Hungrige Leiche
Introduction
A hungry corpse is a ghost who has been bound into her mortal form, reanimating it as a feral, cannibalistic creature. The process that creates a hungry corpse uses only the lower atavistic part of the soul, what modern psychology might call the id. Although the hungry corpse’s body is still dead, she retains a small portion of her former intellect, but none of her former morality. These vile creatures lack the capacity to either naturally heal wounds or to maintain their decaying bodies. To survive—to the extent that being a cannibalistic animate corpse is “survival”—the creature must steal vital energy from the living, most commonly by devouring human brains.
Hungry corpses are most commonly created through the machinations of the Titans and their earthly agents, although rumors persist that a zombie (or mummy) can be turned into one if it is possessed by a malevolent ghost that then forces it to devour human brain tissue. Hungry corpses are not as strong as zombies but are much faster and more intelligent. Hungry corpses are rarely smart enough to actually engage in intelligent conversation, however. Satisfying their aching hunger for gray matter is all most think about, and few consider conversation skills to be good for anything other than luring prey into a trap. Hungry corpses were known by many names in classical legends. Norse legend calls the hungry corpse a “draugr,” while Japanese legends call it a “gaki” or a “nyobo.” The Aztecs referred to a similar creature called a “civatateo,” while Greek legends refer to the “androphagi.”
Statistics
Attributes: Strength 4, Dexterity 4, Stamina 3: Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1: Perception 2, Intelligence
2, Wits 3
Dark Virtues: Ambition 1, Malice 2, Rapacity 3, Zealotry 1 {see pp. 309-310}
Abilities: Athletics 3, Awareness 2, Brawl 2, Survival 3
Join Battle: 6
Attacks:
Clinch: Accuracy 6, Damage 5B, Parry DV —, Speed 6, P
Unarmed, Heavy: Accuracy 5, Damage 8B, Parry DV 2, Speed 5
Unarmed, Light: Accuracy 7, Damage 5B, Parry DV 4, Speed 4
Soak: 2L/3B
Health Levels: -0/-0/-0/-1/-1/-1/-2/-2/-2/-4/Incap
Dodge DV: 5
Willpower: 5
Legend: 2
Other Notes: Hungry corpses suffer only bashing damage from firearms attacks. A hungry corpse cannot heal
damage normally. Instead, whenever a hungry corpse kills a person and devours her brains, the hungry corpse
regains a number of health levels equal to the victim’s Intelligence. Hungry corpses can intuitively sense which
member of a group of mortals is most intelligent and will preferentially attack that person. Hungry corpses are
immune to all mind-controlling effects and all effects that generate fear. They are often extras.
