Sample file - DriveThruRPG.com · “Requires the Mutants & Mastermind’s Hero’s Handbook by Green Ronin Publishing for Use.” The Event released horrors that once only existed

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“Requires the Mutants & Mastermind’s Hero’s Handbook by Green Ronin Publishing for Use.”

Table of Contents

Flux Horrors ............................................................................................................................................3Corrupter............................................................................................................................................ 4Disciple of Pain...................................................................................................................................... 6Flux Warper............................................................................................................................................8Hydra Strand.......................................................................................................................................10Infested Churl......................................................................................................................................12Rift Ripper.............................................................................................................................................14Shardthrower............................................................................................................................1 6Wrecker............................................................................................................................ 1 8Playing Mutants & Mastermind’s in Splintered Serenity..............................................................20

M I N I O N S O F S P L I N T E R E D S E R E N I T Y :

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The Event released horrors that once only existed in nightmares upon a new Earth. Flux Horrors are things from beyond our universe – they’re native to strange, alien dimensions and come

to Earth through rifts in reality created by the Flux. Anywhere Flux exists, Flux Horrors could be present. “Flux Horrors” is a broad, all-encompassing term - just like demon. Many different types of

horrors exist, and it should not be assumed that all of the different types of horrors cooperate with one another. Rivalry and antagonism is common among the various types of Flux Horrors, and some of these horrific beings even fight amongst their own kind. Flux Horror organization is as random and chaotic as the Flux itself. Most Horrors are loaners; they travel the world with their own enigmatic goals. However, some of the more social Horrors – like Corruptors or Flux Tainted Churl – may work together. While swarms of Hydra Strands have been known to mysteriously appear to devastate regions in a feeding frenzy before they just as mysteriously disappear, they are just as likely to (like dragons of old) create a lair for themselves and lie in silent slumber for centuries. Finally and (thankfully) rarely, powerful Horrors like Rift Lords, Faceless Monks, and Flux Warpers have been known to bend other Horrors to their will and form devastating armies to wreak havoc upon an unsuspecting world.

The Flux is a blight upon any world, but usually its presence is temporary – it comes through as a storm and warps and devastates but quickly dissipates. However, Flux Fronts exists across the world where Flux broods like a great, storm-tossed sea – its power blankets the land transforming the region within into a bizarre no-man’s land that is a twisting nightmare dreamscape. It is within and near these Fronts where Flux Horrors are most powerful: Horrors constantly emerge from their bounds, and armies use Fronts to gather before marauding forth.

On Apoc Earth, Flux Fronts exist in the following locations: • Great Plains of the former United States • East of the Andes in the Amazon Rainforest • Eastern Europe • North of the former South Africa • Across the deserts of the former countries of southern Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Iraq • Southern China (now PPA) • Central Australia • Deep Pacific over the Marianas Trench

Pawns of the Horrors claim that the Lords of the Veil - horrific, mind-shattering entities of tremendous power, guile, and malevolence - reside within the Flux Fronts. The Lords lurk within the hidden depths of the Flux Fronts, using them to veil their presence and grow in strength as they wait for some great and cosmic signal before venturing forth to reap chaos and end the lives of everyone and everything around them. No one is about to venture into the Fronts to substantiate their claims, but occasionally communities too close to the Fronts simply disappear, or they are found inhabited, but their residents are all mad or transformed into bizarre monstrosities. But, whether this is indication of the presence of a Lord of the Veil or simply the presence of the Flux itself is unknown. Eight unique Horrors are presented within the following pages. From lowly Churl pawns to the great Rift Lords, each can be a unique threat to those brave enough to venture in the triune worlds of Splintered Serenity.


Flux Horrors

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Chris Miscik: Corrupter

The self-appointed “missionaries” of the beings from the Flux, Corrupters are among the first telltale signs of a building infestation from beyond. Like cockroaches, they hide in the darkness and flee from detection... but also like cockroaches, they can quickly spread and grow to the point of overwhelming the unwary. After all, these beings claim to have once been human - and, with the powers of the Flux flowing through their every touch, they can easily “recruit” other beings into their number.

In GameThough Corrupters often start alone, hiding in out-of-the-way places on the periphery of civilization, they seldom stay that way for long. By preying on weak and solitary individuals, their numbers can quickly grow - and they will even actively “spread the gospel” of Flux to the disaffected and discontent members of society in an attempt to garner willing converts. At the point where others begin to notice the presence of a Corrupter in their midst, there is generally a full hive of them hidden away somewhere... plotting their next move. In fact, many times the first sign of these Flux-tainted beings’ infiltration is their wholesale “conversion” of a force sent to investigate the disappearances they’ve caused.

When forced by circumstance to take on dangerous numbers of opponents instead of picking off prey one by one, a hive of Corrupters will never hesitate to use tactical strategy and overwhelming numbers to their advantage. Tougher foes will be worn down by repeated mobbing with Flux Strikes, then “recruited” with a well-timed touch of Perverse Corruption to turn them against their prior allies. If even that doesn’t work, these horrors of the Flux will happily enact a “tactical retreat” to fight another day.

EcologyCorrupters are among the most common of the Flux Horrors encountered throughout the fractured world of Apoc Earth, an expected result given that they claim to have once been human beings who were “enlightened” by the corruption that created them. Skulking on the fringes of society wherever they can, they seek to spread that same “enlightenment” to anyone they can manage. Though one may be tempted to write them off as a minor threat in the face of organized opposition, the footholds they secure may in time be exploited by other, more dangerous beings - and their most sought-after targets among the weak and vulnerable make them every parent’s absolute worst nightmare.

Corrupter

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ADVANTAGESClose Attack 2, Improved Initiative, Fast Grab, Improved Hold

Athletics 2 (+3), Deception 6 (+8), Exper-tise: Corruption 8 (+9), Intimidation 8 (+10), Perception 4 (+6), Persuasion 2 (+4), Stealth 2 (+3)

SKILLS

Flux Strike: Damage 5, Resisted by Will • 10 points Perverse Corruption: Sustained Damage 1, Resisted by Fort, Reaction; Summon Duplicate 6, Active, Indifferent, Uncontrolled—-Only summons if/when victim is killed by Damage • 10 pointsTough Skin: Protection 2 • 2 point

POWERS

ABILITIES SKILLS POWERS DEFENSES ADVANATGES26 16 22

TOTAL: 756 5

POINTS

DODGE 2 FORTITUDE 5PARRY 3 TOUGHNESS 5WILL 5

DEFENSE

Flux Strike +5 Close, Damage 5, Resisted by Will (DC 20)Perverse Close, Damage 1, Sustained, Corruption +5 Resisted by Fort (DC 16)

OFFENSEINITIATIVE +5

1 3 1 0 3 1 2 2STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE

Corrupter PL 5

Corrupter(Cont inued )

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Mysterious emissaries from outside all known universes, the Disciples of Pain are almost impossible to predict, understand, or survive prolonged contact with. Traveling the worlds in pursuit of inscrutable aims, these strange entities from the Flux are always found cloaked in long, flowing robes. Whether this signifies allegiance to some unknown order, or is simply intended to hide the true countenance of the Disciples’ horrid form, those cloaks are indeed blessings -- as few who have gazed upon these creatures’ undisguised form have escaped with their minds intact.

In GameDisciples of Pain may be found in some of the oddest locales, all across existence – from mountain caves on the edge of a roiling storm of Flux energy, to ancient religious sites lost in eras past, and even sometimes “on pilgrimage” through populous settlements! Their all-concealing robes, not an uncommon sight in a multiverse filled with mutating energies and strange creatures yanked from their homes into foreign realms, help to keep them anonymous through these journeys. Indeed, oftentimes individuals may have lengthy conversations or even business dealings with a Disciple and never suspect a thing! The otherworldly entities probably prefer it this way, as they possess enough prowess in both intellectual and social matters to easily manipulate the “common man” – and besides, they make it more than obvious when they wish to reveal their presence and thrust all-consuming madness upon those around them.

That’s the problem with trying to understand and predict the Disciples, however. Sometimes they move quietly among the populace, and sometimes they lead armies of apparently lower-ranked horrors (such as Infested Churls) in vicious massacres that leave only gibbering wrecks screaming of the “faceless monks” as survivors. There seems to be neither rhyme nor reason behind their actions, yet even continents-distant Disciples seem to be acting out some sort of unspoken “directions” shared between them all. Whatever they intend, it is incomprehensible to the sane mind… and likely hostile to sanity as a whole. After all, when their otherworldly whims or hostile circumstances drive them to violence it is not their opponents’ bodies that they attack; instead they simply swoop through the air, buoyed effortlessly as if puppets on strings, while they assault reason itself with visions of impossible horrors and unbearable insanity.

John Gonzalez: Disciple of Pain

Disciple of Pain

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ADVANTAGESDaze, Fearless, Improved Initiative

Deception 6 (+11), Expertise: Flux 6 (+9), Insight 2 (+8), Intimidation 12 (+17), Perception 4 (+10), Persuasion 4 (+9), Stealth 2 (+4)

SKILLS

Mental Powers: Array (24 points)• Mind Blast: Perception Ranged Damage 6, Resisted by Will • 24 points• Insane Eye: Perception Ranged Affliction 8 (Resisted by Will; Vulnerable, Disabled, Transformed--Insane) • 1 pointAlien Mind: Immunity 10 (Mental Effects) • 10 pointsWyrd Field: Protection 5, Sustained • 5 pointsFly: Flight 2 (60ft/8mph) • 4 points

POWERS

ABILITIES SKILLS POWERS DEFENSES ADVANATGES48 18 44

TOTAL: 1207 3

POINTS

DODGE 4 FORTITUDE 5PARRY 3 TOUGHNESS 9/3*WILL 9** *w/o Defensive Roll & Field **Immune to Mental Effects

DEFENSE

Mind Blast -- Perception Range, Damage 6, Resisted by Will (DC 21)Insane Eye -- Perception Range, Affliction 8, Resisted by Will (DC 18)Unarmed +3 Close, Damage 1

OFFENSEINITIATIVE +6

1 3 2 1 3 3 6 5STR STA AGI DEX FGT INT AWE PRE

Disciple of Pain PL 8

Disciple of Pain (Cont inued )

EcologyA Disciple of Pain can be found carrying out its inscrutable aims almost anywhere, including hiding in plain sight, and as their strange goals take them to all varieties of place there is little chance of successfully predicting their next appearance. Indeed, the only “commonality” between encounters is the typical presence of Flux energies. A sudden Flux storm might herald the arrival of a Disciple “on pilgrimage,” or the cavernous retreat of another might be studded in Flux crystals. It’s not known whether these entities are simply following these strange forces, or actively carrying them with them… but it has become common knowledge in many realms not to trust any strangers who arrive from such locales.

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Sample file - DriveThruRPG.com · “Requires the Mutants & Mastermind’s Hero’s Handbook by Green Ronin Publishing for Use.” The Event released horrors that once only existed