Shadow Theory (d20 Modern Horror)

[Kuma Kode]

Solar Puppeteer
Ort-ehoglh + A'nacatugh
Corruption Cost: 2 Wisdom damage and 1d6 Sanity
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Close (25 ft. +5 ft./ 2 levels)
Target, Area, or Effect: One 5 ft. square of light.
Duration: 1 minute/level (D)
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

The sun's light warms and shields the oblivious masses. But for those who tread the darkness, it provides little comfort... if only you could take it with you.

Solar Puppeteer allows the spellcaster to redirect a stream of light, whether to illuminate a dark place or to shroud a lit location in darkness. The utterance must be used on an object or section of the ground that is currently illuminated by sunlight. This 5 ft. section of light may then be relocated anywhere within range and within line of sight of the lit square.

The square the light originally struck becomes dark as night, and the redirected light illuminates another square.

The light has all the effects it normally would when falling on its previous location, including diffusely lighting nearby squares (if applicable) and damaging Tainted or Entities (again, if applicable). The previous location becomes dark, as if it were outside on a moonless, cloudy night.

Echelon 1: The spell works as above.
Echelon 2: The affected area increases to 2 squares. They need not be contiguous and may be directed separately.
Echelon 3: The affected area increases to 4 squares. They need not be contiguous and may be directed separately.
Echelon 4: As Echelon 3, but the range is 100 ft. + 10 ft./level.
Echelon 5: As Echelon 4, but the affected area increases to 8 squares. They need not be contiguous and may be directed separately.

[Kuma Kode]

Back to work, I guess.

List of Jobs I Need to Do
Stage 3 Zombies (Work down the list) (11/21)
Finish undone-but-reserved utterances
Look up some psychic phenomena for Psionic feats
Possibly non-psionic feats?
Add new utterances to fill in the empty runes
Convert Lovecraft's arcana into Forbidden Tomes
Items???!!>!!?!1
Post up premade Survivors maybe?
Post up premade adventures maybe?
Stage 4 Zombies (Work down the list) (0/21)
Stage 5 Zombies (Work down the list) (0/21)

[Kuma Kode]

Tank
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Strong Hero 3/Tough Hero 2
Vitality Dice: 3d8+2d10+25 (50 VP)
Wound Points: 23
Initiative: +1
Speed: 30 ft.
Defense: 20 (+4 class, +4 natural, +1 dexterity, +1 leather jacket)
Base Attack/Grapple: +4 / +9
Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d6+9) or slam +5 melee (1d6+13) or bite +9 melee (1d8+4 and putrescence) or vomit +5 ranged touch (2d4 acid and putrescence)
Full Attack: Slam +9 melee (1d6+9) and bite +4 melee (1d8+4 and putrescence) or slam +5 melee (1d6+13) and bite +0 melee (1d8+8 and putrescence) or vomit +5 ranged touch (2d4 acid and putrescence)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Heavy Hitter, Vomit, Putrescence
Special Qualities: Tainted traits
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +0
Saves: Fort +2, Reflex +1, Will +1
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 12, Con 20, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 3
Sanity Drain: 0/1d4
Skills: (Bruiser) Climb +8, Concentration +11, Jump +10, Swim +7
OR
(Roughneck) Climb +8, Concentration +10, Jump +8, Swim +8
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Power Attack, Cleave, Armor Proficiency (Light), Toughness
Talents: Melee Smash, Improved Melee Smash, Second Wind
Challenge Rating: 6
Tanks are fearsome, ravenously aggressive Corrupted possessing inhumanly large muscles as hard as rock. Not only is the aptly-named tank capable of dealing out damage more than lethal to most humans, it can also take it. Tanks can take shotgun blasts to the chest without dieing or even slowing down in their search for pure flesh.

Some tanks were previously police officers in life. 25% of tanks are equipped with an undercover vest stretched over their massive torsos instead of a leather jacket. These ex-officers have a Defense of 22 instead of 20.

They can be detected with a radio if the GM is using the Welcome to Silent Hill variant (see the Equipment section).

Combat
Tanks are aggressive and prefer to rush into melee, grapple their foes and vomit on them in between bites and bludgeoning strikes.

Heavy Hitter: A tank may treat its slam attack as a two-handed weapon, even though it is not the tank's sole natural attack.

Vomit (Ex): The unused internal organs of a Tainted begin to rot and putrify, and a tank knows how to use the resulting necrotic fluids in combat. As a standard action, a tank may vomit a gout of putrid bile at a foe within 30 feet. To hit, the tank must hit with a ranged touch attack. On success, the vomit deals 2d4 points of acid damage and the victim becomes subject to putrescence. The tank may vomit a number of times per day equal to his Constitution modifier.

Putrescence (Ex): The bacterial life that deconstructs dead matter is usually relatively harmless, but the tank's body contains an altered form of bacteria contaminated by the corrupted flesh it devours. Anyone bitten by the tank must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 17) or contract a vicious bacteria similar to necrotizing faciitis. The Tainted bacteria differs in that the Fortitude DC is 17 instead of 13, and that it has an incubation period of 1 day.

If the victim is at risk due to the tank's vomit attack, they may avoid infection by exposing themselves to sunlight within 1d4 rounds of exposure, which destroys the corrupted microbes on their skin just as it destroys any other Tainted one. If the victim was bitten, or if too much time elapses after the vomit attack, the bacteria enters the victim's bloodstream and can no longer be reached and destroyed by sunlight.

Acid Immunity: Tanks are immune to damage from acid, regardless of its source.

[Kuma Kode]

Strangler
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Strong Hero 3/Smart Hero 2
Vitality Dice: 3d8+2d6+20 (40 VP)
Wound Points: 18
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft.
Defense: 18 (+3 class, +2 natural, +3 dexterity)
Base Attack/Grapple: +4 / +17
Attack: Tendril bites +9 melee (1d6+7)
Full Attack: 2 slams +9 melee (1d6+7), bite +4 melee (1d6+4), tendril bites +4 melee (1d6+4)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft. (10 ft. with tendril bites)
Special Attacks: Lifetap, Dark Magician, Improved Grab, Choke
Special Qualities: Tainted traits
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +1
Saves: Fort +6, Reflex +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 20, Dex 17, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 12, Cha 11
Sanity Drain: 0/1d4
Skills: (Bruiser) Climb +8, Disable Device +12, Intimidate +4, Jump +10, Knowledge (Tactics) +12, Navigate +14, Swim +7
OR
(Wight) Climb +12, Craft (chemical) +9, Craft (electronic) +9, Craft (mechanical) +9, Decipher Script +9, Disable Device +9, Forbidden Lore +6, Intimidate +7, Jump +12, Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +9, Knowledge (Tactics) +9, Navigate +11, Read/Write English, Read/Write Spanish, Read/Write French, Read/Write Chinese, Read/Write German, Read/Write Russian, Repair +9, Search +9, Speak English, Speak Spanish, Speak French, Speak Chinese, Speak German, Speak Russian
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Weapon Finesse (B), Multiattack, Combat Expertise, Power Attack, Cleave, Improved Grapple (B)
Talents: Savant (Navigate), Melee Smash, Improved Melee Smash
Challenge Rating: 6
Stranglers are a perverse form of Corrupted. They possess frightening intelligence and a psychopathic lack of empathy paired with a twisted fixation on domination and the strength to act upon it. They are heavily muscled, often covered in tattoos, and frequently sport typical tough-guy hair styles. Unlike with wights, the stomach-tendrils of a strangler are thick and muscular, capable of lifting small humans and dragging around larger prey. In life, they were womanizers or sadists, who viewed others as either objects to be possessed or competition to be beaten. In death, this anti-social obsession with power is all that remains.

Stranglers, as their name suggest, use their tentacles and thick, meaty arms to choke prey into submission. They derive pleasure from the struggles, the squirming, the look on their victim's faces and the final twitches before the body shuts down. While they will do this during battle to kill survivors who may threaten them, they prefer not to kill their victims... at least, not once.

A victim who succumbs to the strangler is not slain, but dragged away. The strangler is known to continue to intermittently choke their victims to keep them unconscious until they arrive at the strangler's den.

Once they awake, they are beaten savagely, strangled, and even drowned in tubs or puddles again and again, each time pulled back from the brink of death. Particularly perverse stranglers have been known to use their tentacles to violate their prey in unspeakable ways. Even if such means are used, it is important to note that it is not about sexual attraction; a strangler seeks to wield power over another creature, and will entertain this need in all conceivable ways, with controlling the victim's life and ability to breathe being the most common means.

Unless the victim is rescued or manages to escape, the strangler will continue to kill the victim again and again until it finally fails to revive them. Only then does it perform its last act of domination and control: it eats its victim.

A strangler cannot be detected by a radio under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant.

Combat
Stranglers lean back and observe a battle if possible, picking out strategic choices. They will employ hit and run tactics to subdue an individual and drag them off. If forced into direct combat, a strangler will either attempt to blood choke the strongest-looking survivor to remove him or her from the battle, or air choke the weakest member while it uses its remaining natural weapons to stave off any rescuers.

Few survivors expect such a physically imposing creature to possess spells, and this incongruity is one that the strangler will take advantage of, should it have any useful utterances known.

Lifetap (Su): Whenever a strangler hits with a natural attack, they attempt to drain life from their victim. Unless their target succeeds on a Fortitude save (DC 16), the strangler gains a number of hit points equal to the damage it just dealt. Any excess is gained as temporary hit points that last for 1 hour. This save is Intelligence based, and is made per attack.

Dark Magician: Stranglers begin with knowledge of 1d4 whispers and any utterances they can cast with them. Additionally stranglers have a caster level equal to their hit die.

Improved Grab: When a strangler hits with a tendril bites attack, it can start a grapple as a free action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. If it gets a hold, it begins to choke its prey (see below).

Choke (Ex): A strangler has two types of choke at its disposal, an air choke or the much more dangerous blood choke. It can only perform one on any particular victim at a time, and they require different levels of focus for the strangler.

Breaking free of a choke requires a successful grapple check against the strangler.

Air Choke: An air choke is simply as it sounds; the strangler uses its tentacles to cut off a victim's air supply until it suffocates, possibly several minutes later. This only keeps the tentacles occupied: a strangler performing an air choke on a victim can use its slam attacks against other opponents as well as move around, so long as it keeps its tentacles attached to its victim. It is not considered grappled, though its victim is. Should one attempt to move away from the other, a strength check ensues. The loser must stay within the winner's reach.

Aside from the obvious effects of a tentacle crushing the victim's neck, such as inability to vocalize, an air choke causes the victim to suffocate. The victim must make a constitution check, with the result being the amount of rounds of air they have remaining.

Every round that passes reduces the amount of air by one round. Every round spent struggling reduces this amount by one additional round, for two rounds consumed.

For every two rounds lost, the victim's grapple checks suffer a -1 morale penalty as panic sets in and the body's natural, inefficient reflexes begin to take over the victim's rational tactics.

When the rounds reach 0, the victim loses consciousness, though their body will continue to twitch and sieze. On the round following, they drop to 0 Wound. On the third round, they die.

Blood Choke: A more demanding but lethal attack, the blood choke focuses its force on the victim's arteries and cuts off blood flow to the brain, causing a rapid loss of consciousness. This requires the strangler's full attention, and it is considered grappled along with its victim, including moving into its victim's square.

Every round the hold is maintained, the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 17). If he succeeds, he can continue to struggle and hopefully break free. If he fails, he falls unconscious. The next round, he drops to 0 Wound. On the third round, his brain starves of oxygen and dies.

Should an ally free him after he loses consciousness but before he dies, he reawakens in 1d3 rounds, though he is considered dazed for 1d4 minutes afterwards.

[Kuma Kode]

It wouldn't be Silent Hill-esque without a rape monster, eh?

[Zeta Kai]

It wouldn't be Silent Hill-esque without a rape monster, eh?

Wow, the Strangler is just wrong. And it can't be detected by radio? Damn...

I really like its MO; & by that I mean I hate it & want them all purged from the earth.

It's nice to see that you're still working on this, BTW.

[apocalypsePast2]

Well stranglers seem to be the monster that, if one of your players is late or missing... you have their character get dragged off by this thing and then have it repeatedly molested until the rest of the party rescues them hours later.

Note: It is important that the player be present before they are rescued, just so you can enforce the fact that they should never be late or miss a session.

Thanks for keeping my players on time Kuma!

And its chill to see some life on here.

[Kuma Kode]

It's nice to see that you're still working on this, BTW.

Yeah. I was spurred in that I did a search for "Kuma Kode" on the forums, and notice my name in two forums that I did not post in. I found out you plugged Shadow Theory in the thread Best Horror System? and it made me feel good inside. Now my hiatus is over, I'm working on completing the projects I started before moving on to others.

Well stranglers seem to be the monster that, if one of your players is late or missing... you have their character get dragged off by this thing and then have it repeatedly molested until the rest of the party rescues them hours later.

Sounds like you fall into the "DM out to get you" category I mentioned in a discussion earlier. :P

[apocalypsePast2]

I just create... incentives, for my group. My DMing philosophy comes straight from the top, Gabe shows us how it's done.

[Kuma Kode]

Tormented
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Strong Hero 3/Dedicated Hero 2
Vitality Dice: 3d8+2d6+20 (42 VP)
Wound Points: 18
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft.
Defense: 18 (+4 class, +2 natural, +2 Dexterity)
Base Attack/Grapple: +4 / +8
Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d6+6 plus 1d4 fire and Live My Nightmare) or claw +4 melee (1d6+10 plus 1d4 fire and Live My Nightmare)
Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d6+6 plus 1d4 fire and Live My Nightmare) or 2 claws +4 melee (1d6+10 plus 1d4 fire and Live My Nightmare)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Live My Nightmare, Shared Pain
Special Qualities: Tainted traits, Fire Immunity, Electricity Resistance 5, Cold Vulnerability
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +1
Saves: Fort +8, Reflex +3, Will +6
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 16
Sanity Drain: 1/1d6
Skills: (Bruiser) Climb +8, Jump +10, Swim +7, Psychic Focus +4, Listen +9, Spot +9
OR
(Haruspex) Climb +8, Jump +8, Swim +8, Listen +10, Sense Motive +8, Spot +10, Survival +8, Psychic Focus +8
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Power Attack, Cleave, Sixth Sense, Alertness
Talents: Melee Smash, Improved Melee Smash, Empathy
Challenge Rating: 6
Tormented are the remains of individuals who possessed latent psychic powers and poor coping mechanisms. The Otherworld's constant presence in their minds creates a psychic backlash which fills their mind with wracking pain and unearthly visions, and the tormented have turned to self-harm as a strange form of escape from their prison of pain.

Tormented appear much like Haruspex, in that they have luminescent, empty eyes and inhuman claws. A tormented's muscle tissue is typically exposed, however, and drips a black, steaming ichor heated by their psionic rage. The exposed sinew and innards of a tormented show claw marks and evidence of picking behavior.

During the day, tormented claw and pick at their skin, often tearing it away in sheets or layers. This behavior helps to calm them when no potential target for their touch is nearby, as well as allowing an inner fire fueled by pent-up rage to boil to the surface. Only when this self-mutilation has been completed is a tormented willing to endure their undiluted pain to go in search of relief. When the eldritch thunder restores their flesh to its original state, the cycle repeats.

They can be detected with a radio if the GM is using the Welcome to Silent Hill variant (see the Equipment section).

Combat
A tormented carries both the obsessive need for contact of the haruspex and the brute force of the bruiser, making them dangerous in close quarters. A tormented attempts to grapple its foes to siphon its pain, but will claw foes it thinks are defenseless enough to ensure a hit.

Live My Nightmare (Su): Tormented possess a rudimentary form of telepathy that allows them to transfer thoughts and feelings to creatures in physical contact. They use this ability to siphon off their psychological torment to another creature, granting them a brief moment of calm to which they quickly become addicted, seeking this respite over all other needs.

When the tormented touches a non-Tainted non-Entity, she transfers her agony and visions to the victim, dealing 1d6 points of Sanity damage. The victim is allowed a Will save (DC 15) to halve the damage. The DC is Wisdom based. A character with the Sixth Sense feat suffers a -5 penalty to this save. If they also have the Empathy feat, they suffer an additional -5 penalty. Psionic characters are more sensitive to the metaphysical and find it harder to block out the senses they receive.

Physical contact with the tormented is enough to trigger her Live My Nightmare ability, including grappling and unarmed strikes directed at the haruspex. An individual grappling the tormented is automatically struck with both hand attacks, suffering the effect twice.

Shared Pain (Su): The psychic link forged from contact with a tormented never fully breaks. Whenever a character fails a Will save against a tormented's Live My Nightmare ability, they must make a second saving throw against the same DC. If they fail, the link remains even when contact is broken, and the agony of the tormented's existence filters into them.

Every time a tormented is dealt hit point damage, the human linked to it also suffers damage, but half as much as the tormented did. Killing either one breaks the link, as does a Dispel Magick. The link breaks after 24 hours.

There is no limit to how many people can be linked to a tormented at any time.

Fire Immunity: A tormented is immune to damage from fire, including supernatural fire.

Cold Vulnerability: A tormented always takes 25% more damage from a cold attack, regardless of a failed or successful save. Unlike most Tainted, tormented are not immune to cold.

[Kuma Kode]

See the Unseen
Arlo-molegh + Phu-ug
Corruption Cost: 1 Wisdom damage and 1d4 Sanity
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Personal or Touch
Target, Area, or Effect: Self or One creature
Duration: 1 round/level
Saving Throw: Will negates (harmless)
Spell Resistance: Yes

The layers of illusion are peeled aside, and your eyes open for the first time. With this utterance of dark magick, you may see reality as it really is... but be warned: some things are hidden for a reason.

This utterance alters the target's sight to allow them to see what is not normally seen. It has several effects.

Anything that is invisible through supernatural means, whether through a spell, a magick item, or an innate supernatural ability, becomes plainly visible, as if the target possessed the feat Second Sight.

Whispers themselves become visible as glowing symbols hanging in the air, allowing a character to make Spot or Search checks to detect spells. A Spellcraft check can be used to identify the utterance as if it were currently being cast.

Finally, the Otherworld becomes vaguely visible, allowing the character to catch ghostly glimpses of shadowy beings around them, as well as large, mountain-sized shadows moving on the horizon. A character under the affects of Sight Unseen can uses these shadows to notice Entities moving into position to manifest on the round prior to manifestation, and can potentially stop them by ensuring line of sight.

Echelon 1: As above.
Echelon 2: The spell lasts 1 minute/level.
Echelon 3: The spell lasts 1 minute/level and grants Darkvision out to 60 feet.
Echelon 4: As Echelon 2, but Target becomes 1 creature/2 levels.
Echelon 5: As Echelon 3, but Target becomes 1 creature/2 levels.

[Hazzardevil]

I wouldn't mind trying a game of this it seems intersting.
The tainted to me seem very similer to the dark seekers from I am legend, IE:dropping dead in teh light and getting smarter.

[Worira]

First: I love this setting. It is heck of spooky. I do have one issue, though: The Siren's Memetic Malady. It doesn't make any sense, and not in a "dark secrets men were not meant to know" way. It's just goofy as all get-out. Currently, it makes people obsessively say, for instance, "potato", slowly overwriting their brain. Okay, fine. But then anyway who hears them somehow contracts the potato-saying virus, from the sheer force of its wordliciousness. It's less Ringu, and more Rickroll. I'd probably suggest just dropping the contagion factor entirely, or perhaps having a minor sanity check for people who hear it to avoid being disturbed by the nature of the thing.

Secondly, I think it might be worth considering some spells that closely follow the meaning of two whispers for better or for worse, rather than having them be useful, gameplay-relevant spells loosely related to the meanings of the whispers that compose them. For example, Ystharnotag Yghaz-legh [Restore Electricity] could take over the device-powering function of Enchant Item, or be used to recharge batteries, while experimentally combining Lot-aug and Uggot [Corrode Self] could be a very bad idea.

[Kuma Kode]

A Thousand Faces
Rtathu-bog + Bbhothigug
Corruption Cost: 2 Charisma damage and 1d4 Sanity
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target, Area, or Effect: One creature
Duration: 1 hour/level
Saving Throw: Will disbelief (if interacted with)
Spell Resistance: Yes (harmless)

Those who wear masks one day forget the face beneath.

When you cast this utterance, you sculpt an appearance and apply it to the creature you touch. The changes are cosmetic and must be relatively minor. You can make yourself appear to be another creature of your species, or a member of a different species of the same creature type. You can appear taller or shorter, thinner or wider, up to two feet.

Features of the new appearance, such as hair color, hair style, skin color, tattoos, or other cosmetic traits can be determined with precision or left to the magick to randomly determine.

You gain no new powers of your new form, and the changes are, in fact, illusory. The illusion attempts to react realistically to its environment, but is unable to exert force. The illusion is capable of making false sounds, such as illusory hair brushing against a leather jacket.

The utterance alters the appearance of equipment carried, if you so choose. It cannot hide equipment, but you can make your handgun look like a PDA or your rifle a hockey stick.

This spell grants a +10 circumstance bonus to Disguise checks.

While the illusion is in effect, the subject may sculpt itself a new form as a full-round action. The new appearance is restricted just like the original.

Echelon 1: The utterance functions as above.
Echelon 2: As echelon 1, and the utterance alters sounds within similar limitations.
Echelon 3: As echelon 2, but the utterance also creates the illusion of force and temperature.
Echelon 4: As echelon 1, but lasts 1 day/level.
Echelon 5: As echelon 2, but lasts 1 day/level.

[Kuma Kode]

Detect Corruption
Arlo-molegh + Nanyothua
Corruption Cost: 2 Wisdom damage
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: 60 feet
Target, Area, or Effect: cone-shaped emanation to the extreme of the range
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute/level
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No

Blood calls to blood. You need only learn to listen.

This utterance scans for the Otherworld's energies and returns to the caster with information. The amount of information returned depends upon how long a particular object, creature, or area has been scanned.

Corrupted, entities, the Black, magick items, and spells can be detected.

In the first round, the spell merely returns with the presence or absence of corruption within the scanned area.

In the second round, the number of auras and the strength of the strongest one is revealed.

In the third round, the exact locations of the auras are revealed.

These rounds are tracked individually for each scanned aura, and the caster is aware of any changes, though the details are limited by how many rounds the caster scans.

For instance, Jesse uses Detect Corruption through a door unaware that there is a group of three zombies huddled with an entity. On the first round he senses the presence of auras. On the second round, a new zombie moves into the area from another room. He senses that there are four auras, that the strongest is moderate, and that there is one or more new auras this round. On the third round, he learns the exact locations of the four previously detected auras, and that there is one other aura somewhere in the area that is faint.

Aura strengths are discussed in the variant Welcome to Silent Hill, in the equipment section.

Echelon 1: The spell works as above.
Echelon 2: As echelon 1, but the spell's area is a 60 foot hemisphere, instead of a cone.
Echelon 3: As echelon 1, but the spell's area is a 60 foot sphere, instead of a cone.
Echelon 4: As echelon 1, but the spell grants information instantly.
Echelon 5: As echelon 2, but the spell grants information instantly.

[Kuma Kode]

First: I love this setting. It is heck of spooky. I do have one issue, though: The Siren's Memetic Malady. It doesn't make any sense, and not in a "dark secrets men were not meant to know" way. It's just goofy as all get-out. Currently, it makes people obsessively say, for instance, "potato", slowly overwriting their brain. Okay, fine. But then anyway who hears them somehow contracts the potato-saying virus, from the sheer force of its wordliciousness. It's less Ringu, and more Rickroll. I'd probably suggest just dropping the contagion factor entirely, or perhaps having a minor sanity check for people who hear it to avoid being disturbed by the nature of the thing.

The suggestion to drop the contagion factor indicates you may not be familiar with what a meme is...

From wikipedia...

A meme acts as a unit for carrying cultural ideas symbols or practices, which can be transmitted from one mind to another through writing, speech, gestures, rituals or other imitable phenomena. Supporters of the concept regard memes as cultural analogues to genes, in that they self-replicate, mutate and respond to selective pressures.

Life-forms can transmit information both vertically (from parent to child, via replication of genes) and horizontally (through viruses and other means). Malcolm Gladwell wrote, "A meme is an idea that behaves like a virus--that moves through a population, taking hold in each person it infects." Memes can replicate vertically or horizontally within a single biological generation. They may also lie dormant for long periods of time. Memes spread by the behaviors that they generate in their hosts. Imitation counts as an important characteristic in the propagation of memes.

That concept is what the memetic malady is based on, the concept of ideas spreading like a virus and contaminating the way their host thinks and behaves, and that these changes in behavior can cause others to pick up the idea.

Dropping the contagion aspect pretty much destroys the concept.

Secondly, I think it might be worth considering some spells that closely follow the meaning of two whispers for better or for worse, rather than having them be useful, gameplay-relevant spells loosely related to the meanings of the whispers that compose them. For example, Ystharnotag Yghaz-legh [Restore Electricity] could take over the device-powering function of Enchant Item, or be used to recharge batteries, while experimentally combining Lot-aug and Uggot [Corrode Self] could be a very bad idea.

Don't get me wrong, your suggestion makes perfect sense, and I've thought of it before.

Quite simply, I'm lazy, and that's just not the kind of horror I like to run. It's hard enough turning it into a semi-functional magick system... I really don't feel like spending my time writing up 'gotcha' death-traps. If the DM wants that kind of thing in his or her game, he/she is welcome to just assume any "wrong" combination instead reveals a self-destructive spell.

I do not plan on filling every grid square; I expect every rune is only going to participate in four or five spells when I'm done. There will be a lot of empty slots to spit back "nope" during experimentation, so whether or not the DM wants to fill them with 'useless' spells, like self-destructive ones or ones with an inane effect, is up to him or her.

[Kuma Kode]

Templar

"He has honor if he holds himself to an ideal of conduct though it is inconvenient, unprofitable, or dangerous to do so."

~ Walter Lippman ~

The templars are members of a secretive organization that spans the world. Shrouded in legends and deceptive rumors, they battle the dark forces that lurk beyond the edges of our reality. Though believed by modern minds to be disbanded, the Knights Templar have been going strong for centuries, adapting to the changes in social climate and utilizing technology both new and old. Only one thing remains constant throughout the years: their unwavering march to find the Holy Grail, a weapon capable of truly destroying the creatures of the Otherworld.

Take this class if you want your character to fight with a sense of dedication and chivalry, powered by his or her unwavering devotion to humanity.

The fastest path to this advanced class is through the Strong hero basic class, but other paths are possible.

Requirements
To qualify to become a Templar, the character must meet the following criteria.

Base Attack Bonus: +3
Skills: Diplomacy 3 ranks, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 3 ranks.
Feats: Archaic Weapon Proficiency, Sixth Sense

Class Information
The following information pertains to the Templar advanced class.

Hit Die
The Templar gains 1d10 hit points per level. The character's Constitution modifier applies.

Action Points
The Templar gains a number of action points equal to 6 + one-half her character level, rounded down, every time she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills
The Templar's class skills are as follows.
Climb (Str), Diplomacy (Cha), Gather Information (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (theology and philosophy) (Int), Listen (Wis), Profession (Wis), Psychic Focus (Wis), Psychotherapy (Wis), Read/Write Language (none), Sense Motive (Wis), Speak Language (none), Spot (Wis), Treat Injury (Wis).
Skill Points at Each Level: 3 + Int modifier.

The Templar
{table=head;width=100%]

Level

|

Base Attack

Bonus

|

Fort

Save

|

Ref

Save

|

Will

Save

|

Class Features

|

Defense

Bonus

|

Reputation

Bonus

1st|

+1

|

+1

|

+0

|

+1

|Holy Smite|

+1

|

+0

2nd|

+2

|

+2

|

+0

|

+2

|Shield of Faith|

+1

|

+0

3rd|

+3

|

+2

|

+1

|

+2

|Bonus Feat|

+2

|

+0

4th|

+4

|

+2

|

+1

|

+2

|Sword of Faith|

+2

|

+0

5th|

+5

|

+3

|

+1

|

+3

|Inquisition|

+3

|

+1

6th|

+6

|

+3

|

+2

|

+3

|Bonus Feat|

+3

|

+1

7th|

+7

|

+4

|

+2

|

+4

|Dedication|

+4

|

+1

8th|

+8

|

+4

|

+2

|

+4

|Armor of Faith|

+4

|

+1

9th|

+9

|

+4

|

+3

|

+4

|Bonus Feat|

+5

|

+2

10th|

+10

|

+5

|

+3

|

+5

|True Inquisitor|

+5

|

+2

[/table]

Holy Smite: Whenever the templar uses an action point to augment his melee attack, he gains an additional bonus to his attack roll equal to his Charisma bonus and a bonus to damage equal to his templar level. This damage is holy and bypasses damage reduction, even if the attack itself does not.

Shield of Faith: A templar of 2nd level or higher adds his Charisma bonus to any saving throw made against the special abilities of any creature with the Tainted or Entity subtype. This ability also applies to magick, regardless of the caster's subtype.

Bonus Feats: At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Templar gets a bonus feat. The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Templar must meet all the prerequisites of the feat to select it.

Alertness, Advanced Combat Martial Arts, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Defensive Martial Arts, Endurance, Exotic Weapon Proficiency, Great Cleave, Power Attack, Premonition, Second Sight, Weapon Focus.

Sword of Faith: At 4th level, The strength of a templar's faith is strong enough to guide his blade in times of need. As a full-round action, a templar may pray or meditate to focus his faith into his weapon, granting it an enhancement bonus equal to half his templar level (round down). This bonus is added to all attack rolls and damage rolls made with the weapon and can allow it to bypass the damage reduction certain monsters possess.

The enhancement bonus lasts for one round per templar level.

Inquisition: A 5th level templar is well-trained in sensing the presence of evils that others might miss. The templar is entitled to a Psychic Focus check (DC 15 + the monster's HD) to sense an Otherworld aura that is not normally detectable by the Sixth Sense feat. If the aura is one that is capable of hiding itself, such as a lurker, the templar gets a +4 bonus on his opposed Psychic Focus checks.

Regardless of the results of the check, the templar cannot check again against that particular aura for 24 hours.

Dedication: Upon reaching 7th level, the templar's dedication to his cause becomes absolute. He becomes immune to supernatural fear effects, as well as the crippling effects of temporary or indefinite insanity. The templar still checks for insanity and gains Forbidden Lore ranks as normal, but he is not crippled by the affliction and can continue to be played normally (though the player of the disturbed templar is perfectly within his or her rights to roleplay the mental trauma as seen fit).

This ability does not protect against sanity loss, and a templar who reaches 0 Sanity is still vulnerable to Permanent Insanity.

Armor of Faith: At 8th level, the inner fire of the templar wards off attacks by creatures of the Darkness. The templar gains Damage Reduction equal to half his templar level, but only against the natural attacks or physical special attacks of creatures with the Tainted or Entity subtypes.

This damage reduction is treated as x/-, with x being the amount of damage reduction offered. If the character already has DR x/-, such as from Tough hero talents, the damage reduction stacks.

True Inquisitor: At 10th level, the templar may see the demon beneath the mask. Fallen are treated as if they had the Tainted subtype for all purposes in regards to the templar, including detecting them with Sixth Sense. Doing so requires a Psychic Focus check as is normal for auras the feat is not normally able to detect.

If the Fallen has one or more levels in Occultist, they are treated as an Entity instead.

[Surrealistik]

I definitely feel that the templar should gain resistance to ability damage/drain (if only specific to Otherword creatures/sources), and sanity loss.

[Kuma Kode]

I definitely feel that the templar should gain resistance to ability damage/drain (if only specific to Otherword creatures/sources), and sanity loss.

If the resistance to ability damage functioned against the corruption cost of spells, this would actually make them a better spellcaster than the occultist.

Occultists gain Sanity Resistance because not only are they going up against the same psychological horrors as the rest of the party, their primary abilities are also consuming Sanity. Templars have no backlash from their powers other than a few needing action points. Giving them Sanity Resistance would be very useful for them, but my main concern is that it would step on the Occultist too much. Templars would be just as good at mitigating the damage they take from spells, except that the Templar has other options for when they don't feel like casting spells, while the Occultist does not.

I decided that making them immune to the crippling effects of insanity instead of sanity loss itself would sidestep the Occultist overlap issue while still giving them a strong-will kind of ability.

If the resistance to ability damage doesn't work against spells, it drops dramatically in value since most monsters don't do ability damage that doesn't also allow a save, so most of it would already be covered by Shield of Faith.

Generally the templar is offensive, with abilities to increase damage, bypass DR, and seek out the monsters. Only three abilities are defensive, mostly because the templar's offensive powers require melee, where the monsters themselves tend to shine. The Occultist is defensively oriented, intent upon mitigating damage caused by their behavior and avoiding some spell effects outright, while possessing minions to use as decoys or scouts. Only Annulment is outright offensive, though Black Binding certainly has utility in combat depending on the zombie selected.

[Surrealistik]

Just make an exception that the Templar's protections are forfeit/impeded if they deign to meddle with Otherworld sorcery (as in if they actively use it), or perhaps they even suffer additional penalties if you want to go that far. Prohibiting/penalizing use of magic could act as a counterbalance to their improved defenses.

Templars/Divine Warrior types are traditionally gifted with extraordinary resistance to the things they specifically train to confront.

[Kuma Kode]

I didn't want to lock them out of magick like a paladin's code, as part of the allure of the system is that it's fighting fire with fire. Spells like Seal of Tora and Life Shield, not to mention Dissolution, are extremely useful for a templar to learn and use. It would seem kind of stupid for the templars to let humanity be wiped out just because they refused to use certain, effective options on principle.

[Kuma Kode]

Also, added a few new tomes and a Defilement clause to the Tainted info. After considering the apocalypse some more, I realized that the Black needed to be ludicrously pervasive for it to convert enough people to even count as an apocalypse. So, since this goes against some of the Black's mysterious flavor, I added in the ability to convert corpses into Tainted Ones through feeding, as is traditional for zombie movies.

This also helps to place a pacing limit on undead evolution, as they're only getting a few bites of raw materials per kill before the corpse animates and their aversion to cannibalism kicks in.

[Surrealistik]

I didn't want to lock them out of magick like a paladin's code, as part of the allure of the system is that it's fighting fire with fire. Spells like Seal of Tora and Life Shield, not to mention Dissolution, are extremely useful for a templar to learn and use. It would seem kind of stupid for the templars to let humanity be wiped out just because they refused to use certain, effective options on principle.

You could impose penalties, allowing them to use magic, albeit discouraging the use of it even more than usual, so they'd only ever employ it in truly desperate circumstances (as is fitting).

The idea is that the holy wards/powers the Templar gains is enough to compensate for these penalties.

[Kuma Kode]

Stalker
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Fast Hero 5
Vitality Dice: 5d8+10 (33 VP)
Wound Points: 14
Initiative: +6
Speed: 45 ft., climb 35 ft.
Defense: 23 (+5 class, +6 dexterity, +2 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +3 / +5
Attack: Claw +9 melee (1d6+2/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+2/19-20)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Pounce, Sneak Attack +2d6
Special Qualities: Tainted traits, Shroud
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +1
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +9, Will +2
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 22, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 3
Sanity Drain: 0/1d4
Skills: Balance +13, Climb +21, Escape Artist +13, Hide +13, Jump +17, Move Silently +13, Tumble +15
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Acrobatic, Weapon Finesse, Defensive Martial Arts, Elusive Target
Talents: Increased Speed, Improved Increased Speed, Advanced Increased Speed
Challenge Rating: 6
Stalkers are gaunt creatures with elongated limbs and distended jaws reminiscent of that of spiders. They are exceptionally fast and capable of three dimensional movement, which most survivors do not expect.

More potent than their razor sharp claws is their ability to fade into darkness, becoming dark and wavering shadows of themselves. This blurring is exaggerated by their movements, leading some to believe that stalkers can teleport short distances. While this is not technically true, keeping track of a moving stalker is nearly impossible in combat conditions.

Mercifully, stalkers set off radios in their vicinity under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant.

Combat
Stalkers focus on hit and run tactics, using their superior speed to wreak havoc against unaware victims. If a stalker loses the element of surprise or finds that its initial attacks were insufficient to bring down its prey, it is not averse to running away and trying again at a later time.

Pounce (Ex): If a stalker charges a foe, it can make a full attack, even though it has already moved.

Sneak Attack (Ex): Stalkers rely on striking a foe when they are unaware, and have adapted their tactics to take advantage of such situations. Whenever a stalker strikes a foe who has been denied their Dexterity bonus to Defense, whether it be due to immobility, grappling, or the flat-footed condition, it deals an additional 2d6 points of damage.

Shroud (Su): Darkness swirls around the stalker and conceals it against attacks. Whenever a stalker is in anything less than direct illumination, such as from a sunlight or the area illuminated by a flashlight, stalkers appear as blurred and distorted silhouettes.

Attacks against a shrouded stalker suffer a 20% chance to miss, and the stalker does not provoke attacks of opportunity when it moves. Direct light burns away the shroud instantly, but it returns if the stalker moves out of the light.

While shrouded, a stalker also gains a +4 bonus to Hide and Move Silently checks.

Skills: A stalker uses its Dexterity instead of its Strength for Climb and Jump checks. Additionally, they gain a +2 racial bonus on Jump checks.

[Kuma Kode]

Wailer
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Charismatic Hero 2/Strong Hero 3
Vitality Dice: 2d6+8+3d8+12 (41 VP)
Wound Points: 18
Initiative: +2
Speed: 30 ft.
Defense: 17 (+2 dexterity, +3 class, +2 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +4 / +8
Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+8) or bite +4 melee (1d6+12)
Full Attack: Bite +8 melee (1d6+8) or bite +4 melee (1d6+12)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Shriek
Special Qualities: Tainted traits
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +2
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +0
Abilities: Str 19, Dex 14, Con 18, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 16
Sanity Drain: 0/1d4
Skills: (Bruiser) Climb +7, Intimidate +11, Jump +9, Perform (Dance) +5, Perform (Sing) +13, Swim +6
OR
(Harpy) Bluff +8, Climb +8, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +8, Intimidate +8, Jump +8, Perform (Act) +8, Perform (Dance) +10, Perform (Sing) +10, Swim +8
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Creative (Perform [Sing], Perform [Dance]), Dodge, Power Attack, Cleave
Talents: Coordinate, Melee Smash, Improved Melee Smash
Challenge Rating: 6
Wailers look much like bruisers, having strong muscles and a lumbering gait. Their nature is only revealed when they pull back their head and reveal a disgusting, sideways mouth in their neck through which they scream.

Unlike a harpy, the wailer's songs are not beautiful; they sound pained and betrayed.

Wailers can be detected by a radio under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant.

Combat
Wailers tend to stay away from melee, and use their powers to coordinate their allies and control their enemies. If forced into melee, the wailer will usually attempt to push attackers away with its roar. If the opponent resists, or if it's surrounded, it will begin biting savagely.

Shriek (Ex): The mutated voicebox of a wailer is capable of a wide variety of frequencies, each with its own unique effect.

Summon: This high pitch, extremely loud scream is used to alert other Tainted to the presence of food. In addition to this mundane use, there is a 10% chance a Forsaken Husk manifests within 60 feet of the wailer, if a viable area exists, as if summoned from the Otherworld by the wailer's song.

Disorientation: This particular frequencies penetrates deep into a human's skull, causing severe disorientation and confusion. This version of the shriek affects a 60 foot cone in front of the wailer. Anyone struck by the shriek must make a Fortitude save (DC 15). A success leaves the creature dazzled for 1 round. On failure, the victim is stunned for 1 round and shaken for 1d4+1 rounds afterwards. This is a sonic, mind-affecting ability that does not affect Entities, but can affect Tainted Ones.

Agony: Like the Disorientation version, this use affects a 60 foot cone in front of the wailer. This frequency can cause flesh and bone to rupture, physically ripping the victim apart with pounding shockwaves. Victims struck by the shriek suffer 2d6 points of sonic damage, but may make a Fortitude save (DC 15) for half damage.

Roar: The roar is a powerful blast of air unique to the wailer and its evolutions. All creatures and objects within a 60 foot cone are subject to a bull rush attempt by the wailer, though it need not move to push its opponents.

[Kuma Kode]

Bullet-Chaser
Medium Humanoid (Tainted) Charismatic Hero 2/Fast Hero 3
Vitality Dice: 2d6+4+3d8+6 (31 VP)
Wound Points: 14
Initiative: +5
Speed: 40 ft., climb 25 ft.
Defense: 22 (+5 class, +5 Dexterity, +2 natural)
Base Attack/Grapple: +3 / +4
Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d6+1/19-20)
Full Attack: 2 claws +8 melee (1d6+1/19-20) and bite +3 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
Special Attacks: Shriek, Pounce
Special Qualities: Tainted traits, Bullet-Time
Allegiances: The Otherworld
Action Points: 2
Reputation: +3
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +9, Will +0
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 20, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 8, Cha 16
Sanity Drain: 0/1d4
Skills: (Edward) Balance +10, Climb +18, Disguise +5, Escape Artist +10, Hide +10, Jump +14, Move Silently +10, Perform (Dance) +13, Perform (Sing) +13, Tumble +12
OR
(Harpy) Bluff +8, Climb +12, Diplomacy +8, Disguise +8, Intimidate +8, Jump +16, Perform (Act) +8, Perform (Dance) +10, Perform (Sing) +10, Tumble +14
Feats: Simple Weapon Proficiency, Creative (Perform [Sing], Perform [Dance]), Dodge, Acrobatic, Weapon Finesse
Talents: Coordinate, Increased Speed, Improved Increased Speed
Challenge Rating: 6
Nearly skeletal bodies with disjointed, sporadic movement are the calling card of the bullet-chaser, strange creatures who are fascinated by extremely high speeds. They constantly hum through the mutated mouth in their throat, and the hum rises to a scream when a firearm is fired nearby. They become excited and often leap into the line of fire, giving them their name.

For most survivors, firearms are the only things they carry that will trigger a bullet-chaser's deadly fascination, but certain machinery and even fans on a high setting can trigger their frenzy.

Bullet-chasers set off radios under the Welcome to Silent Hill variant, which emit static-riddled hums similar to that of the monster itself.

Combat
Bullet-chasers hide in dark corners or on ledges and leap down on their foes. If the element of surprise fails them, they will cover their retreat with shrieks. Bullet-chasers attack people who use firearms preferentially.

Shriek (Ex): The mutated voicebox of a bullet-chaser is capable of a wide variety of frequencies, each with its own unique effect.

Summon: This high pitch, extremely loud scream is used to alert other Tainted to the presence of food. In addition to this mundane use, there is a 10% chance a Forsaken Husk manifests within 60 feet of the bullet-chaser, if a viable area exists, as if summoned from the Otherworld by the bullet-chaser's song.

Disorientation: This particular frequencies penetrates deep into a human's skull, causing severe disorientation and confusion. This version of the shriek affects a 60 foot cone in front of the bullet-chaser. Anyone struck by the shriek must make a Fortitude save (DC 15). A success leaves the creature dazzled for 1 round. On failure, the victim is stunned for 1 round and shaken for 1d4+1 rounds afterwards. This is a sonic, mind-affecting ability that does not affect Entities, but can affect Tainted Ones.

Agony: Like the Disorientation version, this use affects a 60 foot cone in front of the bullet-chaser. This frequency can cause flesh and bone to rupture, physically ripping the victim apart with pounding shockwaves. Victims struck by the shriek suffer 2d4 points of sonic damage, but may make a Fortitude save (DC 15) for half damage.

Pounce (Ex): If a bullet-chaser charges a foe, it can make a full attack, even though it has already moved.

Bullet-Time (Su): The bullet-chaser has an affinity for high speeds, such as that of sound, that is poorly understood. They have a heightened, almost precognitive awareness of things that move quickly; attacks with firearms made against a bullet-chaser suffer a 50% miss chance.

Melee attacks, thrown weapons, and silenced firearms do not suffer this miss chance.

If subjected to an attack by a firearm, even if it is silenced, the bullet-chaser gains a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls, damage rolls, defense, saves, and checks for one minute. This effect stacks with itself, up to a maximum of +5 or the creature's HD, whichever is higher.

[Kuma Kode]

Added the Telekinesis, Empathy and Telepathy psionic feats.

Added rules for shotguns to make them less sucky compared to rifles (same damage but smaller magazines and shorter range... wtf?), and more in line with how shotguns are portrayed in zombie horror films and video games.

[Worira]

OK, time for a bunch of stuff.

I'll start out by saying that I don't really like the feel of the templar. I feel like it lightens the setting a bit too much. I don't expect you to agree, and I don't have any constructive advice on how to change it, so I'll move on to the next thing.

Both new spells look fine, nothing to add there.

Telepathy, Empathy, and Telekinesis all seem a bit powerful for feats. Perhaps consider adding a point or two of Wisdom or damage as a consequence for using them.

Stalker looks good. Not quite sure why it has simple weapon proficiency, though.

Wailers look fine, nothing to say here.

Bullet-Time makes the Bullet-chaser nearly immune to attacks with firearms. A party of four all attacking it with firearms are going to give it a +4 or more bonus to a number of things, including defenses, in the first round. At that point, a character shooting at it with a +10 attack bonus has a 1 in 10 chance of hitting it, dropping with each attack. If you want it to be difficult, but possible, to kill with firearms, I'd suggest either dropping the 50% miss chance to 20% or even removing it entirely (it may be fast enough to dodge bullets, but it's counteracted by its habit of leaping into the line of fire), or putting a cap on the bonuses granted by Bullet-Time (after a certain point, it's moving as fast as it's going to). If, on the other hand, you want to to be functionally immune to being shot, I suggest making that very clear to players, because otherwise this could be a recipe for a quick TPK.

I like the shotgun houserules, they definitely make shotguns act a lot closer to how they should. Fun fact, the guy who made the rules for shotguns in d20 Modern explicitly stated that he made them deliberately underpowered compared to rifles because he didn't like them.

[Kuma Kode]

That was a concern of mine with the Templar, as well. I want something like it in the setting, but I'm not sure how to really do it.

Empathy and Telekinesis could do with some Wisdom damage, though I'm not really expecting players to think 25 words is worth 1d4 sanity loss, especially since the receiver cannot reply.

Stalkers have Simple Weapon Proficiency because they all should. It's granted by all basic classes. The fact that some don't is an oversight.

Bullet-chasers are intended to be pretty much immune to firearms. Perhaps I should cap it at +5 (the creature's HD).

Really, he did? I find it hard to believe designers would be intentionally malicious (such as intentionally designing monks or the Toughness feat as "traps" as was suggested in another thread), but after seeing the shotgun rules, I find it difficult to rule that out. Do you have a source on that?

[Worira]

Hmm... I don't remember the exact source, but he basically said that shotguns were deliberately made inferior to rifles because they're less useful in combat in real life, ignoring the fact that most fights in real life don't happen between people who are capable of taking multiple gunshot wounds to the torso without being overly concerned.