Nightmaster is an insane Shadow Lord who lives in the Abyss.
Biography[]
Of the few that dare to call the dreaded Abyss a home, none is as infamous and terrifying as the Shadow Lord known as Nightmaster. Once a great hero to the Garou and a member of the Society of Nidhogg, he traveled into the Abyss long ago with his pack. Seeking out the realm's secrets, his pack went mad with the nature of this realm and he was forced to put them down, one by one, till he was the only one standing in the lightless void.
There, he made a pact with the Abyss itself, either becoming its slave or its master. In doing so, he sacrificed his soul to the dark, and destroyed everything in his being that was weak or natural. He now walks the Abyss with impunity, freeing those creatures suited to his whims and subduing them into his service. He is a fitting ruler for this gloomy realm.
Stats[]
Umbra: The Velvet Shadow and Umbra Revised[]
Umbra: The Velvet Shadow is * and Umbra Revised is ^
Breed: Homid
Auspice: Philodox
Nature: Bravo*
Demeanor: Bravo*
Tribe: Shadow Lord (Society of Nidhogg)
Attributes: Strength 5 (7/9/8/6), Dexterity 4 (4/5/6/6), Stamina 5 (7/8/8/8), Charisma 3, Manipulation 4 (3/1/1/1), Appearance 1 (0/0/1/1), Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5
Abilities: Alertness 5, Athletics *4/^5, Brawl *4/^5, Dodge *3/^5, Empathy 1, Intimidation 7, Primal-Urge 3, Subterfuge 4, ^Crafts 2, Melee *3/^5, Leadership 4, Performance 3, *Repair 2, Stealth 5, Survival 4, Enigmas 5, Medicine 3, Occult 5, Politics 3, Rituals 5
Backgrounds (Velvet Shadow): Pure Breed 2, Resources 3
Backgrounds (Umbra Revised): The entire Abyss and its secrets are open to Nightmaster; if he takes the time to look for something lost within the tunnels, he'll eventually find it. Nightmaster is notably Pure Bred, but has been cut off from any access to totem spirits or ancestor-spirits.
Gifts (Velvet Shadow): Aura of Confidence, Fatal Flaw, Persuasion, Resist Pain, Scent of the True Form, Truth of Gaia, Call to Duty, Clap of Thunder, Luna's Armor, Staredown, Strength of Purpose, Disquiet, Icy Chill of Despair, Paralyzing Stare, Reshape Object, Body Shift, Open Wounds, Roll Over, Scent of Beyond, Stench of the Peasant, Take the True Form, Geas, Obedience, Shadow Pack, Stealing the Soul,
Gifts (Umbra Revised): Nightmaster has been around so long that the Storyteller can presume he has access to any and all Gifts that seem appropriate; all Shadow Lord Gifts in particular ate his to command. He also wields a unique Gift granted to him and him alone by the Abyss.
Special Gift (Velvet Shadow): The Abyss has granted Nightmaster the Gift: Stealing the Soul. It is a Level Five Gift that allows him to roll his Gnosis against an opponent's Gnosis. For each sucess he surpasses his opponent, he drains a point of his opponent's score (temporarily). This is the only way that Nightmaster can regain Gnosis. Nightmaster must see his target to use this Gift. He can (and does) use it in conjunction with Scent of the Beyond. Also, his only legions are from his Shadow Pack Gift.
•Stealing the Soul (Level Five) (Umbra Revised) - By focusing on an opponent, Nightmaster may make an opposed Gnosis roll (difficulty of his target's Gnosis) against his victim (difficulty 10). For each success by which he surpasses his opponent, he drains two points of temporary Gnosis from his opponent. This is the only way that Nightmaster can regain Gnosis.
Rank: 5
Rites: All
Fetishes: Nightmaster has a Heart of the Spirit fetish filled with 10 points of Gnosis. He also owns an ancient klaive. (Velvet Shadow)/Assassin's klaive; Storyteller's choice of 4-8 other "toys" of the moment. (Umbra Revised)
Rage 7, Gnosis 10, Willpower 10
Shattered Dreams Stats[]
Breed: Homid
Auspice: Theurge
Tribe: Shadow Lords
Rank: Nightmaster was Rank 3 before becoming the Abyss' champion, but Gaian spirits no longer recognize his legitimacy. Banes and other Wyrm-spirits fearfully exalt Nightmaster as chosen of the Abyss and treat him Rank 6.
Physical: Strength 5 (7/9/8/6), Dexterity 5 (5/6/7/7), Stamina 5 (7/8/8/7)
Social: Charisma 2, Manipulation 4 (2/1/1/1), Appearance 2 (1/0/2/2)
Mental: Perception 5, Intelligence 3, Wits 4
Talents: Alertness 5, Athletics 5, Brawl 5, Intimidation 4, Leadership 4, Primal-Urge 5, Stealth 3, Subterfuge 2
Skills: Melee 5, Survival 5
Knowledges: Enigmas 3, Investigation 3, Occult 3, Rituals 3
Backgrounds: Allies 5 (Hive of the Jagged Maw, Banes rescued from the Abyss), Contacts 5 (Followers of the Wyrm), Rites 5
Rage: 10 (10); Gnosis: 8 (0); Willpower: 9
Gaia's Gifts: City Running, Cold Voice of Reason, Command Spirit, Direct the Storm, Fatal Flaw, Icy Chill of Despair, Persuasion, Shadow Cutting, Speech of the World, Spirit Snare, Spirit Speech, Staredown, Umbral Camouflage
Wyrm's Gifts: Bale Armor, Claws of Corrosion, Feast of Essence, Stolen Hide
Rites: Nightmaster knows many lost rites, but the only one of relevance here is the one that will unmake everything.
Apocalypse Errata[]
This was originally supposed to be part of the Appendix for the Chapter Scenario, The Last Battleground. As it never made it to print, it's author, Sean Riley made it available for free as Errata on the old White Wolf forms:
The Nightmaster is designed as a recurring character, someone to personally dog the PCs. Ideally, you want the Nightmaster to potentially trick, ally with, betray, and otherwise really piss off the player characters. In most games, he will likely turn up at the Last Battleground and represent the true grudge-match for the players. In other words, he's there to provide a face for the Apocalypse. The Wyrm is easy to fear, but difficult to truly hate. Nightmaster has a really punchable face, by comparison.
His five forms are a warped version of each of his Garou forms, and are presented in an escalating fashion. While the Black Wolf will lure your players in, the rest are designed to horrify, and then attempt to kill, the characters.
While you're free to follow any path with these forms, most STs will most probably find the following pattern useful: Use the Black Wolf to lure your players into halfway trusting the Nightmaster. Since it's a bastard Wyrm thing, this won't last. Use the Nothing Man to make sure that falling out will make the pack truly hate his guts. Later on, give them another encounter so they don't think he's gone: Use the Blasphemer for packs who are focused and determined, or the Typhon Beast for packs who are dragging their paws. Finally, bring out the Heart of the Abyss for the Last Battle, giving the players a personal grudge to be settled at the end.
CONSTANTS:
The following are the stats that remain true regardless of which form he is in.
ABILITIES: Alertness 5, Athletics 5, Brawl 5, Dodge 5, Intimidation 7, Primal-Urge 3, Crafts 2, Leadership 4, Melee 5, Performance 3, Stealth 5 (in all but the Heart of the Abyss form, which has Stealth 0), Survival 4, Enigmas 5, Medicine 3, Occult 5, Politics 3, Rituals 5.
GIFTS: Any the ST wants to give it. It's had a long damned time to get them. Also...
• Stealing the Soul (Level 5) The Nightmaster can focus upon one opponent and, by making an opposed Gnosis roll (difficulty of his opponent's Gnosis) against his victim. (Who rolls against diff. 10.) Every success drains two points of temporary Gnosis from his opponent. This is the only way the Nightmaster can regain Gnosis.
RITES: Any and all.
FETISHES: Whatever you want to give him. Be creative. Think 'pain'. 'Humiliation' is also good.
Rage: 7
Gnosis: 10
Willpower: 10.
--
THE BLACK WOLF
Strength 6, Dexterity 3, Stamina 8, Charisma 5, Manipulation 7, Appearance 4, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5.
ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: Empathy 4, Subterfuge 5
Image: The Black Wolf, the Nightmaster's Abyss-tainted lupus form, is the closest to a natural body it possesses. Despite missing its front-left leg, it is otherwise a normal looking wolf with black fur. The fur isn't glossy and clean, but ashen and dirty. It seems to contain a multitude of shadows hidden within the fur. As with all his forms, his eyes are empty pools of darkness.
Powers: What distinguishes the Black Wolf from a normal lupus form is that it can speak, in any tongue at all. It can speak to the spirits in their own language, any human tongue, or to any animal. What's more, this lingual capacity extends to non-verbal methods as well... the wolf's body language will be instinctively picked up by a human being as well as they'd read another human's.
Roleplaying Tips: The Black Wolf is here as the first contact form. There's always been a sense in Werewolf to assume homids as the tricky, more political breed and the lupus as the more forthright, direct ones. The Black Wolf inverts this -- The Lupus form here is made for trickery and gaining the trust of the players.
This is the form for Storytellers to use as a way to screw over your players later. Don't play 'nice guy' with it, that will spoil the homid/lupus inversion. Just play it like a standard lupus NPC. The Nightmaster will admit, yes, he's not always been the most faithful of Garou to the cause. But he's got as much to lose as anyone from the events happening in the Umbra, his sun-forsaken realm will be destroyed like anything else. And hint, very carefully at a deep abiding desire for redemption. Suck those players in and turn 'em around, so you can stab them in the back later.
THE NOTHING MAN
Strength 5, Dexterity 2, Stamina 5, Charisma 2, Manipulation 2, Appearance N/A, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5
ADDITIONAL ABILITIES: Subterfuge 2
Image: The Nothing Man can barely be seen. He is a shadowy insubstantial entity, vaguely man shaped but barely more than a wisp of smoke upon the breeze. Within the Abyss, he is utterly invisible. In a well-lit room, he might be glimpsed barely as a black breeze. Should he be seen under the light of the sun, or something as bright as an industrial halogen lamp, he would stand revealed as a human-shaped black shadow. (Indeed, the Nothing Man is a perversion of the Homid form.)
Powers: The Nothing Man cannot be harmed in this form. However, the Nothing Man also cannot harm anyone, nor even physically interact with the world. However, he has a simple way around this -- He can physically possess any living humanoid creature it encounters just by stepping into it. He makes no roll for this, though any shapeshifter who is aware of the attempt can resist, pushing the Nothing Man away by rolling Strength + Enigmas. (Difficulty 8, and may I take the opportunity to say HA! Bet you never thought you'd see _that_ Attribute/Ability combination!) A possessed victim is entirely aware of everything they're doing while possessed, they simply can't stop it.
Once a victim is possessed, the Nothing Man can make a number of things happen automatically:
o. Anything the victim could normally voluntarily do. Yes, this includes doing harm to themselves, up to and including suicide. Storytellers, be sane with this power. Don't preclude the possibilities, but give players a chance to leap on their friends and pin them down.
o. The Nightmaster can force their victims internal organs to function or misfunction. Causing victims to vomit blood, for example, is possible.
o. Most importantly, the Nightmaster can speak through his victim's lips, in their voice. He _can_ attempt to pretend to be the victim, but this isn't what the form is designed for. He cannot access his victim's memories, either.
The good news is that the Nothing Man has very few Health Levels (-0, -2, -5, injured enough to no longer be a factor in scene, and if Storyteller prefers, dead) and any attacks that injure a possessed victim will likewise injure the Nothing Man. As such, injuries to his host will quickly force him to abandon it.
Roleplaying Tips: The Nothing Man has two purposes. Firstly, he's a show-stopper, designed to demonstrate how little power the characters can have over him. If they do make a deal with the Nightmaster and turn on him, then don't hesitate to have him suddenly vanish, and then someone starts puking blood before issuing harsh threats, ending with the victim collapsing and the Nightmaster vanished... until later.
Secondly, the Nothing Man is a classic defiler (and Defiler) archetype, taking hold of the victim's mind and body and commanding them as his own. Play up the sense of violation this should engender, since that's exactly what it is. A victim of the Nothing Man should be, come a final showdown with the Nightmaster, be itching to get revenge.
THE BLASPHEMER
Strength 7, Dexterity 3, Stamina 7, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 0, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5.
Image: The Blasphemer is a massive hulk of a man, a clear perversion of the Glabro form into a grotesque parody of the human body. His physical weight is entirely misplaced, with about 80% of his body weight seemingly located in his upper torso. His head is likewise twice as large as it should be, and is wildly disfigured with a massive jaw. Above the ears, it tapers away into a tiny little dome, with his two dark eyes jutting out. Most noticeable, however, is the scar-tissue that he has in place of a mouth, as if someone had sliced away his lips and sewn the orifice together to let it heal together. As with all other forms, he lacks his left arm, which makes him seem even more malformed and monstrous.
Powers: The Blasphemer has no mouth and sings constantly. In a horrible "voice" that is quite genuinely audible yet emerges not from the Blasphemer but around him, the Blasphemer sings forth a hideous psalm to the Wyrm that can be understood by anyone wise enough to not want to. Every turn of combat (and on a regular basis should they for some reason not be fighting this beast) anyone not allied with the Wyrm and possessing Gnosis rolls Intelligence + Enigmas, difficulty 7. Each _success_ knocks off one point of temporary Gnosis from the character.
You can raise this to difficulty 10 by covering your ears with your hands, but this will raise combat difficulties, to say the least. Industrial baffles will, however, eliminate the danger entirely.
Roleplaying Tips: This guy's half-splatterpunk, half-Cthulhu horror, all force for desperation. He's a Guardian at the Gate type, designed to throw off your players should they be a little too hot on the scent. In other words, if they're roaring through scenes, hunting down the Apocalypse and sniffing that Last Battlefield, throw the Blasphemer at them to shake their confidence. Nothing says, "Well, crap." like seeing your Gnosis fall to zero in no time flat. For added fun, make them roll Willpower to avoid falling into Harano.
That said, don't screw the players solid right here and now. An excellent choice for when to spring this on your players is right before they have a chance for a major victory: Rescuing Gaia from Summer Country would be ideal, and Pangaea's or Erebus' major scenarios would also qualify. Use the ties of scenarios here to restore some Gnosis on an ST fiat basis, assuming your players bounce back and step up to the challenge. This is a final test of their mettle, not the Last Battle.
But make it more than a road-bump. Shake the bastards up. This is a horror game, after all.
THE TYPHON BEAST
Strength 8, Dexterity 4, Stamina 8, Charisma 3, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5
Image: The Abyss has warped the Nightmaster's Hispo form into a hideous, perverse Cerberus. Three wolves' heads run down the length of his spine, their long necks writhing back and forth, biting all that their teeth can make purchase on. No fur covers the body of the Typhon Beast, and its black shiny skin is pulled taut over its skeleton. The vertebrae along those three long twisted necks are all too visible.
The tongues of the Typhon Beast are flecked with shards of metal; the foremost head, sitting solidly between the animal's shoulders, has a tongue filled with iron. Sitting furthermost from it in the middle of its back, the third head has a tongue of gold. And silver cuts line the tongue of the second head, which sits between the other two.
Powers: The three heads of the Typhon Beast represent the three paths into the Abyss, and their tongues carry tiny pieces of those paths. Anyone hit by a successful bite attack from the Typhon Beast in the physical world must _fail_ a Gnosis roll (difficulty of the local Gauntlet) or be immediately sucked for a single turn into the very nadir of the Abyss. Those already in the Umbra get no roll to resist, but are deposited back where they came from one turn later. Victims with no Gnosis _are_ sucked into the Abyss and do not return.
Held in its deepest voids, the victim exists in nothingness. It is not that he sees nothing, but cannot see -- No light touches his eyes. It is not that she hears nothing, but cannot hear -- No sound exists. Nothing exists. This is the anti-creation. It is the truth of Apocalypse, the Wyrm's goals come to fruition.
Being held in the Abyss this way can result in shock. The victim must make a Willpower roll, difficulty 10. Success indicates shock, but not so bad that they can't fight on. Failure means that the shock has been severe. Roll Rage, difficulty based upon the phase of the moon. If enough successes are gained to go into Frenzy, a Fox frenzy automatically results. Otherwise, the victim curls into the fetal position and tries to blot out what they saw for three turns.
Finally, the Typhon Beast has two additional bite attacks per round.
Roleplaying Tips: The flipside of the Blasphemer, the Typhon Beast is here to jolt your players into realising that the Apocalypse is all too real and is happening right damn now. Being jolted into the Abyss is a way of showing the players what will happen if they don't get their asses in gear. Play that up by describing the feeling of their encounter even after they recover from the shock -- It's a place without Gaia, at all. With no hint of connection, with no reason or understanding. There are no spirits breathing life into the air and the water. There is nothing at all.
Make them feel hurried to get to the Last Battleground. Apocalypse is coming. Gaia's warriors must be ready.
THE HEART OF THE ABYSS
Strength 12, Dexterity 1, Stamina 10, Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 0, Perception 4, Intelligence 5, Wits 5. (I highly suspect you'll need no more than those physical stats and the Wits score, but players are known to be weird.)
Abilities: Brawl 8
Image: The most horrific form of the Nightmaster, the Heart of the Abyss is a gigantic, lumbering exaggeration of the Crinos form. Standing a full twenty feet tall, his burnt black fur tumbles from his body, hiding grotesque knots of muscle underneath. His arms reach ten feet out in each direction, as thick as small trees. Five claws, each a foot long, stretch from each paw. Veins as thick as a baby's arm cover his entire body, visible beneath his fur, pushing blood through to his mouth, where it seeps out and pours between his teeth.
To his mouth, and also to the pulsing black heart that juts from his chest, heaving as it sucks in and flushes out that foul liquid. The massive organ seems to suck in the light around it, making it impossible not to look at. Though his face, bitter in hate and twisted zeal, burns with Rage, it is that heart which is most horrible.
Powers: The Heart of the Abyss needs little in the way of powers. As a massive hulking beast of pure destruction, it does its job nicely. However, a few special rules do apply.
o. All attacks at the Heart of the Abyss are made with an extra two dice to represent the larger target he presents.
o. He has an extra three -1 health levels, and an extra -2 health level.
o. His claws do Strength + 3 aggravated damage.
o. His bite does Strength + 5 aggravated damage, on account of the blood seeping about its teeth.
o. His blood is caustic. While most attacks will not cut him deeply enough to affect the attacker, any Brawl-based attack that does four levels of damage after soak will cover the attacker partially with blood, doing 3 levels of lethal damage. Furthermore, the Nightmaster can attempt to force blood down a victim's throat (either flowing from its mouth, a wound or even a severed vein); such an attack is at difficulty 9 but would be surely fatal.
o. Finally, his heart represents a weak spot. Anyone making a Perception + Enigmas roll (difficulty 7) could see that it is clearly pushing blood around this body, and is a vital organ. Attacking the heart is hard due to its height, adding +3 to the attack's target number. In addition, this is made without the bonus two dice given for attacking generally. However, an attack doing three of more levels of lethal or aggravated damage with a Brawl or Melee attack will rupture the heart, killing the Nightmaster once and for all. But whomever delivers the attack will likewise perish as his blood spills forth in a great fountain. All others who remain in combat with him will also suffer three lethal damage.
Roleplaying hints: None needed, really. This is the big guy. He's there to kick your characters' collective ass on the Last Battleground, and they're there to kick his in turn. Use him as punctuation in the battle, as a minor victory within loss, as the culmination of the characters' Rage and vengeance.
Don't forget, though, to give him an appropriate send-off, either. Give him words. Let him sneer and taunt the characters, reminding them of their humiliations and threatening worse before he dies. Make them truly, truly hate him before they kill him.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Nightmaster is inspired by G'mork from The Neverending Story (Book by Michael Ende: 1979 and Movie: 1983), who serves the Nothing.
- In The Silver Crown Novel, Evan Heals-The-Past encounters Nightmaster while trying to find the Silver Crown in the Abyss. Nightmaster tries to entrap Evan in the realm as Mari and Albrecht fight off Nightmaster. Nightmaster demonstrates the gift, Shadow Pack in one scene and proves that the fetish is not in the Abyss. Evan, Mari and Albrecht escape the realm, continuing their search.
- Nightmaster is often described as having black empty sockets in place of eyes, however, many artists depict him with normal eyes. The only artist so far who stays close to this description is Ron Spencer (See Gallery Above).
- Nightmaster's auspice changes in Shattered Dreams (A Non-Canonical Book). It goes from Philodox to Theurge, probably to open up Nightmaster to the range of Gifts given to Theurges to be suitable for the Chronicle: Into the Past.
- "A couple of packs have been sent to learn more about this mysterious "Nightmaster," but none have returned as of yet." - Chapter One: The Dark Wilds, Realms: Abyss[1]. This quote displaying that Nightmaster's descent at least going back to 1197 or earlier.
- In Shaman Moon by Owl Goingback, Shadow Dancer was Nightmaster's sister and was also killed by him.
References[]
- ↑ VTDA: Werewolf: The Dark Ages, p. 54
- WTA: Umbra: The Velvet Shadow, p. 29, 140-141
- WTA: Umbra Revised, p. 37-38, 136-137
- WTA: W20 Umbra: The Velvet Shadow, p. 46
- WTA: The Silver Crown
- WTA: The Essential World of Darkness, p. Shaman Moon, 219
- WTA: The Quintessential World of Darkness, p. The Silver Crown
- WTA: Apocalypse, p. The Last Battleground, 48-50, 74
- W20: Shattered Dreams, p. Into the Past Chronicle, 36-37
- WTA: The Umbra