Rotvalan Reveries Prep-As-Practice Vol 2: Special Abilities (Infusions)

Volume 2

Foreword

In the previous volume, I talked a bit about creating the Feuckos for Wendyl the Mad. I’ve had some time to think over it and ask questions within the Autarch Discord. I learned that a lack of Man-Sized cavalry was an intentional design choice for (reasons above my pay grade). As a result, I went ahead and calculated the Fuecko Riders as Cavalry with a note that the creatures are rare enough that it would be difficult to fill out a full company of 120. To reiterate:

Fuecko Rider (Leather, Sling, Spear, 3 Javelins, Fuecko) (IndBR: 0.125, wage 75gp, Unit BR: 7.5)

Fuecko (As Giant Gecko except: HD 3, AC 2, Lob [30ft, 3d4 extraordinary fire, ignites flammables, save for half], Load: 7st, Trained Value: 900, IndBR: 0.0375)

A portmanteau of Fuego and Gecko, these 6-legged creatures serve as evidence of the chaos of wild magic and breaches of the veil. Fueckos are typically deep reds with orange to yellow mottling and prefer hotter habitats. They are reported to be a common sight around places infused with Elemental Fire. Fueckos can lob a ball of molten goo at a target within 15' that deals 3d4 extraordinary fire damage and ignites flammables (save for half). Being creatures touched by the veil, they are immune to mundane cold, as well as mundane and extraordinary fire damage.

Alex made sure to scold remind me that he intended for people to build with the basic blocks before jumping too far into the deep end. My players do not get such memos.

A Step Toward the Fanatics

My goal following the headache that was the Fuecko Rider was to sort out Wendyl’s supply line. What can the Kobold Fanatics actually use and how much damage did it do? After some advice from Helgeran on the discord, I discovered that Guns of War had an option for Alchemical Gunpowder. Shortly after, petards were mentioned. It looks like the Revised Rulebook already had a framework for me. Turns out so did the Monstrous Manual.

At the end of the Beastmen entry is a section called Beastman, Special Rules. It includes information regarding command structures, special troops, and even tribal traits. Among the special troops are, you guessed it, Sappers! I did a bit of back and forth to calculate the costs (stealing the cheaper alchemical gunpowder) and bam! Fanatics got the bada boom.

Diablo’s Kiss (450gp, 10ft, 2d4+2 fire damage, 1 st; see petard rules for ignition)(GM Note: Wendyl’s Fanatics are siege engineers now!)

With Wendyl’s major hurdles cleared, and the realization that special troops for beastmen exist, it got me thinking about the Special Abilities back in the Monster Creation section. This kickstarted my thoughts on a particular subject of the world that I’d included in the past, but never properly simulated: Infusions.

Infusions

As you can tell from the Fuecko description, ambient magic can infuse and mutate creatures. Since I failed to “just tack on powers” last time, what if I tried making templates? Let’s start with a plan. First, there should be some odds of animals encountered being Infused; higher odds in the wilds than in civilization. The next consideration are themes. I imagine some will be as simple as Elemental, perhaps with resistances or specific attacks/breath weapons (like the Fuecko). Special abilities increase XP value which also means potential component increases. We’ll start off with one * and see what we get from there.

Of course, this begs the question: Why not just roll on the table randomly? Many abilities have # values (8 of which become a *) and a list of sub-options. My goal is to trim this down into a refined table for use during play, and possibly to tailor some to my own setting or other fun themes.

Ambient magic flows through the wilds of Salkana; birthing fae, corrupting the hearts of men, and powering dark rituals. On occasion, a confluence of wild magic is even powerful enough to mutate the local fauna. Such creatures bear supernatural powers beyond their kin, and are referred to as Infused. When encountering animals in Unsettled territory, there is a 5% chance that one or more of the creatures are Infused (Judge's discretion). This chance lowers to 3% in Outlands and 1% in Borderlands territories. There is no chance of Infusions in Civilized lands as Law reigns supreme.

Infused creatures gain one of the following templates (*) and increase their XP value accordingly (MM XP Table Pg 395). They also gain a special component equal to the value of the bonus XP: Acacia's Tears (1st/60gp value)(Incite Madness, Contact Other Sphere, Dispel Magic, True Seeing). Finally, they count as Enchanted for purposes of Holy Circle or similar effects.

Glancing at the special components, it appears that higher HD creatures favor higher level spells for their components. Unsure if it’s a hard rule or part of the ACKS cosmology. Worse to worst, we can create some custom spells or downgrade the ones we have.

Next is sorting out the table. To start, let’s save ourselves a bit of work and steal some of the premade options in the MM: Acid, Aura, Dreadful, Enslave, Horrific, Incorporeal, Invisibility, Magic Resistance, Poison, Paralysis, Regeneration, Terrifying. Wow, there’s a lot more than I expected! ACKS certainly already does that! I could simply map those to a d12 and be done, but that sort of destroys the point of the exercise. How about half: Acid, Enslave, Incorporeal, Invisibility, Paralysis, Terrifying.

With the remaining 6 slots, I’d like something that can: Fly, Mutate (itself or others), Blink/Teleport, be obnoxious (Immunity vs Mundane/Physical?), be a distraction/hazard (illusions?), and be a boon. Fly is 4# and could use another effect to bump it up. Incorporeal is already Immune vs Mundane so let’s use vs Physical for the obnoxious. The Boon I’m thinking should be panacea as a reference to a variety of real-world analogues. Mutate is a toughy; could be a superboss type with big damage or a silly thing that turns you into a newt (or a girl). The latter sounds more whimsical, maybe use Curse of the Swine. Teleport will suit in making anything a Blink Dog (or whatever ACKS calls it). Finally, Distraction/Hazard. Looking over illusion spells, Illusory Terrain has some potential: the Infused Vulture covers the ledge of a cliff and waits for prey to fall to its death!

Roll	Infusion
1	Wildling Corruption: The monster’s attacks destroy non-magical armor or clothing on a successful hit. A non-magical weapon that strikes the monster dissolves immediately after dealing damage. Magical weapons and armor are allowed a saving throw using the wearer’s Death save, adding any magical bonus to the roll if applicable.
2	Glitterwings: The monster is capable of flying at an exploration speed equal to twice its land speed. If it already flies, it becomes capable of making dive attacks that deal double damage. If a dive hits a victim smaller than itself, it grabs and carries him off, unless the victim makes a successful size-adjusted Paralysis save. The monster also gains Incite Madness 3/day as a spell-like ability.
3	Acacia’s Gaze: The monster can enslave victims to its will 3/day or by gaze. The target must succeed on a Spells save or be enslaved to the monster. If the monster has 3 HD or less, the save is at +2. If the monster has 9 HD or more, the save is at -2.
4	Fleshwarp: The monster gains Curse of the Boar 3/day as a spell-like ability.
5	Wraithborn: The monster is formless, weightless, and unable to interact with physical objects except through its attacks or special abilities (which may become cold or necrotic). It becomes immune to mundane damage. However, if an incorporeal monster has 4 HD or less, it considers damage dealt by silver weapons to be extraordinary damage.
6	Radiant: The monster glows as if enchanted with Illumination (15’ bright, 30’ dim). If threatened, it emits a burst of Blinding Light: 20’ radius sphere, Save vs Blast, Blinded for 1/rnd per level on failure.
7	Trickster’s Glamour: The monster is naturally invisible. It may act freely, including attacking, without becoming visible.
8	Steelhide: The monster gains immunity to physical damage.
9	Walker’s Touch: Victims of the monster’s primary attack(s) must succeed on Paralysis saves or be paralyzed. Roll 1d6: 1-2, paralysis lasts for 1d10 rounds; 3-6, paralysis lasts for 2d4 turns.
10	Enshroud: The monster gains Illusory Terrain 3/day as a spell-like ability.
11	Banshee’s Wail: The monster can cause panic and terror by taking a combat action. The area of effect is 100 square feet per HD. Each affected creature must succeed on a Paralysis save or become frightened. Creatures with class level or HD of 1/2 the monster’s HD or less falter even if the save succeeds.
12	Panacea: Once per season, this monster’s touch can cleanse a creature of poison, disease, blindness, and if lucky, a curse.

Builds

Radiant: Illumination (Esoteric, Lv1 spell, permanent) + Blast, Arcane (x1), Blindness (15), Range 0 (x0.4), 1 round/lvl (x4), 20’ diameter sphere (x2), Target must behold (x0.75), Save avoids effect (x0.5)

Panacea: Healing, Divine (x1), Curse Curse, Blindness, Disease, Poison (125), Touch (x1), Instant (x1), 1 Creature (x1), Beneficial (x1) | By the JJ’s number, this ends up in the Ritual Spell range (“Lv12” or so), with the MM ability adjustment for 1/season, we can more or less ignore the weirdness.

Veilstrider: The monster may use its Movement Action to teleport up to 60’. After attacking, it may teleport 1d4x10’. The monster cannot teleport into an occupied space. (There isn’t a procedure for mathing this out so it’s off the list for now.)