Re: "Which Bite Wins"

Hmm.

It all depends on precisely which variety of each monster is being used. So let's start with the fundamentals.

PART 1: CONTRIVED BIOLOGICAL EXPLANATIONS
Zombies are caused by an actual virus, spread via bodily fluids. One explanation I always liked, from a few incarnations of Resident Evil, was that it was a combination of a destructive ebola strain (which would kill people too fast to actually spread) and a failed viral vector which stimulated cell growth & activity (they wanted supersoldiers, instead of mutated bodybuilders with lots and lots of cancer).

Vampirism is a disease, bloodborne microorganisms (think malaria) that alter your bodily chemistry to make you sociopathic, alert, unnaturally strong, oversensitive to light, in need of blood, etc.

Werewolves. . .hmm. Let's say that werewolves are a hereditary genetic thing- because genetic traits aren't always just recessive or dominant. There are disorders that run in a family but have little clear pattern, because the potential is there in the genes but other factors are needed to push you over the brink. Like your diet, or high levels of stress. High levels of stress. . .from being bitten by a werewolf.

Uh, and it has to be a werewolf because there's also a biochemical factor that's induced by a werewolf's saliva. (Werewolf french kisses will thus also induce a transformation, but they almost never do that to someone)


PART 2: INITIAL INFECTION
If we assume each of these transformations' initial effect happens over the effect of 5 minutes, what happens when they're combined? Here's where I really start throwing out bullcrap (instead of rigorously looking up concepts like "viral vectors" on wikipedia, for like 5 whole minutes, and *then* using them in my bullcrap).

The zombie virus is spreading throughout your bloodstream, altering the behavior of your body's cells so that they work 80-hour weeks with little oversight or direction. The effects would not be obvious right away- the subject would be feverish and delirious, with the viral vectors needing longer periods of time to reach the central nervous system.

The werewolf stimuli simultaneously triggers a change in the subject's. . .uh. . .he grows hair and stuff, ok? Look, this just getting ridicu{TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, PLEASE STAND BY}

Ahem. The werewolf stimuli simultaneously triggers its own change in the subject's biological functions, activating the latent potential behaviors of his organs. His body starts to reconfigure itself, with the viral zombie interference hindering the development in some cases and amplifying it in others.

The increase in pulse rate and vital activities would give the bloodborne vampire microorganisms a boost, letting them take effect quickly and with more potency. So while the subject begins having difficulty distinguishing reality from his imagination (the zombie virus' initial delirium), and having all kinds of predatory carnivore impulses, he's also becoming more alert, obsessive-compulsive, and sociopathically cunning.


PART 3: THE TRANSFORMATION
Soon the delirium will fade as the zombie virus reaches the brain, and the higher thought processes turn to empty static. But where a normal brain would thus be left in a constant state of dazed distraction and simple agitation, this brain has different kinds of things going on under the hood. Predatory impulses to hunt and prowl, to lurk and carefully monitor the surroundings, to lunge forward and attack your prey with terrible ferocity.

Physically, the subject's skin becomes pale and lifeless before it can grow much hair, and his terrified babbling quickly gives way to guttural groans and animal growls. The scientists high five one another as the subject flexes ineffectively against the restraints, concluding that they have basically produced a zombie with sharp teeth that snarls alot.

They aren't realizing how there are changes that are only just beginning in the subject's muscles. That they've started growing to fulfill their latent potential, AND have been told by viral vectors to work overtime, AND are being treated to a special biochemical cocktail courtesy of bloodborne symbiotic microorganisms. Meaning that in a few days the subject will become twice as strong. . .three times over. (That's right- EXPONENTIALLY stronger)

And because there's nothing else left for a zombie to feel; because it fuels everything the wolf has evolved to accomplish; because it defines the vampire by its all-consuming addiction: the subject will be driven by an unstoppable hunger for living human beings.

Howzat?

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Post-Apocalyptic Bogeymen

A fellow on /tg/ was trying to come up with some monsters for a post-apocalyptic horror game. My first question for him was simple: Do you want the kind of monsters you blow fleshy chunks out of with guns and plenty of ammo, or the kind that stalk you through the shadows like surreal nightmares? He was after the latter, and had actually been considering having the creatures be intangible (though they'd still have a high body count). Here's what I suggested.

The monsters *are* entities that, objectively, exist- at any given moment, two people looking at one of these creatures will be observing the same thing (heck, if you've got a working camera you could take a picture of them, though any situation where you'd have a decent shot isn't going to be one with a good chance of you getting out alive). They're sentient, and certainly intelligent to some degree. But they also seem to exist almost entirely in our own minds- for the most part, they can barely affect the physical world. The one exception is us- one swipe of a claw and you'll be bleeding profusely beneath undamaged clothes. And while they'll often toy with a victim like a cat toys with its prey, they'll throw people around like rag dolls once they're agitated enough.

Getting into "things the players don't know at first" territory:
-They quickly lose the ability (or possibly the inclination) to affect someone who's dead. In fact, they quickly lose interest in doing much of anything after one victim dies. . .well, most of the time. And that's not gonna stop other victims from bleeding to death shortly after.
-Interestingly, they'll also pay little attention to someone who isn't conscious- or at least, they won't start paying attention. Their focus waxes much quicker than it wanes. One end result of this would be children waking up to see the bloody remains of a mother who never made a sound, rather than crying out and thus waking them up.
-Whether it's correlation or causation, their attacks do less damage to someone who manages not to panic. This doesn't mean not feeling fear- that only happens if you're dense and naive, and it doesn't protect you- it means feeling intense fear and resisting it enough that it doesn't affect your actions. Some elders (and there aren't many out there) advise people to stand and face a beast rather than trying to escape- not because that makes it less inclined to attack, but because that way there's a chance your injuries won't be lethal. Of course, alot of that hinges on there being someone else at the scene who's freaking out more than you.
-The creatures are fairly territorial. Each seems to have its own quirks, abilities, form and general personality (though these evolve over time)- residents typical tell stories about it and call it by a nickname. Personally, I'd use the monster in the '9' short film (and likely the monsters in the feature film version, haven't seen it) as a reference:

Also, it'd be interesting (i.e. really damn creepy) if they could imitate human behaviors-i.e. this twisted nightmare thing occasionally makes some casual nonverbal gesture you'd see a person make in conversation, or whispers something under its breath when before now it only made guttural, inhuman howls.

Perhaps it's not an imitation, and they're spirits of the dead who retain trace amounts of their old selves.

Or maybe those trace amounts come from their latest victims.

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Divers: Spirits

Some spirits are friendly. This probably isn't one of them.

Spirits and shadows have a good deal in common. Both can be found throughout the depths, and will generally be stronger and stronger the deeper you go. Key to their natures is the close bond both types of entities possess with the section of the depths in which they dwell; a connection that strengthens both sides, while allowing them to heavily influence one another. So what's the difference?

Shadows imitate human behavior; they're like echoes, or a reflection in the mirror. But Spirits are bona fide sentient beings- intelligent, with a decent amount of free will. And the reason for this is that all of them- from the pitch-black silhouette of a lost child to a wiseass talking crow to the twisted nightmare demon- used to be human.

When someone loses their connection to their surface body, they're effectively cast adrift through the depths. This can lead to them gravitating towards/"snagging onto" a given location and depth, becoming bound to that place. All fairly straightforward- the variety comes into play when you consider all the various ways that this severed connection can actually happen. A diver who pushed their range much too far or whose surface body is killed while they're submersed, a depth that acts like a trap for the hapless individuals who're drawn into it (usually with the assistance of other Spirits the depth has already generated), or even cases where a malevolent Diver deliberately subdues someone and then severs their connection (perhaps as a way of holding them hostage).

In terms of powers, Spirits and Divers are nearly identical- which makes sense, since the latter can easily become the former if they're not careful. There's two key differences. The first is that a Spirit is tethered to their location in the Depths, rather than having a the more flexible/elastic link to one's surface body. The second involves an important diver skill- that of that of 'channeling' the nature of your current environment on a temporary basis- with the corresponding risk that you'll get caught up in your assumed role. Similar tradeoff to going into a berserker rage in a fantasy rpg, but with a huge variety of situational benefits/drawbacks. Spirits channel the power of their location in the same way- but they can't turn it off. The resulting mutual influence is a battle of wills no one can hope who completely win; the best you can do is adapt, carving out a 'niche' for yourself that lets you fit into the Depth you're at without having to change too much.

Sometimes a Spirit didn't even have any prior diving experience. People who have near-death experiences seem to start to Dive during the process, and tend to be alot more likely to develop full-fledged Diver abilities later on (all it takes is one brush). There's a couple different theories explaining this and several other phenomena. One of the more commonly accepted ones among Divers is that when you die, your soul sinks through the depths like a rock- all the way down to whatever awaits at the bottom. Going off this theory, these people caught a snag on the way down- that and/or were the type to try and grab onto something as they passed.

Regardless of the precise metaphysical sequence of events, there's no question that these Spirits rarely retain their selves for very long. Since these people have no experience with the Depths, they usually have a pretty unstable reactions to their new circumstances, and can lose their humanity pretty quickly. Altruistic divers will generally try to help such spirits on their way- ideally a cooperative effort, but if they're too far gone the Diver will probably fall back on force to send the spirit on its way. It's what their old self would have wanted.

Of course, a responsible diver will have done their homework first. Just because a spirit's lost their connection to a body doesn't mean it's actually dead. The vast majority of coma patients are cases of this; if a diver can identify a spirit and track down their physical body, they can slowly push the spirit back down into it (over the course of several days), restoring them to their old selves. Of course, not all spirits will go along with this willingly. . .

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Final Fantasy 7 + Slashers

Back in that post reviewing what I'd been up to this last month or two, I mentioned that "World Of Darkness' amazing Slasher supplement inspired me to go back and revisit. . .my old idea for setting a campaign in the world of the FF7 series. I know it sounds deranged, but these two concepts are peanut butter and chocolate, seriously."

See, it's like this. In the wake of the original video game's events, you've got a setting with a military force of supersoldiers that's now been disbanded- plus untold numbers more that have been exposed to Jenova Cells in one fashion or another, even just by having blood from a SOLDIER spill on an open wound. And all of these people are being influenced by an alien subconsciousness; this influence largely consists of making them want to kill everyone.

Literally, everyone.

As in they want to personally murder every last human being on the planet.

Granted, Slashers in FF7 don't beat your skull in with a cement block; they slice through steel doors with swords and have duels on the backs of motorcycles. But the "those who fight monsters" theme seen in White Wolf's book very much applies here, since the ones best suited to fighting the slashers are other ex-SOLDIERs who have managed (so far) to resist the mental corruption.

I'm not suggesting your FF7-based campaign be a horror game; the idea is to enhance the adventuring setup described in the earlier post, in two different ways.

First, npc slashers provide a temporary shift towards thriller movie territory; a scary iconic enemy (similar to Dragons in D&D) that alters the nature of the encounter/adventure by being a far more serious threat than any normal enemy. Yes, the players are going to be far more powerful than any average joe slasher movie victim, but that boost in power applies to both sides, meaning they'll still be facing a very real threat.

Second, the Slasher villians and the chance to play as a character with Jenova Cells both help provide an overarching conflict to the setting (and thus the player's adventures). Western fantasy has holy knights fighting the corrupting influence of the devil and his foul servants; in the world of FF7, you have hardy survivors engaged in a similar struggle against Jenova and her psychopathic pawns. And in both cases, the future of humanity is at stake.

Now in case it's not clear, I'm not saying to gloss over all the fun, inventive aspects of the setting in favor of black leather bodysuits and ominous latin chanting. My goal here's just to facilitate a game where you can have it all- to capture both the madcap fun of parts like FF7's early Midgar sections, and the chilling tension that came from moments like escaping confinement in the Shinra headquarters only to see the hallways outside are covered in fresh blood.

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"Hey, I should write that down!"

I finally found a reason to use twitter! As its name might imply, dagdasnotepad is a sort of bite-size companion to this blog/portfolio, a collection of the ideas that pop into my head and seem worth holding onto. They're also potential blog posts, if people show interest in hearing more about them.

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10 Original Gothic Horror Monsters

To quote wikipedia:
Prominent features of Gothic fiction include terror (both psychological and physical), mystery, the supernatural, ghosts, haunted houses and Gothic architecture, castles, darkness, death, decay, doubles, madness, secrets, and hereditary curses.

The stock characters of Gothic fiction include tyrants, villains, bandits, maniacs, Byronic heroes, persecuted maidens, femmes fatales, madwomen, magicians, vampires, werewolves, monsters, demons, revenants, ghosts, perambulating skeletons, the Wandering Jew, and the Devil himself.

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There are cursed travelers who wander the countryside, trapped in the early morning twilight- never again will they see the sun rise. If you encounter such a traveler while making your own way in the early morning, their loneliness will drive them to accompany you- perhaps asking you to guide them or saying that they're headed to the same destination.

When the sun rises, the traveler will disappear- and so will you, if you walk or ride alongside them. Of course, you won't perceive this- instead, you'll wonder where your companion could have gotten to, and perhaps be surprised that the sun hasn't yet risen. . .

----

When the last female of a species in a given forest is killed and eaten by a predator, that predator is cursed. It does not sleep or age, and is compelled to stalk, kill and consume its own kind. Over time they inevitably become very, very good at this.

Animals can instinctively sense when a prey is sacred, and thus rarely bring such a curse upon themselves unless starving or otherwise deranged.

Humans are a different story.

----

They call it the confessor- a figure in inquisitor's robes, face concealed by a large hood. It can cloud a man's mind, induce him to admit his deepest, most shameful secrets and desires. It seeks those whose inner natures are the most foul and vile- and consumes them in a very bloody fashion. Only then does it throw back its hood, revealing the face of the man it has just slain- for its true mission, as a servant of the devil, is serve as a vessel for the evil within men and women so that it might be unleashed on unsuspecting friends and family.

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Sometimes a body becomes a part of a household, literally. A corpse is concealed under the foundations as they're being laid, or behind freshly-laid section of brick, or a child goes exploring in the spaces between the walls only to be lost and never found. You'd be surprised how many castles have more than one.

These bodies do not rest easy. They can move throughout the walls and floor of a household, even when there shouldn't be nearly enough space to accommodate them. Keep a sharp ear out for the sounds of scratching movements, be they in the walls, floor or ceiling. And if you see a new opening in your house, stay well away. Doesn't matter if it's a missing brick in a wall, a broken section of floorboard, or an opening in the drywall as though some drunkard threw a punch- come too close and a cold dead hand will be waiting to seize you and drag you inside.

Of course, I should mention that they like to make these holes in places where they can't be seen- behind a mirror or painting that's hanging on the wall, or under the edges of carpets and beds. . .

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If a woman is scorned so badly that she takes her own life, the result is a particularly malicious type of spirit- one that does not possess humans directly, but instead works through inanimate objects. A man in the presence of a fair maiden who takes hold of a knife or fireplace poker might abruptly change his demeanor and attack her in what can only be described as a jealous rage. These spirits focus on one such woman at a time, stalking them until the victim is finally dead. . .

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There's a rare breed of revenant that arises under certain conditions. It's generally agreed that one of these conditions is that in life they committed murder, but no one's quite sure what other criteria must be met for them to rise again in this manner.

This type of revenant appears to be perfectly healthy and has a pulse, though those who play close attention may note that they do not breathe. The creature retains his intellect and memories, except that any motivations he may have held in life are replaced by the urge to do murder for murder's sake.

The creature has the ability to detach any part of their body at will, including their head; the section in question literally rots away, reverting to the dry and dessicated form it held in the grave. Despite its withered state, these sections are fully capable of movement and act autonomously as their owner wills.

The only part that cannot assume this detached state is the creature's torso- more specifically, its heart. This is the creature's weak point, and impaling it is the only way to stop this breed of revenant for good.

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There's a certain set of words that, if said as one continuous sentence, will cause you to be struck dead on the spot. Your tormented spirit will wander the earth forevermore, speaking that same fateful phrase over and over. At first your words will be perceived as a distant muttering, but every time someone tries to listen the words will be louder and clearer to them. And once they've heard and comprehended the entirety of the cursed phrase, the urge to repeat it themselves will begin to grow. . .

So if you're alone one night and hear a distant voice, resist your curiosity at all costs. Each time that you fail to ignore the voice will only make the next time worse. . .

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The devil has a favorite deal he makes with those willing to sell their soul for a shot at immortality. He grants them the power to strip the skin from a victim's face and wear it as though it were their own face. And he informs that that from now on they will age a year each day- but so long as they wear such a mask, it will age in their place.

Hardly ideal, but it's still a decent bargain- after all the devil's ownership of your soul only matters if you die.

----

There are things out there, formless shadows. Maybe they're evil spirits, maybe they're something else entirely. All I know is that they rely on mankind to give them form. When a storyteller (or perhaps a would-be prankster) dreams up some manner of nightmarish bogeyman, it listens to their thoughts and slowly takes the form of that very idea. By the next full moon, they've almost become real, and anyone can perceive them- but their form still has no substance, and will pass right through any would-be victim. . .except that of their creator. Once they slay him, they're free to murder and wreak bloody havoc in whatever manner their creator imagined them doing.

Or at least, that's what the case will be if they can manage to kill me.

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5 Villianous Pulp/Steampunk Organizations

Just something I drummed up for Balthazarr's Nova Europa setting; his game uses GURPs, but these are fluff concepts that can work in any sufficiently over-the top RPG. In fact, I may adapt several of them to use in my own Maelstrom setting,

Bermudan Sky Pirates
The "Bermudan Triangle" is a much-feared region where hundreds of vessels have disappeared- but not myseriously, for everyone knows the legend of Maxwell Morgan's fearsome band of raiders- how he stole a nest of Pterodactyl eggs from a research vessel bound back to the states, then raised and bred them to give his band of cutthroats a way to take to the skies. The villanous Maxwell is said to have met his end at the hands of a would-be victim who turned out to be an expert marksman, but his son Matthew has proven just as merciless.

Though their violent ways are undeniable, some speculate that the actions Morgan's Marauders are be driven by simple greed. There are men in the region who claim to have come from lost ships, and say that their vessels were lost not to men but to far stranger phenomena. And several pieces of archeological evidence uncovered within the past century have indicated that within the Triangle may lie a long-lost secret: The city known as Atlantis. . .

Servants of Valhalla
It turns out that certain sections of Norse Mythology are highly accurate but oft-misinterpreted descriptions of the cosmos. This is especially true for the sections regarding Valhalla, a realm of eternal festivities where warriors struck down in battle are brought to feast and fight without end. This is true, but what most fail to realize is that valhalla is another world in the sense that it is a different planet- one where the losing side in a war began to recruit and augment warriors from species on other planets. It wasn't enough, and that side lost the war in the 14th century- but the descendants of the victors have rediscovered the recruitment facility on the far side of our moon, and reprogrammed the Valkyrie-type recruitment cyborgs; they couldn't remove the moral code about only recruiting warriors who would otherwise perish, but nothing in the programming said that Valkyries couldn't be the cause of this state. . .

Aztec Blood Gods
While the actions of Spain's Conquistadores were not truly the undoing of the empire, those beyond the shelter of hidden cities such as El Dorado faced conquest and enslavement at best. Wracked by plague and facing wolves at the door, the leaders of these regions turned to ritual techniques society had forbidden in ages past- rather than simply dealing in lifeblood as a merchant deals in coin, they became avatars of the source of their power, and in doing so inherited its hunger for life.

From that time onwards, they have ruled over the central Americas in secret. From that time onward, their hatred for their brethren in the Hidden Cities who abandoned them to their fate has grown ever stronger, fueling a centuries-long secret civil war. From that time onward, they have assured the prosperity of their own people, but at a terrible price.

For from that time onward, they have been the most powerful vampires in the world.

The Tokugawa Shogunate
Their current obsession with cute cartoons and underwear makes it easy to forget that the Japanese used to be one of the fiercest peoples on earth. What if its government had held on to its "Sakoku" policy of isolation, rather than dropping it in the mid-19th century? An island nation ruled with an iron fist, from which none ever enter or leave. . .at least, so they say.

In reality, Japan's leaders are subtly active in the world abroad through a vast and highly secret network of spies. Though many intelligence agencies have heard rumors of the network's existence, few have the slightest idea who they report to. The shogunate's agents are the modern-day incarnation of the shinobi, hiding in plain sight and viewing death as the only honorable penalty for faliure. Those who uncover the truth will never know true security, for anyone and everyone could be an agent of the enemy.

Huntsmen of Herne
Some say that they are the Druidic order reborn- that the ways of the old celtic magicians have been rediscovered, that this secret organization seeks to reestablish the connection between man and the spirits of nature.

Others say that they are a death cult, assassins united by their pursuit of a supernatural means to visit death upon whomever a given member of the group selects.

Both are right. After centuries of absence, the Wild Hunt rides again- baying hounds led by black figures astride wild horses, racing hell-bent over oceans and betweenn skyscrapers in pursuit of the poor soul who until now had proven himself beyond the reach of his enemies.

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Morgan (Warning: Not for kiddies)

It's not that this post contains material that isn't work-safe, it's just dealing with more dark/mature concepts than normal. Consider yourself warned and all that jazz. Anyways, the other day someone posted this on the /tg/ forum, along with some sketches:

Okay guys, help me make a character. Rogue/avenging executioner chick that crossdresses as she believes that all the traumatic events that happened to her were due to her being female. Among other things, she was given half a glasgow smile.

I'm having trouble coming up with a name and some general "behavioral" guidelines. I don't want to just be emo all the time, I don't play that archetype as a rule and am just dabbling with this particular character.

In response, I drew on an older villain concept of mine and combined it with this premise to create a concept that could work for a villian or antiheroine, depending on how you implement it. Out of personal preference, I opted to try and create a working psychological profile that stemmed from a background that was believable and traumatic while avoiding the cliche of sexual abuse.

Say she was a normal peasant girl, poor but loving family and all that. This all came to an abrupt end when cultists of Erythnul (or a similar deity CE deity of hate) broke in one night, brutally beating the parents and dragging the screaming, sobbing eight-year old girl into the night.

She was put into a cage, a two-meter cube of rough iron bars against one wall of a room that wasn't much larger. There was a small hole in the wall that ended in a shallow basin, for water and an occasional bit of raw meat or tough, stale bread. The room's only other feature was the door by which the cultists (always male) entered.

It was her only form human interaction, if you can call it that, and it was always the same. The cultists never said a word or opened the cage's door. Instead they howled bloody murder, wailing and screaming as they beat themselves against the bars or tore the skin off their arms as they forced them between the bars, inch by inch, hands grasping for her but never actually touching.

It was a ritual of sorts, one that most victims endure for about a week before retreating so deep into themselves that they never come out. But there are exceptions, and minds of children will bend where a more mature one might break. After a month, they began to open the door on occasion. The first time they did so she took off half the cultist's face before biting into his jugular. It would be the better part of a year before group of adventurers broke into warren and killed the cultists, rescuing what had once been a small child.

The adventurers took her to a holy temple, did what they could to heal her; but while magic could restore a measure of her mental functionality, there was nothing that could be done for her warped psyche. Eventually the girl was reunited with her family: A father that was now too weak to farm and worked charity jobs around the town to help feed the girl's younger sister.

The once-youthful man tried to raise his elder daughter well. He tried to restore some semblance of the bright, cheerful girl that had been taken away that night. And he truly did make progress; after a time the girl began to speak more often than she attacked or gave a terrible howl. After a time she began to ignore her little sister's existence entirely, rather than attacking the girl more and more viciously whenever the father was in a different room. But over the space of seven years, that's as far as the old man could get. That was when his child ran away, at the age of sixteen.

To elaborate on that psych profile: Put yourself in the child's shoes during her time in the cage. You have these people (all male, the start of that association) and whenever one's in the room he's always threatening her in a way that is extremely primal, extremely violent on both a physical and social level. Some part of her made a choice to fight back, rather than retreating past the point of no return; so she imitated the "strong" presence and made herself primal, made herself masculine, made herself violent in every sense of the word. Her perception of the world is based on the idea that everyone's going to have to make that choice just like she did- being weak and innocent means you'll be ground into nothing, being violent and manly is the only way to survive in this world. Her scars and smile are self-inflicted.

In the end, her worldview (from an objective outside analysis) is pretty simple. She believes there are two kinds of people in this world, men and women; and she doesn't equate sex with gender. Rather, her concept of gender and her concept of the choice between aggression and victimhood are one and the same. Of course, she wouldn't (possibly couldn't) really explain this distinction to others; for example, if someone expressed shock upon finding out that she was a "woman", she would take grave offense. In her mind, HE *is* a man. Because being a man means dominance through aggressive violence, not having a penis. That's why he wears men's clothing and talks like a man. When he insults a male pacifist monk by calling him a woman, he's also being completely serious. It's also why he tells people that his name is Morgan. There was a Mary, once, but she's long gone now.

The rest of the character, as mentioned above, is the implementation and will determine whether Morgan is a villain or antihero, CE or CG/N. As a villian, I see him as being constantly angry- agitated and on edge, never fully able to keep his feelings under control. Chewing his lip, speaking harshly to others in terse, blunt statements, cracking his knuckles or carving a line along her arm with a knife. . .the villanous Morgan will often break things as he speaks, whether objects or people. In the end, violence is just the way he interacts with the world. A happy young woman leading an idyllic life offends him on a fundamental level, the same as any overzealous paladin.

A good version of the character would share many of the above traits; after all, that's the definition of an antihero. But this version of Morgan, while retaining the misogyny and other flaws mentioned outside of the previous paragraph, is trying to overcome his violent impulses rather than clinging to them; to make the world a better place rather than simply guarding his own interests. He'll still harass passive women (or men), but he'll do it with the aim of strengthening them through adversity, showing them what he believes to be the true nature of the world.

I believe that's all the important details of the concept. Hope this proves useful!

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Dark Tide: No Life Kings

I debated how much to reveal here, since No Life Kings are the key part of the overall key themes for this cosmology, and settled on keeping things in-game.
The Nighthunters' records state that there are of four types of undead: Zombies, Revenants (Vrykolakas), Vampire Spawn (Ghul), and True Vampires. The organization has conducted extensive research over the centuries, the better to know the enemy. However, among the most well-versed of scholars there are rumors of one other type of creature- the Upir Likhyi, Incarnations of Hell, Vampire Kings, Lords of Undeath, or as they're most commonly called: No Life Kings. These are the most commonly supported "facts" about these beings:
-They are shapeshifters of the highest order, sometimes said to have a true form that is "the stuff of chaos and nightmares."
-Though sentient they are truly inhuman, possessing none of the residual humanity generally found in revenants and true vampires.
-Likewise, one heavily-investigated text implies that No Life Kings can come from both the living and the undead, so long as they "were a creature of virtuous mind."
-The defining characteristic of No Life Kings is their nature as progenitors- beings to which all other undead may trace their origins.

If No Life Kings exist, then they are extremely few in number. More than any other aspect, the nature of their origin is shrouded in mystery.
Future entries will elaborate on the remaining three types of undead, but before that I'll likely have one other tidbit that delves more into the creation of a No Life King (and by extension, every other type of undead being.)

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Hunter Stats

d20 statistics for Half Life: Episode 2's Hunters. Fairly self-explanatory.

Hunter
Size/Type: Large Living Construct
Hit Dice: 10d10+30 (84 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 60 ft. (12 squares)
Armor Class: 23 (-1 size, +3 Dex, +11 natural), touch 12, flat-footed 20
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/+18
Attack: Slam +14 melee (2d6+7) or Flechettes +9 ranged (30' range, 1d6+2d6 force)
Full Attack: Slam +14 melee (2d6+7) or Flechettes +9 ranged (30' range, 1d6+2d6 force)
Space/Reach: 10 ft./10 ft.
Special Attacks: Flechettes
Special Qualities: Living Construct traits, damage reduction 10/adamantine, darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, spell resistance 20
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +6, Will +6
Abilities: Str 25, Dex 17, Con 16, Int 12, Wis 17, Cha 4
Skills: Intimidate +11, Jump +19, Listen +10, Search +16, Spot +16, Survival +17 (+19 following tracks)
Feats: Awesome Blow, Great Fortitude, Improved Bull Rush, Power Attack, Track
Environment: Any
Organization: Solitary or pack (2-3)
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: —

Hunters are a type of bioengineered Combine shock troop, typically deployed in harsh terrain and heavily forested environments innavigable for a standard Strider unit. Standing about 8 feet tall, they travel on three quadruple-jointed legs and see via two bioluminescent, vertically aligned blue eyeports. Much swifter and more agile than a Strider, their tripedal configuration also allows for lateral movement, jumping and dodging. Hunters communicate among themselves in a their own language, which consists largely of grunts, roars and growls. They weigh roughly 600 pounds.

Combat
Hunters typically begin combat by hanging back and attempting to pick their targets off with flechettes from a distance. If their target is evasive or too close, the Hunter may lower its 'head' module and charge like a bull, either butting the target away into terminal range of their flechettes or knocking them down to fall victim to their deadly foot talons. Observation of their ‘body language’ and vocalizations during battle has led to speculation that they may well experience frustration if they’re unable to quickly dispatch their targets.

Flechettes (Ex)
A Hunter's primary weapon is a dual barreled flechette launcher, which fires two-pronged darts in rapid salvos from its eyeports. Upon striking a target, the darts explode, dealing an additional 2d6 force damage to anything within a 5-foot radius. Those not hit by the darts can make a DC 18 reflex save for half damage. The save DC is constitution-based.

Skills
A hunter has a +4 racial bonus on Intimidate, Search, and Spot checks.

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