The Grey Folk

So, I needed to get my creative juices flowing. I made this guy to get the old imagination engine going. I may use him for the Tower, or not.

Formed by the vague hate all bureaucracies have for creativity.  Art by Zdzislaw Beksinski.

The Grey Folk

Movement marked by the shuffle and crinkle of paper, it walks with perfect posture. It's dressed in an old suit and unimaginative finery, stained from years of service in abandoned places. Skin, digits, and face are made from dust that wafts off of it in gentle breezes, leaving a floating trail wherever it passes. A humanoid face without expression or indicators of sex and age, its hair nothing more than a short dust haze. “Do you have an appointment?” its voice a sexless agglomeration of whispers from stale rumors and disingenuous apologies.

Formed in places where bored fascism and bureaucracy hold sway. Conglomerations of rote lies and pen-strokes that create misery for the sake of efficiency, these beings are formed from the byproducts that massive organizations leave behind. They start as whispers, floating through halls, repetitions of mottoes and denials for assistance. Growing, they gain physical form, bodies made from decades old documents and suits abandoned in offices. Never noticed, they wander the halls of these leviathan bureaucracies, melding so perfectly with the atmosphere, that they are perceived as just another cog in the machine, another drone in the hive. Even after the business or department has dissolved, the workers sent off to new sites of mediocrity, they still wander the halls. Filling out paperwork, filing folders onto water stained shelves, muttering pointless chatter to empty break rooms, they continue their service to the company despite there being no company to serve. Grey Folk dislike disorder and anyone who isn't willing to bow to the rules of their long extinct company. Mild annoyance and dislike are all the emotion they are capable of, though they act on such feelings to extinguish or reorient those they target. Without souls, and a dislike for those that have them, they burn out the talent of others, scrape out the passion of peoples' hearts, and lay waste to imagination. The Grey Folk are the whimper at the end of the world, having stolen all the energy for the last bang.

OSR

Type: Magical Creature (Not Undead, since undeath requires a previous life, for which they never had)

Activity Cycle: All times, they exist to work.

Diet: Old paperwork and dust.

Intelligence: Very Intelligent, though without any imagination.

Treasure: None

Alignment: Lawful (Evil)

No. Appearing: 1D3

Armor Class: 19 / 1 (While made of old suits and paper, they possess the immovability of the organizations that formed them.)

Movement: 30 ft.

Hit Dice: 4

To-Hit: +4

No. of Attacks: 2 – Unarmed OR Choking Dust

Damage: 1D8 w/ Instill Ennui

Special Attacks: Instill Ennui – Each time a person is struck by the Grey Folk, they must make a save vs. Paralysis or take a cumulative -1 to all attacks, saves, skills, and damage rolls from a pervasive sense of boredom and pointlessness. Bards and other characters who use creativity to fuel their abilities get a +1 bonus to saves against this ability. Choking Dust – The Grey Folk emits a blast of dust 15 feet wide, and 15 feet long. Those caught in the blast take 1D6 and must make a save vs. Poison or be blinded for 1 round.

Special Defenses: They are completely immune to any magic that involves emotions (such as Fear). They are also immune to suggestion, charm, command, or any other spell that gives authority over the monster.

Magic Resistance: 25% (Magic breaks the rules of reality)

Size: Medium (5' to 6' tall)

All Saves: 13

Crimson Dragon Slayer

Activity Cycle: All times, they exist to work.

Diet: Old paperwork and dust.

Intelligence: Very Intelligent, though without any imagination.

Treasure: None

Alignment: Lawful (Evil)

No. Appearing: 1D3

Armor Class: 5

Movement: 50 ft.

Hit Dice: 4 HD

Action-Dice: 2D6

No. of Attacks: 2 – Unarmed OR Choking Dust

Damage: 2D4 (Exploding) w/ Instill Ennui

Special Attacks: Instill Ennui – Each time a person is struck by the Grey Folk, they must make a save or take a cumulative -1 to all attacks, saves, skills, and damage rolls from a pervasive sense of boredom and pointlessness. Bards and other characters who use creativity to fuel their abilities get a +1 bonus to saves against this ability. Choking Dust – The Grey Folk emits a blast of dust 15 feet wide, and 15 feet long. Those caught in the blast take 1D6 (exploding) and must make a save or be blinded for 1 round.

Special Defenses: They are completely immune to any magic that involves emotions (such as Fear). They are also immune to suggestion, charm, command, or any other spell that gives authority over the monster.

Magic Resistance: 25% (Magic breaks the rules of reality)

Size: Medium (5' to 6' tall)

Dungeon World

No. Appearing: 1D3

Armor: 3

Hit-Points: 16

Damage: Unarmed - [1D8+2 Forceful, Piercing 2, Ennui*] or Choking Dust – [1D4 Ignores Armor of Characters who need to breath, Blinding**]

*Ennui – Must defy danger through mental fortitude (Wis). 10+: No effect. 7-9: -1 to next roll. 6 or Less: -1 forward to all rolls for the rest of the encounter. +1 to defy danger if the character is particularly creative, like a bard.

** Blinding – Must defy danger through acting fast and closing/covering their eyes (Dex) or defy danger through enduring the dust (Con). 10+: No Effect. 7-9: Vision partially obscured, -1 to all rolls involving sight until they take time to clear the dust from their eyes. 6 or Less: Completely blind until they take time to clear the dust from their eyes.

Motivations / Tactics: Keep their 'workplace' free of disorder. Ensure rogue elements in their 'workplace' are neutralized. Focus attention on chaotic characters. Continue the goals of whatever bureaucracy they were formed from.

Into the Odd

Str 8, Dex 8, Wil 12, 10 hp.

Driven to neutralize disorder and further the goals of whatever bureaucracy they formed from. Attacks with fists (D6). Those hit by the unarmed attack must make a Will save or lose D4 Will. Also attacks with Choking Dust, Grey Folk releases a 15 ft x 15 ft cloud of dust. Those who are caught in the cloud take 1D4 damage that ignores armor, they must also make a Strength save or be blinded for 1 turn.