For those who want Caliphate Compliant d20 characters

I have been informed that it's important that we understand the mindset of those who wish to bring us all under the rule of the Caliphate of the Daesh (or ISIL, if you're US President Barack Obama and you're already recognizing their claim on all the land between Turkey and Egypt). Since roleplaying games can be good educational tools, I have devised this talent tree so you can all create d20 Modern characters that in the mold of the mightiest of Daesh fighters! (These talents should be added to those available for Tough Heroes and Strong Heroes.)

The rest of this post is released under the Open Gaming License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2015 by Steve Miller.

DAESH FIGHTER TALENT TREE
You are a psychopathic killer, or a moron who's deluded himself into thinking he's a heroic Lion of Islam You get to pick talents from this tree,
   Champion of the Caliphate: Gain a +2 bonus to all attack and damage rolls. Gain a -2 modifier to all Intelligence- and Wisdom-based skill checks.
   Allah's Sword: Select a religion or religious denomination (other than the one you fancy yourself as part of). Gain a +4 bonus to Gather Information checks made to ferret out the religious beliefs of a target, and gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls if they are of the selected denomination, You gain a -2 modifier to all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks.
   You may choose this talent as many times as you like, each time selecting a different religious denomination.
   Prerequisite: Champion of the Caliphate.
   Misogynist: You gain a +2 bonus to hit and damage against female characters. You gain a -4 modifier to all Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive checks involving female characters.
   Prerequisite: Champion of the Caliphate.
   Cry Like a Little Girl: When you come face-to-face with American, British, or French soldiers, gain a +4 bonus to Bluff and Diplomacy checks to convince them that you were forced into being a killer for the Caliphate. The bonus increases to +6 if you are facing Americans. The bonus increases to +8 if you're giving an interview to BBC, CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, or al-Jazeera, and it applies to their viewers and reporters working for those news outlets.
   Prerequisite: Champion of the Caliphate.
   Take It Like a Man: When engaging in homosexual orgies with your fellow Daesh Fighters, you always take it up the ass, but you can walk just fine the next day. You gain a +4 bonus to Bluff checks when trying to spot closeted homosexuals and recruit them to the glorious cause of the Caliphate. If they refuse to join, you gain a +2 bonus to attack and damage rolls against them.
   Prerequisite: Misogynist.

The Official Flag of the Caliphate

Reintroducing Zaza the Mystic

Last year, in the pages of News Hounds #1, we included a scenario for Lester Smith's CORE RPG where the Black Cat and reporters Ace Williams and Foggy Gibbons meet Zaza the Mystic and team up to defeat a Swami who has marked them all for death.

Now, Zaza returns in her own self-titled book, Zaza the Mystic, starring with her boyfriend, police detective Lt. Bob Wilson in four thrilling tales of mystery from NUELOW Games. In addition to the classic comics written by Jerry Seigel and drawn by Charles Nicholas, Rocco Mastroserio, and Jon D'Agostino, the contains OGL d20 System rules that will let players create "fake psychics" like Zaza, as well as criminal profilers, who use their powers of observation and insight into human psychology to get one step ahead of criminals and other enemies. This material, fully compatible with d20 Modern and NUELOW Games' other OGL d20 releases, was designed by our own Steve Miller.

In addition to the original game material, Steve also filling in tiny bit of information about Zaza's background, including her full name and a little bit about her childhood. Her original publisher, Charlton Comics, never explained much about where she came from or where she learned her cold-reading skills, other than to describe her as the "Queen of Gypsy Mystics." (A total of six Zaza stories were published in 1956, in issues 10 and 11 of Zaza the Mystic. (The numbering continued from Charlie Chan Comics.)

Here's how Steve summed up how Zaza came to be a crimebuster:

How do you rebel if you're a teenager who's been raised in a circus to be the Gypsy Queen of Fortunetellers and to bilk the rubes out of money? If you're Zaza Kamlo, you run away to the big city, date a police officer, and use your talents to catch criminals rather than being one.

Zaza the Mystic is on sale now at RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and DriveThruComics. Click on the name of your favorite Onebookshelf site to get your copy today!

The official position of NUELOW Games

Just to be clear:

A Talent Tree and Feat for Urban d20 Modern, Dawg!

For your Urban d20 Modern games...

(This material is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with it. Copyright 2015 by Steve Miller)

Gangbanger Talent Tree (By Steve Miller)
Talents from this tree may be selected by Tough Heroes or Strong Heroes when they gain talents.
   Weapon Skilz!: Your non-proficiency penalty with the use of small arms is reduced to -2. You can also hold an automatic or semi-automatic weapon in the most idiotic fashion you want while firing, without dropping it or being hit by ejecting cartridges.
   Fashun Senz!: You can wear oversized pants with no belt and only suffer -10 feet to your movement rate when running. You penalty to Climb, Jump, and Run skill checks is reduced to -4.
   Colur Senz!: Pick a color. When you wear that color, you gain +2 Defense Rating. Pick another color. When you see someone wearing it, make a Will save. If you fail the save, you must attack them. You gain +2 to all attack and damage rolls against the target. (This talent may be chosen up to five times. You must select different other color each time. The +2 bonus to the Defense Rating only applies once.)
   Help, Help! I'z Bein Oppressed: You gain +4 to all Bluff and Diplomacy checks when dealing with reporters if you're anything but white and end up on the news. The bonus increases to +6 if you were looting a shop, setting a car on fire, or protesting policing at the time.

Homie-flage Feat (By Dave Mendez)
You may go onto enemy turf wearing their colors without getting caught.
   Benefit: Gain +5 to Bluff skill checks while disguised as a member of another gang in their territory.
  Special: If one of your own homies sees you wearing your enemies color, he starts tripping and calls you out as a buster. You suffer -5 to all skill checks when dealing with your own crew til you improve your rep with your homies.

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Rulah, Jungle Goddess, joins NUELOW's line-up

In 1947, daredevil Jane Dodge vanished while flying her plane over Africa... and that's when her life really began.

NUELOW Games has just released the first volume in a new series of comics/rpg jungle adventure books--Rulah, Jungle Goddess. It's a series that occupies a middle ground between the straight-up adventure stories found in our Judy of the Jungle titles, and the fantasy/horror-tinged tales in The Three Lives of Fantomah books, as Rulah battles foes who are both natural and supernatural.

Rulah, Jungle Goddess contains the story of how Jane Dodge became Rulah, as well as three other adventures that sees her battle Nazis, evil priests, and monstrous harpies. In addition, it features OGL d20 Modern rules that are geared toward letting players make characters who are living gods and goddesses like Rulah... and even ones who have supernatural powers like Fantomah. (The game section has a new starting occupation, two new talent trees, and several feats fit for a living goddess.)

Click here to see previews of Rulah, Jungle Goddess, or to get your own copy at RPGNow. You can also get the book from DriveThruComics by clicking here..

The OGL d20 Modern rules in Rulah, Jungle Goddess make great additions to the material presented in Modern Basics: Jungle Action, and they're fully compatible with all the feats- and talent tree-based d20 superhero mechanics that we've published.

HAPPY 68th BIRTHDAY TO HILLARY CLINTON!

Former Watergate investigation staffer, former lawyer, former Senator from New Yrok, former Secretary of State, present candidate for President and wife of a former President--she's Hillary Clinton and today, October 26th, we're celebrating her birthday!

Instead of giving Hillary a present--she's the woman who has everything but her own slippers with the presidential seal on them--we're giving one to you! For the next 24 hours, we're selling the Hillary Clinton Birthday Bundle! It contains ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game og Big, Dumb Fighters, two ROLF! battle scenarios where a lucky gamer gets to take on the role of Hillary herself (the ROLF! classics Bill Clinton Meets a Girl Scout and Super Muslim Bros.) and two other releases that feature ROLF! game stats for her greatest foes--the Girl Scouts from Jupiter and Donald Trump! With the material included in this bundle, you will be able to create your own ROLF! battle scenarios with Hillary fighting for truth, justice, and her way--and the way to 2016!

Click here to see previews of the individual products in the Hillary Clinton Birthday Bundle--or to get it for yourself. The bundle is 47% what it would cost you to get them separately.

More of the Immortals

Art by Storn Cook

The latest release from NUELOW Games--Secrets of the Immortals for the d20 System--complies and expands upon material that first appeared on this blog. Secrets of the Immortals contains everything you need to include Immortal characters in your d20 System-based roleplaying game--the Immortal character template, how it is obtained, and feats exclusive to Immortals, and information about a race whose highly advanced, spacefaring civilization is to a large extent built around the Immortals and their activities.

If you saw the original posts here on the blog, you could probably tell what the main source of inspiration was the sort of Immortals who travel about in vehicles that are bigger on the inside than the outside. This post provides a feat that lets you add ones to the mix that are similar to ones who have names like Connor or Raven or McCloud while adding a second race to the mix of aliens who also have Immortals at the center of their culture.

Like the Secrets of the Immortals book, all text in this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with it. Copyright 2015 by Steve Miller.

NEW FEATS
These feats is available only to Immortal characters who meet the prerequisites. It may be chosen under any circumstance that the character selects a feat.

Sense Immortal [Immortal] 
You can sense when you are near other Immortals.
   Prerequisite: Immortal Template, Spot 4 ranks.
   Benefit: When you are within 60 feet of another Immortal, the GM tells you you feel as though something is "off" or as if "someone just walked over your grave" or some other statement to show you are sensing something unusual. Upon making a successful Spot skill check (DC15), you can identify the source of your unease--another Immortal. If the Immortal is out of your line of sight, you know exactly where he or she is. (The sense of unease ends as soon as you recognise the other Immortal.)
   The sense of unease also ends if the Spot check reveals some other threat or mystery that draws your attention.
   Note: GMs may or may not be calling your attention to another Immortal. Sometimes, it's something entirely different that's going on. Whichever is the case, the sense that something is wrong is dispelled once your attention is caught by something in the area.

Art by Permission of OWC

There Can Be Only One [Immortal] 
You absorb the extra life force in other Immortals you kill.
   Prerequisite: You must have used the Pool of All at least twice.
   Benefit: When you kill an Immortal and are within melee range when he or she dies, you make a Fortitude save (DC20). If the check is successful, the Recreation Process happens to to you instead of the Immortal slain, and you gain 1/2 (round up) of the lives the now-dead Immortal had remaining. If the check is unsuccessful, still go through the Recreation process, but you only gain a bonus feat and suffer 2d6+the number of lives the now-dead Immortal had left, as the energy is blasted into the universe.
   Special: Upon selecting this feat, you may replace any single other feat you possess with another feat from the Immortal feat group that you qualify for. If the replaced feat was a prerequisite for other feats, you lose their benefits until you have the prerequisite again.

NEW CHARACTER RACE: THE CAEDENS
The Caedens are a race of feline humanoids who first encountered portals to the Pool of All when they when were at an Iron Age stage of development, at a very clannish and war-like stage in their history, and still very much in touch with the predators they had evolved from.
   While Caeden civilisation as a whole has left the barbarism of their ancient history in the past, the Immortals among them keep the predatory side of their nature very much alive. While Caeden Immortals are the first to come to the defense of their own people, they habitually see other races as prey to be toyed with--either with mean-spirited games of intellectual one-upsmanship, or through tests of strength and battle prowess. They also delight in hunting other Immortals, be they of their own race or an alien one. They hunt them for sport, and to enhance their own immortality, as the Caedens long ago discovered the dark ways through which one Immortal can steal the Recreation of another and make it his or her own. Some Caedans have accumulated hundreds of lives by killing other Immortals.
   For millenia, the Caeden Immortals have been hated and feared by other Immortals, but they have slowly been abandoning their predatory ways, as they have come to realise that only by banding together with other Immortals will they be able to stand against the most serious threat the galaxy has ever known: The life-destroying and increasingly powerful Anaki.

Caeden Characters
Caeden characters are generated in the same fashion as Humans in your preferred d20 System variant, with the following changes:
   Racial Bonus: When created, Caeden characters gain ability bonuses of +2 Strength and +1 Charisma. They are naturally powerfully built and agile.
   Bonus Feat: Caedens must choose Athletic, Agile, Jump, or Run as their bonus feat during character creation.

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If you found this post interesting or useful, check out Secrets of the Immortals by clicking here. If you like the content of this blog in general, please consider supporting the creative efforts of myself and other NUELOW Games contributors by getting some of our releases. You can see the entire line-up by visiting our shop at DriveThruRPG.

 (By the way, I also designed a different set of immortality rules that works with NUELOW's superpower system of feats and talent trees... you can see that material by clicking here.)