Panic the herd. Take them from calm grazers to a chaotic wall of meat who'll trample anyone and everything in their way, including each other.
Miasma of corruption. The vapours rising from the thing infect the minds of men, weakening their wit, luring them to be closer to herd animals.
Acidic boils. When struck, the growth across the beast splash outwards, not just searing skin but blinding and burning. It makes men cast off their armour, even their clothes, to get it off of them.
I like Alexander's move suggestions. I get the feeling the beast is implacable, so perhaps a move to single out an opponent and pursue him/her relentlessly?
I also had the idea for panicking the herd, but the unnatural placity they seem to fall under right after could also be interesting to develop -- especially with a character with rage-based abilities that's usually a beast in combat‽
Alexander's idea of the smoke turning them dumber and more like the herd is one of the coolest things I've ever heard -- if we get votes I'm putting all of mine on that one.
Also, bulls goring people is always a classic. Invoking it's connection to the deep waters could be good, I don't know if you've got a plan for that already. Showing the truth of what every person in Stonetop is raised to be afraid of could be really powerful, and I don't know if we'll get a chance in the future.
Loved Erwann's decision to make the hard move and kill the assassins. Such an unexpected choice, it immediately made him more complicated and compelling for me. I'd love to know what our heroes think about him now -- in non-solo tables allied NPCs taking a swing like that (which the players actively worked against) gets raised voices at the very least, lol
And re: How the PCs feel about Erwann -- that's a great point. I'm cooking up an Anwen/Vahid scene and will try to fold some of that in there (though those two have a lot to discuss between them! ;-))
Gotta have the Gore, of course! It was definitely foreshadowed with the state of the bull corpse they found. And the deep water thing is great too, it wasn't foreshadowed by what we saw, but what Erwann told us -- that the thing will lead the herd to the water.
Possible moves include:
Panic the herd. Take them from calm grazers to a chaotic wall of meat who'll trample anyone and everything in their way, including each other.
Miasma of corruption. The vapours rising from the thing infect the minds of men, weakening their wit, luring them to be closer to herd animals.
Acidic boils. When struck, the growth across the beast splash outwards, not just searing skin but blinding and burning. It makes men cast off their armour, even their clothes, to get it off of them.
Yes! The boils!
Corrupting Miasma of its dung?
Where's the love?
Move suggestions:
I've envisioned this threat as a Thing Below taking over the body of one of the strongest of the cattle. If that's the case...
Shed skin: If the skin you wear is damaged, slough off the broken body. Instinct: Fearful and vulnerable. Move quickly. Find a new host.
New host: Find the way in. Enter the mind. touch the nerves. Instinct: Take root. Control. Subterfuge or violence.
I like Alexander's move suggestions. I get the feeling the beast is implacable, so perhaps a move to single out an opponent and pursue him/her relentlessly?
I like that suggestion especially because it's something that's both dangerous but also potentially useful in drawing the bull away from the herd.
Another move: dull the herd.
No matter what the creature does, unless the pc is directly affected, they find it hard to be anythimg but a passive observer....
I also had the idea for panicking the herd, but the unnatural placity they seem to fall under right after could also be interesting to develop -- especially with a character with rage-based abilities that's usually a beast in combat‽
Alexander's idea of the smoke turning them dumber and more like the herd is one of the coolest things I've ever heard -- if we get votes I'm putting all of mine on that one.
Also, bulls goring people is always a classic. Invoking it's connection to the deep waters could be good, I don't know if you've got a plan for that already. Showing the truth of what every person in Stonetop is raised to be afraid of could be really powerful, and I don't know if we'll get a chance in the future.
Loved Erwann's decision to make the hard move and kill the assassins. Such an unexpected choice, it immediately made him more complicated and compelling for me. I'd love to know what our heroes think about him now -- in non-solo tables allied NPCs taking a swing like that (which the players actively worked against) gets raised voices at the very least, lol
And re: How the PCs feel about Erwann -- that's a great point. I'm cooking up an Anwen/Vahid scene and will try to fold some of that in there (though those two have a lot to discuss between them! ;-))
Gotta have the Gore, of course! It was definitely foreshadowed with the state of the bull corpse they found. And the deep water thing is great too, it wasn't foreshadowed by what we saw, but what Erwann told us -- that the thing will lead the herd to the water.