Creature Weaknesses

Although a creature’s type and species determine many of its traits and abilities, GMs are encouraged to alter a creature’s physiology, behavior, abilities, tactics, and defenses when it serves the story or to confound players who think they know everything about their opponents.

The rules provided allow GMs to build custom monsters and ascribe special qualities to them. When designing a creature, the GM should also think of ways the creature can be defeated. From the heroes’ point of view, a creature’s weaknesses are more important than its abilities. Assigning weaknesses to creatures gives under-powered or poorly equipped heroes a fighting chance.

Table: Sources of Weakness lists many sources to which a creature may be vulnerable. A source can be a specific object, location, substance, sound, sensation, or activity. How the creature interacts with a source of weakness is left up to the GM, although most sources must be in close proximity to the creature (if not touching the creature) to affect it. GMs may roll randomly on the table, choose a source that suits the creature, or devise their own.

Table: Sources of Weakness
d% Source d% Source
01 Alcohol or moonshine 49 Lilac-scented candles
02 Amber 50 Mathematical equations
03 Animated cartoons 51 Morphine
04 Archways 52–53 Nerve gas
05–06 Bells or chimes 54 Nitrous oxide (laughing gas)
07 Books written by William Blake 55 Novocaine
08 Bunnies 56–57 Number “8”
09–10 Cancerous organs 58 Pearls
11 Carbonated soft drinks 59 Penicillin
12–13 Cats 60 Photo flashes
14 Chrome 61–62 Plastic or vinyl
15–16 Classical music 63–64 Played violin or electric guitar
17 Clocks 65 Playgrounds
18 Clowns 66–67 Plutonium
19 Cocaine 68 Poppies
20–21 Country music 69 Pulsing strobe lights
22–23 Crosses or crucifixes 70–71 Radiation
24 Crows 72 Radio waves
25 Dogs 73 Rubber
26 Elvis Presley memorabilia 74 Running water
27 Fast cars 75–76 Silver
28 Fast foods 77 Sodium benzoate (food preservative)
29–30 Fluorescent lights 78–79 Sodium chloride (salt)
31 Games of chance 80–81 Specific phrase or word
32 Gold or iron pyrite (fool’s gold) 82 Specific song
33 Grave dirt 83 Spoken Latin
34–35 Heavy metal music 84 Stuffed animals
36–37 Holy symbols 85 Sumerian or Egyptian hieroglyphs
38–39 Holy water 86–87 Sunlight
40 Hospitals 88–89 The Bible
41 Ice cream 90 Tinfoil
42 Insecticide (DDT) 91–92 Toxic waste
43 Jack o’-lanterns 93–94 Triangles
44 Keys 95 Television infomercials
45–46 Laughter of children 96 Television static
47 Laundry detergent 97–98 White rice
48 Lavender 99–100 X-rays