Bestiary

The Bestiary containes a listing of both monsters (suitable as antagonists) and other creatures of Sun Keld, including domestic aniamls and plant life. It is by no means exhaustive, there are countless forms of life in the Poison Jungles and plenty of room for you to add your own creatures if you wish.

The Bestiary is ordered alphabetically, and you can click on any of the quick links above to jump to that bestiary section. You can also search the Bestiary by keyword, and you my find the following quick links useful.

Keywords

The following Keywords have special meanings.

Demon

A creature summoned by some power (usually a spell) from beyond the world. Demons slain on Sun Keld are often merely sent back to their own realm, rather than being really destroyed. Demons are subject to being forced back to their own realms by magic, or by the ending of the spell that brought them.

Flying

A creature capable of flight. Most flying creatures can fly at will, and for long periods. They can leave combat by flying without taking the normal penalty for retreat, and will gain height at their Agility + Move per combat round. Most flying creatures cannot carry a load greater than 1/2 their Physical while flying.

Hunted

A creature with the Hunted keyword is one that Keldians hunt for food with some regularity. Some Hunted creatures are also domesticated, living both in managed flocks and wild in the landscape.

Naga

Keldian sages are unclear whether Naga are creatures of Flesh or Clay. They can be injured by conventional weapons, but reform after their deaths unharmed. Naga sometimes avoid attacking Stonetalkers, but this is not an absolute.

Pack

A creature normally encountered in a pack. The stats supplied are for an individual creature, but the level rating indicates the challenge of a typical pack.

Spirit

A creature of Spirit, rather than Clay. Unless noted otherwise Spirit creatures are immaterial, and cannot be injured by mundane weapons. Only spells, the attacks of Spirit creatures, or weapons with the Sacred trait, can injure them. Spirit creatures that can directly affect physical things can be injured, while those that cannot (like ghosts) are immune to all effects not speicifally stated to damage them.

Swarm

A swarm of many smaller individuals that attack as a mass. Significant damage can generally only be caused by area attacks, such as flame, individual weapon hits cause at most one damage. Damage caused to a swarm kills one or more individuals (it might kill one bird, or a dozen ants), but leaves most alive. Most swarms will disperse when they reach 0 Health, although many members will likely still remain.

Undead

A creature that was once alive, but now exists after death as a remnant of it's former self. Undead creatures do not need to breathe, eat or drink, and are unaffected by adverse weather conditions. They are immune to poison, sleep, and most Presence based effects. Undead creatures are averse to the light of the sun. Most cannot venture into the Drylands without some sort of anchor to their physical selves (like their bones).

Monster Behaviour

The Bestiary gives a rough guide to the behaviour of each creature (grumpy, hostile, voracious), but if you want more guidelines you then following attributes should give a good guide: Intelligence (Int), Presence (Pre), Spirit (Sp) and Ferocity (Fer).

Creatures with intelligence scores of 2 or less act on instinct only and do not reason about novel situations. They are easy to trap, mislead, or herd. They do not, however, respond to intimidation, or threats, and will continue to follow their desires unless confronted by obvious danger. Creatures with intelligence scores of 8 or more are self aware and capable of complex reasoning. They can plan ambushes, set traps, recognise danger, and (depending on temperament) be reasoned with. Creatures with intelligence in-between may or many not act with cunning. The higher the intelligence the more they are capable of planning and executing. Many creatures with intelligence of 10 or more speak some sort of langauge.

Creatures with low spirit are nervous, and easily spooked. They may (depending on Ferocity) react to danger with aggression or fear, but they are more likely to react. Loud noises, fire, sudden movements, and the like, may startled them. Creatures with high spirit are much more stalwart. If they are inclined to be passive then it takes far more to disturb them, wheras if they are inclined to be aggressive then it requires much more to scare them off. If you wish to scare an animal off mid-attack then they resist with Spirit + Ferocity. On the other hand if you wish to goad an animal into attacking then they resist with Spirit - Ferocity.

Creatures with high presence are striking. They may be intimidating, cute, entrancing, or winning, depending on their temperament. If you wish to see if someone is unnerved or terrifed of a creature then you can treat it as inflicting Fear = Presence Bonus + Physical Bonus + Level + Ferocity. Creatures with low presence are easy to ignore, or not particularly likeable, even if they happen to be intelligent enough to communicate with.

Creatures with low Ferocity will tend to avoid danger if they can, striking out only if cornered. Creatures with 0 Ferocity will almost never attack. Creatures with high ferocity are quick to attack, agressive, and usually predatory. They will readily initate attack, and are more likely to stay in combat despite injury. Use Ferocity like a skill, in combination with Int, Pre and Sp to resist attempts to manipulate, train or scare off the creature. Note that creatures with Keldian levels of intelligence, spirit and presence, do not usually have a Ferocity score.