New Abomination - Mandrakes
Aka - Immitator, Doppleganger, "Pod" Person
The term "Mandrake" comes from a type of mediterranean vegetable that looked very much like a potato - but with a root that sometimes resembled a human foetus. Legend has it that the Mandrake would give out a human sounding cry if it was dug out of the earth and bad luck would befall the person who comitted such an act. The potato was also inedible and if enough of the vegetable was eaten could result in death through poisoning...
Anyway - that's all medieval legend. In the Weird West it seems the Reckoners liked the idea of the sinister Mandrake a bit too much and have created a new Abomination which is vaguely related to the deadly potato of old. Ha! You may scoff, but read on...
The Mandrakes of the Weird West begin life as a large green pod covered in creepers, the whole thing pulsates and is warm to the touch. The Mandrake "Pod" lies in wait for a victim (not that it can do a whole lot else) and if it is touched or approached too closely it will attempt to consume it's victim, and over the next hour will absorb their essence and take on their form...
All the Mandrake requires to actually take the form of it's victim is a single touch, but if it wishes to take on the host's personality and skills it needs to kill the victim and consume it in it's podlike body. The new form is extremely tough and cannot be hurt by normal means as it is made of plant matter enhanced by the Reckoners evil power. The one thing that Mandrakes truly fear is fire (as do all plants. Probably) as they may be destroyed by such a source.
The pod form looks much like a huge, oval shaped green pea pod, covered with creepers and a thin layer of dark green slime. The pod pulsates slowly and sometimes emits a slurping sound...
Statistics in Pod Form
DEFTNESS 0, NIMBLENESS 1d6, QUICKNESS 4d6, STRENGTH 4d10, VIGOR 5d12
Fightin':Wrasslin' 5
COGNITION 4d6, KNOWLEDGE 4d6, MIEN 0, SMARTS 4d6, SPIRIT 1d6
Creature Sense (Cog) 5, Bluff 2
WIND 18, PACE 0, SIZE 6, TERROR 7
Special Rules
Sense - The Mandrake Pod can sense all living creatures within 10 yards on a Creature Sense(5) roll (Cognition trait dice). Not that it can do much about this until the creature approaches apart from make squishy pulsating noises to attract the interest of the passerby... Trapping Prey - Tha Mandrake Pod will react if a creature comes within a yard of itself and lashes out with it's vines (which are usually kept wrapped around it's "body") and will attempt to drag it's victim into it's mass to begin absorbing their essence. The Mandrake must first pass an opposed Fightin':Wrasslin' against the targets own Wrasslin'/Brawlin' to grab them with it's vines, the target may only break free if they gain a raise on an opposed Strength test and spending one action. If the target fails this test then they will suffer a cumulative -1 modifier to all physical actions and lose 1d6 wind as the Mandrake Pod draws the victim close to it's body and secretes a sticky dark green poison over them. This poison saps a foes energy and if the cumulative modifier becomes greater than -5, or the target runs out of wind then they are incapacitated and the Mandrake Pod will absorb them...Modifiers are regained at +1 per hour as the poison wears off Immunity - The Mandrake Pod is invulnerable to all physiscal attacks, both magical and mudane, and suffers no wind damage in combat. Spells which affect plants and such will affect a Mandrake, however, and the pod will also take full damage from fire based attacks (both magical and mundane). A stick of Dynamite planted inside a Mandrake Pod will also kill it - use your judgement as MarshalFear Etc - The Mandrake Pod is immune to all psychological effects, such as fear
Metamorphosis - A Mandrake Pod need only touch it's target to be able to take on it's form, but preferably tries to absorb them too (you'll see why later) so even if the target escapes the Mandrake begins it's metamorphosis, which takes all of 5 minutes to complete enough for the Mandrake to become mobile (humanoid but with slimy green skin) and an hour to perfect. The Mandrake will now look exactly like the creature it touched (but cannot take on the form of Abominations and creatures larger than size 8) apart from, sometimes, an evil smirk playing across it's visage
Statistics in New Form
DEFTNESS as victim, NIMBLENESS as victim, QUICKNESS as victim, STRENGTH as victim + 2 steps, VIGOR as vicyim + 2 steps
Fightin';Wrasslin' 5, Sneak 1, Climb 1
COGNITION 4d6, KNOWLEDGE 4d6, MIEN as victim, SMARTS 4d6, SPIRIT 1d6
Search 1, Guts 5
WIND variable (victims Vigor+10), PACE as victim, TERROR 0/7(if one knows it's a Mandrake), SIZE as victim
Special Rules
Aptitudes - If a Mandrake successfully absorbed it's victim then they have the stats as above plus all the aptitudes, both Mental and Corporeal, of the absorbed victim, as the Mandarke now knows all the skills and knowledges of their absorbed counterpart! Far from being an unthinking and souless being the Mandrake now has the basic personality of it's victim, albeit a twisted and evil version of the original, and the Mandrake may even take on some of their victim's Edges & Hindrances! The only difference is that a Mandrake does not take an absorbed victims special backgrounds - like the Arcane:Background edge for example. There are no Mandrake Hucksters or Blessed out there, which is a relief to many I'm sure...Immunity - Like it's pod version the Mandrake is still made of evil plant matter and is immune to physical damage, both of a magical and mundane nature. It is also immune to psychological effects, save for it now has a Minor Phobia of fire, as this is the only sure way to destroy the Mandrake! Mandrakes in human form take full damage from any fire source, and are considered Flammable
Speech - The Mandrake may only talk if it has absorbed it's victim's essence. Otherwise it is speechless
Animals - All natural creatures are uneasy around Mandrakes. Horses won't allow a Mandrake to ride them, cats spit and hiss, dogs turn surly and fish swim to the far side of the bowl...
Reproduction - The Mandrake may produce another pod seed from it's mouth within 1d6 hours of becoming "human". This seed is lovingly nutured in a cool, damp place until it has matured (taking 1d4+1 days) then the Mandrake will "introduce" a friend to the new Mandrake Pod, and thus another Humanoid Mandrake is created - who will produce her own seed in 1d6 hours and so on. Mandrakes have been known to take over entire frontier towns in this way...undetected for the most part. But if the townsfolk begin getting suspicious - and the Mandrakes number enough - then they may take the townsfolk hostage by force and have them tied up, taking them away one at a time at regular intervals to be "cleansed" by their podded brethren. This creates a lot of fear for the Reckoners to feast upon, and the Mandrakes are one of their favourite Abominations.
Ideas "borrowed" from the following sources (credit where credit's due and all that!) ; The film "Troll" (1985 US), "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (Various US versions), a Fighting Fantasy Book I read years ago called "Shadow Warriors", or something, by Jackson & Livingstone, and my own fertile imagination!