Crawler

Crawler

Cursed with the inability to walk, you are destined to crawl around on your belly to chase your prey. Fortunately for you, your muscles have grown vastly stronger in the absence of your legs, and you have learned some new tricks along the way. You might not have legs, but you have a host of new abilities that more than make up for it. 

Automatic Talents:

Legless – Your speed is equal to your Strength modifier, instead of its normal value. You gain a climb speed equal to half your speed.

Hidden Threat – While a non-crawler zombie is within 10 squares of an enemy, that enemy does not notice you until you attack it. (It’s not that they can’t see you, but they are more concerned with bigger threats!)

Statistics:

HP: 14 + Resilience score at 1st level, +3 each time you gain a level. 

Ability Score Modifiers: +4 Strength, -4 Agility

Starting Humanity: 4

Class Skills: Athletics, Intimidate, (in progress)

Piggyback Talent Tree: You can overpower your enemies and use their bodies to your benefit.

• Piggyback: You gain the “Piggyback” power:

Piggyback No Recharge

Standard Action Opposed Strength Test

Requirements: You must be behind your target, and on top of a piece of furniture (or another object) at least waist height to your target.

Targets: One adjacent enemy

Effect: If you succeed on the opposed Strength check, you climb on your opponent’s back, and are now considered “piggybacked”. While piggybacked, you use your target’s movement modes and movement speed. Additionally, you cannot attack any other creatures, you may only attack once per round, and you may only use your bite attack. Creatures that attack you take a -2 on attack rolls (unless they are directly behind you). 

Special: Your target may make an opposed Strength check against you to remove you, as a full round action. Otherwise this effect lasts until you choose to end it, or until the target dies.

• Improved Piggyback: While you are piggybacked, you can force your target to attack. On your turn, you can skip your normal attack to make your full number of attacks (as though you were not piggybacked) against an adjacent creature. Use your own Strength and attack bonus, but your enemy’s weapon damage. 

- Requires Piggyback

• Advanced Piggyback: You tap directly into your opponent’s spinal cord when you use Piggyback. Your target cannot make opposed Strength tests to remove you, and you can take your normal allotment of moves, using your target’s movement modes, speed, and weapon damage. When you end your piggyback, your target returns to normal.

- Requires Improved Piggyback

• Practiced Piggyback: You gain a +2 talent bonus to Strength checks against piggyback targets.

- Requires Piggyback

• Piggyback Feeder: You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls against your piggyback target.

- Requires Piggyback

• Piggyback Defense: You gain the “Piggyback Defense” power:

Piggyback Defense Recharge 6

Interrupt Opposed Strength Test vs Piggybacked Enemy

Trigger: Another enemy makes an attack against you

Result: If you succeed on the opposed Strength test, you successfully turn your piggybacked opponent around to face the attack. Your piggybacked opponent takes all damage from the attack.

- Requires Piggyback

• Climbing Piggyback: You can attempt to piggyback an enemy without first climbing onto furniture. 

- Requires Piggyback, Strength 14

Gotcha! Talent Tree: They didn’t even see you coming. Then again, they never do.

• Surprise Strike: While an enemy doesn’t notice you, your attacks against that enemy deal an additional 1d6 damage. 

• Hide in Plain Sight: You vanish into the shadows, under furniture, or out of your opponent’s field of vision. You gain the “Hide in Plain Sight” power:

Hide in Plain Sight No Recharge

Full Round Action No Roll

Targets: An adjacent enemy

Result: The enemy is affected by your “Hidden Threat” talent, as though you had not attacked that enemy this encounter; the target must still meet the other requirements of “Hidden Threat”.

• Improved Surprise Strike: Increase your Surprise Strike damage by one die size. 

- Requires Surprise Strike

• Subtle Surprise Strike: When you deal damage with your Surprise Strike, your enemy doesn’t notice you until the start of your next turn. 

- Requires Surprise Strike, level 5

• Out of Nowhere!: You always seem to pop up when you’re least expected! You gain the “Out of Nowhere!” power:

Out of Nowhere! Recharge Encounter

Reaction No Roll

Trigger: An enemy that is not in combat moves to a square within 10 squares of you

Result: You teleport to a square adjacent to the target within 10 squares of you. 

Special: The square you teleport to must contain a piece of furniture, partial shadows, or otherwise obscure you from the target’s vision.

- Requires Surprise Strike, Hide in Plain Sight

Bring ‘em Down Talent Tree: Since you can’t stand at their level, you bring your prey down to your level.

• Ankle Biter: When you make a bite attack against an opponent’s ankles, you gain a +2 bonus on the attack and damage rolls for that attack. 

• Floor Bound: While you are in contact with the floor, you gain a +1 talent bonus to speed. 

• Bring ‘em Down: When you make a successful bite attack against an opponent’s ankles, the enemy must make a Resilience test (DC = damage dealt by the attack) or fall prone. 

- Requires Ankle Biter

• Keep ‘em Down: Prone enemies adjacent to you must succeed on an opposed Strength test or remain prone.

• Bring ‘em Down Harder: Increase the DC of your “Bring ‘em Down” talent by 1 for each level in Crawler you possess. 

- Requires Bring ‘em Down

• Keep ‘em Down Longer: You gain a +2 bonus on opposed Strength checks against prone enemies. 

- Requires Keep ‘em Down

• Kill ‘em When They’re Down: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against prone enemies equal to ½ your Crawler levels.

- Requires Bring ‘em Down, level 9