Backer Draft Manuscript Part 6

– Adversaries –

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constitute a challenge to the respective copyright holders of that material. “Curseborne” and all
characters, names, places, and text herein are copyrighted by Onyx Path Publishing.
Adversaries
You possess the power to change yourself and the world around you. You possess the ability to take your
curse and turn it into a weapon. You can overcome your Accursed nature.
Or at least, that would feel like a possibility if there wasn’t a legion of unrepenting horrors and fallen
fiends — some of them Accursed just like you — trying to hamstring your growth, make you pay for all
your horrific mistakes, and cut short your life.
You are a monster, but there’re always more terrifying beings out there, lurking in the dark, watching and
waiting for you to stumble so they can take advantage.
Monsters aren’t all unthinking and unfeeling. You may find strange bedfellows among the other
supernaturals, but always consider the question: Are you friends because one of you is manipulating,
sabotaging, or simply feeding from the other?
The following adversaries are presented to help the Storyguide populate their world and as examples of
the dangerous denizens that exist in Curseborne.

Adversary Templates
Unlike characters, adversaries use a simplified set of traits to allow the Storyguide ease of management
and decision-making. We use simplified templates that scale at different power levels and give a few
important actions the adversary is good at, and everything else is abstracted. In order from most
comprehensible to most cosmically horrifying, they are Shiver, Fright, Terror, Nightmare, and the more
environmentally affecting Shattered Space.
Primary Pool: The adversary’s primary pool is what it’s best at. Every adversary has a couple of actions
listed here, which are narrow categories in which it will use its primary pool or take actions in.
Secondary Pool: The adversary’s secondary pool is what it is next best at. Every adversary has a couple
of actions listed here, which are narrow categories in which it will use its secondary pool or take actions
in.
Desperation Pool: The desperation pool is for everything else. This should be half the primary pool,
rounded down.
Enhancements: Adversaries have access to Enhancements on certain actions, just like characters. This
section lists the actions which gain Enhancement and how much. Weaker characters shouldn’t gain more
than 1 or 2 Enhancements total, stronger characters shouldn’t have more than 5 or 6 Enhancements
overall, and they should never have more than 3 Enhancement to any one action.
Defense: Adversaries do not roll for Defense. Instead, this number is a static number that serves as the
difficulty to hit the adversary. This should be 1 for the weakest adversaries and no more than 3 for
difficult adversaries.
Integrity: Adversaries similarly do not roll for Integrity against influence actions. Integrity should be no
more than 1 for weak adversaries or 3 for challenging adversaries.
Injuries: Adversaries have injuries, but not Injury Levels like the players’ characters. Otherwise, injuries
work the same way. An “easy to knock out” category only has 1, while others range from 4–10. Above
that, armor, Qualities, or Advantages reflect the sturdiness of bigger monsters.
Armor: If the adversary has armor, it is stated here. If the armor is magical or elemental in nature, it will
be denoted as such.
Initiative: The adversary’s initiative trait should be equal to its desperation pool.
Qualities: Qualities are always on abilities that modify the adversary to make it unique.
Dread Powers: Dread Powers are much like spells and powers that characters have access to, but
simplified.
Special: Some adversaries have unique perks or ad hoc rules to reinforce their identity.

Shiver
Shivers are the hench people and sapient pests in the employ of larger, more dangerous foes. Shivers are
rarely a challenge for the protagonists unless they attack in large numbers. They have often been
manipulated or cursed into service, and act as obstacles to slow the protagonists down, or barriers and
shields to protect the true horrors directing them.
Primary Pool: 6
Secondary Pool: 4
Desperation Pool: 3
Enhancements: 0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 3
Qualities: 0-3
Dread Powers: 0-3

Fright
Frights distinguish themselves by dominating those around them or earning power and reputation. They
bully or charm Shivers into following them, clashing with the Accursed while standing out among their
minions as more vicious and menacing. A zombie Fright might be stitched together from multiple
corpses, or full of dangerous gases and ready to burst. A ghostly Fright visits the dreams of its victims and
twists them into nightmares, causing them to wake up covered in wounds... or not wake up at all.
Primary Pool: 8
Secondary Pool: 6
Desperation Pool: 4
Enhancements: 1
Defense: 2
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 4
Armor: 0-3
Initiative: 4
Qualities: 1-4
Dread Powers: 1-4

Terror
Terrors are big deal adversaries, which should be named and given distinct personalities and drives. They
are often directing the masses that oppose the Accursed or manipulate the story in the background.
Terrors have Shivers and Frights serving as their lackeys and right hands and gleefully throw them into
the meatgrinder if it allows their own, personal, survival.
Primary Pool: 10
Secondary Pool: 8
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: 2
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 1-3 (Two tags chosen from the armor tags on p. XX)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: 1-5
Dread Powers: 1-5

Nightmare
Nightmares are the ultimate monstrosities of Curseborne and are capable of taking on an entire party of
Accursed. They are often great and cosmic beings brought into play through intensive ritual and forbidden
magic, or incredibly powerful Accursed who have turned on their families. They are the things of whisper
and rumor and have the power to live up to all of the horrifying legends surrounding their reputations.
Primary Pool: 12
Secondary Pool: 10
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: 3
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 0-3 (Two tags chosen from the armor tags on p. XX)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: 1-6
Dread Powers: 1-6
Special: Nightmare adversaries typically have at least one arena in which they possess
Advantage.
Shattered Space
Shattered Spaces are a special adversary type as they represent places and concepts and not entities
(though certainly a fiendish entity could empower them). They use a modified Terror template but interact
differently. Accursed cannot ordinarily engage in combat with Shattered Spaces but instead must meet a
set of specific criteria to defeat them, so while they possess Injuries, it’s unlikely that Injuries will drop as
a result of being shot, stabbed, or set on fire. Instead, rituals, appeasement, exorcisms, and other such
practices typically reduce Injuries on a basis unique to the Shattered Space.
Any adversary Qualities or Dread Powers that typically target an individual Accursed work differently for
Shattered Spaced. They can target multiple characters simultaneously whenever they use an ability that
would normally target a single character.
Shattered Spaces fall dormant once their Injuries reach 0, but normally require a special rite to destroy
them entirely.
Primary Pool: 10
Secondary Pool: 8
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: 2
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7-11
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: 1-6
Dread Powers: 1-6
Special: Shattered Spaces typically have at least one arena in which they possess Advantage.
Almost all Shattered Spaces possess the Invulnerability (p. XX) and Vulnerability (p. XX)
Qualities, as few can be destroyed except through specific circumstances.

Qualities
Each adversary comes with a set of Qualities that makes them formidable opponents for the Accursed.
These Qualities occasionally mimic the Accursed’s own abilities, but others are unique adversary effects.
Qualities are passive abilities that do not require activation.
Adversaries do not require special Qualities to enable movement. Instead, they can move on foot, burrow
through the earth, swim, or fly as their form dictates or the Storyguide sees fit.

Attentive
The adversary is extraordinarily difficult to take by surprise. All actions to avoid its attention face a Major
Complication. Failure to buy it off alerts the adversary that something’s amiss despite not noticing the
character, and it will investigate the general area. Additionally, attempts to evade its pursuit or lead it on a
false trail are made at a +1 difficulty.
If the adversary is supernatural, this grants it the ability to provoke clashes against anyone in any form of
invisibility or in incorporeal form using the adversary’s primary pool.
Baleful Touch
One of the adversary’s attacks, like the Nuckelavee’s corrosive breath or Mr. Purple’s scorching touch,
lingers beyond the initial contact and harms its victims further. Characters take 1 additional damage from
this attack.
When Frights and higher adversaries use this Quality, the target suffers 1 automatic damage on their
following turn. For Terrors, Nightmares, and Shattered Spaces, the effect persists even further (the victim
catches fire; the acid keeps chewing through their flesh…), causing 1 damage each round until the
character or their allies spend a simple action to counter its effects.

Clingy
Whether through multiple limbs, an engulfing anatomy, or stranger features such as gravitational powers
or time magic, the adversary locks their enemies into place with ease. The Break-up Grapple, Overwhelm,
and Disengage Tricks cost 1 additional hit to be purchased against adversaries with this Quality. This
Quality has two versions: aggressive and defensive.
With the aggressive version, the Establish Grapple Trick is reduced to 0 hits.
With the defensive version, all Close Combat actions against the adversary suffer a Minor Complication.
Failure to buy it off results in the adversary grappling the character.
The Quality can be picked multiple times to grant the adversary both versions.

Curse Leech
Within medium range of this adversary, any Accursed ability requiring bled curse dice instead requires 1
additional bled curse die.

Deadly Aura
The adversary radiates with a hazardous aura, such as fire or extreme cold. Inanimate objects suffer the
aura’s effects as appropriate, but characters within close range incur a Minor Complication on all their
actions. Failure to buy off the Complication results in 1 damage or a fitting status effect.
For Terrors and Shattered Spaces, the Complication becomes Moderate. For Nightmares, the
Complication becomes Major, and the aura affects everything within short range.

Energy Vacuum
Anyone within medium range of this adversary immediately suffers either the Exhausted or Slowed status
effect (chosen when gaining this Quality). For as long as the character remains within range, this status
effect resolves only if they lash out (verbally or physically) against another character within the same
range. If they exit this range, they retain the status effect but may resolve it normally.

Extraordinary Speed
The adversary gains 1 Speed Advantage when engaged in a chase.

Exposing
Anyone within medium range of this adversary immediately suffers the Deprived status effect. For as
long as the character remains within range, this status effect only resolves if they consume the flesh or
blood of another character within the same range. If they exit this range, they retain the status effect but
may resolve it normally.
Feral
Whether ferocious or docile, the adversary’s mind is alien to the characters’ thought processes. Influence
actions against it incur a Major Complication, where failure to buy it off indicates the creature reacts
badly, misinterprets orders, or forces a hard bargain instead.

Frightening Presence
Both people and animals see the adversary as a threat not to be provoked, providing 1 Social Advantage
when intimidating others, and imposing the Terrified status effect when it successfully frightens a target.
Mundane people and Shivers flee from the adversaries at the mere sight of them.

Fury
When reduced to half its injuries or lower, the adversary gains 1 Power Advantage for the remainder of
the scene, even if it subsequently heals above half its injuries.

Hopeless Scenario
Anyone within medium range of this adversary immediately suffers the Crestfallen status effect. For as
long as the character remains within range, this status effect resolves only if they pass on the status effect
to another character. If they exit this range, they retain the status effect but may resolve it normally.

Immunity
Choose a single source of damage, such as toxins, fire, electricity, and so on. The adversary doesn’t suffer
damage from this source. This Quality can be applied up to three times.

Incorporeal
The adversary has a ghostly body and cannot be damaged by ordinary means. It can also pass through
solid objects, walls, and other obstructions. When you choose this Quality, select at least one source of
damage that the adversary is vulnerable to while incorporeal. Nonphysical attacks, such as spells with the
Emotional, Ethereal, and Psychic spells always ignore this Quality.

Invulnerability
Prerequisite: Vulnerability
The adversary loses injuries only when hurt by the source picked for its Vulnerability Quality, which
should be specific but open enough for all players’ characters to exploit. Fire or poisons are common,
valid options.

Labyrinthine
Anyone within medium range of this adversary immediately suffers the Confused status effect. For as
long as the character remains within range, this status effect resolves only if they follow one of the
adversary’s commands (subtle or direct). If they exit this range, they retain the status effect but may
resolve it normally. A player can choose to ignore the influence completely, which grants the influencing
adversary +2 Enhancement on their next action against her.

Life Drain
Anyone within short range of this adversary suffers 1 unavoidable damage per round, for as long as they
remain within this range. A character sharing this range with another can choose to take damage intended
for that character. A character cannot force another to pass on damage; it must be given willingly.
Locked Door
This adversary is immune to acts of bodily possession from creatures that can use spells to inhabit and
control their form, such as the Dead. This Quality confers no additional defense against acts of mental or
emotional control from acts of hypnotism, influence, and other forms of coercion.

Malleable
The adversary possesses a pliable body or lacks any skeletal structure to speak of. It can slip through
cracks and crevices effortlessly, though depending on the difference between its size and the width of the
passage, the movement could count as a simple action rather than a reflexive one.

Natural Weapon
The antagonist is a natural predator and has some form of natural weapon that they can always use even
when unarmed. These weapons can never be disarmed. Each time this Quality is chosen, pick a tag to
apply to the weapons from the following: Brutal, Deadly, Piercing, Poisoned, Reach, Returning,
Stunning, Wounding, or Wrecking.

Noxious Blood
Acid, mercury, or another hazardous substance runs through the adversary’s veins. Characters who attack
it in close range must buy off a Complication to avoid taking 1 injury.
For Shivers and Frights, the Complication is Minor, for Terrors it’s Moderate, and for Nightmares it’s
Major. Shattered Spaces cannot have this Quality.

Reanimation
When you choose this Quality, pick a specific method or tool. Unless killed by the chosen method, the
adversary returns to life after the session ends. Common options to counter this Quality include fire,
beheading, or complete body destruction. Some adversaries follow other criteria, such as a limited
number of resurrections or specific conditions.

Regeneration
Prerequisite: Vulnerability
The adversary regains 1 injury at the start of each round, up to its maximum. The adversary still dies if
reduced to 0 injuries unless otherwise specified. When picking this Quality, choose a single source for a
Vulnerability where Regeneration does not apply.
Nightmares regain 2 injuries each round. At Storyguide’s discretion, Terror, Shattered Space, and
Nightmare adversaries regain injuries even when reduced to 0, unless they’ve taken damage in
accordance with their weakness since their last turn.

Split
Upon death, the adversary divides into two smaller versions of itself, or components of the original (i.e., a
cultist of the scuttling tongue becomes a crawling tongue and a homicidal human). The creatures share the
same Qualities and Dread Powers as their progenitor, but their template lowers by one step. Once reduced
to Shiver, the adversary loses this Quality and all Dread Powers for which they no longer meet the
prerequisites.
If this adversary possesses the Vulnerability Quality and is slain via these means, the adversary doesn’t
split.
Spread Infection
Choose a vector for the infection when picking this Quality. Whenever the adversary attacks with that
vector, it gains access to the following combat Trick:
Infect (2 hits): The target must succeed on a Survival action against a difficulty 1 or gain the Infection
status effect. Circumstances such as Dread Powers or area effects my increase the difficulty of the
Survival action.

Unusual Anatomy
The adversary’s biology demonstrates extraordinary resistance to all sorts of stress, to the point it’s
questionable to define it as “living.” Increase the cost to purchase the Critical Trick by 1 hit for all non-
spell altered attacks.
The Storyguide can also use this Quality to represent undead, artificial, or otherworldly creatures,
choosing whether the adversary ages and if it needs to breathe, sleep, or eat.

Vulnerability
Choose a sensation, behavior, substance, or source of damage. When the adversary takes any physical
action in the presence of their vulnerability, they suffer a Moderate Complication that if not bought off
causes them to flee or sets their Defense to 0. The adversary suffers 1 additional damage from all attacks
or hazards related to this vulnerability, and cannot regenerate in its presence.

Dread Powers
Where Qualities represent innate features requiring no conscious effort to manifest, Dread Powers are
terrible effects the adversary chooses to activate. Some require the wielder to have a specific template
rating or higher (Fright/Terror/Nightmare/Shattered Space) before they can be used.
While some Dread Powers are simple actions triggered just as player actions are, others are reactionary
responses. For example, some adversaries may have a self-destructive Dread Power that only activates
when they’re reduced to 0 or 1 injury. A creature may respond to social manipulation with a hypnotic
assault but would not do the same against a physical strike.
These reactions are represented as Complications on an action against the adversary. If the acting
character fails to buy off the Complication, then the adversary’s Dread Power manifests. If they do buy
off the Complication, they successfully divert or defend against the power. Either way, that instance of
the Dread Power is used up. Adversaries may have multiple instances of a Dread Power available for use
each scene. Once they’ve used this Dread Power the stated number of times, they cannot activate it again
in the same scene. At the start of the next scene, these figures are replenished unless a power blocks this
recovery from taking place.
Complications on Shiver and Fright Dread Powers are Minor, Terror and Shattered Space Dread Powers
are Moderate, and Nightmare Dread Powers are Major.
Many Dread Powers impose status effects and area effects that can be bought off in the ways described
under each effect. They also end if the adversary leaves the scene (voluntarily or not) or the scene ends.
Dread powers are broken down in the following way:
Prerequisite: This indicates if the Dread Power requires a certain adversary template to use. If any
template can use this power, this line will be missing.
Injuries: Some Dread Powers require an adversary to be at certain injuries levels to activate. Full
requires the adversary to have taken no damage. Half (round down if they have an odd number of
injuries) requires their injuries to be at half its value or lower. The last is 1 remaining, which means the
adversary must be down to their last injury.
Type: This indicates if the Dread Power is a reaction or an action the adversary takes. For example, a
specific attack will be denoted as Simple Action, while a reaction to a melee attack will be denoted as
Complication (Melee).

Actions
The following Dread Powers are actions that the adversary may take on their turn.

Cannibalize
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Simple Action
The adversary can absorb and project an Accursed’s power back at them. If it successfully inflicts 1
damage in close combat, the adversary gains access to one (Storyguide’s choice) of the character’s spells
and denies the character access to their spell until it’s used, the adversary is dead, or the scene ends. If this
spell has a dice pool requirement for use, the adversary uses their primary pool to activate it. The
adversary never has to hold or bleed curse dice to activate spells. The absorbed spell can be used once
within the scene and must be absorbed again for a subsequent use. For each new use of this Dread Power,
the adversary can steal a different spell.

Consume
Type: Reflexive Action
The adversary consumes the curse inside its victims to sustain its own life. On a successful close combat
attack, it can regain 1 injury by eating a generous handful of their enemy. Adversaries express this Dread
Power in different ways, such as devouring blood, brains, and souls.
If using this Dread Power would bring the adversary’s injuries above its maximum, the creature gains a
+1 Enhancement on all actions for the remainder of the scene, with successive instances raising it up to
+3.
For Terrors and higher, Consume applies to all the adversary’s ranged attacks as well. For Nightmares,
when the adversary uses Consume on a target for the first time in a scene, it gains 1 Power Advantage.

Elemental Teleportation
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Move Action
When picking this power, select a natural element the adversary relates to, like fire or ice. The adversary
may teleport from an instance of this element in close range to one within long range of it. If that element
is covering the area, such as a frosty cave or a lightning storm, the adversary can move instantly to
whatever range band they wish.

Entangle
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Simple Action
Through silky webs, lashing roots, shadowy tendrils, or other means, the adversary can immobilize their
opponents. The adversary applies the Overgrowth area effect centered on itself out to medium range.

Initiative Leapfrog
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Injuries: Half
Type: Simple Action
The adversary can interrupt the flow of initiative, acting immediately even if the preceding player chose a
different character to act next. After they take their action, the adversary must pass initiative to the
character who was originally going to act on that turn.

Invert Gravity
Prerequisite: Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Simple Action
The adversary can alter the gravity in the Area. Terrors afflict every target in the Area with the Slowed
status effect. Nightmares and Shattered Spaces may do the same, or afflict the Area with the Demolished
area effect, with each target taking 1 damage per round until the area effect is bought off.

Materialize
Prerequisite: Incorporeal Quality
Type: Simple Action
For the remainder of the scene, the adversary phases into material form, becoming able to physically
affect other beings without the use of Dread Powers, but likewise losing its immunity to mundane
damage.

Merge
Type: Simple Action
The adversary longs to become part of a bigger self. It can fuse with another consenting creature. This
action cannot be mixed with any other. While the exact nature of the resultant entity varies, the monster
thus created is a whole new creature a template higher than its strongest component (up to Nightmare),
with full injuries and all the Qualities and Dread Powers of its parts.

Potion Junkie
Prerequisite: Shiver, Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Simple Action
When this adversary appears in a scene, they always have one (Shivers), two (Frights), three (Terrors), or
four (Nightmares) potions prepared, the consumption of which takes a reflexive action and allows them to
emulate an Accursed spell. This potion may be drinkable, inhalable, injectable, or edible, depending on its
form.
If the emulated spell has a dice pool requirement for use, the adversary uses their primary pool to activate
it. The adversary never has to bleed or hold curse dice to activate the potion. The emulated spell can be
used once per potion, though different potions on the same adversary may contain different spells.

Puppeteer
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Simple Action
The adversary crawls inside an inanimate item or corpse, commanding it from within like a puppet. For
all purposes, the adversary appears to be truly whatever skin it has chosen. Attempts to discern its true
nature are at +1 difficulty.
The adversary must have the Incorporeal Quality to use this Dread Power on targets smaller than it.

Shapeshift
Type: Simple Action
The adversary changes their body to resemble another creature or individual. The transformation results
are perfect and undetectable, although characters who have reason to doubt can expose the truth with an
Empathy action against the adversary’s Integrity. While the adversary maintains their dice pools,
Qualities, and Dread Powers when transformed, the Storyguide can grant it additional Qualities to reflect
its new shape.
Adversaries with this Dread Power can only transform into creatures of equal or smaller size. Returning
to the adversary’s original shape is a reflexive action and does not take up a Dread Power use. While
Shapeshift allows one to turn both into animals and people, some adversaries are limited to a category.

Shared Ability
Type: Simple Action
The adversary can extend one of their Qualities to a willing compatriot (or more rarely, a neutral or
antagonistic party). When Shivers share a Quality, they sacrifice their own access to it for the remainder
of the scene. Frights and above retain access to their Qualities.

Telekinesis
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Simple Action
The adversary can lift and move objects with the power of their mind. When picking this Dread Power,
select a maximum range between close and medium. The creature can physically manipulate targets
within that range, with the possibility to use mental dice pools instead of physical ones to exert their will.
At the Storyguide’s discretion, the adversary can use Telekinesis to roll a ranged attack action. If the
attack connects, the adversary inflicts no injuries and can only purchase the Establish Grapple Trick with
their hits, but the grapple continues until the creature has control.

Trample
Type: Simple Action
The adversary charges at its opponents violently. As part of a rush movement, the creature may purchase
the Shockwave Trick for 1 hit. Unlike a normal rush, Trample can be used even if the adversary starts at
short or close range.
Reactions
The following Dread Powers are always reactionary, only triggering when a character takes the specified
type of action against the antagonist and apply a Complication to that action. The severity of the
Complication is determined by the adversary template (Shiver and Fright: Minor, Terror and Shattered
Space: Moderate, Nightmare: Major).

Alter Environment
Prerequisite: Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary suddenly warps the Area’s environmental conditions. Apply one of the following area
effects to the entire area: Aflame, Darkness, Demolished, Extreme Temperature, Extreme Weather,
Flooding, Overgrowth, Quaking, Sinking, or Underwater.
Further activations of this Dread Power can create cumulative conditions, but opposing circumstances
may counter each other. A tunnel suddenly exposed to flooding may see that water flow rapidly freeze if
the temperature then drops by 50 degrees.

Attitude Adjustment
Type: Complication (Influence)
The adversary can supernaturally coerce a shift in a Storyguide character’s attitude toward the
protagonist. With a simple, nerve-touching phrase, the adversary shifts an attitude from positive to
negative or vice versa, with the attitude resetting when the scene ends (unless the Accursed does
something to justify the new attitude toward them).

Banishment
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary can compel a character of a specified Lineage to move away from them. An adversary may
possess this Dread Power multiple times for different Lineages. Frights can force a character to move one
range band, Terrors can force a character to move up to two range bands, and Nightmares and Shattered
Spaces can force a character to move up to three range bands away. The retreating character has control
over their direction, and can return once they’ve traveled the required distance.

Bend Minds
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Influence)
The adversary invades their victim’s thoughts, forcing them to do its bidding. The adversary implants a
single suggestion in the target’s mind. If the latter accepts the influence, they must act upon the order
during their next turn or at their earliest convenience when outside of combat.
Orders such as “attack your friend” and “jump off the bridge” are valid options, but protagonists gain a +3
Enhancement on their Integrity action against directly suicidal orders. A player can choose to ignore the
influence completely, which grants the influencing adversary +2 Enhancement on its next action against
them.
For Nightmares and Shattered Spaces, this Dread Power forces a villainous Aspiration on a target which,
if accepted, grants experience as usual when accomplished. Shattered Spaces can reach targets within
medium range of their location.

Binding Fetish
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Influence)
The adversary can lock a target in short range to a fetish within the same range. The target is bound to
remain within short range of the fetish.
Bound characters cannot directly harm their adversary, but they can still communicate, attack others in
range, or use Accursed abilities. If the character is inside an object, they can still think and use abilities
not dependent on physicality or verbal communication.
The binding ends when the adversary wills it, if the adversary is reduced to 1 injury (or lower), if a
different Dread Power or effect compels the target to move away from the object (such as the Banishment
Dread Power), or if the fetish is destroyed.

Defensive Rebuke
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
Whether peaceful, pitiful, awe-inspiring, or intimidating, the adversary’s mere looks discourage people
from hurting them. The attacking character refuses to attack the adversary again this scene unless they can
buy off a Complication (Frights: Minor, Terrors: Moderate, Nightmares: Major) or unless it attacks them
first. If a character successfully buys off the Complication from this Dread Power, it cannot be used
against them again this scene.

Desperate Surge
Type: Complication (Any Influence)
This adversary changes their weakness into a strength when the Accursed attempts to humiliate or
manipulate them. The adversary can now, on one subsequent action, use their primary pool in place of
their desperation pool to accomplish any action.

Devastating Blow
Prerequisite: Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Injuries: Half
Type: Complication (Melee)
The adversary hits a character so hard that she immediately gains the Taken Out status effect. As
examples of this power, a giant bat may swoop down and kidnap a character, while a Sorcerer might
magically pull a house down on top of another. This Taken Out status effect can be resolved by another
character assisting the target (such as rescuing a kidnapped character, or pulling them from the rubble).

The Devil’s Mark

Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Complication (Melee)
If the adversary makes a successful hit, they can use this Dread Power to replace any damage from this
attack with the Devil’s Mark. This Dread Power grants all adversaries +1 Enhancement when tracking
and attacking the target. For Frights, the Devil’s Mark lasts for the scene’s duration, or until the
Enhancement is used. For Terrors and Nightmares, the effects last the story’s duration, or until the
Enhancement is used. This Dread Power can be used up to three times on the same target, the
Enhancement stacking to a maximum of +3. Adversaries can always sense that an individual with the
Devil’s Mark is nearby, even if they’re not actively seeking one of the Accursed. A character cannot
simultaneously be subject to the same adversary’s use of the Devil’s Mark Dread Power and the Fuel for
the Fire Dread Power.

Devour
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Melee)
The adversary swallows their prey whole. While inside the adversary, the target can only make an
Athletics action against difficulty 1 for Frights, 2 for Terrors, and 3 for Nightmares and Shattered Spaces
to escape. Failure to escape inflicts 1 damage on the swallowed character. Each injury the antagonist
suffers in the same turn lowers the difficulty to escape by 1, to a minimum of 1.
Most adversaries can devour only creatures of smaller size, but exceptions exist.

Discorporate
Injuries: 1
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary breaks down into a myriad of components and tries to escape. Ghosts might turn into
motes of ephemeral energy, while other creatures could turn into a vermin swarm and scatter away. The
adversary is under the effects of the Incorporeal Quality for purposes of seeing, pursuing, and damaging
it. If any component flees, the adversary returns to life at any point after the current scene, at the
Storyguide’s discretion.

Dreadful Gaze
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Influence)
The adversary’s stare freezes their victim in place. The actual cause and effect may vary, applying either
the Awed or Immobilized status effect: a gorgon may petrify its victims, while those captivated by an
incubus are overwhelmed with lust. In any case, the target can’t break from the creature’s stare.
If the adversary takes a mixed action, moves further than short range, takes any damage, or otherwise
loses eye contact, its target is freed. The target must be able to see the adversary, otherwise the power has
no effect.
For Terrors, Nightmares, and Shattered Spaces, the adversary can inflict any one of the Awed, Exhausted,
Immobilized, or Stunned status effects on its target when activating this power.

Elusive Shape
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary transforms into liquid or gas, allowing it to escape dangers. For the purposes of attacks and
movement, the adversary counts as having the Incorporeal Quality. It can return to its original shape with
a simple action. When picking this power, select a source of damage, such as an element or tag. Attacks
from this source can deal damage to the adversary, and once it has suffered enough damage to exceed its
Defense, it becomes solid once again.

Exorcism
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary can force a possessing target within short range to abandon its current host form. Where
the adversary is a Fright or Terror, the exorcism affects the target on their next turn. Where the adversary
is a Nightmare or Shattered Space, the exorcism can instead be immediate. The target cannot return to
that body in the same scene and is expelled to close range from its prior host. Excised entities gain the
Dazed status effect on the round they leave their host body.

Explosive Demise
Injuries: 1
Type: Complication (Any Attack) or Simple Action
Even when defeated, the adversary has one last surprise for their enemies. The adversary immediately
explodes, dealing 1 damage to all characters within close range and benefiting from the Piercing tag.
An adversary may use this Dread Power as a simple action before reaching 1 injury to immediately
explode, dropping to 0 in the process.

Fuel for the Fire

Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Type: Complication (Melee)
If the adversary makes a successful hit, they can use this Dread Power to replace any damage from this
attack with the following effect: the adversary steals a snatch of hair, a fingernail, or sliver of skin. With
this component gains +3 Enhancement on their next action opposing the targeted character. For Frights,
Fuel for the Fire lasts for the scene’s duration, or until the Enhancement is used. For Terrors and
Nightmares, the effects last for the story’s duration, or until the Enhancement is used. This Dread Power
can only target a character once, after which the Enhancement must be used before the Dread Power can
target them again. A character cannot simultaneously be subject to the same adversary’s use of the
Devil’s Mark Dread Power and the Fuel for the Fire Dread Power.

Hypnotize
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary’s presence charms and beguiles those who interact with it. The character immediately
suffers from one of the following status effects, chosen at the time of the hypnotism: Ennui, Frayed
Temper, Guilt-Ridden, or Sleeping Pills.

Illusions
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary creates vivid, almost tangible illusions that grant the adversary +1 Durability Advantage
against attacks. They may be magical or technological in nature: phantasmal simulacra and credible
virtual reality environments are each possible. Piercing an illusion requires an Empathy or Esoterica
action against the adversary’s Integrity. In a Battleground, each illusion summoned has the traits of their
summoner with half their injuries rounded up. They can physically attack protagonists.

Infective Eruption
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare
Injuries: 1
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary tears itself apart and exposes those nearby to a virulent strain of its infection. Some
creatures’ bodies rupture into a mass of grubs, while others unleash a nauseating rain of blood and
corrupted flesh. The adversary dies, but every character up to short range suffers +2 difficulty resisting
infection (see the Spread Infection Quality, p. XX) and, if they fail, immediately begin their Infection at
level 2.
This power can be activated with the Discorporate Dread Power, in which case the adversary avoids death
should any of its components survive.

Jinx
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary places a curse on the protagonist due to their most recent action inflicting the Unlucky
status effect.

Leap
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary moves two range bands in a single bound, be it an impressive jump, an eldritch blink, or
any other means of sudden movement. If this happens following a ranged attack, the adversary may use
Leap to close the distance with their attacker.

Obsessive Urge
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary has a way of getting inside the head of its target and compelling them to repeat the same
action over and over, whether that action be firing bullets into the same body, reloading the same website
for an update that never comes, or uttering the same sentence. The target suffers the Immobilized and
Confused status effects simultaneously, with the distinction that they can move and act — but only within
the adversary’s prescribed pattern. For all other purposes they’re immobile and addled. The character is
compelled to repeat the same action in each subsequent turn until they overcome both status effects.

Possession
Type: Complication (Melee)
The adversary takes over the attacker’s mind and wears their body. The adversary chooses the attacker’s
next action and uses the higher dice pool between the host’s and its own for actions. The character can
refuse this possession as with any other influence action, granting the adversary +2 Enhancement on their
next action against the character.
Terror adversaries choose the character’s next two actions. Nightmares choose the character’s next three
actions.

Pull
Type: Complication (Any Action)
With a fiery whip, grabbing tendril, gravitational clutch, or any other method, the adversary drags its
victim right into their grasp. The attacker is moved two range bands closer to the adversary.

Read Minds
Type: Complication (Influence)
The character reveals too much of their inner mind when interacting with the adversary. The adversary
learns an important piece of information about the character, such as a short-term Aspiration, her worst
fear, the name of her patron, or the name of a loved one.

Spawn
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary summons a number of Shivers equal to the player characters involved in the scene. The
Shivers’ Qualities are left to Storyguide’s discretion. Shivers may be summoned magically or physically
to the scene, depending on the nature of the adversary and their Spawn. For example, a host of parasites
spews grubs within close range of itself, while an alarmed safe draws guards from an outpost at long
range from its location.

Spirit Away
Prerequisite: Terror, Nightmare
Injuries: Half
Type: Complication (Grapple)
The adversary locks its unfortunate victims into its grasp and drags them to another realm. This power
opens a portal to any location, regardless of distance. The portal remains open for the rest of the scene.
Creatures often have a specific place or single general location assigned to this power, like their lair or a
certain Battleground. Both the adversary and the target are no longer in the Area of the initial attack, and
are considered Taken Out until followed.

Sundering Impulse
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary releases a disruptive manifestation of power that breaks their opponents’ equipment, like a
destructive burst of freezing cold, an EMP, or a vicious curse. Choose one item that breaks. It must be
repaired with an Artistry, Science, or Technology action before it can be used again.

Terrible Howl
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Influence)
The adversary’s voice leaves the target shaken. As with Dreadful Gaze, the origin and effect may vary,
applying the Terrified status effect. Unlike Dreadful Gaze, the target isn’t locked in place, but instead
compelled to flee.
For Terrors, Nightmares, and Shattered Spaces, the adversary can inflict either the Dazed or Terrified
status effects on its target when activating this power.

Time Reversal
Prerequisite: Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Action)
The adversary has limited control over the flow of time and is able to rewind time to the start of the
present round. Every character affected has a subconscious inkling of what has occurred, but only the
adversary who used the Dread Power is fully aware of its activation. The adversary resets their physical
position and that of all other characters present to where they were at the round start. Every character who
acted previously can choose new actions, as they are not bound to the actions of a single timeline. This
Dread Power can only be used by an adversary once per round.

Unholy Onslaught
Prerequisite: Fright, Terror, Nightmare, Shattered Space
Type: Complication (Any Attack)
The adversary unleashes a burst of energy channeled from a Battleground and through their body. The
elemental storm typically manifests as a distorted reflection of a Sorcerer or Outcast’s magical powers,
such as tendrils of twisting darkness or scourging light no mundane mortal could withstand. This power
takes the shape of a ranged attack action with two tags chosen from the Brutal, Painful, Stunning, and
Wounding tags.

Adversaries
The Accursed world is one of many horrors. Some are known but others hide in the shadows or in spaces
beyond human reckoning. The following adversaries run the gamut from mildly threatening mortals to
unique monstrosities of nightmarish ability. Storyguides can build entire plots around some of these
enemies, but should be cautious: Some of them possess sufficient ability to really fuck up an Accursed’s
day, night, or life.

Minions
These adversaries are often mindless, pathetically weak, or mindless minions for a greater threat. If a
more threatening version of them exists, they often tend to still remain as minions for something even
greater.

Cuckoo
A mother bathes her toddler. She knows it is not her child. She’s seen the things it says and does when it
thinks she’s not looking. “Where’s my boy?” she says. The thing in the tub continues to splash. “Where’s
my boy?” she hisses through clenched teeth. The mother picks up the heavy porcelain lid to the tank of
the toilet and raises it over her head. Her arms tremble. She knows this is crazy, but she also knows that
thing is not her son. A mother knows. Right? She drops the lid and flees the bathroom. The mother shakes
with sobs in the hall. She does not hear the patter of wet footsteps behind her.
Sometimes the Fae take people. No one understands why. Sometimes, the Fae leave replacements for the
people they take. These doppelgangers are cuckoos.
A cuckoo can make itself a near perfect replica of the person they replace. Their true form is a pale, gaunt
humanoid with a pot belly. Their faces are featureless, no eyes, nose, ears, or mouth — only a vaguely
human skull floating beneath milky, transparent skin. Each long finger terminates in the form of a
writhing infant bird — featherless, loose skin, varicose veins, and closed eyes like dark bruises.
This adversary is an unexpected horror to most Accursed. Hounds from hell and animated statues
somehow feel more understandable than doppelgangers. The cuckoo is not physically formidable, but
even in defeat, they make for a shocking reveal. They could be anyone — a friend, a servant, a lover.
When it comes time for the cuckoo to reveal its true form it lets out an eerie shriek. A mortal listener is
compelled to feed the cuckoo, stepping closer and opening their mouth wide. The cuckoo slides their bird-
fingered hand into the mouth and down the throat of the victim. The subsequent feeding leaves the victim
as a withered husk, and the cuckoo takes on their appearance.
Template: Shiver
Drive: Remain hidden, fed, and protected.
Primary Pool: 5 (Abduction, hiding in plain sight, enacting sudden violence)
Secondary Pool: 3 (Concealing evidence, escaping)
Desperation Pool: 2
Enhancements: +0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 2
Qualities: Feral
Dread Powers: Consume ×2, Shapeshift ×1
Drones
When the Hungry, the Sorcerers, or the Dead are done with a feeding vessel, living test subject, or host,
the result is occasionally the tragic drone. Not so much a brainwashed cultist as a brain drained victim, the
drone is a human who can no longer emotionally connect with their family and friends, can only
accomplish the most uncomplicated of work and leisure tasks, and barely even reacts when something
horrific takes place around them. They are broken victims of the Accursed and other monstrosities, and
only extended compassion, therapy, and targeted medication is likely to bring them back to a semblance
of “normality.” Until then, they’re pawns who unscrupulous monsters might push around to deliver
threatening messages, drugs, relics, and bombs to targets.
Template: Shiver
Drive: Do what I’m told and avoid struggle.
Primary Pool: 5 (Deliveries, escaping, showing no feelings)
Secondary Pool: 3 (Knowing secrets of the Outside, enacting vengeance)
Desperation Pool: 2
Enhancements: +0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 2
Qualities: Immunity (Fear)
Dread Powers: None
Host Worm
Host worms vary greatly in appearance. Some are long, thin white parasites, others are insect-like
creatures with buzzing wings and snapping mandibles. It’s believed some of these creatures went into the
creation of the homunculoid blob.
Host worms can only survive outside the Host for a few hours, and quickly seek out a new Accursed to
infect. Once inside the new body, the cycle begins again.
An alarming number of Accursed are infected with Host worms. They leech the Accursed’s power, barely
noticeable at first but demanding more sustenance as they multiply. Almost all Lineages have ways to
deal with an infection, from blood-letting to eldritch potions. None of these cure the infection, but they
can contain or lessen it. Completely curing it requires killing the Host that initiated the infection.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Infect. Multiply. Spread.
Primary Pool: 4/6 (Disgust, hiding, sneaking)
Secondary Pool: 2/4 (Bite/Infest, scare mundane humans)
Desperation Pool: 1/2
Enhancements: +0/+1 Spread Infection
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/3
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Feral, Split, Spread Infection (Bite), Vulnerability (Fire)
Dread Powers: Possession ×1/×1, Spawn (Host Worms) ×0/×1
Hunting Beast
Most animals have an instinctive aversion to the Accursed; they sense a dangerous predator that lingers
beneath a mundane mask. For this reason, venators domesticate and crossbreed animals to go against
these instincts so they can effectively stalk and attack the monstrous and inhuman.
Dogs are the traditional hunting companions for their ease of training, malleable personalities, and ease of
transportation. A savvy venator sends their dog through a K-9 attack dog training regime and conditions
them with continued exposure to the Accursed. A non-traditional venator might use a bird of prey or
feline for hunting or rig a camera onto a pigeon or bat.
Accursed may come across hunting beasts on their own if they have been sent to scout ahead or search for
Accursed. When there’s a hunting beast around, a venator — or worse, a Red Riding Hood — is close
behind.
Template: Shiver
Drive: Attack the Accursed.
Primary Pool: 6 (Bite, Hunting, Intimidate)
Secondary Pool: 4 (Chasing, Surveiling)
Desperation Pool: 3
Enhancements: +1 Dogged pursuit
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 3
Qualities: Feral, Natural Weapon (Teeth: Brutal)
Dread Powers: Leap ×1
Monster Traps
Magic and the influence of the Battleground have unintended consequences for everything around it. A
strange instance of this is when objects absorb enough power to awaken with newfound and terrifying
low-level sentience. Locks, doors, safes, small statues, or even surveillance systems can gain enough
awareness to react violently to keep the Accursed out.
Sometimes, monster traps are a byproduct of a Sorcerer’s botched spell on an object. Other times, they
spawn spontaneously, trapping the Accursed in or near Shattered Spaces, or restricting access to the
Outside. Monster traps might show up as unintended consequences for using magic on or around
inanimate objects, or as cursed items from an ancestor or long-lost relative.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Protect an item or place from the Accursed.
Primary Pool: 5/8 (Close combat attacks, hiding, luring monsters)
Secondary Pool: 3/6 (Self-defense, defending portals)
Desperation Pool: 2/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Surprise attacks
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 2/4
Qualities: Clingy (Aggressive, Defensive), Unusual Anatomy
Dread Powers: Devour ×0/×1, Explosive Demise ×1/×1, Spawn (Venators) ×0/×1
Special: Monster traps are always ready to spring into action if interacted with. Once per scene,
the first time a character attempts any action targeting the monster trap, they suffer a Minor
Complication that if not bought off deals 1 injury and suffers the Fast-Acting Toxin status effect.
The Night Whistler
Of adversaries known and unknown, one of the most frequent pests to the Accursed is the Night Whistler.
It’s either a ghost, an elemental spirit, or a distorted reflection of life that harasses and terrifies the living
and the Accursed. It typically arrives slightly ahead of a greater threat, building tension and preventing its
victims from remaining calm as danger approaches.
The Dead and the Gaki both believe the Night Whistler is a unique entity with a painful trend of returning
to existence even following banishment or destruction. None of them have been able to question it (or at
least, pry answers from it) and determining the origin of its curse has proven impossible. Resultantly, it
comes back again and again, heralded doom with a chilling, piercing whistle.
Template: Shiver
Primary Pool: 6 (Luring , playing music, unsettle)
Secondary Pool: 4 (Distractions, sleight of hand)
Desperation Pool: 3
Enhancements: +0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 3
Qualities: Hopeless Scenario, Incorporeal (Bright Light), Reanimation (undo the curse behind its
creation), Vulnerability (Bright Light)
Dread Powers: Illusions ×1, Materialize ×1, Terrible Howl ×1
Wretched Isopod
These crawling parasitic isopods are about the size of an adult’s fist, and emerge from drains, polluted
coastlines, and the Nuckelavee’s orifices. Wretched isopods have one purpose: to find a living host. The
creature attacks and crawls into its victim’s mouth, devouring their tongue and taking that organ’s place.
Naturally, it’s a lot easier to do this if they’re already stunned and unable to fight back, therefore these
isopods target children, patients in coma wards, and the occupants of care homes. Once possession is
accomplished, the infected host becomes a cultist devoted to the isopod’s Fae master.
Template: Shiver
Drive: Find a host and force them to serve the Fae.
Primary Pool: 6 (Burrowing, Hiding, Sneaking)
Secondary Pool: 4 (Bite, inspiring revulsion)
Desperation Pool: 3
Enhancements: +0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 3 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 3
Qualities: Feral, Natural Weapon (Bite: Stunning)
Dread Powers: Possession ×1
Special: Wretched isopod Padded armor is its own shell, making it impossible to remove
without destruction.

Mundane People
While most mundane people don’t pose much threat to an Accursed, some are a problem by dent of
position or training. Some people end up in conflict with Accursed by happenstance, their job or activities
running perpendicular to each other. Others seek out the Accursed, specifically to kill them.

Cops
The thin blue line has never known what to make of the Accursed, often filing away reports of
supernatural sightings, incidents, and inexplicable phenomena as drug or mental strain-induced hysteria.
Despite their incredulity in the face of such things, cops are among the most common adversaries the
Accursed face, as in the event they show up to reports of violence (not always guaranteed) they tend to
point guns first, scream questions, and then before receiving an answer, open fire.
And then there are the cops who do know something’s out there, beyond their periphery. Accursed refer
to these cops as “rogues,” as they overcompensate with SWAT gear and skip the entire screaming
questions phase before gunning down “the bad guys.” Rogues are beyond reason and are as much a blight
on humanity as they are the Accursed.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Order: it needs maintaining, and if that fails, enforcing.
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Arresting, car chases, marksmanship)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Intimidate, Profiling)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Exacerbate tense situations
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/3 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Attentive
Dread Powers: Spawn (Cops/Horror Streamers/Venators) ×0/×1
Special: Rogues often carry weapons designed for causing destruction, with the Deadly,
Piercing, or Wrecking tags.
Cultists
It starts off subtly. People in the neighborhood start acting a little strange. A neighbor speaks in a voice
that does not sound like their voice. Then it spreads. Is some kind of strange cold bug going around?
Well, it is a form of infection, but whether it’s an illness born from something microscopic, something
memetic, or something revoltingly parasitic differs depending on whom the cultists serve.
Cultists spread throughout the world, dedicating themselves to Accursed who decide to form entourages
of dedicated followers, to Archons in need of disposable bodies, to Fae with their alien whims and
pleasures. Cultists of the Nuckelavee have their tongues replaced. Scuttling things wallow there, in the
basin of the mouth, communicating the Fae monster’s wishes.
Whether the cultists are simply true believers in dangerous conspiracy theories, murderous devotees to a
forbidden, now unearthed god, or altered servants of the Nuckelavee, their wish is to draw in new
converts and elevate them to new planes of understanding.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Serve the cause unto death.
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Abduction, blending in, brainwashing)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Ritualistic murder, reading intentions)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Making an offer you can’t refuse
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/2
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Split
Dread Powers: Bend Minds ×0/×1, Jinx ×2/×3
Special: Only cultists with a physical, parasitic inhabitant use the Split Quality when they die. At
this point, the parasite escapes the cadaver and the dead cultist returns as a phantasm (p. XX)
or zombie flesh-eater (p. XX).
Expulsionists
Whether they’re corporate-sponsored employees or lone eccentrics, expulsionists have the tools and
practical knowledge to eject incorporeal beings from a premises or body. They are the new breed of
exorcist: blue-collar workers making a living. Some work alone, but many are Expulsion Unlimited’s
contractors.
Expulsionist equipment and methods are neither dramatic nor grandiose, just humbly effective. Earbuds
and playlists block out otherworldly voices. Special goggles turn the terrible, mind-melting visions into a
harmless color spectrum. Their knowledge of the supernatural is practical and procedural. They know just
enough to do the job. The one exception is they possess a single tool or weapon through which they can
target the unnatural, with most of their focus landing on the Dead.
With little imagination and no desire to fathom the mysteries deeper, there seem to be no handholds,
either of fear or desire, for a malevolent entity to grab hold of. The mere banality of the expulsionist’s
presence sucks the oxygen out of spooks.
Most expulsionists are salt of the earth (with some salt in their pockets for defensive circles) and well-
intentioned. The regiment of their lives reduces dealing with the Accursed down to a routine. They have
no grand designs beyond getting a paycheck. None of this is personal for the expulsionist, not when
they’re on the clock. Personal is for their friends and family after work hours.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Fulfill their work order and clock out by 17:00 hours.
Primary Pool: 6/9 (Knowing the Dead, forensics, ranged combat)
Secondary Pool: 4/7 (Using experimental technology, weapons maintenance)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Enacting a strict work ethic
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/1
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Attentive
Dread Powers: Banishment (Dead) ×2/×2, Binding Fetish ×0/×1, Exorcism ×1/×1
Special: Expulsion Unlimited provides each of its employees with a handgun known as the Dead
Neutralizer, which counts as having the Psychic attunement and the Stunning tag.
Horror Streamer
Horror streamers are the bane of Accursed everywhere. Like ants attracted to breadcrumbs, they appear in
places with the slightest rumor of cryptid activity with cameras in hand. These internet sleuths prefer to
document and observe rather than fight. Unfortunately, the danger of a streamer is two-fold: their
interference can prove deadly (for them, if not the Accursed), and the question of who’s watching their
live feed. Some Outsider agents use horror streamers as an incompetent internet generation Stasi,
reporting on the world while they comfortably watch from the Outside.
Horror streamers are minor nuisances and recurring characters who might trip up or slow down the
Accursed. Of course, saving a horror streamer from their own mistakes is often a good way to earn a
contact, or even a dedicated fan (see Tetraphiliac, p. XX).
Template: Shiver
Drive: Document the Accursed and enjoy the ad revenue.
Primary Pool: 5 (Capturing footage, cultivating a fandom, hounding targets)
Secondary Pool: 3 (Pleading for mercy, setting up dramatic scenes)
Desperation Pool: 2
Enhancements: +0
Defense: 1
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 1
Armor: 0
Initiative: 4
Qualities: Attentive
Dread Powers: None
Sisters of the Cross
The Sisters of the Cross pose a quandary for the Accursed, as it’s clear many of them are people of good
heart, but at least half have given themselves over to religious fanaticism that surpasses their Catholicism.
It’s difficult to reason with one of these hunters, and yet killing them feels like a terrible, endlessly
regrettable act.
Each one of these hunters goes by a saint’s name such as Agnes, Jeanne, or Etheldreda (Ethel to their
friends) and the best are trained at the Vatican. Older sisters school them, equip them, and indoctrinate
them into their order. Their religion and zealotry are the same thing, propelling them to kill monsters with
fire, blade, and prayer.
Each sister carries an archaic weapon passed down the ages. When a sister dies, their companions collect
this weapon so it may be passed down to the next warrior. Additionally, each sister arms themselves with
prayer, allowing them to call on the power of God to protect them and smite the wicked. This power
appears indiscriminate, as it harms Accursed irrespective of their religion.
Sisters of the Cross work in teams, named convents, of three to seven. A convent sets up surveillance in a
city, tracking and identifying as many monsters as they can, before executing a strike. The Vatican may
recall one convent and send a larger, or better trained one as the situation warrants, but it rarely sends two
to the same city — the holy mother church simply lacks the trained personnel in this age.
Template: Fright/Terror
Drive: Protect humanity by killing monsters.
Primary Pool: 8/10 (Providing first aid, swordsmanship, theology)
Secondary Pool: 6/8 (Archery, teaching)
Desperation Pool: 4/5
Enhancements: +2/+3 Identify Accursed
Defense: 2/3
Integrity: 2/3
Injuries: 4(5)/7(8)
Armor: 0/2 (Impenetrable, Padded)
Initiative: 4/5
Qualities: Attentive, Immunity (Fear)
Dread Powers: Exorcism ×0/×1, The Devil’s Mark ×2/×1, Obsessive Urge (Self-Flagellation)
×0/×1, Shared Ability ×2/×2
Special: Sisters of the Cross carry “holy” weapons bestowed when they receive their blessing
into the order. These weapons typically possess the Brutal and Wrecking tags.
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor
Street Criminals
From muggers and drug dealers to abusers and murderers looking for easy victims, the streets are the
home of those who would prey on the innocent. Every street criminal has their own story. Some come
from broken homes, others fell into this lifestyle as a result of bad luck, bad choices, or pressures few take
the time to understand. It’s hard to feel sympathy for predators, but the Accursed have learned time and
again that the undesirables of society often have more in common with them than do the 1% in their
penthouses and on their private islands. The Outcasts have a special connection to street criminals, and
are often inclined to just hand over their wallets and watches out of a sense of mutual understanding.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: I need my fix.
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Finding hiding places, intimidation, recognizing weakness)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Dealing illicit goods, enacting violence)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Stalking
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: None
Dread Powers: Attitude Adjustment ×0/×1, Desperate Surge ×1/×1
Venators
Whether a paramilitary group of vigilantes, a congregation of faithful looking to burn down someone or
something unholy, or the victims of Accursed looking for vengeance, all such people eventually fall under
the bracket of “venators.” The name originated not at the height of the Roman Empire as many Accursed
believe, but in the 17th century, when the first international syndicate of hunters shared word and
developed tactics on how best to identify and murder the Accursed. They dubbed themselves venators as
a mark of status, separating themselves from simple hunters of men or beasts.
Venators recognize the supernatural as a threat, and while most people see them as conspiracy theorist
truthers who spend a little too much time online, there’s one thing they’re right about: the Accursed exist.
They’re out there, and the venators’ relative isolation in realizing this only empowers their zeal.
Venators spring up from many sources. The Sisters of the Cross are church-sponsored (p. XX), Red
Riding Hoods survived an Accursed attack and took a trophy (p. XX), and Abigail Sloan is a unique case
(p. XX), but the majority of venators stumble upon a curse it twists and then drives them. Many venators
have encountered the Accursed before and survived an encounter with them, though their knowledge
typically only extends to one Accursed Family. They use gathered information, and horror streamers (p.
XX) to vet possible targets and coordinate strikes. Supposedly an organization of Venators (with a capital
V) exists, though their sponsorship, knowledge, and activities are cloaked in mystery.
Venators pose a variable threat. When they work together, they sometimes have the numbers, training,
and equipment to prove to the Accursed that humanity isn’t their prey — that the Accursed are the
minority in need of persecuting.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Validate possible Accursed threats and eliminate them.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Commanding others, conspiracy theories, survival)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 ([Family] Lore, Firearms)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+1 Explosives, +1 Find evidence trail
Defense: 1/2/4 (from armor)
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/1 (Concealable, Fitted)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Attentive, Immunity (Fear)
Dread Powers: Initiative Leapfrog ×0/×1/×1, Shared Ability ×2/×2/×2, Spawn (Hunting Dogs,
Venators) ×0/×1/×2
Special: Venators carry weaponry designed specifically to bypass Accursed resistances if they’re
targeting the family they know about. These weapons have the Deadly tag. Only venator
Terrors have Immunity (Fear).
White Collar Crooks
The fact so many Hungry and Sorcerers consider these crooks their “people” is a damning indictment on
the corrupted dynasties within those Lineages. White collar crooks commit crimes of far worse magnitude
than their street-level equivalents, sometimes even enlisting muggers and dealers to do their dirty work,
before making thousands lose their jobs, their houses, and their pensions.
The invisible nature of white collar crime results in the perpetrators paying off their sentences (on the rare
occasions they’re found guilty) before making a run for office, buying a new corporation, or shutting
down the paper that reported on their misdeeds. For good reason, many of the Accursed draw
comparisons between these fuckers and the kind of bent dealmakers the Fae and greedy Sorcerers court.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: I must be the most powerful asshole in the room.
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Making a deal, bribing others, enacting a con)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Gambling, Making sound investments)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Blackmailing
Defense: 1/1
Integrity: 1/2
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: None
Dread Powers: Attitude Adjustment ×1/×1, Defensive Rebuke ×0/×1
Witch
Witches are mortals who learned to siphon just a touch of Accursed power without becoming cursed
themselves. Some brew potions from Accursed blood. Others breathe in cursed essence when the
Accursed is wounded. A rare few naturally derive their power from skin contact with an Accursed. All of
them are ultimately leeches, relying on the Accursed for their own powers.
Being a witch takes effort. Taking something from the Accursed is a daunting, and often lethal, first step
task. As such, witches are cunning, resourceful, and they like to work in groups. These covens are often
hierarchical, with an elder witch training the others.
Witches take some measure of control over a chaotic world. They use Hungry blood to facilitate their own
ambition, Primal flesh to survive deadly diseases, or Outcast skin for impossible luck. Given that most
mortals are squishy and at the mercy of fate, few witches are willing to relinquish this power once they
have it. Even the most wide-eyed of them eventually makes dark and immoral choices to gain more
power.
A young, aspiring witch might befriend an Accursed, before the power’s pull drives her to betray her
friend. Older witches set deadly traps with no compunction about morality as they seek more
“ingredients.” Witches are excellent at calculating risk versus reward, and realize that the game ends once
you’re dead. Resultantly, most witches have excellent defensive measures in place.
Template: Fright/Terror
Drive: Gain and hold power.
Primary Pool: 8/10 (Gaining trust, occult knowledge, theft)
Secondary Pool: 6/8 (Affecting an unassuming presence, Fae Lore, hedge magic)
Desperation Pool: 4/5
Enhancements: +1/+2 Luring victims
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/2
Injuries: 4/7
Armor: 0/3 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 4/5
Qualities: Hopeless Scenario, Regeneration, Vulnerability (Holy Relics)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×0/×1, Fuel for the Fire ×1/×1, Hypnotize ×1/×1, Potion Junkie
×1/×1, Unholy Onslaught ×1/×1

Cursed Mortals
Sometimes people get too involved with a curse, or they become so cursebound that they are warped by it.
Somehow, they avoid a Damnation, and instead become a lesser version of the Accursed. Some are
hollowed out by it, but others are empowered, making them much more dangerous than one would
assume from a mere mundane.

Abigail Sloan
Abigail Sloan has doctorate degrees in political science, media science, and anthropology. She speaks
nine languages fluently. She addressed the UN during a summit on social media misinformation.
She is also a hunter of unsurpassed skill, and her chosen prey is the Accursed.
The Zeds spread word in recent years that Sloan was born Abbie von Löhnen in Germany in 1888, and
she is therefore long overdue her natural death. An investigation the Network undertook last year
indicates Abigail gained parasitic powers during World War I and spent her time since tracking the
biggest monsters she could find — no matter the bargains she must make to facilitate her hunt.
A great deal of conjecture surrounds Sloan’s powers, and whether she falls in line with one of the
established Lineages or is something other, perhaps a rare example of someone who made a deal with the
Fae and came out on top.
Abigail reinvents herself regularly. Her latest iteration remains as ruthless as ever, allying with fellow
hunters, corrupt authorities, and even monsters in an so she can hunt worse monsters. She eats them alive,
piece by piece, and takes their powers for herself.
Sloan approaches small Accursed fish via her subordinates, offering to spare them if they lead her to more
powerful monsters. Abigail records every deal and encounter and returns later to demand more services
with blackmail material in hand.
Abigail lives to target powerful Accursed, bringing backup in the form of venators or less powerful,
coerced Accursed. She favors taking out her prey’s resources and connections first, with an up-close
battle as climax.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Hunt monsters and eat them alive to gain their powers.
Primary Pool: 12 (Bladework, making devil’s deals, exploiting weaknesses)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Ambushing, coercing authorities)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +2 Targeting weakness, +1 Rallying crowds
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 4 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Extraordinary Speed, Locked Door
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×2, Consume ×2, Shared Ability x1, Spawn (Venators) ×1
Special: +1 Intellect Advantage
Battleforged
Traces of the Battleground leak into our reality and twist liminal spaces and the people within them into
truly dangerous chaos entities. When the Outside touches someone, they change. If the liminal space is an
office of featureless cubicles and winding corridors, the inhabitants likewise lose features and their bodies
contort. If the space is a underpass beneath a busy road, the people so changed may become vacuous
black holes permanently emitting the roar of traffic.
The battleforged do not bear their alterations permanently, but around the Accursed, their bodies shift and
emotions turn hostile. Flesh becomes metal, bones warp and tear free, and the tainted victims of the
Battleground converge on their target.
Archons are known to fill apartments, stores, and subway stations with battleforged in advance of an
Outcast’s arrival. They like to remind the Outcast that they’re not free, that their true form is something
born from horror, and that the Archons are never far away.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror/Nightmare
Drive: Gain more power.
Primary Pool: 5/8/10/12 (Disconcerting people, disguising intentions, making an unexpected
attack)
Secondary Pool: 3/6/8/10 (Escaping, improvised weaponry, Battleground magic)
Desperation Pool: 2/4/5/6
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2/+3 Utilize Battleground magics
Defense: 1/2/3/3
Integrity: 1/1/2/3
Injuries: 1/3/6/9
Armor: 0/0/1/2 (Exquisite Material, Spiked)
Initiative: 2/4/5/6
Qualities: Malleable, Natural Weapon (Embedded Blades: Flaming, Worn)
Dread Powers: Initiative Leapfrog ×3/×3/×3/×3, Unholy Onslaught ×0/×1/×2/×3
Special: Nightmares possess 1 Speed Advantage
Mounts
Most humans who play host to the Dead come to regret the experience. Not so with mounts. This perverse
catchment of humanity craves the Dead’s attention, having been inhabited before and finding they adored
the feeling. Mounts are desirous of possession and will do whatever they can to force the Dead into their
bodies, trapping them within even at the risk of degrading their physical shells. The most extreme of
mounts can imagine no feeling more sublime than dying with a Dead incarcerated within them.
Template: Terror
Drive: Trap a Dead within me.
Primary Pool: 9 (Charming others, forensics, tracking Dead)
Secondary Pool: 7 (Necromancy, sexual deviance)
Desperation Pool: 4
Enhancements: +2 Manipulation
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Clingy (Aggressive, Defensive), Energy Vacuum (Exhausted)
Dread Powers: Binding Fetish ×2, Desperate Surge ×1, Devour ×1, Fuel for the Fire ×1
P-Borgs
P-Borgs aren’t quite at the stage of annihilating humanity and the Accursed, but they’re working on it.
The “P” stands for “prototype,” though some Accursed in the know associate it with the painful.love
website (p. XX). P-Borgs are the tragic results of people — both mundane humans and Accursed beings
— forcibly “augmented” with cyberware. Some have brains replaced with processors and circuit boards,
others have veins replaced with wires and hearts that circulate mercury.
P-Borgs come in dozens of forms, often resembling something between human and the idealized view of
an Outcast. They tend to lurk out of sight in the Battlegrounds, finding themselves commonly drawn to
serving Archons. It’s possible for P-Borgs to demonstrate their own will and break their “programming,”
but few desire this freedom. There’s a contradiction in their behavior, however, as they often feel
compelled to murder humans and wear their skins, clothes, and scalps; not to hide among humanity, but
to replace people with upgraded versions.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Replace humanity and the Accursed.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Flensing, firearms, technological modification)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Close combat attacks, stalking)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Decoding data
Defense: 1/2/3
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/1/2 (Concealable, Exquisite Material)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Extraordinary Speed, Natural Weapon (Internalized Firearm: Long Range, Piercing),
Reanimation (Destruction of Heart/Power Generator)
Dread Powers: Explosive Demise ×0/×1/×1, Fuel for the Fire ×1/×1/×1, Sundering Impulse
(EMP) ×2/×2/×3
Red Riding Hood
Everyone knows the story of Red Riding Hood ― a victim of a wolf attack saved by a hunter. She
claimed the wolf’s skin and escaped the forbidding woodlands. Within the Get of Lyka, the story doesn’t
end with the wolf’s death. The Creature’s power resonates even in death, tainting those exposed.
Red Riding Hood gained a curse of the wolf’s skin and went into the night as a fearsome hunter of the Get
of Lyka. Her existence is not just a word of caution to the Lykans but an unsettling truth: trophy hunters
are real, and by wearing their flesh they can steal the Accursed’s powers.
Red Riding Hoods rise from the ranks of humans who gained the upper hand in battles with the Accursed
and took something from the monster who attacked them, whether the fur from a Lykan, money from an
Iscariot, or the feather of a Nephilim. These survivors are ignorant at first as to why they’ve suddenly
gained horrifying abilities, but when they realize they’ve become a monster, they can no longer recork the
bottle. Some Red Riding Hoods hunt the Accursed to take revenge, while others seek more power by
adding another skin to their collection. Dusters, trench coats, hunting outfits, and hats have replaced the
outdated red hooded capes.
Red Riding Hoods are formidable opponents, and travel alone. The Hood’s solitary nature is just about
the only advantage Accursed have against them. Beyond that, they’ll be lurking in the shadows, abducting
friends to act as bait, wearing thick disguises, and constructing the perfect means to take another piece of
one of their chosen prey.
Template: Terror
Drive: Get revenge on the Accursed for tainting them.
Primary Pool: 10 (Disguises, hunting Accursed, knifework)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Sniping, woodworking)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Attacking Primals
Defense: 4 (from armor)
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 1 (Concealable, Fitted)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Feral, Noxious Blood (Moderate), Regeneration, Vulnerability (New Moon)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×1, Devastating Blow ×2, Elemental Teleportation (Woodlands) ×1,
Shapeshift ×1
Tetraphiliac
They offer you everything — favors, errands, information. They’re the best listener. No judgment. They
understand the things you’ve done, the extraordinary circumstances of your existence. They have deep
insights about you. They overshare their own traumas, too early, to force a codependent bond with you.
Your instincts don’t register them as a threat, red flags submerged in devotion.
At home, they have a shelf of supernatural romance novels. They have a shrine dedicated to you and
photos of your loved ones, the faces scratched off. They hoard information about you: items harvested
from your trash, computer drives bloated with secrets, a conspiracy board zig-zagged with colorful yarn,
or an animate severed head that talks too godsdamn much.
Many Accursed make the mistake of viewing tetraphiliacs with sympathy. This is a mistake. Their
obsessions quickly graduate from bothersome to lethal. They know your routines, passwords, hiding
places, and weaknesses. They know your loved ones. They will be with you, or they’ll make sure nobody
else will ever want you. Ever.
Tetraphiliacs are empty mirror people thinking empty mirror thoughts. With no sense of self, they anchor
their identity to another’s before the anti-gravity of disassociation floats their soul into space. By the time
you pull away, their hooks are sunk deep. This is going to get messy.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Gain the love of an Accursed, maintain that love, and punish any perceived withholding
of said love (at any cost).
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Blackmail, conniving, manipulation)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Learning biographical details, enacting vengeance)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +1 Empathic read, +1 Inspiring sympathy
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Clingy (Aggressive)
Dread Powers: Attitude Adjustment ×1/×1, Defensive Rebuke ×0/×1, Desperate Surge ×2/×1,
Elemental Teleportation (Darkness) ×0/×1
The Betrayed
The betrayed is harvesting what you sow. It’s finding out after you fucked around. It’s an esoteric force
that animates a thousand enemies.
The origins of the betrayed are unknown, but their powers of transformation are akin to other curses —
leading Accursed scholars to speculate about the existence of a betrayed Lineage so small in number that
no one recognizes them as such.
The betrayed is always a single mortal an Accursed failed, killed, or left for dead. They were close to an
Accursed in life, perhaps a friend or ally, but it was the Accursed’s action (or inaction) that led to their
demise.
The betrayed returned in a facsimile of life, powered by a desire for vengeance.
Betrayed seek nothing less than the destruction of their betrayer in the most slow and painful way. It
begins by picking off the characters’ resources and allies, especially the ones they cherish. It hunts any
friends and family the Accursed still has, killing them outright or using them as bait. If the target betrayed
a friend, the betrayed may return posing as such to better strike at their weaknesses later.
Accursed can deal with the betrayed by making amends and — this is important — reparations. This will
always hurt the Accursed, and typically ties into whatever they gained by betraying their friend to begin
with. The animating force then leaves the betrayed, so only its corpse remains.
Of all the Lineages and families, it’s the Dead’s Furies who worry the most about the betrayed. So many
of them met deaths via treachery and now fight for justice (at best) or vengeance (more commonly). They
wonder whether the betrayed are what they become, if the hunt consumes them.
Template: Fright
Drive: To hurt the ones who betrayed it.
Primary Pool: 9 (Humiliation, stalking, torture)
Secondary Pool: 7 (Hiding, identifying weaknesses)
Desperation Pool: 4
Enhancements: +1 Shadowing
Defense: 2
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 4
Armor: 0
Initiative: 4
Qualities: Incorporeal (Fire), Reanimation (Mollification)
Dread Powers: Invert Gravity x1, Read Minds ×2, Unholy Onslaught ×1

Accursed
Not every Accursed you meet is willing to be your friend. Even your own Family might be looking to
aggress upon you if you don’t fall in line. Some Accursed are so far gone that they are a menace to
society as a whole. That certainly paints them firmly as an enemy toward you.

The Bandy Man

The squeak squeak squeak of old wheels rolling on older axels alerts the Accursed that this infamous
Sorcerer is approaching. He only ever travels on this, his preferred method of conveyance — a large trike
with a cart towed behind — his even larger body plumped on top of it. As it comes to shuddering halt in
front of his clientele, he pulls the silk blanket off his wares and asks “What’s your pleasure? What are you
buying? Go on, take a closer look… My stock has been waiting for your eyes.”
The Bandy Man is a Fae puppet, from his appearance to his wares, his manner to his seeming immunity
from harm. He claims sympathy with the Network, but the Sorcerer family is adamant he’s not one of
theirs. Most sound-minded Accursed would back the hell away as soon as the Bandy Man rolls into view,
but damn it if his deals aren’t appealing.
Through his magic and deeply involved deals with the Fae, the Bandy Man can get ahold of most things.
A full ID including evidence of taxes paid, relatives in another country, and gainful employment?
Weapons with a magical edge? A death contract on another Accursed? A map that leads followers to the
Outside? Items, favors, and more can be procured via the Bandy Man, all in exchange for favors to be
repaid at a later date. It could be days, months, or even years, but payment always comes due.
When the Accursed receives an envelope in the mail, they’ll spot the Bandy Man’s violet seal on it and
realize it’s time to do whatever the envelope’s contents dictate, no matter how extravagant or vile. For
every day they put off payment, the Bandy Man sends minions to remove an additional digit, and when
they run out, limb. And if you’re hiding? He’ll just take them from your husband, your kids, your pet dog.
Harm the Bandy Man and the Fae will dispatch someone much worse to take double the fee from your
skin.
But for those prepared to pay, a deal with the Bandy Man is worth its weight in flesh.
Template: Terror
Drive: Make a “fair” trade with the Accursed and collect payment with interest.
Primary Pool: 10 (Amputation, Fae Lore, making trades)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Playing games, Sorcerer secrets)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Locating portals
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 2
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Deadly Aura (Trust), Locked Door, Reanimation (Fae Weaponry), Unusual Anatomy
Dread Powers: Devour ×1, Discorporate ×1, Explosive Demise ×1, Pull ×1, Spawn (Gargoyles,
Hobgobs, Homunculoid Blob, P-Borgs) ×1
Special: If the Bandy Man uses all his Dread Power uses in a single scene, he immediately casts
a Sorcerer spell (chosen by the Storyguide), which inflicts a narrative problem for rest of the
scene.
Dead Clype
Loyalty within the families of the Dead is of paramount importance. The kind of Dead prone to treachery,
selling out companions for a crumb of life or handing his kin over to terrible forces for the privilege of a
high-end host — like a celebrity, a politician, or the owner of a fatally flawed yet inexplicably popular
social media site — is known as “a clype,” or more commonly “a clyping cocksucker.”
Detested widely yet often protected by diabolic forces with whom the clype has consorted, clypes are
influential figures of shame within Dead society. One of the few reasons the Dead unify across families is
to take one of these bastards down.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Sell out the Dead for a higher rung on the ladder of eternity.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Betrayal, using pull with powerful people, leveraging resources)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Bribes, make a getaway)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Throwing money at the problem
Defense: 1/2/3
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/1 (Exquisite Material, Magic Resistant)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Hopeless Scenario, Incorporeal (Cash Money), Unusual Anatomy
Dread Powers: Alter Environment ×0/×0/×1, Attitude Adjustment ×2/×2/×2, Possession
×1/×1/×1, Puppeteer ×0/×1/×1
Special: If the clype uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene, they will lash out and on
their next action, inflict one of the following area effects out to Medium range: Disturbing,
Dread, Overstimulating, Passions Flaring, or Suffocating.
Dr. Gabriel
The Archons sent their herald into the world to announce their will, to command the Outcasts back to
their realm, to cement order in the name of the divine Battlegrounds. That herald was named Gabriel, and
they were glorious, true, and powerful.
But Gabriel developed a taste for what humanity could offer. Gabriel saw the Outcasts and envied their
freedom. Gabriel broke from their masters, but unlike the Battleground Angels, Nephilim, and Keepers of
the Broken Vine, they did not take up arms, pursue book learning, or become one with the Earth. Instead,
Gabriel explored humanity’s nightmares and became afraid. Gabriel retreated in a fit of paranoia lasting
centuries and lashed out with unmitigated ferocity on any who tried to find them.
It’s in recent months that Gabriel has emerged from their shell, experiencing an epiphany after ripping
apart the skull of the last idiot Outcast who sought them. Gabriel reinvented themselves as a therapist and
is developing a reputation for digging into the deepest holes in their patient’s psyches.
Gabriel wishes to understand the “why” behind every mortal mind, and if possible, every curse floating
through the ether. They believe comprehension of their reality will lead to its mastery. This understanding
won’t come from Sorcerer-penned books (leave them to the Nephilim), but from prying open the brains of
patients — willing or otherwise — and discovering the “truth” behind their “programming.”
Gabriel doesn’t reveal their nature to other Accursed unless forced, and these days their reaction is no
longer violent retaliation. They’ll be curious, even helpful, all as a means of breaking their subjects down
into drones, the knowledge from their heads poured into Gabriel’s eyes and ears. Behind Gabriel now lies
a steadily expanding army of lobotomized victims.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Understand the truth of this reality.
Primary Pool: 12 (Empathy, manipulation, Battleground lore)
Secondary Pool: 10 (knowing cursed secrets, medicine)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +3 Determine hidden truths
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 3 (Concealed, Padded)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Attentive, Labyrinthine, Locked Door, Spread Infection (Verbal, Memetic)
Dread Powers: Bend Minds ×1, Cannibalize ×1, Obsessive Urge (Reveal Secrets) ×1, Read Minds
×1, Spawn (Drones) ×1
Special: +2 Intellect Advantage. If Dr. Gabriel uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene,
they reveal their true nature as an Outsider, inflicting the Enraptured status effect on all
mundane witnesses.
Gianluca “De Sade” Abruzzi
Being Accursed doesn’t mean you can’t have a good time. That’s Gianluca Abruzzi’s philosophy, as he
rejects the idea of damnation and torment with a laugh, and then cranks up the volume to drown out his
naysayers. Abruzzi is one of the Dead, of the Maven family, and believes death is no prohibition to
experience and sensuality. For that reason, he takes the name “de Sade” and hosts the most extravagant,
debauched, and perverse galas in clubs, galleries, salons, and stately homes around the world. He pushes
his guests to excess to show them that all this Accursed navel gazing is preposterous.
Abruzzi has a motive beyond just having a good time. He uses his libertine parties as a means of draining
emotional energies from everyone in attendance, and no people are more prone to peaks of emotion than
Primals, Outcasts, and the Dead. What’s more, each dose of emotion strengthens him as it might a
Hungry, resulting in his becoming a bizarre hybrid of Hungry and Dead, where he’s not been obliged to
leave his cherished host body in years due to the constant passionate sustenance he drinks in.
The victims of de Sade’s depredations come away feeling empty, worse than before, and in this feeling
are drawn back to his parties to feel the giddy heights he offers every partygoer. The cycle continues, with
the host going from strength to strength as he leeches off everyone around him.
In the last year, de Sade discovered the Champagne Room (p. XX) and is captivated by what this
Shattered Space might offer. What’s more, some Accursed — tired of having their urges rule their
behavior — have heard of the party host and what he can do, and now beg for him to take away their pain
and anger. He’s only too happy to oblige.
Template: Terror
Drive: Let the cup of life runneth over and then drink it dry.
Primary Pool: 10 (Artistry, charm, influencing others)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Abduction, sadism with knives)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Persuasion
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 1 (Concealed, Exquisite Material)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Baleful Touch (Emotional Drain), Incorporeal (Electricity), Labyrinthine, Locked Door
Dread Powers: Bend Minds ×1, Consume ×2, Possession ×1, Spawn (Drones, Street Criminals,
White Collar Criminals) ×1
Special: When de Sade successfully uses Consume, it replenishes 1 injury and 1 Dread Power
from those in his selection, as well as Attitude Adjustment, Illusions, and Jinx. If Abruzzi uses all
his Dread Power uses in a single scene, he will lash out and on his next action, inflict the
Passions Flaring area effect out to Medium range.
Hungry Parasite
“Whose neck do I got to suck to get a good meal around here?” It’s the claxon call of the Hungry,
especially those who claim to have rare tastes and minimal consideration toward their victims. The
parasitic Hungry are those Accursed who have lost all sense of morality, seeing this life as one of
predators and prey, with them firmly at the head of the food chain. They’ll do anything to anyone to get a
good meal, and leave younger, more conscientious (read: weak) Hungry to clean up the mess.
Hungry parasites are coolly social animals, blending in with their food and acting the life and soul of the
party if it means they can get their teeth into something fresh. They exchange tips on what vessels taste
best and in what circumstances it’s most satisfying to feed. It’s common for them to feel pity and
frustration when their feeding stock dies. Guilt is for the birds.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Drink it or eat it, savor and enjoy it, then drop it in the trash (or in an alley, if there’s no
dumpster nearby).
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Bite, charm, socialize)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Being cultural vogue, escaping)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Manipulating victims
Defense: 1/2/4 (from armor)
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/1 (Concealable, Fitted)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Extraordinary Speed, Vulnerability (Sunlight)
Dread Powers: Attitude Adjustment ×1/×1/×1, Consume ×1/×2/×2, Dreadful Gaze ×0/×0/×1,
Hypnotize ×1/×1/×1
Special: If the Hungry parasite uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene, they
immediately steal a curse die from a nearby Accursed and regain the use of Consume. If there
are no nearby Accursed, they instead inflict an injury on a nearby mundane.
Katarina Simko
When powerful Sorcerers are discussed, Katarina Simko often makes the top of the list. To the chagrin of
the high and mighty Premiere family, she’s a caster of the Unburdened, and to complicate matters further
a purported descendant of Erzsébet Báthory. Whatever her origins, today Katarina Simko is old and
withered, though her powers remain unflinchingly in their prime. She speaks at least a dozen languages
(living and dead tongues among them), all with a heavy Hungarian accent.
Katarina is ancient, powerful, and peculiarly reasonable. She needs Accursed blood for her potions,
though human blood will do in a pinch. But bland salt is no replacement for a perfectly formulated rub of
paprika, garlic, onion, oregano, and thyme. “Let’s come to an agreement,” she says, “where the Accursed
voluntarily give me their blood.” Katarina happily takes as much blood as she can, to the point it weakens
the Accursed, but at least they live, if they volunteer. If a subject resists, Simko strings them up and
bleeds them like a pig.
Simko’s Accursed blood potions (she’s still experimenting with the energy that forms the Dead) are
prized the world over, as they act as bottled Accursed powers, temporarily imbuing drinkers with abilities
typically out of reach. Prolonged consumption makes the drinker’s body stronger and hardier even
without potions. It also creates a sustenance dependency, leaving the drinker to suffer convulsions and
mental degradation if they go too long without. Each witch has their own potion recipes, but none can
match Katarina’s chemistry.
Accursed can make and keep a bargain with Katarina for years, decades, or even centuries. She aids her
fellow Accursed when they ask, politely and not too often, by brewing various potions for them too —
though she conveniently neglects to mention the potions’ addictive properties. Eventually, greed always
gets the best of Katarina and she’ll drink the characters dry — after all, she is a daughter of Báthory.
Template: Terror
Drive: Collect Accursed blood for her potions.
Primary Pool: 11 (Befriending Accursed, chemistry, making incisions)
Secondary Pool: 9 (Hierarchical knowledge, making deals)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Brewing potions
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 8
Armor: 1 (Impenetrable, Magic Resistant)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Curse Leech, Regeneration, Unusual Anatomy, Vulnerability (Fae Blood)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×3, Invert Gravity x2, Potion Junkie ×2
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor. If Katarina uses all her Dread Power uses in a
single scene, she immediately casts a spell she has with Potion Junkie as her next action, which
inflicts a narrative problem for rest of the scene.
Korè
Korè is an ancient Hungry whose creation left her a rotting walking corpse. She hides her true nature
behind a facade of deathly pale skin and raven hair. Her native tongue is Etruscan, but she speaks a
plethora of modern languages flawlessly.
She hates anyone who deals with death magic and considers the Gaki abominations, though oddly she
often forms alliances with the Dead, perhaps seeing their plight as similar to her own. Her goal is nothing
less than the destruction of all necromancers. Korè infiltrates a domain, gathers information on any
necromancers’ assets and locations, and then picks them off one by one.
Stories often describe Korè as weak — the runt of the litter. They’re wrong, but they’re also right. Korè is
as strong as any of the oldest Hungry, and in fact her necromancy — ironically — is stronger than most.
She claims to have descended the depths of the Underworld, uncovering secrets unknown to any among
the living or unliving. She’ll share them with anyone who pledges undying loyalty to her own,
burgeoning family.
Korè’s greatest weakness is her compassion. Despite her self-declared goal of destroying all
necromancers, Korè often stays her hand dealing with young Accursed, and may align with them against
older Accursed who oppress them. This is a stay of execution, though, with Korè circling back decades
later to finish the job.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Destroy all necromancers. Protect young Accursed against abusive elders.
Primary Pool: 12 (Crushing wills, necromancy, defensive combat)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Escaping, sabotage)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +3 Detecting lies
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 2 (Impenetrable, Exquisite Material)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Attentive, Invulnerability, Locked Door, Reanimation (Beheading), Vulnerability (Holy
Relics)
Dread Powers: Consume ×1, Dreadful Gaze ×1, Exorcism ×1, Spawn (Phantasms, Zombie Flesh-
Eaters) ×2, Time Reversal ×1
Special: +2 Durability Advantage. If the Korè uses all her Dread Power uses in a single scene, she
immediately steals a curse die from a nearby Accursed and regains the use of Consume. If there
are no nearby Accursed, she instead inflicts an injury on a nearby mundane.
Mr. Purple
When the Zeds were first formed as a family, there were no more than ten of them. They each divested
themselves of their living names, adopting colors as epithets and different methods of death as their
purviews. They saw themselves as elemental forces of annihilation, with no need for personal affectations
and moral doubts. It was their responsibility to send the other Dead on to their final reward. The Zeds
became figures of terror, not limited to their Lineage, as they targeted anyone “abusing the privilege of
stolen life.”
In the years that followed, the Zeds eventually refocused, coming to understand the benefit of a
supportive Lineage and the threat true monsters posed. A part of their sacrifice to the rest of the Accursed
was a purge of the original “color killers,” with each purportedly being delivered to their final reward.
Mr. Purple is still out there and still active. He never got the memo that the war on undeath was over, or if
he did, he rolled it up, smoked it, and stamped it out. Mr. Purple doesn’t remember what it was to be
alive, but he does know what it means to be Dead. He feels the swell of emotions — fear, sorrow, joy,
rage — like sandpaper on his skin. The only nepenthe is nothingness, and he’s the only Dead capable of
delivering it.
Mr. Purple won’t stop until somebody ends his existence, but there’s rumors of powerful Accursed
protecting him and enlisting him to do their dirty work. Smart Accursed get the hell out of Dodge if they
even catch a whiff of Mr. Purple’s silent approach, as he could be coming for anyone.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: End the miserable bastards who pathetically cling on to life.
Primary Pool: 12 (Blending in, Dead lore, poisons)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Escaping, firearms)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +2 Ranged attacks, +1 Escaping
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 2 (Concealed, Exquisite Material)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Attentive, Baleful Touch (Poisons), Incorporeal (Bright Light), Life Drain, Locked Door
Dread Powers: Devastating Blow ×1, The Devil’s Mark ×2, Elemental Teleportation (Dying
Breath) ×1, Possession ×1, Unholy Onslaught ×1
Special: +1 Power Advantage. If Mr. Purple uses all his Dread Power uses in a single scene, he
will lash out and on his next action, inflicting the Suffocating area effect out to Medium range.
O Diabo Esfumaçado
In centuries past, the Portuguese forged an empire by sea, planting stone pillars known as padrão on each
coastline, island, and settlement they visited. Theirs was an empire of trade, but the trade stretched from
spices and minerals to human stock, leading to masses of slaves — estimated to be around five million —
being transported from Africa to Brazil. Wherever the padrão were seen, it was evidence of Portuguese
dominion.
O Diabo Esfumaçado — the Smoky Devil — is an Outcast of the Munificent family. He was a naval
captain responsible for planting the padrão and trading in lives. He spread his curse through his actions,
crushing the wills and bodies of those who opposed him, leaving trails of burning smoke in his wake.
Though those days are long gone, the scars remain, and he still traffics in misery and bodies, being the
head of a criminal enterprise (Os Demônios) that routinely hires other Accursed to do their dirty work,
including human trafficking and enabling modern forms of slavery.
O Diabo Esfumaçado is an Accursed who lacks the barest tenets of human morality. As he’s adapted his
“business” to the changing times, he’s never discovered a good argument for why he needs to change his
practices. What’s more, he’s protected within the Munificents. Though most of his fellow Outcasts detest
his actions and history, one area where he excels is in obliterating Fae intrusions. He therefore runs a
protection racket that spans much of Accursed society.
Accursed can always tell when they’re entering O Diabo Esfumaçado’s territory, as even to this day, he
marks the border with a padrão bearing his herald: a smoldering skull.
Template: Terror
Drive: Turn a profit at the expense of others, no matter the human cost.
Primary Pool: 10 (Leveraging resources, smuggling, dealing with the underworld)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Poison, sailing, swordsmanship)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +1 Sailing, +1 Swordsmanship
Defense: 4 (from armor)
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 2 (Fitted, Padded)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Deadly Aura (Corrosive), Exposing (Fear), Fury, Locked Door, Regeneration,
Vulnerability (Fire)
Dread Powers: Alter Environment (Flooding, Sinking) ×1, Banishment (Outcasts) ×1, Elemental
Teleportation (Water) ×1, Obsessive Urge (Commit Crime) ×1, Spawn (Street Criminals, White
Collar Criminals) ×1
Special: If O Diabo Esfumaçado uses all his Dread Power uses in a single scene, he reveals his
true nature as an Outcast, inflicting the Enraptured status effect on all mundane witnesses.
Outcast Apostate
Outcasts like to think of themselves as brave rebels, defiant against Outsiders, the Fae, and all who would
shackle them to the roles of night terrors and alien monstrosities. But then there’s the apostates. The
Outcasts who want to atone, make amends, and make things right with the Outside. They’ve tasted what
life is like among fragile humanity and realized they don’t like it as much as they thought. These kinds of
Outcasts betray their kin as soon as they’re able, if they think it’ll grant them the possibility of grace
under their former masters. Some even make a business of doing so, building their compensation package
so they can once again fly with the Archons once they return home.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Lure Outcasts into traps or directly into the hands of their former masters.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Abduction, lure prey, playing possum)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Accessing resources, making a sudden strike)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Luring prey
Defense: 1/2/3
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/1 (Impenetrable, Spiked)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Regeneration, Vulnerability (damage delivered without subterfuge)
Dread Powers: Attitude Adjustment ×2/×2/×2, Defensive Rebuke ×0/×0/×1, Explosive Demise
×1/×1/×1, Spawn (Hobgobs) ×0/×1/×1
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor. If Outcast Apostate uses all their Dread Power
uses in a single scene, they reveal their true nature as an Outcast, inflicting the Enraptured
status effect on all mundane witnesses.
Primal Predator
The first stories of the Primal depict them as bestial folk with the Creature utterly in control of their will
and bodies. It’s a tale the Primal have struggled to shake, largely as a result of the number of predators
among them who treat their bodies as weapons and everyone else around them as pawns to be pushed,
weaklings to be terrorized, or prey to be consumed. In most Primal families, it’s the eldest who fall to this
way of thinking. Some are feral beyond comprehension, but the worst among them — the Parasites of the
Eight Hands, the Bisclavret of the Lykans, the Wyrms of the Raptors, the Tybalts of the Sphinx — are
coldly calculating bastards prone to squeezing their young for every ounce of their energy and willpower
before selling them out to the Fae for a fresh blush of youth, potency, and self-control.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Live and flourish by treating everyone around me as my prey.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Close combat, manipulation, Primal lore)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Animal handling, identifying weakness)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Close combat
Defense: 2/3/4 (from armor)
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/1 (Concealable, Fitted)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Feral, Fury, Natural Weapon (Claws: Piercing;Teeth: Brutal), Regeneration,
Vulnerability (Silver)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×0/×1/×1, Consume ×1/×1/×1, Fuel for the Fire ×0/×0/×1, Shapeshift
×1/×1/×1, Trample ×1/×1/×1
Special: If Primal predator uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene, they immediately
enter a frenzy. On their next action, they attack the nearest target, regardless of if they are
friend or foe, and gain +1 Power Advantage on the attack.
Resurrection Jake / John Doe / Jack the Ripper
Everyone has a regret; a moment they’d wish they could undo. For the Primal that regret is Resurrection
Jake, the last of his Primal family: the Sikkuah wererats. Despite all efforts, he keeps coming back to
plague the Primal.
It was in 1855 that Family heads among the Primal made a pact with the Fae to purge the wererats from
existence. Nobody outside the shapeshifters and the Fae involved know the terms of the deal, though the
Sphinx were instrumental in its organization and implementation. Somehow, despite the punishing nature
of the pact, Resurrection Jake rose again.
Jake hunts by disguising himself as a potential victim, wanders alone, improperly dressed for the weather
down lonely roads or dark alleys. These nights he often arranges shady hook-ups through dating apps,
posing as a naïve young thing looking for sex. He strikes when a would-be predator thinks they’ve got the
upper hand and only then reveals his true nature. When he infects his Accursed prey, he shifts to look like
them, leaving them for the rats. He then lives their life a while before getting bored and finding a new
target.
Resurrection Jake interprets his immortality as a form of divine will, and he doesn’t intend to abjure it. He
may not be able to make more Sikkuah, but he enthusiastically spreads disease and enjoys murdering
humans in gruesome ways that he knows will get the Primal blamed.
Coming across one of Jake’s kills is horrific. He flays and butchers bodies, harvesting them for parts he
sells to the Bandy Man (see p. XX), and leaves the remains on display as a promise to all Accursed:
you’re next. Hunting Resurrection Jake requires tracking down his grisly work in dingy truck stops,
lonely diners, and dimly lit bus stations. And then there’s the alleys. He loves a twisting alley. It reminds
him of that time back in 1888, when he really had some fun.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Infect Primals with the legacy of their sin. Butcher humans who get in the way.
Primary Pool: 12 (Biological weapons, butchering, flaying)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Disguising, tracking prey)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +2 Targeting Primal weaknesses, +1 Knifework
Defense: 4 (from armor)
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 2 (Concealable, Fitted)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Feral, Frightening Presence, Locked Door, Natural Weapon (Claws: Poisoned),
Regeneration, Reanimation (Jake can only be permanently killed by a descendant of one of his
murder victims, so he often eliminates the entire family), Spread Infection (Diseased Claws,
Fangs, and Knife), Vulnerability (Silver)
Dread Power: Cannibalize ×1, Defensive Rebuke ×1, Devastating Blow ×1, The Devil’s Mark ×1,
Infective Eruption ×1, Shapeshift ×1
Special: +1 Speed Advantage. If Jake uses all his Dread Power uses in a single scene, he
immediately enter a frenzy. On his next action, he attacks the nearest target, regardless of if
they are friend or foe, and gains +1 Power Advantage on the attack.
Sorcerer Tyrant
Ego has long been the bane of those who dabble in sorcery. It’s easy to become high on your own supply,
when it seems you can challenge God himself with your sublime abilities. Sorcerer tyrants, therefore, are
Sorcerers who believe their own hype and see most people around them as little more than ants awaiting
the magnifying glass treatment, should they step out of line. Most such Sorcerers come from the Premiere
and Reeve families (they begrudge the claim, but it’s true), as their resources and raw power commonly
line up to fuel a toxic degree of hubris. Tyrants may see some Fae as their equals, and other Accursed as
hired help, but when it comes to humanity, they should be falling to their knees.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Demonstrate my magical ability and awe the masses.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Knowing curse lore, leadership, Sorcerer politics)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Fae deals, performance)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Inspiring awe
Defense: 1/2/3
Integrity: 1/2/3
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/2 (Magic Resistant, Padded)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Baleful Touch (Fire), Deadly Aura (Overbearing)
Dread Powers: Defensive Rebuke ×0/×1/×1, Elemental Teleportation (Fire) ×0/×0/×1, Jinx
×2/×1/×1, Illusions ×1/×1/×1, Unholy Onslaught (Fire) ×0/×1/×1
Special: If the Sorcerer tyrant uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene, they cast a
single Sorcerer spell as their next action (chosen by the Storyguide) which inflicts a narrative
problem on the scene.
Voids
Voids are called the “inside-out Dead.” They are nothing. They have nothing, not even a true incorporeal
form. Voids only exist in the bodies of hosts, jumping from victim to victim by the vector of touch. They
covet living flesh, eschewing the ability to possess the departed and inanimate objects. Their voices sound
like two black holes devouring one another. Their feeding opens up an event horizon in their victim’s
chest, devouring all life.
The voids are damned difficult to hunt. The barest touch can transfer them from person to person.
However, voids cannot survive for long outside of the safety of a host body, and the Dead are keen to
spread this knowledge to other Accursed, whose help they need in combating these malignant fucks.
Template: Fright/Terror
Drive: Devour the life of the living and eke out cruel joys while doing so.
Primary Pool: 8/10 (Analyze vulnerability, indiscriminate violence, wearing others down)
Secondary Pool: 6/8 (Disguising motives, escaping)
Desperation Pool: 4/5
Enhancements: +1/+2 Locate appropriate host
Defense: 2/3
Integrity: 1/2
Injuries: 4/7
Armor: 0/0
Initiative: 4/5
Qualities: Curse Leech, Incorporeal (Holy Water), Locked Door
Dread Powers: Consume ×1/×1, Possession ×1/×1, Pull ×1/×1, Telekinesis ×1/×0, Unholy
Onslaught ×0/×2
Special: If the void uses all their Dread Power uses in a single scene, they will lash out and on
their next action, inflict one of the following area effects out to Medium range: Disturbing,
Dread, Overstimulating, Passions Flaring, or Suffocating.

Strange Creatures
Accursed aren’t the only supernaturals out there. These entities are a mix of Outsiders, native
supernaturals, and constructs created by Accursed. They might have even once been human or Accursed,
but now they are firmly “creatures” and likely to act aggressively if you don’t know how to handle them.

Barghests
Truckdrivers speak of the black dog. They only ever see it after exhaustion and amphetamines take over
— a hulking, dark patch of nasty. Some old folks say if you find yourself walking home at night, and you
fancy the click-clack of claws behind you, do not turn around. If you can make it to your door, without
running or looking behind, you might survive the night.
The Demon of Tidworth. The Padfoot of Wakefield. The Mauthe Doog of the Isle of Man. These are all
the frightful echoes of a barghest. These goblin hounds come from the realms of the Fae, their masters’
means of capturing prey (often Sorcerers) and dragging them back to settle unpaid debts.
Barghests appear as huge, dog-like beasts, with immense teeth, bat-like ears, and clawed paws facing
backward. Sometimes they bear a whip-like tail or thick, leathery wings on their backs. A barghest’s howl
is horrible and its loping steps make a splashing sound even when running on dry land. No two witnesses
agree on the number of eyes other than to say there are too many. It is said the creature can change
shapes, appearing sometimes as a headless person, a rabbit, a vanishing burst of green flame, or other
forms besides.
Barghests enjoy stalking their prey for a spell, allowing them to marinade in their fear before pouncing.
They’re content to leave signs of their passing: scratches on the door, eyes peering through the window,
dead animals on the doorstep, puddles of impossibly reeking piss that kill all plant life in a wide radius,
and disemboweled corpses of friends and loved ones.
As with many creatures in thrall to the Fae, barghests possess restrictions. It’s believed they cannot cross
running water or iron filings spread in a circle, or attack anything that has not first directly seen it.
Verifying this folklore is difficult, however, as the people barghests snatch away rarely return to give
reports.
Template: Fright/Terror
Drive: Perform the will of its master in the most menacing way possible.
Primary Pool: 9/11 (Close combat, detect scent, terrifying prey)
Secondary Pool: 7/9 (Intimidation, locate hiding places)
Desperation Pool: 4/5
Enhancements: +1/+2 Biting
Defense: 2/3
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 4/7
Armor: 0/2 (Magic Resistant, Padded)
Initiative: 4/5
Qualities: Clingy (Aggressive), Frightening Presence, Natural Weapon (Bite: Poisoned)
Dread Powers: Devastating Blow ×0/×1, Pull ×1/×1, Terrible Howl ×2/×2, Shapeshift ×1/×1
Crossing Guardians
In times gone by, Outsiders learned how to domesticate the wildest, most vicious of animals, hiding them
and preventing their extinction in their sacred temples. As breeding stock for these beasts became harder
to locate, the Outsiders crossbred them with other species into mutated hybrids. When the Fae were done
with them, they were more than ferocious animals: they were clad in stone and jewels, their flesh and
bone fused with diamonds to render them the ultimate guardians. They prevent Accursed from entering
and exiting the Outside unless the Outsiders will it, and often, they do not.
At first glance, one might mistake a crossing guardian for a Lykan in their Wild Form, or an Outcast
without a mask. They often bear the features of wolves, bears, winged creatures, or enormous serpents,
but merged together into chimerical monstrosities. The mistake in likeness rarely lasts beyond the first
impression.
Crossing guardians are more intelligent than most Accursed believe. Where the barghest is a single-
minded predator, crossing guardians calculate and plan to better enact Outsiders’ wishes. They can
communicate in an ancient tongue, which somehow the Primal and Outcasts instinctively understand.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Protect their domains from Accursed.
Primary Pool: 6/7/9 (Close combat, cultural knowledge, surveillance)
Secondary Pool: 4/5/7 (Fae secrets, taking secret shortcuts)
Desperation Pool: 3/3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Identifying Accursed
Defense: 1/2/3
Integrity: 2/2/3
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/1/2 (Impenetrable, Exquisite Material)
Initiative: 3/3/4
Qualities: Immunity (Accursed Magic), Natural Weapon (Diamond Limbs: Painful, Stunning)
Dread Powers: Banishment (Primal) ×0/×1/×1, Devastating Blow ×0/×0/×1, Shared Ability
×1/×1/×1, Trample ×2/×2/×2
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor
Cursed Plaything
Creepy dolls, strange rings, cursed cellphones, and killer cars that stalk their victims: all popular haunts
and scares in short horror stories for audiences young and old, and low budget movies on Shudder, Tubi,
and Vudu. Worryingly for the Accursed, they’re not restricted to these mediums. Cursed playthings exist,
and while people always assume it’s a ghost moving these objects (much to the chagrin of Poltergeists
everywhere), the truth is stranger.
The Archivists call these entities demons, but there’s no such clarity in their origins. Getting rid of these
pests is a trial because destroying the plaything only annoys and the living curse until it can find another
object to animate, or simply reforge the original.
A cursed plaything may be a child’s toy, an antique in a shop window, or a strange curio the Accursed
find and don’t know they need to deal with until it’s too late. They often find their way into the ownership
of friends or family, almost as if the Fae are dropping them close by to fuck with their own playthings: the
Accursed.
Template: Fright
Drive: Ruin the lives of those who possess me.
Primary Pool: 7 (Blending in, creep around at night, pleasing children)
Secondary Pool: 5 (Stabbing, suffocation)
Desperation Pool: 3
Enhancements: +1 Ambushing
Defense: 2
Integrity: 1
Injuries: 4
Armor: 0
Initiative: 3
Qualities: Energy Vacuum (Exhausted), Fury, Reanimation (undo the curse behind its creation),
Regeneration, Vulnerability (Accursed Magic)
Dread Powers: Desperate Surge ×1, Puppeteer ×1, Telekinesis ×2
Gargoyles
Constructs of stone set to guard places of holy (and occasionally unholy) significance, warding off
intruders and evil spirits alike, gargoyles make for good tourist photos, memorials to a time of
superstition and simplicity. Indeed, most gargoyles are simply sculptures adorning churches and the
occasional gothic building, at least until Sorcerers, Outsiders, and worse entities give them a semblance of
life and the commands “protect” and “pulverize.”
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Protect. Pulverize.
Primary Pool: 6/7 (Ambush from above, grappling, tracking quarry)
Secondary Pool: 4/5 (Claw attack, hiding in view)
Desperation Pool: 3/3
Enhancements: +0/+1 Reconnaissance
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/1 (Impenetrable, Spiked)
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Attentive, Clingy (Aggressive), Natural Weapon (Claws: Brutal)
Dread Powers: Initiative Leapfrog ×1/×2, Leap ×2/×2, The Devil’s Mark ×0/×1
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor
The Greys
The League of the Hidden Crossroads were the first to report on the grey techno-angels that apparently
abducted an entire family, experimented on and tortured them, before eventually returning them as broken
souls, barely capable of functioning. Since then, almost every family — including beyond the Outcasts —
has heard rumors of these terrifying entities and reports of their grim activities.
The Greys’ origins are mysterious, with their long, grey faces and limbs flickering in and out of sync with
reality. But their motives are driven by an intense curiosity that leads to gruesome experiments executed
with cold efficiency. People go missing and start losing time, but when they recall the event, you can hear
their screams for miles.
Greys exist in a Shattered Space just outside the world, into which they frequently take their test subjects
to conduct their trials. Accursed offer unique variables for the Greys. If they are Battleground entities or a
threatening family of Outcasts is an unsolved, concerning mystery.
Template: Terror/Nightmare
Drive: Test the limits and responses of sapient and sentient lifeforms and the Accursed.
Primary Pool: 10/12 (Abduction, advanced science, vivisection)
Secondary Pool: 8/10 (Casual sadism, manipulating shadows)
Desperation Pool: 5/6
Enhancements: +2 Advanced science/+2 Advanced science, +1 Outside Lore
Defense: 3/3
Integrity: 2/3
Injuries: 7/10
Armor: 1/2 (Exquisite Material, Magic Resistant)
Initiative: 5/6
Qualities: Frightening Presence, Incorporeal (Holy Water), Locked Door
Dread Powers: Discorporate ×1/×1, Inverted Gravity ×1/×1, Materialize ×1/×1, Spawn (Zombie
Flesh-Eaters) ×1/×1, Spirit Away ×1/×1, Time Reversal ×0/×1
Special: Nightmares possess 2 Intellect Advantage
The Haint
The Haint is a creature made of sentient, tangible darkness. Accursed see it across the street, as shadows
that move on their own just outside the reach of streetlights. It draws closer each time they maim or kill in
the pursuit of their ambition or greed, until it’s watching them from a dark corner of their own bedroom.
This adversary is a stalker in darkness, and it has a particular taste for the Hungry, to the point the Black
Hearts call it “the bogeyman.” The Haint’s presence invokes a feeling of dread that doesn’t sit well with
creatures that usually consider themselves apex predators. Even the usually arrogant Báthorites give it a
wide berth.
Accursed have tried and failed to confront the Haint on their own terms. It’s made of shadow, and simply
dissipates if they try to trap, stalk, or fight it. Keeping all the lights on, all the time, keeps the creature at
bay, but shadows always seep in somewhere. A few Ascetics claim they’ve had success holding the Haint
off by leading existences of upstanding morality, but such a claim is typical of them. What is true is the
Haint feeds on unchecked ambition, want, and greed, but has no compunction about attacking its target’s
friends and allies. To stand between the Haint and its target is to declare yourself its enemy.
When the Haint finally strikes, it does so by physically pulling its targets into itself with its shadowy
tentacles. The target finds an endless plane of darkness and hunger on the other side: the Empty (p. XX).
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Pull our victims into the Empty. Sorcerers and Primal are filling, but the Hungry have the
most flavor.
Primary Pool: 12 (Grappling, identifying desires, stalking)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Close combat, understanding weaknesses)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +2 Abductions, +1 Stalking
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 2 (Elemental Resistance (Darkness, Ice))
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Energy Vacuum (Slowed), Incorporeal (Ultraviolet Light), Locked Door, Natural
Weapon (Tendrils: Painful, Reach)
Dread Powers: Devour ×1, Elemental Teleportation (Darkness) ×1, Elusive Shape ×1, Entangle
×1, Pull ×1, Spirit Away ×1
Special: 2 Power Advantage. The Haint’s Elemental Resistance armor protects it from its
vulnerability of ultraviolet light. Its armor requires destroying or removing for this damage to
reach its skin.
Hobgobs
The tricksters known as hobgobs slip into the world from the Outside to make deals on behalf of their
terrifying masters. Brokers of curses and blessings alike, most hobgobs attempt to convince their clientele
that they’re walking an impartial line, merely providing services required to parties on all sides of the
Accursed divide. The truth is that most of them are dedicated to the Fae. They take far more pleasure in a
victim’s inability to pay what they owe and thus receive a terrible curse than they do a simple settlement
of dues.
Hobgobs are wisely assessed as their masters’ servants, but what they have to offer makes them very
appealing as guests in Sorcerer households. They’re dealers and enablers, and have an uncanny ability to
keep drawing their customers back for the next fix.
Template: Shiver/Fright
Drive: Make a deal with a sting in its tail.
Primary Pool: 6/8 (Making a deal, identifying needful things)
Secondary Pool: 4/6 (Gambling, escaping)
Desperation Pool: 3/4
Enhancements: +0/+1 Knowledge of desires
Defense: 1/2
Integrity: 1/1
Injuries: 1/4
Armor: 0/3 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 3/4
Qualities: Fury, Malleable
Dread Powers: Hypnotize ×1/×1, Jinx ×2/×2, Obsessive Urge (Repeat Prior Action) ×0/×1
Special: Hobgobs commonly carry a cursed dagger on their person, its wavy silver blade
distinctive. The dagger has the Deadly tag.
Homunculoid Blob
Professor Franklin of the Hyde family performed all manner of experiments with her collection of
unicellular organisms — bacteria, protozoa, amoeba, and more — forming unusual, but utterly harmless
splice jobs that quickly expired or separated to their original forms. Her desire was to study life’s building
blocks and see how closely they could be recreated in an accelerated form.
As far as Franklin was concerned, her lab was isolated and secure, so advancing her experimentation to
leech, worm, algae, and fungal specimens was acceptable. Add temperature, shock, and radiation
exposures to the equation and the results could be fascinating, but again, no risk at all to the world at
large.
Whether Franklin was to blame for the eventual creation of the homunculoid blob is a cause for debate.
Some believe she grew frustrated with her lack of progress and enlisted the sponsorship of the Premiere
Sorcerer family. Others claim she made a deal with a hobgob. Whatever the case, she was its first victim,
and it now roves free, threatening anything with which it comes into contact.
But the homunculoid blob is not singular. It has been captured, experimented on, and escaped many times
since its creation. It never dies. It only splits and grows. It has appeared as an all-consuming threat in a
city sewer, the scourge that wiped out an entire house of Premieres (given credence to the theory that not
only were they partly responsible for its creation, but that it remembers and resents its birth), and even as
a form of inert (for now), mass distributed, and widely sold funny putty called “Rambunctious
Homunculus!” due to the way it easily slips into the form of a small, hairless human. The few Primal who
knew Franklin claim the homunculus resembles the professor in such states.
The homunculoid blob could be anywhere, could be any size, and destroying it is impossible. All the
Accursed can do is freeze or entomb it and run the fuck away before it breaks free.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror/Nightmare
Drive: Combine with other homunculi and find Accursed to consume.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10/12 (Consume, mislead, slither to safety)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8/10 (Going unseen, tracking Accursed)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5/6
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2/+3 Moving around
Defense: 1/2/3/3
Integrity: 1/1/2/3
Injuries: 1/4/7/10
Armor: 0/0/1/2 (Exquisite Material, Spiked)
Initiative: 3/4/5/6
Qualities: Invulnerability, Locked Door, Reanimation (undo the curse behind its creation), Split,
Unusual Anatomy, Vulnerability (Ice)
Dread Powers: Consume ×1/×1/×1/×1, Devour ×0/×0/×1/×2, Elusive Shape ×0/×1/×1/×1, Merge
×2/×2/×2/×2/
Special: Nightmares possess 2 Durability Advantage
The Host
The Host is an entity riddled with supernatural parasites. It’s always physical and Accursed — thus,
Hungry, Outcasts, Primal and Sorcerers can all become the Host. It’s hoped there’s only one of these
adversaries, but rumors abound of new ones appearing in cities around the globe.
The Host spreads like any parasitic infection, arising spontaneously through a corruption of esoteric
energy. The worms consume the Host from the inside out, until they pour forth from eyes and ears, and
burst from pustules on the skin — though a lone worm or cluster may crawl out before then.
The Host seeks to spread. It starts inconspicuously, leaving single worms to infect people unnoticed. The
Host’s own lifespan is limited by its nature, but even approaching death it tries to fulfill its drive. A dying
Host instinctively seeks out a gathering of Accursed, ensuring its proximity to as many Accursed as
possible when its skin finally bursts with a writhing mass of worms. Once this happens, any chance of
killing the original Host — and ending the infection — is gone.
Template: Terror/Nightmare
Drive: Infect. Multiply. Spread.
Primary Pool: 10/12 (Close combat, grappling, hiding, spreading infection)
Secondary Pool: 8/10 (Chasing, intimidation)
Desperation Pool: 5/6
Enhancements: +2/3 Spreading infection
Defense: 3/3
Integrity: 2/3
Injuries: 7/10
Armor: 3/4 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 5/6
Qualities: Feral, Locked Door, Split, Spread Infection (Bite), Unusual Anatomy
Dread Powers: Devastating Blow ×0/×1, Entangle ×1/×1, Infective Eruption ×1/×1, Spawn (Host
Worms) ×2/×2
Special: Once per scene, the Host may use its Spawn Dread Power to instead further a
character’s infection. If the acting character has the Infection status effect, its strength rises by
1. If the victim’s Infection level is 5, they die or become a Host. The Host’s Padded armor is a
thick layer of its own parasitic flesh, making it impossible to remove it without destruction.
Nightmares have +1 Power Advantage.
Imp
Nobody likes an imp. These otherworldly creatures, with their scaled skin, leathery wings, and sharp
talons uniformly possess destructive attitudes and despise the Sorcerers who summon them into being.
They even hate each other along elemental divides, with ice imps and fire imps particularly contentious.
Worse still, if they feel a clash is going against them, they’ll damage themselves to trigger an explosive
demise, knowing their spirits will return to their distant realms.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Cause havoc and spread hell.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Chaotic energy, liminal knowledge, starting fires)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Creeping about, close combat)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Elemental manipulation
Defense: 1/1/2
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/8
Armor: 0/0/1 (Elemental Resistance (any one), Magic Resistant)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Baleful Touch, Feral, Natural Weapon (Claws: Elemental Attunement (any one), Long
Range)
Dread Powers: Binding Fetish ×0/×1/×1, Elemental Teleportation (any 1 element) ×1/×2/×3,
Explosive Demise ×1/×1/×1
The Nuckelavee
The Nuckelavee is a powerful and terrible Fae creature that wreaks terrors on land and at sea. What form
it takes in the depths, no one can rightly say. When it ventures on land, it walks as an equine horror,
appearing as a human torso fused to the back of a great horse. The entire creature is skinless. The horse
head has a burning red eye and a cavernous mouth that exhales toxic vapors. The horse legs end in fin-
like appendages. The human head is massive, rolling back and forth. The long human arms dangle near to
the ground.
The dread creature brings disaster to coastal communities, causing famine and pestilence. Outcasts among
the League of the Hidden Crossroads work with Primal from the Spawn of Vodník to track it, and have
even discovered it working its way up rivers to devastate communities inland. Its voice reverberates up
sewer pipes, poisoning the minds of those who listen. Animals sicken and mutate when it comes near.
Food goes putrid. Pandemic disease runs rampant.
The Nuckelavee is a terrible adversary with far-reaching environmental effects. The creature works its
will through infected cultists and amphibious parasites. Children dream of the Nuckelavee’s approach,
typically heralding its arrival with crayon scrawls depicting the Fae beast.
Template: Nightmare
Drive: Inspire dread and obeisance. Make the cult grow.
Primary Pool: 12 (Gas attacks, spread disease, terrify)
Secondary Pool: 10 (Fae secrets, subjugation)
Desperation Pool: 6
Enhancements: +2 Subjugation, +1 Commanding minions
Defense: 3
Integrity: 3
Injuries: 10
Armor: 2 (Impenetrable, Elemental Water)
Initiative: 6
Qualities: Baleful Touch (Disease), Deadly Aura (Corrosive), Locked Door, Natural Weapon
(Toxic Fumes: Flaming, Poisoned), Spread Infection (Miasma)
Dread Powers: Alter Environment (Extreme Temperature: Freezing, Extreme Weather: Storm)
×1, Bend Minds ×1, Spawn (Hobgobs, Wretched Isopods) ×1, Terrible Howl ×1, Trample ×1
Special: +2 Power Advantage, +1 Durability Advantage from armor
Paznic, the Perpetual Guardian
Constructed of stone, bone, and metal in 15th century Romania, Paznic stood guard to protect their
master’s lands from the monstrous beasts that ravaged his livestock and slaughtered his men. Night after
night, no cold, no rain, no darkness could stop Paznic from fulfilling their duty. Time was the ultimate
enemy Paznic couldn’t conquer until one day; they were the only being left. No village, no master, no
monsters left to fight. Without purpose or direction, Paznic fell into stasis.
Centuries came and went. Paznic awoke in a city’s scenic area in the late 1990s with the order to watch
over the park’s night visitors. Paznic neutralizes anyone who threatens another within the city park and its
surrounding areas, typically with deadly force. Paznic secretly observes any Accursed gathering in the
park, regarding them as guests until they act in a way Paznic deems threatening. According to the Get of
Lyka’s disturbing reports, what the statue constitutes as “threatening” seems to vary wildly when it comes
to the Accursed. Primal struggle to as much as breathe without drawing Paznic’s hostile attention.
Paznic has a single directive, but they don’t know who gave it to them. Paznic’s controller could be
anyone from a Sorcerer to an Outsider or a mysterious Fae. Paznic possesses curiosity regarding the
subject, but not enough of their own free will to do anything about it.
Template: Terror
Drive: Protect the city from Accursed.
Primary Pool: 10 (Demolishing buildings, hunting wrongdoers, unarmed attacks)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Know area, pursue)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Unarmed attacks
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 8
Armor: 1 (Exquisite Material, Impenetrable)
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Extraordinary Speed, Immunity (Fear), Natural Weapon (Beak: Brutal, Wrecking; Fists:
Heavy Weapon), Regeneration, Vulnerability (Innocents’ Blood)
Dread Powers: Banishment (Outcasts, Primal, Sorcerers) ×1, Entangle ×1, Initiative Leapfrog ×1,
Spawn (Gargoyles) ×1, Sundering Impulse (Freezing Blast) ×1
Special: +1 Durability Advantage from armor
Phantasms
Tormented spirits of the mutilated Dead, phantasms are caught somewhere between living memory and
distant, indecipherable echoes. Each one is a slave to ritual repetition and bound to a single location or
individual. Most exist in a perpetual state of confusion, unable to break from their eternal, accursed
fixation, and many of those same phantasms are utterly homicidal. If summoned or broken from their
rituals, they respond with untempered hostility.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Follow my pattern. Curse the living.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Controlling objects, secret knowledge, showing passion)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Stalking, scaring others)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Lashing out at the living
Defense: 1/1/3 (from armor)
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/8
Armor: 0/0/1 (Fitted, Magic Resistant)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Frightening Presence, Incorporeal (Holy Water), Locked Door, Natural Weapon
(Spectral Grasp: Elemental Attunement (Ice))
Dread Powers: Dreadful Gaze (Energy Drain: Dazed) ×0/×0/×1, Discorporate ×1/×1/×1,
Hypnotize ×1/×1/×1, Materialize ×1/×1/×1, Telekinesis ×0/×1/×1
Zombie Flesh-Eaters
They’re called zombies, shambling corpses, undead cannibals (technically a misnomer, as they generally
avoid eating other undead, outside of the Hungry), the walking dead, and flesh-eaters. As creatures
common in pop culture, it’s natural that their name changes depending on the movie, TV series, or video
game popular at the moment.
What’s common among zombie flesh-eaters is they’re never subtle and they’re hungry for flesh (in rare
cases, brains only). Although zombies have probably been around for centuries, common lore puts their
more recent origins to a century ago via a supernatural virus of unknown origin. Frustratingly, it’s one
that spontaneously reoccurs every few years. The Reeves blame the Hydes for fucking around with death
magic while the Hydes blame the Reeves for getting in too deep with reviving dead tissue. Neither has
offered a solution as to how to stop the growing numbers of hungry undead.
Zombie flesh-eaters are exactly what the name implies. They possess little cognitive thought, though
some demonstrate vestiges of human memory. It rarely stymies their hunger, however. Some move
slowly and moan, their limbs and jaws in a permanent rigor, though since the turn of the new millennium
more have shown an alarming capacity to sprint and even use tools as bludgeons. When they’re not
independently seeking meat, they’re in the thrall of some rogue Accursed or Fae monster.
More powerful zombies bloat and ultimately explode in a shower of infected viscera, develop claws and
fangs with which to hunt, or act as commanders to their own kind.
Template: Shiver/Fright/Terror
Drive: Devour Accursed flesh and souls.
Primary Pool: 6/8/10 (Biting, grappling, pursuing)
Secondary Pool: 4/6/8 (Listening, spotting movement)
Desperation Pool: 3/4/5
Enhancements: +0/+1/+2 Bite
Defense: 2/2/3
Integrity: 1/1/2
Injuries: 1/4/7
Armor: 0/0/3 (Padded ×2)
Initiative: 3/4/5
Qualities: Frightening Presence, Immunity (Fear), Reanimation (Beheading, Exorcism, or Ritual,
depending on the zombies), Unusual Anatomy
Dread Powers: Consume ×2/×2/×2, Devour ×0/×1/×1, Explosive Demise ×0/×0/×1, Spawn
(Zombie Flesh-Eaters) ×0/×1/×1
Special: Zombie Flesh-Eaters’ Padded armor is a thick layer of their own dead flesh, making it
impossible to remove without destruction.

Shattered Spaces
These places are malicious entities who are not creatures so much as liminalities that have become so
cursed to have gained consciousness. They often hunger for something from humanity, although some
just seek to kill or entrap those who come too close.

The Champagne Room

The Champagne Room is the newest nightclub opened in the heart of downtown. It’s got the latest sound
system and an elaborate light set up above an innovative smart dance floor that responds to the dancers’
movements. Beneath the well-polished and modern exterior is a darker history staining the essence of the
building. The foundation of this nightclub is built upon the corpse of an old church. Catacombs lie hidden
just beneath its storage rooms; whatever Sorcerer seals were placed to keep the malice of the site in check
have weakened.
Decades of collective death and pain have stained the Champagne Room’s soul. Newly awakened, these
tainted grounds sing a siren song, beckoning the Accursed to them. “Feed me.” It whispers sweetly. “I’ll
make all your dreams come true. Come to me.”
The call is so strong that even mundane human visitors are affected by it. Food spoils, blood runs hot, and
fights frequently break out on crowded nights. Every drop of blood spilled in the mouth of this Shattered
Space gives it more power to spread its influence.
People vanish, never to return in the Champagne Room. For some reason, the cops never investigate
beyond asking the blank-faced staff the most basic of questions before moving on to other cases. Families
with a party tendency — the Mavens and Heirs among them — have grown increasingly concerned, as
they’ve lost several of their kin in the Champagne Room’s vicinity.
Template: Shattered Space
Drive: Spread its reach across the world.
Primary Pool: 10 (Concealing bodies, lowering inhibitions, setting the scene)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Making dope drinks, manipulating dreams)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +1 Charming offensive, +1 Enthralling music
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Attentive, Invulnerability, Locked Door, Vulnerability (when its only inhabitants have
negative attitudes toward it)
Dread Powers: Bend Minds ×2, Devour ×1, Hypnotize ×2, Spawn (Drones) ×1
Special: 2 Social Advantage
The Empty
The Empty is an endless, dark rendition of the world most people know. The Empty consumed its sun and
moon long ago, though this Shattered Space is still cast in shadows rather than complete darkness. All
light sources fail in the Empty, but a perceptive Accursed may see a soft red glow emanate from their and
their companions’ chests.
Various portals to the Empty exist, one notably in the Haint’s (p. XX) body. Others means of entry are
suspected — the Archivists own a tome that opens to the Empty; Katarina Simko can brew a potion that
takes the drinker there; and there’s a natural portal in an empty alley that remains dark even in the
brightest sunlight. The difficulty with the Empty doesn’t lie in entering, but in leaving.
A portal always drops travelers, willing or unwilling, in a facsimile of the location where they entered.
Exploration quickly reveals this pocket of the Empty only extends for a few miles in each direction, and
then loops back to itself. Walk far enough and you always come back where you started.
The Empty is home to a variety of shadow creatures (dark simulacra of people in the real world, their
bodies bearing the Shadow tag for the purposes of combat). Most of them are scavengers in nature and try
to eat visitors while they rest or sleep. A few are unlucky travelers and might ally with the Accursed to
find a way out.
The portals leading out from the Empty lie in the travelers’ own bodies — you can physically crawl
through someone’s chest to emerge back into the world. This kills the “portal” more often than not,
though those with supernatural powers of regeneration may yet survive.
Template: Shattered Space
Drive: Overcome the world of light and dissolve it all into endless void.
Primary Pool: 11 (Abduction, knowledge of death, slowly murdering)
Secondary Pool: 9 (Misleading, trapping)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Trapping
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 8
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Curse Leech, Life Drain, Exposing, Invulnerability, Labyrinthine, Locked Door,
Vulnerability (supernaturally created light)
Dread Powers: Alter Environment (Darkness, Extreme Temperature: Freezing, Sinking) ×1,
Devour ×3, Invert Gravity x1, Spirit Away ×2
Special: 2 Intellect Advantage
Haunted House
There’s a reason nobody’s been able to sell that house at the end of the block. It’s the same reason kids
dare each other to spend a night in there around Halloween. It’s the same reason at least one kid a year
goes missing around that building, never to return. The house is haunted, home to multiple Dead, and
worse besides. It’s an open maw, leading directly to a vile realm of the Fae filled with naught but misery
and fear.
Haunted houses form from multiple deaths or disappearances occurring in the same place, or because a
person of particularly malign intent dwells there and uses it as their safe space when not committing
awful deeds. The evil seeps from the individual and into the floorboards, walls, and furnishings, until the
house itself is a reflection of the owner’s soul.
Many Accursed foolishly assume haunted houses are things of children’s stories or popular theme park
rides, but no. They exist, and they devour all light and joy from those who live nearby. Woe betide
anyone who chooses to occupy such a home and change the décor. A special hell awaits them.
Template: Shattered Space
Drive: Trap and absorb victims, turning them into homicidal undead.
Primary Pool: 10 (Ambush attacks, attracting explorers, disorientation)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Sowing dissent, trapping victims)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +1 Enticing children and the Dead
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Unusual Anatomy, Deadly Aura (Cold), Invulnerability, Labyrinthine, Locked Door,
Reanimation (Exorcism), Vulnerability (Exorcism)
Dread Powers: Cannibalize ×1, Devour ×2, Spawn (Phantasms, Zombie Flesh-Eaters) ×1,
Telekinesis ×2
Special: 2 Durability Advantage
The Mondays
You’ve felt like utter shit all week. Have you been zoning out at work? You come to, and things are not
where they should be. Cubicles stacked like tombs are populated with zombie-like workers. Even the
colors in this place seem desaturated. Drained.
What happened? It’s dark outside. You’re alone in the office. Did you lose time again? The carpet’s wet.
Someone kicked over the watercooler. Vanessa’s computer screen is smashed. There’s a glistening, red
handprint on the nearby wall. Would your hand fit into it?
A static drone fills your ear. It’s been there all week, but it’s louder now, closer. Something approaches.
You need to get out! You just can’t find the energy or will. So, you scroll through social media on your
computer. The dopamine is never enough to get up.
A black hole opens in your chest. A vacuum puckers on your heart. You can’t be bothered to scream.
Your arteries squeeze shut.
You keep scrolling.
The Mondays caught you.
This drab office building has seen so much banality it’s become a giant void unto itself. Perhaps a suicide
or accidental office death awakened it. Now it draws the living to it, so that it (and the smaller voids that
nest here) may feast upon them. The turnover rate is high. Businesses come and go, but the rent is so
cheap that a new company is always ready to move in. The voids stalking these halls have a taste for souls
overripened to a soft pap.
Accursed will find it difficult hunting the voids in this cubicle-laden domain. Everyone here looks a little
soul-dead and on the verge of getting sick, so it’s hard to pick out who is possessed. Handshakes are a big
part of the corporate culture here, and the void use them to travel from body to body.
Template: Shattered Space
Drive: Draw in the living and increase the number of voids lurking within itself.
Primary Pool: 10 (Disorientation, hacking and draining finances, instilling despair)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Destroying scenery, grappling)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Confusing people
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Energy Vacuum (Exhausted, Slowed), Hopeless Scenario, Invulnerability, Labyrinthine,
Locked Door, Vulnerability (overcome a social status effect the Mondays impose)
Dread Powers: Alter Environment (Aflame, Darkness, Demolished, Sinking) ×2, Binding Fetish
×3, Spawn (Voids) ×1
Special: +1 Social Advantage
painful.love
There are places on the internet that no one should go. painful.love is one of them.
Don’t you dare.
Stop typing. I mean it. Close that search engine right now.
Existing between the Outside and our world, this Shattered Space allows an entity classified as “Oizys” to
influence humans and Accursed. The website shows a short movie of disturbing acts to the user, while
Oizys hijacks the user’s monitor to observe who and what the viewer is. Oizys psychologically drains
their victims as they visit the site. An obsession besets the Accursed to return and share the site with
others, spreading its reach to others. When the obsession reaches a fevered pitch, the Accursed receives a
private message to join in a playtest of a new VR game that takes them to a virtual Battleground.
painful.love’s site server exists deep in a Battleground. Having lost several of their youngest Sorcerers to
painful.love’s magic, the Network have been attempting to recruit teams to access the site’s VR world,
and maybe via that disorientating space find the server’s location so they can launch an all-out assault.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Network has struggled to find volunteers.
Template: Shattered Space
Drive: Identify Accursed and lure them to the Battleground.
Primary Pool: 10 (Causing addiction, compelling others, causing confusion)
Secondary Pool: 8 (Belittling, isolation)
Desperation Pool: 5
Enhancements: +2 Electronically track targets
Defense: 3
Integrity: 2
Injuries: 7
Armor: 0
Initiative: 5
Qualities: Invulnerability, Labyrinthine, Locked Door, Vulnerability (Advanced Computer Virus)
Dread Powers: Illusions (Virtual Reality Battleground) ×3, Obsessive Urge (Reload Website,
Share the Link, Share a painful.love Meme) ×2, Spawn (P-Borgs) ×1
Special: +2 Social Advantage