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A Peek Between the Pages of Enemies Archived

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Enemies Archived Revised & Expanded for the Armageddon RPG

Enemies Archived Revised & Expanded for the Armageddon RPG

Written & Original Colors by Steven Trustrum
Cover by Daniel Sguiglia
Illustration by Nathan Rosario

Copyright 2016 Misfit Studios. All rights reserved.


This content appears in Enemies Archived Revised & Expanded for the Armageddon RPG PDF. You can also get it in print in black and white and color.


The following creature is an excerpt from Enemies Archived Revised & Expanded for the Armageddon RPG.

Codename: Lestrygon

Case File: 1Z2TT0909C03-0010
Habitat: Africa, the Mediterranean, and the Middle East.
Noted Behaviors: They possess a rabid hunger for human flesh, and are cunning and patient hunters. Although not naturally nocturnal, the encroachment of civilization has forced them to adjust to acting primarily at night.
Organization: These creatures are usually found on their own, in pairs, or in packs as large as fifty members. We believe their communities can number as much as several hundred. A single alpha always rises to command, with fights over leadership ending with the victor eating the loser.
Encounter Recommendation: They are a lot faster and more agile than their towering (if loping) size leads one to believe. They will jump, climb, and scamper all around you until they manage to penetrate your perimeter and rip you to shreds, so it is best to take them out with area effect weapons or lots of sprayed firepower—flamethrowers have proven especially effective if you’re lucky enough to have one on hand.

First, let me just say that it is a good thing these creatures have long since taken to living far from humanity, a situation that our research leads us to believe occurred sometime around the use of firearms became prolific throughout the regions they call home. They now reside within intricate tunnel systems throughout Africa (especially the north), Middle East, and Mediterranean (the northern shores in particular). Their culture, despite its age, remains incredibly primitive—akin to something one would expect of Neanderthals.

Although most of the larger colonies are in rural areas, content to prey on livestock or odd tourist or farmer (and even each other), we’ve heard rumblings of more sightings within some larger cities. It seems the Lestrygon have taken to living in reworked, modernized sewer systems, the older ones having kept them out because they were typically too small to accommodate their massive gait. With so many cities now destroyed by the war, these brutes are no longer able to prey on the homeless and the like without notice, forcing them to range increasingly wider from their tunnels in search of food. Several have even grown bold (or starved) enough to attack units of armed soldiers.

To look at these unkempt, filthy savages and believe them to be simple, vulnerable primitives is a dire mistake. The Lestrygon, despite not being very intelligent, are cunning hunters. They lay ambushes as well as any Special Operations unit, are masterful trap makers, and are as skilled at hiding and sneaking as I’ve ever seen.

I almost became a meal in [CENSORED―PRIORITY CODE 12A] when an ambush party herded us into a forested cul-de-sac the brutes had littered with concealed tunnels. No sooner had we set up our lanes of fire to cover the dead end’s entrance when they popped up amongst us. We forced them back down their tunnels and dropped some Willie Petes, but not before losing a third of our guys.

I’d hate to think of what would happen were a large enough colony able to burrow beneath one of our frontline compounds or a thriving city after a hungry migration.

Lestrygon Powers

Attributes

A Lestrygon is faster and stronger than a typical person.

Thick Skin

Their tough, leather-like skin provides them an Armor Value of (5 + Constitution).

Robust

Lestrygon calculate their Life Points as humans but gain an additional 20 Life Point bonus.

Spry

These creatures are very quick, gaining a +10 bonus to Speed, and like to bound. They are able to leap (Double Strength) yards as an action, making a Simple Dexterity check to land at the desired location.

Pyrophobia

Lestrygon must make a Fear Test when confronted with flames. They gain a +4 bonus against small flames, such as from a match, but suffer penalties from larger fires. A bonfire, for example, could impose a penalty of −3 or more.

Razor Claws

Hardened to the point where they can cut steel, a Lestrygon’s claws reduce a target’s Armor or Barrier Value by half without modifying the damage caused.

Acute Smell

The Lestrygon’s sense of smell is so refined that they gain a +3 bonus to Tasks and Tests utilizing it.

Quick Reflexes

A Lestrygon can act first without needing to check for initiative, restricted by common sense (this ability does not help the target of a sniper half a mile away, for example). If opponents have Fast Reaction time, the advantages cancel each other, and initiative is resolved normally between them before moving on to other characters in the same combat.

Hideous

Lestrygon are so ugly, filthy, and disgusting—especially considering their vague resemblance to deformed humans—that they are considered to have both Attractiveness –2 and Charisma –2 when dealing with other races.

An essential book for anyone playing Armageddon. Each monster has a text helping the GM how to create encounters plus a lot of really, really nasty monsters (the eating bullet comes to mind).l.”

— Diogo S., OneBookShelf Review of original edition

Chronicler’s Notes

Lestrygon are likely descended from savage giants of the Ancient World; it is even possible they are the diluted, bastard offspring of the Titans or other god-race of old. Both Greece and most of Northern Africa’s myths contain stories of these creatures, varied by the passage of time and the fearful recollections of fallible humanity, not realizing they all spoke of the same foul creatures. Indeed, a few of the largest colonies have tunnels spanning beneath several nations, allowing a freedom of movement either the Allied Forces or AoR would love to take possession of were they to learn of them.

These creatures make great enemies in an urban game where the players are getting tired of dealing with foes directly related to Leviathan.

Enemies Archived Revised & Expanded Lestrygon

Typical Lestrygon

Strength
6
Dexterity
3
Constitution
3
Intelligence
2
Perception
2
Willpower
2

Life Points: 66
Endurance Points: 38
Speed: 22
Essence Points: 18
Armor Value: 8
Skills: Acrobatics 3, Brawling 4, Climbing 4, Craft (any primitive) 2, Dodge 4, Intimidation 5, Language (Ancient Greek) (Native), Language (one other) 1, Notice 2, Survival (Forest, Hills or Mountains) 2, Stealth 4, Throwing 2, Tracking 3, Traps 3
Special Powers: All Lestrygon Powers
Damage: Bite D10 x Strength (30); Claws D6 x Strength +1 (21) (Armor-Piercing Factor of 2)


Lestrygon Adventure Ideas

1) The Hunters Hunted: While out hunting AoR forces or an equally evasive threat, the Cast Members are set upon by a pack of Lestrygon. Suspense is better built if this adventure occurs in a remote area, or possibly a ghetto or ruined city, where dark shadows and ambush locations abound. If the Cast is accompanied by any NPCs, start things off with one or more disappearing rather suddenly, such as during a conversation in a split second when the Cast Member looks away―when they look back the NPC is gone. A few more deaths and/or a brief flash of something following them will quickly get the chase under way.

2) Boarding Party: While aboard a naval ship or Special Operations patrol or infiltration boat along the Mediterranean or African coast, the Cast Members are besieged by a tribe of cunning Lestrygon that managed to get near enough to climb aboard by swimming under hollowed half-logs with breathing holes bored through them. In a large ship where the boarders’ penchant for close-quarters fighting better suits them than does the use of firearms, how well will the Cast Members fare? If on a tinier patrol or infiltration craft, will the Cast Members be able to stop the boarders from taking over the craft or, barring that, capsizing it and stranding them in the Lestrygon’s territory?

3) The Other White Meat: Food rationing is just one of the many necessary inconveniences brought on by the war, regardless of the continent. Things seem to be getting better, though, as a local entrepreneur has recently managed to escape his native Mediterranean homeland with enough cash to get a ranch underway. This has brought the cost of meat down for locals, a fact they are glad for.

After a few months of enjoying the reduced cost of meat, people begin to notice that the amount of missing persons in the region has risen dramatically. As the Cast Members begin to investigate this concern (for whatever reason), they uncover a connection between the missing people and the warehouses where the meat ranch stores its goods before distribution. This investigation leads them to the ranch where they learn all the missing people are being used as cattle for the slaughter. As it turns out, the ranch’s owner spent some time amongst the Lestrygon and picked up their cannibalistic ways. He even has some of his adopted tribe on hand, out of the way of prying eyes, to deal with problems such as the Cast Members.

If the Chronicler does not wish to have the Cast Members going out to the ranch’s rural location, he can change the meat’s origin to a meat packing plant within the community.

4) Taking a Bite Out of the Big Apple: It seems America is still a big draw for immigrants despite the war because a small colony of Lestrygon has found its way into Manhattan’s massive sewer and transit system tunnels. At first, the number of missing people isn’t much more than the norm in these troubled times, so their being taken for food won’t warrant any special police attention. Then the half-eaten, decaying corpses and picked-clean bones begin showing up in train sub-stations and choking sewer drainage pipes. After some sewer and transit workers―not to mention a cop or two sent down to investigate―begin disappearing, the city will take the situation more seriously and look for help (such as the Cast Members) with solving the problem.

5) Take the Tunnels: The Cast is fighting along one of the many battlefronts where the AoR has been held at a standstill for quite some time. Recently, however, large groups of enemy troops on foot and using light vehicles have somehow managed to get behind the lines unnoticed to wreak havoc. Command simply cannot understand how so many Churchies are able to get past the front unnoticed. The Cast will either be sent to scout out how this is possible, or they will stumble upon the answer when they discover a hidden network of Lestrygon tunnels that stretch beneath the battlefront, giving the AoR forces the means sneak under and behind the allied force. Unfortunately, when the Cast goes down into the tunnels to learn all of this, they also discover the tunnels’ creators have not entirely abandoned them.

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Steven Trustrum has been writing in the RPG industry since the end of the '90s and publishing via Misfit Studios since 2003. Aside from writing and publishing role-playing game content, he ... dabbles ... in content and social media marketing.

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