Ta' Fa' Lisch

AUTHOR: Scott Metz (Scottomir)

ISSUE: 8:41

Note: Since many players have voiced concern about the 4-7 attribute range in the standard rules, the statistics above in many cases list only attribute modifiers (rather than presenting scores below 8 aligned with either the standard rules or the common revision). If an attribute score is actually needed, the Narrator can choose whichever number below 8 he prefers that fits with the given modifier. Vitality, since it determines Health, is assigned a score and, if 8 or above, a modifier; for scores below 8, the Narrator can choose whichever modifier he prefers.

Description

From the Elder Days to the late Third Age, undead abominations beyond reckoning were unleashed by Morgoth and Sauron, by whose dark power wicked souls were somehow bound to Middle-earth even after death. Some of these corrupt spirits remained disembodied and became ghostly phantoms haunting dark places. It has always been rare for Dwarves to suffer such a fate, since only Aulë the Vala knows the destiny of their souls who made them, but some Dwarves were so cruel and avaricious in life that their corrupted spirits linger in their mountain mansions. The ta'fa'lisch are restless spirits of "Petty Dwarves" seeking even in death to guard their treasure hoard. They appear as shadowy Dwarves, grim-faced with burning-red eyes. They are utterly silent in movement and usually incorporeal. A ta'fa'lisch assumes tangible form only in the brief moments when attacking a victim with its shadowy axe or sword that suddenly becomes solid and strikes with great force.

Unique Special Abilities

Curse: Every ta'fa'lisch is vindictive to the extreme and can bestow terrible curses on its foes. At a cost of 2 actions, it can pronounce a curse on a specific victim. The ta'fa'lisch and the victim make opposed Willpower tests. If the victim wins, he is forever immune to the curses of this particular ta'fa'lisch. If victim loses, he suffers one of the following effects: -2 on all physical tests; -3 on all social and academic tests; -4 on all tests related to Corruption; victim acquires the Slow Recovery flaw; victim cannot use or regain Courage points. The curse lasts until a specific condition is met (usually returning an object taken, surrendering a treasure, or fleeing far from the creature's lair). A victim can only be afflicted by one curse from a particular ta'fa'lisch at a time.

Intangible: A ta'fa'lisch usually is an incorporeal shadow. It can pass through solid matter unhindered, but cannot manipulate physical objects unless it chooses to assume tangible form. It is immune to heat, cold, fire, falling, normal weapons, poison, and corrosives. However, the ta'fa'lisch must assume tangible form for a few moments when it wishes to attack a victim, and during that brief time weapons can harm it. A ta'fa'lisch cannot assume tangible form while exposed to the light of the sun, but it is not otherwise harmed.

Undead Stamina: Ta'fa'lisch need never eat or drink, take half damage from physical attacks, heal all injuries at five times the normal rate, do not have Weariness levels, need never make Stamina tests to resist weariness, and cannot be affected by poison or disease.

Habitat

Ta'fa'lisch are found only in decayed and long-abandoned Dwarf-holds, places so dark and accursed that even living Dwarves do not dare return to reclaim them. These cursed mountain dwellings may be located in the Misty Mountains, the Blue Mountains, the Grey Mountains, and possibly even the mountains of the Far East-any place where the despised "Petty Dwarves" of the First Age might have been exiled from the mansions of the Seven Fathers of the Dwarves. A ta'fa'lisch never surfaces from its haunted lair unless an intruder manages to get away with a treasure from its hoard, in which case the spirit will hunt the thief to the ends of the earth.