OCTOBER MONSTERS FOR RIGHTEOUS BLOOD RUTHLESS BLADES VI

Art by Jackie Musto 

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. 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.

Today I am doing three of my favorite monsters in Strange Tales of Songling. Killer Snakes was largely inspired by the movie of the same name by Kuei Chih-Hung (a very interesting director). The film is a character study and feels a lot like Taxi Driver, but with snakes who serve the will of the protagonist and harm his enemies (it came out in 1974, before Taxi Driver, but it just has the feel of that kind of film). The mountain troll is just so creepy. And Painted Maidens are my take on Hua Pi (Painted Skin), the Pu Songling Story, but also films inspired by it (I love the Painted Skin movies).

KILLER SNAKES 

Snakes have a strong sense of reciprocity and will willingly serve a person who saves them from dire situations or certain death. When this happens they aggressively protect and carry out the wishes of their benefactor, provided he or she continues to treat them well. People have been known to amass armies of snakes in this way.

Killer Snakes can be any variety of serpent, but the stats provided are for a typical cobra.

Defenses: Hardiness 2, Evade 6, Wits 2

Key Skills: Bite: 2d10 (see below), Speed: 3d10, Detect: 0d10

Max Wounds: 1

Type: Creatures

Resist: 0

POWERS

Venomous Bite: On a Successful Bite attack, roll 4d10 against Hardiness every 10 minutes (unless and until cured by antidote). On a Success, the person dies in 1d10 minutes. 

Karmic Connection: Killer Snakes are karmically linked to their benefactor. They can sense when he or she is in danger. They can also understand the desires of their benefactor and can follow complex commands.

MOUNTAIN TROLL SPIRIT

Mountain Troll Spirits are large beastly creatures who appear with late night breezes and have long, three-inch teeth hanging over their chins. Mountain Trolls are 9-feet tall, with misshapen heads that have patches of dark withered skin. Their flesh is hard like stone except for their fleshy patches (which are soft). They can travel freely on the wind before and after appearing.

Defenses: Hardiness 10 or 3 (patches), Evade 5 or 9 (patches), Wits 2

Key Skills: Bite: 3d10 (6d10 damage plus 2 Extra Wounds), Claw or Slam: 2d10 (damage 3d10 Open Damage), Speed: 2d10, Muscle: 4d10, Detect: 3d10, Athletics: 2d10, Command: 3d10

Max Wounds: 8

Type: Demons

Resist: 2

POWERS

Bite: The sharp teeth of these creatures inflict 6d10 Damage plus 2 Extra wounds to targets.

Wind Travel: Mountain Trolls can vanish into the wind and let it carry them to their next destination. This requires an Athletics roll TN 7.

Fearful Rasp: A Mountain Troll can afflict its enemies with dread by releasing a terrifying rasp. To do this, roll Command (3d10) against Wits of all within hearing distance. On a Success, the target suffers a -1d10 Skill Penalty to all Combat Skill Rolls or Physical Skill Rolls for 1 round. On a Total Success, the target suffers a -1d10 penalty for 2 rounds.

Stone Flesh: The skin of a Mountain Troll is like stone, giving them a Hardiness of 10 and Resist of 2. However, the soft patches on their face are weak, like bruised fruit. They can be penetrated more easily. Hitting the patches requires a TN 9 Attack Roll (see Defenses) but shifts the Hardiness to 3 (from 10) and overcomes Resist for the purposes of making a Damage Roll.

PAINTED MAIDEN 

Painted Maidens look like beautiful women and often claim to be concubines, courtesans or performers. Their true form is that of a hideous creature with green flesh, blade-like teeth and claws. They assume an appearance of outer beauty by painting skinned corpses they can wear like a costume. The skin is nearly perfect, making them look like a normal human to most eyes. They feed on human hearts and desire to become a real person more than anything else.

Occasionally male Painted Maidens are found as well, though they are rare.

Defenses: Hardiness 7, Evade 6, Wits 9

Key Skills: Claw: 3d10 (5d10 Open Damage), Bite: 3d10 (3d10 Damage), Speed: 4d10, Muscle: 3d10, Detect: 3d10, Persuade: 3d10, Talent: 5d10

Max Wounds: 7

Type: Creatures

Resist: 1

POWERS

Painted Skin: Painted Maidens can fabricate flesh and facial features for themselves using the
Talent skill on an existing piece of flesh. To do this they must skin a human body for raw materials (they can use several different bodies to create the ideal form). They then wear the fake skin to appear like a normal human. They are so good at painting their bodies and faces that few can tell the difference. It takes two consecutive successful Detect rolls to notice any flaws in the disguise, and characters must specifically be examining the creature closely.

Immunities: Painted Maidens are only harmed by Magic. 

Claw and Heart Taking Hand: Painted Maidens have long, sharp claws that can dig easily into human flesh. Make a Claw Roll against Evade. On a Success, they do 5d10 Open Damage with their claw ability. On a Total Success, they do 6d10 Open Damage plus 1 Extra wound and successfully pull out the target's heart if the damage is enough to kill them. 

Substitution: If a Painted Maiden can find a willing person, she can trade skins with them and become fully human (while the target becomes a painted maiden). This process is painful for both and takes hours.