Showing posts with label L.L. Hundal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label L.L. Hundal. Show all posts

Thursday, August 7, 2025

RPG-a-Day Challenge #7 -- Journey

 Today, we have another bit of fiction. If you get to the end, please let us know if you want to see more of Adan & Kylee and their journey through danger, romance, and magic!


The Crimson Codex

By L.L. Hundal & Steve Miller

Chapter 1: The Forbidden Archive

The ancient stones of Valdris Academy hummed with residual magic as Adan pressed his palm against the cold granite wall, feeling for the hidden mechanism that Kylee had discovered three nights prior. The moonlight filtering through the tall gothic windows cast long shadows across the corridor, and every creak of the old building made his heart race faster. Beside him, Kylee's emerald eyes gleamed with anticipation and barely contained excitement, her auburn hair catching silver highlights in the pale light.

"Are you certain about this?" Adan whispered, though his voice carried more thrill than genuine concern. His fingers found the slight depression in the stone, and he felt the familiar tingle of magic responding to his touch. The wall began to shimmer, revealing the outline of a doorway that had been concealed for centuries.

Kylee's lips curved into that mischievous smile that had first captured his attention during their second year at the academy. "When have I ever led you astray?" she murmured, stepping closer to him. Her hand found his free one, their fingers intertwining naturally. The warmth of her touch sent a different kind of magic coursing through him, one that had nothing to do with the arcane arts they studied during daylight hours.

The hidden door swung open silently, revealing a narrow staircase that descended into darkness. The air that wafted up from below carried the scent of old parchment, dried herbs, and something else—something that made the hair on the back of Adan's neck stand on end. It was the smell of power, ancient and untamed, the kind that their professors warned them about in hushed tones during advanced theoretical classes.

"The Forbidden Archive," Kylee breathed, her voice filled with wonder. "I can't believe it actually exists."

Adan conjured a small orb of light in his palm, the warm golden glow pushing back the shadows as they began their descent. The stairs were worn smooth by countless feet over the centuries, and he wondered who else had walked this path before them. The walls were lined with intricate carvings that seemed to shift and move in the flickering light of his spell, depicting scenes of wizards performing magic that looked far more complex and dangerous than anything they had learned in their four years at Valdris.

The staircase opened into a vast underground chamber that stole Adan's breath. Towering shelves stretched into darkness, filled with books and artifacts pulsing with inner light. Magic thickened the air until every breath felt charged with potential.

Kylee gasped, overwhelmed by the concentration of power. 

"Look at all of this," she whispered, moving toward a leather-bound tome that seemed to whisper her name. "The texts they removed from the regular library. The dangerous ones."

Adan followed her deeper into the archive, his light spell expanding to illuminate more of the incredible collection. He could see books on necromancy, tomes detailing the summoning of otherworldly beings, and scrolls covered in runic scripts that hurt his eyes to look at directly. This was knowledge that could reshape the world—or destroy it entirely.

"We shouldn't be here," he said, though his voice lacked conviction. His scholarly instincts were warring with his sense of caution, and curiosity was winning. "If Professor Thorne discovers we've found this place..."

"Professor Thorne doesn't have to know," Kylee replied, pulling a slim volume from the shelf. The book's cover was made of some kind of scaled hide, and it felt warm to the touch. "Besides, we're graduating in two months. What's the worst they could do? Expel us?"

Adan knew she was right, but something about this place felt different from their usual midnight adventures. Their previous explorations had been relatively harmless—sneaking into the astronomy tower to practice advanced divination, or using the abandoned east wing to experiment with transformation magic. This felt like crossing a line they couldn't uncross.

Kylee had opened the scaled book and was reading intently, her brow furrowed in concentration. The pages seemed to glow with their own inner light, and Adan could see strange symbols dancing across the parchment. As she read, he noticed that her eyes had taken on an unusual luminescence, reflecting the magic contained within the text.

"Kylee," he said softly, reaching out to touch her shoulder. "What are you reading?"

She looked up at him, and for a moment, he didn't recognize the expression in her eyes. There was hunger there, and something that looked almost like desperation. "It's a treatise on dimensional magic," she said, her voice slightly breathless. "Real dimensional magic, not the theoretical nonsense they teach in Advanced Planar Studies. This describes actual methods for opening gateways to other realms."

Adan felt a chill run down his spine. Dimensional magic was forbidden for good reason—too many wizards had been lost to the spaces between worlds, and those who returned were often changed in ways that made them barely recognizable as human. "Put it back," he said firmly. "That's exactly the kind of knowledge that got locked away down here."

 


But Kylee was already turning pages, her excitement growing with each new revelation. "Listen to this," she said, beginning to read aloud. "The barriers between dimensions are thinnest during the convergence of the three moons, when the fabric of reality becomes malleable to those with sufficient will and power." She looked up at him with shining eyes. "Adan, the triple moon convergence is tomorrow night."

"Absolutely not," he said, moving to take the book from her hands. "We are not experimenting with dimensional magic. We're going back to our dormitories right now, and we're going to pretend we never found this place."

Kylee pulled the book away from his reaching hands, clutching it to her chest. "Don't you understand what this means? We could be the first students in over a century to successfully open a dimensional gateway. Think of the knowledge we could gain, the places we could explore."

"Think of the ways we could die horribly," Adan countered, though he could feel his resolve weakening. Kylee had always been the more adventurous of the two of them, the one who pushed boundaries and challenged limitations. It was one of the things he loved most about her, but it was also what terrified him.

She stepped closer to him, the book still pressed against her chest. In the golden light of his spell, she looked ethereal, almost otherworldly herself. "I need this, Adan," she said quietly. "My grandmother was expelled from here for pursuing 'dangerous' research, and she became one of the most powerful dimensional mages in history. They called her reckless, but she changed the world." Her grip tightened on the book. "I need to know what's possible. What we're capable of. Don't you ever feel like the academy is holding us back? Like they're so afraid of failure that they're keeping us from reaching our true potential?"

He did feel that way, more often than he cared to admit. The structured curriculum and careful limitations often felt stifling to someone with his natural aptitude for magic. But he also understood why those limitations existed. Magic was dangerous, and the more powerful it became, the more catastrophic the consequences of failure.

"Promise me we'll just read," he said finally, knowing he was making a mistake but unable to resist the combination of her pleading eyes and his own curiosity. "No experiments. No attempts to actually perform any of the magic described in these books."

Kylee's face lit up with joy, and she threw her arms around him, the book still clutched in one hand. "I promise," she whispered against his ear. "Just reading. Just learning."

They spent the next several hours exploring the archive, pulling books and scrolls from the shelves and reading by the light of Adan's sustained illumination spell. The knowledge contained within these texts was staggering—detailed instructions for magic that their professors had only hinted at in the most advanced classes. Kylee remained focused on the dimensional magic tome, while Adan found himself drawn to a collection of texts on elemental manipulation that went far beyond anything in the standard curriculum.

As dawn approached, they reluctantly returned the books to their proper places and made their way back up the hidden staircase. The door sealed itself behind them with a soft whisper of magic, leaving no trace of their nocturnal adventure. They walked back to their respective dormitories in comfortable silence, both lost in thought about what they had discovered.

But as Adan lay in his narrow dormitory bed, watching the sunrise paint his small window gold and pink, he couldn't shake the feeling that something fundamental had changed between them. The way Kylee had looked at that book, the hunger in her eyes when she spoke about dimensional magic—it reminded him of the cautionary tales their professors told about wizards who had been consumed by their pursuit of forbidden knowledge.

He told himself he was being paranoid, that Kylee was too smart and too careful to let herself be seduced by dangerous magic. But deep down, he knew that their midnight exploration had set something in motion that couldn't be stopped. The triple moon convergence was less than twenty-four hours away, and despite her promise, he suspected that Kylee had no intention of limiting herself to merely reading about dimensional magic.

The next day passed in a blur of regular classes and routine activities, but Adan found it impossible to concentrate on anything. During Advanced Transmutation, he accidentally turned his practice stone into a small bird that immediately flew out the window, earning him a sharp reprimand from Professor Blackwood. In Theoretical Thaumaturgy, he gave completely wrong answers to questions he could normally handle in his sleep.

Kylee, by contrast, seemed energized and focused, participating more actively in class discussions than she had in weeks. But Adan noticed that she kept glancing out the windows, watching the position of the sun as it tracked across the sky. She was counting down the hours until nightfall, until the three moons would rise in perfect alignment.

After dinner, Adan tried to corner her in the common room, hoping to talk her out of whatever she was planning. But she slipped away before he could approach, leaving him with nothing but a meaningful look and a whispered "Meet me at midnight" as she passed his table.

The hours crawled by with agonizing slowness. Adan tried to study, tried to read, tried to do anything that would distract him from the growing sense of dread in his stomach. But nothing worked. At eleven-thirty, he gave up all pretense of normalcy and made his way to the hidden entrance to the Forbidden Archive.

Kylee was already there, the dimensional magic tome tucked under her arm along with several other books he didn't recognize. She had changed out of her academy robes into dark, practical clothing, and her hair was braided back in a style he had never seen her wear before. She looked older somehow, more serious, and definitely more dangerous.

"You came," she said, though there was no surprise in her voice. She had known he would be there, just as he had known she would ask him to come.

"I couldn't let you do this alone," he replied, though part of him wondered if his presence would make things better or worse. "Where are we going?"

"The old observatory," she said, leading him away from the archive entrance. "It's been abandoned for decades, but it has the best view of the sky. And more importantly, it's far enough from the main buildings that no one will notice if something goes wrong."

The phrase "if something goes wrong" sent another chill through Adan, but he followed her through the winding corridors and up several flights of stairs to the highest tower of the academy. The old observatory was exactly as she had described—abandoned and forgotten, with a domed ceiling that could be opened to reveal the night sky above.

Kylee set her books down on the dusty floor and began arranging them in a careful pattern. The dimensional magic tome was placed at the center, surrounded by the other texts in what Adan recognized as a ritual configuration. She had clearly been planning this for much longer than just the past day.

"Kylee," he said carefully, "you promised we would only read."

She looked up at him from where she knelt beside the books, and in the moonlight streaming through the open dome, her eyes seemed to glow with their own inner fire. "I lied," she said simply. "I'm sorry, but I knew you wouldn't come if I told you the truth."

Above them, the three moons hung in perfect alignment—the silver moon of knowledge, the blue moon of power, and the red moon of transformation. Their combined light bathed the observatory in an otherworldly radiance that made everything seem sharp and unreal.

"This is insane," Adan said, but he made no move to leave. Despite his fear, despite his better judgment, he was as curious as she was about what might happen. "We don't know enough about dimensional magic to attempt something like this safely."

"We know enough," Kylee replied, opening the scaled tome to a page marked with a strip of cloth. "The ritual is clearly described, and the convergence provides the perfect conditions. We may never get another chance like this."

She began to read from the book, her voice taking on a rhythmic, chanting quality that seemed to resonate with the magical energy in the air. Adan felt the hair on his arms stand up as power began to gather around them, drawn by her words and focused by the ritual configuration of the texts.

The air in the center of the circle began to shimmer, like heat waves rising from summer pavement. Slowly, gradually, a tear appeared in the fabric of reality itself—a window into somewhere else, somewhere that definitely wasn't their world. Through the opening, Adan could see a landscape of impossible colors and geometries that hurt his eyes to look at directly.

"It's working," Kylee breathed, her voice filled with wonder and triumph. "We're actually doing it."

But as the dimensional gateway stabilized and grew larger, Adan began to sense that something was wrong. The magic flowing through the ritual felt different from anything he had experienced before—wilder, hungrier, and far more difficult to control. The books around the circle were beginning to smoke, their pages curling as if exposed to intense heat.

"Kylee, we need to stop," he said urgently. "The magic is getting away from us."

She either didn't hear him or chose to ignore him, continuing to chant from the tome even as the dimensional gateway expanded beyond the bounds of the ritual circle. Through the opening, Adan could see movement—shapes that might have been creatures or might have been something else entirely, drawn by the magical disturbance they had created.

The first entity to emerge from the gateway was roughly humanoid in shape but composed entirely of what looked like living shadow. It moved with fluid grace, its form constantly shifting and changing as it adapted to the physics of their dimension. Behind it, Adan could see others beginning to gather at the threshold between worlds.

"Close it," he shouted over the growing magical storm. "Close the gateway now!"

But Kylee seemed transfixed by what she had accomplished, staring at the shadow creature with a mixture of fascination and terror. The tome in her hands was beginning to glow with dangerous intensity, and Adan realized that the ritual had moved beyond her control. The gateway was feeding on the magical energy of the convergence, growing stronger and more stable with each passing moment.

The shadow creature turned its attention to them, and Adan felt its alien intelligence pressing against his mind like cold fingers made of static and whispers. The air around it tasted of copper and ozone, while a sound like breaking glass echoed from nowhere. It was curious about these young wizards who had opened a door between worlds, but its curiosity felt predatory—like being studied by a spider.

Behind it, more entities pushed through the gateway. Things with too many eyes that blinked in patterns that made his vision blur. Things that existed in more dimensions than human perception could process, their edges seeming to fold in on themselves. The temperature in the observatory plummeted, and Adan's teeth began chattering uncontrollably as something that had been waiting eons sensed opportunity.

Adan made a desperate decision. Drawing on every technique he had learned in four years of magical education, he began weaving a counter-spell designed to disrupt the ritual and collapse the dimensional gateway. It was dangerous magic, the kind that could easily backfire and destroy them both, but it was their only chance of preventing a catastrophe that could threaten not just the academy but potentially their entire world.

The shadow creature sensed what he was doing and moved toward him with alarming speed. Its touch was like ice and electricity combined, sending waves of pain through his nervous system and disrupting his concentration. But Kylee, finally understanding the magnitude of what they had unleashed, added her power to his, helping him maintain focus despite the creature's assault.

Together, they poured their combined magical strength into the counter-spell, fighting against the momentum of the ritual and the alien intelligence of the entities trying to force their way through the gateway. The strain was enormous—Adan could feel blood running from his nose, and Kylee's hands were shaking with exhaustion—but gradually, slowly, the dimensional tear began to contract.

The shadow creature let out a sound that was part shriek and part something that human ears weren't designed to process. It made one final desperate lunge toward the gateway as the opening collapsed, but the dimensional barrier snapped back into place just in time, severing the creature's connection to its home dimension and causing it to dissolve into wisps of rapidly fading darkness.

The sudden silence that followed was deafening. The three moons continued their stately dance across the sky, but the magical storm had passed, leaving behind only the acrid smell of burned parchment and the lingering taste of otherworldly energy in the air.

Kylee collapsed to her knees beside the ruined books, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "I'm so sorry. I thought I could control it."

Adan knelt beside her, pulling her into his arms despite his own exhaustion and the lingering pain from the shadow creature's touch. 

"We're alive," he said simply. "That's what matters."

But even as he held her, he knew that their relationship had been fundamentally changed by what had happened in the observatory. They had crossed a line together, ventured into territory that no student wizards should ever explore, and the experience had revealed aspects of both their personalities that neither had fully understood before.

Kylee's hunger for forbidden knowledge, her willingness to risk everything for the chance to push beyond established boundaries, was both thrilling and terrifying. Adan realized that he would follow her anywhere, because his love for her was stronger than his sense of self-preservation. But he also understood that their future together would be shaped by this moment, by the choices they had made and the consequences they would have to live with.

As dawn approached for the second time in as many days, they made their way back to their dormitories, leaving behind the burned remains of the forbidden texts and the lingering traces of dimensional magic. They had learned something profound about the nature of reality and their own capabilities as wizards, but they had also learned that some knowledge came with a price that was almost too high to pay.

The official investigation into the magical disturbance detected in the old observatory would begin within hours, and Adan knew that their midnight adventure would not remain secret for long. But for now, in the quiet moments before the storm of consequences began, he was content to walk beside Kylee through the empty corridors of Valdris Academy, knowing that whatever came next, they would face it together.

Their journey of discovery had only just begun, and the dangers they had encountered in the Forbidden Archive were nothing compared to what awaited them in the wider world beyond the academy's protective walls. But they had proven to themselves and each other that they were capable of surviving challenges that would have destroyed lesser wizards, and that knowledge would serve them well in the adventures to come.

As they reached the point where their paths diverged toward their respective dormitories, Kylee turned to him one final time. In the pale light of dawn, she looked young and vulnerable again, the dangerous sorceress of the night replaced by the girl he had fallen in love with during their second year at the academy.

"No more forbidden magic," she promised, and this time he believed her. The experience in the observatory had taught them both the importance of respecting the boundaries that existed for good reason.

"No more forbidden magic," he agreed, sealing the promise with a gentle kiss that tasted of magic and moonlight and the beginning of a love story that would span dimensions.

-- To Be Continued...?

--

Would you like to see what awaits Adan and Kylee? Leave a comment letting us know! If people are interested, we can put up a new chapter once a month!

Tuesday, December 6, 2016

Oh Tannenbaum... in the Style of Rammstein
(plus something for your d20 Modern game)

Psychostick and NUELOW Games want to help jumpstart your Christmas Spirit with this Rammstein parody. Or... maybe not. You be the judge!


 \
(Our resident Christmas Aficionado, L.L. Hundal, said. "Are you kidding me?!" when she first started watching. Then she began to laugh. Christmas Cheer Unlocked!)

The Members of Pyschostick wish you a happy Christmas!

And speaking of Christmas Cheer, here's something that's offered for you enjoyment under the Open Game license.


Bobble Hat of Christmas Good Will (for d20 System games)
This unique artifact radiates a faint magic aura from December 1 to January 5. During this time, it causes the wearer to radiate cheerful Christmas energy--but there is a price to pay should he or she abuse the status as an incarnation of the Christmas Spirit.
     d20 System Game Mechanics: Grants the wearer a +2 bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks. In addition, the wearer gains a +1 supernatural modifier to AC/DR and a 1 point per die of damage dealt by an attack, because those that would harm the character are hesitant to do so. If the wearer uses Bluff or Diplomacy skills to defraud or cause trouble for another person, all benefits of the Bobble Hat of Christmas Good Will are lost and the character comes under a curse that results in a -4 penalty to all Charisma-based skill checks. The only way the curse can be removed is through the power of a god, or by the character giving a Christmas gift to his most hated enemy, as well as giving away the Bobble Hat of Christmas Good Will to a more worthy owner.

Wednesday, November 2, 2016

It's not only Election Day in the U.S. on November 8. It's also....

...Redhead Day! So whether you're some foreigner (living in the US or outside the US), you now have reason to think November 8 is a special day. Instead of celebrating Democracy, you can celebrate redheads! (Little Known Fact: L.L. Hundal is a redhead! Give her the gift of royalties on Her Special Day by purchasing something she worked on for NUELOW Games!)


A more specific way to observe Redhead Day would be to get a copy of OGL Redheads and bring their power to your d20 System games! Click here to unleash the Power of the Redhead at your gaming table!


The only d20 supplement focused on redheads!



Monday, February 22, 2016

d20 System Racial Templates

In this day and age when diversity (especially racial diversity) is to be encouraged and celebrated everywhere and anywhere and in all things, it's highly inappropriate for Humans to just be Humans in d20 System games.

To solve that problem, NUELOW Games proudly presents Human Racial Templates, as designed by L.L. Hundal. We are presenting these rules under the Open Game License, and we expect every right-minded gaming group to implement them immediately and make your d20 System games more reflective of the reality that is the modern gaming community. (The Racial Templates rules are Copyright 2016 by Steve Miller).

RACIAL TEMPLATES
During character generation, a player must assign a race to any Human character he or she creates and apply the appropriate racial template. The player can apply the template and modifications at any point during the character generation process.
   A character's race can also be randomly deterined by rolling 1d6.

    Race           Modifications
1. Arab           +2 Constitution, -2 to all Will saves
2. Asian          +2 Intelligence, -2 to all Fort saves
3. Black          +2 Strength, -1 Wisdom
4. Hispanic     +1 Dexterity, +1 to all Hide skill checks
5. Jewish        +1 Wisdom, +1 to all Bluff skill checks
6. White         +2 Charisma, -1 Dexterity




   Did you find this material amusing or useful? Check out NUELOW Games' d20 System products at RPGNow. Support us with a few coins and bring uniqueness to your games!

Saturday, January 2, 2016

For the record, NUELOW Games's first sale of 2016...

... was the oh-so-classy evergreen product Modern Basics: Feats of an Adult Nature.

Warning! This Contains Adult Mature Content (and stuff)!


If you haven't gotten your copy yet, now might be a great time. Wouldn't it be cool to see that classic OGL d20 Modern supplement back on the "Hot Seller" list?!

Click here to get your copy at DriveThruRPG! You can also get it at RPGNow if you prefer!


Monday, April 6, 2015

Are you ready for some baseball?!

The baseball season has started in the United States, so this seems like a perfect time to mention the NUELOW Baseball Special!


The Baseball Special contains d20 rules for bringing baseball into your OGL Modern games, a baseball-themed ROLF! Battle Scenario that pits Super-Fan vs. Team Mascot. The booklet also includes the comic strip "L.L. Hundal's Guide to Baseball for Europeans," with art by Samm Schwartz. It's everything immigrants and those who are just-barely American (like Hundal & Miller, respectively) need to understand the Great American Pastime! (Well... at least we think it's all you'll need.)

Click here to see previews of the NUELOW Baseball Special, or to get your own copy for a fraction of what it costs to even get to a ballpark these days.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Wild Bill Clanton vs. Steve Costigan

In our latest release, The Conquests of Wild Bill Clanton, we present the best of Robert E. Howard's "adult" short stories featuring the nasty character mentioned in the title. The book also contains game material for the OGL d20 System, some of it new, some of it revised from some of our previous releases, but all of it geared toward capturing the feel of Howard's "spicy" Wild Bill stories.

Art by Warren King
Wild Bill Clanton is like a dark reflection of Howard's Steve Costigan. They are both sailors with a knack for getting into trouble, they both are hard drinkers, they both have strong sexual appetites... but Clanton is a self-centered brute and a rapist while Costigan, for all his rough edges, is ultimately motivated by chivalrous and gentlemanly impulses when it comes to the "fairer sex."

While we included OGL d20 material in The Conquests of Wild Bill Clanton, we used the ROLF! game system to bring Steve Costigan to the gaming table in Fists of Foolishness, Shanghaied Mitts, ROLF!: Hammerin' Tongs, and ROLF!: The Tornado vs. Steve Costigan. However, since Wild Bill is the sort of person that Steve Costigan is likely to beat the living hell out of if the two ever cross paths, L.L Hundal & Steve Miller present this ROLF! battle scenario featuring both of Robert E. Howard's battling sailors.

The following text is Copyright 2015 by Steve Miller, but permission is granted to copy and print for personal use if you want to play the battle scenario.



WHEN STEVE MET BILL
Writing by Steve Miller * Editing by L.L. Hundal
(A ROLF! Battle Scenario featuring characters created by Robert E. Howard)

From the Adventures of Steve Costigan, as transcribed by R.E. Howard:
  I was on my way back to the Sea Gal after Lo Tan's wedding when I came across this little white gal, curled up in a ball at the mouth of a filthy alley, crying. It stabbed me in the heart to see such a pretty little thing, with beautiful red hair and freckled white skin, in such a state. Especially after I'd just spent the day surrounded by such happiness. I asked her what'd happened and when she looked at me, I saw that her face was swollen and bruised. I helped her to feet and saw that her dress was so shredded that it barely qualified as clothes anymore.
   I let her wrap herself in my jacket, and my sympathetic feelings turned to anger as she described how she'd been robbed and abused by a lout who'd promised to get her on a ship out of Shanghai. He'd beaten her--and worse--and then thrown her into the alley like so much garbage.
   I demanded to know where this felon could be found, and she pointed me to a door down the alley. "But he's dangerous," she said. "You've heard of Wild Bill Clanton, right? He kills people who cross him."
   "Not me," I told her. "I've never heard of him, and he won't have a chance to kill me, because I knock the blocks off of folks like him. I'll get you your money back, and I'll get you out of Shanghai."
   I marched down the alley to the door indicated with the shivering little woman following a few feet behind. "Be careful! Please be careful," she was saying. I paid her no mind and kicked down the door she'd indicated. Inside, in a small room, was one of the ugliest cusses I'd ever laid eyes on. But he was big, almost as big as any man I'd fought. And he he leapt to his feet and took a stance that told me he was a fighting man. He gritted his teeth and glared at me with fiery eyes. He was aiming a pistol at me. I can't say I blame him; I had just kicked down his door.
   "Are you Clanton," I demanded.
   "I am!" said he,  "Who the !#$% are you?!"
   "They call me Costigan," I told him and asked, "Did you hit a young lady and take advantage of her in her time of need?"
   "Probably, but I don't meet many ladies around here."
   I felt my blood getting hotter. Here was a guy that needed some serious whopping. But I've learned the hard way not to jump to conclusions just because some pretty girl says she's in trouble. I probably will never be able to go back to Okinawa due to a situation just like this one. But this Clanton fellow seemed like he was on the up-and-up--or, more accurately, like he was a low-down creep.
    So I said, "Did you hurt a little redheaded girl today? Did you rob her?"
    Clanton roared with laughter. "That slag? She's no lady! I don't know what she told you, but she had it coming. And I tell you, she enjoyed every--"
   That's when I lost my temper and charged him. Gun or no gun, I was going to knock some decency into him. No matter what a man thinks a woman may have done, he never he never has any justification for laying a hand on her. And he sure as hell doesn't force himself on her in any way whatsoever.

The Battle Scenario
The scenario is for two players and it uses the pre-generated characters detailed below. One player controls Steve Costigan, the other Wild Bill Clanton. The fight starts at Ranged distance and continues until either Costigan and Yvette or Clanton is defeated.
   If Costigan is defeated, Yvette leaps into the fray the following round, attacking Clanton. If she is also defeated... well, then we know why NUELOW Games isn't releasing anymore books or ROLF! supplements starring Steve Costigan.
   If Clanton is beaten, either Yvette or Costigan goes through his pockets and takes all his money. Costigan, if defeated, regains consciousness and takes Yvette to his ship, the Sea Gal, where she gets passage to its next port of call. Happy endings all around, except for Wild Bill Clanton.
 
   
Pre-Generated Characters
STEVE COSTIGAN (Male)
Brawn 33; Body 11; Brains 5
   Traits: Egomaniac, Short-tempered, Too Sexy for My Shirt.
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Knock Out, Murderous Mitts.
   Important Stuff Wielded/Worn: His Best Suit (Clothes).
   Special Note: Costigan is almost always in the company of Mike the White Bulldog. On the second round of a fight involving Costigan anywhere but in a boxing ring, Mike attacks the opponent with the lowest Body score, dealing 2 points of damage. Mike’s attacks are reduced by Armor or can be avoided with the Dodge Combat Maneuver. Mike attacks once each subsequent round, always targeting the character with the lowest Body score (other than Costigan). Mike fights for two rounds after Costigan goes down.

WILD BILL CLANTON (Male)
Brawn 30, Body 12, Brains 5
   Traits: Coldhearted, Egomaniac, Short-tempered
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disembowel, Knock Out, Murderous Mitts, Run Away,
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points of damage that ignore armor). Knife ( Small Melee Weapon, deals 2 points of damage).

YVETTE FREISE (Female)
Brawn 21, Body 15, Brains 5
   Traits: Improv Master, Nimble, Too Sexy for My Shirt
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Dodge, Double Strike, Strike Pose,
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Tattered Dress (Clothes, barely covers nakedness)

Saturday, January 3, 2015

Observing the 75th anniversary of the first ongoing horror series in comics!

In 1940, inspired by the great novel Frankenstein and the 1939 film Son of Frankenstein, Dick Briefer brought the immortal tale of science gone wrong to the pages of Prize Comics magazine. Like Mary Shelley's novel, like the Universal film adaptations, Briefer's comics have stood the test of time, and they are now certified must-read classics for fans of horror comics.

The character would become Briefer's signature creation. He wrote and drew some 100 different Frankenstein stories over a 15-year period that roughly coincided with the Golden Age of Comics itself--chronically the Monsters rampages and misadventures through three different incarnations--first as a horror character, then as a zany comedy figure, and then once again as a horror character.

2015 marks 75 years since the Briefer's Frankenstein made its debut. NUELOW Games will be observing this milestone by releasing a few books featuring some of his best efforts, together with all-new game material inspired by them. L.L. Hundal is a fan of Briefer's early stories, and she's plowing through all of them and making an initial selection of the ones we'll present. Publisher and game design Steve Miller will then narrow down the selection and write the new material for each book.

NUELOW Games actually released our first New Adventures of Frankenstein book at the end of 2013. Hundal fell in love with Dick Briefer's Frankenstein while rooting through old comic books back when we were considering a more limited program of comics/game products than what has evolved, and she put together a color collection of the first two "New Adventures of Frankenstein" episodes. It also contained a full ROLF! battle scenario and a preview of our-then forthcoming Werewolf Hunter anthologies. The book details the origin of Briefer's Frankenstein Monster and sets him up as an indestructible creature driven by hate for his creator and a heart of the blackest of evil. The strip kicks the action into high gear as of page two... and it never slows down after that.

"We're used to bloated story-telling in comics these days," Hundal wrote in an email to Miller at the time. "Briefer got more action, frights, and tragedy into eight pages than most modern creators fit into eight issues."

Cover for New Adventures of Frankenstein.
Art by Dick Briefer.
That initial book was conceived as a one-shot, but when Steve Miller noticed that 2015 was the 75th anniversary of Briefer's Frankenstein, Hundal thought it was a great reason to assemble and release more New Adventures of Frankenstein collections. She is projecting three to six of these books, with the first one coming out just as 2015 became a reality.

New Adventures of Frankenstein: The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny picks up where the first NUELOW Games book left off--with Frankenstein's Monster menacing society and tormenting his creator every chance he gets. But Briefer quickly leaves the sources that inspired him behind, and he introduces a powerful foe for the monster--a boy who was a victim of his evil but who grew up to be his most dedicated enemy. The book presents four action-packed horror tales as only Dick Briefer could create.

Cover for The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny.
Art by Dick Briefer.

You can see sample pages from The Monster vs. Bulldog Denny here.
 
The forthcoming books will cover the phases of Briefer's Frankenstein to varying degrees. The stories won't necessarily be presented in the order they originally appeared, and some will be collected entirely out of sequence to fit with the overall theme or storyline of the book in question. For example, the next book will continue the chronicle of Bulldog's battle against the Monster, but it opens with a "flashback"--a story that was skipped between NUELOW's first New Adventures book and the second one, because it flowed better story-wise to organize them that way. Tentative titles for projected books are Bulldog Denny Strikes Back, The Life and Death of a Monster, Weird TalesThe Trouble with Zora, The Monster Reborn, and The Tombs of Frankenstein.
 
We hope you'll feel like checking out some of the offerings and give us your opinions. Meanwhile, here's Bulldog Denny and his girlfriend Joan Knight ala ROLF!... so you can create your own battles pitting him against the Monster using the stats featured in New Adventures of Frankenstein.
 
 
BULLDOG DENNY (Male)
Real Name: Dennis Dunsan
Brawn 25, Body 17, Brains 8
  Traits: Honorable, Improv Master, Nimble.
  Combat Maneuvers: Backflip, Basic Attack, Dodge, Furious Fists, Murderous Mitts, Signature Move, Strike Pose, Withering Insult.
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Thigh-high Boots (Leggings AND Armor, absorbs 1 point of damage). Black pants and black shirt with a bulldog logo on the chest (Clothes).
 
JOAN KNIGHT (Female)
Real Name: Joan Knight
Brawn 18, Body 18 (includes +1 Hat Bonus, Brains 7)
   Traits: Improv Master, Nimble.
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Castrate, Disarm, Dodge, Run Away, Seduce, Strike Pose.
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Fashionable Dress (Clothes). Stylish Hat (+1 Bonus to Body when worn). Designer Purse (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).
 

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Now available -- "Princess Pantha: The Footsteps of Fate"

We've just released the stand-alone sequel to Princess Pantha: The Hunt for M'Gana. It continues the exciting chronicle of an animal tamer turned adventuress, with illustrations by Art Saaf, Gene Fawcette, and Ralph Mayo, all behind a cover by Alex Schomburg.

Painting by Alex Schomburg
Princess Pantha: The Footsteps of Fate sees Pantha and her lover Dane Hunter face danger and treachery in Central America, Central Asia, and other exotic locations. In addition to the classic comics by great creators, the book contains a complete supplement for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game by yours truly and L.L. Hundal.

Click here to see previews of the book, and to get your own copy. Please be sure to let us know what you like and don't like about it. We can't make the next book better if we don't know what you thought of this one!

Saturday, October 18, 2014

Coming soon: A baseball-based product by people who know nothing about baseball

"The Royals are going to the World Series!" someone stated.

"Really?" I thought. "All of them, or just Queen Elizabeth?"

The person was, of course, referring to the Kansas City Royals who are going to the World Series for the first time since 1980s. However, I don't usually associate baseball and "Royals," since I wasn't raised in the States. My partner in Things NUELOW, L.L. Hundal, knows even less about baseball than I do. Therefore, we decided that it was time to do a baseball-themed NUELOW Games product. We've already put our ignorance about politics, social justice, and good manners on display, so why not add sports to the list?

Here is a draft of the cover. The product will contain a ROLF! battle scenario, a OGL d20 Modern rules for making a baseball player PC, and an illustrated guide to help those who, like us, don't know a damn thing about baseball. Art will be by Samm Schwartz. We hope to finish and release the booklet in the next couple of days.


Meanwhile, if you feel like checking out some of our other offerings, you can click here to see previews of them all.


Thursday, September 18, 2014

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!

September 18 is National Cheeseburger Day! In celebration, we're offering a quick battle scenario! (If you want to play it while chowing down on celebratory cheeseburgers, you are welcome to copy-and-paste the text so you can print it out.)

Battle Scenario for Two Players: Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger!
By L.L. Hundal

Background
After  hard day of mugging at the camera, flipping their hair, and otherwise strutting their stuff, two bulimic models visit the crafts services table. All that's left are speedballs and a single cheeseburger. Drugs they don't care about... but that cheeseburger is worth fighting to the death over. And they do.

The Battle
This is a straight-forward fight, with one model hell-bent on killing the other. The fight continues until one is victorious.

The Pre-generated Models
Battle Maneuvers not featured in the core ROLF! rules are found in ROLF!: Supermodel Slap-fest.

Sally-Mae Hackett
Brawn 14, Body 20, Brains 5
  Traits: Coldhearted, Nimble, Too Sexy for My Shirt
  Battle Maneuvers: Backflip, Disembowel, The Look, The Walk, Strike Pose,
  Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Monokini (barely covers nakedness)

Wendy Lawford
Brawn 14, Body 20, Brains 6
  Traits: Ego-Maniac, Nimble, Too Sexy for My Shirt
  Battle Maneuvers: Backflip, Kung Fu Face, Signature Move, The Walk, Strategic Bleeding, Strike Pose
Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Bikini (barely covers nakedness)


Monday, February 10, 2014

Introducing Ginger and Snap (via ROLF!)

This week, NUELOW Games will release Ginger and Snap, the first ever collection of a humor series featuring a pair of gender-role swapping twins. You can read more about the book and its background here, at Steve Miller's Shades of Gray blog.

Meanwhile, here at NUELOW games, we're offering you the all-new ROLF! trait, as well as ROLF stats for Ginger and Snap by L.L. Hundal.


NEW TRAIT FOR ROLF!
   Twin: You make two characters for the "price of one," each of them with the Twin attribute. Each character possesses this Trait and starts with one less Combat Maneuver and/or Spelling than their Brains ATT indicates. Each character also has the same scores in ATT, but one Twin must have his or her ATT scores lowered by 2 points. The points can be deducted from one ATT or divided. Each Twin’s Combat Maneuvers can as similar or different as the player chooses to make them.
   Depending on the Battle Scenario, the player of the Twins can start with both characters in play, or he can swap one out through the use of Run Away or some similar Maneuver that removes a character from a fight. The other Twin joins in the fight the following round at the appropriate point dictated by the ABBA sequence. This can be done as often as the player likes, but if the side of the player controlling the Twins ever is left with no active character in a fight, the other side wins.
   If a Battle Scenario specifies that characters start the Scenario with their ATT restored to starting levels, a Twin re-entering the fight does so with any lost ATT points intact.
   If a Twin is ever reduced to Zero Brawn, the other Twin immediately loses half his or her Brawn permanently.


PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS FOR ROLF!
GINGER (Female)
Brawn 14, Body 12, Brains 7
   Traits: Improv Master, Twin (of Snap)
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Disarm, Dodge, Run Away, Strike Pose, Withering Insult
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: School Books (Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage OR One Shot Ranged Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).

SNAP (Male)
Brawn 13, Body 12, Brains 6
   Traits: Improv Master, Twin (of Ginger)
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dodge, Double Strike, Run Away, Strike Pose
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: School Books (Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage OR One Shot Ranged Weapon, deals 1 point of damage).

Ginger (right) and her twin brother Snap

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Miley Cyrus ala ROLF! (with a special OGL d20 bonus feat)

In celebration of Miley Cyrus being named Artist of the Year by MTV, we present stats for her, so you can bring her to your gaming table. If you thought she was all about taking a dump on good taste and good music, you were wrong. MTV says so. It doesn't matter what it looks like she's doing in this picture.



ROLF!: MYLIE CYRUS 



MYLIE CYRUS (Female)
Brawn 14, Body 16, Brains 4
   Traits: Nimble, Too Sexy for My Shirt
   Combat Maneuvers: Backflip, Basic Attack, Dance Machine, Seduce
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Giant Foam Finger (Large Melee Weapon. Deals 1 point of damage).



THE MYLIE CYRUS FEAT (for OGL Modern and More!) 
By L.L. Hundal 

  Prehensile Tongue Your tongue is unnaturally elongated, strong, and good for much more than just tying cherry stems into knots.
    Benefit: You can use your tongue to perform any Dex based skill that involves manipulating small objects, such as Open Locks. The skill check DC is increased by +4.
   Special: Prehensile Tongue gives a +2 circumstance bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, Intimidate, and/or Seduction skill checks as appropriate. Anyone who sees your tongue on display must roll a Fort save or be put off food for 2d6 hours.

--
Everything in this post, except the photo and Mylie Cyrus (who is defined as someone's product identity but not ours), is presented under the Open Gaming License. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller

Saturday, November 2, 2013

Madden's Boys Meet the Heartbreaker
A NUELOW Heroes & Villains Battle Scenario

MADDEN'S BOYS MEET THE HEARTBREAKER
A ROLF! Battle Scenario by L.L. Hundal
Artwork by Bill Madden
Copyright 2013 NUELOW Games & Steve Miller. All Rights Reserved/
(Permission granted to copy for personal use.)

1/0: INTRODUCTION
As the NUELOW Games staff (all two of us) work on the next collection of Bill Madden comics--tentatively titled Madden's Boys--Steve Miller has been up to his usual tricks of poking fun at the stuff we're planning to publish. This panel caught his eye in one of the Yankee Boy stories, and he just HAD to put it on Facebook as part of his irregular series of Out of Context Theater posts.


 Well, this triggered an idea--a classic ROLF! battle scenario along the lines of our mid-1990s offerings that caused Frank Mentzer to quip: "The download is guaranteed virus free, but I can't be sure about the characters."

2.0: THE PRE-GENERATED CHARACTERS
Here are the characters featured in the Battle Scenario. They were created using rules from the core ROLF! game, as well as ROLF!: Something About Superheroes and ROLF!: Christmas Special II. (If this was an actual release, we'd repeat all the Combat Maneuvers and Traits not included in the core game here.)

Dynamic Boy (AKA Kent Banning, Male)
Brawn 16, Body 14, Brains 6
   Traits: Improv Master, Superpower (Super Strenth [Personal], Flight [Personal], Bonus: +2 Brawn ATT [Permanent]
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Pimp Slap
Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Superhero Outfit (Armor, absorbs up to 2 points of damage).
    Origin Story: Dynamic Boy almost died while saving the life of Dr. Brown's daughter. The good doctor then proceeded to save him by feeding him an unknown substance he had secured from cultists high atop the Himalyan mountains. 

Heartbreaker (AKA Katie Felmann, Female)
Brawn 14, Body 16, Brains 6
   Traits: Coldhearted, Nimble, Stone Cold Killer
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Bitch Slap, Castrate, Double Strike, Seduce, Strike Pose
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Leather Vest (Armor, absorbs 2 points of damage), Thigh-high Boots, (Armor AND Leggings, absorbs 1 point of damage). Dagger (Small Melee Weapon, deals 1 point of damage). Pistol (Small Ranged Weapon, deals 2 points of damage that ignore armor).
   Origin Story: Heartbreaker was a CIA operative who relied on "womanly wiles" to achieve siccess in her intelligence gathering missions. When her identity was exposed by a publicity-seeking U.S. senator, she barely escaped from her last assignment with her life. In revenge, she assassinated the senator, and she has been working as a high-priced, freelance hit woman ever since.

Yankee Boy (AKA Phil Martin, Male)
Brawn 14, Body 13, Brains 6
   Traits: Irrepressible Optimist, Nimble
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Bitch Slap, Deflect, Dodge, Murderous Mitts, Strike Pose
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Superhero Outfit (Armor, absorbs up to 2 points of damage).
   Origin Story: Phil Martin woke up one day, frustrated with the growing anti-American attitude he detected in the people around him. So, he made himself a superhero outfit and started kicking ass in the name of life, liberty, and the American Way.

3.0: THE BATTLE SCENARIO
This scenario is for two or three players, depending on how you want it to unfold. Each player controls one of the characters from above.

3.1: What Has Come Before
Heartbreaker has been hired by the Great Question to destroy Dynamic Boy and Yakeeboy. Deciding to use the youthful superheroes to take each other out, she has been posing online as a teen girl and has been flirting with them via their "social media" accounts and :"sexting"-type activities. Earlier today, she set up a meeting in a secluded spot, telling each of the boys that she wanted to take their relationship to the "physical level." Just before they are to arrive, she sends each of them a text message, apparently in a panic. "Yankee Boy is jealous of our love--he has vowed to kill me!" to Dynamic Boy, and "Dynamic Boy is jealous of our love--he has vowed to kill me!" to Yankee Boy. She now lurks nearby, waiting to see which of the boy heroes wins the fight, and then.intends to leap out and finish off the one still standing..

3.2: The Battle, Part One
The fight starts at Ranged Distance. Dynamic Boy and Yankee Boy both agrily demand that the  other leave Katie alone. They then attack each other. The fight
   Special Game Note: If Yankee Boy successfully uses his Strike Pose Combat Maneuver to halt Dynamic Boy's attack, the player of Yankee Boy can choose to either continue the fight, or he can say that Yankee Boy tries to talk to Dynamic Boy and figure out why he's suddenly turned into a psycho-stalker targeting his girl. Dynamic Boy's player rolls 2d6, and if the result is equal to or less than 6, the two teens stop fighting.

3.3: The Battle, Part Two
Once either Dynamic Boy or Yankee Boy are defeated, Heartbreaker breaker attacks the remaining hero, controlled by the player of the defeated character. If the fight between the heroes ends as described under the Special Game Note above, the player who controlled Dynamic Boy now controls Hearbreaker, while the other player controls the two heroes. (If there players are playing, each of them controls one of the characters.)
   The fight continues until Heartbreaker or her targets are defeated.

4.0: DESIGNER'S AFTERWORD
Dynamic Boy and Yankee Boy were characters that appeared in issues of Dynamic Comics and Yankee Comics respectively, published in 1941 and produced by Harry "A" Chesler's art studio. Heartbreaker is an original creation.
   Dynamic Boy and Yankee Boy were teenage characters modeled after the superheroes from which the anthology titles drew their names (Dynamic Man and Yankee Doodle Jones) but otherwise had no connection to the adult superhero in question. Curiously (although typical for a Chesler-produced strip), Dynamic Man did end up with a sidekick by the name of Dynamic Boy, but it was a completely different character than the one this battle scenario was inspired by. Yankee Doodle Jones also had a kid sidekick, cleverly named Dandy.
    Bill Madden drew both published Dynamic Boy stories, the first three Yankee Boy tales, and he may have penciled the fourth with someone else finishing the art. I think Madden's art deserves more attention than it's gotten over the years, and that's why I'm happy to be part of NUELOW Game's forthcoming Madden's Boys book--which will feature the entire run of the Dynamic Boy series, as well as the first three Yankee Boy episodes. We also may or may not include the Rocket Boy series; we're working on determining whether Madden had a hand in that one or not. I hope you'll join us for them.
   Meanwhile, check out Madden's artwork in The Unholy 3 and OGL Trickery or Mother Hubbard.

NOTE: IF YOU WANT TO GIVE US FEEDBACK ON OUR COMICS ANTHOLOGIES OR GAME PRODUCTS, PLEASE DO! WE VALUE YOU INPUT! WOULD-BE REVIEWERS SHOULD GET IN TOUCH AS WELL... MAYBE WE CAN GIVE YOU A FREE BOOK OR TWO.
 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Y is for You vs. Me: The Rollplaying Game


As the second-to-last post in the A to Z Blogging Challenge, we represent a ROLF! variant by L.L. Hundal.


YOU vs. ME: A ROLLPLAYING GAME POWERED BY ROLF!
Designed by L.L. Hundal * Edited by Steve Miller
Copyright Steve Miller 2013. All Rights Reserved.

About This Game
You vs. Me is a quick-playing game for two players. They each make a character based on the other player, trade them with each other, and then have the characters beat each other up until one is dead. If you have a friend you don't mind losing, try playing this game with them when you have nothing better to do.

What You Need to Play
You need a friend, four six-sided dice, two sheets of paper, and something to write with. At the very least, you  will also need a copy of ROLF!: Old Skool (which can be downloaded free of charge by clicking here). 

How to Play
First you create characters, then you trade the characters with each other, and then you fight the characters. Just like I mentioned above. 

Create Characters
Consider the friend sitting across the table from you. Then consider what he or she would be like as a ROLF! character. Then start creating.
   Each character has three Attributes, like any other ROLF! character--Brawn, Body, and Brains. The basic function of these Attributes are described in the ROLF! rules, but they are generated differently in the You vs. Me variant.
   1. Assign Attribute  Ratings: Rate your friend's Brawn score between 6 and 30; the Body score between 4 and 20, and the Brains between 2 and 10. You do not need to maximize the Attribute. Unspent points are not used for anything but instead go the way of a European or African country's national debt--they just vanish.
   2. Pick Traits: Characters have a number of Traits equal to half their Brains Attribute score. Traits are listed in the ROLF! rule books and supplements; you may use any Trait that has been introduced into the game or you can create new ones. If you create new Traits, make sure you send it to us, so we have something to post on the blog. Remember that you are picking Traits that you think your friend possesses.
   3. Pick Battle Maneuvers. Battle Maneuvers  are listed in the ROLF! rule books and supplements; you may use any Battle Maneuver that has been introduced into the game. You can also make up new ones if you don't think any that exist accurately capture the talents of your friend if he or she were to become a violent brute, but keep in mind that the existing Battle Maneuvers were created by professional game designers and carefully play-tested and balanced against the rest of the ROLF! game. If you're not careful, you may unbalance the intricate--oh, who am I kidding? Just make up Battle Maneuvers that you think are fun, funny, or capture the essence of your friend--that's what I do. And, sure, I play-test.... most of the time.. Designing for ROLF! isn't rocket-science... but you do have to be mindful of the dice mechanics and how modifiers work in the system.
   4. Create Equipment: Each character has two items that can be used as weapons, You should pick things you associate with your friend. One item deals 2 points of damage and the other deals 4 points of damage.Both are melee weapons. There are no ranged weapons in You vs. Me.

Trade Characters
Pass the character you've created to your friend and let him or her absorb the impression you have of them while you do the same with the character your friend created based on their perception of you. Consult the ROLF! rules if there are Traits and Battle Maneuvers you are not familiar with.. or make your friend explain them to you.

Fight
By "fight" I mean the characters fight. If you or your friend are offended by the character that was created, one or both of you need to get over yourselves and realize that this is all for fun... or maybe consider making some changes in your lives. That might mean getting other friends, although more likely it means doing a little soul-searching and self-evaluating to understand why your friend views your the way he or she does.
   The fights in You vs. Me continue until one character is defeated. Combat and damage work just like they do in the standard ROLF! game. Each player has their own pair of six-sided dice to roll Attribute Checks and Combat Maneuvers with.

Afterword
The idea for You vs. Me has its genesis in Steve Miller and I making each other as ROLF! characters for Apocalypse Not (The Final Final Battle), together with a bizarre little Battle Scenario. We both agreed that we captured one another quite well, and there were no hurt feelings. Then again, we are both comfortable with the fact that we are dorky jerks.
   The rules here were play-tested with my long-suffering girlfriend. We are still living together.
   I hope you have fun with this ROLF! variant. Please send us any new Traits or Battle Maneuvers you may come up with. We need content for the blog.


Sunday, April 28, 2013

U is for Undergarments of Temptation



I don't know if we'll get through the alphabet before the month runs out, but here's another magic item for use in your RPG games. This one is usable for the d20 System. It's presented under the Open Gaming License, and the entirety of this post is Open Gaming Content. Please give credit and copyright acknowledgement to NUELOW Ganes.

  Undergarments of Temptation (By L.L. Hundal)
These items appear on first glance to be ordinary panties, boxers, briefs, undershirts, bras--whatever bit of underwear you can think of. When worn, they begin to radiate faint enchantment magic. When visible to onlookers--for example because the wearer's pants are drooping or of a low-rise style, or the wearer's top is unbuttoned or low-cut, or because the underwear is worn on the outside instead of under other clothing--they have the following effects:
    1. Anyone seeing the character's undergarments of temptation must roll a Will save (DC18). If the saving throw fails, the wearer gains a +4 enhancement bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks involving those individuals, because they think the wearer is just that cool and sexy.
   2. If the wearer directs attention at a specific person who failed the Will save mentioned above, the target is considered to be under the effects of a charm monster spell.
    3. If creatures successfully save against the undergarments of temptation, the wearer suffers a -4 penalty to all Intelligence- and Charisma-based actions directed at them, because they think he or she must be some sort of simpleton who can't dress themselves properly.

Friday, April 19, 2013

M is for Mary Jane



 Today's entry in the A to Z April Blogging Challenge celebrates the the legalization of pot in Washington State. While no one here at NUELOW Games actually smokes the Whacky Weed (although apparently L.L is apparently one of the slang terms for marijuana), we don't mind those who do. So long as they treat their habits like drunks treat theirs and stay the hell away from their cars while high/stoned/bombed/whatever.

So here's a pre-generated character for use in a ROLF! battle scenario--Mary Jane, the Mistress of Mellow.  (A perfect foe for her would be the Tee-totaler featured in ROLF!: St. Patty vs. The Snake.)

Mary Jane, the Mistress of Mellow (By L.L. Hundal)
The mysterious dark-tressed Mary Jane has been a tireless crusader for the right to get high and mellow whenever and whereever ever since she first appeared in a cloud of sweet-smelling smoke and her green-and-yellow superhero outfit in Seattle's Pioneer Square. Her greatest foes are Buzzkill, Frigid Fanny, and the Tee-totaler.

Mary Jane (Female)
(aka Mary Jo Verde)
Brawn 21, Body 15, Brains 7
Traits: Busty, Martial Arts Master, Nimble
Combat Maneuvers:  Basic Attack, Furious Fists, Disarm, Dodge, Strike Pose, Spelling (After Me, Mellow Haze).
Important Items Worn/Wielded: Superhero Outfit (Armor. Absorbs up to 2 points of damage).

New Spelling
Mellow Haze: The Speller causes a pale green gas to form over the battle area. All characters must roll Brawn ATT checks or lose the will to fight. Unless attacked, they will leave the battle area in search of something to snack on. Characters so effected are removed from the battle scenario and considered defeated.

(This post is  Copyright 2013 NUELOW Games and Steve Miller, but permission is granted for duplication for personal use,)

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

Horror Feats, Part One

As you may or may not know, NUELOW Games's Steve Miller used to write for the famous Ravenloft gothic horror setting for AD&D and D&D Third Edition. He also contributed to a couple Storyteller products from White Wolf. And he loves watching and reviewing horror movies, as he demonstates weekly at the Terror Titans blog. With that in mind, here are some feats that will let you bring some horror movie and slasher movie vibes to your OGL Modern games. (They compliment any product in the Modern Basics or Modern Advances series.)



(The rest of this post is Open Game Content, as defined by the Open Game License v1.0a. If you should wish to make your OGL d20 game products, please include "Horror Movie Feats, Part One by L.L Hundal. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller and NUELOW Games" in the copyright section.)

HORROR MOVIE FEATS, PART ONE
By L.L. Hundal (with a friendly tip-of-the-hat to Steve Miller for outloud design musings.)

Danger Sense [General]
You have an uncanny ability for sensing trouble just before it strikes.
Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus to all Spot and Sense Motive checks.

Survivor [General]
This feat is suitable for monsters and victims alike. It makes them exceptionally hard to kill.
Prerequisite: Too Cute To Die
Benefit: When the character drops below half of her full hit points, she instantly recovers 2d6 hit points. Whenever the character suffers damage while below half of her full hit points, she recovers 1d6 hit points after the damage has been resolved. This benefit only applies if the character is between zero and half their total hit points.
 When the character drops below 0 hit points, she rolls a Fort save with a +4 bonus. If the save is successful, she instantly regains 2d6 hit points.

Too Cute to Die [Genera]
You are either so funny, cute, or sexy that it sometimes seems as if you are deathproof.
Prequisite: Cha 15 or higher.
Benefit: You add your Charisma bonus to your Defense Rating and Reflex saving throws.



(If you enjoyed those feats, please check out NUELOW Games's OGL d20 Sysetm products. Click here to see previews at RPGNow, or to even buy copies.)

Thursday, February 21, 2013

On the cutting edge for 20 years!

It has come to our attention that a certain d20 OGL-based RPG is being prasied as the ultimate roleplaying game because it features overtly gay NPCs and is therefore the most "inclusive" RPG in the history of universe.

While we congratulate the designers and developers and marketeers behind the "ultimate roleplaying game" for the buzz they're generating we feel here at NUELOW Games are scratching our heads in bemusement that gay themes suddenly seem to be something gamers are celebrating. We've been including gay characters and game mechanics in our games for 20 years--since the very earliest days of the NUELOW game series--and no one has ever celebrated us as "celebrating diversity."

Similarly, our current flagship line, ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game, seems to be more of an ultimate ultimate RPG, as from its earliest edition not only featured a "gay iconic character," but even allowed for the creation of overtly gay player characters. (Check out that hoary classic for free by downloading it here.) To this day, we regularly feature gay characters in ROLF! supplements--and they're not just there so we can proclaim how "diverse" we are to the world.. Hell, in ROLF!: Black Kitten vs, June Collyer we were even quietly turning Golden Age Superheroes gay well before DC Comics decided to make a marketing stunt.

But maybe that's where we went wrong. We should have been jumping up and down and shouting "Hey! Hey! Look at us! We've got gay characters!"... and maybe NUELOW "Fairies!" would have been the ORIGINAL ulitmate RPG! In fact, we are so casual about including gay characters in our products that we can't even remember which ones has them and which ones don't, with the exception of one mentioned above and ROLF!: The Breast Hope for Peace.

Yes... we're jealous. We are, first and foremost, attention whores here at NUELOW Games--inept attention whores obviously, but attention whores nonetheless. We need to jump on this "ultimate inclusive RPG" band-wagon before it becomes worn and tattered, and L.L. Hundal has come up with the perfect way for us to do it.

For your enjoyment (and our ability to say "hey... we're inclusive, and we've been inclusive since Nineteen-bloody-Ninety-Two! and we're still inclusive and full of diversity and ultimateness") here are some OGL d20 feats that will let gamers turn ANY OGL d20 game into an ULTIMATE RPG that's even more inclusive and ultimate than the ultimate RPG that triggered this post (and our envy and desperate need for attention)!!

Take it away, Ms. Hundal!

(Everything in this post below here, apart from the image, is Open Game Content, as defined by the Open Game License v1.0a. If you should wish to make your OGL d20 game products into ULTIMATE OGL game products, please include "Everyone's Gay! by L.L Hundal. Copyright 2013 Steve Miller and NUELOW Games" in the copyright section.)



MODERN BASICS: FEATS OF DIVERSITY AND ULTIMATENESS
Feats to make any OGL d20 system into the Ultimate RPG
By L.L Hundal

Gay [General]
Your character has a sexual preference toward his or her own gender/sex.
  Benefit: You receive a +2 bonus to all Craft and Perform skill checks.
  Special: You receive a +2 bonus to Will saves when resisting charm person and all other mind-effecting spells and extraordinary powers and abilities from a character or monster of the opposite sex. If no saving throw is normally allowed, you may roll a Will save with a -4 penalty.

Gaydar [Social]
Your character can recognize other gay characters across a crowded room... across time and space even!
  Prereq: Gay feat.
  Benefit: Upon making a successful Spot skill check (DC12) the character can identify other characters who have the Gay feat within a 60-foot radius. If detected characters are out of line-of-sight, your character has a vague sense that there is another gay character nearby. If a target is hiding their gayness, the DC is the "closeted" characters's Disguise skill check.
  Special: Characters with 5 or more ranks in Knowledge (literature) Knowledge (history) or Knowledge (conspiracy theories) may roll Spot checks to recognize gay persons in history or fiction.

Ghey [Social]
Your character is a bit of fool who is likely to write articles titled Feats of Diversity and Ultimateness.
  Prereq: Wis 10 or lower, Cha 10 or lower.
  Benefit: You receive a +2 competency bonus to all Bluff checks.
  Special: Characters with the Ghey feat are inherently cowardly. They receive a -2 penalty to Will saves to resist intimidation and peer pressure..

(If you enjoyed those feats, please check out NUELOW Games's other OGL d20 Sysetm products. Click here to check them out. Heck, you might find that Feats of Seduction and Subterfuge will fit right in with your game if Gay and Gaydar work for you.)