Soul-Eaters - Monster for review

[jb.teller4]

So this is my first attempt to use the Monster Burner to create a monster.

The Soul-Eaters are a dreaded creature out of legend that once dominated all the races and plunged the world into a lasting dark ages before finally being defeated. They are believed to be destroyed long ago, but have recently begun to reappear. Though some have heard the signs, few yet believe. So far, only young hatchlings have been spotted (though a nest of hatchlings can easily devour entire villages uncontested before moving on and they grow rapidly).

Soul-eaters look like slender four-legged serpents with irridescent scales and hypnotic moth-like wings. Their wings mesmerize all sentient creatures that see them, leaving all but the strongest-willed in a stupor that makes them easy prey for the soul-eater, who then permanently consumes their will, leaving behind a brain-dead husk. Just hatched soul-eaters are small, no bigger than a winged rattle snake, but grow rapidly until full-grown at around 40'-50' in length. They hunt in groups. At their height of power, groups of dozens of soul-eaters blotted out the sky as they flew lazily over the countryside, grabbing prey at their leisure.

Young soul-eaters are not particularly dangerous physically, but their mesmerizing wings and ability to feed on Will makes them deadly. Full-grown soul-eaters are physically strong simply due to their massive size (though they are almost fragile compared to most creatures of the same size).

It's worth noting that as written, a group of full-grown soul-eaters would be pretty much unstoppable by regular, non-heroic humans (which is why they dominated the world until defeated by some epic heroes). If I used soul-eaters, it would be for an epic storyline about finding a way to defeat them before they grow too large and numerous to be stopped. The "key" would probably involve a special bloodline at least on of the PC's belonged to as well as exploiting the weakness of the mesmerizing wings against second sight and celestial sight. I don't know that I'll ever use the idea, but I thought it was worth posting them and getting feedback.

(Soul-eaters are a sort of amalgamation of the Dream Moths from Perdido Street Station by China Meiville and the soul-eaters from Feast of Souls by C.S. Friedman -- owing more to the second)


Soul-Eater: Hatchling
Beliefs: I will feast and grow to my full power. I will find others of my kind and help create a new soul-eater community. The soul-eaters are the rightful rulers of the earth.

Instincts: Mesmerize. Use Conspicuous skill to draw gazes to my wings. Send empathic call for other soul-eaters if injured.

Traits
Diminutive Stature
Snake-like skull
Slender, serpentine body
Strange smell
Moth-like wings
Beautiful irridescent scales
Thin-scaled skin (leather armor equivalent over entire body)
Claws (+1 Power, VA -, Fast, Shortest)
Fangs (+1 Power, VA 1, Slow, Shortest)
Clumsy Walker (+1 ob to all land-based Speed tests)
Winged Flight
Poor Eyesight (sees ony dimly - +2 Ob to all vision-based tests. Does not impact Celestial Sight)
Celestial Sight
Mesmerizing Wings (see below)
Drugged Blood (see below)
Limited Empathic Communication (see below)
Devour Will (see below)

Stats: Will: G4, Per: B3, Agl: B4, Spd: B5, Pwr: B2, For: B2
Speed Multiplier: Flight: x10, Crawling: x3

Attributes: Health: B3 (B4 -1D for living in squalor), Steel: B4 (B3 +1D alien +1D >Will 5 -1D sheltered), Reflexes: B4, Circles: G2, Resources: B0
Hesitation: 4
Reputations: 3D infamous - Legendary terror
Affiliations: 1D affiliation with other soul-eaters (empathic range limited to local)

PTGS: Su: B2, Li: B4, Mi: B5, Se: B6, Tr: B7, MW: B8

Skills: Brawling: B2, Conspicuous: G4, Intimidation: G3

IMS: Talons: B2, B3, B4, VA -, Fast, Shortest Bite: B2, B3, B4, VA 1, Slow, Shortest

Mesmerizing Wings: Test victim's Will vs Ob = Eater's Will (exp 4 +2 Gray = 6). Margin of failure temporarily reduces Will and raises all physical action obstacles and raises all Perception tests not focused on the wings. Will reduced to zero = dumbfounded, you just stand there. Note that the soul-eater's wings are so large and brightly colored that it is not normally possible to look at them without being caught in the mesmerizing effect. To attack the soul-eater, the only way to avoid the effect would be to fight blind.
Limitations: When seen with Second Sight or Celestial Sight, the wings are repulsive and the mesmerizing effect is lessened or broken. A character viewing the soul-eater's wings with Second Sight gains a +2 to their Will for purposes of resisting. A character with Celestial Sight activated is completely immune.

Drugged Blood: If consumed (usually in a crystalized form), the user experiences intense dream-like "visions" that are similar to Celestial Sight. These occur in a trance-like state and are completely uncontrolled and show visions of things far away that may or may not be occurring. The trance last a number of hours equal to 10 - the user's Forte and cannot be shortened or snapped out of early. Also, the effect cannot be guided to show desired topics and is useless for gaining Celestial Sight temporarily for any practical use. It is just a recreational drug (though it can be used as an antecendent by the Enchanting skill to grant Second Sight, but not Celestial Sight). This blood is also highly addictive after even a handful of uses.

Limited Empathic Communication: Hatchling soul-eaters have not come into the full scope of their empathic abilities, but they can sense and project emotions in an area equal to twice their Presence. This allows them to communicate in a rudimentary sense with sentient creatures. This same power also allwos them to communicate with other soul-eaters in a range of their Will exponent in miles.

Devour Will: This attack has a range of Touch and is usually used on victims that have been dumbfounded by their mesmerizing wings. The soul-eater grabs the victim and licks their face with a long feathery tongue that has no other use than this attack. It is an opposed test of their Will vs their victim's will (usually modified by the Mesmerizing Wings effect, making this brutal). Each success permanently drains a point of Will. It also lowers the victim's maximum Will by one. This Will can never be recovered, though the victim can increase their Will with experience up to their new max. If the victim is rescued from the soul-eater part way through the attack, they may escape some of the attack. The first point of Will is drained immediately. After that, one point of Will is drained approzimately every 30 seconds. Note that the soul-eater does not gain anything mechanically from this attack. This is how they eat. If kept from draining victims the soul-eater will starve to death, just like any creature kept from feeding.



Soul-Eater: Full-Grown
Beliefs: Fear tastes sweetest; create it in my victims before feeding. The soul-eaters are the rightful rulers of the earth. Any humans who show resistance to our mesmerizing ability must be hunted down and killed; use dominated mortal pawns when the threat hides out of easy reach.

Instincts: Mesmerize. Use Conspicuous skill to draw gazes to my wings. Send empathic call for other soul-eaters if injured.

Traits
Gigantic Stature
Snake-like skull
Sinuous serpentine body
Strange pungent smell
Huge moth-like wings
Beautiful irridescent scales
Scaly skin (plated-leather armor equivalent over entire body)
Slashing claws (+1 Power, VA 1, Fast, Short)
Fangs (+1 Power, VA 1, Slow, Shortest)
Clumsy Walker (+1 ob to all land-based Speed tests)
Winged Flight
Gift of Babel (can understand all languages and is understood by all present when speaks)
Poor Eyesight (sees ony dimly - +2 Ob to all vision-based tests. Does not impact Celestial Sight)
Celestial Sight
Project Nightmare (All creatures within the soul-eater's Will in miles suffer intense nightmares)
Horrific Aura (see below)
Mesmerizing Wings (see below)
Drugged Blood (see below)
Empathic Communication (see below)
Devour Will (see below)

Stats: Will: G7, Per: B4, Agl: B4, Spd: B4, Pwr: B7, For: B6
Speed Multiplier: Flight: x10, Crawling: x3

Attributes: Health: B6 (B7 -1D for living in squalor), Steel: B6 (B3 +1D alien +2D >Will 7), Reflexes: B4, Circles: G3, Resources: B4
Hesitation: 1
Reputations: 3D infamous - Legendary terror
Affiliations: 3D affiliation with other soul-eaters across continent

PTGS: Su: B4, Li: B6, Mi: B8, Se: B10, Tr: B12, MW: B13

Skills: Brawling: B4, Conspicuous: G5, Intimidation: G5, Man-wise: B3

IMS: Talons: B4, B7, B10, VA 2, Fast, Short Bite: B4, B7, B10, VA 2, Slow, Shortest

Horrific Aura: All within the soul-eaters Presence must make a Steel test with an obstacle penalty = Eater's Will (exp 7 +2 Gray = 9).

Mesmerizing Wings: This is the same as described for hatchling above, except that the lost Will and the obstacle penalty to physical actions recover slowly, at the rate of one point per hour (-5 minutes per point of permanent Will). This has the effect of leaving settlements within soul-eater hunting ranges at such a slow ebb that they are usually unable to effectively plan or carry out any couter-measure (as well as generally causing society and learning to atrophy as people focus on only the necessities in a sort of lasting stupor).

Drugged Blood: This is the same as described for hatchling above.

Empathic Communication: Full-grown soul-eaters have more powerful empathic abilities. Combined with the Gift of babel trait (also a gift of their psychic-like senses), they can easily read and project powerful emotions. Also, they can communicate silently and fully with other soul-eaters in a range equal to their Will exponenet in miles and communicate in a rudimentary level with other soul-eaters in a range equal to their Will exponent in 100's of miles.

Devour Will: This attack is the same as described for hatchlings above, except that they drain a point of Will every 6 seconds. When groups of full-grown soul-eaters pass, they simply grab dumbfounded victims by the handful as they pass at their leisure.

[Thunder_God]

Do you treat G/W Will 4 as over Will 5 for Steel purposes?

No Mirror to break mesmerize?

Ouch, that's a scary Devour Will on the full-grown beastie.

[jb.teller4]

Thanks for replying.


Do you treat G/W Will 4 as over Will 5 for Steel purposes?

Hmm. I hadn't, but that's a good question. Probably should.


No Mirror to break mesmerize?

Oops... I hadn't thought about it. I'd say that seeing the wings through a mirror means you aren't affected, though fighting through a mirror has got to impose some hefty penalties.


Ouch, that's a scary Devour Will on the full-grown beastie.

Yeah, I was making this for a very specific story purpose. Only young ones are around at the start. Basically, the PCs would a) have access to some defenses (namely special traits for a certain bloodline, Second Sight, Celestial Sight, etc.) and b) would have to defeat the threat before all the hatchlings finish growing up. These are meant to be sort of apocalyptic -- the last time they were in force, they dominated the world and caused a massive dark ages for centuries. If I wanted them as more of a standard monster, I'd power that down (and make them solitary instead of group hunters).

-John B.

[Thunder_God]

Actually, you did treat the Will 4 as over 5 for Steel... you had Grey Will 4 and in Steel you gave +1 for over 5. My question was to the rule-gurus whether this is how it should be.

Well, dragons can eat them, what's to stop them from doing so? And after these "Dark ages", when you have a bazillion large ones, what is going to stop them now? Heh.
It seems to me even a Heroic party is going to have serious issues with a group of large ones.

It might serve to limit or impair the wings' effects at range, because right now, a large one can face an army across a battlefield and they're all goners.

[jb.teller4]

Thanks for the comments.


Actually, you did treat the Will 4 as over 5 for Steel... you had Grey Will 4 and in Steel you gave +1 for over 5. My question was to the rule-gurus whether this is how it should be.

Ah... I did. It was an accident, actually. I had them with G5 will, then lowered it to G4 and forgot to update Steel.



Well, dragons can eat them, what's to stop them from doing so? And after these "Dark ages", when you have a bazillion large ones, what is going to stop them now? Heh.

What stops dragons from eating them is that I wasn't planning on having any dragons in the setting... :) To some extent, these were my sort of variation on dragons.

As for how the last dark ages was ended, I had a vague, undefined idea of a certain bloodline making a pact or sacrifice that let them defeat the soul-eaters with basically divine assistance, but at a high cost that stuck with their bloodline down to the modern day. And it was a close thing still and this family is much weakened, so another surge of soul-eaters would be hard to stop. that would be if at least one PC was a member of this family -- otherwise I'd cut or downplay that element.

The whole apocalyptic angle and giant dragon style is stolen directly from Feast of Souls (with a few traits from the Slake Moths from Perdido Street Station thrown on). Since that's the first book of a series that isn't finished, I don't know how C. S. Friedman plans on dealing with it either. :)



It seems to me even a Heroic party is going to have serious issues with a group of large ones.

I figured that only one or two would get large and be faced by the PCs (like the first to "return" or "escape" or whatever -- the one that's laying the eggs). Then the others would be faced much smaller, growing in stages from hatchling to full-grown over the campaign.

Or as soon as the players got something like Celestial Sight making them immune to the wings (but not the Will Drain), then the Soul Eaters wouldn't be nearly as tough. They have no real combat skills and their natural weapons aren't great. Only the full-grown soul-eaters' sheer size gives them any advantage.

:Shrug: Really, I was playing with how I would build them. While I might use this scenario, I don't have particular plans to anytime soon.



It might serve to limit or impair the wings' effects at range, because right now, a large one can face an army across a battlefield and they're all goners.

Yeah, that makes sense. My conflicting thoughts are that a) I wanted them to sort of soar over the countryside and everything that fell in their shadow succumbed, but b) some kind of restriction definitely makes sense. Certainly the hatchlings should have a fairly narrow range (say, Presence or double Presence). I'm going back and forth on the full-grown ones.

I had the idea that armies were pretty much worthles against them. Except that I think I would allow Command to reinvigorate/snap followers out of it to some extent (each success lowering the mesmerizing penalty by one).

I think it would depend on what I wanted to do with them. If I want the frull-grown ones to be a threat hanging over the players from legend -- in other words a plot device like the terrible Gibbering Old Ones cultists are always trying to summon -- then I'd keep the range like it is. If I wanted them to be opponents to be fought, then I'd tone it down to much shorter range.



Since posting, I've been thinking of toning them down in size to be more like the slake moths in Perdido Street Station -- they'd be the size of a man, except for the wings and they'd be in a much smaller group. Their wings and Will Drain would be just as brutal as the full-grown soul eaters, but they'd be threatening a city or region, not the world. Once the 3-5 terrorizing the city were dealt with, that would be it -- threat over. That's probably what I'll do with them if I use them.

-John B.

[Hirram]

From a biology standpoint, why do they hunt as a group? Usually animals are pack/herd animals either for defense against predators (think bison or antelope) or to hunt prey that they would be incapable of taking by themselves (wolves hunting elk, etc.)

[David Artman]

I'd kind of like a definitive answer on the Will thing. Consider that the Will test Ob is 6, because of 4 +2 for Gray. 6 > 5, so I should think the additional Steel is appropriate.

is this directly mentioned in the Steel questionnaire, or in the BW books when it speaks of the "net value/Ob" of a Gray stat, in unopposed tests?

[stormsweeper]

The benefit to Grey Will with Steel is that you have a lower Hesitation (8 - Will instead of 10 - Will, see p.254 of the brown book), so I would not double weight it by giving it a boost in the questions.

[David Artman]

Makes sense... but that "I would not" still bugs me; and I don't have my books on-hand. Is there anyone who can say "the rules say FOO" or "the rules say nothing about FOO" out there?

[stormsweeper]

Makes sense... but that "I would not" still bugs me; and I don't have my books on-hand. Is there anyone who can say "the rules say FOO" or "the rules say nothing about FOO" out there?

The rules do say they get a lower hesitation (p.254 of the brown book). They do not say to consider the Will high for the Steel questions, in either the section of the Character Burner dedicated to Steel, the chapter on Heroic and Supernatural shades in the brown book, the expanded Steel chapter in the Monster Burner, or the Grey and White Math Revisited chapter in the Monster Burner.

[David Artman]

Thank you very much! No text = no rule. Decrease that beast's Steel by one!
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By the way... cool critters! Scary, but cool. With very little tweaking, they could be a good Medusa or Mind Flayer, too.

Can we get some numbers on the Trait costs? How can you price those Mesmerize and Devour Will, for instance, to see what sort of "power" it has relative to the party or other beast/folks?

I've just read MonBu and I am still a bit set in my "points-buy, fair's fair" ways--I'd like SOME kind of number on every Trait, for "game balance."