Scholars of Dread

The Enlightened Damned

These terrifying beings were once human, their minds utterly destroyed by dark knowledge. Their consciousness is forever altered, fused with the will of whatever source of blasphemous insight shattered their sanity. Now they hover between life and death, their personalities blended with the will of whatever provided that eldritch education. In most cases the source is a powerful, alien god, but sometimes it is a mythos tome that gained sentience over countless centuries of destroying the minds of its readers.

A Scholar of Dread appears as a human, often covered in scars and bruises, but always with both of their eyes roughly gouged out. The bloody, gaping sockets do not blind these creatures, but rather allow them to see perfectly across dimensions. They can fully sense their surroundings across all spectrums (infrared, ultraviolet, gamma and x-rays, radio and microwaves), out to 150 yards in a 360-degree radius.

These creatures do not age and never need to eat, drink, or sleep. They are resistant to harm, their altered bodies giving them a natural toughness (1 point of armor) and a resistance to terrestrial matter (half damage from non-magical weapons). So long as they are not fully destroyed, they are effectively immortal. A Scholar of Dread never ages, requires no respiration, and does not succumb to disease or poison. What’s more, they slowly regenerate damage to their physical forms (1 HP per hour).

Some Scholars of Dread are mentally unstable, wandering about muttering in strange alien languages. Others are fully cognizant, retaining much of their original memories and faculties. Some appear like homeless vagrants or walking corpses, while others look much as they did in life, wearing thick glasses or deep hoods to conceal their true nature. No matter their appearance, their goals are always the same: obey the will of whatever entity created them, and spread blasphemous knowledge while leaving a path of death and madness in their wake.

In combat they attack with whatever weapons are available. About 40% of these creatures know between 2 and 5 spells (1D4+1), of the Keeper’s choice. They are created when a human is reduced to zero Sanity after losing 20 or more Sanity points in a single roll. Even under such circumstances a Scholar of Dread is only created 5% of the time. There is an even rarer form of this creature, called a Sage of Dread, created after a Scholar of Dread meets certain conditions.

Scholar of Dread

Characteristic averages (rolls)

Average Damage Bonus: +1D4. Average Build: +1. Average Magic Points: 18. Move: 8.

Attacks per round: 1. Fighting attacks: Brawl or simple melee weapon.

• Fighting (Brawl) 55% (20/8), damage 1D3+DB
• Fighting (any weapon skill they had in life, Keeper’s choice)
• Dodge 25%

Armor: Half damage from terrestrial matter; immune to gas, poison, and disease; 1 point of tough, leathery skin. Regenerates 1 Hit Point per hour.

Skills: Cthulhu Mythos 80%, Occult 75%, Spot Hidden 95%.

Spells: 40% chance of knowing 1D4+1 spells.

Sanity Loss: 1/1D6 to see a Scholar of Dread.

Oscar Rios

Golden Goblin Press, Cthulhu’s Dark Cults, Ripples from Carcosa

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