TEXT:  
   
   
   
   
  MAY 2005
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  In this issue: 
  • Courtrooms 
  Bedroo
  • 
  ms 
  • Animation 
  • Exploration 
  • Variation 
  • Packages 
  • Primates 
  • Powers 
  
   
  the secret special page 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  1 
  DIGITAL HERO 
   
   
  Publisher 
  Hero Games 
  Editor 
  Dave Mattingly 
  Authors 
  Charles Braden 
  D.T. Butchino 
  Bob Greenwade 
  Steven S. Long 
  Dave Mattingly 
  Michael Surbrook 
  Jason Walters 
  Artists 
  D.T. Butchino 
  Kerry Connell 
  Andrew Hale 
  Shawn Richter 
  Cover Artist 
  James Dawsey 
  Online 
  herogames.com 
  To Subscribe 
  herogames.com/ 
  digitalhero 
   
   
  Table of Contents 
   
  HHEERROO  HHIIGGHHWWAAYY  
  WHEN LAST WE LEFT OUR HEROES… 
   
   
  Keep up with the news from Hero Games. 
  This issue –  Dark Champions: The Animated 
  Series livens up your game.  
  2 
  HEROGLYPHS 
   
   
  See how Steve Long himself answers 
  rules questions. This issue – Back to the basics 
  with power building blocks. 
  3 
  YOU GOTTA HAVE CHARACTER 
   
   
  Pytheas might have discovered the New 
  World centuries before Columbus and the 
  Vikings. 
  5 
  LEFTOVER HERO 
   
   
  Scott Bennie’s excellent Villainy Amok 
  book was a bit too long to fit within its 
  actual pages. 
  11 
  RREESSOOUURRCCEE  RROOAADD  
  HOME AWAY FROM HOME 
   
   
  For a new superhero, home is where 
  you hang the cape. Here are some samples 
  for your characters to start out with. 
  27 
  VARIANT HUMAN GENOTYPES 
   
   
  In space, no one can hear you gene-
  splice. These altered human races for Star 
  Hero can apply to multiple genres. 
  30 
  THE WHOLE PACKAGE 
   
   
  Add some of your favorite occult hero 
  types to your [Dark] Champions campaign 
  with these package deals. 
  56 
  SUMMONED MONKEY WARRIORS 
   
   
  Ninja Hero’s John Wa, the Monkey 
  King can summon these monkey warriors 
  to his aid. 
  62 
  BBOONNUUSS  FFEEAATTUURREE  
  CHAMPIONS CROSSWORD 
   
   
  Every now and then, we need an extra 
  page to fill out an issue. So, sharpen those 
  pencils for the Champions Crossword. 
  64 
   
  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 #30 (May 2005) 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  When Last We Left Our Heroes… 
  2 
  by Steven S. Long 
   
   
  This month, we put Dark Champions and 
  Champions in a blender and whip up a little 
  concoction we like to call Dark Champions:  The 
  Animated Series! 
   
  Lots of gamers enjoy the thrills and 
  excitement of Dark Champions crimefighting – 
  but the “realism,” violence, squalor, treachery, 
  and pure vigilantism found in many Dark 
  Champions campaigns isn’t their cup of tea. 
  They’d rather tone the violence down a bit and 
  get away from the “grittiness” so they can have 
  more strangeness, weirdness, and powers in their 
  characters and campaigns. That’s the great thing 
  about the HERO System:  it lets you mix and 
  mingle to create what you want. 
   
  In this case, what you get is Dark 
  Champions: The Animated Series. The 
  “animated series” style of campaign focuses on 
  the less grim side of vigilante crimefighting:  
  caped crusaders with vigilante style but who 
  refuse to kill; low-powered superheroes who 
  fight street crime instead of world-threatening 
  supervillains; “theme” villains with clever 
  costumes and psychotic minds. As the name 
  indicates, the main inspiration for this subgenre 
  is popular cartoons like Batman:  The Animated 
  Series, but you can find plenty of other examples 
  of DC:TAS in the comics and movies. 
   
  Chapter One, Stalking The Night, discusses 
  the “animated series” subgenre in general – how 
  it differs from mainstream Dark Champions and 
  Champions games, the sorts of characters that 
  are appropriate (and how to design them), and 
  how to GM the subgenre. It’s not a long chapter, 
  but it’s packed with useful advice and 
  suggestions, including the Thug Rule and 
  expanded rules for the Deduction Skill. 
   
  Chapter Two, Hudson City Knights, focuses 
  on the first type of DC:TAS campaign:  one in 
  which there are no superpowers per se – the 
  heroes and villains are normal people, albeit 
  well-trained and -equipped ones. Many villains, 
  and more than a few heroes, have a “theme” that 
  influences their costumes, weapons, and 
  activities. Chapter Two includes several NPC 
  heroes and plenty of villains to get the GM 
  started, including Penny Dreadful, Adonis, 
  Anagram, the Missing Link, Raptor, and more. 
   
  Chapter Three, Hudson City Powers, looks 
  at the other type of DC:TAS game:  the low-
  powered (or “street-level”) superheroes game, in 
  which the heroes and villains alike often have 
  minor superhuman abilities – nothing as 
  powerful as what you’d see in a typical 
  Champions campaign, but mighty impressive to 
  the average street punk! It, too, provides some 
  NPC heroes and lots of villains (such as 
  Carnivore, Guillotine, Rhapsody, and 
  Serpentine) for the GM to pit against the intrepid 
  player characters. 
   
  Additionally, Chapters Two and Three have 
  some notes about how to adapt existing 
  Champions and Dark Champions villains to 
  Hudson City Knights and Powers campaigns, 
  respectively. Plenty of existing Hero Games 
  characters like Black Harlequin, Card Shark, 
  Lazer, and Scorpia fit the DC:TAS subgenre just 
  fine with a few tweaks. 
   
  So make sure your utility belt is fully 
  equipped and your swingline’s in good repair – 
  it’s time to stalk the night-dimmed streets with 
  Dark Champions:  The Animated Series! 
  — Steven S. Long 
  HERO System Line Developer 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  HEROglyphs by Steven S. Long 
   
  Taking Advantage 
  BUILDING ABILITIES WITH META-
  POWERS AND ADVANTAGES 
   
   
   
  Long, long ago in a galaxy far, far away – 
  Virginia in 1988, to be precise – Hero Games 
  was busy conceptualizing and working on the 
  fourth edition of the HERO System rules. Since 
  the change from Third to Fourth Edition 
  involved bringing together and harmonizing the 
  rules from various books Hero Games had 
  published during the 1980s, many different 
  proposals for how to present the rules were 
  offered. 
   
  According to what I’ve been told, one of the 
  proposals was to reduce the number of Powers to 
  just four – Attack, Defend, Move, and Sense. 
  Gamers could then “build” the other Powers 
  from previous editions by applying Advantages 
  (or, in some cases, Limitations). This proposal 
  was rejected, and I think rightly so – it has a real 
  potential to cause game balance problems, makes 
  it difficult to define some Powers, and would, I 
  believe, make the HERO System harder for most 
  people to learn. Nevertheless, it’s an intriguing 
  idea, so in this column I’m going to explore it 
  briefly, using Attack Powers and Movement 
  Powers as an example. Instead of a slew of 
  Powers covering those two categories, under this 
  scheme, there would be two Powers – Attack and 
  Move – with defined rules, and gamers would 
  then apply Advantages to alter how those Powers 
  work. 
  3 
   
  Of course, there are other ways to approach 
  this type of design. you could use all of the 5th 
  Edition Power categories – Adjustment, Attack, 
  Body-Affecting, and so on – instead of just 
  Attack, Defend, Move, Sense. This is just a short 
  experiment, not elaborately explored or 
  playtested, and so not necessarily how I’d end up 
  doing such a rules system for publication... but 
  that’s part of the fun of this column. ;) 
  ATTACK 
   
   
  Type:  Attack Power 
  Duration:  Instant 
  Target:  Target’s DCV 
  Range:  5” x Active Points 
  Costs END:  Yes 
  Cost:  5 Character Points for every 1d6 of Attack 
   
  This Power allows a character to attack at 
  Range, doing Normal Damage. The character 
  must define the special effects of his Attack and 
  whether Physical Defense or Energy Defense 
  protects against it. 
   
  The following Power Modifiers apply to 
  customize Attack to simulate various Powers: 
  Darkness (+0 or +1):  Attack does not inflict 
  damage, but instead blocks one Sense Group in a 
  1” radius – +0 for a Nontargeting Sense Group, 
  +1 for a Targeting Sense Group – and becomes a 
  Constant Power. Each additional Targeting 
  Sense Group is an additional +½ Advantage; 
  each additional Nontargeting Sense Group is an 
  additional + Advantage; each doubling of the 
  radius affected (2”, 3-4”, 5-8”, and so on) is a 
  +¼ Advantage. 
  Dispel (-½):  Attack does not inflict damage; it 
  must achieve a total Effect Roll equal to or 
  greater than the Active Points in a target power 
  to stop that power from functioning altogether. 
  Drain (+1):  Attack reduces any one 
  Characteristic or Power (defined when Power is 
  bought), applies against Power Defense, and has 
  No Range. 
  Ego Attack (+1):  Attack becomes a Mental 
  Power (i.e., its Range becomes Line Of Sight, it 
  applies against Mental Defense, and so forth) 
  and only inflicts STUN damage. 
  Energy Blast (+0):  No changes. 
  Entangle (+1):  Attack does not inflict damage, 
  it restrains the target. The restraint has 1d6 of 
  BODY and 1 DEF. 
  Flash (-½, +0):  Attack does not inflict damage. 
  Instead, it temporarily blinds one Sense Group:  -
  ½ for a Nontargeting Sense Group, +0 for a 
  Targeting Sense Group. Each additional 
  Targeting Sense Group is an additional +½ 
  Advantage; each additional Nontargeting Sense 
  Group is an additional +¼ Advantage 
  Hand-To-Hand Attack (-½):  Attack still 
  inflicts Normal Damage. It has No Range, but 
  the dice purchased add to the character’s Normal 
  Damage from STR provided he’s able to inflict 
  at least ½d6 damage with STR alone. 
  Images (+½, +1½):  Attack does not inflict 
  damage, but instead creates images that affect 
  one Sense Group in a 1” radius – +½ for a 
  Nontargeting Sense Group, +½ for a Targeting 
  Sense Group – and becomes a Constant Power. 
  Each additional Targeting Sense Group is an 
  additional +½ Advantage; each additional 
  Nontargeting Sense Group is an additional +¼ 
  Advantage; each doubling of the radius affected 
  (2”, 3-4”, 5-8”, and so on) is a +¼ Advantage. 
  PER Roll modifiers cost additional Character 
  Points as usual, and all Advantages apply to 
  them. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Killing Attack, Hand-To-Hand (+2):  Attack 
  inflicts Killing Damage instead of Normal 
  Damage. It has No Range. The character can use 
  his STR to increase the damage done by HKA, 
  but unlike Hand-To-Hand Attack a character can 
  still use his HKA at its base damage even if he 
  can’t or won’t use his STR. 
  4 
  Killing Attack, Ranged (+2):  Attack inflicts 
  Killing Damage instead of Normal Damage. 
  Mental Illusions (+1):  Attack becomes a 
  Mental Power (i.e., its Range becomes Line Of 
  Sight, it applies against Mental Defense, and so 
  forth) and creates illusions in the target’s mind 
  instead of inflicting damage. 
  Mind Control (+1):  Attack becomes a Mental 
  Power (i.e., its Range becomes Line Of Sight, it 
  applies against Mental Defense, and so forth) 
  and allows a character to take control of the 
  target’s mind. 
  Suppress (+1½):  Attack reduces any one 
  Characteristic or Power (defined when Power is 
  bought), applies against Power Defense, and 
  becomes Constant. 
  Telekinesis (+0):  Attack becomes, in effect, 
  STR usable at Range (though it does not add to 
  the character’s regular STR), with 3 STR for 
  every 1d6 Normal Damage that Attack would do, 
  and gains some “Indirect” properties. 
  Transfer (+2):  Attack reduces any one of 
  target’s Characteristic or Power (defined when 
  Power is bought), increases any one of 
  character’s Characteristics or Powers (defined 
  when Power is bought) by the same amount, 
  applies against Power Defense, and has No 
  Range. 
  Transform (+0, +1, +2):  Attack alters target in 
  some way – +0 for Cosmetic, +1 for Minor, +2 
  for Major. 
  MOVE 
   
   
  Type:  Movement Power 
  Duration:  Constant 
  Target:  Self 
  Range:  Self 
  Costs END:  Yes 
  Cost:  2 Character Points for every 1” of Move 
   
  This Power allows a character to move from 
  place to place in some manner. As a default, the 
  character can move in all three dimensions. The 
  following Power Modifiers apply to customize 
  Move to simulate various Powers: 
  Extra-Dimensional Movement (N/A):  
  Although it’s technically a Movement Power, 
  Extra-Dimensional Movement doesn’t relate 
  well to the other Movement Powers for purposes 
  of this rules structure. It would need to be 
  created as a separate Power (thus illustrating one 
  of the drawbacks of the “four Powers plus 
  Advantages” approach – not everything fits 
  neatly into that framework). 
  Faster-Than-Light (FTL) Travel (N/A):  
  Again, FTL Travel doesn’t work very well with 
  this arrangement. After the base 10 Character 
  Points are paid, every 2 Character Points spent 
  double the FTL speed. 
  Flight (+0):  The character can move through the 
  air. 
  Gliding (-½):  The character can move through 
  the air, but subject to the rules for Gliding (he 
  can rarely gain altitude, has to descend as he 
  moves forward, and so forth). However, Gliding 
  costs no END. 
  Leaping (+0):  The character can leap through 
  the air, over things, and the like; he can add his 
  base inches of Leaping (typically 2”) to the 
  inches purchased. 
  Running (+0):  The character can only move 
  along the ground, but can add his base inches of 
  Running (typically 6”) to the inches purchased. 
  Swimming (-¾):  The character can only move 
  through the water, but can add his base inches of 
  Swimming (typically 2”) to the inches 
  purchased. 
  Swinging (-1):  The character can move through 
  the air, but only by using some sort of 
  “swingline” that restricts his movement path. 
  Teleportation (+0):  The character can move 
  from one point to another without crossing the 
  intervening physical space. He has no velocity 
  and thus cannot perform Move Bys/Throughs or 
  the like, and Noncombat Movement works 
  slightly differently for this form of movement. 
  Tunneling (-½):  The character can move in 
  three dimensions, but only through the ground or 
  other solid substances of 1 DEF or less. Every +1 
  DEF costs 3 Character Points in addition to the 
  cost of the inches; the Tunneling Limitation and 
  some other Limitations cannot be applied to 
  these extra points.  
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  5 
  You Gotta Have Character by Jason Walters 
  ANCIENT GREEK 
  WEAPONS AND 
  ARMOR  
   
   
   Composite Bow:  
  The ancient Greeks 
  took great pride in 
  their bows, which 
  they carried in special 
  combination holsters 
  on their sides that also 
  held their arrows. 
  They were made of 
  three distinct 
  materials. The bow’s 
  core consists of five 
  pieces of laminated 
  wood:  a central grip, 
  two arms, and two 
  tips with nocks for 
  bowstrings. Once the 
  pieces were glued 
  together, a timber 
  skeleton was steamed 
  into the bow’s curve. 
  Finally, strips of 
  compressible horn 
  were glued to the 
  belly of the bow. A 
  typical bow of this 
  type could take up to 
  six months to 
  complete.   
   Hoplon:  A large 
  oblong bronze-faced 
  shield with an 
  armband rather than a 
  handgrip (although a 
  cord was looped 
  round the inside of the
  shield for grasping 
  purposes), it protected 
  a warrior’s body from 
  his nose to his knee 
  and fitted around the 
  body in a concave 
  shape.  
   Kamax:  This five-
  foot long spear could 
  be used either one- or 
  two-handed. It’s leaf 
  shaped, unbarbed 
  bronze head was 
  mounted on a sturdy 
  ash shaft that ended in 
  a “butt spike” so that 
  it could be planted in 
   
   
  “Any fool can make history, but it takes 
  a genius to write it.” — Oscar Wilde 
   
   
  The bow of the ship rose up and 
  down like a furious horse trying to 
  break free from its master. Within its 
  meager timbers sailors scurried 
  desperately this way and that tying 
  down lines, lashing bales of supplies 
  into place, and erecting the protective 
  tent that ran across the entire length of 
  the craft. Men who were far more used 
  to the temperate climes of the 
  Mediterranean than the frigid 
  temperatures of the northern seas, they 
  understandably wanted to be ready 
  when it started:  freezing sleet that 
  would rake across the small craft like 
  countless arrows launched from the 
  bows of those tiny people that the 
  Kassiterides so fervently believed in.  
   
  Of course, the Kassiterides spent a 
  lot of their time carving boulders into 
  giant stone phalluses, so it was a little 
  hard to take them completely seriously. 
   
  Pytheas was scribbling furiously on 
  one of his scrolls as he manipulated the 
  strange instruments that he used to 
  guide us on our equally strange voyage. 
  He seemed oblivious to the coming 
  squall as well the desperate preparations 
  of the ship’s sailors. Typical. 
   
  “Pytheas!” I yelled into his ear as 
  the wind whipped about us, “The ship 
  can’t survive another storm like the last 
  one! She just isn’t designed to stay 
  upright in this kind of weather with this 
  much cargo weighing her down.” 
   
  In our hold lay almost a ton of 
  refined tin that we’d traded with the 
  Kassiterides. Valuable stuff; if we all 
  made it home we would be wealthy 
  men. Unfortunately, that was looking 
  increasingly like a very big “if.” 
   
  “The Thulians say that if we 
  continue going this way,” he yelled 
  back at me as he pointed in a seemingly 
  random direction, “that we shall reach 
  the northernmost land at the top of the 
  world. Once we discover it we can set 
  up a base that will allow us to travel 
  anywhere in the globe in a fraction of 
  the time! Then we can turn Massalia 
  into the richest city on earth!” 
   
  “Globe my grandfather’s toga! The 
  Thulians worship trees and kill each 
  other with stone hatchets! Sages and  
  philosophers they are most certainly 
  not. What we are going to do is fall off 
  the edge of the world if we don’t turn 
  back!” 
   
  Pytheas shook his head sadly. 
   
  “How many times must I tell you 
  Herodotus; the world is not flat. It is 
  shaped like an orange, not a map! Have 
  our travels not taught you at least this 
  much?” 
   
  I had to admit that the sage-
  navigator had been right so far. The 
  days had been getting longer even as 
  they’d grown steadily colder; just as he 
  predicted. We hadn’t gotten lost yet on 
  our voyage either; again, just as he’d 
  predicted. But I still didn’t believe a 
  word of it down in my bones. Any day 
  we were going to get pulled off the edge 
  of the world by monstrous tides and 
  consumed by equally monstrous 
  serpents. I could just tell. 
   
  I actually smiled at the thought. It 
  was, after all, more appealing than 
  freezing to death. 
   
  “Land ho!” screamed Thermodon, 
  interrupting my thoughts as he pointed 
  at the horizon in front of us. Pytheas 
  had been right again. A sheer wall of 
  black and forbidding cliffs practically 
  leapt out of the sea ahead, snow covered 
  and terrible in their majesty. Still, a 
  stretch of ice-filled dangerous water lay 
  between this “farthest northern” land 
  and us. I wasn’t at all certain that we 
  had any chance of actually reaching it, 
  but if we did and it were full of yet 
  more foul smelling, red haired, tattoo-
  covered giants insisting that there was 
  yet another nation a few weeks further 
  north…. well, hitting Pytheas over the 
  head and heading back to the 
  Mediterranean seemed like the best 
  course of action. 
   
  The sage-navigator was looking at 
  me smugly. 
   
  “This land looks yet even more 
  hospitable than the last few wind-swept 
  rocks inhabited by heavily armed 
  barbarians we stopped at.” I snapped at 
  him. “With any luck a Cyclops will 
  emerge from his cave with a healthy 
  appetite for Greek bookworms and 
  spare us yet another month of freezing 
  our sandals off.” 
                                                             
  artwork by Kerry Connell 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  6 
  the ground to receive 
  a cavalry charge.   
   Xiphos:  A slashing 
  weapon worn slung 
  from a baldric over 
  the right shoulder, this
  weapon was more 
  generally known as a 
  “hoplite sword” after 
  the heavily armored 
  soldiers that favored 
  them (hopla means 
  heavy defensive 
  armor). It had a long 
  straight blade that 
  tapered slightly from 
  the hilt to the point. 
  Xiphos were made 
  from high quality, 
  twice tempered 
  polished carbon steel 
  and carried in 
  ornately decorated 
  scabbards.  
   
  THE KYRENIA 
   
   
   Pytheas’ ship is a 
  narrow beamed, 
  single-masted trading 
  vessel some fifty feet 
  in length named the 
  Kyrenia. Its single 
  square sail measures 
  some 64 square yards 
  and hangs from a 
  single beam attached 
  to the top of the mast. 
  Although a shallow 
  keeled vessel isn’t 
  made to withstand 
  serious Atlantic 
  storms, it does well 
  enough in calm 
  weather or mild 
  squalls. Lacking any 
  sort of cabin, the 
  ship’s passengers and 
  crew sleep under a 
  long tent that is 
  stretched from stem to 
  stern at night or in 
  foul weather. In still 
  weather or when in 
  port, six oars can be 
  deployed to row the 
  ship. The Kyrenia is  
   
  Pytheas just smiled at me for 
  a moment. Then he gazed 
  northward at the newest 
  unknown land to be stumbled 
  across, fingering a scroll case as 
  he thought about all the 
  wonderful notes he would soon 
  be taking. I sighed to myself. For 
  this, I fought for the great King 
  Philip of Macedon at the battle of 
  Tessaglia? Both the old man and 
  his brat son Alexander would be 
  laughing themselves sick if they 
  could see me right now. 
   
  The ancient Greeks believed in a semi-
  mythical northern people whom they 
  referred to as Hyperboreans. This race was 
  believed to live beyond the rule of Boreas, 
  god of the North Wind. A happy people, the 
  Hyperboreans were believed to be immune 
  to disease, famine, and even mortality. 
  “With shining laurel wreaths about their 
  locks of hair,” wrote the ancient poet Pindar, 
  “they hold feasts out of sheer joy. Illness 
  cannot touch them, nor is death foreordained 
  for this exalted race.” But at least one man 
  wasn’t content to sit by the fire listening to 
  tall tales of the far north. The geographer, 
  explorer, and merchant Pytheas decided to 
  gain more tangible knowledge of the region 
  by organizing an expedition. In 350 BC, he 
  left his home city of Massalia (now 
  Marseille), slipped past the Phoenician 
  blockade on the Straits of Gibraltar, and 
  headed north along the western coast of 
  what is now France. Stopping along the way 
  to learn Gallic from the people he 
  encountered, he then continued on to Wales, 
  Scotland, Scandinavia, Germany, and 
  possibly Iceland. He recorded his many 
  astute observations on the weather, people, 
  animals, and navigational problems he 
  encountered along  
  the way in a now  
  lost work entitled  
  On the Ocean.  
  Pytheas 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  7 
  steered by a stern 
  mounted rudder that 
  must be manned by a 
  sailor at all times. The 
  ship has a crew of a 
  dozen men. 
  PYTHEAS 
  QUOTES  
   
   
    “The name of the 
  enterprising sailor, 
  Pytheas, has come 
  down to us. He 
  appears to the 
  imagination, a solitary 
  figure framed in light, 
  as if a gate had swung 
  open between the 
  Pillars of Hercules 
  toward the western 
  world.” 
  — Isabel Paterson,
  The God of the
  Machine
   “Having come to 
  her barbaric shores 
  from civilized lands, 
  having traveled all 
  over her on foot, it is 
  fair to say that he 
  indeed was the true 
  discoverer of Britain.” 
  — Sire Clement
  Markham, Pytheas,
  Discoverer of Britain
   “Most people argue 
  that it was the 
  Norseman, Leif 
  Erickson, or the 
  Genoese, Christopher 
  Columbus, who 
  should be given credit 
  for first probing the 
  shores of the “new 
  world.” But perhaps it 
  was a much earlier 
  explorer – many, 
  many centuries earlier 
  – named Pytheas who 
  deserves the honor. 
  We do not know. But 
  we do know, 
  categorically, that 
  Pytheas, the intrepid 
  Greek sailor and 
  navigator from 
  Pytheas 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   13 STR 
  3 12- 150 kg; 2½d6 HTH [1] 
   14 DEX 
  12 12- OCV:  5/DCV:  5(7) 
   18 CON 
  16 13-  
   15 BODY 
  10 12-  
   18 INT 
  8 13- PER Roll:  13- 
   14 EGO 
  8 12- ECV:  5 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11-  
   
   
  7 PD 
  4 
   Total:  7 PD (0 rPD) 
   
  6 ED 
  2 
   Total:  6 ED (0 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  6 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  7 REC 
  0 
   
   40 END 
  2 
   
   35 STUN 
  4 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  80 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2½”/5” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost  Powers 
  END 
   
  3 +1” Running, +1” Swimming 
  1 
   
   Perks 
   
  6 The Kyrenia  
   
   Talents 
   
  3 Bump of Direction 
   
   Skills 
   
  2 +1 with Composite Bow 
   
  2 +1 with Kamax 
   
  2 +1 with Xiphos 
   
   
  3 Conversation 12- 
   
  3 Deduction 13- 
   
  3 High Society 12- 
   
  5 Navigation (Land, Marine) 14- 
   
  3 Persuasion 12- 
   
  4 Survival (Arctic/Subarctic, Arctic/ 
  Subarctic Coasts, Arctic/Subarctic 
  Forests, Marine) 13- 
   
  2 TF: Small Rowed Boats, Small Wind-
  Powered Boats 
   
  3 Trading 12- 
   
  3 WF: Blades, Bows, Polearms, and Spears 
   
  3 Linguist 
   
  0 1) Language: Greek (Native)  
   
  1 2) Language: Celtic (Conversation)  
   
  4 3) Language: Gallic (Idiomatic, Literate)  
   
  1 4) Language: Phoenician (Conversation)  
   
  1 5) Language: Scandinavian (Conversation) 
   
   
   
  3 Scientist 
   
  2 1) SS: Astronomy 13- 
   
  3 2) SS: Geography 14- 
   
  2 3) SS: Natural Science 13- 
   
  3 Traveler 
   
  2 1) AK: British Coastline 13- 
   
  2 2) AK: Iberian Peninsula 13- 
   
  2 3) AK: Massalia (Marseille) 13- 
   
  2 4) AK: Mysterious Thule 13- 
   
  2 5) AK: Western Europe 13- 
  Total Powers & Skills Cost:  80 
  Total Cost:  160 
  100+ Disadvantages 
   10 Hunted:  The Phoenicians 8- (Mo Pow, 
  NCI, Limited Area, Mild) 
   
  5 Money:  Poor 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Obsessively 
  Curious (Common, Strong) 
   10 Reputation:  Crazy, Unreliable Explorer, 
  11- 
   10 Unluck:  2d6 
  Total Disadvantage Points:  160 
   
  The Kyrenia 
   Val Char Cost Notes 
   
  6 SIZE 
  30 4”x 2”; -6” KB 
   40 STR 
  0 Lift 6 tons; 8d6 HTH [0] 
   10 DEX 
  0 OCV:  3/DCV:  0 
   16 BODY 
  0 
   
  3 DEF 
  2 Does Not Protect Some 
  Occupants (-¼) 
   
  3 SPD 
  10 Phases:  4, 8, 12 
  Total Characteristics Cost:  42 
  Movement: Ground: 
  0”/0” 
   
   
  Sailing: 
  5”/10” 
   
   
  Rowing: 
  4”/8” 
  Abilities & Equipment 
   
  Cost Propulsion Systems 
  END 
   
  1 Sailed Watercraft:  Swimming +3” 
  (5” Total); Surface Only (-1), Sailed 
  (-1), OAF (Sails, -1), Limited 
  Maneuverability (-¼), Cannot Move 
  Backwards (-¼)  
  1 
   
  1 Rowed Watercraft:  Swimming +2” 
  (4” Total); Surface Only (-1), OAF 
  (Oars, -1), Costs Endurance (Rowers’ 
  END, -½), Increased Endurance (3x  
   
   END, -1), Limited Maneuverability (-¼) 3 
   -12 Water Vehicle:  Ground Movement -6” 
  (0” Total)  
  Total Ability & Equipment Cost:  -10 
  Total Vehicle Cost:  32 
  Total Cost:  32/5 = 6 
  Weapon 
  Damage STR Min Shots
  Composite Bow 
  1½d6 
  9 
  10r
  Kamax 
  1½d6 
  10 
  Xiphos 
  1d6+1 
  12 
  Shield   
  DCV 
  BODY 
  DEF
  Hoplon 
  +2 
  4 
  5  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  8 
  Massalia, deserves to 
  join the ranks of 
  Columbus, Erickson 
  and the other great 
  explorers of history. 
  As for many of us, we 
  are convinced that 
  Pytheas traveled to 
  the edge of the “new 
  world” during the 
  time of Alexander the 
  Great!” 
  — Barry Cunliffe,
  The Extraordinary
  Voyage of Pytheas the
  Greek
   
  PYTHEAS PLOT 
  SEEDS 
   
   
   An Age of Heroes: 
  With the civilization 
  of the Greeks 
  threatened not only by 
  Phoenician militancy 
  from without but the 
  dark minions of Ares 
  from within, Emperor 
  Alexander the Great 
  summons the best 
  warriors, 
  philosophers, and 
  magi of his age from 
  the four corners of his 
  domain (the PCs). 
  Their mission:  to 
  travel to far Ultima 
  Thule at the edge of 
  the world and seize 
  the hammer of the 
  Norse god Thor, the 
  only weapon mighty 
  enough to save Greek 
  civilization from its 
  enemies. Their leader: 
  the elderly, eccentric, 
  and possibly insane 
  explorer Pytheas, the 
  only man to have ever 
  been there.... 
  On the Shores of 
  Hibernia:  The 
  inhabitants of the 
  legendary island of 
  Hibernia are a fabled 
  race of warrior-poets, 
  fiercely loyal to their  
  Pytheas 
  Background/History:  Pytheas was born in 380 
  BC in the Greek colony of Massalia (today the 
  French city of Marseille). A geographer of some 
  repute, he longed to test several of his scientific 
  theories by traveling to the world’s northernmost 
  regions. Very much aware that the earth was 
  round, Pytheas hypothesized that when the sun 
  follows its northern path, the days become longer 
  because the earth tapers close to the poles. Using 
  the Pole Star to fix latitude, he made calculations 
  that indicated the sun would not set at certain 
  times of the year if one were standing very close 
  to one of those poles. According to the ancient 
  historian Posidonius, he had developed a 
  (completely accurate) theory that the tides had a 
  relationship with the phases of the moon by 
  studying the beaches in northern Spain. He was 
  also the first man to calculate the latitude of 
  Massalia, which he determined to be 43’11” 
  North (very close to the modern figure of 43’18” 
  North for modern Marseilles). 
   
  Of course, people had been sailing between 
  the Mediterranean and the Kassiterides Islands 
  (Great Britain) for several centuries. Trade 
  between northern Gaul and Britain was routine 
  and Gallic fishermen plied the waters of the 
  North Sea with regularity. But we know from the 
  writings of the ancient historian Herodotus that 
  for generations the lucrative trade between the 
  Mediterranean peoples and the rest of the ancient 
  world had been tightly controlled by the 
  Phoenician colony of Carthage, who maintained 
  a tight blockade of the Pillars of Hercules (the 
  Straits of Gibraltar) to keep out competition. 
  This is partially because the Kassiterides Islands 
  were the ancient world’s principle source of tin 
  (known as “kassiteros” in Greek) which, when 
  blended with copper, provided the highly valued 
  metal known as bronze. While used to make 
  many types of tools, coins, and ornaments, this 
  metal was especially prized for the production of 
  swords, spears, and armor. So, in essence, the 
  ancient Phoenicians were practicing a form of 
  arms control by depriving the competing Greeks 
  and other ancient civilizations of independent 
  access to the raw materials of war. 
   
  Polybious, a historian writing a century after 
  Pytheas’ death, informs us that the ancient 
  astronomer, not a wealthy man, had acquired the 
  patronage of a wealthy Greek merchant interested 
  in establishing independent access to Welsh and 
  Cornish tin mines. Pytheas used this wealthy 
  man’s resources to acquire, outfit, and provision a 
  small ship known as the Kyrenia. While 
  ostensibly his purpose was to bring back a 
  shipment of tin for profit, it is not unreasonable to 
  assume that the geographer’s primary purpose 
  was one of exploration and scientific 
  experimentation. Because of his training as a 
  mathematician and astronomer, Pytheas had the 
  important habit of recording all of his 
  observations. As ship’s pilot, he had mastered the 
  use of an ancient navigational device known as 
  the Gnomon, a specialized sundial that helps to 
  locate true north or true south depending on the 
  time of year. In order to avoid the blockading 
  Phoenicians, Pytheas slowly and carefully guided 
  his vessel along the coastline at night for five full 
  days before slipping through the Pillars of 
  Hercules, a journey of about 600 nautical miles. 
  He then turned the craft north along the Iberian 
  seaboard and onto what is now the western coast 
  of France. He stopped at many points along this 
  journey to explore inland for fresh water and 
  provisions, taking notes on geography and 
  recording his impressions of the local inhabitants 
  as the Kyrenia traveled northward.  
   
  Finally, the ancient explorers crossed the 
  English Channel. They landed in Cornwall, 
  where Pytheas studied the production and 
  processing of tin ore by the local people. He 
  recorded the Celtic name for the islands in Greek 
  as being Prettankike or “land of the painted 
  people.” The historian Diodorus later translated 
  this into Latin as Pretannia, from which we have 
  derived the modern Britannia or Britain. This is 
  also the origin of the Latin word Picti from 
  which we have derived the modern term for 
  those most ancient British peoples:  the Picts. 
   
  The Kyrenia sailed onward to northern 
  Scotland where the local people told Pytheas 
  several very interesting stories about yet another 
  land farther to their north known as Thule (later 
  recorded by Latin historians as Ultima Thule or 
  “farthest Thule”). According to these hardy hill 
  folk, in this land there were only two or three 
  hours of night during certain times of the year. If 
  one were to travel yet even further north he 
  would find that the sun shone all night long at 
  these same times. Naturally, this greatly excited 
  Pytheas, who has already arrived at the same 
  conclusions using his own scientific 
  observations. He and his men set sail to the 
  northwest, arriving six days later at a distant 
  island that was indeed referred to as Thule by its 
  inhabitants. Probably “Thule” was a portion of 
  the Norwegian coastline, although it might also 
  have been Iceland, the Shetland Islands, or the 
  Faeroe Islands. The citizens of Thule had many 
  habits that the Mediterranean explorer found 
  bizarre. They were an agricultural people who 
  lived in log and clay houses, brewed alcoholic 
  beverages out of wheat and honey (beer and 
  mead respectively), and stored their grain 
  underground because of the cold. They threshed 
  this grain in barns rather than in the open fields 
  as were common in lands far to the south. 
  Although these practices are common knowledge 
  today, tales of them were considered fantasy 
  fiction by Pytheas’ contemporaries.  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  9 
  clan leaders and 
  highly suspicious of 
  outsiders. How do 
  these proud but 
  isolationist people 
  react when strange 
  looking men in a 
  bizarre boat land upon 
  their shores, asking 
  questions about the 
  mysterious land of 
  Thule? The PCs are 
  shepherd-warrior-
  bards of the Tuatha 
  deDanann tribe tasked 
  by tribal elders to 
  accompany Pytheas 
  the Greek and the 
  crew of the Kyrenia 
  on their quest to the 
  northern lands. 
   Operation Tin 
  Hat:  For generations 
  the Picts of Cornwall 
  have fought the twin 
  menaces of 
  Phoenician raiders on 
  their shores and the 
  dark races of 
  undercreatures that 
  invade their tin mines 
  from below. Now 
  with their numbers 
  dwindling, a group of 
  saviors from far 
  Massalia have arrived 
  to save their 
  beleaguered race. 
  Will Pytheas and the 
  men of the Kyrenia 
  (the PCs) teach the 
  primitive Picts the 
  greatest military 
  secret known to 
  modern man:  the 
  creation of bronze 
  weapons? Can they 
  teach them how to use 
  the greatest tactic 
  known to modern 
  man:  the phalanx? 
  Only the great 
  goddess Sulis knows 
  for certain. 
   
   
  Still the Greek explorer wanted to see more. 
  The Kyrenia sailed yet further north, where it 
  first encountered gigantic boat-sized fish that 
  swam lazily on the surface of the ocean, loudly 
  bowing out sprays of water from their foreheads. 
  Pytheas and his men were astounded; they had 
  never seen or even heard of whales before. 
  Sometime thereafter, they encountered a dense, 
  thick fog that was so eerily quiet that the 
  explorers seemed to be suspended in a void. The 
  sea began to “congeal” and, as the historian 
  Strabo reported that: 
   
  Pytheas also speaks of the waters 
  around Thule and of those places where 
  land properly speaking no longer exists, 
  nor sea nor air, but a mixture of these 
  things, like a “marine lung” (ancient 
  Geek for jellyfish), in which it is said 
  that earth and water and all things are in 
  suspension as if this something was a 
  link between all these elements, on 
  which one can neither walk nor sail.  
   
  Many modern scientists believe that Pytheas 
  was attempting to describe “ice cakes,” a natural 
  phenomenon that occurs at the edge of drift ice. 
  Although the explorers had to turn back at this 
  point, it is entirely possible that if mythical 
  Thule were modern Iceland rather than 
  Scandinavia (a distinct possibility as the island is 
  only 500 nautical miles from Britain) Pytheas 
  and his men had gotten close to the shores of 
  Greenland (and thus North America) before the 
  fog and slush forced them to retreat. It would not 
  be until the 20th Century that Arctic explorers 
  like Fridtjof Nansen and Vilhjalmur Stefansson 
  were able to confirm the ancient scientist’s 
  descriptions of the bizarre mixture of fog, ice, 
  and water in those wild, frigid seas that forced 
  Pytheas and his crew southward once more. It is 
  therefore tantalizingly possible that this ancient 
  voyager came close to the edge of the New 
  World during the time of Alexander the Great, a 
  thousand years before the Norseman Leif 
  Erickson and fifteen hundred years before 
  Christopher Columbus.  
   
  The Kyrenia returned to Britain to complete 
  its survey then traveled south to the shallow 
  waters along the northern German coast. It 
  landed on the island of Helgoland (one of the 
  ancient world’s primary sources of amber) then 
  continued on down the Rhine and Rhone rivers. 
  Pytheas and his men completed their journey 
  overland, returning to Massalia a year later with 
  a profitable load of tin as well as the detailed 
  record of his scientific observations. The 
  explorer then set about consolidating these 
  records into a single volume which he entitled 
  On the Ocean, a book which has unfortunately 
  been lost to modern history (although fragments 
  remain). His contemporaries greeted his work 
  with disbelief and scorn. Ancient writers and 
  historians were convinced that it was impossible 
  to travel north from Scotland, as the ocean must 
  certainly turn to ice. Fortunately, although he 
  was thought of as a liar and scoundrel by many 
  ancient commentators (sadly including the 
  historian Strabo), later writers considered his 
  book an important source of information. 
  References to his book have been found in the 
  works of the astronomer Geminus of Rhodes, the 
  scholiast Apollonius of Rhodes, the historian 
  Diodorus of Sicily, and the encyclopedist Pliny 
  the Elder. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Pytheas is a man 
  motivated by scientific curiosity in a time when 
  most people are more than content to stay at 
  home, telling one another amusing fictions by 
  the warmth of a fire. He is also smart enough to 
  bend his thirst for knowledge to a practical 
  commercial venture that allows him to conduct 
  pure scientific research while also turning a 
  profit for his backers. While he craves most of 
  the same pleasures that all men desire, such as 
  wealth, respect, and popular acclaim, he is far 
  more motivated by his curiosity than any base 
  desire for purely temporal gain. He is meticulous 
  and thorough in his observations; recording 
  everything of interest in his travels on papyrus 
  scrolls that are stored in special waterproof bone 
  cases. 
   
  Thus, Pytheas is a daring adventurer, 
  admittedly of a peculiar sort. While he is more 
  than willing to take risks that other Greeks have 
  barely even conceived, let alone contemplated, 
  he has no particular interest in violence or 
  conquest. He would much rather peacefully 
  interact with the native people he encounters on 
  his voyage than fight with them. That said, 
  Pytheas and his men will not hesitate to defend 
  themselves if violently attacked. Although they 
  do not dress in the heavy armor of a hoplite 
  soldier (too risky on the water), the men of the 
  Kyrenia carry powerful composite bows, kamaxs 
  (spears), and razor sharp military swords known 
  as xiphos. For personal protection, they have 
  large shields known as hoplon that cover most of 
  their bodies.  
   
  Quote:  “No, I am not lying to you Diorous. We 
  were two days out of the Kassiterides Islands 
  when we encountered them:  massive fish the 
  size of huge boats. They were swimming lazily 
  on the surface of the ocean, blowing out 
  enormous geysers of water from their heads 
  like… no, no I am not pulling your leg!” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Although he’s a capable 
  enough fighter (various Weapon Familiarities 
  and Combat Skill Levels), Pytheas’ strengths lie 
  more in his abilities as a multitalented explorer, 
  scientist, and trader. As an explorer, he possesses 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  a canny natural sense of direction (Bump of 
  Direction talent) as well as a good command of 
  languages (various Language Skills) and 
  locations (various AKs). Amazingly physically 
  healthy (CON of 18), he is an able seaman and 
  experienced hiker able to make his way by the 
  stars (TF, Survival, and Navigation Skills, 
  respectively). As a scientist, he is a capable if 
  intuitive master of astronomy, geography, and 
  what our ancestors referred to as “natural 
  science,” essentially the study of the physical, 
  non-human aspects of the Earth (various Science 
  Skills and Deduction). As a trader and 
  businessman, he is persuasive, shrewd, and able 
  to convince others to back his dubious 
  commercial schemes despite their misgivings 
  (Persuasion, Trading, and High Society skills). 
  To make Pytheas into a more powerful character 
  for higher-level heroic campaigns, increase his 
  STR and STUN, then add Penalty Skill Levels 
  against range for use with his composite bow.  
  10 
   
  Campaign Use:  Pytheas is an example of what 
  a force for good an explorer could be (but 
  seldom is) in a roleplaying game. While most 
  adventures in a fantasy RPG are motivated to 
  various extents by a grim combination of 
  bloodlust, greed, and fatalism, Pytheas simply 
  wants to explore out of a deep sense of personal 
  curiosity. Although he is definitely motivated by 
  a desire to turn a profit while conducting his 
  explorations, Pytheas interacts rather than 
  conquers, trades fairly rather than stealing, and 
  seldom if ever resorts to force.  
   
  Players in a Low Fantasy campaign who are 
  particularly prone to committing grisly acts of 
  violence in the lawless wilderness might find 
  themselves confronted with a considerably 
  nobler group of adventures in the person of 
  Pytheas and the men of the Kyrenia. Conversely, 
  players who are tired of the continual hack-and-
  slash of that genre might embark on a more 
  worthy quest of trade and exploration backed by 
  a powerful merchant or noble who sends Pytheas 
  (or someone very much like him) along to assist 
  them. In a historically realistic campaign that 
  takes place in the age of Alexander the Great 
  (not an unexciting prospect that), the PCs might 
  hire on as sailors only to find themselves 
  confronted with angry Phoenicians, warlike 
  Picts, aggressive “sea monsters,” and mysterious 
  Thulians on a journey that takes them to the very 
  Edge of the World… which Pytheas will 
  continually argue does not exist, much to their 
  amusement. 
   
  Appearance:  Pytheas is a compact, olive-
  skinned man with wild brown hair that falls 
  down to his shoulders in wavy locks. Like most 
  ancient Greek men, he wears a bushy beard that 
  covers much of his face, which is otherwise 
  dominated by a pair of extremely intelligent, 
  curious eyes that peer over an aquiline nose. 
  When he is his own native temperate climate, he 
  dresses in the woolen togas commonly worn by 
  his people, but when he is on his voyage to the 
  far north, he typically wears a massive bearskin 
  cloak to keep warm. He usually goes about 
  unarmed. 
  BIBLIOGRAPHY  
   
   
  Ashdown, Charles, European Arms & Armor, 
  Barnes & Noble Books 1995 
  Cameron, Ian, The Story of Exploration, 
  National Geographic Society, 1987  
  Farmakides, John B., Pytheas the Explorer (330 
  B.C.), The Ahepan, 2000 
  Jamieson, Evan, GURPS Low-Tech, Steve 
  Jackson Games 2001 
  Paterson, Isabel, The God of the Machine, G.P. 
  Putnam 1943  
    
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  11
  Leftover Hero by Scott Bennie 
  WHICH LEGAL 
  SYSTEM IS THIS? 
   
   
   Because most of the 
  countries that play 
  Champions are 
  familiar with the 
  basics of the 
  American legal 
  system (as presented 
  in cinema and 
  television), American 
  law is the basic 
  assumption for this 
  scenario. If your 
  campaign is taking 
  place in a different 
  country, some of the 
  suggestions will 
  require adjustment. 
   
   
  Scenario Five:  "Eat Caped 
  Injustice, Fool!” (Supervillains 
  on Trial) 
   
  Okay, so you’ve captured the bad guys, 
  filled out the police reports (or left them eating 
  your dust) and smiled for the media. What’s 
  next? 
   
  Unfortunately, the bad guys don’t get to 
  prison just because they got knocked 
  unconscious in a fight with superheroes. One of 
  the most important principles of a democratic 
  society (which comprise the political structure in 
  most traditional comic book campaigns) is that 
  the bad guys, no matter how scummy, get their 
  day in court. This is, of course, a potential source 
  for complications which a GM can exploit to 
  craft interesting scenarios. 
   
  A lot of space has been dedicated in a lot of 
  superhero supplements to superheroes and the 
  law; even so, players who are interested in the 
  subject are rarely satisfied with the way the 
  subject is handled. Well, this scenario is not 
  about adopting legal conventions and making 
  them “realistic” in a traditional superhero world 
  because frankly, it’s a lost cause. Particularly 
  after the recent problems with real world 
  terrorism and their obvious applications to any 
  world where supervillains are actively engaging 
  in acts of destruction, it’s hard to think of any 
  government that would allow laws to stand on 
  the books that would permit masked superhuman 
  vigilantes to operate with the same reckless 
  abandon as most Silver Age superheroes in a 
  typical four-color comic book universe. 
   
  So this scenario asks the players to suspend 
  their disbelief on three points that are necessary 
  to support the genre, but virtually impossible to 
  justify in a real world context. 
   
  First, that society is willing to tolerate (and 
  in some cases work with) vigilante superheroes. 
   
  Second, that the legal system will tolerate 
  vigilantes who maintain secret identities (within 
  limits; homicidal heroes are likely to receive less 
  protection from the authorities) and allow them 
  to participate in the legal system using their 
  costumed identities. 
   
  Third, that even though lawsuits would 
  probably be flying at superheroes on a near daily 
  basis, lawsuits against superheroes are a 
  relatively rare and special event, and the average 
  superhero isn’t trapped in litigation hell or facing 
  the constant threat of bankruptcy – except when 
  the scenario requires it. 
   
  Once these three points are accepted, the 
  GM should feel free to play with other legal 
  conventions in a realistic manner and use them to 
  build interesting scenarios. 
  Developing the Scenario 
   
  When plotting a trial scenario, the GM needs 
  to determine the following:  the specifics of the 
  crime (usually one committed by a villain in a 
  previous scenario), the effects of the trial on 
  existing laws (if any), the reasons why the PCs 
  are involved, prominent NPCs who’ll also be 
  involved in the trial, and plot complications. 
   
  Characters enter the scenario based on their 
  roles in the trial. If they’re lawyers, they may 
  voluntarily take the case or be assigned pro-bono 
  work. If they’re witnesses, they may be asked by 
  the D.A.’s office (or by a friend) to testify, or 
  they may receive subpoenas and be treated as 
  hostile witnesses (having someone serve a 
  subpoena to a PC at the end of an unrelated 
  scenario is a good way to introduce an upcoming 
  trial scenario). 
  THE CRIME 
   
   
   
  Legal dramas make for great television, but 
  there’s probably a reason there’s not a Law and 
  Order RPG or a game based on The Practice, 
  Boston Legal, or Perry Mason:  it’s a repetitive 
  situation that’s probably not suited to long-term 
  play. Every supervillain who’s captured will go 
  on trial, but the GM shouldn’t feel compelled to 
  roleplay every trial. Trials should be reserved for 
  three special situations:  legal controversies that 
  deal with the law and superpowers;  the trial of 
  one of the PC’s archenemies (crime bosses who 
  have previously escaped capture and who believe 
  themselves beyond the reach of the justice 
  system make especially good defendants); and 
  trials that will degenerate into a battle against 
  supervillains in a courtroom. 
   
  Open and shut cases don’t make for 
  interesting trials. If Black Harlequin’s game of 
  “Pirates of the Spanish Maim” results in six 
  fatalities, and the crime was committed on a live 
  television feed, unless it’s got a really novel 
  twist (“Black Harlequin’s pleading it was self-
  defense?!?”) it shouldn’t be run as a trial 
  scenario. (It may make for a great battle, but if a 
  GM’s not planning to run a combat, he can 
  generally skip the trial except as color.) 
   
  One situation that does have a lot of 
  dramatic potential is the “Fall of a Crime Lord” 
  scenario. One of the PCs’ most elusive enemies, 
  a mob boss who’s never been directly linked to a 
  crime, is finally going to pay for his misdeeds; 
  the district attorney’s gathered enough evidence 
  and witnesses that he’s sure he can bring him 
  down. The PCs will be needed as witnesses to 
  testify about his operations – and to protect other 
  witnesses who are going to be threatened by the 
  boss when his back’s up against the wall. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  12 
  OFF-STAGE 
  VERSUS ON-
  STAGE ACTIONS  
   
   
   As with paperwork 
  and police interviews, 
  appearing at trials is 
  usually a boring, 
  mundane activity. 
  Players with a 
  simulationist bent 
  often want to act out 
  everything in their 
  character’s lives, even 
  the most boring bits. 
  But fiction rarely 
  encompasses the 
  entirety of a 
  character’s lives – 
  rather, fiction is a 
  compilation of the 
  interesting bits (with 
  enough added 
  background to form a 
  coherent narrative.) 
  So unless a GM is 
  running something 
  interesting in a 
  courtroom scenario, 
  he should leave the 
  courtroom off camera. 
   However, when a 
  scenario is relegated 
  to “off camera,” 
  there’s a risk that the 
  players will be so 
  unfamiliar with it that 
  they’ll stumble. If a 
  PC decides not to 
  swear an oath on a 
  Bible because he’s the 
  reincarnation of a 
  non-Christian god, 
  that conflict would 
  probably have been 
  resolved a long time 
  earlier. Likewise, 
  unless the PC has 
  only recently arrived 
  in the campaign 
  setting, he should play
  it as though he’s 
  familiar with the basic 
  procedures of 
  American 
  superhuman law. 
  Situations like these, 
  however, do bring up 
   
  Trials that threaten to set precedents in 
  superhuman law are also terrific vehicles for 
  player involvement. Giving PCs a chance to 
  make law is a great reward for “builder” 
  characters (those who like to effect the nuts and 
  bolts of a campaign). 
   
  Another good reason to have a trial scenario 
  is to use them as a cover for another scenario. 
  Suppose a villain has kidnapped someone’s 
  loved one, and then gets himself arrested; he’ll 
  blackmail a superhero by offering the safety of 
  the hostage in exchange for a guarantee that he 
  won’t get imprisoned for his crime. A more 
  convoluted plan would involve a villain deciding 
  that being involved a public trial would make a 
  perfect alibi for another crime (though he’d have 
  to make a secret deal with someone in the 
  attorney’s office to ensure he gets the right court 
  date to set up the alibi – and ensure the charges 
  are dropped when they become inconvenient). 
  PRECEDENT LAW 
   
   
   
  One staple of comic book trials is that they 
  set precedents about how superhuman abilities 
  are treated by the world. This is absurd; unless 
  superhuman abilities are a very recent 
  phenomenon, the precedents should have been 
  set a long time ago. However, that spoils a lot of 
  the fun for the players. So how does someone 
  justify setting new precedents in a campaign 
  with a lot of history? 
   
  First, cases can be settled on a case-by-case 
  basis; the judge can note that a decision may not 
  be applicable in all circumstances. In this case, 
  the lawyer can argue whether the current case is 
  applicable to that precedent, and decide whether 
  they’re breaking new ground. 
   
  Second, a ruling established by a previous 
  precedent can be overturned, but in such a 
  muddled manner that the field is open to further 
  rulings and debate. 
   
  Third, some judges are ornery, activist, 
  and/or incompetent and allow debate in areas 
  where the case law should be well established. 
   
  So who gets to decide these things? Well the 
  GM does, of course, but that doesn’t mean the 
  PCs can’t be involved in the seminal trial and 
  help make case law. Issues for which interesting 
  precedents might be set include: 
   
  Artificial Intelligence/Robot Rights:  The 
  works of Isaac Asimov deal with this question in 
  far more detail than can be given here, but a few 
  relevant and interesting questions include:  at 
  what point do robots turn from mechanical 
  servant into slave? Is a military robot responsible 
  for taking a life? At what point does self-
  awareness override programming? Does a 
  creator have parental rights and responsibilities 
  over his creation? 
   
  Undead Rights:  Is someone who’s dead still 
  legally a human being? Are they entitled to the 
  property and possessions they owned when they 
  were alive? If so, can a vampire legally own the 
  castle he owned while he was alive; can a five 
  hundred year old native American spirit lay 
  claim to his ancestral lands? Does killing 
  someone who’s undead constitute murder? Is 
  there a legal difference in the status of sentient 
  undead such as a vampire, and non-sentient 
  undead such as zombies? What laws are broken 
  when someone performs a necromantic spell? 
  Are exorcisms against the law? 
   
  Lycanthropic Rights:  If a person knows 
  he’s a werewolf, but fails to take precautions, is 
  he liable for the damage he does or any loss of 
  life? If he does take precautions, breaks free, and 
  kills someone, does it constitute diminished 
  capacity? Can a werewolf bring a civil suit 
  against the person who made him a werewolf in 
  the first place? If a superhero team has a 
  lycanthropic member, are they liable for the 
  injuries he causes, even if he has a modicum of 
  control over his actions? 
   
  Involuntary Use of Powers:  If, during 
  someone’s origin, someone gets hurt or injured, 
  is the nascent superhuman liable? Suppose the 
  newly minted superhuman got into a mutually 
  consensual fight with someone, didn’t realize 
  that he could now punch through tanks, and 
  accidentally crippled (or killed) his opponent, 
  how liable is he for what happened? 
   
  Campaigns with an Iron Age tone also raise 
  unsettling issues. If a seductress’ powers include 
  an area effect Transform (from normal to 
  sexually interested)  does that constitute sexual 
  assault, even if the power cannot be negated and 
  the seductress has no choice over who’s being 
  targeted? And if this definition is accepted, could 
  a pack of outraged males who beat up a male 
  superhero who’s using the same power be 
  justified because they’re claiming it was done in 
  self-defense? 
   
  Environmental Laws:  Even more 
  contentious than labor laws are environmental 
  laws. What happens when a superhero’s radar 
  powers interferes with a city’s cell phone 
  network? Or when people, craning their necks to 
  get a good glimpse of the superhero flying 
  overhead, cause a car accident? What happens 
  when someone claims they developed terminal 
  cancer from exposure to the hero’s energy field? 
  Do their powers violate noise bylaws? Do they 
  always break the sound barrier when they’re 
  flying in the downtown core? Do innocent 
  bystanders get headaches when they use their 
  sonic powers? 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  13
  the thorny issue of 
  precedent law. 
   
   
   
  Alien Rights:  Even if aliens are recognized 
  in the campaign setting, legal issues still need to 
  be settled. How does society handle people from 
  cultures where things like alien dueling codes are 
  commonplace, as are social mores such as the 
  need to eat live prey (especially when the alien is 
  many parsecs away from any sympathetic 
  representative)? How does the alien invader 
  handle being put on trial for war crimes? Can the 
  sole representative of an alien race on earth 
  claim diplomatic immunity status, even if he’s a 
  criminal? Can a human court try an alien for a 
  crime committed off-planet? (“Beowulf Jr. came 
  aboard our ship when we were entering your 
  solar system, it was perfectly within our rights to 
  try to dissect him!”) Does any alien technology 
  violate human environmental laws? 
   
  Labor Laws:  Labor laws are a really tricky 
  area; they’re a place where the PC’s best 
  intentions can come back to haunt him. Unions 
  like to play hardball with anyone who runs afoul 
  of their membership, and superheroes tend to 
  push anyone who gets pushy with them; the 
  resulting conflict can end up as a messy court 
  case. On the other hand, superheroes who are 
  willing to defer to trade unions (and pay hefty 
  dues) are often allowed to use their powers in 
  emergency situations without too many 
  problems. (Using powers to make sure a building 
  that was damaged in a fight is safe enough for 
  repair crews is okay. On the other hand, using 
  one’s powers to completely repair a building and 
  take jobs away from good union folks is not 
  okay.) 
   
  All this, however, is nothing compared to 
  the complications that might occur when a 
  superhero uses his powers to practice medicine 
  without a license. What happens if a hero uses 
  his powers to try to save someone’s life and he 
  dies a few hours later? Who gets sued? What if 
  he used his healing powers on someone who 
  later contracts a terminal illness? And suppose an 
  emergency blood transfusion temporarily gives 
  someone superpowers, and they go on a 
  rampage? 
   
  Identity/Trademark/Copyright Law:  Few 
  things are as personal to a superhero as his 
  identity. Does the fact that a superhero is a 
  public figure mean that a hero loses the right to 
  make money from merchandising his identity? 
  What happens when a villain shows up with the 
  same name as a PC? What happens when 
  someone publishes a comic book about a hero 
  whose name and costume are barely different 
  than the hero’s? When a web site makes 
  scandalous claims about a PC’s private behavior, 
  do lawsuits get filed? What happens when a 
  website publishes pictures of an NPC hero’s 
  secret identity, as well as his phone number and 
  address? 
   
  Psionics:  No question is more capable of 
  turning a campaign on its head than whether 
  testimony gained from telepathic intrusion or 
  coercion is admissible in a court of law. Most 
  campaign worlds don’t allow this, in part 
  because it opens up huge avenues of abuse for 
  the use of telepathic powers. In worlds where 
  telepathy is inadmissible, defense attorneys may 
  attempt to hammer a superhero for any sign that 
  their actions were prompted by telepathy; 
  admitting that you obtained illegal evidence is 
  known as “prospering from the fruits of the 
  poisonous tree,” which is a great way to get the 
  entire case summarily dismissed. 
   
  Even more controversial is the tenuous 
  connection between intuition and telepathy. Is 
  danger sense considered psionic, and is 
  information gained from telepathic senses 
  admissible? If a superhero is on patrol, and 
  breaks into a building to stop a crime based on a 
  preternatural intuition, is this as legally valid a 
  reason to interfere as a cry for help? 
   
  Of course, there’s the really important issue 
  involving psionics:  are lottery, horse race 
  winnings or (more seriously) stock purchasing 
  and selling information based on precognition 
  considered cheating, and if so, how can anyone 
  possibly prove that a person’s winnings were 
  based on this power in a court of law? 
   
  Clones/Artificial Organic Creations Rights:  
  Similar to robot rights issues, sometimes the 
  clone scenario has the additional complication 
  where the court needs to figure out who’s the 
  original and who’s the copy (which may be 
  further complicated if amnesia-inducing drugs 
  were used on the individuals). Another potential 
  controversy is property rights (“Mr. Harmon, the 
  clone that Teleios made from your DNA claims 
  to be just as much your father’s heir as you are 
  and is suing you for 50% of your estate!”). Also, 
  who’s the legal guardian of a clone, the creator 
  or the genetic donor? What’s the legal age of a 
  clone, the approximate chronological age of the 
  original character, or the chronological age since 
  the clone emerged from the vat? 
   
  In general, while the PCs should be sweating 
  bullets during a trial, ultimately the rulings made 
  on these cases should favor the PCs; they should 
  permit PCs to pursue a normal superhero career 
  without having to constantly trip over any 
  significant legal obstacles. However, winning the 
  fight to ply one’s heroic trade without excessive 
  interference or persecution can be as taxing a 
  challenge as facing Takofanes single-handedly 
  (in the Mother of all Graveyards). 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  14 
  THE JOY OF 
  DEFLATING EGOS 
   
   
   When PC jurors 
  deliberate with other 
  jurors in their secret 
  identities, don’t miss 
  the opportunity for 
  the conversation to 
  drift to the subject of 
  the PCs’ costumed 
  identities – and what 
  the NPCs really think 
  about them. Sure, it’s 
  a cheap shot, but if 
  the players become 
  more involved in the 
  scenario because of it, 
  don’t knock it. 
   
   
  Roles For the PCs in a Trial 
  Scenario 
   
  There are two approaches that a GM can 
  take when  running the trial scenario. First, he 
  can run it as a game/metagame, where the player 
  gets to run his character at the trial, but also 
  helps to adjudicate the proceedings. Second, the 
  GM can find roles for both the PCs in either their 
  heroic or secret identities, and run the trial totally 
  in character. 
   
  The metagame option is a great way to 
  involve all of the players in a roleplaying 
  experience. When something controversial 
  happened in the previous session, the PCs have 
  to go to court. Each player has two roles:  first, 
  there’s the PC, and second, there’s the position 
  of an important figure in the court. Appoint one 
  player to fill the judge’s role, another as 
  prosecutor, a third as defender, and the other 
  players will be the jury. The GM will play the 
  accused. If a PC has to testify and he’s also 
  playing the role of judge, prosecutor, or 
  defender, have some other player take over their 
  courtroom role. 
   
  The GM should be careful that emotions 
  don’t get too high when playing the metagame; 
  the urge to be a lawyer and win a case is a very 
  powerful one for some people, and when players 
  get emotionally involved in the scenario, they 
  really get involved. 
   
  Even in the In-Character Trial, the GM can 
  be creative with the role of the PCs. There are 
  five major roles they can play:  juror, lawyer, 
  spectator, investigator, and witness. 
  THE SUPERHERO JUROR 
   
   
   
  Suppose at the end of a busy day a 
  superhero comes home, changes into his secret 
  ID, sorts through the day’s mail, and discovers 
  that he’s been summoned to jury duty. Known 
  superheroes would probably be seen as too 
  prejudiced against suspects to serve on a jury, 
  but there’s no such problems for a hero’s secret 
  identity; so this is one scenario where a PC’s 
  secret identity disadvantage can really be 
  brought into play. 
   
  In the real world, it’s very easy to get out of 
  jury duty. However, if a GM really wants a PC 
  to be sitting in the box, he should make it almost 
  impossible for the PC to say no. Ultimately, the 
  most persuasive argument might be, “These 
  supervillains have gone to trial and walked in the 
  past. This is your chance to make sure they’re 
  put in the hole where they belong.” 
   
  There are other ways to bring the 
  superheroes onto the jury – one obvious method 
  is by cheating. Someone who knows the 
  superheroes’ identities and who wants the heroes 
  on that jury arranges for them to get the 
  summons. Perhaps the trial itself is a sham, 
  staged to catch a crooked judge or to get close to
  another juror (a suspected criminal) and spy on 
  him during the proceedings. But if the authorities 
  deliberately stack the deck, then it becomes more 
  believable that multiple PCs wil
   
  l belong to the 
  m
   
   
  d 
  n 
   of the 
  ditional 
  ve
  . First, 
  o 
  r 
  ly 
  ed if 
   
  en he hires the slickest attorney on 
  to 
  t 
  e 
   
   
  ide to make the trial 
  or
  as 
  ” 
   
  ake 
  er jury members during the 
  eli
  sa e jury at an important trial. 
   
  A truly fiendish GM, of course, uses PC 
  jurors to make the scenario more interesting. 
  What happens when the PC is on a jury in his
  secret identity, and during the testimony, his 
  costumed identity is called to the stand – and he
  walks into the room, testifies, and his evidence 
  damns the PC’s side? Who is this imposter, an
  how did he know the PC was not going to be 
  able to make it to the trial? What if the PC’s 
  costumed identity is named as a co-defendant i
  the case, or the testimony in the middle
  trial impugns the PC and a ad
  in
  stigation is launched? 
   
  In play, there are several potential problems 
  with the “superhero on the jury” scenario
  there’s the problem of staging and party 
  separation. If a single member of a superher
  team is stuck on jury duty, then he doesn’t 
  interact with the rest of his teammates and othe
  players don’t have a reason to be emotional
  invested. The former can be solved by PC 
  trickery; give the PCs a reason to stay in touch, 
  and they’ll find a way. The latter can be solv
  the trial concerns issues and/or people that 
  interest the entire team, so that the other players
  will find things to do during the trial (either to 
  exonerate the defendant or make sure he doesn’t 
  get away wh
  the planet). 
   
  Second, the role of a juror requires the PC 
  have to listen to a lot of dialogue. Rather than 
  play out large sections of the trial, summarize the 
  key points of each witness’s testimony, and their 
  cross-examination. For important testimony, ac
  out the most dramatic exchanges between th
  witness and the attorney. Finally, allow the 
  juror’s player (and the other players) to ask 
  whether particular questions were addressed 
  during the testimony. The answer doesn’t always
  have to be yes, but this will give you an idea of
  what questions are of interest to the players in 
  the trial – use that as a gu
  m
  e dramatic. 
   
  Lastly, the role of a juror is a passive one. 
  Jurors aren’t the ones asking the questions, and 
  players don’t like to sit down and listen to a GM 
  gab non-stop (nor should they). Using the “w
  this question bought up in the testimony?
  technique is one way to reduce the PC’s 
  passivity; another way is to cut away from the 
  main action of the scenario and play a scene with
  the sequestered jury (allow other players to t
  the roles of oth
  d
  beration). 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  15
   
  ge 
   is 
  med 
  on in the comics, 
  ons. 
  A JURY OF OUR 
  PEERS 
   
   
   Firewing is on trial! 
  But he’s an alien, 
  right? How can an 
  alien be tried by a 
  jury of his peers when 
  all of his peers are 
  hundreds of parsecs 
  away? 
   This problem has 
  come up before, of 
  course, but never to 
  the legal system’s 
  satisfaction. As a 
  compromise, for this 
  trial only, the defense 
  is willing to accept 
  Earth’s superhumans 
  as Firewing’s peers. 
  However, as 
  superhumans willing 
  to serve on a jury can 
  be hard to find, a pair 
  of former 
  supervillains had to 
  be added, which 
  should make for 
  interesting 
  conversations... 
   
   
  Finally, in genre fiction, the jury who sent a 
  villain to prison is often targeted when he 
  escaped. Having a PC on that jury – whose secret
  identity is then targeted by the villain for reven
  (who doesn’t know who he’s really attacking)
  an interesting twist on a Hunted. PCs who are 
  hated by supervillains in their non-costu
  identities is a common conventi
  but it can be very rare in Champi
  LAWYER SUPERHEROES 
   
   
   
  Another role that a PCs might find himself 
  playing at a trial is as an attorney. Unless one of 
  the PCs is an attorney in his secret identity, or 
  has a license to practice law in his costumed 
  identity, this option is going to be relatively rare. 
  Nonetheless, there are a few situations which 
  allow the PC to take the role of a lawyer and go 
  p i
   
   
   a 
   
   
  any people you’ve saved, Mr. 
  ig
  I 
  e 
  at the 
  Cs
  ped 
   
   
  F!s” and a mistrial), however if you’re 
  oin
   
  em to spread the 
  le
   
  t 
   
  cludes 
  for a lawyer, 
  is
   
  ot 
  ore 
   
   
  dv
  on!”) 
  eone in his secret 
  en
   
  r 
  key 
  s 
  effect, 
  sk 
  n 
  t 
  u
  n front of a judge and argue a case without an
  extensive legal background. 
   
  Small Claims Court:  There’s always the
  possibility that someone whose car was 
  scratched or dented during a fight against a 
  supervillain will take the PC to court to seek 
  damages. Lawyers rarely involve themselves in
  small claims dispute, so this is a perfect 
  opportunity for PCs to brush up on their legal 
  skills. There are numerous television programs 
  that show small claims courts in action (often 
  “blessed” with particularly loud and self-
  righteous judges); watch a couple of episodes to
  get the feel for the proceedings. Typically, it will
  involve a reconstruction of the incident from 
  different perspectives, witness testimony, and a 
  judge’s ruling on the credibility of the case. (“I 
  don’t care how m
  H h and Mighty Superhero, in this courtroom, 
  wear the cape!”) 
   
  Small Towns Don’t Need Lawyers. While 
  not a particularly flattering or necessarily 
  accurate stereotype, some small towns take prid
  in doing things a lot differently than in “the big 
  city.” If the PCs get into a dispute on someone 
  else’s home soil, they may be forced to present 
  their case to the local judge (who, if the dispute 
  is with other locals, will probably not be very 
  sympathetic to the PCs). Alternatively, a young 
  local lawyer might be called in to defend the 
  PCs, but he’s so clearly incompetent and/or 
  incapable of representing their interests th
  P
   are forced to take over the case themselves 
  (much to the chagrin of the authorities). 
   
  The Alien Court:  So you’ve been kidnap
  by aliens. That means you’re going to have to 
  defend yourself for some crime in front of a 
  tribunal, right? (Of course, in that culture, a 
  lawyer who defends a criminal in a capital case 
  also shares the penalty...) 
   
  One particularly silly episode of the 1960s 
  Batman series allowed the titular character to
  go into the courtroom and act as a prosecutor 
  (“because Batman was so familiar with the 
  case, we made him the prosecutor!”) Of course, 
  that version of Batman was silly even by Silver 
  Age standards (Catwoman loaded the jury with 
  ex-cons, which later resulted in many “POW!s,”
  “OOO
  g
  g for a camp flavor, this approach can’t be
  beat. 
   
  When you allow PCs to act as lawyers in 
  informal situations such as these, try to be a little 
  more loosely structured than you would be for a 
  formal court hearing. Allow multiple PCs to 
  object or ask questions, allow th
  ro playing around the group. Keep as many PCs 
  occupied at a time as possible. 
   
  Blind Justice – The Superhero as Lawyer:  If
  a PC is a lawyer in his secret identity, then you 
  need to spotlight him in his profession. Prior to 
  the start of a major storyline, give PCs a scene 
  that runs from 1-2 minutes that showing them a
  their “civilian” jobs when they receive the signal
  that brings them together; this should in
  lawyer PCs having a day in court (
  th  scene usually focuses on the final 
  summation to the jury on a case). 
   
  Superhero lawyers are usually cast as
  defenders of unjustly accused defendants but n
  always – there’s nothing wrong with the 
  prosecutor’s office making an offer to bring a 
  good, principled attorney onto their team. M
  disturbingly, a defense attorney might be forced
  to do pro bono work to defend one of their 
  enemies (with the following instructions from
  the judge:  “I don’t care if he tried to sink the 
  city in an earthquake, he needs an effective 
  a
  ocate, so if I don’t see your best effort up 
  there, you’ll be up before the Bar Associati
   
  This can lead to amusing situations where 
  the PC is defending som
  id
  tity, while he’s one of the complainants in
  his superhero identity. 
   
  When the PC is a lawyer at a trial, it’s a 
  showcase role – that PC is clearly the most 
  important character in the room. Use frequent 
  breaks in the trial to allow the lawyer PC to talk 
  with other characters, and (from time to time) 
  give those PCs a chance to try to offer the lawye
  some input. However, trial scenarios are the 
  lawyer PC’s star vehicle, and there are two 
  moments in any trial that the GM must try to 
  make as spectacular as possible:  the cross-
  examination of the villain (where the lawyer trie
  to get him to admit his crime) and the final 
  summation to the jury. Especially for the latter, 
  staging is crucial. For the best dramatic 
  a
  the player to try to keep the speech down to 
  five minutes or less (use an egg timer). 
   
  Of course a superhero can fill other roles i
  a trial; they can be a judge, a bailiff, or a cour
  secretary in their secret identities or (for high 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  16 
   not 
  wyer, 
  s costume under judge’s 
  s a cool 
  profile cases involving extremely dangerous 
  villains) they can be hired as additional security 
  in their costumed identities. These roles do
  have quite as much pinache as that of a la
  however if you’re running a strict combat 
  scenario where the details of the trial are 
  relatively unimportant, then it’s fine to cast PCs 
  in these relatively minor roles. Certainly a 
  superhero who wears hi
  robes is a neat trick to pull (likewise, it’
  trick for a villain too). 
  WHEN SUPERHEROES TESTIFY 
   
   
   
  The most likely role for a superhero in a trial 
  scenario is that of witness. Most of the time, 
  superheroes will be asked to give a deposition o
  a case, and not have to worry about a court 
  appearance; however the mo
  n 
  eputation, even if that means 
  ’ve 
  NS USED IN CROSS 
  XA
  st dramatic trials 
  (i.e. the ones which the GM wants to roleplay) 
  will require live testimony. 
   
  Much of the testimony will be to establish a 
  timeline (which the defense will try to destroy), 
  and to describe the PC’s perception of the crime 
  in detail. The cross-examination will attempt to 
  poke holes in the PC’s statements. However, 
  there’s always the possibility that someone hates 
  the PCs so much that they’ll instruct the 
  opposing attorney to do everything he can to 
  besmirch the PC’s r
  that they risk losing the case because they
  alienated the jury. 
  TEN QUESTIO
  E
  MINATION TO SCREW UP PC 
  TESTIMONY 
   
   
   
  When the PC is on the stand, the defendant 
  attorney’s job is to attack him as vigorously as 
  possible and destroy his credibility. Because thi
  is a classic comic book adventure, questions 
  pertaining to the character’s secret identity are 
  likely to be met with an immediate objection 
  from the prosecutor that will be upheld by the 
  judge. However, there a
  s 
  re other questions that an 
   
   
   
  slead the authorities and get them 
  ’t be 
  e used 
  o 
  text for the fight – and 
  d in a scenario, since for many juries, a 
  le 
   
  ant 
  ity of evidence and the 
  r 
  ity, 
  expert. This tactic will 
   their client (or by crazed supervillains 
  s 
  e 
  erer (and it’s relevant to this 
  case), it’s unlikely that the question will be 
  allowed to stand. 
  attorney will ask that he’ll twist to discredit the 
  PC and build his case. 
   
  1. “So you like to hurt people?” This (cheap 
  shot) leads into an argument that lets the attorney
  point out previous examples where the PC
  physically abused criminals, and tries to get him
  to admit that he has psychological issues. 
   
  2. “Let remind you of something you said 
  earlier...” This statement allows the attorney to 
  point out past instances when the PC gave phony 
  excuses to mi
  off his back, and intimates that his word can
  trusted now. 
   
  3. “So how did you come to be in that 
  particular place at that time?” This question 
  tries to trick the PC into admitting that h
  illegal methods to get to the scene of a crime, s
  the entire testimony can be thrown out. 
   
  4. “What was your past relationship with 
  the defendant?” This question allows the 
  attorney to establish a con
  paint the PC as prejudicial to the defendant 
  because of their history. 
   
  5. “Could you describe the combat in 
  detail?” Try to get the PC to admit that he was 
  so busy during the fight that he missed key 
  details (particularly if he was distracted by one 
  particular foe, knocked unconscious, or stunned) 
  that punches holes in the opponent’s account. 
   
  6. “Have you ever been mind controlled or 
  had your senses confused by a telepath?” This is 
  an especially pertinent question if a telepath was 
  involve
  good telepath on the scene establishes reasonab
  doubt. 
   
  7. “When the battle was over, did you or 
  anyone else handle any of the evidence on the
  crime scene?” This is a good question to pl
  doubts on the reliabil
  police’s forensics expert – or catch the PC 
  committing perjury. 
   
  8. “How long have you been a superhero? 
  How much time did you spend training for you
  profession?” Superheroes are often considered 
  to be “expert witnesses.” If the attorney can 
  establish that the person didn’t spend a lot of 
  time preparing for his career and that he doesn’t 
  spend a lot of time training in his heroic ident
  then he’s not much of an 
  not be employed against long-established or 
  highly respected heroes. 
   
  9. “Have you ever received treatment for 
  psychiatric problems?” This question is reserved 
  for when the attorney has gotten really desperate, 
  or it’s used by mob lawyers who are more 
  interested in smearing a hero’s reputation than in 
  defending
  who have decided to take charge of their own 
  defense). 
   
  10. “Have you ever taken a life?” This i
  another cheap shot question designed to rattle th
  witness, though unless the attorney has laid 
  down a foundation for the hero being a 
  bloodthirsty murd
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  17
  IN CASE OF BAD 
  APPLES, BREAK 
  GLASS
   
   
   If a PC has been 
  caught committing a 
  very serious crime 
  (murder, rape, high 
  treason, etc.) and he’s 
  actually guilty of it, 
  and none of the other 
  PCs want anything to 
  do with him, don’t 
  hold a trial. Just put 
  the PC in prison and 
  cut him loose from 
  the campaign. The 
  longer his expulsion 
  is delayed, the more 
  likely it is that hurt 
  feelings will surface 
  and wreck the 
  campaign. 
   This advice does 
  not apply to Iron Age 
  Champions or to Dark 
  Champions 
  campaigns (where the 
  use of lethal force is 
  not a bug, it’s a 
  feature). 
   
   
   
  CAPES IN THE GALLERY 
   
   
   
  Beyond the traditional roles of superheroes 
  in the courts, there’s always the possibility that 
  superheroes will be allowed into the stands. The 
  conduct of superhero spectators is expected to be 
  beyond reproach. In genre stories, however, 
  courts are rarely orderly, and spectators are 
  usually free to interrupt repeatedly until the 
  judge throws them out. 
   
  Likewise, in the real world, when a court is 
  in session, spectators can’t burst into the closed 
  courtroom, proclaim they’ve uncovered new 
  evidence, and not expect to hear the words 
  “contempt of court.” Yet in the genre, this sort of 
  behavior usually gets rewarded (even in 
  situations where the opposing attorney would be 
  entitled to an evidentiary hearing). 
   
  If PCs are serving as spectators, give them 
  something interesting to watch. Perhaps they can 
  be seated in a convenient position to overhear an 
  interesting conversation, or spot someone acting 
  suspiciously (why is that person staring at his 
  watch?), Perhaps a key lieutenant or close friend 
  of the defendant is in the court, and it’s 
  important for a spectator to keep an eye on him, 
  In fact, it’s possible that the whole point of a trial 
  might be to bring the defendant’s boss or another 
  reclusive figure out of hiding, in which case a 
  spectator (particularly if they’re assigned to spot 
  or follow a target) might be more important than 
  the lawyers or the witnesses. 
   
  Unless there are other roles for the PC in the 
  scenario (such as an investigator or a security 
  guard), the GM should avoid relegating a PC to 
  the role of a spectator, and if he does, he should 
  try to keep the trial portion of the adventure 
  reasonably short. For most gamers, watching a 
  scenario is a whole lot less fun than playing. 
  SUPERHEROES ON TRIAL! 
   
   
   
  Perhaps the most dramatic situation for a 
  superhero is to be the defendant in a trial. 
  Superheroes often commit minor crimes in the 
  performance of their duty, but some crimes can’t 
  be overlooked, resulting in the worst experiences 
  in the PC’s life. And then there are the frame 
  obs
  j
  . 
   
  Superhero trials shouldn’t be handled too 
  much differently than other jury trials. The 
  defendant will have to face a lot of pretrial 
  interrogation from the police (discrepancies 
  between the initial testimony and what’s given 
  on the stand will be noted), the defendant gets to 
  sit next to the defense attorney and comment on 
  each witness (or complain about how they’re 
  handling the case), and when there’s a break, he 
  gets to be involved in a big media circus (as the 
  reputation of the entire team is on the line). If a 
  PC’s been framed, then the focus of the scenario 
  may not be on the defendant, but on the friends 
  who are trying to clear him. 
   
  A few scenes that can be expected at a 
  superhero’s trial include: 
   
  Blasts From the Past:  Okay, maybe the GM 
  promised the PCs that certain villains would 
  remain captured for the rest of the campaign. 
  Nothing was said about them never appearing 
  again. Feel free to pull out enemies of the PCs 
  who are languishing in Stronghold for a guest 
  appearance. Let the PCs’ rogues galleries get a 
  chance to smear the PC on the witness stand (and 
  if the PC wants to hurl back insults, let him). 
   
  Harassing the DNPCs:  As tough as it is for 
  a superhero to stand trial, when the press is 
  camped on the doorsteps of a person’s loved 
  ones and known associates, it’s even tougher. 
   
  The Offer:  Sometimes when a superhero’s 
  on trial, he hears from the “other side.” Maybe 
  it’s a longtime opponent who respects his ability, 
  or maybe it’s a crimelord who thinks he has the 
  PC “right where he wants him”; the villain is 
  willing to help the hero escape from custody in 
  exchange for his allegiance. 
   
  The Villain Gloats:  So what do you do 
  when you’re a supervillain and you’ve framed a 
  superhero for murder, destroyed his life, and he’s 
  on the verge of being sent to Death Row? You 
  go to the prison (in disguise, if necessary) and 
  tell him that you’re responsible for all his misery 
  and suffering, of course. 
   
  I Was in My Secret ID, So I Don’t Have an 
  Alibi:  As a genre convention with no bearing on 
  how it’d be handled in the real world, 
  superheroes in costumed identities remain 
  masked until they’ve been found guilty of a 
  crime, and the unmasking is carried out at 
  sentencing. This does not protect the hero from 
  having no alibi because he was attending a 
  business meeting or taking his kid out to the 
  ballgame. (Trials, unfortunately, have a way of 
  prying out a man’s secrets.) 
  THE TRIAL 
   
   
   
  Once you’ve decided on the specifics of the 
  trial and the role of the PCs, it’s time to stage the 
  trial. Although the structure of jury trials is 
  generally well known from movies and 
  television programs, here’s a refresher. 
   
  Step One:  Judge or Jury. The defense 
  determines if they’d rather have the case tried by 
  a judge or a jury. Prosecutors cannot require a 
  jury trial. 
   
  Step Two:  Select the Jury:  If it’s going to 
  be a jury trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys 
  conduct a process called voir dire, a question and 
  answer process that determines the jury. The 
  judge and the attorneys collaborate on the list of 
  questions. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  Step Three:  Address the Evidence:  Before 
  the trial begins, the defense and prosecution ask 
  the court to either admit or exclude certain pieces 
  of evidence. These request motions are called in 
  limine. At this stage, witness lists are submitted. 
  18 
   
  Step Four:  Opening Statements:  The 
  prosecution and then the defense make opening 
  statements that outline the case that they’re 
  trying to prove. Sometimes the defense reserves 
  his opening statement until he begins to present 
  his case. 
   
  Step Five:  The Prosecution Makes Its Case:  
  Witnesses swear oaths to “tell the truth, the 
  whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” The 
  prosecutor interrogates the witnesses on the 
  prosecution’s witness list. 
   
  Step Six:  Cross-examination and Redirect. 
  The defense gets to cross-examine the 
  prosecution’s witnesses. Then the prosecution 
  may reexamine its witnesses and undo the 
  damage done to their case during the cross-
  examination. 
   
  Step Seven:  The Prosecution Rests. The 
  prosecution finishes presenting its case. 
   
  Step Eight:  Motion to Dismiss:  The defense 
  has a chance to make a motion to dismiss 
  charges. The judge rarely grants this motion (in 
  which case the trial moves to the defense portion 
  of the case). 
   
  Step Nine:  The Defense Case:  The defense 
  gets to cross-examine witnesses on the defense’s 
  witness list. 
   
  Step Ten:  Cross-examination and Redirect. 
  The prosecutor cross-examines the defense 
  witnesses; then the defense reexamines the 
  defense witnesses to rebut claims made in cross-
  examination. 
   
  Step Eleven:  The Defense Rests. The 
  defense finishes presenting its case. 
   
  Step Twelve:  Prosecution Rebuttal. The 
  prosecutor offers evidence and tries to refute the 
  defense’s case. 
   
  Step Thirteen:  Compose Jury Instructions. 
  The prosecution and defense get together with 
  the judge. The Judge crafts a final set of 
  instructions for the jury. 
   
  Step Fourteen:  Closing Statements. The 
  prosecution makes its closing argument, 
  summarizing the case from the prosecution’s 
  viewpoint, explaining why the defendant is 
  guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, then the 
  defense summarizes its case and tries to persuade 
  the jury that the client is not guilty (or guilty of a 
  lesser offense). 
   
  Step Fifteen:  Jury Instruction:  The judge 
  instructs the jury about what law to apply to the 
  case – and which law is not applicable and 
  whether certain issues need to be ignored – and 
  how to perform its duties. In particularly 
  emotional cases, some judges might give 
  instructions to the jury before closing arguments. 
   
  Step Sixteen:  Jury Deliberations. The jury 
  tries to reach a verdict. Unanimous agreement is 
  usually required, but Oregon and Louisiana 
  allow convictions with 10 of 12 votes. 
   
  Step Seventeen:  Post-Trial Motions. If the 
  jury produces a guilty verdict, the defense can 
  request that the judge set aside the verdict and 
  either grant a new trial (or give a full acquittal) 
  to the defendant. This motion is rarely granted. 
   
  Step Eighteen:  Sentencing. If there’s been a 
  guilty verdict, the judge either immediately 
  passes down a sentence or (more commonly) sets 
  sentencing for another day. 
   
  Of course trials, especially in comic books, 
  have many ways to turn into a farce or a 
  complete disaster for one side or another. 
  Consider the following complications: 
   
  A Dark Secret Comes Out:  While it may 
  have no bearing on the trial, at some point in the 
  proceedings (in true soap opera fashion) 
  someone’s darkest secret will come out:  affairs, 
  children sired out of wedlock, witnesses to visits 
  to strip clubs or leather bars, evidence that 
  someone participated in a crime long ago and 
  covered it up, etc. 
   
  The Battle For Court TV:  Major trials are a 
  media circus, and competition in the big top has 
  never been as fierce as it is today. When the 
  crime media gets its teeth into a trial, regardless 
  of how many more gruesome crimes might go 
  unpublicized, they grab onto it and mercilessly 
  exploit it. Unfortunately, one of commentators 
  on Court TV has a grudge against the PCs and 
  will automatically slant the coverage to discredit 
  the PC as much as possible. 
   
  Contaminated Evidence:  You may have 
  gotten the perpetrator, but the lab boys botched 
  their work. Samples taken from the crime scene 
  have been contaminated and invalidated, and a 
  major part of your case is thrown out of court. 
   
  Dead Alive:  A true melodramatic staple, 
  someone who was thought to be dead (in murder 
  trials, it’s often the victim), bursts through the 
  doors of the courtroom and proclaims that he’s 
  alive. In superhuman worlds, this can be a 
  shapeshifter who’s impersonating the dead 
  person, so extra caution is advised. 
   
  Disruptive Relatives:  The distraught 
  relatives of the accused (or the victim, use 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  19
  AND THE 
  VERDICT IS... 
   
   
   ...whatever the 
  story needs it to be, 
  though if the players 
  do a really bad job (or 
  an exceptional) job of 
  roleplaying, change 
  the verdict (or reduce 
  or increase the 
  sentence). 
   
  whichever side is opposed to the PCs) makes a 
  public scene at the trial, throwing wild 
  accusations at one of the PCs. When the trial’s 
  adjourned for the day, the relative gets out in 
  front of the press and calls for an independent 
  investigation of the PC’s conduct. (It’s even 
  possible they’ll start an organization that will 
  turn into a persistent thorn in the PC’s side.) 
  They’ll also go on court television programs and 
  besmirch the reputation of the PC (and his 
  supporters). 
   
  A Sympathetic Witness is a Liar:  Your side 
  was relying on the testimony of a particular 
  witness (a stoolie, a police officer, a relative of 
  one of the parties) but when he gets on the stand, 
  the opposing side easily dismantles him and 
  shows that he’s a complete liar. This doesn’t just 
  affect his testimony – it puts the entire case in 
  jeopardy. 
   
  Someone Else Comes Forward. Halfway 
  during the trial, a plausible suspect comes 
  forward and confesses to the crime. Perhaps it’s 
  a supervillain who doesn’t want to see his 
  illegitimate son (who’s just manifested the same 
  powers as his dad) get off to the same lousy start 
  he got, so he’s willing to make a sacrifice, or 
  perhaps it’s someone hired by a mob boss to take 
  the fall for a crime. Regardless of his reason, his 
  confession is throwing the trial into turmoil. 
   
  A Witness is in Danger:  A very common 
  problem when the mob or ethnic gangs are 
  involved, people are afraid to talk about a crime 
  or come forward to testify, and when they do, the 
  mob calls out for a hit. Sometimes a superhero 
  will have to be extremely persuasive to get 
  people to talk, and sometimes they’ll be called 
  upon to perform bodyguard duty. 
  THE BATTLE 
   
   
   
  Neil Gaiman once described fight scenes in 
  comic books as having the same importance as 
  musical numbers in a musical or sex scenes in a 
  porn film – they’re the quintessential moment 
  that defines the genre. So even though a trial 
  provides great drama in its own right, there needs 
  to be a way to integrate superbattles into the 
  proceedings. 
   
  The Rescue:  Sometimes a supervillain on 
  trial may will display extreme arrogance toward 
  the proceedings; his defense essentially boils 
  down to, “Wait until my friends show up, then 
  all of you will pay!” At some point in the 
  scenario, it happens – the villains launch a full 
  scale assault on the courthouse and try to grab 
  their friend and get away. Now admittedly, 
  attacking someone in public and announcing 
  you’re going to do it in advance is either 
  extremely stupid or extremely overconfident, but 
  supervillains enjoy doing this sort of thing. 
   
  The Infiltration:  A more clever way of 
  dealing with the supervillain attack problem is 
  the infiltration. The villains know the heroes and 
  the authorities will be there to stop them, so 
  instead of just storming the courtroom, the 
  villains are going  to be moving into positions 
  (taking the place of jurors, bailiffs, reporters, 
  even the judge) and planting explosives and 
  other booby traps where the superheroes are 
  expected to be sitting. Once the boobytraps go 
  off, the villains drop their disguises and attack. 
   
  The Takeover:  A classic comic book 
  scenario is for a villain and his gang to storm the 
  courtroom and take control of the trial. The lead 
  villain becomes the judge, another plays the role 
  of the prosecutor, and the other bad guys form 
  the jury. This is a hostage scenario, because the 
  spectators will be shot if the heroes don’t play 
  along with whatever buffoonery the villains have 
  in mind. As with most hostage scenarios, the 
  heroes have to stall for time, play along with the 
  bad guys and wait for the ideal moment to make 
  their move. 
   
  The “Supervillains knock the superhero 
  unconscious, kidnap a defense lawyer and put 
  him on trial” plot is a variation on this scenario. 
  AFTERSHOCKS 
   
   
   
  The consequences of this scenario should be 
  obvious; if an innocent man is sent to prison, 
  then at some point the heroes will have to work 
  to clear his name, typically by tracking down the 
  real culprit and forcing a confession. 
   
  If a PC was convicted, the consequences 
  will be more severe. If the PC had a secret 
  identity then it’s probably going to be gone, 
  barring trickery:  someone else agrees to the take 
  the rap for the PC, or the PC’s conviction is 
  really a ruse to get him into prison and close to a 
  felon (that needs to be pumped for information, 
  in which case their “normal” identity will 
  actually be a disguise). 
   
  If a guilty person is found innocent, it 
  should redouble the resolve of the PCs to bring 
  him to justice. However, if you’ve run a big trial 
  scenario for a villain and he’s gotten off once, 
  don’t stage a second trial. Instead, nudge the PCs 
  into finding conclusive evidence on the bad guy, 
  and when they do, summarily lock him away for 
  good. 
   
  Of course, when a villain is locked away, it 
  doesn’t mean they’re gone from the campaign. 
  Champions campaigns are notorious for having 
  paranormal prisons that are essentially villain 
  sieves. However, when you put a villain on trial, 
  that makes the PCs go to extra effort to put him 
  away, so it feels even more like a slap in the face 
  when the villain escapes from a trial. On the 
  other hand, the “supervillain goes after the jury 
  that convicted him” is a time honored classic, so 
  if you feel inclined to release a villain from 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  prison, make sure that they do something 
  interesting. A supervillain who’s released from 
  prison might try to go straight, only to be spotted 
  close to several other criminal operations 
  (Unluck can create generate a lot of painful 
  misunderstandings); if the heroes overreact and 
  hound the ex-villain, it’s possible he’ll “fall off 
  the wagon” and return to crime. 
  20 
  NPCs 
  As with other scenarios, trial scenarios have their 
  own unique cast of characters. 
  LAWYERS 
   
   
   
  Currently one of the most maligned 
  professions on the planet, lawyers are necessary 
  for the criminal justice system to function – 
  which doesn’t mean superheroes are going to 
  appreciate them when they do their job right:  by 
  putting professional ethics (loyalty to the client 
  comes before everything else) ahead of universal 
  human morality. Within the fraternity of lawyers 
  (at least in cinema and the comics) there are 
  distinctive sub-varieties. 
   
  The Crusader:  This young firebrand 
  believes in the purity and righteousness of his 
  profession, and loves to represent the underdog 
  or the person neglected by society or (in the case 
  of district attorneys) the interests of society that 
  are crushed by the system. The Crusader is one 
  of the most loyal people you’ll ever meet, but 
  their passion can get in the way of a good 
  defense. 
   
  The Dealmaker:  This attorney (prosecutor 
  or defender) is tired, worn out, overworked, and 
  coasting. He wants to get the case over with as 
  quickly as possible, pick up his next paycheck, 
  and go. Even if it’s in his client’s worst interest, 
  he’ll take the first deal that’s set on the table, and 
  if the client’s too mentally incompetent to judge 
  his actions, so much the better. 
   
   
  The Gloryhound:  “When capes commit 
  crime, they must do the time, or else they’re 
  slime!” Welcome to the world of the Nationally 
  Famous Lawyer. He’s on all the talk shows, he 
  knows how to play the media like a violin, he’s 
  almost certainly a capable attorney, but he’s 
  more interested in getting high profile cases than 
  defending a client to the best of his abilities. 
   
   The Mob Mouthpiece:  Long ago, whatever 
  integrity this guy possessed was swallowed up 
  by greed, fear, and deals with the devil. This guy 
  knows all the dirty tricks of the trade, and will 
  not hesitate to use them. He may also be an 
  active participant in his boss’s crimes, 
  strategizing ways to circumvent the law before 
  the crime’s even committed. In a superhero 
  world (because a mouthpiece has access to so 
  much privileged information), a mob boss might 
  try to force him to wear a device that gives him 
  Mental Defense at all times. 
   
  Old Man Eloquent:  The attorney was at one 
  time a top lawyer in his field, but he’s been on 
  the decline for many years, he only gets an 
  occasional case, and even the judges take pity on 
  him. Nonetheless, give this lawyer a cause of 
  great importance, one which he truly believes, 
  and he’ll display oratory skills of legend. 
   
  The Overworked Newbie:  Life’s rough for 
  newcomers in any profession, and the law is no 
  exception. This person’s probably juggling three 
  cases, pro bono work, and trying to find time to 
  do the research, and even if he had the time, the 
  lack of sleep is killing him. Usually only half-
  prepared, the Overworked Newbie is fresh meat 
  for an experienced D.A., who usually leaves 
  their arguments bleeding on the floor after the 
  first cross examination. 
   
  The Vengeful D.A.:  The district attorney 
  prides himself on being on the right side of the 
  truth nine times out of ten. Sometimes this pride 
  is expressed through pig-headedness, contempt 
  for the other parts of the judicial process 
  (including superheroes), excessive 
  competitiveness, and a desire to win every case, 
  regardless of whether the defendant is guilty or 
  innocent. 
  JUDGES 
   
   
   
  The Folksy Southern Boy With Knives Under 
  His Robes:  This man is a real charmer, formerly 
  a great lawyer and orator. Now one of the most 
  respected men on the bench, this man is relaxed 
  and usually in good spirits – but when someone 
  annoys him, he’ll cut them down to size so 
  quickly that their heads will spin. 
   
  High Priest of the Constitution:  To this 
  judge, the intention of the American Founding 
  Fathers is holy writ; his highest duty is to 
  preserve the status quo, and if change is 
  necessary, it must be in concord with the will 
  and the intent of the framers. This judge is a 
  complete stickler for the law, and anyone who 
  gets in the way of the law without the proper 
  respect for the founders’ wishes had better watch 
  out. 
   
  The Relentless Harpy:  Maybe at one time, 
  this woman wasn’t such a relentless control 
  freak, but now she’s one of the most unbearable 
  people in the whole legal system. She’s 
  constantly berating witnesses and lawyers, 
  intimating that people are liars, and screaming 
  how much smarter she is than anyone else. 
  (There are male versions of this archetype, of 
  course.) 
   
  The Insane Ol’ Coot:  Sometimes when a 
  judicial authority behaves like a ranting madman, 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  21
  it’s not because he’s under mind control, it’s 
  because he’s too old and too burnt out to be a 
  judge anymore. His rulings are bizarre, his 
  statements even more bizarre, he abuses his 
  authority at the drop of a hat, and he’s lost 
  everything except the pity of the older court 
  clerks who remember him back in his prime. The 
  presence of this man on the bench guarantees 
  that a trial will be thrown into turmoil. 
   
  Of course, sometimes there are other 
  explanations for a judge’s bizarre behavior. 
  Telepaths love to play with authority figures 
  (including judges, lawyers, and bailiffs) and even 
  if the judge isn’t directly influenced, he can be 
  blackmailed into making rulings that will hurt 
  the PC’s side. 
   
  The Liberal Activist:  This judge’s rulings 
  are guided by a profound sense of social justice – 
  and much less respect for precedent. He’s 
  interested in fairness toward minorities and 
  protecting the little guy from establishment 
  interests; if you’re onboard with his agenda, 
  great; if not, watch out. 
  OTHERS 
   
   
   
  Other NPCs whom PCs might encounter in 
  this scenario include: 
   
  The Hardened Police Detective:  This guy’s 
  a star witness for the prosecution who thinks he’s 
  seen it all. He may be honest or he may be in the 
  pockets of the mob (or running a small 
  independent operation on the side), but this 
  tough-as-nails investigator backs down from no 
  one, even when it’s in his best interest to do so. 
  He’s a reluctant ally at best (though secretly he 
  may admire the heroes), but cast as an adversary, 
  he’s as ruthless as anyone the heroes will ever 
  encounter. The detective hasn’t got a lot of 
  respect for the judicial process and is used to 
  getting away with telling bald faced lies under 
  oath. 
   
  The Crusading Newspaper Reporter;  This 
  young man is a trusted ally (unless the PCs have 
  something to hide); even more idealistic than 
  most superheroes, this reporter is determined to 
  pursue justice regardless of the personal cost. If 
  the PCs don’t have a lot of investigative skills, 
  his assistance can be invaluable (though he’ll 
  usually point the PCs in the right direction, 
  rather than do all the legwork himself). 
   
  The Gossipmonger Disguised as a Court 
  Reporter:  These days, crime stands as an equal 
  beside celebrity in the scandal sheets, and this 
  gossipmonger, a former attorney, is better known 
  for his looks and his hawkish attitude against 
  defendants in scandalous cases (“Innocent until 
  proven guilty? What planet do you live on!”) and 
  costumed vigilantes. He’s a minor nuisance at 
  best, but when he needles someone on a daily 
  basis, he can turn into an irritant that’s way out 
  of proportion to his actual importance. 
   
  The Stubborn Juror:  There’s one on every 
  jury. Perhaps he’s a hardcase who’ll never buy 
  into a character’s guilt or innocence, no matter 
  how obvious it might be to everyone else. 
  Perhaps he’s a supervillain in his secret ID with 
  an agenda. Whatever his motivation, he’s so 
  intractable that he makes Mechanon look wishy-
  washy. 
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   -15 Social Limitation:   Required to be 
  Totally Loyal to Client 
  (Frequently, Major) 
  Total Cost of Package:   10 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  22 
  BUT WE NEVER 
  DID THAT! 
   
   
   The scenario 
  assumes that one of 
  the adventures in 
  Holocaust’s seeds in 
  CKC took place, and 
  the PCs were 
  involved. If you’re 
  not willing to run that 
  adventure with the 
  PCs (or would rather 
  use other villains than 
  Holocaust, or change 
  the set up) go ahead 
  and make the 
  necessary changes. 
   This scenario can 
  be summed up as 
  “supervillains booby-
  trap a courtroom and 
  then attack” 
  adventure. 
   In the Champions 
  Universe. Holocaust 
  has a secret ID, which 
  would be tipped off in 
  this scenario if he was 
  captured. There are 
  (at least) two ways to 
  circumvent this:  first, 
  arrange it so that 
  Holocaust with an 
  imposter prior to 
  arraignment. Second 
  (a more brutal option) 
  arrange it so the 
  explosion that ends 
  the fight knocks 
  Holocaust into an 
  overloaded electrical 
  power grid that burns 
  his face. This will 
  allow Holocaust to be 
  captured and 
  unmasked, but not 
  positively identified. 
  (The latter will be the 
  assumed reason in 
  this scenario). 
   
  Scenario:   Disorder in the Court 
  BACKGROUND 
   
   
   
  Holocaust is on trial. He tried to enter an 
  electrical plant on the outskirts of Millennium 
  City and absorb the energy (which he’d vowed to 
  use to destroy the hero team’s headquarters). He 
  was defeated by the PCs and has been shackled 
  with the latest, best technology so he can be put 
  on trial. The PCs are on the witness list. 
   
  Holocaust is acknowledged as a major 
  supervillain and his trial is an event of national, 
  if not international proportions. However, one of 
  the reporters at the trial would like to make it an 
  even bigger story. Wendell Williams, host of the 
  controversial show “Legal Eagle” on  SNN, has 
  contacted a group of supervillains and 
  commissioned them (using money appropriated 
  from one of Holocaust’s secret bank accounts) to 
  rescue him. The villains in the scenario are:  
  Stormfront, Mirage, Morningstar, and 
  Shadowdragon. If additional villains are needed, 
  use Howler, Herculan, and Brainchild. There 
  should be one villain per PC, not including 
  Holocaust. There are also a pair of freelance 
  criminal technicians accompanying the team; 
  their job is to free Holocaust. 
  LOCATION 
   
   
   
  The trial is being held in a medium sized 
  courtroom in a local courthouse. Television 
  cameras are not permitted in the courtroom 
  (much to the media’s chagrin(. Although the 
  courthouse was recently built, it was not 
  designed with a modern look. The interior walls 
  are lined with wooden paneling, and its furniture 
  is made from solid oak, in keeping with the 
  building’s traditional look. Chairs have 4 DEF 
  and 4 BODY; tables and benches have 4 DEF, 6 
  BODY. The panels on the judge’s bench are 
  ce. 
  inscribed with the symbol of the scales of justi
   
  A transparent, bulletproof shield (DEF 8) 
  protects the court reporter, the clerk, the judge, 
  and the witness from possible gunfire. There’s 
  also a concealed Mental Defense field generator 
  below the floor, conferring 12 points of Mental 
  Defense to the Judge, Jury, and the witness. 
   
  Behind the judge’s bench is a statue of 
  Justice (9 DEF, 6 BODY) and a pair of flags 
  (state and national) suspended on a pole (DEF 2, 
  BODY 4) 
  THE TRIAL 
   
   
   
  The prosecuting attorneys are Liz Hardin 
  and Patrick Collins, a team that’s acknowledged 
  for their ability, professionalism, and utter 
  ruthlessness in cross-examination. The defending 
  attorney is Lee Meyers. Meyers will disrupt the 
  trial with spurious motions at every opportunity, 
  including a motion to dismiss based on the 
  principle that Holocaust has a right to look into 
  his accusers’ faces, but the eye shield robs the 
  villain of his fundamental right. 
   
  The Judge is Barrett Carlson, whose best 
  described as “a folksy Judge with knives under 
  his robes. He knows the trial’s a media circus, 
  and he’s content to let it play out as one, and 
  tolerate some of the more melodramatic acts of 
  the attorneys (within reason). 
   
  Holocaust is up on charges of aggravated 
  assault, breaking and entering, sabotage, misuse 
  of superhuman abilities, aggravated assault, and 
  attempted murder (against the heroes). 
   
  The prosecution argues that Holocaust is a 
  career criminal, that this was yet another in a 
  long series of incidents, and that Holocaust must 
  be locked away for the public good. The defense 
  will argue is that (at most) Holocaust is guilty of 
  breaking and entering; he entered the power 
  plant to absorb energy, not to commit 
  destruction, and would have not harmed anyone 
  had he been allowed to leave peacefully. “It’s 
  these so-called heroes who, through their 
  reckless and irresponsible actions, escalated the 
  situation to a point where lives and property was 
  damaged.” He’ll also argue that superfights 
  constitute consensual violence (an argument with 
  no supporting precedents) and thus Holocaust 
  can’t be held responsible for his actions. 
   
  Holocaust is sitting in a reinforced chair at 
  the defense bench, with a heavy steel apparatus 
  over his eyes (DEF 18, BODY 8, Security 
  Systems at –3 and a minimum of 1 Turn to 
  unlock). He also has manacles that contain 
  power neutralizers (DEF 10, BODY 6, 10d6 
  Suppress vs. all mutant powers) which help keep 
  his powers down to a manageable level. 
   
  Prosecution witnesses include: 
   
  The Heroes (of course). 
   
  Greg Gleason, a security guard who was 
  attacked when Holocaust entered the building; he 
  has third degree burns over much of his body. 
  Under cross-examination, he will admit that 
  Holocaust told him to go away, and he 
  responded by opening fire on him with a heavy 
  weapon, and that opening fire without issuing a 
  warning is against approved the plant’s approved 
  procedures. 
  Ted Harrison, an expert in superpowers and their 
  effect on engineering, will testify to the potential 
  dangers of what Holocaust was trying to do on 
  the region’s power grid. The defense will argue 
  that Harrison’s testimony is prejudicial and 
  irrelevant. 
   
  The defense witnesses include: 
   
  Dr. Valerie Beaumont, metahuman 
  biochemist, who will testify that the metahuman 
  urge to feed can be very strong, and that 
  Holocaust is so addicted to absorbing energy that 
  he was operating at a reduced capacity. (“So he 
  went to the most available source of energy – 
  and I dare say the safest, because he could meet 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  23
  NO SHOES, NO 
  SHIRT, NO 
  SPANDEX 
   
   
   Finally 
  (unfortunately for 
  superheroes) the 
  courtroom has a dress 
  code:  superheroes are 
  expected to wear 
  pants, shoes, and a 
  dress shirt. The code 
  generally doesn’t 
  apply to characters 
  who wear bulky 
  battlesuits. 
   
  MIRAGE’S IMAGE
   
   
   This is bought out 
  of Mirage’s Bag of 
  Tricks pool as 
  follows: 
  CostPowers 
   
   52 Sight and 
  Hearing Groups 
  Images Increased 
  Size (2" radius; 
  +1/4), +/-8 to 
  PER Rolls, 
  Trigger (+1/4), 
  Reduced 
  Endurance (0 
  END; +1/2) (78 
  Active Points); 
  Conditional 
  Power One 
  Preprogrammed 
  Sequence Only (-
  1/2) 
   
   
  his needs without risking harm to the general 
  public.”) The defense will just mock her. 
   
  Dr. Harold Housen, metahuman injuries 
  specialist. He’ll testify that it’s his professional 
  opinion that Holocaust was not attempting to 
  seriously hurt Ted Harrison, because he could 
  have easily killed him with a single shot. 
  (“clearly Holocaust was trying to use minimal 
  force against a man who opened fire on him – 
  unfortunately the guard’s unnecessary actions, 
  though well-intentioned, resulted in tragedy). 
  The defense will be outraged at the attempt to 
  justify such a hideous injury. 
   
  Holocaust. His testimony is reserved until 
  the end of the defense. 
   
  Throughout the trial, Holocaust will sit and 
  smile slightly, saying (uncharacteristically) 
  nothing. When he’s called to testify, he’ll put his 
  hand on the Bible, and when asked to swear to 
  tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but 
  the truth, so help... ME!” And that’ll be the 
  signal for the attack.  
   
  (Williams has, through the use of hired 
  telepath, informed Holocaust about the attack, 
  but the villain hasn’t been given specific 
  information, aside from “hold your breath after 
  you take the oath.” Mirage came in, disguised as 
  a security consultant a few hours before the trial, 
  and planted the booby traps while pretending to 
  look for traps). 
  THE ATTACK 
   
   
   
  The hired villains have made plans and will 
  to infiltrate the gathering. Mirage will be 
  disguised as Liz Hardin, Shadowdragon will be 
  in the stands as a spectator, Stormfront and 
  Morningstar and the others will be in a caterer’s 
  truck behind the courthouse; Stormfront will be 
  disguised as a delivery man. 
   
  When the signal phrase is said, Mirage will 
  use a radio control bracelet on her wrist to trigger 
  a preset sequence of traps: 
   
  First, a preprogrammed illusion of a second 
  Holocaust blowing a hole in the ceiling, 
  proclaiming that he’s the real Holocaust, and 
  there’s no need for people to surround 
  themselves with trappings and “garbage” when 
  he’s around (at this point, he uses an energy blast 
  to destroy the American flag). 
   
  Second, three segments later, the statue of 
  Justice will issue a sonic scream; a 2d6 NND 
  Sonic Energy Blast (the defense is covering your 
  ears or Hearing Group Flash Defense, DEX 20, 
  SPD 5) whose area effect fills the entire 
  courtroom, and lasts for 3 phases. 
   
  Third, after the statue of Justice is destroyed 
  or the scream finishes, the judge’s gavel will 
  explode, releasing a noxious gas that contains a 
  special chemical that drives berserk anyone who 
  breathes it. 
   25 Mind Control 13d6, Telepathic (+1/4), 
  Area Of Effect (32" Radius; +1 1/2) (179 
  Active Points); 1 Charge which Never 
  Recovers (-4), Based on CON (Defense:  
  PD; -1), Conditional Power One 
  Command, “Go Berserk” (-1/2), Limited 
  Power Doesn't Affect Those Who Hold 
  Their Breaths or Have LS:  Self-
  Contained (-1/2) 
  [1nr] 
   
  Once all three events have occurred, the 
  remaining villains should have arrived at the 
  courthouse. The villains will engage any 
  superheroes, while two technicians will attempt 
  to free Holocaust from the two devices that are 
  neutralizing him. 
   
  If half of the villains are knocked 
  unconscious and the technicians have obviously 
  failed, the remaining villains will sound a retreat. 
  If Mirage is present, she’ll trigger a fourth booby 
  trap, a small explosive charge that was placed 
  under one of the benches in the gallery, doing an 
  Energy Blast 8d6 Explosion. Under no 
  circumstance will Morningstar retreat; he’s in the 
  fight until the bitter end. 
  AFTERMATH 
   
   
   
  If Holocaust is freed, the villains will sound 
  a retreat, and Holocaust will cover it by blasting 
  everyone in sight. If the heroes are defeated, the 
  headlines will range from “Outmatched Heroes 
  Fight Valiant, Losing Battle” to “Heroes:  
  Incompetent or Inept?.” Holocaust will be free to 
  terrorize the world and avenge his humiliation at 
  a later date – and he will want to personally 
  defeat the heroes at some point. 
   
  Mirage, who had absolutely no interest in 
  freeing Holocaust, only wanted to throw down 
  the gauntlet and infuriate heroes to the point 
  where’d they’d be willing to follow her into one 
  of her pre-arranged deathtraps. She may also 
  emerge as a major thorn in the hero’s side. 
   
  Wendell Williams, who’ll celebrate his 
  victory by being the loudest voice criticizing the 
  heroes after the battle, will find it to be an 
  intoxicating experience, one he’ll want to repeat 
  as soon as possible. He’ll be a step closer to 
  christening a full blown supervillain career as the 
  nefarious Monopole. 
   
  On the other hand, if the heroes win, then 
  they get a major boost to their reputation; 
  Holocaust may not be Dr. Destroyer, but he’s no 
  piker. He’ll want revenge for defeating him prior 
  to the trial and preventing his glorious escape. 
  And if the PCs track down the money trail for 
  the mercenary villains, they may expose Wendell 
  and send him to prison (sometime later, he’ll 
  escape and assume the identity of the 
  supervillain Monopole). 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Trial Random Scenario 
  Generator 
  24 
  TABLE 1:  VILLAIN GUILT 
   
  Roll 1d6, roll on any indicated sub-
  table, then roll on Table 2-1 
  1-3 Villain was caught by the heroes 
  performing the criminal act 
  4-5 Villain is guilty (roll on Table 1-1, 
  Unusual Circumstances, Guilt) 
  6 
  Villain is innocent (roll on Table 1-
  2, Unusual Circumstances, 
  Innocence) 
   
  TABLE 1-1 UNUSUAL 
  CIRCUMSTANCES, GUILT 
   
  Roll 1d6, roll on any indicated sub-
  table, then roll on Table 2-1 
  1-3 No complications. It’s an open and 
  shut case. 
  5-6 Complications (roll on Table 1-1-2) 
   
  TABLE 1-1-1 UNUSUAL 
  CIRCUMSTANCES, 
  COMPLICATIONS 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 2-1 
  1 
  Villain was performing the crime 
  under duress (blackmail, telepathic 
  instruction or he’d been drugged) 
  2 
  Villain did not mean to commit the 
  crime, it was an accident (reroll if 
  inappropriate) 
  3 
  Villain was performing the crime to 
  protect a loved one, 
  4 
  Villain was tricked into performing 
  the crime by a third party 
  5 
  There was no crime – the villain 
  and the victim are colluding as part 
  of a publicity stunt, insurance 
  scheme, or other plot 
  6 
  Villain was performing the crime 
  as part of a deep cover operation – 
  he’s working for the good guys! 
   
  TABLE 1-2 UNUSUAL 
  CIRCUMSTANCES, INNOCENCE 
   
  Roll 1d6, roll on any indicated sub-
  table, then roll on Table 2-1 
  1-3 No complications. It’s a simple 
  misunderstanding. 
  5-6 Complications (roll on Table 1-2-1) 
   
  TABLE 1-2-1 UNUSUAL 
  CIRCUMSTANCES, 
  COMPLICATIONS 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 2-1 
  1 
  Villain was framed – probably by 
  another villain, but sometimes by a 
  hero or the police 
  2 
  Villain was framed by a superhero 
  looking to boost his reputation. 
  3 
  Villain was targeted by police who 
  willfully ignored the possibility of 
  other suspects. 
  4 
  Villain was committing a different 
  crime at the time he was being 
  falsely accused. 
  5 
  There was no crime – the crime is 
  meant as a cover to protect an 
  innocent person from other villains. 
  6 
  Villain was performing the crime 
  as part of a deep cover operation – 
  he’s working for the good guys! 
   
  TABLE 2:  VILLAIN CRIME 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 3 
  1 
  Murder 
  2 
  Willful Destruction 
  3 
  Blackmail 
  4 
  Kidnapping 
  5 
  Robbery 
  6 
  Assault 
   
  TABLE 3:  PROSECUTOR STYLE 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 3 
  1 
  Competent but Quiet 
  2 
  Corrupt, In The Pay of Criminals 
  3 
  Incompetent Newbie 
  4 
  Self-Righteous Shrill 
  5 
  Silver Tongued Charmer 
  6 
  Vengeful, Take No Prisoners 
   
  TABLE 4:  DEFENSE ATTORNEY 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 5 
  1 
  Attack Dog, Never Relents 
  2 
  Burned out, overworked veteran 
  who’s always going to plea 
  bargain. 
  3 
  Grandstanding speechmaker 
  4 
  Gloryhound 
  5 
  Incompetent Newbie 
  6 
  Mob Mouthpiece 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  25
   
  TABLE 5:  JUDGE 
   
  Roll 1d6, then roll on Table 6 
  1 
  Bland Pushover 
  2 
  Folksy Southern Boy (With Knives 
  Under His Robes) 
  3 
  High Priest of the Constitution 
  4 
  The Insane Ol’ Coot 
  5 
  The Liberal Activist 
  6 
  The Relentless Harpy 
   
   
  TABLE 6:  NUMBER OF TRIAL 
  COMPLICATIONS 
   
  Roll 1d6, if there are complications, roll 
  on Table 6-1 
  1 
  1 
  2-3 2 
  4-5 3 
  6 
  4 
   
  TABLE 6-1:  COMMON TRIAL 
  COMPLICATIONS 
   
  Roll 1d6 
  1 
  Courtroom proceedings are 
  disrupted by a tantrum (the 
  defendant, or a distraught relative 
  of the victim). 
  2 
  Evidence is contaminated 
  3 
  Excessively stubborn juror refuses 
  to acknowledge the possibility of 
  error. 
  4 
  Friendly witness is caught perjuring 
  his testimony 
  5 
  Gossipmongers besmirch the PCs’ 
  testimony (and reputation) 
  6 
  Roll on Table 6-1-1, Special 
  Complications 
   
  TABLE 6-1-1:  SPECIAL TRIAL 
  COMPLICATIONS 
   
  Roll 1d6 
  1 
  A jury member has a heart attack 
  2 
  One of the people in the gallery is 
  an assassin who tries to kill 
  someone 
  3 
  Someone’s dark secret is revealed 
  4 
  Someone else comes forward and 
  takes credit for the crime. 
  5-6 Supervillains attack the courtroom 
   
  Ten Unusual Superhuman Trial 
  Scenarios 
  BODY SWITCH/MINDGAMES  
   
   
   
  They’re saying it’s an insanity defense:   at 
  the trial of one of the world’s most maniacal 
  supervillains, the defendant is claiming that he’s 
  really one of the world’s greatest superheroes – 
  and he’s accidentally switched bodies with the 
  villain. Telepathy doesn’t prove his contention, 
  but the hero with whom he’s allegedly switched 
  bodies is acting a little odd. 
   
  This is a scenario that can be run with one of 
  the PCs in place of the NPC hero, and a player in 
  a dual role (both as the PC and the defendant) 
  just to keep the other players guessing. The 
  villain could always have made the switch (a 
  device that creates Mental Group Images is being 
  used to fool telepaths) or the villain could be 
  making the claim as a last desperate attempt to 
  smear an old enemy’s reputation (and the 
  “oddness” is actually personal quirks that have 
  previously fallen under people’s radar). 
  COLLAR ME 
   
   
   
  A criminal who was convicted on bank 
  robbery charges has served his sentence and is 
  being released into the community, but one of 
  the banks he robbed is trying to add a stipulation 
  to his release. The bank wants the ex-con to wear 
  a special bracelet; not only would it contain a 
  GPS system to track the device, it would also 
  contain a mechanism that would trigger a serious 
  electric shock when it receives a radio signal on 
  a particular wavelength. The bank plans to line 
  its walls with short range radio transmitters; if 
  the villain comes within fifty feet of these 
  transmitters, he’ll receive a serious electric 
  hoc
  s
  k. 
   
  As a prominent local superhero, people want 
  to hear the PCs’ opinions on this issue. The 
  prosecution wants the heroes to say it’ll be an 
  effective deterrent. The defense would like the 
  heroes to state that it’s probably unreliable and 
  likely to provoke villains into becoming so afraid 
  of capture that they’ll commit more violent 
  crimes. Where does the PC stand? 
  PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY 
   
   
   
  A duplicating villain named Multiplex 
  committed murder – he killed a cop, and is 
  facing a death sentence. However, the villain on 
  trial swears that he’s not the duplicate that killed 
  the cop, and that he actually opposed the murder. 
  He wants the PCs to honestly evaluate his case 
  and get him off if he convinces them he’s 
  innocent. Can they? Worse, Multiplex’s 
  duplicates involuntarily recombine every 
  fourteen days! How does the law handle 
  someone who’s partially a killer? 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  26 
  UDGE BLACK 
  A
  HIS HONOR, J
  H RLEQUIN 
   
   
   
  While one of the PCs are present in the 
  courtroom, a team of insane superpowered 
  agents infiltrates the courtroom and takes 
  everyone hostage... and that’s when the new 
  judge arrives – Black Harlequin! The only way 
  he’ll allow the hostages leave is if the PC agree
  to stand trial for his crimes (these “crimes,” o
  course, consist of in
  s 
  f 
  ge is one of 
  rvillains? 
  A
  terfering in the plans of 
  Black Harlequin). 
   
  Can you win in a trial when guns are being 
  held to the jury’s heads and the jud
  the world’s craziest supe
  H NGING JUSTICE 
   
   
   
  At a preliminary hearing where a PC is 
  being questioned about a villain’s actions, the 
  notorious Captain Chronos appears out of 
  nowhere, and addresses the courtroom, telling 
  everyone that something horrible will happen 
  unless the supervillain is released immediately. 
  Naturally, his concerns are ignored, but a few 
  minutes later, the villain’s powers flare up, the 
  courthouse is moved backward through time - 
  nd t
  a
  he PCs appearance and abilities are altered 
  to fit the new milieu. 
   
  The PCs are now pulp hero characters in th
  Old West, outstanding physical and mental 
  specimens (but with no superhuman powers). 
  The PC who was being questioned at the hearing 
  is now a notorious gunslinger who’s on trial for 
  murder, his lawyer is the town drunkard, and the 
  judge is a hanging judge (and he’s in a bad 
  mood). Find a way to prevent the PC from b
  sentenced to death (and figure out a way to 
  e 
  eing 
  U
  reverse the temporal transposition). 
  TODAY’S COPYRIGHT LAWS ARE 
  M RDER 
   
   
   
  Former minor league pro athlete Burton 
  Davis has decided to trademark one of the hero’s
  identities and sue him for copyright 
  infringement. Normally, this sort of case woul
  get thrown out of court, but because of some 
  ap
   
  d 
  e 
  rt, 
  n the way of his manipulations 
  are clever PCs. 
  p
  erwork filed before the hero’s first 
  appearance, the judge is willing to hear the case. 
   
  However, the PC is a real hothead, and 
  Davis has a real gift for being obnoxious, and th
  person who’s really behind the lawsuit – a 
  telepath – is counting on it being an explosive 
  combination. The telepath intends to 
  telepathically enflame Davis’s insults in cou
  and once the PC’s gotten mad enough, he’ll 
  mind control the PC into attacking, and (he 
  hopes) killing Davis in open court. The only 
  thing standing i
  THE DEAD WALK 
   
   
   
  A criminal who was given the death penalty 
  has come back to life. His lawyer claims that he 
  should walk free, given that he’s already been 
  executed by the state (and therefore he’s legally 
  served his sentence). The PCs have been asked to 
  find evidence that he faked his death, but what if 
  the execution wasn’t faked? 
  JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED 
   
   
   
  A telepathic vigilante has found an 
  intriguing way to use others to carry out his 
  mission – if, at the end of a trial, a criminal 
  who’s accused of a serious crime gets off on a 
  technicality, a gun will automatically teleport 
  into the hands of the judge, who then follows a 
  mental command to shoot the criminal until he’s 
  dead. 
   
  Three men are now dead, and the careers of 
  three respected jurists are in ruins. The 
  authorities would like you to find a way to 
  prevent this from happening again – but what 
  happens when a crimelord who’s managed to 
  avoid the law for years becomes the next target? 
  DUDE, WHERE’S MY EXHIBIT A? 
   
   
   
  A notorious supervillain is caught on film 
  killing several guards, an alien death ray pistol in 
  his hand. Unfortunately, when the murder 
  weapon is presented to the jury, it morphs into an 
  alien creature and flies away. The defense is 
  trying to get the trial dismissed on the grounds 
  that if the murder weapon’s an alien creature, it 
  may have been responsible for the death and not 
  the defendant. Of course, there’s always the 
  possibility that some other force morphed the 
  ur
  m
  der weapon to give the defendant an alibi. 
   
  Someone needs to recapture the weapon and 
  prove the weapon had no free will, and prevent a 
  murderer from being set Scot-free. 
  NOT IN MY BACK YARD 
   
   
   
  Tired of destructive battles on their 
  doorstep, supervillains crashing through their 
  windows at all hours of the night, and cleaning 
  up collateral damage, a team of superheroes with 
  a publicly known HQ are the recipients of a civil
  suit from their neighbors. They want the PCs to 
  move their headquarters as fa
   
  r away from their 
  property as possible – now! 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  27
  Home Away from Home by Charles Braden 
   
  Bases in the HERO System 
  The Commander sat in the control 
  room and oversaw the operations of the 
  entire facility with ease. On Level 3 
  there were agents training for the next 
  big attack against the United States. 
  Level 6 held the hangar with its strike 
  craft, including the two recently 
  damaged in the fight over Columbia. 
  Level 7 was dedicated to the Genetics 
  and Mutant Biology labs. Very soon, 
  their latest experiment would yield a 
  new form of super-agent, a killing 
  machine under their complete control. 
  “Today is a good day to be in 
  command,” he said softly to himself. 
  On the other side of the world, The 
  Warriors were just clearing up the mess 
  from their latest battle. Gladiator was 
  sweeping out the Viewing room while 
  Myrmidon and Trident cleared debris 
  from the bowling alley. Warlord was 
  just returning with groceries when he 
  realized that the kitchen was without 
  power. He set down the sacks with a 
  huff and was about to check the circuit 
  breakers when the alarm began to wail. 
  “Today is not going to be my day!” 
   
  Bases and headquarters have been a staple 
  product of all genres of fiction for decades. From 
  floating cloud cities to dark mountain 
  strongholds to extensive labs and living quarters 
  in the heart of the city, bases can take any form 
  the creator desires. The following is a brief list of 
  some basic types of bases and methods for using 
  them in your own games. 
  The Starting Hero Base 
   
  This base serves as a headquarters for a 
  fledgling team of Dark Champions crime 
  fighters or a low-powered Superhero group. It 
  provides a place to rest and recuperate after a 
  hard day’s battle as well as a strategy room for 
  making future plans.  
   
  This base is 64” by 32” and all on one floor. 
  The walls are made of standard concrete and the 
  roof is reinforced sheet metal. There is a normal 
  access door on each side as well as two large 
  overhead doors at one end where the group 
  stores their vehicles. The team has purchased the 
  building and the records have been altered to 
  reveal that the building has been empty for years 
  (the Deep Cover). The comm suite allows them 
  to catch the local police stations, popular local 
  radio programs, and even cable TV. 
  The Starting Hero Base 
   Val Char Cost 
  Notes 
   
  5 BODY 
  3 
   
   
  6 DEF 
  12 
   
   12 SIZE 
  24 
  64”x32” 
  Cost Lab/Equipment 
   
  2 Abandoned Warehouse:  Deep Cover 
   
  5 Comm Suite:  Radio Perception and 
  Transmission (Radio Group), Concealed 
  (-5 to PER Roll), OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   
  7 Electronics Lab: Electronics (Cellular, 
  Digital, Radio, Telephone, Jamming 
  Equipment) 11- 
   
  7 First Aid:  Paramedics 11- 
   
  9 Garage:  Mechanics 12- 
   
  5 Gym:  PS: Physical Fitness 11- 
   
  0 Location:  City 
   
  9 Planning Room:  Tactics 12- 
   13 Vacant Warehouse:  Disguise 14- 
   
  8 Weapons Locker:  Weaponsmith 
  (Firearms, Muscle-Powered HTH, 
  Muscle-Powered Ranged) 11- 
   Pts Disadvantages 
   15 Hunted:  Local Underworld Figures 
  8- (As Pow, NCI, Harshly Punish) 
   
   18 Final Cost = 89/5 
   
   
  The gym is fairly standard, with space for 
  fighting and tumbling practice. The weight set 
  will accommodate about a thousand pounds, 
  good enough for STR 20 or so to get a workout. 
  The electronics lab is for working on the base 
  comm suite as well as the personal equipment for 
  the group. The garage is fairly well stocked but 
  can only accommodate one vehicle at a time. 
  There is ample space for parking another vehicle 
  next to the garage bay. The first aid station is 
  very simple and should only be used for flesh 
  wounds and simple sprains. Anything else will 
  require actual medical facilities and likely X-
  Rays. The planning room is where the group 
  discusses group tactics and plans future 
  operations. The weapons locker contains tools 
  for working on standard firearms, missile 
  weapons like bows and crossbows, and hand-to-
  hand weapons like clubs, staves, and knives. 
   
  While this base may seem quite meager, it’s 
  fine for starting out. It provides a place to meet, 
  rest, get news, and make plans. For a cost of 18 
  points, each team member could chip in 3-4 
  points to spread the cost around. Such a base is 
  also very easy to expand as the team gathers 
  experience. 
    
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  The Sinister Fortress 
  28 
    
  This base serves as the headquarters for a 
  powerful foe in Fantasy Hero or a remote base 
  for a brooding villain.  
   
  This fortress is just the thing for an 
  established villain or up-and-coming warlord. 
  The remote location guarantees little trouble 
  from those pesky invading armies. A magic 
  crystal can be used at will to view approaching 
  foes out to a kilometer away. The magic spells 
  cast on the area ensure that sunlight never gets 
  through. The overall gloomy disposition of the 
  place saps the will and courage of approaching 
  forces before they even reach the outer defenses. 
  As a bonus, a dead zone twice the size of the 
  fortress itself has been cleared of vegetation and 
  any form of cover. No sneaking up on this place! 
   
  The fortress itself covers some 64 kilometers 
  on numerous levels and is constructed of the 
  most durable stone that can be found. The magic 
  library is said to be the best in the whole region. 
  Built-in defense consists of 16 ballistae 
  strategically mounted around the outer walls. 
  These babies are guaranteed to throw a bolt out 
  to 600 meters, and have a 180o arc. Each one 
  comes with a stockpile of 32 bolts that must be 
  replaced from the forest to the south. Rooms 
  include an animal pen, two armories, two 
  blacksmiths, and two training areas for the 
  troops. 
   
  And speaking of troops, the sale price 
  includes 100 common soldiers and their 
  equipment as well as 50 elite soldiers and four 
  gigantic hunting cats. Guaranteed to keep those 
  persistent salesmen at bay. 
   
  Unfortunately, with great possession comes 
  great adversity. In this case, it’s in the form of an 
  extremely bad reputation for the fortress. This 
  (and the magic library) tends to draw heroes 
  from far and wide trying to sneak into the place 
  or mount an attack. Finding the place is easy; 
  just ask anyone within a week’s ride and they 
  can point the way thanks to the extremely public 
  location. 
   
  Now a total cost of 60 character points 
  might seem steep for some, but your typical 
  warlord or evil sorcerer should be able to scrape 
  it together in no time. 
  The Sinister Fortress 
   Val Char Cost 
  Notes 
   
  8 BODY 
  6 
   
   
  8 DEF 
  18 
   
   20 SIZE 
  40 
  400”x200” 
  Cost Lab/Equipment 
   
  8 Animal Pens:  Animal Handling (choose 
  animal type) 12- 
   
  7 Armorsmith 11- 
   
  5 Second Armorsmith 11- 
   43 Aura of Dread:  Drain 1d6 PRE and 1d6 
  EGO, 1” Radius (Megascale, 1 km), 0 
  END, Persistent, Always On 
   
  7 Aura of Gloom:  Change Environment 
  (Overcast, -1 Sight PER Roll), 1” Radius 
  (Megascale, 1 km), 0 END, Persistent, 
  Always On 
   14 Ballista:  4d6 RKA (One Turn to ready, 
  Limited Arc 180 Degrees, Beam, OAF 
  Immobile Focus, Real Weapon, 32 
  Charges that recover in 1 Week) 
   20 15 Extra Ballistae 
   
  7 Blacksmith:  Weaponsmith (Muscle-
  Powered HTH, Muscle-Powered Ranged) 
  11- 
   
  5 Second Blacksmith 11- 
   15 Distant Wilderness:  Location 
  (Mountains) 
   
  1 Dreadlands:  Grounds, 2x Base Size 
   45 Guards, Common:  100 Followers (Base 
  50 points, 50 points of Disads) 
   45 Guards, Elite:  50 Followers (Base 75 
  points, 50 points of Disads) 
   40 Guardian Cats:  4 Followers (Base 150 
  points, 50 points of Disads) 
   
  8 Magical Library: KS: Magic 14- 
   
  5 Reputation:  Feared Stronghold 11- 
  (Medium Sized Group) +5/+5d6 
   16 Sense Foes:  Detect Enemies (Unusual 
  Group, Discriminatory, 360 Degree, 
  Sense) 1” Radius (Megascale 1 km), OAF 
  Bulky Magic Crystal 
   
  4 Training Area:  WF: Common Melee 
  Weapons and Common Missile Weapons 
   
  5 Second Training Area 
   Pts Disadvantages 
   25 Distinctive Features:  Huge Ominous 
  Fortress (Not Concealable, Extreme) 
   15 Hunted:  Various Heroes (Less Powerful, 
  Harshly Punish, Fortress is easy to find) 
   25 Social Limitation:  Very Public Location 
  (Very Frequently, Severe Reaction) 
   
   60 Final Cost = 299/5 
   
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  29
  Menacing Space Station 
   
  The ultimate in hostile getaways, this space 
  fortress is spherical, can get from Earth to Alpha 
  Centauri in 6 days, and carries a gun large 
  enough to destroy an entire planet. 
   
  The pinnacle of destructive technology, this 
  mobile base is said to be the ultimate power in 
  the universe. Pulse cannons are set around the 
  outer hull to deter attackers from getting too 
  close. Energy fields keep big enemy guns from 
  doing too much damage while the wave cannon 
  warms up. The hangar bays carry 100 of the 
  most sophisticated fighter craft around. For 
  ground security, the station carries 1000 crack 
  troops. The tractor beam can drag in just about 
  anything the enemy is likely to try and escape 
  with. 
   
  Needless to say, this is certainly an extreme 
  example of a base. However, it gives the players 
  an idea of just how large, how powerful, and 
  how terrifying a base can be. 
   
  Players are encouraged to be creative with 
  their bases. With a little planning and a bit of 
  research (and the GM’s permission), a base can 
  have anything from a trash compactor to a long-
  range teleportation device. With the HERO 
  System, the sky’s the limit. 
   
  Menacing Space Station 
   Val Char Cost 
  Notes 
   
  6 BODY    4 
   
   10 DEF 
     24 
   
   25 SIZE 
  50 
  1250”x640” 
  Cost Lab/Equipment 
   11 Communications Lab:  Systems Operation 
  (Communications, Medical and 
  Environmental Systems) 12- 
   27 Communications Suite:  HRRP (+5 PER), 
  Concealed (-5 PER), Discriminatory, 
  Rapid (x10), Tracking, Megascale (1” = 
  1000 km, +1), OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   30 Defense Screen:  Force Field (20 ED), 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½) 
   11 Equipment Bay:  Electronics 
  (Communication Systems, Environmental 
  Systems, Medical Systems) 12- 
   
  9 Interrogation Room:  Interrogation 12- 
   28 Jump Engines:  1 LY per Day 
   
  9 Medical Bay:  Paramedics 12- 
   
  9 Nav Station:  Navigation (Space, 
  Hyperspace) 12- 
   
  9 Piloting Simulator:  Combat Piloting 12- 
   30 Pulse Cannons:  RKA 3d6, Autofire 5 
  (+½), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1); 
  Beam (-¼), 2-man Crew (-¼), 180o Arc 
  (-¼), OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   35 More Cannons:  Total of 128 
   15 Reputation:  Impregnable Space Station 
  14- (Large Group) +5/+5d6 
   38 Sensor Suite:  Spatial Awareness (Radio 
  Group, +5 PER Roll, Discriminatory, 
  Analyze, 360 Degree), Rapid (x10), 
  Tracking, Transmit, Megascale (1” = 
  1000 km, +1); OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   
  9 Ship Repair Bay:  Mechanics 12- 
   65 Shock Troopers:  Followers (1000, 75 
  Base, 50 points of Disads) 
   35 Space-Based:  Location (Space) 
   75 Strike Fighters: 100 Vehicles (200 Base, 
  50 points of Disads) 
   
  9 Suit Repair:  Armorsmith 12- 
   25 Support Systems:  Life Support (Self-
  Contained Breathing, No Eating or 
  Sleeping, Safe in Cold, Heat, Pressure, 
  Vacuum, Radiation) 
   67 Thrusters:  Flight 20”, 4x Noncombat 
  Movement, Reduced Endurance (0 END, 
  +½) 
   40 Tractor Beam:  75 STR Telekinesis, 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½), 60o 
  Arc (-½), 4-man Crew (-½), Affects 
  Whole Object (-¼),OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   30 Wave Cannon:  RKA 4d6, Area Of Effect 
  (17” Radius, +1), Increased Range 5250” 
  (+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½), 
  Megascale 1” = 1000 km (+1); 24-man 
  Crew (-1¼), Extra Time (20 Minutes, -
  2½), Limited Arc One Hex Row (-¾), 
  OAF (Immobile, -2) 
   
  8 Weapon Bay:  Weaponsmith 12- (Energy 
  Weapons) 
   Pts Disadvantages 
   25 Distinctive Features:  Huge Ominous 
  Station (Not Concealable, Extreme) 
   15 Hunted:  Various Rebel Alliances (Less 
  Pow, Harshly Punish, Easy to Find) 
   25 Social Limitation:  Very Public Location 
  (Very Frequently, Severe Reaction) 
   
   127 Total Cost = 637/5 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Variant Human Genotypes by Bob Greenwade 
  30 
  WHAT ABOUT 
  OTHER SPECIES? 
   
   
   With such 
  proliferation of 
  variant genotypes, 
  one might wonder if 
  they can be applied to 
  other species in the 
  galaxy. Could one 
  have, for example, a 
  Caver Rigellian, or a 
  Mer-Fex? 
   The answer is:  
  maybe. From a 
  logistical standpoint 
  there are few 
  impossible or 
  impractical 
  combinations, but 
  they should also be 
  considered from a 
  cultural standpoint. 
  Would that species 
  show enough interest 
  in the use for that 
  genotype – or even 
  genetic alteration in 
  general – to justify 
  altering the genome to 
  fit the environment? 
   Even if the answer 
  is yes, such variants 
  would be extremely 
  rare – even the more 
  successful variant 
  types, such as a 
  Heavy Toractan, 
  would be far less 
  frequent than the 
  genotypes discussed 
  in this article, for 
  reasons too numerous 
  to go into here. 
   The main exception 
  to this is Xenovores. 
  Their interest in 
  alternate genomes 
  would not only make 
  these variant types for 
  their species very 
  likely, but also make 
  combinations of two 
  or more genomes – 
  such as a Heavy Mer 
  Artificer, for example 
  – even more frequent 
  than among Humans. 
  10,000 words 
   
  Both Terran Empire (pages 18-20) and Alien 
  Wars (pages 26-27) mention how Humans, 
  probably at some time during the Solar or 
  Interstellar Ages (that is, the 22nd and 23rd 
  Centuries), modified their children’s genes to 
  better adapt to various environments. Both books 
  go on to list the four most successful variant 
  genotypes:  Heavy, Martian, Selkie, and Spacer. 
   
  Both books also imply the existence of 
  several more variants. The following are some of 
  the most durable and interesting examples. 
   
  AQUATICS 
   
   
   
  While Selkies are the only truly successful 
  water-dwelling Human subspecies, Aquatics – 
  true water-breathers – are still a viable option. 
  They are physically similar in most ways to 
  Selkies, and are essentially identical in 
  appearance, with the main exception being gills 
  on the sides of the neck to allow water-breathing. 
   
  The difficulties of genetic breeding of 
  Aquatics gives them a particularly low birth rate. 
  They’ve kept their subspecies alive by promoting 
  cloning and in vitro fertilization, giving big tax 
  breaks to large families on the three colony 
  worlds they control, and occasionally 
  interbreeding with Selkies for genetic stability. 
  Still, their population in the 23rd through 27th 
  Centuries remains steady at less than ten 
  thousand. 
  AQUATIC PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   8 Water-Dwelling:  Life Support 
  (Can Breathe Underwater); Safe in 
  High Pressure and Intense Cold) 
   3 Webbed Hands and Feet:  
  Swimming +3” 
   5 Nightvision 
   3 Environmental Movement:  
  Aquatic Movement 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -10 Physical Limitation:  Light-
  Sensitive Eyes (-2 Sight PER 
  Rolls in bright light) (Frequently, 
  Slightly Impairing) 
   -20 Vulnerability:  2×Effect from 
  Sight Group Flashes Based on 
  Bright Light (Common) 
  Total Cost of Package:  -11 
   
                                                             
  artwork by Andrew Hale 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  31
  CAVERS 
   
   
   
  Engineered for underground environments, 
  Cavers have enhanced night vision and improved 
  agility and resilience to avoid and withstand 
  cave-ins. They are distinctive from normal 
  Humans by their leathery skin and unusually 
  large eyes. Male cavers are also considerably 
  more hirsute than other Human stocks. 
   
  Cavers were originally engineered to work 
  on mining worlds, especially where conditions 
  on the surface were harsher than those 
  underground. Since these criteria only fit a small 
  handful of worlds (Venus and Neptune among 
  them), not many Cavers were engineered even 
  before first contact with natural cave-dwelling 
  species made the engineering moot. 
   
  CAVER PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   6 +2 DEX 
   4 +2 CON 
   3 Leathery Skin:  Armor (3 PD/1 
  ED) 
   3 Tunneler:  Environmental 
  Movement (No Penalties in 
  Cramped or Cluttered Spaces) 
   5 Nightvision 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -10 Physical Limitation:  Light-
  Sensitive Eyes (-2 Sight PER 
  Rolls in bright light) (Frequently, 
  Slightly Impairing) 
  Total Cost of Package:  14 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  32 
  ELECTRIC SENSE 
  GROUP 
   
   
   In this context, 
  Electrosense could be 
  treated not as “No 
  Sense Group,” but as 
  a Sense Group of its 
  own – the Electric 
  Sense Group. This 
  Sense Group might be 
  sensible for certain 
  other species as well, 
  such as Aza’arca or 
  certain piscine or 
  insect species. 
   The Electric Sense 
  Group may be treated 
  as Ranged by default; 
  this is entirely the 
  GM’s decision. 
   While the Sense as 
  shown here is good 
  only for identifying 
  people and other 
  targets by their 
  electromagnetic 
  fields, an Electric 
  character could (with 
  the GM’s permission) 
  add Range and/or 
  Targeting to make it 
  more useful. Some 
  could even add 
  Transmit, to 
  communicate using 
  the ability – though a 
  Language would also 
  be necessary (the 
  Aza’arca native 
  language being one 
  possibility). 
  ELECTRIC JOLT: 
  PERSONAL 
  IMMUNITY 
   
   
   The Personal 
  Immunity Advantage 
  on the Electric Jolt 
  ability only means 
  that an Electric can’t 
  shock himself should 
  the jolt come back to 
  hit him (such as 
  through a lightning 
  rod, Malvan device, 
  or some similar 
  means). Electrics can  
  ELECTRICS 
   
   
   
  The only genotype developed for a military 
  purpose, Electrics (sometimes called “Shockers”) 
  were bred during the last half of the Xenovore 
  War, using transgenic DNA from various electric 
  fishes (eels and catfish). On average, they are 
  taller and lankier than normal Humans, and have 
  greyish, scale-like skin. 
   
  The arms of an Electric have organic 
  batteries similar to those of the piscine 
  progenitors, but generally not quite as powerful. 
  This ability, plus the military intent behind their 
  creation, led to the arguably unfortunate 
  nickname “shock troops.” Their development 
  began too late in the war for them to see much 
  action, and afterward the project was abandoned. 
  During the Imperial Era, their population never 
  exceeded five thousand. 
   
  With the GM’s permission, an Electric 
  might also learn other electricity-based abilities 
  (see pages 76-81 of the UNTIL Superpowers 
  Database for examples), though always at a level 
  comparable with normal Human characteristics 
  and other powers in the Terran Empire setting 
  (such as the psionic powers described in Digital 
  Hero #8). 
  ELECTRIC PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   2 +2 ED 
   12 Electric Jolt:  EB 2d6, Personal 
  Immunity (+¼) 
   1 Webbed Hands and Feet:  +1” 
  Swimming 
   10 Electrosense:  Detect Electrical 
  Fields (INT Roll) (no Sense 
  Group), Discriminatory 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -2 -1 BODY 
   -2 -1” Running 
   -5 Physical Limitation:  Colorblind 
  (Infrequently, Slightly Impairing) 
  Total Cost of Package:  16 
  Cost Options 
   5 Range on Electrosense 
   10 Targeting on Electrosense 
   5 Transmit on Electric Sense Group 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  33
  still shock one 
  another. 
   
   
  ELVES 
   
   
   
  A genetic variant dating to the mid- to late 
  21st Century, Elves are the product of die-hard 
  fans of J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings and 
  related novels. The modifications are mostly 
  cosmetic, with pointed ears, aquiline features, 
  and long limbs, though these have had some 
  minor effects on individuals’ physical 
  characteristics. 
   
  During the Interstellar Age, Elves 
  established two colony worlds on forested 
  planets. They have mostly kept to themselves 
  ever since. Though their total population is in the 
  hundreds of thousands, usually only a few dozen 
  can be found away from these worlds. 
  ELF PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   6 +2 DEX 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -1 -1 STR 
   -2 -1 CON 
   -2 -1 BODY 
  Total Cost of Package:  -1 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  FELINES 
  34 
   
   
   
  During the middle 21st Century one of the 
  oddest genetic phenomena in Human history 
  surfaced. Known collectively as zoomorphs, 
  their subculture was the most extreme form of 
  the “furry” philosophy and lifestyle originating 
  in the late 20th Century. While a more typical 
  furry would do little more than gather 
  collectibles and adapt a few animalistic social 
  behaviors, the more extreme would actually 
  dress, paint, tattoo, or even surgically alter 
  themselves to resemble the animal with which 
  they identified. Zoomorphs took the concept to 
  its extreme, actually receiving transgenic 
  treatments from various animals – bears, cats, 
  dogs, foxes, rabbits, and many other creatures, 
  both wild and domesticated. 
   
  Of these, by far the most successful in the 
  long term was felines, specifically those with 
  tiger genes. 
   
  Externally, they differ from normal humans 
  in only two respects, though they’re fairly 
  distinctive. First, they are covered with a thin but 
  definite coat of fur, either orange or silver with 
  black stripes. Second, they have tails with minor 
  prehensile abilities. They do not have the cupped 
  ears, fangs, or facial features of their feline 
  donors, and the very few with retractable claws 
  have only very small ones. 
  FELINE PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   3 +3 STR 
   9 +9 DEX 
   8 Powerful Legs:  Running +4” 
   1 Powerful Legs:  Leaping +1” 
   6 Feline Senses:  +2 with all Sense 
  Groups 
   5 Feline Eyes:  Nightvision 
   5 Feline Nose:  Discriminatory for 
  Normal Smell 
   5 Tail:  Extra Limb, Inherent (+¼); 
  Limited Manipulation (-¼) 
  Val Disadvantage 
   
   None 
  Total Cost of Package: 42 
  Cost Option 
   5 Claws:  HKA 1 pip (½d6 with 
  STR) 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  35
  GOTHS 
   
   
   
  Like Elves (above), Goths were originally 
  made as an “on-demand” genotype for a 
  particular subculture, in this case those in the 
  “Gothic” scene as it reached its peak of both 
  popularity and extremism in the middle 21st 
  Century. 
   
  In keeping with their fascination with 
  vampirism, most Gothic-inspired genetic 
  modifications were purely cosmetic, yielding 
  pale skin, thick black hair, extended canine teeth, 
  and similar features. This modification had 
  almost completely intermarried into the general 
  Human population before the invention of 
  Hyperdrive. However, a more extreme minority 
  went so far as to include transgenetic material 
  from bats, yielding ears large enough for 
  echolocation abilities and wings on which a 
  person can at least glide (though only the most 
  athletic can actually fly; the Flight option in the 
  Package Deal can either replace the Gliding, or 
  join it in a Multipower). 
   
  Sometimes referred to a Chiroptics (after the 
  bat’s scientific name Chiroptera) or Bat-Men, 
  most Goths left earth during the Interstellar age 
  and formed a small colony on a world they 
  named New Transylvania. To this day, nearly all 
  of the genotype’s population of roughly eighty 
  thousand live there. Most have eschewed the 
  “Gothic” viewpoint for a simple agricultural 
  lifestyle resembling that of the Amish, though 
  nocturnal and with a certain definite Eastern 
  European feel to its trappings and history. 
  GOTH PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   3 +1 DEX 
   15 Echolocation:  Active Sonar 
   5 Wings:  Gliding 8”; Restrainable 
  (-½) 
  Val Disadvantage 
   -4 Running -2” 
   -10 Physical Limitation:  Light-
  Sensitive Eyes (-2 Sight PER 
  Rolls in bright light) 
  Total Cost of Package: 9 
  Cost Option 
   10 Wings:  Flight 8”; Restrainable 
  (-½) 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  HIGH-RADS 
  36 
   
   
   
  The galactic population of High-Rads suffer 
  less from lack of purpose or viability – though 
  these certainly have been problems for them – 
  than from an incredibly low natural birth rate. 
  They were originally engineered for survival on 
  high-radiation worlds, as miners of uranium, 
  plutonium, and other highly volatile materials, 
  though energy-production and weapons 
  technology soon advanced beyond the need for 
  those materials. 
   
  Galaxy-wide, High-Rads number only in a 
  very few thousand. Despite the loss of their 
  original purpose, they are still quite effective as 
  hazardous-materials handlers for industry, law 
  enforcement, and the military. Also, most of the 
  Terran diplomatic mission on Korun is made up 
  of High-Rads. 
   
  They are distinctive from normal Humans 
  by their mottled, multicolored skin. As a side 
  effect of their radiation resistance, their skin is 
  also easily cut, and they suffer a slight 
  hemophiliac condition subspecies-wide. They 
  also suffer some prejudice from other Human 
  stock due to a superstition (altogether false) that 
  High-Rads give off dangerous radiation. This 
  superstition isn’t altogether unfounded; while 
  their natural radiation is harmless to most other 
  life, it does kill any infectious diseases they may 
  receive. 
  HIGH-RAD PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   6 +3 CON 
   10 Radiation Resistance:  Life 
  Support (Safe in High Radiation; 
  Immune to Bacterial, Viral, and 
  Fungal Infections) 
   3 Radiation Resistance:  Power 
  Defense (10 points); Only versus 
  Radiation-Based Attacks (-2) 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -4 -2 BODY 
   -2 -4 COM 
   -10 Physical Limitation:  Fragile 
  Immune System (-2 to Paramedics 
  to Stop Bleeding) (Frequently, 
  Slightly Impairing) 
   -5 Social Limitation:  Reputedly 
  Radioactive (Occasionally, Minor) 
  Total Cost of Package:  -2 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  37
  DANGER SENSE 
  FOR PRIMES 
   
   
   The Danger Sense 
  shown as an option 
  for the Prime Package 
  Deal should be 
  considered the 
  maximum allowed. 
  Any given Prime – 
  especially a starting 
  PC – would probably 
  have a much lesser 
  level of Danger 
  Sense, if any. 
   Full Targeting for 
  Danger Sense costs 
  only 5 points because 
  its “build” already has 
  Targeting with a -1 
  Limitation Only If 
  Make Half Roll. 
  Essentially, full 
  Targeting simply 
  removes the 
  Limitation. 
   
   
  PRIMES 
   
   
   
  Dating from the late 21st Century, Primes 
  were one of the first variant Human genotypes to 
  be developed for reasons other than culture. Of 
  those developed during that time, this type is the 
  only one to survive intact through the Xenovore 
  War period and into the Terran Empire without 
  having a colony of its own. 
   
  When they first appeared, Primes were 
  hailed as the “super-humans” of the time, 
  physically and intellectually superior to normal 
  Humans. The problem was, too many of them 
  started to take that role seriously enough to try 
  taking control of the planet, either militarily or 
  through business conglomerates (and on at least 
  one occasion a combination of both). These 
  efforts were foiled and many of the genotype 
  were killed; their low birth rate has kept the type 
  in check ever since. 
   
  Numbering in the dozens of thousands, 
  Primes in the latter part of the 3rd Millennium fall 
  more or less into three philosophical camps: 
  Integrationists, Responders, and Imperialists. 
  The Integrationists are the largest group, making 
  up nearly half the population, and want nothing 
  more than to integrate into galactic society right 
  alongside normal and other variant Humans as 
  well as non-Humans. Responders hold to the 
  philosophy that “with great power there must 
  come great responsibility” – their genetic 
  superiority is a gift, and as such its benefits 
  should be shared with the greater society. 
  Imperialists hold to the philosophies of their 
  world-conquering progenitors; while the smallest 
  group, they’re big enough to be a serious 
  concern. 
   
  The Imperialists are numerous and well-
  known enough that they cause concern among 
  those who encounter them, especially other 
  Humans. The Terran Security Service keeps a 
  close eye on all known Primes within the Terran 
  Empire (a Prime spending a lot of time outside 
  the Empire would take the Limited Geographic 
  Area modifier on the Hunted). 
   
  Besides their basic health and strength, 
  Primes have several physiological improvements 
  over other Human genotypes. They have two 
  hearts, highly efficient and resistant 
  metabolisms, thickened skin, and the ability to 
  heal back lost body parts. Their senses are 
  particularly keen; it’s quite difficult to surprise or 
  fool a Prime. 
   
  Primes do not develop psionic powers, for 
  many of the same reasons that they are not 
  possible for Jhinu (see Alien Wars, page 30) – 
  the genetic abnormalities that allow possession 
  of such abilities are “weeded out” of the Prime 
  genome. 
   
  PRIME PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   5 +5 STR 
   9 +3 DEX 
   6 +3 CON 
   4 +2 BODY 
   5 +5 INT 
   5 +5 PRE 
   3 +6 COM 
   3 Ambidexterity 
   3 Lightsleep 
   8 Running +4” 
   2 Swimming +2” 
   6 Thick Skin:  Armor (2 PD/2 ED) 
   5 Toxin-Resistant Body:  Power 
  Defense (5 points) 
   14 Superior Health:  Life Support 
  (Extended Breathing [1 END per 
  Minute], Diminished Sleep [Eight 
  Hours per Week], Longevity 
  [Ages at Half Normal Rate], 
  Immunity [Most Terrestrial 
  Diseases and Biowarfare Agents]) 
   11 Limb Regeneration:  Healing 2d6 
  [Regeneration; 2 BODY per 
  Week], Can Heal Limbs, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END, +½), 
  Persistent (+½); Extra Time (2 
  BODY/Week, -2¼), Self Only 
  (-½) 
   3 Dual Heart:  +5 BODY; Only 
  versus Chest-Penetrating Wounds 
  (-2) 
   10 Superior Senses:  +2 with all PER 
  Val Disadvantage 
   10 Hunted:  by TSS (Mo Pow, NCI, 
  Watching) 8- 
   5 Social Limitation:  Distrusted 
  Minority (Frequently, Minor, Not 
  Limiting In Some Areas) 
  Total Cost of Package:  87 
  Cost Options 
   3 Absolute Time Sense 
   3 Bump of Direction 
   45 Danger Sense +8 (Immediate 
  Vicinity, Out of Combat, Sense), 
  Discriminatory, Targeting 
   3 Lightning Calculator 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  38 
  PRIMES 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  39
  SANDWALKERS 
   
   
   
  Also called “Desert Dwellers,” Sandwalkers 
  are engineered to survive on arid worlds with 
  wild extremes of temperature. During the 
  Imperial Era, they are the most populous Human 
  variant type on Europa Nova and New Canaan, 
  though other than the hundred thousand or so on 
  those planets they’re quite rare. Most of those off 
  these worlds are explorers or soldiers. 
   
  Their appearance, with several visible 
  features for protection against desert 
  environments, is perhaps the most unusual of all 
  the variant Human genotypes. To many, they 
  hardly seem Human at all. The flesh is thick and 
  leathery but highly porous, heavy flaps of skin 
  cover the mouth and nostrils, the eyes are small 
  and heavily-lidded, the ears unusually large, the 
  limbs long and lanky, and the head and torso 
  almost spherical. 
  SANDWALKER PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   6 +3 CON 
   6 +3 BODY 
   6 Leathery Skin:  Armor (2 PD/2 
  ED) 
   10 Desert-Dwelling:  Life Support 
  (Can Breathe in Heavily Sanded 
  and Other Particulate Air); Safe in 
  Intense Cold and Heat; Immune to 
  Fungal Infections) 
   1 Sand-Walking:  Environmental 
  Movement (No Penalty on Sand) 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -6 -2 DEX 
   -2 -1” Running 
   -1 -1” Swimming 
  Total Cost of Package:  20 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  SLEEPERS 
  40 
   
   
   
  Originally designed in the very early days of 
  Human genotype experimentation, Sleepers were 
  designed to survive the long, rigorous journeys 
  of the first interstellar exploration. The ships 
  they used at that time needed to conserve energy 
  as much as possible, so the explorers were given 
  the survival abilities of a waterbear. These 
  microscopic animals, when exposed to harsh 
  conditions, can “shut down” their systems to a 
  nigh-indestructible state – even surviving the 
  rigors of outer space – only to reanimate later 
  when conditions are more favorable. 
   
  After the invention of Hyperdrive, the 
  Sleeper stock nearly died out. They made a brief 
  comeback during the last decade of the Xenovore 
  War, and maintained a population of several 
  thousand during the Imperial period. Most have 
  jobs as explorers, investigators, soldiers, 
  hazardous-materials handlers, and similar 
  professions. 
   
  Other than being somewhat stockier and 
  having shorter limbs on average, Sleepers are 
  indistinguishable from normal Humans – in fact, 
  most can pass for normal Human. 
   
  SLEEPER PACKAGE DEAL 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   16 Hibernation:  Life Support (Need 
  Not Breathe, Eat, Nor Sleep, Safe 
  in All Environments, including 
  Zero Gravity, Immortal, Immune 
  to All Diseases and All Poisons), 
  Trigger (Environment Becomes 
  Harsh Beyond what the Character 
  Could Normally Survive, +¼); 
  Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware of 
  Nearby Events, -1½), Extra Time 
  (1 Minute to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Requires Revival Procedures to 
  Stop (-½) 
   14 Hibernation:  Invisibility (Detect 
  Life Signs/Paramedics/Forensic 
  Medicine, Mental Sense Group), 
  No Fringe, Reduced Endurance (0 
  END, +½), Persistent (+½); 
  Linked to Life Support (-½), 
  Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware of 
  Nearby Events, -1½), Extra Time 
  (1 Minute to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Requires Revival Procedures to 
  Stop (-½) 
   13 Hibernation: Armor (20 PD/20 
  ED); Linked to Life Support (-½), 
  Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware of 
  Nearby Events, -1½), Extra Time 
  (1 Minute to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Requires Revival Procedures to 
  Stop (-½) 
   4 Hibernation:  Power Defense (20 
  points); Linked to Life Support 
  (-½), Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware of 
  Nearby Events, -1½), Extra Time 
  (1 Minute to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Requires Revival Procedures to 
  Stop (-½) 
  Val Disadvantage 
   
   None 
  Total Cost of Package:  47 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  41
  TREEMEN 
   
   
   
  More formally referred to as “Arboreals,” 
  Treemen are engineered for better survival in 
  dense forests and jungles. They have longer than 
  usual arms and prehensile tails for easier 
  transportation in the treetops. They also have a 
  natural, nigh-feline ability to catch themselves 
  when falling. However, their legs are shorter 
  than those of normal Humans, and they cannot 
  run as quickly. 
   
  Equipment and artificial shelter kept the 
  Treeman genome from becoming as popular as 
  many others. However, their general health is 
  good, and their population, while small, has kept 
  pace with that of mainstream Humanity over the 
  centuries. 
   
  TREEMAN PACKAGE DEAL 
  Cost 
  Ability 
  6 
  +2 DEX 
  3 
  Breakfall 
  3 
  Skilled Climber: Environmental Movement 
  (no penalties when climbing) 
  7 
  Brachiation: Swinging 7”, No Turn Mode 
  (+¼); No Upward Climb (-¼) 
  5 
  Tail: Extra Limb, Inherent (+¼); Limited 
  Manipulation (-¼) 
   
  Value 
  Disadvantages 
  -2 -1 BODY 
  -4 Poorly Suited Runner: Running -2” 
  -10 Physical Limitation: Has Difficulty On Flat 
  Surfaces (-2 to all DEX Rolls, OCV, and DCV) 
  (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 
   
  Total Cost Of Package: 8 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  YETI (COLD-DWELLERS) 
  42 
   
   
   
  While truly icy planets cannot sustain any 
  form of Human life, a few worlds are “tundra 
  worlds,” just below the Martian range of 
  temperature. The large, furry stock of Humans 
  nicknamed Yeti (notwithstanding the H’rothans 
  described in Digital Hero #21, though those of 
  the Yeti genotype are sometimes also called 
  Snowmen) were engineered for this purpose. 
   
  The most important factor of survival in 
  cold is the retention of body heat. Heavy external 
  fur, thick limbs and torsos, and even sheer size 
  of Yeti achieve this nicely. Their body chemistry 
  is designed to prevent ice crystals from forming, 
  making frostbite a minor concern at worst. Their 
  bodies are also well suited for climbing, and 
  their large feet make walking in shifting snow 
  much easier than for most other Human stock. 
   
  YETI PACKAGE DEAL 
  Cost 
  Ability 
  5 
  +5 STR 
  6 
  +3 CON 
  6 
  +3 BODY 
  9 
  Heavy Fur: Armor (3 PD, 3 ED) 
  2 
  Heavy: Knockback Resistance -1” 
  3 
  Skilled Climber: Environmental Movement 
  (no penalties when climbing) 
  1 
  Snow-Walking: Environmental Movement 
  (no penalty on snow) 
  2 
  Cold Resistance: Life Support (Safe 
  Environment: Intense Cold) 
   
  Value 
  Disadvantages 
  -5 Physical Limitation: Large (Infrequently, 
  Slightly Impairing) 
   
  Total Cost Of Package:  
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  43
  Combining Genotypes 
   
  With as many variant Human types as there 
  are, it stands to reason that there would be 
  combinations. There are two ways to combine 
  genotypes: through interbreeding, and through 
  engineering. 
   
  As already noted in Terran Empire (page 
  18) and Alien Wars (page 26), any variant 
  Human type can interbreed with any other type. 
  The offspring tend to “average out” in abilities, 
  so a Caver interbreeding with a normal Human 
  would be not quite as strong and not quite as 
  tough as a full-blooded Caver, but wouldn’t be 
  as sensitive to light. 
   
  Since a world can have more than one harsh 
  characteristic, it should also be possible for more 
  than one genetic variant type to be engineered 
  into the same stock. In this case, the Package 
  Deals would not average out, but instead add 
  together. For example, a high-gravity world with 
  no surface atmosphere but extensive air-filled 
  underground caves might be the home for a stock 
  of Heavy Cavers. Simply apply the already-
  published Heavy Package Deal and the Caver 
  Package Deal found here. If the planet is also 
  cold and has extensive radiation, and the caves 
  are mostly filled with water, you could also 
  apply the High-Rad, Selkie, and Yeti packages. 
  The total population of High-Rad Heavy Caver 
  Yeti Selkies would probably be several dozen to 
  a couple hundred at most (and a quick glance at 
  the combined Package Deal below should give a 
  pretty good idea as to why), but it would be 
  theoretically possible. 
   
   
  Some genotype combinations should be 
  considered impossible from an engineering 
  standpoint. Just as it makes little to no sense to 
  engineer a Heavy Spacer, so a combination of 
  the Aquatic and Caver Package Deals doesn’t 
  work well because the environments for which 
  those types were devised are all but mutually 
  exclusive. If a character needs to combine types 
  like this, it’s better done through intermarriage. 
  HIGH-RAD HEAVY CAVER YETI SELKIE 
  PACKAGE DEAL (SAMPLE 
  COMBINATION) 
   
   
  Cost 
  Ability 
  10 +10 STR 
  3 
  +1 DEX 
  24 +12 CON 
  8 
  +4 BODY 
  15 Leathery Skin/Heavy Fur: Armor (6 PD/4 
  ED) 
  1 
  Used To High G: Armor (2 PD/0 ED); Only 
  to Protect Against G-Force Damage (-1) 
  3 
  Webbed Hands And Feet: Swimming +3” 
  4 
  Heavy: Knockback Resistance -2” 
  15 Water-Borne Radiation/Cold Resistance: 
  Life Support (Extended Breathing: 1 END per 
  Minute; Safe Environment: High Pressure, High 
  Radiation, Intense Cold; Immunity: Bacterial 
  Infections, Viral Infections, Fungal Infections) 
  3 
  Radiation Resistance: Power Defense (10 
  points); Only Versus Radiation-Based Attacks 
  (-2) 
  3 
  Tunnel Movement: Environmental 
  Movement (no penalties in cramped or cluttered 
  spaces) 
  3 
  Aquatic Movement: Environmental 
  Movement (no penalties in water) 
  3 
  Skilled Climber: Environmental Movement 
  (no penalties when climbing) 
  1 
  Snow-Walking: Environmental Movement 
  (no penalty on snow) 
  1 
  High Gravity Training: Environmental 
  Movement (no penalties in high gravity) 
  5 
  Nightvision 
   
  Value 
  Disadvantages 
  -2 -4 COM 
  -15 Physical Limitation: Enormous 
  (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 
  -15 Physical Limitation: Extremely Light-
  Sensitive Eyes (-4 Sight PER Rolls in bright 
  light) (Frequently, Greatly Impairing) 
  -10 Physical Limitation: Fragile Immune 
  System (-2 to Paramedics to stop bleeding) 
  (Frequently, Slightly Impairing) 
  -5 Social Limitation: Reputedly Radioactive 
  (Occasionally, Minor) 
  -20 Vulnerability: 2× Effect from Sight Group 
  flashes based on bright light (Common) 
   
  Total Cost Of Package: 35 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  HIGH-RAD HEAVY CAVER YETI SELKIE 
  PACKAGE DEAL  
  44 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  45
  GARY VAN 
  BRUGGE PLOT 
  SEEDS 
   
   
   Gary gets in over 
  his head – he’s been 
  hired as a guard by 
  Akbar Kusama, but 
  had no idea what his 
  employer was up to 
  until it was almost – 
  almost – too late. He 
  sends a secret 
  message to the PCs, 
  trying to give them 
  what little information
  he has, hoping they 
  can piece together the 
  rest in time to save 
  millions of lives. 
   On a former 
  Malvan colony, Gary 
  is hired by Bertrand 
  Devereaux to help in 
  an archaeological dig 
  beneath a densely 
  populated city. 
  Devereaux’s goal is a 
  certain old Malvan 
  gadget, which would 
  fetch millions of 
  credits on the open 
  market (and possibly 
  more on the black 
  market, where the 
  buyer’s intent might 
  not be scientific). 
  During the activities 
  there, Gary is exposed 
  to the device’s effects, 
  and his electric 
  abilities are amplified 
  a hundredfold – and 
  beyond his control. 
   A particularly 
  vicious rival of 
  Gary’s murders a 
  Mon’dabi diplomat in 
  Terran space (or vice 
  versa), and frames 
  Gary for the deed. 
  This steps up the 
  efforts by the TSS and
  Federated Intelligence 
  to bring him in. Either 
  the two agencies can 
  engage the PCs to  
  Gary Van Brugge 
  Background/History:  Gary van Brugge grew 
  up in Blackbeard, a small spaceport town on 
  Venwordien IV. His parents, both Humans of the 
  Electric genotype, kept to themselves, and did 
  what they could to pass for mainstream Humans 
  (with perhaps a little Selkie heritage). 
   
  Gary didn’t like that idea. He wanted to be 
  exactly what he was, and make no pretense. As 
  he came into adulthood, he started using his 
  electric abilities whenever it suited him. The idea 
  suited several potential employers, and he started 
  hiring himself out as a sort of “muscle for hire.” 
   
  Since then he’s made his living as a 
  freelance mercenary, bodyguard, security guard, 
  courier, or whatever else happens to be handy, 
  all for whatever price he can get. In the process 
  he’s run afoul of authorities in both the Terran 
  Empire and the Mon’dabi Federation, but so far 
  he’s always managed to escape back to his 
  homeworld. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Greed motivates Gary 
  more than anything else. He’ll do just about 
  anything if the price is right. However, he’s not 
  an assassin, and will turn down any contract for 
  murder (though a particularly large offer might 
  sorely tempt him). 
   
  Toward that end, Gary always tries to make 
  himself look good to employers both current and 
  prospective. If he has to make others at his own 
  level look bad to do it, he will, though generally 
  he’ll only go as far as to embarrass his rivals. 
  He’s certainly not above using knowledge he 
  might have of his rivals’ past misdeeds to his 
  own advantage – and he actively seeks out such 
  knowledge when he can. 
   
  Other than that, any actions he takes against 
  people (PCs or otherwise) are rarely if ever 
  personal – he’s “just doing [his] job.” 
   
  Quote:  “Don’t even bother trying to escape. If 
  you try to fight me, you might be in for a… 
  heh… real shock.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Gary is sufficiently skilled 
  with weapons that he doesn’t necessarily have to 
  rely on his electric organs to win a fight. He 
  generally sticks to the equipment he’s given 
  (since that’s usually more powerful than 
  anything he can muster up on his own), and only 
  turns to his electric shock and other electrical 
  “tricks” he’s taught himself when they’re needed 
  to either win a fight, or draw it to a quicker 
  conclusion. 
   
  As an Electric, he can not only generate 
  enough electricity to stun someone, but also 
  throw an electric arc bright enough to 
  momentarily blind someone, or generate 
  electricity to power – or even overload – an 
  electrical device. These abilities aren’t nearly as 
  powerful as artificial weapons – his jolts are 
  about the same as a good punch, and his blinding 
  arc is only effective for a very few seconds – but 
  he can actually do quite a bit with the element of 
  surprise. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Gary is a mercenary, available 
  to whomever needs him. For example, he could 
  be found in the employ of Bertrand Devereaux, 
  Dargen, Ghenak Vaa’resh, or Zee’gansh (see 
  Star Hero, pages 308-314) with equal likelihood. 
   
  Besides this, Gary is an example of how a 
  properly-motivated Electric character can expand 
  his electricity-generating capacity beyond just 
  giving someone a mild jolt. He has additional 
  power, additional applications, and range in his 
  favor, any of which can be a surprise to an 
  Electric PC, or someone who’s encountered 
  Electrics before. 
   
  He doesn’t generally Hunt individuals. A 
  rival mercenary might earn him as an enemy, but 
  mostly to publicly humiliate or discredit the 
  target (that is, the Mildly Punish modifier would 
  apply). He no non-combat influence, and 
  generally covers only a limited geographic area 
  (unless the campaign is limited in scope to 
  Venwordien and nearby worlds). 
   
  Appearance:  Like his parents, Gary looks a bit 
  more like a mainline Human than most Electrics. 
  The grey color of his skin has a tinge of pinkish 
  tan, and could easily be explained (if Gary was 
  so inclined, as his parents are) as a partial Selkie 
  heritage. He stands 185 cm (6’1”) tall and 
  weighs 73 kg (160 pounds). His features are 
  rugged and not particularly handsome; his nose 
  is overly large, and his beard too thick for him to 
  be considered truly handsome. He wears casual 
  clothing of the common style on Venwordien, 
  mostly in subtle earth tones to make his skin 
  look more like that of a baseline Human. 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  46 
  apprehend him as 
  quickly as possible, or 
  he can approach them 
  to clear his name. 
   
   
  Gary Van Brugge 
  46 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  47
  Gary Van Brugge 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   13 STR 
  3 12- Lift 150 kg; 2½d6 [3] 
   14 DEX 
  12 12- OCV:  5/DCV:  5 
   15 CON 
  10 12-  
   11 BODY 
  2 11-  
   13 INT 
  3 12- PER Roll:  12- 
   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) 
   
  6 ED 
  3 
   Total:  6 ED (0 rED) 
   
  3 SPD 
  6 
   Phases:  4, 8, 12 
   
  6 REC 
  0 
   
   32 END 
  1 
   
   26 STUN 
  0 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  44 
  Movement: Running: 
  5”/10” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  2½”/5” 
   
   
  Swimming: 3”/6” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   19 Electrical Attacks:  Multipower, 19-
  point reserve 
   2u 1)  Arc:  Sight Group Flash 3d6, 
  Personal Immunity (+¼) 
  2 
   2u 2)  Electric Jolt:  EB 3d6, Personal 
  Immunity (+¼) 
  2 
   2u 3)  Overload:  Dispel Any Electronic 
  Device 5d6, One at a Time (+¼) 
  2 
   1u 4)  Power Supply:  Succor  REC for 
  END Reserve 3d6; Electrical Power 
  Only (-½) 
  1 
   
  1 Webbed Hands And Feet:  Swimming 
  +1” (3” Total) 
  1 
   25 Electrosense:  Detect Electrical Fields 
  12- (No Sense Group), Discriminatory, 
  Range, Targeting, Transmit 
  0 
   
   Talents 
   
  2 Aquatic Movement:  EM: No Penalties in 
  Water 
   
  3 Bump of Direction 
   
  3 Lightning Reflexes:  +2 DEX to Act First 
  with All Actions 
   
   Skills 
   16 +2 with All Combat 
   
   
  3 Breakfall 12- 
   
  3 Bribery 12- 
   
  3 Bureaucratics 12- 
   
  3 Combat Piloting 12- 
   
  3 Electric Tricks (Power Skill) 12- 
   
  6 Gambling (Card, Dice, Roulette) 12- 
   
  3 KS: Mercenary World 12- 
   
  2 PS: Mercenary 11- 
   
  3 Security Systems 12- 
   
  3 Streetwise 12- 
   10 Survival (Desert, Marine, Temperate/ 
  Subtropical, Tropical, Urban) 12- 
   
  4 Systems Operation (Communications 
  Systems, Environmental Systems) 12- 
   
  3 Teamwork 12- 
   
  3 Tracking 12- 
   
  3 WF:  Human Small Arms, Human 
  Vehicle Weapons 
   
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  131 
   
  Total Cost:  175 
   
   75+ Disadvantages 
   15 Hunted:  Federated Intelligence 8- (Mo 
  Pow, NCI, Limited Area) 
   15 Hunted:  Terran Security Service 8- (Mo 
  Pow, NCI, Limited Area) 
   
  5 Physical Limitation:  Colorblind 
  (Infrequently, Slightly) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Greedy (Very 
  Common, Moderate) 
   10 Rivalry:  Professional (Other Mercenaries, 
  More Powerful, Seek to Outdo, Rival 
  Aware) 
   15 Social Limitation:  Mercenary Code of 
  Conduct (Frequently, Severe, Not 
  Limiting in Some Cultures) 
   25 Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantage Points:  175 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  48 
  AKBAR KUSAMA 
  PLOT SEEDS 
   
   
   At a gathering for a 
  visiting religious 
  leader, Akbar hires a 
  group of mercenaries 
  to create a violent 
  disruption. He knows 
  the bodyguards’ 
  trained response – get 
  the leader to safety in 
  his armored vehicle – 
  and will be waiting by 
  the vehicle to perform 
  the actual 
  assassination. The 
  PCs may be brought 
  into this as extra 
  bodyguards or 
  security, catch word 
  of the plot ahead of 
  time, or just happen to 
  be on the scene when 
  it goes down. 
   A day after Kusama 
  is reportedly seen in 
  the PCs’ sector, a 
  cargo ship carrying a 
  large supply of 
  antimatter disappears 
  from its route. His 
  goal: take the ship to 
  a highly populated 
  planet dominated by 
  some “false” religion, 
  and program its 
  computer to ram the 
  planet at high speed 
  as he makes his 
  escape. 
   The PCs capture a 
  one-time colleague of 
  Kusama’s, and in 
  exchange for leniency 
  he gives them the 
  location of one of 
  Akbar’s favorite 
  respite places. 
  Whether as official 
  law enforcement 
  agents, bounty 
  hunters, or (as much 
  of an oxymoron as it 
  may seem) altruistic 
  self-preservationists, 
  the PCs now have an  
  Akbar Kusama 
  Background/History:  Very little is known 
  about the background of Akbar Kusama, even to 
  the TIC. Most data is based on remarks he’s 
  made to others, and this information may be 
  accurate or not. 
   
  Kusama grew up on New Canaan (Terran 
  Empire, page 71). He says that he grew up in a 
  village made up mostly of Muslim Sandwalkers, 
  and that he can trace his paternal line back to 
  21st-Century Indonesia. In his devoted studies of 
  the Koran, he found that his people had grown 
  soft against infidels, willingly living among them 
  and not only permitting their heresies but 
  actually following some of them. Angered by 
  this, he chose to follow Allah’s way and devote 
  his life to purifying the Muslim faith. 
   
  That sketch is the closest thing anyone has 
  to a biography of him. He’s mentioned at least 
  one older brother, younger brother, and younger 
  sister, though he’s never mentioned a name, nor 
  been specific about how many are in his family. 
   
  In his fifteen-year career as a terrorist, he’s 
  blown up at least three cities and one small 
  planet, personally assassinated four religious 
  leaders, and destabilized twelve planetary or 
  local governments. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  Akbar actually knows 
  very little about the Koran, and Islam in general. 
  His hostility toward other religions is indeed 
  based upon passages in the Koran, but his 
  response is his own creation (albeit one based on 
  centuries of tradition). He sincerely believes that 
  he is following God’s path, but his knowledge of 
  the Koran is so sketchy that he’s actually 
  operating more on wishes and assumptions than 
  on Mohammed and Allah. 
   
  His greatest hatred is toward Jews, 
  Christians, and the Galactic Church of the 
  Creator. Which of the three he hates the most 
  changes from one month to the next, but if he 
  could destroy them all in a single blow he’d do 
  it. Shortly after those faiths are all religions with 
  extraterrestrial origins and Human converts; 
  “lesser” Terran religions, and non- or quasi-
  religious philosophies such as deism and 
  agnosticism, are the least important, but still 
  deserving of extinction. 
   
  His goal, as he states it, is to purify Earth’s 
  Middle East and the entire planet of New Canaan 
  to “pure Islam.” Failing that, he will establish a 
  colony based on his vision of “pure Islam,” and 
  train warriors to bring about the prime vision. 
   
  Quote:  “For my service to Allah – for my 
  execution of these infidels – I shall be rewarded 
  greatly in Heaven.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Generally speaking, Kusama’s 
  most often-used tactic is weapons of mass 
  destruction – space nukes and antimatter missiles 
  are a favorite, since they work quickly can’t be 
  counteracted, but chemical and biological agents 
  work too. Whatever he can find to kill heretics 
  and infidels is good. 
   
  He also occasionally kills individual targets 
  by hand. Usually these are religious leaders, 
  especially liberal Muslims. In such situations, he 
  prefers to attack by surprise, jumping out of 
  nowhere and killing his target with a single 
  blow. He’ll readily dispatch any bodyguards, but 
  only if he needs to in order to achieve his 
  mission; once his target is dead, his only goal is 
  to escape so he can kill more infidels later. 
   
  To say that Akbar doesn’t care about fellow 
  Muslims killed by his attacks would be unfair. 
  He cares about them very much – he counts them 
  as martyrs for the cause of pure Islam, to be 
  rewarded in Heaven. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Akbar Kusama is a terrorist, 
  and a very dangerous one. His motives are 
  sincere, and may or may not be laudable (or at 
  least understandable), but his methods make him 
  a threat to everyone who doesn’t agree with his 
  way of thinking. 
   
  At first, Akbar will come across as nothing 
  more than a nut with very big guns. As he issues 
  his rhetoric, however, he may seem more 
  sympathetic – less a simple bigot than someone 
  genuinely concerned with the path and fate of his 
  religion, and the standing of his people before 
  God. He’s horribly misguided, of course, but his 
  desires are sincere. 
   
  In general, Akbar can be treated as a 
  fictional representative (albeit a fairly blatant 
  one) of Muslim extremists in the modern-day 
  real world. Like many such people, his goals are 
  sincere but his methods are despicable – so much 
  so that he’s actually become just like the very 
  individuals he so passionately hates and seeks to 
  destroy. 
   
  Akbar could easily be a Hunter for any 
  character (PC or NPC) who is a significant 
  religious figure, or anyone who repeatedly 
  thwarts his plans. This will generally take the 
  form of direct assassination attempts, at least at 
  first; once such tactics have sufficiently failed, 
  he’ll try allying with and supplying other 
  enemies of his target, or even such sophisticated 
  ideas as discrediting the target by framing him 
  for murder. 
   
  Appearance:  Akbar’s skin is quite dark, and his 
  face, apart from his obvious Sandwalker 
  characteristics, have clearly Indonesian features. 
  Generally he wears the manifold robes typically 
  associated with Sandwalkers, though if he’s 
  working with a uniformed group or trying to 
  blend into a crowd, he’s flexible. 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  49
  opportunity to get this 
  dangerous individual 
  out of circulation for 
  good. 
   
  Akbar Kusama 
  49
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Akbar Kusama 
  50 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   17 STR 
  7 12- Lift 260 kg; 3d6+1 [3] 
   14 DEX 
  12 12- OCV:  5/DCV:  5 
   18 CON 
  16 13-  
   16 BODY 
  12 12-  
   10 INT 
  0 11- PER Roll:  11- 
   18 EGO 
  16 13- ECV:  6 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   
  8 COM 
  -1 11-  
   
   
  4 PD 
  1 
   Total:  12 PD (8 rPD) 
   
  4 ED 
  0 
   Total:  12 ED (8 rED) 
   
  4 SPD 
  16 
   Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12 
   
  7 REC 
  0 
   
   36 END 
  0 
   
   34 STUN 
  0 
   
  Total Characteristic Cost:  84 
  Movement: Running: 
  7”/14” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  3”/6” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
   
   
  Gliding: 
  4”/8” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   
  6 Leathery Skin:  Armor (2 PD/2 ED) 
  0 
   10 Desert-Dweller:  Life Support (Can 
  Breathe in Heavily Sanded and Other 
  Particulate Air, Immune to Fungal 
  Infections, Safe in Intense Cold/Heat) 
  0 
   
  2 Swift Runner:  Running +1” (7” total) 
  1 
   
  2 Ground Gliding:  Gliding 4”; Costs 
  Endurance (-½), Ground Gliding (-¼) 
  1 
   
   Martial Arts:  Pentjak-Silat 
   
   Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 
   
  4 Block 
  +2 
  +2 
  Block, Abort 
   
  4 Disarm 
  -1 
  +1 
  27 STR Disarm 
   
  4 Dodge 
  – 
  +5 
  Dodge, Abort 
   
  5 Kick 
  -2 
  +1 
  7d6+1 Strike 
   
  3 Legsweep 
  +2 
  -1 
  4d6+1 Strike, 
  Target Falls 
   
  4 Punch/ 
  +0 
  +2 
  5d6+1 Strike 
   
   Elbow Strike 
   
  4 Rahasia 
  -1 
  +1 
  2d6 NND 
   
   Strike 
   
  4 Weapon Element:  Blades, Clubs, Staffs, 
  Whips 
   
   Talents 
   
  3 Absolute Time Sense 
   12 Combat Luck (6 PD/6 ED) 
   
  3 Lightsleep 
   
  5 Resistance +5 
   
  1 Sand-Walking:  Environmental Movement 
  (No Penalties on Soft Sand) 
   
   Skills 
   20 +4 with Hand-to-Hand Combat 
   
   
  3 Acrobatics 12- 
   
  3 Concealment 11- 
   
  3 Demolitions 11- 
   
  3 Fast Draw 12- 
   
  4 Gambling (Dice, Horse Racing, Poker) 11- 
   
  3 Interrogation 12- 
   10 Kerojok:  Defense Maneuver I-IV  
   
  2 KS: Islamic Law 11- 
   
  1 KS: Koran 8- 
   
  4 Language:  Arabic (Fluent, Literate) 
   
  3 Shadowing 11- 
   
  3 Sleight Of Hand 12- 
   
  3 Stealth 12- 
   
  3 Streetwise 12- 
   
  4 Survival (Desert, Urban) 11- 
   
  3 Tactics 11- 
   
  3 Tracking 11- 
   
  3 Trading 12- 
   
  7 WF:  Common Melee Weapons, Small 
  Arms, Off Hand, Staffs, Whips 
   
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  164 
   
  Total Cost:  248 
   
   75+ Disadvantages 
   15 Enraged:  when a God Other than Allah is 
  Invoked (Uncommon, Go 11-, Rec 11-) 
   20 Hunted:  TSS 8- (Mo Pow, NCI) 
   10 Psychological Limitation:  Casual Killer 
  (Common, Moderate) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Muslim 
  Extremist (Common, Strong) 
   10 Reputation:  Deadly Terrorist 8- 
  (Extreme) 
   103 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  70 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  51
  MALACHI 
  JUSTICE PLOT 
  SEEDS 
   
   
   The PCs happen to 
  be on board (if not 
  operating) the ship 
  that discovers 
  Malachi floating in 
  deep space. They 
  bring him aboard and 
  revive him – freeing 
  him to start his killing 
  spree all over again. 
  He may not start right 
  away, especially if the 
  ship’s contingent is 
  small (the killer’s 
  identity would 
  quickly be deduced, 
  and he’d end up in 
  deep space again, or 
  worse), but he’ll find 
  a way to continue his 
  “favorite hobby” and 
  keep the authorities at 
  bay. 
   Rather than a ship, 
  Malachi is “rescued” 
  by a passing comet, as 
  he’s pulled into its 
  gravity field (such as 
  it is) and dragged 
  along into the orbit of 
  a nearby planet. Able 
  to survive planetfall 
  in his hibernative 
  state, he awakens and 
  starts integrating 
  himself into society. 
  Of course, his idea of 
  integrating into 
  society involves 
  killing a few 
  unfortunate souls who 
  get in his way. 
   With improved 
  space travel, the 
  known galaxy is a 
  much larger place. 
  There are dozens if 
  not hundreds of new 
  species that Malachi 
  had never heard even 
  of in his day. Each 
  species brings with it 
  dozens – or even 
  Malachi Justice 
  Background/History:  During the Terran Civil 
  War (2336-2345), the Terran Union, under the 
  command of First Magistrate Joseph Krutch, 
  funded a top-secret government project 
  combining the Prime and Sleeper genomes, and 
  training them as “super-assassins.” The project 
  never got into the history books however, 
  because in the end it went horribly wrong. 
   
  Trained by some of the Terran Union’s top 
  ninjitsu and kung fu instructors, the soldiers did 
  learn well the art of killing. They came to see 
  their enemies as simply “targets,” and the ending 
  of those individuals’ lives as a function as basic 
  as eating and breathing. One in particular, 
  Malachi Justice, was particularly adept, and was 
  given a senior position. 
   
  The Prime Sleepers were sent on their first 
  mission – a covert assassination against the 
  Spinward Union’s leadership – and went into 
  hibernation to make the long journey more 
  tolerable. Only one or two at a time were kept 
  conscious, to keep matters under control should 
  the equipment malfunction. Unfortunately for 
  them, there was a malfunction… and it wasn’t in 
  the equipment. 
   
  When the time came for the ship’s mission 
  to be carried out, it was nowhere to be seen. 
  Weeks later it reappeared near Earth, with only 
  three survivors out of the dozens on board. 
  Forensic technicians confirmed the horrific tale 
  told by the trio, and by the ship’s log. 
   
  About halfway along the journey had been 
  Malachi Justice’s turn to monitor. Apparently he 
  had decided to hone his assassination skills on 
  his fellow passengers. He made the first death 
  look like a surprise suicide, and revived another 
  assassin to “help” him deal with the matter. One 
  after another, he revived and killed his 
  crewmates – some quickly, some cleverly, some 
  after long periods of torture. Finally an 
  automated system revived the last two as Justice 
  was attacking a third, and the three together 
  managed to overpower him and shove him out 
  the airlock. 
   
  Decades, and even centuries, have passed 
  since then. The record of Justice’s killing spree 
  became nothing more than a passing remark in 
  most history books. A skilled researcher could 
  probably find the full report with a little effort, 
  but there would be little point to that – the man 
  himself is forever lost in deep space. 
   
  At least, until a passing ship discovers his 
  body and decides to collect him…. 
   
  Personality/Motivation:  To anyone meeting 
  him for the first time, Malachi is a charming, 
  witty, friendly sort. He can keep up a friendly, 
  intelligent, and interesting conversation on a 
  variety of topics, and knows just how to “read” 
  people and give them the sort of compliments 
  they like to hear. Most people who meet him 
  think highly of him, and a very courteous and 
  charming man. 
   
  The truth is that Malachi is entirely 
  antisocial and amoral. Every kind word and kind 
  deed is a set-up for later betrayal. He doesn’t 
  mind setting someone up in something good, but 
  he especially likes it if he can set up his 
  beneficiary for a disappointment. There’s no 
  sadistic pleasure beyond him; he’ll torture and 
  kill parents in front of their children or vice versa 
  just to revel in the observers’ reactions. 
   
  He’s an unusual sort of serial killer, in that 
  he doesn’t care much about his victims’ race, 
  age, or gender. He also doesn’t stick to a single 
  method of killing. He prefers to “play the field,” 
  as it were, and experience as many possibilities 
  as he can. 
   
  His favorite hobby is the meanings of 
  people’s given names. Because there were few 
  known species other than Humans when he last 
  went into hibernation, he only knows Human 
  given names; he’d be interested in knowing the 
  meanings of any other species’ given names, 
  though. His own name fostered that interest: 
  Malachi means “messenger” or “angel of God,” 
  so he is an angel of justice – which he sees 
  himself as, in his own twisted way. 
   
  Quote:  “You know, I just love the sound of 
  your voice. Have you spent much time on Rigel 
  V? There’s a certain musical quality about the 
  way you speak that reminds me of Rigellians.” 
   
  Powers/Tactics:  Malachi is a master of killing. 
  He can bring death instantly, or he can stretch 
  out the agony for weeks, depending on his mood 
  and purpose. His only preference is that death be 
  at his own hands – massive vehicular wrecks, 
  building demolitions, high-yield bombs, and 
  similar means of death have their place, and can 
  be good as a pleasant diversion, but for him the 
  real joy comes from taking a series of personal 
  actions leading to a single death. 
   
  Though he’s a highly skilled combatant, he 
  has little experience dealing with more than one 
  opponent at once, and is entirely unprepared to 
  deal with more than two or at most three. If 
  surrounded, he’ll do whatever he can to escape, 
  or at least get himself in a more advantageous 
  position. He almost never goes into a situation 
  without at least two escapes planned out in 
  advance, and often has as many as four or five. 
   
  He prefers to strike from up close, by 
  surprise. Ideally, he’ll win the trust of his 
  intended victim, and savor the expression of 
  betrayal when he turns against him. 
   
  Though he does have some fancy “martial 
  arts tricks” he learned in his ninja training, he 
  prefers to keep those in reserve and use them in 
  secret or by surprise. If he can, he’ll try to play 
  up the theatrics of using such abilities to make 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  52 
  hundreds – of new 
  weapons, to say 
  nothing of torture 
  techniques and other 
  new technologies he 
  could apply to his 
  “favorite hobby.” 
  Where could he best 
  experiment? 
  Someplace crowded, 
  where many different 
  species congregate... 
  A capitol world seems 
  best, such as Earth or 
  Ecra-Shen. 
   
   
  observers think he has mystical abilities. He can 
  even fake his own demise using body-control 
  disciplines learned from his ninjitsu sensei, 
  rather than go into a full hibernation state. 
   
  As a Sleeper, he’s very hard to kill using 
  environmental damage. As long as he can 
  survive for just the minute it takes for him to 
  enter his hibernative state, he can survive 
  extreme temperatures, intense radiation, and 
  even the rigors of space. Only a directly fatal 
  injury, or an environment so harsh as to kill him 
  before he can reach hibernation, will result in his 
  final death. 
   
  Campaign Use:  Malachi Justice is the sort of 
  character who can give experienced veterans fits, 
  but still present no more than a difficult 
  challenge for even a group of beginning 
  adventurers. He’s powerful, but enjoys “toying” 
  with his enemy and could, with a little ingenuity, 
  be tricked into putting himself in a position 
  where he could be ambushed, and captured or 
  killed. 
   
  Justice could easily Hunt a character – and 
  the character wouldn’t even necessarily have to 
  know why. His reasoning behind his choice of 
  targets is his own, and nearly anybody could be 
  “an interesting challenge,” “a deserving target,” 
  “a lesson to those like him,” “a poetic name 
  calling for a poetic death,” or any other excuse 
  he finds to carry out his twisted 
  “entertainments.” 
   
  Appearance:  Malachi Justice is an incredibly 
  handsome man, with well-kept black hair, baby 
  blue eyes, a clean-shaven face, a winning smile, 
  and an outstanding fashion sense. He stands 184 
  cm (an even six feet) tall, and weighs a lean, 
  muscular 82 kg (180 pounds). 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
   
  53
  Malachi Justice 
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Malachi Justice 
  54 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   20 STR 
  10 13- Lift 400 kg; 4d6 HTH [2] 
   18 DEX 
  24 13- OCV:  6/DCV:  6 
   15 CON 
  10 12-  
   20 BODY 
  10 13-  
   18 INT 
  8 13- PER Roll: 15- 
   18 EGO 
  16 13- ECV:  6 
   18 PRE 
  8 13- PRE Attack:  3½d6 
   20 COM 
  5 13-  
   
   
  4 PD 
  0 
   Total:  6 PD (2 rPD) 
   
  3 ED 
  0 
   Total:  5 ED (2 rED) 
   
  4 SPD 
  12 
   Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12 
   
  7 REC 
  0 
   30 END 
  0 
   38 STUN 
  0 
  Total Characteristic Cost:  103 
  Movement: Running: 
  11”/22” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  4”/8” 
   
   
  Swimming: 5”/10” 
   
   
  Tunneling: 
  1”/2” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   
  3 Dual Heart:  +5 BODY; Only versus 
  Chest-Penetrating Wounds (-2) 
  0 
   
  6 Thick Skin:  Armor (2 PD/2 ED) 
  0 
   
  5 Toxin-Resistant Body:  Power Defense 
  (5 points) 
  0 
   13 Superior Health:  Life Support  
  (Extended Breathing: 1 END per Turn; 
  Immune to Most Terrestrial Diseases 
  and Biowarfare Agents; Longevity 200 
  Years; Character Only Has to Sleep 8 
  Hours per Week) 
  0 
   11 Limb Regeneration:  Healing 2 
  BODY, Can Heal Limbs, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent 
  (+½) (50 Active Points); Extra Time 
  (Regeneration-Only) 1 Week (-3), Self 
  Only (-½) 
  0 
   16 Hibernation:  Life Support (Need Not 
  Breathe, Eat, Nor Sleep, Safe in All 
  Environments, including Zero Gravity, 
  Immortal, Immune to All Diseases and 
  All Poisons), Trigger (Environment 
  Becomes Harsh Beyond what the 
  Character Could Normally Survive, 
  +¼); Concentration (0 DCV 
  Throughout, Totally Unaware of 
  Nearby Events, -1½), Extra Time (1 
  Minute to Activate, Character May 
  Take No Other Actions, -1), Requires 
  Revival Procedures to Stop (-½) 
  0 
   12 Hibernation State:  Invisibility to 
  Hearing and Mental Groups and 
  Detect Life Signs/Paramedics/Forensic 
  Medicine , No Fringe, Reduced 
  Endurance (0 END; +½), Persistent 
  (+½) (56 Active Points); 
  Concentration, Must Concentrate 
  throughout use of Constant Power (0 
  DCV; Character is totally unaware of 
  nearby events; -1½), Extra Time (1 
  Minute, Only to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Requires Revival Procedures To Stop 
  (-½), Linked (Hibernation Stasis; -½) 
  0 
   13 Hibernation Protection:  Armor (20 
  PD/20 ED) (60 Active Points); 
  Concentration, Must Concentrate 
  throughout use of Constant Power (0 
  DCV; Character is totally unaware of 
  nearby events; -1½), Extra Time (1 
  Minute, Only to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Linked (Hibernation Stasis; -½), 
  Requires Revival Procedures To Stop 
  (-½) 
  0 
   
  4 Hibernation Stability:  Power Defense 
  (20 points) (20 Active Points); 
  Concentration, Must Concentrate 
  throughout use of Constant Power (0 
  DCV; Character is totally unaware of 
  nearby events; -1½), Extra Time (1 
  Minute, Only to Activate, Character 
  May Take No Other Actions, -1), 
  Linked (Hibernation Stasis; -½), 
  Requires Revival Procedures To Stop 
  (-½) 
  0 
   12 Athletic Runner:  Running +5” (11” 
  Total), Reduced Endurance (½ END, 
  +¼) 
  1 
   
  3 Athletic Swimmer:  Swimming +3” (5” 
  total) 
  1 
   
  6 Superior Senses:  +2 PER with all 
  Sense Groups 
  0 
   
  5 Rapid Climbing:  Clinging; Requires a 
  Climbing Roll (-½), Sideways Move at 
  Half Ground Rate (-¼), No Ceiling or 
  Angles Less than 80o (-¼) 
  0 
   
  5 Well-Covered Defense:  Lack of 
  Weakness (-5) for Mental Defense 
  0 
   
  6 Burrowed-Out Hiding Place:  
  Tunneling 1” through 1 DEF Material, 
  Fill In; Maximum Distance 1” (-1), 
  Limited Medium Limited (Soil, -½) 
  1 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  55
   
   Martial Arts:  Kung Fu/Ninjutsu 
   
   Maneuver OCV DCV Notes 
   
  4 Atemi/Tien- -1 
  +1 
  2d6 NND 
   
   hsueh Strike 
   
  4 Block 
  +2 
  +2 
  Block, Abort 
   
  4 Choke Hold -2 
  +0 
  Grab One Limb, 
  2d6 NND 
   
  4 Disarm 
  -1 
  +1 
  30 STR Disarm 
   
  4 Dodge 
  – 
  +5 
  Dodge, Abort 
   
  4 Dragon’s 
  +0 
  +0 
  8d6 Crush, Must 
   
   Claw  
   
   
  Follow Grab 
   
  4 Escape 
  +0 
  +0 
  35 STR vs. Grabs 
   
  5 Flying Kick +1 
  -2 
  8d6 Strike 
   
  5 Kick 
  -2 
  +1 
  8d6 Strike 
   
  4 Knifehand 
  -2 
  +0 
  HKA 1d6 +1 
   
  3 Legsweep 
  +2 
  -1 
  5d6, Target Falls 
   
  4 Punch 
  +0 
  +2 
  6d6 Strike 
   
  4 Reversal 
  -1 
  -2 
  35 STR Escape, 
  Grab Two Limbs 
   
  5 Takeaway 
  +0 
  +0 
  30 STR to Take 
  Weapon Away 
   
  3 Takedown 
  +1 
  +1 
  4d6, Target Falls 
   
  3 Throw 
  +0 
  +1 
  4d6+v/5, Target 
  Falls 
   
  5 Weapon Element:  Blades, Clubs, Fist-
  Loads, Staffs, Whips 
   
   Talents 
   
  3 Absolute Range Sense 
   
  3 Ambidexterity (-2 Off Hand Penalty) 
   
  3 Bump of Direction 
   
  5 Eidetic Memory 
   
  3 Lightning Calculator 
   
  3 Lightsleep 
   
  5 Resistance (5 points) 
   
  3 The Sleep of Escape:  Simulate Death 
   
   Skills 
   40 +4 Overall 
   
   
  3 Acrobatics 13- 
   
  3 Acting 13- 
   
  3 Analyze Combat Technique 13- 
   
  3 Breakfall 13- 
   
  3 Bugging 13- 
   
  3 Climbing 13- 
   
  3 Combat Driving 13- 
   
  3 Combat Piloting 13- 
   12 Computer Programming (Computer 
  Networks, Hacking and Computer 
  Security, Personal Computers, Artificial 
  Intelligence, Mainframes and 
  Supercomputers, Military Computers) 13- 
   
  3 Concealment 13- 
   
  3 Conversation 13- 
   
  3 Deduction 13- 
   
  3 Demolitions 13- 
   
  3 Disguise 13- 
   
  3 Fast Draw 13- 
   
  3 Forgery (Documents, Credit Cards) 13- 
   
  8 Gambling (Board, Card, Dice, Roulette) 13- 
   
  3 High Society 13- 
   
  3 Lipreading 13- 
   
  3 Lockpicking 13- 
   
  3 Paramedics 13- 
   
  3 Persuasion 13- 
   
  2 PS: Knot-Tying 11- 
   
  3 Security Systems 13- 
   
  3 Seduction 13- 
   
  3 Shadowing 13- 
   
  3 Sleight Of Hand 13- 
   
  3 Stealth 13- 
   16 Survival (Arctic/Subarctic, Desert, 
  Marine, Mountain, Temperate/ 
  Subtropical, Tropical, Underground, 
  Urban) 13- 
   
  6 Systems Operation (Communications, 
  Environmental, Medical) 13- 
   
  3 Tactics 13- 
   
  6 TF:  Common Motorized Ground 
  Vehicles, Riding Animals, Science Fiction 
  & Space Vehicles 
   
  3 Tracking 13- 
   
  3 Trading 13- 
   11 WF:  Early Firearms, Human Common 
  Melee Weapons, Human Common 
  Missile Weapons, Human Small Arms, 
  Off Hand, Staffs, Whips 
   
   
  3 Scholar 
   
  1 1)  KS: Current Fashion 11- 
   
  1 2)  KS: Kung Fu 11- 
   
  4 3)  KS: Meanings Of Human Given 
  Names 15- 
   
  1 4)  KS: Ninjutsu 11- 
  Total Powers & Skill Cost:  412 
  Total Cost:  515 
   75+ Disadvantages 
   10 Distinctive Features:  Martial Arts Style 
  (Concealable, Major, Large Group) 
   20 Psychological Limitation:  Casual Killer 
  (Common, Total) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Sadistic (Very 
  Common, Moderate) 
   20 Social Limitation:  Harmful Secret 
  [Dangerous Serial Killer] (Frequently, 
  Severe) 
   375 Experience Points 
  Total Disadvantage Points:  515 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  The Whole Package by D.T. Butchino 
  56 
   
  Of Shadows and the 
  Supernatural 
   
  Movies have done much for the horror 
  genre. They allow the viewer the ability to see 
  humanity as a larger than life hero against the 
  shadows of supernatural evil. In some of these 
  movies, the hero is a thinker, a planer, someone 
  who helps coordinate others to take action, while 
  in others, the hero is someone taking the threat of 
  monsters head-on. 
   
  In the Dark Champions genre, players have 
  the opportunity to take on either role against the 
  supernatural, as well as many others. This article 
  focuses on four such heroes and explores 
  possible roles they could take. For the most part, 
  the templates below are meant for modern or 
  post-modern campaigns; with a bit of tweaking, 
  however, they could be adapted to any other 
  genre. 
   
  Pumn de Lemn 
   
  Rumored to have been developed in the 
  Middle Ages by a small group of monks, Pumn 
  de Lemn roughly translates into “Wooden Fist.” 
  Adapted by many European vampire hunters as 
  their style of choice, Pumn de Lemn has been 
  concealed from the general public in hopes of 
  keeping the style unpredictable.  
   
  PUMN DE LEMN 
  Maneuver 
  Phs 
  Pts 
  OCV 
  DCV 
  Damage/Effect 
  Choke 
   ½  
   4 
   -2 
   +1 
  Grab One Limb, 2d6 NND 
  Crush 
   ½  
   4 
   +0 
   +0 
  +4d6 Crush, Must Follow Grab 
  Passing Grapple 
   ½  
   5 
   +1 
   +1 
  Grab One Limb, Block 
  Pin 
   ½  
   3 
   -1  
   -1 
  Grab Two Limbs, +10 STR to Hold 
  Staked Palm 
   ½  
   4  
   -2 
   +0 
  ½d6 HKA 
  Spin  
   ½  
   4 
   -1 
   -2 
  +15 STR to Escape, Grab Two 
  Limbs  
  Skills 
  KS: Pumn de Lemn 
  Stealth 
  WF: Common Melee Weapons 
  Elements 
  Weapons 
  +1 Use Art with Stakes
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  57
  The Exorcist 
   
  As someone who may cast out an evil entity 
  that inhabits a person, item, or place, an exorcist 
  is often thought of as a myth created by shysters 
  and movie producers. In reality, these people do 
  exist, casting a beacon upon the possessed, and 
  preventing the innocent from being used as a tool 
  of evil. 
   
  Though commonly tied to the Christian 
  church, an exorcist may be of any religion. The 
  only differences are the rites involved, as every 
  religion, even the various sects of Christianity, 
  have distinction in the details they may use.  
   
  Typical Goals and Motivations:  In contrast to 
  most heroes, a typical exorcist serves a greater 
  good, defending not only his beliefs, but the 
  people that make up his congregation as well. 
  The main goal of exorcist is to protect humanity 
  through salvation of their souls, all the while 
  protecting the world from an incursion of evil. 
  The exorcist may be a mere man, but he also 
  serves as a bastion of good in most cases.  
   
  Typical Abilities:  A bit of a scholar by nature, 
  an exorcist is usually shown as being an 
  intelligent person that’s well-versed in not only 
  his faith, but in the concepts that make up the 
  antithesis of his faith as well. In a cinematic 
  sense, the powers that the exorcist shows are 
  usually focus and faith driven, as his abilities are 
  often depicted through prayer and sheer 
  piousness.  
   
  Suggested Disadvantages:  Though they’re 
  usually portrayed as an independent agent, many 
  an exorcist is first and foremost an agent of their 
  church. Because of this, he should have Social 
  Limitation:  Subject to Orders and, in some 
  cases, could even be subject to a congregation of 
  followers. With the station that he’s chosen, an 
  exorcist may have made a few enemies in life, 
  often with a more infernal nature or in the form 
  of a cult (especially in games that use DEMON: 
  Servants of Darkness).  
   
  Progression:  Assuming that the exorcist stays 
  within the church, he could easily advance 
  further with his skills and abilities, possibly 
  gaining rank within the church structure. In the 
  case that the exorcist goes rogue, finding his role 
  in the church to be too confining, there are 
  several areas he could expand into. Perhaps he 
  falls from a personal grace and winds up 
  crossing into occultist territory, or, in another 
  extreme, decides to go a bit “hands-on” as a 
  hunter or slayer of some kind. In high adventure 
  games, the exorcist could even ascend a bit, 
  becoming a low-level superhuman… though this 
  usually requires a death of some kind (usually 
  his own) and a lenient GM. 
   
  Quote:  “Release this child, Fiend!” 
   
  EXORCIST HERO 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   3 +3 INT 
   6 +3 EGO 
   5 +5 PRE 
   7 Faith (EGO-based) +2 
   6 KS: Demons of Myth (INT-based) 
  +3 
   7 KS: Religion of Choice (INT-
  based) +4 
   4 Language: Latin (completely 
  fluent; literate) 
   3 Oratory 
   3 Fringe Benefit: Priest 
   6 Choose 6 pts worth of the 
  following: Bureaucratics, 
  Concealment, Contacts, 
  Conversation, Paramedic, 
  Persuasion, Streetwise, Transport 
  Familiarity,  
   15 15 Points of Divine Powers 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -10 Hunted:  Church 8- (Mo Pow, 
  NCI, Watching) 
   -15 Social Limitations:  Subject to 
  Orders (Frequently, Major) 
  Total Cost of Package:  40 
  Cost Sample Divine Powers 
   12 Banish Evil: Dispel 6d6, 
  Cumulative (+½); Only versus 
  Summoned Infernals (-½), 
  Requires a Faith Roll (-½), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   11 Sanctify Area: Dispel 6d6, 
  Cumulative (+½), Explosion 
  (+½); OAF (Holy Book, -1), 
  Limited Power Only versus 
  Summoned Infernals (-½), 
  Requires a Faith Roll (-½), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   6 How’s Your Faith?: +20 PRE; 
  Attack Only (-1), Only versus 
  Summoned Infernals (-½), 
  Requires a Faith Roll (-½), 
  Gestures (-¼) 
   10 Cleansing the Body: Simplified 
  Healing 4d6; Increased Endurance 
  Cost (5x END, -2), Requires a 
  Faith Roll (-½), Gestures (-¼), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  The Occultist 
  58 
   
  Throughout time, man has always craved to 
  find knowledge he was not meant to know. Some 
  would call these men scientists, while some 
  would call them occultists. Students of the occult 
  and the strange, occultists often study old tomes 
  on magic and mythology in an attempt to 
  understand them. Though often considered a 
  fool’s errand, his thirst for knowledge is only 
  quenched by a search for even more knowledge. 
   
  In contrast to mainstream research, an 
  occultist believes that his work could unlock 
  some vital key to the past and future of mankind. 
  Cinematically, most occultists are a bit off-hinge, 
  offering loved ones and innocents to greater 
  beings beyond the scope of comprehension. It 
  typically turns out that, in the end, the occultist 
  learns the error of his ways. 
   
  Typical Goals and Motivations:  The goal of 
  most occultists is to gain a vast array of occult 
  knowledge. Some use it for the benefit of 
  mankind, while others use the information to 
  their own selfish means. More often than not, the 
  lines blur a bit, as most help mankind… but they 
  usually have ulterior motivations for doing so. 
   
  Typical Abilities:  The occultist is armed with 
  one of the greatest weapons against evil:  
  knowledge. Unlike the other heroes depicted in 
  this article, an occultist rarely sullies his hands 
  with combat, leaving that chore to others more 
  qualified. Instead, he researches the supernatural, 
  finding explanations for the supernatural (or in 
  some cases, even the sources of their powers). In 
  cinematic games, it wouldn’t be too peculiar to 
  see a few spells or artifacts in the occultist’s bag 
  of tricks. 
   
  Suggested Disadvantages:  Most occultists have 
  some kind of secret; some skeleton in their closet 
  that they’d prefer stay there. Many times, this 
  secret is also the motivating force behind their 
  quest after the supernatural. Because of his 
  knowledge, it’s possible that the occultist is 
  Hunted either by something that wants the 
  knowledge, or by the thing that is the subject of 
  the knowledge. For the most part, Vulnerabilities 
  and Susceptibilities are unlikely, though with a 
  good story reason, could be taken. 
   
  Progression:  An occultist could very well cross 
  over to various other scholarly packages or stay 
  within his own, depending on the campaign. Of 
  the possibilities, something like a Hacker could 
  be an interesting excursion from the norm, as the 
  occultist goes from having a physical library to a 
  digital one.  
   
  Quote:  “Interesting… perhaps if you try sage, 
  you may get a better result out of that spell?” 
  OCCULTIST HERO 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   5 +5 INT 
   6 +3 EGO 
   3 +3 PRE 
   4 KS: History 13- 
   6 KS: Legends & Lore +3 
   7 KS: The Occult +4 
   2 Language: Aramaic 
  (Conversation, Literate)  
   2 Language: Latin (Conversation, 
  Literate) 
   2 Language: Sanskrit (Conversation, 
  Literate) 
   3 Linguist 
   7 Spellcasting (EGO-based) +2 
   18 18 Points of Spells 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -20 Hunted:  Secret Society 8- (Mo 
  Pow, NCI) 
   -15 Psychological Limitations:  
  Curious (Common, Strong) 
  Total Cost of Package:  30 
  Cost  Sample Spells 
   13 Blood Casting:  RKA 1d6, 
  Continuous (+1); Requires a 
  Spellcasting Roll (-½), Range 
  Based on STR (-¼), Side Effects 
  (Takes 1 BODY, Always Occurs, 
  -¼), Gestures (-¼) 
   13 Dominance:  Mind Control 6d6; 
  Costs END to Maintain (-½), 
  Requires a Spellcasting Roll (-½), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   12 Induce Madness:  Drain EGO 
  3d6; Gestures (Both Hands, -½), 
  Requires a Spellcasting Roll (-½), 
  Concentration (½ DCV, -¼), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   10 Souldrinking:  Transfer 2d6 (EGO 
  to END); Requires a Spellcasting 
  Roll (-½), Gestures (Both Hands,  
  -½), Concentration (0 DCV, -½), 
  Incantations (-¼) 
   9 Mage Sight:  Detect Magic 11- 
  (Unusual Group), Discriminatory, 
  Range; Requires a Spellcasting 
  Roll (-½), Incantations (-¼), 
  Gestures (-¼), Costs Endurance to 
  Activate (-¼) 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  59
   
   
  THE EXORCIST 
   
   
   
  THE OCCULTIST 
   
  THE VAMPIRE HUNTER 
   
   
   
   
   
   
  THE ZOMBIE SLAYER  
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  60 
  THE VAMPIRE HUNTER 
   
  Where there are vampires, there are always 
  those who hunt them. Sometimes seen as agents 
  of a church or as a scholar who’s learned too 
  much, the vampire hunter is a warrior academic 
  who scours the earth for his quarry. Using a vast 
  array of weapons at his disposal, the vampire 
  hunter is ready to confront his foe and any of its 
  minions. 
   
  But, unlike the old days where one could 
  accuse freely, in the modern world, the vampire 
  hunter must be cautious of who his targets are 
  and of the ramifications his actions could cause. 
  After all, if a powerful CEO is killed by a hunter, 
  who’s going to believe that that he was a 
  vampire without solid proof? 
   
  Typical Goals and Motivations:  Trained in the 
  use of various melee weapons as well as the lore 
  revolving around his chosen prey, the hunter has 
  only one purpose in life – to destroy vampires. 
  He travels any lengths to find his quarry; 
  whether it be stalking the corporate world or 
  tracking through the underbelly of a city’s sewer, 
  the hunter will do what he needs to find and 
  destroy his prey. 
   
  Typical Abilities:  Strong in both body and will, 
  a vampire hunter is one part scholar, one part 
  warrior. Because of this, the hunter commonly 
  has increased STR and EGO, as well as some 
  additional PRE to fend off any Presence Attacks 
  that may be thrown at him. In cinema, vampire 
  hunters frequently are shown with some martial 
  arts abilities, in addition to several melee and 
  ranged weapons. Add to this some knowledge of 
  vampires and some stealth abilities, and the 
  vampire hunter is on his way to stalking the 
  creatures of the night. 
   
  Suggested Disadvantages:  Because of their 
  chosen vocation, vampire hunters typically have 
  at least one Hunted in the form of a vampire. In 
  addition to this, the hunter may carry additional 
  psychological baggage such as a deep rooted 
  hatred of vampires or perhaps a fear of 
  something common. In recent years, the cinema 
  has popularized the tattoo as a marking system of 
  some kind. It’s very possible, depending on the 
  campaign, that the hunter has such a brand as a 
  Distinctive Feature. 
   
  Progression:  Though most vampire hunters are 
  dedicated to their trade, some occasionally cross 
  over into other useful packages. A profession in 
  the clergy would be quite useful to a hunter, as 
  the power to bless items and repel evil could be 
  essential tools in his war. In contrast, cat-burglar 
  skills could also be useful in allowing them to 
  get into the places that are normally locked 
  away. 
   
  Quote:  “Garlic? You watch too many movies 
  kid.” 
   
  VAMPIRE HUNTER HERO 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   3 +3 STR 
   6 +2 DEX 
   5 +5 PRE 
   4 Fast Runner:  +2” Running 
   3 Acrobatics 
   3 Breakfall 
   3 Fast Draw 
   5 KS: Vampires +2 
   2 SS: Anatomy 11- 
   3 Shadowing  
   7 Stealth +2 
   2 Survival (Urban) 
   2 TF: Common Motorized Ground 
   6 WF: Common Melee, Common 
  Missile, Small Arms 
   10 10 points of Martial Arts 
  Maneuvers (Pumn de Lemn) 
   14 Fearless 
   8 Vampire Hunter:  +3 OCV; Only 
  versus Vampires (-1) 
   6 Choose 6 Points from the 
  Following:  Climbing, Combat 
  Driving, Conversation, Deduction, 
  Interrogation, Lockpicking, 
  Paramedic, SS: Herbology, 
  Security Systems, Streetwise 
  Val Disadvantages 
   -20  Hunted:  Vampire 8- (Mo Pow, 
  NCI) 
   -10 Psychological Limitations:  Hunts 
  Vampires (Common, Strong) 
  Total Cost of Package:  61 
  Cost  Options 
   29 Dhampir:  +5 STR, +3 DEX, 
  Fangs (HKA 1d6) 
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  61
  The Zombie Slayer 
   
  The zombie slayer is the result of a world 
  gone mad… a world where zombies, and 
  possibly other things, shamble about seeking the 
  brains or flesh of the living. Attempting to 
  escape that world and find some peace, the slayer 
  has become an icon of sorts to the other 
  survivors.  
   
  Armed with mundane weapons and a 
  slightly unbalanced psyche, the zombie slayer 
  now fights to protect himself and others from 
  suffering the same fate as the creatures he may 
  have called friends in the not too distant past.  
   
  Typical Goals and Motivations:  A zombie 
  hunter has only one true motivation:  survival. 
  Living in a quasi-apocalyptic area where the 
  dead have taken over in masses has forced the 
  slayer to “readjust” his life. This typically means 
  that the slayer begins living on the run, trying to 
  find a safe haven from the various hordes of 
  zombies while taking means against contracting 
  the dreaded virus that created them in the first 
  place.  
   
  Typical Abilities:  Though normal people for 
  the most part, a zombie slayer is usually a person 
  pushed to an extreme through madness and sheer 
  gore. Because of this, it’s very possible that the 
  slayer is quite adept at using a group of weapons, 
  as well as adapting normal items into deadly 
  variants. Because of what they encounter almost 
  daily, zombie slayers are commonly quick on 
  their feet and have adjusted to life on the road as 
  they look for a safe haven. 
   
  Suggested Disadvantages:  Often depicted as 
  being on the cusp of sanity, a zombie slayer 
  should have at least a few Psychological 
  Limitations such as Paranoid, or possibly a few 
  odd fears. In addition to that, a slayer could have 
  possibly made a few enemies in his flight from 
  the undead, though these are rarely supernatural 
  in nature. While it’s possible that he could’ve 
  made a few foes within the upper echelon of the 
  undead, it’s usually within the group that she 
  works in that enemies begin to show up, 
  especially as paranoia sets in.  
   
  Progression:  Unlike many other packages, most 
  people will find the zombie hunter an easy 
  package to have in addition to others. 
  Commonly, players may progress into this 
  package from a normal occupation, showing that 
  their world has changed and that they must adapt 
  to survive. While in this apocalyptic scene, the 
  hunter may move onto something like survivalist 
  or possibly into a leadership position. In the 
  advent of a new world order, one where zombies 
  become a memory, the hunter could move into 
  something more militant or, in a negative sense, 
  even a criminal (especially if he can’t seem to let 
  go of the horror). 
   
  Quote:  “You can smell ’em before you see ’em. 
  I’ll never forget that smell….” 
   
  ZOMBIE SLAYER HERO 
   
   
  Cost Ability 
   2 +2 STR 
   6 +3 CON 
   3 +3 PRE 
   6 Fast Runner:  +3” Running 
   3 AK: Hometown 12- 
   4 KS: Zombies 13- 
   1 Paramedic 8- 
   2 PS: Choose One 11- 
   3 Stealth 
   4 Survival (Temperate/Subtropical, 
  Urban) 11- 
   4 WF: Common Melee, Small Arms 
   8 Zombie Slayer: +3 OCV; Only 
  versus Zombies (-1) 
   5 Rapid Healing 
  Val  Disadvantages 
   -15 Psychological Limitation:  
  Protective of Survivors (Common, 
  Strong) 
   -5 Rivalry (Another Person, As Pow, 
  Seek to Outdo, Aware of Rivalry) 
  Total Cost of Package:  31 
  Cost  Options 
   4 Viral Immunity:  LS (Immune to 
  Viral Infections) 
   14 Fearless 
   
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Summoned Monkey Warrior by Michael Surbrook 
  62 
   
   
  On page 135 of Ninja Hero we see that John 
  Wa the Monkey King has the ability to Summon 
  eight 200-point Monkey Warriors one a week. 
  However, no character sheet was made available 
  for the Summoned character. Although you can 
  create any write-up you desire, I offer this 
  character sheet for those who don’t have the time 
  or inclination. 
   
  Description:  The monkey warriors John Wa 
  summon closely resemble John himself. They 
  are all about his height and build, with each 
  having slightly different facial features, hair 
  styles, and fur color. The warriors all wear the 
  same harness as John does and are equipped with 
  broad-bladed darn do and non-magical kuen. 
                                                             
  artwork by Shawn Richter 
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  63
  Summoned Monkey Warrior 
   Val Char Cost Roll Notes 
   15 STR 
  5 12- Lift 200 kg; 3d6 HTH [1] 
   18 DEX 
  24 13- OCV:  6/DCV:  6 
   18 CON 
  16 13-  
   10 BODY 
  0 11-  
   10 INT 
  0 11- PER Roll:  11- 
   11 EGO 
  2 11- ECV:  4 
   15 PRE 
  5 12- PRE Attack:  3d6 
   10 COM 
  0 11-  
   
   
  7 PD 
  4 
   Total:  11 PD (4 rPD) 
   
  7 ED 
  3 
   Total:  11 ED (4 rED) 
   
  4 SPD 
  12 
   Phases:  3, 6, 9, 12 
   
  7 REC 
  0 
   
   36 END 
  0 
   
   30 STUN 
  3 
   
   
  Total Characteristics Cost:  74 
  Movement: Running: 
  6”/12” 
   
   
  Leaping: 
  9”/18” 
   
   
  Swimming: 2”/4” 
  Cost Powers 
  END 
   16 Kuen:  HA +4d6 (7d6 with STR), 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END, +½); 
  OAF (-1), HA Lim (-½) plus +1 
  OCV; OAF (-1) plus Stretching +1”, 
  Reduced Endurance (0 END, +1/2); 
  OAF (-1), Always Direct (-¼), No 
  Noncombat Stretching (-¼), Only 
  To Cause Damage (-¼), No Velocity 
  Damage (-¼) 
  0 
   15 Darn Do:  HKA 1d6+1 (2½d6 with 
  STR), Reduced Endurance (0 END, 
  +½); OAF (-1) 
  0 
   
  5 Brigandine Armor:  Armor (4 PD/4 
  ED); Activation Roll 11- (Locations 
  6-7 and 10-13, -1), OIF (-½) 
  0 
   
  6 Master Of Movement:  Leaping +6” 
  1 
   
  6 Feet Useable As Hands:  Extra 
  Limbs (2), Inherent (+¼) 
  0 
   
  5 Tail:  Extra Limb (1), Inherent (+¼); 
  Limited Manipulation (-¼) 
  0 
   
  Martial Arts:  Mad Monkey Kung Fu 
  (a.k.a. Feng Hou Wu Shu) 
   
   Maneuver 
  OCV DCV Damage 
   
  4 Block 
  +2 
  +2 
  Block, Abort 
   
  5 Caper 
  — 
  +4 
  Dodge, Abort, 
  FMove 
   
  4 Kick/Punch 
  +0 
  +2 
  5d6 Strike 
   
  4 Leaping Spin +2 
  +0 
  5d6 Strike 
   
      Kick 
   
  5 Side Kick 
  -2 
  +1 
  7d6 Strike 
   
  3 Trip 
  +2 
  -1 
  4d6, Target 
  Falls 
   
  2 Use Art With Blades, Staff 
   
   Talents 
   
  3 At Home In The Trees:  Environmental 
  Movement (Supreme Balance) 
   
   Skills 
   
  6 +2 with Mad Monkey Kung Fu 
   
   
  3 Acrobatics 13- 
   
  2 AK:  Tien 11- 
   
  2 AK:  Tien Mountains 11- 
   
  3 Breakfall 13- 
   
  3 Climbing 13- 
   
  3 Contortionist 13- 
   
  2 KS:  Mad Monkey Kung Fu 11- 
   
  1 KS:  Tien Healing 8- 
   
  1 KS:  Tien History 8- 
   
  1 KS:  Tien Mountains Flora And Fauna 8- 
   
  1 KS:  Tien Philosophy 8- 
   
  3 Shadowing 11- 
   
  3 Sleight of Hand 13- 
   
  3 Stealth 13- 
   
  2 Survival (Mountains) 11- 
   
  1 Tactics 8- 
   
  4 WF:  Common Martial Arts Melee 
  Weapon, Common Melee Weapons 
   
  Total Powers & Skills cost:  126 
   
  Total Cost:  200 
   100+ Disadvantages 
   10 Distinctive Features (Style):  Mad 
  Monkey Kung Fu (Not Concealable, 
  Always Noticed, Large Group) 
   25 Hunted:  The Dai-She 14- (As Pow, NCI)  
   25 Psychological Limitation:  Dedicated to 
  the Cause of John Wa the Monkey King 
  (Very Common, Total) 
   15 Psychological Limitation:  Protective of 
  Friends and Allies (Common, Strong) 
   10 Reputation:  Rabble Rouser and Rebel 11- 
   10 Social Limitation:  Wanted Outlaw 
  (Frequently, Major) 
   
  5 Experience Points 
   
  Total Disadvantage Points:  200 
   
   
   
  
  DIGITAL HERO #30 
  Champions Crossword by Dave Mattingly 
  64 
  LAST ISSUE’S 
  PUZZLE KEY 
   
   
  Here is the 
  solution for the 
  crossword puzzle 
  from Digital Hero 
  #29. 
   
   
   
  Crazy Like a Foxbat 
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  E A K
  C A L
  L O U T
  N E A T O
  O R A L
  T A L
  I
  S M A N
  S I
  S
  I
  A C E
  K
  I
  L L
  T A T
  S
  H K A
  I N K Y
   
  ACROSS 
   
   
  1. Dropped pick-up? 
  5. Radio watchdog (abbr.) 
  8. Blue Moon Killer, to his friends (if he had any) 
  12. DeVito series 
  13. Mutant-hating group (abbr.) 
  14. Blue-green 
  15. Unshakable, as an alibi 
  17. Grease 
  18. Space transformer? (2 words) 
  20. Quill 
  21. rPD + rED (abbr.) 
  22. Growing Kids God’s Way author 
  25. Foe 
  30. Credit 
  31. Unusual apparel (abbr.) 
  32. Connery film (2 words) 
  33. Noted leaper 
  35. Meat label (abbr.) 
  36. Recede 
  37. Saloon 
  39. How to paint the whole town red all at once (2 
  words) 
  46. Sandwich title 
  47. Kirby comic team 
  48. Eads role 
  49. Cruise in a jet? 
  50. Young bears 
  51. Florida isles 
  52. Computer key 
  53. Spirit 
  DOWN 
   
   
  1. Mix 
  2. Raider Croft 
  3. Nerve fiber 
  4. Foxbat’s ammunition of choice (2 words) 
  5. Hard-boiled detective genre (2 words) 
  6. DS9’s Rosalind 
  7. Engineering design software 
  8. Almost effortless (2 words) 
  9. Well beds 
  10. Cartoonist/inventor Goldberg 
  11. Jethro Max 
  16. Average grade 
  19. Wedding vow (2 words) 
  22. Moose 
  23. Tiny organisms 
  24. Western author (2 words) 
  26. Background Skill (abbr.) 
  27. Disadvantages 
  28. All-or-nothing attack (abbr.) 
  29. Fits you ___ tee (2 words) 
  34. Midsections 
  38. Type of engineering (abbr.) 
  39. Earth’s inheritors 
  40. What a spy might drop? 
  41. Rampart’s system, Tau ___ 
  42. What 28 STR can lift 
  43. Actor Julia 
  44. Napoleonic isle 
  45. Organization (abbr.) 
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Hero System/DIGITAL_HERO/Hero System - Digital Hero 30.pdf