To see them is to see the embodiment of emptiness. When they stand, they are taller than any person but are as comfortable on all fours as they are upright. Emaciated and lanky, bones protrude beneath thin flesh the color of filthy snow. A slight breeze will ripple the skin. Thin arms terminate in rough taloned hands well below the knees. Vacant, bottomless eye sockets dominate their face, along with a round pit where a mouth should be. They emit a constant soft, rasping howl, the sound of a quiet wind, the only warning they are near.
–unknown
Alternative names: Crawlers, the Empty, Frost Touched, Ikhupol
The Hollowed were once people that suffered prolonged exposure to the Frost (see below), cleaning out anything that made them human. All that is left behind is a constant hunger and burning chill that permeates the air around them. Though creatures of the cold, their range extends deep into the temperate forests and hills of the northern hemisphere. In these places they hunt the warmth of the living. The Hallowed are thin enough to hide behind all but the smallest trees, giving potential victims with little indication they are being stalked. The only clues are an odd, unnerving sense of being watched and a faint howl on the wind. Victims drained of their body heat leave behind corpses covered in an unseasonable, slow-melting hoarfrost as the fluids in their bodies freeze.
The Hollowed are solitary hunters. They will come together on occasion in something resembling worship and praise of the Frost.
Cold Presence. The air for 5 feet in all directions around a Hollowed is 40 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than the surrounding air. Ice forms of windows and glass, vegetation withdraws and withers at their passing. In some circumstances, simply being near a Hollowed can cause frostbite and hypothermia in humans.
Freezing Touch. Anyone making physical contact must make a successful CON roll or lost 1D2 CON and Hit Points. Skin at the point of contact blackens with frostbite. The cold is so intense that even thick layers of clothing provide no protection.
The Hollowed, the empty cold
| char. | rolls | average |
| STR | (3D6+3) x 5 | 70 |
| CON | 3D6 x 5 | 30 |
| SIZ | (3D6+3) x 5 | 70 |
| DEX | (3D6+2) x 5 | 60 |
| INT | 2D6 x 5 | 35 |
| POW | 3D6 x 5 | 50 |
Average Hit Points: 10
Average Damage Bonus: +1D4
Average Build: +1
Average Magic Points: 10
Move: 7
Combat
Attacks per round: 1 (claws or Drain Warmth)
The Hollowed lash out with their jagged claws in combat. They are not intelligent enough to use weapons.
Drain Warmth: on a successful attack, the Hollowed seizes an opponent and immediately begins sucking away their body heat through its mouth. The victim will lose 2D6 points of CON per round unless they can make a successful opposed STR vs STR roll to escape. At zero CON the victim dies.
Fighting 45% (22/8), damage 1D4 + Cold Touch (see above)
Dodge 30% (15/6)
Drain Warmth 50% (25/10) damage 2D6 CON (see above)
Skills
Stealth: 65%
Armor: None, but due to being empty sacks of skin and bones, non-magical attacks do minimum damage to a Hollowed.
Spells: None.Sanity Loss: 1/1D6 to encounter a Hollowed.
Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast
