Overview
Cryptid Threats
AX.GHW.13.03
Cryptids occupy a distinct niche in the hidden world's ecology: they are real, they have been seen, and they are already partially public. Bigfoot has a Wikipedia page. The Mothman has a museum. The Jersey Devil has merchandise. This is precisely what makes cryptids the most complicated Veil management challenge in the compendium.
The word "cryptid" is a human category, not a taxonomic one. It covers entities that have leaked, partially and persistently, into mainstream awareness, generating folklore, hoaxes, amateur investigation culture, and occasional genuine documentation that the Veil's normal mechanisms cannot fully suppress. A cryptid's most dangerous quality is not its physical power; it is the investigative attention it draws.
Cryptids are not fae. They are not demons. Most are not supernatural in origin, they are simply animals or entities that biology and ecology have not cataloged, or that occupy the same reality layer as the mundane world but are rarely seen. Some have anomalous properties (the Mothman's apparent precognitive behavior, the Thunderbird's electromagnetic field interference). These properties are not magical tradition abilities, they are biological or ecological characteristics that happen to interact strangely with the world.
What this means mechanically: Cryptids have no tradition weaknesses. Cold iron, blessed weapons, salt, and silver have no special effect on them. They are not banished by rituals or compelled by true names. They are dealt with by understanding their biology, their territory, and their behavior, and by conventional force when necessary.
Common Traits
Witness Density: Any cryptid encounter in a populated area immediately creates a Veil management problem. Cryptids have existing civilian documentation frameworks, the moment a credible witness reports something, it enters a network of enthusiast investigators, amateur paranormal researchers, and social media. The BUA maintains active monitoring for high-profile cryptid activity and will move quickly to contain and discredit.
Territorial Behavior: Most cryptids are territorial and follow ecological patterns even when those patterns are unusual. Understanding territory is the primary investigative tool, where does it hunt, what does it avoid, what are its transit corridors? This information comes from Lore research and field tracking (Notice + Lore or Survival) rather than tradition-based senses.
Non-Supernatural Weaknesses: Cryptids are vulnerable to the same things large animals are vulnerable to: injury, habitat disruption, removal from their territory, killing of their prey base. Most can be killed by conventional firearms with sufficient sustained fire, though some require specific approaches (see individual entries). High-caliber weapons are standard, 5.56mm does less work against a cryptid than .30-06 or 12-gauge slug.
Veil Risk Rating: Each entry includes a Veil Risk note. High Veil Risk cryptids require containment and cover story planning as a mission constraint; encountering them in populated areas is a secondary crisis regardless of the physical confrontation's outcome.
The Network and Cryptids
The Network (AX.GM.07.04) has the most comprehensive cryptid lore of any organization, accumulated through independent field researchers over decades. Network Lore Keepers are the first call for cryptid ID from field pattern analysis. The BUA's cryptid files exist but are oriented toward suppression rather than understanding, Network sources often have better behavioral data.
Grimoire Compact researchers view cryptids as legitimate field study subjects. Several Compact publications (classified to membership) contain the best available biological surveys of cryptid entities, including territorial mapping and behavioral pattern documentation.
Tradition Interactions
Cryptids are not susceptible to tradition-based attacks. However:
- Mediumship (Liminal Sight ability): Some cryptids emit faint Liminal signatures, indicating partial contact with that layer of reality. This does not make them supernatural; it is a property of their biology. Mediumship practitioners can detect this signature but cannot compel or communicate with the cryptid using tradition abilities.
- Glamourist (Glamour ability): A sufficiently skilled Glamourist can create a sensory illusion that confuses or redirects a cryptid; they are animals and respond to apparent stimuli. This is not compelling; it is misdirection. Works on Threshold 2–3.
- Pact-Shifting practitioners: Skinchanger-aligned characters in shifted form share some basic biological communication channels with cryptids. This does not grant control, but a shifted Skinchanger attempting to signal submission or territorial deference may reduce a cryptid's aggression (GM discretion; no roll required, fiction-appropriate).
Variant Rules
Cryptid Coexistence
Standard: Cryptids are encountered as threats to be managed, driven off, deterred, or killed. The Veil problem is the central constraint.
Coexistence Option: Some cryptids (Sasquatch, Thunderbird) represent biological populations that hidden-world organizations are actively trying to protect rather than suppress. Characters may be hired by Network or Grimoire Compact researchers to document, protect nesting sites, or investigate why a cryptid is behaving unusually. Combat is a failure state, not a goal.
Increased Veil Pressure
Optional: Digital surveillance infrastructure (social media monitoring, AI image recognition) makes cryptid Veil management significantly harder than 30 years ago. Any combat involving a cryptid in a semi-populated area (within 5 miles of a town) triggers a BUA response within 2 hours, regardless of whether characters call for help. Characters must resolve both the cryptid situation and evidence management before the BUA arrives, or be prepared to explain themselves.
Cryptid Pack Behavior
Optional: The Black Dog and Chupacabra entries note some pack behavior in passing. Expanded: any of these cryptids can be encountered in numbers greater than expected. A Chupacabra pack (4–6) operates with coordinated feeding behavior, rotating Drain Bites while others Skitter to draw attention. A Sasquatch family group (adult pair + juvenile) changes the entire encounter dynamic, the juvenile triggers protective behavior that makes the adults fight-to-the-death rather than retreat.
Plot Hooks
The Livestock Circuit: A rural county is experiencing serial livestock deaths, blood-drained, no flesh consumed, small puncture wounds. The county sheriff has called it "coyote activity." Three farms in a 20-mile radius in 10 days. Investigation reveals a Chupacabra pair that has been pushed out of their normal territory by a construction project. The Veil complication: a local farmer has camera footage. The human complication: the construction project is contracted by Obsidian Solutions, who may be aware of the territorial displacement and may have reasons not to stop construction.
Before the Bridge: The Mothman has been sighted at a river crossing for three consecutive nights. Multiple witnesses, phone footage already circulating. The BUA has dispatched a suppression team. The characters are either ahead of the BUA (what disaster is coming, and can it be prevented?) or behind it (the BUA team has gone dark, what happened to them?). The disaster resonance is pointing at the bridge structure itself, and there's a city council vote on maintenance funding happening tomorrow.
Old Territory: A Sasquatch has been documented within 2 miles of a small town after 40 years of absence. Network intelligence suggests its forest corridor was severed by a highway expansion. It's not aggressive; it's lost and stressed. The BUA wants it killed and the evidence sanitized. The Network wants it relocated. A Grimoire Compact researcher wants a tissue sample. The characters are in the middle and have maybe 48 hours before the BUA's solution becomes final.
The Black Road: A stretch of rural highway has had 11 vehicle accidents in 6 months, all at night, all at the same curve, all involving drivers who report "a large animal in the road." Three are fatal. Investigation reveals a Black Dog territorial corridor that crosses the road at that curve. The death resonance of the accident site is now attracting more Black Dogs. The cycle is self-reinforcing. The question is whether disrupting the death resonance (a Mediumship undertaking) stops the problem, or whether the road itself needs to be rerouted, which requires involving civilian infrastructure agencies without exposing the actual cause.
Evidence Management Quick Reference
Cryptid encounters require evidence management planning as a mission constraint. Use this table for quick reference:
| Cryptid | Primary Evidence Risk | Suppression Difficulty | BUA Response Speed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Dog | Corpse size (if killed), unusual prints | Low-Moderate | Slow (48+ hrs) |
| Chupacabra | Livestock deaths, media interest | High | Moderate (24 hrs) |
| Bigfoot/Sasquatch | Everything, national-level documentation risk | Extreme | Fast (12 hrs) |
| Jersey Devil | Shriek witnesses, EM failures | High | Moderate (24 hrs) |
| Mothman | Sighting documentation, disaster correlation | Extreme | Immediate |
| Thunderbird | Storm generation, scale of physical evidence | High (wilderness: Moderate) | Slow (remote terrain) |
Destruction Methods Summary
| Threat | Tier | Primary Method | Deterrence Option | Cannot Be |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Dog | Standard | Sustained conventional fire (.308+) | Resolve death-resonance anchor; territory removal | Banished by ritual |
| Chupacabra | Standard | Conventional firearms (fast target, near range preferred) | Restore prey base; eliminate food competition | Compelled by tradition |
| Bigfoot/Sasquatch | Standard | High-caliber sustained fire | Drive off (preferred); body disposal is catastrophic | Banished; rarely appropriate to kill |
| Jersey Devil | Standard | Anti-air capable ranged fire during dive | Remove territorial incursion cause | Banished |
| Mothman | Elite | Sustained conventional fire if grounded | Observation over destruction recommended | Compelled; disaster may not be preventable |
| Thunderbird | Elite | Military-grade anti-air or coordinated heavy rifle | Territory deterrence protocol (Network field notes) | Practically killed in field; population concern |