Free Pathfinder RPG Armor

I'm not working on any thing in particular right now, so I thought I'd toss this up here for fun. I'll be heading down to San Antonio tomorrow and hitting the comic shops this weekend.

The Breast Plate of Rusting Pipes
Aura: moderate conjuration CL: 10th
Slot: armor Price: 75,000 gp Weight 42 lbs

This +1 Heavy Fortification Breast Plate is made from some strange, rusted orange alloy that rings like steel when struck. Bulky beyond the ability of most warriors to wear, this breast plate is not a single piece of steel- rather it is a twisted knot of pipes and pressure gauges that hiss enigmatically. Bulky vents built into the spinal plating and the lopsided and exceptionally bulky left shoulder plating belch out a foul smelling odor that only gets more intense as the battle wears on.

Anyone coming within 10 ft of the wearer of this strange armor is considered Sickened for as long as they remain near the armor and for 1d4 rounds afterward (FORT DC 12 negates). Anytime the wearer suffers a critical hit negated by the armor’s Heavy Fortification feature, the stench only gets more intense as strange pressures build within the armor. For one minute after the hit, those who fail their save are considered Nauseated.

The wearer becomes immune to inhalation toxins and poisons while wearing the air, including magical gasses. However, the armor’s bulk imposes a -8 armor check penalty.

Construction
Requirements: Craft Magic Arms & Armor, stinking cloud
Cost: 37,500 gp

New Layout!

Hey, just taking a moment to redesign my blog. I've used the standard template for the last couple of years without any changes. I decided to play around with the look a bit tonight. This layout gives me more room for art, and a little better flow for the text. I picked red as the background because it ties into my main line of fiction: the Choicer nation in Otherverse America, and hopefully puts the reader into the right mindset for gaming the world. The look I'm going for is moderately futuristic, sleek and stylish. Hopefully, I got close. Let me know what you think.
CHRIS

Black Tokyo III Is Out! (NSFW)

More good news: Black Tokyo III: Tales of the Tatakama has just gone up at RPGnow. It's going to be a fun release- there's a new player race called the Daughters of Kirin. They're big, beautiful, glamorous and heroic women with unicorn blood. We've got a new advanced class called the Assault Witch: think the mecha-musumane anime Strike Witches and you're there. We've also got new starting talents that transforms an ordinary D20 Modern game into something uniquely Japanese, and a new selection of monsters.

So right now, in addition to plugging Black Tokyo, I'm restarting the dormant Dept Seven Advanced Class line. These new superheroic character options will support Psi-Watch, Otherverse America, Galaxy Command and occasionally Black Tokyo. The core concept between each new Advanced Class will be usable in any high power D20 Modern or D20 Future setting, while side bars throughout the text will detail the specifics of how the classes work in a particular world. I figure that my greatest strength is the fact I've got four very cool campaign settings. Supporting 'em can only bring in more profits.

Let me give you a visual hint of what I'm planning for the first articles for the line. Expect some advanced classes that let you play THESE GUYS:






Finally, let me drop something a bit unusual on you all. We all know I'm a Legion of Superheroes fan, especially a fan of Triad. Her origin story post Zero Hour during the early years of the post-Zero Hour run ranks as one of the best single issues I've ever read. My love for the character inspired Free20: Threeway, which detailed the Trius race for Galaxy Command.



Anyway, Triad is a favorite, and well... you know what? Black Tokyo III is out, Legion Lost is getting released in collected form at long last, and today's the Roe Anniversary. You know what. Fuck it, I feel like celebrating a bit. So take a look at some bizarre and wonderful thing I found while searching for LOSH artwork one day. It's NSFW in the extreme, and unfortunately I'm not sure who the artist is.

Anyway, talk to you later.

DC Comics Finally Collects "Legion Lost"

Okay, DC- you've got an incredible artist who draws superheroes and mecha with equal proficiency. You've got, in Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning a literally best selling writing team- authors respected in sci-fi circles more than they are as comic writers thanks to their awesome Warhammer 40,000 novels. You've got a Legion of Superheroes story that's self contained, a great introduction to new readers and filled with some amazing moments.

And you idiots wait nearly 10 years to collect it in trade.

Well, good news. I just saw the solicits on Newsarama (here: http://www.newsarama.com/comics/dc-april-2011-solicitations-110120.html) and Legion Lost will finally be available as a $39.99 hardcover in June, with Legion of the Damned (the preceding story arc, available in April as a lower cost trade paperback). And I'm sure the Legion Lost hardback will be replaced with a lower cost TPB soon enough, I'm not waiting.

Hopefully, this means Legion Worlds and the restarted DnA Legion run will be coming in trade soon. And maybe, if we're good DC will release some of the amazing Jeff Moy penciled post-Zero Hour LOSH? Please?

Anyway, I feel like I should celebrate.

Look for some more D20 Modern superhero stuff soon, including an idea I just had for Galaxy Command.

CHRIS

Am I the only one who likes this?

Question: Are there any Internet nerds out there that aren't obsessively, compulsively negative? Seriously, I gotta stop reading comments on geek message boards.

Anyway, I kinda like the new costumes. They remind me, for some reason, of para-rescue gear. I also really like the innocent Mystique, who makes a new contrast to the hardline, and utterly badass mutant terrorist of the modern-era films. I have a feeling seeing Mystique's defection is going to be the dramatic high point of the film. I also kinda like the 'stereo speaker' built into Havok's chest. I wonder if those components light up when he fires?

Other then the fact her character is codenamed Angel (I'm wondering if she's bug-Angel from Morrison's run?), I know nothing about the Hispanic girl between Mystique and Havok. She's adorable though, and I certainly don't mind seeing more Hispanic superheroes.

I thought Azreal was a stupid idea in the comics, but the guy is such a blank slate there's a chance the movie might be able to do something cool with him. Right now, he looks like a skeevy, sexually manipulative asshole- which would make him a perfect fit for the Hellfire Club. And Emma Frost.... January Jones in lingerie is worth seeing in widescreen all by herself.

Draft of Black Tokyo III

I just saw a laid out draft of Black Tokyo III, which should be coming out in the next couple weeks. It's a nice clean layout and includes a new player race, new advanced class, and starting talents for Black Tokyo, among some other stuff. Clocking in at about 35 pages, it will be a good player and gamemaster guide to what's turned into my best selling and most popular campaign setting.

Anyway, I just figured I'd give everybody an update on what's going on with me. When my computer died, I lost my Adobe Pagemaker for good. Which really, really sucks, because I love the independence that program gave me. If I had an idea I could lay out a script in PDF form in a couple of hours and get it up on www.RPGnow.com that night.

Right now, I'm saving up to get a copy of Adobe InDesign 5. The good news is I can probably score an academic license and save a couple hundred bucks on it, but I won't have it for a little while longer. Still, I'll get it soon enough. Once I get it, it'll take me a bit of time to learn the new program, but I figure I can learn on the job as I release smaller PDFs before jumping into Otherverse America Unlimited Edition or some other big ideas I've had.

In the mean time, I've been having to depend more on Louis and Mark to put stuff out on my behalf. Right now, I'm working on a revision of an older Devil's Workshop sourcebook- one of the first I did with Louis, infact. I realized that the old Accidents of Birth sourcebook I did, which deals with mutations and deformities, would be an absolutely perfect candidate for revision to the Pathfinder RPG. I plan to revise everything more in line with the D20 Future Mutation rules, because the old book (viewed as a more experienced game designer) was kinda all over the place. Anyway, I'm heading back to the draft of that.
Talk to you all later,
CHRIS

Comics Thoughts: Marvel Comics Siege

I just bought the trade of Siege- I know. I'm like a year behind continuity at this point, but still. I have to say I fucking loved it. The last big event I bought into was the Black Lantern story from DC last summer, and I was really disappointed by it. Not so with Siege. The story is every bit as continuity heavy, but was an incredible pay off to 3+ years of stories and build up.

Some things I especially liked: first, the story reminded me ALOT of Claremont's "Adversary" arc in X-Men. Unprepared superheroes have to enter an American city that's somehow been warped by magic and confront gods, while the media watches, broadcasting everything to the world. I loved that set up during Silvestri's run on X-Men and the premise is just as solid today.

Second, Oliver Copiel's art. This man draws tech better than anybody in comics. Some of my favorite scenes were the huge dog fight between the SHIELD jets and the helicarrier- granted it was a relatively minor scene, but those planes were awesome. Copiel was amazing on Legion of Superheroes, and he's only gotten better. (Though as a Legion fan, I really wish he'd re-visit that comic.)

Third.... that image up top. Reading this story, I got to the big splash page when the Avengers drop out of the sky, and I realized something. Captain America's emergency team is made up mostly of black guys and gay dudes. I'm not sure if Bendis even intended the symbolism, but that right there is a pretty powerful statement about America. It's an intensely political (and very cool) image, even if it's unintentional.

Anyway, if you haven't read it yet, go buy the trade. It'll be worth it.
Talk to you all later,
CHRIS