The Servants of Larksley

The servants of Larksley Manor need not be the same sort of horror that are the Hydes.  Let’s be clear on what kind of terrors we want to player characters to face.  The Hydes are and should be schemers and tool users, plotting to kill the PCs before they get too close.  Further, the PCs should be given great delight in catching each Hyde that they can, either for later questioning as a Constable serving the law should, or just putting a bullet into them, doesn’t matter so much for story purposes.

Recalling that the goal is much closer to Resident Evil in scope, the servants should not be Hydes, but should be easily employable by them.  Mindless, or at least very simple, the servants should cut much closer to beast intelligence, if not complete zombie intelligence (as in, no intelligence). 

I need to decide if the Hydes should give orders to the servants, of if they should just be invisible.  Both would be usable to the Hydes, as they have had time to adapt their tactics to ensure the results that they want.  The PCs on the other hand…

An image forms in my mind…the servants are beast men.  No … hippies.  Ah….both!  Picture if you will a man who takes no care whatsoever in his appearance, but is alive.  His hair and finger nails are still growing, extremities are plumb and agile (where zombies shrivel and lose mobility).  The face is bearded, but unkempt, messy, bits of gory food dripping all throughout.  The smell is terrible!   The eyes are glassy; they make you question whether or not anyone is truly home.  So far it’s a living zombie, but go ahead and blunt it.  Resistance, even pain, triggers mental processes long dormant, fight and flight choices are made and weighed against hunger.  Its first certain reaction is to hiss violently and glare, then it chooses, for itself even.  Its decisions are primordial, to strike or to flee.  It should think nothing of abandoning a Hyde in peril.  It should return for vengeance or a snack when its target is suitably distracted.

They should wish to strike in packs, or harness surprise.  Basic hunting instinct, smarter than a zombie but still not able to outwit the PCs.  They should have no knowledge of trade, or language, but should be expressive, emotionally evocative.  They should make the PCs fear turning their backs!

Perhaps they smell the Hydes and resolve that they make terrible meals.  Perhaps they genuinely can’t see the Hydes.  Whatever the case, I should work it out quickly, as I fully intend to have quantities of the Hyde formula find their way into the PCs possession, and this little experiment, while being a joy to role play personality shifts, should have a direct use for allowing the PCs to play with the servants feeble intelligence or senses. 

I’ll need to put some names and numbers into this new racial template, and it needs to be scary.  Perhaps something broken, such as:

Role up the base creature (human) and establish stats normally.

Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma should have a maximum of 4 (much lower than standard minimums)

For every 2 points of Int, Wis, or Cha lost in this way, grant the subject 3 bonus hit points.

All of these numbers are me simply throwing ideas together, but they built a character with immense hit point totals, a high fort save, and terrible will save.  Did I mention that magic is the exclusive preserve of elite Prestige Class characters.  I may yet cull it out entirely, but in whatever the case, this pushes the rogue class to the top of the heap, provided that he is not surprise and grappled.  Warriors and Rangers still have their benefit in their high hit point totals and fighting ability.    

There’s the odd stat left out, but maybe those stat points can just be dropped.  I am imagining briefly what the odd 2 ability points tossed in amongst the body stats would do here, but I am pretty sure it could get broken in a hurry.

The point is that this would make the servants terrifyingly powerful and able to withstand a limited amount of punishment, while still keeping the PCs best hope centered on ammo conservation and careful use.  And all without falling back on zombies!  Don’t get me wrong, they are just terribly overdone.  Tune in tomorrow, as I think that we are rapidly approaching a wrap.