The year is 1890 and a group of exceptional men and women have converged on the city of London. Men and women with powers, abilities and knowledge that could be harnessed to bring an everlasting golden age to the British Empire, or bring the world into everlasting ruin.
Who are these heroes and villains, paragons and monsters?
What is drawing them to this city at this time?
Is it fate? Or something far darker?
Save the Queen, save the world.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Possible Setting #1 Superspies: The USHER Dossiers
4a. SuperSpies
Join the forces of the Unites States Headquarters for Emergency Response (USHER). What's a day like in USHER? You might be fighting animals from South America given human intelligence by escaped Nazi scientists decades ago, now following their own agenda.
Or attempting to stop the dreaded super-intelligent computer hackers of Medusa from stealing millions through electronic transactions.
Or tracking down rogue Shturmovik agents. Once the Soviet Union's elite guard of power-suit soldiers, these proud men and women have been reduced to mercenary status, selling their hydraulic powered expertise to the bidder.
Or maybe you'll track down a rogue cyberneticist selling bionic "enhancements" to athletes or criminals.
No matter what you do, you'll do more in one day working for USHER than most do in a lifetime! So sign up today!
Join the forces of the Unites States Headquarters for Emergency Response (USHER). What's a day like in USHER? You might be fighting animals from South America given human intelligence by escaped Nazi scientists decades ago, now following their own agenda.
Or attempting to stop the dreaded super-intelligent computer hackers of Medusa from stealing millions through electronic transactions.
Or tracking down rogue Shturmovik agents. Once the Soviet Union's elite guard of power-suit soldiers, these proud men and women have been reduced to mercenary status, selling their hydraulic powered expertise to the bidder.
Or maybe you'll track down a rogue cyberneticist selling bionic "enhancements" to athletes or criminals.
No matter what you do, you'll do more in one day working for USHER than most do in a lifetime! So sign up today!
Modern20 Settings
So, I've talked some about Fantasci here, and it's getting a bit of a new direction, which coincides to a new group of books on the way for Modern20, post Martial Arts20 (I'm on L now! the long dark night of K has finally ended! yay!).
We're going to do a series of settings for Modern20. Our goal is to package these with the core rules for a nice size print book, but that's only a DESIRE, not a definite, so don't send my boss emails asking "when" and get me in trouble capiche?
But I digress. The plan is for 4 settings, each showcasing the rules in a different way.
Three have been decided, with one left to go, subject of the poll to your.... right! Right there! Fire the flame gun damnit!
Ahem.
Anyway, settings 1-3 are:
1. Fantasci
Science fantasy, melding modern technology, magic and monsters in a world inspired by Japanese RPGs such as Phantasy Star, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. This will include rules for magic as well as some high technologies.
2. Hunters
An expansion of the setting currently premiering in the pages of the Modern Dispatch. The "expanded" part will bring the setting timeline forward from the Cold War to the present day. See how a world with psychic men and women has progressed from the Cold War to the War and Terror and find out what new challenges await.
3. Dark Future
In the future, humanity has begun to change. What it's changing to, into something that will save humanity or destroy it, has divided the United States. After an attempted coup by those with superhuman abilities, the Mutant Internment Act has forced mutants into isolated Containment Zones.
You live in the Atlanta Containment Zone (ACZ). The "Axe" to those who call it home. You might be a desperate prisoner seeking to escape and rejoin your normal family on the outside, a mutant gangbanger enforcing your will on those with less powerful mutations, a struggling shopkeeper who attempts to make a living while being squeezed by criminals (mutants and humans alike), or you might be a freedom fighter, working in the underground railroad, staging non-violent protests against the treatment of your kind and fighting the terrorists of the Mutant Army of Nationalism (MAN).
Those are the definites. The next possibles are all up to you. More on these in future posts.
We're going to do a series of settings for Modern20. Our goal is to package these with the core rules for a nice size print book, but that's only a DESIRE, not a definite, so don't send my boss emails asking "when" and get me in trouble capiche?
But I digress. The plan is for 4 settings, each showcasing the rules in a different way.
Three have been decided, with one left to go, subject of the poll to your.... right! Right there! Fire the flame gun damnit!
Ahem.
Anyway, settings 1-3 are:
1. Fantasci
Science fantasy, melding modern technology, magic and monsters in a world inspired by Japanese RPGs such as Phantasy Star, Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy. This will include rules for magic as well as some high technologies.
2. Hunters
An expansion of the setting currently premiering in the pages of the Modern Dispatch. The "expanded" part will bring the setting timeline forward from the Cold War to the present day. See how a world with psychic men and women has progressed from the Cold War to the War and Terror and find out what new challenges await.
3. Dark Future
In the future, humanity has begun to change. What it's changing to, into something that will save humanity or destroy it, has divided the United States. After an attempted coup by those with superhuman abilities, the Mutant Internment Act has forced mutants into isolated Containment Zones.
You live in the Atlanta Containment Zone (ACZ). The "Axe" to those who call it home. You might be a desperate prisoner seeking to escape and rejoin your normal family on the outside, a mutant gangbanger enforcing your will on those with less powerful mutations, a struggling shopkeeper who attempts to make a living while being squeezed by criminals (mutants and humans alike), or you might be a freedom fighter, working in the underground railroad, staging non-violent protests against the treatment of your kind and fighting the terrorists of the Mutant Army of Nationalism (MAN).
Those are the definites. The next possibles are all up to you. More on these in future posts.
From Aikido to Zen (J)
Jujutsu
Martial Arts Style
Jujutsu, which means “gentle art,” is anything but in practice. Originally, this style was the preferred unarmed style of the Samurai (one of the three major combat schools of the Samurai, in conjunction with Kenjitsu and Sojitsu), complimenting the swordsmanship learned through Kenjitsu (known today as Kendo) and concentrating on simple, brutal, yet effective kicks and bone-breaking locks. Classical Jujutsu is the parent style of modern Aikido, Judo, and Karate. In modern times, the philosophy of this art has changed from its violent beginnings, and it now concentrates on a measured response to an attack, applying enough force to discourage an attacker. Obviously, however, this philosophy still includes the possibility of killing a determined opponent. Jujutsu practitioners call their most accomplished warriors “Shihan.” A student who has mastered all the moves of the style, to the point that he is considered fit to teach Jujutsu to other students, is called “Kaiden.”
Prerequisite: Combat Martial Arts or Defensive Martial Arts
Style Maneuvers
Unarmed 4 ranks: Pressure Point attack: when making called shots with the Precision Strike perk, you inflict +4 points of damage on a successful hit.
Unarmed 8 ranks: Improved Trip: DC of the trip check for the free trip granted by this feat is Unarmed or Acrobatics +5
Unarmed 12 ranks: Brutal Strike: you suffer no penalties for making a called shot with the Precision Strike perk against a prone opponent.
Unarmed 16 ranks: Weapon Finesse (unarmed): your Dexterity modifier is considered +2 higher for purposes of this feat.
Unarmed 20 ranks: Agility Training +2 Dexterity
Monday, October 29, 2007
Movies that don't get talked about enough
Traffic: awesome, long and serious. Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Quaid, Catherine Zeta Jones, Don Cheadle, Julia Styles, Topher Grace, well, you get the idea.
This movie is definitely not for kids, but if you're in mood for a good story populated by all the fantastic actors noted above and more, this is a movie you should see.
Dead Again: If you want to see five of the greatest actors in the world (Derek Jacoby, Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson Andy Garcia and Robin Williams) in a noir murder mystery with long black and white flashback scenes, then this is the movie for you.
Any Given Sunday: Yeah that's right, Any Given fucking Sunday. This movie is as fun and over the top and violent, with all the male full frontal nudity you want from a football movie by Oliver Stone.
Like all Oliver Stone, it's something of a mixed bag, and something you either love or hate. Stone's finest moment since Natural Born Killers.
This movie is definitely not for kids, but if you're in mood for a good story populated by all the fantastic actors noted above and more, this is a movie you should see.
Dead Again: If you want to see five of the greatest actors in the world (Derek Jacoby, Kenneth Branaugh, Emma Thompson Andy Garcia and Robin Williams) in a noir murder mystery with long black and white flashback scenes, then this is the movie for you.
Any Given Sunday: Yeah that's right, Any Given fucking Sunday. This movie is as fun and over the top and violent, with all the male full frontal nudity you want from a football movie by Oliver Stone.
Like all Oliver Stone, it's something of a mixed bag, and something you either love or hate. Stone's finest moment since Natural Born Killers.
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