One of the things I wanted to do with the Monstrous Archetypes was make it easier for the GM to go about creating his own monster, to take an idea and follow some easy steps to make it a potent foe in the game. But one of the things I wanted to keep from Dead of Night first edition was the ability for the GM to just go ahead and grab stuff ready-made out of the book, to really cut down on the prep time if that’s what the GM wanted. To that end, the book is packed with ready-made stuff, from pre-set Tension circumstances to complete scenarios and, of course, ready-to-eat-you monsters.
Each of the ten Monstrous Archetypes I talked about last week also comes with a sample monster, so you have ten fully statted monsters ready to go; everything from a vampire and werewolf, to a coven of witches and a haunted house (yes, as a monster, not a location). That’s not including the monsters included in the scenarios, which should be enough variety to keep even the most regular of Dead of Night GMs busy for months.
Here’s a look at the sample monster for the Corruptor archetype (which I previewed last week): the Witch Coven. If you look down the bottom you’ll also see a couple of new Monstrous Specialisations too.
Witch Coven
Whether stirring the fates of kings upon a wind-swept moor or twisting their husbands to do their bidding over a coffee in 1950s suburbia, the coven of witches is a deadly foe. Always to be found in threes, a witch coven is most powerful when it works together to corrupt a single victim, pulling him this way and that with their magic until he is utterly theirs. And it almost always is a he… men, so easy to tempt.
Identify 4/Obscure 4/No One Will Suspect a Thing 7
Persuade 5/Dissuade 3/Corruption 9
Pursue 5/Escape 5
Assault 3/Protect 5/Curse 7
Survival Points: 6 (two for each witch)
No One Will Suspect a Thing: The disguise adopted by the coven is subtle, planting themselves in the heart of the community. And no one could possibly suspect three gossiping young women, could they?
Corruption: Using a combination of magic, seduction and womanly wiles, the witches slowly corrupt a man’s soul, twisting him round their little fingers. The witch coven may use its Persuade attribute as a Risk Check. If successful, the victim swaps one of its Survival Points for a corruption point (use a different coloured token), which may be spent by the witches in place of their own survival points. If the victim only has corruption points left, it becomes a willing servant of the coven.
Curse: With blood magic and evil charms, the coven can afflict a victim with the evil eye. With a successful Curse Check against the victim’s Protect, this specialisation may be triggered. The coven can modify the victim’s next Conflict Check up or down by 5.
Steampower Publishing 