A draft feat for patriot/nationalistic/ethnically focused heroes

A draft of an OGL d20 feat that's suitable for characters like Captain America, Sabra, Pat Patriot, Major Victory, Bronze Terror, and many others. If used with OGL Modern, it should be added to the bonus feats available to Dedicated Heroes.

Spirit of a Nation
Identify a nation or ethnic group. You are a champion of that people and aspire to be a living embodiment of their highest ideals.
   Prerequisite: Charisma 15
   Benefit: Gain a +4 bonus to your attack rolls against foes who have declared themselves to be, or are recognizable through their uniform or other means, as enemies of those you champion.
   Special: If you have 5 or more ranks in Sense Motive, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to all Diplomacy and Intimidation skill checks.

Bronze Terror, a defender of his Native American tribe,
tribe, would be a character with the Spirit of a Nation feat.
(Cover from Real American No. 1 by Dick Briefer)

On sale now: 'The Curse of Egypt'

The Curse of Egypt offers up more OGL d20 feats designed with the goal of incorporating the supernatural and magic into settings without having full-fledged spell-casting classes or magic items on the shelves of the local Wal-Mart or in the police department's armory.

Cover for The Curse of Egypt

The 14 or so included OGL d20 feats give PCs and NPCs access to limited spellcasting abilities, and other supernatural powers, that are treated like special gifts from the Egyptian gods, earned either through service to them or through ancient bloodlines reaching back to antiquity.

The book also contains three classic horror comics shorts that tell tales of mystical forces of Egypt colliding with the people of the modern age. Guess who wins? One of the stories features art by the great Steve Ditko, while the other two are by creators whose identities are lost to history. (We think the work resembles that of either Don Heck or Don Perlin, but neither appear to have done work for Ace Comics, the original publisher of the stories in question. Whoever drew them, they can serve as inspiration for your own RPG scenarios... as well as simply being great reading.

Click here to see previews of The Curse of Egypt, or to get your own copy.

ROLF!: The Original Feminist RPG?

We're not exactly marketing geniuses here at NUELOW Games. If anything shows that, it's the fact that we never did brag about the fact that ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters included rules for playing homosexual characters until certain big names in the RPG field were being patted on the back for being cutting-edge and inclusive. (Never mind we were there YEARS before they were.)

So it occurs to us... maybe we should start bragging about how ROLF! was the FIRST RADICAL FEMINIST RPG EVER PUBLISHED before someone else stakes out that position. Even if we weren't the first, we're certainly the only Feminism Friendly RPG with more than 100 supplements available for it. There's no question we're the only Feminism Friendly rollplaying game available!

After all, ROLF! is the only game where Female characters can generally turn out to be more capable than Male characters... and it's been that way since the very first version in 1995! (When making a Female character, the player 2d6 to determine the Brains Attribute, which in turn decides how many Combat Maneuvers the character has. Male characters only get a roll of 2d4 to determine Brains.)

How's this for a marketing effort that highlights our trail-blazing feminism-friendly game?:

If you haven't checked out the ORIGINAL Radical Feminist RPG, you need to do so now... before someone decides you're a woman-hating gynophobe!!

ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game -- Promoting Kick-ass Feminism for 20 Years!

On sale for just $0.50 through the end of May!

 

Five tales of one of comicdom's original androids... and OGL Modern rules!

Androids are a mainstay of comics, and in our new comics/rpg hybrid book, Dynamic Man, NUELOW Games presents the adventures of one of comicdom's earliest androids--before he was ret-conned into a high school basketball coach named Bert. As far as we know, this is the first time these stories have ever been collected in one place.

Art by Bill Madden & Charles Sultan

Dynamic Man features five tales of superhero action straight from the Golden Age of Comics. In addition, it contains rules for creating your own super-powered android player characters for OGL Modern and other d20 System-powered games that use feats and talent trees. (This system is fully compatible with other NUELOW Games OGL supplements, such as Feats of Mysticism and Magic and the superpower rules in Madden's Boys.)

Click here to get your copy of Dynamic Man, or to see previews.

I'm Steve Miller, and today's my birthday!

And I'm hoping that we can give each other gifts!

I'm putting some of the most noteworthy NUELOW Games titles on sale, as well as some of my favorites and/or ones that have fiction in them that I wrote. Several of these titles mark the first (and, as far as I know, still the ONLY time) that the stories within have been reprinted and collected in one place.

My gift to you is savings on great comics, roleplaying game material, and fiction. Your gift to me is the royalties I get on the sales AND the warm-and-fuzzy feeling I get whenever one of the NUELOW Games titles makes it to a general top-seller list.

Here are the titles that are discounted through May 10, 2015; click on the links beneath the cover images to see previews, prices, and to get your copy. (And while you're shopping, check our Sci-Fi Sale!)

The only compete collection of the
Kismet and the Penny Parker series.
Includes OGL d20 System rules.

The only complete collection of the
Miss Espionage and the Angela series.
Includes fiction by Steve Miller, and rules for,
the OGL d20 System and ROLF! game.

The only complete collection of the
Iron Lady series. With fiction by Steve Miller
and a full ROLF! supplement.

Horror comics and fiction from
Saul Rosen, Robert E. Howard, and Steve Miller

An innovative magic system  for d20 Games.
It is expanded upon in many NUELOW releases.

The only full collection of Ralph Mayo & Ann Adams' Starlight series.
Contains a Native American OGL d20 setting.

Golden Age teen superheroes from Bill Madden.
With game rules for OGL d20, ROLF!,
and Hideots & Hoodlums

 

The only complete collection of the Ginger & Snap series.
Light gender-swapping comedy, with a complete
ROLF! supplement included.

NUELOW's flagship game!
(We gave options for gay characters before it was cool!)

Now Available: 'Iron Lady'

Heiress Doris Parker was one of the most prolific serial killers in history, a fact that only came to light after her death. NUELOW Games proudly presents Iron Lady, a chronicle of Parker's initial steps down a path of vengeance-fueled brutality and murder. (The story of how we came to publish this book can be found in this previous post at the NUELOW Games blog.)

Art by Bernard Sachs

The book contains sections of Parker's life adapted to comics by Bernard Sachs & Dan Zolnerowich, direct excerpts from her diaries selected by editor Steve Miller, and rules for ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters that lets you bring Doris "Iron Lady" Parker to your gaming table. (Because, let's face it... most player characters in RPGs would probably be labeled as serial killers, too.)

Click here here to see previews or to get your own copy for this landmark publication. The book can also be purchased at RPGNow, DriveThruRPG, and DriveThruFiction.

V is for Voodoo Queen

Voodoo Queen (first appearance in Police Comics #10, 1942)
  

Art by Alex Kotzky

Xali Garou was raised from a young age to be a spiritual conduit that is key to many voodoo ceremonies. After leaving the sleepy little bayou village of her childhood for the excitement of Empire City, she fell in with a group of criminals who used voodoo as part of their methods. Assuming the loas were pleased with such things--or they would step in to stop it--and liking the luxuries the ill-gotten riches were getting her, Xali became an active participant in the crimes. She rose to a leadership role in the criminal syndicate while also assuming a prominent role in the local community of Creoles and Haitians who practiced the religion of Voodoo.

Xali, together with the gang's chief voodoo priest, concocted a scheme of blackmail and intimidation where they targeted rich citizens who were secret or open believers in voodoo; they demanded large sums of money from several believers, and then killed those who refused to pay in manners that appeared to be voodoo curses. This both swelled their coffers and the ranks of followers of the local Voodoo cult.

A secondary motivation for this plot was to lure the superhero Manhunter into the gang's clutches, so they could offer him as a sacrifice to the spirits (and so eliminating a hindrance to their operation while gaining favor from the voodoo spirits). There was never any doubt in Xali's mind that he would come to them, because they were so obviously behind the voodoo murders.

But on the night they sprang their trap for Manhunter, and they waited for him to arrive, Xali became filled with an irrational impatience and hatred toward her co-conspirators. Believing they had failed to properly execute her orders, she lashed out at them and in the ensuing fight, she was killed. When Manhunter arrived on the scene, the voodoo temple was engulfed in flames and the criminals had mostly already killed each other.

THE FATE OF THE VOODOO QUEEN
Xali the Voodoo Queen's downfall happened because the loas were not pleased with the gang's criminal activity. Her erratic behavior on the night that should have been the gang's eve of triumph and victory was caused by one of the spirits she had channeled earlier staying behind and pushing every paranoid instinct that she possessed--until she finally snapped. (Although Xali died that night, her story did not end there. She will return in another few posts as we bring the A to Z April Blogging Challenge to a close next week.)

Here are stats for the Voodoo Queen in the ROLF! game system

VOODOO QUEEN (Female)
(aka Xali Garou)
Brawn 19, Body 18, Brains 5
   Traits: Nimble, Spelling
   Combat Maneuvers: Basic Attack, Dance Move, Seduce, Spellings (Bad Touch, You'll Only Hurt Yourself), Strike Pose
   Important Stuff Worn/Wielded: Ceremonial Garb (Bikini AND Armor, barely covers nakedness, absorbs 1 point of damage). Whip (Medium Melee Weaponj, deals 2 points of damage).

And when I get some feedback from L.L. Hundal, this is where there will be rules for...

SPIRITUAL CURSES in OGL d20 and OpenD6)