Astral Badger

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Familiar number: 53
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Astral Badger
Come take a journey To the center of your mind Or just beat up foes.

Attacks enemies and unlocks trippy new content

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Ability: Attacks like a MicroMechaMech, and drops up to five Astral Mushrooms a day, which let you go into a new "area."

Throne/Bjorn: Maximum HP/MP +10, delevels first 3 rounds of combat and drops 2 mushrooms on that third round of combat.

Hatchling: astral badger

Familiar-Specific Equipment: badger badge

	Ultimate Cage Match	Scavenger Hunt	Obstacle Course	Hide and Seek

Mumming Trunk Abilities:

+30% Meat Drop	4-5 MP	+4 Muscle statgain	+15% Item Drop	+4 Mysticality statgain	8-10 HP	+2 Moxie statgain
*Hover for details

Cannot breathe underwater

Combat Messages

• Regular messages:

  <name> claws your opponent with his pan-dimensional claws for X damage. (X = floor(weight/2) - 5 to weight - 5)

  <name> claws your opponent with his pan-dimensional claws for X damage. If only the monster had a "non-pandimensional claws clause" in his contract. (X = floor(weight/2) - 5 to weight - 5)

  <name> claws your opponent with his pan-dimensional claws and bites him with his astral teeth for X damage. (X = floor(weight/2) to weight)

  <name> claws your opponent with his pan-dimensional claws and bites him with his astral teeth for X damage. Ladies and gentlemen, coming to the stage right now: ASTRAL TEETH! (X = floor(weight/2) to weight)

  <name> reaches into a higher plane and pulls out a snake! A snake! It's a snake! He throws the snake at your opponent, and the snake bites for X damage. It's a shame Samuel L. Jackson isn't around to see this. (X = floor(weight/2) + 10 to weight + 10)

• Every so often, up to five times a day:

  You hear a small *pop!* as <name> produces a rainbow-colored mushroom from... well, from somewhere. You couldn't really tell. He sniffs the mushroom, then tosses it away. You pick it up because, hey, free mushroom.

  You acquire an item: astral mushroom

• Enthroned in the Crown of Thrones (First three rounds) :

  <name> badgers your opponent for a while, leaving him annoyed.

  Monster attack power reduced by 5-9

  Monster defense reduced by 5-9

• Enthroned in the Crown of Thrones (On the third round):

  Hey, look, some mushrooms!

You acquire an item: spooky mushroom

You acquire an item: spooky mushroom

or

You acquire an item: Knob mushroom

You acquire an item: Knob mushroom

or

You acquire an item: Knoll mushroom

You acquire an item: Knoll mushroom

• Bjornified in the Buddy Bjorn (First three rounds):

  <name> badger badger badger badgers your opponent.

  Monster attack power reduced by 5-9

  Monster defense reduced by 5-9

• Bjornified in the Buddy Bjorn (On the third round):

  <name> makes a squeaky exclamation-type noise. Mushroom, mushroom!

You acquire an item: spooky mushroom

You acquire an item: spooky mushroom

or

You acquire an item: Knob mushroom

You acquire an item: Knob mushroom

or

You acquire an item: Knoll mushroom

You acquire an item: Knoll mushroom

• With lucky Tam O'Shanter equipped:

  You witness the badger wink at you from beneath the Tam O'Shanter. Better to witness the badger than badger the witness, I always say.

• With miniature gravy-covered maypole equipped:

  You witness the badger do a very repetitive but catchy dance around the maypole. Better to witness the badger than badger the witness, I always say.

• With wax lips equipped:

  You witness the badger slightly shred the wax lips with his sharp teeth. Better to witness the badger than badger the witness, I always say.

Arena Messages

• When entered in a Scavenger Hunt:

  <name> is lousy at scavenger hunts. He can see hundreds of dimensions at once and is never sure in which one the hunt is taking place.

Notes

• Familiar of the month for June 2006.
• The badger attacks every round for at least one damage.
• The badger will use the claws-only attack 70% of the time, the claws+teeth 15% of the time, and the snake 15% of the time.
• After ascending, you can summon five more mushrooms that day.
• You can win astral mushrooms from each NS form.
• The doppelshifter can change into a badger and does drop mushrooms.
• If the Badger is adventuring in the Nearby Plains, you may get "It's a shame Samuel L. Jackson isn't around to see this." added at the end of an action performed in your turn. This is also true for the Battlefield.
• There exists a stuffed version of this familiar.
• After roughly 1 minute, the arms of the badger will move up and down in the same way as the badgers in Weebl's Badger Loop. (also see below)
• Similar to other Content Familiars, the base drop rate on astral mushrooms per day decreases for every additional mushroom you get, but for each turn you spend and do not get a mushroom, the drop rate for that mushroom increases by 5 percentage points.
• Equipping the badger badge increases the base drop rate of dropping a mushroom by 5 percentage points

astral mushroom Drop Rates

	mushroom #	1	2	3	4	5
with badger badge	Drop Rate	30% + 5%*N	25% + 5%*N	20% + 5%*N	15% + 5%*N	10% + 5%*N
	Expected combats from last drop	2.81	3.03	3.42	3.91	4.52
without badger badge	Drop Rate	25% + 5%*N	20% + 5%*N	15% + 5%*N	10% + 5%*N	5% + 5%*N
	Expected combats from last drop	3.03	3.42	3.91	4.52	5.29

References

• The mushroom collection message, "because, hey, free mushroom" is based on a quote from Deep Thoughts by Jack Handey: "If you ever fall off the Sears Tower, just go real limp, because maybe you'll look like a dummy and people will try to catch you because, hey, free dummy."
• The Familiar's haiku references the 1968 song "Journey to the Center of the Mind" by the Amboy Dukes, of which Ted Nugent was a founding member.
• The entire badger/mushroom/snake deal is a reference to Weebl's Badger Loop... this includes "a snake! A snake! It's a snake!".
• After 1 minute, the badger's image dances for 5 seconds in the style seen in the Badger Loop video.
• The badger reaching into a higher plane to pull out a snake is a reference to the movie Snakes on a Plane, starring Samuel L. Jackson. The additional message about Samuel L. Jackson not being around to see it when adventuring in the Nearby Plains is also a reference, being a Snake on a Plain (from a plane), and apparent from the other end in the Higher Plane Serpents miss message and the tomb asp fumble message.