Abominations

ABOMINATIONS

• They are made unique, not born. 
• They attract attention. 
• There’s always a compelling set of reasons to see them destroyed. 

MAKING A MONSTER

• Every abomination started out as something more mundane. 
• Their origin could have been through design, accident, or their own action. 
• Wherever they are, their surroundings become more monstrous in turn. 

UNIQUE BEINGS

• There’s nothing quite like them, and they’re instantly recognisable as monstrous. 
• They seek places where they can stay solitary but are often drawn to others by a need or curiosity. 
• Nobody knows exactly what they are. 

HUNTERS AND FOLLOWERS

• There’s always somebody that wants it dead. 
• There’s always somebody fascinated by it. 
• These are as likely to be people, animal, machine, alien, or mockery. 

TEMPLATES

Man-Monster:  STR 10, DEX 10, CHA 5, 5hp. 

d8 Club.

• Try to observe normality from a distance. 
• Decorate its disgusting lair. 
• Make things worse for everybody. 

Skulking-Horror: STR 10, DEX 18, CHA 5, 8hp

Four d6 tendrils.

• Assume the worst of anyone they meet. 
• Covet the belongings of others. 
• Give in to Envy.

Giant-Creature: STR 18, DEX 5, CHA 5, 15hp. 

Armour 3, Two d8 Claws and one d10 Bite.

• Try to scare others away. 
• Lash out in anger. 
• Move to a new home once discovered.

SPARKS (Roll 2d20 and Combine)

d20	Origin	Modifier
1	Human (Bastion)	Human Science
2	Human (Country)	Alien Science
3	Mammal (small)	Machine Science
4	Mammal (large)	Mock Science
5	Fish	Urban Religion
6	Reptile	Country Religion
7	Bird	Alien Religion
8	Insect	Alien Environment
9	Tree	Underground Warping
10	Fungus	Time Dilation
11	Invertebrate	Industrial Accident
12	Multiple People	Another Monstrosity
13	Artwork	Selective-Breeding
14	Alien (humanoid)	Weaponisation
15	Alien (beastly)	Chemical Exposure
16	Machine (mobile)	Union Ritual
17	Machine (structural)	An Ancient Oddity
18	Mockery (person)	Failed Medicine/Repair
19	Mockery (beast)	Weird Comet
20	Mockery (critter)	Attempted Destruction

SPARKS (Roll 2d20 and Combine)

d20	Theme	Danger
1	Hunger	Organised Cult of Followers
2	Death	Dangerous Animals
3	Greed	Twisted Creatures
4	Destruction	Space Manipulation
5	Gluttony	Time Manipulation
6	Stupidity	Reality Manipulation
7	Rage	Collection of Oddities
8	Knowledge	Strange Charisma
9	Ambition	Mind Control
10	Sloth	Corrupting Presence
11	Envy	Destructive Abilities
12	Purity	Colossal Size
13	Lust	Manipulate Objects
14	Chaos	Manipulate Flesh
15	Fear	Weaponises Environment
16	Amorality	Creates Oddities
17	Pride	Creates Monstrosities
18	Hedonism	Mystic Abilities
19	Vanity	Vast Intelligence
20	Obedience	Physical Power

Odd Remedies

Pills, Oils, and Vapo-Rubs are big business in Bastion.

While there's a lot of sugar and brick-dust being sold, some of those chemists are actually onto something.

These are all experimental, so you can get them for free if you're happy to have someone in goggles observe your response to the dosage, and sign a standard waver of course.

Roll d12
1: Buff Spray - Applied rectally, feels ice cold.
- Restores STR
- 50% chance to lose all of your teeth with each use.

2: Cadaver Wax - Applied to skin, smells like corpses.
- Restores DEX
- 50% chance that the smell never fades.

3: Gudgeon-Snuff - Taken nasally, leaves a yellow patch around your nose.
- Restores CHA
- 50% chance that the nose stain is permanent.

4: Amoeba Essence - Taken intravenously.
- Restores all Abilities.
- 50% chance that you become dependent with each use. While dependent you are Deprived on any given day when you haven't had a hit.

5: Jazz Butter - Must be dissolved into a hot bath and soaked in for an hour. Smells sweaty.
- You can sprint as quickly as the fastest humans for the rest of today.
- 50% chance that your feet are incredibly slippery for the rest of the day, making barefoot walking impossible.

6: Brittle Green - Spread onto the stump as a goo which hardens. Smells like bad limes.
- One lost limb will grow back slowly over a week.
- 50% chance that the limb is a gross lizard limb.

7: Reality Drops - Tiny black capsule taken orally.
- Restore a lost sense.
- 50% chance to lose another sense.

8: Blood Buddies - Small red blob of flesh, rubbed into chest.
- Gain d6 temporary HP. Use them before your own hp and once they're gone they're lost forever.
- 50% chance that your body rejects the buddy and it forms into a small angry fleshling (3hp, d6 bite).

9: Goodnight Kiss - White powder applied to forehead.
- Restore the recently dead to life for a few moments.
- 50% chance that they explode messily on their second death.

10: Satchdragon Root - Spicy piece of bark to be brewed with hot water.
- Create a cool, collected demeanor for the next hour.
- 50% chance that the hour ends with uncontrollable outbursts of swearing and truth-bombs.

11: Digger's Spritz - Fizzy drink, actually delicious.
- Instantly cure any sort of stomach illness.
- 50% chance to immediately vomit explosively.

12: Mystiquerol - Syrup taken into ear.
- Instantly cure any sort of nervous condition.
- 50% chance that you develop a foreign accent.

Small Tables

Sometimes you need to put something together for a game tonight and none of the modules on your shelf feel like the right fit. Throwing together a Route Map is relatively fast, but you're also going to want some random tables, most obviously some Encounters.

I've gone from using d20 to d6 and everything in between. My list of needs for a random encounter table is:

• Make an area feel alive and non-static.
• Project the character of an area.
• Have at least one really dangerous entry to encourage the players to keep moving. 
• Be better than something I can just make up on the fly.

I like d20s for things like Spark Tables where you want to generate a number of unique results, but for Encounter tables I'm moving closer to the following model.

Roll d6
1-3: Common. Three variations on a single encounter either carrying out different actions or varying slightly in composition.
4-5: Uncommon. Two variations of a more unusual encounter, again varying in behaviour or composition.
6: Rare. Something weird and likely dangerous. 

Now you can really dig down into making six great entries, rather than spending your whole prep time filling up a d20 table with just-okay entries.

Let's do some examples.

The Yelling Mountain: A little piece of Hell in coldest Deep Country.

Roll d6

1. 4 Coil Men (5hp, Electric Stave d8, long-chinned mask) parading their wealth boastfully (three multi-coloured gems worth £20 each, one smaller one worth £10). One is carrying a device wired up to the gems that can cause them to expode (d10 blast) at the push of a button. He'd rather die in the blast than let you steal his wealth. 
2. 10 Coil Men (as above) on the trail of somebody wealthier than you, hoping to rob them.
3. 1 Coil Man (as above, name is Julio) separated from his group and starting to doubt that a life of robbery and boasting is as rewarding as he'd hoped. 
4. Jaw-Goat (6hp, d6 Butt, Painfully Itchy Pelt, Ice Cold Horns, both effects increase after death) gathering bones for its nest. Not so interested in your bones.
5. 6 Young Jaw Goats (4hp, then as above) butting each other and trying to establish a social hierarchy. 
6. Hand of the Mountain (15hp, Armour 2, d10 Smash) Here to reclaim anything mineral for the mountain. Appears out of the Earth and returns back to it if you cross water or a canyon.