Chapter Eleven

Bestiary

Dyrhal is not a land of safe roads. Most deaths are not glorious, and most enemies are not legendary. They are hungry men with a spear, a beast that commits too far, or something dead that refuses to stay quiet. In Steel Age, danger is practical: bad footing, poor light, fatigue, and a single mistake that turns into momentum.

This bestiary is not an exhaustive ecology. It provides a small, reliable set of foes that can carry an entire arc of play — enemies you can reskin, recombine, and escalate without rewriting the system every time you open a new location. Humans remain the most common threat, because in Dyrhal, an “ordinary” person with intent and desperation can still kill you.

Threat Marks

Threat Mark (TM) is a quick measure of how dangerous a foe is in the Steel Age combat loop — how easily it can seize momentum, convert that momentum into injury, and endure long enough to matter. Threat Marks are not a promise of balance. Terrain, numbers, surprise, fatigue, morale, and a good roll can shift a fight more than any rating.

Threat Mark Scale (TM 0–5)

TM	Tier	What it means
TM 0	Nuisance	Not a true combatant alone. Dangerous as a complication, hazard, or swarm element.
TM 1	Common	Baseline danger. Individually manageable, but deadly with numbers, surprise, or strong positioning.
TM 2	Hard	A serious fight. Typically has armor, discipline, reach, or a defining pressure trait.
TM 3	Grim	Veteran-grade threats. Expect injuries unless the party creates advantage or controls tempo.
TM 4	Ruinous	Boss-tier danger. These fights should be planned, avoided, or won by leverage.
TM 5	Legendary	Campaign events. Victory is possible, but rarely clean.

Tags That Change the Math

Relentless: Commits once engaged. Forces the party to spend fatigue, space, and time.
Multi-Pressure: Can apply pressure to multiple targets in the same melee phase — treat as “one creature behaving like several.”
Mindless: Does not rout, bargain, or flee. If the party cannot end the fight quickly, it becomes a grind.

Many TM 1 foes become deadly if they can surround, deny retreat, or dogpile an exhausted target. A single TM 3+ foe becomes deadly if it keeps momentum and the party cannot disengage. Relentless foes are most dangerous when the environment supports them — tight woods, mud, snow, darkness, narrow bridges, cramped interiors. Use Threat Marks to estimate risk, then let the fiction decide whether the party should fight, flee, bargain, or change the situation.

Creature Categories

Humans — Desperate criminals, hard-raiding opportunists, and disciplined soldiers whose lives have taught them to press every advantage. Even “ordinary” men can kill you if they gain the upper hand, exploit an exhausted opponent, or force the fight into bad ground.

Humanoids — These foes do not meet you on equal ground unless forced. They swarm, harry, and ambush. When they stand their ground, something larger and nastier is usually close enough to make courage feel like the safer choice.

Beasts — Animals do not posture. When one commits, it commits with the whole body — pressing until driven off, satisfied, or dead. These are not random encounters. They are living hazards with teeth.

Undead — The dead of Dyrhal do not rise from hunger or instinct. They rise because something refuses to release them. They do not flee and they do not tire. If the living cannot end the fight quickly, the dead will grind them down through fatigue, missteps, and the slow collapse of morale.

Monsters — Not simply stronger foes — the places where the world’s rules bend. A monster encounter is a chapter-closing moment: a hunt, a siege, a desperate retreat. Monsters demand preparation and hard choices, because they bring pressures the living were never built to endure.

Bandit

TM 1

Human · Skirmisher

Bandits are the bottom rung of violence: hungry men and women with a stolen blade, a cheap bow, or a spear pulled from a militia rack. They avoid fair fights. They prefer ambush, numbers, and targets who look slow, lost, or alone.

A bandit’s real threat is not skill — it’s timing. They strike when a traveler’s guard is down, when fatigue is high, or when the road offers no clean escape.

Stat Block

7

Prowess

7

Toughness

7

Mind

7

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 0–1 (heavy cloth 0, leather 1) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +0 · Ranged Combat +0 · Acrobatics & Movement +0 · Stealth +1

Weapons (choose one): Spear (Reach 2, Lethality 2) · Hand Axe (Reach 0, Lethality 1) · Bow (Ranged, Lethality 2)

Traits: None

Morale: Organized (poor discipline; likely to withdraw early).

Tactics

Do not stand alone. Bandits behave boldly only when they outnumber their prey.
Threaten the exit. A spear-bandit takes the front while bow or axe pressures a flank.
Break fast. If a bandit’s first rush fails, they scatter.

Typical Group Size3–8. Small groups rely on ambush; larger groups establish roadblocks or false toll points.

Terrain PreferencesRoad bends, narrow bridges, forest tracks, ruined outposts, choke points.

Encounter Seeds

A wagon axle is “broken” in the road ahead. The bandits wait in the brush for someone to stop and help.
A burned farmstead hides a few survivors — and the bandits who caused it.
A local lord claims the road is safe, but caravans keep disappearing.

From the personal record of Aldric Vonn, magistrate’s clerk, Barony of Kalz

They were not monsters. That is the thing nobody wants to hear afterward. The one who held the knife to the merchant’s throat had calluses on both hands and no boots worth the name. The one who ran first had a child’s ring on a cord around his neck. The one who didn’t run — the one we had to put down in the ditch — had a Komes’s mark branded on his shoulder, which means someone decided his crime was bad enough to cast out but not bad enough to hang.

I have taken testimony from survivors of seventeen road incidents in the last two years. In four of them the attackers were cruel men who enjoyed the work. In the other thirteen they were hungry. That distinction matters to me. It does not matter much to the people who were robbed.

The magistrate says I am too soft for this work. He may be right. But I think understanding why a man picks up a weapon on a road is different from excusing it. You cannot predict a cruel man. A hungry one you can.

Raider

TM 2

Human · Bruiser

Raiders are not thieves—they are takers. They burn granaries, strip farms, and carry off anything that can be eaten, worn, or traded. Unlike bandits, raiders are accustomed to resistance. They understand that a fight is won by finding the weak point and pressing until it gives.

A raider is most dangerous when a foe is already tired, hurt, or panicking. They smell weakness the way a dog smells blood.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

8

Toughness

7

Mind

7

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 2 (heavy gambeson / rough mail pieces) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +1 · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Persuasion +1

Weapons: Axe (Reach 1, Lethality 3) · Spear (Reach 2, Lethality 2) + Shield

Morale: Organized (holds while confident; breaks if leader falls or losses mount).

Traits

Press the Weak: If the Raider’s target has 2+ Fatigue or is Wounded, the Raider gains +1 on Momentum Press against that target.

Tactics

Pick on the tired. Raiders focus the first obvious weak link and refuse to let up.
Force mistakes. Intimidation, shouting, and sudden aggression are part of the attack.
Win by collapse. Raiders are content to rout a group rather than slaughter it.

Typical Group Size4–10, often with one harder leader among them.

Terrain PreferencesFarmsteads, village edges, river crossings, roads where mounted escape is impossible.

Encounter Seeds

Raiders strike at harvest time, when granaries are full and defenders are tired.
A nearby hamlet begs for help before the next night raid comes.
The party finds livestock slaughtered but not taken—someone is sending a message.

From the administrative correspondence of Mirosław Kaczka, Komes of the Starostwa of Radom

“People from the south ask what it’s like on the coast roads in autumn. I tell them: you travel in groups, you don’t stop after dark, and you don’t leave your wagon unattended. That’s not fear — that’s just how it is.

The Varend men are the most famous of it. They have been raiding these coasts longer than the baronies have existed. There is almost something to respect in it — they are organised, disciplined, and they know exactly what they are doing. A Varend warband doesn’t panic and it doesn’t scatter. But raiders aren’t a Varend problem. Every barony west of the Keld has them. Every coast road. Every river crossing without a garrison post nearby.

The trick, if there is one, is to not look weak. Raiders pick targets the way dogs pick fights — they want to win before the first blow lands. A wagon with four armed men and a dog moves differently than a wagon with one tired driver. Show them the numbers aren’t in their favour and half the time they find easier prey.

The other half of the time you fight. And when you fight, you don’t let up. Raiders who smell hesitation press it. You put the leader down first if you can find him, hold your line, and make it cost them. Most bands break when it stops being easy. The ones that don’t — those are the ones worth being afraid of.”

Man-at-Arms

TM 2

Human · Disciplined Soldier

A man-at-arms is paid to hold ground. Whether sworn to a local lord, hired as a caravan guard, or kept as a fortified manor’s garrison, they are trained to fight as a unit and endure fear, noise, and pain without breaking.

Where bandits dart and raiders surge, men-at-arms anchor a fight. They make a battlefield out of open road.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

8

Toughness

7

Mind

7

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 4 (mail or lamellar over padding) / AV 3 Marksman · Move: 25′

Skills: Line: Melee Combat +2 · Survival +1 | Marksman: Ranged Combat +2 · Melee Combat +1 · Survival +1

Weapons: Line: Spear (Reach 2, L2) + Shield · Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield · Axe (R1, L3) + Shield · Marksman: Bow (Ranged, L2) + Sidearm · Crossbow (Ranged, L3) + Sidearm · Javelins (3) + Spear

Morale: Organized (steadier discipline; retreats in order, not in panic).

Traits

Hold the Line (Line): If adjacent to an ally at the start of melee, gain +1 on Momentum Defense rolls this round.

Disciplined Shot (Marksman): If the Marksman did not move this round, gain +1 on the next ranged attack roll.

Tactics

Line variant: fights shoulder-to-shoulder, denies easy presses, punishes overreach.
Marksman variant: forces movement, tests cover, punishes anyone crossing open ground.
Both variants: retreat in order, not in panic.

Typical Group Size4–12, usually with a sergeant, veteran, or noble nearby.

Terrain PreferencesRoad checkpoints, manor approaches, bridgeheads, gatehouses.

Encounter Seeds

A garrison has orders to stop all armed travelers until a missing banner is recovered.
Caravan guards mistake the party for raiders in poor light.
A local lord sends soldiers to seize disputed goods before a court can rule.

Testimony of Agna Veld, smallholder, recorded before the Reeve of Ostmark village

“There were three of them on the road. Bandits, we thought at first — then we saw they had Geltmar’s boy with them, the one who went missing last month.

The two men-at-arms from the manor didn’t shout or threaten. One of them just walked forward and stopped about twenty feet out. He didn’t draw his sword. He didn’t have to. He just looked at them the way you look at a problem you’ve already solved.

Two of the bandits ran. The third tried something and was on the ground before I understood what had happened. The boy was returned. The men-at-arms marched back the way they came.

I’ve lived here forty years and I still don’t fully understand what they are. Not soldiers exactly. Not guards. Something in between — something trained for this, paid for this, and very good at it. When they’re there, things work. When they’re not, you find out very quickly how much you relied on them.”

Veteran

TM 3

Human · Elite Soldier

Veterans are what remains after seasons of blood. They have survived enough fights to recognize the moment a duel turns, the instant a line begins to buckle, and the heartbeat where an exhausted opponent stops thinking and starts reacting.

A veteran is not frightening because of raw strength. They are frightening because they are never surprised by violence.

Stat Block

9

Prowess

9

Toughness

8

Mind

8

Charm

Health: 9 · Armor: AV 5 (quality mail/lamellar over padding) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 · Ranged Combat +2 · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Command & Tactics +1 · Survival +1

Weapons: Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield · Axe (Reach 1, L3) + Shield · Mace (Reach 1, L3) + Shield · Spear (Reach 2, L2) + Shield · Bow (Ranged, L2) + Sword

Morale: Organized (rarely routs unless outmatched or leaderless).

Traits

Battle Sense: Once per round, after dice are rolled but before results are applied, the Veteran may take either: +1 on a single Engagement Clash, or +1 on a single Momentum Defense roll.

Steady Nerve: Once per scene, add +1 to the first Morale Score roll made by the Veteran’s side while the Veteran is present.

Tactics

Never wastes momentum. If the Veteran gains Momentum, they convert it into position, fatigue pressure, or a kill.
Controls the tempo. They fight where allies can support and enemies can’t.
Breaks groups, not just bodies. A Veteran looks for the one person holding the line together—and pressures them.

Typical Group Size1 veteran leading 3–8 lesser soldiers, or a lone hardened survivor.

Terrain PreferencesStrongpoints, wagon circles, ruined courtyards, bridge approaches.

Encounter Seeds

A veteran holds an abandoned tower with a handful of loyal retainers.
The party meets a scarred survivor searching for the banner of a dead lord.
A local commander hires the party, then proves more dangerous than the enemy.

From the duty ledger of Captain Arnulf Steir, Barony of Ophrados garrison

“Davan Kress has been on the rolls for fifteen years. He has served three different lords, survived two campaigns, and been passed over for sergeant twice because he has no interest in telling other men what to do.

He sharpens his blade every evening. Not because it needs it — because it is the thing he does. His mail is oiled and mended to a standard that embarrasses men half his age. He sleeps lightly and wakes fast. These are not habits. They are what fifteen years makes of a man when combat is the only thing he has ever been good at.

New recruits watch him in the yard and think they understand what they’re seeing. They don’t. The difference between Kress and a man in his second year isn’t speed or strength. It’s that Kress has already decided what he will do before the situation arises. He has run out of surprises. The fight happens, and he is already somewhere on the other side of it, waiting.

I would rather have one Davan Kress than four men who haven’t earned their scars yet. Most commanders would, if they’re honest.”

Assassin

TM 3

Human · Ambusher / Finisher

Assassins are not battlefield fighters—they are specialists in endings. They choose the moment, the angle, and the victim. Their skill is not strength, but certainty: when the strike comes, it is already too late to undo the mistake that allowed it.

In a short campaign, an assassin is best used as a consequence: the party has drawn attention, made enemies, or carried something worth killing for.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

7

Toughness

8

Mind

7

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 1 (soft leathers) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 · Stealth +3 · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Survival +2

Weapons: Dagger (Reach 0, L1) + Dagger (off-hand) · Short Sword (Reach 1, L1) + Dagger · Garrote / Wire (special)

Morale: Intelligent (withdraws if exposed, outnumbered, or if the first strike fails).

Traits

Silent Open: If the Assassin attacks from concealment/ambush (target unaware or surprised), the target suffers −2 on its first defense roll against the Assassin this round.

Finish the Job: The Assassin gains +1 on Momentum Press against Wounded targets.

Tactics

Strike once, strike right. Assassins aim to create a decisive press before anyone can react.
Use exits. They fight near doors, windows, alleys—anywhere they can vanish.
Punish the wounded. An injured character becomes the obvious target.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone, though sometimes backed by a lookout or a second blade.

Terrain PreferencesStairwells, alleys, galleries, bedchambers, courtyards with multiple exits.

Encounter Seeds

A rival’s letter arrives the same day the first attempt is made.
A trusted inn turns out to have too many doors and too few witnesses.
The assassin strikes at the weakest hour of the watch, not in open battle.

Source unknown — recovered from a lodging house in Verzenburg, author unidentified

“The boy takes the same route every evening. Third bell, down through the tanners’ quarter, alone because he thinks being a baron’s son is protection enough. It isn’t. It just means someone is paying more for the contract.

I won’t write who hired me. I won’t write who the boy is. If this is ever found, neither name will be in it.

What I will say is this: the barons of Dyrhal are always at war. Most of them just can’t afford to show it. Men-at-arms cost coin, campaigns cost more, and a border skirmish invites the kind of attention no one wants from the wrong people. So they find other ways. They find people like me.

I have been waiting in this town four days. I know his face, his habits, the width of the alley behind the tanner’s yard near the east gate. I know which of his companions carries a blade and which one is decorative.

Third bell. The watch changes. The alley will be empty long enough.

I am very good at what I do. I did not choose this life so much as discover I was suited to it. That is probably true of most of us.”

Common Peasant

TM 1

Human · Desperate Fighter

Most peasants are not fighters. They are farmers, herders, cutters of wood and peat. But hunger, fear, and the defense of home can turn ordinary hands into a dangerous crowd. A peasant with a pitchfork is not trained—yet a line of them, shouting and surging forward, can still ruin a seasoned warrior’s day.

Use peasants when you want conflict to feel morally complicated, messy, and real.

Stat Block

7

Prowess

7

Toughness

6

Mind

6

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 0 (work clothes) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +0 · Acrobatics & Movement +0 · Survival +0

Weapons: Farm Spear / Pitchfork (Reach 2, L2) · Hatchet (Reach 0, L1) · Club (Reach 1, L1)

Morale: Organized (very poor; may panic quickly unless defending home/kin).

Traits

Mob Courage: If adjacent to two allies, gain +1 on Engagement Clash (courage in numbers).

Tactics

Crowd the strong. Peasants win by surrounding a single target and denying clean movement.
Break quickly. Once fear takes hold, they scatter.
Hold for home. If the fight is at the threshold of a house or barn, they become far harder to frighten.

Typical Group Size6–20 when acting as a mob, though only a few may have real weapons.

Terrain PreferencesBarnyards, village lanes, threshing floors, hedgerows, thresholds worth defending.

Encounter Seeds

A starving village mistakes the party for tax collectors or raiders.
A commoner uprising turns ugly when someone rings the chapel bell.
The party must calm an armed crowd before a lord’s soldiers arrive.

Overheard on the road to Gorzow manor, recorded by a traveling clerk

“You grumble every night, Bodek. Every single night.”

“My back hurts and the beds are lousy.”

“The beds are inside the walls. You want to sleep outside the walls, go ahead. Let me know how that works for you.”

“I’m not saying I want to sleep outside the walls.”

“Then stop grumbling. You work, Varak feeds you, Varak keeps the walls standing. That’s it. That’s the whole arrangement. You think your grandfather had better?”

“My grandfather had his own land.”

“Your grandfather had his own land until something came out of the treeline and took it. Same as everyone’s grandfather. Now we’re here and Varak’s got walls and men-at-arms and we’ve got full bellies and all our fingers. Piotr didn’t even have that last autumn.”

“I know about Piotr.”

“Do you? Because you sound like a man who’s forgotten. Walk faster.”

[A pause. The sound of boots on frozen mud.]

“The beds are still lousy.”

“Bodek. Walk faster.”

Omen-Born Bounty Hunter

TM 3

Human (Omen-Born) · Pursuer / Controller

Some bounty hunters track with eyes and experience. Omen-born hunters track with signs: a crow that watches too long, a thread caught where none should be, a chill that arrives like a warning. They are professionals with one foot in the world and one foot in whatever listens behind it.

They are most dangerous when the party thinks the chase is over.

Stat Block

7

Prowess

7

Toughness

9

Mind

8

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 2 (reinforced coat / partial mail) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +1 · Ranged Combat +1 · Survival +2 · Beastwise +2 · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Unseen Craft (Casting) +2

Weapons: Spear (Reach 2, L2) · Sword (Reach 1, L2) · Bow (Ranged, L2)

Morale: Intelligent. Will disengage and reposition if pressed; prefers capture over killing unless paid otherwise.

Traits

Capture Tools: Once per round, if the Hunter wins an Engagement Clash, it may choose to Snare (Restrained) the target instead of gaining Momentum (net, hook-line, weighted cord—weapon-agnostic).

Spells Known: 3 spells from the selected Omen-Born Path: 1 Trained and 2 Skilled. Guideline: one pursuit/knowledge, one control/bind, one offensive effect.

Tactics

Hunt the exit. The hunter targets the route, not the strongest fighter.
Bind first. Its magic limits choices and forces bad footing.
Keep the contract. If the job is capture, it presses for restraint over slaughter.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone or with 1–3 paid assistants, hounds, or hired road guards.

Terrain PreferencesWooded roads, broken ruins, ferry crossings, routes with only one clean way out.

Encounter Seeds

A contract names one of the party by description, not by name.
The hunter arrives after the group thought they had shaken pursuit.
A local temple quietly supports the hunter’s claim.

From no known source — found folded inside a merchant guild contract, Barony of Aurikast

“The guild pays well for this kind of work. Better than most. They have coin and they have pride, and someone who cheats them wounds both. That makes the contract personal in a way that keeps the fee generous.

I spent last night on the rooftop across from his lodgings. Not watching — listening. Letting the dark settle in the way it does when you ask Tajmork for the favour. Night’s Friend takes time to build properly. You don’t rush a ritual and you don’t rush this kind of work.

By the second bell I could read the shadow patterns across the courtyard as well as daylight. Better. Daylight flattens everything. Dark shows you what’s actually there.

He’s travelling with two men. Neither of them know what I am. That’s the advantage in this work — a man-at-arms, a veteran, even a good thane’s guard, they understand steel and they prepare for steel. They don’t prepare for someone who came in through the shadow between the gatehouse torch and the wall.

Third night. I’ll be ready. He won’t.”

Noble

TM 3

Human · Duelist / Commander

A noble is dangerous in two ways: what they can do with a blade, and what they can do with a word. Even a minor lordling can turn a room against you, call steel from a doorway, or make a lawful threat feel like a noose.

On the road, nobles rarely travel alone. In a fight, they count on confidence, status, and the fact that someone else will bleed first.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

7

Toughness

8

Mind

9

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 3 (fine mail shirt or reinforced coat) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 · Command & Tactics +2 · Survival +1 · Persuasion +2

Weapons: Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield · Sword (Reach 1, L2) (no shield; dueling) · Bow (Ranged, L2) + Sword

Morale: Organized (withdraws if isolated, will not willingly flee while retainers still stand).

Traits

Commanding Presence: Allies within earshot gain +1 on their first Engagement Clash each round while the Noble is standing and unshaken.

Pride: The Noble has −1 on Engagement Clash rolls when declaring Disengage.

Tactics

Let others take the first rush. Nobles wait for an opening created by allies.
Pressure morale. Their presence steadies their side and rattles the uncertain.
Retreat with face. If forced to withdraw, they do it under cover of allies—never alone.

Typical Group SizeOne noble with 2–8 retainers, attendants, or household guards.

Terrain PreferencesManor halls, gate courts, hunting roads, chapels, legal spaces where status matters.

Encounter Seeds

A young lord insists on inspecting the party’s arms and intentions.
A noble escort claims the road and expects deference.
A duel of honor threatens to become a wider feud before sunset.

From a letter of instruction written by Baron Edric Volmast of Ophrados to his son, on the occasion of his first posting as thane

“You are not a soldier. A soldier has one job and does it until he is told to stop. You have twenty.

You are the wall between your people and everything that wants to kill them. You are the judge when two farmers argue over a boundary ditch. You are the man who decides whether the granary gets opened early or stays shut when the winter runs long. You are the first face they look to when something comes out of the dark, and the face they curse when the harvest is poor.

You will be underpaid for this. You will be underslept. You will make decisions with bad information and live with the consequences either way. Men will die because of choices you made and you will have to stand in front of their families.

None of this is a reason to shirk it. It is the reason to take it seriously.

Wear your mail. Keep your blade sharp. Learn your people’s names — not just the Thanes below you, the farmers too. A thane who knows his people is harder to surprise and harder to cheat.

And remember: the men-at-arms follow you because they are paid to. Your people need you because there is no one else. That difference matters more than you think.”

Goblin

TM 1

Humanoid · Skirmisher

Goblins are small, fast, and hungry for advantage. They survive by avoiding clean contests. A goblin would rather throw a spear from behind a root-tangle, loose an arrow from a doorway, or jab at ankles and then vanish into the dark.

They are not fearless—far from it. Goblins break quickly when the fight turns against them, but they are dangerous because they know how to keep a battle from becoming fair.

Stat Block

7

Prowess

6

Toughness

7

Mind

6

Charm

Health: 6 · Armor: AV 0–1 (rags/leather scraps) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +0 · Ranged Combat +1 · Acrobatics & Movement +0 · Stealth +1 · Survival +0

Weapons: Spear (Reach 2, L2) · Hatchet (Reach 0, L1) · Short Bow (Ranged, L2)

Morale: Organized (poor; goblins rout readily when the fight turns).

Traits

Skitter: The Goblin gains +1 on Engagement Clash rolls when it declares Disengage.

Tactics

Harass and flee. Goblins strike once, then slip away before a press can land.
Force pursuit. They lure heavier fighters into bad footing, low ceilings, or narrow paths.
Break at blood. The first goblin to die often starts the rout.

Typical Group Size4–12, usually spread out rather than clustered.

Terrain PreferencesRoot-tangles, low tunnels, ruins with crawlspaces, broken ground where larger foes lose clean lines.

Encounter Seeds

A trail of stolen cookware leads into a warren under an abandoned kiln.
Goblins pelt travelers from cover, then vanish before pursuit can form.
A starving goblin band offers information in exchange for food, then betrays whoever looks weakest.

From the road journal of Alexios Tambrakis, senior caravan guard, route from Phandriv to Hesphathion

“Lost Demetros on the third night out of Phandriv. He was on the eastern perimeter, good man, ten years on the road. They came in from the ditch side in the dark — no sound, no warning. By the time anyone heard anything Demetros was down and they had two of the supply packs open.

I have been guarding caravans for sixteen years and I still cannot hear them when they don’t want to be heard. That is the only thing I will credit them with.

The moment we formed up — shields forward, torches out — they were gone. Not fighting retreat, not covering each other. Gone. Like rats when you bring a light into a cellar. We found tracks heading north into the scrub and did not follow them because following goblins into scrub at night is how you lose more men.

They are not brave. They are not honourable. They are not worthy of either fear or respect as fighting men. What they are is patient and quiet and very good at finding the one moment you are not paying attention.

Keep the perimeter tight. Keep the torches burning. And don’t let your men walk the eastern ditch alone.”

Beast-Kin

TM 2

Humanoid · Tribal Warrior

Beast-Kin are built for hard living—broad-shouldered, thick-boned, and accustomed to violence as a daily tool. They fight with pack instinct and tribal discipline: not polished drill, but the practiced rhythm of hunters who have brought down larger prey.

They are the backbone of humanoid warbands. Where goblins scatter, Beast-Kin commit.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

8

Toughness

6

Mind

6

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 2 (hides, layered leather, bone plates) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +1 · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Survival +1 · Persuasion +1

Weapons: Spear (Reach 2, L2) + Shield · Axe (Reach 1, L3) · Mace/Club (Reach 1, L2) · Short Bow (Ranged, L2) + Hatchet

Morale: Organized (steadier; regroups rather than scatters).

Traits

Ferocity: Once per round, if the Beast-Kin wins an Engagement Clash, it may immediately gain +1 on its next Momentum Press against that same target this round.

Tactics

Win the first clash. Beast-Kin seek the opening engagement and turn it into a press.
Pressure the wounded. They instinctively focus anyone who looks tired, slow, or bleeding.
Hold long enough. They retreat in groups, not as individuals.

Typical Group Size3–8, often with goblin scouts or a larger brute nearby.

Terrain PreferencesForest fringes, rocky passes, ravines, old campgrounds approachable from several angles.

Encounter Seeds

A beast-kin warband has begun testing a border road before a larger raid.
The party finds a hunting cairn marking land claimed by a nearby tribe.
A hostage exchange goes wrong when younger warriors press for blood.

From the Collected Lore of Harmund Vrek, Skald of the Barony of Aurikast, third volume

“The Beast-Kin did not exist before the Nythrasi. This much the oldest records agree on. They were made — twisted mergings of animal and man, bred in the dark workings of a people who had no compunctions about what they unmade in the making of something else. Whether they were weapons, servants, or simply the result of appetites that had run beyond any restraint, no account survives to say.

What survived was them.

They bear some strange attunement to the moons of Telas — their behaviours shift with the lunar configurations in ways that have been observed but never fully understood. Certain alignments make them bold. Others make them scattered and strange. Lore-keepers have catalogued this. None have found a use for the knowledge.

Their customs are feral where they exist at all. They do not keep stores. They do not negotiate. They consume what they find and move on when nothing remains. Peasant villages on the forest margins know this better than any scholar — the Beast-Kin do not raid for coin or goods. They raid because they are hungry, and a person is food as readily as a pig.

Show them no quarter. They will show you none.”

Ogre

TM 3

Humanoid (Large) · Bruiser / Shock Threat

Ogres are walking calamity—thick with muscle and hunger, with a simple confidence in what their arms can do. They do not fence or trade clever blows. They hit like a falling beam, and when they connect, the fight changes shape.

In a warband, an ogre is the hammer. Others pin prey in place; the ogre breaks them.

Stat Block

11

Prowess

10

Toughness

5

Mind

5

Charm

Health: 10 · Armor: AV 2 (thick hide, crude plates) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Persuasion +2

Weapons: Great Club (Reach 2, L3) · Cleaver (Reach 1, L4) · Boulder (Thrown, Medium, L3)

Morale: Organized (stubborn; may fight on unless badly hurt or its handler falls).

Traits

Sweeping Blows (1/round): If the Ogre wins a Momentum Press by 6+, it may immediately apply the same Momentum Press roll against a second adjacent target within reach. The second target rolls Momentum Defense normally.

Brute Mass: The Ogre gains +1 on Momentum Defense against smaller foes (humans, goblins, beast-kin) unless they use a weapon with Reach 2+.

Tactics

Break the line. Ogres aim for clustered enemies and narrow spaces where bodies can’t easily clear.
Punish greed. Anyone who overextends into melee becomes a target.
Make room. Even when an ogre misses, its threats force others to reposition.

Typical Group Size1 ogre with 2–6 goblins or beast-kin handlers.

Terrain PreferencesCave mouths, ravines, ruined towers, dense woods where large bodies can trap prey.

Encounter Seeds

A warband uses the ogre as its door breaker during raids.
The ogre has taken over an abandoned shrine and drags livestock there.
The party hears trees snapping in the distance before the ogre appears.

From the garrison report of Sergeant Halvric Stenn, Barony of Orethys, submitted following the attack on the Coldrun mining convoy

“The goblins came first. They usually do. By the time we had torches up and shields out they were already gone — we’ve learned not to chase them. What we hadn’t learned yet was that goblins sometimes come first because something larger is coming second.

It came out of the treeline at a walk. I don’t know what I expected. Something hunched, maybe. Something that looked like it could be reasoned with or frightened off. It wasn’t either of those things. It was just large and it was angry and it had already decided what it was going to do.

Brennan went down in the first few seconds. Then Orec, then two more whose names I will not write here because their families haven’t been told yet. Four men with combined thirty years of service between them.

We stopped it. It took everything we had and it took too long. By the time it was down half the remaining guards had wounds that will keep them off the road for weeks.

I have fought bandits, Beast-Kin, and worse things in the dark. I have never seen anything simply absorb that much punishment and keep moving. If you are guarding a convoy through Orethys forest margins, double the watch and pray the goblins come alone.”

Troll

TM 5

Humanoid (Large) · Regenerator / Boss Bruiser

A troll is a long fight given teeth. It is not simply strong—it is persistent. Wounds close. Bones knit. Blood stops. A troll does not fear injury the way men do, and it learns quickly that most foes tire before it does.

Trolls are the kind of enemy that turns a skirmish into a desperate decision: finish it now, or be worn down until you cannot stand.

Stat Block

14

Prowess

11

Toughness

6

Mind

5

Charm

Health: 11 · Armor: AV 3 (iron-hard hide) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Survival +1

Weapons: Rending Claws (Reach 1, L4) · Bite (Reach 0, L3)

Morale: Humanoid (rarely routs; may withdraw only if reduced below half health and outnumbered).

Traits

Regeneration: At the start of the Aftermath Phase, the Troll regains 1 Health (up to its maximum). There is no counter to this trait. The Troll heals until it is dead.

Knockback: If the Troll wins a Momentum Press by 8+, the target is knocked prone and shoved back a short distance (GM adjudicates by terrain).

Tactics

Endurance hunt. Trolls take risks early because they expect to recover.
Push for the fall. Knockback and prone effects isolate targets from allies.
Refuse the rout. A troll may retreat only to return later—healed, hungry, and angry.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone, though signs of past kills and scavengers often surround its territory.

Terrain PreferencesBridges, marsh edges, caves near running water, places where retreat is slow.

Encounter Seeds

A toll bridge is empty by day and haunted by screams at night.
A troll’s lair is full of half-healed bones and scavenged armor.
The party learns too late that the local firewood seller knows exactly why no one uses that road.

Testimony of Aldric Vane, bowman, given before the steward of Baron Fenwick Crael — the sole survivor of the mill engagement

“We took the job because it sounded manageable. Abandoned mill, something living there, baron wanted it cleared. Four of us. We’d handled worse.

Fazil saw it first. He was already preparing a working — I don’t know which one, something to slow it or bind it, he’d done it before against other things. It crossed the room in two strides and hit him with both hands before he could finish the words. Fazil was from Keshar. He’d crossed the Drylands and the southern ocean to come here. He was dead before he hit the floor.

Rasil and Hargen went in. They were good fighters, both of them — better than me in close. I held back and put arrows into it while they worked. The arrows didn’t seem to bother it much. Neither did Rasil and Hargen, if I’m honest. It bled. It kept moving. When Hargen went down I put three more shafts into it and it turned and looked at me the way you’d look at a fly.

I ran. I’m not going to dress that up. I ran and I didn’t stop until I was back on the road.

I’m ashamed of it. I’m not sorry for it. Rasil and Hargen were braver than me and they’re dead. Being brave didn’t help them.”

Wolf

TM 2

Animal · Pack Hunter · Relentless

Wolves do not seek glory. They seek an opening. A wolf pack tests, withdraws, circles, and then surges when one target stumbles. Even a single wolf is dangerous if it can force a traveler to split attention between weapon and footing.

Wolves are at their worst in poor light, deep snow, or tight scrub where a fleeing target cannot easily break away.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

7

Toughness

5

Mind

5

Charm

Health: 7 · Armor: AV 0 · Move: 35′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Survival +1

Weapons: Bite (Reach 1, L2)

Morale: Beast/Low-Intelligence. Breaks when a wolf is slain, badly hurt, or faced with fire or overwhelming dominance.

Traits

Relentless: Wolves are committed combatants. They do not disengage once engaged unless forced by morale or circumstance.

Pack Hunter: If at least one allied wolf is engaged with the same target, the wolf gains +1 on Engagement Clash against that target.

Tactics

Test the line. Wolves probe for someone isolated or slow.
Punish the stumble. Once a target is pressured, the pack commits.
Retreat as one. If the pack’s confidence breaks, they peel away together.

Typical Group Size4–8. Winter packs may reach 10+.

Terrain PreferencesSnowfields, forest edges, long grass, night travel where visibility is low.

Encounter Seeds

The party realizes the wolves have been shadowing them for hours.
A carcass on the road draws predators from multiple directions.
The pack is unusually bold because something larger is driving them.

From the spoken account of Justinian of Kirgas, hunter, as recorded by a traveling scribe at the waypost of Veldmarch

“People who’ve never spent a winter in Kirgas think wolves are just big dogs. I don’t bother arguing with them anymore.

A single wolf is dangerous. A pack in deep winter is something else entirely. They’ve been hungry for weeks by then, they know the ground better than you do, and they’ve already been watching you longer than you realise before you ever see them.

They don’t charge. That’s the first thing to understand. They test. One comes in from the side, draws your attention, draws your weapon. While you’re watching that one the others are repositioning. By the time the real attack comes you’re already facing the wrong direction.

In the snow they’re almost silent. You hear nothing and then there are seven of them and they’re already inside your reach.

The way to survive it, if you can, is fire and noise and don’t run. Running ends it quickly and not in your favour. Stand your ground, make yourself large, keep the fire between you and them. They’re patient but they’re not stupid — if the cost looks too high they’ll find easier prey.

Most winters I lose at least one hunting partner to the cold or the terrain. Some winters it’s the wolves. Kirgas doesn’t produce soft men. It can’t afford to.”

Boar

TM 2

Animal · Bruiser · Relentless

A boar is short, fast, and furious. It does not fight like a beast thinking of survival; it fights like a storm of tusk and muscle. Boars are most often encountered defending a wallow, protecting young, or driven mad by hunger and injury.

They are terrifying in dense brush where you can’t see the charge until it arrives.

Stat Block

9

Prowess

9

Toughness

4

Mind

4

Charm

Health: 9 · Armor: AV 1 (thick hide) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +1 · Survival +1

Weapons: Gore (Reach 0, L3)

Morale: Animal. Boars do not rout easily; they fight until badly hurt, then attempt to flee into cover.

Traits

Relentless: Once it commits, it keeps pressing until it drops or the threat is gone.

Charge: If the boar moved before melee this round, gain +1 on its next Engagement Clash.

Low and Mean: Gain +1 on Momentum Defense against attempts to knock it prone or shove it aside.

Tactics

First impact wins. Boars want the opening clash on their terms.
Drive through. If you give ground, they take it.
Break contact violently. A boar escapes by forcing you to step away.

Typical Group SizeUsually a single boar, though a sow with young can make one fight feel like several.

Terrain PreferencesDense brush, reed beds, muddy woodland paths, thickets where the charge is seen too late.

Encounter Seeds

The undergrowth erupts as the party crosses a wallow.
A wounded boar tears through a field and into the road with hunters close behind.
Villagers beg someone to kill the beast that has already gutted two dogs and a boy.

From the personal record of Thane Brecwald Osric, Barony of Veldmark

“Edric was fifteen and wanted to be a man. I understood that. I was fifteen once and felt the same pull. When he asked to go out with the patrol I said yes because I remembered what it was to need to be trusted with something real.

The boar came out of the gorse without warning. The men-at-arms said it was on Edric before anyone could intervene. That is probably true. It doesn’t help.

I hunted it for two winters. Not because it was dangerous — though it was, it had already taken a hand from one of my best men — but because I needed something to do with the anger. Found it the third winter, deep in the Veldmark forest, larger than I remembered. Took four spears and a blade to bring it down.

I have its hide made into a cloak. People remark on it. They say it must be warm. It is. I would rather have the warmth of my son’s embrace.”

Bear

TM 3

Animal · Boss Bruiser · Relentless

A bear is a wall that moves. It does not threaten—its presence is the threat. When a bear fights, it fights with the certainty of a creature that has never needed permission to eat.

Bears are most often encountered defending territory, food, or young. If surprised, they explode into violence with terrifying speed.

Stat Block

11

Prowess

10

Toughness

4

Mind

4

Charm

Health: 10 · Armor: AV 2 (mass + hide) · Move: 30′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Survival +1

Weapons: Maul (Reach 1, L4)

Morale: Animal. Bears fight hard, then withdraw if their goal is met or if they suffer serious injury.

Traits

Relentless: A bear does not disengage once it commits unless forced by pain, fear, or losing its cubs/territory objective.

Crushing Weight: If the bear wins a Momentum Press by 8+, the target is pinned (Restrained) instead of taking Health damage.

Thick Skull: Immune to Dazed.

Tactics

Force the grapple. Bears want to pin or corner rather than trade blows.
Punish the brave. Anyone who steps forward becomes the focus.
Leave when satisfied. If the bear gets what it wants, it stops.

Typical Group SizeAlmost always alone, except near a den with cubs.

Terrain PreferencesBerry thickets, den entrances, riverbanks, high forest trails where surprise happens at arm’s length.

Encounter Seeds

A food cache goes missing, and the tracks are far too large.
Hunters are late returning from the mountain woods.
The party disturbs a den while seeking shelter from bad weather.

Overheard at the Broken Antler tavern, Omskos — account of a survivor, name not given

“Kelvar found the shortcut. That’s what I keep coming back to. Kelvar found it and we all agreed it was a good idea and now Kelvar is the only one who doesn’t have to live with what happened next.

We heard it before we saw it. That sound — not a growl exactly, more like the world deciding it has had enough of you. It came through the undergrowth at a pace that didn’t leave time for much thinking.

Maret went down first. She was closest. We didn’t have the formation for it, we weren’t ready, we’d been walking easy for two hours because Kelvar’s shortcut was such a good idea.

The three of us that were left put it down eventually. It took longer than it should have and cost more than it should have. By the end I had a broken arm and Drev couldn’t see out of one eye.

We carried what was left of Maret back to the road. Took most of the day.

I don’t take shortcuts anymore. I don’t let scouts find them either. If there’s a road, you walk the road. The forest doesn’t owe you anything and a hungry bear in late autumn is proof of that.”

Stag

TM 2

Animal · Space-Denial Bruiser · Relentless

Most stags flee. The ones that fight do so like a battering ram. A cornered stag can be deadlier than a wolf because it does not “hunt”—it panics, and panic turns its whole body into a weapon.

A stag encounter is often about terrain: ice, mud, steep slopes, or narrow passes where turning away is not an option.

Stat Block

9

Prowess

8

Toughness

5

Mind

5

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 0 · Move: 35′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Survival +1

Weapons: Antler Gore (Reach 1, L2) · Hoof Strike (Reach 0, L2)

Morale: Animal. Stags usually fight only when cornered, defending territory, or maddened.

Traits

Relentless: Once it engages, it keeps the pressure until it can break free or the threat retreats.

Antler Sweep: If the stag wins an Engagement Clash, it may choose to deal Fatigue +1 to the target instead of gaining Momentum (representing battering, forced footing, and panic).

Fleet Bound: Once per scene, when it would become engaged, the stag may immediately move a short distance to reposition.

Tactics

Control space. The stag turns open ground into danger by forcing you to give way.
Exhaust the pursuer. It wins by making you miss, stumble, and tire.
Run when it can. If a gap opens, it takes it.

Typical Group SizeUsually one stag, though a herd nearby can turn the ground into chaos.

Terrain PreferencesSteep slopes, narrow game trails, icy clearings, woodland edges where a turn or stumble is deadly.

Encounter Seeds

The party drives a cornered stag toward worse ground without realizing it.
A maddened rutting stag has made a shrine path unusable.
The animal bolts through camp at dawn, scattering gear and men alike.

From the spoken account of Tomec Grall, trapper, Barony of Kirgas

“People think of stags as prey. That’s the mistake.

A full-grown stag in autumn stands taller than a man at the shoulder. The antlers aren’t decoration — they’re weapons, and the animal knows how to use them. I’ve seen one open up a hunting dog from shoulder to flank in a single movement. The dog didn’t have time to yelp.

The strangest thing I ever saw in thirty years of working the Kirgas forest was two Beast-Kin trying to bring one down by the lower marsh. Big ones, both of them, and they went at it hard. The stag didn’t run. It turned and it fought and it was faster than either of them expected. First one took an antler through the chest. Second one got it in the neck when it tried to go in low.

The stag stood there for a moment after. Breathing hard, bleeding from a few cuts. Then it walked into the treeline like nothing had happened.

I stayed very still in my blind for a long time after that. I’ve worked these forests for thirty years. I hunt a lot of things. I don’t hunt stags.”

Shamble-Dead

TM 1

Undead (Mindless) · Attrition / Grabber

Shamble-dead are the simplest horror: bodies that should be still, moving anyway. They are slow and clumsy, but they do not pause to breathe, do not hesitate, and do not stop when wounded. Their danger is not skill—it is contact. Once they reach you, they cling and pull and pile on until movement becomes impossible.

Stat Block

7

Prowess

8

Toughness

0

Mind

0

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 0–1 (rotting flesh; scraps of gear) · Move: 20′

Skills: Melee Combat +1 (Natural Weapons)

Weapons: Claw / Bite (Reach 0, L1)

Morale: None.

Traits

Mindless: Does not make morale checks; does not rout.

Grasping Dead: If two Shamble-Dead are engaged with the same target, that target suffers −1 on Engagement Clash rolls when declaring Disengage.

Tactics

Pile on. Shamble-dead win by turning one mistake into a swarm.
Block exits. They are most dangerous in doorways, stairwells, and narrow paths.
Fight without fear. They will walk into spears if it gets hands on you.

Typical Group Size3–12, though even a few are dangerous in close spaces.

Terrain PreferencesDoorways, collapsed chapels, cellars, graveyards, streets where the dead can close from multiple sides.

Encounter Seeds

A burial pit was never truly quiet after the last war.
Villagers sealed a crypt and now need someone else to open it again.
A storm floods the low graves and something rises with the water.

From the estate records of the Barony of Askan, entry dated the seventeenth day of Vargthyron

The manor of Coldfen has been struck from the rolls.

The garrison report, delivered by the single surviving man-at-arms, states that the dead began rising in the lower fields three nights following the burial of Thane Ostric’s household, which perished in the fever of late autumn. No cause for the rising has been identified. No working was reported in the area. No burial rites were improperly observed, to the knowledge of the garrison.

By the second night the shamble-dead had entered the manor walls through the south gate, which had been left unbarred. By the third night the remaining defenders had retreated to the keep tower. The tower door held. The garrison did not.

The survivor reports that the dead do not tire, do not respond to wounds in the manner of the living, and cannot be discouraged. He states that two men who fell defending the gate rose before morning and joined the others.

The manor is considered lost. No recovery attempt is currently planned. The surrounding farms have been warned. The Baron orders that travelers avoid the Coldfen road until further notice.

Barrow Skeleton

TM 2

Undead (Mindless) · Line Fighter

Barrow skeletons are not merely bones in motion. They move with a remembered discipline: shield close, spear forward, step-by-step pressure. They do not tire, they do not flinch, and they do not care if they die—as long as the line holds.

A barrow skeleton is what happens when the dead retain the shape of war.

Stat Block

8

Prowess

8

Toughness

0

Mind

0

Charm

Health: 8 · Armor: AV 3 (old mail, lacquered bone plates, rusted helms) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +2 · Survival +0

Weapons: Spear (Reach 2, L2) + Shield · Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield · Axe (Reach 1, L3)

Morale: None.

Traits

Bone-Order: If adjacent to another Barrow Skeleton at the start of melee, gain +1 on Engagement Clash this round.

Mindless: No morale checks.

Tactics

Form pairs. Skeletons are much harder to break when they stand together.
Deny the press. They fight like a wall: steady, patient, grinding.
Hold until surrounded. They do not retreat, even when it would be “smart.”

Typical Group Size2–8, often in pairs or lines rather than a swarm.

Terrain PreferencesBarrow passages, stairwells, shield walls in old halls, tomb approaches.

Encounter Seeds

Grave robbers opened the mound and never came back out.
A burial chamber still guards the oath it was built around.
The party hears shields knock together in the dark before the dead appear.

From the personal record of Kelso of Haldim, Omen-Born of Pravon

“There is no greater abomination in Pravon’s sight than the walking dead. I say this not as doctrine but as something I have felt in my bones since the first time I encountered one — a wrongness that the Path illuminates without mercy.

The barrow skeletons are the worst of it. The shamble-dead are pitiful things, accidents of darkness and neglect. The barrow skeletons are ancient. They were buried with intention, with ceremony, with the expectation of rest. Something has broken that covenant. Something has decided that the dead do not deserve what was promised to them.

I came to the barrow at Haldim’s east ridge because the farmers reported movement at night. I brought light and I brought conviction and I burned three of them to splinters before the fourth one nearly took my arm off.

Pravon does not ask his faithful to be fearless. He asks them to act anyway.

The barrow was sealed by morning. The dead were given what they should have had from the beginning. I have not slept well since, but that is a small price and I would pay it again.”

Wight

TM 3

Undead (Willful) · Leader / Fear

A wight is not a corpse animated by accident. It is a will that survived death and learned to command it. Wights remember battlefields, betrayals, and oaths. They speak rarely, but when they do, the living feel the air grow heavy—like a cellar filling with cold water.

Wights are dangerous because they turn mindless dead into an army.

Stat Block

9

Prowess

9

Toughness

8

Mind

8

Charm

Health: 9 · Armor: AV 4 (grave-mail, hardened leathers, relic shieldwork) · Move: 25′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 · Command & Tactics +2 · Survival +2

Weapons: Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield · Spear (Reach 2, L2) + Shield

Morale: Does not rout; withdraws only to preserve its purpose.

Traits

Dread Presence: When the Wight first enters melee range, living foes in Short range take −1 on their next roll (once per scene).

Command the Dead: Mindless undead within earshot gain +1 on Engagement Clash (first clash each round).

Tactics

Lead from the second rank. Wights let the dead absorb the first rush.
Press the frightened. They strike where morale is weakest.
Win by inevitability. A wight is content with slow victory.

Typical Group SizeUsually one wight leading 4–12 lesser undead.

Terrain PreferencesCrypts, ruined keeps, old battlefields, places where dead retainers can form ranks.

Encounter Seeds

A village chapel was built over a commander’s grave for the wrong reasons.
The dead have begun marching in order rather than wandering.
A relic shield draws the wight toward anyone who carries it.

From the field notes of Aldric Voss, sergeant, Barony of Omsk garrison — recovered from his pack after the engagement at the Harrowfield barrow

“The dead came first. We’ve dealt with the dead before — you put them down, they stay down, you move on. These ones moved in formation. Shield to shield. That was the first wrong thing.

The second wrong thing was what stood behind them.

It didn’t fight. It watched. When Sergeant Brynn went down it tilted its head — I swear it tilted its head — like a man reconsidering a position at a game table. Then it raised one hand and the dead pressed harder.

We ran. I am not ashamed to have run. The ones who didn’t run are still there.”

Ossuary Knight

TM 4

Undead (Elite) · Boss Defender

An ossuary knight is a relic of an older war, plated in layered bone and mail, moving with a calm that feels wrong. It does not snarl or scream. It advances like a verdict.

Where skeletons are a wall, an ossuary knight is a gate: it decides who passes.

Stat Block

10

Prowess

11

Toughness

7

Mind

6

Charm

Health: 11 · Armor: AV 6 (reinforced bone-lamellar and ancient mail) · Move: 20′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 · Survival +1

Weapons: War Hammer (Reach 1, L3) + Shield · Sword (Reach 1, L2) + Shield

Morale: None.

Traits

Unfeeling: Immune to fear/panic; ignores pain-based effects.

Grave Guard: Gains +1 on Momentum Defense rolls.

Mindless Discipline: Does not rout; fights until destroyed.

Tactics

Anchor the fight. Place it where it blocks movement: bridges, stairs, doorways.
Refuse the kill-trade. It wins by surviving longer than living bodies can endure.
Make retreat costly. If the party turns to run, it follows—slowly, steadily.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone, or with a few skeleton attendants if guarding a true tomb or gate.

Terrain PreferencesBridges, thresholds, processional halls, stairtops, any place where one defender can deny passage.

Encounter Seeds

A sealed vault can be opened, but not passed, without defeating its guardian.
A lord’s bones were buried with honors his descendants no longer deserve.
The party needs something that stands behind the one doorway no one can flank.

From the collected observations of Brother Ansel, itinerant priest of Pravon, submitted to the temple archive at Veldmark

“It does not snarl. It does not rage. That is the first thing to understand, and the hardest.

I have faced shamble-dead and barrow skeletons and in their horror there is still something readable — hunger, purpose, the memory of violence. The ossuary knight has none of that. It advances the way a door closing advances. It has already decided. The fight is a formality it is willing to see through to the end.

We found it at the threshold of the lower vault, exactly where something like that would be. It did not come for us. It waited. When Bran stepped past the arch it moved to intercept with a calm that I will not forget as long as I live.

We could not flank it. We could not exhaust it. We could not frighten it. Every advantage living fighters carry — the will to survive, the instinct to adapt — it simply does not have, which means it cannot be beaten by exploiting them.

We lost two men taking it down. I still do not know if we could do it again.”

Spectral Arachne

TM 4

Monster (Intelligent) · Ambush Controller

The Spectral Arachne is a hunting intelligence wrapped in a body that cannot fully decide whether it belongs to this world. In the torchlight it looks like a giant spider with bladed legs—thin, jointed weapons that cut with surgical precision. In the dark it becomes something worse: a flicker at the edge of sight, a shape half-there, slipping through cracks that should not fit flesh.

It does not fight like an animal. It isolates prey, tests reactions, and retreats the moment the battle becomes a fair exchange.

Stat Block

10

Prowess

9

Toughness

9

Mind

6

Charm

Health: 9 · Armor: AV 2 (chitin and half-real flesh) · Move: 35′ (climb)

Skills: Melee Combat +3 (Natural Weapons) · Stealth +3 · Survival +2

Weapons: Bladed Legs (Reach 2, L3) · Fang Bite (Reach 0, L3)

Morale: Intelligent predator. Withdraws if reduced below half Health, trapped in open ground, or if it fails to isolate prey.

Traits

Phase-Step (1/round): Once per round, the Arachne may phase as part of movement. While phased, it may move through creatures and narrow gaps; it cannot be targeted by non-magical attacks until it makes an attack or ends its movement.

Half-In / Half-Out: The first time each round the Arachne would take Health damage, reduce that Health loss by 1 (min 0).

Web Snare (1/round): During the Engagement Clash, the Arachne may declare intent to Restrain with webbing. If it wins the Clash and the Momentum Press by 8+, the target becomes Restrained instead of taking Health damage.

Tactics

Steal distance. Phase-step to deny a clean press.
Bind the brave. Web the first person who commits too deeply.
Leave before it bleeds out. The Arachne retreats to hunt later if the party refuses to split.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone, though a lair may contain webbed corpses or lesser spider vermin.

Terrain PreferencesRuined towers, rafters, crypt cracks, collapsed estates, vertical spaces full of choke points.

Encounter Seeds

Livestock vanish near an old manor where windows are never fully dark.
A messenger never reached the upper floor of a ruined watchtower.
The party finds too much webbing in a place spiders should not survive.

From the incident report of Sergeant Edda Vorn, garrison of the Barony of Helvast

“The watchtower at Coldmarsh had been dark for two seasons when we were sent to clear it. We assumed squatters or animals.

The first man who went up the stair didn’t scream. He just stopped coming back down. The second man went up and came back down fast, saying he’d seen something that wasn’t fully there — like looking at a shape through water.

By the time we understood what we were dealing with it had already separated Aldric from the group. We heard the webbing before we heard him. We did not get to him in time.

It retreats the moment it starts losing — that’s what makes it so difficult to finish. It fights until the odds turn and then it simply isn’t there anymore. It comes back later. It always comes back later.

We burned the tower. It was not inside when we did.”

Hydra

TM 5

Monster · Multi-Pressure Boss · Relentless

A hydra is a moving siege engine of flesh—scaled bulk and a crown of snapping heads. It does not fight to win a duel. It fights to overwhelm the idea of a duel. Where one opponent can be managed, three simultaneous threats pull a group apart: one head pins, one head bites, one head punishes anyone who tries to help.

A hydra is relentless because it cannot imagine retreat. It presses until the prey stops moving.

Stat Block

12

Prowess

12

Toughness

6

Mind

0

Charm

Health: 12 · Armor: AV 4 (scaled mass) · Move: 25′ (swim 35′)

Skills: Melee Combat +3 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +2 · Survival +1

Weapons: Head Bite (Reach 2, L4)

Morale: None.

Traits

Many Heads (3): Treat each head as its own pressure source. Each head may declare a target within its Reach and resolve its own Engagement Clash. Track Momentum separately per head.

Multiple Pressures: Each head that gains Momentum may make its own Momentum Press this round (one press per head).

Grinding Bulk: The Hydra gains +1 on Momentum Defense while at 7+ Health.

Relentless: The Hydra does not disengage or retreat. It fights until destroyed.

Tactics

Split the party by force. Heads spread across targets to deny support.
Punish rescues. Anyone who steps in to help becomes the next bite.
Win by exhaustion. The hydra is content to grind until movement fails.

Typical Group SizeOne hydra. Anything accompanying it is usually prey, worshippers, or carrion-things.

Terrain PreferencesMarsh islands, river shallows, flooded ruins, wide killing grounds where several heads can pressure at once.

Encounter Seeds

A ferry crossing has gone silent, but the river is full of broken planks.
The hydra lairs near an old shrine and poisons the local trade route with fear.
Survivors describe different attackers, not realizing they fought one creature.

From the spoken account of Mirela Sorn, survivor of the Fenwater expedition, recorded at the garrison of Veldmark

“We had heard the stories. Everyone has heard the stories. I don’t think stories prepare you for the reality of three heads moving independently. Your eyes don’t know which one to follow. Your body doesn’t know which way to move. By the time you’ve made a decision one of the other heads has already made it for you.

Brandur went for the body. Solid thinking — the heads are the danger, pin the body and deal with them one at a time. The body pinned him instead. The other two heads turned to face the rest of us.

We lost four of seven before it went down. The ones who survived did so by staying spread, never letting it lock onto one target long enough to finish the press.

I have seen a lot of bad things in the Fenwater marshes. The hydra is the only one I would leave the region to avoid.”

Ruin-Stitched Golem

TM 4

Monster (Construct) · Juggernaut / Damage Sponge · Relentless

Ruin-stitched golems are built out of places that should not move: fallen lintels, cracked statues, lengths of chain, rusted plates, shards of old stonework—bound together by a force that gives direction but not mercy.

They do not fight with hatred. They fight with purpose. They advance, absorb blows, and turn every opening into a crushing press. A ruin-stitched golem is terrifying because it makes heroics feel small.

Stat Block

12

Prowess

12

Toughness

0

Mind

0

Charm

Health: 12 · Armor: AV 6 (stone, iron, stitched ruin-plates) · Move: 20′

Skills: Melee Combat +3 (Natural Weapons) · Acrobatics & Movement +1

Weapons: Ruin Fist (Reach 1, L4) · Shattering Grip (Reach 0, L3)

Morale: None.

Traits

Stitched Body: The first time each round the Golem would lose Health, reduce that Health loss by 1 (min 0).

Heavy Momentum: If the Golem wins an Engagement Clash, it gains +1 on its first Momentum Press against that target this round.

Uncaring: Immune to fear/panic and pain-based effects; does not rout.

Innate Warding: The Golem gains +2 on Magic Defense rolls and any other opposed rolls to resist magical effects.

Relentless: Does not disengage; advances until destroyed or its binding purpose is fulfilled.

Tactics

Walk through the plan. The golem ignores feints and punishes hesitation.
Win the long fight. Its defenses matter most after the party is tired.
Force hard choices. Someone must hold it, or it reaches the vulnerable.

Typical Group SizeUsually alone, though bound guardians may be paired with traps or lesser constructs.

Terrain PreferencesCollapsed halls, gate chambers, old vault roads, ruin interiors where its bulk turns caution into entrapment.

Encounter Seeds

An ancient door still opens, but only after the guardian is distracted or destroyed.
A ruined causeway has become impassable because something still walks its length.
Treasure hunters awakened the golem and fled, leaving others to suffer the result.

From the notes of Caster Avrel Dost, submitted to the temple record at Ophrados

“The working that animates a ruin-stitched golem is not subtle. It doesn’t have to be. The thing it creates does not rely on surprise.

I have studied three confirmed accounts and witnessed one directly. What strikes me every time is how small it makes heroics feel. A skilled fighter lands a solid blow and the golem absorbs it and keeps advancing. Two fighters work in coordination and the golem splits them apart by walking between them. It does not react to pain because it has no relationship with pain.

The golem I witnessed took seven minutes to bring down. In those seven minutes it killed two men and broke the arm of a third. It did not hurry. It did not slow. It simply advanced until it stopped advancing.

The binding that drives them is the part no one fully understands. Someone made this. Someone decided this was worth making. That troubles me more than the golem itself.”

Nameless Echo

TM 5

Monster (Unnatural) · Scene Boss / Reality Pressure

A Nameless Echo is what remains when something refuses to be remembered correctly. It is not a ghost in the old stories. It is an absence with intent—a pressure in the air that turns footsteps into doubts and torchlight into lies.

It hunts with uncertainty. It makes the living second-guess distance, cover, and even their own courage. An Echo is rarely encountered without an anchor: a site, object, or person that gives it a foothold in the world.

Stat Block

10

Prowess

12

Toughness

11

Mind

10

Charm

Health: 12 · Armor: AV 4 (unreality; counts as armor) · Move: 30′ (ignores difficult footing; slips through tight gaps)

Skills: Melee Combat +2 (Natural Weapons) · Stealth +2 · Survival +3 · Unseen Craft (Casting) +3

Weapons: Echo Rend (Reach 1, L3) · Unmaking Glare (Ranged, Medium, L2) — on any hit causing Fatigue or Health loss, target gains +1 Fatigue

Morale: Intelligent. If reduced below half Health, attempts to retreat toward its anchor or bargain for time.

Traits

Reality Slip (1/round): Once per round, after being targeted by an attack, the Echo may impose −2 to that roll (before results).

Pressure of the Nameless: At the start of the Aftermath Phase, all living creatures in Short range must test 2d6 + Toughness vs CM 10 or become Frightened (−2 on all rolls) until the end of next round.

Impossible Angles: The Echo ignores cover bonuses that rely on simple line-of-sight. Walls still block.

Anchor-Bound: The Echo cannot move more than Medium range from its anchor. If the anchor is broken, the Echo suffers −2 on all rolls and loses Reality Slip.

Tactics

Attack confidence first. The Echo wins by shaking decisions, not by trading blows.
Punish clumping. Its pressure effects make tight formations dangerous.
Retreat to the anchor. If threatened, it falls back into the place that feeds it.

Typical Group SizeOne Echo bound to one anchor. Additional threats come from the place around it, not allies beside it.

Terrain PreferencesRuined sanctums, plague houses, sealed chambers, murder grounds, places heavy with memory or denial.

Encounter Seeds

A house stands empty because no one agrees what happened inside it.
A relic carries the Echo from place to place in a noble’s baggage.
The party is asked to destroy an anchor that everyone is afraid to name directly.

Source unknown — found scratched into the plaster of an abandoned waystation on the Askan road, author unidentified

It is not the thing itself that breaks you. It is what it does to the space around it.

Distances lie. You reach for a wall that is further than it looks. You step back from something that isn’t where you thought it was. Your torch tells you one thing and your feet tell you another and somewhere in the gap between them the Echo finds its opening.

We had three people who never recovered. Not from wounds — from something that happened to the way they made decisions. Gervain couldn’t trust his own eyes after. Maret kept checking rooms she had already checked. Aldric simply stopped speaking and never started again.

I do not know what anchors them. I do not know what they want. I am not certain they want anything in the way we understand wanting.

If you find one, find the anchor and break it first. Do not engage directly. Do not let it get inside your reach. Do not let it make you doubt yourself. Once it has that, it has everything.