SCP Foundation

Every once in a while, I get the idea in my head that I should do some monster research, that I should go trawling the internet looking for some inspiration for a really over-the-top creepy monster or something. Then I remember that the SCP Foundation exists, except that I can never remember what it's called because "The SCP Foundation" is a terrible fucking title for anything. I keep mixing up the letters. Or including letters that don't exist. Because it doesn't even stand for anything. 

Today on Reddit, someone posted a link to it, and I decided to keep it here, on my blog, for the rest of forever. If you've never taken a look at the SCP Foundation before, it's very cool. Reading over a few of the entries now, I'm a bit taken aback at the amateurishness of the writing, but the idea behind the project is intensely awesome.

Basically: Catalogue a list of monsters from the point of view of the scientists tasked with keeping them safe and safely away from the public. Each entry has an item number, an object class, a list of special containment procedures, and a description of the thing and its abilities. It is written something like a field report, without embelishment or hyperbole. Just "This is the thing. This is what we've observed it doing. Don't touch it with your hand or it will wither your flesh to the shoulder and you'll die from necrosis a week later. Also, it's a five year old girl." 

http://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/

Bestiary of Badassery: The Vile Darkness

Before You Read Further:
Abuse is not a game. It is the most horrifying and terrible thing a person can have inflicted upon them, and real-life heroes are fighting against it every day. I do not mean any disrespect at all to the victims of abuse or the forces that are doing everything humanly possible to make it stop.
Because I believe in acting locally, if you’d like to make a donation to an association against abuse, I’d suggest you head over to WIN House. They do good work, and can always use more help.
Also, while some of the abusers below are presented as victims of a horrible monster, we should never lose sight of the fact that the real victims are the abused. My heart goes out to them, and they are in my prayers.

The Vile Darkness

There is a monster that lives in the cellar of the el’Harr farm down the road a ways from Hammerfast. The only one that knows it’s there is little Alphonse, the youngest of the el’Harr’s children; he has tried to bring it to his parents’ attention, but you know how people can be about the monsters their kids talk about. Besides, no one’s ever seen it, so it’s all in the kid’s head, right?
At night, the monster whispers things to Cody el’Harr, things that shouldn’t be whispered by any good soul to another. Cody can’t see the thing, or even hear it, really. It speaks to his mind, and the dark places in his heart.
Alphonse is bruised betimes, and he’s a quiet lad. Walks with a limp since the incident in the barn a few years back, but it hasn’t slowed him, none. He plays by himself, mostly, the imagination games of children. In his head, he wears a suit of armor and slays monsters. One monster in particular, over and over again.
And when it’s dead, Alphonse’ pa never puts hands to the boy again.

Deeds, Not Words

It was announced recently that the Book of Vile Darkness is up for the Fourth Edition treatment this year. It was one of them ore popular books for 3.5, and it started the whole “Intended for Mature Audiences” movement of D&D books that brought on such wonders as the Book of Exalted Deeds and the Book of Erotic Fantasy (heh). It was probably one of the best sourcebooks 3.5 D&D put out, but I had a few issues with it. In particular, I found the focus to be more on gruesome content than any real discussion of evil. There’s some demons and stuff in it, sure, and a lot of the spell effects are like “Fuck you, good characters! Mwah ha ha ha ha haaaaa!” but there isn’t a lot of stuff that I would throw part-and-parcel into the “evil” category.
There’s a lot of wiggle-room on the concept of “evil,” though. Is killing sentient creatures and taking their stuff “evil?” Well, I put that into a solid “Yes,” on evil, but it’s the preface for the vast majority of D&D (and other role-playing) games that you will occasionally bash in monsters’ faces to increase your own power, wealth and status. So when I need to unnerve my players a bit, when I need them to squirm a little, I have to pull out some big guns. Simply hurting people isn’t enough to get across that a bad guy is vile; that bad guy needs to hurt people in the most intimate and horrifying ways possible.
This creature is an example of the sorts of things I’ll do to make my players a touch more uncomfortable than just putting them in a 10x10 room with a hobgoblin. It’s not something for the faint of heart; this monster feeds on the fear, pain and suffering of others, and manipulates people into some of the worst betrayals a person can imagine. It reaches into the darkest places of someone’s mind and brings those things to the fore.

The Monster(s?)

The real monster is abuse. Let’s be fair, this monster is not one you’re going to throw into a random dungeon; it can’t survive there. It needs to live in someone’s home, where the potential for real emotional turmoil and trauma exists. Most importantly, it needs to find a crack, a place where the dark desires and urges run through a human mind. While a mother or father might normally love and support their children, the Vile Darkness can urge them to the unthinkable. Where a woman might love her husband unconditionally, the Vile Darkness can seep into her mind, taunting her into an horrific betrayal. And though a young man may truly love his betrothed, the Darkness can turn his mind to harm, or even murder. It would be incapable of doing these things if those emotions, those thoughts, didn’t already exist in the victim’s mind. The most monstrous aspect of this creature is its ability to bring out the monster in otherwise good people.
Discovering the Vile Darkness requires some investigation. If you want to relegate this to the realm of the Skill Challenge, feel free to do so, but I would rely more on heavy role-playing with a couple of prompted Perception and Insight rolls. And the abuse that the Darkness brings out in people doesn’t need to be physical; sexual, emotional and mental abuse all happen every day, and each comes with its own cocktail of betrayals. Complicating factors for the encounter can be as complicated as the victim of the abuse trying to protect the abuser, or another abusive situation in which the Vile Darkness has had no part (and this, truly, is more terrifying than any fantasy monster ever could be). When it turns out that the physically abusive parents on the el’Menith farm aren’t violent at the urging of a monster, but that the Darkness’ target has been Avery ven Maslia and his pretty new bride, it pushes the encounter to a different level.

The Vile Darkness		Level 3 Elite Controller
Medium		XP 300
HP 86; Bloodied 43 AC 17; Fortitude 15; Reflex 15; Will 15 Speed 6 Saving Throws +2; Action Points 1		Initiative +1 Perception +1
Traits
O Betrayal • Aura 2
A creature that starts its turn within the Vile Darkness' Betrayal Aura makes a saving throw. If the creature fails that saving throw, it is possessed until the end of the Darkness' next turn.
Standard Actions
M Incite Violence • At-Will
Attack: +8 vs. AC
Hit: 1d6 + 4 psychic damage and the target deals damage to an adjacent ally equal to their Intelligence modifier. .
R Dark Whispers • At-Will
Attack: Range 10 (ignores line of sight); +7 vs. Will
Hit: 1d10 + 5 psychic damage and the target makes a melee basic attack against an adjacent ally. If the creature is possessed, it gets a +2 power bonus to the attack. .
C Shame • At-Will
Attack: Close burst 3 (targets enemies in burst); +8 vs. AC
Hit: 3d10 + 3 psychic and shadow damage, and the target is dazed until the end of the Vile Darkness' next turn. .
Triggered Actions
Feeding on Your Pain • Recharge 6
Trigger: An creature is hit by an ally's attack. .
Effect (Free): The Vile Darkness gains hit points equal to one half of the damage dealt by the triggering attack.
Str 11 (+1)	Dex 11 (+1)		Wis 11 (+1)
Con 11 (+1)	Int 11 (+1)		Cha 11 (+1)
Alignment      Languages —
© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.

Art jacked from ~therook @ deviantart

Bestiary of Badassery: Master of Puppets

Sometimes, you start with art.

For the record, Brom has never painted anything I’ve hated. His work is moody, surreal, and gave Dark Sun and Nightbane their _edge_, y’know? His spooky paintings make you ask questions, and the answers to those questions are often monstrous and strange.
Also, I’m reading his book. It’s quite good.
So the questions I’m asking of Mr. Sadness the Clown here are thus:
1) Who are those people, and why do you have them dangling from barbed wire?
2) What does the key open?
3) The little bauble on you right side: what is that?
4) Where did the nails come from? That looks very uncomfortable.
My own answers to these questions are:
1) The young lady is a warforged wizard. She was specifically designed to look and act like a human girl, but there are still signs of her mechanical nature (she looks a little doll-like in places). The young gentleman is a damsel in distress. By the look of it, he is quite distressed right now.
2) The key opens a door that is actually a portal to a place where a dingus lives. The dingus in question is very important to the quest of our heroes. Alternatively, it opens nothing. That would be unfortunate.
3) The bauble on his right side is the monster’s pull-string. If you somehow manage to cut the string off, he has a short time to act before he powers down entirely. In the alternative situation in Answer 2, this is the real key.
4) The nails having nothing to do with this monster. The nails are a gift from the monster in the next room.
So what exactly is this guy capable of? I think, for one thing, dominate effects are in play. Because I like the interactions with players a little more, I’m going to suggest that my own “Possessed” status might be a better choice; players get to choose one action to perform, but the monster chooses the other two actions for them.
Barbed wire is slightly horrifying, so we’re going to have to work in ranged binding attacks that are sustainable and deal damage. The creature will also have horrifying minions that do it’s bidding which aren’t actually a part of the powerset, but more a question of encounter design. Having something of a spider’s web of possessed people trying to kill you can be pretty horrifying.
I’m also thinking that this creature is stationary. He’ll have one of Chris Sims’ donut auras that makes him nearly impossible to kill from range, so the player characters will need to wade through the minions (and maybe a lieutenant or two) to get to him.

Master of Puppets		Level 21 Solo Controller
Medium shadow animate (construct, undead)		XP 16,000
HP 784; Bloodied 392 AC 32; Fortitude 36; Reflex 30; Will 39 Speed 0 Resist 15 poison, 15 shadow; Vulnerability 15 fire Saving Throws +5 against dazed and stunned effects; Action Points 2		Initiative +15 Perception +15 Blindsight 10
Traits
O Shadows of Protection • Aura 3
Attacks that originate from outside the aura deal half damage to creatures within the aura.
O Shadows of Negation • Aura 6
Attacks that originate from outside the aura deal no damage to creatures within the aura.
Standard Actions
Barbed Whip • At-Will
Attack: Range 20 (targets one creature); +24 vs. AC
Hit: 2d10 + 12 primal damage and the target is slowed until the end of the Master of Puppets' next turn. .
Barbed Tangles (artifice, primal) • At-Will
Attack: Burst 1 within 10 (targets enemies in burst); +24 vs. AC
Hit: 2d10 + 13 primal damage and the target is grabbed. The Master of Puppets can sustain this grab as a minor action. If the grab is maintained this way, the target takes an additional 1d10+8 damage.
M The Master's Touch (reliable) • Encounter
Attack: +27 vs. Will
Hit: 4d10 + 8 damage, and the target takes ongoing damage equal to half its bloodied value (save ends).
R Strings on Me (psychic, charm) • Recharge at the beginning of the master of puppets' turn, if no creature is possessed.
Attack: Range 6 (targets a single creature); +27 vs. Will
Hit: The targe is possessed (save ends).
Move Actions
Summon Puppets • At-Will
Effect: Burst 4; The Master of Puppets summons 1d4 Puppet Minions into empty spaces within the burst. Until the end of the Master of Puppets' next turn, Puppet Minions summoned this turn gain a +2 power bonus to their speed. .
Minor Actions
Pull my String • Encounter
Effect: Burst 1 (targets up to two Puppet Minions within burst.); The target dies. Master of Puppets gains 196 hit points.
Triggered Actions
• At-Will
Trigger: The Master of Puppets is hit with a critical hit.
Effect (Immediate Reaction): The Master of Puppets' string has been cut. It enters into the Berserker Stance. While in this stance, the Master of Puppets adds one die to the damage of all of its attacks and gets a +5 bonus to attack rolls. At the end of each turn, the Master of Puppets takes 75 artifice damage and until the end of the encounter cannot be healed.
Str 20 (+15)	Dex 20 (+15)		Wis 20 (+15)
Con 20 (+15)	Int 20 (+15)		Cha 20 (+15)
Alignment      Languages —
© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.

Puppet Minion		Level 21 Minion Brute
Medium shadow animate (human)		XP 800
HP 1; a missed attack never damages a minion AC 33; Fortitude 33; Reflex 32; Will 32 Speed 6		Initiative +13 Perception +12
Standard Actions
m Craftsman's Hammer (weapon) • At-Will
Attack: +24 vs. AC
Hit: 12 damage.
Move Actions
Ain't Got No Strings • Encounter
Effect: (Targets one creature.); The Puppet Minion shifts up to it's speed, beginning and ending the shift adjacent to the target. The target is immobilized (save ends). .
Minor Actions
Liar Liar • Recharge 4 5 6
Effect: The Puppet Minion gains reach 2 until the end of it's next turn.
Str 25 (+17)	Dex 23 (+16)		Wis 22 (+16)
Con 18 (+14)	Int 12 (+11)		Cha 15 (+12)
Alignment evil     Languages Common
Equipment cultist robes, longsword
© 2010 Wizards of the Coast LLC, a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc. All rights reserved. This formatted statistics block has been generated using the D&D Adventure Tools.

Formatting tables in Windows Live Writer is stupid. I may need to look at new blogging software. Again.