The rain trolls have always been in the Claw. In the days before the seradynn arrived, they were called simply trolls. Nowadays, they are sometimes still called simply trolls, but they are also known as ‘rain trolls’ because of their high populations and presumed origins in the deluged jungles of Jakatta.
Other than occasional horns, slightly larger frames, and blue-green skin tones, rain trolls appear similar to humans. Appearances do not tell the whole story here, however, for there is an important differ- ence. Trolls regenerate.
Regeneration allows trolls to approach crises more philosophically than many humans would. After all, it is easier to remain calm despite an arrow pierc- ing your liver if you know that the organ can heal itself almost as quickly as you can remove the shaft. This calm and deliberate outlook is stereotypical of the rain trolls. Many humans in the Kingdoms say that to truly understand a troll, you have to understand some- one who would rip his own arm off just to scratch his back better. This is an exaggeration, of course. Trolls feel pain as humans do, and they avoid autoamputa- tion. As with much hyperbole, however, the adage contains a kernel of truth. Troll regeneration offers options beyond the reach of humans.
The iconic image of a troll is a wise counselor, vizier, or sage. Their “long view” approach to life al- lows them to master a broad array of skills. But they are not exclusively advisors and eminences grises. On the contrary, rain trolls are to trollkind what nine- bloods are to humankind: the most numerous, suc- cessful, and known of their species. Trolls fill many roles across the Kingdoms. They are farmers, miners, rebels, bakers, soldiers, brewers, and anything else that can make gold and love in the world.
In the game: Troll regeneration is a valu- able ability for any warrior, but it can be handy for other characters as well. Using it in combat requires two rounds, so look for talents, fighting styles, class abilities, and allies that can buy you a round. Also, avoid overconfidence. Regeneration is often best used
take advantage of it. Often this means contriving some short rest after combats. Think about how your re- generation looks and sounds (do you hear bones pop back together? Does it smell like ozone?). Be ready to describe your regeneration as well as use it.
• Play up to or play against the stereotype of the troll as a wise counselor. Either nod sagely and treat everyone else in the party as a student, or play a fixer-loving, wizard-mocking, wild troll with a mess of a personal life and a shaved stripe down his scalp tattooed with Thus to Tyrants.
• In social encounters, maintain an even emotional keel. When someone insults you, raise an eyebrow. When someone insults your parents, your homeland, your children, and what your parents and your children do together in dark recesses of your homeland, pause a beat as if you are studying him, and say, “Fascinating.”
Racial abilities. Trolls regenerate. They can regener- ate their body score per season (so, 4 or 5 Body per season for the average troll). This can re-attach limbs, organs, and the head. If a vital part of a troll’s anatomy is withheld or prevented from regrowing for a sea- son, then the troll dies. Parts with the ability to move (crawling hands, inching legs) move dumbly toward their fellow parts if such exist within 50 feet; other- wise, detached parts are inert. If a troll is brought to 0 body and burned, it cannot regenerate. In combat, a troll can regenerate 1 body by using two consecutive tricks. Troll regeneration does not regenerate charac- teristic damage unless the troll has another ability that allows this.
When resisting any social attack or a change in mood, increase your die size by one.
You can have one more history than normal (that is, one more than your Reason score).
Seradynn
The seradynn arrived forty-eight years ago, in living memory for some in the Kingdoms.
The first discovery took place aboard the Windsnare. The discovery was a troll foot, wrapped in cheesecloth, in a crate of bacon forks destined for the table of a tycoon of far Oryn-ja. The stevedore who unwrapped the foot did not know what to make of it. Contrastingly, the foot knew exactly what to make of itself. Namely, a new troll. It twitched out of the shocked stevedore’s hand and began an awkward toe- crawl toward a pottery crate. Out of that crate flopped a troll leg. The foot and leg attached. Then they knee-hiked to a wine barrel, where a one-armed torso groped over the rim and assembled itself with the foot- leg. And so on. Other stevedores watched troll bodies reform all across the Windsnare.
The same events played out everywhere in the harbor of far Oryn-ja that day. Not a single regener- ated troll knew where he had come from or why he arrived dismembered and scattered in cargo holds. The origin of the seradynn remains a mystery to this day.
The new trolls were not the same as the old. Where rain trolls are slightly taller than humans and thick, seradynn are slightly shorter and lithe. The horns of seradynn are varied, and many seradynn have a tail. Despite these bestial accents, the seradynn retain elegant facial features. This combination of the savage and the beautiful has earned the seradynn the epithets Dark Graces and Beast Troll (the word seradynn itself derives from a prophecy of the Inquisition in Dynn that speaks of a race of beasts rising in the land of men).
Seradynn do not in general share the same sage minds as the rain trolls. Their even closer relationship to magic turns them down other paths.
In the game. Seradynn are known to be magi- cal, so be prepared for enemies to meet you with Parapet Defense in combat and a spellbound coterie at feasts and social occasions.
Keep in mind that the strength of the seradynn is his magic score. Pick up talents, abilities, and styles that capitalize on your magic score. Dramba sympathy magic and Hearts both allow you to take damage in-
stead of allies; this is combines well with your regen- eration ability.
The bonus to magic does not mean that you need to be a witch or wizard. Far from it. Magic per- meates the world. There are many ways to draw on its power and leverage your increased magic score: building your home in a magical place, acquiring and using items that only function for someone with a high magic score, or learning combat maneuvers that train physical defenses while leaving you to rely on natural talent (ie, your high magic score) for magical defense. Creating and roleplaying a seradynn troll. The seradynn are a blank slate. They have appeared in the Kingdoms with no past and no memories.
• Decide what your character believes about
the origin of the seradynn. Are they on the run from one of the savage parts of the world? Are they an experiment by a mad king? A magic accident? There is a popular culture in the Kingdoms that has decided the seradynn must be on the run from someone or something. But there is no consensus as to what that someone or something is, and there is little evidence save the seemingly last-resort nature of the seradynn’s arrival to support the culture in the first place.
• Affect a habit involving one of your non-hu- man body parts. Perhaps you’re ashamed of your tail and always hiding it. Perhaps your horns made you an outcast in a human village growing up. Or maybe your tail always rises embarrassingly whenever you smell chocolate.
• Seradynn often feel the need to settle. Own a home and secure it. Define the areas with social en- counter bonuses that suit your troll. When other char- acters come over, make them wait while your guards check them.
• As always, choose inspirations to match your character’s goals, personality, and background. Does she embrace magic or resent it? Does she want to dis- cover her race’s past or forget it?
Racial abilities. Trolls regenerate. They can regener- ate their body score per season (so, 4 or 5 Body per season for the average troll). This can re-attach limbs, organs, and the head. If a vital part of a troll’s anatomy is withheld or prevented from regrowing for a sea- son, then the troll dies. Parts with the ability to move (crawling hands, inching legs) move dumbly toward their fellow parts if such exist within 50 feet; other- wise, detached parts are inert. If a troll is brought to 0 body and burned, it cannot regenerate. In combat, a troll can regenerate 1 body by using two consecutive tricks. Troll regeneration does not regenerate charac- teristic damage unless the troll has another ability that allows this.
Increase your magic score by 1.
Any time you gain a talent, you can take a magic talent regardless of the options listed.
Assign a 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 to each of the following characteristics. You can increase these characteristics as you gain levels.
The characteristics are: • Strength • Quickness • Reason • Charisma • Magic • Heart
As you advance, your characteristics increase (see the next chapter). But there is a limit to troll and human bodies and minds. No characteristic except
Characteristics
heart can be raised above 15. As always, magic and other exceptions may apply, but 15 is the normal limit to characteristic scores.
Strength
Quickness
Reason
Strength measures the force you can exert and the pun- ishment you can take. Some fighting styles, weapons, and armor require minimum strength scores.
Stronger characters are more likely to resist diseases, withstand the elements, or hang on to the peak of the obelisk until the zeppelin arrives and throws down a rope. During the course of play, you might need to make a strength roll to bend bars or lift gates, to push a wizard off a cliff, to shrug off the ef- fects of a poison, or to endure in a blizzard.
A quick character can dodge blows and strike with an accuracy improved by speed. Quickness is also an index of a character’s overall agility. You want a high quickness if you plan on picking pockets in the bazaar, scaling courtyard walls, or melting into the shad- ows before the queen’s guards can see you. As with strength, certain fighting styles and weapons require minimum quickness scores. Quickness is the default characteristic in chase scenes, making it essential for characters that live on the run.
Reason allows you to resist taunts, maintain your compsure in battle, and discern the details that a duller mind misses. If you want a character that builds tre- buchets, pilots zeppelins, and maintains a castle, you want that character to have a high reason score.
Reason along with charisma is very important in social encounters, where it allows you to defend against the insinuations, backhanded compliments, ac- cusations and insults of your fellows.
Every child is born with some amount of magical aptitude. This characteristic measures that apti- tude. Magic is used to cast spells, but it is also used to resist spells. You roll your
magic die to survive magic storms, activate a warded item, or fight off a magical disease. A wizard character needs a high magic score. Anyone who expects to be fighting witches and wizards also does well to invest in a high magic score.
Charisma
magic
Heart
A character with a high charisma might be a leader, a comedian, or a beauty. A high charisma score may mean that you create a great first impression, that you are a warm friend, or that you cut an imposing figure on the battlefield. You should decide at character cre- ation the origin of your character’s charisma (or lack thereof!).
As the game plays out, you might make a charisma roll to barter for a cheaper sword at the blacksmith, to win the princess’s hand, or to rally your troops.
Not surprisingly, charisma is very important in social scenes. It is also important if you want to fully employ flamboyant,
extroverted combat styles like Swash- buckler.
Courageous men have conquered more kingdoms than all the clever magicians and strong warriors combined. A character with a large heart may be generous, ambi- tious, kind, or intransigent. His passions burn hotter, his loves are fiercer, than those of ordinary men. You might need Heart to swing your sword even as your vision grows dark from your wounds, or to love a
Health
There is more than one way to hurt a man. Body. Body represents physical health. Wounds, disease, poison, fatigue and more can lower it. Rest, care, and magic can raise it. It starts at 5.
Rules for body damage and recov- ery are in Chapter 3 with the combat rules.
Mood. A char- acter’s mood shades his actions. Characters mired in depression are less effective than characters ener- gized by a sense of purpose. A high mood score might represent happiness and fulfillment, but it could just as easily represent intensity, confidence or righteousness. A low score might represent sad- ness or despair, but it could also represent frustration, confusion, or guilt. Mood starts at 1. The full rules for mood are in Chapter 2.
Reputation. Reputation measures the social health of a character. Unlike body and mood, a char- acter can have multiple reputation scores. All his reputations start at zero; they change only when a character does something notable. Chapter 10 ex- plains how to gain and lose reputation.
woman that the entire kingdom despises, or to persevere after your son falls in battle.