The Pakkuna

The Pakkuna is the latest published creature that I have created for Wilderfeast.

The Pakkuna is an intimidating aquatic predator, stretching nearly three meters in length and standing two meters high. Its sleek, muscular form is clad in shimmering silver scales, with darker blue hues adorning its back, providing effective camouflage in both oceanic and riverine environments. Razor-sharp teeth line its formidable jaws, ready to tear through any prey that comes within reach. Along its spine, evenly spaced rows of sharp spines not only add to its fearsome appearance but also serve as a conduit for injecting venom—a potent toxin that incapacitates its victims.

In its natural habitat, the Pakkuna is a masterful ambush predator, lurking beneath the water’s surface with a seemingly serene grace. Its keen senses detect the slightest movement, and in a burst of speed, it lunges at its prey, delivering a swift and deadly bite. The injection of venom from its spines ensures that even the most resilient creatures stand little chance of escaping its grasp. The Pakkuna’s predatory instincts are honed to perfection, making it a formidable force in the oceans and rivers it lives in.

Despite its fearsome nature, the Pakkuna exhibits a certain degree of intelligence and cunning. It is known to work in tandem with other Pakkunas, coordinating their attacks to overwhelm larger prey or to defend their territory from rival predators. Their ability to adapt to different environments and hunting conditions ensures their dominance in the food chain. The Pakkuna’s combination of physical prowess, toxic arsenal, and strategic hunting tactics make it a truly awe-inspiring creature, feared by all who inhabit the waters it calls home.

The Tindten

The Tindten is the second published creature that I have created for Wilderfeast.

It’s from the Butcher line due to its metal infused claws and teeth. But it could easily be confused for being part of the roasters line due to its tendency to ignite itself, and what ever its fighting, on fire with a special chemical it produces from ingesting a large amount of Rock Salt.

This creature is a great desert and Mountain cat which preys on wild Wooda and likes to play cat and mouse with the Rakuzar. It’s playful nature is quickly lost when the deposits of salt that it covets are in contest. Here the Tindten, the Tinder Kitten, will use its hardened claws to swiftly dig towards the threat and neutralise it.

Being able to ignite the crystalline secretions within its main with a spark from its ears the resounding flash of ignition is enough to stun and confuse its attackers, or prey, and in the confusion it swiftly digs to attack from underneath the unsuspecting prey. The other side effect of this flashy display is that its mane burns hotly until it decides to wallow in salt-rich mud to replenish the supplies of the mineral in its hair.

Travel in Wilderfeast

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Hello all, tonight I wanted to cover something that I’m working on while I explore whether Wilderfeast will remain a permanent game that I run at my tabletop, particularly how I manage Travel in Wilderfeast. Travel is quite simple in Wilderfeast you present three options, Navigate, Forage for ingredients or Move on.

Each are you move through in order to reach your target, generally a creature like the Wraikat that is causing issues down Ghao Gan Gardens you would need to travel through each area between your starting point, generally your Parties base, a Den, and the creatures area.

For Asoai, the Foaming Shore where my wilder pack is starting their adventures I decided to recreate (and change some bits) of the map to suit the narrative I was forming for the party.

Each area, defined by a different set of coloured hex connects to others. The larger areas such as Hightable and Ocean stop should have more hex’s than the other areas. This enables me to visually track where the connection points are, the known paths between areas, but also to use the hex’s to track Signs, monitor communities and also track what the Pack does.

If the pack invests their downtime in building a defensible position in Hightable then I want to be able to represent that on the map. If they move from one area to another but we have to finish the journey part way through the session I want to be able to track where we left off as well as any other notes. This map is just the beginning and with my 3d printer and some magnets I think I should be able to get something that really gives life to the map.

Now the example of using this for a defined area with defined travel points like Wilderfeast isn’t the Limit as you can probably get really creative with coloured Acrylic and magnets to represent the changing in territories for a political RPG. Or you could track plot points that move, like a caravan of bad things that will take three weeks to move three hexes towards the nearest city and the party have to find them first.

What ever the situation is the map making tools in Inkarnat were fun to use for this and I am excited to see where I take this little project of mine. Hopefully in the future I can showcase it working with the other three regions also following the same process.

The Wraikat

The Wraikat is the first, second technically, creature created for Wilderfeast.

It’s from the Stockkeeper line as it likes to hoard food around its nest but could also be classed in Roundsman as it can change the colour of its scaly hide at will.

Now this creature doesn’t really fill a niche but it competes for territory with a few creatures in Mountains and Woodlands of the Sen Coast. But to combat this predator rich environment it focuses on hoarding food rather than taking on fights it can’t win.

Acting like a hybrid between a predatory cat and chameleon it prefers to lie in wait for its target, stun it either its vocal mimicry ability or by shooting its resin like substance from its mouth that hardens in air. You can imagine when shot at velocity at a Wilder or creature that this can be quite the concussive force if the Wraikat has enough time to aim for a particularly sensitive spot.

Good Friday to you all, I have something to share with you tonight as I procrastinate getting a heads start on the 2025 adventure series tonight I wanted to do a game introduction to Wilderfeast. Now I wish this was a paid promotion but alas, it is not. This is just me getting a bit hyped up over a game that I’ve spent a few hours (ok more than a few) reading and also run a few of my old and new players through an introductory adventure.

Game Introduction to Wilderfeast

Wilderfeast is a TTRPG like I haven’t really experienced before, a simplified attribute and skill system, the dice mechanics are similar to games I’ve played like Soul bound with a d6 determining success on the venture or outcome but with a twist. If you focus up on your human side and training you roll a d8 that determines both damage and degree of success, or… you can go wild and give into the beast lurking at the surface and roll a d20 instead, with a cost and worse consequence if you fail.

That’s way to high level for this game but there is a fair bit to unpack. The game revolves around finding ingredients and cooking food. Yup, that’s right, finding ingredients and cooking food. Did I mention that the key ingredient in your most significant meals is… Monsters…

A fun hybrid between monster hunter and Dungeon Meshi, Delicious in Dungeon. You are the rangers, caretakers and balance bringers of the world who have a sacred calling to fight against the curse-like-virus called “Frenzy” where normally placid, or still angry monsters, get angrier, meaner and hungrier. You have to stop them and to ensure that their tainted bodies don’t spread the virus you ritualistically cook the meal and eat it to consume the tainted meat.

The catch. Each meal turns you more monstrous. If you eat an piscine monster you may grow fins and find yourself swimming faster, you eat a flying monster like a bat, bird or dragon you may mutate wings and be able to fly to get your dinner. A new meaning to fast food.

By enhancing yourself with monster traits, styles (attributes) and skills you get stronger, strong enough to take on the real villains of this story. Giants. I didn’t mention there were Giants yet did I? Well there is and they are blessed with near immortality, near unbeatable strength but cursed with the Hunger. They need to eat (sound a bit attack on titan now doesn’t it?).

The System

Each Hunter uses a specific hunting tool to take down monsters… but they are a bit different as each weapon is a large cooking instrument. We have Spits (spears cross harpoons, like a skewer really), Pans (Pan…s… yeah its a 1:1 match there), Cleavers (great sword like knives), Mits (ok ok ok, these are like boxing gloves mixed with punch-daggers and brass knuckles. These can hit HARD), Twine (for tying up roasts, ATAT walker legs, etc.) and a Torch (like a flame thrower that roasts your meat, heats up the other tools like a cleaver so it can slice monsters like a hot knife… through butter….)

Each tool has its own anime-esque techniques that feel like monster hunter combo moves but play more like a Bankai or some other finishing move. They also determine your starting Styles, your attributes, from Mighty, Precise, Swift or Tricky.

Mighty is pretty easy. Swing hard with everything you have and cleave through rocks, trees, shells, meat, bone, what ever you need to. Generally favoured for Mits, Pans or Cleavers.

Precise is for targeting a specific part and delicately removing that poisonous sack from the four metre puffer fish or for following a precise map to get through the area safely. Generally found for Cleavers, Spits or Torches.

Swift is focusing on speed, striking with a lashing whip from your tool, moving quickly through a clearing to avoid the predators or swiftly climbing a tree for the best fruit. This is favoured of Mits, Spits and Twine.

Tricky is being stealthy, being deceptive or particularly technical. It can range from stealthily (or trickly) snatching eggs from a nesting bird, deceiving a predator into following a false trail or scent or feinting in combat. this is favoured from Pans, Torches and Twine.

You can have between 0 and 5 in a Style which determine how many dice you roll to try and succeed on a test. Success is measured on rolling a 5 or 6 on the d6. So the more dice you roll (law of averages say that a score of 3, the starting highest score for your character, should have 1 success per attempt). To boost this chance you have skills which range from Strikes and Shots used in combat to Calls to mimic a predator of a creature that’s hunting you to get them to flee, Grab to snatch a set of keys from a poachers belt or Traversal and Search which is used on the trail – to move through the hostile and dangerous lands and to search for ingredients to use in your cooking respectively.

The finishing part is TRAITS – that’s what you inherited from your monstrous meals. Now there’s two or three pages of traits in the book but they range from passives that half damage against a certain style like Natural Armour and Natural reflexes , to granting an alternative form of movement (climbing, swimming, flying, digging and even Floating…) but also more specific combat ones like Venom, Burning body, Fire breath or Electric Shock. All of these when added together, and the fact you mutate either your Style, Skills or a level in a Trait make for a really diverse, complex and yet straight forward system.

The game revolves around Signs – basically Monster Hunter quests on a board – where if you ignore them for too long things get worse for the human and monster communities as you fail to do your job as a Wilder. These may be reports from scouts, a migration of monsters from their native feeding or hunting grounds as they are pushed out or the destruction of a village that you were helping to rebuild.

The last thing I want to touch on as it will appeal to a great many of us is that the other aspect of this is caring for monsters, not just hunting them to extinction for their traits. Rehabilitating monsters and forming bonds with them, their pack (or community) or even gaining a life-long pet and companion is another core part of the game I am excited to experience in the coming weeks(s).