Urban Fantasy: The Undead, Part 2

Undead are pretty scary creatures in spite of us being just out of a zombie overdose in pop culture. Anyone remember how big zombies got in the 2000? Anyway, feeling old aside: the Revenant type of the Undead is a dangerous opponent.

Purposeful and Dangerous

One key element which make Revenant-types much more dangerous than some shambling, decaying corpse is their sense of purpose. The transformation from human to supernatural being endow these creatures with a deeper metaphysical nature, which combine will, form and purpose as one. One must remember an Undead is an utter violation of entropy and yet it exist. It functions. It is no longer a fully material being but rather a metaphysical fact. An unliving nightmare.

Even the most insane or feral of Revenant is intelligent and driven by purpose, even if that purpose might just be murder and/or feeding. Where ghosts are ephemeral and have difficulties interacting with the world, corporeal undead lack such a weakness.They exist for a purpose and until it is fulfilled (if it can be!) that creature will never stop existing. If this description bring to mind images of indestructible, masked serial killers straight of 'slasher movies' this is entirely accurate and correct. If such a creature retain parts of or its entire memories and even personalities then the end result is a monster to be feared: a human devoid of mortality and fear, their mind entirely rewired toward purposes and goals. Remember this quote from the original Terminator movie:

"Listen, and understand. That terminator is out there. It can’t be bargained with. It can’t be reasoned with. It doesn’t feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

Oddly accurate.

And while it may robotic and cold, the Terminator is definitely extremely intelligent. Its mind is not burdened by fears, likes and dislikes or human morality. It is an artificial intelligence, yes, but artificial or not that's still intelligence nonetheless. It is capable of adapting and lateral thinking yet also perfectly able to use its brute strength when it need. Keep in mind here we're talking of a baseline Terminator, however, and not those reprogrammed by humans toward more heroic goals and later taught to slowly become more 'human'. In its raw state it is an unfeeling killing machine.

Some Revenants aren't that detached, however. Indeed some of them are the complete opposite: utterly driven by their human passions, their rage, their sorrow or even blood lust. Where the previous type was a human mind liberated from frailties this one is...different. The failings of the human mind are warped and turned into an all-consuming passion almost elevated to an alien level. It feel fear, anger, love or pain but it doesn't feel them as we do, only as warped and twisted rush of adrenaline. Every challenge to its mission fuel its all consuming madness like a drug addict constantly injecting himself for a greater high.

Revenant Abilities & Some Stats

There is a near-endless variety of undead monstrosities, so consider these but a sample. The main inspiration behind them come from a very neat and very hand All Flesh Must Be Eaten supplement called Atlas of the Walking Dead. It describe undead creatures from all over the world and its various mythologies and folklore. Good stuff, excellent book and worth a read even if one isn't running AFMBE. First, however, some stat blocks: generally speaking unless they are the minions of some greater evil one could argue Revenant-type undead should be a main villain and thus a 'Nemesis'-type enemy. Even the dumber ones are expected to have that slasher villain level of threat factor. This plays into their higher HD, higher AC and morale but rather pitiful mobility and accuracy.

Name	HD	HP	AC	Atk	Dmg	Move	ML	Ski.	Svs.	Effort
Lesser Revenant	3 HD, no HP		16	+0	1d10	5m	12	+1	12+ (14+)	2
Revenant	3	12	16	+4	1d10	5m	12	+1	12+ (14+)	2
Mighty Revenant	5	19	18	+4	1d12	5m	12	+1	10+ (13+)	3

All the Revenants posses the following abilities by default:

• Unkillable Bastard: The Revenant has Saving Throws as if it had twice the normal amount of HD. However, keep in mind some Revenant might have a bane or weakness which treat their save as if the default value.
• Hardy Nemesis: A Nemesis Revenant has +3 HP by default and receive +1 additional HP every 3 other HD.

Some Revenants might have faster movement speed and/or better skills. These stats are the bare-bone of Revenants, with most of them in the lesser or ordinary category. Mighty Revenants are quite rare, either being very ancient beings or very pissed off powerful individuals in life. This category also include Revenants created from spirit possession. In terms of abilities, here's a sample of horrible tricks they might have up their rotting sleeves:

• Sense Murderer (Passive): This is most common for Revenant born of a need for revenge, granting them an innate ability to sense where their killer is. Generally speaking they always know the main direction no matter where that person is on Earth, losing only track of them when they are in another dimension. If within 60 meters they can Commit Effort for the day and gain some insane tracking ability which knows where their killer is at all time until the start of the next day. Think of it as a 'minimap pointer' in a videogame, telling the Revenant where to go.
• Sense Victim (Passive): Like the above but for less heroic reasons. In order to designate someone as their victim the Revenant must have attempted to kill said person (and obviously failed) in the last 24 hour. Slasher-like Revenant use this to track down those who evaded them.
• Pursuit (Passive): An ability which compliment the two above. When tracking someone using either Sense Murderer or Sense Victim, the Revenant triple its movement speed. Or, if you feel nasty, it move 'at the speed of plot' off screen.
• Shapeshift: One that is generally associated with Vampires nowadays. By Committing Effort, the Revenant can assume a different shape as long as the Effort remain committed. GM discretion is best used to decide if that form has any use beyond quick travel.
• Hard to Kill: The Revenant always take 1 point less of damage from attacks, except perhaps against something it might be weak to.
• Dread: This ability usually has some limitation or require some action, such as howling or weeping. By Comitting Effort for the scene, the Revenant inspire fear/madness/despair/whatever in humans. Those who can see/hear (depending on what action said Revenant use) must pass a Saving Throw or immediately flee the Revenant's presence.
• Paralysis: Similar to Dread except the poor bastard become unable to act, becoming either frozen in place by fear or having their minds ravaged by the madness of the undead.
• Long Tongue: This revenant has a long, flexible tongue which allows it attack in melee at a distance of up to 10m. This tongue usually deal 1d6 damage. In some cases, it might carry the Paralysis ability.

A Sample Bestiary

Here is a bunch of Revenants from folklore and mythology:

• Draugr: The drowned dead of Norse mythology are bloated, frost-bitten monstrous corpses. Some of them grow in size and strength while others have abilities related to the fog and cold. They have the Hard to Kill ability (except against fire) and can Commit Effort for the scene to lift any mundane object or destroy it, including walls. Draugr are generally inactive outside of the winter months.
• Egyptian Mummy: The classic Egyptian mummy might have a variant of the Sense X ability, but for those who stole its treasure. In addition they are weak to fire (they take double damage from it) and might be repelled with Egyptian funeral prayers or rite at the GM discretion. When exposed to such a thing they must either Commit Effort for the day or become unable to act for 1d4 rounds.
• Aztec Mummy: A variation of the above, except for Aztec (or some other Meso-american civilization which had pyramid-like structures because, hey, pop culture get so much wrong!). In addition they have the ability to Shapeshift, possibly into insect or spider swarms or giant bats.
• Penanggalan: Probably one of the most gruesome monsters out there, the Penangallan takes the form of a woman who can detach her head, flying off into the air as a monstrous head with entrails just dangling there. These creatures lack the Hardy Nemesis ability, being quite squishy (literally). During the day they appear as human beings and, should any kind of magical ability be used to try to detect them they cab Commit Effort for the day to register as a normal human woman. In their monstrous, true form they fly around at a speed of 40m, have the Long Tongue ability and they can use the Paralysis ability in some way or another, using it to feed. If exposed to sunlight in their true form they must pass a Saving Throw or die. They can also be destroyed if one, among other things, smearing ash and/or garlic on its separated body parts.
• Slasher: The most iconic undead of American pop culture, the slasher was likely a serial killer and/or a freak of some kind in life. They range in intelligence from dumb brutes to witty, almost funny quipster with a questionable sense of humor. They have the Sense Victim, Pursuit and Hard to Kill abilities.
• Vampyr: One of the many variations of the disease-ridden, bloodsucking fiends of European folklore. These creatures are usually Lesser or Average Revenant of questionable intellect, having been turned into blood-craving rotting corpses. Many of them have the Dread or Paralysis ability, possibly with the triggering effect being simply to see these horrible, bloated and sometimes monstrously deformed corpses. They usually transmit mundane (if still horribly disgusting and dangerous) diseases by touch. Some of them have the Long Tongue ability.