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TRiBAL
2009-02-19, 07:17 PM
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http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/3094/silenthillsinnerscomic.jpg
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.::THE CREATION HAS BEGUN::.

BE A PART OF d20 SH PROJECT

keilyn
2009-02-19, 07:34 PM
I don't know that there's a campaign setting for silent hill, but if you've got some ominous chanting for music, maybe a smoke machine and a windowless room to play in, you're going to have the creepiest ******* gaming sessions -I- could think of.
Seriously.
That game scared the living bejeebies out of me, and I only played the first one. Yeah. I bought a nite lite........

Zeta Kai
2009-02-19, 08:01 PM
I would like to know if this campaign setting exists (before I begin to create it).
Also, I would like to know if there is any such SH campaign idea in another site (e.g. Delta Force, Hellraiser e.t.c).
Any help would be most welcome!

GIYF (Google Is Your Friend) (http://d20.17.forumer.com/a/silent-hill-5/).

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-20, 12:56 AM
GIYF (Google Is Your Friend) (http://d20.17.forumer.com/a/silent-hill-5/).
I think the project is defunct.

Also, I'm tempted to scan my computer because you linked me to what amounts to internet herpes.

Thanks.

TRiBAL
2009-02-20, 06:47 AM
I have endless hours of searching; I did not find any significant result. Only a few hints of alternative rules (eg. CoC, Shadow Chasers etc) and few dead or useless links (such Zeta Kai's prompt).

I have to suggest, if any member of forum which wish to start making this interesting campaign project (with me) and is interested to help, can do it just posting his/her opinion.

Thanks! :smallsmile:

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-20, 11:34 AM
Since you asked nicely: this has been something I've given a bit of previous thought to. Originally, the idea was to use d20 CoC (essentially a stripped-down d20 3.0 system with, two "classes", sanity rules and a different magic system).

And here's part of the problem with Silent Hill. It has some unique writing problems you have to deal with. The video games generally focused on a single protagonist who was isolated from the rest of humanity, save a few oddball bits of supporting cast (not all of them necessarily friendly). With a group, this isn't really possible.

If you also make heavy use of skills (in our example d20 skills), not all skills will necessarily get equal face-time if you try to run the game with the players who are *too* isolated. "Gather Information" is nigh-useless, as is any sort of Wealth or money system. "Knowlege (Chemistry)" will probably never come in handy at all unless you make a specific puzzle. I also look down and see "Pilot" and think, "that's not very much like a Silent Hill game."

I could see skills like "Bluff" and "Diplomacy" coming in handy with important NPC's who are stuck in the same bubble of madness as the PC's though. The Silent Hill style of writing usually makes the few supporting characters important to the plot (or story). So being able to influence these pivots could be vital to the players.

Secondly, there's no point statting up past monsters. My opinion in this matter is that you should really make your own as suits the story. You don't want an established "canonized monsters." Using past monsters generally misses the point of the monsters: which is that they reflect some esoteric truth behind the story -- when they aren't outright symbolic. Some are just little more than nasty knots of flesh that want to kill you.

This is one of the places that Call of Cthulhu and Silent Hill agree -- cultists are delusional so what they think they understand about the nature of the horror isn't anything reliable. Silent Hill has a hazy anti-mythology that cultists often outright stole (or were influenced by) elements from the local Native American legends and by Christianity.

If you wanted a far-reaching game that actually involves a more epic scope (a game where players could reasonably use ALL skills and even buy things), then you could always have the threat of the Otherworld begin to spread outside of Silent Hill and allow players to flip between worlds on occassion to recharge and do some real-world investigation and make use of other options.

TRiBAL
2009-02-20, 07:43 PM
At first: Thanks for your meaningful reply! I feel that you expert on the subject of SH and I'm very happy for that! :smallamused:

Let's Start:


Since you asked nicely: this has been something I've given a bit of previous thought to. Originally, the idea was to use d20 CoC (essentially a stripped-down d20 3.0 system with, two "classes", sanity rules and a different magic system).

Yes I agre! WotC version is solid (Monte Cook rules :smallcool:)


And here's part of the problem with Silent Hill. It has some unique writing problems you have to deal with. The video games generally focused on a single protagonist who was isolated from the rest of humanity, save a few oddball bits of supporting cast (not all of them necessarily friendly). With a group, this isn't really possible.

I don't think so! The (small... ok) group should have a directly related background of the (big) story. Many examples! (The Silent Hill is a realm of many timeworn sins... :smallwink:).


If you also make heavy use of skills (in our example d20 skills), not all skills will necessarily get equal face-time if you try to run the game with the players who are *too* isolated. "Gather Information" is nigh-useless, as is any sort of Wealth or money system. "Knowlege (Chemistry)" will probably never come in handy at all unless you make a specific puzzle. I also look down and see "Pilot" and think, "that's not very much like a Silent Hill game."

I could see skills like "Bluff" and "Diplomacy" coming in handy with important NPC's who are stuck in the same bubble of madness as the PC's though. The Silent Hill style of writing usually makes the few supporting characters important to the plot (or story). So being able to influence these pivots could be vital to the players.

It's everything in hand of the GM (my opinion). After all, It's good for the feeling of the game a little uselessness on PCs skills at times (if you know what I mean... :smallbiggrin:)


Secondly, there's no point statting up past monsters. My opinion in this matter is that you should really make your own as suits the story. You don't want an established "canonized monsters." Using past monsters generally misses the point of the monsters: which is that they reflect some esoteric truth behind the story -- when they aren't outright symbolic. Some are just little more than nasty knots of flesh that want to kill you.

That's right! Nice point of view! But I think should to create few "standard" monsters (like Nurses, Groaners, The Pyramid Head... etc).


This is one of the places that Call of Cthulhu and Silent Hill agree -- cultists are delusional so what they think they understand about the nature of the horror isn't anything reliable. Silent Hill has a hazy anti-mythology that cultists often outright stole (or were influenced by) elements from the local Native American legends and by Christianity.

+1 :smallamused:


If you wanted a far-reaching game that actually involves a more epic scope (a game where players could reasonably use ALL skills and even buy things), then you could always have the threat of the Otherworld begin to spread outside of Silent Hill and allow players to flip between worlds on occassion to recharge and do some real-world investigation and make use of other options.


Nice idea! It was the fist one that I have in my mind! But now I'm starting to think a scenario that the group (3 PCs, max) is "invited" (in their dreams, perhaps) to go at "a nice and a peaceful place" and as the story evolve they have something mutual in their backround... (you know).

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-20, 08:40 PM
That's right! Nice point of view! But I think should to create few "standard" monsters (like Nurses, Groaners, The Pyramid Head... etc).
I'm at a bit of small disagreement here over the standard monsters.

It should be noted that Pyramid Head had a very specific purpose in Silent Hill 2, and his later appearances in the SH spinoff games and the movie felt like it was pandering to the audience.

Aside from which, he showed up again in SH3 as Valtiel. "Is that really Pyramid Head?"

Well . . . yes and no. My thoughts on the matter was that Valtiel was symbolic of the plasticity of SH's reality. A large theme in SH3 was about how beliefs diverge or become corrupted over time. And even current beliefs are a wide point of contention between the ensemble cultist cast. SH4 even let the player know that there were multiple sects. Pyramid Head/Valtiel have different roles but they're essentially a mutation of the same thing. (Executioner --> Divine Servant)

If you really must introduce him again, please mutate him again for a new role that is better suited to the story you're trying to tell.

Nurses . . . as much as I hate to admit it, are pretty much trademark. But even then, they weren't tackily thrown in without some consideration of the themes.

SH1 nurses had parasites stuck to them that you could see on close examination, the same one that latched onto Cybil. I hesitate to ascribe any symbolism to that though. Although there is a definite connection to Alessa's time in a hospital.

SH2 - Very simple. Sexualised nurses represent James's suppressed libido. The "bubble head" might actually represent suffocation (think Mary).

SH3 - You know what? I have no idea. Aside from the Alessa connection, this is where nurses start to become pointless.

SH4 - Walter had some screwed up notions regarding women and childbirth. But it seems like there's some general agreement that the burping nurses were lame.

SH5 - Okay, let's not even go there . . . I don't even really consider the game canon and have never played it. This is such a shame because I think American has such a great legacy of PTSD war horror in the form of Vietnam-era movies. (Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Jacob's Ladder, etc.)

Additionally it should be noted that hospitals can be a excellent site for horror -- death, disease, insanity, patient helplessness and so forth. Turning a hospital from being a wholesome place to a place of decay is a great horror angle. So the nurses were the inevitable consequence of shoe-horning a hospital level in every game. (Bathrooms are another favorite "scary place" for the Japanese.)

The various demon-dogs seem generic enough that I don't really have a problem with them being "re-used." Personally, I'd like to see wolf-pack instead of just a bunch of assorted mongrels, just to mix it up.

TRiBAL
2009-02-21, 09:15 AM
Thanks for the good directions! I start working for that! I will begin the monster creation with Nurses, Groaners and The Pyramid Head (My campaign is long and contains most of SH locations such hospital, church etc)

First for the creatures that I said, you think that Outsider type is ideal (and what subtype you prefer)??

Zeta Kai
2009-02-21, 09:50 AM
SH4 - Walter had some screwed up notions regarding women and childbirth. But it seems like there's some general agreement that the burping nurses were lame.

It was the Patients that belched when injured, & how that is meant to be scary is beyond me. Actual game spoiler below:

The Nurses were in the hospital, too, but any symbolism to their appearance must be contextualized in lieu of the fact that most of the game is played within Walter Sullivan's psyche.

Also, a Silent Hill d20 game would consist almost entirely of opponents that were Aberrations, with only a few genuine Outsiders & Undead. The term "Aberration" defines the creatures in these games to a tee.

Otogi
2009-02-21, 01:06 PM
These are very good suggestions, but for the best tips and inspiration for story, monsters, NPCs and appropriate skills, feats and abilities, you can't really find them online. It's the characters, and by extension the players, that you should always go to. Silent Hill shapes itself to those it traps. Nurses and Pyramid Head are iconic, but if say a doctor or an actor steps in, it makes sense to have a few trees of flesh and bone or depraved masquraders around, and that's just for jobs.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-21, 04:27 PM
Well to be mildy nitpicky: Sometimes the observer's psychological state doesn't matter.

SH2 stands out as the most iconic for this reason, because the protagonists viewpoint mattered to the way the Otherworld presented itself to him. I'm forced to agree that SH2 was the high point because it was deliberately written to be a tragedy.

Where I disagree with most of the fans is that is not all of what Silent Hill is about. I am more attracted to the "investigation of the unknown." A cathartic tragedy is usually a secondary goal but is nonetheless a pleasant surprise when it happens.

That is to say: You shouldn't always make it an in-depth character study. And that's partly the problem with the American developers of SH5 and Origins. Not every story has to be about the deep-rooted tragedy of the protagonist. But they can't get away from the idea that every Silent Hill game has to be Silent Hill 2. It stinks of cheap imitation. Sometimes all that matters is good plotting and a few scares.

By and large, personal angst is usually the domain of an antagonist or the villain.

To run a list of the psychological worlds you were exploring:
SH1: Cheryl/Alessa
SH3: Claudia/Cheryl/Alessa
SH4: Walter Sullivan

So it's quite possible for the PC's to be relatively unimportant to the backstory, even if they do have a stake or motivation in it (survival, missing daughter or whatever). The Otherworld may take occasional jabs at them even, but the show isn't necessarily always about their personal baggage.

Otogi
2009-02-21, 06:23 PM
That's fair, and I'd probably say the same thing if I played the last two games. But, and this just from my observation, which may or may not matter, a large part of what makes Silent Hill popular, if not elemental, is how the story weaves itself into the seeker's lives. It has it's own story, but it makes you listen and unravel it by taunting the protagonists about they're own, or simply because it must or wants to. So it's not really secondary as much a second half. Again, though, my voice may not matter

TRiBAL
2009-02-21, 08:00 PM
Groaner [SH1]

Groaners are dog-type creatures that they appear as hairless, demonic dogs with rotten brown skin and a very large set of jaws. They are also morbidly thin, making them appear starving or even dead as a result.
http://img8.imageshack.us/img8/6379/026b.png

Groaner
Medium Aberration
HD 3d8+6 (HP 19)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp +3
Attack +4 melee (2d4+1, bite)
Full-Attack +4 melee (2d4+1, bite)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Trip
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +3 Ref +3 Will +4
Abilities Str 13, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Hide +4, Move Silently +4, Spot +4, Listen +4
Feats Alertness, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair, or pack (5–12)
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 4-5 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d4

Scent (Ex): This ability allows a groaner to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Trip (Ex): A groaner that hits with a bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the groaner.



Double Head [SH3]

Double Heads are dog-type creatures that their heads split vertically down the middle, with their tongue often hanging lazily between the split halves. They are "bandaged" in bloody strips of flesh and appear to be horribly burned.
http://www.freewebs.com/silenthillabyss/doublehead.gif

Double Head
Medium Aberration
HD 3d8+3 (HP 16)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp +4
Attack +5 melee (2d4+2, bite)
Full-Attack +5 melee (2d4+2, bite) and +2 (1d4+1, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Trip
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +2 Ref +3 Will +4
Abilities Str 15, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Hide +4, Move Silently +4, Spot +2, Listen +2
Feats Multiattack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment Fog World
Organization Solitary, pair, or pack (5–12)
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 4-5 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Scent (Ex): This ability allows a double head to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Trip (Ex): A double head that hits with a claw or bite attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the double head.



Feral [SH5]

Ferals are dog-type creatures that they appear as skinless, heavily muscled canines with fresh blood dripping from their bodies. Another strange feature of their heads is the fact that they have no ears or eyes.
http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/8739/silenthill5conceptartdyp.png

Feral
Medium Aberration
HD 3d8+3 (HP 16)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +1
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp +4
Attack +5 melee (2d4+2, bite)
Full-Attack +5 melee (2d4+2, bite) and +2 (1d4+1, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Improved grap
Special Qualities Blindsight 60 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +3 Ref +2 Will +4
Abilities Str 15, Dex 15, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5
Feats Multiattack, Weapon Focus (bite)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 4-5 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d4

Blindsight (Ex): Ferals can sense all foes within 60 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Ferals are susceptible scent-based attacks, however, are affected normally by overpowering odors. Negating a feral sense of smell reduces this ability to normal Blind-Fight (as the feat). If this sense is negated, a feral is effectively blinded.
Scent (Ex): This ability allows a feral to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Improved grap (Ex): If feral hits with a bite or claw, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without allowing its opponent a free action. Assuming the victim doesn't break free on its action, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage listed for the bite attack.

TRiBAL
2009-02-21, 08:26 PM
Sniffer Dog [SH4]

Sniffer Dogs are dog-type creatures that have long, prehensile tongues that they use to drain the blood of their prey. They have dirty, leathery skin which appears to be decaying and, strangely, make snarling sounds which resemble that of a large feline rather than a canine.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/4287/snifferdogl.png

Sniffer Dog
Medium Aberration
HD 4d8+8 (HP 26)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +5
Attack +6 melee (1d4+2, claw)
Full-Attack +6 melee (1d4+2, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Trip, Tongue (melee touch attack, 1 Con drain)
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +3 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 15, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Hide +4, Move Silently +4, Listen +4, Spot +3
Feats Alertness, Weapon Focus (claw)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating 2
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 5-6 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Scent (Ex): This ability allows a sniffer dog to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Trip (Ex): A sniffer dog that hits with a claw attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the sniffer dog.
Tongue (Su): With a successful tongue touch attack, a deep and penetrating (but bloodlles and painless) hole is formed. The victim takes no physical damage, despite his peculiar wound, but loses 1 point of Constitution permanently.

Wormhead [SH1]

Wormheads are dog-type creatures that their bodies are more deteriorated and appear to be partially burnt, and their heads are covered in writhing masses of worms.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/5931/wormhead.png

Wormhead
Medium Aberration (Evil, Extraplanar)
HD 4d8+8 plus Toughness (HP 29)
Speed 50 ft. (10 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +5
Attack +5 melee (1d4+2, claw)
Full-Attack +5 melee (1d4+2, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Trip
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +3 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 14, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Hide +4, Move Silently +4, Listen +4, Spot +3
Feats Alertness, Toughness
Environment Otherworld
Organization Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating 2
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 5-6 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Scent (Ex): This ability allows a wormhead to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Trip (Ex): A wormhead that hits with a claw attack can attempt to trip the opponent as a free action without making a touch attack or provoking an attack of opportunity. If the attempt fails, the opponent cannot react to trip the wormhead.

Night10194
2009-02-21, 10:39 PM
I thought I'd chip in something that might help, a game mechanic I used for a Cthulhu-style d20 game once. In the actual Silent Hill games, the sanity of the protagonist is rarely gets broken via encounters with monsters and strange settings, and is almost never actually represented mechanically. The settings and the monsters, both with the player and the PC, seem to wear them down over time, instead. To simulate this, give players Sanity, yes, based on Level and Wis. Something like a d8+Wis mod progression. In return, give all Monsters and encounters a per-round Sanity damage; Everyone facing them loses that much Sanity per turn or panics and loses control of their character. It lets you encourage players not to get into drawn out battles and to run when in trouble, simulates slow breaking down and panicking, and leaves the actual psych breaks (real, true insanity) for backstory, plot, and role-playing instead.

Just thought I'd suggest it.

Debihuman
2009-02-21, 10:51 PM
Please take a look and post your opinions for the dogs:

usually creatures increase in size when they double their hit points. This strikes me that advancement should be by size maybe 4-5 Medium and 6-10 Large. Alignment should probably reflect their demonic heritage: usually chaotic evil.

How do the groaner, double head and feral differ from one another? Obviously the double head has at least two heads and you could create that using the multiheaded template from Savage Species.

Otherwise, it looks good.

Debby

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-22, 03:05 AM
usually creatures increase in size when they double their hit points. This strikes me that advancement should be by size maybe 4-5 Medium and 6-10 Large. Alignment should probably reflect their demonic heritage: usually chaotic evil.

How do the groaner, double head and feral differ from one another? Obviously the double head has at least two heads and you could create that using the multiheaded template from Savage Species.

Otherwise, it looks good.

Debby
The differences are utterly cosmetic. The "double head" is really just a dog with a giant split maw in place of a head. Hence two "heads," which are really just the jaws.

Secondly, they aren't demonic in any conventional D&D or Judeo-Christian sense. "Aberration" really gets very close to the intended meaning.

In Call of Cthulhu d20, alignment is completely non-existent and pretty irrelevant, since alignment really works better for high-fantasy than it does for Lovecraftian horror. And giving the monsters alignments misses the point by a fair bit.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-22, 03:30 AM
That's fair, and I'd probably say the same thing if I played the last two games. But, and this just from my observation, which may or may not matter, a large part of what makes Silent Hill popular, if not elemental, is how the story weaves itself into the seeker's lives. It has it's own story, but it makes you listen and unravel it by taunting the protagonists about they're own, or simply because it must or wants to. So it's not really secondary as much a second half. Again, though, my voice may not matter
Yes, that's pretty much what I said.

There's a fair bit of distinction to be made from what constitutes a tragedy and what constitutes a psychological thriller. The problem with the tragedy is that it's really a pain to write well.

We're lead to understand why Claudia or Walter do what they do, but in the end, you're not really supposed to identify with them and even find it necessary that they die in order for there to be closure. You were never meant to achieve catharsis by empathizing with them. Even Alessa, a relatively benign, even admirable antagonist, isn't really slated with this particular goal in mind.

This stands in direct contrast with James Sunderland, whose death, if you get one the bad endings, is cause for the audience going "that sucked." You're meant to empathize with James far more than you do for the villains. It supposed to be more personal. So James is really much closer to the classic Greek tragedy than any of the other characters.

My overall opinion is that it's easier to write the former situation than the latter. Especially because this is a game situation with more than one protagonist -- often played by players who really may not enjoy identifying too strongly with their roles. I'm one of these players: the kind that enjoys the hands-on adventure more than acting out a character.

And if you take the "epic scope" approach for the game, the story shifts the conflict away from individual character studies to what is happening in the plot. Consequently, I would think this would make a deeply personal tragedy harder.

TRiBAL
2009-02-22, 07:46 AM
DEMONIC DOGS ARE UPDATED! Take a look HERE (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5802477#post5802477)

TRiBAL
2009-02-23, 09:18 AM
Creeper [SH1, SH2]

Creepers are insect-like creatures that resemble large cockroaches.

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/9971/creeper.png

Creeper
Tiny Aberration
HD 1d8 (HP 4)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares), climb 20 ft.
Init: +4
AC 17; touch 16; flat-footed 13 (+2 size, +4 dex, +1 natural)
BAB +0; Grp -4
Attack +6 melee (1d4-4, bite)
Full-Attack +6 melee (1d4-4, bite)
Space 1-2 ft. by 2 ft. Reach 0 ft.
Special Attacks Constrict, Improved grab
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft., Tremorsense 60 ft.
Saves Fort +0 Ref +4 Will +3
Abilities Str 3, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 1, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills Climb +15, Hide +13
Feats Weapon Finesse (bite)
Environment Any
Organization Colony (8-16)
Challenge Rating 1/4
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 2-3 HD (Tiny), 4-5 (Small)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d2 (Tiny), 0/1d4 (Small)

Tremorsense (Ex): A creeper can detect and pinpoint any creature or object within 60 feet in contact with the ground.
Constrict (Ex): A creeper deals automatic bite damage (1 minimum) on a successful grapple check.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a creeper must hit with a bite attack. A creeper can use either its Strength modifier or Dexterity modifier for grapple checks, whichever is better.
Skills: Creepers have a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks. They can use either their Strength or Dexterity modifier for Climb checks, whichever is higher. Creeper can take 10 on Climb checks, even if threatened or distracted.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-26, 03:46 AM
*prods at the thread with a stick*

TRiBAL
2009-02-26, 07:44 AM
Lying Figure [SH2]

Lying Figures are skulking, humanoid creatures trapped in what appears to be straitjackets made from their own flesh.
http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/6543/600pxlyingfigure0.png

Lying Figure
Medium Aberration
HD 5d8+15 plus Toughness (HP 40)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares), crawl 40 ft. (see description).
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +4
Attack +4 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Full-Attack +4 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Acid spray
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 13, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Listen +2, Spot +2
Feats Endurance(B), Diehard, Toughness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating 3
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 6-7 (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Lying Figures are slow while standing upright, but when they reduced to negative hit points knocked down, stay in a lying position and move by skittering 40 ft. along the ground for 1d4 round without are able to attack.
Acid Spray (Ex): A lying figure can spray acid in a 20-foot cone, dealing 4d6 points of damage to everything in the area. Once a lying figure uses this ability, it can’t use it again until 1d3 rounds later.
The lying figure can also produce a concentrated stream of acid that deals 8d6 points of damage to a single target within 5 feet. In either case, a DC 15 Reflex save halves the damage. The save DC is Constitution-based.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-02-26, 09:32 PM
Hmm, not a big fan of the lying figure stat-up, since I generally advocate that you invent your own monsters.

The lying figure is a very canon-specific to SH2. It's part of the "Mary's sickness" motif.

TRiBAL
2009-02-27, 03:35 AM
Hmm, not a big fan of the lying figure stat-up, since I generally advocate that you invent your own monsters.

Please, advice me and suggest your own stat-up.


The lying figure is a very canon-specific to SH2. It's part of the "Mary's sickness" motif.

I don' think so, specially: The Lying Figure symbolizes a hospital and/or mental patient squirming in agony, and are also a manifestation of James Sunderland's internal suffering.

Neithan
2009-02-27, 05:33 AM
I'm a big fan of fluff and gm-advice.

Any chance someone might have some tips how to run a silent hill(-ish) game?

TRiBAL
2009-02-28, 05:52 AM
I'm a big fan of fluff and gm-advice.

Any chance someone might have some tips how to run a silent hill(-ish) game?


Sorry, but for the time being, you have to wait until finishing the creation of SH (all series) "creatures" (plus main characters, perhaps) and then we will post some settings and "tips"!

Any help/idea/opinion even of you would be welcome!

TRiBAL
2009-02-28, 07:48 AM
Straight Jacket [SHO]

Straight Jackets are shambling creatures that appears as if are they wrapped from head to waist in a straitjacket made of their own flesh.
http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/silent/images/7/7b/Straight_Jacket_SHO.png

Straight Jacket
Medium Aberration
HD 5d8+10 plus Toughness (HP 35)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +5
Attack +5 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Full-Attack +5 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Acid spew (ranged touch attack, 2d6 acid), Improved grab
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves Fort +3 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 14, Dex 15, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats Alertness,Toughness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating 3
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 6-7 (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Acid Spew (Ex): A straight jacket can spew balls of acid with a range of 30 feet. With a successful acid spew ranged touch attack, the victim takes 2d6 points of acid damage.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a straight jacket must hit with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, the straight jacket establishes a hold and can spew acid into victim's face, dealing 4d6 acid damage.

Neithan
2009-02-28, 08:01 AM
Sorry, but for the time being, you have to wait until finishing the creation of SH (all series) "creatures" (plus main characters, perhaps) and then we will post some settings and "tips"!

Any help/idea/opinion even of you would be welcome!

I'll keep an eye on this. :smallwink:

TRiBAL
2009-03-03, 06:52 AM
Smog [SH5]

Smogs are deformed, humanoid creatures with opened torsos and their heads reared far back, with glowing, inflamed lungs. Glowing orange tumors sprouting on their bodies and especially their throats.
http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/5104/smog.png

Smog
Medium Aberration
HD 5d8+15 plus Toughness (HP 40)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +4
Attack +4 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Full-Attack +4 melee (1d3+1, slam)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Gaseous breath
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves Fort +4 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 13, Dex 15, Con 16, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats Alertness,Toughness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating 3
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 6-7 (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Gaseous Breath (Ex): A smog can spew a noxious black gas. A 20-foot cone deals 3d6 points of damage, and allows a DC 15 Reflex save for half damage. Even if the save is successful, the victim must make a Fortitude save (DC 15) or spend that round choking and coughing.

Neithan
2009-03-03, 07:31 AM
I thought about it, that all the monsters are designed to stand for certain things.
I think it would be very cool and fun to design some new monsters, but for that we would need a theme on which to base them on. (Whoa, what grammar. Is that right? :smallbiggrin:)

TRiBAL
2009-03-03, 05:07 PM
I thought about it, that all the monsters are designed to stand for certain things.
I think it would be very cool and fun to design some new monsters, but for that we would need a theme on which to base them on. (Whoa, what grammar. Is that right? :smallbiggrin:)

For the time being, I have starting the conversion of SH series creatures!
If you like and wish to create your own creatures (with their general symbolisms) would be a very nice work!!!

LurkerInPlayground
2009-03-05, 12:36 AM
To beat the horse a third time, making your own monsters is as easy as nabbing a monster entry out of the Monster Manual or out the back of the Call of Cthulhu and refluffing it.

Statting up monsters and characters unless they're original is pretty much a bankrupt enterprise and not fitting tribute if you want to capture the "original feel." The point is that the details of the Silent Hill mythos are irrelevant. The myth cycle can be always retold with your own personal spin on it.

Trying to copy Silent Hill 2, or moreover its monsters pretty handily misses the point. Flavor is far more important than what stats you use. And I feel pretty much the exact same thing applies to Call of Cthulhu games.

I was never a big fan of the Deep Ones or whatever because everybody already knows what they are.

To put it simply: I am really far more interested in what campaign ideas and design elements you are thinking of running and the story you intend to foist on it. Personally, I'd rather stat up a core villain that the protagonists have to fight against and write his back-story then follow up monsters to flesh-out his psychological world.

For example, I was thinking that unnaturally aggressive "wolf" packs might be an interesting monster. Cooperative and quite prone to attacking other monsters or players with deadly organization and efficiency. From this line of reasoning, the villain would have to actually be somebody who operated in a premeditated and very predatory fashion and his worldview and background would have to accommodate. Maybe unlike previous cultists, he is actually trying to harness the dream world of Silent Hill to become something inhuman or godlike, rather than trying to achieve "Paradise" in the traditional sense.

Mechanically, this is just a matter of nabbing your pre-existing entries on the various mongrels or just nabbing an entry on the Worg out of the MM and doing some minor tune-ups. From there, it's just a matter of how I choose to portray and play the "wolves."

This would also justify an aggressive expansion of the "Otherworld" outside of Silent Hill and its intrusion into the larger parts of the real world. It could slowly pull in other minds into its unique psychological terrain. And thus, we could justify a campaign of a larger scope that allows better use of all skills. I would also be justified in using modified Wealth rules from d20 Modern.

If I wanted to a more limited sort of set of adventures or a "one-shot" then I would probably make the villain far less of a megalomaniac and probably make him achieve some smaller more personal goal. This might be desirable since it means you can afford to be more fluid about the story. With this more limited and more "traditional" approach, I would strongly emphasize to the players that not all skills are created equal.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-03-05, 02:14 PM
Hmm. . . I have reconsidered my position.

I see no reason why the past "canon" monsters can't be statted up, since they're easy enough to refluff by stealing their mechanics wholesale. They make good enough examples, I suppose.

TRiBAL
2009-03-05, 07:14 PM
To beat the horse a third time, making your own monsters is as easy as nabbing a monster entry out of the Monster Manual or out the back of the Call of Cthulhu and refluffing it.

Not exactly… but it’s not as easy as it seems! A conversion needs advisement and assay!


Statting up monsters and characters unless they're original is pretty much a bankrupt enterprise and not fitting tribute if you want to capture the "original feel." The point is that the details of the Silent Hill mythos are irrelevant. The myth cycle can be always retold with your own personal spin on it.

Plainly, for the time I’m in conversion stage of SH series "creatures" and every time that I have a "creature" ready-to-play, simply, I post it.
Perhaps, is my fault that I don’t start with an introduction to World of Silent Hill etc (maybe, waiting for a person with specialty on the matter… like you, to do that).


Trying to copy Silent Hill 2, or moreover its monsters pretty handily misses the point. Flavor is far more important than what stats you use. And I feel pretty much the exact same thing applies to Call of Cthulhu games.

Again, for the time being I try to stating up the "creatures" of SH series for everyone (GM) that wants to use or cook some "canon" creatures for his/her own symbolism in the session. (general examples: The Creepers = fear/ abhorrence of insects. The Groaners, D.Heads etc = fear/ dislike of dogs/canines)


I was never a big fan of the Deep Ones or whatever because everybody already knows what they are.

+1 :smallamused:


To put it simply: I am really far more interested in what campaign ideas and design elements you are thinking of running and the story you intend to foist on it. Personally, I'd rather stat up a core villain that the protagonists have to fight against and write his back-story then follow up monsters to flesh-out his psychological world.

Everything in its time. I have starting the conversion of canon creatures. Anything else it’s most welcome (such: monsters with their symbolism, villains, back-stories, SH-attached locations etc)


For example, I was thinking that unnaturally aggressive "wolf" packs might be an interesting monster. Cooperative and quite prone to attacking other monsters or players with deadly organization and efficiency. From this line of reasoning, the villain would have to actually be somebody who operated in a premeditated and very predatory fashion and his worldview and background would have to accommodate. Maybe unlike previous cultists, he is actually trying to harness the dream world of Silent Hill to become something inhuman or godlike, rather than trying to achieve "Paradise" in the traditional sense.

Very good and unconventional ideas! You look well in the bottomless hell…!!! :smallsmile:


Mechanically, this is just a matter of nabbing your pre-existing entries on the various mongrels or just nabbing an entry on the Worg out of the MM and doing some minor tune-ups. From there, it's just a matter of how I choose to portray and play the "wolves."

OK… I answered! :smallcool:


This would also justify an aggressive expansion of the "Otherworld" outside of Silent Hill and its intrusion into the larger parts of the real world. It could slowly pull in other minds into its unique psychological terrain. And thus, we could justify a campaign of a larger scope that allows better use of all skills. I would also be justified in using modified Wealth rules from d20 Modern.

I prefer CoC money system, however, whether or not in their "special place" Wealth tantamount wastepaper and scrap… :smallbiggrin:


If I wanted to a more limited sort of set of adventures or a "one-shot" then I would probably make the villain far less of a megalomaniac and probably make him achieve some smaller more personal goal. This might be desirable since it means you can afford to be more fluid about the story. With this more limited and more "traditional" approach, I would strongly emphasize to the players that not all skills are created equal.

More good and useful ideas!!! :smallamused:



Hmm. . . I have reconsidered my position.

I see no reason why the past "canon" monsters can't be statted up, since they're easy enough to refluff by stealing their mechanics wholesale. They make good enough examples, I suppose.

That’s right… my mulish friend!!! :smallwink:

Lycan 01
2009-03-05, 08:38 PM
I've got Call of Cthulhu versions of Pyramid Head, Nurses, Patients, and a few other enemies and stuff, if anyone is interested... I ran a Silent Hill campaign awhile back, and it was interested. Granted, the party was too large, and a few players decided they'd rather do something else...

I had a very interesting mechanic in place, involving character's pasts and fears in relation to the town. For example, one guy was afraid of children, so he ended up hiding in an abandoned school without realizing it.

Boy, did he lose some Sanity. :smalleek:

I also put a ton of work into Pyramid Head. He hunted specific characters, and the goal was for the other players to make a choice - offer him the other characters, or protect them from him. We never got that far, though... Also, he got stronger after each encounter, with his stats going up 10% or so each time they faced him to represent the game getting harder as they progressed...

TRiBAL
2009-03-06, 04:34 AM
I've got Call of Cthulhu versions of Pyramid Head, Nurses, Patients, and a few other enemies and stuff, if anyone is interested... I ran a Silent Hill campaign awhile back, and it was interested. Granted, the party was too large, and a few players decided they'd rather do something else...

I had a very interesting mechanic in place, involving character's pasts and fears in relation to the town. For example, one guy was afraid of children, so he ended up hiding in an abandoned school without realizing it.

Boy, did he lose some Sanity. :smalleek:

I also put a ton of work into Pyramid Head. He hunted specific characters, and the goal was for the other players to make a choice - offer him the other characters, or protect them from him. We never got that far, though... Also, he got stronger after each encounter, with his stats going up 10% or so each time they faced him to represent the game getting harder as they progressed...


Man I'm very glad to join us!!! I would like to see your work!!! We will discuss and decide what is ideal and most perfect to redact for all.

Lycan 01
2009-03-06, 02:14 PM
You actually want to see my work? :smalleek: What a suprise...




Here's what I've got:

-Crime & Punishment system (how character backstory affects the game)
-Transition from realities system (how Silent Hill transforms back and forth)
-Enemy stats (CoC versions of: Pyramid Head, Crawling Figures, Nurses, and Mannequins)
-Locations (A few noteworthy places)
-Items and Puzzles (Ex: MP-5 in gun cabinet in police station - key is on boss monster)
-Plot Hooks and NPCs (Ex: Car crash - NPC friend goes ahead to find help, and never comes back)


What would you like to know? :smallbiggrin:

TRiBAL
2009-03-06, 04:43 PM
You actually want to see my work? :smalleek: What a suprise...

At first... I don't understand your attitude! Here is a teamwork topic all about a f'n d20 SH Project. Do you like to take part in this project or do you like be a smartaleck???



Here's what I've got:

-Crime & Punishment system (how character backstory affects the game)
-Transition from realities system (how Silent Hill transforms back and forth)
-Enemy stats (CoC versions of: Pyramid Head, Crawling Figures, Nurses, and Mannequins)
-Locations (A few noteworthy places)
-Items and Puzzles (Ex: MP-5 in gun cabinet in police station - key is on boss monster)
-Plot Hooks and NPCs (Ex: Car crash - NPC friend goes ahead to find help, and never comes back)

What would you like to know? :smallbiggrin:

Anything you have to offer for any interested!!!
Bro, of course I respect your work and your spending time, however, just post anything you want and we will discuss and decide what is ideal and most perfect to redact for all!!!

TRiBAL
2009-03-08, 10:17 AM
Split Head [SH1]

A giant dragon-like lizard whose head is split vertically down the middle.
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7743/splithead.png

Split Head
Huge Aberration (Evil, Extraplanar)
HD 8d8+40 (HP 76)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: -1
AC 15; touch 7; flat-footed 15 (-1 dex, -2 size, +8 natural)
BAB +6; Grp +21
Attack +11 melee (2d8+7, bite)
Full-Attack +11 melee (2d8+7, bite) and +6 (1d8+3, slam)
Space 10 ft. by 15 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Improved grab, Swallow whole
Special Qualities Blindsight 90 ft., Scent
Saves Fort +9 Ref +1 Will +7
Abilities Str 24, Dex 8, Con 21, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Climb +18, Move Silently +8, Listen +4
Feats Great Fortitude, Improved Natural Attack (slam), Power Attack
Environment Otherworld
Organization Solitary
Challenge Rating 6
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 9-10 HD (Huge)
*Sanity Loss* 1/1d10

Blindsight (Ex): A Split head can sense all foes within 90 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Scent (Ex): This ability allows a split head to detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a split head must hit a creature of any size with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to swallow the opponent in the following round.
Swallow Whole (Ex): A split head can try to swallow a grabbed Medium or smaller opponent by making a successful grapple check.
A swallowed creature takes 2d8+8 points of bludgeoning damage and 8 points of acid damage per round from the split head's gizzard. A swallowed creature can cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 20 points of damage to the gizzard (AC 12). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out.
A split head's gizzard can hold 2 Medium, 8 Small, 32 Tiny, or 128 Diminutive or smaller opponents.
Skills: A split head has a +4 racial bonus on Move Silently checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Climb checks.

TRiBAL
2009-03-12, 06:09 AM
Insane Cancer [SH3]

Insane Cancers appear as massive humanoids that are almost covered with fatty, cancerous-looking bulbous flesh with puss-like excretions oozing from open sores. Their heads aren't very distinct, being small bulbs with a wound-like opening as their only feature.
http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/9558/insanecancer.png

Insane Cancer
Large Aberration
HD 6d8+30 (HP 57)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: +1
AC 16; touch 10; flat-footed 15 (+1 dex, -1 size, +6 natural)
BAB +4; Grp +14
Attack +10 melee (1d6+9, slam)
Full-Attack +10 melee (1d6+9, slam)
Space 10 ft. by 10 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Rage, Trample 2d6+9
Special Qualities Blindsight 40 ft., Regeneration 5
Saves Fort +7 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 22, Dex 12, Con 21, Int 3, Wis 10, Cha 6
Skills Move Silently +4, Listen +4
Feats Improved Natural Attack, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating 5
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 7-8 HD (Large)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Blindsight (Ex): An insane cancer can sense all foes within 40 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Regeneration (Ex): Slashing weapons, fire and acid deal normal damage to an insane cancer. An insane cancer that loses a limb or body part can reattach it by holding the severed member to the stump. Reattachment takes 1 minute. If the head or some other vital organ is severed, it must be
reattached within 10 minutes or the creature dies. An insane cancer cannot regrow lost body parts.
Rage (Ex): An insane cancer that takes damage in combat flies into a berserk rage on its next turn, slaming madly until either it or its opponent is dead. It gains +4 to Strength, +4 to Constitution, and –2 to Armor Class. The creature cannot end its rage voluntarily.
Trample (Ex): Reflex DC 19 half. The save DC is Strength based.

Debihuman
2009-03-12, 09:33 AM
I have been reading these and find the creatures really interesting. The insane cancer is missing a feat. If I find anything else, I'll let you know.

Keep up the good work.

Debby

TRiBAL
2009-03-12, 10:57 AM
I have been reading these and find the creatures really interesting. The insane cancer is missing a feat.

Fixed.



If I find anything else, I'll let you know.
Keep up the good work.
Debby

Many thanks Debby!!! :smallwink:

Juhn
2009-03-12, 11:21 AM
Minor grammatical nitpick on the cancer's description: it should probably be "excretions", not "excrements". Excrement is generally only used to refer to feces.

TRiBAL
2009-03-12, 12:54 PM
Minor grammatical nitpick on the cancer's description: it should probably be "excretions", not "excrements". Excrement is generally only used to refer to feces.

Fixed and Updated (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=5879300#post5879300)
Thanks Juhn.

TRiBAL
2009-03-15, 12:47 PM
Lurker [SH5]

Lurkers appear as bald humanoid monsters with huge claws. Their legs are fused together or bound by layers of dead skin, so they drag their legs uselessly behind them. Their faces are blank save for a huge, vertical slit down the middle of their heads, filled with horrific teeth. Most notably their wrists are severed and a series of three, sickle-like blades are grafted on to the stubs of their arms.
http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/7595/lurke.jpg

Lurker
Medium Aberration
HD 5d8+5 plus Toughness (HP 30)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +3
AC 15; touch 13; flat-footed 12 (+3 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +5
Attack +6 melee (1d6+2, claw)
Full-Attack +6 melee (1d6+2, 2 claw)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Pounce, Rend 2d6+3
Special Qualities Blindsight 60 ft.
Saves Fort +2 Ref +4 Will +5
Abilities Str 15, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 6
Skills Climb +6, Hide +8*, Jump +10, Move Silently +4, Listen +2, Swim +10
Feats Toughness, Weapon Focus (claw)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or pack (3–6)
Challenge Rating 3
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 6-7 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Pounce (Ex): If a lurker charges, it can make a full attack.
Rend (Ex): If a lurker hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+3 points of damage.
Blindsight (Ex): A lurker can sense all foes within 60 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Skills: A lurker has a a +4 racial bonus on Climb checks, and a +8 racial bonus on Jump and Swim checks.
*A lurker gains a +10 racial bonus on Hide checks when in the water.

TRiBAL
2009-03-19, 10:00 AM
Numb Body [SH3]

A relatively featureless, bipedal creature that appears in various sizes. Numb Bodies appear to be tadpole-like creatures covered in bluish, pale skin which splits and cracks constantly. It moves with only two legs, which end in deformed, toe-like digets. Their heads only have a single hole in it, from which the presumably see.
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/2057/450pxnumbbody0copy.png

Numb Body, Small
Small Aberration
HD 3d8 plus Toughness (HP 16)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +3
AC 16; touch 14; flat-footed 13 (+3 dex, +1 size, +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp -4
Attack +2 melee (1d3-2, slam)
Full-Attack +2 melee (1d3-2, slam)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks —
Special Qualities Darkvision 90 ft.
Saves Fort +1 Ref +4 Will +4
Abilities Str 7, Dex 16, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +10, Spot +9
Feats Weapon Focus (slam), Toughness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or family (3–5)
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement —
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d4

Skills: A numb body have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks.


Numb Body, Medium
Medium Aberration
HD 5d8+5 plus Toughness (HP 30)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +4
Attack +5 melee (1d4+1, slam)
Full-Attack +5 melee (1d4+1, slam)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks —
Special Qualities Darkvision 90 ft.
Saves Fort +2 Ref +3 Will +5
Abilities Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Spot +10
Feats Weapon Focus (slam), Toughness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or family (3–5)
Challenge Rating 2
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement —
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d4

Skills: A numb body have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks.


Numb Body, Large
Large Aberration
HD 7d8+21 plus Toughness (HP 55)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: +1
AC 14; touch 10; flat-footed 13 (+1 dex, -1 size, +4 natural)
BAB +5; Grp +13
Attack +10 melee (1d6+7, slam)
Full-Attack +10 melee (1d6+7, slam)
Space 10 ft. by 10 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks —
Special Qualities Darkvision 90 ft.
Saves Fort +5 Ref +3 Will +6
Abilities Str 20, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +2, Spot +10
Feats Weapon Focus (slam), Toughness, Power Attack
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or family (3–5)
Challenge Rating 3
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement —
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Skills: A numb body have a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks.

TRiBAL
2009-03-19, 06:26 PM
Mumbler [SH1]

Mumblers are humanoid creatures that loosely resembles a headless teddy bear with giant claws.
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6739/mumblercopy.png

Mumbler
Small Aberration
HD 3d8+6 (HP 19)
Speed 20 ft. (4 squares)
Init: +3
AC 16; touch 14; flat-footed 13 (+3 dex, +1 size +2 natural)
BAB +2; Grp +0
Attack +6 melee (1d4+1, claw)
Full-Attack +6 melee (1d4+1, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Rend 2d4+1
Special Qualities Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves Fort +3 Ref +4 Will +4
Abilities Str 13, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Listen +4, Spot +4
Feats Weapon Finesse (slam), Alertness
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or cluster (3–9)
Challenge Rating 1
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement —
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d4

Rend (Ex): If a mumbler hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d4+1 points of damage.

TRiBAL
2009-03-20, 12:59 PM
Schism [SH5]

The Schism is a tall, pale, gangly, humanoid creature. Its most distinct feature is its head, which is elongated and ends in a cruel blade. Its mouth runs down its entire head, and it splits vertically. It has a set of dull teeth that run down the entire length of its head and when its mouth opens its tongue can be seen flailing about.

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/7807/678418schismr.jpg

Schism
Medium Aberration
HD 6d8+12 (HP 39)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: +2
AC 14; touch 12; flat-footed 12 (+2 dex, +2 natural)
BAB +4; Grp +7
Attack +8 melee (1d8+3, snout)
Full-Attack +8 melee (1d8+3, snout) and +2 melee (1d4+1, 2 claws)
Space 5 ft. by 5 ft. Reach 5 ft.
Special Attacks Dichotomy, Improved Grapple
Special Qualities Blindsight 60 ft.
Saves Fort +4 Ref +4 Will +6
Abilities Str 16, Dex 14, Con 15, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 7
Skills Hide +5, Move Silently +5, Listen +4,
Feats Cleave, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (snout)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary, pair or cluster (3–5)
Challenge Rating 4
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 7-8 HD (Medium)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d6

Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a schism must hit with its claw attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to dichotomize the opponent in the following round.
Dichotomy (Ex): A schism can try to dichotomize a grabbed Medium or smaller opponent by making a successful grapple check.
Schism's bladed snout can tear the victim into pieces, instantly killing that creature.

TRiBAL
2009-03-22, 09:46 AM
The Butcher [SHO]

The Butcher is a large creature resembling a giant, muscular man with a butcher's apron, which is spattered in blood. He also wears a series of metal plates that cover the left half of his face and left shoulder and drags along a weapon called The Great Cleaver.

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9047/butcherpg7.png

The Butcher
Large Outsider
HD 18d8+144 (HP 225)
Speed 30 ft. (6 squares)
Init: +7
AC 31; touch 16; flat-footed 12 (-1 size, +7 Dex, +15 natural)
BAB +18; Grp +32
Attack +28 melee (3d6+15/15-20, Great Cleaver) or +27 melee (1d6+15, slam)
Full-Attack +28/+23/+18/+13 melee (3d6+15/15-20, Great Cleaver) or +27 melee (1d6+15, slam)
Space 10 ft. by 10 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks Improved grap
Special Qualities Blindsight 90 ft., damage reduction 15/slashing, immunity to poison, resistance to acid, cold and fire 10, regeneration 5
Saves Fort +19 Ref +18 Will +17
Abilities Str 31, Dex 25, Con 26, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 22
Skills Balance +25, Climb +30, Hide +23, Intimidate +26, Jump +30, Knowledge (all) +4, Listen +24, Search +15, Sense Motive +24, Wilderness Lore +15
Feats Cleave, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Great Cleaver), Great Cleave, Improved Critical (Great Cleaver), Iron Will, Power Attack, Weapon Focus (Great Cleaver)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary
Challenge Rating 15
Alignment Lawful Evil
Advancement —
*Sanity Loss* 1d3/1d20

Blindsight (Ex): The Butcher can sense all foes within 90 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Regeneration (Ex): Slashing weapons deal normal damage to The Butcher.
The Butcher that loses a limb or body part can reattach it by holding the severed member to the stump. Reattachment takes 1 minute. If the head or some other vital organ is severed, it must be reattached within 10 minutes or the creature dies. The Butcher cannot regrow lost body parts.
Improved grap (Ex): If The Butcher hits with a slam, it deals normal damage and attempts to start a grapple as a free action without allowing its opponent a free action. Assuming the victim doesn't break free on its action, each successful grapple check it makes during successive rounds automatically deals the damage listed for the Great Cleaver attack.

TRiBAL
2009-03-24, 08:43 AM
Twin Victims [SH4]

The creature looks like a giant bust walking on a pair of rotted arms; the twins' bodies have been fused together, giving the bust two heads, which resemble the faces of a pair of sleeping infants wearing a tattered, dirty smok and what looks like a scarf.

http://images1.wikia.nocookie.net/silent/images/thumb/0/0d/Doublehead0.jpg/463px-Doublehead0.jpg

Twin Victims
Large Aberration
HD 5d8+15 (HP 37)
Speed 40 ft. (8 squares)
Init: +5
AC 14; touch 10; flat-footed 13 (-1 size, +1 Dex,+4 natural)
BAB +3; Grp +12
Attack +8 melee (1d8+5, slam)
Full-Attack +8 melee (1d8+5, 2 slams)
Space 10 ft. by 10 ft. Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks —
Special Qualities Blindsight 40 ft.
Saves Fort +4 Ref +2 Will +5
Abilities Str 20, Dex 12, Con 17, Int 3, Wis 12, Cha 8
Skills Climb +6, Jump +6, Listen +8
Feats Combat Reflexes(B), Improved Initiative(B), Power Attack, Weapon Focus (slam)
Environment Any
Organization Solitary or pair
Challenge Rating 4
Alignment Neutral Evil
Advancement 6-7 (Large)
*Sanity Loss* 0/1d8

Blindsight (Ex): Twin Victims can sense all foes within 40 feet as a sighted creature would. Beyond that range, they treat all targets as having total concealment.
Skills: Twin Victims have a +2 racial bonus on Listen checks.

TRiBAL
2009-04-03, 12:01 PM
I think that a Character Questionnaire would be ideal and helpful.
Based on questionnaire, will write the scenario interweaving a small party of "sinful heroes" with a directly related background of the story. Many examples! Such as characters are "invited" (in their dreams, perhaps) to go at "a nice and a special place" and as the story evolve they have something mutual in their background (The Silent Hill is a realm of many timeworn sins...).

What questions do you think would be most critical for a SH character questionnaire?
Perhaps questions about possible oddities in childhood and traumatic events, fears, dreams and motivations???

Any help for setup-ing the SH Character Questionnaire would be most welcome.

LurkerInPlayground
2009-04-05, 04:56 PM
I think that a Character Questionnaire would be ideal and helpful.
Based on questionnaire, will write the scenario interweaving a small party of "sinful heroes" with a directly related background of the story. Many examples! Such as characters are "invited" (in their dreams, perhaps) to go at "a nice and a special place" and as the story evolve they have something mutual in their background (The Silent Hill is a realm of many timeworn sins...).

What questions do you think would be most critical for a SH character questionnaire?
Perhaps questions about possible oddities in childhood and traumatic events, fears, dreams and motivations???

Any help for setup-ing the SH Character Questionnaire would be most welcome.
http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=1036571

TRiBAL
2009-04-07, 05:16 PM
Very nice! I'll check it! Thanks friend!

Kuma Da
2009-04-07, 07:22 PM
Wall of words incoming! Look out!

For the sake of convenience, points will be subdivided into numbered categories.

1) First off, I want to say that I love the idea for this. If anyone ever feels like running it on the forums, as a playtest or a finished product, let me know. I would be more than happy to participate. I'm a big fan of survival horror, particularly psychologically involved stuff, and it would be nice to see silent hill represented by its own system.

That said, I think running it as a simple port from the D20 system might take out some of the features that made the console games so great. Yes, you can hybridize it with pieces of Cthulhu D20, but mostly what that gives you is Cthulhu D20 in an untraditional setting. It's nifty, but it's not a perfect fit.

So, in the interest of not asking you to take on a lot of extra work but also in order to not compromise the potential of a silent hill pen-and-paper game, I have a handful of suggestions for small gimmicks and tweaks that can be added to the system.

2) One of the most interesting, and possibly best, elements of the silent hill games is the fact that they can be interpreted as a set of stories about people who simply went crazy in a small town environment. There is no guarantee that the demons or cultists or parasites or whatever are anything more than the fabrication of the main character's tormented consciousness. Because of this, having a system that represents the decay of sanity over time is a little bit irrelevant. If the characters are potentially already crazy, there's no need to measure how far away they are from snapping.

What silent hill does essentially need is a mechanic for panic. This was proposed earlier in the thread as a kind of short term only sanity damage system. Characters take points of panic for every round of an encounter. Panic heels fast, but only if they're in a nonthreatening setting. If a character's panic points exceed their panic limit, they temporarily snap.

Snapping could involve anything from rolling on a random table to the player role playing their freak out. If it is rolled on a random table, possible results might be running away, going berserk, freezing in terror, or reality shifting.

3) Reality shifting is the best way to mix normal character interactions, detective work, purchasing gear, and other friendly in town stuff with relentless horror. If the entire game is played out just in the nightmare half of silent hill, a pretty large chunk of the skill list becomes useless, making it so that the only characters players are encouraged to build are rugged survival types. However, if there is some 'real world' investigation to be done, players have a good incentive to make social characters which may be extremely vulnerable in the nightmare half of the town and thereby really up the adrenaline quotient of an average gaming session.

4) Horror in silent hill is very character specific. If the fandom is to be believed and the monsters aren't just thrown together at random by the developers (which is entirely possible, but I like to believe the fans are right) there should be a system that lets the DM assemble creatures easily. Home brewing monsters for a D20 system is a colossal pain in the butt. I don't have any suggestions for this aside from maybe moving this system away from D20, but I think it's worth making note of.

5) A lot of D20 systems in which the characters are supposed to be outgunned include a stat or ability that they can burn to alter dice rolls or affect the world in small ways. A perfect example of this is Grimm, with its imagination points. Since the town of silent hill reacts particularly to the psychology of its visitors, I don't think it would be out of character to have points representing the latent thoughts, emotions, and maybe even willpower of the PCs. These points can be spent--and very slowly recovered over time--to add a bonus to a single dice roll, bend reality to make a convenient escape or unexpected weapon, or to shift between nightmare and regular silent hill.

6) Face it, the more imaginative you are, the more terrifying things your mind can come up with. Likewise, bravery very often consists of shutting all the other options out of a situation and believing firmly that things will work out. Because of this, if both panic points and latent points get used, I'd recommend putting them on a sliding scale. For example, players get a total of 14 points to divide between them. Each category must have a value of at least one. A character might be extremely brave (13) but have no imagination (1) or be extremely creative (10) and generally timid (4). This keeps everything in comparative balance, gives players some nifty system specific stats to play with, and doesn't unbalance any of the primary attributes by adding an extra value on to them.

7) for now, that's as much as I've been able to come up with. I'd be happy to hear a critique of my ideas. I'm also more than willing to explain anything I was vague about. I can't wait to see someone do a playtest of this system. If anyone has plans in that regard, please let me know.

Debihuman
2009-04-07, 09:04 PM
There are already rules in 3e for becoming Shaken, Frightened and Panicked along with a host of other conditions. See here: http://www.d20srd.org/indexes/conditions.htm.

The major theme in Silent Hill is isolation. The obscuring smoke is pervasive almost like another character. The NPCs never behave normally. There are riddles to solve and clues to uncover leading to a monstrous conspiracy. In a horror campaign these are standard tropes.

Silent Hill would make an excellent pocket domain in the Ravenloft setting. If you are unfamilar with Ravenloft, it's a gothic horror setting. Originally it was published for 2nd Ed. D&D by WotC and in 3e the setting was licensed to White Wolf. White Wolf published it under its imprint of Sword and Sorcery.

The hardest part for a DM is incorporating Silent Hill into an existing campaign, especially in a pre-existing fantasy campaign. One of the things I liked about Silent Hill was that the smoke was almost like a character: it gets in the way of most investigations as it obscures sight. It should make Spot checks even more difficult. Fog works well too but the connection to the smoke is better because the fire is an element that should be incorporated. Isolation is another key factor. The PCs shouldn't be able to leave easily and the usual help is unavailable.

A burned town is always spooky. A burned towned inhabited by strange cultists should definitely be spooky. And you haven't even gotten to the monsters, mystery and conspiracy yet. Those are the elements that really count. Whether or not it is in the mind of the PCs or if it is real is up to the DM. However, for the PCs it should feel real and that's what matters.

Debby

Kuma Da
2009-04-08, 12:21 PM
Debi, I agree totally about the theme of isolation and how the fog helps reinforce that. It's small-town horror, like Siren or How They Cry or Scarecrow or maybe even Misery, which all use the 'out in the countryside' angle to play up the fact that there is no escape and no help coming.

However, I think we disagree about how much SH should be integrated into conventional 3.5 e. Shaken, frightened, and panicked work great for a heroic fantasy system; not so great for a survival horror. All they do is induce roll penalties and/or force characters to run. That's great if a barbarian's menacing the **** out of a goblin village somewhere in the mountains, but it's too simple to represent the wide range of freak-outs people can have in a game like Call of Cthulhu (which is closer, in my opinion, to the psych-horror nature of SH.)

Likewise, while I love Ravenloft like a slightly creepy Poe-quoting recluse-uncle, I don't think just slotting SH into an existing setting is the right way to go about building a system.

Don't get me wrong. I think the stuff you proposed is spot on for throwing together a module to drop into 3.5e. But I really want to see SH D20 be something different. A system that can stand on its own.

Finally, I have kind of a complicated response to your comment that "for the PCs it should feel real and that's what matters." Yes, the game should bear down on the PCs and make them feel like they're under threat. However, just as scary as marauding mutant skin-dogs is the notion that 'maybe I'm hallucinating all of this. I just killed a baby with steel spider legs for eyes. Was it actually somebody's child?'

Debihuman
2009-04-08, 02:08 PM
Don't get me wrong. I think the stuff you proposed is spot on for throwing together a module to drop into 3.5e. But I really want to see SH D20 be something different. A system that can stand on its own.

Thanks for the praise. Unfortunately, I am not convinced that there is really enough material for Silent Hill to justify an entire setting that can stand on its own. First, maintaining the aura the mystery is difficult. At some point, players tend to lose interest in that sort of thing.

Also, horror can be difficult to maintain--read Stephen King's Danse Macabre which describes the differences among scary movies, horror movies and the gross-out. You want to keep the PCs at a state of tension. The problem is: as soon as you go too far, you risk falling into dread humor. When scary becomes shlocky and funny. It's a fine line. We used to refer to this as the "Cthulhu Comedy Hour" and it's hard on a DM.

Last of all, the techniques for horror setting are really based on how good a DM you have, not on how good a particular setting is. A good setting will help out a poorer DM but even a bad setting won't hinder a good DM.

Furthermore if a technique works, why relegate to only one setting? Silent Hill fills a niche much like Zeta Kai's excellent Resident Evil thread. Not really much of a difference if you want to look at the generic aspects. Any game setting in which the PCs are isolated aren't really good for campaigns in the long run. They ultimately become too confining. This is why the Resident Evil films branched out of Raccoon City and into the world at large. Silent Hill really doesn't lend itself to that.

Furthermore, the monsters in Silent Hill can and should work for any horror type game. If you design a setting that is so world specific that it doesn't use the standard D&D mechanics, you won't find many takers for it. This is especially true as there are already so many excellent sources available such as Call of Cthulhu D20, Ravenloft D20, etc. Even OGL Horror by Mongoose Publishing has some interesting stuff though the book suffers from poor editing.

So what NEW mechanics are there for Silent Hill?

One of things is that the atmosphere should impede the PCs and not affect the indigenous monsters. PCs suffer penalties for the fog/smoke to Spot checks because they aren't used to it (-5 generally); if there is constant noise in the background the PCs are at a -5 penalty to Listen. Anyone who becomes acclimated after 2d4 weeks no longer has that as a penalty. This encourges players to stay longer. However, if they leave and come back, the penalties resume and it takes another 2d4 week to reacclimate.

Monsters have more of an ability to surprise the hapless PCs because they use the fog/smoke to their advantage. They know the terrain better and are familiar with it. The PCs don't have that knowledge until they have been acclimated. On the other hand, you don't want to be heavy-handed with that sort of thing or the game will stop being fun for the players. You could give out an immunity to the next fear check as a reward for example. Giving out monster lore can be another reward. Killing a monster in horror campaign should be just as or more exciting and rewarding than in a fantasy campaign. More so, if it doesn't happen much.

Also, there are counter-measures to combat fear and horror checks. In a modern game, PCs could rely on anti-anxiety drugs. There are limits and risks involved. Sure you may not have any fear, but you take a -2 to Concentration for the duration and the drug may become addictive.

Debby

Kuma Da
2009-04-08, 04:17 PM
Granted. A good horror game of any sort relies heavily on having a good DM. That said, a finely tailored system makes running that good horror game much easier for the DM. Yes, a survival horror virtuoso can manage with a simple port, but they'll be doing a lot of house ruling to make it work. That makes for stress and possibly even dissatisfaction with the game, and brings down the general experience.

As for all the beginner DMs out there, I don't see any reason to tell them 'survival horror is not for you because you're not fantastic'. I'd rather say 'you're still learning, but here's a system that should make things easier for you.' That system is probably not going to be slightly tweaked DnD.

Despite the presence of supplements designed to make the two compatible, DnD and horror are not a perfect mesh. Take the taint system, for example. Taint is all about showing how corrupted heroes are. How far they are from falling. For the most part, it presumes the characters that accumulate it will be heroes.

In Silent Hill, the main characters are very obviously not heroes. They're (comparatively) normal people wrestling with personal issues. They get scared and delusional and trip off of porches. Giving them taint wouldn't make much sense (unless, of course, it gets revised a little bit to represent, say, levels of parasites in their blood.)

-

When it comes to campaigns, of course, I think I have to admit that you're right again. Staging a whole series of adventures in Silent Hill is very restrictive. Running one long game might not be (multiple sessions, but all the same adventure,) would be much more in line with the way the video games go, unless perhaps you wanted to have the Silent Hill influence spill over into the regular world.

You score another good point with anti-anxiety drugs. Although they might not be all that common, a temporary immunity v. long term addiction gimmick might add a lot to the game. Plus, it stresses the PCs' limited resources and gives a high cost to survival.