I see the black powder darkening the silent streets, and the contorted bodies shrouded in that layer; they rise upon me tattered and dog-bitten. They gibber and grow fiercer, paler, uglier, mad distortions of humanity at last, and I wake, cold and wretched, in the darkness of the night...
Mad Distortions of Humanity
No. Enc.: 2d4 (4d10)
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90' (30')
Armor Class: 8/11
Hit Dice: 1 (use d12)
Attacks: 1 (attack at -1 penalty due to slow reactions/stiff movement)
Damage: 1d6 or by Weapon + Black Smoke Residue (See Below)
Save: As zero-level human
Morale: N/A
Eerie and silent, they lie sprawled and scattered across streets drifted with acrid black ashes, the mostly harmless traces of Black Smoke that has been neutralized by the rain or some other source of water. Some are missing pieces and portions of their bodies that have been snapped off by the wind or perhaps gnawed off by packs of hungry dogs. Others are entirely buried beneath a coarse blanket of the black particulates with only a vague hummock or depression to betray their presence while they lie in wait, still as statues, until some unwary traveler or refugee wanders too close. Then they lurch into a stiff, brittle mockery of the living to attack, gibbering insanely as they form into a mob, flailing and hacking away at any living thing they can reach.
These horrid things are covered with a heavy layer of Black Smoke Residue that coats their hands and weapons, lending a lingering nastiness to their melee attacks.
Black Smoke Residue: Victims need to Save or suffer a -2 penalty to AC, lose all DEX benefits, and a 50% reduction in Movement rate for the next 1d4 hours. All damage suffered while under the effects of Black Smoke Residue heals at one half the regular rate and all magical healing is likewise halved in its effect. Survivors are often marked with lasting black stains on their skin and incur a permanent -1 penalty to all subsequent Saves versus Black Smoke and its derivatives.
Upon reaching zero hit points in combat these wretched cadavers shatter into dozens of charcoal-like shards and pieces, releasing a Cloud of Black Ashes.
Cloud of Black Ashes: Fills a 10' diameter area with toxic black ashes that inflict 1d4 damage per minute of exposure and force those affected to Save or suffer blindness for 1d4 hours. Anyone failing the Save by rolling a natural 1 is permanently blinded.
Unlike most typical forms of undead who seek to sustain their existence, these mad things are completely given over to their overwhelming need to dissolve themselves in the blood of their victims. They will do anything that results in bloodshed, no matter how crazed or pointless. Those that succeed in dissolving themselves leave behind a grotesque scabrous black mass of inert matter that drives away lesser spirits, minor geists and low shades. There might be some way to use this stuff, but so far no one has admitted to anything publicly...
Any attempt to Turn these Mad Distortions of Humanity obliges the Cleric to Save or else suffer temporary insanity for 1d4 hours.
These things are particularly common around the South-West section of the Inner Ramparts...
Source of Inspiration: The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. These things are a deliberate misreading of a passage from Book Two, Chapter Ten: Epilogue.
I am always curious about you mechanics and system intent. These seem about as weak an undead as one might encounter in Wermspittle, and I note they are one (long) HD monsters. They have some nasty enough temporary effects though, and again I note that long HD, so I suspect you're using some system with strong PCs - Basic/Expert perhaps? A first level B/X party can be a tough group (with AC, attack and Damage bonuses up to +3) so I'm not surprised. I do wonder though if you can explain how you see this monster used? Is it something that is meant to be 1 v. 1 against a party - I note the 2-8 small group number so I suspect that's the cast, but I am still curious. Secondly I presume Wermspittle is intended as a survival horror kind of setting - are increased HP and other monster abilities a means of making fights extremely anxious or a terrible idea?
ReplyDeleteThe mechanics used are based on Labyrinth Lord, which was picked so as to make things easy to adapt or convert to other iterations/editions.
DeleteYes, these are very weak undead, among the weakest most likely to be met in Wermspittle...yet they can prove formidable if they outnumber a small group or an individual. They are also a bit more challenging when encountered in a place full of unexploded ordnance, seriously weakened walls, lingering pockets of Black smoke, and so forth.
The Mad Distortions are not meant to be as immediately scary like Spectres or Wights, but rather they are more like a sort of secondary obstacle or complication that can make a particular stretch of terrain, such as old trenches or a patch of rubble, far more dangerous than one might at first assume. They are an after-effect of terrible weapons and very bad things that have already passed through a place, vestiges of horrific happenings. It isn't unheard of for a small group to be sent out to clean these things from a specific locale, like around the Inner Ramparts...and when troops get lazy or inattentive these things might just surprise them--the number encountered is only a guideline for typical encounters, not a hard limit for all encounters. It is quite possible to run into quite a few more of these things, especially in the right place, such as a street that was packed with refugees...as was depicted in the novel.
The attack/effect is nasty, but limited, mostly because they are more a type of residue than an ongoing malevolent presence like a geist haunting some abandoned property.
The AC is a factor of the accumulated Black Smoke residue covering these things. It is like a thick coating of charcoal and it softens the impact of some attacks when it is chipped away.
As for suggested use of this creature, I would recommend using them as a minor, incidental encounter along a street or alley or section of an urban area that was hit by Black Smoke Ordnance. Let the first couple run-ins be with a few slow-moving, easy to dispose-of individuals or small clusters, so as to build-up the confidence of the players...then let them find their way into a larger group in an area with restricted movement, land-mines, UXBs, or some terrain that makes things tricky. It doesn't need to be an outright trap, more a hazardous situation the players can get themselves into through over-confidence or whatever.
In the case of a solo character, these are things best avoided, and they are easy to avoid usually...and it might be possible to turn these things into an asset by leading other pursuers or rivals right into the midst of a cluster of Mad Distortions.
The variance in abilities/stats is to help differentiate one monster from another, and to emphasize how each one responds and how they need to be handled. Some are fairly weak, yet durable. Others are fragile, but extremely deadly within narrow range of circumstances. Still others are tough, unless you know their weakness/vulnerability. Some creatures are not something you want to fight, as that might be precisely what they want/need/feed upon. Some creatures are more like mobile obstacles or challenges, less targets to be eliminated, but instead they may offer up some sort of opportunity or resource or something potentially useful outside of just being another target in a shooting gallery or the monster of the week...if the players care about that sort of thing.
Fights are a terrible idea when people attack without paying attention to the terrain or situation, or when players get complacent and underestimate some 'weak' monster. I like to leave things open for the players to go where they want and do what they like, but I do not reward stupid. So sometimes it is better to avoid a fight, or perhaps to just defer it until things are more to ones advantage. I prefer to leave that decision up to the players and I don't predetermine the outcome an encounter, only the immediate circumstances and options available, and let them evolve organically.
Wermspittle certainly could be approached as a survival horror sort of setting, as could any post-apocalyptic/Gygaxian-medieval sort of place. There is a strong emphasis on exploration (as in Foragers), and the rebuilding of what was lost due to the massively destructive war, and the ongoing development of new stuff that is driven by the various factions trying to gain an edge over their rivals. Mad Wizards, Insane Geniuses...this is a place settled by heretics and founded by bandits...bombed by airships and hammered by one occupying force after another...and survival is where things get started. But there's a lot more to this place than just scrambling through the ruins looking for scraps, a lot more...if the players want to go past the easy/obvious surface.
DeleteOnce we get the home game going again in a couple of weeks, I will be posting some session reports that will get into how I used a particular monster or set-up a specific encounter, I hope that might prove of interest.
Thanks for asking those questions--you've got me thinking about things I ought to post about, like recommendations for how to use some of our critters in an encounter, especially some of the less obvious ones.