Environmental Antagonists

Sometimes, natural fantasy Villains manifest in the form of miasmas, curses and afflictions that change any ecosystem their influence spreads to. It should be noted that the antagonist is not the environment itself, but rather whatever force is corrupting it – this is often the result of actions by the world’s ancient’s inhabitants.

This isn’t a struggle between people and nature, but a war where both, side by side, face the consequences of a tragic, faded past, in an attempt to understand it so that it doesn’t repeat itself. Among the most common environmental antagonists are magical phenomena, curses, elemental imbalances, and diseases born of ancient experiments.

Game Rules Mechanics

When it comes to game rules, these Villains offer some interesting possibilities:

• Environmental Effects. The environment itself might add special effects during conflicts: a corrupting miasma that damages any creature suffering from a specific status effect at the end of each round, a magical desertification that halves any healing received by living creatures, or an elemental aura that empowers or weakens a specific type of damage. These effects can be very powerful and should be considered an additional enemy for the sake of conflict building.
• Shared Ultima Points. The most dangerous creatures among those affected by the corruption might be able to spend Ultima Points from the Villain’s pool to invoke Traits and Recover (see Core Rulebook, page 101). They shouldn’t be able to Escape, but they are considered Villains for the purpose of Skills and game effects.
• Fabula Points and Atmosphere. If a Villain manifests through environmental corruption, the Player Characters should receive a Fabula Point every time their influence become especially noticeable, for example in the guise of a terrible omen or when a creature is shown to be a thrall to the Villain’s will (see Shared Ultima Points above). Game Master scenes are particularly useful for this purpose.
• Final Battle. Usually, an environmental antagonist cannot be confronted directly until the protagonists reach their core or incarnation and free the region from their influence – a liberation that is sometimes only temporary.
• Altered Wellsprings. This is a very specific option, but if your group includes a character that can use invocations (see page 156), the Villain’s influence might create new wellsprings outside of the standard list or, perhaps, alter the existing wellsprings over the course of a conflict.