Część 9: Bestiariusz

Creature Characteristics

Creatures have Characteristics much as any other characters. If for any reason a creature is missing a characteristic, the effect of this is noted. Two scores are given for each Characteristic. The first is the dice range that can be rolled to randomly determine an individual's Characteristics. The second, in brackets, is the score of an average individual of that species. This average score is used to calculate the rest of the attributes (HP, MWL, etc.), so that creatures can be used quickly. If randomly rolling Characteristics, the creature's Attributes will need to be adjusted accordingly, using the standard rules in the Character Creation chapter.

A creature with a randomly determined INT is considered sentient - it is a rational creation capable of logical thought and self-determination. A creature with a fixed INT (any INT listed as a single number, rather than a die roll) is not sentient. Fixed INT creatures operate solely on instinct rather than logic or intuition.

Some creatures have natural armour, which is listed. This does not provide any penalty to DEX for combat order, unless the description states otherwise.

Creature Skills

Like other characters, Creatures have skills. Combat skills have the damage listed, including any damage modifiers and details for the attack used, in brackets next to the attack's name. Unless otherwise noted, a creature with multiple attack forms will only get to make one attack per combat round.

Creatures and Major Wounds

Non-humanoid creatures suffer Major Wounds in much the same way as humans. If a creature is humanoid in form (e.g. a ghoul) use the standard Major Wounds Table. For other creatures, use the following rule instead.

Serious Wound: If the creature takes a Serious Wound, its Move rate is reduced to 1, and all skills suffer a -20% penalty. Flying creatures lose the ability to fly. Further Serious Wounds after the first cause further cumulative -20% penalties to skill levels (i.e. -40%, -60%, etc.).

Grave Wound: If the creature takes a Grave Wound, it must make an immediate Resilience roll or die. If it succeeds, it suffers the effects of a Serious Wound and must make another Resilience roll at the beginning of each subsequent combat round or die.

Creatures die automatically when their Hit Points reach a negative figure equal to their starting Hit Points, as with other characters.

Note: Alternative rules for dealing with Major Wounds for minor creature encounters can be found in the Combat chapter.

Creatures

Basilisk

STR 2D3 (4) CON 2D6+6 (13)

DEX 2D6 (7) SIZ 1D3 (2)

INT 3 (3) POW 1D6+12 (15)

CHA 3 (3) DM -1D6

HP 8 MWL 4 Move 16

Gaze 100% (Death)

Bite 30% (1D6-1D6+poison)

Armour: Scales 2/1

Skills: Athletics 60%, Dodge 30%, Persistence 60%, Resilience 70%, Stealth 40%, Survival 40%

The Basilisk's blood and bite are poisonous.

Basilisk Venom

Type: Ingested or Contact

Delay: Instant

Potency: 65

Effect: 1D4 damage, applies -6 penalty to victim's CON

Duration: 6D10 minutes

The basilisk is about the size of a large cockerel, with scales like a snake and a mane of greasy black feathers along its spine. Its head resembles that of a cockerel with a sharp beak (capable of injecting venom) and a crest and wattles. Apart from that, they are remarkably varied. Some have four legs ending in the claws of a cockerel, others have two legs, some are more snake-like and have no legs at all. Some have bat-like wings and some have bird-like wings, though all are believed to be flightless.

Any close combat weapon hitting a basilisk loses one point of effectiveness for every point it inflicts on the creature. (e.g.. a sword that normally causes D8 damage will, after inflicting 3 points of damage to a basilisk, only be able to do D8-3 damage). If the weapon's damage reaches 0, it is destroyed. However, magical damage from a weapon (e.g. a sword with the spell For to Sharpen a Blade on it) will cause damage to the basilisk without being reflected, though the normal damage of the weapon will be. Ranged weapons are obviously not affected by this, though arrows, crossbow bolts and musket balls will be damaged in this way.

The basilisk's poison and corrosive blood are magickal in nature, and lose their potency 1D3 minutes after leaving its body. Some Alchemists have tried to find a way of „fixing” the poison, but so far with no success.

A basilisk can kill with a single glance, once per round. This requires an Opposed Test of the basilisk's Persistence against the target's Resilience. If the target loses, death is instantaneous.

Boar

STR 3D6+6 (20) CON 2D6+9 (15)

DEX 3D6 (10) SIZ 2D6+3 (10)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM +1D2

HP 13 MWL 7 Move 16

Tusk 45% (1D6+1D2)

Armour: Hide 2/1

Skills: Athletics 25%, Dodge 55%, Perception 50%, Resilience 40%, Stealth 55%, Survival 50%, Track 25%

Boars are wild pigs which live in small groups (usually comprising of 2-12 individuals), and feed on roots and berries. Though shy, retiring creatures, who mainly come out at dusk to forage, the males can be fierce defenders of their territory.

Brown Bear

STR 3D6+15 (25) CON 2D6+6 (13)

DEX 3D6 (10) SIZ 3D6+15 (25)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM +2D6

HP 19 MWL 10 Move 16

Bite 60% (1D8+2D6)

Claw 50% (1D6+2D6)

Armour: Tough Hide 3/1

Skills: Athletics 25%, Dodge 30%, Perception 50%, Resilience 45%, Stealth 15%, Survival 60%, Track 25%

There are no bears left in the wild in the British Isles, but bear-baiting is a common sport in England. It normally takes place in a „bear garden” - a high, round fenced area surrounded by tiers of seating. A bear is chained to a post at one edge of the pit, and a number of trained dogs are set upon it. The fighting is bloody, often fatal to many of the dogs, and inevitably fatal to the bear. Sometimes the bear is let loose into the crowd to chase people and animals, which causes much amusement and occasionally serious injury.

Cat

STR 1D4+1 (3) CON 2D6 (7)

DEX 3D6+6 (16) SIZ 1D4 (2)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM -1D6

HP 5 MWL 3 Move 20

Bite 40% (1D4-1D6)

Claw 60% (1D4-1D6)

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 75%, Dodge 60%, Perception 75%, Resilience 30%, Stealth 55%, Survival 40%

Domestic cats are often seen as sinister creatures, associated with witchcraft and sorcery. The vast majority of cats in England in this period are in fact working cats, at best semi-domesticated, which live in barns, farm outbuildings, warehouses and the like in order to keep down rodents and other pests. Cats have night sight.

Cats do get used as familiars, mostly by Alchemists. Their ability to climb and get into difficult spots makes them ideal spies - if a cat is sitting and staring in your direction, there may well be an Alchemist using the spell For to See Through the Eyes of Another looking at you.

Dog

STR 1D6+1 (4) CON 2D6+2 (9)

DEX 2D6+6 (13) SIZ 1D6 (3)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM -1D6

HP 6 MWL 3 Move 20

Bite 40% (1D6-1D6)

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 60%, Dodge 30%, Perception 55%, Resilience 30%, Stealth 45%, Survival 30%, Track 75%

Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, from the smallest lapdog to the largest hunting dog. They are used for everything from rounding up sheep to guarding homes from intruders. Dogs have night sight. They are also used as familiars by Alchemists. Breeds of dogs come as small as STR 1D3 and SIZ 1D3, or as large as STR 2D6+3 and SIZ 2D6+3; adjust other statistics (Damage Modifier, HPs etc) accordingly.

Dragon

STR 20D6 (70) CON 10D6 (35)

DEX 4D6 (14) SIZ 10D6+30 (65)

INT 6D6 (21) POW 4D6+12 (26)

CHA 6D6 (21) DM +7D6

HP 50 MWL 25 Move 12/30 (on land/in the air)

Bite 125% (1D10+7D6)

Claw 95% (1D8+7D6)

Tail 90% (1D20+7D6 )

Armour: Dragon Scales 12/12

Skills: Athletics 120%, Dodge 30%, Lore (varies) 100%, Influence 150%, Perception 110%, Persistence 180%, Resilience 120%, Unarmed Combat 125%

If engaging in close combat, a dragon can make either a single tail attack, or two claw attacks, or one bite attack in a Combat Round.

Breathe Flame: The Dragon may breathe flame over an area as a Combat Action. The flame will cover a cone in front of the Dragon, which stretches for its POW in metres. At its furthest extent, the cone is equal to the creature's POW in width. Any creature caught in the flame suffers 4D6 fire damage, though APs count as normal and on a successful Dodge roll a character may dive for cover to halve this damage. The Dragon may only breathe flame once per hour. Further attempts to breathe flame within this time period require the creature to make a Resilience test, with a cumulative -25% penalty for every attempt.

Magick: Dragons do not need a Philosopher's Stone to cast spells, but have Elemental Casting (Fire) at 68%, an assortment of Fire spells at their disposal, and 26 Magic Points to spend on them; a Dragon regains MPs equal to its POW every 12 hours of rest.

These giant reptilian creatures fly through the air using the thermals and can create their own thermals as needed, using their fiery breath. Dragons are very individual in their temperament. Some are evil cruel beasts. Others are solitary hoarding creatures. Some use their high intelligence to lord it over other lesser races.

Some Alchemists claim that a Dragon's heart is in itself a Philosopher's Stone that recharges itself rather than crumbling away. If a Dragon could be found, many Alchemists would pay dearly for its heart.

Elemental

Elemental Table

DEX 2D6 (6)

Elementals are magical beings of raw elemental power. Elementals do not occur naturally, but are frequently summoned by Alchemists to do their bidding. As noted in the Alchemy chapter, elementals normally take humanoid form, but can be shaped to represent any creature the summoner can imagine. See the Alchemy chapter for more details about elementals and their summoning.

An elemental's characteristics (aside from DEX), derived attributes, and skills are based on its SIZ, which in turn is based on the number of Magick Points the Alchemist puts into summoning the elemental. When summoning an elemental, look up the number of Magick Points put into the spell (on the Elemental Table) and calculate the rest of the elemental's attributes accordingly. Elementals have no STR, CON, INT, POW or CHA. DEX is always 2D6, whatever the elemental's SIZ. The statistics for smaller elementals, which are the most likely to be summoned by Adventurers, are already calculated in the tables; larger elementals will require a little simple arithmetic.

All elementals are immune to disease and poison.

Elementals attack by engulfing their enemies. All opponents within the area of attack are potential targets. Elementals use their Engulf skill, which is equal to their size times five, to hit the target, who then resists using Resilience.

Elementals have magical senses that allow them to 'see' invisible creatures such as immaterial spirits. They also gain +50% when detecting hidden characters.

Elementals themselves are almost invisible if they are within a larger body of their own element (e.g., a fire elemental in a bonfire or a water elemental in a lake). All elementals have the equivalent of a 90% Stealth when lying next to an environment of the same element as themselves.

Gnome

Gnomes are earth elementals. They are made up of soil, pebbles, sand and the like, depending on the local conditions - a gnome summoned on wild moorlands might be peaty with tufts of reeds for hair, while one summoned in farmland might be made of rich crumbly soil oozing with worms.

A gnome can carry objects or people through loose soil or sand, as long as the total SIZ of those carried is equal to or less than the gnome's SIZ. The gnome cannot, however, provide air for a person, and unless the person being carried has some magical means of breathing, he may suffocate during the trip. A gnome can only carry an unresisting passenger in this manner. A gnome cannot travel through solid rock.

Gnomes often use their Engulf attack by burrowing through the ground and opening a pit beneath their intended victim. They can be used to dig tunnels to get troops into enemy strongholds or cause the collapse of enemy defensive walls.

Sylph

Sylphs are air elementals. They are often barely visible, unless their blustery mass of human-shaped wind picks up dust or autumn leaves, in which they will be easily seen.

A sylph can carry objects or people through the air, as long as the total SIZ of those carried is equal to or less than the sylph's SIZ. Sylphs are often used by those commanding them as a cheap and safe means of flight, and for dropping potion jacks and the like on enemy troops.

A sylph may also create a breeze or small whirlwind. Once per summoning, a sylph can cast the spell For to Summon Up a Mighty Wind, with a Magnitude equal to its SIZ (to a maximum of 8). This has no Magick Point cost.

Salamander

Salamanders are fire elementals. They take the form of a mass of flame in a vaguely humanoid shape.

A salamander will ignite any flammable object it touches. It will heat (and eventually melt) metal, bake stone, set fires and, naturally, burn people. A salamander can be used to douse natural fires, so long as it has a cubic metre of SIZ equal to or greater than that of the fire. A salamander cannot douse other salamanders, nor can it extinguish any magickal flame. The salamander simply enters the fire and sucks it into itself. A salamander must touch an object to ignite it.

Salamanders can float through the air at the same rate as they move on the ground.

Undine

Undines are water elementals. They take the form of a translucent mass of water in humanoid form, roiling and dripping as they move.

An undine can carry objects or beings through water, as long as the total SIZ of those carried is equal to or less than the undine's SIZ. It can carry things either underwater, to any depth, or along the surface for creatures who need air to breathe. Alchemists capable of summoning and commanding undines sometimes use them in the place of ships, sitting serenely atop the creature as it rushes through the water.

Ferret

STR 1D4+1 (3) CON 2D6+3 (9)

DEX 2D6+6 (13) SIZ 1D4 (2)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM -1D6

HP 6 MWL 3 Move 20

Bite 50% (1D6-1D6)

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 40%, Dodge 60%, Perception 50%, Resilience 30%, Stealth 45%, Survival 30%, Track 50%

These members of the weasel family are frequently used by the lower classes for hunting rabbits, and by upper class ladies as fashion accessories - they are trained to lie draped around a lady's neck, where they eat lice from her hair. They are also used as familiars by Alchemists.

Ghost

STR - CON -

DEX - SIZ -

INT 3D6 (10) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 3D6 (10) DM 0

HP - MWL - Move 20

Throw 50% (1D6)

Armour: -

Skills: Persistence 60% (plus any non-physical skills the person had in life at -20%)

Ghosts are usually tied to a particular place where a troubled death has occurred. Some battlefields are said to be haunted by entire ghostly armies that appear to march and fight again quite regularly. Scenes of murder are often haunted by their victims, and people who have died with an important task left undone (particularly a task tied to the needs of their Faction in life) will often haunt the place of their death.

Some ghosts appear to be harmless, merely repeating their last actions, or walking the same path over and over, accompanied by a chill in the air. But some ghosts can be more dangerous. Many can exhibit poltergeist activity, throwing objects at people nearby with sometimes lethal force. They can also make themselves visible or invisible at will, and when visible manifest as translucent figures.

Ghosts are tied to the place of their death, and cannot move more than 10 x POW metres away from the spot.

Ghosts can lift and throw objects equal to their POW x 2, and their Damage Modifier is also based on POW x 2.

A ghost cannot be affected physically, but can be dismissed temporarily by someone with sufficient religious Righteousness. Any character who is a member of a suitable religious Faction may make an Opposed test of Righteousness against the ghost's Persistence while invoking God. This is a full-round action. On one level of Success, the ghost is dismissed for 3D6 days and cannot manifest again in that time. On two levels of Success, the ghost is dismissed permanently and will never manifest again. On a Failure, the ghost remains. On two levels of Failure, the character loses 2D6 Righteousness Points and is terrified for 3D6 Combat Rounds - he may try to get as far away from the ghost as possible, or curl up into a gibbering ball; if in combat, he may still defend himself, but cannot attack.

The presence of a ghost can be detected with a successful Perception roll, even if the ghost is currently invisible - the character making the roll will feel a distinct chill and a feeling between the shoulder-blades that there is a presence nearby, though it will be impossible to tell exactly where. Someone who has never previously encountered a ghost will only feel spooked, whereas anyone who has previously encountered a ghost will recognise the presence immediately.

A ghost who was an Alchemist or Witch before death can cast the spells it knew in life. Instead of spending Magic Points from a Philosopher's Stone, a ghostly Alchemist casting spells temporarily drains its POW. This POW is regained at 1 point per day for every day spent not manifesting. If POW reaches 0 the Ghost ceases to manifest, and cannot do so again until a point of POW has been regained (i.e. 24 hours later).

Becoming invisible is a free action and is instantaneous. Because the ghost is incorporeal, it is undetectable when invisible, except by the „creepy” feeling given by a successful Perception roll.

Ghosts are often confused and befuddled by their deaths. Consequently, although they retain any non-physical skills they had in life, they are at a -20% penalty to them. They can speak (in a ghostly whisper, usually, though sometimes in an eerie moan) but tend to be obsessive about their death and the reason for it - trying to have a rational conversation with a ghost is usually a waste of time.

Ghoul

STR 4D6 (14) CON 2D6+3 (9)

DEX 3D6 (10) SIZ 2D6+6 (13)

INT 3D6 (10) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 1D6 (3) DM -1D6

HP 6 MWL 3 Move 15

Bite 50% (1D6+poison)

Claw 70% (1D4)

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 40%, Dodge 40%, Persistence 30%, Resilience 50%, Stealth 60%

All ghouls have a poisonous bite.

Ghoul venom

Type: Ingested or Contact

Delay: 1D3 Combat Rounds

Potency: 22

Effect: The victim is completely paralysed for the duration of the poison being in their system.

Duration: 1D10 hours or until healing is administered that restores at least one hit point.

Ghouls are sinister creatures which feed on the bodies of the dead. They are often found on battlefields in the wake of a conflict. Some say they are people possessed by evil spirits, others that they are Camp Followers warped by too much contact with Alchemy. A third opinion has it that they are merely desperate people driven mad by hunger.

Ghouls are normally shy and nervous creatures who hide in holes and caves away from normal people but, if disturbed while feeding on the dead, they will fight frenziedly to prevent the loss of their meal. Their finger-nails have become sharp and jagged talons, and their bite causes a wound to fester, causing paralysis in the manner of a poison.

Ghouls give out a blood-curdling howl when attacking. Everyone within a Ghoul's POW in metres is affected as if by the spell For to Cause a Great Fear, unless they can make a successful opposed test of Resilience against the Ghoul's Persistence. Those who successfully resist must do so every round for five more successive combat rounds, after which they are immune to a Ghoul's howling effects for a week.

Horse

STR 2D6+18 (25) CON 3D6+6 (16)

DEX 2D6+3 (10) SIZ 2D6+18 (25)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM +2D6

HP 21 MWL 12 Move 24

Kick 40% (Trained warhorse 80%) (1D6+2D6)

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 75%, Dodge 40%, Perception 40%, Resilience 40%, Survival 20%

Horses are very common, and are the main beast of burden and form of transport. Most decent horses have been requisitioned by the various armies, so mules (a donkey/horse cross-breed) tend to be used for riding, pulling carts and carrying heavy loads. The attributes above are applicable for most horses - warhorses will tend to have higher than average STR and SIZ, cobs lower than average STR and SIZ, ponies minimum STR and SIZ, and Mules minimum SIZ.

Raven

STR 1D3 (2) CON 2D3 (4)

DEX 3D6+6 (16) SIZ 1D4 (2)

INT 6 (6) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 3 (3) DM -1D6

HP 3 MWL 2 Move 2/24 (on land/in the air)

Claw 40% 1D6-1D6

Bite 30% 1D4-1D6

Armour: None

Skills: Dodge 50%, Perception 60%, Sleight 40%, Stealth 50%

Large black carrion birds, they are often seen as birds of ill-omen as they gather on battlefields and around gibbets to pick the bones of the dead. They are generally harmless to humans, but are sometimes used as Familiars by Alchemists, since they are relatively intelligent.

Sea Serpent

Hatchling

STR 2D6+6 (11) CON 1D6+3 (6)

DEX 6D6 (21) SIZ 1D6+3 (6)

INT 3 (3) POW 2D6 (7)

CHA 3 (3) DM -1D6

HP 6 MWL 3 Move 24

Bite 30% 1D4

Armour: None

Skills: Athletics 50%, Stealth 35%

Adult

STR 8D6+30 (54) CON 4D6+21 (33)

DEX 2D6 (7) SIZ 6D6+15 (33)

INT 3 (3) POW 6D6 (21)

CHA 3 (3) DM +4D6

HP 33 MWL 17 Move 24

Bite 60% 1D6+4D6

Armour: Scales 5/2

Skills: Athletics 50%, Stealth 35%

Leviathan

STR 12D6+50 (86) CON 6D6+36 (54)

DEX 2D6 (7) SIZ 10D6+39 (69)

INT 3 (3) POW 6D6 (21)

CHA 3 (3) DM +8D6

HP 62 MWL 31 Move 24

Bite 60% 1D6+8D6

Armour: Scales 8/4

Skills: Athletics 65%, Stealth 15%

A metre in length when first hatched, Sea Serpents grow at the rate of one metre every five years, up to a maximum length of 40 metres. The statistics above show a Sea Serpent at three stages of its life; as a hatchling, as a medium-sized serpent, and as a leviathan of the deep, a 40-metre creature.

Sparrow

STR 1D2 (1) CON 1D3 (2)

DEX 3D6+6 (16) SIZ 1D2 (1)

INT 2 (2) POW 1D6 (3)

CHA 5 (5) DM -1D6

HP 2 MWL 1 Move 1/20 (on land/in the air)

Claw 20% 1D2-1D6

Armour: None

Skills: Dodge 50%, Perception 50%, Stealth 50%

These tiny brown birds (not much larger than a mouse) are mostly harmless. They are a common sight in town and countryside, hopping about and eating seeds and small insects, and flocks of them can be a pest in croplands. They have no song beyond a boring „cheep cheep” and are so ubiquitous and innocuous that few people pay them any attention at all. This makes them ideal Familiars for Alchemists, as they very unlikely to be suspected of anything arcane. Their low INT makes them very hard to train however, so the requisite spell For the Domination of… is needed to make use them.

Stoorworm

STR 12D6 (42) CON 3D6+12 (22)

DEX 2D6 (7) SIZ 12D6 (42)

INT 9 (9) POW 1D6+12 (15)

CHA 3 (3) DM +4D6

HP 32 MWL 16 Move 15

Bite 55% 1D10+4D6

Breath 100% Poison

Armour: Scales 7/3

Skills: Athletics 30%, Persistence 40%, Resilience 25%, Stealth 35%

Stoorworm breath is poisonous.

Stoorworm breath

Type: Inhaled

Delay: Immediate

Duration: 1 Combat Round

Potency: 72

Effect: 1D6 damage and -1 penalty to victim's CON. The CON penalty is removed when the HP damage is healed.

Regeneration: A stoorworm regenerates two hit points per Combat Round in every damaged location. Regeneration will cease if the stoorworm dies.

A stoorworm is a large, limbless reptile, remotely related to dragons. Unlike dragons, stoorworms have no fiery breath, but can exhale a cloud of poison, and are very hard to kill as their flesh regenerates very quickly from wounds.

Stoorworms live in remote, marshy places in the wilder parts of the land, such as boggy moorlands, where they burrowed in the peaty soil and prey on sheep and the occasional unwary traveller.

Stoorworms look like gigantic snakes, twenty metres long, with crested heads like dragons; they are black or dark brown and usually covered with dark peaty soil. They smell of sulphurous pond water and their eyes are a virulent scum-green.

A stoorworm can emit a cloud of poisonous gas once per round. The cloud remains for one round before losing its effectiveness.

Wolf

STR 3D6 (10) CON 3D6+3 (13)

DEX 3D6+3 (13) SIZ 2D6+3 (10)

INT 5 (5) POW 3D6 (10)

CHA 5 (5) DM 0

HP 12 MWL 6 Move 20

Bite 60% (1D8)

Claw 30% (1D4)

Armour: Tough Hide 3/1

Skills: Athletics 25%, Dodge 30%, Perception 50%, Resilience 45%, Stealth 15%, Survival 60%, Track 25%

Wolves are extinct in more settled places. There are still small packs roaming wilderness areas, though they rarely attack humans, preying mostly on deer or domestic sheep.