Pereval (Rag-Wraith)

Pereval [LVL 2]
In their initial state, the pereval are
hollow, thoughtless, hungry things.

• Thieves of Being

• If a pereval witnesses a character use
their body or mind in a significant way (i.e.
making a stat test, including an attack or
defence roll), they immediately gain that
stat at the same value. Example: a hero at-
tacks a rag-wraith, using her STR of 12. Any
rag-wraith that witnesses this immediately
gains a STR attribute at 12.
• The target doesn't lose or reduce the
attribute a pereval acquires. The pereval
just copies it.
• Being NPCs, pereval never make rolls.
But if someone acts against one (trying
to flee one, out-riddle one, pull one off
a friend, etc.), compare their stat to the
pereval's stat. If the character's stat is
lower, they roll at disadvantage; if it's
higher, they roll at advantage. If equal,
they roll normally.
• As rag-wraiths gain STR, DEX, and CON,
they acquire physicality: the ability to exert
strength, to manipulate fine objects or use
stealth, or to endure and resist. With each
stat acquired, they gain form beneath their
rags: arms and legs for STR, feet and hands
for DEX, a torso for CON.
• Once a rag-wraith has all three physi-
cal stats, they are no longer resistant to
physical harm and no longer vulnerable
to fire.
• As they gain INT, WIS, and CHA, they gain
mentality: speech, perception (beyond their
basic senses for life and warmth), and a
personality. INT grants them a head; WIS
grants them eyes, CHA a mouth. These
features are identical to those of the person
they stole the relevant stat from.
• When they gain INT, the pereval can
think, scheme, and plan. They also gain
a random spell the target knows (if any).
• When they gain WIS, the pereval can
see, hear, smell, and taste. They also
learn how to summon one spirit the
target can summon (if any).
• When they gain CHA, the pereval can
speak. They also gain a fairy tie if the
victim has any.
• When a pereval has all three mental
attributes, they no longer fear fire.
• Each two stats a rag-wraith steals in-
creases their level by 1 (which increases
their hit points and damage). So a rag-
wraith with two stats is level 3, one with
four stats is level 4, and one with six stats
is level 5.
H Engulf (DEX or CON): Ud4 withering
damage.
• A rag-wraith's touch begins to turn the
victim into a fine purple sand, as they
did to everything else in their world.
Skin dries, mottles, and flakes off; lungs
cough up violet dust.
• This effect can be immediately cured by
eating or drinking something that has
meaning to the character. Food or drink
is best, obviously, but a page of a book, a
wedding ring, or a lock of a friend's hair
could also work.
H Corrode (DEX): When a rag-wraith is hit,
the player must make a DEX test, or the
weapon used collapses into purple dust.
The first time this happens, roll at disad-
vantage. Runic weapons are, of course,
immune to this effect. Weapons of faerie
iron are weakened (inflicting half damage)
until they are repaired by a troll smith.
Resistance: Physical damage.
Vulnerability: Vulnerable to fire. They
also fear it.
BEHAVIOUR
Pereval encountered in the wild always
appear in a group equal to the number of
player characters. In their initial rag-form,
they are likely to attack without thought.
As soon as the players resist or attack,
though, testing an attribute, the pere-
val present all acquire that attribute and
recognise that they can steal being from
the player characters. They are likely to
withdraw and begin following the party,
observing them at a distance, and copying
attributes every time the players make a
test. It is likely they will end up a blasphe-
mous chimaera of all the player characters.
As they gain attributes and their new
features seem familiar, the players should
begin to realise what's going on. The GM
should emphasise that the pereval's new
arms are brawny or slender like the charac-
ter's they copied, that the pereval's eyes are
the exact blue of the person whose WIS they
stole, etc.
If the party are about to escape the pereval
before they have acquired all six attributes,
the pereval attempt a last-ditch attack on
them and try to trick, force, or convince the
characters to use the remaining attributes
the pereval need. The rag-wraiths will not
risk entering crowded places and cannot
cross between worlds without sorcerous
assistance.
If the pereval gain all six stats, they attack
at an advantageous moment, attempting
to slay and replace the player characters.
If all of the party is killed, the rag-wraiths
reform as exact copies of the party instead
of blasphemous mixes of body parts.
NOTE: If summoned via the demonic pacts
magic system, the pereval could count as
demons of isolation or oblivion. As part of
any pact, they will want to acquire one or
more attributes that they lack, preferably
the diabolist's best ones. In addition, they
permanently take from the diabolist one
aspect of their being: their reflection, their
shadow, their joy, their dreams, their me-
mory of home…
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