Boogie Men and Other Terrifying Things 8/23/09

In addition to posting character concepts (A Test of Character) as a normal column, I'd also like to do a feature every once in a while focusing on antagonists/original monsters/enemies for your players. On the white wolf Hunter forums, a topic came up to help brainstorm some ideas for slashers - supernatural serial killers - who populate the world of darkness and specifically Hunter: The Vigil (link will take you to White Wolf's store page for the Slasher book, where I got the picture shown here).

I decided to challenge myself and come up with a slasher of my very own. Feel free to critique or make suggestions to make it even creepier. Here's what I came up with:

The Man with a Plan (MWP).

The MWP is a serial killer who is meticulous in his planning. He keeps a small checkbook schedule in his back pocket at all times with an incredibly simple code for what he needs to do the next day.

For instance, this tuesday, August 25th, he'll be visiting the Jeffries home on Oakgrove Ave. at 9:00 in the morning. He knows they are all gone by that time because he's spent months scheduling observation sessions of the house. He'll go in, unplug a charging laptop and turn it on, rearrange a few items in the shower, take out a folded shirt from a dresser, unfold it, and return it, and maybe something else, he only scheduled 15 minutes for himself at the Jeffries. He'll then spend a 3 hour session starting at 11:00 to observe the Lee's on Mission Dr. He hasn't quite figured out their schedule yet.

The MWP likes driving people crazy. He feeds off the paranoia and self-doubt that he develops slowly over months before he kills the entire family using weapons he's hidden in the house in dusty places no body bothers to look at anymore. He could have a weapon in your house behind those cook books on the shelf in the kitchen, how would you know? One night he'll unlock your door with the extra key you hide or thought you had hidden in the bottom of the cookie jar, slip in, kill your family, and slip out, leaving all weapons behind in their old hiding spots.

The MWP's goal is to always be working at least 10 families. Each time you hear about a death due to murder, he's looking for a new household to "haunt."