Poacher turned GAMEKEEPER

GAMEKEEPER (#1/31, #29/365) [POT]

SKILL: 7

STAMINA : 6

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: See below

ARMOUR: See below

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Forests, Hills, Towns, Mountains, Plains, Wilderness

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-2

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Neutral

INTELLIGENCE: High

Out there in the dangerous wilds of Titan, the hunter hunts as a professional, and the poacher hunts for personal need, but the GAMEKEEPER tracks and stalks prey as a warden and protector, culling predators and pests while encouraging the growth of game animals, either for a feudal lord or as their own enterprise. These weather-beaten individuals exist beyond, in the wild, with a cottage or hut as a base from which they establish dominion as guardian over a particular stretch of wilderness. As can be imagined, they are a highly diverse bunch of disparate borderland misanthropes with far too little in the way of regular social contact. Roll on all the tables below to determine the provenance of each Gamekeeper:

Roll Missile Weapon

1 Long Bow

2 Short Bow

3 Crossbow (Roll for type: 1-2 Regular, 3-4 Hand, 5-6 Repeating)

4 Sling

5 Blowpipe

6 Firepowder weapon (Roll for type: 1 Flintlock Blunderbuss, 2-3 Matchlock Pistol, 4-5 Flintlock Pistol, 6 Matchlock Blunderbuss)

Roll Melee Weapon

1 Club

2-3 Shortsword

4-5 Sword

6 Staff

Roll Armour

1-2 None

3-4 Leather Jack

5-6 Leather Cuirass

Roll Type Effect

1 Human, no effect

2 Man-Orc, +1 SKILL

3 Black Elf, no effect

4 Half-Elf, no effect

5 Half-Goblin, +1 STAMINA

6 Wild Elf, no effect

Gamekeepers operate in any terrain that has enough game to turn a profit. This even includes large wealthy cities that may have extensive zoological estates and gardens. Gamekeepers will have at least 1 point in the following Special Skills: Hunting, Trap Lore, Terrain Lore, and Animal Lore. Such a useful accumulation of experience makes them desirable skirmishers, and those Gamekeepers who wish to leave their poorly-paid existence behind often have no shortage of suitors who require their specific talents, including units of archers or scouts, adventurers, caravan guards and even their old foes hunters and poachers!

We really need to talk about WANDS... (part four)

Wand of Necromancy (#28/28, #28/365) [EA:V2] (Enchanted Item)

This is a short stout wand made from Black Pine and bound with silver filigree. When waved at an opponent, it unleashes a necromantic spell causing a glowing blue ring to wrap around a victim's head, slowly suffocating them. The spell requires a Test for Luck to avoid; even those who are Lucky lose 1-2 STAMINA points that are drained from them. Unlucky victims will die within 2-7 Attack Rounds unless the wand is broken, negating the spell.  In addition, when found, the Wand of Necromancy will have 2-7 charges; each successful hit drains one charge and once these are used up the wand is useless unless recharged.These wands were known to be used by Goblins in the Dark Chasms beneath Gorak, who used them against intruders or rebellious captive-miners to keep them in line.

Unavailable to buy 

Happiness is a BAKEMONO-SHO!

BAKEMONO-SHO (#27/28, #27/365) [OOTP IV]

SKILL: 6

STAMINA: 6

ATTACKS: 1

WEAPON: Shortsword, Spear, or Shortbow

ARMOUR: Leather Hauberk and Small Shield

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None

HABITAT: Dungeons, Ruins, Forests, Marshes, Hills

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6 or 3-18

TYPE: Humanoid

REACTION: Unfriendly-Hostile

INTELLIGENCE: Average

From the distant hermit kingdom of Hachiman, in the south-eastern corner of the Dark Continent of Khul, are to be found many strange and horrible creatures known from few other places across Titan. One such example are the BAKEMONO-SHO, thought to be an obscure variant of the more ubiquitous Goblin, and also related to the Orc-like Shikome. They are short ugly humanoid creatures, with warty orange-brown skin, and typically clad in leather armour while brandishing crude weapons such as shortswords, spears and shortbows.

For every six Bakemono-Sho that are encountered, one will be a more experienced individual with SKILL 7 STAMINA 8. They are known from a variety of regions in Hachiman, including the Forest of Shadows and the Mizokumo Fens, as well as hilly uplands and dark dungeons. While the Bakemono-Sho may aggregate in small hamlets of three to eighteen individuals, they are more likely to be found in the service of an evil lord, such as Ikiru, the Master of Shadows and lord of Onikaru, the Pit of Demons. 

Although not as powerful as the Shikome, the Bakemono-Sho are cunning and devious, and equally capable of setting traps and snares or infiltrating human settlements using stealth and subterfuge. Ultimately though, they are cowardly creatures at heart, and a savage show of might will usually cower them into submission or send them running to the hills, depending on whatever the Bakemono-Sho consider their best hopes of survival to be!

GODS OF TITAN reviewed!

 

This review of Gods of Titan by Darcy on DrivethruRPG is worth reading:

"This is an incredible world-building lore-book.

You get a long list of gods, each with their own individual powers, holy colours and symbols, and descriptions of their worshippers and cults.

You get a clear vision of the Macrocosmos, with its varied planes of existence, from the elemental to ethereal, from Celestial to demonic.

You are given a calendar of years, months, days and hours, each associated with a specific god, a great cycle of time. And there's constellations associated with specific gods.

It is this astrological information that makes 'Gods of Titan' so interesting. Not only can constellations affect the starting traits and abilities of Heroes, but can affect gameplay, boosting enemies or Heroes on different days. Further, astronomical objects and events can also effect gameplay, from eclipses and solar flares to comets passing and meteorites crashing. You are given rules and effects (and the option to mine a meteorite for star-metal or fight whatever weird aliens rode it to earth) that make the world feel fully lived in, can create immersion and throw a confident Hero off balance, just as astronomical objects and events do in the real world. I've never seen anything like it in another RPG lore-book (admittedly, I'm not an expert).

An incredibly detailed lore-book, 'Gods of Titan' is deep, but also straightforward. It builds on thirty-odd years of development of Advanced Fighting Fantasy lore, without complicating it.

Worth the AUD$23 I paid."

Thanks Darcy!

You can get your copy of Gods of Titan as a PDF, softcover, or hardback POD book, here: 

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/550284/gods-of-titan 

Again with more random plants I have encountered from across the Titan-o-sphere...

GRIPWEED (#24/28, #24/365) [TTHA]

Appearance: This is a variety of grape whose small spherical fruits are a pale red in colour, and whose vines grow in thorny thickets with ragged-edged leaves.

Distribution: Plains and hills across the Old World.

Effects: The grapes of the Gripweed can be used to make Gripweed Wine. When drunk, this powerful alcoholic beverage is refreshing, and will restore 2 STAMINA points, but it also has unpredictable side-effects on the imbiber; roll a die to see what:

Roll Effects

1 Happy and light-headed

2-4 Slur speech and lose co-ordination; -2 SKILL for 30 minutes

5-6 Become violent and attack nearest person!

Cost: City 3gp, Town 6gp, Village 6gp (per flask)

Availability: Common

MILLWEED (#25/28, #25/365) [TTHA]

Appearance: This is a type of semi-aquatic plant with long creeper-like yellow stems and small round green leaves.

Distribution: Marshes and on the shores of rivers and lakes across the Old World.

Effects: A bunch of Millweed can be used to make a healing poultice that can be applied to a wound during first aid (see Advanced Fighting Fantasy, p. 65), and will allow a healer to deduct two from the dice roll when testing their Healing Special Skill.

Cost: City 5sp, Town 4sp, Village 3sp (per poultice)

Availability: Common

Further Notes: Millweed takes its name for its habit of fouling the wheels of water-mills if its growth is not checked and cut back regularly.

 

MUSTIK (#26/28, #26/365) [TTHA]  

Appearance: This is a thin-stemmed herb with ragged green leaves and clusters of lobed mauve flowers.

Distribution: Plains, hills and wildernesses across the Old World

Effects: Mustik is a powerful herb that can be ground down to create a vial or thumb-sized container of ointment. A salve of pure Mustik can make one believe anything; inhaling its delicate fragrance makes one quite giddy and susceptible to suggestions, allowing a +4 bonus to any Con Special Skill rolls.

Cost: City 4gp, Town 6gp, Village 8gp (per vial of ointment)

Availability: Uncommon

GODS OF TITAN available in hardback!

Like, OMG, all your prayers are answered and you can finally get my eighth book GODS OF TITAN as a hardback, which should be its default state. 

Buy it here: https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/550284/gods-of-titan 

Gadding about like a GADDON!

GADDON (#24/28, #24/365) [POT]

Warrior Knight 

SKILL: 7 9

STAMINA: 8 10 

ATTACKS: 1 

WEAPON: Sword, Spear or Long Bow 

ARMOUR: Plate Armour

DAMAGE MODIFIER: None 

HABITAT: Caves, Dungeons

NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6 or 6-36 

TYPE: Humanoid 

REACTION: Friendly-Neutral 

INTELLIGENCE: High

The Gaddon or Feelbrethren people are originally from south-west Khul. They migrated to the deep chasms (for no known reason, although some authorities claim religious persecution) and created their own culture. They began to give birth to blind babies soon after constructing their complex system of tunnels. Their other senses were greatly enhanced and they became masters of the dark. The Gaddon Knights – the Sensewarriors – are supreme fighters in the dark. They are rarely to be seen in the Toplands (as they call Khul) since the time of Tancred the Magnificent.

From Treatise on the Kingdoms of South-west Khul by Ignatius Pommfritte.

One race of humans has gone further than most in adapting to an inhospitable corner of Khul and making it their own. The GADDON people of south-western Khul have left the lands above and gone underground, where they can be found dwelling in the subterranean Dark Chasms that tunnel beneath the Kingdom of Gorak. Here they have evolved numerous adaptations to the cave systems they now call home. Despite their blank sightless eyes, the Gaddon have excellent and powerful senses of hearing, smell, touch and taste. Their skin is pale, with slightly pointed ears and long dark hair, which is usually styled into mane- like mohawks, beards and moustaches for the men.

All Gaddon are trained in the skill of Sensefight, which is the ability to fight blind, or in complete darkness, with no combat penalties. This skill is sometimes taught to worthy heroes from the Toplands, and to learn it requires the use of a Dark Helm and the spell of Darksight. For battle, Gaddon warriors arm themselves with swords, spears and long bows, and wear plate armour, though those on missions to the Toplands may wear more typical mercenary garb. They also ride the horned Koyunlu into battle and harness them to carts and war-machines. Gaddon will usually be encountered in patrols of one to six warriors, and if five or six are present then one will be a Gaddon Knight who leads them, with combats scores as given above.

Normal Gaddon are SKILL 6 STAMINA 6 and armed with a dagger but no armour. They wear leather clothes made from the hides of Koyunlu and other underground beasts. These Feelbrethren can be found dwelling in small fortified cavern settlements of six to thirty-six inhabitants, of which around half will be male and female warriors. There are also great subterranean fortress-cities such as Caverndown and Govanthian, which house thousands of Gaddon in winding tunnels, fortified keeps and chambers cut from bare rock. These guard the fabled iron mines from which the Gaddon extract ore to forge their weapons, tools and armour. Smaller settlements exist; the infamous below-ground tavern known as the Dragon’s Breath Inn (which serves Scorchspark Brew), is run by Bosak the Gaddon and his daughter, while the Tower of Orghuz used to be a Feelbrethren stronghold until they abandoned it to fell creatures but not before trapping every single room.

The Gaddon have developed a unique writing system, known as Cyphers, which are a series of raised dots and sunken pits arrayed on a three-by-three grid. Different combinations of dots and pits signify different things, and even encompass a Spellbound number-counting system used by Gaddon sages and artificers. The Secret Cyphers of the Feelbrethren are only taught to the most trusted of Toplanders, by scholars such as the ancient Gaddon hermit known as the Old Man in the Iron Cave. These mystics also craft magic items such as Gaddon Rings (one use only: makes bearer invisible in combat and can win one battle without STAMINA loss) and Crystals of Darkness (bring darkness upon a torch-lit cavern to allow for a mass-escape but may require the sacrifice of zero to two warriors).

The term Sensewarrior encompasses all Gaddon fighters, whether rank-and-file warriors or the more elite Gaddon Knights. These knights are led in turn by mighty heroes known as Gaddon Battlemasters, and many are their tales of valour and bravery. The Sensewarriors were originally entrusted to guard the Malice-infected Orghuz and his Khuddam spawn for all eternity, when Kevin Knucklesap was the legendary Gaddon hero who fought alongside Tancred the Magnificent, the first king of Gorak, against the forces of his evil-tainted brother Orghuz.

The greatest Battlemaster is Alkis Fearslicer, originally of Govanthian who is sometimes found on missions in the Toplands, and leader of thirty Gaddon knights. His deputies are a black-bearded man called Saliac and the warrior-woman Chorista. Two such Battlemasters hail from Caverndown, the hero Gorodin and the lady Khazara, one of the greatest of the Sensewarriors. Also worth mentioning is Aspra Smoothcheek, a Toplander mercenary-girl raised by the Gaddon who now roams the caverns with a rogue band of Dwarfs.