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Super Beings in the T&T Universe: Part 4

Super Beings in the T&T Universe
by 'Mad' Roy Cram

Professor Whenn and Yorrdamma Vrash are doing research on entities of the Troll World that possess unusual or extraordinary talents and/or abilities which make them superior to ordinary beings. If anyone has comments or questions they may trollmail Yorrdamma Vrash via Trollhalla, who will be happy to respond to any inquiries.

Puma Woman: Hellcat

This is the sad tale of Katlin Kloot, a poor peasant woman whose village was overrun one night by a gang of Uruks and bandits and other scum. She saw her husband and children murdered and then was sexually abused and left for dead. She woke up in the hut of the old crone who lived nearby in the forest. As the hag tended her injuries, she asked Katlin three times what she most wanted, and three times the pain and grief crazed woman could only cry “Revenge! I want the monsters who killed my loved ones!” After the third request, the powerful old witch put the spirit of a female Puma that had been slain defending her cubs into Katlin, and transformed her into a shape changer who could take the form of a Puma at will. She immediately set out in pursuit of the villains who had done her wrong and hunted them down one by one. I will spare you the grisly details of their bitter demises.

Her village gone, and loved ones avenged, Katlin then went to the city to live. She works there in various menial jobs in taverns and inns to support herself. Though she has avenged her children and her husband, the angry spirit of the Puma inside her still demands blood. So, late at night, she again takes on her cat form and goes hunting for those who would harm others, especially the ones who abuse women and children.

Her depredations have put quite a damper on late night life in the town.

Katlin is about 5’ 10” and about 180 pounds. She has black hair and eyes. She is not unattractive, but cannot form new relationships for love or friendship for fear they will learn her secret. When she witnesses any act of cruelty or meanness against any innocent or helpless person, she must respond to the beast inside her and hunt down the person who committed that evil act. But she is very smart, and never takes any risks of exposing her Puma side to any person.

Her attribute stats are as follows:

               STR    CON    INT    WIZ    DEX    SPD    LCK    CHR   Combat adds

Human   15       20        14      14       12       12      18        11             9

Puma      45       60        14      14        3        36    18      terrifying      63

She attacks with teeth and claws and gets 7 dice plus adds in combat. Her Puma pelt takes 6 hits as armor. She heals her injuries at the rate of one point per hour of rest. If her CON is reduced to zero or less she will appear dead, but will regenerate unless her body is burned and the ashes are scattered.

The city authorities have offered a large reward for anyone who can hunt down and kill the Hellcat. If Katlin feels really threatened she will flee to the woods, where it will be much harder for her hunters to find her.

She does not work with anyone else. A lonely and sad woman, but a very dangerous one if provoked.

Copyright © 2012, 'Mad' Roy Cram
Artwork is free for use clip art

M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES #3

M'OSKQORRG'S ODDITIES
Discoveries from Time in Exile
by David Moskowitz

Little Known Dwarven Enchantements

Your father’s/mother’s an elf - in the days of the 500 year war, those words were grounds for a fatal duel amongst the dwarves. In the immediate generations following the 500-day celebration ending that war, war fatigue and frequent accuracy kept the brawling pretty much blood-free. But some members of both species never lost the taste for the exotic, and even dominant genetics purged the elvish looks from those of mixed blood, such heritage would reveal itself in the most un-Eleven of locales, the mines. The following spells were (mostly) designed to help them cope.

Casters with at least one-half dwarvish blood may reduce the INT and DEX requirements by 4 as well as the per-level WIZ cost by 2.  Others cast the spells with INT and DEX requirements of a level higher than the spell’s base, and +5 to the basic WIZ cost.

LEVEL 2
Rock Breaker [Combat]
WIZ Cost:  10
Range: Touch. Caster need not be using the tool, but if the user transfers the tool to another user the enchantment ends.
Duration: Eight hours or until the player wielding the tool stops using it--in combat or for mining—for more than 10 minutes (or transfers it as detailed above).
Power up? No.
Description: This enchants any pick, shovel, or hammer-type weapon to gain extra power on the down stroke/follow-through. In addition to making any mining activity 20% more productive, in combat, spite damage occur on any roll of 5 or 6. Additionally, all rolls of 6 will permanently reduce the opponent‘s armor effectiveness by one. (Adjudicate which piece according to relative heights of combatants).

LEVEL 3
Mask Enchantment [Cosmic]
WIZ Cost: 8
Range: That of the enchantment masked.
Duration: If a follow-up spell is not cast within 10 minutes, the protection fizzles, and the WIZ is lost. Otherwise, until the masked enchantment vanishes or the spell is negated. (See below for additional rules regarding negation and power ups).
Power up? Yes, see below:
Description: With the exception of elven heritage , nothing is more shameful than needing performance enhancing magics to perform basic dwarven tasks. If successfully cast, this spell will block the next enchantment cast from Detect Magic and Omnipotent Eye spells. Of course, it will not affect the basic senses, so if the user casts a Hellbomb Burst afterwards, only magic detection will be fooled as to the nature of the destruction.

If an Omnipotent Eye is cast directly at the object of enchantment, the Eye still reveals nothing, but the Mask vanishes. Every level higher level of the spell provides an additional layer of protection. So if a caster uses a fourth-level Mask (i.e. one above base), it will take two Omnipotent Eyes to make the enchantment vulnerable to magical detection.

Burning Beard [Conjuring]
WIZ cost: 8
Range: 20 feet.
Duration: Until the caster—who must be within range--cancels it, or the affected dwarf loses consciousness. (Prevents smoking-in-bed style accidents and is a sure-way of judging who loses a drinking contest.)
Power Up? No.
Description:  What was designed as a permanent and particularly nasty curse for a former lover of Lady S-- now survives in a more utilitarian form. The dwarf’s beard burns, giving off heat and light, but neither consumes the beard nor hurts the dwarf.  Keep in mind only extreme circumstances might cause a dwarf to cast this on himself—or others, for elven magic, if not quite taboo, is certainly gauche.


(Un)fairer Sharer [Conjuring]
WIZ Cost: 10
Range: 50 feet radius +25 per caster’s level.
Duration: Until cancelled or target goes out of sight or hearing range of the caster.
Power Up? Yes, details below:
Description: Designed for the mines but usable on fishing boats, in the fields come harvest time, or when diving into the kind of loot pile seen only in illustrations. This one gleans the wealth from other carts/baskets—spiriting away percentages of a particular element/food item from the target’s container to the caster’s. The base is 5% per hour, at the end of which the target makes a fourth-level saving roll on IQ to see if he notices the missing metal.

In terms of powering the spell up, for every additional level, the caster can:
1.    Add another target.
2.    Increase the gain from one target by 5%, also giving the target a +3 on the saving roll.
3.    Add two levels to any one target’s saving roll.
A wise caster will use these options to maximize gain, minimize risk.

A few notes:
1.    While multiple instances of the spell can co-exist, each must select a single targeted metal/food item.
2.    Because of the potential for taxation without notification and the resultant uprisings, most urban areas invest significant resources insuring the spell is neither cast, nor taught, nor learned.
3.    Accordingly, as severe as the punishment may be for using this spell, in the interest of maintaining civic order, making an unsupported accusation of its use should be a capital offense. (GM’s can adjudicate what defines sufficient support.)

{Thanks to Kopfy, Cartomancer, and the press agent of M’ozzesss for unknowingly providing inspiration. They are not to be held responsible for results of my research.}


Copyright © 2012, David Moskowitz
Artwork free for use clip art

Pocket Troll Logo Stuff Now Available!

Pocket Troll Microzine Golf Shirts, Buttons, and Stickers now available at the Troll Hammer Press Store:

http://www.cafepress.com/TrollHammerPress

Pocket Troll #0 Now Available!!!

I am happy to announce, Troll Hammer Press is finally open for business - Pocket Troll #0 is available at RPGNow:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product/102276/Pocket-Troll-%230?cPath=8673

I hope everyone enjoys it as much as I did putting it together. Will be announcing a Call for Submissions for Issue #1 really soon, so keep an eye right here on Troll Hammer.

This special 0 issue was an invitational issue, all the contributors are Trollhallans that were personally invited by me to contribute. I wanted to give a feel for the Microzine before I opened it to general submissions.

Contributors:

Jeff Freels (cover art)
Ken St. Andre
'Mad' Roy Cram
Mike Eidson
Tom K. Loney
Mark Evans
Dan Hembree
Paul Ingrassia

Included are two booklets, Issue 0a (articles) and 0b (a complete T&T solo), and each booklet comes in two formats: a pocket-sized booklet that prints on a single page, and a traditional full-sized pdf, all included for one download price!

Tunnels & Trolls written by Ken St. Andre. Tunnels & Trolls and T&T are trademarks of Flying Buffalo Inc. and are used with permission.

Super Beings in the T&T Universe: Part 3

Super Beings in the T&T Universe
by 'Mad' Roy Cram

Professor Whenn and Yorrdamma Vrash are doing research on entities of the Troll World that possess unusual or extraordinary talents and/or abilities which make them superior to ordinary beings. If anyone has comments or questions they may trollmail Yorrdamma Vrash via Trollhalla, who will be happy to respond to any inquiries.

Manbat

At night, in the skies above the city, flies a dark, mysterious figure. Seldom seen, he is a presence felt by those who go about the alleys and back ways of the town on errands of evil or injustice. He is the Manbat, and he hates that men should commit crime and inflict injury on their fellows without good cause. Many a thief or mugger has come to harm at his hands, and their activities have declined since he began his silent patrols. He has left many of them unconscious in the streets for the Watch to arrest. The Thieve’s Guild has offered a reward for anyone who can help rid them of this gadfly, but so far none have been able to learn his secrets or stop him.

Years ago, in a land far away, a bad Wizard was obsessed with bats, and labored to create a race of batmen who would serve him. He managed to create a race of creatures that could change into a manbat, with wings and arms and bat senses. A rival wizard hired a group of heroes to put an end to his works and kill the creatures, but one of the youngest escaped and fled. This poor creature was not evil by nature, and took up refuge in the ruins of an old church near an abbey. He was found there by a kindly monk who tended to him and taught him, and eventually brought him into the monastic brotherhood. Now, when in his human form, Brazi Tadani (for so the brothers named him) had a large hump on his upper back. And at night he would sneak out and change and fly, for he loved the freedom and joy of it. Alas, some of the brothers that did not like him spied on him, and discovered his secret, so he was once again compelled to flee. But now he knew how to behave as a man, and he could read and write. So he came to the city, where he found work as an animal handler in the stables of the Carter’s union, and often drove a cart for them himself. When local criminals and gangsters began to shake down the Guild for ‘protection’ money, Brazi was outraged and began to strike back at the villains in his Manbat form. He lives alone in a high tower on a hill in the city, and can fly from and return there with little risk of being seen.

His attributes are as follows:


Human
STR 18
CON 15
INT 16
WIZ 22
DEX 22
SPD 12
LCK 21
CHR 7
Adds 25

Manbat
STR 36
CON 30
INT 16
WIZ 22
DEX 22
SPD 24
LCK 21
CHR 6
Adds 45


He has extremely good hearing and sight (+6 in Manbat form). With his bat sonar, he is capable of echolocation in the dark. He can summon and control bats to help him. His tough bat hide is equal to leather armor (takes 5 hits) and he wears a leather vest and cowl which give him 5 extra points protection. If injured he heals at the rate of one point per hour of rest. He is an excellent flier, and very quiet on the wing, unless he is in a big hurry. As Manbat his head becomes like the head of a large bat. The cowl lets his ears stick out as to not interfere with his hearing. When he changes, his hump becomes an impressive set of leathery bat wings. He fights with a pair of 2 dice Brass Knuckles on each fist and also batters foes with his tough wings which get 3 dice each. If he rolls 4 or more sixes, he has used the claws on his feet to rip the target, and gets to roll the sixes again and add them to his combat total. He has a natural Fly Me spell which helps him carry a man sized load (he often drops criminals in the courtyard of the City Watch building). He gets surprise on most targets on a die roll of D6: 1-5, and carefully chooses good opportunities to strike from above. In his human form he looks like a thin, 6’ 6” man with a large hunchback. He is not pretty to look at, and he has few if any friends. He truly loves his animals and takes excellent care of them (+5 Animal Handling). He can change to Manbat form and back easily at no Wiz cost. Other Supers know him and he sometimes will work with them to help if he can, but he prefers to work alone.

Other GM’s may like to play him as a bad Super, but I like to pit him against the characters who enjoy playing monsters or thieves. Or he can be added to a group of Supers who are fighting some unusual foes.

Copyright © 2012, 'Mad' Roy Cram

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OK, Troll Hammer logo black t-shirts, stickers, buttons, and, of course, shot glasses, beer glasses and steins now added!

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Help support and promote Troll Hammer Press!

Troll Hammer Press Logo Shirts

Troll Hammer Press logo shirts are available now at Cafe Press! Help support future projects at Troll Hammer by purchasing your shirt today. Logo on front, web address on back. Troll Hammer logo designed by Jeff Freels.

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