Paranatural Bestiary

Cultist 3 HP, 1 Armor, 8 STR, 12 DEX, 10 CTRL Dagger (d6), Blood Sigil (d4 Stress)

  • Every cult needs followers, footsoldiers, and believers.
  • To please their masters, to gain access to power, to survive.
  • Rarely alone.

Frog-Men 4 HP, 13 STR, 12 DEX, 10 CTRL Claws (d6) Tongue (d8)

  • Sapient humanoid frogs. Large, muscular. Some are able to hide as men.
  • To remain hidden. To free their master. To inherit the earth.
  • Some have a moderate ability to create illusions and cloud minds. This can cause CTRL damage

Special Agent 6 HP, 1 Armor, 14 STR, 12 DEX, 10 CTRL Service Pistol (d6)

  • Black suits, black glasses. Some believe, others doubt, most follow orders.
  • To obscure, to acquire, to maintain order
  • Critical Damage: The special agent apprehends the target.

Child of the Spoor 4 HP, 1 Armor, 12 STR, 8 DEX, 6 CTRL Spoor blessed dagger (d6)

  • The flesh is host to parasitic fungus that has overtaken the brain and connected them to the grand structure. Some have fruiting bodies sprouting from fissures in the flesh, while others are barely noticeable, except for the slight fuzz.
  • To propagate. To gestate. To &^%$(~!@
  • Critical Damage: Some of the spoors enter the victim's body.

Corporate Analyst 8 HP, 1 Armor, 10 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CTRL Magitek prototype weapon (d6 blast)

  • Varying in look but always professional in dress and appearance.
  • To protect corporate interests, to test, to acquire.
  • Each analyst has a different specialty, all pose unique dangers to the fabric of reality. Give a critical damage trigger that reflects their department.

Witch 8 HP, 2 Armor, 8 STR, 12 DEX, 13 CTRL Walking stick (d6) Magic (at least 2 spells)

  • Witches can look like anyone. Some have been changed through proximity to magic (you can roll on Magic - Fallout Mutations if you want to up their weird)
  • To learn, to hide, to influence. Sometimes, to teach.
  • Critical Damage: The Witch leaves their sigil upon their target, forming a connection with them.

Ghost 10 HP, 3 Armor, 10 STR, 10, DEX, 12 CTRL Spectral embrace (d6 CTRL)

  • Incorporeal spirits unable to leave after death.
  • Drives vary as much as in the living. The act of becoming a ghost often means they lean toward violence, vengeance, and pettiness.
  • Can attempt a possession, target must succeed a CTRL save to resist.

Mother 14 HP, 1 Armor, 14 STR, 8 DEX, 14 CTRL Claws (d8, transforming), Kiss (d6 stress)

  • Impossibly tall, curvy, pale.
  • To protect, to nurture, to punish.
  • Critical Damage: Her time is now. Mother transforms.

The Swarm 10 HP, 3 Armor, 14 STR, 10 DEX Cascade of vermin (d6, blast)

  • Was once a normal person, now they are host to a legion (choose maggots/worms/ants). Upon close inspection the viewer can see movement underneath the skin. Treat as a Detachment
  • To burrow, to corrupt, to spread.
  • Critical Damage: The victim is unable to pick off the swarm in time, they begin to burrow too deep.

Fleshsmith 12 HP, 2 Armor, 16 STR, 8 DEX, 10 CTRL Hands (d8 - d10)

  • Master of the flesh, his appearance shifts and changes. Most often in a massive form, all muscle & bone at impossible proportions.
  • To make art. To perfect. To manipulate
  • Critical Damage: He is an artist, and the victim’s body is the clay. The Fleshsmith distorts an appendage in an impossible way.

Company Man 13 HP, 1 Armor, 14 STR, 14 DEX, 14 CTRL

  • Impeccable gray suit, trailed by a non-euclidian shadow.
  • To control, to twist, to employ.
  • Can heal using the bodies of others as fuel (drones).
  • Delegated Magic: Can cast Magics through conduits, consuming their souls and sundering their flesh.

Drone: 2 HP, 10 STR, 10 DEX, 10 CTRL, Hands or tools (d6)

  • Often normal people. When being utilized there is a glassy look to them. Sometimes their color ain’t right (skin, hair, clothes, everything).
  • To follow. To be used.
  • Drones can ignore their first instance of critical damage. Does not retreat unless it’s master wills it.

Echo 10 HP, 2 Armor, 12 STR , 15 DEX , 14 CTRL Tentacle (d10, Blast)

  • Echo of an Old Power.
  • Quickly fading, must use flesh to maintain its frequency.
  • Critical damage: Avatar rends the victim and absorbs it into itself (1d4 pieces). Fully heals STR.

The Dark 10 HP, 12 STR, 15 DEX, 14 CTRL Bite (d6) Shadow’s Embrace (d6 stress)

  • Appearance unknown. Number unknown. Presence preceded by the blinking out of lights
  • To rend, to take within itself.
  • All attacks made against them are made at disadvantage.

Creating Monsters

Use the following template to model NPCs and monsters:

  • Title (denotes the type of NPC/monster)
  • NPC Name (most things have a name. Some have forgotten theirs and are now solely defined by their title)
  • X HP, X Armor, X STR, X DEX, X CTRL,
  • Attack (dX, special items, qualities)
  • Description (appearance or demeanor)
  • Drive, behavior, tactic, or peculiarity
  • Special effect or critical damage consequence.

General Principles

  • Ability Scores are 10 unless noted.
  • Ability Scores: 3 is deficient, 6 is weak, 10 is average, 14 is noteworthy, and 18 is legendary.
  • HP: 3 HP is average , 6 HP sturdy, 1 0+ HP is serious threat
  • HP is Hit Protection, not a measure of Hit Points. It's a measure of skill, luck, drive, resilience.
  • Flavor and style = memorable
  • Use d6 as the baseline for damage.
  • Including ways to deal stress makes the game more Weird (increases chance of Stress Fallout)
  • Critical Damage triggers increase threat or strangeness

Creature Cheat Sheet:

  • Able to avoid being hit? Give it HP.
  • Soak up damage? Give it Armor.
  • Physically powerful? Give it a high STR or larger damage dice.
  • Quick? Give it high DEX.
  • Weird? Give it high CTRL or ability to deal Stress Damage.

Spark Tables

Spark Tables are used to prompt ideas. Roll 2d20 and combine the result. The entries are general enough that they can be used as the inspiration for a person, place, event, or object.

d20Spark OneSpark Twod20Spark OneSpark Two
1GerminatingSwarm1InvokingFilth
2BubblingHeart2FracturedTransformation
3NourishingHeresy3BuriedHost
4BoneChurch4WardingTime
5StandingBinding5KeenTelepathy
6PrimordialHunter6OccultConstruct
7SpiritCorruption7MoonlightWeakness
8PoisonousPassage8LesserCemetery
9EdibleThreshold9RipplingPools
10InvisibleGrimoire10RepeatingBanishment
11RabidFissure11MouthlessTrunk
12UndergroundKnack12SmolderingWhine
13OracleShadows13ForsakenSunder
14ControlWeeping14ParanoiaSickness
15HarrowingFancy15UnintelligibleSphere
16BloodThread16SubterraneanShade
17PsychedelicSky17LiminalForgotten
18MalformedGloom18InfusedSpikes
19DankTail19DiseasedSigil
20GlowingDeep20MoundedParasite
d20Spark OneSpark Twod20Spark OneSpark Two
1ShiftingSecrets1OminousFlanges
2MissingBurrows2MortalDoorway
3WeavingDeath3KnottyInfestation
4Pock-MarkedErrant4FleshySlaughter
5CarvedWeb5TruthfulMemory
6GrotesqueHue6DefensiveDecay
7EntangledHorror7ScreamingDesolation
8EmbryonicDelve8SummoningVibrations
9HideousVast9PreservedOzone
10BeholdingMagic10TransmutationSludge
11FoamingEye11SuffocatingWarp
12InvertedIncantation12DistortedSinew
13DampDiscord13PossessedHallowing
14FleshArmor14ShrunkenHorned
15WitheringFlesh15VibrantTongues
16GenesisSpell16ShimmeringTwitterings
17DigestingGrowth17abyssalPolymorph
18WhiteFungi18PredatorySecrets
19FadingHunger19ThreadedTissue
20IllusoryAppetite20twistedOutgrowth

Examples:

  • Bone Swarm
  • Germinating Heresy
  • Primordial Hunter
  • Rippling Filth
  • Inverted Flesh
  • Carved Incantation
  • Digesting Armor
  • Embryonic Fungi
  • Shrunken Infestation
  • Fleshy Horns
  • Predatory Memory
  • Transmuting Ozone

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License

CC BY SA 4.0
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