Horror: The Protector

[daniel_a]

Hi
I just detailed a Horror that I am going to use as a campaign spanning opponent for my players, and thought I'd share it with other gamemasters who might be interested.
If you want to have a look, you can find the write-up here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jtufhwj02pj3z ... r.pdf?dl=0

Cheers,
Daniel

[Slimcreeper]

Cool! That multiple physical forms thing is wild. Can you tell us more about how that works?

[daniel_a]

I haven't given that part too much mechanical thought yet. And to be honest I am not sure I will. It comes out of a narrative idea, of a horror that will prove to be very hard to kill permanently, but also to send the characters on a chase around Barsaive. The first thought that sent me down this alley, was that I wanted to confuse the characters, and players, when they researched about the Horror. One of them is already marked by the horror, and they want to try and find it and kill so that he is freed from its influence. I wanted them to find multiple sources of information, that contradict each other, and at the same time I wanted to torture the poor, marked soul, when he thought he was free, by letting him hear that voice inside his head again, offering its "help" in a desperate situation.
The exact form the Horror takes, apart from the main one described, I left open to fit the characters' development and the story at the moment. I can't let them meet a form that is a Greater Bloatform right now, but a couple of circles down the path it might be a fitting form.

[Slimcreeper]

Do all the forms communicate with each other telepathically, or do they get together or send messages? Do they squabble among each other and then the main body beats some sense into the others? That would be a sweet cutscene.

[daniel_a]

That is a possibility. But not how I envision it in my campaign. How I envision it, is that the astral form is the connection between the physical forms, in a way. They are all aware of what is happening to all the forms, at least as long as the astral form is alive. If it is killed, that connection will be cut until a new astral body has been formed. So, the best way for the heroes to destroy the horror, would probably be by killing the astral form first, and then hurry to kill the physical bodies before they can reform the astral body, and by that their connection.
Maybe one could see it as the physical forms are different parts of the whole Horror, with the main physical form being the head, and the astral body being the nervous system connecting the different Horror parts.
But of course, it has its appeal to think of a Horror with a sort of split personality, with a superego having a hard time keeping all the personalities in check, though it is not the way I will use this Horror.
Cheers,
Daniel

[Slimcreeper]

Pretty cool. I admit I like the split personality concept. Thanks for sharing it!

[daniel_a]

Glad that you think it is cool. And another cool thing is that it is Horror, it can certainly have a split personality too!
Hope you find some use for it.
/Daniel