Gatherers: Vampire Variant

We only learned about these things recently. Intel was right on, the bastard lived in a mansion and he was huge—well over six feet tall, built like a locomotive, and sexy as hell. Charming too, so persuasive he, it, could almost talk you out of your mission directive. Still, Daddy didn’t raise no fool, and I was wearing my big girl panties. God knows how many people this thing had killed over the years. We discovered them when this one took three, one of whom was our supervisor and friend.

Johnson had the shot and cracked off two rounds, Mr. Handsome bled, that was a plus. I rolled my frag, just like a bowling ball; perfect strike, it came to rest right beneath his masculine wiles. We all dove for cover and the grenade roared like a beast, almost tore him in half. Bio came out and cleaned up. Everyone came home safe.

—Beverly “B.B.” Bates, Project Star Special Operations Team Leader, Delta Team, Debriefing Statement, File ZZ-1209.

Gatherers usually appear as very attractive humans, except when they are creating their servants and when they extract from them, during which they transform into a monstrous appearance. They are also quite wealthy, or become so not long after becoming a Gatherer.

These beings will go out into the world for purposes they deem necessary, such as business meetings and important public events. They walk in sunlight unharmed.

When a Gatherer gains a prospective servant, willing or otherwise, they bite them on any part of the body, typically a location not generally visible. The victim then falls under the thrall of the Gatherer and goes out into the world seeking prey. Unlike a Gatherer, these beings have sharp fangs that they must conceal.

A thrall seeks out a person, perhaps specified by their creator, who is particularly knowledgeable and/or has experiences of note. Biting this person drains them of their knowledge and renders them nearly mindless. The thrall may then kill the person and dispose of the body, or perhaps simply leaves them to wander. The victim now has an EDU and INT of 1/5 their starting values, a POW of 5, 1 Magic Point, and 5 SAN (due to their decreased POW).

The Thrall then steals what it can, using its newfound knowledge to gain access to a victim’s bank accounts, their home, etc.

Having performed this task, the thrall returns to its master. The Gatherer bites the thrall a second time, draining it of blood and causing it to shrivel as if rapidly aging, the thrall’s bones bend and distort, and they die. The corpse decays and liquefies faster than normal. While being drained, the thrall shows no sign of distress.

The Gatherer gains all knowledge and understanding of the experiences of the victim that the thrall had previously gathered. Additionally, it gains the victim’s Magic Points, minus one, until it has used them or it drains its next thrall. When a Gatherer drains a thrall, it gains the new supply of Magic Points, but any it has not used from a previous victim is negated.

A Gatherer must perform this process once a month or it will weaken and waste away, eventually becoming helpless. This will not destroy the Gatherer, but it does make it easier for a group of investigators to do so. How long this process takes is at the discretion of the Keeper.

Create Thrall: Each time a Gatherer bites a thrall, it becomes a hunched creature, with a distorted face. Huge spikes sprout from its spine, knees, and elbows, causing gouts of blood.

GATHERER, Acquirer of knowledge, wealth, and power

Average Hit Points: 19
Average Damage Bonus: +1D6
Average Build: 2
Average Magic Points: 21
Move: 8

Combat

Attacks per round: 1

Fighting (Brawl), 60% (30/12), damage 1D3 + DB or by weapon type.
Dodge 70% (35/14)

Skills: Appraise 80%, Charm 80%, Climb 65%, Computer Use (if applicable) 65%, Credit Rating 95%, Cthulhu Mythos (at Keeper’s discretion), History 90%, Intimidate 80%, Jump 65%, Language (at Keeper’s discretion), Law 70%, Library Use 90%, Listen 80%, Natural World 40%, Occult 60%, Persuade 80%, Psychology 70%, Science (at Keeper’s discretion), Spot Hidden 80%, Stealth 60%.

Armor: None, but Gatherers take only half damage from non-magical attacks.
Spells: Any the Keeper chooses.
Sanity Loss: None in human form, 1/1D6 when biting their thrall each time.

Thralls

Average Hit Points: 13
Average Damage Bonus: +1D4
Average Build: 1
Average Magic Points: 10
Move: 8

Combat
Attacks per round: 1
Thralls attack their targets to render them unable to resist their bite, grappling or subduing them as necessary, or even using weapons to knock them unconscious/make them unable to fight back.
Drain Victim: When a Thrall has a suitable target restrained in such a manner as to allow it to bite them, it drains the victim of knowledge. Each round in which the thrall stays latched on, the target suffers 2D10 to their EDU, INT, down to a minimum of 1/5 of their starting values. Intellectual skills are adversely affected as well. If a victim is drained down to the 1/5 values, their POW is reduced to 5, and their Magic Points and Sanity drop accordingly. The knowledge and Magic Points that the thrall drained its victim of are later transferred to the Gatherer.

Fighting (Brawl), 35% (17/7), damage 1D3 + DB or by weapon type.
Bite N/A, damage 1 + 2D10 EDU and INT (see Drain Victim, above)
Dodge 30% (15/6)

Skills: At Keeper’s discretion.

Armor: None; thralls take only half damage from non-magical attacks.
Spells: None.
Sanity Loss: None.

CthulhuBob Lovely

My name is CthulhuBob Lovely, I live in my childhood hometown of Columbus, Ohio, and have a son and two daughters. I volunteer at MisCon, which occurs each year on Memorial Day Weekend in Missoula, Montana and help out at other shows.

In my younger years I had seen H.P. Lovecraft’s books in the collection of my older brother, Brian, who is also responsible for introducing me to Monty Python, Star Wars and many other things geek.

I began running and playing Dungeons and Dragons in 1977 at the age of 15, and Call of Cthulhu since its original publication in 1981.

I believe geekery and gaming can have positive effects on math, reading and writing, and social interaction skills, as well as family togetherness. I have three published stories online at
http://www.bewilderingstories.com/bios/lovely_bob_bio.html