Each PC may keep one pet. The equipment used to care for the pet takes up one item slot. The pet must consume one ration per day, although what this consists of is dependent upon the nature of the pet. Pets who are not fed for seven days will run away at the first chance they get.
Each PC may ride one steed, which can carry items according to its slot limit. The steed must consume one ration per day, although what this consists of is dependent upon the nature of the steed. Steeds who are not fed for seven days will run away at the first chance they get.
Pets will enter vaults with the PCs. Steeds remain outdoors.
All tame animals that belong to a PC are under that PC’s direct control. They take actions in and out of combat at the behest of the player. In extreme circumstances, where the animal is being ordered to undertake actions that it was not trained for and utterly terrify it, the Referee should refer to the Unruly Animals section below.
Level Limit
The combined Level of all pets, steeds, mercenaries, lackeys, psychic thralls, and other followers under a PC’s direct command cannot exceed their EGO bonus. PCs must dismiss some followers if their combined Level grows too high. If a singular pet or steed’s Level exceeds the PC’s EGO bonus, the creature does not respect them. The animal will follow them around so long as it is fed, but it is defiant and unreliable.
Note: Level 0 creatures do not contribute to this limit. As they die after a single point of damage and have bad ability bonuses, I think this is fair. Players who want to recruit excessive amounts of Level 0 henchmen should be reminded that they will still need feeding each day.
Note: friendly NPCs who are not under a PC’s direct command do not add to the Level limit. PCs are free to travel with an entire Hegemony regiment if they choose, but the soldiers do not take orders from the PCs and act as the Referee determines.
Unruly Animals
Unruly pets or steeds do not follow orders. Instead the Referee determines their actions in and out of combat. Unruly animals will wish to preserve their own lives, and seek out food and pleasure however they see fit.
If the Referee cannot decide what an unruly pet or steed does in combat they should roll d20, adding the creature’s Morale bonus to the result. This chart can also be used if a normally well-trained creature is panicked by something unusual.
- 1-5 The creature flees the scene
- 6-9 The creature hides nearby, intending to emerge later
- 10-14 The creature hesitates, or is distracted by something trivial, missing its turn
- 15-18 The creature attacks whoever is closest, friend or foe
- 19+ The creature attacks the nearest enemy of its master
Levelling Up
When a PC would gain XP, they may choose to give the XP to their pet or steed instead. Tame animals gain +d8 hit points when levelling up, and add one slot to their item carrying capacity if they have any. Their damage, morale, and armour scores remain the same.
Evolution
Through a little-understood process of cryptogenetics, some tame Vaarnish animals can ‘evolve’ once they have attained a high enough Level, drastically changing their form and behaviour. This process is voluntary and can be arrested by the creature’s owner. Once evolved a creature cannot be devolved again.
Creatures that are capable of evolving have the Level requirement listed.
Death
Witnessing the violent death of a beloved animal is traumatic. When a pet or steed dies in combat, their owner takes d6 EGO damage and adds a special Wound to their inventory: Heartbreak. This can be only be cured with time.
Note: this may seem silly, but I wanted to add some risk to having companion animals, since they grant a numbers advantage in combat. If you’re already low on EGO, seeing your loyal Volt Rat die might push you over the edge into permanent madness!
Example Pets
Glue Worm
Biological
Level 1, Armour 11, Morale 10
Attacks: Nip (d4) / Glue Spit (STR save vs Entangled for d4 turns)
A tiny, tamer variant of the predatory spitting worms of Vaarn. The chihuahua to the Leopard Worm’s wolf. Absurdly aggressive, must be fed raw meat.
Entangled: the target must make an opposed STR save or be caught in the worm’s spit. While entangled their Armour defense is lowered by 4, and they cannot move freely.
Citrine-Coated Volt Rat
Biological
Level 1, Armour 13, Morale 3
Attacks: Jolt (d6 electrical)
A yellow-furred rodent, somehow able to generate bioelectric charges from its forked tail. Traditionally held inside a prison orb and released only to fight other small beasts.
Companion Ooze
Biological
Level 2, Armour 10, Morale 5, Item Slots 8
Attacks: Engulf (d6 ongoing, STR save to break free)
A friendly ooze, which loves to hold shiny things inside its body. A good place to store excess valuables if you don’t mind them getting sticky.
Gelatinous: the Ooze is immune to bludgeoning or crushing damage. Given time, it can work its way through any fissure or keyhole.
Ray Cat
Biological
Level 2 (Evo: 5), Armour 14, Morale 4
Attacks: Claws (d6) / Laser Eyes (d6 beam)
One of the delicate blue cats of Vaarn. Ray Cats are bred to absorb ambient radiation from the atmosphere and emit it in beautiful searing rays.
Geiger Kitty: a Ray Cat changes colour in the presence of hazardous radiation levels, its fur shifting from blue towards red.
Evolution: the Ray Cat evolves at Level 5 and becomes a Ray Lynx.
***
Ray Lynx
Biological
Level 5 (Evo: 8), Armour 15, Morale 6
Attacks: 2 x Claws (d6) / Laser Eyes (d8 beam)
One of the elegant blue lynxes of Vaarn. They are independent-minded, but will follow the directions of one who has raised them from another, smaller form.
Geiger Kitty: a Ray Lynx changes colour in the presence of hazardous radiation levels, its fur shifting from blue towards red.
Evolution: the Ray Lynx evolves at Level 8 and becomes a Ray Panther.
***
Ray Panther
Biological
Level 8, Armour 16, Morale 8
Attacks: 2 x Claws (d8) / Pounce (DEX save vs Pinned) / Laser Eyes (d10 beam)
One of the fearsome blue panthers of Vaarn. They are usually scornful of attempts to tame them, but will follow the directions of one who has raised them from another, smaller form.
Pinned: a creature pinned by the Panther takes 2d8 damage per round, with no to-hit roll needed. They must make an opposed STR save to escape.
Geiger Kitty: a Ray Panther changes colour in the presence of hazardous radiation levels, its fur shifting from blue towards red.
Little Torino
Biological
Level 1 (Evo: 6), Armour 15, Morale 5
Attacks: Horn (d6)
The ancients delighted in making pets of all Urth’s inhabitants. The Little Torino is a toy species of rhino, roughly the size of a french bulldog.
Evolution: the Little Torino evolves at Level 6 and becomes a Torino.
***
Torino
Biological
Level 6 (Evo: 10), Armour 16, Morale 8, Item Slots 30
Attacks: Horn (d8) / Charge (DEX save vs 2d6 damage)
The ancients delighted in making pets of all Urth’s inhabitants. The Torino is a toy species of rhino, comparable in weight to a miniature pony.
Evolution: the Torino evolves at Level 10 and becomes a Grand Torino.
***
Grand Torino
Biological
Level 10, Armour 18, Morale 10, Item Slots 50
Attacks: Horn (d12) / Charge (DEX save vs 3d10 damage)
The ancients delighted in making pets of all Urth’s inhabitants. The Grand Torino is a tame species of rhino, comparable in weight to a warhorse.
Example Steeds
Burden Bird
Biological
Level 3, Armour 12, Morale 2, Item Slots 30
Attacks: Peck (d8)
A four-legged bird, trained to bear either cargo or a rider. Usually kept blinkered, as they spook easily. They will eat almost anything, but are fondest of honeyed grubs.
Pack Beetle
Biological
Level 4, Armour 18, Morale 0, Item Slots 40
Attacks: Bite (d6)
The sturdy beetles bred in the Great Wall for carrying cargo. They are hardy, stubborn, and extremely stupid. The insects can bear incredible weights and walk up sheer surfaces as easily as flat ground. Exclusively herbivorous.
Crysteed
Mineral
Level 7, Armour 22, Morale 5, Item Slots 70
Attacks: 3 x Kick (d6)
The tripedal mounts favoured by scholars of Lithic Lyceum. Resemble crystalline thrones with three sharp and tireless legs.
Inevitable: the Crysteed cannot recover HP by any means, natural or supernatural. At 0 HP it shatters into gleaming dust.
Stridingfool
Biological
Level 4, Armour 14, Morale 3, Item Slots 40
Attacks: 2 x Fists (d6)
An eight-foot tall hominid, heavily genesculpted to act as a mount. Stridingfools are clearly descended from human stock but lack wit and language, being simian in their aspect. They are prodigiously strong and tireless, able to carry an armoured warrior on their shoulders for leagues without slowing. Their human ancestry makes them disagreeable to most true-kin, and the Hegemony outlaws these mounts, but the newbeasts of Vaarn are known to ride such creatures.
Abomination: while riding a Stridingfool, reaction rolls when encountering true-kin characters are made with disadvantage.
Zorse
Biological
Level 6, Armour 13, Morale 4, Item Slots 60
Attacks: Kick (d8)
The dominant equine-derived genus remaining on Urth. The zorse boasts a handsome bevy of stripes on its flanks, and is bred in a variety of hues. The most common has an indigo coat with coral pink stripes, but many other colourations are available. Zorses are intolerant of extreme heat and deprivation and are rarely ridden in the Interior deserts, but are common in the badlands or mountainous regions.
Thin Mare
Hypergeometric
Level 5, Armour 12, Morale 5, Item Slots 100 (Special)
Attacks: Bite (d8 hypergeometric)
A strange hypergeometric mount. Less a horse and more the suggestion of one, like a child’s charcoal sketch granted life. At times one can perceive its skin, yet from other angles its internal cavities are visible to the light, seemingly endless in number like the cells of a black honeycomb. It is not particularly comfortable to ride, but makes up for this with its other surprising utilities.
Thin: the Thin Mare is 2D, and can slide through even the narrowest of gaps. When it stands sideways, it is invisible except for its shadow.
Internal Storage: up to 100 item slots exist within the Thin Mare’s hypergeometric belly. However, they are invisible and must be located by touch alone. Roll d100 and compare it with the desired item’s slot number. If the dice roll is higher than the slot number, you find the item easily. If the roll is lower, you pull out whatever item is indicated by the d100 roll instead.
Destrier
Biological
Level 10, Armour 18, Morale 10, Item Slots 20
Attacks: Bite (d8) + Kick (d10) / Charge (DEX save vs 3d8 damage, needs run-up)
All that once was shall be again, and the cavalry charge has re-established itself in this last age. The genesculpted equine-derivatives known as Destriers are able to achieve speeds of 150 mph on flat ground. They are bred exclusively for war, more akin to giant greyhounds than the horses of our era, with long-fanged muzzles and running spikes supplanting the obsolete hoof. There are few lines of gunmen on Urth that can stand firm against a Destrier charge.
VAULTS OF VAARN 