Old Gods of Appalachia
Skin Tom was once a regular man from Tennessee, quite the charmer in his day, someone who had a way with women. When a jealous husband caught him and skinned him alive, Tom survived long enough to encounter a creature of the Inner Dark, who granted him immortality and the ability to wear other people's skin like clothing. Those who see through Tom's disguise usually do so by noticing a cut under his jaw, or that his eyes don't match the person whose skin he's stolen.
In his true form, Skin Tom is a skinless adult man, his eyes and teeth contrasting sharply with his exposed muscles, and he wears a heavy cloak and hood so as not to draw attention to himself.
He lurks and stalks his chosen victim, killing them quickly and carefully removing their skin to use as a disguise as he walks among regular people. These skins begin to stink and rot after about a week (although he enjoys the winter months when each skin lasts a little longer), so he enjoys his deception while he can and moves on after murder and mayhem.
Tom is also known as "Skint Tom." Skin Tom has often been involved in the every-seven-years binding of the Dead Queen, in a ritual requiring three witches and three Things.
If Skin Tom is killed, he later awakens, greatly diminished and half alive, condemned to skulk about in a weakened form. Only after a long time and many sacrificed lives can he regain his normal skinless shape.
Belongs To: The Inner Dark (by pact)
Motive: Murder, mischief, wearing others' skin
Environment: Woods and towns, hiding in his true form or in plain sight wearing another's skin
Health: 15
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (4 points)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Melee attacks, Speed defense, and stealth as level 5; disguise as level 6 (when pretending to be someone by wearing their skin)
Combat: Tom doesn't have any unusual attacks, but he is very skilled with a knife, attacking twice per round.
Interaction: Skin Tom is charming and personable, especially when speaking to women and when he wants something. However, he is a bloodthirsty killer and shouldn't be trusted if there's an opportunity for him to murder and steal human skins to wear.
Use: The characters need a Thing to participate in a ritual, and Tom is available for a price. A person is found killed and skinned, dead for days, even though people saw them walking and talking that very morning.
Loot: Tom changes identities often and has little use for material things; whatever valuables he's carrying probably belong to whoever's skin he's wearing. He might have a little cash or a bag of sweets.
Connection: A friend or relative of a character was killed or spared by Skin Tom. A character reminds Tom of a skin he enjoyed wearing years or decades ago.
GM Intrusion: Part of Tom's stolen skin tears open, revealing his true form underneath, horrifying the character and hindering their actions by two steps for several rounds.
Tom makes a sudden and unexpected attack (either attacking with surprise or making an additional swift attack) that is eased by two steps and inflicts an additional moderate wound (4 points).