Slasher
By Dean B Lynch
Slasher is a small recursion based on fictional leakage from exploitation and “slasher” movies from the 1970s to modern times. Dominating the recursion is the town of Springdale. The main road through Springdale runs the length of the recursion. Heading north out of town, the road passes through the dark woods that surround Springdale and skirts past Crystal Lake. After a dozen miles out of town, the road abruptly ends at a destroyed bridge swept away by the swift current of an overflowing brook running down from the lake. A sign across the road reads, “Bridge out.” Heading South out of town is similar. The Landscape on either side of the Southern route begins to rise and rocks start appearing in the road forcing drivers to swerve around them. The road ends at a massive pile of rock with a sign that reads, “Road closed do to landslide.” The recursion ends where the roads stop and any thing seen beyond is simply an illusion of a bigger world. The flooded brook is impassable, but anyone attempting to swim it will be swept away and deposited directly into the Strange. The deeper into the woods one travels, the thicker the vegetation and thorny plants get until a traveler is forced to turn back.
One of the most unique features of the recursion is that it only has four months making up a year and those months are named after the four seasons. The four seasons are dominated by four holidays, Easter, July 4th, Halloween, and Christmas. The inhabitants of Slasher age a year every four months and it’s believed this helps make up for the large number of murders caused by the Slashers.
The Slashers: At any given time, there are from 1 to 6 “Slashers” active in the recursion. The “slashers” are basically just unemotional homicidal maniacs driven to . They always use bladed weapons, never guns. Their ability to take damage is borderline supernatural and they are extremely hard to . A good game master’s intrusion would be to have a recently killed Slasher rise back up from the dead to began killing again, fully healed. Many Slashers have a fondness for masks. The Slashers usually have some sort of motivation behind their killing, often revenge. They wantonly slaughter anyone who gets in their way, but seem to prefer teenagers, especially those preparing to engage in intercourse.
Springdale: (pop5000) A near perfect example of small town America, Springdale has a main street filled with shops, Myer’s Department store, government offices, a movie theater, and a diner that serves some of the best apple pie anyone has ever tasted. The streets running off Main street are all named for trees; Elm street, Maple Ave, Oak, Pine, etc. The town has a small police force, but is constantly hiring do to the large attrition rate from Slashers. There is only one local radio station and one television station that gives local news in between running Twilight Zone marathons or the original Star Trek series. The town is always decorated for one of the four holidays. In Spring, there is an Easter parade and egg hunt, a red white and blue parade in Summer with fireworks, A Halloween parade in Fall followed by “trick or treat“, and a Christmas parade in Winter.
The Woods: The woods around the town are dense and dark. Many overgrown dirt roads leave the main road and meander through the woods arriving at overgrown dumps filled with rusty old cars or abandoned cabins in the woods. The woods are foreboding, visitors often see movement out of the corner of their eyes, or come upon a diseased or mutilated dead deer. Despite the danger, Springdale’s teenagers often drive out to the woods to have parties, make out sessions, and get killed.
Crystal Lake: A small lake North of town. It’s a popular fishing spot and the site of a Summer camp. During the Spring, Fall, and Winter, the camp appears run down, overgrown, and creepy, but as soon as it turns Summer, the camp rejuvenates and fills with children and their irresponsible young councilors.
Common Slashers:
Psycho- The most human and easy to of the Slashers. Usually the result of an overprotective mother. They usually their mother, keep her mummified body in the house and continue talking to her. They make excuses about her not being able to see visitors since she is too sick. Some even dress like their mothers when they go on killing sprees.
Killer Mommy- A mother driven insane over the death of her child. Her grief gives her almost supernatural strength and endurance. She is revenge driven, seeking to eliminate anyone who directly or indirectly harmed her child. The death of a Killer Mommy has been known to resurrect her dead child as another Slasher.
Inbreds- A small family group of deformed individuals. They inhabit the woods, killing intruders that come into their homesteads. Sometimes they lure visitors into traps to steal their goods, engage in cannibalism, and often to look for a wife for their son.
Tex- A particular of large size and strength. A Tex is an family’s butcher, cutting up the meat for dinner. His preferred tool is a chainsaw.
Shatners- The townspeople’s favorite actor from both his Twilight Zone appearances and his starring role on Star Trek is William Shatner. Shatner masks are a best seller every year at Myers Department store and almost every Halloween one Slasher dons a mask and goes on a killing spree. Their favorite targets are their older sisters.
Lake Born- An unstoppable killer that drowned in Crystal Lake as the result of a boating accident, negligent camp councilors, or fell through the ice while playing hockey in winter. They are fond of hockey masks and usually wield machetes. A some occasions a lake born is a drowned creepy little girl who drowns her victims.
Preppie Killers- Well dressed and well groomed young people. Preppies like to act friendly and get invited into homes only to terrorize the family. They often act in pairs.
Thrill Seekers- A band of high school classmates or young people that wear masks and like to single out one particular family to terrorize. One of the few types of Slasher that will occasionally use a firearm.
Geek Gone Bad- A high school nerd or class clown that dons a Halloween mask to his friends all the while pretending to be one of them. They’ve been known to operate in pairs. A Geek Gone Bad is sometimes a female.
Naughty Santa- Almost every Christmas, the citizen playing Santa either at the Santa house in the park or Myer’s department store’s Santa, snaps from all the children sitting on their laps and tugging on their beards. Santa finds a weapon, usually an axe from the hardware section of the department store and goes on a killing spree, axing anyone deemed as “naughty”.