A Partial Taxonomy of Ontological Hazards
I've spent this weekend building monsters for Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age. It's been fun but it's also been a lot. I think I've statted up about 60 bestiary entries in the past 48 hours.
This evening, as a palette cleanser, I decided to write more monsters, but this time for Troika. Here they are.
Borrowed Sun
Skill 4
Stamina 8
Initiative 1
Armour 0
Damage as Fire Bolt
Mien
- Distant
- Dim
- Humming
- Wounded
- Retreating
- Nova
Once it was a star of no particular distinction in a system nobody had named. Through processes best described as fiscal it was reduced to its current state: approximately the size of a large dog, producing roughly as much light, trailing behind whoever it has most recently decided to follow at a distance of exactly three metres. The moths it attracts are silent and the size of dinner plates.
Special
Once per combat the Sun may collapse briefly into itself, forcing every nearby creature to test their Luck or find their next attack dragged wide by a sudden apologetic gravitational hiccup.
The Argument
Skill 7
Stamina 10
Initiative 4
Armour 2
Damage as Modest Beast
Mien
- Declamatory
- Aggrieved
- Appealing
- Triumphant
- Wounded
- Certain
The scholars Piertina Venn and Ottacia Drench disagreed about the nature of the soul sometime during the Second Estimation and neither of them ever stopped. The disagreement outlasted them, their students, and two universities before it accumulated enough argumentative mass to achieve physical form - two mouths at approximately head height, no body, talking simultaneously.
Special
It cannot be killed. When reduced to 0 Stamina it resets and both mouths briefly agree the attempt was made in good faith. A character who succeeds on any skill test they can justify, while arguing for either Venn's position (the soul is a structure, like a crystal) or Drench's (the soul is a process, like a fire), may force the Argument to retreat for 1d6 hours.
The Cartographer's Mistake
Skill 6
Stamina 18
Initiative 0
Armour 4
Damage as Large Beast
Mien
- Still
- Expectant
- Shifting
- Cold
- Empty
- Inscrutable
It is on every map, regardless of age or authorship. Fifteen feet by twelve, flagstone floor, ceiling of no particular note. No exits besides the one you came in through. The room knows it shouldn't be here but it somehow finds a way.
Special
Each round spent inside, test Luck or lose 1 Skill until you sleep. Once you've spent time inside the room you see its door in the corner of your eye no matter where you are. It's as embarrassed about this as you are.