Creepers

Creepers. Acrocordons. Chaferlings. Papules. Different names for the same disgusting diminutive creatures: the homunculi created by Nexialists. The formula for creating Creepers is gestural, and involves a microsacrifice. Nexialists create their homunculi from skin tags on their own bodies. (Indeed, many Nexialists wear rasping garments which chafe their tender areas, ensuring a ready supply of new skin tags.)

The Nexialist uses a razor, or simply pinches a skin tag between two sharp nails - and pulls. From this bloody bud a Creeper will grow to its full size (approximately 12" tall) within a matter of seconds. This is accompanied by the temporary loss of approximately 10 pounds from the caster's body.

A Creeper carries a sufficient quantum of the Nexialist's consciousness to function as a rudimentary simulacrum. The Creeper will possess the same gross personality traits and memories as the caster, although few Nexialists go so far as to share compartmentalized memories, spell formulae, and planar passwords and the like are not usually invested. They will generally obey their creator's demands, but often rebel when given assignments that guarantee their immediate extinction. The use of Creepers as suicide bombers is discouraged for this reason.

Creepers may be formatted with a psychic tether through which their Nexialist may perceive what the homunculus perceives, and/or be invested with other capabilities such as the being able to walk on vertical surfaces, spit acid or glue, or pick mechanical locks using a prehensile tongue.  

A Creeper cannot survive for long if it is more than a few zones away from its creator. The one exception to this the extended lifespan that Creepers experience while living inside Nexialist Institutes and similar strongholds. Creepers are able to persist indefinitely in these spaces, even in the absence of their masters, due to these locations' altered planar geometries. Indeed, in such environments lone Creepers often begin to develop personalities, lives, and agendas of their own. They may even eventually become completely individuated subjects, able to live independently of their creators outside the precincts of an Institute.

But born from a skin tag, a Creeper always possesses an Achilles' heel. An acrocordon of its own lucks somewhere on its body.  If this small fleshy tag can be cut, the homunculus bleeds out quickly.

OGL MECHANICS

Creeper
Nexialist homunculus (neutral)

ASPECTS:

• High Concept: Foot-high creepy homunculus
• Trouble: Its skin tag is an Achilles' Heel 
• Aspect: If you see one, there's a Nexialist nearby
• Aspect: Readily formatted with special abilities
• Aspect: Balk at suicidal assignments

APPROACHES

• Careful: +1
• Clever: +2
• Flashy: +1
• Forceful: 0
• Quick: +2
• Sneaky: +3

STUNTS:

• Go Vertical: Creepers formatted with sticky feet may walk up sheer vertical surfaces or walk upside down on ceilings.
• Hard to Hit: Because they are so small and fast, Creepers take +2 to their Quick Approach when Defending against a physical attack.
• Lockpick Tongue: A Creeper formatted with a prehensile tongue may take +2 to their Flashy Approach to pick a mechanical lock.
• Psychic Tether: Creepers formatted with a psychic tether may share sensory information with their creator over a distance of 1-3 zones.

REFRESH: 2

Note: While Creepers are universally Hard to Hit, Nexialists format them with a variety of other stunts.