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Nature artwork

Man against nature -- it is a popular theme in countless legends and bardic songs. Sometimes the hero can brave the untamed wilderness, but other times the waves swallow his ship whole, or the unforgiving cold of the frigid north drains the warmth from the hero's veins. As civilizations struggle against the ever-encroaching wilderness, the druids and the mystics of the world ask, "Why fight it at all?" These naturalists empower themselves with the vibrant life that courses through massive trees. They master the endless cycle of life and death, ensuring prosperity for their allies and death for their foes. They commune with an ancient, primordial force that has thrived since the dawn of time. What choice will you make? Will you fight for survival against the wilderness? Or will you join it and harness the power of nature itself?

Examples of Nature characters include:

Nature

Entangle

(Nature | Combat)

Effects
  • You can bind someone to their location until their bindings are destroyed
  • Descriptions
  • growing roots to ensnare its feet
  • wrapping it in vines
  • lashing it with a thorny vine-whip
  • Faerie Fire

    (Nature | Combat)

    Effects
  • You can give someone the condition "Faerie Fire" for several hours. They glow and cannot successfully hide, no matter what. Their silhouette is faintly visible through opaque surfaces
  • Descriptions
  • illuminating them in an otherworldly blue glow
  • surrounding them with buzzing faeries
  • Roots

    (Nature | Combat)

    Effects
  • You can root yourself to the ground. You can't be forcibly moved unless the ground you're rooted to is moved. While rooted, you have the defense "Rooted ☐☐☐". Mark it when you suffer a Bad Tale related to physical harm
  • Descriptions
  • joining with the earth
  • entrenching into the ground
  • growing roots and vines that grab on
  • Thorns

    (Nature | Combat)

    Effects
  • When someone attacks you skin-to-ski, gain a free Good Tale to harm them. Wearing thick clothes or armor may suppress this effect (GM's discretion)
  • Descriptions
  • thorns growing out of your skin
  • your nettle-like skin
  • poisonous toxins oozing from your pores
  • Undergrowth

    (Nature | Combat)

    Effects
  • You can create a zone for several minutes. Creatures other than you move through it about half as fast as normal
  • Descriptions
  • creating thick underbrush
  • raising roots to trip feet
  • growing wooden spikes from the earth
  • Druidic Stones

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can imbue the terrain with one of your traits. Creatures in the terrain have that trait as a temporary trait
  • Descriptions
  • creating standing stones with glowing runes
  • attracting magic will-o-wisps
  • empowering nature
  • Faerie Ring

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can walk in a circle to create a faerie ring. Collaborate on how everything inside the circle is hidden
  • Descriptions
  • casting fey magic
  • creating a glamour
  • draping a curtain of light and shadow over the area
  • Examples
    Hidden
  • wisps confuse intruders
  • the contents look like part of nature
  • a maze-like forest disorients travelers
  • Favored Terrain

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • Collaborate on a biome. Gain the defense "________ Master ☐☐", with the name of your biome in the blank. Mark it when you suffer a Bad Tale that relates to that biome. Alternatively, you can mark it to increase a roll related to your biome
  • Descriptions
  • drawing from past experience
  • knowing how to use the terrain
  • attuning to nature around you
  • Examples
    Biomes
  • underground
  • plains
  • forest
  • urban settings
  • the open sea
  • jungle
  • desert
  • tundra
  • swamps
  • mountains
  • Fortress Seed

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can create a fortress seed (max 1). Plant it and name a structure. The seed grows into that structure in a few minutes or hours, depending on size
  • Descriptions
  • harnessing nature's power
  • causing rampant growth
  • how vines and roots grow explosively
  • Examples
    Structure
  • bridge
  • building
  • wall
  • fortress
  • door
  • boat
  • ladder
  • stairs
  • tree
  • fence
  • wagon
  • statue
  • Tree Meld

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can move through wood as if it is the consistency of sap. You can breathe normally and sense your surroundings while in wood
  • Descriptions
  • turning your skin into wood and vines
  • melding with the tree
  • swimming through the wood
  • Verdant Growth

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can reshape 1 space of plant matter, or cause far plants to grow as if they had 100 years of uninterrupted growth. You can cause plants to bear fruit in this way.
  • Descriptions
  • causing vines to twist and grow
  • shaping wood like clay
  • creating an explosion of rampant growth
  • Wild Step

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • Rough natural terrain such as mud, thick roots, or snow never hinders your movement. Also, you don't leave behind any tracks
  • Descriptions
  • stepping lightly
  • running like beasts of the wild
  • nature changing to accommodate your steps
  • Will-o-Wisp

    (Nature | Exploration)

    Effects
  • You can create a will-o-wisp, which is a very small but eye-catching guide. Name someone and describe something. The wisp will intelligently guide that person to the closest place that matches your description. It has supernatural knowledge and can locate anything that isn't hidden. They fulfill their purpose eternally unless you dismiss them or they are destroyed
  • Descriptions
  • conjuring a mote of light
  • following a bird
  • calling a pixie to serve you
  • following a shooting star
  • Examples
    Commands
  • bring villagers here
  • lure bandits to my trap
  • bring my allies to me
  • guide me to safety
  • Awaken

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You can animate a plant into a living, thinking, mobile creature. Collaborate on their personality. Their disposition toward you significantly improves
  • Descriptions
  • awakening its sleeping soul
  • accelerating its growth
  • giving it the primal gift of consciousness
  • Commune

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You can communicate with nature guardians. Guardians are powerful spirits that represent the biome where they live. They seek to protect their biome and hold incredible power in it
  • Descriptions
  • performing a tribal dance
  • burning incense to awaken the spirit
  • seeing it manifest under starlight
  • Examples
    Guardians
  • silver stag in the tundra
  • lava beast in a volcano
  • ancient tree in the forest
  • water spirit in the sea
  • Power
  • reshape the land
  • control local animals
  • know everything that happens within their biome
  • Fey Beauty

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You are supernaturally attractive. Others are significantly more inclined to seek your romantic affection. Collaborate on what this entails
  • Descriptions
  • flawless skin
  • deep eyes
  • lovely curves
  • pouty lips
  • flowing hair
  • strong jawline
  • high cheekbones
  • Fey Curse

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You can relinquish power you have over someone to curse them. The more power you relinquish, the strong the curse. Collaborate on the curse's effects and what lifts the curse
  • Descriptions
  • saying a magic poem
  • casting a powerful enchantment
  • twisting their fate-strands
  • hexing them
  • Examples
    Curses
  • sleep until they're kissed
  • they can't leave a forest
  • they turn to stone at daytime
  • they lose their voice
  • Relinquished Power
  • they break your deal
  • they grovel at your feet
  • you hold their most prized possession
  • Fairy Gold

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You can make an item (max 1) look like 5 treasure for several hours
  • Descriptions
  • casting a fey glamour
  • deceiving with an illusion
  • altering its appearance
  • enchanting their desires
  • Tree Speaker

    (Nature | Interaction)

    Effects
  • You can communicate with trees and other large plants
  • Descriptions
  • hearing voices in the creaking wood
  • drawing forth their tree-soul
  • speaking through the earthmother

  • © 2023-2023

    studioKeywi

    Distances

    Touch

    Physical contact and adjacent spaces

    Near

    Several steps, or 3 spaces

    Close

    A room, or 5 spaces

    Far

    A building, or 10 spaces

    Very Far

    Several buildings, or 20+ spaces

    Keywords

    Bolster

    Players can spend their bolsters to increase a related roll. The GM can spend bolsters to make a PC decrease a related roll. Unspent bolsters eventually expire.

    Refer to Chapter 2 of the rules for more about increasing/decreasing rolls

    Collaborate

    Traits that tell you to collaborate are intentionally vague and ambiguous. Work with the GM to create a balanced and thematically appropriate effect. Collaborations should be an ongoing process. For example, you may discover that an effect is too strong or weak after a few sessions, so you and the GM should rebalance the effect

    Condition

    A condition is anything that temporarily affects your capabilities or status.

    Refer to Chapter 3 of the rules for more about conditions

    Defense

    Defenses make you more resilient during Challenges. Defenses grant one or more boxes, which function the same as Challenge Number boxes. However, defenses have unique requirements that allow you to mark them only in specific situations

    Minion

    A minion is a creature that serves another creature through a contract.

    Refer to Chapter 7 of the rules for more about minions

    Shrine

    A shrine is a divine conduit that allows a specific deity or set of deities to affect the mortal world.

    Refer to the Faith theme of the rules for more about shrines

    Temporary Item Trait

    A temporary item trait is any item trait that you did not spend XP to acquire. Temporary item traits come from a variety of source: magic items, potions, spells, etc. They're free and don't affect the XP cost of buying other item traits. You can't upgrade temporary item traits

    Temporary Trait

    A temporary trait is any that you did not spend XP to acquire. Temporary traits come from a variety of source: magic items, potions, spells, etc. They're free and don't affect the XP cost of buying other traits. You can't upgrade temporary traits

    Worldbuild

    Worldbuilding a collaborative process wherin the players and the GM work together to create something about the game world. One person is in charge of the worldbuilding event, and the other players support that player.

    Refer to Chapter 6 of the rules for more about world building

    Zone

    A zone is an area of effect. If a trait affects a zone, collaborate on logically fitting zones that you can create with that trait, and write them into your trait. Example zones:
    Blast: An explosion that affects one space and adjacent spaces. Blast attacks can be melee or ranged.
    Cone: A 90° cone that extends out to a Close distance. Cone attacks are considered to be melee.
    Line: This is a line of spaces that extends out to a Far distance. Line attacks are considered to be ranged.

    About

    Tavern Tales Toolkit 0.0.1-alpha-5

    Based on the Kickstarter 1.0.1 version of Tavern Tales with minor modifications

    Modifications

    • Metamagic has been renamed Augment and moved from Arcane traits into General traits
    Tavern Tales, the Tavern Tales logo, and any other associated artwork were orginally © 2014-2017 by Dabney Bailey, and has since been released under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license

    Links

    Tavern Tales KS 1.0.1 on Fandom Tavern Tales Discord