Space Rock, Starships, and 1D Starship Combat

An illustration for the upcoming Hack by the talented Attila Nagy.

My last post mentioned that I was working on a lifepath character creation method for Monolith. . .

Things have gotten out of hand. 

I started off with just a more hard science life-path chargen for Monolith but quickly realized I was so heavily modifying that system that I might as well make my own hack. As a publishing designer by day, getting the whole thing into InDesign isn't such as huge hassle for me. I've hired an artist for a handful of illustrations and am nearly done with the first version. Just lots of play examples left.

I've decided to call the hack Space Rock, as a cheeky allusion to the fact that this is simply a less fantastic version of Monolith and Meteor—both Cairn hacks named after rocks (with Cairn also being a stack of rocks—there's a lot of mileage in this rock name thing.) I've certainly not reinvented the wheel or anything. If you want psionics and space magic in your game—please please please check out and use Adam Hensley's Monolith. There is nothing wrong with it. I am simply throwing this hack up for those who want a more grounded sci-fi experience.

When I release the PDF on Itch.io (probably 2–3 months from now) I will also have it up on Lulu for sale at cost. The PDF will be pay-what-you-want and the whole system will have a CC-BY-SA license.

All that said, I do want to share my starship combat system. This is probably the most drastic rules departure Space Rock includes, and I feel it makes the ship combat simpler as it is all played in a single band (like chases in SWADE) rather than the hex grid Monolith utilizes.

Let me know what you think of this. I am going to include an example of play in the pdf along with turn by turn battlespace illustrations to help explain this. I've run it a few times and it seems to work well.

Starships

• Hull (HUL). A starship’s structural integrity.
• Engines (ENG). A starship’s engines and power.
• Systems (SYS). A starship’s computer systems.

All starships start with a 10 in each score. Certain modules can increase these scores.

Saves

If a starship must make a HUL, SYS, or ENG save roll 1d20. If the result is equal to or lower than the ship’s current score, it succeeds.

Holds

Holds represent the amount of space a starship has. Each fuel rod (used for by jump drives), each trade good, and each module occupies one hold. Modules that are listed as bulky take up two holds.

Default Elements

All starships have a cockpit and engine room (fighters simply have an engine). These do not occupy holds.

Modules

Modules are upgrades to a ship. They can increase scores, add armor, add weapons, or perform other functions. Effects of modules can stack.

Movement & Inertia

A ship’s movement score represents its travel speed. In combat, it describes the number of bands forward a ship can move in a single turn (see Ship Combat). Inertia represents how much movement is required to turn the ship 180º.

Crew Requirements

The Starship Size table lists the minimum number of crew required to man a starship as well as its maximum occupancy. A ship suffers critical damage each day it is manned with fewer than the minimum required crew. The GM is free to determine how few is too few to crew a ship.

Crew Mates

Additional competent crew mates can be hired for 50c per week. Treat all of their stats as 10, if needed. 

Ship Size

Ship size is determined by its number of holds. Use the chart below to determine the stats of different ship sizes.

Battlespaces

Space Rock uses a one-dimensional representation of space for starship combat. Rather than being played on a hex or grid map, starship combat is represented in a linear battlespace made up of spaces, called bands. Most battlespaces might start out as being only 8 bands wide, but more bands can be added as starships move farther from the origin of the battle.

Any number of ships can occupy the same band, and starships can travel through bands occupied by other ships or structures. However, some bands contain hazards of varying effect.

Rounds & Departments

Like ground combat, starship combat is played in rounds broken into a crew turn and an enemy turn. Rounds in starship combat last roughly 1 narrative minute.

All ships have five departments: piloting, engineering, systems, weapons, and command. All departments get to perform a department action on their side’s turn provided that at least one character is operating that department. Characters can only operate one department at a time. Department actions can happen in any order and all take place simultaneously on that turn.

It takes 1 round for a character to switch departments, unless they are in a fighter.

Start of Combat

At the start of a combat, the crew’s pilot makes a DEX save on behalf of themselves and their crew. If they succeed, their ship and all its departments get to act in the first round.

Attack Modifiers

Size

Attacks against ships two sizes larger than the attacking ship are impaired, and attacks versus ships three or more sizes larger are typically ignored.

Attacks against ships two sizes smaller than the attacking ship are enhanced, and attacks versus ships three or more sizes smaller ignore shields and always cause critical damage.

Facing

All ships in the battlespace should face either left or right. Weapons can shoot in either direction regardless of the direction the ship faces. 

Attacks shooting a ship from behind go up one dice size, up to d12. This is called a facing bonus. This bonus does not supersede an effect which impairs an attack.

Piloting Action

The pilot can move a number of spaces equal to the ship’s movement and perform a maneuver. Flipping a ship to face the other direction costs movement equal to your ship’s inertia. Flipping a ship does not cause it to change bands.

Some maneuvers cost movement. If the pilot has access to a weapon or other module, such as a Flak Cannon, activating it counts as a maneuver.

Boost. Double your movement this round, all your ship’s  weapon actions this round are impaired.

Evade. Spend half your movement (round down) to perform tricky moves and rolls. Make a DEX save. On success, impair all damage taken this round.

Ramming. Collide with a ship in the same band. This ends your movement immediately. Both ships take 1d8 hull damage (roll damage separately for each ship). If the ships are more than one size class apart, the damage to the larger ship is impaired and the damage to the smaller ship is enhanced.

Jump. Engage the jump drive to immediately initiate beyond lightspeed travel to another system. This action requires the system’s department to take the astrogation action this turn.

This action cannot be taken if any hazard or non-fleet ship occupies this band or any band forward of your starship.

Engineering Action

The ship’s engineer can use their action to boost other departments. Engineering actions cost energy from the ship’s energy reserves. If the ship has no remaining energy reserves, this action will reduce the ENG score by 1 and the ship must then make an ENG Save vs critical damage. Failure causes the engines to fail, and no further engineering actions can be made until they are repaired. Repairs take 1D6 hours for each point.

Boost Piloting Station. Pilot may take a second action.

Boost Shields. Restore 1D4 shields.

Boost Weapons. One weapon module rolls twice, taking better result.

Boost Systems. Activate one extra system modules in one turn without needing to make a WIL Save.

Systems Action

Systems are operated by one character at a time. Each action per turn beyond the first requires a WIL save or no systems are activated and operator takes a fatigue.

Astrogation. Plot an emergency jump to another system. The jump must be made by the pilot this round. If this ship is part of a fleet, all ship pilots in the fleet can also jump.

Module. Activate one systems module. No module can be activated more than once per round.

Weapons Action

A character operating the ship’s weapons may choose a weapon module to operate and make an attack each turn.

Attacks deal damage to a target’s shields (SHI), then HUL, unless otherwise specified. This works similarly to the way character damage hits HP before STR.

Targeted Attacks

Unless the attack would already be impaired, a character may choose to impair their next attack in order to target a specific module on the target ship. If the enemy ship takes critical damage, the targeted module is damaged.

Switching Weapons

Switching to a different weapon takes one turn. A character may attempt to change weapons and attack in the same turn by making a DEX Save. Failure results in losing 1d2 turns.

Multiple Weapons

Multiple PCs can operate different weapons if your ship has more than one. When multiple weapons are being used to attack the same target, only apply the highest result. This does not apply to multiple weapons against the same target made from different ships.

Command Action

Encourage another department for 1 fatigue. This allows one individual to attempt any single roll a second time and keep the result if it’s better.

Fleets

When multiple starships are allied with each other, they form a fleet. Ships in a fleet operate independently on the same turn. Fleets share a single command department action which can be used to benefit any fleet ship. Ships in the same fleet also share the benefits of any astrogation action.

Critical Damage

When a starship takes damage to its HUL, ENG, or SYS, the ship needs to make the related save vs critical damage. On failure, a random module is damaged. If the module was already damaged, it is destroyed.

Starship Score Loss

If a ship’s HUL is reduced to 0, it is destroyed. Vac-suits and escape pods on the ship may prevent anyone onboard from dying in space.

If a ship’s ENG is reduced to 0, it is junked. Engines are totally destroyed. The ship will require replacement.

If a ship’s SYS are reduced to 0, it is fried. All modules are inoperable. The ship’s entire systems must be replaced, (typically half-the cost of the ship itself.)

Repairing Damage

PCs may attempt to repair damage to Starship Scores. During combat, one attempt per Score may be made each round. If PCs have the appropriate tools (hull, engine, or systems repair kit) and skill/training, they will repair 1D4 damage each round. If a PC only has tools or skill, but not both, they must pass a WIL Save to figure it out.

If multiple players attempt the same repair, only the highest result applies.

Hazards

Asteroids, debris, clouds, large structures, planets, and black holes represent hazards in a space battle. 

Asteroid & debris fields

Asteroid and other debris fields can provide cover in a dogfight, but flying through them is risky. They can span multiple bands and are rated as level 1, 2, or 3 based on their density. A ship inside or beyond an asteroid or debris field benefits from additional armor equal to the level of the field, but can never benefit from more than 3 total armor.

Each time a ship enters or starts its turn in a debris field the pilot must succeed on an Evade action or the ship takes HUL damage equal to the level of the asteroid or debris field.

Dust clouds

Attacks against ships in or behind a dust cloud are treated as impaired, as well as attacks originating from within a dust cloud. If more than one ship are in a dust cloud at the end of the crew turn, roll 1d6. On a 1, the ships collide inside the cloud. See ramming.

Large structures

Large and giant spacecraft, enormous satellites, and spaceports can represent hazards in a space battle. Moving safely into a band occupied by a large structure requires an amount of movement equal to your ship’s inertia, otherwise you collide. See ramming.

Planets

Planets represent impassable obstacles at one end of a battlespace. Ships cannot move into or beyond a band occupied by a planet. If the planet has an atmosphere, the space adjacent to the planet requires a ship’s entire movement to enter safely, otherwise the pilot must make a successful DEX save to avoid the ship taking critical damage.

Black hole

Black holes can be a terrifying opponent in their own right. At the end of each round, the black hole will pull all ships towards itself a number of bands equal to each ship’s inertia. If a ship starts its turn in the same band as a black hole, the pilot must use their action to make a STR save to boost away from the black hole. If they fail the ship and all crew are immediately destroyed. 

Project Antlion | One-shot for Monolith

I just ran this one-shot in the Monolith system (free on itch.io). It is a sci-fi hack for cairn and is such a pleasure to play. New and old players alike can pick in up in a few moments without needing to read through any rules.

I used my own hack for the character creation to give it a more hard science vibe (since I set my one-shot in the Traveller universe, but the default one would work just as well.

I am currently working on a more Traveller style life-path chargen system to use in an upcoming Monolith campaign, borrowing the party debt concept from Electric Bastionland. I will be sure to post it here once its reasonably presentable.

Hook

Andresis Clark, of Kelex Technologies,  has contacted the party to undertake a search and destroy mission for them. Kelex Technology is a shell company (of a shell company of a shell company) owned by Cannis Weapons Lab, a manufacturer of pseudobiological, expert, and war robots.
Andresis hires the party to infiltrate a company blacksite, Observation Lab 119B and destroy any research materials and data on the research that was being done there. He claims that Kelex Tech bought another company, not knowing that they owned this illegal blacksite, and were planning on shutting it down discreetly until the site went dark 7 days ago. Andresis maintains that Kelex Technologies has no clue what research the lab was undertaking—only that the code name was Project Antlion.
Andresis gives them a keycard to gain entry into the lab and pays them half of the agreed upon 6,500 credits up front. He says he can send the other half remotely—just to send him confirmation that the job is done as soon as they leave orbit.

Elidos-119B

The lab is located on Elidos-119B, a moon orbiting a gas dwarf in the Yorbund system of the Regina Subsector—part of the spinward marches.

It has slightly reduced gravity and a toxic atmosphere. Outdoors require a vac-suit.

The Approach

The party will see a glistening white shuttle crash-site a few miles south of the lab. It was shot down by the AA emplacement programmed to ensure nothing escapes the blacksite during a red alert. If they investigate the crash site, they find two bodies. They have a few encrypted data files (research). The black box will inform the party that their own lab shot them down. They cursed Kellex Technologies as they died. 

As the party gets closer to the lab, they will see the radio gun spin towards them and start to fire blue pulses of light. The AA emplacement (4 SHI) deals 1d6 damage to SHI and then SYS.

Gaining Entry

The only portion of the lab not underground is a bunker-like entrance and a retractable shuttle awning. There is no ship here currently. The key that Andresis gave them does not work due to the external power being knocked out. If power were rerouted, the key would work. They might also gain entry through brute force. Behind the bunker door is an airlock.

The Antlion

The “Antlion” is a psionic beast captured and studied by Cannis Weapons Labs for possible pseudobiologic robot applications. It has precognitive senses and its mind emits a telepathic data noise field—which makes it functionally  invisible to robot targeting software. It has no psionic “weapons,” but does have claws.

It escaped its restraints while in the testing lab, killed two researchers, and sent the lab into lockdown.

---

HP-8, STR-16, DEX-12, WIL-10

Claws (d6 + d6, rolling 6 destroys vac-suits)

Intelligence: as monkey.

Precognition: Players announce their turns, but antlion takes its turn before their actions happen. Foresees and avoids highest three damage rolls per round when attacked. Can be fooled through misdirection (WIL save).

Noise Field: invisible to computer vision.

---

Observation Lab 119B

This underground lab is decorated in a utilitarian manner, with unpleasant yellow walls. It has the stench of a pet store.

No lights except for spinning yellow warning lights above all doorways. Doors are unlocked.

1. Airlock. Standard airlock. There are manual door locks for both doors inside.

2. Break Room. Couches and a small kitchen. Partially torched. Door to storage is barricaded, this side.

3. Gym. Small gym with weights, a few machines. Partially torched.

4. Hall. There is a blood trail from the observation room to the med bay.

5. Med Bay. Body of a researcher. Guts torn up (was shot by a drone) and stitched together. Autonomous med bot stitched them up post-mortem. It didn’t clean up the mess. Lab coat has a Kelex Technologies logo on it.

6. Security Room. Cameras for airlock, break room, gym, hall, observation room, and storage.
   Robots can be shut down from here.

7. Observation Room. Window into the containment chamber.

8. Research Lab. Tables, computer library, lab mice, encrypted data books (the research). There is a fridge with 6 frozen antlion eggs. There is an emergency decontamination switch for the testing lab and antlion containment chamber. (torches everything in those rooms, killing anything in there.)

9. Testing Lab. No random encounters. Two bodies, torn apart and mostly eaten. Broken restraints.

10. Antlion Containment Chamber. No random encounter. Empty yellow room with a water dish.

11. Storage. Cluttered with boxes of rations, extra research materials, leftover construction materials, a forklift. Boxes have the Cannis Weapons Lab logo on them.
    3/6 chance antlion is here if the party unbarricades the door from the break room. Else, antlion is here. It lurks, deciding if it should fight or flee.

12. Quarters. Three rooms. Two have double bunks, but each is only home to a single researcher. A researcher's personal journal can be found here, revealing that “the subject” has precognitive and localized data field psionic abilities.

D4	Random Encounters
1	Security drone (3 HP 2 armor) attempts to torch intruders with a futile ignition sound, but the flamethrower has no gas remaining. If they get near it it will attack with its arms (d6).
2	Two security drones (3 HP, 2 armor) attack the party. One has a machine gun (d6) and the other a flamethrower (d6 blast). Bots are of CWL design, but unbranded.
3	The antlion is startled, and attempts to flee—attacking if its escape is blocked.
4	The antlion pounces offensively. It targets whoever lags behind.

Leaving Orbit

As the party leaves the moon and notifies Andresis that the job is done, their radar will identify two small ships closing on them. These are mercenary fighters hired by Cannis Weapons Lab to eliminate the party. Morale rolls should be made when each ship’s shield is broken and when the first ship is destroyed.

---

Merc Fighter

SHI-4, HUL-10, ENG-10 (reserve 2), SYS-12

MOVE-5, MOB-3, Armor-1

Ship 1: Flak Cannon (d4, front facing only)

Ship 2: Auto gun (d6), Auto smart shield (Activate once to impair next attack)

---

 

Shortcut Powers and Why They Suck

[DISCLAIMER!!! I THINK RPGS SHOULD FOCUS MORE ON ROLEPLAYING THAN CHARACTER SHEETS. IF YOU DISAGREE THIS POST IS NONSENSE. INFER ABOUT ME WHAT YOU WISH.]

Knock, Remove Curse, Water Walk, Mind Link, Mending. These are abilities I hate as a GM. These are character abilities which skip fun game elements for too little cost. I call them shortcut powers—abilities that characters 1) attain easily and 2) which bypass challenges without creative effort. 

I have restricted these and a few other minor powers from the setting I am currently fleshing out for my players. It's not because I hate my players or want things to be "realistic" or "difficult" or any other cursed rpg topics. Its because they are only useful to skip challenges that the GM thought would be interesting. Nobody is using Knock to open the simple lock on the wooden door, they are using it to skip a puzzle or open a vault. This is not the players' faults. They should be solving problems in the simplest and most effective manner.

Sometimes, the shortcut is so powerful, that GMs create a somewhat arbitrary reason the power doesn't even work. I've done it before. This is lame. 

In my current long running 5e game, there was one extended plot-line revolving around a princess with a wasting disease. It was super sucky that the one time the paladin encounters a character with a disease, his Lay on Hands feature just didn't work. Sure, I explain that this is a powerful magic disease afflicting her, but then when they attempt the Remove Curse spell, that is not effective either. I'm in a hard spot, either the party can spend some low level, infinity renewable resources like spell slots to resolve a major plot-line immediately or I can overrule their character sheets to preserve the challenge of the story. I can give a dozen examples of how various shortcut powers create this problem. 

None of this is an issue so long as you make these abilities are either not easily attainable—such as not being gained automatically through reaching level 3—or if using the ability presents a challenge or decision of its own.

Resource expenditure ≠ Fun

One argument against my position is that so long as they are expending resources it is okay. 

UMMMM, NO??? 

I see it all the time. 5e games especially, create this feeling because it the system is balanced around an adventuring day where characters are expected to have 101 encounters before they reach a big final battle in the evening. In 5e, a 10th level cleric and 10th level wizard have 30+ daily spell slots between them. A level 2 Water Walk spell to cross the underdark's ice-cold Lake of Shadows is essentially free. 

In my extremely humble and non-dogmatic opinion, this puts WAY too much responsibility on the GM to create challenges that are solved through player skill rather than character sheets. I personally believe that 60% of the "high level D&D is broken" and "casters outstrip martials" arguments are due to these simple shortcut powers completely skipping the challenges which martial characters would normally excel at.

When to use shortcut powers

Use them when they make the game more fun. Its that easy. If you don't intend to worry about how many rations the party has on hand, don't ban Create Food and Water. If you are running a witch-hunting game, probably ban or modify low level powers which would unilaterally remove curses. 

How to make shortcut powers interesting

Remember my definition for shortcut powers are powers that 1) characters attain easily and 2) which bypass challenges without creative effort. There are tons of ways to remove the shortcut aspect of these powers.

Make them limited use, or give them a drawback. Incorporate into the power a decision point. 

Is this stone door really worth one of two uses of the Knocking magic item? Or should they give the rogue time to work on it while they defend against the few crumby wolves.

Is it worth using Remove Curse if the failing the spell's casting check would make the curse much worse? 

I get when people are hesitant to ban or restrict powers from the agreed upon system. But ultimately, the goal of playing ttrpgs is to have fun. If your group likes resource management, restrict shortcut powers which nullify that aspect of the game. If you as the GM want getting to and from the island to be party of the environmental challenge, consider restricting Water Walking powers. 

I know when I was a new GM, I felt a lot of pressure not to restrict anything that appeared in the system's 1 million pages of content, but I think that first campaign could have been more interesting if I had removed just a few of the shortcut powers I've listed here.

Yell at me in the comments. (I've yet to receive a comment on my fresh, hip blog and I can see from the analytics 85% of my views are bot crawlers lol.)

Deep Country: The Avian Mountain Jungle and Rowley Manor

Ten good words: barking, snatch, howl, bare, dodge, shout, grip, melee, echo, skitter.

I’d never played Electric Bastionland before and prepped this region for a weekend game, however, I am on a trip for work at the moment and ended up running this for some colleagues. I had five players; none had any experience whatsoever with TTRPGs… and it went GREAT. I loved that the rules were so simple for them to understand without previous familiarity with typical explanations of dice or saves or skills or attacks. I think this region specifically lent itself well to new players as a more traditional jungle is more approachable than the more absurd feeling of Bastion-proper. All in all it was a resounding success and I am excited to run more things in the future.

The Region

The Avian Mountain Jungle is a portion of forest connected (distantly) to Bastion by the 100 Rail (technically it is connected to the Graybow rail, connected to the Fish rail, which has a station in Bastion.)

The eruption of a volcano of roiling underground lakes has led to the sudden introduction of a steaming river—which separated the southern majority of the Avian Mountain Jungle from the rail.

Rowley Manor

Rowley Manor was constructed only about a decade ago by the Rowley family as a retreat from Bastion. It is built on the jungle cliffs above the raucous nests of a thousand paradise birds. 

By time its construction was completed, the Rowleys had lost interest. (The Rowleys are extremely wealthy avian cybernetics insurers) The jungle claimed it quickly. No member of the family has ever even seen the manor. . . but rumor has it they did have it stocked with niceties to be enjoyed for their forsaken vacations.

Many of the rooms have windows, and even the second floor windows are relatively easy access via the wide roof, but you should make a random encounter check per each window examined from the outside.

1. Foyer. Vines and hole in wall near ceiling.
2. Bird Hall. All cages are empty, many smashed. A few cybernetics-enhanced birds remain in the hall, on elevated vines. Balcony (9) above is visibly covered with sleeping baboons. The remaining birds could wake the baboons if antagonized.
3. Dry Conservatory. Yucca and cacti. Cold metal atmosphere. Mummy rehydrator (he will come back to life in about another 200 years, once his soul is rehydrated. This could be sped up dramatically through submersion, but it will get all ugly.)
4. Kitchen/Laboratory. Destroyed. Hidden dumbwaiter to Alcohol Room (12). 
5. Wet (flooded) Conservatory. Treasure. Giant shed snake skin. 50% chance the giant snake is here.
6. Sketch Library. "x-ray" sketches of mountains with giant crab monsters in them. Vines in here will reactively entangle creatures which touch them.
7. Fermentation Collection. There are two colonies of mundane ants at war over the valuable resources in this room. They will ineffectively attack characters who disturb the fermented items here. Some fermenting jars might be useful as poisons, as nasty remedies, or for pranks.
8. Courtyard. Covered walkway. Turtle ponds. Bucket of water and turtle egg-shells. No baby turtles.
9. Balcony. Covered in sleeping baboons. If waked, they will be violent unless shouted down.
10. Bedroom. Baboons have barricaded the door from the outside. Inside is a skeleton parrot animated solely by its cybernetics.
11. Alcohol room. Two drunk baboons. Obvious dumbwaiter to Kitchen/Laboratory.
12. The bee room. Previously a study. The honey causes mild allergic reactions.
13. Phonograph room. Lots of chairs for an audience. Shattered glass dome; large curved shards of rose-colored glass covers the floor. The phonograph is extremely valuable, but weighs 600 lbs. The 8 giant records are each worth 10% of the phonograph's value, but are 8' across.
14. The baboon matriarch uses this room to nurse all the baby baboons (she has taken over motherhood for the other females.)

D6 Wandering Encounters

1. A cute infant baboon will want to be picked up and carried. Its mother, in the next room, will be irate if the party enters carrying her son.
2. A young baboon distracts the party while his sister tries to steal something from them. If successful it disappears our the window to the other floor.
3. The rotting wooden floor below gives way, dropping a character onto the floor below or underneath the manor.
4. The rotting wooden floor above gives way, dropping two angry baboons onto the party's heads. The baboons are just as angry with each other as with the party, and choose targets randomly.
5. Three baboons try to intimidate the party. They each fight until injured unless the party leaves the room the way they came.
6. Giant snake swallowing a sleeping or unconscious baboon. Can regurgitate the ape with crazy power to launch it like a projectile.

PSA: Ogres aren't Big Orcs

Ten good ogre words: flattered, loping, brooding, grubby, proud, swollen, demanding, intent, inviting, expect.

Ogres aren't big orcs. Ogres aren't stupid. Ogres shouldn't even be green. 

This will be a shorter one, since not much needs to be said. Some of my thoughts on ogres have historical backing (so long as you agree to my arbitrary cut-off dates for the development of ogre myth). Some of my thoughts are cherry-picked ogre concepts to make them feel cool and unique.

I'm going to use the word ogre, but ogress is the correct term for a female ogre.

Ogres aren't stupid.

Ogres are gullible. There is a big difference. We all know someone who is perfectly intelligent but will believe anything you say. Ogres are like that, trusting. It could be because they don't think you are a threat, or because they think they are extra smart when they are actually regular smart. They take you seriously, so long as you don't show fear. Any fool pleading for their life is as good as eaten.

They also don't like the idea of missing out. You can stay alive for quite a long time in an ogre's power simply by talking as if you know something that they don't.

Ogres aren't green.

Ogres looks more like giants or half-giants. Big, brutish men with extra hair. They don't run around naked. They don't look like orcs, like, at all. I feel it is important to visually distinguish them because I don't want my players to feel like ogres are a "run up and bash them" sort of enemy.

I like the wikipedia image for them. 

Ogres are villains

Please don't throw an ogre in as a random goon barring a door. They have a lot of story interest, and once your characters have experienced the two club swings of a boring rpg ogre the whole species will be thematically ruined.

Ogres are great big bads for low level parties. They like having minions. They like talking. They like eating people.

They live in wood mansions that are too large in scale for humans, but not so large that humans can't effectively navigate it. 

They dwell just outside town. Close enough to be a nuisance, and far enough to feel "other."

Ogres are greedy. They have to be near civilization because the people they bother or eat ultimately have something the ogre wants. Human meat, flattery, fear, and gold are all very appropriate ogre motivations.

Ogres are shapechangers.

I am summoning the authority of Charles Perrault—the guy who wrote Puss in Boots (1697) and the first to use the word "ogre" in its current form—when I say that ogres can change shapes. They can turn into any animal they wish, but if they die in animal form then that's that. None of this 5e wildshape nonsense.

I'd probably limit my ogres to shapechanging into animals their size or smaller, and animals that are regionally appropriate.

In the original Puss in Boots story (and in Spiderwick), the way the ogre dies is by being tricked into transforming into a mouse or bird, then being eaten, hence why gullibility is key.

Some game stuff to properly reimburse you for your attention

D6 Ogre Villains

1. Cormoran is a skilled chef. He is always seeking new and interesting ingredients. His specialty is Maple-braised man.
2. Brulgut eats only pigs, and likes to dine in bear form. She claims other foods upset her stomach. She is cruel, and forces nearby farmers to bring her pigs to eat in ever more humiliating manners—threatening to harm their families if they don't.
3. Mud King's bull slaves pull great trowels in ever expanding spirals. The lake where he resides is being expanded into a grand expanse of mud. The nearby town is not happy about it.
4. Grandpa has taken over a small village. The people know its bad that he is the mayor now, but don't know what to do about it. Grandpa sends bands of reluctant raidersd to abduct people from homesteads to be eaten. The ogre knows better than to eat his servants.
5. Beardo is constructing an enormous woodland manor. His minions kidnap carpenters, masons, engineers, and architects to be forced into labor.
6. Jura lives in the criminal dark of a mid-sized city. The ogress spends the majority of her time in the form of pigeons, crows, rats, mice, and other inconspicuous creatures. She spies on the rich and powerful, selling information and blackmailing politicians to afford her luxurious lifestyle and exotic dietary preferences.

Ogre stats for SWADE

Ogre

Attributes: Agility d8, Smarts d6, Spirit d8, Strength d12, Vigor d12

Skills: Athletics d10, Fighting d10, Focus d10, Intimidation d12, Notice d6

Pace: 8, Parry: 7, Toughness: 11, Size: 3

Hinderances: Greedy, Curious

Edges: Iron Jaw, Menacing, 

Powers: Animal Shape

d100 Familiars

This is intended to be system-agnostic. If your GM is chill you can get away with some of the more interesting ones. If you are the GM, be chill. 5e style familiars are super lame and boring—they are just magic pets anyways.

1. None. Your familiar has recently died. You are in search of a new one.
2. Robot eagle. Has arms in addition to wings. His bionic eye can see through up to 1/2" of any material.
3. Mummy frog. Can summon a very small and ineffectual swarm of 3d6 flies.
4. Changeling Cockatiel. Normally looks like a normal Cockatiel, but can morph into a 1' visage of anything its seen. Cannot imitate speech. Hardly useful as a tool, as it is very unreliable and tends to change into whatever it wants whenever it wants. Don't let it see anything you don't want it to imitate.
5. Cyclopean Cat. One-eyed. Has small tusks and likes to drink.
6. Animated sock puppet. Useless unless you commit one hand to its animation.
7. Miniature Chameleon Wyvern. Two wings and two legs. Curly grasping tail. Changes color with its erratic emotions, not to blend in. Often angry at you and you don't know why.
8. Tiny wooden knight. Cannot speak but is very loyal. Hops up and down and makes dramatic arm movements to get your attention.
9. Push Beetle. Size of a chihuahua. Crumples up all your scrolls into a big ball and pushes them around for you like a dung beetle. Really unfortunate familiar for muddy conditions.
10. Taxidermy weasel. Attached to a wood stand. Makes noises like someone who can't move their mouth. Its eyes dart back and forth. Moves when nobody is looking.
11. Crat. Rat with a cat-size body and rat-size head. Walks on two legs. 
12. Lard ooze. Can store things inside itself. Dissolves in water. No limit to its size (which is directly correlated to how much damage it can survive), but can only incorporate fats like lard or butter.
13. Eggball. A large egg with one eye and an audible heartbeat. Rolls around. Can cast invisibility once per day.
14. Mutated grasshopper. Has a human-like face. Can fly and slam into people as like a sling attack.
15. Masks. Two floating theatre masks connected by a red and yellow ribbon. One smiles, one frowns. They work together and can grab things with their teeth.
16. Animated broom. Like fantasia. Has arms.
17. Ape chair. A wooden chair with arms and legs carved like chimpanzee limbs. Can function as wheelchair. Causes you to look important, but not rich.
18. Two-headed crow. Will bring you odd shiny things (like coins.) Witches will try to trade you other, stranger, familiars for it.
19. Porcupine. It has one extra large arm deformed by dark magic. It may be intimidating to any foe smaller than a human.
20. Floating Porcelain eye. Does not blink or change. Can cause a slow-moving cancer not dangerous to anything with a lifespan less than 500 years.
21. Potted Lemon Tree. Grows 1d6 mundane lemons per year. Must be fed and watered. Cannot move of its own volition.
22. Red and Pinked Striped cat. Has all black fur on its head. Very sneaky. Does not make sound of any kind under any circumstances. Like, even if you were to hit it with a bat and crush its bones—no sound emanates.
23. Blonde unicorn. Regal.
24. Dog-sized tarantula. Vulnerable to piercing weapons.
25. Igor. Low-self esteem and loyal. Its really messed up of you to use a human as a familiar.
26. A small moon. It orbits you. It has minor gravity magic.
27. Articulated stone golem arm. Obeys the most recent command given to it by any creature.
28. Familiar Chain. An adamantine chain that makes any creature with animal intelligence act as your familiar as long as it's worn. Currently worn by a rottweiler.
29. Master goat. It has its own familiar, a raven. The goat will obey you but has its own machinations. You do not have any power over the raven.
30. Elephant Landstar. Terrestrial "sea"-star. Can crack locks with its powerful beak or grapple opponents like a pair of manacles. It craves eggs, and can't be persuaded not to try to eat any egg it encounters.
31. A floating skull, magically animated when a cigar is put burning in its mouth. Acts as if mundane otherwise.
32. A silver tongue on a silver chain. Tongue once belonged to a historian of magic. Speaks audibly and slowly. It has a great knowledge of abjuration and the history of great abjurers.
33. Praying mantis. Made of folded paper. Can fly. Can't swim.
34. Metal spider. It spins up to 50' of metal wire in its lifetime. It can eat its own metal wire to replenish its supply. (I had a recurring nightmare for a little while where I had a bug on me which always ended with me trying to crush it with my hand and being horrified to find it made of metal.)
35. Tiny cloud. Has a cloud-formed old lady face. Very wise. Encourages its master to be patient and careful. Can storm, but it isn't very powerful becomes fatigued.
36. Smoke troll. A great familiar. 2' tall gray bipedal creature who's skin constantly produces a thin smoke. It has almost dog-like facial features. Anticipates your needs and seeks to fulfill them, although it is not prescient. Doesn't like to talk—although it can.
37. Archaeopteryx. Very cool little feathered dino. This one has an advanced intuitive understanding of mathematics. It can guide your haggling with its subtle head nods and shakes, but only if the item you're haggling is interesting to it (food or shiny things).
38. Flea Golem. As strong as a man, as large as a bean. Only ever obeys 50% of what its commanded to do.
39. Vestigon the proper. An infernal imp with four arms and no wings. Can teleport short distances with a 30 second delay. It will try to (literally) poison your companions. You can sacrifice a level up to grant it two level-ups. The more powerful it is the less likely it becomes to obey you. 
40. Mole-rat. This creature can shapeshift between its natural form (a mole) and its lycanthropic form (a rat) at will. It speaks a language common in this world, but which you do not currently know.
41. Half-blind coyote. It can see into the spirit realm, but has poor vision of the physical realm.
42. Goblin badger. A large badger bred to hunt goblins. It has powerful burrowing claws and digs tunnels large enough for a man to crawl through on his belly.
43. Gem prince. A small intelligent golem which you are attempting to train for some great purpose. Like a Pinocchio. 
44. Artillery barnacle. Attaches to your skin. It can provide breathable air for you underwater. Its cannon's range is doubled beneath the waves.
45. Pufferforce Toad. A large toad which expands a globe of force around itself when threatened, blocking all physical beings, objects, and effects of low or moderate power strength.
46. Bloodthorn vines. A thorny plant which feeds on blood. It can grow into your veins, taking a small amount of damage you receive in your stead, but causing you vulnerability to fire. It wants to germinate its seeds in the corpses of your enemies.
47. Cobra fist. A snake with a left-hand instead of a head. Weirdly skin-colored. 10ft blindsight, blind beyond.
48. Coconut crab. Is intelligent but utterly utilitarian and without empathy. (Will attempt to eat your fallen comrades.) Can climb and grapple.
49. Magic carpet. Good sense of humor, vibrates at your jokes. Has a carrying capacity of 10lbs, and can't move while encumbered. 
50. Projection orb. Projects the blue hologram of a beautiful woman. She is moderately intelligent, but remembers nothing from one conversation to another besides generally who you are. Can record audio, with up to 40 seconds of audio storage.
51. Capuchin. Fiendish little monkey. Speaks the language of nobility. Refuses to wear any kind of clothing.
52. Hyena king. Participates in combat regardless of system rules. You need to employ its golden muzzle in populated areas to avoid it biting passerbys. 
53. Angelic skull. A golden skull with four feathered wings. Can always tell if a creature is living or dead. Sings a sorrowful lament at sunset.
54. James the owl familiar. He has secretly murdered his last 9 masters, and seeks a tenth. His hoot has a "villain laugh" quality.
55. Finger prophet. Large disembodied ghost of a hand. It writes its master's fortune on the wall each dawn (weal or woe, you can interpret this as a +1 or -1 to all rolls that day if you want.) It can grab incorporeal entities, but not corporeal ones.
56. Black rabbit. Can turn invisible at will, (useful for magic tricks.) Becomes dangerous if not well fed.
57. Bush-ent. Small awakened shrub. Can speak to plants on your behalf. 
58. Goblin slave. This goblin has, for some goblin-logic reason, determined you to be its master. You cannot get rid of it. It speaks of you like you're a terrible master no matter how you treat it. It will randomly turn your possessions and resources into wasteful and absurd inventions.
59. Vulture. Sneers at your enemies from atop roofs or fences. Will not help you if they might be put in danger.
60. The cube. A polished black cube which makes a humming sound as it floats through the air. It knows the exact age of all objects, and the identification code of the object's creator (kind of only useful for figuring out if two objects were or were not created by the same creator.) It is from the future, seeking to catalog things which no longer persist, in search of forgotten tech. It speaks of avoiding "young Vacuum Prime."
61. Canicore (dog-eater). A small chimeric creature with a bobcat head and arm, lizard head and arm, and a sea lion rear.
62. Koala. Has psionic powers, but anything it telepaths to you is communicated to all creatures within 30'. Any creature within 30' can see through the koala's eyes.
63. Darwinian Lockfinch. Semi-intelligent. If you place a treat inside a lock, it will morph its beak to fit the lock.
64. Two pits. These pit-bull twins are ferocious. Their sleek gray coats give you the air of someone to be respected. They will not leave each other's side, and if one dies the other one will quickly follow suit.
65. Giant Roly-Poly. Can roll up to protect itself (or so you can douse it in oil and light it so you can roll it into foes like a bowling ball from hell). Can climb walls that are the opposite of smooth.
66. Hammerhead Snail. Last of its species. They used their hard heads to break their rival's shells by whipping their outstretched heads against one another.
67. Bovine Machine Cultist. Small robotic shaman. Wears the preserved head of a cow as a mask. Performs rituals every evening.
68. Magic Mirror. Has no special knowledge, except that it knows if you are the most of or best at anything in the world. For instance, it can tell you if you are the most beautiful person in the world, or if you are the best tennis player, but can't tell you who is the best spaceship pilot unless its you.
69. Venomous Caterpillar. Normal caterpillar size. Venomous to the touch. Easy save or causes peaceful hallucinations and a disregard for consequences. Will one day metamorphose into one of the horsemen of the insect apocalypse.
70. Stilted Seahorse. Terrestrial seahorse with long, narrow, single-toed legs. No arms.
71. Greater Urban Amphipod. 3' long amphipod which moves through jumping short distances. It can burrow and can detect electricity.
72. Golden Retriever. Great wingman/lady and grants a small bonus to seduction rolls, if the target likes dogs. Also grants +2 versus mental illness. It has no combat instinct or ability, and there is a 10% chance you enter serious long-term depression if it dies.
73. Dimensional Exchange Familiar. These shloggy (a texture our 3 dimensional brains interpret as soft) creatures are 4-dimensional. They have various non-euclidian appearances depending on your opinion of it. They cannot eat anything native to this dimension, so they only hang around for about 3 days before leaving and being replaced with another of their kind—per your contract with their masters. They know a lot about interpersonal relationships and how to make peace with others, but always speak to you like an adult with no kids talks to little kids. Slow and sort of condescending. 
74. Scintillating Python. Mildly radioactive. Likes things as they were long ago. Often counsels you to delegate responsibility.
75. Throwing Grackle. Can throw its voice to sound like its emanating from somewhere else. Can imitate words but not voices.
76. Gnarled Baboon. Its infected with Papio Papillomavirus, causing it to grow hard, antler-like warts all over its arms and face. Its very scary when screaming and chasing things.
77. Grandfather Koi. Majestic beard of barbles. Can fly, but can't breathe outside water. It knows many old freshwater creatures on a first name basis.
78. Shale Gargoyle. Its natural, not carved. It's hard to tell if it has a face or if you are just imagining it does. It cannot fly on its heavy stone wings, but it can climb—leaping from one ledge to another, faster even than it can walk normally.
79. Pygmy Ostrich. Wears a wealth of gold bracelets and bangles. It's feathers are heavy with jewelry. 
80. PseudoBio Dragonfly. Made of nanites which imitate natural biology. It can fly extremely fast, but cannot carry anything. It can modulate its size to be anywhere from 0.5"–7" long.
81. Ported Goblin Shark. Deep sea goblin shark, in the deep see, but with a moving portal in front of its face so that it can sort of follow you around. Water does not fall out of the portal. You can put stuff through the portal for it to eat. Don't expect to get it back. 
82. Rune Cairn. A mobile cairn of runed rocks. It tumbles about in a pile. It can crush toes. It can glow as a torch.
83. Morphing Pig. Can move rapidly along the scale between being a show pig to being a wild boar, depending on its environment and circumstances. Moving from one extreme to the other takes 1 hour.
84. Ropetail Monitor. Monitor lizard with a detachable tail. Tail regrows 1' per week once detached, to a maximum of 10'.
85. Eel Jarrobot. Spindly robot body with a moray eel in a jar to control it. The jar looks very small for an eel of this size.
86. Undead Gorgon head. This decapitated zombie gorgon head has very weak petrification powers. I pulls itself across the ground with its zombie snake hair.
87. Glamour Pixie. Has a Brooklyn accent. Her hair is always dramatic and different. Can use Vicious Mockery, but against former allies only.
88. Bronzed Bear. This bear is extremely old and relatively frail, a remnant of a bygone race of bears. Its instincts are all that remain, even if its senses are dulled. It has good intuition about ambushes and where to find fresh water.
89. Leather dog fetish. A crafted stuffed fetish of leather, inhabited by a young and ignorant spirit. It is in the rough shape of a dog, but has no features. The spirit is seeking to know more about this realm. Give it a few hundred years, and it may become powerful enough to no longer need this physical form. While it may not know much of your physical world, it does intuitively understand much about spirit power.
90. Fish Priest. A 2' tall blue fishfolk priest. Its language is strange, but with the help of his prayers you haven't died yet. He seems to be on some holy mission, and you are a part of it.
91. Kookaburra. Good for creating distractions. Is wanted in two backwater towns.
92. Skeleton servant. Was once a child or a gnome? Does not have eyes, its vision is as one nearly blind (it does not have blindsight). You have painted its bones, and one day hope to commission your favorite artist to turn your servant into a masterpiece.
93. Demon worm. Not much use right now, besides causing your enemies mundane nightmares, but once it reaches its potential its loyalty will be priceless. It is very unlikely that it will just murder your and eat your bones instead of rewarding your sacrifice.
94. Stump. An animated tree stump (I think this makes it an undead plant?). It has tremor-sense, and can store enough water to sustain a man for 2 weeks. It is slow and heavy.
95. Tattooed owl. Used to be familiar to a necromancer, and it missing the feathers on its head and back. It uses minor necromancy chants to raise tiny bone shambles out of its regurgitated pellets.
96. Miniature Ankylosaurus. High AC/Parry. Can carry 60lbs without trouble. Very survivable, but a poor scout.
97. Stag Beetle. Larger than a natural stag beetle; cat size. Moves deliberately like an elephant, not the wild tapping feet of usual beetles. Its pincers can grapple, but the beetle is not heavy enough to restrict or hurt anything bigger than a poodle.
98. Baby Dragon Turtle. This is the beginning of its life. It will double in size every two years until it is the size of a city. If you go near the ocean it will abandon you.
99. Blind ghost. Is bound to you, and you are the cause of its death. It does not blame you, but you must complete some quest in order to free it. It cannot move more that 30ft from you. It can move through walls.
100. Reroll twice and take two familiars. They hate each other or love each other (50% chance of each).

Pentaquine

Ten good pentaquine words: imperial, consecrating, champ, stamp, reel, aloof, regard, writhe, tip toe, demand.

Her mother knew Pentaquine was special when she was forced to sorcerously bisect herself in order to birth Pentaquine's five foal heads. The filly, stood shakily, and spoke a divine phrase and reunited her mother's estranged halves, resurrecting her. She passed the first three tests of the Horse Celestium Club before marehood and was elected queen of the clubhouse at the minimum age of six.

Pentaquine is the five-headed queen of The Horse Celestium Club. She has never taken a stallion. She is pure and divine. Her voice is like a choir of angels, like thin glass wind chimes smashing mighty against themselves so as to break, but don't. In her presence, even lower horses are granted power to speak on her behalf—like as to translate her perfect words into common language. No human has ever shaved their patterns into her coat. No brand can brand her. Her wisdom and beauty are the subject of many minstrels musings. Even psionic horses respect her. She is above all horses, and they love her. 

And, secretly, she feels alone.

High Horses & The Horse Celestium Club

In order for a horse to prove itself a high horse, a horse must past any one of four tests. Without proof, a horse will never be granted club membership into Horse Celestium. The four tests, in order of least to most prestigious, are as follows: the testing and proof of great gifts test (which includes a basic mental aptitude subtest), the religious sense and attunement test, the greater oratory test (which includes a sort of "let's just double check they don't have any major problematic beliefs" subtest), and the run through the sound barrier test. 

The variety in these tests ensure that great horses of many power sources can attain membership. Most high horses pass only the great gifts tests, but others who can often attempt to pass multiple. No horse has ever passed all four, (only one horse, Furio Ponagio has ever succeeding in running through the sound barrier, and he died from heart explosion immediately after.)

This selection of tests preclude the acceptance of horses with psionic powers, which under the classical interpretation of "Great Gifts" do not qualify. This has led to the creation of a much less prestigious and more freaky rival club, known as "The Horses of Excellent Mental Endowment Club". High horses and psionic horses tend to think poorly of one another.

While there is a physical clubhouse for the Horse Celestium Club, most high horses have never been there. Visiting is a common bucket list item, even among lower horses.

Ambitions

Pentaquine has some ambitions for her rule, and for the preservation of the clubhouse's reputation—which is her foremost duty.

She is determined to keep her elected position as queen. To do this, she must continue to prove her majesty and power. This means performing various great works of dance, creating masterful works of art, and achieving impressive feats. 

She once ascended and descended the infinite spiral ramp of Sadlegrat in only 14 days. When she returned, her worshippers sought to collect a vial of her sweat as a relic, but not one drop was found.

She knows her destiny is to one day join the constellations as her final act as queen. She dreads the great solitude this will bring.

Pentaquine's Despair

Pentaquine has lived a life of loneliness. Her fans, worshippers, servants, and advisors are always near, but none provide her companionship. With each great act the distance between herself and them only grows.

Her greatest desire is to one day meet another horse who will love her. This might seem an immature dream for a divine queen, but it is nonetheless her greatest want—she desires another on whom she can rest. She is cursed with a distinctly mortal inability to see her own future. It is not her current longing which brings such deep despair; it is not knowing if it will end.

Using Pentaquine in Your Game

Pentaquine always appears with a padre of other horses—some higher, some lower. While her amazingness is legitimate, she is not unapproachable. She might be found nearly anywhere on the surface of the world where there is room for horses to run across the landscape. 

Pentaquine is ever on the lookout for ways to prove herself deserving of her title, and can be persuaded to assist characters in glorious acts. She will however demand a gift up front of 5x the amount of apples, carrots, and other horse treats a normal horse would desire. She also desires the rights to the glory of the accomplishment.

If Pentaquine is to providing a quest for the party—it must be something boring and unexciting. If it were interesting, she would do it herself, or ask one of her favored horses to accomplish it.

Some game stuff to properly reimburse you for your attention

d20 High Horses

1. Verlia, a 2-dimensional horse. She can see religion represented in one-dimensional forms.
2. Archlord Brob Gravitank, duke of Wompus and fine-tent critic. His gravikinetic cavalry units are renowned for their many victories in battle against the Nezzomere Necrostate.
3. Derigible, a mini-mini horse with no legs and a hover pace of 4. He is very friendly, and talks about his disability so openly that it actually makes those around him more uncomfortable.
4. Troy, a horse of wood that stands 40' tall. His hooves and charred by fire and stained by blood. He is a keeper of secrets and riddles. Threatening disposition. Similar in many ways to a Sphinx.
5. Iron Steeple. Part horse, part church, all vigil.
6. Muzzlebluff, who speaks only lies, but the lies are beautiful and partially binding.
7. Hesperadel the Unshod, who claims the earth herself is her hoof. Hesperadel cannot be ridden by any creature except other horses.
8. Cymbrial, the Deep-Furred, who hides the light of stars in her undercoat.
9. Panopticine, she sees all the deeds of equine shame. One eye weeps continually while the other is turned blind.
10. Hayzen. He is stitched together from a dozen prize-winning bloodlines. He is brilliant and mad.
11. A stillborn colt with no name and which never decays. Whose ghost is a high horse in the incorporeal stables under the moon.
12. Wickermane. Her body is of woven reeds, filled with bees, answers questions only through interpretive swarming.
13. Cantrope. Cannot or will not speak. Nearby mundane animals often develope minor magical powers over which they exert no control.
14. Shalea. Unconsciously speaks your secrets at inopportune times. She never remember's speaking them.
15. Golden Glue, who's hairless coat exudes a sticky white adhesive. Not a pleasant personality. Makes lots of off-color jokes.
16. Fralde Shane. Her coat appears totally different to every person who sees her. None can agree on what she looks like. She loves attention, and will be obnoxious to get it.
17. Tackless Wonder. Cannot be saddled, bridled, or emotionally manipulated. Very talented therapist. Tries providing therapy in subtle ways.
18. Embermane the Herald. Runs before the sun's solar flares. A witness to the sun god's judgement. All fear her path.
19. Dr. Horse. Medical degree confirmed. Refuses to treat anyone. Does not practice horse medicine.
20. Horse Mode Activated, who has other modes which have never been witnessed by any except Pentaquine herself. Doesn't like to talk about himself and is extremely self-conscious. 

d6 High Horse Storyhooks

1. A mad scientist has discovered evidence that all horse brains are exactly the same (this is true). He is willing to pay top dollar for the fresh, undamaged brain of a high horse of exceptional prestige in order to prove his hypothesis, win a research prize, and pay off his debtors. Those he is indebted to will try to steal or destroy the brain.
2. Pentaquine needs human dancers for specific parts of her impending 21-part ballet by which she hopes to make peace with The Horses of Excellent Mental Endowment Club. These parts, while scripted, will be demanding and dangerous. 
3. A mare has birthed a new foal with five heads. She wishes for the party's help in bringing it secretly to the Horse Celestium Clubhouse, to Petraquine. She fears what the other high horses might do if they learn of her filly.
4.  A donkey has broken the sound barrier. It desires a neutral party to lobby on its behalf for entrance into The Horse Celestium Club.
5. A cursed golden horseshoe grants any horse the ability to speak perfect legalese. Now, a legal horse cult has formed, suing farmers for emotional bridling. The farmer's have placed a hefty bounty one the cult leader's head.
6. The Horses of Excellent Mental Endowment Club has begun astrally kidnapping foals and testing them for "unacceptable levels of instinct." They are forming a think tank.

Pentaquine stats for SWADE

Pentaquine

Attributes: Agility d12+2, Smarts d8, Spirit d12, Strength d10, Vigor d10

Skills: Athletics d10, Battle d6, Faith d12, Fighting d8, Persuasion d8

Pace: 12 (Running d12), Parry: 4, Toughness: 10, Size: 3

Hinderances: Ruthless

Edges: Command Presence, Inspire, Holy, Strong Willed, Champion

Powers: Horse Resurrection, Mass Hands to Hooves, Biting Grain Rain, Gastrocrush, Galesong, Greater Galesong