Dungeon Denizens

Creatures from the realm of Flesh are "natural" creatures. This includes animals that exist in the real world (bears, snakes, wolves) and those who appear only in medieval bestiaries (cockatrices and krakens).

There's an enormous amount of inspiration to be found in medieval understandings of animals. According to medieval bestiaries, panthers have a sweet-smelling breath that lures dragons, pelicans feed their young with their own blood, and goat's blood can melt diamonds. Subvert tropes by making these myths real for your game.

Likes: Its Mate, Its Young, Easy Sources of Food

Hates: Fire

Notes

• Fleet.

  On its turn, the beast can Move 1 zone without spending a card.

Lesser dooms (Choose 1 of the following)

• Bite.

  On a successful Attack, the target is also either Disarmed or Tripped (GM's choice).

• Claw.

  On a successful Attack, if the beast's total Attack value is double the Initiative of the target, deal 2 Wounds.

• Special Locomotion.

  The beast has a special type of movement—flight, burrowing, climbing, etc. The beast can Move in this way to avoid the adventurers and leave the area (unless the adventurers have some way to keep up).

• Trample.

  On an unsuccessful Attack, the beast may use their Attack action against a second target in the same zone.

Elementals are defined by the habitat in which they live. They are the inhabitants, guardians, or personification of natural phenomena.

Elementals are cousins to spirits even though they're native to the realm of Flesh. They understand the practicalities of temporal experience more completely than those from the far realms. Still, they are not the same as elves, orcs, and humans—they are strangers, coming in contact with mortals only rarely. Elementals can be at turns helpful and harmful, capricious and caring.

This group includes humanoid, intelligent creatures (mermaids, dryads), animal-like creatures (salamanders, thunderbirds), and creatures composed of animated elemental energy (tree giants, fire elementals).

Likes: Learning About Mortals

Hates: Elemental Opposition (Fire vs Water, Air vs Earth), Trespassing

Notes

• Elemental Immunity.

  An elemental takes no damage from their chosen element. A huldra cannot drown. A salamander cannot be burned. A tree giant shrugs off weapons made of wood.

• Elemental Travel.

  In their natural environment, the elemental can Move 1 zone without spending a card each turn.

Lesser dooms

• Engulf.

  The elemental can attempt to pull an adventurer into their element as a Roughhouse action: air elementals pull the adventurer into the air and drop them, water elementals pull them under the water, etc. This deals Piercing damage.

"Man" is a misnomer; the term is chosen merely because it sounds archaic. This theme includes the sentient people (humans, elves, gnomes, etc.). These are people, not Underworld creatures.

There isn't a template, really. Represent people in your game by making actual characters. If the character is strange or monstrous (like a mutant or a ghoulish cannibal), give them a few special greater dooms that represent their core gimmick.

There are blasphemies summoned into this world by sorcerers playing god. Sorcerers are full of bad ideas. "What if I created a bear with the head of an owl? What if I made this albino ape sentient? What if I made one really big eye float around?" Awful. Nobody likes sorcerers.

Sorcerous creatures include all manner of abominations, experiments, maleficence side effects, and cursed entities.

Sorcerous creatures do not have any default lesser dooms.

Likes: Magic, Eating Strange Things (Brains, Coins, Curses), Radioactive Materials

Hates: Beauty, Music, Children's Laughter

Notes

• Smell Magic.

  The creature can smell magical effects. They can identify who is and isn't a sorcerer by scent.

• Strange Body.

  (Optional) Many sorcerous creatures are invulnerable to a certain type of harm (fire, weapons, acid, blunt force trauma, etc.). At the same time, they are explicitly vulnerable from another common type of harm and take 2 Wounds instead of 1 from this source (electricity, cold temperatures, poison, etc.).

There are dream worlds called the far realms outside of this reality. The beings that dwell in those places do not have physical forms, but must clothe themselves in flesh when visiting this realm. These creatures are called spirits because they are not naturally physical.

The four far realms are the Waste, Weald, Weird, and Welkin. It is said devils live in the Waste. It is said that daemons live in the Weald. It is said that jinni live in the Weird. It is said that angels live in the Welkin.

These spirits are alien creatures with an alien understanding of the realm of Flesh. They are baffled by the ideas of food, evolution, skin, isolated sensory experiences, and other mundane events. This makes them, even the most benevolent ones, incredibly dangerous.

Likes: Flattery, One Specific Human Emotion/Virtue/Vice/Activity

Hates: Iron, Cats, Running Water

Lesser dooms

• Natural Sorcery.

  Most spirits can cast one or two spells from the appropriate far realm at will using the Speak Incantations action. The spirit does not require spell components. The spirit does not use Resolve to cast this spell.

There are magics that attempt to create deathlessness. Such magic is omnipresent in the Underworld. These spells force the body to keep moving even after grievous injury and shackle the soul to this plane. At the best of times, this prolongs mortal life. Most of the time, it creates the curse of undeath.

Undead creatures toil endlessly towards purposes inimical to life. Some are mindless, killing with the irresistible but dispassionate power of an earthquake or mudslide. Some are miserable and seek momentary relief through the torture and dismemberment. Others are methodical, deliberately trying to swell the ranks of the undead by slaughtering the living.

This category includes physical undead (zombies, skeletons, vampires) and immaterial undead (ghosts, shadows, wraiths).

Likes: Some Fond Memory of Life

Hates: The Living

Notes

• Breathless and Undreaming.

  The undead ignore any effects related to living processes. They do not breathe. They do not sleep. They cannot be poisoned. They are immune to the Poison Blood of seablooded orcs.

• Rotting Brains.

  The undead ignore any attempts to manipulate their minds. They are immune to the Inspire effect. They cannot see illusions.

Lesser dooms

• Devour the Living.

  If a living creature is Knocked-out or at Death's Door, play a lesser doom card to devour it. This Heals 2 Wounds.

• Fear.

  Play a lesser doom card and compare its value to the Initiative of each character in the same zone. If the undead does this on its turn, it adds its Wands to the total value. Adventurers it succeeds against are Displaced to an adjacent zone of the player's choice.

Minions are simple and weak. They pose little physical threat, don't employ tactics in combat, and are easy to bully or frighten. Use this template to represent untrained peasantry, prey animals, and weak monsters.

Minions do not have any default greater dooms.

Attributes: Swords 0 | Pentacles 0 | Cups 0 | Wands 0

HD 2/0

Brutes are powerful but stupid. Whereas they might have hulking strength or deadly magical abilities, they are easy to outwit. Adventurers fighting brutes in a straightforward way will likely be overwhelmed. However, if the adventurers employ a plan to trick, deceive, trap, or otherwise outsmart a brute enemy, you should allow this plan to work automatically.

Attributes: Swords 6 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 1 | Wands 1

HD 2/6

Notes

• Tough.

  Actions that target brutes must exceed (not just match) their Initiative.

Greater dooms (Choose 1 or 2)

• Overwhelming Attack.

  The brute can play a greater doom card as an Attack action.

• Deadly Attack.

  When the brute Attacks, discard a greater doom card to deal a deadly attack. If successful, deal 2 Wounds instead of 1.

• Corrosive Attack.

  When the brute Attacks, discard a greater doom card to target an adventurer's gear. If successful, deal no damage but Destroy one item.

• Untouchable.

  The brute can play a greater doom card as their Initiative.

Strategists are physically weak but intensely clever. Play strategists to the utmost of your ability, using your abilities to hit the adventurers where it hurts. Strategists never fall for obvious plans and always approach combat cautiously. Disengage and utilize guerrilla tactics whenever possible.

Attributes: Swords 1 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 2 | Wands 3

HD 3/3

Greater dooms (Choose 1 or 2)

• Tactics.

  Discard a greater doom card to turn a standard Challenge Action into an interrupt. This action does not count towards the one card per turn limit.

• Cautious Retreat.

  Discard a greater doom card to automatically disengage from a single adventurer. This action does not count towards the one card per turn limit.

• Sorcery.

  The strategist can cast spells using the rules in Appendix A. They have a few components at their disposal. Cast spells by playing a lesser doom Speak Incantations action and discarding a greater doom card instead of spending Resolve. Each additional greater doom card discarded counts as an additional +1 Resolve.

Elites are competent enemies capable of matching an entire adventuring guild on their own. Elites have potent magical abilities that allow them to ignore mundane threats.

Attributes: Swords 4 | Pentacles 4 | Cups 4 | Wands 4

HD 12/0

Notes (Optional)

• Invulnerable.

  The elite ignores all damage except from a specific source (e.g., silver weapons, iron weapons, fire).

• Retributive.

  Any creature engaged with the elite automatically takes 1 Wound at the start of their turn.

• Threshold.

  The elite does not take any damage until they are dealt 2 Wounds in a single turn. Afterwards, they take damage normally.

Greater dooms (Choose 1 or 2)

• Command.

  When the elite Attacks, discard a greater doom card to attempt to command the target instead of dealing damage. If successful, the target is Controlled—they immediately perform the commanded action. The total value for the Controlled action is equal to the value of the lesser doom card used to Attack.

• Intangible.

  Discard a greater doom card to turn tangible or intangible. While intangible, physical objects pass harmlessly through the elite. This action does not count towards the one card per turn limit.

• Potence.

  Play a greater doom card to cause all adventurers in the elite's zone to automatically take a specific effect (e.g., Stun, Deafen, Notch).

• Regenerate.

  Discard a greater doom card to Heal 1 Wound. This action does not count towards the one card per turn limit.

• Shapeshifter.

  Play a greater doom card to take a new shape. The elite gains any abilities associated with the new shape, such as flying or swimming.

Each dungeon level of the Underworld is ruled by a dungeon lord. These ancient creatures possess magical powers, wealth, and monstrous minions. They understand the secret history of the Underworld.

Dungeon lords are the most dangerous enemies an adventuring guild can face because they are both hyperintelligent and powerful. To represent their heightened intelligence, you can use your meta-knowledge as the GM (like listening to the players' table chatter) while taking actions for a dungeon lord.

Each dungeon lord is like a puzzle. Although singular creatures, dungeon lords have several pools of Health and Defense. Each pool has special rules associated with it, like lesser and greater dooms. As long as that pool of HD is undefeated, the dungeon lord has access to those abilities. Each pool can be attacked separately. The GM must make it clear what parts of a dungeon lord can be attacked.

Sometimes a dungeon lord can only be defeated if you destroy each pool of HD. Sometimes the dungeon lord can only be defeated if their core pool of HD is depleted.

Dungeon lords do not have any default greater dooms.

Attributes: Swords 3 | Pentacles 3 | Cups 3 | Wands 3

Choose 1 attribute to increase to 6.

Special — a dungeon lord has several named pools of Health and Defense, each with its own rules and dooms.