The Wild Cards Novels

I’ve just started reading the Wild Cards novel series. 

 http://www.toplessrobot.com/2011/1110_things_you_should_know_before_reading_george_rr.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wild_Cards

http://www.wildcardsbooks.com/

A couple of weeks ago, I picked up the Green Ronin M&M Wild Cards sourcebook- it was at the Hastings bookstore in my town, used for 5 bucks. So I picked it up, and it was a decent intro to the world. Intrigued enough to try some of the books themselves, I found Book 1, and several later books. So far, in addition to the sourcebook- which is an overview of the Wild Cards series until the end of the “Card Sharks” arc, I’ve read through Book 1, Aces Aboard (book 4, the world tour arc, and the best of the books so far) and Ace in the Hole (book 6, the 1988 presidential primary story), and I’d just started on Card Sharks, which I think is book 15 or 16 in the series.

Anyway, George RR Martin’s Wild Card shared universe is a lot like what I’m doing with Otherverse America- this intricate and authentic alternate world with hardcore political satire mixed in among its action. I’m enjoying the series, so far. As I mentioned above, Aces Abroad was possibly the best single book, though after I finished the first book, I read Ace in the Hole first. I’m a huge fan of Hartman and really enjoyed seeing the end of his arc. (Yes, I’m reading the books out of order- since my ‘collection’ has such huge gaps, and I’ve already gotten spoilers from the RPG, I’m just reading through the books in the order they catch my eye.)

The strength of the series is the shared world aspect and the multiplicity of characters. Having so many people involved in the series, each writing a few signature characters over the course of a dozen or more novels, gives Wild Cards a real unpredictability. Each character in the series (Tachyon, Hartman, Gimli, and all the other players) reacts differently, offering greater diversity of personalities than you’d get even from the most skilled single writer. In a way, the Wild Cards series is like a very long running RPG campaign, which is appropriate because it apparently had its genesis in an old Superworld RPG that Martin ran back during the 70s and 80s.

I’m also somewhat puzzled by the differences between the licensed RPG and the world as presented in the novels. First, the RPG’s introductory editorial was a bit pretentious- “Oh this isn’t comics. We’re doing alternate history, our plots are so much more plausible and mature and serious than comics. Comics are for kids!” Horseshit, Wild Cards is well written and well thought out, but it’s an interlaced superhero universe, with as much backstory, and as many if not more crossovers than Marvel or DC. Wild Cards was obviously influenced by mainstream comics- Claremont’s X-Men had a role in the series’ creation, I’m sure. Wild Cards also seems to be VERY influential in mainstream comics, and I didn’t quite realize how much until I started reading the novels.

Grant Morrison’s New X-Men run, which introduced mutants with weird deformities and no appreciable powers, like Beak, seems a straight lift from the ‘jokers’ of the Wild Cards novels. Marvel’s Mutant Town in NYC is an almost perfect duplicate of Joker Town. Over in Astro City, Kurt Bruisek lifted Jube the Walrus (a newsvendor and spy for an alien empire), changed his appearance slightly and inserted him an issue of Astro City. Which, I suppose, is another good reason to dislike Bruisek, aside from his patronizing writing style and rampant hardon for Silver Age nostalgia. Lots of the flavor of Wild Cards found itself into Warren Ellis’ excellent Transmetropolotian, but I can’t think of any exact lifts, save for one. Ellis’ Smiler (a corrupt sociopath successfully masquerading as a compassionate politician) looks FUCKING EXACTLY like the Tim Truman art on the cover of Ace in the Hole, which features a close up of Senator Gregg Hartman. I don’t know if Ellis himself read any Wild Cards stuff (I’d guess yes, because he seems like a pretty well read dude), but judging by the visual similarities, I’d bet Derrick Robertson is.

Anyway, the real strength of the series, as I said before, are the characters themselves. My thoughts on some of my favorites (and least favorites).

Senator Gregg Hartman- far and away, my favorite character in the novels to date. Hartman is such a miserable, manipulative little rat-fuck, you can’t help be fascinated by him. He’s one of the most selfish and malicious villain protagonists I’ve ever read and is just so hilariously EVIL he comes off as almost epic. I find myself wandering which came first, Wild Cards I (which introduced Hartman) or Stephen King’s The Dead Zone? Whichever it is, maybe since we get to see him scheme over the course of 6 books before he gets his karmic due in Ace in the Hole, Hartman seems like a more intriguing villain than the bad guy in Dead Zone.

Dr. Tachyon- this guy is so hilariously useless. Reading through the RPG sourcebook, I got the impression that Tachyon is this grand schemer, manipulating the world. In the novels, by contrast, he seems mostly reactive- despite his royal pretensions, this guy isn’t much of a leader. To me, he seems a mix of serious figure (25%) and unintentional comic relief (75%)- he’s this overly demonstrative, metrosexual mad scientist who dresses like a Ren-Faire pirate with anime hair who occasionally gets great lines (his sarcastic dismissal of the Soviets in Aces Abroad is amazingly cool). Another change from the RPG- his telepathic abilities seem impressive in M&M terms, but are pretty minor in the books- plus, Tachyon is too much of a scmuck to ever use his telepathy intelligently.

Xavier Desmond- I seriously hate this moron. From the RPG summary (and his name I suppose), I figured him to be the setting’s Xavier figure- a moderate voice for Jokers’ rights. Seriously, I’ve got very low tolerance for moderate, non-violent advocates for the rights of oppressed minorities. Talking comics, I prefer Magneto’s philosophy over Xavier’s, and in real life, I think the world needs a lot more Malcolm Xes than it does Martin Luther Kings. Plus, the character does absolutely nothing, accomplishes absolutely nothing, and his journals, which form the framing story for Book 4: Aces Abroad, are incredibly whiny and self serving. I’m kind of shocked how little the ‘mayor of Jokertown’ actually matters to the story. By contrast, I fucking love Gimli- hardassed, temperamental little bastard that he was. Finally, the art in the RPG oddly depicted Desmond as a brawny, athletic figure….while in the book he’s a 70 year old man, dying rapidly of cancer.

Crystalis- I like her a lot, mostly because of her visually awesome mutation. While I was glad we lost Desmond in book 4, I was sorry to see her die so early in the series. I want to find book 5, which focuses on her death and final days in depth, even though I know it’s going to be a Brendan centric book (ugh). Since part of her back story is that she’s a girl from Ohio that affects a British accent, I keep hearing Madonna’s voice in my head when I read her lines. (You’ll be pleased to know I hear Dr. Zoidberg’s voice reading Father Squid’s lines. Woop-woop-woop.)

Mackie Messer: another fucking awesome villain. He’s equal parts pathetic and vile. Half the time you’re reading his story, you just want to give the little twerp a hug. I know Wild Cards and Watchmen came out near simultaneously, and I find it interesting how psychologically similar Messer is to Rorschach. He’s also got one of the most awesome combat powers in the series- I find myself making a little buzz saw noise under my breath every time he kills somebody in Book 6….and this fucker kills A LOT of people. I saw online (in the linked article below) that a key scene with Messer is described as the most terrifying blowjob ever written, and yes, that description is very accurate. You’ll notice my favorite characters in the books- Hartman, Messer, Gimli- are the bad guys, which is because many of the heroes in Wild Cards are either assholes or schmucks. Even Crystalis is more of a neutral info-broker and blackmailer than a hero. It’s kind of a pessimistic world.

Of the heroes, I’m not a fan of many of the series big names. Tachyon is a shockingly inept little prick, Jack Braun screws up pretty much everything he’s ever attempted, though his continued efforts at redemption are both endearing and cool. Plus his obvious PTSD and the fact he's dealing with it (mostly) makes him one of fiction's cooler veterans. Of the big heroes, I do like the pragmatic and blue collar Turtle the best. Harlem Hammer is awesome- taciturn, cranky and pissed as hell. I was gratified there was a scene in Aces Abroad showing him recovering after taking several full clips from multiple AK-47s and having a van fall on him. That guy is too cool to die, and I was surprised at how emotional I got when I thought this relatively minor character had been killed.  

I like most of the Jokers- they make the Wild Cards setting so unique, and are more vital to the story, collectively, then the Aces, which are more like typical superheroes. Most of the minor aces sorta bore me, but I’m fascinated by the minor Jokers by contrast. How do they live, what kind of weird medical needs and anatomical quirks do they have? Crystalis, Angelface, the Joker family Demise meets in Atlanta, Doughboy, Succubus, Chuck and the 50s-era jokers in Til I Kissed Her, and a bunch more are these super imaginative body horror creations that you have to love these freaks. Not many of them have powers in the comic book sense, but most of ‘em are so original it’s not a lack.

Hiram Worchester is also surprisingly likeable even if he’s possessed/addicted as of book 6. In the RPG, he seemed like a fat fuck with a minor gravity control power. In the books, he’s actually really good with his power- he pulls of Star Boy style gravity stunts and is entertainingly brutal….another reason I want to get ahold of Book Five.

Loved the Living Gods (book 4), but as a modern worshipper of Bast who has also had great success lately in invoking Ma’at, what’d you expect? I just finished up Dr. Finn’s story in Card Sharks, and despite his conspicuous wealth, I like the guy, perhaps because his chapter held the viscerally nastiest Card Sharks conspiracy to date in the novel.

My least favorite character so far isn’t an Ace or a Joker- it’s the human archer Brendan/Yeoman. Brendan is this horrible action movie cliché storm tossed into an otherwise interesting fictional world. He’s a badass Vietnam vet slash ninja who swore vengeance on the Vietnamese crimelord who killed his wife and kid. Seriously, there’s not one fucking thing about Brendan that’s original. If Wild Cards were a movie, he’d be played by Steven Segal. Maybe my opinion of the guy will change if I get my hands on Book Five, but I doubt it. I haven’t warmed to Mark Meadows yet either. In the first book, I skipped the Transfigurations chapter, which intro’ed him. I just couldn’t get into it, mostly because Meadows seems like such a one dimensional character- the stereotypical hippy. I kinda want to read the Free Vietnam storyline and see him in action, but right now, Mark’s not even on my radar.

One thing I didn’t expect is that two of the best written stories so far have focused on abortion. I know that I shouldn’t be shocked, given that Wild Cards plays with every other aspect of human life, but I kinda am. Down By The Nile (which is an amusing coincidence, as I didn’t read the story until a few days ago, and I named the Bastian kids show in Otherverse America several years ago) and Til I Kissed Her both had abortion as a key plot element. In Down By the Nile, Tachyon is pressuring Peregrine to have an abortion, as her kid will probably end up a deformed Joker, and Til I Kissed Her features a pre-Roe abortion (and I wonder if the duck-billed joker Doc is a speculatum joke?). Both felt authentic and well written, and the events in Til I Kissed Her spin Fluer’s words and actions in Book 6 in a totally new light. Also, and I hope this is answered in another book, given Tachyon’s feelings about joker births and his medical skill, I wonder if his Blythe Van Resseler Memorial clinic is set up to perform abortions? Hell, if I ever get asked to join the Wild Cards mosaic (small chance of that, right), that’d be the first story I’d write.

Anyway, speaking of unintentional similarities between my writing and Wild Cards, Fortunato is totally a Black Tokyo PC. Seriously, if you read his story in Book I, you’ll see what I mean. I don’t want to spoil it for you…..

Blessed Be,

CHRIS

What I'm Working On: July 2012

Okay, here's an update on what I've been working on over the last couple of weeks, and a preview of some of my favorite new artwork. Up top we have sketch and finalized versions of the 14 year old Cassie Feneris, by Amanda Webb. This illo, and a sequence of other illustrations, all in the same black, white and crimson style, will illustrate the opening fiction of Frontlines of Choice. Cassie was one of the two heroines from the "Pro-Choice Wheel of the Year" novella from the Otherverse America Game Master's Guide, and the fiction in Frontlines expands on her origins a bit.

That book will be out soon. I'm waiting on 3 final pieces of artwork, and then it'll go to press. Frontlines of Choice had an interesting genesis- I started thinking of working on it while I was writing Trade Routes for Louis Porter Jr. That one turned out to be one of his better recent sellers, and as I expanded the caravan rules from Paizo's Jade Regent adventure path, I hit on the idea of using a similar rule set to create the clinic management simulation that forms the first chapter of Frontlines of Choice.

Next up, I've got an Alex Garcia piece, illustrating a Stonecutter merchant. this will be the racial illustration for the revised Guide to the Known Galaxy. That book keeps getting pushed back, because it will require so much original art I'm buying pieces here & there. Most of the creatures in GTKG are so unique and visually specific I can't get by with stock art. It'll be out sooner or later, though.

Finally, we have a John Picot illustration of an Image Comics-esque supersoldier. This illo will find its way into Psi-Watch Zero Issue. Zero Issue will be a huge support for Psi-Watch. I'm aiming for 75-10 pages... this book will include tons of new character builder options, new starting talents, campaign models and other crunchy goodness. Zero Issue also includes several Psi-Watch specific Enhancement Protocols for Powered Heroes, new Orders and Design Schemes for Fursona and Synthetic Heroes specific to the genre and the campaign setting. Zero Issue will also serve as the Psi-Watch Game Master's Guide, and like the Otherverse GMG, it will include about 20 rules modifications to tweak the campaign to simulate different kinds of stories, and 100 Psi-Watch specific plot hooks.

I'll preview some of the content here soon. Zero Issue should be out shortly after Frontlines of Choice- I like mixing my political releases with apolitical action-adventure content. It keeps the readers on their toes.

After that, what's up?
Well, I'm in a revise and revamp mood.

Sooner or later I'm going to put out an Unlimited Edition for Galaxy Command, probally starting with a Species of Galaxy Command sourcebook. Species of Otherverse America is one of my favorite recent books, and I want to give the GC races the same treatment, pull the best races from the various Galaxy Command releases, trim the dead wood and add some new races that fit other pulp/sci-fi/space opera niches. Expect a revised Galaxy Command Corebook sometime after the Species book hits.

I'll likewise be revising Black Tokyo, as I talked about last month.

On the new releases front, I'll be putting out sourcebooks focusing on Otherverse America's near Earth space. I'll start with a 50-70 page sourcebook on Solomon Station- the independent Lifer station out in Jupiter orbit. After that, expect looks at the Lunar nation, Diana, and the Muslim-dominanted Asteroid Belt region. I'll also put out a few more Psi-Watch sourcebooks, as working on Zero Issue has inspired me to do more stuff with the setting.

Should be a good summer.
Blessed Be,
CHRIS

Mississippi is FUBAR, But What Else is New?

http://jezebel.com/5921671/mississippi-could-soon-be-the-first-state-without-an-abortion-clinic

Amanda just sent me a link to this story this morning.
Depressing and infuriating in equal measure, but seriously, its a story about Mississippi, so what do I expect.
CHRIS

Metaplot: It Will Always Be January 22, 2107.... an answer to Amanda

In the comments on the previous post, Amanda worried that I'd killed off Hiemdall for good during the Julie/Ghost fiction from the OA Corebook. I figured I'd put her mind at ease, and it would also be a good time to talk about the meta-plot of the Otherverse America setting.

Simply put: OA doesn't really have meta-plot. Unlike classic World of Darkness, or Rifts (during the Siege of Tolkeen era), there isn't an advancing timeline.Each sourcebook I write, now or in the foreseeable future will be set immediately before January 22, 2107. I figure that day, the Abortion War reawakens, and its up to the player characters to decide what direction it takes. Which side wins? Lifers or Choicers? It really depends on what faction the PCs side with, and winning or losing the War for their side will be up to the heroes.

So what happened to Hiemdall? Up to the local gamemaster. In the fiction, I left him unconscious in a Boston subway tunnel shortly after midnight on January 22, 2107. Does he die of his wounds, is he captured, does he pull through and after repairing himself, juryrigging himself to get back into the fight, does he meet up with Cassie and Julie? I figure that, like other mysteries, great and small of the setting is for YOU to solve.

Also, the cover to Frontlines of Choice, by Felipe Gaona.

Blessed Be,
CHRIS

Art Preview: Hiemdall

Here's Amanda's amazing inks of the Covenguard Hiemdall. I originally included this guy as nothing more than a name in the Otherverse America revised corebook. He was the Covenguard who got scragged by the 16th Ghost of Babies Past in Julie's present-day fiction. (And how made a non-speaking cameo during the Samhain fiction).

I realized that I wanted to include stats for a high level Covenguard character (this guy is CR 10, and is a fucking TANK) in Frontlines of Choice, so I decided to finally flesh out Hiemdall.

First off, he actually speaks, and second, we get full stats for him. Anyway, Amanda really knocked this image out of the park- this is easily the coolest inking job she's ever done. She actually asked me if there is a romance between him and Julie, and I emailed her back that was something I was leaving deliberately vague, but its pretty interesting that a relatively new iconic character was able to provoke that much of a response.

Blessed Be,
CHRIS

Art Preview: John Picot

Hey, guys, here's an update on what I'm working on, and a preview of some kickass art from upcoming projects.

First, Forging Heroes (my starting occupation sourcebook) and Expanded Occupations: The Tube-Grown will be out soon. Forging Heroes totally revises the starting occupations concept from D20 Modern, and includes new starting talents for ALL my D20 Modern Campaign Worlds.

EO: Tube-Grown builds on this first book, and takes an in-depth look at one of occupations from Forging Heroes, the Tube-Grown. These guys are force-grown clones educated in virtual reality sims. If you liked John Bryne's Next Men or either version of Superboy (90s or New 52 flavored), you'll find tons of kick ass content in this book. Basically, at 15 pages, I turn one starting occupation out of about 50, and make it the hook for an entire campaign.

 EO: Tube-Grown is also the first project I'm releasing in partnership with John Picot, who does stockart under the name Shinkei

http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?x=0&y=0&author=Shinkei

He's a fan of my stuff, and has basically agreed to work with me in a profit-sharing arrangement, rather than cash up front. He also works FUCKING FAST! These two qualities mean that my future projects will be extraordinary well illustrated.

Anyway, here's some preview images. The first two images will find their way into the upcoming Frontlines of Choice sourcebook, and present two radically different takes on the Neo-Witch Midwives of Otherverse America.

The final image is a WIP shot of what will become the "unlimited edition" of Black Tokyo.... it's actually the first image I've commissioned for the new Black Tokyo, and depicts two Tokyo Bureau of Mythological Sanitation workers killing a rogue cat girl. There'll be some changes to the image- mostly to the men' costumes.

Anyway, enjoy, and Blessed Be,
CHRIS

Optional Rule: Gurostrike!

Here's an optional rule I've been toying with for the eventual Black Tokyo revision. Try it out at the table, and tell me what you think......

Gurostrike

            With a single mighty swing, Yamoto lays the skatto witch open from sternum to pussy. A shocked look slowly blossoms on her face as she feels the hot loops of her own intestines slip out of her body. She slumps to her knees in a rapidly expanding pool of blood and shit. The hands that were still futility trying to cram her viscera back into her body suddenly twitch once, and go limp. Her knees give way, and the witch slides onto her side. She gives a rattling, wet cough as her ruined heart beats its last. Yamoto flicks the gore and bits of bone from his claymore with a contemptuous twitch of his wrist, and slides the blade back into its huge scabbard.

This fight is over.

            Action and horror hentai, and ero guro manga in general, embraces ultra-violence. Heroes don’t just drive a sword through their foe’s heart. Instead, they disembowel their enemies with a single mighty blow, with the kill stroke lovingly rendered in a full page spread. By allowing the Gurostrike rule in your campaign, you give Black Tokyo’s heroes and villains alike a way to end combat in a single horrific strike, and make combat play out as it does in the pages of blood-stained manga like Blade of the Immortal.

Performing Gurostrike

Full Round, Provokes Attacks of Opportunity

            Gurostrike is a melee combat maneuver which any character with a Base Attack Bonus of +1 or higher can attempt. Gurostrike is a full round action which provokes attacks of opportunity. If the attack of opportunity is successful, the Gurostrike cannot be performed and the action is lost.

            Rather than making a conventional melee attack roll, the attacker makes a Strength Check to kill the defender outright. The Strength Check’s DC is equal to 10 + 1/3 the defender’s current Hit Point Total. Thus, if Bladelord Ichiro attempts to perform a Gurostrike against an uninjured Minotaur (45 HP) the Strength Check DC would be DC 25 (45 divided by 3, or 15 + base DC 10).

            The attacker receives a +5 circumstance bonus on the STR Check made to inflict Gurostrike against a helpless, unconscious or willing target.

            To perform a Gurostrike, the attacker must be able to clearly see the target, and must be able to target a vital area. Creatures immune to critical hits are also immune to Gurostrikes.

Success: One Hit Kill!

            If the attacker beats the STR Check DC, the Gurostrike is successful. The attacker narrates exactly how he slays his victim in a single blow. Describe slicing your victim perfectly in half with your katana, knocking their pulped head off their shoulders with a  single mighty blow from your war mace, or punching straight through your opponent’s chest, ripping out her heart and showing it to her. The Gurostrike’s victim is slain outright (reduced to -11 HP).

Failure: An Ordinary Blow

            If the attacker fails the STR Check DC, the Gurostrike also fails. Check to see if the attacker’s check result at least equals or exceeds the defender’s Defense Score (Armor Class). Though they have no effect on the Gurostrike attempt itself, if the attacker’s weapon has a magical or masterwork bonus to hit or damage, they are calculated into this ‘secondary’ attack roll.

If so failed Gurostrike is treated as an ordinary melee attack roll, which depending on the damage inflicted may kill the defender, just not as spectacularly as a successful Gurostrike would. If the STR Check result fails to exceed the Gurostrike’s DC and the defender’s Defense Score, the Gurostrike is a complete miss, having no effect.

Armor and Gurostrike

            Most lighter forms of body armor offer only minimal protection against a Gurostrike. The attacker can aim for a vulnerable spot, or else simply strikes with such force that the blow shreds the armor at the same time it mutilates the flesh beneath.

           

Type of Armor	Equipment Bonus Added to Gurostrike DC?	Enchantment Bonus Added to Gurostrike DC?
Shields	Yes	Yes
Bracers	No	Yes
Heavy Armor	Yes	Yes
Medium Armor	No	Yes
Light Armor	No	Yes

Heavy Armor adds its equipment bonus to Defense (Armor Class) to the STR Check DC to perform a successful Gurostrike against the wearer. Heavy Armor also adds any enchantment bonus to Defense (AC) provided by magical armor to the STR Check DC.

Shields function in the same manner as heavy armor, adding both their equipment bonus to Defense (AC) and any enchantment bonus to the STR Check DC to perform a Gurostrike against the wearer. Bracers only add their enchantment bonus, if any.

            Light and Medium armor do not add their equipment bonus to Defense (AC) to the STR Check DC to perform a successful Gurostrike against the wearer. Light and Medium Armor add any any enchantment bonus to Defense (AC) provided by magical armor to the STR Check DC. Magic prevails when cloth, leather and chain doesn’t.

Behind the Curtain: Armor and Gurostrike

            I decided that only non-magical heavy armor provides any real protection from a Gurostrike, because this is the way action-hentai art work most commonly depicts things. A knight’s full plate mail or a modern SWAT team member’s heavy ‘breaching armor’ might provide some protection against being disemboweled or decapitated at a single stroke, but chain mail or leathers just aren’t durable enough to stand up to the rigors of ero-guro combat.

            This means that Black Tokyo’s heroes will probably either be heavily armored or they’ll leave the armor at home, which again, makes sense in a modern context. This rule also allows magical armor (of any ‘weight-class’) to provide effective protection against Gurostrikes. This is in line with comics like Witchblade (which, though an American comic, is a great inspiration for a Black Tokyo campaign). Witchblade’s skimpy, scabrous mystical armor is probably Light Armor, just in terms of its physical mass, but offers enough magical protection to keep her alive against the vicious, hulking demons she battles on a regular basis.

Gurostrike in the Campaign

            Gurostrike changes the way D20 Modern combat works in a pretty major way. A successful Gurostrike can end a fight with a single swordstroke. Gurostrike allows a hero to focus his rage, and end the life of the campaign’s master villain with one blow, or effortlessly mow down a low-HP mook. Gurostrike abstracts combat, and de-emphasizes weapons (even magical weapons), focusing instead on the strength and fury of the warrior wielding them. A hero wielding a +5 vorpal sword has the same chance to perform a Gurostrike as a rogue with a rusty shiv, or some battle-crazed barbarian who prefers to rip his opponents limb from limb barehanded.

            Since Gurostrike’s difficulty is keyed to the current HP total of the victim, players will have to spend several rounds whittling down a powerful opponent’s Hit Points before going for the kill with Gurostrike.

            Remember though, that while players can (and should) make liberal use of Gurostrikes to slaughter monsters, both human and otherworldly, so should the game master. Since most monsters have much higher Strength scores than even the most cybered-up or mystically enhanced hero, monsters are at a natural advantage when inflicting a Gurostrike. A tiger or bear can lay a man open with one swipe of its talons, but truly powerful monsters, such as Balors or Dragons or even the fearsome, slumbering Genbu can do even worse.

            Gurostrike makes closing to melee combat range a dangerous proposition. A hero can kill a monster in one strike, but the reverse is possible. Physically powerful and super-strong, vicious protagonists like combat cyborgs or Freduian Oni might stay on the frontlines, risking Gurostrike from their opponents for a chance to deal some close-ranged pain of their own. Everybody else, though is probably going to hang back from melee, and fight with guns or spells.

Gurostrike Traits

Hard Guts

Starting Role: Combat, CON 13+

            It’s not easy to kill you; somehow, you can fight on with horrible wounds. Even with your slippery guts oozing through your fingers, you can still keep fighting.  Opponents attempting to Gurostrike you suffer a -2 penalty on their STR check to do so.

Vengeful Gurostrike

Starting Role: Combat or Special

            Your hate smolders and it may take you years to find the courage to strike back at your abusers, but when you finally do, your vengeance is sudden and horrific. You receive a +2 trait bonus on STR Checks made to perform Gurostrike against any target who has ever abused or tortured you, either physically, emotionally or sexually.

Violent Lover
Starting Role: Combat, Social or Special

            You know how to best hurt your former lovers, especially the beautiful ones. Once per day, when performing a Gurostrike attempt against a target you have previously had a sexual or romantic encounter with, you may add the target’s CHA modifier as an insight bonus on the STR Check DC made to perform the Gurostrike.

Gurostrike Feats

Dexterous Gurostrike (Combat)
Prerequisite: Weapon Finesse, DEX 13+

            When making a Gurostrike while wielding any weapon usable with Weapon Finesse, you add your DEX modifier to the STR Check made to perform the Gurostrike rather than your STR modifier.

Environmental Gurostrike (Combat)
Prerequisite: Base Attack Bonus +3

            You like nothing better than an Ironclub Oni Yakuza off the rooftop and impaling him on an AC vent three stories below, pushing an Akaname assassin into a crematorium furnace and holding him in there face first until he stops twitching, or otherwise using the environment to kill your opponents.

            If there is a dangerous environmental feature (spiky wall decorations, an open electrical main, pipes containing caustic chemicals, a roaring fireplace, ect) adjacent to your target, you can utilize such a feature to your advantage when making a Gurostrike. If your description of the Gurostrike attempt includes the environmental hazard, you receive a +1d6 circumstance bonus on the STR Check to perform the Gurostrike.

Improved Gurostrike (Combat)
Prerequisite: Base Attack Bonus +5

            Your opponent takes his eyes off you for only a split second, and in that time, you can sever his head from his body. You do not provoke attacks of opportunity when using the Gurostrike combat maneuver.

Guarded Body (Combat)
Prerequisite: Combat Reflexes

            You fight viciously to save your life, knowing full well what the enemy has in mind for you should your focus waver. You receive a +2 insight bonus on attacks of opportunity provoked by an enemy attempting a Gurostrike.

Gurospell (Combat)
Prerequisites: ability to cast 3^rd level spells

            You are a spell-using murderer, able to use magic as lethally as any sword or axe.

            As a full round action, you can cast a Gurospell. You must sacrifice a direct-damaging dealing spell of 3^rd level or higher to power the Gurospell. When casting a Gurospell, you add your primary casting ability modifier rather than your STR modifier on the STR check to Gurostrike.

You receive a bonus on the STR check to Gurostrike equal to the level of the sacrificed spell -2. Thus, a 3^rd level spell provides a +1 bonus on the check, a 5^th level spell provides a +3 bonus, and a 9^th level spell would provide a +7 bonus. Your description of the Gurospell should include some especially gory signature elements from the original spell. An Ice Storm spell might freeze the target from the inside out, then shatter them explosively, a Fireball might roast their heart within their chest, before flash-incinerating the remains, and so on.

Guroshot (Combat)
Prerequisites: Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank Shot

            You can kill with a gunshot to the face just as efficiently as any long ago ronin could kill with his sword. You gain the ability to make a Gurostrike with a firearm or other ranged attack (including natural ranged attacks) so long as the Gurostrike is made within the weapon’s first range increment.

Militaristic Brutality (Combat)

Prerequisites: Base Attack Bonus +4, Power Attack

            Your combat training and years of battle experience have given you the skill and fury necessary to kill in a single blow. For every 4 full points of your Base Attack Bonus, you receive a cumulative +1 bonus on STR Checks made to perform a Gurostrike (maximum +5 bonus at +20 BAB).