[Index]
Numenera Discovery
A sarrak is a fearsome predator in the Ninth World, although it might originally hail from elsewhere. It has the body of a massive predatory cat, about 8 feet (2.5 m) long, with sleek muscles and black flesh. Its head, however, appears to be a 3-foot (1 m) wide ball of swirling energy, surrounded by dozens of metallic plates that move as if in orbit around the energy. Despite looking somewhat like an animal, a sarrak is extraordinarily intelligent. It is biomechanical in nature and taps into the minds of other creatures or the controls of electrical devices to its own ends.
Motive: Seeks power
Environment: Anywhere
Health: 23
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (5 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Long
Modifications: Resists deception as level 8
Combat: In direct combat, a sarrak can use its claws to slash at foes. Far more effective, however,
is its ability to control the actions of other creatures within short range who fail at an Intellect defense task. Once the sarrak establishes control, the victim can attempt a new Intellect defense task every 28 hours. Control lasts only while the creature is within short range of the sarrak.
Likewise, a sarrak can use an action to control almost any electrical device within short range as if it held the item. It can cause the device to activate or operate. No roll is required for this control, so bringing any sort of device close to a sarrak is dangerous.
Sarraks heal very quickly, regaining 2 points per round when damaged. This regeneration stops when they are dead.
Interaction: A sarrak is wise and ingenious. It sees other creatures as tools to be used for its own ends, but sometimes it is willing to hear what a tool has to say. It is most interested in offers of power or advantage but doesn't seek wealth for its own sake. Sarraks respond poorly to threats or intimidation and are very difficult to trick or deceive.
Use: Most likely, a sarrak lair is filled with controlled creatures and devices it can activate for defense or assistance. It might have complex plans in motion and could be the secret power behind a scheme involving many creatures, people, or machines (or all three). A sarrak would love nothing more than to take control of a whole community—such as a village, a tribe of abhumans, or a cluster of Stratharian war moths—to serve its ends.
Loot: In its lair, a sarrak has 1d6 + 2 cyphers and one or two artifacts.
GM Intrusion: The sarrak, acting out of turn, takes control of a device that the character is about to use against it. The sarrak deactivates the device or perhaps turns it against its owner.