Familiars of Terra Tortoise

The Inky Prompt from May 3^rd had me thinking. The question, “What was your favorite childhood toy?” Mine was a pink Kitty Surprise. I loved the pouch she had in her stomach for hiding things. Alright, so it was supposed to be for the kittens that came with it, but I don’t remember if I lost those or got the mother cat second hand without them. I used to hide all sorts of things in the pouch, eventually even my Book of Shadows which was in a small, locked diary.

 

I remember two years ago doing a Kickstarter for an RPG called Familiars of Terra. One of the options for the familiars is Pocket: Your familiar has a body pouch which leads to a pocket dimension. This dimension can hold a large duffle bag's worth of items and can only be accessed with the familiar's permission. Meaning items you place in it effectively 'disappear' until retrieved. Some animals come naturally with a body pouch, such as a kangaroo pouch or hamster cheeks, but this power also allows you to create a pocket hidden in your tiger's fur.

 

I cannot help but think about how great a tortoise would be as a familiar, not just for the Familiars of Terra RPG but also for the modern witch (more on that later). Thus, I decided to make a beginning level tortoise familiar using the Roleplaying Game Familiars of Terra rules produced by Angry Hamster Publishing.

 

Now familiars start with 5 points in each attribute - Agility, Awareness, Charm, Might, and Wit. Then, distribute an extra 15 points between any attributes as you like. You may also voluntarily lower an Attribute to below 5 … for every two points you remove from one Attribute you get one point to spend elsewhere. Results for Tortoise:

Agility 3 (which is speed and flexibility)

Awareness 6

Charm 7 (average) 

Might 10 (Determines how much weight they can carry)

Wit 13 (Max)

 

Next step is selecting traits, like pocket. Pick 3 traits for your familiar. Traits are special mutations your familiar has that makes them unique. I chose:

• Burrow because Rocky likes to dig,
• Glow because I do not turn off his basking light so the upstairs windows always glow, and
• Pink because I maxed out his Wit and I like the ability.

Burrow: Your familiar can easily dig through rock, stone, packed earth, and walls and floors made of such materials. It digs at normal, non-running speed and chooses whether the tunnel behind it is stable (remains until collapsed on purpose, or through an earthquake), Unstable (will collapse behind the familiar in random card # rounds), or volatile (immediately collapses two meters behind the familiar as it digs).

 

Glow: Your familiar sheds a bioluminescent glow that it can dim to darkness or raise to the brightness of day at will. this light extends in a circle up to 15 meters around it and can even dispel magical or supernatural darkness.

 

Pink: The familiar turns from a baby-pink to a bright magenta. The familiar can lift items into the air. To lift an item the familiar should make a Wit check. On a success, the familiar lifts the item in the air and can manipulate it for a scene. if the familiar wishes to lift a creature, or if someone grabs the item, they should make an opposed check. the familiar uses Wit and the opponent uses Might. In combat, creatures who are lifted into the air can make an opposed check at the start of their turn to see if they can break free.

 

I am trying to make a set schedule for my postings. One day for Gardening, even though I have not been working on that much lately. One day a week for RPG related postings, even though right now that is the biggest thing on my mind and I posted on it already this week on Tuesday and today, but I am thinking Thursday posts will be about RPGs. Perhaps one day (Wednesday?) for worldbuilding using Zaratans. Of course, the usual look at what Rocky did today posts too.