Try these new figurines of wondrous power for your Tales of the Valiant or 5E game! As a refresher, here are the standard rules for figures of wondrous power, as seen in the Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide:

A figurine of wondrous power is a statuette of a beast small enough to fit in a pocket. If you use an action to speak the command word and throw the figurine to a point on the ground within 60 feet of you, the figurine becomes a living creature. If the space where the creature would appear is occupied by other creatures or objects, or if there isn’t enough space for the creature, the figurine doesn’t become a creature.

The creature is friendly to you and your companions. It understands your languages and obeys your spoken commands. If you issue no commands, the creature defends itself but takes no other actions.

The creature exists for a duration specific to each figurine. At the end of the duration, the creature reverts to its figurine form. It reverts to a figurine early if it drops to 0 HP or if you use an action to speak the command word again while touching it. When the creature reverts to a figurine, its property can’t be used again until a certain amount of time has passed, as specified in the figurine’s description.

Alabaster Axe Beak

This smooth, white statuette stands nearly 6 inches tall and depicts a long-legged, flightless bird with a broad, wedge-shaped beak. These magic items are usually found in possession of those who inhabit the temperate plains and warm grasslands where such beasts can be found.

ALABASTER AXE BEAK

Wondrous Item, Rare                     5,000 gp

This alabaster statuette can become an axe beak (see Monster Vault) that you can ride as a mount for up to 12 hours. Once it has been used, it can’t be used again until 4 days have passed. While the axe beak follows your commands, it retains the unpleasant disposition of such beasts. If an unfamiliar creature is in an adjacent space, there is a 50 percent chance on any given turn that the axe beak attempts to bite that creature as an action. If you are adjacent to or riding the axe beak, you can prevent the attack with a successful DC 12 WIS (Animal Handling) check.

Introducing the Alabaster Axe Beak

Ways to introduce the alabaster axe beak into your campaign:

• A pack of wild axe beaks has set up hunting grounds along a trade route, with their nesting area at an important well along the route. If the beasts are killed or driven off, the PCs find, rather than eggs, an alabaster axe beak in a nest.

• A druid and her adopted axe beak pack are making life difficult on the plains. Settlers from the inner kingdom are seeking to expand to the newly-claimed borderlands and develop new farmsteads. The druid sees this as an unwelcome encroachment and has been harassing the settlers, seeking to drive them off. If the PCs can resolve this situation to the satisfaction of both opposing parties, or if they side with the settlers and defeat the druid, they can claim an alabaster axe beak as a gift or spoils.

• On the trail in endless grasslands, the PCs happen upon a wandering merchant heading the opposite way. The merchant has many odd items for sale or trade, including an alabaster axe beak she is willing to part with for half the normal price. But why?

Malachite Mount

This figurine is sought after by of travelers and adventurers who want the versatility of a mount without worrying about constant care and feeding, especially those without the determination or discipline to aspire to paladinhood.

MALACHITE MOUNT

Wondrous Item, Rare                     8,000 gp

Carved of striated green stone, this 4-inch high statuette appears differently depending on the angle from which it is viewed. The left side appears as a standard horse. When viewed from the right, it resembles a destrier in barding. When activated, the statuette becomes a riding horse (see Monster Vault), complete with saddle and harness, for 24 hours. The riding horse only fights to defend itself. Once it has been used, it cannot be used again until 24 hours have passed. Alternately, the statuette can become a warhorse (see Monster Vault), bearing the tack and scale barding, for 8 hours. Once it has been used in warhorse form, it cannot be used again until 3 days have passed.

Introducing the Malachite Mount

Here are a few ways to introduce the malachite mount to your PCs:

• The PCs stumble upon the tomb of a knight, buried with various trophies from her storied life. Should they attempt to open the knight’s sarcophagus or disturb any of the grave goods, a magic mouth ritual spell activates, speaking the activation word for the knight’s malachite mount and commanding it to attack the tomb robbers. (Other treasures could also act as guardians, perhaps a flying sword and a suit of animated armor.)

• While traveling a little-used road, the PCs come across a man lying dead in their path. He is dressed for riding, but no mount can be seen. He has been robbed. Should the PCs search the area, they can find a malachite mount lying under a bush at the side of the road near the body. They can also pick up the trail of the bandits that killed and robbed this messenger, but missed the magical figurine.

Rose Quartz Rhinoceros

While the marble elephant is a known and prized figurine, in some cultures the rhinoceros is a more endeared and symbolic animal. Thus, they crafted their own magical figurine to venerate what they consider to be the superior beast.

ROSE QUARTZ RHINOCEROS

Wondrous Item, Rare                     8,000 gp

This statuette of clear, pink stone stands 4 inches high and long, and nearly 3 inches wide. When activated, the statuette becomes a rhinoceros (see Monster Vault) for up to 24 hours. Once it has been used, it can’t be used again until 6 days have passed.

Should the rhinoceros see an elephant within 40 feet of it, it attacks until the elephant dies or flees. You must succeed at a DC 11 WIS (Animal Handling) check to stop the rhinoceros from doing so.

Introducing the Rose Quartz Rhino

Try these hooks to introduce the rose quartz rhinoceros to your PCs:

• The PCs are hired by a merchant clan to deliver a load of valuable goods through dangerous territory. The trip is short, less than a day, but their employers insist it will be fraught with danger. Strangely, they are given a rhinoceros as a pack animal to carry the delivery. Whatever the PCs may face is up to you, but once the delivery is made, the recipient returns the rhinoceros to its statuette form and offers it to the PCs as payment for their services.

• The PCs discover an injured warrior. Before they can offer healing or gain an explanation for her plight, the warrior’s enemies arrive. The warrior hands one of the PCs a rose quartz rhinoceros and tells them the command word. The magical figurine is theirs, the warrior either expiring from her wounds during the fight, or gifting it to them for their aid against her enemies.