Chapter ***: Those Hiding in the Shadows (Original Killer Chapter)

I was watching stuff online while working on the Book and heard about how crows were under-utilized, so I decided to start working on a killer whose perks and power revolved around the system. Refining it to its completed (balanced) state and actually seeing it in gameplay is a lot tougher when typing them out on a document or post but I am willing to try.

The Coven (Calling her The Druid would be too nice) is a killer designed to rework Critters and make them a more powerful tool beyond tracking and spotting afk survivors. Most of these changes are designed to be similar across all killers and not just unique interactions for the perks. Meaning that if a killer is cognizant enough to pick up on these without the perk that accentuates the interaction, they don’t need the perk.

To Start with I'm going to go over the Rework of the Wildlife System Presented and explain my reasoning behind each Implementation later.

Changes to the Wildlife System:

All Wildlife is split between 2 categories: Small Critters, and Large Animals. 

Small Critters: The creatures that are often smaller than humans. Approaching one always startles it, unless the character has a method to suppress it. Survivors can avoid startling Critters by crouching past them. If they come much too close to a Critter while doing so, it will still get startled. The Perk Calm Spirit will prevent startling Critters while walking or running past them, with the aforementioned exception. Killers will always startle Critters with the exception a cloaked Wraith, a crouching Ghost Face or while they are using the Perk Predatory Ties. A shot from The Redeemer, however, will always startle any Wildlife within 24 meters.

Large Animals: Animals that are often not afraid of Human presence, or predators that could potentially attack humans. All Large Animals disappear during End Game Collapse.

Small Critters

• Critter: Crows: No change from Base Game “If a Player is too close to a Crow, they will make a small noise and fly above the skybox. They will then return 15 seconds later, possibly making another smaller sound as they land. This event can be triggered by both the Survivors and the Killer. The noise of Crows will not present a visual cue to the Killer, unless they have the Perk Spies from the Shadows, which provides a visual cue at a certain range.”
• New Critter: Skink: Will tail a Survivor for 5 seconds after being disturbed and make scratch marks made after they start following last longer. They return to their starting location after 20 seconds.  Appears in Forsaken Boneyard, and Grave of Glenvale Realms naturally. Appears on all maps near rocks while using The Coven.
• New Critter: Rats: Just “Crows” for indoor maps/locations without open air/ windows. Mainly appear on the lower floors of Giddings Meat Packing Facility. Appears in all Jungle Gym Types while using The Coven. “If a Player is too close to a Rat, they will make a small noise and run into a wall. They will then return 15 seconds later, possibly making another smaller sound as they come back out. This event can be triggered by both the Survivors and the Killer. The noise of Rats will not present a visual cue to the Killer, unless they have the Perk Spies from the Shadows, which provides a visual cue at a certain range. Survivors can avoid startling Rats by crouching past them. However, if they come much too close to a Rat while doing so, it will still get startled. A shot from The Redeemer, however, will always startle any Wildlife within 24 meters.”
• New Critter: Spiders: At the Start of the Trial 5 random Crow locations will instead spawn as Spiders. Spiders spawned in the Map will begin making webs across gaps less than 4 meters long. After 60 seconds of uninterrupted web making the web will be complete. Startling a Spider before the Web is Complete will set their progress back by about 20 seconds as the spiders will run away and hide until the Survivors or Killer leave. When the Web is complete only the Killer can move through the Web without interruption due to The Entity strengthening them. Survivors cannot Medium or Slow vault Windows that have been webbed. Survivors must run through the web to break it and will become slightly Hindered (2%) when breaking it and for 1 second after finishing the Vault. A broken web takes 30 seconds to repair and can be set back in the same way.
• New Critter: Frogs: Just “Crows” for the Backwater Swamp and Red Forest (Rarely). Replaces Crows randomly.

Large Animals

• Large Animal: Vulture: Appears on Grave of Glenvale and Coldwind Farm Realms “If a Player is too close to a Vulture, they will make a noise. This event can be triggered by both the Survivors and the Killer. The noise of Vulture will not present a visual cue to the Killer, unless they have the Perk Spies from the Shadows, which provides a visual cue at a certain range. Survivors can avoid startling Vulture by crouching past them. However, if they come much too close to a Crow while doing so, it will still get startled. The Perk Calm Spirit will prevent startling Vultures while walking or running past them, with the aforementioned exception. Killers will always startle Vultures with the exceptions of a cloaked Wraith, a crouching Ghost Face or while they are using the Perk Predatory Ties. A shot from The Redeemer, however, will always startle any Wildlife within 24 meters.”
• New Large Animal: Grizzly Bear: Appears in The Macmillan Estate, Yamaoka Estate (Rarely) (Flavor Coloration to Panda Bears), Crotus Prenn Asylum (Rarely), and Red Forest Realms near the edge of the Map in areas devoid of Pallets and Structures. Wherever they spawn a Den will spawn as well. A Grizzly will never leave a 2 tile Range of its Cave. If a Survivor stays within a 12-meter range of a Grizzly for more than 5 seconds it will start to prowl near them and attempt an attack on them after another 3 seconds. If a Grizzly damages a Survivor, it does not count towards any perks that track damaging survivors. When a Killer becomes closer than 8 meters to a Grizzly Bear, it may make loud roars and growls, unless they are using the Perk Predatory Ties. These roars can be heard within 20 meters of the Bear.
• New Large Animal: Canadian Timber Wolf: Appears on Ormond realm. Roams around the Map avoiding Structures. When an Injured Survivor comes within 12 meters of the Wolf it will stalk them at a distance for the next 15 seconds. If the Killer’s Terror radius covers the Wolf, it will disengage scared by the Killer. This effect does not happen if the Killer is using the Perk Predatory Ties. The Wolf will also disengage if a survivor enters a structure for more than 3 seconds. If the Wolf stalks the Survivor for the full 15 seconds it will attack the survivor from behind. If a Wolf damages a Survivor, it does not count towards any perks that track damaging survivors. If it is able to put them into the dying state, the survivor's Bleed Out Timer is reduced by 5%. 
• New Large Animal: American Alligator: Appears on Backwater Swamp realm. Spawns towards the center of the map. If a survivor approaches an area near it, it will hiss for 3 seconds. If the survivor does not leave the area it will leap towards the survivor and attack. If the Attack lands the survivor becomes trapped and must fight off the Alligator (uses the wiggle interaction). When they are released from the grasp the survivor is inflicted with the Deep Wounds Status effect. If the Killer approaches the area near the Alligator it will hiss for 3 seconds, before lunging forwards and attacking the killer, unless they are using the Perk Predatory Ties. If the attack lands the Killer will be stunned as they remove the Alligator from themselves. If the Alligator misses or gets removed from any player, it will retreat to another nearby location.

Stillness System (AFK Detection) - No Change 

Calm Spirit change:

Animals seem to trust you as they often stay calm in your presence.

• Lowers the odds of alerting nearby Critters and Vultures by 80/90/100 %.
• Suppresses the urge to scream from pain at all times.

Spies From The Shadows Change:

The Animals found in the Trial Grounds can communicate with you directly.

• Critters startled by Survivors within 20/28/36 meters alert you with a loud noise notification

Spies from the Shadows has a cool-down of 5 seconds between alerts.

SO first let's go through what is Staying the same: Crows have their place in the game as a tool and lore part, and it would be a hard change to make to completely remove them so instead, I have simply reworked where they are found on maps. Vultures are a similar story and I have also added them to the farms to play into the fact some decaying meat is on the map. Also, the AFK Detection System while it takes a moment to build up does work and requires no change.

The new stuff is a list that is best explained with the basis of how these animals are used in Slasher Stories, while yes birds are the most common animal seen in these films, you have to admit that the other animals like lizards, rodents, and insects are important pieces of the world that the entity could make use of to provide emotional solace to survivors (which would help it feed better) as well as introduce more unique mechanics to track with and hinder survivors (for the gameplay perspective). Implementing the Spiders to be randomized at the start of the Trial makes the situations they become effective a bit too random to change much about the gameplay so I made them more of a hindering tool that could be used in chase.

The Larger animals are due to a wish to see stuff like this implemented without compromising too much on the veritable damage this could do the game being put in so late, generally I tried to make them work and spawn only on certain Maps, but the new Killer will showcase more. but from the nature of the Killer's Story, The Entity now as a better understanding of Animals and is able to make better use of them.

The Killer: The Coven

Stats:

Height: Average

Terror Radius: 32 meters

Lullaby: 32 meters (Animalistic sounds from the critters following her)

Speed: 110% (4.4 m/s)

Biography:

Marigold Fields is a self-proclaimed druid, one who communes with nature and animals. Living in Brisbane, Australia, she often takes the time out of her day to go to the park and walking trails. She lost both of her eyes in an accident. Since this event she has been hearing whispers whenever there are animals around her. One day, she is brought before a doctor and given the chance to have her eyes replaced. Turns out that Doctor was a Quack and started the procedure without anesthesia causing her immense pain. in her cries of agony animals come rushing into the room and start attacking the Doctor. Laying on the operating table, bleeding out, a thick fog covers the room and whispers begin anew as she opens her new eyes, she is reminded of the pain felt during every major part of her life.

Power: One With Nature

Main Ability 

Walking near a Small Critter will cause that critter to follow you for the next 30 seconds, after which it returns to its starting location. Each critter has its own timer. No new critters can begin following or time out during a chase. 

Press the Power button to cause one Critter to rush forwards (Critters will rush forwards 12 meters at 8.0 m/s and travel over small geometry). If the critter hits a survivor, they get hindered slightly (5%) for 10 seconds and scream. Hitting a survivor with a critter again while they are hindered, increases the amount they are hindered by (+3% per hit beyond the first) and resets the timer for the Hindered effect. If a Critter misses (this means it either, travels its full distance without hitting someone or runs into a piece of geometry it cannot cross) it will immediately timeout and return to its starting location. After commanding a Critter to rush, The Coven cannot command another rush for 1 second

Special Ability: Animalistic Nature

Spawns 3 random Large Animals on the Map. The Auras of the Unnatural Animals are shown to you in White for the first 60 seconds of the trial. The Coven can perform an interaction (Press interact key (Spacebar/RB) for a 5 second interaction) with any Large Animal to cause that animal to become more aggressive. All Aggressive Large Animals persist in the Trial during End Game Collapse.

Each Large Animal acts differently when interacted with:

• Vulture: A Vulture will make a Loud Noise Notification every 5 seconds upon being startled by a Survivor and will then fly around them granting a hindered (5%) effect and a small Action Speed Penalty (2%) for the next 20 seconds.
• Grizzly Bear: Grizzly Bears will attempt to attack survivors immediately and the range at which they detect Survivors is doubled. Allows the Grizzly Bear to count towards Perks that track Damaging Survivors.
• Canadian Timber Wolf: The wolf will roam around at an increased speed and will attack after 5 seconds. If it spots a survivor in chase with The Coven it will follow closely behind The Coven for 3 seconds before running past and leaping at the Survivor. Allows the Wolf to count towards Perks that track Damaging Survivors.
• American Alligator: Alligator hisses for less time. Alligator’s attacks now can put Survivors in the Dying state if they do not escape in 10 seconds. Alligator doesn’t attack The Coven. 

Special Ability: Friend of the Small

Spawns all types of Critters around the map. All critters do not get startled by your presence. This ability activates Predatory Ties.

Add-Ons:

Addon descriptions are nice when it explains what I mean but I feel the need to categorize some similar looking addons

Whistle Notes: Papers holding particular scores that show a pitch to whistle with for a desired effect.

Brown

:

Increases the time a Critter follows The Coven by 3 seconds

Nature Book Page:

Increases the time Unnatural Animal Auras are revealed for by 5 seconds

Whistle Note for Gnashing Teeth:

Increases the time a Survivor becomes Hindered by a Rushing Critter by 2 seconds

:

Increases the distance a Critter rushes by 2 meters

Yellow

:

Increases the time a Critter follows The Coven by 5 seconds

:

Increases the distance a Critter rushes by 4 meters

Whistle Note for Following:

Increases the distance at which New Critters will begin following The Coven by 2 meters.

Grass Whistle:

Increases the speed a Critter Rushes by 25%

:

Increases the amount of hindering applied to a survivor after being hit by a Critter after already having been hit by a Critter before by 1% (additive effect, meaning it now applies 4% extra hindering)

Green

:

Increases the time a Critter follows The Coven by 8 seconds

:

Injured Survivors hit by a Rushing Critter become inflicted with the Mangled Status effect.

Decreases the distance a Critter rushes by 2 meters

Doctoral Mask:

Increases the time a Survivor becomes Hindered by a Rushing Critter by 5 seconds

Whistle Note for a Speedy Run:

Increases the speed a Critter Rushes by 50%

Shining Grass Whistle:

Increases the distance a Critter rushes by 6 meters

Purple

:

Increases the time Critters follow The Coven by 10 seconds

Scalpel of a Quack:

Survivors hit by a Rushing Critter suffer from the Exhausted effect for as long as they are hindered.

Decreases the distance a Critter Rushes by 3 meters

Whistle Note for Aggravation:

Decreases time it takes to make a Large Animal Aggressive by 2 seconds.

Pile of Animal Treats:

Increases the distance at which New Critters will begin following The Coven by 4 meters.

Iridescent

Iridescent Flute of Grass and Twine:

Increases the range at which New Critters will begin following The Coven by 8 meters.

Increases the time Critters follow The Coven by 15 seconds.

Critters no longer make Survivors Scream

Pellets of Human Meat:

Decreases time it takes to make a Large Animal Aggressive by 4 seconds.

Increases the time Unnatural Animal Auras are revealed for by 30 seconds.

Perks:

Hex: Enochlophobia:

While in a chase, if the survivor being chased startles a critter, they cannot perform actions for .5/.75 /1 second. The survivor will be notified by a cawing sound when they startle the critter. This effect has a cooldown of 3 seconds.

Conservation Efforts:

When a Survivor startles any Critter, the Critter will follow the survivor for the next 10/15/20 seconds.

While a Survivor is being followed:

• The Scratch Marks left by the survivor stay on the ground 3 seconds longer
• When the Survivor is not running the survivor suffers from The Hearing status effect. 

The startle range for all Wildlife increased by 4 meters.

The Hearing Status Effect temporarily impairs the hearing of Survivors, muffling their audio. (This is an old effect that sometimes sees use today via flashbangs)

Predatory Ties:

The Entity ties you to the eyes all around

• Reduces the Chance to startle wildlife by 90/95/100%

When this effect activates Predatory Ties activates for the next 30 seconds

While Active:

• You gain the ability to read the auras of survivors within the detection range of any wildlife 
• If a survivor startles a Critter outside of chase, gain a 5/8/10% haste effect for the remainder of the active time.

Predatory Ties can only activate once every 45 seconds

Appearance:

The Coven is a stout muscular female wearing a large vest and overcoat depicting animals native to Australia particularly Koalas and Dingoes. Within the inside of the overcoat there is a small animal of unknown form that she can be seen playing with in the start of the trial. When walking she seems light on her feet and avoids pressing down on the ground for too long. Her eyes while still human looking from afar, resemble that of a reptile on her left eye and an avian on her right eye.

Her weapon is large sturdy dead branch that she swings from high to low, wiping off by lightly shaking the branch towards the ground. Cosmetically when she hits survivors 1 of 20 times the branch will break, and she replaces it with a perfectly similar branch from inside her overcoat.

Cosmetics:

Prestige outfit: Bloody versions of each part.

Dirt Covered Colors: Brown variation of her base outfit

Animals of the Earth: Instead of exclusively Australian animals, animals from all over are depicted on the overcoat. her pants and vest are green tinted. Her Weapon is now more alive looking.

The Coven is a Unique take on the person in tune with nature and those liked by animals. Her Power is designed to make this new system a bit more intuitive for Killer Players and provide reasons for the new stock of animals. In making the animals a simple threat for survivors in more ways she provides a fear of the wild when she's around.

The Survivor: Jebadiah Renalds

Biography:

Jebadiah Renalds: A highly skilled construction worker or Brisbane caught in the middle of a scandal involving an accident he caused. After which he was demoted to a simple mentor for younger workers, so the company didn’t lose his skills. He’s quite strict about how to go about the starting procedure of construction.

Years later when he’s reaching retirement age he gets kidnapped by a group of individuals and taken to a dilapidated building and locked in. Using his knowledge of construction and the small pack of tools he keeps on him he escapes from the building, stumbling out into a very thick fog. When the fog clears, he is in front of a campfire surrounded by others.

Perks:

Engineer: 

You have a keen sense to find the right tools.

Unlocking Chests is 40% faster.

Unlocking your first Chest guarantees a Commodious Toolbox.

Engineer reduces the audible range of your Chest-unlocking noises by 8/10/12 meters.

Dedicated Planning:

Planning out large spaces came easily to you.

While within an 8-meter range of an upright pallet gain a 5% increase in repair action speed.

Dropping a pallet without stunning the killer blocks the killer from breaking the pallet for the next 5/7/10 seconds. 

Dedicated Planning has a cool down of 80 seconds.

Only One Chance:

Placing a foundation has to be done correctly the first time

While working on a Generator without any other survivors, Only One Chance gains a Token every 10 seconds up to a maximum of 8/12/16 tokens.

Any time a generator would explode for reasons other than missing a skill check while you are working on it, it instead doesn’t. If it would lose progress, it still does. 

All lost progress to any generator is increased by 50%. This effect does not stack with other instances of Itself.

(Lost Progress is a defined term by the Devs referring to the base regression applied to generator by an effect. Jolt applies an 8% loss when it goes off. When this perk is active Jolt would instead apply 12% lost progression.)

Appearance:

Jeb is in his late 40s and has the face of someone who is visibly aged from stress. While lanky he is toned and has a strong grip on his hands. He wears a set of dark overalls over a bright orange shirt.

Cosmetics:

Prestige Outfit: bloody versions of his base cosmetics.

Open Season: Red Variation of Base outfit

Creation Prefaces:

Yes, I know I could have written full length backstories and biographies for these two but sadly I am not the person to comment of anything particularly Australian. Maybe someday later I can come back to these and add the proper stories. but for now, let me add technically these two could have had their stories take place anywhere and it not change anything about them as people, I just felt like making them from Australia. all of the details given are the key events. There are probably going to be references to the major evil organizations and The Entity, but they are for the most part only there to be minor references and reasoning for why specifically these two were taken.

The Coven: The person taking care of her is a member of the Black Vale and used rituals and magics to change their voice while animals are around and push Mari more towards being a Killer.

Jebadiah: The Accident that resulted in his demotion was actually not caused by him and instead a targeted scapegoat for The Black Vale as a method for pushing The Coven into their path so they could slowly affect her.