The Origin
Subworld scrabblers aren't Collector-kin, but they are strange, otherworldly entities apart from metahumans and Crash-empowered animals that were directly created by Collector actions. The Subworld is a mass of decaying reality slivers mashed into a single morass of pseudo-reality. Within and between each individual Subworld neighborhood are the hazed edges where matter and time degrade into nothing. It's from these voids that scrabblers emerge, oozing into existence from a place where there should be nothing. Scrabblers are many-limbed, like spiders, but have pale, hairless bodies that more resemble 3 foot (1 m) long cloth dolls sewn from dark thread and colorful— though now stained—fabric. Subworld scrabblers usually only haunt the Subworld, like especially noisome rats in the walls. Lately, however, they've figured out how to struggle out of solid surfaces in the base timeline, where they lurk alone or in small packs, obscured by the cloud of shadow they emit when moving. They prefer helpless prey, but grow bolder each night.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Alone or in packs of four to seven, anywhere dark
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: Minor wound (3 points)
Movement: Short; short when phasing through solid material
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to cloud of shadows raised by a moving or fighting scrabbler
Combat: A Subworld scrabbler attacks with needlelike claws. A victim that takes damage must succeed on a Might defense task, or become poisoned and descend one step on the damage track. The victim must continue making Might defense tasks each round until they succeed or descend three steps on the damage track. Those who descend to the third step from a scrabbler's poison are not dead. They are paralyzed and can't move for about a minute. If a scrabbler isn't otherwise occupied, it can grab a paralyzed victim and drag the victim down into the ground or a nearby wall, into the Subworld. Most victims drawn into walls are never seen again. Subworld scrabblers can see in the dark as if it was bright light. Scrabblers regain 1 point of health per round unless they're in the presence of bright light.
Interaction: Subworld scrabblers are about as intelligent as clever predators like wolves.
Use: Hotel guests report strange scrabbling noises under the floor and suspect rats. Really big rats.
GM Intrusion: The scrabbler seizes the character's light or means of seeing in the dark, and extinguishes or destroys it.s