#RPGaDay2024 Day 15 – Genetics

Day 15 of #RPGaDay2024, almost at the halfway point! I continue with the alternative prompt challenge list by Skala Wyzwania. For more information on RPG a Day, see David Chapman’s Autocratik blog post for 2024.

The RPG challenge theme for today is Genetics. Rolling a 1d10 for the quest. The result is 8: Present an idea for a random encounter.

The Genetic Pits of the Fleshmasters from Beyond the Stars

Deep beneath Ravall lies the ruin of a long-forgotten crashed metal airship that fell from the skies when the world was young. From those depths, the ancient people of Ravall unraveled the secrets of clockwork and steam. The rumors that a cabal of warlocks has discovered the secret way to Ravall insist that they have awakened far more than the automaton armies whispered to be invading the lands of the easter vales. There are tall, nearly unnatural, beautiful strangers down the Rixes River valley. Those who have met them tell horrifying tales of shapeshifters who absorb their victims.

The Fleshmasters are shapeshifters who arrived on this world from beyond in a crashed dimension-traveling ship. They remained dormant until the recent reawakening of the Great Engine in Ravall. Unbeknownst to those who now try to unravel the secrets of the long-lost princedoms, the Great Engine draws its power from the ship’s reality-warping core. The activation awakened a defense system that has reproduced and now hunts the vales and lands near the distant mountains that hide Ravall.

A Fleshmaster looks like a tall, preternaturally beautiful human. They wear the clothes of the region where they are met and speak the language of the locals, often more. Fleshmasters are amorphous blobs of roiling blue and grey that can change shape into the forms of those they have absorbed. They retain the knowledge of their victims and combine the most desirable features of those they absorb. While they can fight, taking the form of creatures they have absorbed, they are deadly in their natural form. Their touch burns and their smell sickens those nearby, causing them to fall into a stupor to be absorbed. In any form, the Fleshmasters are incredibly resilient.

Encounter: You run into a traveler by the road. The stranger travels alone and will ask to travel along for protection. They are beautiful and friendly, but their interaction is awkward. Somehow, they seem uncomfortable in their skin despite their attractiveness. They will offer to stand guard or try to get someone alone. Once they are alone or left to guard their sleeping fellow travelers, they will seek to absorb the being and take their place. If discovered, they will turn into a ferocious creature and fight, or if cornered and in danger, they will assume their true form and seek to kill and absorb all opponents.

This post wasn’t easy. Two reasons: some of these topics are not an easy fit for the fantasy narrative I’ve been weaving in this month’s post, and the challenge was complex for me to do. It was a random encounter. I eventually got to one. I’m not 100% satisfied with the result and tinkered around, but I’m not going to keep at it, or I’ll scratch it, and I have to get on to the next topic. I hope you find something useful in there…

Join #RPGaDay2024. If you find a topic interesting, write about it, comment on it, or talk about it on your socials. The goal is to celebrate all the wonderful things tabletop role-playing games bring to our lives and the positive elements of the community. Don’t forget to tag your contribution with the hashtag and share it with us here, on social media, and in the #RPGaDay 2024 Facebook Group.