December 27, 2021: Brass Skeletons In The Fantasy Trip

[RoboAdmin]

December 27, 2021: Brass Skeletons In The Fantasy Trip

Read this article on the Illuminator.

[Shostak]

Very cool! Having shared an idea for a thaumechanical lich, I’m stoked to learn of this new member of this magical order, and am left wondering what other horrors lurk on this weird taxonomical branch. Keep the great ideas coming!

[larsdangly]

Really fun! This is the sort of thing that can really freshen up an adventure. Those 4 points of automatic armor protection are probably the most impactful combat stat. In TFT, a high ST without armor protection (e.g., a giant) doesn't actually make you very robust to wounds, whereas a high ST combined with high armor suddenly feels very tough. But the important point is that the brass skeleton is a cool idea with a cool back story and a challenging but doable path to PC's creating or controlling them.

[larsdangly]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Very cool! Having shared an idea for a thaumechanical lich, I’m stoked to learn of this new member of this magical order, and am left wondering what other horrors lurk on this weird taxonomical branch. Keep the great ideas coming!

Love the 'Argent'. How does it replenish the power from its powerstones? Does it rely on apprentices for that?

[Shostak]

Originally Posted by larsdangly

Love the 'Argent'. How does it replenish the power from its powerstones? Does it rely on apprentices for that?

Thanks, Lars! Powerstones will recharge on their own, albeit slowly. Drain Strength could be used to speed things up, and you never know what kind of thaumechanical device Argents might have invented to plug directly into ley lines. The memoirs of Volto Szgygycz describe how an Argent he met used concave silver mirrors and lenses to gather moonlight and distill mana from it, but who don’t know how creditable that story is—Volto has been known to embroider the facts.

[Steve Jackson]

Thanks, David - the HT/ST error is being corrected.

As for clerics, remember that that is a real profession, even on Cidri. So it depends on the context. If we've got a genuine goof, send me a pointer!

I think I'm going to allow them Running, too, if the original body had that skill. Just because.

[David L Pulver]

Originally Posted by RoboAdmin

December 27, 2021: Brass Skeletons In The Fantasy Trip

Read this article on the Illuminator.

Nice, tough critter. I can think of a adventure idea I'd like to use this in.

If the wizard wants to be really nasty, take a brass skeleton, add a bit of body armor, then cast Stone or Iron Flesh on them at the start of battle (or give them a ring)....

Quibble: the skeleton description refers to HT. Is the same as ST, or is some GURPS leaking in? It also refers to damage reduction, which is a D20-ism.

(I've noticed some D&D-isms leaking into TFT before - e.g., the excellent Old School Monsters (aka "attack of the fiend folio") uses the term "cleric" in several places.)