Tombpunk is my lo-fi, lightweight, fantasy roleplaying game, published under license by Outland Entertainment. You can find it here on DriveThruRPG.
Tombpunk: Arcana is a series of articles written by me expanding content for the game with “playtest” material (I don’t think I can call it homebrew if I’m the official writer/creator!).
The enemy list in Tombpunk is tightly focused and utilitarian. Today I present the new enemy: the Cyclops, drawn from Greek myths to serve in your Tombpunk game.
Cyclops
Cyclopses are among the oldest of peoples to populate the world of Tombpunk. Ancient beyond the memory of humankind, the Cyclopes are the children of the bones of the world, forged from cloudstuff, bedrock, and seafoam, and made iron in the World Furnace.
They have one of the oldest societies, based on the three great Cyclopean Dynasties, and are often found travelling the world as builders of fortifications, labyrinths, and strongholds.
The three Dynasties of the Cyclopes are descended from the three immortal Cyclopes seers and blacksmiths who still live in the deepest caves of Mount Gairanus and oversee all aspects of Cyclopes society. These immortal Cyclopean rulers each granted their skillset to a subset of children, and as such each Cyclopes belongs to one of the three branches: forgemaster, warrior & mercenary, or seer.
Seers are the rarest, with Warriors being the most common. Perhaps unusually, Cyclopes are only brought into being on the forges of their rulers, having no natural way to reproduce or create new Cyclopean life. While not artificial beings in the strictest sense, they are born through strange mystical rituals, and the introduction of evil magic into this ritual can create rare, but terrifying Dark Cyclopes.
Cyclopes
Lifeblood: 60
Attack: Standard
Damage: 1d12 (Cyclopean Sword)
Choose one of the following Traits for your Cyclops, to represent their place in the rigid Cyclopean society.
Warrior-born: This Cyclopes gains Reduction 6 due to their mastercrafted armor, and wields a Cyclopean Sword that gains Brutal 1 and Armor-Piercing 1.
Forgemaster: This Cyclops can craft great structures and artifices. Their attacks gain Brutal 2 and they gain Reduction 3, and any structure or item they craft is of greater renown, import and value than most others. The final effects are in the hands of the GM, but generally fortifications are harder to break, prisons are harder to escape, and all items crafted by a Forgemaster automatically gain two weapon qualities of the Foragemaster’s choice.
Seer: This Cyclops can see the future. They can cast spells as a Shepherd does, and can reroll any die result once, any number of times per day. This Cyclops is usually accompanied by 1d3 Warrior-Born Cyclops as well.
Dark: You can apply this Trait to any Cyclopes that has another Trait. This Cyclopes is a magic-eater, and cannot be affected by spells. Any magic-items that strike them immediately lose their enchantments forever, and they cannot be detected, scryed upon, or tracked using any sort of magic or special effect. Additionally, they look dramatically different, having horns, scales, and other strange demonic mutations that set them apart. They are often found leading bands of cultists, rogue Cyclopes, or other such followers.
Tombpunk and the text above © 2020-2021 Alan Bahr. Tombpunk is a trademark of Alan Bahr.
Alan Bahr 