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Skinwalker

Skinwalker

AX.GHW.13.07.04

Not a lycanthrope and not a Skinchanger. A Skinwalker is a human practitioner who acquired the capacity for total transformation through deliberate act, specifically the killing of a family member and the assumption of their skin as a ritual component. The transformation this produces is absolute and undetectable by most means: the Skinwalker becomes the animal (or person) they skin completely, at the biological level. What they retain is their own will and their predatory purpose.

Type: Shapeshifter (Ritual Practitioner, Corrupted)

Threat Power Package: Elite

Size: Variable (Medium in human form; Large in animal form)

Attributes

  • Body: 4D
  • Speed: 4D
  • Wit: 4D

Talents

  • Brawl: 3D
  • Stealth: 4D
  • Deceive: 3D
  • Notice: 3D
  • Survival: 2D
  • Resolve: 2D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 39 (20 + Body 4 + Elite modifier 15)
  • Defense: 3 (Speed 4 + Armor 0 = 1.33, +1 = 2; Skinwalker resilience raises to 3)
  • Armor: Supernatural resilience

Saves

  • Body Save: 4D (Body 4D)
  • Speed Save: 6D (Speed 4D + Acrobatics 2D, not listed but implied by Survival 2D; use Survival as proxy)
  • Wit Save: 6D (Wit 4D + Resolve 2D)

Attacks

  • Claws/Bite (animal form): Body 4D + Brawl 3D = 7D vs Defense, 5–7 damage typical
  • Silver-poisoned wound: Any attack from a Skinwalker that deals 3+ damage in a single hit requires the target to make a Body Save vs Threshold 3 or contract a minor supernatural affliction: fever, disorientation, −1D on all rolls, lasting until treated (Medicine vs Threshold 2) or until Short Rest

Shapeshifter Traits

  • Silver Vulnerability: +2 damage; silver wounds resist regeneration
  • Perfect Mimicry: When the Skinwalker assumes a specific individual's form (requires time with a genuine skin sample), the transformation is biologically complete. Blood Sense Bloodline Read requires an additional success to detect the deception (Threshold 3 instead of 2). True Seeing (Faeborn perk or Glamourist application) pierces the mimicry automatically. The Skinwalker smells wrong to Dhampir Psychic Sensitivity: not quite right, a predator wearing prey.
  • Regeneration: Regains 2 HP per Turn; silver wounds do not regenerate

Special Abilities

  • Assume Form: The Skinwalker can take the form of any animal whose skin they possess, or any human whose skin they have fully processed (ritual preparation, minimum one hour). Changing forms takes one full Turn (cannot act while shifting). They retain their own Attribute and Talent values in all forms; the form provides size and appearance, not stat changes beyond what the form plausibly provides.
  • True Name Vulnerability: Skinwalkers carry the weight of the act that created them. Speaking their true name (their birth name, in the language of their origin community) strips their current form for 1D3 Turns; they cannot shift during this period and their Stealth is negated. A character who knows the name and speaks it with genuine knowledge (not guessing) can extend this effect indefinitely by repeating it each Turn (Wit + Lore roll vs Threshold 3 each Turn to maintain the naming).

Tactics

Skinwalkers rarely fight when they can avoid it. They infiltrate, extract, sabotage, and disappear. When combat becomes unavoidable they use their Stealth to establish ambush position, strike from surprise, and shift forms to disengage if the fight turns. The Perfect Mimicry means that the combat scenario often begins with the party not knowing what they're fighting. A Skinwalker who has had time to study the party may have assumed the identity of someone they trust.

Lore & Ecology

Skinwalkers originate in specific indigenous traditions. The act that creates them is a profound violation of those traditions, and the creature that results is understood within those communities as one of the most serious supernatural threats. The Grimoire Compact's research on Skinwalkers was conducted with minimal community consultation and is considered incomplete and culturally extractive by knowledgeable sources. Network lore keepers with indigenous community connections have better and more accurate information. GMs should treat Skinwalker encounters with the cultural seriousness the subject warrants.

Destruction

Silver through the heart while the Skinwalker is in their true human form. Speaking the true name during combat strips their shifting capacity and makes them vulnerable to standard destruction methods. Fire is effective in any form. Some traditions hold that the original skin used in the creation ritual must be destroyed to prevent recurrence; if the Skinwalker's origin skin is intact, the destruction may not be permanent.

Scene Materials

  • Skin collection (disturbing; evidence of the ritual origin and targets)
  • Evidence of human identity and community of origin (investigation and cultural significance)
  • True name research materials ($300–600 research value to appropriate scholars)