Planar Bestiary
Human-sized roaches with human faces, crooked roaches come out in the dark, but otherwise dwell in dim tunnels, abandoned basements, and ruins. Sometimes groups of roaches emerge at night under the cover of cloud, looking to establish new infestations.
Hailing from a distant dimension of twisted magic and incomprehensible energies, crooked roaches (also sometimes called "Cataclyst roaches") are a segment of a once-humanoid population that waged a horrific war. The descendants of those humanoids paid a terrible price, as did all in that distant realm.
The cruel energies and magic that blasted their world and reshaped their bodies also granted crooked roaches various strange abilities. Each roach is misconfigured differently, and a few have an equally twisted aggressive power they can use to acquire food and secure new lairs. Some of these include the ability to step into other dimensions, which is how crooked roaches began spreading through the multiverse.
Crooked roaches are intelligent and territorial, regarding all other creatures as enemies or food (or usually both). Within any given lair, a roach abides by what is best for the group, and an individual thinks little of sacrificing themself to protect their fellows or a hidden nest.
Motive: Territory, defense, and spreading to new dimensions
Environment: Anywhere in the multiverse where it's dark, usually in groups of two to five
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Armor: 3
Movement: Short; short when climbing
Combat: A crooked roach attacks with claws, inflicting damage and—on a failed Might defense task—a magical mutation. A victim could receive multiple mutations over the course of several attacks. The magical mutation persists for about a day, though magic able to remove curses or dispel magic can clear the effect early. Some mutations come with a visible deformity.
| d10 | Mutation |
|---|---|
| 1 | Mentally vulnerable: Intellect defense tasks are hindered. |
| 2 | Slow and lumbering: Speed defense tasks are hindered. |
| 3 | Sickly: Might defense tasks are hindered. |
| 4 | Horrible growth: A goiter, tendril, or extra eye hangs from the target's face, hindering all pleasant interactions. |
| 5 | Useless limb: One of the target's limbs is unusable or missing. |
| 6 | Degraded eye: One of the target's eyes is unusable or missing. Tasks requiring eyesight are hindered. |
| 7 | Degraded ear: One of the target's ears is unusable or missing. Tasks requiring hearing are hindered. |
| 8 | Weak: Any time the target spends points from their Might Pool, the cost is increased by 1 point. |
| 9 | Slow: Any time the target spends points from their Speed Pool, the cost is increased by 1 point. |
| 10 | Naive: Any time the target spends points from their Intellect Pool, the cost is increased by 1 point. |
In sunlight or other especially bright light, a crooked roach's attacks are hindered.
Interaction: Crooked roaches are almost always hostile when encountered, taunting and threatening in their own language, or using pieces of a common language they've picked up.
Use: A visit to dark places in some out-of-the-way planes of existence scares up a few crooked roaches when light is introduced.
Loot: A roach nest may contain a couple of magic items, usually cyphers.
GM Intrusion: The magical mutation inflicted on a character causes one of their arms to take on the form and function of a crooked roach's. At first, the character can't use the limb at all, but over a few hours, they can learn how.