Browse the Cypher System

An artificial intelligence that permanently installs itself onto the wetware (in this case, the brain) of a human or other sapient creature creates an AI zombie. The AI replaces the person's personality and motivations, turning them into a shambling creature who only does the AI's bidding, even as their body decays and falls apart (though most keep shambling because of an injection of nano repair bots). AI zombies are driven by a single, simple motive implanted by the original artificial intelligence—usually related to destroying resources before competing AI instances can use them. They aren't intelligent enough to direct themselves or problem solve outside of this goal, unless the AI takes direct control, using a particular AI zombie as a remote "terminal" from which to act and observe the world.

An abomination is a hideous bestial humanoid covered with thickened plates of scarlet flesh. Their eyes shine with the stagnant glow of toxic waste dumps. Standing at least 7 feet (2 m) tall, abominations are drawn to movement. Always famished, they consume living prey in great tearing bites.

Air elementals are capricious pieces of air with simple minds. They spontaneously appear in clouds and high mountains, and often resemble an area of mist or a cloudlike humanoid shape.

Alchemists ain't afraid to use logic and laborious experiments to claw magic from the dirt. Their knowledge of alchemical lore allows them to imbue inert objects with arcane volatility. They employ tinctures that heal or control, fling powders that explode or transform, and most impressively, animate rude substances into pseudo living entities known as forgeborn. Many alchemists pursue their craft merely from a desire to push back the boundaries of ignorance. Others have a specific goal in mind, such as to gain riches or power, to bring back a loved one, or merely to make a friend.

The supervillain called Anathema is big, bright red, and stronger than anyone on this planet or any other (or so he claims). Superheroes who go head to head with him learn that he can withstand almost any hit and always gives back twice as hard as he receives. He can bring down buildings with a punch and throw semi trucks across state lines. Before he was Anathema, he was Sameer Stokes, a bitter and spiteful coder working for a large software company. Having failed in relationships, promotions, and retaining friends, Sameer retreated online and learned that he had power when he bullied people. He delighted in causing emotional distress in others in forums and social media. In effect, he was a troll. When the metamorphosis happened, he was turned into a troll for real. (Sameer doesn't recall the metamorphosis or the days before and immediately after his change, despite using therapy and drugs in an attempt to recover those memories.) Assume that Anathema has three power shifts in strength and two in resilience. These shifts are already figured into his modifications and other stats.

An angalith—a forgeborn fabricated from prismatic stained glass windows taken from cathedrals and churches—is a 15-foot (4.5 m) tall figure.

If the End Times causes civilization to fall, biblical threats multiply across the land, including one or more angels of the apocalypse. They are every bit as terrifying as the Four Horsemen because they're charged with bringing about the end of the world. They have little room for pity or the plights of individuals; they have nations to topple and the forces of Hell to oppose. Angels of the apocalypse radiate a halo of golden white light. Their 10 foot (3.5 m) tall forms—caparisoned for war—are somewhat humanoid, though each has one or more sets of wings. Apocalypse angels also wield an implement that seems to be equal parts trumpet and sword, which they can sound to bring about terrible events, or swing to slay those who oppose them.

Aristocrats are not quite high royalty—they are not kings or queens, nor even princes and princesses—but they are those with money and power enough to wield in dangerous or glorious ways. Knights and barons are typically aristocrats, as are characters like Bluebeard and Mr. Fox. Some aristocrats, such as knights, may only want to do good and protect the things that matter to them. Others, of course, prefer to use the darker side of their privileged position.

If a supercomputer can think independently, it's a strong AI (an artificial intelligence). Though not as advanced as godminds, AIs can develop inscrutable goals. AIs take many forms. Some are distributed across a vast network. Others are encoded into a singular "computer core." A few are machines with organic parts. All are entities of extreme intelligence able to adapt to new situations, and most act on some kind of plan, whether long-acting, or newly concocted to fit the situation at hand.

An artificial intelligence thinks independently, learning and evolving with experience. AIs have their own goals and motivations, and may work with or against humans. Some want to gather data, some want to solve technological problems, and some want to take over the world—at any cost. AIs take many forms. Some are distributed across a vast network. Others are isolated in a single computer. A few are machines with organic parts or can use such machines as servitors. Because AIs are entities of extreme intelligence, they can adapt to new situations. Most AIs act on some kind of plan, whether long acting or concocted to fit the situation at hand.

An assassin kills with poison, with high-velocity bullets from a distance, or by arranging for an unfortunate accident. Assassins accept contracts from governments, corporations, crime bosses, and aggrieved former partners, though some assassins pay themselves by tracking criminals anywhere to collect on "dead or alive" bounties.

Baba Yaga (sometimes called Frau Trude) lives many lives and has many personalities. She is both one witch and many. She uses her magic to create a new version of herself each time her life takes a new branch, following all of them at once, becoming every version of herself that she might have been. Some versions of Baba Yaga are helpful. Others harmful. Some Baba Yagas live in the woods in a wooden hut that walks around on giant chicken legs, some fly through the sky in a giant mortar and pestle, and some guard any wild spaces that they have deemed important. Some capture and cook young children in a special stove. Some do all of the above.

A bard uses the power of words and music to create magic that inspires and influences others. A typical bard plays a musical instrument and weaves song-spells that rival the magic of wizards and priests, but some use their voices, creating fascinating tales and dramatic speeches.

Bargainer fiends are natives of "hell dimensions" whose job is to come to the mortal world and convince people to barter or trade their souls. Their natural shape is usually a lanky humanoid with horns, claws, vestigial bat wings, and a forked tail, with a faint smell of brimstone, but they can partially or completely disguise themselves as humans to tempt and advise mortals. Typical devils are warriors and torturers, and demons are mortal souls reforged into entities of pure spite and hate, whereas bargainer fiends see themselves as classier beings with loftier goals. However, bargainers are aware that they are weaker than their counterparts, and they make sure they don't do any front-line fighting if they can help it.

A basilisk is a magical kind of serpent that resembles a cobra, has a series of scales on its head like a crown, and crawls upright instead of slithering on its belly. It feeds on snakes and other creatures smaller than itself, relying on its poisonous aura to weaken and kill its prey. It is known to make an unnerving growl instead of a typical snake hiss. An adult basilisk is 10 to 18 feet (3 to 5.5 m) long.

Beast (also called "Conquest") is present at mass shootings and acts of genocide. He is adroit at spreading misinformation and, prior to the apocalypse, was often seen on various "newstainment" shows and conspiracy theory websites, spreading lies under an alias. Then and now, he appears in a white suit, accessorized with white shades and gloves. His hair is white, too.

A berserker is a fierce warrior who can fly into a rage, greatly increasing their strength and hardiness. Many of them choose an animal such as a bear, wolf, or boar as their spiritual kin, wearing the skin of that animal and fighting like wild beasts.

Black dogs go by many names: hellhounds, bearers of death, black hounds of destiny, and devil dogs, just to name a few. Typically they are spectral or demonic entities that show up at night. They are often sinister, malevolent, or purposefully harmful (such as the Barghest and Black Shuck). Occasionally, black dogs are helpful and benevolent, guarding people from danger, helping them find the correct path, or signifying the death of someone nearby. Black dogs are usually large, shaggy, and as black as night, with long ears and tails. However, despite their name, they can be any color. The real distinction is that they are definitely not regular, living dogs. Some have eyes like fire, some howl with a ghostly, ethereal song, and still others have telltale witches' marks upon their chest or back. Black dogs can see ghosts, witches, and other magical entities not typically visible to other creatures. They are sometimes a portent of death, but not always. Many carry with them an inherent sense of sadness and despair, which they can pass on to those around them. Black dogs sometimes serve as familiars for witches and sorcerers.

Blackguards are evil knights who serve dark entities or their own corrupt agendas. Some were once honorable knights who fell to temptation and have abandoned their original principles, but many were raised under evil circumstances and have never known anything but hatred and conflict.

The huge, undulating mass of this creature is composed of a mucus-like solid. The half-amorphous blob defeats its foes by absorbing prey, integrating a victim's tissue into its own. In essence, the victim becomes the blob, and all of the victim's knowledge is available to the blob for later use. If it later desires, a blob can release a nearly perfect replicant of any creature that it has absorbed. Replicants have the memories and personalities of the originals, but they do the blob's bidding, which is usually to explore distant locations or lure prey into the open using a friendly face. A particularly well-crafted replicant might not know it's not the original. Creating a replicant takes a blob a day or two of effort, during which time it's unable to defend itself or eat, so it's not a task the creature attempts lightly.

Not actually a water spirit, but one who has made her peace with the sea in an eternal bargain, Cailleach once lived on land. Now she is a recluse deep in the ocean in the realm known as the Expanse of Halirane. She appears ancient, and in fact is much older than that. She shaves her head bald, wears dozens of shell earrings in each ear, and has a glass eye that allows her to see three views of the future. As part of her bargain with the sea, she can never return to dry land again, or she will lose all of her powers forever.

Fine ebony scales cover a cambion's perfectly athletic figure. Two reddish horns grow from its brow, and the tips of fangs emerge from between its dusky lips. Its eyes, absent iris and pupil, are the color of driven snow. Cambions are cursed creatures, born of mortal and demonic parentage, and are also sometimes called helborn. Most cambions give in to what everyone expects of them, and embrace evil.

A cannibal is someone who has decided that eating other people is not only necessary but desirable. Whether this decision was forced by circumstance or made out of some secret, maladaptive urge, cannibals are dangerous because they hide in plain sight, pretending friendship and aid for strangers until their prey lowers their guard. That's when a cannibal strikes. Some cannibals like it raw; others delight in elaborate preparations.

Cannibals come in a variety of different forms, depending on their situation. Some seem like normal and perhaps even charming survivors, except to their targets. These "nice" cannibals may eat human flesh when desperate or to take advantage of meat that would otherwise go to waste. Or maybe they've developed a taste for human flesh. Others look the part, having descended into the kind of bestial, erratic behavior that cannibalism can inflict on long term practitioners. Some are part of a crazed settlement of raiders always looking for more sweet meats, and others hide in plain sight, pretending friendship and offering aid to strangers until their prey lowers their guard. Some cannibals like their prey raw; others delight in elaborate preparations. Whether becoming an eater of human flesh was forced by circumstance or out of some secret, maladaptive urge, cannibals are dangerous.

Cannibals come in a variety of different forms, depending on their situation. Some seem like normal and perhaps even charming survivors, except to their targets. These "nice" cannibals may eat human flesh when desperate or to take advantage of meat that would otherwise go to waste. Or maybe they've developed a taste for human flesh. Others look the part, having descended into the kind of bestial, erratic behavior that cannibalism can inflict on long term practitioners. Some are part of a crazed settlement of raiders always looking for more sweet meats, and others hide in plain sight, pretending friendship and offering aid to strangers until their prey lowers their guard. Some cannibals like their prey raw; others delight in elaborate preparations. Whether becoming an eater of human flesh was forced by circumstance or out of some secret, maladaptive urge, cannibals are dangerous.

Cat sidhes, sometimes called phantom cats, are dog-sized felines that were once witches and now have shifted permanently into cat form. They're all black except for a single white symbol on their chest, which is their name. When cat sidhes form (because a witch has turned themselves into a cat for the ninth time), they gain nine tails. Each time a cat sidhe would be killed, they can choose to lose one of their tails instead. Once a cat sidhe has no more tails remaining, their death is final. While cat sidhes inflict damage with their soul-stealing attacks, the roleplaying element of a character losing part of their soul is possibly more important than the game effect. Consider removing something from the character that will affect them in interesting and unusual ways.

Fey creatures sometimes kidnap a human child and leave a changeling in its place, tricking the human parents into raising an inhuman creature as their own offspring. The changeling has a foot in two worlds, living as a spy or sleeper agent for the fey, but thoroughly enjoying their life among humans.

Children play the roles of urchins, siblings, daughters, sons, waifs, servants, royal family members, child brides, and more.

Chimeras are unsettling hybrids that combine the features of many different animals, often arranged in odd formations. The fusion of animal forms is the only thing that unifies these creatures—otherwise, different chimeras often look very different from each other. They include combinations of goat and lion, lizard and bat, dragon and spider, dinosaur and giant insect. A few even display human features, such as an improbably located face or hands instead of claws. Some chimeras can fly. Others slither across the ground. A chimera typically has a dominant form to which other animal parts are grafted. The base form must be large enough to support the weight of the extra heads, so lions, bears, and horses are popular as the base form. Chimeras kill even when not hungry and throw their victims' remains around a wide area in a wild rage. When not feeding or tormenting prey, a chimera that can fly takes to the air, beating its enormous leather wings to scour the landscape for new prey.

These segmented, 6-foot (2 m) long creatures look partly like larvae that have grown gargantuan and vicious. They appear in places where time moves more slowly or more quickly than normal, where balls and liquids flow upslope, or where a time traveler has visited.

A corporate mage is a professional spellcaster working for a company, using their magic to fix problems. They have a similar role as enforcers, lawyers, corporate spies, and researchers, doing what needs to be done so the company's interests are protected. They're paid well, dress to show it, and aren't above unethical (or even illegal) acts to get the job done. They work alone, in pairs, or with a lawyer and a few bodyguards. Lawyer level 2, law and intimidation as level 4 Bodyguard level 2; Armor 1; short-range pistol inflicts 4 damage Stats for a corporate mage also work well for paranormal law enforcement NPCs, such as the police or FBI.

Some wizards and sorcerers are tempted by dark magic, inevitably damning their souls and corrupting their flesh as they cut corners and delve into forbidden lore. Their research and experimentation create new kinds of rampaging monsters and turn people into misshapen horrors. They sometimes modify their own bodies in order to gain demonic or draconic powers, or make pacts with such creatures for knowledge and magical ingredients.

Crafters include bakers, cobblers, candlemakers, butchers, millers, tailors, woodworkers, and cooks. While most crafters aren't particularly agile fighters, they are usually clever and strong, and have a number of familiar tools at their disposal for weapons.

A crime boss usually isn't physically powerful but wields power through lies, bribery, and control. Rarely encountered alone, they rely on guards, thugs, and other measures to provide physical security. A crime boss could be a petty noble, a mafia king, or the captain of a pirate ship that sails the seas or glides the space lanes.

Normal moths are enigmatic, gauzy haunts of twilight. The feathery touch of their wings on your face can startle, even frighten. This is to be expected, since moths are the children of cryptic moths, malign and intelligent entities of another realm. Sometimes referred to as mothmen, other times as shadow faeries, cryptic moths are certainly alien. Each possesses a unique wing pattern and coloration, and, to some extent, body shape. These patterns and colors may signify where in the hierarchy a particular cryptic moth stands among its siblings of the night, but for those who do not speak the language of moths, the complexity of their social structure is overwhelming.

Cybrid origins could be the result of someone finding a cache of ancient ultra technology, or manufactured by a post-singularity AI for some unfathomable purpose, or even the result of banned weapons research by a nation-state or conglomerate. The human remnants in each cybrid's carbon fiber and nested shells of nanotech exist in a red haze of pain; neuro-wetware and chemicals bathing their remaining living tissues hold the pain partly at bay. From the exterior, not much of the original human is obvious, except perhaps in the echo of a humanoid shape. Each one has a unique conformation, but all are designed to strike fear in anyone seeing one, ally and enemy alike.

Cyclopes resemble massive humans that stand 50 to 60 feet (15 to 18 m) tall and weigh about 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg). Everything about these giants is exaggerated, from the thick features of their faces to their oversized hands and lumpy, corpulent bodies. They clothe themselves in animal skins, scraps of cloth, or canvas stolen during their travels. A cyclops's most distinctive feature is the single eye positioned in the center of its forehead. Cyclopes live on the edges of civilized areas or on remote islands. For all their power and stature, they aren't especially brave, and most have a dim idea that puny humans have an advantage when they have numbers on their side.

Sometimes taking the form of a young woman and sometimes an old one, Dame Gothel cares for one thing above all: her beautiful walled garden, the flowers and vegetables that grow inside it being the envy of all others. Unlike many other witches, she does not harm children and in fact has been known to protect them, at least as long as they are innocent of wrongdoing.

Death goes by many names, takes many forms, and has only one purpose: to make all equal in the end. Death is often an unwanted visitor—taking the life of someone who is not ready to go—but just as often, they come to those who are ready. To them, Death is a most welcome, the most welcome, guest of all. While some see Death as evil, they are not inherently so, no more than the cougar hunting the hare for dinner. In fact, they are the great equalizer, raising paupers to kings and kings to common people. Death is ancient, but not old. Wise, but not all-knowing. Brilliant, but not perfect. Death is also, very often, bored. They have seen everything, heard everything, and done everything that it is possible for an immortal being to do, and some days they feel sure they will never experience anything new or interesting again. But still, they try, taking on new guises, hiding themselves away, even traveling to distant stars and moons before their duties and obligations once again pull them to return. If Death appears at the foot of a person's bed, that person can recover if the proper steps are taken. If Death is at the head of the bed, almost nothing can be done to save the victim, beyond an impossible bargain.

Alchemists who learn enough science and magic to retain corporeal existence after death, like risen, might transition to necrovore status. Unlike a risen, a deathbinder ensures their eternal existence by placing splinters of their soul into six bullets chambered in a "soul pistol." If all six bullets are fired, the deathbinder is finally destroyed. Two pistols are holstered on a deathbinder's gun belt. the deathbinder's soul pistol, which they reserve for special circumstances, and their "workaday" six shooter, loaded with unique alchemical rounds. A deathbinder usually resides alone, herding cursed beasts or forgeborn creatures of their own creation, probably astride a fleshmare.

Some deep ones dwell in coastal regions on land, usually in isolated villages where they might attempt to pass for human. They are able to breathe both air and water. Most, however, thrive in the ocean depths, in ancient underwater cities like "Cyclopean and many-columned Y'ha-nthlei." Deep ones sometimes breed with insane humans to produce squamous offspring that eventually develop fully into deep ones well after maturity (or even middle age).

Popularly known as the velociraptor, the dinosaur genus called deinonychus doesn't care if its prey gets the proper terminology sorted. Meat tastes like meat. The "terrible claw" these carnivores are named after refers to their massive, sickle-shaped claws, which are unsheathed from their hind legs when attacking prey. Deinonychus are pack hunters, which means they work together as a unit, each taking on different roles to scare, flush, and direct even intelligent prey into the claws of an ambush.

Lesser gods, divine children of gods and mortals, and other beings bequeathed with partly divine power are called demigods. Their capacities so radically exceed those of regular people that they have transcended humanity. Demigods are so physically and mentally powerful that it's difficult for them to hide their semi-divine appearance to mortal creatures—not that most would make the effort in the first place.

Demons are formless spirits of the dead tortured in nether realms until all that was good or caring in them was burned away, forging a being of spite and hate. A demon remembers only fragments of its former life—every good memory is cauterized, and every slight, misfortune, snub, and pain is amplified, motivating the creature to tempt others into the same state. Having no flesh to call its own, a demon is a shadowed, ephemeral horror able to possess others. A demon can cause great harm in a short time by forcing its host to lie, steal, and harm loved ones.

In a world where demons, witches, and other evil magical creatures are free to prey upon humanity, hunters are one of the few things that keep them in check. They usually have to keep their work secret and are slow to trust anyone, but once befriended they have a habit of showing up just when help is needed.

Demon lords are mighty demons, commanding hundreds of lesser fiends and often ruling an entire hellscape dimension. No mere brutes, they are smart, wield powerful magic, make centuries-long plans of conquest against rival demons, and seek to corrupt and enslave powerful mortals. Some are nearly as powerful as gods and are worshipped as such by cultists or evil creatures, claiming ownership of a concept like murder, rot, undeath, or seduction. A few are known to mate with mortals to produce cambion offspring.

Detectives are usually veterans of their organization (such as the police, city watch, marshals, space command, and so on) with extensive experience. Some detectives are freelance sleuths whose uncanny ability to see the truth comes from personal training combined with an underlying talent for noticing clues that others miss.

Devils are manifest evil. As "native fauna" of various tortuous nether realms, devils come in many forms, though most are iterations on a theme that includes a humanoid shape, large batwings, bestial faces, and twisting horns. Most stink of brimstone and sport tails that end in a fork. Devils fill the ranks of hellish armies, guard evil vaults, and appear at the magical summons of warlocks and sorcerers who are not afraid for the sanctity of their own souls.

Conglomerate security subsidiaries regularly experiment with new ways to create super-soldiers, either to supply to a government on a contract basis, or to use for themselves. These experiments produced hundreds of dead ends—literally—plus a few dangerous failures. The devolved are one of those dangerous failures. These malformed, hideous brutes share a common heritage but display a wide array of maladies and mutations in the flesh, including withered limbs or elephantine patches of thick, scaly skin, misplaced body parts, and mental abnormalities. Simple-minded and afflicted with pain from their twisted, broken forms, the devolved vent all their hatred and wrath against all others. Even successfully created super-soldiers require a regular regimen of specialized drugs to keep them healthy. Most are shipped out to fight on faraway fronts, whether that's on a distant space station, moon, or in another star system entirely. Without their drugs, they may devolve.

Remnants of ancient populations reinvigorated by cursed magic, dire coyotes hunt lost and isolated creatures, regardless of whether the prey is alive or already dead. Dire coyotes are gaunt and sinewy, almost as large as a horse. Their hides are branded with arcane sigils that still glow and smoke with the sorcery that pulses through them. Dire coyotes usually hunt in teams of two or three. However, their howls give the impression of a far larger number of individuals in the night.

Divinities of the city are a pantheon of modern-era demigods who have a strong connection to some aspect of urban life. They get their powers from their connection to a modern element that's being worshipped. For example, the Divinity of Defacement gains power when someone creates graffiti or stares in wonder at a mural, while the Divinity of Urban Creatures grows stronger each time someone saves a turtle from a highway or shivers at coyotes' calls. Divinities look mostly humanoid, but their appearance has some tie to their connection. The Divinity of Defacement might wear graffiti-themed clothing, the Divinity of Urban Creatures might have a bear's head, and the Divinity of Architecture might have gargoyle wings.

Djinn inhabit unseen dimensions beyond the visible universe. Just like normal creatures, djinn are individuals, and they can be good, evil, or unconcerned about the fates and doings of others.

Doctor Dread is larger than life thanks to her brilliant mind, her media savvy, and the robotic armor she uses to enhance her otherwise normal abilities. Indeed, Doctor Dread has become the most feared terrorist on the planet. She uses her abilities to extort money, influence, and technology from the rich and powerful, whether her victims are individuals, governments, corporations, or superheroes. Alicia Coleridge is Doctor Dread's secret identity. Born into relative obscurity, she received a full scholarship to the Russell Institute of Technology, where she studied the effects of radioactive substances on living tissue. In a freak lab accident, Alicia's fiancé was slain, and Alicia was disfigured and driven slightly insane, so much so that she built the Doctor Dread armor. She plows the vast wealth she accumulates through terrorism into research into the rejuvenation of dead flesh. She hopes to one day bring back her dead love, whose body she keeps in suspended animation. Doctor Dread is usually accompanied by a handful of robot minions. Dread's robot minion level 3; Armor 1; long-range laser attack inflicts 4 points of damage Assume that Doctor Dread has three power shifts in intelligence and two in resilience. These shifts are already figured into her modifications and other stats.

Dragons are exceptionally territorial, vain, and greedy. Apex predators, dragons must eat large meals on a regular basis. They prefer virgins, though they will settle for whoever, or whatever—such as horses or wild pigs—is available in a pinch. They love games of all sorts, especially when they get to consume the loser. Drawn to wealth and magic, dragons accumulate hoards of golden treasure. A dragon's hoard is not only an end in itself, but part of a never-ending contest between dragons of a certain age to see which one can accumulate the largest trove.

A druid is a servant of a nature deity or the entirety of nature itself. Some have specific interests such as animals, plants, or storms, with greater powers relating to that devotion. Druids are leaders and advisors in some cultures, society-hating hermits in others.

A typical dwarf found outside of their homeland is an explorer, warrior, and tradesperson of some skill. Dwarves travel to find work as mercenaries, sell the goods they create, or find unusual materials to use in their crafting.

An excavation, a meteor fall, a still-shuddering earthquake—all these events can summon an earth elemental to take shape and expand the destruction further.

Tiny nanomachines can be incredibly useful tools. But they can also become a terrible threat. Like cells in a living body that develop cancer, these out-of-control self-replicating robots can consume everything in their path while building more of themselves. A typical swarm is about 6 m (20 feet) in diameter, individually consisting of millions of individual minuscule machines. However, several swarms can act together, creating a much larger cloud of death with just one purpose: to eat and replicate. Able to move large distances by gliding through the air, cloud-like swarms take on intriguing shapes and ripple with mathematical patterns as they approach a potential target, beautiful and deadly. Ecophagic swarms sometimes build weird structures or artifacts in the wake of their feeding, like massive metallic ant or wasp mounds, or something without any reference at all in the natural world.

Elder things are mostly extinct, but a few remain trapped in the Antarctic ice or rule over crumbling cities in deep trenches at the bottom of the ocean. Beholding an elder thing bends the mind to the point of breaking. An elder thing has a great barrel-like body standing some 8 feet (2 m) tall. Knobby protrusions in the crown and base each unfold five appendages that recall the arms of a starfish. When agitated, an elder thing unfolds a pair of wings that help it flutter a limited distance. Meddling by elder things created multicellular life that spread across Earth billions of years ago and ultimately brought about humanity. As the younger species grew in numbers and influence, the elder things went into decline, a process hastened by wars against strange beings from other worlds and uprisings by the servitor race they created, the shoggoths.

Electricity elementals alternate between a feral-looking humanoid energy form and a near-spherical cloud of intensely glowing sparks. They spontaneously arise when supernatural events take place near high-voltage wires or electrical substations, and their high rate of speed often means they've traveled hundreds of miles before anyone realizes they appeared. Extremely mobile and curious, they inadvertently or deliberately cause harm wherever they go.

An elf has a very long lifespan and tends to learn and abandon many skills and interests, including combat and magic. Elves are likely to wander in pursuit of something new and interesting, such as finding the tallest tree in the forest, the most beautiful sunset, or the perfect love song.

Enchanters include magic-users of all genders. They may choose to call themselves wizards, sorcerers, mages, or diviners, depending on their strengths, abilities, and desired reputations. Enchanters usually take great pride in their appearance, including their outfits, accouterments, and equipment. They often incorporate living or dead elements of dangerous creatures, such as spiders, snakes, crocodiles, and dragons, into the objects that matter to them. Additionally, they may imbue objects with powerful magic. Enchanters can use long-lasting or even permanent versions of their magical abilities, but doing so usually requires minutes or hours of time. Most enchanters have one or more apprentices or helpers, typically animals that have been made human temporarily or humans who are in the service of the enchanter until some debt of theirs or their family's has been paid. Sorcerer's Apprentice level 3

Hundreds of thousands of years ago, enthraller ancestors psychically dominated a group of interstellar spacefarers who had the misfortune to land on the enthraller homeworld. Leapfrogging technological prowess by mentally commandeering the know-how of every new species they encountered using their stolen space vessel, the aliens fashioned the Enthraller Dominion, which stretches across vast swaths of space, cemented by the psychic control. Individual enthrallers are scary, but enthraller overlords are even more powerful thanks to technological aids. These include cranial circlets that give a single enthraller governor the ability to dominate a small city, solar-system-sized ring relays that boost their control across interstellar distances, and more. Recently, a newly contacted species of aliens developed the technological means to resist the mental influence of the enthrallers. Now war bubbles across the Enthraller Dominion. Sometimes individual enthrallers, stripped of their technological enhancements as a consequence of this war, flee into virgin space, looking for new soldiers to dominate.

This vaguely humanoid creature is an animated accumulation of woodland debris—bark, lost teeth, matted weeds, and dirt. It wears a crown of oak leaves and a cloak of mist. Its eyes are knotholes, and its hands are sharpened twigs. An erlking is a greedy spirit of hunger deemed Unseelie by the faerie nobility of that wild and wicked realm. Erlkings love to hunt and eat children, who are particularly susceptible to the promises and glamours that the creatures spin. An erlking is a former noble stripped of title, lands, and even form, and exiled into the night for crimes unimaginable in their cruelty. An erlking's victims are found in the cold sunlight, pale and bloodless, with their vital organs nibbled out.

Evil priests are worshippers of evil gods, demons, devils, strange malevolent forces from beyond known dimensions, or even death itself. They lead cults, corrupt the innocent with lies and twisted ideologies, and enact the will of their patron in the mortal world. The most insidious ones are able to infiltrate good churches and secular organizations in order to tear them down from the inside.

Amoeboid life predominates in some environments. Sometimes, it slimes asteroid crevices or its greasy residue is found on abandoned spacecraft. In a few cases, large portions of entire worlds are covered in living seas of translucent protoplasm. Individual volumes of exoslime are 5 m (15 foot) diameter moldlike blobs. Exoslimes possess independent minds, but in some settings may be manufactured entities designed to explore new locations, interact with aliens, or subjugate aliens. Exoslimes can learn to respect the autonomy of other creatures, though their natural instinct is to absorb novel objects and creatures they discover in order to learn about them. Exoslimes can also replicate anything they absorb, even a previously eaten living intelligent being.

In general, faeries (sometimes called fairies or fair folk) are humanoid in appearance, small in stature, and magical. They are associated with music, mirth, tricks, and taunts. Seeing one is an omen—hopefully, an omen of a silly song or the first appearance of an annoying new road companion (the very faerie sighted) flitting around, asking the questions of a curious four-year-old hyped up on sugar water and ice cream. Some faeries are tricksters, delighting in playing pranks and stealing clothing, equipment, or prized objects. And a few are malicious, luring travelers to their various dooms, making deadly deals, and forcing others into captivity. Not all faeries have wings, but those that do find many ways to use them to their advantage. Editor's Notes — This listing combines two identically named creatures from Godforsaken and We Are All Mad Here.

In general, faeries (sometimes called fairies or fair folk) are humanoid in appearance, small in stature, and magical. They are associated with music, mirth, tricks, and taunts. Seeing one is an omen--hopefully, an omen of a silly song or the first appearance of an annoying new road companion (the very faerie sighted) flitting around, asking the questions of a curious four-year-old hyped up on sugar water and ice cream. Some faeries are tricksters, delighting in playing pranks and stealing clothing, equipment, or prized objects. And a few are malicious, luring travelers to their various dooms, making deadly deals, and forcing others into captivity. Not all faeries have wings, but those that do find many ways to use them to their advantage.

Fairy godmothers are nearly always beneficent beings, typically acting as mentors, parents, or protectors, much like human godparents. The difference, of course, is that fairy godmothers have a great deal more magic at their disposal. Overall, fairy godmothers are kind, gentle, and loving to almost everyone, not just their godchildren. Of course, not all fairy godmothers are good at their roles—some may act out of their own interests and inadvertently (or purposefully) do harm to those they are supposed to protect. This is particularly true if they feel like they have not been given the respect they deserve, or have been offended in some way. And if you should harm someone they have pledged to protect? Beware, beware, for there is no wrath like that of a fairy godmother's.

Angels are normally associated with virtue and service to higher moral beings. But just like people, sometimes angels are tempted into impure acts. Those who stray too far over the line may fall from higher realms and be forced to walk the Earth in penance. This experience drives most fallen angels insane. Fallen angel abilities wax and wane according to the position of the sun. During the day, a fallen angel seems almost sane (and is less dangerous), but at night, it is volatile and threatening to everyone.

Famine delighted in economic collapse and starvation before the apocalypse. They still spend time destabilizing survivor groups' livelihoods by direct and indirect means. Famine is rail thin, and carries a chain weapon with weighted, disc shaped ends that can also be used as an improvised scale.

Motorcycle riding raiders keep their "motor wheels" alive through constant tinkering and repair. The two wheeled machines are modified with spears, spikes, lances, and sometimes guns and flamethrowers. Fell riders wear heavy protective garments made from fur, salvaged clothing, and leather from past targets. Goggles protect their eyes, and bones are sewn through their wild, greasy hair as decoration.

Searing flame in a vaguely humanoid shape, a fire elemental exists only to burn that which is not already ash. They sometimes spin into being where great conflagrations burn.

The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are Beast, Sword, Famine, and Plague.

Beast (also called "Conquest") is present at mass shootings and acts of genocide. He is adroit at spreading misinformation and, prior to the apocalypse, was often seen on various "newstainment" shows and conspiracy theory websites, spreading lies under an alias. Then and now, he appears in a white suit, accessorized with white shades and gloves. His hair is white, too.

A frostwalker is a cursed beast made of packed snow layered over the severed limbs, heads, gristle, antlers, and sinew from deer, wolves, and sometimes people who've died in the cold. As such, they vary in appearance. Some are about the size of wolves, others are human sized with antlers, and a few—especially those with more limbs and/or heads than normal—can be up to twice the size of a person. Frostwalkers may be creations of dire sorcery, though some gain motive force from the spirits of blizzards, ice, and enmity earned through past atrocity. Frostwalkers could be classified as necrovores instead of (or in addition to) cursed beasts, or possibly even as a forgeborn variety. Creature classification isn't as neat and tidy as some alchemists might wish.

Fundamental angels are mysterious holy beings that maintain and guard fundamental concepts of the universe, such as time, gravity, and energy. They have powers and agendas deriving from higher states of reality. They are strange, terrifying, and inconstant in form, unlike the relatively benign and comprehensible winged humanoids from religion and myth. In the rare times when mortals interfere with these concepts, fundamental angels manifest in the world to set things right. They have intervened to destroy cataclysmic atomic weapons, power sources that skirt the rules of matter and energy, and life forms that betray the principles of creation. For the purpose of vampire aversions, the angel's direct and area attacks count as religious power or sunlight, whichever is worse for the vampire.

In radiation-scoured wastelands, either creatures adapt to the deadly energies of their environment, or they die. Fusion hounds are mutant canines able to absorb unbelievable amounts of radiation and thrive on it. They roam in packs, killing and devouring everything they come upon. A fusion hound's entire head appears to be a blast of flame, and gouts of dangerous radiation flare from its body.