God I love monsters.
Nothing distinguishes a hero like fighting a big, horrible beast that nobody else can kill. I mean sure; you went with Shadow Vipers and you're technically a reprehensible bastard. But people's attitudes towards you soften considerably when you turn your killing expertise on Grendel or Smaug.
This is design space that Weapons of the Gods and Legends of the Wulin didn't explore, very intentionally. Wuxia as a genre concerns itself with humans or very human-like beings. It can edge out of that comfort zone a bit, but the core conceits all revolve around powerful human set in a dramatic web of obligations and passions.
Fighting dragons and demons is closer to the Xianxia; immortal warriors battling devils and gods and whathaveyou. There's mythical weight to this, but it does stretch the credibility of a setting in a way that having near-superpowers from martial arts doesn't. It's one of those little invisible boundaries that you can cross that defines an outer border of a genre.
Or so it surely seemed to the designers at the time. I'm a bit less convinced; take a show like Dragonball (which I've been watching on the recommendation of some of the wonderful Discordians). It's got a strong argument for being a training-centered adventure wuxia show; martial arts are a central focus, secret techniques are the key to power, there's strong master/student relationships, martial school rivalries, everything you'd expect from pure wuxia. But it's also got mythological DNA; Goku is clearly supposed to be our Monkey-King analog (down to the name even, "Songoku"). He fights giant monsters, trains with god, and yes, becomes a huge hairy were-ape during the full moon.
Berserk is similar; clearly not Wuxia at it's core, it's still a belted-down gritty low-fantasy romp. I mean, until the immortal demon shows up and the hellmotuh opens to usher in a hideous new devil-god.
Monsters are wonderful elements in these stories. They're essentially stand-ins for things that people can't fight; the monstrous savagery of nature, or the crushing inevitability of fate, the heinous power of tyranny, etc. What was Smaug if not greed personified? We clothe these more existential horrors in weighty flesh to give the hero something to grapple with, and in so doing we tell ourselves a familiar story; it is the strength of a hero to overcome evil, no matter how powerful. The more dreadful the might of the adversary, the greater the heroics of the battle.
So I feel like there was a place for monsters in Wuxia; I'm unconvinced that their inclusion would have broken down it's genre-barrier. It's a more adaptable genre than its given credit for.
The powers of a martial hero in Wuxia need a standard to show off against; when they casually flip over a tree trunk or punch a boulder in half, we're given that standard. As cool as those feats are, they're not a martial challenge, so you're not seeing their full potential, just being given a visual yardstick.
The martial challenge of warrior VS warrior is spectacular, but again difficult to gauge; it's like when superman and darksied battle, you lose perspective and it's essentially just two burly guys wrestling.
But fire-punching a dragon combines both of these metrics into the same act. You measure the hero against a standard while exhibiting their fighting skill. This is the fundamental appeal of the monster over a natural disaster or rival hero; they combine the challenge of both man and nature, of adversary and disaster. They also allow you to punch a metaphysical concept in the nose, which has an appeal all its own.
...
Beasts and monsters
The Effort Pool is a comprehensive stat: it encompasses the entirety of the energies, skills and capabilities a character can bring to bear. This makes it appropriate for the superhuman characters that players play and encounter in the martial world, but what about animals, ghosts, demons, and all the other beings that a character might battle? An broad trait like Effort is inappropriate; a rampaging buffalo won’t be talking you into betraying your clan, a ghost generally won’t smash your head in with an i-beam.
The basic mechanic of rolling and matches sets, of using the dice themselves as a resource, is the foundational cornerstone of influencing actions. So, we keep the mechanics and break up the power of the dice.
Splitting them along their fault line, we can divide them into two varieties; Ferocity, which can be used to make Power, Agility, Endurance and Senses actions and Willpower, which allows Heart, Spirit, Intellect and Senses.
These splits reach all the way down to Rank 0 actions; a jaguar will never use human speech or reasoning, a bhut will never lift a dumpster over its head.
What does it mean to have Ferocity/ Willpower?
A being with Ferocity is a beast; they have animal intelligence and lack speech or higher thought. They can be docile or vicious, but their interaction with the world is purely physical, instinctual, and animal. They can not be swayed by any use of Heart, Spirit or Intellect outside of special circumstances.
A being of pure Willpower, however, has no tangible form whatsoever! They are wraithly, insubstantial, ghost-like, possibly holograms or mystical projections. They can argue, think, reason, and feel, but they cannot touch or interact with the world. Purely physical attacks and dangers pose no threat to them; they are less physical than smoke, or music, and are just as invincible to blade and flame.
They can be influenced by magic (including any Technique with a non-physical component, specifically Holy, Energy and Elemental strikes) as well as Heart, Intellect, and Spirit actions as normal.
Frame
Unlike humans whose Effect Chart caps at 6 unless magic is involved, creatures with Ferocity or Willpower have a cap based on their size, potential, or spiritual rank.
In the case of beings with a Willpower pool, this is generally an “encompassing cap”, similar to Effort’s cap; it applies to all of their skills as the same level.
For Ferocity, builds vary wildly between natural beasts; this has the effect of making the caps “specific”; they apply uniquely to the different skills. A Cheetah’s cap for Agility will be much higher than their cap for Endurance, where an Ox will have these trends reversed.
Powers
Monsters and spirits can have powers similar to Techniques. If they’re magical, they’ll have one or more Chakra and power them with Prana. But they may also power them with more mundane forces; this may take them form of a charge-up/cool-down.
These powers need to be “charged” for a number of rounds before they’ll function. Alternatively, they might begin powered-up and need to wait a number of rounds before they can be used again. Generally, a round’s worth of charge is the equivalent of about 5 Prana.
Powers, like Techniques, can break a being’s Effect chart caps, allowing extraordinary displays of prowess.
Some Techniques found their origin as powers. The Emerald Kirin are legendary for their style’s emulation of savage beasts like tyrannosaurs and wolverines.
Monstrous limbs
Creatures often have unique physical advantages that take the form of massive stingers, eyestalks, swarms of tentacles, or similar weird appendages. These beastial organs have their own health boxes, and take their own actions. These function like Techniques, and can combine with Ferocity to boost their efficacy.
They can be damaged, and if they lose all their Health they are destroyed or disabled at the attacker’s option. Obviously, such pulped appendages no longer offer their advantages and special abilities.
Size and shape
Creatures come in many sizes and shapes. These are often related to real-world creature to give you an idea of the dimensions, shape and mass of the creature in question.
Examples
Grasshopper (miniscule, pill-shaped, 0.54 grams)
House Cat (small, quadrupedal and tail, 8 lbs)
Cheetah (sizeable, quadrupedal and tail, 103 lbs)
Wolf (sizeable, quadrupedal and tail, 110 lbs)
Human (person-sized, bipedal, 137 lbs)
Brown Bear (Big, roughly quadrupedal, 740 lbs)
Rhinoceros (Huge, quadrupedal, 4000 lbs)
Blue Whale (Gigantic, shiplike bodies, 300,000 lbs)
Mass
Creatures of enormous size swing their inertia around like a wrecking ball. When a creature’s physical size impacts their actions, they’ll have Mass. This describes their weight and build and the kinetic force their size brings to bear.
The number next to this is the Rank of Power action added to every strike. It can be used to throw, break objects, or add dice of damage as though from a massive weapon.
Additionally, this is the minimum Rank of power action required to affect the creature with Power actions. To grab, throw, shove, lift, or otherwise move their tremendous bulk, you’ll have to clear their Rank in Mass with your raw physical might.
Finally, when a creature is moving at its top speed, it’s Mass grants it inertia. This means that every object, structure, landscape terrain, person etc. in the path of its motion it trampled as by a (Degree=Mass) Hazard.
Locomotion
Related to size and shape, this is described in two terms: a tactical infinity element which describes the way in which the creature moves, and a mechanical element which relates the speed to the Effect chart for Agility. The brief description is on the left, while the Rank of Agility achievable within terms of the description is represented by a number on the right. Again, some examples are helpful:
Examples
Grasshopper (hop/crawl, 0)
House Cat (walk/run/climb/jump, 1)
Cheetah (walk/run/jump, 3)
Wolf (walk/run, 2)
Human (walk/run/jump/climb/swim, 1 or 2 for olympians)
Brown Bear (shamble/lope, 2)
Rhinoceros (walk/swim/crash, 2)
Blue Whale (swim/dive, 2/0 if beached)
Note the example of the Blue Whale gives strict limitations to its movement; it’s mobile and speedy while submerged, but totally immobile on land. The shorthand of the Agility metric should always be reasonably interpreted within the framework and limitations of the Tactical Infinity; a Blue whale cannot climb a stepladder or perform gymnastics, no matter it’s top speed underwater.
Example monsters
Sand Manta
Living in roiling fevers of hundreds of rays, Sand Mantas are a hideous evolution of their unearthly breed. Twice the mass of their aquatic forebears, these terrestrial monstrosities spend the majority of their lives buried under radioactive sand. Generally as docile as cows, when roused, they take to the skies by a chemically-inflated gas bladder; they soar with the weight and grace of world war 2 bombers. Their bodies are plated in thick scales and their stings are surgery-sharp lances of bone.
Ferocity 4 (Docile)
Frame: Power: 4 Agility: 2 Endurance: 8
Health 8
Armor 6
Size: Tremendous. Shiplike body, 7,200 lbs
Mass: 4
Locomotion: Soar, 2
The Effort Pool is a comprehensive stat: it encompasses the entirety of the energies, skills and capabilities a character can bring to bear. This makes it appropriate for the superhuman characters that players play and encounter in the martial world, but what about animals, ghosts, demons, and all the other beings that a character might battle? An broad trait like Effort is inappropriate; a rampaging buffalo won’t be talking you into betraying your clan, a ghost generally won’t smash your head in with an i-beam.
The basic mechanic of rolling and matches sets, of using the dice themselves as a resource, is the foundational cornerstone of influencing actions. So, we keep the mechanics and break up the power of the dice.
Splitting them along their fault line, we can divide them into two varieties; Ferocity, which can be used to make Power, Agility, Endurance and Senses actions and Willpower, which allows Heart, Spirit, Intellect and Senses.
These splits reach all the way down to Rank 0 actions; a jaguar will never use human speech or reasoning, a bhut will never lift a dumpster over its head.
What does it mean to have Ferocity/ Willpower?
A being with Ferocity is a beast; they have animal intelligence and lack speech or higher thought. They can be docile or vicious, but their interaction with the world is purely physical, instinctual, and animal. They can not be swayed by any use of Heart, Spirit or Intellect outside of special circumstances.
A being of pure Willpower, however, has no tangible form whatsoever! They are wraithly, insubstantial, ghost-like, possibly holograms or mystical projections. They can argue, think, reason, and feel, but they cannot touch or interact with the world. Purely physical attacks and dangers pose no threat to them; they are less physical than smoke, or music, and are just as invincible to blade and flame.
They can be influenced by magic (including any Technique with a non-physical component, specifically Holy, Energy and Elemental strikes) as well as Heart, Intellect, and Spirit actions as normal.
Frame
Unlike humans whose Effect Chart caps at 6 unless magic is involved, creatures with Ferocity or Willpower have a cap based on their size, potential, or spiritual rank.
In the case of beings with a Willpower pool, this is generally an “encompassing cap”, similar to Effort’s cap; it applies to all of their skills as the same level.
For Ferocity, builds vary wildly between natural beasts; this has the effect of making the caps “specific”; they apply uniquely to the different skills. A Cheetah’s cap for Agility will be much higher than their cap for Endurance, where an Ox will have these trends reversed.
Powers
Monsters and spirits can have powers similar to Techniques. If they’re magical, they’ll have one or more Chakra and power them with Prana. But they may also power them with more mundane forces; this may take them form of a charge-up/cool-down.
These powers need to be “charged” for a number of rounds before they’ll function. Alternatively, they might begin powered-up and need to wait a number of rounds before they can be used again. Generally, a round’s worth of charge is the equivalent of about 5 Prana.
Powers, like Techniques, can break a being’s Effect chart caps, allowing extraordinary displays of prowess.
Some Techniques found their origin as powers. The Emerald Kirin are legendary for their style’s emulation of savage beasts like tyrannosaurs and wolverines.
Monstrous limbs
Creatures often have unique physical advantages that take the form of massive stingers, eyestalks, swarms of tentacles, or similar weird appendages. These beastial organs have their own health boxes, and take their own actions. These function like Techniques, and can combine with Ferocity to boost their efficacy.
They can be damaged, and if they lose all their Health they are destroyed or disabled at the attacker’s option. Obviously, such pulped appendages no longer offer their advantages and special abilities.
Size and shape
Creatures come in many sizes and shapes. These are often related to real-world creature to give you an idea of the dimensions, shape and mass of the creature in question.
Examples
Grasshopper (miniscule, pill-shaped, 0.54 grams)
House Cat (small, quadrupedal and tail, 8 lbs)
Cheetah (sizeable, quadrupedal and tail, 103 lbs)
Wolf (sizeable, quadrupedal and tail, 110 lbs)
Human (person-sized, bipedal, 137 lbs)
Brown Bear (Big, roughly quadrupedal, 740 lbs)
Rhinoceros (Huge, quadrupedal, 4000 lbs)
Blue Whale (Gigantic, shiplike bodies, 300,000 lbs)
Mass
Creatures of enormous size swing their inertia around like a wrecking ball. When a creature’s physical size impacts their actions, they’ll have Mass. This describes their weight and build and the kinetic force their size brings to bear.
The number next to this is the Rank of Power action added to every strike. It can be used to throw, break objects, or add dice of damage as though from a massive weapon.
Additionally, this is the minimum Rank of power action required to affect the creature with Power actions. To grab, throw, shove, lift, or otherwise move their tremendous bulk, you’ll have to clear their Rank in Mass with your raw physical might.
Finally, when a creature is moving at its top speed, it’s Mass grants it inertia. This means that every object, structure, landscape terrain, person etc. in the path of its motion it trampled as by a (Degree=Mass) Hazard.
Locomotion
Related to size and shape, this is described in two terms: a tactical infinity element which describes the way in which the creature moves, and a mechanical element which relates the speed to the Effect chart for Agility. The brief description is on the left, while the Rank of Agility achievable within terms of the description is represented by a number on the right. Again, some examples are helpful:
Examples
Grasshopper (hop/crawl, 0)
House Cat (walk/run/climb/jump, 1)
Cheetah (walk/run/jump, 3)
Wolf (walk/run, 2)
Human (walk/run/jump/climb/swim, 1 or 2 for olympians)
Brown Bear (shamble/lope, 2)
Rhinoceros (walk/swim/crash, 2)
Blue Whale (swim/dive, 2/0 if beached)
Note the example of the Blue Whale gives strict limitations to its movement; it’s mobile and speedy while submerged, but totally immobile on land. The shorthand of the Agility metric should always be reasonably interpreted within the framework and limitations of the Tactical Infinity; a Blue whale cannot climb a stepladder or perform gymnastics, no matter it’s top speed underwater.
Example monsters
Sand Manta
Living in roiling fevers of hundreds of rays, Sand Mantas are a hideous evolution of their unearthly breed. Twice the mass of their aquatic forebears, these terrestrial monstrosities spend the majority of their lives buried under radioactive sand. Generally as docile as cows, when roused, they take to the skies by a chemically-inflated gas bladder; they soar with the weight and grace of world war 2 bombers. Their bodies are plated in thick scales and their stings are surgery-sharp lances of bone.
Ferocity 4 (Docile)
Frame: Power: 4 Agility: 2 Endurance: 8
Health 8
Armor 6
Size: Tremendous. Shiplike body, 7,200 lbs
Mass: 4
Locomotion: Soar, 2
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Health: 3
Charge-up: 1 round
Powers: Inflates with a chemical gas; lifts as a Rank 3 Power action. In tandem with other gasbladder, this allows a Rank 6 lift, enabling the ray to soar. Both bladders are required to remain airborne.
Right Pectoral Gasbladder: As left pectoral gasbladder.
Lance Barb:
Health 4
Cooldown: 2 rounds
Powers: Rank 4 strike, deals an additional +2d10 Physical Aggravation because of its size and sharpness.
Tyrannosaurus
Apex predator in an era of monsters and titans; it’s name translates to tyrant-king of the lizards. It eats a cow per day to maintain its enormous size. Teeth like swords fill a mouth big enough to swallow a car: don’t fuck with the king, kiddos.
Ferocity 10
Frame: Power: 5 Agility: 1 Endurance: 4
Health 12
Size: Gigantic. Bipedal, Raptor-like body, 30,000 lbs
Mass: 5
Locomotion: Thunder/Charge, 1
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Terrible Jaw:
Health 4
Chargeup: 1 round
Powers: Rank 6 strike and grab. Characters held in the jaw are chewed every; this is equivalent to a Rank 5 attack dealing an additional 1d10 Physical Aggravation.
Colossal Tail:
Health: 5
Cooldown: 1 round
Powers: Rank 5 attack
Scorpion Man (Aqrabuamelu)
Guardians of once-sacred places; it’s no longer known whether Aqrabuamelu were genetic monstrosities engineered by warped science or divinely-appointed sentinels. Now it’s immaterial; they’re so perverted by aeons of mutating radiation that their original purpose is utterly corrupted. Twisted, mutant, monstrous in appetite and psyche, the scorpion-men still stand sentinel over sites of tremendous magical power. In this fallen time, most have also become horrifically corrupt; it takes a hero of magnificent caliber to slay the guardian of these fonts of evil and bring their cursed half-life to an end.
Ferocity: 10
Frame: Power: 6 Agility: 3 Endurance: 6
Health: 12
Size: Massive, arachnid legs and tail, humanoid torso; bilateral asymmetry (huge claw/humanoid arm), 12,000 lbs
Mass: 3
Locomotion: Scuttle 1 (too heavy and cumbersome to jump or climb)
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Humanoid Hand
Health 2
Powers: Technically as dextrous as a human hand, this tree trunk-thick limb has enough power and agility to lift a telephone pole and use it as a quarterstaff. May wield any reasonable object as a weapon of a given type; it is additionally a heavy weapon (+2d10)
Scorpion Claw
Health 3
Armor 3
Cooldown: 1 round
Powers: Rank 3 strike and grab; automatically sustains. Every round a foe is held, they suffer another Rank 3 crush attack which may be resisted with Endurance.
Health 3
Armor 3
Cooldown: 1 round
Powers: Rank 3 strike and grab; automatically sustains. Every round a foe is held, they suffer another Rank 3 crush attack which may be resisted with Endurance.
Scorpion Tail
Health 4
Health 4
Armor 3
Chargeup: 2 rounds
Powers: Rank 4 strike; struck foes poisoned with Virulence 4 venom. If severed, contains 5 doses of venom.
…
Example Spirits
Atomic Jiangshi
The horrors that ripped apart the world did not stop their destruction at its body; they tore apart the very soul of the planet. The fallout from this act of spiritual violence left a lingering aura of atrocity, a half-life measured not in time but in destinies. The Atomic Jianshi are a symptom of this cursed fallout. Their ghostly bodies resemble stiff, irradiated corpses; palid, oozing with yellow pus, hair falling out in clumps. They stalk stiff-jointed across the cursed land, ghosts propelled by radioactive magic, hungering for the warm lifeforce of the living. When they drink Prana, they can magically form crude, corpselike bodies with frozen joints and weeping sores to rip apart their victims. They can also each cast a single spell, one note in the cacophonous song that unmade the old world.
Chargeup: 2 rounds
Powers: Rank 4 strike; struck foes poisoned with Virulence 4 venom. If severed, contains 5 doses of venom.
…
Example Spirits
Atomic Jiangshi
The horrors that ripped apart the world did not stop their destruction at its body; they tore apart the very soul of the planet. The fallout from this act of spiritual violence left a lingering aura of atrocity, a half-life measured not in time but in destinies. The Atomic Jianshi are a symptom of this cursed fallout. Their ghostly bodies resemble stiff, irradiated corpses; palid, oozing with yellow pus, hair falling out in clumps. They stalk stiff-jointed across the cursed land, ghosts propelled by radioactive magic, hungering for the warm lifeforce of the living. When they drink Prana, they can magically form crude, corpselike bodies with frozen joints and weeping sores to rip apart their victims. They can also each cast a single spell, one note in the cacophonous song that unmade the old world.
Willpower: 7
Health: 7
Size: Size and shape of gaunt, long-limbed human corpses
Locomotion: Hop/launch, 1 or Float, 3
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Chakra Tumor
Health: 3
Possesses no Recovery of its own, but has a Pool of unlimited size. Can be filled with stolen Prana. A black, fleshy mass, residing where the Jianshi’s heart would be in a healthy body.
Hungering Ghost Bite
Mystical attack
Limit 1/round
Powers: Builds aggravation towards the Chakra Enervation Spiritual Imbalance. Drains an equal amount of Prana from the affected Chakra, filling the Chakra Tumor. If the target lacks enough Prana to be drained, the excess becomes damage.
Mystical attack
Limit 1/round
Powers: Builds aggravation towards the Chakra Enervation Spiritual Imbalance. Drains an equal amount of Prana from the affected Chakra, filling the Chakra Tumor. If the target lacks enough Prana to be drained, the excess becomes damage.
(Element) Apocalypse Verse
Cost: Varies
Rank: Varies
Facing: 0-5
Effect: Creates a hazard of (element) type. The Rank of the technique determines the cost:
Rank 1: 3 Prana
Rank 2: 7 Prana
Rank 3: 13 Prana
Rank 4: 26 Prana
The elemental energy can be directed as the Jiangshi wills; if used to attack, it may create a lingering effect in the target (such as setting them on fire). If used to defend, it counts as 1 Rank higher for defending against the same or opposite element. If used neither to attack nor defend, the Jiangshi can simply create the hazard, which thereafter functions independently.
Keywords: Elemental control. Versatile.
Cost: Varies
Rank: Varies
Facing: 0-5
Effect: Creates a hazard of (element) type. The Rank of the technique determines the cost:
Rank 1: 3 Prana
Rank 2: 7 Prana
Rank 3: 13 Prana
Rank 4: 26 Prana
The elemental energy can be directed as the Jiangshi wills; if used to attack, it may create a lingering effect in the target (such as setting them on fire). If used to defend, it counts as 1 Rank higher for defending against the same or opposite element. If used neither to attack nor defend, the Jiangshi can simply create the hazard, which thereafter functions independently.
Keywords: Elemental control. Versatile.
Clothe in Flesh
This weird power allow the Jiangshi to transform it’s Willpower into Effort for 1 Scene. This allows it to attack and interact with the world as more than an insubstantial ghost. Costs 14 Prana.
Acid Vritra
Something between a salamander-hallucination and a dragon-hologram, Vritra are the corrupted remnants of living regulatory programs designed by science and magic. They went wrong when the earth turned sour. Once guardians of water, they’re now a stark example of just how fucked the cosmic order got: they’re living plagues, with acid rain for a heart and typhoid for a personality. Their destiny has shat itself inside-out; they befoul any water they find, ruining the hope of budding civilizations nearby. They’re malignant and sadistic, chuckling as grieving mothers cradle their dehydrated children’s corpses before dying of bloody flux. They pollute even the concept of water, turning it’s calm into stagnation and it’s passive beneficence into apathy.
This weird power allow the Jiangshi to transform it’s Willpower into Effort for 1 Scene. This allows it to attack and interact with the world as more than an insubstantial ghost. Costs 14 Prana.
Acid Vritra
Something between a salamander-hallucination and a dragon-hologram, Vritra are the corrupted remnants of living regulatory programs designed by science and magic. They went wrong when the earth turned sour. Once guardians of water, they’re now a stark example of just how fucked the cosmic order got: they’re living plagues, with acid rain for a heart and typhoid for a personality. Their destiny has shat itself inside-out; they befoul any water they find, ruining the hope of budding civilizations nearby. They’re malignant and sadistic, chuckling as grieving mothers cradle their dehydrated children’s corpses before dying of bloody flux. They pollute even the concept of water, turning it’s calm into stagnation and it’s passive beneficence into apathy.
Willpower: 5
Health: 5
Size: Size of horses, with the awkward floppy shape of a water salamander
Locomotion: Slough 1, swim 3
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Corrupt Water Chakra Battery
Health: 3
Functions as a Chakra, but only in the presence of water. It must be in the same field; the amount determines the recovery and pool.
Full canteen: Recovery 1/ Pool 5
Flooded basement: Recovery 2/ Pool 10
Small lake: Recovery 3/ Pool 15
Big lake: Recovery 4/ Pool 20
Inland Sea or larger: Recovery 5 /Pool 25
Putrid Blessing Tantra
Sadhana
Cost: 4
Rank: 1
Facing: 0-4
Effect: You command a small volume of liquid (A barrel’s worth, about 200 litres/50 gallons). You can attack with it physically, defend, even use it as a fine manipulator; it hovers in the air and moves at your command while within the same field.
Unfortunately, this totally ruins it as a source of potable water. It is utterly corrupted into an acidic sludge (As potent as nitric acid, Hazard 3). It’s so potent that diluting it with an equal amount of water merely reduces it’s Hazard by 1; to make water corrupted by a single use of this ability potable again, you’d need to dilute it in over 600 litres/ 150 gallons of water.
Keywords: Elemental control (Water), Versatile
Stagnate Still Waters
Sadhana
Cost: 4
Rank: 1
Facing: 5-9
Effect: You excrete spiritual pollution into the Water Chakra of a living being. This is a social attack, building Aggravation towards a Guilt Imbalance.
The guilt is over a difficult but necessary change the character made in the course of their life; divorcing themselves from a toxic friendship, giving up on a bad dream to pursue self-actualization, letting go of a strongly held but evil belief, etc. They’re wracked by doubt over the rightness of their choice and plagued by the guilt of potentially having chosen wrong.
Although it offers the user no insight into the characters past, this Technique manifests as saying exactly the correct words to trigger this sort of second-guessing: “If only you’d stayed with her…” etc.
Keywords: Social
Dead God
The gods that maintained the world died alongside it. Like the scarred and hostile landscape, they still lurch along in a hideous half-life. Caught between living death and dreams of oblivion, they know not what horrors they bring to the world they once cherished.
Willpower: 12
Health: 10
Size: Size and rough shape of giant humans, about 15’ (4 ½ meters) tall
Locomotion: Shamble 1 (Bipedal and inelegant)
Powers, Limbs and Organs
Fallow Miracle
Heart-like organ, Health 5
Remembering it’s ancient purpose but distorted through a fever-dream lens, the divine corpse raises its hands and calls forth a hollow working of empty divinity.
This Mudra is an environmental conversion requiring 1 scene of unholy concentration as the rotting vocal chords of the zombie god intone a blasphemous koan.
At the conclusion of the ritual, the surrounding Tract becomes a cursed place. This has the following effects:
Opened Gates: The Physical and SPiritual no longer have a wall between them. Once per scene, every being on either side of the spiritual divide rolls 1d10: on a 6+, they accidentally shift to the other side. This converts Ferocity and Effort into Willpower, or vice-versa, until the divide is crossed once more.
Cursed Earth: Growing things become overtaken with hideous toxic spores. Any resource based on growing things turns into a poisonous Hazard with a Degree equal to its former Productivity.
Toxic Bounty: The Tract ganes a new Node producing the corrupt Prana of Hell. It’s power output is equivalent to an active volcano, and just as destructive. Roll a d10 to determine its Productivity; spiritual workers can harvest this must Prana per scene with blasphemous rituals. It’s (Rank in Productivity-2) is the Hazard it poses those who approach without proper sanctification against the evils of hell. In lieu of damage, it causes mutations in body, mind and soul.
Suffer
The dead god does not consciously injure anything; passively, it shares it’s torment with those nearby. It emanates waves of melancholy as naturally as breathing.
Rank 2, 1/turn
Effect: Social attack, builds Aggravation towards a Sorrow Imbalance.
Oblivion Caressing Fingers
Unrotted hand (only one) Health 6
Getting the attention of a dead god is a mistake. This is their sole remaining way to interact with the fleshy world of the living; there’s no malice in the act, it’s simply that their have become life’s antithesis.
This is a physical attack that crosses the spiritual barrier.
Rank 3 attack; corrodes physical matter it touches, dealing +1d10 Physical Aggravation.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.