The Strange
"The Lord of Megeddon has many names. To some, he is War. To others, Legion. To most, he is the Betrayer. Among himselves, he is simply Jason." ~a passage from Myth of the Maker
The Incarnation of War could split himself into thousands, becoming the Army of Ardeyn. As this army, War's thoughts raced simultaneously in every copy of himself, and his capacities were magnified to superhuman levels. He was—they were—gods.
When War slew the Maker, the Incarnations lost most of their power, including War (to his surprise and dismay). War—who at that point became known as the Betrayer—retreated to his citadel of Megeddon to lick his wounds and regroup.
Though immensely weakened, he retained an echo of his former abilities. In time, he fashioned a complex beneath his fortress known as the Body Vats, which, in conjunction with the scrap of his former ability, allowed the Betrayer to share his soul out again between multiple bodies.
As a mortal creature, the Betrayer has only so much soul to share. The homunculi he creates in the Vats receive just fragments. Thus, the Betrayer can animate only so many homunculi at any one time—enough to give several hundred a bestial awareness (the greens), a hundred or so the semblance of competence (the reds), and a handful with powers approaching his own (the translucents, also called clears). The Betrayer also gifts his homunculi with a few other surprises, thanks to the customization the Vats allow him.
The tiny handful of homunculi who have an almost perfect semblance of the Betrayer—his clear lieutenants—are made translucent so no one will ever (again) mistake one for him. He was almost replaced by a rebellious copy, back when he made lieutenants appear too much like himself.
When attacking with large groups of NPCs, the GM is encouraged to use the swarm rule. This allows the GM to have a group of six to ten of the same creatures attack en masse as a single creature that is two levels higher, inflicting double the original creature's normal damage.
A homunculus with barely a trace of soul almost invariably comes out of the Body Vats with the brains of a beetle. Greens are slightly above that grade, and they possess a rough likeness to the Betrayer in war regalia, though they stand only about 5 feet (2 m) high and possess just a hint of his aggressive reflexes. They do enjoy one gruesome customization: a second, extendible mouth. Mostly, greens are beasts, and they serve higher homunculi grades as sword fodder. Greens can understand simple commands in the Maker's Tongue, but they can't speak intelligibly; they only gibber.
An unfortunate side effect of homunculi creation limits the amount of nutrition they can absorb, so they are always hungry and will eat anything. If not watched, they even resort to cannibalism.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment (Ardeyn | Magic): Borderlands, usually in groups of five, often in the company of a red homunculus leader
Health 15
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (3 points)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Stealth actions as level 1 due to nearly constant gibbering; all knowledge-based skills at level 1.
Combat: A green homunculus attack is sudden and surprising, despite the gibbering; its maw instantly disgorges a thick, tonguelike proboscis tipped with a second set of jaws with the force of a spear thrust. If its victim fails an Intellect defense roll, the green gains the initiative, and the difficulty to dodge its initial attack is increased by one step.
If a green strikes a living character, the secondary mouth latches on in an unbreakable jaw grip. The victim is hindered by the attachment, and his attacks against the green are modified by one step to the victim's detriment. Each subsequent round the green remains attached, the green automatically inflicts damage. This automatic damage also ignores most forms of Armor.
The only way to detach a green homunculus that is actively feeding is to kill it.
Interaction: No interaction is possible other than violence or intimidation. Green homunculi can be intimidated into fleeing by a startling display (like wild animals can), such as killing their leader or pulling off another impressive or unexpected stunt.
Use: The PCs witness a trade shipment from a distant part of Ardeyn dropped by accident. The container breaks open to reveal a lot of green homunculi, ravenous from their long journey.
GM Intrusion:A green homunculus that is attached and feeding on a PC is slain. Before it dies, it attempts to regurgitate a bolus of foul material directly into the PC. (If thematerial is injected, the wound turns green, but the PC feels fine at first. Shortly after, the PC begins to experience gruesome, random hallucinations. The effect usually fades on its own after a few days.)
Red homunculi serve the Betrayer in a variety of roles, having the intelligence and initiative of a normal, if slightly underperforming, human. Except for the cherry red hue of their skin and armor, reds resemble the Betrayer quite closely, though they stand only about 5 1/2 feet (2 m) tall.
Motive: Defense, carry out the orders of the Betrayer
Environment (Ardeyn | Magic): Borderlands, usually as part of a squad of three to five
Health 27
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: All knowledge-based skills and tasks made to perceive ambushes and see through tricks as level 3.
Combat: A red attacks with weapons but has some of the training and reflexes of the Betrayer. A red can make two attacks per turn, and once every few minutes, it can spit a bright red bolus at a point it can see within short range, which detonates and inflicts 4 points of acidic damage to all targets in immediate range.
When a red homunculus is slain, it detonates in immediate range, inflicting a moderate wound (5 points) to all targets in the area who fail a Speed defense roll, and 1 point of damage even to those who succeed.
What makes reds potentially horrifying is that sometimes they take on the visage of the Betrayer: the homunculus screams, stiffens, then splits open to reveal a terrible creature made of organs. The face announces, "I SEE YOU!" and emerges, joining the fray.
Interaction: A red homunculus is keen to follow its orders, but it can be misled with clever guile.
Use: A squad of reds, disguised by sorcery to appear like a group of adventurers, attempts to kidnap a local sage for her knowledge regarding an ancient qephilim city, and the PCs notice.
Loot: Very often, a squad of reds will have one or two cyphers between them.
GM Intrusion: The red homunculus takes on a visage of the Betrayer. The visage is a level 5 creature with 15 points of health and 3 points of Armor, and it can fly a short distance each round. In combat, the visage makes one bite attack on its action, which inflicts a major wound (8 points). The visage lasts 1d6+1 rounds, or until slain.