Disembodied: For the character who won't call it quits

This character template is designed to reflect the way spirits are handled in most comic books, movies, and fiction, as opposed to the standard OGL d20 and OGL Modern games. It will be further fleshed out with a couple feats and a talent tree in a future post.

   (For the record, the primary characters being modeled here are DC Comics' Deadman and Holyoke/Gerona's Duke of Darkness.)

   It, and related material, is fully compatible with the superpower rules and alternate magic systems presented in NUELOW Games books like Madden's Boys, Mystery Woman of the Jungle, and The Curse of Egypt.
   All text is this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with it. Copyright 2015 Steve Miller.

Click here for more art by Rhaokja

DISEMBODIED TEMPLATE

Death isn't the end for this character's fight. Whether through divine or demonic intervention, or pure stubborness, the character's bodiless spirit remains in the world, continuing to pursue the goals it had in life.

   To acquire this template, the character must die--drop below -10 hp, or whatever threshold for character death is used in the campaign in question. The character is then modified as follows:

   Size and Type: Size technically remains the same as base creature, but there is nothing present but formless, substanceless spiritual energy. Creature type changes to Spirit. The character is neither undead nor living, but exists in an in-between state.

   Hit Dice: As base creature. (Hit points are generally meaningless for the Disembodied, but there are certain talents they can gain where they matter, so they should still be kept track of as the character gains levels.)

   Speed: As base creature.

   Armor Class/Defense Rating: As base creature, but the character is impervious to harm from all sources and weapons, save those coming from gods or certain rare and powerful artifacts.

   Attack/Full Attack Bonus: As base creature.

   Special Attacks: Disembodied characters can perform the following attacks with a full round action.

        Possess (Su): Take control of a living body. The Disembodied must make a successful touch attack. The targeted host receives a Will save vs. the Disembodied character's Wisdom attribute + 5. If the Disembodied successfully takes over the target, he or she now has full control of his or her body. The target's Strength, Constitution scores are unchanged, but the Intelligence and Wisdom scores are those of the Disembodied, as are all class- and level-dependent abilities. The Dexterity score becomes half of the combined Dexterity score of the target and the Disembodied's Dexterity score in life. The Charisma scores becomes half of the combined Charisma score of the target and the Disembodied. None of the target's class abilities, skills, feats, or knowledge is available to the Disembodied. 

   Only one Disembodied can possess a living being at a time. If a second Disembodied attempts to possess someone that is already "host" to a disembodied, it will seem as if an invisible wall is keeping the second Disembodied from entering the target.

   If the possessed body takes damage, the Disembodied must roll a Will save (DC15+damage suffered) or be ejected. If a host dies while the Disembodied is possessing him or her, the Disembodied must roll a Will save (DC30) or suffer the fate of death (permanent this time) as well.

   The Disembodied can end a possession at will, with a standard action.

   A character that is "host" to a Disembodied has no recollection of events while possessed.

   Special Qualities: Disembodied characters have the following special qualities

        Formless (Su): The Disembodied exist as pure psychic/spiritual energy. They may appear to     themselves as they did in life, but they have no actual form or substance. No barriers in the physical world can prevent entry, except those specifically prepared with magical rituals that ward off spirits.

        Invisible (Su): The character cannot be seen by any means, except by creatures who can see spirits, such as gods and cats.

        Damage Reduction (Su): All damage suffered by a Disembodied is reduced to 0, except for very specific and powerful artifacts, or spells and weapons wielded by gods.

   Abilities: The Disembodied has no Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution scores. However, there are some situations where the physical attributes that the Disembodied had in life can matter--such as the Dexterity score when possessing one of the living--so the old character sheet should still be retained. 

   Skills: All skills are retained and may be improved according to class and level advancement.

   Feats and Talent Trees: All feats and talents are retained. This template gives access to the Disembodied Spirit talent tree and feat.

   Terrain: Any, usually same as base creature.

   Organization/Allegience: Solitary/Same as base creature

   Challenge Rating: Same as base creature +2

   Advancement: By character class.

   

  

   Click here for Part Two of the "Disembodied" rules.

Disembodied 2: Talents and Feats for the character who won't call It quits

A couple months ago, I posted a different sort of approach to handling player character (or even major NPC) deaths with the Disembodied Template. This post expands on that concept with a talent tree and feats. (Finally.)

As with the previous post in this series, all text is presented under the Open Game License and may be reproduced under the terms detailed in it. Copyright Steve Miller 2015.

DISEMBODIED TALENTS AND FEATS
As previously mentioned, Disembodied characters continue to earn XP and gain levels. As such, they may gain new talents, and they certainly gain new feats. Here are some talents available only to the Disembodied, as well as feats they may choose from.


THE DISEMBODIED TALENT TREE
Characters with the Disembodied template may select one of these talents in place of any provided by their class when they gain a level.

Affect Electronics and Electrical Devices: With a full round action and a successful Will save (DC12), you can cause an electrical appliance or electronic devices to turn off or malfunction--such as give strange readings, emit bursts of static and so on--or you can cause electrical lights in a room to dim or switch off. You can continue to effect the device until you choose not to. You may perform other simple actions, such as moving about, while controlling the device.
Prerequisite: Disembodied Template

Solid Form: With a successful Will save (DC22), you can cause yourself to manifest a physical form that roughly resembles your original body. You may also manifest a solid form that doesn't appear like you did in life, but it is more difficult. With a Will save of DC24, you may appear different enough that those who knew you in life won't recognize you, but you are still the same sex and race that you were originally. With a DC25, you may change everything about your apperance. With a DC28, you appear like specific person or creature, although those personally familiar with what you are imitating receive Spot checks (DC12) to realize something isn't "quite right."
You have all the same ability scores you had in life, and once again have access to all the skills and feats you once possessed, no matter what form you adopt. Anything that effects living, corporeal beings now effects you, except for Mind-Affecting spells and spell-like abilities. You only have 13 hit points, however, and your form will dissolve into a fine mist that quickly disperses if you are reduced to 0 hit points.
You can cause your solid form do dissolve voluntarily with a full-round action. You may attempt to assume a different solid form after a number of rounds equal to your Wisdom bonus have passed.
If you attempt to manifest a solid form and fail, of if your solid form is destroyed, as opposed to you voluntarily dispersed, you cannot attempt to manifest another solid form for a number of days equal to your Intelligence bonus subtracted from 20.
Note: When you are in a solid form, you cannot use any of the talents or abilities gained from the Disembodied template. You are, essentially, a mortal, living being once again.
Prerequisite; Disemboided Template, Telekinesis Minor Power Feat

Speed of Thought: With a full round action and a sucessful Will save (DC18), you can instantly transport yourself to the location of someone you have previously met. The Will save is made with a +4 bonus if it's someone you have an emotional attachment to.
Prerequisite: Disembodied Template

DISEMBODIED FEATS
Here are a list of feats from the OGL d20 Modern SRD that characters may choose whenever they gain a feat, or in place of a bonus feat provided by class advancement. They are considered part of the Disembodied feat group.

Alertness, Animal Affinity, Attentive, Cautious, Confident, Creative, Deceptive, Educated, Focused, Gearhead, Guide, Iron Will, Meticulous, Nimble, Studious, Track, Trustworthy
.
NEW FEAT
The following feat is part of NUELOW's evolving d20 Superpowers system (featured in many of our rpg/comics hybrid books, and posts on this blog). It gives access to the Telekinesis talent tree, but it is also part of the Disembodied feat group.

Telekinesis [Disembodied, Minor Power]
You move objects with nothing but the power of your mind and the force of your will.
Benefit: You may move or manipulate objects that you would be able to carry or handle with one hand. The difficulty depends on the action you wish to perform, and the weight of the object.
To use Telekinesis, you focus on the object or creature you wish to effect and roll a Will save with a base DC8.
Objects and creatures can be moved horizontally or vertically, at a speed of up to 10 feet per round. Objects and creatures can be hurled at targets, but this is one of several factors that
The following cumulative modifiers apply, depending on what you are attempting to do. (These are just sample actions.)

+2: Objects weighing between 0.5 and 5 pounds
+4: Objects weighing between 5 and 10 pounds
+8: Objects weighing between 10 and 15 pounds
+12: Objects weighing between 15 and 20 pounds
+20: Objects weighing between 20 and 25 pounds
+2: Turn a switch on and off, turn a key in a lock, write a short message in sloppy penmanship
+4: Accurately press more than two keys or buttons in a round, insert a key in a lock
+8: Type a message at 15 words per minute, write a message in your handwriting
+12: Operate a complex piece of equipment (+24 if it usually requires two hands)
+2: If the object is out of your physical reach
+4: If the object is 5-10 feet away
+8: If the object is 10-15 feet away
+16: If the object is 15-20 feet away
+24: If the object is 20-25 feet away
+32: If the object is more than 25 feet away, but within clear line of sight (with the naked eye).
+40: If the object is at all obscured or so distant it's hard to see with the naked eye.
+2: Throwing an object at a target to deal 1d3 points of damage (also requires attack roll)
+4: Throwing an object at a target to deal 1d6 points of damage (also requires attack roll)
+8: Throwing an object at a target to deal 2d6+1 points of damage (also requires attack roll)
+12: Throwing an object at a target to deal 2d8+2  points of damage (also requires attack roll)
+16: Throwing an object at a target to deal 3d8+4 points of damage (also requires attack roll)

When launching an object at a target, the range increment is 5xWis bonus. The hurled object or creature suffers half the amount of damage as the target upon impact (round up). If the attack is unsuccessful, damage is still rolled and applied to the object or creature thrown.
Unwilling living targets of as successful Telekinesis use  receive Will saves (DC10+Your Wis bonus) to resist.
If the power is to be maintained, a new check must be rolled every round, with adjustments made to modifiers as needed, such as if you are levitating an object away from your location.

d20 System Feats for the Believer!

Your belief in a higher power is unshakable... and it may even be stronger than the cleric who leads the gathering of faithful you worship with. You do not wear the cloth, because you have been called to serve in a different way. But you know that your god watches over you and smiles upon your deeds. You know, because you have experienced miracles and you know that your faith has seen you through situations where non-believers would have perished.

Here are a couple of d20 System feats for characters who have strong faith in higher powers, but who are not priests, clerics, or some other religious leader. In fact, these feats are specifically not for classes that have access to divine spells. Instead, they are for the lay-person.
   Like most of the material we create for d20 System games, d20 Modern and compatible games is premiere in our minds, but this material is easily adapted to StarFinder and any other game that uses the d20 System as its core engine.
   The rest of this post is released under the Open Game License and may be reproduced in accordance with its terms. Copyright 2019 Steve Miller.

FAITHFUL [General, Dedicated Hero]
Sometimes, your faith in greater powers is rewarded.
   Prerequisite: Intelligence 11, Wisdom 13
   Benefit: State a religion your character believes in, firmly. When something goes terribly wrong--such as failing a crucial skill check, fail a life-or-death saving throw (and circumstances are such that you know it), or similar event--your character's deeply held faith may cause the greater powers in the universe to take notice and intervene on your behalf. Invoke this feat immediately after the failed roll. You may reroll it with a +4 bonus. If the second roll succeeds, something miraculous happens that allows the character to recover from the failure.
   This feat may be used a number of times equal to the character's Wisdom bonus each game session.
   Special: Clerics and other characters who gain spells from supernatural beings may not select this feat; the greater powers in the universe already give them plenty in return for their faith. If a character with this feat gains the ability to cast divine spells or gains wizard spells through deals with powerful beings, all benefits from this feat are lost

MARTYR [General, Dedicated Hero]
You suffer for your faith, knowing that you will be rewarded.
   Prerequisite: Faithful
   Benefit: As your character looses hit points from damage suffered while fighting for (or otherwise working toward) a cause he or she believes in, extra reserves of energy born from the deeply held knowledge that you are sacrificing for a greater cause.
   The benefits from this feat depend on how many hit points the character has lost. The benefits to do stack; the replace one another as the character is injured.
   Down Between 10% and 25% of full hit point total: +1 bonus to all saving throws and skill checks.
   Down Between 25%  and 50% of full hit point total: +2 bonus to all attack rolls and saving throws.
   Down Between 50% and 75% of full hit point total: +4 bonus to all saving throws and AC/DR.
   Down Between 75% and 100%: +4 bonus to all saving throws, regain 2d6 hit points for each successful saving throw rolled.
   Negative Hit Points, Between -1 and -10: Roll a Fortitude saving throw. If successful, regain 2d6 hit points. If the character's hit point total is still a negative number, the character is unconcious but stable.
   Negative Hit Points, Below -10: The character finds him- or herself engulfed in a bright light. He or she is given the choice to move onto the reward for dying in the service of the deeply held convictions and beliefs, or remain in the mortal realm of pain and suffering, as a disembodied spirit but with the ability to fight on. If the character rejects the reward, he or she immediately gains the Disembodied template.

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d20 System Feat: Chosen

When writing fiction or designing and developing roleplaying game, oftentimes what seems like a great idea at the start is replaced by something far better. Such is the case with the feat presented below. It was part of an early approach I took to adapting the story of Lady Satan 1974 to the d20 System, but I ultimately axed it because much better ideas presented themselves as the project evolved. If you find this feat interesting or useful, you should check out the book by clicking here!

The following is released under the Open Game License. Copyright 2015 Steve Miller. It is fully compatible with the d20 System magic rules from Feats of Mysticism and Magic and other NUELOW Games OGL d20 System releases.

Art by Pablo Marcos. From Lady Satan 1974,

CHOSEN
You have a special relationship with a powerful supernatural creature—an angel, demon, or perhaps even a god.
    Benefit: Once per week, you may call upon your supernatural patron to grant you a chance to change fate. You may re-roll a single d20 roll. You must accept the second result.
    You gain a +4 bonus to skill checks relating to rites and rituations involved with your patron, and any summoning and ward spells you cast function as if cast at one level higher than your caster level.
    Special: If the character is killed, he or she may make a final Will save (DC18). If successful, the character continues to exist as a disembodied spirit on the mortal plane instead of moving onto the afterlife, with the full blessing of his or her patron. The character gains the Disembodied template, if in use. If not, the character exists formless near the location of his or her demise until a suitable living vessel comes along. The character may attempt to possess the being. The target receives a Will save (DC12+your character level) to resist. If the target is injured or somehow emotionally vulnerable or frightened, the Will save is DC8+your character level.

Sci-Fi RPG Subplot Idea Generator (for any game system)

Here are a couple tables to randomly generate subplot ideas for your sci-fi campaign. Roll first on Why is the Android Behaving Strangely?, then on Who's Behind It?

WHY IS THE ANDROID BEHAVING STRANGELY? (Roll 1d6)
1. A flaw in the programming. (Don't roll on "Who's Behind It").
2. A hacker is trying to control it via a remote uplink.
3. Adjustments to its programming intended to 1-2, make it more efficient; 3-4 make it more human-like in its reactions; 5-6 make it eventually turn on its owners.
4. A virus uploaded into its programming matrix is gradually causing it to 1-2 shut down; 2-3 become a spy-bot; 5-6 become a killing machine.
5. A disembodied alien entity has taken over its personality maxtrix and is now in control.
6. The android is unchanged. The player characters have been shifted to an alternate universe similar to their own.

WHO'S BEHIND IT? (Roll 1d6)
1. No organized force; it's just one of those things.
2. An old enemy.
3. An agent of a galactic mega-corp trying to get the PCs under his or her control.
4. An old friend trying to secretly reach out for help.
5. A mercenary group trying to establish their reputation by taking down the player characters.
6. An alien invasion force that wants to distract or neutralize the player characters so they won't get in their way.

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D is for the Duke of Darkness

The Duke of Darkness saw print three times during 1945, in three different one-shot comics from Holyoak/Gerona -- Triple Threat Comics (which featured five different characters, oddly enough), K.O. Comics, and Top Spot Comics. He used to be  a cop killed in the line of duty, but who is actually happy to be an earthbound spirit as it frees him up to do a different kind of crime-fighting. How did he come by the name the Duke of Darkness? That's a question that's as mysterious as the "physics" that disembodied spirits operate under in the world of this series. In the Duke of Darkness series, ghosts can become visible at will, but they can also become fully solid. In fact, they can become so solid that they can be knocked unconscious, which happens to the Duke and leads him to be sent to jail. A running gag in the series is that he's sneaking in and out of his cell to fight crime while serving his sentence.

The Duke of Darkness, created by Sam Cooper and John Giunta

The second Duke of Darkness is story is by far the most interesting one, both due to it being the most unusual and weird but also from a historical perspetive. Readers familiar with this blog and the Shades of Gray blog, or of the Science Sleuths series have read about the possible connection between Stan Lee and Steve Ditko's creation Spider-Man and the obscure heroine Spider Queen. Well, in the second of the Duke's adventures, he fights a nightmare spirit that's pretty much identical to the Dr. Strange villain Nightmare created by Lee & Ditko. It seems someone on that partnership may have been mining 20 year old comic books for ideas to plunder whole-cloth....

We were considering making the Duke of Darkness the star of a future installment of Complete Golden Age Oddballs, but our sources might be too degraded to make a decent-looking book. We'll see what we can make happen, though.

Rick Astley... it's how we roll!

There has been a lack of Rick Astley-based RPG material. That changes NOW, as NUELOW Games presents the Man Himself as seen through the lens of the ROLF! rollplaying game, as well as a talent tree for OGL d20 Modern that was inspired by his mighty presence.



RICK ASTLEY ALA ROLF!
Now you can have Rick roll characters in ROLF! Battle Scenarios of your own creation!

RICK ASTLEY (Male)
Brawn 12, Body 16, Brains 7
   Traits: Great Hair, Improv Master, Irrepressible Optimist, Nimble
   Battle Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dancing Machine, Disarm, Signature Move, Seduce, Strike Pose, Yodel
Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Brown Trenchcoat (armor, absorbs up to 1 point of damage). Turtleneck Sweater (clothes).

New Trait
Great Hair: Provides a -1 to all Seduce ATT checks, added after any other bonuses or penalties have been applied. (Only applicable if the character isn't wearing a Hat.)

The Rick Astley Talent Tree 

For OGL d20 Modern. Presented under the Open Game License. 

(Copyright ©2015 Steve Miller)

 Charismatic Heroes, Dedicated Heroes, and Fast Heroes may select talents from this tree. They are also available to any character who possesses any one Minor Power feat (defined here, as part of the NUELOW Games OGL Superpowers System).

   Never Gonna Give You Up, Never Gonna Let You Down: +4 bonus to all Bluff skill checks and Will saves that involve keeping the secrets of allied characters. When attempting to aid another with a skill check, if you roll a 10 or higher on your check, the character you're helping gets a +4 bonus on his or her check; if you roll a 15 or higher, he or she gets a +8 bonus to his or her check.
   Never Gonna Run Around and Desert You: Whenever you are within 10 ft. of an ally, you gain a+6 bonus to saving throws to resist all Charm and Fear effects--even if one would normally not be allowed--and you have a +4 bonus on rolls to resist the Intimidate skill.
    Never Gonna Make You Cry, Never Gonna Say Goodbye: Your allies gain a +4 bonus to all Morale checks when within 10 feet of you. If you are dropped below -10 hit points through any means, you may roll a Fort save (DC18) to be restored to exactly 0 hit points. If the source of the damage is ongoing, you may continue making these rolls until you are rescued. If you fail the Fort save and die, you immediately gain the Disembodied template.
   Never Gonna Tell a Lie or Hurt You: Like the Never Gonna Run around and Desert You talent, except you have complete immunity to Fear and Charm effects when within 10 feet of an ally, and the bonus to resist Intimidate skill checks increases to +8.
   Prerequisite: Never Gonna Run around and Desert You



(Never fear... it's the actual song. We rather like it here at NUELOW Central.)

And here's a link to an "RPG Battle Music" arrangement of Rick's timeless masterpiece....