Sunday, November 3, 2013

Typhon

Typhon was a doomsday weapon created by the Titans in the depths of Tartarus, a matter worm designed bring system failure to the Cosmos--a final revenge against the usurpation of the Olympians. Typhon was defeated before it could reach full virulence, but only after infecting Echidna and turning her into the mother of monsters.

Typhon appears as a storm of black dust--actually a gigantic storm of rapacious micro- and nanobots. Those caught in the storm may be temporarily blinded on a roll of 1 on a d6. Even those not blinded can become confused per Mutant Future. The Typhon storm inflicts 2 points of damage to any character engulfed, double damage to those without some degree of protection (at least thick clothing or armor). Hiding in a body of water halves damage. Even after leaving the storm, a victim with take damage for 3 rounds. The swarm takes no damage except from fire or area effect energy or cold attacks.

Anyone who dies in the swarm rises as a zombie-like vector of Typhon. They develop a random physical mutation as their DNA is overwritten by Typhon. Anyone who takes damage but does not die must make a save vs. Poison or be infected:

Typhon Infection
Save Modifier: -2
Infection Duration: 2 weeks
Affected Stats: INT -1, WIL -1
Damage: 1d4
Further, every week of infection carries a cumulative 20% chance of developing a random physical mutation for the duration of the infection. Those infected hear the whispers of Typhon in their minds, urging them to destruction.

6 comments:

Chris C. said...

Very nasty indeed. Thinking about the (possible) etymological links between typhein / typhon / typhoon / typhus / typhoid, a GM could allow the infection to be passed on by those afflicted, or even by someone who made the save (a kind of "typhon Mary").

The Angry Lurker said...

Sounded like he visited this part of the country last weekend!

bombasticus said...

I love the cthonic monster ones most -- like all the good parts of "Empire of the East" cranked up to awesome.

Trey said...

Thanks guys!

@Chris - Ooh, good thoughts.

garrisonjames said...

This is brilliant. Much simpler, cleaner and elegant than what we're used to seeing for this sort of thing. Love the stats you used. Might have to adopt that sort of scheme for our poxes and plagues...

Trey said...

@garrisonjames - Thanks. I can't take credit for the design of the stats, though. It's the style used in the optional rule on diseases in Mutant Future.