Monster Wounds

Usually, Monsters in Ald-Amura are kind, gentle, and awe-inspiring beings who live in harmony with people. The False Gold creates painful and mind-altering Wounds that can send a Monster into an uncontrollable rage. These Wounds can take any form but are most often strange and fantastical, such as the Monster’s skin turning to solid gold, or painful growths of magic crystals. These Wounds cause great pain and distress to the Monsters of Ald-Amurra, often making them use their incredible abilities without conscious control, which leads to widespread destruction.

Monsters usually have at least three Wounds, with more if you want the confrontation with the Monster to be longer or more complicated. Three tends to give you a nice, exciting, and snappy encounter, but ultimately it’s up to you how many you want to give your Monsters.

Wounds as a mechanic look like the box below. They consist of a descriptive name and at least one effect (usually two). Effects are best understood as an ability the Monster has that the Wound forces them to use. Vines growing around a Dragon’s throat might invigorate their Flame Breath, for example. Some Wounds might have their own Effects entirely divorced from the Monster’s inherent abilities, such as a hardened shell that prevents easy approach.

Effects can be further broken down into Active Effects and Passive Effects. Active Effects can be thought of as attacks - they’re actions the Monster (or the Wound) takes in reaction to player failure and tend to result in either the Monster gaining ground (+1 Control) or the players losing ground (Push the players back). Passive Effects are more like the ongoing damage caused by the Wound - A Monster’s wing being turned Solid Gold, their feathers becoming razors, or time tearing around their form - treat these effects more like environmental hazards, or obstacles that must be overcome. Some of these effects will require an Ace to overcome.

Sample Wound

  • Cut off an escape (Active): +1 Control
  • Lava Moat (Passive): Neutralize: Spend an Ace

In the above example, the Sample Wound has two effects:

  • An Active effect that moves the Monster 1 space forward on the control track
  • A Passive effect that allows players to neutralize the wound’s effect by spending an Ace.

Most Wounds will have both a Passive and an Active Effect. It’s not required, but it makes for a more interesting conflict. Wounds can have as many Effects as you like, but more than 3 tends to be a headache to manage.

While Moves often have mechanical triggers for you to use, remember that they are narrative tools first and foremost. If a Monster has “Uncontrollable Fire Bursts,” describe them randomly exploding like a bomb, describe their bodies wreathed in magical flame, and react accordingly when you hear these descriptions—if your characters learn that a Monster is surrounded by a noxious miasma, they’ll need some solution to that problem before they can approach it.

Wounds are unpredictable; a Monster with the “Magma Tears” Wound may not always be crying molten rock, that might only happen when you trigger their effects due to players failing a roll or as a consequence of the player’s actions. Or, they might be constantly pouring out a river of magma until the players heal that Wound. Up to you.

When the players heal a Wound, it’s removed from the Monster and its effects can no longer trigger, though if the Wound has some kind of secondary lasting effect, such as spawning allies for the Monster or starting fires, they probably remain after the Wound is healed.

Below is a list of Wounds you can easily apply to an existing Monster or mix and match to create your own amazing Monsters. You can also write your own. Every Monster in the Bestiary (page 68) comes with six narrative descriptions of Wounds that you can use to base your Wounds off of.

Wound Terminology

  • Push n: Push the players back n spaces on the control track
  • +n Control: Move the Monster n Spaces on the control track
  • Active: An ability the Monster actively uses
  • Passive: An ongoing effect that happens regardless of the Players and Monsters actions
  • Neutralize: Spend or do x to Neutralize the effect in question

Magma Tears

  • Cut off an escape (Active): +1 Control
  • Lash out with fire (Active): Push 1
  • Lava Moat (Passive): Neutralize—Spend an Ace

Corrupted Wings

  • Take flight with a player character (Active): Push 1
  • Create an elemental vortex (Passive)

Uncontrolled Fire Bursts

  • Erupt in fire (Active): +1 Control
  • Wreathed in intense fire (Passive)

Spawning Boils

  • Create smaller, twisted versions of the Monster (Active): +1 Control
  • Command the horde (Passive): Spend an Ace or 1 Supply to approach

Pulsating Blood Crystals

  • Shower with crystal rain (Active): Push 1
  • Drop an explosive blood crystal near a player (Active): Push 1 AND choose one:
    • Players must spend an Ace
    • -1 Supply
    • Push 1

Vast Emerald Horns

  • Brittle Glass Shards (Passive): Spend an Ace to approach
  • Gore (Active): +1 Control
  • Verdant Beam (Active): Push 1 AND choose one:
    • Players must spend an Ace
    • Push 1