Dec

It’s a proven fact, jury duty ruins everything! However, that duty is now complete, and we can get back down to business. We’re spending today putting the finishing touches on Tehran: Nest of Spies, but it will probably be later in the day before we finally get all the bugs ironed out. In the meantime, here’s another glimpse of what lies in store. Behold, the Ganj!

Ganj

Awakened by the Serpentfall, the ganj crawled out of the earth’s fissures and caves and back into Persia’s nightmares. The dreaded “jewel serpent” resembles an enormous cobra, with its scales studded with faceted encrustations: sapphires, emeralds, rubies … and always one great diamond in the beast’s forehead. The ganj can sniff out large concentrations (or even a few carats) of crystallized carbon–jewels and gems, in other words. Tehrani banks and jewelry stores have to hire monster-killing parties every so often, to clear out the qanats or sub-cellars underneath them as the ganj draw closer. Fortunately, ganj are solitary creatures: where one ganj is “hunting,” others stay away. The exception, of course, is mating season, when any female ganj that has discovered and “nested” a sizable hoard attracts predatory males by the dozen.

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6(A), Spirit d8, Strength d12, Vigor d8
Skills: Climbing d8, Fighting d8, Guts d6, Notice d8, Stealth d6
Pace: 9   Parry: 5   Toughness: 8 (14 on head)

Special Abilities

• Bite: Str+d4
• Fear: Seeing a ganj requires a Guts roll.
• Glittering Shield: The gem-like coruscations of the ganj’s head scales attract the eye: attackers must make a Smarts test to avoid aiming for the ganj’s jeweled armor (Armor 6). Only attackers who succeed at this Smarts test can reap the benefit of the ganj’s Large size (+2 to human-sized attackers).
• Mineral Sense: The ganj can detect crystallized carbon within 200 yards; it receives +2 to all relevant Notice checks and ignores darkness or similar penalties.
• Quick: Discard action cards of 5 or lower.
• Resin Spit: The ganj spits quick-hardening resin at its prey, at ranges up to 20”. Treat the resin as an entangle, aimed at a single target. Each round after it hits, the penalty to Agility or Strength attempts to break free increases by -1. Use the Drowning rules for the long-term effects of being trapped in ganj resin.
• Size +2: The ganj can get up to 40’ long.

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