Basically, one of the chickens the players raised early on the campaign is finally coming home to roost. A player who had to move away a few months ago had an extraordinarily simple-minded character who, through sheer good will and the perversity of the Dark Powers, was accidentally founding a new cult based on a benevolent "Horsey God" of hospitality and aid to the needy. After this character was betrayed by some of his friends and slain in horrific fashion, his primary disciple (also a PC), managed to flee the battle and has since been retired to NPC status...and he has twisted the "Horsey God" faith into "The Blood Steed," a terrifying deity that demands vengeance, hatred, and blood for blood. The benevolent NPC's efforts had involved introducing children to the concept of the Horsey God, and as his disciple was also a trusted member of several communities after a number of good deeds, the now-rage-driven disciple has had an easy time bending the teachings to far darker intent. He's now even gone so far as to abduct children, whose parents often go along with the scheme willingly (implicitly trusting this disciple thanks to his past deeds), whom he is now using to create a small army of heralds for the coming tsunami of blood.
By promising plenty of "material" for their experiments, he has partnered with some particularly callous sects of Alchemical Philosophers and malevolent adherents to the Divinity of Mankind in Paridon, and after many months of research and failed projects, this sinister meeting of the minds has met with their first great successes of combining the alchemical and the scientific to enhance and empower humans, both body and soul. Melding the secrets of emotional purgatives and intensifiers, metabolic enhancers, and even borrowing the processes used to create the fabled Enlightened Child of Alchemical Philosophy, they have accelerated the growth and maturation of these children through terrible methods of physical reconstruction and mental conditioning.
The inspiration for this is loosely based on the "Big Sisters" of Bioshock 2, as these are children who have their past stripped away, are enhanced by genetic engineering, and supplemented by advanced mechanical-biological melding to create a terrifying and superhuman foe for a singular purpose. These Armored Saints (yes, laugh!) have been "brewed" in individual "Sepulchers" (essentially, the same growth tanks used to create alchemical children) over a period months as their new physical and mechanical enhancements are added and their maturation processes greatly accelerated: they reach a biological age of 17 in a matter of weeks, at which point they are "canonized" as Saints with the final mental conditioning and the construction of a personalized and specialized armored suit, which functions much like an extraordinarily tough (and well-armed) environmental protection suit. Unfortunately, all these tender ministrations utterly destroy the person these children once were, and when they awaken, they resemble their former selves in physical appearance only. Implanted with alchemical/magical contraptions such as secondary hearts, emergency breathing shunts, and incredibly enhanced agility and strength, they live and strive only to usher in the era of their unholy god, who will see the Realms drowned in blood for the crimes of its inhabitants.
Here's where the fine folks here at the Cafe` come in. As of now, these Saints possess such attacks and abilities as:
--a terror-inducing shriek that is projected from mechanical voice amplifiers implanted in their vocal cords and connected to their masks. Tactically, they are to use these just prior to arrival in battle so as to sow as much panic in the ranks as possible while there is no clear danger in sight.
--a medium-range cone-shaped spray attack of some kind, mostly corrosive acid or alchemist's fire. Damage is based on the liquid discharged.
--a primitive grenade launcher-type weapon that can be used 2x per day. It's a 30-foot diameter blast that deals 2d12 damage, though since the players have managed to make it to level 10, I may need to increase this.
--they posses slightly-below-Monk speed but can use Spider Climb at will
--each carries a personalized primary melee weapon, be it something as basic as a razor-sharp blade or as fantastical as a primitive over-the-hand chainsaw. None of these are finalized, yet.
--each is also equipped with a wickedly sharp, hollow tube on their off-hand forearm that functions as a hypodermic needle, secondary melee weapon, and extractor of some vital essence all-in-one. I'll have about a half-dozen of these Saints set loose into the world, and I'd like each one to be able to extract something different from their victims on a successful needle attack. Some ideas I've had are: blood (pretty basic), cerebrospinal fluid, emotions, memories, and the will to live. However, I'm having trouble adjudicating what the in-game effect of some of these would be, and so I turn to you.
What suggestions do you have for other abilities and attacks (particularly draining attacks), and how would you implement them? Given how creative and knowledgeable everyone here is, I doubt I'll need to do much, if any, tweaking. I'm looking forward to sheer cruelty and horror of your ideas!
