Monarchy of [Jade] Roses

JADE ROSE (#26/30, #117/365) [TTHA]

Appearance: This is a sacred plant whose green-leaved bushes produce beautiful flowers that are a pale yellow with greenish tinges in colour.

 

Distribution: Forests and woods across Titan.

 

Effects: The flowers of the Jade Rose can be used to magically create the magical trinket known as the Token of the Jade Rose (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 2, p. XX). The enchantment causes the flower to petrify, effectively becoming a stone rose brooch. Wearing the token reveals its bearer's true appearance, and thus it cannot be worn by any kind of shapeshifter or creature employing illusory abilities. Thus has it also become a token of Good, and of truthfulness in appearance!

 

Cost: City 15gp, Town 15gp, Village 15gp (per flower)

 

Availability: Rare

 

Further Notes: The Jade Rose is thought to be related to another symbol of purity, the Ilithorn Rose (The Titan Herbal, p. 41).

Token of the Jade Rose (#27/31, #118/365) [EA:V2] (Trinket) 

This small brooch appears as a life-like replica of its namesake constituent, the Jade Rose (see The Titan Herbal Addendum, p. XX), but made from translucent pale green stone. The Jade Rose is a token of Good, a symbol of truth against visual lies and deceptive appearances. It cannot be worn by Shapechangers, Vampires, Were-Creatures, Dopplegangers, Changelings, Netherworld Demons, Hell Demons, Hellfire Spirits, Dire Spectres, and others, without revealing their true appearance. This also applies to any spellcaster or priest using illusory magic to alter their appearance. The Jade Rose is thus used by Goodly organizations, such as the Resistance of Ruddlestone, led by Karad the Witch-Hunter, or the Order of Arzochollies of central Allansia, to verify the true visage of potential infiltrators and assassins. It is unknown if this property applies to non-humanoid creatures with shapeshifting abilities, such as the Imitator or the Mind Warp Beast, but it seems likely.

20gp

"A hundred billion castaways, looking for a home."

CASTAWAY (#25/30, #116/365) [POT]

SKILL: 6

STAMINA : 6

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: See below

ARMOUR: None

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Sea, Sea-shore, Lakes, Jungles

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Friendly-Neutral

INTELLIGENCE: High

The CASTAWAY is a marooned unfortunate, adrift alone against the elements of the sea. Clad in little but tattered rags, they may have only recently suffered their current misfortune, or perhaps they have been lost at sea for some time and adapted to their situation as best they can. To determine the immediate situation of an encountered Castaway roll on the below series of tables:

Roll Marooned on a...

1 Desert island

2 Shipwreck

3 Rocky outcrop

4 Coral atoll

5 Adrift on a small boat or raft

6 On an isolated stretch of coast

Roll Primary Weapon

1 Rusty Trident

2 Driftwood Club

3 Rusty Dagger

4 Driftwood Spear

5 Rusty Scimitar

6 Stone Handaxe

All of these weapons will automatically break on a fumble.

Roll Other Weapon

1 1-3 Driftwood Javelins

2 1-2 Rusty Harpoons

3 a Sling and a bag of sharpened coral rocks

4 1-3 Rusty Throwing Daggers

5 1-3 Purple Puffballs

6 a flimsy Net

All of these weapons will automatically break on a fumble.

Roll Other Gear

1 a Rusty Shield (breaks on a Fumble)

2 a Message in a Bottle

3 a Treasure Map in a Bottle

4 a Pet (Roll: 1 Snake, 2 Parrot, 3 Monkey, 4 Rat, 5 large Cave Crab, 6 young Giant Lizard)

5 a Pretend Friend (something spherical, such as a coconut, cannonball or inflated bladder of some kind, chalked with a face and given a name)

6 something Valuable (1-3 valuables, worth 25 Gold Pieces each. Roll a die to determine the valuable type: 1. Obsidian shards, 2. Ruby gemstones, 3. Turquoise chunks, 4. Whalebone ivory carvings, 5. Pink coral trinkets, 6. Shark’s teeth necklaces.)

Roll Supplies (roll 1-3 times, ignoring duplicates)

1 Eggs: 2-7 Eggs from local seabirds. Roll a die, and on a 6, the Eggs will belong to something else (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 93).

2 Fruit: 2-7 Fruits (Roll: 1-2 Underwater Honeypear, 3-4 Skyfruit, 5-6 Nauk Fruit)

3 Fish: 2-7 Provisions worth of dried fish.

4 Water: 2-7 gourds of fresh water

5 Fruit Juice: 2-7 gourds of fruit juice

6 Grog: 2-7 gourds of Seaman's Grog (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 59).

Roll Status

1 a Spellcaster, embracing the solitude. Roll for type: 1. Wizard, 2. Sorcerer, 3. Astrologer, 4. Priest, 5. Elementalist, 6. Animal Master.

2 a Hermit (see p. XX)

3 a shipwrecked Sailor (see p. XX)

4 an escaped galley Captive (see p. XX)

5 a lost Passenger (Roll: 1-2 Adventurer, 3-4 Merchant, 5-6 Explorer)

6 Something Else! (Roll: 1. a SEA ZOMBIE (SKILL 6 STAMINA 7, Small Claw), 2. Insane (The Castaway lost their mind, owing to some previous horrific tragedy. Roll a die for behaviour: 1-2 Attack!, 3-4 Normal, 5-6 Cower and flee!), 3. Diseased (Roll for type: 1 Leprosy, 2 Yellow Plague, 3 Scarlet Plague, 4 Dire Trembling, 5 Wasting Disease, 6 Lung Rot.), 4. Intruder (The Castaway is actually something else in disguise. Roll: 1 Pirate Spy, 2 Pirate Assassin, 3 Siren, 4 Chaos Agitator, 5 enemy Adventurer, 6 an Illusionist-Saboteur.), 5. Possessed (the Castaway is actually something else entirely. Roll: 1 Shapechanger, 2 Doppleganger, 3 Charmed by a Siren, 4 Cursed by a Sea Hag, 5 Hell Demon, 6 Hellfire Spirit.), 6. Parasites (the Castaway is infested with parasites. Roll: 1. Brain-eaters, 2. Death Maggots, 3. Flesh Grubs, 4. Gonchong, 5. Chonggui, 6. Brain Defiler)

Given the nefarious nature of travel upon the oceans of Titan, Castaways are a common element in tales from the sea. Fire Island, for example, is virtually a magnet for the breed, with at least several miserable wretches dwelling here cheek by jowl with all the other endemic horrors. Possibly most famous is old Scrimshaw of Bone Island, often spotted striding the sandy strand of that far isle, and prone to waving his straw hat enthusiastically at passing ships. The cursed explorer Waxley Speed was renowned for becoming marooned on various stretches of fly-blown coastland in southern Allansia, the more wretched and inhospitable the better. It is also worth remembering that lakes or inland seas may harbour Castaways labouring under other difficulties; Lake Mlubz of southern Khul was infamous for the Isle of Rusty Weapons, haunted by the last wretch who offended the nameless Wizard of the Lake. This magically bound captive would sail out from their island and do battle with whoever else had sought passage on the Wizard's magic coracle, but flouted convention by attempting to keep their weapon.

Piercing, searching, biting cold!

Frostblade (#24/31, #115/365) [EA:V2] (Enchanted Item) 

This enchanted blade appears as a broadsword of northern design, with a long, straight cutting edge. When drawn in battle, the sword's blade glows coldly, rimed with frost. Anyone hit by Frostblade suffers an extra STAMINA point of damage as the sword's biting cold edge sears the wound. This damage is doubled for any creatures from the Magical Plane of Fire, such as Devlins, Fire Sprites and Fire Elementals. These swords are most common in Vynheim and the Northman lands of Bjorngrim's Sea, where they are crafted by priests of Farigiss, God of Ice and Cold.

150gp

What shall we do with a drunken Tarfeather Bird?

TARFEATHER BIRD (#23/31, #114/365) [OOTP IV]

SKILL: 8

STAMINA: 6

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: Large Bite or Tarspit (see below)

ARMOUR: Light

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Sea, Sea-shore, Caves

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 4-24

TYPE: Bird

REACTION: Unfriendly

INTELLIGENCE: Low

The TARFEATHER BIRD, also known as the Oilbird, is a peculiar avian from the islands of the Western Ocean, in particular, Fish Island, Skull Island, the Gorblimey Rocks, Kestrel Island and, of course, Tarfeather Island itself. Here it lives in large colonies, roosting along rocky sea-shores and cliff-caves, while feeding on big fish, caught on the wing out at sea. Thought to be distantly related to the Giant Stormbird of the Eelsea, the Tarfeather Bird is a sizeable creature, well over a metre in height with a four-metre wingspan. It is covered in a thick but drab plumage of dark grey to black feathers that glisten with an oily water-repellent secretion, hence the creature's name.

When attacking, the Tarfeather Bird will lash out with its curved beak, and spit a gobbet of burning pitch, stored in a large throat pouch. Every Attack Round, roll one die; on a roll of 1 or 2, the Tarfeather Bird's opponent has been burnt for a further 1 STAMINA point of damage. This may also cause anything flammable to start burning. It is thought the creature's breath weapon, and its overall appearance are derived from the schools of especially oily fish that it consumes. Regardless, the Chaos Pirates of the Blood Islands in particular appreciate the Tarfeather Bird's attributes and encourage colonies of them to roost near their anchorages and sea forts (which is not difficult given the creature's predilection for sugarcane grog). The noisy birds double as both an alarm system and a deterrent to intruders, and dead birds also find service as useable torches due to their flammable nature. A dead Tarfeather Bird used as a torch in this manner burns twice as brightly as a regular torch and for twice as long, but requires two hands to hold.

Yet More Exotic Plants from the Island of Mishna

(Just finishing up the last few entries from Creatures of Mishna by Benjamin Quinton-Bottley for the Titan Herbal Addendum!)

SLIME ALGAE (#21/30, #112/365) [TTHA]

Appearance: This is a disgusting green slime-like algae that grows in damp mats on cavern walls and floors.

 

Distribution: The Core Caves on the island of Mishna, and possibly similar subterranean locations on other islands of the Black Ocean as well.

 

Effects: Slime Algae is surprisingly edible, once dried out in the sun. A dried mat of Slime Algae counts as one meal's worth of Provisions but only weighs half as much (so someone carrying up to their full allowance of Provisions could carry double that if all Provisions were comprised of Slime Algae mats).

 

Cost: City 5gp, Town 4gp, Village 3gp (per mat)

 

Availability: Common

Further Notes: Slime Algae is the favoured food of Cave Hogs (see Creatures of Mishna, p. 8), and theorized as a possible reason that Cave Hog Steaks taste so good.

SEA LETTUCE (#22/30, #113/365) [TTHA]

Appearance: This is an underwater plant that grows in bunched clumps comprising of ragged translucent light-green leaves.

 

Distribution: Found at the bottom of the coral atolls and seas around the Island of Mishna, and likely other islands in the Black Ocean as well.

 

Effects: Sea Lettuce is considered a food by many underwater denizens, such as Coral Mermaids (see Creatures of Mishna, p. 9), and the Poctopus (see Creatures of Mishna, pp. 13-14). It can also be eaten by land-dwellers but is difficult to harvest and thus rare and expensive. Like Slime Algae (see p. XX), once dried out in the sun, a bunch of Sea Lettuce counts as one meal's worth of Provisions but only weighs half as much (so someone carrying up to their full allowance of Provisions could carry double that if all Provisions were comprised of Sea Lettuce bunches).

 

Cost: City 7gp, Town 4gp, Village 3gp (per bunch)

 

Availability: Rare

"But I don't want to go on the cart!" "Oh, don't be such a baby!"

CART-DRIVER (#20/30, #111/365) [POT]

SKILL: 6

STAMINA : 9

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: See below

ARMOUR: See below

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Towns, Plains, Forests, Wilderness, Desert

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-3

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Friendly-Neutral

INTELLIGENCE: High

CART-DRIVERS perform a vital function in the world of Titan, transporting goods by land via the use of their wheeled vehicles, which may be pushed by themselves or drawn by one or more Draft Animals. They may be carrying trade goods, barrels of ale, or bundles of fresh produce for the market, or just passengers, ferried from one distant destination to another. Given their potential proclivities to roam far and wide, Cart-Drivers are a diverse group of people. To find out what they're like, what vehicle they have, and what it is carrying, roll on the following series of tables.

Die Roll Weapon Type

1 Handaxe

2 Club

3 Whip

4 Blackjack

5 Dagger

6 Shortsword

Die Roll Special Gear

1 Nothing

2 Leather Jack

3 Crossbow

4 Matchlock Blunderbuss

5 Leather Cuirass

6 A nice broad-brimmed hat!

Die Roll Vehicle

1-2 Cart (any 1-2 Draft Animals)

3 Uncovered Wagon (any 1-4 Draft Animals)

4 Covered Wagon (any 1-4 Draft Animals)

5 Coach (only 2-4 Horses or Ponies as Draft Animals)

6 Barrow (no Draft Animal roll required, cannot carry Passengers)

Die Roll Draft Animal (roll or choose depending on Habitat type)

1 Donkey

2 Mule

3 Horse

4 Pony

5 Water Buffalo, Desert Bison or Oxen

6 Camel

Die Roll Vehicle Contents

1 1-6 Passengers (roll again on Habitat type to determine who they are)

2-3 Food or Drink (see Encyclopedia Arcana, pp. 53-54)

4-5 Other trade goods (see Encyclopedia Arcana, p. 72)

6 Illicit Contraband (Roll again ignoring a 6; food, drink or goods are being smuggled, but passengers may be (roll): 1-3 being kidnapped 4-6 travelling in secrecy)

A Cart-Driver can be found in any town or settlement across Titan, as well as on the road through generally favourable terrain such as plains, hills and forests. In drier wilderness and desert areas, mules, donkeys, desert bison and camels will be the primary draft animals used. The land routes of some of the great trading corridors wandering over the three continents are typically thick with Cart-Drivers of all stripes - long merchant caravans, semi-nomadic bands of traders, and lone operators - all hauling cargo from one outpost to another. Particularly famous cart-routes include:

• Allansia: Salamonis to Zengis, via Fang, Chalice and Stonebridge
  
• Allansia: Zengis to Fangthane, via Sardath
  
• Old World: Pollua to Royal Lendle, via Chalannabrad and Crystal City
• Old World: Gummport to Arkleton
  
• Khul: Kalagar to Ximoran, via Ashkyos and Djiretta
  
• Khul: Tancred's March from Gorak to Kelther, via Kazan
  

New Special Skill

Handle Vehicle (Movement)

This Special Skill bestows the ability to handle - ride, steer and maintain - a particular class of vehicle, whether on land or sea or in the air. The classes are as follows:

• Small Boat (e.g. rowing boat).
• Large Boat (e.g. fishing boat, barge)
  
• Ship (e.g. galleon)
• Cart/Coach/Wagon
• Chariot
• Balloon/Airship

Each must be possessed separately before a Hero can fully control the whole range of vehicles, but the Director may allow a modified chance of, say, a Hero skilled in handling a coach being able to handle a chariot in a race or in battle.

New Rules

Vehicles in Advanced Fighting Fantasy

Blacksand provided comprehensive details on different kinds of boats and ships for your Advanced Fighting Fantasy game, and more information is presented below about various sorts of land vehicles that may be used by the Cart-Driver as described above. 

Barrow

VEHICLE STAMINA: 1

VEHICLE WEAPONS: None

VEHICLE ARMOUR: None

Base Movement: 4

Encumbrance: 20 items

CREW: 1 (STAMINA X1/8)

This is a simple cart with one or two wheels that is usually pushed by a single Cart-Driver. It does not generally carry passengers, only goods.

Cart

VEHICLE STAMINA: 2

VEHICLE WEAPONS: None

VEHICLE ARMOUR: None

Base Movement: 6

Encumbrance: 40 items or 1-6 Passengers

CREW: 1-3 (STAMINA X1/4)

This is a two-wheeled vehicle drawn behind one or more Draft Animals, and unsurprisingly perhaps, the most common choice of vehicle for a Cart-Driver.

Coach

VEHICLE STAMINA: 4

VEHICLE WEAPONS: None

VEHICLE ARMOUR: Light

Base Movement: 8

Encumbrance: 30 items or 1-6 Passengers

CREW: 1-3

This is a fast four-wheeled travelling vehicle, usually used for transporting passengers quickly to their destination, but sometimes will carry goods as well. It is usually covered, though some coaches can have removable covers.

Wagon, Uncovered

VEHICLE STAMINA: 3

VEHICLE WEAPONS: None

VEHICLE ARMOUR: None

Base Movement: 6

Encumbrance: 50 items and 1-6 Passengers

CREW: 1-3

This is a large four-wheeled cart, often pulled by several Draft Animals, that can carry a lot of cargo and some Passengers as well.

Wagon, Covered

VEHICLE STAMINA: 4

VEHICLE WEAPONS: None

VEHICLE ARMOUR: Light

Base Movement: 6

Encumbrance: 60 items and 1-6 Passengers

CREW: 1-3

This is a wagon with a cover protecting the contents from the weather. It may be a permanent cover, transforming the wagon into a virtual house on wheels, or a temporary cover that can be removed if needed.

Behold! A means of avoiding parasitic infestation!

The Helmet of Ut-Napishtim (#19/31, #110/365) [EA:V2] (Artefact)

A stout-looking helmet, made of bronze in an archaic design. Ut-Napishtim was a historical figure from southern Irritaria in ancient times, who was called the Keeper of the Waters of Retribution. His helmet has been constructed by a magical being of high potency, and prevents its wearer from being stricken with illness, parasites or disease. Anyone wearing the Helmet of Ut-Napishtim is immune to the attacks of parasitical creatures such as Flesh Grubs, Death Maggots or Brain-eaters. In addition, they are immune to any poison or disease, and any kind of mind attack. They can however be attacked normally in combat with weapons and spells. Legend has it that the helmet lies in the Tomb of Ut-Napishtim, buried somewhere in the vicinity of the Rivers of the Dead on the Eastern Rim of the Inland Sea, and that the crypts there were infested with Acid Balls.

Not available to buy