HORRORS WITH AN OPEN LICENSE

We have included some of the Horrors that you can include in your scenarios. We’ve opened their license in hopes that some will use them to make scenarios. This section will be a living document, with us adding Horrors continually.

There are Horrors from each category of Horror: Lesser Horrors, Greater Horrors, Resonant Horrors, Ritual Users, and Dead Gods. There are some additional Horrors in previous SRDs that can be built upon and used.

TYPES OF HORRORS

• Lesser Horrors: Minor threats, more commons in number, that serve more powerful entities. These are horrors that are made, many of which were once human.
• Greater Horrors: Powerful beings that have found their way into our world. These are major threats that seek power upon the material plane.
• Resonant Horrors: Manifestations of energies and entities from other planes of existence.
• Ritual Users: Humans that have gained access to rituals through dread means. Some enter into pacts while others have transcended mortality.
• Dead Gods: Vestiges of powerful beings that still have a foothold on this plane.

LESSER HORRORS

Minor threats, more commons in number, that serve more powerful entities. These are horrors that are made, many of which were once human.

1. Reanimated Dead
2. Ghosts
3. Goloch
4. Gremlins
5. O.R.C.s
6. Puppets
7. Carrion Crier

REANIMATED DEAD

STR: 12 DEX: 5 CTRL: 4
HP: 3
Bite (d4)

• Infect: If the damage from a Bite exceeds the victims HP, the Reanimated Dead latches on to rend the flesh and spread their infection, dealing an additional d4 Stress.
• Finisher: Reanimated Dead do not perish at 0 STR. To stop them from rising again, either the brain must be destroyed or their corpses burnt.

Reanimated Dead are living corpses that were not allowed the peace of death. Created through a variety of means, they are ever moving in mindless pursuit of a goal their barest instinct drives them towards, even as the earth calls them back. Whatever remains of their consciousness is trapped in a prison of rotting flesh, only released by destroying the brain.

Variants

1. Lurker: Slow shamblers. Grapple and drag down their victims.
2. Naked: Shredded or no clothing. Stained with coagulated blood.
3. Grave: Buried bodies risen from the grave. Significant decay.
4. Sprinter: Charge at victims with intense speed.
5. Bloater: Swollen from water exposure or filled with gas. Bursts upon taking Critical Damage (d4, blast).
6. Dried Out: Leathery skin from prolonged sun exposure, +1 Armor.
7. Creeper: Ambush hunters that lurk in the dark and attack at opportune moments.
8. Prototype: Rapid mutations heal 1 HP/STR per round.

GHOSTS

STR: 7 DEX: 12 CTRL: 15
HP: 8
Chilling Touch (d4 Stress)

• Incorporeal: Ghosts cannot be damaged by conventional weaponry. Directly engaging a Ghost requires otherworldly means such as Resonant Artifacts, Rituals, and Fallout, or holy water, salt, and holy symbols.
• Haunting: Ghosts are able to possess inanimate objects and people, allowing them to move and manipulate the environment. During a possession, the Ghost’s victim or object can be damaged with conventional weaponry, expelling the entity after taking Critical Damage.
• Flashback: The Ghost reaches out with a chilling touch. The target must make a CTRL Save or take d6 Stress as they relive the Ghost’s death.

Ghosts are the incorporeal spirits left behind after a person or creature died. Echoes of what they once were, their form varies from wisps and impressions of their former selves to incorporeal presences, with some twisting into horrifying entities that prey upon the living.

FALLOUT: HAUNTED
A spectral being has deemed you a worthy host and has formed a “connection” with you. Otherwise incorporeal spirits become visible to you. +1 Stability.

Variants

1. Torment: Their form appears in agony, moaning and wailing, lashing out at the living.
2. Victim: Their form reveals the gruesome manner in which they died.
3. Black shadow: A tall blur of darkness, humanoid in nature but with indistinguishable features.
4. Shroud: Draped in a white sheet or wearing a flowing white dress.
5. Child: Saddeningly young. Often initially calm, but they are moody and unstable, lashing out at perceived slights.
6. Animal: The impressions of a creature or strange entity. An embodiment of pure instinct.

GOLOCH

STR: 8 DEX: 13 CTRL: 2
HP: 3
Variable Weapons (d6)

• Reconstitute: If the host takes Critical Damage but is not killed, the creature will quickly reconstruct itself, using its spindly tendrils to reconnect parts and rebuild. It will even use inanimate objects if needed.
• Abscond: When the host is reduced to 0 STR, the creature (STR: 12 HP: 6) will burst forth from the body and scuttle to find a new corpse to take control of. If there are no other dead bodies in the vicinity, it will try to implant the nearest living person or animal.

Goloch are spider-like entities with tumorous bodies suspended on spindly silver tendrils. They implant themselves within bodies and corpses, using their tendrils to join together limbs and bones like silver tendons. As the body rots away, what’s often left behind is the skeletal structure, still puppeted by this parasitic creature.

Variants

1. Living Person: Implanted, but not fully aware of the ramifications. They can act with their own agency while the parasite worms its tendrils through the body, but will eventually die when the creature assumes control.
2. Cadaver: Can pass as an otherwise normal person from afar, but the decaying body is noticeable at close range.
3. Skeleton: Just the bones left. Attacks from ranged or piercing weapons are Impaired, weapons used for bludgeoning are Enhanced.
4. Animal: A mid-sized creature the parasite was able to snare in its tendrils. Commonly house pets.

GREMLINS

STR: 7 DEX: 12 CTRL: 9
HP 4
Jagged Teeth (d6)

• Repurpose: Gremlins have an innate ability to break items and make them serve a new, often dangerous and unstable function.
• Deimatic Display: When cornered or made angry, Gremlins swell up with ferocity. During this period, their attacks are Enhanced, while attacks against them are also Enhanced.
• Quick Snack: Gremlins almost always go for the fingers first. When they deal Critical Damage, the fingers are the first to go.

Gremlins are impish little creatures. If not for their chaotic demeanor and razor sharp teeth, some might find their floppy pointed ears and smushed faces to be cute, almost like a hairless cat. Their very nature is mischievous. They covet shiny bits and bobs, often ripping apart and sabotaging machinery to get their hands on it, leading to a number of unexplained disasters.

O.R.C.

STR: 12 DEX: 14 CTRL: 8
HP: 5 Armor: 1
Crude Blade (d6) or Teeth (d6)

• Photophobia: As underground dwellers, ORCs are sensitive to sunlight. When exposed, their attacks are Impaired, while attacks against them are Enhanced.
• Rally: Once per engagement, an ORC can shout a rally cry as their action to regenerate their HP.
• Caustic Blood: If an ORC takes Critical Damage, an eruption of corrosive blood sprays out (d4, blast, acid).

Opportunistic Radioactive Cannibals (ORCs) are once-human creatures whose flesh was corrupted by toxic waste. Coursing through their body is a caustic ichor that fuses muscle and bone, warping the body into a brutal machine. They spend their lives underground, navigating a sprawling interdimensional network of caves and tunnels, only driven to the surface to sate their taste for human flesh.

O.R.C. PRIEST
STR: 10 DEX: 14 CTRL: 12
HP: 5 Armor: 1
Crosier (d6)

• Bless: The Priest gives divine inspiration to another ORC, allowing them to power through the next instance of damage they take. Acts as +2 Armor.
• Mutagen: The Priest launches mutagenic toxic waste at a target. (d8 Stress)

ORC priests are often those in their rank that underwent the most severe transformation at the hands of the toxic waste. Their massive bulbous heads make it difficult for them to walk, meaning they’re typically carried aloft by other ORCs when the need arises. They claim to have deep connection to the Dead Gods and hear their whispers, but few have gotten close enough and lived to tell the tale to verify the truth of this.

PUPPETS

STR: 12 DEX: 10 CTRL: 8
HP: 4
Bludgeon (d4) or Skinning Knife (d6)

• Chirp: Puppets have an uncanny ability to throw sound, emulating a twisted version of voices they’ve heard recently.
• Rework: With access to a fresh supply of flesh and the right tools, a Puppet can repair and reassemble itself to recover lost STR. With the right tools and new flesh they can be reassembled from most damage.
• Flayed: When a Puppet deals Critical Damage, they cut deep, flaying a chuck of the skin in preparation for later harvesting.

Puppets are creatures made of human flesh stretched over wooden mannequins. In low light or the dark, they may appear as mundane mannequins, the truth of their form being revealed upon venturing too close. Puppets tend to have unique personalities, but are all driven to harvest more material to drape over their forms.

VARIANTS

1. Bare wood, stained brown with old blood but no flesh.
2. Dancers posed in a display of bravura.
3. Crawlers that cling to the walls and ceilings, dropping down upon their prey.
4. Stalkers that shift and move in the darkness, following behind their prey when they aren’t looking.

CARRION CRIER

STR: 10 DEX: 14 CTRL: 10
HP: 5
Claws (d6) or Beak (d6)

• Mimicry: The Carrion Crier can modify its harsh call to mimic a variety of other creatures and even an approximation of human voices.

Carrion Criers are bird-like creatures with fleshy skin and bat-like wings. They are quite large, with an impressive six foot wingspan, sharp talons, and a long pointed beak. Easily mistaken as circling vultures from afar, they are considered a fell omen, as their presence often precedes great tragedy, marked by a reverberating caw.

GREATER HORRORS

Powerful beings that have found their way into our world. These are major threats that seek power upon the material plane.

1. Abomination
2. Slasher
3. Minotaur

ABOMINATION

STR: 16 DEX: 8 CTRL: 12
HP: 10 Armor: 2

• Slam (d8, blast)

Abominations are bodies that have been pushed past their natural limits. Their once human form has been twisted and broken to make something larger than should be physically possible. Their minds are often shattered by the changes, but in the worst scenarios, some part of the person that was is still alive and conscious.

Variants

1. Giant: A massive, towering form. +2 STR and greatly extended reach.
2. Hammer: One arm is disproportionately massive compared to the rest of their body, dealing d10 damage.
3. All Mouths: Toothy maws cover its body. Upon dealing Critical Damage, it shoves the victim into one of its many open mouths.
4. Flesh Sack: Most of their bones have dissolved or turned to cartilage, allowing them to squeeze into cramped places.
5. Walking Incubator: Host to a colony of horrid creatures. Upon taking Critical Damage, their brood bursts forth.
6. Wall of Flesh: Several bodies bound together into one form. Upon taking Critical Damage, they rip apart into their individual members.

SLASHER

STR: 16 DEX: 8 CTRL: 16
HP: 8 Armor: 3
Weapon of Choice (d8) or Fists (d6)

• Unstoppable: The Slasher can heal both STR and HP with a few moments of rest, though some visual signs of damage (scars, burns, open wounds, etc) may remain.
• Right Behind You: The Slasher has the uncanny ability to appear at the worst times. While they move at a metered pace when observed, they can teleport short distances when no one is looking.
• Rip & Tear: When the Slasher deals Critical Damage, the resulting Wound they inflict is so brutal that it causes d4 Stress to any who witness the act.
• I’ll Be Back: If the Slasher’s death cannot be verified with absolute certainty, then they’re not actually dead. Short of utter annihilation, the Slasher can almost always find a way to come back.

Slashers are near-unkillable masked murderers. They stalk victims with near supernatural persistence, before getting up close and personal to execute their kills. Many are motivated by the desire for revenge, but most just have an insatiable taste for violence.

MINOTAUR

STR: 16 DEX: 12 CTRL: 9
HP: 12 Armor: 2
Charge or Axe (d10)

• Labyrinth: A Minotaur can bend reality around itself to create a labyrinth in which to hunt its prey.
• Roar: The Minotaur lets loose a horrid, pained bellow that shakes the walls to strike fear in the heart of their prey. (d4 Stress, blast)
• Stitch: When the Minotaur stops moving for a few minutes, its wounds stitch back together, healing all STR damage. A Minotaur rarely stops moving when on the hunt.
• Charge: The Minotaur lurches forward to slam into their target, dealing d12 damage. They must have ample room to build momentum. A quick thinking target may be able to dodge this charge with a DEX Save.
• Gored: When the Minotaur deals Critical Damage, it gores its targets upon its horns, lifting them up in the air until they perish or free themselves. Any who witness this act of terrible fury take d4 Stress.

Minotaurs are a mass of muscle. Horns protrude from their flesh, blood seeping from the seams. Its muscular body is constantly in a state of growth, barely contained flesh pulled taut. Whenever it moves, the skin tears as the muscles grow, spilling blood and viscera as the skin quickly stitches together, only to be torn again. They are creatures of raw agony, tortured by their own existence, driven to hunt and kill to sate the never ending pain they feel.

RESONANT HORRORS

Manifestations of energies and entities from other planes of existence.

1. Dissonant Artifacts
2. Shades
3. Dark Ones

DISSONANT ARTIFACTS

STR: 12 DEX: 10 CTRL: 10
HP: 6 Armor: 2
Slam (d6)
In the same vein as Resonant Artifacts, Dissonant Artifacts are seemingly mundane objects that house power through a connection to resonant energies from other dimensions or planes of existence. But in contrast, these objects are often aniconic, which makes them chaotic and dangerous. Their power cannot be controlled in a utilitarian sense, so the best course of action is generally to destroy or contain them before others are exposed to the dangers they possess.

d12 DISSONANT ARTIFACTS

1. Refrigerator
2. Vending machine
3. Cymbal-banging monkey toy
4. Rag doll
5. Chair
6. Smiling children’s telephone
7. Can of soup
8. Knife
9. Pair of pants
10. Bouncing ball
11. Musical instrument
12. Taxidermy deer

SHADES

STR: 3 DEX: 15 CTRL: 13
HP: 8
Numbing Touch (d6 Stress)

• Incorporeal: The Shade’s lack of a fully material form means conventional weapons have no effect on them.
• Revitalize: The Shade heals half the Stress dealt by their Numbing Touch, rounded down.
• Illuminated: Bright and direct sources of lights reveal a Shade’s true form. Once exposed, they can be harmed by conventional weaponry and their Numbing Touch deals standard damage.
• Two Dimensional: Unless exposed to a direct source of light, Shades are two dimensional creatures. As such, they can slip through cracks and hide within darkness itself. However, they are also bound by these limitations and can only travel across surfaces.

Shades are death shadows. They are the remnants of people and creatures, their physical forms dead or burned away to the otherworld, leaving only their shadow behind. Shrouded in darkness, they are trapped between worlds, seeking vitality to sustain themselves.

FALLOUT: SUBSUME
The Shade severs and consumes the shadow of their victim, permanently leaving them without one, regardless of any light that shines upon them.

VARIANTS

1. Creatures: Teeth, pincers, spines, tentacles. These Shades were once any variety of horrid creatures whose shadows now infect the material plane.
2. Human: At one point human, their bodies burned away through misuse of a Resonant Artifact, Rituals, Fallout, or getting caught up in a planar anomaly.

DARK ONES

STR: 14 DEX: 12 CTRL: 16
HP: 8 Armor: 1
Bite (d6), Scratch (d6), or Projectile Vomit

• Recall: A Dark One knows all of the memories of the host it possesses and will use them as a weapon against the others it wants to infect and corrupt.
• Cling: A Dark One can cling to surfaces, allowing it to scale walls and hang from ceilings.
• Inhuman Strength: A Dark One is vastly stronger than its original host.
• Photosensitive: Dark Ones are vulnerable to sunlight. Damage against them is Enhanced when exposed to direct sunlight.
• Glamour: As a means of luring and tricking victims, a Dark One can alter its appearance to look like their former selves.
• Projectile Vomit: The Dark One expels a mix of bile and black blood upon their target (d6 Stress).
• Regeneration: 0 STR does not spell the end for a Dark One as long as the host’s brain is intact and there’s enough left of its body to function. Sheared limbs can act independently or even be reattached. If left alone after “death”, the dead flesh will reanimate, regaining its lost STR.
• Cleave: In order to kill a Dark One, they must be dismembered, have their head removed, or their brain destroyed.
• Injection: When a Dark One deals Critical Damage, their corruption spreads to the victim in an attempt to possess them. On top of the Wound, the victim must make a CTRL Save or take Fallout.

Dark Ones are incorporeal and parasitic beings that take residence in both living and dead flesh. As they consume their victims’ souls, they take more and more control. Through their corruption the Dark One warps and degrades their host, twisting them into a devilish fiend with bloodred eye, black blood, yellowed veiny skin, and sharp claws.

CREEPING FALLOUT - POSSESSION
Once the Dark One has infected its victim, its corruption spreads until it takes complete control. The only means of slopping this are removing infected flesh or banishing the creature. After an Investigator is infected, each time they would typically take Fallout, instead the corruption spreads, resulting in a new and worsening change.

• Phantom Limb: You lose control over one of your appendages. It’s subtle at first, responding sluggishly, until the corruption has spread and the appendage acts in rebellious defiance.
• Rot: Your skin begins to take on a yellow hue and your eyes go bloodshot. As your body begins to decay, it also grows stronger. +1d4 STR (max 18).
• Assimilation: The corruption has fully spread, turning you into a Dark One.

POSSESSED APPENDAGE
The appendages are commonly the first part of a victim a Dark One takes control of. In some cases, the changes begin there, with the appearance of an eye or mouth on the appendage. While removing the appendage can stop the spread of infection, the severed piece can still move and act on its own.
STR: 4 HP: 3
Scratch or Kick (d4)

RITUAL USERS

Humans that have gained access to rituals through dread means. Some enter into pacts while others have transcended mortality.

1. Ritualists
2. Witches
3. Pact Warlocks

RITUALISTS

STR: 11 DEX: 12 CTRL: 14
HP: 4
Resonant Blast (d6)

• Grimoire: A book or recording device that stores Rituals that the Ritualist knows and has access to.

There is no unified look to Ritualists, as they blend into everyday society like any other person. At their most basic level, Ritualists are humans who have worked to gain access to resonant energies. Their study allows them to cast Rituals. Often mislabeled as wizards, magicians, or magic users, these students of resonant anomalies seek out new rituals to add to their grimoires as they seek out new knowledge and power.

1d6 RITUALIST RANKS

1. Novice: A beginner who has just gained access to Rituals. While they have a Grimoire, they have only mastered 1d2 Rituals.
2. Initiate: A Ritualist who has begun to crack the code on harnessing resonant energies. They have access to 1d4 Rituals.
3. Adept: These ritualists have a depth of knowledge that makes them truly formidable. For many, this is the final rank they achieve as it gives them access to a deep well of power. They have 1d6 Rituals, STR: 12 DEX: 12 CTRL: 15 HP: 6 Armor: 1
4. Master: Few achieve this rank, and often it is only done through the besting of other powerful Ritualists. Any true wizards of legend were in fact Master Ritualists. They have 1d8 Rituals, STR: 12 DEX: 12 CTRL: 16 HP: 8 Armor: 1
5. Arch: Only a small handful ascend to this rank. They like to think themselves the keepers of knowledge and often impose strictures and edicts on lesser beings. They have 1d12 Rituals, STR: 13 DEX: 12 CTRL: 17 HP: 10 Armor: 1
6. Supreme: There is only one Supreme. This level is akin to a Lich who never fractured their being. Time and age have stopped ticking for them. The Supreme Ritualist has a Grimoire with 1d20 Rituals, STR: 14 DEX: 12 CTRL: 18 HP: 16 Armor: 2

WITCHES

PRACTITIONER
STR: 12 DEX: 11 CTRL: 17
HP: 10 Stability: 2
Athame (d6)

• Rituals: The more powerful Practitioners have access to the Rituals associated with their practice.
• Arcane Knowledge: Practitioners have an immense knowledge of the supernatural, either through their direct practice or their network of association.
• Planar Purity: Practitioners are resistant to the corruption of Ritual use, Fallout, Dead Gods, and Resonant Artifacts.

Witchcraft has a history of being associated with inflicting harm upon others, however this is a long standing misconception, as the practice in-and-of- itself is relatively amoral. Many practitioners serve beneficial roles, healing others and the environment, though some choose to tap into this power for selfish or evil purposes to bring about personal gain or having been led astray by a malevolent entity.

PACT WARLOCK

STR: 10 DEX: 10 CTRL: 14
HP: 8 Armor: 1
Soul Dagger (d6)

• Boons: In exchange for the service, Pact Warlocks are granted strange abilities by their Patron. Depending on the nature of their bargain, this may be one or many.
• Rituals: Pact Warlocks have access to Rituals granted by channeling their patron’s power.
• Severed Soul: When a Pact Warlock deals Critical Damage, the Wound carves off a piece of the victim’s soul for the Patron. (d6 Stress)

Pact Warlocks are humans that have entered into a bargain with a powerful otherworldly entity for the sake of personal gain. In exchange for powerful boons beyond those of normal humans, they must bend to the demands of their patrons, providing some form of tribute through gifts or acting in service to the patron’s goals. Stories paint them as sorcerers or wizards who strive for knowledge and power, but the reality is much more varied.

FALLOUT: PACT
Your true name has been marked in the ledger of a patron, promising a great boon for your service. When you have fully ratified your agreement you will begin to receive your boon. Only time will tell what the true price will be.

DEAD GODS

The Dead Gods are ancient and immensely powerful beings from the cosmos that once laid claim over the material plane. They have long since been destroyed, banished, fallen dormant, or disappeared from the material plane and now only have a fractional foothold within our world. It is unclear where they came from, how they came to find our world, or what caused them to leave, but the scars of their attention can be found if you know where to look. While these entities are no longer living, they’re not truly dead either, as some form of their existence continues, either beyond the veil of reality or some fragmented piece that still remains a semblance of their former power.

CREATING A DEAD GOD
When creating your own Dead God, choose a concept, create physical manifestations/aesthetics that thematically align to that concept, and get as gross and weird with it as you can. These concepts will drive how you make Fallout, Rituals, Avatars, and servants for the Dead God. The aesthetic choices will help you reinforce the concept and tailor your creations to be something truly horrifying and dreadful.

ATTRIBUTES
Dead Gods are not entities that can properly be captured through Attributes. Their power extends beyond anything these numbers represent and dealing with it will not be something you can achieve with a knife or a gun.

ABILITIES
Dead Gods are incomprehensibly powerful, so they don’t typically align with the standard Abilities of other entities. However, their manifestations on the material plane are often limited in some manner, restricting their power. In these instances, Abilities should align with the nature and form of the Dead-God. These are like unadulterated Resonant Artifacts, all power with no drawback. You can reference the abilities of Resonant Artifacts and Rituals when writing abilities for a Dead God and their chosen.

LINGERING INFLUENCE

1. Resonant Artifacts
2. Corruption
3. Children
4. Echos
5. Avatars
6. Great Beasts
7. Cults
8. Rituals

RESONANT ARTIFACTS
Many Resonant Artifacts were created through a connection to a Dead God, becoming a physical manifestation of the entity’s resonant energies reverberating through time and space.

CORRUPTION
Fallout are often the result of minor fractures in reality that corrupt a living being, creating a living connection to a Dead God.

CULTS
It is commonplace for a cult to be built around a Dead God in some form or fashion.

RITES
Many cults have specific rites and sacraments they employ in order to deepen their bond to their Dead God. These rituals grant boons, and act in service of a greater purpose.

REBIRTH
Subtle influence over long amounts of time slowly builds to a series of events that can reconnect a Dead God back to this reality.

CHILDREN
Many posit that Greater Horrors are able to manifest in this reality due to the lasting scars created by the Dead Gods. The act of creating Lesser Horrors mirrors the toxic corruption that proximity to Dead Gods has on life forms.

Creating an Avatar:
Living vessels for the Dead Gods, Avatars are powerful, but still pale in comparison to the divine power of their progenitor.

• STR: 16 DEX: 12 CTRL: 16
• HP: 13 Armor: 3
• Weapon Attack (d10) or Area Attack (d8, blast)
• Rituals (link): Avatars have access to Rituals that have a thematic connection to their Dead God.
• Special Ability: Either a devastating ability that triggers upon dealing Critical Damage or a change that occurs upon taking Critical Damage.
• Special Ability: An ability that impacts how the Avatar moves, allowing it to ambush or get the drop on its targets.
• Boons: An ability that provides an enhancement to them or their followers.

Creating a Great Beast:
The Great Beasts are massive creatures, often with twisted forms that defy the conventions of nature.

• STR: 18 DEX: 14 CTRL: 18
• HP: 15 Armor: 4
• Weapon Attack (d12) or Area Attack (d10, blast)
• Special Ability: A devastating ability that triggers upon dealing Critical Damage or a change that occurs after taking Critical Damage.
• Special Ability: Choose 1-2 Rituals that instead act as at will abilities.
• Special Ability: An ability that impacts how the creature moves, allowing it to ambush or get the drop on its targets.

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