I've been busy as a bee converting Beyond the Rim to fit my 600+ xp group (both narratively and mechanically) for a couple of days now. It's still going to be at least 3-4 weeks before they start, but I went ahead and put together stats for the "black nexu" spoken of on page 20, as well as some nexu pups just because I'm pretty sure my group is going to take nexu hunting an perhaps even training really seriously.

Anyways, figure y'all would appreciate this;

Black Nexu (Nemesis)
Brawn 5, Agility 5, Intellect 1, Cunning 4, Willpower 3, Presence 1

Soak Value: 5 Wound Threshold: 30 Strain Threshold: 18 Defense: 0

Skills: Athletics 4, Brawl 3, Cool 3, Coordination 2, Stealth 3, Survival 2, Vigilance 4

Abilities: Fierce Pounce (If the black nexu uses the aim maneuver, it also gains Knockdown on its next attack.), Silhouette 2

Talents: Frenzied Attack 2 (When making a combat check, can suffer up to 2 strain up upgrade the ability the attack an equal number of times.), Swift (Do not suffer normal penalties for moving through difficult terrain.)

Equipment: Claws (Brawl; Damage 7; Critical 3; Range [engaged]; Pierce 1), Bite (Brawl; Damage 9; Critical 2; Range [engaged]; Ensnare 2, Pierce 2), Tail Whip (Brawl; Damage 6; Critical 4; Range [short]; Accurate 1)

Nexu Kitten (minion)

Brawn 2, Agility 3, Intellect 1, Cunning 2, Willpower 1, Presence 1

Soak Value: 2 Wound Threshold: 6 Defense: 0

Group Skills: Athletics, Cool, Stealth, Vigilance

Abilities: Kitten Pounce (Nexu kittens can use Triumph results on Brawl checks to knock their opponents prone; additional Triumphs are needed for targets above Silhouette 1), Silhouette 0
Equipment: Claws (Brawl; Damage 4; Critical 5; Range [engaged]), Bite (Brawl; Damage 6; Critical 4; Range [engaged]), Tail Whip (Brawl; Damage 3; Critical 5; Range [engaged])

....aaaaand for any GMs who might be feeling utterly evil...

Cybernetically-Enhanced Black Nexu (Nemesis)
Brawn 5, Agility 5, Intellect 1, Cunning 4, Willpower 2, Presence 1

Soak Value: 5 Wound Threshold: 30 Strain Threshold: 18 Defense: 0

Skills: Athletics 4, Brawl 3, Cool 3, Coordination 2, Stealth 3, Survival 2, Vigilance 4

Abilities: Fierce Pounce (If the black nexu uses the aim maneuver, it also gains Knockdown on its next attack.), Silhouette 2

Talents: Frenzied Attack 2 (When making a combat check, can suffer up to 2 strain up upgrade the ability the attack an equal number of times.), Swift (Do not suffer normal penalties for moving through difficult terrain.)

Equipment: Energized Claws (Brawl; Damage 10; Critical 3; Range [engaged]; Pierce 1, Stun 10), Reinforced Teeth (Brawl; Damage 9; Critical 2; Range [engaged]; Ensnare 2, Pierce 5), Tail Spikes (Brawl; Damage 6; Critical 4; Range [short]; Accurate 1, can spend Triumph results to hit enemies engaged with original target.)

Looks awesome, although the only thing I can see that doesn't seem to fit (to me at least) is that minions that I've seen haven't had any kind of abilities or talents, so giving the Nexu kittens a pounce ability might be a little much. Especially at Silhouette 0. Maybe the knockdown can be the default ability if a triumph is scored on an attack?

Looks awesome, although the only thing I can see that doesn't seem to fit (to me at least) is that minions that I've seen haven't had any kind of abilities or talents, so giving the Nexu kittens a pounce ability might be a little much. Especially at Silhouette 0. Maybe the knockdown can be the default ability if a triumph is scored on an attack?

It was a side effect of cutting and pasting, but regardless you're quite right! That's a really good idea.

Swapped out "Fierce Pounce" for "Kitten Pounce" on the nexu kittens.

*Smiles evily to self, with a kind of curvy Grinch smile*

My group is gonna hate me for this...

Now I want a nexu kitten!

FINAL UPDATE: Noting that Reevos -- another silhouette 2 creature -- have a WT of 35, I increased the black nexus WT to 30. I've also increased their Willpower to 3 to reflect that the fact that they're extremely difficult to domesticate, although I'm keeping their strain threshold where it is, because IMHO an animal's ST doesn't need to be too high.

My party has some real combat monsters and they desperately wanted to hunt the black nexu, so in order to make a challenge for them I created this alternate version. It's pretty nasty. In my game, I also added a cybernetically modified Nexu with a brain implant and made her the mate of the Black Nexu.

The party encountered three of their offspring (normal unmodified nexu) while the cyber nexu and the black nexu remained stealthed and hidden, using Field Commander to give maneuvers/actions to the clowder. At exciting times, or when it looked like the players were mopping up the kiddos, the parents came out to play. For those players who were big threats, I activated Dodge. For those lesser combatants I opted not to (So they'd have a chance to hit). Lastly, I tried out the multi-stage Boss FIght mentioned here , which is why the Black Nexu has a Stage 1 and a Stage 2. All in all, I thought it went pretty well, and the party was triumphant after noticing the exposed heart in Stage 2 with a Hard perception check.

Now I want a nexu kitten!

Lastly, I tried out the multi-stage Boss FIght mentioned here , which is why the Black Nexu has a Stage 1 and a Stage 2.

I'm curious how you handled the trigger for Stage 2. The idea is the boss does something to give himself the opportunity to change the scene. Do you just handle that narratively, or through a specific attack of some kind?

Wow, I posted that almost a year ago!

As to the kittens; yes, no, yes, yes.

That last one needs some Star Wars dice if he's gonna be playing EoE!!

It's a she. Photo was taken circa 2007 or maybe 2008. She died July 15th this year (2014). She was 19 years and 3.5 months old. I got her as a two week old kitten in April 1995. So I won't be able to get an updated pic with FFG dice. But she never "grew up" she acted like a kitten until she was about 17. After that she spent most of her time sleeping.

I wonder if "lol nexus" is popular on the holonet

Lastly, I tried out the multi-stage Boss FIght mentioned here , which is why the Black Nexu has a Stage 1 and a Stage 2.

I'm curious how you handled the trigger for Stage 2. The idea is the boss does something to give himself the opportunity to change the scene. Do you just handle that narratively, or through a specific attack of some kind?

In my game the party killed the three normal nexu and had almost caused enough wounds on the Black Nexu to reach his threshold. I had him basically drop the PC that he was dragging away in his mouth and double move into the forest breaking line of sight. It happened on his initiative, but if needed, the GM could make it happen narratively as well, interrupting the initiative order. As long as it's cool, I don't think anyone would mind. I told the PCs that this would be a good time to lick their wounds and apply medpacs before pursuing him, if they wanted to. I also had the female cyber brain Nexu taunting them from the forest. "Coooooooooommmmeee" she said eerily. My PCs were worried that I wouldn't let them get another chance at him so I explained that I was trying a multi-stage boss encounter and if they pursued him, they'd possibly get another chance at him. (He was a recurring nemesis for the whole time on Cholganna, and had been stealing and eating people from the Retreat, ala Ghost in the Darkness style.) The PCS had heard a lot of about him, and seen direct results of his actions, but never actually seen him in person yet. I tried to build up the tension and anticipation through the campaign.

For stage 2, since the black nexu was so wounded, he was leaving easy to follow blood trails on the ground. They tracked him through the forest and came to a clearing, which was just the female and the black Nexu starting out as hidden and ambushing the party. The few NPCs who spotted the black nexu were allowed to make hard perception checks to notice the exposed heart on their turns when they tried to attack or move towards him. I also had some heavy rain during both scenes which limited the sight ranges to short and added 1-2 setback dice, tho the NPCS stopped the rain with a triumph (they were happy about that).

There are a lot of tricks you can do to switch to stage 2, which basically triggers when the black nexu's wound threshold is close to full or exceeded. Things like a close bolt of lightning disorienting everyone for a few seconds, a tree falling due to a bark rat swarm or other cause, or an arboreal octopus dropping on an NPC right as he hits the nexu (which would be the killing blow, but the PCs don't need to know that) can be exciting and surprising ways to change the scene and give the baddie time to get away to his next arena. For me, it was important that the PCs lose sight of him, ending the combat and giving everyone a quick break, before starting stage 2.

On a side note, I have to say that my party LOVED (and hated) the notion of a despair turning into an arboreal octopus dropping onto someone's head. We used it several times, especially on the non-combatants. It really drove home the scariness of Cholganna and the octopi hiding all over the place. Also, I'd recommend that GMs who use Nexu really try to have them ambush a player, preferably when one is separated from the rest, with his bite/ensnare and then drag him away from the group or up into the trees. It's exciting and scary as Hell for the person being dragged.