A large puddle of crimson liquid pours silently down the staircase and proceeds to slide across the floor towards you with alarming speed. As it draws near, ghastly humanoid forms begin to coagulate and rise out of the ichor. Their dripping fingers reach out towards you as frothy red bubbles burst forth from the gaping holes that serve as mouths in their rudimentary faces. Somehow, you instinctively know that it's your own life's blood that these terrors are after.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Bloodmen are aberrations that can potentially be encountered in the Sword & Sorcery tabletop roleplaying game (which is Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition compatible, under the Open Gaming License for Wizards of The Coast's d20 System).

Bloodmen feed by simply touching their intended prey. As soon as a physical connection is made, the target begins to bleed profusely from the contact spot, which the Bloodman immediately absorbs into its' own body. This liquid nourishment first goes towards restoring missing hit points (if any have been lost), and any excess gets stored as temporary extra hit points (which can potentially be used for reproduction, see below). Armor, shields, and natural protection (scales, thick fur, etc.) provide no defense whatsoever against the leeching caress of one of these crimson fiends. While Bloodmen can survive on the bodily fluids of smaller organisms during lean times, their never-ending hunger, and the compulsion to propagate more of their kind, drives them to seek larger prey. If a Bloodman can manage to drain enough blood from its victim(s)--in game terms, 22 extra temporary hit points--the creature can spawn a new, independent Bloodman that fully forms in 1-4 combat rounds.

Bloodmen frequently travel and hunt together in a large communal pool of 4-8 members. Although they cannot attack while in a completely liquid state, they may move at twice their normal speed (20 feet per turn instead of 10 feet) in this form. The greatest tactical concern posed by a pool of Bloodmen is that they can redistribute damage sustained by one of their members equally amongst the entire group (I.e., a blow that would deal 16 hit points of damage directed at an individual in an eight-member Bloodman pool would instead be divided up into 2 hit points of damage to each of them, dangerously prolonging the longevity of the entire brood in combat).

Due to their mostly liquid composition and lack of vital organs, Bloodmen are immune to slashing and piercing attacks (save those delivered by magical weapons, and, even then, only the bonus applies--for example, a successful hit with a scimitar +2 would only deal two points of damage total, not the usual base damage value for a scimitar plus the bonus modifier). Bludgeoning weapons, on the other hand, affect Bloodmen normally. While these natural defenses make them difficult to slay, Bloodmen suffer from a vulnerability to any weapon with the 'wounding' property (said implements inflict dire injuries that bleed continuously)--as a Bloodman is, naturally, almost entirely blood, it can ill afford to lose said precious fluid, and thus takes double damage from wounding strikes.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Materials:
Newsprint, tissue paper, white glue, wire twist ties, super glue, acrylic paint, and gloss nail polish.

Dimensions:
3.1 cm/1.2 in. x 3.3 cm/1.3 in. (widest point x highest point)

Time:
Two days; February 14 and 16, 2011.