The Strange Bestiary
The humanity evinced in a spliced's physical form is a facade, little more than sheep's clothing for a wolf. When the science of bioengineering is pushed beyond all reason, the spliced are one result.
Dangerous, unpredictable killers, the creatures are apex predators with no equal and can quickly deplete a population to feed their remarkable appetite.
A spliced looks almost human. It has same general shape, size, and posture, but something is not
quite right. The cheekbones might be too high, the body hair a bit too profuse, the gait wrong, or the eyes shifting colors with the lighting.
The minor differences in a spliced's appearance do not betray the creature's true nature as it moves among its prey, but a feeling of discomfort or wrongness follows wherever it goes.
Motive: Kill
Environment (Weird Science): Spliced hide within established communities.
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound (6 points)
Movement: Short
Combat: A spliced almost always attacks with surprise. It picks out its prey from the herd, finding the weak, the overweight, or the sick, and then follows from a distance, staying just out of sight. Once the target lets down its guard, the spliced attacks.
When on the attack, the creature undergoes a rapid, unnerving transformation. All the minor qualities that made the spliced different manifest themselves in actual claws and teeth, spines that erupt from the skin, and mottled patterns that help the spliced blend in with the shadows.
The spliced can attack with any of its natural weapons twice in a single action. A surprised creature hit by a spliced's attack takes 2 additional points of damage.
A spliced has numerous advantages from the introduction of characteristics from other species.
It can jump twice as high, jump twice as far, and run twice as far as a normal human. It can see in total darkness. It can change its skin coloration as camouflage.
Interaction: A spliced's unusual biology imbues it with an appetite for fresh meat, preferably from other sentient creatures. It may communicate using whatever language it knows, but a spliced is cunning and manipulative, working to get its prey to let down its guard long enough for the spliced to attack.
Use: The PCs are called to investigate a rash of murders afflicting a city. In doing so, they attract the attention of the spliced responsible for the attacks, which begins to hunt them instead.
GM Intrusion: A spliced leaps a short distance away from the character attacking it without using an action.