The Psalm of Eight Beasts

[Sociotard]

The barbarians of the Steppes prefer their horses, but in a high fantasy world, filled with epic monsters and powerful magic, horses just can't always get the job done.

 

Fortunately, the Horse Priests have perfected a psalm. Each soldier in the barbarian horde has one copy (expendable focus) issued to him. By reading the appropriate verse, he can change his mount into one of eight powerful animals, each of which has advantages and disadvantages.

 

 

Glyphed Warhorse

 

The Glyphed Warhorse is the preferred mount of the barbarian hordes. In fact, they consider it a sacred animal, which is why only the Horse-Priests may serve as their farriers and horse breeders.

 

This animal begins life as a normal jet-black horse. When it is one year old the priests lead it on a ritualistic journey to other planes. This journey is so dangerous that not all the horses survive. Those that do survive are permanently marked with glyphs that denote their ancestry and sacred status. Over the course of their lives they receive other glyphs to declare their ownership, great deeds that were done while riding them, and so forth.

 

In addition to markings, these animals are also endowed with unusual strength and stamina, as well as extreme speed.

 

 

Godsface Dragon

 

Also called “Teacups that Fly”, and for good reason. This mount does fly, which makes it useful for scouting and passing over bad terrain. However, if they are pushed to fly too fast or with too much weight they can tear wingflaps, sever tendons and break bones. A badly injured animal is not something any soldier wants to be on at 2,000 feet. Even so, they do fly reasonably well. They can even do it while sleeping!

 

In the wild these animals are scavengers that live in mountains. They have excellent vision and smell for finding carrion. They’re also very clever animals and can make a variety of calls and mimicked noises, which help them to inform their riders of anything they see or smell.

 

They resemble large two legged lizards with butterfly wings (for which their riders endure no small amount of ridicule). They are Gold colored with purple markings which resemble a gigantic angry face on their wings.

 

 

Northwaste Unicorn

 

Unlike most unicorns, the Northwaste Unicorn is gigantic. It stands around 30 feet tall and weighs 70 tons. It has six legs, each of which end in a padded foot that helps it walk on snow and ice. They have thick, curly white hair and a horse’s head. They do have a horn, but it looks fairly stubby, roughly two feet wide and only one foot long. It glows blue when it uses its telekinetic powers.

 

The barbarians use this animal as a moving siege engine. With its telekinetic abilities it can break fortifications and enemy ranks with equal ease. It can also help build things like a crane. Unfortunately it tires rather easily.

 

In the wild they live on arctic coastlines, where they use their horn powers to strain the water for plankton. Unfortunately, this means it is often difficult to keep them well fed if the battle is far from the sea.

 

 

Mauler

 

A favorite of the young, the brave and the stupid, this mount resembles a cat the size of a small horse. Its main weapons are its cruel, 18-inch-long fangs. With those teeth, and the horrific speed of the cat’s charge, there’s little surprise when young soldiers decide to try riding it into battle. Unfortunately, it’s also extremely aggressive. In combat it sometimes goes into an uncontrollable frenzy. If it is injured, that frenzy may worsen until it attacks its own rider.

 

Maulers change their appearance to suit whatever environment they find themselves in. A mauler looks as if it were made of sand when it’s in the desert and as if it were made of sticks and dirt when in the forest. At a moments notice it can blend itself seamlessly into any natural environment, although it does prefer the jungle. In the wild it uses this ability to wait for unsuspecting prey to walk by. Soldiers (once they manage the trick of hiding underneath the camouflaged cat) use it to similar effect. It’s also an excellent tracker.

 

 

Messenger Worm

 

Messenger worms resemble serpents with no eyes. They are four feet long and six inches thick, and covered in green and brown plates and scales. They are renowned for their ability to burrow through the ground faster than a horse can run. They can also be made into an attractive pair of boots.

 

Their main function is to transport messages over long distances. A person puts a message in a small glass bottle, then stuffs the bottle into a sausage and lets a worm swallow it whole. The worm is then given the psychic frequency of a worm egg. The worm can then find that exact egg (they all have a unique smell and psychic frequency) over a distance of hundreds of miles. In the wild worms use this ability to find their way back to their nests, which are often buried in desolate areas that are a long way from food.

 

The worms are small enough to be carried when the horse form might be inconvenient, such as in a city. They are also good for hunting small game or finding big game (like a hawk, but circling underground instead of overhead). They also have potentially deadly venom. When they bite someone, the person’s muscles lock up and their vision begins to get blurry. Within five minutes they lose all vision and their internal organs begin to take damage. If the person is strong enough to make it through the night, the poison will wear off after a day.

 

In game terms, the poison begins as a gradual Entangle. Shortly after the bite, the Entangle is only 1d6 Body, 2 def, -1 to sight based Per Rolls. If the person successfully breaks out of the Entangle right then, that person will not suffer any other effects. However, each phase that person tries to take an action, including break out of the Entangle, the Entangle gains 1d6 Body, +2 def and –1 to Per Rolls, until after 4 such actions the Entangle has 4d6 Body and 8 def, and the person is completely blind. The first phase the Entangle is fairly easy to break out of, but after that it becomes nearly impossible. Note that if the person remains very calm and takes no actions at all the Posion will not progress.

 

5 minutes after the Entangle is completely formed, the real danger begins. Every 5 minutes the person must make a successful CON roll or suffer one pip body damage. This will go on until either the person breaks out of the entangle, 1 day passes and the poison wears off on its own, or the person dies.

 

Leviathan

 

A leviathan has the body of a whale and the tentacles of a giant squid. They don’t actually exist in the wild. Specimens that do exist are the result of transformative spells. Their magical origin explains why humans who ride them are immediately able to breath underwater and withstand oceanic temperatures and pressures.

 

It also explains why leviathans can create underwater illusions called ‘lurefire’, so called because, when left to their own devices, leviathans use it to create lights to attract prey. They also use the ability to hide themselves.

 

 

Racing Snail

 

These snails have shells only four feet high that weigh over a ton. Despite the weight, these snails zip across the desert at a respectable pace, making them popular sporting animals. Not only are they fast and capable of pulling heavy loads, but also twice a day they can teleport themselves, a rider, and a hefty weight of goods. Their hardiness and ability to travel long distances without food, and the ease with which they cross sandy dunes and scrub deserts make them popular beasts of burden for caravans.

 

Males do have a pair of hornlike projections facing forward on either side of their shell, and can do a respectable charge. However, these are mostly for fighting other males during mating season, when bull snails charge into each other, yanking their heads back into their shells at the last minute, with the victor getting the disputed cow. Racing snails tend to be skittish in combat with anything other than themselves. If something makes them panic, an unlucky soldier may find himself teleported several miles away from the fight.

 

 

Jumpspider

 

Despite the name, these giant arthropods only have four legs, because the Creator ran out of points when he made them. Their hind legs are extremely long and end in flippered feet, while the front legs are shorter and are mostly meant to catch it when it lands. They are covered in exoskeletons with black and yellow fuzz.

 

They are not popular with the troops, because they are so problematic. The first problem is a defensive psychic ability they have. At will, they can make every creature within 15 meters hallucinate their worst fear. An antidote potion is available (built as a naked advantage “personal immunity”), and most troops refuse to go near the animals without it.

 

The animals can control this defense, but that brings up the second problem: they’re playful. They love to play with one another, jumping and bouncing off cave walls all day long. Like many animals, their play very frequently involves mock combat, and that involves the psychic attacks, which can’t hurt other Jumpspiders. In addition to the radius of fear, they also have a drain effect (visibly it looks like they’re spitting threads at a person). These ‘threads’ make people freeze up with fear. In game terms they drain STR and the targets primary movement power. They also have an acidic bite, so powerful they use it to bore through rock.

 

It requires very skilled handlers to ride these animals too close together without them starting to play, and when large animals with acidic bites and psychic offenses roughhouse, people get badly hurt.

 

The advantage to them is that they are very good mounts to have in caves. They’re very good at squeezing through tight spaces, they can climb up walls, jump clear across caverns, and they have the psychic ability to let their riders share their sensory abilities.

[Sociotard]

Re: The Psalm of Eight Beasts

 

And here are the rest of them.

[Sociotard]

Re: The Psalm of Eight Beasts

 

You'll notice there are only 7 multiforms. I may leave it at that. I just ran out of ideas, since I covered all the extreme climates barbarians might find, and I couldn't think of any other animals barbarians might need. If you have any ideas, let me know.

 

What did you think of the "Enraged" varients I used? The Snails have panic (they have to run away from whatever triggered them)and the Spiders have playful (they have to play, even if now is not a good time, and even if playing with other spiders gets their riders hurt). I just really liked the Enraged mechanics and thought it could apply well to other stimuli-response situations.

 

I could have sworn I had other questions. I'll post them as I think of them. Oh, and I hope that those files are still readable. I know my verson of Hero Designer is kind of old.

 

EDIT: OH, I thought of another one. At what point can having extra legs just be a special effect? Ever?