Bestiary

Monster creation in Tavern Tales follows this basic formula: Size + Difficulty + Identity

Size

Size determines how big the monster is. Ultimately, it’s up to you to decide how large you want your monster to be. The general rule of thumb is that big monsters should be strong and small monsters should be weak, but you can break this rule whenever you think it’s appropriate.

Difficulty

The difficulty is a measure of the monster’s power. Difficulty is perhaps the most important factor in monster creation because it determines how lethal an encounter will be. Fodder will hardly pose any threat at all to adventurers, whereas bosses are brutal killing machines that could potentially slaughter an entire adventuring group.

Fodder

You are at the mercy of adventurers.

• Stats: Total net bonus of +0, Maximum stat bonus of +1 (Ex: +1, +1, 0, -2)
• Combat: 0-1 damage die, 1 life, 0 block, bolster for 1 advantage

Minion

You are easy prey.

• Stats: Total net bonus of +2, Maximum stat bonus of +2 (Ex: +2, +1, 0, -1)
• Combat: 1 damage die, 20 life, 1 block, bolster for 1 advantage

Adversary

You are about as strong as an adventurer.

• Stats: Total net bonus of +5, Maximum stat bonus of +3 (Ex: +3, +2, +1, -1)
• Combat: 1 damage die, 40 life, 2 block, bolster for 1 advantage

Nemesis

You are much stronger than average.

• Stats: Total net bonus of +7, Maximum stat bonus of +4 (Ex: +4, +3, +1, -1)
• Combat: 2 damage die, 80 life, 4 block, bolster for 2 advantage

Boss

You can probably slaughter an entire adventuring group.

• Stats: Total net bonus of +9, Maximum stat bonus of +5 (Ex: +5, +3, +2, -1)
• Combat: 3 damage die, 150 life, 6 block, bolster for 3 advantage

Identity

The monster’s identity determines what the monster is and what it does. Is it a fire-breathing dragon? A web-spinning spider? The lore explains the monster’s history, appearance, behavior, and traits. Find a list of monster identities below.

Each monster has a list of suggested traits. The name of the trait is listed at the end of the description, followed by an abbreviation of the trait’s theme. A “+” in front of the trait name indicates that it has been upgraded. For example, “(++Flight, EL)” means that the trait is Flight from the Elements theme, and it has been upgraded twice. A trait with a “-“ in front of it means that the trait is weaker than normal, typically for thematic reasons. “(Custom)” indicates that the monster has a unique trait that doesn’t exist in any of the themes.

Alchemy

Burst Beetles

Black chitin, bulbous translucent abdomen filled with glowing liquid, buzzing wings.

Instinct: Eat leaves, gather with other burst beetles, dwell in caves and forests.

Contain a random potion in your glowing abdomen (+Any Alchemy trait, AL).

• Warm colors (red, orange, yellow): Helpful chemicals such as healing potions and panaceas.
• Cool colors (green, blue, purple): Harmful chemicals such as poisons and acids.
• Neutral colors: brown, white, black): Chemicals that are neither harmful nor helpful, such as glue or alcohol.

Climb trees with sticky feet (Wall Climbing, BE).

Fly short distances on gossamer wings (Flight, EL).

Homonculous

Lore: Homunculi are creatures given life through alchemical experimentation. Potions course their veins and fumes boil in their lungs.

Description: Chemical-stained pale skin, glowing blue-green veins, fumes billow from its mouth, burning eyes.

Instinct: Obey the master, consume alchemical reagents and potions.

• Explode on death, maybe (25% chance); deal melee damage in a blast with +2 damage die (Custom).
• Spew toxic fumes in a cone that last for several minutes. Bolster. The fumes block vision; other creatures that breathe it bleed (+Smokescreen, DR).
• Spill acidic or poisonous blood on melee attackers to deal one-tenth of your maximum life, ignoring block (Thorns, NA).
• Leave a harvestable corpse filled with 1d6 random potions (Custom).

Lab Rat

Lore: Not only do rats make great test subjects, but wild rats also have a nasty habit of feasting on chemical waste.

Description: Wiry fur, pink paws and tail, long front teeth, sickly glowing eyes, squeaking and skittering.

Instinct: Scavenge for scraps, eat smaller creatures, run and hide, stay in dark places and burrows, travel in groups.

• Burrow slowly through soil and wood (Burrow, BE).
• Exhibit bizarre properties: flickering invisibility, spontaneous combustion, acidic saliva, etc (Any random trait)

Ooze

Lore: These amorphous blobs are essentially oversized amoeba. They indiscriminately absorb all biological material–living or dead.

Description: Amorphous blue-green blob, acrid scent, sloshing sound, holds partially dissolved corpses.

Instinct: Absorb biomass, stay cool and wet.

• Consume a smaller creature; deal melee damage and suck them into your body. Deal melee damage to them every round; they roll +1 damage die when attacking you (Envelop, BE).
• Dissolve armor with attacks that shatter (+Dismantle, AT).
• Move slowly and without any semblance of strategy (Custom).
• Reconstitute several hours later after being slain, unless you’re in extreme cold (Undying, UN).
• Resist acid and poison because you are acid and poison (Custom).
• Weak to cold, maimed as huge chunks are frozen off (Custom).

Pocean

Lore: Dumping chemicals into natural bodies of water often results in the formation of poceans, gelatinous creatures with terrible stinging tentacles.

Description: Translucent blob, glows with bioluminescent blue-green energy, floats serenely, long hair-thin tentacles.

Instinct: Float, sting and consume prey, lash prey.

• Breathe water with alchemy-infused gills (Water Breathing, EL).
• Sting with venom-barbed tentacles, stunning for 1 turn (this part is resisting) and inflicting bleed (+Pressure Point, MA)
• Leave a harvestable corpse that produces 1d6 poisons (Custom).

Poison Dart Frog

Lore: These frogs secrete deadly toxins from their skins as a defense mechanism. Their brightly-colored skin sends a clear warning to predators: take a bite at your own peril. As a result of having no natural predators, these frogs evolved to their currently massive size.

Description: Bright neon skin, bulbous eyes, flat-toed feet, resonant croaks.

Instinct: Gobble up prey, stay warm and wet, use your poison to fend off predators

• Climb on trees with sticky feet (Wall Climbing, BE).
• Leap great distances (Leaping Tiger, MA).
• Inflict poison on a touch: deadly poison, paralytic poison, or sleeping poison. You’re also immune to poison (Toxic, AL).
• Leave a harvestable corpse that produces 1d6 doses of poison (Custom).
• Swallow smaller creatures; deal melee damage and suck them into your body. Deal melee damage to them every round; they roll +1 damage die when attacking you (Envelop, BE).

The Thing in the Tube

Lore: “Hey, guys, uh… Wasn’t there some sort of creature floating in this tube earlier?”

Description: Hideous reptile-mammal-fish hybrid, clawed hands, webbed spines, covered in mucus, soulless black eyes.

Instinct: Lurk in the shadows, ambush solitary prey, feast on fresh meat, leave behind creepy signs (slime, egg sacks, blood-drained rodents, etc).

• Climb on walls with thick claw-hands (Wall Climbing, BE)
• Shoot neurotoxin spines; deal ranged damage and put the target into a coma over the course of a minute or so. This is a disease. Use only once (+Pestilence, UN).
• Spew acid, dealing ranged damage with +2 damage die, shattering armor,
• and dissolving anything the attack touches. Use only once (++Dismantle, AT).
• Vanish by disappearing through an impossibly narrow crack, vent, or burrow (Escape Route, TH).

Arcane

Astral Watcher

Lore: These hounds treat the very universe as their territory, which they protect fiercely. They relentlessly track down anyone who disturbs the fabric of reality. Some say that the watchers serve a houndmaster, but who can be certain?

Description: Shaped like a wolf, otherworldly hide resembles the night sky, eyes glow like burning stars, spinning galaxy in its gullet

Instinct: Sniff out spacial anomalies and those who caused them, consume any who disturb the fabric of reality.

• Appear suddenly out of a starry portal once every couple of minutes (Blink, AC).
• Explode on death in a temporary black hole that sucks in nearby things, casting them into the Void. Creatures have 1 chance to avoid being sucked in–whatever that entails (Custom).
• Howl at the stars, dispelling and suppressing all magic within a far distance for about 1 minute (Custom).

Familiar

Lore: Many wizards like to keep familiars to serve as lab assistants, minions, or simply as a companion. Familiars are typically no more powerful than a house cat, but some wizards find way to magically empower their familiars to turn them into fierce watch beasts.

Description: Resembles an animal, runic symbols glow across its skin, intense blue eyes

Instinct: Obey and protect the master, delight in magic and the arcane, collect obscure knowledge, spy on the master’s enemies

• Blink away, teleporting to a lair or back to the master (Blink, AC).
• Cast spells that your master knows (Familiar, AC).
• Claw or bite to deal damage and inflict bleed (Rend, BE).

Spellshard

Lore: Spellshards are physical manifestations of magic that spontaneously appear when magic goes terribly awry.

Description: Floating crystal, glows with inner light, diverse colors, emits a ringing chime.

Instinct: Feed on magic, fuse with other spellshards to grow in size and power, seek places of power, spread the magic that created it.

• Absorb magic to gain life equal to however much damage the magic attack would have dealt (Custom).
• Consume enemies’ buffs; bolster and permanently gain +1 damage die (+Spell Swap, AC).
• Fly on unseen magical currents (+Flight, EL).
• Weak to blunt force, take an extra +2 damage die (Custom).

Wizard

Lore: Arcanists typically seek knowledge as a form of power or enlightenment.

Description: Tidy clothes, long robe, dignified look, carries a staff or tome, grey beard.

Instinct: Listen to reason, seek arcane mysteries, think first and act later, experiment with magic.

• Cast explosive magic that deals ranged damages in a blast (Evoker, AC).
• Teleport to magic circles inscribed elsewhere (Blink, AC).
• Summon a familiar that spies on others with bright, intelligent eyes (Familiar, AC).

Beast

Manticore

Lore: Body and head of a lion, bull-like horns, tawny fur, tail lined with countless barbs, great bat wings.

Instinct: Find a mate, hunt with your mate, protect your nest, carry fresh meat back to your ever-hungry young.

• Fly on tawny wings for brief periods (Flight, EL).
• Grab a smaller creature in your claws on a melee attack, then drop it from a dangerous height in a few rounds. (-Grappler, MA).
• Sting with a barbed tail to inflict bleed and blurred vision (decrease ranged attack rolls). Spending 1 advantage removes the barb (bleed). Spending another advantage overcomes the poison (decreased rolls). You are immune to poison (Toxic, AL).
• Swipe creatures in front of you, dealing melee damage (Cleave, WA).

Saurex

Lore: The saurex, whose name means “Lizard King” in the old tongue, is a primordial creature that has hunted through the jungles since the dawn of time.

Description: Thick leathery hide, teeth as sharp as spears, stands on two legs, rumbling ground, roar in the distance, cracking trees and frightened birds, criss-crossed scars.

Instinct: Eat! Crush! Bite! Stomp! Roar!

• Bite with crushing power to shatter your target (+Dismantle, AT).
• Demolish everything in your way (+Devastate, SA).
• Ignore debuffs because you’re too ferocious to stop (+Unchained, Unbroken, SA).
• Overlook stationary creatures due to poor eyesight (Custom).
• Trample smaller creatures when you move to deal melee damage to them (+Trample, BE).

Spider

Lore: Spiders lurk in the dark corners of the world, spinning webs to trap unsuspecting prey. They are patient and devious, preferring ambushes and traps over direct confrontations.

Description: Glossy black carapace, long legs, eight red eyes, fangs dripping with venom, pulsating spinneret.

Instinct: Spin webs, hide in wait, attack unwary prey, slink away into the shadows, climb walls for better vantage points.

• Climb walls on spindly legs and descend from strands of sticky silk (Wall Climbing, BE).
• Inject venom on a bite that gradually puts the victim to sleep over the course of about 1 minute. Spend 1 advantage to shake it off (+Sleep, AC).
• Spin webs to create lairs (Spin Web, BE).
• Spray webbing in blast, dealing ranged damage and making targets stuck (+Entangling Roots, NA).

Bardic Lore

Bard

Lore: Bards are lovers, not fighters. If a scuffle breaks out, they generally prefer to encourage their allies from the back line and slink away at the first sign of genuine danger.

Description: A wink and a smile, feathered hat, fine clothes, neatly trimmed goatee or beautiful sweeping hair, a musical instrument

Instinct: Put yourself in exciting situations, tell outlandish stories, flirt with attractive people, take all the credit, tell a joke.

• Know “an old friend” who owes you a favor wherever you go (Small World, BL).
• Sing an inspiring song that causes allies who hear it to roll +1 damage die for as long as you continue to sing (Performance, BL).
• Unleash a sound blast that stuns creatures in a cone for 1 round, and deafens them for 1 day. Resisting (Sound Wave, BL).

Pirate

Lore: Pirates sail the high seas in search of booty. They range from mostly-harmless thieves to brutal murderers.

Description: Oily beard, leathery skin, lightly armored, stinks like dead fish, missing teeth and appendages, yellow teeth

Instinct: Find and then bury treasure, sail the seas, prove your strength, drink rum, bet and gamble.

• Climb on rigging without needing to roll (-Wall Climbing, BE).
• Hold breath for up to 5 minutes (-Centered Breath, MA).
• Pull out a hidden pistol and fire off a single shot at +2 damage die (Black Arrow, TK)
• Slash with a sword to inflict bleed (-Rend, BE).

Satyr

Lore: Half goat and half man, satyrs embody hedonistic revelry. They exist only to drink, sing, and mate with beautiful partners.

Description: Goat legs, upper half of a gorgeous human, spiral horns sprout from the forehead, a charming smile, ruddy cheeks.

Instinct: Drink, sing, and fuck.

• Headbutt with horns, knocking the wind out of the target and stunning them for 1 turn. Use only once (Pressure Point, MA).
• Play enchanted music that confuses those who listen, causing them to act erratically and impulsively (+Confusion, PS).

Command

General

Lore: Generals are combat veterans who lead troops across the battlefield. Generals are often considerably less capable fighters than the troops they command, but they more than make up for it with willpower and strategy.

Description: Ornamental armor, badges dangle from polished armor, symbol emblazoned on a shield, neatly groomed, stern and dour expression, sheathed sword dangling from the hip.

Instinct: Lead troops, command others, study enemy movements, keep a retinue of advisors.

• “Keep fighting!” or shout other encouragements; an ally gains soak equal to their toughness instead of being defeated and gains a free turn. Use only once (Do Not Falter!, CO).
• Rally troops to your side. Those who reach you have +5 block for as long as they’re next to you (+Rally, CO).
• Shout battle orders to bolster an ally and give them +1 damage die for the rest of this combat (+Inspire, CO).

Hive Queen

Lore: These powerful hive matriarchs control their offspring with powerful telepathic commands.

Description: Distended abdoment thick with eggs, regal and terrifying, cause a buzzing noise between your ears.

Instinct: Lay eggs, expand and protect the hive, look for threats and efficiently destroy them.

• Control a lesser creature’s mind for a brief period. Use only once. (Dominate, PS).
• Look through your offsprings’ eyes, whenever you want (+Eyes of the Beast, BE).
• Send telepathic commands to your offspring, or communicate with creatures in your territory (+Telepathy, PS).
• Unleash a psychic wave, bolster and push all close creatures away from you up to a far distance. Then, immobilize them. Resisting (+Force Wave, PS).

Hive Warrior

Lore: Hive warriors exist for one purpose and one purpose alone: protect the hive.

Description: Thick natural armor, sharp spikes and claws, ear-splitting chittering.

Instinct: Patrol the hive grounds, protect your hive and your queen, obliterative rival hives.

• Block an attack with your thick armor plating (Perfect Defense, WA).
• Climb walls with grasping claws (Wall Climbing, BE).
• Emit ear-splitting chittering to stun all close creatures for 1 turn and deafen them for about 1 hour. Resisting (Custom).
• Fling a creature away, dealing melee damage and sending it up to a midrange distance away (-Meteor Fist, MA).
• Slash at two creatures when you attack, dealing melee damage to each (-Cleave, MA).

Dragon

Faerie Dragon

Lore: These good-natured tricksters delight in pulling pranks on unwary travelers. That wouldn’t be so bad if not for the fact that their skewed view of reality often leaves their prank victims wounded, hopefully lost in the wilderness, or dead.

Description: Scales with scintillating colors, draconic body, butterfly-like wings, mischievious eyes, sparkling glitter, child-like giggle

Instinct: Eat tasty bugs, play with new friends, make silly jokes and pranks, ignore rules and demands

• Fly on butterfly wings, leaving an obvious trail of glitterdust (Flight, EL)
• Make people forget things or do things they wouldn’t normally do by sprinkling them with your wing’s glitter dust (Lobotomize + Suggestion, PS).
• Shapeshift into critters or children to play funny jokes (-Shapeshift, TF).
• Vanish in a flash of glitter if people get upset at a prank (+Invisibility, AC).

Qilin

Lore: Qilin are pseudo-mystical creatures with myserious, often benevolent purposes. They appear during times of great strive and serve as guides, mounts, or guardians for the worthy.

Description: STriking hybrid of dragon and stag, draconic scales, pointed stag antlers

Instinct: Seek those who are worthy and serve them, protect those destined for greatness, provide sage council.

• Gore enemies on your antlers: deal melee damage and knock them back up to a close distance. Then, they bleed and they’re stuck. (Custom).
• Know the future, but only share your wisdom cryptically (Foresight, PS).
• Run at great speeds, like a horse (Cheetah’s Swiftness, BE).

Faith

Angel

Lore: Angels are servants of the gods, sent to fulfill their divine orders with uncompromizing zealotry. Not all angels are benevolent–many come to cast wrathful judgment, and angels of evil gods can be truly terrifying to behold.

Description: Resemble their god, feathered wings, beautiful armor, halo of light

Instinct: Serve your god or goddess, seek fellow worshipers and reward them with gifts or service, judge those who are unworthy, fulfill your deity’s dogma

• Fly on feathered wings (+Flight, EL).
• Heal on a creature for half of their life and removing diseases (Lay on Hands, FA).
• Smite heretics, maiming them with each attack +(Carnage, DR).
• Use any Faith trait so long as it directly furthers your deity’s dogma.

Arbiter

Lore: Arbiters exist only to protect divinity. They have no interest in the affairs of deities, but they will occassionally cooperate with a deity when necessary. They strive tirelessly to restore stolent divinity, retrive lost artifacts, and expel mortals from immortal realms.

Description: Golden armor, hood casts their face in shadow, glowing yellow eyes spill divine light, speaks with a booming voice.

Instinct: Protect divinity, maintain the border between the mortal and immortal realms, judge those who taint divine sanctity.

• Bind a defeated creature in unbreakable shackles of light, leaving them powerless. The target can’t escape until judgment has been passed (++Circle of Binding, OC).
• Ignore armor when you attack with your glowing chain (-Dismantle, TK).
• Know where to find anything that relates to your righteous quest, whenever you want (+Know the Path, TK).
• Wrap your unbreakable chain around someone, dealing ranged damage to them. While the chain holds, the distance between you two can’t increase. The target can’t escape while you draw breath. (Custom).

Martial Arts

Foo Dog

Lore: Also known as shi, these stone guardians stand watchful at the entrances to temples, palaces, and sacred sites. Whenever someone who is unworthy dares approach the threshold they guard, they animate and fight viciously.

Description: Imposing fusion of dog and lion, cracked stone skin, glittering gemstone eyes, mouth pulled back in an eternal snarl

Instinct: Stand watch at a sacred threshold, cast your gaze on the unworthy, defend the sacred ground against unworthy intruders

• If defeated, reconstitute from rubble after about 6 hours unless one who is worthy releases you from service (Undying, UN).
• Pounce on someone, knocking them over (stuck) and dealing melee damage to them. They can’t be unstuck until you move (Custom).
• Roar thunderously once. Deal ranged damage in a cone; stun targets for 1 turn, and deafen them for about 1 day. Use only once. (+Sound Wave, BL).
• Swipe with stone claws to damage everyone in front of you (-Cleave, WA).

Monk of the Dancing Leaf

Lore: Moving like a leaf on the wind, these monks are masters of grace and misdirection.

Description: Thin and lithe, move gracefully, wind-swept hair, light skin, cool and breezy demeanor.

Instinct: Be calm and collected, misdirect attacks without breaking composure, wait for others to make the first move.

• Catch projectiles and throw them back at the shooter (+Reverse Trajectory, PS).
• Effortlessly dodge a single attack (Perfect Defense, WA).
• Stand on anything, as if you weighed as much as a feather. Decrease fall severity by 1 step (Light Feet, MA).
• Strike with the force of the wind, deal melee damage and push the target up to a far distance (Meteor Fist, MA).

Monk of the Fifth Gate

Lore: These martial artists believe that their spirits stand at the threshold between earth and the realm of enlightenment. They meditate endlessly to find a way to push through the gate.

Description: Old and wise eyes, patient and calm, humble robes, seemingly weak body.

Instinct: Seek enlightenment, meditate on the one true path, share wisdom with others, avoid conflict whenever possible.

• Meditate on a problem to learn the answer. Use only once (Enlightenment, MA).
• Shoot a beam of energy from your open palm to deal ranged damage in a line (Ki Beam, MA).
• Transcend the physical realm; you’re immune to all harmful effects and you roll +1 damage die, but you bleed. Nothing can stop or circumvent the bleed. (Archon, MA).

Monk of the Roaring Lion

Lore: As mighty as they are proud, monks of the Roaring Lion style seek opportunities to prove their superiority over foes.

Description: Handsome and strong, flowing hair, golden beard spread out like a mane, bronzed skin.

Instinct: Stand proud, prove your worth, act regal and confident, fight to show your power.

• Leap with incredible power, jumping up to a midrange distance (Leaping Tiger, MA).
• Strike with claw-hands to deal melee damage and inflict bleed (-Rend, BE).
• Unleash a powerful roar to deal ranged damage in a cone. Stun targets for 1 turn and deafen them for about 1 day. Resisting. (+Sound Wave, BL).

Nature

Treant

Lore: Awakened trees often serve as self-appointed guardians of forests and jungles.

Description: Bipedal tree, old amber eyes, moss-like beard or hair, creaking wood when it moves, slow movements

Instinct: Protect your forest or jungle, love plants and native animals (but not termites!), distrust people

• Entangle a creature in roots; deal melee or ranged damage and the target is stuck. The target bleeds while stuck. Resisting. (Entangling Roots, NA).
• Regenerate 1 life per round, or 5 life per round under direct sunlight (+Regeneration, TF).
• Throw a smaller creature, dealing melee damage and sending them up to a close distance away (Custom).
• Weak to axes and fire: take +1 extra damage die from each, and fire causes you to bleed (Custom).

Occultism

Demon Lord

Lore: Demons hold domain over the fiery pits of hell. They exist only to spread suffering and evil across the mortal world.

Description: Red skin, cruel eyes, long horns, hideous claws, beathing ash and hatred

Instinct: Force lesser demons to serve you, corrupt mortals, spread evil and agony, delight in torture

• Ignore death; if killed, reappear on your skull throne in a flash of hateful fire unless slain by a divine force (Undying, UN).
• Immune to all debuffs except those that come from divine or pure sources (Custom)
• Leave a trail of fire for several minutes wherever you walk; it deals 10 damage (ignoring block) to non-demons in it (Custom).
• Lose a fraction of your power to anyone who knows your true name, forcing you to become their Occultism patron (Custom).
• Maim horrifically when you spend advantage to attack (Carnage, DR).
• Pick up a smaller creature; deal melee damage and hold them in your clawed hand. Deal melee damage to them every round; they roll +1 damage die when attacking you (Envelop, BE).
• Weak to divine light, which causes you to bleed in its presence (Custom).

Psionics

Brain Worm

Lore: These repulsive parasites crawl into the brains of victims and control their hosts’ actions.

Description: Miniscule flat worm, plate white flesh, hook teeth, wriggles in a slimy mucus

Instinct: Crawl towards heat and humidity, burrow into hosts, control their brain to spread your offspring

• Burrow into a host, but first leave your wriggling body exposed for just 1 turn (Possess, UN).
• Control your host’s mind, acting as it would act to avoid raising suspicion (Possess, UN).
• Lay eggs in your host’s body to transform it into a walking incubator (Custom).
• Spread the infection through a bite, injecting other brain worms into the new victim (Custom).
• Weak to medicine, die within 1d6 hours of the host receiving medicine (Custom).

Savagery

Barbarian

Lore: Barbarians prowl the wastelands in search of prey, a good fight, or glory.

Description: Thick muscles, hide armor, an enormous weapon, clenched teeth and bulging veins, furious battlecry

Instinct: Prove your strength, honor the clan, seek glorious bloodshed, distrust civilization, join a war horde

• Cleave those in front of you, dealing melee damage to each (Cleave, WA).
• Destroy structures when you spend advantage to attack (Devastation, SA).
• Fly into a rage, rolling +1 damage die but also taking +1 damage die (Rage, SA).

Thievery

Assassin

Lore: Discrete and deadly, assassins will slit the throat of your foes for a handful of coins.

Description: Black cloak or unassuming clothes, hard eyes, a poison-coated dagger, deadly quiet and efficient.

Instinct: Find an assassination job, be intimidating and serious, study your target from afar, strike when they least expect it.

• Sneak through the shadows with increased rolls (Lurker, TH).
• Strike from the shadows, rolling +2 damage die or knocking the target unconscious (Sneak Attack, TH).
• Vanish suddenly down an alley or in a flash of smoke (Escape Route, TH).

Tracking

Blood Hound

Lore: Bred by trappers, these hunting beasts relentlessly track their quarry.

Description: Thick muscles built for endurance, baying howl, slobbery jowls.

Instinct: Find the scene, run after your quarry, bark relentlessly to notify your masters.

• Bite prey to inflict bleed (Rend, BE).
• Run relentlessly, increasing rolls to endure hardship (Sheer Determination, WA).
• Sniff out prey with an enhanced sense of smell; increase scent-related rolls (Enhanced Senses, BE).
• Track foes with increased rolls (Tracker, TK).

Transformation

Werebeasts

Lore: Werebeasts look and behave like normal people until the full moon comes out and they transform into ravenous beasts.

Description: Hideous transformation, skin shifts into scales or fur, hideous man-beast hybrid.

Instinct: Hide your dark secret, exhibit animal behaviors, gather with others of your kind, hunt in packs.

• Exhibit animalistic qualities (Random Beast traits).
• Transform under the full moon or at will. Bolster and become stronger (increased stats, higher difficulty, etc). (Shapeshift, TF).

Undeath

Bogleech

Lore: These hideous maggot-like creatures drag themselves through swamps, sewers, and other muck-filled climates. They feed on biological refuse, but they will gladly feast on fresher prey if the opportunity presents itself.

Description: Tooth-lined maw with spined tongue, blubbery white skin, coated in slimy mucus, disgusting slurping.

Instinct: Dwell in muck and sewage, suck up grime, eat incessantly, stay cool and wet

• Crawl slowly like a slug (Custom).
• Inflict disease on a bite that leaves unhealable infected wounds (Pestilence, UN).

Warfare

Town Guard

Lore: In a world full of dragons, zombies, and homicidal adventurers, town guards are not getting paid enough for this shit.

Description: World-weary frown, watchful and skeptical eyes, worn armor, simple weapons.

Instinct: Keep the peace, patrol the streets, investigate strange noises, call for reinforcements.

• Disarm the target, disabling them (-Crowd Control, WA).
• Duck behind your shield to completely ignore 1 attack against you (Perfect Defense, WA).
• Investigate crimes with increased rolls to interrogate and gather information (Detective, TK).