Project Werewolf: the Werewolves

This week I've got a foe from my Night's Black Agents game, String Theory: Werewolves.

Project Werewolf has created modern-day monsters through a combination of drug treatments, surgical alterations and brain washing. Those whose minds break become the Conspiracy's attack dogs.

Feral Werewolves

Maybe they were just wolves. Maybe they were the result of disease and surgery. Maybe they were men, crazed men with long hair. Maybe.

A product of Nazi science, Soviet research and ruthless American spies, the Werewolf program has spent seven decades mutilating soldiers in the pursuit of creating the perfect soldier. First for Operation Werwolf, then under the Soviet biowarfare program and finally in an illegal CIA operation. Only in the last case have they succeeded and still only for 1 subject in 6.

The failures suffer psychotic breaks and turn into rapid animals as their bodies are pushed beyond human limits.

The kindest thing would be to kill them.

Instead they have been conditioned into attack dogs.

Altered Biology

The main component of the process is a treatment of synthetic adrenaline. This changes the subject's biochemistry causing greatly increased strength and speed at the cost of blind rage.

Moreover the treatment causes their bodies to stop producing natural adrenaline naturally as their adrenal glands overload. Regular doses are needed for them to survive. Normally this is done with injections but in extreme cases they can subsist on the flesh of terrorized humans.

Further doses of synthetic adrenaline renders them docile for a time, aiding in training them to obey commands (like “Stop” “Kill” “Away”). These commands are typically in German (the native language of their creator) and are how Project Werewolf control them in the field.

Many have other surgical enhancements like claws, enlarged canines, quadrupedal locomotion and stranger alterations.

The process does give the subjects several vulnerabilities beyond a blind rage.

They suffer an enhanced sensitivity to nickel, causing a painful allergic reaction. Since many silver alloys contains nickel, it may cause some agents to mistake silver as a useful weapon when cheaper options are available.

They also suffer some light sensitivity as part of their conditioning. Typically this only affects them during the day or when under intense light.

The synthetic adrenaline is another vulnerability. If suppressed, the creatures' strength and speed decrease. At high doses it can even cause a heart attack.

Abilities

General Abilities: Aberrance 9, Hand-to-Hand 9, Health 9
Hit Threshold: 4
Alertness Modifier: + 2 (enhanced smell)
Stealth Modifier: + 1
Damage Modifier: + 1 (claws), + 0 (bite; extended canines) and worrying (see below)
Armor: -1 (tough skin)
Free Powers: Infravision, Regeneration (all Health refreshes the next day), Unfeeling
Other Powers: Extra Attacks (first extra attack is free, further attacks in a round cost 2 Aberrance or Hand-to-Hand points each), Shapeshifting (move to quadruped movement, +2 to Chase rolls), Spider Climb, Inhuman Strength (2 Aberrance per feat), Inhuman Speed (+1 Hit Threshold per 2 Aberrance spent)
Banes: Nickel Allergy (+ 2 damage), Beta-blockers (instant; Health difficulty 5 test, Minor: -5 Aberrance, Hurt, lasts until the werewolf's next injection; Severe: -10 Aberrance, +2 damage; -2 Aberrance and -1 Health every hour until treated)
Dread: bright light
Compulsions: Obey conditioned commands (in German), devour freshly killed humans

Pack attack: Up to three werewolves can attack a single target in one round. The foe’s Hit Threshold drops by 1 against the third werewolf.

Worrying bite: If two bites in a row succeed against the same target, the werewolf is worrying the target in its jaws. The second attack thus does double damage. The werewolf need not roll to hit that target thereafter, but will continue to do normal damage to him each round until killed or driven off. The werewolf’s Hit Threshold is only 3 against a foe clamped in its jaws.