Creature of Darkness Sneak Peek #2: Revenant (Cypher Edition) - Plus bonus!
- Adam Donovan
- Oct 30, 2018
- 5 min read
Its that time of year: when things get spooky, shadows hold secrets and the nights are long and dark - perfect for Moralinth! To that end, for our second Creature of Darkness Sneak Peek (sticking with Moralinth: Cypher Edition), we thought you might like to look at one of the more creepy monsters out there - hiding in plain sight and easily passing for a Human - The Revenant. To celebrate Hallowe'en we've decided to throw a bonus beastie in here too for your reading pleasure: The Lady in White, a story-specific monster and the main creature-villain in the External Playtest - The Sleepers at Dockside.
Lets start off with The Revenant:
REVENANT 5 (15)
Often confused in legend with a Zombie, the Revenant is a reanimated corpse with a relentless attitude and feels no pain, but apart from these points it is entirely different to a Zombie. Revenants are created when someone is killed without first fulfilling a certain agenda that is so important to them that it stops them moving on to the next stage of existence. A Revenant returns to life with its own free will and a burning desire to finish what they started but is actually a type of sentient undead who may look normal at first but the more damage its body sustains, the more it starts to look unnatural. Each time a Revenant is killed without fulfilling its task, it simply comes back a day later and continues its zealous crusade.
Motive: Fulfil the task denied to them in life.
Environment: Anywhere, always solitary.
Health: 28
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Armour: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: Strength-related tasks as level 6, Might, Speed and Intellect Defense as level 6.
Combat: The Revenant feels no pain, and their experience or returning from death time and again means they feel no pain either. Relentless and seemingly unstoppable, a Revenant wades into combat with complete abandon, either using whatever weapons they have to hand or unarmed combat with their enhanced supernatural strength. As well as this, certain features are shared by all Revenants:
Always and Again: Until they complete the task denied to them, a Revenant will always return exactly 24 hours after being slain. They have full memories of what killed them, but the 24 hours where they are “dead” are lost to them.
No Pain, No Fear: Revenants can feel no pain and are not slowed by it. They have no specific healing factors so are susceptible to lasting and permanent damage, but when they return they are in perfect health. Similarly, nothing really scares them as they have seen beyond the veil of death. Any Fear-based attacked are automatically reduced to level 1 for them.
I Am My Cause: Revenants are so focused on their task that they are immune to all forms of mind control. This drive is enough to continually pull them back from the abyss and as such anything else – in their mind – pales by comparison.
Interaction: As long as a Revenant is not diverted from their overall goal, they can be quite agreeable. Happy to use allies if it advances their cause, a Revenant only really turns dangerous if they are stopped from their task or find someone has been deliberately misdirecting them.
Use: As you storm the hideout of your enemy, you are shocked to find a single man, surrounded by a horde of corpses and fending of half a dozen badly wounded enemies. Riddled with bullet holes and with limbs at angles that are clearly broken, he fights with a terrible ferocity seemingly oblivious to his injuries.
Loot: Whatever they need to get the job done.
Intrusion: You finally defeat the Revenant, but just as you go over to make doubly-sure, its eyes spring open and it lurches forward, punching you in the gut for 6 Might damage and causing you to double over in pain for one turn.
(NOTE: This is a specific monster-NPC, it does not exist outside of the External Playtest: "The Sleepers at Dockside' . It will not be included in the Moralinth: Cypher Edition core rulebook)
THE LADY IN WHITE 5 (15)
In life Lucille Beecham was a stunning woman of twenty-five years with long, straight, raven-black hair and piercing green eyes. Her skin was pale and a stark contrast to her hair, and she commonly dressed in a flowing yet quite figure-hugging floor-length white dress that exposed her shoulders and upper arms. In death she is sorrowful mockery of her former self, full of rage and regret. Her hair - now stark white - moves with a life of its own and her slender arms end in long, sharp claws capable of tearing through iron.
Motive: Kill “The Bitch” and “The Gilded Man”
Environment: “The Docks”, Docklands District, North Ward
Health:20
Damage Inflicted: 6 Points, but see below
Armour: none
Movement: Short (floating)
Modifications: Shock Difficulty (if attacking) is 6, Psychic Scream as level 6
Combat: The Lady in White waits until the last moment to attack, luring others in with her song before transforming into her true form and attacking them with claws and teeth (each doing 6 damage).
Luring Song: Heard over a Long Distance. Any who hear it must succeed a Diff 7 Intellect Defense roll or are lured toward the Lady in White. Failure means they make their way to the sound the quickest way possible and ignoring any normal reason or safety. Once they reach the Lady making the sound they will want to get to it as quickly as possible. For each round it takes the victim to reach the Lady, the victims can make another Intellect Defense check to try and break free of the influence. Being knocked unconscious is another way to break the enchantment.
Drown Victim: The Lady can grab and pull a victim underwater. The victim must succeed a Speed Defence check to avoid being grabbed, otherwise they are pulled underwater and take 3 Might Damage. Each action after the initial one, the victim can make a Might Check to break free, but failure increases the difficulty for the next action (5 becomes 6, then 6 becomes 7 etc). Failure does another 3 might damage but breaking free only does 1 might damage.
Psychic Scream: When panicked the Lady can emit a powerful psychic scream. Anyone within Short Distance must succeed an Intellect Defence roll or be paralysed for 1d4 turns. The scream also does 1 Intellect Damage (ignoring armour) even if the intellect defense check is passed, and the Lady in White always tries to flee.
Spirit: Immunity to mundane damage, half-damage from raw magic and full damage from spirit-weapons, freezing damage from a touch (though this is less powerful than a ghost) and the ability to move through walls and solid objects at will
Interaction: The Lady in White seems quite normal and even logical, until someone gets within Immediate Range, at which point she attacks.
Use: Lucille is most likely encountered when hunting for prey.
Loot: None
Intrusion: The Psychic Scream does considerable damage to the player’s Dark Passenger (if awakened), forcing it repression for 24 hours – it cannot be manifested. If the player does not have a Dark Passenger, the Psychic Scream does +5 Intellect Damage (ignoring armour) for a total of 6 Intellect Damage.
Hopefully you've enjoyed this look at two more Creatures of Darkness from the Cypher Edition of Moralinth! In advance of tomorrow, have a Happy Hallowe'en from everyone at Roguelike Games! Happy Gaming :)
- Adam
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