Friday, January 11, 2019

Blackwood: The Elf Who Would Be King

Out past the safety of Hedges and Lanterns’ light, the Blackwood stretches beyond distances measurable: the miles contract and dilate without regard for the surveyor’s art. Dense with trees and boggy ground, boughs hide the sky and obscure the hour, travelers off the beaten path rarely find their way home once they’ve stumbled into the Elven Deeps. Hostile to farming and static settlement, the Pagan clans live by hunting, gathering, banditry, and war.

Each clan is part of a larger whole, quilt work confederacies united by shared history and Elven worship. Some of these confederacies were bound in the ashes of Wulf Ember-Eye’s madness and only the worst crisis could sunder them, while others have the permanence of mist. Liable to explode into blood feud at the slightest provocation or dissolve from momentary inconvenience. This volatility frustrates the self-styled Lord Manu's royal ambitions

Through force and guile he acquired all the things a king should: a legendary blade from the Winter Kingdom, a castle, elite men-at-arms, a prodigal knight, and a betrothed. An army, a horde is all he lacks. So that's what he'll build. Few outside the Errants and woodkin would hear the rumors and portents- a double rainbow heralding a rival power, forsaken totems scorched in bonfire ashes, fallen champions on gruesome display, and Howlers walking on their hind legs as men. All hint at a gathering storm.

LORD MANU, CERYNEIA'S BETROTHED & WOULD-BE KING
WILD CARD
STATS - Strength D10 Agility D10 Vigor D10 Smarts D8 Spirit D8
SKILLS - Fighting D12, Intimidation D6, Knowledge (Battle) D8, Notice D6, Persuasion D8, Riding D6, Taunt D8
SIZE 1 PARRY 10 TOUGHNESS 11 (3)
EDGES- Aspiring, Worthy, and Master of Stone Lion, Block & Improved Block, First Strike, Leaf Step, Trademark Weapon, Improved Trademark Weapon (Calendirwine), Sweep
HINDRANCES - Arrogant (Major, ), Driven (Major), Vengeful (Major)
ATTACKS
CALENDIRWINE, KING OF STEEL - +2 to hit. STR + D10+2 Damage, Reach 2". Additional damage dice from Raises and die explosions are D12s. The fabled blade of the Winter King, lost to legend and now in Lord Manu's grip.
HORNS - STR+D6 Damage. Manu can make a Horns attack against an adjacent enemy at no penalty.

POWERS
REGENERATION - While in contact with Watergiver, Lord Manu benefits from Regeneration per the Savage Worlds core rulebook.

Lord Manu has 30 PP and knows 9 of the 11 following powers: blind, deflection, dispel, fear, greater healing, invisibility, smite, speed, summon ally, teleport, warrior's gift

THE WATERGIVER
Lord Manu's personal mount, a great fanged stag fed a steady diet of Great Root, red python hearts, and stag antlers. Pagan stories say the stag freed the rivers from the grasp of a selfish dragon. The fight shattered Watergiver's antlers so he took the dragon's fangs as a trophy,.

(per the Stag in the Blackwood Codex with the additional abilities and Edges: Aspiring, Worthy, and Master of Boar School and Leaf Step Edges from the Blackwood Codex, Regeneration and Venom monster abilities from the Savage Worlds core rulebook. Yes, the deer knows kung fu.)
  
The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here