DC 11 Dexterity saving throw or be coated in a foul-smelling liquid. A coated creature exudes a horrible stench for 1 hour. The coated creature is poisoned as long as the stench lasts, and other creatures are poisoned while adjacent to the coated creature. A creature can remove the stench on itself by using a short rest to bathe in water, alcohol, or vinegar.

Gibbering Orblet

Grown out of the remains of a full-sized adult gibbering mouther, gibbering orblets are something like the larval stage of their former parent. Constantly floating and enunciating a string of whispered nonsense syllables from multiple mouths, gibbering orblets are every bit as vile and madness-inducing as their adult kin, and only the most insane or powerhungry warlocks seek their companionship.

Gibbering orblets eventually grow into mouthers, but require a steady stream of nourishment in the form of assorted organic matter for their size to grow big enough. Typically, an orblet is able to grow to full size after a century of regular feeding. Strictly speaking, orblets do not require food to survive, only to grow and gain more mass. An unfed orblet is an unhappy orblet, though, and wise warlocks looking to keep possession of their fingers and appendages don’t let an orblet remain unfed for long.

Gibbering Orblet

Tiny aberration, neutral

Armor Class 13 (natural armor)
Hit Points 10 (3d4 +3)
Speed 10 ft, fly 40 ft

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
6 (-2)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	8 (-1)	12 (+1)	8 (-1)

Skills Perception
Senses darkvision 120 ft
Damage Immunities psychic
Languages Common and Deep Speech, can’t speak intelligibly beyond two words

Limited Telepathy. The gibbering orblet can magically communicate simple ideas, emotions, and images telepathically with any creature within 100 ft of it that can understand a language.

Gibbering. The gibbering orblet babbles incoherently while it can see any creature and isn’t incapacitated. Each enemy creature that starts its turn within 10 feet of the orblet and can hear the gibbering must succeed on a DC 11 Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, attacks against the creature from the orblet (and, if the orblet is a familiar, the orblet’s master as well) are made with advantage. Affected creatures repeat this save at the start of each of their subsequent turns, and a creature that saves against this effect cannot be affected by it for 24 hours

Magic Resistance. The flumphling has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Actions

Bite. Melee Attack: +4 to hit. On hit: 1d4 + 2 piercing damage.

Poison Spittle. Ranged Attack: +4 to hit, 10/20 ft. On hit: 1d4 + 2 acid damage , and the target must succeed on a DC 11 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute.

Phasing. The orblet partially phases into the etherial plane or returns to the material plane. While partially in the ethereal plane, attacks targeting the orblet are made with disadvantage, but the orblet may not take any other actions than choosing to use this ability to return to the material plane. The orblet returns to the material plane if it dies.