Atlantasia Anniversary

Time flies.  An entire year has passed since The Realms of Atlantasia:  The Game Master's Bible was published, taking the role playing game community by storm and changing forever how we think about gaming, ourselves, and our universe.  Although the author, John Holland, stated 'supplemental books' would soon be available, we are still waiting (sadly enough).  Aside from some “atlases,” we have been deprived of “The Tome of Dimensions; The List of Traps & Wards; The Book of Ancient Spells; The 3 Dictionaries (High Elvish, Dwarven, and Gnomish); Poisons of Atlantasia; The Advanced Apothecary; Advanced Weaponry; and, of course, The Eastern Realms.”  Of course.

Rather than despair about what we don't have, let's celebrate what we do have.  To commemorate this momentous occasion, here are a few more creatures from the “Encounter Compodium.”

Trachyss:  According to page 101, a trachyss is a beautiful, glowing midget with wings.  When encountered, a trachyss will offer two wishes to the player characters for every “wish” they “fulfill” for the trachyss.  Although unstated, it seems that the characters are supposed to grant the trachyss' wishes first, which apparently take the form of quests.  By agreeing to these terms, the characters will be “trapped.”  Specifically, they “will be on 1-12 quests for the trachyss before it lets [them] go (plus it will NEVER grant [them] any of [their] wishes).”  If the characters decline the offer, they are somehow required to give a ring to the trachyss.  (Trachysses like rings and will always have 1-8 magical rings.)

The trachyss is one of Holland's 'pets' – it is virtually impossible to defeat one.  It can only be killed by hitting it “with all four elements (min. lv. 3 mage/priest spell) at the same time.”  With regard to offense, “they shoot magic pulse as if 100 lv.”

Starchild:  These beings are from another dimension.  They are four to five feet tall (still taller than a trachyss) and are “surrounded by a glowing aura that emits an ultimately good radiance.”  Testing a starchild for alignment indicates “a light and loving being,” but this is a deception that the starchild uses in order to attack first.  When killed, the glow abates, revealing a “grotesque” form with “a bear-like face, a small body and long, distorted arms and legs.”

Bracer Fish:  To quote page 125...

This is a large fish (4' - 8' long) that got its name from the fight it puts up when it gets hooked (“if ya hooks one, git braced fer a fight”).

Hahaha.  Get it?

Stryker:  This is a porcupine-like creature that shoots poisonous spikes at an opponent’s face.  The number of spikes per volley is “10-20,” so I guess that’s 9 + 1d12 and reroll ‘twelves.’  The poison causes death “by the fifteenth cycle.”  A stryker has a 90% chance of hitting an opponent within ten feet.  I don’t know if that’s per spike or per volley.

Eyed Death:  These creatures appear to be rats; they can even be found living among rats.  Page 99 describes what makes ‘eyed deaths’ special:

When eyed deaths feel threatened four eyes emerge from the top of its [sic] head and these eyes will erupt with spells from each element (1 element per eye) in all four directions. They will rotate every ss.

One might assume that the supra-cranial eyes rotate, not the creature itself; however, Holland lists the particular eyes as:  front, right side, back, and left side.  Regardless, one eye attacks with “mud balls,” another eye attacks with a “minor fireball,” and a third with a “minor lightning bolt.”  The last eye is the most devastating – it issues forth “ice chards.”  I’ve heard of iceberg lettuce, but not ice chard.  Anyway, this leafy green vegetable inflicts 5 – 100 Life Points of damage; the minor fireball and minor lightning bolt inflict, at most, 40 points.  Does Holland mean ice shards?  Of course not!  Ice shards inflicting more than twice the damage inflicted by fire or electricity would be silly!  We all know that Atlantasia is “the most realistic fantasy based game around.”  John Holland says so!