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Has anyone ever heard of this new urban legend going around about children who appear to be between the ages of 10 and 16 who knock on doors and ask to be let inside? The victims report that the children's eyes are completely black (even the sclera, or whites of the eyes) and the more they refuse the more insistent the children become. Witnesses report feeling overwhelming fear and evil emanating from them. I've not read any accounts about what happens if they are allowed in.
So, having said all that, I'm about to run a game whereby I will introduce the Slender Man as the antagonist. The children are to be his heralds, sent to collect a debt owed to the Slender Man from an unfortunate individual who has hired the PCs to guard him.
Aside from the aura of fear, what other powers might they possess? I've seen the movie "Let The Right One In", but I'm not sure I want them to be vampires. Are there even a gaming statistic write up for them somewhere already? I want to scare this batch of newby players with a horror themed game, and I think these creatures would be ideal.
So, what do you think?
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That Urban myth seems to be pretty close to the MiB urbane myth(nopt the movies).
As such I might link them to the derro.
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Has someone been watching Supernatural again?
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Just some inspirational reading. Mind that child endangerment is kind of a theme in most of these, so possible trigger warning. Not all of these are exact matches for your concept, but they have material that might help flesh it out a bit more in one or more directions, depending on how you're interpreting the Slender Man and this particular urban legend.
SCP-899 : The Lost Children (this one will offer some suitable images at the very least)
edit-@Rynjin, yeah, Star-Eyed Child is a good one to look at too. Lost Children is practically the jackpot for this theme. You scroll down and OH GOD
edit2-fixed links
Yeah, I left the rest out because the focus isn't PRECISELY on the children in those (except the Fairground, kinda, I forgot about that one).
But Lost Children is definitely the one you look at and go "Welp that's the one I'M pulling images from".
Yeah I don't blame you. I haven't read most of the ones in the 1000's but browsing on the SCP Foundation site after midnight is something I'm generally loathe to do.
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Yeah I don't blame you. I haven't read most of the ones in the 1000's but browsing on the SCP Foundation site after midnight is something I'm generally loathe to do.
Like @#$%in' 087. Speaking of material appropriate for a Slender Man adventure...
Heh. I never got why everyone found 087 so scary actually.
They even made a game out of it. I always thought the 173 game (Containment Breach) made a lot more sense. It's like a big, round-ish Weeping Angel.
And I'm still waiting for Prototype 3 where the Blacklight Virus takes on 682. Tell me that wouldn't make an amazing game.
I don't watch Supernatural. After the first 3 seasons I got bored with it.
That's too bad, seasons 4 and 5 were probably the best ones.
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I actually thought the 087 game lacked what really made that entry work for me. It was the slow build-up and atmosphere that got mOH WOW DungeonmasterCal sorry for this derail. :O
Probably should have asked this before the linkstorm, but what was the general sort of feel you wanted out of these guys? Straightforward threat, more creepy ambiance? something that's more of a gamechanger as far as how the PCs percieve reality(playing with spacial effects), body horror, etc?
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SCP is my late-night TVTropes.
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Why, oh dear God why, did I click any of those links at 4 am? Well, it's back to carrying a pocket knife at work.
This is going to be worse than back when I listened to Coast to Coast while working.
I used to listen to Coast to Coast at work, too. Of course the best nights were when Art Bell had "Ghost to Ghost", where listeners called in with ghost stories that were supposedly true. OH, and the folks who recorded the EVPs and played them on the air.
What is this SCP you speak of? Is it safe for work?
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SCP Foundation is a site that hosts (fictional) "records" of paranatural events, creatures, and objects, with a heavy horror bent. As far as I'm aware all of the text is SFW, but I haven't browsed the site enough to see if there's any images, so I can't speak for those.
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OMFG! How in the hell have I not heard of SCP before?!?!
thank you both Rynjin and Mikaze for giving me material for what will most assuredly be a great source for a WoD campaign I have been thinking about running.
Out of curiosity, what are the games that you mentioned ... I'm not seeing any mention on the SCP site (sorry for the derail DMC).
As to your original question DMC, the following abilities could fit the bill for the BEK/BECs:
1) Daze or Stun - some stories involved a momentary inability to do anything, most likely as a gaze attack
2) doom as an (SU) ability - feeling of impending negative actions or events have been reported as well, which would fit the spell description
3) definitely some compulsion effect ... not really charm though ... if you want powerful, dominate, though suggestion or command could work as well.
4) and then there is the question of what happens when you let them in your house and they do whatever they are there to do. Are they there to kill you? Give them a negative energy touch attack. Are they there to "collect" you? Depending on how they are to "collect" you, it could be anything from simply marking their victim to taking their soul and any point in between.
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Has anyone ever heard of this new urban legend going around about children who appear to be between the ages of 10 and 16 who knock on doors and ask to be let inside? The victims report that the children's eyes are completely black (even the sclera, or whites of the eyes) and the more they refuse the more insistent the children become. Witnesses report feeling overwhelming fear and evil emanating from them. I've not read any accounts about what happens if they are allowed in.
So, having said all that, I'm about to run a game whereby I will introduce the Slender Man as the antagonist. The children are to be his heralds, sent to collect a debt owed to the Slender Man from an unfortunate individual who has hired the PCs to guard him.
Aside from the aura of fear, what other powers might they possess? I've seen the movie "Let The Right One In", but I'm not sure I want them to be vampires. Are there even a gaming statistic write up for them somewhere already? I want to scare this batch of newby players with a horror themed game, and I think these creatures would be ideal.
So, what do you think?
Sounds like a great idea! Simple terror is best terror.
As for powers, the whole concept of "home" has very strong relations with various mythologies: A place that means something to someone has a certain relationship with that person, and home is the most powerful relationship a place can have with an individual. Therefore, allowing someone/something into your home has strong metaphysical significance, akin to voluntarily giving your name.
Demons, witches, faeries, and various other mythological monsters want your name because it gives them power over you. Keeping your name to yourself protects you, because it shields your identity from them.
Home works in a similar fashion: Home is where you act like yourself, where you are at ease. Home is also where you feel safe and protected, and where only those you trust should enter. Giving someone access to your home, then, implies letting them through one of your innermost layers of protection (your name/identity and ultimately your soul being the only things left after that).
These creatures, then, want to come in, but they want you to let them in. They want you to let down your defenses (using exasperation as a tool, apparently) and allow them access. After that, it's all nefarious plots and probes in the wrong places, I guess.
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No need for derailing apologies, folks! I'm the de-railroad baron of Pathfinder! And you've given me great ideas to take and run with, as well as a new website to explore. Free candy for everyone!
Probably should have asked this before the linkstorm, but what was the general sort of feel you wanted out of these guys? Straightforward threat, more creepy ambiance? something that's more of a game-changer as far as how the PCs perceive reality(playing with spacial effects), body horror, etc?
Creepy ambiance is the primary reason, but with escalating events and encounters that prove to be more threatening each time. I'm designing it as a first adventure for a new group of mostly newbies (my son's friends from college) and I'm hoping to play on the trend of movies in the "Paranormal Activity" and "Blair Witch Project" vein. If this proves successful I may incorporate more of it into my veteran gaming group, none of whom watch these sorts of movies.
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I'm sure there's a rational explanation for the black-eyed children showing up on a stranger's doorstep. Maybe they just got away from the sitter while their mommy was in the hospital?
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@Kryzbyn, zylphryx, and Poldaran
The games are fanworks based on particular SCPs. The ones I'm familiar with are Containment Breach, which involves interpretations of several of the more famous SCPs and the SCP-087 game, based on the entry of the same name. They're all freeware, and you should probably take care where you're downloading them.
Also, a selection of SCPs:
The Sculpture - The original article that inspired the entire site
The Hanged King's Tragedy - This one may be very familiar. :)
Camera Disruption - With an embedded live feed!
Abandoned Federal Penitentiary - Short and sweet
"Baba Yaga" - In time for Reign of Winter!
Ball of Green Slime - An example of the more comedic, non-horror SCPs.
Hand-drawn "Cassy" - Who, along with...
Intelligent Tank - ...make for some of the more heartwarming SCPs in the extended documents.
Ships That Pass In The Night - One of the most heartbreaking SCPs on the site. (@#$% THE GOC)
Shadow Lamps - Trigger warning
An Incomplete Chronicle - Personal favorite of the possible world-"enders"
The Minotaur's Tale - An example of a meta SCP that's only effective when you're familiar with the SCP format. Refresh the page!
You'll inevitably come across references to SCP-076 and SCP-682 on your own, most likely. Those two tend to cause the strongest "love it or hate it" reactions out of all the SCPs. ;)
I'm sure there's a rational explanation for the black-eyed children showing up on a stranger's doorstep. Maybe they just got away from the sitter while their mommy was in the hospital?
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Creepy ambiance is the primary reason, but with escalating events and encounters that prove to be more threatening each time. I'm designing it as a first adventure for a new group of mostly newbies (my son's friends from college) and I'm hoping to play on the trend of movies in the "Paranormal Activity" and "Blair Witch Project" vein. If this proves successful I may incorporate more of it into my veteran gaming group, none of whom watch these sorts of movies.
Kind of thinking of some sort of non-combat centric form of attrition for this. Something that encourages the players to play a game of keepaway more than charging into the fray, at least for a time.
I always loved the "I Am A Toaster" one.
Apparently someone DID let them in... he managed to escape from them though, as they said they were sent to "collect" him. Funny, before this thread I'd never heard of this, save for in recent horror movies. That makes me think it's a classic case of daydreams. After watching a horror movie, not so much now as when I was a kid, but I could be fully awake and see the monsters from the movie. Worst case was when I saw House (the comedy horror movie) when I was a kid, for like 3 months I would see that cut-off decaying hand crawling up the side of my bed and coming for me. Fully awake and I saw it... My parents didn't have to keep me away from horror movies after that, until I was like 15 LOL.
Anyway, here is the link...
EDIT: Ok, after reading about these "BEK" excuse me while I go make sure my deadbolt is locked.
Gah, I'm so glad I'm not the one who wastes my time on the SCP Foundation.
One of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned yet is SCP-567.
The implications alone are staggering D:
I used to listen to Coast to Coast at work, too. Of course the best nights were when Art Bell had "Ghost to Ghost", where listeners called in with ghost stories that were supposedly true. OH, and the folks who recorded the EVPs and played them on the air.
I have an extremely overactive imagination and a tendency to fixate on things I hear or read about. As such, anything with a modicum of "this is true" in it has a tendency to send me into a nervous state if I think about it when I'm alone, especially if it's dark out.
I work nights. I work alone. As such, listening to Coast to Coast at work was a really bad idea.
It was even worse when they'd have a night featuring aliens.
I wonder if someone could stat up SCP-096 now...
...it was featured in a game named SCP: Containment Breach.
Really, it's just a ghost that gets pissed off when someone looks at its face and has a pretty good natural touch attack.
Oh, I could always play it up like that then.
It was fun watching an LP of SCP: Containment Breach.
The guy taunted SCP-096. You can guess what happened to him.
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The most terrifying SCP of them all.
One of my favorites that hasn't been mentioned yet is SCP-567.The implications alone are staggering D:
It's been a long time since I've read that one. Need to give it another look tonight.
I wonder if someone could stat up SCP-096 now...
PC: What does it look like?
GM: You're all dead.
PC: >:(
In all seriousness, I've always loved that one for the images evoked in the experiment logs and that one incident report and the thought exercises it tends to kick off.
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OP, what about BEK's slowly replacing the children of the village over the course of a few days or weeks?
...ooh...what if the Slender Man is actually hunting the BEKs? Which could mean that creeptastic Slendy interactions with the PCs could be attempts to get them to maneuver the BEKs where he needs them to be. Or maybe the BEKs' preying upon mortals is a way of staving off the Slender Man coming to collect them?
Or going back toe playing the BEKs as heralds, maybe they would target children for something instead of the PCs. And PCs who are having possible Slender encoutners remember partial fragmented memories of encounters with the BEKs(ties into the popular concept of Slender having a history with his seeming victims).
edit-This is getting a bit into surreal territory, but what if PCs were vulnerable while dreaming? That is, their dream selves manifest partially or entirely in the real world, so that a sleeping PC could be laying inside a house while at the same time suddenly appearing out in the woods to be pursued by BEKs, all visible through a window by his fellow party members in that same house.
This is totally off the original topic, but there was an earlier "augmented reality" story from 2004 called Dionaea House that totally creeped me out when I read it for the first time.
And I need to both thank you and curse at you all for introducing me to the SCP Foundation. (I have a love/hate relationship with horror stories, and the ones with a veneer of reality are the best/worst!)
I used to listen to Coast to Coast at work, too. Of course the best nights were when Art Bell had "Ghost to Ghost", where listeners called in with ghost stories that were supposedly true. OH, and the folks who recorded the EVPs and played them on the air.I have an extremely overactive imagination and a tendency to fixate on things I hear or read about. As such, anything with a modicum of "this is true" in it has a tendency to send me into a nervous state if I think about it when I'm alone, especially if it's dark out.
I work nights. I work alone. As such, listening to Coast to Coast at work was a really bad idea.
It was even worse when they'd have a night featuring aliens.
Many years ago I worked as the overnight DJ for an FM radio station in a small town. The station was actually situated a couple miles from the town up a narrow road on a hill, and there were no houses nearby. I made the mistake of reading a Lovecraft collection while working in the building completely alone and in the small hours of of the morning. Yeesh.
@Mikaze---your game ideas give me the impression you are a twisted and frightening person to be around. I dig it.
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Curse you all! :p
I first came across this thread at 3am and thought "hmm whats the SCP?".
yeah.
Someone used a flashlight to go to bed. *grumbles*
Neat site though. I love how some of them are cross referenced for interactions.
As to the OP.
It depends alot on your group- but the main "scary" thing to me about the BEC is the C part. Its a child. If it was a BEA (black eyed adult) then it'd probably just be so much cannon fodder. I'd say be sure to play up the "child" aspect as much as possible while keeping it creepy.
The line betweeen creepy and dangerous is a thin one. Once you cross it the PC's will try to murder it and then its just another combat encounter.
-S
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Or the dreaded BEPs.
Go really old school ..
John Wyndham - The Midwich Cuckoos
(Although it was filmed as The Village of the Damned)
This reminds me of an adventure idea I've had bouncing around in my head for a while. It first came to me while I was randomly surfing YouTube and stumbled on Skrillex's "First of the Year". The plot at least for the video was that of a child molester accidently targeting a child that was attached to the "Slenderman".
I expanded on the idea a little. Now the story takes place in Riddleport. The child in question is a orphan who's orphanage is really a front for a guild operation (the kids are all pickpockets). One day a Cyphermage was experimenting with some Thasillonian summoning spells and summoned a creature, a type of daemon that acted as an assassin (my "Slenderman would look like something more out of Giger than anything else. The creature kills him and in order to stay in this world has to bind with a child (who has the future potential to be a sorcerer or summoner). The child can summon and had limited control over the creature. As a result, the child first summons the creature to act in self defense (remember this is Riddleport). As time goes on the killings get more gruesome, slowly turning the child evil.
My idea was to run it like an episode of Criminal Minds. The first acknowledged victim being a noble with a similar MO to the guy in the video. As the PC's look into it they discover many more killings that appear the same way. One other idea was that it was being blamed on on one crimelord or another, destabilizing the sensitive balance of power in Riddleport. In this case you have the perfect serial killer that can hide among the populace. Who could suspect an innocent child? The "Black Eyed Children" could be those that the creature has turned completely to evil.
I personally thought the creature and the action in the video were stupid. I envisioned the child being a silent witness to the carnage (it's not commanding the creature directly). I thought of the creature being like something out of Aliens, no face or eyes, glistening black with huge claws that it uses on it's victims.
One day I might actually run it...
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Back to the OP...
The Pathfinder version of Slender Man is Thin Man.
I like the earlier poster's suggestion of using a Gray Jester from Heroes of Horror, and its Bleak Ones thralls as the Black Eyed Kids. (My Web-Fu failed me-- I can't find stats for the monster on the net. It'd not open content in any event.)
You could re-skin the Gray Jester and Bleak Ones as the Slender Man and BEKs...
That would be creepy!
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Curse you all! :p
I first came across this thread at 3am and thought "hmm whats the SCP?".
yeah.
Someone used a flashlight to go to bed. *grumbles*
Neat site though. I love how some of them are cross referenced for interactions.
You weren't the only one to stumble across the Foundation alone late one night D:
Back to the OP...
The Pathfinder version of Slender Man is Thin Man.
I like the earlier poster's suggestion of using a Gray Jester from Heroes of Horror, and its Bleak Ones thralls as the Black Eyed Kids. (My Web-Fu failed me-- I can't find stats for the monster on the net. It'd not open content in any event.)
You could re-skin the Gray Jester and Bleak Ones as the Slender Man and BEKs...
That would be creepy!
A homebrew book by another player, "The Tome of Slenderotica" is probably where I'll draw my version of the Slender Man from. The PCs won't interact with him physically, at least not until they hit 20th level or so. I'm picturing him as some sort of demonic entity that works from the shadows and seldom interacts with the PCs.
Or I could just roll up Pennywise, except I hate clowns.
I would give them some sort of ethereal jaunt, just to get all Samara with them (The Ring), and a gaze attack that petrifies with fear.
Might be fun if they were in a slightly different form during the day. You could then give them the vampiric problem of not getting in the house until invited, but then have role-play opportunities where they trick an invite during normal hours.
As to physical attacks, I think bites and claws don't fit. You might keep these guys as the harbingers who actually incapacitate until Slenderman can get there to collect victims, or give them a gaze attack that kills with repeated failed saves.
As to Slender himself, I just don't see him as a big boss. Firstly, some Internet myths out there have multiple slenders, so it would seem he is a form of creature, similar in purpose to some kind of kidnapping/murdering MIB. Secondly, coming from a strong weird fiction background, with a Masters degree in Silent Hill, guys like Slenderman tend to be servants to the final boss, collectors, or guides to make sure wicked plans are followed through-upon. See Valtiel, from the Silent Hill mythos. He's a caretaker, not an Evil Genius.