Spotlight on Tanuki

Tanuki is a greedy, deceitful, double-dealing master of chaos. Since arriving in Pulp City he has only gotten worse. While bound to the Green Emperor and the Jade Cult by ancient compacts, his only true loyalty is to himself and the disorder he spreads. Tanuki works with The Way of Fist and Blade knowing that by playing both sides he can keep the conflict between the two groups going, thus increasing his own personal fortune.

On the surface Tanuki might seem unimpressive, with average Traits and only 3 HP, but there is a lot more going on than appears. Tanuki is all about application of Extra Effects (EFX) from his Actions as he has a gigantic bag of tricks to choose from and the Power Up dice to pull them off. Bad Luck is his most aggressive Action, dealing Power Down 1 (removing Power Up dice) and Stun as base Effect (FX), as a Projectile with 6 inch range, and can choose Damage, Fatigue, Suppress or additional Power Down as EFX. There’s Gotta be a Spell for That is an Instant Action granting Tanuki a Power Up die (Power Up 1 as FX). From there he can choose to boost his Attack or Defense, Self/Heal, or Self/Shift, or even acquire more Power Up dice; this is often Tanuki’s ‘go to’ Action.

His final Action is Zen Focus, allowing Tanuki or a Friendly Living model in Base to Base (BtB) to boost their Defense, Agility, or Spirit Trait to 8 for the Round! As compensation, the other two Traits are also reduced to 1 for the same period, so this can be a real mixed blessing and timing is crucial. When needed it can be enough to keep Tanuki safe from an Enemy, or boost an ally. Both Zen Focus and Gotta Be A Spell are Combinable and all of Tanuki’s actions are a bargain at 1 AP each. His Power, Fortune Favors the Rich, grants Tanuki 1 Power Up die per HP remaining at the start of every Round, which he can also provide to Friendly Supremes in BtB.

Tanuki is a great Support Supreme requiring few AP. Use his Zen Focus on models using Agility to Attack such as Green Serpent, Foxxy Blade, Chimp Chi or Grimm Lee Chan to simultaneously boost Attack and Defense. Terror Cotta Warriors can be used to keep Tanuki safe and he can supply them much needed Power Up dice. Use Tanuki with Amok or Yeti to pass on additional Power Up dice, then Self/Shift or Blink to safety.

You can read about how Tanuki came to Pulp City here (click for link).

Or if you want to add him to your team, you can find Tanuki here in the web-store.