Game Statistics
Threat Level
Each entry in this section has a Threat Level.
This gauges the challenge that a creature presents to a group of adventurers.
| Threat Level | How Group is Affected |
| Low | Group should have little trouble and will not be in mortal danger. |
| Medium | Group will face a decent challenge, and if not careful, someone may get serious hurt. |
| High | There is high likelihood that one or more party members may get serious hurt or killed. |
| Extreme | The entire party is in serious jeopardy. |
Intelligence
Creatures will be listed as intelligent or unintelligent.
Intelligent creatures can, at some level, speak and understand speech, use reason and logic to solve problems, and these creatures often live in a complex society.
Unintelligent creatures cannot speak or understand speech and live on raw instinct; if these creatures live in groups, they adhere to a pack or herd mentality and do not form complex societal structures.
Wounds
Some creatures have different Wound Levels than player characters.
If a creature has more or fewer Wound Levels than standard, that detail will be listed along with how many more or fewer Wound Levels.
Additional Wound Levels are always granted at 0D penalty.
Thus, a creature with 2 additional Wound Levels at 0D penalty has five total Wounds with the following penalties (in order from first to last Wound): 0D, 0D, 0D, -1D, -2D.
Skills
A creatures Skill Levels, broken down by group, will be listed.
If a Skill and corresponding Skill Level isn’t listed, the creature has 0 Levels in that Skill.
Spells
If the creature knows any Spells, those Spells will be listed here.
Spells will also have a parenthetical reference to the Spell’s governing Magic Group Skill (A for Alchemy, S for Sorcery, and W for Weirding) and the Spell’s Level (1, 2, 3, etc.).
Equipment
Any equipment the creature is likely to have on it when encounters will be listed here.
The gamemaster may alter this equipment, as necessary.
Equipment used by non-human creatures is often of a size and quality that is unusable by player characters.
Special Abilities
Abilities, effects, and powers will be listed here along with rules on how they affect the creature and the game.
Townspeople
Common people are not as powerful as player characters.
Most people lead quiet lives in town or on the farm, away from conflict or danger.
Agriculturalist
Most people—as many as 70 to 80%—are agriculturalists of some kind.
These are farmers and herders that raise crops and livestock to feed their families, to trade with locals, and to take the towns to sell at markets for coin.
They are simple and know little of the world outside of their communities.
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Survival 1, Trade 2
Charisma Skills: Ride/Team 1
Equipment: farming tools (billhook, club, hammer, hand ax, knife, mattock, or sickle)
Bandit or Thief
Poverty forces some people into banditry of thievery.
Bandits join small groups that hold up wagons and carriages on roads or break and enter houses or public buildings to loot the insides.
Thieves usually act alone and focus on pickpocketing and stealing prized possessions.
Physique Skills: Agility 1, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 2, Stealth 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 2
Charisma Skills: Ride/Team 1
Equipment: club, dagger, or short sword and two javelins; a short bow and ammunition or a light crossbow and ammunition
Bureaucrat
Every government depends on its officials, dignitaries, and hordes of lesser clerks and representatives.
These bureaucrats keep public records, assess land, livestock, and other assets, collect taxes, and interpret and enforce the laws of the realm.
They act as assessors, clerks, diplomats, judges, scribes, solicitors, treasurers, and many other posts besides.
Intellect Skills: Academics 2, Languages 1, Trade 2
Charisma Skills: Command 2, Investigate 2, Persuade 2, Willpower 1
Equipment: logbooks, quill and ink, leather case with government documents
Common Laborer
Most people living in towns and cities belong to the class of common laborers (60 to 70% of urbanites).
These people have no professional training and do not practice a trade. They work wherever and for whomever they can and are paid by the day in coin.
Work for these folk might be digging a canal one week, porting timber the next, and unemployment the week after.
Common laborers live in abject poverty with little chance for reprieve.
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Trade 1
Artisan, Apprentice
Apprentices are the entry level to any guild profession.
These artisans are still learning their trade from an experienced master.
An apprentice often lives in the master’s house and performs menial chores around the household and basic tasks in the master’s workshop in exchange for an education in the craft.
Intellect Skills: Academics 1, Craft/Mend 2, Trade 1
Charisma Skills: Artistry 1, Persuade 1
Equipment: artisan’s tools; a letter of credit from his or her guild worth 50 to 100sp
Artisan, Journeyman
A journeyman (or journeywoman) has been given permission to practice his or her profession freely under other masters.
These artisans are not permitted to run their own workshops. Instead, they travel from place to place to gather experience and earn wages to post bond for a master’s position within their guild.
Intellect Skills: Academics 2, Craft/Mend 3, Trade 2
Charisma Skills: Artistry 2, Persuade 2
Equipment: artisan’s tools; a letter of credit from his or her guild worth 100 to 200sp
Artisan, Master
A master artisan is the highest level of any guild profession.
Masters have the right to run their own workshops, take on an apprentice, and hire out journeymen to carry out work under their supervision.
Master artisans the wealthiest freemen and come in just under the nobility in the social strata.
Intellect Skills: Academics 3, Craft/Mend 4, Trade 3
Charisma Skills: Artistry 3, Persuade 3
Equipment: artisan’s tools; a letter of credit from his or her guild worth 250 to 500sp
Knight
Knights serve a king as his vassals and enforcers.
In most places, knights are noblemen, though often of the lowest possible standing.
A king will grant the title of knighthood in an official ceremony, most often to the son of an existing knight when he reaches adulthood and has proven his mettle on the battlefield.
As noblemen, knights are given a small plot of land to use as their own and maintain modest, if pleasant, households.
When the realm a knight serves is called to war, a knight must leave his homestead and fight for his king and country. To avoid this duty is to face banishment and repossession of his property if not execution.
Parry: 1D
Armor: 2
Speed: Slow (0) (while wearing armor)
Action Points: 2
Physique Skills: Agility 1, Athletics 2, Melee 3, Ranged 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Medicine 1, Perception 1, Warfare 3
Charisma Skills: Command 3, Persuade 2, Ride/Team 3, Willpower 2
Equipment: longsword, mace, or lance; warhorse with war saddle and barding; steel or wooden shield; plate armor
Mercenary
Mercenaries are professional soldiers for hire.
Most realms are not capable of paying a fulltime army of any size and rely on hiring mercenaries in time of war or to put down local rebellions.
In most places, mercenaries belong to guilds and only the guild members—and members of the nobility—are legally permitted to possess the tools of war.
The statistics shown below are for typical journeymen mercenaries who do the bulk of the fighting for their guilds.
Armor: 1
Physique Skills: Agility 1, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 2, Stamina 2, Stealth 1
Intellect Skills: Languages 1, Medicine 1, Perception 2, Survival 2, Warfare 2
Charisma Skills: Persuade 2, Ride/Team 2
Equipment: battle ax, falchion, pike, or spear; four javelins, short bow, and arrows, longbow, and arrows, or light or heavy crossbow and bolts; leather or quilted armor and leather helmet
Nomad
Uncivilized groups wander the land well beyond any settled kingdom.
These people live in groups numbering between 50 and 500 and often refer to themselves as “clans” or “tribes.”
Permanent agriculture is not practiced among them and instead they subside on slash and burn agriculture, hunting, fishing, and foraging.
Nomads possess only what they can carry with them as they move from place to place. Their society is highly egalitarian and class distinctions are unknown to them.
Armor: 1
Speed: Fast
Physique Skills: Agility 1, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 1, Stamina 1
Intellect Skills: Perception 1, Survival 2
Charisma Skills: Ride/Team 1
Equipment: battle ax or spear; leather armor
Noble Lord or Lady
Nobles are large landholders.
Each tract of land controlled by a noble is often tied to a political subdivision, and the title the noble takes is tied to the type of subdivision his or her land represents.
Counties are ruled by counts and countesses, baronies by barons and baronesses, duchies by dukes and duchesses, and earldoms by earls (feminine form also “countess”).
Intellect Skills: Academics 2, Languages 2, Perception 1, Trade 2
Charisma Skills: Artistry 2, Command 3, Investigate 3, Persuade 3, Ride/Team 2, Willpower 2
Adventurers
These entries represent fellow adventurers that the players might encounter on their journey.
Each character described here is made using the character creation rules in Section Two: Creating a Character.
If a player is unsure what kind of character to make, each of these selections is perfectly suited to copy or modify.
Artisan
Artisans ply professional trades and often belong to guilds.
Heroic artisans such as these tend to practice highly demanded and well-compensated trades such as apothecary, armorer, blacksmith, bowyer, carpenter, mason, scribe, and weaponsmith.
The statistics represented below assume a journeyman artisan.
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 1, Melee 2, Ranged 1, Stamina 2, Stealth 1
Intellect Skills: Academics 3, Craft/Mend 4, Languages 2, Perception 2, Trade 4
Charisma Skills: Artistry 3, Persuade 3, Ride/Team 2, Willpower 4
Talents: Curiosity, Expert
Equipment: artisan’s tools; knife or dagger; various coins and letters of credit worth between 500 and 700sp
Assassin
Assassins are contract killers. They take jobs to kill high profile individuals from the highest bidder.
In all places, assassination—otherwise known as murder—is illegal. Both the assassin and the buyer of his or her services could face death, even if the assassination is foiled before it occurs. Assassinations occur mostly between noble families.
Assassins do not advertise themselves as such. Instead, these men and women work other trades, such as mercenaries and huntsman, that provide their true source of income with reliable cover.
Speed: Fast
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 3, Melee 2, Ranged 4, Stealth 4
Intellect Skills: Academics 3, Medicine 3, Perception 4, Survival 1, Trade 1
Charisma Skills: Investigate 4, Persuade 3, Ride/Team 2
Talents: High Impulse, Hunter’s Mark
Equipment: light crossbow and bolts; three or four vials of poison; a dagger
Magician, Alchemist
Magicians that specialize in Alchemy Spells are known as alchemists.
These magicians use exotic ingredients—mercury, sulfur, animal blood, precious metals—to concoct magic elixirs and effects that shape matter itself.
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Stamina 2, Stealth 3
Intellect Skills: Academics 4, Craft/Mend 3, Languages 2, Medicine 3, Trade 4
Charisma Skills: Artistry 3, Persuade 2, Willpower 4
Magic Skills: Alchemy 4
Talents: Serene Mind
Spells: Elixirs (A3), Familiar (A2), Purify/Putrefy (A1), Serenity (A1)
Equipment: artisan’s tools; scroll case with parchments; satchel with quills, inks, and books; dagger
Magician, Sorcerer
Magicians that specialize in Sorcery Spells are known as sorcerers.
These magicians divert the flow of natural energies to produce remarkable effects on the world.
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Melee 2, Stamina 2, Stealth 3
Intellect Skills: Academics 4, Craft/Mend 2, Languages 2, Medicine 2, Trade 3
Charisma Skills: Artistry 2, Persuade 4, Willpower 4
Magic Skills: Sorcery 4
Talents: Radiance
Spells: Hallucination (S2), Shadow Walk (S2), Smite (S4), Trick (S1)
Equipment: quarterstaff; dagger
Magician, Weirder
Magicians that specialize in Weirding Spells are known as weirders.
These magicians see into the past and future as well as glean insights from the world around them to perceive what to others is unknown.
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Stamina 1, Stealth 3
Intellect Skills: Academics 4, Craft/Mend 3, Languages 2, Perception 3, Medicine 2, Trade 3
Charisma Skills: Artistry 2, Persuade 3, Willpower 4
Magic Skills: Weirding 4
Talents: Perfect Memory
Spells: Dowsing (W1), Foresight (W2), Heighten Senses (W1), Hindsight (W2)
Equipment: dagger; silver bowl
Thief
Thieves can be solo agents or part of a group.
These characters are smooth-talkers, charlatans, gamblers, and all-around scoundrels.
Speed: Fast (2)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Agility 3, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 2, Stamina 2, Stealth 4
Intellect Skills: Academics 1, Languages 2, Medicine 1, Perception 3, Survival 2, Trade 3
Charisma Skills: Investigate 3, Persuade 3, Ride/Team 3
Talents: Fleet of Foot, High Impulse
Equipment: thieves’ tools; two daggers
Warrior, Bowman
These warriors specialize in combat with bows and crossbows.
They often hire themselves out as mercenaries, and at this level, may serve as officers in a mercenary guild.
Armor: 1
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Agility 3, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 4, Stamina 2, Stamina 3
Intellect Skills: Craft/Mend 1, Perception 4, Survival 3, Trade 2, Warfare 3
Charisma Skills: Command 3, Investigate 1, Persuade 1, Ride/Team 3, Willpower 2
Talents: Favored Weapon (Longbow)
Equipment: longbow and ammunition; short sword or hand ax; leather armor
Warrior, Swordsman
These warriors specialize in close quarters combat.
They often hire themselves out as mercenaries, and at this level, may serve as officers in a mercenary guild.
Parry: 1D
Armor: 1
Speed: Average (1)
Action Points: 5
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 3, Melee 4, Ranged 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Craft/Mend 1, Perception 3, Survival 3, Trade 2, Warfare 4
Charisma Skills: Command 3, Investigate 1, Persuade 1, Ride/Team 3, Willpower 2
Talents: Favored Weapon (Longsword)
Equipment: longsword; short sword or hand ax; wooden shield; leather armor
Monsters
This game’s dedication to “fantasy realism” leaves a little room for monsters and fantastical beasts.
These creatures are the stuff of legend, even in the worlds where they exist.
Few people believe in them, which makes encountering them even more terrifying.
Use these sparingly, if at all, in your games.
Basilisk
These creatures are long, crocodile-like reptiles with six or eight legs and a serpentine tail.
A basilisk has a deathly stare that can kill its prey.
It is believed that the basilisk’s glare reveals to a creature horrendous visions of pain and torture that overwhelm the victim’s mind, causing it to die.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Armor: 2
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Athletics 3, Melee 3, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 2, Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Deathly Stare: this creature may use a Full Action to stare into the eyes of another living creature that can see it within 10 yards; the other creature makes a Moderate (2) Willpower roll and if it fails, that creature dies immediately and its body turns cold. This creature can use this ability up to three times per game session.
Bat, Giant
Bats are common in deep forests and caves.
Some bats grow to wingspans of 10 to 15 feet and weigh between 7 and 10 pounds.
Such giant bats are found among their smaller brethren and are believed to serve as leaders in their colonies.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? No
Speed: Slow (0) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 2, Melee 1, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 4 (with sight, reduced to Level 0)
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Vampirism: when this creature deals 1 or more Wound damage to another living creature with a Melee Skill roll, that creature receives a bleeding injury; the injury continues to bleed until healed or for 3 hours; each hour, the injury deals 1D Wound damage to the afflicted creature.
Bear, Giant
Giant bears are rare and often go by the name “dire bears.”
These black or brown bears appear identical to their normal-sized cousins, but measure as tall as 12 to 15 feet standing on their hind legs and weigh between 1,350 and 2,000 pounds.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Speed: Average (1)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Melee 3, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
Boar, Giant
Giant boars live on the extreme fringes of the known world, far away from civilization and huntsman.
Examples have been spotted that measure 14 to 15 feet in length and weigh more than 1,900 pounds.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Speed: Fast (2)
Physique Skills: Athletics 3, Melee 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Boar’s charge: when this creature performs a Charge maneuver, it adds an additional +1D to its Melee Skill roll.
- Tusks: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
Centaur
Centaurs appear like humans from the torso up but have the lower halves of horses.
Their upper body features have the same range of hair, skin, and color-color differences that humans do, and their lower halves are known in all the colors and patterns of horses.
Centaurs can interbreed with neither humans or horses and tend to stick to their own kind.
They are excellent hunters and live in tribal, nomadic societies.
Centaurs are extremely territorial and will attack any travelers, settlements, or nomadic groups they find (even other centaur tribes).
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? Yes
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Speed: Very Fast (3)
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 2, Melee 2, Ranged 1, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Craft/Mend 1, Perception 2, Survival 2, Warfare 1
Charisma Skills: Persuade 1
Equipment: a bill or spear; three javelins or a short bow and arrows
Special abilities:
Chimera
Chimeras are believed to be aberrations created by evil magicians. The magic that created them has been lost to time.
These creatures have three heads: a lion’s head and a goat’s head both spring up from between the front shoulders of a lion-like body and a third serpent’s head caps a long, reptilian tail.
Chimeras will obey only their creators and will, unless instructed, kill any living thing that they encounter.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 1
Speed: Average (1)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Melee 3
Intellect Skills: Survival 1
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Multi-attack: this creature can use a Full Action to make a Melee Skill roll with each of its remaining heads.
- Three heads: this creature has three heads; the creature can survive with two heads but dies if it has only one head remaining.
- Uncanny awareness: this creature cannot be ambushed, and other creatures cannot use the Dodge and Feint combat maneuvers against it.
Dragon, Young
Dragons are believed to have once been plentiful in the world but exist only in these days in stories.
Young dragons were between 500 and 1,000 years old and had just come into their draconic power.
These beasts were feared by all, even at this young stage of their development.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 3
Speed: Slow (0) (can fly at Average [1] Speed instead)
Action Points: 3
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 3, Melee 3, Stamina 3, Stealth 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 3, Survival 2
Charisma Skills: Willpower 3
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Fire breathing: this creature may use a Full Action to breathe a cone of fire that measures up to 10 yards in length and 4 yards at the base of the cone; everything caught in the blast takes 2D fire damage and if flammable, catches fire and continues to take 2D fire damage each round until put out. This creature may use this ability up to three times per Scene.
Dragon, Adult
Adult dragons were between 1,000 and 5,000 years old and had reached the height of their power.
These dragons are the ones sung about in songs and told about in ancient legends.
Dragons are believed to have been gods—fallen from the heavens and risen from the underworld—to rule the temporal realm in an age long lost.
Threat Level: Extreme
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 3 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 4
Speed: Average (1) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Action Points: 7
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 4, Melee 4, Stamina 4, Stealth 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 4, Survival 3
Charisma Skills: Willpower 4
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Fire breathing: this creature may use a Full Action to breathe a cone of fire that measures up to 15 yards in length and 5 yards at the base of the cone; everything caught in the blast takes 2D fire damage and if flammable, catches fire and continues to take 2D fire damage each round until put out. This creature may use this ability up to five times per Scene.
Dragon, Venerable
Some dragons of legend are said to have lived 10 or more millennia.
These creatures were beyond the power of any mortal being.
It is said that all dragons were pushed to extinction by a great cataclysm—brought on by a war between competing dragon clans—that reshaped the world and set it on a new path.
Threat Level: Extreme+
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 4 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 5
Speed: Average (1) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Action Points: 12
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 4, Melee 5, Stamina 5, Stealth 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 5, Survival 4
Charisma Skills: Willpower 5
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 3D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Fire breathing: this creature may use a Full Action to breathe a cone of fire that measures up to 20 yards in length and 6 yards at the base of the cone; everything caught in the blast takes 2D fire damage and if flammable, catches fire and continues to take 2D fire damage each round until put out. This creature may use this ability up to seven times per Scene.
Giant, Frost
Frost giants live in the northernmost, coldest regions of the world.
These creatures look like giant people—measuring up to 20 feet in height—and make clothing, tools, weapons, and armor to suit their massive size.
Like all giants, frost giants are mistrusting of outsiders.
They subside on large numbers of whales, fish, bear, elk, and other creatures that like in the tundra.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? Yes
Wounds: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Armor: 2
Speed: Fast (2)
Physique Skills: Athletics 3, Melee 4, Stamina 4
Intellect Skills: Craft/Mend 3, Perception 3, Survival 3
Charisma Skills: Willpower 3
Equipment: mace or longsword; mail armor and helm
Giant, Hill
Hill giants are believed to live in the hills and mountains well outside of human civilization.
These beings look and act much like humans but are twice or more times their size.
They live in small groups of six or eight and take refuge in caves and in dark wooded areas.
Their footprints can be found in the wilderness if one knows where to look.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? Yes
Wounds: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Armor: 1
Speed: Fast (2)
Physique Skills: Athletics 3, Melee 4, Stamina 3
Intellect Skills: Craft/Mend 2, Perception 3, Survival 3
Charisma Skills: Willpower 2
Equipment: club or mace; leather armor
Golem, Clay
Golems are mindless creatures brought to life by powerful magicians.
These creatures cannot think for themselves and instead follow their creator’s commands until instructed otherwise.
Clay golems are made from rich river clay, shaped by a magician’s expert hands, and breathed into the hollow void the breath of life.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 2 additional Wound Levels at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Armor: 3
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Athletics 4, Melee 4, Stamina 4
Intellect Skills: Perception 2
Special abilities:
- Deadly grapple: this creature receives a +1D bonus to Melee Skill rolls made for the Grapple maneuver; when this creature grapples a target and uses a Full Action to inflict damage, that damage is Wound damage instead of Fatigue damage.
- Magic immunity: this creature is immune to the effects of any Spell that would allow it to make a Willpower Skill roll to resist.
- Natural regeneration: this creature may spend 1 hour in a riverbed or clay-heavy stream and automatically restore 1 Wound point as water and clay meld into its body.
Golem, Iron
Iron golems resemble empty suits of heavy, crude iron armor.
The overlapping plates allow some flexibility for the creature as it walks and carries out the tasks set out for it by its creator.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 3 additional Wound Levels at 0D penalty
Parry: 2D
Armor: 4
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Athletics 4, Melee 5, Stamina 5
Intellect Skills: Perception 2
Special abilities:
- Deadly grapple: this creature receives a +1D bonus to Melee Skill rolls made for the Grapple maneuver; when this creature grapples a target and uses a Full Action to inflict damage, that damage is Wound damage instead of Fatigue damage.
- Magic immunity: this creature is immune to the effects of any Spell that would allow it to make a Willpower Skill roll to resist.
- Natural regeneration: this creature may spend 1 hour in a hot forge and automatically restore 1 Wound point as its body melts and reforms.
Golem, Rock
Rock golems resemble crude statues fashioned from piled up rocks.
These creatures are slow moving and eternally loyal to their creator.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 3 additional Wound Levels at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Armor: 4
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Athletics 4, Melee 4, Stamina 5
Intellect Skills: Perception 3
Special abilities:
- Deadly grapple: this creature receives a +1D bonus to Melee Skill rolls made for the Grapple maneuver; when this creature grapples a target and uses a Full Action to inflict damage, that damage is Wound damage instead of Fatigue damage.
- Magic immunity: this creature is immune to the effects of any Spell that would allow it to make a Willpower Skill roll to resist.
- Natural regeneration: this creature may spend 1 hour among rocks and dust and automatically restore 1 Wound point as it crushes these substances into its body to reshape it.
Griffin
These creatures have eagle-like heads, wings, and claws, and lion-like bodies.
Griffins are believed to be creatures of good. If they encounter wrongdoing in the wild, griffins are said to risk their lives to defend the innocent.
They are fierce predators with incredible senses.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 2 additional Wound Levels at 0D penalty
Armor: 2
Speed: Average (1) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Physique Skills:
Intellect Skills: Perception 6D
Charisma Skills:
Special abilities:
- Claws/Fangs: this creature’s Melee Skill rolls add 1D Weapon Dice.
Harpy
Harpies resemble hideous human women with long, greasy strands of hair and two large, feathered wings.
These creatures live in dens—often caves—in small groups of 8 to 12 and fly out of their dwellings to hunt game at night.
It is not known how harpies reproduce, since there are only female examples of the species. Many speculate that they capture human men and use them for forcible reproduction before devouring them.
Threat Level: Low
Intelligent? Yes
Speed: Average (1) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Physique Skills: Acrobatics 1, Melee 1
Intellect Skills: Perception 2, Survival 1
Charisma Skills: Persuade 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
Hell Hound
Hell hounds were given their name because of their grotesque, two-headed form. They are believed to be the servants of the underworld.
These massive canines possess two heads and long jaws filled with massive, razor teeth.
Their four eyes are pure white with no discernable pupil or iris.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Speed: Fast (2)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Melee 2, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 1
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Multi-attack: this creature may use a Full Action to make one Melee Skill roll for each of its remaining heads.
- Three heads: this creature has three heads; the creature can survive with two heads but dies if it has only one head remaining.
Hydra
Hydras are tremendous beasts with seven, serpentine heads and single massive body, four legs, and a long tail.
Legends say that these creatures live forever: every century or so one of the heads withers, dies, and decays, only to be replaced by a new head that grows from the stump.
Many coats of arms bear the image of a hydra. They symbolize eternity, eternal rule, and the many-faceted powers of a monarch.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 1
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Melee 3
Intellect Skills: Perception 1, Survival 1
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Multi-attack: this creature may use a Full Action to make one Melee Skill roll for each of its remaining heads.
- Seven heads: this creature has seven heads and does not die if fewer than seven of them are cut off from its body.
Kraken
Kraken are the most feared legends among sailors.
These giant squids—said to measure over 300 feet in length—are believed to trawl the blue depths of the seas, seeking out lost ships to sink beneath the waves and devour the crew.
Threat Level: Extreme
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 3 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 3
Speed: Fast (2) (swimming only)
Physique Skills: Athletics 4, Melee 4
Intellect Skills: Survival 1
Special abilities:
- Siege attack: when attacking an object—such as a ship—this creature’s Melee Skill rolls treat all results of 2 on the dice as successes.
- Tentacles: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Multi-attack: this creature may use a Full Action to make a Melee Skill roll with each of its eight tentacles.
Manticore
Manticores are hideous beasts with four-legged bodies, wide mouths of razor-like teeth, and barbed tails that drip with poison.
They are creatures of legend and are found on some coats of arms.
Manticores symbolize ferocity in battle and a willingness to use any methods necessary to achieve victory. Many see this as a symbol of duplicity and dishonor.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Armor: 1
Speed: Average (1)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Melee 3, Ranged 1
Intellect Skills: Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Poison barbs: this creature may use a Partial Action to fire a poison barb from its tail at any target within 10 yards. This attack adds 2D Weapon Dice. If a living target takes 1 or more Wound from this attack, that target must make a Moderate (2) Stamina Skill roll or die immediately from poison.
Pegasus
A Pegasus is a winged horse, almost always white in color.
These graceful creatures of legend are found on many coats of arms.
They symbolize purity and protection of the land and its people.
Threat Level: Low
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Speed: Very Fast (3) (can also fly at Very Fast [3] Speed)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Stamina 3
Intellect Skills: Survival 1
Pixie
Pixies resemble tiny humans. They measure about four to six inches in height and weigh between 2 and 3 pounds.
These creatures live in huge enclaves numbering well over 100 pixies. Their settlements—pixie towns—are made in deep wooded areas, safe from prying eyes.
Pixies are innate users of magic and use their magic powers to hide themselves and for daily life.
In their own societies, pixies practice trades just like humans and have a complex society with leaders, laws, and personal property.
Pixie society is egalitarian and there is little or no disparity in terms or privileges or finances between members of pixie society.
These creatures are peaceful and will use their magic and stealth to escape confrontation.
Threat Level: Low
Intelligent? Yes
Wounds: 1 fewer Wound at 0D penalty
Parry: 2D
Speed: Slow (0) (can also fly at Slow [0] Speed)
Physique Skills: Agility 3, Athletics 1, Stealth 4
Intellect: Craft/Mend 1, Medicine 2, Perception 3, Trade 2
Charisma Skills: Artistry 2, Persuade 2, Willpower 1
Magic Group Skills: Alchemy 2, Sorcery 2, Weirding 2
Spells: Commune with Animals (W2), Commune with Plants (W2), Life Sense (W1), Purify (A1), Repel (S2), Shape Fog/Mist/Smoke (A1), Sleep (A2), Trick (S1), Wind Walk (A1)
Special abilities:
- Evasive: this creature applies its Parry Dice to both Melee and Ranged Skill rolls.
- Magic resistance: this creatures gains a +2D bonus to Stamina and Willpower rolls made to resist the effect of Spells.
Roc
Rocs are giant birds—with wingspans measuring over 80 feet—believed to inhabit the most remote places in the world.
It is said that these creatures feast on wild horses, buffalo, and bears that they pluck whole from the plains and forests and drag off to their nests to feed to their young.
Threat Level: Low
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Speed: Slow (0) (can fly at Fast [2] Speed instead)
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Melee 1, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 5, Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Enhanced sight: this creature can see in dim light as though it were daylight and in total darkness as though it were dim light; additionally, this creature’s vision is keen enough to spot small details like a steel coin among a pile of silver coins or the movement of a deer miles away on the open face of a hillside.
Sea Serpent
Sea serpents are feared by sailors and feature in many of their tall tales of distant voyages.
Sailors swear that these beings can be seen lurking near the surface of the water, searching for the right opportunity to strike.
They are said to be amphibious, and to shoot up out of the water to attack a ship’s crew and drag them down into the depths.
Threat Level: Extreme
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 3 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 2
Speed: Very Fast (3) (swimming only)
Physique Skills:
Intellect Skills:
Charisma Skills:
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Swallow whole: a creature or object weighing up to 300 pounds is eaten whole by this creature if its knocked unconscious or reduced to 0 Wound Levels by this creature’s Melee Skill roll.
Shark, Giant
Giant sharks live in the remotest parts of the ocean and measure between 40 and 50 feet in length and weigh more than 8,000 pounds.
These beasts are solitary hunters and are said to strike on calm waters and on clear days.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Wound Levels: 2 additional Wounds at 0D penalty
Armor: 1
Speed: Very Fast (3) (swimming only)
Physique Skills: Agility 2, Athletics 4, Melee 4, Stamina 3
Intellect Skills: Perception 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
Siren
Sirens look like beautiful human women.
These creatures live on remote isles and sing a captivating song that attracts human men from the nearby ocean waters.
Sirens are deeply lustful and greedy and will lure men in to steal their riches and in many cases kill them.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? Yes
Speed: Fast (2) (swimming only)
Intellect Skills: Languages 2, Perception 2, Stealth 2
Charisma Skills: Artistry 3, Investigate 2, Persuade 4
Special abilities:
- Irresistible call: this creature, once per Scene, may take a full minute to sing a Siren’s song. Any male humanoid that hears the song must make a Difficult (3) Willpower Skill roll or be “enthralled” by the Siren. An enthralled character follows every spoken command of the Siren without fail. The effect ends at the next sunrise.
Snake, Giant
Giant snakes are known to live in deep forests and remote rivers.
Some measuring 60 feet or more have been reported by hunters and travelers whose companions were slain by such terrible beasts.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Parry: 2D
Speed: Average (1)
Physique Skills: Agility 4, Athletics 3, Melee 3, Stealth 3
Intellect Skills: Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Poison: if this creature deals 1 or more Wound damage from a Melee Skill roll to a creature without the Poison special ability, that creature must make a Moderate (2) Stamina roll or die instantly. A creature that succeeds at this roll is immune forever from this creature’s poison.
- Swift swimmer: this creature can swim at its full Speed rate and does not take penalties to Speed for swimming.
Spider, Giant
Giant spiders live deep within caves or in thick woods.
These horrendous creatures measure as much as 6 feet across (measuring from leg to leg) and have bodies three feet from head to thorax.
Those who survive an encounter with a giant spider are shaken from its presence.
Threat Level: High
Intelligent? No
Parry: 1D
Speed: Average (1)
Physique Skills: Agility 5, Athletics 4, Melee 3, Ranged 1, Stealth 4
Intellect Skills: Survival 3
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 1D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.
- Poison: if this creature deals 1 or more Wound damage from a Melee Skill roll to a creature without the Poison special ability, that creature must make a Moderate (2) Stamina roll or die instantly. A creature that succeeds at this roll is immune forever from this creature’s poison.
- Spider climb: this creature can walk and climb over any surface if that surface isn’t frozen, snowy, wet, or oily.
Troll
Trolls look like flabby, deformed humans with long noses, beady eyes, and long strands of greasy hair. They measure between five and six feet tall and weigh between 250 and 350 pounds.
Many people believe that these creatures were once human, but after ages of exile their form has changed.
Trolls live in remote woodlands, hiding in caves and coming out at night to hunt. They are believed to carry off travelers to eat.
Trolls are said to fear thunder and lightning and will scurry to hide if they witness these natural events.
Threat Level: Low
Intelligent? Yes
Speed: Slow (0)
Physique Skills: Melee 1, Ranged 1, Stealth 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 2, Survival 2
Charisma Skills: Investigate 1
Equipment: club or spear
Wolf, Giant
Giant wolves—also known as “dire wolves”—are massive creatures that look identical to their smaller brethren.
These wolves measure 12 to 15 feet from nose to tail and weigh more than 600 pounds.
Giant wolves live among normal sized wolves and are believed to act as leaders for the pack.
Threat Level: Medium
Intelligent? No
Wounds: 1 additional Wound at 0D penalty
Parry: 1D
Speed: Fast (2)
Physique Skills: Athletics 2, Melee 3, Stamina 2
Intellect Skills: Perception 2, Survival 2
Special abilities:
- Claws and fangs: this creature adds 2D Weapon Dice to its Melee Skill rolls.