Deeds of the Mighty and Vainglorious...

Potion of Might (#1/30, #306/365) [EA:V2] (Potion)

When this vial of clear turquoise liquid is drunk, the recipient will gain a +2 bonus to their Attack Strength for the duration next battle they find themselves in.

10gp

Greater Potion of Might (#2/30, #307/365) [EA:V2] (Potion)

When this vial of clear green liquid is drunk, the recipient can restore 2 STAMINA points and 1 LUCK point, and will gain a +2 bonus to their Attack Strength for the duration next battle they find themselves in.

20gp

 

We're gonna need a MUCH bigger boat...

GREAT WHITE SQUARK (#31/31, #305/365) [OOTP IV]

SKILL: 9

STAMINA: 10

ATTACKS: 4

WEAPON: Large Bite and Tentacles (as per Small Claw)

ARMOUR: None

DAMAGE MODIFIER: +1 to Damage Roll

HABITAT: Seas, Sea-shore

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1

TYPE: Monster

REACTION: Hostile

INTELLIGENCE: Low

The Ocean of Tempest may be named for its storms but it is also full of hideous sea monsters, one of the strangest of which is probably the GREAT WHITE SQUARK! With the head and upper body of a terrifying Great White Shark, and the tentacle-covered lower body of a Giant Squid, this fearsome predator cruises through the oceanic waters, always on the lookout for its next meal. The Great White Squark attacks by biting with its huge mouth, studded with serrated triangular teeth, and grappling with its sucker-lined tentacles. If possible, it will attempt to subdue its prey with its tentacles first, and then bite them; anyone losing an Attack Round to the Great White Squark is hit by an arm and restrained - they must reduce their SKILL by 1 until they win an Attack Round and break free.

The Great White Squark is indeed itself edible, and preyed on in turn by larger creatures such as the Leviathan and the Behemoth. A dead Great White Squark provides 3-18 provisions of edible fresh calamari, that restores 3 STAMINA points per meal when eaten. The floating islands of Pangaria did make an attempt at a fishery for the beasts but had to abandon the project when too many fisherfolk were ending up in the bellies of their Great White Squark fish-stock. Given the presence of tentacles some sages have suggested a Brain Slayer influence or that of their patron Chaos gods but this is currently speculation at best.

Less than 20 hours to go for the Advanced Fighting Fantasy: Dark Dungeons boardgame Kickstarter!

Kickstarter: ADVANCED FIGHTING FANTASY: DARK DUNGEONS the boardgame.

I have seen this project playtested at two Fighting Fantasy Fests now. I have seen the art by such incredible artists as Tony Hough, Mustafa Bekir, Brett Schofield, John Kapsalis and Matthew Dewhurst. And now it has less than 20 hours to go on Kickstarter - 35 pounds plus postage for the standard game, a 1-6 player modular, tile-based dungeoncrawler using a simplified version of the Advanced Fighting Fantasy second edition rules. It's already funded and is well on the way to important stretch goals such as added miniatures!

I'm totally invested in it, and you find all the details here. :-)

Just a Magic Lemon Tree...

MAGIC LEMON TREE (#30/31, #304/365) [TTHA] 

Appearance: This is a big strange-looking tree with twisted branches, dark green leaves, and large wrinkled lemon fruit, each with a smiling human-like face!

Distribution: Forests across Titan.

 

Effects: The fruit of the Magic Lemon Tree are renowned for their oracular powers. If picked from the tree, a Magic Lemon will answer 3 yes or no questions accurately if directly addressed. A Magic Lemon can be kept as a Plant Familiar, by Druids, Xylomancers, Plant Masters and the like, during or after the use of its oracular powers. It is not especially effective in combat, largely restricted to bouncing about like a small ball and biting things with a toothless mouth. However, Magic Lemons can be enchanted as a Familiar with magical powers, and can also be used as listening devices, being placed somewhere to eavesdrop on a conversation and, when retrieved, talk about it later.

 

Cost: City 12gp, Town 16gp, Village 20gp (per lemon)

 

Availability: Very Rare

 

Further Notes: The Magic Lemon Tree is a distant relative of the Lemonberry plant (see The Titan Herbal, p. 44). In ancient times, a Magic Lemon Tree was known from the Silver Elf village of Westwater, in the Kingdom of Karazan. The tree formed the backdrop for the throne of the local ruler, Lady Helena, who had enchanted the entire tree and its fruit into a Teleportation Spell of sorts accessible to those she deemed worthy, who had to count all the lemons in the Magic Lemon Tree to activate the spell. There are rumours currently swirling around the marketplace of Chalice about the existence of a similar magical tree among the Rainbow Ponds of Stittle Woad in the Forest of Spiders!

 

As a Familiar:

 

MAGIC LEMON, SKILL 1 STAMINA 1, Small Bite: 1 Damage.

Tax Man Cometh!

TAX COLLECTOR (#29/31, #303/365) [POT]

SKILL: 7

STAMINA : 6

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: See below

ARMOUR: None

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Towns, Plains, Ruins, Dungeons

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1 + see below

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Neutral-Unfriendly

INTELLIGENCE: High

"One for you, nineteen for me."

- Imperial Tax Collector, Gundobad.

Taxes are an inevitable and unwanted, but often necessary aspect of life in many countries and city-states of Titan, and the person whose job it is to gather the various tithes, levies, fines and duties, is the dreaded TAX-COLLECTOR! A Tax-Collector is always dressed in fine clothing, and will carry some sort of official badge of office, in addition to a small locked carrying strongbox, containing 6-36 Gold Pieces and 10-60 Silver Pieces, for which only they have the key. They will also have a weapon; roll on the below table to determine what:

Roll Weapon Type

1 Dagger

2 Shortsword

3 Club

4 Blackjack

5 Needleknife

6 Handaxe

A Tax-Collector always has an entourage, as it would be madness to do their job alone, carrying a large amount of gold! Roll on the below table to determine the Tax-Collector's official entourage:

Roll Entourage

1 THUGS (2-7) Club, Leather Cuirass

2-3 TOWN GUARDS (2-7) Spear, Small Shield, Leather Hauberk

4-5 SOLDIERS (2-7) Polearm, Sword, Large Shield, Chainmail Hauberk

6 Pet: Roll: 1 JAGUAR, 2 PUMA, 3 WOLF-DOG, 4 WOLFHOUND, 5 KRELL, 6 MUNGIE. Also, roll again on the Entourage table, ignoring further rolls of 6.

"...when taxation time comes around, whole countries slow down almost to a standstill, and everyone takes part in the generally good-natured game of tax-collecting!"

- Ernst Kandermann, Life on Titan (p. 121).

When encountered, Tax Collectors and their entourage will generally be set up to collect a standard tax from all passersby. Anyone refusing to pay the tax risks being arrested or beaten up by the entourage. To determine the type of tax to be levied, roll on the table below:

Roll Tax Type

1 Pedestrian Levy: Costs 10gp each for everyone on foot.

2 Horse Levy: Costs 5gp each for everyone riding a Horse, other riding steed, or Ox and Cart.

3 Adventurer Tax: Cost 5gp per Hero.

4 Transit Tax: Cost 2gp to pass (street, road, gate, bridge, etc.).

5 Nonhumans Tax: Costs 3gp each for all nonhumans present (Elves, Dwarfs, Man-Orcs, etc.).

6 Other Miscellaneous Tax: Roll for type of tax: 1 Bald, 2 Old (50+ years old), 3 Children (up to 18 years old), 4 Beards or any Facial Hair, 5 Tall (over six foot), 6 Fat (obviously overweight). Also roll one more die; this is the cost of the tax in Gold Pieces per person being taxed.

Even in supposedly good kingdoms, Tax Collectors are a strange bunch. Gallantarian Tax Collectors are infamous for their persistence in tracking down tax-dodgers, backed up by a decent squad of soldiers, while in Salamonis, the aptly named Odious Pinchpenny has forged a tax-collecting career as the most hated man in the city, accompanied by his loyal hound Midnight, a huge black mastiff with some form of magical protection. Elsewhere, Tax Collectors may simply be psychotic. Valigyna the Miser, employed by the Archmage of Mampang, was a notorious psychopath who, assisted by his pet Jaguar 'Hashi', would rob and murder anyone unfortunate enough to enter his chambers!

Meanwhile, over in the wilds north of Gundobad lurks the semi-legitimate Imperial Tax Collector, a rogue public-servant backed up by a cadre of thugs, whose excise-extraction depredations across the countryside are cursed everywhere by peasants and farmers. Why they still have the title 'Imperial' is also somewhat mysterious, given the Kabeshian Empire formerly active in these parts collapsed nearly three centuries ago during the War Against Chaos. Even some well-known dungeons have been frequented by the Tax-Collector, eager to levy antiquity collection fines against any adventurer looting too much treasure from the hoards of monsters in the underworld, unless the appropriate paperwork has been filed beforehand, of course!

Keep Calm and May Your STAMINA Never Fail!

Calming Potion (#28/31, #302/365) [EA:V2] (Potion)

This is a bottle of blue liquid that is hurled or poured upon a potential combatant. If used against creatures that are Type: Monster or Animal (including Birds, Reptiles, Amphibians, Insects, etc.), the potion will change their reaction of Hostile to Friendly, or cause them to retreat. If used on a carnivorous plant, the potion will make it quiescent and dormant. A Calming Potion can even be used on Animated Objects and Chest Creatures, causing them to become inert, but it doesn't work on Golems or Living Statues for some reason. Calming Potions are a common magical sundry among the islands of Pangaria where they are used by Technomancers, Vine Wranglers and Cloudkin Herders; in the markets there a Calming Potion only costs 2 Gold Pieces!

12gp per Potion

Carry On Valsinore!

CARRION (#27/31, #301/365) [OOTP IV]

SKILL: 7

STAMINA: 7

ATTACKS: 2

WEAPON: Large Claws and Bite

ARMOUR: None

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Mountains, Hills, Plains, Desert, Wilderness, Ruins, Forests, Volcanic Areas

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-2

TYPE: Undead

REACTION: Hostile

INTELLIGENCE: Low

High up in the skies of Titan soar not just live birds but dead ones too, such as the undead taloned blasphemy that is the CARRION. In life it must have been something the size of Roc or a Giant Vulture, and has characteristics of both, but it is hard to be certain now the thing is somewhat decomposed - its flesh hanging in tatters from its bones, its jaundice-yellow eyes rolling in the orbits of its fleshless skull. Whatever it was in life, now that it is dead its hunger is insatiable. Giving a savage squawk the undead bird will launches itself at a victim on featherless wings of torn dead skin, that still amazingly allow it to fly in somewhat ragged fashion, and attack with its sharp claws and curved beak. 

The Carrion is not the cleanest of creatures, and anyone who is injured by one must roll a die; on a 6 they contract Red Plague (Test for Luck to avoid, see Advanced Fighting Fantasy, p. 54). They tend to haunt lonely places, preying on the occasional ibex or mountain sheep, but they have also known to be used as flying steeds by Hags and undead, such as Skeleton Kings, particularly in Bathoria and other cursed principalities of Mauristatia. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Carrion are also present in the Demonic Pit, soaring aloft on high noxious thermals over the sanguine waves of the Plane of Blood or the black basalt mountains of the Plane of Pain, looking for easy prey to torment and tear apart with their terrible talons.