Sunday, October 21, 2018

Masked Strangers


Camilla: You, sir, should unmask.
Stranger: Indeed?
Cassilda: Indeed it's time. We have all laid aside disguise but you.
Stranger: I wear no mask.
Camilla: (Terrified, aside to Cassilda.) No mask? No mask!

- The King in Yellow, Act 1, Scene 2

(Image taken from Roger Corman's adaptation of Masque of the Red Death)

Masked Strangers are demons of entropy and chaos, most commonly found at masquerade balls, harvest festivals, theaters, and other places where people wear masks.

They resemble tall, thin humans wearing tattered robes and masks. The color of the robes and masks vary from Stranger to Stranger, though the masks are universally awful to look upon. It is rumored that if one ignores a Masked Stranger, and doesn't acknowledge their hideous features, they will leave you alone. It is not known if this is true.

Masked Stranger
HD 10
AC Unarmored (can only be hit by silver or magic weapons)
ATK 4 Telekinetic Slashes
DMG 1d6+1
HDE 20

Remove Mask
Once every 1d6 rounds, a Masked Stranger may briefly remove its mask to reveal something horrible beyond human comprehension. Anyone who is in a position to see its face must make a saving throw or attempt to claw out their own eyes. If they fail, they take 1d6 damage and are now blind, taking a -4 penalty to hit on all attack rolls (after 1 week, this penalty is reduced to -3 as they acclimate to blindness, after 2 weeks the penalty is reduced to -2).

Different Masks Have Different Powers

Depending on the color of a Stranger's mask/robes, they will have different abilities. GMs are encouraged to come up with their own abilities for each color, but some examples are below:

Red
This Stranger's mask looks like a man bleeding from his pores, his face contorted into an expression of pure agony. Anyone struck by the Stranger's Telekinetic Slash must make a saving throw or begin to bleed from their skin, taking 1d3 damage each round for 1d6 rounds. (This effect does not stack damage, being hit again and failing a saving throw merely increases the length of time one bleeds).

Yellow
This Stranger's mask is impossible to describe accurately, but it seems at once intricate and faceless. Anyone in the presence of the Masked Stranger must make a saving throw each round or lose 1d3 points of CHA. Once a character reaches 0 CHA, they are now controlled by the Stranger.

Blue
This mask looks like a face covered in frost, with a horrific grimace and glazed over eyes. Anyone struck by the Masked Stranger's Telekinetic Slash must make a saving throw or be paralyzed from gnawing cold for 1 round.

(Image taken from Sandy Petersen's Guide to the Cthulhu Mythos for Pathfinder)

1 comment:

  1. A thought for the Red mask, perhaps have the bleed effect increase in damage rather than having multiple d3s with multiple durations?

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