[Index]
Cypher Bestiary
Magical, sapient winds imbued with intelligence and purpose, including the West Wind, go where they will, blowing across the worlds or taking on a specific human or animal shape.
Health: 23
Damage Inflicted: Moderate wound
Movement: Flies a long distance each round
Combat: Attacks up to three times per round at different targets within short range with a violent gust, inflicting damage with a successful attack and knocking prone victims who fail a Might defense roll.
GM Intrusion: The wind lifts a character high in the air and threatens to let them fall.
GM Intrusion: The wind grabs something important from the character and starts to play a game of "keep away" from the character with it.
Sometimes a magical wind deposits interesting things into the hands of random people, possibly leading to an adventure, or at least an interesting encounter-or-two.
| d10 | Blown by the Wind |
|---|---|
| 1 | Gold coins from a dragon's hoard; the dragon soon follows looking for them. |
| 2 | A silver tiara blown from the head of a princess; she may pay a reward for its return. |
| 3 | A bronze key to a mysterious door; the only clue is a word stamped on the key: Timeborne. |
| 4 | Dreams of a powerful wizard that contain secrets of an upcoming eclipse. |
| 5 | Feather of a phoenix; it brings either luck or misfortune to whoever claims it. |
| 6 | Talking map, showing the way to a lost castle from a bygone era. |
| 7 | Pirate hat that blows in from the sea; fresh blood stains its brim. |
| 8 | Envelope addressed to the Queen containing a message warning of a troll invasion. |
| 9 | Vial of stardust (manifest cypher); until they use a one-hour or longer recovery, the user can change shape to a formless wind and back to themselves as an action; in wind form, characters ignore mundane damage, can't make attacks, and can fly up to a long distance each round. |
| 10 | Pocket watch inscribed with "For my daughter Edwina; always keep this close to ward off the curse." |
Winds favor certain areas and times of year to blow, bringing rain, warming, cooling, dryness, or some other shift that means that something, such as the season, is about to change. They may greet strangers, hear pleas for aid or otherwise help or hinder regular creatures, or just ask them for the news.
There are magical winds, and then there are winds that almost everyone knows about. Or may soon.
The North Wind, also called Boreas, carries a wintry chill. Forceful and biting, the North Wind can be relentless, caring little for the needs of small creatures or people, or even purposefully bringing misfortune.
When not exhaling his icy breath, he takes the shape of a grumpy old human man, stomping around his ice-shackled garden, shaking his fist at the first spring winds.
North Wind: As magical wind, but freezes those who fail a Might defense roll, preventing any physical tasks until they can escape with a Might defense roll as their action
Harmattan is a dry and dusty wind that brings cool and hazy conditions. He enjoys the company of others—other winds, and other people, often challenging them to games of hide-and-seek.
When he's not manifesting as a northeasterly trade wind, Harmattan appears as a youth in simple garb with a staff carved of baobab wood.
Harmattan: As magical wind, but can also cover an area a very long distance across in thick haze
The children of the wind cannot be measured in numbers, for they are here and there and everywhere. They are not born, so much as borne, by weather patterns, wishes, and wants. Dust devils, gales, and zephyrs are all wind children. They are mischievous, precocious, and spoiled, but they know many things, having been all over the world. They may share what they know in exchange for new secrets or knowledge.
Some wind children can change shape to become actual human children for short periods. When they do, it's usually to visit a lonesome child or creature that they have befriended.
Wind child: level 4; violent wind gust attacks one character within short range
Some winds may call one or more air elementals as allies.
When the West Wind is not blowing through the sky, she takes the shape of a human woman dressed in a sparkling blue formal garment, her short silver hair pushed back from her face. Some say the West Wind is cold, but she's really just an introvert and prefers to spend most of her time traveling alone. She's actually warm hearted and may help those in need. She does not respond well to trickery, traps, or attempts to force her hand (unless they're terribly clever or smart, and then she admits grudging respect for the perpetrators).
West Wind: level 9; dodge as level 10, sees through deceit and resists intimidation as level 10; health 40; attack inflicts a moderate wound to every creature and object she chooses within a very long distance and knocks them prone
Adventure Seed: The only way to get to a certain island or floating castle is with the aid of a particular magical wind. But the wind wants the PCs to help in retrieving a keepsake that fell into a crack in the ground they can't reach.