JUNIOR HYBRID BATTLE

CRYPTIDS
RULES CHARACTERS
PLAY: Players describe what their characters do. ► You’re a teen. Set 1 personal style below to d8,
The GM judges when their action is impossible, with d6 for the rest. Optionally (or if 2 players pick
demands a cost or extra steps, or presents a risk. the same style), rename it to reflect your attitude.
Players can revise plans before committing so as
❏ Careful (or precise, cautious, patient, fussy).
to change goal/stakes, and only roll to avoid risk.
Attack without collateral damage. Dismantle a
ROLLING: Roll a die based on the style you use lock quietly. Often risks delay or weak effects.
(use highest if not clear which), or only a d4 if ❏ Clever (or nerdy, brainy, wily, crafty). Attack
hindered by injury or circumstances. If helped by the chandelier over a foe. Pick a lock with a
circumstances, roll an extra d6; if helped by an credit card. Often risks unseen side effects.
ally, they roll using the approach they take, and ❏ Flashy (or showy, noisy, sassy, zany). Attack to
share the risk. Take the highest die. misdirect or provoke. Taunt guards into opening
a door. Often risks TOO MUCH attention.
1–2 Disaster. Suffer the full risk. If you risked
❏ Forceful (or direct, gutsy, reckless, stormy).
harm, it hinders until you get patched up in
Attack hard and fast. Kick in the door. Often
your lair. If this disaster is mutually exclusive
risks collateral damage.
with your goal (GM’s call), you fail.
3–4 Setback. A lesser consequence or partial ► You’re a hybrid. Choose why you’re all humanoid,
success. If you risked harm, you’re only but not quite human.
hindered briefly (like being knocked down).
❏ Cyborg: “Upgraded” in secret. Take a laser-
5+ Success. The higher the roll, the better.
eye, rocket-feet, sensor array, pneumatic
If success can’t get you what you want (like: Your punch, or other high-tech implant.
hands pass through him! Is he a ghost?), you still ❏ Mutant: Altered by evolution or by accident.
get useful information or set up an advantage. Raise another style to d8, or take 1 animal
feature from another kind of cryptid.
REGROUP: Play out a scene in your lair to patch
❏ Mythic: Not just urban legends. You can shift
up injuries (removing hindrances) and plan your
between animal-form and hybrid-form.
next move — but any situations you face may get
❏ Offworld: Castaways or refugees. Hop a fence
worse in the meantime!
& throw a motorcycle with ease in this gravity.
CHIPS: When a teammate gets under your skin
► You do battle. Choose how you trained. Take a
(your call), get a chip on your shoulder. (Only hold
tool or weapon in addition to those listed.
up to 1 chip at a time.) Later, let it go to turn a
disaster roll into a setback, or to help that pain-in- ❏ Lucha: Take a luchador mask & a stunning
the-butt teammate with an extra d12. dropkick. When you name and describe using a
new fighting move, roll an extra d12.
GM: Describe characters in terms of behaviors,
❏ MC: Take street duds. In a rap battle, dance-
risks & obstacles, not dice. Lead in setting lines
off, or battle of the bands, if you, the player, act
not to cross & maintaining tone. (Is it more weird
any of it out, roll a handful of extra d6’s.
indie comic or Saturday morning cartoon?) Frame
❏ Mystic: Take a cloak & a power like levitation,
scenes by fast-forwarding, pausing, or rewinding
mind-reading, astral projection, or mesmerism.
& redoing for pacing & safety; invite players to do
When you regroup, do a ritual for a 1-day power.
likewise. Present dilemmas you don’t know how
❏ Ninja: Take a mask, grappling hook & smoke
to solve. Move the spotlight to give all time to
bombs. When you agree to disappear & aren’t
shine. Improvise rulings for gaps in rules; on a
pinned down, poof — you’re gone.
break, revise unsatisfactory rulings together.

► You’re a cryptid. You live in secret to avoid
capture & study. Choose the animal you most
resemble, or make your own with 3–4 features.
❏ Bullfrog: Amphibious. Leap up to 10× your
height. Long, adhesive tongue.
❏ Canine: Strong bite. Keen hearing. Identify &
track by scent.
❏ Feline: Retractable claws. Night vision. Keen
senses. Good at landing on feet.
❏ Gator: Natural swimmer. Night vision.
Powerful bite. Hide deflects punches.
❏ Glass squid: Natural swimmer. Natural
camouflage. Glow in the dark. Spray ink.
❏ Hedgehog: Covered in sharp spines. Roll into
ball to attack all around. Keen senses.
❏ Knifefish: Natural swimmer. Electric shock.
Poor eyesight, but great electrolocation
❏ Lizard: Natural acrobat. Climb any surface.
Shed tail to turn a disaster into a setback.
❏ Mole rat: Burrow quickly. Poor eyesight, but
superior sense of smell. Not hindered by pain.
❏ Polecat: Burrow quickly. Squeeze through
narrow gaps. Emit “tear gas.”
❏ Possum: Natural climber. Can carry a lot.
Good at playing dead. Tail acts as extra hand.
❏ Primate: Natural climber. Strong arms.
Prehensile toes. Pass as human in poor light.
❏ Rabbit: Burrow quickly. Long jump. Sharp
hearing. Gnaw through wires & rope.
❏ Raven: Natural flyer. Mimic sounds & voices.
Sharp beak. Light bones may help or hinder.
❏ Rhino: Naturally strong. Gore with horn. Hide
deflects punches. Size may help or hinder.
❏ Turtle: Natural swimmer. Retractable neck.
Shell deflects body blows, helps avoid harm.
► And you have a name. Discuss whether you want
commonplace names, wacky names, or to all have
names according to a shared theme, like comic
creators, Greek gods, sci-fi authors, or scientists.
Each note your pronouns, and play!
See other 2400 games for more options for character creation, advancement & missions — or make up your own!
OPTIONALLY…
► Describe your lair. Decide what it was before (like
a boarded-up arcade, condemned clocktower, or
abandoned subway station). It has items checked
below; each player chooses or makes up 1 more.
✔ First aid kit: get patched up when you regroup
❏
✔ Furniture: the finest curbside selections
❏
✔ Phones: pay-as-you-go (on adventures)
❏
✔ TV: salvaged from Big Mac’s junkyard
❏
❏ Armory: varied hand-to-hand weapons
❏ Disguises: rubber masks, big hats, baggy coats
❏ Guard: name & describe who watches over it
❏ Library: consult for guidance when regrouping
❏ Traps: snare in nets, foam, or trash bins
❏ Vehicle: like a panel van, boat, or motorcycle
► Describe a mentor & nemesis. The GM can define
these, or invite players to offer 1 thing each — a
name, connection to the team, or a trait — or build
on one of the following examples.
♡ Gray: Elderly, altruistic cryptid. Took you in
after saving you from would-be captors
💀 Cutter: Cold-eyed leader of the Fist gang.
Destroyed the only link you had to your past.
► Choose a mission. When you complete a mission,
increase a style (d6 ➡d8 ➡d10 ➡d12) and gain a
valuable lesson. (Use lessons like chips — mitigate
disaster or give d12 in help — but hold any number.)
❏ Altruism: Your moral code demands you
defend the innocent — even those who would
fear you. Complete when the city openly
recognizes you for averting a catastrophe.
❏ Atonement: You were made or trained to be
weapons, but found a better path. Complete
when the effects of past wrongs are undone.
❏ Investigation: A lot of weird stuff happens
around here. You look into it all, hoping to find
some answers of your own. Complete when
you learn the full truth of your origins.
❏ War: All crime in the city ties to your nemesis,
so every crime you fight strikes at them.
Complete when the nemesis poses no threat.
 THEY CALL YOU “URBAN LEGENDS” — but this
city needs you. The only ones who truly know you
are those who do battle by your side … when you
aren’t battling each other. After all, they’re family.
► Situations
1 Armed assaults increase near the docks
2 “Armored man” leaving a trail of carnage
3 Banks robbed — no tunnels, just blast marks
4 Blue flashes emanate from the TZXI Building
5 Cherry-red UFO seen buzzing skyscrapers
6 Cryptid sightings — but it wasn’t you!
7 Dinosaurs rampaging in the streets!
8 Firefighters can’t get into burning building
9 Flying robots spotted stealing machine parts
10 Friend framed for stealing rare gem
11 Gangs fighting around 12th & Vance
12 Huge tentacles pull food carts into sewers
13 Lair was trashed; mentor or an item is missing
14 Mutant plants turn neighborhood into jungle
15 New self-driving cars going out of control
16 Police corner humanoid beasts in lab coats
17 Small meteorites strike city intermittently
18 Strange … kid? … fleeing armed pursuers
19 Unusual earthquakes keep shaking city
20 Weirdos take City Hall, demand to see you
► Friends or Foes
1 Agent Jody Fine, wears suit, glasses, grimace
2 Andros Arcanos, goateed, self-styled occultist
3 Bad Fish, Fist lieutenant, freestyle rap legend
4 Big Mac, comically cranky junkyard proprietor
5 Bryce West, athletic, enigmatic philanthropist
6 Catnip, masked burglar, only robs “bad guys”
7 Commissioner Sora Sato, tired, distrustful
8 Detective Sam Ruiz, gets “the weird cases”
9 Dr. Omar Ali Egal, expert in whatever you are
10 Fiery Turnip, oddly masked hero/handyman
11 Geppetto, kindly old mob doctor, retired (?)
12 Hayden Harker, charismatic CEO of CyberLyte
13 Judy Tang, sharp reporter, tired of fluff pieces
14 Katya Ivanov, taxidermist & cryptozoologist
15 Lester Dodd, makes a living as a test subject
16 Max Muldoon, lawyer, takes on lost causes
17 The Night Terror, vigilante hero or crazed loner
18 Shelly Burke, very enthusiastic UFOlogist
19 The Sogmaster, teen hacker, in it for the lulz
20 Vic Sloane, private eye, unwitting psychic
Version 1.0 • Illustrations by Kyyybic • “Styles” from Fate Accelerated Edition • Permission is granted to reproduce for personal use
GM: While out in the city, the team sees a Situation
relevant to their Mission. Pick 1–2 Friends or Foes
to involve, and what’s up Meanwhile… If players
get stuck, introduce a news flash or urgent event!
What might be happening…
Smugglers getting skittish before a big shipment
Unwilling cyber-soldier test subject lost, confused
Marks are residue of a thief who can teleport
Transmat gate links to a world where you blend in
Joyriding teens from another dimension
Enemy made them to fight you, but they seem cool
Secret cloning lab breach, hoping to avoid blame
“Arsonist” is a kid who can’t control fire powers
Misguided techie builds would-be “superheroes”
The thief mimics appearance to deflect blame
New crime boss muscling in on Fist turf
Hungry creature summoned from another plane
Bait to draw you out — or a big misunderstanding
Find site where chemical spill animated local flora
Tech scrambled by a crashed UFO distress beacon
Researchers mutated by germ; cure in overrun lab
High school science fair “weather machine” glitch
Mutant lab rat trying to escape from scientists
Subterranean beings are expanding their own city
Marooned aliens hope you can help them get home
► Meanwhile…
1 Anti-vigilante police task force formed
2 Big-budget superhero movie filming here
3 Blizzard! It’s cold as heck & visibility stinks
4 Deliver food on the way to make ends meet
5 Fight creatively to inspire your next blog post
6 Fist-linked developers buying up South Street
7 Friend has a secret, afraid you’ll find out
8 Growth spurt! Feels like you need a lot of food
9 Halloween — the one night you blend in
10 Hidden camera images of you on nightly news
11 Holiday parade brings giant floats & balloons
12 K-9000 robot police dogs deployed
13 Marathon runners fill the city’s streets
14 “Party” at East Warehouse, Lairdman Islands
15 News anchors chuckle at doomsday prophecy
16 Rumored device can “un-mutate”
17 Signs suggest a defeated enemy may be back
18 Stream video of adventures for pizza money
19 “Super team” scouting you as potential recruits
20 Urban legend series doing an episode on you