Sunday, October 20, 2013

Devastation Drive-In 3-D — 'Jack Frost' (1997)




Frostfiend

No. Enc.:  1 (1)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  75' (25')
       —Flow:  30' (10')
Armor Class:  8
Hit Dice:  11
Attacks:  2 or 1 (2 punches, or 1 ice-spear, or 1 bite, or 1 weapon)
Damage:  1d6 / 1d6, or 2d8, or 2d10, or by weapon +1d6
Save:  L11
Morale:  9
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  6,000

One of the major drives behind Ancient medical research was the quest for immortality, and mad doctors invented acid that merged living genetic material with inert solid matter so as to effectively "convert" people into impervious "living sculptures" that could withstand the elements and time, and be reverted back to human form after a world-shattering disaster...

...BUT THE CHEMICAL PROCESS WAS FLAWED, AND MELDED MAN AND MATTER INTO METAMORPHIC, MUTABLE, MURDEROUS MANIACS!!!

Of the assorted varieties of amorphous "fiends", frostfiends are by far the most malevolent. These living snowmen known are former Pure Humans transformed into icy, shapeshifting creatures via contact with bizarre chemicals.  (They can be actual Ancients freed from centuries of cryonic storage, or "modern" Mutant Future denizens exposed to leaking toxins.) If they weren't violent lunatics before their freakish transition, then they certainly became so afterwards.  Frostfiends are exceptionally strong, and enjoy brutality with weapons and holiday-themed accessories...

...but they also possess numerous horrific abilities related to their semi-aqueous condition. They can leach the heat out of a victim with but a touch [contact-based Energy Ray], and generate jagged icicles for use as fangs or projectiles (at ranges up to 50').  They can harden standing liquid water into solid ice with but a touch, entombing those within.  A frostfiend can also flow into a corpse, and parade about in its skin for 1d4 turns (after which the skin-suit freezes solid).  Frostfiends can even enter the esophagus of a living being, "possessing" the body as above.  This attack requires a successful melee To Hit roll, and the target makes a Saving Throw Versus Death to resist; failure means the victim dies instantly, and can be used as a fleshy marionette for 1d4 turns. And particularly depraved frostfiends perform deviantly deadly acts with their carrots....

Frostfiends maintain full molecular control over their forms, and they can liquefy and solidify at will.  This allows them unfettered access via plumbing, crevices, etc. into any structure or vehicle (a la Teleport) that isn't perfectly sealed.  It also means that they're impervious to all conventional melee weapons and firearms.

Though they're effectively immortal, frostfiends aren't invincible...though they're pretty damned close.  Extreme heat (fire, energy weapons, etc.) inflicts standard damage against a frostfiend, but melts them into water or steam, and they reform again in 2d10 rounds.  (And in steam form, a frostfiend can travel virtually anywhere...that pesky Teleport again.)  Explosives inflict full damage but actually scatter a frostfiend's particles, and it can reassemble its component mass after 1d4 turns, and then return to "proper shape" after another 2d4 rounds.  Chemicals—particularly antifreezing agents—are the only methods to truly damage a frostfiend, and exposure inflicts double damage (as determined by the Mutant Lord) and keeps them in a perpetually liquid state incapable of reforming.  Many Ancient frostfiends can be discovered in ruins, suspended in antifreeze solutions and just waiting for release....

A frostfiend retains all knowledge and personality from its former Pure Human existence, and can therefore utilize technology and pilot known vehicles.

Mutations:  Aberrant Form ("Living Snow"), Energy Ray (Cold) (Modified), Frailty ("Antifreeze") [D], Teleport (Modified)





















Designer's Notes:  This film went direct to home video, so no official poster exists (necessitating use of the VHS box art).