This scenario has been written with the unknowing help of many, many, different folks, thanks to you all.
This Scenario makes extensive use of John Harpers Alternative Gun System. This is reflected in the Character stats
This scenario requires that your characters have links to the Dragon faction, if not affiliated exactly, and have been to the Netherworld. The Scenario involves a critical shift that threatens to wipe mankind from the Earth, only our heroes can stop this from happening. The heroes should also be attuned to the Williamson Estate Feng Shui site featured in the Daedalus supplement Back for Seconds, for the scenario to run as written.
Overview
Demons are the tools of the Secret War, The Lotus and the Buro seem to use and abuse these malefic denizens of the Underworld without a thought of the intelligence and malevolence of their victims. Well pretty soon that is gonna change as the Demons make a play to become a faction within the Secret War.
Mal Ank, The Lord of Death by Impaling is a minor Demon Lord (if a Demon Lord could be called minor) who watched the enslavement and destruction of his kind with increasing alarm. Deciding to discover more about the upstarts who were committing these crimes he appeared before a promising yet inexperienced member of the Lotus, Cheng Ka-Yan and offered to serve him.
Mal Ank posed as a stupid yet powerful demon going under the name of Horned Death, Cheng Ka-Yan saw this as his main chance to gain Gao Zhang's attention. Cheng slowly worked his way up the ranks of the Lotus, his demonic servant constantly at his side. Eventually Cheng was made a Fire Petal, and was sent on many missions that took him to other Junctures and the Netherworld, he even had an audience with the Centre of the Lotus, Gao Zhang himself, again, the loyal Horned Death constantly at his side.
Mal Ank was able to learn a lot about the Lotus and how it operated during this time. He also travelled to all the other Junctures and was able to learn a little about each one. He was also able to personally meet with Gao Zhang and judged him to be a very dangerous man.
Mal Ank although masquerading as the brute Horned Death, occasionally showed flashes of brilliance and extreme cunning that led Cheng to become suspicious. Belatedly he decided to investigate the origins of his loyal ally. What he discovered horrified him and he confronted Mal Ank with his new-found knowledge. Mal Ank attacked him and after a short brutal battle Mal Ank impaled Cheng slowly on a stake as part of a magickal ritual to bind Cheng's immortal soul in eternal servitude.
Mal Ank then left Cheng's mansion, leaving destruction and one thousand impaled troops in his wake, and roamed the countryside, ready to initiate the second part of his plan. Soon he encountered an Architect capture squad and after a token battle, allowed himself to be taken prisoner. This "token" battle meant the deaths of three experienced Monster Hunters and the decimation of two dozen troops. Mal Ank was transported back to the Architect Juncture to be transformed into an Abomination.
The Demon Lord willingly went through the pain and humiliation of being bonded with Arcanotechnology and again adopted the guise of Horned Death to learn as much about the Buro abilities and goals as possible. In fact, Horned Death was known to the Buro databases and was considered a valuable asset and was renamed the rather catchy, XHD 16399. After a short trial period, Mal Ank was assigned more important tasks and soon became an important operative within the BuroMil.
Mal Ank finally tired of the rigid formality of life in the Buro and decided to leave. He slaughtered the human members of the squad and led several of his fellow Abominations into the Netherworld. Mal Ank led his followers to a desolate part of the Netherworld, where months before he had discovered an abandoned city that had been shaped by previous long-lost denizens of that realm. Mal Ank called this city Hate and his followers The Legion of Vengeful Darkness.
In the last couple of years more and more demons have joined Mal Ank, the Impaler's, banner, many having escaped the Lotus and the Architects. Also many humans that worship various demonic cults have also joined the Legion. The humans are treated abysmally (no pun intended), but those who survive gain great power.
Mal Ank plots his revenge against humanity as a whole and the Architects and Lotus specifically, he knows that the best way to strike at the Buro is to change history and wipe them from the face of the earth. To this end he has a plan.
There is a Gateway within the City of Hate, which opens into the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, during the year 1912. Mal Ank has discovered from his study of history that this is very close to the place where the Titanic met her doom. His plan is to send a specially trained cadre of aquatic demons into the sinking ship and kidnap an infant. An ethereal creature known as The Whisperer will then possess the infant the infant will then be placed in a replica of a Titanic lifeboat and left somewhere near the vicinity of the tragedy.
The Whisperer will wait until its divinations have identified The Baleful Time, then he shall use his host to open a portal to the Underworld, legions of demons will descend upon mankind and make them suffer for their impudence.
The Infant is Ivanovich Dragumov, who later became a general in the Soviet army and the portal was opened in Chernobyl, Russia in April, 1986...
Unless the Dragons can do something about it, but of course they have there own problems.
Crackdown in Kowloon
Kar Fai has sent the heroes to investigate possible links between the Lotus and a street gang called the Pain Lords. If the heroes have a recurring Lotus enemy such as Mak Shien from Baptism of Fire, then he has been seen in their company. As the scenario opens the heroes are parked across the street from a crack house in Kowloon, on a warm night. This is the clubhouse for the Pain Lords. Several gang members (about 10 in total) can be seen hanging around the entrance a PER (10) roll will spot several weapons, mainly autoloading pistols and shotguns with their stocks sawn off. The crackhouse itself is a veritable fortress the windows have had metal shutters welded to them and the door is similarly armoured, the walls of the building are festooned with Pain Lord graffiti.
As the heroes are watching this building the vehicle they are in is passed by a beaten old ford transit van that has seen much better days. This van pulls up and ten guys wearing Jade Imperial Society Triad colours leap out. They position themselves in a defensive arc across the street, openly toting Uzi's. A large black limo pulls up outside the entrance to the crackhouse the back door opens and a large man gets out, he is easily recognisable as Sammy Chung, he looks around, appearing to look straight at the heroes and motions to another man in the car, to get out.
The man who emerges is obviously Mak Shien, although this time he is wearing a very dapper suit. He and Chung make straight for the crackhouse doors, which open as they approach. What happens now is completely up to the heroes.
The crackhouse contains over 30 Pain Lord soldiers along with the leader of the gang Bone-T and his lieutenant/brother Little Chow. The Pain Lords deal mainly in drugs and extortion.
Cool Things that can Happen
They are now fleeing a burning building either on foot or in a vehicle, whatever type of transport they choose, they will be in for a chase:
Car chase and other vehicles rules
Remember that all actions while driving take an extra shot to accomplish.
Run the car chase until it either comes to a definite conclusion (the heroes either escape or crash horribly), or it gets boring. Once this point has been reached that is when the Reality Twist will occur. Suddenly, without warning the world changes.
The world twists and the heroes are suddenly assailed with a feeling of nausea that accompanies a Feng Shui site being taken from their control, but this feeling is magnified a thousand times.
A new reality suddenly replaces the existing one, this lasts for less than a second, before reverting back again, then it switches back again lasting nano-seconds longer, then reverts again....
This continues until the new reality replaces the old. Each character finds themselves in vastly different circumstances:
Character One (Cop character): You wake up lying on a wooden board, you are cold, hungry and at some point in the recent past have been beaten, you are wearing the tattered remains of your police uniform. The board is the bottom part of a triple bunk that leaves just enough room below the ceiling for a man to lay straight out, you are in a shabby looking dormitory, with at least thirty over bunks. Many of these bunks have shivering figures lying upon them, the air is acrid with the smell of vomit, faeces and death.
Character Two:(Gambler, Everyday Hero, Big Bruiser): You wake up lying on a wooden board, you are cold, and hungry, but much more importantly your body is wracked with the pain of drug withdrawal, looking around the dormitory it appears that you are the only one who has a blanket. The wall of your bunk is decorated with postcards from Hawaii and Hong Kong, as well as pictures of pin up models, in your hand you clutch your most prized possession, your playing cards. There is a note on your chest it reads "I've gone to kill that bastard DeathScream, he must pay for what he has done, Goodbye and Good Luck". It is in Character Three's handwriting, looking up you see (Character Ones Name) on another bunk staring back at you.
Character Three: (Transformed Animal, Techie, Old Master): Two large hulking men are dragging you across a dusty yard, your injuries stay the same. When you look up you see that the men carrying you aren't men at all but large hulking ogres, one of them carries a large wickedly sharp axe. Looking ahead you can see a bloodstained headsman's block.
Character Four: (Ninja, Martial Artist, Old Master, Stone Cold Killer Type): You are standing in the centre of a huge dusty exercise yard, at your rear is a resplendent single storey cottage, it is ablaze with light, the door is hanging from its hinges and several window's have been broken. You can hear the rumble of a generator that is nearby. You are wearing black robes, on your chest in red satin is depicted a closed fist. Your injuries have not healed, but their origin has changed, you appear to have taken a rather severe beating, all gunshot wounds and other injuries have changed in nature.
A figure is being dragged across the yard away from you by two hulking ogres towards an obvious headsman's block, one of the ogres is carrying a large evil axe, one handed. Looking around the yard you can see several more of these ogres all carrying assault rifles, they look like they are awaiting orders and it is obvious that you are the one they are expecting to give those orders. As you watch the man being dragged comes into the light, it is (Character Threes Name).
The yard is just a small part of a larger complex, it appears to be a military camp of some kind, long barracks can be seen and huge razor wire tipped walls dotted with watchtowers. As you watch it becomes obvious that in fact it is a prison camp. Searchlights comb the area just inside the walls and ogres man large machine guns in the towers.
Beyond the walls you can see the skyline of Kowloon, however it has changed considerably, many of the buildings have been partially destroyed. Only one building is intact and that is lit up like a Christmas tree, you see something take off from its roof, something like a helicopter...but wrong. The sky is covered in thick black cloud that is lit by an unknown source a hellish tinge, although there is a fairly brisk wind, the clouds are not budging an inch.
One of the ogres approaches you hesitantly "What are your orders, Commandant?"
Right about now you are probably looking a little confused, so I had better explain:
In the New World of the Legion, the contemporary Juncture has been completely overrun by demonic forces led by Mal Ank. Considering the advantages that many demons had over contemporary forces (bullet resistance, domination power and just being generally mind paralysingly scary). Many of the worlds military forces were paralysed into inactivity through mis-information and confusion when faced with a ravening horde of ghouls, ogres, goblins and worse creatures (see below). The world fell after five years of fitful, spasmodic battle.
It must also be remembered that the Lodge, although powerful are relatively few in number and are used to the subtle manipulation of events, rather than an outright invasion. The main players of the Lodge are now trying to come to terms with their sudden change in circumstances. Pretty soon there will be a series of breakouts from concentration camps across the world, as Innerwalkers from all the different factions that are operating in the Contemporary Juncture escape and make a break for their own different bolt holes.
The State of the World
Surprisingly, the initial confrontation was fairly bloodless. With the exception of the initial bloodbath in the Soviet Union and one or two massacres since then, the demon's readily excepted prisoners, disarmed them, sent them home and treated them well. News of this spread like wildfire through the world's armed forces causing mass "defections", whenever the demons appeared on the field of battle. The story spread that, the invaders were actually alien invaders who had arrived an d were actually on a peaceful mission to purge us of our war-like natures. Their fearsome nature was purely a cruel trick of nature.
Pretty soon the only forces fighting the Legion were the remains of the Lodge and their Pledged cohorts. They knew the real story and fought a guerrilla war. Mal Ank's plan was to round mankind up and use them like cattle, just killing them was too easy, he wanted them to suffer. Many of his troops needed more than flesh for sustenance, they needed their victim's fear, hopes and dreams to keep them fed. Mankind is now rounded up into ghettos all around the world where they are tortured daily by their captors, dissidents and trouble makers are sent to the Kowloon Re-education Centre for special treatment (i.e. slow torture then death).
Mal Anks troops were on the whole, pretty stupid, and however much they hated it, were pretty used to following orders given by humans. Mal Ank took advantage of this by placing intelligent ruthless mortals in positions of power. These mortals he chose from the many occult circles and demon worshippers that he found flourishing in the Contemporary Juncture. The ruthless Ninja Ryu, The Fists of Corruption came to the fore in this mad and brutal power struggle and now occupy many of the more important posts. The Fists meanwhile are wondering what has become of their beloved Mother of Corruption (see the Kowloon Ripper and the House of Books). Mal Ank has also embraced technology with both arms, indeed he has awakened the spirits of several useful tools (guns, helicopters, tanks, lawnmowers, blenders etc.).
That's when everything went wrong for Mal Ank. His control of the Contemporary Juncture means that he also controls the 2056 Juncture and is present there also, this caused a paradox that is supposed to be impossible within the world of Feng Shui. To rectify this another version of Mal Ank has been brought into existence and both versions have been cursed with not being able to enter the Netherworld and the Underworld.
The Contemporary version has been trapped in the Contemporary Juncture for twelve years, years that have been very busy, what with the invasion and cruelly quelling any sign of resistance. The 2056 version has been trapped for over seventy years however, the majority of the time with nothing to do. The Future Mal Ank has figured out why he is trapped and has decided to kill his past self, so that he can roam the time streams at will (don't think about it too deeply).
Unable to travel himself, Future Mal Ank sends assassination squads made up of demons and humans. Future Mal Ank has found that these squads are too evenly matched with the bodyguards of Contemporary Mal Ank and has decided to augment them with captured Arcanowave devices and has even captured some Innerwalker Arcano Technicians and is conducting his own research into improving his Arcano arsenal. The irony of course is that, the Legion of Vengeful Darkness has become the Buro and is run in very similar ways, Chinese demons are very bureaucratic.
The Modifiers for the different junctures is as follows:
Juncture |
Sorcery Modifier |
Supernatural Creature Modifier |
Arcanowave Modifier |
Arcanowave Modifier |
| 69 AD | +2 |
+2 |
-1 | +1 |
| 1850 | -2 |
-2 |
+2 | -2 |
| Contemporary | -1 |
-1 |
-1 | -2 |
| 2056 | +2 |
+1 |
-2 | +1 |
| Netherworld | -1 |
0 |
+2 | +2 |
Ok, hope that did not confuse you too much, back to the scenario
Character Four should be able to rescue his fellow Dragons and they can all meet in the Commandants home. The home is plush and well decorated with some of best-plundered treasures from Victoria Peak. It contains many different weapons including any Signature Weapons that the heroes may be missing. There they will discover the following information, in the form of a diary kept by DeathScream:
Now that the heroes have gathered some information, it is very necessary for them to flee back to the Netherworld and let The Prof. know what is going on. This can be done several ways, the easiest being, commandeering a jeep or other vehicle and simply driving out of the camp, Deathscream is the Commandant remember.
Once they have time to think about it, they will realise that they are still attuned to the Williamson Estate FS site, all the others that they may have been attuned to have been taken from them. The Williamson Estate is quite close and has a (rather tempermental) gateway to The Netherworld hidden in the greenhouse.
Of Course, this is Feng Shui so the heroes will not be able to make a straight getaway, let them think they are going to be able to escape and then allow DeathDream, some Ogre Mooks and an Awakened Tank to catch up with them.
A few minutes after the heroes escape the prison camp, the silence is shattered by a screeching siren, which sounds like a soul in torment (it probably is) and the darkness is shattered by the wild waving of searchlights. Pretty soon after this Deathdream and his troops catch up with the heroes.
Cool Things that can Happen
The Dragons should get too their base without a great deal of extra trouble. It is deserted with graffiti sprayed on all the walls, obviously all changes made to the building have disappeared as they never happened. The gardens and drive is hideously overgrown with skeletal looking bushes and trees. The heroes will now have to wait at the Feng Shui site for the Netherworld Portal too open. In any normal game this wait would be uneventful, but this is Feng Shui.
The Critical Shift has had profound effects upon everyone, not least Shih Yet Kwai, one time owner of the Kowloon House of Books. She has been running and hiding from the demonic hordes for several years now and in doing so has learnt many of the skills necessary for her survival. The meek and mild girl that the heroes once knew has been replaced by a battle scared veteran of many a vicious battle for survival, she has never met the heroes and treats them with a great deal of suspicion.
The new Shih Yet Kwai is still beautiful in a "hard" sort of way. A single scar that bisects her left eye has marred perfect features and her body is muscle toned in a way that is very pleasing to the eye. It is obvious that these muscles have not been gained through toil in a gym, but from the daily struggle for survival. Shih also totes various weapons with a familiarity that is alien to her former self.
As luck would have it, Shih managed to assassinate one of DeathShrieks trusted bodyguards two days ago and has been on the run ever since, she has (obviously) holed up in the manor house that the heroes are fleeing too. So the situation is that two teams of killers are now heading towards the Manor House hunting two different quarries.
When the heroes arrive at the Williamson estate, Shih will see them and mistaking them for Members of the League of Vengeful Darkness (especially if the Commandant character is still wearing his "uniform") and stalk and attack them as they explore the mansion. Shih has a den in the attic of the Mansion house and is able keep an eye on all that approach the Estate.
Cool Things that can Happen
Once the heroes have subdued Shih Yet Kwai, they will have to try and explain to them that they are friends. Of course she does not remember the heroes at all, and is confused by any stories they tell of the House of Books being overrun by Eunuch Sorcerers. Shih and her Grandfather ran the House of Books right up until the Legion invaded Hong Kong. Her Grandfather was killed in the initial fighting and she was captured and interred in a concentration camp. While in the camp, situated on a small island of the mainland, she fell in with a group of traffic wardens, accountants and teachers, who all exhibited surprising combat skills. They called themselves The Pledged, although they never explained who they were pledged too, they said that it didn't matter anymore.
They were able to engineer a riot in the camp and in the chaos, escape. Shih became separated from the others and never saw them again. She made it to the mainland and has spent the ensuing months since then surviving in the ruins and scrounging what she could. Shih made a concerted effort to avoid conflict with The Legion, but at times it was unavoidable.
A couple of days ago Shih Yet Kwai had the (mis)fortune of having DeathShriek in the sights of a stolen sniper rifle, not being able to pass up the opportunity of avenging the death of her Grandfather, she squeezed the trigger. Unfortunately one of DeathShrieks bodyguards was killed instead, and Shih has found herself hunted by the dead bodyguards lover, Cong Kien. Cong has finally located Shih's bolthole and has launched an attack on the manor house. This attack has gone undetected because the normally vigilant Shih has been distracted by the intrusion of the heroes.
Cong Kien has brought along a large contingent of Fist of Corruption Mooks as well as Ogre Demon Mooks.
Cool Things that can Happen
The heroes find themselves in a large chamber that contains several obvious Netherworld portals, these portals appear to be mirrors made out of a dark smoky quartz, of some kind. None of these portals are open at the moment. A single narrow passage leads from this chamber. Sitting in the centre of the cavern meditating is Kar Fai he seems unaware of your presence.
If he is roused he will be pleased to see the Dragons and will ask to be introduced to Shih Yet Kwai, as they have not met yet. He will state that he was hoping that they would be able to escape from the 1997 Juncture, as he has no information as too what is happening there at all.
He will lead the heroes too the Junkyard and into the remains of the USS Nautilus, a nuclear submarine that The Prof. is using as a headquarters. Both Kar Fai and The Prof. will question the heroes on what they already know and will be able to give the following information themselves;
Once all the parties have been brought up too speed on the latest happenings in the Secret War, then plans can be made as to how this menace can be combated.
When the Dragons use the Gatemaker (tm) the portal that opens is a swirling blue vortex stepping into this leads the heroes into a darkened series of rooms that are very well appointed, if a little dusty. There are a series of living rooms, a kitchen stocked with expensive, but rotting food, a worship/meditation room, well appointed guest bedrooms and an armoury. Inside this room can be found many, many different types of weapon that they may need, also here can be found Black Camo suits and face paint, of the type used by special force units world-wide.
A ladder out of one of the disused rooms leads up to trapdoor in the ceiling, this trapdoor opens into a worship room that has the mural of a dragon on the floor (the trapdoor opens in the head, and is hidden. After investigation, the Dragons discover that they are in the ruins of Master Zheng's Dragon Dojo, as damaged sign states. The dojo was once the site of a massive battle and discarded weapons and skeletons litter the floor alongside the remains of creatures that are not easily identified.
The Journey to Toyworld is only a short one, but it is very unnerving. The sky is even darker than it was before, the clouds swirling as if propelled by an unnatural force. Many of the buildings that the Dragons pass have been at least partially destroyed. Smiling skullfaces have been painted on many of the still standing walls of these buildings. The only constant is the Mcphearson Building, a green sickening light glows from many of its windows, and strange half helicopters, half Demon things can be seen leaving and arriving from the rooftop helipad.
Pretty soon ToyWorld can be seen, it was once a large toy superstore, much like a warehouse, but that has now all changed. The once gaudy cheerful animals that decorated the signs and entrance to the store have been daubed with blood that looks suspiciously fresh, but most horrific of all, are the climbing frames and swing's that have been left in the car park of this building. Human heads and skulls hang from these once innocent children playthings. A light as if from a campfire can be seen flickering from within.
The situation
As it turns out the Legion of Vengeful Darkness are aware of the weakness that the McPheason building has and have taken steps to correct it.
ToyWorld has been turned into a shrine to the Great God Punch, the interior of the store is very dark with rows and rows of shelves of toys. A large punch and Judy display at the far end of the shop has been turned into a shrine, upon which toys from the shop are left as sacrifices. Crucified on metal poles either side of the shrine are two corpses. One is dressed as Judy and is obviously female; the other is dressed in an RHKP uniform, above the shrine is the skin from a giant albino aligator.
The interior of the store is very dark, lit by guttering torches at infrequent points. The toys within the store have been meticulously placed on the shelves in ordered rows. The cash registers are full of money taken from the children's victims. The Tribe of Punch themselves, are camped mainly in the play area in the centre of the store. They sleep in play tents and Wendy houses.
A thirteen-year-old boy, who goes by the name of Skullface, leads the Tribe, he is armed with two razor sharp yo-yo's. The ages of the tribe range from 8 - 11 and they are armed with specially adapted Nerf (tm) bows and throwers, makeshift spears, slingshot fired marbles, adapted water pistols and rifles loaded with acid and any other cool toy based weapons that you can think of
Cool Things that can Happen
Behind the main body of the shop is a large warehouse area where the toys were stored before they were placed on the shelves. These toys have been left undisturbed, however there are significant gaps in the toy soldier and model aeroplane and robot section. At the far end of the warehouse it seems that someone or thing has spilled the entire stores supply of Lego on the floor, this mountain of plastic covers the secret entrance to the sewers. The warehouse is very dark, with the only available light coming from electric torches at various points. The floor is dusty and shows the passage of many small feet (some of these feet are tiny indeed. Various mook dolls protect the warehouse, Mr Punch may make a comeback and a Lego Golem protects the entrance to the sewers.
Cool Things that can happen
Once the Dragons have dealt with the Lego Golem and have cleared away the remaining Lego they find a hidden hatchway. This hatchway is fitted with an electronic silent alarm that sounds in the McPhearson building and can be disabled with an Intrusion roll of 12.
Below the hatchway is a ladder that leads into a dank sewer. This darkened area is the lair of a Kun Kal, a Sewage Demon it has been placed here to stop anyone from attempting to infiltrate the Mcphearson Building from this route.
The basement contains all the paraphernalia that would be used to print large amounts of newspapers and magazines, huge rolls of paper, large containers of ink and fork lift trucks to move them about. The paper and ink and other consumables are all kept on rows of shelves, the only exits from the basement are a freight elevator and one doorway that leads to the stairway that serves as a fire escape.
The basement also contains several offices, once used by the storehouse staff, boiler, incinerator and the main air conditioning unit. Through this unit it is possible to access all of the other floors (think of Die Hard) although the Dragons had better have some sort of climbing aids, like rope and not suffer from claustrophobia. All of these items are in a poor state of repair, having not been maintained for years.
The basement has one guardian, a Paper Elemental; the chance of encountering this creature is pretty slim. The Paper elemental rolls its Perception (2) against the lowest Intrusion in the group every ten minutes. Off course if anyone fires a weapon the Elemental will be upon them in two sequences.
As the Dragons find the air conditioning unit, a portal unmistakably generated by a Gatemaker(tm), irises open between them and the unit. The grey swirling mist is undisturbed for several moments (long enough for the heroes to find some cover), then a demon that looks like a walking mountain (Lord Smash) emerges from the portal looks around and then heads over too the air conditioning unit. He is followed by a humanoid rat demon that carries two obvious Arcanowave weapons and a human (probably) who has a large gem embedded in his chest, he is armed with a dragon hilted sword and is carrying a large metal suitcase. The human lays the case down near the Air conditioning unit, opens it, and starts to do something with its contents. The Dragons here an ominous beeping.
Cool Things That can Happen
The bomb is extremely simple to set, but very hard to disarm it will take 3 separate Fix-It rolls to disarm the bomb at Diff: 10. Each roll will take 10 seconds to perform and they will only have 40 seconds to disarm the bomb once they reach it. The time taken to reach it does not count any time fighting Death Wish and Co. they can take as long as they want doing this, they will still have 40 seconds to disarm the bomb. Let them have a last roll at 2 seconds if they fluff the last roll, because that is what is always happens in the movies.
This is an assassination squad sent by the future Mal Ank to kill his past self. The case contains a portable nuclear device powerful enough to destroy most of the Island of Hong Kong. Lord Smash has a small crystal wand that he believes will be able to open a portal to the 2056 juncture, he is wrong. Mal Ank has sent the three on a one way trip, they had all annoyed him someway and this is his way of killing two birds (well several million flocks actually) with one stone.
Although the exterior of the building has not changed at all, the interior has changed out of all recognition. The interior décor of the building has changed a great deal. The overall theme could be called "Organic Horror".
The defences of the building are also many-fold
I ran this encounter completely freeform taking most of my cues from what the players expected or suggested. It developed as a running battle between Mal Ank his cronies and the heroes, Mal Ank should escape. In fact this was the first time my group of heroes got their clocks severely cleaned and he didn't as much escape as they let him go. They guessed about the Chernobyl connection from the wall mural and activated their Gatemaker.
However your group may be luckier or less observant in which I suggest you use the VR Hell option. As the heroes are moving through the rooms of the Macphearson building, they will eventually come to a lift that opens invitingly for them. If they enter it they will be gassed as the lift slowly climbs to the twelfth floor, call for Constitution rolls, but don't say what the TN is. The character that makes the highest roll is the only one not to succumb to the gas and manages to wake the others before the lift arrives at the twelfth floor. Look relieved as if the scenario has just narrowly avoided a major derailment.
Actually all the heroes have fallen unconscious and are now in the VR created by the Executioner, this is designed to accentuate the suffering of the victim and is a good time for you to recreate their battles of old against vanquished foes. If your players are anything like mine they have some seriously epic battles in their Dramatic Stories. Time to revisit them and see what happens when you aren't protected by plot immunity.
I suggest that you stage this battle in an arena created from different pieces of each characters own background or history with one opponent from each characters past, rather than a series of battles that may seriously frag them up. Also allow them to completely heal before hand, just as if a session has come to an end, maybe it did.
At some point during the fight, one of the heroes (preferably one that has got up close and personal with a foe) notices that his foe is pixelated. The foes aren't real, but the damage they deal is.
Once this battle has been dealt with the Executioner will appear in his headsmans guise to purge the virus from his system. The Magic Schtick, Creation refers to his ability to control reality within Cyberworld. Once he is beaten he will tell the heroes the information that they need to know. He is not aware of what happened on the Titanic.
Once the heroes learn the information they need the VR world dies with its creator and they awaken on beds wired to some organic machine that is dying as they watch. They can now return to Kai Far with what they have learnt.
Kar Fai is extremely interested in what the Dragons have to report and suggests that the heroes try to return to Chernobyl and stop the Demons invading. The Prof. and he can any weapons and explosives, that they may require for the task and can lead the herpes to the Mirror of the Soul, that should be able to lead them to 1986.
Before enter the Mirror, the Prof. warns them of the dangers of this strange site and gives each of them a backpack that looks like a product of weird science and crackles with sorcerous power. These backpacks are Probability Manipulation Devices (PMD) and doubles the amount of Fortune points that each character has available.
These extra Fortune Points should swing the battle with their Dopplegangers in the Mirror. When they exit the mirror they find themselves on a snowy hill overlooking the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Station. It is late evening and in the distance can be seen the lights of a city (Kiev).
Ivanovich Dragumov, a Russian General, arrived earlier in the evening and is now preparing for the Legion of Vengeful Darkness' invasion. He is within the control room, with his bodyguards and a small contingent of guards. He has ritually sacrifised the engineers that work within the staion and is waiting for the right moment, to complete the ritual. This has obviously all been done under the influence of the Whisperer.
A larger contingent of mooks have been positioned outside in the station proper, they know where the general is, but not what he is doing.
When Dragumov has been dispatched (as he must), the heroes will discover to their horror that it is they who have triggered the demonic invasion. Maybe one of the Guards or his body guards will accidently kill him if your players aren't playing along.
As he expires, The Whisperer will become visible and disentangle itself from his corpse and charged by the mystical energy that Dragomuv has generated in the room be able to open a small gate into hell itself. This Gateway swiftly grows until the heroes find themselves in hell itself.
The Heroes should swiftly return to Kar Fai and the Prof. to report these happenings. Both will swiftly come to the conclusion that the heroes must stop Dragumov from being infested by the demon in the first place. There is a way to do this but the Heroes aren't going to like it.
The Mirror of the Soul sends them where they need to be and as such could put them in the position of stopping the demonic infestation. Unfortuanatley it does mean that they will have to face their dopplegangers one more time.
The Mirror
This is where you should finally give the players a break. The Mother of Corruption controls The Mirror of the Soul and she is a little ticked off (to say the least) at the way that her followers have been misled and abused (see The Fists of Corruption). To get her revenge for this, she has decided to aid the heroes in their task.
When the Dopplegangers approach the heroes, the mist will clear and the Mother of Corruption will be revealed in all her hideous , and mind boggingly massive glory (think of a sort of female Cthulhu) working strings on the dopplegangers, she will sever the strings with an evil and wicked knife, the size of a small bus. The dopplegangers fall to the ground and dissipate. The heroes can then exit the mirror.
A Night to Remember
The Heroes emerge into a small room with two bunkbeds, they are obviously on board a ship (they can feel the engines running, through the floor) and are probably deep in the bowels of the ship. Chests on the floor contain more suitable clothing, overalls and caps as worn in the early part of the century, homespun yet comfortable. They must now find the infant Dragumov, before he is infested and get him of the ship.
I suggest you run this as fairly freeform, rolling with the punches that your players throw you, here are some of the incidents that I included when I ran the game
The battles themselves could range right across the ship, the range of possible of stunts are almost limitless to list here. Go Wild Secret Referee.
If they defeat Mal Ank and Dragumov isn't infested, then they are successful and the world returns to normal with no death camps. The outbreak of Bird Flu however was much more virulent however resuklting in thousands of deaths world-wide.
Congratulate your players, they are worthy of the mantle, Dragons.
Once this is all over, their are many possibilities:
Mak Shien, Eunuch Sorcerer
Bod 5 Chi 2 (Magic 8) Mnd 7 Ref 6
Skills: Deceit 12, Info/gangland 11, Sorcery 15
Magic Shticks: Blast (Chi, Fire, lightening) Fertility, Movement, Summoning, Influence
Weapon: Blast (10)
Sample Dialogue: "You again! Die, Die, DIE!"
Distinguishing Marks: Dapper Chinese man in an Armani suit, a fire burns behind his eyes.
Notes: Mak Shien is on the look out for more cannon fodder...sorry, talent, after his recent disasters (see The Kowloon Ripper). With this in mind he has approached the Pain Lords (he likes the name) with the cover story that the Jade Imperial Society wishes to invest in them.
"Three Pistol" Sammy Chung, Demonic hood (Thanks to Jason Langlois)
Bod 10 Chi 1 Mnd 6 Ref 6
Skills: Creature Powers 13, Driving 10, Guns 13, Intimidation 12, Leadership 10, Martial Arts 13
Creature Shticks: Inevitable Comeback, Transformation (x2), Tentacle/20 WP, can stretch 13 metres
Gun Shticks: "Three" Guns Blazing
Weapons: 3x Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum (13/3/6)
Sample Dialogue: "Get back Boss, I'll deal with them."
Distinguishing Marks: Sammy generally stays in his human form, in the appearance of a well-muscled Asian man in his mid-twenties. When things get rough, he'll use his Transformation to get a third arm (and a third pistol). However, when he is hurt or enraged, he will shift into his Demonic Form: a three armed, flaming haired, blue- skinned, scaled ball of blazing gun fury.
Jade Imperial Society Mooks
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 4 Ref 5
Skills: Guns 6, Martial Arts 6, Intimidation 8
Weapons: Uzi (10/4/40)
Sample Dialogue: "Let's get them."
Distinguishing Marks: Punks in Triad colours
Bone-T, Pain Lord gang Leader
Bod 7 (Tough 9) Chi 0 (For 2) Mnd 5 Ref 5
Skills: Driving 13, Guns 13, Martial arts 12, Intimidation 13, Intrusion 9
Unique Shtick: Blood Brother/If his brother, Little Chow is forced to make a Death Check, then he berserks with a +2 on his AV.
Gun Shticks: Signature Weapon (Spas 12)
Weapon: Spas 12 Shotgun (16/5/7)
Sample Dialogue: "What the $%*& are you doin' in my home, man?" or "YOU... KA-CHINK...BLAMM! KILLED MY... KA-CHINK... BLAMM! BROTHER YOU BASTARDS... KA-CHINK...BLAMM! ...
Distinguishing Marks: Large Asian man with a shaved head, he wears gang colours and has one single gold tooth.
Notes: Bone-T is extremely pleased that the Jade Imperial Society Triad is willing to invest in them. The Triad has sent their representative, Mr Yu, for a preliminary meeting. Bone-T is very protective of his younger brother, Little Chow and is very aware of Chow's limitations in combat, although he would never admit this to his brother. If he has time he will take a snort of cocaine, this has the ability of boosting his WP's to 40.
Little Chow, Doomed Hood
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 7 (Spd 8)
Skills: Guns 10, Martial arts 10, Gambling 14
Weapon: Browning BDM (10/2/15)
Sample Dialogue: DIE, DIE! (Runs towards the heroes blazing away with his pistol)
Distinguishing Marks: Small Asian man, who could be a transformed ferret, so rat-like is his appearance, wears Gang colours.
Notes: Little Chow has an inflated opinion of his own abilities. He thinks that he is feared as a major badass, and is looking to really prove himself, this will probably end in tragedy as he is little more than a mook with a name.
Pain Lord mook soldiers
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 4 Ref 5
Skills: Guns 6, Martial Arts 6, Intimidation 8, Driving 6
Weapons: Norinco M1911 (10/3/7), Winchester 1300 (13/5/8), Uzi (10/4/40), FN FAL (13**/5/20)
Sample Dialogue: "Let's get them."
Distinguishing Marks: Punks in street clothing, with the gang logo on bandannas (splash of blood across a knife blade).
Amanda Wentworth, Transformed Eagle
Bod 5 (Mov 8) Chi 8 (For 2) Mnd 5 (Cha 8, Per 8) Ref 6
Skills: Guns 14, Martial Arts 15, Leadership 14
Transformed Animal Shticks: Flight (8/3)/You can become airborne, and remain airborne until the end of the sequence. You may reach a maximum vertical height equal to 8m, and travel horizontally up to 16m.
Penetrating Gaze (4/1)/Gaze fiercely at opponent, gain bonus equal to the difference between your charisma and targets until end of sequence, can target 2 opponents (X2)
Swoop (2/3)/Scream like an eagle, arms swept back, land feet first on an opponent. Must be performed from jumping from above. The opponent is subjected to two simultaneous kick attacks.
Talons (1/3)/Striking your opponent unarmed, damage value for the strike is your Strength +3.
Fu Shticks: Path of the Dragons Tail: Searing Kick (1/3)/Opponent suffers an extra wound point that isn't reduced by toughness. Leaves burnt patch.
Lightning Kick (3/4)/flying kick that has a base damage of 13. May rise 8m into the air.
Weapons: Colt Double Eagle (11/2/8+1), Kick (7), Punch (6)
Sample Dialogue: "We are bringing you in, alive or dead is up to you."
Distinguishing Marks: Extremely beautiful young woman with cruel eyes wears classy leather jackets and long loose skirts.
Robert Geller, Transformed Tiger
Bod 5 (Str 6) Chi 7 (For 2) Mnd 5 Ref 7
Skills: Guns 13, Martial Arts 13, Intrusion13
Transformed Animal Shticks: Bite (7/3)/Make a successful Called Shot (-1) to bite your opponents throat. If successful derive outcome from opponents Constitution. Ignore Armour.
Mark Prey (3/3)/strike an opponent bare handed using Martial Arts, with your opponents Chi as difficulty. Each success gives +1 to Martial arts versus that character on future blows. This is culmative and lasts until the end of the fight.
Pounce (X/3)/Leap upon your opponent from a distance. If successful you add X (the distance in metres between you and target) to the damage.
Surprise (X/3)/attack an opponent who is unaware, adding X to your Action Value.
Weapons: Punch 7, Kick 8, Colt M6351 (10/5/32)
Sample Dialogue: "I haven't fed for a while, please resist"
Distinguishing Marks: Muscular, lithe Westerner speaks with a faint German accent, blonde hair, blue eyes.
Stephen Richards, Pledged Killer
Bod 5 Chi 2 (For 3) Mnd 5 Ref 8 (Ammo 10)
Skills: Guns 15, Driving (Cars) 14
Gun Shticks: Signature Weapon (0/0)/(Walther WA 2000)+3 to damage weapon is indestructible.
Shoot First (0/3)/+3 to the result of your Initiative Roll. Your first action must be a Guns attack.
Itchy Trigger (0/3)/Reduce any 3 shot Guns action to a 1 shot action.
Way of the Killer (0/3)/Until the end of the sequence, you receive 2 points of Armour vs. Gun attacks.
Lock and Load (X/3)/You spend X number of shots carefully reloading your weapon. X is added to damage next time you fire.
Weapons: Walther WA 2000 (16*/6/6), American Derringer Mini Cop (11/1/4), Beretta Bobcat (8/1/9), Walther PPK (9/1/7).
Sample Dialogue: "I've got you in my sights"
Distinguishing Marks: Quiet man given to wearing combat fatigues on a mission and smart casual suits the rest of the time. Brown hair, blue eyes medium frame.
Tah Wai-Tak, Pledged Techie, and Pilot.
Bod 5 Chi 3 (For 3) Mnd 7 Ref 6
Skills: Driving (Helicopter) 16, Guns 13, Fix-It 15
Unique Shticks: Techie Unique shtick/Spend a fortune point and you have what you want
Fu Shticks: Path of the Leaping Storm: Gathering of the Clouds (1/0)/Maintain a continuous action without adding to the shot cost of other actions
Weapon: E.T. Laseraim (10/3/9)
Sample Dialogue: "Hmm. What an interesting manoeuvre, I haven't seen such anobviously amateur move since my days in the Air Cadets"
Distinguishing Marks: Tah wears USAF overalls and helmet, the overalls are constantly smeared with grease.
Police Mooks
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 5
Skills: Guns 6, Driving 8, Police 10, Martial Arts 6
Weapons: Glock 17 (10/1/18), Remington 870 (13/5/7)
Sample Dialogue: "Freeze!"
Distinguishing Marks: They are police and they are mooks, 'nuff said.
DeathDream, Ninja Jailer
Bod 6 Chi 1 (Fu 7) Mnd 5 Ref 8 (Spd 9)
Skills: Martial Arts 14, Intrusion 14, Guns 13
Unique Shtick Damage Decoy/For the cost of a Fortune point the Ninja can ignore all damage from attacks done in a shot.
Fu Shticks Path of the Hands of Light : Hands without Shadow (1/3)/Make a Martial arts attack that opponent can't Dodge.
Path of the Leaping Storm: Prodigious leap (1/1) /Leap twice your Move rate
Weapons: Fist (7), Kick (8), Sword (10), Knife (8), Nunchaku (7), Mac 10 submachine gun (10/3/32)
Sample Dialogue: "You may have been my Sifu, but you have betrayed the Legion and for that you must die"
Distinguishing Marks: wears the robes of the Brotherhood, the fist is depicted in white silk, has a vivid scar that runs across his forehead.
Awakened Tank, Demonic Instrument of Death
Bod 10 Chi 0 (Mag 8) Mnd 4 Ref 8
Skills: Creature Powers 15, Guns 11, Martial Arts 13, Driving 14
Creature Shticks: Armour /Adds 2 pts to Toughness (12)
Tentacle/20 WP, can stretch 15 metres, this is the main gun of the turret
Rancid Breath/The tank can belch rancid demon enhanced disgusting diesel at an opponent, this requires martial Arts roll and does 10. Victims subtract their Constitution.
Blast/Flame-thrower on tank, base 10 Damage.
Foul Spew/oil slick from vents, people who are in it must make an Agility roll to stay upright, target number is 15, need another roll to get away from oil.
Weapons: Tentacle slap (11), Ramming (12), Blast (Flame-thrower) (10), Diesel blast (10), 7.62mm PKM (13**/-/belt)
Sample Dialogue: VROOM, VROOM...CLATTER, CLATTER...SQUELCH
Distinguishing Marks: A British Challenger tank that has been possessed by a demon. At a distance it looks like a normal tank, but as you get closer it becomes obvious that not all is well with this beast. The tank is made from a hideous hybrid of flesh and steel plating, eyes can be seen on top of the aerial's that are found on top of the turret and various nossles and pipes seem to be sniffing the air.
Legion Demon Ogre Mooks
Bod 12 Chi 0 (Mag 5) Mnd 3 Ref 7
Skills: Intimidation 8, Martial Arts 8, Guns 8, Driving 8
Weapons: Punch (13), Kick (14), FN FAL (13**/5/20)
Sample Dialogue: "Uuuurrrgh!"
Distinguishing Marks: Large Ogres, all teeth and muscles, sadly lacking in brains.
Shih Yet Kwai, Scarred Survivor
Bod 7 Chi 2 (Fu 4) Mnd 5 Ref 7
Skills: Driving 12, Guns 14, Info (Survivalist) 13, Martial Arts 10, Sabotage 9
Fu Shticks: Path of the Shadows Companion: Friend of Darkness (1/1)/Until end of sequence act in complete darkness with no penalties.
Gun Shticks: Sharpshooter (3/2)/Make a Guns attack that ignores any Armour your opponent may have.
Both Guns Blazing (3/3)/With a gun held in each hand, blaze away at your opponent. Damage is equal to (the total damage of both guns) + (outcome) - (opponent's toughness x 2).
Retributive Fortune (0/3)/Once you have been injured you can declare that your opponents gun has run out of ammo or jammed, you declare this as he fires.
Bullet Shield (1/1)/Throw off your opponent's aim by showering them with a hail of lead. Add +5 to your Dodge Value. Counts as a defensive action.
Weapons: Dagger (8), Buro God Hammers (12/4/5) X2, Buro Blade of Truth (10/3/30), Buro Crimestopper (13/5/7)
Sample Dialogue: "I have survived demon invasions and being hunted by crazed Ninja's and demon helicopters, I'm pretty sure I'll outlive you."
Distinguishing Marks: A Beautiful woman almost totally unlike the version you knew before. Her features are a lot harder and angular. A scar bisects her left eye.
Cong Kien, Vengeful Bodyguard
Bod 5 Chi 2 (For 3) Mnd 5 (Perception 7) Ref 8
Skills: Guns 14, Martial Arts 12, Intimidation 9, Driving 13, Info (V.I.P's) 8
Gun Shticks: Itchy Trigger (0/3)/Reduce any 3 shot Guns action to a 1 shot action
Shoot First (0/3)/Add 3 to the result of your Initiative Roll. Your first action must be a Guns attack.
Unique Shtick: In the Line of Fire/You may use your Hair Trigger Neck Hairs shtick to detect attacks on your current protégéé as if they were done on you. If your protégéé is within reach (half your Move attribute, round down) you may spend a Fortune die to grant him your DV and/or you may use an Active Dodge to take any damage dealt to your target by one attack. Your protégéé may be another PC only when your GM allows it.
Weapons: Smith &Wesson 3566 (11/3/16), American Derringer Mini Cop (11/1/4)
Sample Dialogue: "You Killed Vivian, bitch, and for that you must die!"
Distinguishing Marks: A well dressed man, in a smart suit, his eyes miss nothing.
Legion Demon Ogre Mooks
Bod 12 Chi 0 (Mag 5) Mnd 3 Ref 7
Skills: Intimidation 8, Martial Arts 8, Guns 8
Weapons: Punch (13), Kick (14), FN FAL (13**/5/20)
Sample Dialogue: "Uuuurrrgh!"
Distinguishing Marks: Large Ogres, all teeth and muscles, sadly lacking in brains.
Ninja Mooks
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 6
Skills: Martial Arts 7, Intrusion 10,
Weapons: Ninja-to (9)
Sample Dialogue: "Kiiyaaah!"
Distinguishing Marks: Traditional Ninja
Skullface, Scrappy Kid Cannibal
Bod 4 Chi 7 Mnd 7 Ref 10
Skills: Martial Arts 13 (14 in Toyworld, 15 if the Shrine is threatened), Leadership 10, Info/Cooking 14, Info/Hunting 13
Weapon Shticks: Both yo-yos whirling (3/3)/With a yo-yo held in each hand, whirl away at your opponent. Damage is equal to (the total damage of both guns) + (outcome) - (opponent's toughness x 2).
Fu Shticks: Signature weapons (two weighted yo-yos)
Unique Schtick: Damn your hard to hit/+2 to dodge AV's .
Weapons: Yo-yo (X2) (9), Punch (5), Kick (6)
Sample Dialogue: "Intruders, we shall feast well tonight, my people"
Distinguishing Marks: A boy in his early teens, he is dressed in rags, the remnants of many differing clothing outfits. His face is painted to resemble a skull and his teeth have been filed to points.
The Tribe of Punch, Scrappy Kid Cannibal mooks
Bod 4 Chi 0 Mnd 4 Ref 5
Skills: Martial arts 6 (7 in ToyWorld, 8 if the Shrine is threatened), Guns 6 (7 in ToyWorld, 8 if the Shrine is threatened)
Weapons: Nerf(tm) casters (6), marble slingshot (4), acid gun (10/2/4), toy bow (5), Makeshift spear (8)
Sample Dialogue: "food!"
Distinguishing Marks: Wild kids dressed in scraps of clothing.
Mr Punch, Demonic toy
Bod 10 (Tough 12*) Chi 0 (Mag 8) Mnd 6 Ref 6
Skills: Martial Arts 15, Creature Powers 11
Fu Shticks: Signature Weapon (Club)
Creature Shticks: Conditional Escalation/When Punch causes more than 10 pts of damage in a single attack add +1 to Chi
Inevitable Comeback/Make a Death Check using Magic instead of Con, if successful, you appear to die and return in 10 sequences with 30Wp's
Damage Immunity/Immune to suffocation and Drowning.
Armour/Punch is made of rock hard wood +2 to Toughness*
Weapons: Club (16), Punch (11), Kick (12)
Sample Dialogue: "That's the way to do it!"
Distinguishing Marks: Nine foot wooden marionette, without strings that is gaudily painted, has a large nose, manic grin and is armed with an evil looking cudgel.
Lego Golem, Regenerating Guardian
Bod 8 Chi 1 (Mag 8) Mnd 3 Ref 10
Skills: Creature Powers 15, Martial Arts 12
Creature Shticks: Blast/Lumps of Lego are blasted at an opponent, Damage base is 10.
Regeneration (x2)/Lego flies up from the pile behind and repairs any damage done 2 Pts per sequence.
Tentacle (x2)/Long undulating arms of Lego that can stretch up to 15M, they can take 20Wps each and attack using Martial Arts.
Weapons: Blast (10), Tentacle attack (10)
Sample Dialogue: none, just the clicking of the plastic bricks
Distinguishing Marks: A large humanoid form, with a goat head made out of Lego bricks of many different colours. It has two long tentacles as well as various other appendages. It rises out of a mountain of Lego.
Mal Anks Rangers, Toy demonic soldiers
Bod 5 Chi 3 Mnd 4 Ref 10
Skills: Guns 14
Weapon: various toy rifles (10)
Sample Dialogue: "Mal Ank Rangers attack!"
Distinguishing Marks: A horde of toy soldiers that fight beneath the banner of an impaled Earth, they are armed with a multitude of assault rifles, machine guns and bazookas. Each one has a bestial face and wears an American uniform from WWII
Notes: although there is a horde of these creatures, they collectively count as a named character and they don't dodge.
Possessed Model Spitfire, mook flying harbingers of death
Bod 6 Chi 0 Mnd 2 Ref 6
Skills: Guns 7, Driving 8
Weapons: Machine guns (9/3/120)
Sample Dialogue: Rooowaar, Buda, Buda, Buda
Distinguishing Marks: model spitfire planes, whose wings are a horrible flesh/plastic cross. Two demonic eyes stare at you from its mottled fuselage.
Chuckie Dolls, mook horrors
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 3 Ref 5
Skills: Martial Arts 7
Weapon: Knife (7)
Sample Dialogue: Maniacal laughing
Distinguishing Marks: Looks like Chuckie out of Child's Play.
Rocket launcher Robots, Clockwork one-shot toys
Bod 7 Chi 0 Mnd 4 Ref 6
Skills: Guns 12
Weapon: Rocket (15/6/1)
Sample Dialogue: "Exterminate"
Distinguishing Marks: One-foot tall clockwork robots with chest mounted one shot rocket launchers. Once this is fired the key runs down on the toy and it either stops or topples over.
Kun Kal, Sewage Demon
Bod 8 Chi 5 Mnd 4 Ref 5
Skills: Creature power 15, Martial Arts 11
Creature Shticks: Amphibian/Move and breath easily underwater
Damage Immunity/Immune to suffocation and Drowning.
Foul Spew (Nauseating Chunks)/Vomit causes disabling nausea to all within 3m of it. This attack takes 6 shots, you spew on your 6th shot. For those 6 shots dodge is halved. Anyone in range must make a Constitution Check (Diff 15). Those who fail spend the next 6 shots throwing up and may take no actions other than passive dodging with their ratings halved.
Rancid Breath/The demon can belch rancid breath at an opponent, this requires martial Arts roll and does 13. Victims subtract their Constitution
Weapons: Punch (9), Kick (10), Rancid Breath (13)
Sample Dialogue: "You here at last, me was bored with waiting"
Distinguishing Marks: Large powerful demon dripping in sewage.
The Basement
Paper Elemental
Bod 4 Chi 0 (Mag 8) Mnd 2 Ref 9
Skills: Creature Powers 15, Martial Arts 12
Creature Shticks: Blast/Sheets of paper that are propelled with such force that they can slice through steel.
Flight/ 4M
Abysmal Spines/Horrendous paper cuts.
Insubstantial/Can fit through anything you could slide a sheet of paper through.
Weapons: Blast (10), Claws (7)
Sample Dialogue: None, just the whispering of paper
Distinguishing Marks: A vaguely humanoid form made from a blizzard of sheets of paper.
The Assassination Team
DeathWish, Arcano-Boosted Ninja
Bod 7 Chi 5 Mnd 6 Ref 7
Skills: Martial Arts 15, Arcanowave Device 12, Info/Demons 9, Guns 10, Intrusion 14,
Fu Shticks: Path of the Selective Master : Signature Weapon (0/0)/+3 damage and the weapon is indestructible.
Arcanowave Shticks: Neural Stimulator/Large organic battery affixed to the throat that writhes obscenely. AD checks with Spd as difficulty add outcome to Spd for the sake of Initiative checks.
Spectral Refractor/This brilliant gem is encased inside a large ARB housing unit, which is, strapped the chest. When active, the gem vibrates exceptionally fast, deflecting all photons in the immediate vicinity, thus forcing light rays to bend around it. The housing unit amplifies this effect to a man-sized area. When plugged in, the wearer will become effectively invisible. All Perception checks to notice you suffer a -8 penalty you remain stationary, -4 if moving. Should anyone notice you, they will only see a faint shimmering outline of your body, and they will suffer a -2 penalty in combat with you.
Weapons: Sword (14), Fist (8), Kick (9), Nuclear Bomb (kill everyone in Hong Kong)
Sample Dialogue: "It is a honour to die for the master"
Distinguishing Marks: Competent looking man, his face is covered in a mask that bears the symbol of the Fists of Corruption. He has an obscenely writhing organic battery fixed to his throat and a gem embedded in his bare chest. He wields a dragon hilted sword.
Xian a Ghun, Mission specialist
Bod 5 Chi 0 (Mag 8) Mnd 4 Ref 10
Skills: Arcanowave Device 13, Creature Powers 13, Guns 10, Martial Arts 13
Arcanowave Shticks: Wave Suppresser/Grenade launcher that fires a globe of foul blue ectoplasm. Any Ghost, Supernatural Creature or Abomination that is hit becomes paralysed for a number of sequences equal to the outcome. If victim takes wound points while paralysed they may roll their Willpower adding damage taken (Diff: 13) to break free.
Wave Scanner/Goggles that make your eyes fiery and demonic. +2 to dodge vs. Sorcery, Fu or Arcanowave.
Helix Rethreader/Large rifle that fires a beam of arcanowave energy. A character hit is affected for a number of shots equal to the Outcome. While affected, the victim takes 5 Wp's for each Chi point he spends (not reduced by toughness or armour). Also causes 1 pt of impairment per 5 WP's until end of fight.
Creature Shticks: Absorption/When attacked by a fu power, make a Creature Power roll (Diff: equals your opponents martial arts result). The Outcome equals the number of sequences that you can use the fu power in question (use opponents Chi or Fu, whichever is higher) your opponent can't use the power until you loose it.
Soul Twist/Your touch ruptures the normal pattern of Chi in a body, doing great harm. Base is 7, victims subtract their Kung Fu, rather than Toughness. Can only be healed by Magic or flow restoration
Weapons: Soul Twist (7), Punch (6), Kick (7)
Sample Dialogue: "A chance to test my toys"
Distinguishing Marks: A demonic rat creature with fiery eyes, it carries a rifle and a grenade launcher, obviously Arcano weapons.
Lord Smash, Demonic Thug
Bod 10 (Tough 12, 14 with armour) Chi 3 (Mag 8) Mnd 3 Ref 6
Skills: Creature Powers 15, Martial Arts 12
Creature Shticks: Body of Earth/Your body is heavy and comprised of stone or rock. You can meld with the rock, stone, and dirt and move freely about. You can only meld with natural earth, not asphalt, concrete, and processed metals. Add 2 to your Toughness. Because you are so heavy, any effect that would knock you backwards is reduced a number of meters equal to your Strength. You also deal +2 damage in any successful hand-to-hand attack. On the downside, you cannot swim, and would sink like a stone if placed in any body of water. In fact, contact with any large amount of water causes you -1 Impairment until you can dry out.
Abysmal Spines/Hands end in razor sharp pieces of flint these do +2 damage.
Attack Rebound/Bullets ricochet of your body. If your Creature powers check is higher than the action result that was fired at you, then the bullet attacks the shooter at their original roll. You can try to hit others using your Creature Powers AV at -2. If this fails then you may dodge normally.
Burrowing/You can burrow at 3m through the ground, 1m through solid stone or concrete, you leave a tunnel.
Armour/Your body is stone and earth. +2 to Toughness
Weapons: Fist (14), Kick (14)
Sample Dialogue: "Lord Smash lives up to his name"
Distinguishing Marks: Huge powerful demon composed of earth, his body is a sliding amalgamation of dirt clods of earth and stone slabs, his fingers end in razor sharp flints. His face is permanently twisted into an angry visage.
Mal Ank, Lord of Death by Impaling
Bod 10 Chi 3 (Mag 10) Mnd 10 Ref 6
Skills: Creature Skills 17, Martial Arts 15, Arcanowave Device 13, Deceit 18, Leadership 19
Creature Shticks: Abysmal Spines/Small stakes pierce his skin these do +2 damage.
Amphibian/Move and breath easily underwater.
Blast (Conjured Weapons)/Impaling stakes rip out of the floor, ceiling or walls. If gravity is working against the target and he takes 10 or more damage, then he continues to take his Strength +1 WP's every 3 shots, as his body weight forces him slowly down the stake. Removing yourself from the stake takes 3 shots and involves a Strength roll (Diff: 5 + damage done so far), others can help.
Immune to Sorcery /Except Blast and Healing.
Domination/Must be able to see your victim and he must see you, spend a magic point and make a CP check with your targets highest AV as difficulty. If successful the victim will follow your orders for a number of sequences equal to the Outcome.
Arcanowave Shticks: Wave Scanner/+2 to dodge vs. Sorcery, Fu or Arcanowave
Neural Stimulator/AD check with Spd as difficulty, add outcome to Spd for the sake of Initiative checks.
Helix Chewer/This large handgun (Concealment rating: 4) emits a beam of arcanowave energy that freezes and disrupts a portion the victim's DNA makeup, temporarily causing pain to their cellular structure. For a number of shots equal to the Outcome of the attack, the victim cannot use any creature powers, sorcery, or transformed animal shticks.
Unique Shtick: Mal Ank is able to overcome the binding of Lotus slaves and Abominations of course once these demons are given free will they are given the choice of serving a Demon Lord or dying. /Mal Ank rolls his Creature Powers skill against a difficulty of the Abominations Arcanowave skill or the binding sorcerer's Sorcery skill. This takes 5 shots to accomplish and an Outcome of three is needed to be successful, a lower positive outcome leaves the target confused. Mook Demons can be overcome in large amounts, as per blowing them away.
Weapons: Punch (13), Kick (14), Blast (12), Helix Chewer (see above)
Sample Dialogue: "For too long have my brothers been forced to labour under the lash of humanities pathetic magic and technology, for this mankind will pay a thousand fold"
Distinguishing Marks: Nine foot tall with hulking muscles, Mal Ank has demonic fiery eyes and a body that is pieced with thousands of small stakes. Each of these stakes is sharpened to a wicked point. Mal Ank wears simple robes, AI/O ports can be seen in his flesh and cables and wires plunge in and out of his flesh in many places.
Cheng Ka-Yan, Undead servant of Mal Ank
Bod 7 (Tough 9) Chi 0 (Mag 8) Mnd 3 Ref 7
Skills: Sorcery 10, Creature Powers 15, Martial Arts 13
Creature Shticks: Will not Die/You can't be put down permanently, however you do gain an impairment point for every 15 WP's you take. If the impairment points ever exceed your Constitution then you must roll your Con against Impairment +10 or fall unconscious.
Brain Shredder/ The victim feels the pain of your impalement range is 8 metres. Victim uses Chi, Fortune or Magic instead of Toughness to reduce damage.
Weapons: Fist (8), Kick (9), Spear (11), Brain Shredder (10)
Sample Dialogue: "Yes Master"
Distinguishing Marks: Cheng is a zombie, his skin has an unhealthy greenish tinge and he bears the scars of many different injuries that he has sustained over the years, his eyes are blazing pits of hate. The uppermost part of the stake that was used to impale him is still protruding from his skull Notes Cheng's Sorcery skill reflects his knowledge of Magic, rather than his ability to use it. He is not a mindless zombie, just a little slow whited. He can be permanently stopped only when Mal Ank is sent back to the Underworld.
The Whisperer, Ethereal Demon
Bod 3 Chi 2 (Mag 3) Mnd 12 Ref 6
Skills: Creature Powers 13, Deceit 19
Creature Shticks: Insubstantial/Difficulty is inch thickness can't travel through worked stone, irons, plastics jade and glass.
Flight/Can fly 5m.
Damage Immunities/The attacks in parenthesis are the exceptions to the rule. Normal bullets, hand- to- hand weapons (Magic and knives), Unarmed attacks (Fu Powers), Creature Powers (Abysmal Spines, Blast and Brain Shredder), Normal fire, Falling damage, Things falling on you, Poisons (Mustard gas and Strychnine), Suffocation and Drowning, explosions, vehicles and vehicle crashes.
Domination (X5)/The Whisperer can for the cost of 5 Magic points bond with a mortal and guide his actions as an invisible friend/guardian angel. This bonding lasts until the host dies. The Whisperer very rarely uses his Domination power, as the host believes that the advice he is receiving is beneficial. The Whisperer is usually bonded with infants and babies who have a great destiny, the host then grows up believing the Whisperer to be a guardian or even mistakes the Demons suggestions as his own thoughts. Player characters are normally immune to this effect (code for: it's a plot device).
Weapon: ineffectual tentacle lash (4)
Sample Dialogue: "Father is all that stands between me/you/us and power, kill him now"
Distinguishing Marks: The Whisperer, when not bonded appears to be a semi transparent giant jelly fish that floats through the air, it has two eyestalks and a beak with which it can communicate.
Notes: Although the Whisperer is immune to almost everything the players can throw at it and could possibly (very, very) slowly beat them to death with its tentacles, it is in fact a great coward and will flee rather than fight once exposed. Having said that, it will goad the Host into fighting almost recklessly if it can see no alternative.
DeathShriek, Master of Corruption
Bod 4 Chi 10 (For 2) Mnd 7 Ref 9
Skills: Martial Arts 16
Creature Shticks: Blast (Shriek)
Fu Shticks: Path of the Leaping Storm: Prodigious leaps (1/1)/ Leap twice your Move rate.
Path of the Nine Ghosts: Pale Claw (3/1)/One or both of your hands grow 8 inches long, steel-hard nails that act as daggers for this combat.
Hellish Might (X/2+X)/Add X to your Strength attribute and to your Intimidation skill until the end of the fight. Counts as using an Arcanowave Device.
Clay Body (X/1)/Gain X Armour Points until end of sequence. Maximum Armour points attainable by any combination of shticks is 8. Counts as using an Arcanowave Device.
Shadow Flesh (X/3)/Your body becomes phantasmal and barely visible for X shots. Your opponents' attacking AVs are reduced by 3 against you and you can pass through solid matter as if Insubstantial with a Martial Arts check (with the same limitations of that Creature shtick). However, this Fu doesn't affect anything you carry on you, so your clothes, weapons and tools will fall to the ground as soon as you activate this trick. You still may make unarmed attacks. Counts as using an Arcanowave Device.
Unseen Companion (6/5)You can make your shadow rise from the ground and make one unarmed Martial Arts attack with your usual AV and Strength. Your opponent makes a Perception check against a Difficulty of 10; if she fails the check, her Action Result becomes her Dodge Value against this attack. If your opponent doesn't know you have this Fu her Dodge value against your first attack with this power is 0 unless she makes the Perception check.
Weapon: Fist (10), Pale Claw (13), Kick 10
Sample Dialogue: "I do not know why you have betrayed us my son, but you shall rue the day that you did.
Distinguishing Marks: A frail looking old man in white robes that bears the symbol of a disease ridden rotten, puss filled fist, he eyes are cold. His jaw seems to open a lot wider than it should, he has the teeth of a shark.
The Executioner, Demonic Avatar
Body:8 Chi:6 (Fu:9, Mag:9) Mind:5 (Cha:6) Reflexes 9
Skills: Sorcery 16, Martial Arts 15, Info/Cyberworld: 15 Intimidation:12,
Fu Shticks: Path of the Brilliant Flame: Fire Strike (1/3)/Strike barehanded, +2 to damage and flammable clothing ignites. Take 3 shots to slap out or suffer 1 Wp per 3 shots Total damage from fire is 6.
Fire Stance (6/1)/Until end of sequence, any opponent striking barehanded suffers 1 WP, No Toughness.
Fire Fist (3/3)/Strike barehanded with your fist wreathed in a nimbus of flaming chi energy. Damage rating is 10.
Eyes of Fire (3+X/3)/As per fire fist, but you can now damage opponents without touching them, a blast of flame shoots out of your eyes. X = number of metres between you and opponent.
Path of the Selective Master Signature Weapon (0/0)/+3 damage and the weapon is indestructible.
Magic Shticks: Movement, Summoning, Creation.
Unique Shtick: Big Bruisers Unique Shtick.
Weapons: Eye blast (10), Fist (9), Kick (10), Axe (15)
Sample Dialogue: "You have faced the creations of your own mind, now you face me!"
Distinguishing marks: Eight-foot tall man, heavily muscled man in an executioner's hood, his body is covered in ritual scars, and he carries a huge axe.
Ivanovich Dragumov, Russian General and demon host
Bod 4 Chi 2 (For 4) Mnd 7 Ref 9
Skills: Guns 16
Gun Shticks: Bullet Shield (1/1)/Increases Active Dodge too +5.
Way of the Killer (0/3)/Until the end of the sequence, you receive 2 points of Armour vs. Gun attacks.
Missed Me by That Much (0/X)/Subtract X from the damage suffered by a Gun attack.
Shoot First (0/3)/Add 3 to the result of your Initiative Roll. Your first action must be a Guns attack.
Retributive Fortune (0/3)/Once you have been injured you can declare that your opponents gun has run out of ammo or jammed, you declare this as he fires.
Weapon: Marakov (10/2/8+1)
Sample Dialogue: "Who are these fools, they will ruin everything!"
Distinguishing Marks: Ageing Russian General in his late 70's or early 80's. The Whisperer has kept him fit and he moves with surprising agility.
Illyvich, KGB Bodyguard
Bod 5 Chi 2 (For 3) Mnd 5 (Perception 7) Ref 8
Skills: Guns 14, Martial Arts 12, Intimidation 9, Driving 13, Info (subversive terrorists) 8
Gun Shticks: Itchy Trigger (0/3)/Reduce any 3 shot Guns action to a 1 shot action
Shoot First (0/3)/Add 3 to the result of your Initiative Roll. Your first action must be a Guns attack.
Unique Shtick: In the Line of Fire/You may use your Hair Trigger Neck Hairs shtick to detect attacks on your current protégéé as if they were done on you. If your protégéé is within reach (half your Move attribute, round down) you may spend a Fortune die to grant him your DV and/or you may use an Active Dodge to take any damage dealt to your target by one attack. Your protégéé may be another PC only when your GM allows it.
Weapon: Smith &Wesson 3566 (11/3/16), American Derringer Mini Cop (11/1/4)
Sample Dialogue: "Get down!"
Distinguishing Marks: A neat unassuming man in a Russian uniform, he never looks at Dragumov.
Nickos, Russian big bruiser and bodyguard
Bod 11 (Tgh 12) Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 7
Skills: Martial arts 13, Guns 12
Unique Shtick Big bruisers shtick.
Weapons: AK47 (13**/5/30), AMT Automag V (12/3/5), Fist (12) Kick (13), makeshift club (14)
Sample Dialogue: none, he is the strong silent type
Distinguishing Marks: big blonde Russian with a crew cut
Russian soldiers, Mooks
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 5
Skills: Guns 7
Weapons: AK47 (13**/5/30)
Sample Dialogue: "aaagghhh!"
Distinguishing Marks: Mooks in a Russian uniform.
Legion Demon Ogre Mooks
Bod 12 Chi 0 (Mag 5) Mnd 3 Ref 7
Skills: Intimidation 8, Martial Arts 8, Guns 8
Weapons: Punch (13), Kick (14), FN FAL (13**/5/20)
Sample Dialogue: "Uuuurrrgh!"
Distinguishing Marks: Large Ogres, all teeth and muscles, sadly lacking in brains.
DeathShriek, student of Corruption
Bod 6 Chi 3 (Fu 7) Mnd 7 Ref 6 (Speed 7)
Skills: Martial Arts 15
Fu Shticks :Path of the Leaping Storm: Prodigious leaps (1/1)/Leap twice your Move rate.
Path of the Nine Ghosts: Pale Claw (3/1)/One or both of your hands grow 8 inches long, steel-hard nails that act as daggers for this combat.
Hellish Might (X/2+X)/Add X to your Strength attribute and to your Intimidation skill until the end of the fight. Counts as using an Arcanowave Device.
Weapon: Fist (7), Pale Claw (10), Kick 8
Sample Dialogue: "I will slay you in the Name of the Mother."
Distinguishing Marks: A much younger version of the evil old man that you know, he lacks the distended jaw and the shark teeth.
Ninja Mooks
Bod 5 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 6
Skills: Martial Arts 7, Intrusion 10,
Weapon: Ninja-to (9)
Sample Dialogue: "Kiiyaaah!"
Distinguishing Marks: Traditional Ninja.
Purser White, Transformed Shark
Bod 5 (Strength 8, Toughness 7) Chi 9 (For 4) Mnd 5 Ref 7
Skills: Martial arts 15
Transformed Animal Shticks: Blood in the Water (4/1)/If your opponent is wounded, make a Chi check against their Body, if successful you can add up to X to your Martial Arts value for your next attack on that opponent. X is the number of WP's your opponent has or your outcome from the Chi Check whichever is lower, add +2 to Chi check if you personally wounded the target.
Cold Gaze (4/3)/You can stare down a single opponent, inspiring fear. Make a Chi check against your opponents Willpower, the outcome is the number of shots they hesitate.
Iron Jaws (5/3)/Grapple opponent and get them in a hold, if successful inflict Strength damage and your opponent suffers Impairment equal to your Outcome, maintaining hold is a continuous action. Your opponent can break the hold by making a successful Martial arts roll against your skill.
Razor Bite (X/3)/Make a barehanded strike add X to damage.
Weapon Fist (9), Kick (10)
Sample Dialogue "I can smell your pain"
Distinguishing Marks: Muscular man dressed in a British naval uniform, has a sharks tooth on a thong around his neck. He has a scar from a knife fight that runs down his cheek.
Pledged Sailors
Bod 5 Chi 5 Mnd 5 Ref 5
Skills: Martial arts 6, Guns 6
Weapons: revolver (8/2/6), club (8), knife (7)
Sample Dialogue: " Cor Blimey, Luv a duck etc."
Distinguishing Marks: mook sailors
Tun Pui Ko, Blue Monk
Bod 5 Chi 6 Mnd 6 Ref 6
Skills: Martial Arts 14
Fu Shticks Path of the Shadows Companion: Friend of Darkness (1/1)/Can act normally in complete darkness.
Dark's Soft Whisper (4/3)/Otherwise normal attack is completely silent.
Path of the Clever Eye: The Fox's Retreat (1/1)/+5 to dodge
Path of the Hands of Light: Hands without Shadow (1/3)Opponent can't dodge attack
Unique Shtick: The Blue Principle/Can attempt to confuse an opponent into attacking someone else. Instead of dodging can make a martial art roll, if higher than attacking roll, then attack is redirected to someone else.
Weapons: Fist (6), Kick (7)
Sample Dialogue: "Take your hands of that baby now, you filthy scum!"
Distinguishing Marks: Chinese man wears long loose robes and wears a blue headband.
Kai Sau-Lung, Green Monk
Bod 8 (Tough 12) Chi 7 Mnd 5 Ref 6 (Spd 5)
Skills: Martial arts 14
Fu Shticks Path of the Storm Turtle: Inner Strength (1/1)/Substitute your Fu for your Magic stat.
Clothed in Life (1/1)/-2 dam per strike from foes who have less Chi than you, until end of sequence.
Natural Order (3/1)/Take no damage from gun attack.
Backlash of the Turtle (3/3)/Gun that wounds you is destroyed.
Mirror of the Turtle (3/3)/Make a MA check with the number of WP's you have just suffered from a gun attack as diff. If successful opponent who wounded you takes equal damage.
Laughter of the Turtle (7/3)/Immune to gun damage for the sequence.
Vengeance of the Turtle (4/3)/Strike a non living vehicle barehanded it is destroyed. (could this be why the titanic sunk?)
Immobility of the Turtle (2/1)/Can make himself immobile for the sequence.
Weapon: Fist (9) Kick (12)
Sample Dialogue: "To get to the baby you go past me!"
Distinguishing Marks Huge man in Chinese peasant garb, wears a green headband.
Shaolin students, fortunate mooks
Bod 6 Chi 1 (for 3) Mnd 6 Ref 6
Skills: Martial Arts 9
Weapons: Fist (7), Kick (8)
Sample Dialogue: "yes Sifu"
Distinguishing Marks: Mooks
Fish Demons, Mooks
Bod 7 Chi 0 Mnd 5 Ref 7
Skills: Martial Arts 10
Creature Shticks: Amphibious, Abysmal Spines 2
Weapon Claws (11)
Sample Dialogue (in a fishy gurgle) "Give us the baby and we will let you live"
Distinguishing Marks: Think Deep Ones, Creature from the Black Lagoon.
Hope you enjoyed the scenario, let me know how it went I would be very interested to hear.
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