Friday, October 10, 2014

Devastation Drive-In: The Final Cut — 'The Brood' (1979)



Psychotyke

No. Enc.:  1d6 (2d10)
Alignment:  Chaotic
Movement:  120' (40')
Armor Class:  7
Hit Dice:  3
Attacks:  3 or 1 (2 claws, 1 bite, or 1 weapon)
Damage:  1d4 / 1d4 / 1d6, or by weapon
Save:  L2
Morale:  12
Hoard Class:  None
XP:  150

The Ancients explored not only the farthest reaches of space, but also probed the deepest depths of the human psyche...

...and did so via radical cognitive therapies to exorcise traumatic childhood demons...

...BUT IN DOING SO, UNLEASHED TRAUMA-INFLICTING DEMON CHILDREN!!!

Psychotykes are eerie beings that resemble Pure Human children from afar...but up close, the hideous differences are readily apparent.  Their pale faces are marred by iris-less sunken eyes and clefted, toothless, razored, beak-like mouths.  Their tongues are inflexible, preventing speech and allowing only gibbering growls.  Their little fingers end in claws.  More thorough examinations reveal that psychotykes lack sex organs and navels, and only see in black and white.  And they sport hump-like "yolk sacs" on their backs; when this nutri-fluid depletes in 1d8 days from point of initial encounter, the creatures expire.

The little freaks are brutal combatants, and get +2 To Hit from sheer ferocity.  And groups swarm one foe at a time, rending and biting with superior numbers.   Psychotykes also love striking from Surprising (1-3 on 1d6) positions, such as high shelving, under beds, inside closets, etc.

Psychotykes are spawned by powerful—and altogether insane—Mutant Human females (known as "broodmothers") with untapped psionic powers and deep psychological damage. These women channel their anxieties, fears, and hatreds, bringing the 'tykes to life as literal manifestations of murderous wrath.  A broodmother can "birth" 1d10 psychotykes per week through external abdominal organs.  Any Mutant Human female with a WIL score of 15+ and at least 3 Mental Mutations has the potential to become a broodmother if her life circumstances are awful enough.  Bizarrely, psychotykes look like twisted versions of their respective mother's actual children, right down to the clothing.

Psychotykes act based on their mother's moods; when she's angry, they attack the recipient of her rage, and when she's calm and lucid, they lie dormant.

When a broodmother is killed, her respective psychotykes collapse and die instantly.

Mutations:  Metaconcert