Some creatures from my campaign (Asheville, stay out)

[FishStampede]

Space reserved for spoilers














These are part of the Old Things of the Hills, a major power group in my game. They're a loose association of monsters from a mixture of Cherokee myth, the writings of Manly Wade Wellman (the Lovecraft of the South), and my own creations. Ideally, the line between the three should be a little blurred. The Old Things have restrictions placed on where they can go and what they can hunt, most commonly that they can only hunt those who walk the woods alone by day or make no camp at night. They cannot enter cities without the permission of a foolish practitioner who lives there, who often bargains for favors with the Old Things in exchange for allowing them to hunt and kill within the cities. Oddly, they are actually signatories on the Accords, which codified the restrictions on their behavior. Here I present three of the Old Things that will appear first in my game:

The Gilly Worm

The Gilly Worm (name comes from a corruption of the Cherokee word for "witch") is a disgusting creature that resembles a cross between an earthworm and an anaconda with wolf's teeth. Folklorists are unsure if there's more than one or if it is a unique creature, as more than one has never been encountered at a single time. The Gilly Worm often traffics with witches, exchanging the promise to kill whomever the practitioner wishes with the ability to enter a city the practitioner calls home. It's not as tough as a true snake thanks to its soft wormlike hide, but its powers more than make up for it.

Gilly Worm
High Concept: Body-possessing worm-thing
Aspects: Snake! It's a Snake!, Cannot Speak for Itself

Skills:
Great: Stealth, Deceit
Good: Alertness, Fists, Intimidation,
Fair: Rapport, Discipline, Survival,
Average: Athletics, Presence, Conviction

Powers:

 -2: Incite Emotions (Ranged upgrade): Takes the form of a soporific gas. Uses Deceit, is resisted by Endurance, and brings aspects related to sleep.
 -1 Cloak of Shadows
 -5 Possession: As the Domination upgrade, however the Gilly Worm does not have an ability to become insubstantial. As such, it can only effectively use this ability against someone with an appropriate Aspect implying great size (Built Like a Gorilla, for example). Otherwise, it is very hard to remain hidden, applying an aspect of "Writhing Guts" that is immediately compelled in any social situation.
  When it possesses a victim, use the Gilly Worm's mental skills and Breath Weapon, but otherwise treat the victim as a Renfield.

Refresh: -8

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Ulsi Dosa (Cherokee for Grandmother Mosquito)

Grandmother Mosquito appears as a naked old woman. She is withered, ancient beyond measure, and stooped almost completely in half. Her mouth has been sewn shut and her eyes are black, with the slight metallic sheen of compound eyes. Her skin is wet and slightly reddish as if she was sweating blood, and is constantly surrounded by a thick black cloud of buzzing mosquitoes numbering in the...er...hard to estimate, but it certainly ends in "illions." The mosquitoes speak for her in a high pitched buzzing whine.

According to legend, she was once a benign, even helpful forest spirit, living in an ancient and massive tree. A young man from the village cut down her tree simply to brag he did it. She wrought her vengeance upon him and his kin, spawning the blood sucking pests that plague us to this day. The myth is a little too simplistic to be fully true, but she holds great enmity to men even now and it's much safer for women to negotiate with her. It's also uncertain how old this myth is, and thus whether it was a white man, a Cherokee, or even a Shonokin who earned her enmity.

In modern times, she makes her demesne in an ancient and massive tree stump in the woods off the Blue Ridge Parkway. The stump is hollowed out and filled with fetid rainwater even during a drought, and never rots any further. Those who negotiate with her can get almost any information. Unfortunately she's very hostile, and her demands almost always include fresh blood from men.

High Concept: Vengeful Nature Spirit
Other Aspects: My Children Hunger, Countless Eyes and Ears, Creepy As F***, Extreme Misandrist

Skills:

Superb:   Lore, Investigate, Intimidate
Great:   Alertness, Might, Fists, Endurance
Good:   Weaponry, Conviction, Athletics, Presence, Survival
Other skills default to Average or Fair.

Powers:
-1 Echoes of the Beast
-1 Blood Drinker
-1 Demesne
-3 Claws (Poisonous)
-1 Wings
+1 Feeding Dependency, affecting the following:
-4 Supernatural Speed
-2 Inhuman Strength
-2 Inhuman Recovery
-2 Inhuman Toughness
 The Catch (+2): Citronella, Raid, and other insecticides or poisons
-6 Heart of the Swarm (Treat as Breath Weapon, only with the ability to effect every creature except herself within a single zone and to linger in the targeted zone, attacking each exchange until she uses it again. This takes the form of a cloud of bloodsucking mosquitoes.)

Refresh: -20

Needless to say, the she is not one you should pick a fight with.

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Raven Mocker
The lowest of the Old Things, often bound by mortal wizards to perform tasks. They're not especially dangerous in a straight fight, but their stealth and wings allow them to harry their victims, who often question their own sanity. Though rarely seen clearly, when they are seen they resemble short, twisted old men and women covered in feathers and with beaks and claws like a corvid. They prefer victims already weak from disease or age, and can rip out a victim's heart after death without breaking the skin. This has no in-game effect, since the victim is already dead. It's just damn weird on an autopsy.

High Concept: Black Bird of Death
Aspects: Invisible Menace, Servant of the Old Things

Skills:
Great: Stealth
Good: Athletics, Intimidate
Fair: Fists, Alertness
Average: Survival, Burglary, Conviction

Powers:
-1 Cloak of Shadows
-1 Claws
-1 Wings

Refresh: -3

[Sanctaphrax]

Fluff looks solid.

Crunch is pretty good except for the natural weapon stuff.

Mental stress is better than physical stress, and inflicting it with Breath Weapon should cost extra.

Also, you need a Weapons skill to use Breath Weapon.

And having both Breath Weapon and Claws is just weird.

We've got a couple of custom Powers that might interest you. They're called Natural Weaponry and Dangerous Aura, and they'd both fit the mosquito lady pretty well.

[FishStampede]

The idea of the breath weapon is that, since it lingers, she fires it into one zone, then moves to another zone to start ripping and tearing. She could also use it to place maneuvers over a wide area, then wade in. Plus there's the fact that the breath weapon is linked to feeding, while the claws are not.

Can you link the alternate powers? They may work better.

Also, derp on the weapons skill for the Gilly Worm.

My original idea for the thing was that it would put an aspect instead of dealing damage, but someone suggested I make it deal damage and then have the aspects come as consequences. The creature's concept is it puts people to sleep and then possesses them. When it has a good host it continues killing, but makes sure to keep its victims asleep as it does, being directed by the wizard it bargained with. The weird part of the crime scene is that they are horribly butchered, but their faces are left serene as if in deep sleep. Should I go back to the original "no damage but places aspects" for the breath weapon?

[Sanctaphrax]

The idea of the breath weapon is that, since it lingers, she fires it into one zone, then moves to another zone to start ripping and tearing. She could also use it to place maneuvers over a wide area, then wade in. Plus there's the fact that the breath weapon is linked to feeding, while the claws are not.

Oh, I see.

That doesn't sound much like Breath Weapon at all. Sounds like something entirely new.

Cool idea, though.

Can you link the alternate powers? They may work better.

Yo.

My original idea for the thing was that it would put an aspect instead of dealing damage, but someone suggested I make it deal damage and then have the aspects come as consequences. The creature's concept is it puts people to sleep and then possesses them. When it has a good host it continues killing, but makes sure to keep its victims asleep as it does, being directed by the wizard it bargained with. The weird part of the crime scene is that they are horribly butchered, but their faces are left serene as if in deep sleep. Should I go back to the original "no damage but places aspects" for the breath weapon?

Incite Emotion ought to work.

[FishStampede]

Good idea. I guess I could still flavor it as a breath weapon, since it's still this horrible snake thing poking its head out of the crazed killer's mouth to spray greenish sleep gas. It'd actually be the same price to have a ranged incite as it would to use a breath weapon.

[FishStampede]

Okay, looked at Natural Weaponry and Damage Aura, but I dunno. They're mechanically sound, but I kinda like having two separate abilities, and Heart of the Swarm is a little unique due to its ability to make the swarm linger. I might remove the reference to Breath Weapon, but I basically statted it based on an alternate version of Breath Weapon from the wiki and still feel like it makes for a good shorthand. Any more suggestions for cleanup?

I also made some edits to the Gilly Worm. A ranged Incite is almost perfect, but since it's a gas I decided to make it resisted by Endurance. Deceit vs. Endurance seems kinda weird though. Easily justified since it needs to trick you to get a high enough dose of the gas for it to actually do anything, but a little weird.

The Raven Mockers have now seen actual play. In an ambush, they do frighteningly well. A character took a five stress hit from their claws first round and had to take a consequence. I was honestly worried I made them too powerful for my group, but then once the initial surprise faded they were pretty easily beat down in a 2 pc vs. 3 Mocker fight. Pretty much working as intended!

Edit: Who is in charge of the list of monsters? Can these be added?