Recently, in a moderately sized city, there have been a number of assaults. There have been no deaths yet, but it is worrisome nonetheless. All the victims sport numerous bruises, lumps and other signs of light blunt trauma. All of the attacks have so far happened within about fifteen minutes walk of the local prison.
The city's prison guard, torturer and executioner, a half-orc named Goadle, has a guilty secret. His one true joy is the small teddy bears that he makes from scraps of clothing belonging to the condemned.
He recently executed a singularly vile criminal who happened to have been arrested wearing a fine wool jacket. Unknown to Goadle, the jacket had been soiled with the blood of so many innocents that it had become an evil item, in and of itself. As Goadle lovingly stitched it into stuffed bears, it's evil was passed on.
At night, while the prison slept, the bears would sneak into town and attack people. Lacking any actual force (they're teddy bears after all), they have yet to succeed at causing any real damage. Unfortunately, it's only a matter of time until they find Goadle's needles (Either sewing or torture), and Goadle still has a decent amount of the evil wool left.
While the teddies themselves are somehow... less than intimidating, they do have one rather frightening quality: they learn. In a few months, they tend to be as intelligent as an average human, and they still continue to learn. If they aren't stopped soon, they will not only be able to devise surprisingly diabolical plans, but they will eventually discover the secret of how they were created, and nothing is stopping them from creating more evil wool. Should that happen, the teddies will disperse and try to build more of their kind.
Goadle has no idea that his teddies are alive, as they simply need to go limp to look like a raggedy teddy bear. If they are detected for magic, they will have a very faint aura about them. Lacking proper mouths, they are incapable of speech, though they will quickly learn to write.
During one of the recent attacks, one of the bears was pinned underneath the unconscious victim and is now in custody of the local guard. They have no idea that it is one of the creatures responsible for the attacks, but they think it might have something to do with it. Their current guess is along the lines of a 'calling card'.
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? Responses (17)
This is an interesting idea, slightly disturbing, but nevertheless interesting. I enjoy the idea of cute little teddy bears ramming themselves repeatedly against someone. The writing is clear and easy to read, and there were no spelling or grammar problems that I could see. congrats, Grey.
I like this as an unrelated sub plot a sneaky gm can toss into any adventure and smile as the players try and link the two completely separate plots together somehow.
A nice touch to with the evil being created almost randomly, rather than deliberate act by some evil wizard or other.
Very funny, I quite enjoyed it but, why does it have to be evil wool? Can't it be evil cotton, evil sackcloth, or even evil silk? Well, good job.
In theory, any fabric. Think of what would happen if Goadle accidentally used an enchanted piece of clothing that had become evil!
The teddy bears from hell.
I second all of the above
I just love this - in fact, I'm, going to give it my patented Wish I'd thought of that award
Brilliant idea - 4½ /5 and a Hall of Honour vote
Keep up the good work Grey
An amusing idea, but how is it the survivors do not report what hit them? How could a plush doll knock anyone out?
I guess I can't see how with supernaturally enhanced strength and damage that an attack could be called an 'assault'.
Generally, they attack en mass in very dark conditions. It takes the combined "might" of all of them to knock someone out for about ten minutes, so they really don't have much force. The idea is that they hide in the shadows... and learn...
Ah well, I still can't see it - but for a silly sub I have no problem with that.
I don't even think it is a silly sub.
It makes me wanna go Chucky on my players!
I love the idea. The somewhat innocence of its creation and the idea of the owner not knowing what is happening is hilarious!!
Buttons, How could you?
That's a great hook. One must read on after reading that line! :-D
val's questions are good ones, but I'll just say that this is a fun idea for a one-night, one-shot city campaign, especially when the GM senses that the group is in a 'humorous mood'.
And yes, as Drackler says, the visual of angry teddy bears ramming themselves repeatedly against people, with little effect, is priceless.
The needles and 'learning' part adds a touch of the sinister. Many ways to go with this. Good stuff, Grey, and welcome to the site!
It's a swarm of teddy bears! RUN!
The frustration of not being able to really do anything with their murderous impulses must be driving them to the depths of depravity. If someone doesn't stop these critters soon...
And, as a bonus, there's a torturer NPC with a stuffed-toy fixation. Sweet.
This is the stuff!
Wonderful, creative... What can I say?
I LIKE IT!
They are hilarious, and yet have that wonderful creepy touch. The rest has been said.
Great work!
Nothing like a few teddy bears to add a bit of humour.
vote entered.