. . . regular looking guy–slacks, shirt, and a tie–classic middle-management. He set down his briefcase and stretched out his arms. Next I know, he’s shouting a bunch of gibberish and waving his hands around, then he just picked up his briefcase and casually walked away.
This weird rippling started, vertical and very narrow, standing from the sidewalk to about a foot in the air, then it turned black and widened a little–like a short door opening into a dark room. These damn centipedes came pouring out, dozens of them–huge too–some as big as small dogs.
They started crawling all over people, including me, and it hurt like hell. The legs stuck in me like giant fish hooks. If people weren’t screaming in pain, they were screaming in terror. Some pulled out pistols and started blasting at the things.
You folks got here before any other first responders, damn fast. You a private outfit? I’ve never seen a green and black ambulance with a green triangle logo before.—Walter Walker, to paramedics, immediately prior to his disappearance.
A megapede appears as a huge centipede, with glossy, black chitin and barbed legs. They range in length from approximately four inches to one foot in length, with a thickness in the same proportion as that of a normal centipede. For purposes of game mechanics, they fall into three categories–small, medium, and large–at the discretion of the Keeper.
Of extra-cosmic origin, they enter our universe by crawling through cracks or thin spots of collinearity, or are summoned by sorcerers who are therefore able to give them simple commands. In either case, they are extremely aggressive.
SPECIAL POWERS
Barbed Legs: Megapedes have sharp, pointed legs, barbed at the end. When one of these creatures crawls on an opponent these legs pierce the skin, causing damage and becoming stuck–remaining in the victim’s body.
A small megapede has enough legs for one such event: a medium, two: and a large, four. Afterward, they are helpless but to wriggle on the ground. Removing these legs under any non-surgical conditions causes the same damage as when they are inserted.
Spells: None
MEGAPEDE, chitinous, cosmic invaders
STR: N/A
CON: N/A
SIZ: N/A
DEX: N/A
INT: N/A
POW: 20 (10/04) Magic Points: 4
HP: 4, 8, or 12
Damage Bonus: 0
Build: 0
Move: 4, 8, or 12
ATTACKS
Attacks per round: Roll 1D4
Fighting attacks: .
Fighting Mode: Leg insertion by crawling onto opponent’s body, damage 1/leg, 2/leg, 3/leg, depending on the creature’s size category–Small, Medium, or Large. A small megapede has enough legs for one such event, a medium one two, and a large one four. Removing these legs under any non-surgical conditions causes the same damage as when they are inserted.
As long as a single leg remains in a victim’s body, severe pain causes one penalty die for any Skill or Ability rolls.
Dodge: N/A
Armor: 2, 4, or 8
Skills: N/ASanity Loss: 1/1D3
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
