Action Galaxy Preview: The Demolisher of Worlds (CR 15)

One of the projects I'm working on now, in the background as I collect art for Black Tokyo Unlimited, is Action Galaxy! This will be a plug-in option for Galaxy Command (I've been in a GC mood this year, and done tons of work for the setting.) that transforms it from a pulp sci-fi starships & aliens adventure setting into something that's much more of a riff on the Legion of Superheroes. Think of it as another lens you can view the Galaxy Command campaign through.

I'm working on monsters right now. The top image depicts the Fatal Five, and among them, the Persuader, who's physics-defying, ultra-powerful axe is one of my favorite comic book weapons. Beneath is John Picot's render of the "Demolisher", my knock-off version of the Persuader and his axe. The Demolisher art was actually a rejected image from San Francisco 2107, among John's first pass at an Asatru soldier. I decided the image was too evil looking, and too barbaric for a Choicer hero, but it's still a cool image, and perfect for a 35th Century supervillian.

The Demolisher of Worlds 

(CR 15)

Large CE Monstrous Humanoid (Psionic)

XP 51,200

Init +0 Senses Darkvision 60 ft, Perception +14

Languages Galactic Common, WARSTAR, Italian, a few others

Defense       

AC 21 Touch 9 Flatfooted 21 (-1 size, +12 equipment)

Damage Reduction 10/magic

HP 20d10 +180 +20 hp (310 HP)

FORT +17 REF +12 WILL +14

Immune Ballistic, Cold, Fire, Poison, Radiation, Suffocation

Offense

Spd 40 ft

Melee +30/+25/+20/+15 psycho-kutter (2d8+10 slashing, 20/x3 plus vorpal)

            Or +30 psycho-kutter (4d8+10 slashing, 20/x3 plus vorpal)

Statistics

Str 31 Dex 11 Con 29 Int 9 Wis 15 Cha 11

Base Atk +20 CMB +31 CMD 41

Feats Cleave, Deadly Stroke, Dazzling Display, Great Cleave, Great Fortitude, Intimidating Prowess, Shatter Defenses, Toughness, Vital Strike, Weapon Focus (psycho-kutter)

Skills Climb +22, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (streetwise) +11, Perception +14, Survival +14

Gear Prototype Psycho-Kutter, Demolisher armor

Ecology

Environment anywhere he can kill lots of people

Organization wading alone in a pool of blood 5 ft deep

Treasure double (the deadliest sword in the galaxy plus lots of drugs)

Special Abilities

Bloodthirst (EX)

            The Demolisher is a sociopath, pure and simple. Every time he drops an opponent to 0 HP or fewer, the rush of pleasure-chems and adrenaline allows him to recover 10 HP, which cannot take him past his normal maximum HP total. In addition, if the Demolisher is suffering an ongoing effect that hinders his effectiveness, he may make an additional saving throw to negate the effect after making a kill.

Psycho-Kutter (SU)

            In addition to using the Psycho-Kutter as a standard melee weapon, the Demolisher can also use it to cut through universal forces, disrupting the laws of physics in the immediate range. The Psycho-Kutter has enough power to disrupt the laws of physics up to 8 times in a 24 hour period before its micro-nuclear power cells need to recharge.

As a full round action, the Demolisher can cut through a physical force, resulting in the following effects. Note that the Demolisher’s unique prototype Psycho-Kutter has capabilities that standard Psycho-Kutter’s lack.

• Cut through Light, creating darkness in a 30 ft radius. Not even darkvision can see through this darkness, which lasts for 1 minute.
• Cut through Gravity, creating a low gravity environment in a 60 ft radius. This effect lasts for 1 minute.
• Alternate Effect: Completely nullifies gravity around one creature of Size Large or smaller. This causes the creature to fly upward at a speed of 100 ft for 1d4 rounds before gravity reasserts itself and they fall. Has no effect on flying creatures.
• Cut through Luck, which renders all enemy creatures incapable of using action points for any reason for 1d6 rounds; during this time, they suffer a -5 on attack rolls made to confirm critical hits.
• Cut through Loyalty, which affects a single creature within 60 ft of the Demolisher, and acts as Dominate Monster cast by a 20^th level sorcerer.
• Cut through Time, which slows all creatures within a 60 ft radius for 1d4 rounds, with the exception of the character wielding the Psycho-Kutter.
• Cut through Hyperspace, which prevents a specific starship which is within 2 space scale squares (1,000 ft) and visible to the Psycho-Kutter’s wielder from entering hyperspace for 1 minute. This ability can only be activated in hard vacuum.
• Cut through Dimensions, which has a 25% chance of releasing a random prisoner from the Argonite Wraith Zone. If a prisoner is released, there is a further 25% chance that it is an Argonite Wraith Zoner, not a living creature. In either case, the initial attitude of the freed prisoner is helpful towards the person who freed it.

Vorpal Psycho-Kutter (SU)

The Demolisher’s Psycho-Kutter has the vorpal quality. On a natural 20, it severs the opponents head from their body, usually resulting in instant, spectacular death.

Coming Soon: San Francisco 2107

San Francisco 2107

            San Francisco is one of the largest, most important alpha-cities on the planet, and represents the heart and soul of the Choicer Covenant. Home to more than 15 million citizens, the vast majority of them Choicer and proud, San Francisco is the greatest city along the pagan-dominated Crimson Coast. It’s a city hardened by three decades of civil war, and given new purpose by the emergence of a new faith. San Francisco was home to the first post-human strike squad, to the first Neo-Witch Midwife, to the first Choicer soldier… and to the next generation of Choicer superhuman.

            San Francisco is your city.

The Choicer Player’s Guide

            The Choicer Player’s Guide dramatically expands on the options or Choicer heroes found in the Otherverse America Campaign Setting and takes things in a slightly different direction than Frontlines of Choice. Frontlines of Choice focused heavily on the secular side of Choicer culture, this focuses on the religious. The Choice Player Guide emphasizes pagan powers, pagan ideologies, pagan factionalism….and pagan heroism.

            Originally intended as a standalone release, The Choicer Player’s Guide was absorbed into San Francisco 2107. Most of the themes and concepts explored by these new feats, powers and starting talents are directly tied to San Francisco’s history. The result is the ultimate guide to both a place and a culture, a thorough examination of what it means to be Choicer at the dawn of the 22^nd Century.

Inside You’ll Discover:

• A complete guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area, at the dawn of the 22^nd Century. A fictional city that will take you weeks to completely explore!
• Plot hooks and story ideas in every paragraph!
• Dramatically expanded cultural files and complete histories for the most common superhuman races of the Choicer Nation: Cyborgs, Half-Grey, Softlings, Ubasti and more!
• Details of the defunct RAINBOW strike squad and hints of its rebirth.
• Tons of non-rule info and character ideas for playing Choicer Neo-Pagan heroes from any faction: Ásatrú, Bastians, Dianic Rite, Eleusinian Cultists, Strega and more!

• A huge selection of new feats and starting talents to let you build Ásatrú or Gardnerian heroes, not to mention more information on the Choicer military and the Woven Circle!
• New Choicer-exclusive weapons, gear and ultra-technology! 

What you just read is the sell-text for San Francisco 2107, which I just finished laying out last night, and just sent off to Mark for posting to RPGnow.com. Expect this book within the next couple of days. It tops out at 169 pages of gaming goodness.

I'm proud of how this book came out. It's attractive and very art heavy. Yeah, I use stock and some reused images, but considering my art budget it's lavishly illustrated with a preponderance of new artwork. Comparing it to some of the superhero and sci-fi games I've bought on RPGnow recently, some of which are by much bigger publishers than myself, it holds up well.

Anyway, I think you'll like it as much as I do.
Blessed Be,
CHRIS

San Francisco Citybook Preview: Dogpatch

Last night, I started laying out San Francisco 2107. I'm about 55 pages into a 175-200 page tome, and will be done with layout and editing by Wednesday. It's feeling pretty good. Everything is coming together nicely, the commissioned art I got from Amanda and John for the project is meshing well with existing art I'm reusing and whatever stock I'm filling out the pages with. It's going to be a good looking book, with a slightly fancier layout than normal. 

A few weeks back, Mark Cathro sent me a selection of new fonts, which I'm using for the title art and chapter headers, and I've also used heavily on all my projects this year. You may or may not have noticed the new lettering on the Space Monsters books, the Nemesis Bestiary and Niishima Inn, but those logos are all attributable to the huge folder of fonts Mark sent along. I'm actually embarrassed at how  excited I am about lettering; likewise I found a great stock art background image by Rick Hershey of Empty Room Studios, which I'm using, and it gives the SF Citybook a nice grungy, cyberpunk feel. 

Today I figured I'll do a last preview of the Citybook, with a look at San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood. After San Francisco 2107 comes out, I'm going to be working more on Black Tokyo Unlimited as well as some more stuff for Galaxy Command. Right now, the Nemesis Bestiary (20 all new monsters for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game!) is newly up for sale at RPGNow, along with a Free20: The Command Armory, which focuses on cool guns for Galaxy Command. Go pick 'em both up. Nemesis Bestiary just got a great 5 star review- all my stuff seems to be well received this year. Hopefully, when San Francisco 2107 hits, it will be equally popular. 

Next time, I'll preview some Black Tokyo Unlimited artwork. Enjoy the early look at Dogpatch, 

CHRIS

Dogpatch

            Welcome to the Choicer nation at street level.

Dogpatch is one of the youngest, angriest and most militant Choicer sectors of the city. Rents are cheap here, with Dog Patch’s rundown warehouses, War-scarred old houses and abandoned big box retailers being converted into semi-legal apartments and lofts after War’s End. Dogpatch proudly calls itself the center of clinic defense for San Francisco- its huge and commingled Bastian and Ásatrú community lives here, goes to college in Mission Bay, works somewhere in SoMa or the Castro, and fights hard every free minute in Pacific Heights. With tensions fueled by close proximity to the Hunter’s Point Enclave, brawls and street fights against the city’s Lifer population is common. And the men and women of Dogpatch wouldn’t have it any other way…

            Dogpatch breeds a different kind of Choicer than the other sectors of the city. While the glamorous, red robed priestesses of Pacific Heights might use Philosophies and diplomacy to win the Abortion War, and Foxjoy’s Bastians prefer genetically implanted weapons systems, Dogpatch’s rowdy clinic defenders prefer their fists and a good set of Kevlar III hard armor on their back. More recruits to the Covenant’s Fire and Earth guards come from Dogpatch than any other sector of the city.

Points of Interest: Dogpatch

            Dogpatch’s Abortion Clinics

            Dogpatch is itself home to a pair of clinics, both of which see more fighting in any given shift than most of the clinics in Pacific Heights see in a month. These clinics tend to political and theological outsiders, part of the Covenant, but only reluctantly. As a result, they lack the funding and military support of the Pacific Heights clinics, and are forced to rely more on Dogpatch’s rough and ready clinic defense networks, and private donations to make up the gap.

            The Winterheath Women’s Center is an Ásatrú-run clinic, run by Lady Alva Hedlund (Female FCB Tough 1, Dedicated 4, Midwife 3). Lady Hedlund grew up poor in the district itself, and rather unusually she began her Midwife training in her early 20s, rather than ten years prior. She taught herself pre-med and theology while serving as a proud valkarie clinic defender, even installing a hacked ob-nan cyberarm on herself…remaining conscious throughout the surgery. She is proudly Choicer, but keeps the Covenant itself at a distance, running her clinic according to her own nature and the whispered voice of her patron goddess, Frejya. She worries that the Covenant has become too obsessed with heritage and bloodline, allowing parentage, not raw talent or passion, determine who becomes an abortion doc. As a result, she will train any woman who shows promise as a Midwife, regardless of wealth or status. Earn the big, butch cyborg’s respect and she’ll teach you every hard, bloody lesson she’s learned along the way.

            The House of the Woman’s Care Coven is a Bastian run clinic these days. Before that it was Dianic Rite, and before the Covenant formed, it had a less theatrical name and was run by a feminist physician’s collective. In any event, it has been a part of of San Francisco’s reproductive-health scene for a long, long time. It’s a free clinic, funded entirely by local donations and whatever support it can pull from the Covenant’s annual budget. It’s run by Lady Hequet Crook, a philosophical but shockingly profane Bastian with a long standing grudge against the Lifer nation. Her hatred is the kind of hatred that only comes from close experience- she was born and raised in Hunter’s Point and disowned when her parents discovered she had an abortion at 14. As a result, she’ll go the extra mile for her patients from the Enclave.

            Dogfennel Lanes

            An abandoned and condemned bowling alley that took some heavy collateral damage during the Abortion War, nobody looks twice at the Dogfennel Lanes anymore. They should, because a cell of Liberty Wolf Choicer terrorists have moved in and made the alley their headquarters, and have set up a couple of quick n’ dirty genetic reassignment tanks back behind the pins. The Wolves can offer Street Enhancile and Metaporn Enhancile protocols for Powered Heroes but only to people they know and trust- usually familiar faces on the clinic defense lines.

            Since last Beltane, the gang’s ‘head wolf’ is Kyla Dovehunter (Female Mau Powered-reflex 4). She’s an expert parkour. Those wanting uplift in her tanks have to keep up with her in a race across the roofs, and then either kick the shit outta a few of the tougher Lifers at a clinic defense or go a few rounds with her ‘pet’- the fearsome Red Duat (Male Ubasti Fighter 3). Most prospective gangers choose the brawl against the Lifers.

            The Iron Queen Dojo

            The Iron Queen has been teaching Choicers how to fight for more than 15 years- it doesn’t matter if they’re clinic defenders, post humans, or little old grannies living in Dogpatch. The dojo is located in a converted storefront, its outer façade decorated in a graffiti mural of the goddess Persephone as a badass combat cyborg, once glorious now sunfaded. Never the less, the dojo’s students leave fresh pomegranates or pomegranate wine beneath the mural as a tribute before stepping onto the mats. Mike Saxon (Male Human Strong 3, Martial Artist 6), a former drill instructor at the Presidio, runs the dojo and has mastered a unique local fighting style named for the dojo. His Iron Queen style teaches Choicer FCBs to maximize the advantages of their artificial bodies.

            Joe Mortari’s Gallery

            Joe Mortari (Male Human Fast 3, Martial Artist 2, Powered- transmuter 1) is a local sculptor who prefers found object abstracts but does a sideline in handforged athames and pagan jewelery that’s rapidly making him famous among the Pacific Heights elite. He and his older brother Steve, got their powers during 2080s’ Silvernight, and are just now awakening to their true post-human potential. Following his brother’s lead but going miles farther, Joe has been an active part of the clinic defense scene since he was 15, and with his new powers has only become more determined. Joe Mortari is a dedicated Bastian, and a fixture at Iron Queen’s, where he teaches self defense to junior high kids.

            His older brother Steve Mortari (Male Human Smart 4, Powered-shapechanger 2) calls himself Choicer but has never really claimed any tradition. Steve is a blogger whose words often appear in the Lion Count Chronicle. The Mortaris, especially the much older Steve, are good friends with Cassie Andra Feneris, having grown up together. Steve Mortari’s dedication to the Choicer cause can be traced to what happened to Cassie when they were kids; to him, even though he’s not a fully committed pagan, the Choicers helped his best friend when she needed it, and he’ll always owe them for that.

            Joe Mortari lives and works out of a converted boat warehouse near the water. His gallery and its eerie sculptures (which also serve as practice targets for his transmutational talents, these days) dominate the cavernous space. He maintains a living space above the cracked concrete work floor. Every piece of furniture and fixture in the place is handcrafted- Joe’s taken the adage that ‘pagans make cool things’ to heart. During the summer, Joe usually leaves his garage doors rolled up, and lets locals and tourists alike, wander through his workspace/gallery and watch him work. His brother lives in a more conventional apartment near the Financial District.

            The Sophia & Lilith Brothel

            Sofia & Lilith proudly calls itself a feminist whorehouse, and is run by a collective of the neighborhoods horae. It maintains no contracts with any of the city’s pornocorps, which makes it something of an oddity. Huge percentages of the brothel’s profits go into a fund supporting the House of the Women’s Care Coven. Most of Sophia & Lilith’s horae are followers of recovered Cannite traditions, with a smattering of Egyptian neo-pagans and the occasional Kaballistic heretic Jew just for flavor. The philosophical debates in the main lounge are almost as intense as the fucking.

                                                

            Dogpatch’s Bars and Clubs

            Dogpatch really comes to life at night, as battered street fighters sling their bright orange Kevlar III over their shoulders and descend on the district’s bars and clubs to blow off steam. Some of the Dogpatch’s nightspots include:

• Cat & Scarab. Fairly quiet neighborhood bar a few blocks from House of Women’s Care. Hundreds of semi-feral cats call the area home.
• Cat Licking Herself. Exclusively Bastian whorehouse. Other factions are unwelcome, and monotheists get turned away at the door. 
• Feather & Braid. Local Bastian barber shop, advertised only by word of mouth but considered the best in the city by locals. Offers Sekmet’s Braid (weapons) to local clinic defenders.  
• The Longhouse. Ásatrú hangout near the beach. You’ll see lots of young Ásatrú tinkering with their implants right at the table.
• Mossington Avenue Covenstead. Mixed use temple, shared by several Bastian, Dianic and Ásatrú sects depending on the day. Runs self defense and clinic defense/escort training for local volunteers year round.
• New Giza. A Bastian punk club where lots of local bands first played.
• Peace Cup. No weapons or armor allowed, a great date spot. Local microbrewers sell their wares here, best selection of beer and mead in SF with bi-annual brewing competitions.
• Sekmet’s Piss. Hardcore Bastian bar, lots of clinic defenders and local Bastian bands. Fighting circle at the center of the floor for non-lethal bouts between Bastian post-humans.
• Trollhiem. Nobody looks twice at Ásatrú Powereds with a combat warform here.
• The Vahalla Apartments. Cheap apartments made from converted warehouses. Huge party area but pretty safe, and the residents tend to look out for other Ásatrú.

The Nails

            The Nails are a local street gang slash low-bottom mercenary crew that operates out of Dogpatch and neighboring Patrero Hill. They’ve been around, in one form or another since the 2070s, and each generation has been meaner than the one before it. The Nails take the name form their favorite weapon- stolen construction exo-skeletons souped up and repurposed for military use.

They recently hit the Line Works Design Showroom in Napa and made off with a shiny new set of LWD “Hephaestus” Industrial Shells, which they’ve modded for service as killing machines. Since the heist, the local Nails have stepped up their game; before the gang had merely dabbled in mercenary work, now they’re moving out of truck hijackings into the world of assassinations for hire.

Tommy Cervantes (Male Mechanic Fast 5, Soldier 1) is the local badass running the Nails. He grew up in Dogpatch, even tried being a clinic defender for a while when he turned 16. That lasted about ten minutes, as he tried to rape a fellow defender after the fighting died down. Some of the local Ásatrú made sure he spent the next few months in the hospital and then the next two years in prison, so Tommy’s got a special hatred for Thor-worshippers. In prison, Tommy made good contacts with the local Lifers, and through his ex-cellmates, he’s hired on for deniable wet work with the Army of God.

Psi-Watch Villany: Lord Gehenna (CR 18)

The WildC.A.T.s villian, Helspont has long been a favorite villian of mine. This is despite the fact that in the original miniseries, he was little more than a standard evil overlord. My love of the character can be solely traced to Jim Lee's design for him: a metallic alien Satan with butane-blue flames enshrouding his skull like face. What's more badass than that? 

So here is a homage villain based heavily on Helspont. At CR 18, Lord Gehenna may be even more threatening and lethal than his inspiration. The top image depicts Helspont and is by Jim Lee, from the original WildC.A.T.s run.  The second image is John Picot’s CGI rendition of Lord Gehenna.

Enjoy,

CHRIS

Lord Ghennna (CR 18)

Large LE Aberration (fire, psionic)

XP 153,600

Init +5 Senses Blindsight 60 ft, Darkvision 90 ft, lowlight vision, Perception +39

Languages Blooded Ghost, Common, Culture, English, several others

Aura Plasmic Furnace (5 ft inner aura 3d6 fire damage within a 30 ft outer aura that is considered a highly irradiated area)

Defense

AC 29 Touch 10 Flatfooted 28 (-1 size,+1 DEX, +19 natural)

HP 28d8 + 196 + 28 hp (350 HP)

FORT +16 REF +10 WILL +24

Damage Reduction 10/magic

Spell Resistance 24

Immune Cold, Electricity, Fire, Radiation, Suffocation/Vacuum

Offense

Spd 40 ft

Melee +25/+20/+15/+10 slam (2d8+5 bludgeoning plus 2d8 fire, 20/x3)

Ranged +25/+20/+15/+10 fire bolt (8d10 fire, 100 ft range increment, 20/x4)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 28^th)

Constant – Fireshield

At Will – Fireball (DC 25)

5x/day – Maximized Fireball (DC 25)

3x/day – Quickened Sunburst (DC 30)

Statistics

Str 21 Dex 13 Con 24 Int 30 Wis 27 Cha 22

Base Atk +21 CMB +27 CMD 38

Feats Dazzling Display (fire bolt), Diehard, Improved Initiative, Inevitable Victory, Lightning Reflexes, Maximized Spell-like Ability (fireball), Point Blank Shot, Quicken Spell-like Ability (sunburst), Shatter Defenses (fire bolt), Spell Focus (evocation), Starship Operations, Superficial Mindscan, Toughness, Weapon Focus (fire bolt)

Skills Acrobatics +15, Bluff +37, Computer Use +24, Craft (electronic) +17, Disable Device +15, Drive +8, Intimidate +37, Knowledge (arcana, geography, history, physical sciences, religion, streetwise, tactics)  all at +30, Perception +39, Sense Motive +39, Spellcraft +41, Stealth +29, Use Magic Device +37

Ecology

Environment any

Organization solitary or accompanied by several Blooded Ghost servants and extraplanetary threats, including Lifechained monsters

Treasure triple standard (mostly weapons, exotic alien energy sources and Blooded Ghost cultural artifacts)

Special Abilities

            Ancient Beyond Imagination (SU)

            Lord Gehenna is impossibly ancient, not just millions, but several billion years old; his mere presence unsettles psi-sensitives. Echoes of his vast intellect and uncounted eons of memories can destroy unwary minds.

            All creatures with the Psionic subtype suffer 1d4 points of temporary INT damage for each round they remain within 60 ft of Lord Gehenna. A DC WILL Save can prevent the damage for one round, but a new save must be made each round the Psionic creature remains within Gehenna’s presence. Creatures reduced to 0 INT in this manner are slain, suffering fatal strokes and uncontrolled psi-discharges that literally liquefy their brains within their skull.

            Immortality (SU)

            Lord Gehenna cannot be truly slain. He has survived longer than life has existed on Earth, and will survive until the eventual heat death of the universe. Even if Lord Gehenna is destroyed, his consciousness can reform a new body in as little as 3d6 months. If Lord Gehenna can ever be permanently destroyed, and the exact means of doing so, are left for the game master to decide. Alternately, finding a way to trap his consciousness is a possibility for local game masters to decide the feasibility of.

            Inevitable Victory (SU)

            Occasionally Lord Gehenna’s strange perception of space-time allows him fleeting glimpses from further up the time stream, when the Blooded Ghost race brings down the Psi-Watch orbital platform, and begins its long awaited counterstrike against their hated enemies, the Culture.

           

            Up to 13 times per day, Lord Gehenna may attempt an Intelligence check (DC 8 + your opponent’s CR or Hit Dice) If this intelligence check succeeds, Gehenna recover a memory shared by a Blooded Ghost in an alternate future that reveals how your enemy was finally brought down by some futuristic Blooded Ghost warrior.

            If the Intelligence check succeeds, Gehenna learns:

• Your target’s Defense Score, including touch and flatfooted scores.
• If your target has any form of resistances or immunities, including Damage Reduction.
• If your target suffers additional damage from any type of attack, and if so, which kind.

            Making this check is a free action. You may not take 10 or 20 on this check and may not retry a failed check against the same target for at least 24 hours. A failed check expends a daily use of this feat. Lord Gehenna receives a +5 circumstance bonus on this INT check against creatures who have chosen the Time Crosser starting occupation.

            Plasmic Furnace (SU)

            Lord Gehenna’s body constantly emits lethal levels of heat and radioactivity. A 30 ft radius around Lord Gehenna is considered highly irradiated; this area remains radioactive for up to an hour after Lord Gehenna leaves the area. Areas where the alien spends long periods of time are permanently radioactive.

            Lord Gehenna’s body is covered in shifting plasma flames that automatically inflict 3d6 fire damage to all creatures and objects within 5 ft (no save.)

            Superficial Mind Scan (SU)

            Lord Gehenna can read the minds of those around him, easily scanning their surface thoughts. The amount of information revealed depends on how long Gehenna studies a particular area or subject. Gehenna may manifest this ability at will, and maintain the scan for up to 8 minutes. Manifesting this ability is a standard action, and Gehenna must rest at least one minute between activations of this talent.

• First round of the scan: Reveals the presence or absence of thinking minds (from conscious creatures with an INT score of 1 or higher) within a 60 ft cone emanating from you. You do not pinpoint scanned creatures or know their exact location.
• Second round of the scan: You know the number of sentient creatures (INT score of 5+) and the INT score of any creature within your scanning range.
• Third round of the scan: You detect the surface thoughts of any mind within the area. The subject can attempt a WILL Save (DC 12 + your WIS modifier) to avoid having its thoughts read. Animals and similar low intellect creatures have simple, instinctual drives you can pick up.

If the subject succeeds on a WILL save, Gehenna must manifest this ability again to have another chance. Each round Lord Gehenna concentrates on maintaining the scan, you can scan another 60 ft cone. The power can penetrate barriers, but may be stopped by 1 ft of stone, 1 foot of common metal, a thin lead sheet, or 3 ft of wood or dirt.

           

            Tactical Immortality (EX)
            Older than the sun itself, Lord Gehenna can outwit even the most experienced enemy. Once per encounter, as a swift action, Lord Gehenna can activate his tactical immortality. Doing so allows Lord Gehenna to completely negate any successful attack against himself, and reassign the negated attack’s damage to any visible enemy creature within 30 ft. Lord Gehenna cannot negate area effect attacks in this manner, only individually targeted attacks, whether melee or ranged.

Roleplaying

            Lord Gehenna is a powerful alien intelligence, a creature of steel, flame and arrogance. Lord Gehenna is worshipped as a living god by the Blooded Ghost race, though he is not truly of their kind. Instead, Gehenna is a kind of cosmic ghost, possibly older than the current universe. The ancient warlord drifts through the universe as a disembodied consciousness, only dimly aware of the passage of time, even as he (it?) slumbers for millions of years. Occasionally, Lord Gehenna wakes, and constructs a body for himself, forging it from ultra-dense metals found at the heart of dying pulsars, and wreathed in star-like plasma. Gehenna has awakened at least three times during the recorded history of the Blooded Ghost race, most recently coalescing into material form in the Earth year 1993 CE; prior to that, Gehenna awakened 35 million years prior, and began the Blooded Ghosts’ long war with the Culture.

            In his current incarnation, Lord Gehenna is a behemoth with an armored hull composed of some kind of gleaming, nearly indestructible golden alloy. Shifting plates of blood red alloy accent Gehenna’s golden armor, and shift and morph with at the alien warlord’s whim to provide even greater levels of indestructibility. Gehenna’s face is a snarling, eyeless, titanium skull wreathed in plasma flames. Lord Gehenna’s internal nuclear processes bathe his surroundings in lethal levels of heat and radiation; an ordinary human would die in minutes merely standing close to the alien warlord.

           

            Lord Gehenna is insufferably arrogant; he considers unmodified homo sapiens to be mere vermin, and will never say a single word to an ordinary human. He is only slightly more forthcoming with enhanced humans, and while he respects the Culture’s martial prowess, he dreams of the race’s eventual genocide. Lord Gehenna considers the Blooded Ghost race species to be prized pets, like specially bred hunting beasts, and holds some dim affect\ion for the species.

More Preview Images: San Francisco 2107

I just got this image last night, it's an inked and colored version of Rhinehart Tower, by Amanda Webb. It'll be illustrating the San Francisco citybook.

Right now, I'm about 95% done with the text- I might add in some micro fiction when I get the final art in, which should happen in the next week or so.

After that, I'll go to press with the SF Citybook.
Beyond that, I've got another Space Monsters entry and the Nemesis Bestiary, which is a Pathfinder fantasy version of the same concept on deck and ready for release. In addition, there will be an upcoming Free20 book for the Galaxy Command setting.

The Niishima Inn adventure went on sale a couple of days ago, and already has a five star review at RPGnow, which I'm gratified by.

I'll soon  be releasing some more Black Tokyo content, this time focusing on Black Japan rather than the Tatakama side of the setting.

Right now, I'm not working on any thing in particular. I'm playing around with doing a Legion of Superheroes inspired sourcebook for Galaxy Command, offering monsters, settings and character options heavily inspired by the Legion. Basically, right now, I'm focused heavily on putting the finishing touches on SF 2107, and I know I'm not going to get much more meaningful work done until that's out, but I may suprise myself.

Oh, on a related note, Louis Porter Jr got interviewed in the latest Pathways magazine. He mentioned that the strongest fan response he ever got to one of his books was the reaction and internet nerd rage that ensued when we published Choice and Blood together. It was gratifying to see he remembered the book, even though he doesn't really do D20 Modern support anymore.

He mentioned being told he was going to hell for the book by one of the turds on www.RPG.net, which considering what I remember about that site sounds right up their alley, and also mentioned he got death threats over it. That suprised me- I never heard about that- though he did share with me the cease and desist "take the D20 logo off the cover of this thing, FAST" letter that WOTC sent him at the time. That letter was fairly mild, as I got the impression that the WOTC staffer who wrote it, as a gamer himself, had no real problem with the book, just needed to cover his boss' asses. So we took off the old D20 logo, put in the new LPJ Design 3.5 OGL logo, which I still use to this day, and that was that.

What's funny is how much controversy Choice and Blood generated at the time, and how comparatively non contrversial the far more extreme, and equally abortion-centric Otherverse America Campaign Setting was when the first edition came out about 2 years after Choice & Blood. I think at that point the gaming public realized, hey, I like writing about the subject, and I'm not going away, so either avoid it or buy it.

Anyway, talk to you later,
CHRIS