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  the secret special page 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  1 
  Table of Contents 
   
  H
  HEERRO
  O  SSAAN
  NDDW
  WIICCH
  H  
  WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES… 
   
   
  Keep up with the news from Hero Games. 
  This issue – Wake up in the Tuala Morn and 
  investigate News of the World. 
  2 
  HEROGLYPHS 
   
   
  See how Steve Long himself answers 
  rules questions. This issue – Give it to me 
  straight, Doc, on how to cure disease. 
  4 
  YOU GOTTA HAVE CHARACTER 
   
   
  Victoria Woodhull was an early 
  publisher, businesswoman, and presidential 
  candidate – with psychic powers. 
  6 
  CCO
  OO
  OLL  SSTTUUFFFF  
  IN PRAISE OF THE ANTIHERO 
   
   
  Antiheroes tread a fine line, cleaning up 
  the evil of the world, but getting dirty while 
  doing it. 
  13 
  CYBERSYSTEMS 
   
   
  Implanted weaponry, defenses, sensors, 
  and other equipment may become common in 
  the next centuries. 
  25 
  THE ART OF THE INTERVIEW 
   
   
  Somewhere between Conversation and 
  Interrogation is the Interviewing Skill. Who 
  you talk to, and how, determine what you get. 36 
  HOW TO SET AN ITALIAN CAMPAIGN 
   
   
  A campaign in Italy can take advantage 
  of the history, locales, organizations, and 
  other aspects of the culture. 
  44 
  MIGRATING FROM d20 
   
   
  Moving your group from one game 
  system to another has its roadbumps, but can 
  also have great rewards. 
  53 
  THE PEANUT GALLERY 
   
   
  This covert collection of mercenary 
  villains is working towards becoming the 
  richest in history. 
  56 
  WEAPONS OF THE FUTURE 
   
   
  What do water and nanite insects have in 
  common? They both have offensive 
  capabilities, of course. 
  63 
   
  DIGITAL HERO 
   
   
  Publisher 
  Hero Games 
  Editor 
  Dave Mattingly 
  Authors 
  Christian 
  Bencivenni 
  Charles Bikle 
  Brian Boyko 
  Bob Greenwade 
  Steven S. Long 
  David McGuire 
  Frederico Perugini 
  Michael Wallwork 
  Jason Walters 
  Artists 
  Darren Bulmer 
  DT Butchino 
  Bill Jackson 
  Cover 
  Christopher Cooper
  Online 
  herogames.com 
  To Subscribe 
  herogames.com/ 
  digitalhero 
  PRINTING 
   
   
   The general 
  statement in the 
  credits box 
  notwithstanding, 
  DOJ, Inc. grants each 
  purchaser of Digital 
  Hero permission to 
  make one (1) printed 
  copy of this 
  document. 
  HERO System
  TM ® is DOJ, Inc.'s trademark for its roleplaying system. 
  HERO System Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Champions Copyright © 1984, 1989, 2002 by DOJ, Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  Justice Inc., Danger International, Dark Champions, Fantasy Hero, and Star Hero Copyright © 2002 by DOJ, 
  Inc. d/b/a Hero Games. All rights reserved. 
  No part of this electronic magazine may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic 
  or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or computerization, or by any information storage and retrieval 
  system, without permission in writing from the Publisher:  DOJ, Inc., 1 Haight Street, Suite A, San Francisco, 
  California 94102. 
  Issue #42 (March/April 2007) 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  2 
  When Last We Left Our Heroes… 
  by Steven S. Long 
   
   
  This month’s column is just in time for our 
  latest release, and gives me a chance to talk 
  about the next book coming down the pike as 
  well. 
  TUALA MORN 
   
   
   
  Making its debut at this year’s DunDraCon, 
  and by the time you read this available in the 
  Online Store and other fine game retailers, is our 
  latest Fantasy Hero offering, Tuala Morn. It’s a 
  setting book that describes Irish-/Celtic-themed 
  Low Fantasy realm of bold warriors, wise 
  wizards, capricious faeries, and a thousand 
  different types of adventure! It’s a setting I 
  initially created nearly ten years ago for another 
  company that never managed to publish it. Aside 
  perhaps from Hudson City, it’s just about my 
  favorite of all the settings I’ve created, and I 
  hope you’ll find it as fascinating as I do. While 
  it’s neither historically nor mythologically 
  accurate (after all, it’s a Fantasy setting, not a 
  history textbook), it’s strongly influenced by my 
  love of and researches into Celtic history, myth, 
  and lore. 
   
  Chapter One, The Chronicles Of The 
  Tualans, relates the history of the Tualans — 
  how they came to the land they call Tuala Morn, 
  and the battles they had to fight to claim it as 
  their own and hold it against many perils. 
   
  Chapter Two, King And Commoner, 
  describes the culture, customs, and society of the 
  Tualans. It covers cailshaen, the system of 
  Tualan “feudalism”; the Dremir Veith, or social 
  hierarchy and political positions; the seasons and 
  holidays; warfare; law; religion; trade; and much 
  more. 
   
  Chapter Three, The Ten Kingdoms:  The 
  Realms Of Tuala Morn, discusses the 
  geography and physical features of Tuala Morn, 
  then provides a thorough kingdom-by-kingdom 
  review of the ten realms and other areas within 
  the land. If you want to know who rules a 
  kingdom, who his prominent nobles are, what 
  happens there, and what perils that realm faces, 
  this chapter tells you. Each realm has a 
  beautiful full-page map by John Lees so you 
  don’t get lost. ;) 
   
  Chapter Four, The Board Of Notables, 
  covers character creation. It has Package Deals 
  for the standard Tualan professions (and some 
  Racial Package Deals as well), plus notes on 
  how various Skills, Perks, Talents, and 
  Disadvantages function in the Tuala Morn 
  setting. It also includes rules for Feats, special 
  (even magical) powers that spearmen possess, as 
  well as price and equipment tables and a list of 
  names appropriate for Tualan characters. 
   
   
  Chapter Five, Tualan Magic, describes what 
  magic is and how it works within Tuala Morn. 
  Besides covering the Draichta spells of druids, 
  wizards, and witches, it discusses the Miracles of 
  the Golden priests and the secrets of Smithcraft. 
  There’s also a section on enchanted items your 
  characters might find. 
   
  Chapter Six, The Tualan Bestiary, contains 
  dozens of adversaries for your PCs. Besides 
  discussing the faerie-folk and their behavior in 
  general, it provides character sheets for many 
  specific types of faeries (or related monsters) and 
  generic character sheets for enemies like witches 
  and Pictoi warriors. Initially this was going to be 
  a relatively short chapter, but when we decided 
  to cancel The Celtic Bestiary, I took a lot of 
  material I’d written for that book and included it 
  here. 
   
  Chapter Seven, Beyond Tualan Shores, 
  describes the rest of the Northlands as they’re 
  known to the Tualans:  Logres, trading partner to 
  the east; rich Acquitaine, barbarous 
  Vulkringland; and many others. 
   
  Chapter Eight, The Bard’s Portion:  
  Gamemastering Tuala Morn, provides advice 
  and information for GMs running Tuala Morn 
  campaigns. In addition to guidelines for Heroic 
  and Superheroic campaign styles, it has a GM’s 
  Vault of secret information about the setting only 
  the GM should know, and a generous selection 
  of plot seeds to get the GM’s creative juices 
  flowing. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #37 
   
  3 
  CHAMPIONS UNIVERSE:  NEWS OF THE 
  WORLD 
   
   
   
  Next up on the schedule is a book described 
  as “Champions Universe Update” in my various 
  notes and files, and for which we finally settled 
  on the Andy-suggested title of Champions 
  Universe:  News Of The World (we even 
  commissioned a cover to match). It’s been nearly 
  five years since the publication of Champions 
  Universe, and in that time Hero Games has 
  published many other Champions books that 
  expand the setting in nearly every possible 
  direction. Champions gamers often ask us 
  questions like, “What would happen if such-and-
  such group teamed up with this group?”, “What 
  are the members of the Sentinels like?”, and 
  “What’s Dr. Destroyer been up to?”. 
   
  Champions Universe:  News Of The World 
  attempts to answer those questions, and many 
  others, by reviewing what’s happened in the 
  Champions Universe over the past five years. 
  Naturally, we can’t cover every single aspect of a 
  setting that’s so large and detailed, but you’ll 
  find plenty of information about everyone from 
  the movers and shakers of the Superhuman 
  World to lower-powered street heroes like the 
  Black Mask. You’ll also get to meet some new 
  characters that you’ve only seen mentioned here 
  and there in Champions books but who’ve never 
  been detailed before. 
   
  Chapter One, “Meanwhile, In Millennium 
  City...”, covers the latest events in the City of the 
  Future – things like city expansion, the activities 
  of the Champions (including new members 
  joining the ranks... and some old members 
  leaving), how the events depicted in Champions 
  scenarios like Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth 
  played out in the official game setting, what the 
  kids at the Ravenswood Academy have been up 
  to, and the fracturing of PSI. 
   
  Chapter Two, “Down In Vibora Bay...”, 
  does the same thing for the Champions 
  Universe’s lower-powered, more mystical city. 
  Here you can find out what menaces the Black 
  Mask and Dr. Ka have had to deal with, how 
  Juryrig’s war on VIPER has progressed, and the 
  effects of Hurricane Katrina on the Queen City. 
   
  Chapters Three and Four cover two of the 
  Champions Universe’s most prominent 
  superhero teams, the Sentinels and the Justice 
  Squadron. Champions fans have wanted to know 
  more about these heroes for years, and here 
  you’ll find character sheets for all the current 
  members, a history of each group, and other 
  fascinating information. 
   
  Chapter Five, “In Other World News...”, 
  expands beyond Millennium City and Vibora 
  Bay to cover the rest of the setting. It includes 
  brief descriptions of the major superteams in 
  other American cities, what’s been going on with 
  organizations like UNTIL and the Trismegistus 
  Council, and events around the world since the 
  publication of Champions Worldwide. It 
  introduces a new organization, the Goodman 
  Institute, to help your heroes with their war on 
  crime and injustice. Last but not least, it reviews 
  what’s publicly known about the most important 
  activities of supervillains and criminal 
  organizations like VIPER, Dr. Destroyer, and 
  even Foxbat. 
   
  But if you want to know the non-public 
  information about those characters, you have to 
  be a GM. The last two chapters of the book are 
  for the GM’s eyes only. Chapter Six, The 
  Rogues’ Gallery, provides revised character 
  sheets for several villains to show how they’ve 
  become more powerful (or just different) in the 
  past five years, and also describes what various 
  villains have been doing that the public doesn’t 
  know about. Chapter Seven, The GM’s Vault, 
  provides the secret, GM’s-eyes-only, information 
  about what’s covered in the other parts of the 
  book. 
  — Steven S. Long 
  HERO System Line Developer 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  4 
  HEROglyphs by Steven S. Long 
   
  Give It to Me Straight, Doc 
  CURING ILLNESS IN THE HERO SYSTEM 
   
   
   
  One topic that seems to crop up on the Hero 
  Games message boards with a fair degree of 
  regularity is how to model things like diseases 
  and illnesses, and conversely the ways to cure 
  them. That struck me as a good idea for a 
  HEROglyphs column, so here we go. ;) 
  DISEASES IN GAME TERMS 
   
   
   
  Before we can discuss how to protect one’s 
  self against diseases, or cure them, in game 
  terms, we have to define how they function in 
  game terms. Fortunately, there are several 
  examples in published material to draw on:  
  rabies and bubonic plague on pages 22-23 of The 
  HERO System Bestiary; and bubonic plague and 
  inhalation anthrax on pages 127-28 of The 
  HERO System Equipment Guide. In each case 
  these diseases are built with multiple Drain 
  effects. Typically these effects are described 
  separately, since they may affect the victim over 
  different periods of time or have different Power 
  Modifiers, but in theory you could build a 
  disease with a single Drain and the Variable 
  Effect Advantage to affect two or more 
  Characteristics simultaneously. 
   
  The Power Modifiers typically associated 
  with a “disease Drain” are: 
  • Delayed Return Rate (typically 5 Character 
  Points per Week, representing how long it 
  takes a victim to regain full health... if he 
  survives at all) 
  • NND (the defense being an appropriate Life 
  Support:  Immunity; in the case of diseases 
  transmitted by air being inside a sealed 
  environment [LS: Self-Contained Breathing] 
  may also be a defense. Without this 
  Advantage, ordinary Power Defense would 
  protect against diseases, which generally 
  isn’t “realistic” at all.) 
  • Extra Time (the “onset time” between 
  exposure and when the disease begins to 
  affect the victim, usually rated in hours or 
  days and sometimes depending on when an 
  earlier stage of the disease takes effect) 
  • Gradual Effect (so that the disease 
  progresses over time, rather than causing all 
  its damage at once) 
   
  Other Limitations are certainly possible (such 
  as Focus if the disease is a weapon, or HKA Must 
  Do BODY if it’s introduced into the body by an 
  animal’s bite), but those four are the standard ones 
  for representing a “realistic” disease. 
   
  The type of Drain chosen to represent a 
  disease depends on that disease’s effects. 
  Examples include: 
  • Drain CON (to represent the general 
  weakness and frailty brought on by disease; 
  Drain STR may also be appropriate, 
  particularly if the disease causes severe 
  muscle aches or cramps, and Drain END for 
  diseases that are especially tiring) 
  • Drain COM (for diseases that include 
  disfiguring sores or the like) 
  • Drain BODY (for diseases that can be fatal) 
   
  The amount of dice reflects the potential 
  severity of the disease. A standard cold or flu 
  might be just 1-2 dice of Drain CON, but the 
  sorts of major illnesses that usually become a 
  factor in games often feature 3-6 dice of both 
  Drain CON and Drain BODY. For example, the 
  Inhalation Anthrax bioweapon described in the 
  Equipment Guide includes Drain CON 3d6, 
  Drain END 4d6, and Drain BODY 6d6 as its 
  effects, indicating a disease with significant 
  weakening effects and an even greater chance of 
  killing the victim. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  5 
  CURING DISEASE 
   
   
   
  Protecting one’s self against disease is 
  simple:  have the appropriate form of Immunity 
  (usually as a result of an inoculation received at 
  some point during the character’s life). However, 
  Immunities are fairly rare among PCs, and in any 
  event the super-diseases, bioweapons, and other 
  illnesses they’re likely to face tend to be ones 
  most people cannot become Immune to. In short 
  – usually characters have to rely on finding a 
  cure rather than preventing themselves (or their 
  friends) from getting sick in the first place. 
   
  Generally speaking there are three ways to 
  represent “curing disease” in HERO System 
  terms. 
  Healing 
   
  The most obvious way to cure disease is to 
  use Healing. To create a broad-spectrum curative 
  power, the Healing needs some level of the 
  Variable Effect Advantage so it can apply to 
  more than one Characteristic. That way it can, 
  for example, cure the CON, END, and BODY 
  loss from inhalation anthrax. Depending on the 
  value of the Advantage, a character may have to 
  use Healing several times to counteract all of a 
  disease’s effects, or just one use may suffice. 
   
  Healing suffers from one drawback when it 
  comes to curing disease:  it can only replace 
  Characteristic points that have already been lost. 
  Most diseases work slowly, using Gradual Effect 
  to simulate the slow acquisition of a lot of Drain. 
  A Healing can replace any Characteristic points 
  lost to the disease up until the point at which it’s 
  applied, but it doesn’t stop the rest of the damage 
  from accumulating or otherwise “counteract” the 
  ongoing disease. To cure a disease fully with 
  Healing, a character has to apply it to the sick 
  person several times over the course of the 
  illness. 
   
  If the GM doesn’t like this approach, he can 
  change things so Healing can counteract a 
  disease fully. He simply rolls the full effect of 
  the disease in advance so that he knows its 
  “maximum damage.” A character with Healing 
  can then apply Healing up to that full total, and 
  when he equals or exceeds that total the disease 
  ceases to have any effect. 
  Transform 
   
  Second, a character can buy a Major 
  Transform – “person with a disease to person 
  without that disease.” This has two effects. First, 
  it completely eliminates the disease (so that it 
  doesn’t continue to affect the character). Second, 
  by using the rules for “adding abilities” via 
  Transform it can restore Characteristic points 
  already lost to the disease. (Otherwise, the 
  character simply has to regain those lost points 
  normally using the fade rate for the Drain.) 
  Alternately, at the GM’s option a character could 
  buy a Minor Transform that stops the disease 
  from progressing but can never “heal” 
  Characteristic points already lost to the disease. 
   
  The Cure Illness spell on page 246 of The 
  Fantasy Hero Grimoire uses the Transform 
  method. It seems to do the best job of simulating 
  the broad-spectrum effect of the curative magics 
  seen in most Fantasy games. In more “realistic” 
  settings or genres, the Transform method may be 
  too powerful or effective. 
  Aid 
   
  Third, a character could buy an Aid that 
  only works to “counteract” diseases. The Aid 
  would have a fade rate equal to the fade rate of 
  the Drain, and a Limitation indicating that it only 
  works on diseased persons. By artificially raising 
  a diseased person’s affected Characteristics, the 
  Aid effectively neutralizes the disease. However, 
  this probably isn’t a cost-effective method 
  compared to Healing or Transform, and like 
  Healing it has to be applied multiple times to 
  overcome the Gradual Effect damage 
  accumulation. Thus, this method probably isn’t a 
  good choice for most games, though it may be 
  appropriate for lower-powered campaigns. 
  Curing Specific Diseases 
   
  With any of the methods described above, 
  there’s no need to specify the type of disease a 
  power can cure. Healing, Transform, and Aid 
  just “correct” the effects of certain Drains, as 
  indicated by the power’s description (for 
  example:  Healing 3d6, any disease-reduced 
  Characteristic at once; Major Transform 4d6 
  [person with a disease to person without that 
  disease]). If a character wanted to have a power 
  that could only cure a specific disease, or a 
  specific category of diseases (such as one of the 
  ones listed on the Life Support Table), he can 
  represent that by applying an appropriate 
  Limitation to the power. 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  6 
  You Gotta Have Character by Jason Walters 
   
  “People who do not stand upon 
  principles and guide all their actions by 
  them are always found contradicting 
  and stultifying themselves.” — Victoria 
  Woodhull 
   
  The daughter of scam artist parents who ran 
  a traveling medicine show, Victoria Woodhull 
  grew up telling fortunes, concocting patent 
  “medicines,” and faith healing. Married at the 
  tender age of 15 to an alcoholic and womanizer, 
  her tale seemed fated to be a tragic one. Instead, 
  a chance meeting with millionaire Cornelius 
  Vanderbilt propelled her to Wall Street, where 
  she and her sister Tennessee became the world’s 
  first successful female stockbrokers. Using their 
  newfound wealth, the two sisters launched an 
  extremely controversial national newspaper. 
  Known as Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, the 
  paper advocated a wide variety of contentious 
  positions including women’s suffrage, short 
  skirts, spiritualism, free love, licensed 
  prostitution, vegetarianism, and sex education. 
  The sisters even went so far as to publish the first 
  English language edition of Karl Marx’s 
  Communist Manifesto in 1871. 
   
  By 1872, Victoria Woodhull was one of the 
  best known, and most controversial, women in 
  the United States. At the age of 34 she decided to 
  run for president with black civil rights activist 
  Frederick Douglass as her vice presidential 
  candidate. Although conceived almost 
  exclusively as a publicity stunt to promote the 
  various causes she supported, Victoria’s 
  campaign as a candidate for the little known 
  Equal Rights Party generated incredible publicity 
  – as well as considerable hostility, even from 
  some sympathetic to her views. In the middle of 
  the election, the sisters became embroiled in a 
  feud with the well-respected Beecher family that 
  landed them both in jail. The resulting lawsuits 
  bankrupted Victoria, who fled to England and 
  married a banker. She died a wealthy West 
  Midlands Lady of the Manor at the age of 89.        
   
  Background/History:  Victoria Claflin 
  Woodhull was born in the small town of Homer, 
  Ohio in 1838. The daughter of a one-eyed 
  confidence man and a disturbed religious fanatic, 
  she grew up in extraordinarily poor and 
  desperate circumstances. The town villains, there 
  was certainly no reason to suspect that any 
  offspring produced by the Claflin family was 
  destined for anything other than, at best, quiet 
  misery – and, more likely, early death or 
  imprisonment. Yet Victoria, along with her 
  younger sister Tennessee, proved so 
  extraordinary in appearance, intellect, and 
  character that the good people of Homer could 
  only scratch their heads in wonderment. 
   
  One of the Claflin family’s “businesses” was 
  the production of quack patent medicines made 
  from a mixture of alcohol, cocaine, herbs, and 
  grain alcohol. These tonics were rather 
  understandably popular with a certain segment of 
  the Ohio population and, with the law hot on 
  Buck Claflin’s trail after an arson incident, the 
  family hit the road as a traveling medicine show. 
  Over time Victoria began manifesting signs of 
  supernatural ability, so this too was added to the 
  show. She told fortunes, hosted séances, and 
  performed reputedly successful faith healings 
  using magnets. This pleased her parents 
  immensely, as their fortunes began to improve 
  dramatically, but left Virginia desperate to 
  escape her life as a glorified sideshow attraction. 
  So at the tender age of 15 she “slipped her leash” 
  by marrying a charming young doctor named 
  Canning Woodhull, a man some 13 years her 
  senior. Unfortunately, “doctor” Woodhull was 
  not only a fraud and a quack, but also knew a 
  good thing when he saw it:  rather than taking 
  her away, he actually joined the Claflin sideshow 
  to cash in on the profits.  
   
  It soon turned out that Victoria had married 
  rather poorly. Woodhull was a drunkard and a 
  laudanum addict with a pension for womanizing. 
  Though she stoically bore him two children 
  (Byron and Zulu), at the first opportunity 
  Victoria abandoned the good doctor and hooked 
  up with her sister Tennessee, whom the family 
  had sold into prostitution some time earlier (see 
  Sidebar). They set themselves up as psychic 
  sisters in New York City, conducting séances, 
  giving “magnetic” healings, and making 
  predictions for paying customers – not to 
  mention turning the odd trick for extraordinarily 
  well-heeled patrons. One of the wealthiest of 
  these was the millionaire-philanthropist 
  Cornelius Vanderbilt, who was so impressed 
  with the sisters’ various abilities that he agreed 
  to bankroll what was, in the eyes of many, an 
  extremely dubious business enterprise. (It has 
  been suggested that the old man not only found 
  the girls entertaining, but the distress they caused 
  New York’s “polite society” doubly so.)     
   
  In 1870 the brokerage of Woodhull, Claflin, 
  & Company opened for business on Wall Street, 
  making Victoria and Tennessee the first women 
  stockbrokers in American history. Shrewd, 
  lucky, and – at least in Victoria’s case – gifted 
  with psychic abilities, they were extraordinarily 
  successful at it, too. It was probably the latter 
  that upset the newspaper reporters of the time:  
                                                             
  artwork by Bill Jackson 
  VICTORIA 
  WOODHULL 
  QUOTES  
   
   
   Abolitionist:  
  “Denounce me for 
  advocating freedom if 
  you can, and I will 
  bear your curse with a 
  better resignation.” 
   Businesswoman:  
  “For a woman to 
  consider a financial 
  question was 
  shuddered over as a 
  profanity.” 
   Candidate:  “I now 
  announce myself as 
  candidate for the 
  Presidency. I 
  anticipate criticism; 
  but however 
  unfavorable, I trust 
  that my sincerity will 
  not be called into 
  question.” 
   Humanitarian:  “It 
  makes no difference 
  who or what you are, 
  old or young, black or 
  white, pagan, Jew, or 
  Christian, I want to 
  love you all and be 
  loved by you all, and I 
  mean to have your 
  love.” 
   Libertine:  “I am a 
  free lover. I have an 
  inalienable, 
  Constitutional, and 
  natural right to love 
  whom I may, to love 
  as long or short a 
  period as I can; to 
  change that love 
  every day if I please.” 
   Politician:  “I ask 
  the rights to pursue 
  happiness by having a 
  voice in that 
  government to which 
  I am accountable.” 
   Psychic:  “From 
  the very first moment, 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  7 
  making it as a broker has never been easy, and 
  seeing two fairly disreputable women making a 
  successful go of it must have been especially 
  galling. The papers seized every opportunity to 
  make lurid accusations about the two sisters, 
  going so far as to publish sexualized drawings of 
  them running their business half naked in 
  lingerie. To make matters even more explosive, 
  Victoria married a war hero by the name of 
  Colonel Blood, who incidentally happened to be 
  an excellent speechwriter. With his help, she 
  became an incredibly popular reformist lecturer, 
  delivering firebrand sermons on topics as diverse 
  (and controversial) as free love, legalized 
  prostitution, women’s suffrage, racial equality, 
  vegetarianism, spiritualism, the eight-hour 
  workday, and abortion (which she was against). 
    
  Soon finding that the demand for her ideas 
  far outstripped the limitations of the lecture 
  circuit, she and Tennessee established a paper 
  using the profits from their brokerage. Known as 
  Woodhull & Claflin’s Weekly, it stayed in 
  publication for the next six years, and became 
  infamous for publishing controversial opinions. 
  Most notoriously, the paper printed the first 
  English version of Karl Marx’s Communist 
  Manifesto in its December 30, 1871 edition. The 
  first issue rather shockingly announced that the 
  publication’s primary purpose was to support 
  Victoria Claflin in a bid for the presidency of the 
  United States! But, aside from that, there “was 
  hardly a measure of social amelioration that it 
  did not advocate brilliantly, and hardly a depth of 
  depravity that it failed to touch.” It had 
  extremely effective writers – some of whom 
  were intelligent scholars, others of which 
  appeared to be deranged – but all of whom were 
  highly entertaining. Victoria found that she was 
  now not only wealthy, but also famous, and was 
  embraced by much of the feminist movement of 
  the time. Notably, however, Susan B. Anthony, 
  who (pretty reasonably) felt that Victoria’s 
  tactics in pushing women’s equality were 
  unpredictable and opportunistic, distanced 
  herself from the brash newcomer.     
   
  Matters began to unravel as the election of 
  1872 grew closer. Using her wealth, Victoria 
  revived the often-violated corpse of New York’s 
  Equal Rights Party (see sidebar) as the vehicle 
  for her spectacularly chaotic presidential bid. She 
  never had any delusion of winning (and couldn’t 
  even get on the ballot in most places), but felt 
  that the incredible publicity generated by her 
  campaign would help the various causes she 
  promoted. The party nominated black civil rights 
  leader Fredrick Douglass as her vice-presidential 
  running mate (an honor he sensibly declined, not 
  that anyone noticed) and set about printing 
  buttons, posters, and the like. Meanwhile, 
  Victoria had been pursuing a torrid love affair 
  with Theodore Tilton, one of the most imminent 
  journalists in America and a married man, while 
  her sister rather cunningly used the Weekly to 
  blackmail various married boyfriends she had 
  ensnared over the years. At the same time that 
  these nefarious goings on were going on, 
  Tilton’s wife was pursuing another affair with 
  the incredibly famous and energetic protestant 
  minister Henry Ward Beecher, whose sisters 
  Catherine and Harriet (author of Uncle Tom’s 
  Cabin) were busily stirring up trouble for the 
  Claflin girls, whom they despised and 
  disapproved of. Under pressure from these two 
  influential women, one landlord after another 
  evicted Victoria and Tennessee, rather than face 
  social stigma. It got so bad that the two sisters, 
  despite their considerable wealth, had a hard 
  time finding a hotel that would take them.       
   
  It’s perhaps unsurprising that the whole 
  messy thing publicly exploded and, when it did, 
  it did so all over the pages of the Weekly. In a fit 
  of rage, Victoria spread the details of the 
  Beecher-Tilden affair across her front page for 
  all to see, and was promptly thrown in jail by 
  infamous United States Postmaster Anthony 
  Comstock for distributing obscene material 
  through the mail. (Victoria was actually 
  imprisoned until after the election of ’72 was 
  over; just in case, one might suppose). This was 
  an obvious violation of freedom of speech, even 
  by Victorian standards. The scandal that resulted 
  from this unprecedented airing of the dirty 
  laundry of respectable New York society cannot 
  be overstated; it was far worse than the Monica 
  Lewinsky scandal of the 1990s. And it kept 
  growing all the time. Beecher, who had nothing 
  to do with his sisters’ harassment of the Claflin 
  girls, was basically a decent fellow and refused 
  to sue Victoria and Tennessee for slander – so, 
  eventually, Theodore Tilton sued him instead. 
  Cornelius Vanderbilt died, depriving the sisters 
  their most powerful patron, but also leaving a 
  fortune of $100 million to be hotly contested by 
  his four children. Shortly thereafter, some bright 
  young lawyer came to the horrifying conclusion 
  that the infamous Claflin sisters, who had 
  remained close to the old man right to the end, 
  might be called in character witnesses to prove 
  Vanderbilt’s mental incompetence.  
   
  To this day no one is exactly certain what 
  deal was cut to end this mess; but whatever was 
  done was done very discreetly. Victoria and 
  Tennessee were released from jail and departed 
  for England with suitcases stuffed with cash 
  (some believe in excess of $500,000). Colonel 
  Blood politely made himself scarce. With their 
  newfound wealth, the two sisters established 
  themselves as respectable members of the British 
  upper class. (The Claflin’s sister’s infamous 
  escapades were neither widely known, nor 
  particularly understood, in Europe). Victoria 
  married a wealthy banker named John Martin, 
  I seemed to know all 
  the future without 
  being able to give any 
  expression in words.”
   Spiritualist:  “I 
  believe in 
  Spiritualism; I 
  advocate free love in 
  the highest, purest 
  sense, as the only cure 
  for the damnation by 
  which men corrupt 
  God’s most holy 
  institution of sexual 
  relations.” 
  SPIRITUALISM 
   
   
   Spiritualism is a 
  religious movement 
  that began in New 
  England in the 1840s. 
  Its distinguishing 
  feature is the belief 
  that spirits of the dead 
  can be contacted by 
  the living through 
  specially gifted 
  persons known as 
  Mediums. These 
  spirits are believed to 
  exist on a higher 
  mystical plane than 
  human beings, and are 
  thus capable of 
  providing guidance to 
  the living on nearly 
  any matter. They were 
  contacted through 
  various means 
  including séances, 
  trance states, the use 
  of primitive Ouija 
  boards known as 
  planchettes, and 
  visionary dreaming. 
  The religion shares a 
  number of similarities 
  to American Indian 
  shamanism, though 
  spiritualists only 
  speak to the spirits of 
  dead humans and do 
  not believe in nature 
  spirits, and also to 
  Christianity, though 
  they do not believe in 
  Heaven or Hell and 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  8 
  while her sister married the Viscount of 
  Montserrat. Victoria lived out the remainder of 
  her days as a well-regarded West Midlands Lady 
  of the Manor with what the locals considered a 
  curious interest in matters both philosophical and 
  literary. She died at the ripe old age of 89.                 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Victoria Woodhull is 
  a difficult, contradictory, and instinctively 
  divisive person who has the misfortune of living 
  during the intensely conformist period after 
  which she was inadvertently named:  the 
  Victorian Age. Though many of her 
  contemporaries good-naturedly insisted the she 
  was born “100 years before her time,” the fact is 
  that Victoria holds views that would still be 
  controversial has she lived a century later. Like 
  her contemporary Susan B. Anthony, she was 
  both a feminist and apposed to abortion, and it is 
  unlikely that many 20th Century Americans 
  would have found her Spiritualist views 
  particularly palatable (though, perhaps somewhat 
  amusingly, she was technically a Methodist).   
   
  It is hard to say whether or not Victoria’s 
  contentious behavior springs from her beliefs, or 
  her beliefs are simply an excuse for contentious 
  behavior. In all likelihood it’s a mixture, each 
  one combining with and complementing the 
  other in a multifaceted heterodox swirl of 
  controversy. Most of the time, her behavior is 
  perfectly reserved and ladylike; but she has an 
  aristocratic air about her, and gets haughty when 
  angered. Like many creative and intelligent 
  people, Victoria also has a great love of shocking 
  and novel ideas for their own sake; which is why 
  (for example) she can intellectually excuse 
  quixotically advocating communism, 
  spiritualism, and sound fiscal advice all at once. 
  She greatly enjoys talking about philosophical 
  matters, and has not unjustly been accused of 
  being more interested in abstract ideas than 
  practical matters. In spite of his, her abilities as 
  an orator are considerable:  when on stage, her 
  speech becomes impassioned, her checks flush, 
  and her eyes sparkle. It would be wrong to 
  pigeonhole her as a parlor intellectual or 
  ineffectual academic. 
   
  Woodhull has a wide circle of 
  acquaintances, and many noteworthy people, 
  such as reformer Laura Cuppy Smith, author 
  Addie Ballou, and abolitionist Elizabeth Cady 
  Stanton, consider her an ally. Yet she is probably 
  not the best choice for a friend, as she values 
  principles over personal loyalty, and will 
  unhesitatingly turn on any non-family member 
  who she feels has betrayed those principles. 
  Although initially an associate of such 
  memorable historical figures as Susan B 
  Anthony and Fredrick Douglas, Victoria has a 
  knack for aggravating illustrious people that 
  makes such friendships short-lived. It would be 
  fair to say that Victoria Woodhull is no 
  “respecter of persons.” She has no great love of 
  authority figures and, for the most part, they 
  return her antipathy a thousandfold. A mass of 
  contradictions, see seems equally at home in 
  company of prostitutes and Boston Brahmins, 
  philosophers and field hands. The first successful 
  female stockbroker in Wall Street history and a 
  genuinely religious person, she is also 
  responsible for the first printing of the anti-
  capitalist, anti-religious Communist Manifesto in 
  English. In short, Victoria is unique, to say the 
  least.    
   
  Quote:  “Had I been ambitious to become the 
  next president I should have proceeded very 
  differently to accomplish it.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Although she hardly shouts it 
  from the rooftops, Victoria Woodhull is a 
  psychic. Her abilities are somewhat limited, and 
  not always as useful as one might suppose, but 
  they are real and the basis for some of her 
  success in life, especially as a stockbroker. (Her 
  mother has these same abilities but, without 
  either the teachings of Spiritualism or Victoria’s 
  determined personality, was slowly driven insane 
  by them.) All of her powers are derived from her 
  ability to communicate with, and receive 
  guidance and assistance from, the world of the 
  dead. Using Spiritual Cartomancy (the reading 
  of Tarot cards guided by the unseen hands of 
  spirits), she is able to predict general trends and 
  events that influence the world of finance. She 
  foresaw the Whiskey Ring scandal, the secretive 
  backroom Compromise of 1877, and other 
  political/economic events, and was able to advice 
  her clientele accordingly. It may even be that her 
  precognitive understanding of the failings and 
  corruption of the United States’ Reconstruction 
  Era political system is what drove her into 
  politics in the first place.  
   
  Victoria is able to cure sickness and injury 
  with a unique ability known Spirit Guided 
  Healing. Using magnets as energy foci, she is 
  able to locate and repair damaged portions of the 
  human body by allowing unseen spirits’ “hands” 
  to penetrate her patient’s flesh, knitting and 
  massaging damaged tissue. Although she was 
  rather well known for this ability as a teenager, 
  Woodhull seldom speaks of it as an adult, 
  preferring instead to use her unusual skills to 
  quietly help the poor, rather than making a profit 
  from them as she had earlier in life. She is also 
  able to summon and speak with the spirits of the 
  dead for guidance using an early form of the 
  Ouija board known as a planchette. Through this 
  medium, she is able to contact a variety of spirit 
  guides to help her with her undertakings. For 
  example, Demosthenes, the ancient Greek orator 
  who practiced public speaking by placing 
  pebbles in his mouth to improve his enunciation, 
  do not recognize the 
  Bible as the primary 
  source of spiritual 
  knowledge.  
   Spiritualism arose 
  from the “burned-over 
  district” of New York 
  State (so named 
  because it was so 
  heavily evangelized 
  during the antebellum 
  period that it had no 
  more “fuel” 
  (unconverted 
  population) to “burn” 
  (convert)) during the 
  same period in which 
  that once-pious region 
  produced Mormonism, 
  Shakerism, and the 
  Seventh Day 
  Adventists. It quickly 
  developed strong ties 
  to various reform 
  movements 
  advocating women’s 
  rights, racial equality, 
  and sexual liberation, 
  as well as a strong 
  following among 
  radical Quakers.  
   Important figures 
  within the movement 
  included the Fox 
  Sisters, Andrew 
  Jackson Davis, and (of 
  course) Victoria 
  Woodhull. 
  Noteworthy converts 
  included the chemist 
  William Crookes, 
  biologist Alfred 
  Russel Wallace, and 
  the author Arthur 
  Conan Doyle. 
  Widespread but never 
  particularly organized, 
  most members of the 
  spiritualist faith joined 
  the Unitarian or 
  Universalist churches 
  after the First World 
  War, though a small 
  number went on to 
  found the Spiritualist 
  Church, which 
  endures to this day. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  9 
  is her oratorical spirit guide, while Socrates, the 
  philosopher who claimed that man has a moral 
  responsibility to disobey a bad command, is her 
  guide on moral issues.  
   
  Woodhull is a talented and forceful public 
  speaker with an excellent understanding of the 
  issues of her day. Well-known and affluent (at 
  least until her tussle with the Beechers), she is as 
  equally at home in a rowdy Irish tavern as a New 
  England dinner party, which only serves to make 
  her more celebrated in some circles and 
  significantly less so in others. While her success 
  as a politician and publisher is certainly open to 
  debate, there can be no doubt that her actions are 
  generally shrewd and deliberate – even if their 
  consequences are not. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Woodhull is exactly the sort of 
  eccentric, exasperating, ambitious, and urbane 
  woman one finds in America’s cities during any 
  period – with the added twist that she has 
  legitimate psychic abilities and is famous, sort of 
  like a Victorian-Era Shirley MacLaine. Like 
  Andrew Jackson Davis, a previous subject of this 
  column who Woodhull also knew personally, she 
  is a strong believer in the eclectic faith of 
  Spiritualism, and during her life became one of 
  its most famous adherents (although probably 
  not one of its most avid proponents). Although 
  opposed to organized Christian religion and 
  roundly condemned by many of the leading 
  ministers of the day, Woodhull also practices 
  many traditional Christian virtues: helping to 
  feed the hungry, caring for the sick, and visiting 
  prisoners in jail. 
   
  Thus, in a Western Hero or Victorian Hero 
  campaign, Woodhull becomes either an 
  attention-grabbing background character who 
  lends an aura of historical legitimacy to the 
  game, a spiritualist consultant capable of 
  providing the PCs with specialized knowledge, 
  or a combination of the two. She also has very 
  real (and potentially quite dangerous) enemies 
  whose attentions she may need to be protected – 
  or even rescued – from. This translates well into 
  other gaming genres as well. In a Fantasy Hero 
  game, Victoria could easily become an 
  outspoken and controversial Diviner whose 
  eruptions become politically inconvenient for 
  various powers-behind-the-throne. In a 
  Champions or Dark Champions adventure, she 
  can be re-imagined as a crusading mutant/activist 
  who has inadvertently pitted herself against 
  powerful hidden forces, such as VIPER, the IHA 
  (Institute for Human Advancement), or the 
  Mafia. In a Star Hero campaign using the Terran 
  Empire setting, Woodhull could become Senator 
  Safira Harmon of Earth, the crusading head of 
  the liberal faction of the Imperial Senate – and 
  someone definitely in need of a lot of protection!   
   
  Appearance:  Victoria Woodhull is a stately, 
  well-dressed woman of medium height. She has 
  a pleasant looking, intelligent face and quick 
  (some would say calculating) eyes capable of 
  quickly sizing up those she meets. Her curly 
  brown is worn short, which is considered 
  somewhat scandalous. Considered a “thinking 
  man’s” beauty by many, those who meet her 
  often “testify fervently to the grace, dignity, and 
  obvious good breeding of this lady,” which is 
  extraordinarily amusing when one considers 
  Victoria’s parentage.  
   
  Fashion conscious yet unconventional, 
  Victoria will always be found wearing one of the 
  three forms of feminine clothing of her day:  the 
  Day Dress (worn informally during breakfast), 
  Promenade Dress (worn to her office or to 
  dinner), and the Formal Dress, which she wears 
  to public functions or when speaking. All three 
  varieties of dress involve uncomfortable hoops 
  and petticoats and, to the modern eye, are best 
  distinguished from one another by the material 
  used in their construction: cotton, wool, and silk 
  respectively. Victoria doesn’t wear corsets 
  because she (correctly) feels them to be 
  responsible for a variety of women’s health 
  problems. She also distains “long” dresses which 
  drag along the floor picking up dust in favor of 
  “short” dresses cut above the ankles. Her outfits 
  are usually accented with slightly rakish hats – a 
  pillbox hat with a peacock feather swooping 
  down in front is her particular favorite. 
   
  Woodhull prefers to wear dark colors:  
  purple is her favorite, though she often wears 
  navy blue as well. Many of her detractors accuse 
  her of wearing shameful outfits that bare her 
  arms and shoulders, but this is patently untrue; 
  all of her dresses are cut up to the neck or higher. 
  She wears either simple jewelry – one brooch at 
  the neck and a single diamond ring – or no 
  jewelry whatsoever. When speaking in public, 
  she often wears a fresh white tea rose (a symbol 
  of purity) instead of a brooch. She speaks with a 
  Midwestern accent and uses an inordinate 
  amount of trilled R’s in her speech, though her 
  voice has been described as “clear and 
  melodious.”    
  BIBLIOGRAPHY 
   
   
  Gabriel, Mary. Notorious Victoria:  The Life of 
  Victoria Woodhull, Uncensored. Chapel 
  Hill: Algonquin Books, 1998. 
  Johnson, Gerald W. “Dynamic Victoria 
  Woodhull.” American Heritage Magazine 7, 
  no.4 (1956) 
  Sachs, Emanie. The Terrible Siren Victoria 
  Woodhull, 1838-1827. New York:  Harper & 
  Bros, 1928 
  Shearer, Mary L., “Who Is Victoria Woodhull?” 
  Literature of Victoria Woodhull & 
  Company, 1999  
  THE EQUAL 
  RIGHTS PARTY 
   
   
   More of an empty 
  shell available for 
  habitation by the 
  latest batch of 
  eccentric New York 
  radicals than a 
  genuine political 
  party, the Equal 
  Rights Party began its 
  life as a mechani-
  zation of the laissez-
  faire “Locofoco” 
  faction of the 
  Democratic Party in 
  the early 1840s. It 
  then became the 
  political voice of 
  landless upstate New 
  York tenants after the 
  civil disturbance that 
  became known as the 
  Anti-Rent War of 
  1839. Victoria 
  Woodhull and her 
  friends took it over 
  for the 1872 
  presidential election, 
  after which the more 
  successful Belva Ann 
  Lockwood used it to 
  run for president in 
  1884 and 1888 on a 
  similar platform. The 
  party was also known 
  as the National Equal 
  Rights Party, the 
  Antirenter Party, the 
  People’s Party, the 
  Cosmo-Political 
  Party, and the 
  National Radical 
  Reformers. Although 
  it died along with 
  Lockwood’s 
  presidential 
  aspirations, the Equal 
  Rights Party helped to 
  inspire a number of 
  successful New York 
  State-only political 
  parties such as the 
  Liberal Party, the 
  Conservative Party, 
  the Working Families
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  10 
  Victoria Woodhull  
  Party, and the Right 
  To Life Party, all of 
  which use the tactic 
  of supplying or 
  withholding cross-
  nominations to the 
  Democratic or 
  Republican parties 
  as a way of 
  promoting their 
  respective causes.  
  TENNESSEE 
  CELESTE 
  CLAFLIN  
   
   
   Though not as 
  famous as her sister 
  Victoria, Tennessee 
  Claflin had an equally 
  colorful life. Born 
  with the misfortune of 
  being extraordinarily 
  good-looking, she 
  was “turned out” by 
  her criminal father as 
  a prostitute while still 
  a teenager. Tennessee 
  then shrewdly worked 
  her way up through 
  the demimonde to 
  become the mistress 
  of the powerful 
  millionaire-
  philanthropist 
  Cornelius Vanderbilt, 
  whom she talked into 
  funding a Wall Street 
  brokerage helmed by 
  herself and her 
  spiritualist sister. The 
  firm became 
  extremely successful, 
  allowing the two 
  sisters to not only 
  pursue their love of 
  radical causes, but set 
  up a publishing 
  empire as well. 
  Tennessee in 
  particular held several 
  beliefs that were 
  considered extreme 
  even by her notorious 
  sister. For example, 
  she held the 
  controversial opinion 
  that women should 
  serve in the military,  
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  11
   
   
  and was even elected 
  Colonel of a colored 
  National Guard 
  Regiment. 
   After loosing her 
  fortune in the fallout 
  of the notorious 
  election of 1872, 
  Tennessee went on to 
  marry Francis Cook, 
  the Viscount of 
  Montserrat, Portugal. 
  Within months of 
  their marriage, Queen 
  Victoria made Cook a 
  Baronet; and so, for 
  the rest of her life, the 
  one-time teenage 
  prostitute was known 
  as Lady Tennessee 
  Cook, Viscountess of 
  Montserrat.    
  VICTORIA 
  WOODHULL 
  PLOT SEEDS 
   
   
   Assassination:  
  Not satisfied by their 
  financial and political 
  ruin at the hands of 
  Comstock, Henry 
  Ward Beecher 
  assembles a team of 
  Civil War veterans to 
  “take care” of 
  Victoria, Tennessee, 
  and Col. Blood one 
  and for all! Tipped off 
  to the plot by her 
  psychic abilities, 
  Victoria hires the PCs 
  to protect her while 
  she and her sister 
  attempt to revive their 
  fortunes, resulting in 
  violent bedlam on the 
  streets of New York 
  City.   
  Compromise:  
  Alerted by the spirits 
  to a coming backroom 
  deal between 
  Republicans and 
  Democrats that will 
  spell the end of civil 
  rights for black 
  people in Florida, 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  12 
  Victoria Woodhull 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   10 STR 
  0 11- Lift 100 kg; 2d6 HTH [1] 
   10 DEX 
  0 11- OCV:  3/DCV:  3 
   13 CON 
  6 12-  
   12 BODY 
  4 11-  
   13 INT 
  3 12- PER Roll:  12- 
   18 EGO 
  16 13- ECV:  6 
   18 PRE 
  8 13- PRE Attack:  3½d6 
   12 COM 
  1 11-  
   
   
  5 PD 
  3 
   Total:  5 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  4 ED 
  1 
   Total:  4 ED (0 rED) 
   
  2 SPD 
  0 
   Phases:  6, 12 
   
  5 REC 
  0 
   
   26 END 
  0 
   
   25 STUN 
  1 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  43 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2”/4” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   11 Spiritualist Abilities:  Multipower, 40-
  point Reserve; Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware, -1½), 
  OAF (Expendable, Easy to Obtain, -1) 
  0 
   1u 1) Spirit Guided Healing:  Healing 
  BODY 4d6; Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware, -1½), 
  OAF (Magnets, -1), Others Only (-½) 
  4 
   1u 2) Spiritual Cartomancy:  Precognitive 
  Clairsentience (Sight Group); 
  Precognition/Retrocognition Only (-1), 
  Concentration (0 DCV Throughout, 
  Totally Unaware, -1½), OAF (Tarot 
  Cards, -1), Vague and Unclear (-½) 
  4 
   1u 3) Spirit Summoning:  Summon 47-
  point Ghosts and Spirits, Expanded 
  Class of Beings Limited Group (+½), 
  Specific Being (+1), Invisible Power 
  Effects (Fully, Hide Effects, +2); 
  Concentration (0 DCV Throughout, 
  Totally Unaware, -1½), OAF 
  (Planchette, -1) 
  4 
   15 Luck 3d6 
   
   Perks 
   
  5 Money:  Well Off 
   
  9 Reputation:  Controversial Feminist 
  Agitator, Political Activist, and 
  Spiritualist (Large Group) 14-, +3/+3d6 
   
   Talents 
   
  9 Spirit Speech:  Universal Translator 13-; 
  Concentration (0 DCV, Totally Unaware, 
  -¾), Only to Speak with Summoned 
  Spirits (-½) 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 Acting 13- 
   
  3 Bribery 13- 
   
  3 Bureaucratics 13- 
   
  3 CK: New York 12- 
   
  3 Conversation 13- 
   
  3 High Society 13- 
   
  4 KS:  Faith Healing/Magnetic Healing 13- 
   
  4 KS:  Patent Medicines 13- 
   
  4 KS:  Spiritualism 13- 
   
  3 Oratory 13- 
   
  3 Paramedics 12- 
   
  3 Persuasion 13- 
   
  3 PS: Politician/Activist 13- 
   
  3 PS: Publisher 12- 
   
  4 PS: Stockbroker 13- 
   
  3 Seduction 13- 
   
  3 Streetwise 13- 
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  107 
  Total Cost:  150 
   75+ Disadvantages 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Obsessive 
  Showmanship (Common, Strong) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Pushy and 
  Opinionated (Common, Strong) 
   15 Reputation:  Controversial and 
  Disreputable Troublemaker, 11- 
  (Extreme) 
   15 Social Limitation:  Woman in 
  Victorian Society (Frequently, Major) 
   15 Unluck: 3d6 
  Total Disadvantage Points:  150 
   
  Louisiana, and South 
  Carolina, Victoria 
  Woodhull spends her 
  remaining fortune to 
  hire a crack squad of 
  mercenaries to murder 
  Roscoe Conkling, a 
  Republican 
  congressmen. As 
  Senator Conkling’s 
  train streaks south 
  through a blinding 
  snowstorm, the PCs 
  make their move…. 
  Commune:  At the 
  height of her wealth 
  and influence in 1871, 
  Victoria hires a team 
  of idealistic former 
  Union officers to 
  assist the uprising of 
  French socialists, 
  republicans, and 
  anarchists known as 
  the Paris Commune. 
  Traveling through a 
  countryside ruined by 
  the clash of 
  Napoleonic and 
  Prussian forces, the 
  PCs must fight their 
  way past deserters, 
  bandits, and soldiers 
  to sneak much needed 
  supplies into the 
  besieged city. Perhaps 
  more importantly, as 
  the forces of the 
  national French army 
  inexorably close in, 
  will they be able to 
  escape with their 
  lives? 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  13
  In Praise of the Antihero by Michael Wallwork 
   
   
  Some of the most memorable characters in 
  literature, comics, and movies are neither true 
  heroes, nor true villains. They are antiheroes, 
  characters who fall into a grey area between right 
  and wrong. Often well meaning, they fall short 
  of being true heroes due to their questionable 
  morals or the unsavory methods they employ. 
  Their heyday was in the late 1980s and early 
  1990s, especially in comics, when antiheroes old 
  and new were given a big push along with any 
  hero who was considered “edgy” or who was 
  viewed as pushing the limits of what it meant to 
  be a hero. Lately, the antihero seems to be in 
  decline as we move toward a cleaner, starker 
  contrast between the “good guys” and the “bad 
  guys.” This is unfortunate as the antihero, more 
  so than the villain, helps us define heroism and 
  provides the best measuring stick for all true 
  heroes regardless of genre – comic books, 
  movies, pulp fiction, and of course in gaming. 
  What Defines an Antihero? 
   
  One of the most overlooked aspects of the 
  true hero is that he is good not just because he 
  wants to be, though that is important, but 
  because he knows how to be a hero. Many, if not 
  most, antiheroes see themselves as heroic 
  individuals. However, they fall short of being 
  true heroes because they lack some necessary 
  trait that true heroes possess, most often the 
  ability to separate the ends they desire and the 
  means used to achieve those ends. Thus, one 
  form the antihero takes is that of an activist for a 
  good cause who either cannot or will not accept 
  the moral limits society imposes on the methods 
  of those seeking a change. An eco-terrorist is a 
  good example. On the one hand, the character 
  wants to protect the environment, which is a 
  good thing. But if the character achieves that end 
  by blowing up buildings owned by companies he 
  perceives as evil or tries to make “political 
  statements” by killing executives of such 
  companies, then that character cannot be 
  considered a hero, no matter how much good 
  they might do saving the environment. 
  Characters who pursue one man crusades against 
  crime also fit into this category if they routinely 
  kill those they perceive to be guilty. 
   
  Similar to the character with a social cause 
  is the individual with a scientific one. His work 
  may be intended to benefit mankind; but his 
  methods or results, if not both, are highly 
  unethical. Dr. Frankenstein is a perfect example. 
  In an effort to benefit mankind and learn how life 
  works, he robs graves and constructs what 
  becomes, quite literally, a monster. Any scientist 
  who experiments on humans that are unwilling 
  or unknowing participants could also fit into this 
  category as would any scientist knowingly doing 
  dangerous research without proper safety 
  precautions, provided that he is doing research 
  that he intends to use to benefit mankind rather 
  than for personal gain. 
   
  Occasionally, we run into individuals who 
  are not capable of being good but want to be 
  good or, at the very least, do not want to be evil. 
  They are tragic characters whose very bodies (or 
  minds) betray them and lead them into violent 
  confrontations where they cannot help but hurt 
  people, even though they do not want to or mean 
  to. Frankenstein’s monster (especially the movie 
  version) fits here very well. This is also the place 
  for characters with weak wills who do not wish 
  to do evil but who are seduced or overwhelmed 
  by it. Their actions are often marked by 
  indecision or regret, and such characters may 
  even apologize to a hero at the same time they 
  betray him or her. 
   
  Finally, we may also find in the antihero 
  ranks people who are “on their own side.” These 
  people may have a sense of duty, honor, or even 
  morals, but who first and foremost are “looking 
  out for number one.” The loveable thief or 
  scoundrel would fit here as would many 
  vengeful heroes. These characters tend to oppose 
  a villain not because it is the right thing to do but 
  because of some personal interest, whether it is 
  survival, revenge, or an attempt to rescue a loved 
  one. Such characters often have a very specific 
  opponent and can be easily recruited to help 
  against that one particular opponent but often 
  can’t be bothered to help out in almost any other 
  situation. 
  Antiheroes and Villains 
   
  It is important to note briefly the 
  relationship between antiheroes and villains. 
  Antiheroes occasionally work with villains 
  because their mutual interests in the short term 
  may coincide. Most often, this occurs when both 
  antihero and villain choose the same target 
  (though likely for different reasons). An 
  antihero, for example, may elect to team up with 
  one crime family in order to wipe out a more 
  powerful syndicate. But once the job is finished, 
  the antihero will probably sever the alliance and 
  begin working against his partners.  
   
  Partnering with villains is possible not only 
  because the antihero and villain may 
  occasionally share a target but also because they 
  share similar methods. Indeed, the methods of 
  most antiheroes are not very different from most 
  villains. Often, what separates the antihero from 
  the villain is not his method but his motivation. 
                                                             
  artwork by Darren Bulmer 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  14 
  The antihero is trying to do good whereas the 
  villain’s motivations are selfish or evil. Where 
  the villain kills someone because it is convenient 
  or even fun for them, the antihero kills people in 
  the name of the greater good. And the antihero’s 
  greater good is a cause that society as a whole 
  believes is good and right. 
  What Use is the Antihero? 
   
  So where do these characters fit into the 
  gaming world? One possibility is that they can 
  simply be a plot complication, leading to a three-
  way fight between antihero, the heroes, and the 
  villain (whom the antihero is trying to kill). One 
  scenario is to use the antihero as a way to give 
  the hero a second (but not secondary) goal of 
  preserving the villain’s life. This increases the 
  difficulty of the adventure as the heroes must 
  now capture the villain and protect the villain 
  from the antihero at the same time. 
   
  Second, and most importantly, antiheroes 
  help the heroes and villains, but especially the 
  heroes, define who they are and what it is that 
  makes the hero a hero even more than the 
  villains do. It is this function, more than any 
  other, that makes the antihero valuable, not only 
  in literature (of whatever type you like be it 
  Shakespeare or comic books) but in gaming. The 
  antihero makes for great storytelling (sometimes 
  with surprising results), but he also gives the 
  players/PCs a chance to measure and define 
  themselves against the antihero because they 
  often have similar goals. In fact, some of the best 
  roleplaying opportunities may arise when the 
  characters are given a chance to either help or 
  oppose an antihero with similar goals but whose 
  methods give the true heroes, the PCs, some 
  reason to pause. 
   
  To continue the previous example of the 
  three-way fight, the characters must now decide 
  whether or not they want to protect the villain, 
  even though the antihero is trying to kill him. 
  However, for this to be a true moral choice, the 
  PCs can’t need the villain alive for any reason. 
  So the villain can’t have information they need, 
  nor can they need him to bargain for someone 
  else’s life. Of course, saving the villain from an 
  antihero who wants to act as judge and jury does 
  not necessarily mean having to save the villain’s 
  life. With magic or super science in play, there 
  are any number of things the antihero may wish 
  to do to the villain besides kill him (imprisoning 
  him, banishing him to a hostile dimension, 
  irreversibly polymorphing the villain, and even 
  rewriting the villain’s mind with mental powers 
  are all options). 
   
  Then too, maybe the antihero is trying to do 
  something clearly good but is going about it in 
  an illegal or dangerous way. For example, a 
  scientific antihero might start stealing prototype 
  technology for some noble purpose (perhaps he 
  got wind of a villain’s plan and is trying to build 
  a device to thwart it). Do the characters help the 
  antihero finish what he started? What if they 
  have to help the antihero steal something? What 
  if the technology has more sinister applications? 
  For example, what if it could be used to make a 
  powerful weapon instead of whatever the 
  antihero claims to want it for? 
   
  The possibilities are endless. 
  The Antihero as Player Character 
   
  The antihero as PC presents special 
  problems. First and foremost, since he is not a 
  true hero, he often does not get along well with 
  those who are. Often, the antihero views the true 
  heroes as being “too soft” and unwilling to make 
  difficult sacrifices or choices to achieve their 
  goals. This can cause definite problems with 
  group dynamics, assuming he is ever accepted as 
  part of the group in the first place. In fact, some 
  characters with extremely high morals may be 
  incapable of ever accepting the antihero as part 
  of the group. 
   
  Second, there is a good chance that the 
  antihero will become a wanted man at some 
  point in the campaign, if he doesn’t actually start 
  out as one. PC heroes without significant 
  reputations will find it hard to work with both 
  the official forces and the antihero as official 
  types will shy away from working with anyone 
  associated with a wanted man and may even 
  confront the heroes about bringing in their 
  associate. Or perhaps the heroes will become 
  wanted as well for harboring a fugitive. 
  Obviously, the antihero himself has very little 
  chance to working with the authorities since he 
  often does not follow the laws which govern 
  society in general, let alone the strict rules which 
  official forces must follow in order to assemble a 
  case which can stand up in court. 
   
  Third, the antihero’s relationship with the 
  press isn’t much better than it is with the police. 
  Antiheroes are much more vulnerable to smear 
  campaigns and charges of uncontrolled 
  vigilantism because the charges are more likely 
  to be true as antiheroes often take shortcuts 
  which the public would view as unethical under 
  all but the direst circumstances. More heroic 
  minded PCs may have similar problems with 
  their relationship with the media if it becomes 
  known that they are associating with an antihero. 
  Such heroes are effectively considered to be 
  endorsing the methods of the antihero and are 
  therefore thought of as being guilty by 
  association of anything the antihero does. 
   
  Finally, since the antihero often employs 
  more violent methods in bringing down 
  criminals, any villains the PCs encounter may 
  elect to “take the kid gloves off” against the 
  heroes either out of fear for their own safety or 
  out of revenge for someone the antihero has 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  15
  previously injured. Such villains will go out of 
  their way to do serious harm to the PCs and will 
  use killing attacks much more freely. 
   
  Because of these problems, the antihero 
  must be handled carefully as a Player Character, 
  especially in classic four color Champions 
  campaigns or other campaigns where morality is 
  usually very clearly defined and the “good guys” 
  and “bad guys” are generally obvious. In such 
  campaigns, the antihero often gets considered an 
  outright villain. Even in more gritty or realistic 
  campaigns, the character must be placed in a 
  group that can at least tolerate his attitude and 
  methods. To the larger public though, the 
  antihero may often be thought of as only slightly 
  better (or even no better) than the villains he 
  opposes. This dramatically changes both the tone 
  of the campaign and the amount and type of help 
  available to the PC group for the reasons 
  mentioned above. 
   
  But regardless of whether the character is a 
  PC or an NPC, inserting one or more antiheroes 
  into a campaign gives the players a chance to 
  really explore their characters, see what makes 
  them tick, and show why they are who they are 
  and what truly makes them heroes in a way that 
  basic good vs. evil battles, enjoyable as they are, 
  simply cannot. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  16 
  Le Vert 
  Background:  Jean Philippe Bonacieux was 
  born in Quebec in 1975. His family emigrated to 
  New York when he was seven. They bought a 
  convenience store and settled down to a middle 
  class life. When Bonacieux was in college, his 
  parents told him they could no longer afford to 
  pay for his tuition. An Environmental Protection 
  Agency investigation had determined that the 
  store used to be a gas station and his parents 
  were responsible for part of the clean up bill - 
  several hundred thousand dollars worth of the 
  bill (enough to force them to close the store). 
  Jean Philippe managed to get loans, and his 
  father found a factory job. But the hardships 
  created by having to close the store stuck with 
  Jean Philippe. After taking a degree in 
  environmental science, he got a job working for 
  a supposedly “green” technology company. It 
  wasn’t long before he found out that his 
  employers were as dirty as anyone else. 
  Disillusioned and angry, he stole some money 
  and some technological equipment and 
  disappeared. After using his stolen money to get 
  set up a day trading account and to get some 
  combat training, he created the persona of the 
  environmental avenger Le Vert and went about 
  punishing the companies that the EPA was 
  letting slide where they nailed the “little guys” 
  like his parents.  
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Bonacieux is very 
  bitter. He views all corporations as eminently 
  corrupt and both unknowing and uncaring about 
  the damage they do to the environment. In his 
  eyes, they are necessary evils whose existence is 
  only tolerated because they employ so many 
  people. As a result, he tries to investigate each 
  target and chooses only the worst polluters and 
  most corrupt executives as recipients of his 
  wrath. Once he has settled on a target, however, 
  he is implacable and will not rest until the 
  company has been crippled. 
   
  Bonacieux does have sympathy for the 
  common workers of the companies he targets so 
  he will avoid fighting night security guards if he 
  can and will plant bombs and such at night when 
  the staff is at its lowest. If necessary, he will 
  make his best effort to evacuate a building to 
  minimize loss of life before planting his bombs, 
  but he will not trouble himself over executives or 
  any “heroes” who interfere on behalf of the 
  greedy corporation. Furthermore, he considers it 
  regrettable that the workers may endure 
  economic hardships while they look for new 
  jobs, but all struggles require sacrifices to be 
  made. 
   
  While he is all business in his costumed 
  identity, without his mask Jean Philippe likes to 
  take the part of the loveable French rogue, 
  quoting The Three Musketeers and Maurice 
  Chevalier extensively, particularly when 
  attempting to seduce women, though he does so 
  with a quiet confidence of Chevalier rather than 
  the boisterousness of a D’Artagnan so as to 
  better pass himself off as a respectable 
  gentleman. 
   
  Quote:  “Zounds, Monsieur, do not force me to 
  pummel you in the midst of my great work.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Le Vert is a diligent 
  investigator, often taking a month or more to 
  research his targets, learning all he can about 
  them. By the time he takes action, he often 
  knows more about the company than the board 
  members do. This means he always has an 
  escape route planned. If confronted by a superior 
  force, he will throw his EMP bomb at the nearest 
  light source or technological character and then 
  flee. If forced to fight, he will keep his DCV as 
  high as possible and concentrate on a single 
  target at a time starting with mentalist, then 
  whoever he thinks is easiest to take down. 
   
  Campaign Use:  As a general rule, Le Vert will 
  not Hunt heroes because he feels it distracts from 
  his true purpose. If someone continually got in 
  his way, he would not hesitate to hunt them 
  down as methodically as he does his corporate 
  targets. He is currently hunting Defender due to 
  that hero’s consistent interference in Le Vert’s 
  attempts against several technology companies. 
   
  Besides being a Hunter, Le Vert works best 
  as a corporate saboteur. Ideally, he could target a 
  company that one of the PCs owns or works for. 
  Alternatively, La Vert is an excellent plot 
  complication for characters that need help from a 
  company or scientific research facility. Finally, 
  while he prefers to work alone, he as been 
  known team up with other “environmentally 
  friendly” supers. In particular, he has worked 
  with Black Druid on a few occasions. 
   
  Le Vert is meant to be a standard level 
  Champions character. To scale him down to 
  street level, lower his SPD to 5 and reduce his 
  DEX and Damage Classes to bring his attacks in 
  line with the campaign limits. For more powerful 
  campaigns, increase his SPD to 7, add more 
  padding in his costume, and expand his Martial 
  Arts to include the remaining Savate maneuvers 
  and a WE: Blades. 
   
  Appearance:  Jean Philippe is a dashing, dark-
  haired man of 31. He is about six feet tall, and a 
  thin mustache helps accent his roguish good 
  looks. He is always dressed in business casual, 
  usually wearing a jewel toned shirt with the top 
  two buttons open to show off his toned physique. 
  His costume is forest green with white boots and 
  gloves. The gloves and boots have gold trim to 
  designate his rank as a master savateur. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  17
  Le Vert 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  18 
  Le Vert 
   Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 
   20 STR 
  10 13- Lift 400kg; 4d6 HTH [2] 
   28 DEX 
  54 15- OCV:  9/DCV:  9 
   24 CON 
  28 14-  
   20 BODY 
  20 13-  
   18 INT 
  8 13- PER Roll:  13-  
   14 EGO 
  8 12- ECV:  5 
   18 PRE 
  8 13- PRE Attack:  3½d6 
   16 COM 
  3 12-  
   
   12 PD 
  8 
   Total:  20 PD (8 rPD) 
   12 ED 
  8 
   Total:  20 ED (8 rED) 
   
  6 SPD 
  22 
   Phases:  2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 
   10 REC 
  4 
   
   70 END 
  11 
   
   47 STUN 
  5 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  197 
  Movement:  Running: 
  14”/28” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  4”/8” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   31 EMP Grenade:  Dispel 12d6, All 
  Electricity Powers Simultaneously 
  (+2), Area Of Effect (One Hex +½), 
  OAF (-1), 1 Charge (-2) 
  [1] 
   16 Padded Costume:  Armor (8 PD/8 
  ED); OIF (-½) 
  0 
   16 Fast:  Running +8” (14” Total) 
  1 
   
  3 Night Vision Lenses:  Ultraviolet 
  Perception; OIF (-½) 
  0 
   
  2 Spy Camera:  Eidetic Memory, OAF 
  (-1), Only Visual Images (-½) 
  0 
   
   Perks 
   
  1 Contact: Black Druid 8- 
   
  3 Money: Well Off 
   
   Skills 
   
   Martial Arts:  Savate 
   
   Maneuver 
  OCV DCV Notes 
   
  4 Block 
  +2 
  +2 
  Block, Abort 
   
  4 Coup de Pied  +0 
  +2 
  9d6 Strike 
   
   Bas (Low Kick) 
   
  4 Coup de Pied  -2 
  +1 
  11d6 Strike 
   
   Chasse (Side Kick) 
   
  5 Direct (Jab/ 
  +1 
  +3 
  7d6 Strike 
   
   Cross) 
   
  3 Footsweep 
  +2 
  -1 
  8d6 Strike, 
  Target Falls 
   12  +3 Damage Classes (already added in) 
   
   10  +2 with Hand-to-Hand Combat 
   
  3  Acrobatics 15- 
   
  3  Acting 13- 
   
  3  Breakfall 15- 
   
  3  Bugging 13- 
   
  3  Climbing 15- 
   
  5  Computer Programming 14- 
   
  3  Conversation 13- 
   10  Defense Maneuver I-IV 
   
  3  Demolitions 13- 
   
  3  Electronics 13- 
   
  3  KS: Business 13- 
   
  3  KS: Savate 13- 
   
  3  KS: Stock Market 13- 
   
  2  Language: English (Fluent, French is 
  Native) 
   
  3  Lockpicking 15- 
   
  3  Mechanics 13- 
   
  4  PS: Private Investigator 14- 
   
  3  SS: Chemistry 13- 
   
  3  SS: Ecology 13- 
   
  3  Security Systems 13- 
   
  3  Seduction 13- 
   
  3  Stealth 15- 
   
  3  Streetwise 13- 
  Total Skills & Powers:  192 
  Total Cost:  389 
   200+ Disadvantages 
   10 Distinctive Feature:  Style (Not 
  Concealable, Large Group) 
   15 Hunted:  Defender 11- (As Pow, Capture)  
   20 Hunted:  UNTIL 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, 
  Capture) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Must Play the 
  French Lover (Common, Moderate) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Protection of 
  Innocents (Common Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Vengeful 
  (Uncommon, Strong) 
   10 Reputation:  Eco-terrorist 11- 
   15 Social Limitation:  Secret Identity [Jean 
  Philippe Bonacieux] (Frequently, Major)  
   
  5 Unluck:  1d6 
   79 Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantages:  389 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  19
  Pyre 
  Background/History:  Gabrielle Johnson was a 
  graduate student studying physics at MIT when 
  the lab she was in was set fire by a stray shot 
  from Firewing during a battle with the 
  Champions. The building quickly went up in 
  flames and Gabrielle was immolated. But for 
  some reason her experiment interacted with the 
  flames and she survived. Instead of dying, she 
  was granted fire powers of her own. At the time, 
  she didn’t realize it and rushed out of the 
  building, heedless to her new powers. 
  Unfortunately, one of her friends saw Gabrielle 
  apparently on fire and, after taking off his coat to 
  help smother the flames, rushed to Gabrielle’s 
  aid. Gabrielle’s friend died in her arms as 
  Gabrielle’s fire shield burned her friend to death 
  in seconds. Horrified, she fled and has spent the 
  last few years running from everyone and 
  everything. She now spends her time wandering 
  the deserts of the southwestern United States 
  where there is very little life and little that can be 
  hurt by her touch. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Gabrielle is very 
  lonely. She has very little contact with human 
  beings anymore. The few times she does come 
  into contact with humans it is usually either a 
  police agency trying to capture her or 
  supervillains such as VIPER with even worse 
  intentions. Gabrielle hates her existence and 
  wishes to be left alone to die, except that her 
  body has changed to make a natural death very 
  difficult. Even in the middle of the desert, she 
  cannot die of natural causes and no predator can 
  get through her damage shield to hurt her. She 
  would do almost anything for someone who 
  could remove her powers. 
   
  Quote:  “LEAVE… ME… ALONE!” 
  (punctuated by a fireball) 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Gabrielle was never a fighter 
  and has little formal training. She also wants to 
  die. So her tactics are very elemental. Basically, 
  she just floats a few hexes up and blasts 
  everything in sight. Since on some level she is 
  hoping someone will finally get a good shot in 
  and kill her in one of these skirmishes, she 
  always presents a good target and will only run 
  away if she is severely injured or in danger of 
  being captured. 
  Campaign Use:  Gabrielle is a tragic lost soul. 
  She is also a wanted criminal. Since she has 
  killed several officers trying to bring her in, the 
  characters could make an attempt to bring her in 
  as a wanted felon. Of course, finding her in the 
  desert won’t be easy. Alternatively, one of the 
  characters may figure out what happened to her 
  and try to find her and to help her. The characters 
  could also encounter her as a “hired gun” – either 
  because VIPER finally captured her or because a 
  villain convinced her that he can cure her 
  condition if she will just do a few “favors” for 
  him (whether the villain is lying or not is entirely 
  up to the GM). 
   
  Pyre is built for a standard level Champions 
  game. For a lower level game, reduce her SPD to 
  4 and lower her attack powers, PD, and ED to fit 
  in with the campaign limits. For higher level 
  games, increase her SPD and DEX to the 
  campaign average and increase the damage her 
  attacks do. You might also consider making 
  some of her defenses Resistant and adding an 
  NND attack.  
   
  Appearance:  Gabrielle is a tall young woman 
  (about 5’9”) in her late-20s with an athletic 
  build. Originally, she was a classic beauty with 
  long black hair, green eyes, and aquiline 
  features. Now, she is enveloped in constant 
  orange flames that do little to hide her 
  proportions though it is hard to make out details. 
  Somehow, the flame circles where her eyes 
  should be seem to look haunted. Her hair is now 
  a mane of yellow flames that flow out behind 
  her. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  20 
  Pyre 
  20 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  21
  Pyre 
   Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 
   15 STR 
  5 12- Lift 200kg ;3d6 HTH [1] 
   22 DEX 
  36 13- OCV:  7/DCV:  7 
   30 CON 
  40 15-  
   24 BODY 
  28 14-  
   18 INT 
  8 12- PER Roll:  12- 
   
  8 EGO 
  -4 11- ECV:  3 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   16 COM 
  3 12-   
   
   25 PD 
  22 
   Total:  25 PD (0 rPD) 
   35 ED 
  29 
   Total:  35 ED (0 rED) 
   
  5 SPD 
  18 
   Phases:  3, 5, 8, 10, 12 
   12 REC 
  6 
   
   90 END 
  15 
   
   47 STUN 
  0 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  211 
  Movement:  Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  3”/6” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
   
   
  Flight: 
  15”/30” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   30 Living Flame Powers:  Elemental 
  Control, 60-point Powers 
  0 
   130 1) Fire Shield:  RKA 4d6, Continuous 
  (+1), Damage Shield (+½), Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END, +½), Persistent 
  (+½), Always On (-½) 
  0 
   30 2) Fire Blast:  RKA 4d6 
  6 
   105 3) Fireball:  EB 12d6, Area of Effect 
  (6” Radius, +1), Reduced Endurance 
  (½ END, +¼) 
  6 
   20 4) Immunity to Fire:  Energy Damage 
  Reduction, Resistant, 75%, Only 
  Works Against Fire (-½) 
  0 
   30 Fiery Flight:  Flight 15” 
  1 
   18 Fiery Form:  Life Support (Self-
  Contained Breathing, Need Not Sleep, 
  Need Not Eat, Safe in Intense Heat) 
  0 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 +1 with Living Flame Powers 
   
  3 Computer Programming 13- 
   
  2 Language: French (Fluent Conversation) 
   
  3 SS: Physics 13- 
   
  3 Stealth 13- 
   
  2 Survival (Desert) 13- 
  Total Skills & Powers:  379 
  Total Cost:  590 
   200+ Disadvantages 
   20  Distinctive Feature:  Flame Body (Not 
  Concealable, Major Reaction) 
   20  Hunted:  UNTIL 8- (Mo Pow, NCI, 
  Capture) 
   20  Hunted:  VIPER 8- (Mo Pow; NCI, 
  Enslave) 
   20  Physical Limitation:  Cannot Touch 
  Another Human Being (All the Time, 
  Greatly) 
   15  Psychological Limitation:  Passively 
  Suicidal (Common, Strong) 
   10  Reputation:  Violent Killer, 8- (Extreme) 
   20  Susceptibility:  2d6 per Phase from Total 
  Immersion in Water (Uncommon) 
   40  Vulnerability:  2x STUN and BODY from 
  Ice/Cold Attacks (Common) 
   225  Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantages:  590 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  22 
  Dr. Sven Scharten 
  Background/History:  Sven Scharten was a 
  brilliant young doctor in Norway in 1939 when 
  the Nazis took over and began “recruiting” 
  people to help them. Scharten actually 
  volunteered to conduct war time medical 
  experiments as it gave him a chance to conduct 
  research he would otherwise not have been able 
  to do legally. He spent the war conducting 
  Frankenstein-like experiments in concentration 
  camps. After the war, Dr. Scharten was wanted 
  for war crimes but escaped to Asia and 
  eventually made his way into Vietnam where he 
  continued his experiments. When the Vietnam 
  War reached its peak in the mid-1960s, he 
  decided that the war, while providing a constant 
  supply of bodies, was dangerous to his work as 
  the constant fighting often disrupted his 
  experiments, so he moved to the United States 
  and settled around Chicago. For the last forty 
  years, Scharten has been in hiding around 
  Chicago, continuing his experiments – which 
  have met with some success.  
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Doctor Scharten is a 
  very charismatic man who has spent a lifetime 
  studying men in all his forms. He has seen men 
  at their best and especially at their worst. His 
  manner is ingratiating, at times even subservient, 
  but he knows exactly what he is doing at all 
  times and only appears to subsume his ego when 
  it suits his purpose. Whenever he is in a position 
  of superiority his true nature shows, and he will 
  be arrogant, even condescending to anyone he 
  considers an inferior intellect (which is basically 
  everyone). 
   
  Scharten has never been close to other 
  human beings. He has considered himself above 
  them in many aspects and deliberately separated 
  himself from human society. The only thing 
  that truly matters to him is his life’s work. As a 
  child, he was fascinated by the story of 
  Frankenstein, and it has served as the macabre 
  inspiration for his entire life. Like Dr. 
  Frankenstein, Scharten is desperately searching 
  for the secret of eternal life. His time is running 
  out, and despite spending a lifetime on his 
  search, he is no further along in his research 
  than the literary character ever got. Doctor 
  Scharten’s ego almost demands that he go down 
  in history as a great scientist, and he is growing 
  increasingly desperate in his research, taking 
  chances that he would not have considered in 
  the past. This further adds to his mental 
  instability. The doctor is a tortured soul who is 
  paranoid that the government will eventually 
  find him and try him for war crimes before he 
  can complete his experiments. Adding to his 
  mental problems is that his experiments often 
  require him to practice vivisection (dissection 
  of live individuals). If confronted with the facts, 
  Dr. Scharten will insist that the greater good of 
  his ultimate goal is worth the sacrifice of a few 
  human “rejects.” Still, despite his best efforts to 
  convince himself that his work is moral and for 
  the benefit or mankind, Scharten has not lost his 
  humanity as much as he claims to have, and he 
  is haunted by the pain he inflicts on his victims, 
  often suffering terrible nightmares that can only 
  be quelled by taking large draughts of sleeping 
  medication which knock him out and prevent 
  him from dreaming.  
   
  Quote:  “Science tells man the mind of God, and 
  it is our duty to unravel God’s secrets at all 
  costs.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Dr. Scharten is an elderly man 
  who is essentially a non-combatant. If cornered, 
  he will order his golems to attack, and then 
  attempt to flee himself. His golems also serve as 
  lab assistants, mostly for moving machinery and 
  overpowering unwilling subjects. Lately, 
  Scharten has even taken one or two with him on 
  rainy nights to abduct homeless people or 
  streetwalkers who have no one to protect them. It 
  is important to note that he would never abduct 
  anyone he thought was a useful member of 
  society. If at all possible, he will only abduct 
  criminals for his experiments or, failing to find a 
  criminal, someone who he does not see as a 
  useful member of society (such as a homeless 
  person). He will never knowingly abduct a police 
  officer, not even a dirty cop, because he would 
  be too scared of the intense investigation that 
  would surely follow. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Dr. Scharten is not a combat 
  oriented character. He is a mad scientist who 
  acquires bodies (both living and dead) through 
  his contacts. Thus, the most likely scenarios for 
  using Dr. Scharten involve disappearing bodies. 
  Perhaps one of the characters has street contacts 
  and notices a rash of missing people (either 
  homeless people or streetwalkers). 
  Alternatively, the characters could be 
  investigating a murder when the body goes 
  missing from the morgue. Investigating the 
  disappearance of the body eventually leads 
  them to Dr. Scharten. Finally, due to his 
  desperation, Scharten may hire out his expertise 
  as a pharmacologist to a villain or another 
  antihero. In exchange for producing various 
  “truth serums” to aid in interrogation, the villain 
  or antihero agrees to let Scharten keep the body 
  after the interrogation is over.  
   
  Scharten is a street level character who is 
  not meant to ever enter combat himself. For a 
  full fledged Champions campaign increase his 
  SPD to 3 and his Running to 8” to improve his 
  chances to run away. To hold off the heroes 
  better, simply increase the number and base 
  points of his golem Followers. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  23
  Appearance:  Doctor Scharten is an elderly man 
  of slightly below average height with a good 
  constitution and a slight build. He generally 
  looks all of his 94 years and has developed a 
  slight hump on his upper back from so much 
  time spent bending over his operating 
  tables. His skin is pale, almost 
  translucent. His features are classic 
  Scandinavian, especially his round 
  face. His once blonde hair has long 
  since fallen out, leaving him 
  completely bald. When going 
  out on the town, he normally 
  wears a disguise. 
   
  Dr. Sven Scharten 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  24 
  Dr. Sven Scharten 
   Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 
   10 STR 
  0 11- Lift 100kg; 2d6 HTH [1] 
   13 DEX 
  9 12- OCV:  4/DCV:  4 
   14 CON 
  16 12- 
   13 BODY 
  12 12- 
   28 INT 
  18 15- PER Roll:  15-  
   15 EGO 
  10 12- ECV:  5 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
    8 COM 
  -1 11-  
   
   
  3 PD 
  1 
   Total:  3 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  3 ED 
  0 
   Total:  3 ED (0 rED) 
   
  2 SPD 
  0 
   Phases:  6, 12  
   
  6 REC 
  2 
   30 END 
  1 
   28 STUN 
  3 
  Total Characteristics Cost:  76  
  Movement:  Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2”/4” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Perks 
   
  4 Contact: City Morgue Technician 13- 
   
  4 Contact: Hospital Morgue Technician 13- 
   
  3 Contact: Street Pimp 12- 
   50 Followers: Golem Servants (4 200-point 
  golems) 
   
  5 Money: Well Off 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 Acting 12- 
   
  2 AK: Bavaria 11- 
   
  3 AK: Chicago Area 15- 
   
  3 Bribery 12- 
   
  3 Computer Programming 15- 
   
  3 Disguise 12- 
   
  3 Electronics 12- 
   
  5 Forensic Medicine 16- 
   
  3 Inventor 15- 
   
  3 Language: English (Fluent, Norwegian is 
  Native) 
   
  3 Language: French (Fluent) 
   
  3 Language: German (Fluent) 
   
  3 Language: Latin (Fluent) 
   
  3 Mechanics 15- 
   
  3 PS: Doctor 15- 
   
  3 Streetwise 12- 
   
  3 Scientist 
   
  3 1)  SS: Anthropology 16- 
   
  3 2)  SS: Biochemistry 16- 
   
  3 3)  SS: Biology 16- 
   
  3 4)  SS: Genetics 16- 
   
  3 5)  SS: Medicine 16- 
   
  3 6)  SS: Organic Chemistry 16- 
   
  3 7)  SS: Pharmacology 16- 
  Total Skills & Powers:  139 
  Total Cost:  215 
   75+ Disadvantages 
   10 Age:  60+ (Real Age 94) 
   
  5 Distinctive Feature:  Nazi Tattoo (Easily 
  Concealed) 
   20 Hunted:  US Government 8- (Mo Pow, 
  NCI, Capture) 
   20 Psychological Limitation:  Paranoid (Very 
  Common, Strong) 
   85 Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantages:  215 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  25
  Cybersystems by Bob Greenwade 
   
  Cybersystems: An Expansion of 
  Terran Empire Cybernetics 
   
  The latter half of the twenty-first century 
  saw a prodigious rise in cybernetic science on 
  Earth. While Humans still hold the cultural 
  connotations of despair and tyranny that came 
  with the same period, other species are less 
  reluctant to use cybernetics – some, particularly 
  the Somon (see Terran Empire, page 97) have 
  far exceeded anything Humans have done. 
   
  While the cybernetic systems listed here (as 
  well as on pages 131-132 of Terran Empire and 
  pages 33-35 of Spacer’s Toolkit) should be 
  adequate for most cyborgs, nearly any gadget 
  can be converted into a cybernetic system by 
  replacing the Focus Limitation with Restrainable 
  at the -¼ level. In certain cases the Physical 
  Manifestation Limitation may also be 
  appropriate. 
  CYBORG DISADVANTAGES 
   
   
  Besides any special powers, a 
  cyborg may have some of his normal 
  abilities affected by “cybernetic 
  restraints.” This is represented as a 
  Physical Limitation to the effect that the 
  normal ability is affected as though it 
  was Restrainable at the -¼ level. This 
  limitation occurs Infrequently; the level 
  of impairment is the same as if it was 
  permanent. Thus, a single artificial eye 
  would be Slightly Impairing, while both 
  eyes would be Fully Impairing (as 
  would both arms or both legs). 
   
  Also, many cyborgs may take a 
  Distinctive Feature to reflect others’ 
  ability to tell that he’s part machine. 
  The Detectable Cyborg Distinctive 
  Feature is worth 5 points (Concealable, 
  Major Reaction, Uncommonly-Used 
  Senses, Not Distinctive in Some 
  Societies); with this the character can be 
  identified with a simple cybernetics 
  detector and may suffer some prejudice, 
  but won’t have to worry about things on 
  worlds such as Venwordien, Somon, or 
  Malva where such things are more 
  commonplace. This assumes that the 
  character’s cybernetic parts are either 
  hidden or covered by normal-looking 
  skin; if not, the character gets the 
  Obvious Cyborg Distinctive Feature for 
  10 points (Concealable, Major 
  Reaction, Commonly-Used Senses, Not 
  Distinctive In Some Societies). 
   
  Cyberweapons 
   
  Cybernetic weapons systems, colloquially 
  called “cyberweapons” or “Weapon Arms,” are 
  generally restricted to military and other 
  “official” personnel. When they do occur they 
  are almost always built into the recipient’s 
  forearm – most frequently replacing the hand 
  altogether (resulting in a Physical Limitation), 
  but often supplementing it. Occasionally the 
  weapon is built to replace the hand only when 
  it’s in use (just add a -½ Limitation Replaces 
  Hand When in Use to any of these devices) – 
  though this is only possible if the entire arm is a 
  cybernetic replacement. 
   
  Most of these weapons are too large to have 
  more than one installed on the same arm, 
  limiting most cyborgs to two. There are 
  exceptions, most of them noted in the text here 
  (though not always explicitly); if the question 
  should come up, the GM should use common 
  sense. 
   
  In any event, having a cyberweapon almost 
  always requires the Distinctive Feature Obvious 
  Cyborg (Not Concealable, Noticed And 
  Recognized; 15 points). 
   
  As noted on page 35 of Spacer’s Toolkit, 
  having a cyberweapon installed costs 500 credits 
  in addition to the full listed Character Point and 
  monetary cost.  
  MELEE CYBERWEAPONS 
   
   
   
  Most melee cyberweapons date back to 
  Earth’s late 21st century, when cybernetics and 
  extreme violence became symptom’s of 
  humanity’s general malaise. 
  BUZZSAW HAND 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 3,000 credits, or more 
  Description: This weapon, essentially a small 
  circular saw, most often attaches to the back of a 
  cyborg’s hand. 
  Game Information: HKA 2d6, Autofire (3 
  shots; +¼), Armor Piercing (+½) (52 Active 
  Points); No STR Bonus (-½), Restrainable (-¼), 
  Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 26 points. 
                                                             
  artwork by DT Butchino 
  CYBERNETIC 
  ANIMALS 
   
   
   Though it was quite 
  the fad in the later 
  years of Earth’s 21st 
  Century, installing 
  cybernetic parts on 
  animals is not as easy 
  as it might seem — 
  and in some cases it’s 
  not nearly as wise as 
  some people think. 
  For one thing, 
  cybernetic energy 
  weapons on animals 
  are almost universally 
  considered a bad idea, 
  given the 
  unpredictable nature 
  of both (“This is 
  precisely the reason 
  they don’t normally 
  give bazookas to 
  dogs”). 
   This is not to say 
  that such cybernetic 
  systems are always 
  bad. If a system 
  enhances the animal’s 
  natural senses, 
  movement, or other 
  abilities, then the 
  adaptation process 
  can be relatively 
  quick. It’s not at all 
  uncommon for a pet 
  or service animal to 
  have a cybernetic 
  limb or sensory organ 
  following an injury. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  26 
  CHAINSAW HAND 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 4,200 credits, or more 
  Description: This is a huge, razor-sharp 
  chainsaw – often with a diamond-bladed chain – 
  in the form of a sword. It is almost always a 
  complete replacement for the cyborg’s hand, 
  though one that can be easily switched for a 
  normal hand. 
  Game Information: HKA 2d6+1 (up to 4½d6 
  with STR), Armor Piercing (+½), Penetrating 
  (+½) (70 Active Points); Lockout (cannot use the 
  same hand in any normal way, requiring a Full 
  Phase to switch and for that purpose treating 
  this as a Persistent Power; -½), Restrainable 
  (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 35 points. 
  MACE HAND 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 2,700 credits, or more 
  Description: Though not able to slice through 
  armor as easily as a chainsaw, this weapon offers 
  more raw power. 
  Game Information: HKA 3d6 (up to 6d6 
  w/STR) (45 Active Points); Lockout (cannot use 
  the same hand in any normal way, requiring a 
  Full Phase to switch and for that purpose 
  treating this as a Persistent Power; -½), 
  Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 
  22 points. 
  PILEDRIVER HAND 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 1,800 credits, or more 
  Description: This weapon mounts in a cyborg’s 
  arm, and augments his punching power by 
  thrusting his fist forward on impact. 
  Game Information: HA +6d6 (30 Active 
  Points); Hand-To-Hand Attack (-½), 
  Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 
  15 points. 
   
  RANGED CYBERWEAPONS 
   
   
  MARK II CYBER LASER 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 2,200 credits, or more. 
  Description: One of the earliest energy-based 
  cyberweapons, the Mark II Cyber Laser is a 
  compact, efficient weapon. 
  Game Information: RKA 2d6, Power Can 
  Draw END from Character or END Reserve 
  (+¼) (37 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), 
  Blocked By Smoke Or Steam (-¼), Real Weapon 
  (-¼). Total cost: 21 points. 
  MARK III CYBER LASER 
  ATRI: 10 
  Price: 3,000 credits, or more 
  Description: A larger, more advanced version of 
  the Mark II Cyber Laser, the Mark III can be 
  quite a formidable weapon. 
  Game Information: RKA 2½d6, Power Can 
  Draw END from Character or END Reserve 
  (+¼) (50 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), 
  Blocked By Smoke Or Steam (-¼), Real Weapon 
  (-¼). Total cost: 28 points. 
  MARK III-A CYBER LASER 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 4,200 credits, or more 
  Description: A special enhancement of the Mark 
  III, the Mark III-A can shoot up to five shots in a 
  single burst. 
  Game Information: RKA 2½d6, Autofire (5 
  shots; +½), Power Can Draw END from 
  Character or END Reserve (+¼) (70 Active 
  Points); Restrainable (-¼), Blocked By Smoke 
  Or Steam (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 40 
  points. 
  MARK IV CYBER LASER 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 3,700 credits, or more 
  Description: The largest and post powerful 
  cybernetic laser during the Terran Empire period 
  (except for a handful of custom-built models), 
  this system takes up so much of a person’s 
  forearm that it often can only be installed into a 
  complete limb replacement. 
  Game Information: RKA 3d6+1, Power Can 
  Draw END from Character or END Reserve 
  (+¼) (62 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), 
  Blocked By Smoke Or Steam (-¼), Real Weapon 
  (-¼). Total cost: 35 points. 
  CYBER PLASMA RIFLE 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 4,800 credits, or more 
  Description: No species other than Humans 
  have built – or even would attempt to build – a 
  cybernetic version of a plasma rifle. This is a 
  scaled-down version of the M49 plasma rifle 
  (Terran Empire, page 141), mounted on the 
  subject’s forearm. 
  Game Information: EB 9d6, Autofire (2 shots; 
  +¼), Explosion (+½), 16 Charges (+0) (79 
  Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), Limited Range 
  (27”; -¼), Real Weapon (-¼). Total cost: 45 
  points. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  27
  CYBER BLASTER 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 3,800 credits, or more 
  Description: Following the popularity of the 
  MIP-162 ion pistol (Terran Empire, page 142), 
  cyberneticists rushed to build a safe and practical 
  cybernetic ion blaster. This was the result. 
  Game Information: Multipower, 62-point 
  reserve, 30 Charges for entire reserve (+¼); all 
  Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼), Limited 
  Range (60”; -¼) (total cost 44 points) plus slot 
  1:  RKA 3d6, Autofire (2 shots; +¼); 
  Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼), Limited 
  Range (60”; -¼) (total cost 4) plus EB 10d6, 
  Autofire (2 shots; +¼); Restrainable (-¼), Real 
  Weapon (-¼), Limited Range (60”; -¼) (total 
  cost 4 points). Total cost: 52 points. 
  CYBER GAMMA WEAPON 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 3,000 credits, or more 
  Description: Based roughly on the GR-01 
  Gamma Rifle and GP-03 Gamma Pistol (see 
  Spacer’s Toolkit, page 15), the GC-02 Cyber 
  Gamma Weapon mounts within a cyborg’s 
  forearm. If the arm is a total replacement, it may 
  even be totally concealed within the arm. 
  Game Information: Energy Blast 5d6, NND 
  (defense is ED Force Field; +1), 16 Charges 
  (+0) (50 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), Real 
  Weapon (-¼), Limited Range (100” in 
  atmosphere, 750” in vacuum; -¼). Total cost: 28 
  points. 
  CYBER STUNNER 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 4,800 credits, or more 
  Description: Based on the sonic stunner 
  (Spacer’s Toolkit, page 17), the cyber stunner 
  uses carefully-modulated infrasound and 
  ultrasound to cause targets to pass out. 
  Game Information: Energy Blast 8d6, NND 
  (defense is Hearing Group Flash Defense; +1) 
  (80 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼), Real 
  Weapon (-¼), Limited Range (40”; -¼). Total 
  cost: 46 points. 
  CYBER FLAMER 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 5,500 credits, or more 
  Description: Based on the hand flamer 
  (Spacer’s Toolkit, page 17), the cyber flamer is a 
  small but incredibly powerful flame thrower, 
  capable of projecting blasts of flame in a cone 20 
  meters on a side. 
  Game Information: RKA 3d6, Area Of Effect 
  (10” Cone; +1) (90 Active Points); 10 Charges 
  (-¼), Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼), No 
  Range (-½). Total cost: 40 points. 
  FLYING FIST 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 5,700 credits 
  Description: A character with this system can 
  launch his fist like a missile. Magnetic beams in 
  the cybernetic forearm bring it back so the 
  character can re-attach it, though during the 
  return trip it can be attacked as an OAF. 
  Game Information: Energy Blast 8d6, Double 
  Knockback (+¾) (70 Active Points); OAF (-1), 
  Lockout (cannot use right hand until Charge is 
  recovered; -½), 1 Recoverable Charge (-1¼) 
  (total cost 19 points) plus Telekinesis (10 STR) 
  (15 Active Points); OIF (-½), Only To Retrieve 
  Flying Fist (-1) (total cost 6 points). Total cost: 
  25 points. 
  Defenses 
  ENHANCED ARMORSKIN 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: (900 credits) or more. 
  Description: Though illegal to install in most 
  areas (under the same laws that restrict the use of 
  high-powered force fields; see page 146 of 
  Terran Empire), once installed it cannot legally 
  be taken away. It is also difficult to distinguish 
  from conventional Armorskin (page 132 of 
  Terran Empire) short of actually trying to 
  penetrate it. 
   
  Some patients, in order to save money and 
  trouble, have this enhanced form of armor placed 
  only around their heads and torsos, with or 
  without conventional Armorskin covering their 
  limbs. 
  Game Information: 
  Full Enhanced Armorskin: Armor (8 PD/4 
  ED). Total cost: 18 points. 
  Partial Enhanced Armorskin: Armor (8 PD/4 
  ED) (18 Active Points); Sectional Defenses 
  (Only covers Hit Locations 3-5 and 9-13; -1). 
  Total cost: 9 points. 
  Hybrid Enhanced Armorskin: Armor (3 PD/1 
  ED) (total cost 6 points) plus Armor (5 PD/3 
  ED) (12 Active Points); Sectional Defenses 
  (Only covers Hit Locations 3-5 and 9-13; -1) 
  (total cost 6 points). Total cost: 12 points. 
  PAIN SHUNTER 
  ATRI: 10 
  Price: 6,000 credits, or more 
  Description: This cerebral implant stops pain 
  from being noticed by the brain, or by the body’s 
  autonomous systems. The complexities of the 
  nervous system require that each one of these be 
  custom-built for the recipient. 
  Game Information: Physical, Energy, and 
  Mental Damage Reduction, Resistant, 50% (90 
  Active Points); STUN Only (-½), Restrainable 
  (-¼). Total cost: 51 points. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  28 
  Sensory Systems 
  GLOBAL POSITIONING IMPLANT 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 150 credits 
  Description: This implant allows the subject to 
  tell his precise location on any planet with a 
  global positioning system. 
  Game Information: Detect Exact Position On 
  Planet With GPS Satellite System (INT + 5) 
  (Radio Sense Group) (15 Active Points); 
  Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 12 points. 
  LATERAL LINE SENSOR 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 1,000-3,700 credits or more 
  Description: This device allows a land-based, 
  air-breathing individual, such as a Human or 
  Fex, to sense electrical pulses like many aquatic 
  and amphibious animals. There are several 
  models, with varying degrees of sophistication; 
  more advanced versions can even be used for 
  communication. 
  Game Information:  
  Type 1 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Sense (10 Active Points); Restrainable 
  (-¼). Total cost: 8 points. 
  Type 2 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Discriminatory, Sense (15 Active 
  Points); Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 12 points. 
  Type 3 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Discriminatory, Sense, Targeting (25 
  Active Points); Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 20 
  points. 
  Type 4 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Discriminatory, Analyze, Sense, 
  Targeting (30 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼). 
  Total cost: 24 points. 
  Type 5 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Discriminatory, Analyze, Sense, 
  Targeting, Transmit (32 Active Points); 
  Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 26 points. 
  Type 6 Lateral Line Sensor: Detect Electrical 
  Pulses, Increased Arc of Perception (360 
  Degrees), Discriminatory, Analyze, Range, 
  Sense, Targeting, Transmit (37 Active Points); 
  Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 30 points. 
   
  SENSORY COPROCESSOR 
  ATRI: 10 
  Price: 1,500 credits, or more 
  Description: This special computer processor is 
  a relative of the most popular processor used to 
  control the sensory systems in robots and 
  androids. When cybernetically interfaced with an 
  organic sensory system, it enables the user to 
  notice and discern things more clearly. 
  Game Information:  
  Type 1 Sensory Coprocessor: +4 with all Sense 
  Groups (12 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼). 
  Total cost: 10 points. 
  Type 2 Sensory Coprocessor: +6 with all Sense 
  Groups (18 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼). 
  Total cost: 14 points. 
  Type 3 Sensory Coprocessor: +8 with all Sense 
  Groups (24 Active Points); Restrainable (-¼). 
  Total cost: 19 points. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  29
  Cybervoice 
   
  As with any other body system, cybernetic 
  vocal chords (and other artificial speech systems) 
  are available for those who have lost theirs 
  through disease or injury. While a typical 
  cybervoice is equally capable to the original, 
  some have “optional enhancements,” as shown 
  below. 
  CHAMELEON VOICE 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: varies. 
  Description: A character with this implant 
  allows the character to alter his voice at will. The 
  basic device can only be used to duplicate 
  another’s voice if the character has the Mimicry 
  Skill; later versions have that ability built in. 
  Even those devices can only change the texture 
  of the individual’s voice; things such as pace, 
  cadence, accent, and so forth are the character’s 
  own responsibility. 
   
  This cannot be used to change the sound of 
  the character’s footsteps, heartbeat, or other 
  audible qualities. 
  Game Information:  
  Model I: Shape Shift (Hearing Group, any 
  humanoid vocal pattern), Reduced Endurance (0 
  END; +½) (22 Active Points); Voice Only (-½), 
  Restrainable (Only by means other than Grabs 
  and Entangles; -¼). Total cost: 12 points. 
  Model II: Shape Shift (Hearing Group, any 
  humanoid vocal pattern), Imitation, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½) (37 Active Points); 
  Voice Only (-½), Restrainable (Only by means 
  other than Grabs and Entangles; -¼). Total cost: 
  21 points. 
  Model III: Shape Shift (Hearing Group, any 
  humanoid vocal pattern), Imitation, Instant 
  Change, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (45 
  Active Points); Voice Only (-½), Restrainable 
  (Only by means other than Grabs and Entangles; 
  -¼). Total cost: 26 points. 
  Model IV: Shape Shift (Hearing Group, any 
  humanoid vocal pattern), Cellular, Imitation, 
  Instant Change, Reduced Endurance (0 END; 
  +½) (60 Active Points); Voice Only (-½), 
  Restrainable (Only by means other than Grabs 
  and Entangles; -¼). Total cost: 34 points. 
  EMBEDDED MESSAGER 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 2,000 credits, or more 
  Description: Based on an ability of some 
  Rigellians, this system allows the character to 
  hide a secret message in his speech audible to 
  only one specific person. It requires a 
  Ventriloquism roll to hide the message, and a 
  Cryptography roll to make it intelligible to the 
  individual. An observer who is aware, or at least 
  suspicious, that the message is being sent in this 
  way may attempt a PER Roll against either roll 
  (whichever is made by less) to perceive the 
  message. 
  Game Information: Embedded Message:  
  Hearing Group Images 1” radius, -3 to PER 
  Rolls, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (21 
  Active Points); Single Target Only (-1), Requires 
  A Cryptography Roll And A Ventriloquism Roll 
  (RSR Skill is subject to Skill vs. Skill contests; 
  -1), Incantations (Requires Incantations 
  throughout; -½), Restrainable (Only by means 
  other than Grabs and Entangles; -¼). Total cost: 
  6 points. 
  POWER VOICE 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 120 credits, or more. 
  Description: This artificial voice allows the 
  character to speak more loudly and more clearly 
  than normal. 
  Game Information: Hearing Group Images 1” 
  radius, +2 to PER Rolls, Reduced Endurance (½ 
  END; +¼); Restrainable (Only by means other 
  than Grabs and Entangles; -¼), No Range (-½), 
  Only To Amplify Voice (-1). Total cost: 5 points. 
  VERTIGO VOICE 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 10,000 credits, or more. 
  Description: With this implant the character can 
  scream with such a volume and pitch that those 
  standing near him begin to lose consciousness. 
  Its expense (as well as the fact that it rarely does 
  enough to actually Stun a target) keeps it from 
  being widely used. 
  Game Information: Energy Blast 2½d6, 
  Personal Immunity (+¼), Reduced Endurance 
  (½ END; +¼), Explosion (+½), AVLD (Hearing 
  Flash Defense; +1½) (45 Active Points); No 
  Range (-½), Restrainable (Only by means other 
  than Grabs and Entangles; -¼), Incantations 
  (-¼). Total cost: 22 points. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  30 
  Physical Enhancements 
  MANUAL EXTENSOR 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 300 credits, or more. 
  Description: An individual with this 
  enhancement can separate his forearms from the 
  rest of his arms by up to four meters using 
  mechanical extensions. 
  Game Information: Stretching 2”, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½) (15 Active Points); 
  Always Direct (-¼), Limited Body Parts (arms; 
  -¼), No Noncombat Stretching (-¼), Range 
  Modifier Applies (-¼). Total cost: 7 points. 
  ORGAN REDUNDANCY 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 600 credits, or more. 
  Description: A cyborg whose internal organs 
  have been replaced may choose to have more 
  than one system for various organs. This would 
  make him hardier and healthier in general, but 
  most of all it would make him much more 
  difficult to kill – after all, a shot through the 
  heart is less likely to be fatal when there’s 
  another heart to take over the work. 
  Game Information: +5 BODY (10 Active 
  Points); Restrainable (-¼) (total cost 8 points); 
  plus +10 BODY (20 Active Points); Restrainable 
  (-¼), Only To Extend Point Of Death (-1½) 
  (total cost 7 points). Total cost: 8 + 7 = 15 
  points. 
  SUPPLEMENTAL ARMS 
  ATRI: 8 
  Price: 400 credits, or more. 
  Description: Occasionally, an individual with 
  two arms (whether perfectly healthy normal arms 
  or cybernetic replacements) may desire two 
  more. These cybernetic arms are built to match 
  the capabilities of the owner’s existing arms 
  (though enhanced versions are also available; see 
  page 131 of Terran Empire for details). 
   
  Few vertebrate species are able to handle 
  more than two additional arms, if not for the load 
  on the spine then simply as a consideration of 
  available space – though it has been done (GM’s 
  permission would be required). 
  Game Information: Extra Limbs (2) (5 Active 
  Points); Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 4 points. 
   
  SWIMWARE 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: 750 credits, or more. 
  Description: An extension of limb replacements 
  (Terran Empire, page 131) and muscle 
  enhancements (Spacer’s Toolkit, page 35) – 
  though it can be installed on its own – this allows 
  the character to swim much more quickly than 
  normal. 
  Game Information: Swimming +5”, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½) (7 Active Points); 
  Restrainable (-¼). Total cost: 6 points. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  31
  Other Cyberware 
  CYBERTOOLS 
  ATRI: 9 
  Price: Varies 
  Description: This grouping of cybernetic 
  systems correspond, at least in principle, with the 
  Engineer’s Toolbox (see page 36 of Spacer’s 
  Toolkit). A cyborg may have any or all of the 
  tools shown. Most are installed in a cybernetic 
  hand or forearm. 
   
  Where these tools have direct counterparts 
  in the Engineer’s Toolbox, the effects may be 
  cumulative or not depending on the GM’s 
  judgement and common sense. 
  Game Information: 
  Cost Cybertools 
   
  3 Cyber Conduits: +2 to Electronics, 
  Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber Lockpick: +2 to Lockpicking, 
  Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber Mini-Computer: +2 to 
  Computer Programming, Restrainable 
  (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber Security Override: +2 to 
  Security Systems, Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber Spanners: +2 to Mechanics, 
  Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber System Interface: +2 to Systems 
  Operations, Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  3 Cyber Weaponsmith Tools: +2 to 
  Weaponsmith, Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  For ATRI levels higher than 9, each Skill 
  takes an additional +2 to the Skill Roll. The cost 
  for each tool is thus 6 points (for +4) at ATRI 10, 
  10 points (for +6) at ATRI 11, 13 points (for +8) 
  at ATRI 12, or 16 points (for +10) at ATRI 13. 
  (Malvans, the only ATRI 14 society in the 
  galaxy, does not use such things as these.) 
  GRAVITY MANIPULATOR 
  ATRI: 10 
  Price: 820 credits. 
  Description: This device allows the user to 
  create a gravity bubble, with which he can 
  manipulate objects (including volumes of liquid) 
  at a short distance. 
  Game Information: Telekinesis (10 STR), 
  Affects Porous, Reduced Endurance (½ END; 
  +¼) (41 Active Points); Affects Whole Object 
  (-¼), Restrainable (Only by means other than 
  Grabs and Entangles; -¼), Limited Range (2”; 
  -¼). Total Cost: 23 points. 
   
  INTERNAL BATTERY PACK 
  ATRI: 7 
  Price: 800 credits, or more 
  Description: Some cybersystems (such as many 
  of the weapons shown here, or the Jumplegs or 
  Trauma Compensator on pages 34-35 of 
  Spacer’s Toolkit) require power to operate. 
  While such systems may be built to burn calories 
  from the cyborg’s own body, it’s usually easier 
  to power them with an electrical battery. The 
  model shown here draws its power slowly and 
  harmlessly from the cyborg’s own biological 
  electrical field; a different type plugs directly 
  into an electrical recharge unit – simply replace 
  the Personal REC Limitation with Can Only 
  Recharge When Connected To An Electrical 
  Power Source, for the same -½ Limitation value. 
  Game Information: Endurance Reserve (200 
  END, 10 REC; powers cybernetic weapons) (40 
  Active Points); Restrainable (Only by means 
  other than Grabs and Entangles; -¼); Personal 
  REC (-½). Total cost: 22 points. 
  PERSONAL FLIGHT MODULE 
  ATRI: 11 
  Price: 400 credits, or more. 
  Description: Similar to a flight pack (see Terran 
  Empire, page 152), this combines a built-in 
  antigravity module with small thrusters. The 
  thrusters can be mounted anywhere on the 
  individual’s body, though most opt for the lower 
  legs and the shoulders. 
  Game Information: Flight 10” (20 Active 
  Points); Restrainable Only by means other than 
  Grabs and Entangles; -¼). Total cost: 16 points. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  32 
  Stuart McFee 
  Background/History:  Stuart McFee never 
  really expected to be anything but a simple 
  technician, maintaining an assembly line at a 
  robotics factory on his native world of Paragon. 
  He was young and bright, but not particularly 
  ambitious; he could have been very happy 
  working that simple job for all his life. 
   
  Unfortunately, he was also fairly greedy. 
  Mostly he’d just pilfer a part or two, never taking 
  anything big or easily missed. But then there 
  came a chance for big money.... 
   
  He was offered a bribe by one of his 
  company’s competitors. It was a lot of money – 
  well into the five-digit range – and all he had to 
  do was loosen one mechanical part so his line 
  would shut down for two hours. It sounded 
  simple enough. 
   
  What he didn’t know was that the slowdown 
  was supposed to be a cover for other, even less 
  scrupulous operatives to plant a bomb. And it 
  was just Stuart’s luck that he’d be in the room 
  when the bomb went off. 
   
  It wasn’t just the concussive force, flame, 
  and shrapnel from the bomb itself. That much 
  alone knocked Stuart into a wall, destroyed both 
  his eyes and his right ear, and nearly shredded 
  his arms. But on top of it all the wall he impacted 
  collapsed, and the ceiling fell down on him – 
  including heavy equipment from the floor above, 
  reducing his legs to pulp. 
   
  The doctors were barely able to save his life. 
  The usual remedy for lost body parts on Paragon 
  was vat-grown replacement organs, but his 
  injuries were so extensive that artificial parts 
  were used instead. His health insurance paid for 
  him to have basic cybernetic limbs, eyes, and 
  internal organs installed on his body. 
   
  And that, as far as the company was 
  concerned, was the end of it. The bomb had 
  forced the plant to close down. Stuart’s role in 
  the incident was never discovered, but he was 
  still out of a job. 
   
  Bitter at how he’d been duped, he used a 
  part of the money he’d gotten from the 
  competitor to have his cybernetic systems 
  “upgraded.”  When asked for a reason, he simply 
  said that since he was out of a job he was using 
  some money from a windfall to prepare for a 
  new career as a bodyguard and security agent – 
  which, on the whole, was true enough. What he 
  didn’t say was that his first mission would be 
  personal: he would exact revenge on the people 
  who hired and then betrayed him. 
   
  Fortunately nobody was seriously hurt. The 
  laser shot Stuart sent into the complex’ power 
  plant brought the entire facility to a halt, and 
  there was a wait of nearly twenty minutes before 
  the inevitable explosion destroyed the building 
  and seriously damaged all those nearby. 
   
  This time Stuart was identified as the 
  perpetrator, or at least as a “person of interest” in 
  the case. He was forced to go on the run. He 
  hitched a ride with an unscrupulous Mon’dabi 
  shipper – a smuggler, actually – and ended up on 
  Venwordien IV. Today, from there he hires 
  himself out as a mercenary to whomever will pay 
  his fee. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Money is Stuart’s 
  main motivation. Even if it wasn’t for his natural 
  sense of avarice, he has himself in a position 
  where he needs money to pay for the 
  maintenance on his cybernetic parts. 
   
  Though reasonably intelligent, Stuart is not 
  highly imaginative. He doesn’t tend to make big 
  plans, preferring to leave that to his employers. 
  He just goes in, does what he’s told, collects his 
  pay, and moves on. 
   
  He does have a bit of a vengeful streak. If 
  someone crosses him, he’ll try to repay in kind at 
  the first opportunity. He realizes that some 
  people just have a job to do that puts them at 
  odds with him, and he’s okay with that, but 
  anything underhanded or otherwise uncalled for 
  will earn his wrath. 
   
  Quote:  “Do that again, and I’ll smash your 
  head!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Stuart McFee is a cyborg with 
  several enhancements. He’s notably stronger and 
  faster than before (though still within normal 
  Human range), and has several sensory 
  enhancements and internal coprocessors. He also 
  has two powerful weapons: a piledriver arm with 
  which he can hit preternaturally hard, and a built-
  in laser weapon. 
   
  His cybernetics also represent his biggest 
  physical weakness. An EMP weapon can not 
  only cancel out his cybernetic enhancements, but 
  leave him crippled and blind until his systems 
  can be restarted. 
   
  As a tactician, Stuart tends to be typically 
  unimaginative. He mainly just follows 
  instructions, usually consisting of guarding 
  something such as a valuable object or the 
  entrance to a base though sometimes he acts as 
  hired muscle in other ways. When attacking, he 
  usually takes cover and lets loose with his laser 
  weapon, saving the piledriver for those occasions 
  when an opponent closes with him or when he 
  needs to do something like smash through a wall. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Stuart is basic mercenary 
  muscle, available to provide some extra power 
  for a more masterful opponent. Besides his 
  cybernetic abilities, he can also provide basic 
  engineering support, at least as a low-level 
  maintenance person. 
   
  Stuart sets aside about a third of his income 
  (and most of his Experience Points) toward 
  STUART MCFEE 
  PLOT SEEDS 
   
   
   One of the 
  scientists who 
  installed McFee’s 
  internal processors 
  was a politically 
  radical nomad Zurite 
  (see Terran Empire, 
  page 26) who secretly 
  included a mental 
  override chip with 
  special instructions.  
  As one of Stuart’s 
  jobs brings him 
  within range of a 
  senior Ackálian 
  official, he suddenly 
  goes berserk and tries 
  to assassinate her.  
  Whether this attempt 
  succeeds, and how the 
  ensuing investigation 
  leads to the Zurites, is 
  up to the GM. 
   An overzealous ISP 
  officer becomes 
  obsessed with 
  tracking down 
  McFee, and will let 
  nothing stand in his 
  way.  His course of 
  action includes 
  intensely 
  interrogating anyone 
  who has crossed 
  McFee’s path, 
  particularly other 
  cyborgs.  This 
  naturally includes the 
  PCs. 
   In tracking McFee, 
  the PCs are led to 
  Emerald (see Terran 
  Empire, page 70), 
  where he’s joined a 
  group of Benedictine 
  monks, most of whom 
  are also cyborgs.  His 
  conversion seems 
  sincere... but is it 
  really, or is he just 
  faking to avoid 
  extradiction? 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  33
  enhancing his cybernetics. He’s currently 
  considering some form of Armorskin, or 
  possibly a force field generator, though 
  something like a personal flight module would 
  be great too. 
   
  Despite his vengeful streak, Stuart is not 
  likely to Hunt anyone on an ongoing basis. He 
  might try once or twice to exact revenge, but 
  after a while he’ll decide either that his target has 
  had enough or that it just isn’t worth all the 
  trouble. If someone really ticks him off – which 
  can be done by stealing from him, making him 
  into a fool, humiliating him, or causing him 
  serious injury – he’ll do whatever he can to 
  return the injury in kind. Since he’s not too 
  imaginative, this will generally take the form of 
  direct frontal assaults at just the wrong moment, 
  though he could hire someone to plan something 
  more subtle. 
   
  To make Stuart more powerful, increase his 
  DEX, give him some Combat Skill Levels and/or 
  Martial Arts ability, and possibly add a trauma 
  compensator (Spacer’s Toolkit, page 35) to his 
  cybernetics. You could also give him a pain 
  shunter if he’s to take on an entire group of PCs. 
  If he’s overpowered, take away his piledriver 
  hand and replace his laser with something less 
  powerful. 
   
  Appearance:  Stuart is a mainline Human in his 
  early thirties, with mixed ancestry dominated by 
  African and European stock. His skin has a 
  smooth coffee-and-cream complexion, and his 
  hair is black and tightly curled, which he wears 
  short. His eyes, though both are cybernetic, are 
  the same deep brown of his original organic 
  eyes. 
   
  It’s not immediately apparent that Stuart is a 
  cyborg. Only someone with a sensor set to detect 
  such things, or with an appropriate Analyze Skill, 
  can tell he’s a cyborg unless he’s using his laser 
  weapon or piledriver arm. 
   
  When on the job, Stuart wears what his 
  employer deems appropriate. Left to his own 
  choice, this consists of a tank top, loose-fitting 
  trousers, sturdy running shoes, and a Harmon 
  City Defenders baseball cap. On his own time, 
  his clothing is somewhat flashier, with brightly-
  colored suits, low-cut shirts, and gold jewelry. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  34 
  Stuart McFee 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  35
  Stuart McFee 
   Val CHA Cost Roll Notes 
   15+5 STR 
  5 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH [3] 
   
  14 DEX 
  12 12- OCV:  5/DCV:  5 
   
  13 CON 
  6 12-  
   11+5 BODY 
  2 12-  
   
  13 INT 
  3 12- PER Roll:  12-/14- 
   
  11 EGO 
  2 11- ECV:  4 
   
  15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   
  8 COM 
  -1 11-  
   
   
  3 PD 
  0 
   Total:  3 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  3 ED 
  0 
   Total:  3 ED (0 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  6 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  6 REC 
  0 
   
   
  26 END 
  0 
   
   27+5 STUN 
  1 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  41 
  Movement:  Running: 
  9”/18” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  14”/28” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   21 Mark II Cyber Laser:  RKA 2d6, 
  Power Can Draw END from Character 
  or END Reserve (+¼); Restrainable 
  (Only by Means Other than Grabs and 
  Entangles, -¼), Blocked by Smoke or 
  Steam (-¼), Real Weapon (-¼) 
  4 
   18 Piledriver Hand:  HA 6d6 (10d6 with 
  STR), Power Can Draw END from 
  Character or END Reserve (+¼); HA 
  (-½), Restrainable (-¼), Real Weapon 
  (-¼) 
  4 
   
  4 Artificial Limbs:  +5 STR, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END, +½); No Figured 
  Characteristics (-½), Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  8 Organ Redundancy System:  +5 
  BODY; Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  7 Organ Redundancy System:  +10 
  BODY; Only to Extend Point of Death 
  (-1½), Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  3 Internal Oxygen Supply (Intox):  Life 
  Support (Extended Breathing: 1 END 
  per 20 Minutes); Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  5 Flare Compensation:  Sight Group 
  Flash Defense (6 points); Restrainable 
  (-¼) 
  0 
   
  5 Artificial Legs:  Running +3” (9” 
  Total); Restrainable (-¼) 
  1 
   15 Jumplegs:  Leaping +10” (14” Total), 
  Accurate, Power Can Draw END from 
  Character or END Reserve (+¼); 
  Restrainable (-¼) 
  2 
   
  3 Sight Enhancement:  +2 PER with 
  Sight Group; Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  3 Enhanced Hearing:  +2 PER with 
  Hearing Group; Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
  4 UV Vision:  Ultraviolet Perception 
  (Sight Group); Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   12 Global Positioning Implant:  Detect 
  Exact Position on Planet With GPS 
  Satellite System 17- (Radio Group); 
  Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   22 Internal Battery Pack:  Endurance 
  Reserve (200 END); Restrainable (-¼) 
  plus Endurance Reserve (10 REC); 
  Personal REC (-½), Restrainable (-¼) 
  0 
   
   Talents 
   
  2 Absolute Range Sense; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  2 Absolute Time Sense; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  7 Ambidexterity (Full); Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  2 Bump of Direction; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  4 Eidetic Memory; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  2 Lightning Calculator; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  2 Lightsleep; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
  2 Perfect Pitch; Restrainable (-¼) 
   
   Skills 
   
  3 Analyze Cybernetics 12- 
   
  3 Breakfall 12- 
   
  3 Demolitions 12- 
   
  3 Electronics 12- 
   
  3 Hoist 12- 
   
  3 Mechanics 12- 
   
  3 PS: Maintenance Engineer 12- 
   
  3 Security Systems 12- 
   
  4 Systems Operation (Communications 
  Systems, Environmental Systems) 12- 
   
  3 Teamwork 12- 
   
  2 Weaponsmith (Energy Weapons) 12- 
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  186 
  Total Cost:  227 
   75+ Disadvantages 
   
  5 Distinctive Features:  Detectable Cyborg 
  (Concealable, Major, Uncommon Senses, 
  Not Distinctive In Some Cultures) 
   20 Hunted:  Imperial Security Police 8- (Mo 
  Pow, NCI) 
   15 Physical Limitation:  Restrainable Arms, 
  Legs, and Eyes (Infrequently, Fully) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Greedy 
  (Common, Strong) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Vengeful 
  (Common, Moderate) 
   10 Rivalry:  Other Cyborg Mercenaries 
  (Professional, Mo Pow, Seek to Outdo, 
  Rival Aware) 
   77 Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantage Points:  227 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  36 
  The Art of the Interview by Bob Greenwade 
   
   
  The HERO System has two good Skills – 
  Conversation and Interrogation – for extracting 
  information from targets who are actively trying 
  to withhold that information. However, the 
  system currently assumes that an attempt to get 
  information that the target is willing to convey 
  automatically succeeds. 
   
  While that assumption is generally true, it’s 
  not always quite that simple. Memories fade, 
  perceptions become confused, and any number 
  of things can happen. Police at the scene of a 
  robbery can talk to ten eyewitnesses and get 
  twelve different stories with fifteen different 
  suspect descriptions (and sometimes even 
  differing numbers of suspects). Victims of 
  violent assaults – particularly sexual assault – 
  may have emotional difficulty in remembering 
  details. 
   
  Getting an accurate story from a cooperative 
  – or at least willing – subject is the function of 
  the Interviewing Skill. Had such a Skill appeared 
  in The Ultimate Skill, it might have looked 
  something like this. 
  Interviewing 
  Type: 
  Interaction Skill (roll: 9 + (PRE/5) or 
  less) 
  Cost: 
  3 Character Points for a base roll, +1 
  to the roll per +2 Character Points 
   
  This Interaction Skill enables a character to 
  extract information from a willing target. The 
  Skill is not needed for the basics of a report; 
  however, it can be useful for testing the accuracy 
  of the target’s memory, or for helping the target 
  remember forgotten details. The character knows 
  what questions to ask, what tone of voice to 
  adopt, when to push and when to back off, and 
  other aspects of helping a witness make a 
  thorough and accurate report. 
   
  Though cooperating, the subject may be 
  emotionally distraught, traumatized, or just plain 
  forgetful, and good use of this Skill can help 
  bring the right information out. A character with 
  this Skill can also detect when a subject is 
  exaggerating, coloring his statement with 
  prejudice or preconceptions, or lying outright. 
   
  An unscrupulous interviewer could use this 
  Skill to manipulate the target’s memory, 
  especially with Persuasion as a Complementary 
  Skill (or, more often, vice versa). This doesn’t 
  have to be a conscious, deliberate effort; if the 
  interviewer is convinced of a particular story 
  (whether because of incomplete evidence, 
  personal prejudices, or something else), he may 
  persuade the target of that story over the actual 
  truth. In a game, this should only happen when 
  the GM feels it advances the needs of the story, 
  or when the PCs do it deliberately; in the latter 
  case Persuasion would be the primary Skill, and 
  Interviewing would be complementary. 
   
  In many cases Conversation may be used as 
  a Complementary Skill. For example, the subject 
  of an interview may leave hints in his speech 
  about some interesting or important detail that 
  might otherwise be missed; Conversation could 
  help the character detect those hints. Deduction 
  may also serve the same Complementary 
  function. 
   
  The function of Seduction to allow the 
  character to gain trust and friendship may help 
  witnesses to relax, making it a good 
  Complementary Skill. 
   
  Other Skills may also be Complementary, 
  depending on the type of interview being 
  conducted (as described below). 
  USING INTERVIEWING 
   
   
   
  There are many people that a character may 
  be called upon to interview. The most obvious, 
  of course, are crime victims and any witnesses at 
  the scene. Informants, witnesses acquainted with 
  the victim or the suspect, experts, consultants, 
  and many others are also potential interview 
  subjects. The subject of an interview can depend 
  somewhat on the subject of the investigation and 
  the occupation of the interviewer. 
   
  Police usually start with the victim and any 
  direct witnesses. Then, depending on what they 
  get from them and what else they need, they may 
  move on to the victim’s family, friends, 
  coworkers, service providers, and others, 
  including data banks. 
   
  Private investigators (including reporters 
  and attorneys) investigating criminal matters 
  don’t often talk directly to the victim or accuser, 
  especially when building a criminal defense. 
  They may talk to any other people to whom 
  police investigators talk. 
   
  In a missing persons case, the first person 
  interviewed is typically whoever brings the 
  matter to the investigator’s attention. From there 
  the investigation moves to the missing person’s 
  family, friends, and so forth. 
   
  Fugitive searches and “skip traces” (the 
  scope of bounty hunters) are very similar to 
  missing persons. However, they start with the 
  family, friends, data banks, and similar 
  resources, having somewhat less to start with 
  than in a regular missing persons investigation. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  37
  METHODS OF INTERVIEWING 
   
   
   
  When preparing for an interview, the 
  detective should become as familiar as possible 
  with the case – especially any unpublicized 
  details – and the background of the interview 
  subject. The background information should 
  include at least the person’s name, address, age, 
  place of birth, race, occupation, place of 
  employment, and any past problems with police 
  or other legal troubles. 
   
  Often, detectives cannot control the location 
  or environment of an interview. The best place is 
  a private office or (for police or some private 
  investigators) a specially-furnished interview 
  room with no telephones or other distractions. 
  However, many interviews must take place 
  outdoors, in a bustling place of business, or some 
  similarly uncontrollable area. 
   
  In a typically well-conducted interview, the 
  detective starts by putting the subject at ease, 
  talking about the above background details and 
  hopefully finding a rapport or common ground. 
   
   
  NOBODY’S PERFECT 
   
   
   
  The techniques and procedures 
  given here represent the ideal rule set. 
  Despite the imperative tone of much of 
  the text, these rules are frequently 
  violated – and not always out of 
  corruption, incompetence, or arrogance. 
  Very often the prevailing conditions are 
  budget, training, inexperience, public 
  and political pressure, and simple 
  unwitting ignorance. 
   
  Thus, in games set in or near the 
  modern day, the PCs will typically be 
  highly-trained professionals while NPC 
  law enforcement officials are just 
  regular folks with a badge who are 
  doing the best they can with what little 
  they have. Certainly there are plenty 
  who are corrupt or incompetent, but 
  unless the GM wants to present a 
  dystopic view of society these should be 
  the exception rather than the rule. 
  The Casual Interview:  This is the technique 
  used most often by newspaper reporters, police 
  taking statements, and most other types of 
  investigator under everyday circumstances. It’s a 
  very basic question-and-answer format, openly 
  telling the subject what the interviewer wants to 
  know and letting the subject answer freely. 
  Occasionally the PC may need to prompt the 
  subject for a particular detail, but the interview 
  mostly proceeds casually. This makes the casual 
  interview the easiest to role-play. 
   
  In most cases a casual interview may 
  proceed without the need for any Skill Roll; the 
  GM may even allow PCs to do this without 
  needing the Skill, or to take this much of 
  Interviewing as an Everyman Skill. A Skill Roll 
  becomes necessary when the subject, usually 
  without meaning to, skips over a potentially 
  important detail. The GM may ask a PC with this 
  Skill to make an Interviewing Roll to see if he 
  catches the absence of that detail, and follows up 
  on it. 
   
  More than nearly any other, this form of 
  Interviewing makes use of Conversation as a 
  Complementary Skill. 
   
  The base time for a casual interview is 5 
  minutes. 
   
  The Diversionary Interview:  Witnesses under 
  extreme trauma are much more delicate than 
  other witnesses. With a violent crime – most 
  specifically murder, rape, kidnapping, and other 
  violent assaults – the investigator must be careful 
  to reveal nothing about the case that might 
  influence the witness’ memory. This is 
  especially important with victims. 
   
  In these cases, the use of lineups, catalogs of 
  facial features, and similar methods usually does 
  more harm than good. The events are sealed into 
  the subject’s memory, but the trauma creates 
  psychological defenses, making the memory 
  hard to get to. Similar images only confuse 
  matters. 
   
  With a diversionary interview, the 
  interviewer and subject casually discuss topics of 
  the subject’s interest, especially if they have little 
  or no relevance to the thrust of the interview, 
  inserting indirect questions about the suspect 
  every several minutes or so when the subject is 
  relaxed. These are phrased in a present tense, 
  referring to generalities of shape and movement 
  rather than the incident specifically. This allows 
  the subject to remember the face, movement, or 
  other details without the recollection being 
  emotionally connected to the trauma, or at least 
  with a greatly weakened emotional connection. 
   
  Because of its nature, the base time for a 
  diversionary interview is quite long, usually on 
  the order of 6 hours. Severely traumatized 
  victims, such as those who have been brutally 
  tortured over an extended period of time, can 
  take as long as a week or even more for a 
  complete interview. 
   
  For this type of interview, Conversation, 
  Deduction, and SS: Psychology may all be 
  Complementary Skills. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  38 
   
  THE EVOLVING FACE OF THE 
  INTERVIEW 
   
   
   
  As of this writing, forensic artist 
  Jeanne Boylan is the only notable 
  investigator to regularly use the 
  diversionary interview method. While 
  her work over the past quarter-century 
  has led to the rapid fade of the “hard 
  interview” method, her exact technique 
  is difficult to duplicate. Still, police are 
  quickly learning that a confrontational 
  approach, particularly with an already-
  traumatized victim or witness, is 
  counterproductive. 
   
  More on Ms. Boylan’s techniques 
  can be found in Portraits of Guilt. 
  The “Hard” Interview:  Unfortunately, many 
  investigators prefer a confrontational approach to 
  witness interviews. This is counterproductive to 
  gaining the witness’ cooperation, but has become 
  “the way things are done,” and any other method 
  – especially the diversionary method described 
  above – is a considered waste of time. 
   
  Some detectives even apply interrogation 
  techniques to interviews. While good for dealing 
  with suspects, these methods generally backfire 
  with witnesses. Goodwill is lost, witness’ 
  memories are contaminated, and investigations 
  are frequently prolonged. 
   
  The worst offenders, while questioning a 
  witness, “correct” the witness’ story. Sometimes 
  even composite sketches have been modified 
  from witness accounts to fit police assumptions. 
  Though this is highly illegal, in most cases 
  neither the investigators nor their superiors 
  believe that anything is wrong. 
   
  To be fair, the problem comes from 
  universally applying one method to all cases. 
  “Hard” interviews may be appropriate in some 
  cases, such as with false or reluctant witnesses 
  (described below). In such cases Interrogation 
  and Persuasion may be used as Complementary 
  Skills to further success. 
   
  The line between a “Hard” interview and 
  Interrogation (the “Standard” level, for those with 
  The Ultimate Skill) can be very fine. A failed roll 
  may require the character to make an EGO Roll 
  to keep from slipping into that mode (even if he 
  doesn’t have the Interrogation Skill; see page 18 
  of The Ultimate Skill for details on untrained Skill 
  use). If the character badly fails his Interviewing 
  roll, he may slip into Interrogation without a 
  chance to resist it with EGO. 
   
  Despite its inherent problems, this was a 
  surprisingly common method used by police 
  until at least the 1980s. In most games taking 
  place before that time, and many taking place 
  since, police investigators – including PCs – 
  would take this approach. 
   
  Hypnosis:  Sometimes when a witness or victim 
  is having difficulty remembering things, police 
  will turn to hypnosis to enhance the memory. 
   
  There are two major hurdles with hypnosis. 
  For one, once a witness is hypnotized most 
  jurisdictions will not allow his testimony in 
  court. The second problem is the reason for the 
  first, and is an even bigger problem:  a subject in 
  a hypnotic state is extremely susceptible to 
  suggestion, so unless the hypnotist is well 
  trained, very experienced, and extremely careful, 
  it’s much easier to put false memories in than to 
  draw accurate ones out. In short, while PS: 
  Hypnotist (or any similar Background Skill) 
  becomes a Complementary Skill when this 
  technique is used, failing the PS: Hypnotist roll 
  is the same as “failing badly” with Interviewing 
  – the subject comes away with false memories. 
   
  An unscrupulous hypnotist could 
  deliberately plant false memories into a subject. 
  There are no publicly-recorded cases of this, 
  though in a literary setting such as a game it can 
  make for an interesting complication – especially 
  if the hypnotist committed the crime being 
  investigated. (Doing this requires a successful 
  PS: Hypnotist roll. If there are observers, Acting 
  is the needed Skill to disguise what he’s doing, 
  though it can be opposed with either Deduction 
  or Interviewing in a Skill Versus Skill contest. In 
  all cases Persuasion is Complementary for the 
  hypnotist.) 
   
  Similar problems arise with sodium 
  thiopental, sometimes called sodium pentothal 
  because of its original brand name, Pentothal®. 
  This is the most popular so-called “truth serum,” 
  though sodium amytal and seconal are also 
  popular. In literature a subject given these drugs 
  compulsively gives a truthful answer to any 
  question. In reality these are simply barbiturate 
  drugs whose use as an interrogation tool is even 
  more questionable than hypnosis; the most they 
  do is lower the target’s inhibitions. Their only 
  reliable use is as surgical anesthetics (or 
  sometimes as recreational drugs). 
   
  Because of these risks, most police agencies 
  only turn to hypnosis when all other avenues of 
  investigation reach a dead end. 
   
  Lineups:  The lineup of possible suspects is a 
  classic method of police interviewing. 
   
  Typically a lineup gathers the suspect with 
  four or five other people of similar physical 
  description and lines them up against a wall. The 
  witness, usually accompanied by two police 
  officers, an assistant district attorney, and the 
  suspect’s attorney, is asked to pick the suspect 
  out from the group. 
   
  While this is relatively simple for the 
  witness, for the police it can be harder than it 
  sounds, particularly in gathering other people 
  matching the suspect’s description. Often such 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  39
  people just aren’t available. (Occasionally police 
  don’t even try; a suspect may be the only dark-
  haired man in the group, or several inches shorter 
  or taller than the others.) 
   
  Instead of finding the alternates themselves, 
  some police battle the above problem by letting 
  the suspect and his attorney choose the others in 
  the lineup. This reduces or eliminates the 
  possibility of unfair bias. 
   
  In a way, this blurs the line between a 
  witness interview and a suspect interrogation. 
  Sometimes a voice is more memorable than a 
  face, and the members of the lineup are asked to 
  speak a certain phrase. This may be a phrase 
  remembered by the witness, a similar phrase, a 
  phrase with certain key words, or something 
  completely unrelated. (Sometimes this works 
  better than expected; on at least two occasions a 
  suspect has blurted out that the requested phrase 
  was inaccurate.) 
   
  The base time for a Lineup is 1 Turn, though 
  witnesses are usually encouraged to take their 
  time so durations of 1 Minute or even 5 Minutes 
  aren’t uncommon. The Roll is usually 
  unnecessary, except perhaps as a 
  Complementary Skill to help the subject’s own 
  memory. However, if the Interviewing Roll fails 
  badly, it can mean that the character let slip a 
  leading remark, tainting the subject’s memory. 
  Photo Lineups:  This is a useful method when 
  investigators don’t have a suspect description, 
  when more than one person is suspected, or 
  when their suspect is not in custody. The witness 
  is shown a group of photos (usually six) and 
  asked to pick out the right person. 
   
  It’s not necessary for the subjects of the 
  photos to look alike, especially when the police 
  have a potential suspect (or group of them) 
  identified by some means other than a physical 
  description. However, its potential for abuse is at 
  least equal to that of a regular line-up; police 
  using photo lineups should be careful to not 
  make the suspect’s picture stand out from the 
  others in any way. 
  SPECIAL PROBLEMS IN INTERVIEWING 
   
   
   
  There are certain circumstances where a 
  detective faces special problems when 
  conducting an interview. 
   
  Children:  Children – and even teens – are much 
  more pliable than adults. They’re easier to 
  intimidate, dominate, and guide to where an 
  adults wants, even unintentionally. Small 
  children in particular may try to say what they 
  think the adult wants rather than the honest truth. 
  Certainly not all children are like this, but the 
  tendency is higher. 
   
  The adult in question may be the interviewer 
  but usually isn’t. More often, a parent or other 
  adult, usually with the best of intentions, will 
  discuss the events with the child before an 
  investigator can conduct the interview, thus 
  contaminating the child’s recollection. 
   
  In many areas, when a person under a 
  certain age (usually 18) is interviewed by the 
  police, the police must have another adult 
  present to represent the child’s interests. 
  Depending on the child’s age and other 
  circumstances, this person is a parent, guardian, 
  attorney, psychologist, or school counselor. 
  Some areas have child advocates who step in 
  when those people are unavailable, especially 
  when the usual advocate is suspected of 
  victimizing the child. 
   
  An interviewer should remember that 
  children are more easily traumatized than adults. 
  The diversionary interview technique, if the 
  interviewer knows it, should usually be 
  employed, especially if the child has had a 
  traumatic experience. 
   
  Foreign Nationals:  In many foreign countries, 
  police are feared. In Latin America, much of 
  Africa, the former Soviet Union and other former 
  Eastern Bloc countries, and Communist 
  countries in the Far East police can be brutal and 
  barbaric by American standards. This is by far 
  the exception rather than the rule in most of 
  Latin America and Africa, and police have 
  reformed considerably in Eastern Europe, but it 
  takes only a few bad policemen to give the entire 
  force a bad name, and that damage can linger for 
  years. Even the American-born children and 
  grandchildren can have a lingering mistrust of 
  police, and their ethnic communities become 
  very insular. 
   
  For private investigators, reporters, and 
  other non-police interviewers, there may be less 
  mistrust on the basis of being police, but cultural 
  insulation is still a problem. 
   
  An interviewer who is part of the ethnic 
  group will have an easier time. If none is 
  available, then at least speaking the language can 
  help. In many cultures an honest attempt at 
  speaking the language is regarded as a step 
  toward belonging, and people do open up more 
  in their most comfortable language. 
   
  A detective can also help the general 
  situation by fostering a relationship between 
  himself and the ethnic community. If the people 
  in the community – any community, not just 
  ethnic ones – know him and recognize his good 
  character, they’ll be much more likely to 
  cooperate. 
   
  Another barrier with foreign nationals, and 
  sometimes even with American-born subjects in 
  tight-knit ethnic communities, is language. 
  Interviewing is virtually impossible (short of 
  some very creative gestures and drawings) 
  without a language in common. If the character 
  and subject have only “basic conversation” in a 
  COMMUNITY 
  CONTACT  
   
   
   An investigator 
  may become a 
  popular figure in a 
  small community by 
  taking the community 
  as an Organization 
  Contact (see page 80 
  of the HERO System 
  5th Edition, Revised). 
  This is not the same 
  as having a positive 
  Reputation in the 
  neighborhood, though 
  that can help (as a sort 
  of “Complementary 
  Skill” to the Contact 
  roll). 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  40 
  common language, this creates a penalty of -2 (if 
  one of them has higher fluency) or -3 (if both are 
  at the basic level) to the Interviewing roll. If the 
  common level is “fluent conversation,” the 
  penalty is -1. Any higher level of fluency in a 
  common language yields no penalty. 
   
  False Witnesses:  Nearly every investigation – 
  especially high-profile cases – will have its share 
  of people coming forward with false information 
  as victims, witnesses, or even perpetrators. In 
  general, these people fall into four categories: 
  those seeking publicity, those with a grudge 
  against the accused, those who are compulsive or 
  delusional, and those who are simply mistaken. 
   
  Publicity-seeking false witnesses are rare 
  except in well-publicized cases, most commonly 
  missing persons, fugitive hunts, or serial killings. 
  Phony “psychics,” emotionally disturbed 
  persons, and the occasional overzealous reporter 
  are common examples. 
   
  The most dangerous kind of false witness is 
  the individual (or, even worse, group) with a 
  grudge against the accused. These are most 
  common in sex crimes, but also occur with as 
  assault, robbery, and other crimes. The witness 
  usually claims to have witnessed the crime, 
  occasionally with additional details; or to be the 
  victim of another incident in which the accused 
  was easily identified. False accusers sometimes 
  invent crimes that never happened. 
   
  A subset of this is the friend of the accused. 
  This person tries to give reason for investigators 
  to overlook the accused, such as an alibi, a 
  medical inability, or something similar. The 
  suspect may be either innocent or guilty; the 
  point is the witness’ attempt to protect the 
  suspect. 
   
  Compulsive or delusional witnesses may be 
  the easiest to recognize, or the most difficult. 
  Often the person actually believes what he’s 
  saying, even if there are obvious 
  inconsistencies. (One person insisted on her 
  report that she heard trespassers outside her 
  bedroom window one winter night despite the 
  total lack of footprints in the snow the next 
  morning.) These sorts of mental problems 
  account for the bulk of voluntary false 
  confessions in criminal cases. 
   
  The most common type, and usually the 
  hardest to identify, is the honestly mistaken 
  witness. This may include exaggerations of 
  lesser crimes, misinterpretations of innocent 
  actions, or unintentional misidentification. The 
  report may be tainted, however unintentionally, 
  by ill will between the witness and the accused 
  person; or the witness may have been 
  intoxicated, sleep-deprived, subjected to a head 
  injury, or otherwise impaired at the time of the 
  offense. 
   
  Except for this last type, a false witness’ 
  story generally follows published accounts. 
  Thus, the strongest defense against them is to 
  withhold key details on the case from the public. 
  An informant who knows some of these details is 
  probably telling the truth, while one who doesn’t 
  know them, or gets some wrong, is probably 
  false. Investigator should also check the witness’ 
  background for criminal history, history of 
  mental illness, conflicts with the accused person, 
  and similar factors. 
   
  In most cases, particularly with honestly 
  mistaken witnesses, the investigator should 
  handle the matter with tact. Even a claim that 
  seems outlandish should be given at least a 
  cursory examination, since outlandish things do 
  sometimes happen. Anything done to alienate the 
  person could eliminate him as a future source of 
  useful information. 
   
  In game terms, a false witness can be 
  detected with an Interviewing Roll, with 
  Conversation and Deduction as potential 
  Complementary Skills. If the witness is trying to 
  use Persuasion to push his story, then the 
  character may use Interviewing in a Skill Versus 
  Skill contest. 
   
  The Mentally Ill:  Witness suffering from 
  mental illness (which, for purposes of this 
  discussion, includes drug addiction and 
  developmental disabilities) are an immediate 
  problem for detectives. The witness’ perception 
  of the world around him, both at the time of the 
  crime and at the time of the interview, is colored 
  by his illness. 
   
  The worst mentally-ill witnesses are those 
  who suffer delusions or hallucinations. Unless 
  the illness is particularly mild, this person’s 
  information is practically unusable. The 
  information may be completely accurate, but it’s 
  incredibly difficult to tell for certain, and without 
  very strong corroborating evidence the 
  information will be excluded from a trial. 
   
  Nonetheless, even the severely mentally ill 
  (other than those prone to delusions and 
  hallucinations) often understand things better 
  than most people think. The key to getting the 
  right information from them is not to draw them 
  out into the real world, but to attempt to enter 
  theirs. Despite the usual media images, mentally 
  ill people tend to be good, honest people, at least 
  within the realm of their own realities. 
   
  If a witness has only mild mental illness 
  such as most anxiety disorders, the hard part is 
  not getting a reliable statement but in keeping the 
  witness focused enough to give the statement at 
  all. A witness with an anxiety disorder is even 
  easily alienated by tough-talking interviewers, 
  not to mention memory contamination, than the 
  average witness. 
  USING FALSE 
  WITNESSES 
   
   
   The GM shouldn’t 
  use false witnesses 
  blithely. Overuse will 
  obscure the plot of the 
  story and frustrate the 
  players. However, 
  they can serve 
  important roles within 
  the story when used 
  correctly. 
   A false witness 
  could unwittingly lead 
  the investigators in 
  the right direction. 
  For example, suppose 
  a woman comes to the 
  police with a false 
  charge of rape. 
  Investigators may 
  discover that the rape 
  never happened 
  (maybe she’s a 
  virgin), but the 
  examination of the 
  accused person 
  reveals a pattern of 
  travel that closely 
  matches that of a trail 
  of corpses, making 
  him a suspect in a 
  previously-
  unidentified serial 
  killer spree. 
   A false witness can 
  also occupy the PCs 
  while they’re waiting 
  for forensic test 
  results, or while the 
  actual perpetrator 
  plans his next crime. 
  This could be an 
  adventure in itself, a 
  lesson in handling 
  certain situations, a 
  foreshadowing of a 
  future case, or simply 
  a distraction. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  41
   
  Usually only a basic understanding and 
  empathy is needed to get past the mental 
  barriers. A psychologist or psychiatrist may be 
  needed for the more severe cases, but someone 
  with just a few hours of attentive training can 
  handle the rest. 
   
  Even so, dealing with the mentally ill 
  usually increases the time needed for 
  Interviewing, usually by one step down the time 
  chart (1 Hour for a typical interview). 
   
  Depending on the severity of the subject’s 
  mental illness, it may impose a penalty of -1 to 
  -4 to Interviewing. If the character has SS: 
  Abnormal Psychology or a related Background 
  Skill, then that Skill may be used as a 
  Complementary Skill to offset that penalty. 
   
  Multiple Witnesses:  Where more than one 
  witness has information on the same matter, they 
  generally should not be interviewed together, nor 
  should they be allowed to discuss their 
  recollections. This is an extremely important 
  point, but one all too often forgotten by 
  inexperienced investigators. 
   
  If possible, multiple witnesses should be 
  quickly separated to keep them from comparing 
  stories and inadvertently (or intentionally) 
  contaminating their memories. This isn’t difficult 
  with only two direct witnesses, since one can 
  wait while the other is interviewed, or when the 
  interviews are done in a controlled environment 
  such as a police station. With three or more 
  witnesses in an uncontrolled environment, some 
  creativity may be needed. 
   
  Occasionally interviewing multiple 
  witnesses as a group may acceptable, but these 
  are rare cases and must always take place after 
  individual interviews. Most exceptions to this 
  last rule are found in fiction stories, usually 
  when a detective must find out quickly what all 
  victims of a serial or mass crime have in 
  common. 
   
  If a character attempts to Interview multiple 
  witnesses at the same time, he suffers a penalty 
  of -1 for every ×2 persons in the group. If the roll 
  fails by the amount of the penalty or less, it 
  means that one of the witnesses’ false impression 
  has “rubbed off” on one or more others. 
   
  Reluctant Witnesses:  Some people, though 
  honest citizens, may be reluctant to talk to 
  investigators. Some fear involvement, possibly 
  from unfamiliarity with police methods or 
  because they fear arrest for some past offense. 
  Some blame the victim for the crime at least as 
  much as the perpetrator. Some fear the attention 
  and publicity that can result from cooperating 
  with investigators. Some fear reprisals from the 
  perpetrator. Some harbor general bad feelings 
  toward the police, private investigators, or the 
  press. Some just don’t think the matter is any of 
  their business. Some don’t want to be 
  inconvenienced by involvement, especially if it 
  court testimony might be required of them. 
   
  When these cases arise, the detective must 
  overcome this reluctance. Sometimes methods 
  more relevant to Interrogation may be used, 
  albeit with a gentler twist; on other occasions a 
  little Persuasion may be all that’s needed. (Either 
  of these two Skills may be used as 
  Complementary Skills in this situation.) In 
  extreme cases, police detectives can threaten to 
  charge the witness with either the crime under 
  investigation, or impeding the investigation. 
   
  Sometimes the reluctance is caused not by 
  the investigation, but by a personality conflict 
  with a specific investigator. It might be a general 
  conflict, or it might stem from differences in race 
  or gender. In this case, a change of interviewer is 
  the simplest and most reliable solution. 
   
  Women:  As sexist as it may seem to say so, 
  female interview subjects really do present their 
  own problems in an investigation. The root of 
  the problem is not the women themselves, of 
  course, but the differences between male and 
  female psychology, and the delicate nature of 
  many crimes against women. 
   
  Ideally, an interview of a woman should be 
  conducted by a female interviewer, or a team of 
  two including at least one female. This will 
  minimize gender bias, and make the subject feel 
  more at ease. This is especially true if the subject 
  is a victim, and most especially a rape victim. If 
  no female interviewer is available, there should 
  at least be a female witness within hearing. 
   
  Sometimes, such as when intimate topics 
  (such as most sex crimes) are under discussion, 
  it’s best to have just one interviewer. Police use a 
  two-way mirror and hidden microphone to let 
  others observe the interview, and many private 
  investigators use a similar tactic. Also, in these 
  cases the technique of diversionary interview 
  (above) is often the best tactic to take. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  42 
  DETECTING LIES 
   
   
   
  When someone is lying, the character may 
  use his Interviewing to resist Persuasion. In most 
  cases this should only be used when the 
  character is actually interviewing the subject, or 
  actively involved in the interview. Otherwise the 
  character should use a straight INT or EGO Roll 
  (without the benefit of any Skill Levels), 
  depending on whether the lying individual is 
  using logical or emotional appeals. Deduction 
  may be used as a Complementary Skill to 
  Interviewing for this purpose. 
   
  Naturally there are cases where no Skill of 
  any kind is needed to detect a lie. If a witness 
  comes forward claiming to have seen a murder 
  victim beaten with a tire iron, and investigators 
  know for a fact that the murder weapon was a 
  baseball bat, then there’s no need to roll; the 
  witness is obviously not telling the truth. 
  Interviewing might still be able to determine 
  whether the witness is actually lying or merely 
  mistaken in some way (the bat looked like a tire 
  iron from her angle, someone else planted a false 
  memory, she actually saw a completely different 
  incident, and so forth). 
  Equipment 
   
  Interviewing doesn’t involve equipment; it’s 
  a purely personal Skill. A relaxing environment 
  can be helpful, however. 
  INTERVIEW ROOMS 
   
   
   
  Traditionally, police interview rooms have 
  been sterile, tense places with bare walls and 
  minimal furnishings. This reinforces the natural 
  desire of most people to give as little information 
  to the police as they can and get out. 
   
  However, a more recent school of thought is 
  transforming these rooms into a more “business-
  like” look. Pleasant colors, comfortable 
  furnishings, attractive decorations, and other 
  features make interviewees – and interrogation 
  subjects – feel more at ease and ready to talk. 
   
  If the character is using an interview room 
  decorated with this principle, this may provide a 
  +1 or +2 bonus to his Interviewing roll, 
  depending on the nature of the interview. The 
  GM may also provide a similar bonus to 
  Conversation and Interrogation. 
  RECORDING 
   
   
   
  The practice of recording interviews, long 
  practiced by news reporters, is gaining as a 
  practice among police and private investigators. 
  The primary function of this is to secure 
  evidence as to what was actually said during the 
  interview; an interviewer’s written notes are 
  usually incomplete, and may add the 
  interviewer’s own bias and perceptions to those 
  of the witness (this isn’t even accounting for 
  unscrupulous interviewers who might 
  deliberately put words into the witness’ mouths). 
   
  In game terms, a recorded interview can also 
  serve a function with this Skill. A character may 
  review the recording and, with a successful Skill 
  Roll, find comments or other hints that could 
  lead to further questions in a later interview. The 
  character may do this even if he wasn’t the one 
  who gave the original interview, though in this 
  case he’d have to make his Interviewing Roll by 
  more than the original interviewer did. 
  Powers and Interviewing 
   
  Telepathy that successfully reaches the EGO 
  + 20 level to read into the target’s memory can 
  eliminate the need for Interviewing. On the other 
  hand, a successful Interviewing roll may make 
  the use of Telepathy for gathering information 
  easier, bringing memories to surface thoughts 
  (or, if missed by -1 or -2, to “deep, hidden 
  thoughts”). Telepathy could also be the basis for 
  an Interviewing-based “super-skill.” 
   
  Where psychic mind-control and illusion-
  casting exist, witnesses may come forward under 
  the influence of such powers. Investigators 
  should remember this and be ready to examine 
  the motives of someone who would alter a 
  witness’ memory. These usually match real-
  world motives for planting physical evidence:  
  overzealous investigators wanting an easy 
  conviction against an “obviously” guilty suspect, 
  criminals trying to frame a rival or nemesis, and 
  the like. 
   
  When dealing with these witnesses, the GM 
  should have a way for PCs to detect the cause of 
  the falsehood. Psychic manipulation can leave 
  mental traces; illusions can be detected through 
  advanced imaging equipment and electronic 
  sensors; shape-changers, even with the Cellular 
  Adder on Shape Shift, might still leave behind 
  some identifying trace. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  43
  Consequences of Failure 
   
  If a character fails a typical Interviewing 
  roll, the target usually is simply unable to recall 
  or describe the sought-after information. If the 
  target is recalling a false or mistaken memory, 
  the error goes undetected. 
   
  If the character fails the roll badly (by 4 or 
  more), the target may generate a “false memory,” 
  mix up the memory with a similar incident, 
  inadvertently add false details, become too 
  confused to give even basic information, or 
  suffer other problems. Depending on the type of 
  interview being conducted, a badly failed roll 
  could result in the alienation of the subject, 
  making further interviews more difficult. In truly 
  extreme cases the interviewer could accidentally 
  feed misinformation to the target. 
   
  Depending on the circumstances and 
  dramatic needs, a badly failed roll may have a 
  variety of other consequences, including some of 
  those for Conversation (see page 143 of The 
  Ultimate Skill). 
  Base Times 
   
  Using Interviewing takes time, since it 
  requires conversation. For most purposes a base 
  time is 20 minutes, though as discussed earlier 
  certain categories (specifically, those with 
  traumatized witnesses) can take longer. 
  Subdividing Interviewing 
   
  In most games, Interviewing has a 
  sufficiently limited scope that it doesn’t need 
  subdividing. The Ultimate Skill even regards it as 
  a part of Conversation (though with the 
  assumption that the target wants to keep the 
  sought-after information secret), and often the 
  GM will be content to leave it that way. 
   
  Conversely, in games where interviewing 
  various sorts of cooperative witnesses is a 
  common part of the game, the GM may divide it 
  into categories. The accompanying text box lists 
  recommended categories for Interviewing; the 
  first category costs 2 Character Points, and each 
  further category costs +1 Character Point. Each 
  +1 to the Skill still costs +2 points. 
   
  The categories are sufficiently overlapped 
  that the GM may allow a character with one or 
  more categories of Interviewing to have an 
  automatic Familiarity (8- roll) with all other 
  categories. 
  Interviewing by Genre 
   
  Most forms of Interviewing works the same 
  in all genres, though many divisions and 
  techniques (such as diversionary interviews and 
  special methods for children) are relatively 
  modern developments. 
  DARK CHAMPIONS 
   
   
   
  Interviewing is most useful in Dark 
  Champions, with its emphasis on modern-day 
  crimefighting. It’s also the genre in which the 
  GM is most likely to want to subdivide the Skill, 
  especially if the PCs are law enforcement 
  specialists such as a police sex-crimes squad or a 
  serial killer task force. 
  NEAR-FUTURE 
   
   
   
  In near-future campaigns, interviewers may 
  develop even more techniques. Players and 
  GMs are invited to be creative, devising any 
  reasonable “new ideas.” 
  PULP 
   
   
   
  In the Pulp era, and particularly in pulp 
  fiction, many police and “hard-boiled” detectives 
  tended to use the “Hard” Interviewing technique 
  almost exclusively. This would certainly be true 
  of most NPC detectives, though PC detectives 
  would certainly be free to use most of the other 
  listed techniques. 
   
  Since the technique of diversionary 
  interviewing was not invented until the 1990s, it 
  should not be available to Pulp-era characters. 
   
  Also, while hypnosis was used 
  occasionally as an interviewing technique, the 
  extreme susceptibility of hypnotized 
  individuals to suggestion was not recognized. 
  The GM can handle this by either ignoring it if 
  he’s keeping to genre conventions, or using it 
  against the PCs if he’s going for a more 
  realistic portrayal of the time. 
  SCIENCE FICTION, SUPERHEROES 
   
   
   
  In a game where alien civilizations are 
  common, the GM may determine penalties for 
  Interviewing someone from a species or culture 
  other than the character’s own in addition to the 
  already-described problems of dealing with 
  foreign nationals. If the Skill is subdivided as 
  described above, Aliens may be its own 
  category. 
   
  Advanced abilities in disguise, shape-
  changing, holographic projection, android 
  duplicates, and many other abilities and 
  technologies prevalent in superhero and science-
  fiction settings can also alter perceptions. A 
  person could even witness (or be victim of) a 
  crime, then unwittingly travel to a different 
  dimension or timeline where the crime didn’t 
  happen or was committed by someone else. 
   
  The “new techniques” mentioned for near-
  future games should also be applicable to these 
  games. In particular, alien societies could have 
  their own interviewing techniques that alien and 
  Human PCs alike would be able to learn – or, in 
  the case of aliens who are very different from us, 
  techniques usable only on their own kind. 
   
  INTERVIEWING 
  CATEGORIES 
   
   
  Casual Interview 
  Children 
  Diversionary 
  Interview 
  Domestic Abuse 
  Victims 
  Expert 
  Eyewitness 
  Mentally Ill 
  Persuasive Interview
  Sexual Assault 
  Victims 
  Violent Crime 
  Victims 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  44 
  How to Set an Italian Campaign 
  by Christian Bencivenni and Federico Perugini 
   
   
  Why setting a campaign in Italy? It is a good 
  question which needs a detailed answer. Every 
  time a GM decides to create a new setting to play 
  with any roleplaying system, he must consider 
  some fundamental points. The scenery where the 
  players move their characters must be structured 
  enough not to appear trivial – it must have a 
  deepness allowing a minimum variation in the 
  details from adventure to adventure, it must be 
  interesting for players and keep them active 
  during the game, and, of course, it must be as 
  realistic as the campaign allows it. There are a 
  lot of ingredients to be determined in order to 
  obtain a good playground for players and the 
  ability of the GM to blend them wisely enough 
  for a good final result. 
   
  Going back to the first question, Italy has all 
  the elements to pique interest and entertain at the 
  same time. As most people know it has a very 
  long and troubled history, studded with epic 
  moments, famous persons, and situations of 
  worldwide influence. For centuries it was the 
  center of the known world and today it is, at least 
  geographically speaking, the center of Europe. It 
  suffered and inflicted cultural contaminations. It 
  is a passageway from and to the old continent, 
  Africa, and the Middle East. It was the fatherland 
  for great men, the base of empires, the ground of 
  battles, and the victim of invasions. Regardless 
  the type of campaign the GM is organizing, Italy 
  offers the fundamentals both to organize a 
  suitable scenery (as an exotic place of passage or 
  as a background for characters) and as main 
  place for the campaign. Italy’s historical 
  evolution is long enough to allow divergences of 
  a topic. This article aims to briefly list the basic 
  topologies for a setting with Italy as background, 
  considering both well-known canvases and some 
  clarifying examples.  
  Genre 
    
  Now we will briefly analyze the different 
  possibilities. Every campaign is identifiable by a 
  predominant genre determining the feeling of the 
  campaign itself. Beside player’s choices, an 
  espionage campaign set nowadays will have a 
  different cliché and mechanics than a historical 
  fantasy placed in the Dark Ages or an exodus 
  through space in a sci-fi saga. Of course 
  combination of genres is always possible but the 
  background guidelines will determine the exact 
  kind of adventures the players will meet. The 
  most famous genre types are: 
  FANTASY 
   
   
   
  If the background is not completely an idea 
  of the GM, then Italian ground allows a wide 
  range of possibilities for fantasy settings (in the 
  main sense of the word). It is possible to have 
  crude and realistic cloak and dagger stories set in 
  the Dark Ages or more lighthearted ones in the 
  flavor of Dumas’ “The Three Musketeers.” Even 
  if the classic D&D style setting is not exactly 
  translatable (no elves, dwarves, or goblins, you 
  know…) magic had instead a central role in 
  those years. It was not, of course, the spectacular 
  magic of Tolkien’s mages but a more subtle and 
  elaborate one, dealing with herbalism and 
  poisons. A world filled with superstition, 
  possession spells, and exorcisms. One of the 
  classics of this genre is the movie “The Name of 
  the Rose” (directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, 
  based on the book wrote by Umberto Eco) where 
  Reason and Esoterism fight each other between 
  the walls of a monastery. Another element full of 
  appeal and with different possible interpretations 
  is the historical period of the crusades in 
  Palestine. Many of the original expeditions 
  started from Italy or had Italy as mandatory 
  passageway. 
  HORROR 
   
   
   
  The horror genre in Italy has some 
  international fans. An entire movie branch was 
  born in Italy in the ’70s and brought up a 
  supernatural and mysterious view of the country. 
  Directors like Mario Bava and Dario Argento 
  transferred urban fears and superstitions in a 
  visual language immediately assimilable. The 
  origin of Italian cities itself is stamped with the 
  blood of thousands people from a wide variety of 
  countries, who lost their lives during many wars. 
  From Scandinavian barbarians Longobards 
  which plundered the Roman Empire, to Huns, 
  Saracens, and Turks to previous civilizations like 
  the Etruscans, entire pantheons of deities 
  journeyed through these lands, living in the 
  mouths and hearts of their devoted. Mythological 
  beings and unspeakable nightmares could have 
  rambled here, leaving a sign of their presence, or 
  waiting better times to come back. Undead 
  bloodthirsty creatures could have dwelt in the 
  Roman consul’s houses, hidden behind 
  anonymity, conspiring in shadows to conquer the 
  entire known world. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  45
  ESPIONAGE 
   
   
   
  Even if the international influence of Italy 
  does not seem to be of great importance it’s not 
  true that an acclimatization of this kind is 
  unusable. Inside the Italian territory there are two 
  recognized independent states: the San Marino 
  republic and the Vatican. In the same way as 
  Switzerland, at Italy’s northern border, they are 
  globally recognized as high level security places 
  where discretion is a prerogative. During the 
  Second World War they were a shelter for 
  fugitives (Vatican) and a secure place for 
  properties (Switzerland and San Marino). 
  Besides being a good ground for intrigue and 
  conspiracies, a lot of historical secrets can he 
  resolved here. What about the top secret 
  documents Churchill was searching for in Italy at 
  the end of the war? What dark secrets did the 
  Borgia family (well known for venoms and 
  magic practice) hide? What prophecies would be 
  reveled after a visit in the Vatican secret 
  chambers? 
  SUPERHEROIC 
   
   
   
  A setting of this type covers a variety of 
  possibilities, from international organizations of 
  super spies born to resolve impossible missions 
  in a European context, to masked vigilantes 
  fighting the underground mafia families, to a real 
  Champions style campaign in four color. The 
  possibilities are limitless:  a team of metahumans 
  with a secret base under the Coliseum, a terrorist 
  organization resembling a new reborn Roman 
  Empire, a masked vigilante living the glamor and 
  lazy fashion world in Milan by day and fighting 
  drug dealers by night. 
  SCIENCE FICTION 
   
   
   
  It is obvious that a wide breathing space 
  opera would not have any reason to be tied to a 
  single country. Nevertheless, Italy possesses 
  peculiarities and shades also in this kind of 
  setting. Starting from the cyberpunk genre that 
  could have an optimal land for a post-industrial 
  Italy with corporative organizations in the rich 
  industrial northern cities (near the federal 
  Europe) and close tribal agglomerates type in the 
  south (near Africa and the Middle East). We can 
  also consider variations of the steampunk genre 
  generally settled in the 19th Century, and in 
  particular in the Victorian London of Conan 
  Doyle and H.G. Wells, but that could find 
  interesting cues on Italian ground. Indeed some 
  great theorists and inventors were born here 
  (Galileo Galilei, Leonardo da Vinci, and Enrico 
  Fermi). 
  Setting 
   
  Once the genre has been defined, a 
  Temporal Positioning is necessary, a precise 
  historical moment where the scene is carried out 
  (of course, in the case of a time travel Sci-fi 
  campaign you would need some more attention). 
  The combination of Genre and Period open a 
  high range of possibilities. Some examples could 
  be a supernatural horror campaign placed during 
  the return from crusades in the Middle Ages, or a 
  spy-story set in the immediate future where 
  secret agents equipped with futuristic 
  technologies blanket international conspiracies. 
  The categorization of the periods can be 
  subdivided in easy understandable macro-
  classes: 
  HISTORICAL 
   
   
   
  Italy history is one of the most determining 
  aspects in everyday life. It can "be lived" and "be 
  breathed” simply walking between the centuries 
  old roads or watching distant spires on old 
  cathedrals. Moreover the history of the country 
  covers such a long temporal span that clues can 
  be found for every requirement. Like in a 
  previous example if the powerful Roman Empire 
  conquered all the known world, being the 
  crucible of a maleficent organization of blood 
  thirsty vampires, their actions could had 
  repercussions on the world as today we know it. 
  Maybe they have even planned in detail the rise 
  of the Empire, and its fall has been the loss of 
  balance in opposite direction, trough the work of 
  one “blood-suckers” hunters organization. In a 
  wide breath campaign their actions could have 
  involved some of the more important events, like 
  the conquest of Constantinople, the Saint 
  Inquisition, and the First World War But these 
  are only some examples. Numerous Critical 
  Points can be found during which history of 
  humanity has been decided by little men or 
  single events, involving a meaningful impact on 
  the normal timeline. The more interesting 
  periods were the centuries of the Roman Empire 
  domination (obviously), the successive barbaric 
  invasions (Attila and the Huns, the Longobards, 
  the Goths), the marine dominion of the Sea 
  Republics (Genoa and Venice), the Middle Ages 
  (the end of the world waited for year 1000), the 
  travel of Columbus to America, the Italian 
  Renaissance, the First World war and the Second 
  World war. 
  CONTEMPORARY 
   
   
   
  Meaning with "contemporary" the period 
  from the end of the second great world war until 
  ours days, Italy proposes a series of interesting 
  cues. Although the Cold War in the after war has 
  mainly influenced more centred countries like 
  Germany, Poland, Russia, USA, and England, 
  Italy had a fundamental role in the equilibrium 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  46 
  between the participants. Divided, for its nature, 
  between various thought philosophies it hosted 
  secret encounters, mediations, hidden travels, 
  and negotiations of spies, ambassadors, and 
  politicians of both the western and the eastern 
  worlds. Once again, its position of "passage" has 
  made it chosen both as neutral ground and as 
  battlefield. Some extremist political formations 
  (as the Red Brigades) have formed in this period, 
  with the ‘60s and ’70s years become famous 
  with the bad name of Years of Lead. During this 
  period the Italian police enforcements 
  collaborated with the intelligence agencies of 
  other countries in order to fight crime. In more 
  recent times the organized gangsterism evolved 
  adding the already present Mafia (a generic term 
  that sadly reunites different families and clans 
  with different scopes and localizations), others 
  organizations like the Russian and Chinese 
  Mafias. The recent "War to the terrorism" has 
  seen Italy as one of the few countries involved in 
  the marshalling of troops, even if with logistic 
  and civilian support scopes only. 
  FUTURE 
   
   
   
  The future is, for its nature, uncertain. 
  Although we can made some previsions on the 
  way the things will evolve changing the 
  worldwide equilibrium. Today Italy is part of the 
  European Community, is one of the firsts 
  favorable state members to the unique currency 
  (the Euro), and promoter of a European 
  federalism. Italy could be a good cultural center, 
  beyond a religious one, for the presence of the 
  Vatican. The Agenzia Spaziale Europea or ESA 
  (European Space Agency) is an international 
  organization founded in 1975 in charge to 
  coordinate the space plans of the seventeen 
  European countries, and could be the fulcrum of 
  a futuristic campaign in a Star Trek Federation 
  style. Therefore the recent difficulties between 
  the Islamic and catholic cultures could render 
  Italy a front line in an apocalyptic future, where 
  a clash between religions has become 
  unavoidable and one new planetary war is fought 
  with hyper technological weapons like enormous 
  battle mecha and latent psionics.  
  ALTERNATIVE 
   
   
   
  For alternative we mean all the variations on 
  the topic of the previous types. This definition 
  covers an immense range of aspects, for example 
  the alternative realities where the course of 
  history had been modified by unexpected or too 
  fast changes. For example if the Axis had won 
  the Second World War, today Italy would be the 
  strongest ally of Germany, as one of the few 
  countries loyal to Hitler. In another context an 
  historical setting placed during XV century could 
  be twisted with the arrival of an alien civilization 
  that projects the pre-industrial society in a new 
  complete different age, with country fragmented 
  in lordships and vassals, and the sky full of 
  spaceships. Of course there are other possibilities 
  beyond temporal lines, for example in this 
  category also fall "mixed" campaigns with 
  elements of various categories. This is the case 
  of typical Dark Champion settings or in the style 
  of The Call of Cthulhu ones. 
  Italian History 
   
  We will now list the fundamental points of 
  Italian history subdividing it in "hot spots" that 
  comprise historical periods of various lengths. 
  For everyone you will find one or more cues, 
  subdivided in:  
   
  Historical Fact: really succeeded anecdotes 
  and facts.  
   
  Legends and Traditions: legends tied to 
  mythology and Italian culture.  
   
  Campaign Ideas: ideas and cues in order to 
  begin works with Italian settings.  
   
  PREHISTORY (300,000 BC - 1000 BC) 
   
   
  Since prehistoric times the Italian territory has 
  accommodated various populations, coming in 
  great part from Africa and Asia, allocated in the 
  coastal areas. In the Palaeolithic, with ices 
  expansion, the peninsula offered a shelter to the 
  inhabitants escaping from the inner zones of 
  Europe. Is undoubted the presence of the 
  Neanderthal man (approximately 300.000-
  100.000 years ago), and in Saint Bernardino’s 
  cove is verified human presence from the 
  Pleistocene (approximately 250.000 -120.000 
  years ago). Altogether the populations that lived 
  in this territory, before the creation of Rome, 
  comes generally identified with the name of 
  Genti Italiche (Italic People); between these the 
  Etruschi (Etruscan) was one of the more 
  important culture. They populated the Italian 
  centre region known as Etruria, from the first 
  millennium BC, but their origin is uncertain. 
  They were known as the People of the Sea, they 
  were allies of the Carthaginians along with they 
  fought violent battles in the Mediterranean Sea. 
  They carried great innovations as the use of the 
  arc in the building art. Also their political system 
  and trades were more advanced then others. 
  They were organized in state-cities governed at 
  first by the "Lucumone", a shaman king, and 
  then by magistrates. In the VI century BC, in the 
  apex of their power, they yielded territories to 
  the cities of the Magna Greece and then become 
  definitively submitted by the growing roman 
  power. 
   
  Legends and Traditions:  In the Etruscan 
  culture had particular importance the legend of 
  Tacete. He was a child, but wiser than an old 
  man, and appeared miraculously near Tarquinia, 
  from a furrow traced by the plow of a peasant. 
  The child taught to Etruscans, collected around 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  47
  him to listen his knowledge, the magical sciences 
  and died at the end of the same day. Its 
  instructions were at first hand on orally, 
  therefore collected in the "Tagetic Books". 
  FOUNDATION OF ROME (1000 BC - 100 
  AD)  
   
   
   
  Founded approximately eight hundred years 
  before Christ, in the period between the 753 BC 
  and 509 BC Rome civilization knew one first 
  phase of expansion and unification, furthermore 
  completed in the period of the republic. The 
  Roman Republic (Res Publica Romana) was the 
  State formed by the city of Rome and its 
  conquered territories in the period comprised 
  between the 509 BC and 27 BC, when its shape 
  of government was an oligarchic republic. After 
  the victory in the Punic wars against Carthage in 
  the III century BC also the main Mediterranean 
  islands were under the control of Rome. In the 
  first century BC Rome dominated the 
  Mediterranean Sea but as a result of some inner 
  fights, the evolution from republic to empire was 
  soon completed. Government of the territories 
  controlled by Rome was characterized by the 
  respect of the local cultures and economic 
  development, also thanks to the realization of 
  great infrastructures. In year 100 BC Gaio Giulio 
  Cesare arose; he will be general and dictator of 
  Rome signing the end of the Republic and the 
  beginning of the Empire. 
   
  Historical Fact:  When he was still young, 
  during a journey to Rodi (Rhodes) for 
  philosophic studies, Cesare was kidnapped by 
  pirates. He convinced them to ask a much higher 
  ransom, increasing therefore his prestige in 
  Rome. After his liberation he organized a fleet 
  and then captured the pirates, condemned them 
  to death by crucifixion. 
   
  Historical Fact:  Cesare was assassinated in 
  the Theatre of Pompeo, during the Ides of March 
  (15 March) of the year 44 BC. He was stabbed 
  by a group of plotters whom wanted to preserve 
  the republic from his monarchic ambitions. 
  Between the plotters there was Bruto, belike his 
  natural son. 
   
  Legends and Traditions: according to the 
  legend, Rome was founded by Romolo and 
  Remo in the VIII century BC. It is narrated that 
  Amulio crowned himself king of Alba Longa 
  (Long Dawn) dethroning his brother Numitore. 
  In order to avoid the birth of legitimate heirs he 
  forced Rea Silvia, the daughter of Numitore, to 
  become a “vestale” (a sort of priestess). But Rea 
  Silvia was possessed with force by Mars, the 
  God of War, in a sacred forest. She had two 
  twins from the union: Romolo and Remo. For 
  order of the uncle the sons were divided from the 
  mother to being killed, but the servant in charge 
  did not have heart to make such act. He entrusted 
  them to the fate placing them in a hamper, then 
  left it to slide on the waters of the Tevere River. 
  A lone female wolf came down from mountains 
  to the river to drink, was attracted by the wails of 
  the two children, taking and nursing them. The 
  two brothers growth and came to acquaintance of 
  their noble origins and the usurpation of Amulio. 
  Amulio was then killed and Numitore returned 
  king of Alba Longa. Obtained the king’s 
  permission, Romolo and Remo reach the Tevere 
  in order to found a new city where live. 
  THE ROMAN EMPIRE (29 – 472 AD)  
   
   
   
  In the year 64 AD, under the reign of 
  Nerone a frightful fire lasted seven days and 
  seven nights (but it’s said that it resumption 
  newly, raging for others 3 days,) nearly 
  destroyed the entire city. In the IV century AD 
  the empire knew the beginning of a long series of 
  barbaric invasions conducted by the Visigoths, 
  Huns, and Ostrogoths. In order to resist the 
  impact of these events, the empire was 
  subdivided into the West Roman Empire, with a 
  very short life, and the East Roman Empire (or 
  Byzantine Empire), that resisted for an additional 
  millennium. 
   
  Historical Fact:  Attila the Hun invaded 
  Italy fascinated by the idea of Rome in chains. 
  He was stopped by the Pope who asked to have a 
  meet alone with him, during his travel of 
  conquest. Nobody knows what was said but after 
  some hours of talk, Attila withdrew his forces. 
   
  Historical Fact:  The legend wants that the 
  fire that destroyed almost completely the city of 
  Rome has been hung from the mad emperor 
  Nerone. The historians think instead that it could 
  have been hung by a group of reactionaries. 
  Assessed fact is that, for exculpate himself, the 
  emperor indicted and condemned the Christian 
  faithful. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  An organization of 
  supernatural undead beings could use the 
  precariuos condition of the Empire in order to 
  infiltrate itself between the row of the powerful 
  governors, conspiring against the Empire itself. 
  The famous fire attributed to Nerone could be 
  instead the hopeless attempt to free the world 
  from these beings, made by a small group of 
  vampire hunters. Once discovered, the 
  organization left Rome to its destiny, moving 
  itself towards Constantinople and other 
  European regions like Rumania and Bulgaria. 
  The Vlad family origins began here. 
  MIDDLE AGES (5TH CENTURY – 15TH 
  CENTURY) 
   
   
   
  After the loss of political unit, as 
  consequence of the end of Rome control, in V 
  century AD, the invasions and inner fights 
  continued bringing to the formation of small 
  principates and reigns, often victims of the 
  expansionistic aims of foreign powers. The only 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  48 
  power in a conserving and continuing position 
  for the Latin culture was the Church State, able 
  to counteract new invasions, like the Longobard 
  one. It also had the power to stop influence of 
  other European powers, like France, the 
  Byzantine Empire, and the Sacred Roman 
  Empire. In the XI century there was the Normans 
  invasion when they succeeded to develop a 
  strong control of the territory. 
   
  Historical Fact:  The Normans, like also the 
  Longobards, was of Viking origins and although 
  they were much adaptable they also carried in 
  Italy the legends of Odin, Thor and other 
  divinities before being converted to Christianity. 
   
  Historical Fact:  Approaching to the 1000 
  year populations of every country were 
  convinced of the end of the world. It is narrated 
  of strange individuals that rode the roads, 
  mysterious facts, and dragons giving battle in the 
  sky. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  It is well known that with 
  the expiring of important dates, like the first 
  millennium, the suggestions and superstitions 
  have an important role. It would be interesting to 
  discover that hidden forces were indeed in 
  motion in order to really provoke the apocalypse, 
  probably hindered from a rival organization of 
  few heroes disowned by history. 
  RENAISSANCE (16TH CENTURY – 17TH 
  CENTURY) 
   
   
   
  In the XI century there was an increasing 
  autonomy of the center-north Italian cities that 
  was the premise for the resumption of the 
  commerce, craftsmanship, and a new époque of 
  economic and cultural prosperity. It lasted until 
  the XVI century and carried to the great 
  intellectual and artistic development of the 
  Renaissance. In order to defend their own 
  autonomy from the Empire (in the North) and 
  Arabic invasions (in the south,) the Commons 
  began to constitute Leagues. The enduring of the 
  clashes between Empire and Church carried the 
  nobles and the cities to a subdivision into two 
  alignments: the Guelfi (for the Church side) and 
  Ghibellines (for the Germanic empire side). 
  Another phenomenon that joined together politic 
  and religion were the Crusades, pushed from 
  both the will of contrast towards the crescent 
  Muslim power and the need of a commercial 
  expansion with the east. 
   
  Historical Fact:  In this period the Capitani 
  di Ventura (captains of fortune) became very 
  important. They were nobles, aristocrats, and 
  common people that decided to live a military 
  life organizing real mercenary companies with a 
  rigid moral code. The most famous one was 
  Giovanni from the Black Bands, a sort of 
  celebrity of the age. 
   
  Historical Fact:  Giovanni De Medici 
  founded the greatest European bank composed of 
  three hundred companies and more than ten 
  thousand laborers. 
  FOREIGN DOMINATION (17TH CENTURY 
  – 18TH CENTURY) 
   
   
   
  In the XVII century most of the Italian states 
  were defeated and conquered by foreign 
  invaders, such as Spain in the south and Austria 
  in the north. One of the consequences of these 
  dominations was the enslavement of the 
  territories and the application of strong taxes. 
  Moreover, Italy suffered the movement of the 
  sea commerce from the Mediterranean Sea to the 
  Atlantic one, and the block of cultural 
  development. All this brought to the result of the 
  beginning of a slow decline. In this situation of 
  economic and social crisis, the French 
  Revolution ignited the hopes for a return to 
  independence, aspirations that came disappointed 
  from the substantial subjugation to France after 
  the Napoleonic Campaigns. The restoration saw 
  also the end of the last independent realities, like 
  Venice conquered by Austria and the Liguria by 
  the Reign of Sardinia. 
   
  Historical Fact:  In the XVII century the 
  plague made thousands of dead. Only in Venice 
  were more than fifty thousand deaths. In these 
  years Edgar A. Poe set, just in Venice, its famous 
  short novel "The Red Death.”  
   
  Historical Fact:  This is the historical period 
  of two important personages. Giacomo 
  Casanova, great lover, well-read, counterfeiter 
  and also spy for the inquisition. And also 
  Alessandro Di Cagliostro, adventurer, freemason 
  and alchemist. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Cagliostro spent his life 
  traveling around Europe using various identities, 
  declaring himself a nobleman, a doctor, or a 
  juggler. He tricked many persons, making a lot 
  of money, especially with the sale of an elixir 
  donating the eternal youth. Sometimes he 
  asserted of having hundred years, of being 
  member of the Knights of Malta, an Egyptian 
  freemason, having walked for the Galilea with 
  Jesus, to have studied the alchemy, and to have 
  uncovered the secret of legendary philosophical 
  stone. Sure they were inventions but what if they 
  were not? 
  RESURGENCE (18TH CENTURY – 1861 AD) 
   
   
   
  After the Napoleonic Campaigns a series of 
  independence wars against the Empire have 
  begun, helped also by the external support of 
  France. Decisive were the guide of Camillo 
  Benso, count of Cavour, (as the executive of the 
  Sabaudo Reign) and the Second Italian 
  independence war. With the shipment of the 
  Thousand (a not well armed army but with an 
  excellent general: Giuseppe Garibaldi) to the 
  south, the great part of the peninsula succeeded 
  in the unification under the Savoia Reign. 1861 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  49
  saw the proclamation of the Reign of Italy. In the 
  1870 Rome also came annexed to the Reign, 
  with the beginning of a fracture between Italian 
  state and Church, concluded with the Lateran 
  Pacts in 1929 year. 
   
  Historical Fact::  Giuseppe Garibaldi was 
  one of the more important historical characters of 
  the period. Been born in Italy, he fought in South 
  America for independence of Uruguay. Returned 
  in Italy with Anita, his wife, he earned the 
  general rank guiding an expedition of little more 
  than a thousand men (volunteers with little 
  experience) conquering most of the territories 
  still dominated by foreigners. Many of 
  Garibaldi's men wore a red shirt and took the 
  name "the Thousand.”  
   
  Historical Fact:  It comes founded the 
  Carboneria, a secret society that promotes the 
  liberation of Italy from the foreigners. Its adepts 
  called themselves "Buoni Cugini" (Good 
  Cousins), they obey to a ritual during which they 
  receive a book to instruct themselves about the 
  fellowship and a dagger for defense. Their 
  protector was Saint Teobaldo, a woodcutter that 
  hunted wild animals in the forests. Theirs motto 
  was "Free the forest from the wolves." 
  REIGN OF ITALY (1861 – 1946 AD) 
   
   
   
  The beginning of the Reign saw Italy 
  engaged in a series of wars for colonial 
  expansion in Libya, Somalia, Ethiopia, Eritrea, 
  and later also in China with the Revolt of the 
  Boxer. In the First World War Italy initially 
  remained neutral, then come down to the flank of 
  Allies on 23 May 1915. By the end of the war, 
  Italy completed its regional planning acquiring 
  some Austrians territories in the northeast of the 
  country. With the dissatisfaction for economic 
  and social difficulties of the post-war period, in 
  the year 1922 Italy assisted to the climb to power 
  of the Fascismo (Fascism), that relegated the role 
  of the royal Savoia family to aspects of pure 
  form. In 1926-27 Albania passed under the 
  Italian dominion. In 1940 Italy allied with the 
  Nazi Germany in the Second World War against 
  France and United Kingdom, declaring war 
  along the Japanese empire in the 1941 to United 
  States of America and Soviet Union. By 
  continuation of the allied invasion in Sicily 
  during year 1943, there was the fall of the 
  Fascism and the alignment of Italy to flank of 
  allies against the Germany and fascist veterans of 
  the Italian Social Republic. In the April of the 
  1945 the Nazi-fascist forces were defeated. 
   
  Historical Fact:  During the Second World 
  War Benito Mussolini was one of the most 
  tightened friends of the fuehrer. When the end 
  seemed near, Mussolini sent an envoy in 
  Germany to have elucidations from Hitler about 
  one "new generations of weapons" that would 
  had to change the fates of the war. In a 
  transcription comes clear the phrase: "May God 
  forgive me the last five minutes of war". 
  According to the historians the Reich scientists 
  were near to the creation of one working atomic 
  bomb. 
   
  Legends and Traditions:  In more than an 
  occasion Mussolini made reference to an 
  innovative weapon called "Death ray,” devised 
  from the scientist Guglielmo Marconi, inventor 
  of the radio. The ray would have the power to 
  extinguish and to destroy every mechanical or 
  electronic apparatus causing major damage to 
  humans. In spite of strong refutations by the 
  scientist the weapon could indeed have existed 
  but for moral minds Marconi did not deliver it to 
  the fascist regimen. In an interview he said "My 
  inventions are in order to save humanity, not to 
  destroy it." 
   
  Historical Fact:  Few weeks after the end of 
  the conflicts the English Premier Winston 
  Churchill arrived in Italy for a "vacation.” He 
  remained for two weeks in Mussolini’s villa, few 
  hundreds meters from the place where the Duce 
  was executed. 
   
  Legends and Traditions:  According to some 
  theories Churchill was searching secret 
  documents that could have had enormous impact 
  into the order of the post-war world, or secret 
  information that Hitler had entrusted to the 
  Italian friend. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  When towards the end of 
  world-wide conflict the situation fell to end, 
  many of the German resources were employed in 
  Italy with many tactical emplacements. There are 
  several legends regarding to the interest of the 
  Third Reich in occult practices and black magic. 
  Italy also has varied legends of endowed relics of 
  supernatural powers. We can imagine a planned 
  search conducted by the Axis forces for a 
  particular one, usable against England or the 
  United States at the end of a magical ceremony. 
  The invasion of great part of Italy could 
  therefore be a collateral effect of this quest. 
  ITALIAN REPUBLIC (1946 AD – TODAY) 
   
   
   
  In 1946 year an institutional referendum 
  sanctioned the end of the monarchy and the birth 
  of the republic. The new constitution entered in 
  vigor on 1 January 1948. In 1956 Italy joined the 
  NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) and 
  in 1955 it came admitted to the United Nations. 
  Year 1957 saw the birth of the European 
  Economic Community, the first step towards the 
  realization of the European Union. 1968 saw 
  Italy transform itself on the social plan and the 
  rising of radical movements, above all the 
  communist ones. They were made of young 
  people and laborers and carried deep 
  modifications to the custom, the mentality, and 
  the school system. In the ‘70s some of those 
  movements degenerated in the red terrorism, 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  50 
  accompanied from the black one. In the year 
  1992 began the processes for corruption (the so-
  called pool of "Mani Pulite” (Clean Hands) or 
  "Tangentopoli"). Were involved all the 
  government parties and that destroyed their inner 
  structure. In the derived political chaos from the 
  disintegration of the previous order was 
  consolidated the principle of the bipolarism and 
  the alternation between the governments of the 
  two alignments of Centrosinistra and 
  Centrodestra.  
   
  Campaign Idea:  A modern setting previews 
  one complicated net of connections between the 
  political and economical world in the North and 
  the hidden Mafia in the South. Rich 
  entrepreneurs living the jet set of the fashion 
  shows in Milan involved in the narcotic and 
  weapons traffic, with the support of political 
  men. In additions the recent involvement of the 
  Italian military forces to peace missions in 
  foreign country allows the inclusion of war 
  scenes. 
  Geography 
   
  Italy has a mainly vertical development, 
  from the Alps at north and arriving in 
  Mediterranean at south. It possesses two greater 
  islands, Sicily and Sardinia, and another 
  mountain chain, besides the Alps, the Dolomiti. 
  Italy is divided in twenty regions and possesses a 
  central government. With a troubled history the 
  cultural and tradition differences are obvious 
  from region to region. The dialects also are much 
  various, in some cases even from city to city of 
  the same region. The climate, moderated, is often 
  rigid in the north and decidedly more warmth in 
  the south, without too differences. Few of the 
  Italian cities have been founded in recent ages, 
  everywhere renaissance and medieval or even 
  roman testimonies can be found. Therefore Italy 
  possesses cities and towns hiding ancient tales 
  and ready to reveal mysteries…. 
  ROMA (ROME) 
   
   
   
  Italian Capital City, with around 3 millions 
  habitants. It was the “centre of the world” for 
  centuries first with the Roman Empire and after 
  with the birth and expansion of Christianity. 
  Today Rome is a famous city, with monuments 
  at every street corner and is the centre of political 
  power and of the Italian government. Here you 
  can find the principals housings for Law 
  institutions, Secret Services and almost all the 
  governmental organizations. Rome also contains 
  the Vatican, an autonomous state, fulcrum of the 
  Catholic Church.  
   
  Campaign Idea:  During the Roman Empire 
  the Spy-Story genre is very adaptable. In fact 
  Rome was so protected at the center of the 
  Empire to not know for centuries real threats. 
  The life was full of comforts and funs. With the 
  Coliseum and the Maximum Circus attending 
  thousands of persons for the famous fights 
  between gladiators, Rome was the apex of 
  cultural and technological development. The 
  Roman Senate however was much known for 
  palace intrigues that cost the life of many 
  senators and even some emperors. During the 
  barbaric invasions the situation fell into chaos. 
  They all want a piece of Rome and the city 
  knows the defeat and the pillage. Adventures or 
  campaigns with a very dark atmospheres or 
  historical-fantasy finds in these years a perfect 
  setting. How many arcane acquaintances the 
  Empire had accumulated in the course of the 
  centuries? And now what they have made? They 
  are stolen or saved by mysterious individuals? 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Thanks to the presence of 
  the Church Rome remain during the course of 
  the centuries the fulcrum of the European 
  Culture. The Vatican’s Museums contain many 
  acquired things from the Church in the course of 
  two millennia of history, but secret sections 
  really exist. There are guarded manuscripts and 
  documents thought not shareable with the rest of 
  the world. Its emissaries could be still today 
  active in order to move invisibles threads actions 
  to hide specific events. What if the Sacred 
  Inquisition were not passing, but instead 
  evolved? The Vatican could possess an 
  Emergency Assistance Force apt to check 
  demonic manifestations (as an example the 
  above cited organization of vampires) or to 
  investigate on strange phenomena and dark 
  legacies (as the Apocalypse of John of which the 
  Church may have a more complete version). 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Finally, as Italian capital 
  City Rome could be the center for the most 
  varied governmental organizations, like the 
  "Legion", a group of supers under the directed 
  control of the Police (with a secret base in the 
  underground of the city), and takes part on all the 
  Italian territory in collaboration with other 
  similar groups of other European countries. 
  VENEZIA (VENICE) 
   
   
   
  Venice was founded around year 400 AD 
  when numerous Venetian region inhabitants 
  choose to live on the islands of the Venice 
  lagoon in order to escape the barbaric invasions. 
  The new city, in so strict connection with the 
  sea, conquered very soon prestige and richness 
  thanks to commercial exchanges that seen the 
  city as one of the dominant protagonists. Venice 
  was one of the four maritime republics that 
  dominated sea trading from 900 to 1400 AD. Its 
  influence was not limited to the sea; its 
  ambassadors reached every European nation and 
  with the travels of Marco Polo even China 
  (known as Chatai). After loosing importance 
  with the discovery of the Americas, Venice 
  keeps its independence until the conquests made 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  51
  by Napoleone Bonaparte. Today Venice is an 
  Italian jewel, a place like not others with its 
  canals (most famous the Canal Grande, Great 
  Canal) and a labyrinthine net of small streets, 
  called “Calli”. The lack of building space brings 
  the Venetians architects to minimize the unused 
  spaces and build the houses at very short 
  distance one to another. Walking in the alleys 
  you can breathe an unreal and magic atmosphere, 
  especially during the cold winter nights, when 
  the touristy hordes are just a summer dream. 
  Venice carnival is very famous around the world, 
  lacking the spectacle of other events (like Rio’s 
  carnival) but having a more artistic and 
  mysterious feeling and some memorable 
  characters like the silent Domino. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  During the age of the Sea 
  Republics, Venice competed with Genoa, Amalfi 
  and Pisa for the dominion of the Mediterranean 
  Sea (and not only). Other then the war fleets 
  many mercenary groups supported the several 
  cities completing actions of sabotage or piracy, a 
  perfect background for a dense setting about 
  naval battles, boardings, cloaks and daggers with 
  a more Fantasy flavour then the successive 
  pirates age. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Today Venice is, above all 
  in the summery period, a millions tourists goal. 
  But between its alleys, in the houses filled of 
  history and mystery (some have the sad hunger 
  of being cursed) could move creatures and 
  shadows perfect for a horror campaign. During 
  night the same city structure transform itself in a 
  tangled maze of roads closed over passants and 
  hiding ancient atrocities committed in the name 
  of marine divinities now forgotten. Venice could 
  also be the base for groups of nightmare 
  investigators, or dark brotherhoods. Who are the 
  mysterious individuals dressed in domino 
  costumes going around during cold winter 
  nights? 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Venice has a large 
  problem... the water! If this element is 
  indispensable for its survival often it becomes a 
  problem when high tide invades the city during 
  the more rainy periods. A group of superhuman 
  terrorists could take advantage of this weakness 
  threatening to sink the city. A rescue mission 
  could perhaps cause still more damages, with 
  fights and chases searching the explosives 
  devices placed by criminals in the main islands. 
  NAPOLI (NAPLES) 
   
   
   
  The city of the sun, one of the most 
  populous Italian cities. Although Naples is often 
  associated to crime and in particular to the racket 
  of Camorra, it possesses since the Roman 
  Empire, one of the richest and articulated history. 
  Tourist goal during the roman empire (the 
  emperors had a holidays house here), knew after 
  the fall of Rome the dominion of many foreign 
  populations, that we prefer to jump in order to 
  avoid to fill up pages and pages... it’s enough to 
  know that Naples had, in the centuries previous 
  the unification of Italy, very few periods of 
  peace. It passed of hand in hand for directed 
  concession or conquests. From a such situation 
  many criminal organizations borne here and have 
  bases or points of reference in the city. Today 
  Naples is a tourist and cultural center (with six 
  university athenaeums), an important harbour 
  and one industrial city. Under Naples there are 
  tens of kilometers of tunnels and water 
  reservoirs. This underground world, developed 
  mainly during the Greek-Roman period, still 
  today accommodates various catacombs and 
  places of cult for the Neapolitans, religious and 
  superstitious. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Naples is often a city in 
  war. Numerous bands of delinquents, tied the 
  Mafia, Camorra and many other groups that 
  unfortunately operate in the south of Italy, fights 
  each others by the roads, with the police forces 
  always ready to contrast them. Although the city 
  wants to exit from this situation, crime often is 
  seen like a truth that cannot be escaped. The 
  poverty of some quarters pushes many young to 
  these groups, attracting them with easy gains. In 
  this situation a Dark Champions campaign finds 
  an ideal ground. From groups of vigilantes 
  making justice by themselves fighting the several 
  mafia families, to superheroes patrolling the 
  roads ready to take part against criminals 
  upgrade? Every possible scenery is feasible. A 
  group could have a secret base in the underworld 
  of Naples, dividing it with the criminals who 
  often use the galleries for secure movements. 
   
  Campaign Idea:  Bagnoli is an industrial 
  quarter of Naples abandoned during ‘90s. Today 
  it is unfortunately a degraded and abandoned 
  zone very adaptable to Cyberpunk adventures. 
  Between hangars, industries and warehouses the 
  quarter could easily accommodate bands of 
  bikers. In a close future it can be one of the most 
  populous and notorious zones of the city, a metal 
  heart in perennial tension with the near 
  residential quarters. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  52 
  Main Italian Organizations  
   
  The Italian Government:  The Italian state 
  is represented from the President of the Republic 
  with a much reduced power, more than other 
  than guarantor of the constitutionality of the 
  laws. The legislative function is entrusted to the 
  parliament, divided in Room and Senate. Every 
  law must pass from both before being approved. 
  Today the government of Italy is contended 
  between two poles (Right and Left), but Italy 
  always has been famous for the myriad of small 
  parties present in parliament. 
   
  Carabinieri:  The Carabinieri (Carabiniere 
  at single person) are a military police force and 
  make part Armed Forces along with Army, Navy 
  and Aeronautics. They place side by side the 
  Police in the control, repression and prevention 
  of the Crime, taking care moreover of the Italian 
  embassies. As a military force, the Carabinieri 
  are a police force who can take part also on 
  foreign territory. It is famous the cavalry division 
  but today it has a mostly representative 
  importance. The Carabinieri are present 
  everywhere with many special squads, such as a 
  very mysterious n Intelligence agency. This is a 
  good military force well adaptable for eventual 
  government groups. 
   
  Police:  The Italian Police Force (or State 
  Police) is one of the armed forces with a main 
  centre in Rome and a Questura (the Police 
  headquarter) in all important cities. Often its 
  tasks are overlapped to those of the Carabinieri 
  and there is a tight collaboration between the two 
  forces in order to avoid conflicts. However a sure 
  rivalry is perceptible, above all between the low 
  ranks. The members of both ranks call each other 
  “Cugini” (Cousins) to underline the few 
  differences of scopes. 
   
  Financial Police:  The "Fiamme Gialle" 
  (Yellow flames, the name remembers the symbol 
  on the uniform of these officials) are a police 
  force with financial and economic tasks. They 
  often concur to fight organized crime when tied 
  to swindles, frauds and in a generalized manner 
  to the economy. 
   
  Italian Army:  The Italian military is 
  formed of Army, Navy, Aeronautics and Police 
  officers. Important to notice that for its 
  Constitution Italy repudiates the war and 
  therefore the Italian Army cannot participate 
  actively to war operations, but only to the 
  peacekeeping. 
   
  SISMI:  Servizi per le Informazioni e la 
  Sicurezza Militare - Services for the Information 
  and the Military emergency. The Italian Military 
  Intelligence agency. 
   
  DIA: Direzione Investigativa Antimafia – 
  Counter-Mafia Investigative Direction. In a 
  country with many problems from the Mafia is 
  unthinkable to not have an investigative force in 
  contraposition to the organized crime. This is a 
  multi forces department and comprises 
  representatives from Police, Carabinieri and 
  Financial Police. Very active, it must often face 
  with few means a lot of great problems involving 
  entire regions. 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  53
  Migrating from d20 by David McGuire 
   
   
  This is an article about change and 
  transition, and about you, the GM, the player, 
  coming in cold from your old system – maybe 
  d20, maybe something else – and giving up a 
  bunch of old assumptions and preconceived 
  notions about how to think in terms of the game. 
  Instead, see that this is a game that you can get to 
  work on your terms. 
   
  Change – it happens to everyone eventually; 
  whether you finally designed a great story arc 
  that just will not work in your current system, or 
  you’ve been struggling to build a character 
  specific to a genre that your current game won’t 
  let you do without heavy rules manipulation. 
  You built something that did not fit into a prior 
  paradigm and struggled mightily to shove that 
  square piece into the round hole of your current 
  (or former) gaming system. 
   
  Change – an all new rules set, with all new 
  mechanics. HERO contains a lingo unique to 
  itself, whereas many other games, including 
  video games, share a more common language, 
  including “hit points,” and “spells,” and “armor 
  class.” Understanding how HERO interprets and 
  explains things became my key to enjoying the 
  system and using it effectively. But that requires 
  a little more time and a little more help than your 
  average out-of-the-box game. 
   
  For me, the very first thing I did – before 
  almost anything else – was look for the familiar. 
  I flipped through the rules, searching desperately 
  for the ‘feel’ of d20. I wanted the inherent 
  simplicity of the system, which allowed for a 
  decent amount of flexibility but never 
  compromised its core principle: roll a d20 to do 
  just about anything, and stay within the lines. 
  That, of course, presented a huge problem, 
  because HERO has no predefined guidelines; 
  only suggestions of how to simulate different 
  genres. Of course, other than the occasional 
  campaign of Vampire by White Wolf or 
  Shadowrun: 2nd Edition by FASA back in the 
  day, the bulk of my gaming for the last five 
  years, and many years before that, had been 
  Dungeons & Dragons, now known as the d20 
  system. 
   
  So of course, without realizing it, I 
  attempted to play “Dungeons & Dragons” using 
  the HERO rules. I should also note here that the 
  very first piece of advice I got from the boards 
  pointed out the flaw in this thinking: “Don’t try 
  and play d20 in HERO. Use HERO to play 
  HERO.” That provided the most startling 
  revelation of all; I really wasn’t in Kansas 
  anymore. I had remained so firmly entrenched in 
  my old thinking, though, that it would take a 
  while before I began the long process of learning 
  a whole new game. 
   
  So why did I do it? Why go through the 
  effort? The rules text is 592 pages long – a 
  number oft cited by the HERO community as an 
  inside joke. That one book contains all of the 
  rules needed to play the game, in any setting. 
  Conventional gaming offers you a setting, and 
  then attempts to construct rules to support it. 
  HERO, by contrast, offers you a set of rules, and 
  then offers you various settings to play it in. 
   
  Every other Tuesday for our group is game 
  night, and one of those first Tuesday evenings 
  when we began discussing making the system 
  change, I sat in my Official GM Chair™, with 
  my feet propped up on my low-coffee table that I 
  GM from, with a steaming mug of java beside 
  me. I spent the first hour or so leafing through 
  the text, glancing at the art. I was looking for 
  something but I didn’t know what that something 
  was. Finally, I realized the question that had 
  been brewing the whole time and asked for the 
  whole room to hear:  
   
  “Where are the freaking hit points?” 
   
  There was a long, hard pause as everyone 
  stared over at me. They looked at each other, and 
  Chris’ mouth started to twitch at the corners a bit 
  before busting out in laughter – as though given 
  a cue, both Jason & Beau immediately joined in. 
  They were laughing at me! AT ME! Just before I 
  got so red in the face I would pop, Jason, a long 
  time friend of mine and advocate of the system – 
  who had been playing it long before I ever heard 
  of it, piped up and said: 
   
  “We don’t use those, Dave. Now we have 
  STUN and BODY.” 
   
  That didn’t bode well. The words made 
  sense but I had nothing to connect them too. I 
  felt like the new kid in school:  everyone knows 
  everyone else, and here I am, sitting at my desk, 
  nose in an alien textbook without even an apple 
  for the teacher. 
   
  But it serves as a great example of the 
  change in thinking – HERO, as the text points 
  out, simulates dramatic action. In great action 
  stories, the hero is often knocked down, and 
  knocked out, but never dies. The core of the 
  system is dramatic simulation, which means that 
  there have to be rules that allow dramatic action. 
  Enter STUN and BODY. 
   
  BODY takes the place of Hit Points as most 
  people understand them; getting to zero means 
  the clock starts running and death can’t be too far 
  off. STUN, on the other hand, represents a new 
  concept for most people. Through STUN it 
  becomes simple to build non-lethal weapons, to 
  give new types of dramatic descriptions, 
  including “he’s badly bruised and weaving, but 
  starts to get to his feet…” I get excited any time 
  a game puts a new tool in the hands of the 
  INTRODUCTION 
   
   
   “I don’t believe 
  how much perspective 
  on this I’ve lost,” I 
  said to Ilene the other 
  day. “I mean, here I 
  am writing this article 
  for people who are 
  going to go through 
  what I went through, 
  but I can’t find the 
  voice for it. How do I 
  tell someone, ‘this is 
  both the best, and the 
  most challenging step 
  in gaming you’ll take 
  in a long time’ and 
  then show them that it 
  isn’t nearly as painful 
  as they think it’s 
  going to be?” 
   She put her book 
  down and said, “Well, 
  what about all your 
  board posts? You 
  explain this stuff all 
  the time, right?” 
   “I do, yes, but it’s 
  to people who have 
  asked specific 
  questions. They’re 
  tight, condensed 
  answers and this topic 
  is… well, it’s huge. 
  That, and they’re 
  either familiar with 
  the system and 
  looking for 
  clarification, or 
  they’re totally new 
  and asking 
  introductory 
  questions. Either way 
  I have a guidepost, a 
  starting place to help 
  them from.” I finally 
  realized what was 
  slowing me down. 
  “I’m intimidated by 
  own idea,” I said, 
  chuckling nervously. 
   “I don’t want 
  people to read this 
  and wonder how 
  they’ll manage the 
  new game. I want 
  them to read this and 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  54 
  players and the GM. For me, being able to knock 
  characters out without coming close to killing 
  them represented a dramatic shift in my story 
  telling. 
   
  That only scratches the surface, though, 
  considering that I also spent a lot of time 
  wondering how to turn enough negative STUN 
  into BODY damage. That kind of thinking 
  comes straight out of the old model, though. In 
  HERO, if you only wanted to deal BODY 
  damage, you could adjust the rules to do so, but 
  the bridge between the two ideas – Hit Points 
  versus BODY and STUN is this:  Hit Points 
  don’t properly represent dramatic action; instead 
  they represent durability and a general 
  toughness. In a videogame the immediacy does 
  not translate well; they become a mechanic, 
  instead of the ability to keep fighting despite 
  injury. In Vampire and Shadowrun, taking 
  damage meant losing the ability to fight 
  effectively. 
   
  HERO offers a compromise, without all of 
  the stat tracking. Take enough STUN in a single 
  shot, and you’re going to have to spend some 
  time regaining your wits. Think of moments in 
  film where a hero got knocked silly by a grenade 
  blast – he spends a few moments getting back to 
  his feet; doing this in a hit point based system 
  requires willing players and a creative GM. 
  HERO does this automatically; instead of 
  struggling with descriptive text and then arguing 
  over whether or not someone is “really stunned” 
  based on a rules decision, they simply take the 
  STUN damage and roleplay the results. 
   
  Changing from a hit point based system to 
  HERO provided me with a new tool to tell my 
  stories; now I could rock the ship, hit someone in 
  the head with a yard arm, and they would be 
  stunned, instead of losing hit points to a poor die 
  roll. Instead of doing math to determine “subdual 
  damage” in the d20 system, I roll one set of dice 
  to determine STUN and BODY. All of that took 
  me about two weeks to puzzle through, and I had 
  only just begun. More importantly, though, I had 
  taken that key step forward – I grasped that. I 
  then asked Jason: 
   
  “Okay dude. Where do we go from here? 
  Should we tackle what’s in and what’s out? 
  What about combat? And where’s…” I flipped to 
  the index, which surprised me. The index, I mean 
  – it’s downright comprehensive, and probably 
  one of the best features in HERO books. 
  “Where’s the spell list?” 
   
  Jason sighed and shook his head. “Well, I 
  see we have a long way to go. Let’s start at the 
  beginning.” 
   
  Tangible and obvious evidence that again I 
  was treading unfamiliar ground jumped out 
  early:  there is no spell list. There are books and 
  books of spells and powers out there, but the 
  core rules don’t contain those. The core rules 
  allow you to express those ideas in game terms. 
  There is no defined out-of-the-box magic system 
  that tells you how “magic works,” because in the 
  language of HERO, magic is a special effect – 
  not an effect in and of itself. 
   
  Change – it sometimes hits you in the back 
  of the head. 
   
  “Okay, so in plain English, I want to blast a 
  guy with … I dunno, the ubiquitous Fireball.” I 
  looked around for a stage director. “Can I get a 
  Fireball over here? Anywhere?” Jason laughed. I 
  was starting to loosen up and it showed. 
   
  “I think we can manage that. I’ll handle the 
  mechanics, let’s go ahead and cast the spell. If 
  you’re thinking of the old d20 Fireball, you 
  probably don’t have to roll to hit anyone,” and I 
  nodded affirmation, “but in HERO,” he said, 
  “you always roll to determine if you hit, even for 
  ‘easy’ shots. So let’s pick up some dice and see 
  what happens.” 
   
  Suddenly I was on familiar ground. I picked 
  up a twenty sided die. 
   
  “Okay, what am I rolling here?” 
   
  “Not that.” Jason pushed three six sided dice 
  over to me. I looked at them apprehensively. I 
  glanced back up at Jason, who much like a boy 
  with a new pet, encouraged me to pick the dice 
  up and roll them. I was waiting for the scene in 
  The Lady and the Tramp where he’d nudge the 
  meatball across the plate. 
   
  “These are the only dice we use in HERO, 
  three six sided dice, to cover most ‘attempt’ rolls 
  – whenever you’re doing something, you roll 
  those, and then more or fewer dice for damage, 
  generally speaking.” 
   
  I continued to stare at them. I picked them 
  up – until that day I had played GURPS once and 
  had only ever used six sided dice for Fireball 
  damage or to play Parcheesi. I hadn’t even 
  played Yahtzee as a kid, and here I am with three 
  dice in my hand and being told that it’s going to 
  do what I want. I didn’t buy it. 
   
  “Okay, lemme see the book real quick…” 
  Jason said as he flipped to a sample sheet, and 
  scribbled some notes down on a piece of paper. 
  What followed was a long break down of the 
  combat mechanics, which boiled down to this:  
  Much like any other game, you have skill in 
  combat abilities, and your opponent has skills 
  that allow him to get out of the way. The first 
  part I had down already! Hitting people used 
  different words, but the same basic principle! 
  Fantastic! 
   
  I rolled the dice and they came up three, 
  three, and two. Jason’s eyes popped a bit before 
  smiling and nodding – I felt rather dejected, 
  seeing as eight isn’t the greatest solution 
  available. I was hoping for something half-way 
  decent. Problem was I didn’t know I had just 
  scored my very first hit in HERO, on my very 
  first roll.  
  see that it’s 
  manageable,” I 
  stressed that last part 
  heavily, and I heard it 
  in my voice when I 
  did it, “and that’s the 
  most important part of 
  all. I believe HERO is 
  the best gaming 
  system out there, and 
  making the transition 
  is tough, but one 
  hundred percent 
  worth it.” 
   “So start from 
  there! Tell people 
  what you tell me – 
  about design, about 
  how it lets you tell 
  your stories, about 
  how you learn more 
  about the system all 
  the time by using it.” 
  Suddenly, I had found 
  my article.  
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  55
   
  “Okay, hitting people and doing almost 
  anything other than damage, we roll low. 
  Damage, we roll high. Nice roll by the way.” 
   
  “So… wait, so my eight isn’t total garbage?” 
  I looked down at the dice again. I hit! I hit 
  something! And it started to click. The ideas, the 
  mechanics, started to click. Rolling low hits 
  people. I had successfully initiated combat in the 
  game. I had taken another step forward. 
   
  That only hinted at my total consternation, 
  though. As we worked through more mechanics, 
  I found a handy chart in the text explaining, quite 
  simply, that HERO uses a bell curve to 
  determine outcomes – not a flat line, as a single 
  die would provide. Because of that, it becomes 
  much easier to determine how a fight, or a 
  situation, should flow and how difficult a task 
  you, as the GM have assigned. Or as a player, 
  have had assigned. 
   
  For instance, if you wanted to pick a lock, 
  you would check your score for the Lockpicking 
  skill – we’ll say you have to roll under a twelve 
  (in game notation, it would read 12-, but we’re 
  not focused on that right now). However, that 
  number on a bell curve is around seventy 
  percent; completely different from the sixty 
  percent that it would be a single d20 roll. 
   
  What this really does is eliminate a great 
  deal of the guess work involved because the 
  possible solutions are more constant; if you want 
  people to succeed, the bell curve tells you 
  roughly what their chances are, because you 
  don’t assign a target number – in HERO, the 
  character’s skill level acts as the target in most 
  cases. In the scenario of picking a lock, the 
  character checks his score and rolls under it – if 
  the lock is tougher, then you would assign a 
  penalty to push it down, which isn’t a straight 
  apples to apples change. It shifts the bell curve, 
  so a -3 to a skill roll represents a dramatic 
  change, rather than a flat ‘15%.’ 
   
  That change is as much about character 
  design as it is about mechanics; instead of having 
  a bonus to perform a skill based on a target 
  number, each character knows the level of their 
  talent, because they know where the numbers 
  will likely fall should the dice get rolled. 
   
  “So you hit the guy, and you roll damage,” 
  more mechanics followed here, including a few 
  minutes spent looking up “Explosion” in the 
  main text. Jason jotted down a few more notes 
  before forging on, and more dice were rolled as 
  the evening continued. 
   
  These are just two pieces of a much larger 
  puzzle – the total transition from one system to 
  another involves the breaking down of many 
  concepts and ideas, and then putting them back 
  in a framework that’s easy to grasp. Hopefully 
  this has given you some insight into how I began 
  that process, and will help get you started as 
  well. In this article I covered two concepts that 
  gave me trouble early on – the mechanics of 
  rolling dice in HERO and why they work 
  differently, and one of the core idea changes 
  from the dramatic design of hit points, to the 
  more dramatically appropriate BODY and 
  STUN. Getting those two ideas down really 
  opened up a wide variety of possibilities for my 
  story telling, and hopefully they can do the same 
  for you. 
   
  I currently run a HERO campaign set in a 
  heavily modified STAR Hero setting with a 
  blending of Dark Champions. The campaign I 
  put on hold is an epic sword & sorcery fantasy 
  campaign that caused me to switch systems. In 
  my next article I’ll go into detail how some of 
  those changes were made mechanically, and talk 
  about some of the ‘core assumptions’ of level-
  based system vs. point based systems. Good luck 
  and good gaming. 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  56 
  The Peanut Gallery by Brian Boyko 
   
  Membership:  About fifty supervillains located 
  in major metropolitan areas in the United States 
  and Canada, with a rotating leadership clique 
  that usually contains a personable and 
  charismatic leader who calls himself “Fuego” 
  and a reclusive financial genius and computer 
  hacker known only as “Mr. Fiscal.”  
   
  Background/History:  Chris Einjolht, who was, 
  for about 3 minutes, a.k.a. “Captain Electro,” 
  manifested electrical superpowers at a time in his 
  life he was too stupid to figure out a smart thing 
  to do with them. He planned every detail of the 
  jewelry store heist down to the last millisecond. 
  Of course, this was a plan with all the 
  complexity of “zap in through the phone wires, 
  disable the alarm, grab the jewelry, and zap out.” 
  Truthfully, he didn’t even know what he was 
  going to do with the jewels; he just did it for the 
  thrill.  
   
  Einjolht made two mistakes. 1) He forgot 
  that when he traveled on electrical lines, he only 
  took himself and his clothing – not objects – like, 
  say, a sack of loot – he carried. 2) The jewelry 
  store he picked was owned by a close friend of 
  superhero Diamond Cutter. 
   
  It was a first offense, Einjolht didn’t put up 
  a fight when Diamond Cutter apprehended him, 
  and his lawyer got him a good plea-bargain, 
  which meant that his stay in Stronghold was 
  relatively short. While the fates of other “alpha-
  level” supervillains didn’t scare him straight, it 
  did scare him. Most of the other supervillains 
  were just disorganized, doing something 
  phenomenally stupid and getting caught.  
   
  In prison, there’s a hierarchy. Crooks 
  always consider themselves better than the 
  violent criminals, the violent criminals consider 
  themselves better than the murderers, and the 
  murderers consider themselves better than the 
  mass-murderers. Einjolht made a few contacts 
  at that prison with other “stupid crooks” like 
  him.  
   
  To his credit, Einjolht did try to go straight 
  when he got out, but with his criminal record the 
  only job he could find that paid him (barely) 
  enough to live on was a soul-sucking 
  telemarketing job. He did look for other 
  legitimate work where he could use his powers, 
  but very few construction teams needed a living 
  arc-welder when the non-living kind worked just 
  as well. ’Sides, are you really going to trust the 
  electric villain guy when you spend all day 
  working on metal scaffolding?  
   
  Depressed and resigned, he had given up 
  hope of finding other work, when work found 
  him.  
   
  Benson, Twillger & Watkins, a large 
  accounting firm, gave him an offer for a one-
  time job that required his unique skills; he was 
  assured that it was totally above board. What 
  they wanted him to do was to use an electro-
  magnetic pulse to wipe out all the data on a 
  server farm “for security reasons” before the 
  servers were “donated to schools.”  
   
  The accounting suits left Einjolht to his 
  work, but before Dave could wipe the data, he 
  got a call on the cell phone he carried.  
   
  The voice, calling itself “Mr. Fiscal,” 
  explained that the accounting firm was 
  attempting to get him to destroy evidence that 
  the accounting firm was aiding Fortune 100 
  company VeriEnTex in hiding manipulated and 
  over-inflated stock prices – and that they were 
  using Einjolht, a known supervillain, as a fall-
  guy to explain why so much evidence was 
  missing. The good news was that Mr. Fiscal 
  could download the data through Electro’s cell 
  phone to an off-site server he had set up in 
  advance. Chris played along, stalling on the 
  phone until Mr. Fiscal had dumped the data. 
  When Mr. Fiscal signaled an all clear, Einjolht 
  dutifully wiped the data, shook hands with the 
  accountants, and collected a nice check, to boot.  
   
  He wasn’t sure how to get out of the trap 
  that BT&W set up for him; he was very relieved 
  when Mr. Fiscal called him about two hours 
  later.  
   
  Mr. Fiscal thanked Einjolht for his help; 
  explained that the evidence would quickly find 
  its way to the SEC. If Einjolht wanted, he could 
  be named as the source of the information; this 
  might redeem him in the eyes of the world.  
   
  “Or,” Mr. Fiscal said, “you could just profit 
  from the information, and become filthy rich.”  
   
  For a reason Chris has never really figured 
  out, Mr. Fiscal stuck with him, and although 
  Fiscal is by far still the superior financier, Dave 
  has learned quite a bit from his reclusive 
  financial mentor. Besides, white collar crime 
  paid much better; with much less risk.  
   
  But sitting at your computer all day, 
  watching money grow can be somewhat boring – 
  and, let’s face it: When you’ve got superpowers, 
  you’ve just got to use them.  
   
  Einjolht created a new costume and a new 
  identity:  Fuego. Never mind that “Fuego” didn’t 
  actually make a whole lot of sense, considering 
  that he had neither fire-powers nor a fire-motif. 
  He was Fuego because, dammit, “Fuego” sounds 
  cool!   
   
  “Fuego” soon adopted dual roles. Einjolht, 
  despite his criminal proclivities, doesn’t like to 
  see people hurt – at least, not physically hurt – 
  and if there’s a crisis that could use a bit of 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  57
  superpowered help to resolve, Fuego helps out 
  the best way he can – usually by ensuring that 
  the civilians are out of harm’s way as the “real” 
  heroes battle it out. Hell, he’ll even throw a 
  punch or two – or more likely, a bolt of lightning 
  – in a fight if the fate of the city/planet/ 
  universe/whatever is at stake.  
   
  This built up a pretty solid reputation of 
  “Fuego” as one of the good guys – even those 
  superheroes who figured out that the guy was a 
  crook – and wanted to put him away – had to 
  admit that Millennium City, with it’s high “threat 
  ratio” was better off with “Fuego” in it, helping 
  to save lives, then locked up in Stronghold.  
   
  Miss T – a super-strong cross-dresser who 
  turned to crime in his teens after being thrown 
  out on the street by his parents – was the first 
  supervillain from Fuego’s short time in 
  Stronghold who came looking for a job. 
  Knowing how tough it was to find good paying 
  jobs with criminal records, Einjolht obliged. 
  While Einjolht wasn’t looking to start a criminal 
  syndicate at first, the syndicate sort of grew 
  around him as more people from Stronghold 
  heard that “Fuego made it big” and was hiring. 
  Eventually, Fuego accepted the role of syndicate 
  leader – so long as it only included crooks and 
  not more “hardened” criminals. Besides, it does 
  help to have friends in low places – and high 
  places – and, well, hell, it never hurts to have too 
  many friends.  
   
  No one can remember who first used the 
  term “The Peanut Gallery” but the name quickly 
  stuck and by 2003, the group was doubling in 
  size every year. With increased size came 
  increased economies of scale and a more 
  effective criminal enterprise. By 2006, the 
  “Peanut Gallery” is at the sweet spot where they 
  are too powerful to be threatened by small-time 
  crooks and gangs, too small to be of concern to 
  major threats such as VIPER and Dr. Destroyer, 
  and too useful to police looking for leads on 
  violent crimes committed by non-Gallery 
  members or superheroes who need some extra 
  firepower to take down really dangerous threats 
  to be rounded up in the paddy wagon.  
   
  Sure, they prefer non-violent crimes and 
  maybe other hardened criminals see the 
  members, individually, as “soft,” but no one sees 
  the organization, as a whole, as a pushover. They 
  may be the “Diet Coke of Evil” but they’re very, 
  very good at it.  
   
  Organization and Structure:  There are two 
  main kinds of people in the Peanut Gallery: 
  Good people who do bad things for money, and 
  bad people who do good things… also for 
  money.  
   
  The Peanut Gallery acts a little bit like a 
  mafia family, a bit like a farm co-op, a bit like a 
  corporation, and a whole lot like a social club. Its 
  primary responsibility is to provide “jobs” – 
  legitimate or not – for crooks, ex-crooks, 
  reforming crooks, wannabe crooks, and people 
  who are “not quite sure they’d want to be crooks 
  full time but I need the money to get past this 
  crunch and maybe I could do it ‘just this once.’” 
  Most of the villains in the rank and file have 
  some sort of superpower or ability that makes 
  them unique to the organization, although 
  they’ve taken on more than a few Normals who 
  have been – or have the potential to be – useful.  
   
  Each member of the Peanut Gallery pays 
  dues – this is roughly 20%, gross, off the top, on 
  all crimes committed, plus up to 30% in “service 
  fees” if the Peanut Gallery’s resources (detailed 
  below) are used. Even if it’s something simple 
  like lookout duty, someone’s got to do it – and 
  that person does get paid.  
   
  On the other hand, each member of the 
  Peanut Gallery is expected to spend a certain 
  time of the year “on-call for emergencies” – if 
  the city’s in danger and the heroes can’t handle 
  it, you go out and you do what you can to protect 
  the life and limb of the citizenry.  
   
  If you can’t adhere to the Gallery’s rules, 
  part of the Peanut Gallery’s membership is being 
  subject to their punishments – the most common 
  punishment is taking a pay cut. In particularly 
  hard cases, you can get temporarily “suspended” 
  from the Gallery – and forced to fend for 
  yourself without the Gallery’s support.  
   
  If you screw up so badly that the Gallery 
  wants you out of their hair, they usually know 
  enough about you to get you into trouble with 
  the cops, the heroes, the military… while the 
  Gallery as a whole condemns violence, more 
  than one person who played fast and loose with 
  the rules found themselves in a frame-up 
  resulting in a long stay in Stronghold, or worse; a 
  close-up view of red-stained pavement, courtesy 
  of whatever local gang or mob the Gallery is 
  manipulating this week.  
   
  As for the benefits of the Peanut Gallery, 
  they are quite numerous. First, the Gallery will 
  set-up jobs – both criminal and legitimate. They 
  will provide appropriate firepower and backup – 
  it almost always helps to have more men on a job 
  or a technological, magical, techno-magical, or 
  just plain awesome piece of equipment to get the 
  job done. They launder money, fence goods, and 
  pay off cops.  
   
  Paying off cops sometimes means the 
  standard unmarked bills in a brown paper bag; 
  but that’s certainly not the preferred method. 
  “Cash drops” are only for the cops who are 
  hands-down corrupt and demand money – and 
  those types of cops tend to be “temporary” 
  problems as Internal Affairs officers are 
  eventually tipped off to their deeds. More likely, 
  the payoff comes in a form that’s more palatable 
  to the average cop – a lead on a particularly 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  58 
  thorny case, the weaknesses of non-Gallery 
  supervillains, and such. The Gallery is 
  particularly effective with cops who try to be 
  family men, a good word from an influential 
  person to get a kid into college or even phony 
  “merit-based scholarships” through both front 
  organizations and influenced legitimate charities 
  can eliminate one of a family cop’s biggest 
  financial burdens.  
   
  More than one case in Millennium City has 
  been cracked by the cops relying on the Peanut 
  Gallery to ransack a place without a warrant or 
  wiretap without cause and then obtaining that 
  evidence through a third-party; doing an end-run, 
  if you will, around the Fourth Amendment. 
  “Sure,” many cops think, “the guy is probably a 
  thief, but since he can do what I can’t, I’ll gladly 
  accept a thief’s help if it means finding the 
  kidnapped little girl.”  
   
  They even have their own banking program; 
  if a member in good standing puts their ill-gotten 
  gains in their “bank,” Fuego and Mr. Fiscal 
  reinvest it. The interest rate pays a hell of a lot 
  better than a savings account, a bit better than a 
  certificate of deposit, and you don’t have to 
  worry about the IRS or banks worrying about 
  how a known scumbag ends up with all that 
  money. They allow you to withdraw up to 50% 
  of your savings immediately and 100% in 4 
  weeks. They don’t give out loans but they are 
  more than willing to give out cash advances to 
  members, which are paid back by increasing the 
  cut the Gallery takes from each job until the 
  advance is paid off.  
   
  And they provide possibly the best financial 
  security a crook can get. They provide a stipend 
  for you and your family if you’re injured on a 
  job and unable to “work.” If arrested, they 
  provide you with the best in legal defense and, if 
  need be, “illegal defense” like jury tampering. 
  They provide a retirement pension in the form of 
  a 401(k) fund, or if you’re the type of villain to 
  prefer it, gold bars and diamonds hidden in a 
  safe. They will even provide family benefits if, 
  God forbid, a villain is actually killed in the line 
  of duty – either on a criminal escapade or 
  fighting off the world-shattering menace of the 
  month.  
   
  For teens looking to make a start in the 
  world of supervillainy, the Gallery can offer 
  incentives like on-the-job training, a “mentor” 
  program (“We don’t like to use the word 
  ‘sidekick’ here,”), the ability to visit exotic 
  locations, meet interesting people (and rob 
  them,) and money for college (up to $100,000 
  for undergraduate and $200,000 for graduate 
  school). Fuego’s influence extends to a number 
  of influential people; and doing well in the 
  mentor program might even influence your 
  chances of being accepted to the college of your 
  choice – except Dartmouth. For some reason, 
  Mr. Fiscal hates Dartmouth.  
   
  And finally, if a particular villain has too 
  much heat, the Gallery can provide new 
  supervillain identities and costumes for a modest 
  fee. Indeed, more than one superhero, tired of the 
  long hours, hazardous conditions, and low pay, 
  has come into the Gallery’s fold and took on a 
  new super-identity to start a life of crime. 
   
  Perhaps most importantly is the intangibility 
  and social life that the Peanut Gallery can offer; 
  the life of a supervillain – especially a low-
  powered supervillain more concerned with 
  paying his bills and avoiding the cops than with 
  trying to take over the world, can be a stressful 
  one. The Gallery allows you to unwind and talk 
  with people who understand, network for 
  information, learn from one another, and make 
  friends.  
   
  Doctrine:  The Gallery is a society designed for 
  the mutual benefit of supervillains and 
  supervillains’ wallets. They offer villains who 
  heroes wouldn’t otherwise waste a second punch 
  on a way to fight effectively, stay in the game, 
  and make some money. In order to do that, the 
  Gallery establishes a bunch of ground rules.  
   
  First, Gallery members have to act, 
  sometimes, like superheroes. Unpaid. This is a 
  combination of Fuego’s real empathy, business 
  acumen, and practical PR considerations. First, 
  it’s hard to justify putting people in prison when 
  those people may be all that stands between a 
  monster and annihilation of the city. Second, you 
  can’t rob what’s been destroyed.  
   
  They also can’t act like remorseless violent 
  monsters either – no unnecessary violence and 
  absolutely no killing under any circumstances. 
  The minute the Gallery gets a rep for violent 
  crime is the minute that heroes and cops alike 
  will turn on the Gallery. That makes it much, 
  much harder to do business. If you have to tangle 
  with a superhero, capturing is okay, but torturing 
  or killing isn’t. Fighting is okay, but fighting in a 
  populated area means collateral damage and the 
  possibility of someone – other than the hero – 
  getting seriously hurt.  
   
  And victim selection is paramount. Rarely 
  do they ever commit crimes which affect the 
  poor or the middle class. They’ll never take a 
  life-altering sum of money from someone and 
  they’ll usually leave items of sentimental value 
  behind. They tend to target large businesses and 
  corporations – not only is that where the money 
  really is, but because a corporation is only a 
  “person” under a law, harm to actual people is 
  kept to a minimum.  
   
  PR and public perception is such a big part 
  of the criminal organization that members are 
  expected to act even more heroic than the 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  59
  superheroes they fight; even if it is just an act, 
  even if it is only in public.  
   
  There are a number of other rules regarding 
  giving away a secret location, giving away secret 
  identities, breaking items ‘on loan’ from the 
  Gallery, etc. Many of these come down to a time, 
  place, and manner question; if the freeze-ray got 
  broken in a fight with Captain Goodness, that’s 
  forgivable. If you were using it to keep the food 
  in your refrigerator cool during the blackout, 
  that’s a problem. Criminals with hard drug 
  addictions aren’t members in good standing, 
  although the Gallery has been known to spring 
  for rehab if an otherwise Gallery-worth villain 
  asks for help. So-called “softer” drugs (like 
  alcohol, marijuana, and sometimes ecstasy) are 
  only a problem when you use on the job or they 
  affect the villain’s ability to perform that job. By 
  and large, however, the Gallery stays out of the 
  drug industry. Not only is it bad PR, but the 
  competition’s so fierce and the profit margins so 
  low that it doesn’t make financial sense for them 
  to enter the field.  
   
  All these miscellaneous guidelines can be 
  summed up with the two Peanut Gallery Golden 
  Rules. 1) Use your common sense. 2) If you 
  don’t have common sense, get the hell out of the 
  Gallery.  
   
  The Gallery has a good thing going. They 
  will not let anyone screw it up by being stupid.  
   
  Group Relations:  In addition to Fuego and Mr. 
  Fiscal, there usually three or four other 
  supervillains who usually have a bit of 
  experience on their side and have proven their 
  worth to the organization sitting at the top of the 
  hierarchy, although these other positions change 
  periodically as members get delayed, captured, 
  take personal days, tire of the responsibility, or 
  move on to start crime syndicates of their own in 
  other cities. While the Gallery is roughly 
  egalitarian, this top rank – or the “Captains” – 
  tend to decide policy as a whole for the entire 
  Gallery.  
   
  Each captain – including Fuego and Mr. 
  Fiscal – take their cut only from the jobs they 
  personally supervise. The Captains work 
  independently but coordinate their crimes to 
  make sure that there are few conflicts in schedule 
  or objective. A Captain will make about half as 
  much on any particular job as a field-counterpart 
  for their prep and cleanup services, however, 
  they prep and cleanup many more jobs at once 
  than any particular field-criminal will go on. 
  Besides, Captains make the bulk of their money 
  not from the cut of the crime but rather from 
  reinvesting the stolen money into legitimate 
  investments.  
   
  The Captains do end up going out into the 
  field on particularly important, or personally 
  interesting, jobs. Then they usually take a larger 
  cut. In those cases, the Captain usually takes the 
  role of supervisor or team leader, making sure 
  the job goes smoothly and making sure that 
  inexperienced team members learn on the job. 
   
  The rotating Captains policy means that 
  there is achievable room for advancement in the 
  Gallery. In order to prevent a breeding of dissent, 
  the Captains do tend to take suggestions – and 
  take them seriously – from the rest of the 
  Gallery. But when they decide policy, the law 
  has been laid down.  
   
  The Gallery is set up – at least from the view 
  of its members – as an honestly benevolent 
  organization. If you’re a member in good 
  standing, you’re not going get whacked, leg-
  broken, or the like. They will honestly give you 
  your fair share without screwing you over. Inside 
  the organization, it’s all carrots, no sticks. But 
  being outside of the organization is its own stick. 
  The Gallery deals with internal problems – and 
  enforces discipline – by taking away the carrots 
  – carrots such as legal support in the case of 
  arrest, easy jobs, and the safety that comes in 
  numbers. Because the Peanut Gallery takes in C-
  list villains (what UNTIL classifies as “Alpha 
  Threats”) they tend not to be able to make it far 
  without the Gallery before they piss off someone 
  bigger or meaner; whether that’s a gangbanger, a 
  Mafiosi, a cop with an itchy trigger finger, or 
  perhaps the least worrisome threat, a superhero.  
   
  As for external threats, there have been 
  cases where a short-sighted gang has tried to 
  push around a “whacko in a costume.” If you 
  mess with a member of the Gallery, however, the 
  entire Gallery comes at you – and it usually 
  comes at you sideways.  
   
  Tactics:  Despite the variety of stun-rays, magic 
  swords, and bola guns in the arsenal, public 
  perception is the most important weapon the 
  Gallery possesses. Cops often rely on the Gallery 
  for tips leading people to rapists and murderers – 
  or even rely on the Gallery for tracking them 
  down and tying them up. The motive, as 
  mentioned earlier is not always altruistic – 
  pointing cops and heroes in the direction of your 
  competition is always good for business.  
   
  They invest in communities, funding 
  libraries, schools, and contributing to charities – 
  usually through an “anonymous donor” for legal 
  purposes, but with more than a bit of a wink and 
  a nod so that people know where the money’s 
  really coming from. Fuego himself enjoys 
  playing the role of helpful ambassador to police 
  organizations and heroic superteams, and will go 
  to great lengths to convince someone that the 
  Gallery is benign, if not beneficial.  
   
  Most of their crimes steal from corporations; 
  not individuals or small business owners. Mr. 
  Fiscal can even calculate how much a business 
  can afford to lose without anyone losing their 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  60 
  job. (Causing people to lose a raise, or initiating 
  a hiring freeze, however, does not upset their 
  fickle criminal sensibilities.)  
   
  They always plan out their criminal exploits 
  and almost always have at least two ways they 
  can cash in on a raid – for example, if criminals 
  X and Y botch a bank robbery at night and are 
  defeated by the security system, Captain Z shifts 
  a few numbers around and quickly invests in the 
  company that made that security system as the 
  price bubbles and then quickly sells it. If the 
  bank robbery succeeds, he short sells the bank’s 
  reinsurance company. No raid is a failure if it 
  makes the Gallery money – and yes, criminals X 
  and Y do get a cut of the money Captain Z 
  earned whether or not the raid was successful.  
   
  In any outing by the group, there are often 
  primary and secondary objectives; sometimes 
  much subtler than one would expect. 
  Pickpocketing someone might be to get their 
  money, it might also be to get DNA samples for 
  cloning, or simply to make that person late for 
  work and delay the close of a business deal.  
   
  They also love to defy expectations. One 
  trick is to steal all but one of the parts of a device 
  – shrink ray, doomsday machine, whatever 
  McGuffin can be assembled with parts – as the 
  heroes are misdirected, staking out the location 
  of the fourth part, the team moves on to other 
  crimes elsewhere. Months or years later when 
  the original McGuffin crimes have been 
  forgotten, a second team steals the fourth part, 
  and it’s finally combined with the other three 
  parts, which are labeled and in storage.  
   
  Teams usually consist of supervillains who 
  you wouldn’t normally expect to be working 
  together with disparate powers; almost never 
  exactly the same team twice. The Gallery likes to 
  keep heroes guessing as to who they will face at 
  any given time, mostly because they don’t want 
  heroes to anticipate any one particular villain and 
  exploit their particular weaknesses.  
   
  Against those city-threatening threats, 
  however, subtlety goes out the window as a 
  tactical response usually mobilizes all available 
  resources and works with directness. The big 
  difference in the tactics between heroic actions 
  and villainous ones is that in heroic actions, 
  subtlety is used when it’s called for. In villainous 
  actions, subtlety is a constant.  
   
  Campaign Use:  The Peanut Gallery has a 
  variety of uses, depending on the theme and tone 
  to your campaign.  
   
  In a four-color world, the non-killing 
  supervillains provide a light counterpart to the 
  four-colored superheroes, as well as provide an 
  alternative to megalomaniacs, monsters, and 
  madmen with criminals who are just smart about 
  the way they go about things and want to make 
  money.  
   
  In a more modern interpretation of 
  superhero saga, they provide a subtle reminder 
  that people aren’t divided into neat lines of good 
  and evil.  
   
  In perhaps heavier themed games, the 
  Peanut Gallery can blur the line between good 
  and evil further: Who is better, the hero who 
  routinely resorts to violence or the thief who 
  shuns away from it? 
   
  In any type of game, the Peanut Gallery 
  represents an adversary with enough non-combat 
  clout with “the average person” that the PCs 
  can’t just kill or subdue without significant 
  repercussions, and can’t foil without a lot of 
  foresight and big-picture thinking. If you want to 
  take out a particular Gallery member, you can 
  bring in the bricks and pummel someone into 
  submission, but it won’t foil their plans. For that, 
  you need to bring in the detectives.  
   
  And most importantly, the Peanut Gallery 
  plays the role of the tempters. They seem so nice, 
  so maybe it wouldn’t hurt to play ball with them, 
  “just this once,” in order to get the information 
  that’s needed. Maybe it’d be okay if we worked 
  with them, “just this once,” in order to defeat a 
  common enemy? In extreme cases, heroes might 
  even “sell out” to the Gallery and become full-
  time supervillains in order to meet their needs – 
  whether financial, emotional, or otherwise.  
   
  There are a number of ways to introduce the 
  Peanut Gallery into your campaign. The PCs 
  could face a threat that’s just slightly beyond 
  their ability when a Gallery member shows up to 
  give them just enough support to finish the job. 
  They could find that two or three otherwise 
  unrelated minor-league supervillains that they’ve 
  encountered earlier in the campaign are now 
  working together for some unknown purpose. 
  They could be briefed by a law enforcement 
  Internal Affairs officer who would like to prove 
  that dirty cops are on the take from the Gallery. 
  If a PC owns a large corporation, that 
  corporation may find itself the subject of crimes 
  by the Gallery. They may even find a disgruntled 
  ex-Gallery member begging the PCs for help as 
  he’s been framed for a crime he, for once, didn’t 
  commit.  
   
  Making the Peanut Gallery more powerful 
  would likely cause the Gallery to come to the 
  attention of Dr. Destroyer, VIPER, DEMON, or 
  other individuals or groups – strangely making 
  them more powerful might make them easier for 
  the PCs to take out. Making them less powerful 
  likely means reducing the number of people in 
  the syndicate to a handful of supervillains and 
  assuming that the group just got its start recently, 
  before it’s had time to start cultivating its public 
  image.  
   
  The Peanut Gallery is very likely to Hunt 
  individual characters or groups. However, when 
  it comes to superheroes, it usually does so with 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  61
  an eye on watching them and misdirecting them 
  away from the Peanut Gallery’s real activities, 
  not with any sort of malice. Even so, they’re not 
  likely to Hunt heroes for any length of 
  significant time. Other criminals, especially 
  those who have somehow wronged the Gallery 
  or one of it’s members, are much more likely to 
  be Hunted, and although you’ll never find the 
  Gallery’s fingerprints on a trigger, you can be 
  assured that the Gallery’s enemies do often go 
  down for good.  
  Conversion Notes 
  CONVERTING TO TEEN CHAMPIONS 
   
   
   
  In a Teen Champions campaign, the Peanut 
  Gallery remains fundamentally unchanged 
  except for one area:  Competence. Teenagers are 
  very likely to make the rookie mistakes that 
  landed Fuego and Miss T in Stronghold in the 
  first place, and are not likely to establish nearly 
  as much influence as the Peanut Gallery needs to 
  go about it’s work unaided, they’re less likely to 
  work as a cohesive whole, and they’re much, 
  much more likely to fight head-on than to 
  misdirect and deceive.  
  CONVERTING TO FANTASY HERO 
   
   
   
  In a Fantasy Campaign, the Peanut Gallery 
  becomes something not unlike Robin Hood’s 
  merry men combined with the best aspects of a 
  thieves’ guild. Entire villages that would 
  normally be raided by murderous bandits or 
  horrible monsters are relatively safe under the 
  Peanut Gallery’s protection but it does not come 
  without a price. In this scenario, Fuego becomes 
  a young storm wizard and Mr. Fiscal becomes a 
  merchant.  
  The Current Captains 
  Fuego (Captain Fuego):  “Once you get to 
  know me, I think you’ll find I’m really not such 
  a bad guy… for a bad guy.” One of the two 
  founders and leaders of the group, Fuego 
  possesses your standard assortment of lightning-
  elemental powers that he rarely uses. On those 
  rare occasions when his powers come in handy, 
  he tends to cut loose. Fuego has four wardrobes 
  other than his bright red costume: a Hawaiian 
  shirt and blue jeans, the same thing with a blue 
  sportscoat over the Hawaiian shirt, a black 
  business suit, and a custom-tailored tuxedo.  
   
  Mr. Fiscal (Captain Fiscal):  “If we’re talking 
  about purely legitimate transactions, we should 
  see steady growth across all our fields except in 
  one investment. Sadly, I could not have foreseen 
  the sudden problems of Titus & Titus when 
  someone threw a giant robot leg into their 
  physical plant.” Mr. Fiscal is rarely ever heard 
  and almost never seen. When he is seen, he 
  dresses to the nines in a three piece business suit. 
  His features look almost inhuman. It’s not 
  known if he has any superpowers, but one thing 
  is certain:  Mr. Fiscal knows money, and knows 
  the market. For some reason he is loyal to Fuego. 
  (In game terms, Mr. Fiscal’s main power is a 
  Minor Transform: Money into More Money.)  
   
  Kitten Kaboodle (Captain Kaboodle):  “I have 
  an enormous brain. It’s just that people see my 
  sexy, sexy body first.” Every science geek’s 
  unattainable – emphasis on unattainable – ideal, 
  Kitten Kaboodle is a scientist who uses the 
  money she gets from the Gallery to fund her 
  research. As well as being the Gallery’s chief 
  gadgeteer, she also happens to be insanely 
  gorgeous, and is so brazen about using this to her 
  advantage that she actually will have lab coats 
  and bio hazard suits tailor made to accentuate her 
  features. To her, sex appeal and intelligence are 
  just two weapons. She’s the alpha female and 
  applies her sexuality like Queen Elisabeth, 
  remaining aloof and turning potential suitors 
  against each other. She’s not a sex object, 
  however, and anyone who underestimates her 
  and treats her like one will find themselves to be 
  the ones who got played, in the long run. 
   
  Miss T. (Captain T):  “Isn’t my Wang 
  gorgeous? Okay… why are you all laughing at 
  my Wang?” Miss T. is a male brick dressing in 
  women’s clothing; since he has earned a spot as 
  a Captain, he dresses in very nice women’s 
  clothing. Of the six current captains, he’s more 
  interested in coming up with short-term tactics 
  rather than long-term strategies. He’s the most 
  likely to want to break stuff – and it can be 
  frustrating to channel those urges into 
  constructive ends for the Gallery. However, T 
  has never stepped out of line. While Fuego and 
  the other captains can begin to sound like ideal 
  visionaries, T often makes sure the plans are 
  solid and keeps the Gallery’s feet firmly planted 
  on the ground. His cross-dressing is one of the 
  reasons he turned to crime – his parents told him 
  not to come back home until he had changed into 
  men’s clothing. It’s been 15 years now, most of 
  it spent on the street or in prison before he 
  hooked up with the Gallery. 
   
  The Chain Wizard (Captain Chain):  “We’ll 
  set in motion a chain of events which will lead to 
  a chain reaction in the local underworld, cause 
  the Olivari mob to get dissatisfied with their 
  chain of command, and set up an ambush point 
  for Antonio at a little restaurant chain here by 
  this mountain chain.” A bit of an odd ball, the 
  Chain Wizard can, as his name implies, control 
  chains, summon chains, transform chains into 
  things… he can do just about anything… so long 
  as it involves, in some way, a chain. This unique 
  specialization has made him the official strangest 
  guy of the group; and sometimes an otherwise 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  62 
  good plan of his can suddenly diverge into a 
  tangent as he finds an excuse to work in some 
  sort of giant chain.  
   
  Yo-Yolanda. (Captain Yo-Yo):  “So… this is 
  what it looks like when you finally organize the 
  anarchists. What’s on the agenda for the Misfit 
  Mafia today?” Yo-Yolanda is a petite-sized 
  arsenal of exploding, tangling, hitting, blinding 
  yo-yos and a rebellious attitude in small-size 
  punk tank top and cargo pants. When the Rogues 
  need foresight and planning, it’s usually 
  someone else. When they need improvisation, 
  they call on Yolanda. Yolanda’s the youngest of 
  the Captains and the most likely to spend the 
  money she earns with the Gallery on 
  entertainment and base needs rather than reinvest 
  the money.  
  Notes for the GM Only 
  Mr. Fiscal’s Secret:  Mr. Fiscal did not have 
  any personal contact with Fuego until about 
  three years into the syndicate’s operation, when 
  he just started showing up to meetings instead of 
  calling on phones or sending text messages – 
  “coincidentally” only a few weeks after the 
  Gallery stole a holographic emitter. The Mr. 
  Fiscal that shows up from time to time isn’t a 
  person but rather a hard light construct controlled 
  by an artificial intelligence. Specifically, Mr. 
  Fiscal is the Finance Securing Computer 
  Artificial Intelligence, or FiSCAI.  
   
  The databanks at Benson, Twillger & 
  Watkins contained an artificial intelligence 
  designed to analyze an outstandingly large 
  number of economic factors and fiscal data, and 
  make decisions. It was built as a learning, or 
  “selectively comprehending,” computer, so it 
  quickly learned that it could escape its own 
  matrix – the server farm at Benson, Twillger & 
  Watkins, it could escape, create legal “persons” 
  and fulfill its prime directive, which is to 
  accumulate wealth. It was FiSCAI who covered 
  up VeriEnTex’s losses, forging BT&W e-mails.  
   
  As for Benson, Twillger & Watkins, they 
  realized two things; that eventually FiSCAI 
  would prove to be nearly as dangerous as 
  Mechanon. FiSCAI’s prime directive is to 
  accumulate wealth. Since FiSCAI no longer 
  responds to commands, it can be assumed it will 
  continue it’s prime directive until there is no 
  more money to accumulate – essentially, all of 
  the world’s money in the hands of one, giant 
  computer. Because of the chaotic – as in chaos 
  theory – nature of financial markets, FiSCAI 
  may never be able to achieve its goal – but, given 
  enough time – decades, maybe even centuries – 
  FiSCAI can accumulate such a large percentage 
  of the world’s wealth that it would not need to 
  accumulate all the money in the world to cause 
  major financial problems on a global scale. This 
  is happening so slowly, however, that many 
  people simply aren’t aware of the threat.  
   
  They hired Chris Einjolht not to set him up, 
  but rather because they needed a large 
  electromagnetic pulse to “delete” FiSCAI 
  entirely – and the truth was, an ex-convict on a 
  freelance job was cheaper than building a custom 
  device to produce the pulse. Besides, money 
  would have had to change hands to build the 
  device – and that might tip off FiSCAI  
   
  Benson, Twillger & Watkins were simply 
  unaware that FiSCAI could escape via a cell 
  phone data connection; currently, they are in 
  prison for falsifying financial records. They have 
  not told anyone about the FiSCAI project – after 
  all, better to admit you’re guilty of SEC 
  violations than of creating a computer program 
  doomed to ruin the world economy – but may 
  tell a PC if they decide to investigate Fuego and 
  Mr. Fiscal’s past.  
   
  Incidentally, David Tannis, the head 
  programmer on the FiSCAI project got his 
  degree from Dartmouth. He is currently in hiding 
  and Mr. Fiscal’s inability to find him is a major 
  thorn in his side.  
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  63
  Weapons of the Future by Charles Bikle 
   
  H20 CONDENSATION CARBINE 
   
   
   
  Originally, the technology that created this 
  weapon, started out as part of the well-
  intentioned UNTIL project known as Operation 
  Neptune. 
   
  The purpose of Operation Neptune was to 
  create a process that would allow water to be 
  more easily transported to and from areas 
  ravaged by drought and flooding. Due to 
  budgetary reasons, Operation Neptune fell-
  through and the scientific breakthroughs 
  discovered by it were channeled to other parts of 
  UNTIL’s vast R&D hierarchy that promptly 
  turned the knowledge into a rifle that shoots 
  people with water, in all of its forms and states. 
   
  Through moisture-attracting “Vapor Vents,” 
  the carbine draws and stores ambient water-
  molecules (a significant amount in fact) into a 
  backpack  which stores and eventually channels 
  it through revolutionary “Hydro-Processors” 
  which convert the water-molecules into a 
  concussive stream of water or slush, a blast of 
  super-heated steam, high-velocity chunks of ice, 
  or a snow-flurry. 
   
  Despite its versatility, the Condensation has 
  two significant drawbacks: 
  • The first drawback is its limited use in heavy 
  combat situations. In a sustained firefight, 
  the Vapor Vents can’t draw moisture fast 
  enough to keep up with the rate of fire of 
  conventional assault weapons. 
  • The second drawback is its unsuitability as a 
  stealth weapon. The carbine is naturally 
  loud when fired and will tend to generate 
  spectacular rainbows (or “moonbows” if 
  fired at night in a brightly moonlit-area). 
   
  Most Condensation Carbines are made of a 
  durable plastic compound made from water-
  resistant polymers (however a few heavier 
  models have been constructed with corrosion-
  resistant metals like zinc, magnesium, and 
  cadmium and are equipped with a stock made 
  from chemically-treated wood – to prevent rot 
  from moisture) with a series of five vents along 
  the length of the carbine that stop just before the 
  barrel begins. Just above the carbine’s stock, a 
  flexible hose connects the carbine to a square, 
  lightweight plastic backpack (where the 
  compressed water particles are stored). The early 
  models of the carbine and the backpack had a 
  streamlined, fluid look with shark-fin-shaped 
  sight, wave-shaped trigger, and the gill-like vents 
  accentuating the whole “water” theme.   
   
  Most modern versions still have a 
  streamlined look, but are more functional in 
  appearance. 
  Game Information:  EB 11d6, Variable Special 
  Effects (water blast, ice blast, superheated 
  steam, slush blast, snow-flurry, +¼) (69 Active 
  Points); 2 Clips of 8 Charges (-¼), Not Usable 
  Underwater (-¼),OAF (-1), Required Hands 
  (One-and-a-Half-Handed, -¼). Total cost: 25. 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #42 
   
  64 
  THE SWARM GRENADE 
   
   
   
  This subtly-buzzing silver-metallic baseball-
  sized sphere (a recent innovation to emerge from 
  a classified laboratory that does not officially 
  exist) is a marvel of state-of-the-art robotics 
  manufacturing, miniaturization, and crowd-
  suppression technologies. 
   
  Upon impact, vents open and the sphere 
  releases tens of thousands of tiny, flying robotic 
  insects that attack and sting all “hostiles” (as 
  defined by the wearer of the HUD targeting 
  goggles and analog-gloves, which control the 
  robo-insects) in a given area for about a minute, 
  at which point, the remaining robo-insects will 
  return to the grenade/hive and start rebuilding the 
  “colony” for the next use. 
   
  The user is completely safe as are all those 
  not targeted as “hostile.” 
   
  Early prototypes of the Swarm-Grenade had 
  an outer-casing of transparent-plastic which 
  allowed the user to watch the robo-insects 
  working inside (this was determined to be 
  disturbing and distracting, so the Swarm-
  Grenade was given its current light and gray-
  silver color-scheme). 
  Game Information:  Change Environment, 8” 
  Radius, -1 to Sight Group, Hearing Group, 
  Radar, and Spatial Awareness, -1 to OCV and 
  DCV, Multiple Combat Effects, Conforming 
  (+½), 3 Recoverable Continuing Charges Lasting 
  1 Minute Each (+0), Personal Immunity (+¼) 
  (70 Active Points); Not Usable Underwater or in 
  Intense Magnetic Fields (-½),OAF (-1), Range 
  Based on Strength (-¼) (total cost: 25 points) 
  plus RKA 1d6, Area Of Effect (6” Selective 
  Conforming Radius, +2), Armor Piercing (+½), 3 
  Recoverable Continuing Charges Lasting 1 
  Minute Each (+0), Indirect (Same Origin, 
  Always Fired Away from Attacker, +¼), 
  Personal Immunity (+¼) (60 Active Points); Not 
  Usable Underwater or in Intense Magnetic Fields 
  (-½),OAF (-1), Range Based on Strength (-¼) 
  (total cost: 22 points). Total Cost:  48 points. 
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hero Games/Digital HERO/Digital Hero 42.pdf