The Thing on the Fourble Board

And there it was. I wish…I wish…The face of a little girl, frightened. Crying with hunger and terror. Hands like a human being…And a body…Well, I’ll tell you about that. I told you how I’m scared of spiders

– Wyllis Cooper, “The Thing on the Fourble Board”, Quiet, Please, 8-9-1948

Little is known about these creatures. What scant details can be gleaned about them come from a single encounter in the late 1940s. Doubtless others have happened that left no survivors. 

They seem like a biological impossibility. Living, invisible stone. Made visible, they have the features of a spider, yet the vague shape – and face — of a human. With the right clothing and some make-up, one could even pass as human. The monster encountered in the 1940s wore a gold ring, suggesting they possess a society and industry. The creatures are cunning predators, capable of manipulating weak-willed humans to ensnare prey for them.  

Meeting between the monsters and humans are rare. They live too far beneath the Earth’s surface for encounters to be anything but terrible chance. For instance, individual seen in the 1940s was brought to the surface by an oil drill. This is fortunate, as they prefer warm-blooded prey.  

SPECIAL POWERS 

Invisible: These beings are invisible in their natural state. Attacks on the monsters while they are invisible is made at the Extreme difficulty.

Cry: When hungry, distressed, or enraged, the things make a caterwauling cry that’s something between a human baby and an injured cat. Anyone hearing this cry must make a SAN roll, losing 1/1d2+1.

Senseless: Whatever makes the monsters invisible makes them blind as well. If made visible, such as having paint or mud spread on their faces, or through some magical means, the monsters regain their eyesight. Their hearing is weak at best. Most may be deaf. How they navigate the world or hunt is unknown. They may possess senses alien to humans.

The Thing on the Fourble Board, living stone

Average Hit Points: 12

Damage Bonus: +1D6

Build: +2

Magic Points:9

Move: 10

ATTACKS

Attacks per round: 2 (claws) or 1 (consume)

The monsters attack by stabbing at a victim with two spider-like appendages. A paralyzing venom coats their claws. If a victim loses Hit Points from the thing’s claw attack, they must make a CON roll at HARD difficulty. If successful, they resist the effects of the attack. Otherwise, they will be paralyzed for 1D10 rounds as their body contorts and seizes in pain. The victim loses 1 CON each round they are paralyzed.  

Consume: The thing eats paralyzed prey. Its jaws unhinge and face splits, allowing it to swallow prey whole. The process takes 1 round + 1 round for each point of the victim’s build. While feeding, the thing is unable to take any other actions or defend itself. If the process is interrupted, the victim may be pulled from the monster’s mouth. A freed victim will take 2D10 CON damage from corrosive digestive fluids for each round they were being swallowed. Otherwise, nothing will be left of the victim but gore and gristle, the monster expelling hard bits it was unable to digest. 

Fighting: 45% (30/12), damage DB + special (see above)

Consume: 100% (50/20), damage special (see above)

Dodge: 25%

Armor: 6 points of stony skin. Sanity Loss: 1/1D12 to encounter a Thing on the Fourble Board.

Bruce Priddy

Bruce is a sociology student and co-host of The Crypt Keepers podcast