By Bill Heron
Art by Sam Denmark
One of the biggest challenges for Horrors of the Secret War – and Achtung! Cthulhu is coming up new horrors! Not just Great Old Ones and alien gods; the arcane weapons and technology used by Nachtwölfe and Black Sun themselves.
With the Design a Mythos Monstrosity competition currently running I thought I’d share some of the process I use when creating monstrosities: in this case it’s one of the Great Old Ones featured in Horrors of the Secret War: Kol’Valassam, the Ebon Flame. A being ticking several boxes: body horror, wunderwaffe weaponry, and hunger.
Before Horrors came out, the Schwarzer Flammenwerfer, or Ebon Flamethrower, teased the existence of something in the Black Forest used in the manufacture of the horrible weapon’s volatile fuel. When asked to come up with some new Great Old Ones I was listening to Ashbury Height’s Spectres of the Black Moss. I thought of a massive entity akin to the “Black Moss” of the title, seething beneath the Black Forest. The Great Old One reacts explosively to air, expanding to consume the world. An ever-hungry being of living fire.
From this we have various special abilities – Kol’Valassam is immune to fire but also grows in Scale like Azathoth. The flame is also acidic and Kol’Valassam uses it as an area attack or a ranged attack, allowing it to reach those who may be otherwise out of its reach. And of course, it is terrifying to see (never forget these entities should have a Mental Attack). It’s invulnerable to conventional weapons as well which poses some tactical considerations for agents.
Black Sun are both Kol’Valassam’s keepers and jailers. They can extract the essence for the Schwarzer Flammenwerfer, but they cannot allow it to escape Komplex K. At least not yet. This also gives an adventure hook – what if the Allies learn of Komplex K? Do they treat it as a weapons manufacturing facility or a Black Sun facility? The place is volatile in every sense of the world although far below the ground – what if the Allies set Kol’Valassam free by accident?
And of course there’s the “body horror” aspect: the Seed of Kol’Valassam, its spawn and way of reproducing. There’s tendency for pyrokinesis (creating flame out of air) to feature frequently in pulp stories with psychic powers. The Seed grants its ebon flame power to the user, but frequent use of the power sees the Seed grow into an avatar, the host’s body bursting into black flame. While the Seed is only a Lieutenant NPC, it hides in plain sight: anyone could carry the Seed and it could manifest in an NPC as the result of a Threat spend… It’s also insidious enough to influence the host to use the Seed’s power – the temptation is always there, literally beneath the skin.
And finally, one final thought: remember Nemesis NPCs can spend 3 Threat to gain the equivalent of a Fortune point. This can be a game changer since Fortune points can be used to Make it Happen and Avoid Defeat (Achtung! Cthulhu Player’s Guide p.23). The greatest villains are often defeated only to come roaring back to haunt your agents again.
Don’t forget we want to see your very best Mythos Monsters! There’s still time to enter our Design a Mythos Monstrosity competition which closes on September 1st. It’s easy to enter and winners get £100 to spend on either Modiphius store and will have their creation immortalised in this year’s Halloween Horrors with their creation illustrated by a Modiphius artist!