Ashbreather Concept Test

ASHBREATHERS ASHBREATHERS Ashbreathers are a fearsome offshoot of humanity na- Ashbreathers are a fearsome offshoot of humanity na- tive to the Pole of Smoke. Their thick scarred hides resist tive to the Pole of Smoke. Their thick scarred hides resist acid where the rain bleached their flesh and burnt them acid where the rain bleached their flesh and burnt them strong, letting them weather sudden cloudbursts as they strong, letting them weather sudden cloudbursts as they scuttle for cover. Rows of sharp steel teeth rend metal, the scuttle for cover. Rows of sharp steel teeth rend metal, the only food their toxic gullets can process. Although magical materials are too hard to eat, the Essence-infused bodies of exmachina offer a rare and coveted delicacy. Ashbreathers breathe poisoned smoke as pure air and slowly choke in clean air, a fact that has largely confined them to the brutal landfill that spawned them. They roam the Pole of Smoke in nomadic tribes, sheltering in makeshift shanty towns made of local scrap. Their hunters stalk weak and damaged spirits lost in the junkyard, though they can subsist on a bitter diet of gnawed wreckage during lean times. Ashbreather tribes intermittently war and trade with Xexas, but they are not tolerated within the city. Scavenger crews operate on a rotating-roster system in order to limit time spent outside the safety of the city’s protective Charms. On the rare occasions that dental inspections reveal teeth darkening with steel, the afflicted are exiled and somberly added to the city’s memorial wall. Mutations: (0 points): Fangs (Pox), Scarred Hide (Pox; As Fur), Diet (Debility; Metal/Exmachina) Acid Resistance (Pox): Ashbreathers add half their (Stamina + Resistance) as bonus successes (rounded down) to all rolls to resist corrosion-based hazards. Poison Lungs (Pox): Per their name, ashbreathers can breathe the thickest and deadliest of fumes as if it were the cleanest of air, ignoring all environmental, suffocation or poison-related harm. Clean air is treated as water for the purpose of suffocation, save that all intervals are one hour rather than 30 seconds. Hungry (Deficiency): Ashbreather metabolisms need 25% more food. Starvation penalties occur in half the time, measuring their interval in half days rather than days. They suffer a -1 internal penalty to gather food with Survival, though this doesn’t typically matter in their native environment. Hunger Frenzy (Deficiency): While hungry enough to suffer penalties, ashbreathers must make (difficulty 2) Temperance checks whenever presented with food. Failure means they must gorge themselves until satiation, attacking anyone who gets in their way like partially-controlled Berserk Anger (see Exalted, p. 105). RUIN-EATERS The worst mutated tribes of ashbreathers add the fol- lowing mutations (zero point difference): Large (Pox), Tusks 124 (Affliction replaces Fangs; +2L damage to bite), Thick Skin (Pox adds +2L/2B to basic Scarred Hide bonuses) Night Vision (Pox): The faceted red eyes of ruin-eaters see in darkness as though lit by the full moon. In conditions as bright as the full moon, they see like daylight. Short Life (Deformity): The superior bodies of ruin-eaters quickly wear out, halving their lifespan. RENDERS Ashbreathers who eat gremlins as the main part of their diet for a month must make a (difficulty 2) Willpower roll. On a failure, they acquire the ruin-eater template (if they didn’t have it already), plus the following: Mutations (0 points): Enhanced Sight (Pox), Enhanced Hearing (Pox), Exalted Healing (Affliction; Renders heal like the Chosen) and Gremlin Syndrome (Deformity)