The Mothman
By Cathy Wilkins
“They all looked into the blackness and saw two red bright red circles…the startled foursome saw they were attached to some large animal. ‘It was shaped like a man, but bigger,’ Roger said later. ‘Maybe six and a half or seven feet tall. And it had big wings folded against its back.’ ‘But it was those eyes that got us,’ Linda declared. ‘They were hypnotic,’ Roger continued. ‘For a minute we could only scare at it. I couldn’t take my eyes off it.’” – John Keel, The Mothman Prophecies.
The origins of Mothman are a complete mystery, though it appears to be a nascent Great Old One native to Earth. Its behavior is a mystery as well. The entity has appeared before disasters great and small throughout human history, most infamously before the Silver Bridge collapse over the Ohio River in 1967. Reports of the being place also place it at Vesuvius in 79 AD, Bhopal in 1984, and New York in 2001. No one knows why Mothman appears before a disaster, though it does not seem to cause them. While Mothman may bare responsibility for these tragedies, many of those who encounter the being will later die in the disaster.
Mothman’s appearance often draws in other forces and factions of the Cthulhu Mythos to the area, seeking to solve the riddle of the entity. Those investigating the Mothman may find themselves running afoul other supernatural agencies.
CULT: Mothman has no worshipers, but humanity has possessed a vague awareness of the being since the birth of the species. Representations can be found in the oldest stories and works of art, giving it a variety of names. “Mothman” is only the most recent. Though it has no worshipers, humans have attempted to appease the being in hopes of preventing a coming disaster. Sorcerers and other groups have tried to control it, and its power. All have met with tragedy.
ATTACKS & SPECIAL EFFECTS:
Bringer of Disaster: After Mothman makes first appears in an area, there will be a disaster within 50 miles in 2d6 months.
Marked for Doom: Anyone who sees the Mothman must make a successful Luck roll, or they will be fated to be in the coming disaster. Those so marked will not be able to prevent this, circumstances forcing them to be there.
Curse of Prophecy: Mothman will communicate telepathically with an individual near the coming disaster, giving the unfortunate visions and foreknowledge. The communication will not be direct, but come through bizarre means, such as singing from the shower drain, or spoken by strangers who will immediately forget they said anything. The individual will not be able to do anything to stop the disaster, and few will believe the warnings. One so cursed loses 1d6 sanity per month until the disaster happens, at which point they will lose 1d10 sanity.
Burning Eyes: Mothman will not directly harm anyone, unless it feels threatened. It will make eye-contact with the threat, causing the victim to feel an intense burning in the eyes (losing 1d4 hit points), and temporarily blinding them. Mothman may make one such attack per turn, and automatically succeeds if it has a direct line-of-sight to the victim’s eyes.
Mothman, Harbinger of Sorrow
STR: 30
CON: 30
SIZ: 18
INT: 11
POW: 100
DEX: 18
MOV: 6 / 20 flying
HP: 24
Damage Bonus: n/a
Weapons: See above.
Armor: None, but normal weapons have no affect. Spells and enchanted weapons do damage as normal, but Mothman regenerates 1d6 hp per round. Mothman may be destroyed, though only temporarily. It will do nothing to stop the coming disaster, or those marked from being there, and prevent others from being marked. Mothman will reform before a future disaster.
Spells: None.
Sanity Loss: 2/2d6 to encounter Mothman.
Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast
