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I'm very slowly writing an adventure which features this guy, but I don't know when I'll get it done enough to showcase the Maggot Mask. That said, I like the idea and wanted to put it out there for general review and consumption.

So, any players reading, please stop here, as your GM may use this or an adaptation of it to throw against you.

I expect it to be a challenge for 4 Circle 1 (maybe 2) Adepts, but I could use help with balancing. You'll note some things don't have mechanics yet (like implanting the Toxic Blight).

Maggot Mask

The Maggot Mask is a writhing mass of maggots and rotten flesh about the size of a loaf of bread. The underside of a Maggot Mask looks like a grinning face, with rotting eyes and sharp teeth. This Horror Construct is created through poisoned food and water supplies that have been ingested by Namegivers. It develops in their stomachs anywhere from 1 day to 1 month before emerging, vomited out of the infected person's mouth. Victims often have mild illness symptoms, such as coughing, lack of appetite, nausea, and weakness.

The poison that causes Maggot Masks to develop induces the same symptoms in most people. Only a "lucky" few actually have one form inside them. When ready to emerge, the Maggot Mask induces the victim to vomit. The afflicted are often ostracized or killed as people wrongly assume they are Horror Marked. Once emerged, the Maggot Mask seeks a new victim to attach to. It rapidly scurries with pseudo-pods and uses four barbed tentacles hidden in its body to grapple its target's head. It will then cover their face and inject a paralytic and pain-inducing toxin into their nose and mouth. This attack is what earned it its name, as its grinning underbelly is exposed and looks like the victim is wearing a mask.

Rarely will one attach to someone that "birthed" a Maggot Mask; even other Maggot Masks avoid them unless no one else is nearby. Additionally, these "mothers" rapidly get well again and are immune to the general effects of the poison, though they may get sick again if another Maggot Mask begins to form inside them. This helps to foster the sense that the victim is Horror Marked.

Powers: Animate Dead, Poison (paralytic, pain), Horror Power - Implant, Ambush, Maneuvers - Face Hugger (2 successes on attack), Pry Loose (Opponent, Close Combat)
Maggot Mask Novice (Second Circle)

Dex 8 Str 3 Tou 3 Per 3 Wil 8 Cha 3
PD 12 MD 12 SD 12 PA 0 MA 4
Initiative 8 Uncon 20 DR 23 WT 5
Knockdown - immune
Recovery Tests 2
Movement 16
Actions: 2, Tentacles x4 10(15)

Once attached, its first action is to implant a Toxic Blight. Attempts to remove a Maggot Mask often cause the victim greater pain or kills them, though within a day the Toxic Blight will emerge anyway, killing them outright, assuming they have not already died from having their insides devoured.

A Maggot Mask will not willingly detach from a victim until the victim has died, either from a Toxic Blight or succumbing to the Maggot Mask's feeding. Tendrils of flesh enter the nose and mouth, burrowing into the brain. Should the person die while a Maggot Mask is still attached or from someone attempting to remove the Maggot Mask, it is possible that they will shortly rise again as either a ghoul or cadaverman.

If anyone stops eating or drinking poisoned supplies while a Maggot Mask is forming, they will continue to be sick until vomiting the construct. This is how they spread to new areas, as people flee the original sickened region. All others will get better within a week after they stop eating the poisoned food supply.

Can't have the Maggot Mask without its friend the Toxic Blight. I don't have stats figured out for it yet. Happy to take any suggestions!

Toxic Blight

The Toxic Blight is formed from the poisons Maggot Masks inject into their victims. Bursting forth from the victim's skin, a Toxic Blight pours out of everywhere, ripping the victim to shreds from the inside out and congealing into a small, black, oily blob. Anyone conscious when this happens will suffer immense pain, not that it matters much as they will die in moments. Regardless, it is a terrible way to die.

Should the victim turn into a cadaverman or other undead construct before the Toxic Blight emerges, instead of ripping them to shreds, the Toxic Blight slowly oozes out of the creature's skin and orifices. This takes hours and usually makes it harder for the creature to act but harder to harm. The cadaverman appears covered in an oily, hard substance. Once fully emerged it quickly congeals and flees, leaving the cadaverman generally "unharmed."

The Toxic Blight will then attempt to flee the area immediately, never staying to fight if it can help it. Quick, it appear to flow like mercury downhill and climb walls with pseudo-pods.

Its goal is to reach farmland, wells, or other food and water sources. It then absorbs into the ground or water over 15 to 30 minutes, poisoning it for a year and a day. This poison will make people sick and has the chance to form Maggot Masks in the victims.

Powers: Poison Earth & Water (20), Cadaver Shroud, Poison Spit (7, Poisoned Glob, Standard)
Maneuvers: Engulf Head (2 successes on attack), Kill It With Fire (Opponent, Close Combat)

Toxic Blight Novice (First Circle)

Dex 10 Str 2 Tou 5

Per 6 Wil 6 Cha 6

PD 16 MD 8 SD 6 PA 4 MA 2

Initiative 10

Uncon 32 DR 32 WT -

Knockdown - immune

Recovery Tests 1

Movement 20 (Climbing 10)

Actions: 1, Glob Punch: 9 (4)

Powers-

Creature Power (7, Poison Spit, Standard)

Cadaver Shroud: When covering an undead creature, the undead creature gains -2 to all actions and +4 PD.

Poison Earth & Water: Toxic Blight rolls against MD of area or 6, whichever is higher. Each success reduces the time needed to absorb into the area by 1 minute, starting from 30 minutes. This corrupts the area and infects anyone consuming water or food from the area over the next year and a day with the Toxic Blight disease. At least 1 success is needed to start the process.

Poison Spit (see Whadrya Venom, GMG pg 178): The Toxic Blight throws a small portion of itself which poisons on contact. Make a Creature Power Test against the target's physical defense. A success means the target has been hit and must now resist the poison. Use the stats for the Whadrya Venom from the GMG, except it cause intense pain in addition to the paralysis, though that's a narrative effect more than mechanical.

Special Maneuvers-

Engulf Head (Toxic Blight): The Toxic Blight spends 2 extra successes on a Glob Punch attack to instead launch itself at the target's head, engulfing it. The target will begin to suffocate if the Blight isn't removed soon. Worse is that every round the Blight automatically succeeds in a Poison Spit attack on the target. Attacking it with fire is the only way to drive it off, though it might let go on its own.

Kill It With Fire (opponent): Toxic Blights are naturally weak to fire, taking an extra +2 damage from any attack that includes fire. As well, 2 extra successes with a fiery attack will set the Toxic Blight aflame. It will take 5 points of damage every round it's on fire and attempt to flee to the nearest water source to put itself out.

Toxic Blight (disease)
Type: Debilitation Effect Step: 8
Onset Time: 1-2 days Interval: 7/1 day
Duration: 1 week (or as long as tainted food or water is consumed)
Maximum -4 penalty
This disease is mildly debilitating, but lasts as long as the person is exposed to corrupted food or water. A week of clean eating will cure them of the disease. The Debilitation is not the worst effect. Every day they are sick there is a chance of a Maggot Mask forming. Roll the Effect Step against the infected person's Toughness. If 2 successes are scored on 1 roll, then a Maggot Mask has started forming. Anywhere from 1 to 30 days later it will emerge. If a Maggot Mask is forming, the person will not get well until it emerges. Once it emerges they are immune to the debilitating effects of the disease, but they may still have a Maggot Mask form if they continue to be exposed to the tainted food and drink.

Oh, neat synergism.

This is sick as hell and I love it.

Just to clarify, it works something like this?: A horror contaminates a food/water supply with a magical disease. Some are sickened, but some become mothers and vomit up a maggot mask. The maggot mask finds another victim and hugs the face. Usually implanting a toxic blight, often animating dead to create a cadavarman. If the victim becomes a cadavarman, the toxic blight armors it up. Otherwise, the Toxic Blights moves into another water source and poisons it. It dissolves into the water and ceases to be? Does it have consciousness at all or is it just a disease? Could the cadavarmen be compelled to walk to the nearest water source? Or could the Blight compel the cadavarman to find the most important water source that it knew about in life? I have a vision of a lake with the bottom covered in blight-covered undead.

After a few hours the Blight would leave the cadaverman, but I like the idea that while it was slowly emerging and still covered the cadaverman it would compel them to walk to the most important food or water source. Neat.

I picture the Maggot Mask as being smarter than the Toxic Blight. They are both fairly single-minded and crafty looking mostly just to spread themselves and destroy whole communities. Once a Blight has absorbed into something, it's converted into the poison that makes Maggot Masks. It's gone.

As for how it starts, that's correct. Just now thinking about it, the Horror probably creates a Toxic Blight and uses that to poison things.

I'm glad you lIke it! Note, however, not just water sources. It'll soak into ground and poison the farmland, or grain silos, or whatever. Probably needs a limitation on how much area one Blight could poison, what running water does to it, etc.

In the adventure I'm writing, a Horror-Marked Nethermancer has poisoned the water and farmland of an unopened kaer.

Oh, and if anyone uses these, let me know how it goes!

I once ran an adventure that took the players deep into the upper Throal Mountains to save a community whose water sources (and all those around it for 3 valleys) had been fouled, leading to illness, etc. They fought corrupt bog gobs that dropped corroded gear fragments, and that traced that back to a cultic shrine/ancient underground lab high on the peak. In the water works beneath that a corrupted petroleum/natural gas spirit was torturing the mountain's Named Naiad spirit. Got to use lots of corrupted water-dwelling creatures (there were a surprising amount of those in Creatures of Barsaive, probably why I also ran the sunken island kaer). I love how this reminds me of that adventure.

That's kinda the idea. Two obvious hooks are:

Players arrive at a village soon after they've been afflicted with a sickness. Perhaps they even witness the Maggot Mask come out or they're brought to a face-hugged victim. Villagers tell how they tried to remove it but "Poor Celina just screamed and screamed, like we were tryin' to pull her skin off! We couldn't keep doing it." Eventually Celina stoos breathing, dead. Soon after, the Mask drops off and lies still for a moment. As someone approaches, it leaps up and scurries away. As the group is distracted, the dead Celina rises up and attacks.

Or, they arrive at a dead village filled with Cadavermen and have to figure out what happened. Strange warnings about drinking the water, etc. Perhaps some survivors are holed up somewhere, but they keep vomiting up Masks, so players have that to deal with.

This is wicked. I love it.

I wonder if posts like this Horror Construct would be beneficial to GMs in a separate section. What do you guys think? Should I ask bogie to set up a "Characters and Creatures for GMs" subforum so people can post their ideas for review and use or would it not get much action?