Threats and Obstacles
Please remember that not everything has to be a fight.
Beasts
Natural animals.
Wolves
Not generally aggressive unless hungry or threatened. Hooks will greatly affect their individual behavior.
Lone Adolescent
Level 1 Wolf 1; Tracking 1
Lone Adult
Level 2 Wolf 2; Tracking 2, Stealth 2, Chase 2
Lone Alpha
Level 3 Wolf 3; Tracking 3, Stealth 3, Chase 3, Ferocity 3
Hunting Pack
Level 4 Wolf 4; Tracking 4, Stealth 3, Chase 4, Ferocity 3, Pack Tactics 4
A Hunting Pack can roll a Flanking Boost as a free action.The GM should treat the pack as a single skilled opponent that will use Boosts, tap Hooks, and even use Plot Armor!.
Spirits
Denizens of the Borderlands and further realms.
Ghosts
The spirits of mortals who died. Most do not leave behind ghosts, but trauma, unfinished business, and other strong emotions increase the chances.
Spectres
Hardly aware of its own existence, a Spectre is little more than the shadow of trauma, caught in a loop of a moment that imprinted on some anchor. Most are generally harmless, but some curse the place they haunt and claim lives for generations.
The Ghost of Gallows Hill: Level 1 Spectre 1; Display 1
Hook: Eternity On the Gallows 1
The Hanged Man often appears under a waxing gibbous moon. The boards of a long destroyed gallows materialize under each foot and vanish after as he mounts the steps, audibly weeping with his hands bound behind him. The unintelligible echo of the magistrate can sometimes be heard, but only the Hanged Man's weeping is clear.
He trembles, looks for help from a crowd no one else can see, and wails when the black bag settles over his face. He pleads and wets himself. When the platform drops he kicks madly, still alive. He swings, and his terror, slowly building, now reaches a crescendo that continually assaults any mortals in the area.
Anchor: this is a locale haunting. His trauma has created an anchor in space that has survived the destruction and abandonment of the town.
The Wailing Veil: Level 1 Spectre 1; Manifestation 1
Hook: A Woman Scorned 1
Lydia waited at the altar for Herman even after she was told he was seen leaving the village with her meager dowry and another woman. The moment the sun dipped below the horizon she wailed the scream of a banshee, and several of the few remaining guests had died on the spot with her.
If her veil is ever exposed to the moment of sunset, that wail keens out again, and anyone within hearing must resist an EL4 tightening in their chest as their heart breaks. If they have a Hook of their own that is in any way relevant, add it as well.
Shades
I am the memory of the man that once you knew, now bound beyond the veil…
A Shade is almost the person it was in life, one of the closest things commonly seen to a soul unbroken by death, but the passions that motivate a mortal to forego their rightful afterlife, to remain in the Borderlands and haunt the fringes of their former life, are seldom purely or permanently benevolent.
Perhaps more than any other sort of ghost, the strength and goodness of a Shade is dependent on the passion that spawned it. The Shade of a knight fulfilling his vows of chivalry might be strong and pure, but time eventually always distances the disembodied from the daily concerns and realities of mortals, and their passions are no longer the product of warm blood and breath; over time, the memories of what it felt like are all the spirit has, and their logic will often twist and fray.
Agnes Under a Bushel: Level 2
Shade 2
Display 2
Possession 2
Sneak 2
Social Camouflage 2
Sleight of Hand 2
Hook: Can't Resist Pretty Things 2
Anchor: the twisted pieces of a shattered garnet and pewter barrette
Agnes was a kleptomaniac. She was a dirty and unpopular child, never pretty or articulate, and learned to keep out of sight and out of mind, but she could never resist taking what she wanted. An orphaned peasant in a time of strife, there wasn't much for her to take, but she accumulated the occasional ribbon, pretty river stones, a nice crow feather… Then in the market a Lady took out her pretty barrette to brush and reset her hair. Agnes couldn't resist, and from where she'd been hiding under the stall she snitched it while the girl was fussing about in her purse. She snuck away with her prize before they started overturning the stalls.
Of course she could never wear it. That was out of the question. She hid it, and went back almost every night to fawn and fondle it before finding another hiding place. When away from it she went mad with grief that someone would steal it from her. When she had it in her hand, she went mad with fear that someone would see her with it and take it away. This was her life for years, until she wasted away of ague and grippe, suffering alone and far from her prize.
When found, the Hooks of anyone involved are important. Agnes will use every resource to protect it, and PC Hooks are a resource. She will lend her own abilities to any PC roll that keeps and hides it, and oppose any that threaten it in any way. If any Hook can be manipulated toward Possession she will take every chance that doesn't expose her. For those able to perceive her, she will eagerly negotiate; she will play the pitiful, ignorant child, but she is canny.