It's our first release of 2018!

Nothing can throw a campaign off-kilter quicker than a TPK... and that's where the latest release from us here at NUELOW Games comes in!

Cover art by Dick Giordano

Hard to Kill: Feats and Talents for the d20 System provides character abilities and mechanics that will allow PCs to stare Death in the face and laugh. Even if Death shoves that laughter right back down their throats and causes them to explode in a fine mist of gore and bone shards, this booklet provides the means for the character with the right combination of feat to literally come back from the dead.

Hard to Kill contains five feats, four talent trees, and an add-on to the character generation system that gives a newly created character a random reason for why enemies shout, "Why won't you die?!" Although designed with d20 Modern in mind, this material is easily adapted to popular d20 System variants such as StarFinder, or any d20 System variant that uses feats and talents.

As an added bonus for those of you who have been following our comics/rpg hybrid products. Hard to Kill also expands further on the d20 Supers System that was introduced in Madden's Boys. (The material stands perfectly fine on its own, like the various game sections in the aforementioned comics/rpg hybrid books.)

Hard to Kill is available for download at RPGNow and DriveThruRPG.

--

Speaking of our comics/rpg hybrid releases, in Ghost Woman... Also Featuring Spooks, we included d20 System rules for keeping a player character active and in the hands of its player even AFTER death. Such a character isn't just hard to kill... because how do you kill someone who's already dead? (The rules also include a way to give a "second life" to a major villain who falls at the hands of the player characters.

Who Killed Buck Robin?

Here's a randomly generated murder mystery adventure outline for your RPG campaigns set in the U.S., ranging from the 1950s to the present day!

WHO KILLED BUCK ROBIN?
Country music and rockabilly sensation Buck Robin has been found murdered in his mansion. Who did it and why? (Roll 1d20 against the tables below to find out which of the suspects did it!)

Who Did It?
1. His Alcoholic Twin Brother
2. His First Ex-Wife
3. His Second Ex-Wife
4. His Current Wife
5. His Lover
6. His Gay Lover
7. His Manager
8. His Manager's Secretary
9. His Lyricist
10. His Protege
11. The Personal Physician
12. The Butler
13. The Cook
14. The Groundskeeper
15. The Groundkeeper's Teenaged Daughter
16. The Crazed Music Critic
17. The Lawyer
18. The Guitar Manufacturer
19. Roll two more times on the table; they worked together on the murder.
20. Buck Robin isn't dead. Roll again on the table to see who he's framed for his murder. If 20 occurs again, roll two more times on the table. The first result is who was being framed, the second result is who took advantage and killed Buck Robin.

How Was He Killed?
1. Shot with a pistol
2. Shot with a rifle
3. Stabbed
4. Clubbed to death (with a weapon)
5. Beaten to death (with bare hands)
6. Pushed out a window
7. Pushed down the stairs
8. Struck with a claw hammer
9. Struck with a bass guitar
10. Struck with a mic stand
11. Garrotted with a guitar string
12. Shoved into a wood chipper
13. Drowned in the pool
14.Drowned in his bath tub
15. Car Crash
16. Burned in a fire
17. Overdose on booze and pills
18. Hanging
19. Poisoning
20. Car bomb

Why Was He Killed?
1. Jealousy
2. To prevent a political scandal
3. To prevent a sexual scandal
4. To protect a loved one
5. To avenge a loved one
6. To cover up embezzlement
7. To cover up theft of a song
8. Revenge for theft of a song
9. Revenge for broken promise
10. Sacrifice in a demonic ritual
11. The KKK wanted to make him pay
12. He discovered the killer's dark secret
13. To collect life insurance money
14. To inherit the estate
15. To stop the spread of evil magic through Buck's songs
16. For the greater good of music-loving humanity
17. Hatred
18. Self Defense
19. To cover up ANOTHER murder
20. Roll twice on the table, rerolling additional results of 20. Both reasons apply.

How is the Vacation in Mexico Going to be Ruined?

Here are adventure seeds for an RPG campaign in a modern setting.

What Ruins the Mexican Vacation?
The player characters are hoping for a nice relaxing vacation in sunny Mexico... but, being that they're player characters, things aren't going to be so relaxing. What harshes their mellow this time? (Roll a d12 against the list below.)

   1. A drug cartel decides to force them into being "mules" and won't take no for an answer.
   2. An old enemy hiding South of the Border recognizes a party member and thinks they're after him or her.
   3. An old enemy who's been hiding South of the Border recognizes the party and approaches them with a request for help against 1-3)slavers posing as 'coyotes', 4-6) a drug cartel that's trying to force him to help them by kidnapping someone he loves, 7-9) the corrupt officials that have been shielding him, but who are now involved in things so horrible he wants no part of it, 10-12)discover what is going on at a secret base in the desert and why the Native Americans living nearby are vanishing.
   4. Space aliens are using the resort the characters are staying at a front for their unholy experiments on humans.
   5. A waiter familiar with the PCs (possibly through an old enemy) approaches them asks them to rescue his sister from a nearby cult compound. The cult is being run by 1-3) rogue CIA operatives conducting mind-control experiments, 4-6) an ancient Olmec vampire, recently awakened and working on restablishing his vampiric powerbase, 7-9) space aliens, who are replacing humans with duplicates in preparation for an invasion, 10-12) a druglord who is testing a new product that has the unfortunate side effect of turning users into werewolves.

   6. Mole People begin their invasion of the surface world at the resort the PCs are saying at (use kobold stats). Naturally, they are led by a sexy human queen (or hunky human king) who takes a fancy to a party member.
   7. Cultists in nearby Mayan ruins are performing a ritual that will summon mighty demons to cleanse Central American of everyone without pure Native American blood.
   8. A friend of the party is abducted and held for ransom by 1-2) a cartel boss, 3-4) an old enemy of the party, 5-6) renegade CIA agents, 7-8) 'coyotes', 9-10) a mad scientist, 11-12) Cultists.
   9. A mad scientist is attempting to create President Trump's border wall with 1-3) strange chemicals in the water supply, 4-6) mind control rays, 7-9) a stolen alien spaceship and its energy shield techology, 10-12) summoning and enslaving the ancient Oltec gods.
   10. Renegade CIA agents want to force the party into taking down 1-3)a terrorist ring, 4-6)a drug cartel, 7-9)corrupt officials coordinating cross-border crime, 10-12)a cult that is infiltrating CIA stations throughout Central and South America.
   11. A local priest approaches the party and asks them to recover a relic that has been stolen from his church by a local drug boss.
   12. Roll two more times, re-rolling duplicate results. Both indicated things ruin the party's vacation.

--

If you found this material entertaining and/or useful, buy one or more of our products. It will inspire us to make more! Click here for the full catalog at DriveThruRPG!

A NUELOW Christmas: Magical Mistletoe

It's the time of year when the Spirits of Christmas move across the land, randomly bestowing icons of the holidays with supernatural blessings.

IS THE MISTLETOE MAGICAL?
Roll 1d6 to determine the nature of the mistletoe hung in the doorway.

1. Not magical, but still pretty (and a pretty good excuse for smooching).
2. Vampires may not cross through the doorway in which the mistletoe hangs, they cannot touch it, and anyone on the other side is immune to their mind-effecting powers.
3-4. Unfaithful lovers feel compelled to confess their betrayal while under the mistletoe (Will save DC24 to resist).
5-6. Faithful lovers gain a +4 bonus to all saving skill checks, saving throws, and attack rolls made when fighting together or defending each other for 24 hours after kissing beneath the mistletoe.

--

The text in this post is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright Steve 2017. (If you found this material useful and/or entertaining, please support our efforts by buying one of our products at RPGNow or DriveThruRPG.)

A NUELOW Christmas: Day FiveRobert E Howard--A True Christmas Visionary!

Short story writer and poet Robert E. Howard is best known for creating Conan and Solomon Kane and thus laying the foundation for the Sword & Sorcery genre, but his creative vision was of a far greater scope!

In 1927, in a letter to his friend Clyde Tevis, Robert E. Howard created the Elf on the Shelf, something that would go onto becoming a pop culture Christmas sensation some 70 decades after his premature death!


THE WICKED OLD ELF (By Robert E. Howard)
There once was a wicked old elf
Who sat a girl up on a shelf,
In spite of her aunties,
He took down her panties—
But finish this rhyme for yourself.

For more poetry by Robert E. Howard (mostly of the serious variety), check out this collection from NUELOW Games.

A NUELOW Christmas: Day Four

There exists among us people who are touched by the Spirits of Christmas at birth. As children, they seem extra kind and extra cheerful (especially around the Holidays). When they turn 16, the Spirits visit the individual and offer them a chance to become a Santa's Helper.

SANTA'S HELPER 
(d20 System rules, presented under the Open Game License. Copyright 2017 by Steve Miller)
During character creation, the player can declare that his character chose to become a Santa's Helper when the Spirits came to visit. (This can also be rolled random if the GM prefers; the character is a Santa's Helper on a roll of 001 on percentile dice.)
  In addition to all class abilities and bonus feats, a Santa's Helper gains the following abilities for two days out of the year, December 24 and 25. If Santa requires assistance in delivering gifts to good children, or if there's a particular threat that is stopping him from visiting an area that requires the sort  skills and attention that only a player character can bring to bear, the character is asked to spring into action.
  Joy of Fellowship: The character and his closest allies (other PCs for example) gain a +1 bonus to all saving throws, attack rolls, and skill checks.
  Spellcasting: The character may cast a number of spells from the following list a number of times per day equal to his Wisdom + Charisma bonus. He casts the spell by making a gesture (such as twitching his nose or winking, with no other components required): Animal Friendship, Detect Thoughts, Disguise Self, Fabricate, Knock, Nondetection, Passwall, Telekinesis.
   Bonus Feat: The character adds Naughty or Nice to the selection of available bonus feats. The ability gained from this feat is available all year long.

A Santa's Helper is expected to be kind and helpful, and if he is mean or violent toward an undeserving or harmless target, he instantly loses his mystical status.

A NUELOW Christmas Day 3

The Globe of Snow artifact is given by the Spirit of Christmas as a gift to particularly kind individuals who find themselves missing wintery weather around the time of the holidays.

The Enchanted Snow Globe
This crystal globe is 5 inches in circumference appears to be filled with a milky liquid. When shaken starts to glow softly and a scene of an old-fashioned village with Christmas trees outside every house, or a small snowbound cottage and snow falling appears within it  (random chance for each scene--village on a result of 1-3, cottage on 3-6). When placed upon a flat surface, the globe sits perfectly balanced and does not roll unless pushed. It never rolls further than an edge from which it could fall.
   As a standard action, the person shaking the snow globe can cause snow to fall within a 120-ft radius of his or her location; the snow always falls outside, so if the character is in a spaceship or some other completely enclosed artificial environment, this function of item will not work.
   If the snow globe is thrown on the ground, it explodes and causes a violent, highly localized magical blizzard that 4d6+6 points of cold damage and blinds everyone within a 6-foot radius except the person to whom the globe was given. The blizzard lasts for six rounds. The globe reforms in the person's possession 12 hours later.
   Finally, by concentrating on the scene within the globe for a full round, the person it was gifted to can wish themselves and up to five other individuals into the scene shown within the globe. They find themselves in a comfortable and warm little home where one of the Spirits of Christmas will host them with good cheer. The characters can remain in the home for up to 12 hours, and they may perform any actions they would normally do during rest periods--they can even go outside and play in the snow. During this time, the globe sits invisible, undetectable and undestructable at the location where the characters entered the globe.
   When the globe is gifted, the character has a dream that reveals the items functions to him or her.