AGENTS OF SODOM

AGENTS OF S.O.D.O.M.
The Weird and ‘Not So Serious’ Horror Roleplaying Game
(Version 2.1)
by Neal Burton

© Neal Burton/S.O.D.O.M. GAMES 2007

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to the Agents of S.O.D.O.M. roleplaying game.
This is a homemade roleplaying game, thrown together on my computer with illustrations from myself (and hopefully a few good friends).
It is not a commercial or professional product and you shouldn’t have paid any money for the download of this edition.

The game was created with input from my ever-supportive gaming group (translation: They complained, I changed things!) and the game mechanics evolved over a decade of constant playing. Anything that players felt was unfair or unbalanced was tweaked and altered until we all agreed that the mechanic worked.

AGENTS OF S.O.D.O.M. is a roleplaying adventure game set in a warped world where creatures of the night stalk the streets. Players in the game control characters that are fighting to keep these horrid monsters from eating the local population or sacrificing it to some evil Ancient Deity.

The Players take the role of agents in the organization of Special Operations Defence Otherworldly Menaces (or S.O.D.O.M. for short … nothing rude there! Sorry if you downloaded this because it sounded risqué!)

The game has a flavour of Special Unit 2 mated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer with a very large pinch of Blade thrown in. You should find it possible to recreate the adventures of any of your favourite television series from Ace of Wands to Randell and Hopkirk Decreased.
Or you can simply play in the world of S.O.D.O.M. as much of the setting infects the text of the game. I have also included game logs from my own gaming sessions to give you a feel of the Universe.

In Essence the game involves a bunch of people running around in urban areas and graveyards with large weapons trying to keep the population safe by bagging as many bad guys/creatures as possible. Though this is what things can degenerate into you can make stories as complex/involving as your gaming group will tolerate!

[Special Note: While the pursuit of satisfaction through the fictional use of large weapons in urban areas is a part of this game, we at SODOM games are in no way advocating the real use of weapons against evil creatures in your neighbourhood.
We are in no way responsible for the actions of anyone who takes this game way too seriously and begins stalking the streets looking for real vampires to kill.
I am sure that everyone in the fantasy and sci fi industry are sick of individuals taking their jollies out gunning people down and then blaming someone else for “putting the idea” in their brain. If you are going to ‘take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them’ then don’t go blaming Shakespeare in your suicide note!
You are responsible for your own actions and nobody else!!!! If the voices are talking to you, stop reading this and seek medical help right now. Your Dark Master demands it!!]

Anyhow .. moving on, The difference between Agents of S.O.D.O.M. and other similar games/tv shows/films in that genre is that in our reality the hunters are actually monsters/creatures and weirdos themselves. Who better to stand a chance of hunting down otherworldly menaces and actually surviving than Vampires, Werewolves and Demons?
It has just been pointed out to me that both Angel and Blade fall into this category … Curses, I thought I had hit a totally original concept there … (that’s irony folks!)

In the game you have the choice of playing any one of 10 different monster/creature types (We threw one token human in there as well … just to show we aren’t biased!) with an initial choice of 10 different professions. That makes 100 possible starting variations … heck, and you paid nothing for this! What kind of value is that!?

If you are familiar with Roleplaying games already then just jump ahead to Section One : creating a character. Grab some dice and work up your first Agent character. Explanations for all the terms/statistics and skills will come later in the rule book.

If you are unfamiliar with Roleplaying games, but just quite liked the sound of this and decided to download it for a laugh (and good for you!) you might need some insight into this weird beast.
Well, in a nutshell, Roleplaying is a sort of “lets pretend” with dice and lots of snack food. Generally a group of friends get together around at one person’s house. They commandeer the kitchen table and cover it with sheets of paper, maps and tiny plastic figures.
One of them (Known in some games as THE GAMES MASTER or THE DUNGEON MASTER and in Agents of S.O.D.O.M. as THE S.O.D. or Scenario Orator Demon) has carefully prepared a night’s adventure for his friends.
All the other players take on the roles of characters within the adventure.
The S.O.D. describes the situation, puts obstacles in the way of the players and they describe how they are going to tackle the various challenges.
The adventure really takes place all in the imagination of the players. They mentally provide the sweeping scenery and gorgeous backdrops, with the collective narrative of the story emerging from the combined effort of all the players around the table.
Sounds more complicated than it is … trust me, its not.
Examples of play litter the book like fleas on a dog, so just reading through it will give you a good idea of how it is done.

Special note on rules: The rules are there to provide a framework for the game.
They help in settling disputes between the players and the SOD. Who gets to go first … who has the biggest handgun … that sort of stuff!
Don’t try and learn them all at once.
If you find a rule you really hate then feel free to ditch it. Don’t tell me you’ve done that though. I put a ton of work into this puppy and would feel personally offended if I discovered you’ve played fast and loose with my work. (See I was lying when I said you could ditch things!)
Any problems with the rules Email the Mage vikingmage@tesco.net for any clarification.

SECTION ONE
Character Creation
First things first … you need a character to play.
Grab some dice (you will need some funky roleplaying dice … available at most hobby stores) and print off a copy of page (the Master Character sheet) Have a pencil handy and a sheet of rough paper.
Now lets go!

You can either roll a ten sided dice and let ‘it’ decide which creature your character will be, or select your choice from the following list. (Don’t worry just yet about the numbers in brackets)

1)Vampire (Strength +5 Willpower +9 and Scrutability +10)
2)Werewolf (Strength + 9 Scrutability +5 and Agility+10)
3)Ghost (Willpower +10 Mind +9 and Power +5)
4)Mummy (Willpower +5 Strength +9 and Power +10)
5)Demon (Power +9 Scrutability +10 and Agility +5)
6)Human Psychic (ESP +10 Power +5 and Mind +9)
7)Manufactured Homunculus (Strength +10 Agility +9 Health +5)
8)Star Spawn of the ancient ones (Power +10 ESP+9 Willpower +5)
9)Cat Person (Agility +10 ESP+9 Scrutability +5)
10)Gnome (Willpower+10 Agility +9 Power +5)

Roll One D10 for profession or select from the following list (again don’t worry about the numbers in brackets … and pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!!)
1) Warrior (1D6 on Strength or agility)
2) Shaman (1D6 on Power or ESP)
3) Ninja/Shadow Warrior (1D6 on Agility or Power)
4) Technologist (1D6 on Mind or Willpower)
5) Zen Warrior (1D6 on Agility or Mind)
6) Jack of all trades (1D6 on Health or Strength)
7) Devil Hunter (1D6 on ESP or Power)
8) Guru (1D6 on Mind or Power)
9) Magician (1D6 on Agility or Power)
10) Thing of mystery (1D6 on any statistic of your choice!)

Now we generate the scores that represent your character’s abilities and general physical/Mental profile.
Gamers call these statistics or ‘Stats’ for short. High ones are usually reason to chuckle maniacally to oneself. Low ones are reason to get the character killed quickly so you can roll up a better one.
Statistics
Roll 1D10 and add 10 to the roll.
(Now its time to go back and check all those numbers in parenthesis I told you not to worry about before. If you check on the creature and profession lists you also have extra points to add and an extra die to roll for one of your stats.)
Strength
Agility
Mind
Power
Scrutability
Willpower
E.S.P.
Health/Ectoplasm/body

Generating your Skill scores
These are the numeric values that define the talents and abilities your character has. The various skills can be found on the master character sheet and the various sub character sheets that relate to the various professions. Also see the chapter on SKILLS for a definition of what and what can not be done with skills.
To generate your skill: Roll One D4 and add to the statistic in brackets beside the skill

Explanation of the Statistics

These are aspects of your game character that for gaming purposes have been expressed in number form. We render them down to numbers in order to make playing the game easier (and it prevents the more Macho roleplayers from arm wrestling each other across the gaming table to prove who is the biggest Combat Wombat!).
But what does each one represent:-

Strength is a measure of your character brute physical force. How much they can lift, how long they can go without collapsing and how well they resist poisons and toxins. All are resolved by rolling a die and getting a number equal to or lower than your strength stat.

Agility. Covers your character’s co-ordination and dexterity. It is a measure of the character’s ability to handle all physical tasks that relate to any movement of the limbs. It is also naturally a measure of how the Character moves and reacts.

Mind. The measure of the intellectual ability and mental dexterity.

Scrutability. A measure of the cool of the character. How calm they are under fire. How sharp they look in a floor length leather duster coat. How foxy they look in a skin tight spandex cat suit and bunny ears. A character with high Scrutability can wander through a hail of bullets and only worry if their dark sunglasses look cool enough!
(Note:This is probably the only stat that you won’t have encountered in a roleplaying game before. It was inspired by one of our players. Faced with a Ninja Warrior who I described as inscrutable, he cried out “I’ll out scroot him!” Thus was born the Scrutability statistic. Thank you Mr Venner!)

Willpower is the measure of the mental force of the individual. Do they crack under pressure … or have they resisted being sucked into the Harry Potter worshipping 21st Century! Will they last under torture … can they resist that pack of chocolate Hob Nobs in the cupboard?

E.S.P. is the strange and unpredictable measure of the mind. ESP stands for Extra Sensory Perception (but you knew that already didn’t you!) In the game we use it for deciding ordinary perception tasks as well. When characters are looking around for clues or trying to find a hidden doorway it is E.S.P. they roll against.

Health is the measure of a body’s vitality and wellness.
Werewolves humans and Demons measure in health.
Ectoplasm is the measure of the Ghost’s spirit integrity.
Body is the measure of the Vampire, Homunculus, Star Spawn and Mummy’s physical integrity.

DE CREATURES OF DE NIGHT
Player Character Options

Roleplaying games seem to fall into two broad styles.
In one tradition they provide hundreds of pages of detailed background information. Examining each subtle and delicate nuance of the character options. Short pieces of fiction are also popular in these games… scattered around the text and illuminating the inner turmoil of the dark world the player has chosen to roleplay in.
The other tradition is a short introduction following by a list of all the neat powers and abilities the players get if they pick that particular option. It allows them to pick things faster and get onto all the killing and stuff.

In Agents of S.O.D.O.M. we have opted for the latter choice. We believe that roleplayers understand about feeling alienated and ostracised by virtue of their hobby choices and don’t need any further advice on how to role play it!
Additionally we believe you pretty much know what a Vampire is by now and just want to get to meaty part of how many spooky powers you get!
(PS If we have got it wrong, then trust me, there are a truckload of other games out there just waiting to appeal to your inner angst!)

OVERVIEW OF THE CREATURE CHARACTER TYPES
You may find in AGENTS OF SODOM that the creatures and monsters are just slightly different from the usual portrayal that’s served up on television and the cinema
(or you may just find I’ve borrowed ideas from all over the place … depends how much crap tv you’ve watched and how many bad horror novels you’ve read!)
Either way here is a brief overview of each creature type.

VAMPIRES
In this world Vampires can move about during the day (just like in the original Dracula novel) however they do not have their special abilities in the daytime.
They are repulsed by garlic, must roll against willpower when faced with a holy item and can be injured with Holy water. A stake through the heart will cause them to fall into a deathlike coma. It must be removed for the vampire to reanimate. Death is only sure when the vampire is decapitated and the body burned.
The beginning vampire has the following special abilities:-
Shapechange Bat
Communicate with bats, rats and wolves
Hypnotise humans
Be unseen by all electronic surveillance systems.
Blood Skill (bonus of +10 to any ONE stat for one hour after feeding)
Regain their feet (Any vampire knocked down in combat can go from prone to standing in a single rigid movement. This looks for all the world as though the vampire is lying on a board and being propelled to their feet in any spooky manner!)

Werewolf
The Werewolf can only transform into a wolf on the three days of the full moon. At other times it requires a special ritual (which takes upward of 2 hours to complete) to alter form. Were creatures are only harmed by silver weapons, but can be stunned and blown apart by conventional weapons. When this occurs the were will heal at an amazing rate (5 hits per round/10 hits in direct moonlight!)
Beginning Werewolf abilities
Shapechange Wolf
Demi-Wolf form
Acute senses
Wolf magic (ritual to shapechange outside normal luna cycle and ability to use Were energy for other things … what those other things are varies from Lycan to lycan!)
Absolute direction sense

Ghost
An unquiet spirit that has returned to the Mortal Realm on some quest. The ghost has an ectoplasmic form … which means that everyone can detect it to some degree. People with high ESP can see the ghost clearly as a normal person … people with medium range ESP can see a white shimmering form. People with low ESP can detect just a faint outline or vague feeling of unrest.
The ghost can be harmed by normal weapons. Blades and Bullets rend the ectoplasm form of the spirit because of the violent energy of the attacker is transferred into the attack. They can not be harmed where there is no dark intent. (For example an Avalanche would sweep everyone else away, but leave the spirit unmoved!) If destroyed they return to the spirit realm to regenerate. They are able to move through most walls … use weapons (with concentration) and exert their will on the mortal realm
The beginning Ghosts abilities are as follows
Effect temperature
Induce fear and terror
Phase objects
Hand of death (pass their body or part of their body through the chest of a person and chill the person’s heart into stopping)
Elongate Corridors (In a moment of terror it appears to the victim that the corridor they are standing in has telescoped out into infinity!)
Silence the voice (Just like in a bad dream the spirit can still a person’s voice)

Mummy
Revived from the sleep of ages, the Mummy is the animated form of a long dead person. They have returned to the mortal realm from the Western Lands (The Egyptian Land of the dead) to attend to unfinished business. They look very like normal people when their energy levels are high. However if anything effects them (taking damage in combat or suffering a magical attack) they begin to lose form and crumble. At this time they need to be wrapped in their original burial vestments to keep their Ka from fleeing the body.
The Mummy’s special abilities are as follows:-
Ka Travel (The spirit of the Mummy can leave its body in the shape of a bird. This bird can fly around and even pass through solid objects)
Transfer life (the mummy can drain living things … plants/animals/people of their lifeforce and pass it onto others … or keep it for themselves)
Shamble (No matter how fast something is moving away from the mummy .. if it shambles toward them they can not escape! I.e. ignore the laws of physics!)
Sand Walk: This is similar to the Ninja Shadow Walk. The Mummy can dissolve into an area of sand and reappear wherever they wish in another patch of sand.
Bless items: Give a special blessing on objects/armour and weapons.
Regain their feet (see Vampires for details)

Demon
The Demonkind come in many shapes and sizes, however player character’s demon forms are those of attractive human beings. Trouble is when they are fighting or needing to intimidate others demonic aspects can appear.
It is the choice of the individual player to decide the form and aspects of the creature within.
Demons are not evil beings as such … though from where they have been called forth from has not been nice. Therefore they start the game with maximum corruption points. If a demon gets rid of all its corruption points and increases its purity rating to 20 it may become an angel.
Beginning Demon Abilities
Infernal Breath (fire breath)
Burning footsteps and glowing red eyes (approaching someone across a carpet leaving sizzling footprints and staring at them with glowing eyes is obviously a marvellous tactical advantage in a pre-melee situation!)
Flight (or amazing leaping abilities)
Shun bullets: bullets just don’t want to go anywhere near them … they just veer away!
Demon Blade (can create a blade of pure energy from their body)

Human Psychics
These are no ordinary humans. Normal humans have between 0 and 10 as a level of ESP. Psychics start off with between 21 and 30.
Human Psychics also can break past the normal restrictions of humanity. Normal humans have between 1 and 15 maximum in their other statistics. Using their psychic power to remod their bodies Psychics can raise their body stats way beyond anything humans would be able to achieve! Agility scores of 15 represent the ultimate an athlete can attain. However Psychic characters can actually start the game with an agility of 20 (if they are lucky in rolling up stats!)
These abilities and the lack of limits on their development set them as apart from regular humanity as the Vampires and other creatures.
They have the following abilities at level one
Telekinesis
Remote Viewing
Body Shield (Using Telekinesis)
Flight (using telekinesis)
Mind Bullets
Body Control (Able to focus internally to heal swifter than normal and slow heart rate and metabolism)
Telepathy

Manufactured Homunculus
This creature is probably best illustrated by the Frankenstein’s Monster … but not the slow dim witted creature of the movies. In the original Mary Shelly book the monster was agile, quick and intelligent. In our game the manufactured Homunculus can have whatever origin the player would prefer … (or if you can’t decide roll on the following table!)
1) Created by an insane Scientist in a lonely Gothic Castle. Tragically the Castle and professor where burned to the ground by the local torch carrying villagers
2) Created by Insane Scientists in the employ of the government Secret Black Operations project. One of the Scientists takes pity on you and releases you (at the cost of his life … naturally!) and you are on the run from the Secret Agency that spawned you!
3) Created by an insane Silicon Valley programmer/scientist as his/her life partner. Unhappy being trapped in the prison of their exclusive Beverly Hills Mansion you escape. Your spurned lover will continue to track you down.
4) Created by an accident as an abandoned corpse dumped in a toxic waste disposal facility (by an insane Scientist) and then struck by lightening. You have found new life, but have yet to find purpose in this world you never made!

Beginning Level Homunculus have the following abilities:-
Berserk strength (Roll 2D10 in extreme situations and add the total to your strength for that situation)
Immune to most damage: The bizarre way that your character was ‘assembled’ has effected their basic body structure. Bullets can pass through vital organs without disrupting them. Stab wounds will heal in moments. Fire will cause discomfort, but not damage. It usually takes a bazooka or rocket launcher to take you down. With this in mind you just know that your fellow players are ALWAYS going to insist that you go first in any dangerous situation. The downside to being immune to damage from mortal weapons is that you are especially vulnerable to electrical attacks. These don’t harm you in anyway. But they do incapacitate you in an extreme way. Rather like being drunk you become everyone’s friend and want nothing more than to sit down in a corner and chuckle to yourself. High Currents usually prompt a Homunculus to get up on a table and being belting out show tunes.
Move swiftly and silently (especially for a 7 foot tall creature!)
Immune to magic attacks (or what are those weird guys gesturing for?)
Fearless (if you were 7 feet tall, immune to harm and strong as a Volvo you would be pretty fearless yourself!)
Night vision
Prodigious leap (At least over the height of most security fences!)

Star Spawn of the ancient ones
While most people would scratch their heads in puzzlement at this creature choice, HP Lovecraft fans and Call of Cthulhu players will be rubbing their hands together in secret glee.
The Star Spawn is a creature left over from ancient times when weird powerful and frankly ghastly things owned the earth. After millions of years of despotic rule, carnage and lawless misbehaviour the alignment of the stars altered in someway. The Giant and grisly beings who had treated the earth (and its primitive lifeforms) as a huge ALL YOU CAN EAT banquet, where forced out of our reality. Some of them slumber in fitful sleep beneath the earth or in nearby Stars. Their servant races and progeny however survived the astrological curfew and remain abroad in the world today! In this game your character is either be:-
A) One of the direct progeny of the Great and Foul Old Ones
B) One of the Surviving Servant Races of the Great and Slimy Old Ones
You can either flip a coin (Heads I’m the offspring of a Slimy tentacled Monster or Tails I’m the former servant of Slimy Tentacled Monster) or simply decide after reading the beginning abilities:-

The Beginning Abilities of Progeny of The Great Old Things are:-
Naturally attuned to magic and psychic workings
Naturally immune to magic attacks
Call on Parent for help (If you happen to be totally insane that is!)
Immortal
Sense places of power and protection
Attack with tentacles (which naturally sprout from you at moments of stress)
Poison slime attack (which you can naturally vomit at times of stress or during boy band concerts!)
Invisible in Darkness
Able to breathe underwater
Appear human (most of the time)

The Beginning Abilities of Servant Race of the Grim Ancient Slime Mountains:-
Recognise any other Servant Race members
Use unholy and weird magicks
Call on any of the Ancient Ones for aid (if you happen to think a vast evil entity arriving to eat any living thing is a good thing!)
Call on other races for aid
Create places of power
Able to breathe underwater and deep space
Appear Human (under most circumstances)
Know the ancient and forbidden tunnels beneath the earth
Ignore massive amounts of damage in combat
Regenerate
Wind walking
Command of lesser beasts

Cat People
The Race of Cat People are exceedingly rare. They are a semi-hybrid form of both Human and Cat … able to change between the two forms at will. Naturally distrustful of normal humans, they feel more at home with their fully feline cousins. The Cat person will have unusual feline features even when in completely human form. Their eyes will reflect the light and their ears will be slightly pointed.
Beginning abilities and skills for a Cat person:-
Use Cat Magicks: See the Magic Section of the Rules
Land on their feet
Sleep lightly: they can never be surprised or attacked while sleeping.
Enhanced Reflexes: Cat players can roll their initiative dice three times and pick the best roll of the three.
Retractable claws (2D8 damage in combat)
Danger Sense: Allows the character to sense evil intent. Its direction and position.
Communicate with Felines: Talk cat … with any form of feline (Household Tabby to Mountain Lion)

Gnomes
Gnomes exist as a secret society apart from humankind. They are short stocky creatures, but with a stunning amount of natural grace. Gnomes are one of the few immortal races and unless destroyed by magic will live forever. Very few physical things can harm a Gnome. Their skins are proof against bullets and blades. Deprivation of air will cause them to fall into a coma like sleep.
Abilities of the beginning level Gnome are:-
Gnomish Kendo: A unique martial art. See the Chapter on Gnomish Kendo The Hidden Way for full details.
Move silently: Make no sound, even when walking across surfaces that would normal yield some noise (broken glass or land mines)
Wood Walk: Walk into a wood or forested area and emerge in anyother wood or forested area on the planet.
Cloud people’s minds: This allows the Gnome to pass unnoticed in everyday society.
Levitate: The Gnome can levitate their body slowly upto 20 feet in the air.
Communicate with Woodland creatures: As it sounds!
Understand secret languages: Gnomes have a talent for codes and ciphers. Unless it is the most complex or esoteric code they can normally read them straight away.
Never get lost: The Gnome has a pretty good idea where they are at all times. Even if stunned/placed in an airtight container and flown somewhere else in the world they will still know where they are.

PURITY AND CORRUPTION
The extra statistic which indicates the side of the Good and Evil fence post your character chooses to rest on.
The beginning character is cursed (or blessed) with a numeric score that reflects where on this sliding scale they are.

1)Vampire Purity 10 Corruption 10
2)Werewolf Purity 13 Corruption 7
3)Ghost Purity 8 Corruption 12
4)Mummy Purity 15 Corruption 5
5)Demon Purity 2 Corruption 18
6)Human Psychic Purity 14 Corruption 6
7)Manufactured Homunculus Purity 19 Corruption 1
8)Star Spawn of the Ancient Ones Purity 5 Corruption 15
9) Cat Person Purity 17 Corruption 3
10) Gnome Purity 16 Corruption 4

Throughout play the actions of the Characters are monitored by the S.O.D. and the other players. If the character acts in either a very selfless/virtuous way or in a particularly evil/corrupt way they will get called on to roll on their Purity/Corruption rating.

For Example: Vlad has a purity of 16, and has just been particularly noble in helping people escape from burning building at great personal danger to himself. This calls for a roll on his Purity stat.
Vlad’s player rolls a D20 dice and hopes to get more than 16 (his current score) … he rolls an 18. Vlad successfully increases his purity by a point and his corruption score falls by a point.

(note: Purity and Corruption can only be gained and lost a point at a time. The combined total of both Purity and Corruption should be 20.)

What good is Purity or Corruption?
Well, they bestow certain gifts on the character.

Purity grants the abilities of :-

Bless This allows the player to bless his or her weapons and armour before going into a fight. Bless means that the weapon will strike for half or more its normal damage. Reroll any result that falls below half. Blessed Armour will protect the Character by allowing the player to choose which of the damage rolls against his/her character they want to dump!
Cure A divine cure is a recovery of health or body. This always results in full healing.
Ward of Sanctury Binds a place closed to evil intent. Any being bearing ill will toward the caster of the ward is unable to enter. The ward can be a circle scratched on the ground or a binding placed on doors and windows of a building.

Corruption grants:-
Curse increases the damage caused by a weapon. A cursed weapon will always hit for the maximum damage capable plus the normal damage roll. However the cursed weapon has a backfire problem. If the player rolls a 1 when rolling their skill roll … or a 1 when rolling for damage … the cursed weapon feeds the damage back into the character.
Bane falls upon the enemy of the character. Bane slows them down and makes them miss their combat rolls. A player who casts bane on an opponent is allowed to see all the rolls the opponent makes. At any time during that fight they can pick one roll result and nullify it.
Dark Gift is an effect placed on a weapon. When making a roll the person using a weapon with a dark gift on it declares how much of his life force he is putting into the roll. Then he makes a normal unadjusted skill roll. If this succeeds the dark gift then adds the wagered amount automatically onto the damage and does not take it from the player’s character lifeforce.
If the roll fails the dark gift takes it from the character and adds to the roll next round. Thus an evil player character can spend their lifeforce to boost chances of hitting an impossible target! Continue to miss and the skill roll slowly builds with the character’s lifeforce. Eventually it will kill the character using it … but that is why it’s a DARK GIFT.

To activate any of these gifts the player must roll the Character’s current level or lower on a D20. A roll of 20 is an automatic fail (even if the Character’s level is 20!)

SECTION TWO: THE RULES

HOW THE RULES WORK:-

Action Rolls
There are three types of action. Unopposed Opposed and Non-active Opposed.
Unopposed actions are those taken against either static targets or things incapable of moving (doors, rocks, and certain members of Fundamental religious organisations!)
In an unopposed roll the player must roll their statistic or under on a D20.

For Example ; Mia Stokes is attempting to activate her power of farseeing. Her statistic for ESP is 17 … she rolls a D20 and needs to roll under her score to activate. She rolls a 9 and succeeds.

You look at your character sheet and notice that you have several statistics over 20 … don’t get too cocky! A roll of 20 is a failure even if your statistic is higher than 20.

Non-Active Opposed
What about if something inanimate is in your way? Then your action is opposed, but not in the same way as something actively trying to thwart your character’s actions.
Examples of Non-Active Opposition:-
Breaking open doors: Most doors have a value of one. This means that a minus 1 is taken away from the strength score of anyone trying to bust one down. Since beginning Characters in Agents of SODOM generally have between 11 and 29 this means they have at least a 50/50 chance of busting a door down in one go … and at worst a one in twenty chance of failing.
A Security door has a value of 10
A bank vault door has a value of 25
A High Security Vault door with extra strengthened tungsten locking mechanism has a value of 50
A Nuclear blast proof bunker door has a value of 100
Obviously some things will be beyond brute force (unless you get into the unearthly bracket of power!)
For example Vlad Luger is attempted to break open the door on a Security van. He is hoping his unnatural vampiric strength will help him. With a strength score of 24 he is already 14 points stronger than the strongest human. The security door has a value of 10 … minus this from Vlad’s strength and you get 14. Vlad’s player needs to roll a 14 or under on a D20 to break the door open.

What if something is actively opposing your character?
Mia is trying to throw a compact disc of information across the room to her companion. In the way is a hideous creature who is determined that the information (possibly something personal and highly embarrassing!) will not leave the building. Mia doesn’t have any special skills in throwing things so we just use her Agility score. Mia has an agility of 19. She rolls her D10 and adds the result to her agility score. She rolls a 7 and has a total of 26.
The creature has a chance to intercept the CD and rolls it’s die. It has an agility of 20 and it rolls a 8 … making its total a wopping 28. A slimy tentacle lashes the CD out of the air.

DEGREE OF SUCCESS
What happens when you successfully roll to achieve something and want to know what degree of success you have achieved?
Example: Vlad is hiding in the decorative shrubbery bushes outside a busy shopping Mall. He wants to remain unseen until a certain time.
Vlad’s player rolls a D20 and gets a 3 … well below Vlad’s score of 19 for hide. Vlad wants to know just how well hidden he is though. He rolls a D10 and keeps his fingers crossed for a high score.
A roll of 1- 3 would mean although he was successfully hidden it might be easy for someone to detect him if they were looking hard enough. Vlad might have to count on the fact that most people don’t stare long at decorative shrubs.
A roll of 4-6 means that Vlad is well hidden, even someone looking in the bushes might miss him. It would take someone actually pushing the shrubs aside and poking around with a stick to find him.
A roll of 7-9 means that Vlad is exceptionally well hidden. Even the poking around with a stick and actively pushing though the shrubs wouldn’t reveal him. It would take a line of searchers and bloodhounds to find Vlad in this hiding place.
A roll of 10 is a perfect score. Vlad could lie in this hiding place while bloodhounds wandered past mere millimetres away! Nothing will give this hiding place away! Even if a team of expert searchers take all the shrubs, uproot them and dump them in a skip they still wouldn’t find Vlad. It would possibly take them feeding the shrubs into a chipper to locate the pesky Vampire!
So ..

1 to 3 the skill action is well performed, but not breathtakingly great or dazzling.
4 to 6 the skill action is excellently performed and it would dazzle most people.
7 to 9 the skill is awesomely performed and the wide population would be totally impressed.
10 is uncanny and beyond mortal abilities. The action will appear akin to magic!

SECTION THREE: COMBAT

COMBAT
Naturally none of the players want things to degenerate into violence. Most gamers prefer mental puzzles and intricate storylines that challenge their deductive reasoning. However sometimes violence will occur in a game. Sad, but true.
In those rare instances here is how combat is resolved!

How Combat Works:-
Combat begins when one bunch or another (either the players or the Games Master) decides it is time for a rumble.
First question: Is the attacking side surprising the defending side?
If yes then the attackers get one completely free attack with no dodge roll from the defenders.
If no then roll for initiative.

Initiative:
Who goes first in combat. Based on their Agility score each participant in any combat situation rolls a die.
Normal Humans (or anything with an agility of below 15) roll 1D20
Between Agility 15 and 20 roll 1D12
Between Agility 20 and 25 roll 1D10
Between Agility 25 and 30 roll 1D8
Between Agility 30 and 35 roll 1D6
Above 35 roll 1D4 and laugh in a maniacal fashion!

Example Mia and Vlad are facing off against a couple of weird Shadow creatures.
Vlad has an agility of 24. He rolls a D10 and gets a score of 6
Mia has an agility of 19 She rolls a D12 and gets a score of 8
The Shadow Creature has an agility of 26, it rolls a D8 and gets 6
The second Shadow Creature has an agility of 23, it rolls a D10 and gets 9
In this combat Vlad and the first creature act together. Then Mia moves and acts … finally the second shadow creature gets to act.

Naturally the smaller the dice rolled the chances of the roll being low is better. Characters rolling a D4 for initiative will never go later than 4 in any combat situation. They may decide to not take their action so early and it is their prerogative to hold off an action until anypoint in the combat round. They may decide to interrupt an action anywhere in the round.

SO BACK TO COMBAT …
Everyone gets their initiative dice ready and rolls.
Lowest number goes first. Then next lowest and so on until everyone has taken a turn. Anyone who is tied … ie they have rolled to same number as someone else is considered to act simultaneously with the other person.
The player who gets to act first (the lowest number) can delay their action if they wish to any point within the round. However they must act before the final person in the round acts. If they delay any longer the combat round is considered over and a new round begins.

Taking actions: Roll Two D10 dice. One is your attack die and the other your Dodge or defence die. You can select which one is which. If you are low on hit points you may wish to put the higher roll into defence.

If you roll a double (both D10 roll the same number) you can roll again and combine the totals. Continue to reroll until you fail to get a double. Total the rolls up and decide which score is attack and which defence.

If you are attacked by something acting earlier than you in a round roll both your dice then. You then choose which of your dice is the defence die and put the attack one in reserve until your turn comes around in the initiative order.

Your attack: The attack total is a result of your die roll added to statistic or skill you wish to use. If your character has martial arts, magic skills or simple street fighting you select the offence type you are using. Your aim is to get a higher total than the defence total generated by the dodge roll and skill of your opponent.

Fighting Defensively: This means using both your D10 totals to fend off attacks. You can not attack yourself, but if you are surrounded by three Ninja Warriors who are kicking the tar out of you this means you can defend against two of them … let your armour soak up the damage from the third and scream for help!

Fighting Offensively: This means using both your D10 totals as attacks. You can not defend against attacks while doing this … but if your base Agility total is high enough (ie higher than the attackers skill +10) then they can’t lay a finger on you anyway!

How armour works: Armour has a number value … usually between 1 and 4 (though there are higher armour types … just not usually available to beginning characters naturally!)
If your armour is value one it allows you to ignore one complete damage roll in the current fight. You pick which one it is before the damage dice is rolled (sadly!) and then the GM dumps the result. A value of 4 will obviously allow you to dump Four damage rolls from your opponent. Some enchanted armour (or armour that has been blessed) allows you choose the damage to dump after the roll .. so you can choose to ditch a perfect 12 damage (if the SOD happens to roll one!).

Certain items and skills will allow special combat moves to be made.

Martial Arts special moves:-
Each successful attack using martial arts will gain the player a CP (combat point). These points can be pooled and used for the following special moves. Each ‘All Out’ move costs one point to play. Normal martial arts moves (see later) act be used for no cost!
ALL OUT ATTACK: So long as the player’s Character is acting before the opponents character an All attack can be launched. This combines both rolls (attack and defence) into a blistering attack that overwhelms the opponent. The 2D10 roll can either be added together to gain a Massive attack total or considered as two separate attacks. Either way it should overwhelm the opponent and they will not have the opportunity to counter attack this round (NOTE: This doesn’t stop other opponents from taking a pop at you!)
ALL OUT DEFENCE: This can be triggered so long as you haven’t used your attack this round. An All out defence uses both D10 totals for a truly staggering defence total. This is ideal if you are being attacked by something so awesomely otherworldly that its attack totals are busting right past your normal defence.

Depending on the Martial Art selected by your character you may also have access to other special moves. For Example:-
REVERSALS: This takes the attack of the opponent and throws the force of the attack back at the opponent. This is most common in arts such as Aikido, Jujitsu and Judo
Critical Strikes: This a blow that lands in such a way that it causes maximum damage and automatically stuns the opponent.
Throws: An attack that puts the opponent on the ground. Roll for damage as normal.
Stuns: Normal attacks stun on a damage roll of over 4.(See the exclusive section on STUN) A martial arts ‘stun’ attack stuns on ANY damage total. The whole intent of the attack is toward this end.
Disarming manoeuvres: Both attacks and removes an active weapon from the opponent in the same move. Damage is not rolled for this attack. The intent is to get past the opponents defence and remove their weapon.
Locks and pins: Attacks and the disables the opponent with a lock (this can be against any part of the opponent.) or a pin (holding the opponent against something, usually the floor, but can be pinned against an object … wall, door, filing cabinet)

Streetfighters get the following special moves
Low Blows: or going for the ‘Love Spuds’ as one of our players describes it. A blow that targets vulnerable areas of a male anatomy. If you fighting a female adversary then maybe a similar attack would be something to undermine their self esteem. Suggest their bum looks big in that outfit. Hint that their fashion choices are strongly reminiscent of Christina Aguilara.
Distractions: This ranges from the classic ‘sand in the face’ distraction to taunting the other fighter and making improper suggestions about his mother.
Using the scenery: Always look to the surroundings for extras that will make a streetfight go with a zing. Shops windows are always good for being thrown through. Kicking your opponent out into oncoming traffic is also very effective (in game terms that is … don’t do this at home!)

What can you do in a combat round.
Almost anything! A round of combat is a flexible bite of time. It is usually long enough to move, take an action (shoot something, draw a weapon or issue a devastating put down!)
Naturally players always try to abuse the combat round as much as possible. Packing in so many actions it would take a week of real time to possibly do them all. It’s a Games Master’s judgement call when they feel that the player has described enough to fill the time slot their character has.

It seems fair that in a combat round that players have the chance to:-
move (if they aren’t pinned under heavy machinery or a gorgeous supermodel),
ready and fire a weapon,
OR cast a quick spell (nothing involving too many candles, chalking out of circles or glamourous assistants in leotards!)
dodge an incoming attack
deliver a witty putdown to the opponent.

DAMAGE TIME
When you actually hit your opponent we get down to the nitty gritty … yeah! (stop laughing!)

Causing Damage
Any attack that connects with an opponent causes damage. This damage is taken off the Health/Body/Ectoplasm score of the individual.
Once their total reaches zero they fall unconscious.

If human they left with no treatment or intervention of any kind they will eventually die. Other creatures have different reactions to reaching 0 hit points.
Werewolves begin to regenerate (unless hit with a silver weapon)
Vampires fall into a sleep that requires blood to revive them.
Ghosts fall back into the spirit plane and must reabsorb energy from there to return to the mortal realm once more.
Demons begin to reform, unless a magic circle is drawn around them.
Homunculi require a massive dose of electricity to reanimate them. During this process they automatically regenerate.
Star Spawn draw power from their Accursed Elder Spawn to regenerate.
Mummy characters can call for power from the Western Lands to regenerate if they have a single hit point left. If they are reduced to zero they require a special ritual performed by the Mummy’s earthly retainer.

Punch (untrained) 1D4 damage … roll of 4 is a stun
Punch (trained) 1D8 damage Roll of 6 - 8 is a stun
Punch (martial arts trained) Damage 1D8 (+4 bonus) Stun as above
Knife 1D12 damage (roll of 10 -12 is a knockback)
Sword 1D12 damage (roll of 10 -12 is a knockdown and stun)
Handgun 1D12 damage (roll of 10 -12 is a knockdown and stun)
Rifle/high power pistol 1D20 damage. (roll of 16 – 20 is knockdown and stun)
Automatic weapon 1D12 damage per shot/ Rate of fire 1D8 +4 per round
Sawn off Shotgun 1D20 damage per barrel Stun on a roll of between 8-20
The game features many exotic and funky weapons … they (and their damage potentials) are listed elswhere in this rulebook.

STUN
When a stun is rolled check with a D10 roll how effective the stun roll is.
1 to 3 the stun knocks the character back. Subtract 5 from their willpower. They remain on their feet but need to roll their willpower minus 5 or lower to recover. If they fail they can do nothing next round but desperately fend off any further blows. If they succeed the roll they can fight on as normal.
4 to 6 the stun knocks the character down. Subtract 10 from their willpower. They can take no action next round except to try and fend off any further blows. It takes a whole combat round to get back to your feet from this condition. In that round they must make a roll against their willpower minus 10 … equal or lower. If they succeed they can bounce back into action in the next round. If fail they are considered stunned at minus 5 Willpower for another round and can take no combat action.
7 to 9 the stun knocks the character down and out. Subtract 15 from their willpower. They must now fight to recover before they can try to regain their feet. They must roll their willpower minus 15 to regain consciousness. Fail and its another round of unconsciousness. Next round they roll their willpower minus 10 ... and then willpower minus 5 if that fails. After 4 rounds on the floor they will eventually come around. In the meantime however they may take additional hits and damage.
10 is a perfect knockout. The character is unconscious and will not recover for 1D4 hours.

When a character is stunned and knocked down they fall to the ground and are unable to take further action until they recover from the stun. (Though it is assumed that crawling around on all fours, vomiting and making feeble noises are possible options for actions that might be taken if the player insists they wouldn’t be just lying down!)

Recovering from a stun: Willpower is the key, mustering enough willpower to get back to your feet. Since each stun takes an amount off the character’s willpower it’s tricky to recover.
Example: Vlad finds himself facing a giant Golem. They engage in a couple of rounds of fisticuffs without either of them getting past each others defence. Then Suddenly the Golem lands nasty right cross to Vlad’s chin. The Games Master rolls for damage and rolls an 8 (checking quickly … any roll of 4 or higher is a stun) so he rolls an additional D10 and checks for the level of stun. 5 … meaning that Vlad has minus 10 to his willpower until the stun clears. Right away Vlad’s player can try and recover from the stun … his willpower is now 7 (it was 17 until the punch scrambled his wits!) He needs to roll under 7 on a D20. He rolls a 12 … totally failing to make the recovery this round.
Luckily for Vlad the Golem has lost all interest in pounding him any further and it wanders off to create havoc elsewhere. Vlad then struggles to recover, he rolls a 2 (ouch … he needed 12 or under than round … 17 minus 5) and then an 18 …(in the third round of unconsciousness he needed a willpower check of just his normal willpower … and he even failed that!)
minutes tick past and still Vlad is unable to pull himself to his feet. Finally he rolls a 5 (well under his willpower of 17) and gathers his marbles together.

Combat continues round by round until one side or the other either gets crushed or runs away.

EXTRA ACTIONS
Eventually your combat wombats are going to push their agility scores through the roof in order to get a chance to kill anything in the room before the opposition has had a chance to take a breath. That is quite understandable behaviour and we have this special actions rule to cover those unstable trigger happy individuals.
Agility 26-30 gains two extra action dice per round. (4 actions per round)
Agility 31- 35 gains an additional two extra action dice … (So they can act 6 times each combat round.)
Agility 36-40 gains an additional dice (7 actions per round) and so on every 5 points of agility.
Naturally something with an agility of 30 is moving like a blur to human senses. It is twice as fast as the fastest human.

USING SCRUTABILITY IN COMBAT
Scrutability is an awesome statistic. Flexible in its use our gamers have used it on numerous occasions. Watching lots of Asian Action films has spawned a whole range of Scrutability combat options.
If your scrut is high enough try the following.
In each occasion match your scrutability score with the scutability of your opponents.
Walk Through fire: The cool never pause in the midst of a hail of gunfire. The totally inscrutable walk through a firestorm of bullets without EVER trying to dodge.
Catching blades with your finger tips: without taking your eyes off the opponent you can catch his descending sword blade between two fingers.
Twisting guns around and making people shoot themselves.
Kicking a weapon out of an opponent’s hand, then catching it in the air and using it against them in the same combat round.

POSIONS IN COMBAT
The effect of poisons in combat tends to be much faster than in out of combat situations. In the normal game if someone is poisoned you can drag out of the drama of the situation. Have their faculties failing and health score dropping slowly as the other team members battle to stem off the inevitable.
Naturally players would prefer that poisons acted differently in combat … especially if they are using them against someone else. Thus we have the special rule The Gertrude Effect. This allows the poisoned opponent one last action against the player before collapsing dead. It is assumed that in combat with blood flowing swiftly around the body that poison will act very quickly.
Naturally if you want the villain to be able to utter one final enigmatic sentence (to frustrate the players) then by all means allow them to linger until the fighting stops!
The Gertrude Effect only effects the GM controlled characters (that is minor villains and NPCs) If players get hit with a poison they don’t want to expire in a messy fashion (obviously!)
Allow the poison to slowly seep through their body and begin shutting things down. Firstly they start to roll initiative with a higher dice. Each round make them step back a dice (if they were rolling 1D4 for initiative then they drop to 1D6, then 1D8, then 1D10, then 1D12, then 1D20 … finally if they insist on fighting have them automatically go last in each subsequent combat round!)
Poison will automatically begin to drop all their skills by 5 points each round. When their skills reach 0 they will be reduced to feebly waving their weapons around and croaking out taunts.

NOTE: There are some characters that poisons will note effect. Anything without a pulse or with extreme physical power (Ghosts don’t have a bloodflow … and neither do Vampires. Homunculi and Gnomes can not be harmed by poisons of any sort.) can forget this section completely.

EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP)
After Combat has finished it is a good idea to take a moment to note down Experience points earned. Each successful butt whooping of an enemy earns a certain amount of XP. Since XP can be exchanged for all manner of lovely goodies and spent to enhance skills and statistics players are naturally very keen to get stack loads after combat.

These are all detailed more fully in the Experience section of the rules.

SECTION FOUR: SKILLS
SKILLS and how to use them.
There are a stack of skills in this game … many of which your character won’t have. SO this section may get a tad boring if you decide to read through it all. Probably best just to scan through for the skills your character has. I’ve put an explanation against most of the skills that probably need some clarification. Usually though it’s a real nobrainer. A skill in swimming naturally means your character has a skill in swimming. I haven’t taken time to note down that swimming is an ability to move through water/fluids by propulsive movements of the arms/legs and torso. If you need that level of detailed information then maybe you need an encyclopaedia not a Roleplaying game!

Punch (strength) Obviously the skill to punch someone or thing. When you want to punch your need to roll a D10 and add it to your punch skill (which is your basic strength plus the1D4 you rolled when you created your character) If the final total is greater than the dodge roll by the opponent you hit!
Kick (strength) Works the same way as punch
Handgun (Agility) The ability to use a variety of hand weapons
Knife (Agility) The skill to use knives from kitchen choppers to handcrafted custom blades. (come on now everyone … in your best Homer Simpson voice! Oooooooooooh Handcrafted Custom Blades!)
Acrobatics (Agility) Leaping, tumbling and back flipping. Leotards optional unless you are a foxy babe! In that case we insist!
Climbing (Agility) The skill to scale rockfaces and sides of buildings like a human spider!
Dodge (Agility) The skill you roll on when someone is shooting or trying to kick/punch or serve a summons on you.
Moving Quietly (Agility) The ability to creep around and not be spotted.
Swimming (Strength/Agility … depending on style)
Lock picking (Mind)
Lifting (Strength) Knowing the correct techniques to lift actually allows you to lift more than your raw strength would normally allow.
Camouflage (Mind) Knowing all the techniques of hiding things … both in jungle and urban areas.
Deduction (Mind) Gathering facts and piecing together a hypothesis.
Linguistics (Mind) How many weird, exotic and dead languages you speak. Since the ordinary human scholars and top lingusits have a score of between 1 and 14 … any score above that will known all active earthly languages and many dead ones.
Navigation (Mind) Using a map or other technology to find your way around.
Tracking (Mind) The subtle art of being able to follow a person or animal through the key signs they leave. This is comes in two flavours .. Urban and Wilderness.
Bribery (Scrutability) The art of slipping a quick buck into someone’s hand in exchange for services or information you don’t normally deserve. Remember … the bigger to tip, the better the service!
Con Artist (Scrutability) Your ability to carry off a fiction and fool people into believing its real.
Interrogation (Willpower) Extracting information from reluctant people.
Disguise (Mind) The skill of changing one’s appearance, gait and voice to fool others as to your real identity.
Taunt (Willpower) The ability to throw someone off by verbally or physically taunting them. A successful taunt will allow the character to act first in a combat situation.
First aid (Mind) keeping someone (or thing) alive until real medical help can arrive.
Scholar (state area of expertise) You can pick any areas of study you wish your character to have. These are academic areas and not intended that a whole host of practical skills comes with them!

Warrior Skills
Martial arts (Agility) You can select any martial art you desire for your character and any score over 14 is automatically a 5th Dan grade (or the equivalent in the Non Japanese arts)
Weapons systems (Agility) Special weapon systems (using swords and other exotic weapons)
Gun skills (Agility) Not just firing and reloading. This also covers the art of field stripping and reassembling the weapon.
Stealth (Mind) Not only the ability to move quietly and unseen (which is also covered in the general skill Move Quietly) but also to leave no trace for anyone to track your movements.
Survival (Mind) The knowledge and techniques for surviving in hostile environments … the Amazon Jungle, the Australian Outback and McDonalds at lunchtimes.
Combat medic (Mind) Skills needed to patch battle damaged people together and keep them alive until full medical facilities can be accessed.

Shaman Skills
The Shaman is a kind of sorcerer. They specialise in healing and communing with the spirit realm. A shaman character will be a bit mystical and have extensive out of body experience.
Spirit summon (Power) Call a spirit to your aid.
Call power animals (Mind) Call an animal spirit as a guide
Travel in Spirit form (Power) Leave their physical body behind and travel the spirit realm.
Silence (power) Cast a zone of silence around a place or stop a person from speaking.
Mind probe (ESP) Travel into another person’s mind.
Healing (Power) Create physical or mental healing
Darkness (Power) Allows the Shaman to create and move through shadows to remain unseen.
Enchant items (Power) Create magical items for their own use or their team members.

Ninja/Shadow Warrior
Shadow Walk (Power) The power to use shadows to move. A Ninja can move into one patch of shadows and reappear in another patch instantly. These must be true shadows. Full darkness does not count … it must be the border between light and darkness.
Unseen in Shadows (Power) While in shadows the Ninja is unseen. Motion trackers and heat sensors will not detect their presence. Light amplification goggles however do cut through shadows and the Ninja must be wary of them!
Backstab (Agility) As a shadow assassin the Ninja knows the vital weakpoints of the body. While this skill is called backstab it really covers any strike the ninja makes against a person. They will find a weakpoint in armour and the vulnerable areas in an unarmoured person.
Feint (Mind) The ability to throw an opponent off balance with a mock attack The opponent can make a skill roll on their mind to resist a feint … if they fail the Ninja gets an automatic hit the next combat round with no dodge roll to protect them!
Leave no trace (Mind) The subtle art of foiling trackers. The Ninja can disguise their trail in many ways. Throwing off pursuers with a variety of tricks.
Vanish (Power) Match the ninja’s Vanish skill with power score of the opponent. If they win the match roll, the Ninja suddenly appears to have vanished. The Ninja can use a smoke or flash bomb to distract opponents. This adds a +5 onto the skill roll.
Blowpipe (Agility) The ability to use a blowpipe and darts to attack from a distance. The darts can be poisoned/drugged or any devious type of dart the player can think of!
Use anything as a weapon (Mind) The Ninja can use normal household objects as weapons. Improvising with speed to turn rolled up magazines into brutal clubs etc.

Technologist
The Technologist is an expert in all things mechanical and electronic. They know all the computer programming languages ever created. They never travel anywhere without their laptop (filled with mean as nails virus launchers and security bypass software) and adapters to link into any system. Their abilities verge on the magical. They have lots of gadgets about their person. (Sit down with your games master and negotiate a list of equipment you are never without!)
Craft items (Mind) Create items and gadgets.
Repair items (Mind) Quickly fix things
Speed programming (Mind) Break apart computer code and rewrite it with all the backdoors and ‘features’ you wish!
Interface directly with computers and security systems (Power) Mind travel into extensive systems.
Machine Magic (Power) See the special section on MAGIC for details.
Speak to doors (Power) Soft talk security doors into opening.
Speak to cars/wheeled vehicles (Power) Confer with wheeled vehicles. The technologist can hear the machine soul of any electronic/Mechanical vehicle. He can speak to it and be understood. In special circumstances he can free its machine soul. (see Machine Magic)
Sense Electronic surveillance (ESP) The Technologist can sense any manner of electronic surveillance before he/she comes in range of being detected.

Zen Warrior
The Zen Warrior is an elite martial artist who has taken their art to another level entirely. It is almost mystical how they achieve the things they do.
Blind Fighting (ESP) The ability to fight without seeing. In total darkness the Zen warrior can sense the opponent and their attacks without seeing them.
Sense Enemy (ESP) Even when concealed from view the Zen Warrior can detect enemy characters, their position and angles of ambush.
Catch bullets or arrows (Agility) Tracking the incoming archs of weapons fire allows the Zen Warrior to actually pluck bullets and arrows from the air.
Bullet Ballet (ESP) Allows the Zen Warrior to move through heavy gunfire and avoid getting hit.
Survival in extreme conditions (Willpower) Knowledge of survival techniques combined with rigid bodily control to reduce the need for food, water or warmth
Martial Arts (Agility) A fighting style that suits the individuals players choice. This can be as exotic and weird or as compact and economical as they wish.
Remain calm in extreme situations (Mind) Keep chilled!

Jack of all trades
The Jack of all trades is a streetwise rogue who has a wide variety of skills and the ability to fake things he/she doesn’t know.
Turn a hand to anything (mind/agility) Any skill that the player character doesn’t have can be faked with this. Roll a result Dice (1D10) for any skill action taken. A roll of between 2 and 10 is successfully carried off. A roll of One and the observers can tell the skill is not actually natural to you!
This looks like a handy weapon (agility) Improvise a weapon from anything to hand.
Con artist (mind) Using wits to make people believe anything
Seduction (mind) The skill of attracting another person for whatever purpose!
Street fighting (agility) The rough art of fighting found on the street. Street fighting has its own rules of honour. Never kick another person when they are down on the floor and never unbalance a fight with a weapon if the other person doesn’t have one. Other than that anything goes!
Sweet Talk (scrutability) Use the character’s natural charm to win over someone else.
Unruffled by events (willpower) Keep chilled!
Secret special skill (to be selected by the player)

Devil Hunter
The Devil hunter is an elite warrior who specializes in killing the Demon creatures that escape from hell. They have a special ‘Evil Sense’ that allows them to detect the amount of corruption in a demon. Anything over 18 is fair game for the Devil Hunter.
Knowledge of the Dark Side (Mind)
Special weapons and tactics against the fiends from beyond (agility) Allows the Devil Hunter to use giant enchanted swords and high powered hand guns against the hordes of darkness! (Okay … you sussed me out! This is the Devil May Cry character option!)
Ignore any wound (Willpower) No matter how much damage the Devil Hunter takes in combat he/she can not be stunned by it. After the battle if the total of stun damage taken is more than the willpower of the Devil Hunter they will fall into an automatic stun state. However this is only after every single Demonic creature has been destroyed in the current area! They will also automatically come out of the stun after 1D6 minutes.
Pass as a Demon if needed (Scrutability) Where are my plastic glow in the dark horns?
Close Quarters Combat (Agility) A distilled form of martial arts that cherry picks the best moves from many different arts to combine them into one workable fighting system.
Magic and rituals (ESP) The ability to work magic and rituals. Check the magic section for details.
Naturally immune to hellfire (Power) The infernal breath of demons would crisp a normal human in seconds. The Devil Hunter is immune to this fire (though normal flame and napalm works well enough to against them!)
Fast Healing (body) Similar to the quick healing powers of a werewolf. When faced with truly evil opponents (corruption of 19 or higher!) some automatic mechanism in the Devil hunter clicks into overdrive. Damage is healed a faster rate. Every two rounds of combat the Hunter may choose to fight defensively for a round and make a healing roll. If successful the hunter may regain a full D8 of hits.
Sense Corruption (ESP) The ability to sense the level of corruption in any being they meet. The being must be within arms reach of the Hunter. This power can not be used to sense a hidden enemy.

Guru
A learned individual who has spent long years in spiritual exile. Decades spent meditating on the mysteries of the universe in mountain top retreats have granted them the weird abilities of body manipulation and mystic visions.
Knowledge of the mystical and unknown (Mind) A deep and wide ranging knowledge of all kinds of stuff that would make your body sphincters tighten in fear!
Ability to control body functions (Willpower) This isn’t just the ability to put off going to the toilet for hours. The Guru
Ancient Martial Arts (Agility) Has to be something we have never heard of. If you can’t find one obscure enough then make one up. A Guru wouldn’t have a black belt in Shotokan from his local YMCA Karate club.
Able to survive on hardly anything (Mind) Sustain life and soul on a handful of grubs and soil each day.
Truthsense (ESP) Tell when someone is lying like a b*****d
Auto-dodge (ESP) Without even needing to see the attack coming the Guru can automatically make a dodge roll. Especially handy in ambush situations.
Run on fluids (Power) Water, jam, wet concrete or anything fluid in nature. As Chuin says (in the classic REMO:Unarmed and Dangerous) ‘but you must run very fast!’
Run up walls (Agility) Though why you would want to remains a mystery!

Magician
Spirit Summon (Power)allows a helper/guide or guardian to be summoned from the spirit realm. Magicians can attract a group of followers around them that lurk in the nether realm and wait to be called to aid them.
Create Spell (power)allows the Magician to blend her powers into a new spell. (Naturally the spell needs to be cleared by the GM before its use.) This process takes time and meditation and can not be thrown together as a quick fix in a tight spot.
Temperature Touch. (power)The Magician focuses their power into their hands. This can then be transferred into either an item (such as a rock to keep the team warm in hostile situations) or a weapon to achieve an additional potency. I.e. Ice Bullets, a burning blade, frost grenade.
Spirit Phone (power)allows the Magician to communicate with a team member while in the other realm.
Illusion. (Agility)This is the classic stage magic bag of tricks. These must be prepared in advance, but can include all the slight of hands tricks (which obviously just require free hands!) The Magician can prepare mirrors, smoke bombs, trap doors, steel cages and ropes and have these on hand in the team bus. It is assumed that the Magician also has a knack with palming keys, picking pockets and taking items from people without their knowing or being aware of it occurring.
Escapology (mind)allows the Magician to effect amazing escapes from traps, handcuffs, ropes or locked rooms. (Okay Dee … as a spirit this is a naff ability for you … but you can assist others in escapes, even though they won’t have your muscle control, supple joints and breath techniques to pull off the really impressive escapes!)
MindProbe (Mind) is a mental power that allows the adept to read the different layers of a person’s thoughts. This isn’t telepathy .. the adept actually journeys into the mind of the person and experiences the thought flow as a physical reality.
The different layers of thought are:-
The surface (Difficulty easy: Standard roll against your Power score. 20 Fail as normal) This allows the adept to experience the current train of thought. Just what is flowing through the mind at that moment. This could be what they thinking of having for lunch!
The subsurface (Difficulty Medium: Roll against your Power with a –5 Handicap) This is where any all the supporting thoughts boil .. just below the surface. Here the person may reveal plans they are dwelling on .. secret thoughts often hide in this area.
The Greyzone (Difficulty Hard: Roll against Power with a –10 handicap) This zone is deep inside the mind. This can contain thoughts and feelings even the person themselves may be unaware of. Deep secrets can hide here and id creatures guard guilty repressed memories or actions.
The Dead Zone (Difficulty Megahard: Roll against Power with a –15 handicap) The dead zone is the deepest part of the mind. Here is where we all connect at a quantum sub-mental level. The zone is a weird land of primal archetypes and dreamscapes. Here is where any tampering with the person is done by Mages. They can tape into the Dead Zone and edit a person at a basic level. This is naturally very dangerous …
Confusion (power) creates a zone (The casters power measured in metres around them.) The effect is as follows.
Roll 1= Nobody in the area can recall the Magician or the Magician’s companions … even if they were dressed in Rocky Horror Picture Show outfits, dancing on tables with their genitalia coloured with glow in the dark marker pen!
Roll 2-5 = People may have a mild recollection that someone was their … but they have no details. Just a mental black spot in their memory.
Roll 6-10 = A recollection of something mildly unusual may be recalled, but this will be rationalised by the people involved as something ordinary. (If the Magician was to perform actual magic in front of them they might recall someone doing something … but it was perfectly normal … like selling raffle tickets or asking about an illegally parked car.)
Roll 11-15 = Something is up … but I can’t pull the facts together. Yes … there were some odd people in here … I think it was a circus troop and some performing monkeys. Maybe …
They might recall some of the real facts, but it will be mixed up with odd stuff drawn from their subconscious to fill the gaps. (“I recall a guy wrapped in bandages … he was talking to a fish and a woman with a piano keyboard where her stomach should be!”)
Roll 16-19 = Recall gets clearer, but facts may be distorted and faces could not be identified in a police line up. The memories will fade after sleeping … so if people are not interviewed straight away they will recall nothing the next morning (except maybe odd dreams the night before!)
Roll 20 = Here the effect backfires (Naturally! He he he he he!) The people involved will suddenly have perfect recall of events. Somehow they gain total recall and find themselves able to describe events perfectly, recall conversations word for word and provide vivid descriptions of anyone involved.)
Kiss of Darkness: (Power) This allows the adept to weave a cloak of darkness around their activities. This can be a normal seeming fog that will appear quickly (but not so quickly to arose suspicions!) If the person is in a building the windows will appear to be darkly tinted or mirrored. Video cameras will produce grainy quality playback that can not be made out.
Special note: All these effects are designed to appear totally normal. This does not create a ball of blackness around the Magician that hides them from view. This would alert anyone seeing it!
Drain Mana from enchanted items(Power) This allows the Magician to effect a temporary drain on certain magic and enchanted items. Enemies with enchanted special armor and rune carved bullets that automatically find their victims will find themselves out of luck. Roll 1D20 and add 1 minute per point of power in your power level! This is the number of minutes the items are without power.
Spines of Shadi: (power)This is a distance attack that relies on any sharp object the Mage carries. A box of toothpicks is ideal (small enough for your pocket!) The Mage casts the toothpicks into the air in front of them while uttering the spell. Suddenly they become a hail of Spines from the Legendary Hedgehog Goddess Shadi. These spines do automatic hits and generate 2D12 damage.
This spell costs 5 points of power per round to sustain.
The Spinning Discs of Diona: (power) This is a spell that creates a number of spinning discs in the air about the magician. While the Magician may move around, fire weapons, cast spells and act normally … any attempt to touch them or fire on them is hampered by the discs. These will swoop to intercept bullets, throw objects or spells. Each disc has a Body rating of 10points. After this expires the disc will vanish. The caster can create 1D10 discs with this spell.
This spell costs 5 points per round to sustain.
Arms of Kali: (Power) The Magician can create two extra sets of arms (giving them six arms in total!) with this spell. The spell lasts 1D20 minutes plus a minute for each point of power the caster has. The arms are totally under the control of the caster. It allows them to fire six guns … fight with six swords .. etc. Naturally they must have the gun and sword skill with just the two regular arms to take advantage of this!
This spell costs 5 points of power per round to sustain.

Thing of mystery
A Mysterious figure who appears to fight evil. Nobody knows where they come from … or where they go! Where did they develop their awesome and uncanny powers?
It should go without saying that this is the Doc Savage/The Shadow option in this game. If both of those names mean nothing at all to you then you are forbidden to use this option in your game!!!! (I am so serious about this prohibition that I am not clarifying any of the skills and abilities for the Mystery figure! … and no I am not…. Stop asking! … I am not going to do it!)
Appear and disappear without being noticed (ESP)
Walk through a hail of gunfire (Scrutability)
Produce weapons from nowhere! (Power)
Never run out of ammunition (Power)
Never make a sound (Power)
Mysterious Martial Arts (Agility)
Arcane Knowledge (Mind)
Wide Field of Academic study (Mind)

SECTION FIVE: EXPERIENCE AND CHARACTER ADVANCEMENT

Experience and Character Advancement.
Here is where we get to the spending of all those XP awards.

LEVELS
As the characters get more and more Experience points that begin to advance. One of the wonderful carrot and stick motivational techniques that Games Masters have used for centuries (or since the early 70’s .. and trust me that feels like centuries to me!) is the concept of levels. As the experience points begin to stack up your character reaches points where they ‘go up a level’ … it’s a bit like winning a new belt in martial arts or receiving your clubcard vouchers from TESCO. A bit of buzz.

Since it is popular with lots of gamers I decided to introduce this concept into AGENTS OF S.O.D.O.M. If you hate the idea of building points up and using them to enhance your character simply don’t do it. However you may want to tweak the statistics of some of the more powerful creatures in the Bestiary. They are designed to be a challenge to characters of a higher level with enhanced stats and powers.

LEVEL ZERO 0-999 points
Level One 1000 to 2400
Level Two 2400 to 3600
Level Three 3600 to 4800
Level Four 4800 to 6000 (Special professions available)
Level Five 6000 to 7400
Level Six 7400 to 8600 (Special items available)
Level Seven 8600 to 9800
Level Eight 9800 to 10,000 (New quests available)
Level Nine 10,000 to 11,400
Level Ten 11,400 to 12,600 (special advantages available)
and so on ….

Improving Statistics:- Between level One and Level Four statistics can be improved by spending 100 points per statistic to raise it One point. You can not raise a single statistic more than 4 points at each level.
Between Level Four and Level Six it costs 200 points per statistic to raise it a single point.
Between Level Seven and Level Ten it costs 400 points per statistic.

Improving Skills:- Between level One and Level Four skills can be improved by spending 100 points per skill to raise it One point. You can not raise a single skill more than 4 points at each level.
Between Level Four and Level Six it costs 200 points per skill to raise it a single point.
Between Level Seven and Level Ten it costs 400 points per skill.

Improving equipment: Basic equipment that the players acquire for their characters initially and during play can be beefed up by spending Experience points.
Armour: Spending a 1000 points on your armour can increase its value by a one point.
Weapons: Spending a 1000 points on a weapon can increase its rate of attack. Swords can strike twice per round. Guns fire at double their normal rate.

Gaining quests: Quests are individual missions for the respective player. They will be assisted in their quest by the other characters. The goal of the mission is to unlock a weapon/magickal item or other piece of equipment that is totally individual to that character. Quests should reflect the player’s special interests and particular wants for their character. So chat over with them before designing the quest. An example of several quests items is located toward the end of this chapter.

At Level Four the player has a chance to start to tailor their character in other directions. You have the option of either

(A) Buying another profession from the initial four professions list (Cost 3000 XP)
(B) Buying a new profession from an addition choice list (Cost 2000 XP)
(C) Questing for a family artefact to enhance your character (Cost 2000 XP)

Adding another profession from the initial list
You can take your choice of any of the initial professions.
However all the skills that come with this new profession come at half score. So you half your base stat and add 1D4 to gain your starting total. Naturally one of the skills comes with the D10 bonus you receive for the special skill of your choice. Can you make this a blessed roll. When training roll on your bless skill … if you succeed you can bless the roll … meaning you add between 6 and 10 to your skill!
Note any skills that are akin to your current profession (Say a Warrior decided to train as a Shadow Warrior) are brought in at full value. You don’t suffer from the half stat penalty for those. These skills come with only a ¾ penalty to them. Anything else (say Shadow walk) has the penalty. You can enhance all these skills through normal XP expenditure!

A new profession (or skill path)
These new professions are available for choice at Level Four
1) Animal Trainer
2) Divination with Cards
3) Ethereal Mastery
4) Kikado (Martial art of spirit energy Ki = Energy Ka = Spirit Do = Way)

Each of these new professions will initially start at half your stat base. However after one level (to level 5) of training you can increase the stat base to ¾ and then finally full stat value at the next level (at level 6) Again if you take a profession with any skills that directly relate to your initial profession you can take the new skills with only a ¾ penalty.

Animal Trainer
The animal trainer has an obvious affinity with creatures and beasts.
They have an empathic link with an animal they have trained. Most animals will respond positively to them in normal circumstances. They have a high regard for all members of the animal kingdom and will not harm or allow harm to occur to any beasts. Animals that have been trained to attack (Dogs and birds of prey) can often be calmed by the animal trainer.
Useful stats for this profession Willpower Power and ESP
The beginning skills for an animal trainer are
Animal Empathy
Animal Affinity
Animal Care
Command and obey
Summon creatures
(Later skills will include being able to link telepathically with creatures and see through their eyes. Control them with their permission telepathically. Shapechange into various animals to gain deeper understanding of them.)

Divination with Cards
Useful stats for this skill path are ESP Mind and Power
The card divinator is skill path akin to the magician/shaman. But in this path the goal is perception of the future and analysis of the present. This is a difficult path as it requires the adept to construct their own deck as no deck of cards is attuned to their gift. At various times either during gaming sessions or outside of sessions the Divinator can roll to find a card. This can be a card relating to the current situation, but that an archetypal meaning. For example while trapped in an underground warren of caves the character may find the Warren of Caves card … this (when used with other cards) could guide them out and be useful in other situations (i.e. lost in a vast building with a bewildering maze of rooms!).
Find a Card
Read cards
Create a Card
Enhance a card
Protect cards

(Later skills will involve using the cards to create effects, summon creatures, doorways etc)

Ethereal Mastery
Useful stats for this skill path include Power ESP and Willpower
The Ethereal master or mistress is an adept that can take on the aspects of the spirit realm. They can sense into various dimensions (above and below our current world) and travel to them. They perceive ghosts and spirits as totally solid (not the spectral shades that normal people do) and can interact with them fully.
Astral Travel (travelling out of body to the spirit realm)
Dual Perception (seeing the nearest realms overlapped with our own)
Deep perception (seeing the further realms)
Communication (contacting any shades or spirits nearby)
Ka Travel (releasing the Ka form to travel in this realm)

(Later skills will involve Calling on aid from the other side, travel bodily into other realms and special spirit weapons)

KIKADO
The Martial art of Spirit Energy.
Useful stats for this skill path include Power, Strength and Agility.
This is a unique martial art created by the spirit of a 1000 year old Samurai Warrior Monk. It combines the most savage of physical assaults with psychic and spirit power. The adept can punch through into near realms to attack spirit forms and creatures before they can be summoned to this realm. The art is effective against ghosts and automatically creates the effect of a blessed weapon when attacking a spirit or ghost form.
Beginning skills include:-
Strike of Heaven
Dragon Breath
Dancing with the Fire Serpent
Catching the river
Pushing the Mountain of Divine Salmon
Lotus Kiss
Hold the Sacred Melons
Fist of the Thunder God
Nails of the Underworld
Bestowing the Passport of Heaven

(Explanation of the skills)
Strike of Heaven allows the adept to push through into the spirit realm to punch or kick.
Dragon Breath allows the adept to create a vortex of spirit energy that pulls a spirit form toward them.
Dancing with the Fire Serpent allows an adept to dance through a hail of gunfire unharmed
Catching the river allows the adept to block and neutralise physical and spirit attacks against them
Pushing the Mountain of Divine Salmon allows the adept to separate a spirit weapon from an attacker and ready it and use in the same turn!
Lotus Kiss allows the adept to head butt the ka from another fighter
Hold the Sacred Melons allows the adept to wrestle an opponent to the ground and submit
Fist of the Thunder God allows a twin attack against two foes in the same round
Nails of the Underworld allows the adept to create a wall of attacks that can not be broken through.
Bestowing the Passport of Heaven taking out an opponent to 0 hits in a single blow.

Questing for a Family Artefact

Here are some example items for individual quests:-

THE BLADE OF AMON RA
This is a sacred weapon for Pharaonic Guardians. It is continually blessed and strikes with D20 damage. It also protects the owner with a circle of sanctuary that automatically is cast whenever they sleep. The blade also possesses other sacred qualities (to be discovered at the end of the quest!)
Minimum Purity required: 19
Minimum Strength required: 22

THE GRIMOIRE OF LADY HARKNESS
This is a spellbook of great power and potency. It contains the next set of spells needed for your character at Level 4 and will open new areas of magick and mystery to explore. The book has a binding spell that attaches it to its new owner. It can never be taken from you or removed from your presence without your permission. Owning it will automatically boost your power by +5
Minimum ESP required: 20
Minimum Mind required: 21

THE CLOAK OF EBON DARKNESS
This is a dark cloak of the finest black silk. Wearing it confers the following abilities:-
Walk unseen in daylight
Create Shadows
Silent movement
Silent weapons (even the loudest sawn off shotgun would be silent as a dagger at midnight!)
Minimum Power Required: 23
Minimum ESP required: 18

Some Notes on Quests:-
Each quest should reflect the individual undertaking it. Naturally if you are questing for an Ancient Egyptian Blade you aren’t going to go looking in up state New York. A quest for an ancient grimoire wouldn’t be in Disneyland. Pick a good location … mix in some threats of the same flavour and add a pinch of someone equally as powerful looking for the same item.

Level 6: Special items available. When Agents reach level 6 S.O.D.O.M. provides a new range of special items and equipment for them. Naturally they will sent on even more dangerous and deadly missions so the new equipment is an investment in keeping them alive.
Enhanced Armour: Try out the Hyper-Combat Battle Skin!
Special Weapons: Take the Nightmare 972 Scatter Cannon for a test drive
New Vehicles: A new multipurpose roadster is available. This provides all the protection of the standard issue van with speed and chick appeal. Colour: Comes in black with neon lighting underneath. Engine has a special silencer for ultra-quiet running.

Level 8: New quests available: Unlike the individual quests for items these quests are designed for the glory of the whole team. I’ve come up with three ideas for BIG quests with some seriously nice things at the end. Naturally you will need to do a bit of work to flesh out the story and the conflict involved. I’ve been a bit vague in this department for good reason. The players quests should be a chance for them to call the shots on the type of mission they would select. This can reflect a special interest of theirs … maybe Egypt or Ancient Greece. Maybe exploring or discovering hidden cities or lost civilisations. Get to know the players and find out their wish list. Make this the guiding principle in designing the special quests.

Level 10: Special advantages available! Have you been secretly wanting one of the other abilities or skills unique to vampires … or maybe you want one of the advantages of being of Devil Hunter or Zen Warrior? At level 10 the player can select one ability or skill from totally outside their character’s creature/profession profile and add it.

What happens after Level 10?
The details of character advancement after level 10 will be one of the subjects dealt with in the supplement S.O.D.O.M. Headquarters.

SECTION SIX : ADVENTURES
INSTANT ADVENTURES GENERATOR

Your friends will be here in moments and you haven’t thought up a scenario for tonight’s game.
Don’t despair!
The following essential tool will give you a story pathway, random characters to throw in, clues and red herrings and some nifty booty! There should be more than enough rubbish here to keep the players from suspecting you haven’t prepared anything at all … (you might even spin it out into a campaign length adventure!)
While this may be geared to the bizarre world of Agents of S.O.D.O.M. it might equally work well in any other modern day setting that permits magic and beasties.
Grab a couple of dice (D6 and D10).. a sheet of paper and get generating!.

The Characters all meet up in
1) The local park
2) The City museum
3) The local Police Station
4) A Dark and Dodgy Nightclub
5) A dark alleyway
6) A exclusive restaurant

They have been called together because of
1) A tip off from a local contact that something is happening tonight
2) An anonymous phonecall that promised vital information that they would find invaluable
3) A strange feeling of disquiet that they all felt tonight
4) A regular meeting they always have here on a Tuesday night
5) A prophetic seer told them to gather at this place
6) They each followed a tiny glowing light that drew them to this place

Moments after meeting up with each other they discover
1) A Dead Body
2) A strange amulet
3) A weird old book in an unknown language
4) An old suitcase that refuses to open
5) A musical box that stinks of weird magics
6) A figure stood in the gloom that addresses them in a strange voice

Examining the Body/Amulet/book/suitcase/musical box or talking to the strange figure will lead them to want to journey to (have a note or till receipt or bookmark found along with the items .. that additional bit of information that prompts players to take action)
1) The Old Lighthouse
2) The abandoned distillery outside of town
3) The Disused train station
4) The Old abandoned Nuclear Plant
5) The Old Cathedral in Salem Street
6) The visiting Circus

In case the players are floundering …Random HUGE Clues found around the site visited
1) A CD ROM containing all manner of detailed information on the baddies
2) A trunk of ritual magic equipment and a layout plan of somewhere else marked with an X
3) A flipchart with box of markers … on the flipchart pages are detailed plans for something sinister and evil
4) A Diary of the Top Bad Guy detailing his intricate plans for bringing about a reign of darkness and evil to this dimension
5) A wounded flunky of the Top Bad Guy. He was punished for some trivial reason and left to die. He has time enough to spill all the information the players need.
6) A Strange Viewing crystal that is focused on the Bad Guys. Through it the players can identify all they need to know!

The Clues seem to point to the following involvement
1) Some Bizarre and deadly Cult out for new members
2) Some Secret Government Operation that has gone tragically wrong and the evidence is being flushed
3) Some weird ritual that occurs this night every 30 years
4) Some compelling evidence for Alien Contact
5) Some Frightening details of a Ritual to bring about the end of the world
6) Some bizarre plan to transport the United States (or wherever you set your adventures) into some freakish hell dimension.

The player Characters meet
1) A disgruntled ex-employee willing to spill lots of information for a chance to even a score
2) A frightened individual with secrets so bizarre and scary they are blocking them from conscious thought
3) An artificial lifeform that is the end product of some unholy process
4) A Member of a Secret Military Special Operations force that needs help
5) A research Scientist with a CD rom of information that threatens to topple the world economy
6) A very serious individual who has a weird belief in some improbable theory, yet the players feel compelled to believe them.

The Characters encounter the following threats
1) An Army installation infested with a horde of Alien beings with weird weapons and flying Saucers
2) A Weird Dark tower that’s home to a Secret Cabal of Sorcerers with some serious scores to settle
3) A Dungeon complex filled with reanimated Dead creatures
4) An Office building filled with Blood thirsty Amoeba Creatures
5) A Sewer system filled with Mutant Rats and glowing slime
6) A Fog shrouded Seaside town with a pesky problem of an Undead population

After some fighting and exploring the players discover
1) It was all a misdirection to draw attention away from the real threat … an arriving Super Intelligence from another dimension. Can they stop it before it takes over the earth?
2) It was all part of secret Government testing programme to build a profile on the Characters. Will they uncover the data films and trash them?
3) It was all leading to a final clash with the Ultimate Bad guy. Who will win?
4) It was all an adventure in some weird Dream reality … and to escape from the traumatised subconscious of the dreamer they must face their darkness fears made manifest.
5) It was all a Virtual Reality Simulation by a noted Industrialist. But the Machine is shutting down and the players need to escape before the final switch is thrown.
6) It was all a key in some Apocalyptic plan. Can they uncover the next link in the evil plan, or will they be unwitting pawns in activating the next key?

The Final Clash with the Big Bad guy is:-
1) A struggle for life and death in a giant Undersea dome. The Bad Guy is a huge Mutant Sea Creature that has an ability to control all the electronic equipment in the dome. It constructs an army of drones to wear our heroes down!
2) A life and death fight at the top of huge tower. The Bad Guy uses magic to change into a huge Dragon form and strafes the players with various hideous attacks.
3) A life and death battle in a massive trans-dimensional portal system with a Being who can select any form from any of the Infinite Dimensions. Each form is proof against some part of the Players attacks and abilities. Can they outfox or outfight him by dipping into other dimensions themselves!?
4) A Life and Death bun fight in a research Facility suspended over a dormant volcano. As the players clash with the insane scientist who has become possessed by the Flame Spirit of the Fire Mountain the Volcano begins to erupt.
5) A life and Death clash on the Golden Gate Bridge. The Supreme Bad Guy has metamorphosed into a Giant Insect. If the team don’t stop him he will plunder San Francisco and lay a swarm of eggs in every living being in the city by the bay!
6) A life and death match in an orbital space station. The Bad Guy has melded himself into the AI that controls the vast habitat and has created a monstrous giant killer vegetable army in the Zero Gee Hydroponics labs. If the team don’t stop him he will seed the earth with his deadly spores!

That’s the gist of the adventure covered, but what about all the other stuff that fills roleplaying games and makes playing them so interesting and rewarding. The characters, the mysterious clues, plot threads and odd occurances. If you need any of the following look no further! …

Through this instant adventure numerous characters will have turned up (or your players will nag you for names of people who aren’t vital to the plot from your perspective … but they feel might be important to contact again!) Here is a instant NPC generator for those instances
Male Names:-
1) Alex Fells
2) William Evans
3) Graham Alter
4) Forest Rainer
5) Lewis Jenson
6) Fred Brangna
7) Choy Bok
8) Boris Stumeiser
9) Hansun Roberts
10) Tony Greenstreet

Female Names
1) Annah Hampton
2) Alice Anchor
3) Zoe Norrin
4) Deborah Ethbert
5) Amy Chan
6) Mary Fudpacker
7) Chloe Dark
8) Sarah-Jane Acton
9) Juliet Hyde
10) Barbara McFeresh

Descriptions:-
Male
1) Shabby middle aged man with a two day growth of beard.
2) Overweight young man in sweat pants and heavy metal teeshirt
3) Rat featured sharp faced man in his early 30’s dressed like a pimp
4) Moon faced heavy set man with long hair and dressed in ethnic clothing
5) A slim nondescript man in a business suit and thinning hair
6) An attractive mid-20’s male in casual clothes. Wearing glasses and carrying a sports bag
7) A well built blonde man of Nordic ancestry. Long hair tied back in a pony tail and goatee beard
8) A short compact man of oriental ancestry. Buzz cut hairstyle and dark sunglasses hide his eyes
9) An extremely tall man with dusty brown hair. His clothes look as though his mother picked them.
10) An athletic looking man in a labourers coveralls. His dark hair is ruffled and untidy looking. He looks as though he has just got out of bed.

Descriptions;-
Female
1) A tall attractive woman with cascades of curly red hair. She is dressed in sharp business outfit.
2) A scruffy blonde skaterpunk girl with various facial piercings
3) An Oriental woman with striking hazel eyes. Dressed in a long flowing evening dress.
4) A slim woman in her late 30’s with too much makeup on. Dressed in jeans and a teeshirt.
5) An overweight woman in her early 20’s. She has long dark hair, dressed in jogging bottoms and a shapeless sweatshirt.
6) Wireframed glasses frame a severe face. Short cropped brown hair and a fashion sense that froze somewhere in the 1980’s.
7) A tall athletic looking woman dressed in short black skirt and cream coloured blouse. Her auburn hair is tied back in a loose ponytail.
8) An Audrey Hepburn look-a-like dressed in an ethnic print wraparound skirt and beaded jacket
9) A short woman in her late 40’s. Her face is sun burned and she looks uncomfortable in her traditional Japanese Kimono.
10) A raven haired woman in a grey leotard and sports trainers. She wears a pair of blue tinted glasses.

What are their professions?
1) Clerk at a high powered law firm from the City
2) Freelance Photographer
3) Computer Hacker
4) Professional rich layabout
5) Eccentric individual with a different profession each time someone asks
6) Shop Assistant at the local Wallmart
7) Doctor
8) UFO enthusiast
9) Runs a Dot Com business (that’s actually doing well)
10) Novelist

Random Items found during a Search (some possible red herrings for your players!)
1) A tarot card of the 11 of Swords (and yes I know NO Such card exists … spooky though!)
2) A small sea shell that smells of a delicate perfume
3) A piece of wood with a scratched runic symbol on it (The Rune is RAD .. the Sun Chariot)
4) A fold of silk with petals of a flower inside
5) A Small notebook filled with dates and a symbol next to each date.
6) A horse shoe that has been painted red
7) A child’s toy rattle that has the top removed and its filled with acid smelling dust
8) A clay wall plaque bearing a raised face. It has a expression of obvious pain
9) A Candle with a mystical symbol scratched on the side
10) An old Wine bottle that has been filled with small blue beads and sealed with wax

Random Clues found in an incriminating place. You can either drop these clues in as false trails or use the time the players are following up the leads to think up a genuine reason to include them in your story!
1) A till receipt from yesterday evening for a Lucky Fisherman Chinese Restaurant
2) A ring with the name Elle Swinburne engraved on the inside surface
3) An old empty Police case file. It has the name Walter Edger on the front and the casefile number 29018 on the spine.
4) A photograph of a young couple beside a fountain. They are holding a Mediaeval parchment map that you might be able to have digitally enhanced
5) A fragment of bone (from the thigh of adult male if the players insist on forensic testing!) It has the date 27/10/04 scratched on it.
6) A yellow plastic bath toy in a shape of steamboat. It rattles when shaken … close examination reveals it has 12 glass beads inside it. Each bead has a letter inside it …W A L K E R S T R E E T
7) Brown leather shoe with a false heel. The heel contains a key to room 19 The Pacific Motel
8) A plastic CD case containing two CDs. One is a copy of record by the band THE RIDERS OF DISCORD, the other is an encrypted data file.
9) A wallet containing £33.78 in change, a number of credit cards in the name JB Niles and a hotel card key for suite 214 at the New Hills Grand.
10) A ceramic jar sealed with masking tape. Inside is a set of yellowing ancient photographs showing a character the players will have met previously in the game. The dates on the back of all the photographs range from January to August 1910

Random Addresses to send your players to
1) 123 St Williams Street
2) Flat/Apartment 14b East Grinsburg Heights
3) Warehouse D, Exgen Industrial Complex
4) The Taste of India Restaurant, 67 Hight Street
5) Future Fashions Design, 25 Dorrin Lane
6) 88 Freya Terrace

Random events to throw players off on a tangent If you are running out of ideas to sustain the story once you have it going and need to generate another strand to the tale (or give yourself some breathing room to gather your thoughts) throw in one or more of the following:-
1) The vehicle that the players are travelling in is broken into (while they are inside one of the locations) and some things are stolen
2) A seemingly unkillable assassin begins to stalk the team of players. After a lot of fighting allow it to die … then later on make it reappear again … and again … and again!
3) The Police suddenly take an interest in the Players activities. Despite having all sorts of official sanctions to operate the local police chief is sure something fishy is going on. Have incriminating things (envelopes of money. Bank deposit slips that show huge amounts of money given to the player, Occult items of a dark nature that link the player to the baddies … and which he/she obviously hasn’t declared as part of an ongoing investigation!) turn up in the player’s van, houses and lockers at headquarters
4) Have one of the Games Master controlled characters (a member of the players team … not some random nobody) begin to go mad, become erratic and begin talking to themselves. Has the strain got to them or is something sinister happening. If left unchecked they will begin doing odd things. Making phone calls, then denying they have. Filling notebooks with lists of numbers, taking a marker pen to the walls of their house and covering them with thousands of small drawings of bears. Eventually they will make an attack on one of the players themselves.
5) A doorway suddenly appears in the middle of the street (obviously near where the players are standing) If they choose to go through the door (and they might not!) they find:- (a) A dark wood with an ancient castle at its heart (b) A strange white room with a one way mirror in one wall. If the mirror is broken it leads to another white room with another one way mirror …. (c) A staircase leading downwards. If followed to the end it leads to a giant room filled with golden statues. A single door will lead out to a small island surrounded by sea. A weird dark tower is the only thing on the island. No radio signals or satellite tracking system will be able to identify the island (d) A swampland inhabited by unseen but highly noisy creatures. A lone track will lead to an abandoned old shack. Inside is a Wizards workshop of stuffed animals, multicoloured glass jars and old books (in a strange non-human language)
6) A sudden hurricane force storm sweeps into town and everyone takes shelter in an old cellar bar. With the doorway sandbagged up (the door will have blown out) the players will have to get to know some of the weird people they have been trapped with. (Use the random character generator for names and descriptions if needed!). Slowly more and more of the games master controlled characters will complain of hearing noises from below the floor. The players (with their superior non-human characters and enhanced senses) can not hear anything. Slowly it begins to drive all the humans trapped in the cellar mad. They will begin to drink (from the well stocked bar), grow hysterical and fall into deathlike sleep. When any of them awake (which they will from time to time) have them wake up screaming from the worst nightmares. Something is below the bar. An old dusty entrance to the sewer system is discovered covered in concrete. In the concrete has been scratched a set of mystical symbols. The Storm has awoken something beneath the bar.

I often throw in odd items with mystical or arcane runes or symbols on them. Sometimes they are just distractions or window dressing. The players ALWAYS want to translate them … and I am forced to come up with the meanings on the hop. To prevent this syndrome from troubling you I present …
Translations of random Arcane and Mystical symbols:-
1) The Darkness Rises, the Shadows fall, the fire that grows shall engulf us all.
2) Hail to the Mighty Unitheos, Sovereign Lord of the Cosmos
3) By these words shall the children of the earth know the endtimes. The rise of (fragment ends)
4) A ward of darkness shall protect all who dwell within
5) May the Eternal Night bless this instrument of damnation
6) Hail to thee URR the Devourer and thy Leigon
7) The blessing of divine Ashmeroth at the South Corner
8) A curse on anyone who disturbs this, my last resting place and the holy grave of the dark god TGAL
9) Do not hold this object lest ye wish to suffer the blessing of the Plague God Festorax the Foul
10) The Thunder of the Heavens calls the one who will save …(fragment ends)

Cheap and Campy names for the bad guys and their organisations (or possibly good stage names and ideas for rock bands!)
1) Theon Darkgild and the Brotherhood of the Green Cross
2) Lord Rampus. The Guild of Darkness
3) Eonith Demonson and the Cabal of the Slaughtered God
4) Taro White The Divine Coalition of the Dog Star
5) Rakis Shadow of the First Church of Satenvus the Hungry
6) Darek Ravenblood and the Unholy Red Temple (I think I have their first CD?)

Your first group adventure

SECTION SEVEN: BEASTS AND BLACK HEARTED SCOUNDRELS
Creature Bestiary

SECTION EIGHT: THE WAY OF MAGICK

Magick and Powers
Magick is a massive part of the game. Most characters will have some sort of magic in their arsenal of attacks. Some players will concentrate their whole character around Magick
Spells are sort of cheat codes for reality. Their power is not linked to demonic forces or provided by any evil entity.

Creating Spells: I’ve always been open to players of Magick Characters approaching me with ideas for spells. They want a certain effect to happen and set out to design a spell to achieve it. My philosophy has always been to check the new spell and see if it will …

(a) Make the Magick Character so powerful it will require all the opponents beefed up to provide a challenge (and remember if the other characters don’t get equal ‘enhancement’ they fall like cannon fodder in the next battle!)
(b) Allow the Magick Character trample the scenario underfoot and wander straight to the end of the game.
(c) Make the Magick Character so powerful that all the other characters are like his support team and not equal participants in the story.

If I feel it isn’t going to do any of those things I will allow it. Remember players are clever and devious. Apparently innocent things can often be twisted to evil and powergamer ends. If something innocent turns out to be a Scenario Killer don’t be afraid to pull it (in a creative way of course!)

Available paths:
Ritual Magick
Ritual Magick is a long and drawn out process. It involves big magickal workings and tackles powerful and dangerous energies. Preparation for this can take weeks/months or even years. Certain items can be required that maybe rare or almost impossible to find. Often Ritual Magick takes more than one practitioner to do. Whole teams of Magickal Adepts can be called upon to work big spells.
As a consequence of all these drawbacks you can imagine that Ritual Magick provides pretty big results.

Spells for good:
Creating protective shields against evil around whole communities or buildings.
Enchanting a weapon for good permanently with protective and offensive magicks.
Binding Evil Entities from intruding into our dimension.
Destroying sites of Evil or Corruption.

Spells for Evil:
Unleashing Evil Entities into our reality.
Making Evil creatures immortal or immune to harm permanently.
Cloaking Evil sites in darkness to shield them from detection.

Most of the time players won’t be involved in big magickal workings … unless maybe as a climax to stopping some hideous creature from turning our world into it’s playground.
Such spells will usually need to be dug up from dangerous and forbidden books … themselves possibly the end result of deadly and insanely risky quests.
If you need to include such a spell in your game remember to make it showy! Lots of chanting, candles and chalk marks on the floor. Ritual Magick Adepts tend to be a hooded and cloaked bunch with shadowy faces and a liking of naked bodies decorating the place. Naturally the fastest way to shut a ritual down would be to shoot the head guy doing all the chanting. However this has all the dramatic tension of a Sunny Delight advert. Head Ritual Magickal Dudes should have spells of protection woven around them. Always thrown in a bunch of guards (usually non-human and fairly nasty) whose job it is to keep the players busy while the Ritual is underway. Decide how many turns of combat it will take for the ritual to work. Thus the players will have a time limit to work to. A successful roll on any Arcane knowledge skill will give the players a clue … (ie … You sense you have but minutes before the ritual is complete and the Dark Ones begin their joyous task of absorbing the lifeforce of all of California! … call it 7 combat rounds!)

All the spells in the following section can be cast at a cost of 5 power per round. This means that the spell activates and can be sustained for 5 points of power a round. When the caster’s power drops to 0 the spell stops. Each round resting regains 5 points of power for the Magick Adept.

Eclectic Path
This is a kind of catch all title for any magickal workings. Most Eclectic Magick Adepts have a collection of spells and traditions from all paths and some designed just by themselves. These people will be frowned on by traditional Magick Adepts.
The Eclectic Path mage can select any 3 spells from the other paths.

Combat Magick
Designed just for battling and inflicting damage. There are two schools in this path … dark and light.
Dark Magicks specialise in harm. Inflicting death or pain on the opponent.
Basic Dark Magic spells
Blade of Festorax: This creates a Dark sword that can be directed at a single opponent. The blade is dripping with a vile venom and automatically poisons on hitting. (See poisons)
Whirlwind of Santos: This is a giant hurricane force wind that smashes into the opponent and sucks them into an airless vortex. Being thrown against anything while in the wind causes 2D20 damage and automatic stun (roll 1D10 and consult the Stun results table)
Air Sharks of Guileman: These are phantom sharks that strike at the opponent (Bite skill is 26). If they hit they drain 2D10 health points from the opponent and funnel the power back to the summoner.
Demoanist The Despairing: Summons the miserable Demoanist the unhappy one. This creature can drain the life from a party in seconds ... and the willpower from anyone within 20 feet of him. He has 50 health and unless destroyed (and banished back to his grey dimension) will drain all willpower from everyone on the opponent’s side of the battle. When willpower drops to zero people will stop fighting and sit down. They can not be bothered to do anything for the next 1D10 hours.

Light Magicks specialise in stunning the opponent. Controlling them and rendering them harmless.
Jaws of Life: A huge set of teeth will appear and attempt to bite the opponent in half. The bite skill is 28. If successful it actually drains the opponent of all their POWER for the next 3 hours. This means they can not access any of their spells or mind powers. No physical damage is done. The power is funnelled into the caster for that period.
Little SODs: This creates 1D6 of small creatures. These appear to be tiny claymation creatures. They scamper toward the villains and begin to create nuisance. They will get under foot, open bags or packages, rip pages out of spellbooks and ask distracting and irritating questions.
Pillows of Piernesh: This is a sleep spell of amazing potency. Anything with a willpower is effected by the spell … including the caster! The caster has to carry a special enchanted clock which they set moments before casting the spell. (this takes a whole combat round to set!) After everything within a 400 metre radius has fallen asleep the clock will wake the caster and anyone within 4 feet of them.
Argos the Plentiful: This summons the great God Argos. The Greek God of cheap, but plentiful gifts. He will fulfil a specific request for any item in his current celestial catalogue.

Cat Magick
The Magick of the Cat People is mysterious and elusive as the people themselves.
They tend to be interested in Divination (discovering the future) and stealth (remaining hidden from the world of men).
Basic spells:
Patch of Sunlight: This creates a warm and safe place to rest wherever the characters happen to be. The spell lasts for a period of hours equal to the casters power score.
Sitting at the window: Allows the caster to see events happening a far distance away.
Wandering in-between the legs: Allows the caster to trip up opponents by creating a phantom presence weaving in and out of their legs.
When’s supper?: This looks into the near future and provides a snapshot of what might occur.
Sitting in a cardboard box: This allows the caster to appear almost completely invisible. Only their eyes might be visible.

Machine Magick
Machine magick allows the adept to commune with the world of mechanical. All Machines have a soul, though this is naturally disputed by all official authorities. Machines do understand and perceive the outside world. The Machine Magick Adept can communicate with the Machine Soul and have meaningful dialogue with a wide range of mechanical items.
Spells:-
Freeing the Machine Soul: The machine performs a task for mankind, but has no choice in how often or when it is used. However when the Machine Magick Adept frees the soul of the Machine it can gain control of itself.
Animate dead machines: Machines that have died/been junked. The Adept can move into the machine and animate it with their own power.
Sense Energy Sources: Power lines or conduits running through walls/floors/ceilings can be tracked by the Machine Adept.
Create Devices: Using spare parts from dead machines the Adept can create devices and robots. These can be kept as Animate Drones (under the control of the Adept) or given life to be independent Animate Machine Lifeforms.

Unholy and Weird Magicks
This is the class of magicks used by the Star Spawn of the Ancient Ones. Much of their Magick is plain bizarre and incomprehensible to human beings. It serves odd and ancient purposes that defy rationale explanation … so rather like adults watching and enjoying the Teletubbies!
There are a number of useful spells that might appeal to a wider audience of Magickal adepts.

A basic Grimoire of Spells

THE POWERS OF THE MIND

SECTION NINE: SHOPPING

Equipment and weapons

Agents are supplied with an all-purpose armoured van.
This is a mobile base for most of their operations. It contains a basic medical support set geared for the creature types of the player’s characters (We have a team of a Vampire, Mummy and ghost … so we have bloodpacs, soil from their homeland, sand from Egypt, a key object of spiritual resonance)
The Van is armoured with toughened bullet proof sides and doors. The windows are toughened vinyl expoxy and are also bullet proof. Tyres are steel mesh auto-inflating in the case of blow out or attack.
The van is all purpose black in colour … the giant painting of the Death Star was removed at the request of the team members.

Basic weapons:
Swords and other blades
These can be tailored to suit different situations.
1) Swords with toughened silver edges for battling werewolves.
2) Swords with disrupted mono-molecular edges for fighting creatures from other dimensions.
3) Blades in a variety of designs. (from small 1D4 stealth weapons to huge 1D12 Meat Cleavers)
4) Arm Quills: A sheath of razor sharp blades embedded into a toughened forearm brace. Each Quill strike does 2D8 damage.
5) Claws: A set of gauntlets with built in turbonium razor wire claws. These are activated by a switch on the palm of the gauntlet. Each strike does 3D8 damage.
6) Boot blades: These custom boots have an injectable blade launcher built into the mid-sole section. A solid kick with the boot will trigger the compression launcher. A small but nasty blade is then fired from the launcher. This does 2D8 damage.
Guns
1) Nightkable 3000: Autoload pistol with rapid fire option. 6 shots per round on autofire. +4 to accuracy on skill roll on single shot option. Damage per shot 2D8
2) Lifetaker Industries 450: Twin barrel autofire handgun. 10 shots per round on autofire. Damage per shot 2D8 +2. Special ammo available: Heatseeker and stun rounds
3) Darkritual Autogun: dual-linked mini-cannon. Triple barrel with hyper spray option. 15 shots per round. Damage per shot 2D10 Special ammo available: Blessed holy water rounds.
4) Grueber 980: Sniper rifle. +8 to accuracy in sniper mode. Autokill/max damage on a roll of 10 (Roll 1D10 result total). Damage otherwise 3D10
5) Zantist Auto-aim Grailpistol: A autofire handgun with digital imaging system. It has a lock-on feature. If the first shot is a hit then the auto-aim function can be activated. Auto-aim is a computer guided adjustment system that enhances the accuracy round by round. Second round +5 Third round at +8 Fourth round at +11 Fifth Round at +14 (and so on in increments of 3) Damage per shot 2D8 +5. Rate of fire either single shot or 5 per round on autofire.
6) Nightmare 972: Scatter-cannon. A large bore shotgun/grenade launcher. Both shotgun and grenade launcher can be activated in the same round (dual trigger mode) or separately (single trigger mode) Shotgun 2D12 +10 damage Grenades: Frag 2D20 +10 Stun 2D20 stun damage. Flame grenade 2D20 +fire attack
7) Adhesi-Cannon: Special shotgun designed to fire corrosive glutinous gel. These acid rounds splatter a thick gel over the target and then commence to digest it rapidly. A successful hit will do 2D12 damage each round unless neutralised.

Armour.
Just a quick reminder of how armour works. Each armour as an A.F. rating. This Armour Factor is the amount of times you can choose to veto the damage roll’s made against your character. Before the SOD rolls damage against your lifepoints you may call a stop. You can do this for each opponent who is actually hitting you (so if you are surrounded by three villains and they all successfully roll a hit you can call veto three times even if your armour has a AF of only one. The AF applies to each opponent. If you start a fresh fight with someone else the AF is automatically refreshed.) You can choose to use the Armour veto at anytime. Allow some blows through and block others. The higher your AF the more attacks you can block.

1) Street clothes Armour factor 0
2 Padded combat jacket: Armour factor 1
3) Standard leather overcoat with bullet proof lining: Armour factor 2 (minus five to agility)
5) Kevlar armoured body suit with hood: Armour facto