New Serial Killer Variants

by Jeremy Puckett
Based on the NPC/Villain class by Samhain

Finally, Serial Killers are monstrous beings that live only to kill, and as such they are not available as player characters. No exceptions--NPCs only!

Copyright Info: Screw the copyright info--you can read it in Palladium's Internet Policy, so there is absolutely no reason for me to repeat it here.

The Artist

Artistic Serial Killers heighten their abilities through various means. Some create legitimate artwork in addition to their terrible paeans to madness (but these latter are always considered their "real" work). A few prefer to write journals to keep track of their floating, discordant thoughts, often filling dozens of volumes with their rambling dissertations about life, death, and everything. Most work out in one way or another to keep their physiques trim and strong (to deal with those people that don't want to be a masterpiece).

Artists spend years honing their skills before they are ready to move on to their true calling. When they finally do so, they move quickly and with no regrets; to hesitate is to be lost in the onrushing waves of time. Their "masterpieces" can take many shapes, from a string of related murders to a string of abductions in which all of the victims are tortured and eventually killed. (Two perfect examples of the former type of artistic killer include John Doe from the movie "Seven" and Virigo from Dean Koontz's "Hideaway." A fair example of the latter would be Casanova from "Kiss the Girls.")

More than anything else, artistic killers want to be appreciated, to have their work recognized as brilliant and themselves as geniuses. As such, they must have an audience for their work to be effective; after all, what good is art that no one ever sees? To be truly appreciated, the killer must have an opponent, someone as brilliant as himself who can understand what has been done. Because of this longing for an audience, artistic killers never make any attempt to cover up their crimes--in fact, the more blatant, the better--and prefer to have a competent adversary, a person who could represent a serious threat to them.

Strangely enough, Artists are the least overtly violent Serial Killers. They tend to be quiet individuals that never disturb their neighbors and lead relatively normal daily lives. It is only when they are working on a "project" that they become terrifyingly dangerous menaces, monsters capable of killing without a second thought. Ironically, this is also what protects their hunters from their wrath; while on a "project" they hesitate to interrupt the pattern for anything, even to kill their pursuers. An Artist would rather run from police than kill them (although they have absolutely no compunction against doing harm to them to end the chase).

Artistic Serial Killers have an eerie sense of beauty--and they are all the more frightening for their aesthetic abilities.


Alignment: Evil only.
Attribute Requirements: IQ 14; MA 12; PE 12


OCC Abilities:

1. Death Art: It is through the medium of death and decay that artistic Serial Killers express themselves. This "death art" is disturbing to anyone that recognizes it for what it is, and all the more terrible for having a meaning. Each string of deaths must be part of a specific, predetermined pattern that builds into a whole, meaningful picture. All of the victims must have something in common which is part of that meaning. (See the examples listed above to get a good idea of what this means.)

   This "art" can only be fully understood by people with an artistic background, knowledge of criminal sciences, or those with an IQ of 13+. To anyone else, it just seems to be a terrible crime (to which they will react accordingly) but no deeper meaning is gleaned. To those that can understand it, it is infinitely worse: horror factor 18 for the crime itself, horror factor 14 if confronted with the killer, consumed by self-doubt and fear (this last has no real game effects, but can be a valuable source of role-playing).

   Base Skill: 50% +5% per level. If the roll is failed, then the meaning has been lost, and the entire string of killings must be started over.
   
   

2. Advantages: Nightvision to 25 feet (from spending lots of time in the dark--double this if the sunlight vulnerability is taken); heals at three times the normal rate; can ignore any amount of pain; half effect from poisons, toxins, gases, and disease.
   
   
3. Penalties: Each string of killings must have a specific victim commonalty. (ie: all are members of one ethnic group, prostitutes, blondes, people that break the ten commandments, etc.)

   During a group of killings, the Artist refrains from killing anyone not part of the masterpiece. This includes police, detectives, innocent bystanders, and even people that match the victim commonalty but are not part of the work. In game terms, an artistic killer will hesitate before and during combat, preferring instead to run away if possible (halve all combat bonuses and attacks per melee, only actions possible are running away, defensive maneuvers, and retaliatory strikes, but add 5 to Spd). The killer will only kill outside of his established pattern if forced into a corner and the work has not been finished; he will later rationalize this act as "necessary for the cause."

   The killer must pick one of the following vulnerabilities: Silver, iron, sunlight, or fire. Weapons made of the former materials will inflict their damage direct to hit points and burn the killer's flesh. Sunlight will repulse and blind the killer, as well as inflicting 1d4 SDC/HP per melee. Fire does double damage and causes the killer to enter a panicked frenzy. These vulnerabilities are almost entirely psychosomatic, resulting partly from the killer's belief that these materials will harm him and partly from his minor supernatural nature (remember--in magic, belief is reality). Vulnerability to sunlight comes from the previously mentioned reasons, plus the fact that a lot of time has been spent underground, in darkrooms, etc. (Again, see Virigo from "Hideaway.")

   Finally, to psionic or magical abilities that detect magic, evil, or supernatural beings (such as see aura, presence sense, etc.) Artists detect as evil supernatural beings of lesser power.
   
   

4. Psionics: Perhaps due to their extreme sensitivity, the artistic Serial Killer has developed minor psionic powers. The following powers are possessed and no more are ever gained: Empathy; sixth sense; one sensitive power of choice (excluding clairvoyance, object read, and astral projection).
   
   
5. Bonuses: +1 MA; +2 PS; +2 PE; +4 Spd; +2 to parry/dodge; +1 vs. magic; +3 vs. psionics; +6 vs. horror factor; impervious to mind control and possession.

The Dream Slayer

But it can become downright deadly.

A few humans (and fewer still supernatural beings) have the innate capability to enter and manipulate the Dreamstream. Most of these, upon discovering their powers, enter the 'Stream body and soul to explore its glittering facets, like a child with a gem-studded Rubik's Cube. They pity the poor souls that can only enter the Dreamstream in their natural sleep, for they will never know the pleasures, delights, and terrors of the world's dreams. However, they have even more sorrow for those of their own kind called "savants," individuals who have the power but do not realize they have it.

These talented and cursed people unknowingly enter the Dreamstream each night like their normal neighbors, but unlike those unwitting visitors, the savants can control and alter the Dreamstream as easily as the greatest Dream Maker. While in the 'Stream, they know all about their powers and abilities, and can make plans and do-good along with the best of them. When they awaken, they are normal once more but for a nagging suspicion of having forgotten something important. This dichotomy of nature causes mental schisms akin to the disorders schizophrenia and multiple personality syndrome.

When savants "die" they do not go the way of other flesh, moving on to whatever reward, punishment, or nothingness waits beyond the pall of death, but instead travel one last time into the Dreamstream. In this form, a type of Dream Construct formed from their own minds, they can survive literally forever--at a terrible price. The maintenance of a dream body with no anchor to the material world is costly beyond belief, requiring a permanent sacrifice of ISP every day! This leads to the development of an ability to convert their own PPE to ISP, but this is little help without a supplementary source of either.

Good-aligned savants quickly perish under the constant "burning" of their life essence, and this final dissolution is final indeed. Evil savants, on the other hand, have absolutely no moral qualms against murdering normals for their psychic essence, and so become Dream Slayers. The problem with this is that most human beings have very little energy, and while supernatural beings possess energy by the ton, they usually have some form of defense from creatures like Dream Slayers.

The solution? Children.

Children have oodles of psychic energy, but rarely have any form of defense from the creatures of the night. In fact, their belief (subconscious or blatant) works against them, making them more susceptible to supernatural influence and the murderous nature of the Dream Slayers. While most Dream Slayers prefer to slaughter young children (3-10 years old), others attack older children and young teens (11-18 years old). While the latter have less PPE, they also have more problems with authority and difficulty in turning to anyone for help. The most vicious and evil Dream Slayers will often go after the children of their enemies from their former life as a form of revenge--killing two birds with one stone, as it were.

Dream Slayers, because of their inhuman and deadly nature, always manifest in the Dreamstream as horrors beyond the belief of most mortals. Their standard appearance usually coincides with the way the died (ie: burned to death, will be a mass of bubbling, boiled flesh; suicide by slit throat/wrists, will have bloodstained clothing and gaping wounds; autoerotic asphyxiation... you get the idea). A good way to determine the Dream Slayer's appearance is with a roll on the Nightbane Stigmata table. These monsters also wear a favorite suit of clothes and create a dream-version of their favorite weapon (like that guy with the fedora hat and knives for fingers).


Alignment: Evil only, and almost always Diabolic. Aberrant Dream Slayers will only kill evil beings for their energy despite their decreased power levels and increased risk.
Attribute Requirements: ME 16; PE 16; must have been a Dream Maker, Dream Dancer, or latent psychic with dream powers in "life."

Hit Points/SDC: The Dream Slayer is a creature of pure psychic energy, possessing no hit points whatsoever. In the Dreamstream, the vile being has 2d4x10 SDC; if all SDC is depleted, the monster is destroyed (at least until the sequel).

PPE: The Dream Slayer's permanent PPE base is 1d4+1; this (and absorbed PPE, see below) may be converted into ISP at the rate of 3 PPE to 1 ISP. At least one point of PPE must remain in the permanent base.


OCC Powers and Abilities:

1. Dream Travel: The Dream Slayer is unique among human-born psychics in that while not truly a creature of the Dreamstream, he is more a part of it than any other psychic traveler. Dream Slayers are trapped inside the Dreamstream and may not leave it except under very unusual circumstances.

   To survive in the Dreamstream as pure consciousness without a physical body to anchor it requires an enormous power investment: the creature's permanent ISP base is reduced by 5 ISP every 24 hours! If the ISP base (not current ISP) ever reaches zero, then the Dream Slayer has lost its ability to remain cohesive and is relegated to a harmless position as "Dramatis Personae" forever, losing all sentience and intellect, becoming just another figment of people's imaginations.

   In order to enter the "real" world, the Dream Slayer must subtract 20 ISP from his permanent ISP base, and even then, the character may only spend one minute per level as a physical being. When a physical being, the Dream Slayer has his usual SDC and may have his physical body destroyed by usual means. The complete destruction of the physical body throws the character back into the Dreamstream and cuts the permanent ISP base in half (minimum loss of 10 ISP)! The high cost of entering the real world and the higher cost of failure are both good incentives for never leaving the 'Stream in the first place.
   
   

2. Dream Manipulation: This power enables the Dream Slayer to reshape the landscape of a dream, or of an immediate area of the Dreamstream. While in a Dream Pool, the character can alter the course of a dream in any way he wants, as long as he can overcome the dreamer's will. This is done as per the Dream Combat rules, as described in Between the Shadows; both the Dream Slayer and the intended victim roll 1d20, plus any applicable bonuses (most normal people only get their ME bonuses, if any). If the psychic wins, he can make the dream look like anything he can envision. A frightening landscape (most often created to make the victim panic and lose control of the dream) will have a horror factor of 8 plus the character's level, to a maximum horror factor of 18. The GM may arbitrate a bonus as high as +3 depending on the nature of the landscape and its threat.

   Cost: 5 ISP per minute (Note: The cost for Dream Slayers to manipulate dreams is much lower than other psychics because they are more a part of the Dreamstream.)
   
   

3. Dream Attacks: By manipulating the reality of dreams, the character can inflict damage on other dream travelers or dwellers; this damage can be lethal and is one of the many dangers of physically entering the Dreamstream. When attacking a dreamer, "damage" is mostly mental in nature. As a rule, "killing" a person in his dreams results in the imaginary death of his dream persona, causing him to wake up terrified (equal to a horror factor of 17) but otherwise unharmed; however, Dream Slayers almost always combine their dream attacks with the ability of Dreamkill in order to feed on their victims' psychic energy. The only time that they do not is when they wish to terrify their victims more than usual, either simply to make them afraid (fear tastes good to these psychic vampires) or to demoralize them and lessen their resistance (this is the typical tactic against latent psychics and those with a high ME). In the latter case, after every successful visit after the first (success being defined as beating the victim in dream combat), the victim's save against dream combat is reduced by a cumulative -1. If the Dream Slayer ever loses a dream combat with that victim, then the penalty becomes a bonus and costs to manipulate that particular subject's dreams are doubled!

   Normal dream combat requires a roll to strike using dream manipulation bonuses; this roll can be resisted or countered. If the psychic overwhelms the victim's resistance, then he can inflict 4d6 damage at level one, plus 1d6 damage per additional level of experience. This damage can manifest in any way the attacker desires, but Dream Slayers usually create surprisingly subtle dreams which turn the victims' own insecurities and weaknesses against them. (ex: a musician with a fear of failure would be attacked by a horde of angry fans after a bad performance; a shy child would be stabbed to death with scissors by his third grade class; a pre-schooler would find out that the monster under the bed is very much real; etc. The first few movies of the series this conversion is based on--and you know what they are, even if you claim not to have seen them--are wonderful examples of Dream Combat/Manipulation; the later ones are just stupid.)

   Cost: 5 ISP per attack
   
   

4. Dream Manipulation/Combat Bonuses: +4 at level one, with an additional +1 at levels 2, 5, 8, 12, and 15, in addition to ME bonuses. These bonuses are used both to attack creatures/people in the Dreamstream and to defend against such attacks.

   Also, Dream Slayers can heal themselves outside of combat while in the Dreamstream, gaining back 1d6 SDC for every 1 ISP permanently subtracted from their ISP base. This is the only way in which a Dream Slayer may heal!
   
   

5. Create Dream Object: The Dream Slayer may create objects from "thin air" at will. The only limitations are his imagination and ability to visualize the object. While weapons can be created, the amount of damage they do is limited by the character's level of experience (and most Dream Slayers disdain weapons anyway).

   Size: The object created can fill one cubic foot per level of the psychic.

   SDC: The maximum SDC of a dream object is three times the SDC of a real equivalent, or 20 SDC per level of experience, whichever is less.

   Damage: A weapon does the equivalent damage of a real weapon, or up to 2d6 per level of experience, whichever is greater. Range is as per a real weapon; missile weapons and guns have an unlimited supply of ammunition.

   Cost: 3 ISP per minute
   
   

6. Increase Attributes: The character can raise his physical attributes while in the Dreamstream. The actual increase is limited by the character's willpower (ME) and costs ISP to maintain. PS and PE can be raised by +1 per ME point; PP can be raised by +1 per four points of ME (rounded down); SDC can be increased by as much as MEx3. Spd is an irrelevant attribute in the Dreamstream (where distance is determined by emotional strength and speed is determined by force of personality). Also, while in the Dreamstream, the Dream Slayer's strength is always considered supernatural (no cost to maintain).

   Cost: 5 per attribute increased; each attribute must be paid for separately

   Duration: Two minutes per level of experience; this may be increased to two hours per level of experience by a permanent sacrifice of 10 ISP (this sacrifice takes the place of the usual cost above)
   
   

7. Sense PPE and ISP Levels: By looking at a person's Dream Pool, a Dream Slayer may automatically determine the precise amounts of PPE and ISP that character has. This is how the villainous monster picks his victims; it's certainly a much better system than guesswork. The Dream Slayer is also capable of telling if a given Dream Pool belongs to a human or supernatural being, if the character has psychic powers or magic abilities, and the general strength of the character's willpower (low, average, or strong).

   Finally, in addition to picking a given victim by their Dream Pool, Dream Slayers usually pick all of their future victims by proximity to the original victim's Dream Pool (meaning that the victim's family and friends are the next to fall). Dream Slayers tend not to travel very far when they don't have to; they will remain in one area of the Dreamstream until all potential victims are gone, then pick up stakes and move on. They also tend to glut themselves on psychic energy so that they won't have to hunt for a while. The only restriction on the amount of energy which they can absorb is their own ME; a Dream Slayer's permanent ISP base may not exceed ten times his Mental Endurance attribute.
   
   

8. Dreamkill: This is the most powerful and dangerous ability of the Dream Slayer, and the one that permits them to survive--the power to actually kill a human being while he sleeps. First, the psychic has to kill the victim's dream-self by destroying its SDC. Then, the psychic must immediately spend 45 ISP plus permanently sacrificing 2 ISP to attempt to kill the dreamer's physical body. The intended victim is allowed to save versus psionic attack with a -4 penalty. If the save fails, the victim is automatically reduced to negative 2d6+4 hit points. If this is greater than the victim's PE, he or she dies automatically; otherwise, the victim slips into a coma, with their chance to survive reduced by 10%!

   The most gruesome aspect of the Dream Slayer's dreamkill ability is that the victim's manner of death manifests in the physical world! That is to say, if the dreamer's dream-self was killed in a forest fire, then the dreamer dies from third-degree burns which mysteriously appear on his body. Gunshot wounds leave bloody, ragged holes with no bullets in them; decapitation leaves the character's real body in two pieces; etc. The more disgusting methods of death have a horror factor of 15.

   Normally, a person's PPE is doubled at the moment of death, but with the Dream Slayer's dreamkill ability, it is instead simply absorbed and added to the killer's permanent PPE base. From here, the PPE may be converted into ISP at the costly rate of three PPE to one ISP. As you can see, it is simply not cost-effective to drain victims with less than 12 PPE. On the other hand, while mages (with their gobs and gobs of PPE) are more satisfying, they are also infinitely more dangerous to the Dream Slayer's continued existence. Psychics, too, are a tempting target despite their danger, because the Dream Slayer may absorb up to half of their permanent ISP base and add it to their own at the moment of death.

   Cost: 45 ISP, plus a permanent sacrifice of 2 ISP
   
   

9. Dreaming Domain: Dream Slayers cannot create their own dream domain, instead having one ready-made for them when they enter the Dreamstream for the last time. This domain (which is basically just the character's Dream Pool with a thickened membrane; +15 to save vs. dream manipulation) resembles the place the character spent the most time in, or at least how he remembers it. There will be very few dream personas "living" in the domain; most of them died from the mental shock of the character's physical death. The few that are left are not under the control of the character, and many are there simply to torment him (these latter are the embodiments of the character's subconscious guilt).

   This domain is not nearly as chaotic as a normal human's, representing the stagnation the Dream Slayer has achieved in death. The domain is also movable, following the Dream Slayer as he stakes out his latest victims. In his private hell, during his spare time, the character will replay the moments of his life that were most important, whether good or bad (most often bad). This is probably one of the contributing factors to the character's increased rate of mental deterioration--the half-life of evil is pretty short.
   
   

10. Other Psionic Powers: In addition to his control of dreams, the Dream Slayer has a few other, lesser psionic abilities. Select three powers from the sensitive category at level one and select an additional power from that category at levels 4, 8, and 12. The only powers which the Dream Slayer may not select are clairvoyance, object read, and astral projection.
    
    
11. Permanent ISP Base: The character begins play with MEx5 ISP, plus 2d6 per level of experience, but loses 5 from that base every day. The character can also add to the ISP base as described under the Dreamkill ability, but this surplus cannot exceed the character's MEx10.
    
    
12. Insanity--The Cost of Living: Even more so than other Serial Killers, Dream Slayers are certifiably and dangerously insane. In other words, every one of the bastards is psycho to the Nth degree. At first level, the Dream Slayer will have the following insanities: Schizophrenia (without the passivity), one Phobia of the GM's choice, the Obsession: Survive at Any Cost, and Paranoia. At level two and every even-numbered level afterwards, the Dream Slayer gains a Phobia, Obsession, or Psychosis of the GM's choice (something appropriate, so don't just roll). Also, at level ten, the character gains the insanity of Multiple Personality (has 1d4 extra personalities). This can quickly be debilitating for characters who are still gaining levels, or even immediately crippling for those that are high-level to begin with. (And isn't it just a damn shame...)
    
    
13. : The Dream Slayer gains experience just as any other character class, advancing on the Witch experience table, but usually has some experience (sometimes a great deal of it) left over from their earlier life. Most often, the character was a Latent Psychic, Dream Maker savant, or Dream Dancer savant. In any case, divide the character's previous experience by half and apply it to the Witch experience table; this is the Dream Slayer's current level. Apply any insanities gained before the transformation towards the number specified by the character's level (ie: If the character used to be a Dream Maker with two insanities, and is now a fifth level Dream Slayer, then the only new insanities gained are those for being a first level Dream Slayer; the hold-overs from the previous class count towards the two that should have been gained by level advancement.)

    Everything else--skills, SDC, ISP, all of it--must be recalculated by the Dream Slayer OCC rules. This means that the character might actually have skills that he didn't know before or more ISP than he used to (though this is unlikely).

The Undying

Undying are generally children when they first discover their "different" nature. At first, this is nothing more than a small difference from the other children--perhaps a more intelligent or more sensitive nature, perhaps a physical deformity, or perhaps simply being the "odd man out." Whatever the cause, Undying are warped from their very childhood by ther anger and regret. The rage that eats at them twists first their minds, and later their bodies. Most often, the child has a near-death experience which triggers the change from bitter, hate-filled human to demonic, invulnerable monster. This experience shreds the child's sanity, leaving him a hollow and empty husk, devoid of intellect, reason, and emotion. When the child leaves the site where he nearly died, he is a child no longer--instead he has become one of the Undying.

With others, the process is more gradual, eroding both sanity and humanity in a slow dissolution of the spirit. In this case, the killer will often kill the first time while still a child in order to garner a quiet place in which to complete the transformation--such as the psych ward of a county hospital or a lunatic asylum (although the people that work there prefer it to be called a "Psychological Rehabilitation Facility"). Somehow, despite the lack of exercise that comes with being confined to a room with rubber walls, the character keeps a trim and muscular physique--but their face is a horror beyond reckoning. This is not so much from any true ugliness, but rather a blankness in the eyes which gives onlookers a glimpse into the nothingness that hides behind the stars.

Undying live up to their name by an unnaturally fast healing rate, a healing rate higher than that of many true supernatural beings. These foul creatures can take enormous amounts of damage before falling down--but even then they do not die. It is not in the least unusual for an Undying to be shot, stabbed, beaten, burned, and drowned, only to crawl out of the river a mile away and murder a picnicking family. The classic movie example would be the scene when the police open fire on the killer from behind their barricades, but he just keeps moving forward, shrugging off their bullets as a man would mosquitoes.

While supernaturally strong and tough, Undying have a few obvious vulnerabilities, which include entrapment, explosions, and fire. A trapped Undying is a terrible thing to see indeed, struggling at its fetters like a chained whirlwind. And though not even an explosion can put down an Undying permanently, it gives the survivors plenty of time to get away and get help, or scatter the pieces to delay the healing process even further. Finally, fire, that bane of so many supernatural menaces, is again a viable weapon; flesh cannot regenerate if no flesh survives.

For campaign usage, try to remember that Undying are perfect adversaries if your players want a straight-up, shoot-'em-out, kill-the-monster sort of adventure. More cerebral players will find little challenge in an adversary with no goals other than taking revenge on everything. Undying, while difficult to kill and more difficult to keep killed, are powerful foes that will test any player group's survival abilities. Against Victim characters, you'd better be sure that there is a viable way out or else plenty of characters already made, because Victims tend to die really, really fast against Undying.

Undying move with a slow grace, unmindful of the speed of their prey. Somehow, they "know" that no matter how fast the target is, they will catch up sooner or later.

Note: In technical terms, Undying aren't really serial killers--they're mass murderers. However, most people don't know the difference (it's kind of subtle) and so the Undying fetches up here.


Alignment: Effectively Diabolic; not really enough intelligence to have any moral beliefs.
Attribute Requirements: None, but see below.

Hit Points: PEx2, plus 2d6 per level
SDC: 5d6x10

MDC: In a Rifts campaign, Undying are mega-damage creatures with 5d6x10 MDC.
PPE: Undying have had almost all of their PPE burnt away in their transformation into an engine of destruction; only one PPE point remains.


OCC Powers and Abilities:

1. Supernatural Attributes: Undying have supernatural strength and endurance. While these beings usually aren't very fast (physically or mentally), they generally don't need to be--their brute strength is all they need to get by on.
   
   
2. Physical Bonuses: +15 PS (minimum 25); +10 PE (minimum 20); +4 PP; +3 to strike; large amounts of SDC/HP.
   
   
3. Phenomenal Healing: The name says it all. Undying heal almost as fast as they are injured, leading to a creature that is difficult to kill and virtually impossible to destroy. Undying heal 4d6 SDC/HP every thirty seconds (two melees)! If reduced to zero hit points, the Undying will lapse into a short (1d4 melees) coma during which time the healing process is completely halted and the being appears to be dead. This is the only time at which the creature is truly vulnerable. At the end of the coma, the Undying is automatically increased to 5 hit points and 25 SDC, and begins to heal the rest as normal. (Undying usually sit up very quickly at the end of the coma, startling whoever was stupid enough to walk over and "see if it's dead.")

   Weapons made of silver or iron completely bypass the creature's SDC, inflicting damage directly to hit points, and wounds from such weapons require twice the amount of time to heal. If bound in chains of silver or iron, the Undying will be unable to escape, trapped for as long as the chains hold. After a few minutes, the creature will cease to struggle and simply go limp. If bound in this manner for more than a month, the being will begin to decay and look like any other dead body. However, the moment the chains are removed, the Undying will return to its terrible half-life--and its first new victim will doubtless be the fool that freed it.

   (Note: Unlike the vulnerabilities of the Artist, the Undying's weaknesses are not psychosomatic--after all, there's no psyche to somaticize... or something like that. Anyway, these increased levels of weakness result almost wholly from the creature's supernatural nature. I say almost because the Undying most often start out as children and then become supernatural monsters. Children believe that "monsters" can be defeated by such things--and with magic, belief is reality.)

   If subjected to an intense explosion, the creature will be blown to bits, requiring many times the usual amount of time to heal. The Undying, when blown apart, is considered to be at negative 1d4x10 hit points. The amount of time necessary for returning to zero is ten times the creature's negative HP in days! During this time, the pieces will gradually creep together, slow enough that most people wouldn't notice. Once back up to zero, the monster will remain in its semblance of death until a victim comes near, disturbing it from its rest. At this point, the Undying will start to heal... and kill. Placing the pieces closer together (ie: pouring the sorry bastard into a coffin for burial) will halve the time required to rejoin, and scattering them farther apart will delay the process to three times the usual time! If the pieces are kept apart for over three years, however, the largest remaining piece will begin the laborious process of regenerating the Undying's body by itself, requiring another 1d6 months to complete the task.

   Fire is perhaps the only sure method of putting down the beast; without anything left but ash and dust, there is no motivating force left to regenerate nor enough material to bring it back. All Undying instinctively fear fire and avoid it whenever possible. Damage caused by fire must heal at the usual human rate rather than the Undying's supernatural rate. If the Undying is reduced to zero hit points by fire damage, then all that is left is a blackened husk "obviously" incapable of supporting even a semblance of life. Woe to the poor fool that leaves it unfinished in this manner, for the Undying will surely rise up again, thirsty for blood. After spending 2d4x10 days in a death-like state, the creature once more begins to heal, although at the abysmally low rate of 1 SDC/HP per day. Only after the healing process is finished (back to full SDC/HP) may the Undying move, but even then it may opt not to for lack of handy victims. To truly destroy the creature with fire, it must be reduced to pure ash and charred dust; not the least fragment of whole bone or unburned flesh may remain. (A couple of thermite plasma grenades or being dumped into an industrial crematorium should do the job nicely.)

   In addition to this vast power, Undying cannot be the target of spells, psionic powers, or Talents which affect the life-force of a living being (including agony, life drain, minor curse, and all similar spells/abilities), because Undying are neither truly alive nor dead. They exist in a state similar to the undeath of vampires, but are immune to most of the usual undead repellents. They are also completely impervious to illusions, mind control, possession, poisons, toxins, drugs, gases, disease, and starvation. Undying do not eat, drink, sleep, or breathe.
   
   

4. Mindless Rage: Undying are very nearly mindless (their effective IQ is 4) but their cunning belies their true mental faculties. While incapable of long-range planning (or any planning, for that matter) they seem to instinctively know when it is the proper time to act on their all-encompassing rage, the red fury that rules their world. Also, due to this mindlessness, Undying cannot be controlled by any means, magical, psionic, or chemical. Any attempt to contact an Undying's mind results in mind-wracking pain and unconsciousness (1d4x10 melees), with a 40% chance to develop a random insanity.

   Because of their mindless nature, Undying cannot plan for the future (nor do they realize that such a thing exists) beyond the choice of their next victim. They are also incapable of strategy in battle, simply allowing their assailants to hit them with every shot. Undying cannot parry, dodge, roll with impact, or perform any combat maneuver other than a strightforward attack. Undying, because of their slow grace, always attack last (no initiative). However, due to their silence and the ability to move quickly when they must, Undying are +6 to surprise their targets in an ambush. Anyone in combat with an Undying has a bonus of +3 to strike on top of any other bonuses due to the creature's slow, deliberate movements. Finally, Undying cannot use any weapon more complicated than a machete or club; guns are completely beyond them and missile weapons are just not their style.
   
   

5. Marked: All Undying are marked in some way by the process which creates them. This can range from a scarred, hideous face to nothing more than blank, unnerving eyes. Undying which have been "dead" a large number of times might even develop maggoty, worm-eaten flesh or Nightbane Stigmata (GM's discretion). Because of this, they usually wear full-body suits and face-concealing masks. (They don't care about their appearance, per se, but the last vestige of their humanity, some discarded fragment of their psyche, is horrified at their new form and does not wish to be reminded of it. If its mask is removed, an Undying will hesitate for a moment, resulting in a loss of one attck that melee.)
   Undying have a horror factor of 14, which is increased to 17 if their true nature is revealed.
   
   
6. The Anniversary: Most Undying (not all, but most) have one day of the year which, for one reason or another, means something in their blackened, maggoty hearts. This date can be the day they "died" or the anniversary of their first kill (where do you get a Hallmark card for that?), but regardless of why, this is when they are at their peak of power. For the three days immediately preceding the date and the date itself, double their healing rate and increase their PS by another +5! However, after this, they will be exceedingly drained, and will probably enter into a sort of hibernative trance until the next time that date rolls around, leaving the mortal world a short respite from his terror. If they continue to be active after the anniversary ends, then halve their normal SDC (round down) and reduce PS by 5 each week until PS reaches 0, at which time the creature will have no choice but to "go to ground" (very often literally).

   During this anniversary, the Undying will enact a most terrible vengeance upon his mortal enemies, those whom he hated the most during life--maybe the counselors of the camp where he drowned, maybe the members of his own family, maybe all of the trick-or-treaters in his hometown--and he will not stop until they are all dead. On this day (and the days just before it) he will stalk these people one by one and end their pathetic human lives with no more conscience than a human would have in crushing a bug. The only beings that will suffer the Undying's eternal wrath during this anniversary will be those mentioned above and any who attempt to defend them.

   Undying do not have to have an "anniversary," but it is extremely useful as a role-playing tool (ie: a race against time to stop an immortal monster before he takes his last victim and returns to his hidden lair, not to be seen for another year). It also places limitations on the monster's killing habits, making very sure that not every small town on the planet turns into a slaughterhouse.