Friday, July 3, 2020

Spawn of Abhoth

Abhoth is constantly creating spawn, many of which are reabsorbed by it, though others are spared and wander free. No two spawn are the same, and appear to be chimeras composed of practically any body-part nature has ever seen fit to create.




In the RPG...

The Spawn of Abhoth used to have the weirdest stat listing of pretty much any creature in the Malleus Monstrorum. As an example, its STR was listed as 1-4D10, so the Keeper had to first roll 1D4, and then roll that many D10s. This was obviously to simulate their variety, but ended up ridiculously crunchy in the process. On top of that, they didn't even have an attack listed. It simply said, "Various 1D100%, as per mode of attack," so the Keeper had to just guess what damage they might do. Thankfully, the new 7e Malleus Monstrorum skips most of that, opting instead to go with the highest value of the first roll. Compare with the example above, STR is now simply 4D10 (x5). The attack chance has also now been solidified at 60%, though the damage values are still variable, saying, "1D4+DB to 2D6+DB." 
    Some other updates include the Spawn's ability to regenerate decreasing from 1D20 hit-points to 1D6, and the maximum Sanity loss decreasing from 1D10 to 1D8. 
    With regards to combatting them, the decision to fix them to the higher roll obviously increases their stats. Using STR as an example again, the old average was roughly 70 (converted to 7e), whereas it is now 110. This increase means that an average specimen has gone from 11 hit-points to 18, which may sound like a lot, but the significant decrease in regeneration should actually make them easier to defeat.

In a video game...

Because of their variability and number, I doubt the Spawn of Abhoth would work well in a video game. Each creature would have to be modelled individually, which would be a lot of work for such a minor enemy. A handful, encountered away from Abhoth, would likely be a good compromise.

In a film...

Due to their abnormality and uncanny nature, I think the Spawn of Abhoth would make great movie monsters. Seeing creatures composed of random animal parts, flopping and floundering out of a great pool of filth could certainly be horrific.

No comments:

Post a Comment