Monday, September 12, 2022

Lovecraftian Character Options for Mothership

This got cut down significantly since I originally envisioned it - I might return and add more entries in the future, but I figure these core three would be a solid place to be.

No stat or save bonuses provided for now because I hate coming up with those. If you wanted to add additional skills for added Lovecraftiana:

Everyone gets a new Unnatural stat (UNN) - it's rolled as usual. The following skills are added:

  • Occult - Rites, rituals, sigils and symbols. The human side of Weird Shit.
  • Dreaming - The ability to shape the Dreamlands with ludicity.
  • Power - Actively using unnatural powers.
  • Mythos - Actual dealings with the reality of the Weird Shit.


Deep One

Inheritors of the warm, acidic seas of the new Earth; Hybrids of terragen life and paleozoic shoggoth gene-lines passed down the epochs. While human-derived deep ones are perhaps the most iconic to the surface world, they are the youngest and least numerous clade, though they are growing more numerous with the popularity of shared habitats.

Deep ones have adapted well to offworld environments, thriving on oceanic exoplanets and the subglacial oceans of icy moons. Those that remain on Earth find themselves often at war with the Tsan-Chani in the coastal provinces.

Amphibious - Deep ones may breathe in air or water, though they prefer the latter. If exposed to hot, dry air, a deep one will take 1 damage every hour until they are able to submerge themselves or find a high-humidity environment.

Pressure Resistance - Deep ones do not need to make BODY saves to sudden changes of pressure (liquid or gas). 

Lineage Trait Choose one of the following.

  • Icthic - Shocking Touch - 1d5 touch attack, target BODY save vs stun (target takes 1d5 dmg if they attempt to move)
  • Cetacean - Bloodlust - +10 COMBAT if enemy outnumbered.
  • Selachian - G'day Bruce - 2d10 bite attack.
  • Crustacean - Carapace - Armor value 3, can wear armor overtop this (armor values are separate)
  • Cephalopodic - 4 manipulator tentacles on torso, can fit through any space large enough for the brain.

Cnidarian and echinodermic clades also exist, but as so specialized to their environment that it is very rare to see them elsewhere.

Ghoul

Consumption of human flesh containing shoggoth biomatter results in a devastating prion disease, transforming the eater into a ghoul through a painful, multi-week process.

While ghouls have existed as long as humanity has, they reached their modern prominence in the widespread famine and violence that followed the rise of Tulu. 

Corpse-Eater - By eating a fresh corpse, a ghoul may absorb some of the memories of the deceased - the more recent or strong the memory, the more vivid the recall. 2d10 bite attack, strong enough to break bone.

Enhanced Senses - Dim light is clear as noontide to the ghoul, but direct sunlight is blinding. Their noses are as sensitive as that of dogs, though they cannot stand the smell of peppermint, ctirus, or pepper. Their hearing is not that much better than a human's, and they are notoriously tone-deaf.

Grave Stench - Ghouls give off a potent musk, which is unpleasant to most other organisms. Those that deal with non-ghouls regularly (or in enclosed spaces) will employ some manner of deoderant, though this will interfere with their scent marking.

The Long Hunger - Ghouls may enter a state of estivation when food supplies are low - they might survive in this state for decades until woken by the presence of prey.




Kin-yani

A subterranean descendant branch of *homo heidelbergensis*, abducted by the serpent-men as experiment-fodder millions of years ago. Pale-skinned and blind, they were driven out of their caverns below the earth after the emergence of Tulu. They favor sleeping Tsathoga as their patron, and have long enslaved the ghasts, the morlocks, and the der0.

Decadent Hedonist - Kin-yani culture has normalized cruelty to their underclasses for entertainment and performative status. They do not gain stress from violence against those they consider lesser. 

Mental Powers - Kin-yani possess both telepathy and telekinesis with a range of about 3 meters. Treat this as a PSIONICS stat, rolled as normal plus a flat 10% bonus in place of a specific skill. They may detect lifesigns without a skill roll, as bioscanner. They may make mental attacks against enemies with a normal PSIONICS roll.

Personal Servant-Drone - Each Kin-yani is cybernetically and telepathically bonded to a multipurpose robotic servant. It has a service range of 20m, can transmit visual and audio data to its operator, carry small items, and be fit with a weapon mount at COMBAT 30.


Morlocks are more common by far than Kin-yani, but have no meaningful gameplay differences from a normal human save their blindness and a dim lifesense ability.

Ghasts are not intelligent enough to make for compelling player characters, generally.

The der0 are blue-skinned, akin in appearance to macrocephalic toddlers, and while they could be player options, their erratic, paranoid, and bizarre mental state makes them, like Malkavians, a sometimes option better suited for NPCs.

1 comment:

  1. The original version of this was quadruple the length, so I am rather glad it's been toned down to this.

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