From: "Colin J. Wynne"  <WYNNE.C@fs.sciences.WLU.EDU>
Subject:      Shadow Stalker
X-Gated-By: The Black Marble Wombat@morticia.cnns.unt.edu
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Organization: University of North Texas
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Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 23:30:23 GMT

..SPOILERS TO PLAYERS...SPOILERS TO PLAYERS...SPOILERS TO PLAYERS...

Players (especially mine) don't read this.  Your GM may want to get
sadistic and throw one of these at you some day.

Seriously, if any good (and fairly generic) discussion topics arise
from this post, please put them under a different thread name so that
my players can read them.

Otherwise, please keep any specific comments under this thread, as
three of my players who will face him -- quite soon -- read the net.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

The idea for this creature came to me sometime in my sleep the night
after I first glanced through Creatures of Orrorsh.  I woke up with a
sadistic grin at my brother's apartment, and he said, "What?"  I
answered, "I've been dreaming about Orrorsh," and he's looked at me
funny ever since.

The Horror is based around a variation on the 3-point power "Animate"
given in CoOrrorsh.  As I don't have that book in front of me right
now, I'll list the modifications after the creatures stats.
---------------------------------------------------------------------

                           SHADOW STALKER
                          ================
 DEX:   12
    Dodge 15, Manoeuvre 15, Stealth 16(25), Unarmed Combat 17

 STR:   18

 TOU:   19

 PER:   10
    Find 14, Tracking 14, Trick 16

 MIN:   13
    Test 15, Willpower 16

 CHA:    7
    Taunt 15

 SPI:   12
    Faith (Orrorsh Evil) 17, Intimidate 16, [Reality 18]

Possibility Potential: some(15)
Natural Tools:         Fangs +5/23, Claws +3/21, Stealth 25 in shadowy
                        areas
Power Rating:          Animate Shadows plus four
Corruption:            19
Fear Points:           2
Suggested Weaknesses:  stymie(bright light), [severe] fire,
                        stymie(loss of control)
Suggested True Death:  Magically or mystically bound and thrown into
                        a funeral pyre of a victim

Description:
    The Shadow Stalker is literally a creature of shadow.  They
appear as giant humanoids, average of eight feet tall, but twisted
and demonic looking.  To actually see one in the light is rare, but
they can survive without natural shadows around.  Then they appear to
be three-dimensional, and translucent black.  It's features are
visible, showing long claws and sharp fangs.
    Stalkers are usually inhabited by the souls of violent murderers,
who exist for no reason other than bloodlust and random killing.
They frequently use their stealth to hide in a dark alley or such,
and make their first attack by animating the shadow of a potential
victim and attacking with that.  Predatory by nature, they enjoy
taunting, and toying with their prey before they make their presence
known -- to enjoy the kill personally.

The weakness to fire should be severe if Resistance to NWeap is
taken.  Other suggested powers are Up at night, Dark Vision, or
Silence.

ANIMATE SHADOWS:
    As per "Animate", p.7 _Creatures_of_Orrorsh_, with the following
differences:
    -the power push of all targets' SPI must not exceed the power
        value;
    -base difficulty to animate = 8;
    -only shadows of living beings may be animated (anything with a
        SPI)
    -animated shadows have following stats: DEX,STR and combat
        skills of the target; PER of Stalker; MIN,SPI of 0 (immune to
        spiritual and mental damage); TOU = power value - (OoM TOU
        increase) -- meaning, the more shadows are animated, the
        weaker they all become (and the OoM DN still applies for
        successive animations); powers of the Stalker, except animate
        shadow.
    -on the round following the animation, the owner may try to
        regain control by beating the Power Total (including OoM mod)
        with a SPI or Faith total.  The Stalker is stymied in a round
        in which it loses control of a shadow
    -the Stalker may NOT reduce damage in the animated shadows
    -once a shadow is destroyed or recontrolled by its owner, the
        Stalker may not attempt to reanimate that shadow for 24 hours
---------------------------------------------------------------------

This is the first Horror I have designed, and still rough.  Please
comment on it.  I expect it to be a major secondary horror in an
adventure with probably seven Knights (obviously, I will use a P-
Rated one with extra powers -- this is the 'generic' version).

Any feedback will be appreciated, so long as my players don't get
wind of this (BWAH-HAH-HAH!).

CJW





>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>                                         wynne.c.j@p9955.wlu.edu  >>
==  Colin J. Wynne                                  - or -          ==
<<                                      wynne.c@fs.science.wlu.edu  <<
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