Wednesday, April 1, 2015

A to Z of Vampires, Aswang

Welcome the the 2015 A to Z blogging challenge.
This year I am going to take on Vampires. Talk some history and present some stats for various games. It should be fun.

So it's April 1st. Lets get started.

Aswang
A creature from the Philippines.  This evil vampire appears to be something like a cadaverous dog with large bat wings when in it’s natural form.  It can assume any shape such as a humanoid, wolf or something inbetween.  This often leads many occult scholars to classify them as werewolves or even a type of witch.  These creatures though are undead.  The creature is known to cause miscarriages and infertility.
The Aswang is a shapeshifter. It can appear as a normal townsperson, an animal like a dog, cat or pig or as a horrible monster like a ghoul or werewolf.  The creature can move about during the day in it’s “human” form but can’t use any of it’s special attacks.

Also the subject of a 1994 horror movie, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aswang_(1994_film) and an episode of Grimm.

Aswang 
Armor Class: 2 [17]
Hit Dice: 6d8+2** (34 hp)
No. of Attacks: 2 claws, 1 bite (monster form) OR 1 (human form)
Damage: 1d6+2 / 1d8+1 OR by weapon type.
Special: Blood drain, cause fear (as per spell)
Movement: 30’ 90' fly
No. Appearing: 1 (3-9 in nest)
Saves As: Fighter 6
Morale: 8
Treasure: None
Alignment: Chaotic (Chaotic Evil)
XP: 1,500

The Aswang can cause fear as per the wizard spell up to 3 times per day. It can also shapeshift into dogs, cats or pigs like any other vampire can turn into wolves or bats.  An aswang can not become mist, but can grow large bat like wings and fly away.
The bite of an aswang drains blood.  An successful combat roll of 19 or 20 while biting means the aswang has locked onto the victim.  The aswang will then drain 1 point of Constitutions worth of blood each round. The aswang will typically feed for 1d4 rounds and then try to flee.  Anyone brought to 0 points of Constitution will die and rise an aswang on the next full moon.
A holy symbol will keep an aswang away like a normal vampire. As will garlic and a line of salt.
It is rumored that the only way to capture an aswang is to use a whip made from a stingray's tail. Once captured the aswang can not use their magical abilities.  The only way to defeat the creature is to cut off it's head.
The creature can only be hit by magical weapons, but a weapon coated with oils prepared by a village priest (an albularyos) will also be effective.



25 comments:

  1. Interesting. I had not heard of the Aswang until that episode of Grim. I like how they dig into a lot of different mythologies around the world...
    I look forward to more!
    http://goo.gl/tB5HG3

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  2. Wow, this one looks nasty... Interesting!

    @TarkabarkaHolgy from
    Multicolored Diary - Epics from A to Z
    MopDog - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary

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  3. Ooh, I didn't know about the 1994 movie. *Trots over to Amazon* Damn it's not going cheap and it only has one review ... I'm wondering how terrible it is.
    Tasha
    Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)

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  4. the imagery is a little frightful, reminds me of the New Jersey Devil...

    Welcome in the "A"... as a host I am stopping by to say thank you!
    Jeremy [Retro]
    AtoZ Challenge Co-Host [2015]

    There's no earthly way of knowing.
    Which direction we are going!

    HOLLYWOOD NUTS!
    Come Visit: You know you want to know if me or Hollywood... is Nuts?

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  5. Now that's a creature that can tot up the points when it comes to nastiness - shudder!

    Sophie
    Sophie's Thoughts & Fumbles
    FB3X
    Wittegen Press

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  6. Why is there such romanticizing about vampires? I admit part of me finds these creatures of the night alluring, but I find it hard to wrap my brain around how in movies some vampires are portrayed as "good". They are evil, souless creatures where true good men seek to destroy NOT embrace. Oh well..nuff ranting here on this point. I just had to get that off my mind. lol I do look forward in learning about the various vampires through the #AprilA2Z challenge!

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  7. A vampire and a shape shifter? A double threat. My kids love shape shifters. So much you can do with a character like that.

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  8. A to Z of Vampires! I'm so excited. And I've always thought the aswang were creepy and awesome. Great post.

    Good luck with the 2015 A to Z Challenge!
    A to Z Co-Host S. L. Hennessy
    http://pensuasion.blogspot.com

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  9. Very cool!
    I love the vampire.

    :)

    Heather M. Gardner
    Co-host: Blogging from A to Z April Challenge
    Blog: The Waiting is the Hardest Part [http://hmgardner.blogspot.com/]

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  10. I wouldn't wanna run into that thing in a dark alley~ Ever notice Vampires are either really disgusting or very pretty in videogames? :)

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  11. a real "nasty" creature... we have recently been reading up on this one from lower Asia....

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  12. Hi Tim - I know little about Vampires .. but now know of the Aswang .. and Shape Shifters .. I'm happy in my real world (I think!) .. cheers Hilary

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  13. A cadaverous dog with large bat wings... makes my terror of june bugs seem positively tame.

    Cool post and nice start to the challenge. :)

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  14. Wicked! I'll have to check out the movie.

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  15. Love this. Sometimes I get a little bored of nice vampires and crave a scary one.

    ~Patricia Lynne aka Patricia Josephine~
    Member of C. Lee's Muffin Commando Squad
    Story Dam
    Patricia Lynne, Indie Author

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  16. I just read an article on Writer's Digest yesterday discussing vampires!Thanks for sharing and thanks for stopping by my blog. That's awesome you've been to Hannibal. I grew up in Illinois and lived near Chicago (as an adult:)

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  17. Well, I certainly learned something! Thanks for doing the research and stopping by my site for a visit.

    Beth Lapin
    https://bethlapinsatozblog.wordpress.com/

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  18. Remind me never to trust a cat or dog if I am every near there.

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  19. Interesting. Are you gonna do Buffy the Vampire Slayer for B? Can’t wait.

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  20. Well, isn't he a cute little so-and-so. Vampires have always been the most fascinating of creatures for me. Glad to have stumbled, so to speak, across your blog, as part of the whole A to Z thang.

    See ya 'round the web.

    Kevyn Knox
    All Things Kevyn
    @kevynknox

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  21. Very interesting. I'm not sure if I've heard of this particular beast before.

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  22. I like vampires. This should be quite the month.

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  23. I saw the film, Aswang a few years back as part of a weekly "Bad Movie Night" with my friends. It was a mediocre horror movie, but it was my first real intro to the myth.

    I ended up really liking the Aswang as a monster, and statted her up in my Black Tokyo campaign setting. She's appropriately nasty.

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  24. Nice!

    Heather M. Gardner
    Co-host: Blogging from A to Z April Challenge
    Blog: The Waiting is the Hardest Part [http://hmgardner.blogspot.com/]

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  25. Wouldn't want to stumble across one...

    @JazzFeathers
    The Old Shelter - The Great War

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