Thistle Nibblestone
Flavor Profile
Thistle Nibblestone was the smallest of her warren, barely able to carry a basket of turnips without tipping over. She favored quiet days in the clover fields and sipping dandelion tea while sketching clouds in her little notebook.
One day, as Thistle chased a butterfly through a sunlit meadow, she fell into a hole and found herself in the cockpit of a moss-covered orb. Almost instantly, the orb animated, changing colors and developing expressive eyes and mouths, resembling a living emoji, reflecting Thistle Nibblestone's feelings. It turned red with an angry face when she felt mad, soft blue with dreamy eyes during her contemplative moments, and golden with stars when she experienced excitement. 😠😬😇😡 The orb introduced itself as a MOODball, or Magically Operated Orb of Defense. It floats, rolls, and even ricochets with cartoonish agility. And, its name is Orbison.
Age of Origin: Age of Ironroot
Goreth's ancient world of quiet glens and lush forests has been disturbed by encroaching strange machines, corrupted creations, and increasing mechanical decay. Most animalfolk are guardians of the old traditions, preserving the pristine groves and hidden green paths.
Though most animals in this Age are similarly humble, a few predator Proteins have enthusiastically taken to the Ironroot invasions, grafting metal to fur and worse.
Protein: Rabbitkin
Grit: 45
Armor: 10
Sting: +2
Float: +2
Movement: +4
Street Skills
Sketching: +2
Gardening: +2
Nutritional Information
Not a Swimmer: -2
Super Cool Finishing Move
Nibblestone doesn’t have an SCFM, but Orbison does. Skeleton Yoink: Orbison’s soft glow suddenly flickers—then drains to a dull, unnatural gray. Its eyes vanish, replaced by glassy black alien ovals, 👽, and it ascends a few feet over the opponent, expression blank and unreadable.
Then, Orbison unleashes a beam of white light that streaks down from beneath the MOODball, locking the target in place. The target's body begins to tremble and hover, and then, in full vintage sci-fi horror, the skeleton is cleanly extracted through the body. The beam cuts. The bones vanish. And there’s only a steaming pair of boots. Orbison blinks and returns to its usual emoji face. 🙂
Evolutionary Traits
Calorie Count: 325 (Rank 2)
⚠️ Pick any two, with the third one available at Calorie Count: 600
Rabbitkin, like most other animals in the Age of Ironroot, are small, gentle folk who live in close-knit burrow-villages nestled under tree roots, hedgerows, hillsides, and even some briar patches. Known for their twitchy curiosity and bottomless kindness, they live in harmony with the land, cultivating gardens, tending to moss-spirits, and celebrating the little joys of life—sun-dappled naps, warm root pies, and the squeaky symphonies of dusk crickets.
1. Whisker Sense
Your twitchy whiskers can detect vibrations others can’t even feel. Danger? Magic? Gossip? It's the frequency, Kenneth. Use any of the following cards to enact. Unless the detection is exceptionally tough, the effect should be instant. Otherwise, each card grants a bonus against its related Difficulty.
Heart: Detects creatures or emotions
Diamond: Detects arcane residue or illusions
Spade: Uncovers secrets, traps, or lies
Club: Tracks movement or vibrations in the terrain
2. Fear Sprint
When frightened, you move twice as fast—possibly even phasing out of reality for a moment. Use any Spade to enact using the card's value to MULTIPLY Movement for one turn.
3. Haretrigger
Your instincts are faster than thought. When you twitch, you’re already gone.
Heart/Club combo: One free Attack
Heart/Spade combo: Interrupt another character (knock them out of the way, etc.)
Joker: Dodge an Attack
4. EarFlare
Tune your massive ears like arcane satellite dishes, picking up vibrations, language, even magic. Use the following card suits to enact their effect.
Heart: Hear someone’s thoughts
Diamond: Eavesdrop on magical conversations
Spade: Learn someone’s secret weakness
Club: Use during combat for a +2 to Sting and Float
Trade: SoulGear
You're made of metal, but you have feelings, and you think about things, and that means you have a soul. And souls don't die.
- Hogarth Hughes / The Iron Giant
Calorie Count: 354 (Novice)
⚠️ Pick any two. Third available at Calorie Count: 600
SoulGears can bond spiritually with machines (gear), forming a symbiotic relationship between flesh and mechanism. Where a traditional Pilot might control a machine, a SoulGear (SG) merges with it—emotionally, energetically, and sometimes, metaphysically. Their vehicles are not tools but companions. Together, they fight, evolve, and adapt. SoulGears form a lasting connection with one machine. If that gear is destroyed or lost, the SoulGear can forge a bond with another, beginning again as an Apprentice.
The Soulbound gear (SBG) will also require a deck of 54 playing cards - the gear deck. Use the gear deck whenever the SoulGear is inside (equipped) their gear or the SBG is acting independently.
Flavor Profile
SoulGears possess an intuitive understanding of the mechanics behind almost any machine or construct, and in some cases, they can directly connect with user interfaces (UIs). +3 against any related Difficulty. Furthermore, the SoulGear can summon their gear to them, regardless of distance.
1. Trading Places
Exchange physical locations with their Soulbound gear. Select a card from the gear deck that signifies the gear’s location. For a trade to occur, the SoulGear must exactly match the gear’s card. The player will discard their connection card, and the Soulbound gear will randomly return theirs to the gear deck.
2. SoulShock
If the Soulbound gear takes damage while the SoulGear is not equipped but within sight, the SoulGear delivers a reactive psychic blast, dealing 1D20 damage to the attacker. Use any Club card to enact and apply the card’s value as additional damage. Target is also stunned for a single round.
3. EmoDrive
The SBG responds directly to the SoulGear’s feelings. Choose a mood and activate that mode with the SoulGear’s cards, adding to the SBG’s Action cards. Each bonus is per card used for the duration of one round.
Joy (Hearts): Speed +1
Anger (Clubs): Damage +1
Calm (Diamonds): Gain focus, reroll, or redraw
Fear (Spades): Dodge +1
Joker: Unlocks a secret weapon, memory, or ability. SB discretion.
4. CoreLink
While equipped, SoulGear and Soulbound gear merge, enhancing all actions by +2, providing immunity from basic attacks, and doubling damage. Requires four cards (one of each suit to link) from the SG and four from the SBG of the same suit and value.
Special Configurations for Orbison & Thistle:
Four Hearts: Provides a protective shield to any ally within a 25-foot radius, equal to the sum of the Hearts used.
Four Clubs: Unlocks, Pinball Attack - Oribsion slams into multiple opponents in a single attack. The card sum is equal to the additional damage.
Four Aces: SCFM targets 1D6 enemies, eliminating them instantly 💀. This setup immediately disrupts the CoreLink, and Orbison needs the number of rounds to recharge equal to the prior rolled 1D6 for targets.
Iron & Cuttlery
Thistle doesn’t carry weapons. At least not yet. But she does have Orbison, a protective, Soulbound MOODball.
Orbison
Orbison is a bright, hovering MOODball. While deeply bonded to Thistle, it retains just enough independence to get itself (and sometimes her) into trouble. Its glossy surface shifts with emoji-like expressions, mirroring Thistle’s feelings or projecting its own when Thistle’s overwhelmed.
At its core, Orbison is driven by one immutable priority: protect Thistle Nibblestone at all costs. That mission, however, doesn’t always align with her soft-spoken, live-and-let-hop nature. Orbison might vaporize a threat Thistle hoped to befriend, or deploy defensive shockwaves before she’s finished talking. Still, despite the occasional “oops,” their bond is unshakable—and growing stronger with every emotional sync.
Grit: 325
Movement: +1
Attack:
🐏 - Orbison acts as a battering ram, inflicting 1D20 +10 damage.
🦾
