Teh Creepy ...

beejazz · June 09, 2006, 03:33:35 PM

hooray for stuff that actually might happen

Lmns Crn · June 09, 2006, 04:02:28 PM

Here's a fun one that got pulled on me once, and I later got the monster stats and turned around and used it on a different group. It's less horror-story and more monster-encounter than most things in this thread, but it's still the creepiest damned thing I've ever seen in a game.

This monster is called the flesheater. It is created out of a humanoid, via a curse. When the curse takes effect, ideally right in front of the PCs eyes, they see its victim retch and spasm in agony. Its spine twists, its fingers and toes elongate into claws, its teeth become pointed fangs... and the mind behind their former friend is gone, replaced by madness.

The creature is fast and agile. It can climb and cling to walls and ceilings. It can jump with ease and proficiency. It can claw your skin, and bite your head. Depending on your level of sadism when you run this encounter, it may also have DR/magic, or even DR/Good.

It kills and eats people, and does it quickly. It rapidly loses HP if it hasn't fed on fresh meat in five minutes, but it heals itself when it does eat. Of course, this should not be readily apparent to the players. In a city encounter, they might smash it up fairly badly, but it is smart enough to escape over a wall, through a building, or in other ways the PCs can't easily follow (remember, climbing and jumping monster), kill a few more civilians, eat them to heal itself, and face the PCs again with renewed vigor.

A fight against one of these creatures can last, in game-time, for days.

Now for the really creepy part. The curse spreads, sort of. Creatures wounded (but not killed) by the flesheater must make a saving throw or, after 30-60 minutes, turn into lesser flesheaters themselves: shambling, bloodthirsty creatures with fangs, claws, and bad posture of their own. (The lesser flesheaters don't spread the curse to their own victims, but there's no reason your players have to know that.) Lesser flesheaters also do not regenerate health by feeding. Generally, they are scary cannon-fodder.

This means there are at least two moments of horrible, gut-wrenching revelation whenever you use a flesheater encounter.

The first happens after the PCs have been chasing the creature around the city for some time. They still think there is only one enemy. For the moment, it has eluded them, but wait! That sounds like a struggle, down the street over there! They arrive to see the city guard (or whomever) fighting off half a dozen similar-looking monsters, all wearing the claw-shredded clothes of the first monster's victims. This is colloquially known as the "Holy shit, it's reproducing!" moment.

The second horrible, gut-wrenching moment comes shortly afterward, when the PCs have seen that the flesheater's victims become bloodthirsty monsters themselves. From there, it's only a matter of time before one of the PCs turns to another and says, "Whoa, man, wait... it's wounded you, too."

Now, normally, I don't care for game sessions of the "check out this mean, tough monster!" variety, but I'll always be indebted to the DM who wrote the flesheaters.

Epic Meepo · June 09, 2006, 04:29:58 PM

Quote from: Luminous CrayonThis is colloquially known as the "Holy shit, it's reproducing!" moment.

Yeah. That's the reaction I have every time Britney Spears has another kid.

SDragon · June 10, 2006, 03:44:58 PM

Quote from: IshmaylOne I've used before in a campaign with daggerhart and brainface:

PCs, wandering through a forest, hear the terrified voices of men in battle, fighting for their lives. They can never find these men, or even signs on a combat.

expanded: the voices seem to be place-specific, so the PCs eventually start to notice theyre getting closer to or further away from the "battle". after awhile, they eventually find the one point where, no matter what direction they take, they go further away from the battle. as they turn, they notice old, moss-covered, rotted arrows plunged into previously untouched trees.

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Teh Creepy ...

beejazz

Lmns Crn

Epic Meepo

SDragon