Thuck

Dicey Dangers, The Creepy Creature of Vulture's Vineyard

Game by Joel Hills

Thuck

Thuck retired from adventuring the way most people retire from a job they were never quite sure suited them, quietly, and with no clear plan for what came next. A Human somewhere past his prime, thick through the middle and thin on patience for anything he considers beneath him, he ran his Rogue and Mage tricks up and down the trade roads for longer than he cares to count before deciding a wagon full of other people's castoffs was steadier work than a dungeon. He was right. He is also, by his own frequent admission, bored out of his mind.

He sells whatever's crossed his path, no questions asked about where any of it came from, and he's just as happy to buy. A lifetime of reading marks across a poker table left him with an eye for a lie and very little patience for one, and if a Hero needs to know something about the road, the town, or the kind of trouble worth avoiding, Thuck usually knows, and usually names a price for it before he says anything useful.

His wagon runs on the tireless work of Lecro, a Gnome Alchemist who took the job for the workshop space and stayed for reasons Thuck has never bothered to ask about. Lecro's built something enormous and hissing out of copper piping and old alembics that is, near as anyone can tell, just a coffee maker, and he tends it with the focus most Alchemists reserve for something explosive. Thuck lets him have the run of it. It's good for business, and better than admitting he likes having the company.

Actions

Gamble with Thuck

Thuck leans back against the wagon wheel, already shuffling a battered set of dice between his knuckles before you've said a word.

"Sit down if you're playing. Stand there if you're not."

"Fancy a hand of Dragon Poker?"

Roll your hand in 5d6 Dragon Poker then roll on the table below for Thuck's Hand.

• If you're a Gambler, +1 on the result
• If you're a Rogue, +1 on the result, old habits die hard and he's a soft touch for his own kind

Roll 1d6	Thuck's Dragon Poker Hand
1	5 - 5 - 5 - 5 - 2 Ancient Wyrm - Four of a Kind
2	4 - 4 - 4 - 2 - 2 Flame Crown - Full House
3	5 - 5 - 5 - 2 - 1 Blazing Trio - Three of a Kind
4	4 - 4 - 3 - 3 - 1 Twin Talons - Two Pair
5	5 - 5 - 3 - 2 - 1 Smoldering Pair - One Pair
6	6 - 5 - 4 - 3 - 2 Ash Hand - High Die

• If you win against Thuck, gain 2 Runeum
• If you lose against Thuck, lose 2 Runeum

Sample Lecro's Brew

Once per day, the Hero may sample one of Lecro's brews, pulled hissing and rattling from the great copper contraption bolted to the side of the wagon. Mark 1 and gain +1 Reflex until Darkfall.

Thuck's Wares

Roll 5 times on this table, ignoring duplicates. Everything on Thuck's tailboard has seen better days, Rusted iron, Wooden shafts and staves, Leather worn soft, secondhand and priced like it. "Not pretty," he'll say, tapping a knuckle on the pitted metal, "but it'll hold an edge same as anything shiny, for a lot less coin."

Roll 1d66	Item	Cost (rc)
11	Rusted Hand Axe	1
12	Rusted Short Sword	2
13	Rusted Rapier	3
14	Rusted Cutlass	4
15	Rusted Mace	5
16	Rusted Long Sword	5
21	Rusted Sabre	6
22	Rusted Scimitar	6
23	Rusted Broad Sword	10
24	Rusted Flail	10
25	Rusted Maul	3
26	Wooden Staff	10
31	Rusted Glaive	8
32	Rusted Battle Axe	10
33	Rusted War Hammer	18
34	Rusted Halberd	25
35	Rusted Great Axe	30
36	Rusted Flamberge	40
41	Rusted Claymore	50
42	Rusted Dart	1
43	Rusted Spear	2
44	Leather Sling	2
45	Wooden Short Bow	6
46	Rusted Wrist Crossbow	3
51	Rusted Javelin	3
52	Rusted Crossbow	5
53	Wooden Long Bow	25
54	Rusted Trident	10
55	Leather Padded	2
56	Leather Studded	4
61	Rusted Scale Mail	10
62	Rusted Ring Mail	20
63	Rusted Chain Mail	40
64	Rusted Splint Mail	60
65	Rusted Plate Mail	100
66	Wooden Lyre	75

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The Creepy Creature of Vulture's Vineyard New Room Item Properties Wandering Monster

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