[SWS] Mercenaries

 

There's another bandwagon going around, something about Randomness. There're rules, though I didn't actually read 'em, just sort of looked at them and acknowledged their existence before I just assumed I knew what the article was about. I did see, however, a certain entry absent from a certain random list. Message received, Birdman. Message received loud and clear. The response shall be cruel. 

Anyway, I ain't doing any of that nonsense. What I _am_ doing is taking a look at my collection of unfinished ideas and rolling for which one to work on. Then rushing slightly due to what day it is. And the winner is...

Mercenaries Redux

The friendly NPCs of Some Weird Sin are nebulously categorized into one of three groups:

1. Contacts - They're the black market dealers you speak to between missions. They're the informants you've hired to case a place in your planning stage. They're people who will happily take your money, but won't put themselves in danger for you. They're obtained through roleplay and the Fixer ability. 
2. Groupies - These are a weird combination of Contacts and Mercenaries. Enthralled by your charisma, they'll do nearly anything for you, even, eventually, put themselves in danger via combat. They provide a skill based on their current career, 10 inventory slots, and +1 to Defense and Attack. However, they don't want your money. No, no. They want favors. 
3. Mercenaries - These are what PCs would be if they didn't have Players playing them. They're other people in the same line of work as you, though each have a different advertised skill, based around (usually) the templates. They provide a +1 to Defense and Attack, and work for hard cold cash. No inventory slots, as they've their own shit to carry. 

That's fine and all. I mean, it's worked so far. Though lately, I've had me the hankering to complicate the Mercenaries a bit. Anyone can acquire them, might as well make it slightly pretty. So given that, Mercenaries now come in two flavors: Nobodies and Named. 

Nobodies
These are your basic, well, nobodies. Effectively just starting out in this life style, willing to do anything for cash. They ain't even got a name yet. They provide a +1 to Defense/Attack and will perform tasks based on their advertised skill. 

Job	Cost	Description
Chemist	₽300	Self taught. Fun at parties.
Cracksman	₽300	They've practiced a little with cracking a safe. They even did it once.
Driver	₽250	Fine as long as it's not a manual transmission
Electrician	₽300	Don't use the male-to-male connector they hand you.
Gunman	₽400	Sometimes you just need an extra gun.
Joeboy	₽300	Bodyguard jacked full of growth hormones
Lookout	₽100	They could literally be replaced with a remote camera.
Medic	₽650	They're pretty sure they can keep the patient alive.
Scriptkitty	₽550	Amature hacker with some questionable apps
VR Influencer	₽400	They have some following. Might be useful.

Not a complete list, mind. Just for exemplifying. 

Named
This is where it gets more interesting. These people are established and have names. Mind you, not legal names, but the nom de guerre that members of the merc community like to adopt. They also have hopes, desires, and unique abilities you can deploy in the field. They also provide a +1 plus their level (starting at 1) to the usual Attack/Defense. All this will cost you more though. 

So why pay the price? A few reasons:

1. You get what you pay for. Each has a unique ability they're able to use, not just access to a skill. You will have to buy it per use up front, however, with any unspent usage going to waste. 
2. They're upgradeable. Those hopes and desires I mentioned? While your character runs on XP, the Named Mercenaries run on meeting certain goals. "Find my father's killer." "Get my car back." "Steal the mayor's kidney." That sort of thing. You help them out, and you'll unlock an additional level (thus increasing their Attack/Defense bonus) and getting a new ability out of it. 
3. Domain play. This ain't the most thought out part at the moment, despite the idea banging around in my head for a while. Basically, if'n the PC crew starts looking to irk out their own turf among the gangs of the city, the Named Mercenaries are hireable to cover the boring parts of base building.  

Examples

Name - Role $PricePerJob 
Goals: Describes what the character needs you to do, in order to level up.
Dislikes: Witnessing the hiring PC engage or encourage this causes a loyalty check. 
Level 1 Ability (+CostPerUse): Describes the ability that the +CostPerUse is paying for.
Level 2 Ability (+CostPerUse): Describes the ability gained once the Named Mercenary has their Goal met.

Johnny Lockheart (he/they) - Pretty Boy $6000

Converse shoes, leather jacket, and a grin that could melt a steel beam, Johnny is Grade A Pretty Boy - a Face unconcerned with the mercenary gig - usually just in it for the Flash and Cash. He'll do the job you want, and he'll look good Beautiful while doing it. 

Goal: A friend of his from the club scene has gone missing and was last seen with technocultists. Be a dear and find them, would you?

Dislikes:  

Level 1 Ability (+$1000/use): That Damn Smile - After a failed social attempt by the supported PC, he'll swoop in with that smile of his, along with a little honeyed words, and allow for a second attempt at the check, now made with favor. 

Level 2 Ability (+2000/use): Disarming Smile - Literally. With a quick flash of the pearly whites and a wink that would have destroyed Puritan society in an instant, he's able to make the target drop whatever is in their hands. No save, he just does that.

"Tex" Redgrove (he/him) - Gunslinger $4000 
I want you to imagine Orville Peck with a Colt SSA Peacemaker strapped to his side. If you won't, I certainly will. But, also, use that as a character description. His cowboy themed attire often makes him the butt of jokes in the local merc community, but his deadly accuracy while shooting from the hip stifles any laughter. 
Goal: A local gang leader has taken his motorcycle as collateral. The debt has been paid off, but the gangbanger insists additional interest is needed. Damned if he's paying it. Help him get that bike back.
Dislikes: Liars and Cheats
Level 1 Ability (+$2000/use): Dead Eye - Performs a single ranged attack that automatically deals the supported character's Max damage to the target.
Level 2 Ability (innate): Fan the Hammer - Multiple Dead Eyes can now be chained up to six shots at a time across multiple targets. 
 

So What If a Named Mercenary Dies?

Well...did the PCs see a body? Did they confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt that it was dead? No? Then guess who has some hot new cyberware and a burning desire for revenge!  Hell, even if they did, capitalism values not the sanctity of life and death if there's the possibility of profit. Jank the carcass full of cyberware, behold it to a megacorp that hates the players, and send the poor stuck-between-life-and-death bastard after them.

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Slush Pile 2025

Not all ideas are important or big enough or fully thought out for an entire post. Or even relevant, really. But I still need to get them out of my brain meat for more important things. So, a slush pile was formed. 

Maybe you can use something here. 

His Majesty the Worm

Most are unsorted, but a few were His Majesty the Worm related.

A list of things that one can call to their side, that are not a dog. 
I never figured out why Josh wanted this. 

1. Horse
2. Well trained goat
3. Cat
4. Vehicle with a sassy AI
5. Magic sword
6. Magic keytar
7. Griffin 
8. Trash Gryphon
9. Wise cracking Octopus sidekick riding in a small hydrogen basket
10. Chain-smoking raven 
11. Dog
12. Shark with spider legs
13. Bomble Bee
14. Plant in an animated planter with legs, so when it walks it makes a dok, dok, dok sound. 
15. Drunken wizard in the midst of a multi week bender
16. A wise-cracking robot sidekick
17. Dour robot sidekick
18. Motorcycle riding orangutan. Also they chain-smoke. 
19. The anthropomorphic personification of past arguments played out in the shower. 
20. Giraffe
21. Do you know what a rabid blood armadillo is? Never mind, you'll learn when it gets here.

Aufhocker

Often lurking at crossroads, paths through hallows, wooded forests, and cemeteries, this spirit appears as a humanoid obscured by a hooded monk's robe and waits to leap out unto it's victim's back, where it grows heavier and heavier, eventually crushing the victim.

Sword 1 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 0 | Wands 0

H/D: 1/4

Likes: Piggy back rides

Hates: Church bells

Notes:

Parasitic - Curing the Curse (see below) automatically kills the aufhocker.

Lesser Doom:

When You Least Expect It - The aufhocker may play a Lesser Doom to Roughhouse, leaping upon the target's back and becoming Rooted to them, moving as they do.

Greater Doom: 

Emotional Burden - A round after becoming Rooted to the target, the spirit may then play a Greater Doom to Curse the target, thus vanishing. While Cursed, after each Camp phase or whenever the Fool is played, the player must fill an additional inventory slot with "Aufhocker" (or just "Curse" if they can't remember how to spell the damn thing). Any item formally in that slot gets dropped to the ground.

 

Gary

Being a Gary is a truly terrible existence. The universe hates you. Your parents can't like you too much better, they named you 'Gary' after all. They looked at their new wiggling, screaming bundle of assumed joy and said 'That looks like a Gary, don't it?" Garry. Garrrry. Gaaaary. Good lord. 

Sword 1 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 0 | Wands 4

H/D: 3/0

Likes: Making others miserable

Hates: Itself, Fire

Greater Dooms

* God Damn It, Gary - During an Attack, discard a greater doom card to attempt to rename the target character. If successful, instead of dealing a Wound, the adventurer is now named Gary. That's what everyone calls them and knows them as, because that is their name. "Oh, then I'll just go by a nickname" - No the fuck you won't, Gary. 

Sheaths

Adding a sheath in one of your belt slots makes for a quick and easy way to get a free hand, be it combat or whenever the GM asks "what's in your hands?" You know, the reason sheaths were (probably) invented.

Unsorted

Many of these were just in a draft by themselves. 

"The Yakuza HATE werewolves" 

I found this written on my arm in sharpie one morning after a party. 

--

Hellruna

"There are those whom, using the mixed tongues of the east, would refer to those who weld the power of the dead within the realms of the living as "necromancers." The proper term though, of course, is "hellruna." Further, popular tale holds that they are people that seek out power over death. Not so. To seek out this power would be both futile and insane. One does not take this power. One must be invited."

It happens in many different ways: A vision during a near death experience; A dream one cold and torpid night; Whispers upon the wind during a full moon near a cemetery. All different and each a chance at power exmortal. No one is truly sure why the dead offer extensions of power, or how, but in accepting this gift, the hellruna becomes a servant of the dead. And, in turn, is served by them. 

In acceptance, the hellruna is marked by the dead patron and placed under a geas. Should they ever break this geas, their powers leave them and the fury of the dead soon turns upon them. However, while bearing this mark and following the taboos, the caster is able to summon the dead to their aid, take council with ghosts, and other abilities only dreamed of by living wizards. 

Of Both Worlds: As a creature of both the material world and the realm of the dead, you can freely perceive and interact with ghosts around you, as well as detect where the veil between worlds is thin. However, you also detect as both living and dead, and are affected by magics as if a ghost.

Ghost Retinue: Every time the sun crosses the horizon, a collection of ghosts equal to your level are drawn to you. These ghosts will provide what council they can, and provide minor ghostly services. These ghosts also harbor some fragments of knowledge from their former lives and, as a quick action, you can allow them to possess you temporarily. Expelling them from you is also a quick action. Their skills are drawn randomly from the table below.

Spell Casting: Hellrunas are capable of casting a limited number of spells. However, unlike Magic Users, they do not have to learn the spells they seek to cast. Rather, they join in pacts with a ghost, taking up temporary taboos until the spell is cast. Such pacts must be performed at places of power, where the veil between realms is thin. 

--

Spells to Write

• Intellect to Sparrows
• save or take intelligence damage as your education springs from your head as a flock of sparrows and flies off
• Testiment of Stone
• Echo of Urban Sorrows
• Awakening the Heart's Delight
• Passage to Reflection's Road
• Narcissus' Storage
• Store items within a mirror's reflection 

--

"The World has Fallen. Gone are the Kingdoms of old; the world is now free of the constraints and protection of Civilization. All that remains is the Violence and Chaos that was held under a thin veneer of Stability.

The Fall. What caused it? Who gives a shit, it was a week ago, move on. You've got to fight for your life now, no time to dwell on the ancient past. Find Guzzo and keep driving. "

--

"Opossum with a knife"

--

Lyblaeca - Beer Wizards

Not as exciting as some other folk's slush posts, but ehhhh. 

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[HMtW] The Grumpus (Blogwagon Holiday Special)

Another blogwagon time. This go around its a hex for a Christmas themed hexcrawl in the style of them old Rankin/Bass stop motion pictures outta the 60's. You know the one: young kid runs away from home because he's different from the others, meets various barely contained psychopaths, and returns years later to be accepted because the cruel taskmaster overlord needs to exploit him. A noble yeti is forced into domestication via violence. Something about a toy Vapula? Yeah, that's the one. That and it's eighteen sequels. 

Only trouble is, well, fuck this holiday. It's a miserable time of year when the corporations pump their propaganda on an already broke and breaking working class, guilting them into buying the over priced slop that no one needs. At one point, Saint Nicholas only gave to the needy; a good and proper thing to do. Nowadays, Santa Claus is a false idol in the worship of materialism. Buy that overpriced, easily broken, unrepairable, beeping, blinking, do nothing piece of plastic and precious metals that will sit in the remains of a landfill long after your carcass has crumbled to ash OR ELSE YOU HATE YOUR LOVED ONES. "Consume, you ignorant bastards, it's on sale!" They continue, having jacked the prices, only to cut them by a meager amount to make it look as if you're saving money. 

Fuck that. Fuck them. Fuck it. And the holiday they rode in on. Especially for making me agree with the Calvinists on this. 

"But Wayspell, the lights and decorations are so pretty. Everything is so happy and cheerful." I can't help you if you're going to intentionally blind yourself to the reality at large with glittering trinkets, like some sort of mutant magpie on hallucinogenics. I'd tell you to "put on the glasses" but that would make me Roddy Piper, you Keith David, and, well, my back already hurts. 

But, I didn't come here to go on and on about your shortcomings. I came here to tell you about - 

The Grumpus

Crossing the borders of this forested hex is a notable ordeal: whatever snow was falling, whatever whimsical song was playing in the background, whatever merry time was being had - ends. It all just ends. The snow stops falling, melting upon the ground. Background music goes from wintery bells bullshit to something more appropriate for Halloween. The trees are no longer beautiful pines, hearty and strong, but sad, cruel, twisted things, hunched over and bare of all needles. Ravens caw and mock just out of sight. A thin fog snakes along the ground, thick with malice, but intangible.

At the center of it all lies the homestead: a small cabin and accompanying garden. The garden is a small one, enough for only one person, though it contains several scarecrows wearing red fur coats. The cabin is a simple thing of wood and stone, adorned with wind chimes made from tinnies and antlers. There's most likely a small fire in the fire pit out front. A single, old, wooden chair sits there, partnered with a table for holding drinks and cigarettes. Honestly, the table is probably a telephone cable spool. Inside is mostly bare: A cot, a chair by the fireplace, a cooler for beer. More tinnies dot the floor. The room is awash in the soft glow coming from the noses of the reindeer whose heads are mounted along the walls. 

This is the home of the Grumpus. 

Standing seven foot tall, with eyebrows reaching to the brim of his hat paired with a wispy bearded to his knees, and clad in a shabby blue robe patched with red fur, a rough worn wizard hat, and the lingering smell of nicotine, the Grumpus* is a crushingly dour individual. He lives here, in the cabin, neither happy, nor fully alone; but in an empty acceptance of the bigfeet who call this hex home. If he knew how to make it a sanctuary for them, he would. But he don't. So he don't. Despite his demeanor, he fully respects guest rights, as long as those who intrude respect host rights. 

Now, what he does not respect - not in the slightest; not in a single modicum or even an atom of respect - perhaps better to say he outright reviles, is that villainous, revolting holiday known as Christmas. His malice towards this ever decadent holiday is to the point that he will offer to pay 500 gold for any Santa pelts brought to him. 

What's that? Oh, yes, there's plural Santa Clauses. That's why he (probably) keeps turning up in almost every hex. Plural nasal bioluminescent deer as well.

Thought I had time for art. I was wrong. Hopefully I'll fix this later.

The Grumpus

Man Strategist

A former wizard adventurer turned hermit, the Grumpus carries no patience or joy for things deemed "cheery" or "jolly." He resides alone, save for the occasional visit from the near by bigfoot tribe, and prefers it this way. While retired, he still carries his archwood staff, mostly out of habit, slightly out of necessity for walking in his old age. Not that he'll admit it. 

Health/Defense: 3 / 4

Attributes: Swords 1 | Pentacles 3 | Cups 4 | Wands 7

Likes: Bigfoots, Being alone, the Mari Lwyd (strangely)

Hates: Christmas, Santa Clauses

Notes: 

* Heavy Metal Christmas - His beard counts as a Shield, for the purpose of Defense.

* The Night Santa Went Crazy - IF violence does break out, he's attacking the jolliest looking motherfucker first. 

Lesser Dooms

* Drinking Up Christmas - Heals a Wound by chugging a beer as a Miscellaneous action. Dude can carry a full sixer in his robe.

* It's Not Christmas Until Someone Cries - Using the Staff as a focus, the Grumpus can make attack Attack actions of arcane energy up to one zone away. He adds is Wands attribute, rather than Swords, to these Attacks on his turn. He is never engaged by using this ability. 

* Merry Christmas (I Don't Wanna Fight Tonight) - Seemingly having a mind of its own, the Grumpus can wiggle his beard, lashing out in surprising ways. He may perform Roughhouse actions using his beard. 

Greater Dooms

* There Ain't No Sanity Clause - While holding the staff, the Grumpus can cast any Weald spell from Appendix A without components. Also the Welkin spells Binding and Life, for some reason. Cast spells by playing a lesser doom Speak Invocations actions and discarding a greater doom card to cover Resolve cost. Each additional greater doom card discarded adds +1 Resolve. 

If you're cold, they're cold. Let them in.

Mari Lwyd

Unique Spirit

The Grey Mare, a grim yet festive personification of winter. Appearing as a skeletal horse with glowing, wrapped in a cloak of spectral mist and wearing festive ribbon and bows, the Mari Lwyd wanders from home to home, spreading cheer in the form of screaming rhymes at each other and consuming all the booze in the house and chasing people.

Health/Defense: -

Attributes: Swords - | Pentacles - | Cups - | Wands - 

Likes: Singing Rhymes, Booze, Chasing people

Dislikes: Teatotalers, Sobriety

Notes:

* Put the Cards Away - You won't need them, we're trying something a little different here. 

* Pwnco - When the Mari Lwyd appears, it demands booze from the party in the form of a rhyming couplet or insult. Should the party fail to respond in kind with a witty excuse as to why they cannot provide wanted booze, the Mari Lwyd inflicts damage against the part in the form of consuming all the booze within their inventory. Should the party have no booze in their collective inventory, then it consumes half of all rations. Should there be no rations within the party, it inflicts one Wound to everyone and leaves. IF the party manages to outwit the Mari Lwyd, it cackles wildly and runs off, leaving behind twenty inventory slots of alcohol. 

The Meatgrinder

01. Torches/Spells Gutter

02. Torches/Spells Gutter

03. Torches/Spells Gutter

04. Torches/Spells Gutter

05. Torches/Spells Gutter

06. [Curiosity] A mournful cry of something intelligent, but not human, echoes through the forest.

07. [Curiosity] What looks to be a poorly made lean-to sits forgotten beside a fallen tree. 

08. [Curiosity] The mixed smell of spiced cider and wet moss drifts on the wind. 

09. [Curiosity] A skeleton in a faded red coat lays impaled upon a twisted wooden spike, several feet taller than expected. Smaller spikes dot the area, hidden in the underbrush.

10. [Curiosity] Muddy ground still holds massive, human-like footprints, well over 15 inches long.

11. [Travel Event] Lashing out from the debris littered ground, a snaggle vine wraps around the leg of the final adventure of the marching order, Rooting them. The more they struggle, the tighter it squeezes. 

12. [Travel Event] The mist moves in tight around the characters, obfuscating the path. A Disadvantaged Cups test is needed to keep from getting lost.  

13. [Travel Event] In the distance, a ways through the dark, a red glowing light blinks slowly. Anyone approaching the glowing reindeer nose must make a Pentacles test or get caught in snare traps, dragging them up into the tree branches.

14. [Travel Event] Laying on a rock, pretty as you please, is a golden triangular coin. Free gold! Score! (Well, actually, the coin is cursed and if it's picked up, the carrier is Stressed by strange voices as long as they carry it.) 

15. [Travel Event] During a brief rest, a tear in an adventurer's pack is discovered. The item in the last inventory slot(s) has fallen out and is now missing. Taking the time to backtrack and scout for it causes another Meatgrinder check. 

16. [Random Encounter] Three imps make silly faces at one another, using the shiny breastplate of a long dead knight as a mirror. 

17. [Random Encounter] Nestled among the withering trees, a premeditation of Gorcrows watch the adventures, following along and looking for their time to strike.

18. [Random Encounter] Wandering leisurely through the forest, a troop of bigfeet will begin throwing stones and other debris, should they notice the adventures.  

19. [Random Encounter] Escorted by an entourage of corpse lights, the Mari Lwyd cuts through the thick fog, eyes aglow and set on the party's food and drink.

20. [Random Encounter] Weaving through the misty forest, the Grumpus keeps watch for that villain Santa Claus. 

21. [Quest Rumor] 

---------

* His real name is Percival Cromwell of House Humburg

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[HMtW] Bone Charms

 Every death in this world is a sorrow, every murder a stain. Yet what happens when a Hilbert Whale, a creature of beauty from a higher dimension of reality, is brutally murdered in a lower realm? It’s last moments of anger and rage and fear and hopeless struggle freezing as near physical manifestations. Using the beast’s bones, and a little scrimshaw, folk wizards are able to bind these final moments into charms to bestow small but helpful effects upon the wearer. Some might think these as actual magic, but magic starts in the outer realms, and the whales are purely of the Flesh. No, these are items of Probability made Physical.

We take their lives, we take their body, we take their fluids, and now we take their deaths. Is there no level to which we won’t sink?

Yes, I obviously stole this idea from the Dishonored series

Bone Charms of the Astral Sea

Each takes up a single inventory slot and are consumed on use, shattering as the Reality stored within manifests on the local space-time. Which, in turn, also causes Stress. Charms are largely identified by the sudden rush of emotion left over by the whale, experienced when picking them up, as described by the italic text. (Annoyingly I have to indent for the italics to work). Visual descriptions too, would be helpful?

A Turned Bolt Never Fells

"That terminal, desperate, futile hope that the final lance strike would miss."

Two curved arrows, twisted around one another. Ranged attacks are redirected towards a nearby valid target, for the same attack value.

Bloody Defiance

"Defiance, bloodied but unbroken until the end. Pointless."

A broad, flat piece, adorned with a tiny iron sprocket. Some whales, when beginning to be stuck with multiple harpoons attempt to flee, rising to higher dimensions for safety. Others, prefer to stand their ground, bloodied but defiant. Add the number of Wounds (not counting Notches) the wearer is currently suffering to their Initiative for Defensive purposes.

Bloody Riposte

"That final moment of aggressive panic that could have changed the outcome, were it for naught."

A cruel little piece, all sharp angles and straight lines. Add the number of Wounds (not counting Notches) the wearer is currently suffering to their Riposte score.

Dying Heart's Desire

"Lustful, hungry, aggressive wanting. The sort that binds a poor bastard to the cruel wheel of rebirth."

Crystalline covetousness, inlaid with jealousy. If you know a person has an item that you desire, spend a Resolve to find it within your inventory. Must be a specific item known to you and able to fit in your inventory.

Essence of the Long Watch

"Memories of long solitary treks; never ending, never resting."

A long stretch of bone, carved ever too thin. The wearer can perform an additional Camp Action at the cost of being Stressed.

Falling Satellite

"That tinkling in the pit of your stomach when gravity suddenly realizes that you are someone it should be concerned with."

A central sphere encircled by sail like wings. When falling from a boat or ship into the Void, the wearer briefly orbits the vessel and lands on the opposite side.

Firm Hand of the Greaser

"A fleeting force of will, called up by a dwindling reserve of determination."

A vaguely hammer shape, cracked and lashed. By giving a firm whacking, and spending a Resolve, you make a broken magical machine operate as though repaired. Note: this does not actually repair the machine, and further usage will require proper fixing.

Fortune Favors the Gold

"A frenzied drive for capital, sending desperate Fools to desperate shores for desperate acts."

A flat, crude circle mimicking holed coinage. The next treasure you sell returns +10% the agreed upon price. The merchant doesn’t overpay, so much as the extra money appears unknowingly during the exchange. No, not magically; we've discussed this.

Grim Notes of the Thieving Type

"The grim realization that when this is over, you will be forgotten; a vague experience in a sea of chaos."

Cracked bones, jagged and angry. Gone now, the whale felled and butchered; who will sing of its death? Who has sung of its life? By loudly singing a dirge at a lock, which may attract attention, you open it as though you had the key.

Lance of the Bloodied Sailor

"Bloody determination in the face of inevitable defeat."

A pointy little thing of all spikes and hatred. Slowly drips blood, but who's? When Injured, your next successful attack does Critical damage.

Last Grasp of the Slain

"Roiling, boil anger, seeking retribution against those who have trespassed against you."

A spherical mass surround by crude curves of tentacles. Upon being Wounded, shadow tentacles lash out, Rooting everyone else within the Zone. Targets can recover normally, except those who have slain a whale: they must discard two cards to recover.

Lessons Learned for a Price

"That very sudden and undeniable realization you've fucked up."

A fragile looking thing, thinly carved and trimmed with cracks. Gain 1XP the next time you fail a Test of Fate.

Lucky Vestigial Foot

"A strange sense that things might, actually, despite all supporting evidence, work out for the best."

These bones of the forgotten hind limb are weighted with Luck. Allows the wearer to draw one more card during a test of fate BEFORE pushing their luck.

Memory of the Failed Escape

"The undeniable need to get away. To escape. To flee. Undeniable, but unfulfilled."

Curved pieces meeting at jagged edges, and lashed by sinew. Character may Dash as an interrupt action. Disengaging is automatic, and carries no penalty in this specific instance.

Protection of Saint Laika

"The feeling you've done well, paired with unending loneliness. Cold and adrift."

Carved in the shape of a tiny shield, bearing the mark of St. Laika. Provides one unrepairable notch to suffer any blow as though Armor.

Restorative Vengeance

"The knowing that you've been wronged and will continue to be until you show you aren't helpless."

Carved as though a head of an axe, with blade tongues pointing in opposite directions. Felling an enemy heals a Wound.

Reverberations of Echo’s Lore

"Whispering voices echo in your mind, bringing you knowledge to which you should not know."

A small bone, uncarved, though etched with an unknown alphabet. Acts as a needed Motif for a single Lore bid.

Virtue of Spoiled Rations

"The fleeting moment of relief between instances of your stomach being evacuated."

Three toothpick sized slivers, jammed through a pebble sized chunk of astrogris. Automatically clears an Affliction during Rest and Recovery.

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[HMtW] Hilbert Whales and the Tools Used to Harvest Them

Hilbert Whales

Beast Dungeon Lord

Descending from higher Euclidean n-spaces to feed, the Hilbert Whale is a native to the Flesh realm, just a different geometric part of it. Long ago gams* of Hilbert Whales were seen traveling the astral space on a regular basis, but once Wizards learned of the powerful astrogris and stochastaceti all up in their guts, the numbers dwindled from constant harvesting without time allowed for the numbers to repopulate.

Attributes: Swords 8 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 2 | Wands 2

Likes: 8D Krill, the echoing songs off of Minerva Cascade

Hates: Harpoons, Lances, Whalers

Special Rules

• The Whale itself is a big ass creature, consisting of several zones unto itself, each an antagonist: Head, Tail, Body, Left Tentacle Node, Right Tentacle Node.

• Each zone has lesser and greater dooms associated with it. If a particular  zone is disabled, entangled, or defeated, it can no longer use those abilities. 

• Despite having separate pools of HD for each section, Whales have only a single Initiative.

Head

Health/Defense: 4/6

Frontal part with all the thinking bits, hard cranial shell for ramming, and big bitey bites for chomping. If this part is defeated, it is Blind.

Lesser Dooms

• Bite: Usually a filter feeder, it’ll still bite the shit out of you. Doing a big chomp, it makes an Attack and Roots the target on a success, until it opens its mouth again. 

Greater Dooms

• Bile Attack: Feeding on linear causality, it can regurgitate its recent meal as chaos. Forces everyone within a zone to draw from a random maleficence table.

• Swallow: Any foes currently being Bit may be Swallowed. The victim is held in an extra dimensional space composed of higher geometries, until they fall into the whale's stomach. Killing the whale causes it to automatically barf up all swallowed creatures.

• Victims can use the Test Fate actions to test Swords while swallowed. 
• If they succeed 3 times, they make the whale vomit them up. 
• If they fail 3 times, they fall into the whale's stomach and are annihilated. 
• Greater outcomes count as 2 outcomes for free/annihilated purposes.
• Smart ideas may cause the whale to barf up all swallowed creatures.

Left/Right tentacle clusters

Health/Defense: 5/0 (each)

Typically used for feeding, they can also be used for limited defense. Once defeated, these limbs become useless.

Lesser Dooms

• Grab: Roughhouse to attempt to grab a foe. While grabbed, an adventurer is Rooted. 

• While grabbed, a foe can be Squeezed, Thrown, or moved to the mouth for Biting. 

Greater Dooms

• Sweep: A tentacle lashes out, sweeping across the zone. Performs an Attack against everyone in the Zone. 

• Squeeze: Play a greater doom to squeeze all grabbed foes, automatically dealing them a Wound. 

Body

Thick fur covers the body making it extremely hard to injure, but also climbable. If you’re into that. The flippers are located here and, if defeated, it will be unable to steer itself.  

Health/Defense: 6/6

Notes

• Tough. Actions targeting this section must exceed its Initiative. 

Greater Doom

• Ram: With a mighty thrust of its flippers, the whale rushes forward crashing through with its mighty cranial shell. Both Attacks and Roughhouses whatever it crashes into. 

Tail

A bifurcated, Y-finned…uh, tail. Also its primary form of locomotion. Defeating this section causes the beast to be unable to Dash.

Health/Defense: 7/0

Greater Doom

• Thrash: Through a broad sweep, the tail attacks every target in the zone.

Yeah, the front part is more active than the back.

Harvestables

You're not out here butchering these beautiful creatures for nothing. Besides pay. Once you harvest the whale, though, its technically company property, so these reagents will have to be purchased.

Potions: Using the astrogris within the intestines you're able to make a Love potion, which effectively drags anyone experiencing the wearer two positions towards "Admiration" on the Disposition star. 

Bomb: Using the stochastaceti from inside the skull, you make a bomb which forces the target to draw against a random maleficence table as stochastic energies crackle around the area. 

Oil: The blubber of the beast creates one helluva oil. Lanterns burning this whale oil gain an extra flicker, but forever reek of a fishy smell. 

Oil: The astrogris may also be rendered into a frictionless oil that is used to power many magical machines.

Food: Preparing the dark, tender, red meat is possible in multiple ways: steak, sashimi, salt-cured, dried (jerky), or in hot pot dishes. Consuming it, however, swarms with consumer with visions of multiple possible futures, leaving them Stressed. Much like mince pies of the mid-1800's though, the nightmare experience is part of the appeal. 

Wearables**: Whale hide and fur may be made into light armor with 1 extra Notch. 

Tools of the Trade

Harpoon

Harpoons are technically spears: Wooden shaft, metal tip, made for jamming into soft meat bits. Whaling harpoons were much heavier than the war spears, intended not to be thrown and retrieved, but only thrusted into a whale long enough to deliver the barbed iron tip, tied to ropes leading back to the whaling boat. This tied off bard was then used to tire out the whale and keep it in place while it was getting killed by the lance. Technically, it should be a petty officer doing the harpooning, but this is a game, make the players do it. 

Mechanically, the harpoon does 1 damage, as standard. When a harpoon is struck, the thrower is Rooted to the larger creature. If the combined Swords of all harpoon-wielders is greater than the total Health of the larger creature, the creature is Rooted instead. Requires two hands.

Lance

Lances are what did the gruesome killing on a whale. Vicious blades jammed into the vital organs of the tired out whale and jambled around until everything keeping the whale alive stopped working. Technically, this should be a mate or the captain, but this is a game, make the players do it. 

Mechanically, the Whaling Lance does Critical damage to Rooted targets. Requires two hands. 

____________________
* Hold up, hold up, hold up. A pod of whales can also be called a "gam," right? Well, habitual readers will note from the last entry that whalers called their social gatherings "gammings." They named their social gatherings after whale pods. Those dork ass losers. No wonder no one liked them. 

** I could have sworn someone wrote a subsystem for armor crafting in one of the gamejams. Damned if I can find it now, though.

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