[RPG] Were Illithids inspired by Cthulhu

The classic Call of Cthulhu campaign "Shadows of Yog-Sothoth" prominently features Cthulhu in the last scenario...R'Lyeh rises and the characters can actually face off against the Big C himself (and die horribly, of course). This was first released in the early 80s but has been reprinted since then.

It's been a long time since I ran/read this campaign, but some of the scenarios seem to parallel classic Lovecraft stories. Basically, by the last scenario Ryleh is risen and Cthulhu awake, but the characters have a chance to send the isle back down to the ocean floor by their actions (I believe some sort of elder sign is involved, but as I said it's been a long time). Doesn't hold up as well almost 30 years later but it's still a good read and can give lots of inspiration.

Just before the AD&D transition from 1e to 2e, several articles appeared in Dragon magazine detailing the "Ecology Of..." various monsters. These reflected the transition of the game itself, moving beyond the simplistic hack-'n'-slash style toward more logical and comprehensive settings, both outdoor and indoor. Published adventuress kept pace, also evolving into more complex and (pardon the term) 'realistic' treatments.

As part of this transition, various monsters initially named for functionality -- such as mind-flayers and carrion crawlers -- were given additional names as being their 'real' or 'racial' titles, sometimes attributed to the races themselves.

Several real-world parallels exist. The Republic of the Union of Myanmar (aka Myanmar) was called Burma for many years until the local name became widely known and used. Various birds are commonly called Wrens, even though their 'true' name (genus) is Troglodytes.

All of these newer and/or alternate names for monsters should be viewed in similar context.