Marit Proxis, the Honest Prospector – Steal this Background

Physical Description: Marit Proxis is a thin, but fit man with dark hair, flecked with gray. He wears a full beard, with a full head of hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Background: After spending 20 years as a prospector for the Radell Mining Corporation (RMC), Marit set out on his own and established himself as a freelancer, prospecting for RMC and other, smaller firms around the sector.  When the Empire restored its claim to the sector following the Clone Wars, they increasingly pressed local contractors such as Marit and his crew into service, scouting new ore locations for the construction of new bases.  Now, word has reached Marit of plans to expand its presence into the rest of the sector, leaving Marit with decisions to make.

 Personality: Marit is genuinely kind and caring, both toward his family and his community.  He is well thought of and looked up to by his community in Paran, and has many friends in business and both the local and planetary governments, as well as the various mining authorities in the sector.

Objectives: See that his family and friends are looked after and provided for.

A Quote: “Right is Right.”

The Store is Open – Again!

Ok, fun HTML.

For those of you who made orders through email because the Store wasn’t working properly, I apologize.  I also apologize to those who skipped making an order altogether.  In a way, the Store page getting messed up was kind of a blessing – because it forced me to redo it (and I like it better this way).  Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle shack!

Escape from Deepground – Steal this Adventure

The characters have each been individually found guilty of crimes that they have indeed committed. They’re sent to an underground prison, which they must escape from. Have each player make his character with a specific crime that he has committed (one not punishable by death, but severe enough to warrant life in prison). These crimes serve as excellent back-stories, as well as possible future adventures/issues for them to resolve.

The PCs begin the adventure standing before the court, having their charges, verdicts, and punishments read to them.  Each player reads out loud their crime, as if it were being read by the judge or magistrate of the court.  Just the details and facts of the crimes are to be read, not any reasoning behind them (that is for the PCs to reveal later in-character, if they wish).  This reading is just to start the adventure, getting the PCs acquainted with each other, and hearing everyone’s crimes.  After the PC’s are done, the GM will do the same for two NPCs who are also getting sentenced.

After all the charges and verdicts have been read, they are sentenced to life in Deepground, a massive underground prison.  In this region, this is the punishment of choice, so there are a lot of prisoners down there. The PCs are taken to the town that surrounds the prison (the town is also called Deepground), and lowered into the cavern.  With them in the cage are two other criminals, some torches, blankets, and A LOT of food.  Instructions were given to everyone that they were to depart the cage upon setting down – anyone still in, on, or under the cage when it is brought back up is shot (bows, guns, lasers, whatever).  Food is dropped once a day (at noon) into the cavern (mostly bread and other rations).  It is also delivered in the cage when prisoners go down.  Also, there is an underground river for water supply.  On the ride down, if none of the PCs suggest that they should stick together, one of the NPCs will.

Once the PCs get to the bottom, there will be about 100 NPCs waiting to get to the food, and they look hungry.  Anyone getting in their way gets trampled.  If the PCs hang out anywhere near the cage, they will be mugged for their clothes and blankets, and any food they carry.  So they had better move quickly.  One of the two NPCs gets mugged and killed right there, if the PCs haven’t gotten the hint.

Over the next few weeks, the PCs need to either establish themselves as tough brutes, join a gang, or remain relatively hidden (that will be hard to do).  In the beginning, they will be threatened and harassed just to see what they are made of (and to see if their stuff can be taken).  The weapons down here are few and far between, consisting mostly of clubs and daggers made from bones of the dead, and clubs and spikes made from burnt out torches.  Most likely, after a few scuffles, they will be left alone.  The available food dropped down is just enough to keep the PCs alive.  If, for some reason, a PC doesn’t eat for a day, he starts taking penalties (loss of healing surges, stats, etc.).

The Escape: There are three gangs.  The biggest, baddest of the bunch are the Wolves.  Eventually, the PCs learn that the Wolves guard access to another part of the underground caves.  Through the access is a “no turning back” trek.  Once you start the trek you can’t come back (it’s physically impossible).  If a PC inquires about it he is shown a ledge overlooking a deep chasm, with another ledge across it and below.  He is told that many have tried the jump, but only few have made it.  The Wolves swear it is an exit, but they don’t use it because they live like kings down here.  The PC’s must pay a fee to the Wolves for permission to make the jump.  The fee is one week’s food supply per person.

Things to consider:

  • If the PC’s eat half portions to save their own food, they take a penalty for being hungry and malnourished while saving food and for a few days after.
  • Saving food can be dangerous because others might try to take it.
  • Do they save it, or give it up immediately every day?  Can they do this every-other day?
  • Other prisoners might give up some food, only if they have good reason (were any friendships made?  Any favors gained?).
  • How much food will the PCs take with them on their journey?  Remember that food spoils.

Once they begin their trek they will need to make several skill checks, as well as get into a fight with an underground creature (perhaps something they can eat just in the nick of time?).  Also, along the way they will find several bodies of failed escapees.  Finally, after several days of traveling underground, with no food or water, starving, tired, and near-death, they have one more obstacle: A simple, easy Climb or Balance check to make it across a ledge.  If they succeed, they make it out of the cavern and are free.  But if they fail, they fall to their death.  Each character gets one roll, and a failure cannot be fudged.

Thorn and Whisper, Eberron Shifters: Steal These Backgrounds

Thorn and Whisper are Razorclaw shifter twins from the Tiger clan, which lives in the foothills west of Wolf’s Paw.  If in Eberron, this is in the Eldeen Reaches, otherwise anyplace else you like.

Thorn is one of the tribe’s hunters (a barbarian) who has always concerned himself with proving his worth as a warrior by feeding his tribe and winning every game of sportsmanship his tribe cares for.  When hunting his prey, he relies on his claws and natural cunning, while giving himself over to his primal bloodrage.  When fighting against marauders for the safety of his village, he wields his warpick; a two-handed weapon with a heavy head, one side blunted for crushing blows, the other pointed for piercing through the best of armors.

Whisper is quiet and introspective, keeping to herself and doing the tasks the tribe requires of her.  But when she is not working with her deft fingers (rogue or assassin), where is it that she sneaks off to?  It can’t be to the forbidden ruins rumored to harbor fey spirits; the ones that contain relics and mementos of a bygone goblinoid culture?  Between the rumors of malicious fey creatures and deadly traps of ancient and mysterious design, if Whisper was retrieving her trinkets from there, she would need some very impressive skills…

One day, when a scared teenaged human girl and her protector, a warforged follower of something he calls “the Spark” come to their little village, Grandfather Larm tells the twins that their destiny lies outside the village and he sends them off to help the newcomers.

Development: By the time their travels take them to Sharn, Thorn has developed a healthy test for extreme sports with boots that enhance his natural athletic abilities to leap over wide chasms and up to out-of-reach ledges, and soarsleds for flying through the City of Towers.  Whisper has honed her skills to be able to enter any location, open any lock, and escape from any threat. Together they are nigh-unstoppable.

Plear Floriant, the Troubled Archer – Steal this Background

The night-sky was overcast, with lightning striking the surrounding hills. The elves of the White Owls had closed their village gate and pulled up their rope-ladders. There was no rain that night, but the thunder was still enough to keep most inside.

After the thundering storm died down, Mother Pearl stepped out of her tree hut to breathe in some fresh air and listen to the wisdom of the wind. Instead, she was greeted by a newborn, wrapped snugly at her door. Mother Pearl realized this baby did not cry once while outside in the thunderstorm. She also realized that this baby did not belong to anyone in the village. Someone must have snuck into the village to abandon him.

Of course, the baby was adopted by the village, and given the name of Thunder. As the years counted on, Thunder was passed around as a foster child, never once settling with one family for more than a season. As a child, this began to wear on him, and he began causing trouble (as only a child can). With no real parents or family, he started to feel contempt for those in the village, since he felt that he would always be alone.

By the time that he could build his own tree hut, he did. With that, he began referring to himself as Plear, wishing to leave the name of Thunder behind. Most in the village assumed he was just trying to find an identity for himself. In reality, he wished to forget his upbringing, only looking toward the future.

The older he got, the more he avoided the other villagers. He took several trips away from the White Owls, and soon his trips took hem farther and farther. He was searching for his parents, looking for an identity, or looking for direction and purpose, but mostly just to get away from the village. He felt claustrophobic there. With few friends to come back to, Plear simply came back less and less.

If he ever came close to having a friend in the village, it was Mother Pearl. She didn’t try to befriend him – or push him away. She left him alone when he wanted, answered his questions with honesty, and rarely asked questions herself. He appreciated that.

During one of his treks he was ambushed by a small pack of orcs – orcs of the Iron Fang. Immediately, he noticed the leader carrying an intricate bow. Being something of an archer himself, Plear could clearly and immediately see that it was special. He had to have it. This bow did not belong to the claws of a filthy orc. Without thinking, he offered to sneak the pack of orcs into his village in exchange for the bow. Skog (the leader with the bow) agreed, and they sent off so as to increase their numbers.

Plear came through as he promised, unlocking the gates during nightfall, and then hiding in the bush. The village was overrun, and most of the villagers were rounded up for slavery. Plear had no trouble justifying his actions. Afterall, he didn’t owe the White Owls anything.

After the raid, Plear and Skog met for the exchange. Interestingly enough, Skog went to the meeting alone, and easily handed off the bow to Plear. The weapon was actually a Thunderburst bow, so when Skog (in his broken common) mentioned the word “thunder,” Plear thought the orc was referring to the bow. It wasn’t until a couple of hours later that that he realized the orc actually said, “Here Thunder, take your bow.” Plear never told the dirty orc that his childhood name was Thunder.

Disturbed by this, Plear went back to the razed village, gathered up some supplies, and set off to find Skog. Even though he now held the weapon that felt like home in his hands, he couldn’t help feeling that he was somehow part of something bigger, for good or ill. Whether he finds Skog, whether he atones for his crime against the village, whether he finds out what his real destiny is, depends on you…

Identity, the Super Villian – Steal this Enemy

Redhawk gazed down at the rain-soaked crowd far below. “He could be anywhere,” he muttered under his breath. “Or everywhere.”

The entire crowd halted mid-step and turned their faces to him, the same expression of arrogant confidence marring their features.

“Team, weapon up,” he whispered into his comlink, “Identity has found me.”

At first, it was believed that a single man controlled the crime syndicate around Southside. In a way, that’s right – but it’s also far from the truth. One man, 2,500 bodies, and an infinite number of faces.

Identity is a single consciousness able to create bodies at will, each able to alter their appearance and operate in complete isolation of the rest. Where one gang leader gets caught, all too often another duplicate appears disguised as a cop to release him. How do you hold a person who can be in 2,500 different places at once?  Right.

Dirty little secret: Who (or what) is Identity? I ain’t tellin’ – but I know, and it’s a work of brilliance, even if I say so myself.

Notes: Morph is the ability to alter your character’s appearance. Duplication is the ability to…. well…. duplicate. Combine the two and you’ve got someone who can create multiple versions of himself that look different. That’s another example of trying to make something game-breaking in Mutants & Masterminds and you just end up with something insanely cool because the rules can take it. Oh yeah.

In this case, Identity can create up to 2,500 duplicates, each of which can alter their appearance (and clothes, thanks to the Quick Change feat) at will. They’re all in telepathic communication (Mental Link), and Horde means Identity can summon the whole cast as a Standard Action, should he wish. The Survival extra means our heroes will have to take out all of the duplicates to bring down Identity; there’s no single central controller. Yuck.

Redhawk, the Super Hero (steal this background)

“Benedict!” Redhawk barked out the name, and the soldier turned immediately. “Fly up there and scout the area. I want recon.”

“Yes sir!” replied the grunt as wings began to sprout from his back. With a leap, he was airborn, and gone.

The voice of command, it is said, can move mountains. That has never been more true than in the case of Lieutenant Colonel Roswell Peterson – codenamed Redhawk. His force of command is such that anyone who is willing to follow his orders gains the ability to carry out the task at hand. If he tells you to smash a tank, you gain tremendous strength. If he tells you to shoot down a missile , you will be able to fire energy blasts from your wrists. If he tells you to walk through walls, by the Gods, you will do it. The abilities last around 20 minutes, but that’s more than enough to carry out the order. Heaven help you if it isn’t, for Redhawk does not expect failure.

Redhawk can bestow powers or enhanced abilities to himself too, but prefers to use his raw skills and tactical talents where possible. He’s neither a fool nor a coward, and if the situation demands his personal attention he’ll power up and be first on the front line.

He travels with his own cadre of 5 loyal soldiers known as Redhawk’s Harriers. Dressed in their distinctive red and black uniforms, they’re all ex-marines and well used to the transformations bestowed by Redhawk’s orders. Redhawk’s military contacts keep him busy feeding intel about possible metahuman hotspots and ensuring that they’re given a clear line of fire – after all, better to risk this band of mercenaries than the lives of good, solid regular troops and their expensive equipment.

Dirty little secret: How can Redhawk bend reality like this? How can he bestow superpowers with mere words? The answer is simple. Redhawk is a New God, though he’d laugh in your face if you suggested as much. He’s a slowly developing deity with the tiniest fraction of his future power. His word is will, made manifest.

Or, as Redhawk himself would say. “I tell my men to do something, and they do it. I expect nothing less.”

Notes: “Boost” is an awesome power in M&M, which allows the character to improve powers, abilities, skills or whatever – even if the recipient doesn’t possess those abilities in the first place. Redhawk can bestow Powers, Abilities or Skills, and the new or increased ability lasts for around 20 minutes. He can issue one order per round, and the recipient must be within 80′ and be able to hear the command. He can bestow one new Power, increased Ability or Skill ranks to himself too, but use Boost no more than once per round. In other words, in 6 rounds he and his team of Harriers could have 6 different super-powers and be primed for anything. Ouch.

Redhawk’s Harriers are 5 ex-marines loyal to his command. The roster is currently Benedict, Peppard, Schultz, Ashley and Tureaud, though there’s a waiting list of able bodies ready to fill their shoes.

They are each equiped with assault rifles, grenades, body armour and a standard issue red motorcycle. Redhawk requesitions additional military equipment if it’s required, but those times are extremely rare.

Their stats are as per the Soldier block on page 229 of the Mutants & Masterminds Core Rules with the addition of a Motorcycle. Because soldiers on red motorbikes is just cool.

 

Win these Drakes! – Contest #2

Click to Enlarge

*UPDATE* This contest is closed.

I’ve said it before – I love contests, especially when they’re free.  Win these large-sized drakes, either as monsters to fight or beasts to ride.  All you have to do is leave a comment of your best idea for a character concept, adventure, encounter, NPC, enemy or monster.  It’s just like the last contest, except this time you only need a couple of sentences in a comment on this page.

  • Your comment pitch must be 2, 3, or 4 sentences.
  • Enter as often as you like.
  • All entries must be original, and may eventually be expanded for latest posts.
  • The contest will last for two weeks or 20 comments (whichever takes longer).
  • It will be judged by Stuffer Shack staff members: Charisma, Max, Colin, the Red Knight, as well as the winner of the last contest, Thomas Charlton (sorry bud, you can’t enter this one).

That’s it. It’s that simple.

Good luck everyone!

Dominic Prospero, the Rogue Trader – Steal this Background

This background is written for Rogue Trader, a far-future science-fiction roleplaying game from Fantasy Flight Games set in the Warhammer 40,000 setting. Rogue Traders (and their key crew members) are larger-than-life individuals who enjoy a much greater freedom and prosperity than the teeming masses of people living more pedestrian (and controlled) lives across the million worlds of the Imperium.

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Dominic Prospero brought no end of problems to his father, Arcturus, patriarch of a merchant family that once enjoyed more prosperous days. A smart child, Dominic learned all that his tutors taught, but always wanted to know more. This always seemed to take him in pursuit of forbidden knowledge. One tutor tried to temper this brashness of youth by having Dominic study his family’s history. Oops.

Dominic learned of the exploits of one of his ancestors, Angelo Prosperatus, a Rogue Trader. Angelo had tamed an entire sector of space, the Avernice sector, and established a closed-loop economy that had prospered over the generations. He also maintained an uneasy truce with the Eldar, an enigmatic alien race. Even though most of his followers would have gladly killed the aliens, Angelo was able to keep them in check. As he approached death, he knew none of his descendants were strong enough to carry on his legacy, so he nominated a governor and returned to the core of the Imperium and founded a line of nobility. Unfortunately, generations of descendants squandered their heritage and eventually lost their nobility through complicated political machinations.

Dominic’s tutor warned Arcturus of the young man’s interest in the Eldar. Not wanting to have the family accused of heresy, Arcturus paid off Dominic’s tutors and assigned him to Dominic’s older brother, Ricellius, heir-apparent of the Prospero Trading Combine. With Ricellius not knowing the full details of why Dominic came to him, it was easy for Dominic to convince Ricellius that he should send Dominic to the far-off Avernice sector to put as much distance between him and the family as possible.

Ricellius granted Dominic’s request and put him in charge of a merchant ship to head out to the Avernice sector. Captaining the “Star of Avernice” and armed with a forged Warrant of Trade (the Imperial document granting the recipient all of the rights and privileges available to a Rogue Trader), Dominic is off to seize his destiny.

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