Grave Gas Phantom
- HP
- 0
- Defense
- 0
- AR
- 0
- Mettle
- 0
Traits
- Not an independent creature. Source labels this 'Tier: Variable (uses the affected character's stats with modifications).' The Phantom is a *condition* applied to a PC or NPC, not a separate combatant. HP/Defense/Pool/Mettle/AR are all recorded as 0 in frontmatter as schema placeholders — the host's stats apply, modified as below. Tier `elite` is a placeholder midpoint; threat scales with the host.
- Trigger: Disturbing a burial mound (digging, walking over a vent, explosion) releases a cloud of Grave Gas in a 10m radius.
- Resist: GRIT + Resilience TN 13. Holding breath provides +2.
- Duration: 1d6 hours. Can be ended early with smelling salts (Medicine TN 11), immersion in cold water, or a Bastion Soul's Null Zone.
Abilities
- Modifications to Affected Character:
- - +2 IRON (reflected in Pools and damage).
- - +2 to all physical Pools.
- - Immune to Fear, Pain, and Suppression.
- - Cannot distinguish friend from foe — attacks the nearest creature.
- - Cannot use Skills requiring fine motor control or rational thought (Ballistics, Medicine, Channel, Insight, Craft). Melee and Brawl function normally.
- - Speed +4 (the hallucination includes a sense of massive stride).
A hallucinogenic manifestation spawned from the “Grave Gas” that seeps from disturbed burial mounds on the Graven Plain. The gas — a by-product of ancient organic matter interacting with Current-saturated soil — induces powerful hallucinations in which the victim believes they are a towering, ancient being. The “Phantom” is the victim themselves, acting out the hallucination with full conviction and supernatural strength.
In other words: the Grave Gas doesn’t create a monster. It turns you into one.
Affected individuals experience a fugue state lasting 1d6 hours in which they believe they are a giant of the old world — a guardian, a warrior, a deity. They speak in languages that have no living translation. They lash out at anything they perceive as a threat, which in their altered state is everything smaller than a horse. When the gas wears off, they remember nothing — just a dream of being enormous, ancient, and furious.
Encounter Design
A party member (or an NPC ally) is affected. The remaining characters must restrain their companion without killing them — or survive until the gas wears off. This encounter is about emotional stakes: do you hurt your friend to save yourself? Can you find smelling salts in time? The Grave Gas Phantom is your party member at their most dangerous and most vulnerable, and the encounter works best when the affected character’s player is in on the horror.