OCTOBER MONSTERS FOR RIGHTEOUS BLOOD RUTHLESS BLADES V

In the spirit of October I am converting monster entries from Strange Tales of Songling for Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades. These are supernatural creatures inspired by Pu Songling's Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. 

Art by Jackie Musto 

I will be doing a few monsters each post and not including every monster as Jeremy and I have been developing certain creatures for an intended expansion. Last post was about ghosts and today starts with a creature called the Hellhound Beast Skin, a creature inspired by the story Sheep Skin in Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Also as I am doing conversions for Righteous Blood Ruthless Blades, I wanted to point out that the monsters in Strange Tales of Songling mostly started as entries in this blog for Wandering Heroes of Ogre Gate, in a series of posts I made about Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio. Those entries are available HERE and will allow you to have the monster stats for WHOG. 

HELLBOUND BEAST SKIN 

In the hell of Diyu are racks of animal skin suspended in wooden frames. These hides are wrapped around those sentenced to be reborn as animals. They fuse with the flesh and turn men into beasts. However, some escape from hell and desperately cling to life by taking over human bodies; such creatures are called Hellbound Beast Skins. 

Hellbound Beast Skins look like a skinned hide of animal flesh and fly through the air like a kite. They descend and wrap themselves around the bodies of their victims, turning the person into a weird blend of animal and man. From that day on, the two beings struggle for control of the body and mind. 

Defenses: Hardiness 5, Evade 8, Wits 3

Key Skills: Attack: 3d10, Muscle: 5d10, Speed: 3d10, Fly: 2d10, Detect: 3d10

Max Wounds: 5
Type: Demon
Resist: 1

POWERS

Binding: Hellbound Beast skins wrap around human bodies and bine to them. Roll their attack against Evade. On a Success the target begins to transform into a beast. The target must make an Athletics roll against the Evade of the Hellbound Beast each round. On a Success the target casts off the skin. On a failure the target is transformed (see Transformation below). 

Transformation: Anyone successfully bound by a Hellhound Beast Skin instantly has the hide fused to their flesh and begins turning into a creature of that type. For the first day, the person looks like a normal pig, crocodile, horse, ox or similar creature (they also have the stats for that animal). Each day the victim is allowed an Athletics roll to escape. On a Success, the target regains partial control, becoming a bizarre hybrid of the animal. He or she retains their mind but looks strange and has teeth and claws, plus the inherent desires of the animal (see Hybrid Form below). The person is not permanently free and must continue making athletics rolls. On a Total Success the person casts off the skin and is free. However the skill still may give chase. If they do not success on their Athletics roll for 3 consecutive days, the change is permanent. 

Hybrid Form: In hybrid form, the victim retains his or her mind but still has the impulses of the animal. Therefore they must pass a Wits test (roll 3d10 against the character's Wits) or behave as the animal would. In this form, the victim has two arms and two legs, walks upright, but has the jaws and mouth of the creature (with whatever bite or damage that entails) and any claws or hooves of the creature as well (also with whatever damage or mechanical effect those would entail). 

JIANGSHI (STANDARD)

These are corpses risen from the grave who feed on human life energy. They suck the breath from their victims. Their limbs are stiff, so they hop slowly from place to place. 

Defenses: Hardiness 7, Evade 5, Wits 4

Key Skills: Bite and Claw: 2d10 (3d10 plus extra wound), Speed: 0d10, Muscle: 3d10, Detect: 2d10

Max Wounds: 6
Type: Jiangshi
Resist: 2

POWERS

Hop: Jiangshi can hop twice each round to move, going 20 feet each round total. 

Drain Life: On a successful bite or claw attack a Jiangshi can opt to suck the breath of its victim. Roll 2d10 against Hardiness. On a Success the target is drained of one level. 

Immunities and Weaknesses: Jiangshi are immune to mundane and Signature Ability attacks that do not directly impact Jiangshi, or are not based on fire, magic or ritual. Fire always does 2d10 Open Damage to a Jiangshi. The following substances act like fire upon contact with a Jiangshi: sticky rice, dog blood and peach wood. Ba Gua mirrors can keep them at bay.