The Deadly Deserts
The desert is just as formidable as it was before the Virus. In addition to the lack of water and the fierce heat, there are reports of Infected zones and towns where the crazyness is the least of your worries. Along with the obvious remaining human element --left-over biker gangs, rabid survivalists, crazed religious zealots-- all sorts of mutant animals and Fiction scum make their home in the desert. Some say that travelling in the desert nowadays without an experienced guide-or some BIG guns-is plain suicidal. Following now is one of the reasons why.
TREMORS: TERRORS OF THE NEVADA DESERT.
These Fiction monsters are (in their core universe) extremely ancient and savage. They roam around the desert, eating everything that gets in the way. During the Hours, they managed to eat almost everything on two small valleys, located on the western Nevada desert, and the Argentinean Ands. Following the Hours, there was no attempt by them to leave the areas (again, CLULESS might have given them ‘behavioural modification’ of some sort).
GRABOID: CR 8; Huge Aberration; HD 12d8+60; hp 114; Mas 21; Init +0; Spd burrow 40 ft.; Defence 20 (-2 size, +1 Dex, +11 natural); BAB +7; Grap +15; Full Atk +15 melee (1d6+12, 3 slams); FS 10 ft. by 20 ft.; Reach 10 ft. (tentacles); SA improved grab, swallow whole; SQ tremorsense, metamorphosis; SV Fort +9, Ref +5, Will +9; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 26, Dex 12, Con 21, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 3.
Skills: Listen +10, Spot +10.
Feats: Alertness, Multiattack.
Advancement: 13-16 HD (Huge); 17-24 HD (Gargantuan).
Graboids are about thirty feet long and worm-like, and push their way through the soil with short, but incredibly strong, cilia-like appendages. Inside their bony, beak-like mouths, they have three long tentacles with smaller mouths that can bite and slap.
Combat
Graboids can sense anything that has any form of contact with the ground, and will attack it as a source of food. After consuming a concentration of nutrients, the graboid will advance 1 HD.
Improved Grab (Ex): A graboid has to hit with at least one slam attack for it to be able to initiate a grapple without provoking an attack of opportunity.
Swallow Whole (Ex): A graboid can swallow anything of Medium-size or smaller that it grabs. A swallowed creature takes 3d6 acid damage and 3d6 crushing damage each round. A graboid’s gullet has an AC of 20 and 15 hit points, and can be cut with a light slashing weapon.
Metamorphosis (Ex): After advancing to maximum HD, a graboid undergoes a painful transformation; 6 shriekers break out of the graboid’s body, killing the creature instantly.
SHRIEKER: CR 7; Medium-size Aberration; HD 5d8+10; hp 38; Mas 16; Init +3; Spd 40 ft.; Defence 19 (+3 Dex, +6 natural) touch 14, flat-footed 17; BAB +3; Grap +4; Full Atk +5 melee (2d4+3, bite); FS 5 ft. by 5 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SA improved grab; SQ heat sense, metamorphosis; SV Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +5; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 3.
Skills: Jump +6, Spot +11.
Feats: Alertness.
Advancement: 6-8 HD (Medium-size).
Shriekers are about knee-high and five feet long, with the same bony mouth of the graboid, but shriekers have two muscular legs to run along the ground instead of tunnelling. They have only one sense: infrared sight. They cannot hear, they cannot touch, and they apparently cannot feel. Their nick-name came from the powerful shriek they deal out when they give their ‘rally call’-actually a powerful thermal flare.
Combat
Shriekers seem smart, but that’s because they’re so dumb. They’ll attack any heat source, including vehicle engines and radio transmission stations, and try to consume them. After eating a certain concentration of nutrients (equivalent to one concentrated ready-to-eat meal), a Shrieker can reproduce, creating a Tiny 1 HD shrieker.
Heat Sense (Ex): Shriekers see only infrared, and thus only see heat sources.
Shriekers ignore anything that does not give off heat, and will only attack hot objects.
Metamorphosis (Ex): After 12 hours, a shrieker will change into an assblaster if it has consumed enough food to advance it to 8 HD.
ASSBLASTER: CR 8; Medium-size Aberration; HD 8d8+24; hp 66; Mas 17; Init +3; Spd 30 ft., fly 30 ft. (clumsy); Defence 20 (+3 Dex, +7 natural); BAB +6; Grap +11; Full Atk +11 melee (2d4+5, bite); FS 5 ft. by 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.; SA improved grab; SQ ass blast, explosive, heat sense; SV Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +6; AP 0; Rep +0; Str 20, Dex 16, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 3.
Skills: Jump +11, Spot +13.
Feats: Alertness.
Advancement: 9-12 HD (Medium-size).
An ‘evolution’ of the Shrieker, the Assblaster is its ‘final stage’- made to move on to a far territory and lay its progeny. The ‘Death from above’ part is a benefit that they like to exploit, as well.
Assblasters resemble sinuous Shriekers with leathery wings. In order to fly, the assblaster has to excrete an acid from its behind that explodes on contact with air, propelling it skyward.
Combat
Assblasters are similar to Shriekers in that they seem smart because they’re dumb. They attack only heat sources, and attempt to consume them. After eating a certain concentration of nutrients, an assblaster can grow an egg, which it buries in soft soil. After a great deal of time (more than 300 years), the egg hatches into a graboid.
Ass Blast (Ex): As a move-equivalent action, an assblaster can blast, sending it airborne and allowing it to fly at a speed of 30 feet (clumsy) for up to 1 minute. The explosion causes 3d6 points of fire damage to anything directly behind the creature.
Explosive (Ex): The acids that assblasters use to fly are extremely volatile; if the creature takes more than 6 points of fire damage in one round, it explodes, inflicting 3d6 fire damage to everything within 10 feet, and 1d6 points of bludgeoning damage to everything within 40 feet.
Heat Sense (Ex): Assblasters see only infrared, and thus only see heat sources. Assblasters ignore anything that does not give off heat, and will only attack hot objects.
Advanced Class: Slasher
The quintessential B-horror villain is the Slasher: a twisted monstrosity of a man with no conscience, living only to kill. A Slasher’s rampages may last for days, leaving a trail of bloody corpses, and all too often they end at the hands of mere teenagers.
Requirements
To qualify to become a Slasher, a character must fulfil the following criteria.
Base Attack Bonus: +3.
Feat: Improved Critical (any slashing melee weapon).
Allegiance: Evil.
Special: Must have been (apparently) killed by the direct or indirect action of one or more teenagers.
OR
Special: Must have committed a particularly horrifying and/or gruesome murder.
Class Information
Hit Die: 1d12
Action Points: 4 + ½ character level, rounded down, every time the character attains a new level in this class.
Class Skills
The Slasher’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are: Climb (Str), Hide (Dex), Intimidate (Cha), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Navigate (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
Table: The Slasher
Class Level-Base Attack Bonus-Fort Save-Ref Save-Will Save-Special-Defence Bonus-Reputation Bonus
1st +0 +1 +1 +0 Weapon Focus, lethal fists +1 +0
2nd +1 +2 +2 +0 Stalking, smash +1 +0
3rd +2 +2 +2 +1 Bonus feat +2 +0
4th +3 +2 +2 +1 Death flesh +2 +0
5th +3 +3 +3 +1 Augmented critical +3 +1
6th +4 +3 +3 +2 Bonus feat +3 +1
7th +5 +4 +4 +2 Improved reaction +4 +1
8th +6 +4 +4 +2 Weapon Specialization +4 +1
9th +6 +4 +4 +3 Critical strike +5 +2
10th +7 +5 +5 +3 Sequel +5 +2
Class Features
The following features pertain to the Slasher advanced class.
Weapon Focus
At 1st level, a Slasher gains the Weapon Focus class feature, providing the benefit of the feat with the same name. The Slasher adds +1 to all attack rolls made using the weapon that he has applied the Improved Critical feat to. If he has more than one Improved Critical feat, the Slasher must select one as a signature weapon.
Lethal Fists
At 1st level, a Slasher’s unarmed strikes do lethal damage. He can choose to inflict non-lethal damage without penalty.
Stalking
Beginning at 2nd level, a Slasher can relentlessly pursue one creature. The Slasher simply walks and will be right behind his victim, no matter how fast the victim can run. Each round, the Slasher can teleport to any location between 30 feet and 60 feet from the chosen victim. This supernatural ability lasts a number of rounds equal to the Slasher’s class level, and can be used up to three times each day.
Smash
Also at 2nd level, a Slasher inflicts double damage when striking objects such as doors, walls, weapons, etc. In addition, the Slasher gains a +4 bonus to all Strength checks involving the breaking of objects, like breaking down a door or snapping chains.
Bonus Feats
At 3rd and 6th level, the Slasher gets a bonus feat. The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Slasher must meet all the prerequisites of the feat to select it.
Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armour Proficiency (light), Armour Proficiency (medium), Armour Proficiency (heavy), Brawl, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency, Far Shot, Great Cleave, Improved Brawl, Improved Knockout Punch, Knockout Punch, Power Attack, Stealthy, Track.
Death Flesh
At 4th level, the Slasher’s skin toughens. He gains a +2 natural armour bonus. If the Slasher already has natural armour, this bonus stacks.
Augmented Critical
At 5th level, the Slasher’s focused weapon’s threat range and critical multiplier increase by one, for example, from 17-20/x2 to 16-20/x3.
Improved Reaction
At 7th level, a Slasher gains a +2 competence bonus on initiative checks.
Weapon Specialization
At 8th level, a Slasher gains weapon specialization with the weapon that he has applied the Weapon Focus class feature to. The Slasher gets a +2 bonus on damage rolls with the chosen weapon.
Critical Strike
At 9th level, a Slasher gains the ability to automatically confirm a threat as a critical hit when attacking with the weapon he has applied weapon specialization to, eliminating the need to make a roll to confirm the critical hit.
Sequel
At 10th level, a Slasher gains the ability to return from apparent destruction; 1d6 years after the Slasher is destroyed, a chain of events will occur that will either bring him back from death, or make clear that he was never dead.