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The Hollow

The Hollow

AX.GHW.13.02.05

Type: Aberration, Elite

Power Package: Elite (10D)

Veil Risk: Extreme, The Hollow consumes locations; the physical damage it causes is impossible to explain and impossible to miss

Size: Huge (an ambulatory spatial collapse, roughly building-section sized; no discrete body)
Attributes: Body 5D · Speed 1D · Wit 2D
Talents: Athletics 2D · Notice 1D · Resonance 3D (consumption resonance)
Health: 60 (20 + 5 + 15, Elite modifier; Huge size warrants elevated Health)
Defense: 2 (1 + (1+0)÷3, minimum 1)
Saves: Body 7D · Speed 2D · Wit 5D

Attacks

  • Consumption Wave (Primary Action): Body + Resonance vs Body Save, 6 damage; all targets in Close range; destroyed physical matter within Close range is permanently consumed (walls, floors, objects, not living beings, but their cover and environment)
  • Pull (Primary Action): Body + Athletics vs Speed Save, all targets in Near range; failed save = pulled to Close range and take 2 damage from the transit. The Pull represents the spatial compression The Hollow generates.
  • Void Touch (Primary Action): Body + Resonance vs Body Save, single target in Close range; 8 damage; if the target is reduced to 0 Health by Void Touch, their body is consumed, no remains, no resurrection possible, no Mediumship contact with their spirit (they are simply gone)

Special Abilities

  • Structural Consumption: The Hollow consumes physical matter passively, every round it is active, the structure of its immediate environment degrades. Floors become unstable, walls develop gaps, ceilings crack. After 3 rounds in any location, the area within Near range has significant structural damage; after 10 rounds, it begins to collapse. The Hollow cannot be fought in a fixed position, it must be driven out or banished.
  • Conventional Weapon Resistance: Physical attacks deal half damage to The Hollow, it has no coherent body to injure. Mediumship tradition attacks deal full damage. Force tradition attacks deal normal damage (not reduced). Cold iron, blessed weapons, silver: no special effect.
  • Ambient Veil Fracture (Major): All characters within Near range of The Hollow take 2 persistent Wit damage per round (not 1 as with most Aberrations). Mediumship practitioners reduce this to 1 per round.
  • No Communication: The Hollow has no discernible intelligence above basic orientation toward matter to consume. It cannot be negotiated with, reasoned with, or redirected through social means. It moves toward the highest concentration of physical mass and biological activity.

Tactics

The Hollow moves slowly (Speed 1D) but creates an environment that forces characters toward it, Pull compresses the space, Structural Consumption eliminates cover, Consumption Wave clears obstacles. The only tactical response is to stay at Near or Far range, use ranged attacks, and work toward banishment. Characters who close to melee are inside the Consumption Wave radius and facing Void Touch range.

The Hollow does not care about individual combatants. It does not change targeting based on damage taken. It advances.

Destruction/Banishment

The Hollow cannot be killed conventionally. Mediumship practitioners must perform a Breach Closure on The Hollow itself; it is less a creature than a self-ambulatory Breach. The Closure requires Wit + Mediumship vs Threshold 4 and a Full Round Action from within Close range. The practitioner takes full ambient Veil Fracture damage while doing this. A second Mediumship practitioner supporting the primary (cooperative roll) is strongly recommended.

Alternatively, Force tradition attacks can suppress The Hollow, preventing movement and Consumption Wave for 1 round per successful hit (Threshold 3), which buys the Mediumship practitioner time to work. Full destruction requires the Breach Closure.

Scene Materials

Veil crisis: The Hollow in any urban area is a catastrophic Veil event. Investigation: initial reports of "structural anomalies" or "gas explosion" will be the civilian cover story, but the physical evidence is unlike any explosion or structural failure. The characters likely need to move faster than conventional emergency response to get there first.