Old Gods of Appalachia
A shuck is a strange, miserable creature with an affinity for maize, whether wild or cultivated. It looks like a gangly brown and green monkey-like beast covered in russet patches like a horrible rash, with a cluster of lumps in its eye sockets that resemble multicolored corn. It appears to be wearing a garment made of overlapping fibrous patches; the inner layers actually grow from its skin, and it plasters the outer ones to itself with a sticky paste it creates in its mouth.
Shucks have a bestial intelligence on par with wolves and raccoons. They can communicate with each other by rustling their palms and clothing, sounding like leaves in the wind or (if frightened) very loud crickets.
Motive: Curiosity, theft, hungers for nutritious food
Environment: Croplands and wooded areas
Health: 7
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (2 points)
Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: Stealth among plants as level 4
Combat: A shuck attacks once or twice per round with its sharp claws and needlelike teeth.
Once every few days, a shuck can shed its "clothing" and the outer layers of its skin, leaving behind a crude husk of itself that lashes out for a few rounds before collapsing and dying. This remnant's actions are purely reflexive, like a twitching tail dropped by a fleeing lizard, and the shuck does this only as a distraction to escape a powerful threat.
The fleeing shuck has no Armor until a couple of days pass and it can grow and craft a new layer of protection.
Interaction: Shucks don't have a true language, but some understand the meaning of a few human words, much like trained dogs. They can be bribed with shiny things, berries, and unusual foods with strong odors and flavors, but at best this convinces them to leave a place or person alone until they get hungry again or too curious.
Use: An abandoned farm's corn patch is haunted by things that rustle and squeak. A campsite has been picked over by something that—according to the tracks they left—isn't human. Faceted eyes glint out of the darkness, reflecting the campfire light.
Loot: A shuck might have a few coins or bright trinkets, perhaps even a minor piece of jewelry.
Connection: A character once "befriended" a young shuck, but got hurt when it grew too big and hungry to be a child's plaything. A character lived in a place that shucks frequently stole from.
GM Intrusion: The shuck's attack carries the russet fungus growing on its skin, infecting the character on a failed Might defense roll. The infected character develops a disfiguring itchy rash over the next few days, hindering interaction tasks and subtracting 1 from all their recovery rolls. The character can try to overcome the rash once each day with a hindered Might defense roll.
The shuck grabs at something interesting or shiny the character has, stealing it and running away if the character fails a Speed defense roll.