How would you Update the Adventure ideas from BtS1?

[gaby]

I like to known how would you update the Adventure ideas from BtS1 and Boxed Nightmares?

[Lord Z]

The adventures in Boxed Nightmares are pretty much playable in 2nd edition as they are now. I'm in the process of updating the major three monsters introduced in that sourcebook. We pretty much just need to identify their threat level, come up with a weakness for two of the three, and write a discorporation description for each. I got my hands on a copy of the 1st edition rulebook recently. I've only started reading the canned adventures in BtS-1, so I shouldn't comment on those.

[mrloucifer]

I did an update of the Tasmanian Devil and I posted it on the board here somewhere... let me find it and I'll post it here.

[mrloucifer]

AHA!!! Found it! Enjoy gang


The Tasmanian Devil (V 2.2)
Updated by Steven Dawes, based on the Kevin Siembieda’s original design from the “Boxed Nightmares” sourcebook
The supernatural Tasmanian Devil is a superhuman predator that dates back to prehistoric times. According to the Lazlo Agency files, their first documented sighting of the Tasmanian Devil was in 1990, found in the contents of a letter sent by a Professor Everett Charles Gaines to his friend and colleague Dr. Carl Mavak, a Zoologist and assistant zoo director. This letter had accompanied a crate that was sent to Dr. Mavak which gave a detailed account of a mated pair of strange predatory primates Professor Gained discovered and captured in the wilds of Tasmania, Australia and then shipped to him.

Tragically the little devils escaped the crate and savagely killed Dr. Mavak before escaping the zoo, fleeing into the city. What happened to the mated pair is uncertain. There is a reported rumor that the creatures were both creatures were found and destroyed, but there are other rumors that say the male was found and destroyed but the female had fled and was never sighted again. The female was believed to have been pregnant and it’s theorized that she gave birth and raised her young on her own.

If this rumor is true, it explains the continual string of reported sightings and confrontations with the Tasmanian Devils since the early 1990’s. Those who believe in the rumor of the pregnant female sees Professor Gaines as delivering his own personal Pandora’s Box to the United States and unleashed what have been labeled “The sewer rats of the supernatural”. It’s doubtful that the truth of these rumors will ever be fully discovered.
What is a known however is that the Tasmanian Devil has become a competitor for the most commonly sighted supernatural creature in the United States, and is picking up speed in both Canada and Mexico. The creature is unique looking and hard to mistake by the various eyewitness reports, making the extreme number of reported sightings reasonably accurate. In Professor Gaines letter he gives a very detailed description of the beasts and they are copied as follows;

“I can not put into words my feelings of elation over the capture of this animal. I have never seen anything like it. To call it an ape is most definitely inappropriate as the animal cannot be classed as any known species of ape. Certainly it has many of the characteristics of the primates, but it is no ape or monkey. The feet are neither human nor ape-like, though more human than ape. The creature can stand erect (about four and a half feet tall) and can walk erect on legs and feet developed for roaming the ground. Still, the animal runs in a loping movement, using all fours. The powerful hands greatly resemble a human’s, with fully developed HUMAN features. The body is mostly hairless except along the back and pelvic regions. The body is thickly muscled and the animal is easily twice as strong as a man. It has a long hairless tail that resembles the devil’s right out of catechism. The head is that of a goblin’s, with a pair of huge, pointed ears, large, flattened nose (somewhat ape-like), tiny, round eyes spaced widely apart and pronounced eyebrow ridges. It has virtually no forehead which curves into a long, sloping cranium. Its mouth is large and filled with teeth that are neither ape nor quite canine.”

The Tasmanian Devil
Also known as the Hounds of Hell
Alignment: Always Miscreant Evil
Attributes: I.Q. 1D6 (high animal intelligence), M.E. 2D6, M.A. 1D6, P.S. 2D6+20, P.P. 4D6, P.E. 4D6, P.B.1D6, Spd. 4D6
Armor Rating (A.R.): 7; any attack less than 8 does no damage even if it hits.
Hit Points: 1D4 x 10
S.D.C.: 2D4 x10
Discorporation: When slain, the Tasmanian Devil’s body immediately begins to liquefy into a primordial soup of base elements. If examined this soup contains various elements of biological life such as hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, carbon and so on. Besides the bizarre nature of the soup itself, there will be nothing unusual about its contents.
Threat Level: x4; Supernatural Predator, a Lesser Demon
Horror Factor: 9
Size: 4 to 5 feet tall plus tail
Weight: 90+ lbs
Average Life Span: Unknown, probably immortal.
P.P.E.: 3D6.
Natural Abilities: Nocturnal predators (who usually hunt together in mated pairs), track by smell 65%, good nightvision (600 feet), sees the invisible, can leap twenty feet across and ten feet straight up and bio-regenerates 1D6 S.D.C. or Hit Points per hour.
Produce Offspring: In an unusual trait for supernatural creatures, a mated pair of Tasmanian Devils will bear offspring every 12 months. Once impregnated, the female will give birth to 1D4 young in five or six weeks. She will stay at the lair with them for the following eight weeks, until the young are ready to join the parents on hunting expeditions. Until then, the male will hunt small prey and bring it to the lair. The young reach full maturity within one year, but must fend for themselves after eight months. Until then, reduce normal stats/attributes, hit points and abilities in half.
Vulnerabilities: 1. Man-made weapons that penetrate its A.R. inflict full damage, as do fire, magic, psionics and physical blows.
2. They are very territorial. Once they have selected a lair, they will stay there until driven out by hunters or other threatening conditions. They will prey on animals and humans with in a 20 mile radius of the lair, seldom venturing beyond.
3. When the female of a mated pair is pregnant, she will stay in the lair while the male does all of the hunting. While this can create an opportunity of singling them out for easier exterminating, the male will ALWAYS be near and will be very protective of his mate. The male will always fight to the death if his mate is captured or killed. If the male is killed, the female will flee the lair and search for a new one elsewhere to birth and raise her young alone.
R.C.C. Skills or Equivalents (do not improve with experience): Climbing and Rappel 70%, Prowl 66% and Land Navigation 80%.
Equivalent Level of Experience: Not really applicable.
Attacks per Melee: Four physical or psionic attacks per melee.
Damage: Claws inflict 1D6 damage plus P.S. bonus while their bite does 2D6 (no P.S. bonus). Never uses weapons or tools.
R.C.C. Bonuses (in addition to attribute bonuses): + 1 Strike, Parry and Dodge, +3 Perception rolls, +4 save vs Psionics, +2 save vs Magic and +10 save vs. Horror Factor.
Magic: None.
Psionics: Needs a 12 or higher to save vs. psionic attacks. I.S.P.: 2D6 x 10
Limited Psi-Powers: Healing Touch (6), Increased Healing (10), Impervious to Fire (4), Impervious to Cold (2), Empathy (4), Sixth Sense (2) and Summon inner Strength (4)
Enemies: Humans; considers them to be both their prey and their predator. They recognize weapons and understand what they do.
Allies: Tasmanian Devils are known to sometimes become pawns of other supernatural forces, cults and practitioners of magic.
Habitat: As they are fiercely territorial they tend to spread out over far distances and have found the modern day city habitat to be an excellent environment to survive and breed in. The city offers them plenty of hiding and hunting grounds like high up on rooftops, below in sewers and basements, in abandoned buildings, along dark streets and alleyways and among the more familiar trees and underbrush of parks and neighborhoods.

[Lord Z]

I like it, ML. It's very thorough. I didn't think of including the mating practices under natural abilities and vulnerabilities. It does, however, fit perfectly without altering the original too much. That discorporation effect is just nasty. Can we use this in the updated After Midnight project?

[Lord Z]

As luck would have it, I was working on an update for the Lizard-Beasts just last week. It's still not completely finished as I need to find the original Spanish name for "Devouring Horned Lizard-Beast." My Puerto Rican sister-in-law wouldn't even try to translate that. Anyway, the Lizard-Beast appears in my After Midnight article, "Monster Fight!! Swamp Ape vs Alligator Man."

New Optional Rule: Aura of Obfuscation: A supernatural monster's body is covered by a peculiar energy field which disrupts light around it in a way that it is never photographed clearly. This energy field is one of the defining characteristics of supernatural creatures. It's active all the time and costs no extra energy to maintain, because it is not new energy but a re-tuning of the creature's aura to produce a specific effect. Photographs and videos of the creature come out looking unclear and fake regardless of the skill of the photographer. This happens even if the creature is visible to human eye. Electronic equipment used to see the creature such as nightvision goggles, infrared cameras, etc. are chronically ineffective (+30% bonus to the creature's prowling skill if being watched by electronic devices). Even eye witnesses find the creature hard to describe as their memories have been partially clouded. Powers like Total Recall and Mind Block will nullify this memory-hazing effect. This energy field does not effect the chance that a witness will notice the creature by natural sight or sound, so the creature must rely upon other types of stealth to remain unseen. This ability is based upon the Cloaking Superpower in Heroes Unlimited®, 2nd Edition, except the creature isn't completely invisible to cameras. This power is always on.

Lizard-Beasts
This monster is not a man nor a mutant alligator as Raven Davenport reported. It's from a species of supernatural predators that feed on flesh and blood. In Brazilian legend, Devouring Horned Lizard-Beasts are known as hunters of humans and animals. These cold-blooded creatures are known to feed on cattle most frequently but human prey is also appreciated.
In ancient times, the lizard-beasts were sent down upon villages as terrible retribution for some offense. They would slaughter cattle, destroy crops and murder villagers in the fields and forests. Some would even grow so bold that they would roam the villages, hiding in shadows.
A Devouring Horned Lizard-Beast first appeared in the sourcebook, Boxed NightmaresTM. This information is intended to an update of the monster from first to second edition. Lizards-Beasts and much of the text are the creations of Kevin Siembieda.
Devouring Horned Lizard-Beast – Supernatural Predator
Also known as the Spanish Name or “Alligator Man” according to After MidnightTM.
Alignment: Diabolic.
Attributes: I.Q. 2D6, M.A. 1D6, M.E. 4D6, P.S. 2D6+18, P.P. 3D6, P.E. 1D6+14, P.B. 1D6, Spd. 5D6.
Armor Rating (A.R.): 10, so that any attack less than 11 does no damage.
Hit Points: 2D4x10, Personal S.D.C.: 2D4x10.
Discorporation: When killed, the body will fall apart and turn into 2D4x100 small and wet creatures: reptiles, snakes, and amphibians which will scatter and vanish. None of the small creatures will attack unless cornered, but a few poisonous snakes and frogs and usually in the swarm.
Threat Level: x4; Predator and a Lesser Demon, Horror Factor: 12.
Size: 8 to 10 ft. tall (2.4 to 3m), not including its tail, Weight: 600 pounds (272 kg) or more.
Average Life Span: Uncertain but probably not immortal. Some of these monsters are clearly older than others.
P.P.E.: 2D4x10.
Natural Abilities: Bio-regenerates 1D6 hit points or S.D.C. every melee round, nightvision for 600 feet (183m), normal vision during the day, can regenerate a lost limb or tail like a lizard does within one week, can teleport once every 96 hours (4 days) up to 10 miles (16 km) away, keen sense of smell, can leap 20 feet (6m) across or straight up, understands all spoken languages magically and can speak them with a low growling voice, can not read, impervious to poisons and disease, resistant to heat and drugs (half damage from both), can hold its breath underwater for 1D6 hours, thick scaly hide which grants a natural armor rating, supernatural strength and endurance.
Aura of Obfuscation: Is not easily photographed or video-taped. See the new optional rule later in this document for full details.
Shadow Meld at Will: a type of stealth which works like the spell of the same name, becomes basically invisible when inside shadows, raises the Prowl skill to 60%, requires 10 P.P.E. for ten minutes.
Vulnerabilities: This monster is susceptible to cold. Cool temperatures (below freezing) will make it feel slow and sluggish (strength becomes normal instead of supernatural, -2 to all other attributes, loses one attack per melee, does not lose any hit points from just the cold). It can not cast magic spells. The beast is vulnerable to normal weapons, fire, psychic attacks, and magic so long as the attack overcomes its natural armor rating. In daylight, the beast has trouble finding enough shadows to keep itself hidden. Interestingly, the partial invulnerability to drugs does not include alcohol. Despite its bulk, it can become stinking drunk on as little as one glass of wine or beer. Refer to the Totally Wasted rules on Page 158 of Beyond the Supernatural®, 2nd edition.
Skill Equivalents: Track by smell 60%, Climb 70%, Land Navigation at 80%, Mathematics: Basic at 20%, Prowl 40% and Swim 98%.
Attacks per Melee Round: Four.
Damage: Clawing attacks inflict 5D6 damage, bites inflict 3D6 damage, goring attacks with horns inflict 4D6 damage, never uses weapons other than an occasional club or thrown object (throwing a human body does 3D6 damage to both the target and the projectile).
Bonuses (in addition to attribute bonuses): +2 to strike, +4 to parry and dodge, +2 to save vs psionics and other forms of mind control, +3 to save vs magic, +8 to save vs Horror Factor, +4 to Perception Rolls, impervious to possession.
Psionics: 0 I.S.P, but the monsters may use certain powers at no I.S.P. cost. See the Invisible, Stop Bleeding (Self, ), Resist Pain, and some Hydrokinesis (Sense Chemical Impurities, Sense Water, Underwater Invisibility, and Water Stealth). Each power does require a melee attack to activate.
Enemies: Lizard-Beasts are hunters who love to drink blood and eat internal organs of humans and animals. They hate sharing territory with other supernatural predators like Boogey Men, Hell Hounds or even other Lizard-Beasts.
Allies: These Lizard-Beasts are not random visitors; they are always summoned to earth by evil mages. They will willingly serve the mages as long as they are allowed to engage in wanton destruction and murder. The Lizard-Beasts are just intelligent enough to follow simple instructions, but they are not smart enough to scheme against their masters.
Habitat: Can be summoned into any environment, but they much prefer warm, humid, rural areas. They can best use their shadow meld and nightvision powers at night, so they rarely attack during the day.

I also have an example of a typical Lizard-Beast rolled up. I hate not being a grab a monster from a sourcebook and use it immediately, so I always create an example monster of each species. Now we just have update the Doppleganger Entity (a personal favorite of mine), and all three of the new monsters from Boxed Nightmare will be ready to wreak havok on 2nd edition.

[mrloucifer]

I like it, ML. It's very thorough. I didn't think of including the mating practices under natural abilities and vulnerabilities. It does, however, fit perfectly without altering the original too much. That discorporation effect is just nasty. Can we use this in the updated After Midnight project?

The thouroughness of the TD was due to this being a labor of love for me. Years ago when I first tried to run a horror game at the naive age of 15 I had failed miserably before I gave in. The ONE adventure that did go right was the Tazmanian Devil and has held a special place in my black heart ever since.

In my game back then ,the male was destroyed, but the female had escaped so its become part of the my BTS canon that the the female gave birth and the beasts have since been spreading over the US, Mexico and Canada like butter on bread.

And yes, by all means feel free to use this for the After Midnight project, glad I'll be able to contribute.

I'm also glad you like the discorporation... I try to make each discorp I write as unique as possible... and since these creatures produce offspring it didnt make sense to me to have them fall aprt into lesser animals/bugs/etc.

[Lord Z]

Mister Louie, it's funny that you should mention Mexico. When you think about it, Kevin Long's drawings of the Tazmanian Devils bear a strong resemblance to the the Mexican version of the chupacabra myth. Furthermore, the timing of the imported monsters fits fairly well with the first reported cases of Chupacabra sightings in Mexico. Previous to the very early 1990s, Chupacabras were only seen in Puerto Rico, and they looked considerably different than the Mexican version.

[mrloucifer]

You know, one of the things I've seen about BTS-2 that has really got my attention is the formal inclusion of Discorporation in the monster descriptions. We did something similar when we played to help explain why monsters weren't public knowledge.
-paws

BTS 1 "touched" on this a bit as a few of the baddies discorporated, but it didnt give all of the discorp notes much less the genius idea of threat levels we get in BTS2.

[mrloucifer]

Mister Louie, it's funny that you should mention Mexico. When you think about it, Kevin Long's drawings of the Tazmanian Devils bear a strong resemblance to the the Mexican version of the chupacabra myth. Furthermore, the timing of the imported monsters fits fairly well with the first reported cases of Chupacabra sightings in Mexico. Previous to the very early 1990s, Chupacabras were only seen in Puerto Rico, and they looked considerably different than the Mexican version.

Ya know what, Mr. L, to the O, to the R,D,Z? That is funny... because I didnt make that connection till you pointed it out!

I used 1990 as the year since its the year Boxed Night mares came out (according to my first edition copy anyway), I didnt GM the adventure till 1991.

Thats a keen eye ya got there Z... hell, that's two keen eyes ya got for this realization!

[mrloucifer]

I expect that there will something similar with the magic system. I was hoping to ask Kevin about his thoughts on BTS magic at the open house.

[gaby]

I like to known more on the Doubleganger entity?

It copy only Crimes?

[Lord Z]

The Doppleganger Entity is a particularly powerful energy being who can copy anyone. We've only seen it copy a human, so there might be a limitation of not copying non-human life forms. Anyway, the D-Entity likes recreating crimes. It seeks out the most evil person it can find and copying them. It's powers of duplication, however, are really impressive. It doesn't just copy the person exactly but also recreates the person's environment. When the D-Entity duplicated Jack the Ripper in Boxed Nightmares 1, it made went so far as to generate a pocket dimension copy of Whitechapel in Jack's time. BN-1 is available for sale as .pdf now, so check it out sometime. My favorite BN-1 adventure was "The Hitchhiker of Death," but the return of Jack the Ripper was fun also.

[gaby]

where are updates of the Adventures of BtSed1?

No one have any ideas?