It is rumored that these creatures were first encountered as early as the late 20^th century in the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl, which during that era was the worst nuclear accident known to mankind. It is also said that the creatures dubbed ‘Snorks’ were soldiers and others that were doused with a lethal dose of radiation. Unlike the Undying, these creatures did not mutate into what amounted to radioactive corpses that were either capable of thinking or feral creatures that could live for centuries. Instead these creatures became cannibalistic and little more than wild animals.

No. Enc: 2d8
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 90’ (30’)
AC: 4
HD: 6
Attacks: 2 claws
Damage: 1d4+2d6/1d4+2d6
Save: L6
Morale: 11
Hoard Class: V, VII (artifacts only), VIII

It is rumored that these creatures were first encountered as early as the late 20^th century in the radioactive ruins of Chernobyl, which during that era was the worst nuclear accident known to mankind.

It is also said that the creatures dubbed ‘Snorks’ were soldiers and others that were doused with a lethal dose of radiation. Unlike the Undying, these creatures did not mutate into what amounted to radioactive corpses that were either capable of thinking or feral creatures that could live for centuries. Instead these creatures became cannibalistic and little more than wild animals.

It wasn’t until many decades after the final wars destroyed most of the Ancient world that the truth of these creatures became known. They are nothing more than living vehicles for parasitic worms that control them in order to feed and find other hosts. Some believe that these mutant worms were created as a biological terror weapon, maybe even created by the Russians themselves, but no records have ever been discovered to prove this one way or another.

The physical appearance of these mutants is that of a sickly human (see Wisdom from the Wastelands issue 4: New Races), pure human or mutant human. For some reason the parasitic worm that creates these monsters cannot survive in a non-human host. They are always dressed in the remnants of armour and have some sort of face or eye protection. No one knows why the worms cause the victim to do this.

The skin is splotchy with weeping sores and whenever seen, the spine of the mutant is exposed to the air and the worms can be seen crawling along it. Scholars speculate that the worms need oxygen and sunlight to survive and purposefully eat away the flesh along the spine (which is where the creatures congregate) to have as much exposure to what they need to survive.

The hosts of these worms are constantly on the move and searching for new hosts to infest. They will do so by using their claws in order to open wounds in the flesh of any humans they encounter. Once a large enough wound has been inflicted, the creature will then spit worms into it in order to infest the victim. This is considered a ranged attack and will not cause any damage, but if it hits and the victim has open wounds, they must make a saving throw versus poison or become infected by the worms.

If the victim becomes infected, they will suffer 1d3 points of Will Power and Intelligence loss per day. Once either statistic reaches zero, the worms have effectively destroyed the brain of the victim and are able to take hold and control the body.

There are several ways to rid the victim of the worms before this happens. Any mutation such as vampiric field will destroy the creatures, as will any protective nanotechnology the victim may possess (see Wisdom from the Wastelands issue 28: Nanotechnology 1), as well a Filter-Dose.  Any lost Will Power or Intelligence will be healed at the victim’s natural healing rate per day (and the victim decides how to divide the healing up between the two statistics).

These mutant creatures will ignore any non-human, android or replicant that they encounter, unless they are attacked, at which point they will defend themselves and go on the offensive until the attackers have been driven off or destroyed. They will never try to infect non-humans with the worms.

As a result, when these creatures are discovered, anyone who knows and understands what they are often will send groups of non-humans in to deal with the threat that they pose.

Mutations: Increased physical attribute (strength), increased senses (smell), toxic weapon.

Source: S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series of games.