Hollow Man
- HP
- 8
- Defense
- 7
- AR
- 0
- Mettle
- 0
Attacks
| Attack | Pool | WR | Tempo | Qualities | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grab | 4 | 1 | 4 | — | Initiates Grapple; then Cold Drain. |
| Cold Drain | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | While grappled: target takes 1 Strain every 4 Ticks. |
Traits
- Relentless: Immune to Pain, Fear, Stun, Bleeding, and Poison. Does not eat, sleep, or breathe.
- Empty: Immune to all Mindweaver Talents (no mind to affect). Immune to Suppression (no morale to break).
- Salt Vulnerability: Takes ×2 damage from Salt Rounds. A salt barrier (line across a doorway) stops them completely — they will stand at the threshold and reach but cannot cross.
- Slow: Speed is halved (round down). Hollow Men never Scramble, Sprint, or Rush. They walk.
They were people once. Now they are empty — shells animated by the residual Current that pooled in the space where a soul used to be. Hollow Men are what happens when a Psionic burns their last Memory, or when a corpse is left unsalted in a place where the Veil is thin. The body walks. The eyes move. But there is nothing behind them.
Hollow Men are drawn to warmth — body heat, firelight, the glow of a gas lamp. They approach slowly, arms outstretched, making a sound that might be weeping or might be the wind through an empty ribcage. They do not run. They do not stop. They simply walk toward you until one of you is cold.
The most terrible thing about Hollow Men is that they sometimes wear the faces of people you knew. Salting the dead is law on the Frontier. This is why.
Tactics
Walk toward warmth. Grab and hold. Multiple Hollow Men will converge on the same target — the warmest body in the room. They are most dangerous in enclosed spaces where their slowness is less of a disadvantage.
Encounter Design
Hollow Men are terrifying in numbers. A single one is pitiful. A dozen, shambling out of the fog wearing the faces of a settlement’s missing, is a horror set piece.