I had briefly discussed this in a separate post (
The Glass Jawed Wizard) but I wanted to run it by the forum to see what everyone thought and to help balance things out a bit so these things aren't overwhelmingly powerful or seriously weak. I'm looking for something that will be a
party wide challenge, that is also a creature a Wizard can't sneeze on and kill. I figured I would jot down my notes thus far.
First, a bit of background. Shadow people are essentially a supernatural creature people claim to have seen all over western culture. There is quite a bit of folklore surrounding them. They are generally seen only at night and in poor lighting. They are generally humanoid in shape, sometimes entirely black and sometimes with luminescent eyes. Typically they do not talk or directly interact with people or animals but merely watch mortals. I've woken up in the middle of the night with humanoid shadowy shapes standing over me but I've never been convinced that they are anything other than me still dreaming. However they do tend to scare the living crap out of me up until my mind realizes that it is awake and the things disappear. In the real world, the assumption is generally that they don't exist at all and are merely figments of the imagination though some people claim they are demons or aliens. Some people claim to have been attacked or even raped by these things, generally during an episode of sleep paralysis so that they cannot move. There are also stories (as in the second picture) of them travelling in large packs.
In my game, these creatures are non-corporeal beings that are in the direct service of the Outer Powers who are steadily gaining influence in the world because of the events in Changes and Ghost story. The Shadow People have always been here, but with the power vacuum left by the destruction of the red court, and the massive amounts of magic that were flung around during the war the Shadows find it easier to enter our world. In order to seize said power, some foolish entity (perhaps mortal, perhaps wizard, perhaps other) has decided to reach out to these creatures and the powers that they serve. (I won't go into exact details since therein lies my plotline).
I also thought that in the cases of possession, the Victim would appear relatively normal but would have eyes that were completely black and would seem to radiate faint wifts black steam a bit like the way really cold ice does in your freezer. I thought that'd be a really creepy description in the making.
In any case, here is what I have so far:
Servitors of Those Who Dwell Beyond - aka: Shadow People
- Shadow people are both manifestations of the Will of the Outsiders and their servitors.
- Like Demons, they can possess mortals, but unlike demons they cannot create bodies of pure ectoplasm
- Lesser Shadow People do not have True Names. Greater Shadow People do, and can be called forth just like a Demon. Just like demons it tends to piss them off.
- Running water has no effect on Servitors.
- However, bright sources of light effects them much like Running water effects a demon
- They are blocked by Circles and by Wards.
- They are not blocked by Thresholds unless there is also light present (these things show up in people's bedrooms all the time supposedly).
- Servitors feed off the life energy of mortals
- They are essentially immune to magic much like an Ogre however direct magical attacks actually make them stronger
- Cannot operator or manifest during the day unless it is in an area protected from sunlight or other bright sources of light
- Cannot talk on their own. However they can speak if possessing a host
- When possessing a host, they do not gain any skills or magical abilities of the host but they can make use of any physical abilities
- It is not known if you can actually kill one of these things or if they just disappear back to the Outside only to reappear later
- Because they are semi-corporeal, they cannot be hurt by normal weapons that are not driven by a Will. Example - a bullet would pass harmlessly through them. A club wielded with the intent to hurt them would do damage
- While they are blocked by solid physical matter, they are capable of flowing through cracks and holes to enter structures not otherwise warded
With those things in mind, I worked up the following stat block for a Lesser Servitor based on the stats of several different denizens in Our World (Bucky and the Ogre to name two):
High Concept: Servitor of Those Who Dwell Beyond
Other Aspects
- From Beyond the Outer Gates
- A Creature of shadow, hatred and hunger
Skills
Fists (Fair +2)
Intimidation (Average +1)
Stealth (Great +4)
Alertness (Fair +2)
Powers
Shadow Tendrils [-1] : (as per Claws)
I can Smell your Life (Supernatural Sense [-1] : Is able to sense life as if by smell)
Made of Shadow [-1] : (Cloak of Shadows)
Your Magic Tastes Most Sweet [-2] : Direct magical attacks give it power, and heal stress
Semi-Corporeal Form [-3] : Cannot pass through walls but can pass through cracks and holes much like a gas would. Does not need to manifest in order to attack. Immune to physical attacks not backed by Will. (ie: bullets won't hurt it, but a wielded club would).
The Catch [?] - Strong light sources weaken the Servitors. It is vulnerable to holy objects and faith.
So, that's what I thought of but I'm worried that this might be a bit too powerful. Also, what is 'strong' light sources. A match, lighter, or old school incandescent flashlight, probably isn't going to do much. A modern, bright LED flashlight or car headlights would hurt it. A torch or lantern would probably keep it at bay for a while.
I thought about giving the thing some sort of Shadow walk style ability but I wasn't sure how to fit that into the existing rules and I'm pretty sure that would make it too damn powerful. Perhaps with the Greater Servitors, they can have something like that. I figure there would probably be one or two Greater servitors per twenty to fifty of the lesser ones infecting the city. The group I'm playing with is at the Chest Deep Level with quite a few games under their belts though with poor command (thus far) over the rules.
So here is when I open myself up to the flames. What do you think? How can I scale it up and down? What about the weaknesses? Is it too weak or too powerful?
Thanks in advance and please be gentle.
Eire