Spell: Altered Beast

Altered Beast (8)

The spell is a complex protean ritual practised by obscure and unscrupulous warrior cults. Barbaric killers gather at holy places under old trees, lead to their knees by cunning men possessing an intimate acquaintance, a personal experience, of the divine. There they wait as the priest-call goes out to the woods, from which creatures soon emerge in hunger to find large and meat-rich warriors knelt, serenely waiting.

The animals satisfy their hunger on the willing men, consuming them entirely. Once they finish with their meal the priest calls for his champions and the man-flesh asserts its dominance over the meat laden animals. Familiar faces contort those of the creatures' and they kneel once again over their own steaming corpses.

Altered beasts can transform into the animal they were eaten by (or vise versa) at the cost of 4 stamina. While in their original form they still possess some of its traits since their alien flesh cannot be as it once was.

What kind of animal did it call and what benefit does their human form gain?

1. Bear - a huge, a hulk of a man. Your arms are like trees and you hunger like there's a hole in your belly. +4 strength and you may heal from up to 8 meals a day.
2. Wolf - you can smell flesh-stink on the air with your sleek and angled nose. +2 tracking, +2 stealth
3. Deer - alert but flighty, your staccato motion betrays your nature. +4 running, +2 awareness
4. Boar - broader, hairier, angrier. +3 tracking, +2 strength, +4 stamina
5. Tiger - wise, haute, familiar with the paths between palaces. +4 second sight, +2 strength.
6. Badger - irascible, thick skinned, burrowing. +1 natural armour through sheer bloody mindedness, +1 sneaking.

All altered beasts can heal as though eating provisions if eating the flesh of their own kind. No limits to the number of times they can benefit from this. Every time they do this they must put an advancement tick in a new skill called "Bestiality". The skill does nothing, but once it reaches 6 the altered beast loses what sense they still had and becomes a raving beast roaming the forests.

D66 monstrous reactions

1

1. Benevolent. Possibly a deranged example of the beast, considers you to be a mate or its young or other close relative.
2. Gregarious. Shows no fear and is quite amiable.
3. Had a good day so far and is looking to continue. Do unto others.
4. Giving. Possesses something and imparts it. Might be a fresh kill, or some knowledge, or a poetry performance.
5. Enamoured. Will follow the party in the hopes of making friends.
6. Excited by their presence. Can barely contain itself at this great fortune.

2


3


4


5


6

SOME RULES FOR KILLING WITH D6S

MELEE COMBAT

1. The attacking player rolls a number of d6 equal to their FIGHTING NUMBER, keeping the result hidden. The fighting number should be between 4 and 6 I reckon.
2. They then declare what they rolled. THIS CAN BE A LIE. Looking for pairs, triples etc. and highest value.
3. The defender then either ACCEPTS the decision and doesn't get to see the attacker's dice (skip to step 5), making what their opponent said true, OR CHALLENGES it.
4. IF THEY CHALLENGE: The attacker reveals their dice. If the attacker was lying, the attacker takes one hit. If the attacker was telling the truth they get to just keep the roll and the challenger takes one hit.
5. The defender then rolls d6 equal to their fighting number and tries to beat what their opponent rolled (quadruples beat triples beat pairs etc, high beats low.)
6. Whoever rolled the biggest and highest set (in that order or importance) deals damage to the opponent equal to 1 plus the difference. (so two pairs vs. would see the loser taking 1 damage, single high number vs triple would see them take 3 damage)

RANGED COMBAT

1. The DEFENDER rolls dice equal to their DODGING NUMBER (4-6)
2. The ATTACKER rolls dice equal to their SHOOTING NUMBER (4-6 again probably)
3. The attacker then compares their dice to the defender's looking for matched numbers. Pick one matched number, if any, and deal damage equal to the number or those numbers you have. 

SO: Bob rolls 1,1,3,5 for shooting Susan. Susan rolls 1,3,6,6. Since Bob matched the 1 and got two 1s, he deals 2 damage to Susan. He could pick the 3 and do one damage, but that's silly.

Retired warriors

The village's local retired adventurer.

1. He
2. She

is...

1. old, almost spent
2. past their prime
3. too young for the burden they carry
4. in what to others would be their prime

and has a reputation as...

1. the local drunk, harmless.
2. a raging drunk, don't make eye contact or you'll see the demons.
3. a broken soul, take pity.
4. a hard worker that never speaks of their past.
5. a recluse with an old sword from their days in the wars.
6. an inveterate story teller, entertaining the adults and terrifying the children.

Their past is...

1. filled with violence committed for others.
2. one of avaricious plunder.
3. warhearted and swordblooded.
4. adventure and wild romance.
5. glorious and sung.
6. a tightly held secret.

Their services can be gained...

1. with a handful of silver.
2. for a worthy cause.
3. for a bottle of the good stuff.
4. with the chance for redemption.
5. with the promise of escape from this life.
6. over their dead body.

If taken on, beware that they will...

1. break into inconsolable hysterics at the sight of a dead child.
2. drink every drop of alcohol while you sleep, if able, and stagger the whole day through.
3. be frozen by the sound of distant howls.
4. be unable to be in the presence of cooking meat.
5. constantly count their equipment. Check and re-check. One, two, three, one, two, three.
6. , if party to the killing of innocents, wander off into the night never to be seen again.

Lechter the Frog Master hurls magic frogs at his opponents, each of which has a different effect on the person struck.  Make a d12 table of random magical effects an opponent suffers from being struck by a Lechter frog.

1. Plugged and Purple Toad Sire: A large, ballooned, brown toad with a wooden stopper in its mouth. To use the Sire one must jam it firmly between ones legs and yank the plug out with a firm twisting-yanking action. If you aren't careful with your knee pressure a number of toads will spurt forth with great vigour towards your face (Lechter of course never make this mistake).
        Once unplugged the Toad Sire will generate and issue forth from its mouth medium sized purple toads en masse for several (d6) hours. Once unplugged the pressure makes it impossible to stop, either by re-plugging or stomping on it. It is impossible not to step on, and crush, these purple toads, making a radius of 1 metre per minute extremely slippery (test luck or acrobatics not to fall over instead of what you wanted to do).
        For the next 6 years the local insect population will be greatly diminished, but the purple frogs are delicious and breed readily, so the locals will likely learn to love them.
      The Sire, by the end of its spawning, will be a deflated sack of toad that only an expert anuromancer can regenerate and reseed.
   
2.  Epulotic Natterjack: The natterjack is tacky to the touch, but not exactly sticky. Like ice, it has a strange adherence and is the reason Frog Masters wear striped cotton gloves at all times.
        When the natterjack comes into contact with flesh it begins to "burrow" itself in, much like a normal toad would in mud. The experience is not painful, nor is it permanent since the frog can leave at will. However one can find a multitude of uses, both beneficial and mischievous. For those with a good arm it can be lobbed into someones face, causing blindness, or suffocation, as it mingles with the face parts. For a more caring individual they could apply one to an open wound and apply a bandage so that the frog can't leave.
       Throw the toad to stick it to people. It does no damage unless with an aimed shot, and then it causes some sort of effect. The frog can also be used to stop bleeding and heal d6 Stamina.
   
3. Warty Cynosure: The 

Alternative Ranged Combat In Troika

According to WW2 British officers, dodging and diving from projectiles doesn't help very much and the troops don't like it.

Shooting someone and hitting someone with a thing you are holding are fundamentally different. The shootee has no input in the exchange other than where they happen to be standing.

Consider cover in terms of 6ths of a person. For each 6th of a person covered by non-shootable scenery give the shooter -1 to their skill. So if someone wants to perforate me, but I'm merely sticking my head over a wall they would receive -5 to hit me.

Bob the Bowman has 5 Skill + 3 Bow Fighting - 5 for my cover = 3. He would need to roll a 3 or less to hit me in my curious head.

SHIELDS - Treat them like any other kind of cover

AIMING - Take a penalty to the shot as if the bits you don't want to shoot are covered.

PINNING - When rolling damage with ranged weapons that fire arrows or bolts or similar, if the die roll is even the projectile is stuck in you. It counts as an item for encumbrance purposes and deals d3 stamina damage to remove unless with a Heal test. Some weapons have a better chance of getting stuck in you, like javelins.

There you go +Oli Palmer

Foreign Friendly After Expo Expo

The Melsonian Arts Council was at the UK Games Expo last week, outside the labourers entrance next to the toilets. Unless you were banging for a piss or were that security guard sleeping by the emergency exit, then you probably missed us. I think it's only fair we give everyone another chance to get in here, give us all their money and see how handsome we are, but this time we'll include our hard done-by international customers.

1. Go to www.melsonia.com
2. Spend £27 and postage is free, a whole £1 saving on UKGE's entrance fee 'cos we love you more
3. The password at checkout is GIMMETHATLANYARD
4. Doors open now and close again on June 11th at 4pm.

It's a digital, invisible expo! Just without all those people and games and fun.

We've got 10ish copies of Troika! left, and general stocks of the Undercroft are looking thin. Everyone that buys something at the Expo Expo also gets one of my special convention badges included. THEY ARE MUCH COVETED!

The Gibbous Sky

Troika, the City in the Middle of the Road, the Recursive City, the Metrosphere, Tanelorn, the Very Built, The On&On, and on and on and on.

The walls of Troika do exist, contrary to what you would expect of an endless city. There is a square, and in that square is a circle made of stone with a gate in it. The gate is always open, and inside the circle wall people deposit rubbish and other unwanted things. Most visitors to Troika do not come by the gate but some do, carefully clambering over the heaving detritus.

The city gate is not the centre of the city, and you would be considered stupid to suggest it.

Some days the circle wall is bigger or smaller. Its contractions are welcomed since they clear out much of the accumulated rubbish.

If you travel far enough in one direction you will return to where you started. If you fly up high enough you will eventually start to fall.

The Bucket Fellows are the law and enforce the few rules agreed upon by the Universal Council.

The covered market is famous for its fires and is independently recursive. Tourists are stuck until someone takes pity on them and tells them how to leave. Pity is gained by spending money on unbelievable bargains.

Some parks are so large and wild that foreigners think they have escaped the city, only to be disappointed when they come out the other side some days later. However some of them really do make it.

Two of the city's most prestigious halls of sorcery occupy the exact same space. Which building currently manifests in three dimensional reality depends on the prestige it is held in. The most respected takes precedence, requiring students and faculty of the other to slip sideways to get to classes.

There was once a third school to share that spot, but it slipped so far that people stopped thinking about it entirely. Stepping sideways can't reach it. Indeed, even a seasoned wizard taking a full step backwards won't pierce its fog of mediocrity.

The School of Architecture is another centre for katarology and general wizardry. They learn how to create scrolls, over months or years, to summon new structures into existence. After their arrival people will swear blind that they were there all along, and that they had been living there for generations. The architects do not disagree. Certain other schools accuse them of quackery, who are in turn accused of professional jealousy.

Councillors are elected by the people. Election intervals are determined by the obscure tides of ennui that sweep across neighbourhoods sporadically. The nominations are inflicted rather than asked for, and the favourite recipients are those new to the city and ignorant of its ways, as they seem them as having the purest perspective on governance. Also the typical fear and unwillingness found in foreigners is considered to be a desirable trait in politicians. Any that end up being genuinely unfit for the job are organically ejected by disinterest.