In Observance of World Otter Day

We just learned that it's World Otter Day. We love otters, and if Black Cat wasn't already our unofficial mascot here at NUELOW Games, it would be an otter. With that in mind, here are two artifacts (otterfacts?) for your d20 System and Open D6 games! (All text in this post is released under the Open Game License. Copyright Steve Miller 2018.)


RINGS OF THE OTTER
These rings were recovered by occult investigator Marion K. Bassett on the site where legend holds that Atlantean Otter Mages used to meet. Their true origins remain unknown, but Bassett hopes to someday come across a ghost ancient enough to know their origins and what magic powers they may contain.

Ring of the Wet Otter
This ring raidiates a faint aura of water magic. It is silver and is inset with a piece of obsidian carved to look like a smiling otter face. It grants the person wearing it increased abilities while in water.
  D20 System: Gain a +6 bonus to all Swim skill checks. Gain a +4 bonus to all Craft and Perform skills used while floating or swimming in water. (These bonuses are only gained in water that's deeper than 1/2 the character's height.)
  OpenD6 System: Gain +1D to all Swim checks. Gain +1 to all Perception and Mechanical skills used while floating or swimming in water. (These bonuses are only gained in water that's deeper than 1/2 the character's height.)

Ring of the Nimble Otter
This ring radiates a faint aura of alteration magic. It enhances the dextrousness of the character wearing it. It is silver and is inset with a piece of obsidian carved to look like a smiling otter face that is winking.
   D20 System: Gain a +2 bonus to all Dexterity-based skill checks and Reflex saves.
  Open D6 System: Gain +1D in the Dexterity attribute.

Both Rings
In addition to the benefits decribed above, when either one of these rings is worn, the character is surrounded by an aura of cuteness. It detects as protective magic of a weak and unspecific sort.
  D20 System: +1 bonus to all Charisma-based skills, except for a -6 penalty to Interrogate and Intimidate and skill checks. These modifier double when both rings are worn.
  OpenD6 System: +1 bonus to all skills intended to entertain and amuse others. -1D to skills intended to scare or force others to reveal information to you that they want to keep to themselves.

If you liked 'Rogue One'...

... we think you'll also enjoy Gene Fawcette's Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes. It tells of the exciting adventures of Tara and her crew of outlaws, as they battle evil and corruption throughout space.

Cover art for Tara by Alex Schomburg

  This book brimming with swashbuckling space action can be found at DriveThruComics, RPGNow, and DriveThruRPG. In addition to the great comics, the book contains ROLF! game stats or Tara and her crew, and d20 System and OpenD6 game stats for Tara's weapon of choice--the atom sword. (Yeah... light sabres may be cool and all, but are they atom sword cool?!)

Now available -- 'Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes'!

Check out retro sci-fi comics (with a touch of Good Girl Art) at their finest in Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes--new from NUELOW Games!

Cover art by Alex Schomburg

Join Tara and her loyal companions Robin and Malo, as they fight against corrupt governments and evil alien invaders in four of their greatest adventures, penciled by the great Gene Fawcette. Also included, published here for the first time ever, is the story of how Tara and her crew first met, as well as all-new rules material for the OGL d20, OpenD6, and ROLF! game systems.

Click here to see previews of Tara: Marauder of the Spacelanes, or to get your own copy.

Two (2) new releases from NUELOW Games this week!

We've been so busy working on various releases (ROLF!: Revenge of the Nigerian Prince, various hybrid comic book/game products such as new volumes in the Film Fun Comics series, a horror anthology series, and sundry one-shots like John Kerry vs. the Queen of Evil, and the as-of-yet untitled superhero RPG) that we totally forgot to plug this week's releases on our own blog!

First, we released perhaps our strangest book yet -- yes, even stranger than Shadows of Dreams, our poetry collection with RPG magic item write-ups in the back: Black Cat Shows You How To Do Judo Tricks. It's got rules for martial arts in the ROLF! and OpenD6 game systems, a four page comic book story... and more than a dozen judo lessons from the leading lady of our comics line, Black Cat. It's a quirky little product with fabulous art by Lee Elias, and we think it's a great tool for anyone who wants better visualize what their martial arts bad-ass hero is doing when taking down the zombie hoards armed only with is fists of fury! Click here to check out previews or to get your very own copy!

Second, as hinted at in the post featuring ROLF! stats for Edward Snowden, we released a battle scenario inspired by the events this past week in Egypt titled ROLF!: Super Muslim Bros. It began life as a simple one-sheet of battle scenarios that Steve Miller was going to give away for free, but then L.L. Hundal got ahold of it and expanded it to a full product. Events moved so fast that our product was outdated the day after we released it, but the sentiments expressed in it still stands: NUELOW Games is officially glad to see the two-faced, lying bastards of the Muslim Brotherhood thrown out of power. We extend our support to freedom-loving Egyptians, and we hope that this time their revolution will bear fruit fit for human consumption. Click here to check out ROLF!: Super Muslim Bros. (And get ready for ROLF!: Revenge of the Nigerian Prince!)

Alfred's Scepters--for three different game systems

I am finishing up the latest for NUELOW Games... a little product which will be our first straight-up fantasty-themed d20 System release. (Well, sort of... the artifacts in question were inspired by the real-world 9th century King of Wessex, Alfred the Great.)

By way of a preview, here's Alfred's Scepters... with stats for OGL d20, OpenD6, and ROLF! (Everything here is released under the Open Gaming License, except the paragraph starting "ROLF! System Rules" although if someone is really interested in ROLF! OGL, I will make an SRD and work up a license. :) )

Alfred, King of Wessex

Alfred's Scepters
Two feet in length Afred's Scepters are a matched set of gilded wooded rods crowned with highly stylized, floriated gold Celtic crosses covered in a delicate web-like pattern of silver. The head-pieces can be removed from the wooden rods by simply twisting them off; this does not disrupt the magic inherent in these artifacts, as it resides in the gold crosses.
   When subjected to spells that reveal enchantments, the scepters radiate mild divination magic.

D6 System Rules
When separated, one of Alfred's Scepters grants the character holding it a +1 enchantment bonus to Strength checks to avoid damage. However, the real power of this two-part artifact are revealed when the same character is wielding both of them--one in each hand. To gain the full benefit of Alfred's Scepters, the character cannot be wielding any other weapons.
   When both scepters are used at the same time, the character still gains the +1 enchantment bonus to Strength checks, but gains limited precognative abilities that means he or she gains automatic initiative in any round that he or she is attacked. Essentially, when wielding Alfred's Scepters, the character cannot be taken by surprise. Additionally, he or she gains a +2 bonus to all Diplomacy skill checks and Sense Motive skill checks.
   When out-of-doors, characters wielding both of Alfred's Scepters may, as a full round action, commune with trees and other plant-life to discover what Intelligent beings hostile to the user or his or her subjects, allies, and loved ones, have most recently (within the past month) passed nearby. The level of success and detail of the information gained depends on a Perception roll against the follow target numbers:

Target Number    Result
1-4                      Whether someone has passed.
5-8                      Roughly how many creatures have passed
9-12                    Exactly how many have passed, what race/nationality
13-17                  Same as above, the exact day they passed, name of leader
18+                     Same as above, where they were traveling to.

D20 System Rules
When separated, one of Alfred Scepter's grants the character holding it a +2 enchantment bonus to Armor Class or Defense Rating. However, the real power of this two-part artifact are revealed when the same character is wielding both of them--one in each hand. To gain the full benefit of Alfred's Scepters, the character cannot be wielding any other weapons.
   When both scepters are used at the same time, the character still gains the +2 enchantment bonus to AC/DR, but also cannot be surprised by an attacker and never suffers any penalties from being flat-footed or flanked. Additionally, he or she gains a +4 bonus to all Diplomacy skill checks and Sense Motive skill checks.
   When out of doors, characters wielding both of Alfred's Scepters may, as a full round action, commune with trees and other plant-life to discover what Intelligent beings hostile to the user or his or her subjects, allies, and loved ones, have most recently (within the past month) passed nearby. The level of success and detail of the information gained depends on a Wisdom check against the following DCs:

Wis Check DC    Result
1-7                        Whether someone has passed.
8-10                      Roughly how many creatures have passed
11-15                    Exactly how many have passed, what race/nationality
16-20                    Same as above, the exact day they passed, name of leader
21+                       Same as above, where they were traveling to.


ROLF! System Rules
Alfred's Scepters are small items. They are melee weapons that deal 2 points of damage each, although the character can only strike with one each action. While wielding them--carrying one in each hand--all damage suffered is reduced by 2 after Armor has been subtracted (to a minimum of 0). If the character loses one, through a successful Disarm from an enemy, the reduction is lowered to 1 point

V is for Vulmea's Cutlass

Still working our way through the alphabet in hopes of running out of letters before April runs out of days. Here's another item for use in OGL d20 System games. It's being released under the Open Gaming License, so please acknowledge and give copyright credit to NUELOW Games and Steve Miller if you choose to reproduce it.

Vulmea's Cutless (By Steve Miller; Black Vulmea created by Robert E. Howard)
The original maker of this famous sword, which was the last weapon known to be wielded by the infamous pirate Black Vulmea during the late 16th century during his final adventures in the New World before returning home to Ireland and disappearing into what is assumed to be a life of leisure and anonymity bought with his stolen treasure.
     Of German make, with a wickedly serrated cutting edge and a baskethilt engraved with indecipherable symbols and vaguely demonic-looking faces, the weapon reportedly cuts through skin and bone as if it were soft butter and grants its wielder combat prowess of which the mighty hero Siegfried would be envious.Legend holds that, after miraculously escaping certain death during the raid that led to the destruction of Hoodoo Jim's stronghold on the Colombian coast, he gifted the sword to Mason Brightsmith, the son of a former shipmate who had been abducted and held prisoner by Hoodoo Jim. The young Brightsmith felt he had experienced enough adventure of an entire lifetime, so the sword was relegated to being a conversation piece as it hung on display in the family home.

d20 System Statistics
Vulmea's Cutlass appears to be a +2 sword (base slashing damage 1d8; crit 19-20/x2) with the following unique properties:
   1. As the wielder becomes fatigued in combat, the sword's more powerful enchantments are activated. When the wielder is reduced to 50% or less of his starting hit points, the sword's magical bonus is increased to +4.
   2. If the wielder is reduced to 0 or fewer hit points, he immediately regains 2d6 hit points. The sword returns to its +2 base attack and damage bonus.
   3. If owner of the sword is ever killed while carrying or wielding the sword, he is instantly transported to a safe location 2d6 miles from the place of his "death," restored to full health and free of any conditions or attribute damage that he may have suffered during the events that led to his demise. He has a strong urge to pass the sword onto someone else who might benefit from it. In fact, the sword no longer grants any bonus to that particular character ever again.

OpenD6 System Statistics

Vulmea's Cutlass is an enchanted sword(slashing damage STR+1+1D) with the following properties:
   1. As the wielder becomes fatigued in combat, the sword's more powerful enchantments are activated. When the wielder is Wounded Twice, the sword grants the wielder a +1D bonus to his Melee Combat skill, while the sword's damage  magical bonus is increased to 1+D2.).
   2. If the wielder is Incapacitated, he is immediately healed to Wounded. He loses the bonus to his Melee Combat skill and the sword returns to its base damage of STR+1+1D.
   3. If owner of the sword is ever killed while carrying or wielding the sword, he is instantly transported to a safe location 2d6 miles from the place of his "death," restored to full health and free of any conditions or attribute damage that he may have suffered during the events that led to his demise. He has a strong urge to pass the sword onto someone else who might benefit from it. In fact, the sword no longer grants any bonus to that particular character ever again.

P is for Paula's Apron Strings

And we continue to design our way through the alphabet here at NUELOW Games, as part of our bumbling, stumbling unofficial participation in the A to Z April Blogging Challenge. This post is presented under the Open Gaming License, with the text under the header "OGL d20 System Game Rules" being Open Gaming content. Enjoy!

Paula's Apron Strings (By Steve Miller)
Paula Noreville was one of America's premiere coven leaders of the 1950s and early 1960s. From behind the facade of the perfect housewife, she led her band of witches and warlocks to victory against dark forces time and again. But for all the good she did, Paula was a domineering woman whose kind smiles and mom-and-apple-pie attitude also concealed a pathological need to have absolute control over everyone in her life.
   Paula dominated her coven and family with clever and sugar-coated psychological manipulation and the occasional application of an oven mitt-covered iron fist. As her children grew into adulthood, rebelled against her, and eventually struck out on their own, she resorted to magic in order to guarantee they would never be far from her control.
   Using the strings from her favorite apron, Paula created two unique magic items, one for each of her children. They consist of two matched sets of three-inch light blue strips of cloth cut from the apron's strings and enchanted. She hid one string in each of her children's homes and whenever she held its counterpart, the child was compelled to return home to Paula, no matter where they might be in the world.
   Paula was eventually murdered by her son after, presumably, he discovered how she had been interfering with his life. His own family had been killed shortly in a car crash after his wife decided to follow him on one of his sudden trips back to his childhood home.

OGL d20 and OpenD6 System Rules
Paula's Apron Strings consists of a matched set of two light blue strips of cloth, each 2 inches in length, They radiate faint Summoning and Necromantic magic. The user hides one of the strings in the home of the target. When he or she holds the counterpart and concentrates on the target for a full two minutes, the target is filled with an overwhelming need to the user's home and to help him or her with whatever challenges that might be facing her.
   The target can ignore the urge, but for each day of not making an effort to travel to the user, the target suffers a cumulative -1 penalty to all skill checks and attack rolls. The progression of the penalty can be stopped for a single day by target phoning or writing and sending a letter to the user, but existing penalties are not removed and it continues to grow the next day.
   The only way to be released from the bond of Paula's Apron Strings is for the target to find the one in his home and return it to the user who hid it there. The user need not willingly accept it from the target, but he or she is free of the magic once this step has been taken.

Drawback: The target of Paula's Apron Strings gradually comes to loathe the user. After being compelled three times, he or she holds a level of resentment equal to a character that has been misused while under the influence of a charm person spell. After six times, the target so dislikes the user that only the Apron Strings can even make him or her think about the user. After 12 times, the target so hates the user that a small provocation will cause him or her to become violent toward the user.

O is for Ot's Armband of Faithfulness

Here's another magic item for use in your RPG games. It's published under this license, and everything in this post (except the graphic) is Open Gaming Content. Please give acknowledgement to Steve Miller and NUELOW Games if you decide to republish it,.

Ot's Armband of Faithfulness (By Steve Miller)
Three of these delicate gold armband are known to exist, each engraved with the symbol of Ott, They were created by Mongolian shamans during the years 800-1300. C.E. Ott is the Mongolian goddess of marriage and fire, and these items are reported to make the bond of marriage unbreakable between a husband and wife. Once one spouse makes a gift of an armband of faithfulnesss, neither of them can betray the other without dire consequences.
   One of these items was originally been owned by Borte, the wife and true love Temujin, the Mongol emperor known as Genghis Khan. Legend holds that she insisted it be used to bond her and Temujin together after she was abducted and raped by members of the Merkit tribe, because she wanted to know her husband would never doubt her love and faithfulness to him. Although Temujin never doubted her, he acquiessed to her demand.

OGL d20 System Game Mechanics
Once an armband of faithfulness is exchanged between duly married partners, the giver and receiver are both subject to a powerful curse that can only be lifted by the goddess Ot herself. The curse manifests itself in two different ways:
   The recipient feels a compulsion to wear the armband at all times and could be said to feel naked without it. If the character should ever attempt to betray his or her spouse, all skill checks or saving throws involved are subject to a -4 penalty. When the betrayal is complete, any characters actively taking part in the action must roll a successful Will save (DC23) or be filled with a homicidal rage that only subsides when the recipient is dead. If the save is successful. the characters are filled with disgust and loathing for the recipient.
   The giver suffers no ill effects until he or she commits an act of betrayal against the Recipient. The moment the act is complete, the character immediately bursts into fire that cannot be extinguished, suffering 6d6 points of damage. The character continues to burn for three more rounds, suffering 4d6 points of damage, 2d6 points of damage, and finally 1d6 points of damage. If the character drops below 0 hit points, his or her body dissolves into a fine ash from which no resurrection is possible. If the character lives, he or she is horribly disfigured and crippled, immediately suffering a 10-point reduction to Strength, Dex, and Charisma attribute scores (to a minimum of 1).

OpenD6 System Game Mechanics
Once an armband of faithfulness is exchanged between duly married partners, the giver and receiver are both subject to a powerful curse that can only be lifted by the goddess Ot herself. The curse manifests itself in two different ways:
   The recipient feels a compulsion to wear the armband at all times and could be said to feel naked without it. If the character should ever attempt to betray his or her spouse, all difficulty levels are adjusted by +8. When the betrayal is complete, any characters actively taking part in the action must roll a successful Willpower check against a difficulty 23 or be filled with a homicidal rage that only subsides when the recipient is dead. If the save is successful. the characters are filled with disgust and loathing for the recipient.
   The giver suffers no ill effects until he or she commits an act of betrayal against the Recipient. The moment the act is complete, the character immediately bursts into fire that cannot be extinguished, suffering 6d6 points of damage. The character continues to burn for three more rounds, suffering 4d6 points of damage, 2d6 points of damage, and finally 1d6 points of damage. If the character drops below 0 hit points, his or her body dissolves into a fine ash from which no resurrection is possible. If the character lives, he or she is horribly disfigured and crippled, with Strength, Dexterity, and Attractiveness (if used) immediately being reduced to 1D each.

I is for Icing Death and Twinkler

Another day, another entry in the A to Z April Blogging Challenge from NUELOW Games! Today, we offer a couple of magical items with stats for OGL d20 System games, OpenD6 Games, and ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game. Everything under the headers OGL d20 System Stats and OpenD6 System Stats is Open Game content, and is published under this license.

Icing Death and Twinkler (By Steve Miller)

Worldstrider and dealer of curiosities Tanner P. Valentine became fascinated with a certain Drow adventurer from a distant world. Discovering the drow was quite famous, Valentine decided to market miniature replicas of his famous matched magical swords in the form of cake knives. He named his products Icing Death and Twinkler and he marketed them through the Planestrider chain of interdimensional rest-stops. They were only on the market for a brief time before Drow, admirers, friends and enemies of the famous adventurer alike, decended on stores carrying them and destroyed the items and the stores itself. The Drow's friends felt they were an insult to him, and the Drow's enemies felt they were an insult to them--that such powerful weapons and their owner would be trivilized in such a way filled everyone who knew the Drow with indignation or fury. (And then there were the lawyers who filed suit on behalf of the Drow and his trademarkable image....)
  As for Tanner P. Valentine, he still has to give both Worldstrider reststops and Drow enclaves a wide berth. He still has a few cake knife sets he is willing to quietly sell to interested parties he meets.

D20 System Stats
Icing Death and Twinkler are matched cake knives with curved blades and ornate black handles. If used as weapons, they function as +1 daggers. They were mass-produced in elven magic item sweatshops and they are therefor not safe to use to actually cut cake. If they are used to cut cake (or any other food substance), there is a 33% chance that the magical energies leaking from the knives will poison the food. In such a case, any who eat it must roll a DC 15 Fort save or be sickened for 1d6 hours, suffering a -2 penalty to all attack rolls and skill checks.

OpenD6 System Stats
Icing Death and Twinkler are matched cake knives with curved blades and ornate black handles. They are mildly enchanted and deal STR+2 when used as weapons. They were mass-produced in elven magic item sweatshops and they are therefore not safe to use to actually cut cake. If they are used to cut cake (or any other food substance), there is a 33% chance that the magical energies leaking from the knives will poison the food. In such a case, any who eat it must roll a Strength check against a target number of 12 or suffer a -1D penalty to all rolls for 1D6 hours.

ROLF! System Stats
Icing Death and Twinkler are small melee weapons that carry a dangerous enchantment. They inflict 1 point of damage that ignore armor and 1 point of regular damage.

C is for Cudgel of Peace

Here's today's entry in our month-long A to Z Blogging Challenge series. If you want to participate by providing an item of your creation,, drop us an email at stevemillermail@gmail.com with your own original creations.

All text in this post is considered Open Gaming Content and is published under this license. If you wish to reuse this material, please give credit and copyright acknowledgement to NUELOW Games and Steve Miller.


The Cudgel of Peace (By L.L. Hundal)
The kingdom of Reylar had for most of its long and bloody history been ruled by the Warrior-Priests of Vom, God of war and wealth, and they had made the kingdom rich through raids and conquest. But when several neighboring lands united their forces and conducted a unified invasion of Reylar, the final chapter of the kingdom's bloody history was written.

As the last of his temples were consumed by fire, a weeping Vom found refuge in the simple home Shim, godess of agriculture and the seasons, She convinced the broken god to turn what had been the symbol of his priesthood's power into a tool that would ensure the survival of the remaining Reylar by turning them from the path of war and revenge to one of peace and cooperation. This created perhaps some of the strangest "cursed" weapons to ever come into existence.

OGL d20 and OpenD6 System Stats
A cudgel of peace appears to be a flame-blackened club that is filigreed with gold and platinum that provides a +4 bonus to attack and damage rolls when wielded. However, the moment its wielder chooses a target to attack, all creatures within a 30-foot radius must roll Will saves with -2 penalties or fall victim to an effect similar to a permanent  charm monster spell  Creatures so effected view everyone under the spell as their dearest friends and allies and will under no circumstance continue to fight against them.

B is for Bridget's Whip

It's April 2, so here's B for the A to Z April Blogging Challenge. (NUELOW Games isn't an official participant, but we're playing along anyway!)

Here's another artifact for use in OGL d20 and OpenD6 system games. If you want to participate, drop us an email at stevemillermail@gmail.com with your own original creations.

All text in this post is considered Open Gaming Content and is published under this license. If you wish to reuse this material, please give credit and copyright acknowledgement to NUELOW Games and Steve Miller.



Bridget's Whip (By Steve Miller)
Lady Bridget of Fairwater Crossing was an evil and twisted woman who enjoyed inflicting pain almost as much as she enjoyed being subjected to it. The day she beat a maid who was much-loved among the other servants to death, the rest of the staff put an end to her as well. Whether she died shrieking or laughing, none could say, but as the butler struck the killing blow with the silver-covered handle of her bullwhip he thought he saw insane glee in her eyes.

The servants looted the house of its valuables and scattered to the four winds. The butler kept the whip and eventually became infamous as a particularly brutal leader of a gang of bandits. The end he eventually came to was very similar to that of Lady Bridget--he was slain by his own underlings after they got tired of taking the brunt of his sadistic ways. Almost every person who has possessed Bridget's Whip over the decades has some to a similar violent end.

OGL d20 and OpenD6 System Stats
This black and silver bullwhip radiates magic and appears to give a +2 bonus to damage. In truth, the weapon deals double damage on a successful hit (roll normal whip damage and multiply the result by two). In addition, whenever the whip inflicts maximum damage, it inflicts such a deep and terrible gash that the target loses 1 hit point per round following until he receives first aid or magical healing.

Drawbacks: Whenever a character wields Bridget's Whip, he or she must roll a Will save with a Difficulty of 15. If the saving throw fails, the character immediately becomes a gleeful sadistic maniac who goes out of his or her way to torment helpless people and animals. Whenever he or she encounters a character who is higher level, that character must roll a Will check with a Difficulty of 18. If the check fails, the higher level character will become dedicated to destroying the wielder of the whip