Paper Man

A Paper Man, also known as a Harbrought, Husk or Hollow Man, is a type of Other related to Vestiges.

Creation

They form after a person has most of their Self destroyed, leaving only a hardened, scorched exterior. This can be a result of a Greater Power or other major magical effect touching them, or occasionally a mundane catastrophe. Harbingers, whose every magical act is channeling a Greater Power, frequently create them whenever they use their powers to kill.

For some reason, they have become more common after the first use of atomic weapons to attack Japan, even in unrelated contexts.

Appearance

They often appear to be literally hollow (possibly filled with whatever destroyed them), or two-dimensional in some fashion.

Abilities

They are exceptionally tough, difficult to destroy (nothing most Practitioners can throw at them could match the power these fragments have already survived), but they can be contained.

They have a tendency to appear in dreams, static, stains on walls, scattered objects, etc. in the area around themselves.

In many cases they can send out ambient effects based on the power that still burns within them, whatever it is.

They can absorb power of almost any type.

When they either run out of energy, or gain so much energy that they "burn out", they are reduced to a passive presence - a shadow, a voice in the static, a person visible only from a certain window, etc. They can then reactivate from this hibernating state if given power, whether intentionally, from the attention of Innocents, or simply ambient power from magical activity happening near them.

When they "burn out" after absorbing enough energy it can unleash a burst of power, causing widespread damage, potentially even intense enough to create some more (lesser) Paper Men.

They're generally not fast-moving.

While dormant, they can sometimes be "translated" into a different form - for example, one might take a photo of them and they instinctively follow the attention, moving into the photo. This can form the basis for a binding and allow for summoning them, although they will need a potent supply of power.

Behaviour

Not very intelligent, they sort of flail around causing problems.

They tend to consume lesser Paper Men of the same type, meaning they are only found alone or in matched sets.

They often leave clues as to the event that spawned them, such as obsessively writing the names of everyone who died alongside them, chanting some relevant term, etc.

Like many Others, they can sense the fires within them slowly running down. They tend to seek out whatever aspects of themselves were destroyed, in a doomed hope of repairing themself. Alternatively, they may simply seek energy.

Variants

Awestruck - only the mind has been hollowed out, not the body. Basically just crazy "Aware" people who can see things they shouldn't, but with the standard Paper Man patterns of behaviour. Sometimes find their way to acquiring Other abilities so they can feed and power themselves, or become Familiars.

Paper Thing - an object, rather than a person or creature, that's been hollowed out. Generally have some magical power, plus a stronger single-use power that will consume the item.

References

• Pact Dice Beastiary: Paper Men