Abysmal

Fear-devouring tumors with your face. A large aberration.

Imagine a humanoid face bloated like a balloon, with eight clawed arms below the neck instead of a body. It eats fear and is born from fleshy tumors that grow in areas touched by weird energy.

Grotesque parody, emotional hunger, feral strength.


 
HD: 4 Armor: none
Hit it: normal Dodge it: normal
Move: normal  

It resists mind attacks (because it’s an aberration). It can smell fear and see in the dark. It can’t die unless it’s would-be killer saves vs fear.

Also, if the abysmal glances at you, the abysmal’s face becomes a distorted version of yours, and you must make a saving throw against fear. On failure, you are frightened. On a success, you are immune to this abysmal’s visage for 1 hour. When the abysmal has your face copied, damaging your own face damages it.

Denying its existence (by dedicating one psyche slot to that task) makes the abysmal vanish until you stop doing so, after which it will crawl from the shadows when you least expect it.

Attacks (1/round)

Bite. The abysmal makes one melee attack (1D6). If the target is frightened, the attack is made with advantage and the abysmal is healed by the damage inflicted.

Claw. The abysmal makes two melee attacks (1D6).

Silent Shout. Roll 1D6 for each frightened creature within sight of the abysmal. For each 1 rolled, a new abysmal is summoned. They will arrive in 1D4 turns.



Random Encounter
  1. Monster: 1D4 abysmals.
  2. Lair: Tumor-like flesh mounds litter the area. Some of them have grotesque facial features, some of them look like your friends. Fear save.
      OR
    Omen: A soft whisper of your name seems to be coming simultaneously from your nape and the general direction of the monster.
  3. Spoor: Half-devoured bodies, twisted in terror but without faces. Fear save.
  4. Tracks: The sound of balloons deflating.
  5. Trace:Mud effigy of a person (maybe you?) with a huge head.
  6. Trace: The skin of a face deflated like a balloon.
D6 Mutations

Your studies of the aberration have changed you in horrible, gruesome ways: your head grows while your body shrinks. You permanently lose half of your strength and …

  1. … your head detaches from your body. You have a flying speed but no limbs.
  2. … you copy the face of people you see.
  3. … you hover at half your speed.
  4. … you can smell fear.
  5. … you have a 1D4 bite attack with the same effect as the abysmal’s.
  6. you know the spell word Face and gain one Spell Die.


DM Notes

I think the abysmal is an original creation of Richard J. Leblanc Jr in the Creature Compendium. When adapting it, I wanted to up the horror factor and was inspired by Junji Ito’s short story “The Hanging Balloons” found in “The Face Burglar / 顔泥棒”. — SaltyGoo

Written on November 14, 2020