BREAK!! x Animon Story crossover adventure: BREAK!! POINT (Bonus Download)

 

The BREAK!! x Animon Story crossover is now available for download!

You can grab it here! 

BREAK!! POINT is a short scenario that has animon trainers investigating some strange happenings in the Dunia Region! What is Team Steele doing there? Are those strange new creatures some sort of animon? Why is that lady blue!? Investigate these questions and more in this exciting adventure!

Also included are brand new illustrations from Grey Wizard, and rules for converting BREAK!! characters and adversaries into Animon Story ones if you want to keep the adventure going. 

Adversary Templates: LUG and LANK (Freebie)

Sometimes, you just need a quick and simple adversary. While building one from scratch is great, you don't always have the time or energy for it. Today's blog entry introduces a shortcut for adversary creation for when you need one: Templates.

In the context of this (and likely future) blog entries, adversary templates are a very basic set of stats for a certain kind of foe that are intended to be easy to alter and customize on the fly. All you need to do to use one is grab the template, choose an extra ability or two, and you have a functional enemy to drop anywhere you need. Anything marked as Variable can be changed in accordance to the fiction you want to attach to your new adversary. For example, if you use the Lug to create a ponderous Knight of the Sacred Chain, their Home Region would be in the Wistful Dark.

Of course, you can ignore what you don't need or assign more fiction to the adversary or tweak it further as desired. You might even used the time you save on their basic stats to come up with custom abilities for them.

Featured this week are a pair of related adversary templates often seen working together in pairs: the big Lug and the wiry Lank. In their untouched state, they are meant to be native humans (if very odd ones), but you could give them a species ability to make them a different member of the folk if you like and both have suggestions on how to make them into other sorts of creatures as well.

 

Some suggestions on using the Lug and the Lank together...

• Members of a troublesome trio 
• Bumbling minions for a master villain
• Twin guardians of some temple or treasure 

 

LUG

A violent oaf. Use this template when you need some hired muscle, a lumbering threat, or a big bully.

Menace Level

• Boss

Rank

•  4

Type Main/Sub

• Variable

• Variable

    

Size

• Large

Allegiance

• Variable

Home Region/Habitat

• Variable

Traits: Big, Strong, Dense, Oafish (+2 Might, +2 Grit, -2 Insight, -1 Aura)

• Might [12] (P)

• Deftness [9] (P)

• Grit [11] (P)

• Insight [6]

• Aura [7]

Combat Values

• Hearts [3]

• Attack [+3]

• Speed [Normal]

• Defense Rating [14] (+4 Brazen Defense Ability, +1 Standard Shield, -1 Large)

Gear

• A Mighty/Arc (Crescent Maul) or Mighty/Lash (Chain Flail) combination weapon
• Standard Shield 

Communication Methods

• Low Speech, Variable

Tactics

• Variable, but Lugs are usually bullies at heart, using their attacks to try and take down weaker members of a group to help thin out their numbers.

Miscellaneous

• Indicators - Foes that have been crushed by mighty blows, angry stomping, the occasional guffaw.

• Roleplaying Notes - Lugs are single-minded as a rule. Even the smartest among them would rather be ruthlessly direct than employ any amount of etiquette or finesse.

• Customization - Besides the Abilities you choose for them, you might give a Lug some sort imbued weapon or shield. You can also increase their rank to make them a more difficult opponent.

Abilities  

• Lugs always have the Champion's Brazen Defense elective ability, which gives them an improved defense. This can be replaced with the Chompa's Blubbery Hide ability to make a more overtly monstrous Lug.
• As a Rank 4 Adversary, Lugs should have 2-4 Abilities total. the Champion's Brute, The Gruun's As Tough as the Look make for good choices. The Battle Princess's Passion's Fire or the Murder Princess's Frost Blade could be reskinned to represent different forms of elemental attacks for them as well. 

Yield

• Any equipment the Lug has on hand is there for the taking if they are defeated.

Reskin

• You can change a lot based on what Abilities you give a Lug. For example, mechanical Lugs can be created by giving them Abilities from Drones.

 

LANK

A scrawny troublemaker. Use this template when you need a speedy trickster or cackling toady.

Menace Level

• Boss

Rank

•  4

Type Main/Sub

• Variable

• Variable

    

Size

• Medium

Allegiance

• Variable

Home Region/Habitat

• Variable

Traits: Wiry, Clever, Frail, Annoying (+2 Deftness, +2 Insight, -2 Grit, -1 Aura)

• Might [9] (P)

• Deftness [11] (P)

• Grit [6]

• Insight [11] (P)

• Aura [7]

Combat Values

• Hearts [3]

• Attack [+3]

• Speed [Fast]

• Defense Rating [16] (+4 Bulwark of Disdain, +2 Fast)

Gear

• A Master/Arc or Master/Drawn Combination Weapon.
• 10 units of Ammunition if the latter is chosen. 

Communication Methods

• Low Speech, Variable

Tactics

• Variable, but Lanks generally like to use hit and run tactics to annoy and harry their foes rather than face them head on.

Miscellaneous

• Indicators - Foes struck down by multiple wounds, annoying cackling, the sound of someone shuffling about impatiently.

• Roleplaying Notes - Lanks are nearly always petty and cruel. They will not miss a chance at a rude wisecrack or mean-spirited gesture.

• Customization - Besides the Abilities you choose for them, you might give a Lank some sort imbued weapon or special ammunition. You can also increase their rank to make them a more difficult opponent.

Abilities  

• Lanks always have the Murder Princess's Bulwark of Disdain and Mange Bandit's Stray's Step Abilities, granting them a higher defense and making them Fast. 
• As a Rank 4 Adversary, Lanks should have 2-4 Abilities total. The Raider's Free Runner and the Sneak's Flanker are good choices for them. You might also give them some Sage Abilities like Hocus Pox or Eldritch Explosives if you want them to be troublesome warrior-mages.

Yield

• Any equipment the Lug has on hand is there for the taking if they are defeated.

Reskin

• You can change a lot based on what Abilities you give a Lank. For example, giving them some of the Insectoid Aspects that Bellzuub has access to is a great way to create a bipedal bug warrior. 

Legacy Gems (Freebie)

Additives are one of my favorite bits of the BREAK!! core rules. They engage the Crafting system, players can request them after a fashion (with the help of the Research your next adventure Downtime action) and GM's can introduce ones they like and their own personal creations into the game - these are great avenues of expression for the players and game master alike.

 

Inspiration is sometimes hard to come by though. So I wanted to propose a fairly simple idea one can use as a springboard: additives modeled after Calling abilities. As you are using an existing Ability for its imbued benefits, it cuts your work in half as you don't need to worry too much about coming up with new mechanics and just focus on the bit of fiction that's attached to them. 

 

Some additional guideline:

• These are most useful you draw from Callings that are not present in the party already, as they will grant access to powers and tools that the players have no other way of attaining and won't step on anybody's toes.
• It is probably best to stick to Basic Elective Abilities when choosing what to model these off of.
• For the sake of simplicity, I'm going with a cost of 50 Coins for items that grant explicitly magical abilities, and 25 Coins if the abilities they grant are more mundane.

I'm calling these particular Additives...

 

LEGACY GEMS

These are small stones left behind when someone with great power or purpose passes on in a dramatic or sudden fashion. Their wishes, desperation, and final thoughts congeal into some form of unique magical substance. Given the strange nature of their origin they can be found all over Outer World.

 

PALADIN'S TEAR (Based off the Battle Princess Ability Compassion Cure)
A small crystal said to have been shed by a fallen knight that failed their sacred duty. It can grant a great healing power.

• Eldritch: Imbued Items allow you to remove a psychological, physical, or magical Ailment from someone you care about.
• Attempting this Ability during a fight requires you to spend your action.
• This Ability cannot be used for situational Ailments: Toppled, Restrained, and Overburdened.
• Requires and Aura Check
• Success: The Ailment is removed
• Failure: The Ailment remains, you cannot make any further attempts to cure it. 
• 50 Coins Per Unit 

 

TRICKSTER'S TRINKET (Based off the Sneak Ability Many Masks)

This purplish gem was created when a famed charlatan paid the ultimate price when one of their schemes was exposed. Within it lies the power to deceive. 

• Empowering: Imbued Items grant you an Edge on all rolls involving acting out different personas to fool others. You might even be able to trick people you know if your face is covered.
• You have an Edge When attempting to create Alter-Egos during Reputation Management. 
• 25 Coins Per Unit 

 

INKY PRISM (Based off the Sage Ability Glowing Ink)

This jet black stone was found in a bit of spilled ink near a fallen sage's grimoire.  It can imbue a brush or pen with an endless supply of oddly glowing ink.

• Eldritch: Imbued writing or painting tools can create luminescent ink to write or draw with rather than using conventional ink.
• This ink glows as brightly as a torch, but vanishes after a day.
• This ink can also be thrown on an enemy up to 1 Battlefield Area away with a successful Attack Roll.
• The ink does no damage, but prevents enemies from hiding in the shadows.
• Targets that are vulnerable to light may suffer other ill effects at your GM's discretion. 
• 50 Coins Per Unit 

 

VALOR STONE (Based off the Champion Ability Valiant)

A scarlet gem born from the droplets of blood left behind by a mighty warrior felled by trickery rather than proper battle. Within it lies the power to deny fear.

• Empowering: Imbued Items grant you an immunity to the Terrified Ailment.
• You can help allies defend against the Ailment by shouting encouraging words. Those within Earshot gain an Edge on their roll to resist, or remove, the Ailment. 
• 25 Coins Per Unit