The Strange Bestiary
Long-lived octopuses that are able to think appear in all kinds of recursions. Most seem to share a xenophobic hatred for humans. Such octopus sapiens hunt people for food or, if they are smart enough and have access to enough resources, attempt to exterminate humans completely from the recursion they inhabit. In some places, they've succeeded.
Octopus sapiens live in underwater cities of living coral and pearl. These beautiful structures contain egg hatcheries, larvae playgrounds, plankton farms, ink art academies, and much stranger areas. The creatures also study bioengineering of all kinds, and in their dissection chambers, they take apart human captives one skin layer at a time. The octopus sapiens want to understand their air-breathing rivals so they can come up with some kind of biological weapon that will exterminate humanity en masse.
Octopus sapien larvae (just-hatched juveniles from eggs) are not sapient for the first year of their life, and humans may mistake them for regular octopuses. Eventually they "wake up," begin to wonder about their environment, and, if captive, yearn for escape.
Motive: Defense, eliminate humanity
Environment (Weird Science, Psionics, or Standard Physics): Anywhere underwater, alone or in groups of up to five
Health: 21
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Movement: Immediate; short when swimming
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 due to quickness in water; Speed defense normal on dry land; all tasks related to logic, debate, and puzzle-solving as level 6.
Combat: An octopus sapien uses a few of its arms to keep itself grounded and the rest to attack, unconscious, automatically inflicting 8 points of damage per round, unless the victim can succeed on a difficulty 6 Might-based task to escape. A PC who moves to "dead" on the damage track due to an octopus sapien's squeezing damage is rendered unconscious, not dead.
Many octopus sapiens secrete a bioengineered ink that is poisonous to humans. Instead of attacking with its arms, an octopus sapien can squirt ink at a human target within short range. The target and all humans within immediate range must make a successful Might defense roll or take 4 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) each round. Victims can attempt Might defense rolls each round to throw off the poison. An octopus sapien can squirt toxic ink once every few hours.
An octopus sapien can survive and act out of the water for an hour before succumbing to dryness and lack of oxygen.
Interaction: Octopus sapien use skin chromatophores to rapidly flash messages to each other. Unless a human can decipher the flashes and respond in kind, it's unlikely that any meaningful conversation can occur. Besides, when it comes to humans, octopus sapiens are interested only in acquiring new specimens on which to experiment.
Use: A fishing vessel was found adrift, its crew missing. The only clue is a slurry of toxic ink splashed on the deck and in the crew cabins and bridge, in which tentacle prints are clearly visible.
Loot: In any given group of octopus sapiens, one may have a cypher or two.
GM Intrusion: A character hit with the toxic ink is blinded while the toxin remains active in her system.