Showing posts with label Steven Seagal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Steven Seagal. Show all posts

Thursday, September 10, 2015

The Staff of Steves - a magic item of great power and wonder!

Once upon a time, Steve Miller went to lunch with two luminaries from the gaming industry. While gnoshing on tasty vittles, one of them observed, "Everyone at this table is named Steve."

So was born the legendary League of Steves. (Or maybe the Stint of Steves, or Sleeve of Steves... a Facebook poll about what to call a gathering of Steves did not lead to a clear answer. But it did lead to the inspiration for the most brilliant magic item you are likely to ever to include in a campaign.)

The Staff of Steves
From an idea by Kairam Ahmed Hamdan & Bradley K. McDevitt. 
Design by Steve Miller. Copyright 2015 Steve Miller.
Text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with it. 

The Staff of Steves is a powerful item that either comes into existence through a random convergence of supernatural circumstances, or is created by a secret cabal of artificers, drunken fairies, or... well, who knows how they come into being. Like the presence of Steves in the world, the Staff of Steves just is.

This Red Shirt will survive because he has a Staff of Steves.
The Staff of Steves takes many forms, but it is always a slender item, at least five feet in length... you know, a staff. It's specific appearance can be anything from an ornately carved oaken staff to a curtain rod. It has the following game effects:
* Acts as a +4 weapon for purposes of overcoming a target's damage resistance.
* Acts as a +2 staff for purposes of attack and damage rolls.
* Grants a +4 bonus to AC (or Defense Rating) when wielded by a character named Steve.
* Allows its wielder to cast Charm Person 3 times per day (6 times per day if wielded by a character named Steve).
* Allows its wielder to cast Create Food and Water 3 times per day (casts Feast if wielded by a character named Steve).
* Allows its wielder to cast Stinking Cloud 1 time per day (but only after Create Food and Water or Feast has been cast at least once).
* Allows its wielder to read sheet music with unfailing accuracy.
* Allows its wielder to summon a random number of Steves once per day. The Steves are all 3rd level Experts (or similar NPC class), with 15 hit points, armed with clubs or similar blunt objects (1d3 points of damage), and have one or more skills (+6 to the d20 skill check) that is helpful to the wielder. The remain with the wielder, defending and assisting in any way they can (cooking, cleaning, doing paperwork, performing rock music, running roleplaying game sessions, assassinating heads-of-state, boosting of ego) for three hours, until dismissed, or until slain. The number of Steves appearing is 1d6+2.
* It allows a *player* named Steve to have his character reroll 1d6 failed actions per game session. (Rolled at the beginning of the session, as soon as the dice come out. The result must be confirmed and recorded by the GM. If the Steve forgets to roll immediatey, this effect does not apply ).

Note: "Steve" can be male or female, as it can be short for Stephen, Steven, Stefano, Stefanie, Stephanie, and all other variants you can think of.

(If you were amused by the Staff of Steves, please consider supporting Steve (and NUELOW Games) by getting some of the OGL d20 items I've actually put some effort into. Some of them even work in straight games. Click here to see the listings at RPGNow.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

There's a new Steven Seagal flick coming out!

As anyone visiting this blog (or any of the others I've maintained) knows, I have somewhat eclectic tastes. It should come as no surprise that I am awaiting Steven Seagal's latest DVD release with great expectation and curiosity.

What's more, it's set just north of where NUELOW Central is located--in Seattle!

A compiled version of two episodes from the True Justice television series, Dark Vengeance stars Seagal as Elijah Kane, who, with his team of detectives, is hunting down the Black Magic Killer. George Takei (of Star Trek and--well, being George Takei--fame) also makes an appearance.

I missed True Justice when it first aired during the 2011 and 2012 television seasons--being that I'm entering my 15th year of not having cable television at my home--so I'm looking forward to catching it now. I am even more fascinated by the fact that the serial killer in the film is, according to a promo blurb for the film, hunting victims in the "vagrant strip club underworld"... something which sounds like the title of a ROLF! supplement if you ask me.

And on that note, here is Steven Seagal ala ROLF!.(The Traits and Combat Maneuvers used, but not included in the core rules, can be found in ROLF!: Chinese Take Out.)

STEVEN SEAGAL (Male)
Brawn 33, Body 10, Brains 7
   Traits: Improv Master, Martial Artist, Stone Cold Killer
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disembowel, Dodge, Double Strike, Murderous Mitts, Signature Move, The Look.
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Black Outfit (Clothes), Samurai Sword (Medium Melee Weapon, deals 4 points of damage that ignore armor). Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 3 points of damage that ignore armor).



Dark Vengeance arrives in a Redbox kiosk near you on Feb. 27 (that's tomorrow!). I probably won't get to it until the weekend, so if you beat me to the film, be sure let me know what you think. Meanwhile, you can click here to check out a fan art contest the promotion company behind the film is hosting!

You can also click here to read reviews of Steven Seagal films I've posted to Watching the Detectives.