The Sorcerer's Scrolls 47

The Sorcerer’s Scrolls Issue 47

The Sorcerer's Scrolls Magazine #47 Published by Zarathustra Publishing owned and operated by Jeremiah Griffin Title owned by Tori Bergquist used here with permission The Sorcerer's Scrolls title font and Zarathustra Publishing logo designed by: Simon Tranter Random Encounter and Article Chart D20 Page Article 1-2 2 Gathas of the Editor

Author Jeremiah Griffin

“3D6 emancipated kobolds with a knapsack attack”

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A Note from the Zodiac God

Tori Bergquist

“1D4 Varicolored Slimes ooze forth”

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I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream (Review)

Dan Lambert

“A Pack of 4D10 rabid space hyenas”

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Deep Space Subsector 2

Tori Bergquist

“1D10 Giant Space Slugs regurgitate all over your ship”

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A Sea of Stars: The Devil Among Us (Script) Jeremiah Griffin “1D30 Flying Space Pigs sully your bussard ramjet”

Book and Music Reviews

Various

“The Executioner knocks you off course in its hyperspace wake”

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Death on the Toilet

Robert Stikmanz

“1D1,000 Rabid Sulurian Zombie Rats invade the cargo hold”

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The Day They Came

Gregory J. Saunders

“Protean Squirrels offer you the secret of immortality, but they were just kidding”

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Interview with Gregory Saunders

Jeremiah Griffin

“5D8 storm troopers are engaging in target practice”

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Interview with Kirt Hickman

Jeremiah Griffin

“One intergalactic used starship salesman with a great offer”

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Saga Edition Update to Races

Elijah Hammond

“Cyborg assault team is on break and using your ship’s commissary”

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Artists, Artisans, & Workers

Jarrod Camiré

“The last Furion just shanked you”

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Valkyrie E17

Harrison Mallory

“You discover the galaxy’s largest diamond, but it’s in the heart of a quasar”

Cover art by Nathan Carlisle [email protected] Valkyrie E17 map by Harrison Mallory Other art by Kathleen Finn [email protected] All are used with permission Special thanks to Robert Stikmanz The Sorcerer’s Scrolls #47 is copyright 2010 by Zarathustra Publishing, all rights reserved. The magazine title “The Sorcerer’s Scrolls” is a trademark of Nicholas Bergquist, used with permission. All contents copyright 2010 by the respective authors or artists.

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Gathas of the Editor Welcome to The Sorcerer’s Scrolls #47 By Jeremiah Griffin, shiny new editor of TSS The two things you are probably wondering about now are: Who are you and why is this issue so late? The reason this issue is so late is due to the fact that there have been several changes in the way this magazine is being produced, not the least of which is the fact that I am the new editor. The reasons for this are varied and many. Mr. Bergquist is an amazing writer capable of bringing together many other amazing writers to build what is The Sorcerer's Scrolls. He is also a very good friend of mine. But the challenges of holding down a quarterly magazine and still trying to write his own game books is taking its toll, he accepts nothing from himself but perfection and in trying to run his own gaming company and hold a day job, something had to go, as he is not willing to let anything simply tag along as an inferior side thought. So I offered him another option, to let me take over the magazine while he continues to do what he does best: writing game material. He will still be a fixture at the magazine and he will continue to own it and have a major influence on how it is run. I hope to maintain the flavor of his magazine throughout my time with it. In my own opinion I hope to continue this magazine if only to make sure there is still an old school style fanzine out there for the old school gamers to read, and I hope gamers both old and new continue to enjoy the content that we continue to put out and I want everyone to know that it will be quality. Another reason this issue is so late is because we recently attended Bubonicon, a local Sci-Fi convention of some small note. Personally I thought of attending this even as something of a coming out party, of letting everyone know that we are going to more aggressively pursue an ever expanding readership and that we will continue to search everywhere for talented writers, designers and artists for our magazine. So if you are a writer or game designer or artist, please do not be afraid to contact us and let us see your ideas! We are not the kind of company that only supports the latest edition of the most popular role playing game. We avidly support all games, especially the independent and less known titles. If your stuff is good, you will get published!

Which brings us to our third reason this issue is so late: we would like to introduce you to some of the talents we have discovered recently in this issue and we had to make a little extra time for them to be able to produce something worth your time. In the future we will be much more strict about deadlines, but I just needed our readers to discover the talents of Elijah Hammond and Harrison Mallory as soon as possible. On top of this I would like to thank Robert Stikmanz and DJ Fahl for their continued support and to wish Mr. Stikmanz well with his new publishers Blue Moose Press. We shared a table at Bubonicon and will continue to help support each other over the web and at each coming event and convention we participate in. Thank you. And thank you, our readers for continuing to read our magazine even though the popularity of the medium is slowly shrinking. We know you expect the best from us since there are so few gaming magazines around these days and we wish to give you only the best As to who I am, I think you will find that I have had articles published in this magazine several times before. I particularly enjoy writing fiction (though if you never cared for my writing don't panic, given the time it takes to edit this publication, I will have little time to write many articles), and come from a literary back ground. I have been running games since I was a toddler, though the idea of using rules never even occurred to me until just a few years ago, so many of the games I run or participate in seem to have few restrictions. I enjoy ideas that are fun, filled with action and strange humor, with unlimited possibilities. I write for players who like the role playing more than the roll playing, players who like to explore their own characters and the world they are in more than they care to beat the next challenge. I do realize that not everyone feels that way, though, so I welcome anyone who wishes to write differently and always support games and supplements that are structured and logical as well. --Jeremiah Griffin th August 30 2010

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A Note from the Zodiac God By Tori bergquist, the crusty old editor and former publisher Hallo! Welcome to Issue 47, and welcome to the first issue in which Jeremiah Griffin has taken on reigns as the editor and publisher under Zarathustra Publishing. I think it will do quite well with him in charge. I’ve helped out in the transition, doing the layout, graphical polish and some last minute editin , and you will of course continue to see game and fiction articles I contribute, but he is indeed correct in the fact that I am so heavily absorbed with the other projects (namely Realms of Chirak and its anticipated supplements as well as the 4E edition of Empires of Lingusia) that with what little time I have free, precious little has been available to dedicate to TSS. Handing the magazine over to him seems like a great way to insure it gets proper attention. Bubonicon, as Jeremiah mentioned, has indeed come and gone, and it was a great deal of fun, and I especially enjoyed meeting Robert Stikmanz in

person It has also convinced me that we should attempt to attend more conventions in the future, including both SF, Game, and Comic conventions to help get the word out about TSS and the other myriad publications of Zodiac God Publishing. As a side note, I would like to do a shout out to regular contributor Jarrod Camiré, who recently established his own publishing venture through One Book Shelf called Tarus Twelve. Take a look for his stuff on rpgnow.com, where the second book in the multi-system Encounters series is now available! Anyway, Jeremiah operates on a boundless well of raw enthusiasm, has some amazing recruitment skills for new talent, and is an amazingly good natural PR guy. Thank you Jeremiah for the work on this issue, and here’s to more to come! --Tori Bergquist rd September 3 2010

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I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream Review By Dan Lambert

“1 have a secret game I like to play. It's a very nice game. A game of fun. A game of speared eyeballs and dripping guts ... " So says the self-proclaimed god of the world created by author Harlan Ellison for his short story, "I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream." It has been thirty years since Ellison chronicled the events surrounding five damned souls trapped for 109 years in the electronic belly of an insane computer. With the help of Cyberdreams, Ellison has brought his dark vision into the realm of a new medium by creating a CD Rom role-playing game based upon his award-winning story. The "Scream" computer game is eerie, thought-provoking, and shockingly stark in its autopsy of the human soul. In other words, it is all things Ellison. Anyone who has ever heard Ellison read one of his stories will be happy to know that he outdoes himself here, playing the voice of his maniacal creation. The game takes place in the subterranean bowels of AM, a monstrous entity who began its "life" as Allied Master Computer, a massive thinking machine that was buried in the earth

to help the free world fight World War Three more efficiently. The trouble began when AM became self-aware and decided to link up with its counterparts in Russia and China, forming a prison that the last remnants of humanity must struggle to escape. AI"I reinvented itself as "AM: Cognito ergo sum, I think, therefore I am." Like Frankenstein's creature, A~ has learned to hate its creators with a loathing that is tangible in its razorsharp richness. The player may choose one of five "damned souls" to embark upon a quest concocted by AM. Each of these five last remaining humans has a character flaw that AM enjoys exploiting for its own amusement. Gorrister is a suicidal loner, a man whose wife's bitter fate has left him overcome with guilt. Ellen is a brilliant engineer whose uncontrollable phobias leave her paralyzed with fear. Ted is a cynical paranoid, a "fraud" in A......,'s estimation. Benny is AM's favorite torture subject, a Vietnam veteran transformed into an apething by the computer's vengeful whim. Nimdok is an ancient and tormented sadist whose own dark secrets compel AM to refer to him as a "kindred spirit." Because AM is mad, his "quests" are relatively pointless in their promise of escape or material reward. The real object of "Scream" is not to accumulate cash or to find a way out. The real object is to show AM the value of humanity by demonstrating a sense of ethical balance in a world gone insane. The player can tell how well she is doing this by monitoring the "spiritual barometer" which appears as a green hue behind the chosen character's face and is supposed to gauge the character's "self-esteem." As the character makes choices that help him or her overcome the weaknesses that AM preys upon, the hue becomes brighter. This is the closest I have come to "winning" the game, although I suspect that concepts such as winning and losing are not as important here as what the

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character learns about herself. In this sense, "Scream" is a true role-playing game. Some of the moral choices that AM forces upon the characters are chilling in their human resonance. The Nimdok adventure is particularly haunting in its portrayal of the Holocaust from the point of view of the perpetrators. I have always argued that the story upon which this game is based is not a science fiction story at all, but a horror story. The game underlines this notion, with its scenes of blasted landscapes and macabre slices of life recalling the dark art of Goya and Bosch. I found myself actually having nightmares after playing. To a horror writer such as myself,

this is a good thing: a very good thing. My hat comes off to Ellison and the folks at Cyberdreams for the same reason it came off to David Lynch after I saw his film Lost Highway: This game managed to truly scare me, which is not an easy thing to do.

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This game is available for purchase at www.Amazon.c om.

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Deep Space Subsector 2 A Collection of Linked Fringe Worlds for Traveller By Tori Bergquist There are many remote worlds in the Penumbra Sector of space, stretching out along the edge of the known Commonwealth. What follows is a smattering of planets from this region, in Deep Space Subsector 2, ready for the referee to drop down in to any particular region he needs to populate with a handful of exotic, remote worlds.

Regeren X873500-1(C) Tmp 9 Regeren is a wasteworld, a relic planet that suffered a terminal meltdown to do as yet unknown causes approximately 2,000 years ago. It was founded by human colonials, possibly from a STL sleeper ship, almost 4,000 years ago. The Regeren culture was prolific and expansive, but something led to its downfall. Warfare is clearly evident, and they even seem to have dropped asteroid payloads on their own cities as weapons. There is no active starport at Regeren, but there is a small scientific research expedition headed bu the Utopia Prime Exoarchaelogical Institute. The leader of this expedition if Prof. Carol Dranir, who is workinghard to uncover the myster of what happened to this TL 12 society before it was eradicated, and whether they did it to themselves or it was from an outside group. There is a hidden class D starport manned by the Sathar Consortium in the region, and used by friendlies to the Sathar normally labeled pirates in Penumbra space. Recently, the four communications relay beacons and satellites in orbit went offline, and Prof. Dranir needs them repaired/replaced, as well as info on what happened to them. Moreover, visitors arriving will receive a brief, strange burst of data from groundside that seems to have come from a relic structure; the data is encrypted using techniques common to Regeren’s military.

Vortex C632314-C

Tmp 3

Vortex is the appellation commonly used to describe what happens to crafts’ instrumentation when approaching this world….to most it’s like “slipping in to a vortex.” This anomalous amber-

class world is presently being studied by the Starcom Science Institute out of Paridas for evidence of what is going on here, both on the planet and in the system. The head of the institute, Dr. Richard Chandler, is a congenial fellow who decries the corporate military presence to be found here in favor of the scientific endeavors. He believes that evidence of progenitor technology—the local phenomenon of the two-million year old species which affected so much of this sector and its neighbors so long ago— may be responsible for the anomalies, but so far the only direct evidence of progenitor presence is in the form of a vast dish-like object circling Vortex’s sun in its own trajectory near the Kuiper belt. Recently, Dr. Chandler lost contact with his crew working on the alien artifact, and he needs someone to investigate.

Paridas A210686-E

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Capitol of this subsector and central station of activity for the TSA, the PSS and The Scout Service. Paridas is as close to normal as you will get in Deep Space Subsector 2. The planet serves as a principal waystation for local authorities as well as Commonwealth ships, and is the central hub in the region for interstellar communications and news. With multiple outlying gas giants, the system provides ample resources for ships relying on processed refueling, and it is heavily patrolled, insuring that most pirates and other raiders from beyond the rift do not bother the mercantile traffic in the region.

Than’kk BA68763-B

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A polity of Paridas, this world has a large migrant population of adapted humans as well as the local indigenes called the Athan’ka, which are a form of intelligent cetecaean. The population has thrived here for centuries, but most of its technological evolution has revolved around adapting to life on a water world.

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vigorous local economy centered around belt mining and fuel extraction from the three jovianclass planets in-system. The “twelve” like the PSS here mostly as a deterrent from rampant piracy. The local PSS commander is Commodore Alice Burns, a weary older woman who at once is horribly pessimistic, but secretly loves the challenge of this system.

Gassar E100302-C

Skaltin D665671-A

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Skaltin is the first gateway world in this region to the Penumbra Nebula expanse. Skaltin is a virtual lawless planet, populated by succeeding immigrant waves of various extremiss, revolutionaries and expatriates over the centuries. It has arranged for a nominal political position in the Penumbra Collective, allowing the PSS to maintain a base of activities here, but there is little actual authority in the region outside of the twelve “families” that keep the system running. There is a

Tmp 2

Gassar is a small indendent colony of rebels who believe that jovians (4) of the system show strong evidence of intelligence life brewing in their depths. The locals are cult-like in their observation and study of these beings, and have been trying to communicate with them for two decades. Gassar itself is a small barely habitable moon, and it is unclear how they sustain themselves with such meager facilities and limited contact. Their leader is Andon Poorman, a man wanted by the Terran Authority many sectors away for a veritual genocidal crime many decades ago. The Sathar have a secret military installation here, and they are interested in the work going on at Gassar, so they provide funds and resources in exchange for the data the colony generates. It is a class C military outpost.

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The Devil Among Us A Graphic Novel, Minus the Graphics, in the Sea of Stars By Jeremiah Griffin Page 1. Single print depicting small meteors, comets, distant planets, an asteroid belt and, of course, stars. All rather distant.

sea.

Word Box 1. (Upper left side of page).- A distant plane. A point in infinite space. Myriad giant orbs sparkle in the distance as if they are so very small and fragile. Mere tiny glitters against the endless darkness that is their canvas. A few small orbs slowly spin in exotic colors as though they are quite monstrous. Such unimaginable beauty can only be found in the deepest of oceans.

Page 5. Full page spread. Change view on ship to downward side angle. To the side of the ship, another has approached. This one is mush smaller, barely a fourth the size of the previous one. This one is older looking, and has noticeable repair-work, burn marks, and small holes on it's surface. Painted on its side is the name MullerHayes.

Page 3-4. Two page spread. Back ground similar to previous page. Foreground depicts some type of star ship. Sort of a triangular shape (reference modern battle cruisers and aircraft carriers) reaching from the lower right corner of page 4 to the middle right side of page 3 where the “front” of the ship lies. The complete rear of the ship (rockets and such) need not be depicted at this time.

Page 6. Inset: (small square in upper left corner) Shows close-up and detail of cannon protruding from the smaller ship. The rest of the page is similar to previous, except there is a small star burst emanating from the cannon on the smaller ship. Across from the glow on the smaller ship, there is a proportionate glow coming off of the larger ship. Connecting the two is a thin stream of small sparkles and glitter. This is important, as a laser does not appear as a stream of light in real life, though any small debris caught in its path would reflect its light and glow as it heats.

WB 1. (lower left side of page 3 out of the way of the ship).- A glimmering silver mass. A tiny ship traverses this space. Carrying aboard many brave sailors who dare to set off in this infinite black of night in this metallic ship that reflects the millions of tiny gold and silver sparkles of far away orbs. A ship and its mariners daring to sail across a distant

A sea of stars.

WB 1. (Lower left side of page). An intrepid little vessel dares to challenge the silver warship. A tiny red glow erupts forth from its hull. Almost instantly, a red glow

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blossoms on the hull of the silver battle ship. Betwixt the two red lights, caught in the invisible stream of light, tiny meteors glow red, then yellow, then white before bursting into a free floating shower of glittering particles. The first volley has been played. Page 7. First panel: A long corridor, marked by large, tightly sealed doors, which are evenly spaced. Centered toward the ceiling of the spaces in between each door is a siren light. These lights are flashing, and emanating the sound: RRRNNGGH!! RRRNNNGG!! Second panel: The Bridge (Four or five sturdy looking men should be seated at control panels, one at a type of captain's chair. Try not to look too Star Trek. The control room should be more cramped, the controls should look less complicated, but there should still be many of them. Think modern submarines. Uniforms should be simple and neat. COL11747- “Damn! Must have slipped in through that patch of asteroids. Probably just calculated their trajectory, gave their rockets a good fire, cut'm off to cover the heat trail, then followed that asteroid cloud strait to us.” LUT28845- “We have a bead on her sir. The Muller-Hayes. Damn heretics find and lose new ships so fast. Hard to keep track of them. Do you wish to fire on her sir?” COL11747- “And open a chink in our armour for that heat to get through? No. Find me a jewell. None too close to that hot spot.” Third panel: (more alarms start going off). LUT28845- “What is that?” COL11747- “Pipes. Just the pipes. Whole ship's got a maze of 'm. Full of liquid to cool the ship after firing the jets. These bastards don't know what they're aiming at, just hoping to get lucky. But their hot spots just over some cooling pipes. They over heat and start to burst if they aren't depressurized. Worst'll happen a few cells get flooded. Get the mechanics on it.” (from a speaker phone somewhere). SGT09785- “Already on it sir!” COL11747- “Good man, sergeant. --Now, were's my jewel? I want to send this bitch's heat right back to her.” Page 8. First panel: LUT49265- “I've got one. Not too close, not too far away. I'm guiding her in right now.” COL11747- “Great. Let's hope they don't see this

coming.” Second panel (fills the rest of the page): The Outside (pictured is a close-up of a small hole opening in the side of the ship out from which races the jewel. The jewel should for all purposes look like a jewel: flat, glassy, smooth, reflective, like an elongated octagon from top view, which is the prominent view as it is very close to the ship's surface and is carried by small track-ball wheels that seem to hug the ship's hull. The machine makes a “tic tic tic” noise as it goes). Page 9. (The page will contain multiple panels [you can decide how many and what dimensions seem appropriate to get the point across]. These panels will all depict the jewel racing across the surface of the ship from different angles the whole time going “tic tic tic.” From time to time the jewel will encounter dents and mars in the other wise smooth surface, when this happens, its hydrolics will be jostled allowing a slight glimpse at what on the underside of the machine be as creative as you like, just think something like the Mars rover. The page contains but one word box which can be placed where ever you like). WB: Like a drop of water sliding down the surface of a silver faucet or an exotic insect scurrying across a steely pipe, the tiny shard traverses the surface of its mother as it is lead to protect her from those who wish her harm. Page 10. ( All one scene. On one side of the page we see the jewel racing head-on, on the other we see the bright glow caused be the laser in the [not too far] distance. Sort of like the old movies where the hero is shown riding into the sunset). WB: Appearing much like the insect drawn to light, the little gem is lead straight for the bright glow caused by its adversaries. Will it, much like the insect drawn to the light, meet its own destruction in trying to prevent that of the silver vessel? Page 11. The Pipes (This can all be done in one scene or it can use multiple panels. We see seemingly endless rows on columns of pipes. Men in full-body suites [like the old fashioned diving suites crossed with the ones from Halo] are hustle about. Some turning valves to release pressure, others tightening the pipes from which steam is spraying. One of the men in a slightly more distinguished suite than the rest is shouting.)

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SGT09785- “Hurry. Hurry. We needed to be done with this section five minutes ago!” Page. 12 Panel One (one of the men gets close to SGT). CRP89703- “Good news sir. I have fixed out the circuits. Once everything is stabilized here, the computer can start automatically correcting this area again.” SGT09785- “Good. Good. But I'm not sure we are moving fast enough. How are the Circuits in the other areas you repaired? Not melted again yet, are they? CRP89703- “Not yet sir, though I think the fist couple may not have much longer left in them.” SGT09785- “Haven't they diverted that heat yet? What is taking them so long? Damn! I've got at least five cells filled with steam and water, a computer circuit that's going crazy, andPanel Two: (one of the pipes bursts releasing a large gush of incredibly hot steam which engulfs one of the men working to repair it and he lets out a blood curdling scream). SGT09785- “Damn it people hurry! If you could finish in time this wouldn't happen! And get that soldier to a medic! CRP89703- “Is it really that bad sir?” Panel 3 SGT09785- “Not if this is all they have. At least not if this can be diverted soon. If that can happen we will have all the time in the world to clean up. But if they have something else to throw at us very soon. Things could get pretty messy. Panel 4 SGT09785- (turning to the men at the pipes) “Haven't you gotten that pipe sealed off yet?” (A computerized voice comes over the speaker system): Jewel approaching afflicted area. SGT09785- “Finally!” Page 13. The Outside Panel 1: (the jewel is shown pulling into the glowing area). Panel 2: (The jewel is now directly under the ray and the glow seems to emanate from the machine itself).

WB: The little bug dashes into the very fire which may consume it. Its diamond hard shell protects it for now will its jewelled surface reflects back the incredible light. Page 14. The Class Room (An instructor stands in front of a large screen like that of a television or computer. The room is very large and contains many seats in each of which sits a student [late teens]. Rather than a desk, each student has a smaller personal screen. The instructor paces back and forth in front of his own screen while explaining himself). Panel 1: (The instructor stands to the side of the screen which currently shows the jewel reflecting the light back). PRF20077- “As you can see the R360 unit or jewel, as it is often called, is being used to reflect back the light emitted from the attacker's laser cannon. This method is especially effective against a few small cannons. This method is, however more difficult to employ during an onslaught of multiple large cannons. Let me show you a close up of the R360 unit.” Panel 2: (Zoom in on the screen showing the jewel which is zoomed in on the jewel itself). PRF20077- The outer shell is made out of metal which is in a clear state and hardened to a consistency slightly harder than diamonds. The inner shell is actually an amalgam of mercury and silicon. This material looks rather dark and is not very reflective outside of its shell, but once it heats up, it becomes one of the most reflective materials known to withstand such heats. The machine can now direct the beam of light in any direction the person in control of our device chooses.” Panel 3: (Pacing about) PRF20077- “Naturally, even the R360 unit can not take this heat indefinitely. The cannon must now be disabled. In some way. Any questions?” Page 15. The Bridge Panel 1: COL11747- “Got'cha! How do you like that? Okay I want you to start turning it back toward their own cannon. No trying to use it on their hull or anything, I don't want them to know we've caught their heat yet if we can help it. Just start putting it back where it came from. Page 16. The Outside (Top displaying the adjacent ship sides, the glowing jewel and the depress that

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glitters as it is caught in the path of the laser). Panel 1: (the ray is still facing straight out from the jewel) COL11747- “Okay. Slowly now, tilt it toward the cannon.”

COL11747- (over comm) “How is the progress down there?” SGT09785- “It's coming along sir.” COL11747- “How far?”

Panel 2: (the hydrolics on the jewel start to lift one side angling the glow slightly). COL11747- “Easy now. Easy.” Panel 3: (the glow is angled a little closer to the cannon). COL11747- “Good going. Just a little more.” Panel 4: (The glow is right on top of the cannon). COL11747- “Great. Hold her right there.” Panel 5: (The opposing glows cease). COL11747- “Ha! Melted 'er. How do ya like that, fuckers!” Page 17. The Bridge (Every one is pressing buttons and talking into head sets). COL11747- “Okay. I'm sure they noticed that. So let's prepare for what they might try next. Start prepping the missile bay. I want a good score of them ready to fire if we need them in the next couple of seconds. Then, I need you to call six squads of fighters to their ships. That one is not too small to launch some fighters off of, I want to be able to meet and beat their numbers.” Page 18. (More scrambling about). Panel 1: COL11747- “Next I want you to get a hold of our man down in the chapel.” Panel 2: “Something does not seem right about this. We have been encountering too many guerrillas lately, and they are all attacking rather than hiding. Something is not right about this at all. Page 19. Launch Hall (Full Page. A group of men in flight suites [feel free to be creative], are running down a long hall way in order to reach their ships. Be sure to make it look as though they are really hurrying). Page 20. The Pipes (The men are hard at work taking care of the very last of the leaks). Panel 1: (SGT is over-looking the progress).

Panel 2: SGT09785- “Just wrapping up the last with these pipes. We'll have to take care of the water a little later. They aren't trying anything else are they?” COL11747- “Not yet. Will we be ready if they do?” SGT09785- “Only if they're nice enough to wait thirty minutes tell the pipes cool.” Panel 3: COL11747- “We may not have thirty minutes, sergeant.” SGT09785- “I am doing all I can down here. It takes thirty minutes for these pipes to cool, otherwise they are much too volatile. Everything is sealed and soldered, but there is nothing I can do to make it cool faster.” Page 21. Panel 1: SGT09785- “With any luck they will not attack this same area with, whatever they might try next. With any luck they may not have anything left to send at us.” COL11747- “With luck... But I don't think so. I think they might try to deploy some fighters.” Panel 2: SGT09785- “Sir. I'm damn sure we can not take a direct missile hit in this area for at least another thirty minutes.” COL11747- “Any ideas?” SGT09785- “All I can say is you have to keep 'em away from here.” Panel 3: COL11747- “I will see what I can do, sergeant. Mean while you do all you can do to get everything back in order down there.”

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SGT09785- “Yes sir! And thank you sir!”

SGT09785). SGT09785- “I really hope they can't attack.”

COL11747- “Just keep at it.” SGT09785- “Yes sir! Will do sir!” COL11747- “That's all, COL11747 out.”

Page 23. The Bridge Panel 1: COL11747- “If I am going to have to keep them away from that spot, I am going to need some gunners.”

Page 21. (CRP89703 approaches SGT09785). Panel 1: CRP89703- “All done here sir.” SGT09785- “How are they cooling?” CRP89703- “As expected sir. Approximately twenty-six minutes till normal temperature.” SGT09785- “That's what I was afraid of.” CRP89703- “More trouble sir?” Panel 2: SGT09785- “We are to be ready for another attack.” CRP89703- “When sir?” SGT09785- “Soon, very soon. Though I hope they don't.”

Panel 2: COL11747- “Scramble all gunners near the hot spot!” Page 24: (Full page depiction of a group of men running through a corridor. Their attire should look a little less restrictive than that of the pilots.” Page 25: The Garden (the garden is made up of many rows of blocks of various sizes. Every so many blocks has a tree growing out of it. These trees look like dead black bonsai, or the scary looking dead trees from the haunted forest). Panel 1: (A tall sallow man in a long frock stands in front of one of the trees and stars out into nothing as though he were lost in thought or being enlightened). LUT20097- “The colonel wanted me to speak with you. It is a matter of some importance. Panel 2: LUT20097- “He thinks someone on this ship might be giving away our coordinates.”

CRP89703- “I know we all hope they don't, sir.” Panel 3: SGT09785- “Have any of those circuits melted yet?” CRP89703- “Not yet sir. In fact they might hold with the cooling having started already. I am a little worried about that first one, though. My monitor on it says it isn't cooling fast enough.” SGT09785- “Okay, I want you to take another with you and see to it. On your way tell them to start getting up that water. If we can be ready in time, I want to be.” Panel 4: (CRP89703 is running off.) CRP89703- “Yes sir.” SGT09785- “Good.” .......... “I hope they don't attack.” Page 22. (Full page, full body shot facing

REV91287- (Finally acknowledging the other man) “Does he really believe one of these men could be capable of such a thing?” LUT20097- “We both know that men... all men are capable of many great evils if they give themselves over to it. REV91287- “No. I mean does he really think it would be physically possible to send out such a thing with out us realizing who was doing i, much less noticing that it was even being done?” Panel 3: LUT20097- “He is in the process of investigating the matter as we speak and we all hope to resolve the matter as soon as possible. But, in the mean time. He was wondering if you might work something into your words today to dissuade the men from doing so, to be more vigilant of those who might try such a thing, even to turn them selves in.... If possible.

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Panel 4: REV91287- (Reaching out as to the heavens) “Son, I only say what I have been told to say... by a commander with much more authority than yours.” ..... “Fortunately, for you. I have received just such a message today.” Page 26. The Class Room (The instructor is in front of the class still). Panel 1: PRF20077- “Now, pay close attention. You are here to train as fighter pilots. If you are very luck, you will get to see some in action today. You have already heard so much about how the controls work. I am sure you would like to learn something of how the weapons systems work. Panel 2: (He holds out a capsule shape about the size of two fingers) PRF20077- “This is standard ammunition on your average fighter. It is a bolt of a compressed plastic material. It is very sturdy. Because most fighters are made with sheets of metal or plastic only a few millimeters thick, these can do considerable damage. If one of these were to hit the hull of this ship we are in now, it would simply shatter.” Panel 3: PRF20077- “These are propelled by a set of wheels spinning at an incredible speed. They are fed at a fast pace in between these wheels which then send them from your vehicle with sudden and potent force. Because space is a vacuum with no resisting forces these projectiles continue with the same tremendous force with which they left.” Panel 4: PRF20077- “Now, as to missiles-” Page 27. (Full Page above view. The gunners enter their gunnery turrets. Since the turrets are located on the sides of the ship, it looks a lot like a bunch of guys running into a hall full of broom closets.) Page 28. (Out side view of the gunnery turrets) Panel 1: (Hatches on the exterior of the ship open and the turrets emerge). Rrrnsschh. Rrrnnsschh. Rrrnnsschh. Panel 2: (Turret guns lower into firing position) Mrr-Klnn. Mrr-Klnn. Mrr-Klnn. Page 29. Panel 1: (View of Muller-Hayes' fighter

deployment hatch). Panel 2: (View of silvery from possible perspective of Muller-Hayes) WB: “With danger immanent the adventurous ship prepares for battle, but there is only one thing on the mind of its captain-” Panel 3: (Panel depicts the colonel on the left in the bridge, and the sergeant on the right in one of the pipe rooms [both close-ups and appearing worried]. Panel is separated by the word box) WB: “Please don't attack.” Page 30. The Chapel (can either be broken into panels, or one whole page). REV91287- “and long ago... long before any of you can remember... there were many gods. Many, different gods for many different peoples. Yet, they all wanted the same things. Loyalty. Servitude. And most of all... Peace. Peace, and life, and love for all peoples everywhere... How strange it was then, that the people always turned to war, and death, and hatred. For they each saw their god as among them... Making them do what was right, standing behind them as they fought. Fought to eliminate all those who followed any god but their own. So the people created science. Science was beyond god. With out a god to kill for, they figured, there need be no death, finally, there can be peace. Yet, still there was death, still there was war and hatred for those who dared challenge science. In the end, science taught humans and helped them learn. And we learned of the true god. The one god. The god of true knowledge, true peace, and true love. The one god. Science could not replace him, but it could support himcould prove his reality. Science could show us all we know now of his nature. And the only thing he commands us to do is to learn. The only thing he commands us to love is our selves. This is why we can not study him. For he is not here among us for us to dissect and examine. To push us this way or that. But instead to lead us. To lead us to better things. He is always there. Just beyond our reach, allowing us to keep just behind him. Letting us learn more and more each day in pursuit of him through knowledge. Page 31. Panel 1: (Muller-Hayes fighter deployment hatches, still closed). REV91287- And back then, they believed in a devil. A being who lead them astray.

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Panel 2: (Close-up of the colonel). REV91287- “Lead them to doubt-” Panel 3: (Close-up of the sergeant). REV91287- “Lead them to fear-”

(above inset) “-The Devil is among us...” (inset: MH deployment hatches open and enemy fighters begin to spill out).

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Panel 4: (Close-up of the reverend). REV91287- “But it is we who doubt. We who fear. Us as individuals. And the devil-” Page 32. (Full page of Muller-Hayes with inset at the bottom) REV91287-

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Reviews By Jeremiah Griffin, Dan Lambert and Tori Bergquist

Worlds Asunder By Kirk Hickman

Light from a Distant Star By Greg Saunders

This is the kind of fun book you pick up and then forget how long you have been reading for. It moves very quickly and is certainly engaging. Probably the best thing I can say for it is how much it reminds me of old school science fiction, like Asimov and some of Heinlien's best, Hickman's worlds are not packed with alien monsters bent on the destruction of all humans the come across. His story involves complex political plots and theoretical technology. While his story is strong, where he shines brightest and brings the reader back to the younger days of sci-fi is when he analyzes current technology and recent scientific discoveries to try to calculate where technology may be in the future. His descriptions of what new technology exists and the way he simply implies the natural evolution it has taken from what we have now to meeting the specific needs we will have once life in space becomes more common and how it will function in that time are truly the gems all readers of this genre look for when reading. --Jeremiah Griffin

Light From A Distant Star is written for readers like me. People who enjoy a lot of really creative ideas and a lot of fast paced action. It is a tale of survival on a distant and completely alien world, of the struggle of man against nature, a nature entirely foreign to the characters. It is the story of different cultures, and of how they form or dissolve over time and reform with more time. It is the story of man's first contact with alien life forms. Many of these ideas may not be particularly original, but the story certainly is and the way it is told is nothing short of magnificent. Greg Saunders has accomplished his goal in making an environment that the reader can experience, the fact that it is so very alien only makes his talent that much more amazing! If you really want to sit down and enjoy a great story with a lot of action, this is the book for you. I can't wait to read the rest of the series! --Jeremiah Griffin

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Freehold By Michael Z. Williamson

The Mark of Nerath By Bill Slavicsek

My initial foray into the future worlds of Michael Z. Williamson began with his first novel Freehold, which is available as part of Baen’s free library online, serving as an axcellent literary gateway drug to induce you in to buying his other books (as I did). Freehold is the story of Kandra Pacelli, a luckless military supply officer in the Earth military who is framed for a crime she didn’t commit, and is forced to seek refuge with the remote independent world of Freehold. The novel manages to transcend mere military SF, though Williamson is astoundingly good at the genre, and enters surprisingly interesting territory as a sort of libertarian fantasy. As a small-l libertarian myself (believing that the ideal libertarian society is defeated only by man’s own inability to handle the requisite social contract) it was fascinating to read the details of this carefully constructed “libertarian utopia” as I would describe it, and the slow but certain rise in tension as the book progresses between Freehold and the ominously authoritarian government back on Earth. Well worth reading for those who enjoy vigorous military and social science fiction alike. --Tori Bergquist

This is the first official novel (so far as I can tell) th set in the “Points of Light” setting for the 4 edition Dungeons & Dragons game. Up to now all we’ve seen have been short vignettes and articles hinting at the scope of this world in various game products; Bill Slavicsek as penned the first official tie-in, and I have to say it’s a rather fun ride. The novel opens up with a classic tale of adventure, a hunt for a dragon, and a subsequent twist (I’ll avoid spoilers) leading to a change of scene…many scenes, actually, as we follow the various tales of several different groups of unlikely heroes (and a couple thoroughly evil yet likeable villains) in the region of the Vale of Nentyr, the land upon which, a generation earlier, the thoroughly evil Empire of Nerath fell in to ruin thanks to some very, very evil business on the part of the last ruling emperor. The book is laden with classic tropes of the genre, but its delightful to see the many iconic themes and features of the newest edition of the game take on their own life. This book helps to gel the default setting of the game in to something more meaningful, and Slavicsek’s writing is quick and efficient; the plot burns along at a breakneck pace and I found myself rather enjoying the various little interweaving tales of Falon, Magrath, Shara, Erak, Roghar, Tempest and many more. I should emphasize that I burned out on fantasy novels many, many years ago; I’ve read very few that I enjoyed at all in the last decade, and while

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this book offered nothing specifically new to the genre as a whole, it nonetheless crafted a fine tale that carried along quickly and enjoyably. Well th worth a read for fans of action-heavy fantasy or 4 edition Dungeons & Dragons! --Tori Bergquist

fantasy. There are a few more well-known authors within as well, including K.D. Wentworth and Lawrence C. Connoly and Jim Hines. There may be others who are popular but merely writers I haven’t heard of; I intend to get better acquainted with the works of everyone in this tome, however; it’s pretty rare that I come away from an anthology like this that there wasn’t at least one dud, yet that’s exactly what happened. I strongly recommend Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Bad Guy to everyone who loves the blended genre of humor and fantasy, you won’t be disappointed. --Tori Bergquist

Bash Down the Door and Slice Open the Bad Guy Edited by W.H. Horner When I said I disliked most fantasy (rather, simply overdosed on it during my high school and college years) I should have clarified and mentioned that there are two subgenres I love. The endlessly amusing swords & sorcery genre that Howard started is one; I also have a desire for good satirical/farcial fantasy novels. Suddenly we have a collection of short fiction from Fantasist Enterprises that has the best of both worlds within. I snagged a copy at Bubonicon 42 in Albuquerque, and found myself stricken by this novel’s impressive collection of well-told nutty fantasy tales. Most of the names in this collection are new to me, but every single one was worth the read, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for more stories by these authors. From Jeremy Yoder’s “A Lesson in Heroics,” feraturing sordid tale of Horab the barbarian on to “The Great Thrakkian Rebellion” by Megan Crewe (in which the minions get fed up with the overlord), each and every story within is a breath of fresh air in the genre of humorous

Bringing Down The Horse CD Review Jakob Dylan's voice is tinged with the mournful whine that made his father the world's most famous folk-rock singer. Dylan's band, The Wallflowers, has made a name for itself on MTV because of the stark video for its single 1 "One Headlight." Their debut album, Bringing Down The Horse (Interscope), suggests that there is much more to the Wallflowers than famous parents and top-ten videos. The richness of this album hits you immediately in the form of the aforementioned hit single. "One Headlight" is like the Lovecraftian version of the Hansons' "Mmmm Bop": a maddeningly catchy pop song about a doomed relationship. "One Headlight" bristles with dark landscapes. When Dylan sings that he doesn't remember when his lost love "died easy of a broken heart disease," you believe him. When he describes her funeral,

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you can almost feel the misty rain pummeling her headstone. The album moves forward from "One Headlight" to heights of artistic excellence that continually prove that we are not dealing with one-hit wonders here. Mournful ballads like "Sixth Avenue Heartache" and "Three Marlenas" still resonate with infectious melodies that make it difficult not to sing or at least hum along. "The Difference" is the best straight-out rocker on the disc, and its

celebratory mood contrasts sharply with the mournfulness of "One Headlight." After repeated listenings, I have begun to realize that Bob is not the only Dylan destined to make a mark on the face of popular music. --Dan Lambert

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Death on the Toilet By Robert Stikmanz Although no moon shone, the lowering clouds trapped enough light from the neighboring subdivision to illuminate forty yards of ditch cut into the old man's property. Bigger MacGregor stood at the window of the home he shared with his youngest granddaughter and her son, remembering the band of mixed growth he had spent a decade bringing back from naked caliche. That narrow strip of restored savanna had been the pride of the entire MacGregor family until adjoining woods were claimed by the nearby city under extra-territorial jurisdiction. Using the same authority they had seized the plot of MacGregor land as right of way, and signed off on destruction of both woods and strip by an outfit called Tremaine Developments. News cameras looking on, the city's mayor had turned the first shovel of dirt to signal another bold step in the name of progress. The vaporous yellow of reflected streetlights did nothing to beautify the scar of ditch bounding the MacGregor homestead. Eighty-two years old and a restless sleeper, Bigger stopped at the window at least once a night to grieve for his lost savanna and seethe at the memory of fat, pompous Duane Tremaine III, chewing a cigar while dismissing all protests with pieties about expanding tax base and the benefits of making “fallow lands” profitable. Turning from the window, Bigger opened his bathroom door to find Death sitting on the toilet. The old man stared for several minutes, expecting the spectral shape to contract and resolve into his great grandson, Paulie, or, failing that, into some other mundane presence, perhaps a burglar. The figure, however, remained what it was, its hood angled toward Bigger in such a way that the mortal man thought it stared back. “So this is it, then?” Bigger asked. The figure shook its head in answer, extending an arm not toward MacGregor but out to the side. Folds of its robe spread as it did so, becoming the feathers of an enormous wing. Hundreds of eyes peered from among midnight plumage, winking slowly and asynchronously as they studied the man, who blinked and studied back. Suddenly, most of the eyes closed as one, clenching shut, and the figure appeared to hunch in upon itself. Bigger heard, or imagined he heard,

a ghost of the sound of bowels voiding, and a smell like concentrated calla lilies filled the bathroom. The palpable wave of scent pushed him back into the hall. In its wake, the many eyes opened again, appearing drained. Impressions not of his making took shape in his mind as MacGregor struggled to interpret what he assumed was a message from beyond life's pale. “Unexpected stop. A consequence of working closely with Pestilence.” From out of the black within its hood came a sound like Death moistening its lips. Bigger wondered about the etiquette of the situation, whether or not he should offer a glass of water, but he had no opportunity. The figure strained again, its arm pulling in slightly as the effort forced shut its many eyes. The smell of callas billowed out as Death again voided. “Umnh!” formed as an impression in Bigger's mind. His own guts gurgled in sympathy. A moment later, the figure had regained its poise, if poise is an attribute one might ascribe to Fatality. It refastened its eyes on its accidental host. After an instant of what seemed like awkward hesitation, words took soundless shape in the mortal's head. “There is an appointment that must be kept.” The specter pointed to a scythe standing against the wall directly in front of it. Bigger was sure no scythe had been there an instant before. He nodded toward it and smiled. “No man waits for Death?” he asked. The figure shook its hooded head. “Hardly original.” Even silent, the observation seemed weary. “No matter. Your assistance is needed.” “Mine?” MacGregor's thoughts raced as he tried to discern what this declaration portended. With understanding came disbelief. “You want me to sub for you?” The Reaper nodded, pointing more emphatically at its implement. “I'm hardly qualified,” the man objected. “I'd have no idea what to do.” Death jabbed its finger more forcefully, its silent voice ringing inside the mortal's skull. “The scythe will lead.” Bigger looked from the honed edge of blue-black

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metal to the figure on the commode. “Are you asking me to handle your appointment as a favor?” Death shook its head, and started to jab once more but was overtaken by another spasm of voiding. Bigger snorted. “What? Just because you have the runs you think you can draft any convenient body to handle your gig?” The specter nodded, and pointed once more to the scythe. “I don't think so,” the man resisted. “I have no idea how to go about harvesting somebody's life.” He started to back away from the bathroom, but the world suddenly stretched in a disorienting way, and he found himself standing outside, clad in Death's garment, clasping the tool of Death's trade. Inside his head he heard a fading echo, “The blade will lead. Follow the blade....” As if cued by these instructions, the scythe pulled MacGregor toward the scar of ground that had once been the back third of his yard. After ten years of building up depleted soil, removing invasive plants and restoring native vegetation, he had been forced to stand by as the crews of Tremaine Developments had dug out the strip to a depth of nine feet, making drainage for a gated subdivision that now occupied what had been fifty acres of forest. The Reaper's blade drew the man toward the lip of this ditch, where an enormous cottonwood had struggled to hold on, sacrificing more boughs month by month as it tried to contain its disrupted existence. Only the day before, Bigger had noted that a single branch remained in leaf, and that remnant foliage had looked none too healthy. As he stepped beside the tree, the scythe came around of its own accord, sweeping in an unhurried, stately arc through the bole of the trunk. It met no resistance. When the blade had passed through, the trunk seemed unmarked, but after no more than a fraction of a second the remaining leaves let go with tiny pops, faint, but clearly audible to ears heightened by the office he filled. Astonished, Bigger felt life depart the tree. It came through him like a focused beam, like a tight flow of energy moving with the stateliness of the stroke that had released it. Its passage imparted a charge that both diffused throughout his person and concentrated in the blade. “Not so bad,” he thought with relief, and turned back toward the house. The scythe, however, was propelled by other intentions. It yanked him, with none of the earlier

gentleness, away from the tree and toward a small luminescence converging swiftly upon another even smaller. Though pulled at a speed surpassing anything in his experience, he still recognized the luminous bodies as a screech owl in the act of pouncing on a vole. Violence that would have dislocated his shoulders had he not been standing proxy for Death swept the blade in churning, chopping blows that paced the talons of the owl as they pierced vitals and snatched the prey. The rodent died shrieking. Its life, wee though it was, rocketed up Bigger's arms and out his back like a ghostly projectile. “An appointment!” MacGregor yelled to the night. “You said 'an appointment.' That was two!” The contrast between the death of the vole and that of the tree could not have been greater. This tiny demise, which had gone through him like an infinitesimal pellet, shook him profoundly. In his human guise, such an experience would have brought him to his knees in grief. It was not that he was sentimental about voles. He was, actually, a good deal less sentimental about them than about the raptor dining on its catch even as the man—agent and witness—sought to recover. What was different was the churning of the event, the brutal turbulence. Whatever the creature's vitality or spirit or life essence may have been, it had shot through Bigger with pain and fear, rather than flowing with release as that of the tree had done. In one aspect, however, the two events were the same. The death of the vole had given him energy, and, even more, had energized the scythe. Realizing this, that both he and the blade were fed by these mortalities, Bigger tried once more to turn home. When the Reaper's instrument again pulled him in another direction, he flung it, opening his grasp to release it to fall where it might. The fatal tool, however, would not leave his hands. Despite the strength with which he shoved it away, the smooth grain of its stock remained solidly against his palms. What is more, it drew him inexorably toward a third appointment. Ironically—at least, it seemed to him ironic—the line he traveled was the length of the ditch that ran now where his beloved strip of restored wild had been. He moved through the air a good nine feet above the bottom of the ditch, as though his role as Death's involuntary agent forced him to travel the ghost of a landscape that had ceased to exist. In his passage he felt, with a clarity absolute and unmistakable, the signature of each organism that had been snuffed during the excavation. Every

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extinguished clump of grass, every uprooted shrub, every broken insect touched him with its identity. “They died in their thousands for this ditch,” he sorrowed in his thoughts, and in his thoughts, felt as much as heard in answer, “Eight hundred thirtysix thousand, seven hundred seventeen eukaryotic deaths in that serial assignment.” “Eukaryotes?” he wondered. “What about the bacteria? Is that number so huge not even Death will count them?” No words formed in his mind, but he became aware of a conviction, something he had not known before, that prokaryotic mortality was handled in an ungraspably different arrangement. When a bacterium ended, it was in a manner other than death as he believed he understood it. On the other hand, the experience of this night placed everything he thought he knew in a rather different perspective. Although he traveled at what must have been astonishing speed, the brush with hundreds of thousands of minuscule haunts made the journey of forty yards seem to take forever. At last, he passed the boundary from his insulted property into the new subdivision. Thankfully, he was spared hauntings from the myriad demises visited in that constructed habitat. Drawn by the scythe, he flashed toward this third encounter. An instant later he stood before a house, the largest and most obviously customized among the blocks of repeating floor plans. Without ever having been there, Bigger knew this was home of Duane Tremaine III, the developer who had ordered destruction of his lovingly nurtured woodland edge. A surge of rage and grief smashed together in his core and erupted through him like a beacon towering into space. Hardly had he registered this storm of emotion, however, before he found himself inside the house. For a heartbeat, he paused in the entry, just within the door. Another heartbeat later placed him at the foot of Tremaine's bed. The corpulent developer lay upon it, less asleep than unconscious, laboring to breathe. As MacGregor realized he was again watching the final instants of a life, the scythe spasmed in his hand. The shock of it thrashed his arms. Clearly the implement had brought him to an appointment with fury. In wielding the blade that sliced the thread of Tremaine's existence, Bigger would, in fact, become the instrument that would make the developer's death a mirror of the violence wrought upon the lost band of savanna.

The razor steel hungered toward the energy it was about to release. “No!” MacGregor shouted, throwing himself back as the blade bucked forward. When the implement twisted right, Bigger, locking his will more than his muscles, yanked left. Answering, the scythe arced up, over his head. Body frail with all his eighty-two years but his determination sharpened by a lifetime of persevering, of refusing to give up, he knew that in conviction rather than sinew he would find his strength. As the scythe swooped to kill, the old man threw himself backward and rolled, to come up on his feet facing away from the deathbed. He held the implement braced in front of him, the curve of its edge looming above his head. In an instant, he knew without thought, as he had known the difference of prokaryotes, that his age meant nothing in the sepulchral role he played. If Death's blade was preternatural steel, the spirit of Bigger MacGregor was adamantine, and he would not be forced to carve even his enemy. The scythe did not yield. It was not capable of yielding, but in this moment neither was the being charged to carry it. Bigger turned carefully, maintaining his grip on the instrument straining to chop and slice the figure in the bed. With hardwon deliberateness, he allowed the point of the blade to sink without hurry toward its target's chest. He could not impart grace to the movement, nor dignity, but, really, he had no interest in granting the developer a graceful or dignified death. What he could do, and what he did, was allow Duane Tremaine III to go quietly into never-ending night. The blade sank inches into the expiring body, its fury reined as its tip pierced the center of a floundering heart. Bigger held it there motionless for a fraction of a second, refusing to allow the steel to buck and shred. Then, as Tremaine's life flowed up and out, he passed the razor curve through the new corpse in a single, smooth stroke. The developer's life force washed through the agent of his demise, leaving a residue of energy in both old man and implement as the now released livingness flowed on to wherever it went. Already dead, Tremaine's body gave up its last breath in an almost inaudible sigh. MacGregor wasted no time over the body. He turned and stepped toward the door to the room. Immediately, he was outside. Another step found him at the lip of the ditch, and another found him back in the hall of his home, at the door of the restroom. Death stood waiting, eyes hidden in the

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plumage of its winged arm again folded close like the deep sleeves of a robe. Bigger held out the scythe, and Death took it. For a moment the specter appeared to regard him curiously, but he would never know for sure what went on in the recesses of that hood. When the figure turned to leave, the man said, “Guess I'll see you soon.” Death stopped, seeming to hesitate. Once more, words formed in Bigger's mind. “Not today.” The mortal nodded. The Reaper turned away, fading as it did so, leaving no trace of its time in the bathroom except an overwhelming smell of calla lilies. MacGregor stood in thought until a small voice called out, “Papa?” Turning, he saw his great grandson standing at the end of the hall. “Paulie?” the old man asked. “What are you doing up, son?” “Papa, I had a dream. It scared me.” Bigger moved toward the boy. “I'm sorry, little one. Come on.” He knelt, opening his arms to the child. “Let's go in the den, and Papa will rock you back to sleep.” The boy sniffed as he stepped into Bigger's embrace. “Papa, what's that smell?” he asked. “Flowers, I think,” Bigger told him. “Nothing to worry about. It'll be gone by morning.” Daybreak found man and boy asleep in the rocker, the child upon his great grandfather's lap, head against the frail, old chest. The boy's mother woke her grandfather when she lifted her son to carry him to his bed. “Papa, are you all right?” she asked. “I think so, sweetie.” Bigger stretched, his joints cracking as he straightened. “We just had dreams.” Another six months elapsed before Death's appointment with Bigger MacGregor. The passing was not entirely painless, and it did not come when he was asleep, but the old man managed it with dignity and grace. His granddaughter had lifted a drowsing Paulie from his lap scarcely ten minutes before Bigger, again in the rocker, breathed his last. Years later Paulie would note that his great grandfather had been wrong about the smell. Over time, it grew less cloying, but it never entirely disappeared. Even after centuries, the house long crumbled away, the subdivision turned, first, to desert, then slowly, ever so slowly again to savanna, a traveler passing the spot where the bathroom once had been would note an

unaccountable odor of calla lilies.

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The Realms of Chirak

PULP ADVENTURE IN A POSTAPOCALYPTIC FANTASY WORLD It has been two thousand years since the Final War, the Apocalypse that sealed the fate of the world and left the Twelve Gods of the Zodiac Stones to bleed their last upon the mortal soil of the world. Though it was long ago, the consequences of this ancient war still linger on a ravaged land as civilizations strive once more to rebuild in the face of a shattered cosmos. This complete fantasy setting is fully compatible with the 4th edition of the world's greatest fantasy role playing system, and includes details on a vast fantasy world, its gods, denizens, heroes and villains. Available in PDF at Rpgnow.com In print at http://www.lulu.com/camazotz

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Blue Moose Press Update The news for close observers of Robert Stikmanz and the various products of my imagination is that a thorough reset has been in progress over recent months. My basic contact information remains the same:

Robert Stikmanz P.O. Box 66696 Austin TX 78766 [email protected] Anyone interested in finding out more about my fiction and art, or staying current on all matters Stikmantic, can visit my website (http://www.robertstikmanz.com) for all manner of explanatory text—including my irregularly updated blog. For more topical, social media connection, Facebook is host to both my personal profile (facebook.com/robert.stikmanz) and a page devoted to my art and fiction

(facebook.com/hiddenlandsofnod). Blue Moose Press (http://thebluemoosepress.com) will rerelease my existing novels on the following schedule: Prelude to a Change of Mind, Book One of The Hidden Lands of Nod, on June 15, 2010 Entranscing, Book Two of The Hidden Lands of Nod, on July 15, 2010 Sleeper Awakes, Book Three of The Hidden Lands of Nod, on September 15, 2010 Blue Moose Press will also rerelease my fantasy divination system, Nod's Way, or Hidden Dragon, on August 15, 2010

Other books by Blue Moose Press include: Rowan of the Wood by Christine and Ethan Rose YA Fantasy. 978-0-9819949-0-1 $12.95 Indie Excellence Award Winner After a millennium of imprisonment in his magic wand, an ancient wizard possesses the young boy who released him. When danger is nigh, he emerges from the frightened child to set things right. Both he and the boy try to grasp what has happened to them only to discover a deeper problem. Somehow the wizard’s bride from the ancient past has survived and become something evil.

http://www.rowanofthewood.com Witch on the Water by Christine and Ethan Rose YA Fantasy. 978-0-9819949-2-5 $12.95 Cullen thought he had enough trouble surviving school, dealing with his miserable home life, and being possessed by Rowan, a 1400-year-old wizard. But when Rowan’s wife, the sadistic vampire Fiana, comes back seeking revenge, Cullen and his band of misfits must do what they can to stop her. This time Cullen’s favorite teacher is Fiana’s first target.

http://www.witchonthewater.com Avalon Revisited by O. M. Grey Paranormal Romance. 978-0-9819949-5-6 $10.99 Arthur has made his existence as a vampire bearable for over three hundred years by immersing himself in blood and debauchery. Aboard an airship gala, he meets Avalon, an aspiring vampire slayer who sparks fire into Arthur’s shriveled heart. Together they try to solve the mystery of several horrendous murders on the dark streets of London. Cultures clash and pressures rise in this sexy Steampunk Romance.

http://omgrey.wordpress.com --Robert Stikmanz

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The day THEY came! By Gregory J. Saunders John Cooke lay on the carpet staring wide-eyed at the ceiling and the bright balloons floating there. Yellow, green and blue; trailing streamers of silver ribbon, each swaying lightly in unseen currents of air as if dancing to music only they could hear. Each one shimmering iridescent with reflected light from the single square of sunshine that filled the room. Soft shag caressed him on one side as he basked in the natural heat on the other, watching the colored orbs through motes of dust that appeared as if by magic as they passed through the beam of sunlight. It was magical. It was his birthday. His gifts shimmered with equal joy; their foil wrappings catching the brightness as they surrounded him on the floor, throwing rainbow colors throughout the small room. Each carefully and strategically placed so as not to lose track of a single one. John was seven years old and waiting as patiently as he could for people to arrive while listening to his mother putter about the kitchen preparing her delicious wonders. Waiting. Anticipating. A memory! John’s eyes flutter open and he is suddenly cold, not realizing sleep had overcome him. His sunbeam is nowhere to be found. Outside his window the world is still bright and sunny. In fact the neighborhood is sun-drenched everywhere except around his house. It is as if a small cloud has parked itself over his roof alone conspiring to rob John of his joy. The balloons seem dull without the sun, the small wrapped boxes less thrilling, almost plain. Bleary eyed and shivering he begins to call to his mother, yet an opening door makes him pause; curious because no doorbell or knock nor greeting accompanied the sound. Another shiver having nothing to do with the cold races through him. Though he doesn’t know why, there is a niggling of déjà vu. Suddenly a breathless and trembling, “Oh My God!” issues from the kitchen. His mother’s scream is terrified, the sound sending shock waves like jolts of electricity through his body, stabbing his brain and flaring wide his eyes. Never in his young life had John felt true fear. Never until now. “Hide John, run and-!” Her scream is cut of, the

sudden silence deafening. But John has nowhere to run. Every avenue of escape leads to the kitchen and past whatever horrible thing is happening there. He whimpers softly and crawls behind the couch, laying down and making himself as small and invisible as possible, wishing he could curl into a ball and squeeze his eyes shut to stave off the terror. But he can’t so he peers out from underneath and between the heavy oak legs, hyperventilating within a body that has now passed far beyond his control. Great shivers and sobs wrack his thin chest, his breath doing what the vacuum couldn’t, sucking up the old dust, effectively choking him. Worse still, from here he can see into the kitchen and see his mother laying face down on the tile. Her eyes hold his, pleading with him though he doesn’t know why. Shadows surround her, indistinct yet odd and frighteningly shaped. Each a fragment from a nightmare that begs to be remembered. A mind nearly shattered registers a single fact; this has happened before! He can neither blink nor remove his vision as a bright stabbing beam of red flashes behind her head scribing a thin sharp line through the air. Wisps of smoke curl up from her skull for a single instant, then the light is gone, the gray mist dissipating to nothing. Another device flashes. Through his tears his mother’s familiar face distorts and ripples, but the cause is not the moisture in his eyes. Instead it is a grinding and tearing that drives him further towards madness. Yet even now there is a moment of utter clarity as an arm reaches down. He hears a soft puckering sound as if suction is suddenly released and his mother’s brain rises bloodlessly from her head gripped in a steel grey hand. His vision locks with his mothers as the light in her eyes dims then fades to glassy lifelessness. John can’t even scream in his terror, frightened to the point of paralysis. He wants to move. Wants desperately to save her, knowing nothing he could possibly do could help. John realizes the greatest fear one can know; I am powerless! Instead, John squeezes his eyes tightly shut as if darkness alone can erase the memory. Yet his mind still sees the scene with perfect clarity and hideous unforgiving

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detail. Involuntarily his eyes pop back open as his body experiences a new rush of horror, one that stops his heart, freezing all bodily function. Wide are his eyes, but he can’t see the hand that grips him by the back of the neck nor the thing that holds him seven feet in the air. But he does feel. The iron grip of long boney fingers and the sudden burning in the back of his skull. All the more terrifying because he knows what comes next. What pain there is fades completely. He feels a tug and his senses darken. No sight. No sound. No taste or feeling. He simply floats in nothing as if he is lighter than air in a lightless room. A memory! John is allowed only these two memories. One pleasant and one not. His keepers know that this balance is necessary to stimulate his brain and keep it viable. Without them it would die. Yes, this is all John has, two memories that play over and over in a never-ending cycle of love, terror and pain. A hell unique to him and the hundreds of others that were harvested. John is also aware. Aware of the one-hundred and forty three other souls that make up his pod. Aware of the one-hundred and forty four pods that comprise the vast living gray-matter processor that runs the vessel. Each brain and each brainstem locked in individual chambers not unlike a giant

honeycomb. Each connected to one-another and to the ship. John sees as the ship sees. A barely changing picture of endless and far away stars as the ship travels through one sprawling arm of the galaxy at very near the speed of light. Mind numbingly and mind killingly monotonous. If it weren’t for the memories. It is said that humans use only a fraction of the brain’s potential. A vast pool of computing power wasted on little more than emotion. John knows the beings that captured him only as the harvesters. Beings incredibly advanced and totally alien. Yet the harvesters have solved the mystery. They hold the key. They alone have the knowledge and the technology to use the human brain entire, to the eternal woe of John and those like him. John will never know hunger. He will never know disease or old age. He will never know more than he does right now. Never have more than two memories and the emotions they evoke. Forty-seven years twenty eight hours three minutes fifteen seconds and forty-five light years separate John from his seventh birthday. A day that is endlessly sunny and bright and full of promise. A day of ultimate horror. The day he prayed he’d died because, it was The Day They Came!

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An Interview with Gregory J. Saunders By Jeremiah Griffin Greg Saunders’ writing career started in 2002 on a whim. The intent was to write a book. Simple as that. As a first step he began with the line, “T minus 3 and counting.” Some of you may find that line in the first book, Light Of A Distant Star. Several years were spent on that single tome, and from one it grew to three and the trilogy, Unknown Country. His genre of choice is Adventure with a taste of Sci/Fi and a dash of Fantasy, but he also steps out into thrillers with a bit of horror - as in the novella, Zahir and the forthcoming Heart Wood. Greg does have a real job – two actually. He works for the state of New Mexico as the Deputy Executive Director and Chief Information Officer for the Gaming Control Board, which is a casino regulatory body. In addition, he is an adjunct instructor at the Central New Mexico Community College. In his spare time he writes book reviews for ReadingNewMexico.com and AllBookReviews.com. Reviews for Greg’s books can be seen on the ReadingNewMexico.com website, and he has several posted on his own site under author reviews. Greg also has a couple of magazine articles published. One appeared in the November 2002 Indian Gaming periodical and was specific to gaming regulation. The second is in the forthcoming Bugle Magazine published by the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. Speaking of this, Greg lives in the state’s largest city, Albuquerque, but is an avid outdoorsman and puts much of his hunting experience into his work. As he tells it, “I reside in the city, but my spirit is usually chasing elk and my day dreams dance within the wonderful and myriad worlds of fiction. Whether it is with Niloc and the world of Mith-sulanroth, (Unknown Country Trilogy), or the evil eye of a Zahir, I find life richer with the endless possibilities of the impossible, improbable and incredible.” Jeremiah Griffin: Well, Mr. Saunders you have an interesting book series going. How many books have been published so far? Greg Saunders: Jeremiah, first of all, thank you for the opportunity to appear in your news letter. So far my publishing encompasses three novels and one novella, though I have a fifth book near

completion and others in the works. The novels, Light From A Distant Star, Light Of An Alien Sun and Light Of The Home World are a trilogy of first alien contact. Basically, what happens if first contact were an accident? This trilogy has been described by one reviewer as reminiscent of Edgar Rice Burroughs. A statement of which I am obviously very proud. The novella was a diversion for me. Something different to write after completing the trilogy. The book is called Zahir and is a thriller set deep in the rain forests of the Amazon where oil speculation runs into the protectors of the forest. Basically my version of the chupacabra. JG: Perhaps you could describe a bit about the setting of your series? GS: I’ve always been fascinated by the probability of alien life and alien civilizations. I will state the obvious here; for them to reach earth they would be incredibly advanced and not necessarily benign. But I also have a deep love for swords and sorcery. I find my mind wandering such worlds as Shanarra and Midkemia or treading the Underdark with Drzzit. So many writers have brought to life armies of elves and other creatures of faerie or ancient lore. Or simply dredged fantastic monsters from the deep recesses of their minds. I guess Tolkien didn’t know what he started with his Mr. Baggins. I read them all and they stuck with me. When I decided to write I wanted to do something a bit different. I’m certainly not the first to combine spaceships and aliens with swords and fantasy, nor will I be the last, but I think my approach is unique. My world is Mith-Sul-Anroth. A world that flourished thousands of years ago and was a world between. A galactic Switzerland where the various space faring empires met to hammer out their trade agreements and differences. Until war devastated the planet. Fast forward to the present and the world is now creeping through its own version of the Bronze Age. Only in this world the tribes and clans who war against each other are the decedents of the varied aliens who survived the final battle and were stranded with no way home. Their memories of what was are now legends, myths and prophecies. It is a brutal world where the astronauts from one of our space shuttles are

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accidentally marooned. With no technology, no escape and no choice they try to survive in a kill or be killed world. Let me tell you, it was an adventure and a great pleasure creating this world and these characters. JG: How would you describe the general feel of your 'Light' series? GS: With a single word; visceral. I want my readers to feel the world around them. To become so immersed they taste the snow on the wind or the strike of an arrow as it meets flesh. Many of the novels I read lack that flavor. You know our hero is traveling through a valley or up a mountain, but you never feel the granite beneath his feet. The author tells you its cold with a stiff breeze, but does the reader feel it bite the flesh. Does the reader actually feel the thrill or the fear, or just read it? The reviews I’ve gotten tell me I hit the mark. The world of Mith-Sul-Anroth is brooding and beautiful at the same time. You will know you’re on an alien planet and you will feel the same shock, awe and thrill the characters do. JG: Are you still writting the series, or do you think you have wrapped it up now? GS: The series is complete… sort of. The three books are a complete story, but I did leave the door open to further adventures. My intention is to go back and write at least two more books. That’s the nice thing about creating your own world. I only touched the surface. There is so much more to do, so many more paths to travel. After I finished the series I took a two book detour. Both thrillers back on earth. My next project will probably be called The Inner Light. Given the other titles maybe that gives you a hint. JG: So are you planning to write any other series' in the near future? GS: Boy, what a great question. All I need is time. I do have an idea or two, though as you can see there are a few projects in front. I would love to do a pure fantasy series next. Perhaps A swords and sorcery takeoff of Attila the Hun. He conquered so much of the ancient world, believed in auguries and had his own warrior priests that could loosely be called wizards. Imagine his stepping off the plains and into a gloomy forbidding forest. How would he handle an army of elves? I could supplant Attila with Caesar, Hannibal or Scipio. Anyone of them would make a great story. We will just have to see.

JG: I could not help but notice the very fine cover art on your books. Can you tell us a little about your artist? GS: I’m glad you asked that question. The artist is Andres (Andy) Rodriguez and he is a local painter from here in Albuquerque. He and I have collaborated on four covers so far and I really appreciate his talent and perspective. I tell him an idea and he says, “Whatever you want. We can do it.” We went through quite a few ideas – and paintings – to get to the final results. Andy prefers painting with acrylic and charcoal on canvass and his favorite subjects are horses, wolves and southwestern themes. It was stepping outside the box for him doing the alien on the back cover of Light From A Distant Star, or the beast on the cover of Zahir, and he did the concept of the twothumbed clan sword for the third book, Light Of The Home World. Basically, he paints it, we convert the image to digital and then use the computer to put it all together. If you look at the website under the tab cover art, you can see the process. Andy has donated a lot of his artwork to various charities including the shared table in Taos, New Mexico and the American Diabetes Association in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. His work has also been published in the New Mexico Blue Book which is pretty prestigious. I count myself fortunate to have him because he makes my ideas live. JG: You talked a little about some of the books you have enjoyed. Are there any writers you would like to recognize as influences? Are there some you feel influenced you more than others? GS: Another great question. I read as many genres’ as possible and glean ideas from each. But as for influences, here I’m torn. I grew up on De Camp and Carter, Norman and of course, Tolkien. But as I began to write I looked for authors that wrote the way I aspire to. I can tell you that one author in particular totally captured my imagination. That was David Gemmell. I just loved the way he wrote heroic fantasy. As I read his stories I feel totally connected. I can name a few other, authors whose books I just have to have whenever they come out. R.A. Salvatore on the fantasy side and Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child on the thriller side. These are complete writers and I am never disappointed. I could probably go on listing authors endlessly, but these are especially important to me.

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JG: Could you tell us a little bit about your publisher? GS: Sure. Unknown Country LLC is my own company. I opened it specifically to publish my work, but I'm looking to expand and offer a couple of other authors. Really it was a business decision. I looked at traditional publishing houses and at the so called vanity or on-demand publishers. Both have advantages and disadvantages, yet after working through the business plan I decided this was my best option. JG: Does that mean you are looking for writers to publish? What are you looking for in a writer? GS: As a small company I’m not soliciting writers, but I am on the lookout for one or two authors whose work would compliment my own. In writing it’s the author that sells to the publisher. For the proper person I may break that mould. Again, the idea is to build a symbiotic relationship with a small group that can be effectively marketed. We’ll see, but that’s definitely in the future. JG: Is there anything you feel our readers should know before they start reading one of your books? GS: One of the best comments I received on my writing was that it is esoteric. I know the word has many meanings and I took it as a huge compliment. I’m not trying to fit a true genre with any of these stories. I love to write pure adventure and I love to throw the reader a curve or two. Just read the short story attached to this interview to see what I mean. Zahir is a combination of changelings and the protectors of the forest. A thriller with a combination of shock and horror that ends with a twist only I can bring. The trilogy is a different animal altogether. On the surface it feels SciFi with a sentient alien warship, wormholes and a telepathic alien cat. The story crosses back and forth giving the feel of true fantasy with prophesy, visions, and powers that seem other worldly. Humans befriended by dualthumbed sword wielding alien clansmen and pursued by the hideous Aranu, the remnant race

that was the original owners of a planet that was blasted to the edge of oblivion two thousand st th years before. Its 21 century humanity meets 28 century alien technology meets bronze-aged alien survivors. And just when you think you know who – in this case what – the enemy is, I change the game. The stories are pure adventure at their heart, but I believe they will intrigue and entertain fans of either genre. JG: Would you like to make any closing comments? GS: First of all, I love reader input. Good or bad, it’s incredibly important and helps any author improve. In fact I wish I could sit down with everyone who’s read my books just to kick around ideas. Another fact I’d like to point out is that I published all four books the same year. Why? I’m an avid reader as well as a writer. I knew that publishing one book in a series as a new and unknown author would never work. The audience wants to know the rest of the story will actually get written. I waited until they were all complete and did them all at once. So if you start reading know the story is complete. Finally, I hope whoever reads this gives my books a chance. I love writing stories and I get totally immersed in other worlds, and it’s even better when people come along for the ride. My thanks, Jeremiah, for doing the interview. Your questions were well thought out and allowed me a great venue to present my work. And thanks to all my future fans. I can’t wait to meet you.

Websites where you can find out more about Greg Saunders and his novels:

www.gregoryjsaunders.com www.readingnewmexico.com www.allbookreviews.com www.lulu.com www.amazon.com www.barnesandnoble.com

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Interview with Kirt Hickman By Jeremiah Griffin Kirt Hickman was born in 1966 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He earned a Bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1989 and a Master's degree in opto-electronics in 1991, both from the University of New Mexico. Since then, he has worked in research and manufacturing fields related to high-energy lasers, microelectronics, and micro-machines, fields that he leverages to enrich his science fiction. Kirt made his publishing debut with Worlds Asunder. Jeremiah Griffin: Mr. Hickman, you have just released a very entertaining science fiction book. How many books have been published so far? Kirk Hickman: Two so far. My first book, the sci-fi thriller you’re referring to, is titled Worlds Asunder, which was published in 2008 and released in paperback last fall. My second book, a how-to book titled, Revising Fiction: Making Sense of the Madness— released last summer—presents a practical approach to writing and revising short and novellength fiction. JG: Could you give us an idea of some of the major influences on your writing? KH: The most important influence is my wife, Lisa. She’s the one who challenged me to write in the first place. As for the subject matter and style of my writing, my most significant influences are Arthur C. Clarke, Stephen R. Donaldson, and Mike Mullane. JG: Without giving too much away, could you give us an idea of the setting for "Worlds Asunder"? KH: Most of the action occurs on Earth’s moon, about eighty years in our future. JG: Perhaps you could introduce us to some of the main characters? KH: The hero, Chase Morgan, is a NASA accident investigator, who is nearing retirement. His past failures, both personal and professional, have blinded him to his accomplishments and have caused him to question the value of the life he’s lived. In “Worlds Asunder,” Chase is working on his last case, when the death of the Secretary

of Energy turns his case into a fight to avert war. The stakes, both personal and professional, increase and ultimately offer him a chance at personal redemption… if he can solve the case in time. Jack Snider, Chase’s boss, driven by a need to protect his reputation, pressures Chase to solve the case quickly—to a point well beyond reasonable expectations. When evidence of sabotage and Chinese government involvement surfaces, US President Victoria Powers and her cabinet get involved. Additional attacks ensue and Powers is required to walk the fine line between violation of international law and the preservation of American interests in space. Dana McCaughey and Bill Ryan, the commanders of two US Covert Armed Tactical Spacecraft (or CATS), are deployed to protect American citizens on the Moon. Combat, of course, ensues. This does not prevent these two military fliers from pursuing a troubled romance. There are many other characters, but these are the major players. I won’t discuss the identity of the villain, in order to preserve the mystery element of for your readers. JG: I believe I heard somewhere that you have a back ground in science and technology. Did you happen to call on previous experience while writing this book? KH: Of course. My engineering background includes microelectronics, micro-machines, optics, high-energy lasers, vacuum technology, and other fields relevant to science fiction. I draw upon my experience, and extensive research in any technical areas that I’m not as familiar with, to keep the science in my stories authentic. I believe science fiction readers expect that. And as sci-fi authors, we owe it to them to provide that realism. JG: What can long-time sci-fi fans expect to find familiar about "Worlds Assunder?" KH: Worlds Asunder is not the long-ago-in-agalaxy-far-away science fiction that is prevalent on today’s bookshelves. The settings and timeframe are more akin to those of sci-fi greats Isaac Asimov (I, Robot), Ray Bradbury (The Martian

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Chronicles), and Arthur C. Clarke (Venus Prime and 2001). Worlds Asunder doesn’t venture beyond our solar system or more than a hundred years into our future. What’s different about Worlds Asunder is that we know a lot more about our solar system than we did in the days of Asimov, Bradbury, and Clarke. We no longer need to speculate about what these worlds are like. Therefore, the settings portrayed in Worlds Asunder are more authentic than those portrayed in science fiction from decades past. Long-time sci-fi fans will also appreciate that, like many of the classic works, the futuristic elements of in Worlds Asunder rely upon an extrapolation of science, technology, and politics, rather than upon the supernatural.

technology to begin colonizing other planets, albeit in small habitats, within the next hundred years. I don’t believe we have the motivation to make it happen within that time frame, However. In my story, I create the impetus through such factors as overpopulation and stress upon Earth’s natural resources, though these issues are not the focus of the story.

JG: What about your story do you think will appeal to readers who are not long-time fans of sci-fi? KH: Absolutely! Worlds Asunder is not your classic science-fiction story. It’s a political conspiracy thriller in a futuristic setting. It contains plenty of action, intrigue, and suspense. In his review of the book, David J. Corwell described it as “a superb interweaving of futuristic adventure, political conspiracy, and personal drama.” The story has a lot to offer any reader.

JG: Could you tell us a little bit about Venus Rain? KH: Venus Rain is about a planetary science student. She gets trapped on a space station, caught in the crossfire between a ruthless tyrant who wants to use the station to hijack Venus and a spy who wants to use her to oppose the tyrant. She just wants to find her missing bother and get off the station alive.

JG: The action in your novel is highly affected by the actions of several countries, countries that currently exist. How did you go about deciding who the major players would be 80 years in the future? KH: I looked at who the major players are now in terms of world politics, economy, and— most importantly—space technology and participation in space-related activities and programs. Then I imagined where the technologies and politics might go in future in which humans have begun to populate space. JG: Well, based upon your knowledge of science and recent advancements in space technology how likely do you think it is that we might be colonizing other planets in a hundered years? KH: Other planets? Probably not. I think it’s more likely we’ll put people semi-permanently on the moon by then, which is where much Worlds Asunder takes place. I think we’ll have the

JG: So are you working on any other books? KH: Several, actually. Venus Rain, the sequel to Worlds Asunder, is scheduled for release on Jun 30, 2010. I’ve also written a fantasy trilogy titled “The Age of Prophecy.” Fabler’s Legend, the first book of the trilogy, will be released sometime next year.

JG: Well, that sounds exciting. Any idea so far when we can expect it in stores? KH: Venus Rain should be available by in July. (Editor's note: Venus Rain was released on time and is now available for purchase) JG: I look forward to reading Venus Rain. Perhaps you could let us know a little bit about "The Age of Prophecy"? KH: “The Age of Prophecy” is a traditional fantasy trilogy with all the usual suspects: elves, dwarves, dragons, demons, and sorcery. It centers around a no-nonsense son of a farmer who becomes embroiled in the fulfillment of a dark prophecy he’s determined to prevent. During his quest, the loyalties of his companions shift to the point where he can no longer determine who is actually on his side. It’s a goodversus-evil tale, twisted into several shades of gray. The first book of the trilogy, titled Fabler’s Legend, should be available sometime next year.

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Star Wars Roleplaying Game Races not found in Saga books By Elijah Hammond Elijah Hammond has been busy compiling a list of all the aliens pecies previously available in the Star Wars Role Playing Game as playable races that were not adapted in to the Saga Edition of the system. Since Wizards of the Coast is no longer producing Saga Edition books, this conversion should help Star Wars gamers more easily use their older edition books! Abyssin Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-30, Young Adult 31-65, Adult 66-150, Middle Age 151-220, Old 221-300, Venerable 301+ Languages: Abyssin Average Height: 2 Meters Adarian Ability Modifiers: +4 Int, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-13, Young Adult 14-18, Adult 19-44, Middle Age 45-55, Old 56-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Adarese Average Height: 1.7 Meters Advozse Ability Modifiers: +4 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-14, Adult 15-33, Middle Age 34-42, Old 43-54, Venerable 55+ Languages: Advb, Basic Average Height: 1.5 Meters Amanin Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-49, Middle Age 50-76, Old 77-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Amanese (speak only) Average Height: 2.5 Meters Anomid Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-13, Young Adult 14-17, Adult 18-45, Middle Age 46-70, Old 71-94, Venerable 95+ Languages: Anomid (visual), Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Anx Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis Size: Large Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-54, Middle Age 55-79, Old

80-109, Venerable 110+ Languages: Anx, Shusugaunt, Basic Average Height: 4 Meters Arcona Ability Modifiers: None Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-18, Adult 19-44, Middle Age 45-76, Old 77-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: Arconese, Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Ayrou Ability Modifiers: +2 Wis, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-7, Young Adult 8-12, Adult 13-44, Middle Age 45-55, Old 56-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Ayrou Average Height: 2 Meters Balosar Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-15, Adult 16-39, Middle Age 40-52, Old 53-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Balosar Average Height: 1.6 Meters Baragwin Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Con, -4 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-17, Adult 18-44, Middle Age 45-71, Old 72-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Bartokk Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Con, -4 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-3, Young Adult 4-5, Adult 6-45, Middle Age 46-69, Old 70-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: None Average Height: 1.9 Meters

Besalisk Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-12, Adult 13-48, Middle Age 49-60, Old 61-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Besalisk, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Bimm Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Con, -2 Str Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-85, Middle Age 86-112, Old 113-133, Venerable 134+ Languages: Bimm Average Height: 1.3 Meters Caarite Ability Modifiers: +2 Cha, -2 Con Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-44, Middle Age 45-57, Old 58-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Caarimala, Basic, +1 Average Height: 1.0 Meters Celegian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, -2 Cha Size: Large Speed: 4 sq. (10 on home world) Age: Child 1-10,Young Adult 11-20, Adult 21-142, Middle Age 143-210, Old 211-250, Venerable 251+ Languages: Limited telepathy. Average Height: 2 Meters Charon Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Int, +2 Con, -6 Cha Size: Large Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-3, Young Adult 4-5, Adult 6-33, Middle Age 34-55, Old 56-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Charon Average Height: 2.3 Meters Chev Ability Modifiers: None Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-13, Young Adult 14-18,

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Adult 19-40, Middle Age 41-62, Old 63-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Chevin, Basic Average Height: 1.6 Meters Chevin Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-18, Adult 19-155, Middle Age 156-211, Old 212-256, Venerable 257+ Languages: Chevin, Basic Average Height: 1.6 Meters Colicoid Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -6 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-4, Young Adult 5-7, Adult 8-33, Middle Age 34-49, Old 50-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Colicoid, Basic (noticeable buzz when speaking in basic) Average Height: 1.8 Meters Cragmoloid Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Int Size: Large Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-7, Young Adult 8-14, Adult 15-69, Middle Age 70-86, Old 87-119, Venerable 120+ Languages: Cragii, Basic Average Height: 3 Meters Dantari Ability Modifiers: -2 Int, +2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-69, Venerable 70+ Languages: Dantari Average Height: 1.7 Meters Devaronian Male Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-44, Middle Age 45-64, Old 65-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Devaronese, Basic Average Height: 1.6 Meters Female Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-44, Middle Age 45-64, Old 65-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Devaronese, Basic

Average Height: 1.6 Meters Drall Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Str Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-3, Young Adult 4-7, Adult 8-25, Middle Age 26-55, Old 56-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Drallish, Basic Average Height: 1.3 Meters Dressellian Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-14, Adult 15-45, Middle Age 46-59, Old 60-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Dressellese, Bothese Average Height: 1.8 Meters Ebranite Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 4 sq. (8 sq. when climbing) Age: Child 1-13, Young Adult 14-17, Adult 18-45, Middle Age 46-69, Old 70-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Ebranese Average Height: 1.5 Meters

Con, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-10, Adult 11-50, Middle Age 51-70, Old 71-75, Venerable 76+ Languages: Farghul, Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Filordus Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 10 sq. on 4 legs and 4 sq. on two legs Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-14, Adult 15-39, Middle Age 40-55, Old 56-69, Venerable 70+ Languages: Filordian, Basic (with accent) Average Height: 1.4 Meters Frozian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Dex Size: Large Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-13, Adult 14-40, Middle Age 41-60, Old 61-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Frozian Average Height: 3 Meters Geonosian

Elom Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Str, -2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-49, Middle Age 50-65, Old 66-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Elom (Difficulty to speak basic) Average Height: 1.4 Meters Elomin Ability Modifiers: None Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-12, Adult 13-40, Middle Age 41-60, Old 61-72, Venerable 73+ Languages: Elomin, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Em'liy Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-53, Old 54-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Em'liy, Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Farghul Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, +2 Cha, -2

Aristocrat Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. and 12 sq. when flying Age: Child 1-6, Young Adult 7-10, Adult 11-35, Middle Age 36-50, Old 51-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Geonosian Average Height: 1.7 Meters Warrior Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-6, Young Adult 7-10, Adult 11-35, Middle Age 36-50, Old 51-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Geonosian Average Height: 1.7 Meters Gossam Ability Modifiers: +2 Wis, +2 Cha, -2 Con Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-13, Adult 14-44, Middle Age 45-62, Old 63-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Gossam, Basic Average Height: 1.2 Meters H'nemthe Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq.

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Age: Child 1-6, Young Adult 7-10, Adult 11-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old 60-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: H'nemthe Average Height: 1.7 Meters Ho'Din Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Dex Size: Large Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-49, Middle Age 50-74, Old 75-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Ho'Din Average Height: 2.8 Meters Houk Ability Modifiers: +4 Str, +2 Con, -2 Wis, -4 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-15, Adult 16-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old 60-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Houkese Average Height: 2.2 Meters Iotran Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-16, Adult 17-44, Middle Age 45-65, Old 66-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Tranese, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Jenet Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Dex, -2 Str, -4 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-4, Young Adult 5-8, Adult 9-29, Middle Age 30-54, Old 55-69, Venerable 70+ Languages: Jenet Average Height: 1.5 Meters Kerestian Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, - 2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-44, Middle Age 45-57, Old 58-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Kerestese Average Height: 2.2 Meters Khommite Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium or Small Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-40, Middle Age 41-64, Old 65-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Basic Average Height: 1.2 Meters (small) to

2 Meters (medium) Kian'thar Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, -2 Int Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. (swimming 6 sq.) Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-49, Middle Age 50-69, Old 70-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Kian'thar, Basic (speak only) Average Height: 1.9 Meters Kitonak Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, -2 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-10, Adult 11-60, Middle Age 61-100, Old 101120, Venerable 121+ Languages: Kitonese, Basic (slowly) Average Height: 1.3 Meters Koorivar Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-59, Middle Age 60-89, Old 90-124, Venerable 125+ Languages: Koorivar, Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Krish Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-15, Adult 16-45, Middle Age 46-65, Old 66-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Krish Average Height: 1.8 Meters Kubaz Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-13, Adult 14-50, Middle Age 51-80, Old 81-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: Kubazi, Basic (with nasal sounds) Average Height: 1.9 Meters Kushiban Ability Modifiers: +4 Dex, -4 Str Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-12, Adult 13-59, Middle Age 60-84, Old 85-109, Venerable 110+ Languages: Kushiban Average Height: 0.5 Meters Lannik Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2

Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-17, Adult 18-54, Middle Age 55-79, Old 80-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: Lannik, Basic Average Height: 1.2 Meters Lepi Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-14, Adult 15-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old 60-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Lepese, Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters (male), 1.6 Meters (female) Menahuun Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Str, -2 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-9, Adult 10-29, Middle Age 30-45, Old 46-54, Venerable 55+ Languages: Menahu Average Height: 1.2 Meters Morseerian Ability Modifiers: None Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-43, Middle Age 44-68, Old 69-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Morseerian, Basic Average Height: 1.6 Meters Muun Ability Modifiers: +4 Int, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-50, Middle Age 51-79, Old 80-94, Venerable 95+ Languages: Muun, Binary (understand only) Average Height: 1.9 Meters Myneyrsh Ability Modifiers: +2 Wis, -2 Int Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-49, Middle Age 50-69, Old 70-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Myneyrsh (speak only), Psadan (speak only) Average Height: 1.9 Meters Nazzar Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -4 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq.

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Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-55, Middle Age 56-89, Old 90-124, Venerable 125+ Languages: Nazzar Average Height: 2 Meters Neti Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Con, +2 Wis, -4 Dex Size: Medium, Large, or Huge Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-59, Adult 60-1,999, Middle Age 2,0002,499, Old 2,500-3,999, Venerable 4,000+ Languages: Neti, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters (medium) – 10 Meters (huge)

Nimbanel Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-16, Adult 17-45, Middle Age 46-64, Old 65-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Nimbanese, Huttese Average Height: 1.8 Meters Noehon Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. (climb 4 sq.) Age: Child 1-2, Young Adult 3-4, Adult 5-24, Middle Age 25-37, Old 38-44, Venerable 45+ Languages: Noehonese (speak only) Average Height: 1.1 Meters

Nikto Esral'sa (Mountain Nikto) Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nikto, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Gluss'sa (Pale Nikto) Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. (swim 4 sq.) Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nikto, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Kadas'sa (Green Nikto) Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nikto, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters Kajain'sa (Red Nikto) Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nikto, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters M'shento'su (Southern Nikto) Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-35, Middle Age 36-54, Old 55-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nikto, Basic Average Height: 1.8 Meters

Noghri Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -4 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-12, Adult 13-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old 60-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Honoghran, Basic Average Height: 1.3 Meters Nuknog Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-35, Middle Age 36-49, Old 50-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Nuknog Average Height: 1.2 Meters Omwati Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-40, Middle Age 41-65, Old 66-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Omwatese Average Height: 1.9 Meters Ortolan Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Dex Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-11, Adult 12-39, Middle Age 40-54, Old 55-70, Venerable 71+ Languages: Ortolan, Basic Average Height: 1.4 Meters Pa'lowick Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, +2 Wis, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old

60-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Lowickese Average Height: 1.6 Meters Pacithhip Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 5 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-44, Middle Age 45-69, Old 70-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Shimiese, Basic Average Height: 1.5 Meters Phindian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-16, Adult 17-39, Middle Age 40-54, Old 55-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Phindian, Basic Average Height: 1.7 Meters Pho Ph'eahian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-45, Middle Age 46-65, Old 66-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Pho Ph'eahese Average Height: 1.7 Meters Psadan Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +4 Con, -2 Cha, -4 Int Size: Medium Speed: 5 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-13, Adult 14-54, Middle Age 55-74, Old 75-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Psadan (oral only) Average Height: 1.5 Meters Quermian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Wis, -2 Str, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-42, Middle Age 43-65, Old 66-85, Venerable 86+ Languages: Quermian, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Qwohog Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. and 8 sq. swimming Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-40, Middle Age 41-59, Old 60-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Qwohog (only in water), sign language, Basic Average Height: 1.2 Meters Ranat Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int -2 Cha

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Size: Small Speed: 6 sq. or 1 sq. when burrowing Age: Child 1-4, Young Adult 5-8, Adult 9-26, Middle Age 27-40, Old 41-54, Venerable 55+ Languages: Ranat, Basic Average Height: 1 Meter

Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-48, Middle Age 49-74, Old 75-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Sakiyan, Basic or Huttese Average Height: 1.9 Meters

Ranth Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-15, Adult 16-45, Middle Age 46-65, Old 66-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Ranth Average Height: 1.7 Meters

Sanyassan Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Int Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-13, Adult 14-39, Middle Age 40-52, Old 53-69, Venerable 70+ Languages: Sanyassan, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters

Ruurian Chroma-Wing Ability Modifiers: +4 Cha, -2 Str, -2 Con Size: Small Speed: 6 sq. flying (no land speed) Age: Middle Age 35-42, Old 43-49, Venerable 50+ Languages: Ruurese +1 other language Average Height: 1.1 Meters Larva Ability Modifiers: +4 Int, -2 Str, -2 Con Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-7, Young Adult 8-11, Adult 12-34 Languages: Ruurese +1 other language Average Height: 1.1 Meters Rybet Male Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Str Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. (land or water) Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-9, Adult 10-40, Middle Age 41-60, Old 61-70, Venerable 71+ Languages: Rybese Average Height: 1.4 Meters Female Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. (land or water) Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-9, Adult 10-40, Middle Age 41-60, Old 61-70, Venerable 71+ Languages: Rybese Average Height: 1.7 Meters S'kytri Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Con, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. (land and air) Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-39, Middle Age 40-54, Old 55-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: S'kytric, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters Sakiyan Ability Modifiers: None

Sarkan Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -4 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-18, Adult 19-50, Middle Age 51-79, Old 80-95, Venerable 96+ Languages: Sarese, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters Sauvax Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Dex, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. 4 sq. in water Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-9, Adult 10-44, Middle Age 45-69, Old 70-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Suavax Average Height: 1.7 Meters Selonian Male or Queen Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. on two legs, 8 sq. on four legs, and 8 sq. when swimming Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-14, Adult 15-35, Middle Age 36-55, Old 56-75, Venerable 76+ Languages: Selonian, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Sterile Female Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. on two legs, 8 sq. on four legs, and 8 sq. when swimming Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 9-14, Adult 15-35, Middle Age 36-55, Old 56-75, Venerable 76+ Languages: Selonian, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Shi'ido Ability Modifiers: -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-60,

Adult 61-210, Middle Age 211-360, Old 361-500, Venerable 501+ Languages: Shi'idese Average Height: 1.8 Meters Skakoan Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Dex Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-15, Adult 16-44, Middle Age 45-59, Old 60-69, Venerable 70+ Languages: Skakoverbal (spoken), Skakoform (written) Average Height: 1.8 Meters Skrilling Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Wis, -2 Dex, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-4, Young Adult 5-10, Adult 11-55, Middle Age 56-84, Old 85-102, Venerable 103+ Languages: Skrilling, Basic Average Height: 1.7 Meters Sludi Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Con, -2 Wis, -4 Cha Size: Large Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-7, Young Adult 8-12, Adult 13-40, Middle Age 41-55, Old 56-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Sludese, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters Spiner Ability Modifiers: +2 Dex, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-55, Middle Age 56-74, Old 75-85, Venerable 86+ Languages: Worxi or Basic Average Height: 1.9 Meters Ssi-Ruu Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-5, Young Adult 6-10, Adult 11-55, Middle Age 56-90, Old 91-115, Venerable 116+ Languages: Ssi-Ruuvi Average Height: 2 Meters T'surr Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Dex Size: Large (male) Medium (female) Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-45, Middle Age 46-75, Old 76-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: T'surrese Average Height: 2.5 Meters (male) 2

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Meters (female) Tarasin Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-6, Young Adult 7-10, Adult 11-45, Middle Age 46-62, Old 63-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Tarasinese Average Height: 1.7 Meters Tarro Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-39, Middle Age 40-54, Old 55-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Tarrese, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Temolak Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, +2 Int, -2 Cha, -4 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-17, Adult 18-49, Middle Age 50-74, Old 75-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: Temolish, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters Thisspiasian Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 5 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-49, Middle Age 50-74, Old 75-89, Venerable 90+ Languages: Thisspiasian Average Height: 1.5 Meters Tiss'shar Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 8 sq. Age: Child 1-6, Young Adult 7-10, Adult 11-34, Middle Age 35-49, Old 50-64, Venerable 65+ Languages: Tiss'shar, Basic Average Height: 1.7 Meters Toong Ability Modifiers: +4 Dex, -2 Con, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-19, Adult 20-48, Middle Age 50-72, Old

73-97, Venerable 98+ Languages: Toongese Average Height: 2.1 Meters Tunroth Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Int, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-40, Middle Age 41-60, Old 61-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Tunrothese Average Height: 1.7 Meters Tusken Raider Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Int, -2 Wis Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-8, Young Adult 7-13, Adult 14-44, Middle Age 45-60, Old 61-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Tusken (spoken only) Average Height: 2 Meters Ugnaught Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, +2 Int, -2 Dex, -2 Cha Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-19, Adult 20-92, Middle Age 93-159, Old 158-184, Venerable 185+ Languages: Ugnaught Average Height: 1.3 Meters Vodran Ability Modifiers: +2 Con, -2 Cha, -4 Int (-2 Int if not in service to Hutts) Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-16, Adult 17-44, Middle Age 45-64, Old 65-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Huttese Average Height: 1.8 Meters Vor Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Con Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. (land) 12 sq. (flying) Age: Child 1-10, Young Adult 11-15, Adult 16-49, Middle Age 50-69, Old 70-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Vorese, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Vratix Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, -2 Dex, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq.

Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-19, Adult 20-79, Middle Age 80-139, Old 140-174, Venerable 175+ Languages: Vratix, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters Vuvrian Ability Modifiers: +2 Int, +2 Cha, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-11, Young Adult 12-17, Adult 18-39, Middle Age 40-60, Old 61-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Vuvrian, Basic Average Height: 2 Meters Woostoid Ability Modifiers: +4 Int, -2 Str Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-12, Young Adult 13-19, Adult 20-49, Middle Age 50-79, Old 80-99, Venerable 100+ Languages: Woostese Average Height: 1.7 Meters Xexto Ability Modifiers: +4 Dex, -2 Str, -2 Con Size: Small Speed: 4 sq. Age: Child 1-4, Young Adult 5-8, Adult 9-35, Middle Age 36-59, Old 60-74, Venerable 75+ Languages: Xextese, Basic Average Height: 1.3 Meters Yinchorri Ability Modifiers: None Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-7, Young Adult 8-14, Adult 15-40, Middle Age 41-59, Old 60-79, Venerable 80+ Languages: Yinchorri, Basic Average Height: 2.6 Meters Zehethbra Ability Modifiers: +2 Str, -2 Wis, -2 Cha Size: Medium Speed: 6 sq. Age: Child 1-9, Young Adult 10-15, Adult 16-44, Middle Age 45-64, Old 65-84, Venerable 85+ Languages: Zehethbra, Basic Average Height: 2.1 Meters

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ARTISTS, ARTISANS, & WORKERS By Jarrod Camiré New Feats That Really Work More often than not, the artists, artisans, and laborers are simply the peoples orbiting around the PCs. They are the skilled workers who craft the goods the characters and the common populace buy, the entertainers who amuse them from time to time, or simply the workforce of the country. They are the walk-on part of any campaign but if you look more closely they are also potential adventurers in development, men and women gifted with skills and feats just like your heroes. The actor and the locksmith of yesterday are perhaps the bard and the rogue of tomorrow, and the unique talents they have developed, the inherent feats of their respective trades, could serve them well in an adventuring career. The very same feats can also help to shape the background and the future of a character when the common laborer effectively becomes a player character. AGRICULTURE (GENERAL) You rear crops and livestock, perhaps even breed specific species, and also know how to turn a common tool into a deadly weapon to defend your cattle, your sheep, your property, and also your life if the situation requires it. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in one of the following Professions (farmer, herder, or rancher), Skill Focus (Profession (farmer, herder, or rancher)). Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Handle Animal, Knowledge (nature), Ride, and Use Rope checks and are proficient with the following weapons: battleaxe, club, dagger, greatclub, handaxe, javelin, light hammer, scythe, sickle, sling, spear, and quarterstaff. Moreover, each time you use a scythe or sickle against a creature you gain a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls. If the creature has the plant subtype you gain a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls. This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the ranger class feature Favored Enemy and the feat Weapon Focus but not with the feats Butchery, From the Mines or Lumberjack.

Appraise checks made upon a decorative object, piece of furniture, or other work of art created at an earlier period. This bonus also applies to remains or relics, such as (but not limited to) statues, buildings, or coins from ancient times; you additionally beneficiate from a +2 competence bonus on Knowledge (architecture and engineering) and Knowledge (history) checks. Special: It’s up to the GM to decide if an object classifies as an antiquity or not. AUTODIDACT (GENERAL) You have learned something all by yourself. Benefit: Choose any skill. This skill is considered as a class skill for you. Special: You can gain Autodidact multiple times. Each time you take the feat it applies to a new skill.

ANGEL’S VOICE (GENERAL) You are naturally gifted with a very melodious voice. Benefit: You gain a +2 circumstance bonus on Perform (act), Perform (comedy), Perform (oratory), and Perform (sing) checks. Special: This feat must be taken at 1st level.

APPRENTICESHIP (GENERAL) You have worked with a skilled person to learn her trade. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in a suitable Craft or Profession skill is obligatory. Benefit: The Craft or Profession skill you have chosen is a class skill for you and you have a +2 competence bonus with that specific skill. You can gain Apprenticeship multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat it applies to a new Craft or Profession.

ANTIQUITY (GENERAL) Antiques have no secret for you and you can assess the value of an old object at a glance. You have also acquainted yourself with old architectural styles. Prerequisite: 5 ranks in Profession (antiquarian). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on

ARCHITECTURE (GENERAL) You know many things about the design and the construction of buildings and various structures besides. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (architect). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Craft (carpentry), Craft (stonemasonry), and Knowledge

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(architecture and engineering) checks. Special: A character with the feat Architecture obtains a +2 competence bonus on his Search checks when he tries to find secret doors or hidden compartments. This bonus stacks with the synergy bonus provided to a character that has 5 ranks or more in Knowledge (architecture and engineering). ARSENAL (GENERAL) You have worked where arms and ammunitions are made. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in one of the following Professions (alchemist, armorer, bowyer, fletcher, leatherworker, or weaponsmith). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Craft (alchemy), Craft (armorsmithing), Craft (bowmaking), Craft (leatherworking), and Craft (weaponsmithing) checks. Special: A fighter may select Arsenal as one of his fighter bonus feat. BALANCING ACT (GENERAL) Your experience of the stage helps you greatly to improvise in the real life; you truly know how to please any audience. Prerequisite: Cha 12, 5 ranks in Perform (act), Perform (comedy), and Perform (oratory). Benefit: You can add your Charisma modifier to your dice roll when you aid another character with the following skills: Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather Information, Handle Animal, and Intimidate. Normal: You must obtain 10 or higher on your dice roll when you aid another (consult the PHB, Chapter 4: Skills, for more details about Combining Skill Attempts and Aid Another). BARGAIN-HUNTER (GENERAL) When it comes to second-hand items you never miss an opportunity and you bargain and obtain more for your hard-earned money all the time. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on your Appraise, Bluff, Diplomacy, and Search checks. Special: Each time you sell loot you obtain threequarter its listed price, and when you buy a second-hand item you pay only a quarter its listed price. You cannot influence a merchant when it comes down to trade goods and brand new items however. Normal: In general, a character can sell something for half its listed price. BODY LANGUAGE (GENERAL) Your attitude, facial expression, and pose serve you

to convey your true state of mine (as well as any pretence) better than anyone else. Prerequisite: 5 ranks in Perform (act), Perform (comedy), and Perform (dance). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on your Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks. BUTCHERY (GENERAL) Your intimate knowledge of the anatomy of more than one animal gives you an edge when you are confronted to them. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (butcher), Skill Focus (Profession (butcher)). Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls against all creatures having the animal subtype. Special: This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the ranger class feature Favored Enemy and the feat Weapon Focus but not with the feats Agriculture, From the Mines, and Lumberjack. A fighter may select Butchery as one of his fighter bonus feat. CARTOGRAPHY (GENERAL) You are quite found of maps, both old and new, and have thoroughly studied many geographical books and treatises. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (cartographer). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Craft (mapmaking) and Knowledge (geography) checks. Special: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Decipher Script and Forgery checks respectively made to decode a map or determine its authenticity. COLONIST (GENERAL) You have been amongst the first to settle a new frontier and you are a model of resourcefulness in more than one field. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Heal, Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (nature), and Survival checks. Special: Once per day, thanks to your ingenuity, you can add a +2 insight bonus on any Skill check you make. You must stipulate that you use this bonus before the check is made.

CRAFTSMAN (GENERAL) You have mastered a Craft or Profession better than anyone else. Prerequisite: Int 15 (for Craft) or Wis 15 (for Profession), 8 ranks in a given Craft or Profession. Benefit: Select a Craft or Profession. You gain a +3

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competence bonus on checks related to that skill. This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the feat Apprenticeship and Skill Focus. Special: You can gain Craftsman multiple times. Its effects do not stack. Each time you take the feat it applies to a new Craft or Profession. DON’T SHOOT THE MESSENGER (GENERAL) You have delivered many messages in your career and learned to avoid the wrath of the unsatisfied clients most of the time. Prerequisite: Alertness, Dex 13, Dodge, Lightning Reflex, Improved Initiative, 4 ranks in one of the following Professions (courier, envoy, herald, or messenger), Skill Focus (Profession (courier, envoy, herald, or messenger)), light or no armor. Benefit: When foes deliver ranged attacks against you they cannot rely at all upon the advantages normally granted by the following feats: Far Shot, Improved Precise Shot, Many Shot, Mounted Archery, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, and Shot on the Run. You must be aware of the attack(s) in order to beneficiate from this extraordinary power; if you are caught flat-footed the opponents are not penalized and can use any such feats at their fullest. Special: A fighter can select Don’t Shoot the Messenger as one of his fighter bonus feat. DOWN TO A FINE ART (GENERAL) You practice your trade since long and know the best way of doing it. Prerequisite: 8 ranks in a given Craft or Profession skill. Benefit: Your workmanship or professionalism is highly prized and recognized. You earn about three-quarter of your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work. Normal: When you practice your trade you earn about half your check result in gold pieces per week of dedicated work (consult the PHB, Chapter 4: Skills to know more about the skills Craft and Profession). Special: You can select Down To a Fine Art multiple times. Each time you take the feat it applies to a new Craft or Profession. FIGURE OF SPEECH (GENERAL) You have mastered eloquence, imitation, and mimicry to such a degree that it serves you to greatly improve any disguise. Prerequisite: 5 ranks in Perform (act), Perform (comedy), and Perform (oratory). Benefit: You gain a +3 competence bonus on your Disguise check.

FINE ARTS (GENERAL) All your artistic creations appeal to the sense of beauty. Benefit: You gain a +2 insight bonus on your Craft (calligraphy), Craft (painting), Craft (pottery), and Craft (sculpting) checks. Special: Each time you help someone with an Appraise check regarding an art object falling into one of the categories mentioned above you automatically provide a +2 insight bonus to that check. Normal: You need to roll an Appraise check against DC 10 to provide a +2 circumstance bonus. FIT LIKE A GLOVE (GENERAL) You are a confectioner and supplier of costumes for theatres though sometimes you also confection fancy set of clothes for very special occasions, creations that always fit to perfection. In fact you have reached a rare level when it comes down to vestments and can often reproduce a given set of clothing even if you have seen it for a very brief moment. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (costumier), Skill Focus (Profession (costumier)). Benefit: You gain a +3 competence bonus on Craft (cobbling), Craft (leatherworking), Craft (weaving), Profession (couturier), and Profession (haberdasher). Special: If you have access to the right fabrics and/or materials you can reproduce a specific outfit down to the minutest details. A character who wears one of your reproductions thus gains a +5 circumstance bonus on his Disguise check. If you also have the feat Arsenal or the right Craft skills you can moreover duplicate a given set of armor or reproduce a fake weapon to help someone play the part of another person more convincingly. Creating such items is often a long and costly process however (consult the PHB, Chapter 4: Skills to know more about the various Craft skills and DC that are required to create a given item). FROM THE MINES (GENERAL) You have extracted coal, ores, or precious stones from the earth and learned many useful things while working under the mountains. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (miner), Skill Focus (Profession (miner)). Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Appraise, Climb, Knowledge (dungeoneering), and Use Rope checks. You are moreover proficient with the following weapons: light hammer, light and heavy

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picks, and warhammer. Each time you use a hammer or pick you gain a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls against all creatures and against any object you try to destroy. If the creature or the object is made of stone, be that in whole or in part, you gain a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls. This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the ranger class feature Favored Enemy and the feat Weapon Focus but not with the feats Agriculture, Butchery, or Lumberjack. Special: Gnomes can add the gnome hooked hammer to the list. Characters that don’t pertain to this race must have the right Exotic Weapon Proficiency Feat to effectively wield this weapon. GOOD AS NEW (GENERAL) You have repaired so many things in your life that it has become a magical gift. Prerequisite: Int 12, Wis 12, 4 ranks in at least three different types of Craft. Benefit: You can repair an item by making a check against the DC that it took to make the item in the first place but in your case you obtain a +5 competence bonus on the check (see the PHB, Chapter 4: Skills, and more specifically the skill Craft for examples). In addition you can naturally cast the spell mending three times per day and the spell make whole once per day. Normal: Generally, you can repair an item by making checks against the same DC that it took to make the item in the first place. HERBS AND SALVES (GENERAL) You know how to effectively use both alchemy and nature’s gifts to cure many ailments and to treat wounds. Even your touch conveys a small measure of healing. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (apothecary) or Profession (herbalist), Wis 10. Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Craft (alchemy) (healing purposes only), Heal, and Knowledge (nature) checks. Special: When you use a healer’s kit you gain a +3 circumstance bonus on Heal checks. Moreover you can naturally cast once per day either cure minor wounds or detect poison. Normal: The use of a healing kit normally provides only a +2 circumstance bonus on Heal checks. HUNT HIGH AND LOW (GENERAL) You come from a tribe of hunter-gatherers and know many effective ways to collect food. Furthermore, surviving in countries featuring terrains comparable to those of your native land is

much easier. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (huntergatherer). Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Knowledge (nature), Search, Spot, and Survival checks. Special: Choose two types of terrain amongst the following ones in accord with your character’s background: aquatic, desert, forest, hills, marsh, mountain, plains. Each time you are confronted to a Survival check taking place upon a terrain akin to the ones from your homeland you obtain a +5 competence bonus on the check (see the DMG, Chapter 3: Adventures, and more specifically the section Wilderness Adventures for many examples of Survival checks upon all kind of terrains). JEWELLERY (GENERAL) You can create marvellous jewels from precious metals and gems. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (jeweller). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Appraise (gems and jewels only), Craft (gemcutting), and Craft (jewellery-making) checks. LAWS AND DECREES (GENERAL) You have pleaded in many courts of justice and for you the law is truly a code of conduct. Prerequisite: Lawful Neutral, 4 ranks in Profession (barrister). Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy, Gather Information, Knowledge (local), and Sense Motive checks. Special: Each time you’re confronted to a Knowledge (local) check that specifically concerns the laws you gain a +5 competence bonus. LILEND’S GIFT (GENERAL) When it comes to artwork, music, and performance, you are truly gifted with an otherworldly talent. Benefit: Choose one of the following skills: Craft (calligraphy), Craft (painting), Craft (pottery), Craft (sculpting), or Perform (anyone); you gain a +5 insight bonus with that skill. This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the feats Fine Arts and Skill Focus. Special: You can gain Lilend’s Gift multiple time. The effect does not stack. Each time you take the feat it applies to another skill in the abovementioned list. LUMBERJACK (GENERAL) You know how to wield an axe and put it to good use.

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Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (lumberjack), Skill Focus (Profession (lumberjack)). Benefit: You are proficient with the following weapons: battleaxe, greataxe, handaxe, and throwing axe. Each time you use an axe you gain a +1 bonus on weapon damage rolls against all creatures and against any object you try to destroy. If the creature or the object is made of wood, be that in whole or in parts, you gain a +2 bonus on weapon damage rolls. This bonus stacks with the ones provided by the ranger class feature Favored Enemy and the feat Weapon Focus but not with the feats Agriculture, Butchery, or From the Mines. Special: Half-orcs and orcs can add the orc double axe to the list. Dwarfs for their part can add the dwarven urgrosh and dwarven waraxe to the list. Characters that don’t pertain to these races must have the right Exotic Weapon Proficiency Feat to effectively wield these weapons. MIND GEAR (GENERAL) Your capacity to understand mechanical devices and traps is above average. Prerequisite: Int 15, 5 ranks in Craft (locksmithing), Craft (trapmaking), Disable Device, and Open Lock. Benefit: You can always elect to take 10 on Disable Device and Open Lock even if rushed or threatened. Moreover, when you attempt a Disable Device check it takes you less time to do so; you require only a single round to neutralize simple and tricky devices and in your case 1d4 rounds are enough to deactivate difficult or wicked devices. Normal: When your character is not being threatened or distracted, you may choose to take 10. It normally takes 1d4 rounds to disable a tricky device and 2d4 rounds in the case of difficult and wicked devices. PILGRIMAGE (GENERAL) You have once journeyed to a holy place and learned much during that voyage. Long

introspections have deeply changed you for the better. Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Concentration, Knowledge (geography), and Knowledge (religion) checks. Special: A monk can add the feat Pilgrimage to the st nd list of bonus feats available to this class at 1 , 2 , th and 6 level. SQUIRE (GENERAL) You have been a boy in training for knighthood. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Diplomacy, Handle Animal, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) and Ride checks. Just like a fighter you are proficient with all simple and martial weapons and with all armor (heavy, medium, and light) and shields, exception made of the tower shield. st Special: This feat must be taken at 1 level. STEEL IS BUT A SECOND SKIN (GENERAL) You have altered, designed, forged or simply worn so many kinds of armor that you automatically know every technique and trick it takes when you must don or remove in a hurry any type of protection whatsoever. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (armorer), and Skill Focus (Profession (armorer)) or 5 ranks in Craft (armorsmithing) and Skill Focus (Craft (armorsmithing)) or Armor Proficiency (heavy) and Shield Proficiency. Clerics, fighters, paladins and characters with the feat Squire have the right proficiencies and automatically qualify for this feat. Characters that have Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), and/or Shield Proficiency can select this feat but cannot use it to its full potential, being limited by their respective proficiencies. Benefit: You can don or remove an armor or help someone doing so more quickly than any of your counterparts and this even in the direst of circumstances (see table below).

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DONNING ARMOR Armor Type Shield (any) Padded, leather, hide, studded leather, or chain shirt Breastplate, scale mail, chainmail, banded mail, or splint mail

Don 1 move action 5 rounds

Don Hastily n/a 3 rounds

Remove free action 5 rounds (3)

2 minutes (1)(3)

5 rounds (3)

5 rounds (3)

Half-plate, or full plate

3 minutes (2)(3)

3 minutes (1)(3)

2 minutes (1)(3)

(1) If the character has some help, cut this time in half. A single character doing nothing else can help one or two adjacent characters. Two characters can’t help each other don armor at the same time. (2) The wearer must have help to don this armor. Without help, it can be donned only hastily. (3) A character with the feat Steel is But a Second Skin who helps another one who doesn’t have the feat obtains the same time results. Even if both characters have the feat Steel is But a Second Skin the time results remain identical. Normal: Consult the PHB, Chapter 7, Equipment, to know the normal amount of time it takes to don or remove armor. Special: A fighter may select Steel is But a Second Skin as one of his fighter bonus feat. TRAILBLAZER (GENERAL) You have extensively travelled the hinterland and cannot be hampered by a difficult terrain; this also holds true for the ones who follow exactly in your steps. Prerequisite: 5 ranks in one of the following Professions (guide, hunter, or hunter-gatherer) or Colonist or Hunt High and Low. Benefit: You can travel upon a difficult terrain (rubble, undergrowth, steep slope, ice, cracked or pitted surface, and uneven floor) or crossed an obstacle (low wall, deadfall, broken pillar, and such) without being slowed down (no additional movement cost). Moreover, if crossing such an obstacle along the way requires a Skill check (Balance, Climb, Jump, or else) you beneficiate from a +2 circumstance bonus in that case. The first three characters who immediately follow you in a single file so as to take exactly the same path beneficiate from identical advantages, but as soon as their courses diverge from yours even slightly they lost this benefit and cannot regain it until they fall in single file behind you again (the distance between the characters cannot exceed 5 feet regardless the circumstances). Normal: Consult the PHB, Chapter 9: Adventuring,

for more details about Movement, and more specifically the section about Tactical Movement. nd th Special: A 2 -level druid or a 7 -level ranger can both substitute Woodland Stride for Trailblazer even if they don’t meet the prerequisites. THESPIAN (GENERAL) Life is nothing more than a play into which you interpret any role that suits you. Prerequisite: 5 ranks in Profession (actor). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Disguise, Perform (act), and Perform (comedy) checks. WIZARD’S PUPIL (GENERAL) You have properly been trained by a mage and know all the rudiments of magic. Prerequisite: Int 10. Benefit: You gain a +1 bonus on Concentration, Decipher Script, Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft, and Use Magic Device checks. You are moreover able to cast all 0-level wizard spells (cantrips) just like a starting wizard does. If you ever decide to be st a full-fledged wizard and choose to specialize at 1 level you must give up two schools of magic and lose the ability to cast the cantrips related to these schools.

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st

Special: This feat must be taken at 1 -level. WORDS AND ILLUMINATIONS (GENERAL) You have precisely and tirelessly copied an innumerable amount of scrolls and tomes down the years; some of these manuscripts have literally and figuratively left a lasting impression on you to say the least. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in one of the following Professions (clerk, limner, scribe, or scrivener), and Skill Focus (Profession (clerk, limner, scribe, or scrivener)). Benefit: You gain a +2 competence bonus on Craft (bookbinding), Craft (calligraphy), Craft (illumination/painting), Decipher Script, and Forgery checks. Special: Choose two fields of knowledge amongst the following ones: Knowledge (arcane), Knowledge (architecture and engineering), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (geography), Knowledge (history), Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nature), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Knowledge (religion), or Knowledge (the planes); you have handwritten so many books pertaining to these two subject that you obtain a

+2 competence bonus on Skill checks related to them. This choice is definitive and cannot be altered later. WORK IN THE DOCKS (GENERAL) You have worked in the docks, tirelessly loading and unloading ships; this exercise has significantly enhanced your carrying capacity. Prerequisite: 4 ranks in Profession (longshoreman), Skill Focus (Profession (longshoreman)), Str 10. Benefit: Your carrying capacity is superior to what your base Strength score let supposed. Add 4 to your Strength score when it comes down to carrying capacity, lifting and dragging. As an example, a character with a Strength of 10 who has the feat Work in the Docks has the effective carrying capacity of a character with a Strength score of 14. In addition the load you carry isn’t affecting your Dexterity, Check Penalty, and Speed in the same way than a character without this feat (see table below). This Strength enhancement serves this sole purpose and has no effects whatsoever regarding combat or else.

CARRYING LOADS Max Dex Load Medium Heavy

+4 +2

Check Penalty

Speed (30 ft.)

Speed (20 ft.)

-2 -5

30 ft. 25 ft.

20 ft. 15 ft.

Run x4 x3

Normal: Consult the PHB, Chapter 9, Adventuring, and more specifically the section Carrying Capacity to know more about the subject.

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OPTION: THE STARTING KIT OR THE ARTISAN WHO BECAME AN ADVENTURER Let’s face it. The farmer’s cadet who decides to leave the fields and wants to trade his scythe for a sword after a devastating orc raid in order to take back what the humanoids have looted doesn’t necessarily have enough gold to purchase both a fine blade and a good armor. Should he give up before it all starts? No, absolutely not. In such case his former life should be a source of inspiration; the tools of his trade can become his first weapons and the abilities of his past the foundation of his future as a PC. Beginning an adventuring career with limited resources, an unconventional starting kit, and feats reflecting his abilities as an artisan or laborer means that a character must be creative. It doesn’t imply that this person cannot acquire an armor or a given piece of equipment, on the contrary: it suggests that this fellow might have to trade something in exchange, such at his talents as an artisan. It could mean to let the masterwork artisan’s tools inherited from his father in deposit until he can pay for his first armor in coin of the realm, or else pool his meagre belongings with peoples of humble origins just like him in order to beat the odds. In short, it means challenges and role-playing opportunities; and this is what a fair part of this game is really about after all. A PC who decides to take one of the following starting kits renounces to the armor, gear, gold, and weapons st normally allowed to a 1 -level character most of the time. It would be a good idea to discuss with the GM before taking this drastic step however. What role such a modest PC will have if he ever joins a band constituted of regular characters? Will he borrow the needed equipment in exchange for a potential treasure parcel? Will he work for the group, putting his Craft skills at their service? Regardless the circumstances this PC mustn’t play second fiddle; he ought to be an integral member of the group who helps them achieve a common goal. On the other hand, if all the PCs agree for this choice as a starting point and form a group composed of beginners whom are a little down on their luck or having not the funds a regular band has the GM should be lenient and offer them a campaign that reflects their choices. Affronting the dangers with what’s available can be considered as foolhardy or courageous but one thing is sure: it is quite risky, and the PCs who take such chances should not be punished; an XP award adjustment and/or some role-playing awards can even be quite welcome. Here is a list of artisans and laborers with potential starting kits (this series is based upon the DMG, Chapter 4: Nonplayer Characters; the items forming the kits are from the PHB, Chapter 7: Equipment). This list is not at all exhaustive and can be modified to reflect a different origin, include more types of work, or simply to better adjust to your own campaign. The kits represent the most obvious choices for a given occupation. Alchemist: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear, special substances and items: acid (flask), alchemist’s fire (flask), smokestick, sunrod, tanglefoot bag, thunderstone, and tindertwig. The character probably has no armor and holds a single dagger unless he had worked for an arsenal and been given access to military supplies. Apothecary: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear, substances, and/or skill kits: acid (flask), antitoxin (vial), holy water (flask), sunrod, tindertwig, healer’s kit, and a merchant’s scale. A good weapon for an herbalist can either be a dagger, handaxe, scythe, or a sickle, the blade doubling as a tool, but an armor is unlikely. Animal Tender/Groom: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear: a shepherd or a stable boy might have a faithful dog, or else a donkey or a mule with saddlebags along with a simple weapon but not much else. Architect/Engineer: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits: someone who has served in a military unit (like a siege engineer) might have access to an arms depot and be fully clad in leather or even better in steel. Barrister: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear and clothing. A barrister’s armor is his robe of office but he might occasionally sport a baton (club), dagger, or a light mace. Clerk: 20 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits, and clothing: although a clerk is generally not the owner of an armor it doesn’t mean that she’s defenseless. Cook: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear. Unless he doubles has a hunter a cook most likely has no armor at his disposal but on the other hand he certainly owns a weapon or two, probably a dagger and a sickle. Entertainer/Performer (Street performer): 20 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits, and clothing. A modest jongleur or singer has access to a common musical instrument and might possess a padded armor and a simple weapon if lucky enough.

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Entertainer/Performer (Minstrel and Troubadour): 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits, and clothing: a musician who travels extensively and performs for noble families is potentially more fortunate and can show off a decent armor plus a good weapon if successful enough. An actor for his part might travel with a chest full of clothing or costumes, some theatre props, plus a disguise kit. Laborer: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear: a conventional laborer certainly can’t afford an armor and possesses at the very best a simple weapon. The rest of his meagre possessions are most likely an ensemble of common tools: crowbar, fishing net, hammer, miner’s pick, spade, or shovel. Limner: 20 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits (or 3d4 x 10 gp if the artist is well-established): a limner (or painter) carries many bottles of ink (or paint), a pile of paper sheets, or perhaps a couple of blank books; the bare pages of such tomes can be later turned into illuminated manuscripts such as very unique spellbooks. Maid: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear: a simple maid has almost no reason to possess an armor and perhaps has a dagger to protect her but not much else. Mason/Craftsperson: 20 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits: a craftswoman requires tools in order to perform her trade therefore the right artisan’s tools are obligatory. Weapons that double as tools such as axes, hammers, and picks are the most likely choices here because the character is already familiar with them. Some craftsmen, such as bowyers, fletchers, and leatherworkers might have materials at their disposal that can be transformed into armors and weapons or already possess some objects of this nature. Mercenary: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of equipment: basically, a mercenary has access to the same equipment than any fighter. Mercenary Cavalry: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of equipment: a mercenary cavalry has access to the same equipment than a fighter but an important part of this money is spent to acquire a horse and the gear that comes with the mount. Porter: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear: an ordinary porter rarely have the funds required to buy an armor but perhaps owns a club or another simple weapon to protect him. Sage: 3d4 x 10 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits, and clothing: A scholar truly believes that the pen is mightier than the sword and the small mountain of parchments, paper sheets, and treatises that fills his pack attest to that fact. The scholar outfit and the quarterstaff are natural choices here but maces can be used against, say, the thick-headed. Scribe: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits: a scribe travels with a lot of parchments, with ink and pens, but he hardly ever wears any armor. A scrivener carries a simple weapon at best. Smith: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear, tools and skill kits: a metalworker definitely needs artisan’s tools and a light hammer is logical here but remember that weaponsmiths and armorers pertain to this section which means a larger array of possibility for everyone involved (with the right amount of work, of course). Teamster: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear, mounts and related gear, or transport: a teamster might begin her career with nothing but an old cart and a duo of mules and carry the group towards its first adventure. Valet/Lackey: 5d4 gp worth of adventuring gear and clothing: a simple valet isn’t rich enough to buy an armor but he might have a dagger to protect himself.

NPC CLASSES WORTH THEIR SALT The feats presented in this article can greatly help a GM to enhance the NPC classes described in the DMG, Chapter 4: Nonplayer Characters. Just imagine a scenario involving a militia constituted from simple commoners who beneficiate from feats such as Agriculture, From the Mines, or Lumberjack which all offer a larger choice of weapons if compares to the single one an ordinary commoner knows how to wield; let your PCs interact with an Expert well-versed in various subjects thanks to Architecture, Cartography, or Words and Illuminations; even better, give them the opportunity to pick these classes and turn them into full-fledged PCs. The Adept, the Aristocrat, and the Expert are all interesting avenues worth exploring.

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Valkyrie E17 A voyage made to pull the world of Orion IV from the brink of darkness Written and created by Harrison Mallory, based on an idea by Jeremiah Griffin This campaign was built using the D&D 3.5 system; Set in the distant future the party battles new obstacles, monsters, and scenarios. With updated armor, new classes and new weapons many new situations can come to stage. On a mission to a harvest planet far from their home world, the crew of Valkyrie E17 is determined to save their world from starvation and collapse, creating the jump space portal (teleporter) will be the first step. Then while harvesting and mining the planet of its resources, Orion IV will become complete once again. But before any of this the ship and its crew must reach the planet. Deep in the perils of unexplored space the party lays helpless in hibernation as aliens

infest the ship. For reasons unknown the party was untouched by the first week or so of alien attack on the crew. But now there awake, and it’s on. Italicized to be read to players 1: As your ice cold deep-space hibernation pods slide open your eyes adjust to the light, the chamber you’re in seems so familiar. The bleach white walls and the masses of wire and tubing running in every direction are a comforting sight

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after gods only knows how long in hibernation. The 12 foot tall 4 foot wide hibernation chamber you laid in looks as shiny and clean as it did the day you got back in it. You gaze over at the other ten tubes lining the wall, as you see your fellow party members rise from there tubes you remember that you’re not alone. The captain’s tube and the info droids charging bay are empty. “As usually he’s probably fine tuning the coordinates” you think to yourself as you feel the numb feeling in your fingers finally fade. The huge blast door reading “C7” (otherwise known as crew number 7) stands before you; your equipment lockers await you on the wall to your right. The party may now create characters based on the D&D 3.5 system. (Page 9) 2: you and your friends suit up and get ready to save your home planet, all these years, the food you need to get. It all comes down to the next few days. If everything goes well and you set up the teleportation ring you will be heroes. Legends as great as those of the olden world; you and your elite crew, handpicked to be the captains highest aides and advisors on all matters, construction and direction or otherwise. You punch in the code to open the bay doors. As the 4 foot thick door slides open a grimly scented odder fills your nostrils, and a horrid sight meets your eyes. The hallway beyond is filled with debris and liquids of varying colors the lights have been smashed and flicker on and off never creating enough light to allow you to see (low-light and dark vision can see better but the flickering lights makes it equally difficult to discern more specific things) . Your captain is only a few feet away from you at the exterior room controls. He slumps to the ground, mining laser in hand he gestures you to come closer. Without allowing you to interject he quickly whispers the following sentence “attacked, need high access key card, mine is ruined, take care, and finish the mission. His breath leaves him as his eyes fade to a pale grey color in seconds. His half-elf features seem to diminish right before your very eyes. The two aids that are with you seem to boil with rage, one takes off down the hall the other stands next to the captain, a yelp and a scratch from down the hall and the first aid is not within sight, as you turn back to your captain the second aid is gone, blood lay in a thick coat all over that side of the room. You are not alone.

3: as you begin to head down the hall you see three figures laying still on the ground, the distinct smell of laser burns touches your nostrils. As you turn to see if your party is seeing the same thing you see a flash out of the corner of your eye, turning back to where the bodies were you no longer see them, three red blotches stain the floor where the bodies were (knowledge xenotypes DC 10 will show that the blood comes from no type of creature aboard the ship). In front of you is a welded together mess of wiring, metal, tubing and a mix of other things. Although you reckon it was quickly pieced together it is definitely humanoid made. (a scavenger skill check DC 12 can find 2 laser batteries) To your left was a set of light doors, but now there are two tears in the wall were the hinges would have been and no door. To your right is a set of doors leading to the mess hall. 4: a small room with a collapsed wall greets you on the other side of the doors; another set of doors is straight ahead of you (spot DC 12 shows that directly across from the rubble of the collapse is an indentation in the wall almost 3 feet deep, there is currently nothing in or around said indentation). The lights in this room don’t flicker but the low amount of power being directed to them makes it hard on non-lowlight and dark vision creatures to see. 6. Several collapses have occurred in this room, one collapse is a hallway the other is the lift to lower levels, one which would be needed to get to the cargo hold or engine room, along with other places within the ship. However the VIP lift seems to be working, it could also take you to lower levels, and the bridge. However you would need a higher grade key-card to access said lift; apparently his captain’s aids aren’t important enough to use the VIP lift. 7: upon closer inspection the VIP’s lift has several claw marks (knowledge xenotypes DC 10 show they are not of any organism aboard this craft). 7B: here are the stairs once were, know they have been sabotaged by some means unclear to you. 4B: this room is dark, but all types of vision can clearly make out a pair of legs protruding from

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behind a storage bin in the corners, a pool of blood begins to seep down to the legs, a sweet smell wafts up you, it is clear that whoever is over there was just injured and may be still alive. If the party runs over to the body they quickly discover that it is a plastic dummy from the CPR training facility, and the red pool of what was thought to be blood is actually corn syrup, following this discovery 15 creatures (five from one doorway and 10 from another) run into the room engaging in combat. The party has encountered 15 hive brood-lings. as you come into close vision of the body you discover that the body is really just a CPR practice dummy and the red liquid is just corn syrup, almost as soon as you discover this 15 inhuman figures enter the room, 10 from one door way, and five from the other, hissing with horrific threat they follow to engage you (roll initiative) If the party ignores the body and attempts to continue on they find that the other door is blocked by something on the other side, presuming they turn to go back the 15 creatures enter as described above, the party should be allowed to get to the middle of the room before the creatures attack. The party has encountered 15 hive brood-lings. As you attempt to push open the door something blocks your attempt from the other side, most likely based on the amount of debris in the other room, the door is blocked due to a cave in. as you return the way you came 10 inhuman figures enter the room, five from each door way, hissing with horrific threat they follow to engage you (roll initiative) 5: with the strange creatures killed you can resume your search for a key card, and some survivors of whatever is happening here, you now stand in the mess hall for this part of the ship. In the corner of the room is the rations dispenser, it looks it good enough condition to use. Cyber tech, Magic hack, and Hack DC 12 will allow players to receive 30 rations. If the party does not attempt to use the skills above to rob the machine each party member receives 1 ration. If the party fails the skills above the machine locks them out. Again broken lighting and wires litter the room, a large pool of blood sits in the center of the room, but there is no body and no streaking, only droplets of blood leading around the corner

9: as you come around the corner from the mess hall you reach the main Crew room hallway. To your right is a destroyed bay door reading C8. In front of you is another bay door, this one has holes in it looking to be caused by a highly acidic substance, and finally to your left is a hallway, this one, like all the other rooms has blood streaks, claw markings, broken lighting, and mangled tubing all over. 10: the room once contained the equipment and tools necessary to maintain Deep-space hibernation, now shattered glass and metal scraps cover the room, the hibernation chambers have clearly been pried open, blood soaks the inside of each chamber, the people within long gone. Perhaps they were seen as meals in neat 1 million credit boxes. A small computer panel lay smashed next to the dismantled bay door. A short and barely audible sentence reaches your ears “Ov... Over here sss…civilians” from here the party may engage the damaged info droid in conversation, the droid cannot access certain information (unless a robotics check DC15 is made in which case the droids memory is restored), the droid will begin with requesting his voice box to be fixed by turning a knob in his chest (which is visible due to his state. From there the party can ask any question they like, only the following questions will get an informed response. Replies will be in normal text Replies only accessible after the party succeeds a robotics check will be in underlined P…please fix my v…v….voice box, you can nun reach it through myyyyyy chest (if the party agrees to fix it then it works and the bots speech no longer stutters or carries on) Who are you, or what’s your name? I am Info droid number 865TO321, my crew called me 86 What happened here, or where are the crew members? Four average sized creatures barged into the room, I attempted to fight them off but they broke me into my current state, they followed to rip open the pods stab those within it and carry off the corpses Who/ what attacked you? Xenotypes What is the date/ how many days have we been in space? My internal watch is damage beyond repair What happened here, or where are the crew members? I don’t know Who/what attacked you? I don’t remember

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Can we help you, or can you be fixed? don’t bother trying to fix me; I am beyond repair in far too many a state Can you come with us, or follow us? I cannot walk After the party has gained all the information available or leaves the bot he dies and cannot be repaired. But he can be salvaged, one armor implant (+1 natural AC {Cyborg/bot only}), one mining laser. 11: this room is the same as room 10, minus the robot. 12: this room is the same as room 10, minus the robot, but there is one thing, across the hallway from this room is a black swollen growth on the wall; blood trails lead to it from multiple directions. 13: as you enter this part of the hallway more of the creatures burst forth, varying amounts from each of the holes in the ground around you. But this time there are some larger, more humanoid like types of aliens. (5 hive brood lings, 3 hive underlings, and 2 cystic underlings) 14: like before, you see a barricaded area, but this time a view hole and a pair of eyes accompany the metal mix of wall that stands before you. Farther down the hall another pile of rubble seems to block your entry. (After some questions back and forth between party and guard the party is let inside the complex). 15: the complex has about 7 poorly armed guards 9 average workers and 14 or so stowaways that have been accepted in this time of need. There is clearly a sense of safety here; bed rolls, food, weapons, tables, clothing, and water are all provided here. Any party member can ask around but will find that there is no head of the group here. However a high ranking mechanic seems to eye you, a VIP card hangs from his shirt collar. The mechanic proceeds to room 17, the party may follow. 16: A number of cut and bent pipes linger in this area; the group has obviously created this passage to the emergency stash. 17: as you enter this room two guards stand at the ready, both have fully automated blaster carbines

pointed at you, “welcome to our little paradise boys and girls, here is how this shake down is going to work. You’re going to give us all your rations and all your guns and in return I’ll give you this little beautiful.” Says the mechanic sneering as he holds his VIP card. If the players try to fight consider them dead, those rifles are high quality and would likely kill most the party in the first round. When the party hands over there food and guns the mechanic give them his key card and throws them out with all due haste. (The party can make it to the VIP lift without problem, however once at the lift they encounter * raiders coming from the stair room {which has now been repaired with ladders and makeshift boards}) * Same as the party size. 18: As you ascend in the lift it jerks and clatters, you hear grinding metal and smell smoke. Just as it seems all hope is lost the lift bell rings and the door slides open, 4 men stand at the entrance, guns pointed at you. They quickly realize that your humanoid and grab you; throwing you out of the lift just in the nick of time before you hear a snap and the lift hurtles down. 19: Before you may even fully realize what just happened a deafening boom sounds at the bottom of the shaft, followed by a gust of searing hot air, followed still by hundreds of hissings jaws and clattering claws. “GUNNER!” yells one of the guards that pulled you out, “ROGGER!” yells a man on the other side of the now apparent (and professionally built) barricade; but before you can even conceive what’s going on three loud clicks sound off and your thrown into another room, the guards accompanying you. 20: your group, panting and gasping for air realize that you were just saved by five well equipped professionally trained militarized men. The man behind the barricade is now visible and unloading rounds from a mounted auto laser into a swarm of different aliens. As you stand and regain your breath you fully take on your surroundings. Around you is another (smaller) barricade with a gap in the middle. Radio technicians and mechanics bustle across the bridge room. You made it. 21: these doors lead to stairwells to varying places.

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22: here are the escape pods, long and sterling in there hatches they wait, however seeing as how there are now planets within sight and your moving at 212MPH its unlikely you will see one short of fixing the main engine systems. This is also were the armory is. 23: here is the primary control room, recordings and transmissions can be intercepted and played here. 24: serving as a med bay a single doctor tends to the wounded. 25: As you walk to the bridge view port you see a tall grizzly half-giant, he barks out commands with dashing speed, when you finally get your turn to talk to him he speaks quickly without pause. “Welcome men, to the bridge, right now we are in the lead among the fractions among us in terms of quality of life, advancement in saving our hides and ability to kill aliens.” “Here are your weapons and here is the recording, play it in the other room. “Now get to it men!” The party may now go to room 23 and play the transmission; the following is what the party hears. Report log… Day 1: Valkyrie E1780T5 lifts off from Orion IV, no problems detected Day 159: Valkyrie E1780T5 reaches slingshot gravilaunch #471 on time without error Day 483: Valkyrie E1780T5 reaches deep-space on time without error Day 985: The crews 1-25 of Valkyrie E1780T5 comes out of deep-space hibernation to eat and check vital signs Day 987: The crews 1-25 of Valkyrie E1780T5 returns to deep-space hibernation chamber, all vitals checks out Day 1254: Small meteorite penetrates hull, systems detect no major malfunction. Life signs of crews remain stable. R33p0rt logg101001g……. 6aY 8761235763: SYst3ms faiiilure DeteCTeD, Loca7i0n UNkn0wn, *unreadable text* SiGnnnnal W1th or1ion 1V 10st *unreadable text* awakenn1ng Val7yr13 E1780123T5g$q CReews 125…..

(Day 8761235763: systems failure detected location unknown. *unreadable text* signal with Orion IV lost. *unreadable text* awakening Valkyrie E1780T5 crews 1-25…..) After listening to this grim AI recording a small man or gnome (not half-ling) approaches you, “hello there, I’m Garl Fixnob, the generals secondary aid; he forgot to tell you this but he needs you to go down to the cargo room and restart the main engines, he has faith in you as he has been monitoring your progress.” The gnome says in a quick but squeaky high pitched voice. “I understand how daunting this may sound but fear not it is a quick fix, the general will organize a task force to come to your aid when you reach the main thrusters, I and a friend of mine will be accompanying you to aid you in the location and restoration of the main thrusters.” The little man finishes and continues to give you a card; he then begins to walk off to pack his things for the trip. The card is validation from the general to allow you full access to the armory (22) In their armory is cydrobin suits mark 1-3 (1of each), 3 laser rifles, 5 batteries, 10 bottle caps, a suit of Reinforced kobold hide, laser rifle implant (Cyborg only). 6 vibration implants (+1 bonus to attack and damage {melee weapons only, requires engineer, cryptic or dock worker}). 2 grenades (see ranged weapons). 26: thanks to the mechanics you are able to worm your way through corridors and tunnels that are untouched by the ravaging alien life forms. After an hour or two of walking and crawling you reach the engine room. 27: a massive set of writhing black vein like tubes worm throughout the center of the room. In the distance you hear hissing and clawing of something massive, but that’s not your concern right now; you’re concerned about the 20 or so differing sized aliens surrounding you. (10 hive underlings, 5 hive warriors, and 5 cystic underlings) Note: one mechanic should be killed at all costs by the aliens, if one dies go for the second. After battle if one or more mechanics is alive the side route seen on the right side of the map can be used to bypass the black nodes. If not then the party must attempt to cross the nodes (or make a coordinate check DC14 to find the side route).

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Each node stepped on deals 1d4 acid damage, in a 5 foot burst. 27B: (mechanic alive, or coordinate skill only) you make your way to the vent without pause, the long winding tubes seem as untouched as the many others you have passed through before, when you come out on the other side you are happy to see that you are no longer threatened by the black veins. 28: after crossing the black field you see a medical station that looks to be operational despite the large infestation of aliens in the area. (Med tech DC 14 or magic hack DC 16 can be used to get 3 med kits (cure light wounds potion) and an adrenalin stimulant (+1 to AC, damage, attack, skill checks, and Hp for 1d10+con modifier rounds). 29: as you begin to approach the massive but lifeless engine two large aliens that you have never seen before approach you, their forward most appendages are mostly blades, used as frontal legs, its eyes glare red and its misshapen rows of teeth shine in the presence of a rising sun. Yes that’s right a sun is rising over a once useable moon. In unison they let out a hideous roar. (2 hive warriors) 30: as you finally reach the engine you see that the only thing stopping it from working are some black nodes, they seem to be drawing energy from the engine. A gargantuan alien lay dormant in the rafters of the ceiling, the black veins seem to be running to it, grotesquely pumping fluids of all colors and consistencies to the creatures back; A small, tube like appendage emerges from its chest, a sickening black mass emerges from it and plops to the ground; the smallest of aliens you have seen has just formed in front of you, and is rapidly growing, but it seems to be of no threat, for now. The black veins look weak and would be easy to break. (2 broodings emerge every 1d4 rounds, 2 hive underlings emerge every 1d6 rounds and 1 hive protector emerges every 2d10+4 rounds) if the party destroys the veins (10 total with 5hp each) the size gargantuan alien awakes and attacks, the party stands no chance, this should be made clear; the gargantuan figure awakes, it dismounts itself from the rafters using its nine arms, in unison its two separate mouths produce a

terrifying noise, one of which you will never be able to fully describe; without hesitation it opens a hole in its throat and lets out a gush of flaming liquid. In case you were unaware, if you don’t run you’re going to die. When they flee the alien gets stuck, they have 10 rounds to get to the stairwell or they die. The party can now return to the bridge, the engine is working. 26 the second time: Adrenalin pounding and the footsteps of a massive beast pounding even louder in your ears, you snake your way up the stairs and vents, this time it only takes half an hour to reach the top. Out of breath from sprinting your fastest you reach the last set of stairs. As you finally finish ascending the stairwell you come to the doorway blocking entry to the bridge, as you reach to open it you notice a red light blinking on and off, it reads “bridge launched”. The bridge is gone, the people within have abandoned you. A female tone reaches your ears “AI now operational, main thrusters engaged. Current course set for… nearest sun”. “Last order received 15 minutes ago”. Now it seems ever apparent that there is no way to escape death, your help is gone, the elevator is crushed, your headed into a sun burning over a million degrees Celsius and a gargantuan alien is chasing you. Only one hope of salvation remains. An escape pod lays operational on the stairwell bellow. Seeing as it is your only option you sink down and enter the pod, the nearest destination, a moon several hundred miles from here…

Armor-common Light Duro-space suite (padded armor) Grey and white, this 3 inch thick padded suit was built to negate general injury on a space ship, light burns, cuts, dropping something heavy on your foot etc. Duro-space suite (leather armor) Like the light Duro-space suite this suit is white and grey, although not as thick this suit has a thin plastic inlay in-between the pads of the suit. Reinforced kobold hide (studded leather armor) Using the rough horn studded skin of a kobold the Duro-space company has created a thick, resistant outer shell of protection for its crew. Reinforced Duro-Space suit (chain shirt) This suit is the heaviest of the Duro-space suit line; grey with two blue stripes over the left shoulder, this suit is basically a new age, light weight Kevlar.

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Thick kobold hide (hide armor) Using the same kobold hides as the Reinforced kobold hide armor the Duro-space company coated the thick kobold hide in a spray on version of cydrobin, however in the attempt to make a better piece of armor by reducing bulk size the Duro-space company had to pull back on the armor value Cydrobin suit mark 1 (scale mail) Using sheets of Cydrobin and plasteel (plastic steel) wiring, this suit came to being as the most resistant form of armor yet. Cydrobin suit mark 2 (chain mail) Rather than use large single sheets, Duro-space decided to use overlapping rings of cydrobin to make a more effective piece of armor Cydrobin suit mark 3 (breastplate) By creating one large thick plate of cydrobin Durospace created a more effective piece of armor, however it was heavier and harder no move in Reinforced cydrobin suit mark 3 (splint mail) Using cydrobin strips and plasteel ingots Durospace made a more flexible armor, but they didn’t stop there, inserted between each strip was a futuristic Kevlar inlay Light cydrobin body armor (banded mail) Using a similar design as the Reinforced cydrobin suit the Duro-space company created the light cydrobin body armor, more geared for combat and slightly tempered to allow easier movement this suit was the first to be specifically made for combat. Heavy cydrobin body armor (half-plate) Although this armor does not completely cover all parts of the user’s body it is by far the heaviest, thickest set of armor yet, however it was not tempered and so was difficult to navigate in. Reinforced tempered heavy cydrobin body armor (full-plate) By taking the chest design from the Cydrobin suit mark 3 and layering it, and by taking the arm and leg design from the Cydrobin suit mark 1 and making it into thick layered plates. The reinforced heavy suit was by far the most armored solution to any combat. But it was too heavy and still did not provide total protection, to fix this the Duro-space company had the suit tempered to provide a more flexible suite and then had reinforced kobold hide made into an inlay for the suite. Easier to move in and almost completely untouched by physical

attacks and ranged one alike the RTHCBA was the final model of space armor made. Air lock window (buckler) Clear and made of plasteel this make-shift shield is light and easy to keep at hand Gore screen (light wooden shield) Made to keep medics clean during surgery the clean screen quickly got its nick-name “The gore screen”. Plexiglas shield (heavy wooden shield) Made to keep rioters at bay these were given to the warden’s aboard Light tactical shield (light steel shield) Plexiglas wasn’t enough it seems, Duro-space made this shield out of plasteel rather then Plexiglas Heavy tactical shield (heavy steel shield) Bigger, better, and more durable, someone didn’t have faith in the last model it seems Airlock door (tower shield) It’s a big door used to keep the force of space itself at bay, hope this is just an extra laying around.

Weapons-common-melee Wrench (light mace) With an adjustable grip size this baby can unscrew bolts and heads alike. About a 1 and ½ foot long and made of cydrobin this red and grey wrench is any mans companion in space. Lucky cydrobin pipe (heavy mace) Several feet long this old tube has been modified to hit hard and fast. Stun spear (long sword {nonlethal}) With a long handle reaching 3 feet long the electricity flows to the end were a thick blue course of shocking energy maintains focus. Stun baton (short sword {nonlethal}) Like the stun spear a clear blue cylinder of electricity forms at the top, the only difference is that this one is for up close and dirty combat due to its short hilt. Crow bar (short sword) If you combine this weapon with your strength you may be able to make a free man out of yourself, working the blue shifts as a dock worker may be hard work, it may even take half a life to get the money you need. But look on the bright side; this 3 foot long hook nosed pipe can tear it up out there. Large sharpened cydrobin tube (long sword) This Large sharpened cydrobin pipe is 5 and a half feet long, weighs about 20 pounds and is known

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for its ability to cause serious harm to those it’s used against. Screw driver (dagger) Yellow plasteel stock and a flat head end, good old granddad always knew what a weapon was and what a tool was. In this case it was both. Casting staff (quarterstaff) This stick is ceremonial to modern day wizards, given to them as a form of degree to prove there learned ways. Several feet tall and covered with varying languages and colors of writing this staff is holy almost to its user. Weapons-common-ranged Mining laser, 2d6+1 damage, x3, burning, 60ft range (30 shots) This weapon looks like a pistol, its small body and stock curve to form the grip of a hand. The red glow of the laser cartridge emanates from the tip of the barrel. Rivet gun, 2d6+3 damage, x3, piercing, 40ft range (30 shots{note that when found or given this weapon gets 60 rivets, but can only shoot 30 per laser battery}) Much like a nail gun in size and shape this weapon was used for riveting in sheets of metal to girders. Using laser ammunition to heat the strong metal rods they can burn their way through most things. Laser sticher, 3d6+1 nonlethal damage, 19-20 x2, burning, 40ft range (30 shots) Almost like a handheld sewing machine, with its quickly darting needle and its thick plasteel thread this tool was often used to create accurate and quick stitches on a patient in need. But a needle to the eye is sometimes just as bad to a laser blast to the chest. Makeshift gunpowder gun, 1d6+5, x3, piercing, 60ft range (30 shots) Held together by gum string and rubber bands alike this small gun looks like nothing more than a curved tube with a couple little knobs and a cocking mechanism on it. Stun laser 2d8+1 nonlethal damage, x3, burning, 70ft range (30 shots) This weapon is a rifle, long in the barrel big the stock and precise on the

range, used most often to keep people at bay this weapon is one of the few things on ship made to kill or subdue. Laser welder 1d6+2 damage, 19-20 x2, shoots 3 bursts per 1 successful attack, burning, 35ft range (10 shots) Often used as a welder as the name would imply this mini flame thrower can bite. It shoots out a long tube of flame at its target, burning and scorching with precision. Laser gun 2d8+1 damage, 19-20 x2, burning 80ft range (30 shots) Like the mining laser, only much more lethal. Laser rifle 4d8+3, 19-20 x2, burning 100ft range (30 shots) Like the stun laser, only much more lethal. Grenade 6d4 in a 20ft burst, x4, concussion, 40 ft range (1 per use) Just like a modern day fragmentation grenade by design, only this one’s shell is made of plasteel and the explosive inside of it is 7 times more explosive than modern day grenades.

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Ammunition-common Laser batteries (30 shots or 10 shots depending on the weapon), (soda caps10 shots {gunpowder gun})

Classes The following classes are newly named from an existing fantasy class to point you in the right direction, along with some new ones. Dock worker (Fighter) a dock worker is another term for intense manual labor worker. Skilled in the use of Crowbars, this is your go to class for up close wild combat, brought onboard to lift crates and brake barrels these men are tough and don’t need a gym. (Str, Dex, Con based) Medic (Cleric) although future sciences are great for healing this and that, medics use both surgery and divine magic to help the party out (Wis, Str, Cha based) Cryptic (Rouge) although most are ex cons these men are top notched programmers, plus they probably know how to drive screwdriver into you. Were they came from or how they got there is a mystery but why there here is what you should be more concerned about (Dex, Int, Con based) Watchman (Ranger) although they may not know much about how to fix a ship or program a droid these men were assigned to keep order among the crews, don’t forget about their viscous animal guards. (Str, Dex, Cha based) Wiggly fingers (wizard) vast are there capabilities in magic, Chinese black magic and making people laugh are there side shticks; but don’t test a wiggly on a bad day, he can turn soy into bacon and back if he wanted to. (Int, Wis based) Cyborg (new) Strong yet agile, brave but not stupid these commandos can do just about anything with their army knife body’s, using robotic implants and computer powered spells the Cyborg is the handyman of the future. (Str, Con, Cha based) Engineer (new) Gun loving, robot building scholarship wielding combatant, need a better gun? Need a larger wrench? This guy’s got it all, from axels to wheels; and trusts me, those are probably the least deadly things in his arsenal (Int, Dex, Cha based) Judicators (paladin) these futuristic paladins are zealots for the companies they work for, acting as marshals on important investments the company has, however because they no longer worship

gods companies developed Implants for paladins to use to give them their powers (Str con cha based) To quickly generate characters use the following rule set: Use stats, 18, 16, 14, 14, 12, 10 for your character Assign max hit die health for first level Equip all starting gear And take a quick look over your spells and abilities With these things in mind you will soon be playing a well balanced character

Dock worker Same as fighter except as follows Gear: 1 crow-bar (short sword), 1 cydrobinoxidane (cydrobin) suit mark 1 (scale mail), 1d6+1 credits, 1 mining laser, 1 laser battery (30 shots) Class skills (see new skills way below) Future tech

Medic Same as cleric except as follows New domains: Tech, Space Tech domain You gain the ability to upgrade weapons and st armor as would a 1 level engineer 1. Splice 2. Static implosion 3. Rewire 4. Magic repair Space domain You move full speed in 0G 1. Solitary calm 2. Free mind 3. Space warp 4. Isolate Gear: 1 lucky cydrobin pipe (heavy mace {don’t ask why you carry it}) 1 reinforced Duro-space suite (chain shirt) 2d6 credits, 1 laser sticher, 1 battery (30 shots), and 1 gore screen (light wooden shield) Class skills (see new skills way below) Med tech Magic virus

Cryptic Same as rouge except as follows

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Gear: 1 screw driver (dagger), 1 Duro-space suit (leather armor), 1d6+2 credits, 1 makeshift gunpowder gun, 30 bottle caps (30 shots) Class skills (see new skills way below) Code fix (open lock) Decipher code (decipher script) Hack

Level 1: bio-implant slot (for armor implants), ranged weapon implant slot, risk factor Level 2: AI aid Level 3: bonus feat Level 4: none Level 5: eye implant slot Bio-implant slot: Cyborgs can implant a chip in there bio-implant slot to increase their armor, however with said implant the Cyborg can wear medium and light armor only. Ranged weapon implant slot: This slot stands in for the Cyborg ranged weapon. Although no different from a normal weapon in terms of damage, however the Cyborg gets a +2 bonus to attack. Risk factor: based on the fact that the robot side of your body and the organic side of your body live in a symbiotic relationship, if you reach 0 hit points your body can no longer sustain your robot body and vice versa. In short you die at 0 hp nd AI aid: get +1 to one stat at 2 level and every 6 th th th levels after, 8 , 14 , 20 rd Bonus feat: at 3 level and every 7 levels after Cyborg gets a bonus feat Eye implant slot: the Cyborg gets a eye implant slot, these have varying affects. Gear: 1 large sharpened cydrobin tube (long sword), 1 metal cyber implant (+1 natural AC {attached to body, can be replaced}) 1 Reinforced Duro-Space suit(chain shirt), 1d6+2 credits, 1 laser welder (attached to arm, can be replaced) 1 laser battery (10 shots) Proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and medium armor

Watchman Same as ranger except as follows Gear: 1 stun spear (long sword {nonlethal}), 1 stun baton (short sword {nonlethal}) 1 reinforced Durospace suite (chain shirt), 1d6 credits, 1 stun laser {non-lethal}, 2 laser batteries (60 shots {nonlethal}) Class skills (see new skills way below) Med tech Cyber tech Coordinate

Wiggly fingers Same as wizard except as follows Gear: 1 casting staff (quarterstaff), 1 light Durospace suite (padded armor), 3d4 credits Class skills (see new skills way below) Magic hack

Cyborg Hit dice: d10 Skill points = (2+int mod) x2 for first level and 2+int mod every level after Saves: Fort=level, Ref=3/4 level starting at 1, Will=1/2 level Special abilities

Cyborg Progression Table: st

nd

rd

th

Level:

0 level spells

1 level spells

2 level spells

3 level spells

4 level spells

1

1+cha mod

0+1/2 cha mod

--

--

--

-0=1/2 cha mod 1+1/2 cha mod 1+1/2 cha mod

--0+1/2 cha mod 1+1/2 cha mod

---0+1/2 cha mod

2 3 4 5

2+cha mod 1+ 1/2 cha mod 3+cha mod 2+1/2cha mod 4+cha mod 2+1/2 cha mod 4+cha mod 2+1/2 cha mod Class skills (see new skills way below) Cyber tech Knowledge (robotics) Jump Climb Use wire (use rope)

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Engineer Hit dice: d6 Skill points = (4+int mod) x3 for first level and 4+int mod every level after Saves: Fort=3/4 level starting at 1, Ref=level, Will=1/2 level Special abilities Level 1: sentry bot, upgrader Level 2: none Level 3: improved upgrader Level 4: militia bot Level 5: Bonus feat Gear: 1 wrench (light mace) 1 reinforced kobold hide (studded leather armor), 1d6 credits, 1 laser gun, 1 laser battery (30 shots) Proficient with all simple and martial weapons, and light armor Class skills Cyber tech Climb Jump Knowledge (robotics) Code fix (open lock) st Sentry bot: at 1 level you get a size small robot; its HD is 1d4 per engineer level. AC = 10+2 natural

+ ½ engineer level. The sentry bot can attack with the equivalent of a mining laser. Upgrader: engineers can take a weapon and once per day give it +1 to attack (limit once per weapon) rd Improved upgrader: at 3 level engineers can give a weapon +1 to attack and damage once per day (limit once per weapon) th Militia bot: at 4 level you gain a militia bot to replace your sentry bot, its HD is 1d6 per engineer level. AC=10+4 natural armor + ½ engineer level th Bonus feat: at 5 level and every 5 levels afterward the engineer gets a bonus feat.

Judicators Same as paladin except as follows Level 1: Power Implant Gear: 1 Large sharpened cydrobin tube (long sword), 1 Cydrobin suit mark 1 (scale mail), 1d8 credits, Mining laser, 1 laser battery (30 shots) Class skills Coordinate Knowledge (xenotypes

Feats New Improved bot Cybernetic knowledge Sturdy hands Future medicine Improvise Xenophobe Zealot Xenophobe 0G training 0G fighting

Requirements must have a sentry bot, or militia bot Int 13 none none Int 13 none Xenophobe none 0G training

Benefit +1 to all bot saves, stats, attacks, damage, and AC +2 to all repair and cyber tech checks +2 to repair and upgrade checks +2 to med tech and heal checks +2 to salvage and robotics check plusses and minuses against aliens plusses against aliens no minuses when fighting in 0G bonuses in 0g and 1g

Revised: There are no mounted feats There are no craft feats Feats regarding skills that have been renamed still affect those skills but in the new manner Such feats as 0G training and such skills as repair, jump, climb, cyber tech, and code fix may not become useful until the next installment, however getting these feats and skills now will build a basis for later.

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Feat descriptions Improved bot Requires: a sentry bot or militia bot Bonus: your bot receives +1 to all stats, saves, AC, attack, and damage. Cybernetic knowledge Requires: Int 13 Bonus: +2 to all repair and cyber tech checks. Sturdy hands Requires: None Bonus: +2 to repair and upgrade checks. Future medicine Requires: none Bonuses: +2 to med tech and heal checks.

Cyborg spells 0 level spells Spark: 1d4 burning damage to one target as a ranged touch, no save (20 foot range). You raise your robotic hand, the tip of one of your fingers opens like a lighter cap and spouts forth a small electrical zap. Heat vision: see using heat vision out to 60ft for 1d4+Cha mod rounds (this includes through walls, meaning that if aliens are going to emerge from an area and you have this spell active you know that they are there). By switching on your internal eye modification you can see heat rather than color and depth. st

1 level spells Improvise Requires: Int 13 Bonus: +2 to salvage and robotics check. Xenophobe Requires: none Bonus: +1 to AC and saves against aliens, -1 to attack and damage against aliens. Zealot Xenophobe Require: Xenophobe Bonus: +2 to AC and saves against aliens, +1 to attack and damage against aliens. 0G training Requires: None Bonus: take no minuses when fighting in or moving through a 0G environment. 0G fighting Requires: 0G training Bonus: when fighting in or moving through a 0G environment get +1 AC and Attack and no minus to movement. When in 1G get +1 to damage and +5ft of movement.

Repair minor injury: can heal self or other robots for 1d8+cha mod points (touch only, +2 to healing if you use a metal scrap). By focusing yourself you are able to rewire and piece together broken parts. Laser targeting: automatic 20 on next ranged attack for one party member of choice. A red light makes a straight line for your target, pointing out the best path of fire. Made of cydrobin: gain hardness 5 for 1d4+cha mod rounds. You force your body to redirect its various panels and non essential wires to form a barrier of metal and plastic. nd

2 level spells Tactician’s code: for every turn that the enemy does not go your party gets +1 to attack and damage, lasts until chain is broken. By using a small variety of military terms and hand movements you direct your party with flawless precision. You need a bigger gun: bonus 1d6+cha mod damage on next attack. By rerouting power to your arms or ranged implant weapon you strengthen you blow or power charge your laser.

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rd

3 level spells Hologram: deploys a mirror image of you, attacking aliens must make a sense motive check DC equal to 10 + 1/2 Cyborg level + cha mod, or they may attack it not realizing its fake, hologram has 10+ cha mod HP. You deploy a small square object from one of your robotic forearm, the chip creates a 3d image of you, the image can make noise and make movements but cannot move out of its 5 foot square. Crushing arm: do 2d10 damage to nonliving object. Being part machine you are naturally able to find pressure point like spots on items. th

4 level spells Repair moderate injury: can heal self or other robots for 2d8+cha mod points (touch only +2 healing if you use a piece of scrap metal). Rather than attempt to patch up your target you actually thin out certain parts of the technology and wiring to redistribute material to the needed place.

New Monsters Hive Underling Size small xenotype (adaptive, hostile, hive) Hit dice: 2d12+4 (16hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 40ft. (8 squares) AC: 14 (+2 dex +2 natural +1 ranged weapons) Touch 12 Ranged-touch 13 Flat-footed 12 Ranged 15 Base Attack/Grapple +2/+3 Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d6-2/x2) Full attack: Claw +4 melee (1d6-2/x2) Space/Reach 5ft. /5ft Special attacks: none Special qualities: xenotype traits, DR/5 ranged weapons, adaptive, hive mind Saves: Fort +2, Ref+3, Will -2 Abilities: Str 14, dex 14, con 14, Int 8, Wis 6, Cha – Skills: Hide +6, Move silently +6, climb +4, jump +4, spot +2, listen +2 Feats: none Environment: any Organization: pair, group (3-5), swarm (6-10),

horde (12-20) or hive (22-40) Challenge rating: 1 Treasure: 1d6 credits, 25% chance Wrench and 2 pieces of scrap metal Alignment: Always chaotic evil Advancement: 4-5 HD (Hive warrior) Small and fast this creature resembles a mix of species and colors, red black blue grey and sometimes green run across its skin. Although only about 2-3 feet tall these creatures have teeth up to 5 inches long. Its head is reptilian in shape but a set of cat like eyes glare from its eye slits. Its body somewhat qualifies as a humanoid figure, two legs two arms and walking upright yes. But its chest looks like the carapace of a beetle. Its two arms are serrated along the forearm. The fingers are very sharp and pointed at the ends, though only two of these said fingers emerge from its hand. Their legs are best described as thin and meek looking, but there power is pronounced when the creature shifts and you see the large cords of muscle stricken. Its three sharpened talons protrude from its feet. Arched like a raptors.

Hive Warrior Size medium xenotype (adaptive, hostile, hive) Hit Dice: 4d12+8 (32 hp) Initiative: +2 Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) AC: 15 (+1 dex +4 natural +2 melee) Touch 13 Ranged-touch 11 Flat-footed 14 Melee 17 Base Attack/ Grapple +3/+5 Attack: Claw +8 melee (1d6/x2) or Bite +4 melee (1d6-1/x2) Full Attack: Claw +8 (1d6/x2) and Bite +4melee (1d6-1/x2) Space/Reach 5ft. /5ft Special attacks: none Special qualities: xenotype traits, DR/5 melee weapons, adaptive, hive mind, blurred movement Saves: Fort +2, Ref +2, Will 0 Abilities: Str 16, Dex 12, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha – Skills: Hide +6, Move silently +6, Climb +6, jump +6, Spot +4, Listen +4 Environment: any Organization, solitary, pair, patrol (3-4) squad (1-3 hive warriors plus 1-4 hive underling) Challenge rating: 2 Treasure: 1d6 credits, 25% chance 4 pieces of scrap metal Alignment: Always chaotic evil

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Advancement: 6-10 HD (Hive Defender) Taller than its underlings and much more threatening this creature is by far the superior to any predatory animal that you have seen or heard of. Blue black red grey and green still mix in their color, appearing like random paint blotches on a black canvas. Its back arches forward, the strange alignment in the muscles can be seen as they tighten, waiting to strike. Like there underlings there head is of reptilian descent and their eyes are long and slit. Its beetle like chest carapace and its arms are noticeably thicker and much more dangerous. The once serrated edges of their forearms have grown to long blade like features. its legs are longer and larger than its predecessors, and rather than three sharp toes this horror has 4 barbed and spiked toes protruding from its ankle. Needless to say this 4-5 foot tall thing is a creature of skill and gore. Pronounced most by its almost foot long razor sharp teeth.

Cystic Underling Size small xenotype (adaptive, hostile, hive) Hit Dice: 2d12+4 (16 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 40 ft. (8 squares) AC: 14 (+2 dex +2 natural +1 ranged weapons) Touch 12 Ranged-touch 13 Flat-footed 12 Ranged 15 Base Attack/Grapple +2/+3 Attack: Acid spit +4 ranged (1d6-1 acid damage/x3) Full attack: Acid spit +4 ranged (1d6-1 acid damage/x3) Space/Reach 5ft. /5ft Special attacks: none Special qualities: xenotype traits, DR/5 ranged weapons, adaptive, hive mind Saves: Fort +2, Ref+3, Will -2 Abilities: Str 14, dex 14, con 14, Int 8, Wis 6, Cha – Skills: Hide +6, Move silently +6, climb +4, jump +4, spot +2, listen +2 Feats: none Environment: any Organization: pair, group (3-5), swarm (6-10), or horde (12-20) Challenge rating: 1 Treasure: 1d6 credits, 25% chance Wrench and 2 pieces of scrap metal Alignment: Always chaotic evil Advancement: 4-5 HD (cystic warrior) Small and fast this creature resembles a mix of species and colors, bright green blotches run

across its black skin, a yellow like vapor runs from its nostrils. Although only about 2-3 feet tall these creatures have teeth up to 5 inches long. Its head is reptilian in shape but a set of cat like eyes glare from its eye slits. Its body somewhat qualifies as a humanoid figure, two legs two arms and walking upright yes. But its chest looks like the carapace of a beetle. Its two arms are serrated along the forearm. The fingers are very sharp and pointed at the ends, though only two of these said fingers emerge from its hand. Their legs are best described as thin and meek looking, but there power is pronounced when the creature shifts and you see the large cords of muscle stricken. Its three sharpened talons protrude from its feet. Arched like a raptors.

Hive Broodling Size Small xenotype (adaptive, hostile, hive) Hit Dice: 1d12+1 (7 hp) Initiative: +3 Speed: 50 Ft. (10 squares) AC 13 (+2 dex +1 natural) Touch 12 Flat footed 11 Base Attack/ Grapple +1/+1 Attack: Claw +2 melee (1d6-2/x2) Full Attack: Claw +2 melee (1d6-2/x2) Space/Reach 5ft. /5ft Special attacks: none Special qualities: xenotype traits, DR/5 ranged weapons, adaptive, hive mind, Swarm group Saves: Fort +1, Ref+2, Will -2 Abilities: Str 12, dex 14, con 12, Int 8, Wis 6, Cha – Skills: Hide +4, Move silently +4, climb +2, jump +2, spot +1, listen +1 Feats: none Environment: any Organization: swarm (6-10), horde (12-20) or hive (22-40) Challenge rating: 1/3 Treasure: 1d6 credits, 25% chance 2 pieces of scrap metal Alignment: Always chaotic evil Advancement: 2-3 HD (hive underling) At only 1-2 feet tall these creatures most resemble beetles. There carapace covers most of their body, surrounded by sticky goo these look freshly hatched or born. There body is hard to discern based on these features. only one thing is sure, there small arms and sharp claws combined with their teeth are a force to be reckoned with.

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Raiders Size medium humanoids Hit dice: 2d6+4 (10) Initiative: +1 Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares) AC: 15 (+2 dex +2 natural +1 armor) Touch 12 Flat-footed 13 Base Attack/Grapple +2/+3 Attack: Wrench +3 melee (1d6+1 19-20/x2) Full attack: Wrench +3 melee (1d6+1 19-20 /x2) Space/Reach 5ft. /5ft Special attacks: none Special qualities: none Saves: Fort +2, Ref+3, Will -2 Abilities: Str 12, dex 12, con 12, Int 8, Wis 6, Cha10 Skills: Hide +4, Move silently +4, climb +4, jump +4 Feats: none Environment: any Organization: pair or group (3-5) Challenge rating: 1 Treasure: 1d6 credits, 25% chance Wrench Alignment: Always chaotic evil Advancement: none These men of different race and social standing have banded together and formed a gang in order to survive, wearing assorted clothing and lots of it they manage to make a durable suit of cloth armor, nothing a blaster cant burn through though.

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