Early Access
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, enthrallers psychically dominated a group of interstellar spacefarers who had the misfortune to land on the enthraller homeworld. Using the stolen space vessel to reach other planets, the enthrallers leapfrogged technological prowess by mentally commandeering the know-how of every new species they encountered, using this knowledge to build the Enthraller Dominion, which stretches across vast swaths of space, cemented by the psychic control.
Individual enthrallers are scary, but their leaders—enthraller overlords—are even more powerful thanks to technological aids such as cranial circlets that give a single enthraller governor the ability to dominate a small city, solar-system-sized ring relays that boost their control across interstellar distances, and more.
Recently, a newly contacted species of aliens developed the technological means to resist the mental influence of the enthrallers. Now war bubbles across the Enthraller Dominion. Sometimes individual enthrallers, stripped of their technological enhancements as a consequence of this war, flee into virgin space, looking for new soldiers to dominate.
Motive: Domination of other creatures
Environment: Almost anywhere, alone or in groups of three
Health: 18
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound; see Combat
Armor: 1 (from armor)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Dodge as level 4; perception and recognizing motive as level 8
Combat: An enthraller usually relies on dominated minions to make physical attacks on its behalf. As an action, an enthraller can psychically command a creature within short range. On a failed Intellect defense roll, the creature follows the enthraller’s mental commands for one round. If within a minute that creature is affected again by an enthraller’s psychic command, the duration of control lasts until the target uses a non-rest recovery.
As an action, an enthraller can emit a psychic burst against three creatures in short range. On a failed Intellect defense roll, a victim takes a moderate wound (ignores armor) and is stunned for one round (during which time their defenses are hindered by two steps). This psychic attack also feeds the enthraller; if the attack inflicts the creature’s last moderate wound or converts to a major wound, the enthraller regains 4 health.
Interaction: An enthraller can communicate telepathically with characters in short range. It tries to mentally dominate whoever it meets and will negotiate only with those who are strong enough to harm it. Even if an enthraller makes a deal, it eventually reneges if it senses any advantage for doing so because it implicitly believes that other creatures are little more than animals for its nourishment and control.
Use: A spacecraft (or perhaps an escape pod) crash lands. Inside, a hurt enthraller lies in suspended animation. Investigators are unlikely to realize the enthraller’s nature beforehand, but they certainly learn if they wake the alien.
Loot: Enthrallers wear light armor suited for their forms that can be modified to fight a human. They might have one or two manifest cyphers and, rarely, an artifact that boosts their already-fearsome mental capabilities (usually by increasing the range or hindering defenses against it).
GM Intrusion: The enthraller’s psychic attack stirs up forgotten memories in the character, who must deal with the contents of these memories and perhaps why they were repressed. The character’s GM intrusion range increases by 1, and experiences frequent GM intrusions where their tasks are hindered for an hour due to mental distraction.