Creatures of the New WorldChapter the Fifteenth

Size

Every character and creature has a size. Size changes two things: how many Wounds it has and how easy it is to hit.

Wounds multiplier. Wounds are (Endurance + Resolve) times the multiplier for the creature's size. Every player species is Small or Medium, so characters always use x2.

Defence modifier. The modifier is added to both Melee Defence and Ranged Defence. Small and Medium are 0; anything bigger is easier to hit, and anything Tiny is harder.

Elsewhere, size also limits who can be grappled, decides whether a rider gets the higher ground bonus, and sets which targets some creature abilities can affect.

Size	Wounds multiplier	Defence modifier
Tiny	x1	+1
Small	x2	0
Medium	x2	0
Large	x3	-1
Huge	x3	-2
Gargantuan	x4	-3
Colossal	x4	-4
Titanic	x4	-5

Reading a profile

Each profile gives only what a fight needs: a short description, a table of statistics, the creature's attack and its abilities.

Size is the creature's size category, from Size above. It is already counted in the creature's Wounds and Defences.

Melee Skill, Might, Agility, Endurance and Resolve are the creature's characteristics, on the same scale as a character's. Initiative is its Agility, as for anyone.

Armour is natural armour: hide, shell or scale. It is subtracted from damage along with Endurance, as worn armour is. Unless the entry says otherwise, it covers every location.

Wounds, Melee Defence and Ranged Defence are worked out as for characters, with the size modifiers already included.

Movement is set for each creature by its build, and is not worked out from Agility. A second figure is for swimming or flying.

Attack gives the total added to 2d6 for the attack roll, and the Damage with the creature's Might already added. The margin of the attack is added on top, and the location die is rolled, as for any hit. Doubles on a hit are a critical hit.

Abilities are particular to the creature and need no magic or weapon rules. They follow the normal rules for anything they do not mention.

Fatigue is not tracked for creatures; see Fatigue in chapter 9.

Luck. Opponents have Luck only when their profile or template gives it, as the Leader template does. They spend it as characters do.

Human opponents also list Ranged Skill, and give an attack for each weapon they carry, with its range and reload time.

Creatures of the Worldsoul

The Worldsoul changes the beasts that live where it runs strong, and twists those that live where it has been strained. None of these is found in the old world. Each has a place in the land, and the nations say that where one is killed, the land around it suffers for a generation.

Crown stag

A great elk whose antlers never stop growing. The tines it sheds take root where they fall and grow into bone-white thickets that shelter small game, and the trails its herds cut are the roads that everyone else uses.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Large	3	7	4	6	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	27	10	11	11

• Attack: antlers +4, Damage 11.
• Lowered crown. On a Charge its Damage is 13, and a target of Medium size or smaller is pushed back d3 paces.
• Stampede. When one stag is wounded the herd runs. Anyone in its path must pass an Acrobatics roll at Medium or take Damage 8 and fall prone.

Emberback

A black salamander the length of a wagon, with coals glowing along its spine. It lives in burn scars. The fires it starts open the pine cones and clear the deadwood, and the forest comes back thicker behind it.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Large	3	6	4	6	4

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
2	30	7	11	11

• Attack: bite +4, Damage 9.
• Furnace hide. Anyone who strikes it unarmed or grapples it takes Damage 3, ignoring armour.
• Spit embers. A ranged attack out to Near at +4, Damage 5. Whatever it hits catches fire.
• Fireproof. Fire and heat do it no harm.

Hollow wolf

A lean grey wolf whose flanks are sunk between the ribs, as if nothing were inside. Hollow packs follow sickness and take only the weak and the dying, so herds are healthier where they hunt, and they leave most of a carcass for the scavengers. They are said to have first come out of the mound country.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	3	4	4	4	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	14	8	12	12

• Attack: bite +4, Damage 7.
• Pack. +1 damage when another hollow wolf is in Melee range of the same target.
• No scent, no sound. Perception rolls to notice a hollow wolf are at -2, and dogs and horses give no warning of it.
• Takes the weak. It attacks whichever foe in reach has the fewest Wounds left.

Lodge-mother

A beaver the size of an ox. Her dams are as big as forts, and the wetlands behind them feed everything in the valley. Her pelt is worth twenty pieces, and a valley whose lodge-mother is killed dries out within a few years.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Large	3	6	3	6	5

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1	33	6, swimming 10	10	10

• Attack: bite +4, Damage 10.
• Tail slap. As a full action, every foe in Melee range must pass an Acrobatics roll at Medium or fall prone.
• Gnaw. In place of dealing damage, a bite that hits can destroy one wooden thing the target holds or stands in: a shield, a spear haft, a bow, a gunstock or a canoe's hull.

Mock-jay

A slate-blue jay that repeats any voice it has heard, the voices of the dead among them. Mock-jays lead predators to wounded prey and feed on what is left, as ravens do with wolves, and they carry seed and news across the whole forest.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Tiny	2	1	6	1	2

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	3	12, flying	13	15

• Attack: peck +2, Damage 2.
• Borrowed voice. It can speak in any voice it has heard. A hearer must pass an Insight roll at Medium to know it is not that person.
• Carrion guide. Where mock-jays call over a wounded creature, a predator arrives within the hour.
• Flock memory. What one jay hears, every jay within a day's flight can repeat by the next dawn.

Moss bear

A bear so old that moss, fern and saplings grow through its hide. It sleeps for years at a time and wakes hungry. It carries seed from range to range in its coat, and the ground around its den is the richest berry country for miles.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Large	4	8	3	6	5

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1	33	7	11	10

• Attack: claws +5, Damage 12.
• Hug. A claw attack that hits a foe of Medium size or smaller also grapples them, with no roll.
• Regrowth. It regains 1 Wound at the start of each of its turns. Fire damage stops this for the rest of the fight.
• Sleeper. Asleep, it passes for a mossy mound. It wakes if it is cut, burned or climbed on.

Mudjaw

A snapping turtle as long as a canoe that lies in the shallows looking like a sandbar. It eats what the river drowns and keeps the great river clean, and the boat-clans read a channel by where the mudjaws bask.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Large	4	8	2	7	4

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
4 shell, 1 elsewhere	33	4, swimming 7	11	9

• Attack: bite +5, Damage 12.
• Sandbar. Lying still, it is taken for a bar or a log unless a Perception roll at Hard succeeds. If it is not spotted, everyone it attacks rolls for surprise.
• Locked jaws. A bite that hits also grapples the target, with no roll, and rolls to break free are at -2.
• Shell. Its armour is 4 on the body and 1 on the head and legs.

Old tusker

The last of the great beasts: a shaggy, long-tusked giant taller than a cabin. Tuskers push over trees and open the meadows where the plains begin. The elves call them elders and will not hunt them. Ivory hunters will.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Huge	4	10	3	9	6

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1	45	9	10	9

• Attack: tusks +5, Damage 15.
• Trample. As a full action it moves up to its Movement in a straight line. Each creature of Medium size or smaller in its path must pass an Acrobatics roll at Medium or take Damage 12 and fall prone.
• Trunk. In place of its tusks it can seize a foe of Medium size or smaller within 2 paces, with an attack at +5. The foe is grappled, and on its next turn the tusker can throw them d6 paces: Damage 6, and they land prone.

Pale cat

A mountain cat the colour of old snow that the eye slides off. One holds each range, alone, and its hunting keeps the deer and stag herds moving so that no valley is grazed bare.

Size	MS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	4	5	5	4	4

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	16	10	13	13

• Attack: claws +5, Damage 8.
• Fade. Until it attacks, a pale cat goes unnoticed unless a Perception roll at Hard succeeds.
• Pounce. A Charge that hits also knocks a target of Medium size or smaller prone.
• Slip away. It can Disengage as a half action.

Powder moths

A cloud of grey moths, each the size of a hand. They pollinate the night-blooming plants that grow only where the Worldsoul runs strong, and they eat saltpetre. The nations hang their cocoons around a village. Colonists burn them.

Size	AGI	Wounds	Movement	Defence
A swarm of Tiny creatures, a few paces across	5	8	8, flying	See Swarm

• Attack: none. The moths do no harm to flesh.
• Swarm. Any attack against the swarm hits. A weapon deals it only 1 Wound, while fire or an effect that covers an area deals its full damage.
• Powder-eaters. A firearm fired inside the swarm misfires on any miss. Each round a character spends in the swarm spoils d3 rounds of the powder they carry.
• Drawn to the Worldsoul. A spell cast or a rune woken within Far brings a nearby swarm in d6 rounds.

Old world peoples

The beasts of the Worldsoul are not the worst of the frontier. Most of the blood spilled on the continent is spilled by people who crossed the Eastern Ocean: raiders on the border, highwaymen on the post roads, privateers along the coast, and the soldiers, guards and hunters who serve the crown, the company and the colonies. They carry iron and powder, they fight for coin, land or creed, and they have learned the frontier as well as anyone.

Border raider

A reiver of the colonial border or a warrior of a nation's war party, come for horses, goods or captives. Raiders strike at dawn and are gone before the militia musters.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	4	2	4	3	4	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1 body and arms	14	6	12	11

• Attack: great axe +5, Damage 10.
• Frenzy: It may fight in a frenzy: +1 melee damage and -1 Melee Defence until the fight ends.
• War cry. In the first round, each foe within Near must pass Resist (Fear) at Medium or take -1 on attack rolls that round.

Highwayman

A masked rider who waits where the road narrows. Most would rather take a purse than a life, and will run before they fight fair.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	3	4	3	4	3	2

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	10	7	12	12

• Attacks: pistol +5, Damage 6 (P), Near, reload 2 rounds; hanger +3, Damage 7.
• Brace of pistols. It carries two loaded pistols, so it can fire twice before it needs to reload.
• Stand and deliver. It always springs the surprise on a road it has chosen. If its targets surrender, no one rolls for initiative.

Militia soldier

A colonist or crown regular drilled with the musket, standing in line with neighbours. Alone a militiaman is ordinary; a company is dangerous.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	3	3	3	3	3	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1 body and arms	12	6	11	11

• Attacks: military musket +3, Damage 8 (P), Far, reload 2 rounds; fixed bayonet +4, Damage 7.
• Volley. When two or more soldiers shoot at the same target in the same round, each of their attacks gains +1.
• Hold the line. While next to another soldier, it gains +1 Melee Defence.

Privateer

A licensed raider of the Eastern Ocean and the great river, with a cutlass in one hand and a pistol in the other. Without the letter of marque, a pirate.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	4	3	3	4	3	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	12	7	13	12

• Attacks: cutlass +5, Damage 7; pistol +3, Damage 6 (P), Near, reload 2 rounds.
• Cutlass and pistol. It fights with both, using the rules for two weapons: a Swift Attack is a cutlass attack at -1, and a pistol shot at -2.
• Sea legs. It takes no penalty for fighting on a moving deck, in rigging or in a boat.

Rifleman

A militia marksman with a long rifle, who would rather shoot from three hundred paces than meet anyone face to face.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	2	4	3	4	3	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
0	12	7	11	12

• Attacks: long rifle +6, Damage 8 (P), Long, reload 3 rounds; knife +2, Damage 5.
• Sharpshooter. It ignores 1 point of penalty for range or cover.
• From cover. It fights from heavy cover where it can, for +2 Ranged Defence, and falls back to reload.

Sworn guard

An oath-bound bodyguard to a governor, a chief or a merchant with enemies. It fights to keep its charge alive, not to win.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	4	3	3	3	4	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
2 body and arms (buff coat)	14	6	13	11

• Attacks: sword +5, Damage 7; light crossbow +3, Damage 5 (P), Far, reload 1 round.
• Shield. It carries a shield, already counted in its Melee Defence.
• Bodyguard. Once per round, when the person it guards is hit while next to it, it may take the hit instead, using its own armour and Endurance.

Thief-taker

A bounty hunter with a warrant, a crossbow and a set of manacles, paid more for a fugitive brought in alive.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	3	4	3	3	3	3

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
1 body and arms	12	6	11	11

• Attacks: light crossbow +5, Damage 5 (P), Far, reload 1 round; fists +4, Damage 4.
• Wrestler. Its grapple rolls are +5, which includes the Wrestling talent.
• Manacles. A foe it has held in a grapple since its last turn can be manacled as a half action.

Witchfinder

An agent of the southern crown or the colonial sects, hunting those who work the Worldsoul. Patient, pious and hard to turn aside.

Size	MS	RS	MIG	AGI	END	RES
Medium	4	3	3	3	3	4

Armour	Wounds	Move	Melee Defence	Ranged Defence
2 head and body	14	6	12	11

• Attacks: sword +5, Damage 7; light crossbow +4, Damage 5 (P), Far, reload 1 round.
• Hard to enchant. It rolls Resist (Enchantment) at +6.
• Witch-sense. It knows when a spell is cast or a rune is woken within Near of it, and who did it.

Opponent templates

Every human opponent above is a seasoned member of their career. A template turns one into a raw recruit, a hardened veteran or the leader of a band. Apply it to the profile, then work out the changed values again.

Template	Characteristics	What changes in the profile	Other changes
Green	-1 Melee Skill, -1 Ranged Skill, -1 Resolve	Attacks -1, Melee Defence -1, Wounds -2	It loses the last ability in its list. It breaks easily; see Breaking, below.
Veteran	+1 Melee Skill, +1 Ranged Skill, +1 Endurance	Attacks +1, Melee Defence +1, Wounds +2, and 1 more damage taken off every hit	It gains one talent that suits its career, such as Strike Mighty Blow, Mighty Shot or Hard to Kill. It never breaks while it has half its Wounds or more.
Leader	As Veteran	As Veteran	It gains Command, below, and 2 Luck to spend as a character does.

• Command. Allies within Near who can hear the leader gain +1 on Resist (Fear) rolls, and may act on the leader's initiative instead of their own. If the leader falls, every ally must test for breaking at once.

• Breaking. A green opponent tests the first time it takes damage, and again when half its side is down: it must pass Resist (Fear) at Medium or flee. Seasoned opponents test only when half their side is down, and veterans and leaders only when the leader falls.

• How many to use. As a rough guide, two green opponents are a fair match for one starting character, a seasoned opponent is about even, and a veteran is a hard fight. One leader is enough for a band.

• Example. A green militia soldier has Melee Skill 2, Ranged Skill 2 and Resolve 2. Its musket is +2 and its bayonet +3 (still Damage 7), its Wounds are 10 and its Melee Defence 10. It keeps Volley but loses Hold the line.