Monster of the Week: The Slumbear

Category: Monster of the Week
Created on Friday, 10 February 2012 Written by M-Force Archives

Also Known As: Night Bear, Ursus Hypnos

Description: Despite numerous attempts, slumbears cannot apparently be captured on film or video, leaving us with only verbal accounts of the creature’s appearance.  These are vague and in some cases contradictory, but the common thread that emerges is the impression of a looming, horrific bear that rends its victims to bloody tatters before fading from the room.

BMA Classification: The Bureau of Monster Affairs classifies Slumbears as monsters.

Powers: By all credible accounts, a slumbear can become intangible at will and pass through the walls of a victim’s home to attack him. Everyone near a manifesting slumbear is rapidly overtaken by extreme drowsiness. Once face-to-face with the creature, it takes a tremendous force of will to keep from falling asleep. Caffeine and other stimulants are of only limited use against this effect

Vulnerabilities: When tangible, conventional weapons will kill a Slumbear, but employing them is far from easy to do without falling asleep. The intensity of the Slumbear’s drowsiness effect seems to vary with proximity, so a long-range approach using high-powered rifles can be successful if adequate firing lanes are available. Ambushes, effected by placing armed agents in the bed and closets while the victim hides under the bed, have been successful, though some slumbears have shown an unusually precise awareness of their victim’s location.

Biology and Habitat: The slumbear is a homicidal ultra-terrestrial entity that targets, torments and kills a specific victim, and often anything that stands in its way. The creature is in some unexplained manner associated with or attuned to human sleep and dream cycles.  A slumbear’s chosen victim will begin to suffer from terrible nightmares, generally involving bears and maiming. These will persist for several nights, increasing in intensity, and culminating when the slumbear manifests in tangible form to murder its victim. What motivates it, how it chooses its victim, and where it comes from and goes to, are all unknown.  


  • The first well-documented slumbear encounter took place in Plato, Missouri in 1955 and was investigated by Washington University Cryptic Studies Club. Dr. Fields and his students failed to save the victim, but their documentation of the case provides the basis for what is known about the creature today.
  • In 1977, a group of M-Forcers managed to defeat a slumbear who was menacing a young man in Fargo, Oklahoma.  
  • In 1990, a slumbear made the tactical error of targeting (future M-Force Academy Dean and then M-Force Agent) Chuck “Chainsaw” Findley. Needless to say, things did not work out well for the creature.
  • In 2001, M-Forcers fought a slumbear in Baraboo, Wisconsin. When the wounded creature “phased out” to make its escape, agents attacked it using electricity. Since the creature returned (albeit a week later, when it was killed with gunfire), the experiment as to whether intangible slumbears are affected by electrical attacks is considered inconclusive.

Body: 18
Brain: 7
Job: Murderous Bear (16)
Gimmick: Induce Sleep (15)--Anyone who comes within 30 feet of a Slumbear must make a Nerve roll. If the roll fails, the victim falls asleep. If the roll succeeds but is less than the Slumbear’s Gimmick roll, the victim a penalty to all rolls equal to the difference between the rolls due to drowsiness. A character under the effect of (dangerously) high levels of stimulants gains a bonus (usually +1 to +3)  to resist the slumbear’s attack, but suffers an equivalent penalty to all other rolls due to side-effects.

Become Intangible (16)--When a slumbear loses half of its Health Points, it will attempt to become intangible and return to the Kingdom of Nightmares. In order to do so, it must make a Gimmick roll. The bear will return for its victim once it returns to full strength (It heals at a rate of 3 HP per Earth day while in the Kingdom of Nightmares).

Weakness: Single-Minded (15)--In order to take action against anyone other than its intended victim, the slumbear must overcome its Weakness.
Skills: Sense Victim’s Location +3; Dream Manipulation +2
Armor Rating: 2
Damage Bonus: +3
HP: 20
Yum Yums: 3

©2012 by Hex Games
Monster of the Week: The Slumbear.
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