Hello friends!
A few weeks ago, I started a new Torchbearer campaign. I made a map, placed some settlements, wild places and dungeons, and off we went.
The players had rumors of several adventures to choose from at the start. One of the rumors concerned The Dread Crypt of Skogenby (get it free here!):
Some folk in Skogenby recently uncovered a strange barrow while clearing a field. They think some evil spirit has come out of it, and they’ve asked their lord help, but she’s away. Supposedly there’s a lot of treasure in the tomb.
But the players chose to pursue another rumor instead. Now they’ve come back to town after their latest adventure and heard some shocking news: The walking dead have overrun Skogenby!
Just in time for Halloween!
So here I am prepping a survival horror addition to Skogenby, and it occurs to me that Torchbearer is lacking some classic horror monsters. This is intended to remedy that dreadful oversight. Without further ado, here’s my take on the zombie and the werewolf. And Jared Sorensen, of Memento Mori Theatricks, has been kind enough to allow me to include his Vampire Lord, excerpted from his Halloween-inspired Torchbearer Sagas supplement, Denizens of the Dark (you’ll find lots of other holiday-appropriate goodies in Denizens, including the vampire lord’s vampire minions!).
Enjoy!
Zombie
These mindless undead are animated corpses driven by an insatiable hunger for flesh. They are frequently created by evil necromancers as servitors for their wicked schemes.
| Might: 2 Nature (Undead): 3
Descriptors: Consuming, Lurching, Sensing Brains |
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| Drive Off: 8 | Drive Off Weapons Attack: +1D, Ragged Nails Defend: +2D, Unreasoning Hunger |
| Kill: 6 | Kill Weapons Attack: +1D, Ragged Nails Defend: +2D, Unreasoning Hunger |
| Flee: 3 | Flee Weapons Attack: -1D, Mindless Persistence Defend: +1s, Mindless Persistence |
| Instinct: Brains! | |
| Special: Unliving flesh. All piercing and slashing weapons are -1s to Attack and Feint when used against zombies. A holy symbol used against zombies in drive off or kill conflicts confers +1s to attack actions. Mindless. Zombies are non-intelligent undead. They cannot be tricked or riddled with, nor engaged in a convince conflict. Slow. Zombies reveal their first action to players after both sides have selected their actions but before actions are compared. Players then have the option to switch their action 1 and action 2. The players still act in the original order, they simply exchange actions. The Hunger. Wounds caused by zombies spread their curse. Any character who receives an injury as a result of a kill, capture or drive off conflict in which the zombie used its Ragged Nails also gains a special sick condition. This condition is a curse and may only be removed via magic that breaks curses, like the Absolution of the Lord of Endings invocation. If the condition is not removed by the end of the next town phase, the character becomes a zombie and thus a GM-controlled character. Anyone slain by a zombie also rises to become one of the walking dead. |
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Werewolf
These evil creatures, once human, were bitten by a werewolf and so cursed to become werewolves themselves. By the light of the full moon they are driven to hunt human prey!
| Might: 5 Nature (Lycanthrope): 5
Descriptors: Preying, Raging, Howling |
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| Kill: 11 | Kill Weapons Attack: +1D, +1s, Slavering Jaws and Razor Claws Defend: +1D, Uncontrollable Rage Feint: +1s, Slavering Jaws and Razor Claws Maneuver: +1s, Lightning Reflexes |
| Flee: 9 | Flee Weapons Attack: +2D, Loping Gait Defend: +1D, Preternatural Senses Feint: +1D, Preternatural Senses Maneuver: +2D, Loping Gait |
| Drive Off: 6 | Drive Off Weapons Attack: +1D, +1s, Slavering Jaws and Razor Claws Defend: +1D, Uncontrollable Rage Feint: +1s, Slavering Jaws and Razor Claws Maneuver: +1s, Lightning Reflexes |
| Trick: 4 | Trick Weapons Defend: +1D, Lupine Cunning Maneuver: +1D, Lupine Cunning |
| Instinct: Always hunt human (or dwarf, elf or halfling) meat by the light of the full moon. | |
| Special: Shapeshifter: Werewolves assume their humanoid form by day and their wolf form at night. They assume their hybrid-wolf form when the moon is full. They may attempt to assume the hybrid-wolf form at any time with an Ob 2 Nature test. Clothing and equipment does not transform with the werewolf. Lycanthrope: A werewolf’s bite spreads lycanthropy. Any character who receives an injury as a result of a kill, capture or drive off conflict in which the werewolf used its Slavering Jaws also gains a special sick condition. This condition is a curse and may only be removed via magic that breaks curses, like the Absolution of the Lord of Endings invocation. If the condition is not removed by the end of the next town phase, the character becomes a werewolf and thus a GM-controlled character. Once the character has become a werewolf, it may still be possible to break the curse. The werewolf must be captured, bound and trapped within a circle of wolfsbane. Then the Absolution of the Lord of Endings invocation (or similar curse-breaking magic) must be used upon them. This only works as long as the werewolf has not passed the lycanthropic curse to another. Once it has spread the disease, only its death can end the curse.Cursed. Werewolves are particularly vulnerable to silver. Silver weapons give their wielders +1 effective might against werewolves. Werewolves are also extremely averse to wolfsbane. The herb can be used as a weapon against werewolves in drive off conflicts, providing +1s to attack and feint. |
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| Note: The stat block above is for a werewolf in its hybrid-wolf form. Werewolves in wolf form are Might 3, Nature 5 and have the descriptors: Hunting, Stalking, Howling. Werewolves in humanoid form are Might 3, Nature 5 and have the descriptors: Boasting, Demanding, Running (or the descriptors of their Middarmark tribe). | |
Vampire Lord
Vampire Lords are hideous, immortal fiends that feed on the blood of the living. Whether they were cursed by the Old Gods, infected by an alien plague or were transformed by dark rituals, who can say? All that is known is that Vampire Lords are creatures of Chaos who drain the living of their vital essence and seek to subjugate the mortal masses. Though monsters, they adopt an air of nobility and prefer to reside in ruined castles or mouldering manors where they surround themselves with mortal thralls and undead minions. Vampire Lords retain the abilities and benefits of their former selves.
| Might: 5 Nature (Undead): 7
Descriptors: Infecting, Scheming, Subjugating |
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| Kill: 15 | Kill Weapons Attack: +1s, Wicked Fangs (ignores armor) Feint: +1s, Wicked Fangs (ignores armor) |
| Flee: 12 | Flee Weapons Attack: +2D, Inhuman Alacrity Defend: +1s, Predatory Senses Feint: +2D, Predatory Senses Maneuver: +1D, Inhuman Alacrity |
| Drive Off: 9 | Drive Off Weapons Defend: +2D, Monstrous Fortitude |
| Convince: 4 | Convince Weapons Attack: +1D, Terrifying Visage Defend: +1D, Air of Nobility Feint: +1s, Terrifying Visage Maneuver: +2D, Air of Nobility |
| Armor: Most Vampire Lords are able to wear armor and helmets. | |
| Instinct: Always drink the blood of my prey. | |
| Special:
Dominating Mind. Vampire lords are immune to mind-affecting spells. Shapeshifter. In dim light or darkness, Vampire Lords can transform into mist, dire wolves or giant vampire bats. It may assume each form no more than once per session. It may revert to its human form at any time. While in mist form, vampire lords are insubstantial and cannot be struck save with spells, invocations or magical weapons, but they cannot use the Attack action. In wolf form, the vampire lord replaces its descriptors with: Hunting, Stalking, Howling. In giant bat form, the vampire lord replaces its descriptors with: Spying, Biting, Flying. Cursed. Vampire lords must sleep during the day. Sunlight reduces their Might to 2. Fire used against vampire lords inflicts +1s damage. A stake through the heart will destroy a sleeping vampire lord. |
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