552 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY hunger has not yet been sated and they are in a state of frenzy. When sated, they add +1 to both Damage and Peril Condition Tracks. When in a state of frenzy, they add an additional 1D6 Fury Die to Damage. TRAPPINGS Lycanthrope hide MEDUSA MUTANT Basilisks and Cockatrices are imposing beings, not only because of their monstrous forms, but also because of their petrifying gaze. But what happens to their terrible statues as they suffer the wear of ages and the call of Corruption? Some of those statues turn into the hideous womanizers and seductresses called Medusa. The Medusa were once folk petrified by the gaze of a Basilisk or Cockatrice, only to be broken free of such shackles by an outside source such as dark Magicks and stink of the Abyss. When revived, their body transforms and turns towards serpentine features: their eyes become almond shaped, smooth scales grow upon their lower torso and they begin to speak in a sibilant – yet alluring – hiss. Their hair undulates upon its own accord, each lock twisting and curling as if underwater. Some Medusa return to civilization in an attempt to reintegrate back into the populace, yet keep their lair out in the wilderness. They are intelligent creatures, but Medusa generally feel two emotions the strongest – lust and hunger. Medusa can come off as hauntingly handsome or beautiful, luring numerous lovers into their dens with the promise of a night of passion. But once the love is over, the Medusa feasts upon their favorite meal – the freshly plucked eyes of their lovers. Those that attempt to escape are petrified on the spot and the Medusa’s lair is filled with countless statues of men and women in flight – as well as warriors who attempted to free the imprisoned. Medusa use their lightning reflexes and sharp vision to benefit their already formidable archery skills. Some Medusa have become so horribly mutated that their entire lower body is replaced by a muscular and squamous snake tail. Their blood is also highly acidic like Snake Venom – their heart drips a murky green and the fluid is the only antidote to undo a victim’s petrification. An odd aspect of the Medusa is that their petrifying gaze seems to be a reflex rather than a willed ability – Medusa heads have been detached and have maintained their petrifying ability – administered through the strategic pull of a few nerves and tendons. This pulls the chaotic Ætheric winds towards the user however – becoming more and more Corrupted with each yank of the entrails. MEDUSA SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 50% [7] 45% [11] 40% [4] 35% [3] 40% [7] 40% [6] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 14 8 (14/20/26) 10 (16/22/28) None 75% Advanced (High) Athletics +20, Awareness +20, Charm +30, Coordination +30, Disguise +30, Folklore +10, Guile +20, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +30, Martial Ranged +30, Resolve +20, Scrutinize +10, Simple Melee +20 ATTACK PROFILE Rapier: 65% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (11) • Fast, Finesse, Weak Composite Bow: 75% • Distance (ranged 16 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (11) • Fast, Finesse TRAITS AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. CAPTIVATING CRY: When foes can hear this creature, they must Resist with a successful Resolve Test or be drawn towards the sound. Should they enter a dangerous area to find the sound, they can attempt another Resolve Test. Once they are able to visually see the creature, the Captivating Cry’s effects end. CHTHONIAN DWELLER: These creatures do not need to breathe and are immune to Chokehold. In addition, they can burrow or swim at the same rate of Movement as they can on foot. Finally, they may flip the results to succeed at Resolve Tests. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. EYES WIDE SHUT: When this creature’s eyes are successfully struck with a Called Shot (otherwise treated as head), they lose their ability to use Petrifying Gaze. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons.
553 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY FOUL MUTATION: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Dice if of Basic Risk Factor; 2D6 Chaos Dice if of Intermediate Risk Factor; 3D6 if of Advanced Risk Factor; 4D6 if of Elite Risk Factor. For every face ‘6’, add one Taint of Chaos to the creature. GIVE ME YOUR EYES: When these creatures inflict a Moderate Injury, it is always a Black Eye. When they inflict a Serious Injury, it is always Head Trauma. Finally, when they inflict a Grievous Injury, it is always a Vitreous Hemorrhage. I GOT AXE FOR YOU: After this creature makes an Attack Action with a melee weapon, they can immediately make an Opportunity Attack with any one-handed ranged weapon with the Throwing Quality on the same Turn. PETRIFYING GAZE: When foes are Engaged with this creature (and the creature can see them), they must Resist with a successful Awareness Test or be Petrified. While Petrified, they are left Helpless and unconscious. Petrification lasts until the heart of the creature that caused the Petrification is pulverized into a bloody concoction and poured over the victim with a successful Alchemy Test. SANITY-BLASTING: W hen first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Arrows (9), Composite bow, Mask of golden coins, Medusa’s head, Medusa’s heart, Quilted armor, Rapier ORX If there is one menace that nearly every child knows and fears, it is that of the boar-like and savage Orx. Not to be confused with the Barrel-bellied Orc, these savage Mutants seem to spawn without end. The only blessing keeping them from overrunning the known world is their infighting and inability to organize. It is spoken that Orx (pronounced with a hard ‘k’ for a singular Orx) grow their numbers by a terrible mutation spread via the slaughtered. Victims of an Orx’s sword sometimes undergo a horrendous transformation. Though it is not known why, it is known that Orx blades grow a strange, green fungus upon them. This fungus-borne disease, called Orx-molt, is known to flourish in the fresh wounds of the recently dead. During the putrefaction and decomposition phase, a horrid mutation seals these wounds and as the body swells with barbaric thews, the viscera are hardened by cirrhosis. As this happens, the face of the corpse changes from its deathly pallor to a porcine-like image as the skin turns fleshy to coarse, thick hair. And by the new moon, the victim is reborn, drawing its first breath as a vile Low Orx. This process has confounded even the eminent of academic minds, but there is no doubt that the seeds of corruption must first be present before this terrible fate of the slaughtered can occur, for not every victim of Orx savagery results in revivification into this putrid form. What little culture the Orx has following its transformation revolves exclusively around eating and fighting. Unable to reproduce with their own, Orx-molt is a common tactic used to spread their numbers (save for the rare few who are born Boogans by crossbreeding). Orx are clannish, organizing into WAAAR! Hordes, each of which plays host to hundreds of Orx whose goal is plunder, rapine and decapitation. Orx infighting is common, with a majority of casualties coming from ravaging coups, bloody arguments and poorly-plotted murders. Unless led by semi-intelligent High Orx, these lowbrow Mutants slaughter themselves in a vicious cycle of death and rebirth. Though WAAAR! Hordes will often raid humanoid settlements, imagined slights and infighting have caused more than one civil war. Orx revel in their cruelty, laughing and mocking adversaries in their broken tongue. Orx leaders, called ‘Bigbosses’, lead the feared Orx WAAAR! Hordes. Once a High Orx, these Bigbosses usurped the previous Bigboss in a fit of rage by ripping out their still-beating heart and devouring it. The black mutation which grows within the heart of a Bigboss finds its way inside the High Orx, turning their skin ebony as massive tusks worm out of their jaws and away from their faces. The new heart takes on aspects of a second brain, containing knowledge of strategy and terrible machinations. Emerging as the new Orx Bigboss, all other Orx kneel before them... but invariably, another High Orx is now plotting, biding their time to usurp the new Bigboss.
554 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY The other mainstay of Orx culture besides violence is worship of the Tusked One. He is often depicted as an albino, oneeyed Orx who stands as tall as a siege tower. The Tusked One represents everything that a perfect Orx wants to achieve: endless hunger, countless thralls at their feet and riches unimaginable. Many Orx leaders believe the Tusked One got his position by killing a god and consuming his soul. Many WAAAR! Horde skirmishes revolve around the fact that one Bigboss believes the other is too close to fighting ‘Da Orx Upstairz’ and thus ascending to godhood. It is obvious that no mortal could kill a god, but this Orx delusion fuels too much fire to be quelled. Their Orx minds simply refuse to accept this fact in a twisted instance of irony. BOOGAN ORX Boogan are the offspring of Orx, but that would be a generous term for them. Impregnated into the humanoid victims of savage WAAAR! Hordes, Boogans are born of sexual violence. They gestate within mere weeks; unfortunately, mothers rarely survive postpartum, but those who do are immediately prepared by the Orx host for their next child. Orx in miniature, they are near countless in number among a WAAAR! Horde. These ‘half Orx’ are not beloved children to the Orx; they are often viewed as pests, cannon fodder and even food, being likened to excitable puppies at best. Boogans are barely sentient and are quick to lick their Orx master’s boots. It is known that Boogans do not mature like other mammals; they remain stunted and small yet able to survive on their own. If a Boogan manages to live for a full year without being eaten by other Orx, they sometimes undergo a transformation not unlike that which gives birth to the Low Orx. This transformation is also ritualized by the hand of a High Orx. Boogans often travel in small ‘swarms’, usually consisting of roughly two dozen members that constantly fall over each other, curse and in-fight. Boogans have suicidal tendencies – not due to any mental issue, but rather due to stupidity and an inability to comprehend the consequences. To them, jumping off of a cliff means nothing, because they have no concept that jumping from a large height onto jagged rocks will kill them. They laugh when other Boogans die, feeling no sense of remorse or sorrow and even treating it as a game. Not only do Orx hate Boogans, but so do humans – they infest camps during conflicts with a WAAAR! Horde and always prove to be a nuisance. In fact, in a strange sense of camaraderie, an Orx will even apologize to the enemy for such Boogan infestations – making these whelps the lowest of the low. BOOGAN SIZE: Small C B A P I W F 40% [4] 40% [4] 50% [6] 45% [5] 35% [3] 45% [4] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 9 4 (10/16/22) 7 (13/19/25) 60% 75% (Natural) Basic (Low) Awareness +10, Simple Melee +10, Stealth +10, Survival +10 ATTACK PROFILE Shiv: 50%• Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Weak Rocks: 50% • Distance (ranged 5 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (4) • Pummeling, Slow, Throwing, Weak Red Cap Mushroom: 50% • Distance (melee engaged or ranged 5 yards) • Damage (None) • None TRAITS DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FECKLESS RUNT: When this creature’s Turn begins, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘6’, they elect to attack that Turn with a senseless object that does no Damage. SNIVELING WHELP: These creatures can only use 2 AP during combat. TRAPPINGS Red cap mushrooms (3), Rocks (3), Shiv, Tattered clothing
555 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY HIGH ORX ORX The Tusked One demands powerful sacrifices from the Orx folk and those that dare take up the challenge may ascend to become a High Orx. After a Low Orx makes an appropriate number of blood sacrifices to the Bigboss, they are sometimes granted an advancement in rank among the WAAAR! Horde. Should the Bigboss approve, they will ritually slay a Low Orx, laying them among the shallow ditches where dead humanoid mothers previously used to birth Boogan are interred. While their body decomposes in this grotesque ‘rebirthing chamber’, a Low Orx undergoes a hibernation period until the new moon rises. Then their horrid transformation begins. Their shoulders broaden to the width of the span between a man’s hands, as their skin calcifies yellow and grey. Their arms take upon the appearance of corded rope, sinewy and powerful. Their head swells – if only to accommodate a row of vicious teeth and gelatinous mass to further protect their peanutsized brain – as a massive cleft chin bristles with hair. And when the blinding pain fades, they arise, having undergone a rebirth from the vast sickness, as a High Orx. Long ago, High Orx were enslaved by the Dvergar, used as a force of cheap labor and sometimes even a source of food. They soon rebelled, as High Orx knew they were capable of much more than their masters wanted of them. Intelligent and brutal, High Orx serve as both front-line fighters and lieutenants within the WAAAR! Horde. While they still hold to the three cultural values of the Low Orx – birth, violence and death – they also seek to exemplify the legacy of their clan. High Orx are visionaries and big thinkers, commanding slaves to erect towers of iron and stone, build statues in testament to the greatness of Bigbosses and aid in crafting the numerous war machines of the Orx WAAAR! Horde. HIGH ORX SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 50% [7] 40% [4] 45% [5] 35% [3] 40% [5] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 7 10 (16/22/28) 8 (14/20/26) 55% 40% Basic (High) Athletics +10, Intimidate +10, Resolve +10, Scrutinize +10, Simple Melee +10, Simple Ranged +10, Survival +10, Toughness +10, Tradecraft +10, Warfare +10 ATTACK PROFILE Rusted Chains: 55% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (7) • Adaptable, Pummeling, Reach Flanged Mace: 55% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Powerful TRAITS DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. ONE-TWO PUNCH: When these creatures Take Aim and then make a successful Melee Attack, they force a foe to Resist a Stunning Blow. SHOOTFIGHTING: These creatures ignore the Pummeling and Weak Qualities when fighting bare-handed, with a blackjack or using knuckledusters. In addition, they can refer to [BB] or [CB] when inflicting Damage with these same weapons. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. TRAPPINGS Brigandine armor, Flanged mace, Rusted chains LOW ORX ORX Low Orx make up the largest portion of an Orx host, aside from the countless Boogans.
556 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Crass, violent and prone to squabbling, Low Orx prefer nothing else than wanton murder and destruction and they fear very little. Some scholars even hypothesize that part of the Orx mutation makes them forget the concept of fear. Low Orx constantly look up in jealousy at their High Orx peers and Bigboss leaders, waiting for the day when they are strong enough to take over and command the WAAAR! Horde in a bloody coup. This is unlikely however, given that Low Orx lack the natural military mind that Bigbosses have. They hold very little dear, being more akin to rabid beasts who understand nothing but fighting and 'ploughing' young maidens. Low Orx have little in the way of scope for cultural growth; to them, there are only three values they can attest to: birth, violence and death. The Orx WAAAR! Horde is often the only thing a Low Orx knows. No horde is exactly the same. They have names ranging from Thousand Spears to Black Teeth and every right-thinking Orx takes an almost barbaric familial pride in the Orx WAAAR! Horde they belong to. That is not to say there is any love between brothers, but the concept of the ‘clan’ – maintaining banners of it, attesting your clan is the best and so on – is a common enough trait. Perhaps this is inherited from the Orx long wars against Dwarfs, but the small folk scoff at the idea. Maybe that is why every Low Orx aspires to become the Bigboss, in order to be the leader of the only thing they can say they truly care about. LOW ORX SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [5] 45% [6] 40% [4] 45% [5] 35% [3] 40% [4] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 7 8 (14/20/26) 7 (13/19/25) 60% 40% Basic (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Interrogation +10, Intimidate +10, Martial Melee +10, Resolve +10, Ride +10, Simple Ranged +10, Toughness +10 ATTACK PROFILE War Chopper: 60% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Adaptable, Slow, Vicious Javelin: 60% • Distance (ranged 8 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (5) • Throwing, Weak TRAITS DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. MENACING: When these creatures use a Litany of Hatred, they inflict 1D10+[BB] mental Peril. RINGEN: These creatures penalize their foe’s ability to Resist a Chokehold and Dirty Tricks by a -10 Base Chance to their Skill Test. In addition, when they use a Chokehold, add an additional 1D10 to determine how much physical Peril they inflict. SQUABBLE AMONG THEMSELVES: When these creatures suffer from Fear or Terror, they must succeed at a Resolve Test as their Turn starts or else attack their own allies. They can Resist every Turn thereafter. TRAPPINGS Javelin (3), Leather armor, War Chopper RUDEBOY ORX Rudeboys are the demented priests of Orx clans, cannibalistic creatures that worship at the feet of the Tusked One. Though both Low and High Orx consume the bodies of their fallen foes, they know consuming Orx flesh will drive them into madness. This is what Rudeboys do, however; subsequently, their bodies burst forth with a mutative fungus that ravages their bodies and rots them from the inside out. Most Orx cannibals are slain by this process, torn asunder from within as a punishment by the Tusked One, but those who do survive live onwards as Rudeboys. Blood-red toadstools grow all over their bodies which the Rudeboy consumes regularly to gain spirit visions with the Tusked One and to enter a psychedelic battle frenzy. The Rudeboy’s worship of the Tusked One is different than the rest of the Orx WAAAR! Horde, for their murder is wanton and crazed, resulting in shouted litanies of descriptions of the brutal deaths they’ve inflicted. High Orx begrudgingly accept the Rudeboy’s place in the clans, while Low Orx literally worship at their feet. Which means that Bigbosses must tolerate Rudeboys, lest they lose control of the WAAAR! Horde. One odd aspect of Orx biology is that they cannot regulate their body temperatures well and thus they tend to overheat quite easily. Toadstools are known to reduce heat regulation, so Rudeboys literally cook their brains in their frenzies. It’s not hard to see why a majority of Rudeboys border on the unintelligent.
557 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY RUDEBOY SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [5] 45% [4] 40% [6] 45% [5] 35% [3] 40% [4] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 9 7 (13/19/25) 7 (13/19/25) 60% (Defensive) 60% (Natural) Basic (Medium) Athletics +10, Coordination +10, Resolve +10, Simple Melee +10, Simple Ranged +10, Survival +10, Toughness +10 ATTACK PROFILE Cleaver: 60% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Slow, Vicious, Weak Shiv: 60%• Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Fast, Weak Hunting Bow: 60% • Distance (ranged 14 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (6) • Finesse, Weak TRAITS BATTLE FRENZY: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If it lands on a face ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘3’, they are under the effect of that many doses of red cap mushrooms. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. HALLUCINOGENIC FRENZY: After ingesting a dose of red cap mushrooms, these creatures add 1D6 Fury Die to melee weapon Damage. SCAR THE FLESH: These creatures add +3 to their Damage Threshold, but wear no armor. SQUABBLE AMONG THEMSELVES: When these creatures suffer from Fear or Terror, they must succeed at a Resolve Test as their Turn starts or else attack their own allies. They can Resist every Turn thereafter. TRAPPINGS Animal pelts, as clothing, Arrows (9), Cleaver, Hunting bow, Pot of war paint, Red cap mushrooms (3), Shiv RAVENOUS GHOUL MUTANT There are those in this world that are slave to their own vices. Ones given to gluttony can fall prey to chaos’ touch during their weakest moments of overindulgence. Once upon this dark path, it cannot be abandoned as the path to ghouldom begins. At first, their hunger is satiated only by rich foods; thick blood sausage links, lemon cakes by the baker’s dozen and eel pies. Over time, the hunger grows more severe. They turn to darker appetites to satisfy their hunger; gruesome buffets of honey-cured Human bacon, Elven ears braised with leafy vegetables and Dwarven fingerling fingers boiled with potatoes. As their body begins to grow obese from overeating, in turn their spirit twists within. As their humanity slips away bite by bite, their corpulence grows as the moon moves towards its final phase. Upon the new moon’s zenith, the darkness has fully possessed the poor soul. The flesh sloughs off, revealing a mutated, emaciated shape beneath. Their transformation is complete, forever damned to their gluttonous ways as a Ravenous Ghoul. Oftentimes mistaken for supernatural creatures, ghouls are Mutants given to less-than-savory predilections. These foul creatures live on the fringes of society, consumed by their insatiable lust for consumption of flesh. Traveling in packs, Ravenous Ghouls picaroon the countryside to sate their hungers with knife and claw and fork. They sometimes follow in the wake of armies, feeding upon both the living and dead. Hunter ghouls may bide their time amidst the rag pickers in the baggage train, donning disguises to hide their grotesquery. Those given to wanton destruction simply lash out with abandon, possessed by their lust for flesh. Feeding
558 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY this hunger is paramount, for if a Ravenous Ghoul goes without, they wither and die a terrible, painful death. It is not unheard of for a pack of ghouls to frenzy upon one another when times are lean, leaving only the strongest to survive. RAVENOUS GHOUL SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [6] 40% [7] 40% [6] 50% [5] 40% [4] 45% [6] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 9 7 (13/19/25) 9 (15/21/27) None 60% (Natural) Intermediate (Medium) Athletics +20, Coordination +10, Disguise +20, Intimidate +20, Resolve +20, Simple Melee +20, Stealth +20, Survival +20, Toughness +20 ATTACK PROFILE Fork & Knife: 65% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Fast, Finesse, Weak TRAITS BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. WANTON HUNGER: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘1- 5’, their hunger has been sated. If the result is face ‘6’, their hunger has not yet been sated and they are in a state of frenzy. When sated, they add +1 to both Damage and Peril Condition Tracks. When in a state of frenzy, they add an additional 1D6 Fury Die to Damage. TRAPPINGS Bent silver fork, Fillet knife, Grotesque trophies (3), Stained bib and napkin, Tattered clothing SKRZZAK Far below the hustle and bustle of the streets of mankind lies a secret, a myth that few know to be real. Whispers of rat-like folk that control the aristocracy above, a warren filled with terrible half-Human monsters and the worship of a god lost to the annals of time are all hearsay and bedtime stories meant to scare. What is more terrifying is that these are not myths, but the truth of the Skrzzak. The word Skrzzak (pronounced skerz’sak) itself is derived from the Human elder tongue, meaning ‘scourge below’; which they have taken onto their liking for perverse reasons. Skrzzak are humanoids, albeit the shape and instinct of mutated rats, filled with ambition, disease, low cunning and violence. Their origins are a mystery: some believe an insane rat catcher enchanted his quarry, while others speak that rats were given sentience by a mysterious god during cataclysmic times. Skrzzak are born, certainly, but in no way a person could imagine. Skrzzak are about the same size as other humanoid Ancestries, though their beady eyes, mange-matted fur, bent backs and prehensile tails mistake them for nothing other than rodent-like monstrosities. Hyper intelligent and monstrous female Skrzzak, known as Broodmothers, ingest corruptive Wytchstone Essences to alter the balance of their four humours for both spiritual and gravid reasons. These self-afflicted mutations are meant to birth the strongest and most capable Skrzzak, which take mere weeks to gestate and are birthed by the litter. These countless Broodmothers and her pups make up the Great Warren, a subterranean empire that teems below the civilized one above. It is of great surprise to those who’ve survived a Skrzzak assault that these mutated freaks speak the common tongue. No one knows why; it simply is. Skrzzak society is organized into distinct Kabals: a complex web of confederated houses engaged in a Machiavellian power struggle for control of the Great Warren. Their feudal bickering is suffused with showboating, deception and murder. Only the strongest and most cunning survive whereas the weak are enslaved and often eaten. The Kabals do not embrace ideas such as compassion, loyalty and cooperation; instead, they believe in fear, survival and assassination. Each Kabal is made up of many breeds of Skrzzak, adopting different philosophies and ideologies enacted at the Broodmother’s whim. Wytchstone Essence also plays an important part in their society, as its Magick properties permit the terrible experiments and mutations that distort both body and mind; it also serves as a form of currency. Ingesting this terrifying element allows them to commune with their mysterious anthropomorphic deity, who they simply call The Thirteen. Yet, despite their politics, the Skrzzak as a whole seek to overtake the world above, but which Kabal will finally sit upon the throne is a question they squabble over.
559 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Surprisingly, Skrzzak keep some allies from the world above. Human devotees to the Skrzzak’s cause, called 'vivimancers', hold positions of power or advantage in the realms outside the Warren and serve as liaisons with the Broodmothers. They are treated as a part of the Kabal, interpreting the Wytchstonefueled dreams of the Broodmothers, while laying them out into strategies for the Skrzzak. They then return to the world above to push society towards the Broodmother’s visions, carefully articulating her plans within plans with subterfuge. BILIOUS SKRZZAK SKRZZAK Though all Skrzzak will fight for their Broodmother and her interests, they will very rarely purposefully die for them. The Skrzzak’s natural sense of self-preservation is too strong for them to simply fall upon their own poisoned knives; they can easily tell when they are outgunned and outnumbered and then it is time for them to run! The Broodmother needs a devoted force, one that is both extremely effective and fanatically devoted. Altering her black bile through injections of Wytchstone Essence, she gives birth to the terrible Bilious Skrzzak. Their journey does not end there, as the new pups are shipped to the most dangerous and vile places of the Great Warren, left alone to survive and adapt. They are conditioned through rigorous torture and administration of Wytchstone fumes by the Choleric doktors to obey their Broodmother above all else. Few survive this harrowing ordeal, but those that do are merciless, fanatically devoted and cruel beyond measure. They emerge a number of years later, permanently masked by strange breathing apparatuses and mutated into frighteningly fanatical monsters. Born in the Great Warren, molded by it; aside from Tyrants, the Bilious are the strongest of all Skrzzak breeds, broad of shoulder and often crisscrossed with battle scars. They are always preoccupied with cruelty and unfairness, often descending into laconic depression when not actively engaged in acts involving either. Though going toe-to-toe in a brawl against a Bilious is dangerous, their real advantage comes from their arsenal of weaponry. Outfitted by their Choleric brethren, their guns and bombs are powered by Wytchstone shards to devastating effect. These weapons deal casualty and injury, mowing through both enemy and Skrzzak alike; the Bilious do not care if they destroy friend or foe, only that they destroy. Mercy is not a quality known to the Bilious, as they take no prisoners and thoroughly eviscerate those that manage to escape their barrages. They also have little sense of self-preservation; their suicidal tendencies mean they are more than willing to wade into hordes that are far stronger than they are simply to prove their devotion. BILIOUS SKRZZAK SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [4] 50% [8] 40% [6] 40% [4] 45% [6] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 11 7 (13/19/25) 9 (15/21/27) None 60% Intermediate (Medium) Awareness +20, Coordination +10, Education +10, Folklore +10, Martial Ranged +10, Navigation +10, Resolve +10, Simple Ranged +20, Stealth +10, Survival +10, Toughness +20, Tradecraft +20 ATTACK PROFILE Dirk: 45% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Vicious Glass Grenade: 65% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • Ineffective, Throwing, Volatile Wytchfyre Pistol: 65% • Distance (ranged 15 yards) • Load (3 AP) • Damage (8) • Finesse, Gunpowder, Immolate, Vicious, Volatile Wytchfyre Jezzail: 65% • Distance (ranged 17 yards) • Load (4 AP) • Damage (8) • Finesse, Gunpowder, Immolate Wytchfyre Thrower: 65% • Distance (ranged 8 yards) • Load (4 AP) • Damage (4) • Gunpowder, Fiery, Repeating, Shrapnel, Volatile, Weak Tail Vertebrae: 45% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach TRAITS BLAM! BLAM!: These creatures may spend 3 APs to attack twice with 2 ranged weapons, providing they possess the Gunpowder Quality and are Loaded. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons.
560 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. GRENADIER: When these creatures are encountered, they have a glass grenade. When thrown, it affects multiple foes in a Burst Template. Affected foes must succeed a Toughness Test or contract Tomb Rot. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SHARP-SIGHTED: These creatures do not suffer penalties for ranged weapons at Medium or Long Distances. WYTCH-SCIENCE: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘1-4’, they carry two Wytchfyre pistols. If the result is face ‘5’, they carry a Wytchfyre jezzail. If the result is face ‘6’, they carry a Wytchfyre thrower. While carrying a Wytchfyre thrower, they cannot Charge, Maneuver or Run. TRAPPINGS Brigandine armor, Dirk, Plague mask, Glass grenade (1), Wytchfyre (6), Wytchfyre jezzail -or- Wytchfyre pistol (2) -or- Wytchfyre thrower BROODMOTHER SKRZZAK The revered prognosticators of the Skrzzak and practitioners of warped Magicks, Broodmothers are the backbone and origin of their society. Each Broodmother leads her monstrous progeny in one of the hundreds of Kabals that make up the Great Warren. Being the only females of the Skrzzak, they are waited on hand and foot in lightless chambers by their children, treated as the royalty they rightly are. Broodmothers are monstrous creatures, always heavy with child and constantly expelling new litters as she rules from an ossein throne wrought from a Kabal’s enemies. Broodmothers always use the royal ‘we’, feeling that they do not need to do anything when their brood can easily handle it for them. The halls of the Broodmother are lined with supplicants, tribute and the fetid stench of sewage and rot amid darkness encompassing every stretch of her hallowed chambers. When not issuing commands to her children, the Broodmother is found in a Wytchstone-imbued stupor to bring them into communion with The Thirteen, the Skrzzak rat god. Aside from the surface world, the biggest obstacle to the Broodmothers’ task are other females – they believe only one queen can rule absolute, yet are unwilling to murder her usurpers. Their royal personage thus resorts to deception, assassination and doublespeak to gain an edge over her ‘beloved sisters’. Broodmothers always carry a distinctive mark – such as a notched ear or a limp tail – that is present in every member of their brood. Their Kabal often uses this trait as their name, such as the 'Cropped Ear' or 'Crooked Tail'. Broodmothers rarely fight, but when they do, their Wytchstone dream-states have provided them with precognition of the immediate future (thus making a nearly implacable foe). Though the Broodmother’s relationship with her children is apparent, their association with vivimancers is unusual. Allowed to bear torchlight before the Broodmother, vivimancers are faithful Human servants of the Skrzzak, whose job it is to spread the interests of the Skrzzak into the ‘surface courts’. Many vivimancers are influential people in one way or another, but their reasons for aiding the ratkin are mysterious. Perhaps it is a promise of power, wealth or eternal life, but they are not aware that they are just merely pawns of the Broodmothers. True, the Skrzzak may not dwell amongst us, but their agents do. BROODMOTHER SIZE: Huge C B A P I W F 50% [5] 50% [5] 50% [5] 55% [9] 50% [7] 50% [9] 50% [7] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +12 8 6 (12/18/24) 12 (18/24/30) None 50% Elite (Unique) Awareness +10, Bargain +10, Eavesdrop +20, Education +10, Folklore +20, Guile +30, Incantation +30, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +10, Leadership +30, Navigation +10, Resolve +10, Scrutinize +30, Survival +10, Toughness +10, Warfare +30 ATTACK PROFILE Tail Vertebrae: 50% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach TRAITS AVERSION TO LIGHT: When these creatures are exposed
561 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY to any sort of light (as from a torch), they suffer a penalty of -3 to their Damage Threshold. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. OCCULT MASTERY: When this creature Channels Power and succeeds at their Skill Test, they Critically Succeed instead. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. STOMP THE YARD: When these creatures deal Damage, they can automatically knock their foe Prone. In addition, they ignore the effects of Hard Terrain. THE VIRIDESCENT PATH: When this creature makes a Skill Test, they roll twice and assume the better of the two results. In addition, they never suffer from Critical Failures, instead treating them as regularly failed Skill Tests instead. UNGAINLY: When these creatures are Slain! all those Engaged with it must succeed at a Coordination Test or be knocked Prone beneath of it, suffering 3D10+3 Damage from falling. TRAPPINGS Arcane tome with 9 Petty Magick spells, Arcane tome with 6 Lesser Magick spells, Arcane tome with 3 Greater Magick spells, Kabal banner, Gilded throne of bones, Hide armor, Reagents for all Magick spells (9), Tome of faith & disease, Wytchstone Essence (9) CHOLERIC SKRZZAK SKRZZAK Broodmothers have foretold the birth of a special pup: one who will be a ‘super ratling’, a Skrzzak that can go to the regions of prescient knowledge where Broodmothers dare not enter. Through careful (yet imprecise) manipulation of Kabal bloodlines, the Broodmothers have attempted to create this superior being, whom they call the Skrzzak Cholerach. Wytchstone-infused elixirs are suffused within the belly of the Broodmother, increasing her yellow bile while filling her with exalting passions and religious babblings. The Choleric Skrzzak are her resultant children, groomed from birth to become priests of the Kabal. Although they have failed up to this point, litters born of her gravidity are extraordinarily different than their kindred. The only Skrzzak in the Great Warren that are closer to the Skrzzak god than Broodmothers are the Choleric. They sell themselves entirely over to the divine worship of The Thirteen, appeasing their god with flagellation and the spread of disease. Choleric Skrzzak appear frail and without meat on their bones, riddled with all manner of boils that wrack their body. However, they rejoice in the divine pain, as they feel blessed by the magnificent plague aspects of their god. They, too consume Wytchstone Essence to enter similar, dream-like fugue states as their matrons. Through these dreams, they are able to foretell the immediate future, much as Truthsayers can from the world above. They hope that visions of countless threads in cause and effect among the Great Warren will lead them to a true, optimum path to dominate the world above. Although they’ve been unable to see what the distant
562 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY future holds, they are often the ones to raise the war gong among the Kabals. The Choleric Skrzzak rally armies with blasphemous words and banners of frightening symbols, playing monstrous brass bells and chimes that exude a noxious miasma: a clarion call to the Kabal. United, Choleric Skrzzak wish nothing more than to spread illness upon their enemies, to watch them writhe in divine pain and die at the hand of their Thirteen’s chosen people. CHOLERIC SKRZZAK SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 45% [6] 50% [8] 40% [4] 40% [4] 40% [6] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 11 6 (12/18/24) 9 (15/21/27) None 80% (Natural) Intermediate (Medium) Athletics +20, Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Education +20, Folklore +10, Martial Melee +20, Navigation +10, Scrutinize +10, Simple Melee +20, Stealth +10, Survival +10 ATTACK PROFILE Fetid Blade: 65% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Vicious Tail Vertebrae: 65% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach TRAITS BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. HARBINGER OF PLAGUES: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘1-5’, they carry a massive gong. If the result is face ‘6’, they carry a set of chimes. When they play the gong with Litany of Hatred, Characters so affected also suffer 1D10+1 physical Peril. When they play the chime with Litany of Hatred, Characters so affected lower their Damage and Peril Condition Tracks by -3 instead. These trappings can only be used by hands of these creatures who bear them, otherwise useless relics. RIPPING TEETH: When these creatures deal Damage, they can force a foe to Resist a Takedown. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Fetid blade, Kabal banner, Tome of faith & disease, Wytchstone Essence (6) PHLEGMATIC SKRZZAK SKRZZAK The Broodmother oft needs counsel for her various machinations, but the intelligent vivimancers are few in number and spend much of their time in the world above, unable to serve their mistress’s immediate needs. She needs a pup with a mind for strategy, scholarship and the very physical maintenance of the Broodmother’s gravidity. The matron can alter her humors to excel her phlegm to monstrous levels, a predicator for the birth of Phlegmatic Skrzzak. This breed is nearly as intelligent as their Broodmother, but in differing ways; their intellect is much more calculating and objective, while the Broodmother’s is often focused on her dream-state machinations. Phlegmatic mutations give them lightning fast deduction, calculating information at alarming rates to hypothesize possible outcomes. Not only are they a Kabal’s scholars, but they keep the apocryphal histories and living histories. Phlegmatic Skrzzak are also the primary caregivers and advisers to Broodmothers, often found in their chambers discussing policies and plans while serving as wet nurse or doktor. Phlegmatic Skrzzak differ from other Skrzzak with their massively elongated heads as well as their almost supernaturally calm demeanors. They are also insatiably curious scientists and experimenters. Using the arcane energies of Wytchstone, they perform diabolical and grotesque experiments on beings of all sorts. Though they prefer to inflict these bloody and visceral mutations upon humanoids, they regularly draw from the prisons of the Great Warren, literally using Warren Runners as their lab rats. Successful results have come about from their transmutative tinkerings, most famously the enormous Tyrant Skrzzak. They treat them more like beloved pets than
563 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY slaves, typically praising a Tyrant right after the beast has dismembered an intrusive band of adventurers in the Great Warren. Broodmothers keep their eye heavily focused on this breed, as a slip of their tongue could potentially cause the whole Kabal to collapse. Phlegmatic Skrzzak are too willful and confident to be ignored and they know this full well. PHLEGMATIC SKRZZAK SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 35% [3] 40% [4] 50% [7] 40% [6] 45% [5] 40% [6] 45% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 10 6 (12/18/24) 9 (15/21/27) None 70% Intermediate (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Education +20, Handle Animal +20, Heal +20, Leadership +10, Ride +20, Simple Melee +10, Simple Ranged +10, Survival +1 ATTACK PROFILE Man-Catcher: 45% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (3) • Entangling, Reach Tail Vertebrae: 45% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach Bolas: 45% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Throwing TRAITS DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. LICK YOUR WOUNDS: These creatures may spend 1 Misfortune Point to move three steps up the Damage Condition Track positively. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Animalbane, Beastbane, Leather armor, Man-Catcher, Wytchstone Essence (6) SANGUINE SKRZZAK SKRZZAK Special breeds of Skrzzak are more feared than the teeming masses of the Kabals. Called the Sanguine, they are an independent lot, dwelling on the fringes of the Great Warren. Like other Broodmother pups, Sanguine are born from a chemically-induced exsanguination of blood in the Broodmother, making this breed very excitable, flighty and highly dangerous. They are lithe and quick, their limbs thin and fur a midnight black color; they leave no trace of their presence. Sanguine Skrzzak are bred and trained to become contract killers, caring little for personal possessions, save their weeping blade. This sacred knife is one of deep tradition and a hallmark of these warriors. They hold near-religious reverence over it, insomuch that they only draw it when ready to kill. To sheath a weeping blade without first drawing blood is considered sacrilegious, an affront to both their own honor and the worship of The Thirteen. Reputedly, this blade is made from their first incisor to fall out as a pup, which is then mutated by exposure to Wytchstone to elongate and grow ever-sharp. The Sanguine play a role of great importance in the Great Warren and the world above. As highly experienced assassins for hire, they are not only sent to eliminate troublesome infiltrators from the surface, but also to eliminate members of the rival other Kabals. They have countless tools at their disposal for exterminating their marks: throwing knives, phials of poison, climbing ropes and their weeping blade are just a few of their toys. Sanguine Skrzzak see their assassination missions as near divine guidance from The Thirteen and they ingest Wytchstone Essence before undertaking a mission. Sanguine Skrzzak believe it heightens their focus and vision, allowing The Thirteen to see their kills through their eyes.
564 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY SANGUINE SKRZZAK SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [5] 40% [4] 50% [8] 45% [6] 40% [4] 40% [5] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 11 6 (12/18/24) 8 (14/20/26) None 70% Intermediate (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Folklore +10, Navigation +20, Scrutinize +20, Simple Melee +20, Simple Ranged +20, Stealth +20, Survival +10 ATTACK PROFILE Weeping Blade: 65% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (8) • Fast, Finesse, Light, Vicious Tail Vertebrae: 65% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach Throwing Star: 65% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • Fast, Finesse, Throwing Smoke Bomb: 65% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • None TRAITS AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. GUTTER RUNNER: When these creatures attempt to hide in urban and underground environments, they flip the results to succeed at Stealth Tests. SMOKE BOMB: When these creatures are encountered, they have a smoke bomb. When thrown, it explodes outwards. Those caught in an Explosion Template area of effect reduces their Movement by a -6 penalty, until they escape. In addition, it provides enough concealment for the creature to use their Stealth Skill. SNIKT! SNIKT!: These creatures may spend 3 APs to attack twice with melee weapons. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Balaclava mask, Dirk, Folkbane (3), Leather armor, Smoke bomb (3), Throwing star (6), Scorpion Venom (3), Weeping blade, Wytchstone Essence (3) TYRANT SKRZZAK SKRZZAK The trademark monstrosities of the Phlegmatic Skrzzak’s vile experiments, Tyrants are a terrifying sight to behold. All Tyrants were once Warren Runners, often criminals who volunteered for experimentation in order to reduce their sentences. What these poor wretches did not expect was the sheer torture and grotesquery of these experiments. These whelps were subjected to ampules of liquefied Wytchstone Essence which fused Ogrish blood into their very essence. The Skrzzak then amputated and re-attached multiple limbs, before infecting these creatures with nearly every known disease. These treatments drive the Warren Runner to blinding insanity, making them a willing thrall. They then emerge weeks later from the Phlegmatic’s fetid chambers, fully transmuted into a Tyrant Skrzzak. Tyrants (also called Ogre-kin) are massive and grotesque creatures, towering nearly twelve feet high and bristling with muscle. Their bodies are awful to behold, riddled with tumors, patches of mismatched skin, engorged thew, withered limbs and even having pieces of metal bolted into their very flesh. They are nearly always in blinding pain, so much that they only have two emotions: obedience and violence. Tyrants are terrors on the battlefield, throwing down foes like wretched rag dolls at the command of their Phlegmatic masters. When given reprieve from the cycle of violence, Tyrants are forced to undertake heavy labor, digging the endless tunnels of the Great Warren and other strength-intensive tasks. More importantly, they are the principal miners of Wytchstone; without them, Skrzzak society would collapse. Their exposure to the Ætheric mineral keeps them docile while they work, but as soon as they are separated from it, they re-enter a blinding rage of pain. The only thing that can relieve it is either by ingesting more Wytchstone ‘treats’ from their Phlegmatic masters or the promise of being drafted back to the mines.
565 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY TYRANT SKRZZAK SIZE: Large C B A P I W F 50% [5] 45% [11] 40% [8] 45% [4] 35% [3] 40% [6] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 11 14 (20/26/32) 9 (15/21/27) 80% 80% (Natural) Advanced (Low) Athletics +30, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Intimidate +30, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +30, Survival +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Tyrant spike: 80% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (11) • Fast, Reach, Powerful, Pummeling, Vicious Tail Vertebrae: 80% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach TRAITS BRUTE STRENGTH: These creatures refer to [BB] for Damage with melee weapons and ones with the Throwing Quality. They also have factored in +3 to their [BB]. Finally, they can inflict Injuries with Pummeling weapons. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DIM-WITTED: In combat, these creatures only use Attack Actions unless commanded otherwise by their leader with a successful Leadership Test. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. HIDEOUS MIGHT: These creatures add the Reach and Vicious Qualities to melee weapons they wield. They also ignore the Weak Quality of melee weapons. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: When these creatures Injure a foe with a melee weapon, they inflict two Injuries instead of one. RIPPING TEETH: When these creatures deal Damage, they can force a foe to Resist a Takedown. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SCAR THE FLESH: These creatures add +3 to their Damage Threshold, but wear no armor. SNIVELING WHELP: These creatures can only use 2 AP during combat. TRAPPINGS None WARREN RUNNER SKRZZAK The Broodmother’s birthings are not always exact; not every litter born is fit to be elevated from the horde into a position of prominence. These offshoot pups are collectively called Warren Runners and they are the most common of the Skrzzaks horde. Viewed as failed experiments in creating stronger breeds, these corrupted and sickly weaklings make up the largest portion of the Great Warren’s number. They are mostly factionless, but one day hope to join a noble Kabal. Born into thralldom, no more than a handful of them will amount to anything else. The Kabals see them as nothing more than chattel, primarily using them as either slave labor or cannon fodder to be thrown into battle to soften up their enemies before the ‘real attack’ begins. Survivors who are still fit to fight as warriors are ‘elected’ to lead dangerous guerrilla raids into the world above, while the indolent are granted freedom, spending their days in a Wytchstone-induced haze, forgetting the pain of their position (or lack thereof ) in the Great Warren. Warren Runners vary wildly in size and shape, but most are either piebald or possess only a few tufts of fur, which marks them as undesirables. Though they may be weaker than any of the true members of the Kabal, Runners are still capable and fast on their feet, navigating both cramped passages and winding city streets with ease as they tend to their duties. However, Warren Runners are notoriously lackadaisical, committing to tasks only when demanded at the threat of excision (the unceremonious act of having their tail removed). It is for this reason alone that Warren Runners sit at the bottom of the pecking order in the Great Warren.
566 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY WARREN RUNNER SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [4] 50% [7] 45% [5] 40% [4] 40% [5] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 10 5 (11/17/23) 8 (14/20/26) None 60% Basic (High) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Coordination +10, Folklore +10, Navigation +10, Scrutinize +10, Simple Melee +10, Simple Ranged +10, Stealth +10, Survival +10 ATTACK PROFILE Fire-hardened spear: 55% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (5) • Adaptable, Reach, Weak Tail Vertebrae: 55% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Reach Shepherd’s Sling: 55% • Distance (ranged 8 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (4) • Fast, Throwing, Weak TRAITS DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Folkbane, Hide armor, Shepherd’s sling, Stiletto, Wytchstone Essence (1) TROLL MUTANT Trolls are monstrous and terrifying creatures that stalk forest paths and mountain passes, as well as hiding under bridges in the wilderness. Large and strong of body, they are (thankfully) cut short by their utter lack of concrete intelligence. Where the first Troll came from is a bit of a mystery. It is oft believed that they were once humanoids who fell to the lurid powers of the Abyss, namely the Prince of Decay. As they became more engrossed in the Prince’s thrall, their skin turned ruddy, gelatinous and sloughed off in great heaps, only to be regenerated once again. Trolls like to bandy about that they were the ‘first big guy’ in the Material Realm, but the evidence really points to creatures like the Nephilim being the first inhabitants of the Material Realm. Trolls generally grow to about ten feet in height and although stooped, they are broad of shoulder with a sharp, angular face filled with razor sharp teeth. It’s hard to tell if they are even humanoid creatures anymore – their skin is sticky and slime-like with bones so malleable that they can compress their heads like a half-deflated pig’s stomach. Their malodorous skin attracts all manner of debris to it – rocks, sticks, foliage and trash. This is a great advantage to the Troll, as it gives them natural camouflage and armor without them having to think too hard about it. Trolls are cruel and greedy and the only thing they enjoy more than feasting on the entrails of travelers is picking through their precious stores of lucre. Thus, comes the trap that many Trolls find themselves in, but are often unaware of. Bailiffs and minor officials can easily recruit trolls as guardsmen with the promise of cash – the Troll only has to occupy dangerous passage against travelers and take a tithe as they pass. Their infamous ditty ‘pay the troll toll to get in’ is often sung mockingly to the
567 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Troll’s customers, as they dance about. Even paying the toll is no guarantee the creature will let you pass, but they can be distracted long enough to be evaded. There are a number of myths circulating of Trolls and their arcane nature – one false one is that sunlight petrifies them and that they will not abandon their posts. There are others which perhaps have a greater ring of truth to them – such as the petrified penis of a Troll being useful in druidic Magicks, their preference for skinning their meals alive and their uncanny ability to regenerate from deadly wounds TROLL SIZE: Large C B A P I W F 50% [5] 45% [10] 40% [6] 45% [4] 35% [3] 40% [7] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 9 10 (16/22/28) 10 (16/22/28) 80% 50% (Natural) Advanced (High) Athletics +30, Awareness +20, Bargain +20, Eavesdrop +20, Interrogation +10, Intimidate +30, Resolve +10, Simple Melee +30, Simple Ranged +30, Stealth +30, Survival +20, Toughness +20 ATTACK PROFILE Petrified Club: 80% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Light, Powerful, Weak Terrible Claws: 80% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (10) • Pummeling, Slow Acidic Spittle: 80% • Distance (ranged 5 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • None TRAITS ACIDIC SPITTLE: These creatures can use their saliva as a ranged weapon. This allows them to strike a single foe within 1+[PB], causing the foe to suffer 1D10+1 Damage from acid. However, Acidic Spittle ignores a foe’s Damage Threshold Modifier from armor. A foe can attempt to Dodge Acidic Spittle or Parry it with a shield. Acidic Spittle can be used while Engaged with foes. BIG GRIM: These creatures can use two-handed weapons in one hand and take advantage of the Adaptable Quality. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. FLAMMABLE: When exposed to flames, these creatures suffer an additional 1D10+1 Damage from fire. FOUL MUTATION: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Dice if of Basic Risk Factor; 2D6 Chaos Dice if of Intermediate Risk Factor; 3D6 if of Advanced Risk Factor; 4D6 if of Elite Risk Factor. For every face ‘6’, add one Taint of Chaos to the creature. GASTRIC ACIDITY: When these creatures deal Damage, a foe must Resist with Coordination. If they fail, the foe’s armor, weapon or shield is Ruined!. HARD-NOSED: These creatures are immune to Knockout! and Stunning Blow. HERP DERP: These creatures are easily distracted. When their Turn starts, they must succeed a Resolve Test or else lose 1 AP. KILL IT WITH FIRE: Only after these creature’s remains are set On Fire are they forever Slain!. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: When these creatures Injure a foe with a melee weapon, they inflict two Injuries instead of one. PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE: Foes must flip the results to fail attacks made with ranged weapons to strike these creatures. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SILENT STALKER: When these creatures use the Stealth or Survival Skill, they flip the results to succeed at their Test. STOMP THE YARD: When these creatures deal Damage, they can automatically knock their foe Prone. In addition, they ignore the effects of Hard Terrain. TRAPPINGS Bailiff ’s lockbox, Petrified club, Petrified troll penis, Tattered rags, Troll hide
568 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY ÆTHERIC SPIRITS Demons are not the only creatures that are beings of pure chaos, ones that live outside of the Material Realm but completely ingrained in its reality. There are also more simplistic spirits, ones that have no form or function until they are called by a wayward Necromancer into the Material Realm. These are the enigmatic and primal Ætheric Spirits. Ætheric Spirits are borne from the Æthereal Veil – the border that separates our reality from the screaming fury of the Abyss. The Veil is a protective border of sorts and it is also a prism that separates the raw fury of Magicks from the void into the rainbow of winds that power mages of all stripes. Unlike the Abyss, it has no real form, but it is slightly more composed and ‘safer’ than the devilish pit. Ætheric Spirits are beings of pure chaos-stuff, more spirits than creatures of formable flesh and blood. They represent the four elements – air, earth, fire and water. These elements have been present throughout time to describe alchemy, the nature of reality, the gods, humors and much more. They are the building blocks of much Magickal theory. Ætheric Spirits may have originally been attuned to these elements or perhaps cultural zeitgeist made them follow these forms due to collective consciousness, but that is their current lot. Ætheric Spirits are not intelligent in any way, being even below some animals in terms of thought power. These act on simple instinct, following the whims and ways of their element rather than putting any planning into anything. While in the Æthereal Veil, these elementals have no physical form or any sort of identity – they swirl amongst and through each other, destroying and being reborn in seconds. The only time they take form is when summoned through an eldritch Ritual known as Summon Ætheric Spirit. With the expenditure of a sacrifice, an Ætheric Spirit is torn from the Veil and forced into our reality – somewhat. When they are summoned, they exist in neither their home or the Material Realm, but rather in between. This makes them highly unstable, with only the power of the summoner being able to keep them intact. Ætheric Spirits must create their material shell out of their element within the local area, harnessing air, earth, fire or water to construct a form that can manipulate the real world. They are dependent upon their summoner, able to follow commands, but often interpreting them literally. Some powerful Ætheric Spirits have managed to break free of the shackles of their summoner and live in relatively stability in the Material Realm, but these are often just whispers. In reality, an Ætheric Spirit will crumble and return back to their home dimension if their summoner is ever killed, knocked out or put to sleep. Ætheric Spirits are still nothing to be trifled with. They have no sense of morals, right or wrong and embody the pure destructive forces of our realm. Happily, they are also exceedingly vulnerable to opposing elements – Water Undines cannot journey onto land, just as Fire Salamanders disintegrate when exposed to water. ◆ SUPERNATURAL ◆
569 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY AIR SYLPH ÆTHERIC SPIRIT There are no such things as fairies – though common in folktales and myths, there has never been any physical evidence these little moth-winged sprites ever existing. Perhaps they were made from the rabble-rousing of Redcaps or maybe ancient Elves, but these small fanged spirits of mischievousness are on all accounts just rumors. However, the Air Sylph may be an adaptation, or maybe even the origin, of those same fairy tales. By cooking a Gryphon’s egg, an Air Sylph can be brought forth from the Æthereal Veil. With a violent squall and a clap of thunder, the Air Sylph materializes from the void from a miniature cyclone. The Air Sylph is often no bigger than a child, though their physical form is that of a comely – and half-nude – Elven woman. However, this is shadowed by seemingly insectile features – they have a set of large moth wings sprouting from their backs, furry antennae atop their heads and eyes both segmented and compounded. They kick up winds wherever they go, chattering incessantly in a halfwhispered, half-seductive tone. Air Sylphs are flighty and mercurial, causing instinctual chaos just by simply existing. They are also extremely quick on the wing and even able to blend into the very winds to remain unseen. They may not be intelligent, but they are likely the most cunning of all the Ætheric Spirits – though that honestly isn’t saying much. Air Sylphs are slaves to the wind though – they cannot journey underground or over water, where their powers are slowly drained until they are tossed back to the Veil. Air Sylphs are the most common of the Ætheric Spirits, and arcanists believe that they are an Ætheric adaptation of Human myths, taking form to fill a sort of metaphysical void in the consciousness of mankind. Sylphs are spoken of very highly among far-flung cultures. Far to the east, they are often referred to as genies and stories tell of their ability to grant three wishes upon being released from their Ætheric prison. Perhaps this is related to the Air Sylphs’ instincts to follow orders, but the myth has become so popular that many arcanists have died due to their overconfidence in summoning these vaporous beings, all in hopes of a simple wish. AIR SYLPH SIZE: Small or Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 40% [10] 45% [10] 35% [4] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 16/19 fly 10 (16/22/28) None None 85% (Natural) Advanced (Low) Athletics +30, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Intimidate +30, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Wind Kick: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (Special) • None Elemental Lash: 70% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (10) • Entangling, Pummeling TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BROKEN WINGS: Once this creature is Grievously Wounded, it can no longer fly. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. ELEMENTAL WEAKNESS: Those creatures which are composed of elemental air cannot move underground or across water. Those which are composed of elemental earth instantly disintegrate and are Slain! if detached from the ground. Creatures composed of elemental fire are Slain! if they enter a body of water or are caught in a heavy rain shower. Finally, those composed of water instantly disintegrate, Slain! if they leave the water. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. MASTERFULLY ADROIT: These creatures refer to their [AB] for all Damage they inflict with weapons. They also have factored in +3 to their [AB]. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. PAW/HOOF/WING: These creatures’ movement uses 6+[AB] on foot and 9+[AB] for flight. Fliers are indicated under Movement. PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE: Foes must flip the results to
570 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY fail attacks made with ranged weapons to strike these creatures. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. WIND KICK: When creatures use this attack, it forces a foe to Resist with a Coordination Test or be thrown 1D10+ [BB] in yards. This attack can be used against three foes at once. TRAPPINGS None EARTHEN GNOME ÆTHERIC SPIRIT What lurks below our feet, in the cold belly of the earth, has always been a worry for land dwellers. Though Dwarves may indeed know the depths of the stone, even they choose to avoid the most chthonic depths. Rumors persist of massive carrion worms the size of villages, who dig enormous tunnels while feeding on even fouler things. Though no real sign of these has ever been found, the Earthen Gnome follows these fears closely. A Basilisk’s eyes bring forth an Earthen Gnome, as it is dissolved in acid and spread about the circle. With a terrible rumbling and noise of shattering stone, up from the ground burrows the imposing Earthen Gnome, covered in rot and dirt. Earthen Gnomes are squat and disgusting, possessing clearly worm-like attributes. They are putrid white-yellow and ridged, covered in a carapace of diamond and rock. Two groups of three small, beady eyes crown their head and their mouth opens four ways into a massive saw-toothed jaw designed for crushing stone and bone. Around their neck are multiple retracting tentacles they can use to manipulate objects into their jaws. They are eerily quiet, not even making a noise when burrowing or eating. Earthen Gnomes are always half-submerged in the earth. Whether they have an actual hind end is up for debate, as they are instantly killed if they are ripped from their burrow. Though Earthen Gnomes are threatening, they are relatively calm and immobile compared to the other Ætheric Spirits, making them only slightly less dangerous. One of the more interesting facets of the Earthen Gnome is their name, which is far too similar to the humanoid Gnomes – at least in their opinion. Myths exist that Earthen Gnomes once were actual Gnomes, who journeyed too deep into the earth and became trapped, devolving into these fat and fetid worm-like creatures. Earthen Gnomes are also used to scare children, taking on a similar role as the classic changeling of Human society. Luckily, due to the Earthen Gnomes literal lack of intelligence, this idea bears no merit outside of a deterrent to not steal from or strike other children. EARTHEN GNOME SIZE: Large C B A P I W F 40% [4] 45% [13] 45% [7] 35% [4] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 10 17 (23/29/35) None None None Advanced (Low) Athletics +30, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Intimidate +30, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Earthen Fisticuffs: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (13) -Slow Stone Blast: 70% • Distance (ranged 7 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (Special) • None TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BRUTE STRENGTH: These creatures refer to [BB] for Damage with melee weapons and ones with the Throwing Quality. They also have factored in +3 to their [BB]. Finally, they can inflict Injuries with Pummeling weapons. CHTHONIAN DWELLER: These creatures do not need to breathe and are immune to Chokehold. In addition, they can burrow or swim at the same rate of Movement as they can on foot. Finally, they may flip the results to succeed at Resolve Tests. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. ELEMENTAL WEAKNESS: Those creatures which are composed of elemental air cannot move underground or across water. Those which are composed of elemental earth instantly disintegrate and are Slain! if detached from the ground. Creatures composed of elemental fire are Slain! if they enter a body of water or caught in a heavy rain shower. Finally, those composed of water instantly disintegrate, Slain! if they leave the water.
571 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. MONSTROUS BELLOW: When these creatures successfully use a Litany of Hatred, they inflict 2D10+[BB] physical Peril. NATURAL ARMOR (4): These creatures have factored in a bonus to their Damage Threshold, equal to the value in parentheses. PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE: Foes must flip the results to fail attacks made with ranged weapons to strike these creatures. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. STOMP THE YARD: When these creatures deal Damage, they can automatically knock their foe Prone. In addition, they ignore the effects of Hard Terrain. STONE BLAST: When creatures use this attack, it forces a foe to Resist with an Athletics Test or suffer 1D10+ the creature’s [BB] in Damage. This attack can be used against three foes at once and cannot be Dodged or Parried. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS None FIRE SALAMANDER ÆTHERIC SPIRIT Dragons are an ancient terror whispered of in the dark and rumors abound of half-breeds which can wreak as much havoc as their parents. One of these half-breeds was a mythical four-legged serpent, which unable to fly like its draconic parent, haunted loamy forests and deep caverns. Though they were long destroyed by Slayers, the Fire Salamander assumes the form of these aged creatures whence summoned. The heart of a Chimaera is used in the summoning ritual, as it is burned, inhaled and exhaled. A wave of heat and fetid brimstone heralds a Fire Salamander’s arrival, as a magma rift opens that the beast crawls out of. The Fire Salamander takes the form of a squat lizard, roughly the size of a komodo dragon and similar in shape. Their scales are obsidian black, cut in between with molten rock separating the plates and their eyes burn with a yellow-red fire. Their hiss crackles with cinders and they are able to breath a searing gout of flame that melts both skin and metal. They are always filled with a fiery rage, one that leads them to scorch the land they trod upon. Water is anathema to them, thus their propensity to stay within caves deep within the heat of the earth. Fire Salamanders represent the fury and destructive force of flame and heat and have done so since the world was young. Since dragons are so rare, Fire Salamanders are often mistaken for them by those unfortunate to stumble upon ones that freely dwell in the Material Realm. And why not? They are lizards that breathe fire, have jagged teeth and exude Corruption, so they might as well be the feared wyrms. An easy defense for the Fire Salamander is as simple to carrying a bucket of water with you, but they are so powerful and terrible you are lucky if you do not lose your possessions or your skin when you bear witness to their burning countenance. Fire Salamanders function on pure Ætheric instinct, its predatory urges driving them to engulf and devour everything in Ætheric flames. FIRE SALAMANDER SIZE: Large C B A P I W F 45% [9] 40% [6] 40% [7] 35% [3] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +6 10 6 (12/18/24) None None None Advanced (Low) Athletics +30, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Intimidate +30, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Gnashing Teeth & Claws: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (8) • Slow, Vicious Spit Fire: 75% • Distance (ranged 6 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • None TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. AUTOTOMY: When these creatures would be Slain!, they immediately break off their tail, remaining Grievously Wounded and can use any Movement Action for 0 APs. Should they suffer Damage again, they are permanently Slain!. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. DEATH ROLL: When these creatures deal Damage, at their option, they can force a foe to Resist a Chokehold. ELEMENTAL WEAKNESS: Those creatures which are
572 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY composed of elemental air cannot move underground or across water. Those which are composed of elemental earth instantly disintegrate and are Slain! if detached from the ground. Creatures composed of elemental fire are Slain! if they enter a body of water or caught in a heavy rain shower. Finally, those composed of water instantly disintegrate, Slain! if they leave the water. FEEL THE HEAT: When foes are Engaged with this creature, they must Resist with a successful Coordination Test or be exposed to Mildly Dangerous flames. FIERY RETRIBUTION: These creatures can use Spit Fire as an Opportunity Attack without having to Load. FIREPROOF: These creatures and their possessions are entirely immune to Damage from fire. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. RIPPING TEETH: When these creatures deal Damage, they can force a foe to Resist a Takedown. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SPIT FIRE: These creatures can use their breath as a ranged weapon. This allows then to strike a single foe within 3+[PB], as the foe suffers 2D10+2 Damage from fire. A foe can attempt to Dodge Spit Fire or Parry it with a shield. Spit Fire can be used while Engaged with foes. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS None WATER UNDINE ÆTHERIC SPIRIT The medusae is a mysterious creature of the sea: it has no brain, no heart, no mouth, yet it moves and lives, undulating with its many tentacles and gelatinous body. They are found in the darkest recesses of the ocean and can grow to monstrous size. No wonder that the enigmatic Water Undine assumes this form when summoned to the Material Realm. Like all Ætheric Spirits, Water Undines are formless amoebas floating in the Æthereal Veil, representing the crushing gravity of the ocean depths. Water Undines are summoned through the use of a pulsating Shimmering Mimic’s brain, pulverized and devoured within the arcane sigil. With a blast of mist and brine, the Water Undine emerges from the murky pool that forms within the circle. They are a shimmering blue, alternating between wine dark and translucent. They are roughly the size of a humanoid and have the shape of a jellyfish, their bell and tentacles pulsing. They have no intelligence, only a primal survival instinct and an almost devilish contempt for the world. They are only ever mobile within water and when they are, Water Undine are stealthy hunters who fill their prey with poison. Some believe that the pulsing colors of their dome-shaped body are a sort of primitive or chemical language, but their leviathan fury doesn’t leave much time to contemplate their nature. Under the sway of the right summoner, Water Undines are intimidating foes, but useless without any sort of direction. Some do manage to escape the thrall of their masters and descend deep into the oceanic depths to grow massive and powerful. It is thought that krakens and giant squids are eaten by massive Water Undines, only further fueling the myths that Water Undines – when left to their own devices – could threaten coastal cities as they grow bigger. Luckily,
573 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Water Undines cannot leave the water. That said, using their massive tentacles, they drag prey into the dark depths of the sea, never to be seen again. WATER UNDINE SIZE: Large C B A P I W F 40% [4] 35% [3] 45% [12] 45% [9] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +12 15 3 (9/15/21) None None 75% Advanced (Low) Athletics +10, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Intimidate +30, Simple Melee +30, Simple Ranged +30, Stealth +30, Toughness +20 ATTACK PROFILE Stinging Tentacle: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Entangling, Fast, Pummeling Elemental Lash: 70% • Distance (ranged 13 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (12) • Entangling, Finesse, Pummeling TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. CHTHONIAN DWELLER: These creatures do not need to breathe and are immune to Chokehold. In addition, they can burrow or swim at the same rate of Movement as they can on foot. Finally, they may flip the results to succeed at Resolve Tests. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. ELEMENTAL WEAKNESS: Those creatures which are composed of elemental air cannot move underground or across water. Those which are composed of elemental earth instantly disintegrate and are Slain! if detached from the ground. Creatures composed of elemental fire are Slain! if they enter a body of water or caught in a heavy rain shower. Finally, those composed of water instantly disintegrate, Slain! if they leave the water. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FWIP! FWIP!: These creatures may spend 3 APs to attack twice with ranged weapons without Loading. MASTERFULLY ADROIT: These creatures refer to their [AB] for all Damage they inflict with weapons. They also have factored in +3 to their [AB]. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE: Foes must flip the results to fail attacks made with ranged weapons to strike these creatures. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. STINGING TENTACLE: When these creatures deal Damage, at their option, they can force a foe to Resist a Stunning Blow. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS None DEFILER SUPERNATURAL Though anyone who knows the proper rituals can raise undead thralls, the most horrendous tales of undead hordes from the histories lay far to the barren south in a place where kings were worshipped as gods. It was home to a verdant civilization that was plagued by Defilers, terrible sorcerers of unmitigated power. When it was discovered that these dark magi were searching for the secret of immortality – a taboo in their cultures which still continues to this day – the peoples of these lands rose up as one and drove the Defilers out. After being banished, the Defilers delved deeper into the secrets of necromancy and eventually discovered their goal – eternal life. What they did not expect was the gnawing emptiness and void of immortality being the true cost of its power. Enraged at their own hubris, they journeyed back to the once-verdant cities and conjured fell Magick; it swept
574 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY across the land, killing the residents and re-raising them as Mindless Undead, as well as turning the once verdant jungles into barren dunes. Now the Defilers rule in debauchery, cackling as their former enemies are forced to fight, die and be reborn for all eternity. The process to become a Defiler requires a terrible and bloody ritual fueled by the darkest of Magicks. Using a ritually-treated bronze knife, the Defiler eviscerates themselves, removing their stomach, lungs, liver and intestines, placing the organs into four large sandstone jars; otherwise called soul jars. This leaves only their still beating heart, the presumed location of the soul and a massive entry into their chest cavity. They then pack the cavity full of salts and ritual spices to extract all their humors, finally wrapping themselves in linen to preserve the flesh. The ritual complete, their withered heart glows with an unearthly black light from the Well of Souls, granting the creature the immortality they craved. Even with Magick serving to keep the Defiler able to do the ritual, few survive to become immortal. Those that do are inexorably insane, as the magnitude of pain causes their mental fortitude to snap. Not only that, but to become immortal is to become inhuman; Defilers lose all light and connection to the Gods when they enchant their ragged hearts. What remains is a black existence, an immortality of immense power but intense spiritual nihilism. Defilers are insanely powerful Necromancers, bending life and unlife to their every whim. With a wave of their emaciated hand they can re-raise an entire cemetery, send a forest to withering, befouled water and spread disease with their breath. They form massive dynasties around themselves, delusional royalty of the Mindless Undead who only seek to destroy any that have turned against them. Defilers are also notoriously petty, sending their dynastic troops against other Defilers mostly out of sheer boredom and ennui. This and the small number of Defilers mitigates their threat, but it is said the whole of the once-verdant kingdoms fell in a day under the force of these crypt lords. The Defiler’s main weakness is their four soul jars. They are always guarded heavily or under the constant eye of the Defiler; should one be separated from the others or destroyed, the Defiler’s power wanes immensely. Destroying all of them is the only way to kill a Defiler, their soul so blackened and foul that it is destroyed by the Custodian instead of allowing entrance into the Well of Souls. Some Defilers are so paranoid about their soul jars that they will hold them in their gaping chest cavity so that they are never separated. DEFILER SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [6] 50% [7] 50% [7] 50% [5] 50% [5] 55% [11] 50% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 10 12 (18/24/30) 13 (19/25/31) 70% 70% Elite (Unique) Athletics +10, Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Education +30, Folklore +20, Guile +30, Incantation +30, Intimidate +30, Ride +20, Rumor +20, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +20, Toughness +10 ATTACK PROFILE Khopesh: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (7) • Slow, Vicious, Weak Crook: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Light, Powerful, Weak Flail: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Adaptable, Weak TRAITS ÆTHERIC DOMINATION: When these creatures would potentially invoke a Chaos Manifestation, they must have two or more face ‘6’ on Chaos Dice to invoke it. AWAKENING: Anytime these creatures attempt to raise and control Supernatural creatures using Magick and Rituals, they Critically Succeed at their Skill Test. In addition, they automatically understand how to use the Ritual of Awaken the Dead, don’t need reagents to cast it and treat the casting time as one minute (3 AP), instead of one hour. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. ENTRANCING: When this creature uses a Transfixed Gaze, they can use other Actions while they maintain its Mesmerizing effect. In addition, foes suffer 1 Corruption and 2D10+2 mental Peril on each of their Turns while they remain Mesmerized. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, these creatures suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. LORD OF THE DAMNED: These creatures can control a number of Mindless Undead equal to three times their [WB]. They need not remain within sight of these creatures to be controlled, as they share a telepathic bond. Finally, they can see through the eyes of all Mindless Dead they control. OCCULT MASTERY: When this creature Channels Power and succeeds at their Skill Test, they Critically Succeed instead. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons.
575 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SOUL JAR: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless the fetish or phylactery which houses their soul is destroyed. However, they can be made to remain in hibernation, left unconscious if a jar of salt is poured into their mouths. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. TRANSFIXED GAZE: When these creatures can see a foe (who can also see them), they force a foe to Resist with a Resolve Test or be Mesmerized. Mesmerized foes cannot use any Actions In Combat, but may attempt to Resist again at the beginning of their Turn to escape. The creature cannot use any other Actions while they maintain a Transfixed Gaze. However, they can release the gaze at any time. If the creature suffers Damage while a foe is Mesmerized, they immediately relinquish the hold. Foes who attempt to Resist must flip the results to fail their Skill Test. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Arcane tome with 6 Petty Magick spells, Arcane tome with 3 Lesser Magick spells, Arcane tome with 1 Greater Magick spell, Crook, Expensive necklace (3), Expensive ring (6), Flail, Golden death mask, Khopesh, Pharaoh’s armor (as munitions plate armor with the Castle-forged Quality), Phylactery (4), Tattered rags, Reagents for all Magick spells (9) FEY There is something primal and frightening about the deep forests of the land. Within the darkest of the hillside thickets lie half-petrified trees – older than most kingdoms – and riverbeds that have seen the blood of thousands of different cultures and beasts with no concern at mankind’s presence. But even darker, stranger things are in residence – beings that lived before even the Aztlan arrived. Dwelling in remote thickets and glades, these terrifyingly old and powerful beings are known as the Fey. The Fey are ancient primeval spirits who worship longforgotten elemental gods, their names lost to time. Once banished from the Material Realm, their sorcerous willpower has allowed them to languish in the Well of Souls with their memories intact, in a place menacingly known as the Black Lodge. The Fey can easily cross into the Material Realm where there are high concentrations of geomantic energies: concentric circles of sapling sycamore trees, betwixt lakes and caves or pools of black, burbling oil amid glades all serve as portals for them out of the Black Lodge. They are tied to the forest, however and rarely venture far from it before being called back by pure instinct and fear of the Material Realm. Fey generally live at the edge of civilization, making sure their realm is not tampered with. They are non-confrontational providing their sanctuaries are left unmolested, but interlopers are dealt with cold neutrality at best and terrible ire at worst. Not only are all Fey Magickal creatures of awesome power, but they have allied themselves with the primordial Beasts of the forests – the creatures that existed far before animals trod upon the ground. Fey are all cruel and capricious beings to a fault, controlled by emotion and instinct rather than actual logic. That does not mean they see eye to eye, however. Fey are split along two ideologies – one is that they are the rightful rulers of the forest, with the Elves as their enforcers. The other is that they are the first people of the forest and that the only way to protect it is through destruction of all others, including the Elves. This has resulted in a dualistic Coterie, the Seelie on the side of order and the Unseelie on the side of chaos. Humans and other Ancestries do not factor into the equation – they are slain instantly. Seelie are hedonistic beings, the worst of Human aristocracy combined with an alien mindset. The Humans they decide to capture they mock and torture, using them as slaves and slowly eroding their humanity. The Unseelie, on the other hand, are little more than masochistic animals. They hide in shadows and ravage passersby, splaying entrails and viscera across the boughs of trees. They are brooding and angry spirits, quick to lash back at any perceived insults or malice. Ruling over the Coterie are the enigmatic Sidhe, beings of immense power that most members of the Coterie have never
576 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY seen. A cross between royalty and divinity, the Sidhe’s main motive in the Black Lodge is to lead the Fey in ascension to godhood, replacing their old dead gods with themselves, with the Sidhe being in charge of course. They have elaborate and elegant names like Oberon and Titania. Regardless, the Seelie and Unseelie follow the will of the Sidhe Lords, though that will be under fickle and uncertain reasoning. The Coterie are constantly at each other’s throats, with allegiances and agendas unclear most of the time. DULLAHAN FEY Death rides upon a pale horse; one that comes for man and woman, rich and poor alike. The Custodian is not a chaotic being of any sort; She simply knows that a due is owed, for the soul the Demiurge gave must be returned to the Custodian. In order to accomplish this, the Custodian has cursed a certain brand of Fey to be Her eternal ferrymen – the Dullahan. Fey are Magickal and immortal, so they very rarely die outside of violence. When their spirits die in the Material Realm, the Custodian transforms them into the brooding and terrible Dullahan – a sort of petty revenge for the Fey’s rebellion. Dullahan appear as burly, cloaked coachmen, their riding leathers dark and adorned with bits of Human bone. They are not headless so much as they carry it decapitated either beneath a crook of the arm or mounted on their saddle. It can see, smell and hear normally, but it rarely speaks outside of condemning the mortal they have come to collect. Dullahan ride atop Night Mares, which look like skeletal horses wreathed in flame; otherwise, they drive grim, gothic carriages or even pilot river-going skiffs that rattle and quake as skulls of the dead bounce around. Nothing stops the Dullahan – they are immortal, no door is an obstacle to them and they are only visible to a select few people. When they reach their mark designated by the Custodian, they plunge their vertebrae sword through the target’s very soul, extracting it and either tossing it in their carriage or thrown over their saddle. As the heat of the body fades, the Dullahan gallops off to deposit the newly harvested spirit into the Well of Souls. Dullahan are not undead, but they aren’t living either – they dwell within that awkward place between that all Fey do. Nor do they possess true will anymore, for sure – they are servants of the Custodian and they will not stop until their designated souls have been collected. That is what makes them most dangerous – they are tenacious and powerful and though a Dullahan can be potentially slain to ward it off, soon another Dullahan will return in its place, equally full of ire and bent on destruction. They also share an odd connection with the Black Lodge that little other Fey do – they serve the destruction and entropy of the Lodge and wherever they go they bring a stench of rotting wood and dried bones. DULLAHAN SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [8] 45% [5] 40% [8] 45% [7] 35% [3] 40% [5] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 11 8 (14/20/26) 8 (14/20/26) 80% 50% (Natural) Advanced (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +20, Drive +30, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +20, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +30, Martial Melee +30, Navigation +20, Pilot +10, Ride +30, Simple Ranged +20, Stealth +10 ATTACK PROFILE Vertebrae Sword: 80% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (8) • Punishing, Reach, Slow TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. GIVE ME YOUR EYES: When these creatures inflict a Moderate Injury, it is always a Black Eye. When they inflict a Serious Injury, it is always Head Trauma. Finally, when they inflict a Grievous Injury, it is always a Vitreous Hemorrhage. GOLDEN DEATH: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless their eyes are pierced with a golden pin or 1 gold crown (gc) is placed beneath their tongue. During this time, they remain in a hibernating state, unless the pins or gold crown (gc) are removed, therefore giving life to the creature again. Only by then burning the head in a funeral pyre are they forever Slain!.
577 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY IN THE FACE: These creatures can only be harmed by melee and ranged weapons by using a Called Shot to the head. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SCAR THE FLESH: These creatures add +3 to their Damage Threshold, but wear no armor. SILENT STALKER: When these creatures use the Stealth or Survival Skill, they flip the results to succeed at their Test. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. UNLATCH DOORS: These creatures can automatically unfasten any lock they can see or touch, Magickal or otherwise. WORD OF DEATH: When these creatures encounter those who are suffering from a Disorder, Disease or Grievous Injury, the foe must Resist with a successful Resolve Test or else be Slain!. However, the foe must be able to see and hear them for Word of Death to work. If a foe succeeds at this Resolve Test, they are forever immune to Word of Death. TRAPPINGS Dullahan’s head (storm lantern which uses blood for fuel), Vertebrae sword, Witchhunter’s coat & mantle, Witchhunter’s hat FACEDANCER FEY Myths tell of a curse placed on a clan of people long ago for displeasing long-forgotten gods, a curse that would leave the people without identity, but always longing for one. The world is not kind or loving and a sad yet morbid tale is to be told of the Facedancer’s dilemma. Their unchanged faces are utterly featureless, aside from a wide-gaped mouth with razor sharp teeth filling it. Perhaps surprisingly enough, Facedancers are not demons or any kind of monster: they have normal thoughts and motivations (though normality leaning towards viciousness). Facedancers have an endless desire to be normal again, to have features and a reflection in the mirror and they can accomplish this feat through a sanguine ritual. Upon skinning a victim’s face, the Facedancer devours the newly-cut flesh. The Facedancer then undergoes a grotesque transformation, becoming a perfect copy of their meal: a true doppelganger. Everything from physical appearance, memories, affectations and even Magickal powers can be used by the ordinarily-frail Facedancer. This change is not permanent nor is it perfect; the transformation only lasts until the following new moon, while the Facedancer’s eyes are of two different colors; a mark of surefire deception – or as Inquisitors put it, the mark of a heretic! Facedancers will often travel with several ‘faces’ in a water-proof bag at their side; a grotesquery, but one that can help maintain their illusions. It is unknown if the Facedancers are native Fey or are like the Dullahan, having simply been adopted into their ranks. Many like to say their mutable forms were the first to take form within the Black Lodge, but other Fey laugh at this idea. Facedancers feel spiritual pain while not transformed; the memories from all their assumed identities clash, driving them to moments of déjà vu: events which never transpired. Assuming new identifies ebbs away at the despair they feel, but there is no cure for a Facedancer’s anguish aside from continuous, ritual murder. FACEDANCER SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 35% [3] 40% [4] 45% [4] 45% [4] 40% [6] 50% [7] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 7 3 (9/15/21) 6 (12/18/24) 40% 50% (Natural) Basic (High) Awareness +10, Bargain +10, Charm +10, Disguise +10, Folklore +10, Guile +10, Interrogation +10, Resolve +10, Rumor +10, Scrutinize +10 ATTACK PROFILE Ritual Dagger: 40% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Finesse, Light, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. FACES OF DEATH: After these creatures consume the
578 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY face of someone they’ve killed, they assume their memories and mannerisms with near perfection. This includes use of Magick, if applicable. Only with a Critically Succeeded Scrutinize Test would someone else tell otherwise. This Trait’s effects lasts until the new moon. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. TRAPPINGS Ritual dagger, Slingbag with faces inside (3) REDCAP FEY At times, even the most capricious of creatures are not of the Abyss at all. Skulking among the brush and loam of the forest, the mischievous Redcaps are malicious sprites, given countless names from dunter and powrie to knocker and pixie. When a man is entwined by the charms of a Woodland Nymph, the conniving figures of the Redcap are the rotten fruit born from such couplings. They are born fully formed and intelligent, emerging from the nymph’s sourest of fruits in the downturn of spring. Redcaps are born with the countenance of old men, their backs crooked and their skin wrinkled and tanned. After birth, they then disperse, donning local toadstools as primitive head coverings on their maddening crusade to cleanse the wood. Redcaps are undoubtedly Fey spirits of fury and vengeance, beings who have inherited the worst traits of both their parents. After killing their enemies, they soak the worn toadstool cap in their victim’s blood, using it as a sort of odd sacrifice to ancient devilish spirits of the forest. When not killing intruders, their favorite activities include rolling boulders onto travelers, setting fire to settlements and maiming livestock – they have no interests other than general mayhem. Luckily, Redcaps are vanishingly rare, congregating in small circles among ruined settlements. They are also cautious to the powers of the gods, reticent to attack priests. Redcaps are also of interest to wizards and alchemists, as the red cap mushrooms they grow are a potent inducer of bloodlust and their fangs can be ground into smelling salts. REDCAP SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [5] 50% [6] 45% [4] 40% [4] 40% [4] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 9 5 (11/17/24) 7 (13/19/25) None 60% (Natural) Basic (Low) Eavesdrop +10, Intimidate +10, Resolve +10, Simple Melee +10, Stealth +10 ATTACK PROFILE Pike: 55% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (4) • Reach Redcap Fangs: 55% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (5) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BATTLE FRENZY: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If it lands on a face ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘3’, they are under the effect of that many doses of red cap mushrooms. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. TRAPPINGS Blood-soaked toadstool hat, Iron-shod heavy boots, Pike, Red cap mushroom (3), Redcap fang (2)
579 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY SIDHE LORD FEY In the darkest reaches of the primordial, spectral forests of betwixt here and the Black Lodge, the capricious Sidhe Lords hold court over Fey of all kinds. Little is known about these beings, aside from the fact that they are aspirational, capable and quite mad. Sidhe Lords were thought to be the original servants of the long dead gods of the dawn age – perhaps champions who were looked upon with favor or maybe semi-divine beings. Either way, they possess both immense power and the prolonged life amongst the fecund lands of the Black Lodge. However, the old gods slowly started to die and with their passing the Black Lodge shrunk and was consumed by the Well of Souls. The Sidhe Lords used what power they could to enforce their borders, but the ravages of the Well’s dark energies ate away at their very minds. Soon enough, the Sidhe Lords saw themselves as the only protectors of the Fey – the new gods who were destined to rise up and usurp reality as many know it. Their lack of numbers and their being riven by narcissism and hate not only drove the Sidhe Lords asunder into two ‘Coterie’ which still exist to this day, but also continue to thwart their ambitions. Each Coterie is full of loyal Fey, fettered mortal prisoners and the occasional Abyssal ally. Each Sidhe Lord may as well be a god to their chosen people – their power is immense, as they can sing spectral songs to nature itself to allow it to bend to their will. In appearance, Sidhe Lords often appear as one of mankind, though with supernatural, naturalistic aspects – a wispy maid with cascading water for hair, a strong Siabran warrior with stag horns growing from their head or a burly barbarian made completely of stone and ice. They tend towards whimsical or mystical names as well, such as Jack Frost, Morgause, Oberon, Titania, Una or the White Witchling. Many Sidhe Lords also actively welcome mortals into their grand palaces, but do not be fooled. Sidhe Lords are capricious and scheming to a fault, mad manipulators whose benedictions and opinions shift as the seasons do. They will stop at nothing to gain power to intrude upon the Material Realm and become the ‘new gods of the old way’, maneuvering their Coterie to tear down all idols of false gods and erect a new tomorrow. SIDHE LORD SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [5] 50% [6] 50% [13] 55% [9] 50% [5] 55% [7] 50% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +12 16 10 (16/22/28) 13 (19/25/31) None 90% (Natural) Elite (Unique) Athletics +10, Charm +30, Coordination +30, Disguise +30, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +30, Guile +30, Interrogation +30, Martial Melee +30, Martial Ranged +30, Survival +30 ATTACK PROFILE Ironwood Bow: 80% • Distance (ranged 21 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (13) • Fast, Finesse, Punishing Harlequin Sword: 80% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (13) • Fast, Finesse, Vicious TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BOTH-HANDEDNESS: When they wield 2 one-handed melee weapons and fail a Combat-based Skill Test, they may re-roll to generate a better result, but must accept the outcome. CAPTIVATING CRY: When foes can hear this creature, they must Resist with a successful Resolve Test or be drawn towards the sound. Should they enter a dangerous area to find the sound, they can attempt another Resolve Test. Once they are able to visually see the creature, the Captivating Cry’s effects end. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. FORESIGHT: When these creatures fail any Skill Test, they may re-roll to generate a better result but must accept the outcome. MASTERFULLY ADROIT: These creatures refer to their [AB] for all Damage they inflict with weapons. They also have factored in +3 to their [AB]. POSSESSION: These creatures can use Skin Guest from the Arcana of Sorcery without having to make an Incantation Test. In addition, they do not have to maintain Concentration.
580 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY SHAPESHIFTER: These creatures may take any form they please, providing it is of a Small or Large Animal or Humanoid (including player Ancestries). SILENT STALKER: When these creatures use the Stealth or Survival Skill, they flip the results to succeed at their Test. TRUE NAME: Unless foes invoke this creature’s True Name before casting Magick, it fails to affect the creature. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Harlequin sword, Ironwood bow, Sidhe armor TALKING TREE FEY Though Fey are terrifying and violent spiritual creatures, some actually are somewhat placid beings. The most common of these are the Talking Trees – they are Fey, true, but they were born and molded in the Material Realm, so their mind and ways are far more stable than their other spectral brethren. Talking Trees are created when virginal demihumans commit suicide in or among the branches of ancient trees. Their soul takes residence inside the tree, to live forever in a somber and taciturn nature, watching over the relative peace of their deathbeds. Talking Trees generally stay in one place, anchored by their roots, but they are able to walk about slowly when necessary. Their normal movements are ponderous and their minds are slow, but insightful, thinking for hours upon perceived problems and riddles. Many creatures of the forest see the Talking Trees as wise sages worthy of respect – in fact, Elven maidens known as ‘dryads’ care for and tend to the trees as a sign of devotion. They are also thought to be blessed by the Demiurge, for Talking Trees speak as men during the day and as women at night. Talking Trees stand as tall as a Nephilim and are terribly powerful, yet their branches can be as delicate as a moth’s wing. They can appear as many types of trees, but they generally suit their personality – the sad and despondent are weeping willows; the strong and mighty are towering pine trees; and those given to gravidity are petrified. Though Talking Trees rarely resort to violence, some do rot into corruption and darkness. Many Unseelie Talking Trees are known as foulroots, their bark turned black and their arboreal form given the terrible power of Sorcery. They often lie in wait for passersby, still as a tree until they grasp at their prey and rip them apart. Seelie Talking Trees are instead gifted with prophecy and divine insight, knowing the secrets of the movements of the stars. They also actively enforce the growth of the forest, maintaining hovels deep below the earth where they keep their workshops and raise saplings. Seelie Talking Trees see foulroots as little more than dead wood, things that should be cut down and burnt in order to clear space and undergrowth necessary to grow newer, healthier trees and forests. TALKING TREE SIZE: Large or Huge C B A P I W F 45% [4] 50% [13] 35% [3] 40% [7] 40% [6] 45% [6] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 6 18 (24/30/36) 9 (15/21/27) 75% 45% (Natural) Advanced (High) Alchemy +30, Athletics +20, Folklore +30, Handle Animal +30, Incantation +30, Navigation +20, Resolve +30, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +30, Survival +30, Toughness +20 ATTACK PROFILE Bare-handed: 75% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (13) • Reach, Slow TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BRUTE STRENGTH: These creatures refer to [BB] for Damage with melee weapons and ones with the Throwing Quality. They also have factored in +3 to their [BB]. Finally, they can inflict Injuries with Pummeling weapons. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. FLAMMABLE: When exposed to flames, these creatures suffer an additional 1D10+1 Damage from fire. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. HIDEOUS MIGHT: These creatures add the Reach and Vicious Qualities to melee weapons they wield. They also ignore the Weak Quality of melee weapons. INESCAPABLE: When these creatures use a Chokehold, they are able to maintain it for 0 AP and use other Actions In Combat.
581 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY NATURAL ARMOR (5): These creatures have factored in a bonus to their Damage Threshold, equal to the value in parentheses. PRIMAL SCREAM: When these creatures successfully use a Litany of Hatred, those affected must Resist with a Resolve Test or suffer from Fear. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. UNGAINLY: When these creatures are Slain! all those Engaged with it must succeed at a Coordination Test or be knocked Prone beneath of it, suffering 3D10+3 Damage from falling. UNNATURAL VISCERA: These creatures are immune to attacks made with ranged weapons. However, they cannot use any Movement Action that requires 3 APs. WINDS OF CHAOS: When casting Generalist Magick – at their option – these creatures can automatically succeed at the Incantation Test, but must drop one step down the Peril Condition Track negatively. In addition, they must always add 1 additional Chaos Die when they Channel Power. TRAPPINGS Arcane tome with 6 Petty Magick spells, Arcane tome with 3 Lesser Magick spells, Arcane tome with 1 Greater Magick spell, Reagents for all Magick spells (9) WOODLAND NYMPH FEY Probably the most well-known of all the Fey are the lustful and dangerous Woodland Nymphs. They sit among the branches and glades, calling for both the seed and blood of men. Woodlands Nymphs are comely and otherworldly women, slight of figure but large of hip and breast. Their skin color ranges from greens to browns and their hair appears to be made of vines, leaves or mosses. They are always seen around a specific tree, one that each Nymph protects like a mewling child. They keep the roots of the tree free of weeds, maintaining fairy rings of toadstools and tend the wildflower gardens around the aged giants. The Nymphs also produce a syrupy breast milk; one they squeeze into clay jars to nourish the tree’s roots with. Normally the Nymph is very shy and modest; if they are sighted by an outsider, they will turn Æthereal and enter the tree they tend, only emerging when the interloper is gone. But do not threaten their tree or gardens in any way, as this can only lead to death. If the plant is at risk, the Nymph will emerge from their hiding place as the terrible creature called L’wraithian (a word in Elvish meaings 'haunt'). In this violent form of nature’s wrath, their skin hardens to bark, their fingers elongating into claws and they take on the aspects of the seasons while maintaining a hauntingly terrible and wrathful beauty. Woodland Nymphs care for animals of the forest as they do for their precious tree. They have a notorious weakness for musicians and singers – inviting them to sexual congress in more than one way if they can spin a beautiful lyric. This is often used to obtain a sampling of the Nymph’s breast milk, which has intrinsic healing properties and is used in druidic spells. In exchange, the Nymph will often coyly ask for the seducer’s seed. However, these matings breed terrible fruit in the form of malicious Redcaps. These slight Fey grow like apples from the Nymph’s limbs, until they eventually fall off and burst into new life. The Red Cap is then rumored to eventually return and kill its father, which is where the crux of the deal lies. WOODLAND NYMPH SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [5] 45% [5] 50% [8] 45% [8] 35% [3] 40% [7] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +11 11 5 (11/17/23) 10 (16/22/28) None 70% (Natural) Advanced (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +20, Coordination +10, Charm +30, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +30, Guile +20, Navigation +10, Resolve +10, Rumor +20, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +10, Survival +30 ATTACK PROFILE Branch-like Claws: 70% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (8) • Entangling, Pummeling, Slow TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs.
582 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. BATTLE FRENZY: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If it lands on a face ‘1’, ‘2’ or ‘3’, they are under the effect of that many doses of red cap mushrooms. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FEY SIGHT: These creatures automatically spot hidden and Æthereal foes, and can see in the dark. FLAMMABLE: When exposed to flames, these creatures suffer an additional 1D10+1 Damage from fire. HATRED (Human): When facing the Ancestries indicated in parentheses, these creatures add an additional 1D6 Fury Die to Damage and automatically succeed at Resolve Tests. PERFECT CAMOUFLAGE: Foes must flip the results to fail attacks made with ranged weapons to strike these creatures. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SCAR THE FLESH: These creatures add +3 to their Damage Threshold, but wear no armor. SEASONS TO PASS: When these creatures enter combat, they take upon a different aspect every Turn which passes. In the first Turn, they take on the aspect of spring, gaining +3 to Damage Threshold. In the next Turn, they lose the +3 to Damage Threshold, but take on the aspect of summer, gaining total immunity to fire. In the following Turn, they lose their total immunity to fire and take on the aspect of autumn, able to use two Melee Attacks on that Turn for 2 AP. In the final Turn, they lose their ability to use two Melee Attacks on and take on the aspect of winter, able to Dodge and Parry for 0 APs. This creature may only take upon one aspect at a time, and continues to cycle through the four seasons as their Turns pass. SILENT STALKER: When these creatures use the Stealth or Survival Skill, they flip the results to succeed at their Test. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Jug of breast milk, Red cap mushrooms (3) GOLEM SUPERNATURAL When the dead are buried, stakes are driven through the lid of a coffin to kill any zombified being that may arise. However, what happens if the corpse is exhumed and then vivisected upon for nefarious purposes? The result is the anthropogenic Golem. Golems are brooding husks, shaped out of mud and dessicated remains. Despite being made of corpses, Golems themselves are not truly 'undead' creatures – rather, their bodies are infused with the mysterious Ætheric Fluid drawn from Wytchstone shards to provide mobility. The parts that make up a Golem are often mismatched and stitched together, taken from sometimes up to a dozen of the strongest bodies. The sum of these parts then bristle with inhuman strength and agility, yet retain a base level of intelligence due to an intact brain required to pilot the body. Golems are also remarkably well-preserved, often dunked in alchemical baths in between their forays into the world. Golems are often created by those of a scientific bent who wish to plunge into the mysteries of Galenic medicine, humorism and necrosis. Given a good dose of stage makeup and a burly coat, a Golem could even walk amongst mankind – though as an admittedly larger-than-average looking being. Golems are naturally quite confused and prone to fits of anger – their limbs sometimes rebel against them, given to the muscle memory of a body that no longer exists. Golems are also quite lonely and prone to melancholy, given their status as 'monsters', brought back into life with no say in the matter. They long to reconnect to a being they cannot return to, as their existence is divided between a handful of previous lives. Golems harbor a jealousy towards other living beings, and desperately want a connection to something greater than themselves. All they wish to do is reach out to another and become ‘human’ once more, but their anguish more often than not drives them towards madness and violence.
583 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY GOLEM SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 50% [9] 40% [6] 40% [7] 40% [4] 45% [5] 35% [3] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 9 9 (15/21/27) 8 (14/20/26) 75% 80% (Natural) Advanced (Low) Athletics +30, Coordination +30, Disguise +10, Guile +20, Intimidate +30, Resolve +30, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Iron-hard Fists: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (9) • Vicious TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. BOTH-HANDEDNESS: When they wield 2 one-handed melee weapons and fail a Combat-based Skill Test, they may re-roll to generate a better result, but must accept the outcome. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. LUMBERING BRUTE: These creatures cannot Charge, Run or use Movement Actions that require 3 AP. MENACING: When these creatures use a Litany of Hatred, they inflict 1D10+[BB] mental Peril. SHOOTFIGHTING: These creatures ignore the Pummeling and Weak Qualities when fighting bare-handed, with a blackjack or using knuckledusters. In addition, they can refer to [BB] or [CB] when inflicting Damage with these same weapons. TRAPPINGS Memento of a former life LIVING STATUE SUPERNATURAL When Defiler-kings overthrew the southern kingdoms and raised hordes of the undead, they found that the newly deceased had little to offer in terms of muscle power. As a solution, they developed a process that would create a Living Statue – one that would breed monstrous results. Living Statues are towering relics of an older age, reaching over thirty feet in height – more than a match for any Nephilim. They are composed of natural materials such as basalt, bronze or obsidian, but sandstone is by far the most common medium. Constructed with the likeness of ancient and terrible gods, they are imposing and powerful to behold, crowned with anthropomorphic heads. The Defiler – or any other Necromancer – animates the Living Statue by collecting nine souls in canopic jars. The souls are then transferred into the form of the Living Statue, where it is animated with Ætheric energy to serve indefinitely. The nine souls do not lose their personalities, so these towering golems are at constant odds with themselves, a hive of disparate minds trying to control a singular body. Many become insane, but some become placid enough to be successfully controlled. If their controller is able to cement one personality, usually a powerful spirit like an Ætheric Spirit or a Fey is one of the nine inhabitants – they can generally cow the other eight to obedience. Living Statues know only toil – they build endless ziggurats, monuments and obelisks for their master, ones both beautiful in craftsmanship and terrible in purpose. When the war drums are beaten, the Living Statue picks up its pike and shield and becomes a terrible engine of war who towers over the battlefield and destroys siege engines with
584 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY a simple kick. Living Statues are also used to defend tombs and temples from intruders, standing still for millennia and only activating to destroy intruders. They are monsters with no feelings, only instincts to kill and build. Thankfully, as the sands have progressed and many Defiler kingdoms have been overthrown, many Living Statues have been left inert amidst the ever-changing dunes. They wait for their old masters to bring them back to life, lying dormant and impotent, guarding a tomb swallowed by the sands centuries ago. LIVING STATUE SIZE: Normal, Large or Huge C B A P I W F 40% [7] 45% [13] 40% [10] 35% [6] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 16 18 (24/30/36) None 75% 80% (Defensive & Protective) Advanced (High) Athletics +30, Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Intimidate +30, Martial Melee +30, Martial Ranged +30, Scrutinize +30, Survival +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Bronze Shotel: 70% • Distance (melee engaged or 1 yard) • Damage (13) • Powerful, Reach, Vicious Bronze Bow: 70% • Distance (ranged 18 yards) • Load (2 AP) • Damage (10) • Fast, Finesse TRAITS BRUTE STRENGTH: These creatures refer to [BB] for Damage with melee weapons and ones with the Throwing Quality. They also have factored in +3 to their [BB]. Finally, they can inflict Injuries with Pummeling weapons. FETID WEAPONRY: When these creatures inflict an Injury, their foe’s wounds are also Infected. HANGIN’ TOUGH: These creatures cannot Bleed or suffer Injuries. HIDEOUS MIGHT: These creatures add the Reach and Vicious Qualities to melee weapons they wield. They also ignore the Weak Quality of melee weapons. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: When these creatures Injure a foe with a melee weapon, they inflict two Injuries instead of one. MASTERFULLY ADROIT: These creatures refer to their [AB] for all Damage they inflict with weapons. They also have factored in +3 to their [AB]. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. NATURAL ARMOR (5): These creatures have factored in a bonus to their Damage Threshold, equal to the value in parentheses. PAW/HOOF/WING: These creatures’ movement uses 6+[AB] on foot and 9+[AB] for flight. Fliers are indicated under Movement. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SOUL JAR: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless the fetish or phylactery which houses their soul is destroyed. However, they can be made to remain in hibernation, left unconscious if a jar of salt is poured into their mouths. SWEEPING STRIKE: When these creatures make a successful attack with a two-handed melee weapon, they strike up to three foes they’re Engaged with. UNNATURAL VISCERA: These creatures are immune to attacks made with ranged weapons. However, they cannot use any Movement Action that requires 3 APs. TRAPPINGS Arrows (9), Bronze bow, Bronze death mask, Bronze shotel, Cheap necklace, Cheap ring (3), Metal shield, Phylactery (9), Tattered robes
585 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY MINDLESS UNDEAD The Well of Souls: a world beyond this world, lorded over by the Custodian. It is the final resting place of all living things, a darkness where spirits forget their old lives and their old existence, before they return to the cold embrace of reality. The Well is not a place of chaos or malevolence, but nevertheless a realm of change and rebirth. But there are those who seek to disrupt the natural cycle of life, death and rebirth; those who wish to enslave the souls of the departed to do their bidding. These blasphemous people are Necromancers, practitioners of dark Magicks and the eternal bane of the Custodian’s demesne. Necromancers care little for the dead, seeing them as more golem or automata to be used, rather than once having housed the souls of living, feeling creatures. They are able to rip souls from the Well, shoving them unceremoniously back into their decomposed bodies. These souls are confused and afraid, having lost all identity and knowledge from their time in the Well. The returned are then made the unwitting slaves to their new dark lords, devoid of free will. Many are morose, mere victims to their instincts, now killing and feeding because they need to. Some are furious upon being revived, pained by their previous existence, housed in a purgatory of now rotting flesh they once sloughed off. Others are too far gone, far too entrenched in the Custodian’s realms and remain apathetic, dumb as a pack beast (and treated no better still by the Necromancer). The Mindless Undead have no culture or identity; both have long been eroded into the inky blackness of the Well of Souls. They wear the tattered burial clothes they were interred in or possibly whatever regalia the more egotistical Necromancers provide them with. All Undead are extremely resistant, their skin having long turned to leather, their viscera having dried and their bones having calcified. When they fight, they are vicious and unrelenting, haunted by the pain of existing in a body that should no longer function. Mindless Undead are never natural, always the result of profane Magicks and dark sorcery. They are loyal only because the Magicks which bound them back to their bodies tells them to be; they fight because their chaotic masters force them to do it through witchery. The Undead wish nothing more than to return to the Well of Souls, but they have been forbidden from falling upon their own blades. The greatest mercy when encountering these foes is their total destruction, as it is also the only way to keep their plague-ridden numbers down. They long for death and feel no remorse: in fact, exorcists have written of hearing a jubilant sigh, as if a giant weight has been lifted off of one’s shoulders, when they strike down these creatures of eternal pain. CRYPT SKELETON MINDLESS UNDEAD Bones litter the countless vaults and mausoleums of the world, collecting dust as the memory of the dead fades far from existence. However, some can give blasphemous life to these inert stacks of dried collagen and marrow, creating Crypt Skeletons. Most are constructed from ragtag bones of artisans and servants employed by twisted Necromancers. Ritualistically slain – as to hide the inner workings of their laboratories and secret towers – the Necromancer then takes great pains to cleanse the bones in acid or let nature take its course, letting them rot in a fetid pit. Once assembled into a horrendous amalgamation of remnant bones, stitches and tack, they are driven by pure Magick, with no muscle or rotted viscera to motor the joints. They do not hunger, they do no sleep and they do not think; in short, they are perfect automatons who are able to continually revive if their bones are near to each other. Skeletons have no consciousness, but can follow complex commands to a fault. They do, however, all possess an unremitting hatred of the living. Crypt Skeleton’s victims are often maimed beyond belief, with remnants taken back to their necromantic lord to be recycled into new skeletons. Their only weakness is an unflinching adherence of orders: if told to guard a tomb, a Crypt Skeleton will never leave it – even in pursuit of interlopers. They will even maintain their directive long after the death of their master. Though most Crypt Skeletons are humanoid, there has been evidence of animals being animated through the terrible necromantic Magicks and serving the same functions. There are also rumors that in some faraway lands that souls are not bound to skeletons, but rather brass automata run by clockwork. These are mostly just rumors, but it does not seem like much of a stretch to animate unliving metal when bone is little more than dead calcium rock.
586 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY CRYPT SKELETON SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [5] 35% [4] 40% [5] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 7 8 (14/20/26) None 65% (Defensive) 80% (Defensive & Protective) Basic (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Intimidate +10, Martial Melee +10, Simple Melee +10, Simple Ranged +10, Stealth +10 ATTACK PROFILE Rapier: 55% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Finesse, Weak Ruined Hunting Bow: 55% • Distance (ranged 14 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (1) • Finesse, Ruined, Weak TRAITS HANGIN’ TOUGH: These creatures cannot Bleed or suffer Injuries. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SKELETAL REMAINS: Only after these creature’s bones are spread around for 1 AP are they forever Slain!. UNNATURAL VISCERA: These creatures are immune to attacks made with ranged weapons. However, they cannot use any Movement Action that requires 3 APs. TRAPPINGS Arrows (6), Buckler, Hunting bow (Ruined Quality), Mail armor, Rapier DRAUGR MINDLESS UNDEAD War is a sad reality of a grim & perilous world. Nations claw at each other’s throats for a few tracts of land, sending young boys to fight wars between old men – rarely even knowing the lord’s name of whom they fight for. Many will march out of their villages for a lord they do not know and never return to their loved ones. Middling swordsmen end up in ditches, but renowned and revered soldiers are buried in hilltop crypts ringed with plinths of hand-etched rock and towering menhir, meant to memorialize their victories as much as the sacrifices of these fallen warriors under their command. It is here – both in the ditches and the crypts – that Necromancers find fresh corpses to defile. Draugr are the reanimated flesh of these poor souls, knowing nothing but a lifetime of war. They look akin to emaciated corpses, devoid of most of its flesh, dressed in full battle garb. Having been buried with their armor and their sword, these reanimated fighters stand once again to fight battles for lords they never knew. These souls are confused, believing they are still in a war that seems to last for an eternity. Of all the Mindless Undead, they are the most formidable foes, with particularly strong Draugr often serving as a Necromancer’s right-hand confidante, recognized by exorcists as ‘wights of the barrow’. The only way to fell one of these wretched souls is destruction of the head; otherwise, they will continually rise again and again and again. War… war never changes. And the Draugr know aught else, damned to an eternity of battle until the end of days. If one is ever unlucky enough to encounter a force of Draugr, you can see the pattern of war across history as if someone cut through a solid layer of rock. Some may wear kabuto armor of a far eastern land, others wear tattered kilts and intricate knots of a civilization long lost and some the ring mail of battles a year ago. Their war wounds are just as diverse, ranging from spear wounds inflicted with flint tips to massive
587 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY cannon shots that tore through their guts. When Draugr do speak, they speak in a variety of tongues, yet they all seem to understand each other. They bring together thousands of years of experience, strategy and weaponry to create both a terrifying and effective force. DRAUGR SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [8] 40% [6] 40% [5] 35% [3] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +6 8 10 (16/22/28) None 75% (Defensive & Protective) None Intermediate (Medium) Awareness +20, Eavesdrop +10, Intimidate +20, Martial Melee +20, Martial Ranged +20, Ride +20, Simple Melee +20, Simple Ranged +20, Toughness +20 ATTACK PROFILE Draugr Blade: 65% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (8) • Vicious TRAITS DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. HARD-NOSED: These creatures are immune to Knockout! and Stunning Blow. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, these creatures suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. IMPLACABLE DEFENSE: When this creature’s Turn begins, they gain 1 additional AP. However, it can only be used to Dodge and Parry. IN THE FACE: These creatures can only be harmed by melee and ranged weapons by using a Called Shot to the head. KILL IT WITH FIRE: Only after these creature’s remains are set On Fire are they forever Slain!. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: When these creatures Injure a foe with a melee weapon, they inflict two Injuries instead of one. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. NEVER SURRENDER: Foes do not gain an advantage when they flank or outnumber this creature in combat. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Draugr blade, Mail armor, Memento from their former life, Metal shield, Tattered burial shroud REANIMATED CORPSE MINDLESS UNDEAD The Reanimated Corpse is both the most savage and pitiable Mindless Undead that necromancy can forge. The Reanimated Corpse is a shambling monstrosity, a rotting humanoid whose viscera is visible, limbs are missing and ragged jaws hang agape. These creatures are created from those dead who died in unnatural ways, such as by murder or poisoning. The Necromancer summons the deceased’s soul from the Well of Souls, binding it into a fetish or phylactery and placing it around their neck. They then animate the corpse, which rises and follows the commands of those who hold the object containing their soul. As the Corpses do not possess a soul in their physical bodies, they are reduced to little more than beasts: they hunger for Human flesh, but their undead form means they do not require it. They attack savagely with teeth and nail, biting off chunks of flesh with a ragged jawbone bereft of teeth and scooping out eyeballs of their victims with broken, bony digits. Unless the object housing the soul is destroyed, Reanimated Corpses will continually revive no matter how often they are slain. Aside from this object, the Reanimated Corpses also have a supernatural aversion to rock salt; they become inert if a jar of it is placed in their mouths. Reanimated Corpses are quite easy to raise en masse and together they are both powerful and terrifying. Across the known world, you can hear countless stories of small towns being swept away under a wave of these shambling monsters. The worst stories to hear from raconteurs are those of the weary travelers – lost in the woods, forced to hold up in a ramshackle cabin as the undead and their own paranoia claws away at them until they are nothing more than worm food. Some also say that the world has become so foul and tainted that Reanimated Corpses are starting to rise on their own volition, leaving graveyards empty and their villages soaked in blood and entrails.
588 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY REANIMATED CORPSE SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [5] 35% [5] 40% [4] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 8 5 (11/17/23) None None None Basic (Medium) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Intimidate +10, Simple Melee +10, Stealth +10, Survival +10, Toughness +10 ATTACK PROFILE Tooth & Nail: 55% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak TRAITS DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, these creatures suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. RIPPING TEETH: When these creatures deal Damage, they can force a foe to Resist a Takedown. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SOUL JAR: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless the fetish or phylactery which houses their soul is destroyed. However, they can be made to remain in hibernation, left unconscious if a jar of salt is poured into their mouths. TRAPPINGS Fetish, Memento from their former life, Tattered burial shroud TENEBRAE MINDLESS UNDEAD Tenebrae are shadow-people possessed by chaos: puppets which exist only to serve Corruption made manifest. They have no free will, essentially mindless though compelled to snuff out the ‘blinding light’ of other living creatures. Often haunting places where ritual murders or excessive violence has occurred (particularly villages that have fallen beneath the blade of Vampiric Templars), Tenebrae exist only to kill. They sit upon the threshold of the Material Realm and the Well of Souls, able to detect when living beings come near the remains of their corpses. And as the living are sensed, Tenebrae bodies shamble and animate once more, surrounded by a strange warping of light and darkness. A shimmering shadow emanates from their body, appearing as if made from smoke, protecting them wholly from physical harm unless exposed to light. They then pick up the implements from their former profession: axes, scythes, hammers and the like and take to the killing. Strangely, Tenebrae will recite bits and pieces of the language they spoke in life. This always sounds like nonsense and out of place, but it is always intimidating, suggestive of a horrid intelligence or hope that they might not be dead at all. This strange behavior has been recorded by many an exorcist, who inexplicably state that it must have been the living soul fighting against the chaos, beseeching the living to put them out of their misery. It is often intimidating and quite terrifying to see the wispy form of a Tenebrae lash out with jagged weaponry, only to hear it weep openly and beg for its life to end. Tenebrae straddle the line between flesh and spirit and it seems even the creatures themselves often do not know which realm they inhabit.
589 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY TENEBRAE SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 35% [4] 40% [5] 45% [6] 40% [6] 0% [0] 0% [0] 0% [0] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 9 20 (26/32/38) None None 65% Intermediate (Low) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Coordination +20, Eavesdrop +10, Intimidate +20, Simple Melee +20, Simple Ranged +10, Stealth +10, Survival +10, Simple Ranged +10 ATTACK PROFILE Improvised Hand Weapon: 55% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Pummeling, Weak Improvised Thrown Weapon: 45% • Distance (ranged 6 yards) • Damage (5) • Pummeling, Slow, Throwing, Weak TRAITS FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HANGIN’ TOUGH: These creatures cannot Bleed or suffer Injuries. HARD-NOSED: These creatures are immune to Knockout! and Stunning Blow. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. LIGHT SENSITIVE: When a foe uses Take Aim for 2 APs to shine a source of light upon this creature before making their attack, reduce its Damage Threshold by a -6 penalty (to a minimum of 1). MINDLESS: These creatures do not possess Fellowship, Intelligence or Willpower and cannot be made to Resist effects which affect the mind. They can also see in the dark. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. TRAPPINGS Improvised hand weapon, Improvised thrown weapon, Memento from their former life, Tattered burial shroud RESTLESS SPIRITS The nature of the soul and spirit is a hard one to pin down exactly. The main issue turns on whether souls are real – is there an essence to our being that lives on after the mortal coil is shed? Do we keep any of our personality or do we fade into oblivion? Though the Custodian is the god of death and knows it secrets and supernatural creatures of all kinds espouse on the existence of the Well of Souls, no mortal or sane eyes have seen it. Supposedly, when a person dies, their soul is ferried to the Well of Souls, where it is wiped clean of memories to only reincarnate in a new body later on. But even the slightly superstitious do not believe this wholeheartedly. Rumors abound of souls lost to time and those who have escaped from the Well of Souls, 'stuck' to the Material Realm to be ever cursed in a state of undeath. Whether these are actual lost souls or perhaps Ætheric energies masquerading as the dead is not important, as Restless Spirits exist and are all around us. Restless Spirits are echoes of the dead, with all the memories and experiences of their former selves. Some are ancient, having been trapped on the Material Realm for centuries with little hope of achieving true death. Others are new and confused, mortals previously unaware of the supernatural who are now an integral part of it. All mortals can become Restless Spirits, but the vast majority are Human – likely due because they are the most short-lived of all the Ancestries. They are all semi-translucent and emanate an eerie blue aura, their causes of death evident in their new spectral form. Restless Spirits exist between the Material Realm and the Æthereal Veil, able to drift in and out of it to become incorporeal or near flesh. Their spectral nature also makes them immune to most forms of attack. Only weapons anointed by divine or arcane energy can find purchase, while Magick spells bring a violent end to the undead. Restless Spirits may be slightly mad, but they are intelligent. Many of them are fixated on the past and their old lives and many wish only to pass on to their final rest. Some may even be able to pass down secret knowledge if this boon is granted to them. Others have gone totally mad or are just plainly malevolent, feeling nothing but hatred and loathing for all living beings. Their chilling strikes can turn their enemies instantly into other Restless Spirits upon death, causing haunted locales to become more dangerous as more curious investigators fail to return. The Custodian would love nothing more than to corral all these wayward spirits, but the gods have no ability to directly intrude upon the Material Realm whatsoever. This is why priests of the Custodian have such ire for both the Mindless Dead and Restless Spirits – they are the only instruments that can carry out their Lord’s will.
590 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY APPARITION RESTLESS SPIRIT A good majority of Restless Spirits are victims of circumstance, disembodied spirits who were unwillingly bound to the Material Realm and now unable to move past it. Others, too have been trapped here due to past misdeeds, possessed by unmitigated rage. These Apparitions are their violent echoes. Apparitions are entities that are bound to the Material Realm because of a promise they broke or a curse they invoked on themselves. Their grief has driven them completely mad and it is difficult to determine if they were even mortal before. Apparitions have no set form, being made of pure ectoplasm – instead, they appear as a dead loved one or friend to whoever sees them. They always carry a spectral lantern, using it to guide their way. They tempt and call to the viewer, acting wayward and lost, until their rescuers come near enough to be touched and drained of their life energy. Apparitions will lie in wait for years to torment certain people and they are incredibly malevolent and violent when their mark is within reach. They can also send forth spectral hands to grasp and claw at foes from a distance, a fearful and dangerous ability. Apparitions are hateful beings, wanting nothing more than to spread discord and pain. Those they strike down will arise automatically as Phantoms and this breeds a vicious cycle of spiritual pain. APPARITION SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 45% [8] 40% [7] 35% [6] 45% [4] 50% [5] 40% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +9 10 8 (14/20/26) 8 (14/20/26) None 70% (Natural) Advanced (Low) Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +20, Guile +30, Intimidate +30, Rumor +20, Scrutinize +20, Simple Melee +30, Stealth +30 ATTACK PROFILE Ghastly Touch: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (8) • Entangling, Pummeling, Slow, Weak Phantom Limb : 70% • Distance (ranged 10 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (8) • Entangling, Throwing Wall Crawler's Grasp: 40% • Distance (ranged 9 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Throwing TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BONDS OF DEATH: These creatures can manipulate physical objects in Æthereal Form. COLD HANDS: These creatures ignore the Damage Threshold Modifier a foe’s armor may confer when they inflict Damage. COME INTO THE LIGHT: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless their lantern is destroyed. If the lantern is snuffed out, they remain in hibernation until it is relit. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. INESCAPABLE: When these creatures use a Chokehold, they are able to maintain it for 0 AP and use other Actions In Combat. PARALYZING TOUCH: When these creatures make a successful attack bare-handed, they deal both Damage and force a foe to Resist with a Toughness Test or be Paralyzed. While Paralyzed, foes are unable to use Movement Actions until they successfully Resist. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6
591 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. WALL CRAWLER: These creatures can crawl upon both vertical and horizontal surfaces with ease. In addition, they can initiate a ranged Chokehold at a Distance of 3+[PB], with a Load of 1 AP. TRAPPINGS Ghostly lantern HOODED ONE RESTLESS SPIRIT Immortality has been a desire since people first knew that time for them was finite. Over the centuries as Magickal research has evolved, several breakthroughs have been made in terms of cheating death, though all of them are blasphemous – there is no greater sin in the Custodian’s eyes than to refuse Him your rightful soul. Those that succeed may become Defilers, but those that fail in their labors are cursed forever as Hooded Ones. Hooded Ones are the unfortunates who failed to correctly grant themselves immortality through profane Magicks. Now, they are destined to live forever, stalking the world in a pained existence. Also called wraiths or reapers, Hooded Ones wear dark and tattered cloaks that hide their wispy forms. Underneath their hood is a skeletal form, out of which crawl grave worms as dust emanates from their mouths when they speak. Hooded Ones always carry a light with them, one they use to search for the path to the Well of Souls and a wicked sickle for reaping souls. Hooded Ones are morbid and wrathful, enjoying nothing more than terrorizing the living. They can make mirror imagelike copies of themselves to confuse and haunt, as well as supernaturally manipulate the world around them. They also can drain life force, feeding upon the living. Hooded Ones are grim harbingers of death and destruction, though they often carve out a territory which they reap their ghoulish harvests from. Those killed by a Hooded One will arise as one of the Restless Spirits and sometimes the more ambitious Hooded Ones have raised armies of the dead in attempts to overthrow the living. Most, however, are condemned to pilot skiffs down the River of Oblivion, where all dead are shepherded. Hooded Ones can be stopped – they are repelled by holy symbols, as they cannot stand the concept of the divine power that binds them to the Material Realm. They also all have a True Name, which they keep hidden: one that if it is revealed, weakens the Hooded One and makes them more vulnerable. HOODED ONE SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 45% [6] 40% [9] 35% [3] 45% [4] 50% [9] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +6 12 8 (12/18/24) 12 (18/24/30) 70% (Defensive) 70% (Natural) Advanced (Medium) Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Eavesdrop +20, Education +30, Folklore +30, Guile +20, Incantation +20, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +30, Martial Melee +20, Scrutinize +20, Stealth +20 ATTACK PROFILE Sickle: 60% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (9) • Defensive, Fast, Finesse, Vicious Cold Touch: 40% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. COLD HANDS: These creatures ignore the Damage Threshold Modifier a foe’s armor may confer when they inflict Damage. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all
592 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER: When these creatures Injure a foe with a melee weapon, they inflict two Injuries instead of one. MANY FACES OF DEATH: By spending 1 Misfortune Point, these creatures create 1D6 illusions of itself that mimics its precise actions. Once a mirrored image is successfully struck with any weapon or Magick, it immediately dematerializes. Determining which is the creature and the illusion requires a Secret Test using Scrutinize. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. TRUE NAME: Unless foes invoke this creature’s True Name before casting Magick, it fails to affect the creature. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Book of the dead, Tattered robes, Sickle PHANTOM RESTLESS SPIRIT The mortal soul is highly complicated and sometimes the ferrymen aren’t able to recover it properly. These aimless spirits manifest into a Phantom; ghostly beings that cannot journey to the Well of Souls upon their own nor animate the body they once lived within. Phantoms spend their ‘unlife’ haunting the places they used to live. They all carry some sort of unfinished business, a symptom of their fragmented soul that broods on a specific loss, deeds undone or enemies left unchecked. This dismay and anger causes the Phantom to lash out, tossing aside furniture, rattling chains and frightening residents so the spirits can chase out the living to dwell within their own sorrow. Life is an anathema to the Phantom and their despair cannot be forgotten if other living beings reside in the place of their death. Because of this, they rarely take physical shape. If the living attempt to banish them or drive them away, a Phantom will manifest physically and attack for all they’re worth. Phantoms will fight if they have to and their ability to become Æthereal and immunity to normal weapons makes them dangerous to all but the most prepared foes. If anyone should ever be struck down by a Phantom, their spirit will arise as an Apparition – set to continue the endless cycle of death and terror. Though like most Restless Spirits, Phantoms do have vulnerabilities – mostly in that they are repelled by all things divine, particularly by symbols of the Custodian. Phantoms are not chaotic creatures to any extent – rather they are tortured, confused and worried. A Phantom’s only want is to join their loved ones and friends in the Well of Souls, but they lack the means to do it. If an outside force would come to the Phantom’s aid, resolving the unchecked deeds which keeps it bound to the Material Realm, they can finally find the rest they seek. PHANTOM SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 45% [4] 40% [6] 35% [7] 45% [4] 50% [5] 40% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 9 4 (10/16/22) 8 (12/18/24) None 70% (Natural) Intermediate (Medium) Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +20, Intimidate +20, Rumor +20, Scrutinize +20, Simple Melee +20, Stealth +20 ATTACK PROFILE Ghostly Touch: 60% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (None) • Fast Improvised Thrown Weapon: 60% • Distance (ranged 8 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (4) • Pummeling, Slow, Throwing, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs.
593 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BONDS OF DEATH: These creatures can manipulate physical objects in Æthereal Form. BRUSH WITH DEATH: When these creatures make a successful attack bare-handed, they provoke Fear, but do no Damage. They also force a foe to Resist with a Resolve Test or be aged by one year. For every year aged, the foe permanently reduces Brawn by 1%. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. WITCHBOARD: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless their remains are placed beneath a spirit board. Once placed beneath a spirit board, they enter hibernation and will remain so unless the board or remains are removed, therefore giving life to the creature again as it is restored to Unharmed. Only by successfully casting Last Rites over the spirit board are they forever Slain!. TRAPPINGS None RED REVENANT RESTLESS SPIRIT The threat of heretics, Mutants and witchcraft is a serious thing all over the countryside, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t innocent victims who die by an inquisitor’s flame due to rumor or falsehood. Sometimes, those killed for such false reasons come back as a terrible Red Revenant. A Red Revenant is a spirit of one who was unfairly purged by an inquisitor or zealous township. Perhaps a girl undergoing her quickening is accused by her insane mother of cavorting with demons or a foreigner from a far-off land is accused of eating strange meats and speaking in tongues. When these poor souls are tied to the pyre and the flames have consumed their bodies, they occasionally do not find proper rest and come back to haunt those that killed them. Red Revenants look like smoldering corpses, but they only ever appear to those they are about to kill. Their hands bound forever with a rope, a holy symbol transfixed between their fingers, they seem to appear from doorways, windows or other portals. The smell of sulphur and tang of blood is ever-present when a Red Revenant makes their appearance. Red Revenants are vengeful spirits, but their wrath is almost always aimed at those that killed them. They also take pleasure in fomenting discord, causing as much terror as possible before handing out their punishment to their victims. Their claw swipes leave scorched flesh and their footprints leave the ground black and sooty. The only way for a Red Revenant to find rest is to have their ashes gathered into a consecrated relic ensorcelled by the Blessed Sacrament Ritual. Even then, they can find a way to be resurrected, for the families of Red Revenants oftentimes conspire to have their relatives continue exacting revenge upon the guilty. Unfortunately, these same families are often consumed by the Red Revenant’s wrath as well, in the end.
594 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY RED REVENANT SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 35% [3] 40% [4] 40% [9] 45% [6] 45% [4] 50% [9] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +6 12 4 (10/16/22) 12 (18/24/30) None 70% (Natural) Advanced (Medium) Awareness +30, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Education +30, Folklore +30, Guile +30, Interrogation +30, Intimidate +30, Scrutinize +30, Simple Ranged +30, Stealth +30 ATTACK PROFILE Spit Fire: 65% • Distance (ranged 9 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (Special) • None TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs. ASHES TO ASHES: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless their remains are placed into a decanter consecrated with the Blessed Sacrament Ritual. Within, they remain in hibernation, unless the remains are removed therefore giving life to the creature again. Only by placing the decanter into a font of holy water are they forever Slain!. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BONDS OF DEATH: These creatures can manipulate physical objects in Æthereal Form. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. FEEL THE HEAT: When foes are Engaged with this creature, they must Resist with a successful Coordination Test or be exposed to Mildly Dangerous flames. FIREPROOF: These creatures and their possessions are entirely immune to Damage from fire. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SPIT FIRE: These creatures can use their breath as a ranged weapon. This allows then to strike a single foe within 3+[PB], as the foe suffers 2D10+2 Damage from fire. A foe can attempt to Dodge Spit Fire or Parry it with a shield. Spit Fire can be used while Engaged with foes. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Holy symbol WAILING WOMAN RESTLESS SPIRIT The myth of the mourning widow in the abandoned castle or the dark wraith who prowls the moors at night, is found among all cultures. It is both a tale of the tenacity of women, as well as a slight against their frailty and dependency. But these are not just tricks of the light or tales to deter children, but tragic spirits known as a Wailing Woman. Wailing Women are cursed maidens who were killed on their wedding night or worse violated and left for the clattering call of a corpse collector. They take on the appearance of a spectral washerwoman, bride, maiden or crone – or even more rarely a weasel or hooded crow. During the day, Wailing Women remain partially Æthereal, dwelling in the homes and hills they were killed in. They do not interact with others, only mimicking mundane tasks they performed while alive – such as drying linens or picking vegetables. If approached, they disappear into the hills just out of sight, not to be encountered during the light hours. At night, they take upon physical form and haunt those very hills and dales. They wander in anguish, letting out a terribly chilling wail that eats at a person’s very soul. Their physical form is much like their Æthereal one, though
595 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY it is far more monstrous and has a permanently distended jaw and face. While Wailing Women are intelligent and can be negotiated with, their despair is often too overwhelming for them to be reasoned with. Wailing Women are more like forces of nature than malevolent spirits – they will not go out of their way to harm anybody, but they will destroy anyone who treads too close to where they wallow in misery. They also tend to dwell around odd weather phenomenon – many dwell within mists near no moor or stand in the middle of storms when the sky is clear – whether this is an odd coincidence or an extension of their powers remains to be seen. Those they kill arise as Phantoms, expanding the abundance of Restless Spirits. Wailing Women will not, however, harm any woman that is in distress – they do not want the poor wretch to share their fate, so they will forgo attacking them in favor of a less pitiable target. WAILING WOMAN SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 35% [3] 45% [4] 40% [5] 40% [7] 45% [4] 50% [9] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 11 4 (10/16/22) 12 (18/24/30) None 70% (Natural) Intermediate (Medium) Awareness +20, Charm +10, Coordination +20, Disguise +20, Eavesdrop +20, Folklore +20, Guile +10, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +20, Simple Melee +20, Stealth +20 ATTACK PROFILE Dirk: 55% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Fast, Finesse, Light, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs. BLOODLESS: These creatures cannot Bleed. BONDS OF DEATH: These creatures can manipulate physical objects in Æthereal Form. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. I THEE WED: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless their wedding ring is placed into a decanter consecrated with the Ritual of Blessed Sacrament. As long as it remains in the decanter, they also remain in hibernation, unless the ring is removed therefore giving life to the creature again. Only by then submerging the decanter into a large body of water are they forever Slain!. KEENING WAIL: These creatures can spend 2 APs to make an Interrogation Test. If successful, foes caught in a Cone Template who fail to Resist with a Resolve Test immediately suffers from Fear and cannot Counterspell, Dodge or Parry until their next Turn. A foe can be made victim to Keening Wail every Turn. PAW/HOOF/WING: These creatures’ movement uses 6+[AB] on foot and 9+[AB] for flight. Fliers are indicated under Movement. PHYSICAL INSTABILITY: Every minute these creatures remain in the Material Realm in physical form, roll 3D6 Chaos Dice at the end of their Turn. If all three dice show face ‘6’, the creature is banished from the Material Realm, until the new moon. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. UNCERTAIN FORM: These creatures are immune to Injuries and Perilous Stunts. TRAPPINGS Dirk, Expensive ring, Tattered wedding veil and dress
596 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY VAMPIRES Hubris is a uniquely mortal concept, one where pride in your own abilities comes to an ironic twist of fate. The gods love paradox and they find no greater punishment than turning someone’s gifts into their endless curse. Many different beings suffer from hauteur and arrogance, but the most wellknown of all the creatures who suffer from this fate are the legendary bloodlines of Vampires Though at a first glance, a Vampire may easily be classified as one of the undead. Instead, they are a cursed folk who have been mutated in one way or another into damned unlife, somewhere between life and death. Vampires come in a multitude of forms, but they all are related to specific Legacies. These Legacies represent the powers they gain, as well as how they obtained their terrible curses. Most Vampires also suffers from debilitating weaknesses – some may have an aversion to sunlight, the inability to cross a body of running water or the inability to cast a reflection. They also ache from a supernatural hunger – one of either blood, tissue or a living person’s spiritual life force. This is their nourishment and what really separates them from ever returning to the fold of mortality. Vampires isolate themselves, ashamed of their new forms, yet also reveling in the powers it grants them. They are natural shapeshifters – able to take upon other forms in order to deceive their prey into lowering their guard. Vampires generally take on the appearance of the nobility, magnanimous and welcoming to those they wish to dine upon. When they feed or manifest their powers, the Vampire’s true form is revealed – a terrible bestial creature, sometimes a hybrid of an animal or a monstrous form. They do not hold back when they feed, engorging themselves only to regain their poised composure upon finishing their meal. Most commoners are either ignorant or simply abide the dark menace. Vampire-plagued regions attract the attentions of the brave and the headstrong who dream of slaying a vampire or three. They are usually last seen heading towards their quarry’s supposed lair, a clove of garlic in one hand and a wooden stake in the other. Most are never seen again, but of those that are, it is usually to feed upon the local populace in the name of their new Vampiric master or mistress. Neither outcome points to efficacy of either garlic or stake, but that does not stop others from trying. The origin of the Vampire is continuing mystery, as almost all Vampires are isolationists who hate others of their kind – no straight story can be learned from any one of them. Some state that the first were the Nosferatu, cursed by the Abyssal Princes to be something between a demon and a mortal. Others think the first Vampire was a Mutant, one who passed on a great sickness that persists to this day. And others think it lies in the realm of the gods, as many Vampires also pay tribute to the Crouching One as the lord of all Vampires. Nothing is known for certain, but what is known is that Vampires are intelligent, cruel and a threat to society as a whole. LAMASHTU VAMPIRE In these dark times, even children need to be made aware that they should not place trust in anyone, not even their own family; the reason being they never know who could be a dreaded Lamashtu. The Lamashtu is cowardly, taking flight when it senses danger, but otherwise these Vampires are terrible monsters and mimics, sating their hunger with the blood of babes. Able to polymorph its own shape, they assume the form of an elderly woman and pass into villages unmolested and unnoticed, seeking children to feed upon. They can even mimic voices, but since Lamashtu are more creature than man, it is little more than parroting vocal noises. The Lamashtu, now fully disguised and holding the child’s trust, escorts the babe out of the village to a remote killing ground. Once there, the Lamashtu reveals its true form: that of a bristling giantess, with a marsupial-like face, gangling limbs and eyes the size of tea saucers. The Lamashtu is most vulnerable in this form, so they only take it on to feed or when cowed. The beast lashes its undulating, leech-like tongue down the child’s throat and beyond its stomach, where it entwines within their entrails. Over the next nine grueling hours, the tongue sucks out all the fat within a child, taking another innocent life. Once finished, the Lamashtu will strangely return the babe to its crib, allowing it to be interred for reasons unknown. A Lamashtu will feed multiple times from a village, taking no more than nine victims and only one at a time. Afterwards, the Lamashtu will journey to another village, only to repeat this ritual of sheer terror.
597 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY LAMASHTU SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [4] 40% [7] 45% [10] 50% [7] 40% [4] 35% [5] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +10 13/19 fly 7 (13/19/25) 8 (14/20/26) 75% 65% (Natural) Advanced (Low) Awareness +30, Charm +10, Coordination +10, Eavesdrop +20, Guile +30, Intimidate +20, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +30, Survival +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Ragged Talons: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (7) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak Stiletto: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (4) • Fast, Vicious, Weak TRAITS ACCURSED: These creatures cannot be harmed by normal weapons, unless they have been imbued with Magick. ÆTHEREAL FORM: Creatures in Æthereal Form cannot inflict Damage or manipulate physical objects, but can pass through objects effortlessly and hover 1 yard off the ground. They can manifest into physical form instantaneously, but assuming Æthereal Form once more costs 2 APs. BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. BROKEN WINGS: Once this creature is Grievously Wounded, it can no longer fly. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. MASTERFULLY ADROIT: These creatures refer to their [AB] for all Damage they inflict with weapons. They also have factored in +3 to their [AB]. PAW/HOOF/WING: These creatures’ movement uses 6+[AB] on foot and 9+[AB] for flight. Fliers are indicated under Movement. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SHAPESHIFTER: These creatures may take any form they please, providing it is of a Small or Large Animal or Humanoid (including player Ancestries). STRAFING TALONS: When these creatures execute a successful attack while flying, they also deal 1D10+[AB] physical Peril. TRAPPINGS Stiletto NOSFERATU VAMPIRE Every damned being of the night has an origin and most Vampiric lines can eventually be traced back to the venerable and monstrous Nosferatu. Nosferatu were once ancient Elves, part of a dark Kindred who had attempted to curry the favor of the Abyssal Princes, but was all for naught. The Princes see little use in Elves, not even fit to be reincarnated as Lower Demons. All that effort, power and pain turns about to be worthless to the Elves, so in retaliation they became demonologists in order to bind their former lords. Worrisome of their growing power, the Abyssal Princes placed a terrible hex on the Kindred – one that forever cursed them to stalk the earth, hurt to sunlight and a never-ending hunger for blood. They became known as the Nosferatu, being hauntingly beautiful and elegant – their skin snow white and their hair raven black. They masquerade as princes and rulers, with Ghouls dressed up to serve as their council and then hold court with finely dressed aristocrats and socially ambitious burghers.. They dress as rulers because they are megalomaniacs, enforcing their will on a local populace, fashioning themselves a lord or count worthy of fealty. This is all an elaborate façade though, for they invite guests not for wine and fine dining, but for being eating – ripping out their vocal cords to mute their dying screams. Nosferatu are a thankful rarity, but those that exist are extremely powerful and nigh-unkillable. Many are masters of the blackest of sorceries and possess further supernatural abilities such as shapeshifting and a terrifying mien. They are usually tended by a Butler Demon, often their only friend as they despise all other Vampires. This is quite ironic, as Nosferatu are also the only Vampires who can create other Vampires – though different bloodlines can create other
598 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY creatures, the Nosferatu’s deadly kiss can cause any person to 'turn' into any other type of Vampire apart from a Nosferatu. That’s because they are a dying breed and it is hypothesized that if all of them should die, Vampires will be wiped from the Material Realm. However, killing one of these powerful monstrosities is often easier said than done – and many failed Slayers have ended up served as supper for the Nosferatu. NOSFERATU SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [5] 50% [7] 50% [10] 50% [5] 50% [8] 55% [7] 50% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +8 13 7 (13/19/25) 10 (16/22/28) 70% 80% (Natural) Elite (Unique) Athletics +10, Awareness +10, Charm +20, Coordination +20, Education +30, Guile +30, Incantation +30, Intimidate +30, Resolve +20, Ride +10, Rumor +20, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +20, Toughness +10 ATTACK PROFILE Sceptre: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (5) • Light, Powerful, Weak Vampiric Claws: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (7) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak Wall Crawler Grasp: 50% • Distance (ranged 8 yards) • Load (1 AP) • Damage (None) • Entangling, Ineffective, Throwing TRAITS ÆTHERIC DOMINATION: When these creatures would potentially invoke a Chaos Manifestation, they must have two or more face ‘6’ on Chaos Dice to invoke it. BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. HANGIN’ TOUGH: These creatures cannot Bleed or suffer Injuries. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. INESCAPABLE: When these creatures use a Chokehold, they are able to maintain it for 0 AP and use other Actions In Combat. OCCULT MASTERY: When this creature Channels Power and succeed at their Skill Test, they Critically Succeed instead. POSSESSION: These creatures can use Skin Guest from the Arcana of Sorcery without having to make an Incantation Test. In addition, they do not have to maintain Concentration. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SHAPESHIFTER: These creatures may take any form they please, providing it is of a Small or Large Animal or Humanoid (including player Ancestries). VAMPIRE’S CURSE: These creatures cannot cross running water, unless by bridge or boat. When exposed to sunlight, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire for every minute they remain exposed. Instead of suffering Injuries in this case, they instead are caught On Fire. When Slain!, they turn into mist and immediately return to their resting place to sleep. For every hour they sleep, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Once Unharmed, all Injuries are healed as well. However, while asleep, they can be permanently Slain! if an ironwood stake is driven through their heart and the head is removed. WALL CRAWLER: These creatures can crawl upon both vertical and horizontal surfaces with ease. In addition, they can initiate a ranged Chokehold at a Distance of 3+[PB], with a Load of 1 AP. TRAPPINGS Arcane tome with 6 Petty Magick spells, Arcane tome with 3 Lesser Magick spells, Arcane tome with 1 Greater Magick spell, Fancy wig, Fashionable clothing, Fine perfume, Reagents for all Magick spells (9), Sceptre RAKSHASA VAMPIRE Not all Vampires relish in their power and use it for deceptive reasons – some have become utterly feral and chaotic, slavering with an endless hunger for blood and flesh. These despicable creatures are known as Rakshasa and they are one of the most feared of the Vampiric brood.
599 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY Rakshasa were once men who had a tendency towards illgotten gains and political corruption, though not always succumbing to the sway of the Abyss. For their terrible hubris, they are reborn in their new anthropomorphic body as a form of punishment. Rakshasa are natural shapeshifters, able to blend into any crowd or high-society event, stalking potential targets for their hunger. They dress in fine regalia and often attend masquerades and banquets with little molestation. Their true form is far more monstrous – they are sinewy and part rotted, their muscle visible striated under the skin. Their head is that of a terrible lion or monkey with ragged jaws and their long claws bend backwards into reversed palms. They feed delicately, as their claws are perfect for tearing apart every little morsel of meat from the bone. Ghoul attendants tend to follow in their wake, serving at their beck and call, awaiting the end of the Rakshasa’s meal and a chance to pick over their table scraps. Rakshasa sup delicately, as they are naturally slow and methodical. They like to stretch out their meals, as they believe terror makes the blood richer in piquancy. They only need to feed every few decades or so, and do not marry or sire offspring. Their only true companions are Ghouls; former victims fed the flesh of their loved ones by the Rakshasa, turned to the allure of darkness. Though Rakshasa seem powerful, they do harbor several weaknesses. They cannot enter a home unless invited into it, though they can enter common houses easily and they curse anything holy. It is still notoriously difficult to kill one: they possess a True Name, one that must be uttered upon their death to prevent them from rising again at the next new moon. There are rumors that blessed crossbow bolts can kill one, but the fate of numerous Slayers has put such rumblings to rest. Their real weakness is brass, as it burns their skin upon touch. Ironically, the Rakshasa’s mortal weapon of choice is a brass dagger, though it is sheathed until absolutely necessary. RAKSHASA SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 45% [6] 40% [6] 45% [7] 50% [8] 40% [4] 35% [5] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +11 13/16 fly 6 (12/18/24) 8 (14/20/26) 75% 85% (Natural) Advanced (High) Awareness +30, Charm +20, Coordination +30, Eavesdrop +30, Guile +30, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +30, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +30, Survival +30, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Teeth & Claws: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Slow, Vicious, Weak Brass Dagger: 75% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Fast, Vicious, Weak TRAITS BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. DISEASE-RIDDEN (Tomb Rot): When these creatures reduce a foe to Seriously Wounded, the foe’s wounds are Infected. When they reduce a foe to Grievously Wounded, the foe contracts the Disease indicated in parentheses. MENACING: When these creatures use a Litany of Hatred, they inflict 1D10+[BB] mental Peril. PAW/HOOF/WING: These creatures’ movement uses 6+[AB] on foot and 9+[AB] for flight. Fliers are indicated under Movement. POISONOUS BITE: When these creatures deal Damage, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘6’, they inject Spider Venom into their foe. POISON RESISTANCE: These creatures are immune to poisons. REANIMATOR: When this creature’s Turn begins, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Other Traits cover how these creatures are permanently Slain!. SCAR THE FLESH: These creatures add +3 to their Damage Threshold, but wear no armor. STEELY FORTITUDE: These creatures always succeed at Resolve Tests and cannot be Intimidated. SANITY-BLASTING: When first encountered, these creatures provoke one of the three brands of Madness: if of Basic Risk Factor, they provoke Stress; if of Intermediate Risk Factor, they provoke Fear; if of Advanced or Elite Risk Factor, they provoke Terror. SHAPESHIFTER: These creatures may take any form they please, providing it is of a Small or Large Animal or Humanoid (including player Ancestries). TRUE NAME: Unless foes invoke this creature’s True Name before casting Magick, it fails to affect the creature. WEAKNESS TO BRASS: These creatures cannot be permanently Slain! unless a killing blow is rendered with a weapon made of brass or bronze. TRAPPINGS Brass dagger
600 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY SUCCUBUS VAMPIRE Vampires are lustful creatures, full of primordial mating urges and hypnotic body movements. This is not true for every breed of Vampire, but is more than adequate in describing the Succubus. Succubus (or the male incubus) are drawn to victims in dreams – particularly those who are lustful, wanton and lecherous. Their victims will have recurring dreams of a comely man or maiden, one that tempts them and calls their name. Nocturnal emissions are often the result of such dreams. However, in actuality, the damned spirit of the Succubi is feeding on these visions to construct the perfect persona for their target. A Succubus will always latch onto a certain person, taking on the aspects of what that mortal sees as an ideal mate. Eventually, they will emerge from dreams into reality, taking upon a form pleasing to the victim. They then spend months draining them of riches, causing mental abuse while seemingly making up for it with spectacular bouts of intercourse. However, once their victim has outlived their worth, they shift into their true form – a horrifyingly mirror image of the victim, with grotesquely-throbbing pudenda and hemorrhaging teats. The Succubi will then drain the remaining life-force from their victim, leaving them a withered husk after their hunger has been sated. They will then move on to another victim, haunting dreams once more. If their victims ever do live long enough to give birth, the resulting spawn are known as cambion; beings that eventually devolve into demonic Imps after they grow into maturity. Succubus may be deceiving and tempting, but rely most upon their wiles rather than physical prowess. That is not to say they are not dangerous, just simply less lethal in a fight than any other of the other accursed Vampiric brood. SUCCUBUS SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 40% [4] 45% [9] 40% [9] 35% [3] 40% [4] 55% [9] 50% [5] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +6 12 9 (15/21/27) 12 (18/24/30) None 60% (Natural) Advanced (Medium) Awareness +10, Charm +30, Coordination +20, Eavesdrop +20, Education +30, Folklore +30, Guile +30, Interrogation +10, Rumor +30, Scrutinize +30, Simple Melee +20, Stealth +20 ATTACK PROFILE Stunted Claws: 60% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (9) • Slow, Vicious, Weak TRAITS AMBUSH TACTICS: These creatures roll 2D10 to determine Initiative. BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. BRUTE STRENGTH: These creatures refer to [BB] for Damage with melee weapons and ones with the Throwing Quality. They also have factored in +3 to their [BB]. Finally, they can inflict Injuries with Pummeling weapons. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were using a bare-handed weapon. DARK SENSE: These creatures can see in the dark. ENTRANCING: When this creature uses a Transfixed Gaze, they can use other Actions while they maintain its Mesmerizing effect. In addition, foes suffer 1 Corruption and 2D10+2 mental Peril on each of their Turns while they remain Mesmerized. FAST ON THEIR FEET: These creatures reduce all Movement Actions by 1 AP (to a minimum of 1 AP). They can also Dodge both melee and ranged weapons. HOLY RETRIBUTION: When struck by holy water, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire. RIPPING TEETH: When these creatures deal Damage, they can force a foe to Resist a Takedown. TRANSFIXED GAZE: When these creatures can see a foe (who can also see them), they force a foe to Resist with a Resolve Test or be Mesmerized. Mesmerized foes cannot use any Actions In Combat, but may attempt to Resist again at the beginning of their Turn to escape. The creature cannot use any other Actions while they maintain a Transfixed Gaze. However, they can release the gaze at any time. If the creature suffers Damage while a foe is Mesmerized, they immediately relinquish the hold. Foes who attempt to Resist must flip the results to fail their Skill Test. SHAPESHIFTER: These creatures may take any form they please, providing it is of a Small or Large Animal or Humanoid (including player Ancestries).
601 CHAPTER 12: BESTIARY UNLATCH DOORS: These creatures can automatically unfasten any lock they can see or touch, Magickal or otherwise. VAMPIRE’S CURSE: These creatures cannot cross running water, unless by bridge or boat. When exposed to sunlight, they suffer 2D10+2 Damage from fire for every minute they remain exposed. Instead of suffering Injuries in this case, they instead are caught On Fire. When Slain!, they turn into mist and immediately return to their resting place to sleep. For every hour they sleep, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. Once Unharmed, all Injuries are healed as well. However, while asleep, they can be permanently Slain! if an ironwood stake is driven through their heart and the head is removed. WANTON HUNGER: When these creatures are encountered, roll 1D6 Chaos Die. If the result is face ‘1- 5’, their hunger has been sated. If the result is face ‘6’, their hunger has not yet been sated and they are in a state of frenzy. When sated, they add +1 to both Damage and Peril Condition Tracks. When in a state of frenzy, they add an additional 1D6 Fury Die to Damage. TRAPPINGS Fashionable clothing VAMPIRIC TEMPLAR VAMPIRE Most Vampires are individualists, disregarding others of their kind and surviving alone in their cursed existence. One Vampiric bloodline, however, usurps this expectation and those are the Vampiric Templars. The Templars were once the most feared group of Grail Knights – reputedly the greatest in the land – until they were all struck down in a single night by the powerful Nosferatu they were hunting. They arose from a bloody haze, victims of the Vampires they so hated, instilled with fury. A curse now ran through their veins, altering their minds. Though they still despised all Vampire kind, they became obsessed with becoming the perfect warriors. Wandering the land to master the martial ways, their contempt for humanity drove them deeper into the exsanguinous ways of the Vampire. Driven by hunger, at first, they drank only from victims they spitted on their swords. However, as their dark gifts continued to evolve, they became less Human and more... divine. Their hunger became greater. And as they drank, so grew their martial prowess. Thus, their descent was complete, becoming the very thing they so hated. Vampiric Templars appear just as they did in their mortal life, often as strong and well-disciplined soldiers. However, beneath the clatter of armor they are monstrously tall, wellmuscled with dark blood coursing through varicose veins with jackal-like countenances. They slurp up the blood they spill from their defeated goes with long serpentine tongues and often maim their victims to sate their hunger. Those who live to tell the tale eventually arise as Tenebrae, angry spectral beings that are just as violent as their sire. There is a terrible pecking order among their kind as well. Vampiric Templars who exhibit the most monstrous of physical attributes are worshipped, as bitter rivalries can erupt between those who evolve faster than others. Surprisingly, despite their nature, Vampiric Templars can be reasoned with. Their word is generally considered unbreakable, as long as one takes proper precautions and distances themselves from the Templar once the deal is done. VAMPIRIC TEMPLAR SIZE: Normal C B A P I W F 50% [7] 45% [6] 45% [11] 40% [4] 35% [3] 40% [7] 40% [4] Int Mov DTh PTh Par Dod RFa +7 14 12 (18/24/30) 10 (16/22/28) 90% (Defensive) None Advanced (High) Athletics +20, Awareness +20, Coordination +20, Education +20, Guile +30, Interrogation +20, Intimidate +30, Martial Melee +30, Ride +30, Rumor +20, Scrutinize +10, Simple Melee +20, Toughness +30 ATTACK PROFILE Heartseeker Sword: 80% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (11) • Fast, Finesse, Vicious Vampiric Claws: 70% • Distance (melee engaged) • Damage (6) • Pummeling, Slow, Weak TRAITS BLOODLUST: Every time these creatures inflict an Injury, they move one step up the Damage Condition Track positively. CRIPPLING CONSTRICTOR: When these creatures maintain a Chokehold, they deal Damage as if they were