Game Master companion / Monster
Running Phantom
An ethereal stalker vanishes from sight and returns at close range. Its pauses and disappearances make absence as alarming as an apparition.
Prepare the scene
The figure at the end of the passage fades. A moment later, the curtain beside your shoulder stirs.
An ethereal stalker vanishes from sight and returns at close range. Its pauses and disappearances make absence as alarming as an apparition.
Establish the surroundings, each participant’s position, and what the party can perceive before resolving the encounter. Use the current core rules for surprise and turn order when combat begins.
Run the profile
Use the following source instructions for the encounter’s actions and effects.
Touch
Use: Basic attack · Touch: Might + supplemental d8 Rend (Unholy); defender uses Ward + Spirit.
Signature abilities
Effect - Signature: Phase; Dread. Action + 1 Mana: become unseen until next turn or an attack; opponents can still locate it by sound, evidence or area effects. No 0-Resolve reappearance in combat.
Counterplay
Counterplay: Mark its location and force it to spend actions on concealment.
Relationship
Relationship: Spirit whose motive may permit negotiation.
Present the counterplay
Mark its location and force it to spend actions on concealment.
Make the relevant behavior or environmental clues perceptible through the scene so the party can act on them.
Keep the mechanical profile nearby
Affinities: Vitality d6, Might d6, Agility d8, Intellect d6, Tact d6, Spirit d8.
Skill overrides: Evade d6.
Resolve 14; Stamina 7; Mana 8. Movement 25 feet.
Player Book idea: Ethereal stalker that vanishes and returns.