The Strange Bestiary
Not every bioengineering attempt in Ruk succeeds. The recursion's history is littered with failures and false starts, horrors sealed away in hidden vaults for future study and as proof that certain scientific avenues lead to dead ends. From time to time, these missteps escape confinement and carve out a place for themselves in the Shattered Wastes.
The devolved live on Ruk's fringes. These malformed, hideous brutes share a common heritage but display a wide array of maladies and mutations in the flesh, including limbs withered or elephantine, patches of thick, scaly skin, misplaced body parts, and more. Simple-minded and afflicted with pain from their twisted, broken forms, the devolved vent all their hatred and wrath against the "norms."
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment (Ruk | Weird Science): Groups of six to eight roam the Shattered Wastes of Ruk and sometimes venture closer to the Hub to raid for supplies and fresh meat.
Health: 21
Damage Inflicted: 4 to 8 points; see Combat
Movement: Short
Modifications: All tasks related to intimidation as level 6; Intellect defense and Speed defense as level 2 due to malformed nature.
Combat: Devolved attack with a claw, a bite, or some other body part. They throw themselves at their enemies with mindless ferocity and little regard for their own safety. Easily frustrated, a devolved grows stronger as its fury builds. Each time it misses with an attack, the damage it inflicts increases by 1 point (maximum of 8 points). Once the devolved successfully inflicts damage, its amount of damage inflicted returns to normal. A devolved's genetic instability also has unexpected results when the creature is wounded. Each time a devolved takes damage, roll a d6. On an odd number, its level drops by 1, and it akes 1 additional minor wound (1 point). On an even number, its level increases by 1, and it regains 1 point of health. Adjustments are cumulative, but all adjustments fade after one minute.
Interaction: Devolved speak when they must. They punctuate their statements with growls and barks. Their understanding seems limited to what they can immediately perceive, and they have a difficult time with abstract concepts. Devolved have violent tendencies, but if plied with gifts of food, odd trinkets, and other treasures, they may become amenable to conversation and might be convinced to share what they know about the lands around their camps.
In large groups, four devolved can focus their attacks against one target to make a single attack roll as a level 6 creature, inflicting a moderate wound (5 points).
Use: Devolved tumble out of the Wastes to attack the nearby communities and mobile factories all the time. The PCs must face mobs of them to protect a settlement or an expedition bound for a far-flung location at the recursion's edges.
Loot: For every three or so devolved, one is likely to carry a cypher.
GM Intrusion: A devolved that is damaged by a character takes only half damage from that character for the next minute as its body adapts to whatever the PC used to make the attack.
GM Intrusion: When killed, the devolved splits into two smaller devolved (each is level 2, has 10 health, and inflicts a minor wound (2 points)).