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Darwin’s World:

Brotherhood of Radiation AND OTHER WASTELAND CULTS BY

DOMINIC COVEY COVER: DOMINIC COVEY MAPS: DOMINIC COVEY EDITING: CHRIS DAVIS LAYOUT: CHRIS DAVIS PLAYTESTING: DOMINIC COVEY, CHRIS DAVIS, Chris Derner,, Chris Hoover, Ryan KellEy, Ethan Ripplinger, Aaron Wiggins, Jeremy Lee.

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Requires use of the Darwin’s World: Survivors Handbook and the Modern d20 core rules. You can download the core rules here for FREE: http://www.rpgobjects.com/index.php?c=md20 Copyright 2011 © RPG Objects. All rights Reserved. Visit our web site at www.RPGObjects.com.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

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INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 - RELIGION AND CHARACTERS RELIGION TALENT TREES NEW TEMPLATES W MUTATIONS NEW FEATS NEW ITEMS RADIATION (OPTIONAL RULES) RADIATION SOURCE CHAPTER 2 - BROTHERHOOD OF RADIATION THE APOCALYPSE DEALT A BAD HAND FOLLOW THE QUEEN THE STAKES INCREASE LAS VEGAS - A ROYAL FLUSH THE PASTOR CASHES IN HIS CHIPS ONE LAST HAND THE ECCLESIARCHY SEEKERS PROGENY INFUSED ENLIGHTENED ILLUMINATED KRYTARCH THE CITY OF LIGHTS RUINS (CASINOS/HOTELS/ETC) FOLLOWER CAMPS SACRED QUARTER THE GREAT WAY (AKA THE STRIP) FIRST GREAT TEMPLE THE BLACK EDIFICE CAMP ALPHA HOSPITAL OF THE GLOW ARCHANGEL TOWER SIN CITY AURORA RANCH AURORA TELEVISION BROADCASTING OASIS MERCURY THEATRE ATOMIC AUTOS CONVENT OF MOTHER HIROSHIMA CRYPTORUM RADIUM REX LADY LUCK ALAMAGORDO LYCAEUM THE PIT SKYLINE HOTEL JOKER’S HOTEL IMPERIUM TEN GALLON SALOON KLONDIKE PAI GOW PALACE

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RED DOG’S OMAHA HOTEL PERSIA BUFFALO BETTY’S BURLESQUE SHOW PARADISE RANCH PONTIFEX PRESS PILGRIM’S PALACE WALLY WORLD LAS VEGAS COLONEL PACHINKO’S BLACKJACK SALOON LAS VEGAS RACE TRACK PINK FLAMINGO NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS BROTHERHOOD FORCE MASTER BROTHERHOOD PSION BROTHERHOOD CENSOR ILLUMINATED MAJOR NPCS OF THE BROTHERHOOD KRYTARCH RADIUM PERPETUUM MATRON HIROSHIMA (MATRIARCH OF PSIONS) CENSOR HESPERIUM (PATRICIAN OF CENSORS) BROTHER BISMUTH (WARMASTER) HIGH ILLUMINATUS IONA “PRINCESS” FATHER THALLIUM LONGEVITUS BROTHER NUKE COMMISSIONER BILL NICKELS CHAPTER 3 - OTHER WASTELAND CULTS THE AXEMEN AXEMAN BOY SCOUTS BOY SCOUT CULT OF BLOOD BLOOD CULTIST CULT OF THE PROVIDER PROVIDER’S CHOSEN CULT OF THE SELF MOUNTEBANK DEVOTEES OF THE IRON IDOL HERO OF IRON THE MOVEMENT UNIFIER NUCHURCH NUCHURCH CRUSADER PARADISE BELIEVERS TEKHEADS TEKHEAD WILD WEST GIRLS PRAIRIE PALADIN

56 56 57 57 58 58 58 58 59 59 60 60 60 62 62 62 63 65 67 67 68 69 70 71 73 74 75 75 77 77 79 81 82 85 88 89 89 90 91 93 95 96 98 99 101 103 106 106 107 109

THE BROTHERHOOD OF RADIATION AND OTHER WASTELAND CULTS

They’re mysterious and strange. They claim to seek only peace and unity among mutant kind. They’re everywhere, in whistle-stop desert towns, isolated oasis, and the worst dens of depravity. Their purple-clad monks are sometimes glimpsed moving through crowds, and some swear a glance from one of their Censors can peel open a man’s mind like ripe fruit. Their followers wander in meandering processions, chanting the names of radioisotopes they claim represent “elementals” - powerful radiated spirits - to whom all worship is due. They say many die each year in the rituals that expose potential adherents to harmful radiation, but many more survive and claim the radiation-induced hallucinations made clear their “destinies“. That destiny, they say, is to serve the Brotherhood of Radiation. But the Brotherhood is not the only religion of the Twisted Earth, and this book will take a look at all the major faiths and cults of Darwin’s World.

“cult”, the Brotherhood of Radiation, and a sideshow of weird, wacky, and sometimes fascinating freaks that are the Twisted Earth’s other “religions“. This book, then, is “dedicated” to the Ritual Preservationists.

RELIGION IN THE AFTERMATH In post-apocalyptic fiction, religion after the apocalypse is almost universally portrayed as either skewed, misled, or simply erroneous misinterpretations of common, easily-explainable events. If you need examples, just look at Walter Miller’s Canticle For Leibowitz, where a post-Fall religion based on the preservation of ancient-era knowledge is rapt with fervor when a follower finds a simple grocery list, which is quickly mistaken for an artifact of great religious value. In the classic PA movie, Beyond Thunderdome, a town’s system

INTRODUCTION The book you are looking at (or holding in your

hands, if you managed to get a print copy), is the latest in a “series” of character-oriented Darwin’s World sourcebooks, a line of GM and player reference tools intended to bring out the flavor - and potential - of each of the eleven Backgrounds of the Darwin‘s World playing game. The first such book of this type was the combined Foundationists/Metal Gods , which highlighted the leading Guardian/Resurrector/Advanced of the Twisted Earth setting. These two books (later combined into one) introduced new advanced classes, feats, equipment, and even a new playable race, the android- all material with a decidedly “high-tech“ feel. The next, The Broken And The Lost (which detailed the Brethren), included a more in-depth look at the Feral, Primitive, Resentful options, presenting new rules and options intended to level the playing field for these often-underpowered character types. What about the other backgrounds, you ask? Hopefully we will be able to put out a book detailing the Twisted Earth’s Visionary Reinventors, such as the powerful water clans and other merchant/mercenary groups. Or a supplement dedicated to Radicals, an entire sourcebook focusing on the setting’s most infamous “raiders“, from the smallest gangs to the most menacing raider armies. For now, however, we’ll take a look at the Twisted Earth’s most prominent

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of law is loosely based on a Wheel of Fortunestyle gameshow. The same movie introduces a tribe of children who’ve built a system of belief around the return of their missing parents, who they believe will fly them to “Tomorrow-morrow land” - some sort of “better life“ someplace else. The story of the religions and “cults” of any postapocalyptic setting thus tends to be the same as the story of real-world “cargo cults”, which serve as a prime example of how religions can and are formed from ignorance and misunderstanding. Cargo cults are a real phenomenon that occurred primarily in the Pacific region from the 19thcentury on, when white westerners first made contact with the primitive inhabitants of New Guinea and Micronesia. The best cases of cargo cults derive during World War II, when these otherwise insignificant corners of the world suddenly became important with the war against Japan. Comparatively sophisticated technology was introduced with the arrival of Japanese and American forces, who brought airplanes and ships, built bases, and distributed goods to the island natives hoping to secure their cooperation against the enemy. Having no previous contact with the outside world, and of an almost stone-age technological level themselves, the inhabitants of these isolated islands came to view the outsiders as “gods”, and their goods (or “cargo“) “magical” or “holy“. Ignorant to the whys and hows of technology (and the strange people who brought it), they began to develop beliefs around who these newcomers were, where they came from, and how to please them so that they would continue distributing their goods and supplies. After World War II many of these cults continued well after the technically-superior Westerners left. With the war over there was little reason to stay, and the armies vanished, the bases became overgrown, and the regular supply drops ceased. But the natives came to believe that the “gods” had simply left, and regular prayer, or parroting the “gods’” ways/actions, could secure the “magical cargo” again. To this end cargo cults have been known to construct “landing strips” hoping to lure airplanes back, or built wooden replicas of radios and chant at them, hoping to call the “gods” back to the island. Other cultures had similar misinterpretations of technology. In the 1800s a belief existed among some Sioux that their long-dead ancestors, taken away by train, might, generations later, return by train. In Papua, in the 1920s, existed a movement where the natives (having observed white traders, soldiers, and settlers on other islands) talked and acted like regimented military personnel, attempted to communicate with their ancestors by raising objects up a flagpole, and continued a belligerence towards a mythical enemy known as “djamans” (ostensibly derived from “Germans“, a leftover from the First World War).

This type of misinterpretation and misunderstanding, leading to the development of strange new religions, is the rule and not the exception in Darwin’s World. Long after the Fall, when old established religions have crumbled to dust or been turned against by the bitter survivors of a nuclear holocaust (where not even the righteous and innocent were spared), the survivors turn to other beliefs to belong, to give their lives meaning, or simply for something to hope for. That many of these religions are based on ignorance is nothing new. Instead of delving into metaphysics and deep theologies, the survivors are more likely to look back through the haze of time at the era of the Ancients with wonder, and worship them, their creations, and their technology as “magic”. Leftover artifacts found among the wastes, or structures uncovered by the wind or an earthquake at just the right time, can spark the beginnings of entire cults. Natural processes not understood in this new age also form the core of new religions, and the re-appearance of sun cults, and star cults, and cults that deify Nature herself, are on the rise. And with other forces now making up the fabric of the world - such as radiation, death, and the remnants of a war of widespread destruction religions based on the worship of abstract forces have also begun to appear. The reader will also likely wonder, “What became of the world’s major pre-Fall religions?” That is up to you, as GM, to decide. The basic assumption in Darwin’s World (and in most, if not all postapocalyptic fiction), is that previous religions did not survive the Fall, and if they did, they did not go unaltered. Simply put, the Fall shattered nations, destroyed society, brought low human civilization, and drove man - burning and mutated - back into the Dark Ages. The points to remember (and which would certainly be spelled out by any survivor) are these:  “God”, in any of his perceived forms, did not ultimately stop the war. To the eyes of men, God was powerless to intervene as cities and nation states were scorched from the landscape. His “mercy” seemed random; women, children, and animals alike were massacred without discrimination, while in the wake of the Final War, evil rose to prominence and took hold. The worst natures of mankind came to the fore, not the best. God did not intervene to stop the rise of raiders and murderous scavengers. Those who clung to their principles were often the prey for those of lesser scruples.  Those who survived blamed their forefathers for the mistake of war and the destruction of the world. Technology was, at first, seen as evil, the tool of this destruction. Books were burned, not only technical books and manuals, but wholesale devastation was leveled at existing religious

texts, for these promised false hope and belief in a god who had done nothing to spare man immense suffering. What little remained after this generation of “simplification” was often incomplete, setting the stage for the ramshackle understanding of what religion (and technology) was like before the Fall.  Some tried to continue the traditions of their former religions, but each reader interpreted what they read differently, or twisted the truth for his own aims. An era marked by the reign of “religious tyrants” emerged, led by wily masterminds who were little better than charismatic demagogues. Many who followed were left destitute or disillusioned; ultimately these charlatans ended people’s faith in the religions from before the Fall. Yet considering that the Christian Bible is the world’s most prolific book, it is foolish to assume that, even with the nuclear war and the years of chaos and disintegration following it, all understanding of pre-Fall religion would vanish. Granted, the bitter survivors would have rounded up as many Bibles and other “holy books” as they could and destroyed them out of spite (while others eradicated them so that, in the absence of anything more legitimate, they could promote their own ideas), but some lingering knowledge of Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc. would probably exist, even if only in minute, isolated, and endangered cells. Those who cling to the worship of these so-called “Old Gods” are by and large viewed as holdouts, ignorant survivors who hold onto beliefs and rituals that were long ago proven (at least to the majority) to be false. After all this, however, it still seems unlikely that men would exist for long before they began to invent something new. Man (and by association, his twisted cousin, the mutant) seeks an understanding of his place in the Universe, a why to his existence, and a goal to struggle for on a spiritual level. Thus, even after his bitter railings against God and the impotent religions of the past, even after his spiteful casting down of knowledge and the laws of civilized behavior, it seems natural that eventually he would once more embrace those same concepts, if only to satisfy his restless, wandering mind.

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CHAPTER 1 - RELIGION AND CHARACTERS Wasteland Cults is intended as a resource for GMs and players alike to incorporate religious characters, or followers of unusual post-apocalyptic cults, into their campaigns. These rules are meant to be used as a way for players to further flesh out their characters as being members of a specific movement, giving them both a deeper background and possible future tie-ins. They are also meant to be used by GMs to create new threats, and to introduce cults (and cultists) as either villains to challenge the characters, or organizations for them to work for or even join. The new features introduced in this book are outlined below, and will be covered in greater detail in the following sections:

Religion Talent Trees New Templates New Mutations New Defects New Feats New Items Radiation (Optional Rules) Brotherhood of Radiation Other Wasteland Cults

RELIGION TALENT TREES

Religion talents are treated just like normal talents, taking up a “talent” slot when selected. Also like standard talents, some religion talents have specific prerequisites (see individual talent descriptions for details). Religion talents have an additional requirement, however, that being an allegiance to a religious-themed faction, organization, movement, or body. If you choose to play with religion talents, religion talent trees should then be added to the list of talent trees normally available to a character as a part of his or her class. Which religion talent trees are available depend on the religion that character follows (see Table 2-1). Religion talents may be taken by characters belonging to other religious-themed factions not covered here, at the GM’s discretion.

ANCIENT WAYS TALENT TREE Worship of the “Ancients” is a common religious tradition in the wasteland, where simple mutants and survivors live among the ruins of the Ancients’ former greatness. Left to wonder at the power once wielded by pre-Fall man, one is understandably left with the impression that they were truly “gods”. Those who follow the “Ancient Ways” revere technology and painstakingly devote their lives to its preservation and reconstruction.

TABLE 1-1: RELIGIONS AND TALENT TREES

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Major Cults

Available Religion Talent Trees

Axemen

Ancient Ways, Cultist, Stoic Holdout

Boy Scouts

Ancient Ways, Missionary, Stoic Holdout

Brethren*

Luddite, Cultist, Missionary

Brotherhood of Radiation

Ancient Ways, Ecclesiarch, Missionary

Cult of Blood

Cultist, Luddite, Nihilist

Cult of the Provider

Ancient Ways, Luddite, Missionary

Cult of the Self

Ancient Ways, Cultist, Missionary

Devotees of the Iron Idol

Ancient Ways, Cultist, Stoic Holdout

Doomriders*

Cultist, Ecclesiarch, Nihilist

Entropists*

Ancient Ways, Cultist, Nihilist

Movement


NuChurch

Ecclesiarch, Missionary, Nihilist

Paradise Believers


Tekheads

Ancient Ways, Cultist, Nihilist

Wild West Girls

Cultist, Missionary, Stoic Holdout

* These cults are not detailed in this book, but are mentioned in other Darwin’s World sources.

Doodads & Whirligigs: Your collection of “relics” always seems to include a few useful parts. The cost of spare parts when repairing an item is reduced by half. Finder of Relics: Any time a random roll for treasure/swag is called for, you may roll twice and pick the better of the two results. Knowing of Things: You may make a Knowledge (technology) check to identify any item by its Ancient name, its intended purpose, relative rarity, and value in cp. The DC is equal to the item’s Craft DC. Lorekeeper: You may make a Knowledge (technology) check (DC equal to the item’s Craft DC) to use any technological item without penalty, even if you don’t have the appropriate proficiency or technology feat. Prerequisite: Any other talent from the Ancient Ways talent tree. Sage: You gain a +2 insight bonus to Ancient Lore, Computer Use, Decipher Script, Disable Device, and Knowledge (technology) checks. Storyteller: Once per day as a full-round action you may make a Perform check before a group of listeners to grant one of the three effects: grant a +1 morale bonus to saving throws for 12 hours, inflict a -1 penalty to saving throws for 12 hours, or cancel the effects of fatigue.

CULTIST TALENT TREE The post-apocalyptic world is a breeding grounds for new religions, eccentric prophets, and quack spiritualists. Those who are not killed outright often find success in the wasteland, recruiting weakminded or desperate wastrels to their cause. “Cults” is a broad term in the wastes, as these religions, however small, usually have as fervent and radical a base as any true “religion”. Berserk Zeal: Any time you fail a Mas save, you may make one attack as an immediate action before collapsing. Persecuted: You’re used to having enemies everywhere. You gain a +1 insight bonus to Initiative. Pseudo Religion: Pick one talent from the Ecclesiarch Talent Tree. Regimen of Suffering: You gain +1 hit point per level. Righteous Cause: If you use an Action Point to modify a roll that results in you slaying a direct opponent of your cult, you immediately regain the lost Action Point. Slave to Faith: Any time an action or compulsion would have you act against your faith/cause, you gain a second saving throw to resist the effect.

of these ecclesiarchies may be small cogs in a far greater machine, but they draw strength knowing they live and die for a cause that will outlast their struggles. Conditioning: Your Mas increases by +1. In addition, you ignore any effect that results in bleeding (that is, a set hit point loss per round from bleeding wounds). For The Cause: You are immune to fear, intimidation attempts, and morale-based penalties. Prerequisite: Unswerving. High Priest: Your Leadership score increases by an amount equal to your Reputation. Rigorous Indoctrination: You may spend an Action Point to gain immunity to mental control, influence, and domination for 10 minutes. Shepherd of The Lost: Followers of your faith/ cause gain a +1 morale bonus to saves so long as they are within 30 ft. of you. Unswerving: You may re-roll any failed Will save once per day.

ECCLESIARCH TALENT TREE

LUDDITE TALENT TREE

To follow the ecclesiarch talent tree one must belong to one of the wasteland’s major religions, such as the cryptic Brotherhood of Radiation or the powerful (and hegemonic) NuChurch. Individual members

Those who follow the “Simple Path” perpetuate the reign of rustic ignorance that began not long after the Fall. Victimized, burned, or otherwise disillusioned to the Ancients and their technological ways, these

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radical elements champion the cause of erasing all evidence of the past to create a simpler, more “noble” future. Claws of Ludd: When using a primitive weapon you gain a +1 enhancement bonus to attack rolls. Cloak of the Closed Mind: Any primitive armor you wear (leather, hides, chain mail, etc.) gains a +1 enhancement bonus to Defense. Honed by Hardship: One physical attribute of your choice (Str, Dex, or Con) gains a permanent enhancement bonus of +1. Nature’s Blessing: You gain one extra Action Point per level. Righteous Aim: Your gain a +1 morale bonus to attacks against any opponent who uses a weapon more technologically advanced than you. Simple Path: Any time you face a situation where an item of technology (weapon, gizmo, or other device) in your possession could save the day, yet you choose not to use it, you regain one Action Point used during the adventure.

MISSIONARY TALENT TREE Apostles of the wilderness, those who venture into the wilds to spread the word of their particular faith or cause face great adversity, both from the elements and the inhabitants of the wastes. Among the Heathens: You gain a +1 bonus to saves so long as the party contains at least one character who does not follow your faith. Conversion: Once per adventure, if you sway an NPC over to the worship of your deity/cause, you regain one Action Point spent during that adventure. Harmless Preacher: You gain a +2 bonus to Diplomacy and Gather Information checks. Trusted Neutrality: When dealing with NPCs, an Indifferent attitude is considered Friendly, and Friendly is considered Helpful. Unbreakable Will: You may spend an Action Point to completely shrug off the effects of interrogation attempts for 24 hours. Wilderness Apostle: You gain a +2 bonus to saves vs. fatigue, exhaustion, starvation, and thirst.

NIHILIST TALENT TREE

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Rare are those cults who seek only the destruction of men, civilization, and all life on earth, yet they do exist. To some of weak minds and sanity the idea of a “second apocalypse” (one brought about by their own hands) is appealing. Witnesses to the after effects of the atomic bomb, these nihilists revere wholesale slaughter, havoc, and raw destructiveness as abstract concepts and forces to be worshiped. This philosophy is most common among raider gangs, but some cults do champion mass destruction as a sacred “cause” as well.

Butcher: Any time you successfully hit a helpless opponent you inflict an additional +1d6 damage. Destructive: When using any weapon that affects an area, you do an additional +1 point of damage per die. Executioner: You may perform a coup-de-grace as a standard action. Killing Streak: Any time you kill an opponent, you gain a +1 morale bonus on your next attack roll. Marauder: You may use an Action Point to re-roll a damage roll, but you must accept the results of the second roll. Massacre: If you defeat three or more opponents in one round, you regain an Action Point you spent in that encounter.

STOIC HOLDOUT TALENT TREE The wasteland is rife with new religions, but on the fringes of the known world (and in isolated settlements scattered across the deep desert) are a handful of holdouts who resist the prosthelytizing of the world‘s rising cults. These stoic people cling to ancient religions long thought dead or forgotten. Each such cult usually has an heirloom Bible (or other “holy text”) with which to inspire the dwindling faithful, a relic they cling to despite the general view that theirs is a religion made irrelevant by the Apocalypse and the new “Age of Mutantkind“. Armor of Faith: If you spend an Action Point you may add your Wis bonus (if positive) to your Defense for 10 rounds. This is a morale bonus. Beacon of Light: Others who are normally afraid to admit they also adhere to the ancient faiths are drawn to you. Your Leadership score increases by +2. Inspiring Parable: You gain a +2 morale bonus to saves vs. fear, fatigue, and exhaustion. Moral Compass: You are always aware of any action or deed that might violate your strict moral code. This gives you an additional +2 bonus to resist compulsions that direct you to act against your nature. Stories of the Martyrs: You are immune to fear. In addition, any time you face a creature that causes fear you gain a +1 morale bonus to attack rolls and saving throws until it is slain or driven off. Prerequisite: Inspiring Parable. Strength of Faith: Whenever you use an Action Point to modify a saving throw vs. fear, mind-affected effects, or fatigue, you may roll d8s instead of d6s.

NEW TEMPLATES

With its focus on the Brotherhood and its followers (namely, “mutant kind“), as well as cults in general, this book includes information on five mutantor cult-specific templates, Fetus In Fetu, Scion, Star Child, and Warped. The Warped templates actually appeared

in previous Darwin’s World but are reproduced here for the GM’s convenience.

FETUS IN FETU (TEMPLATE) In the mutation known as Fetus In Fetu, during development in her mother’s womb one of a pair of twins became dominant, while her sibling became absorbed into the dominant twin’s developing body. This phenomenon is more commonly known as “vanishing twin”. On the exterior a mutant with this template usually looks like a single organism, but in fact her body is merged with her less dominant twin. Instead of separating during development, the secondary twin is now completely internalized, contained inside the dominant sister’s stomach or some other abscess that grew around the absorbed twin over the years, leaving the dominant twin with a bloated, “pregnant” look. The dominant is not as adversely affected by this ghastly mutation as her secondary , who becomes virtually vegetative due to its parasitic, physically-diminished existence. However, despite being inside of and completely reliant on the dominant twin, the secondary has remarkable powers of its own. It can sense its twin’s emotional and physical state and, since it relies on the dominant for survival, will instinctively react to any danger that threatens either of them. “Fetus In Fetu” is a template that grants a number of unusual abilities that are triggered as an immediate action. The template indicates that the creature is in fact a “twin”, though the second twin is very much a part of her and thus not a separate entity (i.e. it does not have hit points, class levels, or attributes of its own).

TEMPLATE TRAITS “Fetus In Fetu” is a template that can be added to any living humanoid creature (hereafter referred to as the base creature). A Fetus In Fetu mutant has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here.

Ability Scores: A creature with this template receives a -2 penalty to Charisma. Special Abilities: Through some unknown power over their combined form the secondary twin produces a benefit that affects her dominant twin as soon as one of the following triggers occur. Each ability is triggered as an immediate action, and can be used once per day. Immediate Healing: If the dominant twin takes hit point damage, the secondary twin heals her. The amount of damage healed is 1d8, +1 per 2 character levels of the dominant twin. Immediate Repair: If the dominant twin is knocked unconscious or is dying, the secondary twin grants her fast healing 1 for 10 rounds (and automatically stabilizes her). Immediate Speed: If the dominant twin fails a saving throw against fear, or uses the withdraw action, the secondary twin increases adrenaline flow so that her base speed increases by 10 ft. This effect lasts for 10 rounds. Challenge Rating: Base creature’s CR +1.

TABLE 1-2: NEW TEMPLATES Template

Description

Fetus In Fetu

Conjoined twins who benefit from special powers

Scion

Children who cannot grow old, but gain an affinity for neural powers

Star Child

Prophet or other “chosen one” who gains a morale-based benefit

Warped

Deformed but highly resilient variant of any existing creature

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SCION (TEMPLATE) A Scion is a child that has been born with advanced mutations and develops both psychologically and intellectually at a super-advanced rate. Among the Brotherhood of Radiation, children born with unusual intelligence or wisdom are looked upon as particularly favored by the “Glow”, especially when they also exhibit a powerful affinity for the use of neural mutations such as telekinesis, telepathy, and precognition. The appearance of a Scion is an extremely rare occurrence, which has only manifested among the followers of the Brotherhood, and only in recent years. As such all existing Scions are still very young. It’s not quite clear why Scions are just now appearing, but some speculate it is because of the alleged breeding programs of the Brotherhood that strive to create the perfect being. It is also said that while these children do grow, at some point they seem to stop aging and are forever “frozen” at an immature age, usually equivalent to a human child between one to eleven years. Some whisper it is the blessing of the Princess, who herself is virtually “ageless“. Regardless of the strange properties of Scions, tales of these “miracle children” are beginning to spread through the wasteland, and the Brotherhood of Radiation has not hesitated to exhibit the fantastic abilities of these “wonder children” in their continuing war of propaganda to gain more converts. “Scion” is a template that alters an immature-aged creature with additional abilities and enhancements.

TEMPLATE TRAITS “Scion” is a template that can be added to any living humanoid creature (hereafter referred to as the base creature). A Scion has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here. Ability Scores: A creature with this template is always considered to be a Child (age 1-11 years), and as a result receives the following ability modifiers: -3 to Str and Con, -1 to Dex. Special Qualities: The Scion template gives the base creature the following special qualities: Neural Prodigy (Ex): The base creature gains one neural mutation with one free advancement, in addition to any existing mutations it may already possess. Ageless (Ex): A Scion does grow old, but its body never matures. A Scion has a normal lifespan but its attribute scores are not affected by its changing age. Challenge Rating: Base creature’s CR +0.

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STAR CHILD (TEMPLATE) Considered by many to be a “star cult”, the Paradise Believers have a deep obsession with astrology, reading into signs and portents from the cosmos which they believe are messages from “Paradise“.

Among the more curious concepts of the Paradise Believers cult is the idea of the “star child”. According to Believer lore, once every generation a child falls to Earth from the heavens, sent by the inhabitants of Paradise to instruct the Believers in the means to attain Paradise in their lifetimes. These “child-prophets” are typically discernible by a peculiar birthmark; strangely-colored eyes, a star-shaped freckle, a crescent-shaped scar, or simply unusual circumstances behind the child’s discovery (for instance, being found the day after a meteor shower, or when a comet is spotted in the sky) have all been used as “proof“ that a child taken in by the cult is “special“. Any orphaned waif or grub has the potential to be named a “star child”, so long as he or she meets these prerequisites. A “star child” is raised from birth (or, if she was found as an orphan, from an early age) in the Paradise Believer faith, but unlike other converts, the “star child” is treated from the start as a celebrity of sorts, a messianic prophet and “holy man” to whom all deference should be given. These children usually grow up to be conceited and spoiled, a natural result of such pampering, but with an unshakable faith in themselves and their supposed “destiny”. What this destiny is can vary; some may believe themselves to be destined to convert others to the faith, or defend the Paradise Believer religion against overwhelming enemies, while others are simply here to enlighten their followers about the Universe and their place in it. Even so, all “star children” are expected to one day gather up as many Paradise Believers as they can and, after constructing a rocket ship, take them all to Paradise in a fiery explosion of light and smoke. “Star Child” is a template that gives the base creature minor abilities based purely on faith.

TEMPLATE TRAITS “Star Child” is a template that can be added to any living humanoid creature (hereafter referred to as the base creature). A Star Child has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here. Special Qualities: The Star Child template gives the base creature her choice of one of the following special qualities, picked when the template is first acquired: Armor of Belief (Ex): When unarmored and unencumbered, the Star Child may add her Wis bonus to her Defense (if positive). Blessed (Ex): The Star Child gains a +1 luck bonus on all saves. Power of Faith (Ex): The Star Child believes she is destined to survive any fight. She may use her Will save for Mas saves. Renown (Ex): The Star Child gains Renown as free bonus feat. Challenge Rating: Base creature’s CR +0.

WARPED (TEMPLATE) The warped template is a means of creating a creature that has been uniquely altered through contact with a cocktail of chemical or radioactive pollutants. Warped creatures are hideous to behold, being sickly, burned, and poisoned versions of their former selves. Hair or fur falls out in patches, skin turns red, blistered, or simply necrotizes, and often other features dissolve; a nose melts off, eyes burn away into white orbs, fingernails fall out, etc.. While weakened in many respects, warped creatures lose all sensitivity to pain and become almost impossible to kill. The Warped template was originally introduced in Halidom.

TEMPLATE TRAITS “Warped” is a template that can be added to any organic, living, non-ooze creature (hereafter referred to as the base creature). A mutant creature has all the base creature’s characteristics except as noted here. Type: The creature’s type remains the same but gains the mutant descriptor (if it didn’t have it already). Speed: The base speed of the creature is reduced by 5 ft (minimum 0). Natural Armor: If the base creature has natural armor, reduce it by -2 (minimum 0). Abilities: -2 Con, -2 Dex, -6 Cha (to a minimum of 1). Attacks: A warped creature’s natural attacks do an additional 1d6 points of acid damage on a successful hit. Special Abilities: The creature gains fast healing and damage reduction depending on its hit dice, as shown below:

commonly found in the Brotherhood, but they are by no means exclusive to that body.

NEW MUTATIONS This section gives game information on a variety of new mutations and defects, which should now be available to player characters as well as NPCs alike.

CONJOINED TWIN The mutant is a “Siamese twin”, with a grotesque second twin growing out of her. This twin is a fully sentient being, though both it and the original character are joined into one body. The original character is assumed to have control over all bodily functions, however. Benefit: The mutant’s twin has a separate personality (that either the player or GM plays), but has no character levels nor does it have separate hit points, action points, talents, feats, or saving throws. Likewise it acts simultaneously when the primary character acts in combat. In all respects it is considered a “part” of the character, and cannot be separated or targeted individually. It can, however, use its own skills during its actions (which it shares at a rank equal to the primary character, buy only applying Int, Wis, and Cha modifiers), but it has no control over the body and thus cannot move, attack, or manipulate its surroundings on its own. Skills that can be used include Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gamble, Gather Information, Intimidate, Investigate, Knowledge (any), Listen, Navigate, Perform (any), Research, Search, Sense Motive, and Spot. It may perform other tertiary actions at the GM’s discretion. Special: Because of the unusual nature of the mutant’s conjoined body, the character must have armor and clothing specially made for her at a cost one and a half times the normal price.

1-5 HD

Fast healing 5, DR 2/-

6-10 HD


CRANIAL PARASITE

11-15 HD


16-20 HD


21+ HD


The mutant has a fully developed second face growing on its head (e.g. craniopagus parasiticus). The face is more than vestigial; it has functional eyes and mouth and can sometimes even speak - though it doesn’t usually have a separate personality. Benefit: The mutant cannot be flanked.

NEW MUTATIONS

As a beacon serving to attract all mutantkind to one banner, the Brotherhood of Radiation counts among its followers the most perversely twisted, mutated, and deformed creatures, both sentient and bestial. From the furthest corners of the wasteland flock mutants of all kinds, bringing with them many new and previously unseen mutations. But the Brotherhood of Radiation is not the only organization to experience new and unusual mutations. The new mutations introduced in this chapter are most

INCREASED BRAIN SIZE The mutant’s brain size has more than doubled. While this certainly results in a physical enlargement of the head (including a domed, veined appearance), it also has the effect of increasing the mutant’s neural powers proportionately. Benefit: An opponent’s DC to resist any neural mutation used by the character is increased by +2. Advancement: Each advancement of this mutant increases the DC by +2.

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TABLE 1-3: NEW MUTATIONS AND DEFECTS Mutation Conjoined Twin

No

Cranial Parasite

No

Increased Brain Size

Yes

Neural Mutation - Electrokinesis

Yes

Neural Mutation - Iaetrokinesis

Yes

Neural Mutation - Metamorphosis

Yes

Protandry/Protogyny

No

Supernumary Organ

No

Syndactyly

No

Defect

Advancement?

Cyclopsian

No

Hydrocephalus

Yes

Massive Obesity

Yes

Ophidianism

No

Teratoma

Yes

Transparent Dermis

Yes

Xeroderma Pigmentosum

No

NEURAL MUTATION - ELECTROKINESIS A psychic mutant with this strange power is able to influence electrical current, and often exhibits some control over magnetism. Benefit: The mutant may power a single minor electrical device with a touch. In general this should be limited to a flashlight, electric lamp, radio, etc., but nothing that actually uses “charges”. The mutant can continue to power the object for 1 minute per point of Con bonus. Advancement: Each advancement of this mutation increases the duration of the character’s ability to power a minor device by 1 minute per point of Con bonus. In addition, the mutant can manifest 2 additional Electrokinesis-based neural feats per day. Special: Note that each neural mutation has its own uses per day.

NEURAL MUTATION - IAETROKINESIS

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Advancement?

A mutant with this neural power seems able to repair physical damage done to herself, through a combination of paranormal willpower and unusual muscle and organ flexibility. Benefit: If reduced to zero or lower hit points (but not -10 or below) the mutant heals 1 point of damage and automatically stabilizes. Advancement: Each advancement of this mutation increases the amount of damage healed by +1. In addition, the mutant can manifest 2 additional Iaetrokinesis-based neural feats per day.

Special: Note that each neural mutation has its own uses per day.

NEURAL MUTATION - METAMORPHOSIS The metamorphic is somehow able to literally “will” her bones (and possibly even her internal organs with the right training) to rearrange themselves, as well as elongate, to provide her with strange abilities. Benefit: With the power of her mind the mutant is able shift her bones and internal organs, granting her a +2 circumstance bonus to Escape Artist checks, and granting a +2 circumstance bonus to Treat Injury checks used to give her care. Advancement: Each advancement of this mutation increases the skill bonuses by +1. In addition, the mutant can manifest 2 additional Metamorphosis-based neural feats per day. Special: Note that each neural mutation has its own uses per day.

PROTANDRY/PROTOGYNY A mutant with this mutation is born either as a male (protandry) or a female (protogyny), and changes gender midway through life, assuming drastic physical and hormonal changes in the process. Benefit: At a specific age (determined by rolling 2d10 and adding 20 years) the mutant gradually changes gender. A male that becomes female gains +2 Dexterity. A female that becomes male gains +2 Strength.

THE CONJOINED Though viewed with pity, disgust, and outright horror in most communities, those mutants who are born as conjoined twins (a.k.a. “Siamese twins”) are held in great esteem by the Brotherhood of Radiation, who believe the “combined” form of such mutants to be a particularly mystical union of the Glow and human flesh. It is believed by the Brotherhood that all creatures have a karmic “twin”, and that conjoined twins have been given a rare gift by the Glow in the form of bringing these aspects together in one body. The Brotherhood believes conjoined twins are in fact superior to normal creatures, who are cursed to live life with only one half the potential of conjoined mutants. The Brotherhood of Radiation’s agents constantly seek out rumors and reports of such grotesque births, moving quickly and secretly to find these children and take them into the fold before they are killed. Horrified by the sight of such mutant offspring, many conjoined twins are euthanized by their birth families; in others, where the age-old “covenant of exile” (see The Broken & The Lost) is still honored, these poor, deformed infants are turned loose on the wild, exiled at a very young age with few prospects of survival. Most will die within a few days on their own, if not by the complications resulting from the unique arrangement of their organs and limbs. The Brotherhood’s people actively seek out such outcasts, traveling great distances if need be to get to them. In the Brotherhood these rare mutants find a new home and a new place to belong, learning of the powers of the Glow and of the undiscovered destiny of mutantkind. Few conjoined twins spurn the Brotherhood when it comes for them, for not only are their chances of survival increased, but they are elevated and indeed even worshipped for the same deformities that once had them cast out. The term “conjoined twin” is a broad category covering a wide range of genetic defects that basically involve the gradual merging of two twin fetuses in the mother’s womb. The degree to which the twins merge determines the nature of the conjoined twin at birth. All forms of conjoined twins are revered by the Brotherhood of Radiation and accorded great respect and reverence; most will eventually go on to assume positions of power and influence in the Sacred Heirarchy. The most frequent forms of conjoined twins are termed diplopagus (two equal bodies fused together and sharing a minimal number of organs - by far the most common type), but dicephalus (one body with two distinct heads), cephalopagus (heads fused but with two distinct bodies), cephalothoracopagus (bodies fused back to back, with a face on the front and back of the head), dibrachius (one body and one head, with the secondary twin merely manifested as additional arms or legs), and diprosopus (one body with two distinct faces, side by side on a shared head) also make an appearance among Brotherhood mutants. A variation of diprosopus includes craniophagus parasiticus, which can manifest as a vestigial second head growing out of the first, or it can be completely contained inside one oversized braincase skull, resulting in a “double brain”. A final form of conjoined twin is the “vanishing twin”, in which one twin is absorbed by the other during pregnancy but remains inside of (and often unseen by) the living twin well after birth. Degree of Conjoinment

Game Effect

Type

Reference

Conjoined Twin

Mutation

BoR

Cranial Parasite or

Mutation

BoR

Dual Cerebellum

Mutation

DW2

Dibrachius

Multiple Limbs

Mutation

DW2

Dicephalus

Dual Headed

Mutation

DW2

Diplopagus

Conjoined Twin

Mutation

BoR

Diprosopus

Aberrant Deformity

Mutation

DW2

Fetus In Fetu

Template

BoR

Cephalothoracopagus Craniophagus Parasiticus

Vanishing Twin

SUPERNUMARY ORGAN A mutant with this unusual mutation has developed an additional heart, liver, kidney, etc., all of which are generally redundant. However, when the mutant suffers a potentially fatal injury due to the destruction of an internal organ, there is a chance that the redundant organ is still enough to allow her to survive. Benefit: If you are reduced to -10 hit points or

less from a single attack or effect you may make a Fortitude save (DC equal to the damage done) to remain alive. If successful, you are stabilized at -9.

SYNDACTYLY A common mutation, this manifests as the presence of webbed tissue between the mutant’s fingers and/or toes.

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MINOR MUTATIONS Mutations of all kinds crop up among the ranks of the Brotherhood of Radiation, but since not all mutations have a game effect, only a few possibilities are mentioned in this book. Minor mutations, such as fused digits (a more severe form of syndactyly), extra fingers (polydactyly), extra breasts (polymastia), extended tailbones, multiple pupils, etc. exist in abundance in members from throughout the faction. When describing a member of the Brotherhood feel free to make note of these visible aberrations; though they may not affect gameplay, players unfamiliar with such strange physical deformities may assume them to be signs of heretofore unknown mutations and abilities... Benefit: The mutation gains a Swim speed equal to his/her normal movement.

NEW DEFECTS The following lists a variety of new defects that have to appear among the ranks of the Brotherhood of Radiation, but also exist elsewhere, at the GM’s discretion.

CYCLOPSIAN The mutant was born with only one eye. The other eye is either blind, nonfunctional, or simply never formed at all. Penalty: The mutant receives a -2 penalty to Search and Spot checks, as well as attack rolls with ranged attacks.

HYDROCEPHALUS A birth defect (also known as “water on the brain”) made infamous by the “melonhead” legend, a mutant suffering from this condition has a grotesquely enlarged skull and a wobbly gait. Penalty: The mutant receives a -1 penalty to Dexterity and Intelligence. Advancement: Each advancement of this defect increases the penalties by an additional -1.

MASSIVE OBESITY A genetic defect in certain glands has made the mutant tremendously obese. Penalty: The mutant suffers a -2 penalty to Constitution. In addition, any time she moves at more than her base speed (walking) she must make a Fortitude save at DC 15 or become fatigued. Advancement: Each time this defect is advanced the penalty to Constitution increases by 1, and the Fortitude save DC to avoid becoming fatigued increases by 2. Special: This defect was originally introduced in Sandwalkers.

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OPHIDIANISM The mutant lacks legs, instead possessing a long vestigial fusion of bone and muscle that resembles a serpentine “tail”. Penalty: The mutant’s ground speed is reduced by two-thirds (round to the nearest 5 ft. increment). The

mutant is limited to walking speed; she may not trot or run. Balance, Climb, Jump, and Swim checks suffer a -6 penalty, though Escape Artist checks are made with +2 racial bonus. Advancement: None. Special: If the player applies this defect he cannot also have Terminal Limb Deficiency (Legs). This defect was originally introduced in The Broken & The Lost.

TERATOMA A teratoma is an abnormal genetic condition in which defective cells continue to produce organic material even after the mutant is fully developed, creating vestigial additions on seemingly random parts of the body. Encased by a large leathery case resembling tumors, a teratoma can contain virtually any manner of organic material, from hair, bone fragments, completely-developed teeth, eyeballs, to stunted fingers and entire hands. Penalty: The mutant receives a -1 penalty to Dexterity and Constitution. Advancement: Each advancement of this defect increases the penalties by an additional -1.

TRANSPARENT DERMIS The mutant was born with a potentially lethal skin defect that has robbed her dermis of all protective pigmentation. Effectively transparent, this outer layer of skin does nothing to shield the interior organs from ultraviolet light. Veins, arteries, and musculature can also be vaguely seen through this translucent layer. Penalty: The character receives a -4 penalty to Fortitude saves against damage by ultraviolet radiation. In addition, bright lights directed at the character (i.e. in the form of lantern or flashlight beams, dazzle rifles and lasers, etc.) cause damage as a ranged touch attack, doing 1d6 points of damage (in addition to any normal damage, if applicable). Advancement: Each advancement of this defect increases the save penalty by –2 and damage done from directed light by +1.

XERODERMA PIGMENTOSUM Xeroderma pigmentosum (or “XP”) is a rare genetic condition in which the body is unable to repair damage caused by exposure to ultraviolet radiation. As a result

even the most insignificant damage accumulates over time, so that each moment of exposure to the sun shortens the mutant’s lifespan. A mutant with this defect often sequesters herself entirely underground, or else only emerges at night. Penalty: Keep a constant tally of the amount of exposure the character has had to ultraviolet radiation (i.e. sunlight); the exposure is cumulative, and thus seconds will add up to minutes, minutes into hours, and eventually hours into days. The damaging accumulation from this exposure can never be healed. When the amount of exposure reaches 24 hours, 7 days, and over 7 days, check each time for damage normally, making Fortitude saves as appropriate. Keep in mind that certain devices (such as a UV sterilizer) may subject the character to ultraviolet exposure. In the case of a UV device such as this, accumulated exposure for one round under the light is considered to be the equivalent of one hour of sunlight. Normal: Normally damage from ultraviolet radiation is only checked for in certain environments (see Darwin’s World 2nd Edition), and drops back down to nil when the character removes herself from the danger.

The statistics for the screamer are presented in Darwin’s World 2nd Edition.

ARCING CURRENT Neural Feat With either a gesture or simply a glance the mutant’s ability to psychically produce electricity allows her to affect powered devices at a range. Prerequisite: Electrokinesis. Effect: The mutant’s ability to power a minor electrical device is no longer restricted to objects she touches. She can now power an object at a range of 10 feet per point of Con bonus, plus 5 feet per Electrokinesis advancement. Action: Attack. Duration: 1 minute per point of Con bonus, plus 1 minute per Metamorphosis advancement. Usage: Electrokinesis.

BODY’S LIMIT Neural Feat The mutant’s conscious mind sidesteps her physical body at the moment she suffers a major injury, allowing her to bypass the shock of her condition and

NEW FEATS

Building upon the new mutations introduced in Wasteland Cults, the variety of new mutations and defects presented here are intended to give players and game masters new options for mutant characters in Darwin‘s World.

ANIMATION RADIATION Mutant Feat At great cost to herself, the mutant can infuse a humanoid corpse with a portion of the radiation emitted from her own body, to create an animated screamer. Prerequisite: Irradiated (Feat), character level 10th. Benefit: You may animate a corpse to become a screamer by sacrificing hit points. The screamer’s hit points, when created, are equal to the number of hit points you sacrifice (minimum 4, maximum 48). Hit points lost in this manner are regained normally through healing. The process takes one day, at the end of which time a screamer is created. The animated screamer obeys your commands as if dominated, but cannot go more than one mile from you or else lose its animated properties - and immediately fall inert. You can only make and control one screamer per point of Wis bonus, regardless of how many hit points you have to invest in your “creations”.

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TABLE 1-4: GENERAL FEATS Feat Name

Prerequisite

Description

Cryptic Ordainment

Allegiance to a cult, character level 3rd

+1 bonus to certain skills, +1 bonus to saving throw of choice

Disciple of the Glow

Mutant, Brotherhood of Radiation allegiance

Use AP to turn a Fort or Ref save into a Will save

Meditation

-

Gain bonus to Concentration checks

TABLE 1-5: MUTANT FEATS Feat Name

Prerequisite

Description

Animation Radiation

Irradiated, character level 10th

Create screamers from inherent radiation

Cerebral Scion

Neural mutation (any)

Mutant abilities based on Int

Deadly Vapors

Stench, Weakening Vapors

Emit poison gas that does Con damage

Electric Charge Field

Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation

Reactive field that damages attackers

Eyes of Fire

Optic Emissions

Eyebeams set opponents on fire

Eye Terror

Optic Emissions plus either Multiple Eyes, Craniopagus, or Dual Headed

Eyebeams make multiple attacks

Focused Pulse

Pyrokinetic Pulse Generation

Pulse area changes to a line

Hidden Mutation

Disguise 4 ranks

Spot check needed to notice mutation

Psycho-Potence

Any mutation or neural feat that inflicts damage

Spend two uses to increase damage

Scintillating Eyebeams

Multi-Faceted Eyes, Optic Emissions

Area of effects changes to a line

Stun Field

Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation

Mutation stuns in addition to regular damage

Superhuman Longevity

Regenerative Capability (advanced), Con 20+.

No penalties for advanced age

Tom Thumb

Dwarfism

Size is reduced

Weakening Vapors

Stench

Emit poison gas that does Str damage

reinvigorate herself, despite even the most painful wounds. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis. Benefit: When you use this ability you may continue to act even when reduced to zero hit points or lower without penalty. You still die when you reach -10 hit points, however. Action: Free. Duration: 1 round. Usage: Iaetrokinesis.

BONEMORPH

16

Neural Feat The mutant is able to use her metamorphic abilities to shift the bones just beneath her skin to increase her natural armor. Prerequisite: Metamorphosis. Effect: Using this ability temporarily increases your natural armor by +4. Action: Free. Duration: 5 rounds plus one round per Metamorphosis advancement. Usage: Metamorphosis.

BRAIN POISON Neural Feat You have developed the ability to shield your mind against mental attack by overwhelming intrusive minds with feedback - violent and maddening images that slowly cause idiocy like an insidious poison. Prerequisite: Telepathy. Effect: If another character or creature uses a neural ability to read or otherwise affect your mind with a neural ability you may use this ability (as an immediate free action) to force that character to make a Will save (DC 10 + your Cha modifier) or lose 1d10 points of Int. 10 minutes later that character must make a second saving throw (at the same DC) or lose another 1d10 points of Int. This damage acts like normal temporary ability damage from poison (although it is not technically a poison), and a character that is reduced to 0 Int falls unconscious until the damage is healed. Action: Instant. Duration: Instant. Usage: Telepathy.

TABLE 1-6: NEURAL FEATS Feat Name

Prerequisite

Description

Arcing Current

Electrokinesis

Power electrical devices from a distance

Body’s Limit

Iaetrokinesis

Act when at zero or fewer hp

Bonemorph

Metamorphosis

Increase natural armor by +4

Brain Poison

Telepathy

Damage those who try to read your thoughts

Death’s Door

Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit

Concentration check to remain alive at -10 or lower hp

Detect Thoughts

Telepathy, Mental Communication, Empathy

Detect thoughts in a 60 ft. cone

Electrokinetic Jolt

Electrokinesis, Arcing Current

Generate 5 ft. line of electricity

Empathy

Telepathy, Mental Communication

Sense strong emotions

Focused Strike

Precognition, Foresight, Precognitive Combat

Concentration check becomes bonus to next attack roll

Future Sight

Precognition, Foresight, Precognitive Combat

Never flat-footed, able to act in surprise round

Healing Touch

Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit, Mind Over Body II

Heal ally for 2d8+1 per level (max +10)

Hive Mind

Telepathy, Cha 12+

Linked with allies

Ignore Pain


Automatically pass Mas saves

Inner Power

Eletrokinesis

Power hand-held electrical devices

Limb Elongation

Metamorphosis

Reach increases by 5 ft.

Levitation II

Telekinesis, Telekinetic Hand, Telekinesis Gain fly speed Mastery, Levitation

Magnetism

Electrokinesis, Arcing Current

Attract metal objects

Metamorphic Claws

Metamorphosis

Gain claw attack

Mind Bastion

Telepathy, Mind Shield

+4 bonus vs. certain neural abilities

Mind Over Body I


Heal self 1d8+1 per level (max +5)

Mind Over Body II

Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit, Mind Over Body I

Heal self 2d8+1 per level (max +10)

Mind Shield

Telepathy

+4 bonus vs. certain neural abilities

Mind Trap

Communication, Psychic Interrogation

Causes Wisdom damage over several rounds

Mind’s Eye

Telepathy, Blindness

Detect living creatures and motion

Neural Concert

Telepathy

Increase duration and DC of neural abilities when working with allies

Neural Extension

Any neural feat, Concentration 13 ranks

Increase duration of neural feats

Precognitive Reading

Precognition

+4 bonus to certain skills

Rearrangement

Metamorphosis

Immune to all critical hits

Revelation

Precognition, Precognitive Reading

Steal a glimpse of target’s future

Shared Pain

Telepathy

Split damage between ally and yourself

Whirling Barrier

Telekinesis, Telekinetic Hand, Telekinetic Create barrier of moving objects around Shield self

17

CEREBRAL SCION Mutant Feat Through the power of her intellect the mutant is able to project her potent mental abilities. Prerequisite: Neural mutation (any). Benefit: Choose one neural mutation you possess (Precognition, Telekinesis, or Telepathy). The DC for any ability linked to that mutation, as well as other attribute-derived aspects (such as number of uses per day), are now based on the mutant’s Intelligence.

CRYPTIC ORDAINMENT You have gone through the mysterious rites and rituals required to join one of the wasteland’s major cults. Prerequisite: Allegiance to a cult; 3rd level. Benefit: You gain a +1 faith bonus to your religion’s favored skills (see each cult’s Allegiance Benefits). You also gain a +1 morale bonus to any one saving throw of your choice.

DEATH’S DOOR Neural Feat The mutant is able to bring herself back from death’s door despite the most traumatic injuries. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit. Benefit: If an attack or effect would reduce you to -10 or lower hit points you may make a Concentration check (DC equal to the amount of damage inflicted) to remain alive. Your hit points return to -9 and you are stabilized. Action: Immediate. Duration: Instant. Usage: Iaetrokinesis.

DETECT THOUGHTS

18

Neural Feat You are able to invade the minds of intelligent creatures and read their surface thoughts. Prerequisite: Telepathy, Mental Communication, Empathy. Effect: You detect surface thoughts in creatures within a 60 ft. cone. The amount of information revealed depends on how long you study a particular area or subject. 1st Round: Presence or absence of thoughts (from conscious creatures with Intelligence scores of 1 or higher). 2nd Round: Number of thinking minds and the Intelligence score of each. If the highest Intelligence is 26 or higher (and at least 10 points higher than your own Intelligence score), you are stunned for 1 round and the effect ends. This feat does not let you determine the location of the thinking minds if you can’t see the creatures whose thoughts you are detecting. 3rd Round: Surface thoughts of any mind in the area. A target’s Will save (DC 10 + your Charisma

modifier) prevents you from reading its thoughts, and you must use this feat again to have another chance. Creatures of animal intelligence (Int 1 or 2) have simple, instinctual thoughts that you can pick up. Each round, you can turn to detect thoughts in a new area. Detect Thoughts can penetrate barriers, but 1 foot of stone, 1 inch of common metal, a thin sheet of lead, or 3 feet of wood or dirt blocks it. Action: Attack. Duration: One minute per character level. Usage: Telepathy.

DISCIPLE OF THE GLOW All who join the ranks of the Brotherhood of Radiation surrender their individuality to become a part of the greater whole. Service to the “Enlightened Hierarchy of The Mutant Race” precludes any room for dissent or idle thought. In return your single-minded dedication to the Glow has transformed your mind into a fortress of mental power. Prerequisite: Mutant, allegiance to the Brotherhood of Radiation. Benefit: When called to make a Fortitude or Reflex save you may spend an Action Point to use your Will save instead. Special: A Brotherhood Force Master, Psion, Censor, or Illuminated may take this as a bonus feat.

DEADLY VAPORS Mutant Feat The mutant’s stench is heavy with the awful perfume of a deadly toxin. Prerequisite: Stench (mutation), Weakening Vapors (Feat). Benefit: As an attack action you may emit poisonous vapors to complement your stench; these vapors instantly extend out to the maximum range of your stench cloud, but dissipate at the end of the round. The vapors count as an inhaled poison, with a Fortitude save DC equal to your Stench DC, initial damage 1d4 Con, secondary damage unconsciousness. You are innately immune to the poison of your vapors, but others are not. You can use this ability once per day per point of Con modifier (minimum of 1).

ELECTRIC CHARGE FIELD Mutant Feat The mutant is able to charge her body with power, so that any contact with her is potentially lethal. Prerequisite: Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation (mutation). Benefit: As an attack action you may charge your body with a static field that reacts to sudden contact with foreign bodies. Any time you are hit by a melee attack - unarmed or armed - you inflict damage on the attacker equal to the damage you normally do with your Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation

mutation. Each time you use this ability counts as a use of your Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation ability, and the charge remains in place until you choose to deactivate it (as an attack action) or it is triggered. Special: You can only benefit from one charge at any given time, so if you use Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation as an attack it negates the electric charge field protecting you.

ELECTROKINETIC JOLT Neural Feat The powerful electrokinetic mutant is able to generate a stroke of power to strike down enemies. Prerequisite: Electrokinesis, Arcing Current. Effect: The mutant can generate a 5-foot-wide line of electricity that reaches up to 10 feet (plus 10 feet per Electrokinesis advancement) and inflicts 2d6 plus 1d6 points of electricity damage per advancement (maximum 10d6). All creatures in the area may make a Reflex save (DC 15) for half damage. Action: Full. Duration: Instant. Usage: Electrokinesis.

EMPATHY Neural Feat You can sense strong emotions in your immediate vicinity. Prerequisite: Telepathy, Mental Communication. Effect: You automatically sense the strong emotions of living creatures within the range of your Telepathy (unless otherwise noted, 100 feet plus 10 feet per Charisma modifier). “Strong” indicates an emotion that consumes the creature’s current behavior or thoughts; typical feelings include anger, fear, envy, love, pity, and madness. The empath either detects these emotions through auras (visible displays of color that only she can see), or else partly shares in the same emotion, though in the latter case she has total control over the feelings and may suppress them at will. Action: Attack. Duration: Instant. Usage: Telepathy.

EYE TERROR Mutant Feat The mutant’s multitude of eyes allow her to sweep an entire area with her searing eyebeams. Prerequisite: Optic Emissions (mutation), plus either Multiple Eyes (mutation), Cranial Parasite (mutation), or Dual Headed (mutation). Benefit: You may use your Optic Emissions mutation to attack as many targets as you have sets of eyes. For example, if you had all three eye mutations (Multiple Eyes, Cranial Parasite, and Dual Headed), you could make 4 attacks. Each attack requires a

separate attack roll. You can only attack a given target once with an eyebeam..

EYES OF FIRE Mutant Feat The mutant’s eyebeams can cause opponents to ignite in flames. Prerequisite: Optic Emissions (mutation). Benefit: In addition to doing damage, your use of Optic Emissions has a chance of causing an opponent to catch on fire. Any time you strike an opponent with your eyebeams she must make a Reflex save (DC 10 + your character level) or catch fire, taking 1d6 points of fire damage immediately. Each subsequent round she must make another saving throw; failure means she takes another 1d6 points of damage that round. Success means that the fire has gone out. This fire may be put out normally (see Catching on Fire in Modern d20 SRD)

FOCUSED PULSE Mutant Feat The pyrokinetic mutant is able to focus her wild talent into a narrow but more destructive ray. Prerequisite: Pyrokinetic Pulse Generation. Benefit: The area of the mutant‘s pyrokinetic pulse is changed to a line (instead of a burst centered on her), and the damage increases by +1 die. Range and DC is unaffected. Special: This feat was originally introduced in In Pursuit of The Mind Masters.

FOCUSED STRIKE Neural Feat Focusing her flow of emotions and thoughts, the character becomes one with her weapon, if only for the blink of an eye. Prerequisite: Precognition, Foresight, Precognitive Combat. Benefit: By taking a move action to concentrate you may make a Concentration check. The result of this check becomes a bonus added to your next single attack roll. If you do not make an attack immediately after using this ability the bonus is lost. Action: Move. Duration: Instant. Usage: Precognition.

FUTURE SIGHT Neural Feat Though you move at the same time as the world around you, your senses are constantly a few steps ahead, warning you of coming danger. Prerequisite: Precognition, Foresight Benefit: Because you see danger before it comes, you are never considered flat-footed and are always able to act normally in a surprise round.

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Action: Free. Duration: Unlimited. Usage: Unlimited.

HEALING TOUCH Neural Feat The mutant’s ability to mend the body through the power of her mind extends to the wounds of others as well. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit, Mind Over Body. Benefit: You can use Mind Over Body on an ally. Action: Full-round. Duration: Instant. Usage: Iaetrokinesis.

HIDDEN MUTATION Mutant Feat The mutant’s mutation is either too subtle to notice, or can be retracted/absorbed back into her body to avoid being seen. Prerequisite: Disguise 4 ranks. Benefit: Pick one mutation; you may hide that mutation when it is not actively being used. A Spot check (DC 25), along with a complete body examination, is required to discover its existence. Special: This feat may only be taken at 1st level.

HIVE MIND Neural Feat The mutant is connected to similarly mutated allies by a telepathic “hive mind”. Prerequisite: Telepathy Benefit: You and all allies who also have this feat are connected by a hive mind. If any one of you is aware of danger, you all are. If any one of you is not flat-footed, none of you are. To benefit from this feat all allies must be within 1 mile of each other. Action: Free. Duration: Unlimited. Usage: Unlimited.

IGNORE PAIN

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Neural Feat The mutant is able to shrug of devastating amounts of physical damage. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit. Benefit: You are immune to Massive Damage checks. Action: Immediate. Duration: Instant. Usage: Unlimited.

INNER POWER Neural Feat Only a few electrokineticists are able to generate the electricity needed to power more advanced items, but those that do are a force to be reckoned with. Prerequisite: Electrokinesis. Effect: The mutant is able to serve as a power source for any powered item she holds in hand. She can provide power for one “charge” (just like a power clip, power beltpack, minifusion cell, etc.) each time she uses this ability. Action: Attack. Duration: Constant. Usage: Electrokinesis.

LEVITATION II Neural Feat Through the use of her considerable telekinetic powers the mutant is able to “fly” while levitating in the air. Prerequisite: Telekinesis, Telekinetic Hand, Telekinesis Mastery, Levitation. Benefit: As Levitate, except you may move with a fly speed equal to your base movement, and may go as high as 30 ft. per point of Con bonus (minimum 30 ft.) above the ground. Special: As with Levitate, if the duration ends before you have landed, you immediately drift to the ground without harm (unless you choose to activate the feat again). Action: Move. Duration: 5 rounds plus one per round per Telekinesis Advancement. Usage: Telekinesis.

LIMB ELONGATION Neural Feat Through sheer force of will the mutant may alter her own bone structure to increase her reach. Prerequisite: Metamorphosis. Effect: The mutant’s reach increases by 5 ft. The mutant suffers 1 point of lethal damage for every round that the increased reach is manifested. Action: Attack. Duration: 5 rounds plus one round per Metamorphosis advancement. Usage: Metamorphosis.

MAGNETISM Neural Feat With her mind the mutant is able to magnetically attract metal objects towards her. Prerequisite: Electrokinesis, Arcing Current. Effect: When this ability is activated the mutant begins attracting small metal objects to her, which will roll, skitter, slide, or fly towards her (depending on the particular item). To be affected an item must be

made of metal (or mostly made of metal) and weigh no more than 5 lbs. (plus 5 lbs. per Electrokinesis advancement). The mutant is not hurt when these objects converge on her, and once the effect ends all affected items fall at her feet. Applicable objects held or worn by other creatures are allowed a Reflex save (DC 15) to resist being drawn to the mutant. Unattended items get no saving throw. Action: Full-Round. Duration: Instant. Usage: Electrokinesis.

MEDITATION The mutant may enter a momentary trance to focus her mind and mental powers with unparalleled clarity. Benefit: By spending a move action the character gains a bonus to any Concentrate check (made in the next round) equal to her Wisdom bonus.

METAMORPHIC CLAWS Neural Feat Though painful the metamorph can “will” the bones in her hands to elongate, effectively giving her “claws” to fight with. Prerequisite: Metamorphosis. Effect: The mutant’s may now make a claw attack for 1d6 points of damage (and also provide a +2 bonus to Climb checks). The damage increases by one step for each Metamorphosis advancement (i.e. 1d8, 1d10, and 2d6). The mutant suffers 1 point of lethal damage for every round that the claws remain manifested. Action: Attack. Duration: 5 rounds plus one round per Metamorphosis advancement. Usage: Metamorphosis.

MIND BASTION Neural Feat You have developed your Mind Shield into an impenetrable bastion into which your mind can retreat in the face of attack. Prerequisite: Telepathy, Mind Shield. Effect: You gain a +4 bonus to saves against the following neural abilities: Mind Crush, Mind Stun, Mind Blast, Mind Strike. In addition, if you successfully save you take no damage (instead of half). Action: Free. Duration: Constant. Usage: Unlimited.

MIND OVER BODY I Neural Feat With this ability the mutant is able to repair her own wounds, through strict concentration and focus. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit.

Benefit: You are able to heal yourself as a fullround action for 1d8 points of damage, +1 character level (maximum +5). Action: Full-round. Duration: Instant. Usage: Iaetrokinesis.

MIND OVER BODY II Neural Feat The mutant’s ability to heal her own injuries is substantially increased. Prerequisite: Iaetrokinesis, Body’s Limit, Mind Over Body I. Benefit: You are able to heal yourself as a fullround action for 2d8 points of damage, +1 per character level (maximum +10). Action: Full-round. Duration: Instant. Usage: Iaetrokinesis.

MIND SHIELD Neural Feat Through mental training you have fortified your mind against intrusion and domination. Prerequisite: Telepathy. Effect: You gain a +4 bonus to saves against the following neural abilties: Anxiety Trigger, Attraction Trigger, Brain Poison [BoR], Charm Person, Domination, Fight Trigger, Flight Trigger, Lie Detector, Psychic Interrogation. Action: Free. Duration: Constant. Usage: Unlimited.

MIND TRAP Neural Feat As an attack the mutant can trap the consciousness of one opponent in sight within the confines of her own mind, causing her to face phantasms of her own imagination. These phantasms appear monstrous and hunt the opponent through a “dream maze”; if killed in the “maze”, the opponent may enter a coma or even suffer a fatal heart attack. Prerequisite: Telepathy, Lie Detector (feat), Mental Communication (feat), Psychic Interrogation (feat). Benefit: An opponent targeted by this ability must make a Will saving throw (DC 10 + your Charisma modifier) each round for 1d6 rounds; each time the opponent fails, she loses 1d4 points of temporary Wisdom. An opponent reduced to zero Wisdom from the use of this ability must make another Will save (at the same DC) or enter a permanent coma; otherwise she is simply knocked unconscious. Action: Attack. Duration: Instant. Usage: Telepathy.

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MIND’S EYE

PRECOGNITIVE READING

Neural Feat This feat allows a blind mutant to “see” through obstacles and obstructions, using the power of her mind to detect life and motion out to a certain range; i.e. a kind of psychic “sonar”. Prerequisite: Telepathy, Blindness (defect). Benefit: You “see” all living creatures and sources of motion out to a range equal to 15 feet times your Charisma bonus (if positive; minimum of 15 feet) as if you had 360 degree senses. This even operates through obstacles and solid obstructions. Action: Free. Duration: Instant. Usage: Unlimited.

Neural Feat Because you can see the end result of a conversation before it even takes shape, your precognition gives you a particular edge in negotiations. Not only can you finish another person’s sentences even before they are formed, you can glimpse into the future to see what responses will anger or appease the people you are dealing with. Prerequisite: Precognition. Benefit: When you use this ability you gain a +4 bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Gather Information checks for the duration. Action: Free. Duration: 1 round per level. Usage: Precognition.

NEURAL CONCERT Neural Feat A mutant with this ability can unite her mind with those who share the same level of neural mastery, magnifying her abilities to increase the duration of effect or the difficulty to resist. Prerequisites: Telepathy. Benefit: Total up the number of friendly characters who also have the Neural Concert feat within 30 ft. (including yourself), and modify one aspect (duration or DC) of any other neural feat you use this round according to the table below. Action: Free. Duration: Instant. Usage: Unlimited. In Concert Characters

Duration

DC

x1.5

2

3-4

x2

4

5-9

x2.5

6

10-15

x3

8

16

x4

10

2

NEURAL EXTENSION Mutant Feat Your inhuman mastery of the mind allows you to extend the duration of your mental powers. Prerequisite: Any one neural feat, Concentration 13 ranks. Benefit: When you use a neural feat that has a duration greater than Instant, the effective duration increases to the next step. Rounds become minutes, minutes become hours, hours become days, and days become weeks.

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PSYCHO-POTENCE Mutant Feat By exerting tremendous mental control the mutant is able to alter the power of her mutations to violent effect. Prerequisite: Any mutation or neural feat that inflicts damage. Benefit: When using any mutation or neural feat that inflicts damage, you may elect to spend two daily uses instead of one (e.g. two daily uses of Telekinesis or Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation) to replace its existing damage and instead inflict damage equal to 1d6 per character level (maximum 20d6). All other associated rules governing the ability (such as range, type of damage, etc.) remain the same.

REARRANGEMENT Neural Feat Through mind over matter you are able to re-arrange your internal organs for a short period of time. Prerequisite: Metamorphosis Effect: For the duration you are completely immune to critical hits. Action: Attack. Duration: 5 rounds plus one round per Metamorphosis advancement. Usage: Metamorphosis.

REVELATION Neural Feat By focusing on a specific individual the mutant is able to snatch a glimpse of her future - and learn of her true nature. Prerequisite: Precognition, Precognitive Reading. Benefit: This ability only works if the target has something to hide from you. If you make a Concentration check (DC equal to 20 + target’s

HD) you are able to steal a glimpse into the target’s future, becoming witness to a significant event that, if it would otherwise come to pass, would reveal her hidden agenda. The ability lets you see what the target has in store for you in specific, as if her plans were able to come to fruition in the future. For example, if the target means to kill you by ambushing your party, you would have a vision of the ambush being set; if the target was merely a spy gathering information for a rival faction, you might have a vision of her meeting with agents of that faction and overhear their conversation. Action: Full-round. Duration: Instant. Usage: Precognition.

SCINTILLATING EYEBEAMS Mutant Feat The mutant’s multi-faceted eyes diffuse and disperse its eyebeams so that they pour from the eyes in a coruscating torrent of multi-colored lights. Prerequisite: Multi-Faceted Eyes (mutation), Optic Emissions (mutation). Benefit: Your Optic Emissions now have an affect of effect equivalent to a line, with a range of 50 feet. All opponents along this corridor are struck; no attack roll is required, though all targets along the line may make a Reflex save (DC 20) to take only half damage.

SHARED PAIN Neural Feat Brotherhood Force Masters assigned to protect the Illuminated often master this unusual telepathic ability, which helps them to shield their masters in battle. Prerequisite: Telepathy. Benefit: You can designate a single individual within sight to benefit from this feat. So long as this link is maintained that character no longer needs to make massive damage saves. However, each time that character takes damage you suffer an amount of nonlethal damage equal to 1/2 the original amount. You can only designate a single individual at any given time, and may break the link as a free action on your turn. Designating an individual counts as a daily use of your Neural Telepathy. Action: Free. Duration: Unlimited. Usage: Telepathy.

STUN FIELD Mutant Feat The mutant is able to stun opponents with his charge generation. Prerequisite: Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation (mutation).

Benefit: In addition to doing damage, your use of Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation also forces those opponents successfully struck by it to make a Fortitude save (DC 15 + your Con modifier, if positive) or be stunned for 1 round.

SUPERHUMAN LONGEVITY Mutant Feat Through some unknown process linked to the radiated environment, the mutant’s cells exhibit an astonishing ability to regenerate, replicate, and regrow themselves despite damage, destruction, and even natural cell death due to age. Prerequisite: Regenerative Capability (advanced), Con 20+. Benefit: The mutant no longer suffers the debilitating penalties for advanced age, nor does she gain any bonuses. Her lifespan has no maximum length, but she may still be killed by normal means, however.

TOM THUMB Mutant Feat Your particular form of dwarfism is an extreme case, resulting in a size far smaller than usual, even for a mutant. Prerequisite: Dwarfism. Benefit: Every Dwarfism advancement you take decreases your size by one step (Medium becomes Small, Small becomes Tiny, Tiny becomes Diminutive, Diminutive becomes Fine), accumulating all the normal bonuses and penalties for your new size. Normal: Normally you cannot decrease your size past Small with the Dwarfism mutation. Special: This mutation was originally introduced in In Pursuit of The Mind Masters.

WEAKENING VAPORS Mutant Feat The mutant’s stench carries a hint of debilitating poison. Prerequisite: Stench (mutation). Benefit: As an attack action you may emit poisonous vapors to complement your stench; these vapors instantly extend out to the maximum range of your stench cloud, but dissipate at the end of the round. The vapors count as an inhaled poison, with a Fortitude save DC equal to your Stench DC, initial damage 1d4 Str, secondary damage 1d4 Str. You are innately immune to the poison of your vapors, but others are not. You can use this ability once per day per point of Con modifier (minimum of 1).

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WHIRLING BARRIER

LIFE GAUGE

Neural Feat The skilled master of telekinesis can manipulate dozens, if not hundreds or small objects (such as rocks, shards of glass, debris, etc.) to surround herself in a whirling, defensive barrier. Prerequisite: Telekinesis, Telekinetic Hand, Telekinetic Shield. Benefit: Using this ability creates a “vortex” of small debris that surrounds the mutant in a whirling barrier. This barrier gives the mutant a deflection bonus to her Defense equal to 1+ her Con bonus, and does not impede the mutant in any way, moving with her as she moves. In addition, any creature entering or remaining in a square adjacent to the mutant takes 1d8 points of damage each round on the mutant’s action. There must be a reasonable amount of applicable objects (i.e. debris) nearby to form the barrier when this ability is triggered. Action: Move. Duration: 1 round/level. Usage: Telekinesis.

Used exclusively by the Cult of Blood, the “life gauge” is a handheld device similar to a diagnostic scanner. This Geiger counter-sized gizmo monitors life signs in a single living creature within 30 ft.. The gauge displays the creature’s current condition; the “conditions” are: full health, wounded, below 50% hit points, dying, and dead. A life gauge requires a power belt pack to operate, and using it is a standard action.

NEW ITEMS

From radioactive relics sought-after by the Brotherhood, to quack cures peddled by mountebanks and unprincipled juju doctors, to items found only in the hands of specific cults, this section covers a number of new items for Darwin’s World.

ARIUM RADIUM TABLETS Created during the heyday of the Ancients’ obsession with radioactivity, these tablets, when taken, would revive energy and vitality in the patient, “stronger than 1,000 cups of coffee”. A character taking a single arium tablet gains 1D10x10 REM, but instantly recovers from any fatigued or exhausted condition. A typical tin of arium tablets contains 1d10 doses.

FALL-OUT FACE POWDER Created during the heyday of the Ancients’ obsession with radioactivity, this face powder was used to irradiate the face and cause all hair to fall out, basically duplicating a shave without the razor or mess. A character using fall-out face powder loses all facial hair for 1d4 weeks, but gains 1D10 REM. A typical jar of fall-out face powder contains 1d4 doses.

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RADITHOR CREAM Created during the heyday of the Ancients’ obsession with radioactivity, this dubious cure-all (a solution of radium salts) was sold in drug stores and supermarkets everywhere for its curative properties. A character taking a dose of radithor gains 2D20 REM, but also gains +1 to all saving throws to resist the effects of disease for 48 hours. A typical vial of radithor contains 1d4 doses.

RADIUM EMANATOR This cylindrical glass device was created during the heyday of radioactive quackery, and was touted as a means of increasing agricultural outputs geometrically. The device resembles a hand-pump, to be placed in an irrigation source in which Ra-226 would be aerated. Water aerated by an emanator becomes radioactive (as a Mild source), but this water, if used to irrigate soil, will generate crops/plant life that is 50%-100% larger than normal.

SERUM BOOSTER Followers of the Cult of Blood are sometimes given “boosters” of the serum that created them, small samples contained in test tubes or bottles that can be consumed when needed. A mutant with the Nocturnal mutation who takes a serum booster extends her peak activity cycle by an additional 6 hrs. Multiple doses have no effect. The booster acts a poison (Ingested, Save DC 22, Initial 1d6 Con, Secondary 2d6 Con) to anyone without this mutation.

WATER REVIGATOR Created during the heyday of the Ancients’ obsession with radioactivity, this device was a ceramic container lined with uranium and radon. The radioactive elements were believed to be a sure means of water purification. Water placed in a revigator (5 liter capacity) for at least 8 hours will have all parasites and organic contaminants neutralized. Chemical contaminants are not affected, however. Water purified in this fashion is irradiated however (1D10 REM per liter).

RADIATION (OPTIONAL RULES)

Of all things post-apocalyptic, what could be more iconic than radiation? In the classic postholocaust setting, it is the lingering remnants of a war fought long ago, the “curse” of a race of Ancient people whose weapons poisoned and killed their planet, a looming threat that every survivor hopes to avoid, an invisible killer that lurks in lost ruins and crumbling necropolis. Yet, for all its importance to the genre, the rules for radiation found in the basic Darwin’s World rulebook are simplified and scant. This section offers optional rules for radiation, both getting into more detail as well as making a runin with radiation a far deadlier experience through simulating more realistic consequences. If you like your radiation deadly, these new rules might be an appealing option!

RADIATION SOURCE All radiated areas (or sources of radiation, such as an irradiated object or person) will have an intensity rating. Exposure to such a source will cause the accumulation of “REM”, which becomes more hazardous the higher the level. The amount of REM accumulated from a source depends on its intensity and the time exposed, as shown below:

Source Intensity*

REM / Minute

Lightly irradiated

1D10

Moderately irradiated

1D10x10

Highly irradiated

1D10x50

Severely irradiated

1D10x100

Unless a character is shielded from radiation (either through a radiation suit, or a specific mutation), REM is automatically accumulated without a saving throw. However, the dire effects of radiation can be avoided with a saving throw, if applicable. The various levels of radiation sickness are outlined below, listed by REM level.

0 - 20 REM This level of irradiation is generally not noticeable, having little or no effect on the victim.

21 - 50 REM At this stage, irradiation leads to a reduced white blood cell count, making it difficult for the victim to fight off disease and infection. Effect: Victim takes 1 Con damage. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or take a -2 penalty to all saving throws vs. disease, contamination, or infection until her REM level is reduced to 20 or less.

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51 - 100 REM

601 - 1000 REM

At 51-100 REM the victim may suffer headaches and sickness, and also faces an increased risk of infection (due to disruption of cell activity). Effect: Victim takes 1d3 Con damage. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or become sickened until REM level is reduced to 50 or less.

At this stage the victim faces bone marrow destruction, as well as gastric and intestinal tissue damage. Effect: As above, except the DC to stop the bleeding increases to 30.

101 - 200 REM Nausea and vomiting appear soon after exposure, followed by lack of energy. Long-term effects often include sterility; pregnant women suffer spontaneous abortion or stillbirth. Effect: Victim takes 1d6 Con damage. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 15) or become sickened and fatigued until REM level is reduced to 100 or less. On a successful save the victim is still fatigued.

201 - 300 REM As 101-200 REM, but the victim gradually loses all of her body hair, and suffers from a greater risk of secondary illness due to the wholesale destruction of her body’s white blood cells. Effect: Victim takes 2d6 Con damage and is both fatigued and sickened. She also takes a -4 penalty to all future saving throws vs. disease, contamination, or infection until her REM level is reduced to 200 or less. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 20) or gradually lose all body hair.

301 - 400 REM At this level of irradiation the victim suffers uncontrollable bleeding from the mouth, under the skin, and in the kidneys. Effect: Victim takes 2d6 Con damage and is both fatigued and sickened. She also takes a -4 penalty to all future saving throws vs. disease, contamination, or infection until her REM level is reduced to 200 or less, and automatically loses all body hair. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 20) or begin bleeding at a rate of 1 hit point per round (this bleeding can only be countered with a Heal check at DC 15, or the application of hemochem).

401 - 600 REM

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At 401-600 REM the inability of the body to fight internal bleeding often leads to a slow death. Effect: As above, except the Con damage is permanent. In addition, the victim is considered nauseated on a failed Fortitude save (DC 20), and the DC to stop the bleeding increases to 20.

1001 - 5000 REM Symptoms appear moments after exposure, involving exhaustion and nausea caused by direct activation of chemical receptors in the brain. Death is typically inevitable due to massive cell death, presaged by delirium resulting from a destruction of the victim’s circulatory system. Effect: Victim takes 3d6 permanent Con damage and is both exhausted and nauseated, and automatically loses all body hair. In addition, she must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 25) or begin bleeding at a rate of 1 hit point per round (this bleeding can only be countered with a Heal check at DC 30, or the application of hemochem). If the saving throw is failed by 5 or more, she is also considered stunned.

5001 - 8000 REM This level of exposure results in immediate disorientation and coma, followed by death due to a total collapse of the nervous system. Effect: As above, except victim becomes unconscious if the saving throw is failed by 5 or more, instead of stunned.

CHAPTER 2 - BROTHERHOOD OF RADIATION The largest and most influential “religion” of the Twisted Earth setting is the so-called “Brotherhood of Radiation”. Like any real-world religion, the history of the Brotherhood of Radiation has seen episodes of ignorance, treachery, tragedy, and inspiration. And, like any real-world religion, the realities are often unknown to the general masses. The following details the true history of the Brotherhood, from its origins among the urban gangs of Denver, to its rebirth in the dusty ruins of Las Vegas, Nevada. Much of what is written here is unknown, or at best hinted at through old legends and hagiographical scripture; the complete picture presented below is unlikely to be known to any one individual alive today.

THE APOCALYPSE - SOCIETY KNOWS WHEN TO FOLD

Denver, at the height of the Ancient era. Like most major urban centers in America at the beginning of the 21st century, Denver was nothing like the city familiar to most readers. Massive overpopulation and crowding of the great cities of the country was out of control, leading to an escalating stratification of society, an economic crisis that was fast creating a massive lower class. Cities became mass arcologies for the poor, and as a result crime levels in major metropolitan areas skyrocketed. It was in this atmosphere of despair and misery that the origins of the Brotherhood of Radiation can be found. Most remarkably, the figures that would come to found and set forth the course for this religion (arguably the most well-known and influential on the Twisted Earth) also originate from this time. One person in particular, a prophet strong in body with a stubborn will to survive, lived during this time. She was a street orphan, used and abused and made tougher as a result. She was well known on the streets as a tough despite her age of 14, and for managing to stay one step ahead of the drug-addicted “crazies” that ruled the city streets by night. She cared for a small band of fellow orphans including her younger brother, a local troublemaker named “Sledge”, as well as other street youths and misfits, instilling them with the same stubbornness to resist taking the cards that were dealt them, to strive for more. She was considered to be bad news by the legitimate authorities as well, having had a long criminal record of petty theft, break-ins, and vagrancy. But despite this, she held her head high, clinging to her own particular dream to become a professional dancer. To pay her way and help support

the other orphans she turned to modeling, and did lowbudget commercials for Denver-area car dealerships. Then the nuclear war happened. The face of the city changed; the glass towers of commerce and industry were leveled. The ruins were rendered into identical heaps of glittering stone and rotting debris for as far as the eye could see. But for those who lived there, it wasn’t much worse than before; the survivors still had no medical care, still had to steal or scrounge for food, still had to watch out for the “crazies” and the “legitimate authorities”. There was hope for those who needed it, however. After the Fall Denver was the focus of a major reconstruction effort by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, better known as FEMA. In the immediate aftermath, as communications and coordination with out-of-state entities first dwindled, then ceased altogether, the city and state government consolidated their power in Denver, then buckled down to weather the nuclear winter. The Defacto Commission on Reconstruction (“DCR” for short) was made up of important elected officials from the state and city governments, as well as experts in the fields of environmental science, medicine, sociology, and law enforcement. The Colorado National Guard also contributed a significant presence in the form of advisers, as well as providing security and enforcement to keep the DCR in power. The DCR’s goal was to maintain order immediately after the Fall, re-establish infrastructure for the distribution of food and medical care, and to maintain law and order until a federal presence could be restored. Under the DCR Denver became even more stratified, with the wealthy finding relative security in the DCR’s handful of secure cordons, with other survivors being forced to eke out an existence in the radiated ruins – which dwarfed the DCR enclaves in sheer scope. It was not long before the street people, urban poor, and “crazies” (the worst of the gangs) began to recognize the unwillingness of the DCR to get involved beyond their camps. Thus, petty gang lords began to rise in power, taking over enormous areas of the city and beginning the first turf wars for control of the wreckage. The girl, who’d been known to her gang peers by her street handle, “Princess”, was one of the unlucky ones to survive the nuclear exchange. Her dreams of becoming a dancer, of escaping the hell of poverty, were ended in the same flash that snuffed out millions of lives. But she didn’t dwell on the tragedy; as a survivor, she simply rolled up her sleeves and prepared to dig her way “out of the shit”. It was particularly hard for her, as she had to battle a lifelong addiction to heroine purely with the force of her own will. But she emerged victorious, coming out of the hell storm both

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alive and free. Yet long-term survival wouldn’t be easy. The streets were fast falling under the control of the city’s rabid gangs, in particular a gang led by the city’s worst megalomaniac, Maurice, lord of the “crazies”. Maurice was at least familiar with Princess and her gang of orphans; before the war they were victims of the “crazies” abuse, but now, after the Fall, Maurice hoped to woo her into adding her people to his ranks. With the DCR quickly becoming more and more isolated from events outside their sphere of control, the city’s gangs were preparing for open war, a final struggle to see who would be top dog and take the title of “King of Denver”. Any and all fighters – even headstrong teen girls and street orphans – could help tip the balance in the favor of one contender or another. Princess refused at first, knowing the “crazies” were savages and killers, yet to protect her younger brother and the other orphans she had little choice but to accept. When the street war was declared, her youngsters went out to fight… and many never returned. Maurice was victorious, however, taking the city after two weeks of brutal, costly urban warfare. Life under the rule of the “crazies” was just that – crazy. Daily life was ordered along the whims of Maurice and his top subordinates, which could

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change daily, even hourly. People were killed for small grievances, or simply as entertainment. Women were enslaved and raped. The last straw came when Maurice ordered patrols of the DCR to be considered “fair game” and attacked. Princess, at least, recognized that tangling with the DCR was a bad idea, one bound to provoke unthinkable reprisals. Fearing for herself and her “kids”, Princess escaped the “crazies” and led them to a DCR encampment on the other side of the city. They had heard word that a hospital had been taken over by the authorities, which had been turned into a government-run holding camp for the sick and starving. For someone who was used to taking care of herself, life in the DCR hospital was only marginally better than out on the streets. She and her followers received medical care for their radiation sickness, dysentery, and keloid tumors, but they lived like refugees in large communal tents, and forced to consume rations of nutrient-rich (but awful tasting) meals. Furthermore, agents of the DCR were present in the camp, sorting out those with contagious diseases and separating them from the general population. Those who were taken were never seen again, leading to speculation they were being killed as a desperate, if inhuman, measure. Those same agents were also examining those who’d been exposed to radiation, and before long

Princess, Sledge, and the remaining orphans came under scrutiny, for all of them had been in the open when the bombs went off. Princess herself had begun to show the beginnings of a strange dermal mutation, which according to camp physicians warranted quarantining and special care. Princess resisted, but to ease her mind her orphans were allowed to go with her, the entire “gang” being moved to a special ward of the hospital. Here, in addition to DCR doctors, a Catholic priest named O’Malley (recuperating from flashburns at the hospital) made Princess’ acquaintance, and helped to take care of the children while she recuperated. Though wary of how good things seemed to be at first, Princess’ treatment improved and she came to enjoy her time at the hospital.

DEALT A BAD HAND During the first few weeks at the hospital, doctors treated Princess and her orphans for their wounds and malnutrition, as well as diagnosing the longterm effects of their radiation exposure. Princess, in particular, appeared to be mutating. According to the doctors, her outer layer of skin was degenerating as a result of a slow-acting necrosis. The condition, they said with cool indifference, was probably terminal. Yet, for some reason her body appeared to be adapting, exhibiting an inhuman effort to regenerate damaged or dead cells. Her body was fighting back against the cell death caused by being exposed to the bomb, but they insisted her time was running out. It was all technical talk, and above her head, but Princess began to become agitated under this continued care. The only thing that kept her there was Father O‘Malley, who taught her to read and told inspiring stories to the orphans at night. If not for him, she would have led the kids away under the cover of night, just like she’d done when they’d fled the “crazies”. A year later Princess’ mutations, both good and bad, seemed to have fought each other to a standstill. The ionization of the outer dermal layer of her skin, which had been described initially as “degeneration”, soon proved to be far more frightful, as the natural pigments in her skin began in pinpoint-sized patches, to glow. She panicked, thinking her expected time had come, but her doctors - unable to explain it - now attested that the problem was no longer life-threatening. They further assured her that, with the miraculous regenerative capabilities of her cells, the process of degeneration would be a gradual one, taking weeks, and that the “glowing spots” could be covered, at least for the time being. Despite the news, around the same time things began to go bad for the central authority of Denver. Continued harassment by the urban crazies led to a concerted effort by the DCR to sweep the worst neighborhoods and “pacify” them. The technological edge of the DCR was significant, but the diminishing

morale of its forces was on the rise. The inability of the DCR to make contact with any other organized entity outside of Denver was taking its toll on its personnel; without hope of help, the DCR’s efforts at reconstruction seemed to be in vain. Within 16 months of the Fall, the DCR’s organization, forces, and authority disintegrated, leaving Denver to the mobs. Princess and her people stood to inherit the deserted remnants of the DCR hospital, but it would only be secure for so long before the crazies discovered it. Rumors that many of the crazies were now turning to cannibalism on a large scale to survive made staying in Denver even less palatable. Princess decided to leave, taking her brother Sledge and the other orphans with her. Father O’Malley, no longer able to convince her to stay until federal forces came to restore order, joined them. With Princess’ permission, O’Malley brought along all those men and women still in the vicinity of the hospital who cared to escape Denver. What began as a small group of children soon began to grow into an exodus.

FOLLOW THE QUEEN The escape from Denver led Princess and her rag-tag band of followers west into the mountains. Survival was not easy at first, what with ordinary civilians quickly turning into trigger-happy xenophobes who shot everything on sight. That she and her followers looked like diseased gangers from the inner city didn’t help, and they were turned back at every door along I-70. But the children's ability to adapt and live off the most meager supplies (as they had done for most of their lives) kept them alive; they soon turned into expert scavengers, scrounging the abandoned truck stops, gas stations, and rest stops along the way. Father O’Malley, who’d since become the unofficial “conscience” of the group, excused their behavior only because it was done out of necessity. East of Idaho Springs the refugees found the highways and mountain passes to be desolate, and signs of battle were evident everywhere. Paratroopers and special forces units had been seeded throughout the mountains during the war in an effort to cut off vital supply lines or to disrupt the rail network. This activity had driven out the native inhabitants of the Rockies, leaving empty communities and deserted one-stoplight towns. The nuclear winter was already beginning to settle in as well, dusting the remnants of these Rocky Mountain battlefields with a fine layer of irradiated snowfall. The challenge of surviving became far more difficult, now that people had been driven out and the wildlife was beginning to die off. The few foods and other supplies found in the region’s abandoned towns were also becoming contaminated, so that incidents of radiation sickness rose. By their third week, virtually all of the refugees suffered from contamination to some degree.

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When the refugees reached the outskirts of Aspen, however, they found a town very much alive. Surrounded by a makeshift wall, the small resort city appeared to have been fortified by survivors of the Fall. The rag-tag refugees at once came under scrutiny by the “Christian Citizen’s Committee of Aspen”, but the sheer number of children among them prevented any immediate attack. Instead, Princess, Sledge, O’Malley, and the others were shepherded in and given hospitable (albeit shaky) sanctuary. Over the next few weeks or so Princess and her people learned that Aspen had been abandoned by most of its 5,000 inhabitants when word of the battles between National Guard units and Pacific Union airborne forces at Glenwood Springs and

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Gunnison first reached the town. Only a handful of people remained, few of whom were natives: these included a total of 1,000 followers of the “Aurora Evangelical Church of Jesus Christ”, whose leader, Pastor Jeremy Bright, had made Aspen the site of an annual gathering for his “church”. Having rented out the Aspen Convention Center for the hosting of an Evangelical revival (and the filming of the church’s yearly evangelical telethon - normally held in his Church’s headquarters of Las Vegas), Bright and his people had remained when others fled. Inheriting the small resort town, with the poshly-appointed Convention Center as his base, Bright counted among his followers numerous right-wing rich from all across America, including powerful businessmen and energy lobbyists. Most of these were living in deep denial about the War, turning to Bright’s comforting charisma to insulate them from the horrors beyond Aspen. Bright, besides being (at least outwardly) a Christian, businessman, and charismatic leader, was no fool. He recognized the power that had just landed in his lap. He had never been one to resort to cheesy “apocalyptic evangelism” to gather money and followers (preferring to focus on optimism and selfbetterment to trick people out of their cash), but here had come the prophesized apocalypse like manna from heaven. That the “wicked cities” had been stricken, and people like he and his followers had survived, made the prospect of firebrand fear-mongering just too easy to resist. Since the Fall he had turned Aspen into a respectable community of like-minded people dedicated to Christ and righteousness. Attending Sunday services was mandatory; dressing in wholesome clothing, addressing one another as “brother” and “sister”, and engaging in all-American pass times (weather permitting) were encouraged. He’d even begun to vilify the old way of life (the “Ancient ways”, which had surely brought down the wrath of God), and even those outside Aspen’s walls as “irredeemable sinners”. One didn’t have to go far to find proof that what he said was true: the only survivors in the mountains were now scattered bands of desperate bandits and thieves, and the marauding remnants of military units (who could be just as bad, if not worse). But along came a pretty young woman and a motley band of pitiable children - accompanied by a priest. Pastor Bright immediately sensed a threat to his little “Utopia”, but his followers (many of them secretly eager to find out there was more to the world outside than just “sinners” and “devastation”) demanded that they be given shelter. Fearing that his followers might turn against him if he refused, Bright relented. For several weeks Princess, O’Malley, and the others stayed in Aspen, but soon found Bright’s way of life suffocating. Bright, for his part, did his best to make life miserable for them as well - though stopping just short of persecuting them. But her own unusual

charisma was beginning to take root in Bright’s followers, many of whom were now beginning to see the dangerous road they were headed on under Bright’s guidance. Soon there were murmurings advocating the creation of a secular government apart from Bright, one that mandated a separation of religion and politics. Seeing the writing on the wall, Bright resorted to a desperate plan. Eager to keep his followers, many of whom had been powerful and influential in the preFall government (and whom, he hoped, would retain power if and when the federal government managed to rebound from the War), Bright organized a “town hall” meeting where he petitioned his people with a plan. He invited Princess and O’Malley to attend, and, in a masterstroke, addressed them as equals in a deceiving show of humility and reconciliation. Bright put forth the idea of abandoning Aspen and heading further west. The citizens - including Princess and O’Malley - were surprised by the unexpected idea of a full evacuation. But citing reports that a large gang calling themselves the “Ravagers” had begun terrorizing small towns further south in the Rockies, Bright claimed that it was only a matter of time before Aspen too, was attacked. Furthermore, if they managed to survive the Utah badlands, it was a short trek to Las Vegas - a city that Bright insisted, due to the fact that short of Nellis Air Force Base had no relevant nuclear targets, would be intact. That Las Vegas was also his hometown, the base of his Evangelical empire, and a place where he was owed many favors by many influential people (and thus would guarantee him a place in the post-Fall political landscape if he so wished), was a fact he did not immediately share. As a coup de grace, with craftiness comparable to a real-life Mephistopheles Pastor Bright ingeniously hit Princess below the belt, showing brochures of the “family fun” to be had in Las Vegas to the orphans, who were soon behind the plan 100%. Princess had little choice but to go along. History isn’t clear, but she may have been just as eager as the other inhabitants of Aspen to move on. Whether or not she realized the dangers of the long journey, Princess and Bright, with their combined followers, began to move west.

THE STAKES INCREASE Passing through the Utah badlands was a torturous ordeal. Like the Rocky Mountains had been, many of the towns in Grand and San Juan counties were deserted; those that were inhabited had turned recluse, and shunned all contact, even going so far as to go underground to escape detection. During this period Pastor Bright, seeing the toll this new leg of the exodus was going to take on both his and Princess’ followers, cleverly let Princess assume gradual control over their combined peoples. He did this to prevent

any possible backlash against him for promoting the idea of leaving Aspen in the first place, and it worked to some degree. When people began to dry up and die, a small faction of the refugees began to murmur against Princess, blaming her for her youth and lack of education, wondering why they ever agreed to follow her in the first place. Compounding things was the revelation that Princess had somehow gotten pregnant during the journey, and the idea of an unwed teenage mother went against everything the closest followers of Bright believed in. These Bright kept close, knowing that someday their dissatisfaction could come in handy… Almost all hope was lost, until at last, one morning the distant shape of an abbey was seen on the horizon. The refugees had come across the isolated abbey of Monticello, whose resident monks had survived the Fall miles from any urban centers. A visiting Bishop now reigned over the community, opening the monastery’s gates to other survivors of the Fall who had congregated there (seeking assistance and basic medical care), many of whom, like Princess, were showing the first signs of mutation. At Monticello the refugees found shelter, food, water, and other refugees. They also found a secluded society of the religious hungry for news of the outside world. What news they did bring was illtidings, however; the cities had plunged into chaos and savagery (Denver’s gangs had seized control and turned to cannibalism, after all), the rural communities had dispersed, the military’s remnants were now as desperate as the civilian survivors, and rumors of “mega-gangs” prowling the roads caused great concern. During their stay at Monticello Princess gave birth to a daughter, whom she named “Angel”. The child was clearly mutated but strong, exhibiting some of the bizarre regenerative capabilities of her mother. Though deformed, she was baptized at the monastery. Princess, saddened by the idea of bringing such a weak child into such a horrific world, was comforted by the Bishop with an old saying: “The birth of a child is proof that God wants the world to continue on”. Despite her ignorance, urban upbringing, questionable past, and relative youth, Princess (now exhibiting a full-body glow from her complete cellular ionization) was well-liked by the monks of Monticello. Before long they were questioning her and the others where they planned on going. They were welcome to stay as long as they liked, but the Bishop confessed that their own supplies would eventually run dry. A more permanent home had to be found for the children and the other refugees. When the plan to go to Las Vegas was revisited, it was a source of contention. Many Aspen survivors had grown weary from the unexpected hardships of the journey from the Rockies, and arrogantly insisted on staying at Monticello (despite the abbot’s warnings

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that its sustainability would not last forever). But the vast majority, who were now firmly in Princess’ camp, were ready to go wherever she led them. Before he tragically died of infected keloid lesions that winter at Monticello, Father O’Malley completed a comprehensive report to the Bishop - the only legitimate Church authority for miles, possibly anywhere in the world, as far as anyone knew detailing what had occurred in Denver, Aspen, and Utah. The Bishop, a hopeful and religious man who was ready to see signs in the most innocuous places, made a surprising move: he promoted the idea of someday venerating Princess, citing Father O’Malley’s reports of her miraculous nature. By Church law a candidate for sainthood had to have three miracles attributed to him/her, and Princess already had two: her miraculous regeneration, and the miraculous birth of her child, Angel. All they needed was a third and final miracle, and she could someday be the first “saint” of the nuclear apocalypse. Pastor Bright was agitated by the attention given to Princess during their stay at Monticello, and by the onset of spring motivated Princess, the children, and his own followers to move on. With little reason remaining to stay at Monticello, the Bishop, his monks, and their own refugees also uprooted themselves and chose to join in their journey.

LAS VEGAS - A ROYAL FLUSH

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Las Vegas, Nevada, was not as Pastor Jeremy Bright had imagined. Or as he had promised. It was a ruin, still covered in the deadly fallout left over from tactical nuclear weapons detonated over nearby Nellis Air Force Base. The “glittering jewel of the desert” was dark at night, its streets, its Strip, and its worldfamous gambling destinations plunged into lightless shadow except for a subtle violet haze that hovered over the ruins like a radiated corona. The streets were empty, the thrill-seeking inhabitants having panicked and fled when the first bombs began to detonate. Fires had claimed large swaths of the city, leaving a belt of ruin surrounding the inner city. Only the haunting empty husks of the city’s infamous pleasure-palaces, the grand casinos, stood intact. As is wont to happen with people pushed too far, a good number of followers wanted to string up Pastor Bright for having led them hundreds of miles, through mountains and hostile desert, to this “empty bit of nowhere”. Now that she was regarded as their “leader” of sorts, it was only Princess’ intervention that saved Bright from being killed. At first the refugees didn’t know what to do, faced with the grim reality of having come here for nothing, but it was an idea put forth by the Bishop of Monticello that brought everyone together. After striking a deal with the city’s two dozen inhabitants (a pathetic band of ruin-pickers and two-bit gamblers humorously calling themselves the Nevada Gambling

Commission, or just “The Commission” for short) for the right to settle here, the Bishop suggested to Princess that all was not lost. The city could be rebuilt. They had people and the will to survive. She was an example of the resilience of this new, post-war world, in which even a simple young woman could resist the devastation of the atom and flourish. She had, after all, survived massive doses of radiation during the Fall, and had gone on to give birth to a baby girl who had survived against all odds. The Bishop suggested Princess and her followers turn Las Vegas into a “beacon”, a light in the darkness of the wasteland to draw others from all over, to become a sanctuary for the sick, diseased, and mutated. The idea proved to be a catalyst for Princess and her people, who found hope in working for a greater ideal. Efforts to clear the streets were made, scrounging parties were sent into the ruins to find salvageable supplies, and shelters were constructed or rebuilt. The Commission, watching from the sidelines, were inspired to build as well, though they mostly concentrated their efforts on the northern stretch of the city. But either way, the old buildings were inhabited and a drive was initiated to restore power. Power, Princess believed, would let them “light up Vegas like a light bulb that could be seen for miles”, drawing the destitute and hopeless to the new paradise they planned on building.

THE PASTOR CASHES IN HIS CHIPS

The Las Vegas Nuclear Power Plant had just become operational right before the Fall. A complex of twin, stateof-the-art nuclear reactor buildings, LVNPP had been built not only by the greater city of Las Vegas, but by funding and contributions from the major gambling establishments of the area. Power needs, like water needs, had grown in necessity with the growth of the city, and true to its future name, the “City of Lights” demanded a tremendous amount of electricity. Existing power sources were insignificant for the massive mega-casinos that planners envisioned in Las Vegas’ future, and LVNPP was the solution. Princess and her people found the power plant to be deserted but only slightly damaged. As they learned from the Commission, when word of the coming war reached Las Vegas, the technicians and engineers at the plant promptly decided to shut down the reactors to prevent a meltdown in the event of a catastrophic nuclear strike, or, even if the city wasn’t hit, the possibility of an electromagnetic pulse in the atmosphere damaging the plant’s control computers. Thus, LVNPP was almost in perfect shape, a nuclear plant whose switch had simply been turned off - and waited for someone to turn it back on. Yet none of

Princess’ followers (or any among the Commission) was certified to reactivate something as complex and dangerous as a nuclear reactor. After months of trying to revive the reactor using manuals at the plant, and more technical diagrams looted from libraries throughout the city, a third “miracle” occurred - but one with tragic consequences. With men working inside the main reactor, Princess, Pastor, and a committee of the city’s new civic council were at the plant to oversee the operation’s progress when a freak accident occurred. A critical event occurred with one of the fuel rods inside the reactor was struck against a foreign surface (a tungsten carbide block being used out of ignorance as an “anvil” for straightening the dented rods). A burst of blue light instantly filled the reactor chamber, starting a reaction that somehow activated the reactor core. The seven workers in the room, as well as Princess (directly) and Pastor (to a lesser extent, as he was wearing a radiation suit at the time at his own insistence, even though the plant was not supposed to be operable) were exposed to massive doses of radiation. Princess rushed to the workers in the reactor to try and assist their escape, while Pastor retreated from the chamber and sealed off the compartment, ostensibly to “protect the members of the civic committee from becoming irradiated as well”. The seven men in the reactor died within minutes, but Princess survived. Her body’s superhuman ability to regenerate cell death now leapt into action,

preventing the potentially-lethal doses of radiation from killing off her tissues or organs. Effectively “radiation immune”, she was nonetheless impregnated with heretofore unheard of levels of roentgens, turning her into a living, lethal source of radioactivity. News of the accident left the people of Las Vegas torn and unsure of what to do. Some insisted they find a way to shut down the reactor from outside, before moving in to try and treat Princess. Those few who had any knowledge of the plant had died in the accident, however, and shutting the reactor off would be impossible short of blowing up the building - killing Princess in the process, and likely contaminating the entire city and nearby desert in a new cloud of deadly fallout. Bright argued against this, as did the Commission, who had no loyalty to Princess but whom greatly desired to keep the flow of electricity open. Pastor Bright, leading a group of loyal followers in radiation suits into the power plant, claimed they would make contact with Princess and ask her what she wanted them to do. Whatever occurred inside the complex - for it was now off-limits to the general public, “for their own safety” - Pastor Bright emerged with a grim and heartbreaking message. Princess was forever trapped, and she knew it, but she was thoroughly opposed to endangering her people with any attempt to extract her from the reactor chamber or damage the plant. Her mission, to turn Las Vegas’ lights on to create a “beacon for all”,

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was of paramount importance. She would remain in the reactor chamber and repair the facilities for loading/unloading the reactor rods, and stay as long as her body would hold out. She put Pastor Bright in charge in her absence, pleading to her followers to avoid entering the power plant to see her. She would communicate to her followers through Bright, passing messages through the shielded door to him until her body’s recuperative abilities were spent and she ultimately passed away.

ONE LAST HAND Pastor Bright assumed control of the Las Vegas refugees not long after. Heeding Princess’ wishes though terribly traumatized by her loss, the refugees (including her daughter, Angel, who would go on to found the first order of Force Masters) turned from the tragedy to embrace the one good thing that came out it: Las Vegas was now lit up, burning bright under the desert moon. Soon would come other survivors and other refugees, and the rebuilding of the world could begin. With Princess gone, Pastor Bright settled subtly into power. Rumors that he had somehow orchestrated the accident at the plant with the help of the Commission (who had supplied the faulty fuel rod) were suppressed. With a small core of loyal followers (those who had questioned Princess from the start) he began to mold the refugees into a new society. The only thing he really knew well - religious quackery - became his tool once more, as he slowly transformed the people of Las Vegas into a perverse theocracy. To avoid being called a despot, on the exterior he developed a system of shared power, ostensibly with Princess at the top, and him as the sole intermediary between her and her followers (again, “for their safety”). He would become her mouthpiece, communicating her will and leadership to the people at large. Also sharing power (at least on the surface) was the Bishop of Monticello, leader of the monks of Monticello, but for him Bright (pretending to be speaking for Princess) had other plans. Bright charged him with spreading the word of this new religion’s open-door policy beyond Las Vegas, establishing

outposts and cells across the wasteland. With the Bishop’s removal from Las Vegas proper, Bright was free to pervert the hierarchy with his own followers and “disciples”. The Commission, whatever their involvement had been, were rewarded with near autonomy in the northern part of town, which they could do with as they wished. Unknown to most, throughout the slow transformation of her people into a zealous and corrupt religious brotherhood, Princess (now known to her followers as the “Priestess” at Bright’s insistence) remained alive in the reactor. With her inhuman recuperative abilities, no doubt accelerated and empowered by the radiation she was continuously exposed to, Princess’ cells replenished themselves at an unthinkable rate. Simply put, she found that despite fearing an early death, she was unable to die. Age, a factor in all normal people’s lives, did not affect her; the natural degeneration of tissue and organs from advancing time did not affect her, as she merely regenerated dead and dying cells. Trapped in a glowing cell and unable to die naturally, and taunted and tormented by a bitter Pastor (who came to visit her on occasion, speaking through the lead-laced glass of the reactor compartment) she withdrew into herself. Pastor Bright eventually died of thyroid cancer years later, but not before he transformed Las Vegas from the ground up into a marvel of sheer lunatic proportions. Virtually ignoring the desperate cries of Princess in her irradiated tomb, Bright grew drunk with power. Pretending to be acting on her orders, he was successful in establishing a mysterious society that first worshiped a quasi-Christian God then, as time went on, turned to the worship of “radiation” itself. Pointing to Princess’ unnatural healing abilities and inconceivable refusal to die, and the “new and marvelous” mutations evident in the growing influx of refugees coming to Las Vegas everyday, it was easy for him to personify radiation as an abstract force and make it a thing worthy of worship. As time wore on, and people only grew more ignorant, this quack religion took root. Bright passed away, but the damage he inflicted was already done. His followers, who would become a branch of the Brotherhood ecclesiarchy known as

THE TREFOIL - SYMBOL OF THE BROTHERHOOD

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Most outsiders consider the “mushroom cloud” the symbol of the Brotherhood, but the Ecclesiarchy’s official icon is the trefoil, an ancient, pre-Fall symbol long associated with radiation - and everything nuclear. The trefoil is worked into banners, temple masonry, and even personal amulets and rings worn by powerful Brotherhood clerics. The overt symbolism is obvious, but there is also a hidden meaning to the symbol. Most only see the three arms created by the trefoil, but when one includes the spaces in between the arms, there are actually six equal pieces to the trefoil. This is seen as representative of the six orders of the Brotherhood: Seekers, Progeny, Infused, Enlightened, Illuminated, and the lofty Krytarch. The three primary arms of the trefoil stand for the latter three, considered the “Nuclear Trinity”, for they are by far the most important - and powerful - of the Ecclesiarchy’s orders.

the “Censors”, buried the treacherous secrets of the past and perpetuated the worship of radiation. The power plant at the heart of the city had claimed their once-great leader, Princess (now worshiped as an “immortal being”, a sort of living “goddess” with whom all contact was restricted, under threat of death), but her loss had been for a greater cause - the cause of radioactive power. The lessons of Princess’ life, living and dying to recover the secrets of nuclear power, became the life goal of generations of deluded believers. Today a much different people inhabit the “City of Lights”. Rising from the ashes of the Fall, clouded in a shadowy past, is a religion on the scale of medieval Rome, with adherents proliferating through the ranks of those “birthed by Holy Radiation”, i.e. mutantkind. The missionary works of the Bishop of Monticello (now long dead) have created cells up and down the trade routes, populated by followers keeping their ear to the ground for lost sources of radioactive materials, fuel, and technology - all things that have become objects of worship. By extension, the glorification of mutants has also become a key component of Brotherhood beliefs, for they are truly “children of the atom”. In Las Vegas itself, a powerful ecclesiarchy now exists, draped in unparalleled wealth, influence, and power that hasn’t been seen since the days of the medieval Church. It is paralleled only by the decadence and moral ambiguity of the town’s ugly mirror, the district controlled by the Commission now known as “Sin City”. This grand city is stratified into many layers and tiers, and has its own sordid, shadowy secrets. But this is Vegas, a city that has always been good at keeping secrets…

THE ECCLESIARCHY

Officially known as the “Enlightened Hierarchy of The Mutant Race”, the hierarchical organization of the Brotherhood of Radiation is strictly stratified into ascending

“orders”. These orders each have a distinctive name, code of dress and behavior, and degree of authority/ responsibility to the Brotherhood Ecclesiarchy as a whole. The various orders of the Ecclesiarchy are: Order

Description

Seekers

Believers who are not (or cannot be, for one reason or another) ordained

Progeny

Lowest rank of cloistered members

Infused

Followers who have undergone ritual exposure to radiation

Enlightened

Brothers disseminated into the orders of Force Masters, Psions, and Censors

Illuminated

Leaders, prophets, and ministers of the Brotherhood

Krytarch

Overall head of the Brotherhood of Radiation

SEEKERS "Seeker" of the Brotherhood is a broad term that has come to indicate those vast numbers of mutants who have heard the Brotherhood's message and flocked to its banner, but who still lack a deeper understanding of the religion and its true aims. Seekers can be found virtually everywhere on the Twisted Earth, from bustling market towns along the main arterial trade routes, to the most distant outposts of the deep wasteland. Their name, “Seeker”, describes the personal journey that each individual takes to reach the fabled City of Lights and join with the Brotherhood. To some this journey involves an actual pilgrimage, packing up their meager belongings and leaving their impoverished homes to travel hundreds of miles to reach the city. To others this involves spreading the word of the Brotherhood wherever they go. Most Seekers are benevolently ignorant to the truth lying beneath the surface of the Brotherhood. These individuals have only heard the stories of the religion’s good deeds, or blindly believe in the insidious

THE SECRET FATE OF SOME SEEKERS There are whispered rumors of a secret ritual performed by the Brotherhood, known as the “Ritual of Sacrifice”. According to Seeker lore, a follower of the “Glow” who first comes to the City of Lights is sometimes approached by cloaked members of the Enlightened one or two nights after arriving. These cloaked men move among those who have only recently arrived in town, and claim that if the pilgrim follows them, telling no one that she is leaving, she has a chance to be used as an “instrument” to further the glory of the Ecclesiarchy. The only drawback is that she will never see her family or friends again. Most accept the calling and follow these shady agents of the Brotherhood, and are indeed never seen again. Rumors abound as to what happens to those who go, from being “fast-tracked” to Enlightened status to being “transformed” into an Illuminated. The reality is much more horrific; those gullible recruits taken by night are invariably fed to the abominations and other monstrosities bred by the Brotherhood in their underground spawning pits beneath Nellis Air Force Base, serving as a steady source of food for one of the Ecclesiarchy’s darkest secrets.

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propaganda leaked out by the Brotherhood to other communities The vast masses of Seekers (whose numbers include entire tribes such as the Followers; see The Broken & The Lost) camp outside the walls of the City of Lights, living in huge squatter camps that ring Old Las Vegas like a second city. Most Seekers believe that proximity to the Brotherhood will bring them insights into the “Glow” (a phenomenon few Seekers

truly understand), or will draw the attention of the Brotherhood who will have mercy on them and bring them into the fold. Though they are poor, hungry, and destitute, the Seekers are generally filled with hope that their lives are going to get better because of the Brotherhood, and live their lives not only contented, but eager to learn more. In addition to being an entire caste of loyal and zealous followers for the Brotherhood, the ranks of the

BECOMING PROGENY Once each year members of the Infused, including at least one Censor, venture into the camps of the Seekers to select new Progeny. They listen to potential candidates, as well as consider reports from others advocating a particular member to be promoted into the Ecclesiarchy. Sometimes existing Progeny will select a Seeker to join their ranks due to some service or exhibition of loyalty, but usually the Progeny jealously restrict entrance and do not support Seekers attempting to enter the Brotherhood (it is true that many Seekers work their entire lives hoping to earn the good graces of the Progeny above them, only to be passed over again and again because they are more useful where they are). However, the ranks of the Progeny must grow and the Infused walk the camps looking for likely candidates. As mentioned, candidates can be selected through referral, but more often than not they are simply selected by the Infused at random. To most Seekers and Progeny the selection seems completely out of the blue, but in reality the Infused observe the crowds using their telepathic powers to determine who is the most loyal, who is the most dedicated, or who has the most psychic potential. With simply a glance the Infused are able to bypass those who are unfit, or those who just aren’t dedicated enough, and find the true “diamonds in the rough”. Seekers also provide other services. Many Seekers willingly offer up food, water, and trinkets to the Brotherhood as “donations” (not unlike the giving of gifts to monastic orders in the ancient world). Their camps also indirectly serve the Brotherhood by generating income, as merchants have begun to follow the masses of Seekers and now trade has begun to flourish in the City of Lights. Though most Seekers know little of the Brotherhood, what they do know is usually a positive, naive, and altruistic image. As such Seekers spread reverent (and often exaggerated) tales of the Brotherhood wherever they go, and thus serve as a second voice for the Brotherhood, helping to affirm their roles as the “saviors of mutantkind”.

PROGENY The ranks of the "progeny" lie at the bottom of the Brotherhood's hierarchical pyramid; like all societies, the masses lie here, at the foundation of the entire religion. The Progeny include lesser members of the cult such as low-ranking brothers and sisters, as well as lay workers and dedicated followers who do not have the ability or potential to rise higher in the ranks. Unlike Seekers, however, Progeny have been accepted into the hierarchy for some reason or another; sometimes an individual is promoted into the Progeny simply with a nod from a high-ranking Infused who passes by, or through a more complex ritual involving voiced praises from her peers and her immediate superiors from among the Progeny. To many mutants this show of acceptance can be the greatest gift they’ll ever receive; low-witted individuals, or creatures greatly stunted by their mutations, often remain at this level for the duration of their lives. The Progeny of the Brotherhood fill a wide variety of roles, as befits their numbers and diversity. Many Progeny serve as mundane watchmen or camp enforcers, walking among the camps of the Seekers, keeping an eye on their activities, watching out for trouble, etc. They are mostly unskilled in combat, but

even brutish tactics are usually sufficient to keep the masses in line. Most Progeny aren’t wise enough to understand the theology and pseudo-metaphysics of their Brotherhood masters (and never will be), and so simply content themselves with serving the religion the only way they can. Progeny also serve as cooks, scullery boys, animal handlers, porters, copyists, craftsmen, and laborers, and can be found throughout the City of Lights as well as on Brotherhood missions to far-flung lands. Some might join an Illuminated’s train of personal servants, mending robes, cleaning rooms, and taste-testing food for her master. Those with a particular talent might be chosen to become choir members or musicians, who then receive further training and become part of a Brotherhood elite’s personal entourage of entertainers. A Progeny with a strong voice might be selected to read sacred passages at religious ceremonies, or chosen to join teams of camp enforcers to act as the Brotherhood’s mouthpiece when public declarations are to be made. Because of their low intelligence and limited potential most Progeny are little better than the Seekers (see above), but they are feverishly proud of their positions and titles, and jealously guard against those who lie beneath their station.

INFUSED Those who are deemed worthy of joining the Brotherhood are selected for any number of reasons, from physical prowess to mental acuity, or simply for possessing unusual or powerful mutations that could serve the Ecclesiarchy well. Still, by tradition even the most promising recruit to the Brotherhood must undergo a spiritual and physical transformation known as the “Ritual of Infusion”. The Ritual of Infusion is a personal test given to each and every recruit, and takes place inside the First Holy Temple - a sacred site normally forbidden to all but the most trusted Censors. Here, in one of many deteriorating, radiated chambers that riddle the

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PERSECUTORS The Persecutors are an infamous branch of the Ecclesiarchy made up primarily of elite Force Masters and Psions, and overseen by hand-picked members of the Censors. The Persecutors are a special military division of the Brotherhood charged with eradicating the threat posed from pureblood humans. What this mandate typically means is that the Persecutors are responsible for policing the masses coming to the City of Lights, searching for purebloods attempting to enter the city, and apprehending them. The Persecutors are a recent addition to their hierarchy of the Brotherhood; in years past the Brotherhood had no qualms with pureblood humanity, and thus there was no need for a militant approach to dealings with their kind. In recent decades, however, the rise of radical pureblood factions and societies (such as the original Foundation, the Revenants, and a handful of racially-motivated raider gangs) became a cause for understandable concern. The Persecutors were founded as a result of this underlying caution in regards to the “non-mutated”, which has since served the Brotherhood well. Rumor has it infiltration attempts by the Revenants have been thwarted in the past, including a plot to smuggle a neutron weapon into the City of Lights to eradicate the mutants and leave the city intact for Revenant exploitation. No one knows if such wild tales are true, but the Brotherhood funds the Persecutors well and their powers are on par with the Censors, at least in executing their mandate. dilapidated nuclear power complex, a new recruit is required to endure exposure to potent doses of radiation, usually in the form of a Highly radiated source being brought into the room. Here, in the unnatural glow of a discarded reactor rod (or any other bit of radioactive waste), the supplicant is expected to kneel and bask in its “miraculous energies” - though some zealous recruits even seek to touch it, handle it, etc. as one might a holy relic. Worshipers are informed of the deadly nature of being in the “Glow‘s” presence, making it an even more powerful sign of loyalty and obedience to willingly undergo the Ritual. Those worshipers who survive the life-threatening Ritual of Infusion become members of the “Infused”, indicating not only have they passed an important test, but that they have proven themselves fit (in both body and dedication) to serve the Brotherhood. Most newly-ordained Infused spend the next few days or weeks recovering from debilitating radiation sickness, losing their hair and purging themselves (I.e. vomiting). It is a physical process which is also seen as a spiritual “metamorphosis”, symbolizing the Infused’s passage from mundane into something far more wonderful.

ENLIGHTENED

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After years of service to the Brotherhood in various menial or administrative roles (from soldiers to missionaries to clerks), those Infused who either exhibit a natural affinity for mind powers, or have otherwise developed their latent neural talents (assuming they have them), graduate into the ranks of the “Enlightened“. Three separate schools (or “orders”) exist for the training of the Enlightened, focusing on enhancing either a mastery of telekinesis, precognition, or telepathy. Depending on which field the Brother most excels at, he will be given to that order to be trained and will from there on out be expected to serve until death.

The orders of Enlightened are: Force Masters: Masters of the martial pursuits, the Force Masters are trained to focus the powers of telekinesis to create weapons and armor of pure energy from their thoughts. The true “mind knights” of the Brotherhood. Force Masters are employed as elite soldiers sent to protect Brotherhood envoys/emissaries traveling in distant lands. Members of this order gain access to the Force Master advanced class. Psions: Psions are masters of precognition, putting their talents to use reading what the future has in store for the Brotherhood. Besides those raised by the benevolent “Hiroshiman Order” (see later for details on this sub-faction of the Brotherhood), most Psions are relegated to serving in the Brotherhood military, putting their talents to use foreseeing the movements of enemy armies, and advising military commanders with their uncanny predictions about coming certainties. While individual Psions are often turned to by the Krytarch for advice or prophetic visions, there is also said to be a branch of the Ecclesiarchy hidden from the public whose focus is bent entirely to predicting the future of the Brotherhood in the grand scheme of things. In addition to being able to foretell the fates of entire factions (such as the Foundation, Brethren, etc.), they are said to allow the Illuminated to see, years in advance, the results of their plots and machinations - though whether any of this is true or not is open to speculation. Members of this order gain access to the Psion advanced class. Censors: Arguably the most powerful (and feared) order of the Enlightened, the Censors have held practical control of the Ecclesiarchy since the Brotherhood’s earliest inception. Gifted with the ability to read minds - and in some cases, control bodies - the Censors’ duties are to use their powers to protect the Brotherhood from all enemies, foreign and domestic. As such, the Censors are entrusted to ferret out the weak or unworthy, judge the guilt or innocence

of accused criminals, root out spies and heretics from the ranks of the Ecclesiarchy, police the masses, and even perform espionage against other major wasteland powers to find out their plans and, when needed, infiltrate their ranks to insure the Brotherhood’s security is maintained. Members of this order gain access to the Censor advanced class.

ILLUMINATED

The Illuminated comprise a very select few, a narrow strata of Brotherhood society that rests at the very top of the hierarchical pyramid. Elevated beings, these creatures are members of the socalled “third generation” of mutant kind, deformed and powerful beings groomed for what some say is a special, “secret” purpose. Like other members of the Brotherhood they are ritually exposed to radiation, but the Illuminated are said to turn their radiated bodies into living weapons. Surrounded by a blinding, radiated glow, the Illuminated are looked upon as “angels” or even living “deities” by the masses of Brotherhood followers. Indeed, the powers exhibited by a single Illuminated makes the comparison seem quite appropriate. Though from the outside the Illuminated all seem the same, they are in fact quite varied in form, appearance, and powers. The only traits shared by all Illuminated are their potent abilities, radiated composition, and their involvement in the leadership and decision-making of the Brotherhood at large. They are also privileged to the history of the Brotherhood, and are said to know many details about the world before the Fall and the corruption of the Ancients. The Illuminated comprise the “inner circle” of the Brotherhood, a council of equally-powerful and near-omniprescient beings who shepherd the masses of mutant kind towards a greater future, while protecting the secrets of the present and obscuring the horrors of the past. The aims of the Illuminated are widely believed to involve the betterment of mutant kind, whether in the form of alleviating suffering to building a new civilization for mutants and their offspring. Yet it is almost a certainly that other goals and plans occupy the minds of these super-powerful mutants, and not all of them are benevolent in purpose. The Illuminated plot and scheme to advance the Brotherhood’s power and prestige, and to weaken other factions contending for control (either of territory, or something as simple as the minds of the wasteland’s people), and these plots thus put the Illuminated in the position of preFall generals, ministers of state, diplomats, policy makers, and intelligence coordinators. Members of this order gain access to the Illuminated epic class.

NAMES All who enter into the ranks of the Infused are required to forfeit their former name, regardless of their cultural background, racial origins, and mutations. To signify that they are “re-born”, and to reflect their worship of the atom, all who survive the rituals are given a new name that they will be known by until the day they die. Brotherhood names would appear random and meaningless to outsiders, but to each member of the Brotherhood there is hidden meaning and inexplicable value to each name. These names are reminders of the glory of the “Glow”, and of the ancient words used to describe the “Glow” in its infinite forms. The following is a list of sample Brotherhood names. Names always follow the acolyte’s title (Brother or Sister for followers up to 34 years of age, Father or Mother for followers ages 35 and over). E.g. “Brother Nuke”, “Father Strontium”, “Sister Luminosity”, etc. Male Female Atom Ausonia Cesium Becquerel Hanford Brilliance Hesperium Chernobyl Isotope Curie Klaproth Deuteria Kryton Doramad Neptunium Dosimetra Nuke Fermi Radium Hiroshima Rem Iona Sievert Luminosity Strontium Plutonia Thallium Polonia Thorium Protactinia Trefoil Purity Tritium Radiance Uranium Roentgenia

KRYTARCH Elected by the ranks of the Illuminated, the “Krytarch” fills the role of visible figurehead for the Brotherhood of Radiation, resembling the closest thing to a “High Priest” or “Pope”. Far from a mere puppet, however, the Krytarch is almost universally the oldest and most veteran member of the Ecclesiarchy, and serves as arbitrator and final say concerning Brotherhood policy - as well as religious dogma. The Krytarch must be a learned individual, and one whose mind and body exhibit unswerving loyalty to the ongoing “cause” of advancing mutant kind. There is only ever one Krytarch at any given time, and the position is held for life. Most Krytarchs are

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canonized upon death, their bodies becoming things of worship or relics worthy of a pilgrimage to visit and view.

THE CITY OF LIGHTS

Some call it the “New Rome”, the seat of a hegemonic theocracy, while others see it as “Paradise”, a Mecca for all of mutant kind to flock to. From the ruins of a town originally built on sin has risen a Holy City, a physical manifestation of the belief that mutants were meant to inherit the Earth. It is here that the Brotherhood of Radiation rules, and from the glittering palaces that line the city’s streets its

MAP KEY A map of the City of Lights is provided on the following pages. The following key indicates where the major sites are located in relation to one another.

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1. THE GREAT WAY 2. FIRST GREAT TEMPLE 3. BLACK EDIFICE 4. CAMP ALPHA 5. HOSPITAL OF THE GLOW 6. ARCHANGEL TOWER 7. AURORA TELEVISION BROADCASTING 8. OASIS 9. MERCURY THEATRE 10. ATOMIC AUTOS 11. CONVENT OF MOTHER HIROSHIMA 12. CRYPTORUM RADIUM REX 13. LADY LUCK 14. ALAMAGORDO LYCAEUM 15. THE PIT 16. SKYLINE HOTEL 17. JOKER’S 18. HOTEL IMPERIUM 19. TEN GALLON SALOON 20. KLONDIKE 21. PAI GOW PALACE 22. RED DOG’S 23. OMAHA HOTEL 24. PERSIA 25. BUFFALO BETTY’S BURLESQUE SHOW 26. PARADISE RANCH 27 PONTIFEX PRESS 28. PILGRIM’S PALACE 29. WALLY WORLD LAS VEGAS 30. THE MALL 31. COLONEL PACHINKO’S 32. BLACKJACK SALOON 33. LAS VEGAS RACE TRACK 34. PINK FLAMINGO

Ecclesiarchy makes its power and influence known. Thousands flock to here each day hoping for a glimpse of the monks, nuns, and bishops of the Brotherhood, or of the legendary “Illuminated”, radiated beings who are believed to be the true powers behind this bizarre religious society. On the other side of town, outsiders are welcome and the old flavor of Vegas - a place for fun, debauchery, and action - is preserved through the efforts of various entrepreneurs, shady or otherwise. This is the Las Vegas of the Twisted Earth. Welcome to the City of Lights!

RUINS (CASINOS/HOTELS/ETC) The ruins of Vegas are full of them - destroyed, crumbling, and disintegrating buildings. Even some of the great casinos and hotels, once world-renowned monuments, have been reduced to mere shadows of their former greatness. All over town one is bound to find the empty remnants of some structure that was once a glittering pleasure palace, now reduced to a husk.

Adventure Hooks  Parties unwilling to pay the varied rates of the town’s numerous hotels could conceivably hole up in any of these ruins, through the conditions will be bad at best, awful at worse.  While investigating the ruins of a particular building, the characters stumble upon an abomination dwelling in the darkness of a subterranean basement. A product of the Brotherhood breeding programs let loose to see if it could survive (see Nellis Air Force Base), the monster will voraciously attack the party on sight. If killed, it will be found to be wearing a curious tracking collar, which may lead the party into a confrontation with the Brotherhood.

FOLLOWER CAMPS Ignorant, simple, and savage, the tribal people known as the “Followers” make up a major portion of the squatters, pilgrims, and other refugees who inhabit the ruins of Las Vegas. Not intelligent or useful enough to join the official Brotherhood, those who still revere the “Glow” and all things mutant still have a place in Brotherhood society, joining the vast masses of unwashed chattel and sycophantic worshipers that live in deteriorating camps throughout the city. The Followers are not only worshipers of the Brotherhood, they serve several useful purposes as well. Dwelling in camps that virtually ring the Sacred Quarter (the inner district where only Brotherhood monks, nuns, and other clergy are allowed), they serve as a means of isolating the Sacred Quarter from outsiders; most Followers are quick to alert authorities of suspicious activity or trespassers, hoping to earn some kind of reward from their Brotherhood masters.

In addition, Followers often feel motivated to donate their worldly possessions to the Brotherhood,

Adventure Hooks  While wandering the camps of the Followers, a PC is singled out by a demented member of the tribe who claims he/she is a reincarnation of a famous Brotherhood “saint”. The tribal will follow the character everywhere, eventually drawing the attention of others. Unless the PC deals with the problem, the attention eventually draws the Brotherhood, who do not have a sense of humor about outsiders pretending to be “resurrected saints”. A convincing explanation will be required to prevent the Brotherhood from acting decisively against such “blasphemy”.  The PCs overhear talk in a Follower camp of “strange dreams” and “nocturnal visions” plaguing people during their sleep. These messages have inspired some to greater heights of devotion to the Brotherhood, but from an outside perspective, it all sounds just too fishy. An investigation may lead the party to the source of the strange dreams - not drugs or religion fervor, but a strange broadcast coming from the ostensibly deserted Aurora Television Broadcasting building on the south edge of town.

Master patrols and bands of Progeny with trained Rad Wolves to find their way back to Sin City without stirring up more trouble than they can handle.  Someone in Sin City hires a group of adventurers who can be both stealthy and quick. He wants he party to sneak into the Sacred Quarter and take radiation readings around the First Great Temple - all without getting caught. Who he is, and why he wants such information, will remain his little secret, and if the characters are discovered he will deny ever meeting them.

THE GREAT WAY (AKA THE STRIP) During the time of the Ancients this road, Las Vegas Boulevard, was known colloquially as “The Strip”. It still is by the gangers of the Commission (see Archangel Tower), but the Brotherhood and its people have come to know it as the “Great Way”. The Great Way stretches the entire length of occupied Las Vegas, and along its tree-shaded asphalt are some of the largest temples and religious sites in the known world. The Great Way also serves as a processional route for Brotherhood religious events, such as the Week of Wailing, a seven-day ritual gathering in which thousands of worshipers flock to the City of Lights like Mecca during Ramadan.

SACRED QUARTER

Adventure Hooks

The south part of downtown Las Vegas has, over the years, become the primary haunt of the Brotherhood of Radiation. It has transformed from a glitzy part of town focused solely on gambling and entertainment to become the greatest center of worship in the known world. It is within the confines of this sprawling area that the Brotherhood has built its vision of a “New Rome”, a seat whose grandeur is reflective of its powerful Ecclesiarchy. The have turned old casinos into government buildings, and resorts into cathedrals dedicated to the worship of the “Glow”. By and large the streets and buildings of the Sacred Quarter is reserved exclusively for members of the Brotherhood of Radiation, but visitors with special diplomatic passes (or during certain times of the year, during religious festivals) the district may be open to outsiders. Pilgrims who come hundreds of miles to see the great temples, as well as merchants seeking to buy souvenirs or sell their own wares, can then be found everywhere in the quarter, but all such activity takes place under the careful, all-seeing eye of the Brotherhood’s Force Masters and Censors.

 The characters observe a procession of robed monks passing through the area along the Great Way, and also notice that they aren’t stopped as they enter the Sacred Quarter. If the characters need to sneak into the Sacred Quarter for any reason, they might consider donning robes and slipping unseen among such a procession to do so!  The buildings up and down the Great Way would make ideal hiding places for a sniper, or merely a scout wishing to observe Brotherhood processions or crowds of worshipers. Of course, any one of these buildings could also be inhabited by vagrants or pilgrims, who on discovering an intruder are sure to report them to the authorities.

Adventure Hooks  On a visit to Sin City, the characters get drunk and somehow take a wrong turn, ending up on the streets of the Sacred Quarter after dark. Knowing that they could be killed for such an act of forbidden trespassing, they must dodge Force

FIRST GREAT TEMPLE (AKA LAS VEGAS NUCLEAR POWER PLANT) Constructed on the former grounds of McCarran Airport, the “First Great Temple” was formerly known as the Las Vegas Nuclear Power Plant. Considered at its time to be a Class IV reactor, the LVNPP complex employed gas-cooled fast reactor technology, contained within an enormous building covering the 2,800 acres of what used to be the previous airport runway and terminals. The LVNPP was a major undertaking in time, personnel, and funding, part of which came from

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the private sector, but which used state-of-the-art technology to accelerate the plant’s power output to meet the needs of a growing Las Vegas entertainment district. With more and more highrises and supercasinos going up every day, with greater and greater power needs to light up the sky and power the demand for more efficient mass transit systems, the new technology of helium gas-powered reactors came into its own. While the plant did supply Vegas’ power needs for a short time before the Fall, most of the plant was shut down as a precautionary measure at the outbreak of international hostilities. Fearing a nuclear attack

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on California, or even detonations of nearby Nellis, the operating authority deemed it prudent to shut the reactors down to avoid crippling the plant in the event of an EM pulse frying the complex’s intricate electrical network. It was a wise move, and had the secondary effect of preserving much of the complex until new inhabitants of Las Vegas would discover it generations later. Rebuilding and reviving the plant was a phenomenal task considering the lack of expertise on the part of the early refugees who came to the city, but a rudimentary system was patched together through scrounging the plant ruins, the shells of old libraries, and locating old

service robots on the plant grounds. With this hodgepodge of knowledge the plant was on its way towards being fully restored when the accident that claimed the Brotherhood heroine, Princess, occurred. Today the LVNPP is technically still in operation, though it is prohibited to visit. A sort of “Forbidden City” to the Brotherhood, the plant’s buildings, cooling towers, and reactors are off-limits to all outsiders, and to most Brotherhood personnel as well. Officially this is due to “age and gradual deterioration”, which has made the complex dangerous. The grounds are heavily guarded at all hours, surrounded by a high-security cordon manned by Brotherhood Force Masters, plasma-carrying Progeny with night vision equipment, trained rad wolves, and other mutated creatures adapted to tracking or guard duty. The complex itself is also entered on occasion by special Censor patrols armed with monitoring equipment, to test the plant’s integrity and look for signs of increasing wear - and do repairs where possible. The structure is heavily radiated, as the shielding is cracked in places and the reactor dome is only mediocre in keeping the radiation in. However, around 200 MWth

of power continues to be generated by the reactor, powering everything in Las Vegas that has any form of electricity.

Adventure Hooks  A shipment of uranium rods (scavenged from a newly-discovered power station in some dusty corner of the desert) arrives at the gates of the First Temple, where they are to be unloaded and taken to the reactor. Here, using robotic loading units to circumvent the potent radioactivity, the rods will be transferred to the core, where the undying “Princess” remains trapped. Bold and/ or powerful player characters who’ve learned the truth of the Princess’ plight may mount a mission to slip into the Temple to find her and make contact. What her reaction would be to an encounter with strangers (other than adoring Brotherhood goons who are too excited to see her to listen to her pleas for help) is open to speculation, but her release could change the Brotherhood forever!  A fire breaks out at the First Temple, and soon

ARTIFACTS OF THE BROTHERHOOD The Brotherhood is said to have in its possession a number of legendary artifacts that are known far and wide by the mutated, and serve as symbols of the Brotherhood‘s legitimacy to the mutant race. These artifacts are jealously guarded by the Ecclesiarchy, for they are one-of-a-kind relics that, in many cases, date to generations before the modern era. DOEF109663 Dossier: A disc showing the location of nuclear waste sites, processing centers, and disposal/storage bunkers throughout the United States. Only accessible on special computers, the disc contains information that the Brotherhood has used on numerous occasions to mount expeditions to find lost nuclear sources, fuel, and waste. Many of these have since been named “holy sites”, and shrines/temples built around or near them for pilgrims to visit. Rod of Power: An actual uranium rod, normally kept secure in the Great Cathedral, but taken out, exhibited, and wielded by the Krytarch on special holy days. The rod itself is only partly used, and contains useable nuclear fuel. It is also highly radioactive (treat as a Severe source of radiation), meaning that it is hazardous to those nearby and extremely hot to the touch, requiring special gloves (or immunities to radiation and heat) to handle. Three-Mile Scrolls: Eighty-six loose-leaf pages of blueprints, and technical diagrams detailing a nuclear reactor complex, its systems and procedures, major components, and the technology behind it. These scrolls are essentially a “how-to” guide for building and maintaining a working nuclear plant. Catalogues of Brother Klaproth: An in-depth survey financed by the Brotherhood and conducted by a distinguished scholar, listing all known mutant life encountered by the Brotherhood and its agents over the generations. The catalogues basically contain information on all mutant beasts and mutant humanoids in Terrors of The Twisted Earth, including descriptions, sketches, physical traits, known abilities, and hazards of each new life form. Pot-Belly Pete: This enormous black “bomb” was discovered by the Commission among the ruins of Vegas, and donated to the Brotherhood as a “goodwill” gesture. Pot-Belly Pete is an actual live hydrogen bomb (a la “Fat Boy”) ensconced in the Black Edifice in the City of Lights, and revealed once each year to the faithful during the Krytarch’s Jubilee (a holy day in which worshipers are permitted into a handful of normally-cloistered sanctuaries of the Brotherhood to revere artifacts of the faith). Revered Krytarch Neptunium: The preserved corpse of a former Brotherhood Krytarch who died after a critical accident left him irradiated with over 18,000 REM. The Krytarch passed away after only a few hours, but his body was kept as a holy relic. Parts of the desiccated corpse (especially the fingers, hands, and face) actually glow, and some worshipers claim heat can still be felt in proximity to the corpse’s resting place, a lead-lined sealed capsule in the Black Edifice.

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alarms sound all over the city. A tremendous “fountain” of radioactivity blooms into the sky over Vegas, visible as a blue “Glow” that brings light to an otherwise moonless night. Worshipers of the “Glow” all over town drop to their knees in awe of this “sign”, while those in the know (including the higher-ups in the Brotherhood Ecclesiarchy) quietly slip out of town before the city gets too “hot”. During all the chaos come reports of a beautiful, glowing woman emerging from the shattered doors of the First Temple, and people are proclaiming their “goddess” has been reborn…

THE BLACK EDIFICE A gleaming black building of massive proportions, what the so-called “Black Edifice” (a.k.a. the Second Great Temple, next in line after the First Great Temple, the Las Vegas Nuclear Power Plant) was originally meant to resemble has been lost to time. Still, the pyramid-shaped structure is one of the most

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dominating in all of Las Vegas, a seemingly-perfect four-sided structure that points towards the cloudless sky like the mythical Tower of Babel. The Black Edifice is the visible center of the Brotherhood’s power, serving as both the functional and ceremonial heart of the Ecclesiarchy. Similar in function to St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, it is a visible symbol of the Brotherhood as well as the official seat of power for the Ecclesiarchy, the repository of some of its most well-known artifacts, and a famous pilgrimage spot known across the wastes. The Black Edifice is open to small numbers of the public on certain days; it is otherwise closed to intrusion, for it is very much an active dormitory for Brotherhood Force Masters. The Illuminated - strange glowing beings whose angelic presence serves as inspiration for the masses - are said to also dwell in the Black Edifice in a secretive and secure part of the structure, as does the current Krytarch, who maintains alternative quarters of appropriately lavish apartments near the building‘s summit (his other residences are

the Hotel Imperium and Aurora Ranch). The Edifice is traditionally guarded by a considerable contingent of Brotherhood Force Masters, who serve as a sort of “Swiss Guard”, keeping the grounds secure, patrolling the Edifice’s vast museums dedicated to preserving the history of atomic understanding and radiological science, and acting as internal security.

Adventure Hooks  The Foundation, always seeking means to generate energy to fuel their reconstruction efforts, learn of the Three-Mile Scrolls (see nearby sidebar) and are looking to mount a raid on the Black Edifice to get them. Player character Foundationists, or even unaffiliated mercenaries, might be used for the near-suicidal mission.  Wronged in some way by a powerful Brotherhood cleric in a distant land, the PCs have tracked him to the City of Lights after weeks of traveling. To get revenge, the characters will have to plan a daring raid on the Black Edifice, where the influential cleric is currently the guest of the reigning Krytarch!

CAMP ALPHA Lying on the outskirts of town is this sprawling desert camp, a concentration center established and run by the Persecutors branch of the Brotherhood. It is here, in a makeshift “tent town”, that the rare handfuls of pureblood humans found attempting to enter Vegas (or even discovered within ten miles or so of the city in general) are taken for indefinite incarceration. Camp Alpha is well-patrolled by a contingent of Force Masters and Rad Wolves. At least one Censor is on site at all time for the interrogation of inmates (concerning their business coming to a “mutantonly” city); the camp itself is run by a high-ranking Persecutor whose duty it is to report possible plots or saboteurs and deal with them accordingly. Life in Camp Alpha is miserable for those taken here, with conditions being little better than a pre-Fall prisoner of war camp. Prisoners are separated by gender, kept in secured barracks, and overseen from a series of lofty guard towers. Escape is improbable, and even attempting to slip out of the compound is considered “proof” that a prisoner means the Brotherhood harm. To survive, most who are taken here must put up with the humiliation of captivity and the poor living conditions for as long as it takes to have their names cleared. This can take from one week to six months. Those who do live to be released more often than not leave the City of Lights behind, having had enough of Brotherhood “hospitality” to stay longer than necessary.

Adventure Hooks  Pureblood characters have a good chance of being discovered if/when they come to the City of Lights, and if they do, they’ll be taken here. The Persecutors are looking for signs of spies everywhere, so escaping accusation (whether warranted or not) may sometimes be difficult. Mounting an escape may be the only option if the characters hope to avoid being executed!  The PCs are hired by a man who claims to be a merchant. The mission: to sneak into Camp Alpha and rescue a pureblood human who used to work for him. On at last finding the detainee, the characters discover he never “worked” for their employer at all - he was in fact a captive being held by the “merchant” (actually a tech looter) on the suspicion that he might know the location of a lost vault. The character might fulfill their part of the bargain anyway, or they might help the pureblood escape and return with him to a secret vault of other pureblood human s located somewhere in the Nevada Desert.

HOSPITAL OF THE GLOW Erected on the grounds of an old radiotherapy complex from before the Fall, the so-called Hospital of the Glow is the headquarters of an influential branch of the Brotherhood known as the “Sisters of Asclepius”. Here, in an enormous decaying building, the Sisters attempt to treat the injured and dying, many of whom are pilgrims who have made the trek to the City of Lights from places far away. The Hospital is a marvel of Ancient technology, though most of the advanced equipment has deteriorated over time. A small amount of medical technology was salvageable, however, and over the years they have slowly managed to piece together this equipment, as well as rediscover the procedures once used to treat advanced diseases, cancers, etc. Most of the ground floor level of the Hospital is taken over by camps of those being treated by the Sisters. The second story is reserved for the dormitories of the Sisters themselves, while the top level and outbuildings house treatment rooms, surgeries, radiology rooms, etc. A large garden in one of the courtyards is used to grow medicinal herbs for more rudimentary treatments as well.

Adventure Hooks  Characters who find themselves injured or on the run may secure “sanctuary” at the Hospital of the Glow, even if their pursuers are Brotherhood agents. The Sisters of Asclepius honor their vow to aid the sick and wounded even over their commitments to the Brotherhood as a whole, and the grounds of the Hospital are expected to be sacred. While enjoying the relative safety of the Sisters’ care, the characters may still become the

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BROTHERHOOD VS. COMMISSION The long-standing treaty and steady peace between the Brotherhood and the Commission may seem like a permanent fixture to some, but it isn’t. Sure they were around since the beginning; Pastor Bright made peace with them, later using them to help cut Princess out of the picture and seize control. He used the Commission as secret muscle to make the transition from silent partner to total autocrat both smooth and painless. Over the years they stood quietly by as the Brotherhood took shape, rising from a quack cult to a twisted perversion of old world religion. The only thing that kept the Commission loyal (and their lips sealed) was the promise that the “Sin City” district was theirs to do with as they wished, growing fat off of the plentiful corium coming through town in the pockets of thrill-seeking wayfarers like a flood. It worked for a long time. The Commission grew rich and Sin City became their personal kingdom, just like Bright said. But things change. The current leader of the Commission, Bill Nickels, often entertains the idea of a Vegas free of religion altogether; he’d love to see Bright’s colorful cult reduced to the freakish sideshow it once was, full of televangelists and over-made-up celebrity preachers crying on camera. Instead of a hegemonic theocracy, he wants to see the pursuit of business take its rightful place in Vegas: at the top. Nickels is currently paralyzed by the sheer power and influence of the Brotherhood, however, unable or unwilling to openly move against them for fear of destroying what progress the Commission have made. Open warfare would be tantamount to suicide, what with the sway the Brotherhood has over so many thousands of starry-eyed mutants not only here in Vegas, but all over the desert. But that doesn’t get Mr. Nickels down. Like the fortunes at any roulette table in any casino in this town, things can turn around on a dime. You just have to be patient and keep an eye open for the right opportunity… targets of Brotherhood infiltrators and/or hired assassins, however.  The characters are recovering from injuries at the Hospital when an uproar sweeps the City of Lights. The Ascelpians have been denounced as heretics, and the Censors are moving to shut down the Hospital and sweep the Sisters from the city. With the Hospital under siege, the characters discover a group of Sisters trying to smuggle someone out of the cordon, a young scion who claims to have prophetic visions which she claims are being broadcast to her psychically from Princess that reveal the ugly truth of the Brotherhood’s past, as well as her current imprisonment. To preserve this vital information the characters will have to protect the girl while also escaping across the desolate Badlands with armies of Brotherhood warriors in pursuit!

ARCHANGEL TOWER

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Archangel Tower is the headquarters of Commission, as well as the opulent residence of Bill Nickels, the gang’s Machiavellian leader. It is also the tallest building in Las Vegas, a former skyscraper/casinoresort on the north end of the city that provided unparalleled views of the desert. They used to say one could see the grow of atmospheric detonations taking place in the atomic proving grounds out in the desert from the tower top restaurant, and people came from all over the country to gamble in its first-class casino under that same unnatural glow. Because of its value as a lookout point, Archangel Tower was inhabited by the Commission since the earliest days after the Fall. From here the gang’s followers could keep an eye out on the desert for

bands of refugees - or the movement of predatory raider gangs. They have continued to hold the tower as their “ancestral territory” since, a claim the Brotherhood honors due to each group’s long (and shamefully parasitic) history. Archangel Tower has been renovated over the years using wealth gained as a direct result of the Commission’ relationship with the Brotherhood. The Commission have rebuilt the casino and hotel almost to pre-Fall standards, and have even revived the old swimming pools for the use of their guests. The grounds are also well cared for and encircled by walls, allowing the Commission to offer the promise of security to those travelers who have reason to fear the other natives of Las Vegas. Archangel Tower is the nerve center of the Commission gang, and as such much of the compound is off-limits to outsiders. Still, those parts that are open to the public generally attract the real high-rollers and the most serious gamblers. Games of unheard-of stakes, with the fates of merchant houses or more have often taken place here. All in all, a visit to Archangel Tower is generally not for the rank-and-file.

Adventure Hooks  When the Commission first found Pot Belly Pete (see the sidebar on page ?), Mr. Nickels didn’t hand it over to the Brotherhood without first taking out “ insurance”. That insurance was the bomb’s kryton switch, a vital component needed to actually detonate the bomb. Nickels has the switch hidden in Archangel Tower, in the event that should relations with the Brotherhood ever turn sour, he has something over them (the ability to detonate a nuclear weapon in the heart of the city).

 Mr. Nickels doesn’t trust anyone, and the Brotherhood is no exception, regardless of their long-standing “treaty“. He’s looking to hire someone exceptionally skilled (i.e. high level) to learn more about the Brotherhood’s secrets. Investigating rumors of strange lights seen in the radiated ruins of Nellis Air Force Base at night is a good place to start…

SIN CITY Once a nickname for all of Las Vegas, “Sin City” has been applied specifically to the north portion of town since the time of Pastor Bright and the rise of the Brotherhood. It is here, in the rundown part of the city that by treaty (made by the followers of Princess to settle any disputes with the sole inhabitants of the original town) serves as the local “free trade zone”, that the original pre-Fall flavor of Las Vegas still manages to flourish. The traditional “Strip”, lined with its old casinos-turned-temples may be what first comes to mind to outsiders when they hear about the “City of Lights”, but it is Sin City that really attracts outsiders. For those who come to the City of Lights for reasons other than religion, Sin City is there to cater to their every whim and desire. The Commission have benefited tremendously from their almost 300 year-old treaty with the Brotherhood of Radiation, a relationship that has allowed them to virtually monopolize the casinos, gambling dens, drug parlors, and bordellos in this disintegrating corner of the city. It is in this same quarter that the interests of outside merchants are also catered to, and so major caravanserai have been established here for the rest and re-supply of Clean and Cartel caravans, as well as quartering the personnel other regional trading houses. Merchants, peddlers, caravan guards, mercenaries, desert scavengers, and wayfarers all walk the same streets under the sleazy glow of the neon lights, finding virtually endless places to spend every last bit of corium in their pockets.

Adventure Hooks  Characters looking for information, supplies, or specific individuals might do well coming to Sin City to find them. They may not find what they want on the streets, but there is bound to be someone who knows where to find what they’re looking for.  The characters come across the body of a Brotherhood monk in an alley in Sin City. Finding a dead Brotherhood cleric in such a sleazy part of town is one thing, but the contents of the holodisc he seems to be clutching with a death grip could be even more alarming…

AURORA RANCH This sprawling, white-walled ranch sits on the edge of town in a 30 acre plot of land that once boasted a cactus forest, natural spring, and the sole breeding grounds of an endangered species of rattlesnake. It was the property of Pastor Jeremy Bright (officially, however, it was owned by his Evangelical church, for tax purposes), his “headquarters” in Las Vegas. Much of the ranch was destroyed during the Fall. The Brotherhood rebuilt the ranch and uses it as a third alternative residence for the ruling Krytarch. When the Krytarch is in residence the complement of Brotherhood security usually quadruples, and trespassers are generally not allowed within a half mile of the ranch grounds.

Adventure Hooks  Characters looking to get close to the Krytarch might consider approaching the ranch when he is present - but to do so would be risky. If caught, some explaining will be in order to avoid being delivered into the hands of the Censors.  The Aurora Ranch is said to have a museum dedicated specifically to Pastor Bright, recognized by many as the first Krytarch, with relics and artifacts chronicling the early years of the Brotherhood in Las Vegas. Some of these relics are priceless, and could be traded for staggering amounts of corium to followers of the religion. Characters sneaking into the ranch and stealing these artifacts could stand to make a great deal of money!

AURORA TELEVISION BROADCASTING This large downtown building is now crumbling, but still features an aging broadcast tower that looms over the nearby ruins. Long ago it was a television studio, in specific the broadcast studio used by Pastor Jeremy Bright for his Evangelical Church’s television broadcasts and fund raising telethons. Most of the equipment in the building was damaged by the EMP over the city during the Final War, and scavengers damaged most of what remained afterwards. When refugees first came to the city, however, they saw no need to come here (what world was left to preach to?), and the building has remained mostly deserted in the ensuing decades.

Adventure Hooks  Unknown to most, the old T.V. broadcast tower has become ground zero for a project run by the Brotherhood’s Censors. The project is an effort to create a means of mass mind control, projecting invisible and inaudible broadcasts to the various Followers camps. These broadcasts are intended to allow the Brotherhood to influence the dreams of sleeping subjects, implanting ideas and/or

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suggestions as they sleep. So far the project has had some tantalizing results, but is far from successful.  The broadcast equipment works, and characters looking for a way of broadcasting information over a wide area will find the old station as their best (and possibly only) option. Not many people monitor T.V. signals anymore, but those that do are important: the Foundation regularly scans T.V. frequencies for possible messages, as does the Iron Society in Styx and the Cartel merchants of Kingman Town.

OASIS A former hotel and casino on the outskirts of town, the “Oasis” was transformed into a caravan stop years ago. Though the buildings themselves are structurally in shambles, the complex (including three dried-up swimming pools) is functional, serving to quarter those who come to the City of Lights on business. On a typical day the Oasis will be populated by 3090 visiting merchants, scribes, tallymen, bodyguards, caravan guards, muleskinners, and animal handlers, along with their associated vehicles, mounts, beasts of burden, traveling supplies, and assorted trade goods. Though the quarters are hardly lavish, the Oasis provides shade from the withering heat, and clean water for men and animals at a reasonable rate. Space is always at a premium here due to the enormous amount of trade conducted in the city, so unless the party has clout they may not be able to find quarters here on a given evening.

Adventure Hooks  Room may be hard to find, but anyone looking for work has a good chance of finding it at the Oasis. Since many caravaneers get lured in by the lights of Sin City and never want to leave, merchants are always in need of new recruits to replenish those men lost to the lure of Vegas. Any character with a gun, spear, or bow would be welcome.  A merchant staying at the Oasis is furious over an attack that occurred not ten miles from the City of Lights by a bold band of raiders. He’s looking to hire a group of “problem-solvers” to find the missing caravan and punish whoever is responsible.

MERCURY THEATRE

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Las Vegas’ premiere gay destination before the Fall, the Mercury Theatre mostly survived the blasts over Nellis despite neighborhood fires that destroyed almost everything else. The theatre continues to stand, however, resembling a turn-of-the-century cinema decorated with warped and blistered paint and the melted, monstrous stubs of once-heroic bronze statues. Rumors abound that the theatre has been taken over by

either terminals or hermavs, but whether or not this is true is unknown.

Adventure Hooks  Characters investigating this area will be surprised to find the theatre in operation. Movies are played here every evening for paying audiences of impoverished terminals squatting in the area. The movies are usually limited to trashy porn intermixed with a few Broadway musicals, but tickets are cheap and its not the worst place to come for entertainment - if one doesn’t mind rubbing elbows with the grubby homeless mutants who are only here for a few hours of warmth away from the desert at night.  The Mercury Theatre serves as the meeting spot for Foundation scouts who’ve been sent to keep an eye on the Brotherhood in Vegas. The PCs may or may not witness such a meeting, and even possibly overhear a secret conversation that will surely peak their interest…

ATOMIC AUTOS Atomic Autos was a well-known automotive franchise throughout the Southwest during the height of the Ancients, dealing most lucratively in nuclearpowered automobiles. Utilizing the much-publicized “automotive reactor”, many of Atomic Autos’ cars were state-of-the-art machines that promised to bring back the Golden Age of the Automobile. The Atomic Autos in the City of Lights is still in operation, the owner, “Lucky”, still managing to turn a profit selling atomic-powered cars to the rare client who can afford them. Many of his customers are Brotherhood clerics, and in fact, a visit to the lot will likely involve an encounter with a group of Brotherhood monks out scouting for something suitable for their master. In Vegas, it is said, any Brotherhood Bishop worth his mitre must have his own “Plutonium Pontiac”, and it’s Lucky they come to when they want to make a deal.

Adventure Hooks  Lucky is in a panic after finding the atomic power cells of his cars - every last one of them - have been stolen. With a powerful Brotherhood cleric expecting the delivery of his new car in a few days, Lucky’s in a rush to find the culprit(s) and get the energy cells re-installed. If the PCs take the job their investigations may take them to the ruins of the Mall, where a group of Tekheads has been hiding out while scavenging for technology (including atomic car batteries) by night.  The characters muster up the money to buy a car from Atomic Autos. What they get is a dusty old sedan with Michigan plates refitted with a rickety plutonium power plant. In the trunk they find

what appears to be a shovel and a disintegrating skeleton, the latter with an old gold watch around one wrist with the initials “JRH” engraved on the back...

CONVENT OF MOTHER HIROSHIMA The Convent of Mother Hiroshima was the first convent for female followers of the Brotherhood established anywhere on the Twisted Earth. Since its founding, sister chapters have sprung up in other populated places (such as the notorious, “religionstarved” city of Styx), but the original edifice in the City of Lights remains the most prestigious. The convent was built on what was apparently a hidden missile silo in the heart of Las Vegas. The placement of active missile silos in urban areas was not a common practice, and it stands as a rarity. Regardless, the deep underground shaft and adjoining subterranean support structures have been put to use creating a school of instruction and indoctrination for Brotherhood youth. The convent currently serves as a sort of boarding school for female children (many of them members of the mysterious race known as “Scions” - see New Templates) devoted to the Brotherhood from an early age, as well as for the continued education of teenagers and young women in the theology of the Glow. The convent consists of no less than three large dormitories, a rectory area, library and scriptorium, and other administrative buildings. The grounds are entirely underground, of course, except for the shell of an abbey constructed above ground to shelter the old “secret” entrance (now just a concrete stairwell descending into the dark caverns below). There are rumors that the convent houses more than dormitories, however, and that here special students undergo secretive training for some future militant campaign. None can really say if such stories are true, or merely reflect the uncertainty others have about the Brotherhood’s goals in general.

Adventure Hooks  A new cadre of all-female mind warriors has begun to appear on the streets of Las Vegas. At first they are lauded by the Brotherhood as an example of what all women can achieve - strength, internal control, and power - but when word spreads that the women pledge allegiance to the convent’s matriarchy first, and the Ecclesiarchy second, rumors abound that the convent will be declared heretical.  Rumor has it that a high-ranking matriarch of the convent possesses powerful clairvoyant abilities; some say her “second sight“ is limitless, letting her see any place on the Twisted Earth. Characters seeking to know about the world beyond the familiar borders of the desert might seek her out and petition her wisdom, but what

she sees of the world beyond the wasteland might be something the PCs don’t want to hear...

CRYPTORUM RADIUM REX The Cryptorum Radium Rex is the largest Brotherhood monastery in Las Vegas, known more widely for housing the staggering archives of the Ecclesiarchy. Here, under the care and supervision of senior clerics and scholars, documents and relics relating to or associated with the history, science, or study of radioactivity have been painstakingly compiled for generations. These archives include a boggling variety of topics, from financial documents from the Department of Energy to blueprints for the creation of minifusion cells. There are writings of Einstein and Oppenheimer (some relating to nuclear topics, others collected merely because their author was of such fame), and textbooks on nuclear physics. The archives include actual usable uranium fuel rods (kept in a separate, bunker-like building on the monastery grounds), to the world’s largest known corium nugget (said to be the size of a Volkswagen Beetle - and worth at least half a million cp). Other “relics” kept here include radiological samples used in hospitals, to radiated trinkets and baubles (from twisted car bumpers to metal toys) that merely picked up radiation as a result of being outside when the bombs first fell. There is a vast museum of dosimeters and other radiation-measuring devices, as well as a gallery containing fascinating pieces of artwork (employing uranium, radiated metals, or uranium glass) created by long-dead Brotherhood monks over the centuries as a symbol of their devotion to the “Glow”. Many of these pieces of jewelry and art are surprisingly beautiful, intricate, and valuable.

Adventure Hooks  The world’s largest corium nugget? When the characters are tipped off to the existence of this metallurgical marvel, a caper to “acquire” it is in order. But breaking into the Cryptorum may be more difficult than it seems and, making an enemy of the Brotherhood of Radiation could have farreaching consequences.  A seemingly innocuous rustic approaches the characters and asks them to go to Vegas and retrieve the remains of what he claims is his ancestor, a man who was badly radiated in an accident and his mummified remains interred at the Cryptorum as a mere curio. The rustic claims he only wants to have his ancestor’s remains back so they can be properly buried, but in reality he is a member of a Radite cell who hopes to retrieve the radiated remains (actually a famous Brotherhood saint whose writings inadvertently gave birth to the Radite movement) for their own veneration.

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LADY LUCK The Lady Luck is an abandoned casino, standing in the shadow of the Omaha Hotel. It’s unclear why the building is deserted, considering its proximity to the action going on day and night in “Sin City”.

Adventure Hooks  The Lady Luck could be just what an enterprising PC is looking for: an old casino ready to be resurrected and filled with patrons. The only thing lacking is someone with business sense and the ability to deal with sometimes-hostile neighbors (like Gloria Glitz of the Omaha, next door). A PC with personality, and willing to take risks, might make a fortune with the right investment of time and money.  There’s a reason the Lady Luck stands empty while other pre-Fall casinos thrive in Sin City - it is infested with giant mutant cockroaches. Whether the problem is simply a matter of clearing the old casino and its subterranean storage areas of the bugs, or requires the characters to venture into the old sewers beneath Vegas to find the real source of the infestation, is anyone’s guess.

ALAMAGORDO LYCAEUM The Alamagordo Lycaeum is an enormous “crystal palace” on the south side of the City of Lights, at the southern tip of the Sacred Quarter. Visited by the Brotherhood elite (that is, high-ranking monks, bishops, etc.), the Lyceaum is a sort of meditative retreat and spa geared towards the pampering of the more important players in the Ecclesiarchy. The Lycaeum is comprised of numerous interconnected chambers beneath a single roof, with steam rooms and baths (with warmth generated by the radiation in the surrounding walls), gardens, and an extensive library of Ancient-era readings as well as texts penned by illustrious Brotherhood “saints”. What makes the Lycaeum one of the true “wonders of the post-apocalyptic world” is that the entire building, from its walls to its roof to its doors, is made from

trinitite, a radiation- and uranium-infused glass created from sand fused after a nearby nuclear blast. Trinitite is exceptionally rare, and most of the world’s supply is currently worked into the structure of the Lycaeum. Even more remarkable than the fact that the building is made from glass, however, is that at night the entire structure glows with a lambent green radiance without need of electricity.

Adventure Hooks  Characters looking to get in contact with a specific somebody of any import in the Brotherhood of Radiation might consider coming here; it is, after all, the “place to be” for the Brotherhood elite (as many of them shun the idea of visiting casinos or brothels). Getting in, however, will require considerable cache and references on the characters’ part.  A Brotherhood bigwig is found murdered late one night at the Lycaeum, and for some reason outsiders (the PCs) are brought in to investigate. The Brotherhood agent in charge fears the murder was done by a fellow cleric, possibly one of great influence in the Ecclesiarchy, and so he needs someone who is unfettered by loyalties or vows of obedience to find out who the culprit really is. Of course, tracking down a politically-powerful killer always has its dangers…

THE PIT Concrete, asphalt, stone, and steel have all been torn up here, revealing a gargantuan crater in the city that is a full block in size. This huge pit was dug here centuries ago, probably in preparation for laying the groundwork of a new resort, but after the Fall it became the lowest point in town - and thus the nexus for all of the radioactive sludge and toxic runoff from the city’s streets and sewers. Even though it is highly radioactive, and the blue glow of the Pit can be seen as far as the Hotel Imperium at night, the Pit is considered a well-known Vegas landmark and a holy pilgrimage point. Its proximity to the Cryptorum Radium Rex and the

BUYING INDULGENCES

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As it was with the medieval Roman Catholic Church, the Brotherhood of Radiation does a brisk trade in the “sale of indulgences”. Unlike the indulgences of the past, however, which promised to wash away sin, the indulgences sold by the Brotherhood offer a more tangible “cleaning of the slate”. By buying a Brotherhood-sanctioned indulgence (available at most major Brotherhood temples, as well as landmarks such as the Pit in the City of Lights), a petitioner pays a modest 500 corium and in exchange is given a “holy dose” of rad-purge shot. The way the Brotherhood and its followers see it, a person who subjects him- or herself to the “Glow” and gets sick was too sinful, and thus only an indulgence (I.e. a radiation shot) will “cleanse” her spirit. After taking such a shot, most believers assume they have been spiritually “purified” and do not attempt to expose themselves to the “Glow” again. At least not unless they have the cash to pay for another indulgence to heal them!

Convent of Mother Hiroshima, places it squarely in the center of things in the Sacred Quarter. The Brotherhood maintains a presence here, mostly to keep order over the pilgrims that come to bathe in the Pit’s waters, day and night. Many who enter the Pit’s murky, luminous waters tend to grow sick and die within a few days, so a surprising number of smalltime vendors have set up shop in the area offering quack cures for radiation sickness. The Brotherhood itself maintains an officially-sanctioned pavilion here where believers can purchase indulgences (see nearby sidebar) after the experience of bathing in the Pit’s unnaturally warm waters.

Adventure Hooks  Characters looking for treatment for radiation sickness might be drawn here by stories of the Pit and the selling of “indulgences” that takes place there.  Destitute followers who come to the Pit have begun reporting appearances of “angels” seen at the Pit during the night. In reality these “angels” are heliogryphs, which are attracted to the radiation in the waters and have fluttered in from the desert. Preying on pilgrims in the area by night, and vanishing to an unknown lair by day, the characters are hired to hunt the heliogryphs and drive them from the city. Their lair could be in a complex of nearby buildings, or might lead the characters into the heavily-radiated sewers beneath the City of Lights.

SKYLINE HOTEL The Skyline was once a landmark of Las Vegas, a sprawling hotel/casino complex covering several city blocks and made to resemble the skyline of some famous city on the eastern seaboard. In recent years its character has changed drastically, transforming into a gargantuan tenement sprawl for the masses of unwashed adherents who flock to the Brotherhood each year. Unlike the Follower camps that ring the city like grungy barrios, this area is reserved for actual members of the Brotherhood (Infused and higher). This has not meant much in the way of improving the living standards, however, and the shells of buildings and hotels range widely in appearance and cleanliness, degree of occupation and access to utilities.

Adventure Hooks  Rumors of Radite infiltrators in the city lead the characters to this largely residential area, but finding their quarry (spies and potential saboteurs) won’t be easy when everyone looks and acts the same!  Characters looking to make contacts inside the Brotherhood might find young, impressionable

acolytes among the Skyline’s congested quarters willing to help. Getting them to risk their positions (and possibly, their lives) by feeding the party information on the Ecclesiarchy is another matter.

JOKER’S Joker’s may have once been a rowdy casino and bar, but not anymore. A few years ago an enterprising pair of twins from out West came here with truckloads of guns and ammunition, and a bunch of reactivated androids, and began what has become a booming trade: buying and selling arms and ammunition. What makes Joker’s so appealing to visitors to the City of Lights is the staggering array of weapons that the twins, Dick and Donny Deuce, have amassed. The Deuces claim to have all sorts of connections in the desert, and its true; they have their finger on the pulse of scavs, local traders, and faraway merchants alike. They have agents in various settlements find their guns and ammo, buy it for reasonably cheap, and ship it back here to be sold in a much more cosmopolitan venue. Dick and Donny are a bit annoying in their Tweedle Dee/Tweedle Dum manner of finishing each others sentences and going everywhere together, and the power their wealth and business has brought them has begun to make them arrogant. Still, they are the only place to go if someone’s looking for real working laser or plasma technology, or rare types of ammunition such as large caliber rifle rounds or machinegun ammo. They also do a brisk trade in explosives and anti-tank weapons too!

Adventure Hooks  Joker’s is a fortress, and Dick and Donny aren’t the only ones armed and expecting a fight. The androids they brought with them aren’t limited to repair/service models, they also brought a few soldier androids as well that pack lasers and energy shields, patrolling the grounds 24 hours a day - tirelessly. And as if that wasn’t enough, Dick and Donny aren’t really twins - they’re androids too, based on the same model! A party planning a raid on Joker’s might be able to get away with the haul of a lifetime in armaments, but it won’t be easy!  Bill Nickels (see Archangel Tower) would love to have Dick and Donny working for him (and funneling weapons to the Commission), but so far the twins have resisted all efforts to bring them into his employ. Mr. Nickels would pay handsomely for a party to humiliate the twins and find a way to blackmail them into doing it “his way“.

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HOTEL IMPERIUM The single largest hotel/casino in Las Vegas before the Fall, the Hotel Imperium combined the luxury accommodations of two major casinos into one sprawling Roman-themed complex. When the Brotherhood of Radiation first came to power in Las Vegas and began its slow transformation into

MAJOR BROTHERHOOD PLOTS Besides uniting all of mutant kind under one banner, and spreading the belief in the power of the “Glow”, the Brotherhood is involved in a handful of other grand plans (or plots, depending on which side one stands), none of which are common knowledge and most of which are in fact well-guarded secrets. These plots may have far-reaching consequences, and could be the driving force behind entire campaigns in which the Brotherhood is slowly revealed to be a villainous entity. Discovering these plots, and working to defeat them, would be feats worthy of epic-level adventurers. Breeding Program Among the Brotherhood’s darkest secrets is its active program of capturing mutants and other forms of life at random and subjecting them (in hidden facilities) to radiation and toxic chemicals to alter them. Those that survive are subjected to intense and brutal breeding programs to strengthen certain qualities, while weeding out others. As if the idea of abductions and forcing mutagens on witless outsiders wasn’t alarming enough, what the Brotherhood plans on doing with these creatures is a secret that might upset the stability of the wasteland by tipping off outsiders to the Brotherhood’s secret military aims. These breeding programs are nothing short of a longterm plan to build an army of super-beings, allowing the Brotherhood to conquer the entirety of the wasteland in the name of mutant kind. The fate of neutral groups, pureblood humans, and other factions who do not buy into the Brotherhood’s religious quackery? None can be certain.

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Burning Lands Many of the original followers of Pastor Bright were pre-Fall energy lobbyists, a few of whom knew of an experimental power complex and vault being built beneath what is now known as the “Burning Lands”. In recent years, Censors and Psions of the Ecclesiarchy detected the rise of a powerful psychic being in the same vicinity as this lost vault, and subtle efforts have been made to find a way to penetrate the heart of the Burning Lands to find it. The Brotherhood believes that if such a source of power can be harnessed (or bent to their will), then domination of the vast lands on the other side of the

a true “Church”, the Hotel’s classical architecture, vast interior space, and sheer formidable appearance made it a natural choice for the headquarters of the Ecclesiarchy. Today the Hotel Imperium is about as secure a government building as one will find on the Twisted Earth, serving as the main headquarters for the cryptic Censors branch of the Ecclesiarchy, as well as the Rocky Mountains may be within their grasp. The Brotherhood’s effort to penetrate this forbidden corner of the desert and secure this legendary power source is described in the novel, Burning Lands. Mount of Thorns Associated with their dreadful breeding program, the Brotherhood’s hunt for the legendary “Mount of Thorns” is a secret they have tried hard to keep. A lost location believed by some to be mere myth, the mountain is said to be the resting pace of unimaginable quantities of atomic waste and radioactive byproducts from the time of the Ancients. The “Mount of Thorns” is believed to lie somewhere in the Deadlands, west of Las Vegas, but none have ever found (or if they did, they never returned to tell the tale). The Brotherhood has actually funded numerous expeditions to find it, but all have returned empty-handed. Still, the Brotherhood’s agents persist, because they believe that if they do find the mountain, the toxic sludge found in its deep subterranean tunnels could advance their breeding program by years, if not decades. The drive to find the Mount of Thorns is fleshed out in detail in the adventure series, One Man‘s Garbage and Another Man‘s Treasure. Takeover of Lil’ Vegas That the Brotherhood has agents already in the corium mega-mines of “Lil Vegas” (on the far side of the Big Rocks) may or may not be a secret known to the characters. But the Brotherhood has placed a large priority on the infiltration of the labyrinthine mines, having sent numerous agents discreetly as both prospectors and slaves to get past that ugly little town’s watchful guards. The Brotherhood knows that the mines are among the largest and most productive in the known world, and getting their hands on that much radioactive material would serve not only as a major religious victory, but also put untold wealth at their fingertips. And though religious victories are nice, taking control of the world’s largest source of corium would be even better… More on the efforts of the Brotherhood to infiltrate Lil’ Vegas are covered in depth in the adventure, Death By Corium Light.

primary day-to-day residence of the Kryptarch. With government offices taking most of the ground and upper levels, along with apartments for senior members of the Brotherhood and visiting dignitaries in a separate wing, most speculate there must be underground levels to the complex as well for the Censors and their rumored experiments into mental manipulation and control.

Adventure Hooks  A loyal follower of the Brotherhood of Radiation might be selected for a special mission by the Censors to perform a mission of utmost importance for the Ecclesiarchy. Brought here under secrecy, the character would be scrutinized psychically for trustworthiness before being informed of her mission: to find a way of assassinating Bill Nickels (see Archangel Tower), and through his death weakening the Commission. With Nickels gone, whatever involvement the Commission had in the disaster that entombed Princess in the First Temple will be forgotten - a nagging problem the Censors have wished to deal with for generations.  High-level characters working for other major factions might have the motive to try and infiltrate the Hotel Imperium to learn the Brotherhood’s darkest secrets. If successful, the intruder(s) might learn of the Brotherhood’s shadowy history, the truth behind their alliance with the Commission, as well as the major Brotherhood plots currently being pursued well beyond the borders of the City of Lights.

TEN GALLON SALOON An enormous 50s-era sign looms over this crumbling casino, depicting a towering cowboy with a giant hat, whirling a lasso over his head. Long ago this sign glittered with over 1000 lights, but it is now dark and dead - like the building itself.

Adventure Hooks  The Ten Gallon Saloon isn’t exactly empty, as a group of ballsy raiders has taken it over as a hideout/secret lookout post. They use its relative proximity to the city to spy on parties of Brotherhood pilgrims and caravans leaving Las Vegas for the open desert. The raiders are responsible for some of the recent disappearances of caravans in the area.  The leader of the raiders is concerned after a small party of his men out on a scouting foray failed to return a few nights past. They went missing in the vicinity of Nellis Air Force Base.

KLONDIKE The Klondike, lying on the edge of town, has long been the favored haunt of scavs and other temporary migrants who otherwise make their lives among the deserts. Deep-desert dwellers, sand pickers, and junk peddlers alike patron the place, one of the largest (and most dilapidated) pre-Fall casinos in Las Vegas. The Klondike continues to thrive despite its great age and the rowdy, often-violent nature of its patrons. Fights are a common occurrence here (both fistfights and gunfights). With so many visitors hailing from a class of men usually overlooked by the rest of society, the frequent deaths are of little concern to the establishment and the city authorities as a whole. Typically such victims are simply picked up, carted off, and dumped out the back door to become prey to wild dogs or packs of particularly-desperate Follower cretins scrounging for their next meal. Its reputation aside, the Klondike is an interesting place to visit, because the sheer number of scavs means there are always interesting items for sale. Considering Las Vegas’ long association with the Nuclear Age (nuclear weapons were tested within sight of it during the Cold War years), many of the junk items picked out of the desert junk heaps include things like “radium tablets”, “fall-out face powder”, “radithor cream”, “radium emanators”, and “water revigators” (these items are detailed in New Items).

Adventure Hooks  The characters meet a trigger-happy desert scav who claims he‘s only in town long enough to spend his corium (to lighten his load) before he vanishes again. Yet he seems to be wary of everyone, and overly jumpy. In reality he discovered the ruins of Nellis (see separate entry) during one foray into the wilds and, by chance, witnessed some of the experiments being conducted there. He knows what he saw is important, but also dangerous, and only wants to get out of town and leave Vegas behind for good.  A scav boarding at the Klondike has an interest item for sale: an old kryton switch, an important component used in the detonation of nuclear bombs. He says he found it out near the old nuclear proving grounds, and is willing to sell it to the highest bidder. When the Brotherhood finds out, they move to acquire it, as does another mysterious party, who’s willing to use less subtle methods to get their hands on it (this could be Bill Nickels, eager to keep every last detonator under his control, or some other party, such as the Foundation).

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PAI GOW PALACE An Asian-themed casino and hotel before the Fall, the Pai Gow Palace continues the tradition well after with a new breed of customers: merchants from the largely-oriental Clean and Cartel trade houses. The Pai Gow Palace is unlike other casinos in the City of Lights, as it enjoys a special status as an official “embassy” of the Clean trading house. Here, on sprawling grounds once designed to resemble a Chinese palace, the Clean maintain a host of servants, slaves, janissary guards, and well-groomed concubines. The Palace serves not only as the residence of the local Clean mandarin, as well as its embassy for all affairs between the trading house and the Brotherhood, but also as a luxurious rest-stop for its soldiers and traders making the arduous journey from the east.

Adventure Hooks  The Palace is off-limits to those who aren’t members of the Clean (or their allies, the Cartel), but characters could come here on important missions involving those two houses (whether delivering information, or passing warnings to the ambassadors here about Brotherhood activities).  Characters who’ve recently joined the Brotherhood might find themselves invited to an official gala/function at the Pai Gow Palace, either as junior emissaries of the Brotherhood or part of a larger entourage engaging in negotiations with the powerful traders. While visiting the Palace, one of the PCs is approached by an agent of the Clean - a friendly soldier, a powerful diplomat, or even a seductive concubine. To a young aspirant of the Brotherhood the attempt at friendship might at first appear innocent, but to anyone of any experience it is obvious the Clean agent it hoping to make a “spy” of the character, earning his trust and eventually using him to spy on the Brotherhood - for the benefit of the house, of course.

RED DOG’S

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An older bar that has seen better days, this locale has been a favorite hangout for mutants and the deformed since it re-opened after the Fall. Technically located inside the Sacred Quarter, Red Dog’s is a bustling bar and casino that adheres to a strict “mutants-only” policy; purebloods will be turned back at the door. The clientele is mostly made up of mutant adventurers, mercenaries, and terminals from the city’s outlying ruins, but stranger mutants have made appearances as well.

Adventure Hooks  “Dog”, owner of the establishment, is a fierce mutant and proud of it. He doesn’t trust purebloods in general (he’s heard too many tales of persecution from pureblood holdouts over the years), and is staunchly loyal to the Brotherhood of Radiation. Any activity that goes on in his bar that he even thinks could be against the Brotherhood he reports at once. He will even take what he perceives to be the “law” into his own hands, arming himself and his bouncers to “apprehend” those he suspects of being enemies of the Ecclesiarchy. This has gotten him in trouble in the past, for he’s not always right about the shady characters that haunt his bar.  A group of mutant thugs have begun preying on purebloods in Sin City. They’re clever, though, coming here to Red Dog’s to spend their ill-begotten gains, using the proprietor’s noquestion’s asked support of mutants to shield them from pursuers. Characters who’ve been victims of these thugs may have to take out the whole place if they want justice.

OMAHA HOTEL Looming over the corner of Sahara Boulevard and the Strip, the Omaha Hotel is one of the oldest casinos in Las Vegas, and is still a hotbed of gambling and prostitution. Thriving under the shadow of nearby Archangel Tower, the Omaha has seen prosperity due to its focus on specific clientele - the military personnel, caravan guards, and other mercenaries who blow into town on the caravans and convoys of the various merchant houses. The proprietor of the Omaha is one “Gloria Glitz“, a shrewd businesswoman who claims she has a softspot in her heart for military men, for her first husband was a soldier who died defending her community from raiders. It probably isn’t true, and the reality is that Glitz simply recognizes the potential money to be made from dumb men with more money than they know what to do with. Merchants pay their guards well, and since Sin City is the only place in the desert for them to spend their hard-earned corium, it’s up to her to “help” them. The Omaha is packed at almost any hour with Cartel soldiers, Clean janissaries, and the hired mercenaries of lesser trading houses. Glitz has made it rich catering to their needs (warm food, warm rooms, limitless hard alcohol, and girls galore), putting the money right back into her establishment, acquiring even more pricey booze, decent cooks, competent bouncers, and hiring some of the prettiest girls in town. She‘s also sunk a lot of money repairing much of the interior. Of all the casinos operating in Sin City, the Omaha is closest thing to a pre-Fall gambling house.

Adventure Hooks  The characters are hired to break into the Omaha and “rescue” a captive being held by Gloria Glitz. The captive is a man named “Bandit”, whose sole claim to fame is that he’s the only person around who knows anything about fixing slot machines (both in terms of repairing them, as well as stacking the odds in the favor of the House). Bandit has been living as a virtual slave for years, being traded between casinos when his expertise is needed, but Glitz has decided to keep him to herself - a fact that displeases Mr. Nickels. What the PCs do with Bandit when they rescue him (free him, or give him to Mr. Nickels as they were originally hired to do) is up to them.  Gloria Glitz is looking for hired help to keep the peace; with so many military grunts and mercs running around her place, arguments turn to feuds, and feuds into gun battles she (and the building) can ill afford. Glitz is known to pay well, and a stint working at her establishment as “security” might lead to future job offers.

PERSIA This seven-story hotel has seen better days, both as a hotel and casino destination. When its owner, a member of the Commission gang, attempted to split from the gang and start his own gambling empire, Mr. Nickels (see Archangel Tower) moved in quick and shut him down. The previous owner disappeared, and the Persia has since become little more than a flophouse for vagrants and gamblers-on-the-run, known for its dangerous inhabitants.

Adventure Hooks  Anyone can find a place to stay at the Persia, but there are a lot of armed thugs and would-be robbers living in the sky rise’s many rooms (or lurking in the moldy stairwells). Still, a wellarmed group could do well by carving out a place here, as the Persia is close to all the action in Sin City.  If/when the PCs move in, word of a band of outsiders taking over the Persia soon reaches Archangel Tower, and Bill Nickels dispatches a band of goons to officially “welcome” the party. Afraid they’re here as upstarts, Mr. Nickels’ men make it clear who runs the show in Sin City. Though the characters may explain their way out of trouble, the encounter will at least clue them in on the real power on the north side of town.

BUFFALO BETTY’S BURLESQUE SHOW This former roadside casino and nightclub was already a low budget joint during the twilight of the Ancients, catering to those traveling salesmen and truckers who had to have one last shot at the one-armed bandit

before moving on. Everything about the place is built to accommodate passersby, including a huge parking lot, truck stop facilities, and a motel for travelers. The casino itself is a simple one-story affair, and it was here that “Buffalo Betty’s Burlesque Show” was staged six nights a week, every week, for the two short years it was in operation. The casino was one of several sexually-suggestive attractions related to the “Wild West Girls” traveling road show, an exploitative topless revue populated primarily by desperate ex-convict women and wayward girls. The producers of the show attempted to legitimize the revue with USO appearances and televised public service messages, but the sheer crassness of the production brought about an early shutting of the establishment’s doors. Generations later, the Burlesque Show continues to serve as a brothel. The greasy little proprietor, who calls himself “Harry Flinn” after some obscure pre-Fall pornographer, has managed to start turning a profit from the old place. He’s found a source to stock the bar with cheap booze, and found a ready source of paying customers in the raiders, scavs, and other cretins living on the fringes of the Brotherhood “Holy City”. His girls are all local mutants, only taking up the costumes of Wild West Girls for their lewd shows, having no actual connection with the real, all-female cult.

Adventure Hooks  During their travels the characters meet a Wild West Girl whose obsession is to travel to the City of Lights and make a pilgrimage of her own - to Buffalo Betty’s Burlesque Show. Thinking she’d find some “holy site”, she is horrified by what she finds: a cheap bordello run by a slick little gangster, populated by rowdy thugs, and worked by destitute girls who know nothing about the movement they’re inadvertently mocking. The characters can help their companion when she goes on a shooting rampage to cleanse the place, or find some other means to driving Flinn out and making the place a respectable “shrine” again.  Flinn stays in business by providing cheap entertainment, cheap girls, and most importantly, cheap booze. He manages to keep his operating costs low by doing it the old-fashioned way: stealing everything he needs. Flinn keeps a few hired hands who make rounds of the various saloons in town, as well as places like Paradise Ranch, breaking in and stealing their stock and secreting back here to serve to the patrons. The characters could get involved by discovering Flinn’s racket, or he might actually approach them (as they probably look more competent than most of his customers) with offers of paid, clandestine work…

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PARADISE RANCH A sprawling ranch on the outskirts of town, “Paradise” is run by a pleasant old woman by the name of “Auntie Ante”. What strikes most people as odd, however, is the fact that Ante is a mongoliant with a surprisingly gentle disposition. Ante has managed to create a thriving business here, despite its isolation from the city, populating the ranch with pretty girls taken from the pleasure pits of wasteland settlements up and down the trade routes. The expenditure of buying these exclusive playthings has proven worth it, and the Paradise Ranch is hopping on most evenings with high-rollers and wealthy merchants.

Adventure Hooks  Auntie Ante has never needed security, what with her hulking size, but in recent weeks her establishment has been harassed by merchant menaces coming in from the deep desert. The nasty creatures haven’t been bold enough to attack the ranch en masse, but Ante isn’t going to wait around for them to muster their strength. She’s hoping to hire some men to help out, but keeping their hands on their guns (and off the girls) could be a challenge of its own!  Ante is looking to hire on new help - not just girls, but other kinds of performers who can add to the experience of her clientele. Comedians, jugglers, musicians, singers, even the idea of having an inhouse repairman would help improve the business at the Ranch. The benefits for signing on are obvious.

PONTIFEX PRESS

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This small building stands alone, bordered on all sides by fields of ruin. Taken over years ago by a local man who merely sought to spread the good word of the Brotherhood with the pen (or, more accurately, with an antiquated printing press), he soon found others willing to fill his newspaper with other stories. The Brotherhood has given its official sanction to the press, which now generates a regular news flyer that is distributed by merchant caravans to cities as far away as Tucumcari. These carry stories of the “wonders” of the City of Lights, as well as an open call for mutants of all kinds to come and find their “rightful” place in the Brotherhood of Radiation. Besides this mandatory propaganda, the press is free to fill its pages with other stories and/or adverts. Currently the paper pays its bills with money gained from running sleazy advertisements for Mr. Nickels’ casinos (see Archangel Tower) and the various entertainments of “Sin City”.

Adventure Hooks  Tired of carrying only propaganda (for either the Brotherhood or the Commission), the owner/

operator of Pontifex Press is looking for real stories to print. He will pay a respectable amount for PCs to do the footwork investigating stories, whether it’s about road conditions outside of town, recent raider activity on the desert highways, or more scandalous exposes about individuals here in Vegas.  A fire breaks out at the building and by morning the Press is no more. It looks like a cell of the Brethren has finally come to Vegas and have destroyed the press and its “evil machinery of misinformation” as their opening move. The characters are hired by one interested party or another to find the Brethren cell and drive them from town.

PILGRIM’S PALACE … is anything but. Even before the Fall this 60s-era hotel/casino was geared towards accommodating budget travelers and tourists, and lacked much in the way of glitz or glamour. Still, it is one of the few buildings still standing in this part of the city, and has been taken over by an entrepreneur named “Stevie Sin”. Sin has turned the Palace into a cheap boarding house for pilgrims who’ve traveled hundreds of miles to get to the City of Lights. Like before the Fall, the accommodations are no-frills (boarders find their own space, usually in a decaying room with more than a few rats to contend with), but the rates are extremely affordable.

Adventure Hooks  Sin is looking for a group of toughs to collect on a few overdue hotel bills. The current residents of the Pilgrim’s Palace are quite impoverished, and their promises of “making it big” at the casinos hasn’t panned out (no surprise). Sin wants the PCs to rough a few pilgrims up, break some legs, and get a little back in the way of payment - no matter how small. Oh, and a few evictions may be in order.  A desperate pilgrim family approaches the party looking for help. The father claims his daughter was abducted the first night they came to Vegas, and he fears she’s been taken to Sin City to work in one of the brothels. Whether she really was kidnapped, or simply ran off on her own, is open to speculation. Finding her will be like finding a needle in a haystack.

WALLY WORLD LAS VEGAS A licensed casino/theme park based on the popular cartoon character “Wally” (of Wally World fame), Wally World Las Vegas was a family-oriented destination situated on the northern leg of the strip. It was in operation for less than eight weeks before runaway expenditures and low attendance forced it

to be shut down. Rumors persisted even before the Fall that the sprawling casino was haunted, but this of course was never proven. Wally World Las Vegas continues to remain abandoned, its windows and doors boarded up and tumbleweed blowing across its oversized, deserted parking lots. The rumors that the park is haunted keep most would-be scavengers away.

Adventure Hooks  Brave characters could use Wally World Las Vegas as a base of operations in the City of Lights, but the place is dark, dusty, and full of dangerous machinery - not to mention a few specimens of giant mutated cockroaches.  The more recent reports of “ghosts” are the result of a group of nocturnal scavengers who’ve been sneaking into Wally World Las Vegas every few days or so to scavenge parts from the animatronic characters there. The scavengers are actually Tekheads working for the local cell (see the Mall).

THE MALL The Las Vegas Downtown Mall was, before the Fall, an upscale shopping destination catering to wealthy tourists, full of stores selling souvenirs, fancy attire, and accessories. It was ransacked during the Fall, and fires originating in the food court consumed many of the ground-level stores. Most inhabitants of the city assume it’s a deserted ruin.

Adventure Hooks  The ground-level of the Mall is not uninhabited, as most assume. About two dozen wastrels and waifs live here like residents of a squatter camp, decorating the place with salvaged junk and other garbage; the partly-melted mannequins that once decorated the storefronts now populate the main mall floor in natural-looking “crowds”, painstakingly assembled to look like pre-Fall shoppers (complete with hats, clothing, purses, etc.) enjoying a day at the mall. The residents are wary of discovery, as they are not associated with the Brotherhood.  Having occupied the remnants of a former electronics superstore anchored at one end of the mall, a far-ranging gang of Tekheads has temporarily settled in the ruins of Vegas looking for stuff to salvage. The Tekheads are well aware of the danger they’re in if discovered by the Brotherhood, and have so far limited their activities to scrounging at night.

COLONEL PACHINKO’S Colonel Pachinkos’ is a dusty little casino and bar that is run by a colorful entrepreneur who claims to be descended from Russian invaders stranded in the

West after the Fall. Taking his name after the bar (or vice versa), Pachinko’s establishment is known around town for high-stakes gaming, including cards, dice, tables and, it is rumored, back-room games of Russian roulette. It is not a place for the faint of heart.

Adventure Hooks  Characters in desperate need of big money, fast, may be directed here. The back-room games of Russian roulette have the highest payouts in town (at least that’s what they say), but only one man ever walks away a winner…  A mysterious man has been haunting Pachinko’s of late, a steely-eyed, shady character who says little but has a voice like an angel. He carries two nickel-plated automatics, and a mother-of-pearl inlaid mariachi guitar on his back. They call him “Rick the Righteous Ronin”, and some say he was (or is) an Axeman, a legendary gunslinger and songster who’s here one day and gone the next. What the PCs do if and when they meet him could be the beginning of an interesting adventure, or the start of a nightmare vendetta that refuses to go away…

BLACKJACK SALOON Dark, dirty, grungy, and dangerous. Every major settlement has one, and the Blackjack Saloon is Las Vegas’. The Saloon is a favorite of the more savage followers of the Glow, a place where brutal fighting and bloodshed is celebrated, not shunned. Here, under a decaying roof in the shadow of grander casinos, herds of more barbaric faithful flock to engage in bloodsports, gladiatorial games, and matches pitting men against mutant beasts. The Blackjack Saloon is a typical den of iniquity and vice, a degenerate place whose primary attraction is the exciting, life-or-death battles played out here each night for the entertainment of its patrons. But other pass-times are also catered to here, including drink, drugs, and, if handled discretely, prostitution. The Blackjack Saloon is largely ignored by the authorities, who see it as a necessary evil. Here the cruder, more violent wasteland worshipers can vent their primitive lusts and sate their ugly hungers off the streets and out of the public eye.

Adventure Hooks  Any given night at the Blackjack Saloon is an adventure in and of itself. The chance of getting drunk and waylaid by unscrupulous patrons, being drawn into a riotous brawl, accidentally insulting a tribal and being challenged to a pit-fight, or making big bucks gambling on the games - all of these are distinct possibilities for a night‘s “entertainment”.  Attacked in an alleyway at night, one of the characters goes missing. While his fellow PCs

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fear he may have been taken by the Brotherhood, in reality he was taken by simple-minded thugs at the Blackjack Saloon, who hope to use him as the next “guest-star” in the night’s gladiatorial pit! Hopefully the kidnapped character is a good fighter, because his opponent certainly will be!

LAS VEGAS RACE TRACK Situated on the south side of town, the old Las Vegas Race Track is no longer host to races. Its former purpose has been forgotten over time, and now it serves as the primary nexus for airships coming in from the distant city of Styx (via the “Big Hole”). Here, at any time of night or day, giant, rickety zeppelins can be seen hovering, loading or unloading, and casting off into the brilliant clear sky. In addition to serving as the local “airport” (where hundreds of mutants from across the known world arrive each day on the last leg of their pilgrimage to see the City of Lights), the race track is also a ritual pilgrimage point in its own right. It’s not clear how the legend came about, but it is widely believed by followers of the Glow that any worshiper who does 92 circuits (a number equal to the atomic weight of uranium) barefoot gains substantial graces for the afterlife.

Adventure Hooks  For the countless many who arrive at the City of Lights from distant Styx each day, the race track is the first thing they see. It’s not as many had imagined, a dusty sprawl filled with the squalid camps of pilgrims who’ve just arrived, or can’t find a place to stay in the City of Lights itself. The overcrowding gets even worse around festival times, when the numbers explode and the race track is virtually overwhelmed. Characters could be hired to help keep order, drive out the worst of the lot (diseased, thieves, beggars, etc.), etc.  The race track could very well be the setting of a dramatic escape if/when the characters need to get out of Las Vegas in a hurry. Whether chased by gamblers, riled-up zealots, or agents of the Brotherhood, a race to reach the race track and climb aboard a departing zeppelin right before it takes off could be the stuff of an epic chase scene!

PINK FLAMINGO

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This was once a well-known casino in postapocalyptic Las Vegas, but a major gun battle here causing the death of its former proprietors forced it to close down. The building is now an empty, bullet hole-ridden shell.

Adventure Hooks  Characters in desperate need of shelter (or a place to hide) might break into the boarded-up building.

Besides sharing space with a few roaches and spiders, they won’t be bothered if they avoid attraction attention.  There’s a rumor floating around among ruin scavengers that there’s a hidden safe somewhere in the Pink Flamingo that might contain a small arsenal of pre-Fall guns and ammo. PCs might locate the secret basement where it lies, but in doing so stumble upon the giant mutant cockroach(es) that dwell there.

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE The ruins of Nellis were avoided for years by the refugee followers of Princess, as the levels of radiation were abnormally high there, enough to keep away even well-equipped parties. Over the years, however, agents of the Ecclesiarchy came here to scout out the wreckage for military hardware and other usable finds. In addition to salvageable war materiel, the Brotherhood’s expedition uncovered a secret network of bunkers, reinforced hangars, and strengthened underground structures running beneath the base. In 2215 the Brotherhood began cleaning up these underground areas under a cover of secrecy, reviving the machinery and air purification systems in these small “vaults” to provide a series of workable spaces for a special “breeding program”. This breeding program, as envisioned by the poisoned minds of the Ecclesiarchy, centered on experimentation with various newly-recovered radioactive agents and living specimens with the end goal of creating a new race of “super beings”. Combining quack science, radiological ignorance, and inhuman brutality, the Brotherhood created a twisted eugenics and genetic crossbreeding program rivaled only by Dr. Mengele in madness - and by none other in scope. The Brotherhood’s breeding programs have resulted in a success rate that is less than impressive. Though their current laboratories are well-equipped, their underground location is not ideal. Still, these efforts have resulted in the creation of strange and hideous new races of mutant monsters, grotesque beasts bred for specific and ghastly purposes. There are creatures bred to serve in the frontlines of any future conflict the Brotherhood might find itself in, and beasts designed for short lives but ravenous appetites. There are also humanoid mutants turned into mindless killing machines. Some of these experiments have been deliberately let loose into the deserts around Las Vegas at night to see if they can survive and thrive despite their deformities; sightings of such deformed and impossible creatures feed the persistent rumors that all is not as it seems in the City of Lights…

Adventure Hooks  What’s going on beneath the ruins of Nellis Air Force Base is one of the Brotherhood’s best-kept secrets, as any revelation of the

BREEDING PROGRAM The Brotherhood breeding program covers a vast number of genetics projects, most of which amount to variants of the classic abomination, terminal, or screamer (with or without the addition of the mutated or warped templates). A sampling of specific creatures successfully bred by the Brotherhood include:  A breed of beasts that resemble huge bladders of inter-connected, helium-filled organs, with enormous spherical eyes set on each of its three sides. The creature floats above the ground, its mass of organs pulsing and inflating to maintain equilibrium and buoyancy, using dangling, scythe-like appendages to slash and stab at enemies caught below it. They easily disabled (being quite fragile), but they are frightening and disgusting to look at.  Colossal land leviathans that resembles walking beehives. Tiny centipede legs propel these beasts along, while a minute head at one end with a collection of little black eyes contains its sensory organs. Essentially a tremendous walking “brain”, these creatures are used as a psychic “battery” to enhance the abilities of Brotherhood psychics nearby.  A creature that resembles nothing more than a mass of purplish-gray tentacles, some swollen to the point that they have become useless. These tendrils support a flowery trunk from which sprout two star-shaped heads on the end of elongated necks. Each head has a gaping maw

atrocities committed here could be potentially devastating to their cause (and tipping their hand to other organizations of the wasteland that the Brotherhood has a campaign of aggression in the planning stages). Characters stumbling upon the secret chambers underground, or coming here investigating any of several whispered rumors around town concerning the ruins, could easily find out the truth. But simply discovering one of the Brotherhood’s major secrets could be a death sentence in its own right, as agents will continue to hunt the PCs until they are dead.  Picking through the ruins in the vicinity of Nellis, the characters stumble upon a horrific monstrosity that they first try to kill. But when it soon becomes clear the aberration is just as terrified of them as they are of it, they attempt to communicate. Though unable to speak beyond a few parroted words, the creature tries to explain to the party where it came from, and how imperative it is that it escapes undetected. It seems the creature is an escaped test subject

ringed with needle-like teeth. The creature’s twin heads emit a constant, low-pitched drone that has an effect similar to non-lethal sonic weaponry, causing disorientation and nausea in those who hear it.  A race of diminutive creatures bred specifically to serve the Brotherhood as mindless servants. These are simpering, simple creatures brainwashed to be unflaggingly optimistic, positive, and uplifting when around their masters, despite their bizarrely misshapen forms. Each resembles a bald human head attached to a diminutive “trunk”, from which sprout four to six human arms and legs arranged like a spider. These creatures walk along barefoot behind their masters, usually with head bent upwards and smiling like a dog happily following its owner. They are capable of limited speech, and are usually trusted to remember important dates or to remind their masters of things that need tending.  Tall anemic creatures with albino skin, possessing an enlarged head with strangely deformed bone structures. Each creature has four eyes, the two of which are tiny and almost vestigial. Unable to speak, they are nonetheless masters of memorizing. The Brotherhood uses them as walking data storage; their photographic memories allow them to remember everything they see or hear almost indefinitely. Brotherhood telepaths tap their minds to withdraw this information for later use.

of the Brotherhood breeding program, and there are agents out looking for it. If the PCs are seen with or near the creature, they are just as likely to be hunted and killed as it for the dangerous knowledge they now possess. The party can help the monster in its attempt to get away, but once they do, will it be content with being a survivor - or will it, motivated by its own sense of loyalty, try to convince the party to help it return to Nellis and free its own imprisoned comrades? The existence of this breeding program (as well as the laboratories under Nellis) is a secret that the Brotherhood does not want to get out. That the Brotherhood has been abducting mutants from the wasteland to experiment on is bad enough, but knowledge that the Brotherhood is building a secret army of genetically-modified beasts could very well jeopardize the illusion of “benevolent neutrality” that has allowed the Brotherhood access to many trade towns and settlements throughout the desert.

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TABLE 2-1: BROTHERHOOD ADVANCED CLASSES Class

Description

Force Master

Elite soldiers and guardians; masters of Telekinesis

Psion

Oracles and seers possessed of prophetic powers; masters of Precognition

Censor

Agents and protectors of the Ecclesiarchy; masters of Telepathy

Illuminated

Beings that gradually transform into entities of pure energy

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS

Considering its mysterious reputation, and the many rumors whispered about its secret goals and plans, why would one want to join the Brotherhood of Radiation? The simplest answer is to say that, as a religion of, about, and for mutantkind, it appeals primarily to mutants. From a game standpoint, the Brotherhood of Radiation makes an ideal source of adventures of intrigue and religious zealotry. The fact that their ranks are composed of mutants, a race by its nature infused with unpredictable powers and diversity, makes them an ideal enemy. While not prohibited to player characters, their relatively narrow scope (dedicated to a sometimesobscure vision of mutant dominance) usually means they will serve as villains and challenges for player characters to face, not embrace. Characters (non-player or otherwise) who join the Brotherhood of Radiation and adhere to its bizarre tenets may achieve rank of considerable power and prestige, as well as entry to four powerful advanced classes, as shown below. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Brotherhood of Radiation) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Concentration, Knowledge [Mutant Lore], and Knowledge [Theology & Philosophy].

BROTHERHOOD FORCE MASTER This advanced class was first introduced in the Darwin’s World Campaign Guide. The class remains unchanged.

BROTHERHOOD PSION

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While Force Masters refine and perfect the neural control known as “telekinesis“, and Censors are masters of telepathy, those who join the ranks of Brotherhood Psions are masters of precognition, the ability to see, even if only in glimpses, the future. Psions comprise a separate branch of the Ecclesiarchy, and are viewed with both suspicion and awe by the masses of simple-minded followers. Revered as seers and oracles, these prophetic beings live in a sort of “half-state” that straddles what is and what

will be. This disjunction is known to have adverse psychological effects, and the segregation Psions impose upon themselves is as much for their benefit as for the benefit of others. A rogue Psion, finally having her mind splintered under the weight of her constant precognitive awareness, can be a deadly, unpredictable foe. Capable of seeing into the future, a Psion knows all outcomes to every action, and will have chosen the one with the greatest chances of success long before she even raises a finger to act. In the Brotherhood of Radiation, Psions still hold a great deal of mystery, for their particular art is not widely understood. Yet they are an invaluable tool, turned to for advice, portents, and prophecy. In the

TABLE 2-2: THE BROTHERHOOD PSION Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+0

+2

+2

Radiation Immunity

+1

+0

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

Neural Feat

+2

+0

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Prediction I

+2

+0

4

+2

+1

+4

+4

Probability Armor

+3

+1

5

+2

+1

+4

+4

Neural Feat

+4

+1

6

+3

+2

+5

+5

Prophecy

+4

+1

7

+3

+2

+5

+5

Prediction II

+5

+2

8

+4

+2

+6

+6

Neural Feat

+6

+2

9

+4

+3

+6

+6

Future Sight

+6

+2

10

+5

+3

+7

+7

Superior Wisdom

+7

+3

past Psions have risen to positions of great power in the Ecclesiarchy, and no Krytarch has ever gone without one or two Psions as personal advisors at his side.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Psion, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Race: Mutant. Mutations: Neural Precognition. Skills: Concentration 13 ranks. Feats: Foresight, Precognitive Combat, Precognitive Dodge, Perceive Outcome. Allegiance: Brotherhood of Radiation.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Psion advanced class. Hit Die: 1d6. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Psion’s class skills are: Concentration, Diplomacy, Disable Device, Gamble, Intimidate, Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy), Knowledge (Tactics), Listen, Research, Sense Motive, Spot. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Psion advanced class. Radiation Immunity: A Psion, once “enlightened”, becomes immune to Severe radiation (if not already). However, she loses all body hair as a result of continued exposure and also becomes sterile. Neural Feats: A Psion receives a bonus neural feat at 2nd, 5th, and 8th level, which may be any neural feat whose prerequisites she meets. Prediction I: At 3rd level a Psion is able to see moments into the future to see events that affect her,

allowing her to react appropriately to avoid harm. This ability is identical to Evasion. Probability Armor: At 4th level the Psion’s sight extends to a thousand possibilities, allowing her to react to virtually every threat before it even occurs. This grants her a dodge bonus to Defense equal to her Wisdom modifier. Unlike Precognitive Dodge (which has a duration), this ability is always in effect. Prophecy: A Psion’s prophetic abilities allow her to glimpse into the future, granting her the ability to see things that have yet to occur. In game terms, by spending an Action Point a Psion may ask the GM a question about whatever encounter or event currently faces her and receive a simple “yes” or “no” answer. Questions may only be asked of events that will take place in the near future (that is, 1 day per point of Wisdom modifier into the future). Prediction II: At 7th level the Psion’s Prediction ability improves, giving her the equivalent of Improved Evasion. Future Sight: By spending an Action Point, the Psion may automatically hit an opponent with her next attack. This ability can be used a maximum of once per day. Superior Wisdom: At 10th level a Psion’s Wisdom bonus is doubled. This is an ongoing effect.

BROTHERHOOD CENSOR Censors are feared Brotherhood agents whose mission is to weed out those who would “pollute” the ranks of the faithful. They are there to watch over the masses and guide their thoughts towards the glorious future outlined by the “Final Generation” (I.e. the Illuminated). Unknown to most, the branch of the Ecclesiarchy know as the Censors descend from the small cadre of loyal followers who once followed Pastor Bright (see History of the Brotherhood of Radiation). In the early years of the Brotherhood they were a secretive entity, undeclared to the public, whose purpose was to perpetuate the lies of Bright to maintain control over

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the people of the City of Lights. They also monitored the activities of the missionary branch of the Ecclesiarchy, ensuring that their activities remained outside of the city and the secrets of the Brotherhood were maintained. With the rise of mutants exhibiting neural mutations, those exhibiting telepathic abilities were often groomed to join the ranks of the Censors. The ability to read minds, it was presumed, would be an invaluable tool in pursuing the Ecclesiarchy’s goals of not only maintaining a focused society, but also for ferreting out those who might dig too deeply into the Brotherhood’s secretive goals. Thus, an arm of the Brotherhood was born that resembled most the Inquisition, with far-ranged powers, terrifying authority, and a secretive agenda. Censors are greatly feared in Brotherhood society. Wearing reflective masks and draped in sinister black robes, they are the faceless mind-readers who populate the nightmares of those who seek to upset or betray the Brotherhood of Radiation.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Censor, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Race: Mutant.

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Mutations: Neural Telepathy. Skills: Concentration 8 ranks. Feats: Mental Communication, Lie Detector, Psychic Interrogation. Allegiance: Brotherhood of Radiation.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Censor advanced class. Hit Die: 1d4. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Censor’s class skills are: Bluff, Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Investigate, Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Theology & Philosophy), Listen, Search, Sense Motive, Spot. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Censor advanced class. Radiation Immunity: A Censor, once “enlightened”, becomes immune to Severe radiation (if not already). However, she loses all body hair as a result of continued exposure and also becomes sterile. Neural Feats: A Censor receives a bonus neural feat at 2nd, 5th, and 8th level, which may be any neural feat whose prerequisites she meets. Sensory Magnification: Because her training continually refines her senses to an almost supernatural level, at 1st level the Censor receives a bonus to Spot and Listen checks equal to her Censor level. In addition, when blinded (or otherwise unable to use her natural senses), the Censor can “see” and “hear” with her mind. This acts just like the feat, Mind’s Eye, but with twice the normal range. Piercing Gaze: At 3rd level a Censor may use Sense Motive to get a sense of someone’s trustworthiness as a standard action (normally this takes 1 minute). Detection: As a standard action a Censor may attempt a Concentration check (DC 20) to detect hostile intent in any single subject within 50 ft. For game purposes, hostile intent includes wishing the character harm, intention to inflict harm, and any other form of malice directed specifically towards the character. Ruthless Interrogation: At 7th level the DC of the Censor’s Psychic Interrogation increases to 15 + her Charisma modifier. Mindlink: As a full-round action a Censor may establish a mindlink with any living creature within sight. The creature, if unwilling, may make a Will save (DC 10 + Censor’s Charisma modifier) to resist. A Censor may only maintain a mindlink with one creature at any given time.

TABLE 2-3: THE BROTHERHOOD CENSOR Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+0

+0

+2

Radiation Immunity, Sensory, Magnification

+1

+0

2

+1

+0

+0

+3

Neural Feat

+1

+0

3

+1

+1

+1

+3

Piercing Gaze

+2

+0

4

+2

+1

+1

+4

Detection

+2

+0

5

+2

+1

+1

+4

Neural Feat

+3

+1

6

+3

+2

+2

+5

Mindlink

+3

+1

7

+3

+2

+2

+5

Ruthless Interrogation

+4

+1

8

+4

+2

+2

+6

Neural Feat

+4

+1

9

+4

+3

+3

+6

Detection Aura

+5

+2

10

+5

+3

+3

+7

Greater Mindlink

+5

+2

If the Censor forges a mindlink, from that point on she is able to see and hear through that creature’s eyes and ears as if she was physically present with the subject, regardless of the actual distance between them. This allows a Censor to spy “through” its mindlinked subject, experiencing the sights and sounds her subject does as if she were there in person. The duration of the mindlink is one day per point of Charisma modifier. Detection Aura: At 9th level the Censor’s Detection ability extends to all creatures within a 50 ft. radius around her (instead of a single target). A single successful Concentration check allows the Censor to detect hostile intent in any and all creatures within this area. Greater Mindlink: At 10th level the Censor’s mindlink ability becomes stronger. Any creature she successfully affects with a mindlink falls under a greater form of control, allowing the Censor to literally take over the subject’s body. When the Censor asserts control, the subject is effectively dominated by her, becoming a puppet controlled by the Censor‘s thoughts. A creature so dominated is controlled by the Censor’s player, performing as she chooses (within the creature’s normal capabilities). Note that the Censor cannot make the dominated creature use abilities, items, or powers she herself does not know about. The Censor can assert control in this fashion for a total of ten rounds per day, but these rounds need not be consecutive. The greater mindlink otherwise has the same duration as mindlink.

ILLUMINATED The legendary illuminated comprise an inner circle of elevated beings worshiped by the Brotherhood of Radiation as quasi-deities. Members of the so-called “final generation” of mutant kind, they are chosen solely from what are perceived to be perfect examples of mutant life, their entire being blessed, as it were, by the eternal power of the atom.

Those few who are selected to become members of the Illuminated are subjected to a long and ritualistic period of indoctrination and “enlightenment”. Their keepers use mental bombardment and long-term exposure to radiation to weed out the mentally and physically weak among them, and to test them for future trials. Beyond building a mere immunity to its ionization effect, radiation becomes like a new “lifeblood” for the Illuminated, giving her strength, power, and a “holy” aura that blinds and burns those who gaze upon her. This brilliance serves not only to inspire awe among the followers of the Brotherhood, but also to empower the Illuminated in ways unseen among the lesser creatures of the mutant world. The mystical processes behind the creation of an Illuminated are steeped in bizarre traditions and secrecy, but the end result is the creation of an elite “order” of super-mutants with amazing powers and unprecedented abilities. Though few in number, these brightly-glowing angelic beings have become the center of Brotherhood worship, and are set to lead them to an unknown future…

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become an Illuminated, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Race: Mutant. Background: Ritual Preservationist, Visionary Reinventor. Feats: Super Mutant. Defects: Photoluminescent Aural Emission. Skills: Concentration 13 ranks, Knowledge (mutant lore) 6 ranks. Allegiance: Brotherhood of Radiation.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Illuminated epic class. Hit Die: 1d10. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level,

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TABLE 2-4: THE ILLUMINATED Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+2

+0

+2

Radiation Immunity, Irradiated, Vitality +1

+1

+2

2

+1

+3

+0

+3

Burning Touch

+1

+2

3

+1

+3

+1

+3

Bonus Feat

+2

+2

4

+2

+4

+1

+4

Vitality +2

+2

+3

5

+2

+4

+1

+4

Blinding Glow

+3

+3

6

+3

+5

+2

+5

Bonus Feat

+3

+3

7

+3

+5

+2

+5

Vitality +3

+4

+4

8

+4

+6

+2

+6

Radiated Pulse

+4

+4

9

+4

+6

+3

+6

Bonus Feat

+5

+4

10

+5

+7

+3

+7

Inhuman Resilience, Vitality +4

+5

+5

rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Illuminated’s class skills are: Concentration, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (Ancients, Current Events, Earth and Life Sciences, History, Physical Sciences, Technology, Theology and Philosophy), Profession, and Sense Motive. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Illuminated epic class. Radiation Immunity: An Illuminated, once enlightened, becomes immune to Severe radiation (if not already). However, she loses all body hair as a result of continued exposure and also becomes sterile.

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Irradiated: The Illuminated gains the Irradiated feat for free. Bonus Feats: An Illuminated receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Animation Radiation*, Cryptic Ordainment*, Disciple of The Glow*, Iron Will, Leadership, Meditation*, Mutation Advancement, Psycho-Potence*, Renown. In addition to the above feats, the Illuminated may select any neural feat instead. Vitality: The strange radiations in the Illuminated’s cells have the effect of invigorating her body, causing her to grow inhumanly strong. At 1st level the Illuminated gains a permanent point to either Strength, Constitution, or Dexterity (player’s choice). This is in addition to any attribute increases accumulated from going up in character level. She gains an additional point at levels 4, 7, and 10 as well. Burning Touch: The Illuminated is infused with ever-increasing levels of radiation, so hot that her mere touch burns. At 2nd level, in addition to transferring radiation (see the Irradiated feat) she can also cause terrible burns with her

unarmed melee attacks. By making a successful unarmed attack, the Illuminated inflicts 1d6 points of heat damage per character level (no save, max 20d6). A favorite tactic of an Illuminated is to use this heat attack to burn through the radiation suits of those who think themselves immune to her touch. Blinding Glow: At 5th level the inherent glow of the Illuminated becomes blindingly brilliant at all times. Any time a creature gazes upon an Illuminated it must make a Fortitude check (DC 10 + Cha bonus + 1/2 class level) or be blinded for 1d6 rounds. A character may divert her eyes to avoid being blinded, but doing so confers the normal miss chance. An Illuminated is always immune to this ability. Radiated Pulse: Through further enlightenment in the secrets of “the glow” the Illuminated learns to generate a vibrant pulse of radiation, which manifests as a sweeping corona of light. This is essentially an extension of the Irradiated feat. Once per day per point of Constitution modifier (minimum once per day), as a full-round action the Illuminated can generate a pulse of radiation (of the same degree the Illuminated would normally confer with a touch) that affects a 40 ft. radius area, centered on herself. All creatures in this area are affected. Inhuman Resilience: At 10th level the Illuminated is no longer wholly human, its body being in many ways more energy than flesh. An Illuminated of this level can no longer be killed by hit point damage (or even instant death effects), and can only be slain if she fails a Mas save (instead of falling unconscious when she fails a Mas save the character now dies).

MAJOR NPCS OF THE BROTHERHOOD

The Brotherhood of Radiation’s agents are many, its followers almost numberless among the wastes. But as with any major faction (religions or otherwise), the hierarchical pyramid only gets narrower towards the top, and the Brotherhood is no exception. At the pinnacle of the Ecclesiarchy are a handful of powerful individuals who, collectively, control the destiny of this strange religion and its tens of thousands of adherents. There also exist one or two individuals who, while nominally outside the hierarchy, maintain the potential to change the fate of the Brotherhood and the masses who follow its perverse teachings blindly. These characters, prominent or unknown, mighty in sway or subtle in influence, are detailed in this chapter.

KRYTARCH RADIUM PERPETUUM What most people would expect to be the single most powerful theocrat on the Twisted Earth is in

fact a man riddled with worry and uncertainty. The religion he leads, the masses of faithful he “serves”, are unparalleled. The power at his disposal, in the form of armies, willing bodies, and moldable minds, is impressive, even staggering. Yet, even with all of this at his fingertips, Krytarch Radium Perpetuum knows, as any leader worthy of being called “wise” knows, it could all fall apart under the right circumstances. The Krytarch’s goal, then, is to make sure those circumstances never arise. Radium Perpetuum was selected to the position of “Krytarch” by his peers for that exact reason. An administrator par excellence, a manager of people, a diplomat, and a manipulator behind the scenes, he was a renowned negotiator, preventing many squabbles among his fellow Ecclesiarchs and heading off schisms before they ever took shape. Preemption, and a proactive manner of dealing with problems, were his strong points. As Krytarch, Radium Perpetuum does the balancing act as well as could be expected, considering what‘s massed against him. And he must, not only to survive, but to keep the Brotherhood of Radiation together. Beneath him are dynastic forces that seem almost eager to tear themselves apart. There are zealots willing to die, eager to martyr themselves. Radicals seeking to propel even the most obscure prophecies to the forefront and carry the Brotherhood off in violent or apocalyptic directions. He must contend with conspiring underlings, incompetent bureaucrats, corrupt clerics, and the usual sprinkling of idiots and madmen in the mix. On top of this, the religion’s very origins, dubious at best, must be concealed and history continually revised to keep the machine of “faith” going. It’s exhausting work! The Krytarch is very much a product of his powerful position. An elderly mutant, his deformed face shows signs of great stress, yet he manages it well. His features are prematurely aged, his eyes wizened and hard, his tongue prudently restrained. He seems ready to act at a moment‘s notice, yet every action is conducted only after great consideration. He surrounds himself with a court of advisors, henchmen, bodyguards, psionic mind-readers, and sycophants whose only role is to remind him he is master of all he surveys. To many he is a living god, to others a sacred conduit to a force they only ambiguously know as the “Glow”, and to outsiders, looking in, he is the grand architect of a religion of pure absurdity. The Krytarch does have one decidedly undiplomatic side, however: as a warning to those who would attempt to manipulate him, he has his throne room in the Black Edifice decorated with the bodies of telepaths who sought to infiltrate his thoughts or sway his mind, crucified after being stunned into idiocy by his overpowering neural defenses. Radium Perpetuum is not one of the more moderate Brotherhood Krytarchs, but he is still unable to exact

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the radical changes lobbied by various quarters of the Ecclesiarchy. As “blessed beings”, the Illuminated have his ear and hold considerable sway over him (especially High Illuminatus Iona). He believes in a mutant-dominated world, possibly with the Illuminated serving as “god-kings”, but he knows the wasteland is not ready to embrace that particular vision just yet. Instead, he finds himself walking the proverbial tightrope again, placating his ravenous Illuminated followers with sideways reassurances while publicly repeating the promise of a “mutant utopia for all” to keep the masses loyal, in line, and subservient. Krytarch Radium Perpetuum (Mutant Smart Hero 3/Demagogue 10/Psionic 6): CR 19; Mediumsize humanoid; HD 3d6-3 plus 10d6-10 plus 6d8-6; HP 54; Mas 9; Init +4; Spd 30 ft; Defense 26, touch 26, flatfooted 26 (+0 size, +0 Dex, +7 class, +9 equipment); BAB +10; Grap +9; Atk +9 melee (1d6-1, weapon), or +10 ranged touch (1d2 plus paralysis, hand stunner); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, light 20 feet; AL Brotherhood of Radiation; SV Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +16; AP 9; Rep +11; Str 8, Dex 10, Con 9, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 16.

Occupation: Demagogue (Diplomacy, Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]). Background: Ritual Preservationist (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]). Mutations and Defects: Dual Cerebellum, Neural Mutation - Telepathy x2, Photoluminescent Aural Emission. Skills: Bluff +26, Concentration +18, Diplomacy +28, Disguise +5, Gather Information +8, Intimidate +22, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +13, Knowledge (Current Events) +31, Knowledge (History) +16, Knowledge (Mutant Lore) +33, Knowledge (Tactics) +19, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +29, Knowledge (Twisted Earth) +21, Listen +8, Profession +8, Research +20, Sense Motive +21, Spot +8. Feats: Attraction Trigger, Brain Poison*, Cerebral Scion*, Charm Person, Deceptive, Detect Thoughts*, Disciple of the Glow*, Educated (Knowledge [Current Events], Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]), Empathy*, Improved Initiative, Leadership, Mental Communication, Mind Crush, Mind Strike, Mind Stun, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Primitive Technology, Renown, Simple Weapons Proficiency. Talents (Smart Hero): Savant (Knowledge [Current Events]), High Priest*. Talents (Demagogue): Followers, Lead Followers, Zealots, Captivate Masses, Conversion, Improved Zealots, Mass Conversion. Talents (Psionic): Neural Specialization, Mutation Advancement. Possessions: Utopian robe [F/MG], force field belt, two plutonium clips, personal deflector (+5) [RoMM], power belt pack, hand stunner, power clip, other equipment as needed.

MATRON HIROSHIMA (MATRIARCH OF PSIONS)

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Matron Hiroshima (technically “Mother Hesperia XII of the Hiroshiman Order“), is the twentieth matriarch to hold the position of “Matron” at the Convent of Mother Hiroshima in the City of Lights. Established long ago for the education, betterment, and continued direction of female adherents to the Brotherhood cause, the Hiroshiman order has also been the traditional seat from which the branch of Psions draws its strongest recruits. With traditional influence over the Ecclesiarchy’s powerful and often-mysterious prophetic arm, the matriarch who holds this position is among the most powerful mutants on the Twisted Earth. Turned to for guidance by the Krytarch himself, and with countless masses scrutinizing and parroting her words for some glimpse at their futures, the

Matron is a figure of tremendous respect. Matron Hiroshima is an elderly woman whose life, in reality, is occupied primarily by diplomacy and maintaining a delicate status quo. From the exterior the Brotherhood of Radiation may seem united and strong, but she knows (as do those others in positions of real power) that the Ecclesiarchy is not as secure as one would think. Fortunately for her, she is not called upon to act or take sides; her gift of prophecy, and “far-sight” (clairvoyance), are considered assets too valuable to corrupt with political infighting and the taking of sides. “Neutral” is a term she frequently finds herself falling back on, reminding those who would turn to her for an edge against their rivals that fate is an unforgiving and merciless mistress, and friend to no man. That she assumes a similarly grim and distanced stance is also typical of Hiroshiman seers. Matron Hiroshima conducts herself with poise, grace, and principles. She is gifted, as are most Hiroshiman sisters, but she chooses to limit the use of her powers unless directed by the Krytarch. Physically she resembles a healthy, if older woman, missing one of her legs. She walks with the use of a cane, with only the slightest hint of a limp. In reality she is far weaker than she appears, but she has learned over the years to mask her physical shortcomings and defects to appear as strong as possible. Though she maintains an austere neutrality in all things, Matron Hiroshima is aware of everything the Censors branch of the Ecclesiarchy do - a knowledge that, despite her attempts to keep them out of her conscious mind, is beginning to assert itself. This is due to a lingering psychic “bond” the Matron has with Censor Hesperium, who happens to be her twin brother. The two were born conjoined twins (they shared a leg), but were separated at birth due to life-threatening complications; hence her missing limb. The fact that the two are related is not public knowledge, which suits both parties fine, as they disagree on many things, both in politics and in principle. Censor Hesperium is also unaware of their unique mental bond, beyond odd dreams and premonitions that, so far, he has not linked to his close ties to the Matron Mother. Mother Hiroshima (Mutant Dedicated Hero 3/ Psionic 7/Brotherhood Psion 8): CR 18; Mediumsize humanoid; HD 3d6 plus 7d8 plus 8d6; HP 71; Mas 10; Init +5; Spd 20 ft; Defense 28, touch 28, flatfooted 22 (+0 size, +1 Dex, +12 class, +5 dodge); BAB +11; Grap +10; Atk +10 melee (by weapon), or +12 ranged (by weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, bludgeoning vulnerability; AL Brotherhood of Radiation; SV Fort +6, Ref +12, Will +20; AP 5; Rep +5; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 21, Cha 14. Occupation: Religious (Knowledge [History],

Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy], Sense Motive). Background: Ritual Preservationist (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]). Mutations and Defects: Neural Mutation Precognition x2, Neural Mutation - Telepathy, Terminal Limb Deficiency (Leg), Skeletal Deterioration. Skills: Bluff +11, Concentration +21, Diplomacy +18, Gamble +10, Gather Information +7, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (Current Events) +11, Knowledge (History) +17, Knowledge (Mutant Lore) +17, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +17, Listen +8, Sense Motive +18, Spot +8. Feats: Clairaudience, Clairvoyance, Disciple of the Glow*, Foresight, Future Sight*, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Lightning Reflexes, Mental Communication, Neural Extension*, Perceive Outcome, PostApocalyptic Technology, Precognitive Combat, Precognitive Dodge, Precognitive Reading*, Primitive Technology, Revelation*, Second Chance, Simple Weapons Proficiency. Talents (Dedicated Hero): Empathy, Intuition. Talents (Psionic): Neural Specialization, Mutation Advancement, Mutation Advancement. Talents (Brotherhood Psion): Radiation Immunity, Prediction I, Probability Armor, Prophecy, Prediction II. Possessions: Utopian robe [F/MG], other equipment as needed.

CENSOR HESPERIUM (PATRICIAN OF CENSORS) Master Patrician of the order of Censors, and self styled “High Inquisitor”, Censor Hersperium is perhaps the most influential figure in the Brotherhood of Radiation.. Leader of the much-feared Censors branch of the Ecclesiarchy, it is ultimately Hesperium’s task to protect the Brotherhood from destructive agencies both inside and outside the City of Lights. Combating the machinations of dissenters, rebels, heretics, and more conventional enemies of the Brotherhood (like rival factions of the wasteland) occupy most of his time. Preparing for the next insurrection, or scrambling to cover up the Brotherhood’s darker secrets, take up the rest. Censor Hesperium is one of the few members of the Brotherhood who has full knowledge of the founding, origins, and history of the Brotherhood of Radiation. He is a direct inheritor of the “Bright-ian” school of thought, namely that the original course set down by Princess was a destructive one that, left to flourish, would have led the Brotherhood nowhere. While this philosophy is not widely spoken of (and indeed, is contrary to public teachings, which continue to venerate Princess as a “demi-goddess”), Hesperium is a leading proponent of it. He, however, and others like the current Krytarch, continue to maintain the charade that has kept Princess locked up for generations - and

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kept them in power. Hesperium is an older man whose intense eyes seem to project the same authoritarian power and ruthlessness that are his hallmarks. He is utterly without remorse, seeing each decision made as one that was destined to be. The consequences of his actions - including the deaths of alleged spies and heretics - even when proven unnecessary, do not faze him. He is a man with singular devotion to a greater cause, a violent and unremitting enemy of anyone and anything that threatens the Brotherhood’s current course towards a future dominated by mutantkind. Censor Hesperium is rarely seen without a cohort of power-armor wearing force masters at his side. He walks with a barely-noticeable limp, wearing long organic robes that conceal the fact that he is missing his right leg. He uses a plain metallic staff to help support himself, but it seems just as natural at his side as would a staff of office. In reality he was born one of two conjoined twins, who were separated at birth (hence his missing leg). While he rose to prominence among the Censors due to his natural telepathic talents, his sister, gifted with clairvoyance, was sent to the Convent of Mother Hiroshima, only to eventually be nominated as its High Matriarch. Hesperium nurtures a slight bitterness against his sister, for she was the weaker of the two twins and he believes she should not have been given the aid she was. A Darwinist, the fact that she was cared for, and eventually promoted to Matron of the Hiroshimans, disgust him. Indeed, the fact that she even exists is an annoyance he only just tolerates - as it is for the good of the Brotherhood, after all.

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Censor Hesperium (Mutant Dedicated Hero 3/ Psionic 7/Brotherhood Censor 8): CR 18; Mediumsize humanoid; HD 3d6 plus 7d8; HP 43; Mas 10; Init +1; Spd 20 ft; Defense 21, touch 21, flatfooted 20 (+0 size, +1 Dex, +10 class); BAB +11; Grap +10; Atk +10 melee (by weapon), or +12 ranged touch (1d6 Int damage plus nausea, neural lasher); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, bludgeoning vulnerability; AL Brotherhood of Radiation; SV Fort +6, Ref +6, Will +17; AP 9; Rep +4; Str 8, Dex 12, Con 10, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 21. Occupation: Religious (Knowledge [History], Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy], Sense Motive). Background: Ritual Preservationist (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]). Mutations and Defects: Neural Mutation Telepathy x3, Terminal Limb Deficiency (Leg), Skeletal Deterioration. Skills: Bluff +14, Concentration +13, Diplomacy +13, Gather Information +18, Intimidate +20, Investigate +10, Knowledge (Current Events) +11, Knowledge (History) +9, Knowledge (Mutant Lore) +9, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +9, Listen

+17, Search +10, Sense Motive +26, Spot +17. Feats: Attraction Trigger, Charm Person, Detect Thoughts*, Disciple of the Glow*, Empathy*, Iron Will, Lie Detector, Mental Communication, Mind Crush, Mind Strike, Mind Stun, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Primitive Technology, Psychic Interrogation, Psycho-Potence*, Simple Weapons Proficiency. Talents (Dedicated Hero): Rigorous Indoctrination*, Unswerving*. Talents (Psionic): Neural Specialization, Mutation Advancement, Mutation Advancement. Talents (Brotherhood Censor): Radiation Immunity, Sensory Magnification, Piercing Gaze, Detection, Mindlink, Ruthless Interrogation. Possessions: Neural lasher [RoMM], power belt pack, Utopian robe [F/MG], other equipment as needed.

BROTHER BISMUTH (WARMASTER) Blessed with a reputation for even-handed neutrality the likes of Matron Hiroshima, Brother Bismuth, Warmaster of the Brotherhood of Radiation and commandant of the Force Masters arm of the Ecclesiarchy, is one of the prestigious members of the “inner circle” of the Brotherhood. As commandant of the Force Masters, he is not only the leader of that militant branch of the Ecclesiarchy, but also its highest-ranking “general” and supreme commander of the Brotherhood military. Brother Bismuth maintains a title of low rank as a sign of deference, both to reflect his own humility as well as to exhibit his obedience to the Krytarch. In past years the position of commandant has been a seductive one, leading some generals to seek to impose their influence on the Krytarch - instead of vice versa. Brother Bismuth has taken great pains to reverse the natural suspicion the Ecclesiarchy holds for its military branch, making him and his regiments subservient to the will of the Krytarch on countless occasions. These efforts have not gone unnoticed, and Bismuth stands as one of Krytarch Radium Perpetuum’s most trusted advisors. Unfortunately, that trust is built entirely upon lies. While he has indeed been a loyal servant of the Ecclesiarchy for years, Brother Bismuth is also its most vehement opponent. Deceiver, malinger, and heretic are only the politest words to describe him, for in reality Bismuth has a second, more genuine identity as the leader of the twisted and blasphemous “Radite” movement. How he managed to escape detection for so many years is unclear, but likely it is due to his unusual birth. Bismuth was born with craniophagus parasiticus, a grotesque version of conjoined twins in which one twin is dominant, the other made vestigial (if visible at all). In Bismuth’s case, his “twin” manifested solely as a deformed, partly-paralyzed

“face” growing out of the back of his head. At birth, monks observed his deformity and proclaimed him “blessed” (as all such mutants are believed to have special potential in the eyes of the Brotherhood). That over time his twin began to espouse radical ideas of “perfection-through-pain”, and plot the destruction of the Brotherhood as a whole went unnoticed, for Bismuth had already begun to lead a double life. By day his handsome, “normal” exterior played the part of loyal warrior and commander; by night, his uglier, hidden face gave birth to the Radite movement and rallied the disaffected to their heretical cause. Bismuth continues to lead the Radite movement in secret; in fact, only a handful of high-ranking Radites are even aware of who their leader really is, receiving orders through intermediaries, message-drops, and the like. Bismuth takes great pains to keep up his disguise, and actually has very little contact with his real followers. As his position requires him to spend the majority of his time in the City of Lights, or directing armies in the field, he has established a complex network of agents to make his will manifest. Ultimately, someone looking to find the leader of the Radites would face a baffling maze of dead-ends, Radite agents who know nothing of their handlers, and a web of deception virtually impossible to peel apart. Bismuth sits content at the center of it all, all but immune to the possibility of discovery. Though he keeps himself fit, Bismuth’s true strength lies in the powers of his mind, not in his muscles and bones. As such, he may appear slight to some, but as a warrior he has few equals on the battlefield. He wears a wig of long white hair atop his head; many of his underlings think this is a small concession to vanity, but in reality he wears this to cover his second face, which sits like a malignant tumor attached to the back of his head - patiently waiting until nightfall when it becomes the dominant twin and can enact its malicious (and insane) plots. Bismuth is waiting for the right opportunity to strike. When that day is, is unclear, for he has had many opportunities (in his position) to act, but he has deferred for his own reasons. Brother Bismuth (Mutant Strong Hero 3/Guardian 8/Brotherhood Force Master 6/Warrior Monk 3): CR 20; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d8+6 plus 8d10+16 plus 6d8+12 plus 3d10+6 plus 20; HP 162; Mas 14; Init +3; Spd 30 ft; Defense 28, touch 28, flatfooted 25 (+0 size, +3 Dex, +11 class, +4 equipment); BAB +18; Grap +23; Atk +24 melee (3d6+10 plus radiation, radiation weapon), or +21 ranged (by weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, immune radiation, cannot be flanked; AL Radites; SV Fort +13, Ref +13, Will +11; AP 10; Rep +7; Str 20, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 17, Wis 18, Cha 22. Occupation: Demagogue (Bluff, Sense Motive).

Background: Ritual Preservationist (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]). Mutations and Defects: Cranial Parasite*, Radiation Immunity, Neural Mutation - Telekinesis x3, Neural Mutation - Telepathy, Negative Chemical Reaction x3. Skills: Bluff +29, Concentration +8, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +11, Gather Information +14, Intimidate +17, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +4, Knowledge (Mutant Lore) +21, Knowledge (Tactics) +23, Knowledge (Technology) +6, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +5, Listen +9, Sense Motive +13, Spot +9. Feats: Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Brain Poison*, Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Cryptic Ordainment*, Hive Mind*, Mutation Advancement, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Power Attack, Primitive Technology, Psycho-Potence*, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Sunder, Super Mutant, Telekinetic Hand, Telekinetic Shield, Telekinetic Sword, Telekinetic Sword II. Talents (Strong Hero): Melee Smash, Regimen of Suffering*. Talents (Guardian): Defender +2, Weapon Focus (telekinetic sword), Tactical Aid, Weapon Specialization (telekinetic sword), Defender +4, Greater Weapon Specialization (telekinetic sword). Talents (Brotherhood Force Master): Radiation Immunity, Irradiated, Telekinetic Combat, Telekinetic Surge, Radiation Weapon. Talents (Warrior Monk): Perfect Attack, Superior Weapon Specialization (telekinetic sword). Possessions: Utopian robe [F/MG], energy shield C, aegis gauntlet [RoMM], power belt pack, cranial implant (Cha +2) [RoMM], other equipment as needed.

HIGH ILLUMINATUS IONA Mistress of the Illuminated, High Illuminatus Iona is a creature seldom seen by the masses of Brotherhood followers. As a member of the exclusive order of Illuminated, her mere presence is deadly, for she is infused with massive doses of radiation and to look at her is to risk blindness. Yet she is also the most prominent of the new race of “super-mutants”, the Illuminated, and a trusted right-hand of the current Krytarch who holds dangerous sway over his policies. High Illuminatus Iona is a gruesome sight to behold; a towering entity, she is spidery of limb and delicate of stature, her flesh possessing a radiant glow and surrounded by an invisible corona of heat and energy. Though technically a “she”, Iona lacks obvious gender traits, an androgynous creature of alien - and terrifying - beauty. Despite the reverence of the faithful, who give her titles like “angel” or “saint”, she is, in reality, no benevolent figure. Like all Illuminated, Iona is a being of great power and almost super-human potential.

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Such traits have begun to lead many Illuminated astray, causing them to believe they are vastly superior to the rank-and-file of mutant kind. While this may be true, it has created a rift between the Illuminated and the brothers and sisters they are supposed to be guiding towards a “united future”. If the Illuminated were to have their way, they would assume the mantle of “gods” and rule without contest over the poisoned earth. Iona is the leading proponent of this as-yet unspoken philosophy, more of a “sentiment” shared by her and the growing numbers of Illuminated. Like her peers, she is a cold and ruthless being, taking perverse delight in the worship of the Brotherhood’s clerics and the mindless devotion of primitives like the Followers. She personally commands her devoted to kill themselves just to remind her there are those who would die for a moment of her fleeting attention. That dozens do so unquestioningly each year during the annual “Week of Wailing” festival is a sign of the diseased mentality of many who follow the Brotherhood. High Illuminatus Iona is also a jealous being, and she secretly agitates to kill Princess (who,

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ironically, was in fact the first true “Illuminated”) and end the generations-long charade that has portrayed her as a “savior” figure. The Krytarch barely manages to constrain Iona (and those who share her view), reminding them that belief in the Princess is still strong, and that to remove her would lead to devastating consequences - civil war, widespread heresy, defection of key individuals in the Ecclesiarchy, and even wholesale abandonment of the Brotherhood by its people. The time is not right for such a sweeping reversal of a generations-old lie, but such reassurances do not sit well with the tempestuous and impatient High Illuminatus… High Illuminatus Iona (Mutant Smart Hero 3/ Scholar 5/Guardian 7/Champion 7/Illuminated 8): CR 30; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d6+12 plus 5d6+20 plus 7d10+28 plus 7d12+28 plus 8d10+32 plus 3; HP 281; Mas 19; Init +9; Spd 35 ft; Defense 36, touch 36, flatfooted 31(+0 size, +5 Dex, +16 class, +5 equipment); BAB +21; Grap +25; Atk +25 melee touch (20d6, burning touch), or +26 ranged (1d6+0, weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, extra arm, extra leg, light 20 feet, increased critical threat; AL Brotherhood of Radiation; SV Fort +20, Ref +17, Will +24; AP 11; Rep +12; Str 18, Dex 21, Con 19, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20. Occupation: Academic (DW) (Knowledge [Current Events], Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]). Background: Visionary Reinventor (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]). Mutations and Defects: Spontaneous Electric Charge Generation x2, Additional Limb Development (Arm), Additional Limb Development (Leg), Neural Mutation - Telepathy, Photoluminescent Aural Emission, Negative Chemical Reaction, Critical Vulnerability. Skills: Balance +7, Bluff +14, Computer Use +10, Concentration +15, Diplomacy +19, Disguise +8, Gather Information +16, Intimidate +32, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +10, Knowledge (Current Events) +17, Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences) +16, Knowledge (History) +14, Knowledge (Mutant Lore) +28, Knowledge (Physical Sciences) +10, Knowledge (Tactics) +30, Knowledge (Technology) +10, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +24, Knowledge (Twisted Earth) +8, Listen +19, Repair +10, Research +16, Sense Motive +30, Spot +19. Feats: Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Disciple of the Glow*, Electric Charge Field*, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative, Irradiated, Iron

Will, Leadership, Mental Communication, Mutation Advancement, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Power Attack, Primitive Technology, Psycho-Potence*, Renown, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Super Mutant, Super-Charismatic, Toughness. Talents (Smart Hero): Savant (Knowledge [History]), Exploit Weakness. Talents (Scholar): Gossip, Confusing Tirade, Ancient Knowledge (Knowledge [Mutant Lore]), Ancient Technology. Talents (Guardian): Defender +2, Weapon Focus, Tactical Aid, Weapon Specialization, Defender +4. Talents (Champion): Rallying Cry +2, Improved Tactical Aid, Rallying Cry +3, Awesome. Presence, Challenge. Talents (Illuminated): Radiation Immunity, Irradiated, Vitality +1, Burning Touch, Vitality +2, Blinding Glow, Vitality +3, Radiated Pulse. Possessions: Personal deflector (+5) [RoMM], power belt pack, other equipment as needed.

“PRINCESS”

Trapped in what amounts to a giant, graphite-lined tomb, imprisoned within the Great Temple at the heart of a city that has outgrown her initial vision, and now worshiped by an unfamiliar race of people she never intended to lead, the tough waif known to her fellow orphans by the street handle “Princess” carries an unimaginable burden. Sealed in perhaps the last operating nuclear power station on the Twisted Earth, she has been led to believe over the years (by a manipulative religious theocracy polluted by the teachings of Pastor Jeremy Bright, her long-dead nemesis) that only her continued presence in the reactor has staved off nuclear disaster. With her own body failing her (in her eyes), succumbing to fantastic mutations she cannot understand, Princess willingly accepted what she believed was her fate: to live out her last few years alone, doing what she could to keep the power to Vegas - and her people - going. It has been generations since Princess was sealed in the reactor, and only her unique combination of mutations keep her alive, maintaining her vitality and health despite continued exposure to otherwise lethal doses of radiation. Her body, capable of inhuman regeneration, is able to replenish everything it loses to this exposure, as well as to advanced age. In essence, she is a unique being that has discovered a sort of “immortality”, though for her it has become a prolonged nightmare of suffering and isolation. Princess continues to keep the power plant at the heart of the City of Lights operating, even while the reactor dome, the machinery, and the entire complex grows weaker and more unstable around her. Through the direct manipulation of the Ecclesiarchy, she has no idea what has happened in the years since she first became trapped, with little or no understanding of the gradual degeneration of her followers into the

“Brotherhood of Radiation” and what it has become. Shut off physically, and deliberately insulated from outside contact by the Censors (whose agenda is still tainted by the jealous mandates of Pastor Bright), Princess clings to her miserable existence believing herself to be a martyr to a cause that no longer exists. None can say what she would do if she were to find out the truth of what Pastor Bright did to her, or of the continued betrayal of her followers by those who claim to “serve” them, but being a super-powerful being, the repercussions could be terrifying… Princess (Mutant Tough Hero 3/Ganger 5/ Demagogue 2/Guardian 6/Champion 10/ Illuminated 10): CR 36; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d10+18 plus 5d8+30 plus 2d6+12 plus 6d10+36 plus 10d12+60 plus 10d10+60 plus 3; HP 419; Mas 22; Init +8; Spd 30 ft; Defense 33, touch 33, flatfooted 29 (+0 size, +4 Dex, +19 class); BAB +27; Grap +31; Atk +31 melee (20d6, burning touch), or +31 ranged (1d6+0, weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, light 20 feet, DR 10/-; AL Brotherhood of Radiation; SV Fort +28, Ref +17, Will +26; AP 13; Rep +15; Str 18, Dex 18, Con 22, Int 18, Wis 20, Cha 20. Occupation: Criminal (Knowledge [Streetwise], Sleight of Hand). Background: Visionary Reinventor (Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]). Mutations and Defects: Regenerative Capability x4, Photoluminescent Aural Emission. Skills: Craft (mechanical) +8, Craft (structural) +8, Diplomacy +30, Intimidate +41, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +19, Knowledge (History) +11, Knowledge (Streetwise) +11, Knowledge (Tactics) +24, Knowledge (Technology) +22, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +16, Knowledge (Twisted Earth) +9, Listen +7, Perform (Dance) +15, Repair +16, Sense Motive +26, Sleight of Hand +11, Survival +21, Treat Injury +7. Feats: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Great Cleave, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Leadership, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Power Attack, Primitive Technology, Rallying Leader, Remove Defect x2, Renown, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Super Mutant, Superhuman Longevity*, Toughness, Unbreakable x9. Talents (Tough Hero): Stamina, Damage Reduction 1/-. Talents (Ganger): Underworld Grapevine, Coordinator, Cold As Ice, Nine Lives. Talents (Demagogue): Followers, Lead Followers. Talents (Guardian): Defender +2, Weapon Focus, Tactical Aid, Weapon Specialization. Talents (Champion): Rallying Cry +2, Improved Tactical Aid, Rallying Cry +3, Awesome Presence, Challenge, Rallying Cry +4, To the Bitter End. Talents (Illuminated): Radiation Immunity,

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Irradiated, Vitality +1, Burning Touch, Vitality +2, Blinding Glow, Vitality +3, Radiated Pulse, Inhuman Resilience, Vitality +4. Possessions: None.

FATHER THALLIUM LONGEVITUS (AKA “SLEDGE”)

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Far from the City of Lights, under the oppressive heat of a scorched desert landscape, rises the monastery of Monticello, the ancient Christian abbey that hosted Princess and her followers during their migrations after the Fall. Generations ago, followers of the Brotherhood, led by the original Bishop of Monticello, returned here to re-establish a presence there; after all, the place had some historical significance, and would certainly become a place of pilgrimage in the future. The first Bishop of Monticello died long ago, but his successors continued to keep up the monastery as a major Brotherhood outpost on the fringes of the known world. Through their works, as mendicant friars and missionaries, they spread the gospel of the Brotherhood to the deformed and suffering. Through their tireless efforts, hope was brought to mutant kind and the rough outline of a sustainable future evolved into the vision of today. The reality, of course, was different. The first Bishop of Monticello did die long ago, but he died a bitter, disillusioned man. Essentially exiled from the City of Lights, he was powerless to stop the betrayal of Princess and the treasonous usurpation of power by Pastor Jeremy Bright. Sent away to the desert to basically be forgotten, the Bishop took with him someone unusual. That someone was Sledge, Princess’ younger brother, whom Bright’s followers thought had perished during their purge of Princess’ original followers. Somehow Sledge survived. He is no longer known by his old name, however; years ago he took on the name “Father Thallium Longevitus” - a made-up alias. Before that he was “Father Uranium Half-Life”. And before that were a string of other names. Like his sister, Sledge’s exposure to the bombs over Denver gifted him with the same prolonged life, though his came with a drastically more debilitating defect (see below). Still, when Pastor Bright took over Las Vegas from his sister, it was all the Bishop of Monticello could do to stop Sledge from getting himself killed by confronting Bright. Instead, they fled to the desert to save their lives. Bright’s agents decided not to pursue. Certainly Sledge’s notorious skin condition - a cruel variation of the same photo-luminescence of his sister - would spell the death of him in the wasteland beyond Las Vegas. When the Bishop who smuggled him out of Vegas died years later, Sledge assumed the old man’s title and took over administering Monticello, putting aside his obsession for vengeance. After twenty or so years passed, and people began to wonder about his unusual longevity, he faked his own death (with

the help of a small core of loyal monks) to prevent his discovery. He then assumed the identity of another monk, and so on, throughout the generations, to conceal his true identity from the growing Ecclesiarchy back in Vegas. Throughout the ages he has maintained Monticello as an outpost, staying far enough from the twisted Ecclesiarchy Bright set up to avoid discovery, yet near enough to keep an eye on what has happened (and how things have devolved) in the intervening years. Father Thallium is a broken shadow of his former self. Years of exile, and denial of his true identity, have taken a toll on him. Living numerous “lives” in denial of his self have taken much of his sense of purpose. And, thoughts of returning to Vegas and saving his sister from her unending imprisonment have become an almost unattainable goal. Those who travel to Monticello might meet the man and, seeing his sagging, depressed state, never even suspect he predates the Fall in age, or that he is in fact a sibling of the “goddess” herself. Physically Thallium is still a hulking figure, and though his condition forces him to wrap himself head-to-toe in robes to shield from the withering sun, it cannot disguise the man’s large girth and frame. Despite this he exudes the air of a peaceful giant, often likened to an old boulder or stone that has always been, and will always be, if only it is left undisturbed… Father Thallium Longevitus (Mutant Strong Hero 3/Ganger 5/Guardian 4/Champion 5): CR 17; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d8+15 plus 5d8+25 plus 4d10+20 plus 5d12+25 plus 3; HP 180; Mas 18; Init +3; Spd 20 ft; Defense 26, touch 22, flatfooted 24 (+0 size, +2 Dex, +10 class, +4 equipment); BAB +15; Grap +17; Atk +18 melee (2d6+5, greatsword), or +17 ranged (1d6+0, weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility; AL Princess; SV Fort +14, Ref +10, Will +5; AP 8; Rep +0; Str 14, Dex 17, Con 20, Int 13, Wis 8, Cha 7. Occupation: Healer (Knowledge [Mutant Lore], Treat Injury). Background: Visionary Reinventor (Knowledge [History]). Mutations and Defects: Regenerative Capability x3, Photoluminescent Aural Emission, Xeroderma Pigmentosum*. Skills: Bluff +3, Disguise +6, Gather Information +0, Handle Animal +0, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (Current Events) +8, Knowledge (History) +8, Knowledge (Streetwise) +7, Knowledge (Tactics) +15, Ride +5, Sense Motive +4, Treat Injury +9. Feats: Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), Combat Expertise, Combat Reflexes, Harmless [PA#12], Low Profile, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Power Attack, Primitive Technology, Simple Weapons

Proficiency, Super Mutant, Superhuman Longevity*, Toughness. Talents (Strong Hero): Melee Smash, Storyteller*. Talents (Ganger): Underworld Grapevine, Coordinator, Cold As Ice, Nine Lives. Talents (Guardian): Defender +2, Weapon Focus (great sword), Tactical Aid. Talents (Champion): Rallying Cry +2, Improved Tactical Aid, Rallying Cry +3, Awesome Presence. Possessions: Chainmail armor, great sword, other equipment as needed.

BROTHER NUKE Brother Nuke is a petulant youngster who was sent away to serve among the mendicant friars of Monticello soon after he was discovered by the Brotherhood of Radiation. Originally born from scavenger stock, his naïve mind was easily molded by his Brotherhood trainers… and reshaped again by time spent far away from the City of Lights in the care of Father Thallium Longevitus. Three yeas of uninterrupted learning under the elder Father eventually led to Nuke discovering the latter’s true identity - and becoming enamored with the idea of saving Thallium’s sister, Princess, in her “prison” far away. When Nuke first came to Monticello, Thallium believed he was being gifted with an exceptional youngster from the ranks of the strange new race known as “Scions”. Essentially children blessed with a mysterious affinity for mind powers and unnatural agelessness (not unlike himself), Thallium wasn’t quite sure what Nuke represented - a spy sent by the Ecclesiarchy to keep an eye on their distant outpost, or a godsend, or a nuisance. What he got was a little bit of all three. Though he didn‘t serve the Ecclesiarchy in any sinister capacity, the youngster was annoyinglycurious and quickly discovered Thallium’s true identity. Worse, as soon as the lad’s astute mind figured things out, he began agitating to do something about the “injustice” of the situation. Thallium has only just barely managed to convince young Nuke to remain quiet about his true identity, and for the time being has him distracted with menial duties around the monastery. What Thallium is hoping for is a group of adventurers to appear at the gates of Monticello, heroes he can send Nuke off with as a “liaison” representing Brotherhood interests. With recent troubles in the wasteland ranging from raider activity to the dramatic rise of new and dangerous cults, Thallium thinks Nuke would make an ideal mendicant, traveling and assisting in the affairs of the wasteland’s inhabitants against predators and other calamities. Should the player characters ever journey to Monticello, there is a good chance Father Thallium will learn of their adventures and, under the guise of sending an agent to join them to “help make the desert

safe”, he may lend the party the services of the young scion, if only to keep the boy out of his hair - and out of even bigger trouble with the Ecclesiarchy should he make good on his promise to go to Vegas and free Princess. Of course, this could have just the opposite effect; Nuke could easily see in the PCs the agents of changes he’s been looking for, and come to share with them the secret of the Brotherhood and its captive “goddess“ in the faraway City of Lights. Brother Nuke (Mutant Scion* Post-Apocalyptic Hero 3/Skulk 1): CR 4; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d8 plus 1d8; HP 19; Mas 10; Init +4; Spd 30 ft; Defense 17, touch 17, flatfooted 13 (+0 size, +4 Dex, +3 class); BAB +2; Grap +2; Atk +2 melee (1d6+0, weapon), or +6 ranged (1d6+0, weapon); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ medical incompatibility, immune radiation, hemophilia, neural prodigy, ageless; AL Princess; SV Fort +2, Ref +8, Will +2; AP 2; Rep +0; Str 10, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 10. Occupation: Religious (Knowledge [Arcane Lore], Knowledge [History], Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]). Background: Ritual Preservationist (Knowledge [Theology and Philosophy]). Mutations and Defects: Neural Mutation Telepathy x2, Radiation Immunity, Hemophilia. Skills: Climb +2, Computer Use +3, Craft (mechanical) +3, Disable Device +3, Gamble +2, Hide +10, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +6, Knowledge (History) +5, Knowledge (Tactics) +3, Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) +4, Move Silently +9, Repair +4, Sense Motive +3, Sleight of Hand +8, Spot +3, Survival +4. Feats: Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank Shot, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Primitive Technology, Rip A Clip, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Track. Talents (Post-Apocalyptic Hero): Among The Heathens*, Wasteland Lore. Talents (Skulk): Sweep. Possessions: Dirty robes, toaster (used as a club), trail rations, canteen, binoculars.

COMMISSIONER BILL NICKELS An island of reason in a sea of insanity. That’s how Bill Nickels, leader of the “Commission”, considers himself. Of course, his people have been involved in the rise of the Brotherhood into the monstrosity it is today from the very beginning, but the Commission has always seen itself as something separate, a “secular” ally of the Brotherhood, but nothing more, riding on the coattails of a ridiculous movement that has surprised all onlookers by sweeping across the desert. Bill Nickels is descended from the same chiefs of the Commission who allied with Pastor Bright in the “old days”. Like his ancestors, he continues the

75

fight to maintain the integrity of the Commission’s sovereignty over “Sin City”, the district of Las Vegas that has long been Commission-territory, while performing a delicate balancing act so as not to offend the Brotherhood and risk everything the Commission has worked for. Just like the last two generations of “Commissioners“, Nickels is growing tired of having to pay lip service (and bow) to the Brotherhood’s carnival “Ecclesiarchy”. Though he’s lived in their shadow his entire life, Nickels is an outsider to the religion and sees it as a disgusting corruption of an already disgusting idea: quack evangelism. Though its pointless, he spends many hours cursing his ancestors for getting into this wicked bargain in the first place, lamenting the rise of the Brotherhood and feeling oppressed by their overgrow power and influence.

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Nickels only stands to enrich his people’s coffers by maintaining the way things are, but he secretly years for a way to turn the tables on the Brotherhood. Part of him would act if only to strike a blow at the religion and knock it down a few notches… but the more reasonable part of him wins out. Most of the time. Commissioner Bill Nickels (Charismatic Hero 3/ Ganger 10): CR 13; Medium-size humanoid; HD 3d6 plus 10d8; HP 56; Mas 10; Init +0; Spd 30 ft; Defense 19, touch 16, flatfooted 19 (+0 size, +0 Dex, +6 class, +3 equipment); BAB +8; Grap +8; Atk +8 melee (1d6, pistol butt), or +8 ranged touch (5d6 or disintegration, blaster); FS 5 ft by 5 ft; Reach 5 ft; SQ none; AL The Commission; SV Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +7; AP 6; Rep +9; Str 10, Dex 10, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 15. Occupation: Merchant (Gamble). Background: Guardian (Knowledge [Business]). Skills: Bluff +17, Diplomacy +11, Disguise +4, Gamble +15, Gather Information +15, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (Ancient Lore) +5, Knowledge (Business) +18, Knowledge (Current Events) +8, Knowledge (History) +6, Knowledge (Streetwise) +8, Knowledge (Technology) +5, Profession +6, Sense Motive +13. Feats: Advanced Technology, Armor Proficiency (light), Deceptive, Educated (Knowledge [Business], Knowledge [History]), Frightful Presence, Futuristic Firearms Proficiency, Leadership, Lightning Reflexes, Post-Apocalyptic Technology, Primitive Technology, Renown, Simple Weapons Proficiency, Weapon Focus (blaster). Talents (Charismatic Hero): Fast-Talk, Charm. Talents (Ganger): Underworld Grapevine, Coordinator, Cold As Ice, Nine Lives, Ringleader, Escapes Death, Godfather. Possessions: Blaster, three minifusion cells, undercover vest, stage IVC access card, energy shield C, power belt pack, control rod, other equipment as needed.

CHAPTER 3 - OTHER WASTELAND CULTS The Brotherhood of Radiation may be the most well-known cult of the wasteland, but not to be forgotten are the other religions of the desert, from the mysterious and muchmaligned NuChurch to the stoic and heroic members of the Movement. Other cults also play a prominent role in the daily lives of many desert settlements, as well as making the wasteland an interesting place to adventure in indeed…

THE AXEMEN He was a shady stranger A wasteland ranger Wandering near and far The only thing he had to keep the peace, Was a six-stringed steel guitar… - Legend of the “Axeman” There are lots of stories of “heroes” in the scattered communities of the wasteland, most of them fireside tales told to inspire hope in the young, or teach a moral lesson to new generations. Most heroes are portrayed as do-gooders, paladins, and knights in shining armor; a nameless outsider who came, saw evil, and vanquished it to the adoration of the people. Most settle down and take families, or assume the mantle of “sheriff” like the ending of some soggy old Western. But there are also stories of somewhat less principled “heroes”, desert drifters who wander in like rogue sagebrush tossed on the wind - and move on just as randomly. These men always travel alone, and carry with them all the implements they need to survive - guns to put down the uglies, good looks

TABLE 3-1: WASTELAND CULTS

aplenty to break hearts, and a guitar to immortalize their deeds in song. Known as “axemen“, these rare individuals (of which only one or two seem to exist at any given time) seem motivated solely by a driving wanderlust, a need to travel and see the world despite all its ugliness and ruin. Where they go they make their mark, however, leaving a trail of mystery and legendary heroism in their wake.

THE REALITY No one really knows how or why a man becomes an Axeman, but some suggest the uprooted life of drifting could only be the result of some tragedy or another that left the Axemen bereft of loved ones, and without a home to defend. This theory seems accurate, for Axemen are defenders at heart, whether they admit it or not, though without any particular loyalties to a community or people. They go where their feet take them, and wherever that is, trouble is bound to cross their paths. That they help people along the way may even be an inadvertent bonus, because the Axeman rarely stays long enough to enjoy the adulation of those he helps. In reality, the Axeman phenomenon is generally limited to a single individual. According to Axeman lore, the original Axeman was a musician whose family was wiped out and who took up weapons for revenge. After he avenged the deaths of his loved ones he wandered off into the sunset, with too much blood on his hands to settle down and try to make an honest living. It was here that the man transformed into a legend. When he eventually grew old and tired, and sought only death, he found a youngster with a similarly tragic background (usually a victim of raiders, but not always so), and taught him everything he knew, from music to weapons to stealth and the art of intimidation. This youngster would become the

Cult Name

Unique Benefit

Axemen

Axeman advanced class

Boy Scouts

Boy Scout advanced class

Cult of Blood

Blood Cultist advanced class

Cult of the Provider

Provider’s Chosen advanced class

Cult of the Self

Mountebank advanced class

Devotees of the Iron Idol

Hero of Iron advanced class

Movement

Unifier advanced class

NuChurch

NuChurch Crusader advanced class

Paradise Believers

Benefit Packages, Star-Child template

Tekheads

Tekhead advanced class

Wild West Girls

Prairie Paladin advanced class

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BROTHERHOOD SPLINTER CELLS The Brotherhood of Radiation has seen its share of “heresies” and splinter cults over the generations, though most of these have been mercilessly persecuted when discovered. Like heresies of the past, most of these splinter groups came about through a misinterpretation of written texts or the miscommunication of the more complex tenets of the faith. Virtually all were expunged, violently. Even with such radical countermeasures in place, splinter cults do exist. The three most well-known splinters of the Brotherhood currently evading persecution (or eradication) are the Radites, Listeners, and Asclepians.

Radites An even darker faction of the Brotherhood, the Radite “cult” has gained significant power and numbers in recent years due to the inexplicable increase in creatures with neural powers among the ranks of mutant kind. The Radites, as a “heresy”, favor mutants with such “mind powers”, considering them to be more deserving of power than mutants with mere physical augmentations. The Radites were cast out of the City of Lights for their beliefs, but the cult took root in the nearby city of Copper Pit, finding fertile ground in the labyrinth of flooded mine tunnels running beneath that squalid little city. In these lightless depths the Radites have been able to flourish, while perfecting their diseased philosophies. Radites are required to possess at least some psychic potential, and typically seek to perfect their mind powers through following the cult. Unfortunately, the methods for “perfecting mind powers” are in their infancy, and currently take shape as brutal self-mutilation, sensory deprivation, and torture. Adherents of the faith willingly give themselves over for ritual torture, hoping that to have their eyes plucked out, or their mouths sewn shut, they will somehow increase the potency of their mental abilities.

Listeners

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The so-called “Listeners” are a backwards splinter of the Brotherhood whose followers believe that during the Fall those who were killed in the nuclear detonations of the Final War were atomized and became part of the background radiation of the Twisted Earth. Their spirits still remain, it is said, and concentrations of these constitute the radiated hotspots found all across the wasteland (especially among the devastated cities). Thus they believe radiation is not a “god”, perse, but rather a lingering energy left by these ghostly spirits. The Listeners

believe Geiger counters are devices that can be used to “listen in” on the dead, whose words and cries can be heard through the click and static of the typical dosimeter. Most Listener cults were begun by less advanced Seekers and perhaps led by a few failed Progeny only partly schooled in the terminology/theology of the Brotherhood. With strange superstitious beliefs these heretics believe they hear secret messages from the ancient dead, transmitted to them through their aging Geiger counters. Because they are so garbled, these scrambled “messages” (which are similar to the phenomenon known as electronic voice phenomenon) are open to all sorts of interpretation, but Listener leaders often claim to receive directions or even prophecies from souls in the Afterlife.

Sisters of Asclepius Unlike the two previously-mentioned splinter groups, the so-called “Sisters of Asclepius“ (or simply “Asclepians”) have yet to officially break with the Brotherhood, and currently have their headquarters inside the City of Lights proper. Founded by Sister Coronis almost ten years ago, the Asclepian chapter house was created as a place for mutants with the rare gift of iaetrokinesis, the ability to mend the body through the power of the mind. Sister Coronis founded a hospital among the ruins of an old medical center on the edge of the city, and through her works this hospital has grown in stature and renown. The Asclepians ostensibly attempt to operate without political hindrances, offering their services to whoever needs them. Thus the hospital is usually quite crowded with the sick and wounded at any time of day. However, rumor has it that the Asclepians have in the past given sanctuary and aid to purebloods as well as mutants, a fact that has put the Asclepians in hot water with the Ecclesiarchy. The movement’s stubborn unwillingness to publicly vow to turn over purebloods to the Persecutors is a point of dogmatic contention, one that risks earning the Asclepians the title of “heretics” if they continue to defy the Ecclesiarchy’s edicts.

next Axeman, continuing the legend and preserving the ritual of how the Axemen are made.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS A character who takes on the role of the Axeman has a long, lonely road ahead of him. The payoff comes in the form of remarkable abilities and near-mystical strengths, as well as a legendary “mystique“ that precedes him wherever the character goes. Advanced Class: Characters who take Axeman as their allegiance have the opportunity to enter the Axeman advanced class, which provides unique benefits. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Axemen) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Gamble, Intimidate, and Perform [Dance, Sing, or Stringed Instruments].

AXEMAN It’s not clear how he came to develop his abilities, but the Axeman fills the role of bard, skald, storyteller, lore keeper… and armed avenger. The mystique of his music is just a part of his arsenal, as is his ability to use haunting melodies to unnerve opponents, or tell the tragic tale of his own past. But that’s not all he brings to the table. The Axeman is a skilled warrior, a pick-wielding desert ronin who can make weapons out of the most innocuous items, and even laugh in the

face of the Grim Reaper himself. There are numerous stories of Axemen who came back from the dead to exact revenge on those who’d wronged them, as well as legends of near-mythical duels between wandering Axemen and the dark and nefarious nemesis that always seems to follow them, forcing them to never settle in one place.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become an Axeman, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Ritual Preservationist. BAB: 5+. Feats: Quick Draw. Skills: Perform [stringed instrument] 8 ranks. Allegiance: Axemen.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Axeman advanced class. Hit Die: 1d10. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Axeman’s class skills are: Disguise, Escape Artist, Gamble, Gather Information, Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (Tactics), Move Silently, Navigate, Perform (Dance, Sing, Stringed

79

TABLE 3-2: THE AXEMAN Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+1

+1

+1

Code of Conduct, Nemesis

+1

+1

2

+1

+2

+2

+2

Disguised Instruments

+1

+1

3

+2

+2

+2

+2

Bonus Feat, Showdown

+2

+1

4

+3

+2

+2

+2

Seven- Shot Six Shooter

+2

+2

5

+3

+3

+3

+3

Mystic Virtuoso

+3

+2

6

+4

+3

+3

+3


+3

+2

7

+5

+4

+4

+4

Whammy

+4

+3

8

+6

+4

+4

+4

Haunted Virtuoso

+4

+3

9

+6

+4

+4

+4


+5

+3

10

+7

+5

+5

+5

Encore

+5

+4

Instruments), Profession, Ride, Sleight of Hand, Survival, Tumble. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES

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The following features pertain to the Axeman advanced class. Bonus Feats: An Axeman receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Acrobatic, Alertness, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, heavy), Blind-Fight, Combat Expertise, Combat Martial Arts, Combat Reflexes, Confident, Creative, Defensive Martial Arts, Dodge, Lightning Reflexes, Nimble, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Renown, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus. Code of Conduct: The Axeman must adhere to a strict code of conduct or else lose the mystique that surrounds him. The tenets of this code require him to travel alone, redress wrongs wherever he comes across them, and show no mercy to villains. He must respect the rules of a fair fight, however, including honoring a challenge and never running from an evenly-matched duel. He is also required to seek revenge, no matter the cost, when knowingly wronged by another. Nemesis: Every Axeman is hunted by enemies, usually mysterious rivals whom the Axeman wronged somehow - but just as often merely gunslingers or other fame-hungry wretches who simply want to prove they’re “better”. This “nemesis” is always of a level equal to the Axeman. Showdown: At levels 3, 6, and 9 the Axeman’s nemesis makes an appearance and a showdown takes place. This encounter should be designed by the GM and must take place sometime before the character reaches the next level. The showdown can be played as a stand-alone encounter, or it could take place during an adventure - or the nemesis could even appear while the Axeman is engaged in the middle of another combat!

If the PC defeats his nemesis, another nemesis will appear at the next experience level, a separate individual who also has reason to confront the PC. Disguised Instruments: The Axeman has hidden weapons all over him, some even built into his instrument, his guitar case, or hidden in his clothes. These range from boot-switchblades to guitar-pick shuriken. Under most circumstances the Axeman is always considered armed, able to make either a melee or ranged attack with one of these disguised weapons, which have a base damage of 1d3 (slashing or piercing). Only if completely stripped does the Axeman lose this ability. Seven-Shot Six Shooter: At this level the Axeman always seems to have one shot left, even when by all logic his ammo should be exhausted! When using any weapon with ammunition, the Axeman can spend an AP to mysteriously regain one shot/charge. This can be used only once per week. Mystic Virtuoso: An Axeman can attempt to unsettle her foes with a haunting performance. As a standard action the Axeman may make a Perform (Sing or Stringed Instruments) roll; the total result of this check becomes the Will DC which all opponents within earshot must succeed at or become shaken for 1d6 rounds. Whammy: At 7th level the Axeman can make an attack with exceptional flourish. If the attack hits, spending an AP makes it an automatic critical. This ability can be used once per day. Haunted Virtuoso: As a full-round action the Axeman may make a Perform (Sing or Stringed Instruments) roll; the total result of this check becomes the Will DC which all opponents within earshot must succeed at or become panicked for 1d6 rounds. Encore: At 10th level the Axeman exhibits an almost supernatural ability to come back from the dead. By spending an AP the Axeman somehow manages to survive an otherwise fatal wound, recovering 1d4 days later with 1 hit point.

BOY SCOUTS On my honor, I will do my best, To do my duty to God, and my Country, and to obey the Scout Law; To help other people at all times, To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight. And to kill raiders wherever I find ‘em. - The New Boy Scout Oath The Boy Scouts of the future cling to their original mission of nurturing the talents and strengths of all youths, but now the stakes are more than just pride and self-esteem - it’s a matter of survival. Boy Scouts are trained from the earliest age to get along in the wild, work as a team, and exploit the resources of their environment to the best of their ability, often in ingenious ways. They’ve learned to respect the wilderness both as a giver and taker of life, as well as a refuge from the enemies that infest the wasteland.

BACKGROUND Mark Twain National Forest, 2011. The men and boys of Boy Scout Troop 374 were camped along the pebbly shores of Council Bluff Lake, in central Missouri, when the sky brightened unexpectedly in a flash. Immediately they knew something was wrong, and over the course of several hours the various ’scout parties returned to base camp to sort out the confusion and fear of the unknown. The mere handful of adult chaperones struggled to calm their young charges, among whom speculation about the strange light was growing. As the adults met to discuss what had occurred, a few older scouts came forward with a chilling explanation. Having been busy building a radio for one of their merit badges, the youngsters had managed to tune in on a weak radio broadcast that, unbelievably,

TABLE 3-3: THE BOY SCOUT Level

seemed to indicate the country was under attack by foreign enemies. For weeks the Scouts hid out in the National Forest, listening to the battles unfolding all around. Finding more building materials in various old campsites the Boys constructed an atmospheric radiation meter, noting the high levels of fallout indicating a nuclear exchange had occurred. Realizing that their homes were probably destroyed, the courageous adults led the boys deep into the wilderness to weather the long nuclear winter, and to avoid being caught up in the chaos that was sure to follow the holocaust. For generations the Boy Scouts hid out in the Mark Twain National Forest, which over time slowly began to outgrow its former dimensions. Here they remained safe, living off the land and relying on their famous survival skills (almost religiously-preserved, as they meant the difference between life and death in the early years) to get by. Over time the original adults passed away, tragically leaving the children to fend for themselves. But before they died, they were sure to reinforce in the Boys their sacred oaths - to do their duty to God and their Country. Five or six years ago the secrecy of the Boy Scout hideout in the deep woods was almost discovered when a half-dozen slavers from the neighboring desert wasteland, searching for children who’d fled to the shelter of the forest to escape them, attracted a pair of Boy Scouts out hunting for partridges with BB guns. Curious of the bike- and battlecar-mounted newcomers, the Boys went to greet them and find out who they were (and hopefully learn about the world beyond the forest’s borders, which none of them had ever seen in their lifetimes), only to be fired upon. Though surprised by the reaction of the intruders, the Boys mustered a valiant defense that left one battlecar burning, three slavers dead or blinded, and sent the rest running for their lives. Only one Boy Scout was injured, albeit mortally. The leader of the slavers refused to believe the

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+2

+0

+1

Rigorous Training

+1

+0

2

+1

+3

+0

+2

Merit Badge

+1

+0

3

+2

+3

+1

+2

Merit Badge, Bonus Feat

+2

+0

4

+3

+4

+1

+2

Merit Badge, Tenderfoot

+2

+1

5

+3

+4

+1

+3

Merit Badge

+3

+1

6

+4

+5

+2

+3


+3

+1

7

+5

+5

+2

+4

Merit Badge, Eagle Scout

+4

+2

8

+6

+6

+2

+4

Merit Badge

+4

+2

9

+6

+6

+3

+4


+5

+2

10

+7

+7

+3

+5

Merit Badge, Den Leader

+5

+3

81

AGE AND BOY SCOUTS Most Boy Scouts left alive are youngsters, and adults are exceedingly rare. Most Boy Scouts are of the Child Young Adult categories (see Aging Effects in Modern d20 SRD), with Adult older individuals becoming more and more uncommon as time passes. It’s not clear how long until the last adult passes away, leaving only dreamy children to carry on their crusade. When this happens the Boy Scouts’ message could easily degenerate into superstition or worse, leaving the future of this benevolent movement uncertain at best.

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stories of his men, which insisted there were “savage children” living in the forest. He instead had the surviving slavers executed for allowing their comrades to “desert” and take a precious battlecar with them. It would prove to be a foolish mistake, for with their deaths the knowledge of the Boy Scouts‘ whereabouts also died. The Boy Scouts, learning of what happened, were for a time paralyzed with indecision, afraid that their hideout had been discovered (and by “child-hunting slavers”, no less). They were pondering disbanding their camps and melting back into the deep forest for a few years, when they encountered a group of the same refugee children who’d been chased into the wilderness by the pursuing slavers. From these destitute vagabonds the Boy Scouts learned about the wasteland, its people, and the existence of things like mutants, monsters, and raider/ slaver gangs - the latter being of paramount concern. With this new evidence the Boy Scouts made a fateful decision. Though young (few were older than nineteen), they would emerge from their forest stronghold to help the people of the wasteland combat these great evils. Citing their ancient oath, to do their duty to God and Country, and to “help other people at all times”, the Boy Scouts rallied their numbers, meager as they might be, and began their courageous campaign to wage war on the evil-doers of the Twisted Earth. In time the Boy Scouts have grown stronger, attracting orphaned children from all over, many of whom are drawn to the idea of being part of a “secret army” of do-gooders. The original core of Scouts, descended from Troop 374 and their parental guardians, were joined with a smattering of orphaned survivors from communities devastated or laid waste to by raiders/slavers. Over the years the elders of the Scout Troop have begun to dwindle, leaving ever-younger ranks of fledgling Scouts to fend for themselves. Even from childhood Boy Scouts are at great risk, as more and more boys and girls (as young as eight years old) are asked to do tasks and missions that once only adult Boy Scout leaders undertook. Often a “troop” of Scouts will be made up of ten or twelve young children, with a single teenager to lead them - if at all. Needless to say more and more of these starry-eyed youths go missing each year, their troops captured by enemies who have no sympathy regarding their tender age. Those who survive become hardened fast,

becoming far older in outlook than most children their age. Despite this they show a remarkable ability not to lose sight of the righteousness of their struggle, staying the course regardless of the troubles that face them.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Those who join the Boy Scouts are expected to live up to the oaths of their long-lost founders, but in doing so are trained and prepared for a very harsh and deadly world. Advanced Class: Peerless survivalists, trackers, and guerrilla fighters, those who join this ancient organization gain access to the Boy Scout advanced class. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Boy Scouts) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Craft [any], Knowledge [any], and Survival.

BOY SCOUT The Boy Scouts of the post-apocalyptic wasteland are more than just wilderness survivalists. The other inhabitants of the wastes have begrudgingly come to respect them, seeing them more and more as heroes who promise a hope for victory against raiders, mutant gangs, and other oppressors. Boy Scouts, even the youngest children, are often sent out alone to help neighboring communities with their struggles, from repairing broken water pumps to digging irrigation ditches, from preparing defenses to training local militia how to fight. Boy Scouts serve as messengers and diplomats, scurrying through the wilderness keeping the loose association of peoples - tribal villages, trading posts, xenophobe enclaves, etc. - in touch despite the monumental dangers of the desert. All would-be Boy Scouts are trained from an early age in the history of the 'Scouts as well as basic survival. From here individual 'Scouts get to choose their own path, however. Through a system known as “merit badges”, 'Scouts pursue and perfect their own particular strengths whether it be athletics, hunting, trap-making, mechanical aptitudes, first aid and medicine, or marksmanship. The Boy Scout leadership encourages 'Scouts to engage themselves in challenges whenever they can, both to learn and to grow. A 'Scout who proves himself capable in a given field earns a badge (of varying degrees) signifying his mastery of it, which he wears on a sash he proudly

displays on his uniform. Seasoned 'Scouts will often have sashes embroidered with a half-dozen or more badges, so that at a glance his superiors will recognize his contributions, experience, and qualifications. Overall the Boy Scouts' focus is on courage, survival, selflessness, and staying true to his principles. He finds strength in the long and proud history of his ancestors, as well as the promise of a better future where people will but peace and brotherhood over tyranny and hate.

badge he already has to the next step. Tenderfoot: At 4th level the ‘scout receives a bonus to all Navigation and Survival checks equal to his class level. Eagle Scout: At 7th level the ‘scout receives a bonus to all Knowledge (Earth & Life Sciences), Knowledge (Mutant Lore), and Treat Injury checks equal to his class level. Den Leader: At 10th level the ‘scout receives a bonus to his Leadership score equal to his Reputation.

REQUIREMENTS

MERIT BADGES

To qualify to become a Boy Scout, a character must fulfill the following criteria. Background: Ritual Preservationist or Resurrector. Allegiance: Boy Scouts. Skills: Knowledge (Ancient Lore) 4 ranks, Survival 6 ranks.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Boy Scout advanced class. Hit Dice: 1d6. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down. Class Skills: The Boy Scout’s class skills are: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Computer Use (Int), Craft (any) (Int), Diplomacy (Cha), Disable Device (Int), Drive (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (any) (Int), Language (any), Navigate (Int), Perform (any) (Cha), Pilot (Dex), Profession (any) (Wis), Repair (Int), Ride (Dex), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Treat Injury (Wis), Tumble (Dex). Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES All of the following are class features of the Boy Scout advanced class. Bonus Feats: The Boy Scout receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th levels. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Acrobatic, Alertness, Animal Affinity, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Athletic, Builder, Cunning Trap-Maker [B&L], Deadly Trap-Maker [B&L], Educated, Endurance, Forecasting [PA#?], Gearhead, Great Fortitude, Guide, Juju Medicine, Know The Signs [B&L], Leadership, Master of The Flesh [B&L], Medical Expert, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Quick Treatment, Stargazer [B&L], Track, Trapmaking*, Trap-Setter [B&L], Trap Tinker [B&L], Trustworthy, Vanishing Quarry*. Rigorous Training: At 1st level the Boy Scout adds his class levels to any saving throw to resist fatigue, hunger, torture, brainwashing, fear, combat fatigue, and intimidation. Merit Badge: Starting at 2nd level, ’scout character may choose a Merit Badge from the list of Merit Badges, or he may increase his current mastery of a

The Boy Scouts follow a rigorous system of certification, in which individual ‘scouts are awarded accolades for accomplishments and learning new skills. This system of “merit badges” continues well after the Fall, with the same basic emphasis of making the ‘scout more well-rounded and giving him the tools he will need to survive in the real world. In the old days these “tools” were geared on character-building, but nowadays (after the Fall), the “Merit Badge” system has taken on a more martial - and practical tone. At second level (and with each new level after that) a ‘scout may venture down the path of a given Merit Badge of his choice. When first picked, a ‘scout gains the benefits of the “Junior” ability of that Merit Badge. If at a later level he picks the same Merit Badge again, he gains the “Senior” ability. If the Merit Badge is picked a third time, he gains the “Master” ability of that Badge. A ‘scout is not required to finish a Merit Badge all the way to “Master” level. At each new level he can either advance in a current Merit Badge, or he can select a new Merit Badge, at which point he gains a new “Junior” ability (in addition to any others he might already have). Eight of the most popular Merit Badges for ‘scouts to pursue are detailed below, but there are over a hundred actual Badges. The GM should feel encouraged to create some of his own and add these to the short list below.

MUTANT-KILLER MERIT BADGE A ‘scout must always be prepared; not only to survive in the wild, but also in combat against raving mutants and lunatics. A ‘scout who can prove he knows how to combat mutants, cannibals, and ghouls earns the Mutant-Killer Merit Badge. Quick-Assessment (Junior): The Junior MutantKiller can, as a swift action, attempt a Knowledge (mutant lore) check (DC 15 + opponent’s HD) against any mutant or mutated creature in sight to learn what special abilities, mutations, and defects it has. Huntsman (Senior): The Senior Mutant-Killer gains a +1 insight bonus on attack rolls vs. mutants, as well on Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks to when dealing with or tracking mutants.

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Effortless Kill (Master): If a Master Mutant-Killer slays at least one mutant or mutant creature with an attack during his turn, he immediately gains an additional attack action.

PROSPECTOR MERIT BADGE When the ‘Scouts learned that corium was the standard currency of the wasteland, it was a small matter to begin turning their past metallurgy and mining knowledge towards prospecting for corium (which they then began to donate to neighboring communities to help them in their time of need). A Boy Scout with this badge has shown he has a knack for finding and extracting the valuable metal. Digger (Junior): The Junior Prospector receives a +2 bonus on saving throws to resist the effects of radiation exposure. Miner (Senior): The level of a given source of radiation exposure is considered one degree lower for the Senior Prospector (e.g. High is treated as Moderate for the character). Finder (Master): As a standard action the Master Prospector is able to detect the presence of corium and other precious metals within 30 ft. per point of Wis bonus (minimum 30 ft.).

PSI-ABILITY MERIT BADGE ‘Scouts with neural mutations are not common, but the presence of “psychic” abilities has begun to be noticed and appreciated by the Boy Scouts as a whole. Those rare ‘scouts who exhibit “Psi-Ability” have their own badge ranking their qualifications with the use of “mind powers”. Junior Mentalist (Junior): The ‘scout gains a +1 insight bonus to Concentration checks made to manifest a neural ability.

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Senior Mentalist (Senior): The ‘scout may re-roll any failed saving throw to resist (or reduce the effects of) a neural ability directed against him, but he must accept the results of the second roll. Psi-Master (Master): Once per day the ’scout can designate one use of a neural mutation as being enhanced. This enhanced use of the mutation may reproduce one of the following effects (player‘s choice): increase the DC to resist by +2, increase the damage dealt by one dice, increase the duration by 100%, or increase the range by 100%.

RAIDER HUNTER MERIT BADGE The Raider Hunter Merit Badge is practically a basic requirement for most ‘scouts, as raiders (and slavers) constitute the most frequent enemy the ‘scouts must face when operating in the field. The Boy Scouts train their recruits how to fight these barbaric mounted warriors with great courage and effectiveness. Punk Plinker (Junior): The Junior Raider Hunter receives a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls against mounted targets or targets riding in (or on) vehicles. Wasteland Warrior (Senior): The Senior Raider Hunter gains a +2 insight bonus to damage against any character with either Raider class levels or the Slaver or Predator occupations. Raider Reaver (Master): Any time the Master Raider Hunter uses an Action Point to re-roll a roll that directly results in him defeating an enemy in combat, he immediately regains the lost AP.

TRAPMAKER MERIT BADGE As holdouts who’ve lived in hiding for generations, the ‘scouts have relied on traps not only to ensnare game (for food), but also for catching those outsiders who would discover them and hunt them to extinction.

Furthermore, with a focus on stealth, young ‘scouts are encouraged to employ traps against their enemies, for even a simple metal trap often helps offset a ‘scout’s typical small size. Speedy Snares (Junior): The Junior Trapmaker can set up a trap in only one round. Advanced Snares (Senior): The Senior Trapmaker is considered to be three levels higher when determining the damage of his traps. Crippling Snares (Master): In addition to damage, a trap constructed by a Master Trapmaker may be used to inflict any one of the following conditions: blindness, deafness, nauseated, or stunned when triggered. The victim triggering the trap gets a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ‘scout’s Int modifier + class level) to resist the effect. If failed, the condition lasts for 1d6 rounds.

TRUSTED ROBOT MERIT BADGE The Boy Scouts have encountered the nefarious movement known as the “Metal Gods” in the past and thus have a healthy distrust of robots in general. However, those ‘droids that exhibit an eagerness to join the ‘Scouts are given a chance to prove themselves, gradually earning the trust and friendship of their organic comrades - and a spiffy badge to prove they’ve been certified “trusty“! Buddy-Bot (Junior): The Junior Trusted Robot receives the Trustworthy feat for free. Trusty Rustbucket (Senior): The Senior Trusted Robot receives an insight bonus to Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Sense Motive checks with organic creatures equal to its class level. Sgt. Rivethead (Master): The Master Trusted Robot inspires all allies within 30 ft, granting them a +1 morale bonus to all saving throws.

WASTELAND SAFETY MERIT BADGE Since many ‘scouts are now sent beyond the borders of their forested homeland and into the desert wastes, a rudimentary knowledge of survival must give way to a more thorough training course in wasteland safety. Those ‘scouts who have mastered desert survival earn this prestigious badge. Junior Pioneer (Junior): The ’scout may make a Knowledge (earth & life sciences) check at DC 20 to detect the presence of dangerous radiation whenever he comes within 50 ft. of a contaminated source/area. Senior Pioneer (Senior): Even if taken by surprise the ‘scout may still act during a surprise round. Master Pioneer (Master): Any time the Master Pioneer encounters a non-humanoid creature he may make a Knowledge (mutant lore) check (DC 15 + opponent‘s HD). If successful the ‘scout gains an insight bonus equal to his Int modifier (if any) to attack rolls against that creature for the duration of the encounter.

WEAPONS MERIT BADGE All Boy Scouts receive basic training in weapons, from the ‘scout’s traditional BB gun to more practical weapons such as the rifle and submachine gun. ‘Scouts who show above normal skill can earn this particular merit badge, which recognizes an individual ‘scout for his accuracy and discipline with offensive weapons. Basic Weapons Specialist (Junior): By spending an Action Point the ‘scout receives a +1 insight bonus to attack rolls with any weapon (melee or ranged) for 10 rounds. Pinpoint Accuracy Specialist (Senior): Any time the ‘scout hits an opponent with a ranged weapon, he may choose to spend an Action Point to increase the damage dealt by +1d6. Optical Hazard Specialist (Master): Any time the ‘scout hits an opponent with a ranged weapon, in addition to taking regular damage the opponent must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + the attacker’s unmodified attack roll) or be blinded for 1d4 rounds.

CULT OF BLOOD

Stories in the St. Louis area speak of a nameless, ruthless tech looter who haunted the outskirts of the ruins for many years. Affected by a mutation that restricted his movements to nighttime, this individual, whoever he was, quickly earned a reputation as a cold-blooded cutthroat who, in addition to scrounging the junk heaps for anything of value, also dabbled in the opportunistic killings of travelers for whatever they carried. He amassed a considerable fortune in stolen tech and corium, using this to recruit depraved individuals to his side. Forming a sort of “gang”, this tech looter and his minions became a widely-known terror. The tech looter vanished almost a decade ago. For years the abandoned neighborhoods in that part of St. Louis remained a mystery, for those who dared venture there in search of the lost tech looter’s horde never returned. Over time the area began to develop an evil reputation, until only a few years ago stories began to circulate that a new group was living there, a malevolent “cult” that, it was said, harvested mutants, humans, and any other living trespasser for their blood. Expeditions were mounted to thwart this menace, but those armed parties that went there found nothing but eerily-quiet streets and rubble. Eventually they gave up trying to find the cult or destroy it, but since then the rumors have only persisted, more scavs and ruin-pickers have gone missing, and the dark reputation of that area has grown.

THE REALITY The rumors of “cult activity” are in fact true, relating to the machinations of a group calling itself the “Cult

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HOLDOUT FEATS The following feats are thematically perfect for characters from any kind of community or society that is fighting a desperate struggle against seemingly-impossible odds, on the run from other powers, or hunted by more powerful enemies. Like the Boy Scouts, these groups are considered “holdouts”, stubbornly clinging to their antiquated ways and beliefs despite adversity. Regardless of their intended “theme”, these feats are open to any character who meets the prerequisites.

AGAINST THE ODDS Your people have long struggled against superior enemies and odds, learning new tricks to see them to victory. Benefit: As long as you are outnumbered by enemies you gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls. If the number of enemies goes below the number of allies in a battle (yourself included) you lose this bonus.

LIFE-SAVING STRIKE When all seems lost you have a knack for making desperate attacks count. Prerequisite: BAB 5+. Benefit: So long as you are reduced to 10 hit points or less you may spend an Action Point to

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of Blood”. The Cult of Blood’s origins can be traced directly back to the nameless tech looter who once used the area as his base. Remarkably, the Cult’s leader is one and the same. Not long after establishing himself in the ruins of southwest St. Louis, the tech looter and his minions uncovered, among the wreckage, the site of a preFall “hospital”. Expecting to find salvageable medical equipment, X-ray machines, centrifuges, and medicines, the tech looter led his “gang” into the subterranean halls of the building on what he hoped would be a looting spree. Instead they slowly came to realize that this “facility” was not a hospital, but rather a top secret government disease research center serving the Midwest area. This became evident as, in the deep, dark bowels of the structure’s subterranean levels, the tech looter found what appeared to be a unique, untested serum. As he examined the sample it broke open, affecting him immediately with a heretofore unknown strain of a plasma-based mutagen. Within minutes the tech looter was overcome by terrible pains and wracking agony, followed by what appeared to be violent, epileptic fits. As his followers gathered he rose again, seemingly possessed with supernatural strength - and a murderous hunger for blood. Before

automatically confirm a critical hit. This ability can only be used once per encounter.

TRAPMAKING Your people taught you how to set deadly traps to ensnare animals for food and to keep enemies off your trail. Prerequisite: Survival 8 ranks. Benefit: You gain the Trap-Making ability if you don’t already have it. up a trap takes two full rounds. The damage inflicted, when sprung, depends on your level. A trap deals 1d6 damage at 5th level, 2d6 at 8th, and 3d6 at 11th level. The Base Attack of the trap is equal to your base attack. The DC to disarm or spot a trap you set is 9 + your level. Each day you can make one trap per 2 levels (duration lasts until triggered, however). Special: If you later gain the Trap-Making ability from taking an advanced class, this feat does not stack.

VANISHING QUARRY You’ve learned countless tricks to hide your trail in the wilderness. Prerequisite: Survival 4 ranks. Benefit: Hide and Survival are now class skills for you. In addition, Survival checks made to track you in any environment have their DC increased by +10.

his followers could react he was upon them with lightning swiftness, tearing them apart and devouring them before they could get even a single shot off. Over the next week or so the tech looter - the only survivor of the one-sided massacre - grew more and more feral, succumbing to an uncontrollable drive spurred by the effects of the serum. He returned to the surface and began feasting on animals found among the ruins, and anything else he came across. Eventually the tech looter regained himself, but when his faculties returned he found he’d changed. A newfound power welled up within him, he was full of vitality and strength; he was unstoppable. His mind, too, was altered in unimaginable dark ways. He immediately set out to recruit desert rabble from the surrounding wasteland, hoping to return to the facility to find more of the serum that had changed him. Despite brutally motivating his new followers, the tech looter uncovered only a small amount of the blood-based serum in the facility. To empower his minions, the tech looter deigned to let them each consume a single drop of the highly-addictive stuff. However, only one in ten seemed to survive the process; as it had been with him, these were altered by the infection, gaining supernatural strength and vigor, enhanced senses, and an ability to frenzy in battle.

For a while the tech looter could not figure out why some were changed and others perished, until he realized something he and the survivors had in common - they shared the Nocturnal mutation. From that point on, he began to recruit only others who suffered from that specific genetic trait. Though the serum was undeniably potent, the administering of but a single drop to his minions left them a mere shadow of his own power (for he had consumed an entire test tube), guaranteeing he not only had nothing to fear of rivals from within, but also giving him control over them. The tech looter, now dubbed “Sanguinian” by his followers, continues to lead what has become known as the Cult of Blood. He jealously guards what remains of the serum, for fear that anyone consuming too much will come to rival his own strength. He has slowly gathered an army of lunatics, scavs, and hermavs to his side, setting himself up as a “prince among predators”. The Cult has devised an elaborate ritual around the initiation of new members, in which

each must consume a drop of blood laced with the serum, a ritual that enslaves them to Sanguinian and the Cult.

RECENTLY Sanguinian has improved his position in the ruins of St. Louis by taking over the shell of an ancient, preFall asylum in the southwest part of the city. Here he has set up an impressive laboratory complex, collecting blood from murdered/waylaid travelers in the hopes of finding and isolating a rare chemical in their plasma that is required to recreate the serum. Hundreds have died as a result of his cult’s activities, ambushing or kidnapping travelers and would-be adventurers daring the district’s foreboding reputation, their bodies decorating the interior of Sanguinian’s asylum, drained of all blood. Ultimately Sanguinian hopes to find a way to create more of the serum, to further enhance his own considerable powers and to create an army of unstoppable cultists.

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TABLE 3-4: THE BLOOD CULTIST Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+2

+2

+0

Nocturnal Adaptation, Weaknesses

+1

+0

2

+1

+3

+3

+0

Feeding

+1

+0

3

+2

+3

+3

+1

Bite

+2

+0

4

+3

+4

+4

+1

Blood Frenzy

+2

+1

5

+3

+4

+4

+1

Blood Calls to Blood

+3

+1

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS The serum that changed Sanguinian is the same one administered to his followers (albeit in miniscule doses), enacting a powerful change that alters the drinker on a genetic level. Those who have been changed by the cult (either willingly, as recruits, or against their will, as test subjects) find they become something more than human. Advanced Class: Characters who have an allegiance to the Cult of Blood are agents of the cult and its leader, serving his will and working to gather samples and/or victims. For their loyalty and submission they are given remarkable powers, reflected by the Blood Cultist advanced class. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Cult of Blood) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Hide, Move Silently, and Survival.

BLOOD CULTIST Followers of the Cult of Blood are men and women who are all genetically linked through a common mutation which makes them more at home at night than during the day. Whether it is diminished melanin, low levels of vitamin D, or some other genetic factor, this mutation seems to react to the serum discovered by the cult‘s founder, allowing sufferers of this mutation to metamorphose into something more powerful than their previous incarnations. Acceptance of this new “life” does not come without a price, however, but those who embrace it usually do so because they were mad, lunatics, or power-hungry to begin with. By spending time unlocking their newfound abilities, the Blood Cultist becomes more deeply entrenched in the cult - but also more powerful as a result.

REQUIREMENTS

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To qualify to become a Blood Cultist, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Ritual Preservationist. Mutation: Nocturnal. Feats: Cryptic Ordainment. Allegiance: Cult of Blood.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Blood Cultist advanced class.

Hit Die: 1d8. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Blood Cultist’s class skills are: Climb, Intimidate, Jump, Listen, Move Silently, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Blood Cultist advanced class. Nocturnal Adaptation: At 1st level the Blood Cultist slowly changes to adopt an even more nocturnal existence, gaining low-light vision and a +2 species bonus to her Strength attribute at night. Weaknesses: The Blood Cultist develops unusual weaknesses. The Blood Cultist is considered shaken when exposed to direct sunlight, or when confronted by strong herbal odors. Feeding: Starting at 2nd level, whenever a Blood Cultist consumes a sentient creature she gains an enhancement bonus to her Str, Con, and Dex attributes equal to the victim’s HD/2. These bonuses last for a number of hours equal to twice the Blood Cultist’s character level. The Blood Cultist cannot benefit from this ability again until the previous bonuses wear off. Bite: At 3rd level the Blood Cultist gains a bite attack. This is treated as a secondary attack, with a base damage of 1d6 (1d4 for Small creatures, 1d8 for Large creatures). This class feature may be improved by taking mutation advancements. Blood Frenzy: Once per encounter the Blood Cultist must designate one living opponent as her “mark”. Whenever the selected opponent is at half hit points or less, the Blood Cultist must make a Will save (DC 10 + opponent’s HD) or enter a rage, during which she gains a +2 morale bonus to Str and Con until that foe is killed. In addition, during the rage the Blood Cultist never has to make Mas saves, and gains a bonus to her base speed of +10 ft. Blood Calls To Blood: At 5th level the Blood Cultist gains the exceptional ability to detect all living creatures (and pinpoint their precise location) within 100 ft. of her.

CULT OF THE PROVIDER “Sun, moon, and stars are my guides, but the Earth is my Provider.” - Motto of the Provider’s Chosen Particularly prevalent among the more primitive societies of the Twisted Earth (such as desert tribes and technologyresenting survivors), the “Cult of The Provider” is a simple, rustic, and harsh religion whose followers revere the wilderness as a living entity, or else respect/ venerate Nature as a dangerous, deadly force - but one which can also protect and provide.

BACKGROUND To understand the cult, Nature herself must be reenvisioned through the eyes of a post-apocalyptic survivor. Instead of grand vistas of mountains and forests to be visited and appreciated, the survivor sees her surroundings as a miserably harsh environment of unending desert and unforgiving sun, a place of hardship, not luxury. Heat, dust storms, and mutant beasts are a constant companion to the wilderness inhabitant. Cities, with all their insidious radiation hazards and the diseases that lie dormant there, are a blight upon the Earth, a testimony to the poison of technology and proof that the end result of “progress” is the devastation of nature. The world may once have been full of danger, but now it is downright hostile to humanoid life altogether. To those who believe in the Provider, however, the wilderness - for all her terrible aspects - is a constant companion. Nature may be hard and unrepentant, but once one learns to respect her and listen to her cues, not only can one survive in the wild, but he can thrive as well. While others die in the desert, succumbing to the sun, heat, and dryness, the Provider’s Chosen is at home, trusting in the quasi-deific force of Nature known as “the Provider” to see to her needs and survival.

TABLE 3-5: THE PROVIDER’S CHOSEN Level

The ritualism behind the cult of the Provider varies from village to village, settlement to settlement. Some give her no name, simply seeing the Provider as the ultimate natural force, without mercy or sympathy, while others humanize her, giving her a name (Gaia, Mother Earth, etc.) or even making pictograms, symbols, or statues to represent her. Some merely nod in respect to the Provider when they catch their next meal, or mutter a prayer of thanks, while some villages devote rituals to her, honor her in annual festivals, or perform elaborate masses to remind their people of her power over them.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Advanced Class: Those who follow the path of the Provider have a special option available to them, an advanced class called the Provider’s Chosen. This advanced class focuses on survival in the wasteland against predators, beasts, and nature itself. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Provider‘s Chosen) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Navigate, Search, and Survival.

PROVIDER’S CHOSEN Among the primitive societies who believe in the Provider, there are those who rise above the rest in renown and respect; these are known as the “Provider’s Chosen”. Men, women, elderly, and sometimes even children, those who become the Chosen are said to be singled out by the Provider, sometimes for no known reason. Such individuals often become legendary hunters, guides, and trackers, for once having been selected by the Provider, the Chosen knows his true home is among the wilds. A typical Provider’s Chosen is a simple wilderness survivor who found some lost artifact or ancient relic among the sands, miraculously unearthed and “given” into his care by the Provider. Such artifacts can range from powerful advanced weapons to ornate armor, to unique devices and gizmos and

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+2

+0

+0

Provider’s Gift (5,000 cp)

+1

+1

2

+1

+3

+0

+0

Weatherbeaten (+1)

+1

+1

3

+2

+3

+1

+1

Bonus Feat

+2

+1

4

+3

+4

+1

+1

Trailfinder, Provider’s Gift (10,000 cp)

+2

+2

5

+3

+4

+1

+1

Weatherbeaten (+2)

+3

+2

6

+4

+5

+2

+2

Bonus Feat

+3

+2

7

+5

+5

+2

+2


+4

+3

8

+6

+6

+2

+2

Find Shelter, Weatherbeaten (+3)

+4

+3

9

+6

+6

+3

+3

Bonus Feat

+5

+3

10

+7

+7

+3

+3


+5

+4

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even pre-Fall automobiles - all items rarely seen by wasteland dwellers (but coveted by scavs and others in the know). Revealed in the wake of a sandstorm, or belched up by an earthquake, or uncovered after a landslide, the Chosen sees the artifact’s sudden appearance as a sign from the Provider that he has been chosen to bear it.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Provider‘s Chosen, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Resentful, Ritual Preservationist. Skills: Survival 6 ranks. Feats: Great Fortitude, Vulture. Allegiance: Cult of the Provider.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Provider’s Chosen advanced class. Hit Die: 1d6. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Provider’s Chosen’s class skills are: Climb, Handle Animal, Jump, Knowledge (Earth and Life Sciences), Knowledge (Twisted Earth), Listen, Navigate, Ride, Search, Spot, Survival, Swim, and Treat Injury. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES

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The following features pertain to the Provider’s Chosen advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Provider’s Chosen receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Animal Affinity, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Athletic, Forecasting[PA Dispatch], Guide, Know The Signs [B&L], Meticulous, Stargazer [B&L], Toughness, Track. Provider‘s Gift: Every now and then the Provider gifts her chosen with rare finds, vomiting up ancient artifacts and strange objects of the past that the less reverent would overlook. These items, seemingly “given” by nature to the Provider’s Chosen for a purpose, are gifts to be used in her name. At 1st level the Chosen may choose any item of 5,000 cp value or less, which is now assumed to be in her possession, a gift from the Provider. This item may not be traded or sold, and if lost will only be replaced once the character reaches the appropriate level for an upgrade (see below). If the item requires a power source or ammunition, these must be located or purchased separately. At 4th level the Chosen may upgrade to a new item, this time of 10,000 cp value or less. However, if this item is taken the previous gift must be discarded, given back to the Provider (in a solemn ritual with no

witnesses) and returned to the desert’s hands. At 7th level the Chosen may choose a new item of 25,000 cp value or less. At 10th level the item may be of 50,000 cp value or less. Weatherbeaten: Sun-baked and weather-beaten, the Provider’s Chosen’s skin becomes tough and resilient, granting her a natural armor bonus of +1. This increases to +2 at 5th level, and +3 at 8th level. Trailfinder: The Provider‘s Chosen is skilled at finding her way around the wasteland. She may make a Navigate check (DC 20) to shorten any overland journey by -10%, utilizing hidden paths, game trails, shortcuts, etc.. Find Shelter: Observing her surroundings by studying the terrain, animal trails, and natural landmarks, the Chosen is able to locate some sort of shelter (this can be an abandoned building, a cave, a large boulder with shade, a dry riverbed, etc.). With a successful Navigate check (DC 20) the Chosen is able to locate the direction and distance to the nearest shelter, as well as determine its nature.

CULT OF THE SELF “Step right up, folks, and see for yourself a real-life miracle-worker! For a small donation he may even be willing to cure what ails you!” - All too-common cry of the Mountebank On the Twisted Earth, people are looking for hope everywhere. Hope for their lives, hope for the next harvest, hope for the future. There are said to be hundreds of villages, settlements, trading posts, and isolated communities all across the desert, clustered along the trade routes (but equally numerous in the wasteland when the entire volume of the world is taken into consideration). And in each of those it’s a sure bet that hardships and misery go hand-in-hand with the daily struggle for survival. Throughout the wasteland people search for a way out of their problems. Some merely want rain, others pray for good crops, and still more hope for heroes to save them from raiders or bring about the promise of a better tomorrow. True heroes who can make even a fraction of these dreams come true are few and far between; sadly, charlatans who claim that same capacity (yet fall woefully short) are far more common. Just like misery, religion is everywhere. People need to believe in heroes, prophets, and saviors. Cults spring up overnight, and just as soon disappear. They can revolve around the strangest concepts and most easily-explained phenomenon, or can bloom, flourish, and take root on the intangible (like faith) alone. This truth is the lifeblood of a particularly loathsome breed of cultist, those who follow the so-called “cult of the

STAR COMMANDER DAWSON Not long ago a particularly handsome man appeared on the radar of the wasteland, claiming to be a reincarnation of the Movement’s “Fallen God”, an astronaut from outer space who landed and had a new message. Wherever he goes, the square-jawed, heroic-looking Star Commander Dawson goes in style, wearing a shiny “spacesuit” (actually just overalls covered in foil) and brandishing a “ray gun” (a hair dryer). But it is enough to impress more than a handful of desert villages and settlements, whose inhabitants have seen him for what he claims to be. Impoverished people began donating everything they had to him, including money and livestock, while others began to follow him as he went from village to village. Dawson is a true demagogue, however, and there is very little about his story that is real. He preys on the ignorant, promising them miracles and hope, but really just takes their money and skips town before the reality (and his inability to produce results) is discovered. Sadly, Dawson’s crimes are not merely limited to cons and theft. When dreamy-eyed followers began to be drawn to him, he started leading them into the desert and, once they were well out of sight of their homes, robbed and killed them (taking care to hide their bodies). Dawson still works his routine, and none are the wiser. Those who go missing after joining him as are usually assumed to have “ascended” into the stars, or joined the greater Movement as foot soldiers. In reality, they are simply more of Dawson’s victims. self”. Not an organized religion or movement, the “cult of the self” is merely an all-too common phenomenon. Having witnessed the sway other religions have on the poor, downtrodden, or dispossessed, a particularly charismatic entrepreneur comes up with the idea that he himself could do the same. With a few made-up miracles, tricks, bluffing, and sleight of hand, any fool could conceivably hoodwink the wasteland’s pathetic wretches into believing he is the next prophet! Those who follow this path are usually charlatans and demagogues, men and women who get by primarily on the power of their own charisma and social skills. Whether unable or simply unwilling to work, these types use trickery and guile to pry open the hardened hearts of the wasteland’s impoverished, milking them for their hospitality - and every last dime.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Demagogues par excellence, those who secretly follow the “path of the self” quickly learn how to manipulate people, prey on the needy, mimic miracles, and worse. Advanced Class: A specific advanced class, the Mountebank, serves as an “advanced” version of the Demagogue for the truly unscrupulous.

MOUNTEBANK Those who pursue the “cult of the self” often take the route of Charismatic Heroes or Demagogues, using the innate talents of those classes to live in comfort through exploitation. But the truly diabolic Mountebank is a charlatan who takes the con game a step further, preying on the gullibility of the ignorant and taking advantage of the masses who seek a leader - any kind of leader - to escape their worries and fears. The Mountebank is a form of con artist who

manages to get by using his wits, wiles, and social cunning. He has an innate ability to observe a people and discover their fears and weaknesses, hopes and dreams, and uses this talent to first ingratiate himself, then exploit them for all they‘re worth. Whether he chooses to act slow and patiently, or marches into town with obnoxious pomp and fanfare, the Mountebank somehow seizes the attention of the needy, seeming to address their every concern either with promises or by performing bogus miracles. He manages to convince people that he is the person they’ve been looking for, the savior they’ve been praying to meet, and in this way earns their trust, adoration, and in some cases, even their worship. Many Mountebanks simply play the con game to get food, water, and the things they need before moving on to another settlement to start anew. Others have far grander ambitions, and use their silver tongue to set themselves up in positions of greater comfort, stability, and power. Some pretend to be seers or prophets to earn the trust of chiefs or community leaders; some even portray themselves as messianic figures to whom the people turn for guidance in “these dark times”. Those who have the knack at bluster can attract vast numbers of loyal followers to their side, convince even the poorest soul to part with her valuables, and inspire hope and belief despite never having done anything to deserve it!

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Mountebank, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Skills: Bluff 13 ranks. Feats: Silver Tongue.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Mountebank advanced class.

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Hit Die: 1d6. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Mountebank’s class skills are: Bluff, Diplomacy, Disguise, Forgery, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (Ancient Lore), Knowledge (Current Events), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Streetwise), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy), Perform (Act), and Profession. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES

92

The following features pertain to the Mountebank advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Mountebank receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Attentive, Confident, Deceptive, Educated, Frightful Presence, Leadership, Meticulous, Renown, Run, Trustworthy. Speak With Conviction: By speaking with confidence the Mountebank can convince others she channels God, the Devil, the spirits of the dead, or simply fools them into believing her words are wise, inspired, or prophetic. As a full-round action the Mountebank can coerce a subject speaking the same language and whom is current Friendly into taking a specific action. The Will DC is equal to 10 + the Mountebanks Cha modifier + ½ her character level. An affected subject treats the Mountebank as a trusted friend and ally, and will generally do as she says, within reason. Typical requests might include “donate your money to ‘the cause’ (i.e. me)”, “follow me from now on”, “ignore your orders and abandon your post”, etc. Kindly Donations: Wherever the Mountebank goes

(assuming she hasn’t made enemies there) she attracts believers who shower her with gifts and donations of money. Each time the Mountebank enters a friendly/ hospitable settlement for the first time, within 1d4 hours she accumulates a one-time donation of 50 cp (in corium pieces, food, trade goods, or whatever currency is appropriate for the settlement) per point of Cha bonus. Followers: At 4th level the Mountebank gains the Leadership feat for free. These followers (and cohort) may benefit from the Mountebank’s Faith Healing, Holy Relics, and Sycophants abilities (see below). Holy Relics: The Mountebank can convince her followers that even the most worthless junk is a “holy” relic. By making a Bluff check (opposed by the subject’s Sense Motive check), the Mountebank can convince her follower that an object is blessed. If it is a weapon or armor, the new owner (assuming she believes) gains a +1 morale bonus when using it (this applies either to attack rolls or Defense, depending on the nature of the item bestowed). Human Offerings: At 7th level the Mountebank manages to accumulate further “donations”, this time in the form of slaves given to her as a gift. The player may choose either 1d2 bodyguards (treat as Strong Hero 3), 1d4 porters/bearers (treat as Tough Hero 2), or 1d6 concubines (treat as Charismatic Hero 1). This additional entourage is bound to the Mountebank only by the way they are treated. Faith Healing: At 8th level the Mountebank finds her Followers so enthralled that she can actually “heal” them through the power of suggestion. With a successful Bluff check (DC 25) the Mountebank can heal 1d4 points of damage. This requires a standard action on the Mountebank’s part, and can only be performed on her Followers. Sycophants: At 10th level the Mountebank’s

TABLE 3-6: THE MOUNTEBANK Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+0

+2

+2

Speak With Conviction

+0

+2

2

+1

+0

+3

+3

Kindly Donations

+1

+2

3

+1

+1

+3

+3

Bonus Feat

+1

+2

4

+2

+1

+4

+4

Followers

+1

+3

5

+2

+1

+4

+4

Holy Relics

+2

+3

6

+3

+2

+5

+5

Bonus Feat

+2

+3

7

+3

+2

+5

+5

Human Offerings

+2

+4

8

+4

+2

+6

+6

Faith Healing

+3

+4

9

+4

+3

+6

+6

Bonus Feat

+3

+4

10

+5

+3

+7

+7

Sycophants

+3

+5

cohort, followers (including followers from taking Leadership, the Followers class ability, and the Human Offerings ability) will put the Mountebank’s welfare even above theirs. They will steal, lie, and kill for her if needed, and may even sacrifice themselves for the Mountebank if her life is in danger.

DEVOTEES OF THE IRON IDOL You’ve made it this far… Are you ready to go a little further and learn the truth of the Iron Idol? - Writing on the wall of a lost desert cave Legend states that a titan of iron will rise every generation to punish the wicked, right the wrongs, and redress the injustices of the present age. These legends describe an ancient elemental being known as the “Iron Idol”, a powerful force of good and vengeance that often serves as the only hope for the victims of raiders, slavers, and worse. Those who devote themselves to carrying on these stories, and seek to locate the enigmatic ‘Idol and re-awaken it for a righteous cause, are known as Devotees of the Iron Idol.

BACKGROUND At the heart of the Deadlands there is said to lie a deep, dark cave filled with danger and death. According to the tales of tribal folk, and the disfigured vagabonds who cling to their fires as the cold of night sets in on the trail, this cave is the sacred resting place of the “Iron Idol”, a legendary figure known for generations by the wretched inhabitants of the wasteland. The origins of the Iron Idol are lost in obscurity. Many believe the Iron Idol is as ancient as time itself, an elemental titan as old as the human race. Others claim the Iron Idol is man‘s protector, with qualities

similar to Prometheus, Hercules, and other mythical deities who aided mankind in his greatest times of need. Belief in the Iron Idol is widespread, despite the fact that he/it hasn’t been seen in over a generation. Yet stories of the Iron Idol’s heroics are known to virtually every storyteller and lore keeper the world over. Every town, settlement, and tiny village seems to have someone, somewhere, who can recall a tale of the great deeds the Iron Idol did in combating a great enemy, fighting a natural disaster, or saving lives. Usually this lore belongs to village elders, but the stories of the Iron Idol are passed down to eager and excitable youngsters each generation as well. Whether the Iron Idol ever did exist, or merely fills the role of a much-needed heroic figure to inspire the downtrodden and give hope to the oppressed, is uncertain in this current age. But whenever there is a need - a death cult spotted on the horizon, raider activity on the rise, or the threat of a looming mutant army - the Iron Idol serves to give people the strength to fight against great odds. Some simply call on the old tales to grant them courage, while others of a more starry-eyed demeanor actively set out into the wastes in the hopes of finding the lost cave where the Iron Idol is said to lie. These few set out with the idea of finding the cave, plumbing its depths, and awakening the sleeping ‘Idol so that he/it might once again fight on mankind’s behalf. None ever return, at least not the same as they were when they left…

THE REALITY The Iron Idol does in fact exist, but it has virtually no supernatural characteristics at all. It is, simply put, an Ancient-era suit of powered armor that has been maintained by a small core of passionate “devotees” who have learned the Idol’s secrets and, in the name of the common good, maintained the legend surrounding it. It is unknown even to the devotees of the Iron

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Idol where the armor first came from, but the suit (a completely functional powered Zeus Suit) is remarkably preserved and has been religiously maintained for hundreds of years by those few who understand it. It is also unclear who originally found and used the armor, creating the original legend of the “Iron Idol”, but those who have since uncovered its secret resting place have, one and all, donned the armor and used it in the same heroic fashion - and for the same common good. Only one devotee per generation has ever found the cave that hides the resting place of the Iron Idol, and thus only one devotee typically knows the secret of the ’Idol at any given time. The cave that houses the ‘Idol is maintained by this same devotee during his tenure as the armor‘s wearer, since the caverns protect the ‘Idol and its wearer and serves as a convenient hideout. Similarly, when it is time for an aging devotee to “retire”, he leaves the suit in a sacred chamber in the cave’s deepest recesses, and sets up traps and other challenges to prevent any but the most dedicated from recovering the ‘Idol - and learning the truth behind it. Thus the Iron Idol remains undiscovered until it is needed again, at which point the right candidate, asking the right questions in the right place, will be

94

guided or directed by riddles (to test her brains) by a former devotee - aged and likely disguised - to the cave’s isolated location at the heart of the badlands. Here the devotee will hopefully prove stalwart and true, making her way through the traps and dangers to the cave’s deepest pit where the gleaming silver suit awaits her. Once it is attained the devotee soon learns the ’Idol’s secret, and the secret of all its past owners (inscribed upon the cavern’s walls), and chooses whether or not to step up and take up the mantle of the “Iron Idol“.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Devotees of the Iron Idol who uncovered the lost cave of the ‘Idol quickly learn the truth of the ‘Idol’s origins, and are faced with the decision of whether or not to don the armor and “become” the Iron Idol. For those that do, unique benefits become available. Advanced Class: Those that choose to embrace the responsibility of donning the Iron Idol have an allegiance-specific advanced class, the Hero of Iron, available to them. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Hero of Iron) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Intimidate, Pilot, and Repair.

TABLE 3-7: THE HERO OF IRON Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+1

+1

+0

+0

Armor Proficiency (Powered)

+1

+2

2

+2

+2

+0

+0

My Armor Is My Home

+1

+2

3

+3

+2

+1

+1

Bonus Feat

+2

+2

4

+4

+2

+1

+1

Improved Repair

+2

+3

5

+5

+3

+1

+1

Become As One

+3

+3

6

+6

+3

+2

+2

Bonus Feat

+3

+3

7

+7

+4

+2

+2

Optimization

+4

+4

8

+8

+4

+2

+2

Legend of the Idol

+4

+4

9

+9

+4

+3

+3

Bonus Feat

+5

+4

10

+10

+5

+3

+3

Legendary Heroics

+5

+5

HERO OF IRON Finding the Iron Idol in its lost hiding place among the desert sands and labyrinthine caverns is only the first hurdle for the individual who would become its discoverer. Once it is found, such an aspirant must come to terms with the realization that the Iron Idol is nothing more than a suit, an apparatus, a tool to be used by someone with something that the armor itself does not possess: the heart and courage to face the evils of the world. As such, the Iron Idol is in and of itself powerless; it is the wearer who is the true “Hero of Iron”. Those infrequent men and women who make the journey to the cave and plumb its depths become inheritors of a proud, if secret tradition. They must learn, usually in only a few short weeks, the mechanisms of the armor and master its complexities. But, in time, the suit becomes an extension of them, answering their movements and gestures and laying waste to evil-doers at their command. Within it they become invulnerable, taking on the title of metal titans who serve the inhabitants of the wasteland in their eternal struggle against the forces of tyranny and violence.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Hero of Iron, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Ritual Preservationist. Skills: Knowledge (History) 4 ranks, Knowledge (Technology) 4 ranks. Feats: Cryptic Ordainment. Allegiance: Devotees of the Iron Idol.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Hero of Iron advanced class. Hit Die: 1d10. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class.

Class Skills: The Hero of Iron’s class skills are: Computer Use, Craft (electronic, mechanical), Disable Device, Intimidate, Knowledge (ancient lore, history, tactics, technology), Pilot, Repair. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Hero of Iron advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Hero of Iron receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Armed To The Teeth, Bull’s Eye, Futuristic Firearms Proficiency, HardEyed, High Ready, Improved Autofire, Improved Dead Aim, Intuitive Mechanic, Room-Broom, Suppressive Fire. Armor Proficiency (Powered): The Hero of Iron gains Armor Proficiency (Powered) as a bonus feat at 1st level, even if she does not normally meet the prerequisites. If she already has this feat, she may select a different feat from the list of bonus feats instead. My Armor Is My Home: The Hero of Iron is more at home in her armor than outside. She gains the effects of the Endurance feat while wearing powered armor. Improved Repair: The Hero of Iron gains a bonus to Repair checks when fixing hit point damage to her powered armor. This bonus is equal to her class level. This bonus is also applied to the amount of damage repaired. Become As One: The Hero of Iron gains a +1 competence bonus to attacks with built-in or mounted weapons, as well as unarmed attacks, when wearing powered armor. Optimization: The wearer of the Iron Idol learns to optimize all built-in weapon systems. When rolling damage with a mounted weapon, the Hero of Iron may re-roll any damage dice that rolls minimum, though she must accept the results of the second roll.

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Legend of The Idol: The Iron Idol’s invincibility is a legend. The Hero of Iron gains a bonus to Defense equal to her Reputation score when wearing powered armor. Legendary Heroics: When using an Action Point to modify a dice roll, if a “6” is rolled the Hero of Iron regains the lost AP even though it has been used.

THE MOVEMENT “It took a miracle to bring us all together, but that’s what this man was all about. Miracles.” - Campfire tale of the Fallen God

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A lifetime ago, on the eastern fringes of the Far Desert, the wasteland was a more dangerous place. In the shadow of ruined cities and burned-out monuments of industry, a race of mutant giants known as “mongoliants” rose to power. Cold-blooded killers, savages, and man-eaters, these hideously deformed ogres used brute strength to conquer the scattered settlements of other wasteland inhabitants. Ruled by a self-styled “emperor”, the mongoliants enslaved many communities and turned their people towards the building of an Empire. Cruelty and slaughter became hallmarks of this savage nation, the bones of humans and mutants providing the building materials for fortresses and roads, their blood and tears serving as mortar. In the face of the mongoliants’ power and numbers most communities were crushed outright, with only a few managing to avoid discovery on the fringes of their lands, hiding in caves or in forgotten valleys littering the desert. Even these were unable to affect what was happening around them, as they were divided by race, creed, and color. It was in this time of tyranny and fear that the people cried out to the heavens for a hero, someone who would come and deliver them from the mongoliant threat. Remarkably, the heavens responded. One night a brilliant comet tore through the sky, burning through the oppressive darkness of the night like a ray of crimson wrath. Several communities in the desert noticed the star fall; some considered it an omen of trouble, of turmoil and great trials to come, but at least one saw in it a sign that the heavens had answered their prayers. This tribe of “star-watchers” immediately sent a scouting party into the wilderness to locate the fallen comet and investigate. What they found on reaching the site - deep in a forgotten corner of the desert - was something they did not expect. A massive metallic “beast” had apparently fallen to earth, carving up miles of desert terrain, leaving a broad canyon, at the bottom of which it lay. They could see “angelic beings” around the wreckage in numbers, apparently examining their craft for damage. On approaching the scouts were spotted… but to their surprise they came under fire! These were no saviors - these were enemies from the stars!

THE REALITY The destitute tribals had not found the answer to their prayers, but rather advanced humans whose spacecraft, the “Mayflower”, had crashed to the Earth. During the time of the Ancients, the Mayflower was a newly-constructed transport ship originally intended to take colonists to the asteroid colonies of the Kuyper Belt. The enormous ship was fitted with cryogenic-sleep facilities for its complement of crew and colonists for the voyage, but sometime after entering orbit (but before engaging its ion drives) there was a major malfunction. Shockwaves from nuclear detonations in space as a result of the unexpected outbreak of the Final War paralyzed the ship, shutting down her power, and entombing her passengers in their icy holds indefinitely. Hundreds of years later, as the Mayflower’s orbit began to decay, drawing it closer and closer to Earth, automated alarms went off. Passengers on several levels were awakened, while others, stuck in malfunctioning sleep-tubes, were trapped. Those that awoke struggled to find out what was going on (they’d been frozen before leaving Earth, and thus knew nothing of the Fall), attempting to reach the control center to learn more of their fates. Unbelievably, however, a small but determined faction of colonists aboard the ship took advantage of the chaos to seize control. By chance a band of former convicts and lifers, paroled from Earth’s worst prisons in a program to colonize the mining stations of the asteroid belt, were among the first to awaken. Their leader led a mutiny, attempting to wrest control of the Mayflower from its small military complement. They succeeded, rounding up all but one member of the soldier detachment sent with the ship to keep the convicts in line. Several of these were murdered in cold blood in petty acts of revenge. But, as the ship entered the atmosphere, the mutineers were unable to prevent the inevitable. In the panic, the ship’s former captain somehow managed to regain control of the ship just long enough to eject the part of the vessel containing the convicts - and one soldier who found himself trapped with them. The Mayflower’s automated systems allowed the ejected portion of the ship to land relatively unharmed somewhere in the Michigan wasteland. Emerging from the wreckage, the soldier who’d been accidentally ejected with the convicts managed to escape, just before the vengeful convicts found him. He slipped away under the cover of night, plunging headfirst into a world that was drastically different than the one he’d left centuries ago. This former soldier would come to be known as the “Fallen God” by the people of the wasteland. First motivated by survival, and then by discovery (he wanted to learn what had happened to his planet in the Fall), he wandered the desert and the ruins of old towns, taking in what must have been a mind-

shattering revelation - that the familiar Earth was gone. But in time he managed to recover from his injuries and shock, locate weapons and armor, and eventually find people. The people he first came into contact with not humans, but mutants. They were members of the same tribe that had sent scouts to investigate the “fallen star”, but his sudden appearance so soon after the crash (and following the disappearance of their scouting party) left the tribe divided. Some believed he was a “god” sent from the stars to make things right, while others believed he was responsible for the deaths of their brave warriors. The Fallen God quickly surmised that the tribe’s scouts had found the wreck of the Mayflower, and had most likely been captured by the convicts, who were no doubt interrogating the tribals about the condition of Earth - and laughing at the irony of civilization turned on its head. The Fallen God warned the people of the danger of the convicts (who now had the resources of the entire ship at their disposal, including lasers and explosives), but they had bigger problems - the Mongoliant Empire. A patrol from the Empire’s frontier would certainly be sent to investigate the fallen star, and if this “fallen angel” was discovered among them, they would suffer greatly. After learning more about these “mongoliants”, the Fallen God agreed to help the people fight if the monsters came. The Fallen God led a successful ambush against the mongoliants, slaughtering all but a handful who fled back the way they came. The Fallen God returned to a surprising welcome. It had been nothing to him, simply falling back on his military training, but to the villagers he had done the impossible, defeating the mongoliants in open battle. He was immediately celebrated as a hero, and hailed as a “savior”. Emboldened, many of the young of the tribe wanted to march out and take on the Mongoliant Empire headto-head but the Fallen God, and their elders, warned against it. But believing he had truly been sent to save them, the elders propositioned the Fallen God. If he could venture out into the wasteland and build an alliance of tribes, together they would be unstoppable. They would not only be able to topple the mongoliant tyranny, they could also help the Fallen God return to the Mayflower to face his nemesis - the convict leader - and put right his injustices. The Fallen God accepted the challenge, leaving the village to search for other tribes willing to join the cause. According to legend he made friends with the self-titled “King of Terminals”, a savage mutant living in an old automated dome that once served as an amusement park, recreating Louis Carroll’s Through The Looking Glass. He had to do battle with the robotic “Red Queen”, and negotiate a peace with the terminal tribe’s quixotic leader, who styled himself after the “Mad Hatter”. He went on to discover a group of peaceful people

living in an old biodome research station in the wasteland, a tribe who followed a druidic, natureworshipping path. He managed to secure their allegiance by performing a great task, venturing into the bowels of their ancient biodome to repair its “miraculously” unending water source. Their future saved, they committed themselves to the Fallen God’s cause as well. Despite his efforts, the Fallen God knew all that he had was a loose collection of primitive peoples who, though brave, were no match for the convicts of the Mayflower. He was ready to give up, when one of the elders of the biodome druids related to him a legend of his people. This legend spoke of a great “creature sheathed in metallic armor”, which stories claimed still lay, sleeping, at the heart of a nearby swamp. The Fallen God ascertained from details gleaned from the storyteller that this “creature” was in fact an ancient war droid. Knowing that having such a powerful machine on his side could mean the difference between victory and defeat, he set out to find it, and if possible, reactivate it. The journey to the swamp was full of danger and trials of its own. When he did finally discover the war droid at the heart of the swamp, he expected to find it lifeless and in need of repair; he was surprised when the thing rose in his presence and addressed him. Remarkably the thing had developed intelligence since the time of the Fall, though in a dark and brooding sort of way. Having seen the human race extinguish itself in a fiery flash, and having watched their survivors descend into savagery, it was pessimistic about the idea of helping man’s mutant descendants, and even more skeptical about why it should even bother leaving its miserable, swampy abode. The Fallen God managed to convince the war droid to assist in the coming battle by appealing to the war droid’s sense of logic. He convinced it that where it lay, in the swamp, it no longer served a purpose. Once designed for war, and wholesale destruction, its selfimposed exile made no sense. Boldly, he proposed that the war droid give itself a new purpose, to help man instead of killing him, and to protect his fragile descendants instead of disdaining them. Once accomplished, the Fallen God returned to the village of the star-watchers to find that they had been attacked by the mongoliants while he‘d been gone, their people marched off to work in the mongoliant mines. The time for war had come, and without delay he and the allied army of tribes he’d built marched on the mongoliant frontier. Several decisive engagements were played out against the mongoliants, battles fought in the open desert, in the hill country, and in the ruins of the city of Cadillac, which had since become the mongoliant “capital”. The Fallen God himself killed the mongoliant “Emperor” in single combat during the last battle, putting an end to the mongoliant power once and for all.

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With the mongoliants defeated and their vast legions of slaves freed, the Fallen God turned his attention to the Mayflower. Marching his followers across the desert once more, they located the wreck of the ancient ship and its well-armed defenders. Unlike the barbaric mongoliants, the castaways of the Mayflower were well-coordinated, and ultimately the Fallen God had to leave his army outside to tie down the defenders while he and a select few infiltrated within. In due course they managed to locate the convict’s leader and, in yet another heroic battle, put him to the sword as well. When all was said and done, the tribes of the wasteland celebrated, but the Fallen God slipped once more into quiet brooding. After a few weeks, he came before the elders of the combined tribes and addressed them as one. In his short time with them he had learned much of the world and its new inhabitants, and had in turn taught them of the past, the Ancients, and how things used to be. He had instilled them with a belief that their differences and diversity were not weaknesses, but strengths, and that united they were a force far more powerful than alone. He had done all he could to help them, and they had repaid the favor in helping him destroy the people who had killed his friends. He would leave, return to the desert, and help others elsewhere. He charged them with only one task - to never forget what he had taught them, and to use it for good.

lasting peace. His followers, who call themselves “the Movement”, work tirelessly to spread that hope. The Movement’s followers are active in missionary work, community betterment, and ridding the wasteland of raiders, marauding monsters, and enemies who threaten their way of life. Movement agents are often active as adventurers as well, volunteering to aid villages that need someone skilled to help rid them of their troubles.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Those who follow the Movement are as varied in race, abilities, and appearance as a religion gets on the Twisted Earth. One can expect to find hospitality, generosity, and understanding in communities where the Movement is prevalent, a chance to forget one’s past and join in a brighter future. Advanced Class: Characters who take the Movement as their allegiance have the opportunity to enter the Unifier advanced class, a class the reflects the cult’s emphasis on helping those in need, righting wrongs, and resisting (or outright challenging) tyranny wherever it rears its head. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Movement) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Diplomacy, Gather Information, and Knowledge [Ancient Lore, History, or Twisted Earth].

UNIFIER

SINCE THEN…

Some see him as a hero. Others a troublemaker. But wherever he goes, those who oppress, enslave, or prey on the downtrodden would be wise to keep a gun by their bedside at night. The Movement Unifier is a man (or, in some cases, a woman) who has chosen a hard road indeed. He has taken it upon himself to challenge the status quo of many of the wasteland’s established societies and factions, namely those that employ slavery, stratify their societies along racial lines, prey upon the weak, or practice discrimination based on purity of blood, mutation, etc. Foundationists, Brethren, Ravagers,

The Fallen God left long ago, never to return. No one knows what happened to him, if he died out there, if he ascended once more into heaven, or if he still wanders the wasteland helping those in need. Many who met him spent their lives trying to understand why he left and where he may have gone, but since then most others have come to forget those details, and instead focus on preserving his message. The Fallen God gave the people of the wasteland hope, not only to overcome enemies and oppression, but hope of working together and enjoying true,

TABLE 3-8: THE UNIFIER Level

98

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+1

+0

+1

Code of Conduct, Unifier

+1

+1

2

+1

+2

+0

+2

Avenger +1d6

+1

+1

3

+2

+2

+1

+2

Bonus Feat

+2

+1

4

+3

+2

+1

+2

Heroism (saves)

+2

+2

5

+3

+3

+1

+3

Avenger +2d6

+3

+2

6

+4

+3

+2

+3

Bonus Feat

+3

+2

7

+5

+4

+2

+4

Heroism (attacks)

+4

+3

8

+6

+4

+2

+4

Avenger +3d6

+4

+3

9

+6

+4

+3

+4

Bonus Feat

+5

+3

10

+7

+5

+3

+5

Refuse To Die

+5

+4

Doomriders - they are all enemies to be dealt with accordingly in the Unifier‘s eyes. “Hero” is an appellation that certainly applies to him in most cases, but the Unifier doesn’t wander the wasteland or risk death simply for the satisfaction of being given a self-gratifying title. He believes in what he is doing, he believes in the message of the Movement, and he is ready to lay down his life to preserve the less able from the tyrannical deprivations of others. The Unifier is often a charismatic individual, whether as a diplomat who seeks to mend old wounds, or using “gunboat diplomacy” to beat raiders and slavers into line. Some are wily and cunning; others are dark, silent types who let their guns do the talking.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Unifier, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Special: Defender class ability. Feats: Iron Will. Allegiance: The Movement.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Unifier advanced class. Hit Die: 1d10. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Unifier’s class skills are: Diplomacy, Drive, Gather Information, Intimidate, Knowledge (Ancient Lore), Knowledge (History), Knowledge (Twisted Earth), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy), Navigate, Profession, Ride, Sense Motive, and Survival. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Unifier advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Unifier receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, heavy), Burst Fire, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Double Tap, Exotic Firearms Proficiency, Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency, Far Shot, Great Cleave, Improved Autofire, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Rip A Clip, Reactive Shooter, Room-Broom, Strafe, Suppressive Fire. Code of Conduct: Unifiers adhere to a strict code that requires them to offer assistance to those in need, to redress wrongs enacted in the name of race or prejudice, to emancipate slaves when possible, and to never accept payment (with the exception of accepting reimbursement for supplies, medical treatment,

ammunition, etc.) for such deeds. A Unifier who fails to uphold this code does not lose her abilities, but is unable to progress in the Unifier class ever again. Unifier: A Unifier gains a +1 morale bonus to attacks, skill checks, and saving throws for each character of a different “race” in her party besides herself, to a maximum of +3. “Races” that qualify include pureblood humans (including eugenic surrogates), mutants (including ghouls, hermavs, winged ones, etc.), androids (including cyborgs and robots), and beastmen. Avenger: A Unifier gains bonus damage dice against slavers, bandits, raiders, and gangers. This bonus damage is inflicted whenever the Unifier hits such a foe in combat. The bonus is +1d6 damage at 2nd level, increasing to +2d6 at 5th level, and +3d6 at 8th level. Heroism (Saves): A Unifier may spend an Action Point to give a morale bonus to saves to all allies within 30 ft. This bonus is equal to her Rep score. This bonus persists until the end of the current encounter. Heroism (Attacks): At 7th level the Unifier’s Heroism bonus also applies to attack rolls made by allies within 30 ft. Refuse To Die: At 10th level a Unifier may continue fighting even when she drops below 0 hit points, without penalty, but only if she is defending or fighting to directly save the lives of innocents. Each turn that she is below 0 hit points she must make a Fortitude save (DC 20 + 1 per round of being at below 0 hp) or fall unconscious. She may even continue fighting past -10 as a result of this ability, but if at any point she fails the Fortitude save to remain conscious she dies.

NUCHURCH “Growwwr! Stand aside, brother! I must feed! I cannot control the hunger!” “No, Brother Torg! Remember the Steps!!!” - Conversation between a struggling NuChurch Beastman and his pureblood “brother” A legend in the West, especially in the region known to the ignorant as the Big Rocks, the rise of the NuChurch has been a bloody, brutal story. Forged from the white-hot flames of genocide and war, the NuChurch has risen from the ashes like the proverbial phoenix, becoming perhaps the most militant and aggressively-expanding “religion” on the Twisted Earth. It is without a doubt a feared regional power, one whose terrible influence is expanding with unrelenting fervor.

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BACKGROUND The NuChurch’s beginnings are to be found in the wreckage of the pre-Fall world. Years after the Final War devastated the American continent, survivors of the Salt Lake City area were struggling to rebuild. The city itself was not a target of the nuclear exchange, though nearby strategic targets in the vicinity were devastated. One of these, the Dugway Proving Grounds, had been used in the development of several new chemical weapons that, the Ancients had hoped, could be used to turn the tide of the Final W ndoned. After a few months people began to return, mostly former inhabitants of the city or those from outlying communities who were seeking food and medicines. These humans found the ruins to be infested with

100

plague zombies, and formed armed militias to clear areas, build secure stockades, and eke out a meager existence salvaging for supplies. This fragile way of life came under attack not long after with the appearance of the first generation of mutants. Cast out by their human families, many of these poor wretches formed into gangs of thugs, raiders, or hermavs. Some were maniacs and killers; others were simply desperate bands of rabble fighting for survival. But an enmity soon grew between these mutants and their pureblood human counterparts, with skirmishes being played out regularly on the city’s deserted streets. Soon a new danger began to appear, adding to the chaos. Beastmen packs, descending on the outskirts of the city in search of refuge from the blistering hot Great Salt Desert, fought through zombies, mutants, and humans to carve their own bloody niche. Before long the city was gripped by a three-way conflict as the zombie threat became upstaged by the open warfare waged by the more dominant “factions”. Within two generations the original human population was succumbing to attrition, while the mutants were also scattered. The beastmen, suffering from a lack of organization from the start, had bred into motley, uncoordinated bands that would as soon fight each other as their racial enemies. It was in this atmosphere of looming extinction that a strange new force appeared. Metallic men, obviously hand-assembled by some survivor (or survivors), began to appear on the city streets. These rusty droids were anthropomorphic in shape, but had large oval loudspeakers instead of heads, and it was clear they were unintelligent drones, operating at the command of some unknown entity. Curiously, all three factions were addressed at the same time by separate machine envoys, which approached the walls of each factions’ most powerful group with a message. The voice coming over the crackling speakers was clear, calm, but instilled with a determined fire and a curiously educated elocution. It spoke of peace and unity, and of cooperation. And, with the utmost gravity in its tone, the speaker threatened the total extermination of any side that refused to coexist. Not surprisingly, though all sides were puzzled by these new arrivals, their enmity did not die easily. It was the pureblood humans of the city that struck first, in an effort to obliterate the fighting ability of their mutant rivals. They succeeded in slaughtering a great number, but many escaped. The purebloods considered the operation a victory, yet they would not rest on their laurels for long. The automatons returned, this time in

numbers. Unlike before, instead of simply carrying loudspeakers, they had weapons. And one out of every platoon had a giant all-seeing “eye” instead of a head, a terrible, angry eye that observed all. The purebloods came under attack immediately, and within two days their former strength was a thing of the past. Whatever edge the purebloods might have had over the mutants and beastmen was taken from them with the wholesale destruction of their fortresses and communities. A few survived, but like the mutants and beastmen who’d been watching, they were quick to understand that a new power was now in control, and in due course supplicated themselves before it. This new power began to call itself the “NuChurch”, and with the surrender of the warring factions to its authority it began to build. It began to rebuild the ruins of Salt Lake City, but more importantly, it began to build a new society based on peace and unity. To make this possible, the NuChurch began to command its followers to deny their base instincts. A strict code of law was put into place, in which purebloods were forced to accept the deformed, in which mutants were forced to rise from squalid depravity, in which beastmen were made to deny their animal natures. Those who refused or fought the “NuLaw” were killed outright; those who later regressed, or who continued their ways behind closed doors, were invariably discovered and brutally punished with public mutilation as “penance”. With a new, united society, the NuChurch put its subjects – now worshipers – to work. “Work Unifies”, was the slogan broadcast from every aging drone’s loudspeaker. The humans, mutants, and beastmen were organized into work camps and work teams, forced to get along to complete monumental projects that, alone, would have been impossible. They rebuilt city blocks, cleared streets, fought back the lingering plague zombie population. They also rebuilt the abandoned Tabernacle, an edifice that apparently had become the “home” of the enigmatic “NuPope”. It was here that a great fortress-complex was built, and from where the drones seemed to originate, and now it would become the center of the NuChurch‘s empire. These vast, ambitious building projects created (brutally or otherwise) a strong, robust society, but one founded on fear and paranoia. Men, mutants, and beastmen all work together for a common goal, the appeasement and satisfaction of the all-seeing NuPope, whose shadow looms over everything, and who, they believe, “watches all”. But gradually, as the Tabernacle Temple grew in size, and the camps of NuChurch followers swelled with recruits, the resources of Salt Lake City began to dry up. Yet the NuPope’s demands for production did not cease; there were rumors that “other” projects were underway in the secrecy of the Tabernacle’s deepest bowels, but none could say for sure. The only thing that was certain was the NuPope’s need for resources,

and the dictum for the NuChurch’s followers to rise as a “great army”, spread forth from Salt Lake, and begin subjugating the “unworthy peoples of the wilderness” for the good of all.

THE REALITY The NuChurch is now a major religion based on religious zeal, paranoia, and war. Its savage armies of mutants, beastmen, and barbaric men spread from their center of power – Salt Lake City – to conquer new lands in the name of the NuPope. Many communities have fallen to the NuChurch onslaught, all of them given the choice to join… or die. Those who accept become absorbed by the brutal society, while those who resist serve as examples to others. To this day the NuChurch continues to expand. In addition to men, mutants, and beastmen, it now counts among its “accepted races” ghouls, creatures that are normally hunted elsewhere. This diversity is both a weakness and a strength; nowhere else is one likely to find a party of purebloods, mutants, beastmen, and ghouls working together. But things are not always harmonious; followers are quick to report troublemakers and volunteer to administer “penance”, if only to avert the NuPope’s wrathful eye from themselves for a while. The NuPope still remains an enigma; some say “he” is in fact a robot, while others speculate he may be a human manipulating more bestial races through his drones (and using religion as a means of control). Whatever the truth, those who follow the NuChurch worship and adore their NuPope; many men die in his name every day. The trick is to make sure you‘re not one of them…

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Those who fall under the influence of the NuChurch find a new home and a new purpose to their lives, being bent towards the “greater good” of the NuChurch and its growing empire. Advanced Class: All who join have a place in this new society, whether as farmers, laborers, builders, or warriors. Those who show a talent for fighting (or who have no other skills to save them from being drafted) become NuChurch Crusaders. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (NuChurch) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Bluff, Intimidate, and Knowledge [Theology & Philosophy].

NUCHURCH CRUSADER To outsiders, NuChurch Crusaders comprise vast legions of screaming zealots, a faceless mass of simple-minded warriors and barbarians spurred on by the fear of their mysterious “NuPope”. To many they are seen as berserkers, monstrous mutants, beastmen, and ghouls forced to wear a rigid mantle of

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TABLE 3-9: THE NUCHURCH CRUSADER Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+1

+0

+0

+2

Holy Icon,

+1

+0

2

+2

+0

+0

+3

Conditioning

+1

+0

3

+3

+1

+1

+3

Bonus Feat

+2

+0

4

+4

+1

+1

+4

Frenzy +1

+2

+1

5

+5

+1

+1

+4

Living Icon

+3

+1

6

+6

+2

+2

+5

Bonus Feat

+3

+1

7

+7

+2

+2

+5

Frenzy +2

+4

+1

8

+8

+2

+2

+6

Eye of The NuPope

+4

+2

9

+9

+3

+3

+6

Bonus Feat

+5

+2

10

+10

+3

+3

+7

Shield of Conviction

+5

+2

“civilization” to legitimize their savagery in the eyes of the beholder. NuChurch Crusaders are the rankand-file of the NuChurch’s population, members of every race thrown together by the NuLaw and forced to cooperate - on threat of brutal punishment. Many NuChurch Crusaders are feral savages, forced to parrot the rituals, prayers, and eloquent speech of the more civilized NuPope, as “he” demands. They chafe at the yoke they are forced to endure, but aware that the NuPope’s agents are watching, they deny their natures for the “good of all”. A typical NuChurch Crusader is a brainwashed warrior who believes in the awesome power of the NuPope as guide, protector, provider… and punisher. Afraid of their own shadows (for even comrades could be agents of the NuChurch), they fight to the death and find strength in their faith in the all-seeing NuPope.

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a NuChurch Crusader, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Radical, Ritual Preservationist, Visionary Reinventor. Feats: Cryptic Ordainment. Base Attack Bonus: +3. Allegiance: NuChurch.

CLASS INFORMATION

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The following information pertains to the NuChurch Crusader advanced class. Hit Die: 1d10. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The NuChurch Crusader’s class skills are: Climb, Intimidate, Jump, Knowledge (theology and philosophy), Navigate, Ride, Survival. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the NuChurch

Crusader advanced class. Bonus Feats: A NuChurch Crusader receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (light, medium, heavy), Burst Fire, Cleave, Combat Reflexes, Double Tap, Exotic Firearms Proficiency, Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency, Far Shot, Great Cleave, Improved Autofire, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Point Blank Shot, Power Attack, Rip A Clip, Reactive Shooter, Room-Broom, Strafe, Suppressive Fire. Holy Icon: All NuChurch Crusaders are given an icon that, they believe, was created by the NuPope himself specifically for that individual. It is inscribed with a prayer chosen specifically for her. So long as the Crusader has this icon in her possession she gains a +1 morale bonus to Mas saves and saves vs. fear. If the icon is lost or stolen she takes a -2 morale penalty instead until she gets it back or acquires a new one. Conditioning: Conditioning in the NuChurch is often little better than torture designed to create tough soldiers. The Crusader is immune to any effect that would force her to act against her superiors or betray her religion and/or orders. Frenzy: When reduced to below half her maximum hit points, the Crusader fights with a +1 morale bonus to attacks and damage. At 7th level this bonus increases to +2. Living Icon: The veteran Crusader’s courage inspires zeal in his comrades. When called on to make a Will save vs. any morale-based effect (such as fear), all allies within 30 ft. of the character may use the NuChurch Crusader’s Will save. Eye of The NuPope: The Crusader is conditioned to fear the secretive Inquisition which monitors its agents and soldiers no matter how far they go from home. Afraid to show fear, weakness, or simply to disappoint, the Crusader can push herself to extraordinary heights. The Crusader may spend an

Action Point to re-roll any failed attack, save, or skill check. Shield of Conviction: At 10th level the Crusader may spend an Action Point to gain a +4 morale bonus to Defense for 10 minutes.

PARADISE BELIEVERS Kenyu heer-me? Dis-is Paradise Stashun… Kenenyone heer-me? Dis-is Paradise Stashun, cowleen Urth… Eez enny-won steel uh-live? - Chant of the Paradise Believers The cultists known as “Paradise Believers” have a strong presence in the Forbidden Lands and Far Desert, where trade settlements stand as bulwarks against the chaos of the wasteland. Motivated by a somewhat defeatist view that this world isn’t worth saving, the Paradise Believers adhere to a peculiar belief that a better world exists out there, among the cosmos. Their struggle, then, is to find a means to perfect themselves for the journey to this so-called “Paradise”.

HISTORY Years ago a shady character named Guy Willis appeared in the dusty boomtown of Midway, which then was a growing outpost of Cartel rule in the Forbidden Lands. Mangy desert peoples from all over the wastes came there to trade scrap and scavenged goods to the Cartel traders, receiving food, water, medicine, or shelter in return. Many of those who came here were little more than vagrants, deliberately prolonging their stay in fortified Midway so as not to be forced to face the harsh realities of desert life. Guy Willis appeared to be no better than these vagrants, a disheveled scav who came out of the desert like any other bit of rolling tumbleweed. But this was not the case, and before long Guy made it clear why he had come: according to him, he had found among the sands a “holy text” from before the Fall, describing in great detail a lost “planet” called “Paradise Station” where people went to live out the rest of eternity in luxury and peace. Followers immediately started flocking to the charismatic Guy, hoping to learn of “Paradise” and how to get there. Guy promptly became the caretaker of the “holy text”, extracting information from it with which to found a cult. The cult’s goal was to attract those disillusioned with the current way of things on the Twisted Earth, and together work towards a grand “exodus” from earth to distant Paradise. Using sections taken straight from the holy text, Guy established a system of “tiers” for his followers, stratifying the cult into four basic orders. Followers

of the cult entered at the lowest tier, of course, and had to pay to rise in the ranks - just like it said in the text. As a follower rose in ranks, she was accorded greater privileges, including the right to demand shelter from any Paradise Believer, the right to be provided with food, and other luxuries. She could also share in the money of the Paradise Believers movement (money “donated” to the cause by those wishing to rise in the ranks), though the majority of the hard cash found its way upwards to Guy himself. Once the religion had its foundation, Guy set about looking for converts, selling “tickets” (as they were called in the holy text) and accumulating adherents and hard cash. Within a few years Guy was extremely wealthy with a following of over five hundred adherents in over twenty settlements in the Forbidden Desert and Trade Lands. Surprisingly, an event (which some call a “miracle”) occurred not long after the religion became established. Followers of the cult, operating without Guy’s knowledge, managed to get their hands on a smattering of advanced technology. With the aptitude of a particularly skilled tinker, they succeeded at building a microwave radio receiver, hoping to use it to tune into “Paradise” and make contact with the “higher beings” that were believed to be there. They hoped to glean further instructions on how to achieve Paradise in their lifetimes. What they uncovered was startling. Through the buzz of static came a message being broadcast from the coordinates of Paradise, somewhere in deep space. The message has since become a well-known Paradise Believer prayer: Kenyu heer-me? Dis-is Paradise Stashun… Kenenyone heer-me? Dis-is Paradise Stashun, cow-leen Urth… Eez enny-won steel uh-live? Not long after, the tinker who devised the receiver went missing, and the receiver mysteriously broke down. But to the faithful it was clear that the gods of Paradise were real, and calling to them! Guy continued to collect donations for the next few months, as word of the remarkable message from the stars spread through the towns and villages of the desert. The cult was growing to several thousand members, and Guy stood to inherit great power, when he, too, vanished inexplicably. The followers of the cult believed Guy had “ascended”, finally taking his place among the gods of Paradise as a reward for his faith. In time stories began to circulate about Willis, portraying him as a saintly figure by whose example others should live if they wanted to reach Paradise. Other stories insisted he had been born under a special set of astral circumstances, and depicted him almost as a quasideity himself, giving rise to the concept of the “Star

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Child” (see Allegiance Benefits, below). The Paradise Believers continue to follow the tenets Guy Willis set down, including the buying of membership, the sharing of privileges, and a strict hierarchy for adherents of the faith. In recent years, fringe cells of the cult have begun funding the construction of “rocketships” from scrap and salvaged junk, either to serve as temples or, in some cases, to be loaded up with fuel and detonated in a hope that those within will be sent to Paradise. Invariably these die in the explosion of fire and sparks, but to the Paradise Believers, this is merely a sign that their souls have “ascended”.

THE REALITY Guy Willis was merely a wily entrepreneur who stumbled onto a relic of the past. The “holy text” he found in the Far Desert was nothing more than a detailed brochure of “Paradise Station”, a luxury hotel/ space station constructed in orbit around the moon during the heyday of the Ancients’ civilization. According to the brochure, Paradise Station was a four-level orbital station that could accommodate up to 2,000 “guests” at any given time. The station

was designed as an exclusive resort, open only to the upper strata of American society who could afford the tremendous cost of recreational space flight. But the designers of the station were intent on making it worth their while; the station included escalating tiers of accommodation, with enclosed parks, a fully-stocked tropical lagoon, numerous enclosed ecosystems for hunting or recreational safaris, holographic recreation decks, zero-gravity sports arenas, and suites with a level of luxury normally attainable only in the finest resorts on Earth. The brochure also listed available amenities, which served as the model on which Guy founded his movement. Each guest “tier” had a corresponding price tag attached to it, and with it an escalating selection of services. Guy realized he could use the same model to set up his “cult”, promising greater and greater benefits to his followers so long as they paid, with him ultimately being at the top. When his followers, led by a troublesome tinker, managed to build a microwave receiver and make contact with Paradise Station, Guy was flabbergasted. He had believed Paradise to be a myth, or at most lost and abandoned; he never expected survivors to still be onboard! Knowing that continued contact with whoever was still alive out there might unravel his scheme (which had been years in the making), Guy had no choice but to murder the tinker and sabotage the receiver. Worried he would eventually be discovered, Guy stayed only a short while to stockpile the donations of his followers and fled, never to be heard from again. The Paradise Believers continue without him, however, and the truth that survivors do still live on Paradise (though in what state is unclear) remains.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS

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Followers of this strange cult risk ridicule and scorn wherever they travel, but receive special benefits (including sanctuary) when among other believers. Benefit Packages: Unlike other cults, the Paradise Believers do not have a factionspecific advanced class. Instead the Paradise Believers offer benefits in the form of Benefit Packages, which grant privileges of escalating “luxury” to their followers, as well as access to the Star Child template (though the latter is typically quite rare; see New Templates for details). Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Paradise Believers) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Diplomacy, Knowledge [Theology & Philosophy], and Navigate.

TABLE 3-10: PARADISE BELIEVER TIERS Tier

Reservation Price

Rep Requirement

Benefit Package

Earthling

500 cp

-

Stellar Welcome

Spacefarer

2,500 cp

-

Lunar Luxury

Cosmonaut

10,000 cp

+1 Rep

Astral Opulence

Galactic Guest

50,000 cp

+2 Rep

Prestige Package

BENEFIT PACKAGES All Paradise Believers are ranked according to their “tier”, a measure of their “dedication” to the cult. Dedication, to the Believers, is measured in corium pieces, because each tier in the hierarchy demands a higher entrance fee. Ostensibly these fees go to support the privileges granted by each ascending tier, and so a large portion filters upwards to the upper echelon of the cult to sustain their luxurious lifestyles. To join the Paradise Believers, a new convert must pay a flat 500 cp sum to the local cell for admittance. This is known as the “reservation price”, a term carried over from the fact that Guy Willis, the cult‘s founder, based much of the cult‘s structure on a tourist brochure for a space-based resort (the term is also used literally by the Paradise Believers; they believe that, once they reach Paradise, their place in eternity will be “reserved” for them). The “reservation price” for the tiers above require even greater expenditures of cash, but have equally staggering benefits for the aspiring cultist. Ultimately, Paradise Believers are generally only restricted from rising in the ranks by the money they can contribute. The tiers of the Paradise Believer cult are described below. Each tier has a reservation price and associated benefits, which are detailed after the table. Some tiers also require a requisite Reputation bonus, indicating that in addition to money a certain amount of “celebrity” must be possessed by the would-be cultist.

STELLAR WELCOME Originally this package was for visitors on a budget, who got to go home with a “complimentary jumpsuit to remember their visit“. Now it serves as the basic package for all Paradise Believers, who on joining the cult receive a hand-made, one-piece uniform jumpsuit (but only vaguely resembling the ones seen in the original brochure). Benefit: The Paradise Believer is given a reasonably durable, one-piece jumpsuit with his or her name stenciled over the right breast. The color of the suit denotes the Believer’s rank. At the “Earthling” level this suit is grey; at “Spacefarer” it is black; at “Cosmonaut” it is white; and at the “Galactic Guest” level the suit is silver.

LUNAR LUXURY The next step up in accommodations, this package added to the “Stellar Welcome” by offering a “room-

available guarantee” and a “discount at the Paradise gift shop”. The Paradise Believers interpret this by offering those of the “Spacefarer” tier a guaranteed place to shelter and a discount on goods purchased from other members of the cult. Benefit: The Paradise Believer is guaranteed a safe place to shelter in any town, village, or trading post that has a cell of Paradise Believers. The quality of shelter can vary widely, but is usually in the home of a local Believer of high standing; failing this, it will likely be in an attic, stable, etc.. In addition, the Believer is entitled to a 10% discount when buying items from merchants or craftsmen who also belong to the cult.

ASTRAL OPULENCE This package offered the amenities of the lower tiers, and also “complimentary room service”. The Paradise Believers honor this by providing free food and drink to any cult member who has attained Cosmonaut status or greater. Benefit: As with the “room-available guarantee” of the previous tier, the free food and drink is subject to great variation depending on the means of the cult hosts. In cities and larger settlements a Paradise Believer of this tier can expect to be given the best her hosts have to offer, but in poorer villages she will have to make do with whatever gruel or scraps her hosts can get their hands on. Still, a free meal is often worth its weight in gold in the wasteland…

PRESTIGE PACKAGE The final word in discreet luxury, during the heyday of Paradise Station this tourist package offered all the amenities of the above tiers, but also “the services of a personal valet” and access to a “discreet 24hour escort service”. Those Believers who attain the “Galactic Guest” tier gain the services of a loyal servant, and may require from any Paradise Believer cultist sexual services suiting his/her taste - on demand! Benefit: The Believer of this tier gains a loyal cohort (as if she possessed the Leadership feat, but without Followers). In addition, though sometimes controversial, she is entitled to require from any Paradise Believer “additional” services suiting his/her taste, on demand. Any Paradise Believer who refuses such a demand must pay restitution to the Galactic Guest in the neighborhood of 50 cp, or be expelled from the cult.

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TEKHEADS That the Ancient world is now a wreck Is proof of the power of great lord Tek! - Tekhead belief The term “tekhead” has become a somewhat generic one on the Twisted Earth, referring to any gang or cult that worships technology as an abstract sort of “god”. The term’s origins lie in a powerful cult of the same name, which has held sway along the artifact-strewn ruins skirting the Old Mississippi River for over a decade.

BACKGROUND

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The Tekheads (and many similar “copy-cat” cults) first began when a group of raiders managed to get their hands on a cache of powerful, pre-Fall technology. Quick to take advantage of their newfound power, these raiders used their laser and Gauss armament to eliminate their rivals in the area, and impress their will on the scattered, pathetic communities eking out an existence along the river. Taking food, water, women, and later even tribute in corium, the Tekheads only grew stronger. Eventually a leader rose to prominence in the Tekhead army, a leader with vision and cunning. It was he who came to deify “Tek” in the minds of his fellow gangers, starting a crusade to not only worship technology as a “god”, but to acquire it and keep it out of the hands of others - at all costs. The fervent acquisition of technology is not a unique concept, but the Tekheads pursue it with abnormal zeal. The rank-and-file believe that technological items are sacred objects of the god, Tek, and must be rescued, cared for, and repaired in his name. Their ability to understand, fix, and operate such items is “proof” (in their eyes) that Tek has given them his blessing to use technology, exclusively. To the upper echelon of the Tekheads this belief can be just as strong, but they also understand that keeping technology out of the hands of others has a practical value as well: it keeps their enemies (and prey) weak, and makes the Tekheads the strongest cult around. Tekhead cells are many up and down the Mississippi River, united loosely in a confederation of sorts. Each cell has its own members and leader, subservient to a regional “cleric” who oversees numerous “divisions”. Cells typically scavenge and scrounge their area for technology, either finding it in the trash heaps of the ruins or taking it from the cold-dead hands of travelers or conquered communities. These items are taken to the regional cleric for appraisal; cells (and their leaders) are generally rewarded richly for such finds (often given the item itself, if it is a weapon or armor), so the impetus to be vigilant is strong.

In the case of finds that suggest more of the same may be recovered (whether by an excavation, in the case of random finds, or an attack, in the case of a community found hiding a tech item), the regional cleric may call a “crusade”. In such a case all of the Tekheads cells in a division may come together in a frenzied mob, bearing down on the location/ community identified by their local cleric as the crusade’s target. The wrath of a rampaging Tekhead army is great, leaving a great deal of devastation in their wake, using any opportunity to exercise their power as an excuse to show off their technological edge. Tekhead cells are well-equipped. Functionality trumps comfort; they often live in cars, revived motor homes, etc. piled high with junk and salvage, every interior space devoted to spare parts and tools. They are often nomadic, roaming in great convoys blasting rock music, lighting up the night sky with their lighted rigs. Even the lowest member has a tech weapon of some sort; it is not uncommon for leaders to have powered armor, force screens, etc.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Becoming a member of a Tekhead cell puts a worshipper in tantalizing reach of recovered artifacts of the Ancient world, from weapons to armor to powerful gizmos. Advanced Class: Entering the Tekhead advanced class guarantees a character will acquire technological items as she progresses in level, while also teaching her the skills she will need to keep her awesomely powerful gizmos in working order. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Tekhead) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Craft [Electronic or Mechanical], Knowledge [Ancient Lore, Technology, or Theology & Philosophy], and Repair.

TEKHEAD Tekheads are more than mere worshipers of Ancientera technology, they are preservers and resurrectors of things lost to the junk heap of history. Such an individual knows to look twice, examine things thoroughly, and to never assume a broken item is useless. With a hodge-podge of oily tools, and no small amount of perseverance and elbow grease, the Tekhead soon finds himself bearing potent weapons, armor, and devices that most believe vanished along with the Ancients themselves. The Tekhead is an advanced class with a peculiar focus on scrounging and repair, gaining bonuses to fix items of ancient technology and, once they are repaired, bonuses to using them against their enemies.

TABLE 3-11: THE TEKHEAD Level

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+0

+1

+0

1

Bonus to Repair

+1

+1

2

+1

+2

+0

2

Mastercraft +1

+1

+1

3

+2

+2

+1

2

Bonus Feat

+2

+1

4

+3

+2

+1

2

Worshipping Hands (time)

+2

+2

5

+3

+3

+1

3

Mastercraft +2

+3

+2

6

+4

+3

+2

3

Bonus Feat

+3

+2

7

+5

+4

+2

4

Worshipping Hands (cost)

+4

+3

8

+6

+4

+2

4

Mastercraft +3

+4

+3

9

+6

+4

+3

4

Bonus Feat

+5

+3

10

+7

+5

+3

5

Teknical Aptitude

+5

+4

REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Tekhead, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Background: Ritual Preservationist. Feats: Builder, Gearhead, or Vulture (at least one). Skills: Knowledge (Technology) 7 ranks, Repair 7 ranks. Talent: Knowing of Things. Allegiance: Tekheads.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Tekhead advanced class. Hit Die: 1d8. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Tekhead’s class skills are: Computer Use, Craft (Electronic), Craft (Mechanical), Drive, Intimidate, Investigate, Knowledge (Ancient Lore), Knowledge (Technology), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy), Pilot, Profession, Repair, and Search. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES The following features pertain to the Tekhead advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Tekhead receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Armor Proficiency (light, medium, heavy), Builder, Cautious, Educated, Exotic Melee Weapon Proficiency, Gearhead, Meticulous, Personal Firearms Proficiency, Exotic Firearms Proficiency, Studious, Vehicle Expert, Weapon Focus, Vulture. Bonus to Repair: The Tekhead gains a bonus to all Repair checks equal to her class level.

Mastercraft: At 2nd level all weapons and armor of ancient manufacture in the Tekhead’s possession receive a mastercraft bonus when wielded/worn by her. This bonus only applies when being used by the Tekhead; in anyone else’s hands the item receives no bonus. At 2nd level this bonus is +1, at 5th it increases to +2, and at 8th it increases to +3. Worshiping Hands (Time): At 4th level the Tekhead repairs items of ancient technology in half the normal time. Worshiping Hands (Cost): At 7th level the Tekhead repairs items of ancient technology at half the normal cost. Teknical Aptitude: At 10th level, any time she uses a powered device in a manner that would normally use up a charge, the Tekhead may spend an Action Point; if she does, the charge is not lost.

WILD WEST GIRLS “It may look sweeter than a Georgia peach to you, honey, but you so much as lay one finger on my behind and I’ll drill you full o’ lead with this here firing iron. Now, how about a nice little campfire sing-along to remind you of that wife you seem to have forgotten all about?” - A girl’s gotta be tough to be a Prairie Paladin… Legends often develop during times of great hardship and devastating wars. Legends also come about as a result of the actions of a few brave souls, men (and sometimes women) who answer the call to arms in spite of great personal cost to fight against tyrants and oppressors. The storied “Wild West Girls” of Old Wyoming, said to operate out of the rugged Laramie Mountains, are a sisterhood inspired by old tales of just such heroics, and in so doing made a legend of themselves.

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HISTORY Generations after the Fall, in a lawless frontier, a desperate young woman named “Annie“ - recently widowed at the hands of ruthless raiders - found an old holo-movie reel about a band of women from the ancient past known as the “Wild West Girls“. Wounded, and still getting over the shock of losing her husband to a band of marauders, she turned to the images on the holo-movie to find the strength to carry on. Unable to truly understand what exactly the movie depicted, Annie mistakenly believed she had found evidence of a lost way of life, of a band of roughand-tough girls who, despite the hostility of a maledominated society, rose to empower themselves.

It was exactly the thing she’d been looking for, something that could give her shattered life a purpose. At the time the wilds of Wyoming were in the grip of savage raiders, from the cruel and tyrannical Fee’Men (a barbarous tribe descended from federal emergency workers stranded in the state during the Final War) to the rampaging Doomriders and the rising NuChurch. Annie, taking on the moniker, “the Prairie Princess”, found the inspiration to fight these evils in the old materials, modeling herself after one of the lost Wild West Girls and dedicating her life to fighting for justice and freedom. Annie recruited others, girls and women who likewise had suffered at the hands of the region’s raiders and gangs, and who took up nicknames just as colorful as hers; Holly “Firing Irons” Duke, ”Doc” Luanne, Tyra “Mustang” Bell, and many more. Over time her original band grew into a sizable following, as girls from all over the plains were attracted by the stories of her deeds and heroism. Soon, a small cult began to develop, one open only to women, but whose adherents’ purpose would be to travel the wasteland and redress wrongs wherever they were encountered. According to stories, Annie vanished after she and her sisters helped topple the Fee’Men inhabitants of old Casper, leading an uprising against the NuChurch on the fringes of Wyoming’s Green River. Some believe she perished in the fighting, while others believe she simply rode off into the sunset to spread her strength elsewhere, now that she left the inhabitants of Wyoming with the ability to fend for themselves. Today the Wild West Girls continue to fight the good fight against NuChurch zealots, rogue cells of the Doomriders, and other local raider gangs and mutant bandits. Individual ’Girls typically model themselves as Old West “gunslingers”, donning cowboy hats, white gloves, well cared-for and attractive outfits, and highly-polished badges. The original Wild West Girl attire was quite skimpy, a tradition that many Wild West Girls still adhere to if only to better bedazzle their foes - before taking them by surprise.

THE REALITY

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Before the Fall the “Wild West Girls” were a famous - if tongue-in-cheek - traveling burlesque show highlighting the “unusual” talents of Wyoming’s native young women. Modeled loosely after Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, the troupe was composed entirely of attractive girls who, in addition to performing trick shooting, singing, dancing, and light comedy, were expected to show a “little more” for the entertainment of their fans in a circuit of adult clubs around the country. The concept of an “adult variety show” wasn’t all that successful, and the Wild West Girls were defunct by the time of the Fall. A number of obscenity lawsuits aimed at the ‘Girls‘ business manager

led to several court-mandated community service obligations, including the filming of public service commercials and participation in state-sponsored antidrug/anti-gang ad campaigns. In addition, the Wild West Girls performed several times for USO shows for the entertainment of troops during the initial fighting of the Final War. Still, the change in image was not enough to bring the show back from the brink, and the ‘Girls unraveled soon after. The original Annie found film of the Wild West Girls’ public service, including short commercial announcements intended to be inserted in after-school TV specials. From these she came to form the idea of the Wild West Girls not only as cowgirls and trick shooters, but also as carriers of a genuine message, to serve the public, protect them from themselves, and guide the young through warning them about temptation and gangs. Reviving what she believed to be an ancient “tradition” for girls, she took up the gun and the badge and never looked back. Her optimism, her vision, and her unshakable faith in the girls she recruited propelled her to become a hero of renown in her own time.

ALLEGIANCE BENEFITS Only females may join the Wild West Girls, and those who do face a life dictated by a strict code of behavior and service. Advanced Class: Only those who are truly dedicated make it far in the Wild West Girls, but those that do have a unique advanced class open to them, the Prairie Paladin. Favored Skills: A character who takes the Cryptic Ordainment (Wild West Girls) feat receive a permanent +1 morale bonus to Perform [Dance, Sing, or Stringed Instruments], Sleight of Hand, and Tumble.

TABLE 3-12: THE PRAIRIE PALADIN Level

PRAIRIE PALADIN The Wild West Girls are known far and wide for “lookin’ good and shootin‘ better”. Trained from the start to mimic the carnival shooting of their forebears, each member is expected to be a crack shot, able to “put out a raider’s eye at 100 paces”. But gunplay isn’t their only talent; the so-called “Prairie Paladins” possess legendary luck and survival senses to keep them alive in a world where heroes - let alone female heroes - more often than not die young. Prairie Paladins are expected to live by the code of the Wild West Girls, which has no tolerance for prejudice or injustice, requires the ‘paladin to redress wrongs, help the needy, and to never give up. The code also demands that the Prairie Paladin never deny surrender or mercy, and (harkening back to their origins as a singing/dancing troupe) to sing to lift the spirits of the downtrodden. Not all Prairie Paladins can adhere to this code their entire lives. Once a Prairie Paladin breaks the code, she can no longer progress in this class, and in fact often becomes an enemy of the Wild West Girls. This is rare, but not unknown. “Brandy Blackheart”, formerly Annie’s right-hand, turned rogue and now leads her own gang. Unable to show mercy to raiders (whom she was victimized by as a youth), Brandy Blackheart continues to mercilessly hunt them, and has become feared for her ruthlessness. Other girls, like the flirtatious and trouble-making Selena “Star” Durango, who showed skill with guns but lacked the moral character to be a true Prairie Paladin, are also not unknown, and instead make use of what they learned among the Wild West Girls to earn a living as hired guns.

BAB

Fort

Reflex

Will

Special

Def

Rep

1

+1

+0

+2

+0

Paladin’s Code, Survival Senses (light sleeper)

+1

+2

2

+2

+0

+3

+0

Trail Singing

+1

+2

3

+3

+1

+3

+1

Bonus Feat

+2

+2

4

+4

+1

+4

+1

Gunslinger

+2

+3

5

+5

+1

+4

+1

Survival Senses (initiative)

+3

+3

6

+6

+2

+5

+2

Bonus Feat

+3

+3

7

+7

+2

+5

+2

Gunslinger

+4

+4

8

+8

+2

+6

+2

Daredevil’s Luck

+4

+4

9

+9

+3

+6

+3

Bonus Feat

+5

+4

10

+10

+3

+7

+3

Renowned Shot

+5

+5

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REQUIREMENTS To qualify to become a Prairie Paladin, a character must fulfill all the following criteria. Gender: Female. Background: Ritual Preservationist. Feats: Trick Shooting [HDM], Weapon Focus (any ranged weapon). Allegiance: Wild West Girls.

CLASS INFORMATION The following information pertains to the Prairie Paladin advanced class. Hit Die: 1d8. Action Points: 7 + one-half of the character’s level, rounded down, every time he or she attains a new level in this class. Class Skills: The Prairie Paladin’s class skills are: Balance, Disguise, Gamble, Handle Animal, Intimidate, Jump, Navigate, Perform (dance, sing, stringed instruments), Ride, Sense Motive, Sleight of Hand, Survival, Treat Injury, Tumble. Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.

CLASS FEATURES

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The following features pertain to the Prairie Paladin advanced class. Bonus Feats: A Prairie Paladin receives a bonus feat at 3rd, 6th, and 9th level. The feat must be selected from the following list, and the character must meet the prerequisites to select it: Advanced Firearms Proficiency, Burst Fire, Double Tap, Exotic Firearms Proficiency, Far Shot, Improved Autofire, Personal Firearm Proficiency, Point Blank Shot, Rip A Clip, Reactive Shooter, Room-Broom, Strafe, Suppressive Fire. Paladin’s Code: The Prairie Paladin adheres to a strict code that requires her to aid the needy, never surrender, never give up, and avenge the wronged. A Prairie Paladin who fails to uphold this code does not lose her abilities, but is unable to progress in the Prairie Paladin class ever again. Survival Senses: “A girl’s gotta have a good eye to stay alive on the frontier“. At 1st level the Prairie Paladin is treated as a light-sleeper, waking at the slightest noise in her vicinity. At 5th level she gains an insight bonus to Initiative checks equal to her class level. Trail Singing: A Wild West Girl tradition is to while away the night by the campfire with melancholy songs. If the Prairie Paladin makes a successful Perform (sing) check at DC 20, one ally per point of Cha bonus recovers as if she had temporary use of the Second Wind talent. Using this ability takes one hour and can be used only once per night. Gunslinger: The Prairie Paladin is a true crack shot. At 4th level, any time she catches a foe flatfooted with a ranged attack, the critical range of the attack increases by one step (e.g. 20 becomes 19-20).

At 7th level her critical range against a flat-footed foe increases by another step (e.g. 18-20). Daredevil’s Luck: At 7th level the Prairie Paladin adds her Cha bonus (if positive) to her Defense. Renowned Shot: When attacking with a ranged weapon, the Prairie Paladin adds a luck bonus to the attack roll equal to her Reputation.

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