[Curseborne] Adversaries #1

Shivers, Frights, Terrors, Nightmares… and Red Riding Hood

What’s life without a little challenge?

Relaxing, that’s what.

Relaxation is, sadly, not something the Accursed often get to enjoy. Challenges rear their heads in all manner of ways – curses, tricks, interstitial prisons, adversaries wanting to chew their faces off…

It’s not always easy bearing a Damnation. Adversaries make it worse. Creatures, critters, spiritual blights, nightmares in (vaguely) human form, and alien entities find themselves in the orbit of the Accursed, because on some level, they share the same air. They’re all supernatural, they’re all weird, and none of them belong.

Adversaries come in many flavours.

Let’s explore a few of them.

Shivers

Shivers are the henchpeople and sapient pests in the employ of larger, more dangerous foes. Shivers are rarely a challenge for the protagonists unless they attack in large numbers. They have often been manipulated or cursed into service, and act as obstacles to slow the protagonists down, or barriers and shields to protect the true nightmares directing them.

Frights

Frights distinguish themselves by dominating those around them or earning power and reputation. They bully or charm Shivers into following them, clashing with the Accursed while standing out among their minions as more vicious and menacing. A zombie Fright might be stitched together from multiple corpses, or full of dangerous gases and ready to burst. A ghostly Fright visits the dreams of its victims and twists them into nightmares, causing them to wake up covered in wounds… or not wake up at all.

Terrors

Terrors are big deal adversaries, which should be named and given distinct personalities and drives. They are often directing the masses that oppose the Accursed or manipulate the story in the background. Terrors have Shivers and Frights serving as their lackeys and right hands and gleefully throw them into the meatgrinder if it allows their own, personal, survival.

Nightmares

Nightmares are the ultimate monstrosities of Curseborne and are capable of taking on an entire party of Accursed. They are often great and cosmic beings brought into play through intensive ritual and forbidden magic, or incredibly powerful Accursed who have turned on their families. They are the things of whisper and rumor and have the power to live up to all of the horrifying legends surrounding their reputations.

Shattered Spaces

And then there are the Shattered Spaces… These adversaries will receive a much greater write-up in a future blog concerning liminal spaces, but rest assured, you don’t want to end up trapped in one. They’re predatory, possessive, and almost impossible to kill. Be warned.

Red Riding Hood

Let’s introduce you to one of the nastiest Terrors roaming the land in Curseborne.

According to legend, Little Red Riding Hood was the victim of a wolf attack. In some versions of the tale, a hunter saved her, she claimed the wolf’s skin, and escaped the forbidding woodlands. Within the Get of Lyka, the story doesn’t end with the wolf’s death. The curse’s power resonates even in death, tainting those exposed.

Red Riding Hood gained the curse of the wolf’s skin and went into the night as a fearsome hunter of the Get of Lyka. Her existence is not just a word of caution to the Lykans but an unsettling truth: trophy hunters are real, and by wearing their flesh they can steal the Accursed’s powers.

Red Riding Hoods rise from the ranks of humans who gained the upper hand in battles with the Accursed and took something from the monster who attacked them, whether the fur from a Lykan, money from an Iscariot, or the feather of a Nephilim. These survivors are ignorant at first as to why they’ve suddenly gained horrifying abilities, but when they realize they’ve become a monster, they can no longer recork the bottle. Some Red Riding Hoods hunt the Accursed to take revenge, while others seek more power by adding another skin to their collection. Dusters, trench coats, hunting outfits, and hats have replaced the outdated red hooded capes.

Red Riding Hoods are formidable opponents, and travel alone. The Hood’s solitary nature is just about the only advantage Accursed have against them. Beyond that, they’ll be lurking in the shadows, abducting friends to act as bait, wearing thick disguises, and constructing the perfect means to take another piece of one of their chosen prey.

Template: Terror
Drive: Get revenge on the Accursed for tainting them.
Primary Pool: 10 (Disguise, Hunt Accursed, Knifework)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Sniping, Woodwork)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 (Attack Primals)
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 1 (Concealed, Light)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Feral, Noxious Blood (Moderate), Regeneration (New Moon)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×1, Devastating Blow ×2, Elemental Teleportation (Woodlands) ×1, Shapeshift ×1

What these qualities and dread powers do mechanically is something we’ll cover in a future blog as we delve deeper into the limits and extents to which an adversary might seriously fuck up an Accursed’s day, week, or life.

For the time being, heed this warning: don’t bite Red Riding Hood, don’t let her bite you, and for God’s sake, don’t get trapped in the woods with her.