Are there intresting monsters that are basically human (or demi-human) but infected with something magical or similar, other than lycanthropes or vampires? I'm trying to write an adventure for my group, and it's going to have a murderer who's secretly something monstrous, but I don't really want it to be something so overused. It'd be cooler to have something a bit less common. I just can't seem to think of any off the top off my head.
What other monsters would fit well into a supernatural killer adventure where the killer is pretending to be an ordinary person and has to be exposed? Bonus points for something unconventional that would really surprise the playes and their characters. No points for suggesting doppelgangers.
>>43599722
Other than non-Voodoo zombies, there's a few I can think of off the top of my head.
>Cult of former humans who, due to exceptional circumstances or their own free will, consumed human flesh. Over time, the consumption to feed exclusively on human flesh began to corrupt them, and their desire for flesh overrode any and all other personality traits they may have had, and the residual magic of their actions and their surroundings turned them into silent, barely-humanoid creatures of the night, who despite their ferocity and inhumanity still retain a large amount of their cunning and intellect.
Alternatively,
>man who has been possessed by a particularly insidious demon. The demon grants him charisma, power, strength, and intellect, as well as great health, but at a price - he must kill a specific type of person whenever the demon demands it be done. While this is usually at a specific intervals and in a specific manner, the demon can make those demands at any time, and they must be complied with in a reasonable time frame, or else the demon will full-on possess his body, turning it into a horrific monster and casting the mans soul irreversibly into whatever particular hell your setting has with no hope of resurrection. While the demon takes the long-game approach, and feels it can sate itself better by siphoning off a little at a time over a long period rather than a brief but hyper-violent existence, it has no problems killing the man - after all, he can always possess a new body.
>this man will most likely be a well-liked and upstanding member of the community, with a great many people who love and depend on him.
Yes, obscure folkloric monsters that impersonate humans.
You could always make something up.
Have you considered something just like a possessed person? Such as someone who feels an incredible bloodlust occasionally, and while they don't transform, maybe get boosts to stats or magic powers when under their bloodlust.
Other ideas;
>Vampire that's actually a 'blob' or slime that lives inside of people's skins, the moment you pierce it it comes rushing out and becomes a much harder encounter
>Person is actually a host to a million rats and bugs, which pour out and attack on mass. Similar to #1 but more nature themed.
>Person is actually a single part of a larger, hydra-like being. The tentacles/necks of this thing are invisible and intangible, but anyone with see magic can follow it back to the hydra's 'body', also opens the potential for multiple heads or killers
>Creature that looks human but can stretch through impossible small spaces, and must eat human livers. Can also hibernate and builds nests in buildings and dungeons- from X-Files episode 'Squeeze'.
>Creature is actually a ghost of the victim's family's past, sent to kill this disappointing or criminal offspring. Even better if its because the victim(s) violated some ancient law they had no clue about.
The best thing about most of these is the person(s) may not even know they are afflicted, or can try to cover it up and can either feel remorseful or be totally monsterous.
Hope some of these help, OP.
It's actually three goblins sitting on each other's shoulders, wearing moustaches. Cloak optional.
Planescape Bacchae
>>43599722
In Shintoism and Taoism, literally any "enlightened animal spirit" can adopt a human form. Some are evil and prey on humans. These are typically predatory animals or animals associated with evil. There are also benevolent animal spirits, who generally do not get involved with humans.
>>43599722
Hitler
>>43599722
A baldanders
>>43599722
Some sort of spellcaster polymorphs into an animal to murder people.Bonus points if he's framing a werewolf
Search in the same time period Vampire and weres got famous.
Frankenstein monster. Under his clothes scars are visible.
Dorean grey.
A secret Hulk.
>>43599722
How about wendigoes? You could say they look less weird soon after they become one, so it gets easier to spot them the more innocents they eat.
>>43599722
Well... Mostly-human, infected by something? Hmm. I wonder.
>>43599722
Malfunctioning homonculus with the consciousness of a formerly living human "uploaded" into it, retains the personality & all the memories of said human, etc. Due to being incomplete, or improperly completed, the forces that sustain it are unstable, it must absorb life energy of the living to sustain itself. With clothes on, it passes for a normal human, but it looks like a ceramic mannequin under its clothes.
>>43600173
>>Person is actually a single part of a larger, hydra-like being. The tentacles/necks of this thing are invisible and intangible, but anyone with see magic can follow it back to the hydra's 'body', also opens the potential for multiple heads or killers
http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-428
