Familiar Shelter

Volunteer’s Guidebook

A Downtime Expansion to Apothecaria

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 Welcome Volunteering
Here at the High Rannoc Shelter for Familiars we aim to provide a While familiars are independent and capable creatures, they do often
comforting and loving home for all those who have been separated rely on us for things that they aren’t the right shape to do.
from their witches in one way or another. Cooking, cleaning, and shopping are the big three that spring to
mind when people think about volunteering with us but we can
Our stately grounds are currently home to twelve residents with provide much more than that.
space for many more! We have luxurious dorms, a restaurant quality
kitchen, fresh and sea water ponds, an extensive library, and a four
hectare garden with hedge maze and running track. If you volunteer with us, you can expect to spend time with our
residents:
However, thanks to some recent… issues, we are lacking the • Teaching them spells
necessary hands to help care for our all of our residents and could • Playing with them
really use volunteers.
• Going on hikes and walks
If you’d like to get involved with our shelter and help these • Dispelling magical mishaps
wonderful familiars, then please just drop on by and talk to us any
day of the week!
So if you’re the sort of kind soul who can spare some time each week
to help out, we’d love to have you! Just pop on by and someone will
get you introduced and sort out your Tasks for the day.
The Shelter
How you get started with this expansion is your choice, though I would
recommend introducing the Shelter Owner and perhaps doing a couple of
events from the Exploring The Shelter Table (page 15) to get started.

Once you start volunteering, you’ll be undertaking Tasks for the different
Familiars by journalling about them and marking them as completed.
Each Task takes 1 of your Downtime segments.
Once you have completed all the Tasks for a Familiar, you will have earned
their trust and can use their Special Ability.

If you’d like to randomise your Tasks, draw a card and go through the
Familiars (A - K) until you find the Familiar that matches the card’s value
and do the top-most un-completed Task for that Familiar.

pictures of their
To all those who shared stories andyou.
amazing pets. Thank
es do them justice.
1 I hope the memorials2 in these pag
 Ben The Cerberus Yorkie Squiggles The Void Fragment
A truly magical creature, this pint-sized Cerberus is, surprisingly, a Some witches have strange tastes in familiars and Squiggles is one of
Rannoc native. An incredibly loving little guy but be warned, with them. A piece of the Abyss given form, she has proven to be one of
three heads comes three times the licking and this lap-dog just can’t our more difficult residents. Great care should be taken when dealing
seem to help himself when he gets excited. with her as she likes to scratch and whispers dark spells.
Ben is always eager to help and loves hikes around the Ranges. If you can earn her trust, she is rather affectionate.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Take for a hike up Moonbreaker Mountain • Repair things that she has damaged
• Clean saliva and dog breath smell off of things • Close any Abyssal Tears she has made in the fabric of reality
• Stay with him till he falls asleep • Pet her – Armour will be provided
• Play hide and seek and other games • Let her in after a play hunt
• Help him with his studies • Sabotage her play hunts to protect the local villagers and wildlife

Ability: Come Together - Ben is excellent at bringing people together. Ability: Abyssal Portal – Squiggles tears open reality so that you may
Once per Season, cancel the Reputation Loss from any source. travel to another Locale of your choosing without Decreasing
the Timer. What is the worst part about travelling this way?
May only be done once per Ailment.

In Memory Of Ben. In Memory of Squiggles.

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Lilith & Misty - Ferret Mediums Bastion The Gentle Giant Land Snail
This inseparable duo are the cause of much mischief here in the An unusually large snail from foreign climes, this gargantuan
shelter. Our resident Medium, Lilith and her ghostly sister, Misty, gastropode is about the size of a wagon and requires a truly
use their combined powers to not only get into the snack cupboards tremendous amount of vegetation each day. Loving and incredibly
but also to summon other spirit friends for nightly parties. gentle, they enjoy trading stories about their homeland and having
They love to play and will happily perform rituals for snacks. their shell decorated.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Find and release wayward spirits • Cleaning their shell
• Stop them from getting into the snack cupboard • Gathering vegetation
• Play with them • Cleaning up their slime trails
• Gather things for one of their rituals • Singing to them
• Helping them prepare for Hibernation in Winter
Ability: Séance - Lilith & Misty can bring forth the spirit of someone
who has died. Who do you ask them to bring? What do you ask Ability: Special Slime – Bastion produces a Slime that cannot be found
of the spirit? How are they handling death? in Rannoc normally. Once per Ailment you may gather:
Giant Snail Slime – Any [TAG **]

In Memory Of Lilith & Misty. In Memory of Bastion

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Peaches The Rat - Master Criminal Bumble The Bee-Chinchilla
Rats are a common familiar but our resident rodent is anything but. While familiars are intelligent, they don’t always know what’s best
Seemingly trained in the art of Shadowstepping, Peaches can get into for them. This is especially true of this sweet toothed chinchilla who
any locked room and frequently assists in snack heists. Thankfully will do anything for a drop of honey. Kind as kind can be, this fuzzy
though, her one true love is napping and many a crime spree has fella will melt your heart.
been brought short by a comfy pillow. Oh, and as for the stripes, we aren’t quite sure and neither is he.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Find where Peaches has ended up • Spend time with him
• Return any stolen goods • Cool down or warm up their room
• Play soothing music or sing for her • Take him out for a run
• Challenge her to steal something from you • Change the dust in his sand bath
• Roleplay as a guard for her to outwit • Bring him wood to chew

Ability: Shadowstep - Negate the negative effects of an Event of your Ability: Helping Paw – Once per Ailment, you may ask Bumble to
choosing as Peaches help you to disappear into the shadows. Can provide the bonus of any Item of your choosing but you must
only be done once per Ailment. give him something [SWEET] for his efforts.

In Memory Of Peaches. In Memory Of Honey & Bumble.

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 Spider The Spider Lola The Motherly Warhound
Once a resident of the Weaver’s Woods until she ended up here with This lowland war dog was the companion of an adventurer until she
an injury, Spider has since become a welcome resident and sworn off ended up at our shelter. One of the most loving animals you’ll ever
of eating people… for now. Exceptionally quiet, she could do with meet, she sees herself as the mother of the shelter and will do
some help coming out of her shell so to speak. anything to protect her pack.
Spider loves riddles and can make beautiful web art. She will gladly share stories of her adventures if you ask.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Share riddles and puzzles • See if she has a mission for you (page 14)
• Convince another familiar to visit her • Take her for a walk in Hero’s Hollow
• Take a message to the Weaver Woods in Glimmerwood Grove • Help her with whatever animal she has adopted
• Clean out her old webs • Wrestle and play-fight with her
• Find where she’s hiding • Clean her armour

Ability: Web Trap – Spider sets up a web near your cottage. Once per Ability: Guidance – Lola’s training and care for your other Familiar
Ailment, draw a card and gain an ANIMAL Reagent equal to or lets you draw a new power on the Familiar Skills table
less than the card’s value. (Apothecaria page 11). They may have both powers at once.

In Memory Of Spider. In Memory of Lola.

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 Sophie The Night Gryphon Losgann The Patriotic Toad
This height-fearing gryphon has been with us for a while and while This tartan wearing toad comes to us from the storm battered
she’s too frightened to fly she seems to have no problem lazing highlands and refuses to speak anything but the traditional tongue.
around on the roof. Incredibly playful and a bit of a gourmand, Stubborn to a fault but willing to teach the language and at his
Sophie loves to go foraging anywhere where she doesn’t have to fly. happiest when singing about his home.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Clean up her loose hair and feathers • Learn some old words (Gaelic or another traditional language)
• Cook or bake something with her (she loves pasta) • Learn some more old words
• Get her down from somewhere high • Play music for him
• Repair her toys and scratching post • Dredge the pond
• Get her teddy down from the roof • Have a conversation in the traditional tongue

Ability: Sous Chef – Sophie knows how to get the most out of a Ability: Bog Veteran – A bog’s a bog no matter where you go. While
Reagent. When making a potion, you may either increase the travelling together in Blastfire Bog, ignore the negative effects of
Potency of a Reagent to 3 or give the potion 2 points of Sweet. any Events.

In Memory of Sophie.

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 Magnus The Crow Seer Shadow The Wild Cat
One of our frequent flyers, Magnus comes and goes for days at a Raised by druids, Shadow was a wild cat, familiar to a community
time to assist a local oracle. This wise old bird is happy to practice his rather than a single person. However, after years of living in the
Divination with you… just don’t be put off by how happy he gets woods and learning the ways of other beasts, he came to us with a
reading dark fortunes. desire to settle down and ‘live the easy life’.
He loves listening to stories or even a good rant. He loves being petted and is seemingly waterproof.

Tasks: Tasks:
• Let Magnus practice his Divination on you • Brush his fur
• Read him a story or rant about something that’s happened • Pet him
• Do something completely unexpected • Trick him into exercising
• Find him something macabre like a skull to perch on • Take him for a stroll around Glimmerwood Grove
• Take him to visit The Strange • Give him a rare Glimmerwood Reagent (10 or Higher)

Ability: Divine The Future – At the start of a Forage, look at the top Ability: Untamed Growth – Shadow practices his druidic magic in
three cards of the deck and choose to keep or discard any of them. your garden, once per Ailment, draw a card and gain a PLANT
Reagent equal to or less than the card’s value.

In Memory of Shadow

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 Unknown Adopting
A new arrival might appear at any point and we want to make sure As you get to know our residents, you may find that you wish to
they are made welcome and comfortable. The task list below is a bit adopt them. If you decide to provide a home for one of our residents,
generic and may need modified to fit the specific familiar who you’ll be pleased to know there are no fees and only one
arrives but we’re sure you can handle it. requirement:
At any point, you can make a Familiar who will take up this slot. This • The resident must trust you
could be purely fictional or a nod to a pet of your own, its your choice. To get a resident to trust you, you must complete all of their Tasks.
Tasks:
After you have adopted a resident, they will live with you at your
• Dust and clean one of the spare rooms
home and may help you during Ailments and Forages.
• Ensure the new familiar’s dietary needs are met
You may also help a resident get adopted by someone else by
• Get to know the new familiar, ask them about themselves introducing them and seeing how they get on.
• Show them the shelter and introduce them to the others
• See what else they need help with Lola’s Missions
Draw 3 cards and check the table below to see what your mission is.
Ability: Potential – Draw on the Familiar Skills table (Apothecaria
Page 11) to see what this resident can provide. A – 5 – Local A – 2 – Glimmerwood
♥ or ♦ – Deliver a…
Reagent Grove
Or, if you’d like, make an ability up that fits your Familiar. ♣ or ♠ – Find a… 6 – 10 – Item 3 –4 – Meltwater Loch
5 – 6 – Moonbreaker
J/Q/K – Person
Mountain
7 –8 – Hero’s Hollow
9 – 10 – Expansion
Locale
J/Q/K – Advanced
Locale
To determine if you are successful, flip a coin at the start of each
Event. Heads, you succeed. Tails, keep looking. Combine the mission
with the Event to see what happens.
If you don’t have any of the expansions, merge Expansion Locale
with Advanced Locale (9 - K).
Advanced Locale refers to Blastfire Bog ♥, The Cloud Isles ♦,
Dreamwater Depths ♣ and The Strange ♠.

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Exploring The Shelter
A stately home situated on a hill near High Rannoc, this idyllic
manor is covered in hanging vines and blueish moss and surrounded One of the villagers comes to complain about a resident.
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by beautiful semi-wild gardens littered with animal toys. Watch your Who was it? What did they do? How is peace restored?
step as you explore its many halls and rooms.
You stumble upon one of the residents practising a spell. If
The candles flicker and the mirrors go frosty as the ghost you haven’t done any of their Tasks, they hide away.
A of an animal runs around inside the shelter. What kind of If you have done some but not all of their Tasks, they let
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animal is it? How do you get rid of it? you watch.
If you have completed all of their Tasks, they teach you
the spell.
Horror greets you as you open the kitchen and find that it One of the regular volunteers asks if you want to go for a
2 is in a dire state. Food everywhere, dishes smashed on the 9 walk together. Who are they? If you go, what do you talk
ground, what happened? Who is to blame? about and where do they take you?

One of the familiars is celebrating something today. What The shelter owner rushes past in a clear panic. What are
3 are they celebrating? How can you help to make the 10 they chasing after/ running away from? What
celebration memorable? shenanigans unfold?

As you’re exploring one of the less used parts of the A witch comes to visit the shelter with the intention of
Shelter, you come across something depicting a previous adopting one of the familiars. Who are they? Have they
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resident. What was their name? What where they? What visited before? You may decide if they adopt someone and
happened to them? if so, who they adopt. What is it like seeing them go?

One of the familiars tells you a story of a place they know. You come across the shelter owner taking a well deserved
5 What do they tell you? Is the place near or far? Safe or break. They ask how you’re getting on in the shelter and
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dangerous? share a bit about the shelter’s history.
What do they tell you?

Someone else is volunteering at the shelter today and asks

You answer the door to the postal harpy who has a if you could help them with a task. Draw a card to see
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delivery for one of the residents. What is it? which familiar they need help with and help this
newcomer with the top-most uncompleted task.
Care for the witchless familiars
of the Rannoc Ranges in this
Downtime centric Expansion

Back Cover
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