MICHAEL BARKER, MATTHEW DAWKINS, JOSHUA ALAN DOETSCH,

DAVID FULLER, MEREDITH GERBER, MARQUIS HARTIS,

DAVAE B. JAXON, CYNTHIA MILLER, RACHELLE UDELL
CREDITS
Written by: Michael Barker, Matthew Dawkins, Joshua
Alan Doetsch, David Fuller, Meredith Gerber, Marquis Hartis,
Davae B. Jaxon, Cynthia Miller, Rachelle Udell
Developed by: Michael Barker and Matthew Dawkins
Creative Director: Richard Thomas
Editor: Richard Stratton
Art Director: Michael Chaney
Layout: Ron Thompson
Interior Art: Brian LeBlanc, Ken Meyer, Jr.
Cover Art: Durwin Talon

IN ORDER TO USE THIS BOOK,

YOU MUST OWN A COPY OF
THEY CAME FROM BEYOND THE GRAVE!

© 2022 Onyx Path Publishing. All rights reserved. References to other copyrighted ma-
terial in no way constitute a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that ma-
terial. “They Came from Beneath the Sea!”, “They Came from Beyond the Grave!” and
all characters, names, places, and text herein are copyrighted by Onyx Path Publishing.
Keep up to date with Onyx Path Publishing at theonyxpath.com.

2 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

SUMMER 4 WINTER 42
INTRODUCTION 7 I CREATEDA MONSTER! 45
AUTUMN 8 Concept: A Seed of Evil 45
MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! 11 The Elevator Pitch 45
What If ? 46
Bigfoot 12
Fears 46
Bokor 13
Graverob It! 46
Brick City Constructs 14
Twisted Science 101 46
Cursed Forest 15
What’s in a Name? 46
The Darkness 17
Description 47
Dead Grasping Hands 18
Goals 47
Ghoulish Cannibals 20
Story Hooks 48
Headless Hunter 21
System 48
Killer Stormfront 22
Spare Parts 50
Living House 23
Gory Holidays 50
Mothman 25
Invite Me In! 50
The Murder 27
Methods of Destruction 51
PAZUZU 28
Methods of Detection 51
Perfect Neighbors 29
Monster in a Bottle 51
Professor Vyle 31
Power of the Name 51
The Sackwild Circus of Carnage 32
Warped Environment 51
Scarecrows 34
SPRING 53
Skeletons 35
“Skinsuit” Sammy Sorenson 36
Strange Bedfellows 38
Vicious Bikers 39
– Table of Contents – 3
 SUMMER
In his office at the top of the hill, Mayor Oak sat in his high back Even the locals participated in summer events, joining the tour-
leather chair with a drunken smirk across his face. His bright blue ists’ groups as if they were experiencing Galena for the first time.
polyester suit felt tighter than usual. The glass of whiskey to his left Magic swirled in the air around them even on the familiar sidewalk of
beckoned to him for one more dance, but his eyes stayed fixated Main Street. The laughter and excitement from the crowds stretched
on the contract in his hands. The words blurred together through to the top of the hill, where Mayor Oak watched proudly. Galena
his thick black glasses, their meaning shrouded beneath a haze of was exceptional, and word of its magic traveled on the tongues of
liquor and Miss Bright’s relentless gaze. Linda Bright sat across from vacationers throughout the Midwest and beyond. Every year, more
him, leaning forward with cautious fingers to her lips. She never took people visited with the hope of experiencing this charming town with
her eyes off Mayor Oak, making sure his signature appeared on the people they loved.
the bottom of the paper. Her patience thinned, but Linda wouldn’t It wasn’t the families enjoying their summer break or the smiles on
risk the possibility of losing the most binding contract of her career. the town’s faces that brought the mayor joy. Joy didn’t buy the lime
The town of Galena, Illinois, became a tourist hotspot in the green 1971 Pontiac Firebird outside of his office, and joy certainly
summer months, bustling with eager crowds and deep pockets. The didn’t craft his fine Italian suits. Summer meant that Mayor Oak could
tiny shops down Main Street stood next to one another in brightly dive into his most profound desires without worrying about whether
colored buildings, their jubilant owners beaming at each customer anyone noticed. The town did so well in the summer that no one took
that graced their stores. Summer brought skyrocketing revenue to the time to question the mayor’s expensive tastes.
Galena, perfect for the town’s local shop owners but, more impor- Summer was only one season. Once the autumn months ap-
tantly, filling Mayor Oak’s heart to the brim. The crowds moved proached Galena and turned the trees brilliant red and orange,
together harmoniously. Women’s long pastel skirts twisted in the wind the tourists found their way back to their cars and retreated to
behind them, men welcomed the summer sun with loud patterns on their homes until the following year. When winter appeared, the
their button-up shirts, and children raced down Main Street on their once-bustling streets of summer were a distant memory. Shops strug-
High Risers with sparkling yellow banana seats. gled to remain open, and aside from the holidays, the town reverted
to a typical rural area like any other in Illinois. Mayor Oak’s office the centuries, but she’d learned valuable lessons from each. Now,
stood tall on the highest hill in Galena, a perfect spot to grimace Commonwealth was unstoppable, and there was no end to how far
through his window at the emptying streets below. Summer wouldn’t she could take it. Galena was the perfect backdrop to her plans,
satisfy his hunger, and the symbolic flies that escaped his wallet and once they collected the necessary data, it would stretch all
didn’t make it any easier. over the world. Linda couldn’t help but cackle as another strike of
The agreement was simple. Mayor Oak would allow Linda’s lightning lit the room behind her.
company, Commonwealth, to set up attractions around Galena
throughout the year, with a marketing program geared to attract
crowds of tourists and locals alike. In exchange, Mayor Oak would
receive all profits, and the Commonwealth would continue to fill his
pockets until they were satisfied with the data received. To every- Down in the town below, Nancy, Michael, and Bobby huddled
one else in the world, the agreement was incredibly suspicious. But, together in a circle in Michael’s basement. Pieces of paper with
to a greedy Mayor Oak, everything sounded divine. rough sketches made from crayon pinned themselves across pink
“You don’t want a single penny?” and brown woven wallpaper. A thin red piece of yarn wrapped
Linda shook her head with a grin. “Not a one. We want to around each pushpin head to formulate connections between each
research the people who come through our attractions to create masterpiece. Michael’s home was one of the few older houses with
bigger and better ones. That’s all.” a basement, and the thick ceiling above the group made this spot
With a smile, Mayor Oak stared at the contract for what the perfect hideout. Photographs from Nancy’s Canon Demi lay
seemed like an eternity, hoping that he didn’t miss anything damag- scattered across the floor in a disorganized mess. Michael’s leath-
ing to himself or his town. The whiskey filled his vision, and with liquid er-bound journal lay open with various symbols and markings that
confidence, he reached for the fountain pen on his desk. Linda he created from his time at the library. Bobby brought nothing to
leaned forward to push the pen into his fingers gently, keeping her the gathering except his dad’s hunting knife, something that he kept
pale blue eyes locked on his. When Mayor Oak felt her fingers close to him at all times.
brush against his, he slowly looked up at her, to be rewarded with The trio met when they were children, growing up on the same
an encouraging wink. He struggled with holding the pen properly, street and attending the same school. Their childhoods weren’t un-
needing both hands to fit it between his fingers. common, but once they’d entered high school, Galena didn’t seem
Right before the nib hit the paper, a flash of light filled the room, as fun as she used to be. Their parents delighted in the group’s
followed by the resounding roar of thunder outside. healthy friendship and welcomed the kids into their homes whenever
they liked. The teens felt as if they had three different parents in
“That’s ominous,” he joked. exchange, supportive of their hobbies and growing camaraderie.
“They say thunderstorms are good luck. Lucky you, Mayor Oak.” Their shared boredom melted away upon Michael’s discovery
With her encouragement, Mayor Oak scribbled his name as of a pale child in Nancy’s attic. Strangely, Michael spoke to the
best as possible before leaning back in his chair. The entire pro- child with little effort and learned that she just wanted to be free
cess was too much for his drunken state, and his eyes fluttered from Nancy’s home. All Michael had to do was give her permission
closed to stop the room’s spinning. Oak’s head lolled against the to leave. The trio gathered on a blustery October evening, and
cool leather behind it as he kicked off his brown loafers with the last together freed the spectral child from Nancy’s home forever. The
of his strength. The pen fell from his grasp while his belly grew and dazzling blues that appeared in the morning sky marked a new
sank with shallow breaths. He fell asleep within seconds, and loud chapter in the friends’ lives.
snores filled the room. Every evening since, they met in Michael’s basement, desper-
Linda waved her hand in front of his face, and when he didn’t ate for a taste of the unknown and supernatural. They kept an eye
respond, she extended her arm across the desk and slowly pulled on the local papers, and when Bobby could drive legally, they
the contract back to her. Quickly, she checked for the ink scribble spent their allowances on gas for his Plymouth Barracuda, traveling
toward the bottom and released a sigh of relief. to other towns in search of the paranormal. Most of their findings
“Idiot,” she whispered, grinning with satisfaction at the mayor, were debunked by logic or scientific research that Nancy present-
doubtless basking in a dreamland of riches behind large vault doors. ed, but the thrill of that one evening in Nancy’s house kept them
She drew a syringe from her pocket and leaned forward to wanting more. Their biggest mystery yet to be solved was Mayor
push his sleeve up toward the elbow. She tapped against his skin Oak, who they’d found suspicious since the day he took office.
with eyes darting around his arm until she found a beautiful, bright Finishing each semester at the top of her class, Nancy spent
blue vein. Deftly, she inserted the needle into his skin, drew back the her free time analyzing and testing Michael’s proposed research.
plunger, and filled the syringe with blood. She loved nothing more than getting lost in a sea of numbers and
“Hopefully, Doctor Vyle can do something with this. Poor fool.” formulas and often found herself up late into the evening pondering
various theories and hypotheses. Nancy’s brown eyes watched
The first attraction would appear in a month, and Linda felt
others vigilantly behind her horn-rimmed glasses, and she often wore
confident in the turnout. Being one of the higher-ranking officials at
pale-colored blouses with bright skirts.
Commonwealth, Linda had experienced many company failures over
 Michael found his nose in books more than he showed his face shared everything, they couldn’t find the words for the growing
to the citizens of Galena. His favorite books whispered of conspir- discomfort that appeared at nightfall. An unsettling atmosphere had
acy theories and tales of the occult. He spent hours taking notes overtaken Galena, and none of them could fully articulate its enig-
from literature he pulled from the library and drew various shapes matic nature.
and symbols across the pages to accompany his writing. Michael Satchels filled with flashlights, notepads, and weapons were
fancied clothes that flowed and billowed in the wind and never laid across the thin layer of dust on an old couch in the corner.
wore anything that didn’t allow him to move freely.
“I’ve never heard of Commonwealth before,” Michael remarked
Bobby stood taller than both of them and was twice their size while adjusting his glasses. “The name doesn’t exist in any records,
in muscle mass. Courageous and dependable, Bobby always led and I haven’t heard of them in anything I’ve read. What did you
the way into the darker corners of their investigations. The thrill that find, Nancy?”
boiled inside of him whenever Nancy and Michael relied on his
“Just a few pictures I could get of the mayor and some big wig
brawn and intellect brought him back for more each time. He never
at Commonwealth. He’s definitely up to something. We just need a
went in without a plan and never left home without at least three
little more evidence,” Nancy responded, fingers sprawled across
different weapons attached to him.
the photographs in front of her.
Despite their youth, they made the perfect investigation team.
Bobby leaned his back uncomfortably against the old couch
The thunderstorm raged on with rain drumming against the glass and fixed his gray brimmed cap over his eyes. “You two, just let me
before running down into the finely manicured lawn. Tonight was know when you’re ready to make a plan. Luck is always on our side,
a typical spring eventide in Galena, but something felt off. While and she’ll find a way to us soon.”
Nancy, Michael, and Bobby spent most of their lives together and
INTRODUCTION
“No-one who saw it lived to describe it!”
— Poster Text, The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958)

If you’re reading this, then luck is on our side — you’re not a graveyard; all rivers, a corpse dumping ground. They will try, of
dead yet. Your hands are still warm with circulating blood, and the course. They will imagine their lives begin and end at the make-up
tome they currently grasp (a proverbial hornets’ nest of villains) trailer door, clinging to some semblance of solace within the script
just might be the only thing keeping you from an early grave; a live- like it’s the gravity attaching them to this propelling world, but it
ly existence outside the crypt, rather than the eternal one within — is all temporary.
Oh! I — uhh... thought you were the actors in this motion pic- They — and you — are dead. Let’s find out how it’ll happen
ture. Director, you say? Forget it. Kick open the stone entrance like this time...
it’s actually painted plywood or the cheap foam of a film set, and let This book contains the following:
loose the hosts. Use the horrors inside as thou will, packing their
• One Year in Galena — Spread throughout this book
fanged visages into costume trailers, and beaming their murderous
you’ll find chapters of a fictional tale set in the sleepy town of Ga-
rampage onto silver screens for all to witness. The sad part is we’ve
lena. In this story, a lively troupe of unlikely hunters of all things
blown all our money on that star actress, so you’ll have to use hot-
supernatural investigate a mysterious organization known only as
pink paint for blood. There’s no choice in the matter — the cast al-
Commonwealth, and its plans for Galena’s inhabitants.
ready finished their reading sessions, and there’s no time to waste.
• Monsters from the Crypt! — Scarecrows, skeletons,
Monsters from the Crypt! — a collection of horrid nasties
headless hunters, mutant cannibals, and more delight in the inevi-
and surreal environments hell-bent on bringing the doomed he-
table destruction of the story’s protagonists. Some are more easily
roes of your story into their final resting places — is ready for exhu-
eliminated, while others are... well... the apocalypse-portending
mation into any game of They Came from Beyond the Grave! As
Mothman. Either way, as long as you set the table, they’ll eat.
with the game described in TCfBtG!, the antagonists found in this
book are meant to be showcased in two different time periods: un- • I Created a Monster! — As if the crypt weren’t packed
der the bright, buzzing neons of the 1970s, as well as upon the gas- enough, we give you all the tools you need to bring electric life to
lit cobblestone of the 19th century. They range from frail undead your own monsters, using macabre methods beyond those listed in
and lackey bikers to the supernatural powers holding sway over TCfBtG!. Gain valuable insights into the myriad stitched parts of
such minions. Show those beady-eyed ghost hunters what it feels your lifeless creatures before shocking them into vivid existence.
like to stare into the depthless eyes of the animated scarecrow be- Your construction may mean the end of you, but it’s all worth the
fore its pitchfork pierces their lungs. Let loose the mansion’s new risk, isn’t it?
tenants into an embarrassment of riches before the realization sets And the litany of terror continues. Vast quantities of charac-
in — the house is alive! If all else fails (it won’t), unleash swathes of ter-driven story hooks surrounding these fiends will create cult
carnivorous birds, sentient storms, or new and powerful cryptids classics on the silver screens of your gaming table for years to
to finish the job. Whatever you decide, know this: come, especially when combined with the many monsters already
The characters in your story are already dead. Even if they found in They Came from Beyond the Grave!.
refuse to enter the crypt, the crypt itself is everywhere. All lands, Enter, as they say, if you dare.

– Introduction – 7
 AUTUMN
Autumn arrived quickly following the tourists’ departure back The Commonwealth people were smiling ear to ear. This enter-
to their homes until the next holiday season. The warmth of summer tainment was for them, after all.
lingered for a while longer, but the morning frost reminded Galena The evening after the announcement, Nancy, Michael, and
locals of what was to come. The smell of bonfires filled the air Bobby set out in Bobby’s Plymouth Barracuda. Michael happily
and twisted its way down Main Street. Long pastel skirts changed hummed to himself in the backseat and looked over his notes from
overnight to a brown and mustard palette or flared pants that a Greek history book. His eyes darted over the introductory para-
maintained perfect silhouettes. Men donned their turtleneck sweaters graphs about scarecrows dressed to look like Priapus, the son of
and corduroy coats tailored to fit comfortably as they approached Dionysus and Aphrodite. Nancy sat shotgun, glancing outside as the
Galena for their morning strolls. Deer appeared at the forest line, sun began to set on her town, and Bobby’s headlights grew brighter
watching Galena curiously before darting across the roads with in the darkness of the night.
loud hooves. Once filled with laughter and merriment, the town came
The scarecrows weren’t in obvious locations like on Main
to an eerie silence except for the occasional gust of wind that
Street or over the old bridge. Based on previous scavenger hunts
kissed the sides of the buildings.
conducted by Mayor Oak, Nancy proposed that they’d find the
Mayor Oak used this opportunity to introduce Commonwealth scarecrows on the outskirts of town along dirt roads or near the old
to the town in the form of a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt. Ev- abandoned barn that the trio had investigated many times before.
ery year, he held the same search, but this time the town would hunt
The radio’s low sound managed to fill the silence in the car
for scarecrows placed by Commonwealth, searching across Galena
while Nancy continued to search for some clue of the scarecrows’
for the chance to win a Kitchenaid portable dishwasher in the color
whereabouts. The click of Bobby’s zippo lighter broke the stillness
of the winner’s choice. They needed to note every scarecrow found
as he lit a half-finished cigarette hanging out of his mouth. With a
and bring that information to Mayor Oak as soon as possible, but
deep inhale, Bobby continued down the dirt road toward the old
no one could begin until the next evening.
barn. Bobby rolled down the driver side window, replacing the smell against one another in a circle, slowly revolving together to check
of cigarette smoke with crisp autumn air. all directions. From the corner of his eye, Bobby saw yellow eyes
“There!” Nancy yelled, pointing to the cornfields. and a glowing, carved maw looming over him. Without hesitation,
he swung his knife wildly toward the scarecrow, but it slithered back
The car came to a screeching halt. A few scarecrows stood
on its hands and knees into the field of darkness before he could
tall, some with pumpkin heads and others with poorly stitched to-
land a hit.
gether cloth heads, illuminated momentarily by the headlights of Bob-
by’s car. Before reaching in the back for his pouch of weapons, The entire field grew quiet, but only for a moment before foot-
Bobby parked the car and took another drag. He shoved his steps started running toward them. Never showing a shred of fear,
Zippo lighter into his pocket and exited the vehicle. The other two Bobby positioned himself in front of Nancy and Michael with his knife
followed, slamming their doors shut in unison. pressed forward into the air. Michael directed the flashlight’s beam
toward the space in front of them, but instead of a scarecrow, a
Bobby led the way down the dirt path toward the first scare-
young girl with cocoa skin and bright hazel eyes in a brown-striped
crow they could see. Michael clicked on his flashlight, shining it on
shirt and khaki pants barreled through the corn at them. A shivering
the face of their intended target. A cloth-faced scarecrow stood
boy dressed in all black emerged from the corn and followed close
tall with a pitchfork in its hand, the handle stabbed through the fabric
behind her. His terrified eyes focused on the ground in front of his
and sewn shut. The three looked the scarecrow over, tugging at its
feet, as though unable to face the reality around him. When the girl
purple plaid shirt and hay stuffed jeans.
saw Bobby’s knife, she skidded to a stop inches in front of it with
“Looks like a normal scarecrow to me,” Bobby said before tak- her hands up.
ing another drag off his cigarette. He felt a small prick on his neck
“Hey, we’re not one of them!”
and quickly brushed it away. “Stupid corn.”
The scraping sound resumed, growing closer this time.
Michael moved his flashlight toward Bobby. “Do you really have
to smoke while we are out here? It could catch fire.” The young girl looked with wide eyes at the group. “We need
to leave. I don’t know what’s going on, but it’s evil.”
“Listen here, kid. I know what I‘m doing, okay?” Bobby fished
around in his satchel for his trusty knife, unsheathed it, and held it Not one to argue logic, Nancy turned on her heel and ran for
tightly in his free hand. the car. The others followed closely behind except Bobby, who pulled
up the rear, holding his knife so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“I hate when you call me that, Bobby. I’m only four months
younger than you.” Before they reached the car, Michael’s flashlight caught a
glimpse of another scarecrow stepping out of the cornfield close to
While the two bickered, Nancy started as a wicked smile
the car. Nancy and Michael stopped abruptly, holding on to one
seemed to appear across the scarecrow’s burlap face. She
another for dear life. Before they could secure another route, the
grabbed Michael’s hand and shined the flashlight back at it. Nancy
scarecrow gripped its pitchfork and swung it violently toward them.
rubbed her eyes for a moment before looking at the scarecrow with
a cocked head. The new boy released a terrified shout and pushed through
everyone to escape to the road. Bodies bumped into one another,
“Something wrong, Nancy?”
and the group watched in horror as he attempted to outsmart the
“It must be my imagination,” Nancy rationalized to herself and scarecrow by running in a zig-zag pattern. The boy had no plan.
turned the flashlight back to Bobby. “Where do you want to go next?”
The scarecrow raised its pitchfork with a malicious laugh, and
Michael shrugged. “We can follow the road to the old barn its eyes shined like those of an animal. Quicker than the boy could
over there. I’m sure we will see more on our way.” react, the scarecrow’s weapon pierced his upper body. The boy’s
The group started walking but stopped together when they hands wrapped around the wooden handle and tried to push the
heard a rustling in the corn behind them. The flashlight beamed weapon from his abdomen, but the scarecrow chuckled and lifted
back to see the scarecrow still standing tall in between the stalks. the boy effortlessly into the air. His feet dangled as a choked
Bobby could have sworn that it shifted toward them but figured the scream caught in his throat. In a matter of seconds, his body grew
group moved it while investigating. They continued on a second limp and slowly slid down the handle. Blood poured from the wounds
time before the sound of metal against the ground dragged slowly and onto the rusted metal of the weapon. The pitchfork tilted toward
behind them. Michael aimed the flashlight back to the scarecrow the group until it separated from the boy’s silent form. Blood rushed
with a gulp and shaky hands, but the light revealed cornstalks with from his lips as he fell back to the ground with a loud ‘thud’.
no scarecrow looming. The three collectively took in a deep breath The scarecrow looked straight into Michael’s eyes while the
and walked back to the place where the scarecrow stood. The rest of the group scrambled for a way out.
corn was untouched, and there were no signs of it ever existing.
“If you want them, you have to go through me!” Bobby, always
“That’s weird,” Nancy whispered to herself. the hero, attempted to intervene, but his entire body froze. His body
“How’d it get knocked over?” Bobby scratched his head. never failed him before, but he couldn’t force himself to move.
The scraping sound started again, but this time, it came from The young girl grabbed him by his shirt’s back.
all four directions. Nancy, Bobby, and Michael pressed their backs “Give me your lighter!”
 “But it’s my —” the group ran as fast as possible. Everyone piled into the car as
“I said, give me your goddamn lighter!” Bobby sped like a bat out of hell back to downtown Galena.
Shocked back into control, Bobby reached into his pocket and Linda Bright took a deep inhale of her cigarette down the
forcibly handed the lighter to the young girl. She snapped it open in road as she watched Bobby’s taillights fade into the night. A set of
one move, ran to the side of the scarecrow, and timed her move- long, jagged, black fingernails tapped across the dashboard, and
ments to dodge its flashing pitchfork. When she had enough room, Linda’s yellow eyes illuminated in the rearview mirror.
she ran the wheel over her thumb and ran the flame along the hay “Do we follow them, Mother?” A gruff voice behind her asked,
sticking out of its hand. In an instant, the scarecrow’s arm caught fire. beard smeared with blood and a top hat hiding his face. He
The blaze traveled across its entire body before wholly engulfing it. gripped a rusty horn tightly with boney fingers.
“I didn’t sign up for this!” she screamed before kicking the “One will do, for now, Father. Sackwild will have their retribution.”
scarecrow, knocking it off balance. “But, Mother. They’re so close.”
A supernatural squeal escaped its false lips as the fire spread “We wait.”
to the grass around it. A path appeared as the flames grew, and
 MONSTERS
from the
CRYPT!
“Bigfoot was interviewed on The Patty Winters Show this morning,
and to my shock, I found him surprisingly articulate and charming.”
— Patrick Bateman, American Psycho (1991)

Behold a Pandora’s box of creatures rang-

ing from magnificent monsters to trivial terrors,
built at all manner of threat levels to face your
protagonists. Directors may wish to base entire
plots around these beasts and killers, have them
as rumored entities, or even use some as sup-
porting characters (good luck doing that with
PAZUZU). As ever, Directors are encouraged to
adjust traits wherever they see fit.

– Monsters From the Crypt! – 11

BIGFOOT
the woods. Fortunately, Bigfoot has tracked the Werewolf to the
big city in hopes of saving the innocent cryptozoologist. But when
Xander is finally found, will it be clear who the monsters are, or
“Harry and the Hendersons this thing is not. will man’s thirst for violence make a beast out of them?
I want it for my trophy room.”

— The 14th Lord Karnstein,

SYSTEM
setting out on the mission to capture Bigfoot Below are the traits for the average Bigfoot. Wildmen from
other regions may have slightly different values, along with differ-
When a tree falls in the woods, someone is there to hear it. ent hair length (North Dakotan Bigfeet favor a crew cut, oddly).
Moving in the lost corners of nature; living outside modern civili-
zation, the wildmen of the wilderness are relics of a forgotten age. BIGFOOT
The legend of hairy, primeval beings living outside society dates
Skills: Athletics 4, Close Combat 3, Empathy 2,
back thousands of years, and some examples stand above the rest,
Integrity 2, Larceny 5, Survival 4
be it the Yeren of China or the Yeti in the Himalayan peaks. Per-
haps the most famous of these is the Sasquatch of North America, Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Resolve 2; Might 5,
more commonly known as Bigfoot. Dexterity 4, Stamina 4; Presence 2, Manipulation 1,
Composure 2
History has no record of when Bigfoot first arrived in its
shadowy forest home. Living peacefully for unknown ages, the Health: 10
lumbering creature had no natural predators. The calm existence
was shattered when explorers infected the untamed lands with SPECIAL RULES
mankind. For the first time, Bigfoot had threats invading its terri- Adaptation: While Bigfoot is most comfortable in North
tory, and conflict was unavoidable. Afraid of the humans’ numbers America’s forests, the Wildman has spread throughout the world
and weapons, Bigfoot fled deeper into its forest labyrinth. by being highly adaptable. Players have a level 2 Complication on
Now, curious cryptid enthusiasts and careless campers en- attempts to track Bigfoot in its natural environment, in the form of
ter Bigfoot’s domain. The tall, hirsute figure is there watching misleading trails and hidden traps.. It’s sometimes better to entice
and waiting. If these outsiders keep pushing deeper into Bigfoot’s Bigfoot to you. Sometimes.
home, the primal monster will have no choice but to lash out. Blurred Pictures: Bigfoots avoid notice partially through
their ability to interfere with recording devices. Any video footage
GOAL or photographs taken in their vicinity are blurry, with audio static.
Bigfoot and its cousins all share the same goal: survival. The Large Lad: Bigfoot is, as the name implies, big. The full-
only recorded cases of Bigfoot attacking humans show that ei- grown version of this monster counts as a Scale 2 antagonist on
ther the humans had stumbled on a Bigfoot’s territory or were all Physical Arena rolls, so good luck winning a fistfight with him.
attempting to hunt the shy beast.

19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK

As settlers, prospectors, and opportunists of all kinds moved
farther west, the Oregon Territory saw a spike in chaotic devel-
opment. They cleared acres of forest to make way for new settle-
ments. They hollowed out mountains and dammed streams. The
arrogance of man was on full display, and nature lashed out; great
animals cutting into flesh with claws and fangs. As these attacks
became more common, local settlements called groups of hunters
to thin the populations of bears, cougars, and wolves. These brave
beast slayers travel into the untamed forest, where they stumble
on the territory of Bigfoot and possibly other monsters.

1970S STORY HOOK

Bigfoot takes Seattle! Cryptozoologist Xander Fulsome trav-
eled to Spokane, Washington, to research Bigfoot sightings, not
knowing that this trip would change his life forever! Weeks of no
results changed into frustrating months of fruitless efforts, and
Fulsome was forced to return to his day job in Seattle, no closer
to finding evidence of the elusive Bigfoot. Now, Xander’s fami-
ly is looking for help; the young man is missing, and foul play is
suspected. The Fulsome family have no way of knowing that he’s
fleeing for his life from a feral Werewolf that caught his scent in

12 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

BOKOR
“I can help you out, my friend, but there’s always
a cost. Always a cost.”

— a Bokor about to seal the deal

The Bokor is what happens when a man driven by his passions

gets ahold of Haitian magic. Unlike those kind women or skilled
men whose Voodoo cures woes, brings fortune, and strengthens
love, the Bokor works dark passions into his rituals to benefit him
and him alone. If he had any integrity, the Bokor would keep his
tricks to himself. But if you’ve got something he wants, or even just
a chunk of change, some booze, and a nice cigar from down south,
he’ll turn his twisted talents wherever you want them aimed.
Whenever a Bokor’s got someone in his sights, they’re sure as
damned. The only aid one should rely on is the help of a Voodoo
Queen. These women have mastered their crafts and know better
than to deliver woe or give in to their passions. If they see evidence
of mystical play, the foul twisting of the Bokor’s malign spells,
they’ll devote their intent to breaking the Bokor’s curse. And with
a little bit of help (and maybe some money too), they’ll hunt down
the Bokor and bring an end to whatever terrors he’s let loose.

GOALS
The Bokor has a single impetus coloring his life: passion.
Be it love or vice, hate or fun, the Bokor wants to do what they
want to do. To this end, they’ll obey no laws, take on any manner 1970S STORY HOOK
of foul jobs, and throw themselves wholeheartedly into whatever
While Soul Train may be the current king of dance television,
debauchery is currently calling their name. If their target’s lucky,
a young superstar from the Caribbean, Delphine Bellevu, has put
they’ll be able to buy off the Bokor’s attention. Otherwise, much
out a call for dancers from around the world to help her snatch
like THE DEVIL HIMSELF, once the Bokor has his fangs in, they
that crown. Strangely, though, the call’s been out for six months,
ain’t coming out.
and every single person who auditioned has met some kind of
horrible accident, leaving them deformed, disabled, or otherwise
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK put out of dancing for good. These put down, would-be stars have
After a rousing trip through the Americas, Duke Canary hosts pooled their funds together, hoping to hire a detective or some
a viewing of the many souvenirs he’s brought back. This collection kind of group who can figure out just what Delphine did to them.
of curios not only brings him great repute amongst the peerage, The only thing they have in common beyond the obvious is that all
but also opens up a new avenue of business. Duke Canary claims of them left Delphine a gift, by her request — something that, as
that whoever buys one of his precious antiques will receive great children, was dear to them.
fortune, by the grace of God Almighty.
What Duke Canary doesn’t tell his customers is that he’s be- SYSTEM
ing forced to do this. As a man with a ravenous appetite for gam- The many Caribbean islands have been the source of Haitian
bling, he lost much of his money to a particularly suave card shark magic practitioners (including the infamous Bokor) for centuries,
in New Orleans. Said gentleman went by the name of Baptiste but thieves and appropriators from outside the culture often lend
Delacroix. Delacroix took mercy on the duke and offered him a their carelessness and greed toward becoming Bokors themselves.
deal: expand his curio business to Britain, and he’d consider all
debts settled. BOKOR
Unfortunately, those who receive these artifacts find them-
Skills: Command 3, Culture 4, Empathy 4, Enigmas 4,
selves struck with terrible luck. One lady said hairless cats were
Humanities 2, Larceny 3, Medicine 2
making camp outside her window at night. Another man fell
strangely sick with malaria. A young, newly wedded couple fell Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 4, Resolve 3;
apart following the husband suffering a bout of violent hysteria, Might 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 2; Presence 4,
after which he was committed to an asylum. Rumors abound that Manipulation 4, Composure 3
Duke Canary has worked some foul devilcraft on these peoples, Health: 8
and now the people want answers.

– Bigfoot / Bokor – 13
SPECIAL RULES
Possessed by Passion: The Bokor can perform a ritual, usually
taking a scene to complete, to allow a Loa of their choice to pos-
sess their body. When this happens, they’re treated as being Scale
2 in the Mental Arena, they gain a new personality, and can free-
ly move dots of any Skill to another. Once they’ve changed their
traits, they cannot do so again until their possession comes to an
end — an event that occurs either with the dawn of the next day or
the Bokor being rendered unconscious.
Red Magic Curse: Whipping their passions into a frenzy, the
Bokor can place a curse on anyone, anywhere so long as they have
a piece of them. This can be hair, blood, or a precious object such
as a toy or photograph. With this object, they’ll make a wicked-
ly devised and warped gris-gris that forces their target to suffer
a level 3 Complication on a task specified by the Bokor, such as
making them struggle to eat, communicate, or drive a car with-
out crashing. Other curses can be placed as well, removing one of
the Complications to instead manifest a particular effect, such as a
horrendous break up, sudden mental transformation, or physical
misfortune, typically in the form of Conditions. The only way to
remove this curse is to find someone skilled in Voodoo to end it,
who in turn will learn who the Bokor is and put their own life in
danger.
Two-Faced and Two-Skinned: The Bokor is in possession of
up to three animal skins they keep in a safe, outside location. By
wearing these skins at night, the Bokor takes the form of that an-
imal. Only by salting these skins can they be destroyed. Chang-
ing form like this results in their Physical Arena Attributes being
treated as Scale 2.
the size and width of their equivalent constructs from the past.
No matter the origin, faithful cultists often surround them in a cy-

BRICK CITY
clical method of birth. Either the Brick City Constructs call out to
zealots, or the zealots build the Constructs, throughout time.

CONSTRUCTS GOAL
Brick City Constructs do not talk. Once active they become
“It wasn’t a conscious decision. It was a gradual an inexorable force that cannot be stopped. They destroy roads,
shift in my outlook. I couldn’t stand another bridges, skyscrapers and symbols of technology. They form altars,
night of fake smiles, watery drinks, and trendy mounds, and pyramids. Some Brick City Constructs formed from
nightclubs perfecting my ass-kissing, only to do devastation are alive with malevolence. Why are they doing this?
the same thing the next morning with my bosses No one knows, and the Brick City Constructs aren’t talking.
in the investment firm. I didn’t go from thou- Cultists, both ancient and modern, are drawn to the Brick City
sand-dollar bespoke tailored suits to wearing a Constructs like moths to a flame. All cultists dress in mock-ancient
loin cloth overnight. But I wished I had.” attire, shredding their modern-day fashion to fit the mold. They
— Brandon “Darkspear” Yankovitz, Urban Primitive worship their brick temple as if it were in some manner divine and
are prepared to live within it, even if doing so spells their doom.
Brick City Constructs are the relentless, unstoppable, and
frankly massive, crushing terrors of urban environments. Where 19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
once constructs were formed from clay, flesh, or bone, Brick City A stone monolith, one of the earliest of ancient times, is sto-
Constructs are carved from the structures of abandoned buildings len from its culture of origin, lashed to a horse drawn wagon,
as entities of stone, rebar, and trailing cables. and brought to the nearest beacon of “civilization.” The arrogant
Some believe Brick City Constructs form when their worship- public are amazed at this discovery and the stories of its capture
ers place an ancient idol in the husk of a modern building. Others from a distant, “primitive” land. The artifact will go on display for
believe buildings gain sentience and a personality, then awake to all to see, complete with a parody tale of the peoples to whom it
consume everyone living within. What they are is at least twice belonged. Engraved on the bottom of the monument is a strange
symbol reminiscent of (though not identical to) that of the Free-

14 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

masons. Something older — and now angrier — stirs above this Like a Ton of Bricks: Anyone unfortunate enough to be with-
archaic stamp. in striking distance must make an Athletics + Dexterity roll at Dif-
ficulty 3. If the character doesn’t avoid the attack, they suffer a
1970S STORY HOOK torn muscle, twisted ankle, or concussion, with the Stunned and
Paralyzed Conditions being common outcomes.
Human services are overloaded with missing persons re-
ports. Frantic calls from friends and family members inundate Massive: The Brick City Construct is a giant idol and counts
the city, all telling the same story of loved ones leaving home to as a Scale 4 structure for all physical encounters.
live a shadowy “minimalist” lifestyle, abandoning all communica- Mud Slinging: The Brick City Construct flings globs of mud
tion with those left behind in a manner wholly unnatural for all and rock, harvested supernaturally from itself, trapping the target.
of them. Soon, a person close to one or more of the characters is The idol can hit a target with a successful Aim + Dexterity roll.
drawn into the fray, leaving all worldly possessions behind. With Once trapped, the victim must work fast. If the splashed target
some probing into the city’s less funded areas, investigators soon does not free themselves (using Close Combat + Might or Ath-
discover that these urban primitives are building a strange totem letics + Dexterity, as examples, against a Difficulty of 3) within a
from local materials. number of turns equal to their Cunning, the mud hardens into a
thick clay, preventing the character from moving until rescued.
SYSTEM Sitting Bricks: The Brick City Construct can toss an object
The Brick City Construct is sometimes found fully formed, as heavy as a car up to Long Range without penalty. This requires
but other times emerges from the structure of an existing build- two actions: the first to lift the object and the second to fling it.
ing. They’re always large and always destructive.

BRICK CITY CONSTRUCT

Skills: Aim 3, Athletics 2, Close Combat 4
CURSED FOREST
“Ah reckon you might could go that way. Gitcha
Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Resolve 5;
to the main road ‘n less ‘n hour. But I wouldn’t
Might 5, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5; Presence 3,
if ah was you. Take you right through the ol’
Manipulation 2, Composure 2
Yahoosa forest.
Health: 15 An’ them woods is cursed!”

SPECIAL RULES — Unknown Appalachian highlander

Those whose lives brush up against the wilderness know that

there are certain woodland trails best left untouched and untram-
meled. Before the first European ever dreamed of a New World, the
native peoples of the American continent lived in and even cultivated
the massive old growth forests covering the lands they called home.
As comfortable as they were with the woods and the wild, even the
First Nations knew some areas demanded respect and reverence. The
dwelling places of the gods should be feared and avoided at all costs.
How else to explain the strange phenomena encountered
there? Trees that move their branches as if they were alive. Boul-
ders that disappear from one place and reappear in another.
Outcroppings of smooth mountain rock that turn to liquid and
swallow men and animals whole. The constant sensation of be-
ing watched by unseen and unfriendly eyes. Nameless, malevolent
forces and beings walk these woods, and to trespass here is to
court death — or worse.
Cursed Forests are still found on the American continent and
all over the world, and they are no less deadly today than they
were centuries ago. The character and relative threat presented
by these creatures largely depend upon their age, which deter-
mines their size, density, and mobility. Cursed Woods are the most
youthful variety, and they can simply appear anywhere, even plac-
es where a small, wooded area is highly unlikely to be. They tend
to develop in places where there might be a modest but relatively
thick gathering of tall trees, be they a secluded grove in the coun-
tryside or a forested section of New York’s Central Park. Anything
from a brutal and gruesome murder to a clandestine cult ritual

– Brick City Constructs / Cursed Forest – 15

could be responsible for the birth of the supernatural phenomena evoke and enrich the psychic energy they feed upon. In this stage
that give Cursed Woods sentience, but whatever unleashed those of existence, their central aim is to feed as quickly and as much as
dark forces, it is a sure bet that humans had a hand in it. possible before vanishing and reappearing in a new location.
Over time, if left to feed upon the life force of the unsus- Youthful Cursed Forests quickly seek out companionship
pecting or the foolishly curious, the malevolent consciousness with other supernatural creatures, since these relationships tend
of a Cursed Wood will bloom into maturity, growing all the more to provide both friendship and mutual protection. Of course, these
powerful and deadly. Cursed Forests cover a much wider area and friendships contribute to the character of each individual forest
tend to linger in one place for decades, even centuries, situating and often influence some of the phenomena occurring within.
themselves in the deepest, darkest, most ancient heart of larger Monsters inhabiting Cursed Forests, for example, seem to serve
forest systems. Compared to ordinary forests, the terrain is easier the whims and intentions of the fiendish hosts, be that to conceal
to traverse than it otherwise would be depending upon the eleva- and protect them from the prying eyes of modern humankind or
tion, but the canopy is lower and denser, creating a claustropho- to lure trespassing humans to their deaths.
bic, oppressive atmosphere where the shadows have a weighty, Some Cursed Forests are born in blood and therefore devel-
almost physical presence. op a hunger for human flesh in addition to their usual craving for
It’s far more difficult to pinpoint why these monsters are the mental and spiritual life force. Thus, their goal is to entice the un-
way they are. Some experts on the occult believe these entities wary and the ignorant into the shadows where they are devoured,
slowly devour the minds and souls of those they entrap. The col- mind, soul and body. Still other Cursed Forests act as dimensional
lective fear, anguish, madness, and howling rage creates rifts in portals, transporting those who stray within to uncharted mystic
time and space, weakening the barriers between dimensions. This realms teeming with supernatural horrors. Ultimately, it is up to
strange psychic miasma appears to attract a vast variety of other the Director to decide what lies within the poisonous, dark heart
monsters that possess mysterious powers and hunger for human of a Cursed Forest and what motivates its sinister activities.
flesh. Perhaps these creatures choose to dwell within a Cursed
Forest out of an irresistible mutual attraction. Maybe they form 19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
symbiotic relationships. Or it may well be that even the most for-
When news of the nefarious Madame Goulet’s escape from
midable supernatural monstrosities are no match for the puissant
justice reaches the ears of her life-long nemesis, Lady Alessandra
manipulations of an even more terrifying evil.
Ngolu-Black, the famed adventuress, seer, and monster-hunter
Thick and dense, sprawling across thousands of miles and leaps to enjoin the chase, tracking Goulet “the Gorgon” across the
even entire countries, Cursed Jungles are what results when a Atlantic Ocean to South America. According to Lady Alessandra’s
Cursed Forest grows ancient and so large that movement becomes spies, Goulet seeks the fabled Crown of Ixtec, which supposed-
exceedingly difficult. To say that an entity of this kind is an un- ly grants the wearer god-like powers of mind control. Now, the
speakable horror would be an egregious understatement. Unlike Gorgon has plunged into the depths of the Amazon jungle. Lady
their younger incarnations, Cursed Jungles are patient, deliberate, Alessandra’s last communique indicated she was in hot pursuit
and willing to lie dormant for millennia, the better to lure in entire and expected to recapture the Gorgon within days. Only that was
nations or civilizations, only to swallow them whole. The creatures three months ago, and now Lord Tristan Black has written, plead-
that lie within are the stuff of legend and nightmares, best only re- ing for your help. His mother came to him in a dream. The jungle
counted under duress and in carefully guarded whispers. Thank- itself is alive, and both she and Madame Goulet are its captives.
fully, knowledgeable occultists insist that these are quite rare. That What’s worse: she fears that the Gorgon might trade her knowl-
said, what few Cursed Jungles there are conceal treasures beyond edge of the location of the Crown of Ixtec for her freedom. What
compare alongside rich veins of primordial mystic power. Such en- horrors might be unleashed should the evil, living consciousness
ticements prove to be irresistible to jaded hunters seeking one last, of the jungle itself come to possess it?
legacy-securing quarry, or nefarious masterminds in search of an
eldritch army to unleash upon an unsuspecting world. 1970S STORY HOOK
In 1923, six Godley College students went for a late-Autumn
GOALS weekend hunting trip on Old Speck Mountain in the White Moun-
The specific combination of forces and events that bring tains of Maine. After setting up camp and purchasing supplies
Cursed Forests into being are one of the deepest unsolved mys- from the local general store, they entered the woods and then van-
teries of the occult world. However, what is known is that these ished without a trace. Fifty years and countless speculative theo-
entities develop their malevolent sentience over time, feeding and ries later, the mystery of their disappearance remains unanswered
fostering whatever strange, malignant energies that birthed them. — until Vernon Oberfell, one of the fabled “Speck Mountain Six,”
As with any other living beings, these creatures possess unique stumbles back into the general store, battered, hollow-eyed, and
personalities that react in response to their environment. Thus, bloody, having not aged a day. “The trees,” he whispers, over and
the nature and variety of supernatural activity within these en- over, his voice trembling. “The trees.”
tities develops and changes each time they appear in a new loca-
tion. Cursed Woods, in particular, are known to quickly pick up on SYSTEM
the peculiar fears, foibles, and superstitions of the living beings
that dwell nearby. With this knowledge, they ensnare their prey There is some debate as to whether a Cursed Forest is an en-
using exceedingly personal and intimate methods, all designed to tity that takes on the familiar form of a heavily wooded area or

16 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

an arboreal space occupied and controlled by a malevolent con- Protagonists face at least Difficulty 2 to any rolls involving
sciousness. The woodland as a whole lacks traits (they’re best Resolve in a Cursed Wood, Difficulty 3 in a Cursed Forest, and
handled with magic, wildfire, or via a skilled forester), but we pro- Difficulty 4 in a Cursed Jungle. Some Tropes such as those involv-
file solitary Devouring Trees below, with a note that traits below ing lucky talismans (My lucky dime, Talisman, etc.) and implying
represent the weakest Devouring Trees, and Scale should be used cynicism (That’s bonkers, Let’s look at the map, etc.) may nullify
for older ones. this ability.
What are you doing here?: A Cursed Forest actively works
DEVOURING TREES to disorient and psychologically manipulate or torment those in-
The trees that make up a Cursed Forest are alive. They move, side of it. Rocks and stones absorb or obscure any marks placed
walk, and it’s possible that they talk as well — though if they do, no upon them. Ribbons tied on tree limbs or bits of shrubbery un-
one has survived to tell about it. knot themselves and blow away, even on a windless day. Paths and
landmarks seem to shift and change at random. And when the
Skills: Aim 1, Athletics 1, Close Combat 2, Empathy 2,
disorientations have sufficiently worn away one’s mental defens-
Integrity 2, Larceny 1
es, the Cursed Forest burrows deep into the subconscious mind,
Attributes: Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Resolve 3; using what it finds there to conjure forth a host of frightening-
Might 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4; Presence 2, ly tangible hallucinations. A character’s childhood night terrors
Manipulation 3, Composure 3 become manifest. The voice of a lost or unrequited love calls out
Health: 9 from the misty shadows. A Cursed Forest seeks out and feeds
upon any carefully guarded fears, anguishes, or traumas a protag-
SPECIAL RULES onist possesses.
Blood Stones: Smooth patches of rock or broad flat stones
make excellent places to stop and rest, but beware these stones!
They bite. Some even swallow hot blooded creatures alive. Thank-
fully, the phrase “dumb as a rock” applies here. Blood Stones are
THE DARKNESS
slow to notice when likely food sources alight upon them. After 30 “The darkness got them! Not something in the
minutes, if a character’s exposed skin is in contact with the rock, dark; the shadows themselves reached for my
they take 1 damage (akin to a small bite that draws blood) with the family, and they were gone!”
Non-Lethal tag every other round. Within Cursed Jungles, after
an hour, Blood Stones transform into a quicksand state. Rolls to — Teenager found holding two flashlights,
escape are at a Difficulty 2. alone in their house

Lotos Flora: One might imagine the plants and berries within Before there was light, there was the Darkness. Not a crea-
a Cursed Forest are poisonous and deadly to eat. On the contrary, ture in any way the human mind can understand, the Darkness is
there are myriad edible plants, roots, nuts, and berries just wait- the concept of shadows, the idea of evil given form, the element
ing to be harvested and consumed. The comestible flora within a of Nothing. The Darkness is the reason humanity fears the night
Cursed Forest contains powerful and extremely addictive opiates and has stalked the world since the first living things stepped out
and hallucinogens. Characters who munch on these unfortunate of the water.
snacks acquire the Stunned Condition.
History books and dusty tomes make mention of countless in-
Slow Burn: Nothing likes fire (well, maybe THE DEVIL stances of suffering, destruction, and death. The Darkness thrives
HIMSELF...). That applies to Cursed Forests, too. However, due in these conditions and was present at many of these historical
to this entity’s supernatural nature, any attempts to kill it with tragedies. Sometimes the direct cause of disaster, The Darkness
fire incur a Difficulty 4 without accelerant and a Difficulty 3 with picks victims with a chance of breaking and the potential to bring
accelerant. Should characters succeed, the Cursed Forest focuses destruction when their minds finally snap. A surgeon’s hand may
only on subduing the flame, distracting it from anyone trying to slip if they’re focusing on the shadows in the corner; the staff at a
escape or making their way through the woodland. nuclear power plant evacuate the facility and flee from the inky
The Sun Sets in the East: While the Director may decide that infinity pouring from the plant’s core.
electronic or magnetic devices (such as a compass) perform errat- The Darkness appears as a thick, moving shadow gliding
ically to indicate that a protagonist has crossed into the bounds of along the ground and up the walls, filling in shadowed spaces. At
a Cursed Forest, that should be the least of their problems. Cursed first it creeps carefully along the edges of a room, observing tar-
Forests actively weaponize the swirl of strange and malicious psy- gets and learning about vital opportunities. Once it’s ready, The
chic energy they possess to distort the very laws of nature. Direc- Darkness makes its presence known: shadows overwhelm the
tion itself is fluid. A mountain stream may flow up the slope rather sight of nearby humans and panic sets in as targets flee from the
than down. The daylight hours may speed by while the dark of night made manifest.
night may stretch on for what seems like days. The sun may even
rise in the west. Whatever strangeness a Director chooses, we rec-
ommend you bear in mind this creature’s driving goal: to goad its
GOAL
victims into madness, making them all the more unable to resist The Darkness exists to consume and cover as much of the
their inevitable devouring. world as it can. No one knows how The Darkness chooses one vic-

– Cursed Forest / The Darkness – 17

tim over another, but a few consistent actions have been recorded. There is only one of The Darkness. It seldom needs to make
The lore says The Darkness only chooses one victim at a time and dice rolls, but in rare situations, use the below numbers.
pursues them relentlessly until a light source injures it, but this is
a misunderstanding of the cosmic force’s motivations. The Dark- THE DARKNESS
ness wishes to push people toward desperate actions in the hopes
Skills: Athletics 3, Close Combat 3, Command 4,
that their fear-based decisions will lead to pain and suffering.
Enigmas 2, Integrity 4, Larceny 4, Persuasion 3,
Survival 2
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Resolve 4;
The manor house on the hill has been brightly lit for over a Might 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Presence 3,
week. Candles are visible from every window and blazing torches Manipulation 3, Composure 4
line the property. No one in town has seen the owner since this
Health: The Darkness lacks Health in the traditional sense,
strange behavior started, but someone really should check on the
and can only be banished through unobscured daylight or
situation. There was talk of the old owner babbling in the pub, just
magical powers and talismans crafted to affect it.
a couple of weeks ago, about having “allowed a stranger in” and
not being able to get rid of them. He was apparently very troubled.
SPECIAL RULES
1970S STORY HOOK Ancient Evil: The Darkness is considered Scale 3 in all arenas
unless it has taken damage from Saint Aoife’s Arrows this scene.
Police are getting reports that the same person keeps sneak- When it uses its Skills (such as to tackle or manipulate someone),
ing into the local ballpark at night and sleeping on the pitcher’s any grasping claw or muttered word is purely psychic. Resisting
mound. When asked what they’re doing, they rave about needing such attacks requires Resolve and Composure more than Stamina.
to stay in the bright stadium lights. Confidential police reports
Consumed by Darkness: Anyone that begins a turn touching
say this crazed individual disappeared from the dark backseat
the Darkness gains the Complication: Touched by Darkness (1)
of a squad car, screaming “it’s here!” before suddenly vanishing.
on all actions until the character spends a scene not touching the
Why would the authorities keep this information away from pub-
Darkness. For each turn the Darkness touches the same charac-
lic eyes? Conspiracy theorists and newspaper reporters would be
ter, the Complication increases until it reaches 5, at which point it
willing to pay anyone that can look into this bizarre cover up.
upgrades to Consumed by Darkness, and the character gains the
Paralyzed Condition. If no one removes them from The Darkness
SYSTEM before the end of the scene, they vanish, never to be seen again.
Saint Aoife’s Arrows: The only way to destroy the Darkness
utterly is via a magical ritual known as Saint Aoife’s Arrows (sun-
light merely causes it to retreat temporarily). Discovery of this se-
cret requires significant investigation: reading dusty tomes, meet-
ing with religious or occult experts, or uncovering any source of
forbidden lore the Director decides might contain this wisdom.
Successful research discovers the writings of Saint Aoife, which
say “the evil stalking through the night may only be destroyed by a
missile enchanted with light. Thou must speak these words while
holding an arrow in holy water: ‘I banish the dark.’”
Characters must perform this ritual on each ranged weapon
the characters wish to throw, shoot, or otherwise propel at the
Darkness. Damage from these enchanted missiles banishes it to
the void whence it came, for at least 666 nights.

DEAD GRASPING
HANDS
“They reached around the corner. Cold dead
hands. Diseased and mutated. Unearthly.
Grabbed the guy by a nostril. A finger hooked his
mouth. All I could do was stare;
my body unable to move.”

— Anonymous victim of Dead Grasping Hands

18 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

 Dead Grasping Hands are a hybrid monstrosity composed of
a mindless horde of reaching arms under the influence of a single
nightmarish entity. A mass of limbs and hands, dead and mutated,
lethal and hungry, follows its prey in inconceivable ways. The un-
dead mass is nearly unrecognizable from its constituent parts — a
hundred-handed Hecatoncheires. They might originate as a side
effect from some horrible event, grow conjoined through gross ex-
periments, arise from a necromancer’s forgotten ritual, or emerge
from a pool of chemical waste.
Despite the physicality of the Dead Grasping Hands, there’s
a malevolence manipulating their seemingly mindless urges. The
Dead Grasping Hands try to force their prey into an ever-shrink-
ing maze of dead ends, closed passages, and narrow alleys. Dead
Grasping Hands act as a semi-mobile location hazard. They’re not
a single identifiable creature, but a threat that forces those in their
wake to flee for safer grounds. The Director is encouraged to use
the Dead Grasping Hands as an obstacle, rather than a creature
with a mind and purpose. The placement of the Dead Grasping
Hands is best when the protagonists’ need to navigate past them
requires tough choices, creativity, and luck. Some common loca-
tions include closets, inside white panel vans, underneath open
basement steps, city sewers, inside crawl spaces, underneath cem-
etery lawns, from within the toilet bowl (a new game line!), and
the rafters above.
Some necromantic types may use Dead Grasping Hands to
keep their Zombies and Skeletons in place until the time comes
to unleash them. Conversely, a horde of those same undead could
coalesce into a mass of limbs, becoming Dead Grasping Hands.
drums and swampy pools of fluid on either side of the road to save
the inhabitants… Or what’s left of them.
GOALS
Dead Grasping Hands are a mindless, destructive force want- SYSTEM
ing nothing more than to rip flesh from bone. Outwardly, this is their
Dead Grasping Hands are as much a hazard as a monster. The
dominant goal. The Dead Grasping Hands play a game of cat-and-
protagonists may wonder how all those hands could fit in such a
mouse, cutting off routes to safety until they can rip into their tar-
small space. Keep wondering. We’ve asked and the Dead Grasping
gets. Their instincts elevate fear and do so with tactical malevolence.
Hands don’t have much to say.
Skills: Athletics 2, Close Combat 3
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Resolve 2;
A massive estate on the edge of the Allier River is finally for
Might 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Presence 2,
sale after the death of its final occupant. The county allows the
Manipulation 1, Composure 1
public into the home for tours and inspections. More a sprawling
mansion than family dwelling, the property also has a number of Health: 2 (a single arm only)
out lots and an extensive cellar. The stories of wild parties and un-
mitigated debauchery on the premises are legendary, the source SPECIAL RULES
of a thousand urban myths around the estate. Some say a group of Behind Cover: The Dead Grasping Hands always attack from
partygoers never left the premises, dying in bizarre social antics, behind some form of barrier or cover. The core of the Grasping
drinking themselves to death in a single night, or simply disap- Hands often remains unseen. The last point of their Health cannot
pearing. Others may have been murdered, the bodies stuffed away be removed unless the protagonists use a method to reach past
in the maze-like basement. the deadly Hands. Doing so within Close Combat and grappling
range causes a +2 Complication on the protagonist’s rolls using
1970S STORY HOOK Attributes from the Physical Arena.
There’s no time to waste! The smoking wreck of the rusted, Inevitable Return: Only the most destructive attacks perma-
repurposed school bus is sinking into the toxic sludge ponds on ei- nently harm the Dead Grasping Hands. Explosives, dousing it in
ther side of the gravel road. A piece of the “Restricted Entry” sign flammables, heavy weaponry or crushing under tons of weight ef-
and section of chain-link fencing still clings to the front fender. fectively stop the Dead Grasping Hands. Otherwise, reducing the
Counter-culture intruders, local news, and hired staff at the scene Health of the Hands only removes it from play temporarily, to re-
must fend off the undead as they reach around corroded steel turn at the Director’s discretion.

– The Darkness / Dead Grasping Hands – 19

 Inexplicable Movement: The Dead Grasping Hands can fit
into spaces their Scale should not allow.
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
The St. Giles district of London is a hotbed of cholera and
Severed Limbs: While the entirety of the Grasping Hands
consumption; so much so, in fact, that its cemeteries are filled to
may be difficult to slay, there are plenty of fingers, hands, and arms
capacity. One enterprising, if unscrupulous, mortician named Ni-
to slash, crush, and hack. The Health of an individual arm is 2.
gel Cheaney found a way to profit from all this death. He discov-
Striking a single arm may be the key to releasing a grappled ally.
ered a family of Ghoulish Cannibals living in the worst areas of the
This in no way harms the Dead Grasping Hands and does not re-
district and made a deal with them. They paid him money (found
duce its effectiveness or capabilities.
upon the bodies of their victims) in exchange for fresh corpses to
Sticky Fingers: The Hands reach for anything, ripping into feast upon. Recently, one of them went out of control and killed
clothing and flesh alike. Sometimes Dead Grasping Hands are at- Cheaney’s daughter, abruptly ending their arrangement. He’s now
tracted to important or sentimental items. This could be an heirloom looking to hire people to rid the city of these creatures, though he
weapon, a benevolent scientist’s potion, a stopwatch tracking one conveniently neglects to mention that he had been their ally until
character’s lycanthropic transformations, a treasured photograph, or a few weeks ago.
another signature item now in the monster’s clutches. The Director is
encouraged to snatch an item of narrative importance. The Hands se-
crete these items in hidden lairs or in the center of their ball of limbs.
1970S STORY HOOK
Ghoulish Cannibals lack a conscience, which explains why
These Buggers Scale: Dead Grasping Hands are made for
Vamgoo is such an enigma. This pathetic creature has come to un-
Scale, with a single Dead Grasping Hand having the traits marked
derstand that what her clan does is wrong. With this in mind, she
above, which are distinctly unthreatening. The greater the num-
runs away from everything she has ever known, seeking to find
ber of Hands, the greater the Scale, and the greater the multipli-
a different way of life. Vamgoo has goodness in her that’s absent
cation of their threat.
in others of her kind. Can she stave off her cravings and eke out
a new existence for herself? And what happens when her clan

GHOULISH tracks her down? What a pity it would be if the characters got
caught up in all this.

CANNIBALS
“You think I’m disgusting for drinking blood?
Ghouls…
They make my dried-out stomach turn.”

— Mako Sato, noble vampire with a sense of taste

Are they human? Undead? Mutants? Or are they something

else entirely? The answer probably lies somewhere between those
possibilities and leans more toward one of them than the others
with any given cluster of these fiends. The common denominator
between them is that they crave the flesh of humans to fill their
ever-hungry stomachs.
Ghoulish Cannibals typically exist in remote, lonely areas
where they can pick off victims without their morbid activities
being detected by the authorities. Some, however, prefer rundown
urban areas with a sizeable homeless population, operating out of
sewer tunnels and derelict buildings. They are clannish by nature
and live in groups of between four and ten. Some are crudely ver-
bal; others just grunt and growl.

GOALS
Ghoulish Cannibals are simplistic creatures whose only goals
are to kill the living and eat their flesh. Like any connoisseurs,
however, these ghastly fiends savor their food (and the torment
of their would-be meals), often keeping their victims tied up or
otherwise detained for days on end while preparing the perfect
broth or repairing their favorite meat grinder. Sometimes, they
even taste-test choice morsels of flesh ahead of time.

20 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

SYSTEM
There really isn’t a “standard” Ghoulish Cannibal. Each one
has their own look and behavioral quirks. What follows is a close
proximity to what could be considered typical. Switch the game
traits up without so much as a second thought.

GHOULISH CANNIBAL
Skills: Aim 2, Athletics 3, Close Combat 3, Empathy 1,
Enigmas 1, Larceny 3, Persuasion 1, Survival 4
Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Resolve 2; Might
3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4; Presence 2, Manipulation 1,
Composure 2
Health: 8

SPECIAL RULES
Darkness Vision: Ghoulish Cannibals have developed amaz-
ing eyesight in even the darkest of places. They suffer no disad-
vantages for operating in the dark, even if physically blinded.
Flesh and the Power it Holds: Once a Ghoulish Cannibal causes at
least 4 damage to a potential meal...err...character, they go into some-
thing of a flesh frenzy. Increase their Scale for Physical Arena rolls by 1
and give their attacks the Deadly tag until the encounter is over.
Home Field Advantage: Ghoulish Cannibals are territorial creatures.
They know every nook and cranny of their home turf. When attempting
to ambush, trap, outmaneuver, sneak past or hide from Ghoulish Can-
nibals in their area, characters suffer a level 2 Complication.
GOALS
HEADLESS HUNTER
Headless Hunters are one-track minded. They exist to kill.
Period. Exactly whom they target is unclear, however. In most cas-
es, they focus on those responsible for their death or their descen-
“How well can he ride though, sans head?” dants, but that’s not always the case. They have been known to
prey upon entire communities and even seemingly random people
— Dr. Charlie Service, a mystic,
for decades or centuries, always seeking — yet never finding — the
shortly before his own decapitation
one head that could end their curse.
The loss of one’s head is an unpleasant way to buy the prover-
bial farm. Whether blown off by a cannonball, sent flying via the 19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
blade of a sword, or guillotined, there’s just nothing pretty about The lawless western frontier of North America was a violent
it. Whatever the case may be, those who meet their end in such a place where people lived and died by the gun. One such person
fashion tend to return to the world of the living to exact revenge was Clem Sullivan, known as the meanest, nastiest, most hateful
atop a hellish steed! desperado the Wild West had ever spawned. During a bank rob-
There’s been endless speculation as to how these beheaded bery gone awry, he and his gang of bandits were gunned down
revenants came to exist. Some say they made a pact with THE by local lawmen. Clem’s head may have been blown clean off his
DEVIL HIMSELF. Others claim the deceased were so evil in life shoulders, but a little ol’ thing like death wasn’t about to stop him
and are so vengeful in death that they simply refuse to depart this from getting revenge! He’s back now and two of the deputies have
realm until they make whoever is responsible pay with their lives. been murdered. Before succumbing to their wounds, one victim
Still others are under the belief that they were never humans at swore up and down it was Clem who had done him in, but “he
all, but are instead demonic fairies simply compelled to kill. didn’t have no head.” Can the murderous horseman be stopped
before anyone else is slain?
Headless Hunters only manifest at night either on horseback
or, in more modern times, on motorbikes. Bicycles and unicycles
are a rare choice, the former common only to French Headless 1970S STORY HOOK
Hunters and the latter to decapitated circus performers. When George Pryce, the mayor of the city, has gone missing. Upon
the sun makes itself visible, they vanish into thin air. They are searching his house for clues regarding his disappearance, they came
intrinsically tied to the moon and are more powerful during full across his journal. It was filled with mentions of nightmares about a
moons, blood moons, harvest moons, and supermoons. man on horseback with a jack-o-lantern for a head. Later entries took

– Ghoulish Cannibals / Headless Hunter – 21

things even further, as he claimed that he was seeing the horseman
in real life as well as his nightmares. In his final entry, he penned:
“The horseman finally spoke, ordering me to go to the small town of
Bellington so I can meet my fate. Why is he after me?” Why indeed.

SYSTEM
Headless Hunters invariably have — you guessed it! — no head
and ride a mount, typically an onyx horse with flaming red eyes. Some
of them carry their severed heads under their arms; others have jack-
o-lanterns balanced between their shoulders. They typically wield
swords or whips, though some have been known to carry old-fash-
ioned firearms. Here are the statistics for these abominations:

HEADLESS HUNTERS
Skills: Aim 3, Athletics 4, Close Combat 4, Integrity 5,
Larceny 3, Survival 3
Attributes: Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Resolve 5;
Might 3, Dexterity 4, Stamina 4; Presence 4,
Manipulation 2, Composure 4
Health: 14

SPECIAL RULES
By the Light of the Night: When the moon gives way to the
sun, Headless Hunters vanish into thin air until the following
events that seem to appear whenever scary monsters are present or
night, at which point they regain all lost Health. During special lu-
spooky houses are looming. The boom of thunder and the flash of
nar cycles, their Physical Attributes increase by 1 and their Health
lighting could be a coincidence or it could be a Killer Stormfront!
increases to 16.
Killer Stormfronts are usually the result of Twisted Scientists
Fiery Steed: The demonic steed is merely an extension of the
or Warlocks attempting to summon powerful storm elementals
Headless Hunter and uses the same Skills, Attributes, and Health.
to attack their foes or protect their homes from outsiders. While
Furthermore, when the Headless Hunter is mounted, it counts as
brilliant minds warped with power are the most common reasons,
Scale 2 for purposes of rolls involving movement. Any character
they are certainly not the only way Killer Stormfronts have en-
physically touching the steed — whether horse, motorbike, or oth-
tered the world. Everything from cults misspeaking a dead lan-
er transport — takes 1 damage per round of contact.
guage to government laboratories flipping one too many switches
Pseudo Spectral: Headless Hunters have certain spectral as- has resulted in destructive forces in the form of Killer Stormfronts.
pects, giving characters a level 1 Complication when attempting to
It’s a rare individual who can command such raw power
inflict physical damage on the monster. Additionally, they can lose
without it breaking away and taking on a life of its own. Even those
1 Health to become fully incorporeal for one full round, allowing
who purposefully invoke the Killer Stormfronts can fall victim to a
them to pass through physical objects or avoid attacks. While in-
poorly worded command, leading the massive elemental to cause
corporeal, they cannot physically harm or be harmed.
more destruction than protection. Usually, accidental summon-
Weapon of Choice: The Headless Hunter should have a sig- ers find it impossible to tame the wind. No one knows how many
nature melee weapon capable of beheading. This weapon possess- Killer Stormfronts are active at any given point, but even a single
es the Deadly damage tag. Stormfront can leave devastation in its wake.

GOAL
KILLER Killer Stormfronts unleash the wrath of nature on the target or
location designated by the one who summoned them. That goal lasts

STORMFRONT until the summoner eventually loses control of the powerful ele-
mental. At that point, Killer Stormfronts destroy their former master
“If you don’t like the weather, wait five minutes.” (consuming their lifeforce in the process) before moving on to a new
doomed soul or cursed place. A Killer Stormfront with a mind of its
— A Midwest Farmer, Being Hilarious own picks targets that remind it of the one that originally summoned
it, its first target, or locations tied to either. These criteria can lead to
It starts with a cold breeze and a few drops of rain, but soon deadly storms that plague a town for weeks, or it might float as a cloud
the victim learns that lighting can strike the same place twice. Many bank for years while the Killer Stormfront looks for a new victim.
make the mistake of writing off the storms as strange, coincidental

22 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

 or Might (Difficulty 3) to avoid getting sucked up into the Killer
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK Stormfront. If the character is pulled into the Stormfront, they
A stranger arrived in town a few weeks ago. They spoke suffer 6 Health falling damage.
with an accent and dressed bizarrely. The locals made it clear
Torrential Downpour: When the Killer Stormfront initially
to this traveler that they were unwelcome. Percival, the mayor’s
targets someone, they gain the Waterlogged Condition (see below).
son, took things too far and struck the stranger with a barrage of
cruel blows, leaving them bloody in the streets. The next day, it
seemed to rain everywhere Percival walked through town, and a
WATERLOGGED
few days after that, a lightning bolt struck and killed him during You’re caught in a torrential downpour, have lungs filled
an unprecedented tempest. Things did not stop with Percival, and with water, or have only just clambered from a swamp or murky
strange weather patterns have plagued the town ever since. Locals pool. All Social Rolls within this Condition suffer a level 3 Com-
are desperate for anyway to stop these destructive storms and are plication, as its nearly impossible to hold conversations in a storm,
ironically looking to outsiders to solve their plight. while coughing, or while impolitely dripping on the furniture.
Rewrite Generation: Suffering damage directly due to your
1970S STORY HOOK Condition adds a single Rewrite to the Writer’s Pool.
Last night, people saw otherworldly lights coming from the Resolution: This Condition resolves once the Killer Storm-
old Ingrao house. A squad car went to investigate, but lightning front is no longer targeting the victim or after the victim has dried
struck their vehicle, and intense winds prevented the officers from out and hidden in a dry location.
making it up the winding driveway. Storm clouds have churned
over the Ingrao property all day, and folks around town have start-
ed receiving calls from old man Ingrao — mad ramblings request-
ing help against the storm, tearful apologies, and something about
LIVING HOUSE
losing control. Someone needs to get into the Ingrao house and get “We just had a home open up. When are you
to the bottom of things. looking to move in?”

SYSTEM — Stephanie Thorndyke, Anxious Realtor

Killer Stormfronts are powerful elementals without traits
The uncaring natural world features many predators that
and should be represented through Conditions, Complications,
have evolved traits allowing them to trick their prey into coming
and Fields, in addition to their special rules below. That being
to them, from the pitcher plant to the trapdoor spider. One such
said, you are welcome to try punching the storm...
organism adapted with the rise of humanity, realizing the mortal
mind calls for conformity. Known to the few that have survived its
SPECIAL RULES jaws as the Living House, this vicious beast adapts its appearance to
Control the Storm: Warlocks and Twisted Scientists have the typical shelter of the day and waits for inhabitants to move in.
found numerous ways to control the Killer Stormfront, so the The Living House is a particularly sinister creature, as it takes
characters should too. This can take the form of an arcane ritual, advantage of its victim’s sense of security. A home represents safe-
the use of a powerful artifact, or something as sinister as human ty, stability, and a safe haven from the threats outside. The Living
sacrifice. No matter which route, it requires research to discover House is patient enough to wait for these feelings of familiarity
and allows the characters to give the Killer Stormfront one com- to set in before things take a dark turn, and the home becomes
mand. This command could be for it to go away, but if they give it a house of horror. Some Living Houses, after they’ve consumed
a different order, the Killer Stormfront follows as best it can, often enough victims, become Brick City Constructs (see p. 14).
with unintended results. A command to protect could result in the
storm murdering the school bully or a loud teacher. After fulfill-
ing its orders, the Killer Stormfront is free to do whatever it likes,
GOAL
which often takes the form of turning on its wielder. Further com- The Living House exists to consume, but it’s a patient pred-
mands require researching a new way of controlling the storm. ator and can wait for years between meals. It’s aware of modern
concepts like realtors and landlords, and that they bring more
Lightning Strikes Twice: Only the Director knows when the
food if allowed to live. The Living House knows that if it kills too
Killer Stormfront starts attacking its victims, but once it does, it
often, humans stop moving into it; so it waits for its occupants to
usually takes the form of lightning strikes. The target should make
become comfortable. Then it divides the occupants up in one of its
an Athletics + Dexterity roll to avoid the strike. The target takes
many chambers and begins to feast.
damage equal to 8 – the successes rolled. The Killer Stormfront
cannot strike more than once per turn.
Tornado: Once the Killer Stormfront finishes with its target,
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
it calls down a tornado. The tornado treats all buildings as if they Hedwig Creek grew rapidly after prospectors discovered
had the Cheap Set Cinematic. Characters can escape by getting gold in the area. They quickly threw together rough, identical
into a vehicle and driving away or hiding in a basement or storm cabins for the miners and their families. Every few months, some-
cellar. If characters do not escape, it takes Athletics + Dexterity one would arrive whose ambitions were more extensive than their

– Killer Stormfront / Living House – 23

resources, but strangely there was always an empty cabin ready
for them. It was only after the fourth resident of that same cab-
in went missing that the settlement began to suspect something
was wrong. Local “law enforcement” has investigated, but so far
all they’ve reported is that the inside of the cabin always seems
warm. Why would anyone despair at such a comfortable home?

1970S STORY HOOK

Levittown, New York was the first American suburb, and by
the 1970s, much of its post-war expansion was complete, resulting
in hundreds of nearly identical tract homes all neatly lined up in
a row. Over the decades, the appeal of suburbia attracted many
families and more than one Living House. New York detectives
have linked the area to a series of disappearances. Meanwhile, the
Pharaohs — a gang of notorious thieves — plans to use the emp-
ty homes as bases and storage as they prepare to hit as many of
the middle-class families as possible. The only issue? Two of the
Pharaohs were having a fight in one of the properties, and upon
smashing into a wall, one of the gangsters was absorbed into the
plaster and stone, leaving no trace behind.

SYSTEM
The Living House’s traits change based on the size of its cur-
rent transformation; a log cabin is less powerful than a towering
apartment complex. The below numbers represent a middle-class
suburban home, and while some traits may appear incongruous (a
house with Aim and Empathy?) these represent Skills stolen from barriers, and miscellaneous debris, but if someone watches the
victims the house has absorbed. home long enough, they notice gradual changes happening, such
as drywall going up without anyone lifting a hammer.
LIVING HOUSE Extensions and Annexes: A Living House is considered a
Skills: Aim 3, Close Combat 4, Culture 3, Empathy 2, Scale 1 antagonist (with pretty tough traits as it is), but mansions
Humanities 2, Integrity 3, Larceny 2, Survival 2, and tower blocks may rise to as high as Scale 3.
Technology 1 Guardians: Once native to castles and grand cathedrals, Gar-
Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Resolve 2; Might 5, goyles and Living Houses form a symbiotic relationship. Gargoyles
Dexterity 1, Stamina 4; Presence 2, Manipulation 2, provide protection where the House is weakest, and in return, the
Composure 3 Living Houses feed the Gargoyles leftover scraps.
Health: 20 Recycled Materials: A Living House with all its Health re-
moved, but without losing its brain, regrows into a new home over
SPECIAL RULES the next year. This process is slowed if the destroyed masonry is
Antibodies: If anyone seems to be preparing to attack the dispersed, but can also lead to multiple smaller Living Houses
house, antibodies gather to interfere. These can appear as swarms springing up from a beam reused in one part of the city, and brick-
of rats, insects, or a CO2 leak. While none of these are immediate- work fashioned into a wall in the suburbs.
ly lethal, they create a Field 2 Complication on all actions till the Safety Hazards: The Living House may use Skill + Attribute
aggressors leave the house. pools to attack in a number of ways. Steak knives are thrown
Custom Home Designs: The Living House understands the through the air, plugged in hair dryers jump into bathtubs, and
cultural norms for housing and can metamorph itself into these tangling Christmas lights twist around throats.
new designs. The process happens over the course of one story, Chambers
during which time the Living House loses all its chambers but is
not defenseless. Gargoyles stand guard, sometimes changing into The Living House contains any number of rooms, most of
mannequins wearing hard hats. Living Houses closer to metropol- which are empty. No matter how small, the Living House always
itan areas sometimes work with Brick City Constructs for protec- has the following chambers:
tion during this vulnerable time. A cocoon surrounds the changing Stomach: When preparing to eat, The Living House lures
Living House for the duration of the transformation. Onlookers victims to a stomach chamber (large structures have multiple
see this cocoon as construction equipment, temporary plywood stomach chambers). Once a victim is inside a stomach chamber,

24 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

 MOTHMAN
all exits close and lock. Every turn after the chamber causes one
damage to all living things inside. This digestion takes forms ap-
propriate to the chamber; a kitchen catches on fire, a closet starts
filling with liquid from spilled cleaning bottles, a shower sprays “I look out the window, and there’s this…giant
caustic stomach acid. Most commonly, walls, floors, and ceiling THING standing in my front yard with these
become viscous like quicksand and attempt to absorb the room’s huge, horrible, glowing red eyes!”
inhabitants, requiring a Close Combat + Might roll against the
— Marnie Kowalczyk
Living House’s same roll (and the Grappling tag) to escape the
(a.k.a. Madame Obolenski, Spiritual Reader)
gripping monstrosity. It typically takes three rounds of failed rolls
to utterly consume someone, though the Living House can target
It stands a towering seven feet tall, its body covered in
multiple victims at once.
brown-grey fur. Massive shoulders sprout enormous, translucent
Heart: Usually located in the bottom of the structure (base- white wings and hide a head with two saucer-sized red eyes that
ments for modern buildings, or crawl spaces for older), the heart possess an eerie, mesmerizing luminescence. It’s said that when
keeps the life fluids of the Living House pumping. The beating the Mothman reveals itself to mortals, doom and destruction are
heart sounds like the creaking of settling foundations or the hum soon to follow.
of a furnace. The heart adapts its appearance to look like some-
But what is the Mothman? Where does it come from?
thing appropriate for the basement or crawlspace, often a water
Pop-culture theories vary wildly from those who insist it is a rare
heater or a large rock. The moment an attacker shows aggression
flying cryptid, to others convinced it is an alien life form con-
to the heart, all of the Living House’s defense move to engage the
ducting advance reconnaissance for an as-yet-undetected inva-
aggressor. Doing at least half the Living House’s Health in damage
sion force. Such urban legends hold little sway with experienced
to the heart increases the time it takes the creature to rebuild from
monster hunters and supernatural scholars, largely due to rumors
a year to a decade.
surrounding an obscure hand-written text called The Avenging
Brain: Always located at the top of the structure, the brain Monster, or The Creation of Physical Vessels for the Use of Angelic or
appears as a warm, wet mass of organic material filled with the Inter-Dimensional Beings of Light.
rotting flesh of previous homeowners. The Living House always
The work, now presumed missing or lost, was supposedly
takes steps to make it challenging to get to the brain. The only
penned in the early 1800s by the Mystic and Occult Theosophi-
way to the attic is a hard-to-reach door in a closet, or the un-
cal Society, a collective of neo-Alchemists, root workers, hoodoo
stable-looking rafters of a cottage. If the brain takes the Living
House’s remaining Health in damage, the building collapses and
does not return.

GARGOYLES
Skills: Athletics 3, Close Combat 3, Culture 1, Integrity
2, Larceny 2, Pilot 2, Survival 2
Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Resolve 2; Might 4,
Dexterity 2, Stamina 3; Presence 2, Manipulation 1,
Composure 3
Health: 9
Custom Decor: Gargoyles join the construction cocoon of the
Living House. They always emerge from the metamorphosis as
something appropriate to the new design. An old manor has tradi-
tional Gargoyles, a house with a small garden has lawn gnomes, an
art deco high-rise is populated with intriguing statues, etc.
Flight: When appropriate, the Gargoyles take on forms with
wings. If attempts are made to knock the Gargoyles out of the sky,
use Pilot + Dexterity to keep the monster in flight. If the roll fails,
the gargoyle is grounded for the rest of combat. These variants can
fly and make maneuvers using their Pilot + Dexterity.
Heavy Duty: When Gargoyles strike their targets, they do so
with the weight of stone and age behind them. Their fists inflict
damage with the Deadly tag.

– Living House / Mothman – 25

practitioners, medicine workers, conjurers, and ceremonial magi-
cians — all of them women. Famed Inuit monster hunter, Mauja
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
Tupilek, claimed to have read The Avenging Monster while on a sea Three years ago, he tells your dinner party, Prokhor Dmitriev
voyage with one of the original authors. If his account is to be be- was a Captain in the Imperial Russian Army battling the Ottoman
lieved, the Society attempted to enlist the aid of benevolent spiri- Turks in the Crimea. While leading his men in a midnight am-
tual entities in their fight against the agents of darkness. bush, a winged creature — massive, headless, and crow-like — rose
up out of the shadows and blocked out the starlight before them.
The awesome cosmic powers that such inter-dimensional
Stricken with fear by its glowing, saucer-like eyes, they all bolted
beings possess diminish significantly in the effort of manifesting
wildly back to camp, unwilling to risk a glance behind them to see
a physical form. However, according to Tupilek’s account, after
if the monster followed. So frightened were they that they forgot
thousands of hours of research and multiple failed prototypes, the
to send an advance signal to alert the night sentries of their ap-
group successfully designed a Manifestation Chamber. Part living,
proach. Their fellow soldiers opened fire. Prokhor was the only
organic material and part clockwork apparatus, this vessel, held
survivor. But his story is not quite done: two nights ago, he saw
together by a confusing tangle of arcane rituals, could imprison a
the creature again, standing just across the road from his home.
dimensional being and allow the Society to take full advantage of
You know he is describing the Mothman — a creature your family
its abilities.
has been hunting ever since it escaped from your grandmother’s
Tupilek provides little detail as to how the group coaxed laboratory almost 50 years ago.
such a being to enter their Manifestation Chamber, but he sug-
gests they were successful beyond their expectations. However, at
some point during the process, demonic forces attacked. Tupilek
1970S STORY HOOK
recounts a brief but fearsome battle wherein the Avenging Mon- It’s May of 1978, and the tragic events of the Point Pleasant
ster more than proved its worth, shredding zombies like tissue pa- Silver Bridge disaster are still fresh in the public consciousness.
per with its powerful claws, its blinding red eye-beams vaporizing People also remember the strange and chilling stories of a flying
demons with terrifying precision. humanoid monster, the “Moth Man,” sighted frequently by multi-
ple witnesses in the days and weeks leading up to the bridge col-
However, something went awfully and irrevocably wrong.
lapse. When one of the regular old-timers at the Ruby Pass Diner
The exact details are, unfortunately, lost to time. Tupilek was trag-
comes in with his own tale of a seven-foot, winged monster that
ically slaughtered by Hell Hounds before he could complete his
carried off his beloved chocolate Labrador, Butch, it’s enough to
re-telling of the events. What little we know is this: as the surviv-
garner some amused attention and gentle ribbing. Then four local
ing Society members performed the rituals to release their Light
teens go missing. Two are found dead in their car, victims of an ap-
Being from the Manifestation Chamber, some entity of Darkness
parent large animal attack, and when the others emerge — shaken,
intervened, disrupting the delicate balance of magical energies.
but alive — they carry a blood-chilling message: The Mothman is
Thus were both dimensional beings trapped within the hideous
real, and it murdered their friends.
physical vessel of the Avenging Monster.

GOALS SYSTEM
As two entities in one form, the Mothman possesses a con-
Mothman is a creature perpetually at war with itself, inhab-
flicting range of Attributes.
ited by two entities in violent opposition to one another. When
Dark Mothman is emergent, its goal is to terrorize and cause as
much death and destruction as possible to living things in the hu- MOTHMAN
man physical world. The evil dimensional being driving these out- Skills: Aim 3 Athletics 4, Close Combat 5, Integrity 5
comes has every intention of suppressing or ejecting its opponent (Light Form only), Persuasion 3 (Dark Form only),
from the Manifestation Chamber and taking total control of the Survival 5
powerful Mothman body to wreak havoc. Attributes: Intellect 4, Cunning 5, Resolve 5; Might 5,
Fortunately for human-kind, the dimensional being of light is Dexterity 5/1 (see Made for Flight below), Stamina 5;
more powerful, which means that the majority of encounters are Presence 5, Manipulation 1, Composure 3
with Light Mothman. Time and space are not familiar concepts to Health: 20
inter-dimensional beings. Therefore, Light Mothman’s goal is as
it has been since it engaged with the Society all those years ago: SPECIAL RULES
to assist humans in their battle against monsters and other malev-
olent supernatural forces. When it senses impending trouble or Avenging Monster: Protagonists may attempt to establish
disaster, it will make itself seen to those who possess some form of a connection with Mothman while it is in Light form (Culture +
extra-sensory or spiritual sensitivity in the hopes that the coming Empathy or Persuasion). Mystics, Raconteurs, or other characters
doom might be averted. with the Silver Tongue or Talisman tropes receive a +2 Enhance-
ment to any rolls involving Empathy or Persuasion.
However, the light being also wants to be released from the
prison of the Manifestation Chamber, and the longer it remains Doom Bringer: Some speculate the Mothman’s appearance
trapped with its dark counterpart, the weaker and more suscepti- is a herald of impending disaster. However, a more accurate ex-
ble to corruption it becomes. planation is that dimensional beings such as those imprisoned in
the Manifestation Chamber are not meant to exist in the physical

26 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

planes. Therefore, the longer Mothman inhabits an area, the more
its inherent wrongness wreaks havoc on everything within a 30
mile/48 kilometer radius. For Directors, this is operationalized as
Continuous Non-Lethal Damage (daily) for all living things for a
total of 10 days, after which the Panicked Condition applies. The
degree of the panic should be random and unpredictable. Non-liv-
ing things, especially large, exposed structures such as bridges,
cable cars, ski-lifts and the like incur Continuous Lethal Damage
(daily) for 10 days, after which physical elements are subject to
catastrophic breakdowns. Giant sinkholes swallow entire houses
or city blocks, cables snap, girders fail, etc.
Made for Flight: When in flight, Mothman reaches speeds in
excess of 100 miles per hour. However, on foot, it has a slow, halt-
ing, even shuffling gait. Thus, characters attempting to chase — or
flee — the Mothman face increased Difficulty when the monster is
in flight but enjoy a +2 Enhancement when the monster is on foot.
Tug of War: Mothman possesses a dual nature, therefore its
demeanor, intent, and relative threat level may change depend-
ing upon which dimensional being has managed to wrestle con-
trol of the physical vessel at any given time. When Mothman first
appears, the Director may use whatever method of chance they
prefer (coin flip, dice roll, etc.) to determine which being —Light
or Dark — is in charge. If the Dark Form is in command, Mothman
should roll Integrity + Resolve to determine if the Light Form can
successfully regain control. Any additional successes indicate the
number of days until the Dark Form regains dominance again.

THE MURDER
the Murder food, only to scream as the birds lurch for their eyes.
Like the bubonic plague does the Murder spread. Those with
guns lament that these are just “stupid birds!”, but the Murder has
“What they gunna do, peck my eyes out?” watched men with guns for a long time now. They’ll grab human
weapons and surround the buildings within which their victims
— “Blind” Bundy,
hide. They’ll crash like a waterfall spilling from Hell itself onto
back when he was still known as “Blinky” Bundy
isolated suburbs, communes of weed-smoking New Age follow-
ers, or they’ll invite themselves to concerts and leave little coins
The Murder first appears as a lone crow perching for two,
at the booth, as if paying entrance to a Rock and Roll buffet. And
three days’ time on a power pole, its gray eye a fleck of mirthless
when all is said and done, one crow flies away. It’ll find another
ice serving as scribe and scout. It’s looking for food — for the car-
murder. It’ll squawk what it learned, and they’ll squawk back; and
rion meat of battlefields scarcely appearing in modern times. It’ll
the murder, now the Murder, will feast again.
move to the windowsill of a soldier, a boxer, a killer, peck a bad
knock-knock joke on the glass. When denied, it’ll peck harder, and
another will land, a third, a fifth, their birdsong becoming a dirge, GOALS
an angry begging for food from any source. The Murder itself doesn’t want anything complicated. It’s
Eventually, someone throws the Murder a bone: THE DEVIL only hungry. If humankind had kept fighting its tribal wars, then
HIMSELF, or a Warlock angry at the world, some demon conjured the crows would have been satisfied with that. Now, given neither
and lonely perhaps, or Dracula taking pity on predators much like sacrifice nor tribute, their drive to eat stains their avian brains as
himself. Whoever or whatever it may be, they tell the Murder a black as their feathers. This has confused biologists for some time,
secret: asking for permission is harder than asking for forgiveness. but not keen and watchful occultists.
At this, the Murder kees and caws. They’ll put their observations The Murder alters its goals to whatever thing acted as the
to the test and begin their hunt. First, they target the feral and Murder’s teacher. THE DEVIL HIMSELF needs little explana-
small pets. Cats and squirrels are found eyeless, gutless, or used as tion; he only answers the prayers of his supplicants. A Warlock
nests. People tell each other they heard a crow laughing, and that driven by revenge or wishing to make a grand sacrifice in the
its laugh sounded too human. Or they’ll say one followed them name of some unholy power, will often find a murder to enlight-
home, stood outside on their porch, and cawed all night. en. Professor Vyle (see p. 31) has, perhaps, the most humanitarian
At this point, nowhere is safe. The Murder roams human- reasons. Having been scorned himself for sometimes years or even
kind’s streets and descends upon crowds or loners whether decades, he wishes that pain on no other night-winged creature.
they’re armed or not. Pedestrians not knowing their danger offer Thus, he teaches.

– Mothman / The Murder – 27

19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
Throughout the British Empire, towns too far out in the hills
to be easily reached have been utterly silent when it comes to their
taxes. In Zetland, it’s worse than anywhere else, and the Marquess
sends some of his most loyal men to see what’s happening. There,
they find nothing but the grisly remains, eyeless and tongueless, of
farmers and their families. On the long road back, there’s a caw-
ing in the trees, and the horizon turns weirdly black. The Murder
hungers, and shelter is still some ways away yet.

20TH CENTURY STORY HOOK

It’s Halloween in America’s Blue Ridge foothills, and the
town of Downsville is celebrating with their meagre 300-soul pop-
ulation. Just a week beforehand, a deranged hiker passed through
and was, summarily, turned away by the people as he went door to
door asking for food. They were disturbed by the blackness of his
eyes, the weird way in which he jittered. Very much scorned and
pettier still, the starving Warlock wandered off into the foothills
with curses on his breath. As the sun sets and children don their
masks, the parents are confused at just how many crow decora-
tions there are throughout the town.

SYSTEM
The Murder is almost uniformly a great murder of black-feath-
ered crows. Viscera glitters in their beaks like change in a beggar’s
hand. But other birds are quick learners, and thus the Murder may

PAZUZU
sometimes include a mundane pigeon, a vicious hawk, or even a
particularly ruthless flock of woodpeckers. A single crow is no
threat, but the average Murder contains between 20 and 30 birds
and is represented below. “The power of Christ… Ah, you know something?
I left the oven on.”
THE MURDER — Sir Reginald Emerson Bathory III,
Skills: Athletics 3, Close Combat 2, Empathy 3, abandoning his first exorcism
Enigma 3, Larceny 2, Survival 4
Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 4, Resolve 1; Might 1, Under the employ of THE DEVIL HIMSELF are many de-
Dexterity 2, Stamina 3; Presence 2, Manipulation 1, mons, each with their own horrid plans. Few among those demons
Composure 1 play a game as foul as the chaos-loving PAZUZU. This wretched
thing is a possessor of minds, a breaker of faith. Priests from the
Health: 10
Vatican are summoned to exorcise the monstrosity from its poor
victims, but alone they are ill-matched, for PAZUZU is an evil not
SPECIAL RULES easily contained.
Denied by God: When the Murder is confronted with holy
When someone is possessed by the demon’s evil, they’re
symbols, prayer, or houses of worship, they lose half their Health.
much like a rabid dog. They scream and chatter in tongues, their
The Murder cannot enter into a church or temple of any kind and
heads spin, they’ll crawl on the walls, and grow ugly and warped
avoid consuming those recently anointed with holy water.
and weird.
Many as One: The Murder is a Scale 3 creature in the Physi-
PAZUZU speaks when spoken to. Sometimes the demon
cal Arena when containing 30 crows. Whenever it enters a build-
lets the ailing body squeak a plea for help, but the demon usually
ing, or whenever it loses half its Health, its Scale reduces by 1.
chooses to communicate some message of doom and horror, their
They Blacken the Sky!: Unless the Murder has been re- voice an aggressive distortion of its normal candor.
duced to 3 Health or less, it can interact with anything within me-
dium range of its center. GOAL
PAZUZU’s goal is to cause as much carnage and pain in the
loved ones of its host as possible. If it’s particularly lucky, it’ll

28 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

manage to trick others into giving into THE DEVIL HIMSELF, away from a location with expediency, travelling up to long range
furthering their master’s own diabolical schemes. PAZUZU cares in the course of a scene. Strangely, PAZUZU’s enemies (the protag-
far less for its host, and more for corrupting or destroying the faith onists) can also travel in these clouds of insects, though where they
of those around it. Its favorite scheme is to make priests lose their end up is PAZUZU’s choice unless the characters succeed at a Pilot
belief through conflict with the possessing demon. + Resolve roll, in which case they choose their destination.
The Synchronizer: Some fool decided the best way of dis-
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK covering PAZUZU’s weakness was via a scientific contraption
The normally personable Shaw family, friends of Duke Ca- known as “the Synchronizer,” which an individual can connect to
nary, hasn’t been seen at any gatherings for two months now. They their head and that of PAZUZU’s host. This telepathic biofeed-
answer no letters, nor attend piano recitals or other gatherings. back device allows the person connecting to the host to flashback
Worried friends say the head of the household, William Shaw, has to the last time PAZUZU was banished, and study how it was
not been seen outside at all, nor has he gone in for work. More done. Doing so comes with ill effects, as the person using the Syn-
troubling is the fact that the local priest, James Jameson, recently chronizer suffers the Diseased Condition until PAZUZU departs
visited the home and left in a hurry. William’s wife, Sarah Shaw, his victim or is banished. All that aside, the Synchronizer was lost
has also been sending her son to various churches. It’s rumored in a theater or cinema some years ago.
they are looking for a priest with deep experience in exorcism. Withering Away: PAZUZU takes a toll on its host. Food and
How absurd... drink don’t stay down, and the body feels as if wracked by a dread-
ful wasting illness. Every day PAZUZU remains, the host must
1970S CENTURY STORY HOOK succeed on an Integrity + Stamina roll or lose 1 Health, which can-
not be recovered until PAZUZU departs or is banished.
After a night of wild partying, Maria Ripley returned to her
house to find it burgled. The windows were broken, the door off
its hinges, and the inside absolutely carnage-wracked. However,
Emily’s grandfather was inside, and nothing was stolen. Since
then, no one has seen Emily or her guardian grandfather, and
PERFECT NEIGHBORS
whenever repairs are completed, they’re summarily undone the “So, the doorbell rings, and it’s the couple from
next day. Her friends, turned away by Emily at the door, are seek- across the street, James and Meredith…umm…
ing someone to help them verify if she is alright and to understand Weston. Yes. That’s the name. Anyway, they’re
what is going on inside of her home. on my doorstep with an ENORMOUS layer cake
that looked like it came from some posh bake
SYSTEM shop – which, of course, they made and decorat-
ed themselves. From scratch. I mean, who DOES
Victims of PAZUZU look as if they were drowned, giving
that anymore? Show up with a cake to
them green skin, slimy hair, and yellow, predatory eyes. On rare
greet the new neighbors!”
occasion, they act as seductive succubi or incubi, but usually this
is reserved for ill-conceived sequels. — Linda Grinnell, new homeowner

PAZUZU In a neighborhood full of picturesque homes, their home stands

out from all the rest. Perhaps it’s the impeccably manicured shrub-
Skills: See below “Possessed by Evil”
bery or the lawn with nary a weed in sight. Maybe it’s the lush
Attributes: See below “Possessed by Evil” and cheerful floral decorations that grace the front door and change
Health: See below “Withering Away” seasonally, like something out of Better Homes and Gardens maga-
zine. Everything about them — their clothes, their smiles, their im-
SPECIAL RULES maculately groomed pets, and their shiny family SUV — exudes an
irresistible aura of warmth, charm, and genuine friendliness.
Possessed by Evil: PAZUZU uses its host’s Skills and Attri-
butes, but adds a further 10 dots among Skills of its choice, and 5 They’re the first to welcome new neighbors with a cake, a
dots among Attributes of its choice. fruit basket, or a box of freshly baked cookies. They know all the
neighborhood children by name, and the children know that the
Creepy, Evil Wildness: PAZUZU can climb on walls like a
most generous handouts of all the best Halloween candy can be
spider, turn its head any direction, dislocate and relocate its bones
had at their house. They can always be relied upon to lend tools
at will, and project a wave of vomit from its mouth. This wave re-
for a home improvement project or look after the kids when a
quires a Dexterity + Athletics roll to dodge, and if not dodged, the
quick errand needs to be run. And the parties! Cocktail parties,
recipient gains the Cursed Condition. Said curse can only be bro-
dinner parties, Christmas parties, summer barbecues, football
ken by exorcising the spirit, killing its host, or through spending
parties — each one planned to perfection from the drinks and the
seven sabbaths in a holy church.
menu to the décor and the fabulous party favors, carefully pre-
Fly on the Wings of a Locust: PAZUZU can summon a pared for each individual guest.
swarm of locusts (among other biblical pestilences) to its location,
All of this, of course, is by design. The carefully crafted fa-
affecting the local environment in a generally negative way. Beyond
cades conceal diabolical secrets and horrific, insatiable desires.
this, PAZUZU can use its swarm of locusts, flies, or frogs to carry it

– Pazuzu / Perfect Neighbors – 29

 elicits powerful shock and alarm throughout the neighborhood.
The Robinsons, charming newcomers and occupants of the house
across the street, express as much surprise and bewilderment as
everyone else. However, rumors quickly spread that the ghostly
apparition of Rebecca Findley-Standhope has been seen roaming
through the silent, night-shrouded streets, desperately searching
for…something. Why her search always ends at the Robinsons’ gate
is a mystery to everyone. They’re such lovely people!

1970S STORY HOOK

Within months of moving into the idyllic Bellmont Heights
neighborhood, every young, newlywed couple joyfully announces
that they’re pregnant. Every couple. They credit the care and ad-
vice of local doctor and Civic Association President Frank Ropson,
a dead ringer for Robert Redford with a magnetic grin and a gen-
erous hand at the cocktail bar. But a frantic phone call from your
sister, a new arrival to Bellmont Heights, raises your hackles. She
insists that something is terribly wrong in suburban paradise. An
alarming number of the Bellmont mothers barely survive their ago-
nizing birth experiences. Some died, and those who survive emerge
profoundly changed. She pleads with you to come get her before it’s
too late — just before the call cuts off and the line goes dead.

SYSTEM
Perfect Neighbors come in many forms, sometimes charm-
ing and seducing, other times wheedling and murdering. Some of
them just enjoy using their neighbors as target practice on a quiet
Sunday night.

PERFECT NEIGHBOR
Behind their winning smiles and light-hearted laughter lurks a
sinister, often deadly purpose. Perfect Neighbors masterfully ma- Skills: Aim 1, Athletics 3, Close Combat 2, Command 3,
nipulate the levers of social power to gain control over their mun- Culture 2, Empathy 4, Integrity 3, Persuasion 4
dane neighbors, feeding upon their admiration, jealousy, grati- Attributes: Intellect 3, Cunning 5, Resolve 4;
tude, lust, and sometimes, their flesh and blood. Might 3, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Presence 4,
Manipulation 5, Composure 4
GOALS Health: 8
Whether they’re cannibals who feast upon the unsuspecting
friends of the neighborhood children, bizarre cultists harvesting SPECIAL RULES
the bodily fluids of their male neighbors to bring about the birth of I Know Your Secret: The only way to defeat Perfect Neigh-
some terrifying monstrosity, or inventers of a mind control device bors is to expose their sinister secret to as many people as possible
intent upon world domination, Perfect Neighbors have a single, with as much irrefutable evidence as possible. Revealing a Perfect
all-consuming goal: to hide their sinister secret and to prevent its Neighbor’s secret comes with no small amount of peril, however.
exposure by any means necessary. Once unmasked, the Perfect Neighbors are no longer obligated
to hide their monstrous nature, so whatever form their evil takes
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK — mad scientist, vampire, crazed cultist, alien cannibal — best
believe they will revel in their new-found freedom. Players who
Beloved pillars of the community, the Findley-Standhope
reveal a Perfect Neighbor’s sinister secret immediately gain a +1
family and their ancestors have deep roots in Littleton-up-
Enhancement to attack rolls against the exposed monster.
on-Tweed. They’ve lived in their modest home in the heart of the
village for nearly three centuries, with the previous generation of It’s Just A Broom Closet: The Perfect Neighbor has an un-
Findley-Standhopes investing in the village through the construc- canny ability to sense when someone is snooping around where
tion of a cotton mill, and the most recent one funding the construc- they oughtn’t. Protagonists face increased Difficulty when at-
tion of a steelworks. The Findley-Standhopes have always been tempting to pry into a Perfect Neighbor’s secrets. Should they be
generous, bringing Littleton-upon-Tweed and its residents firmly successful, characters receive a moderate Enhancement related to
into the 19th century. This is why the sudden disappearance of Ar- whatever it is they are looking for. However, discovery incurs a
thur Findley-Standhope, his wife, and their four young children moderate to major Complication, depending upon how severe an
impact the intrusion has upon the monster.

30 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

 This Is Delicious: To disarm uncomfortable inquiries or to
deliberately lure in a potential troublemaker, Perfect Neighbors
always have some sort of delectable refreshment that’s almost
impossible to resist. Directors should decide if the refreshments
are innocuous or drugged. For the former, Difficulty of Resil-
ience-based rolls are increased by 1. Drugged refreshments in-
crease the Difficulty of Resilience rolls by 2. In the case of failure,
the Unconscious Condition should apply.
Uncanny Valley: Perfect Neighbors are of course perfect in ev-
ery way, but they’re also unsettling. Something about the smile and the
glazed over expression disturbs most people, with a successful Empa-
thy + Composure roll determining that the Perfect Neighbor’s smile
conceals a hidden desire, though it won’t reveal what it is, exactly.
You Shouldn’t Have: Once per story, a Perfect Neighbor’s
nefarious plans may be temporarily thwarted or postponed by
presenting them with a surprise gift. Directors are free to decide
how much of an impact such a gift will have, however we recom-
mend that there be at least an Enhancement of 2 to Social rolls
against the Perfect Neighbor, who feels genuinely grateful for re-
ceiving kindness, instead of being the one giving it.

PROFESSOR VYLE
“What you call a monster,
I call an opportunity.”
observing the results and taking notes like a proper scientist, all
— Professor Vyle while searching for newly made monsters to recruit.

If most mortals pulled back the veil and faced the truth of 1970S STORY HOOK
monsters and the more incredible supernatural world, it would
A series of supernatural attacks and disappearances have oc-
surely shatter their minds! Professor Vyle was no such mortal.
curred throughout Iowa City, a typical college town. Paranormal
When the Professor discovered what crept in the shadows, she
experts work with local authorities, but no two attacks are from
only thought of how she could use these monsters to do her bid-
the same evil creature. Professor Vyle recently started working as
ding. Through her many journeys, Professor Vyle has learned of
a history professor at the University of Iowa and found popularity
a long list of monsters, demons, and other things that go bump in
among her students. Of course, Vyle did not arrive alone! While
the night. Through careful organization of these monster squads,
the professor grades term papers, a squad of monsters search the
Professor Vyle presents a chilling threat to all civilized society!
campus for an artifact and the location of a particular group of
Professor Vyle works as a mastermind in horror stories and, students. These unlucky youths are descended from the last group
like other such humans, has a natural affinity for monsters that to foil Professor Vyle’s plans.
somehow makes their minions, no matter how evil, refuse to turn
on the wicked genius. SYSTEM
There’s only one Professor Vyle, as football fans might chant,
GOAL but if the evil genius were ever to discover a way to clone herself
After successfully gaining the means to track and control through mystical or scientific means, she’d jump at the opportuni-
monsters during her journeys into forgotten tombs and cursed ty. Until that day, below are the Professor’s stats.
castles, the Professor now wishes to collect at least one of every
creature she’s aware of. As she gathers teams of ghouls and ghosts, PROFESSOR VYLE
she hopes to use them to achieve the ultimate goal: take over the
world with her monster army!
Skills: Aim 2, Athletics 2, Close Combat 1, Command 5,
Culture 2, Empathy 2, Enigmas 2, Humanities 2,
Integrity 3, Larceny 2, Persuasion 5, Science 4, Survival
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK 3, Technology 4
A young Professor Vyle experiments with her first batch of Attributes: Intellect 5, Cunning 4, Resolve 4;
monsters, travelling through small towns on a horse, towing a Might 1, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Presence 3,
covered wagon behind her. She befriends the locals and, when Manipulation 4, Composure 3
night falls, unleashes her creatures upon the defenseless citizens,
Health: 7

– Perfect Neighbors / Professor Vile – 31

SPECIAL RULES
Ageless: Professor Vyle hasn’t aged for decades. If asked how, she
laughs, explaining that the latest workout or diet craze works wonders.
The Amulet of the Source: Professor Vyle wears an amulet
showing an angel and demon intertwined. As long as she wears
this, she can issue commands to any supernatural being she can
see, and they must obey. In addition, Vyle can also concentrate
while holding the amulet to identify the direction of the nearest
supernatural creature in relation to her. Professor Vyle attuned
the amulet to herself through a ritual she destroyed years ago, but
if the protagonists get it away from her, she loses control of her
minions. Note that incredibly powerful creatures such as THE
DEVIL HIMSELF may be outside Professor Vyle’s control.

Monster Mash
Professor Vyle can have any number of monsters under her
control at any time. The Director should build monster squads
that serve the Professor’s current goals. Some example combina-
tions of monsters are below:
The Guided Horde: Professor Vyle has assigned an Imp to
guide a horde of Zombies to attack specific targets. The Imp uses
shrewd tactics to infiltrate homes and businesses, where it can un-
lock the doors for the awaiting zombie hordes.
The Baited Trap: A Bride of Dracula gathers bodies and souls
for Professor Vyle. The Professor accomplishes this by sending
the vampire to nearby cities to lure people with her beauty back to screams in the distance, introducing THE DEVIL HIMSELF* to
a Haunted House where a Ghost (and the house itself ) ensure the the night’s show. Only by performing in the Sackwilds’ blasphe-
victims die on the property. The Bride delivers the new body to mous rituals can their victims escape. Otherwise, until death or
Professor Vyle that same night, and the house binds a new Ghost. holiness saves the damned audience, the show must go on, and
The Original Evils: Professor Vyle was surprised when THE what a bloody show that is indeed.
DEVIL HIMSELF and the Darkness (not the band, but maybe the (*THE DEVIL HIMSELF wishes to distance himself from the
band) showed up and agreed to help her. It’s clear she has no pow- Sackwild Circus, claiming the individual representing HIMSELF
er over these cosmic forces, and so far, they’ve only accepted tasks as THE DEVIL is in fact an impostor named Al Shayton-Sackwild.
that involve terrorizing unruly villages, but she still has no idea Legal action will be taken.)
why they’re working with her. The Professor fails to realize THE
DEVIL HIMSELF and the Darkness are using this time to rekin-
dle an old flame they shared eons ago.
GOAL
The Sackwild Circus of Carnage is the tragically brutal result
of a broken contract with THE DEVIL HIMSELF. Failing to up-

THE SACKWILD hold their end of the bargain — that being six generations of six
sacrifices performed over the course of 60 years — the infamous
Sackwild Family was cursed to entertain their unholy master until
CIRCUS OF the debt is paid...with interest. Thus was born the Sackwild Circus
of Carnage.

CARNAGE The goal of Sackwild’s Circus of Carnage is to force its hor-

rified audience into performing with the Sackwild Family. This
The Circus of Carnage comes to small towns, beachside inevitably leads to their deaths, entertaining THE DEVIL HIM-
boardwalks, and cities too big to know what’s preying on them. SELF and granting the Sackwilds’ infernal lord another tally of
Flyers painted with outdated motley are found everywhere, invit- sacrifices. Eventually, these sacrifices are expected to free the
ing all to the circus’s first free day. It’s a gathering of ramshack- Sackwild family, or otherwise buy them back their rights to Hell’s
le tents and attractions, most of them run down and unattended. lone throne.
Music from these derelict places spills out like blood from a neck
wound, distorted, almost heinous, almost malicious. 19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
When a party enters any attraction, something descends to The novelty of a circus has finally come to Stalbridge in Dor-
block their exit: a door, mounds of trash, a tied curtain. A voice set. Having rarely seen anything even comparable to luxury, the

32 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

farmers and villagers happily throw themselves into the circus, FATHER SACKWILD
eager to find an escape from the dreariness of their lives. It has
been three weeks since, and numerous letters to Stalbridge have Father Sackwild is a bone-thin man whose salt and pepper
gone unanswered. Instead, they’re returned to their senders cou- beard is in patches over a bloody chin. He wears a dirty top hat,
pled with a flyer-invitation to the Sackwild Circus. Some are be- black, with a three-piece suit of motley colors that is torn, dirty,
ginning to get worried, and there’s talk of going to make sure the and bloodstained. He carries a horn in one hand, which he uses to
Stalbridgers are doing just fine. And if the circus is in town, why amplify his voice.
wouldn’t that be a good reason to go visit? Skills: Aim 3, Close Combat 1, Command 4, Enigmas 1,
Larceny 2, Persuasion 3
20TH CENTURY STORY HOOK Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Resolve 1;
Classes have ended in universities throughout the United Might 2, Dexterity 2, Stamina 2; Presence 3,
States, and as if on cue college students throughout Louisiana Manipulation 3, Composure 2
have noted peculiar flyers put on every light, phone booth, and Health: 4
message board. Like the rascal he is, the Bokor has taken this a
step further, preaching to anyone he can to find the joys of the SPECIAL RULES
Sackwild Circus. The flyers themselves feature red hands pushed Announcement by Cannon Fire: Father Sackwild has as-
into the paper with cute, if not demented, horns painted around sembled around him six cannons, all of which are pointed in dif-
the knuckles. Rumor spreads that this Sackwild Circus is some ferent, seemingly random directions. Stuffed in each cannon is a
kind of degenerate, creepy affair. Old news articles are sometimes trapped audience member, bound and gagged. With a flourish of
brought up, which no one has ever seen or read, that say that this his hand, the cannons fire, and the audience members shoot off
circus was under investigation due to strings of horrible murders into the dark. Sounds of tearing flesh and broken bones, followed
that plague whatever city it appears in. But with classes out and by whimpering screams quickly follow. The cannons can be man-
nothing else to do, the circus is quickly becoming the thing for ually controlled and fired, and possibly loaded with other pro-
students to attend. jectiles, should someone try and load them at all. If an audience
member is fired at a protagonist (using Father Sackwild’s Aim +
SYSTEM Dexterity) and hits, the flying body inflicts 5 damage – the number
There are four members of the Sackwild Circus of Carnage, of successes rolled to evade the “cannonball.”
each of whose names have been twisted into something else by Ringmaster of Carnage: Father Sackwild, as the ringmas-
THE DEVIL HIMSELF. They are Father Sackwild, Mother Sack- ter, can use the horn in his hand to disappear and usher in the
wild, Little Sackwild, and the Basement Sackwild. When the cir- next performance. He does so whenever his life is in danger, or
cus is entered — usually through a door leading to a semi-outdoor whenever he believes himself to be failing to entertain THE DEV-
space — each can be found in a certain place: Father Sackwild in IL HIMSELF.
his big, central, blood-colored tent; Mother Sackwild in her shack,
built from orange board and covered with turbans, lights, and MOTHER SACKWILD
blood-coated knives; the Little Sackwild and Basement Sackwild’s
Mother Sackwild appears with a small booth replacing the ring-
at a mud track, found just behind Father Sackwild’s big tent. At
master’s stand. She’s an old, bent, haggish woman who wears a dirty
some points, the Sackwild family and circus crew appears to grow,
and smelly shawl draped over her crooked shoulders. She smiles a
while at other times they’re restricted to the four core members.
predator’s smile, and has a knowing gleam in her beady eyes.

THE SACKWILD CIRCUS OF CARNAGE Skills: Aim 4, Close Combat 1, Integrity 2, Larceny 3,
Persuasion 2
Skills: The circus itself has no Skills...
Attributes: Intellect 3, Cunning 3, Resolve 2;
Attributes: ...or Attributes. Might 1, Dexterity 4, Stamina 1; Presence 1,
Health: Refer to the Health of the Sackwild family mem- Manipulation 1, Composure 1
bers below. Health: 3
SPECIAL RULES SPECIAL RULES
Trapped in the Devil’s Game: Upon entering the Sackwild The Knife Game: Mother Sackwild is an accomplished jug-
Circus of Carnage, there’s no possible escape until the audience gler of knives. When she appears, there will already be three or
has entertained THE DEVIL HIMSELF. This is done by partici- so audience members sitting in front of her, each tied to a stool
pating in the performances belonging to each member of the Sack- with an apple on their head. Carefully, Mother Sackwild throws
wild family described below. However, other modes of entertain- the knife in an attempt to hit the apple, and almost always hits the
ment are possible, such as murdering the Sackwild Family, some performer in between their eyes. Dodging the knife has an addi-
level of holy luck, or otherwise tricking the family. THE DEVIL tional 3 Complications, representing not only Mother Sackwild’s
HIMSELF is not concerned with the details, only with the results. skill, but also the cursed rope used to tie one’s self to the stool, and
the will of THE DEVIL HIMSELF.

– The Sackwild Circus of Carnage – 33

THE LITTLE SACKWILD portunists with endless patience, always waiting for just the right
time to strike. And as soon as they do so, they disappear into the
& THE BASEMENT SACKWILD nearest shadows, only to reemerge somewhere else. This makes
This pair of twins is identical but warped. Little Sackwild is straightforward combat almost impossible.
barely over three feet in height and scrambles on all fours, wear-
ing little else but rags. The Basement Sackwild is near seven feet GOALS
tall, wears a bloodied clown mask and overalls, and has a pack of
The amount of autonomy Scarecrows have is dependent upon
three starved, hairless hounds leashed to his hand. Despite the
the one responsible for bringing them to “life.” The simpler Scare-
differences in their physical size, they miraculously share the
crows follow the orders of their masters, whereas the more com-
same statistics.
plex ones carry out long-term tasks, such as protecting the same
Skills: Athletics 4, Close Combat 4, Survival 3 decrepit farm since the original owners mysteriously disappeared
Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 3, Resolve 1; in the 19th century. Those with no master are free to do as they
Might 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 4; Presence 1, wish, and although revenge is usually their motivation, they are in
Manipulation 1, Composure 1 no rush. Their goal can be accomplished at a more deliberate pace.
Health: 4
Ring Around the Rosie: The Little Sackwild covers them-
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
selves head to toe in animal lard. This incites the hounds into a Mordus Bagshaw was dead. Murdered, to be exact. That
starved frenzy, which the Basement Sackwild just barely controls. much was certain. But don’t feel sorry for him. He was a monster.
The hounds (use the Hellhounds from They Came from Beyond Not a “monster” monster, but a mysterious, sinister man who bul-
the Grave!, p. 166 or adjust their traits to have them as regular lied the citizens of Stoneybrook for years. He used veiled threats
dogs) attempt to attack anything between them and the Little of black magic to get what he wanted from them, whether it was
Sackwild. Said Little Sackwild always makes sure the audience money, land, or supplies. Last month, the townsfolk formed a
members are firmly between them and the Basement Sackwild. mob, marched out to Bagshaw’s weed-choked countryside manor
Avoiding the dogs calls for an Athletics + Dexterity roll or a Cun- house, and hanged him. Now, members of the mob are turning up
ning + Survival roll, to avoid the savage attack. The roll to evade dead, with eyewitnesses claiming to see a sentient Scarecrow at
suffers 3 Complications, each representing one hound. If a hound the brutal crime scenes. Did the vile Mordus Bagshaw somehow
can be dealt with somehow, such as by disabling it or distracting manage to transfer his own life force into the body of a Scarecrow?
it, these Complications are reduced. Of course not. That would be insane...

SCARECROWS
“It wasn’t no normal scarecrow, Otis!
That thing was alive, damn it! Alive!”

— Jacob Nading, farmer who did some really bad stuff

Made of rags and old clothes stuffed with straw, Scarecrows

stand as guardians over the crops, silently keeping feathered pests
at bay. But despite their eerie, vaguely corpse-like appearance, they
are nothing more than harmless inanimate objects. Or are they?
For reasons unknown to all but the most knowledgeable prac-
titioners of the dark arts, Scarecrows are natural conduits of magi-
cal energy. For this reason, many sorcerers and voodoo priests an-
imate them as servants to carry out their nefarious deeds. Others
have even learned to transplant the soul of recently deceased in-
dividuals into the Scarecrow’s body. On rare occasions, a departed
soul’s desire for vengeance is so powerful that it finds its way to the
scarecrow without anyone’s assistance. In such cases, once revenge
has been achieved, the spirit moves on and the body falls inert.
Scarecrows often carry pitchforks or other farming imple-
ments to use as weapons, even though they prefer to do their
killing by utilizing whatever happens to be at hand, whether it’s
tipping over the tall ladder the victim is standing on or hurling
an unfortunate soul into a wood chipper. They are cunning op-

34 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

1970S STORY HOOK
There’s a lonely stretch of highway somewhere in the Midwest
where only one filling station can be found for miles and miles. With
the oil crisis in full effect, gasoline is practically sacred. Yet this gas
station has managed to keep its fuel prices startlingly low. The es-
tablishment is owned and operated by the Crensons, a seemingly
simple blue-collar family living on a Scarecrow-laden homestead
just a few miles away. Little does anyone suspect, the matriarch of
the clan is actually a powerful Witch who murders travelers who
can’t easily be traced, inserts their essence into her Scarecrows, and
uses those Scarecrows to bring her more victims. Moreover, she’s
devised a spell capable of converting human blood into a substance
that doubles as gasoline. Inexpensive fuel, anyone?

SYSTEM
Scarecrows come in virtually any shape and size, but most of
them are humanoid in structure. The statistics provided here cover
the most common type used by the practitioners of the dark arts.

SCARECROW
Skills: Aim 1, Athletics 2, Close Combat 3, Larceny 3
Attributes: Intellect 1, Cunning 3, Resolve 4; Might 4,
Dexterity 2, Stamina 4; Presence 2, Manipulation 1,
Composure 2
Health: 12

SPECIAL RULES SKELETONS

Burn, Burn, Burn: Each time a Scarecrow suffers Continu- “It climbed inexorably from the swamp. Decom-
ous damage from fire, increase the amount of damage taken by 2. posing effluvia hung on its form like a tattered
Environmental Kills: Scarecrows are masters at using their sweater. A snake slid through its open eye socket,
surroundings to cause harm. When they use improvised or en- exiting from the mouth. My first attack on the
vironmental sources of damage, the Difficulty to defend against thing was a perfectly aimed projectile vomit of a
them is increased by 1. meaty cheeseburger and a side order of fresh-cut
It Was Right There a Second Ago!: Once per scene, a fries… So, how about that as an opening
Scarecrow can disappear via limited teleportation if the area has to my short story?”
enough shadows. It can reappear in any similarly shadowed place
— Dae-Joon Kim, Lafayette College Literature Sophomore
within Short Range. Scarecrows have a supernatural connection
with the Darkness. If that entity is present in the scene, the dis- In the great Skeleton versus Zombie debate, Skeletons are far
tance is increased to Medium Range. fewer in number but possess an intelligence not normally seen in
More Than Just Rags and Straw: The Scarecrow is a Scale the eyes of Zombies. A trauma residue resides in the very bones of
2 creature when making Physical Arena rolls. a Skeleton. When there’s one Skeleton, there are more to follow.
They Call Them SCAREcrows for a Reason: Characters While not as numerous as their Zombie counterparts, the very act
encountering a Scarecrow gain the Panicked Condition. This can of creating a Skeleton is the fuel that generates more of their kind.
be resisted with a successful Integrity + Resolve roll at Difficulty 2. There’s a lasting memory within the bones that gives them pur-
pose and vigor.
Skeletons are often the agents of a powerful entity. The com-
manding figure may have tenuous control of an entire horde of
Skeletons. The device by which they maintain control could be
a matching set of medallions, an ancient grimoire, a continuous
chant by cultists, or an irradiated isotope.

– Scarecrows / Skeletons – 35
 wise, it sees nothing else. The protagonists can learn that placing
GOALS physical objects and obstacles in the way of a Skeleton or a Skel-
Skeletons have a dual motivation: one from the being who eton horde is a more efficient tactic than merely running. They
created it, the other a variation of its old life’s ambitions. Skel- never stop coming, however.
etons given a singular focus will throw victims aside, removing
More Than Meets the Eye: Skeletons are intelligent enough
any obstacle in the way of its intended goal. If a Skeleton’s control
to equip themselves with weapons, tools and clothing. They have
breaks, it acts in accordance with any unfinished business from
no concept of their own identity and act according to old memo-
its past life. Some seek out old loves, attempting to embrace them
ries if free from domination.
despite the horror. Others hunt down their enfeebled masters.
See Me, Feel Me: Skeletons have a limited sense of the who
and the what of their being. This often results in them carrying
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK cast off debris or living animals inside of them. A hive of insects,
The Regal Peregrine remained in the bay for a better part of a coiled snakes or nest of rats can continue to live inside the rib-
day. The local constabulary has assembled a cadre of investigators cage of a Skeleton as a byproduct of its last resting place. Some
to unmoor the craft, unload its cargo, and interrogate the captain could dislodge, falling on top of a victim in the grip of a Skeleton.
as to why the ship was blocking sailing lanes. A hefty fine will be Skeletons can also have other random items inside their bodies: a
divided among those who help address the matter. A strange rat- broken spear, a tattered jacket, a wedding dress, etc. Sometimes
tling emerges from below the deck of the wooden craft, however, these items are important MacGuffins. As Director, leave plenty of
making “Salty” Bubba the sailor flee in a terror. clues if indeed one or more Skeletons is in possession of a needed
plot instrument.
1970S STORY HOOK Skeletal Invulnerability: By their very nature, a Skeleton is
Empty land adjacent to the city has been excavated, a deep immune to most attacks that affect internal organs. They ignore
foundation carved into the clay and earth. The Castro-Weinberg piercing and thrusting attacks, as well as poisons and more. Force
Construction company was moving full steam ahead to finish the and crushing damage are needed to truly stop them.
tallest building in the state, but has halted work due to the discov-
ery of bones of great interest to local archeologists. Supposedly, the
dig site is an ancient tribe’s sacred burial ground. While bureau-
crats fuss over how long 3000-year-old bones can hold up modern “SKINSUIT” SAMMY
construction, apprentice antiquarian Sandy Taylor comes running
into the foreman’s tent, announcing the bones have disappeared! SORENSON
SYSTEM “Bars of gold, a bed made of cash. He only eats
porridge, some gruel, spoon of mash. Ole Sorey
We don’t like to say Skeletons lack personality, but… it can has parties, invites all the guests. They gossip
be difficult to tell one set of clacking bones apart from another. and squawk, he pesters and tests. Most people
Nevertheless, these average traits can be adjusted for the bones of wear clothing, a blouse or one pant. Ole Sorey
a small or large set of human remains. dons skin and muscle, tho’ sometimes he can’t.
When strangers go missing, the copper’s grow
SKELETON rich ‘cause those gold bars go in pockets or
Skills: Athletics 3, Close Combat 3, Survival 3 they end up in a ditch.”
Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 2, Resolve 4; — Local children’s tale
Might 3, Dexterity 2, Stamina 4; Presence 1,
Manipulation 1, Composure 1 Dr. Samuel Bartholomew Sorenson was (and some say, still
Health: 2 (one Skeleton), 15 (horde) is) a world class plastic surgeon. He grew wealthy from adminis-
tering to the rich and famous. Dr. Sorenson pushed boundaries.
SPECIAL RULES For notoriety, not altruism, he would perform difficult surgeries
on the underprivileged. For them he bucked the system. He lied
A Complete Set: Skeletons rarely travel alone. As soon as a
and stole and cheated. The medical board has ignored or forgiv-
group of five clusters together, they’re treated as a Scale 2 enemy,
en all of this, at least for now, as his breakthroughs in the med-
with numbers of ten or more increasing to Scale 3.
ical field overshadow his failings as a legitimate doctor. Success
Dem Bones: A single Skeleton is a harbinger for more to breeds forgiveness.
come. If a Skeleton isn’t defeated within its first scene, two more
Now, semi-retired, Dr. Sorenson remains cloistered away,
rise, elsewhere. At some point this problem overwhelms a com-
rarely leaving his expansive campus. Only the elite are invited,
munity and greatly hinders the protagonists.
with exceptions made for those with severe physical deformities.
Emotional Sight: A Skeleton only sees that which its master There continue to be accidents, mishaps, disappearances. The lo-
intends it to see, anything that prevents its mission, or any emo- cal community, and the medical field in general, wants answers,
tional connection it has with objects or people in range. Other- and his shielding influence is waning.

36 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

 Early in his career the doctor traveled the world in search of
physical human perfection. He found it. The guide warned him
1970S STORY HOOK
but Sammy took no heed. In truth he set his eyes upon such a vi- Morgan Alejandro-Castillo is one of the top singers in the
sion and it broke his mind and body. Outwardly, he’s a very hand- world. She’s a world-class beauty as well. Her publicists, manag-
some man, regal and charismatic. Mid-40s is his resting state, de- ers, and expanded hangers-on are following her to Dr. Sorenson’s
spite nearing his 60s. This is a practiced façade. Skinsuit Sammy domicile. None think she “needs” any procedures, but Morgan
Sorenson is a dysmorphic monstrosity. His internal bodily systems, gets what she wants. Her goal is to make a splash in Hollywood. A
nervous system, bones, muscles and more, act individually. His skin few touch-up operations should do the trick, then off to the Gold-
slides away from his muscles. His bones climb free themselves and his en Coast. She needs security, though she wants nothing of the sort.
intestines slither away. He’s literally coming apart at the seams. Various law enforcement agencies, outside the county, want an-
other look into his practice. This would be a good time to dispel
“Skinsuit” Sammy Sorenson sees deformities in others where
the Skinsuit Sammy Sorenson tales the kids talk about by entering
none exist. He obsesses over those with the most minor skin tags,
her entourage and finding out what the doctor’s really up to.
blemishes, or weight gains. Sammy sees people as problems he
can fix with a blade, regardless of how perfect they might perceive
themselves or society deems them. When there are no perceived SYSTEM
mutations, he envisions them, a falsehood that becomes conta- “Skinsuit” Sammy is an amalgam of various creatures. As they
gious. He’s a true monster, playing on the insecurities many peo- separate from his skeletal structure, trails of clear fluids and blood
ple have about themselves. are left behind. Each section of “Skinsuit” Sammy uses the below
“Skinsuit” Sorey has a semi-loyal entourage. He pays excep- traits, unless otherwise noted, based on the bodily system in ques-
tionally well and uses his influence to open doors for his syco- tion. He’s a hive-minded being wearing his own internal organs and
phants. Some have a new lease on life, a recipient of his successful systems as one wears clothing, and is exceptional at most things.
surgeries. Others were drawn from dire circumstances and are
duty bound. A growing number serve him due to pressure, such as “SKINSUIT” SAMMY SORENSON
blackmail, bribery or greed. Creating a number of supporting casts Skills: Aim 2, Athletics 2, Close Combat 2, Command 2,
with their own motivations for serving such a despicable individ- Culture 3, Humanities 4, Integrity 3, Medicine 5,
ual will round out his circle of connections. Persuasion 4, Pilot 2, Science 4, Technology 3
Attributes: Intellect 5, Cunning 4, Resolve 5;
GOALS Might 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 5; Presence 4,
Dr. Sorenson wants to create perfection. His world is com- Manipulation 4, Composure 3
ing undone, and he’s becoming careless. He needs to find patients Health: 12
(read: victims) to enhance his reputation and put to use the dis-
carded flesh and fluids. He hosts parties (before and after affairs)
to increase his reputation and placate the masses. Servants and
SPECIAL RULES
local authorities are paid off to keep their mouths shut. Cardiovascular System: Sorenson’s weakness. Even when
his other systems are engaged in conflict, his heart and connected
To placate his fragmenting body, Sammy consumes an ever-in-
blood vessels remain in his medical lab. This network can move
creasing supply of human-based gruel. Formerly, he could subsist on
around but embodies his fear. Anyone who has a hold of his heart
the cast-off effluvia from his plastic surgery practice; even drained
can command another system to end its aggression. The other sys-
pus, fatty deposits, and dead skin could preserve his physique. Now
tems unleash unspeakable acts on this individual, if able. All of So-
he needs to harness entire bodies. He rationalizes his murders as
renson’s Health is located in his heart, with any damage inflicted
scientific discoveries and the failings of the genetically inferior.
on his other organs regenerated at the end of the scene.
Digestive, Respiratory, and Urinary Systems: Like a snake,
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK the lungs and stomach are the head of the snake, as the small and
Rumors abound that Sammy’s Great Grandfather was a tortur- large intestine coil underneath. It leaves behind a film of bodily flu-
er for European revolutionary movements, and that he — not Sam- ids. It uses moist air from the lungs and stomach acid to move ob-
my — discovered the secrets of immortality to which his descendant jects, melt steel and slither into tight spaces (the acid deals 2 damage
now subscribes. According to a journal kept in a safe behind Soren- with the Continuous (round) tag to human flesh). It’s also hypnotic.
son’s painting of his ancestor (who looks uncannily like Sammy), When facing a human from short range it can hypnotize them au-
these secrets do not merely reside in the context of superficial flesh. tomatically, unless they are a protagonist. The horror of this vision
By sculpting his face into the exact replica of his ancestor, he can and the sway of the organs shuts down the mind. The characters
literally travel back in time. All that’s left is to recite the abhorrent roll Integrity + Resolve against Difficulty 4. On a failure, the victim
verses within the nigh-illegible pages while standing waist-deep suffers the Stunned Condition. This ends at the end of the scene or
in the Rhine, and Sammy can take his Great Grandfather’s place in the victim is tackled, blinded or slapped in the face. Once free, that
history. Or, if Sammy’s as dead as he should be, someone else can individual is immune to the psychological dissonance.
make the one-way trip to stop this all from happening.

– "Skinsuit" Sammy Sorenson – 37

 STRANGE
BEDFELLOWS
“We’re at our most vulnerable when we sleep.
God help us all.”

— Sister Anna Louise Marquez

The fear of something lurking beneath our beds or inside our

closets is practically as old as time itself. Parents tell their children
there’s nothing to be afraid of, that there’s no such thing as mon-
sters... but in truth, there’s plenty to be afraid of. Monsters are indeed
real, and many of them prey on us when we are deep in slumber.
Chief among these predators are diminutive humanoids
known only as Strange Bedfellows. Dwelling in places with nu-
merous beds, such as orphanages, sanitariums, hotels, convents,
castles or apartment buildings, they favor prey that are young,
weak, or infirm. Such locations are plagued with full-blown infes-
tations, with as many as a couple hundred of them skulking about.
Strange Bedfellows feed on their sleeping victims by placing
their hands on their flesh and sucking out their life essence, being
careful not to drain it all. After all, they wish to continue feed-
ing from them night after night. Killing the victim would not be
conducive to that. In most cases, the victim isn’t aware what is
happening to them and remains asleep, though intense, feverish
nightmares are common, followed by sickliness in the days that
Integumentary System: His skin slides and shambles across follow. On occasion, a Strange Bedfellow gets carried away and
the floor, walls and ceiling, like an ambulatory carpet, coat or actually wakes the person up, causing panic, confusion, and lin-
cloak. It hides in shadows or drops from above onto unsuspect- gering fear of the night.
ing targets. The skin makes an Aim + Dexterity roll to engulf an
Speaking of fear, Strange Bedfellows can feed off of it as well,
opponent. Engulfed characters suffocate and pass out within a
but it’s not as nourishing to them as life essence. It’s more like a
number of turns equal to the entrapped victim’s Stamina, unless
snack as opposed to a meal. For this reason, they allow themselves
they break free against a Difficulty of 5 (the Difficulty reduces if
to be seen and heard, but only briefly... just enough to make the
successes are rolled, with the new Difficulty applying on the next
hairs on someone’s neck stand on end, thinking that maybe — just
turn). This skin cannot attack another target if wrapped around a
maybe — something really is under the bed or in the closet.
current victim. The skin opts to drag an unconscious victim away
to feed its unholy nature.
Nervous System: Sammy Sorenson’s nervous system can
GOALS
extrude from his body and zap victims. It appears as a vaguely Strange Bedfellows can avoid detection for the most part, ex-
human-shaped latticed sinew. Pulses of electrical energy lance isting in one location for years or even decades without anyone
up and down the shambling nervous system. It lashes out pale being the wiser. However, they are still simple creatures that exist
cords to strike unsuspecting targets. Skinsuit Sammy Sorey makes to fulfill their need for nourishment. Their deep-rooted sadistic
an Close Combat + Dexterity roll to hit. The electrical discharge mindset delights in scaring people and even driving them mad,
causes 4 damage. Those touched must succeed on an Athletics + though calling that a goal may be inaccurate. It’s more of a hobby.
Stamina roll at Difficulty 2 or gain the Stunned Condition for the
remainder of the scene. An ally can remove the Stunned Condition 19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK
by shaking the victim back to their senses. The Carmichael State Asylum is considered the worst of the
Skeletal System: His skeleton does not need to breathe or sleep worst, and for the 19th century, that’s really saying something. The
and is completely immune to poisons, most diseases, and most envi- doctors and staff regard the patients as little more than guinea
ronmental hazards, such as heat and cold. Dr. Sorey feels no pain in a pigs for their cruel and unusual “treatments.” One of the patients,
skeletal state, especially if his nervous system is independent. a man named Julius Thornton, has escaped and told the authori-
ties what goes on in that horrid place. No one believes him. To be
fair, his claims are outlandish. According to him, the doctors have
struck a bargain with dozens of supernatural monsters living in

38 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

the asylum’s darkest corners. They’re free to feed off the patients SPECIAL RULES
in exchange for allowing the doctors to study them.
Feast on Fear: When Strange Bedfellows cause one or more
characters to gain the Panicked Condition, they replenish 1 lost
1970S STORY HOOK Health. This can only be done once per day.
The old, dilapidated apartment building on the corner of
Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep: Each night a Strange Bedfel-
120th and Pratt has accumulated a reputation for being cursed
low goes without feeding on the life essence of sleeping victims
over the decades. Renters claim to have experienced night ter-
causes a loss of 1 Health. A good night’s feast replenishes 2 lost
rors, sickness, strange things moving about in the shadows, and
Health. Furthermore, each night that one or more Strange Bed-
waking up each morning feeling depleted of energy. Lately, these
fellows feed on a sleeping victim, that victim gains a cumulative
reports have increased, with a handful of tenants found dead with
+1 Complication to all Mental and Physical rolls they make. Each
terrified expressions on their faces. The local wino swears up and
night without being fed upon reduces the Complication by 1.
down that an evil entity has moved into the unused 13th floor and
is controlling whatever creatures already existed there. Size Matters: Strange Bedfellows are tiny creatures, counting
humans as Scale 2. The comparative Scale reverses when a smaller
scale would be an asset, such as for concealment or defense.
SYSTEM
Standing less than two feet tall, Strange Bedfellows possess
oddly proportioned bodies with overly long arms and stubby legs
that cause them to affect a loping gait. Their skin is rubbery and
of a pale gray complexion. Evil red eyes are set deeply in their
VICIOUS BIKERS
“Sometimes the worst kinda evil ain’t what’s got
narrow, hairless heads, which also boast gaping, almost circular
dead flesh nor what drinks blood. It’s the kinda
mouths filled with dagger-like teeth. Their traits are as follows.
man who gave up his humanity for a goddamned
Harley, and’s gonna ride it all the way to hell…”
STRANGE BEDFELLOWS
Skills: Athletics 2, Close Combat 2, Larceny 4, Survival 3 — Zolton Walker, burned-out detective and US Army Ranger
Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Resolve 3; They’ve got their motors running, they’re heading out on the
Might 1, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Presence 2, highway and they’re looking for... violence. Not adventure. Vio-
Manipulation 2, Composure 3 lence. These bikers are a far cry from the rebels without a cause
Health: 6 portrayed in many Hollywood blockbusters (not to mention old
Steppenwolf songs). They aren’t flawed antiheroes, nor are they
misunderstood souls trying to find themselves on the open road.
We’re talking about irredeemably bloodthirsty marauders on
wheels here!
Vicious Bikers live for chaos and thrive on bedlam. They
do whatever they want, whenever they want, to whomever they
want. There’s rarely any rhyme or reason to their actions. If they
feel the urge to burn the local watering hole to the ground, that’s
exactly what they’ll do. If murdering hitchhikers in cold blood
seems like a good time, they’re all in. This unpredictability makes
these cretins particularly challenging foes.
Despite the classic imagery of the lone wolf on their metal
steed, most bikers follow the old “birds of a feather” cliché and
gather together into loosely organized gangs.
Not all Vicious Bikers are normal humans. Tales have circu-
lated about biker gangs that have been touched by the supernatu-
ral in one way or another. As if “normal” bikers weren’t formida-
ble enough! Wild rumors of bikers cursed with lycanthropy have
grown more common in recent years, as have whispers of gangs
comprised of the living dead and even sentient scarecrows. Only
the bravest souls dare speak of the biker cults whose members
offer blood sacrifices to THE DEVIL HIMSELF in return for de-
monic powers. In at least one case, witnesses insist that they saw a
biker gang being led by a rider with no head!

– Strange Bedfellows / Vicious Bikers – 39

 The 19th century equivalent of biker gangs were roving, burg? How many of them were there to have been capable of caus-
horseback outlaws who robbed banks and trains, captured alleged ing so much death and devastation? Were they more than mere
witches at the whim of their estranged cult leader, and participat- humans? Where did they go... and, more importantly, will they
ed in all the aforementioned activities modern day bikers engage strike again in some other hapless community?
in. They were more common in America than Europe, but could
still be found anywhere. SYSTEM
Your average, everyday Vicious Bikers are provided the traits
GOALS below. Should the bikers be supernatural in nature, choose an
Goals? For Vicious Bikers? Surely, you jest! Does having a appropriate monster and incorporate some or all of their Special
good time count? Of course, their idea of having a good time typ- rules and Skills into the Vicious Bikers’ statistics. You might even
ically involves terrorizing law-abiding citizens. Beyond that, they go one step further by replacing the Attributes of the Vicious Bik-
make their money by gunrunning, drug smuggling, burglary, and ers with those possessed by the chosen monster. Pick and choose
armed robbery. The supernatural variety of bikers may or may not whatever elements feel right and run with it!
have loftier ambitions, such as appeasing THE DEVIL HIMSELF
with human sacrifices or eating brains to keep from meeting their VICIOUS BIKER
final deaths.
Skills: Aim 3, Athletics 3, Close Combat 3, Larceny 2,
Persuasion 2, Pilot 4, Survival 2, Technology 3
19TH CENTURY STORY HOOK Attributes: Intellect 2, Cunning 3, Resolve 2; Might
The Phantom Aces found themselves holed up in the darkest, 4, Dexterity 3, Stamina 3; Presence 2, Manipulation 2,
foggiest moors of England while on the run from the authorities. Composure 2
Settling into an abandoned cabin, this gang of outlaws immediate-
Health: 8
ly questioned their course of action upon hearing bloodcurdling
canine howls after the sun went down. Werewolves soon be-
SPECIAL RULES
sieged the cabin and, though they put up a considerable struggle,
the outlaws were turned into the very beasts that attacked them. Bad Pennies: Once per story, a gang of Vicious Bikers can
Using the cabin as their base of operations, the Phantom Aces inexplicably show up in a scene, even when they realistically
now menace the numerous villages and towns surrounding the wouldn’t be able to (e.g., the characters escape from a gang of Vi-
moors. By the time peace officers can do anything to stop them, cious Bikers on the open road and go to an apartment building in
they disappear back into their uninviting territory. Famous sleuth Las Vegas... only for them to show up there).
Montgomery Stone plans to rid the area of the gang, but he needs Heavy Metal Thunder: When three or more Vicious Bikers
a team of stalwart individuals to accompany him. Did we mention rev their motorcycle engines or move at fast speeds, nearby char-
that Stone has come up missing shortly after assembling his team? acters (except the Vicious Bikers themselves — they’re used to it!)
Must have slipped our minds. suffer a level 2 Complication for hearing and speaking-based rolls.
Strange Final Act: Vicious Bikers have an uncanny way of
1970S STORY HOOK showing up in the final acts of horror movies, even when the re-
A small farming town lies in shambles in the wake of an at- mainder of the movie has lacked their presence. They just add
tack. Only a few survivors remain, having hidden in cellars and at- something to the monster caper in progress, for better or worse.
tics during the chaos. None of them can provide details, since they This special rule doesn’t come with any additional dice, it’s just
witnessed virtually none of the events that transpired. All they can something they do. Because they’re troublesome like that.
state with any certainty is that a large gang of bikers descended The Odds Are Against You: As long as there are more Vi-
upon the town, destroying and killing everything and everyone in cious Bikers than characters fighting them, the Vicious Bikers
sight. Who are these bikers? Why did they choose this particular gain +1 to their Close Combat Skill.

40 – MONSTERS FROM THE CRYPT! –

– VICIOUS BIKERS – 41
 WINTER
After everyone stopped screaming and took several deep “I’m Michael,” he said with a wave and a smile. “What’s your name?”
breaths, the young girl in the back seat eased into the ‘Cuda’s “Athena,” she responded, running her hands over her thighs.
black leather cushions. The group’s tension drifted into the road be-
“Wow! Like the Goddess, Athena!” Michael clapped his hands
hind them as they approached the suburban area near downtown
together excitedly. “She’s one of my favorites!”
Galena. Everyone’s shoulders visibly dropped, and they felt safe for
the time being. Before Michael could show Athena his notes on Greek mytholo-
gy, Nancy turned around in the front seat and placed a gentle hand
“Everyone okay?” Bobby asked, trying to keep his shaky hands
on Athena’s knee. “Nice to meet you! I’m Nancy, and this is Bobby!”
wrapped tightly around the steering wheel.
“Nice to meet you,” Athena’s voice barely rose above a
Everyone murmured in agreement.
whisper, and her eyes looked toward the ground. She placed her
“New girl, you okay? I am sorry about your friend.” hand on Nancy’s involuntarily but found instant comfort from her
“I just met him ten minutes ago,” she whispered flatly. “I didn’t consoling touch.
know him.” “Excellent work back there, Athena,” Bobby said, looking into
Silence fell over the car. Bobby continued to drive, looking at the rearview mirror. “How did you know to use fire?”
the rearview mirror from time to time to check on the new girl. She Athena shrugged. “Saw it in a movie once.”
either seemed unmoved from the encounter or did an excellent job
“Fire cleanses all,” Bobby mused to himself, his eyes looking
hiding her fear from the group.
back to the road ahead.
Michael looked at the girl, curiosity behind his glasses, and
One of Athena’s shoulders rolled up to her ear. “The whole
broke the awkward silence by clearing his throat. Digging into her
thing made my skin crawl.”
backstory wasn’t appropriate at the time, so Michael switched gears.
 “You did great, though! I was too scared to take any pho- Athena’s neighbor, Mrs. Apple, stood over a small bed of flow-
tographs, so my research is going to take me long into the night.” ers with a watering can. She watered the daisies in the same spot
Athena gave a slight smile, and her brown eyes looked up to for over an hour only to leave to fetch more water. 
meet Nancy’s. “I can help you with research, Nancy.” “Mrs. Apple, I think you watered those already,” Athena called
“Really? I have to ask my mother if it’s okay, but I am sure she from the sidewalk.
won’t mind another girl staying the night.” With a glassy-eyed smile, Mrs. Apple slowly turned around
“That would be great.” Athena squeezed Nancy’s hand briefly and cocked her head to the side. “What do you mean, Athena?
before settling into the comfort of the gesture. “I don’t want to be They’re thirsty. They’re always so thirsty. Growing plants need plenty
alone tonight.” of water.”
Outside Athena’s house, Bobby pulled the car to a stop. The Athena cocked her eyebrow. “Are you feeling okay, Mrs. Apple?”
citizens were fast asleep in their beds with the night sky above them Mrs. Apple’s neck cracked as she spoke assiduously, “Perfectly
like a backlit canopy with star shapes punched through it. fine, dear. Would you like to see the daisies up close? Maybe
“Before you go, can we take a beat and decompress?” Bobby you’re thirsty, too.”
asked, eyes focused on the road ahead and hands still gripped A chill ran up Athena’s spine. “No, thank you, Mrs. Apple.”
on the wheel. Before Mrs. Apple turned fully to face her, Athena walked
With a sigh, Athena spoke first. “I wanted to get a head start quickly down the sidewalk to Nancy’s house as the winter winds
on the hunt. My Ma could really use that dishwasher. No one was started to roar down the street behind her.
around, so I thought I could spot the scarecrows ahead of time On Christmas Eve, Athena sat cross-legged on Nancy’s couch
and just run through tomorrow. I met that boy back there, too. He with a hot cup of tea, warming her hands from the frost outside.
was doing the same as me, and we agreed to work together. Then Nancy excused herself to grab more to drink while Babes in Toy-
t-t-that thing came running after us until we thought we lost it. Then, land played on the Zenith television. Athena’s family didn’t cel-
we found you.” ebrate Christmas, and Nancy insisted on having her over for an
“That scarecrow would have killed us if it wasn’t for you, Ath- evening the day before. They didn’t pay attention to anything on
ena. Why are they trying to hurt people? What do they get from the television but discussed the past few months’ events instead.
it?” Michael said, flipping through a small book of folklore. “I always The movie was great background noise to their discussions. Athe-
thought human sacrifice died out.” na’s eyes sparkled with every grandiose costume that appeared,
“Apparently not, Michael,” Nancy said, dryly. “We can’t go and her cheeks warmed in delight. 
back there. It’s not safe. I assume Commonwealth won’t be far for As Athena took another sip of her tea, a loud crash from the
the next few weeks, either.” kitchen caused her to spill hot liquid across her shirt. Ignoring the
Bobby rubbed his neck. “What are we going to do, then?” pain, Athena sprung to her feet and rushed towards the noise. Nancy
stood in front of the kitchen window, a shaking hand at her lips and
Michael looked up from his book and adjusted his glasses.
a shattered ceramic mug at her feet. Athena approached careful-
“We wait.”
ly, stepping through the kitchen on the tips of her toes. When she
For the next few weeks, the group watched as their town reached Nancy, she stood tall to see what frightened her so much.
shifted slowly into a strange and eerie place. Athena’s parents
Outside, in the backyard, a hunched humanoid creature stared
didn’t care how much she wasn’t home. The house was always
back at Nancy. The beast had an insect’s face with two large ruby
immaculate with meals that looked like pages of Better Homes and
eyes and stood at least seven feet tall. Every few seconds, its
Gardens. The other parents had similar patterns, too. The group’s
mouth twitched, waiting for Nancy to move. Athena’s eyes traced
parents gathered together in the middle of town with other residents
over the silhouette of two large wings, down its insect face and
and piled into their cars to visit the cornfields. At first, it seemed like
over its red eyes, down its silver furred human-like body, to its
people wanted to win an appliance, but the adults became less
clawed feet. The creature stared specifically at Nancy and didn’t
like themselves with each passing day.
move when Athena came into its vision. 
The adults ignored the explosion on the old bridge on a late
“What the hell is that?” Athena whispered, reaching for Nancy’s
Thursday evening. The trio saw it and immediately raced home to
hand to lace their fingers together. 
ask for help. But most of the adults had already left to return to the
cornfields. The ones who stayed were mowing their lawns for the “Call Michael and Bobby,” Nancy replied at the same pitch.
third time in the past few hours. No grass sprouted on the once “Tell them to come over.”
beautifully manicured grounds. All that remained were people with Athena tiptoed backward towards the orange 1654 rotary phone
smiles plastered on their faces looking out windows into the night and quickly spun the dial to call Michael. The clock ticked loudly
sky or hosting perfectly planned parties void of any personalities or above her head, but she couldn’t care to check what time it was. 
genuine laughter. “Hello?” A sleepy Michael answered. 
The bridge fixed itself like magic the next day, leaving the “Michael,” Athena whispered. “Michael, I need you to come to
investigation team to wonder if they had shared a dream or hallu- Nancy’s. It’s an emergency.”
cination the night before.
 “Why are we whispering?” The creature looked at him, confusion in its eyes.
“There’s a thing here.” “I’m not going to hurt you,” Michael continued, stopping a few
“Commonwealth?” feet away from it. He noted the blood stained across its mouth.
“I don’t have much time to talk, Michael. Please.” A massive and dejected sigh came from its lips while lowering
its head in shame. Its eyes saddened, drooping down and away
A click and then a dial tone answered her, and she took
from Michael.
another deep breath to find the courage to call Bobby. When she
turned back to Nancy, the scene remained unmoved. The creature Michael couldn’t see that Bobby had dropped the gun to his
stayed exactly in the same spot, staring at her with its large eyes, side and looked up toward the sky in a daze. He remained perfect-
and Nancy’s entire body shook with fright.  ly still as Michael continued.
“Will this horror never end?” Nancy muttered to herself.  “You didn’t mean to kill those people, did you?”
“Yup,” Bobby’s voice chimed in Athena’s ear, and she turned The creature shook its head left and right. It clicked its mouth
back to look at the rotary dial. a few times before chirping excitedly at Michael. 
“Bobby. We need you over at Nancy’s. Now.” “So, you do understand me. This is out of sight. Where did you
come from?”
Another click and Athena slowly placed the phone on the
receiver. She didn’t move from her spot in the kitchen, terrified some- Its head tilted to the side again.
thing would happen to Nancy if she shifted even the slightest inch. “Okay, let’s try something else. Commonwealth is making you
Within minutes, the front door quietly opened behind her. Athena do this, right?”
didn’t have to look back to know who it was and gently stepped to The creature emitted a terrifying screech and wrapped itself
the wall to allow them both in. in its wings. A heartbeat later it growled angrily, followed by what
Michael entered first, wearing oversized pajamas and with struck Michael as a maniacal laugh from behind its wings. Then
a book held tightly to his chest. Bobby followed behind holding a everything happened in a blur. The creature’s wings flew open and
pump-action shotgun, likely taken in haste from his father’s basement. spread outward, knocking Michael onto his back. His head struck
His dad wouldn’t notice; he spent most of his evenings staring at a something hard protruding from the lawn, knocking his glasses into
corner of his bedroom, only leaving to eat at odd hours. No one the freshly fallen snow. Even with his vision blurred, Michael could
spoke as Bobby pressed past Michael to head toward the back see how sinister looking the creature’s eyes had become, and shiv-
door. Bobby opened the door cautiously, pointing the gun at the ered at the razor-sharp teeth shooting out of its mouth.
creature outside while stepping through the small opening he’d made. The beast flew toward him, screeching loudly. Bobby shook
Michael followed behind, pausing only to take a deep, nervous his head, raised the gun back into position, and screamed through
breath before entering the backyard. Athena crossed the kitchen to clenched teeth.
be by Nancy’s side again, holding her hand tightly for support.
“Taste cold steel, foul beast!”
Outside, Bobby shoved the walnut stock firmly into his shoulder.
The report from Bobby’s gun rang loudly across the neighbor-
Steadily, he racked the shotgun. The creature’s head turned slowly
hood, followed by a fierce roar from the creature. On the ground,
to look at Bobby and then tilted to the side as if in bewilderment. It
Michael howled in pain and held tightly to his arm. A bite the size
waited for Bobby’s next move, twitching its mouth at him.
of a lion’s mouth tore through his forearm, staining the snow around
“Lower your gun, Bobby,” Michael said, taking a step forward him a dark crimson. Bobby couldn’t tell if the blood belonged to the
toward the creature. “It’s not here to hurt us.” creature or to Michael. The thunderous roar of flapping wings filled
Bobby pushed the stock even further into his shoulder. “It’s got their ears and raised a blinding cloud of snow across the yard. Just
blood on its lips, Michael.” as suddenly, all sound vanished, and the monstrous fiend disap-
“Hello,” Michael said softly, taking another step toward the peared into the night sky to never be seen again.
strange beast and ignoring Bobby’s comment.
 I CREATED
A MONSTER!
“We’re going to make a person,
and one of the first things we’re going to need is the raw material.”
— Baron Victor Frankenstein, The Horror of Frankenstein (1970)

CONCEPT:
So, you want to make a monster? You fancy a spot of grav-
erobbing — to plunge your spade deep into the rich, stinking soil
of communal thought, digging up evolutionary fears to build a
skeleton. You will need flesh and organs! Skip with resurrection-
ist delight, like a kid in a candy store, through the cultural crypts,
stealing ragged strips of mythology, folklore, and taboos. To the
A SEED OF EVIL
Monsters are little miracles. They are ideas and metaphors
brain depository! Pick the lock and select a juicy backstory to given limbs, life, and malevolent agency. They are a way of testing
slide into the skull of your creation. Now cart off these ghoulish dangerous concepts in the safe conditions of the gothic lab that
materials to your laboratory. is our imagination. Monsters begin with a tiny seed of thought.
You will need a bit of twisted science — the rules and Whatever method you use to germinate that seed is valid. We
dice-rolling mechanics to animate your monster. Suture all of humbly offer a few sample options.
these disparate parts together with references from your favorite
horror films. Inject the cold flesh with a solution: two parts fright THE ELEVATOR PITCH
and one part comedy (gallows humor is recommended, but what-
Your final monster may have all manner of complexities and
ever you might have lying around is fine). Now throw the switch
nuances, but a strong base concept can be described in one or two
and feed lightning into your creation. Laugh at the raging sky, in
sentences. Pretend it is the lightning-quick patter you’re using to
your moment of perfect triumph, and loose this animate terror
sell a studio on your campy horror film.
upon your players.
• A reverse lycanthrope: a beloved housecat who has
Does this sound like a good time to you? Dear reader, the man-
learned to use a human skin to transform into a biped and take
agement ravenously desires to guide you in this ghastly enterprise.
her predatory play to a deadlier level.

– I Created A Monster! – 45
 • The adolescent son of Krampus learns of his demonic in a dilapidated house in the woods. She always wears gloves. The
holiday nature. hag removes her gloves, revealing that her fingers are all writhing,
• A cursed canvas turns a failed artist’s every work into a hatchling birds. Should those gaping little mouths touch you, you
masterpiece but demands that human blood is to be mixed in with will be cursed or your lifeforce devoured. Alternatively, consid-
the paint. er a variation of the Murder (see p. 27) with masses of writhing
hatchling crows inexplicably appearing and growing in number,
• Medusa... but her head snakes can slither off on their own,
foretelling someone’s doom.
implant themselves into a person’s head, and create another medusa!
• Fear of the blank page. What if you have nothing to
WHAT IF? say? What if you have reached the end of your imagination? What
if you had it, but you lost it? An ultra-successful horror writer has
These are questions that spawn stories. They are a little like just moved into an old mansion she purchased. She has also pur-
the elevator pitch, but rawer and less refined. You might not have chased a major responsibility. The thing that lives in the well at
the answer to the question when you write it, but answering it the end of the property kills a local every night. The only thing
leads you to a monster and a plotline. Many great narratives are that stops it is a good story, read to it down the well, at sundown.
born out of a good what if? Rapidly jot down a list of these ques- The story must be good. Can the writer keep producing a story
tions, then read back over them and see which ones nudge you each day? If the well is not placated, someone dies in the night. No
towards your monster. one believes her, and she needs help.
• What if children smash pumpkins on Halloween out of
an instinctive fear and knowledge that a pumpkin left out until the GRAVEROB IT!
full moon of November will hatch something evil?
A roleplaying game is just the right art form to steal material
• What if Renfield was the true evil master, and Dracula for. Steal it! Filch monsters from your favorite films, novels, tele-
was just his theatrically dressed dupe? vision shows, and comic books. Take them whole cloth or take as-
• What if the interdimensional monsters living under beds pects of them. Encyclopedias of mythology and folklore are trea-
are real, and they have made a pact with the adults to keep their sure troves of material to be turned into monsters for your games
children in line? of TCfBtG! Cast famous actors (particularly from the 60s/70s
• What if the narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale film era) as your villains. Tap into the contexts and preconcep-
Heart” wasn’t insane, and his victim’s eye and heart really were tions your players have with these familiar faces.
evil entities? For the monster and adventure spawned by that
question, see The Masque of the Hideous Heart (They Came
from Beyond the Grave! p. 241).
TWISTED SCIENCE 101
FEARS “Who shall conceive the horrors of my
Many great movie monsters are born out of fears. These fears secret toil as I dabbled among the unhallowed
might be specific (fear of clowns) or vague (fear of the unknown). damps of the grave or tortured the living animal
Often, even outlandish creatures come from relatable fears. These to animate the lifeless clay?”
fears can be primal and universal, or they can be specific to a cul- — Mary Shelley, Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus
ture or an individual’s idiosyncrasies.
• Fear of hands. Fear of hands? Yes. Why not? It is strange You have a spark of maniacal inspiration. You have the de-
for a body part to be so expressive without being a face. Hands sire to make your players howl, whether it is with screams or with
also reach out and grasp for you, grab you, and do violent things. laughter. Yet what of the finer points? The devil is in the details,
Imagine an angel made of hands. Its head, body, limbs, and wings and there are many details that go into your would-be devil. Let us
are all interlocking hands. It reaches for you with its totality. “Be assemble the grisly pieces one by one.
not afraid!” For more fun with dreadful digits, see the Dead Grasp-
ing Hands (p. 18). WHAT’S IN A NAME?
• Fear of using public toilets. Using a public toilet leaves Demiurge, name thy creation! Your monster shall need an ap-
you vulnerable. Perhaps a monster or killer uses that moment to pellation to inspire dread on the tongue and in the ear. Naming
strike. Did the lights just go out? What if the rumors of rats or your villain may occur at the beginning or end of the creative pro-
snakes coming up out of the toilets is true? Maybe something else cess. There is no wrong time. You might have the name before you
lives down there. The water just splashed up and touched you! even know what the monster is. As an exercise, write ten mon-
What germs were in there? What parasites? You feel invaded. As strous names, as rapidly as you can. Don’t overthink it — anything
you leave the public restroom, are your thoughts still your own? that sounds good. Read the names out loud. Select your favorite
• Fear of hatchling birds. Newly hatched birds are and begin creating the monster that name belongs to, much as
not dangerous, but one might find them loathsome. The gaping the sculptor frees the shape that was always living in the stone.
mouths. The bald, veiny, varicose skin. The shut eyes that look like Alternatively, the proper name might creep into your head in the
bruised orbs. Perhaps an old crone lives at the end of the street or middle of the monster making process.

46 – I CREATED A MONSTER! –
 The name might be descriptive, such as “the Gibbering Cult- plicable presences. Your film might have hired an overindulgent
ist” or “the Marine Vampire.” It could be a proper name — “We screenplay writer or put all of its money into special effects and
meet again, Doctor Cornelius Direghast!” The name might come an aging movie star. You can commit this information to paper or
from a purely inhuman source, not meant for human vocal chords digital text, or let it live within the confines of your brainpan.
— “I summon thee, Plegeth-Ch’shogg!” Enterprising Directors
might also look to mythology, folklore, lists of angel names, and GOALS
(of course) classic horror films for inspiration.
A haunting backstory and lurid description dress up a mon-
A monster’s name might be the name it is known by within ster nicely, but it is their goals that give them kinetic energy and
the fictional world or merely a designation for the Director and set them to fiendish life. What does your monster desire? What is
the players to use, the name that would appear in the film’s cred- its frightful purpose?
its or on a billboard. Close your eyes and imagine your monster’s
Some monsters have goals that are pure, over-the-top evil.
name written in the big, gaudy font of a 70s-era horror movie
Other monsters harbor understandable, even sympathetic, moti-
poster. Adjust its proportions until those larger-than-life, dripping
vations. Tragic figures fill the pantheon of gothic villains.
letters properly reflect your sinister genius.
The monster’s ambitions may incorporate intricate webs of
diabolical complexity. On the other hand, some evil is elegantly
DESCRIPTION simple. A monster’s goals can be unconnected to the player char-
This is the place to sum up your monster. Describe your cre- acters, as the fiend finds such lowly mortals unworthy of consider-
ation, using as many senses as possible. Explore the monster’s or- ation. A demon-god wriggles through the barrier between worlds,
igins and nature. A paragraph will do, but feel free to elaborate an without concern for the tiny flesh-entities residing there.
entire epic of dread should your soul move you. Some monsters
However, if you can tie your villain’s motivations to the he-
have elaborate backstories, while others are mysterious and inex-
roes, the stakes become much more personal. A vampire stalks the

SWAPPING SKINS
Within these pages lurks advice on cooking up monsters from scratch.
However, one should never underestimate the power of re-skinning, that is,
changing the details on existing monster stat blocks from both this book and
TCfBtG! Often, the Director can achieve the villain they need by simply ad-
justing the stats of an existing monster or swapping traits.
This re-skinning can be completely cosmetic. Take an existing stat block and
stuff it into a new aesthetic epidermis. For example, you can use the Mummy
stat block (TCfBtG! p. 172) to run a shambling bog mummy. Describe the
blackened, leathery skin, the constantly leaking water the color of strong
tea, and the trail of writhing leeches in its wake.
Swapping out the traits and powers listed under the special rules of the var-
ious monsters can achieve unique horrors. Want to give your Skeletons (see
p. 35) a specific flavor? Perhaps they are the animate remains of cultists. Not
even death absolves them of their cultish duties. Give them the Sacrilegious
Ritual from the special rules of the Devil Worshiper (TCfBtG! p. 157).
What happens when a vampire bites a werewolf or a werewolf bites a vam-
pire? Mix the special rules of the Werewolf (TCfBtG! p. 185) and any of our
vampire-related monsters to find out.
Remember, the monster stat blocks listed in these books represent the stan-
dard creature of that type. Individuals will vary. Adjust accordingly!

– Twisted Science 101 – 47

descendants of the hunter who staked her a century before. An do, secretly cut from a neighbor’s pig. They sewed it into the chest
immortal werewolf can only be killed by the hands of one of his of a scarecrow as instructed. They said the words.
grandchildren. An eccentric professor invites her students over to Now, the scarecrow stalks everyone who ever dared to tor-
see her latest triumph against nature. ment them. Every evening, the children play baseball and pray to
Alternatively, there is a special horror to be mined from a the voice in the corn. The voice tells them what they have to do to
monster whose goals cannot be known. The investigators cannot be winners and what to do should anyone try and stop them.
hope to understand the motivations of the entity summoned by
the cult. The plucky, young investigators stand around the body of The Setting
the slasher, shivering even in their triumph. They will never know
Your story hook takes on a life of its own, generating a set-
what made her snap, what made her choose her specific victims.
ting for your story of its own dread volition. An eerie baseball
diamond in a cornfield. A set of suburban and rural small towns
STORY HOOKS linked by the local little league. Small towns hide weird secrets.
The above information paints a picture of the generic or ar- Dark histories and local folklore sit just beneath the surface of
chetypal version of a given monster. Story hooks illuminate a par- these idyllic communities. Families hide terrible truths under
ticular individual of that type of monster, or the specific circum- their white-knuckled facade of respectability. Your setting comes
stances bringing said monster into the story. This is the leadup to together in shades of a Midwestern gothic.
the player characters crossing paths with the villain. The mon-
sters contained in TCfBtG! and this book each contain sample The Possibilities
story hooks, though you may create your own to fit the particulars
Setting a specific story hook and following it to its logical con-
of your story. Monsters usually have a 19th century and a 1970s
clusions generates story and content. Now, you have more than
story hook.
the monster you started with. There is the scarecrow itself, but
also the cult of little league children, and the evil voice in the corn-
STORY HOOK EXAMPLE: FIELD OF SCREAMS fields. The antagonists multiply! Monsters should create ripples
Let us put forbidden theories into blasphemous practice. in their environment. Creating a “big bad” monster often produc-
Leafing through this book, you happen upon the Scarecrow traits es secondary and tertiary antagonists. Rather than just a story’s
(see p. 34). For an upcoming story, you decide to create your own worth of content, you have a whole campaign of battles against
1970s story hook to give a unique flavor to this monster. multiple fiends. What’s more, the horror is seasoned with monster
motivations that begin at a sympathetic place.
The Inspiration
You recently watched an odd combination of films: a horror SYSTEM
movie about creepy children in cornfields and a comedy about a You have your feverish inspiration. You have your arcane for-
team of underdogs playing little league baseball. You decide to com- mula and all of the raw parts laid out on the surgical table. It is
bine these two incongruous ideas. The thoughts hatch and cross- time to join it all together with the electrically charged nuts, bolts,
hatch in your head. The seeds of a concept germinate in the fertile and rivets. They Came from Beyond the Grave! uses the Story-
soil of your imagination. New ideas grow like whispering cornstalks. path System. For more thorough reading, see the System chapter
there (TCfBtG!, p. 89). In the meantime, let us explore how best
The Concept to apply those mechanics to your glorious creation.
You decide your Scarecrow needs a person or group of peo-
ple to animate it. Giving these people a compelling motivation for SKILLS AND ATTRIBUTES
doing such a thing will only enrich your monster. You ask yourself Limbs sutured and joined, your gestalt of horrors lies cold on
the question: What if our group of underdogs found a horrific way to the slab. Get in there with a scalpel and really define your hideous
get back at those who would punch downward at them? vision. Study the particulars of the Skills and Attributes chapter
(TCfBtG! p. 73). Translate your monster into allotments of abili-
The Pitch ties both learned and innate. You may adore your gestating abom-
ination, but resist the urge to pump every stat above average. A
In a remote suburb somewhere in the Midwest, a ragtag
character or a creature is made just as interesting, if not more, by
group of misfit children practice in a secret baseball diamond they
its weaknesses as it is by its strengths.
hacked out from the middle of a cornfield. They are the worst
team in the league, tormented by the more competitive players
Health
(and their even more competitive parents). In their secret field,
they hide from the world and everyone who calls them “loser.” This trait denotes how much punishment a monster can
When a mysterious voice in the corn rows whispers to them, take. For a sense of scale: a Zombie has 2 Health, a Warlock has 5
tells them how they can be winners, they listen. Every day, they Health, a Vicious Biker has 8 Health, Bigfoot has 10 Health, a No-
play baseball and listen to the voice. Their frowns metamorphose ble Vampire has 12 Health, Frankenstein’s Monster has 16 Health,
into smiles. They got the sow’s heart, just as the voice told them to Mothman has 20 Health, and a Haunted House has 50 Health.

48 – I CREATED A MONSTER! –
Most protagonists have 9 Health (plus a Death Scene), so keep MONSTERS AND CONDITIONS
that in mind when creating your monsters.
Conditions are problems or advantages that affect a single
The Shapeshifting Shuffle character. Where monsters are concerned, these are normally
problems. A Director may use the Conditions listed in TCfBtG!
Vampires, lycanthropes, and many monsters besides enjoy but is encouraged to make up their own. Dole out Complications
the versatility of plural forms. Shapeshifting can be mechanical- and Enhancements as needed or create your own special effects.
ly expressed by writing up separate sets of Skills, Attributes, and The management humbly stresses that it is usually more fun to
health numbers for each form. Also consider the cinematic style of bestow a trait onto the protagonists rather than the villain. Rather
the transformation (check that special effects budget!). While one than giving the monster an Enhancement, give the characters a
vampire elegantly shrinks into a bat in a puff of mist, another vom- Complication.
its up a gory mass of rats that scampers away from the desiccated
Makeup, special effects, and committed acting all work to-
human husk they leave behind.
wards conveying the horror of monsters on film, but it is the re-
action shot that sells the fear. Conditions are a vital tool allowing
SPECIAL RULES Directors to show that monsters don’t just exist in the world, they
Now, you architects of phantasmagoric thrills, is the fun part! leave dramatic affects upon their victims and foes. When a sin-
The special rules of a monster’s stat block express the strange gle character catches their first glimpse of the monster, you can
details not covered in the creature’s Skills and Attributes. These describe in exquisite detail how frightening it is, but how much
details can include special powers, supernatural qualities, weak- better to have that character return to the party with a “White
nesses, environmental effects, and anything else that might re- Hair” Condition.
quire a mechanic. For inspiration, see the special rules of the mon- Monsters represent dangers beyond injury and death. Get
sters listed in this book and in TCfBtG! ). The end of this chapter creative with your Conditions. Get devious!
features a fine and fiendish list of special rules just waiting to be
grafted onto a new monster.

TOO MANY COOKS

IS JUST ENOUGH
“The Director’s Chair” chapter of TCfBtG! (p. 193) features a section with tips on
utilizing the players as Co-Directors. The same techniques can be used in designing
monsters. During a prelude or “Session Zero” of a story (or at the end of a session
in a longer running campaign), the players can take part in designing the monster
for the upcoming session by discussing it in-character. This can take the form of
monster hunters drinking brandy by the fire in a lodge, a group of researchers in
an occult library, or a gathering of investigators in the 1970s discussing the stories
of the creature their ancestors battled in the 19th century.
Players take turns describing (as their character) a specific aspect of the monster.
“My great-great grandmother wrote that the thing had the strength of ten people.”
“Passages from the clay tablets suggest that the creature’s strength wanes on the
night of a blue moon.”
“My studies into provincial folklore claim that the entity can be destroyed by steal-
ing its left shoe... if you believe that sort of thing.”
The Director then takes this input and translates it into a monster stat block for the
next session.

– Twisted Science 101 – 49

MONSTERS AND FIELDS
Where Conditions affect single characters, Fields inflict
SPARE PARTS
consequences to everyone within a mental, spiritual, or physical “Those glasses…”
geography. This can represent a monster exerting a wide-scale
power, the environmental effects its mere existence causes, or the “The result of a rather morbid reaction to
reactions mortals have sensing its abominable presence. Fields are sunlight.”
a useful way to illustrate the stain monsters leave upon the world.
— Christopher Gough and Verden Fell, The Tomb of Ligeia
Directors can use Fields to illustrate the strangeness of a mon-
ster or create cinematic dangers and difficult terrain for confron- The worn shovel handle feels as familiar as an old friend, and
tations. Slippery ectoplasm causes an “Unstable Footing” Field the new moon winks slyly, blanketing the graveyard in concealing
throughout a basement, making escape up the stairs difficult. Re- darkness. It is time to dig up those finishing touches to your mon-
ality bends, and the hallway a character is running down seems ster. In this section you will find a repository of special rules for
to stretch and lengthen with a “Warped Space” Field that makes monster stat blocks. Use them, alter them, or take inspiration and
movement seem futile. The mere scent of the lurching bog mummy craft your own.
invokes a “Nauseated” Field, causing everyone in it to vomit.
Where monsters are concerned, Fields tend to be negative BLASPHEMOUS HUNGER
things, but this is not an absolute. The party may stumble upon a To continue its baleful existence, the monster must consume
monster so blasphemous, so utterly wrong in a manner that shakes a specific food. It might hunger for human flesh, blood, excre-
their sanity, subjecting them to a “Violently Revolted” Field. Ev- ment, fingernails, spinal fluid, or offerings of food ritualistically
eryone in this Field gains Enhancement to striking the monster, to presented by cultists. The monster might eat the very life force of
obliterate it and cleanse the world of its presence. its victim, leaving them uninjured but aged by decades. Monsters
might need very specific or rare victims to feed upon. Clever hunt-
MONSTERS AND SCALE ers can use such hungers to lure the monster.
Scale is the useful mechanic that allows the system to repre-
sent vast differences in relative power between opposing forces DETACHABLE ANATOMY
or entities. A train-hopping hobo can encounter a five-headed de- The monster is more than the sum of its totality. Discrete
mon god, and Scale allows the rules to acknowledge the tremen- pieces of its anatomy can act independently. Examples of this
dous power differential, while still allowing both creatures to use power include:
the standard 1-5 range of their Skills and Attributes. Not only does
• The hands of the monster can detach at will, each going
this save a Director from the messy entanglements of bloated dice
off to perform nefarious antics or inflict curses on those they touch.
inflation, it allows for changes in power to be calculated at light-
ning speed. • Whenever the monster receives significant damage from
a cutting implement, a piece of its body (head, legs, arms, etc.) flies
Say the characters face off against Abaddon, the Locust King
free. The dismembered body part acts independently. If the sev-
and Angel of Death (TCfBtG! p. 147), and their research reveals
ered part and the body reunite, they fuse back together.
that stealing the angel’s sword renders it briefly mortal. The Di-
rector can achieve this effect by reducing Abaddon’s Scale for a • By day, the monster appears to be a normal human. At
few brief moments. This adds an exciting battle against the clock. night, the monster’s head detaches from the body, floating about
The players are encouraged to craft a plan to steal the powerful and trailing a tail of dripping viscera as it goes about its wicked
creature’s sword, as well as how to best take advantage of its fleet- purpose. The monster may gain other powers while existing as a
ing vulnerability. floating head (as chosen by the Director). The body may lie sleep-
ing during this time or move about on its own.
A scenario presenting the inverse situation also makes for a
fine bit of suspense. The characters discover a group of cultists
have summoned a fetal god-monster. Said cultists will soon enact
GORY HOLIDAYS
another ritual that will cause the little Scale 1 monster to swell The power of the monster is affected by a certain holiday
into a Scale 4 horror. With time running out, our heroes must stop or calendar date. This could be All Souls’ Day, Walpurgis Night,
the cultists or kill the monster before it reaches its final form and Krampusnacht, the night of a blue moon, or Saturday the 14th. The
devours them all. monster’s power waxes or wanes during this window of time, rais-
Scale can represent anything from size to supernatural puis- ing or lowering its Scale.
sance. Keep a monster’s Scale in mind when looking at its Skills
and Attributes. A Scale 3 creature with a Might of 2 is far more INVITE ME IN!
physically powerful than the average human, but only average The monster cannot freely enter a private building without
within its own Scale. For further details regarding Scale, see the invitation of the rightful owner. The monster is either com-
TCfBtG! (p. 95). pletely unable to step over the threshold or receives a −3 dice pen-
alty to all rolls while in a building uninvited.

50 – I CREATED A MONSTER! –
 and a successful Culture + Intellect roll reveals these secrets. Pos-
METHODS OF DESTRUCTION sible methods of detection include:
The monster cannot be killed (or killed permanently) unless
• A mark, such as 666 or a pentagram, resides somewhere
a particular method is employed. Arcane study and a successful
on the monster’s body.
Culture + Intellect roll could reveal the secret. Otherwise, the par-
ty may have to interrogate a servant for the information, find the • The monster is frightened of its own reflection, does not cast
monster’s diary, or employ some frightful trial and error. Possible a reflection, or gives off a distorted reflection that betrays its nature.
means of destruction can include: • The monster has rank breath that smells like a charnel
• Piercing the heart. The monster must be transfixed, house. Inhaling this breath up close reveals the monster, but also
through the heart or another specified organ (such as the eyes), imposes the Nauseated Condition, giving a −1 die penalty to all
with a particular material or object. This might be the classic wood- rolls. This Condition can be resolved by getting a few breaths of
en stake (perhaps a very specific wood such as from a rowan tree), fresh air.
a particular metal, a family heirloom, or a series of blessed daggers. • Dead toads reanimate in the presence of the monster.
Such a destruction might require an elaborate ritual or circum- Clever hunters bury boxes of dead toads along the roads a mon-
stance, such as staking the monster into the earth on holy ground. ster is thought to travel, or hide said boxes in rooms a suspected
• Beheading. The monster must be decapitated for it to monster lodges in.
remain dead. To further complicate the process, the Director may • The monster has hairy palms. Go ahead. Make your jokes.
offer other particulars. The monster may need to be beheaded • The monster makes no sound with its footsteps, even if it
with a particular object (a holy weapon, a grave shovel, etc.). The wants to. Characters receive a +4 Complication on any rolls used
head may need to be burned or buried separately from the body to detect the monster via sound. While this is useful to a monster
(lest the two crawl back to each other). Perhaps the fiend can only trying to sneak about, it also marks the creature as supernatural to
be laid to permanent rest with a very specific ritual. Should the anyone who notices its uncanny silence.
characters fail an attempt at this ritual, beyond a certain thresh- • The dead groan in the presence of the monster. Even the
old, the monster transforms into a Headless Hunter (p. 21) that faintly muffled moans of buried corpses can be heard in graveyards.
continues to stalk them.
• Though the monster appears beatific in form, a hideous
• Dismemberment. The body must be completely dis- painted portrait hidden in the attic reveals its true nature. Gazing
membered and buried. upon the ghastly artwork confirms the individual is the monster but
• Cremation. The body must be burned completely to imposes the Panicked Condition (TCfBtG! p. 104) on the viewer.
ash. As a further complication, the ashes may need to be scattered,
doused with holy water, or receive some other elaborate attention. MONSTER IN A BOTTLE
• Sunlight. Sunlight destroys the monster. A Director
The monster can be sucked into and trapped in a specially
might flip this classic trope by placing the horror in the bright of
prepared bottle if a well-trained sorcerer performs a ritual in its
day with a monster who is destroyed by moonlight.
presence. The Director can allow characters to learn the bottling
• Destruction of a special object. The monster is slain rites through an extended set of Culture + Intellect rolls. Alter-
(or made mortal) by destroying an object important to it. Such ob- natively, the sorcerer can be a supporting character. The party’s
jects can include: a reliquary containing the monster’s heart, an mission then becomes locating the sorcerer, convincing them to
heirloom from the monster’s mortal days, the monster’s grave or perform the rites, and then protecting the vulnerable practitioner
coffin, a cursed artifact that gives the monster its power, or the while they cast the ritual (over a suspense-appropriate length of
painted portrait of the monster hidden in its attic. time). The monster will seek to destroy the sorcerer.
• Extracting the heart. The monster is destroyed by cut-
ting out its heart. The organ may require further attention, such as POWER OF THE NAME
placing it on holy ground or boiling it in oil and certain herbs.
The monster’s true name carries great power. Uttering it a
• Animal nemesis. The monster can be killed by a par- certain number of times summons the monster from the abyss. In
ticular animal that instinctively attacks it (such as a falcon, cat, this case, the monster wants humans to know of it, spreading its
rooster, or white wolf ). name through a cult or even through popular culture and modern
• Stealing the left sock. The hunter must remove the music. Alternatively, the true name is the means of banishing or
monster’s left sock, shoe, or other specified footwear. The item binding the monster to one’s will. In this case, the monster care-
must be filled with grave dirt and hurled into a river. fully guards its true name, and the party will have to do some in-
tense research to discover it.
METHODS OF DETECTION
Monster hunters often know arcane methods of detecting
WARPED ENVIRONMENT
or tracking all manner of creatures. This might include signs the The monster is so otherworldly that its mere presence subtly
monster leaves in its wake or tell-tale clues that give away a mon- distorts reality around it like heated wax. The Director can use this
ster who looks otherwise human. Several hours of occulted study to create suspense, foreshadowing the creature’s presence before

– Spare Parts – 51
it is visible. Clever characters learn to recognize the signs of the murder. Characters never see these changes in progress, they only
monster’s presence. The effect can create preternatural Fields that happen when one is looking away.
affect a single room or stretch out vast distances from very pow- • Some form of radical entropy occurs in the monster’s
erful monsters. These effects may linger, offering clues to a party presence. Plants and small animals die. Milk sours. Food decays.
tracking the monster, or they may instantly vanish when the mon- Water spoils. Floors warp. Walls form moldy stains.
ster exits. Inquisitive Directors may reference the Lens Filters sec-
• The monster’s presence attracts creepy, crawly things.
tion of TCfBtG! (see p. 225) for further inspiration. The following
Centipedes slither through the walls. Maggots accumulate.
are possible expressions of the monster’s supernatural nature:
Hordes of rats gather. Alternatively, the monster creates more
• Animals are disturbed by the monster’s presence. They monsters by dint of its existence — the creature opens portals that
either become fearful or demonically aggressive. other horrors emerge from, spreads its curse by infecting others,
• Art gradually warps in the monster’s presence. Paint- lays its eggs in the chest cavity of its victims, summons other un-
ings, sculptures, and the like change, taking on sinister visages. A natural beings with a keening howl, etc. Consider looking at the
photographed child becomes monstrous. A painting of a mother “Infested” Lens Filter (TCfBtG! p. 227).
lovingly cradling her baby metamorphoses into a bloody, cannibal • Technology malfunctions in some general or ultra-spe-
nightmare. A statue holds up a knife as if it is about to commit cific way in the presence of the monster. Clocks stop. Automobiles
break down. Plumbing gurgles, leaks, and ruptures.

52 – I CREATED A MONSTER! –
 SPRING
The group rushed Michael to a hospital two towns over, flying
down the dark streets at breakneck speeds.
“Apply pressure!” Nancy screamed at Athena from the front.
She spread an old, wrinkled map across the dashboard with one Months passed, the snow melted, and flowers started to stretch
hand and a flashlight with the other. their tiny sprouts out of the ground. Michael eventually healed with
“Turn right here!” Nancy yelled at Bobby. luck on his side, though the scar reminded him of how dangerously
close he was to death. The investigation team kept a watchful eye
Bobby chain-smoked as if his life depended on it. around the town, noting the empty streets during the beginning of
Athena pushed down on Michael’s forearm and held him close spring. As much as they wanted to talk to their parents or any adult
to her. Michael screamed in pain, with big tears streaming down in Galena to point out the thinned population, they knew that no one
his cheeks. Blood-stained t-shirts littered Bobby’s backseat while would care to listen. The citizens of Galena fell further into a trance
Michael started to fall into complete shock. Athena fumbled around with robotic movements and smiles plastered across their faces.
for a fresh piece of cloth while keeping her eyes on Michael. Nancy’s mom stayed in bed for several days while Michael’s
“You gotta stay awake, Michael. Don’t close your eyes! We’re dad stared out the window for most of the evening, waiting for
almost there!” something. When they tried to talk to their parents, they were utterly
Their friend wouldn’t have made it if Bobby hadn’t pushed the unmoved and didn’t respond, or they were delighted with every-
gas pedal to the ground in his ‘Cuda while Nancy barked direc- thing happening from Commonwealth. Their glazed-over eyes fixat-
tions like a drill sergeant. Everyone released a sigh of relief when ed on something in the sky, but no one could see what it was. Some
faced with regular interactions around the hospital. Thankfully, the adults held parties in their backyards every evening, where they all
doctors and nurses were not captured by Galena’s weird addiction stood in a precise line with drinks in hand and brilliant smiles. Their
to Commonwealth. Michael pulled through with just a stitch job and eyes looked upward into the dark sky and didn’t move for hours.
plenty of pain medication.
 On top of the hill, Mayor Oak sobbed loudly in his empty office. Athena and Nancy bumped into one another as they entered,
He looked at the phone, split into two pieces on the floor as unease sending both girls in different directions momentarily. Michael, the last
slithered down his spine. He wanted to shatter the phone even to enter the forest, felt a slight prick against his hand from one of the
more, but his hands shook wildly in his lap. His body grew hot while branches. The last thing he remembered was watching the blood
tears streamed down his face and stained his perfectly pressed form on his palm, followed by the forest being the most incredible
and expensive suit. Commonwealth kept their end of the bargain, and beautiful spectacle he ever experienced.
and Mayor Oak swam in riches beyond his wildest desire, but it The forest, at first, looked like any other Midwestern woodland.
came at a grave cost. Mayor Oak didn’t think to read the contract Tall trees that extended toward the sky and came together at the
until he heard from the neighboring town’s hospital what happened tips to create a canopy. Lit by an unknown source, the forest looked
to Michael. His citizens grew obedient and thrilled for new attrac- as it would during daylight hours, with light trickling through the trees
tions as promised, but stores closed, and the population dwindled. over their heads. Two paths diverged into different directions, each
His entire career and the town belonged to Commonwealth now, with large boulders scattered throughout for resting. Nancy walked
and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop them. behind Bobby, stopping when a bright purple flower caught her
“We’ll administer a drug to any active participants in the eye. She knelt into the grass and swung her camera to her fingertips
event,” he read aloud. “For research purposes under Doctor Vyle. to grab a photograph. After scribbling a few notes in her notebook,
We will assume direct control with or without their consent. We have she tilted her head to confirm her suspicions.
a contractual obligation by the city of Galena and Mayor Oak that “This is a Neelakurinji. It only blooms once every 12 years in
we are allowed carte blanche to do as the Commonwealth sees fit.” India. This is impossible.”
His stomach twisted as the contract crumpled in his hands in Athena and Bobby peered over her shoulder, looking at the
hopes it would magically nullify the agreement. flower with curious eyes. There was a moment of relief in the silence
“The monsters are real,” Mayor Oak cried. “Galena will surely they shared, admiring the rare flora together even if it was part of
fall to this evil.” an evil forest.
A gun with one silver bullet loaded moments before sat fault- “Isn’t this great?” Michael yelled with an intoxicating smile and
lessly across his desk, reflecting the sun setting behind him. tears forming in the corner of his eyes.
Just on the outskirts of Galena, a forest appeared overnight. The group turned around and watched the branches start to
Standing at the top of the hill near the mayor’s office, the investi- twist down toward Michael in an attempt to capture him.
gation team looked on as the sun set behind its tall trees. Nancy “Michael!” Bobby shrieked, pulling his shotgun from behind his back.
felt her camera’s weight against her side as she kept her focus on
A hysterical laugh came from Michael’s lips as he pointed up
the forest in the distance. A dark purple fog seeped through the
at the branches reaching for him.
opening of the trees below them. Michael looked over his shoulder
toward the mayor’s office. He saw the windows shroud themselves in A bullet punched through the branches, leaving a hole in
darkness and wondered if he heard a muffled gunshot. its wake. The forest shook with a high-pitched squeal before the
branches recoiled back into the sky. A piece of shattered wood fell
“Ready?” Nancy asked everyone.
around Michael as he continued his crazed laughter.
“Ready.” They chimed in unison.
“Why are you fighting it, Bobby? We could stay here. Forever.
They rushed down the hill, ignoring any of the citizens around Forget Commonwealth.”
them that shambled their way toward the forest. They abandoned their
“We could,” Bobby agreed in a whisper to himself.
strange town and everyone in it. The anticipation grew in their chests
the more they closed the gap between them and the forest. Athena For a moment, the intense light left his eyes and the desperate
grabbed Nancy’s hand for comfort, squeezing tightly, and gave a need to stay glued his feet to the ground. He shook his head. “No,
warm smile. Nancy nodded with an invigorated sense of courage. Michael. We need to go home.”
When they arrived, Linda made eye contact with Athena, who The sound of twisting branches emanated all around them,
glared at her in response and spat three times as she continued and a low thicket grew closer to Athena, calling out her name in
into the woods. The prick to Bobby’s neck in the field of scarecrows a distorted and terrifying voice that only she could hear. Nancy
landed perfectly, but the rest of the group slipped through with pure screamed, and Bobby quickly turned around to repeat his attack.
luck. This time, Linda didn’t skip any measurements to make sure Bobby pumped the shotgun and fired again, this time aiming for the
they couldn’t foil their strategy. Linda planned for this moment when branches above Athena. The limbs winced and cowered back to
she watched her scarecrow fall to the ground in a fiery inferno. the air above them almost instantly, but before the group could
She couldn’t forget the memory of autumn, where she watched the breathe, Athena screeched with a finger pointing back at Michael.
group run through the fields from her driver’s seat behind the cloud “I’ll send you back to hell!” Bobby roared at the branches.
of smoke from her cigarette. Sinking into her car seat, the soft glow Tree limbs wrapped tightly around Michael’s entire body, slith-
of the radio illuminated her scowl as the protagonists pressed on. ering around to encase him in a wooden cocoon of death. Michael
The group moved under an arch of twisted branches, their continued his muffled laughter until the branches covered his face
sights set on uncovering the truth. Bobby went first, shotgun within completely. Bobby shot recklessly at the chrysalis, his fingers metic-
his grasp, to quickly unload into any monster that threatened them. ulously shoving ammunition in the chamber as quickly as he could.
The bullets bounced off the casing as it rose into the canopy, no Athena stood in front of a sobbing Nancy with both arms
longer penetrating the thick bark. The gun obscured the sound of stretched outward. All Athena could do was dig her heels into the
Nancy’s shutter closing on her camera, her thumb pulling back the grass while Nancy held tightly onto her legs from the ground, cry-
film-advance lever as quickly as Bobby reloaded his shotgun. ing into her corduroy pants. When Linda continued to step slowly
“We have to get out of here,” Athena said to Nancy. “This toward them, Athena felt her heart race against her chest. While
isn’t safe!” keeping eye contact with Linda, Athena bent down to pull Nancy
to her feet.
“We can’t leave Michael, Athena!”
“Nancy, we need to go. Now. All we have left is luck.”
“Go on! I got this, pal!” Bobby yelled over his shoulder before
quickly tossing his car keys to Athena. “I’ll catch up with you!” A man with a top hat and a torn, dirty three-piece suit ap-
peared from behind Linda. “Yes. Run. Sackwild loves a good chase.”
Athena caught the keys expertly and pulled Nancy behind her.
The two ducked under Michael, dodging the shots darting into the Both girls bolted as fast as their feet could carry them through
open air. The way out wasn’t too far off, but they ran as quickly the field back toward Galena, never looking back. The horrific mer-
as possible, chasing the headlights from the Commonwealth vans. riment of the Sackwild Family echoed behind them until they reached
When they rushed under the wooden arch, they kept running until Bobby’s car and jumped inside. Without hesitation, they sped off
Galena was the only sight in the night sky. They both leaned over, into the night and left Galena behind them with no destination.
breathing heavily. The sound of Bobby’s shotgun suddenly stopped
in the distance.
Athena, breathless, turned to see Linda, who offered a men-
acing smile of jagged teeth before snapping her fingers out of the
van window. In response, the branches near the front of the forest Decades later, in a small town in Nebraska, Athena happily
entrance warped and twisted to trap Bobby, Michael, and anyone walked down the hallway to answer the soft knocking on the front
who entered the forest that evening. Athena and Nancy didn’t allow door. The pair never forgot the night in Galena. They chose Ne-
any time to recover and sprinted back towards the entrance. But braska with the desire to be as far as they could from Illinois. After
seconds before they reached the arch, the forest wholly closed, their secret wedding with a few close friends and family, Athena and
trapping their friends inside. Nancy’s life truly began. They spent their time busying themselves as
much as possible and holding one another when the nightmares of
“No!” Athena screamed, beating her fists against the sealed
Galena rushed through them in their dreams. For all the trauma they
entrance. “Bobby! Michael!”
had experienced, they made a life for themselves in the best way
Nancy fell to her knees, mourning into her hands in defeat. they knew how.
Linda laughed, her eyes glowing a bright and unusual shade of When she opened the door to greet their guest, her face went
yellow. “They belong to Sackwild now. They’ve entertained our little completely white. Her heartbeat quickened against her chest while
circus plenty this year.” Nancy sang to herself in the kitchen. When Athena said nothing,
Linda crossed into the headlights, revealing her true form. An she stopped to turn and see her wife standing speechless in front
old shawl wrapped around her frail body, and her face was as old of the door. Nancy wasted no time and ran down the hallway,
as time itself. Her eyes gleamed in the light as she shuffled toward stopping short when she saw who stood on the other side of the
Athena and Nancy. A cackle exploded from Linda’s lips as knives screen door. Nancy’s breath caught in her throat, and she rushed
appeared slowly between her fingertips. Minute by minute, the town to her wife’s side.
behind them grew darker, and the night enveloped them. Nancy grabbed Athena’s hand tightly.
 The monsters of this world are many, and terrible. They range from the undead to the bestial, the eldritch to
the diabolical. Monsters of all stripes await you: in the cellar, in the woods, stalking you in the alley leading to your
home. But which horror are you destined to face?
Fear the monsters, reader. Fear them all. While the contents of this book may enlighten you as to a monster’s
name or behavior, nothing will save you from its clutches, its evil gaze,
its biting fangs.
Flee now, and never look back!
Monsters from the Crypt! is a sourcebook
for Directors wanting a slew of new
antagonists for their stories of They
Came from Beyond the Grave!,
and providing a system and
guidelines for creating your own
monstrous foes!
They Came from Beyond the
Grave! uses the Storypath System,
which you can find in the pages of the
They Came from Beyond the Grave!
rulebook.

MONSTERS
FROM THE CRYPT!
INCLUDES:
• Chilling fiction to help set the tone for your
stories!

• Over 20 new monsters for your games of They

Came from Beyond the Grave!, including the
Bigfoot, Dead Grasping Hands, Ghoulish Cannibals,
and PAZUZU!

• A handy chapter all about how to create your own monsters!

THEY009