Featured Creature -- Eagle

There's a dearth of avians and sea creatures here at the G&S HQ, so let's remedy that with this week's entry.  And since it's still 4th of July week in the U.S., I'll do my patriotic duty and stat out our national dinosaur bird.

Eagle
Among the noblest and most majestic of raptor birds, eagles range most of the world and prey on all manner of species.  They have even been known to attack prey larger than themselves, and are in fact one of the physically strongest flying birds in all the animal kingdom.

In fantasy realms, eagles often ally with elves and other fey creatures, especially in times of war against goblins, orcs, and the twisted worg wolves who serve them.

To small terrestrial species, eagles are a nightmare from the sky, but they are also respected for their courage.  Potential prey approaching an eagle would do well to shower the bird with flattery, as eagles are quite susceptible to their own self-image as the kings of the birds.

     AC: 7
     AT (Dam): 2 claws, 1 bite (1d2/1d2/1d4)
     Beginning HP: 5 [6]
     Habitat: Sub-arctic to sub-tropical
     MV: 2; flying 12
     SZ: Small

Species Traits:

• Excellent Vision: Eagles can see three times better than a longpaw under normal conditions, granting them a +4 bonus on all lore checks to spot hidden objects or track moving targets on the ground from great heights. 
• Flyby Attack
• Great Strength: Eagles are among the strongest flying birds in existence; some have been known to lift targets three times their own body weight into the air.  They get a +2 bonus on all lore checks involving airborne feats of strength made against targets on the ground.
• Low-Light Vision
• Spatial Awareness: Like other flying birds and most sea creatures, eagles can easily think and fight in three dimensions. They suffer no penalties in "aerial" combat against land-dwelling creatures who enter their habitat.
• Swoop: Eagles can mount a flying charge attack against creatures at a lower altitude.  This gives them a +2 to hit and lets them inflict double damage on their target.  However, it imposes a 2-point penalty on their Armor Class.
• Ultravision
• +6 bonus on all move silently checks while airborne
• Suitable Niches: Herbalist, Runner, Scout, Warrior

Christmas Creature -- Reindeer

Someone's already gamified Santa into a playable OSR class, so here's the skinny on some of his most famous helpers.

Reindeer

Also known as caribou, reindeer are among the hardiest animals in the world, thriving in climes that would end lesser herd beasts.  They grow and shed their famous antlers seasonally on both sexes (another unique feature of the species), and have been symbols of strength and wisdom among longpaws for millennia.  

In classic fantasy settings, reindeer often serve powerful fairy lords or even deities as mounts or sleigh-pullers.  The greatest of these reindeer have been granted natural flight abilities, and possibly even other magical powers.  Young bucks and does aspiring to such heights have excellent motivations for adventuring.

     AC: 7
     AT (Dam): antlers (1d7 [1d8]), bite (1d2 [1d3]), hooves (1d5 [1d6])
     Beginning HP: 7 [8]
     Habitat: Arctic & subarctic land
     MV: 10
     SZ: Medium

Species Traits:

• Low Light Vision
• Scent
• Ultravision
• Unique Diet: Reindeer are the only mammals naturally capable of eating lichens, their favorite being reindeer moss.  They get a +2 bonus on all Herbalist lore checks involving the use of lichens, and with a successful Challenging Healer lore check, can boost their natural healing capability by 50% per day by eating a dose of reindeer moss.
• +2 on all lore checks to detect hidden or hear noise
• +2 on all saves to resist cold, either magical or natural
• +2 bonus on Warrior lore checks to push, pull, drag, break, or otherwise use their raw muscle power on heavy objects.
• Suitable Niches: Any

Featured Creature: Cheetah

Cheetahs are about as un-cat-like as an animal can get and still be considered a cat; indeed, some big cats and great cats consider them freaks of nature, while cheetahs themselves take pride in the features that set them apart from other felines.  Cheetah evolution diverged from that of big cats and great cats some five million years ago, and has continued distinguishing them ever since.

Unlike other cats, cheetahs primarily rely on great speed to capture their prey, and they make poor warriors against other animals of their size.  If a fight cannot be won right away, cheetahs will flee the conflict at top speed.  Though this gives them a reputation for cowardice among other cats, cheetahs like to point out how much their speed is envied by them, too.  Cheetahs are the fastest land animals in existence, and they don't let anyone forget it.

     AC: 6
     AT (Dam): 1 bite (1d5 [1d6]), 2 claws (1d3 [1d4])
     Beginning HP:  7 [8]
     Habitat: Savannah
     MV: 12
     SZ: Small

Species Traits:

• Epic Sprint:  When taking a charge or run maneuver, cheetahs can travel up to 10 times their base MV in a single round.  They can do this a number of times per day equal to their Total Level; if they exceed this amount, cheetahs have to make a Trauma save or suffer the effects of fatigue (-2 on all lore checks involving feats of strength or endurance) until they obtain a full 8 hours of rest.
• Growth Spurt: Cheetahs increase to Medium SZ at 3rd Total Level/Hit Dice.
• Low-Light Vision
• Scent
• Special Maneuvers: Charge, Claw/Claw, Pounce, Rake, Wrestle
• Ultravision
• +4 bonus on all lore checks to make quick turns, sudden stops, or other fast movements during a combat round.
• +1 bonus on all lore checks to climb, hide in shadows, or move silently.  The bonus is +3 in tall grass or other thick foliage.
• Suitable Niches: Runner, Scout, Seer, Trickster.

Featured Creatures: Back To The Cats

Next in alphabetical order from the old RC was the entry for Cats.  I've already covered small cats and the great cats, so that leaves us with the big cats in the middle... along with one very odd kitty out, the cheetah.

I'll cover the big cats in this post, and cheetahs in the next one.

Cats, Big
The name "big cat" covers a range of feline predators in various climates and habitats who are larger than domestic cats but smaller than the great lions and tigers.  This includes bobcats, cougars, jaguars, leopards, lynxes, mountain lions, ocelots, and panthers.

 
Like their kin at either end of the feline size range, big cats tend to be curious, patient, solo hunters adept at stealth and ambush tactics.  They are good climbers with reputations for both ferocity and wisdom in equal measure, and love a good prank at the expense of their kin or even potential prey.

     AC: 4
     AT (Dam): 1 bite (1d7 [1d8]), 2 claws (1d3 [1d4])
     Beginning HP: 7 [8]
     Habitat: Any, varies by species
     MV: 10
     SZ: Small

Species Traits:

• Growth Spurt: Except for bobcats and lynxes, big cats become Medium at 2nd Total Levels/Hit Dice
• Low-Light Vision
• Nine Lives: Cats can re-roll nine critical failures over the course of their career.  Often, this will mean the difference between life and death; hence, the name nine lives.  Once these “lives” are used up, they cannot be restored.
• Scent
• Special Maneuvers: Claw/claw, bite/claw/claw, pounce, rake, wrestle
• Ultravision
• +2 bonus on all lore checks to climb, hide in shadows, and move silently. The bonus is +4 in tall grass or other thick foliage.
• Suitable Niches: Any 

Featured Creature: Raven

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.

At a reader's request!

Raven

Ravens feed on carrion and gather in isolated, abandoned places.  For this reason, they are often seen as dreary or spooky by other beings, despite their great aptitude for play.  They also have a reputation for pointless thievery, often taking great risks to collect meaningless shiny objects from the places they visit. Nonetheless, ravens are highly intelligent and social beings, and the best tool-users among all of bird-kind.

A raven's favorite food is the eyes of the dead.   They feel it honors the fallen by passing their dying sight onto another, becoming the basis of stories that will perpetuate memories of the dead long after they are gone.  Many ravens claim to experience visions or prophetic dreams after eating the eyes of the dead, though whether these visions are genuine or just mad rantings is any non-raven's guess.

     AC 7
     AT (Dam): Bite (1d3); talons (1d2; this is a single attack with both feet at once)
     Beginning HP: 3 
     Habitat: Temperate
     MV: 3; 20 flying
     SZ: Tiny   

Species Traits:

• Bauble-Snatcher's Curse: All ravens carry their mythical hero's curse, and find shiny trinkets of any or no value almost irresistible.  Whenever you encounter such a trinket -- be it well-guarded or not -- you must succeed at a Challenging Charm save, or be compelled to try and steal the object from whoever possesses it.  Luckily, you  get a +2 bonus on your Trickster lore check when attempting this larceny. This bonus does not apply in circumstances where you succeeded on your saving throw.
  
• Eye Peck: On any unmodified attack roll of 19 or 20, you can pluck out or otherwise damage one of your enemy's eyes (provided the enemy has eyes, that is).  This attack blinds her in that eye, imposing a -2 penalty on all further attack rolls, or lore checks that rely on paw-eye coordination.  If you manage a second such attack against the same opponent, she is permanently blinded, a condition that can only be healed through magical means.
• Flyby Attack
• Low-Light Vision
• Tool-Use: You gain a +2 bonus on all Scout lore checks to use tools or decipher the function of simple longpaw devices.
• Ultravision
• -4 penalty on all lore checks involving feats of strength.
• +3 bonus on Runner or Trickster lore checks that involve flying stunts
• Suitable Niches: Familiar, Guardian, Herbalist, Magic-User, Runner, Scout, Seer, Trickster.
  

Spandrels: A Kind Of Magic For Animal Characters

Spandrel is a term in evolutionary biology (borrowed from architecture) referring to a characteristic that arose as a side-effect of evolution, rather than as a direct product of natural selection.  They are traits that were not necessarily adaptive in themselves, but got passed on because of the adaptive traits they were associated with.  Some can get co-opted into new uses that themselves become targets of natural selection.  A classic example is flight in birds.  Flight is a side effect of having feathers (feathers appear in the fossil record millions of years before the first flying birds).  Feathers evolved in response to some other purpose, and only accidentally made it possible for bird ancestors to be better at gliding.  Over time, the advantage provided by this accidental by-product of evolution (gliding) was acted on by natural selection, and birds became capable of flight.

Source

In the Great & Small game, "spandrel" refers to secondary traits that animal characters can acquire through adventuring and experience.  In most cases, these will be the traits of other species, but in campaigns with classic or modern fantasy elements, they can also be magical "items" that become part of the character's biology.

Any time an animal character overcomes a significant (as defined by the BM) challenge posed by an NPC from another species, the BM can reward her by granting her one of that character's Species Traits as though it were her own, permanently adding it to her repertoire of abilities.

For example, a rabbit PC who defeats a dog that was trying to eat her or her friends could be rewarded with one of the dog's unique traits, such as Ultravision, Versatility, a +2 on lore checks to understand longpaw devices, or perhaps the dog's better base Movement Rate.

The in-game explanation for precisely how this transfer occurs is up to the BM.  Spandrels are a kind of "magic" or treasure for animal characters, and shouldn't be any more (or less!) of a hassle to acquire than standard magical items for longpaw characters.

Speaking of standard magical items, their powers, too, can be acquired as spandrels by animal characters who discover or encounter them, assuming the item cannot be used as-is by the animal.  For instance, animals can benefit from potions by drinking them, just as longpaw characters can (however, potions are subject to the Dosage & Target Size parameters described in the Herbalism document).  In settings like the Trucewood Vale, where sapient animals and humanoids interact on a fairly regular basis, collars can be enchanted with the same sorts of magic as rings, and suits of magical armor can be made for non-humanoid species.

In most cases, however, animal characters will have to gain a magical item or weapon's benefits by eating it, either partially or completely (depending on both the size of the item and the size of the character).  Standard magic items aren't entitled to a saving throw to resist being consumed in this way; it is simply how the gods have decreed that animals can access magic from longpaw-crafted items.  Artifacts and relics, however, are entitled to saving throws, and are difficult to digest in any case.

Eating a magic item or weapon does not alleviate an animal's hunger, so she will still have to rely on normal sources of food for that purpose. Nor does eating the item harm her in any way.  It does, however, transfer its powers to her as though she were carrying it as a normal part of her body (note that this does not increase her mass in any way).  Magical weapons transfer their effects to one of the character's natural attack forms, and magical armors improve her natural AC.

For instance, suppose a lion Warrior uncovers a cache of longpaw treasure that includes a sword +1, +3 vs. dragons.  If she eats this sword, the magical bonuses will be transferred to one of her natural attack forms of her choice... say, her bite.  Henceforth, one of her natural attacks will be bite +1, +3 vs. dragons.

Similarly, a snake Magic-User who recovers and eats a wand of magic missiles will gain the ability to cast that spell at will a number of times equal to the wand's charges.

The remnants of a partially-eaten magic item are no longer magical.  Their effects have been completely transferred to the animal who ate them.

Finally, magical spandrels can be claimed by foes who defeat their possessors, just as Species Traits spandrels can be.  Thus, an animal who defeated the lion Warrior described above could claim the bite +1, +3 vs. dragons as her own.  In these cases, however, the spandrel retains its current form and cannot be converted into a different natural attack; the magical bite attack remains a magical bite attack ever after, no matter which species claims it.

It should be emphasized that, for unknown reasons, longpaws cannot transfer or acquire magical spandrels in this fashion; they must rely on using magic items in their standard forms.  Similarly, longpaws cannot claim the Species Traits of other animals for themselves (without special rituals), nor can their Species Traits be claimed as spandrels by animals.  The BM is free to concoct any campaign-appropriate explanation for why this is the case, but it is a hard and fast rule of Great & Small.  Altering it will significantly impact the feel of an animal fantasy campaign setting.

Spandrels with permanent or continuous effects are hereditary, and pass from one generation to the next, just as family heirlooms do in human families.  Thus, a lionness can pass her bite +1, +3 vs. dragons on to one of her children if she chooses.  However, she will herself lose the benefit.

Even so, there appear to be exceptions to this rule. It is believed by some scholars that the spandrel process is the origin of chimeric creatures like gryphons, jackalopes, or owlbears, animals who combine the traits of divergent species in a way nature can't do on its own.

Creepy Crawlies, Pt. 2: The Eater Of Last Things

All species die.  There are no exceptions. Other species should never have been born, and have only crossed over into our world as Neverspawn from the bosom of the Progenitor.  When such species are reduced to a lone surviving individual, or a small isolated population, the Winnower often dispatches its most feared hunter to consume not only such beings' flesh, but the memory of their very existence.

The Eater Of Last Things is a predatory spirit monster that specializes in cleansing the world of cryptozoans, mythical creatures, and, on occasion, Progenitor cults who wish to create, protect, or summon such animals.  It cares little for the moral disposition of its prey, and will happily consume either the last noble unicorn or the only remaining vile manticore.  The Eater's only agenda is to hunt and eat the final specimens of a given species.  If it successfully does so, that species will not only disappear from physical existence, but from the world's memory, as well.  Thus, they will no longer have a presence in the Lingering World, either.  It will be as though they had never existed.

When its full form can be seen clearly, the Eater Of Last Things looks like nothing so much as a bizarre hybrid of ape and toad, with features of other species on display as well.  It has a roughly bipedal appearance, and moves about somewhat like an ape walking on its hind legs.  Its head is like that of a gigantic toad, it has two powerful tentacles in place of forelimbs, a great fan-like fin runs the length of its spine, and its body is covered in thick, reddish black hair.  Its independently focusable, chameleon-like eyes can extend from their sockets on wiry stalks, giving it a fuller range of vision and making it much harder to surprise.

However, the Eater's true form is rarely seen by anyone in the physical world.  Because it exists mostly in the Lingering World, the Eater is usually encountered as a blurry, ghost-like form, and only crosses the Membrane fully when it is about to attack its targeted prey.

As far as can be determined, the creature is immortal, embodying as it does the will of natural selection itself.  Luckily, though, it can be defeated for a time, and there are persistent rumors of hidden magic that allow users to either control the Eater for their own ends, or make themselves invisible to it and its master, the god-thing known as the Winnower.  Of course, no one has ever verified these rumors...

The Eater's primary motivation is eternal hunger, and once it has scented its targeted prey, it will always attack her first in any round of combat.  When this is not possible, the Eater will always target the weakest, most-poorly armored of its opponents first.

(NOTE: The Eater Of Last Things was designed for the Creepy Crawlies campaign scheme, but it can be used in any setting where magic and the occult are real.  It was designed, in part, using the Random Esoteric Creature Generator for Classic Fantasy Role-Playing Games and their Modern Simulacra by James Raggi IV.)

Armor Class: 2
Attacks: 1 bite (1d7), 2 tentacles (1d5, constriction)
Move: 160 ft. (80 ft.); Swim 90 ft. (30 ft.)
Saves as: Warrior
Size: Medium
Special: Devastating Bite, Eye Stalks, Odor, Out Of Phase, Resurrection, Rubbery Flesh, Swallow Whole, +4 on all saves, +1 on all attack rolls
Total Levels (Hit Dice): 8
Threat: Heroic (-6)
Traits: Brachiation, Constriction (2 tentacle attacks), Low-Light Vision, Pounce, Scent, Ultravision

Devastating Bite:  The Eater's normal bite attack is deadly enough (1d7 hp), but it can double its potential damage to 2d7 on a critical success (i.e., a natural 20).

Eye Stalks: The Eater Of Last Things can extend its eyes from their sockets on long, wiry stalks 3 feet in length, which it can rotate a full 360 degrees, for maximum field of vision.  While in this state, it can only be surprised on a result of 1 on a 1d5 surprise roll.

Odor: The Eater Of Last Things has a powerful, distinct, gut-wrenching scent of imminent death clinging to it wherever it goes.  This foul stench can be detected even by animals who do not have the Scent ability, and reduces the Eater's chances of surprising its foes (it gets a -4 penalty on surprise checks).  However, this odor also instills fear in its enemies; anyone smelling the Eater in the vicinity must make a save vs. paralysis against the Eater's Threat rating, or be forced to behave as though she lost a non-lethal conflict.

Out Of Phase: Though it can interact with the physical plane, the Eater Of Last Things exists mostly in The Lingering World, giving it a "blurry" appearance to most observers who are not also in The Lingering World.  As a result, the first attack by any opponent on the physical plane against the Eater automatically fails.  This benefit is negated if the Eater crosses the Membrane into our world (such as when it is about to attack its targeted prey), or if its opponent is in the Lingering World with it.

Resurrection:  As an agent of The Winnower, the Eater Of Last Things cannot be permanently killed. If it is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, it dissolves into a pool of slime and vaporizes, only to re-form itself completely restored to full hit points at some later time.  The interval between the Eater's defeat and its reconstitution is best left to the BM, as suited to the needs of her story.  However,  the interval should be at least long enough for PCs to heal themselves and relish some small sense of victory.

Rubbery Flesh:  The Eater Of Last Things has a resilient anatomy, such that it suffers no damage from any non-magical physical attack that inflicts less than half its natural maximum potential damage (for instance, if an attack form inflicts 1d12 hp, any attack roll that comes up less than 6 does 0 hp to the Eater, instead). Such attacks merely "bounce" off its flesh with no effect.  Magical enhancements to attacks still inflict their bonus as damage, however (thus, a +3 claw attack would always inflict at least 3 hp damage).

Swallow Whole (Fast): The Eater Of Last Things can attempt to swallow alive any opponent it has grappled with its sticky tongue.  If this opponent is its target prey, Size category does not matter.  If the opponent is some other creature, she must be Size Small or smaller for the Eater to attempt this attack.  First, the Eater must successfully strike its target with its frog-like tongue and initiate a Wrestle attempt; this attack form has a range of 20 ft.  If the Wrestle attempt is successful, the Eater may swallow its prey whole.  A swallowed creature takes 1d7 hp damage per round, and remains under the effects of the successful Wrestle the entire time; however, the Eater does not, and can continue to fight other opponents normally.

A swallowed creature can attempt to free itself by clawing, cutting, or otherwise ripping itself out of the Eater's gullet.  This takes the form of a standard Tough save vs. paralysis, with further -5 penalty to the roll.

The Great Cats

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.
 
The world mourned the loss of Cecil the lion this week, and in his honor, I'm skipping ahead in the OSR material on animals to cover lions and tigers, the great cats.

Cat, Great
Among the most adored, feared, loved, and respected animals in the natural world, great cats are living symbols of power, nobility, and savagery.

One of them, the lion, is widely known as the "king of the beasts," and typically acts like it in the worst possible way.  Despite their reputation among longpaws, most male lions are lazy bullies who spend their day lounging about their prides' lair while the females do most of the hunting.  Male lions are polygamists with a tendency to murder the children of their wives' previous mates, but some stray from this behavior and strive to live up to their species' noble reputation.  Female lions, as noted, do most of the hunting and child-rearing among their kind, and are thus far more gregarious towards outsiders, often of necessity.  Indeed, lions are unique among cats in being group hunters.

Tigers, like lions, are polygamous, though far less social.  They possess such fearsome reputations that many longpaw communities actually worship them as minor deities and offer them sacrifices in the hopes of avoiding the tigers' wrath.  Sometimes, this works.  But other times, it feeds the tiger's ego and leads her to expect more from her subjects, which only makes them more terrified.

In spite of these fearsome traits, however, great cats, like their smaller kin, are highly curious and playful.  They will often track or follow a group of other animals just to see what they are up to, and this sometimes creates a sense of responsibility for these animals in the cat's mind.  They are also quite stealthy and shy, and when not hunting for food, great cats prefer to avoid confrontation even with obviously weaker foes.  If startled or attacked, they will just as often flee the area as stand and fight, particularly when they are alone.

Great cats possess amplified versions of the game traits of small cats, as noted below.

AC: 6
AT (Dam): 1 bite (1d7 [1d8]), 2 claws (1d5 [1d6]) 
Beginning HP: 9 [10]
Habitat: Tropical to temperate forest, grasslands, savannah.

MV: 10

SZ: Small

Species Traits:

• Growth Spurt: Lions go up a Size category to Medium at 3rd Total Level, and then to Large at 5th Total Level.  Tigers go up to Medium at 3rd Total Level, as well, but do not achieve Large Size until 6th Total Levels.
• Low-Light Vision
• Nine Lives:  Cats can re-roll nine critical failures over the course of their career.  Often, this will mean the difference between life and death; hence, the name nine lives.  Once these “lives” are used up, they cannot be restored.
• Scent
• Special Maneuvers: Claw/Claw, Bite/Claw/Claw, Grapple, Pounce, Rake
• Ultravision
• +2 bonus on all lore checks to climb, hide in shadows, and move silently. The bonus is +4 in tall grass or other thick foliage.
• +3 on all Warrior lore checks involving feats of strength.
• Suitable Niches: Guardian, Runner, Scout, Trickster, Warrior 

Featured Creature: Wolf

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.
 
In ancient times, wolves challenged longpaws for mastery of the world.  The contest waged for generations, with each species learning from the other, until one day, those who would become dogs adopted some longpaw tribes and taught them the secrets of the hunt.  The results, from the wolves' point of view, were disastrous, and to this day, there is a deep well of distrust between wolves and dogs, despite their many commonalities.

Contrary to many human conceptions, most wolf packs are not ruled by a dictatorial "alpha wolf."  Instead, they are typically a family group composed of a mated pair and their (usually adult) children; some larger wolf communities are composed of multiple families, each governed by a mated pair. In such large packs, the mated pairs form a sort of governing council that makes decisions by consensus.

Adult children typically leave their family after 1 to 5 years to seek mates.  New mated pairs seek lands of their own in which to establish a new pack, or seek to join an existing group of wolf families, before having any of their own offspring.

     AC: 7
     AT (Dam.): bite 1d5 [1d6]
     Beginning HP: 9 [10]
     MV: 12
     SZ: Small

Species Traits:

• Growth Spurt: At 2nd Total Level, wolves grow in Size from Small to Medium.  
• Howl: Wolves have a secret language of howls with which they can communicate over long distances. All wolves are taught this language from birth, and it is never taught to other species, under pain of death.  Wolves communicating by howl can count on their messages almost never being intercepted by non-wolf enemies.  Even dogs no longer know this language.  
• Low-Light Vision 
• Scent  
• Trip Maneuver 
• Ultravision 
• +2 bonus on lore checks to track by sense of smell  
• Suitable Niches: Healer, Runner, Scout, Seer, Trickster, Warrior

Featured Creature: Bats!

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.
 
Millions of years ago, bats were banished into the night, either by the gods or the other  animals, for some long-forgotten crime, real or perceived.  Since that day, they have embraced the darkness and spread to every corner of the world, quietly serving as pest controllers and pollinators for their friends, the trees and flowers. Next to rodents, they are the most widespread group of mammals in the world.

They are especially appropriate in a Creepy Crawlies campaign, where they can adopt the Familiar niche.  In classic fantasy settings like the Trucewood Vale, they can also be Magic-Users.

There are two main types of bats: megabats and microbats.  Each shares certain characteristics, while also maintaining unique traits.

All bat characters have the following Species Traits:

• Confuse Foes:  Bats can flitter about the heads of land-borne opponents, confusing their senses.  For every 5 (megabat) or 10 (microbat) bats co-operating on a confusion attack (minimum of 1 bat),  one Medium-sized terrestrial opponent can be affected; each such target suffers a -2 penalty on all attack and saving throw rolls for the duration of the attack.  Spell-casters or other foes with abilities that require concentration or precision must make a Paralysis save (at the above -2 penalty) or be unable to concentrate  well-enough to carry out such tasks.  Thus, their spell-casting is ruined.
• Flight Ability: Bats are the only species of mammal capable of true natural flight.
• Flyby Attack
• Low-Light Vision
• Scent
• Swoop Maneuver

Megabat 
Most megabat species are frugivores or nectarivores, and have an intimate knowledge of plants.

AC: 6
AT (Dam): 1 bite (1d3)
Beginning HP: 3 [4]
Habitat: Any 
MV: 1; 8 flying
SZ: Tiny

Species Traits:  In addition to the common bat traits above, megabats have the following abilities.

• Growth Spurt: Megabats become Small in SZ at 2nd Total Levels.  The largest megabats have wingspans of 5 feet.
• Plant Lore: Megabats get a +2 bonus on all lore checks involving knowledge of plants.  In fantasy settings, they automatically know the languages of treants and other plant creatures.
• Ultravision
• -4 penalty on all lore checks involving feats of strength
• Suitable Niches: Herbalist, Runner, Scout, Seer, Trickster, Warrior

Microbat

Microbat species are almost all insectivorous, though the (in)famous vampire bat feeds on the blood of large mammals.

AC: 5
AT (Dam): 1 bite (1d3 [1d4])
Beginning HP: 2 [3]
Habitat: Any 
MV: 1; 8 flying
SZ: Diminutive

Species Traits: In addition to the common bat traits above, microbats have the following abilities.

• Blindsense
• Echosight:  Though not truly blind, microbats rely more heavily on their hearing than on their sense of sight or smell.  Thus, they suffer no penalties when making Scout lore checks  if using their hearing, but a -2 penalty when using sight or smell. They can ignore the effects of attacks or effects that blind their targets, provided such attacks do not also deafen them.
• Growth Spurt: Microbat characters have the option of becoming Tiny at 2nd Total Level, but are never required to do so.
• -5 penalty on all lore checks involving feats of strength
• Suitable Niches: Healer, Runner, Scout, Seer, Storyteller, Trickster

Sneak peek: New Herbalism rules

The initial Quick Start rules for Herbalism were a more or less straight conversion from the original Bunnies & Burrows game, including keeping the names of the herbs intact.  This created potential copyright infringement issues, and it was an amateur mistake on my part to put them out there.  But in my defense, I am an amateur...

That said, I removed the document from circulation as soon as someone pointed this problem out to me.  And since then, I've been working on some newer rules that keep the spirit of the concept intact while making their execution more OGL-compliant.

Here's a sneak peek at what I've been working on.  I hope to have a full version of these rules back in Quick Start circulation in about a month.  Keep in mind that these are all preliminary, and subject to substantial change before the final Quick Start version gets released.
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Herbalism is divided into five broad schools: astringents, boosters, enchantments, poisons, and psychoactives.

Astringents are herbs that treat wounds and otherwise aid in alleviating pain and suffering.  They will mostly mimic minor clerical healing effects, but never be as good as the Healer's abilities.

Boosters provide recipients with bonuses to lore checks, or grant them temporary abilities that mimic Species Traits from other animal types.

Enchantments are "love weeds," that make targets more susceptible to suggestion, or alter their default Attitude rating in some way, or otherwise affect their state of mind (as opposed to their perceptions).  They will generally mimic the effects of spells like sleep, charm person, etc., but with fixed durations, limited targets, and so on.

Poisons are self-explanatory; they are herbal concoctions that inflict damage, or even death, on recipients.

If only there was a way to weaponize this technology...

Pscyhoactives mess with the recipients' perceptions of reality.  They will mimic the effects of illusion magic, but only be perceptible to the subjects receiving them.

Herbal concoctions have a Difficulty Rating, like most other tasks in the game.  Concoctions are rated from Average to Formidable, based on the Threat Level of saving throws against them. Any character with levels in Herbalist lore can learn and concoct Average herbs (though not necessarily automatically knowing any), but only niche Herbalists can make more difficult ones.

Niche Herbalists begin the game with access to two "schools" of Herbalism, and know the recipes for all of the Average herbs in those schools.  Alternately, they can choose to specialize in one of the schools, which grants them access the Tough-rated recipes from that school, as well, at the cost of starting without knowledge from any other school.

In addition to recipes known, niche Herbalists begin play with 2d5 prepared doses of Average difficulty concoctions of their choice, gifted to them by their mentor, whether they know the recipes for those concoctions or not.

As they gain levels, niche Herbalists improve their skill at their chosen schools.  At 3rd level, niche Herbalists can learn and concoct Tough recipes from their chosen schools; at 6th level, they can learn and concoct Challenging recipes; and at 9th level, they can learn and concoct Formidable recipes.

Specialists improve faster than generalists in their specialized school, gaining access to Challenging recipes at 5th level, and Formidable recipes at 8th level.  However, their progression in and access to other schools is limited, as noted below.

Niche Herbalists gain access to new schools as they go up in level.  At 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels, they gain access to one new school each, at Average level.  Each time they gain access to a new school, their knowledge in the previous schools goes up one rating.

For instance, if a niche Herbalist begins play with access to Poisons and Psychoactives, she knows the Average recipes for those schools at 0-level.  When she reaches 3rd Herbalist level, her knowledge of these schools improves to Tough, and she gains access to one new school... say, Astringents ... at Average rating.  Then, at 6th Herbalist level, her knowledge of Poisons and Pscyhoactives improves to Challenging, her knowledge of Astringents improves to Tough, and she gains access to a fourth school... in this case, Boosters ... at an Average rating of knowledge.  This pattern repeats in a similar way at 9th Herbalist level, by which time she should have access to all five schools of Herbalism.

Specialists gain access to new schools at the same rate, but can only access four total schools before 10th level.

Most of the rest of the rules I wrote -- about delivery types (Contact, Ingested, or Inhaled), dosage-to-Size ratio, etc -- will be largely the same, but all of the herbs listed will be new, either invented by me or derived from some OGL source.

The concept of poisonweed, originally adapted from B&B, is gone.

Here are some sample herbs.

Brown Mold Spore (Formidable Poison)
Delvery Method: Inhalation
One dose of this herb contains enough brown mold spore to affect all targets within a 5 ft. radius once it is burst open, including the Herbalist herself if she  has not thrown the dose beyond that range. All creatures within the area of effect must succeed at a save vs. blast effects or suffer 2d7 hp of cold damage as their body heat is drained away.  The following round, a save vs. death effects must be made, or the affected creatures continue losing 1d7 hp per round until they "freeze" to death.  A successful second save ends the effect.

Dazzleberry (Challenging Psychoactive)
Delivery Method: Ingestion
Mimics the 4th level magic-user spell confusion, but only affects one Medium Size target per dose.  The effects last for 2 hours (120 turns).

Hawkeye (Average Booster)
Delivery Method: Ingestion
This herb grants the imbiber the Ultravision species trait for one hour.

Snoozeweed (Average Enchantment)
Delivery Method: Ingestion
This herb mimics the 1st-level magic-user spell sleep, except that it only affects one Medium Size target per dose.  The target sleeps for one hour (60 turns).

Yellow Mold Spore (Challenging Poison)
Delivery Method: Inhalation
A single dose of yellow mold spore contains enough of the herb to affect all targets within a 10 ft. radius, once it is burst open (this includes the Herbalist herself, if she has not thrown the dose beyond that  range).  Anyone caught within the yellow mold spore cloud must make a save vs. death effects, or choke to death within 2d3 rounds.

More Ultravision!

Turns out, birds and fish aren't alone.  Cats, dogs, and several other mammals can also see UV light:

Douglas, a professor of biology at City University London specializing in the visual system, and co-author Glen Jeffery, a professor of neuroscience at University College London, determined that cats, dogs, rodents, hedgehogs, bats, ferrets and okapis all detect substantial levels of UV.

So, I've added the Ultravision Species Trait to the Featured Creature entries for small cats, dogs, and squirrels.

When I get around to them, it'll also belong to the rest of the rodents, to reindeer, bats, etc., as well as most of the birds and fish.

If you're one of the handful of people who've downloaded the Quick Start Rules, make sure you include this awesome old-school ability for your cat, dog, and squirrel characters.

On Beyond Purple: Taking Back Ultravision

Infravision and ultravision were two of the coolest concepts in old-school D&D. Never mind that their descriptions were scientifically embarrassing.  The prospect of playing a character with special sight powers was always appealing.

During the switch-over from 2nd edition to 3rd and later editions of the game, infra- and ultra-vision got subsumed into the character/monster traits of Low-Light Vision and Darkvision, since those were their actual functions in old-school game terms.

SQUAWK! I see you in a whole different light.

Their disappearance provoked a lot of nostalgia in me, and I could never quite let them go.  I always thought they could give excellent perks to PCs that were separate from just being able to see in the dark.

In the old rules, for instance, infravision could be optionally defined as the ability to detect creatures and objects by their natural heat emissions.  This could grant bonuses on checks to detect invisible creatures, provided they had a warm-blooded metabolism.

But the original game didn't have many good ideas what to do with ultravision, the ability to perceive colors in the ultraviolet spectrum.  The descriptions of the ability provided in older editions were, as noted, scientifically embarrassing.  But they needn't have been.

Unlike infravision, something like ultravision actually exists in nature; more than half of all bird species can see ultraviolet light.  And when you do a little perfunctory reading on its possible evolutionary advantages, some game effects are immediately suggested.

The prevailing hypotheses are that bird UV vision evolved because it provided advantages to foraging and hunting (some fruits are more visible in the UV spectrum, as are many prey animals' excretions), signalling and camouflage (making them more visible to each other, but less visible to predators who can only see into the violet range), and sexual selection (flashier birds get more mates).

Thus, an old-school fantasy RPG about animal characters can revive Ultravision, and make it better!  Here's  my preliminary write-up for the Ultravision Species Trait, which will ultimately be found in the descriptions for several bird and fish species:

• Ultravision: In addition to normal vision, you can perceive colors in the ultraviolet spectrum.  This grants you a +2 bonus on all Herbalist and Scout lore checks to gather nutritious fruits and berries (Herbalist lore), to spot hidden predators, or to track other animals by their excrement trails (Scout lore).  When tracking, this species trait stacks with any bonus you receive from the Scent ability.

Featured Creature: Squirrel

NOTE: These stats have been edited to conform to the rules revisions posted on 9/8/15.
 
Squirrels are frivolous, alert, and seemingly perpetually happy. They delight in all manner of dances, jokes, and riddles, and are among the craftiest of animals when it comes to living among longpaws. In classic fantasy worlds, squirrels may revel in the company of fairies like brownies or pixies, joyfully taking part in their schemes and tricks. 

     AC: 6
     AT (Dam.): bite (1d3)
     Beginning HP: 2 [3]
     Habitat: Temperate (forest, plains, urban, woodland) 
     MV: 4; climbing
     SZ: Diminutive  

Species Traits :

• Brachiation

• Low Light Vision

• Glide (Flying Squirrels only):  Flying squirrels can use their “wings” to glide a distance of 2 feet vertically for every 1 foot horizontally. 

• Scent

• Scamper: Squirrels can move at their full run speed while climbing, provided they are moving in a straight line.

• Ultravision

• Primitive Hands

• -3 penalty on all Warrior lore checks involving feats of strength.

• +2 bonus on Trickster lore checks to hide and move silently

• +4 bonus on lore checks involving climbing or balancing; squirrels use their Trickster lore instead of their Warrior lore for climb checks.

• Suitable Niches: Healer, Herbalist, Runner, Seer, Storyteller, Trickster