Fantasy AGE: Feyril, spawn of the goddess Matrigias

Continuing my adaptation of the monsters of Sarvaelen is the feyril, hideous redcap-like, squat men of the woods who are born out of the terror and madness of the Old One Matrigias:

Feyril (sons of Matrigias)

1 Accuracy

-2 Communication

4 Constitution (drinking)

1 Dexterity (stealth)

2 Fighting (axes, heavy blades)

1 Intelligence (shadow, fate)

0 Perception (hearing)

4 Strength (might)

3 Willpower

Speed   11   Health  38    Defense  11     AR 6 (natural; silver is piercing)

Weapon (attack/damage)

Cleaver +4 attack, 2D6+5 damage

Pick Axe +4 attack, 2D6+4 damage

Special Qualities: mighty blow (1 SP), lethal blow (4 SP)

Favored Stunts: mighty blow, lethal blow, pierce armor (1 SP if using the pick axe)

Slayer of Mirth: the feyril despise the happy, friendly or optimistic. A strike against an unsuspecting target that is in such a state deals +2D6 damage due to the sheer venom of the feyril attack.

Skin of the Goddess: The rugged skin of the feyril is exceptionally resilient (6 AR), but silvered weapons are piercing against their hide, bypassing armor.

Magic Skill: feyril are usually (60% chance) mages with the Shadow Arcana and Fate Arcana talents. They typically have shadow dagger, shadow’s embrace, Hands of Fate and Puppets of Fate. Some Feyril (20%) are more powerful with more spells.

Feyril are short, dwarf-like men who have developed a superstitious reputation thanks to the folklore which precedes them. The stories speak of how feyril are not really men at all, but a curious sort of creature born from the turbulent, bubbling dreams of the mad goddess Matrigias, said to have been the first of the Old Gods, and that she was accosted in terrible ways by the male gods who were unable to control themselves. From this horrific union she became pregnant, bloated from one horizon to the next with the spawn of the world, and when she at last broke water she was destined to give birth to all of the animals of the world. The stories say that Matrigias was driven mad by the endless spawn of animals which crawled from her womb to populate the world, and that she shed unbearable tears of blood and water at the endless pain. From these tears grew the feyril, squat and toad-like little men that were described by some as almost like infants in appearance, but horribly wise to the world due to the suffering of their mother. The feyril crawled forth, to extinguish any joy or revelry where they found it. Such was it that when mankind was at last born into the world he could know joy, for the feyril had stolen all of the pain and suffering of their mother by then. It was only later that humanity came to fear the feyril, for they found the joy and merriment of men to be offensive, and sought to extinguish it by means of murder and fright.

There are stories of a feyril who has cast off the ways of his kind and dwells in relative peace in the town of Aelghast.....most accept this is true, as Aelghast is the town of refugees and outcasts of all sorts, and a tame feyril seems almost modest compared to the other denizens of that accursed town.

Fantasy AGE: The Ghuls of Camrinal

The blasted world of Sarvaelen is a place of haunted memories, hideous monsters and a bleak history tainted by old gods of the most capricious nature, exceeded only by the even bleaker future the land holds. It's one part post-apocalypse and another part dark fantasy, aimed at a land where populations really are small, and no strong unity exists among men or demihuman to stand against the encroaching darkness. Ghuls are a deliberate effort to emphasize just how wrong things have gone in this world....and to show how even the corrupted start off with minds and memories of their own, slowly eaten by whatever darkness has consumed Camrinal. 

Ghuls of Camrinal

0 Accuracy

-1 Communication

1 Constitution (stamina)

2 Dexterity (stealth)

2 Fighting (claws)

0 Intelligence

1 Perception

2 Strength (intimidation)

4 Willpower

Speed   12           Health  34           Defense               12           AR 0

Weapon (attack/damage)

Claws +4 to hit, 1D6+2 damage

Bite +4 to hit, 1D4+2 damage and ghul fever if damage is dealt (see below)

Special Qualities:

Favored stunts: knock prone, lighting attack (2 SPs)

Ghul Fever: once bitten by a ghul, the target must make a TN 11 vs. Constitution (stamina) of the bite or suffer from a debilitating fever. The principle effect is 1D6 minutes long and induces nausea and severe cramping, causing the target to suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, saves and any other physical prowess checks the GM deems appropriate.

Cannibals: Ghuls are known cannibals. The ghuls of Aelghast restrain themselves, and feed only on their own (so far as anyone knows) and the dead (suspected but not proven; they are very careful to avoid being caught). Any ghul that feeds off of living kindred flesh may immediately recover 1D6 health (per day). Ghuls experience a sort of hungry bloodlust when exposed to wounds on the living, and must make a TN 11 check against willpower (self-discipline) to resist attacking wounded beings.

Half-Dead Immortals: Ghuls don’t age. They look like zombies, with rotting skin and bones visible, clearly not being quite “alive” yet not dead, either. However they do breathe and effects which affect the living usually also harm them (except for diseases). They “appear” as undead on spells that detect such conditions, but with an eerie aura of half-life suggesting something unusual about them.

Seen Too Much: Ghuls have already experienced some amazing horrors in their time. Ghuls gain the willpower (courage) focus for this reason, but if a magical compulsion would induce fear they gain +4 instead of +2 on a resistance roll.

Disease Immunity: Ghuls are immune to the effects of all disease.

The ghuls are a survivor race, mutated descendants of a handful of Camrinal citizens that survived the apocalypse and kept their wits about them. Even hideously changed into half-dead beings the ghuls prosper, though in time it seems the madness inevitably creeps over them.

The ancient empire of Camrinal was a vast, dominant power that subjugated the old kingdoms to its rule about two hundred years ago. Camrinal not only ruled by force of arms but by force of magic as well, for it indulged the aristocracy of its era with a culture of free experimentation and arcane dabbling that eventually led to a magiocracy in which only those who demonstrated sorcerous talent were allowed to hold the reigns of power, ownership of property or positions of strength in the Empire. Magic had, in this now lost era two centuries gone, become ubiquitous.

When the fires of destruction rained down upon Camrinal in the Final Conflict, the vast majority of the old empire was wiped out, but many of its lesser citizens and a few elites survived. Today these survivors are mostly found as changed beings among the population known as the ghuls, but in some odd corners of the world there still exist untainted purebloods, though they often do not realize their own lineage.

As ghuls age they gradually begin to lose their mental faculties, and slowly go insane. When this happens they become feral creatures, driven purely by a desire to devour flesh. When a ghul dies or is slain, it returns within 1D4 days as an actual undead ghoul.

Undead ghouls gain the following modifiers: intelligence, willpower and communication drop to -2, constitution goes up to +2, health goes to 35, they lose the willpower (self-discipline) focus and they gain the Deathly Fortitude quality (like the Walking Dead, see entry in FAGE). Undead ghouls can survive indefinitely without sustenance, but must make a TN 18 willpower (self-discipline) check to resist attacking the living, as they are driven mad in the presence of live flesh.

Ghul Characters: Most ghuls are likely to be NPCs and those which have lost their minds or become true undead are inevitably going to be foes, but a certain number of ghuls walk a fine line between death and madness, retaining their sanity for decades or longer. These are possible player characters.

•          Ghuls which retain their sanity have strong wills, and so gain +1 to willpower
•          Ghuls have darkvision for 20 yards like elves
•          Ghuls are armed with a claws which deal 1D6+strength damage and start with weapon group: claws. The ghul also has a vicious bite dealing 1D4+strength damage; they start with Weapon Group (bite) as well. The bite exposes the victim a nerve-damaging bacteria which acts quickly, requiring a constitution check on the target vs. TN 11 or suffer from a debilitating fever. The principle effect is 1D6 minutes long and induces nausea and severe cramping, causing the target to suffer a -2 penalty to attacks, saves and any other physical prowess checks the GM deems appropriate.
•          Ghuls engage in cannibalism to revive themselves. Any ghul that feeds off of living kindred flesh may immediately recover 1D6 health (per day). Ghuls experience a sort of hungry bloodlust when exposed to wounds on the living, and must make a TN 11 check against willpower (self-discipline) to resist attacking wounded beings.
•          Ghuls have already experienced some amazing horrors in their time. Ghuls gain the willpower (courage) focus for this reason, but if a magical compulsion would induce fear they gain +4 instead of +2 on a resistance roll.
•          Ghuls are immune to the effects of all disease.
•          Ghuls get two rolls on the following benefits:

Ghul Benefits

2D6      Benefit

2          +1 Strength

3-4       Focus: intelligence (arcane lore)

5          Focus: communication (disguise)
6          Focus: willpower (self-discipline)

7-8       +1 fighting

9          Focus: communication (deception)

10-11   Focus: Strength (intimidation)

12        +1 Constitution

Atakan Jackal Men for Runequest 6

Say whaaaaaat? Yes, I have been motivated to work out some new Runequest 6 content after being invited to play and/or run RQ6. Verrrrry excited!!! Since I'm statting out Atakans, it's not a far cry to imagine I'm using Pergerron as the setting....

Atakans in Runequest 6

STR 3D6+3 (14), CON 2D6+6 (13), SIZ 2D6+6 (13), DEX 3D6+3 (14), INT 2D6+6 (13), POW 3D6 (11), CHA 3D6 (11)

APs 3     DMG +1D2          MPs 11 Move 8 SR 13     Armor: scale (AP 4 penalty 5)and hoplite shield

Roll        Loc.                    AP/HP

1-3          left leg                  4/6

4-6          right leg                4/6

7-9          Abdomen             4/7

10-12     Chest                     4/8

13-15     left arm                 4/5

16-18     right arm               4/5

19-20     head                      4/6

Combat Style: Atakan Hoplite (spear, 1H swords, shields, javelins, bite) 55%

Skills: Athletics 55%, Brawn 50%, Endurance 58%, Evade 45%, Perception 45%, Survival 45%, Unarmed 50%, Willpower 40%

Attack                   Damage               Size/Reach     Combat Effects        AP/HP

Bite                        1D4+1D2              S/M                grip, impale               natural

Scimitar                 1D8+1D2              M/M               bleed                           6/10

Hoplite shield       1D4+1D2               H/S                  bash, stun loc.            6/15

Javelins (4)           1D8+1+1D2           H/10/20/50     impale, pin shield M   3/8        

Scent: Atakans have a keen sense of smell which grants them advantage to detect the nature and approximate location of any target within 60 feet that could emit an odor (including invisible creatures or objects) on a successful perception check (contested if the target is specifically obscuring his or her scent).

Hardy Desert Dwellers: Atakans are used to roughing it in harsh desert climates, and gain a 20% bonus on any Survival checks in dry desert conditions due to thirst or heat exhaustion. Atakans can go for up to one week without water before experiencing dehydration effects.

Atakans are tall jackal-headed men who have the bodies of humans but the heads of jackals. They are not related to jackalweres, which are a cursed race infected with abyssal taint….the atakans are an ancient race which claims to predate human and elvenkind’s existence in the mortal realm. In Pergerron atakans dwell mostly in the wastelands outside of the human city-states of Anansis, and many atakans dwell in the Vumaskan lands to the east. They are suitable as a player-character racial option. The stats presented here are for an atakan commoner of no special skill who is a bit hardier as a physical laborer.