[Angado]

So I have a run I'm working up to run in January or possibly in February.

The premise of which is that an arcanoarchaelogist (sp?) is hiring muscle as he is planning on exploring a ruin he has found out about, the  he believes everyone has pretty much forgotten about.

It seems there is a pyramid down in the jungles of Amazonia, that had been discovered in 2008.  It had previously been believed to be just another mountain in that particular area's chain of mountains.  The government entities of the time, had intended to authorize archaeological digs at the site, but as political turmoil of the time demanded their attention, and the awakening coming on just a few years later... well... everyone sort of had other things to do and think about and folks forgot about it.  The old internet articles of the site were lost in the first big crash and the world spun on.

Now this arcanoarchaeologist (sp?) has found notes from the original geologist who happened upon the site.  With a major find he can pretty much write his own ticket to tenure.  However, he would have to get approval from the Amazonian government (not likely), so he decides to do this covertly.  Lacking funds do it all himself, he finds backers (that bit I'll hold off as I have players who read these forums) and starts rounding up folks to go along with his little illicit archaeology.  Needing muscle and probably magic, he dips into the shadows to finish off the team... which is where the runners get involved.

Now the site is actually a relic of the last cycle of magic.  And pardon the cross over, but I'm writing it up as a Kaer (from Earthdawn) that succumbed to horror.  Now as magic is on the rise, the ruin is ripe for discovery, and is plagued by monsters that are the undead remnants of the kaer's inhabitants who have been twisted by the horror.

I'm placing an astral gateway effect in one level (probably the bottom most, but who knows) that leads into a hellish metaplane from which servitors of this horror cross over to plague the ruin.  And when the team cracks into the ruin, some will escape..fun fun... but now the ruin essentially a dungeon crawl and research mission.

Question:  Anyone have any good 5e stats for a horror?  I've mislaid my Earthdawn books.

Comments welcome.

[farothel]

I don't know all 5th edition books which have come out, but see if you can find a toxic spirit of some sort which you can either use as-is, or you can upgrade it, change it a bit, depending on what you want to do with it.  Some paracritters might also work, maybe as lower level guardians of the site.

[AJCarrington]

You might want to check out the Street Grimoire...stats for Blood Spirits, Shadow Spirits, Shedim and other sorts of nasties. I'm not particularly familiar with the horrors from Earthdawn, so not sure if there are specific traits you're looking for.

[Marzhin]

Aetherology has stats for some astral critters categorized as "Demons", like the Gum Toad, Crawler and Ghast. The first two, at least, have been connected to Horrors in the past, IIRC (via Oscuro / Mr. Darke). They might be a good inspiration to devise your own nasties.

Also, I'd recommend reading the novel Deniable Assets, by Mel Odom, as it has some similarities with your story.

[AJCarrington]

Also, I'd recommend reading the novel Deniable Assets, by Mel Odom, as it has some similarities with your story.

Agreed...just finished this book a couple of weeks back and you should be able of mine it for lots of ideas

[RowanTheFox]

You might want to check out the Street Grimoire...stats for Blood Spirits, Shadow Spirits, Shedim and other sorts of nasties. I'm not particularly familiar with the horrors from Earthdawn, so not sure if there are specific traits you're looking for.

Shedim and Shadow spirits are generally accepted as minor horrors as far as I know. Speaking of which, did anyone ever notice how similar Harvesters are to the ED Jalgrinn (a horror construct made made by *drumroll* a magical virus)?

[Angado]

Thank you all. I haven't read Deniable Assets yet, but I'll check to see if I have it laying around or pick up a copy from Amazon or Half-Price Books.

I like the idea of throwing in some blood spirits and ghasts.  I think those critters would fit nicely with the theme.

Thank you all for your input.  Additional ideas are still welcome.

And Horrors  have always been major bad news, so the idea that something that is as mean and tough/nasty as Shedim could be considered a 'minor' horror makes sense.

Have a wonderful holiday season everyone.

[Angado]

Update of sorts:

Adventure has proceeded over a few sessions.  Our party of runners has finally made it to the site of the pyramid and found dead Jaguar guards in the area. 

First encounter at the site, a toxic spirit uses some subtle influence/mental manipulations to sow strife and discord among the party and the npc grad students. 

Not putting a lot of details here as my players are on these boards... but they have not yet made it into the pyramid.  They have had some strange encounters in the jungle.  And they have had some bizarre dreams while sleeping camped out there.  Of interest so far has been an encounter had by one of the characters as he saw a spirit seemingly rise from a corpse, deliver a brief and cryptic message, then scream in paid as it dissipated.   

Fun times.

Have a great game year everyone.

[Tecumseh]

A little late to the party here, but if you can get your hands on 2E's Harlequin's Back you might find some Horror-esque opposition to incorporation. Harlequin calls them the Enemy and they symbolize "corruption, destruction, mindless consumption, deceit, temptation, and obsession."

Sounds like what you could be looking for.