The slasher as described in the Garden City General Encounters is for a specific purpose. It's the type of
creature that the characters run into once, defeat, then move on.
Remember, the Slasher on that blogpost only has 2 HD. They don't
realize he's going to come back, start hunting their friends and
family, become a nightmare, and try to kill them at every turn.
That's what a Slasher does.
Slashers are people that turn
themselves over to a murderous persona. They become empowered by it,
and their longevity is increased. More then one amoral wannabe has
taken up the knife in an attempt at immortality. But there is more to
them then this. You see, while Slashers are undoubtedly a psychic
phenomenon of the queer city of Garden, an actual Slasher who is
psychic is unheard of. It could be that being a Slasher requires a
mind that is incapable of becoming a psychic, or perhaps becoming a
Slasher IS a psychic gift, just a despicable one. Even the most
revolutionary psychic scholars would be unlikely to classify it as a
legitimate psychic power.
However all Slashers begin as normal
people, and normal people have morals. Slashers don't kill just
anyone, they always begin by killing only the right type of
people. They only kill gang members, they kill for revenge, they kill
bums or prostitutes, or they kill people of an alien species they
don't like very much. But the more they kill, the farther their
standards degrade. Eventually Slashers become so numb they'll kill
almost anybody once their back is turned, retreat from any kind of
normal life, and become totally outcasted. Taking the mask off at
this point feels less like the real them then leaving it on.
Eventually the Slasher ceases to be a person at all- their house left
abandoned and they simply stalk the night. They still have territory
and lair they stalk, but they no longer can communicate or care about
anything but killing.
As Slashers kill, they become stronger.
This general level of strength isn't always constant, as Slashers can
become stronger against certain people by hunting them down and
increasing the fear and suffering they cause that person. Slashers
with 1 HD are barely starting out, and have limited abilities.
Slashers with 2-4 HD are legitimate slashers now, starting to lose
themselves or having already lost themselves to their persona. At
this point, even after you defeat a Slasher, you may not be able to
remove the mask from their face. It may be stitched or melded with
their face directly, overtaking their entire being. Slashers at this
point also start displaying their supernatural abilities such as
super stealth, disappearing when nobody is looking, and incredible
endurance; able to come back even after confirmed to be dead.
Slashers with 5-8 HD or more are truly terrors of the night, and have
an almost mythic reputation among the city's populace.
The Slasher's ability to come back from
the dead is their most fel power and what helps along their
immortality. Lesser Slashers of the 1-2 HD variety are simply tougher
then most people and are capable of coming back after a few stab
wounds or shotgun blasts. Unusual, but not impossible. Slashers of
the higher tiers of power break reality much more. These Slashers may
be able to recover incredible amounts of damage, even decapitation,
blowing them apart, or watching them burn to ash may not stop them.
At this stage they can return as a sort of semi-spirit, weakened but
still capable of killing and becoming stronger. Even stronger
Slashers may return fully corporeal immediately, or have a body that
regenerates itself as soon as it is damaged and put themselves back
together.
It is
still possible to end a Slasher; and a few madmen in Garden do it
regularly to make money or just to make the city a better place to
live. Defeating a Slasher requires the hunters to have no fear, and
to keep their family and friends safe as the Slasher will seek
revenge. While enough damage can kill lesser Slashers, more powerful
ones will require many repeated gruesome deaths to put down or one of
these advanced methods. Since one won't always cut it, using as many
as possible to finally end the beast once and for all is what most
Slasher hunters will do on their toughest adversaries.
The first way to
end a Slasher is to remind them of their humanity/alienanity. By
using one of the Slasher's still living family members or very close
friends as bait, the Slasher may hesitate before killing them, and in
that moment they become vulnerable to being put down for good. This
can backfire if the Slasher kills the bait target instead; losing
that last little attachment from the world will just make them even
more dangerous.
The second method
is to use a silver bullet trick. Many cultures in Garden come from
worlds with rumors about special or sacred weapons; Humans have
silver. Pink, eyeless Rhino people believe the Fingers of Isk'Kassa
has monster-killing powers. Ratlings have poison gas from a rare type
of weed in their world, and so on. These weapons ONLY work against
Slashers coming from the same culture and species; so if you wanted
to end a human Slasher you'd need to use a silver bullet. If this
weapon hits it will only work once, and reduce the Slasher's HD by
the damage dealt. If brought to zero or less HD, or if they are
weakened enough to be finished off by conventional weapons, then the
Slasher is finally defeated for good. It is also said that the
supernatural weapons or items beneath Garden in the service tunnels
may be extra effective against Slashers.
The third method
involves destroying the Slasher's connection to the world. Destroying
their lairs where they may store trophies or their victim's bodies,
extra weapons, and create dark altars is a good way to reduce their
connection to the physical world. Many Slashers leave behind their
first mask and weapon in their old dwelling as a normal person, as
well as sketches or diaries talking about their experiences at
becoming a Slasher. Destroying these will cause the Slasher physical
pain; but may draw their anger at you if it isn't enough to remove
them from the world. You'll have to destroy their body again once
their fetters are gone to send them to where they cannot return.
The final method
involves psychic powers. Psychic probing of the Slasher's mind will
only find a black hole of despair and evil that causes 1d6 psychic
stress to the psychic that attempted to read the Slasher's mind; but
Psychic attacks can cause damage on the Slasher's seemingly magical
abilities. Extremely powerful reality warping psychics may be the
only answer to the most powerful Slashers. The most famous Slasher of
Garden, the Headsman, who chopped off and collected heads for his
various collections was ended by a reality warper. Since the Headsman
preferred to take the heads of powerful individuals, he hunted a
reality warper. When detected, the reality warper simply erased the
Headsman from existence, which ended his reign of terror once and for
all. But there are still rumors to this day of decapitated corpses
and mounted heads; some believe the Headsman managed to come back
from even this and is stalking the night once again.
Roll once in each
category.
Slasher's Mask
– 1d12
[1] Made
of grass and leaves, two soulless slits for the eyes.
[2]
Gas Mask.
[3]
Bucket. Metal shards welded on to make spiky.
[4]
Iron tragedy mask. Random expression.
[5]
Minimalist rubber mask. Small mouth and eye holes, black cloth around
head.
[6]
Cardboard box. The faded logo is of an offworld company.
[7]
Leather mask made from a face of a random alien species. -1 to hit if
you're of that species.
[8]
Upper skull of a strange and feared creature from outside the city's
walls.
[9]
Wears a large hood that obscures face with supernatural darkness.
[10]
Carved, painted wooden head that mimics a random animal or alien
animal.
[11]
Motorcycle Helmet.
[12]
Chainmail veil.
Slasher's Lair – 1d12
[1]
Windowless white hover-van. Never seems to drive anywhere, just shows
up.
[2]
The service tunnels beneath the city. The tunnel's inhabitants seem
amused by these antics.
[3]
Stores all of its victims' bodies in a large black dumpster until it
is found.
[4]
Old scary complex out in the wilderness made of rusty alien-world
shipping containers.
[5]
Cluttered house. Multiple booby traps and tunnels in the garbage.
[6]
Tin shack built on the roof of a skyscraper. Uses the “out of
order” elevator.
[7]
Uses a half sunken boat in Garden's water district. Air pockets are
within.
[8]
Abandoned slaughterhouse. Bioluminescent flowers grow along the blood
gutters.
[9]
Lives in a mysterious red subway car in Garden's subway system.
Common superstition means almost nobody except new immigrants use
that car.
[10]
Abandoned wing of a still active shopping mall. Entrance boarded up,
little trails of money, candy, or bullets try to lure people into the
dark lair.
[11]
Lives in a back ally, sewer tunnel, or under a bridge; walls nearby
are totally covered with spooky scratches from the Slasher's weapon.
[12]
Random apartment. Strangely spares little old lady next door
neighbor, and even leaves her gifts of fabric and jewelry from the
murdered victims. She'd be devastated if she knew.
Slasher's Iconic Weapon – 1d12
[1]
Big butcher's cleaver. Has several smaller ones hanging from the
belt.
[2]
Pitchfork or heavy metal rake.
[3]
Giant power drill. Used to drill in massive screws in constructions
by big aliens.
[4]
Giant wire cutters. Used to cut the giant metal wires by Garden's
power industry.
[5]
Punching fist circular-saw blades. By squeezing the handles can make
the blades spin.
[6]
Hover Chainsaw. Same as chainsaw, but uses hover tech to make chain
rotate.
[7]
Very goddamn big kitchen knife.
[8]
Rusted long 'toothed' saw fashioned into a sword.
[9]
Axe of alien design. Strangely organicly shaped, but still functions
perfectly well.
[10]
Lead pipe with sharpened end. When people get stabbed, blood flows
out the other end.
[11]
Super Nailgun. Fires whatever is loaded into chamber when pressed
against victims. Shards of glass, long wooden splinters, rebar pipe,
etc.
[12]
Giant sack of coins. Likes to take one coin from each victim; gets
mad and brutalizes corpse if they aren't carrying any.
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