Christopher R Taylor

Work is ongoing with this project, and I plan on posting some things here to help give a glimpse into what the project is.
 
Essentially, the Field Guide is a book of the other stuff in the world besides monsters and treasures and player characters.  It is about the animals, plants, minerals and such that player characters can interact with to their advantage or detriment.  This includes poisons, trades such as blacksmithing and leatherworking, herbs of fantastic enchanted quality, and much more.
 
For example, in the world of Jolrhos you will find this:
 
Pepper Moss This dappled green and white hanging moss is uncommon on trees.  It dangles like Spanish moss, especially in areas away from water sources.  Dust-like material grows on the moss containing spores, and a strong wind or being physically jostled can cause the dust to cascade around the moss.   Most creatures are not particularly bothered by Pepper Moss, but humans, ratmen, wolfen, and zhai (not elves or dwarves) react to the dust as if it is very finely concentrated pepper.  The moss causes stinging in the eyes and strong repeated sneezing.  This acts as a flash attack of d6 worth of d6 (1-6d6) in the target for each plant’s worth of dust.  Further, at the beginning of each phase while blinded, before moving,  the target must make a Constitution Roll at -1 for each additional segment of blindness they are suffering from (so if a character has 3 segments of blindness, they must make CON roll at -3).  Failing this CON roll means they are stunned and must recover as normal that phase, taking no other action.   These effects are only on creatures that are affected by the pepper effect.  Others only cough slightly in annoyance.  All normal animals and most monsters are affected, but nothing such as dragons, demons, or undead is bothered by Pepper Moss.  Naturally any creature that does not breathe is unaffected as well. Pepper Moss is found in forests, swamps, and jungles, in temperate to tropical regions.

Vaultwood:
These 4+ meter fat trees never grow to great heights, reaching only a ten meters at most.  However, they are known by some for a useful, if strange property.  The trunk of the tree near the ground usually grows a fairly large cavity, about a meter tall and half a meter wide.  This cavity can be accessed by one side of the tree, and when cut open can be used to store items.
The bark regrows over this cut fairly rapidly, and within 2 weeks there is no sign the tree was ever cut away, sealing the materials in side dry and cool away from prying eyes.  Some forest dwelling peoples will use Vaultwood trees for secure storage, remembering the location for picking up items later.
Vaultwood are found in temperate forested areas and swamps.

Work is ongoing with this project, and I plan on posting some things here to help give a glimpse into what the project is.
 
Essentially, the Field Guide is a book of the other stuff in the world besides monsters and treasures and player characters.  It is about the animals, plants, minerals and such that player characters can interact with to their advantage or detriment.  This includes poisons, trades such as blacksmithing and leatherworking, herbs of fantastic enchanted quality, and much more.
 
For example, in the world of Jolrhos you will find this:
 
Pepper Moss This dappled green and white hanging moss is uncommon on trees.  It dangles like Spanish moss, especially in areas away from water sources.  Dust-like material grows on the moss containing spores, and a strong wind or being physically jostled can cause the dust to cascade around the moss.   Most creatures are not particularly bothered by Pepper Moss, but humans, ratmen, wolfen, and zhai (not elves or dwarves) react to the dust as if it is very finely concentrated pepper.  The moss causes stinging in the eyes and strong repeated sneezing.  This acts as a flash attack of d6 worth of d6 (1-6d6) in the target for each plant’s worth of dust.  Further, at the beginning of each phase while blinded, before moving,  the target must make a Constitution Roll at -1 for each additional segment of blindness they are suffering from (so if a character has 3 segments of blindness, they must make CON roll at -3).  Failing this CON roll means they are stunned and must recover as normal that phase, taking no other action.   These effects are only on creatures that are affected by the pepper effect.  Others only cough slightly in annoyance.  All normal animals and most monsters are affected, but nothing such as dragons, demons, or undead is bothered by Pepper Moss.  Naturally any creature that does not breathe is unaffected as well. Pepper Moss is found in forests, swamps, and jungles, in temperate to tropical regions.

The Free Market at work
 

The Free Market at work
 

The Free Market at work
 

That reminds me of the Justice Machine comic where they are pulled into this world from their own and show up in... a comic book con.  Was a great storyline, people thought they were cosplaying.

I have both because my soft cover fell apart and I had to repair it with duct tape.  Still got it though. And champs I-III and 3rd edition with the Viper's Nest module  I can't keep up with the publishing these days, though. I'm just glad I got stuff like Valley of Mystery and Strike Force when they came out.

Of course, I haven't seen the movie yet, but it seems a lot easier to just pull yourself up into the helicopter and fight Bucky for the controls.

Dumb Luck:  7pts Luck 3d6 (15 Active Points); Side Effects:  Unluck 3d6, Side Effect occurs automatically whenever Power is used (-1), 0 end
 
Once, the character, who had no real combat skills but HAP points coming out of her ears, was drugged into a zombie state and was wandering around a dilapidated shack.  She rolled 2 levels of luck and 1 level unluck and went crashing through the floor. Luckily, her fall was cushioned by a couple of goons, who were knocked out.  And the team found the enemy's hideout when they went looking for her. 

Traditionally, Marvel has written foreign language dialogue as English in angle brackets, usually with an asterisk referring to a footnote pointing out what language it is supposed to actually be. If anyone can extract an authentic patois from that, they have impressive magical linguistic powers.

Nuff said
 

I am the terror that flaps in the night, I am the fingernail that scrapes the blackboard of your soul
 

Thelpine:
This evergreen has tiny needles of less than a centimeter in length that bristle thick on all branches.  The trees grow enormously tall, over 40m but narrow, with branches less than 4m across.
 
When the wood of the Thelpine is burned for at least an hour, all within 5m gain +1 Recovery for 1 day.
 
Thelpine are found in any forest, but are most common in tropical areas.

Still my favorite Coen brothers movie.

Nuff said
 

Nuff said
 

I don't know who she's cosplaying but I want to know more!
 
Was Panda a girl in the Enemies book?
 

The cutest captain ever
 

Vaultwood:
These 4+ meter fat trees never grow to great heights, reaching only a ten meters at most.  However, they are known by some for a useful, if strange property.  The trunk of the tree near the ground usually grows a fairly large cavity, about a meter tall and half a meter wide.  This cavity can be accessed by one side of the tree, and when cut open can be used to store items.
The bark regrows over this cut fairly rapidly, and within 2 weeks there is no sign the tree was ever cut away, sealing the materials in side dry and cool away from prying eyes.  Some forest dwelling peoples will use Vaultwood trees for secure storage, remembering the location for picking up items later.
Vaultwood are found in temperate forested areas and swamps.

Uh-hunh.  A company that can't leave the skies blue in a Superman movie can't handle Booster Gold.  

Arbenshand: This spider-like creature has only five legs, and looks much like a large skeletal hand, up to 15cm across.  Arbenshand live on cacti, and will sometimes drop on targets to bite them with a particularly painful bite (1 body damage but 2d6 stun AVAD [life support vs spider poison negates]).
 
Arbenshand can be tamed by feeding them regularly, and can even seem affectionate, resting on the shoulder or head of their owner.  This ghastly pet is considered a sign of status and importance among some Dervish and Beastmen tribes.
 
Aarbenshand are found only in deserts, especially Moskend and Yugavia.  They are used to make the poison of the same name.

(Woses are my campaign world's equivalent of Ents)

 
WOSEWOOD: Made from the wood of Wose, this is somewhat rare and sometimes will generate great hatred and rage in people who see someone using it.  Wosewood is a deep green with golden highlights, and has magical properties, as well as being very hard.  Wosewood has a base PD of 7 and ED of 9.  Working Wosewood takes a penalty of -2.
 
Weapons and armor made from Wosewood wood both grant +2 DCV and 5 Power Defense versus undead.

Arbenshand: This spider-like creature has only five legs, and looks much like a large skeletal hand, up to 15cm across.  Arbenshand live on cacti, and will sometimes drop on targets to bite them with a particularly painful bite (1 body damage but 2d6 stun AVAD [life support vs spider poison negates]).
 
Arbenshand can be tamed by feeding them regularly, and can even seem affectionate, resting on the shoulder or head of their owner.  This ghastly pet is considered a sign of status and importance among some Dervish and Beastmen tribes.
 
Aarbenshand are found only in deserts, especially Moskend and Yugavia.  They are used to make the poison of the same name.

It's gonna suck, you know.