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Deadly Nature
The Aryidannan and Tautha damsels have more to fear than just each other. The
Tautha continent is a wild land where spirits guard their groves, tricking wanderers
to their deaths, and ancient beasts or living plants need to feed on flesh to sustain
themselves.
From out of the bushes rampages a Maw Beast.
This article (which will grow in time) provides rules and profiles for monsters, terrain,
and Arborias (living plants) that have no loyalties to any of the maiden races, attacking
them (or defending their own territory) out of instinct or hunger.
Using Nature in a battle
Nature is neutral - it will attack everyone else without favour. The best way to add
Nature into a game is to use an Umpire who will control Nature and perform all other
rule adjudications and control the scenario if there is one. If there is no Umpire
Random Nature should be used instead so there will be no room for claims of unfair
play.
Here are some examples of Nature in battle:
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The battle is being fought near a beasts habitate.
It comes out to drive the fighters away.
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A terrain feature on the Meadow is actually an Arborian,
any maiden who steps on it will pay!
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Mischevious Sprites upset the mana flow across the
Meadow altering the effect of Magic.
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A Pack of hunting animals has smelled the scent of
spilled blood and wants to feast...
Umpires can make up anything they want as well for a battle or scenario. Hundreds
of books and movies will provide all the inspiration needed.
Random Nature
If there is no Umpire, Random Nature should be used instead. Both players should have
decided to use Nature by this stage to make a battle more interesting and colourful.
Nature can represent itself in a battle in two ways: as Flora (plant life), or Fauna
(animals and monsters). After deployment but before the first turn rull a D6 and consult
the table below to see how Nature will be involed.
Roll
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Result
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1-3
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Once
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4-5
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Twice
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6
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Three Times
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For each Nature, roll a D6. On a 1-3 the Nature is Flora, on a 4-6 it is Fauna.
Flora Rules
Arborians are living plants, large ones. They reside in patches of land similar to
what they look like or where they can find protection and food. In a Meadow an Arbor
could be anywhere: one of the trees, within a tangle of vines, even just beneath the
surface of the ground as a vast network of roots. Any terrain feature could be, or
hide an Arbor.
When a Stand passes through the centre of a terrain feature that is not a bare hill
it tests if there is an Arbor there and it has been disturbed.
There are also Arbors that live in the Meadow and hills, just below the surface and
are invisible until stepped on. At the end of the movement phase roll a D6 if
no other Arbors have been awakened. On a 5+ some careless damsel has stepped on something.
Each player rolls a D6 for each Unit, the one with the highest score could be in trouble
(reroll ties until there is a difference). Then the two Units roll again; the highest
has to test.
To test roll as many D6 as the Stand's melee D value. For each die that is equal to
or above the Stand's M value:
Difference
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Result
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1
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There is no Arborian
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2
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Noises and shaking come from the feature; frightened the Maidens move back 1 Base
depth.
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3
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A small Arborian is awakened. Any Stand in a 3" diameter of the centre of the feature
will be affected by its attack.
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4+
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A large Arborian is awakened. Any Stand in a 6" diameter of the centre of the feature
will be affected by its attack.
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Any Stand with M greater than 6, because they have high M values, sum each 2D6 to
check if the total is heigher.
A difference of two or more counts as one occurance of Nature.
The next step is to find out what kind of Arborian has been awakened. The Arborian
table below has a list of all the nasty flora, many of them carnivorous, that
will try and devour the unlucky maidens.
For the rest of the game the Arborian remains in effect, attacking any Stands that
are partially inside its radius. The Arborian can be destroyed, remove it if it is.
In most cases when damsels already have another enemy to fight they will simply avoid
the area!
Name
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Effect
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Venus Damsel Trap
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Terrain: forests, jungle, edge of water features.
A large bulb shaped maw sits in the middle of the Arborian. Around the maw are
thick roots covered in a sticky wax that wrap around a damsel's legs and pull her
to the opening maw where she will stare into the green depths and a terrible fate.
Small: AD6/2 (round up) D3 H3
Large: AD6 D4 H5
The Venus Damsel Trap attacks each Stand with a different A. If it wins Stands are
not pushed back but are caught in the Trap's sticky vines and pulled closer to the
Maw (centre of the Trap). Each Hit a Stand takes moves it one Base forward as if it
were following up.
A caught Stand cannot move away until it wins a melee or the Trap is killed. Hits
on the Trap allow the Stand to pull back or it can follow up and try and destroy it.
If a Stand is brought onto the centre of the Trap it is automatically destroyed, the
maidens are fed into the maw where they will be slowly devoured. Even if the Trap
is later destroyed the Stand does not return.
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Bitting Grass
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Terrain: good ground.
Looking nothing more than a patch of thick or darker grass the effect of Bitting Grass
is not known until it is stepped on. Shortly after entering the patch maidens feel
a growing sting on their feet and ankles, getting more and more painful the longer
they stay on the patch until it gets so bad they run to safety or fall down and suffer
the same rising pain all over their body.
Small: A2
Large: A4
A patch of Bitting Grass can't be destroyed. To survive Maidens have to get out.
When a Stand first moves onto the patch there is no effect. The next turn before they
move they are stung and bitten with small but sharp mouthed grass blades. The patch
attacks uncontested, like Shooting. Each Hit causes M-1 to the Stand for that turn.
If the Stand's M is reduced to 0 the maidens are brought to the ground and can't get
away. Remove the Stand.
Additionally, each turn after the first attack, increase the patchs' A by 1.
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Suffocating Orchids and Tulips
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Terrain: All
Flower beds are prevailent throughout Tautha and it is possible to find large meadows
covered in blooming colour. Most of the flowers are ordinary flowers but some of the
larger varieties are very dangerous Arborians. Two of the most dangerous Arbor flowers
are Suffocating Orchids and Tulips. Both, as their name implies, use suffocation to
bring down their victims. Both have different ways of capturing the victim and suffocating
them.
Suffocating Orchids have large wide-petaled flowers in two layers. When a maiden or
animal puts its face near the flower, the flower leaps up to a foot and plants itself
directly on the victim's face. The large petals then wrap around the victim's head
and stick there. The inner petals which surround a hollow stem cover's the victim's
mouth. The Arbor then sucks all the air from from the lungs of the victim via the
stem, further causing the petals to tighten their grip as the desperate struggling
increases. After a few minutes even the most resilient maiden will have passed out.
Suffocating Tulips use a different method. Their flower is a long thin tube that widens
out at the end, similar to a short pipe. When the tulips become aware of a potentia
victim they track its movement, albiet slowly, and when the victim is far enough into
the bed the tulips project a sticky gel that clings onto the victim. The tulips aim
to strike the face of the victim and cover it with the gel. Shots are also fired on
limbs to stop them from trying to remove the gel on the face. The tulips shoot rapidly
for a few seconds but it is usually enough to bring down the unwary.
Small Orchid: A3
Large Orchid: A5
Small Tulip: A2/2, range 2"
Large Tulip: A4/4, range 3"
A bed of Suffocating Orchids or Tulips cannot be destroyed. To avoid its affects maidens
have to stay away from the bed.
If a Stand starts its move on the bed it will be attacked immediately by the flowers.
Orchids can roll to follow up its hits and can destroy a Stand if it causes enough
hits.
Tulips can also shoot in the Shooting phase at all Stands that are in range of its
projectors.
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Creeping Vines
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Terrain: River, Forest, Jungle, brush
Creeping Vines are more insidious than other Arborians because they can move. At evening
a patch of ground may be clear, in the morning a mass of green vines will be spread
out over it with dozens of field rodents crushed in twisted embrace. The Vines are
more mobile if in a river being able to float with the current; many maidens have
been pulled to their dephts whilst bathing in what they believed were safe waters.
Small Vine: M3 A3 D3 H4
Large Vine: M3 A6 D3 H6
Creeping Vines can be pushed back only by melee, the chances of inflicting enough
damage with small headed arrows and stones is not great. If the Vine wins a Melee
it will roll to follow up. Instead of the Vine following up towards the loser, the
losing Stand is moved that many Base depths back towards the Vine.
The Vine moves as if it were an unhandled Monster.
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Fauna Rules
Fauna represents all dangerous creatures that roam the Tautha wild. Most of them
are native to the continent and have strong connection to the land's mana. Some are
foreign, brought in by the Tautha long ago, or more recently the Aryidannan tribes
whether they knew it or not.
Fauna are played just like Monsters except that they cannot be handled. They will
enter the Meadow from a table edge that does not belong to an army, or from a terrain
piece (the creature's sleep or feeding was disturbed). Assign a D6 value to each free
table edge and terrain feature; edges and features can be have more than one chance,
starting with the table edges.
Example: A Meadow has four edges, one the deployment zone of each army leaving
two, and two terrain features (a typical 2' x 2' Meadow) for four possibilities. Each
feature gets one chance (1-4 on the die) leaving two remainder. These two are allocated
to the table edges first taking up 5 and 6 on the die.
Fauna are deployed in the middle of the table edge or terrain feature after all player
armies have deployed and before the first movement phase. The player who does not
have the Rotating Initiative moves each creature before player Units according to
the Monster rules.
Creatures and Beasts
Name
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Effect
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Medusa
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Medusa are common to the Hellenas, the lands the Aryidannan came from. It is unknown
if the few that have been spotted were brought deliberately or accidently to the continent.
Quickly the Tautha have learnt to avoid the dangerous half-maiden half-serpant monsters.
A Medusa's gaze turns those who meet it to stone.
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Damsel
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Glam
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Notes
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Base
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Fig
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Medusa
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5
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2/2
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3
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2
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2
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Bow 18"
Petrify
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4 x 3
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1
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Medusa have Glamour and a cunning intelligence that allows them to Duel Heroines.
If a Heroine can be reached in its movement phase the Medusa will attack that Heroine
instead of moving like a Monster.
Petrify: The Medusa's gaze turns unfortunate damsels that meet it
to stone. If the Medusa wins a duel with a Heroine that Heroine is turned to stone
immediately, no matter how many Hits she would have left and is considered killed.
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Cerebus
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These three-headed hounds were introduced into the Tautha wild by an Aryiki Priestess
who owned a breeding pair as pets. The Priestess was killed in a Tautha raid and the
beasts escaped into the wild.
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Monster
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Glam
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Notes
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Base
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Fig
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Cerebus
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7
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*
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3
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3
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1
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R
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4 x 6
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1
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The Cerebus is treated differently to normal Stands; whilst it is a Monster it takes
Hits in the same way as a Heroine in a Duel. Each Hit it takes in Melee is permanently
removed. The Cerebus' A is double that of its H (each H is one of its heads).
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Small Creature
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There are scores of species of small creature that can become agressive and a capable
of harming a maiden, from wolves to spike-tailed reptiles. Profile values are rolled
when the creature is placed.
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Monster
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Glam
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Notes
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Base
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Fig
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Small Creature
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2 + D3
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D3
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2
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1
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0
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*
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4 x 3
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1
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* Tautha creatures have a strong affinity to the land they live in which is rich in
mana. Many have acquired some kind of ability that they use inherintly. Roll a D6
to see what ability the creature has if any.
Roll
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Result
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1-3
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No Power
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4
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Flight: The Stand can move over terrain or other Stands without penalty.
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5
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Slow: The nearest Unit suffers M-1.
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6
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Mana Sink: Any spell cast within the creatures M fails on a 4+.
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Large Creature
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Large creatures that roam the Tautha wilds are rightly feared by the Tautha and Aryidannan.
Giant Boars, Bears, and even more magical and dangerous beasts such as the Maw Beast
are not afraid of maidens and regularly approach their communities. Profile values
are rolled when the Creature is placed.
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Monster
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Glam
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Notes
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Base
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Fig
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Large Creature
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2 + D6
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2 + D3
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3
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1 + D3
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1
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*
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8 x 6
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1
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If the creature has M6 or more it gains the Mounted ability.
* Large Creatures are move likely to have an ability than the smaller ones. Roll a
D6 to see what ability the creature has.
Roll
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Result
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1
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Rush: The creature has the Rush ability.
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2
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Stubborn: The creature has the Stalwart ability
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3
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Foci: The Creature has a high density of mana that lets a Magi within the Creature's
M caost another spell on a 4+.
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4
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Mana Sink: Any spell cast within the creatures M fails on a 4+.
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5
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Darken: The air around the Creature becomes dark reducing a Stands A-1 if attacking
the creature in melee.
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6
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Blast: The creature has a magical ranged attack of A-/D3, 12". Roll the D3 each time
it attacks. The Creature attacks the closest Stand.
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Creature Pack
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Not all creatures hunt alone. Small and Large Creatures can travel in packs making
them even more deadly. Roll a D6 for the number of Small Creature Stands and D3 for
the number of large. All are deployed at the same location but will move and fight
separately. All Stands in the Pack have the same ability, if any.
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Rainbow Peacock
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The Rainbow Peacock was introduced to by the Tautha. As its name suggests it has rainbow
coloured plumage and feathers. The bird has taken to Tautha rapidly growing in number.
To the Tautha it is a protected animal and they will not harm it. If a Tautha Magi
is present they can try can coax it into releasing its mana.
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Monster
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M
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A
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D
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H
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Glam
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Notes
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Base
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Fig
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Rainbow Peacock
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4
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1
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1
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1
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2
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4 x 3
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1
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The Rainbow Peacock collects and stores mana. When it is 'full' it releases the mana
in a spectacular explosion of light. Each turn the Peacock's mana increases by 1,
starting at 0. The mana has a chance of releasing as soon as the Peacock has stored
4 mana. On a 5+ on a D6 the mana is relased as below. For every point above 4 the
chance is increased by 1.
Tautha Magi have been able to make the Peacock release the mana (4+ on a D6, counts
as casting a spell even if failed).
The release of mana has a radius equal to the number of mana the Peacock has stored.
Every Stand that is within the radius is attacked with an A equal to half (round up)
the number of mana.
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