Suurhirvi [Reindeer/Moose] [PG-13]

Suurhirvi, Mysteries of the Taiga

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man’s ingratitude”
-William Shakespeare, As You Like It

Rated PG-13

The following material contains brief mention of nudity, and may not be appropriate for all groups and/or players. Please do not use this material in a game without approval from the GM as well as the other players.

Playtest Version

This material is still in the process of being playtested. It is fully usable as written, but may be refined or changed in later versions. As always, this content should only be used with GM permission.

The Suurhirvet

Seeing a suurhirvi is not an experience one quickly forgets. These massive denizens of frost-covered regions have wide noses and large pointed ears like a deer’s. Even more impressive than their towering size is the antlers that grow atop their heads regardless of gender. Having no natural need for clothing, they instead adorn themselves with strange symbols painted or dyed into their fur in brilliant hues. The designs of these symbols are intuitive to the suurhirvi applying them and they are changed regularly. Despite this, when preparing for danger, they have no objections to wearing armor (which they likewise paint with symbols) and, should nudity prove inconvenient to interacting with other folk, they will fashion crude loincloths, wraps, or other such basic garments from animal hides, tree bark, or other natural materials.

In Tune with Nature

While not native to the fey realms, suurhirvet seem to have a strong connection to the natural power of those realms, especially relating to boreal environments. This leads many sages to consider them a form of fey anyway. Those who attain great power often become even more difficult to distinguish from typical fey creatures, and legends attest to at least one who has ascended to the status of archfey. The Bearer of the Glacier Crown, as that individual has come to be known known, is said to have power over periods of twilight, changes of weather, and those who defy categorization. They have refused to take a place in an existing fey court and instead sometimes serves as a neutral envoy between them.

Totemic Figures

Many outlander tribes view the suurhirvet as mighty nature spirits given physical form, and will seek them out to either propitiate them with offerings or request advice or divinations in order to ensure good hunting or success in battle. Within more urbanized settlements suurhirvet—especially spellcasters—tend to be viewed as mysterious visionaries, the subject of equal parts superstition and nervous curiosity. Suurhirvet generally do not dispute such claims about themselves or their people, as they know they have some supernatural ties to nature and view their own nature in spiritual regards through a unique perspective that is not easily comprehended by beings lacking a fey nature. They find it vexing and ineffective to try to explain the concepts to such beings. As such they usually find the beliefs of other beings about them to be tolerable approximations, and will play along to whatever degree necessary to ensure productive contact.

Suurhirvi Names

Each suurhirvi has three names—often but not always a mix of masculine, feminine, and androgynous names. In a complex and opaque system of context that the suurhirvet have not been able to teach to other folk, the number and sequence of these three names used in a situation changes. To a suurhirvi, it is simply immediately obvious how many and in what order a suurhirvi’s names should be used in any given situation. To other folk, it proves entirely unpredictable, even if recorded and studied for patterns.

Example Androgynous Names: Áilu, Ale, Hanne, Hvedrungr, Grindalokki, Ilmatar, Inge, Loptr, Luku, Manu, Mahria, Mille, Niikka, Stormr, Vanja, Vieno, Ymir

Example Masculine Names: Aallaz, Aslaeikr, Bierdna, Coavva, Ensio, Ilmarinen, Joukahainen, Juoska, Kaapro, Mielat, Otso, Pyry, Risto, Sten, Taisto, Temm, Vainamoinen

Example Feminine Names: Aja, Arnbjorg, Bóthildr, Ea, Eija, Giera, Hilja, Kyllikki, Lumi, Minttu, Päivi, Pihla, Satu, Seara, Tellervo, Tora, Unni

New Species: Suurhirvi

Common Personality Traits: Visionary, alien, vexed by but tolerant of non-fey
Common Physical Traits: Towering, thick-limbed, occult body paint designs, minimal clothing made from unworked materials
Type: Large (2×2) biped fey with a Reach of 1. Your maximum wounds equal your Constitution score x 1.5 (rounded down).

Attributes: -2 Dexterity
Base Speed: 40 ft.
Cold-Based: You gain Cold Protection IV (ignoring all Extreme Cold effects). (Extreme conditions rules can be found [here])
Natural Attack: You gain the Gore I natural attack (see FC, page 235). If you gain a natural attack from multiple sources, the attack’s grade becomes equal to the highest single grade + 1 per additional benefit granting the same attack, to a maximum of V (e.g. Bite IV, Bite III, and Bite I become Bite V).
Frost Antlers: You may convert your unarmed damage to cold damage without suffering the normal -4 attack penalty.
Frigid Aura: Any area within 10 feet of you decreases to 10 degrees colder than its natural temperature, returning to normal only after 10 minutes of being unaffected. You can suppress or resume this effect without an action, but you cannot suppress it while unconscious or maintaining concentration on a spell. The decrease in temperature does not stack due to multiple suurhirvet nor due to returning to an already-affected area.
Wild Spirit: You gain 1 skill point each time you gain a permanent Spellcasting or Terrain feat.
From Out of Town: Your error range increases by 2 when making Blend and Haggle checks opposed by characters of other species.
Damage Vulnerability: You suffer 1 additional damage per die from fire damage and are sickened for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 any fire damage taken (rounded down). If you suffer continuous fire damage — such as from the environment — you are sickened until you escape the source of the damage.

Legal Appendix

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Open Game License v1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc. System Rules Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.

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