Expanded Worlds
Who knows what midnight scrabblers are up to when they’re inactive and entombed in solid floors or walls? Maybe they don’t even exist, until twilight or full darkness calls them forth. When it’s dark, midnight scrabblers struggle out of solid surfaces, raising a cloud of shadow. Midnight scrabblers are many-limbed, like spiders, but have pale, hairless bodies that more resemble 3 foot (1 m) long cloth dolls sewn from dark thread and colorful—though now stained—fabric.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Anywhere dark
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (3 points)
Movement: Short; short when burrowing through solid material
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to cloud of shadows raised by a moving or fighting scrabbler.
Combat: A midnight scrabbler attacks with needlelike claws. A victim that takes damage must succeed on a Might defense task, or become poisoned and drop one step on the damage track. The victim must keep fighting off the poison until they succeed or drop three steps on the damage track; however, those who fall to the third step on the damage track from a scrabbler’s poison are not dead. They are paralyzed and can’t move for about a minute. If a scrabbler isn’t otherwise occupied, it can grab a paralyzed victim and drag the victim down into the ground or a nearby wall. Most victims drawn into walls are never seen again. Midnight scrabblers can see in the dark. Scrabblers regain 1 point of health per round while their health is above 0, unless they’ve been damaged with a silvered or cold iron weapon, or if they’re in the presence of bright light.
Interaction: Midnight scrabblers are about as intelligent as canny predators like wolves.
Use: Hotel guests report the sounds of strange scrabbling noises under the floor and suspect rats.
Loot: If a wall or floor is physically excavated where midnight scrabblers were seen to emerge, belongings of past victims apparently “petrified” into the wall can be discovered, which sometimes includes a few cyphers.
GM Intrusion: Characters with torches must succeed on a difficulty 5 Intellect defense task or their flashlight or another light source fails.