Arcbound Creatures

(Version 1.01 - Last Modified: 09/29/2004)
All artwork owned and copyrighted by Wizards of the Coast


Introduction

As the preparations for war between the Kingdom of Tolkeen and the Coalition States ramped up during 105 PA and the early parts of 106 PA, whole new fields of research were opened up to the techno-wizards of Magestar. Many different groups were looking into how to create powerful war machines that could match or surpass the technological war machines that the CS possessed. The most famous of these creations were the Iron Juggernauts, which were mass produced during the four year war. But one of the lesser known creations were a series of animated constructs based around a symbiotic energy known as Arcbound Energy.

The Arcbound Creatures, as they became known, always fought in groups and one of their most important features was their ability to transfer a portion of their strength from a dieing Arcbound Creature to nearby Arcbound Creature, making it stronger. By using this power, large numbers of relatively weak Arcbound Creatures could attack a target, but even as they were destroyed individually, the overall strength of the unit decreased only marginally. Another strength of the Arcbound Creatures was the material their bodies were made from. Unlike the ritually enchanted metal and machines in the bodies of the Iron Juggernauts, the Arcbound Creatures were composed primarily of energy that was used to animate and control the metal that was in their bodies.

Eleven different Arcbound Creatures saw use during the war between Tolkeen and the CS, but their first actual combat occurred during the Sorcerers' Revenge campaign in 108 PA. The Arcbound Creatures performed as expected, the already confused and demoralized Coalition troops did not know what to make of these new magical that got stronger each time they killed one of their number. Unfortunately, the Tolkeen military commanders did not know how to adequately use the creatures, throwing away the powerful veterans from the Sorcerers' Revenge campaign in useless battles and using small numbers of the creatures during the run up to the final battles of the war. It was only during the assault on Magestar itself were the remaining Arcbound Creatures deployed properly. The original group of techno-wizards that had created the Arcbound Creatures had studied over the course of the war how to deploy them effectively and while their advice was not heeded by the military commanders in the field, the siege of Magestar gave the wizards their first chance to command their creations in actual battle. Although Magestar eventually fell to the advancing Coalition troops, the Arcbound Creatures finally proved their worth. Unfortunately, few survived the final battles of the war and even fewer wizards from their original group of creators escaped alive. With the chances of new Arcbound Creatures being created extremely slim, their numbers will eventually dwindle and the secret of how to build them will die with their creators.


Using Arcbound Creatures In A Campaign

The easiest way to incorporate these creatures into any campaign is through the Tolkeen - Coalition States war. The party could belong to one side or the other, they could be mercenaries, or they could simply be caught in the crossfire of the war. The Arcbound Creatures could be working with the party against the CS, or the Arcbound Creatures could be an enemy that the party must destroy in order to reach some goal or because they are there if the party is working for or with the Coalition States.

Immediately following the war, the a number of the original creators of the Arcbound Creatures left Magestar with as many of their creations as possible. Some of these wizards were evil at heart and would definitely use their creations for their own end. Also, a large number of Arcbound Creatures were let loose in the wilderness of Minnesota and with the fall of the Tolkeen, these creatures could become confused and have trouble distinguishing friends from enemies, making them a danger to everyone. Another possibility is that a unit of Arcbound Creatures goes rogue. The Arcbound Overseers are sentient and quite intelligent, during the final days of the war, one or two could have easily decided to abandon Magestar or have survived the siege of the city and escaped afterwards. Once on their own, presumably leading a unit of Arcbound Creatures, the Arcbound Overseer could have headed anywhere and followed whatever goals it chose, including joining a mercenary group, which could once again bring Arcbound Creatures into conflict with the party. Maybe the party fought beside them during the war, but now has to face them in battle.


Arcbound Bruiser

Arcbound Bruiser
Illustration by Christopher Moeller. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Although the Arcbound Warrior was built in larger numbers, the main combat unit for the arcbound creatures was always intended to be the Arcbound Bruiser. Built to take on the smaller robot vehicles deployed by the Coalition States, the bruiser is strong and tough, but fairly slow moving. With a low-level intelligence, the bruisers can still be outwitted by their enemies, but units of bruisers are often deployed with at least a few of the smarter arcbound creatures or living controllers.

With a roughly humanoid shape, the metal pieces that make up the bruisers' bodies appear quite rough to the touch, with dents and pot marks everywhere. A unique feature of the bruiser is its forearms appear to be composed of floating jagged chunks of metal, held together by constantly moving arcs of energy. The Arcbound Bruiser has a powerful physical attack, but it is also capable of delivering powerful energy blasts and has access to several useful spells that it can cast upon itself when needed.


Arcbound Crusher

Arcbound Crusher
Illustration by Michael Sutfin. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

If the Arcbound Overseers are the brains of an arcbound creature army, then the Arcbound Crusher is the brawn. Stronger with every arcbound creature near it, at the beginning of a fight, the Crusher is immensely powerful. With the strength of an ancient dragon, the Arcbound Crusher can take on whole divisions of coalition troops. Unfortunately, in a prolonged fight, the crusher gets weaker and weaker. As each arcbound creature is killed, the crusher loses a bit of its overwhelming strength. Eventually, when the crusher is one of the few arcbound creatures on the field of battle, its strength is much diminished and easily destroyed.

Like the Arcbound Overseers, very few Arcbound Crushers were built during the war. With the fall of the arcbound creature armies, the extreme danger posed by the crushers has mostly passed. Although a few may have survived the final battles around Magestock, they are nowhere near as dangerous as they once were. The crushers lack the intelligence and leadership capabilities to control a large number of arcbound creatures, and of yet, none of the largest groups of arcbound creatures have an Arcbound Crusher working with them.


Arcbound Fiend

Arcbound Fiend
Illustration by Ittoku. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The Arcbound Fiend was meant to be the opposite of the Arcbound Ravager. Where the ravager drained energy from willing participants to grow stronger, the Arcbound Fiend would drain the energy from its enemies. In addition to its surprisingly effective energy drain attack, the fiend was equipped with numerous tentacles to allow it to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Often deployed alone or with a small escort of other arcbound creatures, the Arcbound Fiend is used only in special circumstances, usually during mass CS assaults or when a demon or supernatural "ally" of the Kingdom of Tolkeen goes rogue.

With a shape reminiscent of a squid, the Arcbound Fiend has a large body attached to a number of segmented tentacles held together by arcing energy. The Arcbound Fiend has a powerful energy beam attack to destroy armored opponents, opponents that resist its energy drain attack, and to finish off already weakened opponents, especially supernatural creatures. In order to assist it in its task of draining a target, the Arcbound Fiend has a large number of spells geared towards incapacitating the target, especially spells that inspire fear and terror in the target.


Arcbound Lancer

Arcbound Lancer
Illustration by John Avon. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The Arcbound Lancer was the most numerous of the medium acrbound creatures and was envisioned as a frontline combat unit that would support the Arcbound Bruisers in a head-on assault on CS troops. Powerful and tough, the Arcbound Lancer also possessed surprising speed and agility and was easily matched the tanks and APCs deployed by the Coalition States. Deployed both with a group of Arcbound Bruisers and in special units consisting primarily of lancers, the Arcbound Lancer quickly became a hated enemy to the CS troops that faced arcbound troops time after time.

With a shape reminiscent of an ostrich, the Arcbound Lancer does not present an appearance that would inspire much fear, but its powerful energy weapons, fast speed, and heavily armored body can cause a certain bit of anxiety in the enemies it faces. Designed to be powerful enough to take on CS tanks and APCs, the Arcbound Lancer is far from the most intelligent of the arcbound creatures, although it is still smarter then the Arcbound Bruisers. With good instincts and capable of creating simple tactical and strategic plans, the Lancer is a dangerous addition to a unit of Arcbound Bruisers.


Arcbound Overseer

Arcbound Overseer
Illustration by Carl Critchlow. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The true leader of the arcbound creatures is the Arcbound Overseer. Directing troops in and out of battle, the overseer ensures that the less intelligent arcbound creatures are kept in line and directed towards whatever target the overseer has been ordered to destroy. Constructed to be the perfect commander for the arcbound creatures, the Arcbound Overseers strengthen the energy of the arcbound creatures within a certain range and they are highly intelligent and are capable of considered to be fully sentient. Unfortunately, although the overseers were fully capable of determining the best way to deploy the arcbound creatures, the wizards and soldiers in charge of deploying the arcbound creatures constantly ignored them, except during the final days of the siege of Magestock.

Only a small handful of Arcbound Overseers were constructed during the war between Tolkeen and the Coalition States and most were destroyed during the war. However, it is always possible that an Arcbound Reclaimer could have restored any fallen overseers to life after the CS army had passed over an area. There has been at least one confirmed sighting of an Arcbound Overseer operating in the ruins of the Kingdom of Tolkeen, controlling an army of over 100 arcbound creatures of all types. The goals of this group now that their creators are no longer controlling them and the kingdom they were created to protect has fallen are unknown.


Arcbound Racer

Arcbound Racer
Illustration by Alan Pollack. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Built for speed, the Arcbound Racer is the fastest of the arcbound creatures. Not especially well armored, the racer is vulnerable to enemy fire, but the enemy has to hit it first, not an easy task. The Arcbound Racer was designed as a fast interception unit to attack vulnerable supply lines and to provide a fast reaction force to counter the fast vehicle employed by the CS. Although it provided it worth on the battlefield, the Arcbound Racer was considered to lightly armored for its role in attacking tanks and APCs.

Made to resemble a large cat, the Arcbound Racer was built to reach incredible running speeds. With powerful claws and a powerful energy attack, the Arcbound Racer is very effective against ground troops and skelebots, but its weak armor becomes a disadvantage when attacking power armor and groups of heavily armored vehicles, like tanks. The Arcbound Racer is also not as intelligent as the more powerful Arcbound Creatures. Although designed with excellent instincts and cunning, it has the intelligent of a large predator, and has trouble discerning traps and ambushes planned by intelligent enemies.


Arcbound Ravager

Arcbound Ravager
Illustration by Carl Critchlow. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The Arcbound Ravager was conceived by some of the more controversial members of the group of techno-wizards that created the arcbound creatures. Originally developed as an emergency warrior, the ravager was meant to scour the battlefield looking for nearly dead wizards and magical creatures and almost destroyed arcbound creatures that were could not be healed or repaired. Unfortunately, after their initial deployment during the Sorcerers' Revenge campaign, most ravagers became scavengers. Although it performed its original task well enough, the creature would often hasten the departure of its target or "convince" it in other ways to give its energy to the ravager. By the end of the war, among the most powerful magical constructs called to fight in the last battles were the few surviving ravagers.

Unfortunately, these creatures are also among the most independent and many abandoned the Kingdom of Tolkeen during the final days in order to avoid certain destruction. Most ravagers can be found operating along or with small groups of minor arcbound creatures that they control. These groups wander the wilderness, spreading out ever further from the ruins of Tolkeen and although they cannot rebuild any of their fallen comrades, they continue to grow in strength.


Arcbound Reclaimer

Arcbound Racer
Illustration by Jon Foster. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

Clearly in a supporting role, the Arcbound Reclaimer has the ability to heal other arcbound creatures and to bring recently destroyed arcbound creatures back from the dead. These two abilities make it a highly valuable resource in a prolonged fight. The Arcbound Reclaimer is generally used in only one of two roles. The first use is for after a battle, when the reclaimer would wander a battlefield, healing badly damaged arcbound creatures and restoring life to highly prized creatures, like an Arcbound Overseer or Arcbound Crusher. The second use is during a battle, when the reclaimer would actually participate in a fight, healing other arcbound creatures in the middle of a fight to prevent them from being destroyed.

Quite intelligent, the Arcbound Reclaimer is very capable of determining who to heal and when it should restore a fallen arcbound creature. In an interesting turn of events, the Arcbound Reclaimer and the Arcbound Ravager were constantly competing against each other. They both had a role in the battlefield after a fight, but they had very different goals when they encountered a nearly destroyed arcbound creature. Arcbound Reclaimers were not built in larger numbers, but of those that were built, most fell during the final days of the siege of Magestar. A few are known to have survived and one is even known to be travelling with a rogue group of arcbound creatures under the leadership of an Arcbound Ravager, it's almost sole purpose is to restore the ravager to life if it should ever fall.


Arcbound Slith

Arcbound Slith
Illustration by Vance Kovacs. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The Arcbound Slith was originally conceived as a close assault / assassination creature. Although it had several innate spells to improve its stealth capabilities, it's unique combat abilities and higher level of intelligence made it even more useful as a fast, reaction force. A unit of Arcbound Slith could easily decimate an almost equal number of ground infantry or skelebots with little effort, especially if ambushing the enemy troops. The Arcbound Slith quickly became one of the most successful arcbound creatures developed by this particular group of techno-wizards in Magestar. Although not the most powerful, the Arcbound Slith had the best armor to armament ratio compared to the number of units deployed in a group.

The Arcbound Slith has a definite humanoid shape, but its body has a far sleeker look to it then the blocky Arcbound Warrior or large Arcbound Bruiser. With its sharp talons and long range energy attack, the Arcbound Slith is quite capable in combat, and is smart enough to employ complex tactics and to use its innate spells far more effectively then the instinct driven minor arcbound creatures.


Arcbound Stinger

Arcbound Stinger
Illustration by Darrell Riche. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The Arcbound Stinger represents the only attempt to create an arcbound creature that can fly. With limited armor and armament, the stinger was not meant to be able to take on a CS SAMAS in a head to head fight. Preferably a small swarm of Stingers would attack each target, growing stronger as the SAMAS continued to destroy one stinger after another. It was also felt that there was little need for a flying arcbound creature as other wizards and elementals could handle air superiority very effectively.

The Stinger, although highly agile, was only a marginal success. Too weak to face a SAMAS individually, most Stingers played a role in scouting missions, finding targets for ground based acrbound creatures to attack. These scouting missions were performed in pairs, based on the theory that if one was destroyed, the other would grow stronger, helping to ensure that it would return with whatever information the two had gathered.


Arcbound Wanderer

Arcbound Wanderer
Illustration by Christopher Moeller. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

In the months that have passed since the fall of the Kingdom of Tolkeen and the city of Magestar, a new arcbound creature has appeared. It first emerged from the ruins of Magestar several months after the official end of the war and since then, several more have been spotted wandering the ruins of the techno-wizard city and the surrounding countryside. Although the Arcbound Wanderer, as it has been dubbed by people vaguely familiar with the original project that deveoped the other Arcbound creatures, is not on any official list, its origin is clear. The Arcbound creatures are unique and although their design could be duplicated, it would take years of study, but this new creature emerged after only a few months, certainly not enough time for any independent group to decipher how the Arcbound creatures function. The one thing that is clear is that the Arcbound Wanderers are powerful, independent-minded constructs that are continuing the fight against the Coalition States. The constructs are intelligent enough to determine who belongs to the Coalition States, which the will mercilessly kill, and who do not, which they will leave alone unless attacked first.

The true origin of the Arcbound Wanderers, of which there are very few sp far, is in one techno-wizard from Magestar. He believe that he is the final survivor of the project group that originally created the Arcbound creatures and he is determined to avenge the deaths of his late friends and coworkers. Using the design of an advanced Arcbound creature that was to replace the Arcbound Bruiser as a base, the techno-wizard spent weeks working tirelessly in his mostly destroyed lab. To improve the construct even further, the techno-wizard incorporated psionic energy into it and built powerful devices to hide the creature from the mutant dogs and psi-stalkers of the Coalition States.

When his first prototype was finished, the techno-wizard became worried about having it lead the CS back to his lab, so he released it into the rubble of Magestar with no memory of who created it or where. That original prototype and all subsequent ones were created with an unintended sense of loss; they care about who created them, but they cannot remember who that was or where it was, so the creatures wander in ever wider areas looking for their creator. This, and their intense hatred of the Coalition States, have given the Arcbound Wanderers a strange sense of purpose, more so then any other Arcbound creature. The wanderers are constantly looking for their creator and they will ask all people that they believe are former Tolkeen citizens for help, when the people inevitably do not know who created the construct, the constructs wander on looking for others that might have some information. This was how they got their name.


Arcbound Warrior

Arcbound Warrior
Illustration by Darrell Riche. ©1993-2004 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

The weakest of the arcbound creatures, the Arcbound Warrior was also produced in the largest numbers. Built to be mass-produced, the Arcbound Warriors are human-sized and resemble pieces of body armor, being held together with constantly arcing and shifting energy. The warriors have only a limited intelligence and while capable of making very simple decisions and recognizing allies from enemies, they require directions from smarted arcbound creatures or living supervisors.

The Arcbound Warrior has only limited armor and armaments, relying on numbers to overwhelm the firepower of the coalition infantry. Their protective energy field is the weakest of all of the arcbound creatures and their energy blasts from the lowest range and inflict the weakest amount of damage, however, they are armed with powerful close-range weapons that they are use very effectively when they can close in to hand-to-hand combat range with coalition soldiers or skelebots. One of the advantages of the Arcbound Warriors is the large portion of their energy that they transfer when they die. If even a single warrior survives from a small squad, that warrior is almost as powerful and effective as the squad it originally came from. Due to this, the Arcbound Warriors sent with other Arcbound Creatures in order to draw fire and to make the larger creatures even more powerful when they die to enemy fire.