The Strange Bestiary
When the astronauts returned to the lander, one of them brought back an uninvited guest: a parasite that feeds on cerebrospinal fluids. Later, when the thing spread through the crew, killing them one by one, it was clear that something horrible had happened. The original astronaut managed to escape, but now that spine tinglers have a taste for human juice, it's only a matter of time before they're seen again.
Spine tinglers are native to recursions seeded by any number of sci-fi horror films, whose science fiction setting was merely a handy backdrop for the terror. And terrifying they are, given the spine tingler's ability to attach to a victim and remain unseen while the prey slowly weakens and dies.
Spine tinglers who have slain their host are nearly as large as a person, but lack of food shrinks them back down after a few days.
Motive: Hungers for human cerebrospinal fluid, reproduction
Environment (Weird Science): Usually in abandoned "alien" spacecraft or infesting human interplanetary spacecraft or settlements, often in pods of three to six
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (3 points)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Stealth as level 6.
Combat: A spine tingler prefers to attach to a victim while the victim is unaware, slither up under the clothing, and connect to the victim's back along the spine. It "connects" by sinking teethlike projections and siphoning through tendrils in the flesh while slathering the wounds with anesthetizing slime. A conscious victim unaware of the attack is allowed to attempt a difficulty 5 Intellect defense roll to become aware when the attachment first occurs.
If a spine tingler makes the connection with the victim none the wiser, it begins to slowly suck the victim's cerebrospinal fluid. From the victim's perspective, feeding manifests like a disease. After the first day, the victim must succeed on a Might defense roll every twenty-four hours or suffer 3 points of Speed damage and 3 points of Intellect damage (ignores Armor). Recovery rolls always heal minimum results while the creature remains attached. If the spine tingler is never found and dispatched, the victim dies after a few weeks of losing too much cerebrospinal fluid.
After the parasite is attached for a day, a victim literally is unable to notice the creature feeding on him. It'll take someone else to see the lump under the victim's garments or see him unclothed to understand that he isn't dying of a disease, but of an invasive parasite.
If discovered, a spine tingler detaches and attacks foes with slashing claws, but it prefers to scuttle to safety in a place too small to be followed.
Interaction: A spine tingler acts with all the shrewdness of a predator, though one that is parasitic in nature.
Use: The PCs discover an abandoned craft carrying something in the cargo bay. That something is a spine tingler far larger than normal, but luckily it seems frozen in some kind of amber.
GM Intrusion: The spine tingler jumps for the character's face. On a failed Speed defense roll, the creature completely covers the character's head and begins to feed. The PC is blinded and deafened and begins to smother. If the victim (or an ally) fails a Might-based task to pull the spine tingler free, she falls unconscious while the creature remains attached. Not attempting to pull the creature off counts as a failure.