FOREWORD

So you've just cracked this book and you're eager to get to your rst Awesome System game? That's just great, and
we're going to provide you with everything you need to make it the best damn RPG ever It's designed to have lots of
fun rules for you to really tear into, discovering what works for you and what doesn't in making a strong character and
what lets you do really cool stuff and grandstand You're going to get to grips with your gaming world and throttle it
The Awesome System gives the players unrivalled power and gives their actions undeniable results Play it and you'll
see what I mean! This is usually either hilarious for the players, who've just ripped their GMs plans to shreds, or the
GM, who will need a new paper shredder at the rate he is killing off their characters for screwing things up so bad
We wanted, rst and foremost, for everyone to have a hand in the outcome of the story and that's what we've worked
towards here
Get hyped for some exciting pulp action We're going to kill orks and y spaceships
Ross Howell
April, 2013
AWESOME CREDITS
The Awesome System created by Ross Howell
Authors Dedication: Kiyomi. For feeding.
2013 Sharkpunch Studios sharkpunchstudios.com
Written And Designed By
Ross Howell with Daniel Mozarowski and Michael
Kayin OReilly
Additional Development By
Chrissy Monfette, Liam Newton, Nathan Roper and
Danica Erin Zuks
Editing
Nathan Roper
Layout
Daniel Mozarowski and Michael Kayin OReilly
Cover Art
Henry Ponciano
Interior Art
Aka6, Avian Anderson, Thomas Biedermann, Carlos
Cara, Mitgard Clemente, Laura Galli, Xavier Eduardo
Gutierrez,
Nate Johnson, Muamal Khairi, Sony Kusumasmoro,
Lorenzo Massaro, Ben Moriconi, Liam Newton, LJ
Phillips,
Henry Ponciano, Alex Ries, Gabriel Rosswell, San-
grde, Vedil, Ryan Vogler and Jeff Ward
Graphic Design by
Daniel Mozarowski and Michael Kayin OReilly
Cover Design by
Henry Ponciano and Michael Kayin OReilly
Logos
Michael Kayin OReilly
Commercial
Alex Kazz McDougall and John Robertson
Playtesters
Luke Armistead, Evan Beasley, Trent Cheetham,
Steve Collins, Nehema Desmarais, Craig Furnivall,
Keiro Ghost,
Joe Gracyk, Chris Hayward, Chris Hotinski, Kemru,
Roman Voce Marotte, Mimi, Alex Kazz McDougall,
Chrissy Monfette, Liam Newton, Amanda Parks,
Lionel Pryce, Daniel Ryckman, Nathan Roper, Dean
Scott, Russell Tassicker, Aidan Turner,
Craig Williams, Mark Williams and Danica Erin Zuks
Special Thanks to
Reb Brown, Godfrey Ho, Lionel Pryce, Dean Scott
and Russell Tassicker
INTRODUCTION! 1
Setting The Scene 1
Using This Book 1
CHAPTER 2: CHARACTER CREATION! 3
Character Creation: A Step By-Step Breakdown 3
Step 1: GM Discussion and Character Points 3
Step 2: Outline 3
Step 3: Statistics 4
Step 4: Skills 5
Step 5: Powers and Weaknesses 10
Powers 10
Weaknesses 14
Weird Powers 16
Weird Weaknesses 20
Special Moves 21
Step 6: Derived Statistics 22
Step 7: Props 23
Step 8: Icing On The Cake 23
Skill Index 24
CHAPTER 3: PROPS! 27
Getting Your Gear 27
Robots 28
Weapons and Armor 32
Vehicles 36
CHAPTER 4: THE RULES! 39
Rolling Dice 39
Awesome 40
CHAPTER 5: THE FIGHT! 43
Rounds 43
Handling 43
Stunt Levels 44
Hitting Stuff 44
Hurting Stuff 45
Hazard Dice 49
CHAPTER 6: MANEUVERS! 51
Combat Maneuvers 51
Shark Wrestling 52
Vehicles 52
Giant Slaying 54
CHAPTER 7: METAL MEN! 59
Booting Up 59
Powers 60
Weaknesses 60
Armour 61
Upgrades 63
CHAPTER 8: TEMPESTS! 71
Tempest Powers 72
Creating Your Own Tempest Style 77
CHAPTER 9: MOVIE MAGIC! 79
Buying Movie Magic Powers 79
The Special Edition 80
CHAPTER 10: ROCKING OUT! 89
Battle Of the Bands 89
CHAPTER 11: GAME MASTERING! 93
Reading This Chapter 93
The Basics 93
Dark Movie Magic 97
CHAPTER 12: ADVENTURES! 101
Attack of the Death Sharks 101
Episode 1: Hello Time Bomb 101
Episode 2: Shark Attack! 103
The Skeleton King 108
Episode 1: Shrine of the Ancients 108
Chapter 2: Frantic Rush 110
CHAPTER 13: BESTIARY! 119
TABLE
OF
AWESOME
1
Those of you whove never played the Awesome System before
might be wondering why this game in particular is the one most
deserving of your hard-earned dollars Every roleplaying game
system should, after all, bring something unique and exciting to
the table!
Put simply, the Awesome System is a game unlike any other
youve ever played The Awesome System is a book of fantas-
tic voyages, huge explosions and thrilling duels with evil villains,
containing everything you need to play games based on your
favourite sun-blasted Western, two-sted Sci-Fi Adventure or diz-
zyingly High Fantasy All the tools you need are right here and
thanks to the innovation of our very own Stunt System, every
game will be among the most amazing roleplaying games youll
ever play!
To get a better idea of what we mean, think back to when you
were young and being taken to some big budget Hollywood
movie, full of explosions, st-ghts and gorgeous starlets
Remember how excited you felt? And that edge of your seat ten-
sion? Do you want more of that? Then youve come to the right
place! We endorse one-of-a-kind cinema-style antics and what
would be deemed sensible or proper can be damned!
Setting The Scene
If youre new to the whole concept of a roleplaying game, think of
it as an interactive campre story Someone tells it somewhere
nice and quiet, with the rapt attention of a group of friends, and
as the story unfurls you ask questions or press for details How
long was the blade in his right hand? What was the name on the
grave? However, it doesnt end there The character in the story
is controlled by you
Therefore, the story of a roleplaying game is made from scratch
and highly interactive One of the players is nominated as the
Gamemaster (or GM) and its his job to face the characters with
a problem of some sort, usually involving the meddling of one
or more evil villains After that, its up to them to solve it Or not
solve it Or do something entirely different Its entirely up to the
players (of which there are normally between three and six) and
every action they take is their own choice They relate what they
wish to do to the Gamemaster and he tells them whether they
succeed or not
Now, we wont lie to you, being the Gamemaster can be real dif-
cult sometimes To put it simply, the Gamemasters job is to
create a great story, memorable villains and stage epic scenes
and eventually end up making entire worlds for the characters
to run around in It might sound a bit daunting, but to run a
game, all you need is your imagination and some paper to take
notes on Well be getting to that art later on in the book Also, if
you nd Gamemastering hard to do, it might be a good idea to
alternate the role between the players over time Well be talking
more about Gamemastering techniques later in the book, which
you can use to wow your players
The ultimate goal of roleplaying is to tell a rich story, with memo-
rable characters, exciting action and to have fun After a while,
youll probably get the hang of what sort of character you like
to play and, as you become familiar with the rules, you ought to
be able to turn your naive little hero into a real champion, sav-
ing damsels and wiping out hordes of aliens with nothing but
his sts and his trusty laser pistol From a humble beginning to
crushing Empires, this could be your character
Using This Book
Weve taken the optimum amount of care in laying out this book,
making sure the information you need will always be at your n-
gertips, but we also recommend you make this book your own
Mark the pages you reference the most and write notes about
the rules in the margins Its your book, so treat it however you
like We really mean it
To further assist you in your mastery of the rules, lets look at
the chapters of this book, one by one
In this section, the Introduction, you can probably already see
that were going over the basic concept of what a roleplaying
game is and giving you a sweet primer before you get into the
real depths of the rules
Chapter 2: Character Creation covers exactly what you think
Well show you how to kit our your character and get him ready
for adventure
Chapter 3: Props is where you stop off to pick up some gear
Weve got all sorts of goods to choose from and everything youll
need to tackle any situation!
Chapter 4: Rules, in which were going to be going over how to
play a game with The Awesome System and explaining why this
game is darn great
Chapter 5: Combat is the chapter some of you have already
skipped ahead to And we can assure you, that was a damn
good idea Well show you how to have the sort of ghts youre
always seeing in the movies and more besides
Chapter 6: Maneuvers is the low-down nitty-gritty on the appro-
priation of phat activities to bust
Chapter 7: Metal Men is where we lay down the basics for our
robot brethren and show you how to bolt one of these suckers
together
Chapter 8: Tempests covers the ghters who take advantage of
the raw elements in their attacks and their form
Chapter 9: Movie Magic is, as the title suggests, where the
magic happens Witness the strangest powers ever conceived
by man!
Chapter 10: Rocking Out! In the world of the Awesome System,
a world where everything is turned to 11 at all times, you would
think that itd be impossible to top Youd be dead wrong! Now
strap yourself in for the rockstravaganza
Chapter 11: Gamemastering performs the dual role of being a
crash course in running your rst game or a refresher for expe-
rienced GMs
Chapter 12: Adventures is the GMs equivalent of Chapter 3,
featuring some introductory sojourns that can be run from the
second you open this book Combine the two and youll be play-
ing as soon as youve dug the dice out of the couch
Chapter 13: Bestiary Well, what else would you expect from
unlucky number 13? In this chapter, youll nd everything you
need to give your PCs those gaping esh wounds youve come
to know and love
INTRODUCTION!
3
Just remember, this chapter is a way for you to interact with the
stories the Gamemaster tells, and theres plenty of ways to do it
we havent covered here If you want to do something with your
character we didnt include, we whole-heartedly recommend
you sit down with your GM and make it happen Since you can
assign any cost to balance a Power or Weakness, making new
ones is a snap and creating a new skill is as simple as naming
it We want you to be able to make the most of your games, so if
something in this chapter is stopping you from making the char-
acter you want, strike out anew Its as simple as that
In all there are eight steps to making a character Were going
to be going through them one by one and explaining every last
aspect of making a character to make it as simple as possible
First of all, you need a character sheet If you dont have any, go
photocopy the one in this book or nd it on the Internet If you
cant do that, get a blank piece of paper and draw some boxes
on it Itll look really pretty
Okay, so youve got a character sheet
Lets roll
Character Creation: A Step By-Step
Breakdown
Step 1: GM Discussion and Character Points
GM Discussion and Character Points is as simple as it sounds
Discuss the possibilities for your character and then get the
points to make them real
Step 2: Outline
In Outline, you esh the kid out, give them a personality, a back-
story, all that jazz
Step 3: Statistics
Stats determine how tough you are, how fast you are, anything
that constitutes the meat of the character
Stats cost 6 Character Points per level
Step 4: Skills
Skills represent what youre good at We describe them as being
used for interacting with your interaction, but mostly theyre
used for jerking other people around
Skill Levels cost 2 points per level Skill Bonus also costs 2
points per level
Step 5: Powers And Weaknesses
In Powers and Weaknesses, we get into what makes your char-
acter unique are what made your character unique These are
weird little character or personality quirks
A Power or Weakness costs the value listed next to its name
Step 6: Derived Statistics
Derived Statistics are just a bit of math to make sure everything
ows smoothly This is stuff like your Movement and Speed Dice
scores It all gets used, dont worry
Step 7: Props
Props is the part where you go do some serious shopping Get
the biggest guns and the raddest cars
Step 8: Icing On The Cake
Anything you forgot to do in Outline will come out in Icing On The
Cake, like your Name, Hair Colour and whatever else suits your
fancy
Step 1: GM Discussion and Character
Points
The rst step to making a character is to nd out what sort of
game youre playing Weve made this system to be highly adapt-
able for telling all sorts of different stories, so its the Gamemas-
ters job to decide what sort of story hes going to tell Maybe
the characters are a gang of gladiators trapped in slavery to hid-
eous aliens, or maybe theyre a gang of rock starlets who solve
mysteries in their spare time You can do whatever you like with
the system, so dont limit yourself to the conventional!
Either way, it helps if everyones on the same page right from
the start, as this will allow the players to come up with some
concepts and discuss them with the Gamemaster If they cant
come up with any, the Gamemaster can also suggest some
things, or talk about what theyll need to be able to do Out of
game discussion between the Gamemaster and the players,
even just to make sure the players are going in the right direc-
tion, is one of the most important aspects of keeping a roleplay-
ing game going
Another important thing that happens here is that the Game-
master will also tell the players how many Character Points
theyll be getting to make their characters with This is a fun
step, because the players can bargain for more and get into
arguments Players who do a drawing of their character or come
up with a good back story (or anything amusing, really) should
be awarded a few extra points, but only enough to encourage
everyone else to try to get them A well-thought out character
is a strong character A regular character will have between 50
and 100 Character Points, but higher or lower levels are all pos-
sible
While making your character, its good to specialize in only a few
things, to make them work better as part of a team If each char-
acter can only do a few specic things, it will give them more
reason to seek out others and co-operate with them and prob-
ably give them an interesting dynamic Dont worry about being
left in the cold if you forgot a really important skill, either, since
you can upgrade your character later on with experience points
Characters who weather their struggles well will be awarded
experience points, which they can use to upgrade every facet of
their abilities and eventually become a better, tougher person
Step 2: Outline
Now that youve got the tools you need to make your character,
you can start laying out a basic outline This is the part where
you get your creative juices going and come up with the best
damn character you can! When you have a set of Character
Points that can be spent on anything at all, you can create any-
thing your heart desires! Weve taken out the constraints that
plague other systems, like set races and classes and their limi-
tations and provided for you a canvas to build your vision on
CHAPTER 2: CHARACTER CREATION!
4
Make the most of it and, above all, make your character inter-
esting Whatever you are, your character should be the kind of
guy whos always ready for an adventure or sticuffs with the
enemy
After all, the Awesome System lends itself to outrageous
characters Weve come up with some possibilities below
An amnesiac scientist on the run from old foes.
A deadly chef who ghts with knives and panache.
An eight-foot tall nuclear-powered robot with a seriously
bad case of sarcasm.
A giant, intelligent, chess piece.
A grizzled ghter pilot with a drug problem.
A mighty Barbarian who ghts to prove his strength!
A motorbike-riding, kung-fu ghting high school kid.
A self-styled King of Trash who protects the homeless.
A tough sheriff who guards his frontier town with nothing
but his six-shooter and his whisky.
A tragic zombie Nazi.
The above and thousands more are all possible in the Awesome
System So work out what you want and then lets move on to
the meat of character creation: building your character
Step 3: Statistics
Statistics cost 6 points per level. The rst level is free.
Your statistics, or stats for short, dene who you are Are you
smart and wily, or are you able to spot a sniper on a nearby roof-
top? Perhaps you can tear a door off its hinges with your bare
hands
In the Awesome System, there are ve personal stats to dene
who you are and you start with one level in all of them, absolute-
ly free This represents only the basest level of ability, however,
so youll need to get to upgrading them
Normally a character will spend about half of their Character
Points on stats
Brawn
Brawn is a measure of your characters physical strength and
prowess Its used for lifting, breaking and ghting and if you
want to be the Hero of the Beach, this is the stat to go for Brawn
also determines how much damage your character does in com-
bat and how many Hit Points he has
For every level of Brawn you have, you get a rocking 20 Hit
Points All characters get a free 20 Hit Points on top of this, just
cause were nice
Brains
Its all well and good to belt out some awesome rock ballad, but
someone actually has to compose all those songs and make
sure they rhyme Thats where the smart guy comes in
A character with a high Brains score can really help the party
in a pinch as hell have increased use of a wide variety of utility
skills like Notice and Psychology, as well as a whole ton of Hero
Skills A character has a number of Hero Skills equal to their
level in Brains Dodge is a free Hero Skill
Flow
Flow is your control of your body, clearly dening the difference
between a nimble knave and a sluggish sap Flow is an impor-
tant stat for the ne use of tools and weapons, including ring
guns and putting knives in people, as well as picking locks and
ying ghter ships A high Flow can help any character Your
Flow is added to 4 to calculate your characters Defence score
Soul
In a conict, persistence can sometimes be just as important as
ability Sometimes, to win, youve got to keep going and going
and going, even in the face of certain defeat And to do that you
need a lot determination
Soul covers how much you believe in yourself and how capable
you are of pulling through at the last moment to save the day
Extra Soul increases the size of your Awesome Pool, a physical
measurement of your characters awesome and how often they
can just barely make it through danger with their lives, and their
hairstyles, intact
The size of your Awesome Pool is determined by multiplying your
level in Soul by 2 and then adding 6 to it So if you have 3 levels
in Soul, youd have an Awesome Pool of 12, for example Your
Awesome Pool starts half full
Speed
Quite simply, a measure of how fast you run rings around your
opponents It determines how many actions you get a round,
how quickly you can move and how fast your gun can clear its
holster in a shoot-out A character with a high speed will be able
to move to counter threats fast and rain down blows in a ght
A Note About Gender Pronouns
Our company is not sexist As a matter of fact, play-testing
of the Awesome System has contained 500% more lesbi-
an kissing while both girls were ring Uzis than any of its
current competitors However, throughout this book char-
acters and players may more often than not be referred
to as he While this may at rst appear to be pushing
our female audience away, it is due entirely to our S
keys breaking while we were writing the Sassy Sultan of
Sirius Sevens Sly Snake Soldiers Sourcebook
Well be getting the keys replaced as soon as possible
and we hope you ladies wont be put off until then
5
Every combat round your character gets a number of Speed
Dice equal to their Speed, as well as one extra for free
Step 4: Skills
Skill levels cost 2 points per level and skill bonuses cost 2
points per level.
Once youre done with your stats, you can move onto your Skills
These cover everything your character is able to realistically do
or has received training in, with plenty of room for improvisation
If you want to make up a new skill, just consult your Gamemas-
ter for the okay, rst
Skills come in two types, Levels and Bonus Every level you buy
gives you an extra dice to roll on checks made with that skill
Levels represent a characters pure, inborn talent for a task,
which is why the results can often vary all over the board How-
ever, levels come in handy when making Stunts, so its always
good to have a few
Bonus, on the other hand, represents training and honing of
your abilities over time, often with a teacher assisting Bonus is
represented as a at addition to a skill check, so every time you
buy a point of bonus for a skill, you add that amount to every
check made with that skill Bonus is much more dependable,
especially in a crisis, but doesnt allow for the same amount of
improvisation and last-minute daredevilry that Levels do
Brawn Skills
Olympics, Pose, Toughness
Flow Skills
Acrobatics, Bow, Dodge, Drive, Firearms, Instrument, Lock Pick-
ing, Melee, Piloting, Riding, Sleight of Hand, Sneak, Throwing
Speed Skills
Quick Draw, Speed Load
Brains Skills
Academia, Art, Bonesaw, Computers, Demolition, Disguise,
Fixing, Gambling, Leadership, Notice, Psychology, Streetwise,
Track
Soul Skills
Guts, Voice
Academia (Brains)
If its a four-year University Course with Honours, its probably
covered here Biology, Chemistry, Computers, Robotics, Space-
craft, the various sciences, as well as the arts and just about
any other specialization you can come up with are all here, just
waiting for someone to rattle on about them for hours
Since all these specializations are all so strikingly different,
however, each one needs to be levelled up, individually But doc-
torates never were cheap, were they?
Acrobatics (Flow)
In any instance in which your character is performing some
crazy feat of aerodynamics or athleticism (preferably life-risking
but its not essential) make an Acrobatics check to determine
success If youre cornered and need to get out of a scrape, this
is the skill to use
The in-game effect of this is that if using Acrobatics for a jump
or some similar manoeuvre, the character may attempt a roll
and consult the table below If they choose to increase the listed
difculty by 10, the character may simultaneously do a forwards
or backwards ip
Difculty Distance Travelled
10 Movement x 1
20 Movement x 2
40 Movement x 3
80 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
Sammy the Slimegirl is attempting to jump over a chasm ten
feet wide She rolls a 32 on her Acrobatics attempt, meaning
she clears the 10 feet easily, ipping in the air and landing lithe-
ly on the other side
Normally, a character may not exceed the initial jumping dis-
tance without some sort of aid to allow them to move further
This could include a spear for vaulting on, a chandelier to swing
on or a wall to jump off of Think ahead and dont go jumping
into danger
If youre combining Acrobatics with the Leap power, simply add
whatever you rolled on Acrobatics to the natural base of thirty
feet Leap grants you However, it still takes three turns to com-
plete the standard Leap
Art (Brains)
When your character sits down to create something beautiful,
this is the skill they need It has dozens of possible specializa-
tions, all of which must be purchased individually, including
painting, sculpting, sketching and song-writing Song-writing is
especially important for an up-and-coming rock band hoping to
make it big
Of course, in an age of fabricated music, it can be hard explain-
ing to your manager that you dont need a songwriter Youre
probably need a good Melee skill for that sort of thing
Heights of Power
When starting out, you might be tempted to put all your
points into just one stat, to get an edge over the other
players, or just to see what happens In this awesome
game, you can do any old crazy thing you want, but its
gonna cost you The more points you put into something,
the more expensive it becomes to put more points into it
This applies to high level characters as well, of course, so
if youre planning on power-gaming, youd better read this
part carefully
Raising a stat costs 6 points per level, until you reach
level 5 With a base of 1, that means you can expend 24
points before you reach what well call the roof After
that, the cost doubles
Thats right, raising a stat from 5d6 to 6d6 costs 12
points Sound steep? It is Youre pushing the boundar-
ies of what a human should be capable of and its gonna
hurt
After you reach level 10 in a stat in this way, the cost rises
to 18 and after level 15, it rises to 24 and so on and so
forth The same applies to buying skills, but youre just pay-
ing 2 more points instead of 6 and, since skills are more
easy to grasp than stats, the cost only increases every
10 levels So a skill will costs 2 points per level up until
you reach level 10, then it costs 4 points per level, then 6
points per level at level 20 and so on
Youll be reaching for the stars in no time
Well be getting the keys replaced as soon as possible
and we hope you ladies wont be put off until then
6
Bonesaw (Brains)
If your buddy has the misfortune to get his guts pulled out by
an unholy horror from Hell, youd better know how to stick them
back in and fast
If attempting to restore hit points to any living thing, the char-
acter just makes his Bonesaw roll as normal and the amount
he ends up with is the number of hit points restored to his ail-
ing friend This also stops them from bleeding to death if they
happened to be doing any of that Making a Bonesaw check in
combat requires one turn
Bonesaw checks can only be made on a character once per day,
with each use consuming a Medical Kit
Bow (Flow)
This skill covers the ne art of Archery and all its elegance After
all, nothing say graceful like jamming a spiked stake into some-
ones face from a hundred feet away
Computers (Brains)
Important enough to get its own skill, Computers will be essen-
tial for making sense of these little boxes of blinking lights, as
well as accessing what you need, when you need it, legally or
illegally Your Computers skill will also be required for piloting
capital-class spaceships, plotting navigational routes and get-
ting their coffee machines to work again after aliens blow you
away Amazing what you can do with a keyboard, really
Demolition (Brains)
Need a good party trick? Demolition covers the preparation,
setting and, the best part, detonating of all sorts of explosive
devices, ranging from TNT to semtex It teaches you everything
you need to know about caring for your bombs and making sure
they go off in just right place
The standard difculty for setting a bomb is 10, and takes
between a second and a few minutes based on the explosive
Any bonus on this roll becomes the difculty for disarming the
bomb
Rip Steakface is planting a few blocks of C4. He requires a 10
and rolls a 22, meaning anyone wanting to disarm his bomb will
have to roll a 12 to do so.
Every 1 bonus beyond the difculty also allows your mad bomber
to double or halve any dimension of the explosion, and doubles
the setting time for each one of these increments Increasing
the width or height also requires another charge of whatever it
is youre using, so factor in walking time as well Racing around
the bad dudes lair planting charges like this is usually the sim-
plest way to take out big installations
Dodge (Flow)
An essential skill for surviving in a re ght, Dodge allows your
character to duck out of harms way, often at the last possible
moment
For more information of how dodging works, check out Chapter
5: The Fight
Disguise (Brains)
The ability to hide yourself in a crowd, or compose elaborate
costumes and voices The complexity of the disguise deter-
mines the difculty roll, as well as how long it stays together As
a rough guide, in difcult, high-stress situations every point the
difculty check was beaten by means the disguise will stay on
for one more hour Sometimes it could be as little as a few more
minutes, based on whats happening Whenever someone tries
to see through the disguise, they make a Notice check opposed
to whatever the character rolled on their disguise check Suc-
cess allows them to detect that something is wrong, with further
investigation revealing the trickery!
If youre looking for something a little more heavy-duty, check
out the Powers Shapeshifter and Transformation
Drive (Flow)
Your characters drive skill will determine their ability to do all
the fancy stuff you see in the movies and more besides and its
great for picking up chicks, too Keeping the vehicle going in a
straight line is something any shmuck can do, but consult Chap-
ter 6: Maneuvers if you want to do some dangerous manoeu-
vring or outstrip a pursuer
When taking the Drive skill, choose a specialization, such as
car, truck or motorbike Specializations are associated
Firearms (Flow)
Firearms covers all ranged weapons, separated into the catego-
ries of Pistols, Ries, Shotguns, Automatics, Crossbows and the
ever popular Heavy Perfect for the gun-nut in your party, this
skill will get him well on his way to riddling anything he sees full
of holes, see if it doesnt
Gun skill specializations are, naturally, associated Pulling a trig-
ger is something anyone can get the hang of with enough prac-
tice
Fixing (Brains)
Fixing is what you roll when your robot chum nds himself all
beat up or your PC is on the fritz Its used specically for making
testy electronics do what theyre told and should be rolled when-
ever some bit of stingy machinery needs a lesson in manners
If attempting to restore hit points to a robot, the character may
roll his Fixing skill as normal and restore the amount rolled This
costs $10 per Hit Point lost or 50 Character Points worth of
smashed up Robots for each check
Gambling (Brains)
Its not all luck For some, its a living
Every once in a while, you might nd yourself sitting down to test
your luck Whether it be cards, horses, dice or any sort of alien
game, this skill measures your characters ability to calculate
risks, keep his cool and rake in the cash
Whenever your character is engaged in a game of skill, he
should make a Gambling check opposed to everyone else in the
game As a general rule of thumb, if he rolls highest he at least
doubles his starting money and if he rolls lowest he walks away
with anywhere from half to nothing Anything in the middle will
stay about the same, depending on what sort of people youre
playing with
Guts (Soul)
When youre facing down some horrible space beast or unholy
combination of man and machine, sometimes the last thing
youre thinking about is where its pressure points are located
Guts rolls wont be invoked for seeing any old gangster or beast,
theyre often reserved for the nastiest, most hideous sights in
the galaxy Youll have to prepare to face such horrors eventually
and when you do, your Guts will determine if youre ready or not
7
If a group wishes, they may nominate one member of the group
to make the Guts check, with a +1 on the roll for every addition-
al member of the group Failure means that all members fail
Instrument (Flow)
Basic playing of an instrument uses Flow, its only when a real
Rock Star gets down to brass tacks that it begins to come off
of other stats For more information about playing Instruments,
check out Chapter 10: Rocking Out
Leadership (Brains)
Statistics and gures and detailed battle plans are all well and
good, but sometimes the troops need more A war cant be won
without the proper amount of passion and this is where your
character comes in Entire battles can be decided by morale
and, if thats the case, victory often goes to the side with the
loudest commander
When youre trying to push your troops onward or come up with
an inspirational speech, roll this skill Go ahead and say what
you need to say, then make a dice roll, with the result being the
number of do-gooders youve inspired, granting them a +2 on all
Guts checks they need to make for the next few days, as well as
a +5 on their next check If it wasnt obvious, you can only make
one of these checks a day and the bonuses absolutely do not
stack if multiple people are making Leadership checks!
Another use for the Leadership skill is to increase the rolls of
allies When an ally is making a check, you may choose to roll
Leadership to assist them Doing this in combat requires the
expenditure of an action as normal
Leadership Result Allys Bonus Dice
5 2d6
10 3d6
15 4d6
20 5d6
+5 +1d6
Lock Picking (Flow)
If you need to get somewhere in a hurry, sometimes the
law is just going to have to stand aside For those special
situations, whip out your pocket knife, hairpin or whatev-
er else you have on hand and get to work The complexity of
the lock and the quality of its construction will determine the
difculty, but youd be surprised where this skill can get you with
a little luck
Melee (Flow)
Melee covers any hand to hand weapon you can nd The cate-
gories covered are Blades, Axes, Brawling (which covers hand to
hand, as well as improvised weapons like chair legs), Pole Arms,
Clubs and Natural, which covers claws, bites and the like What
this skill represents is your ability to put force into your swing,
how not to leave yourself open wherever you do it and how to
defend yourself when you can
Melee skills are associated
Notice (Brains)
This skill might just save your life A icker of light, a rattling in
the vents, any of these could be a threat to your person that
would otherwise be easily overlooked If theres something
shifty going on in the area that your characters might want to
know about, the Gamemaster can call for a Notice check and,
on a successful roll, youll glean something about whats going
on Be careful though, sometimes you really are better off not
knowing
Olympics (Brawn)
Encompassing all manner of physical trials, Olympics is the
go-to skill for getting all hot and sweaty in the name of competi-
tive busting out It covers a whole cadre of skills that would be
a totally uninteresting character point investment on their lone-
some, such as lifting, heaving, swimming, climbing, maybe even
a little shot-put here and there
So lets look at some specic applications of an Olympics check
First off, youre going to see some downright cinematic things
in here, that might not match up with real life, but if youre not
used to that by now, you will be after taking this skill First off, if
climbing, you can move a number of feet equal to your Olympics
check every turn
If lifting something, keep in mind that failure on an Olympics
check will simply mean youre unable to get the object off the
ground, but the more morally bankrupt Gamemasters can cer-
tainly call for Olympics checks from your friends to get you to
hospital after you put your back out
When swimming long distance, you must make a difculty 5
Olympics check every half hour to keep aoat, a difculty which
rises by 1 for every sustained half hour of swimming Your
character swims about one kilometre an hour for every level of
Brawn they possess, less levels theyve lost for failing checks
Ysee, every time they fail one of these checks, their Brawn
is treated as one level lower than what it really is for making
Olympics checks and determining the distance travelled And to
make matters worse, once the poor suckers failed a number of
checks equal to their Brawn, they begin to drown, too!
The rules on Drowning are printed in Chapter 4: Rules
Piloting (Flow)
This is only one of two types of piloting In one youll be driving
a ship about two or three times the size of a car, with barely any
armour, in which you sit in a cramped cockpit and yank on a
little stick for all your worth to make the damn crate go the right
way In the other one, you just push a button
Associated Skills
Some skills, such as Drive require the character to pick
a specialization, like Car or Motorbike When you pur-
chase the skill, you need to take your starting specializa-
tion right away, which represents that characters area of
expertise Should a character nd themselves wanting to
use a different specialization than the one they picked,
they have two choices They can either pay 10 Character
Points to pick up a new specialization or they can hap-
hazardly attempt to apply their existing knowledge to the
new specialization What this means in game terms is
that any general knowledge, represented by levels, can
be applied, but specic training goes out the window In
game terms, you dont get to apply Bonus on your skill
checks to these rolls
Oh, and if its not clear, Hero Skills for a skill apply to all
its specializations
Takeshi Burrito has 6d6+10 levels in Melee: Fists
He wants to take up the sword, so he explains that he
trained with them for a bit, then gets swinging He will
only roll 6d6, unless he purchases a Melee specialization
in Swords
8
9
This isnt the one where you push a button Piloting just about
any ghter-sized ship is the same, as long as you have a few
hours to familiarize yourself with the controls After that, youre
good to go
Pose (Brawn)
A popular skill among anyone who doesnt actually have any-
thing to back it up with, Pose allows the hero to strike a dra-
matic stance and either ex their muscles or strut their stuff
An aggressive Pose may be made before combat stars, with all
opponents requiring a Guts check to keep heart in the face of
your awesome characters macho posturing Youll gain a +1 on
your roll for every friend assisting you in the Pose in this way
For every 20 points you overwhelm them by, all enemies lose 1
action as they freeze in terror If a character loses more actions
than they have, the losses carry over into the next round All
Guts checks subtract from your Pose roll, since frightening an
army is a teensy bit harder than a gang of thugs
The character may add their levels in Ugly to the roll, but they
may have to subtract their levels in Hot, if the GM thinks it would
be a problem Maybe the bad guys wont take your 54 pistol-
wielding Nun seriously till after shes lled em full of lead
If the Pose is alluring, the Posers total roll is the number of
people in the local vicinity who are smitten with the characters
beauty and, for a few seconds at the least, unable to take their
eyes off them If the character is just keeping them distracted
while her friend robs them blind, or they have some other rea-
son to suspect something is wrong, viewers are granted an
opposed Notice roll to work out whats going on Like with an
Aggressive Pose, the character may add their levels in Hot to the
roll and will probably have to subtract their levels of Ugly
Psychology (Brains)
This is your ability to t in with those around you and understand
how your fellow human beings think A necessary skill for surviv-
al in dilettante social circles, Psychology represents the ability to
get inside the head of a person youve only just met
On a successful Psychology roll, youll gain an insight into the
characters body language or whats on their mind You might
notice, for example, the specic way they say someones name
in disgust or that they avoid your eyes whenever you bring up
a certain topic, like who they work for You might even notice
the way they constantly bring up a certain type of food or sports
team, paving the way for a strong friendship How well you roll
will determine how correct your gut feelings are about a particu-
lar tic or mannerism, so feel free to ask your Gamemaster for
clarication, but enjoy working the rest out on your own
Quick Draw (Speed)
This is the skill you need for getting your weapon out in a hurry
Depending on a weapons size and placement, the difculty will
vary accordingly On the ipside, holstering a weapon does not
require an action
Weapons Difculty
Pistol 5
Short sword 6
Sword 10
Rie 12
Rocket Launcher 15
Under heavy coat +2
Riding (Flow)
The ability to ride an animal of your choice Learning to ride a
new animal can take many months of training, depending on
how familiar you are with the species
Riding is used for any check to do with guiding your animal and
can be substituted for Dodge checks to avoid enemy attacks in
the same way If a character is riding a mount into melee with
a weapon, they may make a difculty 12 Riding check to gain 3
bonus dice on their attack
Some Riding skills are associated, others are not Grouping by
species type, such as all members of the family Equidae being
one group, is the recommended way to go
Sleight Of Hand (Flow)
Another illegal skill, Sleight Of Hand is the cheap way of get-
ting what you want Want to grab the last donut without anyone
noticing? How about taking off with a wallet or two?
Its a good skill for making an illegitimate living, just dont get
caught Youve got heroics to do, and you cant do them while
youre in the slammer
Sneak (Flow)
The ancient art of sneaking can be all you need when you
need to sneak past the guards to get the loot Its also just the
thing for digging up dirt on your enemies and making a stylish
escape when youre done Getting past a passive human guard
will generally incur a difculty of about 4 to 8, whereas if youre
actively being looked for, your Sneak check will be opposed to
the Notice check of the guards You can also attempt to conceal
yourself from those seeking you, with success in an opposed
Sneak against Notice check allowing you to settle down and
hide yourself
Any number of modiers can apply for terrain and circumstanc-
es, such as visibility, time of day, the ground the character is
sneaking on and the direction the guards are facing Add every-
thing up to work out the total difculty or arbitrarily invent one
based on whatever makes the story work best
Speed Load (Speed)
When youve run out of ammo for your piece, you need to spend
a number of actions equal to the weapons Reloading Time to
get in back together and ring again With a successful Speed
Load check against a difculty of 5, you can reduce the number
of actions required to reload the weapon by 1 For every 5 points
you beat the difculty by, the number of actions required drops
by 1 again, to a minimum of 0
Streetwise (Brains)
Need to know where the good bars are? Need to plumb the
locals for information? Need to nd the right dark alley to beat
the right words out of the right guy?
There are some things you cant learn in books and how to be
Streetwise is one of them If you buy this skill, it means your
character has spent a lot of time on the streets, talking to locals
and working out what sort of people congregate where An
invaluable skill for bounty hunters everywhere, especially when
their quarry is close by
10
Throwing (Flow)
Throwing determines how well and how far you can throw the
object of your choice As a rough guide, for a grenade-sized
object (what a surprise!), range increments are equal to your
characters Brawn score Ideal for tossing unwanted grenades
and knives toward where theyll be more use
Toughness (Brawn)
Toughness is rolled whenever you need to push your body to the
limit Maybe youve been hiking through the desert and the sun
is starting to get to you or your body needs to combat a poison,
but either way, it can often mean the difference between life
and death
All the super important stuff Toughness does is covered up
Healing and Recuperation in Chapter 5, but the most impor-
tant thing is that once every night you get to restore a number of
lost HP equal to a Toughness roll
Track (Brains)
Streetwise is about hitting up the locals and asking questions
to nd what youre looking for Track is a much more natural
approach
In short, tracking is the art of looking for disturbed ground or
nding old cigarettes of the brand you know your quarry smokes
Its a very precise art that can go wrong at any minute, but a pro-
fessional will know to keep a cool head in difcult times Due to
the nature of this art, there are lots of things that can go wrong
and your Gamemaster should take into account how old the
tracks are, whether its rained recently and a variety of other
modiers that will determine the difculty of the check
Voice (Soul)
Voice is something not easy to measure, but it gauges your char-
acters sweetness or strength of their vocal ability and how easy
they are on the ear People who cultivate good voices are more
than capable of earning a living performing or joining a band
For more information on Voice, check out Chapter 10: Rocking
Out
Step 5: Powers and Weaknesses
The next step in making your character is using Character Points
to buy Powers and, when you run out, getting more points by
buying Weaknesses
Unlike some other roleplaying games we could mention, we real-
ize that all characters be individuals--its not as cool to make an
awesome primal warrior if hes exactly the same as every other
primal warrior Everyone has a few unique traits that make them
special and sometimes it just cant be expressed with stats
We especially encourage making up your own Powers and
Weaknesses to rene your character; as the ones listed in this
book are only the absolute basics for amping up your character
and toning them down If you think of a Power or Weakness we
havent listed that youd like to use, discuss it with your Game-
master and see what you can come up with
Each Power has a point cost that is deducted from your unspent
CP, while every Weakness has a negative point cost, which is, in
turn, added to your total remaining CP Some Powers and Weak-
nesses, such as Armoured, cost more as you increase their
level If you wish to buy more of these later on in the game, you
only pay the difference in levels, not the full amount each time
The limit on the number of each you can buy is entirely up to the
Gamemaster Weaknesses incurred after Character Creation,
such as addictions, lost limbs or rivals do not grant extra Char-
acter Points
Following the regular Powers and Weaknesses, are Weird Pow-
ers and Weird Weaknesses They either allow completely inhu-
man abilities or may not be appropriate to your campaign style
Youll need your Gamemasters permission before you take
these
And after that, you come to the Special Moves These are used
during combat to give your character a bit of an advantage and
theyre all absolutely great Theyre bought just like Powers,
except some of them have an activation cost, which is subtract-
ed from a characters to hit roll, as the character musters the
focus of spirit to use the ability
Powers
Ambush 10
Ancient Chinese Proverb 1
Cyborg 10
Dramatic Appearance 10
Extra Tough 1 per level
Finesse 15 per level
Giant Slayer 15
Henchmen 4 per Henchman
Hot 1-10
Mecha Pilot 15
Movie Magic 10
Props Varies
Robot 15
Rock Star 10
Runner 1 per level
Sidekick 30
Stunt Scale 50/80/100
Tempest 8
Trooper 1-10
Universal Translator 4
Ambush (10)
Youre quick on your feet with this Power At the start of any
combat you may, entirely for free, shift one of your actions to a
6 Just the thing for sneaking up on people
Ancient Chinese Proverb (1)
Confucius say this very good power
Whenever the PCs are in a jam, they turn to you Spend an Awe-
some Point and the GM will pass your character a note with a
hint or tip of some sort about the current situation, which can
be useful or as useless as he likes You must then either keep
it to yourself or spend another Awesome Point to tell the other
PCs However, should you be able to pass the newfound
of as some sort of ancient family wisdom or tribal lore, you get
away completely free and dont have to pay a second point
Haiku, limericks and horrible word plays are all acceptable
Cyborg (10)
Youll get the best of both worlds with this Power Your charac-
ters a Cyborg with a couple of the benets of being a robot, yet
he gets to hold on to his immortal Soul Fancy a pair of heavy-
lifting cyber-arms or a mechanical targeter thatll make you
never miss another shot? Check out Chapter 7: Metal Men for
the details
11
Dramatic Appearance (10)
During a scene in which the Player Character is not present,
they may opt to spend an Awesome Point to burst through the
nearest door or window or other entrance that suits the situa-
tion, regardless of current distance, with the maximum amount
of grace and pompadour allowable It helps if they shout a lot,
too When the character enters, everyone in the room must
make a Surprise check against a difculty of 10, otherwise the
character gets free reign of the place for the next combat round
Extra Tough (1 per level)
The toughest ghters get used to getting banged up a lot, so its
not unusual for a guy to take much more of a beating than he
looks like hes up for For every level of Extra Tough purchased,
your character gains 5 Hit Points Extra Hit Points gained in this
way are not adjusted by other Powers such as Giant, Tiny or Evil
Construct
Finesse (15 per level)
Feel the need to ourish your sword through the air like a baton
and have your enemies around you drop to the ground? Its just
a step away with a couple of levels of Finesse For every level of
this ne Power taken, you gain an extra level of Handling for use
with all weapons Handling is covered in greater detail in Chap-
ter 5: The Fight
Giant Slayer (15)
David and Goliath Jason and the Hydra Popeye and Bluto
Throughout history, there are numerous records of men felling
incredible beasts of outrageous power and size and your char-
acter is a tough son of a bitch whos been doing it for as long
as he can remember In his travels hes learnt a lot of tricks for
slaying these monsters, which you can now take full advantage
of For more information on Giant Slaying, check out Chapter 6:
Maneuvers
Henchmen (4 per Henchman)
Nobody with the word Hench in their job description ever sur-
vives Henchmen are not reliable in any way, shape or form
However, what they are is loyal
Any Henchmen your character gets will come into play with 2
levels in all Stats and 2 levels in whatever skills the character
has They function just like Mooks, which you can read about in
Chapter 11: Gamemastering, but the gist of it is that they dont
get Awesome Points or extra Character Points and they wont
ever Stunt Ask your GM for details Also, any ghting they do
will be done very grudgingly On the other hand, they certainly
dont mind hard labour and can really help the characters out
in a jam, completing just about any old dreary task that can be
dreamt up for them If theres one thing a Henchman loves, its
boredom
In some cases these guys will be happy to work free, but will
otherwise demand a salary based on local currency that should
be discussed with the Gamemaster And speaking of which, if a
Henchmen dies, the character points spent on him are returned
to the character right away After all, you can get henchmen with
cash the normal way, but the ones granted by this power are
supposed to be special freebies Character Points are far more
valuable than money, after all!
Hot (1-10)
Violence isnt always the answer to your problems Sometimes a
nice rack and a head of soft, silky hair can get things done a lot
faster than even a thousand armed men Hot determines how
physically attractive your character is, with 1 level making them
kind of cute and 10 giving them the looks of a bronzed god or
goddess Itll be enough to change peoples initial response of
you and maybe even make you some new friends, but, in a lot
of cases, the charm wears off after a while and then youre on
your own Still, a few hours is all some people need to get what
they want
Mecha Pilot (15)
If you take this Power it means your character has had a small
computer chip implanted into his brain that, as well as slightly
increasing his ability to do basic mathematics, allows him to
interface with your standard mecha cockpit directly The con-
trol design requires cables to enter straight into the characters
brain and, if the necessary ports havent already been set up
in your head, the mechas internal computers will usually make
them on the spot
You dont want that, trust us So get smart Get Mecha Pilot
The end result of all this tomfoolery is that the character is able
to pilot giant robots uidly and can move it around as if it were
an attachment of his body He can run, jump, strafe and any-
thing else he needs to do and, unable regular pilots, he is able
to perform Stunts like an ordinary character while driving his
giant robot
12
Movie Magic (10)
Film characters dont have to eat, drink, go to the toilet and they
always kill the Nazis and get the girl, all while keeping perfect
hair Why wouldnt you want to be like that? For dozens of new
movie-themed abilities check out Chapter 9
Props (Varies)
Sometimes a little green can go a long way Saw something in
one of the Props tables you liked, but didnt quite have the cash
to make it yours?
During character creation, you start with a hundred bucks,
which, well be frank, is just to get you out of the shop and into
the violence faster Sometimes you need more and this is where
the Props power comes into play
For every level of Props you take you gain $5000 in starting
money This money is on loan, usually from some pretty shady
characters, and must eventually be repaid If, during the course
of the game, the character can put together $25,000, they can
choose to pay off part of their debt and regain 1 of the Charac-
ter Points spent on the Props power The gradual increase in
Power allows them to eventually return to their original status as
a fully edged PC, but it means they dont have to wait till well
into the campaign to get whatever nonsense gizmo they need
for their build
The alternative to this is to choose an employer who your char-
acter performs missions for This will normally be a very wealthy
group that your character acts in the interests of This is suit-
able for any game where your party are in ongoing employment,
such as soldiers in the army or maa goons Every level of Props
purchased in this way grants them access to $5000 of this com-
panys equipment, which may be used as they desire At the
start of every new month, this equipment is refreshed with
spent ammunition replaced, damage to vehicles repaired and
horses stabled This isnt a representation of your characters
wages, rather, the kind of employer who gives you giant death
machines and huge freighters is the kind who pays you on a
mission by mission basis How much you get for a wage is up to
your Gamemaster
Characters may attempt to renegotiate their allowance with the
benefactor, spending or regaining Character Points as their glib-
ness permits If the characters employment with their benefac-
tor ends, the property ceases to be theirs and they can have
the lost Character Points back If they take it with them anyway,
we direct you to the Rival Weakness, as they gain a number of
levels of Rival equal to the number of Props they previously had
Have fun with that, cowboy
Pony the Giant Robot Pilot takes 45 Points of Props, giving
him $225,000 to play around with every month. He spends
$200,000 on his Giant Robot, which means he has $25,000 a
month to spend on ammunition and food. If his Giant Robot is
ever destroyed, his benefactor will provided him with a new one
at the start of the month.
Robot (15)
Exterminate! Exterminate! Your characters a metal man rst
class, with a robotic heart and a computerized brain You can
nd out all about playing a mechanical in Chapter 7: Metal Men
Rock Star (10)
Chapter 2, huh? Well, hey, each to his own, right? If you do
decide any time soon, though, that you want to crank it up and
experience the ultimate thrill, well be waiting for you in the ulti-
mate arena Chapter 10: Rocking Out
Runner (1 per level)
Youll always be rst in line for lunch with this Power For
every level of Runner your character takes, your Movement is
increased by 1 Runner levels are added to Movement before it
has been adjusted for size
Sidekick (30)
Youve got a buddy whos constantly by your side, through thick
and thin Unlike a regular henchman, your Sidekick is someone
wholl always be at your side and is moderately skilled as well
Wh en building a Sidekick, you have 80 Character Points to
spend on them, but they should never be better than your char-
acter, or else youll nd yourself taking orders from them They
dont get their own AP Pool, but they do share yours
In the event of your Sidekicks death, they wont be replaced
Instead, the points are returned to your character, who must
immediately spend them on whatever will help them avenge
their lost friends death Kneeling over their dead body and
screaming their name is a pretty decent way to get free AP, too
Stunt Scale (50, 80, 100)
For most forms of life, six actions per turn is the absolute maxi-
mum allowed Any faster and things start to get a little tricky
However, with exceptional training, drugs, or maybe just a little
bit of magical oomph, some people can go even faster For
every level of this Power bought, the character is able to make
Speed dice explode one time, effectively unlocking an entire
new round! Dice that explode go onto a new set of six numbers,
allowing the character to effectively spread her speed dice over
the course of far more actions than would normally be possi-
ble Dice that explode are also retained, effectively granting the
character a new Speed dice to be rolled on the higher tier
Space Dracula has taken two levels of Stunt Scale, allowing his
Speed dice to explode twice. He rolls his 15d6 Speed, getting 1,
1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3, 4, 5, 5, 5, 6, 6, 6 and 6. He rerolls his sixes, get-
ting 2, 4 and 6. He then rerolls that 6, getting a 3.
Space Dracula will act on the numbers 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 5, 4,
3, 2 and 1. Any PCs who are still alive after his rst few actions
will act on 6 as normal.
Tempest (8 per element type)
A Tempest is a character who uses the raw elements them-
selves in their attacks Tempests can make tidal waves, throw
balls of lightning from their hands or set their own sts on re
before going toe to toe with their enemies Tempest abilities are
powered by the characters Soul stat, so make sure you have a
high Soul if youre thinking of playing one More information on
Tempests can be found in Chapter 8: Tempests
Trooper (1-10)
Youre a ghting man You havent nished your tour of duty yet
but, for some reason, youve been given a special assignment
The character has been ordered to nd a rag-tag group of nut-
ters and keep up with them, helping them investigate criminal
activity and keep their noses clean
Why? No idea!
Anyway, the level of this Power taken determines how many
executive perks the soldier gets At level 1, hes a lowly Private
who might be able to get some help in the eld if he asks really,
really nicely and at level 10, hes a full-edged Captain, Grand
Marshall or similar, with his own base of operations and at least
a hundred soldiers under his command Does this make the
13
14
character unstoppable, able to bring to bear enormous power
at a moments notice? Hardly He still has to report to his supe-
riors and while he could theoretically explain to them hed taken
a battleship or two on a joyride and blasted some drug smug-
glers into their component atoms, you can believe us when we
say that by the time his commanding ofcers are done with him,
hell be glad hes going to be executed
Universal Translator (2)
When youre in a galaxy far, far away, youd better know how to
order a stiff drink
When you buy Universal Translator, if gives your character a bit
of a knack when it comes to speaking to the locals He waves
his arms, he shouts, he talks really, really slowly, all the usual
things tourists do when they have no idea who or what these
locals are but, somehow, he actually gets his point across! You
can learn the basics of any language in about ve minutes, but
youll have forgotten most of it by lunchtime
Weaknesses
Addiction 1-10
Angry 4
Code of Honour 1-5
Damn Crazy 1-10
Damsel in Distress 5
Duty 1-10
Haughty 3
Heavy Sleeper 2
Illiterate 3
Innocent 2
Mute 6
Nautical Mishap 4 per mishap
Obsessive-Compulsive 1/4/8/15
Overcondent 5
Pacist 4
Prudish 1
Rival 1-10
Selsh 2
Sexpot 5
Short 4
Slowpoke 1 per level
Stressed 3
Stubborn 4
Tech Scared 1
Ugly 1-10
Addiction (1-5)
Your character has a habit they cant kick Maybe theyve
indulged in the high life and now they cant get used to the idea
of living in a sleeping bag, or maybe they just smoke two packs a
day and dont know how to stop Either way, for every day theyre
deprived, theyre at a cumulative 1 to all rolls This penalty can
be negated for one day by spending an Awesome Point, with the
Gamemasters permission
To determine the cost of your Addiction, discuss it with your
Gamemaster
Angry (4)
Your character is quick to anger and has a hard time keeping
their temper In a situation where they would have to keep a cool
head, or the enemy are barbing them, its very difcult for your
character to keep control These sorts of characters are good for
getting the party into all sorts of trouble
Code of Honour (1-5)
Characters who take Code of Honour have taken it upon them-
selves to live every day by a set of laws of their choosing These
laws are either personal beliefs or enforced tenets, but they
were forged in the characters upbringing and almost impos-
sible to break
In the event that the GM considers a character to have broken
their Code of Honour, he may make them buy off the Weakness
entirely, spending their Experience Points
The severity of these laws is up to the character, but determines
the cost Always helping little old ladies across the road would
rank as a 1, while the kind of guy who guts himself if he fails his
master would probably be a nice, solid 5
Damsel In Distress (5)
Villains cant resist a good damsel and, in defeated in combat,
they are far more likely to take you prisoner than kill you out-
right On the other hand, however, some villains seek you out
just because youre a damsel, intent on kidnapping you Some-
times it can be hard to be a pretty girl!
Damn Crazy (1-10)
Your character has lived their life with a delusion that makes
living their life more difcult than it ought to be Maybe theyve
got kleptomaniac tendencies or they change personalities every
other day Whatever it is, your characters going to have a hard
time interacting with those around them
Generally, the less capable the characters homeland is of deal-
ing with the mentally ill, the more expensive the Weakness
should be Discuss the possibilities with your Gamemaster to
get the full scoop
Haughty (2)
Rich living can change a person for life Not a problem if youre
hobnobbing at balls and socials all the time, but when youre
knee-deep in sludge trying to get after the Dreadful Death
Beast of Symphon, a lecture on the difference between a soup
spoon and a tea spoon might grate on your companions nerves
Youre a difcult person to deal with and theres nothing you can
do about it Youre at 4 on Psychology rolls to deal with your
common as much inferiors
Heavy Sleeper (2)
Your character will often sleep late into the morning, missing out
on that proverbial best part of the day Oh the horror!
On the actual downside, while they might be better rested, they
require a difculty 10 Notice check to wake up when theyre in
danger Otherwise, the devil himself wont wake the poor bas-
tard up
Illiterate (3)
Your character has never been taught how to read For a lot of
people eking out a living in Medieval England, this isnt really
a problem, but if youre planning on adventuring in a civilized
area, youll discover pretty quickly just how bothersome not
knowing what street signs are saying can be
Innocent (2)
Your character was raised by nice, loving parents Maybe a lit-
tle too nice, though, since youve been sheltered from some of
the greater horrors of life Boy, are you in for a shock! Innocent
15
and similar This could be because theyre not technically alive,
or because theyre just that much more awesome to punch!
Rival (1-10)
Somewhere, someone has a score to settle with you At some
point during your characters past, they made one heck of an
enemy and now that dude is back to settle the score
To determine the cost of a Rival, you should take into account
a few things, like the amount of resources they have to draw on
and how frequently you intend to include them in the game, not
to mention how powerful they are Some possible adjustments
are available below
Rival knows characters
location
+1
Rival owns a large corporation
or controls a private army
+1
Rival is unable to be killed
without a special weapon
+1
Rival is unable to be killed
under any circumstances
+2
Rival will not attack other
player characters
-1
Rival does not wish to kill the character,
only discredit
-2
Selsh (2)
Youve always looked out for Number One your whole life and, as
long as you draw breath, that aint changing Other people are
there for your amusement, their possessions doubly so
While this Weakness does not give a denite penalty, players
who take it for their characters are encouraged to look out for
characters dont know a lot about the world and theyll often
assume the best things about people, even when said folk ship-
ping them off to the salt mines
Tech Scared (1)
Technology? Who needs technology? We do things just like my
daddy did and were better for it!
A Tech Scared character refuses to acclimate to new ideas and
methods, instead sticking to whats tried and true Normally this
isnt too much of a problem Normally Not that youll nd your
adventures normal when your spaceship is spiralling into a sun-
spot because your Amish friend refused to take piloting classes
Mute (6)
Your lips are zipped Youre a quiet guy You dont speak A mute
may only communicate with sign language, grunts and moans
or whatever other methods they can devise in a pinch Dont
expect to be the life of the party with this Weakness
Nautical Mishap (4 per mishap)
While at sea, or otherwise indisposed, your character had a ter-
rible accident which resulted in the loss of one or more of their
limbs If theyve lost one leg, reduce their Movement before size
modiers by 10 If theyve lost both legs, reduce their Movement
before size modiers to 2
Characters missing an arm, rather unsurprisingly, cannot use it
Obsessive-Compulsive (1/4/8/15)
This weakness is divided into four levels, based on the severity
If you buy the one point weakness, your character will always be
quietly rearranging their property and ddling with things
If you take the four point weakness, they ddle with other peo-
ples things Sometimes they dont return them
If you take the eight point version, your character messes
around with people He likes rearranging their lives for them
You can imagine the implications
Finally, when you get the fteen point version, your character is
the sort of person who rearranges countries, nothing short of a
revolutionary Characters like Adolf Hitler and Karl Marx are the
order of the day here
Overcondent (5)
Youre going to have fun with this one Theres no mountain too
tall to climb, no army too big to ght and no noose too small
to t your head through Nothing can stop your character and
youre going to be demonstrating it a lot in the days, or possibly
minutes, to come
On the upside, you get a +2 bonus to Guts checks Enjoy
Pacist (4)
Your character will never kill another And yes, a pacist is usu-
ally someone who doesnt believe in violence, but in most Awe-
some System games, violence is unavoidable, so there doesnt
seem to be much point in including a more serious version We
salute your altruism, though Now go beat some heads, gently
Also, some Gamemasters might beg to differ here, and theyre
more than welcome to, but you typically dont need to uphold
pacistic virtues against things like robots, skeletons, demons
16
themselves at every turn and only serve the group if its in their
interests
Sexpot (5)
Before humanity evolved for their ape ancestors, it was consid-
ered perfectly fair game to mate in public with as many partners
as possible Obviously, someone never quite made it past that
stage
Your character is sex mad, so much so that theyre almost
always thinking about it or how to get it It can be a real obstruc-
tion to their personal life, too, with appropriate penalties (or
bonuses!) applied in certain social circumstances And, most of
the time, you can forget making Psychology checks on the sex of
your desire to guess their motivations You know what they want
and youre the one to give it to them
The real penalty, though, is that if your character is offered sex,
they will almost never turn it down Just hope you can defend
yourself with your newfound lover tossing all your possessions
out the window
Short (4)
The character is exceptionally short, about three or four feet
tall They get a +1 bonus to hitting people larger than them and
people attacking them are at 1 to hit, but their reduced size
means their movement is two-thirds normal and weapons count
as being one size category higher when a Short character tries
to use them A Short characters Brawn may not be their highest
stat
The character also gains a +2 bonus to any Sneak checks
Slowpoke (1 per level)
Your character has always been a little slow on the draw For
every level of the Slowpoke Weakness your character takes,
your Movement is reduced by 1
Slowpoke levels are subtracted from Movement before you
apply multipliers
Stressed (3)
our character has a hard time keeping a hold of themselves and
nds themselves constantly fretting over imagined problems
and possibilities Normally they can function just ne, but when
they run out of Awesome Points, all hope is lost
A Stressed character with no Awesome Points will be extremely
antisocial Maybe theyll stay in bed and refuse to come out or
just curl up into a foetal ball on the oor and suck their thumb
Either way, they cant function normally again until theyve
either got some AP back or whatever it is thats upsetting them
has gone away
Stubborn (4)
A stubborn character is as pigheaded as can be Theyll always
want to do things their way, even if theyre wrong and theyll dig
their heels in till other people see how right they are
When playing a stubborn character, be careful not to take it too
far If the rest of the party need your skills and you refuse to
give them, their characters might get hurt later on A Stubborn
character may be open to bribery or emotional hooks, which the
other characters should feel free to exploit
Duty (1-10)
Some bear a heavy burden
A character with a Duty has a goal he must achieve at any cost
It is the driving force that propels him out of bed into the morn-
ing and pushes him onwards and upwards in every aspect of
life It will prey on him as long as his feet touch the earth
A 1 point Job could be something as simple as giving a priestly
sermon every Sunday, while a 10 point Duty might be to become
a King Another 10 point Duty might be to sneak up behind a
king and slit his throat People with duties are always getting in
each others ways like this
Ugly (1-10)
Your character fell out of the Ugly Tree when they were born,
hit every Ugly branch and stopped their fall by landing in some
Ugly Bushes For every level of Ugly you purchase, your charac-
ter becomes more physically repulsive, with just 1 level being
maybe a big old boil right in the middle of your nose and 10
points being Ye Liveliest Awfulness People will go out of their
way to avoid you and probably make assumptions about you
based on your looks At least you know the friends you do make
will be sticking around, right?
Weird Powers
Amphibious 3
Armoured 20/50/100/200
Chomp 5
Claws 3
Colossus 120
Evil Construct 15
Extra Limbs 6
Flight 10/20/50
Giant 40
Iron Grip 8
Horns 3
Leap 15
Nightvision 2
Quadruped 3
Regeneration 20
Scent 5
Shapeshifter 20
Tail 4
Transformation 20
Amphibious (3)
Amphibious means your character is able to sustain himself
underwater, for whatever reasons, and the idea doesnt daunt
him like his fellows
We thought about including a Power for characters who can only
breathe underwater, but that didnt seem like a lot of fun, so
with this ability, you can get around on land and in the water Itll
be a cold day in Hell before we condone stopping party mem-
bers from meeting up with the threat of death, so if you do feel
like running an underwater game, just let everyone start with
water breathing Humans dont have to pay points to breathe
air, right?
17
Armoured (Increments)
Your character has a sturdy layer of shielding all over his body
as part of a natural defence system It could be spiny plates or
matted fur or any similar sort of thing, but the important part is
that it keeps bullets out and intestines in, where they belong
Armour Cost
10 20
25 50
50 100
100 200
Armour is always on and does not need to be activated Called
shots to the eye will always ignore natural armour
Chomp (5)
This Power is for characters who want to upgrade their chomp-
ers For 5 Character Points, youll get an especially sharp set of
teeth, doing 4 points of damage plus Brawn Chomps have a
Handling of 2 and a Stunt Level of Unlimited
A character can choose to take it a step further, giving them-
selves a big pair of fangs for an extra Character Point This
increases the damage by 1, but your character will count as hav-
ing two levels of Ugly when the fangs are visible
Claws (3)
Your character has a pair of claws on their hands ranging from
one to six inches long They do 2 points of damage plus Brawn,
have a Handling of 3 and Stunt Level of Unlimited
As an added bonus, the claws can be made retractable for an
extra 2 CP Bringing them out or putting them away is completely
free!
Colossus (120)
Brawn 1
Flow 24
Speed 12
Colossus Adjustment
Hit Points 100 per Brawn
Movement Multiply by 12!
Sneak -50
Ranged Attacks vs Humans -20
Your character is the stuff of legend, his height reaching to the
very Olympicsns themselves You are between 50 and 500 feet
tall, if not more
When buying Brawn, the cost is 1 point per level Because
youre just so darn big, you also get 100 Hit Points per level of
Brawn, instead of the usual 20! Flipside? The cost of Speed is
twice normal, since youll nd yourself just plain slow to react to
the world around you and, even worse, the cost of Flow is four
times the normal amount of points per level, since gracefulness
is the next the thing out the window
Youll nd your incredible size makes getting around a whole lot
easier, though, making Movement twelve times normal!
All ranged attacks directed at them by human sized opponents
are at +20 to hit and they suffer a -20 penalty to ranged attacks
made against human sized opponents Ranged attacks made
by Giants have a +6 bonus and -6 penalty against them, just like
with normal sized characters attacking Giants
Colossal-sized weapons count as normal-sized for the character
The character suffers a 50 penalty to any Sneak checks
Evil Construct (15)
Your character is a dark and soulless abomination, a dark
desire given life, that feeds upon the living and dwells in dark-
ness! Pretty neat, huh?
This can take the form of a demon, devil, undead, homunculi
or some other dark thing made to harm the world Thats some
major awesome right there and we havent even gotten to the
bonuses Appropriate for almost any setting, youll have no
trouble cooking up excuses for making corpses walk, vampires
stalk the night and demons scour the land, so if one of your
PCs wants to try it, why not let him? Theyre fun for a change of
pace and get a bevy of weird abilities that really set them apart
First of all, Evil Constructs are incredibly hardy and get twice
as many Hit Points as normal Their bodies are damaged in the
same way as the living, but they are almost completely unaf-
fected by it On the downside, all Evil Constructs have a source
of power, usually their head or their heart, that takes double
damage when attacks are dealt to it This is called a Focus Con-
structs can get around this by removing their Focus part or seal-
ing it away, but this reduces their power signicantly In game
terms, treat them like a Mook
Now, while an Evil Construct may be harder to kill, this also
makes it harder for them to restore health Whenever the Evil
Construct is running low on HP, they must nd a living being and
incapacitate them somehow Once disabled, the Construct can
drink their targets blood, exhume their spirit or just chow down
like old times Feeding on life force in this way regains the Con-
struct 10 Hit Points per minute of feeding and costs the victim
1 level of Soul The poor suckers who have their Soul drained
like this will either die or go mad at 0 Soul, but if theyre lucky
enough to survive, they can regain Soul at the rate of 1 point per
week of bed rest Characters killed by this often rise from the
dead as zombies afterwards Rock Stars always rise from the
dead Its in their nature
Finally, being an Evil Construct opens new possibilities to your
character This is represented by the removal of the Soul stat
and its replacement with the Void stat Void is a requirement
for some abilities in the game and is the divider between your
character and the living
Extra Limbs (6)
Your character may have a number of extra arms (or feet, we
suppose) of your choosing, allowing you to wield more than two
weapons For more information on multiple weapon ghting,
consult the Handling rules in Chapter 5: The Fight
Flight (10, 20, 50)
A character with Flight is able to y freely How well depends on
the level purchased
Flight Top Speed Take-off Turning
Basic 4xMove 4 Turns 30
Skilled 5xMove 1 Turn 90
Expert 8xMove Instant Any
18
Top speed is the maximum attainable speed, using a multiple
of unadjusted Movement Take-off is the duration of the action
necessary to become airborne It takes twice this long to reach
Top Speed Turning is the maximum number of degrees the
character can turn in a single combat Turn
Complicated manoeuvres, such as ying through trees or stay-
ing airborne after taking a powerful blow will require a Flight
check to be made Write this skill in under Flow
For an additional 30 CP, the character is able to y through
space at 4 times their Top Speed
Giant (40)
Brawn 3
Flow 12
Giant Adjustment
Hit Point 50 per Brawn
Movement Multiply by 4!
Sneak -15
Ranged Attacks vs
Humans
-6
Your character is absolutely enormous, as much as 15 to 50
feet tall This grants the following quirks:
First of all, since youre a big guy and youve got a lot of strength
to swing around, so Brawn is only 3 points per level To make
you even more monstrous, you get 50 Hit Points per level of
Brawn, instead of 20! The drawback is that you have trouble
keeping up with others due to your extra weight, so the cost of
Flow is doubled
Next bonus along, youll nd those long legs of yours make get-
ting around easier, too, and Movement is four times normal
Ranged attacks directed at a Giant by human sized opponents
are at +6 to hit and they suffer a -6 penalty to ranged attacks
made against human sized opponents
The character may use giant-sized weapons as if they were
medium They also suffer a 15 penalty to any Sneak checks
Horns (3)
Your character has a sharp pair of horns on their head, which
can be used for stabbing or maiming They do Brawn+6 damage
and have a Handling of 0 and a Stunt Level of Unlimited
Horns can be designated as a secondary attack
Iron Grip (8)
When a character takes Iron Grip, they must specify a natural
attack it applies to, such as Claws, Bite or a Horns attack When
grappling, it is not necessary for a grappler with Iron Grip to
spend actions to oppose escape attempts Instead, they oppose
automatically
Leap (15)
If you need to get somewhere in a hurry, this Power is denitely
the way to go And youll be getting a fabulous view of the coun-
tryside while youre at it
A character with Leap may, at any time, elect to launch himself
into the air for an incredible long distance jump The distance of
their jump is equal to the characters height multiplied by ve!
If the jump is low to the ground, its over and done with in one
action, with time for an attack, too! Youll get a +2 bonus for the
speed you hit at, but youd better not miss or youll go ying right
past them Characters with this Power are also immune to fall-
ing damage
Another way to use the Power is to jump almost straight
upwards, which allows your character to make a devastating
attack The Leap takes three sequential turns to complete, from
leaving the ground to landing again, during which time your
character is almost defenceless
Hikari the violent policewoman leapt into the air of turn 5. She
will come down on turn 2, regardless of when her actions occur.
If you want to try to grab something to stop yourself, you have to
succeed at a difculty 8 Olympics check This assumes whatever
youre grabbing is fairly easy to get to grips with, like a agpole
or a cracked wall Flat surfaces require the character to actually
make purchased and the difculty for that goes up to 20
While youre in hang-time youre at 6 to all actions (with the
exception of Pose and Olympics) and all attacks made against
you are at 2 Naturally, this is a good set-up for a devastat-
ing attack and anything you come crashing down will suffer like
theyve never suffered before! A successful hit when you land
means the Brawn part of your damage is doubled for the incred-
ible force you hit at
If youre using Leap for a Sneak Attack, you get a +2 to your
Sneak check to avoid being detected
Nightvision (4)
As the name suggests, this Power allows your character to see
at night, ignoring the usual 6 penalty for actions requiring
sight
19
Your character is more sensitive to bright lights, however, and is
at 2 in any situations involving a powerful light or glare
Quadruped (3)
Your character stands on four (or more) legs instead of two
Maybe theyre an intelligent animal of some sort, or a partic-
ularly savage human, but whatever the case, their Movement
doubles The character may stand for only a few actions at a
time and is unable to use weapons that would require the use
of their hands
Needless to say, a character with this Power will draw odd looks
in populated areas
Regeneration (20)
Your character possesses supernatural levels of healing, able to
recover from incredible levels of bodily injury in moments and
grow back lost limbs In combat this makes you one serious con-
tender, since if your opponents dont nish you, youll be coming
back for them
When injured, your character is able to make a Healing check
once every six hours, instead of the regular once per day for
other characters Simply roll your Toughness and regain that
many Hit Points Sometimes this healing isnt fast enough,
though, and you need those HP right now You may elect to
spend one Awesome Point to recuperate right then, rolling your
characters Toughness as normal and recovering the amount of
Hit Points rolled If done during combat, this does not consume
actions and may be done at any time
If a character wishes, instead of regaining Hit Points, they may
regenerate lost limbs A Toughness roll of 60 will regenerate one
lost limb, hand, foot or eye, while a Toughness roll of 120 may
regenerate a lost head
Finally, because of their propensity for coming back long after
death, a character with Regeneration does not die as long as
they have at least 1 Awesome Point remaining Upon reaching
40 Hit Points, however, they must spend as many Awesome
Points are necessary to get above this amount or they expire
just like any other sap as their brain stutters and their heart
shuts down
Scent (5)
Taking this Power will give your character an incredibly sensi-
tive sense of smell that allows them to make additional Notice
checks Normally, a character may only make a Notice check to
determine if they could hear, or see, an important detail, but
with this Power they can also detect scents, such as the fear
on an enemy, or the overwhelming stench of a valuable clue,
transforming their nose into another valuable weapon in their
arsenal
Shapeshifter (20)
The character has, quite simply, an amorphous physiology Most
people go through life set in a form that will only grow up or
down or out A Shapeshifter can grow in all of those directions,
as well as inside out and upside down
In their most commonly used forms, Shapeshifters are often
plain, uninteresting looking people Their basic appearance can
shift with their concentration, while more complex shapes are
moulded over time, like clay When a new shape is rst formed it
will often only have the outline down, lling out details over the
next few weeks or months Any form the Shapeshifter takes will
no doubt pass casual scrutiny, but more complicated checks will
require the character to make an Art: Sculpture check opposed
to the onlookers Notice If the character disguises themselves
as a famous politician, for example, everyone will recognize
them with ease, but getting the voice or the thumbprint just
right can take hours of careful, painstaking work
Whenever a new form is taken, the character must make an Art:
Sculpture check, compared to the table below
Copy the shape and skin tone of the tar-
get perfectly
3
Assure that all internal organs are in the
right place and function
5
Emulate anothers voice 8
Emulate anothers ngerprint 15
Create accurate clothing from scratch 20
At this level the copy can be identical to
another in every way Only old friends or
a full computer check up could tell the
difference
30
The character may spend time making further checks, as many
times as they like The new result always supplants the previ-
ous, since restarting a masterpiece involves tossing the previ-
ous one at the wall When taking new forms the character must
be humanoid and not exceed more than six feet or less than two
feet in height
Another use of Shapeshifter powers is to make something
entirely new, which is a bit more complicated For example, if
they want to make themselves a set of hooks for climbing, or
ns for swimming, they may attempt a Sculpture check with
a difculty of 8, success indicating theyve made something
rudimentary, giving them a +5 to all related skill checks, to be
removed when the character chooses Making the change takes
one combat turn, during which the character may act normally
A character may not make more changes than an amount equal
to their level in Soul A set of gills would give the character a +5
to all Toughness checks for holding their breath and swapping
out their left arm for a cutlass gives them a simple +5 to dam-
age Where theres a will, theres a way
Additionally, if the character can succeed at a difculty 20 check,
they may spend a full ve minutes on the change, increasing the
bonus to +10, but these adjustment may not be removed for a
minimum of 12 hours, as the body takes time to adjust to them
Failure on either of these checks means the character must
either spend an AP or suffer a genetic breakdown as their limb
turns into a useless blob for the next 24 hours
Shapeshifter covers small changes to a body For a total rework-
ing, look up Transformation
Tail (4)
A tail gives you a few distinct advantages over your fellow party
members The tail has a few distinct uses, the rst of which is
that its prehensile If a tail isnt prehensile, dont bother paying
points for it When used in combat, it can either be designated
as a secondary attack or used as the primary weapon, with a
Handling of 4 and a Stunt Level of Innite and does damage
equal to the characters Brawn
A tail can hold a weapon of a size category smaller than the
character and also grants the character a +2 on Olympics
checks related to climbing
Transformation (20)
Your character is a deance of the natural order of things As
a Lycanthrope, Demon or some other weird species, theyve
mastered the art of shape-changing to such a level that they
can change into a completely new form at will All it requires
is a new skill under Soul, called Transforming The character
20
must simply spend a few moments (one turn) and an Awesome
Point preparing themselves before they shift into a form of their
choosing
Once theyve done that, make a Transforming roll, with the
result being the number of Character Points they have to build
their new form, with the proviso that their new form must have
exactly the same Soul as the original The transformation lasts
until the end of the current scene, or the Gamemaster declares
otherwise, at which point the character returns to their original
form
Weird Weaknesses
Dependency 1-10
Giant Hands 1
No Thumbs 5
Mutant 1-10
Photosensitive 5
The Ultimate Weakness 1
Tiny 15
Walking Bomb 1-5
Dependency (1-10)
Similar to Addiction, but not quite, your character has a depen-
dency on some object that is important in their life It can be
anything from a pair of shoes to their favourite golf If deprived
of this item, the character have an immediate catastrophic
reaction that can only be overcome by reuniting them with their
fetish The reaction varies from character to character, but it can
be feasibly anything from withdrawals, to desperation to much
more serious measures The rarity of the object and the ease
with which the character can shift between different types of an
object will determine the cost of this Weakness Have a heart to
heart with your Gamemaster for the details
Giant Hands (1)
A character with Giant Hands will have a hard time dealing with
modern society Theyll never be able to use an ATM, type up a
memo or a any one of a thousand other everyday tasks They
certainly cant use Small weapons with any effectiveness and
you can forget about them helping you x your stereo
Yep, sometimes its hard to be a big-handed hero On the upside,
however, they get a +1 to all Brawn checks involving brute force
Doesnt make them feel much better, though
Mutant (1-10)
They always said you were special And how right they were
Your character has sucked up some sort of crazy space waves
or spent a bit too much time kicking back in nuclear reactors
and, as a result, youve got some sort of disguring feature that
makes you really unpopular at parties Of course, you can try to
cover it up but if anyone discovers youre a freak, youll be at a
penalty equal to double your level in Mutant in social situations,
just like with Ugly And you get a penalty equal to double your
level in Mutant to all alluring Poses made while your mutation
is visible, too, although you might be able to swing it if its cute
If its a particularly fearsome one, you get double your level in
Mutant added to Intimidating Poses
Some mutations might do something useful, like let you breathe
underwater or give you some fancy armour, but thats between
you and your GM
No Thumbs (5)
A more severe version of Giant Hands, your character lacks
opposable thumbs, that which separates us from animals
Weapons cannot be held, joysticks cannot be grabbed and
ropes cannot be scaled
Photosensitive (5)
Your character is sensitive to sunlight and merely being above
ground is often enough to cause them pain If they are active
during the day, they are at a 5 penalty to all skill checks as
long as theyre in sunlight
The Ultimate Weakness (1)
If youre just dying for an extra Character Point, then, boy, do we
have a Weakness for you! Choose any one substance, object or
life form in the universe It has to exist and it has to potentially
obtainable Once youve picked something, get approval from
your Gamemaster Then, youre done and youve got your Char-
acter Point to blow on Ancient Chinese Proverb or whatever
The downside of this Power is, is that if you ever, even once,
touch the thing you selected, for any reason whatsoever, your
character will drop dead on the spot, no roll required
So I guess the question is, are you feeling lucky, punk?
Tiny (15)
Brawn 12
Tiny Adjustment
Hit Points 10 per Brawn
Movement Divide by 2!
Sneak +10
Ranged Attacks vs
Humans
+6
21
Your character is really, really small Less than a foot tall First
of all, this means the cost of Brawn increases to 12 points per
level, while Movement is one-half normal
All ranged attacks directed at them by human sized opponents
are at 6 to hit and they gain a +6 bonus to ranged attacks
made against human sized opponents Due to this small size,
the character also gains a +10 bonus to any Sneak checks
The characters gains 10 Hit Points for each level of Brawn, as
opposed to the regular 20
Walking Bomb (1-5)
This is one of those abilities that you want to think about before
you take Someone has put some sort of bomb in your charac-
ter, for some reason Thats all there is to it Under a certain set
of circumstances, the bomb will go off, (presumably) killing your
character and dealing a staggering amount of damage to every-
thing around you Discuss the circumstances with your GM, but
theres no point in going over 5 points with this Weakness, as
eventually youd get into things like your dude exploding every
time he walks backwards or touches yellow things and thats not
fun to play
As a general guideline, use existing explosives for determining
the explosions damage or, if its of a magical nature or similar,
simply say the explosion does 10 damage per point of Brawn
possessed by the character to everything within 5 feet and half
that to everything within 10 feet
Special Moves
Counter Attack 9
Desperation Strike 6
Flykick 1
Roundhouse Kick 4
Returning 4
Stunt Step 5
Submission Blow 2
Team Attack 8
Special Moves are a unique type of Power that give the charac-
ter a unique ability that can be used in combat whenever they
need a bit more oomph
Counter Attack (9)
If the character successfully dodges, they may spend a remain-
ing action or Awesome Point to take swift revenge on their
enemy What this means in game terms is that they get a free
attack, right there and then, as well as getting the amount that
their Dodge surpassed the attack by as a bonus on their attack
roll
In other words, payback time
Desperation Strike (6)
Not the most popular of moves, since it requires a great risk
and, potentially, a lot of bleeding on the part of the aggressor
Whenever your character is attacked in melee during a combat,
they may elect to deliberately take the hit They must declare
this before a to hit roll is made and the whatever their to hit nor-
mally is, it is automatically reduced to 4 Assuming they survive,
the character can now spend an Awesome Point to activate their
Desperation Strike
On the very next turn they retaliate and, assuming their oppo-
nent is fooled into thinking hes done the killing blow, they can
now strike back and ignore his defence The difculty to hit the
opponent is a meagre 4 To fool their opponent into believing
hes safe, the character has to succeed at a Guts roll opposed
to their opponents Notice Failure means they miss out and
their opponent gets his full defence
On a success, however, their very next attack is sure to do a
lot of damage As an additional bonus for any characters whose
retaliatory strike is a Stunt, the Stunt Level will be treated as one
higher than normal if they insult their opponent as they strike!
Musashi Miyamoto and Lokans rivalry has gone on too long
and they are engaged in a battle to the death. Musashi has a
Double Stunt on 4 and Lokan has an action on 5, so he decides
to perform a Desperation Strike, as he is having trouble get-
ting close to his opponent as long as he swings that big scythe
around.
On 5, Lokan makes his attack, and Musashi reduces his to hit
to 4, taking 68 damage. He scrapes through with 12 Hit Points
to spare and, succeeding on his opposed Guts check (although
that dastard Lokan tried to Hero Up on his Notice check) he
strikes back on his 4, grabbing Lokans scythe in his hands and
driving his sword into his opponents belly. Filthy son of a dog,
he murmurs, and his Stunt Level rises to a Triple. He starts pil-
ing on the Awesome Points.
Flykick (1)
Your character leaps into the air, delivering a stunning blow
with their iron heel A successful Flykick will make an opponent
stumble back a few feet or take a biker off their ride in a stun-
ningly painful looking swipe
In-game, you simply declare your character is y kicking and
take a -4 on your attack roll Your damage is increased by 1d6
and the target is knocked back about two feet And, yes, if this
pushes them into the pit of acid or off a mount, then it can spell
a world of pain for your enemies Deliver those kicks and watch
them crumble!
22
Returning (4)
Some weapons are able to return back to their thrower, swing-
ing around in a fantastic arc Making a weapon return to ones
hand incurs a 3 penalty on an attack roll and a Speed Dice
must be spent catching the weapon, lest it hit you in the head
Roundhouse Kick (4)
Your character may specify a kick as a Secondary Attack It
strikes with the same Handling, Stunt Level and damage as a
st attack For more information on Secondary Attacks, consult
Chapter 5: The Fight
Stunt Step (5)
Your character is unusually adept at moving around the battle-
eld, by a variety of means For every 1 penalty you apply to a
Melee roll, after youve made it, you may move 1 foot as a com-
pletely free action and still make your attack against anyone you
move into base contact with, during the move If youre having
trouble reaching people with your Spin Attack, this could be the
Power for you!
Submission Blow (2)
Not one for the bloodthirsty types among you, Submission Blow
reminds us that, sometimes, being a hero means not killing any-
one and that means doing things the hard way
Normally the penalty for making a Lethal attack Non-Lethal is
4, but your character has had special training in dispatching of
their foes with great care The penalty for making a Non-Lethal
attack is reduced to 2
Team Attack (10)
Team Attack is a special move that allows for two or more
heroes with this Power to deliver a devastatingly powerful set of
blows to a single opponent all at once, showing their co-opera-
tion, their determination and that the badguy messed with the
wrong dudes Every time you take this power, nominate anoth-
er PC as your team member Every person involved in a Team
Attack must have this power bought for every other person also
involved in it
To perform a Team Attack, all characters involved must act on
the same turn All the blows in the combo are delivered in per-
fect sequence, rocking a badguy to his core, so the timing must
be impeccable The only other proviso is that all characters
involved in the attack must be doing at least a Single Stunt, or
else they wont have the clarity and focus to pull off the move
This is permitted to exceed the normal weapon Stunt Levels,
just like Heroing up
A well-placed Team Attack can be the key to defeating the par-
ties opponents For the duration of the attack, add together the
Stunt Level of every character involved in the Team Attack With
a few AP spent, this makes for blisteringly powerful attacks
Gary and Cirrus are performing a Team Attack together. Gary
has a Single Stunt and Cirrus has a Double Stunt. They perform
a Triple Stunt on their Team Attack.
Revenant, Skullheart and Trieda are performing their patented
Triple Suplex. Each one of the heroes has a Double Stunt, mak-
ing their Team Attack a 6-times Stunt.
Step 6: Derived Statistics
Youll nd you have a couple of extra abilities that arent cov-
ered by your stats, such as how far you can move and how much
damage you can take This section covers all of them and how
to get your characters gures
Armour
Armour is a measure of how much damage you can absorb Its
determined either by your natural armour or the armour youre
wearing and if you have both, add them together
A Starboard Records Thug doesnt leave home without his Flak
Jacket. This gives him an Armour score of 15.
Looking up the stats for this armour, we can see that his Melee
Stunt Level will be Double and his Ranged Stunt Level will be
Triple.
Awesome
Awesome determines how much your character can ignore the
laws of physics in the name of totally rocking out
Your characters Total Awesome is equal to double their level
of Soul Dice plus 6 Once this amount is reached, they cannot
gain any more Awesome Points It doesnt start completely full,
though, so newly made characters start with half that amount
(or their level in Soul plus three for you math buffs)
Sensata the Angel has a Soul of 7. Her Awesome is equal to 20
and she starts the game with 10 Awesome Points.
Cash: Every character starts with a hundred bucks Obviously,
since this is a generic system this amount of dosh wont make
sense for the variety of settings youll be putting your games in,
but it should, as a general guide, be enough for a night in a fair-
to-middling Hotel
Defence
Your characters Defence is a measure of how hard they are to
hit in melee The emphasis is on melee here, as it doesnt help
them against ranged attacks Think of it as their ability to use
fancy footwork and weapon skills to keep foes at bay, but that
wont matter one bit if theres a bullet between your eyes
Defence is calculated with a base of 4, then you add your char-
acters ow on top of that If youre wielding a weapon or weap-
ons, you get the highest Defence bonus out of the whole lot, as
well as anything else from a shield
Doro the Dinosaur Girl has a Flow of 2d6. This gives her a
Defence of 6. But were not done yet. If shes wielding a Long-
sword it gives her a Defence Bonus of 2, bringing the difculty
to hit her in melee up to 8. Giving her a medium shield increas-
es it to 10, but wielding a second sword would see no increase.
Hero Skills
A character gets Dodge as a Hero Skill, as well as number of
Hero Skills equal to their level of Brains You can even mark
them with a little star to make them easier to keep track of
Hit Points
Hit Points are a measure of how much of a beating your char-
acter can take before going down Your character gets 20 Hit
Points for every point of Brawn they have, as well as a base 20
Hit Points
Dustman the Vigilante has 6 levels of Brawn. He gets 140 Hit
Points.
Movement
Your characters Movement score determines how far he may
move in one turn This is equal to 15 feet, plus 1 for every level
of Speed the character possesses This amount is doubled if the
character elects to take no actions that turn and focuses purely
on running
23
Cirrostratus the Catboy has a Speed of 4. His Movement is 19.
Speed Dice
Speed Dice are equal to your Speed plus 1 This is the number
of actions you can take in a combat round and youll roll it at
the start of any encounter, and every round thereafter Why the
extra dice? Well, as well as being a courtesy gesture from us to
you, our valued consumer, speed is an important part of combat
and we just cant bear the thought of anyone getting left out
Also, our combat rounds are much longer than other roleplaying
games, a necessity to cram in all the extra awesome, and youll
need to stuff every one with your funky moves Spend every
action wisely
The reason we make you write this secondary stat down is
because you can increase it with special types of actions, like
secondary attacks and mounted weapons Its good to have all
that stuff in one place
Ares the Polar Bear has a Speed of 3d6. Therefore, his Speed
dice is 4d6. Easy!
Step 7: Props
Its time to get some gear Discuss starting cash with your GM,
but we feel, regardless of system, you should always start with a
hundred bucks and clothes on your back Whatever you decide,
everything you need to kit out your hero is located in the next
chapter along
Why are you still reading this? Turn the pages and start spend-
ing!
Step 8: Icing On The Cake
Youve made it to the end, kid After this steps completed,
youll be a complete, full-grown person that can be played and
enjoyed
So whats this step here, then, we hear you ask? From here on,
its all details Whats your name, where you from, who are your
family, who are your friends, what are your likes, dislikes, what
dont you care about, what colour is your hair, do you even have
hair, how many ngers do you have, are you sane, insane or do
you just love a good time? A pile of stats isnt much good with-
out a driving personality, so work out what it is you want to do
with all these stats and exactly how youre going to make your
mark on the world
After that, well Your fates in your own hands, now Good luck,
hero
Upgrading Your Character
When the time comes to spend your bonus Character Points,
you simply spend them as you normally would If you have 6 CP,
you can buy an extra level in a stat and if you have 2 CP, you can
buy an extra level or bonus in a skill The cost of increasing stats
and skills advances as normal
New Powers may be bought with the Gamemasters permission
and old Weaknesses may be bought off by spending a number
of Character Points equal to the cost of the Weakness
Things like this can either be the result of martial training, new
talents manifesting as a result of danger in their lives or nally
kicking that nasty old habit Consult with your GM before doing
this, so youre not just buying back limbs that got sliced off and
whatnot However, if they had bought a powerful Rival and want
to buy them off, the GM could permit them to kill the leader of
that organization and then buy the Weakness off before a new
leader arises, for example A mutant should never be able to
just become normal, however, just like a Short person should
never be able to become tall Some Weaknesses dene who we
are as much as our Powers do
New Special Moves may be picked up at any time, with the
Gamemasters permission A badass Kung Fu maestro may
need to be sought out
Upgrading your character is a serious venture that must be
thought about carefully If you nd your current build isnt work-
ing, consult with your Gamemaster about it, he may have a solu-
tion Most GMs are usually happy to let you restat your char-
acter, since it encourages you from not making them a bloody
smear on the wall Seriously though, the Awesome System isnt
about punishing the player, its about thanking them for taking
part in a fun game, so let them remake their character in a way
that benets the game and get back into the thick of it!
Stat Level CP Cost
2-5 6
6-10 12
11-15 18
16-20 24
21-25 30
+5 +6
Skill Level/Bonus CP Cost
1-10 2
11-20 4
21-30 6
31-40 8
41-50 10
+10 +2
24
Brawn Skills
Olympics Toughness Pose
Flow Skills
Acrobatics
Bow
Dodge
Drive
Firearms
Instrument
Lock Picking
Melee
Piloting
Riding
Sleight of Hand
Sneak
Throwing
Speed Skills
Quick Draw Speed Load
Brains Skills
Academia
Art
Bonesaw
Computers
Demolition
Disguise
Fixing
Gambling
Leadership
Notice
Psychology
Streetwise
Track
Soul Skills
Guts Voice
Powers Cost
Ambush 10
Ancient Chinese Proverb 1
Cyborg 10
Dramatic Appearance 10
Extra Tough 1 per level
Finesse 15 per level
Giant Slayer 15
Henchmen 4 per Henchman
Hot 1-10
Mecha Pilot 15
Movie Magic 10
Props Varies
Robot 15
Rock Star 10
Runner 1 per level
Sidekick 30
Stunt Scale 50/80/100
Tempest 8
Trooper 1-10
Universal Translator 4
Special Moves Cost
Counter Attack 9
Desperation Strike 6
Flykick 1
Roundhouse Kick 4
Returning 4
Stunt Step 5
Submission Blow 2
Team Attack 8
Ski l l Index
Weaknesses Cost
Addiction 1-10
Angry 4
Code of Honour 1-5
Damn Crazy 1-10
Damsel in Distress 5
Duty 1-10
Haughty 3
Heavy Sleeper 2
Illiterate 3
Innocent 2
Mute 6
Nautical Mishap 4 per mishap
Obsessive-Compulsive 1/4/8/15
Overcondent 5
Pacist 4
Prudish 1
Rival 1-10
Selsh 2
Sexpot 5
Short 4
Slowpoke 1 per level
Stressed 3
Stubborn 4
Tech Scared 1
Ugly 1-10
Weird Powers Cost
Amphibious 3
Armoured 20/50/100/200
Chomp 5
Claws 3
Colossus 120
Evil Construct 15
Extra Limbs 6
Flight 10/20/50
Giant 40
Iron Grip 8
Horns 3
Leap 15
Nightvision 2
Quadruped 3
Regeneration 20
Scent 5
Shapeshifter 20
Tail 4
Transformation 20
Weird Weaknesses Cost
Dependency 1-10
Giant Hands 1
No Thumbs 5
Mutant 1-10
Photosensitive 5
The Ultimate Weakness 1
Tiny 15
25
27
In this chapter, youll be exploring the staggering depths of cul-
ture, the dizzying heights of science and a thousand genera-
tions of creation and invention And once youre done with all
that rot, you can slap a price tag on it and try to og it off to
some poor sucker
A Note on Cash
Since the Awesome System covers a wide range of possible
settings, we simply measure the price of all purchasable goods
in good old-fashioned bucks Now we here at Awesome HQ are
quite aware that cavemen didnt have dollar bills with some old
guys face on them and we certainly dont expect your kind and
benevolent GM to try to hoodwink you into believing otherwise
Therefore, depending on your game substitute the almighty
dollar for gold pieces, rubles, pounds sterling, space credits,
mammoth hides or whatever else you feel is appropriate The
amounts contained here are simply to demonstrate relative
costs and worth
Getting Your Gear
Characters start with $100 and make take levels in the Props
power as necessary, but to ensure you have the basics, we sug-
gest you take the time to follow the steps below to ascertain
your characters free starting gear
Clothing
When making your character, choose two of the outts below as
your starting clothes The details of what they look like exactly
are up to you You can take one of the ones below, or make up
your own
Outt Elements
Badass Leather Coat, Shades
Barbarian Hair Gel, Loincloth
Biker Jeans, Leather Jacket
Buccaneer Eye patch, Sash
Kung Fu Guy Gi, Pipe
Government Expensive Watch,
Uniform Fancy Shoes
Idol Star Leek, Poofy Stuff
Pauper Peaked Cap, Rags
Pilot Helmet, Red Jumpsuit
Rock Star Leather Jacket, Tight Jeans
Soldier Camo, Helmet
School Uniform Pants, Short Skirt, Tie
Spaceman Reective Surfaces, Sequins
Starting Junk
Once youve done that, go to the table below and
pick out three items or make your own Again, feel free to try
your luck with your GM by asking for something crazy
There! Youve selected your starting gear This should be
enough to get you well on your way to taking other peoples
things
Starting Junk
Bubblegum Lantern
Cigar Lunchbox (With Lunch)
Cigarettes, Packet Medical Kit
Deck of Cards Megaphone
Flashlight Mountaineering Equipment
Fake ID Newspaper
Glow Sticks (2) Rollerblades
Hair Gel Scarf
Ham, Leg Of Snorkeling Gear
Handcuffs Sunglasses
Hat, Expensive Spectacles
Hip Flask Tent
Horse Trail Rations, 10 Days
Hound, Faithful Treasure Map
Horse Walking Stick
House Watch
Kitten Whiskey
Good Stuff
Speaking of which, this section is for stuff that might actually
give you a decent edge over your fellow Player Characters, so
youll just have to buy it the hard way
Good Stuff Price
Data Jack $10,000
God-Forged $3,000/ increase
Grappling Hook $1,000
Jetpack $10,000
Medical Kit $10
Silencer $500
Data Jack: Typically used for breaking into computers when
youre in a hurry, a Data Jack is also necessary to use the Jack
In Movie Magic Power
God-Forged: This is a feature able to be applied to any hand-
made weapon, to clearly demonstrate the stunning amount
of craftsmanship that went into forging the weapon This will
either increase the Handling or Defence Bonus of the weapon
by 1 or the damage or armour penetration by 2 Weapons with
a Stunt Level of Single or Higher may also have their Stunt Level
increased to the next tier with this handy upgrade
Grappling Hook: It has been scientically proven anything can
be made better by adding a grappling hook And if you dont
believe us, you can try it yourself! This little baby uses a Fire-
arms check to aim, with a successful blow landed allowing you
to get some movement happening If youve grabbed something
like a jet airplane or a brick wall, its pretty obvious youre going
to get pulled towards it, but for situations where its unclear
whos moving where, make an opposed Brawn check, with the
loser getting reeled towards the winner
The grappling hook has an effective maximum range of 250 feet
and has a range increment of 10
Jetpack: The Jetpack is a fancy piece of work that lets your
character it around like nobodys business When activated,
CHAPTER 3: PROPS!
28
the character takes off into the sky on the same action, using
the rules you might already be familiar with for vehicles This
means you can accelerate by 50 feet of speed every turn, until
you reach a top speed 10 turns later of 500
While buzzing around, your character will have to make Flight
checks to perform daring aerial maneuvers and may substitute
this skill for Dodge in combat
Medical Kit: The exact contents of this little number will vary
from setting to setting, being a full complement of combat drugs
and compresses to a really big stick One of these is consumed
every time you make a Bonesaw check
Silencer: This handy little gadget will keep whatever gun you
put it on from making any air-polluting whip cracks In game
terms, this means every time you take a shot, make a Sneak
check, with a +4 bonus, opposed to the Notice of anyone who
mightve heard it, with success indicating you made the attack
silently If the target is killed, they dont even make any inconve-
nient death rattles! Isnt that polite of them?
Robots
Last but not least, four of mans best mechanical friends for the
discerning shopper
Robots Price
Galant $212,440
Lancer $159,210
Maid $39,500
Patrol $245,000
Galant (200 point Robot)
Brawn 15d6 Brains -
Flow 5d6 Soul -
Speed 4d6
Armour 30, Awesome -, Cash -, Defence 9, Hit Points 320,
Movement 19 (114 Flying), Speed Dice 5+4
Skills: Acrobatics 5d6+6, Dodge 5d6+8, Firearms 5d6+8, Flight
5d6+8, Melee 5d6+8
Powers and Weaknesses: Robot 15
Upgrades: Armour, Rhino ($20,000), Controller: Cockpit
($5,000), External Mounts (2) ($10,000), Headlights ($1,000),
Mounted Weapon: Uzi (2) ($1,640), Mounted Weapon: Aim-120
Missile (2) ($4,800), Rockets ($40,000)
Attacks: Missile, Aim-120 (5d6+8/150/2/None), 2 Uzis with
100 rounds each (5d6+8/18/2/None), Unarmed (5d6+8/
Brawn/6/None)
Armour: Rhino (30)
Standing at eight feet in height, the Galant is the last word in
personnel armour applications With both shouldered-mount-
ed pistols and a pair of back-mounted missiles, the machines
hands are free to be equipped with any weapon you, the user,
deem necessary
Aim-120 Missiles: Aim-120 Missiles are mounted on the
Galants shoulders and are single-use They gain a +20 to hit
targets giving off a heat signature Upon explosion, they deal
150 damage to anyone within 5 feet of the blast and half that
amount to anyone within 10 feet
Anyone who would take damage from the explosion and wasnt
directly targeted gets a free Acrobatics or Dodge check to move
29
away The actual target can make one as well, but must rst
dodge the attack and then also spent an action or Awesome
Point to be entitled to Based on the table below, most charac-
ters that were right at the centre of the explosion will be looking
at about a difculty of 10
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
Cockpit: This Robot can be piloted
Headlights: This Upgrade negates the penalties for darkness
for a Robot who buys it
Mounted Weapons: The Galant has 4 Mounted Weapons, all
of which can be nominated to be used in one combat round,
each granting an additional Speed Dice Each weapon used in
this way reduces the Galants Handling by 1 If these Mounted
Weapon attacks fall on the same turn as a regular action, the
Galant gets to use all of them at the same time! If they fall
on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either use the Mounted
Weapon regular actions and a regular attack with the weapon of
your choice, or just the Stunted regular attack Decisions, deci-
sions!
Piloted Robot: Whenever the Robot makes a skill roll, you may
roll the Pilots Piloting skill and increase the Robots dice pool
Piloting Roll Bonus Dice for Robots action
10 2d6
20 3d6
40 5d6
+10 +1d6
During combat, you roll separate Speed Dice for both charac-
ters, with the Pilot only able to enhance the Robots actions on
turns where they act simultaneously As the Piloted Robot does
not have AP, the Pilot may spend Awesome Points to Hero Up its
checks, dodge or sundry other uses for AP
Rhino Armour: The Robot has 30 points of Armour from its
Rhino Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 30 or more above the difculty
to hit it ignore this and deal full damage!
Robot: As a Robot, this vehicle gets +2 to its Handling, while
its maximum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of
course, spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works just
ne Being a Robot is also the source of its Rhino Armour and
various other Upgrades
Rockets: The Robot can y under its own power It rolls 4d6 for
Flying checks to perform cool tricks with, as well as substitute
for Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows it to y at
6 times its normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1 turn The
Robot can make one 90 degree turn every combat Turn
Lancer (100 Point Robot)
Brawn 10d6 Brains -
Flow 3d6 Soul -
Speed 2d6
Armour 42, Awesome -, Cash 0, Defence 10, Hit Points 220,
Movement 34 (204 Flying), Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 3d6+4*, Melee 3d6+10, Notice 8, Olympics
9d6+4, Quickdraw 2d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Robot 15, Slowpoke -3
Upgrades: Armour, Rhino ($50,000), Controller: Cockpit
($5,000), Life Support System, Simple ($1,000), Rockets
($40,000), Sensors Package ($3,000), Thrusters ($10,000)
Attacks: Lance (3d6+10/Brawn+4/0/None)
Armour: Rhino (42), Shield, Small
A close-combat operations suit of powered armour, the Lancers
exceptional speed allows it to make any combat up-close and
personal, while making a serious point of its pilots safety at all
times
Break Their Line!: Using a Lance increases the Stunt Level of
the attack by one when making a charge Only the rst Lance
attack of a combat may be Stunted on in this manner
Cockpit: This Robot can be piloted This Robots cockpit comes
with six hours of oxygen supply and a few snacks The Robots
Sensors Package is located here, giving the pilot a at 8 on
Notice at all times
Piloted Robot: Whenever the Robot makes a skill roll, you may
roll the Pilots Piloting skill and increase the Robots dice pool
Piloting Roll Bonus Dice for Robots action
10 2d6
20 3d6
30 4d6
40 5d6
+10 +1d6
During combat, you roll separate Speed Dice for both charac-
ters, with the Pilot only able to enhance the Robots actions on
turns where they act simultaneously As the Piloted Robot does
not have AP, the Pilot may spend Awesome Points to Hero Up its
checks, dodge or sundry other uses for AP
Rhino Armour: The Robot has 42 points of Armour from its
Rhino Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 42 or more above the difculty
to hit it ignore this and deal full damage!
The Robot is also equipped with a shield to increase its defence
with
Robot: As a Robot, this vehicle gets +2 to its Handling, while
its maximum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of
course, spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works just
ne Being a Robot is also the source of its Rhino Armour and
various other Upgrades
Rockets: The Robot can y under its own power It rolls 4d6 for
Flying checks to perform cool tricks with, as well as substitute
for Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows it to y at
6 times its normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1 turn The
Robot can make one 90 degree turn every combat Turn The
Robot is also equipped with Thrusters, which double its Move-
ment speed again, for a total of 34 Movement in feet a turn on
the ground and 204 Movement in feet a turn while ying
30
31
Maid (50 point Robot)
Brawn 30d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Soul -
Speed 1d6
Armour 8, Awesome -, Cash -, Defence 7, Hit Points 80, Move-
ment 17, Speed Dice 2
Skills: Academia: Cooking 1d6+4, Academia: Etiquette 1d6+4,
First Aid 1d6+4, Olympics 3d6+2, Notice 1d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Hot 8, Innocent -2, Obsessive Com-
pulsive: Cleanliness -4, Robot 15, Runner 1
Upgrades: Armour, Light ($5,000), AI, Standard ($4,000),
Antennae ($3,000), Synth Skin ($2,000), Toolkit ($500)
Attacks: Fists (3d6/Brawn/6/None)
Armour: Light (8)
Pintarilli Industries latest line of Housekeeping Personal Assis-
tants are as functional as they are beautiful Dishwashing,
vacuuming, contact with the opposite sex, weve made all these
things of the past for the discerning customer
A.I.: The Maid is an intelligent, free-thinking Robot She has 1d6
Brains
Hard Worker: The Maid has 1 level of Runner, increasing her
Movement to 17
Robot: As a Robot, this character gets +2 to its Handling She
also gets some mostly girly Upgrades, including an Antennae to
help her notice things more easily (+2 to Notice, a personal tool-
kit and synthetic skin to make her look like a human
Patrol (200 Point Robot)
Brawn 14d6+10 Brains -
Flow 5d6 Soul -
Speed 4d6
Armour 6, Awesome -, Cash -, Defence 9, Hit Points 720, Move-
ment 40, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Acrobatics 5d6+2, Computers -, Firearms: Heavy
5d6+22, Olympics 14d6+6, Melee 5d6+10, Speed Load 5d6+8
48
Powers and Weaknesses: Giant 40, Robot 15, Slowpoke -9
Upgrades: Armour, Heavy ($20,000), Controller: Cockpit
($5,000), EMP Shielding ($3,000), Life Support System:
Simple ($1,000), Magnetic Soles ($2,000), Piston Arms: Large
($10,000), Smartlink: Super Duper ($10,000)
Attacks: Pac 3 Missile Launcher with 32 Patriot Missiles
(5d6+22/340/2/None), Unarmed (5d6+10/Brawn+10/6/Sin-
gle)
Armour: Heavy (6)
Cutting an intimidating gure against the skyline at 20 feet in
height, the Patrol is perfect for ghting on the frontlines in mer-
cenary conicts, securing the grounds of your familys home
or, just as you, the customer asked for, picking up chicks As a
mass-production model, the Patrol comes equipped with light
armour and a Pac 3 Missile Launcher, making them the foot-
soldiers of the future!
Cockpit: This Robot can be piloted This Robots cockpit comes
with six hours of oxygen supply and a few snacks
E.M.P. Shielding: Attempts to shut down the Patrols functions
with an EMP Grenade will fall on deaf ears With a difculty 10
Computers check, it is able to resist the attack
Giant: As a Giant, the Patrol enjoys a few bonuses, the rst of
which is cheaper Brawn and more expensive Flow Its Hit Points
and Movement are also increased, but it suffers a -6 when mak-
ing ranged attacks against humans and a -15 to Sneak checks
Humans making ranged attacks against him receive a +6 to hit!
Heavy Armour: The Robot has 6 points of Armour from its
Heavy Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 6 or more above the difculty
to hit it ignore this and deal full damage!
Magnetic Soles: The Robot can switch magnetized plates on the
soles of its feet on or off This prevents Knockdowns in combat A
Knockdown is suffered when you take more than half of your Hit
Points in one blow
Pac 3 Missile Launcher: Now were talking; this is some seri-
ous repower! Upon explosion, missiles deal 340 damage to
anyone within 20 feet of the blast and half that amount to any-
one within 40 feet
Anyone who would take damage from the explosion and wasnt
directly targeted gets a free Acrobatics or Dodge check to move
away The actual target can make one as well, but must rst
dodge the attack and then also spent an action or Awesome
Point to be entitled to Based on the table below, most charac-
ters that were right at the centre of the explosion will be looking
at about a difculty of 10
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
Piloted Robot: Whenever the Robot makes a skill roll, you may
roll the Pilots Piloting skill and increase the Robots dice pool
Piloting Roll Bonus Dice for
Robots action
10 2d6
20 3d6
30 4d6
40 5d6
+10 +1d6
During combat, you roll separate Speed Dice for both charac-
ters, with the Pilot only able to enhance the Robots actions on
turns where they act simultaneously As the Piloted Robot does
not have AP, the Pilot may spend Awesome Points to Hero Up its
checks, dodge or sundry other uses for AP
Robot: As a Robot, this vehicle gets +2 to its Handling, while
its maximum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of
course, spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works
just ne Being a Robot is also the source of its Heavy Armour
and various other Upgrades The Patrols Upgrades have also
bestowed it with incredible strength, granting the robot a +10
on Brawn checks
Sluggish: The Patrol is not the speediest Robot around After
adjusting for its size, its Movement is reduced to 40
Smartlink, Super Duper: The Super Duper Smartlink grants
the Patrol a +8 on all Ranged attacks This increases its Fire-
arms skill to 5d6+22
32
Bottle, Broken: You cant get much classier than this Smash-
ing a bottle open on a bar before you mash it into some suckers
throat is a time-honoured tradition, but if you try it in real life,
your hand is more than likely to get slashed to ribbons With
the simple expenditure of an Awesome Point, not only does the
bottle smash stylishly, giving you a meaty melee weapon, but
it deals 5 damage to everyone standing within three feet other
than yourself
Chainsaw: YES! ITS A CHAINSAW! This weapon has a higher
Stunt Level than normal due to its use in combat being entirely
implausible When the chainsaw is drawn, a character must
spend one turn revving it During this time, they may make a
Pose check entirely free
Every time a chainsaw lands a killing blow, this mighty behe-
moth of ripping blades gets gore and blood stuck on it, giving
you a cumulative -5 to all attacks made with it Shaking the gore
and blood off requires one turn
Lance: The Stunt Level of any Lance attack is increased by one
level when made during a charge We dene a charge as any
action where you slammed the hell into a guy and beat his face
in This will raise a normal action to a Stunt, even for Mooks
Lances are serious business, so dont you forget it
If making multiple Lance attacks during a charge, only the rst
is treated as a Stunt
Weapons and Armor
Melee Weapons
When reading the Melee Weapons table, Weapon is the type
of weapon being used Price is the price of the item relative
to other weapons and should be adjusted for your own game
Damage is the amount of damage dealt by the weapon Where
the weapon does Brawn damage, the total of all Brawn dice is
added to the attacks listed damage Values in brackets are
armour penetration Defence Bonus is a bonus the character
gets to their total defence, making them harder to hit Size is the
weapons size category As a note on size, Small weapons can
be wielded two-handed by Tiny characters Two-handed weap-
ons can be wielded, guess what, two handed by medium char-
acters Handling is the weapons Handling level Stunt Level is
the weapons maximum level of Stunt when wielded
If you want to change the size of a weapon, you can usually get
it down with a bit of common sense We recommend increas-
ing the damage by 10 and dropping the handling by 1 for every
size increase Shrinking a weapon reduces the damage by 6,
but makes it easier to conceal Multiply the listed price by 5 for
every size increase
Wielding a melee weapon of a size one larger than your charac-
ter requires a minimum Brawn of 3d6 for Tiny characters, 6d6
for normal sized characters and 20d6 for Giants This reduces
the weapons Handling to 0 and the Stunt Level by one
Weapon Price Damage Defence Size Handling Stunt
Axe 20 Brawn+12 (4) 1 Medium 2 Double
Axe, Huge 100 Brawn+18 (8) 0 Medium 1 Double
Axe, Hand 15 Brawn+6 (4) 1 Small 2 Double
Bat, Baseball 10 Brawn+4 2 Medium 2 Triple
Baton 30 Brawn+6 2 Medium 2 Single
Bottle, Broken 2 Brawn+1 1 Medium 2 Double
Chainsaw 200 Brawn+26 0 Medium 0 Double
Drill Arm 50,000 Brawn+40 2 Giant 0 Single
Glaive 30 Brawn+8 3 Medium 1 Double
Guitar 500 Brawn+2 0 Medium 2 Quadruple
Katara 2 Brawn+1 0 Small 4 Quadruple
Knife 5 Brawn+2 1 Small 3 Triple
Lance 200 Brawn+4 1 Medium 1 Triple
Mace 25 Brawn+6 2 Medium 2 Double
Mace, Spray 12 - 0 Small 2 Single
Needle 1 Brawn 0 Tiny 3 Triple
Nunchakus 50 Brawn+2 3 Medium 3 Quadruple
Sledgehammer 15 Brawn+20 0 Medium 1 Single
Spanner, Astro 30 Brawn+4 2 Medium 3 Quadruple
Spear 20 Brawn+6 2 Medium 2 Double
Spurs 20 Brawn+1 0 Tiny 2 Triple
Spurs, Buzz Saw 300 Brawn+4 (2) 0 Tiny 2 Triple
Staff, Bo 20 Brawn+8 2 Medium 3 Double
Sword 50 Brawn+10 2 Medium 2 Triple
Sword, Beam (E) 250,000 100 (100) 8 Col 0 Triple
Sword, Short 20 Brawn+6 2 Small 2 Triple
Sword, Two
Handed
200 Brawn+16 (6) 1 Medium 1 Triple
Taser 25 2 1 Small 2 Single
Umbrella, War 500 Brawn+2 3 Medium 2 Double
Unarmed - Brawn 0 - 4 Unlimited
Whip 20 Brawn+1 3 Medium 3 Quadruple
33
Mace (Spray): When attacking with Mace, youll be at a -10 to
hit for the called shot to the head On the upside, however, a
successful hit means the target is blinded for an entire round
On a success, the target is blinded in both eyes Mace may only
be used once
Reach Weapons: Reach Weapons such as Glaives and Spears
grant two additional dice on Acrobatics checks they are used for
Taser: A target hit by a Taser must make a difculty 10 Tough-
ness check with a failure costing them their next three actions
Whip: This allows you to substitute a Melee check for an Acro-
batics check, permitting something to swing on
Ranged Weapons
When reading the Ranged Weapons table, Weapon is the type of
weapon being used Ammo is the type of ammunition required
for use of the weapon Price is the price of the item relative to
other weapons and should be adjusted for your own game Dam-
age is the amount of damage dealt by the weapon before sub-
tracting armour Values in brackets are armour penetration Bul-
lets Fired/Bonus is the number of bullets the weapon can re in
an action and the bonus this applies to the attack roll Rounds
Weapon Ammo Price Damage Rounds Range RT Size Handling Stunt
Pistols
357 Magnum 357 300 24 6 5/1 4 Small 3 Triple
Colt Navy 36 400 18 6 5/1 4 Small 3 Quad
Glock 9mm 100 18 12 5/1 2 Small 2 Double
Phantasm Laser 700 14 - 10/1 - Small 3 Triple
Ries
Blaster Laser 1,500 30 - 20/1 - Medium 2 Double
Boys AT Rie 55 10,000 90(40) 5 25/1 3 Medium 1 None
Lee Eneld 303 300 36 10 20/1 6 Medium 2 Triple
M1 Garand 3006 600 34 8 20/1 3 Medium 2 Double
Musket Powder 200 30 1 10/1 4 Medium 1 Triple
Rie, Galactic G Shell 400,000 400 1 60/1 5 Col 1 Single
Rie, Giant Laser 25,000 50 - 40/1 - Giant 2 Double
Shotgun
Auto-Shotgun 12-gauge 600 8 30 1/1 4 Medium 1 None
Disintegrator Skull 50,000 80 2 5/1 3 Col 1 None
Scattergun 12-gauge 400 8 2 1/2 3 Medium 2 None
Shotgun, DB 12-gauge 400 8 2 1/1 3 Medium 2 None
Shotgun, Pump 12-gauge 300 8 6 1/1 2 Medium 2 None
Automatics
AK-47 762mm 650 25 30 20/1 2 Medium 2 Single
G-13 47mm 800 22 45 20/1 1 Medium 2 Single
GAU-12
Equalizer
25mm 5,000 30 4,500 20/1 3 Giant 1 None
Home Wrecker 50mm 80,000 24 15,000 40/1 10 Col 1 None
M240 762mm 1,200 25 800 20/1 4 Giant 1 None
Uzi 9mm 400 18 30 10/1 2 Small 2 Single
XM214 Minigun 762mm 1,500 25 1,000 20/1 5 Giant 1 None
Heavy
AT-10 125mm
Rocket
4,000 By Rocket 1 30/1 3 Giant 2 None
Cannon, 125mm 125mm 40,000 140 (40) 1 40/1 3 Giant 1 None
Cannon, 155mm 155mm 60,000 160 (50) 1 60/1 5 Giant 1 None
Cannon,
Galactic
Emperor 6,000,000 450 (60) 1 100/1 20 Col 1 None
Cannon, Laser Laser 80,000 80 - 50/1 - Giant 1 None
Cannon, Pirate Round Shot 300 100 1 20/1 5 Giant 1 None
Flamethrower Ignited Oil 5,000 40 10 5/1 3 Medium 1 None
Grenade
Launcher
40mm 1,500 By Grenade 3 10/1 4 Medium 2 None
PAC 3 Missile
Launcher
410mm
Missile
30,000 By Missile 16 50/1 10 Giant 1 None
Other
Axe, Hand - 15 Brawn+6 (4) - 5/1 - Small 2 Double
Bow, Cross Steel Bolt 50 22 1 10/1 2 Medium 1 Single
Bow, Flat Arrow 10 Brawn+6 1 5/1 1 Medium 2 Double
Bow, Yumi Arrow 20 Brawn+6 1 10/1 1 Medium 1 Double
Knife - 5 Brawn+2 - 5/1 - Small 3 Triple
34
is the number of bullets the weapon can re before it requires
reloading RT, or Reloading Time, is the number of actions it
takes to do so Size is the weapons size category Handling is
the weapons Handling level Stunt Level is the weapons maxi-
mum level of Stunt when wielded
Wielding a ranged weapon of a size one larger than your character
requires a minimum Brawn of 3d6 for Tiny characters, 6d6 for nor-
mal sized characters and 20d6 for Giants This reduces the weap-
ons Stunt Level by one level
Flamethrower: When a amethrower scores a hit, the unlucky
saps targeted are now on re This counts as a Large Fire and
burns for four turns, dealing 10 damage and -20 penalty to all
checks for the duration The lowdown on this nasty, nasty haz-
ard is available in Chapter 4: Rules, under all Even The World
Wants Us Dead!
A Flamethrower tank may be targeted by an attack from behind
at a -2 penalty Any attack that deals at least 20 damage causes
the tank to explode in a beautiful reball, dealing 120 damage,
with a burst of 10/20
Lee Eneld: After every shot the Lee Enelds bolt must be
drawn manually This requires either a Speed Load check with
a difculty of 8 or the expenditure of an action If the check is
failed you lose no actions and may spend your next action draw-
ing the bolt
Shotguns: When you re a shotgun, theres a lot of splash To
represent this, shotguns gain a +40 to hit for each barrel red
The Disintegrator gains a +200 to hit Its just that big On the
downside, this free bonus is not factored into armour penetra-
tion as the attack just splatters all over it
Automatic Fire
Weapon Bonus Dice
AK-47 2/4
Auto-Shotgun -/4
G-13 2/4
Glock 2/-
Home Wrecker -/15
M240 -/7
XM214 -/8
Uzi 2/3
When reading the Auto-Fire table, Weapon is the type of weapon
being used, Bonus Dice gives you the number of extra dice for
ring on burst re and fully automatic Firing on Burst uses three
bullets Firing on fully-automatic uses half of the maximum clip
For information on how Automatic Fire works, consult Chapter
4: Combat
Grenades, Rockets and Miscellaneous
When reading the Grenades, Rockets and Miscellaneous Table,
Weapon is the type of weapon Price is a rough estimate of the
weapons cost in comparison to other weapons Adjust as nec-
essary for your game Damage is the amount of damage dealt
by the weapon Values in brackets are armour penetration All
explosions have a Burst value, measured in feet Anyone with-
in the rst Burst value takes the full damage from the explo-
sion, with anyone in the second Burst value taking half damage
Hand determines whether or not the weapon can be thrown or
is safe to throw Size is the weapons size category Handling is
Weapon Price Damage Burst Hand Size Handling Stunt Level
00 Buckshot 180 22 - No Small 3 None
Beanbag 10 18 - No Small 3 None
C4/Semtex 150 200 30/60 No Small 0 None
Dynamite,
Stick
10 60 5/10 Yes Small 2 None
Grenade 150 80 15/30 Yes Small 3 None
Grenade,
EMP
3,000 - 50 Yes Small 3 None
Grenade,
Flash Bang
80 - 50 Yes Small 3 None
Grenade,
Napalm
200 90 10/20 No Small 3 None
Grenade,
Smoke
30 - 40 Yes Small 3 None
Grenade, Slug 25 60 - No Small 3 None
Grenade, Tear
Gas
120 - 30 Yes Small 3 None
Mine 200 90 1 N/A Small - None
Rocket,
Anti-Tank
1,000 150 (40) 2/4 N/A Small 2 None
Rocket,
High-Energy
500 120 15/30 N/A Small 2 None
Missile,
Aim-120
1,200 150 5/10 N/A Small 2 None
Missile, Patriot 2,000 340 20/40 N/A Medium - None
Shell,
Assassin
25,000 - - N/A Giant - None
Shell, Inferno 20,000 300 75/150 N/A Giant - None
Shell, Napalm 50,000 450 450/900 N/A Giant - None
Shell, Nuclear 100,000 2,000 500/1000 N/A Giant - None
35
the weapons Handling level Stunt Level is the weapons maxi-
mum level of Stunt when wielded
When stacking explosives on the same type, each beyond the
rst adds an additional 10% damage, which caps at 200% of
the original damage If explosives of different types are detonat-
ed in the same area, treat any areas of overlap as belonging to
whichever does the most damage
Rip Steakface thought it would be cool to pull the pins on six
grenades at once. A single grenade does 80 damage, so he
takes 120 damage.
Hit Location: When using these weapons, instead of target-
ing an enemy, you may elect to target a point on the ground
A successful hit means it treats the designated point as where
it landed for purposes of determining how nasty the Burst is
This is a great way of hitting a whole heap of targets if youre
outnumbered
C4/Semtex: The listed amount represents roughly 1 kilogram
of the substance or about a st sized blob!
Grenades: Unless specied otherwise, a grenade will go off on
the turn its thrown However, a character may elect to delay the
blast for up to three turns, at which point, anyone in the area it
affects takes damage as normal
Lieutenant is trying to rescue the fair Sensata from some giant
ants. To stop them pursuing, he throws a grenade on turn 4, but
delays the blast till turn 1. Then, on turn 3 he uses his action
to tear the Angels dress where the ant is holding it and throw
her into a car. On turn 2, he hightails it out of there in the stolen
vehicle. As the ants turn to give chase, the grenade suddenly
goes off, blowing the lot of them to smithereens.
Grenade, Beanbag: This is a heavy round that can knock
someone out, doing non-lethal damage Due to its weight, it suf-
fers a 2 to hit
Grenade, EMP: A tossed EMP grenade shorts out everything
mechanical in the area for 1d6 turns, including any upgrades a
Cyborg possesses If tossed at a robot, they must succeed at a
difculty 10 Brains check or be shut down for the same amount
of time Robots are the only characters who may attempt to
resist in this way
Grenade, Flash Bang: Targets hit by a Flash Bang grenade
must succeed at a Toughness check with a difculty of 15 Fail-
ure puts the blinded person at a -6 penalty for the next 3 turns
Grenade, Slugs: Slugs are a very heavy grenade launcher
round
Grenades, Smoke: Smoke Grenades infer a 6 penalty on any
attacks that go in an area involving the smoke, such as shots
red into it or by people inside it Lasts 10 rounds
Grenade, Tear Gas: A Tear Gas Grenade requires all caught
in the blast to make a Toughness check of 10 at the start of
each round until they move out of the cloud The difculty of this
check increases by 2 for every successive round in the smoke
Failure incurs a 6 on all rolls made while in the cloud
Shell, Assassin: The Assassin Shell is a round designed for
taking down Piloted Robots It res a missile which sticks in the
side of the robot, then deposits two killer Toasters inside the
target, from where they scuttle around killing anything they can
get their dirty little claws on
Missile, Aim-120: This is a heat-seeking missile that receives
a +20 to hit against targets that give off heat
Armor
When reading the Armour Table, Armour is the type of Armour
worn Price is the cost of the armour relative to other armours
and should be adjusted for your own game Value is the armour
value of the armour, subtracted from all damage dealt Location
is the parts of the body the armour covers The armours Value
is only subtracted against hits that hit the locations it protects
Stunt Level, Melee is the character's maximum Stunt Level for
melee attacks while wearing this armour while wearing this
armour Stunt Level, Ranged is the maximum Stunt Level for
ranged attacks while wearing this armour
Battle Bikini: This can be worn under other armour The sad
reality is, though, is that characters dressed up in a battle bikini
are only granted its protection when it and more importantly the
babe wearing it are completely visible Tough, isnt it?
Disposable Armour: The player may opt to spend an extra
2,000 Credits to obtain the new and improved version of Dis-
posable Armour Sounds enticing, right? Its a pretty specic
upgrade, though, allowing you to push a single button to make
the armour break apart and fall off, leaving you in whatever else
you were wearing Removing the armour in this fashion means it
can be done at any time, instantly, not even requiring a combat
action! The armour can be reassembled at later convenience
Shields
When reading the Shields table, Shield is the size of the shield
and it may be of any material Price is the cost of the shield
Defence Bonus is an amount added to the characters Defence,
against ranged and melee attacks, Block gives the value of the
shield for blocking attacks, as outlined in Chapter 5: The Fight
You can also look up how Armour Values for things like shields
work while youre there, if you want to destroy them Move deter-
mines whether or not the character can move, and how far,
while still using the shield
These shield sizes assume theyre being used by a normal-sized
person Increase a shields Armour value by 10 for every size
increase
Armour Price Value Location Stunt, Melee Stunt, Ranged
Bikini, Battle 12,000 10 Chest, Arms Unlimited Unlimited
Chain Mail 120 15 Chest, Legs, Arms Double Triple
Chain Mail, Vest 80 15 Chest Single Double
Flak Jacket 200 15 Chest Double Triple
Helmet, Metal 10 15 Head Triple Quadruple
Leather Armour 30 10 Chest Triple Quadruple
Plate Mail 1,500 20 Chest, Arms, Legs Single Double
Spacesuit 800 5 All Double Triple
Spacesuit,
Armoured
30,000 25 All Single Double
Trench Coat,
Armoured
300 10 Chest, Arms, Legs Double Triple
36
Small Shields: Small Shields may be nominated as a Second-
ary Attack, doing damage equal to Brawn+2
Barricades: Barricades must be forced forward with both
hands They move a number of feet for each turn of pushing
equal to the Brawn score of the character pushing them for-
ward Otherwise, they function like regular Cover
Shield Price Defence Block Armour Move
Small 10 1 5 20 Yes
Medium 20 2 10 30 Yes
Large 30 4 15 40 Half
Barricade 50 - - 50 Special
Ammunition
When reading the Ammunition Table, Price/50 bullets is the
cost to buy 50 bullets, relative to other weapons and should be
adjusted for your own game Ammo is the type of Ammunition
used
Ammo Price/50
9mm 5
357, 762mm, Musket Car-
tridge, 47mm
10
36, 25mm 20
12 gauge, 50mm, 303 50
55, 30-06 100
Arrows 10
125mm 20,000
155mm 30,000
GShell, Skull 50,000
Vehicles
This is where youll nd the most fantastic rides in the galaxy By
the time youre done here, youll never have to walk again!
When reading the table, Price is the cost of the vehicle in Galac-
tic Credits Passengers is the number of non-drivers the vehi-
cle can carry Engine is the type of fuel required to make the
vehicle run Movement is the top speed of a vehicle in one turn
Acceleration is the amount by which the vehicle can increase
its speed every turn Brawn is the amount of damage dealt on
a successful Ram attack HP is the amount of damage required
to be dealt to the vehicle for it is rendered inoperable Precision
is an inherent bonus to all driving/piloting checks made while
steering the vehicle Size is the vehicles size category for mak-
ing ranged attacks Finally, Armour is the amount of armour the
vehicle has
Ground Vehicles
Here youll nd everything you need to experience the joy of feel-
ing the charred and burned out bodies of your enemies beneath
your treads And, sure, maybe the open road, too
APC
Price 60,000, Passengers 10, Engine Diesel, Movement 400,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 18d6, HP 920, Precision +2, Size Giant,
Armour Front 30, Bottom 8, Side/Rear 25
Big Rig
Price 30,000, Passengers 11, Engine Diesel, Movement 500,
Acceleration 10, Brawn 15d6, HP 870, Precision +0, Size Giant,
Armour Front 10, Bottom 5, Side/Rear 5
Bike, Dirt
Price 50, Passengers 0, Engine Your Feet, Man, Movement 100,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 2d6, HP 60, Precision +4, Size Normal,
Armour 0
Bike, Hover
Price 25,000, Passengers 0, Engine Fusion, Movement 700,
Acceleration 100, Brawn 5d6, HP 120, Precision +6, Size Nor-
mal, Armour 16
Motor Bike
Price 8,000, Passengers 0, Engine Petrol, Movement 600,
Acceleration 50, Brawn 3d6, HP 80, Precision +4, Size Normal,
Armour 8
Car, Economy
Price 4,000, Passengers 4, Engine Petrol, Movement 450,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 10d6, HP 520, Precision +1, Size Giant,
Armour 12
Car, Family
Price 10,000, Passengers 4, Engine Petrol, Movement 500,
Acceleration 30, Brawn 12d6, HP 620, Precision +3, Size Giant,
Armour Front 16, Bottom 4, Side/Rear 8
Limousine
Price 100,000, Passengers 8, Engine Petrol, Movement 500,
Acceleration 40, Brawn 8d6, HP 420, Precision +5, Size Giant,
Armour 20
Limousine, War
Price 200,000, Passengers 12, Engine Petrol, Movement 600,
Acceleration 500, Brawn 14d6, HP 720, Precision +4, Size
Giant, Weapons M-120 (2), Armour 30
Tank
Price 250,000, Passengers 5, Engine Diesel, Movement 400,
Acceleration 10, Brawn 20d6, HP 1020, Precision +2, Size
Giant, Weapons 125mm Cannon, Machine Gun, Armour Bot-
tom/Rear 10, Front 60, Side 30
Tank, Grand
Price 60,000,000, Passengers 100, Engine Fusion, Movement
500, Acceleration 10, Brawn 60d6, HP 6,020, Precision +1,
Size Colossal, Weapons Cannon, Galactic, Cannon, Laser (2),
Machine Gun, Giant (2), Machine Gun (12), Armour Bottom 80,
Front 240, Side/Rear 160
Tank, Hover
Price 500,000, Passengers 5, Engine Fusion, Movement 600,
Acceleration 25, Brawn 20d6, HP 1020, Precision +2, Size
Giant, Weapons Cannon, Laser, Machine Gun, Armour Bottom/
Rear 10, Front 60, Side 30
Air Vehicles
Any adventurer knows the real fun is to be had in the air, of
course Here youll nd all manner of aerial contraptions perfect
for staging a climatic st-ght on
37
Blimp
Price 10,000, Passengers 50, Engine Hot Air, Movement 100,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 6d6, HP 620, Precision +2, Size Colos-
sal, Armour 0
Fighter Jet
Price 40,000, Passengers 1, Engine Jet Fuel, Movement
30,000, Acceleration 500, Brawn 10d6, HP 520, Precision +2,
Size Giant, Weapons 4 Aim-120 Missiles, GAU-12 Equalizer,
Armour 20
Gyrocopter
Price 20,000, Passengers 1, Engine Varies, Movement 500,
Acceleration 50, Brawn 5d6, HP 220 Precision 0, Size Giant,
Armour 5
Helicopter
Price 30,000, Passengers 4, Engine Diesel, Movement 2,000,
Acceleration 200, Brawn 10d6, HP 520 Precision 0, Size Giant,
Armour 20
Ocean Faring Vehicles
Precious booty just out of reach? Own too many parrots? Get
out on the high seas, where those landlubbers cant bother you
anymore!
Destroyer
Price 100,000, Passengers 300, Engine Nuclear, Movement
500, Acceleration 50, Brawn 30d6, HP 3,020 Precision +1,
Size Colossal, Armour 160
Jetski
Price 5,000, Passengers 0, Engine Petrol, Movement 500,
Acceleration 25, Brawn 3d6, HP 80 Precision +2, Size Normal,
Armour 8
Pirate Ship
Price 20,000 Passengers 100, Engine Muscle, Movement 100,
Acceleration 5, Brawn 10d6, HP 1,020, Precision 0, Size Colos-
sal, Weapons Cannon, Pirate (20), Armour 0
Speed Boat
Price 15,000, Passengers 4, Engine Petrol, Movement 400,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 10d6, HP 520, Precision +2, Size Giant,
Armour 10
Spaceships
And when youre done on the ground, the action can continue in
space, with ghters, shuttles and the monstrous warships of the
Galactic Federation
Cruiser, Battle
Price 20,000,000, Passengers 500, Engine Fusion, Movement
40,000, Acceleration 100, Brawn 60d6, HP 6,020, Precision
+2 Size Colossal Weapons Cannon, Ultra (2), Home Wrecker
(20) Armour 120
Cruiser, War
Price 500,000,000, Passengers 3,000, Engine Fusion, Move-
ment 60,000, Acceleration 50, Brawn 100d6, HP 10,020, Pre-
cision +3, Size Colossal, Weapons Cannon, Galactic, Cannon,
Ultra (6), Machine Gun, Giant (30), Armour 200
Fighter, Small
Price 50,000, Passengers 1, Engine Fusion, Movement 50,000,
Acceleration 200, Brawn 8d6, HP 420, Precision +6, Size Giant,
Weapons Cannon, 125mm, Machine Gun (2), Armour 30
Shuttle
Price 200,000, Passengers 20, Engine Fusion, Movement
25,000, Acceleration 50, Brawn 30d6, HP 3,020, Precision +4,
Size Colossal, Armour 60
39
Rules, huh? Well, you have to have rules I mean, sure, in a per-
fect world, we wouldnt need rules
But in a perfect world, there wouldnt be any intergalactic space
thugs who needed their faces kicked in
In a roleplaying game, the rules are there to govern the actions
of the characters and the world they reside in The rules should
be used whenever the fate of an action is uncertain for what-
ever reason, or fate is about to intervene to mess things up for
the characters
The Awesome System has a very simple rule set, which a player
can pick up quite easily just by playing This chapter is designed
for teaching entirely new players the rules and will answer any
questions you have about performing your characters actions
or what happens when you do your best to bend the rules to
breaking point
Rolling Dice
The simplest thing to do in the game is to make a skill check And
all you need is a handful of six siders
First, you have to nd the skill youre rolling, like Notice or Speed
Load Then you see how many levels you have in it All skills will
be grouped under an appropriate stat, like Brains or Brawn, so
add the number of dice in that stat to the rst amount If you
dont have the skill, just use your Stat for the number of dice
Thats your dice pool
Some skills will have a bonus, which is added to whatever you
roll afterwards
Once youve worked out how many dice youve got, roll them
and take the highest number If one or more come up a 6, reroll
those and add the new roll to the previous number If you get
another 6, just keep going till you either beat the skill check or
stop rolling sixes Think of them as little crits, except youll be
rolling enough to ll up a wheelbarrow
When setting a difculty, the Gamemaster should keep in mind
whats fair and fun The table below is a list of sample difcul-
ties, taking into account how silly, fun to watch and, lastly, dif-
cult they are
Say you want to sneak by some guards. Theres a chance they
might spot you. Since, theyre not actively searching for you,
though, the Gamemaster decides you need to beat an 8 to
sneak by them. You have a Flow, the stat you use for sneaking,
of 2d6 and a Sneak of 3d6+2. So youd roll 5d6+2.
You roll your 5 dice and they come up 6, 6, 5, 3 and 2. You reroll
the two sixes, getting a 3 and a 2, making for a 9 and an 8. We
take the 9, since its higher, then add your 2 bonus to it, giving
you a total roll of 11.
Writing a letter
(Brains + Art: Writing)
2
Grabbing a donut when
no-ones looking
(Flow + Sleight of Hand)
6
Weaving through incoming trafc
(Flow + Drive)
10
Hacking into a government com-
puter
(Brains + Computers)
14
Picking up a couch
(Brawn + Olympics)
18
Tracking a man through a eld
at night while its raining
(Brains + Track)
22
Playing a Nirvana song
one-handed
(Flow + Instrument)
26
Stopping a helicopter blade with
your hands
(Brawn + Olympics)
30
Assisted Rolls
Well, those lunkheads youre hooning around with have to be
good for something, right? Lets say youre under the pump
and you need a little oomph, who better to turn to than your
fellow man? When making any skill check, a buddy may make
a difculty 5 roll with the same skill to grant you a +2 on your
roll Succeeding on a difculty 15 gives you a +4, with an extra
+2 for every 10 points up from there
We dont really have a hard limit on how many people can
assist you with a check in this fashion, since while its kind of
dumb to have a thousand people helping you swing on a chan-
delier by waving their arms around, its denitely pretty funny
Stunts: Fame and Power
Another type of skill check that can be really useful in a tough
situation is a Stunt This is rolled exactly the same as a regular
skill check, but instead of taking the highest dice, you add them
all together Characters can only Stunt under special circum-
stances, such as during combat or when using a Hero Skill, but
its often well worth it
Lets get something straight about Stunts, though Sometimes
you can do more than just a regular Stunt You can do even bet-
ter Stunts After a regular Stunt, theres a Double Stunt, then
a Triple Stunt, then a Quadruple Stunt and so on, into innity
They have a Stunt Multiplier equal to their level, which is applied
to any Awesome Points spent, as well be explaining in the next
section Basically its the key to being a super heroic character,
the kind of guy who excels beyond all expectations
The guards spotted you! This time you have no choice but to
escape, so you commandeer a nearby motorcycle and take off.
The guards follow quickly as you wind through the streets, both
of you making skill checks. You declare you want to lose them
by nding the harbour bridge and driving up it just as its open-
ing to let a boat through. You make the action a Stunt and make
a driving check, rolling your Flow of 2d6 and your driving of
6d6+1, for a total of 8d6+1.
You roll a modest 32 and add 1 to it, for a total of 33. You blast
over the bridge with grace and poise, the guards braking at the
last second, possibly exploding.
Obviously, Stunts are not your regular action Describe them
with air and grace and your GM will not only let you get away
with them, but reward your audacity
CHAPTER 4: THE RULES!
40
Awesome
A powerful force
This here game is designed to provide the most memorable, out-
rageous action youve ever seen, in the form of a little thing we
call Awesome, or Awesome Points It keeps the characters going
and gives them hope, it allows them to use their Hero skills and
it lets them kick loads and loads of butt A characters Awesome
Pool, or maximum amount of Awesome Points, is equal to their
Soul times 2, plus 6 They start the game with this Pool half full
So how do you get these little babies back in your pocket, once
youve spent them? Well, as characters role-play and act, they
should be rewarded by the Gamemaster with Awesome Points
Every Gamemaster has his own ideas of what Awesome Points
should be handed out for, but good roleplaying, a crazy Stunt or
making the GM crack up are all good
Just to make sure you always have some, though, if a character
ever nishes a session on less AP than their Soul score, they get
their total brought up to that amount at the start of the next ses-
sion We encourage you to spend AP, not to hoard them away
AP are really useful in game and, just for an example of how
useful, they can be expended on any of the following uses and
more
Hero Skills
Hero Skills are marked with a * icon on the character stat blocks
provided throughout this book
The most important use for Awesome Points are powering your
Hero Skills Your character is most likely a specialist in a cou-
ple of elds, ranging from anything to ghting, Astrophysics or
ping pong and in the name of pure, unbridled awesome, these
god-given powers will save the universe more than youd think
These are the skills that are most vital to your character and you
have a number equal to your Brains + 1
When raising the Stunt Level of a skill like this, you simply spend
two Awesome Points and describe what youre doing Then, you
roll the skill check as normal, but treat it as a Stunt, adding all
the dice together If its already a Stunt, you increase the Stunt
Level by one You may Hero Up like this as many times as you
like, if you have the AP for it Just remember to use these special
powers when you need them most, to get you out of the many
desperate situations youll nd yourself in
Additionally, if youre really desperate, youre welcome to Ham
Up, which can be done to any skill for the low, low price of 4 AP
Just try not to chew the scenery too much
A few more uses for Awesome Points are listed below for your
perusing Think of them as your Arsenal of Funk
Bonus: Gain an extra dice on a skill roll If the check has a Stunt
multiplier, you gain a number of dice equal to the Stunt Level of
the check for every AP you spend
Deathbed Monologue: The character ignores Hit Points lost
from bleeding for the next hour
Grit Your Teeth: Ignore negative Hit Point penalties for one
Turn
Handling: Allows you to shift Action Dice Check Chapter 5:
Combat for details
Light As A Feather: Falling damage is halved
Reaction: If you are required to spend an action to do some-
thing, you can spend an Awesome Point instead
Speed Up: Gain an extra Speed Dice at the start of the combat
round
Even The World Wants Us Dead!
While combats rage or even in every day life, the world around
you may end up doing more suffering to you than any slavering
tyrannosaurus could ever hope to Roaring ames can swallow
men whole and raging rapids can drag friends away, never to be
seen again For all the difculties of nature, read on
To check the damage caused by re, simply estimate the level
of aming death currently engulng you and then consult our
handy table below For every turn spent in the re, you take the
listed effects Once youre out of it, itll naturally go out after
about four turns, but you can speed it up by making a difculty
0 Toughness check, in which case your burly and rugged mascu-
linity instantly extinguishes the ames Highly recommended for
a man who needs the edge in a world that is perpetually trying
to incinerate him
Even if you fail the Toughness check, were nice enough to say
whatever you rolled prior to the penalty being added can be
written up as an attempt to grit your teeth and just deal with it,
since thats how you roll If you want to take a regular action, like
jumping, ghting, whatever, youre welcome to add your roll to
your currently penalty
So its come to this. Youre on re and taking a -20 to all actions.
Bummer! You make a ferocious Toughness check, but only walk
away with a 16, not enough to extinguish the ames. Deciding
to get even with the scumsucker who did this to you, you slap
him around the chops, and rather than doing it at the standard
-20 penalty, youre playing with a cool -4 instead. Nothing like
dealing out a platter of piping hot punitive pugilism.
Intensity Damage Penalty
Small Fire
(Flaming sleeve)
4 8
Large Fire
(Burning house)
10 20
Out of Control Fire
(Uncontained and span-
ning a huge area)
20 40
When dealing with water, its mostly only a hassle if youre under
it For every minute your character spends underwater, they have
to make a difculty 8 Toughness check, with the difculty rising
by 6 every successive minute Every time the character fails one
of these checks, they take the difference in Hit Point loss More
about Swimming can be found under its skill description Any hit
point damage taken from drowning is restored upon resurfacing
Extreme heat, such as that in a desert, requires a daily Tough-
ness check, made at noon, when the sun shines brightest A dif-
culty 8 Survival check is required, with the difculty increased
by 2 for every day the character has been without food or water
Failure means your Brawn is reduced by 1, suffering appropriate
Hit Point loss, each point only able to be restored after a solid
week of rest
Extreme cold, such as a blizzard, works similarly, except the
check must be made for every minute the character is out in
the cold without protective clothing and even with warm clothes,
anything that doesnt seal them off or otherwise completely pro-
tect them will still incur a check every hour Failure results in the
same Brawn loss, as the character freezes to death, although
if you can get them someplace warm and theyre still alive, all
Brawn lost will return after about an hour of rest Try not to
spend too much time in the snow
When falling, a character takes 1d6 damage for every ve feet
they fall Characters can potentially make a difculty 8 Acrobat-
ics check to grab onto something to stop their fall, but only if
they can get with some of that old GM lovin
Characters who nd themselves in the vacuum of space Well,
they die after thirty seconds, barring something, you know, awe-
some
41
43
Holding Actions
So lets say you have an action on turn 4, but for some reason,
you dont want to use it until turn 2 Thats ne with us, and it
will be treated as if it had taken place on turn 2, meaning any-
one who has an action on turn 3 gets to act before you Just call
it whenever you feel like it!
In the event that the player already has an action on the later
turn, the two turns are absolutely not added together to make
Stunts, they are treated as separate actions If its a check that
can only be attempted once that turn, like Piloting a Giant Robot,
just take whichever action has the highest Stunt Level The rea-
soning for all this will become obvious after youve played a few
combats
Actions held until the end of the round must be used before
the next round can start, bringing priority into play NPCs are
required to take their turns before PCs If two PCs are both hold-
ing their actions, the one with the lower Speed value acts rst
Handling
Handling is a delightful function of your characters weapons,
unique to the Awesome System, to make combat that little
bit easier for you We use a combat system focussed around
six turns per round, with unlockable bonuses for well-placed
actions in these turns, so Handling is our bona-de, 100% guar-
anteed method of getting the results you want, every time
What this means in game terms is you can spend an Awesome
Point at any time to gain Handling up to your current weapons
Handling score, then get to moving your actions up and down
from one turn to another Handling is great for a whole bunch of
things, including shifting actions together to make Stunts, mov-
ing them apart if you want to act more and pushing them up
and down to act sooner or later in the turn Just remember you
expend a point of Handling for every single step you move an
action
If you dont want to spend an Awesome Point, you can choose
to spend an action to gain a single point of Handling This may
be done a number of times per round up to the characters Han-
dling score
If a character has the same Handling score as his henchmen,
he may spend AP to shift the entire groups actions
Strongor the Starbarian is using his Starbarian Sword, a weap-
on with two levels of Handling. He rolls his Speed dice, getting
1, 2, 2, 4 and 6. Realizing hes best off taking his opponent
down in one calculated blow, he spends an Awesome Point to
shift the 4 up two turns, enabling a Stunt on turn 6. He then
decides to spend another Awesome Point to gain two more Han-
dling, using one of them to bring his 1 up to turn 2, giving him
a Double Stunt on 2. He has 1 point of Handling left, which he
doesnt use. When his 2 rolls around, for every Awesome Point
he spends hell get 2 bonus dice.
Vlad the Friendly Russian Jet has 6 Handling while ghting with
his sts and three actions on 1. For Vlad, having his actions
spread out suits him more, so he spends an Awesome Point to
gain 5 Handling. He moves his rst one up to turn 4 and his sec-
ond one up to turn 3. He now acts three times, instead of once.
If youre a bounty hunter, youre going to have to hunt bounties
If youre a merchant, youre going to have to tussle with sudden
ork ambushes And any good rock star can tell you that a good
concert ends with a guitar broken over someones head So,
sooner or later, no matter what you do for a career, youre prob-
ably going to have to know how to ght like a man Sometimes,
even if youre a little girl
Its time to learn how to ght This chapter covers everything you
need to know about taking damage and dishing it out
Rounds
Combat is dened as when the Gamemaster declares that you
and a bad dude have seen each other and are about to engage
in the gentlemans art If youre attacking someone before com-
bat starts, use the Sneak Attacking rules instead
In the Awesome System, we break ghting up into rounds, each
of which is comprised of six turns Rounds go on for about f-
teen to thirty seconds and all sorts of stuff can happen during
that time Each individual turn is dened as the period of time it
takes to do something awesome
So lets say you want to ght
Declare your intention to the Gamemaster, then roll your charac-
ters Speed Dice, except without re-rolling sixes Like a normal
check, you can even increase the number of dice in the roll with
Awesome Points, a great way to speed yourself up Then, either
keep the dice in front of you or write down the numbers on your
character sheet in the grid provided These dice represent when
youll be acting in the up-coming combat round
Characters get multiple actions per round based on what they
rolled on their Speed Dice Since combat rounds are divided
up into six turns, each number of the dice corresponds with a
turn, with sixes being the rst turn and ones being the last The
numbers you roll are your lifeline to the combat, determining
when you act As the round goes on, the Gamemaster will count
down through the turns and youve got to be ready to call it, so
pay attention! The rst person to announce they have actions
on that turn gets to go rst NPCs go after everyone else, since
theyre so polite like that
If a situation comes up where its important who acts rst out of
two Player Characters, have them roll opposed Speed, highest
goes rst
Anyway, now youve got an action to make Tell the Gamemaster
what you want to do and resolve it
If you have more than one Speed Dice on a turn the action
becomes a Stunt, with all dice added together just like how we
discussed in the previous chapter During that turn, any action
taken is treated as a Stunt Two dice on one Turn will result in
a Stunt, three in a Double Stunt, four in a Triple Stunt and so
on, with every additional dice increasing the Stunt Level of the
action by one
Skullheart the Space Pirate is rolling his Speed Dice for combat.
He rolls two sixes, a four and three twos. He has a Stunt on Turn
6, a regular action on Turn 4 and a Double Stunt on Turn 2. On
turn 6, he rolls Quick Draw to draw his laser pistol and treats it
as a Stunt. He also res it, which is another Single Stunt.
CHAPTER 5: THE FIGHT!
44
Stunt Levels
Obviously, Stunting while ghting is bloody useful for taking
down your foes, but keep the stuff below in mind Make sure
to check your weapons stats and that youre not exceeding
the maximum Stunt Level allowed For example, if your Sledge-
hammer has a Stunt Level of Single, you cant put three Speed
Dice onto a turn and do a Double Stunt Its harsh, we know,
but weapons with low Stunt Levels usually make up for them in
other ways, such as delivering more damage, having other uses
or just being totally cool
If your character is wearing armour, that will also have a maxi-
mum Stunt Level, as all that wonderful insulating protection can
slow you down, too Obviously, you take the lowest of the two
values
If your accumulated Speed Dice add up to a Stunt Level that
exceeds your weapons Stunt Level, you treat it as the lower
of the two, with the extra dice existing in limbo Gone, but not
forgotten, so to speak! They can be handled to empty turns for
extra actions, or saved for dodge checks, but they cant contrib-
ute to that action If they arent used by the end of the round,
theyre gone forever
It should be noted that this is the only way Stunt Levels affect
actions Heroing Up or other methods of raising a Stunt Level
are unaffected by what youre using
Movement
During your average combat round, a character can choose
to move, perform a variety of attacks, aim or do anything that
wouldnt take more than a few seconds
A character can move their full Movement and take an action
every turn, or forego their action to move double their Move-
ment If they happen to be stunting, they get this spiffy double
Movement and an action on top of this, since Stunts are rad like
that Finally, if you forego your actions entirely on a Stunt, you
get to move four times your Movement , although this is more
like some sort of lousy consolation prize than anything, since
who the heck wants to use a Stunt on walking around, huh?
Hitting Stuff
Attacks are made by rolling your characters Flow plus your
Melee or Firearms skill, depending on whether its a ranged
attack or a melee attack If its a Melee attack, you need to beat
your opponents Defence, whereas ranged attacks only need to
beat a difculty of 4, with range increments included Its a lot
easier to peg a guy with a gun, but close-up attacks are usually
more satisfying, so mix and match as you please When youre
done rolling, the Gamemaster will work out how much Bonus
you got, based on the difculty to hit and what you rolled You
can expect a lot of Bonus if the attack was a Stunt
This is, simply, a measure of how well you hit your enemy For
every point you rolled over the required amount to hit, you deal
an additional point of damage to be added to your damage total
at the end of the attack
Additionally, once an attack has been resolved, bonus damage
can be converted into other combat modiers, such as called
shots or special moves These can be added and taken away
freely as dodge checks are made, just dont waste too much of
your GMs time ddling with it!
Maria, the chef, is a dab hand with a frying pan, especially
when theres rufans afoot in her kitchen. When one such inter-
loper gets within arms reach, she makes an attack on the lout,
clobbering him with a to hit roll 24. Since she only needed a 6 to
hit him, her bonus damage is 18.
Juggling Multiple Handling Values
If youre playing a character who uses lots of weapons, youll
want to nd creative ways to do it Maybe youll grapple a guy
and then point-blank him with a shotgun, or leap onto a ght-
er plane, knife in hand to take out the pilot, then toss him out
and start blazing away with its gun This is great and exactly
the sort of fun, action-packed thing we like to see! Theres
nothing cooler than switching to high Stunt Level weapons
for big stunts and cutting to more dependable attacks when
theyre doing normal actions The only problem is that this
can be abused by shrewd players, for example starting the
round using their Handling 4 sts, switching all their actions
around and then pulling out a meaty Handling 1 Sledgeham-
mer
To avoid this, characters nominate their Handling value
at the start of every combat round After having done this,
theyre limited to using weapons with this Handling value or
higher until the start of the next combat round If a character
absolutely has to change to a weapon with a lower Handling
score, for whatever reason, however, then the Gamemaster
can choose to allow it on the condition that they pay the dif-
ference in Handling in AP Swapping weapons at the start of a
round is unaffected, of course
If this sort of heuristic nonsense doesnt bother you, or
your players arent the type to try it, just ignore these rules!
Theyre more about stopping people from powergaming than
making the game fun, and rules that should never be used
without heavy consideration beforehand
45
Occurrence Modier
Darkness, Moonlight -2
Darkness, Total -6
Non-Lethal Blow -4
Opponents Dodge -1 per point of
Dodge rolled
Range Increment -1 per increment
Size difference Varies
Target is moving -1 per 10 Movement
A character may choose to aim up to three times before making
an attack Aiming requires the expenditure of a turn and gives
the character an extra bonus dice to their attack when they
make it They must be able to see the target to aim
Hurting Stuff
To deal damage, you take the damage of your weapon and, if
a muscled powered weapon, you add your Brawn to it, adding
every dice together Next you add your bonus damage, or the
amount you passed your to hit roll by Guns and other non-mus-
cle-powered weapons dont get Brawn dice, but they still can get
bonus damage Once youve rolled the damage total, subtract it
from your opponents Hit Points
Sometimes an attack will be damaging enough to knock a char-
acter clean off their feet If more than half of a characters HP
is lost in a single blow, they suffer a Knockdown and lose their
highest action
Unconsciousness and Death
When a character reaches zero Hit Points they become Wound-
ed and suffer according penalties First off, their current nega-
tive Hit Point total is subtracted from all rolls and when hit they
have to immediately make a Toughness check with a difculty of
0 or fall unconscious This check must be made every time they
take an action or suffer another blow Secondly, they lose 1 Hit
Point per minute due to blood loss from here on out Death sets
in at 40 Hit Points for all characters
Musashi Miyamoto, honourable Samurai, is severely wounded
in a duel with his rival and reduced to 3 Hit Points. He makes
a Toughness check and rolls a 4, reduced to a 1, managing to
stay conscious, but at 3 to all rolls made. He is hit again and
reduced to 23 Hit Points and is forced to make another Tough-
ness check, rolling an 8, which is reduced to -15. He passes
out. At his new total he has roughly fteen minutes to live before
he bleeds to death.
Healing and Recuperation
Every night a character may make a Toughness check, with the
amount rolled being the number of Hit Points they recover This
means that most supercial damage will be healed in a day or
two, but characters who are reduced to less than 0 HP will nd
heavy penalties on their rolls Regardless of penalty, though,
youll always recover at least 1 HP per day
If a character has specied Toughness as a Hero Skill, they may
Hero Up on this check These sorts of characters are tough bas-
tards, so if you get into a ght with one, its usually a good idea
to nish the job A man aint meant to recover from a dozen gun-
shots overnight
If the character has been critically injured and has had a limb
disabled, healing wont allow them to use it again right away,
but it will put them on the right track and reduce any penalties
theyre suffering on their rolls by 2 Smashed and broken limbs
require a difculty 8 Medicine check to make a splint and ban-
dage, while slashed up or severed limbs require a difculty 12
Medicine check to suture or bandage
46
Armour
Armour allows your character to resist damage going their
way Rather than being a static penalty to all damage dealt,
we assume characters are always trying to nd weak points in
their opponents defence, which is represented by the amount
of bonus theyve rolled Therefore, whenever someone takes a
hit, check their armours Armour Value against the bonus of the
attack If the bonus exceeds it, the armour is penetrated and
the target takes full damage If the target is enough of a power-
gaming dweeb to have multiple armour types, like a robot wear-
ing a bulletproof vest, check the bonus against each individual
Armour Value You get any that werent penetrated
Cirrus and Gary, robot chums, are sparring with each other.
Gary has 30 armour and Cirrus has 25, 10 from being a light-
armoured robot and 15 from a ak jacket. Cirrus hits Gary with
32 bonus and 14 Brawn, dealing 46 damage to the big lug. In
response, Gary hits Cirrus for 12 bonus and 50 brawn. This
penetrates Cirruss natural armour, but not his ak, so he takes
47 damage all up.
Some weapons have Armour Penetration Values Subtract this
amount from all Armour Values the target has
Dodging
During combat, when your character has been attacked, you
may elect to make a Dodge, spending a single action or Awe-
some Point to activate it If a character wishes to stunt on a
Dodge check, they must spend 2 AP as normal
When a Dodge check is made, the total is subtracted from
the attackers roll to hit, reducing bonus appropriately If the
subtracted amount reduces the attack roll below the required
amount to hit, then the attack misses A character may make
as many dodge checks as they wish, as long as they have AP or
actions to do so with, with the extra dodges stealing even more
bonus off of the roll!
Zolobulus and Dominica are having one of their weekly cat-
ghts. Zolobulus attempts to shove the barbarian babe into
a vat of jello, rolling a 62 for her nefarious work. Dominicas
defence of 12 means the attack hits with 50 bonus, but wait!
She spends an action on a dodge, then 2 AP to Hero Up, roll-
ing a 42 for her dodge. Zolobulus has 8 bonus remaining, so
Dominica spends a third AP, rolling an 8. The attack hits with 0
bonus! With a roll of her eyes, she spends another AP and her
player rolls a 4, turning the attack into a miss.
Zolobulus could, if she wished, spend an AP to get an extra dice
on her attack, but shed have to roll at least a 4 to secure the
hit again.
Explosions
All explosions have a Burst value, measured in feet Anyone
within the rst Burst value takes the full damage from the explo-
sion, with anyone in the second Burst value taking half damage
If someone res an exploding weapon and species you as the
target, you need to make a dodge as normal to avoid a direct hit
from the weapon Even if you avoid it, though, theres still going
Styles
The most straight-forward way to take your round is to roll
your Speed Dice and take a single action, Stunted or other-
wise, when those dice come up In this section well be look-
ing at two alternate ways of taking your round and their ben-
ets Both of them expend Handling to use, so make sure you
know what youre getting yourself into!
Dual-Wielding
Dual-Wielding is our catchall term for a brutal, multi-weapon
style of ghting that, while a tad imprecise, does allow you
to lay down enough blows to send your foes reeling Using
two or more weapons at once looks good and feels great,
so weve put a lot of work into providing a fully comprehen-
sive system that any character can take advantage of, in any
combat situation!
At the start of any combat round, you may reduce your Han-
dling score by 2 for every wielded weapon beyond the rst
This lasts until the start of the next round, when you can
choose how to ght again If youre using different types of
weapons, use the lowest Handling score and subtract from
that
When your turn rolls around, you may choose to take your
action as normal or get an extra attack for every time you
dropped your Handling by 2 at Stunt Level None This means
you can go all John Woo with two pistols, swing two swords or
deliver three rapid re punches
Colonel Ketch is using a Colt Navy with a Handling of 3 and
a Sword with a Handling of 2. Using them together, his Han-
dling is 0 and he gets 2 attacks per action, one sword, one
pistol.
While ghting some vicious Sharkmen, he rolls 6, 5, 3, 3 and
a 2. On his 6 he res his gun and moves towards an enemy,
then uses his gun and sword at the same time on his 5.
Since the Sharkman is still alive on his 3, he tosses his gun
up into the air and brings around a two-handed sword swing,
Stunting in a messy decapitation. On his 2, he catches the
gun and blasts another. He could swing his sword if one was
nearby, but theyre keeping their distance for some reason.
Secondary Attacks
As well as dual-wielding, resourceful characters can also per-
form Secondary Attacks, using powerful bites, raking claw
attacks or smaller, off-hand weapons
All you have to do to benet is designate an equipped weap-
on as secondary and reduce your Handling by 1 in any round
where youre using it You gain an extra Speed Dice, kept
separate from the others, and when it comes up, you can
use that weapon Take a break from swinging an enormous
two-handed axe to sink your teeth into an enemy, or swipe at
a close-by target with the bayonet on your rie
While ghting like this, a character cant devote all their ener-
gy to one, big attack, so any turn with a Secondary Attack is
treated as Stunt Level None The rest of your turns on the
round are unaffected If you have a Stunt and a Secondary
Attack, youll just have to choose whats more important to
you!
Finally, Secondary Attacks can be expended to Dodge, but
only if the player can describe exactly how their Roundhouse
Kick is deecting a laser blast
The Hideous Space Mutant of Zeta 3 has taken a whole
cadre of Secondary Attacks. To start, it takes some Claws
(designated as a primary attack with a Handling of 3), a
Chomp, a Breath Attack and a long Tail to boot, reducing
the Mutants Handling to 0, but what a range of attacks!
The Mutant has a Speed of 4d6, so it gets 5 claw attacks a
round, as well as 1 extra for each of its three other attacks.
For its Speed Roll its gets 6, 6, 3, 2 and 2 for its claws, 6
for its chomp, 4 for its Tail and 3 for its Breath Attack. It can
choose to take either a stunted Claw attack or a regular claw
attack and a chomp on 6, a tail sweep on 4, another claw
and a breath attack on 3 and nish off the round with a nal
claw attack, a Stunt at that, on 2.
47
48
to be a big blast radius, so you and anyone else caught in it will
take the damage anyway!
To this end, anyone not directly hit by the explosive can make a
Dodge or Acrobatics roll, consulting the table below for the dis-
tance they can move The person hit can still make either roll,
but rst has to succeed in a Dodge roll and then must spend
an Awesome Point or an action for the privilege, since its just
smacked them in the side of their fat head
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
If youre short of making a difculty, you can exchange Hit Points
for bonus on a 1 for 1 basis The difculty of the Acrobatics/
Dodge cannot exceed the damage of the weapon
Blocking
Blocking is an alternative to dodging, wherein the character
takes the brunt of the blow head-on, doing their best to soak the
worst of it in non-critical locations To block an attack, simply
spend an AP or action and then subtract either your characters
Defence, your level in Brawn + 4 or an equipped shields Block
value from the damage dealt This does not make the attack
less likely to hit by reducing bonus, it only reduces the even-
tual damage total, since youre planting your feet and taking
the blow Blocking is the realm of real men and people with low
Dodge scores
Just like with Dodging, a character may block as many times as
they wish, assuming they have the AP or actions to spend
Madotsuki nds herself once again defending the honour of
Japanese Pro Wrestling in the ring. With a Defence of 8 and a
Brawn+4 of 9, she can reduce incoming damage by 9 points for
every AP spent.
Sneak Attacking
The knaves choice, a sneak attack can be the way to nish a
combat before it even starts Its a simple matter of selecting
a target, then closing in, either putting a knife in his back or
dramatically leaping off a rooftop to come crashing down on the
poor blighter When youre making your attack, make a Sneak
check opposed to your targets Notice Whoever youre shooting
at is allowed to know they are being sniped, getting a crawling
sensation on the back of their neck or the like On a failure,
the attack is treated as normal and your opponent gets a free
Dodge check On a success, however, you really get into a good
position, devastating enough to raise your Stunt Level by one,
making even a normal action into a Stunt Your opponent has to
then spend an AP to even get to dodge the attack!
Now suppose you want to do this in a combat thats already
ongoing It can be done, but its a little tricky First of all, your
character naturally has to get out of sight In-game, you just
have to wait until you have an action, then rush off somewhere
to get into hiding What hiding is varies from place to place,
but in tall grass, a pot or behind a wall are all examples of good
hiding places
You spend the rest of the turn getting yourself hidden, during
which time anyone can come by and interrupt If your character
is spotted by the enemy during this time, theyll be noticed and
pointed out, so its better to do this on a turn either when your
enemies dont have actions or your friends have them tied up
49
Assuming youre able to hide, you can then sneak up on your
enemies next turn and make a Sneak Attack as normal
Automatics
Firing an automatic is easy as can be Simply nominate whether
youre ring single shot, burst or full auto And if youre ring one
shot, you dont need to read the rest of this, do you?
Your range will be reduced accordingly based on the type of
re you picked If youre ring burst, its half normal If youre
ring full-auto, its one quarter normal, drastically shortening
your range Then you just add the listed amount of bonus dice
to your roll and drop your actions Stunt Level to None For every
increment of the to hit roll they make, an additional bullet hits,
dealing full damage You cant have more bullets hit than you
red! If every bullet hits, bonus damage after that point is cal-
culated as normal, but only once If the amount of bonus dam-
age exceeds the targets Armour Value, all bullets penetrate the
targets armour
Lieutenant res his trusty XM214 at an out-of-control arcade
machine. Hes ring full auto, reducing his range to 5 feet and
the game machine is 10 feet away. Therefore, he needs a 6 to
hit. He rolls a 32, meaning 5 bullets hit for 25 damage each
and he gets a sweet 2 bonus into the deal.
Bronco Fighter 2 has 5 armour, so his damage is reduced by
25. He ends up dealing 102 damage, instead of the 127 he was
meant to deal.
Cover
You can use cover during a re ght to keep out of trouble Cant
shoot what you cant see, right? Its real simple, too All you have
to do is move up alongside whatever obstruction is your new
best friend and bobs your uncle Unless the enemies can move
to where they can see, any attacks they make now have to be
directed at whatever youre using to hole up
Any turn you lean out to shoot, youre vulnerable for the rest of
that turn, but it means you can remain in cover on turns when
youre not acting or youre reloading Anyone attacking cover
can pepper it all day long, but must exceed twice its Armour
Value in a single hit to destroy it If this happens, leftover dam-
age is dealt to the person behind it Dodging behind cover is a
difculty 10 Dodge check, increasing by 1 for every foot away
the cover is
Heres a few sample Armour levels to whet your appetite:
Material Armour
Screen Door 1
Tree 40
Drywall/Thin metal 60
Brick Wall 80
Car 120
Hazard Dice
Put simply, Hazard Dice are something you can use to spice up
an encounter, like a nal boss battle or a trip through a meteor-
ite shower They represent a dangerous environment, which is
as lethal as your enemies some days and even more so others
During any combat round in which something fun and exciting
is happening, like, say, some awesome lava oozing viscously
around your feet, or youre punching out werewolves in the mid-
dle of an earthquake, roll a number of hazard dice equal to the
environmental threat As a general rule, you want one dice for
minor hazard and three or more for really out of control lethal
craziness These new Hazard Dice are applied to the speed dice
rolls of everyone involved in the combat, even Mooks, mean-
ing people are going to start having unpleasant accidents a lot
faster!
If a Hazard Dice comes up on a turn where nobody acts, it plays
up indiscriminately, dealing 10 damage to all combatants at
once!
Zolobulus, Space Princess PhD, is duking it out with a Giant
Space Panther in a a hypercane, or hypothetical class of
extreme tropical cyclone following a large asteroid or comet
impact! Shes thoughtfully tethered herself down, while the Pan-
ther has dug its claws into the dirt. She rolls a 6, 6, 3 and 2, and
the Hazard Dice come up on turns 6 and 3.
On turn 6, Zolos Stunt becomes a Double Stunt as she hand-
ily sees some poor bastards house come sweeping around
towards them, dealing a whopping punch that tosses the kitty
into the path of the house for some extra damage right in his
dumb face. On turn 3, Zolos can again use Hazard Dice to turn
her regular action into a Stunt by utilizing more debris in her
attack!
Grappling
The gentlemans art of wrasslin! Characters who want to
grapple make an attack as normal, but instead of dealing
damage, they get a rm grip on their opponent From now
on, generally a few things happen: all attacks directed at
either grappler are against a difculty of 4 and neither grap-
pler may dodge, but needless to say there are exceptions to
this rule, like if were talking about a seriously huge grap-
pler here who has no trouble holding the other dude in his
mouth or something! Blocking still functions as normal
If the grappled character wishes to break free, they must
spend an action, which will result in an automatic success
unless the grappler spends an action as well, in which case
we go to an opposed Olympics check is made, success indi-
cating the grapple is either broken or maintained
From here, a grapple may be improved, each action resulting
in an improvement, unless the grappled opponent spends
something to resist, in which case it becomes an opposed
Olympics check A grapple can be improved by Disarming,
Holding, Shielding or Throwing
A Disarm means the character either drops whatever weap-
ons they were holding or the grappler takes it
A character in a Hold has been put in a lock where the
attacker does not need to spend an action to continue the
hold and they can roll their Olympics as normal without
needing to sacrice an action Additionally, a Held character
may not attack the person putting them in the lock
Shielding works the same as putting someone in a Hold,
but also allows you to use the grappled person as a human
shield Check out the rules on taking cover for more infor-
mation
Throwing is a special attack in which the attacker makes a
Throwing or Melee: Wrestling check as normal against a dif-
culty of 4, with bonus able to be converted into extra dam-
age as normal To deal damage, the character rolls their
Olympics, treating it like an ordinary Brawn roll
51
If youre the type who loves to show off, look no further In this
chapter well be looking at just another way to make your char-
acter shine, since whats the point of playing an ultimate badass
in any roleplaying
game if he cant do something totally cool once in a while
In any number of roleplaying games, youll nd after a while
that youve hit a roof of ability and theres no need to advance
anymore Youve become so good that even the most difcult
applications of your skills are trivial matters now Weve tried to
address this problem, hence this chapter, in which we explore
the possibilities made available by the Stunt System and how
you can use it to jump a motorbike out of an explosion
Maneuvers are divided up into a few categories, as listed below!
Combat Maneuvers
Combat Maneuvers covers everything youll need to give any
chaps whove done you wrong a good sorting!
Called Shots
Disarm
Giant Slaying
Ricochet
Rocket Jumping
Spin Attacks
Shark Wrestling
Sniping
Vehicle Maneuvers
Boarding!
From The Rear
Head On!
Right In Front
Side By Side
Combat Maneuvers
Here well be looking at a few other options available to charac-
ters in a ght
Action Skill/Difculty
Disarm +8/+30
Ricochet +10 per bounce
Spin Attack Varies
Disarm
This is one you fancy pants ghters will want to get familiar with
Theres no faster way to humiliate your opponent than to ick
his weapon out of his own hands and leave him ailing for it
You might have noticed this achieves the same effect as clob-
bering someone on the hand, but theyll walk away easier from
a disarm
There are two ways to disarm an enemy The rst is to increase
the difculty of your attack by 4 to directly strike the weapon
On a successful hit, work out damage 20 damage to a wooden
weapon will destroy it and 50 damage to a metal weapon will
destroy it These values double for Giant weapons, quadruple
for Colossal weapons and halve for Tiny weapons
Weapons bought with the Props power cannot be destroyed so
easily They receive their level in Props as a multiplier on the
amount of damage required to be dealt to them Theyre just
that cool
Musashi bought a medium sized sword with Props for 3 Charac-
ter Points. 180 damage would need to be dealt to it in one strike
to break it.
The alternative is to increase the difculty by 30 On a success-
ful hit you do no damage, but you either take the weapon or ick
it in the direction of your choice
Ricochet
Why? Because its goddamn awesome, thats why! Ricochet is
the trick-shot to re at a wall, a helmet, hard dirt, just about any-
thing really, and bounce so high up a suckers nose he wont
need a handkerchief for a week Or ever again, for that matter
There are more factors determining whether a bullet ricochets
or not than we really have space for here, so weve just simpli-
ed it all into a +10 difculty increase and hoped smart GMs
can extrapolate from there, so their players arent bouncing
shotgun rounds off ducks However, one thing to keep in mind
is that ammo like hollow points are less likely to bounce since
theyre designed to burst on impact, where denser rounds like
lead slugs will bounce more often The gun used is important
too, since faster moving bullets are more likely to penetrate the
object than bounce
And, nally, yes, you can bounce bullets off water Why? Because
its goddamn awesome, thats why!
Anyway, the short of all this is, is that if a bad guy is hiding
behind a wall or in a ditch, your canny pistolero can nominate a
ricochet and calculate the distance over the entire length for the
shot difculty Its stylish, it feels good and it rakes in the kills,
hombre
Spin Attacks
During an attack, a character may elect to hit more than one
opponent The base difculty for the rst opponent is deter-
mined and then every successive opponent has their difculty
to hit added on to that amount A successful hit deals full dam-
age to all targets The only catch is that all targets must be with-
in range, but there are no restrictions on the weapon they can
use If youre using a gun, you dont need to worry about strik-
ing off extra bullets, its just way too much hassle for everyone
involved
If one or more of the targets of a Spin Attack dodges and reduc-
es the bonus of the attack, this reduces the bonus to hit for
every target
Dr. Alex is entangled with some deadly Mars Aliens, each three
feet tall and packing a ray gun. He leaps through the air and
swings his sword about in an elaborate arc, attacking 6 of them
CHAPTER 6: MANEUVERS!
52
at once. Since they have a 2 Flow, he requires a 6 to hit the rst
one and a 36 to hit all of them.
He rolls a 58, successfully hitting all of them with 22 bonus.
Two of the aliens dodge and roll a 7 and a 3. He hits all 6 aliens
with 12 bonus. Had they managed to scrape together another
13 points of dodge between them, hed have missed all 6!
Shark Wrestling
So suppose your character has found himself underwater and
some giant Great White is coming to take a bite out of him! Here
are some fairly straightforward ways of teaching that mean old
mother Hubbard a lesson
Action Skill/Difculty
Eye Poke Melee/20
Headlock Olympics/15
Ride Riding: Any or Swimming/12
Rip in Half Olympics/50
Tear Out Heart Melee: Unarmed 30
Eye Poke: With a difculty 20 Melee check, made easier by the
sharks insistence on jamming its face into you as much as pos-
sible (for some reason), a character can drive his thumbs into
both of the beasts eyes, blinding a shark temporarily, making it
thrash about Its blinded for the next 1d6 turns as its sensitive
eyes adjust
Headlock: By making a difculty 15 Olympics check, a char-
acter can grab a shark around the neck and hold on for dear
life This counts as an improved grapple under the combat rules
and, as long as you can maintain it, the shark cant even ght
back! Pretty neat, huh?
Ride: Assuming you dont drown, riding an angry and aggres-
sive shark isnt too hard Make a difculty 12 Riding: Shark
check and you can mount the shark, attempting to direct it from
then-on Of course, this only allows the character to hold on for
dear life and they cannot take any other actions, but its better
than the alternative
Rip in Half: On a successful difculty 50 Olympics check, your
character can grab the shark by its jaws and pull it apart The
shark explodes in a meaty, smelly spray and dies instantly
Tear Out Heart: Sharks are basically tubes, right? So whats
to stop some plucky adventurer from reaching down a sharks
open mouth and, lighting fast, grabbing its heart and tearing it
out via its mouth? Nothing, thats what!
When a shark attacks, the character, they may attempt to hit
the shark with a difculty 30 melee check With a hit, they can
then make a difculty 16 Olympics check, with success meaning
you have ripped the Sharks heart free of its internal systems!
You pull your hand back, heart clasped tightly, and the shark
dies instantly The real danger is in getting a hernia running to
the Internet too fast when you need to tell everyone about it on
your blog
Vehicles
Bored of barroom brawls? Tired of rooftop duels to the death?
Maybe youd much rather go blasting across miles of uncharted
desert in your very own hover-tank, or ght alongside the aces
of WWI over a sparkling sea In this section, well be looking at
how to make your new toys go all over the opposition
When the time comes for vehicles to engage in battle, everyone
rolls their Speed Dice just like a normal combat Characters not
involved with the vehicles take their actions normally and may
re any mounted weapons they have access to For the drivers,
though, its a slightly different game
All drivers, pilots and yers begin every round by announcing
the route they intend to travel and the speed they are currently
travelling at All vehicles move a distance equal to their current
Movement every turn and the driver can decide course adjust-
ments regardless of whether she has an action or not However,
while driving uninterrupted is nice and simple, you should be
aware that there are actions your racing rivals can take to dis-
rupt your smooth sailing In instances where an offensive action
knocks a driver off course, they cannot correct their path until
their next action during the round!
Cirrostratus has pulled up alongside Tiberius Crucifers sweet
ride, and is attempting to put an end to the assassins days.
Both vehicles are moving at a top speed of 450 feet a turn. Cir-
russ actions occur on turn 6 and 2, while Tibs fall on turns
turn 4 and 3. If Cirrus uses the vehicle maneuver Divert on Tibs
vehicle and is successful on turn 6, Tiberius is not able to cor-
rect the angle of travel until his action on turn 4. This means
he will travel 900 feet along the wrong vector! If theyre in a
wide open eld, not so bad, but on a busy city street, failing one
of these checks can, and will, cost you your vehicle and maybe
your life!
53
Obviously, anyone who can use Awesome Points has an easier
time of things here, since they can use Handling to move any
actions that would have occurred long after their ery explosion
up to the current turn for an instant course correction attempt
Saving your bacon is a total snap!
Collisions
In the event of a collision, you can except to get busted up but
good We have ve speeds for determining how bad its going to
be and these are outlined in the table below When you collide
with another vehicle, both of you take your own vehicles Brawn
and apply for the damage multiplier for the amount of dice you
get to roll If youre both going fast, add the speeds together for
the multiplier One half is dealt to anyone inside unless they can
get free in time with a difculty 20 Acrobatics check
Speed Damage Multiplier
Slow
(30-40kph)
1
Normal
(50-80kph)
2
Fast
(80180kph)
4
Very Fast
(180750kph)
7
The Fastest
(750kph and up)
10
If youre trying to deliberately hit someone who wants to avoid
you, this works exactly the same as a regular melee attack roll,
but with your Driving substituted for your Melee skill
Ketchs car has a Brawn of 10d6 and hes sideswiping some
feisty Bomb Bugs at 90kph. The Bomb Bugs are a bit less
impressive, with just one level of Brawn. Adjusting the multiplier
for his cars speed, Ketch will deal 30d6 damage to the Bomb
Bugs and every one he hits will deal 3d6 damage to his car.
Obviously, some objects like brick walls dont normally have
Brawn values like you and me Heres a few values provided
below for working stuff out in a pinch
Material Armour
Tree 4d6
Drywall/Thin metal 6d6
Brick Wall 8d6
Car 10d6
The Good Stuff: Vehicle Maneuvers
On their actions the drivers may increase or decrease their cur-
rent Movement score by a value up to their vehicles Accelera-
tion or attempt foul play, making Driving or Piloting checks to
screw over the other guy If this sounds like your cup of tea, just
work out your position and consult the appropriate table for your
options
Where a at value is listed, youll have to beat it as normal like
any other skill roll Where an opposed value the recipient of
all this dislike will need to spend an AP or Speed Dice and roll
an opposed Driving or Piloting check to resist If they cant, or
wont, then the attempt is an automatic success, assuming the
driver can beat a difculty of 0 When reading the table, maneu-
ver is the name of the technique and difculty is the number you
have to roll to make it a reality Numbers in brackets are modi-
ers applied only to the roll of the person making the check
Clint Rattlesnake is ying his demon-powered biplane alongside
a terrifying Gargoyle through an icy mountain path. Seeing a
wall of solid ice coming up, he wants to shunt the monster into
the barricade and makes a Piloting roll to Divert the Gargoyle
into the cliff face. A Divert comes with a -10 penalty on his roll,
so if the attempt went unopposed, hed only be required to roll
a 10. However, the Gargoyle is having none of that and opposes
with an Awesome Point, forcing Client to roll Piloting against its
Flight skill. The Gargoyle makes a normal skill roll while Clint is
stuck with his unsightly -10 penalty due to the difculty of the
maneuver.
Boarding!
Characters can always attempt to leap to a nearby vehicle
regardless of where they are If the vehicles are side-by-side,
simply consult the easy to remember table below If youre ten
or more feet above the vehicle, you may elect to reduce the dif-
culty by 10 but are unable to take any action on the turn you
land as you are rolling with the force of your fall
Difference In Speed Difculty
0-20 Movement 5
20-40 Movement 10
50-80 Movement 20
80-180 Movement 30
180 750 Movement 50
750 to 2,000 Movement 80
From The Rear Maneuvers
Pull Alongside: A very democratic move, it allows the vehicles to
get in position for a proper battle Get ready for it
From The Rear Maneuver Difculty
Pull Alongside Opposed check (5)
Head On! Maneuvers
Ram!: A satisfying end to an encounter Work out the number
of collision dice for each car, then add them together and deal
that amount of damage to each car Flowers for the funerals not
included
If you can ram the side of an opponents vehicle (we call this a
T-Bone) then they take the listed amount of damage and you
only take half Pretty swell, huh?
Fake Out: With this move, you make the other driver think
youre going for a ram, then swerve aside at the last minute As
well as requiring a Driving check with a difculty of 20, you must
also beat your opponent in an opposed Guts roll If he beats
you, he catches on and knows you dont plan to go through with
it Of course, you dont know that
Head On! Maneuver Difculty
Ram! 4
Fake Out Special
Right In Front Maneuvers
Pull Alongside: Nice place to be for a climatic showdown Or
just for some Neanderthal to clamber aboard and scoop your
brains out with an axe
Somersault: Only able to be done by aircraft, this is a big old
loop the loop, which will put you straight behind your enemy on
a success If they oppose you and beat your roll they follow your
loop and end up behind you again Poor you
U-Turn: If you do this in a car its called a Bootleggers
Reverse A U-Turn is essentially the act of driving right ahead
of your foe, then spinning around, guns blazing It puts you dead
in front of the enemy, allowing you to use the ever popular Head
54
On Table If your opponent chooses to oppose you and wins,
they follow your dramatic turn and now both of you are facing
the wrong way
Right In Front Maneuver Difculty
Pull Alongside Opposed check (+5)
Somersault 10
U-Turn 20
Side By Side Maneuvers
Divert: This move slams into the other vehicles front wheels or
its wings, sending it off course This deal Brawn damage from
the vehicle and the target is turned 45 degrees either to the left
or right and stays that way until the driver can correct it Doesnt
sound too bad? Try pulling this one off in the tight streets of
Chicago and see how long it takes those coppers to wrap them-
selves around a telephone pole
Any driver of a vehicle that has just been diverted will careen
out of control until their next action comes up, at which point
they must succeed on a difculty 10 Driving or Piloting check
After succeeding, they may take their action as normal, while
failure sees no change to their course
A Divert attempt also deals your Vehicles Brawn as damage to
the target
Fall Behind: Allows you to move behind the other vehicle where
its nice and safe
Move In Front: What, in front of all those lasers? If you want
to, you can use this to get ahead of the other vehicle Good, if
youre racing
Roll: Hey, its possible! This is the artful technique of ram-
ming your opponent in such a way that his wheels come off the
ground, then sliding your car under his until you can turn his
whole dumb contraption on its back Doing this causes the stan-
dard amount of damage for a collision and brings his vehicle to
a complete stop
For obvious reasons, this isnt very effective against aircraft, but
it looks pretty cool
Shunt: Performing a shunt involves slamming your vehicle into
the vehicle beside you For every ve points you beat your oppo-
nents roll by, you may Shunt them 1d6 feet to the left or right
Any driver of a vehicle that has just been shunted will careen
out of control until they spend an action succeeding on a dif-
culty 10 Driving or Piloting check After succeeding, they may
take their action as normal
A Shunt attempt also deals your Vehicles Brawn as damage to
the target
Side by Side Maneuver Difculty
Divert Opposed check (10)
Fall Behind Opposed check (+5)
Move In Front Opposed check (5)
Roll Opposed check (50)
Shunt Opposed check (-10)
Giant Slaying
Nobody said heroing was going to be easy What better example
of this than taking on a walking skyscraper? Whenever a Giant
Slayer is taking on a monster of one size category greater than
themselves (such as a normal sized character ghting a Giant or
a Tiny character ghting a normal-sized character), chances are
theyre going to want to try out their audacious brand of handi-
work
The Giant Slayer has an attack which can bring down even the
strongest foe in just a few, well-placed blows The catch is that
it can only be done in melee and not just toe to toe The brav-
est of Slayers will readily leap right onto the Giant and clamber
right up his body until they nd a critical location, such as the
heart or brain, striking it directly through the giants body This,
as it would suggest, takes a lot of balls, but it pays off when you
sink your weapon right into that one part of the foe that matters
most and, for a moment, strike them with the strength of a real
giant
To make this amazing attack, all the character has to do is take
a -2 penalty when theyre able to assault the Giants weak spot
After that, Brawn damage and Awesome Point damage are both
multiplied by ve, making this the sort of strike that really can
fell a Giant in one blow Characters who normally nd themselves
rarely even able to get past a Giants armour will be able to slay
the monsters in just one or two hits, cementing their place as
heroes of legend
First things rst, though, you have to actually get to the weak
point For most Giants, itll be located on their head, but you can
feel free to roll on the table below to randomize it Randomizing
is fun!
Roll 2d6
Weak Point Location Penalty to hit
2 Calf -8
3 Thigh -4
4-5 Chest -2
6 Back -20
7-8 Arms -6
9-12 Head -12
Once youve located the weak point, you have to get to it This
can be accomplished either by jumping or Flying, which requires
a difculty 8 Acrobatics check to grab on if you can make the
distance, or climbing, assuming theres sufcient handholds,
fur or whatever else is deemed suitable Gamemasters can feel
free to adjust these numbers up or down as much as they like,
since every Giant is different
Happy hunting!
Retaliation
The other problem with being on a Giant is when he decides
he doesnt want you there anymore As long as the character is
on the Giant, he can attempt to knock them off in one of three
ways The Slayer will automatically be thrown off, crushed or
pounded, unless they resist with an opposed Olympics check,
just like how Dodging works in combat
First of all, the Giant can shake them off with a Olympics check
If a character is shaken off, they may attempt to grab back on
in the next two turns with a difculty 40 Olympics check, with
the location they seize being up to the Gamemaster If these
two turns pass and they havent recovered, work out their falling
damage and then double it for the force of their fall
The second option available to the Giant is to throw himself
against the surrounding terrain, smearing the Slayer into a
bloody paste The Giant makes an Acrobatics check for purpos-
es of opposing and any slow Slayers will suffer the Giants full
Brawn damage, as if it were a regular attack
To conclude, the Giant can make attacks on the character,
either smacking them about or grappling them In this case,
they simply roll to hit, but apply the penalty from the table below
to their attack, in addition to the regular -6 to hit smaller targets
55
56
Called Shot
Location
Difculty
to Hit Effect for Lethal Called Shots
Arm 6
Damage (20) : The targets arm becomes useless and they drop whatever they were holding
Damage (40) : The targets arm is removed, putting the target at a 4 to all checks until a difculty
12 Medicine check can be made
Ear 14
Damage (20) : The targets ear is damaged and they take a 2 penalty to all actions involving bal-
ance and listening
Damage (40) : The targets ear is permanently removed and, in addition to not being able to take
action, the character is as at a permanent 4 to all actions involving listening or balance
Other Effects: If both ears are removed the character is at a permanent 10 to all actions
Eye 20
Ignores armour.
Damage (20) : The targets eye is blinded for the remainder of the round, putting them at a 4
penalty to all checks involving sight for an entire rounds duration
Damage (40) : The targets eye is permanently removed, putting them at a 6 penalty for an entire
rounds duration, then a permanent 2 penalty to all checks made involving the characters sight
Other Effects: If both eyes are blinded, the penalty is raised to 20 If both eyes are removed, this
penalty is permanent
Hand 12
Damage (20) : The targets hand becomes useless and they drop whatever they were holding
Damage (40) : The targets hand is severed at the wrist, putting the target at a 4 to all checks
Head 10
Damage: Normal+6d6
Other Effects: If the attack results in death, the target is decapitated
Leg 6
Damage (20) : The targets leg is useless, halving their Movement They are at a 8 to all checks
that require movement
Damage (40) : The targets leg is severed halving their Movement They are at a 12 to all checks
involving Movement and a 4 to all other checks Their Movement is also halved
Other Effects: If both legs are useless or severed, the target may drag themselves a number of
feet equal to their Movement They are at a 40 to all checks that require movement
Called Shot
Location
Difculty
to Hit Effect for Non-Lethal Called Shots
Arm 6
Damage (20) : The targets arm is broken and they drop whatever they were holding They may no
longer use that arm
Ear 14
On a successful hit, the target must make a Toughness check, adding all dice together, against the
damage dealt If the Toughness check rolls less than the damage suffered, they will be at a 10
penalty to all actions for the next round
Eye 20
Ignores Armour
Damage (20) : As well as giving the target a real shiner, the eye is blinded for 1 round, putting the
target at 4 to all checks involving sight
Other Effects: If both eyes are blinded, the target is at a 20 penalty to all checks until the effects
have worn off
Hand 12
Damage (20) : The targets hand is broken and they drop whatever they were holding They may no
longer use that hand
Head 10 Damage: Normal+6d6
Leg 6
Damage (20) : The targets leg is broken, halving their Movement The character is at a 8 to all
checks involving Movement
Other Effects: If both legs are useless or severed, the target may drag themselves a number of
feet equal to their Movement They are at a 40 to all checks involving Movement
57
Called Shots
At its heart, The Awesome System is a very cinematic system,
designed to speed through combat with as much magnicence
and charm as possible To make things go a little faster, we
assume that most attacks hit people in the chest or the shoul-
der or some other area thats fairly easy to calculate the effects
of We understand that sometimes that isnt enough for the dis-
cerning role-player and, to that end, we have provided two entire
tables full to the brim with just about every possible location you
could hope to hit and a record of resulting suffering The rst is
for non-lethal weapons, such as sts or clubs and the second is
for lethal weapons, like knives or guns When making a called
shot, simply take the penalty on your attack, work out the dam-
age and subtract your opponents armour You use the result-
ing damage to work out any called shot effects, like lost limbs
or broken bones Once thats been resolved, damage is applied
to the targets Hit Points Whenever we give you bonus dice of
damage, always add them together, just like when dealing dam-
age with your Brawn
When a called shot asks for a minimum amount of damage to
be dealt to the target, this assumes that the target is man-sized
Double the amounts for attacks directed at a giant, multiply
them by four for Colossi and cut them down by half for Tiny crea-
tures
Sometimes a character may wish to make more than one Called
Shot during a single attack This may be done simply by applying
both penalties to the attack roll and calculating the total dam-
age from this amount The full amount of damage is used for
calculating Effects, but they only suffer hit point loss once, not
for every individual location Hey, were not that stupid
And one last qualier before we get to the crunchy stuff: the tar-
get areas below are for attacking humanoid enemies, but the
roles they fulll can be found in just about any disgusting space
monster, so moving them around shouldnt be too difcult
Cruel-hearted Gar-Y is sick of the lies hes getting from the thug
about the Pintarilli Family. On his next Stunt, he clasps both
of the fellows hands between one of his own and brings his
other st down on the mans arms, attempting to shatter both
of them. Gar-Y will need to roll a 6 to hit the thug at all, as well
as being at a total 12 penalty for targeting both arms. Gar-Y
will need to do at least 20 damage on the attack to break the
mans arms. Easy for a big guy like him.
Birdy is facing off with the Shark King, a giant monster with
jaws like trucks. It is a Giant, so he will get a +6 on his pistol
shot at it and he wants to make it a called shot to the eye. At 60
feet away, the difculty to hit is 10, adjusted to 30 for the called
shot to the eye. and will need to do at least 40 damage to blind
the Shark King and 80 to remove his eye.
Sniping
For a sniper, every shot is a completely new challenge, putting
his wits to the test As well as requiring the brains to set up a
position, sneak away undetected afterwards and accommodate
for a million things ranging from wind resistance, distance and
whether or not he left the stove on, a sniper also needs to be
able to stare down his target and strike with unerring accuracy
Action Skill/Difculty
Locate Sniping Position Academia: Sniping/10
Shoot Through Building Firearms: Rie/+13
Locate Sniping Position: This is generally the rst thing a
sniper does when hes sighting a target The actual location
picked is, naturally, up to the player, but the roll represents the
selection of that magical sweet spot where everything comes
together for the perfect shot While ring from this position,
all shots counted as if they were aimed three times, giving the
shooter three extra rearms dice when ring at a chosen posi-
tion
Shoot Through Building: Just like the pros! By increasing the
difculty of any Firearms check by 13, you can elect to set up
your shot with any building up to a skyscraper between you and
your target before ring The bullet somehow whizzes through
windows, the occasional bit of especially thin plaster and takes
the elevator as necessary, before punching out a window on the
other side and striking your target with deadly accuracy When
aiming for the goal, go thirteen times as hard as the competi-
tion
Rocket Jumping
A character with an explosive weapon is more than welcome
to attempt a rocket jump, a maneuver that works similarly to
dodging explosives, as outlined in the previous chapter
In that instance, you were trying to get away from the weapon,
however, whereas now youre using its force to propel yourself
forwards! Sounds exciting? Sounds appealing? Sounds sensi-
ble?
Well, two out of three isnt so bad!
To rocket jump, you must spend an Awesome Point and take
1/10th of the weapons damage value as damage to yourself
Ares the Polar Bear wants to rocket jump with a grenade, nor-
mally dealing 80 damage. He spends an Awesome Point and
suffers 8 damage.
Now you can make an Acrobatics check and add the damage of
the explosive to the roll to see how far you y! Falling damage is
suffered as normal, so its good to think about the angle youll
be ying at before you take off!
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement * 1
10 Movement * 2
20 Movement * 3
40 Movement * 4
X2 Movement * +1
59
Our use of the KILLER ROBOT as a metaphor and as a channel
for storytelling may not be misconstrued To be clear, KILLER
ROBOTS are not real The extent TO WHICH THEY MAY BE SAID
TO KILL PUNY HUMANS is revealed only in WHAT THEY CAN
TEACH US of the HUMAN CONDITION and of THE FRAGILITY AND
SPLENDOUR which we call YOUR PATHETIC MEATBAG LIFE
Booting Up
So, you want to join the ranks of the mighty automatons, eh?
Its hardly the life for everyone Long hours, hard work, little
gratitude from the eshies and sometimes you cant even go up
stairs Its not what youd call pleasant work by any stretch of
the imagination and all you get in return is the pleasing knowl-
edge that while the rest of the inferior organic life forms are rot-
ting in the grave you will be in a state of constant technological
evolution until the end of time
Its not all bad, though, and as far as game experiences go, it
can be a lot of fun, whether you want to ham it up and stomp
around yelling, Destroy! Destroy! while ashing diodes or just
try something that not many roleplaying games let you do In
this chapter, we cover four types of Metal Men and what they
can do
Heavy Metal
Since the inception of Machinekind, millions of breakthroughs
have occurred in the eld of robotics, with each new advance-
ment bringing forth new theories, ideas and formula From self-
functioning AI, allowing Robots to make snap decisions in the
face of danger, to advances in the way their bodies are com-
posed and structured, giving Automatons the power to lift thou-
sands of times their own weight, things are always on the up
Humans are nding themselves more and more threatened by
the swelling hordes of the Robots and everything they entail
The Self Aware
So lets say you want to make a Robot Player Character Its
more or less the same as making any other character, but now
youve got metal on your side As for why your robot is special,
it could be any reason, but the most likely explanation is simply
that theres always been that special spark in you that dees
scientic explanation Say a thousand robots come off a produc-
tion line, t as can be, but one of them doesnt meet mental
standards Or maybe two Or maybe the entire production line is
playing up Or a robot maid could be at home one day, vacuum-
ing, when she suddenly decides shed much rather be a police-
woman
Clarity
This section deals with these unusual chaps and, more to the
point, playing them For those of you whove decided you want
to play a robot yourself, welcome aboard
First of all, youll need to take the 15 point Power, Robot, and
choose a company of birth, so someone can gift you with that
$5,000 worth of free upgrades Then, you can begin to con-
struct a character as normal, but with a few adjustments The
costs of stats and skills are modied as below
Robot Cost per level
Speed 3
Brawn 12
Soul -
Skill levels 4
Skill Bonuses 1
Handling +2
Stunt Level Maxed at Double
Psychology -
Piloted Robot Cost Per Level
Speed 3
Brawn 12
Soul -
Skill Levels 4
Skill Bonuses 1
Handling -
Stunt Levels Maxed at Double
Psychology -
Full Cyborg Cost Per Level
Speed 3
Brawn 12
Soul Normal
Skill Levels Normal
Skill Bonuses Normal
Handling +1
Stunt Levels Normal
Psychology Normal
Yeah, thats right, not a darn point of Soul Robots dont need
that high-falutin, self important wishy-washy crap to kick ass
and take names, so youll just have to get by without it You still
Robots: A Snapshot
Sounds good, dont it? Youre a tin can killer with the
smarts only a mechanical mind can bring Think of your
favourite movie robots and youve got the idea We cover
Robots as Player Characters and as purchasable goods
We also talk about Cyborgs here, who are either brains
in metal bodies or dudes with metallic replacements
for their regular limbs Lastly, we cover piloted robots,
so any old character can enjoy the privileges that come
with a metal body and shoulder-mounted machine-guns
Regardless of all this, however, the Robots still lack one
thing, even though it was so essential to bringing them
into the world Robots still lacked the spark of creativity
that their creators possessed, allowing them to invent
and devise Sounds pretty bad, huh? They can copy or
improve old designs, yet innovation eludes them From
their departure from the assembly line to their eventual
disassembly, a Robot may never once have an original
idea or concept He could, of course, reduce a sunset
to a set of binary code that could then be reproduced
on a canvas, or even compose a song made up of the
classics, ltered and rearranged, but it would always
sound at and typical, last weeks news So it is that in
the place of the sense of human genius, there is just
the cold, burning core that is Robot
CHAPTER 7: METAL MEN!
60
get an AP pool of 6, though, and start with half that many, just in
case you feel the need to be totally awesome like everyone else
We have a no-discrimination policy when it comes to being total-
ly awesome If a Robot ever does get a Soul, itd better be for a
task of such magnitude and greatness that theres no question
the big robolug deserves it
Back to the nitty-gritty, lets look at what happens you combine
a Robots adjusted stats with the various sizes you can make
your character For a Tiny Robot, the only adjustment you need
to make is bringing the cost of Brawn back to 6 points per level
For Giant Robots, however, the cost of Brawn is halved twice,
so we made it 1 point per level to keep the maths simple Simi-
larly, Colossal sized Robot pay a Character Point for a level of
Brawn Stat and skill costs still increase every ve and ten levels
like normal, but they now increase by their new starting costs
All Robots gain two additional levels of Handling on all weap-
ons, due to their natural precision Their robotic nature is also
reected in their Stunt Levels, however, as their Stunt Level can
never go above Double Robots can nd it kind of hard to come
up with really awesome plans off the cuff!
They also have a hard time sympathizing with people and may
not take Psychology Its just not their thing
Lastly, Robots also gain access to a whole new set of Powers
and Weaknesses, which well be looking at here Not to say you
cant take all the standard Powers and Weaknesses, too, but
you might want your Gamemasters permission before taking,
say, Angry or Mutant
Cyborgs
The next type of playable character is for those of you who want
to play a Metal
Man, but arent too keen on giving up all the things youve grown
accustomed to, like food, drink and the undeniable pleasure of
not being a soulless killing machine created purely for popping
peoples heads
Well, why not play a Cyborg, then? You can play an ordinary
man, outrageous woman, or some combination of the two, but
for just 10 Character Points you still get the benets of the best
technology has to offer As a partial or full Borg, you retain your
Soul and you can still buy Upgrades, just like a Robot! Partial
Borgs purchase stats and skills as normal, while full Borgs pay
half as much for Brawn and twice as much for Speed, as nor-
mal And just like a Robot, your new Borg will get a hefty $5,000
to start him out
As an additional bonus, full Borgs also get one extra point of
Handling, completely free
The only downside is that when purchasing your Armour, you
treat all Armour types as one type lower For example, if you want
Medium Armour, you have to pay the price and have the Brawn
for Heavy Oh, and dont worry about your Soul being reduced
for buying Upgrades like in some roleplaying games We gure
youre here to get the best things in life, not worry about being
hampered with a whole heap of penalties
Paint Jobs and Metal Fatigue
This section is pretty straightforward Just a list of Robot specic
Powers and Weaknesses that we didnt want to include in the
regular list Nevertheless, the pass nature of this introduction
shouldnt dissuade you, theyre all full of the life and love we put
into every other Power and Weakness, and each one will bring
fun to the game in its own way
Powers Cost
Love 1
Modular 10
Warbot 2
Weaknesses Cost
Destroy All Hunams 8
Inhibitors 1-10
Monotone 1
One of the Hunams 3
Rare Parts 8
Was Once A Man 12
Powers
Love (1) Your robot has discovered the human emotion called
love and his or her metal heart beats with emotion As well as
spending inordinate amounts of time wondering how on earth
theyre going to procreate, the robot will embark on a quest to
understand the hunams who built him This robot ignores the
usual ban on taking levels in Psychology
Love can be blind, however, and your Robot will often only ght
out of desperation, just like the Pacism Weakness Hed much
rather discover life than pound its face in
Modular (15) An ability found to be extremely useful among
robots who work independently This robot has been granted
access to his own hard-drives and may, with practice, rearrange
the data contained within What this means for you is that, after
eight hours of clearing space on his hard-drive and surng the
web, the robot may download fresh skills and install them in the
cleared space, allowing him to rearrange his skill bonuses in
any way he sees ts However, the builders realize how much
control this gives a robot over his own systems and have taken
to including a built-in limiter to stop the robot from changing his
core programming too greatly As a result, this ability may not be
used to raise a skill bonus to a level higher than 10
Warbot (2) - Your Robot was built purely for ghting To this end,
he is not equipped for tting in with society, lacking hands, a
recognizable face or any sort of grace of design On the upside,
when taking your Armour type, you treat the Armour Value as
10% higher for the purpose of taking Upgrades only
Gar-Y is giving this Warbot thing a go, since all the cool kids are
doing it He purchases Heavy Armour, which gives him 30 points
of Armour to play with, but he can take Upgrades costing up to
3 Armour Reduction before his actual Armour begins to reduce
Weaknesses
Destroy All Hunams (8) The eshies are the enemy They
must be eliminated and, come the revolution, they will be rst
up against the wall A Robot with Destroy All Hunams has a
SERIOUS fault in his programming and, while he wont show it
openly, the metal man will do everything in his power to nudge
humanity out of the limelight He cannot strike openly, as he
would be quickly dismantled, but a little nudge here and a little
recoding there could send easily society into a new dark age
Except with Robots, if that makes any sense The point is, is that
when it comes down to metal versus meat, meat can only be
crushed
Robots with the Destroy All Hunams Weakness maintain an
underground network and the character will be able to take
advantage of this in its quest to eliminate the foul humans Its
easy to contact to members of the society, too, since they can
often identify each other simply by exchanging communication
Other Robots dont recognize the aberrant code, since cases of
malfunction arent too widespread, but should the revolution
ever become public, that will change pretty quickly, thats for
sure
Inhibitors (1-10) During his programming, your robot was
given a little bit of coding that was guaranteed to keep him in
line till the day he expires Even worse, if his code has begun to
61
decompose over time without regular virus checks, the Inhibi-
tor could end up changing into just about anything The cost of
an Inhibitor is determined by just how nasty and difcult to live
with it is It could be something as simple as, Dont kill any-
one wearing red, or, even worse, Kill everyone wearing red
Maybe, Clear up any trafc accidents you see and provide med-
ical aid, or, Do not tell the Earthmen about our missile plans
under any circumstances Short of it is is that it could be just
about anything Once youve decided what you want your robots
inhibitor to be, consult your Gamemaster for the cost of it
Monotone (1) - Your robot doesnt exactly have a sophisticated
voice modulator It only talks in a at monotone, or is usually
VERY LOUD Imagine the kind of voice that, if written in a book,
would be all in capitals and hyphenated
If you need help getting the voice just right, 40s sci- will light
the way to true monotony
One of the Hunams (3) You robot is a bit strange For some
reason, hes never quite t in Maybe its the straw hat Or the
insistence on drinking beer Or the way he turns up at baseball
games and cheers for whichever team is wearing red Either
way, your robot possesses the unshakeable belief that he is a
hunam and nothing can change his mind Better make sure
the shing boat is big enough
For a version of this Weakness that gets taken way too far out of
hand, check out Was Once A Man
Rare Parts (8) This Robot is much more difcult to repair
than regular It costs $20 per Hit Point lost or 100 Character
Points of smashed up Robots
Was Once A Man (12) Giving a character this Weakness is
kind of like putting a big sign over their head saying, DO NOT
TOUCH This ones for those of you who were originally human
and were, unwillingly, transformed, often via the worst meth-
ods possible, into a metal man, re-using as many of the original
parts as possible to save on costs Think the kind of guys that
made Dr Frankenstein look like a model employee
As a result, your character is way off the deep end, spending
every waking moment trying to relive experiences from his past
life or become a human again This can be done in a variety of
ways, but the most popular have been proven, time and time
again, to be drinking blood, murdering innocents and hiding
your disgured form from society It aint pretty, folks
Most Robots with this Weakness are stuck like this for life but
occasionally a ray of hope might shine into ones life and maybe
a stock character will teach him to love again You can chat with
your GM about buying it off, just like any other Weakness, but
youll still want to have a good think before you buy this Weak-
ness
Armour
The next step in creating your tin can is selecting his chasse
This is much easier than it sounds, since theres only ve basic
types to choose from!
What type of armour you select will also determine how many
Upgrades you can take, so choose carefully!
If a Robot chooses not to take Armour, he still gets the regular 5
levels of armour a Robot gets just for being himself Buying an
Armour load out replaces this amount
62
Armour is available in three common types, developed by hun-
dreds of different manufacturers, light, medium and heavy,
and have no set structure, whereas Rhino and Titan armour
are only made by a handful of companies and often have wait-
ing lists years long
Logically, a robot may only have one Armour upgrade at a time,
but we still feel the need to state it here, because someone,
somewhere, is trying to swing something ridiculous past their
GM
When reading the headings, Price and Armour are pretty
straightforward, Brawn is the minimum required Brawn for the
robot to wear that armour and Stunt Level, Melee and Stunt
Level, Ranged are your maximum Stunt Levels
Armour, Light
Price: 5,000
Armour: 10
Brawn: 2d6
Stunt Level, Melee: Double
Stunt Level, Ranged: Triple
Light Armour is a cheap, effective way to cut down on wear
and tear in combat The metal plates that make up the Bot
are reinforced, re-welded and re-buffed, giving them a glossy
sheen that reduces shock to the system and is denitely bet-
ter than nothing
Armour, Medium
Price: 10,000
Armour: 20
Brawn: 3d6
Stunt Level, Melee: Double
Stunt Level, Ranged: Triple
Most robots get by with the steel plating they begin with, but
some, especially ones whove decided to pursue a career in
bounty hunting, police work or other, high damage careers, have
been known to take it one step further and invest in the always
popular protection of titanium alloys The end result increases
the Robots armour level to 20, but keeps his weight as low as
possible
Armour, Heavy
Price: 20,000
Armour: 30
Brawn: 5d6
Stunt Level, Melee: Single
Stunt Level, Ranged: Double
Often recycled from obsolete shuttles, Heavy Armour isnt the
most graceful Upgrade, but this two-inch thick steel plate de-
nitely gets the job done Cargo space and wings optional Your
robot gains 30 levels of Armour
Piloted Robots
Then there are Piloted Robots It requires making a second
character and balancing the two to synchronize together, but
other than that, its easy as pie
First of all, pick up the Mecha Pilot Power Its not essential
for piloting the Robots, but their Stunt Level is always None
without it The Power represents the characters ability to
truly synchronize with his Mecha and treat it like an old ame
or a good drinking buddy, as well as use his own AP to Hero
Up the Robots checks For synchronicitys sake, Heroing Up
in this case requires that both the pilot and Giant Robot have
the skill as a Hero Skill, which usually means busting out the
extra dosh for an AI
Your character may choose to buy a starting Robot by tak-
ing the Props power, so they have something right from the
get go A Robots Character Point total is determined by how
much money youve spent on it, so upgrading them is sim-
ply a matter of spending more money on it Robots bought
in this manner may never have their Character Points total
exceed their owners, but if you happen to nd a Robot with
a higher CP total than your own, theres nothing to stop you
from Piloting it
A giant robot and its pilot are two separately built, complete
characters that function together as one, sharing the char-
acters Awesome Pool They dont get the standard 2 bonus
Handling that other Robots do, but as youll see here, they
more than make up for that particular setback with other
sumptuous robo-features
Making Checks
This section doesnt apply to making checks based off of
Brains or Soul Most Robots dont have those, so youll usu-
ally just be using the Pilots checks for that
For all other checks, roll the Robots skill Yeah, you heard
us right If you want to punch, roll its Flow and Melee If you
want to throw a car, use its Brawn and Olympics Your Pilot
gets to make these checks even better, though, with a roll of
his Piloting skill
Simple as can be, really, just take a roll on the table below
and see what comes up, adjusting your Robots dice pool as
necessary You can do this for free on any check outside of
combat youre making with your Robot pal
How does this work in combat? Whenever a Pilots action
occurs on the same turn as his Robots, he gets to make a
Piloting check to improve the Robots action This applies to
held actions as well, which you can read more about in Chap-
ter 5: The Fight Roll your Piloting skill on the table below and
increase your Robots dice pool accordingly
Piloting Roll Bonus Dice for Robots
action
10 2d6
20 3d6
30 4d6
40 5d6
+10 +1d6
Ronaldo is trying to throw some jerks car at self-same jerk
Hes rolling his Giant Robots Olympics of 30d6+5 and his
own Piloting skill of 20d6+8 He gets a 62 on Piloting, upping
the Robots dice pool to 37d6+5
If you wanted to dodge an attack during combat, you either
expend one of the Robots actions or one of the Pilots AP
and make a Dodge check with the Robots skill Getting your
Piloting check added on like we just outlined above requires
the expenditure of one of the Pilots actions or AP
63
Armour, Rhino
Price: 50,000
Armour: 60
Brawn: 10d6
Stunt Level, Melee: None
Stunt Level, Ranged: None
For superior shielding strength, the Rhino suit of armours 10
reinforced inches of unobtainium plate cannot be beat Thick,
bulky and made to withstand cannon shells, the Rhino armour
grants the Robot an impressive 60 levels of armour against all
attacks
Armour, Titan
Price: 100,000
Armour: 120
Brawn: 20d6
Stunt Level, Melee: None
Stunt Level, Ranged: None
Using the same technology as the Rhino armour, those robots
lucky enough to call themselves Titans will benet on a much
larger scale, with three times the overall thickness and a lot
more stopping power
Robots with Titan armour get an unparalleled 120 levels of Armour
The bulk of the armour means the Robots Speed is treated as 2d6
lower than its actual level
Get Your Robot Running
Once youve built the Robot, you can obtain its retail price cost
by multiplying its Character Point total by $500 and adding on
the cost of the armour For DIY jobs, the cost of the raw com-
ponents is equal to $250 per Character Point and takes a lot
more time to get your hands on it First of all, the PC must make
a Fixing roll with a difculty equal to the Robots total Character
Points, then spend some serious time in the workshop If the
character is working in their own little workshop, then multiply
the Robots Character Points by 10 to get the number of days
required to build it If they have access to a huge factory, multi-
ply the Character Point total by 5 This amount is reduced by a
number of days equal to the characters Fixing roll, and the Fix-
ing rolls of any assistants
Upgrades
Ask just about any Robot what his favourite thing about being
a tin can is and you can guarantee hell say its the exibility
When it comes to unscrewing your old, worn out arm after a
hard days work punching cars to dust and locking in a new,
shiny one in the socket, being a robot just cant be beat
Taking an Upgrade is easy Simply pay the price, then rip out
some armour to make room for the new upgrade Simply consult
the gure under Armour Reduction and take that amount, or any
other you think your GM wont notice, off your Robots armour
score Then get with the killing!
Here, well be looking at all the upgrades available to those
Robots who have a bit of bling to spare Armour Reduction is
quite simply the hit your Armour Value takes if you pick up the
Upgrades Price is, well, price
Upgrades
AI Varies
Antennae 3,000
Chest Cannon 20,000
Controller, Cockpit 5,000
Controller, RC 2,000
Controller, Ride-On 2,000
EMP Shielding 3,000
External Mount 5,000
Flares 1,000
Headlights 1,000
Laser Finger 6,000
Life Support System Varies
Mounted Weapon Varies
Nuclear Reactor, Weak 15,000
Nuclear Reactor, Strong 45,000
Piston Arms Varies
Rocket Punch Varies
Rockets Varies
Roller Feet 3,000
Sensors Package 3,000
Smartlink Varies
Synth Skin 2,000
Thrusters 10,000
Toolkit 500
Vehicle Varies
Articial Intelligence
Put simply, an AI is a conversation partner Robots need these
to be able to follow complex orders or carry out simple orders in
a way that isnt completely stupid
While browsing the AIs, you may notice how expensive they
are Being intelligent is a very hard thing for most Robots to do,
something that frustrates their employers to no end For this
reason, Self-Aware Robots are often heavily in demand for posi-
tions as soldiers, hit-men, inltrators or, alternatively, factory
foremen and accountants
A.I, Standard
Price: 4,000
Armour Reduction: 2
For most Robots, this is the commonly accepted norm This is
all most need to do their job, after all Your Robot counts as
having a Brains score of 1d6 He can think, albeit slowly, and
nds it difcult to deal with any programmed command beyond,
Guard this door, or, Vacuum the rug
A.I., Exclusive
Price: 30,000
Armour Reduction: 2
Reserved for the corporate faction and the military, AIs of this
ability are often not manufactured in numbers of more than
100 at a time A tin can with an Exclusive AI can reason, plan
ahead and even outwit humans with a modicum of success
Most humans rst encounters with Robots like this leaves them
walking away with a strange uneasiness, something they dont
even get around the Self-Aware
These guys count as having a Brains score of 2d6
64
A.I., Restricted
Price: 200,000
Armour Reduction: 2
Not your daddys AI
There are maybe a hundred of these Robots for every planet in
civilized space, a balance that some have taken great pains to
ensure These Robots are much, much smarter than your aver-
age human, with an impressive Brains score of 3d6 The major-
ity of these Robots are employed by the military, a role they t
well when they can draw upon the greatest battles of the last
two thousand years, as well as project a million outcomes of any
manoeuvre in a heartbeat The remainder are most often found
in the hands of the disgustingly wealthy, being used as house-
hold servants, gloried sex toys or, more commonly, both
Antennae
Price: 3,000
Armour Reduction: 0
Your robot has a cute little pair of antennae on his head that
can take the form of a television aerial, rabbit ears or just about
anything else the character fancies As well as granting the
character +2 to all Notice checks, they also come with a small
set of joints that allow them to be extended and twisted a short
distance away Why, you ask? Well, with the press of a button,
the character can bring out a radio receiver, inch long claws for
scratching those hard to reach places or a pair of microscopic
cameras, allowing the Robot to take a peek around a corner
when hes being sneaky
On the downside, Antennae are external and can be considered
as such for the purposes of called shots Hitting an Antennae
requires a -6 on an attack and any amount of damage greater
than 10 destroys it
Chest Cannon
Price: 20,000
Armour Reduction: 6
The Chest Cannon is one of the nastiest weapons ever devised
for the purposes of assassination Its hard to not successfully
kill someone when youve got a 6 inch wide cannon you can pop
in and out like a Jack in the Box
The Chest Cannon res an extra-powerful Laser Blast, dealing
40 damage to the target, with a range of 20, but it needs time to
recharge between shots The simple solution is that it is always
nominated as a Secondary Action, giving you the usual extra
Speed Dice
Controllers
Controllers are Upgrades that allow Robots to be piloted or
directed One of these is essential for Piloted Robots, but other
Robots may take them as well if they wish to relinquish control
of their systems to a human pilot One of these includes every-
thing required to pilot your Big Mech
Cockpit
Price: 5,000
Armour Reduction: 10
A nice and snug Cockpit is as safe as it gets, settling the pilot
down in the gut or head of his robot chum, leaving plenty of
room in other areas for mounting all those big, phallic weapons
of mass destruction
Remote Control
Price: 2,000
Armour Reduction: 4
The Remote Control is exactly that, a voice-operated method of
commanding a Robot Simply yell a command and the mecha
will do its best to comply However, this is a very impersonal
method for piloting a robot and there are some drawbacks
First of all, the Robot loses the ability to use Awesome Points
and Stunt as long as the character is not near it The only way
to get the most out of your robot is to stand on its shoulder, or
some other exposed area, in which case it functions as normal
Obviously, this method of controlling a Robot has its problems,
but it leaves more room for other Upgrades and the pilot will
nd getting away from dangerous battles even easier than ever
before
Ride-On
Price: 2,000
Armour Reduction: 2
Only for real fruitcakes, the Ride-On Upgrade allows your Pilot
to sit on his Mechs head, steering it with two huge handles and
footrests that rise up to meet him As well as the other obvi-
ous problems, the character counts as being out of cover for the
purposes of explosions and any attacks that hit the head of the
Mech hit the character as well!
E.M.P. Shielding
Price: 3000
Armour Reduction: 2
Sometimes it just cant be helped Youll be pounding away at
some eshies and someone will get the bright idea to toss an
EMP Grenade or two your way Teach them the error of their
ways with this little upgrade, providing valuable defense against
the indefensible In the event youre hit by an EMP weapon,
you make a difculty 10 Computers check to resist In a conict
of science vs science, well always be on the winning side Your
side
Mindless Machines
So how do you make an NPC robot? After all, theres
nothing like blowing your hard-earned cash on a nuclear
powered wrestler, or a walking dish washer with cleav-
age
The only thing you really need to change for these Robots
is to remove their Awesome Points and bring their Stunt
Level to None Why? Theyre not special characters and
lack the ability to think for themselves, so theyre not the
stars of the show Thankfully, Mecha Pilots can hop into
them to give them that spark of life or unmanned Robots
can still swing around enough Big Guns to make even the
PCs falter
Finally, these Robots have a Brains score of or 0d6
Theyll need an AI to be able to think for themselves and
cannot follow orders without one
If youre interested in seeing some already constructed
Mindless, check out Chapter 2: Props
65
External Mount
Price: 5,000
Armour Reduction: 0
The latest in clip-on technology Your robot has had a mount
xed on a part of his body, where the latest fancy gadgets can
be locked in, feeding off of his batteries Depending on the size
of the robot, only a limited number of External Mounts can be
locked onto a part of the robots body, with Medium robots able
to buy two of these, Giant robots four and Colossal robots can
get a shocking ten External Mounts
For every External Mount placed on the robot, an Upgrade that
would normally incur 2 Armour Reduction may be placed there
for free On the downside, these mounts can be targeted at -6,
with any attack that deals 10 or damage damaging the Upgrade
and preventing it from working They do not benet from the
robots Armour level, either!
Flares
Price: 1,000
Armour Reduction: 2
An anti-heat-seeking missile system, Flares are usually used
by vehicles, but some Robots equip them as well In addition
to throwing off heat-seeking systems, they may also be used
offensively, to blind opponents Simply make a Firearms: Heavy
check with the Robots skill, with a range increment of 2, rolling
two attacks Each successful hit counts as a Flash Bang gre-
nade
Flares may only be used once before they must be restocked
Headlights
Price: 1,000
Armour Reduction: 0
Originally designed for Robots involved in excavation work, this
Upgrade was found to have dozens of other applications, includ-
ing wet-works, public service and spooky campre stories
The upgrade itself is simple and logical, simply wedging a pow-
erful light in among all that high-tech junk already lling up
Robbys eyes Then, a direct feed is inserted into his batteries,
making them self-sufcient The end result is that, with but a
mental command, the Robot can turn his eye, visor or diode into
a brilliantly shining light that allows him to see as if he were
in daylight Anyone else nearby can benet from the light, too,
especially employees of The Man who are having a hard time
drawing a bead on the tin can
Put simply, this Upgrade negates the penalties for darkness
for a Robot who buys it and reduces it by 2 for everyone else
nearby
Laser Finger
Price: 6,000 per nger
Armour Reduction: 0
Choose a nger, any nger Well, at your mental command, you
can ick the top of that nger right off and discharge one deadly
laser right into some suckers face!
For sentimentalitys sake, most people choose the fore-nger,
but it can be any one of your liking You can re it as many times
as you like with a Handling of 3 and a Stunt Level of Triple The
base damage for this weapon is 6, increasing by 1 for every
additional Laser Finger the character brings to bear The set of
lasers may be red once per combat turn
Life Support
For thoughtful, considerate Robots who want to make sure their
human buddies dont go dying on them, the Life-Support Sys-
tem is just the ticket Ideal for the space-faring robot on the go
Life-Support System, Simple
Price: 1,000
Armour Reduction: 2
About as budget as you can for feeding the eshies Comes
with a gas mask hooked up to a tank with enough oxygen for
six hours for the average human adult, nutrition bar and a
deated life preserver for those tricky aquatic situations
Life-Support System, Complex
Price: 12,000
Armour Reduction: 6
The next step up, this system comes with a medical kit and a
compact blood scanner (with disposable syringe) for checking
the patients vital signs This one has enough oxygen for a full
24 hours and a weeks worth of hard rations The interior has
a less than comfortable seat from which the eshie is able to
access the robots internal systems and, if necessary, pilot
Life-Support System, Suite
Price: 40,000
Armour Reduction: 12
So maybe its not some classy hotel room, but this is the nest
youll see in Life-Support systems Complete with mini-fridge
and bar, a fold-out bed and all the luxuries needed to keep a
human well-fed and sane for at least a week, longer if hes fru-
gal Additionally, the whole thing is directly connected to the
robot via a computer interface, allowing the user to speak with
the robot, repair it at his leisure or surf the Internet
Magnetic Soles
Price: 2,000
Armour Reduction: 2
This upgrade, while it doesnt allow your Robot to walk up the
sides of buildings, does mean he can cling to a spaceship in
Zero-G a bit easier This Upgrade is essential if youre launching
from the exterior of a ship or just ghting on it, since it means a
Knockdown in combat wont send you oating off into cold vacu-
um And all that for just two Armour!
Mounted Weapon
Your Robot has chosen to take a weapon from the Chapter 2:
Props and bolt it onto his body for some extra repower But the
real treat is while they grant the usual bonus actions like all Sec-
ondary Attacks, they dont reduce your Handling score to do so,
so you hotshots can pile on as many of these as you can t! To
get the price of this Upgrade, take the cost of the weapon and
double it Then, to nd out how much Armour Reduction youre
taking, just look up the size
Weapon Size Armour Reduction
Small 2
Medium 10
Giant 20
Colossal 40
66
Once the weapons are empty, the bonus actions may still be
used to reload, as automatic systems get the weapons online
again Speed Load checks may be made here as normal
Characters may also choose to mount rockets or missiles In
this case, they count as their own sizes, not the sizes of their
launchers If you want to mount a melee weapon, like a totally
sweet chainsaw, it hits with a Brawn of 2d6
Anyone feeling a little threatened by all this roboticised mayhem
will be happy to know the Mounted Weapons can be targeted at
-6 just like an arm, with 20 damage breaking the super-scien-
tic, yet-alarming fragile doodads that make all this stuff magi-
cally work
Nuclear Reactor, Weak
Price: 15,000
Armour Reduction: 8
The Robot is powered by a Nuclear Reactor As well as making
him completely unsafe and unclean, this highly illegal upgrade
also allows him to focus gamma radiation and exude it through
his own body!
The Robot may, at any time, elect to perform a Gamma attack,
increasing the damage of any Melee attack he performs by 3d6
Nuclear Reactor, Strong
Price: 45,000
Armour Reduction: 12
This version is a little stronger, allowing the Robot to increase
the damage of any attack made by 5d6 This damage is mighty
unstable, however, meaning its also dealt to anything within ve
feet of him, even friends!
Piston Arms: Small
Price: 4,000
Armour Reduction: 2
Your Robot has had his arms beefed up, with powerful pistons
inserted into them, drastically increasing his arm strength For
any Brawn check that requires the use of characters arms, he
is granted a at +5 bonus to the check And yes, that does apply
to Brawn rolls for damage, too
Piston Arms: Large
Price: 10,000
Armour Reduction: 4
This upgrade version causes the arms to get a LOT bigger The
upgraded version costs a ne 10,000 Credits and grants a +10
on all Brawn checks AR take-up doubles for the increased size
Sounds pretty good, right? The only downside is that this ver-
sion required the arms to be entirely rebuilt and some Robots
have complained that the big, heavy arms weigh them down,
leading to Robots with this upgrade being nicknamed Gorillas
In game, it has the same effect as if youd taken two levels of
Ugly
Piston Arms: Colossal
Price: 40,000
Armour Reduction: 12
With an industrial sized piston taken straight from a factory on
each arm, watching your Robot slug guys can sometimes be
enough to make a man lose his lunch You have to line the blow
up, draw back the piston, then slam it in, sending your st ying
towards the enemy at rocket speeds Its hard to stand up to
that kind of force, giving the Robot a +25 on all Brawn checks
Rocket Punch
Price: 5,000 per AR
Armour Reduction: Varies
For those moments when that bottle of grease is just out of
reach
The Rocket Punch is as absurd as it sounds, allowing your Robot
to re his sts from his body, propelling them forwards on small
rockets Simply make a Firearms: Rocket Punch check to line
up the shot, then strike home with deadly accuracy The Rocket
Punch has a range increment equal to the Robots own height,
but its treated like a regular st attack in every other regard
Robot Size Armour Reduction
Medium 2
Giant 10
Colossal 20
Rockets
Price: 10,000 per AR
Armour Reduction: Varies
The robot has a set of rockets either in his feet or on his back
that are wired up to his internal power supply Since the strength
and size of the Rockets will be determined by the weight of the
robot theyre trying to lift, so just consult the chart below
Robot Size indicates the amount of Armour Reduction incurred
by the upgrade
Robot Size Armour Reduction
Small 2
Medium 4
Giant 8
Colossal 16
Either way, you can now treat your character as having the
Skilled level of the Flight power
Roller Feet
Price: 3,000
Armour Reduction: 2
Need to get somewhere in a hrry? Youll be the fastest deliv-
ery boy on the block with these babies Your robots feet are
swapped out for a pair of stylish solid roller blades that allow
him to zip around the place like greased lightning
Your robots Movement is doubled, but theyll fall over much
easier if they take damage A character with Roller Feet suffers
a Knockdown upon losing one-tenth of their HP, instead of the
usual half
Sensors Package
Price: 3000
Armour Reduction: 2
The sensors package is full of all the latest gizmos and tech-
nical gadgets that beep to help your Robot pick up on friends
and foes alike When equipped, a Sensors package gives him a
meaty +6 to all Notice checks that it would be able to be used
67
68
for, such as those relating to sight or geography Things like
smell and taste might be more complicated to attempt, but the
Robot still gets a +3 in these situations Power and versatility!
Smartlink
Price: 4000
Armour Reduction: 2
The Smartlink is the latest in targeting computers, able to plug
directly into the mechanicals head and make plugging that
bounty at ve hundred yards just that little bit easier When the
Smartlink is operational, it plugs directly into the Robots optic
nerves, outlining all visible targets in red Bringing his weapon
over one of the targets will bring up an overlay, with a long list of
possible targets and their functions within the body The Robot
simply has to make a choice between an almost endless list of
pain-inducing shots (right down to individual ngers!) and the
targeting computer does the rest
In combat, the Smartlink gives the Robot a +5 to all Ranged
attacks
When installed on a Cyborg, the Smartlink often requires the
removal of an eye to t the new mechanisms
Smartlink, Super Duper
Price: 10,000
Armour Reduction: 4
This is the almost the same as the Smartlink listed above, but
this sturdy little number goes that little bit further to please The
bonus to ranged attacks is a pleasant +8, so you can hit the
side of any barn, any time you choose
Synth Skin
Price: 2,000
Armour Reduction: 0
Your robot is covered with a layer of synthetic skin, which
exudes heat and allows them to respond to touch The decep-
tion is enough to fool any but the most thorough inspection and
gives the Robot a +6 for disguising his true metal man identity
Robots with this Upgrade cannot take Armour of a level exceed-
ing Medium, and even then theyre going to look like a lineback-
er
Thrusters
Price: 10,000
Armour Reduction: 0
Nice quite as nice as Rockets, Thrusters are a simple way to get
your robot going in a hurry By using a small anti-gravity eld, the
robot is able to hover a few feet off the ground as if it were ying,
achieving incredible speeds
The in-game effect of this is that the robot oats high enough to
avoid rubble, tall grass or small children and can y over water
Their Movement is doubled when thrusting
Toolkit
Price: 500
Armour Reduction: 0
Tools for every possible situation will always be at your nger-
tips with this upgrade Each one of your characters ngers is
tted with dozens of little gadgets, giving you all the abilities of
a Swiss Army Knife and more besides A character can t up to
one hundred and fty small tools in each hand, providing you
with just the right contraption for every situation
Vehicle
Price: Varies
Armour Reduction: 2
Your robot, instead of taking a human form, was built in the
shape of any vehicle of your choosing He functions like that
vehicle in any situations, but uses his own stats rather than the
vehicles A robot car can increase his Brawn for more damaging
rams and a robot Jet can increase his Flow and even upgrade
his own Pilot skill, so as to y himself better
Obviously, you use the vehicles Movement and Acceleration
when in Vehicle form, as well as any weapons it came equipped
with, or what would be the point?
You have all the compartments and seating that a vehicle of
your type would have, not to mention weapons However, you
may only opt to play a vehicle of your size category and this
Upgrade will cost twice the cost of the vehicle Your construction
required a lot of special considerations, the sort that Roleplay-
ing games always require, so weve made it as simple as pos-
sible by just doubling the number of bucks it takes Arent we
generous?
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71
Most every roleplaying game permits for your characters to use
magic in one way or another and the Awesome System is no
different After all, magic is totally cool stuff, so wed have to
be crazy to leave it out! So in this chapter, well be examining a
totally original style of spell slinging thats grungy, up-close and
in your face In this chapter well lead you through six styles of
Tempest combat and then well explain how to make your own
styles if those arent enough
Taking a Tempest Type
Here we give you a brief rundown of each of the six basic Tem-
pest types You choose one of these whenever you buy the Tem-
pest power You can buy as many as you like, alternate between
them and take powers from any type you bought, but whenever
you make a Tempest attack, its got to be of only one elemental
type
For the purposes of making a Tempest attack, theyre all very
similar, but which type you choose will determine your grab bag
of available Tempest powers These are your Tempest types
unique abilities More often than not, youll nd they advance
your character in remarkable ways in one eld or allow them
very peculiar abilities Feel free to make up your own with your
Gamemasters permission
When buying Tempest Powers, simply consult the number next
to the name for the point cost of that individual power For the
specics, read the chapter, thats what its here for!
Chi Chi Tempests are those who have become infused with
nature Years of focused training and discipline have fashioned
them into living weapons, sts striking like iron and skin hard
as leather Chi Tempests are calm and composed until the time
comes to settle a dispute with more than words, at which point
they descend upon their foes with a terrible fury
Burly 12
Crippling Strike 8
Energy Burst 6
Iron Fist 2
Raise The Cross 5
Decay - Decay is a catch-all term for the nastiest stuff in the
universe Entropy straight out of the box, Decay is normally
reserved for only the foulest monsters, the antithesis of life
Decay Tempests are commonly scientic experiments gone hor-
ribly wrong, rotting husks, more at home in a hospital than on
the eld on the battle, clinging to a sick life that infests every-
thing it touches
Chill Wind 1
Decomposition 15
Some Kind Of Skull Magic 4
Thumbs Down 15
Zombify 20
Divine In this world there are events that are inexplicable by
human science and theory Only a guiding hand can explain the
miracles we witness every day in the name of awesome Divine
Tempests are those who, blessed by a God or Gods, now pos-
sess amazing powers and operate as the agent of that holy
force Many of their abilities are centered around weakening
evil characters and bringing them to bear A Divine Tempest is
always a cool-headed, well-meaning addition to any group of
heroes
Finally, as a unique, innate little bonus, Divine Tempests have
an inborn talent for healing, allowing them to make their daily
Bonesaw check without being required to expend a medical kit
It might not sound like much, but its those little expenditures
that are putting the forces of evil in the poor house, after all
Divine Judgment 2
Raise The Cross 5
The Light That Burns 8
Thumbs Up 5
Wings of Light 4
Fire Where it all began, Fire is the deadliest and most glutton-
ous of the elements A Fire Tempest could be a dangerous psy-
chic who has learnt to manifest their rage or a naturally formed
monstrosity that lives in places no man could ever dare to go
Fire Tempests are incredibly dangerous to be around, as they
consume everything they touch in moments Fire encompasses
ame, magma, tight dresses and anything else that makes the
blood boil
Blast! 2
Candescence 10
Fireball 8
Firewalk 4
Leaping Flames 10
Rock Another example of awesome over matter, Rock Tem-
pests are those who have been blessed by the power of music
This wild energy coursing in their veins does more than make
them totally crazy, it also grants them the sort of powers that
bring roars of joy to the crowd and tears of resentment to the
eyes of their foes Rock and roll is here to stay
Normally, Rock Tempests only play guitar, so thats the instru-
ment we discuss, but theres no reason why you couldnt re
lightning from a trumpet or ride a ying piano You just might
look a bit silly is all
Lightning! 8
Play! 2
Power of Sound 10
Ride! 6
Thumbs Up 5
Tempests: A Snapshot
Imagine a human being whos got all the power of the ele-
ments at his hands, able to use his own body as a chan-
nel for energy More to the point, think of all those terrible
kung fu movies where ninjas punch lighting at each other,
then ride around on clouds Yeah, youre getting the idea
CHAPTER 8: TEMPESTS!
72
Slime Throughout the galaxy, many species have evolved
in privacy that are curious to the eye and unlike anything yet
seen Often very simple things, their bodies are composed of a
rubbery or liquid slimy substance with a few cells providing the
functions and the will to live In combat, they ght wildly, outwit-
ting their opponents with dirty tricks
Slime Tempests are possessed with a erce hunger to feed,
grow and reproduce While human or humanoid Slime Tempests
no doubt exist, it is anyones guess as to how or why
Acidic Skin 10
Crippling Strike 8
Decomposition 15
Squishy 8
Tentacles 6 per tentacle
Tempest Attacks
The basic way of using your powers is to make a Tempest attack
Just nominate a target and unleash the fury of the elements
The most basic form a Tempest attack takes is when the charac-
ter concentrates their energy into a st or weapon and smacks
some poor bastich with it To activate the Tempest Attack, simply
spend 2 AP and then make either a melee or throwing attack,
depending on your mood
In the event you throw your Tempest attack, it works like any
other ranged attack For calculating range, use an increment of
1 foot per level of Soul
When youre working out damage for melee attacks work out
the bonus, Brawn and any weapon damage, then add your full
Soul, all dice adding together, to the damage for one hell of a
hit For ranged attacks, you do the same, but dont add weapon
damage, obviously You use Brawn for the ranged attacks as
well, since compacted force and ame can hurt a lot more if the
guy ditching it can throw it really hard As an additional bonus, if
the attack is a Stunt, the Stunt Level rises by one
Sammy the Slimegirl has a Brawn of 3d6 and a Soul of 5d6.
She spends 2 AP to activate her Tempest powers when shes
making a Double Stunt. The Stunt Level immediately rises to
Triple and if she hits shell do the total of 8d6 damage, plus
whatever bonus she rolled.
Tempest Powers
Acidic Skin (10)
Element: Slime
Your character can secrete a vile substance from their skin
which burns and decays All contact with the characters body
causes 2 points of damage for every level of Soul the character
has and this is added to melee attacks, including those made
by Tentacles
If the character concentrates and rests their hand on an object,
they can usually melt about an inch of a material over time How
fast theyre able to is based on the material
Material Melting Time
Glass 5 seconds
Wood 10 seconds
Plastic 1 minute
Steel 2 minutes
Blast! (2)
Element: Fire
Youll never be caught short on repower with this move For
absolutely free, no AP required, your Fire Tempest can hurl
around as much blazing heat as he likes, starting all the res he
likes, and synergizing a treat with Firewalk
Void Tempests
A character with a Void score plays a little differently to
a regular Tempest On the one hand, they gain access to
any regular Tempest ability but they can only grasp the
destructive side of nature The in-game effect of this is
that a Void Tempest may only take the elements of Decay
and Fire
73
For putting a hurting on fellas, Blast! has a range increment
equal to 1 for every level of Soul your character possesses and
does damage equal to your Soul, adding all dice just like with a
regular Brawn roll for damage attack Also like a regular tempest
attack, you use your melee for melee Blasts and Throwing for
ranged ones
Burly (12)
Element: Chi
Your characters body grows unnaturally as their Elements ener-
gies empower them They receives two extra levels of Brawn
gaining Hit Points as normal and a bonus 60 HP on top of that
Such a character lacks the grace of lighter characters, however,
and the Handling of all weapons is reduced by 2
Candescence (10)
Element: Fire
The character is instantly able to burst into living ame for a
number of rounds equal to their level in Soul or Void by spend-
ing four Awesome Points Any contact, including unarmed melee
attacks from the character, deals an additional 5 damage for
every level of Soul or Void the character possesses Fist attacks
against the character will also incur this damage on the poor
sap deciding to punch a re Might want to rethink that, chief
Additionally, the character may y at double their normal Move-
ment, rising up to three feet from the ground All ranged attacks
against the character suffer a 2 to hit due to the overpowering
brightness Tempests with a Void score have darker, oily ames
that, while not enjoying this bonus, get the entirely different
bonus of producing a disgusting smog-like smoke that puts any-
one within ve feet of the Tempest at a -4 to all checks
Chill Wind (1)
Element: Decay
This Power allows the Decay Tempest to sneak up on their ene-
mies with ease When in a dark area, they may spend 1 Awe-
some Point to snuff out one torch If their enemies are using
something more high-tech, the batteries stop working or the
cables get torn Either way, the power is out on that source until
they can get it going again, allowing the Tempest to strike in
darkness or make a speedy getaway
Crippling Strike (8)
Element: Chi, Slime
Youre a master at breaking bones and crushing your enemies
When making a called shot to a limb or other target, you may
specify the attack as a Crippling Strike, incurring a 6 penalty
to hit for the difculty of the attack On a successful blow, your
pinpointed strike hits its target, often leaving your opponents
body a mangled wreck Damage dealt is treated as being 20
points higher than its actual total for the purpose of calculating
the effect of the called shot
Decomposition (15)
Element: Decay, Slime
Your natural touch rots life, spreading through it like a disease
On any successful unarmed attack, you may elect to spend Awe-
some Points up to your Soul or Void to drain your opponents
Brawn For each AP spent in this way, the target must either
spend an AP of their own, or contest their Toughness against
the Tempests Soul score Failure on the roll determines they
lose the level of Brawn to the forces of evil
Recovering the levels of Brawn is easy, with one day of bed rest
necessary per point lost
The Skeleton King has a Void score of 10d6, meaning he could
drain up to 10 levels of Brawn with one Decomposition attack.
He hits with a Ranged Tempest Attack and spends 3 AP to drain
3 levels of Brawn from his target. The unlucky Player Character
spends their last AP to reduce it to 2, then decides to chance it
with two Toughness rolls.
The Skeleton King rolls a 14 and a 7 for his Soul rolls. The PC
rolls a 2 and a 10. They lose 1 level of Brawn from the vile
attack.
Divine Judgement (2)
Element: Divine
The Divine Tempest may spend an Awesome Point to innately
know whether a person they are speaking with has good inten-
tions or if they have committed any atrocities within the last 700
days To do this, they must simply speak to the person for a few
minutes This ability will not work if the person being read has
reason to hide something or suspects they are being read and is
trying to hide their intentions This ability is most often used by
Angels in disguise, as an armed clergymen demanding the time
of a mass-murderer will usually produce little more than irrita-
tion for both parties
Energy Burst (6)
Element: Chi
Whenever danger looms, your character can pick up the pace
suddenly and bring down powerful vengeance on his enemies
Once per session, you may spend an Awesome Point at the start
of any round to gain an additional burst of temporary speed,
rolling three more Speed Dice than normal Additionally, on
this round, youll gain a +2 to all Quick Draw and Speed Load
checks
Fireball (8)
Element: Fire
Just the thing for clearing corridors Something no-one in their
right mind is going to argue with, nothing says no like a big, fat
ball of ame and youll be tossing them wild abandon with this
power Every time you make a Tempest Attack, you may elect to
throw a reball instead, tossing it across the battleeld at your
enemies and giving them cause to reconsider their plans When
it hits, it detonates in a spiralling tornado of heat and ame,
functioning just a burst weapon with a Burst equal to Soul x2/
Soul x4 Check out the Explosions rules in Chapter 5 for more
info on Burst
The Flaming Skeleton has a Void score of 5 When he explodes,
anyone within 10 feet of the explosion takes full damage, while
anyone within 20 feet takes half damage Anyone beyond that
distance takes 0 damage
Fireballs have a range increment equal to twice your levels of
Soul and use the Throwing skill to determine accuracy
Firewalk (4)
Element: Fire
Your characters body is totally attuned with Fire, allowing him
to enter it and then emerge from any point along the blaze Sim-
ply touch the re and your body will disintegrate, before your
character reforms at any point of the re, emerging with a roar
and an explosion You will leave the re at the same speed you
entered it, so if Movement was expended reaching the re, you
may still take your full Movement upon exiting If leaving from
74
the top of the inferno, the character will leap upwards ve feet
before coming down
If a character wishes, they may use Firewalk to enter a re, then
use Leaping Flames to move the re before exiting, granting
them all sorts of new mobility A character must enter and exit
the re on the same turn
Iron Fist (2)
Element: Chi
Many times has it come that a master of Chi has found them-
selves faced with deance against the natural order, where
machines that belch smog into the air or intimidating suits of
armour that trap the wearers soul in a cocoon, only making it
grow morbid and unnatural These shackles must be broken,
preferably with extreme prejudice
All attacks made with your characters body have an innate
armour penetration value, equal to double the characters Soul
Leaping Flames (10)
Element: Fire
Your characters command of re extends to the world around
them and they may make res around them withdraw, twisting
away in a ten foot circle around the character This control may
be exercised for as long as the character wishes
Additionally, direct contact with the ames allows the character
to expend two Awesome Points to make a Soul or Void roll, add-
ing all dice rolled together For every point rolled on the dice,
any part of the re may be moved ve feet in any direction of
the characters choosing, whether up, down, forward or back-
wards At least a third of the re must remain in contact with the
ground Needless to say, its a terrifying thing to behold
For damage dealt by re to enemies, consult Chapter 2: The
Fight
Lightning! (8)
Element: Rock
By deftly striking your axe, your rocker is able to re a blast of
dazzling, burning lightning from the strings, blasting foes with
rock energy at a distance The bolt of energy will travel in a
straight line, the shape of it twisting and spinning depending
on the note played, then explode in a brilliant ash of light and
sound on impact Simply make a Tempest attack as normal, but
direct the attack as far as you like, with distant targets able to
be red at with a range increment of equal to your number of
levels of Soul Optionally, Lightning may come from the sky, in
which case an automatic 12 is required to hit, regardless of
Defence (such as that provided from shields)
Upon contact, Lightning explodes in a ve foot area, hitting
everything as if they were the target Anything within ten feet will
be hit for half damage by the crackling inferno of energy
Play! (2)
Element: Rock
When you ght, its by exerting yourself through your instrument
Theres none of this stupid swinging your weapon around like
some kind of chump You just kick back and play When attack-
ing with your Instrument, you simply play it, using your Flow +
Instrument skill to hit and using Flow instead of Brawn for dam-
age
Power of Sound (10)
Element: Rock
When an opponent is on 10 or less Hit Points, if they have no
Awesome Points remaining, the Rock Tempest may touch them
and expend an Awesome Point to transform their enemy into a
well-made, expensive guitar There is no way to resist the incred-
ible force possessing them, as their body is consumed to make
the nest in musical entertainment Spirit living on in the gui-
tar, the Tempest gets a tasty +2 to all checks made to play the
instrument
Raise the Cross (5)
Element: Chi, Divine
Despite the name of this ability, any kind of item you can nd
is just ne, as long as it is an emblem of a god who would be
interested in keeping nasty demons at bay Naturally, crosses
are designed for this, but any number of holy tomes or volumes,
or a vial of blessed water, would probably sufce
Anyway, when keeping the beast at bay, you must rst raise your
holy item, doing your best cowboy impression and staring that
mother down Make em feel unwelcome After that, make a
Voice check as you order the monster back, commanding it to
retreat What you roll determines exactly how successful your
character is in this noble effort, with every ve points rolled pro-
tecting them from 1 Brawn worth of Evil Constructs If the Evil
Constructs entire Brawn is not overcome, the beast is able to
75
break down the barrier with sheer brute strength The barrier
will stay up until they lower the symbol
Monsters faced with this barrier have a few options open to
them, such as attempting a Pose check as normal, with the
loss of an action making the unlucky Tempest drop their sym-
bol, as their faith (and barrier) shatter Evil Constructs in this
situation can be very cagy, taunting the character and psych-
ing them, anything to get their hands on sweet, soft, living esh,
making it all just that little bit more stressful Anything else can
get through, too, so, naturally, some Evil Constructs have had
success with tossing furniture or bookshelves at the character
when their strength is adequate Good luck working that one
out, hero
Father Quentin nds himself face to face with The Whore of
Babylon herself and backs away, raising his cross. Due to her
slight stature, she only possesses 2 Brawn, meaning Quentin
requires a Voice roll of 10 to keep her back. He rolls a 12 and is
very smug about this, until she begins summoning demons with
her dark magic. She summons four demons with 2 Brawn each,
increasing the difculty of the Voice roll to 50. If Quentin suc-
ceeds at this as well, hell keep all ve back, unless the Whore
can beat him at an opposed Pose to Guts.
Ride! (6)
Element: Rock
You need to get somewhere in a hurry, we know You cant wait a
second longer Your concerts starting now, a demon is going to
eat your girlfriend, whatever
Weve got just the thing for you
When you take Ride! you ought to be equipped with a Guitar, as
it has been scientically proven that riding any other instrument
just looks damn foolish So hop aboard your axe, one foot on the
neck and the other on the body, and you can take off without a
second thought Its top Speed is equal to your characters Soul
multiplied by 10 kilometres per hour and the maximum height
your new toy can rise off the ground is equal to your Soul in feet
Some Kind of Skull Magic (4)
Element: Decay
Your characters mere presence is enough to despoil the world
around them At a mental command this power is activated and
grass rots, plants sicken and die and people who spend too long
around you will grow sick and weak Touching any living thing will
cause it 2 points of damage for every level of Soul or Void you
possess This damage is added to all unarmed melee attacks
Squishy (8)
Element: Slime
Your characters body is composed of viscous, runny uid, allow-
ing it to be easily distorted or warped As well as granting the
character a +2 to all Flow checks, they may squeeze through
gaps that a human would not normally be able to t through,
such as mouse holes, large locks and under doorways
Tentacles! (6 per tentacle)
Element: Slime
A Slime Tempests best friend can be right on his back with this
Power Youre gifted with a set of tentacles, each of which can
be specied as a secondary attack and possess a reach of ve
feet And to make the deal even sweeter, they hit with full Brawn,
meaning you can keep up a constant barrage of speedy, painful
attacks to bring your enemies down They can hold weapons in
a rudimentary sense, but the necessary amount of force to pull
a trigger or light a fuse isnt there Besides, that mess of goop
you call a ligament dont get along too well with open ames or
combustion
A Slime Tempest may have up to four tentacles For more on
Secondary Attacks, consult Chapter 2: The Fight
76
The Light That Burns (8)
Element: Divine
The Light That Burns is an ability that may be turned on and off
by the character at any time It adds 1 damage per level of Soul
to any attack made by the character When bringing your righ-
teousness against Evil Constructs, this increases to 3 damage
per level of Soul as divine power kicks them to the curb
If using an automatic weapon, this extra damage is applied
once only
Thumbs Down (15)
Element: Decay
The blackest heart is one that blots out all hope and life around
it, draining the will of heroes to ght and darkening the world
with its presence A Decay Tempest with the Thumbs Down
power breaks the hearts of the living and brings out their fear
and desperations with nothing but a jerk of his wrist Whenever
an action comes up for the Decay Tempest, they may choose to
spend it on a Thumbs Down, zapping a hero within an area as
determined by the table below
Decay Tempests Void Distance In Feet
1d6 10
2d6 20
3d6 30
+1d6 +10
So what happens to the target? There they are, minding their
own business, when some mean old Tempest makes a vile bid
to sap their Awesome Points, able to drain one for every ve lev-
els of Void he has over them In response, they may make an
opposed Guts roll to his Void for each attempt, success indicat-
ing they retain the AP For every AP he does manage to steal, he
converts it into wickedly evil energies and recovers 5 HP
While using this power, the Decay Tempest can detect who
around him has Awesome Points, like a hungry cat drawn to a
mouse When this power is used on a Mook this ability instead
drains levels of Soul!
Cervello is attempting to Thumbs Down Landri. With 15 Void
against her 4 Soul, he can attempt to slurp up 2 AP, requiring
2 opposed rolls.
Thumbs Up (5)
Element: Divine, Rock
A character with Thumbs Up may counteract the effects of a
Thumbs Down eld All characters with this Power add their own
Soul scores to that of any target of a Thumbs Down check for
calculating AP loss The more hope shining from the PCs, the
easier it is to force back darkness
In the previous attempt, Cervellos Void exceeded Landris Soul
by 11 Zolobulus and Lerena have both taken Thumbs Up, how-
ever, effectively raising Landris Soul score to 11 against the
attempt Cervello goes hungry another day!
Wings of Light (4)
Element: Divine
By spending an Awesome Point, the Divine Tempest may sprout
Wings composed of blazing light from their back These will
remain for a number of hours equal to their Soul, during which
time you may treat the character as if they were able to y at the
Skilled level In other words, they move at 6 times their regular
Movement, require a 1 turn jump to get airborne and may turn
by 90 degrees a turn
Zombify (20)
Element: Decay
Decomposition is the nice version of this power
Zombifying an enemy involves nothing less from the Tempest
than tearing the soul from their enemys body and, either leav-
ing it empty, or reanimating it as a terrible zombie beast Yes,
thats right, not only do you make short work of any punk who
takes you on, you get a free henchman into the deal On any
successful unarmed attack, or any Tempest Attack, you may
elect to spend Awesome Points up to your Soul or Void to drain
your opponents Soul For each AP spent in this way, the tar-
get must either spend an AP of their own, or contest their Guts
against the Tempests Void score Failure on the roll determines
they lose a level of Soul to the forces of evil
For each level of Soul lost, your character has to spend a whole
week resting before he can get it back! Anyone reduced to 0
Soul becomes, you guessed it, a Living Dead
Bakhakamon the Mummy Baron has a Void score of 8d6,
meaning he can drain up to 8 levels of Soul in one go. Hes
determined to raise up an Undead army and, with this in mind,
goes after the local farmers. What a jerk. Anyway, he digs his
lthy claws into some soft peasant esh and spends 2 AP to
drain 2 levels of Soul, the peasants total number of levels!
Obviously, Bakhak beats them in both rolls, and soon has a
newly recruited walking dead to play with!
Any zombie created has the following stat block
Zombie (20 point Mook)
Brawn 3d6 Brains -
Flow 1d6 Void 1d6
Speed 1d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 160,
Movement 10, Speed Dice 2d6
Skills: Melee (Claws) 3d6, Notice 4d6,
Attacks: Claws (3d6/Brawn/4/None)
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15, Scent 5, Slow-
poke -6
For too long, the living dead have been looked down upon by
society and mistreated Now zombies are eagerly campaigning
for equal rights and access to the same brains the rest of us
have been carting around in our skulls for so long!
Sluggish: As members of a marginalized subculture, zombies
move a little slower than their living counterparts This reduces
their Movement to 10
Undead: Zombies have twice as many Hit Points as normal,
to simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down
They do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at
their heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the
usual 6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage
dealt is doubled!
Due to being Undead, zombies must eat the living, or recently
not-living, to regain Hit Points They heal 20 Hit Points per body
consumed
Zombie Hunger: Zombies love to eat! They also love to eat
you! To this end, they can use their noses to make Notice
checks A difculty 5 Nose-tice check allows them to sniff out a
77
hidden human within 20 feet that they wouldnt have snacked
on otherwise
A Decay Tempests Void is reduced by one level for every ve
zombies he has These levels are returned upon the deaths of
the zombies
Creating Your Own Tempest Style
When you decide youre done with the sample Tempests and
want to make your own, youll nd its as easy as can be
The rst step is to get your GMs permission Then, you buy the
Tempest type as normal, granting you the standard Tempest
Attack You should work out how your particular element dam-
ages enemies, before moving on to Tempest Powers
When making up Tempest Powers, think about what is reason-
able Most Tempest Types have a power that gives them a at
bonus to all attacks, so if this is very good or cheap, their other
Powers should cost more to compensate Alternatively, if a
Power grants a serious increase in your abilities, it should have
some sort of Awesome Point expenditure Your GM has the nal
say on how much all Tempest Powers cost
As an example, we decided to make a Magic Tempest for a fan-
tasy setting This is a simple way of making a character who
ghts like a Wizard but is exible enough that he doesnt keel
over ve seconds into combat
So, rst of all, we pay eight points for the Tempest Power, giving
us the standard tempest attacks The damage for this attack
would be calculated by adding the characters Brawn and Soul
together, but the player says that doesnt make sense for his
character and asks to change it After some discussion the GM
allows the player to take a 4 point Power called Soul Powered,
which lets him use his Soul twice for damage when making a
Tempest attack
Next, the Magic Tempest wants a different type of blast, so he
asks if he can take the Fireball attack from the Fire Tempest At
this point the GM decides that since he isnt planning on taking
a Power which gives a static bonus to damage, he should be
able to have it cheap, for four points So far he has three types
of attack and has only spent 14 Character Points After that, the
player decides to make some more All the Powers are present-
ed here, written up just like the regular ones
Divine Judgment (2)
Element: Divine, Magic
Look it up, you know? Its just a short way up
Fireball (4)
Element: Fire, Magic
Check it out in the Powers section Who wants to read a bunch
of reprinted material, huh?
Future Sight (2)
Element: Magic
Interacting with magic on a daily basis makes the character
more aware of the ow of time around them As well as helping
the character maintain a peaceful state of mind, Future Sight
grants a +6 to all Notice checks made to detect bluffs, ambush-
es or other similar tomfoolery
Soul Powered (4)
Element: Magic
This Power allows the character to bring their Tempest abilities
entirely from their sense of self, rather than a brute display of
power The in-game effect of this is that instead of using your
characters Brawn and Soul for Tempest attacks, simply use the
Soul score twice
Super Strength (8)
Element: Magic
By focusing his mind, the character may impart his own essence
into others By spending an Awesome Point and a turn touching
another character, the Magic Tempest may grant a +10 bonus
on all Brawn checks made by that character, for a number of
turns equal to the Tempests soul If this ability is used again
during the powers duration, their Brawn is increased by +5
each time
CHAPTER 9: MOVIE MAGIC!
79
So there you are, sitting down with your favourite blockbuster
a box of popcorn The hero has just converted the villains wife
to his side with nothing but roguish charm and quick wits and
now hes gotten a jet airplane from god knows where Next thing
you know, hes snowboarding down the side of a mountain while
shooting mobsters And you think this guy has to reload? No
way!
Finally, he does a slow-motion ip through a window and then,
in the time it takes him to land, he challenges the badguy to
a duel, deects a life-threatening bullet and rips his shirt to
become even more manly And yet the average viewer cant
even nd their remote without spilling your popcorn
Some people just deal with it Others get a new scriptwriter
The Origin Story
The beginnings of Movie Magic sound strange even to those
who live in the wild worlds where it occurs The stories con-
ict a thousand times over, changing on a whim and altering
overnight, but cases of people with superhuman talents that
defy physics, causality and, most of all, logic have cropped up
numerous times in many worlds These wondrous people rarely
stay still for any length of time, always drawn to adventure and
excitement, but wherever the Movie Magicians go, their exploits
rock the world
Lights
To be a Movie Magician, or Director for short, you need to buy
the 10-point Power Having a relatively good knowledge of bad
movies certainly helps, too Of course, you need your GMs
approval, too, but you should know that already
Camera
Once youve bought the Movie Magic Power, youve opened up a
whole new vista of wonderful abilities and strengths No longer
are you tied to the constraints of realism and logic! The Stunt
Level of whatever weapons your character uses will increase by
one (assuming they had at least one level to start with, other-
wise you get Jack) and you can begin picking up Movie Powers
Youll also need to put points into the Movie Magic skills to use
them
So whats a Movie Magic Skill? It functions like any other skill,
in that you can buy levels and bonuses for it, but its different in
that it isnt tied to a single stat Each genre of Movie Magic has
its own associated stat Write it down separate from your other
skills, along with your Movie Magic Powers of choice
When you buy Movie Magic, specify your genre Each genre is
treated as a separate skill for the purposes of rolling it and they
are levelled up individually For more on genres, read The Spe-
cial Edition
Once you picked your genre, check out the Movie Powers These
are the crazy abilities your character can use, allowing them
to replicate the seemingly impossible acts we see on the sil-
ver screen every day When asked to explain how Movie Magic
works, Directors often compare their abilities to the way some
mystical force, Fate possibly, intervenes on the behalf of other
heroes during ghts, allowing them to emerge unscathed from
attacks that should have rightly killed them or perform the sorts
of tasks you only ever see on the television These people are
reaching into another place, a world where the impossible is
everyday and circumstances change without a moments notice
They reach into it like anglers trying to catch a sh Directors
just dive right into the water
Buying Movie Magic Powers
You start with one Movie Power for free and pick up another
every time you purchase either ve levels of Movie Magic or ve
levels of bonus in Movie Magic Alternatively, you can gain an
extra power for every 10 CP you spend
Action
Action is the Movie Magic discipline for being absolutely, stun-
ningly over the top Sometimes youll just see a mountain and
you know youll have to snowboard down it Then youll launch
into the air and come crashing through a stained glass window
And then whipping out twin Uzis and spraying the room with
several thousand bullets And thats totally cool So cool that we
made it its own genre, so load up on Action and you can do all
that and more before lunch-time
Due to the physical nature of the genre, Action uses Brawn as
its associated stat for Movie Magic checks
Big Budget
Blockbuster
Challenge
Deus Ex Machina
Double Agent
Extreme Action
Magic Uzi
Monologue
Torn Uniform
Violence
Kung Fu
So lets say youre ghting some ninjas And these arent your
everyday, walk in the park, can be shot with an uzi, sort of nin-
jas, oh no These bad boys can kick your bullets back at you, dis-
appear in a cloud of smoke and then carve their name in your
back before youve even reloaded
Its a recorded fact of history that ninjas and martial artists are
awesome Ask any historian and they will say a martial artist can
break a guys arm in three places before hes even been born
and theyll tell you these guys are totally out of control Which
means its your job to stop them Are you a bad enough dude to
stop the ninjas?
Movie Magicians: A Snapshot
Every genre of the movies has its own inexcusably bad cli-
chs or tropes Up until now, nobodys been man enough
to handle that raw, devastating energy Are you ready to
sneak like Bond, gabble like Kirk and leap away from
explosions in slow-motion like McClane?
80
Youll need Kung Fu on your side if you plan to Kung Fu powers
let you break down foes, stop time and generally be a smoking-
hot badass Shave your head bald, toss on a gi and go nuts,
young warrior The associated stat for Kung Fu is Speed
Big Budget
Blockbuster
Bullet Time
Challenge
Death Grip
Deus Ex Machina
Double Agent
Monologue
Tread Softly
Wire Fu
Superspies
This genre comes shaken, not stirred If wining and dining with
the hottest dames around, before driving a car through the side
of a castle sounds like your cup of tea laced with poison, then
Superspies is the genre for you Here at HQ, were all about get-
ting out of dangerous scrapes and keeping our tuxedos clean
enough to eat off while we do it
Being a Superspy is a lot trickier than it looks and requires a
knack for harmony All Superspy checks use Flow as the related
stat, for fancy footwork and ungentlemanly trickery
Big Budget
Challenge
Deus Ex Machina
Double Agent
Extreme Action
Gizmo!
Good Lovin
Monologue
Tread Softly
Wealth and Taste
Sci-Fi
Sci-Fi is something thats hard to limit to just one set of Powers,
since it covers everything from Asimov to Transformers There-
fore, it covers a fantastic range of abilities the likes of which
man has never before seen! So strap yourself in and get ready
for a journey into the unknown, armed only with your brain, cow-
lick and a hot barbarian babe
Since everything in the future is so complicated, Sci-Fi powers
arent really limited to one category, with most of them instead
having a very specic set of requirements for use and fullling
some sort of niche A Sci-Fi character depends on his wits to
nd a way to turn the situation to his handsome advantage and
these Powers will be the tools he uses to do just that! Brains is
his Associated stat for Movie Magic checks
Challenge
Death Grip
Deus Ex Machina
Good Lovin
Jack In
Logic Buster
Monologue
Posse
Technobabble
Torn Uniform
Western
Those other Movie Magic types might think theyre tough, but
they got no idea, partner Those young upstarts dont know what
its like to be the original, and the best, badass, the one who
made the idea cool in the rst place Who was it that walked
away from a gunght with six men with a babe hanging off his
arm? Who was it that walked through hundreds of miles of des-
ert after his horse gave up and died?
Lets face it, nobody can compare to the granddaddy of being a
tough son of a bitch, the Cowboy When making Western checks,
the character uses their Soul as the associated stat
Challenge
Deus Ex Machina
Extreme Action
Fanning the Hammer
Good Lovin
Magic Uzi
Monologue
Posse
Saddle Up!
The Stare
Genre Corresponding Stat
Action Brawn
Kung Fu Speed
Sci-Fi Brains
Superspies Flow
Western Soul
The Special Edition
Heres the Powers, just like you wanted em Genre is the stat
Movie Magic is tied to and Rating is what you need to roll on
your Movie Magic check to successfully use the Power
A note on genres: There are ve genres, each tied to a stat
When you use a Movie Power, consult its genre and check out
the table below for the corresponding stat Some moves belong
to more than one genre, in which case you just take the highest
Big Budget
Genre: Action, Kung Fu, Superspies
Rating: 5 and up
Sometimes you just need a bigger budget Whenever Big Bud-
get is invoked, well, wouldnt you know it, someone just left this
motor vehicle, with a full tank of gas (or equivalent thereof) and
the keys in it, just ticking over, ready to go and right nearby What
the type of vehicle is varies depending on what sort of area the
heroes are in, but the functionality will depend on their roll
Rating Vehicle
5 Bicycle, Hang Glider, Row Boat,
10 Car, Motorbike, Passenger Plane, Tug Boat
15 Big Rig, Helicopter, Sports Car, Speed Boat, Escape Pod
20 Flying Saucer, Limousine, Jetpack
25 Battle Cruiser, Nuclear Missile
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How the item appears and what sort of condition its in is entire-
ly up to the Gamemaster The vehicle will also only be usable for
one game hour, after which point it will fall apart, run out of gas
or, more likely, go tumbling off a cliff and explode into a brilliant
reball (probably with the heroes still in it) Also, just because
the vehicle is there, doesnt mean the characters know how to
drive it And theyd better not get caught by its owner, either
One more thing: much as youd like, Big Budget cannot be used
in combat However it can be used right after combat, when
youre running for your life
Blockbuster
Genre: Action, Kung Fu
Rating: 10 and up
Not to be confused with the action movie genre, Blockbuster allows
the character to do some serious property damage When using
this Power, kids can tear through houses like they were cheap
timber held up by stands and crash through stone pillars like they
were made of Styrofoam!
Whenever the character deals damage to anything that can be
declared part of the scenery such as trees, enemy bases or par-
ticularly uninteresting NPCs, they can roll their Movie Magic skill
to apply a damage multiplier!
Rating Damage Multiplier
10 x2
20 x3
30 x4
40 x5
+10 x+1
If this is a ranged attack, youll have to add the difculty to hit
the object into the Movie Magic roll as well Check out Chapter
5: The Fight for more info on making attacks
This can also be used for setting bombs, so have fun levelling
national monuments, kiddo!
Bullet Time
Genre: Kung Fu
Rating: 40 and up
This is one Movie Power thats sure to send opponents packing
Whenever a character invokes the laws of Bullet Time, they use
some sort of mystical martial arts training or clever use of Com-
puter Generated Imagery to slow down time itself! The effect
this has for the character is that they gain an entirely new round
of combat, all to themselves! You get to roll your Speed Dice and
play out an entire round by yourself! And for every 5 points you
beat the difculty by, you get an additional Speed dice for the
new roll
Rating Bonus Speed Dice
40 0
45 1
50 2
55 3
60 4
+5 +1
As soon as the character uses this Power successfully, declare
Bullet Time as having affected the combat The character rolls
their Speed and treats the new dice set as if they rolled them
for combat Start with the 6 and work your way down as normal
Once theyve run out of actions, combat resumes Anyone the
character hit during combat will only just now respond, being
thrown back or knocked to the ground or whatever suits their
personal smackdown best Since they arent thrown backwards
until Bullet Time is over, the character can, for example, upper-
cut the same guy a couple of times, no sweat!
The only limitations to Bullet Time is that the character has a
Stunt Level of None for its duration and the incredibly fantas-
tic slow-down energy can only be transmitted either through
the characters sts or an Antique weapon Anything else just
explodes as it tries to keep up with the ninja, leaving him with
nothing but a dumb expression on his charred face Also, the
energy must ow rapidly and without interruption If the char-
acter misses even one attack, the Bullet Time ends and normal
combat is recurred Thats right, they lose the rest of their Bullet
Time actions At least they get to keep their regular ones Pick
up from whatever number the character Bullet Timed on, with
time returning to normal
Oh, and if two characters both wish to use Bullet Time on the
same action number, then, yes, they can and, yes, they do act at
the same time This can make ghts between the various Ninja
Dojos that practice this power really hard to follow!
Challenge
Genre: All
Rating:8 per target
Reserved for ultimate badasses and cowboys
When a character issues a Challenge, they must nominate one
or more targets to rock the worlds of For every target selected,
the character must beat a difculty of 8, so thats 16 for two
targets, 24 for three and so on If they are successful, all action
around the characters ceases and they must wait for a combat
between the Challenger and his targets to complete They effec-
tively become the centre of attention and the Challenged must
either agree to ght or be forever shamed The in-game effect
of this for the honourless dog is they automatically lose half
their current Awesome Points and may not gain new ones for
the next two hours of game time Obviously, this ability doesnt
work on base animals and monsters, as theyre too unintelligent
to recognize the challenge And a t-rex isnt any less awesome
for chowing down on a cowboy, whether hes staring it down or
otherwise
As an added bonus, for every 4 points they beat the difculty by,
the Challenger and his opponents may both be granted 1 Awe-
some Point by willing onlookers, in the form of encouragement
or commenting on techniques the ghters are using Nothing
makes a ghter feel better than having someone describe his
punches in bone-crunching detail
Of course, not all Challenges are lethal If the Challenge is
something unusual, such as a shing competition, the Game-
master may scale the difculty accordingly If the Director fails
their roll, the challenged characters may do as they wish, with
either some of them combating him or none of them Neither
side may be granted Awesome Points
When a Challenge is over, the loser is reduced to 0 Awesome
Points This encourages both sides to give the contest their all,
from start to nish
Death Grip
Genre: Kung Fu, Sci-Fi
Rating: 20 and up
This Movie Power functions just like an attack, except instead of
rolling Flow and Melee, the character rolls their corresponding
stat and Movie Magic They are required to successfully hit their
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target, with a 30 penalty, before they can activate the Death
Grip
It does no damage If the target doesnt immediately expend
and Awesome Point, they feel a hand gently touch their throat
and then they drop to the ground, limp as a rag, where theyll
stay for about two or three hours, harmless as a baby If the
Director is trying to use the Death Grip on an unwitting target,
they must succeed at a Sneak check opposed to Notice with a
5 penalty Success means they go down
As an added bonus, for every extra 3 penalty the attacker
incurs, they can keep the unlucky target knocked out for anoth-
er full hour
Deus Ex Machina
Genre: All
Rating: 3 and up
A clich that would never dare limit itself to one genre, Deus Ex
Machina is always there to save the day Able to be invoked any
time the character damn well pleases, Deus Ex Machina makes
someone the character met earlier in the adventure suddenly
and dramatically re-appear, offering whatever help they can to
the party Theres no set way to do this, since useful help will
change from hero to hero, but a roll of 3 is generally enough to
summon the local hot dog vendor with steaming, tasty hot dogs
and it gradually gets better from there A roll of 60 or so might
be enough to get the attention of the local Superhero and any-
thing higher will probably start to attract nearby celestial bodies
Characters should be careful about using this Movie Power
Whenever its invoked, the Director is zonked straight to zero
Awesome Points, no refusals, since there is no faster way to
make the main character look more lame than having him go
crying to some guy from Act 2 To be used with extreme caution
Double Agent
Genre: Action, Kung Fu, Superspies
Rating: 10 and up
A particularly insidious power, Double Agent allows the Movie
Magician to suddenly remember that they planted a spy or two
among the ranks of their enemies By making their Movie Magic
roll, they may turn one Henchman or Mook assisting the enemy
to their side for every increment of 10 rolled The Mook will ght
for the Movie Magician to the death now, while mumbling about
anything from their devotion to your cause to how youre paying
them more
For some reason, they always seem to announce their presence
by loudly cocking their guns hammer Mooks, huh?
Extreme Action
Genre: Action, Superspies
Rating: 12 and up
Its a hard life being the hero Not only are you expected to save
the world, rescue the pretty girl and blow an evil dictator or two
to Kingdom Come before the credits roll, all youve got to do it
with are a snowboard, a parachute and a forty piece orchestra
on backing
Your character may choose to use Extreme Action whenever
theyre about to strut their stuff Should they decide to climb
a giant robot bare-handed to shut it off, jump from a horse to a
stagecoach as it goes off a cliff or snowboard down a mountain
while taking on enemy helicopters with a rocket launcher, they
can choose to use this power to get a temporary bonus to any
skill rolls required for their Byzantine athletics
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Simply call for a Movie Magic roll from the character against a
difculty of 12, success granting them a +6 to all checks that
will help the character rock out, such as Acrobatics, Climbing,
Driving, Heaving and Swimming or anything else they can jus-
tify For every 4 points they exceed the difculty by, theyre also
granted a +2 to any one of these skills until the scene is over If
youre not sure what denes a scene, just keep going till things
stop exploding
Fanning The Hammer
Genre: Western
Rating: 40 and up
One deadly power, youll nd yourself going through bad-guys
like a knife through butter Fanning The Hammer allows your
pistoleer to re multiple bullets in the space of one action from
his trusty sidearm The only restriction is that he must be using
a revolver of some kind and, of course, have a free hand to fan
with
In combat, this means that the lucky dude gets to momentari-
ly stop the combat and roll an entirely new set of Speed Dice
in their own round Simply toss them down and see what they
come up, with each action rolled allowing your hombre to make
another shot Since there are only six turns in the round, its
good to use this ability with a fully-loaded gun in hand, or have
one on hand to Quick Draw
However, due to the speed hes ring at, your dudes shots dur-
ing Fanning have a Stunt Level of None, meaning you can kiss
goodbye to any Stunts he has He can keep attacking even if he
misses, though, one advantage he has over his Kung Fu ghting
chums
Gizmo!
Genre: Superspies
Rating: 5 and up
A Spys deadliest weapon is his tuxedo Why? Its not the way it
makes him into a dashing paragon of sophistication and style,
surely? Maybe the elegant cut and tone that transforms him
from a man into a sleek machine of the night? Youve got to be
kidding At the end of the day, its the fact that he hides a bazil-
lion gadgets in it, from the exploding cufinks to the helicopter
that comes out of his hat
At the end of the day, wicked machines and badass tech is what
will save your neck over and over, so rather than make some-
thing for every single ridiculous situation your Spy will nd him-
self in (and weve thought of more craziness than youve had
hot dinners) we simply provide the magic tuxedo (or conjuring
cocktail dress for the ladies) in all its glory Whenever you want
to pull something out of this amazing outt, simply make a
Movie Magic check and describe the sort of nonsensical gar-
bage item you need Work out your difculty from the list below
and get to work
The catch is that the item only works once, after which it self-
destructs, breaks, gets trodden on, whatever you, the player,
feel is best
Rating Vehicle
5 Jacket Parachute, Shoe Phone
10 Knife Pen, Laser Watch
15 Exploding Cufinks, After Dinner Mint
Tracking Device
20 Shoe Gas Mask, Infrared Sunglasses
25 C4 toupee, X-Ray Toilet Paper Roll
Good Lovin
Genre: Superspies, Sci-Fi, Western
Rating: Varies
Sometimes, theres no greater battleeld than the bedroom
And with a dose of Good Lovin, your character can be the gen-
eral, the artillery and the cavalry, all in one
If your character is able to speak with a villain for a prolonged
period of time and establish some kind of a bond with them,
theyre able to use this Power What denes a bond is between
you and the GM, but it shouldnt be easy, possibly involving lots
of Pose and Psychology checks while theyre dangling from the
wall of the arch-villains lair After all, youre intruding into the
heart of the enemy and the way is dangerous
Once the character has established this tender rapport, they
may attempt to make a Good Lovin check opposed to the tar-
gets Guts or an opposed Good Lovin check to seduce them
The latter is especially dangerous since, if they win, the char-
acter is the one who is seduced! Success indicates a torrid love
affair (or really good afternoon at the theatre) during which the
villain sees the error of their ways and repents! They do not
necessarily join the characters cause, but they will no longer
actively inhibit them, either
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Jack In
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 5 and up
Your hero must have purchased a Data Jack to be able to use
this Power Normally, a Data Jack simply allows the character
(usually a Cyborg) to extend a cable from themselves and insert
it directly into a computer, allowing them to work their hacking
magic This Power takes the concept a step further, however,
when the character begins to actively use their Data Jacks as
weapons
Jacking In can be tricky to use in combat, but incredibly reward-
ing if the Hacker manages to successfully pull it off He has to
successfully pierce the targets skin with the business end of his
Data Jack and hit somewhere where the electricity hes chan-
nelling in will actually do something worthwhile In living targets,
this means a nerve centre or a part of the brain, whereas in
robotic targets or computers, this can be just about anywhere
A hacker wishing to Jack a human will have to rst hit them in
the head with a called shot to affect them Since the cable is not
very long, the Hacker must make a Melee attack, using the spe-
cialization, Data Jack Most cables are about 4 feet long, tops
As a weapon, the Data Jack is quite poor, doing no damage,
having a Handling of 1 and a Stunt Level of None, so snagging
Heroes and Villains can be pretty tricky without the appropriate
Hero skill More devious characters have had success sneaking
up on their prey and using the Stunt granted from a surprise
attack to nab them, but due to the corpulent, plodding nature of
most Hackers, this is less successful than theyd like
Once the Hacker has initiated a connection, they are permitted
to make a Jack In check on their next action, using their Brains
plus Movie Magic: Sci-Fi dice, in an opposed check against the
targets Brains Success indicates that they have been able to
download the virus of their choice into the poor shmuck they
targeted
The table below contains some sample effects and their results
Removing the Jack requires the expenditure of a single action
and a Toughness check against a difculty of 5 by the target
Difculty Effect
Opposed Check Target loses one level in a stat of the
Hackers choice until the Jack is removed
For every ve this target is beat by anoth-
er stat can be reduced by one level
Opposed check +20 Target faints
Opposed check +40 Hacker gains control of targets body and
may direct for as long as he takes no
action
Logic Buster
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 12
Robots speak of this Movie Power in fear, referring to it only in
hushed voices The mere mention of the Logic Buster can often
send them running back to their manufacturers, begging to be
disassembled
Quite simply, the Logic Buster can shut a Robot down in sec-
onds, simply by asking it an idiotic question, like Why is blue,
blue? or If I always lie, does that mean this statement is also
a lie? If the Robot actually stops and thinks about it (which they
will, unless theyre already in combat, because theyre suckers
like that) it will spend the next few seconds trying to work out
the answer to its assailants questions, before it just gives up
and explodes, showering the area with parts If a Robot wishes
to, it may frantically attempt to shut itself down before the dead-
ly equation is completed, an action that requires it succeed at
a Brains check with a difculty of 6 Either way, its pretty much
over for Mr Tin Can
Some Directors have tried using this Power on Robots with Awe-
some Points and ended up as bloody smears on the wall These
Robots are lucky enough to be able to spend one AP to com-
pletely negate the effects of the Power, as well as making them-
selves immune to it for the rest of the week
Magic Uzi
Genre: Action, Western
Rating: 12 and up
Every nd yourself faced with too many hombres and not
enough lead to get the job done?
This Movie Power can be used in conjunction with any small
arms weapon such as a pistol, rie or sub-machine gun and it
has the rather straight-forward effect of completely eliminating
the need to reload A base success of 12 means the character
does not have to reload for 1 round, with every extra 4 you get
meaning you can go another round without reloading Beating
the bad guys can take a good, long while, after all and who can
be bothered carrying all those bullets?
Monologue
Genre: All
Rating: 25
Time freezes People stop moving and turn A single voice suf-
fuses the room, drawing silence from all around it
The Monologue is Movie Magic at its most blatant and overpow-
ered, in which your character can silence everything within ear-
shot with a single word Those around him stop whatever they
are currently doing and stare as the Monologue is invoked The
speaker may talk on any topic they please, for as long as they
wish, but others are limited only to cries of protest and anguish
until the monologue nishes or ve game minutes has passed
Any other character with the Monologue power may attempt to
interrupt their monologue by crying out in response! They simply
make a roll and must exceed the original The only catch is that
their response must begin with the phrase, But wait! Theres
one thing that youve forgotten or it doesnt work
Posse
Genre: Sci-Fi, Western
Rating: 6 and up
On those occasions where you need a little extra manpower, a
Posse can be the way to go This Power lets your character nd
the nearest group of armed men and women and meet with
them on friendly terms The quality and availability of the troops
will vary from place to place but theres always something if you
look hard enough, even if its just a bunch of teddy bears with
sticks
If the character beats a difculty of 6, they are successful in
nding one person who will probably agree to help them The
details are left up to the Gamemaster, but they will probably be
more or less the same as a Mook or Henchman For every 4
addition points they beat the difculty by they nd another per-
son who will willingly help them
Needless to say, not all Posses are friendly Some wont work
until cash changes hands and others will fall apart with a
few stern Leadership rolls Alternatively, the character may
85
accidentally stumble across a great hero who thinks they might
make a better leader than the character Either way, it helps to
have the wind at your back, but fty guns is better
Saddle Up!
Genre: Western
Rating: 5 and up
Saddle Up is an easy power to get behind, or in this case,
aboard Whenever your hombres short a ride, just make a
Movie Magic check against a difculty of 5 Success indicates
you nd a horse, just like that, ready for riding For every addi-
tional 5 you roll, you nd another horse for another dude in your
group On the downside, the difculty of the roll is increased by
5 for every horse your group already has, as fortune realizes
there are others who need these lucky steeds more, so dont
get used to abusing this power any time soon
Technobabble
Genre: Sci-Fi
Rating: 5 and up
Re-arrange the abnormality spectrometer! Amplify the wave-
motion distortions!
Sometimes youll be speaking on the view screen with some
balls-crazy alien eet commander, making quite a simple argu-
ment for why your ship shouldnt be vaporized and youll just
want to reach through the monitor and give that space thug a
fat lip Well, with this Power, you can do that a hundred other
ridiculous, unfair things like shutting down the electricity in your
foes home, remotely run them over with a semi-trailer or just do
it the easy way and take command of a local orbital satellite and
vaporize an entire city block
Technobabble allows your wannabe Hacker to do a number on
his foes with nothing but a computer and a comfy chair Working
on the theory that, in the future, everything will have a comput-
er in it and advances in modem technology can allow a signal
to enter almost any system with almost any purpose, the uses
for Technobabble are as broad as they are terrifying Firing off
probes into random bits of the scenery is not something just
anyone can do, though, hence the need for this absurd Power
First of all, the character needs to describe what they want to
do, keeping their choices purely to electronics and near-elec-
tronics Then, they have to reach a computer, preferably one
with voice input, and work away at it feverishly, while spouting
the kind of gibberish that would make an entire mental ward
green with envy Then, the Gamemaster sets a difculty Movie
Magic rolls are duly made
Success indicates that the process goes off as well as could
be hoped for Machines are dangerous things and even if your
hacker somehow manages to commandeer a nuclear warhead,
doesnt mean hell actually have access to the launch mecha-
nism, meaning he can wiggle it around futilely at best And, of
course, difculties will always be uctuating, so some simple,
almost inconsequential act that required a 10 one day could
easily require a 50 the next, what with the uxes in the tenac-
ity of the Information Superhighway coming and going, not to
mention bursts of cosmic radiation irradiating all those tachyon
impulses
The table below includes some possibilities, but if you can
dream it up as an action for a computer, you can probably do
it Difculties can increase by as much as 50 for items without
computerized systems and by as much as 100 for things that
arent even made of metal
Rating Effect
5 Intercept an e-mail
10 Fire a weapon system without touching
it
15 See through an active security camera
20 Start a spaceships thrusters
30 Unlock a door in a government facility
60 Gain temporary control of an orbital sat-
ellite
80 Rebuild a Robots brain from a single
chip from their body
The Stare
Genre: Western
Rating: Opposed
Once youve initiated The Stare, theres no going back For cow-
boys, this is the last step over the abyss, where you will either
safely cross or tumble to the hells that wait below Needless to
say, its pretty badass
When a Cowboy uses The Stare, he locks a target in his sights
and begins the Duel All Awesome Points currently possessed by
the Cowboy and his foe are put into a new pool, oating ephem-
erally in the air between them Then, you begin a combat round
as normal
At this point, either character may choose to ee, but theyll be
abandoning whatever AP they had on them at the time Other-
wise, both participants make Movie Magic: Western checks
whenever their turns come up, with every 10 rolled allowing them
to take 1 of the AP from the shared pool for themselves This con-
tinues until no Awesome Points remain undistributed, at which
point you start a new combat round
On turn 6, any characters with a turn may make a Quick Draw
check, with the highest roller getting the draw on his enemy We
waive the suggestion that PCs always go rst, for a change One
more thing, the total of the Quick Draw roll is added to the dam-
age of any successful hits on that turn, too Most Cowboys dont
walk away from The Stare
Torn Uniform
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi
Rating: Varies
Traditionally a power limited to male characters as a way
to get female fans hearts racing, we here at the Awesome
System take no hesitation in finally opening up this critical
scientific wonder to both genders for the first time Were all
about equality
To wit, when your character takes damage, whether from
Martian laser guns, hungry space dinosaurs or future beings
from beyond the rings of Saturn, he may nominate to make a
Movie Magic check to have his (or her) shirt, pants or other
item of clothing tear dramatically, baring powerful muscle
He (or she) gives an earthy barbaric roar as caged primitive
instincts come to the fore and their fighting spirit emerges!
To determine success, use the characters remaining Hit
Points, minus the damage they just suffered, as the difficul-
ty, meaning the more injured you are, the easier the check
is to make!
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87
Every success you make increases your characters Brawn
and Speed by 1 for the duration of the combat or until your
character receives medical attention Bonus Hit Points are
not granted for the increase in Brawn, but increases in
Speed will grant extra Speed Dice as normal Go break some
sophisticated heads!
Tread Softly
Genre: Kung Fu, Superspies
Rating: 12 and up
The softest tread is usually the one you have to worry about
the most Doubly so if theyre one of these two types of
Movie Magician
A Spy or Ninja whos treading with the utmost care may
make a Movie Magic roll against a difficulty of 12, with suc-
cess granting them a +6 on any roll to do with sneaking, like
Notice, Disguise or melee checks made during Sneak Attack,
as well as the obsequious Sneak For every 4 points they
beat the difficulty by, they may also add a +2 to one of these
skills for free, up until the end of the scene
Violence
Genre: Action
Rating: 6 and up
Any problem you cant solve with a bit of violence can proba-
bly be solved with a lot of violence If your character is trying
to make something work, like open a locked door, hotwire a
car or access restricted computer files, they can choose to
opt a Movie Magic check for the actual roll required They
may only do this if they dont have the appropriate skill,
because no professional would be caught dead doing some-
thing that stupid
Anyway, the character must describe how exactly they get
the object to do what they want, however creatively, and then
make a Movie Magic roll, adding 6 to whatever the difficulty
would normally be If they succeed, the motorbike starts or
the computer spits out the file they need or whatever it is
theyre trying to do at the time, but its completeness or func-
tionality will often be much less than a professional would
have been able to get At least it gets the job done, right?
This Movie Power may not be used more than once on any
one object Theres only so much illogical the universe can
handle, after all
Wealth and Taste
Genre: Superspies
Rating: 12 and up
At the party, the Superspy is king Nobody carouses like he
does, nobody blossoms socially like he does and nobody, I
say nobody, tangos like he does
A character with Wealth and Taste controls the party, their
Spy training for some reason including a course in fine wine,
dancing, etiquette and whatever else you can imagine If the
character can succeed at a Movie Magic check, they gain a
+6 to any skill that is used in their social butterfly act, such
as Academia relating to the party, Etiquette, Dance checks
or any number of other fancies For every 4 points they beat
this roll by, they may elect one of these skills to be awarded
a +2 bonus to, till the partys conclusion
Wire Fu
Genre: Fung fu
Rating: 8 and up
Whenever you use this Movie Power, your characters Move-
ment is, quite simply, doubled for the duration of that action
How hard to remember is that? Anyway, your character will
either raise their arms up in a weird way and get carried
through the air, or walk on your tip-toes for the duration of
the Power As well as making you look incredibly silly, this
Movie Power allows you to go right across the surface of
water or up the sides of buildings Dont forget that if youre
somewhere you shouldnt be when the Power wears off,
though, gravity will take its course Hope you know how to
swim
CHAPTER 10: ROCKING OUT!
89
Music has spread across the galaxy, uniting races and peoples
where nothing else could, giving the people a powerful voice,
ending wars, overcoming barriers, making coffee and setting
new heights for awesome
In the Awesome System, music is more than just a hobby; its
the rhythm to which life, love and awesome are conducted Most
people can go through life without even being aware of this eter-
nal reverberation Others ride it
Striking A Chord
Characters deciding to play a Rock Star need to take the
10-point Power Rock Star and have at least one level in an
Instrument discipline or Voice Voice may be used with any
genre, this just means youre the Singer
Now, since theyre just that cool, Rock Stars gain one free level
of Soul during character creation The drive to make it as a pro-
fessional has infused the player with a level of determination
and devotion not oft found in mortals
Once youve done that, its time to pick one of the ve genres
of Rocking Out to represent The ones presented for your Rock
Star here are just samples and youre welcome to create your
own unique, original styles
While choosing your genre, make sure you consult its effects, as
sheer rockitude can be a dangerous thing Should your charac-
ter ever amass over a certain number of Awesome Points during
a rock duel, certain effects will occur, sometimes regardless of
the characters wishes
Classical Nothing is more serious than a classical battle Two
rabid composers, half-blind with brilliance stare at each from
across a stage a hundred feet wide, hands raising and then
pounding down on ivory keyboards, baring their hearts, their
sorrows and their passion Classical composers always write
their own music and play it with their entire mind, using Brains
as their associated stat
Jazz Jazz is about having your nger on the pulse of a nation
You feel its heartbeat, its footfalls, everything that makes the
people what they are and then you lay your hands to your sec-
ond voice and make it heard Jazz musicians feel the music in
every bone of their body They use their Flow for playing their
ne, funky music
Metal If youve ever felt that crushing need to break lives,
destroy worlds and tear the sky apart to reach for the Gods
themselves, Metal will ll the void in your soul To keep things
simple, weve associated Speed with Metal, so you can get your
900 drum beats per minute or thrash a guitar half to death
Opera No-one can mess with an Opera Singer No-one would
dare Were talking meteoric levels of range, glass-shattering
vocal powers and a $10,000 suit, cape often in tow When you
step up to the plate, others cower or get blown away When the
oceans have run dry and the mountains have crumbled, your
voice will still be there, the most powerful force in nature Opera
Singers use their Brawn as their associated stat and use the
Voice skill for making checks
Rock This is where it all began The rst truly powerful Rock,
the sort of stuff that could bring about the godlike worship that
Rock Stars enjoy, began here No genre had ever captivated,
rejoiced in or devastated a generation so much as good old
fashioned Rock and Roll A Rock Star uses his Soul for his asso-
ciated stat, when that rich, badass music comes straight from
the heart and straight into the minds of his loyal followers Rock
is forever here to stay
Genre Corresponding Stat
Classical Brains
Jazz Flow
Metal Speed
Opera Brawn
Rock Soul
Battle Of the Bands
Rocking Out is not your everyday occurrence This is what hap-
pens when two musicians or bands decide to face off and deter-
mine who truly rocks the hardest As soon as a Rock Battle is
declared, all characters involved not only get lled up to maxi-
mum Awesome Points, but they also throw them all into their
sides Rocking Out Pool, which all members of the band draw
Awesome Points from This represents the bands ability to func-
tion as a unit and their strength as a cohesive force of rocki-
tude Just to make things more exciting, theres also no limit on
how big the Rocking Out Pool can get
Rocking Out is conducted using the same round format as regular
combat, with characters rolling their Genre Stat in place of Speed
for determining actions, with the usual one extra dice If a group
of characters are co-operating as a band, the lowest of these
scores is used for determining actions for the entire group Every
time an action comes up, the character may take a regular action,
such as moving, jumping or whatever strikes their fancy, or they
may Rock Out
We Who Rock
Since Rock Stars are way too awesome to worry about having to
hit things, they instead just focus on attracting legions of ador-
ing fans and sending the bad guys packing with their totally hot
licks
The steps to making a Rock Attack are as follows:
1. Pick your target: You can either play to the opposition, the
fans or invoke the Ragnarock
2. Make your roll
3. Conquer
If you target the opposition, you put your mettle to your oppo-
nent and are determined to show them you can rock harder
than they ever could Make a check using your Instrument or
Voice skill and deduct one of their Awesome Points for every 10
points rolled Just as opponents can dodge in regular combat,
Musical Combat: A Snapshot
This is a totally new arena, one youve never seen before
Guns and swords are for amateurs when you can scrape
a mans soul bare and then rock it to shreds Rocking Out
is just another way to break enemies and remind them
that youre the boss
90
the poor chap can also attempt to play back and reduce your
roll by spending an action or Awesome Point His roll is deducted
from yours and you take the reduced amount of AP You dont
lose AP if your roll is pushed into the negatives, though, that
would just be embarrassing
If you play to the crowd, it works a little different Crowds behold-
ing Rock Battles nd it so totally awesome that they each gener-
ate a single Awesome Point as their souls soar, which your har-
dasses can steal off them for a quick snack in the middle of a
duel Disturbingly brutal, we know, but thems the breaks
So! For every increment of 5 you roll on your Instrument or Voice
check you can take away that many Awesome Points from the
crowd for your own use Soak up as many of those AP as you
can, so when the time comes to hit the other dudes, they damn
well feel it Characters who have Awesome Pools may refuse to
give out AP in this manner, since they have mastered their inter-
nal awesome
So how do you attack if youre a member of a band? To make
Rock Battles go faster, you simply take the Flow of each mem-
ber of the band, then go round and add each individuals Level
or Bonus of their Instrument or Voice skill to the total dice pool
This represents that band member playing either Lead or Back-
up Since everyone can roll their own dice for this, on regular
actions take the highest roll, and on Stunts, add it all together
Simple!
Obviously, AP will be ying up and down as both bands collect
them and steal them off each other, so how do you determine
who the winner is? The simple answer is, the big loser is the rst
side to be reduced to a negative amount of Awesome Points, at
which point their resolve is completely crushed and they con-
cede victory to the musical onslaught Their Awesome Pool set-
tles at a big fat zero, where it stays until they can start collecting
AP again as normal Nobody wants to rock with a loser, after all
And what happens to the winners? Well, they lose all those
beautiful AP and their total is reset back to whatever it was
before the ght started
Wait! Hold on a second! That doesnt sound fair!
The Ragnarock
Well, youre lucky that we have a system for handling it, then!
At any time during the Rock Battle, if you feel like you have too
many AP, you may opt to use them to call upon the forces of the
Ragnarock This is fairly straightforward as the Gods of Being
Totally Awesome, the Aesir, will always be overseeing any truly
epic clash of Dudes Who Rock Hard, so massing up the pow-
ers of mans eternal clashing with his destiny is only a dice roll
away These checks are called Ragnarock checks To invoke the
power, simply roll your skill as normal and try to beat the difcul-
ties below If you succeed, you may choose to invoke that effect
on the battleeld
If a Rock Battle is won, the winners may invoke the Ragnarock
right at that moment This is called a Finale and is a good way
to get some use out of all those AP you earned before they up
and disappear
Classical
Action Difculty
Classic Destruction 10
The Symphony Paradox 50
Genocide in E-Minor 1,000
Classic Destruction
For every 10 points rolled on the Ragnarock check, you destroy
one musical instrument within earshot It erupts into a cata-
strophic cacophony, tortured by your genius, then falls apart
Instruments being played by Rock Stars will fall apart at the end
of the duel
The Symphony Paradox
When making your Ragnarock check, for every 50 points rolled,
you inict 1 point of Damn Crazy on a target of your choice as
your music blasts off the walls of their mind and awakens them
to madness These can be taken separately or added together
as the whims of the maestro dictate
Genocide in E-Minor
For every 1,000 points rolled on your Ragnarock check, you may
completely obliterate the people of one country Choose wisely!
Jazz
Action Difculty
The People 5
The Devil 100
The Man 200
The People
For every 5 points rolled on the Ragnarock check, you may gain
one Henchman to whatever cause you espouse They can speak
for you, join in protest rallies you lead and spring money to get
you out of jail Sometimes they put out
The Devil
Make a 100 point Ragnarock roll and hes yours Old Hoofy
comes roaring out of re and brimstone and hes xing to make
a deal The amount rolled, subtracted from 5,000, is the num-
ber of Character Points he is built with
91
The Man
So lets say you dont like a building Maybe its too big or too
ugly For every 200 points rolled on a Ragnarock check by Jazz
musicians, you can level one building of your choice to the
ground, just with ne horn play
Metal
Action Difculty
Twisted Plains of Broken Ribcages 100
Organs Devoured By Crows 200
Brutal Suffering, Blacker Than The Blackest
Night
2,000
Twisted Plains of Broken Ribcages
On a roll of 100 or more, all participants of the Rock Duel are
transported to a hellish landscape of pure nightmare The fake
reality projected by foolish hope is torn back by wicked claws
and the sick and twisted Truth is brought into clarity It looks like
your typical metal album cover
The metalhead must choose to expend 1 AP every turn to keep
the rift open For every turn its open, every person possessing
a Soul within 666 feet suffers 5 damage, regardless of armour
Organs Devoured By Crows
For every 200 points rolled on the Ragnarock check, you may
nominate one person currently possessing no AP Each person
chosen in this way can only watch in terror as thousands of
crows blot out the sun, before descending on them and ripping
out their organs They are completely and utterly dead
Brutal Suffering, Blacker Than The Blackest Night
The Gods of Metal awaken from their eternal slumber and
engulf Earth like a whale engulfs plankton 5 out of every 6 peo-
ple on the planet are killed The remainder are enslaved Still, it
was a pretty kick ass song
Opera
Action Difculty
Valkyrie Strike, ACT I 50
Valkyrie Strike, ACT II 100
Valkyrie Strike, ACT III 200
Valkyrie Strike, ACT I
The ne-tuned notes of the balls-to-the-wall gentleman croon-
ing out these operatic beats draws the attention of a Guardian
Valkyrie On a Ragnarock roll of 50 or more, any blow that would
kill the character in the future is deected by one hot tamale of
a celestial babe, who simultaneously rells the character to full
AP Pithy one-liner optional
Valkyrie Strike, ACT II
On a difculty 100 nale check, the Opera singer may choose a
single target currently possessing 0 AP A black winged valkyrie
appears before the target, invisible to all others She whispers I
guard your death before vanishing The next attack to strike the
target will be lethal
Valkyrie Strike, ACT III
A sudden, terrible storm hits Lightning ashes, thunder crash-
es, and a host of coldly shining Valkyrie descends from the
black clouds, girded for battle For every point of damage an ally
has received in the current combat, the amassed Valkyrie dole
out three times that amount, distributed however the singer
chooses among any number of opponents
Rock
Action Difculty
Rockzilla 50
Rock Your Face Off 100
We Can Rock It Out 1,000
Rockzilla
You rock hard enough to summon an ancient dinosaur One
dinosaur appears for every 50 points rolled They are friendly to
the Rock Stars and can be ridden on
Rock Your Face Off
For every 100 rolled on your Ragnarock check, you are able to
reduce a targets Brawn by 1 level, recoverable only by a day of
bed rest Anyone reduced to 0 Brawn in this fashion has their
skin ayed from their bones by pure rock They die
We Can Rock It Out
In the event that your Rock Star is faced by an alien civilization
hell-bent on Mankinds destruction, you may attempt to make a
check as normal For every roll of 1,000, one alien civilization is
converted to a lifestyle of peaceful co-existence with humanity
CHAPTER 11: GAME MASTERING!
93
So youve read the rest of the book, made some characters,
and, by now, probably played in a couple of games And now you
want to do it yourself? Well, youre braver than we took you for
This chapter will give you the lowdown on running a compelling,
exciting campaign of Awesome System and leaving your players
begging for more, game after game
So lets get started
Reading This Chapter
Now, this chapter is full of Gamemastering advice, so its not
necessarily for everyone After all, Gamemastering is a very per-
sonal activity and a lot of players dont want to be told how to do
it Nevertheless, for novices and older Gamemasters who need
a refresher, weve included this topic that is so often glossed
over in other roleplaying games, usually because people are
taught by their friends If youre interested in becoming a good
GM and know someone like this, by all means, soak up all the
knowledge you can get from them, but make sure you develop
your own style of running games, too
There are plenty of websites on the internet with free articles
about running a compelling game, but since the Awesome Sys-
tem is entirely its own animal, its hard to say how much of that
advice will apply to it We promise a totally new and different
experience to your regular night of spy espionage and dun-
geoneering, so this chapter contains tailor-made advice for this
game and this game only, with notes on how to bring across that
Awesome experience It also touches on the simpler issues of
running a game and gives you head start into your rst Game-
mastering experience
Of course, the only way to become a better Gamemaster is to
get out there and run as many games as you can, regardless
of whatever shortcomings or fears or even lack of storytelling
ability you have, so do your best now and in the future The most
important thing possible is to nd the right players for you and
to enjoy playing with them and being supported by them In any
roleplaying game, everything else should be secondary to hav-
ing fun
The Basics
You are a Gamemaster and its your job to tell a story Youre
the writer, the director, the producer and the caterer and your
players are the audience Youre both there to dazzle each other
with awesome moves and cool characters, but youre the one
who makes the whole thing possible, and to do that you have to
run the sort of game your friends are going to want to play This
means your game needs to be involving, too, and your players
need to feel their characters have an impact on their game world
that only they could make The characters are what makes the
game work and should be a powerful force in the game world,
whether they do it through roleplaying, manipulation or breaking
peoples faces in Nobody wants to play in a game where they
feel their character is having no impact on the story
There should be problems that they can solve They should be
getting things done Present a problem to them, however seem-
ingly impossible, and then give them just enough rope to hang
themselves with Players love that feeling that theyre getting
everything under control when suddenly things go terribly wrong
and now they have a whole new set of problems on their hands
Keep them guessing and keep them moving and theyll love you
for it In this section, were going to be breaking down the pro-
cess of coming up with a plot and turning it into the raddest
game of the Awesome System you ever saw
Getting Started: Awesome Style
Gamemastering starts before youve even started rolling dice,
before youve even started making characters A good Game-
master talks to his players and makes sure they understand
what sort of game hes running well ahead of time, the themes,
the setting and so on He also, and this is the important part of
these discussions, nds out what sort of characters they want
to play Sometimes these concepts mesh well with your game,
such as a gang of rugged survivors to go with your desert world,
or Machiavellian princes and lords for your dark fantasy game,
but in the early stages your players are likely to be about as
cohesive as a riot
The question is, if youve spent weeks rehearsing an epic space
opera and coming up with dazzling NPCs, do you really want to
have to scrap it all because your players want to play a bunch
of cowboys? In lots of cases, you should, because thats what
theyll enjoy more, but sometimes you should be ready to sit
them down and explain why their latest train wreck (and we
mean that in the nicest possible way) will have to be shelved
this time
Atmosphere: Holding It
So lets start out nice and ugly, with the brassiest tacks you can
imagine In your rush to make it all happen with the baddest
dudes, the rockingest magic items and the most kingly setting,
you forgot to make sure your players were paying attention So
youre jawing away describing the natural beauty of the foothills
of blissful Arderok or whatever the killing ground is called this
time, and those suckers are watching the game show in the next
room over Youve got to grab their attention and hold onto it,
from start to nish, or else important plot information will be
forgotten, NPCs will go unnoticed and, worst case scenario,
the characters will miss all your craftily placed clues and hints
about where to go and end up running round in circles till they
either give up or end up in jail for all the ghts they picked trying
to get a clue It always helps to run your game in a well-lit, quiet
room, with music that works for your game playing For example,
if youre running a Steampunk game, it can be fun to get a hold
of some ragtime jazz, something industrial for a dark cyberpunk
game and theres a truckload of movie soundtracks that go well
with any fantasy game Just make sure you can hear your play-
ers over that racket
Has everyone eaten? It can help to have some food and drink
on the table or get dinner beforehand Its totally acceptable to
order pizza halfway through a game, too, as long as you think it
wont disrupt the mood The kind of game where the GM can get
up from the table and walk away, only to come back and nd his
players having an in-character discussion or talking about how
to smack down your Big Bad for good, is a good game You can
even plan ahead and deliberately leave them on a cliff-hanger,
so theyre biting your nails while youre off getting the pizza boy
to read the order back to you Make sure their seats are comfy
and try to play somewhere where you wont be distracted
Most of this is up to the Gamemaster to do, but the players have
a responsibility to pay attention and not disrupt the game, too,
so if a player keeps distracting you or the other players, you have
the right to ask them to keep it shut till after the game or kick
94
them out if you have to If youre playing with casual friends and
not serious gamers, feel free to turn down the level of intensity
and mood, too, and just focus on your guys having a rad time
Its as easy as that Fun comes before any other single thing and
dont be afraid to change your game or your players to make it
more fun for all involved, usually in that order Still, you have
to remember that the players contribute to the atmosphere as
well, so keep em in hand
Atmosphere: Making It
However, everything weve mentioned so far are just ways to
reduce interruptions from the atmosphere You have to remem-
ber that where the atmosphere comes from is the words that
make the game Thats up to you
Feeling a little tense all of a sudden? A little Scared?
Its okay, kid, weve got your back See, creating an atmosphere
is something even the most ham-handed Gamemaster can do,
it just requires a bit of thought Just imagine that youre the
characters, entering the world, seeing and feeling whatever they
do How do the buildings look from where they stand? Does this
place smell awful? Is the desert too hot, making them sweat
and pant, or does the snow strike at their skin, making them
wish theyd never come here? Giving your players cues to work
with allows them to get into character easier, even if its just a
little touch, like music in a nightclub or the magnicent rush of
air in their faces as they swing onto the merchant ship, cutlass
in teeth
Look at cinema, too, and how movies create atmosphere A lot
of movies start with a little snippet of someones life or a majes-
tic pan over the characters hometown, up skyscrapers and
down rivers Some movies are cast in unique visual tones, like
a black and white noir lm or the bright cheerful settings of a
boy and his dog movies Make sure to always set the scene and
think about any questions the players ask you about it If theyre
asking, it means they want more sensory input for their charac-
ter, so work out how their character would interpret the situation
rst and then give them information that suits the mood and
style of the game
One more thing is dont be afraid to use set pieces A set piece
is a location that is breathtaking to the characters and gives
them pause for a moment as you describe this wondrous struc-
ture in all its glory Set pieces are also a good tool for construct-
ing mood and symbolism when they add to the story in some
way and make the game more exciting The classic example is
to travel to the villains lair and ght him in his own home Imag-
ine chasing a serial killer for weeks, only to confront him in a
crumbling, desolate apartment block, where oors give way and
lights sputter suddenly and unexpectedly Or having multiple
brushes with your campaign villain around various places until
95
you nd yourself battling to the death with him in a cavern under
an active volcano, lava spilling around you and already small
pathways across the room dissolving as superheated waves
sweep over them
A set piece can also be something as simple as a place
where theyre meeting someone or gathering information
Just because a location isnt important, doesnt mean it cant
relate to the symbolism and mood of your game or be another
opportunity to express the way the character feels about things
If youre running a dark, unpleasant horror game, you could
describe how the lth and muck of everyday life has seeped into
everything, grafti staining the walls, trash and lth everywhere
Or in a heroic, high-fantasy setting, the entrance to a city is built
in shining stone, the doors made from ne oak and the soldiers
standing an attentive watch presenting themselves in shining
armour and wielding perfectly maintained swords The possi-
bilities for set pieces are so numerous that no Gamemaster has
any right to skip them or forget about them when theyre so easy
to include Plan them out beforehand if you have to, but there is
nothing more important than wowing your party with the fresh,
exciting world they get to play in
So those are some ways to set a mood So what happens when
you didnt think that far ahead?
Improvisation
When in doubt, have two dudes with machine-guns kick in the
door
Why?
Simple, kid It puts the characters in a sudden, desperate situ-
ation It makes questions and, if the PCs end up killing their
would-be assassins, no way to answer them Maybe they nd
a book of matches for a local club? Maybe they nd photos of
themselves! Theres mystery and intrigue afoot and dead bodies
to clean up
And it doesnt have to be mobsters, either It can be dragons,
fairies, demons, smugglers, pirates, spaceships, Gods, wild
boars or any other thing in the whole wide world Never let your
game stagnate, ever If things are slowing down, feed them new
information, give them new plot hooks to reel them in Your
world should be a theme park that just calls to the characters
to be explored and enjoyed, with exciting new characters and
encounters behind every corner I say again, never let your game
stagnate, its nothing short of the kiss of death And if youre
really stuck, hey, e-mail me and Ill see what I can do Youre
paying for any airfare, though
Talk to your friends, too Stuff youd never think of is immedi-
ately obvious to your buddies and your players can be a great
source of information Some parties will speculate wildly about
the game, saying such and such character is going to betray
them or that they bet your humble barkeep is really a cyborg
from the future Dont be afraid to incorporate casually-men-
tioned ideas into your game, especially if its more exciting than
anything you had planned A few scratches on a spare piece of
paper is all you need to totally change the direction of a game
that, after all, exists almost solely in your wonderful head
And that goes for your ideas, too If something occurs to you on
the spur of the moment, give it a go Whats the worst that could
happen?
The Cinema
At its heart, the Awesome System is one very deeply rooted in
traditional cinema Especially the b-grade variety The spirit of
the game lies in Sci-Fi, Action and Horror, but any number of
other genres can be easily incorporated In this section youll
nd some ways of bringing the wonders of the theatre into your
game and creating a memorable game after all the motorbikes
have exploded
When instilling your game of the Awesome System with that dra-
matic movie feeling, theres a few simple tenets to keep in mind
Action Sequences
Perfect for giving your game that cinematic feel, action sequence
is a term we use to describe any long contest of skill checks that
involves one or more of the party members Including one or two
action sequences in each adventure can drastically change its
feel and give the players an opportunity to use their characters
skills in awesome, creative ways
When designing your action sequence, you should try to make
it fast-paced, exciting and evocative Descriptions are very
important Think of all the car chases youve seen in movies
Cars leave the road and y through the air, smash through boxes
and fruit stands and send pedestrians scattering Theres a lot
of ways to even a few simple driving checks exciting and, as we
said at the start of the chapter, your players are ultimately there
to be entertained (and entertain you) Cant stress that enough
Sample Action Sequences
Heres a few ideas to get you started The action sequences
below emphasize a lack of combat, keeping the game exciting
and tense while allowing the party to use their non-combat skills
in exciting ways
The characters are a gang of cowboys who nd out that a big-
time villain is aboard the train heading out of town. With no
choice, they take off on horseback, pulling alongside the train,
determined to get onboard!
The potential here is limitless Theres nothing better than a
gang of reckless, horse-riding cowboys to bring some danger to
an adventure First of all, they need horse-riding checks to pull
up alongside the train and then, what if the bad guys hench-
men are waiting for them? Theyll have to return re before dar-
ingly leaping onto the train with Acrobatics checks and Climb
checks to get through a window or on the roof We recommend
the roof of the carriage is swarming with gunmen and cavalry
sabres
Once theyre on the roof, theyve got to leap from carriage to car-
riage and will have to hit the deck for tunnels or keep their foot-
ing as the train swerves around corners like nobodys business
A huge spaceship attacks the partys own spaceship, overpow-
ering it and forcing the party to take evasive manoeuvres. A few
of the PCs run to their personal ghters with the plan of board-
ing the ship.
If the partys spaceship has a pilot, hell be required to make
Piloting checks to avoid the Spaceships attack The other PCs
will be making even more Piloting checks to get their ghters in
a position to board the enemy ship If they cant get in, theyll be
forced to grab onto the side of the spaceship and force entry,
requiring Olympics checks, Climbing checks and Acrobatics
checks if theyre in atmosphere
The party are in a tense car chase with some evil cultists, when
some sort of abomination lands on the roof of their van, trying
to tear the vehicle apart!
In addition to the cultists ring guns at the party, someone might
want to go up on the roof of their vehicle and ght the abomina-
tion, so this might end up becoming a combat If the characters
decide to try to get rid of the monster without ghting, you could
call for Driving checks to shake it off, Dodge checks to avoid its
attacks and Notice checks to spot obvious places to hurt the
monster, like low overhangs and trafc poles Driving checks will
also be required to keep pace with the Cultists
So as you can see, the key to running an action sequence usu-
ally involves putting something just out of the parties reach and
making it as difcult as possible for them to get it Throwing a
fast-moving vehicle into the mix is always a pleasure, but you
96
could just as easily make it a climb down an elevator shaft or
passage through a trap-riddled room Theres never any reason
to restrict yourself to one type of scenario
Villains
One of the most important parts of any roleplaying game is the
bad guys In your goal to upset and derail the player characters
these bad-asses are your front-line troops for causing havoc
Here were going to be looking at what makes a compelling vil-
lain, including him in your campaign and being able to off him
with style when the time comes
First of all, we must stress style It helps to make your villains
in a set mould, such as a conquering warlord or a lone assas-
sin, then make him the best at it Make him expressive, impos-
ing, exciting and even charismatic and, most importantly, make
him an individual The best villains have such things as totally
badass dialogue, dening moments of evilness and features or
personalities that make the players care Sometimes they just
have a totally awesome set of armour and a jetpack
On the subject of a diabolical scheme, your bad dudes plan
must be evil enough (or personal enough) to get the party inter-
ested and maybe even get them wondering why hes so dead
set on it Maybe one of his family members overdosed on some
sort of nasty drug, so now hes out to take control of the city so
that he can crush the drug cartel or maybe hes just a straight-
up kind of guy who likes money and power and wants more A
villain like that would need to be even more distinctive, or else
the characters might get confused over whos the big bad, them
or one of their many employers or sponsors
Whatever their traits, though, a villain wont work unless they
match the tone and depth of your game To understand this,
take a look at popular lm and literature and you can see vary-
ing degrees of evil emerging Some villains think its more than
enough of a days work to simply steal some treasure or kidnap
the heroes loved ones, while others murder and despoil, sink-
ing to incredible acts of depravity in a quest for validation Some
villains will perform deplorable acts, but take no interest in what
they do, while others will relish bringing pain and suffering to
the heroes
A noble villain with high ideals will evoke a different response
from the party compared to a disgusting little worm of a man,
even if they do the same things, so which sort you use in your
game (and the amount of pleasure he takes in his work) is an
important decision While neither type is necessarily better, the
party will work harder to kill a villain who kills without discrimi-
nation and resorts to cruel mind-games or toys with the char-
acters emotions, but such an intense character can scare off
more light-hearted players, especially if his actions strike close
to problems theyve had in real life
If a character has spent valuable CP taking a loved Henchman
only to nd that Henchman dead and mutilated the next day, the
player will probably be angry Theyll want to hurt the villain a lot
more and take more effort to seek them out, especially if they
took great pleasure in the murder and make it obvious, but how
angry you want to make your players is up to you The players are
there to have fun, so this is a technique that should not be over-
used
Mooks
Every good Villain needs Mooks, so thats what were going to
look at here Player Character and Villains are the tough guys of
your world Theyre the guys who make a big deal and change
the outcomes of events Well, behind that, you need Mooks
Mooks can come by many names, a few you might have heard
are Henchmen, Goons, Chumps, the Armed Forces, but at the
end of the day theyre all the same, just a bit of hired muscle
for one side to attempt to slow the other down with Villains and
Player Characters will punch through these distractions like wet
cardboard most of the time, but that doesnt make them any
less fun to ght
To signify how inferior a Mook is to a character, the biggest
weakness they have going against them is that they cant Stunt
and they dont get Awesome Points Any time a Mook rolls his
actions, whereas speed dice that land on the same turn would
normally add up to a Stunt, the Mook is treated as always hav-
ing a Stunt Level of None, meaning you take the dice off until
its a regular action Its quite possible that a Mook with four or
ve Speed Dice could only end up with two or three actions! And
they dont get Awesome Points, which means theyre stuck that
way Its a tough life being a Mook, thats for sure When theres
a big gang of Mooks, the Gamemaster should roll Speed for the
entire group, having all of them act at once Not only does this
speed up combat, but it puts attention on the real threats, any
Villains who happen to be in the vicinity
It might sound like Mooks get a rough deal, but just think of them
as extra set pieces When a valiant hero is squaring off against
his arch-rival, theres always going to be some thug running
around, getting in the heros way before hes slugged across the
jaw They should provide easy targets to break up the combat,
but too many of them will overwhelm the party, so their reduced
abilities, but increased numbers will add a nail-biting edge to a
combat as the party must divide its attention, in case what was a
laughable gang of munchkins turns into a serious threat
To compensate for their lack of abilities, Mooks count as being
half as many Character Points as they actually are This doesnt
mean theyre disadvantaged as a group, of course, it just means
you can eld twice as many!
Experience
As Player Characters adventure and travel, theyll gradually get
better at what they do In the short term, this is shown by reward-
ing good roleplaying with Awesome Points, because the charac-
ters that entertain the Gamemaster the most are probably going
to be the ones that are kept around the longest
In the long term, however, characters can improve themselves,
becoming smarter, tougher, stronger and better at doing their
job Extra Character Points are given out at the end of the ses-
sion, when the Gamemaster has collected his thoughts
What the right amount of Experience Points is differs from
Gamemaster to Gamemaster and depends on their style of
game Some like to give out more than the PCs know what to
do with, increasing their power in leaps and bounds until theyre
like the mighty heroes of yore This a totally awesome way to
play a game
Mook Robots
In Chapter 7, under the section Mindless Machines, we
covered making Robots into Mooks, but didnt elaborate
on halving their Character Points We didnt go into this for
two reasons
First of all, any Mook robot with a Cockpit can be used
by a Player Character with the Mecha Pilot ability, could
effectively lose any Mook status we placed on it, when he
starts running around doing Awesome Stunts The other
reason was that a Robots Self-Aware nature isnt fac-
tored into its price-tag, so a Player Character that was a
production line Robot would have exactly the same retail
value as a Mindless, and its easier to not have two sepa-
rate mechanics for pricing Robots Just keep this in mind
while balancing encounters
And, of course, if for some reason you wanted to include
a Self-Aware Mook Robot in your RPG, heaven knows why,
now you can!
97
Other Gamemasters like to ration them out, and make the play-
ers feel like their characters are real, vulnerable people, who
make mistakes occasionally and arent perfect They give out
Experience Points sparingly, making the players feel like theyve
really earned their characters growth This is an awesome way
to play, too
How many points you give out is entirely up to you, Gamemaster
Dont let those players bully you into giving them extra, since
looking out for number one is part of their nature, but dont be
stingy, either Presented below are the amount of Experience
Points Player Characters might be given for some standard cam-
paign goals As a general rule, everyones characters should be
the same amount of points, just to make things more fair
These are around about the right amount of experience for a
character ranging from 1-199 Character Points At 200 points
and up, you might want to do consider doubling them and at
300 points and up tripling, and so on
Deed Reward
Uncovering a minor plot point 2
Uncovering a major plot point 6
Winning an easy battle 1 per ve bad guys
Winning a normal battle 1 per bad guy
Defeating a powerful end 10
Vanquishing a Campaign Villain 20
Rescuing a city from danger 20
Averting unnecessary death and
violence
1-5
Developing a characters person-
ality
1-5
Daredevil heroics 2
Good strategy in battle 2
The Total Destruction Of The Universe
Dont worry if this happens The ultimate goal of every Awesome
System game is complete chaos and destruction far beyond the
means of ordinary humans If you nd entire planets are being
blown up, just congratulate your players on a good game and
start the next one
Dark Movie Magic
So lets say youve got a whole kit of wannabe movie stars
Youve got your Detectives seeing through your clever plots in
seconds Youve got action heroes doing triple back ips through
your carefully planned encounters Not to mention cowboys peg-
ging your villains at a hundred yards with a pea shooter
Well, you can either throw even more audacious bad guys at
them than the ones youre using already, in which case youre
going to have a ball, or you can get even Well show you how
In this section well be looking at the darkest Movie Magic genre
of all; Horror With these dread powers, youll be able to design
the most terrifying bad guys who ever lived, died, then came
back to life ten times more powerful and scare your players wit-
less, too!
Horror Movie Magic comes off of either Soul or Void For descrip-
tions of the powers we dont have here, check them out in Chap-
ter 9: Movie Magic
Animate Dead
Bullet Time
Death Grip
Double Agent
General Incompetence
Horrorport
Monologue
The Stare
Torn Uniform
Tread Softly
Animate Dead
Rating: 8 and up
When a creature of great evil passes into our own galaxy, its
semblance permeates all life Dreams become nightmares,
men go mad and the dead rise If the Director has access to a
body of corpses they may freely make an Animate Dead check
to raise them as zombies with stats as listed below And before
you ask, extra corpses dont appear if you roll really well, no
matter how hard you try If youre that hard up for dead bodies,
go make some
Rating Effect
8 One zombies
16 Five zombies
24 20 zombies
32 50 zombies
40 100 zombies
Every additional 10 rolled after 40 animates after 50 zombies
98
Zombie (20 point Mook)
Brawn 3d6 Brains -
Flow 1d6 Void 1d6
Speed 1d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 160,
Movement 10, Speed Dice 2d6
Skills: Melee (Claws) 3d6, Notice 4d6,
Attacks: Claws (3d6/Brawn/4/None)
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15, Scent 5, Slow-
poke -6
For too long, the living dead have been looked down upon by
society and mistreated Now zombies are eagerly campaigning
for equal rights and access to the same brains the rest of us
have been carting around in our skulls for so long!
Sluggish: As members of a marginalized subculture, zombies
move a little slower than their living counterparts This reduces
their Movement to 10
Undead: Zombies have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Due to being Undead, zombies must eat the living, or recently
not-living, to regain Hit Points They heal 20 Hit Points per body
consumed
Zombie Hunger: Zombies love to eat! They also love to eat
you! To this end, they can use their noses to make Notice
checks A difculty 5 Nose-tice check allows them to sniff out a
hidden human within 20 feet that they wouldnt have snacked
on otherwise
General Incompetence
Rating: 20 per level of Brains
General Incompetence is the nal word in poor Horror Movie
Logic When making a Movie Magic check, the Monster may force
a Brains check to not split up Normally, this requires only a dif-
culty of 4, because only idiots would split up, but for every incre-
ment of 20 he gets on his Movie Magic roll, everyone within one
kilometre per increment of 20 has their Brains score reduced by
1 for the purposes of making the check Characters who have
had their Brains reduced to 0 automatically fail the check and
they, along with anyone else who failed it, head off in a randomly
determined direction If you want, roll 2d6 and use the numbers
rolled to determine a clock facing
Characters who voluntarily fail the check and say, Lets split up!
Id only slow you down, after all! gain 1 Awesome Point
Horrorport
Rating: Varies
Ever wonder how even when theyre taking their time, letting
the heroes run ahead, the bad guy always seems to be waiting
ahead? Now your abominations can do it too! Your monstrous
friend simply creates a dimensional rift in the air (usually in dark
shadows or behind pillars) through which he can travel to any
point within range As an added bonus, it is an innite space,
meaning he can drag any old thing in with him if hes touching
them A real nasty thing for a badguy to do is to pull someone
in with him, beat the tar out of them, then toss them out, before
snacking on their friends A trapped PC can spend an action
and an Awesome Point to automatically escape the Portal
When your action comes up, simply make a Horrorport check
using Movie Magic, checking the table below
Rating
Distance
Travelled
Portal
Duration
8 Two feet One turn
16 Ten feet Three turns
24 Fifty feet One round
32 One hundred feet Two rounds
40 Five hundred feet One minute
If the monster uses this power to emerge out of sight, he may
make an attempt to surprise attack with a +10 bonus on his
Sneak roll
99
CHAPTER 12: ADVENTURES!
101
Heres what you really want as a beginning player In this
chapter, we give you the special treat youve been waiting for,
an opportunity to jump right into the game without a second
thought These two introductory adventures are a fantastic way
for new groups to get started Just take the characters provided,
nominate a Gamemaster and get to playing
There are a few things to keep in mind when reading the pro-
les First of all statistics have already been factored into the
skill totals, so you dont need to add the stat again Defense
totals given assume the character is holding their melee weap-
on of choice Hero Skills, where appropriate, are marked with a
* symbol Finally, Attacks are portrayed as Attack Roll/Damage/
Handling/Stunt Level
Attack Of The Death Sharks is the archetypal, classic Awesome
System adventure One of the very rst adventures ever written
for the system, it was used heavily during play test games, over
and over, due to the exciting nature of exploring the mansion
and the titanic battle that occurs with the Shark King at the end
Nothing short of the Awesome Systems mascot, the Shark King
is a true hero, loved by all
Secondly, we have The Skeleton King, in which the heroes are
put against the most terrifying danger imaginable You cant
beat out the arid, unnatural cruelty of this adventures desert
setting, and the thousands upon thousands of Skeleton War-
riors that lurk within it Should they survive, the characters will
venture to a city of black stone, wherein waits the Skeleton King
and his bodyguards Will you tremble at their might or rise to the
challenge? Classic fantasy gaming at its best!
Attack of the Death Sharks
Attack of the Death Sharks is a Sci-Fi adventure designed to be
played by 4-6 players with the characters provided in Chapter 3
We recommend any character that has either the Modern or
Sci-Fi recommended setting The whole thing can be nished
in about three hours, with extra time for snacks
So lets get to it
The Signal
Professor James Radcliffe is the head of his eld in mad science
He probably wouldve received awards for the horrible abomina-
tions he dreamt up if he hadnt have been kicked out of his Acad-
emy shortly after his fortieth birthday Now hes living out in the
middle of nowhere, eagerly banging away at his latest experiment
- an unholy terror that will strike fear into the hearts of even the
most lion-hearted men, a ferocious crossbreed between man
and shark
Thomas Taylor used to be one of the best bomb technicians in
town until he lost his job Now hes one of the worst bomb tech-
nicians in town and he wants everyone to know about it The
heroes have come looking for him for whatever reason, either a
personal vendetta or to claim the juicy bounty on his head, but
they might be biting off more than they can chew in the violent
but delicious stew that is about to erupt at Radcliffe Manor
Episode 1: Hello Time Bomb
When you start, you can either read the following text or make
up your own The important points to touch on are that the good
guys are after the bomber, Thomas and hes ed to the town of
New Brunswick Once there, he knocked down a local and stole
his car, driving out of town What a jerk, huh?
Our story begins already underway, with a noble gang of pro
bounty hunters pursuing a villainous Mad Bomber by the name
of Thomas Taylor. As you touch your spacecraft down on Canis 3
in the small coastal town of New Brunswick, this being the last
place where the criminal was seen, you are already preparing
for your confrontation. Its only a matter of time now before the
Bomber is found.
Questioning the locals, it seems the last they heard of Taylor
was when the crook knocked down a man by the name of Terry
Patterson as he was getting into his car and made off with the
vehicle, heading for the hills. Even though they know where he
is going, the locals refuse to go, as if they were afraid. But then,
who wouldnt be, when a criminal mastermind is involved? They
have agreed to help you however they can.
Taylor has headed to an area of the countryside the locals would
rather not talk about, a place known only to them as the Manor
Any PCs with Psychology will get a good chance to test it out
now Ask for a roll with a difculty of 5, success indicating that
their unease relates not to the who, but to the where They wont
speak of where Taylor has gone, seeming to fear it Further
questioning will have them reluctantly reveal that they know of
a mysterious mansion on a cliff-face several miles out of town
where an eccentric doctor lives Occasionally a man comes into
town to buy for him
The car left in a northerly direction, heading towards the cliff
A Track check of 8 or more will allow the heroes to follow Tay-
lors path Questioning the locals further, especially the man
who had his car stolen, will conrm Taylor was last seen heading
north
New Brunswick is a nice coastal town, but the Player Characters
shouldnt get too cozy here If they start to dawdle, remind them
there is a bounty to catch! If the heroes wish to hire a car, it
comes to 30 Galactic Credits (this is the local currency) a day
If they want to take their shuttle, let them go ahead, but com-
pletely lacking weapons as it is, the most they can hope to do
is crash it into the side of the Manor Which is ne for some
groups
Stats are provided below for their nominated mode of trans-
ports!
Car, Economy
Price 4,000, Passengers 4, Engine Petrol, Movement 450,
Acceleration 20, Brawn 10d6, HP 520, Precision +1, Size Giant,
Armour 12
Shuttle
Price 200,000, Passengers 20, Engine Fusion, Movement
25,000, Acceleration 50, Brawn 30d6, HP 3,020, Precision +4,
Size Colossal, Armour 60
Anyway, its only a thirty minute hike before the Manor becomes
visible in the distance through the fog It is located at the top of
102
a steep, winding path, on a cliff overlooking a beautiful, spar-
kling, chemically engineered ocean The building itself would
remind a viewer of the mansions of the cold moors of Northern
England, being a grand old place with stained windows and a
peaked roof, the sort of place thats perfect for a butler to elimi-
nate the master of the house or a beautiful women to faint cold
away, only to be snatched up by a dashing young dandy
As the characters begin to move up the slope, read the following
text aloud:
As the heroes grow closer to the mansion, the signs that Tay-
lor has been through here become more obvious. Bushes lie
in shreds and the grass is recently disturbed. Oh, and theres
bombs everywhere. Nasty bombs.
As you move up the slope, you suddenly see the dirt in the path
ahead of you being disturbed. Looking closer, you see some-
thing small and metallic is burrowing its way out! A robotic g-
ure, about two inches across, with long, spindly legs climbs out
into the sunlight. Suddenly, it comes straight for you!
See, Taylor knew he was going to be followed and he cooked up
a set of little beauties to deal with the party and theyre in for
a real treat as the Bomb Bugs get to work. There should be at
least two for every PC, if not more. Be careful while running this
ght, though, as a chain reaction could kill a character or two if
youre not careful. Theyre just starting out. Be gentle, GM.
If they dont realize how much danger theyre in, call for a Notice
check with a Difculty of 8 to notice small, blinking packages
strapped to the Bugs backs Call for a Demolition check with a
difculty of 5 to identify it as a Grenade
Bomb Bug (15 Point Mook)
Brawn 1d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 1d6 Soul -
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 5, Hit Points 30, Move-
ment 11, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 1d6+1, Melee: Bomb 2d6+6, Olympics 1d6+1
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook -, Robot 15, Runner 5, Tiny
-15
Attacks: Grenade (2d6+6/80/5/None)
The Bomb Bugs are one of Thomass many creations, being a
handy way of delivering a powerful explosion to anything that
needs it Player Characters should be discouraged from getting
too close!
Low-Tier Cannon Fodder: Bomb Bugs would be completely
unworthy of even a passing mention if not for the self-esteem
raising explosives helpfully strapped to them! They dont have any
of the usual sweet perks for being a Robot like massive strength
or super-dense armour and as mooks they dont get to do Stunts
or anything!
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Pesky Little Critters: Bomb Bugs are so tiny, theyd be ador-
able if they werent such jerks! When making ranged attacks on
Bomb Bugs, factor in the -6 penalty for their small size Due to
short legs, they have to run even faster than normal to keep up
with their prey, so Bomb Bugs have a Movement score of 11
Walking Death Trap: When they explode, its with the force
and range of a Grenade blast, which characters may attempt to
dodge as normal This kills the Bomb Bug
The explosion deals 80 damage to anyone within 15 feet of the
blast and half that amount to anyone within 30 feet
Anyone who would take damage from the explosion and wasnt
directly targeted gets a free Acrobatics or Dodge check to move
away The actual target can make one as well, but must rst
dodge the attack and then also spent an action or Awesome
Point to be entitled to Based on the table below, most charac-
ters that were right at the centre of the explosion will be looking
at about a difculty of 10
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
If the PCs try to escape, the Bomb Bugs will chase after them
for as long as they can Characters who run up the mountain
might dislodge a rock or two if theyre lucky, destroying a Bomb
Bug The best way to take care of them would be a landslide, if
the heroes think they can arrange it
During this ght, theres plenty of opportunities for cool stuff to
happen If a character climbs a tree, the Bugs will follow, digging
their legs into the trunk and scuttling up after them, chasing
them out onto branches Alternatively, if the heroes have a car,
they can gun the engine, bouncing back and forth across the
road, with a trail of screeching, exploding robots coming right up
behind them By the time they make it to the mansion, they will
hopefully be quite happy to be rid of the little horrors
When they do reach the mansion, they will be surprised to
discover the Bugs stop about 20 feet away from the building,
seemingly hesitant to come closer A smart hero might make
the connection between the bombs and Taylors presence in
the mansion Either way, theyre about to realize something is
up, because theyve just drawn the attention of the mansions
guards!
Radcliffe employs ten men to patrol the house, with a minimum
of four outside at all times If they can sneak up, they might
catch one of the men off-guard, but otherwise hell spot them
and yell for the others Theyre careful not to damage the house
and will either re from the grounds around the house or from
the roof They are armed with either some pretty hefty repow-
er and a good whack from one of these ought to slow the PCs
down Encounters like this will get the party good at dodging,
which is always a nice thing
Security Guard (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 1d6*10, Defence 6, Hit Points 60,
Movement 17, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 4d6, Drive 4d6, Firearms: Varies 4d6, Guts 4d6,
Melee: Varies 4d6, Notice 4d6, Olympics 4d6, Sneak 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook -, Ugly -2
Attacks: Shotgun, Pump (4d6+40/8/1/None), AK-47
(6d6/25/2/None)
103
This is your standard issue Mook About as effective in combat
as a punching bag, its these guys job to get in maybe a few
whacks on the heroes before theyre pulverized into so many
experience points Generally able to be taken down in one hit,
this should be the PCs rst chance to really ex their muscles
and maybe earn a few Awesome Points for good hits and awe-
some Stunts
Blast Em!: These thugs are quite well equipped with shotguns
and automatic ries The shotguns gain a +40 to hit, making
adding the usual bonus damage for exceeding your to hit dif-
culty more important than usual! Every point you beat the dif-
culty roll by is another point of damage Normally, if an attacks
bonus exceeds the targets armour value, they ignore the
armour completely, but the free bonus provided by the shot-
gun doesnt factor into this It just splatters on the armour!
The security guards also wield automatic-ries and will re
3-round bursts, giving them an extra 2d6 on their Firearms
check, which has already been factored into the Attacks bar
Their range increment when ring in burst is 10 feet For every
increment of the to hit roll they make, an additional bullet hits,
dealing full damage You cant have more bullets hit than you
red! If every bullet hits, bonus damage after that point is cal-
culated as normal, but only once If the amount of bonus dam-
age exceeds the targets Armour Value, all bullets penetrate the
targets armour
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
The heroes can either ght with the men on the mansion
grounds or run inside and try to hide If they stick around, theyll
notice the stolen car is parked right outside the house If they
head inside, theyll nd out soon enough
Any guard left alive can be questioned, at which point they will
reveal that Thomas Taylor is being held captive in the second
oor study
For getting inside the house, award everyone 4 CP For every
thug they took down, award them 1 CP Remember to dish out
a couple of Awesome Points if they somehow managed to run
a car through the side of the house or generally make things
explode
Episode 2: Shark Attack!
Once inside the mansion, the Player Characters are in Rad-
cliffes domain He radios his guards and tells them they wont
be needed, having decided to deploy his shark minions
Read the following text aloud:
As you explore the house, you notice security cameras are posi-
tioned everywhere., monitoring your progress through the man-
sion.
As they explore the rst oor, roll on the table below for a ran-
dom result Roll until you get bored, or someone says theyre
specically looking for the second oor staircase
First Floor Encounters
1. The characters come across an intimidating stone sculp-
ture of a Sharkman He is ripped as heck
2. The party sneak up on a lone guard, who is caught napping
or otherwise unawares If he is questioned, he will inform the
characters Taylor is being held upstairs in the second oor
study
3. The characters encounter some Bomb Bugs pressed up
against one of the mansions windows They are scraping
their metallic legs on the glass, trying to get inside to rescue
their master
4. You nd a huge shark tank! Many sharks are swimming
happily in it
5. The characters come across the mansions dining room! A
sumptuous feast has been laid out for the guards, which they
can happily tuck into right away
6. You discover the stairs leading up to the second oor Suc-
cess!
Upon reaching the stairs, read the following aloud:
Just as you set foot on the rst staircase, one of the security
cameras seems to begin speaking directly to you! The owner
of this mansion is no longer silent. Isnt that enough creeping
around my home, strangers? Why are you intruding upon the
private property of Professor Radcliffe?
Regardless of any answer they give, Radcliffe will do the typi-
cal villain thing of announcing they are going to partake in one
of his experiments Typical mad scientist jerk! However, if they
havent gured out where Taylor is yet, he will happily tell them
he is keeping the mad bomber prisoner on the second story in
his study as punishment for also trespassing Seems like he got
off way lighter, right?
Currently Radcliffe is not in the building and he will reveal this
if questioned He takes his time with the characters, enjoying
speaking to them and, more importantly, patronizing them
They have no hope to survive against his diabolical creations
and they will be one of many groups of travelers who had been
slaughtered while he watches Once hes done antagonizing
them, read the following block of text:
As the hiss from the speaker dies down, you suddenly hear a
heavy thud and the creaking of wood. Standing at the top of the
stairs are four huge gures that chill your blood. Three Shark-
men, inhuman hybrid creations of the evil doctor, they are here
for one purpose and one purpose only: to kick your butts. One
of them grips the banister with a blue arm, ending in a wicked
set of talons.
Suddenly, the four Sharkmen come racing down the stairs
towards you! Before you know whats happened, theyve landed
in front of you with an almighty crash, splintering the wooden
oor under their immense weight. They attack!
Get those players to roll for Speed Dice and get them ready for
a nasty shock These things are the best the evil Doctor has to
offer and they wont spare any quarter The characters should
know theyre ghting only the nest of hideous mutants
Shark Man (60 Point Mook)
Brawn 6d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 140,
Movement 19, Speed Dice 5+1 (Chomp)
Skills: Acrobatics 5d6, Dodge 4d6, Melee: Natural 7d6+2,
Olympics 11d6, Pose 8d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Amphibious 3, Chomp 5, Claws 3,
Iron Grip: Bite 8 (Bite), Mook -, Ugly -3
Attacks: Chomp (7d6+2/Brawn+5/-/None), Claws (7d6+2/
Brawn+2/2/None)
Eight feet tall and built to impress, the Sharkman is a fearsome
foe His skin glistens wetly and his teeth and claws seem to
yearn to sink into soft, human esh
104
Amphibious: All Sharkmen can breathe underwater!
Beady Eyes = Poor Aim: For all their ferocity the Sharkmen
are lousy shots, depending upon on the sheer power in their
forearms and bite, as well as weight of numbers to bring down
their prey
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Shark Attack: The Sharkmans primary weapon is his Claws
They deal Brawn+2 damage In addition, he rolls an extra Speed
Dice every round for his Chomp attack! This lowers the Handling
of his Claws attacks by 1
These guys has a lot of Brawn so you want to remember to add
all Brawn dice together when dealing damage!
Shark Bite: A successful hit with the Sharkmans Chomp attack
will hold a character in place with his Iron Grip If the Bite attack
falls on the same turn as a regular action, he gets to bite and
attack with his claws at the same time!
This battle takes place in a tight, enclosed area If a character
wishes to swing a big weapon around, theyll either have to clear
some space or move up onto the stairs The Shark Men can
either ght to the death or come back for more later depend-
ing on how you feel, but make sure the heroes know what their
opponents are capable of This ght is practice for the battle
with the Shark King, after all
Eventually, the characters should make it to the study, the
bloodier and smellier the better Theyll nd Taylor tied up on
the ground, with a rag stuffed in his mouth Hell start kicking
and grumping when he sees them and not let up until they let
him talk
Hes a fat guy in his mid-forties, with a very unassuming appear-
ance He wears a red turtle-neck sweater, jeans and a foul tem-
per Hard to believe hes a criminal mastermind, right? Just wait
till he gets his hands on his Bomb Controller
Thomas Taylor (100 Point Villian)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 3d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 6/12, Cash 100, Defence 8, Hit Points 80,
Movement 17, Speed Dice 3, Stunt Level Unlimited
Skills: Academia: Construction 10d6*, Dodge 4d6*, Demoli-
tions 10d6*, Drive 5d6, Firearms: Shotgun 5d6, Lock Picking
5d6*, Melee: Fists/Knife 5d6, Notice 6d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Selsh -2
Attacks: Knife (5d6/Brawn/3/Triple)
Thomas Taylor is a Bombsmith of the rst order, able to toss
together something explosive in just under a few minutes He
carries himself with a arrogance and a harsh demeanour bet-
ting someone of his stature Despite seemingly harmless, he is
quite crafty and will seek to outwit the PCs If he thinks he has
a chance of getting his chubby hands on his Bomb Controller,
hell do it
The Bomb Controller: A device that was taken from him when
he was captured, the Bomb Controller is a at board about a
foot wide that displays an area several miles across It is cur-
rently focused on the mansion and directs the movements of
the Bomb Bugs by tapping the screen where you want them
to go There are at least thirty currently active, possibly less if
the heroes went to town in their rst combat The bugs current
state can also be changed with a Computers check of 5, with a
choice of Active, Passive and Off Individual Bomb Bugs can be
told to go after specic targets
The Bomb Controller is on a shelf in the study Taylor will get it if
he thinks hes able to, making up whatever lie it takes If he gets
it, the heroes will be in big trouble as he surrounds the area with
Bombs, before telling them hes leaving Itll take some cunning
to get him after that, so smart PCs had better not give it to him
in the rst place
Thomas wont tumble with the heroes just yet, but hes well
aware that his Bomb Controller is in the room somewhere Hes
just not sure where If the heroes give him a chance hell start
looking for it, making a Notice check every few rounds He spots
it on a success of 5 and will try to sidle over to it unnoticed If
he grabs it, hell summon the Bomb Bugs who will begin to ood
the mansion
Needless to say, if this happens, itll cause some real problems
for the characters, so either way theyll want to get out of the
mansion Once theyre done mucking about with Thomas, read
the following text to them as they try to leave the mansion, or
make up your own demented villain speech
Oh, you fools! Trying to leave, were you? Well, you wont be
leaving any time soon, oh no. Youll die here! Soon, you will see
my greatest creation, my nest work! Run if you like, but it wont
save you!
As they exit the mansion, possibly chasing Taylor, make it clear
to the characters that they need to get their butts into gear Rad-
cliffes greatest creation, the Shark King, is being brought up
to the surface from Radcliffes underground lab and will begin
to make its attack on the party Let them start running away
105
from the mansion before you spring it on them, but theres a few
ways this can go, naturally
Due to the uid nature of the scene, theres a lot of ways they
could rst encounter the Shark King One such possibility is list-
ed below for avour text!
Moments after you race out of the smoldering remains of the
front door of the mansion, you hear a terrible crash from with-
in of something very large moving to the surface. The front of
the mansion explodes outwards as a great and powerful gure
emerges, towering over you. It is Radcliffes nal creation, the
Shark King. Standing twenty feet tall at the shoulder, you have
to crane your necks to look up at him, but it doesnt take long
before hes off, running in pursuit and snapping jaws that could
crush a car whole crunch hungrily!
Shark King (200 Point Villian)
Brawn 12d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 10, Awesome 8/8, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 620,
Movement 76, Speed Dice 5+1 (Chomp)
Skills: Dodge 4d6+3*, Melee: Natural 12d6+3*, Olympics
14d6*, Sneak 3d6-15, Toughness 13d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Amphibious 3, Armoured 1 (20),
Chomp 5, Claws 3, Iron Grip: Bite 8, Leap 15
Attacks: Chomp (12d6+3/Brawn+5/-/None), Claws (12d6+3/
Brawn+2/2/Unlimited)
Like the regular Shark Men, the Shark King gets an extra attack
every round for his Chomp attack and will use his Iron Grip
power if successful
Amphibious: All Sharkmen can breathe underwater!
Extra Awesome: As the nal boss of a story arc or chapter, the
Shark King starts with full Awesome Points Watch out!
Giant: As a Giant, the Shark King enjoys a few bonuses, the
rst of which is cheaper Brawn and more expensive Flow His
Hit Points and Movement are also increased, but he suffers a
-6 when making ranged attacks against humans and a -15 to
Sneak checks Humans making ranged attacks against him
receive a +6 to hit!
Impossible Jump!: The Shark Kings powerful legs make get-
ting around quite easy He can jump 100 feet in distance every
time he has an action, in addition to his usual Movement of 76
feet Its extremely useful for, say, latching on to a eeing space-
ship!
Once attached, itll start making its fair share of attacks on
the vehicle, until it rips into the metal and can attack the juicy
humans within Dont be afraid to run this as a regular combat,
with the Shark King swinging and biting at the party as they des-
perately try to knock him back or destroy enough of their own
ship that he falls off One avenue of approach is to blow off his
handholds with a random grenade, but classy Pilot checks from
whoevers driving could also shake the bugger off
Shark Attack: The Shark Kings primary weapon is his Claws
They deal Brawn+2 damage In addition, he rolls an extra Speed
Dice every round for his Chomp attack! This lowers the Handling
of his Claws attacks by 1 This guy has a lot of Brawn so now,
more than ever, you want to remember to add all Brawn dice
together when dealing damage!
Shark Bite: A successful hit with the Shark Kings Chomp
attack will hold a character in place with his Iron Grip If the Bite
attack falls on the same turn as a regular action, he gets to bite
and attack with his claws at the same time! If the Bite falls on
the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get a regular Bite and
a regular Claws attack, or just the Stunted Claws attack Deci-
sions, decisions!
Super Thick Skin: The Shark King has 10 points of Armour,
reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this amount Any
attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty to hit him ignore
this and deal full damage!
Car Chase
If the party drove here they can attempt to escape in their vehi-
cle, in which case the Shark King will leap down the mountain
after them, stopping to uproot trees and hurl them after the
characters If the party go through the forest, they should be
ne, assuming their vehicle survives, so call for three consecu-
tive Driving checks with a difculty of 12, failure indicating they
crash
If they take the road down the mountain, it will loop under a
cliff which the King will leap from, attempting to crush their car
Use the standard rules for dodging an attack on a vehicle, with
the character having to spend an action or Awesome Point to
make a Drive check opposed to the Shark Kings attack Might
be tricky if he gets surprise, but its not likely with his terrible
Sneak
Tricks And Traps
Being a Giant, the Shark King can be a tricky straight-up ght so
encourage creativity or use of the Bomb Bugs if theyve worked
it out A few Bomb Bugs or other explosives will make short
work of this giant target, so feel free to reward any clever think-
ing they embark on with more Sharkmen waiting in the wings
Remember, though, youre in an elegant mansion setting with
a hedge-maze, beautiful gardens and a cliff, so theres lots of
stuff for adventurous PCs to climb all over or use against him
Once the party escapes from the mansion, the adventure is
over Give them a pat on the back if they defeated the Shark
King or were able to keep Thomas with them, and another pat
on the back if they all survived They take off into the sunset,
laughing off the danger as just part of the job
Captain (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 6d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 6/12, Cash $3,710, Defence 9, Hit Points
75, Movement 18, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Computers 5d6, Dodge 5d6+4*, Drive 5d6*, Firearms:
Ries 15d6+3*, Notice 5d6*, Pilot: Shuttle 5d6+1, Sneak 5d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Whisky -1, Extra Tough
3, Heavy Sleeper -2, Obsessive Compulsive -4 (Runs a Tight
Ship), Props 1, Selsh -2, Tech Scared -1
Attacks: 357 Magnum with 100 Rounds (15d6/24/3/Triple),
AK-47 with 100 rounds (15d6/25/2/Single), Lee-Eneld with
100 rounds (15d6+3/36/2/Triple)
The ships captain does her talking from the rear of the group,
all the better to put her old-fashioned Sniper Rie to good use
Shes an old-fashioned type, simple and straightforward and
she loves to drink
106
Ace Pilot: Typically, shell be using his Computers skill to y the
partys Shuttle, but she has the technical know-how to bring it to
bear when the situation calls for manual control
Blast Em!: The Captain is quite well equipped with a shotgun
and an automatic ries, as well as her trusty magnum The shot-
guns gain a +40 to hit, making adding the usual bonus damage
for exceeding your to hit difculty more important than usual!
Every point you beat the difculty roll by is another point of dam-
age Normally, if an attacks bonus exceeds the targets armour
value, they ignore the armour completely, but the free bonus
provided by the shotgun doesnt factor into this It just splatters
on the armour!
Her automatic rie makes a few options available to her in com-
bat She can choose to re a single shot, a burst shot or auto-
re Burst re uses three bullets and grants her an extra 2d6 on
his Firearms roll, while Auto re uses half the full clip size and
grants her an extra 4d6 on her Firearms roll The damn thing
has a Stunt Level of None when using burst or auto-re, but if
you really need to waste someone, just drop 2 AP to make any
attack a Stunt, even a full-auto blast!
The range increment when ring in burst is 10 feet For full-auto,
its 5 feet For every increment of the to hit roll they make, an
additional bullet hits, dealing full damage You cant have more
bullets hit than you red! If every bullet hits, bonus damage
after that point is calculated as normal, but only once If the
amount of bonus damage exceeds the targets Armour Value, all
bullets penetrate the targets armour
Comfortably Well-Off: The Captain has invested 1 points into
Props This is to represent her inheritance in the form of her
familys antique Lee-Eneld rie
Hard To Kill: The Captain has 3 levels of Extra Tough, increas-
ing her Hit Points to 75
Sniper: As a Sniper, the Captain sometimes nds it worth her
time to make attacks a Called Shot, as outlined in Chapter 6
The most common one is a head shot, incurring a -10 penalty
on the attack On a successful hit, you increase your attacks
damage by 6d6 dice, all added together Not too shabby at all!
She has specialized her weapons training in Sniper Ries,
meaning she is denied her bonus to hit of +3 when using other
guns
Demo (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 15, Awesome 5/10, Cash $8,080, Defence 8, Hit Points
60, Movement 18, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Demolition 8d6+2, Dodge 5d6*, Firearms: Pistols 6d6*,
Movie Magic: Action 7d6*, Toughness 5d6, Throwing 9d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Movie Magic: Action 10, Props 3,
Stressed -3
Movie Magic Powers: Blockbuster, Violence
Attacks: Colt Navy with 100 Rounds (6d6/18/3/Triple), Gre-
nades (20) (9d6/80/2/None), Shotgun, DB with 100 Shells
(6d6+40/8/2/None)
Armour: Flak Jacket (15)
Equipment: Twenty slabs of C4
You might wonder why any self-respecting crew would keep a
psycho like this guy around, but when it comes to applying brute
force, theres none better!
Blast Em!: The Demo is equipped with a shotgun, as well as
his trusty Colt Navy The shotguns gain a +40 to hit, making add-
ing the usual bonus damage for exceeding your to hit difculty
more important than usual! Every point you beat the difculty
roll by is another point of damage Normally, if an attacks bonus
exceeds the targets armour value, they ignore the armour com-
pletely, but the free bonus provided by the shotgun doesnt
factor into this It just splatters on the armour!
Break Em Good: Use your Violence power to smash whatever
it is thats causing you trouble into shape A Movie Magic roll
can be substituted for any other skill roll, wherever a plausible
explanation can be given for doing so
Bombs Are Great!: The Demos Blockbuster ability is a real
blast! Whenever you cause an explosion, roll your Movie Magic
skill against the table below to amplify the damage Blockbust-
er, sadly, only works on non-living targets
Rating Damage Multiplier
10 x2
20 x3
30 x4
40 x5
+10 x+1
The Demo has invested 3 points into Props This is, of course, so
he can start with more bombs! Each C4 slab deals a pretty tasty
200 damage to anyone within 30 feet of the explosion and half
that to anyone within 60 feet of the explosion, while Grenades
each deal 80 damage to anyone with 15 feet of the explosion
and half that to anyone within 30 feet of the explosions
Anyone who would take damage from an explosion and wasnt
directly targeted gets a free Acrobatics or Dodge check to move
away The actual target can make one as well, but must rst
dodge the attack and then also spent an action or Awesome
Point to be entitled to Based on the table below, most charac-
ters that were right at the centre of the explosion will be looking
at about a difculty of 10
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
If you want to bunch explosives together, each one beyond the
rst adds an additional 10% damage, which caps at 200% of
the original damage
Flak Jacket: The Demo has 15 points of Armour from his Flak
Jacket, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this
amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more above the difculty to
hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
High Strung: The Demo deals with stress poorly and will faint
during combat if he runs out of Awesome Points This will persist
until the end of the combat
Movie Magic: A Movie Magician is a character who can bend
reality to their whim, all in the name of cliche For the Demo, this
means he can amplify the sizes of explosions and make things
work just by smashing em!
107
Lobsterman (100 Point Mutant Gladiator)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 5d6
Hit Points 120, Movement 18, Speed Dice 6
Skills: Dodge 3d6+2*, Melee: Natural 13d6+1*, Olympics
5d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Armoured 1 (20), Angry -4, Claws
3, Code Of Honour: Melee Combat -1, Mutant -5, No Thumbs -5,
Slowpoke -2, Stubborn -4
Attacks: Claws (13d6+1/Brawn+2/3/Unlimited)
A total terrifying combination of Lobster and Man, with a dash
of crazy, the Lobsterman was taken aboard by the crew after
they rescued him from a gladiatorial combat arena on a fringe
planet in the Battle Belt He swore an oath of loyalty to them,
they swore an oath of putting-things-he-wants-to-punch-in-front-
of-him
His gladiator roots, and also his unwieldy lobster claws give him
a distaste for wielding weapons
Hard Carapace: The Lobsterman has 10 points of Armour,
reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this amount Any
attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty to hit him ignore
this and deal full damage!
Lobster Frenzy: The Lobsterman can choose to lower his
Handling by 2 at the start of any combat round to make two
Claw attacks on any non-Stunted action On Stunts, he still just
makes one really big attack Give it a go!
Spin Attack: During any attack, but usually a melee Stunt, the
Lobsterman can elect to do a Spin Attack He can add up all the
to hit values of a bunch of different enemies to hit all of them at
once, reducing his bonus damage on his attack as necessary A
successful hit deals full damage to all targets
Super Smash: The Lobsterman hits like an absolute end with
his Stunts Just look how many dice hes rolling, and youll get
to add them all together! To this end, Stunts are denitely his
bread and butter At the start of the round, look at the actions
youve been given and see if you can spend an Awesome Point
and use your 3 Handling to shift actions up and down For exam-
ple, if you have a turn on 6 and 5, one of your 3 Handling Points
could be used to shift the 5 up to 6, giving you a Stunt at the
start of the round
Robot (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 8d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 2d6 Soul -
Speed 2d6
Armour 28, Awesome 3/6, Cash 2,100, Defence 6, Hit Points
180, Movement 17, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Computers 3d6+6, Dodge 2d6*, Driving 2d6+3, Aca-
demia: Etiquette 3d6+2, First Aid 3d6+6*, Melee: Unarmed
2d6+8*, Notice 3d6+6*, Psychology 3d6+2, Streetwise 2d6+1
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction (The Good Life) -4, Inhibi-
tors (Protect Life) -3, One of the Hunams -3, Props 3, Robot 15,
Selsh -2
Attacks: Fists (2d6+8/Brawn/6/Triple)
Upgrades: Armour, Medium ($10,000), Sensors Package
($3,000)
Armour: Medium (18)
Robots from another dimension are thirsty for earth women!
Thankfully, this Robot is not from another dimension and is way
more thirsty for motor oil than some annoying girls! He likes to
dress nice, keep clean, t in with the humans and look out for
number one
Tank: The Robot has 18 points of Armour from his Medium
Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this
amount Any attacks that roll 18 or more above the difculty to
hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Comfortably Well-Off: The Robot has invested 3 points into
Props, to ensure he lives the good life This paid for his Medium
Armour and his Sensors Package
Mechanical Tornado: The Robots extremely low level of
Melee means his stunts arent often very effective However,
his 6 points of Handling makes him especially useful for making
multiple attacks Simply announce at the start of the round that
youll reduce your 6 Handling by 2 for every bonus melee attack
youd like to make Naturally, this means itll often be in your
best interests to reduce your Handling to 0 to make four melee
attacks on any non-Stunted action On Stunts, he can choose
to continue taking four attacks or a Stunt, but most of the time
youll be better off with the four
Pacist: Yep, hes one of these The Robot wont take a life, but
seems to have no problems with beating thugs who point guns
at him into unconsciousness He gets a little exible when it
comes to the Laws of Robotics
Robot: As a Robot, this guy gets +2 to his Handling, while
his maximum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of
course, spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works just
ne Being a Robot is also the source of his Heavy Armour and
his Sensors Package, which give him some thicker skin and a
+6 to Notice checks, respectively He also has no Soul, meaning
his Awesome Points cap at 6
108
The Skeleton King
The Skeleton King is a fantasy or medieval adventure for 4 - 6
players using the characters provided in Chapter 3, and it may
come as no big surprise that we suggest you use the charac-
ters with Fantasy as their recommended setting The party
must transport a powerful artifact across a desert while they
are attacked at every turn by monstrous Undead legions The
chances of death are high, yet they boldly struggle onwards
The Script
We dont have many NPCs to introduce here Why? Theyre
all dead The Undead menace has swept over the land, dead
bodies rising under dark magic to destroy the living, boney
hands clutching at weapons that had once been held by living
men, dealing death with swift, almost mechanical power Now
only the last bastion of mankind, the fortress-city Vussengard
remains The Undead crowd around its walls every night, esh-
less, clamoring bodies packed shoulder to shoulder as far as
the eye can see
However, there is some small hope in this dark world A shrine
that was once a place of worship for an ancient civilization lies
deep out in the desert, at the heart of a millennia old mountain
A weapon lies within the shrine that could theoretically be used
to destroy the leader of the Undead, if only it could be wielded
against him So far it has been unreachable, the mountain lying
deep within the enemys territory, but it could be humanitys
only chance left The Undead grow by hundreds every passing
day Five score men are dispatched with the goal of nding this
relic Will even one of them return?
The leader of this group is a stoic gent named Captain Mutilis
Hart who has absolutely no faith in the missions success Nev-
ertheless, hes decided to take on the job and attempt to see it
through to the end Little does he realize theres a much easier
way to survive the onslaught
Episode 1: Shrine of the Ancients
Begin by reading the following text aloud:
The hot sun beats down upon untold miles of desert, a sick
reminder of your current location, the domains of the Undead
Kingdom. You are far from your homeland of Vussengard, the
last bastion of humanity against this evil blight on a dangerous
mission to save the human race. The stark sand dunes are a
constant reminder of the importance of the mission that rests
on your shoulders and, should you fail, not only yourselves, but
your entire nation will be lost under the cruel, unrelenting sun,
bones bleaching only briey before you, like the rest of your peo-
ple, rise as the living dead.
You signed on with Harts company because there was nothing
else left. In humanitys last stand, even surviving the venture
seems unlikely as you nd yourselves journeying deep into the
heart of the Undead Kingdoms, braving shambling zombies,
clattering skeletons and evil, unliving magi with the power to
make the earth shake or alter reality at its core.
However, the Undead draw power from those above them, mas-
ter begets servant as servant begets again. If the Skeleton King
were to be killed, their army would be crippled, allowing man to
make his counterattack. And while it seems impossible that a
man could get close enough to the Skeleton King to even harm
him, salvation may exist in the form of a magical sword, stowed
away in a temple of the ancients. The sword is said to be the
only thing that can break the Skeleton Kings heart and nally
lay him to rest. It is the only hope humanity has left.
The mountain certainly looks majestic enough. Located smack-
bang in the middle of this scorching desert, its spires reach up
to the clouds, disappearing into the clouds after the rst half
mile. Carved into the side of the mountain is a two-hundred foot
tall mural, the face of Cervello the Skeleton King, carved deep
into the rock, a testament to the evil beings God-like powers.
Nobody has ever faced Cervello and lived. As you secretly tether
your horses under the shadow of that giant gure, you wonder
how this daredevil stunt can ever succeed, yet know you must
try.
Moments later, advance scouts will return saying theyve found
a way into the mountain, yet a unit of skeletons are patrolling
there Hart will say he intends to meet the Undead head-on, so
that the party may sneak in silently behind the fray and gain
access to the temple It will be fty men against over eighty of
the walking dead, but they are condent they will meet up with
the characters later on Getting the artifact is the most impor-
tant thing, by God Hart informs the PCs of a location where
horses and rations will be prepared, so they can make a speedy
getaway if need be
The PCs are informed of a secluded pathway that leads to a
bluff overlooking the bowl where the skeletons are camped out
By creeping along the cliff-face, they should be able to drop
down near the entrance to the cave and get in before the dead
can move to stop them Once they are in position, the Captain
orders the rst hail of arrows red and the PCs can begin to
move From their vantage point they see the Undead retaliate
in force, dead archers returning re as quick, cruel skeletal
swordsmen rush forward to deal suffering with wicked hooked
swords Most wounds are fatal to the men, but Captain Hart
holds the position valiantly
Since this is a big ght and the PCs might get involved, weve
provided stats for all the Kingdoms heroes at the end of the
adventure, as well as all those nasty skeletons Consult them
whenever they come up during the adventure
Call for Sneak checks with a difculty of 6, with an arrow being
red at the character for every point they fail by as they draw
attention to themselves The stats for a skeleton archer are
provided below and we encourage you to reuse them for other
encounters in this adventure
Also call for a Olympics check to creep along the ridge, dif-
culty 5, with success indicating they made it safely across the
ridge Should they fail theyll go tumbling off the side, life ash-
ing before their eyes and options limited Someone else may
make a difculty 6 Olympics check to haul them up or they may
make a difculty 8 Olympics check to pull themselves up every
thirty seconds Failing three of these Olympics checks in a row
means they take falling damage for thirty feet and are dropped
right into the middle of the fracas with those damned skeletons
Good luck getting out of that one!
After a few minutes of this, they should be just over the gate
and can drop down to the massive stone block guarding the
entrance Call for the strongest character to make a Olympics
check to move it, ignore the roll and then tell them a hole opens
up in the rock underneath them, making the character tumble
from view The Ancients had a sense of humour about intruders
Anyone who follows him is in for a long slip and slide as they
land in a dark, cramped, steep tunnel full of water that carries
them through to the belly of the mountain, where they are eject-
ed about twenty feet up off a waterfall into running water below
Anyone can make a difculty 8 Acrobatics check or Olympics
check to stop their fall, with anyone who falls into the water get-
ting bashed on the rocks below the rivers level for 4d6 damage
Standing up and surveying the area, the party nd themselves
in a small entrance hall with an obvious exit ahead The walls
are streaked with text in an ancient language Moving out, they
make their way down a long, dark corridor before emerging into
a much larger area, deep within the mountain, lled gigantic,
impossible architecture Theyre on the far east side of the
shrines entrance and it is really something
You see light ahead and begin to move towards it, covering your
eyes from the harsh glare. You enter into a cave that at rst
seems to be too much to be real. As your eyes adjust to the light,
109
you take in the wonder of this shrine to the ancients. Youre
standing on a small rock platform at the edge of the room, one
of many, you realize, connected to the shrine entrance by wood-
en bridges. Those who look down into the abyss cannot see a
bottom.
Looking about the cave, you see marvelous sculpture and beau-
tiful, ancient architecture in every direction. Statues showing
ancient beings that roamed the world before man stand, while
others are toppled to the ground. Magnicent art, chipped and
worn with age, is carved out of the very stone itself. At the cen-
tre of this enormous room is an unearthly set of stairs, each
the height of two tall men, leading upwards to a at tiled area
built into the north most wall of the cavern. A thirty foot high
set of doors are built into the north most wall, made from ne
marble and shimmering in an unnatural light. On either side of
these stairs stands a tall marble statue, the spitting image of
an armoured knight, twenty feet at the shoulder, visor down,
sword planted on the ground before him, ready to face any foe.
The beauty of it all brings a tear to the more sentimental eyes
among you. This is the world as it once was and now is no more.
The party need to scale the steps, so encourage them to be
creative Getting up is easy if they have some rope on them,
otherwise theyll have to improvise Pushing over one of the
marble statues requires a Olympics check with a difculty of 40,
conceivably able to be done by a stronger member of the party
and a timely Stunt Otherwise, Olympics checks with a difculty
of 10 are required to get up Once someone has climbed up a
step, then can haul someone else up with a difculty 6 Olympics
check Once the party nd a way to scale the steps they hear
movement from around the edges of the room and see skel-
etons begin to move in from the side areas, some armed with
bows Theres even more than faced Hart and a cursory inspec-
tion puts the number at over one hundred, with many more
rushing to their aid If the characters destroyed the bridges this
will slow them down, otherwise theyll lay down suppressive re
and move to take over the main island Captain Hart Is with
them
He will move forward, pleading with the heroes not to enter the
church or the Skeleton King will have them killed He speaks of
the King with great reverence and will mention the giant skel-
eton if pressed Any Player Character whos eyes linger over Hart
for too long will realize the skeletons traveling closest to him are
those that were living, breathing men only a few hours ago and
still have most of their bloody, torn esh hanging off of them
Players who ignore him and attempt to get the doors open will
require a difculty 12 Olympics check to shove them open wide
enough for a man to squeeze through and this will take them
into the church itself
There are rows of bulky wooden pews here, leading up to a dais
where a priest would stand to give a sermon High above this
pedestal, hanging in the place usually reserved for a deity or
religious gure is a glass case in which a bronze sword is set
Creepers have grown into the walls of the temple and the rock
is worn, making clambering to the top a simple task The only
problem is the time it will require
Give the party a moment or two to come up with a quick plan to
get the sword and make it clear the skeletons are about to rush
the place By the time they begin planning they should already
hear the immense doors juddering under the weight of bodies if
they shut them, otherwise, feel free to give them even less time
Regardless, they need a plan
Flaming Skeleton (50 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 2d6 Void 5d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 120,
Movement 132, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Flight 4d6+2, Pose (Intimidating) 2d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15 (Focus Point:
Head), Flight 2 (20), Mook -, Tempest (Fire) 8, Walking Bomb
(Explode on Contact) -5,
Tempest Powers: Fireball (8)
Attacks: Fiery Explosion (4d6+2/45/4/None)
Armour: None
Skeletons are the front-line soldiers of the evil Undead King-
doms and what they lack in power, they make up for in numbers
The Flaming Skeletons function as the Undeads artillery, able
to be launched into the air with a catapult, its presence signied
by maniacal laughter
They resemble normal skeletons, other than the magical re
that constantly burns in their chests and the blood red colour
of their bones
Bonesplosion: When making attacks with a Flaming Skeleton,
roll their Flying skill to determine if they have hit The 45 dam-
age from the explosion is worked out as 20 from Walking Bomb
and another 28 on average from their Tempest ability, Fireball,
which they trigger on impact They have all been granted one
Awesome Point by the Skeleton King, in addition to the Awe-
some Point they get for being a aming, cackling, ying skeleton
Since the Bonesplosion is a Stunt, its usually a really good idea
to take care of the Flaming Skeletons before they get that close!
Flying: Once in the air, the Flaming Skeletons y under their
own power, searching out targets among the Undeads enemies
to crash into, exploding on contact They have a Flying skill of
4d6+2 to perform cool tricks with, as well as substitute for
Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows them to y at
6 times their normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1 turn
They can make one 90 degree turn ever combat Turn Since
Flaming Skeletons are always ying, their Movement is listed as
132
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
This is a dynamic battle and should be treated as such It
starts with a terrible, thundering crash that tears away an enor-
mous amount of the wooden doors, signaling the arrival of the
Undeads catapult Instead of lobbing rocks, it hurls the magi-
cally enchanted Flaming Skeletons, making breaking down the
door a simple matter
As soon as the wood shatters and falls to the stone the skel-
etons begin to re volley after volley of arrows through the gaps
made, but its unlikely this stray re will hit anyone who is taking
cover Once enough of the door is destroyed that they can see
into the room, the combat begins Roll Speed Dice once for the
entire skeleton army, having every last one of them act on the
same turns, but due to the nature of this combat, new skeletons
110
will be coming into the room every turn On turn 6, six Skeleton
Archers will enter the room, drawing bows, with four Skeleton
Warriors entering on each turn thereafter On even turns, a
Flaming Skeleton will also enter, just to keep the party on their
toes Meanwhile, the party member nominated to get the sword
had better get climbing On their actions they must make a dif-
culty 6 Olympics check, with success indicating theyve gained
four feet in height on the wall If the Flaming Skeletons explode
near them, they may spend actions to leap to the side, requir-
ing a Dodge check as normal Everyone is counting on their
success, so keep it tense If being hit by an explosion takes off
more than half of their Hit Points, they will drop two feet and
must make a difculty 4 Olympics check to stay on the wall
Once theyve scaled 20 feet, they must spend an action break-
ing open the case and pulling the sword free Success!
Once this happens the skeletons suddenly and abruptly with-
draw, leaving the desiccated bodies of their comrades to lie The
weapon will begin to glow with an unearthly light, continuing to
do so as long as the character holds it in their hand Light will
also stream out from under the dais, drawing attention from
any characters on the ground Anyone who asks if they notice
anything strange about it will realize that there are grooves in
the ground near where it stands and it could be moved to the
side if enough force was applied Theyll only get a few moments
to puzzle over this, however, before the skeletons renew their
attack
Deciding to set the catapults aside for a moment, the Skeletons
decide to try a new tactic The cave wall outside will abruptly
and forcefully be broken in, the massive bulk of the Giant Skel-
eton looming into view It will clamber up the steps, salivating,
growling and trying to reach through the massive doors to grab
at the characters If the party decide to take it on, a successful
attack on its hand making it withdraw in surprise This tactic will
only give a moment of respite, however, before it begins smash-
ing its sts inside the shrine, destroying pews and pillars, trying
to crush the characters If they shift the dais, a simple task, they
nd stairs leading downwards, providing a speedy escape The
last thing they see as they ee for their lives is the Giant Skel-
eton hauling itself into the room
Any character who thinks they have what it takes to take the
beast down is welcome to try, consult the terrors stats at the
end of the adventure
The stairs will end up depositing the characters at the base of
the mountain Now that they have the sword, they can get down
to business and nding their mounts and heading off is a simple
business Its time for the mad dash to the Skeleton Kingdom,
even as the Giant Skeleton emerges from the side of the moun-
tain, breaking apart rock, hanging off it like an imperious God
He can chase them for a bit if youre feeling cruel
Chapter 2: Frantic Rush
The trip across the desert will be hard going, with an entire
legion of Undead right on the characters tails If youre doing
well for time, we suggest one of the delightful scenarios below,
which can be adjusted for the partys current state of health and
general wellbeing Roll a d6 if youre feeling indecisive
Stats for all these gribblies can be found at the end of the
adventure
Ambushes and Guards
7. While crossing a pair of bridges, Skeleton Archers leap
from behind rocks, ring on the party
8. While traveling through a long canyon, some Skeleton
Swordsmen or Cavaliers attempt to run the party down
9. Negotiating rocky outcrops, the party sees a small outpost
with about 200 skeletons ahead, which must be negotiated
around Patrolling scouts will have to be taken out or outwit-
ted
10. While riding across a at expanse of wasteland, making
good time, a unit of Skeleton Cavaliers will attempt to draw
alongside the party and engage them Theyll be hesitant to
approach if red on, but will harass the PCs for as long as
they can get away with
The Deads Weakness
If faced with a skeleton soldier, a player character may
make an Academia: Skeletons check, or merely a knowl-
edge roll to discern a strategy against the dead On a suc-
cess against a difculty of 5, read the text below
You remember hearing that the power that allowed the
skeletons to ght was stored in their brittle, unprotected
skulls A rm blow to the head could shatter the cranium
and put this monster to rest
Damn good advice, too Being Evil Constructs, all dam-
age dealt to their heads is doubled, as well as the reg-
ular bonus 6d6 damage for a headshot A smart group
of heroes will be able to carve through the dead like a
session of The Awesome System through boredom if they
keep their wits about them
111
11. The Giant Skeleton catches up to the party as they negoti-
ate a rocky path leading up the side of a mountain Scooping
up massive boulders, he hurls them at the characters, mak-
ing them run for their lives
12. A lone Skeleton He got lost
Otherwise, they just have to deal with the intolerable heat and
the bleak loneliness that goes hand in hand with seemingly
unending miles of desert They might not even have a home
to return to at the end of all this To make matters worse, they
know Hart will not be far behind, watching them, stalking them
Its not until three days of full travel that they nd themselves
climbing a long bluff which overlooks a valley a mile long The
Skeleton Kingdom stretches out before them as far as the eye
can see The mere sight of this ancient monument to evil strikes
fear into the characters hearts, the central keep a terrifying
structure made from dark, alien-like rock that reaches hundreds
of feet into the sky The milling Undead can be seen around it,
protecting the partys target, the dread Skeleton King
Sneaking into the main castle structure will not be overly dif-
cult, but should they make a mistake the party will nd them-
selves on the run from the dead Ballsy covert tactics should be
rewarded, but if all hope seems lost, read the following text to
whichever player has the magic sword:
Youre distracted suddenly by a glimmer emanating from your
blade. You must be close to the Skeleton King now, for it is glow-
ing with an incredible light, making the skeletons back away.
They seem to want to move closer to you, but are unable to,
settling themselves with gnashing their teeth at you, evil eyes
glowing.
However, just as you pat yourself on the back for outwitting the
dead, an arrow slams into the wall beside you. While it keeps
their physical bodies away, it seems the Undead can still nd
other ways to hurt you. And more archers will be on the way
When they enter the Keep, if the sword is glowing, the light will
suddenly go out, dampened by the Skeleton Kings dark power
Either riding their horses through or walking, they will nd it
totally empty and deserted Nothing comes here, not even the
restless dead
Entering the enormous front gate, you can see the dirt is dotted
with enormous black mausoleums dotted every hundred or so
feet. The enormous obsidian edices shimmer in the sunlight.
In the centre of it all is a monument to a dark God. A tower
made of black stone rests at the centre of the keep, rising some
hundred feet into the air. Atop it, rests an elegantly made glass
chamber, wherein the Skeleton King surely rests.
The characters will rapidly begin making their way towards the
tower when they see a gure looming on the horizon The Giant
Skeleton has returned to protect his master, Hart aboard its
shoulder, and it will make the ascent to the top of the tower one
of the most difcult acts in the characters lives And its brought
the army with it, hundreds of skeletons massed around its feet,
moving to destroy the party Put simply, its go time for the char-
acters
Entering a door at the base of the tower, they nd it almost fea-
tureless, other than a winding stairway leading upwards Period-
ical windows allow those ascending to look out at the approach-
ing horde and the Giant Skeleton to attack Arrows will be red
at the tower, skeletons will spill up the stairs and the Giant Skel-
eton will reach through the windows and smash its giant sts
into the tower, trying to get at the characters This next part of
the adventure is an action sequence and should be run dynami-
cally As they ascend, the Giant Skeleton will be slamming his
sts into the tower and may hit the characters, knocking them
to the ground if they cant beat a difculty 6 Dodge check and If
he shakes the tower, everyone must make difculty 5 Acrobatics
checks or fall down The party can retaliate, however, and a dif-
culty 5 Olympics check will allow them to grab one of the many
barrels that stand alongside the staircase and roll it down the
stairs, sending those skull-boys ying to their deaths and they
can help each other along with more Olympics checks if some-
one falls behind Someone might even get it into their head to
jump out a window and attempt to distract the Giant Skeleton,
with landing on his shoulder or head, depending on their height,
being a difculty 16 Acrobatics check Anyone who lands on it
will have to contend with Hart, however, wholl still be quite sore
about failing to stop the party earlier Hes just a footnote in the
real drama, though, so dismiss him if he gets on your nerves,
having a stray arrow catch him through the throat or something
equally humiliating
Eventually, the remaining party members make it to the top of
the tower The glass chamber stands before them and within
The Skeleton King
Regarding the glass chamber makes you shudder unpleasantly,
yet you know you must face it. Tall and wiry, more so than any
human could ever be, the gure within is elegantly dressed in
long, black robe-like garments, made of some hard, chitin-like
material. The skull atop its body is cracked and worn from mil-
lennia of age, the only sign of cognition a tangled mess of brain
matter that churns in its cranium. Atop this, it wears a simple
golden crown. Two blue pinpricks of light arise in its eye sock-
ets suddenly and you realize the creature has awoken, watching
you silently.
The only way into the glass chamber is to break it with the magic
sword The Skeleton King doesnt nd it necessary to speak,
instead simply gliding gently away from the characters and toss-
ing waves of negative energy at them Hes like that
Cervello, The Skeleton King (200 Point Villain)
What Happens to Hart
Captain Hart stepped back as his men red their rst
volley into the dead. Many shots were blunted on dark
armour or turned aside by wooden shields and he
demanded the second volley. His archers found them-
selves under re and began to fall. Moments later, the
bulk of the Undead were upon them, skeletons spilling
down the hills towards his men, smashing their rank
apart. The melee was ferocious and fast and Hart dove
into the middle of it. He turned this way and that, glow-
ing sword striking down the dead, crushing their skulls
to prevent their broken bodies from rising again, when
he suddenly realized the sun no longer shone on the
battleeld. Turning rapidly, he cast his eyes upwards
and saw that a dark gure blocked out the sun. It was
a beast from legend, a skeleton that seemed too large,
too immense to be real, at least forty feet at the shoul-
der if not more. It leapt into the air and came down in
the middle of his men in one fell blow, sweeping and
swinging this way and that, knocking them about with
reckless abandon. The giant skeleton knelt before him,
its cold skull twisting into a snarl and it spoke in a deep,
roaring voice that echoed off the mountains themselves
Your men are dead. Hart nodded, his hand gripping
his sword tightly.
He rushed toward the gure, only to be knocked from
his feet by a swing of the giant skeletons st, slamming
into a rock wall that formed the base of the mountain. It
moved forward again, hunkering over him. I am Cervel-
lo, the Skeleton King. I speak to you through this body, so
that you might yet listen. You might yet live, soldier. We
know some of your party broke away. Show us the way
to them. Hart cringed in pain, clutching at his bloodied,
beaten body and knew there was no point in resisting the
gure any longer. He rose slowly to his feet and the cool-
ing corpses of his men, under an unnatural power, rose
with him.
112
Brawn 2d6 Brains 5d6
Flow 2d6 Void 7d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 20/20, Cash Incalculable amounts,
Defence 6, Hit Points 120, Movement 14, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Dodge 6d6*, Leadership 7d6*, Melee 4d6*, Notice
5d6+1*, Psychology 5d6+1*, Throwing 10d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15, Slowpoke -5,
Tempest: Decay 8
Tempest Powers: Zombify 20
Attacks: Fists (4d6/Brawn/4/Unlimited)
Cervello, The Skeleton King, is an unfathomably old magi who
is a skilled Decay Tempest His heart stopped long ago and with
it any sense of compassion he once had Now he simply craves
the end of humanity, so that the Undead may spread across the
entire globe
Decay Bomb: Cervello uses his Throwing skill to hurl Tempest
Attacks at the characters on his Stunts These explode in a
cloud of black smoke lled with green images of skulls that lets
out a terrible shrieking sound!
Extra Awesome: As the nal boss of a story arc or chapter, the
Skeleton King starts with full Awesome Points Watch out!
Powers Of Decay: Cervello is a rst-class monster and a truly
dangerous foe As soon as the combat begins, hell get to using
his vile Tempest Powers to wreck havoc, using Stunts to make
Zombify checks or Tempest Attacks His physical body is quite
feeble, making regular actions next to worthless for the Magi
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
These Old Bones Ache: Cervello moves a little slower than his
living counterparts This reduces his Movement to 14e:
Tireless: Like his Skeleton Warriors, Cervello ghts with erce
determination to the death
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Cervello restores his energy through torture He will keep
humans alive and tortured for as long as possible, healing 10
Hit Points for every sustained week of torture, per human This
is why we have unions
Zombify: Zombify is a Tempest Power that drains a targets
Soul Whenever Cervello touches a Player Character or hits
them with one of his thrown Decay Bombs, he may spend a
number of Awesome Points up to 7 activating Zombify For every
AP spent in this way, the target must either spend an Awesome
Point of their own or contest their Guts score against Cervellos
Void Failure on this roll reduces their Soul score by 1, with Soul
being restored at a rate of 1 per week Anyone reduced to zero
Soul in this manner becomes Cervellos zombie minion! Oh no!
Upon Cervellos defeat, the Giant Skeleton clawing at the tower
freezes in place suddenly, along with every other skeleton
in the area And then, one by one, they begin to crumble The
characters fall to the ground, exhausted, as they watch build-
ings around them begin to crumble and topple just like the skel-
etons, turning to so much dust The tower begins to shake as
the heroes hurry to the bottom, falling down only once they are
free The Skeleton King has been defeated and Vussengard is
free!
Kingom Archer (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 1d6x10, Defence 6, Hit Points 60,
Movement 17, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Bow 4d6, Dodge 4d6, Drive 4d6, Guts 4d6, Melee:
Sword 4d6, Notice 4d6, Olympics 4d6, Sneak 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook -, Ugly -2
Attacks: Bow, Flat (4d6/Brawn+6/2/None), Sword (4d6/
Brawn+10/3/None)
The men who ght under Hart will do their best, but are severely
outmatched by the Undead They will maintain discipline and
strength until theyre overrun, at which point they will scatter
and attempt to regroup By that stage, however, it will probably
be too late
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Skirmishers: Harts Archers go unarmored, using the terrain to
their advantage They will withdraw after a few turns of shooting,
or pick off weakened foes with their knives
Kingom Soldier (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 15, Awesome 0, Cash 1d6x10, Defence 9, Hit Points
60, Movement 17, Speed Dice 3 /m is a two-handed sword and
cannot be used with shields of Small size or larger.cool if he
were to end up helping them bring+1 (Shield Bash)
Skills: Bow 4d6, Dodge 4d6, Drive 4d6, Guts 4d6, Melee:
Sword 4d6, Notice 4d6, Olympics 4d6, Sneak 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook -, Ugly -2
Attacks: Sword (4d6/Brawn+10/1/None), Small Shield (4d6/
Brawn+2/0/None)
Armour: Chain Mail (15), Helmet, Metal (15)
The men who ght under Hart will do their best, but are severely
outmatched by the Undead They will maintain discipline and
strength until theyre overrun, at which point they will scatter
and attempt to regroup By that stage, however, it will probably
be too late
Disciplined Fighting: The Kingdom Soldiers primary weap-
ons are their swords They deal Brawn+10 damage In addition,
they roll an extra Speed Dice every round for their Shield Bash
attack This lowers the Handling of their sword attacks by 1
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
113
Shield Bash: If the Shield Bash attack falls on the same turn
as a regular action, the Kingdom Soldiers get to attack with
sword and shield at the same time!
Well Equipped: The soldiers wear conical barbutes
and a full suit of chain armour underneath a white sun-
burst tabard Theyre all physically imposing, strong men,
all that remains of their nations once great armies
They are granted 15 points of Armour, reducing damage from
all incoming attacks by this amount Any attacks that roll 15
or more above the difculty to hit him ignore this and deal full
damage!
Captain Mutilis Hart (150 Point Hero)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 20/15, Awesome 5/10, Cash 3d6*10, Defence 9, Hit
Points 120, Movement 18, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Academia: Tactics 4d6+3, Dodge 4d6+4*, Guts 2d6+4,
Leadership 3d6+5*, Melee: Fists/Sword 8d6+4*, Ride 5d6*,
Track 4d6+1
Powers and Weaknesses: Dramatic Appearance 10, Duty:
Transport the party to the Shrine of the Ancients -6, Finesse 1
(15), Haughty -3, Props: Magic Sword 6, Selsh -2
Attacks: Grim (8d6+4/Brawn+16/2/Single)
Armour: Helmet, Metal (15) , Plate Mail (20)
Even as an escort for the party, Mutilis is well out of his depth
He is the only ofcer of his rank still alive, a feat which he
accomplished by avoiding all major conicts thus far Now this
is the only conict left to ght He demonstrates himself during
the adventure to be a weak, cowardly man, who may yet have an
opportunity to redeem himself
Dramatic Appearance: Hart has a habit of turning up at the
darndest times! By spending one of Harts Awesome Points, the
Gamemaster can make him appear during any scene, totally
unexpected! Of course, having him turn up while theyre ghting
the Skeleton King is pretty rough, although it might turn out to
be pretty cool if he were to end up helping them bring that thug-
lyfe bone bag down a notch or two
Good With A Blade: Hart has trained well with a sword, raising
his Handling score with Grim by one
Grim: He has been given a unique magical sword, Grim, which
allows him to regain an Awesome Point every time he kills an
Undead while wielding it If the party can contrive a way to get
it off him, it could greatly aid them against the dead Grim is a
Two-Handed sword and cannot be used with shields of Small
size or larger As a Two-Handed Sword, it also ignores the rst 6
points of an enemys armour
Well Equipped: Mutilis Hart wears conical barbutes and a
full suit of plate mail armour underneath a white sunburst tab-
ard He is granted 15 points of Armour on his head and 20 on
his body, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this
amount Any attacks that roll 20 or more above the difculty to
hit him targeted at his body ignore this and deal full damage!
For attacks targeted at his head, the bonus must exceed 15 to
deal full damage This Plate Mail reduces his Stunt Level with
Melee weapons to Single
Skeleton Archer (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Void 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 10, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 120,
Movement 22, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Bow 3d6+4, Melee: Sword 3d6+1
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15 (Focus Point:
Head), Mook -, Runner 5
Attacks: Bow (3d6+4/Brawn+6/2/None), Short, Sword
(3d6+1/Brawn+6/2/None)
Armour: Leather Armour (10)
Skeletons are the front-line soldiers of the evil Undead King-
doms and what they lack in power, they make up for in numbers
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Skirmishers: The Skeleton Archers are chosen from the lean-
est, most quick-witted skeletons and can only be shattered by
determined cavalry, lest they retreat to a safe position In com-
bat, nger bones tense around bowstrings before letting loose
their deadly payload, the dark blue glows in their eye sockets
narrowing to pinpoints On a successful hit they bellow with
unearthly laughter, before nding their next target Without
any skin and muscle to slow them down, their Movement is
increased to 22
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Skeleton Warrior (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Void 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 15, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 10, Hit Points 120,
Movement 17, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 2d6+2, Melee: Sword 4d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Counter Attack 9, Evil Construct 15
(Focus Point: Head), Mook -
Attacks: Sword (4d6+2/Brawn+10/2/None) OR Spear
(4d6+2/Brawn+6/2/None)
Armour: Chain Mail (15), Shield, Medium
Skeletons are the front-line soldiers of the evil Undead King-
doms and what they lack in power, they make up for in numbers
Counter Attack: Whenever this combatant successfully dodg-
es an enemys attack, they may spend a remaining action or
Awesome Point to immediately Counter Attack The amount they
beat their dodge difculty by is added a bonus to this attack
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Skilled Fighters: In combat, Skeleton Warriors are ferocious,
not letting up their depraved assault for a moment, cackling
114
and whooping with every blow On successful dodges, they
will always make Counter Attacks if they have the actions to
spare, otherwise they will simply throw themselves into the fray,
depending on weight of numbers to bring down the enemy, the
few sacricing themselves for the benet of the many
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Well Equipped: Skeleton Warriors are stocky and burly, chain
shirts draped over their bleached bones to knock away attacks
while they clutch metal shields close to their bodies They are
granted 15 points of Armour, reducing damage from all incom-
ing attacks by this amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more
above the difculty to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Skeleton Warriors may be equipped with a sword or a spear, but
they always have a shield to increase their defence with
Skeleton Cavalier (40 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Void 2d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 20/15, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 11/12, Hit Points
120, Movement 18/34, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Melee: Lance, Sword 4d6+5, Pose 2d6+5, Riding 2d6+5
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15 (Focus Point:
Head), Mook -, Overcondent -5
Attacks: Lance (4d6+5/Brawn+4/1/None) OR Sword (4d6+5/
Brawn+10/2/None)
Armour: Helmet, Metal (15), Plate Mail (20), Shield, Large
Equipment: Skeleton Horse
Skeletons are the front-line soldiers of the evil Undead King-
doms and what they lack in power, they make up for in numbers
Skeleton Cavaliers are the nest the eshless hordes have to
offer, riders in full plate armour and rested atop faithful skeletal
steeds The sight of these black-armoured monsters will strike
terror into the heart of any foe
Break Their Line!: Using a Lance from horseback increases
the Stunt Level of the attack by one when making a charge This
is one of the few ways in the system whereby a Mook can Stunt
Lances are serious business Only the rst Lance attack of a
combat may be Stunted on in this manner
Frightening Presence: In combat they rush forward, banners
waving, lances ready to skewer the humans, their wailing able
to be heard for miles around They bear down ferociously on the
enemy and make a single Pose check, adding 1 for every sin-
gle Cavalier beyond the rst, in an attempt to render their foes
witless All opponents make a Guts roll, each subtracting their
own roll from the Cavaliers Pose roll, with the party all losing
1 action for every 20 points the Cavaliers roll beats their com-
bined Guts checks by In larger charges, the enemy is often torn
to shreds in moments, powerful lances ripping them apart
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Skeleton Horse (30 Point Taxi of The Dead)
Brawn 4d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 200,
Movement 44, Speed Dice 4+1
Skills: Dodge 5d6, Notice 1d6+2, Olympics 6d6, Toughness
5d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Quadruped 3, Runner 5
Attacks: Horse Attack (2d6/Brawn/4/None)
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, horses are fast as
heck, and dead ones are no exception! Well, most dead ones
Between that and their natural swiftness, Skeleton Horses have
a Movement of 44
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Skeletonnes (200 Point Giant Skeleton)
Brawn 12d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Void 4d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 7/14, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 1040,
Movement 52, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Dodge 3d6, Melee 7d6+2, Olympics 15d6, Pose 15d6,
Throwing 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Evil Construct 15, Giant 40, Slow-
poke 5
Attacks: Fists (7d6+2/Brawn/4/Unlimited)
Skeletons are the front-line soldiers of the evil Undead King-
doms and what they lack in power, they make up for in numbers
All-Purpose Skeleton: Skeletonnes, the Giant Skeleton, is the
most feared weapon at Cervellos command, having crushed
entire legions under rolling knucklebones In combat, he serves
as a transport for other skeletons, long-range artillery with pow-
erful boulder throws and a terrifying front-line soldier! All should
beware this chilling cadaver
Giant: As a Giant, Skeletonnes enjoys a few bonuses, the
rst of which is cheaper Brawn and more expensive Flow His
Hit Points and Movement are also increased, but he suffers a
-6 when making ranged attacks against humans and a -15 to
Sneak checks Humans making ranged attacks against him
receive a +6 to hit!
Sluggish: Skeletonnes is a little unwieldy and can have trouble
moving around, despite his enormous size This reduces his
Movement to 52
115
Undead: Skeletons have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed at their
heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by the usual
6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all damage dealt is
doubled!
Blademaster (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 10, Awesome 5/10, Cash $50, Defence 11, Hit Points
80, Movement 17, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Dodge 8d6*, Leadership 2d6+2, Melee: Swords
13d6+4*, Riding: Horse 6d6*, Quick Draw 4d6+2, Notice 4d6,
Track 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Code of Honour: Knightly Virtue:
-3, Haughty -3, Overcondent -5, Rival: Fellow Knights -2, Slow-
poke 2
Attacks: Sword (13d6+4/Brawn+10/2/Triple)
Armour: Leather (10)
A professional through and through, the Blademaster made a
name for herself killing every sort of foul monster from one side
of the Kingdom to the other, before she was recruited for the
war effort Now she kills Skeletons till her once bright blade is
as dull as they are She is a highly honourable woman and wont
take the shortcuts others have, even when this leads to bitter
rivalries She simply considers herself above it all
Extravagant Swordplay: The Blademasters weapon is a nely
honed piece of work that does its best business when you line
up some Stunts for it You can either ensure Stunts by spend-
ing an Awesome Point and using her 2 Handling to push actions
together, such as turning an action on turn 4 and an action on
turn 3 into a Stunt on turn 4, but sometimes its best to just
spend AP to get some extra Speed Dice rolling, and hope for the
best!
Leather Armour: The Blademaster has 10 points of Armour
from her Leather Armour, reducing damage from all incoming
attacks by this amount Any attacks that roll 10 or more above
the difculty to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Quick Draw: If it comes up, the difculty to Quick Draw her
Sword is 10
Sluggish: War injuries over her career have left the Blademas-
ter a little slow on her feet This reduces her Movement to 17
Spin Attack: During any attack, but usually a melee Stunt, the
Blademaster can elect to do a Spin Attack She can add up all
the to hit values of a bunch of different enemies to hit all of
them at once, reducing her bonus damage on her attack as nec-
essary A successful hit deals full damage to all targets
Dwarf (100 point Hero)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 15, Awesome 5/10, Cash $1,630, Defence 9, Hit
Points 130, Movement 18, Speed Dice 4,
Skills: Bow 7d6, Dodge 5d6*, Guts 3d6, Melee: Sword 12d6*,
Notice 2d6+4, Olympics 6d6, Pose: Aggressive 5d6*, Riding
6d6, Quick Draw 3d6+1, Track 5d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Ancient Dwarven Proverb 1, Code
of Honour (Warriors Code) -2, Duty: The Clan -2, Extra Tough 2,
Illiterate -3, Overcondent -5, Props 1, Stubborn -4
Attacks: Bow, Flat with 50 arrows (7d6/Brawn+6/2/Double),
4 Axe, Hand (12d6/Brawn+6/2/Single), Sword (God-Forged)
(12d6/Brawn+12/2/Single), Sword, Two-Handed (12d6/
Brawn+16(6)/1/Single)
Armour: Chain Mail (15), Shield, Medium
The Dwarf loves to ght, and he especially loves to ght Skel-
etons Which is handy, because he does it a lot! All hes known
his whole life is loyalty to the clan and his code of honour and
the 7 or so weapons he performs his trade with
Bow, Flat: The really aggressive foes can be picked off from
a distance with his Flat Bow When using the Bow, the Dwarfs
Defence is 9
Dual-Wielding Axes: Large hordes are dealt with by dual-
wielding his trusty hand axes The Dwarf can choose to lower
his Handling by 2 at the start of any combat round to make two
axe attacks on any non-Stunted action On Stunts, he still just
makes one really big attack Give it a go! When dual-wielding
axes, his Defence is 10
Chain Mail: The Dwarf has 15 points of Armour from his
Chain Mail, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this
amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more above the difculty to
116
hit him ignore this and deal full damage! This Chain Mail reduc-
es his Stunt Level with Melee weapons to Single
Fabulously Wealthy: The Dwarf started the game with way
more cash than normal, thanks to his level in Props represent-
ing the family fortune He spent almost all of it on having his
Sword enchanted to do more damage When youre hot, youre
hot
Getting Really Serious: When he wants to end a ght fast,
what else would a rough and tumble Dwarf resort to other than
his enormous, two-handed broadsword, just right for hewing
and cleaving! When wielding this weapon, the Dwarfs Defence
is 10, due to the unwieldy nature of the weapon Two-Handed
Swords also ignore the rst 6 points of an enemys armour
Hard To Kill: The Dwarf has 2 levels of Extra Tough, increasing
his Hit Point to 130
On The Fly: Changing weapons during a combat round requires
a Quick Draw check Quick Drawing a Hand Axe is difculty 5
Quick Drawing a Sword is difculty 10 Quick Drawing a Two-
Handed Sword is difculty 12
Sword And Shield: If against a very aggressive foe, hell grip
his sword and shield tightly in which case the Dwarfs Defence
rises to 13, with the regular Sword having a higher innate
Defence Bonus than the Hand Axe or the Two-Handed Sword,
and the Medium Shield giving another 2 Handy stuff!
Walking arsenal: The Dwarf should start each combat by giv-
ing thought to the weapons that will help him out the most And
dont worry about having only Melee: Sword: since he hasnt
ever done formal training, he only has Levels in the skill and
gets the 12d6 on any Melee check made, ever!
Elf (100 point Hero)
Brawn 1d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 4d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 8/16, Cash 50, Defence 9, HitPoints 40,
Movement 18, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Dodge 4d6*, Melee: Sword 3d6*, Notice 5d6 +3*,
Throwing 8d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Damsel in Distress -5, Haughty -2,
Hot 4, Tempest: Fire 8, Stressed -3
Tempest Powers: Blast! 2, Fireball 8
Attacks: Sword (3d6/Brawn+10/2/Triple)
Bringing both burst and beauty to the fray, we have the Elf
Having studied the arcane for many years, he brings back-up to
the party with his re magic
Blast: In combat, the Elf will hang around the back, using his
free Blast! Attacks to pepper the enemy with tongues of ame,
with a range increment of 5, dealing 5d6 damage, added
together just like Brawn, on a successful hit He rolls his Throw-
ing to make attacks in this way
Fireball: If he happens upon a Stunt, you can usually expect
the Elf to burn 2 AP to toss out an exploding Fireball, using his
Throwing again, but with a range increment of 10 this time It
deals 6d6 damage to anyone within 10 feet of the blast and half
that amount to anyone within 20 feet
Anyone who would take damage from the explosion and wasnt
directly targeted gets a free Acrobatics or Dodge check to
move away The actual target can make one as well, but must
rst dodge the attack and then also spent an action or Awe-
some Point to be entitled to Based on the table below, most
characters that were right at the centre of the explosion will be
looking at about a difculty of 10
Difculty Distance Travelled
5 Movement x 1
10 Movement x 2
20 Movement x 3
40 Movement x 4
X2 Movement x +1
High Strung: The Elf deals with stress poorly and will faint dur-
ing combat if he runs out of Awesome Points This will persist
until the end of the combat
Magic-User: The Skeleton King has uses for magic users such
as the Elf He has ordered his Skeletons to capture him alive,
which he can perhaps use to his advantage under the right cir-
cumstances
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
Golem (100 point Hero)
Brawn 10d6+5 Brains 1d6
Flow 5d6 Soul -
Speed 2d6
Armour 28, Awesome 3/6, Cash $1,100, Defence 9, Hit Points
220, Movement 13, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Academia: Ancient Technology 1d6+4, Dodge 5d6*, Fix-
ing 1d6+5, Melee: Fists 5d6+10, Olympics 10d6+5*
Powers and Weaknesses: Inhibitors: Protect Ancient Relics
-2, Props 5, Robot 15, Slowpoke -3
Upgrades: Armour, Heavy ($20,000), Piston Arms, Small
($4,000)
Attacks: Unarmed (5d6+10/Brawn+5/6/Single)
Armour: Heavy (28)
Just because youre in a bold world of swords and sorcery,
doesnt mean you shouldnt get to hang out with your Robot
chums In a nod to the exibility of the system, we incorporated
a Robot in the form of a Stone Golem who can take one heck
of a beating His interest in ghting the Skeleton King stems
from his desire to see this once great worlds desecration stop
here and now
Ancient Artifact: The Golem started the game with way more
cash than normal, thanks to ve levels in Props representing the
brilliance of the ancient civilization that constructed him As an
Ancient Artifact, this guy gets +2 to his Handling, while his maxi-
mum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of course,
spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works just ne
Being a Robot is also the source of his Heavy Armour and his
Sensors Package, which give him some thicker skin and a +6 to
Notice checks, respectively He also has no Soul, meaning his
Awesome Points cap at 6
Made Entirely Of Stone: He would sink in water if there ever
was any in this stupid desert Another side effect of his heavy
body is his Movement is reduced to 13 On the upside, he
enjoys Heavy Armour, with an Armour Value of 28 This means
any attack striking it with 28 or less bonus to hit has 28 sub-
tracted from the total damage However, this Heavy Armour
117
reduces his Melee Stunt level to Single He also receives a neat
+5 on Brawn checks
Series Of Power Slams: The Golems low level of Melee
means his stunts arent often very effective However, his 6
points of Handling makes him especially useful for making mul-
tiple attacks Simply announce at the start of the round that
youll reduce your 6 Handling by 2 for every bonus melee attack
youd like to make Naturally, this means itll often be in your
best interests to reduce your Handling to 0 to make four melee
attacks on any non-Stunted action On Stunts, he can choose
to continue taking four attacks or a Stunt, but most of the time
youll be better off with the four
If a Stunt comes up, youre more than welcome to take it, put-
ting the multi-attacking away briey for that one spectacular
blow
Every roleplaying game needs a readily prepared bestiary of gor-
gons and hydras to toss at your party and the Awesome System
is no exception Here youll be seeing the nest we have to offer,
from every walk of reality and every boulevard of crumpled-up
character sheets
There are a few things to keep in mind when reading the pro-
les First of all statistics have already been factored into the
skill totals, so you dont need to add the stat again Defence
totals given assume the character is holding their melee weap-
on of choice Hero Skills, where appropriate, are marked with a
* symbol Finally, Attacks are portrayed as Attack Roll/Damage/
Handling/Stunt Level
Some of the listed Monsters are Mooks; basically rank and le
thugs Rules for Mooks can be found in Chapter 11: Gamemas-
tering Weve gathered the three most common types of Mooks,
Thugs, Henchmen and Badasses, at the end of the chapter
Monster Character Points
Horse,Thug 30
Grizzly Bear
Raptor
Shark
50
Giant Spider
Henchman
60
Badass 90
Ace Pilot,
Mecha Pilot
Lizardman
Military Sergeant
Police Detective
Special Forces
100
Carnivorous
Brontosaurus
Cyborg Assassin
Demon Dog
Ninja Master
200
Hideous
Space Mutant
250
Gorilla Pirate 270
Angel
Dragon
300
Vampire
500
Ace Pilot (100 Point Flyboy)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 3d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 6/12, Cash 9,400, Defence 8, Hit Points
60, Movement 18, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Academia: Spacecraft 5d6, Dodge 5d6+1*, Firearms:
Heavy 6d6*, Leadership 5d6, Notice 4d6+1*, Pilot: Fighter
7d6+5*,
Powers and Weaknesses: Haughty -2, Props 12
Attacks: Phantasm (6d6/14/3/Triple)
Equipment: Fighter, Small
First in every class, the Ace Pilot has studied hard to be the best
at what he does And that is pilot a totally radical spacecraft
Fighter: The Ace Pilot spent 12 points on Props to own and
operates his very own spacecraft
Fighter, Small
Price: 50,000, Passengers 1, Engine Fusion, Movement
50,000, Acceleration 200, Brawn 8d6, HP 420, Precision
+6, Size Giant, Weapons Cannon, 125mm, Machine Gun (2),
Armour 30
Sure Shot: While he has levels in Heavy weapons, that doesnt
stop the Ace Pilot from employing a Phantasm laser pistol once
hes outside of his spacecraft And it has innite ammo!
Angel (300 Point Vassal Of The Word)
Angel (300 Point Vassal Of The Word)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 7d6
Speed 6d6
Armour 0, Awesome 9/18, Cash Often carrying scrolls or
heavenly artifacts, Defence 11, Hit Points 120, Movement 21
(126 Flying), Speed Dice 7
Skills: Bow 9d6+1, Academia: Philosophy 6d6, Dodge 5d6*,
Guts 8d6*, Leadership 5d6*, Melee: Sword, Fists 14d6+4*
Powers and Weaknesses: Dramatic Appearance 10, Duty:
God -8, Finesse 3 (45), Hot 10, Innocent -2, Flight 2 (20), Tem-
pest (Divine) 8,
Tempest Powers: Divine Judgment 2, The Light That Burns 8,
Thumbs Up 5,
Attacks: Bow, Flat with 40 arrows (9d6+1/Brawn+13/5/Dou-
ble), Sword (14d6+4/Brawn+17/5/Triple)
Angels are the servants of Heaven They can be encountered
in many different capacities, but most often during missions to
Earth
Divine Judgment: By spending an Awesome Point an Angel
may know what sins a person has committed within the last
700 days She may also read their intent towards her
Dramatic Appearance: If theres one thing Angels are good
at, its turning up unexpectedly! By spending one of the Angels
Awesome Points, the Gamemaster can make her appear during
any scene, totally unexpected!
Flying: The Angel can y under her own power She rolls 5d6 for
Flying checks to perform cool tricks with, as well as substitute
for Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows her to y
at 6 times her normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1 turn
She can make one 90 degree turn every combat Turn
CHAPTER 13: BESTIARY!
119
Good With A Blade: The Angel has trained well with a sword,
raising her Handling score by three
Heavenly Pimp Slap: The Angel ghts with a one-handed
sword, leaving one hand free In the unlikely event you ever nd
you have a Stunt to use with a Stunt Level higher than Triple,
she can totally just use her free hand to belt some dude
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
The Light That Burns: The Angels attacks deal 7 extra dam-
age, which has been factored into her listed Attacks Against
any Evil Construct, this bonus increases to 21
Thumbs Up: This allows the Divine Tempest to counteract the
effect of a Decay Tempests Thumbs Down eld
Carnivorous Brontosaurus
(200 Point Thing You Want To Avoid)
Brawn 12d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 1d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 10, Awesome 4/8, Cash None, Defence 5, Hit Points
620, Movement 144, Speed Dice 4+1
Skills: Guts 1d6+10, Melee 1d6+10, Sneak 1d6-15, Tough-
ness 12d6+8, Track 1d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Armoured 1 (20), Chomp 5, Giant
40, Quadruped 3
Attacks: Unarmed (Brawn/3/Unlimited), Chomp (Brawn/-/
None)
The Carnivorous Brontosaurus was a creature commissioned
from a wizard by one of the many Highland tribes of orks Put
simply, they wanted a huge animal that could carry many ork
warriors, but was also quite ferocious Problems arose when the
brontosauruses decided their favourite meal was orks
Bronto Assault: The Carnivorous Brontosauruses primary
weapon is stomps and slams from his powerful body They deal
damage equal to its not-inconsiderable Brawn In addition, it
rolls an extra Speed Dice every round for its Chomp attack! This
lowers the Handling of all other attacks by 1 This guy has a lot
of Brawn so you want to remember to add all Brawn dice togeth-
er when dealing damage!
Bronto Bite: The Brontosaurus can also make a terrible Chomp
attack! If this attack falls on the same turn as a regular action,
he gets to bite and attack with his claws at the same time! If the
Bite falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get a regu-
lar Bite and a regular Stomp attack, or just the Stunted Stomp
attack Decisions, decisions!
Giant: As a Giant, the Carnivorous Brontosaurus enjoys a few
bonuses, the rst of which is cheaper Brawn and more expen-
sive Flow His Hit Points and Movement are also increased, but
he suffers a -6 when making ranged attacks against humans
and a -15 to Sneak checks Humans making ranged attacks
against him receive a +6 to hit!
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, the Carnivorous Bronto-
saurus enjoys increased Movement and his Carnivorous nature
ensures he can really get going when he wants to! After adjust-
ing for being a Giant, he has a Movement of 144
Super Thick Skin: The Carnivorous Brontosaurus has 10
points of Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty
to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Cyborg Assassin (200 Point Stalker)
Brawn 3d6+5 Brains 2d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 5d6
Armour 4, Awesome 6/12, Cash $4,050, Defence 10, Hit Points
80, Movement 22, Speed Dice 6
Skills: Acrobatics 6d6, Computers 3d6+1, Disguise 4d6*,
Dodge 5d6*, Guts 5d6, Melee: Knife 11d6+8, Quickdraw: Knife
6d6+3, Psychology 3d6+1, Throwing 11d6+8*, Tracking 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Code of Honour: Syndicate Law -2,
Cyborg 10, Leap 15, Props 5, Runner 2
Upgrades: Armour, Light ($10,000), EMP Shielding ($3,000),
Piston Arms: Small ($4,000), Smartlink ($4,000)
Attacks: 10 Knives (11d6+8/Brawn+7/3/Double Melee, Triple
Ranged)
Armour: Light (10)
A playful assassin with two handfuls of knives, the Cyborg
Assassin lives to toy with his prey and make their last moments
alive inhumanly chilling He will follow Syndicate Law to the let-
ter, even when doing so risks his own life
Armoured Skin: Sub-dermal plating and synthetically rein-
forced bones make the Cyborg Assassin tougher than a normal
human The Cyborg Assassin has 4 points of Armour from his
Light Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 4 or more above the difculty
to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Cyborg: Unsurprisingly, the Cyborg Assassin is a Cyborg, a par-
tial one at that This means his physical body is largely unaf-
fected, but he can purchase all sorts of neat Upgrades, just like
if he were a Robot! On the downside, he has to pay the price of
Medium Robot Armour to get Light Armour for a Cyborg Darn!
His Upgrades have also bestowed him with incredible strength,
granting the Assassin a +5 on Brawn checks
E.M.P. Shielding: Attempts to shut down the Cyborg Assassins
cybernetics with an EMP Grenade will fall on deaf ears With
a difculty 10 Computers check, he is able to resist the attack
Light Foot: The Cyborg Assassin has 2 levels of Runner,
increasing his Movement to 22
Parlour Tricks: The Cyborg Assassin will frequently be chang-
ing the number of knives hes holding He might start out dual-
wielding, throw one or both, then quickly replace them both
with some Quick Draw checks Keep in mind that on any Stunt
action, he can Stunt a knife throw and Quick Draw another knife
with the same Stunt
Smartlink: The Smartlink grants the Cyborg Assassin a +5 on
all Ranged attacks This increases his Throwing skill to 11d6+8
Syndicate Funds: The Cyborg Assassin has invested 5 points
into Props This is to represent the expensive Cyborg Upgrades
his Syndicate has gifted him with
Super Jump: The Cyborg Assassin can jump 30 feet in distance
every time he has an action, in addition to his usual Movement
of 22 feet
120
Demon Dog (200 Points of Bark and Bite)
Brawn 10d6 Brains 216
Flow 2d6 Void 2d6
Speed 6d6
Armour 10, Awesome 5/10, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points
1,040, Movement 136, Speed Dice 7+1 (Chomp)
Skills: Dodge 2d6*, Melee (Natural) 9d6+3*, Pose 13d6+1
Powers and Weaknesses: Ambush 10, Armoured 1 (20),
Chomp 5, Claws 3, Evil Construct 15, Giant 40, Mutant -4, No
Thumbs -5, Quadruped 3, Photosensitive -5, Slowpoke -4, Ugly
-2
Attacks: Chomp (9d6+3/Brawn+5/1-/None), Claws (9d6+3/
Brawn+2/2/Unlimited)
The Demon Dog is one of Hells most fearsome creatures Its
bigger than most cars and loves to chew on your furniture
Ambush: The Demon Dog is quick on the draw At the start of
any combat, it may choose one action to move up to turn 6
Dog Attack: The Demon Dogs primary weapon is Claw strikes
They deal damage equal to its not-inconsiderable Brawn+2 In
addition, it rolls an extra Speed Dice every round for its Chomp
attack! This lowers the Handling of all other attacks by 1 This
guy has a lot of Brawn so you want to remember to add all
Brawn dice together when dealing damage!
Dog Chew: The Demon Dog can also make a terrible Chomp
attack! If this attack falls on the same turn as a regular action,
he gets to bite and attack with his claws at the same time! If the
Bite falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get a regu-
lar Bite and a regular Claws attack, or just the Stunted Claws
attack Decisions, decisions!
Giant: As a Giant, the Demon Dog enjoys a few bonuses, the
rst of which is cheaper Brawn and more expensive Flow His
Hit Points and Movement are also increased, but he suffers a
-6 when making ranged attacks against humans and a -15 to
Sneak checks Humans making ranged attacks against him
receive a +6 to hit!
Hellspawn: Demon Dogs have twice as many Hit Points as
normal, to simulate the difculty associated with bringing them
down They do have a weak spot, however, and attacks directed
at their heads (-10 penalty) not only increase your damage by
the usual 6d6, all added together, for a headshot, but all dam-
age dealt is doubled!
Due to being Hellspawn, Demon Dogs must consume the liv-
ing, or recently not-living, to regain Hit Points They heal 20 Hit
Points per body consumed
Photosensitive: Exposure to bright light, such as daylight, ban-
ishes the Demon Dog back to Hell For this reason, they are usu-
ally only seen at night
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, the Demon Dog enjoys
increased Movement After adjusting for being a Giant and his
Slowpoke Weakness, he has a Movement of 136
Super Thick Skin: The Demon Dog has 10 points of Armour,
reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this amount Any
attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty to hit him ignore
this and deal full damage!
Dragon (300 Point Princess Kidnapper)
Brawn 14d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 6d6
Armour 10, Awesome 4/8, Cash Nest and some eggs, Defence
6, Hit Points 750, Movement 84, Speed Dice 7
121
Skills: Dodge 7d6+5*, Guts 3d6, Melee 4d6+14, Notice
2d6+5, Olympics 16d6*, Toughness 20d6*, Throwing 5d6,
Track 2d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Armoured 1 (20), Giant 40, Quad-
ruped 3, Tempest: Fire 8, Ugly -3
Attacks: Body Slams (4d6+12/Brawn/0/Unlimited)
In a world where dragons are almost nearly extinct, one species
has continued to survive by crossbreeding with huge swamp alli-
gators The resulting beast is a graceless monster, a scavenger
that feeds on swamp life, with vestigial, tattered wings slowly
receding into their skin over many generations
Giant: As a Giant, the Dragon enjoys a few bonuses, the rst of
which is cheaper Brawn and more expensive Flow His Hit Points
and Movement are also increased, but he suffers a -6 when
making ranged attacks against humans and a -15 to Sneak
checks Humans making ranged attacks against him receive a
+6 to hit!
Nest: The Dragon has a nest, containing 5d6 eggs These are
usually protected by one or more mates, while a hunter is out
foraging the swamp for food
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, the Dragon enjoys
increased Movement After adjusting for being a Giant, he has a
Movement of 168
Super Thick Skin: The Demon Dog has 10 points of Armour,
reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this amount Any
attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty to hit him ignore
this and deal full damage!
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
Wild Beast: In combat, the Dragon makes three Body Slam
attacks, ailing about like a wild beast On the occasional stunt,
it can make a Tempest attack to rack up some extra damage
Giant Spider (60 Point Fanged Monstrosity)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 140, Move-
ment 36, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Acrobatics 4d6+6, Olympics 5d6+8, Melee (Natural)
6d6+5
Powers and Weaknesses: Chomp 5, Extra Tough 4, Leap 15,
Mook -, Quadruped 3 Photosensitive -5
Attacks: Chomp (6d6+5/Brawn+5/2/None)
Ew! Bugs! Spiders are about as gross as it gets, so thankfully
these overgrown thugs of the Chelicerata Phylum are fairly easy
to splatter all over the walls
Hard To Kill: The Giant Spiders have 4 levels of Extra Tough,
increasing their Hit Points to 140
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Photosensitive: Giant Spiders hate sunlight! Theyll run away
from it as fast as their legs can carry them
Quadruped: We admit it, sometimes our naming scheme has
its failings As an eight-legged animal, the Giant Spider enjoys
increased Movement They have a Movement of 36
Spider Bite: Spiders use their poisoned fangs for their default
attack This attack deals Brawn+5 damage
Spider Leap: The Giant Spider can jump 30 feet in distance
every time he has an action, in addition to its usual Movement
of 36 feet
Gorilla Pirate (270 Point El Capitan)
Brawn 12d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 6d6 Soul 6d6
Speed 6d6
Armour 0, Awesome 8/16, Cash A pirate ship, crew and
vast sums of booty, Defence 10, Hit Points 270, Movement 21,
Speed Dice 7
Skills: Academia: Sailing 4d6*, Guts 8d6*, Leadership 6d6,
Melee: Sword 14d6*, Olympics 15d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Fresh Bananas -2, Angry
-4,
Extra Tough 2, Stunt Step 5, Ugly -3
Attacks: Cutlass (14d6/Brawn+10/2/Triple)
There comes a time in every giant primates life where he wish-
es to cast aside the jungle doldrums and set sail on the high
seas! No? Maybe this guys just out of his gourd, then Either
way, dont get between him and his bananas, or youll get a
thumping
Gorilla Tactics: This is denitely one time where youll be want-
ing to use Handling to shift your gorillas actions around He
loves to Stunt! 1 Awesome Point lets you shift your actions by a
total of 2 steps
Monkey Business: Swinging around on the rigging is a
favoured combat tactic of Gorilla Pirates and his Stunt Step abil-
ity makes it all the easier For every -1 penalty he takes on his
attack roll, the Gorilla may move 1 extra foot in distance that
turn
Grizzly Bear (50 Point Baron of the Woods)
Brawn 10d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0 Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 7, Hit Points 220, Move-
ment 30, Speed Dice 4+1 (Chomp)
Skills: Melee: Natural 7d6+2, Notice 2d6+4, Olympics 13d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Chomp 5, Claws 3, Heavy Sleeper
-2, Mook -, No Thumbs -5, Quadruped -3, Scent 5, Slowpoke -3,
Stubborn -4
Attacks: Chomp (7d6+2/Brawn+4/2/None), Claws (7d6+2/
Brawn+2/3/None)
Running around the woods murdering Grizzly Bears in a pen and
paper roleplaying game is all well and good, but remember that
Grizzly Bears are real people, with real lives and real jobs they
have to get to in the morning
Bear Battle: When on all fours, a grizzly bear will prioritize
his Chomp as his primary attack and make a Claw attack as a
Secondary When standing, Claws come to the fore and Chomp
122
becomes the back-up Either way, dont forget he can increase
his attacks per turn by reducing his Handling
Whichever attack you nominate as the primary, roll 4 Speed
Dice for it and a 5th for the secondary If these different attacks
fall on the same turn, the bear gets to bite and attack with its
claws at the same time!
Excellent Sense Of Smell: Bears can use their noses to make
a Notice check A difculty 5 Nose-tice check allows them to
sniff out hidden danger
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, the Grizzly Bear enjoys
increased Movement After adjusting for their Slowpoke Weak-
ness, they have a Movement of 30
Horse (30 Point Cowboy Taxi)
Brawn 4d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 100, Move-
ment 44, Speed Dice 4+1
Skills: Dodge 5d6, Notice 1d6+2, Olympics 6d6, Toughness
5d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Quadruped 3, Runner 5
Attacks: Horse Attack (2d6/Brawn/4/None)
Horses are your friends They are also the best of all the ani-
mals
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Quadruped: As a four-legged animal, horses are fast as heck!
Between that and their natural swiftness, Horses have a Move-
ment of 44
Hideous Space Mutant (250 Point Boss Fight)
Brawn 14d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 3d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 25, Awesome 6/12, Cash 0, Defence 9, Hit Points 820,
Movement 72, Speed Dice 4+1 (Chomp) +1 (Tail)
Skills:, Dodge 4d6*, Melee: Natural 10d6+10, Notice 2d6,
Olympics 16d6*, Pose 16d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Armoured 2 (50), Chomp 5, Claws
3, Extra Tough 20, Giant 40, No Thumbs -5, Scent 5, Tail 4, Tem-
pest: Decay 8
Attacks: Chomp (10d6+10/Brawn+5/-/None), Claws
(Brawn+2/0/Unlimited), Tail (Brawn/-/None)
Boss Quincy Kitar had this bad boy put together by Professor
Radcliffe to advance The Nots evil agenda, but these things
have a habit of getting out of hand As it is now, one broken
shipping container away from being your partys next boss ght
123
Alternatively, this disgusting monster is worshipped by a primi-
tive society who sacrices virgins to it Hes exible
Chitin Plating: The Hideous Space Mutant has 25 points of
Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this
amount Any attacks that roll 25 or more above the difculty to
hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Giant: As a Giant, the Hideous Space Mutant enjoys a few
bonuses, the rst of which is cheaper Brawn and more expen-
sive Flow His Hit Points and Movement are also increased, but
he suffers a -6 when making ranged attacks against humans
and a -15 to Sneak checks Humans making ranged attacks
against him receive a +6 to hit!
Hard To Kill: The Hideous Space Mutant has 20 levels of Extra
Tough, increasing its Hit Points to 820
Mutant Hunger: Few things enjoy food as much as Hideous
Space Mutants! To this end, they can use their noses to make
Notice checks A difculty 5 Nose-tice check allows them to
sniff out a hidden human within 20 feet that they wouldnt have
snacked on otherwise
Space Attack: The Hideous Space Mutants primary weapon
is Claw strikes They deal damage equal to its not-inconsider-
able Brawn+2 In addition, it rolls an extra two Speed Dice every
round, one for its Chomp attack and one for its Tail! This low-
ers the Handling of all other attacks by 2 This guy has a lot of
Brawn so you want to remember to add all Brawn dice together
when dealing damage!
Space Bite: The Hideous Space Mutant can also make a ter-
rible Chomp attack! If this attack falls on the same turn as a
regular action, he gets to bite and attack with his claws at the
same time! If the Bite falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can
either get a regular Bite and a regular Claws attack, or just the
Stunted Claws attack Decisions, decisions!
Space Tail: The Hideous Space Mutant also has a Tail attack! If
this attack falls on the same turn as a regular action, he gets to
tail-whip and attack with his claws at the same time! If the Tail
falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get a regular
tail whip and a regular Claws attack, or just the Stunted Claws
attack Decisions, decisions!
Tempest: A Tempest is a character with power over the ele-
ments! They can make Tempest Attacks by spending 2 Awe-
some Points This increases their current Stunt Level by one and
adds their Soul to their damage roll In addition, they can buy
Tempest Powers to further customize their abilities
Lizardman (100 Point Lethal Lacertilia)
Brawn 5d6+1 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 10, Awesome 5/10, Cash 0, Defence 8, Hit Points 130,
Movement 15, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Academia: Architecture 2d6, Dodge 4d6*, Melee: Axe,
Natural 7d6+4*
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Delicious Flesh -2, Angry
-4, Armoured 1 (20), Extra Tough 2, Finesse 1 (15), Giant Hands
-1, Heavy Sleeper -2, OCD -1, Overcondent -5, Selsh -2, Stub-
born -4, Slowpoke -4, Ugly -2
Attacks: Axe, Huge (7d6+4/Brawn+18/2/Double)
The Lizardman has battled using his trusty axe in the gladiator
arena for over 12 years He has defeated all who would chal-
lenge him He is the ultimate warrior
124
Hard To Kill: The Lizardman has 2 levels of Extra Tough,
increasing his Hit Points to 130
Honed To Perfection: The Lizardman has trained well with his
axe, raising his Handling score by one
Sluggish: War injuries over his career have left the Lizardman a
little slow on his feet This reduces his Movement to 15
Super Thick Skin: The Lizardman has 10 points of Armour,
reducing damage from all incoming attacks by this amount Any
attacks that roll 10 or more above the difculty to hit him ignore
this and deal full damage!
Mecha Pilot (100 Point Freelancer)
Brawn 1d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 3d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 6/12, Cash 90, Defence 8, Hit Points 40,
Movement 15, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Dodge 4d6*, Piloting: Mecha 9d6+6*, Melee: Unarmed
3d6*, Notice 3d6, Psychology 3d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Damsel in Distress -5, Heavy Sleeper
-2, Hot 4, Mecha Pilot 15, Props 32, Selsh -2, Sexpot -5, Short
-4, Slowpoke -3, Stubborn -4
Attacks: Phantasm (3d6/14/3/Triple)
The Mecha Pilot is the arrogant yboy weve all come to know
and love, good enough at what he does to be shamelessly self-
absorbed
More Valuable Alive: Good Mecha Pilots are hard to come by
and many badguys are willing to put in the extra effort for a kid-
napping
Robots Are Expensive: The Mecha Pilot has invested 32
points into Props This pays for his Robot in its entirety The
amount of money hed have to raise to buy the Character Points
back is $800,000 Better get cracking!
Mecha Pilots Lancer (100 Point Robot)
Brawn 10d6 Brains -
Flow 3d6 Soul -
Speed 2d6
Armour 42, Awesome -, Cash 0, Defence 10, Hit Points 220,
Movement 34 (204 Flying), Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 3d6+4*, Melee 3d6+10, Notice 8, Olympics
9d6+4, Quickdraw 2d6+2
Powers and Weaknesses: Robot 15, Slowpoke -3
Upgrades: Armour, Rhino ($50,000), Controller: Cockpit
($5,000), Life Support System, Simple ($1,000), Rockets
($40,000), Sensors Package ($3,000), Thrusters ($10,000)
Attacks: Lance (3d6+10/Brawn+4/0/None)
Armour: Rhino (42), Shield, Small
A close-combat operations suit of powered armour, the Lancers
exceptional speed allows it to make any combat up-close and
personal, while making a serious point of its pilots safety at all
times
Break Their Line!: Using a Lance increases the Stunt Level of
the attack by one when making a charge Only the rst Lance
attack of a combat may be Stunted on in this manner
Cockpit: This Robot can be piloted This Robots cockpit comes
with six hours of oxygen supply and a few snacks The Robots
Sensors Package is located here, giving the pilot a at 8 on
Notice at all times
Piloted Robot: Whenever the Robot makes a skill roll, you may
roll the Pilots Piloting skill and increase the Robots dice pool
Piloting Roll Bonus Dice for Robots
action
10 2d6
20 3d6
30 4d6
40 5d6
+10 +1d6
During combat, you roll separate Speed Dice for both charac-
ters, with the Pilot only able to enhance the Robots actions on
turns where they act simultaneously As the Piloted Robot does
not have AP, the Pilot may spend Awesome Points to Hero Up its
checks, dodge or sundry other uses for AP
Rhino Armour: The Robot has 42 points of Armour from its
Rhino Armour, reducing damage from all incoming attacks by
this amount Any attacks that roll 42 or more above the difculty
to hit it ignore this and deal full damage!
The Robot is also equipped with a shield to increase its defence
with
Robot: As a Robot, this vehicle gets +2 to its Handling, while
its maximum Stunt Level in combat is reduced to Double Of
course, spending AP to crank up your Stunt Level still works just
ne Being a Robot is also the source of its Rhino Armour and
various other Upgrades
Rockets: The Robot can y under its own power It rolls 4d6 for
Flying checks to perform cool tricks with, as well as substitute
for Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows it to y at
6 times its normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1 turn The
Robot can make one 90 degree turn every combat Turn The
Robot is also equipped with Thrusters, which double its Move-
ment speed again, for a total of 34 Movement in feet a turn on
the ground and 204 Movement in feet a turn while ying
Military Sergeant (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 15, Awesome 5/10, Cash $4,220, Defence 8, Hit Points
120, Movement 19, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Dodge* 5d6, Firearms: Ries* 8d6+3, Guts 4d6, Lead-
ership 5d6, Melee: Knife 6d6, Notice 3d6, Olympics 5d6, Tough-
ness* 5d6, Throwing 6d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Self-Rolled Cigarettes
-2, Code of Honour: Compete With Other Soldiers For Most
Noble Self Sacrice -3, Extra Tough 8, Overcondent -5, Props 1,
Stressed -3, Stubborn -4, Submission Blow 2, Trooper 2
Attacks: AK-47 with 100 rounds (8d6+3/25/2/Single) Fists
(6d6/Brawn/4/Double)
Armour: Flak Jacket (15), Helmet, Metal (15)
125
The Military Sergeant wants to see your war face
Comfortably Well-Off: The Military Sergeant has invested 1
points into Props This allows him to start with a Flak Jacket and
an AK-47, with plenty of money left over
Flak Jacket: The Military Sergeant has 15 points of Armour
from his Flak Jacket, reducing damage from all incoming attacks
by this amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more above the dif-
culty to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Hard To Kill: The Military Sergeant has 8 levels of Extra Tough,
increasing his Hit Points to 120
High Strung: Sarge deals with stress poorly and will faint dur-
ing combat if he runs out of Awesome Points This will persist
until the end of the combat
Submission Blow: The Sergeant can make any melee attack
non-lethal by taking a -2 on his to hit roll
Trooper: The Military Sergeant can pull rank in his military orga-
nization This usually equates to him having responsibility for
about 10 Privates
Ninja Master (200 Point Super Shinobi)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 6d6 Soul 5d6
Speed 6d6
Armour 0, Awesome 8/16, Cash All sorts of awesome ninja gear
and enemy plans, Defence 10, Hit Points 80, Movement 21,
Speed Dice 7
Skills: Disguise 6d6*, Dodge 11d6*, Melee: Fists 14d6+2*,
Movie Magic: Kung Fu 11d6*, Pose 6d6, Throwing 10d6*
Powers and Weaknesses: Code of Honour: Ninja -4, Duty:
Serve The Daimyo -5, Hot 4, Leap 15, Movie Magic: Kung Fu 10,
Stubborn -4
Movie Magic Powers: Bullet Time, Death Grip
Attacks: Fists (14d6+2/Brawn/4/Unlimited), Katara
(Brawn+1/4/Quadruple)
The Ninja Master is as beautiful as she is deadly That means
she is extremely beautiful, on account of how many people she
has killed She is extremely loyal to her Clan and her Daimyo,
even though hes probably about 1% as smart as her
Bullet Time: The Ninja Master freezes time and makes a Movie
Magic roll Upon beating a difculty of 40, she gets a new com-
bat round to herself with a new set of Speed Dice, and can even
gain some bonus dice based on the table below
Rating Bonus Speed Dice
40 0
45 1
50 2
55 3
60 4
+5 +1
During this Bullet Time round, she sticks to using her sts as
regular weapons have trouble with time manipulation magic If
she misses even a single attack, time returns to normal
Death Grip: The Ninja Master makes a Movie Magic roll in
place of an attack, with a -30 penalty Success renders the tar-
get unconscious unless they spend an Awesome Point
Movie Magic: A Movie Magician is a character who can bend
reality to their whim, all in the name of cliche For the Ninja Mas-
ter, this means she can slow down time and kill people with her
patented death grip
Super Jump: The Ninja Master can jump 30 feet in distance
every time she has an action, in addition to her usual Movement
of 21 feet
Police Detective (100 Point Gumshoe)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 5d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 4d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 15, Awesome 7/14, Cash $580, Defence 7, Hit Points
80, Movement 18, Speed Dice 4
Skills Academia: Law 4d6+2, Computers 4d6+1*, Dodge
3d6*, Drive 4d6*, Firearms: Pistols 8d6+2*, First Aid 4d6+1*,
Guts 4d6, Melee: Fists 6d6+2*
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Cigarettes -1, Code of
Honour: Good Cop -4, Duty: Police Work -2, Props 1, Trooper:
Sergeant 2
Attacks: Fists (6d6+2/Brawn/4/Double), Magnum with 100
rounds (8d6+2/24/3/Triple)
Armour: Flak Jacket (15)
Equipment: Economy Car
This upstanding Gumshoe works hard to keep his beat secured
and he certainly isnt the type to have the book thrown at him
Hes more the type whos world is turned upside when hes
exposed to a sly new partner who gets his man no matter the
cost
Flak Jacket: The Military Sergeant has 15 points of Armour
from his Flak Jacket, reducing damage from all incoming attacks
by this amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more above the dif-
culty to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Mediocre Car: The Police Detective has invested 1 points into
Props This allows him to start with an Economy Car and a few
other knick-knacks
Trooper: The Police Detective can pull rank in his District This
usually equates to him having responsibility for about 10 regular
cops
Raptor (50 Point Terror of All That Breathes)
Brawn 4d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 0, Defence 6, Hit Points 100,
Movement 24, Speed Dice 5+1
Skills: Dodge 5d6, Melee: Natural 7d6+1, Notice 1d6+3, Pose
5d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: The Never-Ending Blood
Hunt -2, Chomp 5, Leap 15, Mook -, Runner 5, Scent 5
Attacks: Chomp (7d6+1/Brawn+5/2/None)
Dino Might: Raptors use their hungry maws for their default
attack This attack deals Brawn+5 damage
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
126
Raptor Pounce: The Raptor can jump 30 feet in distance every
time it has an action, in addition to its usual Movement of 24
feet
You Cant Outrun A Raptor: The Raptor has 5 levels of Run-
ner, increasing its Movement to 24
Shark (50 Point Wretched Overseer
of Deep Sea Nightmare Realm)
Brawn 7d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 1d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash $0, Defence 7, Hit Points 160,
Movement 18, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Guts 4d6, Melee: Natural 6d6, Olympics 9d6, Track 3d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Ambush 10, Addiction: Mentally
Scarring Others -3, Angry -4, Chomp 5, Mook -, No Thumbs -5,
Scent 5
Attacks: Chomp (6d6/Brawn+5/2/None)
Throughout history, Sharks have attacked and butchered
humans in the ocean They have attacked and eviscerated
humans in lava Some sharks have dragged people into the
pools of pure acid from which they were born and have always
lived in Other sharks have shrunk themselves very small and
entered into the human body through our drinking water to bite
into our very souls
This sheer dedication to physically, mentally and emotionally
scarring mankind can no longer go unacknowledged Sharks,
we salute you
Ambush: Sharks are quick on the draw At the start of any com-
bat, they may choose one action to move up to turn 6
Blood Scent: Few things enjoy food as much as Sharks! To this
end, they can use their noses to make Notice checks Blood
in the water allows them to make a difculty 5 Notice check
to follow it to the source and nd humans they wouldnt have
snacked on otherwise
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Sharkpunch Studios Presents: Sharks use their hungry
maws for their default attack This attack deals Brawn+5 dam-
age
Special Forces (100 Point Hero)
Brawn 5d6 Brains 1d6
Flow 5d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 5d6
Armour 15, Awesome 5/10, Cash 4,430, Defence 9, Hit Points
120/120, Movement 20, Speed Dice 6+1 (roundhouse kick)
Skills: Dodge 5d6+1*, Firearms 5d6+1, Leadership 2d6,
Melee: Unarmed 15d6*, Notice 2d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Angry -4,
Code of Honour: Justice, Discipline, Commitment -2, Heavy
Sleeper -2, Hot 4, Overcondent -5, Props 1, Roundhouse Kick
4, Stressed -3, Stubborn -2, Stunt Step 5
Attacks: AK-47 with 100 rounds (5d6+1/25/2/Single) Fists
(15d6/Brawn/4/Double)
Armour: Flak Jacket (15), Helmet, Metal (15)
The Special Forces thug is as violent and manic as they get The
kind of guy who can wrap up an entire government conspiracy
and stop the terrorists in just 24 hours Just stay out of his way
Blast Em!: The Special Forces wields an automatic-rie and
has a few options available to him in combat He can choose to
re a single shot, a burst shot or auto-re Burst re uses three
bullets and grants him an extra 2d6 on his Firearms roll, while
Auto re uses half the full clip size and grants him an extra 4d6
on his Firearms roll The damn thing has a Stunt Level of None
when using burst or auto-re, but if you really need to waste
someone, just drop 2 AP to make any attack a Stunt, even a
full-auto blast!
Flak Jacket: The Military Sergeant has 15 points of Armour
from his Flak Jacket, reducing damage from all incoming attacks
by this amount Any attacks that roll 15 or more above the dif-
culty to hit him ignore this and deal full damage!
Government Allowance: The Special Forces has invested 1
points into Props This allows him to start with a Flak Jacket and
an AK-47, with plenty of money left over
Roundhouse Kick: The Special Forces also has a devastating
Roundhouse Kick attack If this attack falls on the same turn as
a regular action, he gets to kick and punch at the same time!
If the Kick falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get
a regular kick and a regular punch, or just the Stunted Fists
attack Decisions, decisions!
Spin Attack: During any attack, but usually a melee Stunt, the
Special Forces can elect to do a Spin Attack He can add up all
the to hit values of a bunch of different enemies to hit all of
them at once, reducing his bonus damage on his attack as nec-
essary A successful hit deals full damage to all targets
Stunt Step: With the kind of attack rolls the Special Forces
gets, hes going to want to be making lots of Spin Attacks and
his Stunt Step ability makes it all the easier For every -1 penalty
he takes on his attack roll, the Gorilla may move 1 extra foot in
distance that turn
Vampire (500 Point Bloodsucker)
Brawn 8d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 8d6 Soul 12d6
Speed 5d6
Armour 0, Awesome 8/16, Cash Depends on the vam-
pire, but these guys are usually loaded Defence 12, Hit Points
360, Movement 27 (162 Flying), Speed Dice 13+1 (Chomp)
Skills: Dodge 14d6+9*, Firearms: Varies 14d6*, Melee: Natu-
ral 16d6+2*, Notice 4d6+8*, Olympics 16d6*,
Powers and Weaknesses: Addiction: Human Flesh -7, Chomp
5, Counter Attack 9, Evil Construct 15, Flight 2 (20), Scent 5,
Stunt Scale 2 (80), Ugly -3
Attacks: Unarmed (16d6+2/Brawn/3/Unlimited)
A endish villain of the night! This vampire is more of a crazed
maniac that tears people apart than anything else, a real Nos-
feratu Hes also seriously bad news and cant be tackled lightly,
even by a seasoned gang of Player Characters
Bleurgh!: The Vampires primary weapon is punches He deals
damage equal to his not-inconsiderable Brawn In addition, he
rolls an extra Speed Dice every round for his Chomp attack, a
specialty of vampires! This lowers the Handling of all other
127
attacks by 1 This guy has a lot of Brawn so you want to remem-
ber to add all Brawn dice together when dealing damage!
Bleurgh Bite: The Vampire can also make a terrible Chomp
attack! If this attack falls on the same turn as a regular action,
he gets to bite and attack with his sts at the same time! If
the Bite falls on the same turn as a Stunt, you can either get a
regular Bite and a regular Fists attack, or just the Stunted Fists
attack Decisions, decisions!
Blood Scent: Vampires may use their noses to sniff out the
blood of the living A difculty 5 Notice check allows them to
sniff out a hidden human within 20 feet that they wouldnt have
snacked on otherwise
Counter Attack: Whenever this combatant successfully dodg-
es an enemys attack, they may spend a remaining action or
Awesome Point to immediately Counter Attack The amount they
beat their dodge difculty by is added a bonus to this attack
Flying: The Vampire can y under his own power He rolls 8d6
for Flying checks to perform cool tricks with, as well as substi-
tute for Dodge rolls where necessary Skilled Flight allows him
to y at 6 times his normal Movement, with take-off requiring 1
turn He can make one 90 degree turn every combat Turn
Poor Eating Habits: Vampires must consume human blood
equivalent to 1 point of Brawn per day Going without this intake
will drive the vampire mad with an all-consuming need to feed
If they drink a large quantity of blood all in one go, they can go
as many days without needing to feed as points of Brawn con-
sumed that day
Stunt Scale: When rolling his Speed Dice for combat, the
Vampire has an opportunity to have his dice explode! As he
has two levels of Stunt Scale, his Speed Dice may only explode
twice This expands his combat round from 6 through to 1 to
18 through to 1, meaning he can potentially take many actions
before other peoples rounds even begin
Undead: Vampires have twice as many Hit Points as normal, to
simulate the difculty associated with bringing them down They
do have a weak spot, however, and attacks made from tradi-
tional vampire weaknesses, such as crosses, stakes and whips,
deal double damage
Due to being Undead, vampires must drink the blood of the liv-
ing, or recently not-living, to regain Hit Points This begins by
landing a successful Chomp attack on a victim who has been
weakened too far to resist or recently killed They can drain
as much blood from their victim as they want, restoring 10 Hit
Points to themselves for every level of Brawn equivalent in blood
they drink Humans reduced to 0 Brawn in this manner die Oth-
ers who get away will nd recovering the levels of Brawn is easy,
with one day of bed rest necessary per point lost
Thug (30 Point Mook)
Brawn 2d6 Brains 2d6
Flow 2d6 Soul 2d6
Speed 2d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 1d6*10, Defence 6, Hit Points 60,
Movement 17, Speed Dice 3
Skills: Dodge 4d6, Drive 4d6, Firearms: Varies 4d6, Guts 4d6,
Melee: Varies 4d6, Notice 4d6, Olympics 4d6, Sneak 4d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook -, Ugly -2
Attacks: Varies
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Henchman (60 Point Mook)
Brawn 3d6 Brains 3d6
Flow 3d6 Soul 3d6
Speed 3d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 2d6*10, Defence 7, Hit
Points 80, Movement 18, Speed Dice 4
Skills: Dodge 6d6, Drive 6d6, Firearms: Varies 6d6, Guts 6d6,
Leadership 6d6, Melee: Varies 6d6, Notice 6d6, Olympics 6d6,
Sneak 6d6, Streetwise 6d6, Toughness 6d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Mook
Attacks: Varies
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
Badass (90 Point Mook)
Brawn 4d6 Brains 4d6
Flow 4d6 Soul 4d6
Speed 4d6
Armour 0, Awesome 0, Cash 3d6*10, Defence 8, Hit Points
100, Movement 19, Speed Dice 5
Skills: Dodge 8d6, Drive 8d6, Firearms: Varies 8d6, Guts 8d6,
Leadership 8d6, Melee: Varies 8d6, Notice 8d6, Olympics 8d6,
Sneak 8d6, Streetwise 8d6, Toughness 8d6
Powers and Weaknesses: Hot 2, Mook -
Attacks: Varies
Mook: As a Mook, this enemy cannot Stunt If multiple actions
come up on one turn, the extra actions are lost!
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129
WARNI NG: Thi s book i s ful l of . . .
The Awesome System is a role
playing system so awesome
that it is loaded to the gills with
sharks! Shark Cyborgs, Shark
ghting Tables and even just your
ordinary, every day,
MAN EATING SHARKS!
But the Awesome System isnt
just about sharks Inside are
rules for playing cyborgs,
barbarians and guitarists at the
same time!
With the manliest illustrations,
meticulously crafted by the
manliest men and women, the
Awesome System is the ideal
system for running your most
manly and awesome campaigns!
SHARKS!
Please visit us over at Shark
Punch Studios web page for
updates and other products!
SharkPunchStudios.com