#Mundane to Monstrous Ghosts

[thelonelyshore-if]

Meet me at the cabin. Please.

You weren’t sure what to make of it. A cryptic late night text sent from your younger sibling, begging you to meet up at your family’s old lake home. The plea for help was as concerning as it was confusing. As far as you knew, neither of you had set foot in the cabin in a decade. You had your hesitations, but Willow seemed desperate. You couldn’t help but oblige.

Everything goes downhill fast when Willow's research into childhood ghost stories lands you in a town that doesn't exist. A town where people go missing at an alarming rate, where things that aren't quite human run businesses with hungry eyes, where time runs differently.

A town you can't leave. 

Something about Easthaven is wrong. A supernatural fog permeates the town, so thick you could choke…but you’re one of the only people who seems to notice it. You’re quick to realize the fog keeps the residents ignorant, keeps them passive, keeps them trapped. When people who have long since gone missing start coming back home, you realize Easthaven’s mysteries go deeper than you could have ever imagined.

Explore the magic and the horrors of the small town of Easthaven, team up with the few others who can see through the fog, and do everything you can to make your way back home.

The Lonely Shore is an 18+ supernatural horror story (and mystery) inspired by works such as Midnight Mass, The Mist, Scarlet Hollow, and Gravity Falls. A story about how sometimes places can feel like people, how easy it is to do terrible things for those we love, and how small towns have a way of eating you alive.

FEATURES:

Play as male, female, or nonbinary; trans or cis. Choose up to two sets of pronouns or input your own. Customize your appearance and develop your personality throughout the game. 

Romance or befriend a cast of characters. Options for ace and aro routes, as well as three polyamorous paths.

Customize Willow, your younger sibling. Select their gender and determine what your relationship with them is. Will you rebuild a broken relationship? Or let a good one go down in flames?

Explore the world of Easthaven, a town that exists outside of time, separated completely from the rest of the world. A place where tragedy is mundane and death is around every corner. Encounter the Fog, the source of all of Easthaven’s horrors.

Build up to one of five distinct magic styles as your character comes to life; including necromancy, clairvoyance, manipulating the Fog, becoming something monstrous–or suppressing your magic instead, having it come out in uncontrollable bursts.

Solve the mystery of the Returned: citizens who have been missing for months, years, decades but who have recently started coming back home.

CHARACTERS:

Jaylen 'Jay' Jones (M/F)

A veterinarian-in-training and member of the town's Search & Rescue team who has seen Easthaven's horrors firsthand. A kindhearted but wary person who cares more about keeping people safe than they do about solving the town's mysteries. They're tired of losing people.

Yasmin Bakir-King (F)

The local librarian, a fiercely clever widow with very little patience for nonsense. Very outgoing, she's one of the most well-known figures in town. She starts the story unaware of Easthaven's dangers but very quickly gets thrust into the middle of the town's latest mystery.

Amir/Amara "Croft" (M/F)

A reclusive, ill-tempered horror author who just so happens to be the town's latest newcomer…until you show up. Croft came to town with their share of secrets, and there's nothing in the world they want more than to escape Easthaven.

Beck Dawn (genderfluid)

Fun-loving and reckless, Beck is an adrenaline junkie who can't seem to stay out of danger…despite being completely unaware of the town's secrets. A magnet for trouble, it's no surprise Beck lands right in the middle of Easthaven's latest mystery.

Ravi Singh (M)

Easthaven's local mortician. Ravi is easygoing and quick to laugh; though sometimes his humor leans towards the macabre. But his easy smiles don't cover up his almost chilling comfort with the Fog; nor do they get rid of the pile of skeletons in his closet.

Perri Loveless (M/F/NB)

Runs one of Easthaven's three radio stations. In the day they play music, and at night they host a supernatural-themed call in radio show, The Lonely Shore. Perri is an enthusiastic (if a bit awkward) person whose theories tend towards the unbelievable. It's unfortunate that, despite all of their theories, Perri has no idea what's actually going on in Easthaven.

And…

"Willow" (M/F/NB)

Your little sibling. Flighty, impulsive, and outgoing; their fascination with the occult is what lands you in Easthaven. Your relationship can range from best friends to sworn enemies. Will they be able to save you from the mess they've made?

LINKS:

DEMO | ROs | Content Warnings

( current wordcount : 114,296 without code )

[thegnomelord]

PLEASEEEEE UR IDEA WITH MAGE M!READER AND MONSTER!COD MEN I'D LOVE THAT SO FICKING MUCH AND YES I AGREE THERE IS A LACK OF ALL THE VIOLENCE

Pov of how the world sees the reader Vs how TF141 reader :D. I'm in the middle of writing the first chapter of a fic with this idea, but guess who contracted TB like some coal miner 😞, me! So here's a sneak peak for the sort of vibe I'm going for while I'm trying to recover:

P.S: Ya'll are free to suggest/requests with this idea cause!

P.S.S: Check out bluegiragi who came up with this AU and give her some love!

Mages and Monsters

Mages are strange creatures.

In a world so full of monstrous hybrids and mythical creatures, mages sit on the proverbial line separating man from monster, stuck in both worlds without any hope of fitting in either one.

Because outwardly, they're average. No different from the billions of other humans. They're not born with the marks of monsterdom; they don't possess horns or leathery scales to shrug off small caliber bullets like dragons do, nor the claws and bone crushing jaws of werewolves, not feathered wings and razor sharp talons of harpies, nor the wraiths ghostly ability to become immaterial.

Outwardly, they're average. Ordinary. Mundane. Human...

Almost.

Because Price and Ghost are experienced enough to see the thing laying beneath the paper thin veneer of normality, are seasoned enough to quickly notice the one thing that puts an 'in' before a mage's 'human' description — Magic. Not the smoke and mirror kind magicians or charlatans use to swindle tourists out of money, but real magic.

The ancient kind, the capricious kind, slumbering like a beast inside the hollowed out cavern of a heart until it awakens with a terrible bloodlust. Each of them can attest to this; Price sports gnarled patched of scar tissue on the scaleless parts of his arm from ice burns, his draconic breath having saved him from frostbite that had devoured more than a few good men. Though Ghost doesn't show much skin, one can sometimes catch sight of branching fern patterns on his neck where lightning magic had shot through him. Gaz's back is peppered with hundreds of little cuts where a glass mage's summoned elegant ornaments had shattered into millions of shards, aiming to take out his wings.

And now Soap sports a mark of his own, his side tender red and blistered with a second degree burn. It could have been much worse, your flames were hot enough to melt steel, the only thing having kept him from an early cremation being the two solid concrete walls your magic had had to travel through to hit him and the enhanced regeneration of his thick hide.

But such power demands a cost — one paid in blood. For magic is as fickle and capricious as a rabid dog, just as eager to lunge for your throat as it will at the enemies, leaving lasting wounds for all to see; rough and calloused palms, skin blackened from blazing heat and freezing cold or marked with fern patterns of electricity, fingers stiff and marred with cuts from thorns and crystals and rock and glass, bone deep cuts where the liquid mana had burst out from the skin, leaving faintly glowing scars that never heal right.

All mages are born with this grievous gift, though one never knows whether it will present itself with a pitiful flicker of embers in a man's dying breath, or with a maelstrom of an infant's first hiccup. That's why most mages are sealed, by choice or force, a process which puts chains on the magic, making it and the mage docile.

But you are unsealed. And you flaunt that fact readily by melting the tail of their APC helicopter with one spell, not even waiting for them to crash before flooding the terrain with suffocating ash, the lenses of their gas masks already fogging up from the heat as they get out of the cloud of heavy sediment before it bursts to flames.

Sometimes the magic becomes unsatisfied with the weakness of the body, demanding more than just its pound of flesh and molding the body like clay to better suit it— Mage Marks, they're called — the subtle glow of magic in your eyes, the mana visibly pulsing inside your chest, the skin of your arms slipping away like wet paper before growing anew, this time mimicking the surface of magma, or the rocky barnacle encrusted reef, the gnarled bark of a tree, the crystalline inside of a geode, the ice spiked ground of tundra, or any other form that suits the magic in your veins.

The process is excruciating, the mana burrowing and gnawing on every nerve like a parasite that replaces what it eats with itself. But to you, that's an acceptable loss, because marked mages far surpass their unmarked fellows, your magic stronger and wilder, feral and viscous like the primordial force of nature.

So it becomes concerning when you're laying on the floor, captured, battered and bruised and calm.

Ghost had been waterboarding you for a while now, your body tied to a chair that had been tipped back so you were parallel with the ground. With water pooling around your head, your top half would have been soaked to the bone had your magic not been simmering in your veins, the magic suppression momentarily reducing the raging inferno in your chest to a meager flicker of flames.

They can't kill you, but limiting your magic for even a second is death in and of itself.

Your breathing is harsh as Ghost pulls away the cloth over your mouth, asking you a question as steam rises from your skin. Most would give in long before this point, but you just grin, eyes glowing with a burning glow, and make a comment about how good his arse looks from your viewpoint.

You manage only one small note of laughter, pitiful embers sparking at the corners of your lip, before Ghost drops the rag back over your face and begins anew.

Price watches all of this, sharp draconic eyes noting how the mana glows in your chest, pulsing like a second heart (assuming you had one to begin with), noticing how the water turns to steam a little faster when it splashes over your skin.

And Price knows.

You... You are going to be trouble.

[literary-illuminati]

2024 Book Review #16 – The Saint of Bright Doors by Vajra Chandrasekera

I grabbed this on a recommendation I now forget the specifics of, but which I am incredibly glad I listened to. Not a perfect book, but a beautiful one. It really does immerse you in a capital-w Weird setting in a way I haven’t gotten to enjoy in a while, and might the best in years at really weaving it in with a sense of the mundane and the bathetic. Pacing and character development and plot are a little all over the place, but still a great read.

The story follows Fetter, the only child of the Perfect and Kind, anointed messiah of the Path Above. His mother tears his shadow off of him at birth, and forever after he must choose to remain tethered to the earth and not float away into infinity. He is raised from birth as a tool to take vengeance on his father by committing each of his five unforgivable sins – culminating, of course, in holy patricide. His childhood is spent in indoctrination and murders – and oh, he’s also the only one he knows who can see the monstrous devils who share the world with humanity.

So anyway, all that gives him a lot to talk about in therapy.

The actual book follows Fetters’ life as an aimless young adult in the city of Luriat, with its layers of impenetrable government and byzantine system of castes and races inherited from successive colonizers, its regular pogroms and plagues, and its tendency for any doors left closed and unwatched for too long to instantaneously become permanently shut portals to Somewhere. Over the course of the book, he is dragged into a revolutionary conspiracy, learns his father is coming to the city, learns deep metaphysical secrets, is a pretty terrible boyfriend, becomes a suicide bomber, and learns to fly.

To start with the negative, the pacing of the plot is...okay, maybe not bad, but it’s really not trying for the things I’d expect it to. A whole act of the narrative is spent meandering through an absurd purgatory of refugee/prison/quarantine camps Fetter has been consigned to. Lovely writing, thematically important, does eat up a lot of page count which then leads to rest of the book being things happening very quickly one after the other with very little in the way of buildup or reflection. Time is enjoyably spent just detailing the experience of Fetter’s day to day life, but much of the supporting cast feel more like plot (or thematic) devices than characters. The book ends with the protagonist loudly reciting the big lesson he’s learned from the events of the book. So yeah, less than perfect book. Still, I found all the sins very easy to forgive.

As mentioned, this was the first fantasy book I’ve read in a while that felt properly fantastical, like it was created from first principles rather than being the latest in a hoary old lineage stretching back generations. Which might be complete bullshit, I don’t know – not like I’ve read a great deal of other South Asian fantasy to compare it to – but it worked for me. A big part of which is how very modern it is. This is a secondary world with prophets and plague-bearing anti-gods, forgotten timelines whose ghosts leak into the world, and a whole plethora of almost- and not-quite- messiahs. And also one with cellphones and UN-administered refugee camps, labyrinthine bureaucratic politics and scandals over inappropriate allocation of imported medical devices. It all feels like a reflection of the present and its own concerns rather than the thousandth-generation pastiche much of the genre does, I suppose – which is something I really did appreciate.

The world of the book – or, at least, the little slice of it the story is concerned with. There’s clearly grander and stranger things happening off in the distance – is one intensely concerned with caste and class, race and religion and breeding. Luriat is weighed down with the architecture and high culture of successive waves of colonialism, and its elites organize and govern the population according to a syncretic mix of all of their ideological castoffs. Politics – and in particular the use of plague and quarantine on one hand and sectarian pogroms on the other to control the populace – is pretty key to the whole book. It’s also just about entirely beyond Fetter. Not that he’s dumb, just that he’s apolitical, in the sense of treating government like an inexorable and inevitable fact of life to be worked with/around or avoided, not something you can understand or change. Which makes for fun reading as there’s clearly a whole Les Mis thing happening like 0.5 degrees to the left of the book’s plot.

Anyway, I’m still sad Pipra didn’t get more screentime, and the whole ending feels almost comically rushed, but absolutely a worthwhile read.

[not-terezi-pyrope]

There's a recurring issue that keeps happening in fantasy discourse that keeps happening to creators where including monsters in your worldbuilding gets distorted into a sort of fascist intent as people get gradually lore desensitised to said monsters and they become more and more a "mundane" or "natural" part of the fictional world in people's minds.

Here's how it works, from my observation.

The monster, as a concept, is an ancient mainstay of all fiction as it is a mainstay of the human psyche, representing primal fears and the abstract (unrealistic!) horror of the other. It has carved out an important role in media as an element that is broadly understood to be a thrilling antagonistic force that is removed from anything in the real world.

An author wants to write a story about heroes who regularly encounter and fight multiple monsters, because this is mechanically important for the type of media or narrative (maybe a video game world needs many creatures to fight, the high fantasy protagonist needs a "monster force" to threaten the world, the ghost hunter type hero needs various ghosts and ghouls to fight off each week.

The story gets released into the world and people become used to the monsters existing, to the extent that they begin to lose the narrative lens of the monster in their minds. They begin to treat the otherworldly monster as an element of the world, and then the idea of the monster as a purely antagonistic or evil force begins to sound absurd, as it is for any type of being in the real world, especially if the monster is intelligent. People get interested in subverting these elements of the monster, and derivative works including the type of monster begin to explore stories in which the monsters are actually neutral/good, but misunderstood, actors, due to their monstrous appearance or similar.

This interpretation of the monster as another kind of person, or benign animal, becomes widespread, with the monster solidified as a concrete part of the world in a way that is divorced from their conception as an unrealistic, otherworldly threat.

People look back at the original source work, and go, "hey! Why was the author so intent on displaying this group of creature as inherently gruesome and evil? This sounds like fascism!" And it makes sense why they think that, except that they have forgotten that said author was writing about a type of monster instead of an analogy for a human group or race. As such, with enough time and reinterpretation, people can find grounds to accuse authors of fascism for the crime of merely writing about monsters, which kind of sucks as a thing to do, in my opinion.

I think the Tolkien/D&D style Orc is the prototypical example of this, although there are many others, really it happens to some extent with any sort of "monster species" where there is more than one horror creature in your world. This is not to say that you can't interrogate issues with how certain monsters are portrayed - why evil orcs are portrayed with darker skin colours sometimes, for example, or... Pretty much everything going on with a lot of goblin-esque creatures, but I think it's important to remember that this is a different sort of criticism from, for instance, "Tolkien and the D&D people believe that certain types of being are inherent evil and need to be wiped out".

Because we can't forget that they were not writing a real type of person or creature, but a type of monster, and monsters are understood to be an unrealistic, otherworldly narrative contrivance. You have problems making them fit into the real world with a just mindset because they do not exist in the real world, they exist as monsters, and were written with this understanding that there is a common understanding of what that means and how it should be understood.

I feel like people need to keep that in mind in their analysis, else pretty much any creative can be smeared retrospectively for writing about monsters whatsoever. I think monsters are pretty cool in fiction and important to the human psyche, and think that they have a crucial place, as long as we remember the lens through which they should be considered in their conception, which is inherently outside of material reality.

That's also not to say we shouldn't subvert and interrogate and adapt monster tropes either, but doing so doesn't mean throwing out the original ideas as having gone rotten.

[meetinginsamarra]

My Fave Sherlock BBC AUs - Magical Realism

Around mid-month I’ll do a fic rec list with my fave AU genres or tropes. Summaries are taken from OP on AO3.

Not always tagged with “Magical Realism”, these fics feature supernatural beings and/or circumstances. No vampires, demons and merfolk here, they already have their own lists. No ghosts as well, they’ll get a rec list of their own later.

“The Horse and his Doctor” by khorazir @khorazir

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3591864

Invalided after a run in with a poacher in Siberia, veterinary surgeon John Watson finds it difficult to acclimatise to the mundanity of London life. Things change when a friend invites him along to a local animal shelter and he meets their latest acquisition, a trouble-making Frisian with the strangest eyes and even stranger quirks John has ever encountered in a horse.

“The Summer Boys” by khorazir

https://archiveofourown.org/works/8460733

About half a year after the fateful events at Appledore, Sherlock and John embark on a private case in Sussex. For Sherlock, it’s a journey into his past, bringing up memories both happy and sad that he has locked away for almost thirty years. For John, it means coming to terms with the present – and a potential future with Sherlock.

“Rise and Fall” by All_I_need @the-reading-lemon​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/5968354

Sherlock Holmes is a Fallen looking for a distraction. John Watson is an invalided soldier looking for a flatshare. When they meet, both get more than they bargained for. But while Sherlock keeps John in the dark, someone else is patiently making sinister plans for the two of them.

“The destruction of ice” by All_I_need

https://archiveofourown.org/works/18898750

The year is 2081 and Sherlock Holmes never expected to encounter a threat to his Silence, the conditioning that keeps him sane and unfeeling. John Watson, on the other hand, never thought he'd find a flat in London. He certainly didn't expect to find one that comes with a Psy flatmate: brilliant, emotionless and more intriguing than John would like. When a series of brutal, random murders shakes London to its core, it is up to them to stop a vicious psychopath - preferably before Sherlock's latest experiment gets them both killed.

“The Wicked Path of Destiny” by hogwartswitch

https://archiveofourown.org/works/3531719

To save the man he loves, Sherlock sacrifices his life to become the God of Death for eternity. He walks the earth in a new, monstrous form, but a part of him has always remained human. John Watson has been touched by tragedy from his first breath. After losing all of his loved ones, he finds himself at the wrong end of a bullet. A prophecy, an act of sacrifice, and an epic quest for redemption link their destinies irrevocably.

“Darkling, I listen” by You_Light_The_Sky @youlighttheskyfanfiction​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/396130

No one who enters old London ever comes out. They say that the beast devours them. When his sister disappears, John ventures into the dead zone beyond the wall, and finds a brilliant madman under a terrible curse...

“Not the hands that kill” by You_Light_The_Sky

https://archiveofourown.org/works/388864

Having wings does not make Sherlock Holmes a guardian angel, not in the way that John Watson is his.

“A study in strays” by philalethia

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1397611

John Watson moves to 221B Baker Street. Unfortunately, the flat's already occupied.

“Left” by lifeonmars​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/639976

John Watson is left-handed. He’s tried not to let it affect his life, but as any Lefty knows, that’s almost impossible.

“How to sell your soul and get it back” by WhatIfIAmInsane @whatifiaminsane​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/9811478

Sadly unfinished but still so good!

Sherlock made a deal with the devil, quite literally. After years of drug abuse and neglect his body wouldn’t let him go on. Obviously, it happened right when he had finally found something to make his life interesting. The logical response was to offer his soul in exchange for a working transport. That had happened when he was 27. Now, at 34, he gets an unexpected visitor. The devil needs a favour and is offering Sherlock’s soul as payment.

“Hell Sent, Heaven Bound” by ConsultingHound

https://archiveofourown.org/works/15915207

Ex-War healer and current angelic guard John Watson is not having the best day. He overslept, he’s underpaid, and now there’s someone tagging the Council’s building walls. However things may be about to get interesting: there’s an unusual stranger hanging around (the definition of tall, dark, and handsome), a literal underground cult is brewing, and rumblings are coming from hell. Can he keep his neighbourhood safe, how and why is he being connected to all this, and who the hell is Sherlock Holmes?

“Chaos Theory” by entanglednow @entanglednow​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1718366

"You want me to let him go, of course," Mycroft says, before John even opens his mouth to speak.

“Mineralogy in slow motion” by entanglednow

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248079

All John wants is somewhere to spend the next few months, while he's blind as a bat. Just the next few months. The doctors were optimistic.

“Genius of the bottle” by GoldenUsagi @fancybedelia​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1718333

The last thing John expected to find in the desert was a bottle containing a genie named Sherlock.

“An impermanent destination” by GoldenUsagi 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/2229504

Out of all the species on the planet, dragons were the only ones that had a human level of intelligence. And that’s why they were the most dangerous.

“Anachronisms” by GoldenUsagi 

https://archiveofourown.org/works/1248034

“Do you ever wonder if there’s something wrong with us?” “We’re gods created by an age that had no use for them. I would be surprised if something weren’t. We were never welcomed by the others, nor adored by humanity. We should have withered long ago.”

“Secrets of the mind” by kryptaria  @kryptaria​

https://archiveofourown.org/works/445564

In a world where almost a tenth of the population are born gifted, psychics and nulls live side-by-side, without fear or prejudice. Children are tested in their late teens. Those who are gifted are trained in the safe use of their gifts. After training, they are tattooed with the mark of their gift, proudly displayed for all to see. Throughout history, the most feared serial killers and mass murderers have been multis: psychics born with multiple gifts. To be a multi is to be fated for a lifetime of incarceration for the good of society. There is no way to hide a psychic gift — no way to escape detection.Unless you’re Sherlock Holmes.

“Trenchcoats and Capes” by jomochi (Jominerva)

https://archiveofourown.org/works/6087484

He’s twirling a strand of hair around the finger of his other hand. His coat, which honestly looks more like a cape than anything, is spread out beneath him. His chest rises and falls slowly with calm breaths, the tight black material of his suit stretching to accommodate the movement. John has seen many pictures of him but not one did him any justice. The sight before John is breath-taking. It isn’t right. Evil shouldn’t look this good.

“Curse of the Were-Tuna” by WhoGroovesOn

https://archiveofourown.org/works/4607241

John couldn’t help but feel as though the large tuna beyond the glass was staring at him, which was weird because it’s not like fish had eyelids, they always seemed to be staring at things.

“Stranger at the gate” by bendingsignpost

https://archiveofourown.org/works/334825

As far as initiation rites go, kidnapping a human doctor from a defended town ought to seem extreme. When James Moriarty offers him the challenge, Sherlock never considers saying no. (Fantasy vampire AU)

“Man and Beast” by Jupiter_Ash

https://archiveofourown.org/works/496440

Sherlock is a werewolf who is captured by a facility which wants to experiment on him.  When John is placed into his cage they expect Sherlock to attack him, but instead, he tries to mate with John.

[ohbo-ohno]

 This is a bit dark, feel free not to respond to this. But I'm thinking of a world where Werewolf!Simon meets Johnny in the middle of the woods.

Like, picture this:

Johnny recently got hired to work in Canada as a fire lookout. In the wilderness, it reminds him of back home: mountains rise and fall, covered in trees and rivers and whatever else crawls around under the cover of darkness.

It's a peaceful yet lonely job, where he gets to sketch out whatever he finds most interesting that day, plays games on the handheld console he brought with him, and doomscrolls online. Mundane. But the daily chatter with fellow lookout, Kyle, and the nearby ranger station, Price, held over the radio make It enjoyable.

One day, though, Kyle tells him of a story he heard from Price, of the monsters of myth walking the earth. of how, sometimes, the Rangers will encounter something they simply can't describe: a little girl walking backwards, floating ethereal lights, and the constant howling of a lone wolf, the size of which has been described as simply monstrous.

Johnny didn't think too much about it of course, he's heard enough tales in Scotland to scoff at what Kyle tells him. But then Price, usually serious, corroborates the stories. Tells him Rangers have a special guide to deal with things like that.

If you see the girl, toss her a coin and she'll leave. If you see the lights, turn away. And if you see the wolf, you should hold your head low, bow, and hope he leaves ou alone.

Johnny still thinks it's a joke, an elaborate ale to freak out the newbies. 

Then, in the middle of the night, he wakes from the loud howl ringing through the forest. That's not what's strange: the wolf always howls. The problem is that the howl is nearly deafening from so close.

He rises from his bed, and crouches out of sight, paranoid that the wolf is watching him from the windows. He's too high up, he knows it makes no sense, and yet Kyle has successfully freaked him out. He crawls towards the door and makes sure it's locked, before peaking out.

It's too dark, he can't see anything. The howling has stopped though, which freaks him out to duck back down.

He makes his way to the main desk, opens the PC, and checks the camera feed on the bottom of the tower.

He can't see anything: the night is too dark, especially since there's no moon out tonight. 

He debates turning in the flood lights, but for some reason, he doesn't want to scare it away, at least not now.

He wants to know what it is, first. Maybe it's just a regular old wolf, and he doesn't want to scare it half to death for simply howling too close to Johnny- how would it know there's a scared human up the metal tower?

So, he clicks the little switch to turn on night vision. The screen freezes for a second, and then the green hued images flood him.

It's a man.

Tall, compared to the tree he's standing besides, further away into the foliage. 

His arms are preportionally longer than they should be, hairy and muscled. His feet are covered by some bushes, but from he Furr crawling up his legs, Johnny can guess he's standing on a beasts hind legs.

His face is that of a wolf. 

Slowly, the man leans his head to the sky and a howl echoes through the woods.

Johnny quietly barracads his door with tables and chairs and whatever else, he locks the windows, puts the blinds down on them, and is attached to his feed.

It's horrifying, but he has to keep watching the creature- man (?) As he stalks the towers, sniffs around.

He almost dozes off when he first head it: the scrape of something sharp on metal. Scrape. Scrape. It's rithmic. Like steps.

Johnny jolts, and switches cameras.

It's walking up the stairs.

To Johnny.

Oh god.

(And then Ghost finds him and bursts through and then ghost turns back into a human and then fuks the sweet-smelling man he found)

I ran out of brain juice sorry 🗑️

trash you NEED an ao3 or a blog to just post this in the ghoap tag omgggg i LOVE IT

[thecreaturecodex]

Brainchild

Image © Paizo Publishing, accessed at Archives of Nethys here

[I mentioned earlier that Bestiary 3 is my favorite of the PF2e main monster books. The brainchild is part of the reason why. I was going through the As and Bs with a fair bit of enjoyment, but this is the first monster in the book that made me sit up and take notice. I’ve streamlined and regulated the urban legend ability a bit more than the PF2e version, which states that the same brainchild might have different abilities in the same combat against different characters! That’s a lot of bookkeeping, so I wanted to make it a bit easier to play. I also expanded the types of spell-like abilities it could have access to. So if you want to make Candyman and have him summon swarms of bees, or give a brainchild Freddy Krueger’s nightmare ability, you can.]

Brainchild CR 11 CE Aberration This humanoid creature appears as a twisted, shadowy hag, her grin filled with sharp teeth and her claws perpetually blood-stained.

A brainchild is an urban legend come to life. In places where fears run high, especially where the boundaries between the Material and Shadow Planes are thin, any mysterious death or unexplained sighting might inspire the creation of a brainchild. No two brainchildren are alike, and they may take humanoid, bestial or stranger forms. Most people in a community haunted by a brainchild believe the creature to be a fiend, an undead, a monstrous beast or some other more tangible entity. As stories expand and rumors spread, the same brainchild may even take on new appearances or abilities.

Because of their disparate legends, no two brainchildren fight with exactly the same strategy, but there are some common themes. A brainchild’s most powerful attack is an illusory weapon of some kind, a signature move that inflicts mental, not physical damage (although it may certainly resemble a gout of flame, a hyperextensible claw, or some other more mundane weapon). They prefer ambush and slaughter to a straight up fight, attempting to kill the weakest seeming enemy at once with a phantasmal killer spell. Enemies that recognize that a brainchild is a mental creature can use that to weaken the monster, disbelieving its abilities until it is a shell of its typical power.

Areas haunted by a brainchild tend to attract other monsters. Fear-obsessed fey such as bogeymen and meenlocks are drawn to a brainchild the way a moth is drawn to a flame. Popobawas love brainchildren as if they were literal children, and try to bring them into existence in a community by hiding their own presence. All of these added horrors tend to reinforce a brainchild’s existence, as the stories get blurred together and the reputation of the region as monster-haunted increases. The only way to permanently destroy a brainchild is to convince everyone living in the area that it truly is dead. Most brainchildren accumulate rumors of their weaknesses—a particular sword can slay one, they can only die if a specific song is sung over their fresh body, etc. Some of the most dangerous and powerful brainchildren are those that return after a long absence. When an old diary is read or regional folklore is collected, a brainchild may be called back into existence, and the means to put it down again may not be as well remembered.

Brainchild              CR 11 XP 12,800 CE Large aberration Init +9; Senses darkvision 60 ft., Perception +18 Aura frightful presence (100 ft., Will DC 25) Defense AC 27, touch 15, flat-footed 21 (-1 size, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +12 natural) hp 136 (16d8+64) Fort +11, Ref +10, Will +13 DR 10/cold iron; Immune cold, death effects, disease, fear; SR 22 Defensive Abilities persistence of memory, undetectable Offense Speed 40 ft., fly 40 ft. (good) Melee 2 claws +15 (1d8+4 plus bleed), bite +15 (2d6+4 plus bleed) Ranged illusory weapon +16 (8d6+7) Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft. Special Attacks bleed (1d6) Spell-like Abilities CL 11th, concentration +18 (+22 casting defensively) At will—ghost sound (DC 17) 3/day—dimension door, phantasmal killer (DC 21), sending 1/day—cone of cold (DC 22) Statistics Str 18, Dex 21, Con 18, Int 15, Wis 16, Cha 25 Base Atk +12; CMB +19; CMD 35 Feats Blind Fight, Combat Casting, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Skill Focus (Bluff) Skills Bluff +25, Fly +22, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (local) +17, Perception +18, Perform (oratory) +19, Sense Motive +15, Stealth +16 Languages telepathy 100 ft., truespeech SQ urban legend (bleed, blindsense, cone of cold, DR/cold iron, frightful presence, immune to cold, SR) Ecology Environment urban or any land Organization solitary Treasure standard Special Abilities Illusory Weapon (Su) As a standard action, a brainchild can make an attack with an illusory weapon. Treat this as a ranged attack with a range of 100 feet and no range increment. A creature struck takes d6s of damage equal to ½ the brainchild’s HD, plus the brainchild’s Charisma modifier (8d6+7 for the average specimen). This damage is typeless, but creatures immune to mind-influencing damage are immune to this effect, and the illusory weapon is treated as a mind thrust III spell for the purposes of interacting with mental barrier and similar effects. Persistence of Memory (Ex) A brainchild is restored to life 2d4 days after it is slain, unless everyone in the community it haunts believes it to be truly dead. Undetectable (Ex) A brainchild is immune to divination spells and effects that would detect it or determine its alignment or other auras. It is not immune to divination spells and effects that deal damage, such as mind thrust spells. Urban Legend (Su) All brainchildren have a suite of abilities, based on what people believe about them. A brainchild may choose from any of the following abilities, and may take multiple abilities of the same type as long as they do not cancel each other out (for example, two immunities).

An additional natural weapon that deals damage as normal for a creature of its size

All natural weapons deal an additional 1d6 points of damage. This damage may be acid, bleed, cold, electricity, fire, force, negative energy or sonic damage.

Damage reduction 10/cold iron or DR 10/silver

Spell resistance equal to 10  + CR

Immune to an energy type or school of magic

A 5th or 6th level spell usable as a spell-like ability 1/day, or a 3rd or 4th     level spell usable as a spell-like ability 3/day

Blindsense or tremorsense 60 ft.

Frightful presence (100 foot radius)

A brainchild may have a number of abilities equal to its Charisma modifier (+7 for the average specimen). A brainchild may take an 8th ability if it also takes a vulnerability to an energy type. As a standard action, a character within 100 feet of a brainchild may attempt to make a Perception or Sense Motive check, opposed by the brainchild’s Bluff check. If it succeeds, it treats the brainchild as if it doesn’t have one of its abilities (of the character’s choice) for 24 hours. If it fails, it cannot attempt to disbelieve that same ability for the next 24 hours. During that time, that character can spend a standard action to aid another character’s Perception or Sense Motive check against the same ability and grant them a +4 bonus on their skill check to disbelieve.

[anim-ttrpgs]

A ghostly pixel ghost, part of the art assets for FORIVA: The Angel Game whipped up by @ashweather. Is this an enemy? A friend? A clue? You'll have to back our kickstarter at the $32 tier or higher to get the adventure module "FORIVA: The Angle Game" and find out!

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is a neo-noir investigation-focused RPG with (as you can probably guess from the title) a supernatural twist. Eureka fills several voids we have noticed in the TTRPG space. Eureka supports investigation to a degree we haven’t seen before, ensuring that searching for clues is a granular and player-driven process, but also ensuring that the whole story doesn’t grind to a halt after one single failed investigation check.

Though most PCs will be mundane humans—or perhaps because most PCs will be mundane humans—Eureka also supports playing monstrous PCs, such as a vampire, in a way we have never seen before. This isn’t just a watered-down stat bonus, it’s like playing an almost entirely different game, with all the monster’s strengths and weaknesses to account for while solving the mystery, plus the added incentive to keep it a secret from the other PCs as well as their players.

If you like or are interested in Call of Cthulhu, Monster of the Week, Dresden Files, X-Files, Kolchak: The Night Stalker, Apocalypse Keys, or Gumshoe, you’ll probably find something in Eureka to really enjoy.

Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is kickstarting from right now until May 10th! Back it while you still can!

If you want to try before you buy, you can download a free demo of the prerelease version from our website or our itch.io page!

If you’re interested in a more updated and improved version of Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy than the free demo you got from our website, subscribe to our Patreon where we frequently roll our new updates for the prerelease version!

You can also support us on Ko-fi, or by checking out our merchandise!

Join our TTRPG Book Club At the time of writng this, Eureka: Investigative Urban Fantasy is the current game being played in the book club, and anyone who wants to participate in discussion, but can’t afford to make a contribution, will be given the most updated prerelease version for free! Plus it’s just a great place to discuss and play new TTRPGs you might not be able to otherwise!

We hope to see you there, and that you will help our dreams come true and launch our careers as indie TTRPG developers with a bang by getting us to our base goal and blowing those stretch goals out of the water, and fight back against WotC's monopoly on the entire hobby. Wish us luck.

[enddaysengine]

Dossenus and Manducus (Werewolf the Forsaken)

A farce is an exaggerated comedy with outrageous characters in improbable situations. If you asked the Urdeshga to imagine a farce, they could hardly do better than recreate Dossenus and Manducus' scheme, yet the Hosts' operation is deadly serious. That an Azlu and Beshilu could curb their competing instincts to seal/destroy the Gauntlet long enough to work together, let alone cultivate a conspiracy of monstrosity, is absurd to Marisi and Saturi alike, yet that is precisely what has happened. 

Dossenus and Manducus are both pseudonyms; the two Hosts maintain a normal enough appearance that they can blend in amongst the Herd and use a combination of magic and theatre masks to obfuscate their identities at gatherings. Said gatherings are plays for monsters, attended by hungry spirits, pained ghosts, decadent fa-ninnalu, and the twisted shartha. Together, they make merry, sacrifice to bloody gods, and plot the downfall of their lupine oppressors. Even werewolves are welcome at the performances, especially the Paeon and Foederati, but they must swear not to disrupt the proceedings nor reveal what they see and hear. For various reasons, the Marisi, Saturi, and Meninna rarely attend. 

Dossenus is the Azlu, taking their name from the Roman theatre's "Ever-Eating" stock character. Dossenus is the plotter, always searching for the next opportunity, venue, and chance to strike. They have the vision and grandeur to create a spectacle and make a statement. They are the mastermind, putting events in motion and watching the chaos emerge. 

Manducus is "The Chewer," gnawing their way through norms and boundaries - unsurprising given that they are a Belishu. Mandacus is the hype person, always encouraging guests to enjoy themselves and indulge in more wine or meat. Everything they do, from food to theater to murder, is done with the entirety of their being. They lead by example, giving nothing less than their maximum effort at work and play. 

Hiding in the background, the duo has a third partner. The Oracle is an [REDACTED BY ORDER OF THE SENATE - REFER TO NONE MORE DARK PUBLISHING] who uses the gift of foresight to anticipate when and where the Urdeshga will strike next. Her prophecies allow the theatre to stay on the run, showing their productions where they are least likely to be caught. Because of her far more monstrous appearance than her co-conspirators, the Oracle rarely appears in public. Still, she can be glimpsed at their midnight performances and is just determined to burn those who hunt her and her sisters to the ground. 

Dossenus 

Attributes: Intelligence 4 Wits 4 Resolve 3 Strength 1 Dexterity 3 Stamina 2 Presence 2 Manipulation 4 Composure 2

Skills: Academics 2 (Writing), Enigma 3, Investigation 2, Occult 3 (Werewolves, Hosts), Politics 5 (Plots); Brawl 2, Ride 1, Larceny 3, Stealth 3, Weaponry 1; Empathy 3 (Motives), Expression 2 (Playwright), Intimidation 3, Streetwise 2, Subterfuge 4

Merits: Alternate Identity 3, Resources 4

Essence: 20

Willpower: 5

Size: 5 

Health: 7

Initiative: +5

Defence: 3

Speed: 9

Dread Powers: Discorporate, Ever Eating, Eye Spy, Gauntlet Cloak, Gauntlet Webs, Swift, Wall Climb

New Dread Power - Secret Eater: By spending 3 Essence, Dossenus can eat a secret another confides to her, hiding from the rest of the world. Mundane attempts to uncover the secret automatically fail and supernatural means trigger a Clash of Wills against Dossenus' Manipulation + Occult. Revealing the secret to a crowd ends the effect, but completely refills Dossenus' Willpower.

Manducus 

Attributes: Intelligence 2 Wits 4 Resolve 3 Strength 2 Dexterity 1 Stamina 3 Presence 4 Manipulation 1 Composure 5

Skills: Crafts 2, Investigation 3, Medicine 2, Occult 2 (Spirits); Archery 1, Athletics 2, Brawl 3, Survival 2, Weaponry 3; Empathy 3, Expression 5 (Acting), Intimidation 4, Persuasion 3, (Indulgence), Socialize 4 (Feasting), Streetwise 3

Merits: Alternate Identity 2, Allies (Paeon) 3

Essence: 20

Willpower: 8

Size: 6

Health: 9

Initiative: + 6 

Defence: 3

Speed: 8

Dread Powers: Discorporate, Gnaw Gauntlet, Juggernaut, Monsterous Resilence, Warp Shard. 

New Dread Power - Shared Feast: When Manducus shares a meal with others in which human flesh is consumed, they may spend 5 Essence to grant another participant a Dread Power, which lasts until the Chapter's End. Manducus does not need to possess the Dread Power bestowed.

[dailycharacteroption]

Forester (Hunter Archetype)

(art by Aleksander Karcz on Artstation)

The hunter class is, as we have established in past entries, a class that very much revolves around the animal companion and synergizing with both. It definitely makes you take a second look whenever an archetype gets rid of the companion in favor of other gimmicks and abilities, which a handful of them do.

Today’s subject is one such archetype, being a hunter that is more in tune with nature and their surroundings than they are with the creatures that live within, though of course they still place high value upon such natural creatures.

Despite the name, a “forester” is not limited to forest terrain. More accurately, they are hunters devoted to the various terrains they watch over. In other words, this archetype is all about the ranger favored terrains plus a few other abilities to replace those normally associated with animal companions and such.

The natural world itself is full of many wonders, so I imagine that these hunters in particular have a deep appreciation for aspects both amazing and mundane within the regions they make their home. Regardless, in their home element, few can match them.

Since they don’t have a companion, these hunters keep all of their animal foci powers for themselves, gaining multiple at once.

Their primarily ability, however, is to train to work and fight in their favored terrains with ease, growing their list as they master each.

They also put the training they would normally use to fight alongside their companion towards more flexible forms of combat training.

Additionally, they put their teamwork training towards aiding those they fight with rather than their companion.

Going solo means taking care of yourself, so these hunters train their agility to help avoid dangerous blasts. Later on, this improves further.

That focus on survivability also means they master the art of camouflage to hide from foes and prey, blending in with their favored terrains.

Additionally, in an emergency they can quickly bring a recently slain ally back to life using the same energies they would normally use to revive a companion.

Finally, they become so good at hiding in their favored terrains that they can disappear even when being watched.

This archetype is a fun way to do a companion-less hunter, with favored terrains are a natural replacement. Definitely pick your spells to complement a solo fighting style, especially when they are thematic to your choice of favored terrains, but also prepare for the eventuality of having to fight outside of it.

You might have noticed that many of their replacement abilities are literally modified versions of abilities the hunter normally gets, but geared towards helping other party members. Some might disdain and archetypes like it for the implication that classes are a “part of the world” in the same way, showing the seams of this being a “game”. Others might not be bothered, so your mileage may vary.

Fleeing execution decades ago, the renegade hobgoblin Ozhan has lived the life of a hermit ever since, becoming one with the mountain above and the forest below. He shows no mercy to hobgoblins wearing military colors, but might be convinced to aid those who need a guide.

Many do not think of the underground, be it natural caverns, a dungeon, or even a sewer system beneath the city as an ecosystem, but they are in their own way. As such, certain “Deepers” train themselves to understand that environment, befriending creatures such as otyughs that most would consider monstrous.

A war under the moon is coming for two werewolf clans, the Bloody Moons, who embrace their bestial  nature, and the Ghost Wolves, who temper their monstrous side into a weapon against evil, have come to blows. Ilmac and his family are caught in the middle as a forest caretaker from the Moons who married a Ghost Wolf warrior during more peaceful times.

[cartoonfanaticmonsterrobotalien]

Solar Opposites: Misadventures of the Solars Episode List (Pt. 1)

The Unwanted Personification Of The Solars: The humans of GeenaDavisville are forced to face reality when they are infected by a virus that is turning them into Shlorpians, just like the Solar Opposites. Meanwhile, the Solars realize they’ve been on Earth long enough, they’ve developed the ability to turn into humans.

Localization F%#ks: Trying to fit in, the new Solars get themselves into crazy shenanigans that led to them facing a heap of trouble.

Fox Fight: Wanting to fit in with a pack of rednecks, Randall takes up a fight that accidentally led to him becoming an recluse with a mind of an animal after getting lost in the wood for three weeks.

The Earth-4 Rowdy Nights: The Solars accidentally get into a fight with a rival food truck that led to them forcing to go on the run while taking up new identities.

Korvo’s Requiem: After being overwhelmed and taunted by the locals, Korvo has finally reached his breaking point that caused him to reveal a dark monstrous secret on his family’s side.

A Solars’ Night Out: Wanting to throw party with their high school classmates, the Replicants, Sonya and Stacy G decided to invite them for a party but then Cooke accidentally transported themselves along with the house to another planet.

America’s Got No Talent: The Solars desperately drives themselves to a talent competition in order to prevent a jealous high schooler from humiliating Sherbet.

War of The Colossal Terry: Overwhelmed and force to face reality that his friends are struggling with their Shlorpian forms, Terry discovers that he has a dark side of himself he can’t control out of fear and anger.

Beauty Is Found From Not Within: Stacy G is accidentally possessed by an enchantress’ ghost that is turning into a gorgeous but evil version of herself.

Taco Boss: Cooke, wanting to get back at rival for putting a humiliating nickname in a arcade game, starts using the kids to get into the family-only place for kids in order to get a higher score.

Terry Loses his Shit Again: Terry reaches his breaking point after a fight at a grocery mart with a mean customer and soon becomes a Mundane again, but this time his personality has changed, turning him into something he is not.

[phantomdoofer]

Ok this is gonna be long and a bit rambly, so bear with me, please. Had a dream where I found a place kind of like a cross between the Youkai World and Deltarune's Dark World. I was a kid, and my cat (and for some reason, a hummingbird) led me to this strange door in my basement that led to a long downward staircase. As I descended, I changed into adult me, but an idealized form that was a magic swordsman - which makes sense to me, as I always get drawn to that sort of job in games. My cat turned into a calico-patterned mountain lion, while the hummingbird turned into a cat-size hummingbird tengu thing. I also discovered that, even though it was like a maze of rooms and tunnels (that looked way too much like The Backrooms), it sort of patterned itself after my desires - I eventually found a way back up, and even though I'd only walked for maybe ten minutes, I came out in a city almost a hundred miles away.

Turns out this place functioned on imagination and belief - you became what you thought you should be, not what you were. And the world shaped itself in a similar fashion.

You could also use it to travel huge distances - if you just believed "I will come out in this place" you eventually would.

So I started exploring at night. Turned out that animals and ghosts could go down there and become intelligent beings, much like Youkai in Japanese mythology. But humans were a bit different - we could influence the very shape and behavior of the Underworld from the start, unlike animals, who had to live down there for a very long time to be able to do that. So some creatures hunted humans to devour their spirits, in order to become more powerful. One night my dad followed me down there, but didn't transform. Turns out most adults are so set in their ways they just stay mundane while they're down there. My cat, bird and I had transformed into tiny creatures to hide from from a particularly nasty creature who looked a lot like Yubaba from Spirited Away with a spider lower body, who was hunting humans. Turns out she wasn't too bright, and was hunting based on looks. But my dad couldn't transform, and was just wandering around looking for me. She finally found him, and I had to transform back - but I turned into a monstrous version of myself and blasted her with some sort of spell, killing her. Then we explained to him how the Underground worked, and escorted him out.

This is a perfect example of why I sometimes wish I could record my dreams...

[bumblevoid]

so,, fnm won the poll and i've already actually been working on some materials sO

the promised ramble! (not including any drawings, sadly)

so. Five Night's Monsters is a fun little monster of the week campaign based in the world of fnaf, yeah? it also draws inspiration from batim and the matrix (coming from someone who has seen part of the matrix but like. not all of it). I'm not going to touch too much on that stuff, cause i don't wanna spoil my big twists for the hunters, but one of them already knows what i mean :D

the campaign takes place in hurricane, utah, to no one's surprise. I'm using this funky timeline that's like. half pre-prepared, half made up on the spot. it is taking place in 2018, and starts on the day of the fnaf 3 fire- set by henry and helpy. three of our hunters were meeting up after a while of not seeing each other, the fourth joined in to give them a ride getting henry safe, and the fifth will be joining in soon. this brings us to our dear hunters! i won't say too much, as they each have their own characters and backstories, but I'll touch on how they're connected, and basic ideas of backstory. first we've got @clemmieinnit's hunter, Bonnie Jeremiah. he's like, a band teacher, and honestly connects most of the hunters? like, one is a college friend, the other two are former students. he's also the bonnie mask bully. clem's playing the Wronged playbook next, there's @starlightandroses's hunter, Syren Vanheri. they're the local conspiracy theorist of sorts, an expert on freddy's without the inside info. lani's playing the Expert playbook the next hunters don't have tumblr,, we've got Toren Ageri, former night guard. he's got a really fun and interesting backstory that's mostly kept under locks haha. toren is the Crooked. and there's Ren Spurling. their mother was a night guard, but wasn't as lucky as toren to live. ren is the Mundane. and of course, making an entrance literally as I'm typing this, is Melanie Kyla Jensen! she's a very fun character who I've been working with the player on, and boy am i excited for her. her aunt is our good good ghost friend cassidy. melanie is the Spooky!

okay. so there's the hunters. so, I'm not entirely sure what they're expecting the final end-goal to be right now, but they're probably thinking defeating wafton? then again, i have let it slip there's several potential bbegs so who knows. but basically, it's just sort of a motw fnaf thingybading. they've been fighting the phantom animatronics lately, as they haven't actually encountered too much of this hunt's monster. and what they have encountered is easy to blame the phantoms for (which is funny cause there was a 20% chance they'd show up and then i rolled a 1 on the d100) so far, they've met up, found helpy, helped henry, fixed helpy, and are stuck in a power-outage that they're just kinda. doing a bunch of things figuring out what's going on. right now, we've got the "he's immortal???" plotline, and the "jeremy is, in fact, also the vr jeremy" plotline going on. also the "melanie explores freddy's" plot.

some fun things i'm doing here are. not really how motw works but i couldn't care less it's interesting- but some of the npcs are recruitable, and have playbooks themselves. these npcs are jeremy, henry, sammy, and michael (not that. mike is there yet.) one is the wronged, one is the spooky, one is the monstrous, and one is the chosen. sammy is our local favorite npc! he's both the hunters' favorite, and mine... yeah you can probably guess how that's turned out haha.

might post some of the npc files (hunter's edition) once i get some more drawings going of these little dudes

[wealmostaneckbeard]

The Indie game [SIGNALIS] and table top role playing game Monster Of The Week both belong in the survival horror genre. They both feature monsters, mysteries, guns, and dwindling resources. MOTW is more of a power fantasy while Signalis is kind-of the opposite... like a Mortality Simulator?

Therefore it is not surprising that after reading my old copy of the 2nd Edition MOTW, I think I could set a campaign in the Signalis universe. Whenever the manual mentions the word magic, I swap it out for Bioresonance.

I've written some notes already:

The first set of notes are some light details for locations in District 0123 on Heimat. The main residential bloc is packed with refugee-immigrants from the planets Kitezh and Vineta. In another area, a criminal gang operates a black market venue out of a condemned cathedral to The Empress. There's also a vertical hydroponics farming silo that provides food and employment. Finally there is a big multi-purpose community facility that has stuff like a toboggan run family fun center, Blockwart headquarters, train yard, and a shopping mall. Underneath all of it is a network of infrastructure tunnels, with maintenance barracks, that all flow towards a waste reclamation facility where convicted gestalts and defective replikas work under armed supervision. AND in some forgotten corner of the sewers is Bioresonance Laboratory #03, originally built by the empire and then abandoned after The Incident, where a flesh-hole to Nowhere has recently opened. Out of which has come ghosts of gestalt scientists and guards, as well as corrupted first/second generation replikas.

My second set of notes has been pairing MOTW hunter archetypes with types of Gestalts (humans) and Replikas (bio-mechanical clones) which has yielded some interesting character ideas. A normal Kolibri (telepathic cop with an addiction to coffee) would be a Spooky Hunter whereas one that's been exiled from her hive mind would be a conspiracist Flake Hunter. Falke's are supernaturally powerful so they could be a Spell-Slinger or Divine Hunter, with the former representing older combat focused models while the latter represents newer administrative/propaganda oriented models. Mundane, Crooked, and Wronged Hunters could be regular Gestalts and civilian grade Replikas. The Monstrous Hunter could either be a mutated Replika or the ghost of a Gestalt, both created by harmful Bioresonance exposure. Gestalts that have undergone special training or their military grade Replika counterparts could be Initiate, Chosen, Expert and Professional Hunters.

This is all I've got for now. Hopefully someone likes what I'm proposing here. I'm thinking I could get some interested players from signalis discord servers...

[uneasedregrets]

Unprompted starter for @songofancients ( for Mipha )

The Shade looked out at a world in ruin. The hero had fallen some years ago, and would be returning to this world eventually. Yet the country was overrun, its champions slain by the beasts they were meant to control. The land the Shade had given everything to protect, in ruins once again.

It felt nothing towards this.

The Shade wandered Hyrule unabated by the catastrophe. Neither the living, nor the dead bothered it. Both the monstrous and the mundane gave this ancient hero a wide berth, though the Shade often wondered if this was intentional or because it was a ghost.

In any event, the Shade wound up in Zora's Domain one day, and overheard that the spirit of the Zora champion, Mipha, was within Vah Ruta. Intrigued, the Shade wandered its way to where the Divine Beast was.

"Hail," the Shade announced its presence with little worry of retribution, "if a spirit haunts these lands, I beseech thee to come forth and speak with another spirit."

[cosmiccannibalcamille]

Halloween HORRORscopes

Published in The Haven

     If you’re curious about what's in store for your sign this Halloween, you’re in luck: I’ve got your hair-raising, spine-tingling, painstakingly punny, Dad-joke-laden horoscope forecasts for All Hallow's Eve.

ENJOY!

Aries ♈

    A la The Addams Family, you’re preoccupied with everything eerie. Skeletons, mummies, and spirits are at the top of the list, but hoodoo and magic could also call out to you. A seance at a cemetery could be just the thing to cure your craving for the odd and macabre… 

Taurus ♉

     Trick-or-treating is a thing of the past. This time around, you and your screammates should throw a party on Elm Street (that’s where Freddy Kreuger lives). While you’re at it, invite Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, and Chucky. From what I hear, when these three are at a party, they slayyyyy… 

Gemini ♊

     Grab your broomstick, slap on your pointy hat and light those candles, because your daily routine is in for a witchy makeover. You’re eschewing the mundanity of muggle life for banishing hexes, summoning spells, potions and sigils. And literally all you want to watch is Harry Potter and Hocus Pocus… 

Cancer ♋

     Costume idea: A werewolf! You’ve already got that changeling thing down pat, but it’ll be a fun change of pace to unleash your inner beast and howl at the moon-- if only for a fright night. If going out isn’t your bag, consider staying in and binge-watching werewolf horror movies… 

Leo ♌

     Living dead are coming to your haunted house for a grim night in. Bats, black cats, cobwebs and voodoo dolls provide the perfect atmosphere for a oujia board seance. Of course, you and your undead friends could also prowl through a graveyard and tell ghost stories until dawn. Your choice… 

Virgo ♍

     Vampires, boogeymen and hellions are taking over your streets, but there’s no need to freak. Elvira, Mistress of the Damned, is a Virgo and she never lets any hellions mess with her. So, repeat after me: I’m a horrible hag and no hellion, ghoul, goblin or ogre can mess with me…   

Libra ♎

       Listen to them, the children of the night. Be they poltergeist, warlock or banshee, they’re shrieking for you to join them in a Halloween spook spree. Sharpen your fangs, don your cape and get ready to scary the living sh** out of your dorm, because these cursed companions mean business… 

Scorpio ♏

     Spiders are a good source of protein, so throw a few in your cauldron. The magic potion may not list spiders as a main ingredient, but you’re a crafty witch and you can do as you please. Besides, arachnids balance the bitterness of boomslang skin and newt eye quite nicely…  

Sagittarius ♐

     Spirits of the dead (both literally and figuratively) may rise from the grave and haunt you all day and night. Like zombies, these invisible phantoms seek to feed on your head and heart. The panacea to this paranormal problem isn’t sleep-- dreams are where they get ya --but direct confrontation… 

Capricorn ♑

     Count Chocula has a coven of monstrous pals-- Boo Berry, Franken Berry, The Swirled Ghost --and they’re always down for a Halloween bash. You should do as the Count does: get out of your coffin, call your fright night fam and troll the town for a creepy bash to crash… (I hear Taurus is throwing a rager over on Elm Street.)

Aquarius ♒

     Ancient apparitions (otherwise known as wraiths) could come knocking on the door of your tomb / casket / catacomb. Who you gonna call? Um, Ghostbusters, duh. They’ll blast those spectres back into the past. But watch out: they might splatter ectoplasm all over the place and that goo is hard to clean up…  

Pisces ♓

     Pumpkins become jack-o-lanterns when humans cut out their innards and carve shapes into their flesh. From their gooey guts rise their souls, this is well known in Gourd lore. You might want to familiarize yourself with this and other Halloween myths, or just go make a myth of your own…