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Flesh and Blood, Part I

by Rich Redman
Editing: Marc Schmalz
Layout and Typesetting: Marc Schmalz
[See Part II]

Introduction

Last year I ran an adventure for my modern d20 System campaign in which a diabolical cult discovered a way to use the blood of celestials and the blood of fiends to create a drug. This forced me to create or adapt a bunch of rules related to the characters and events of the game, so many that I've broken them down into multiple freebies to share with other d20 System players.

A Note

In case it's not perfectly obvious already, all these rules work with the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game and Urban Arcana Campaign Setting, both from Wizards of the Coast, Inc.

New Incantations

I created two incantations for my adventure. The first, blood ritual, is how the blood of extraplanar creatures becomes a drug. The second, desecrate site, let me clarify how dedicate site worked in my campaign--your campaign may get by just fine with dedicate site alone.

Blood Ritual

Transmutation [Evil]

Skill Check: Knowledge (arcane lore) DC 25, 6 successes; Failure: Two consecutive failed skill checks; Components: V, S, M, SC; Casting Time: 60 minutes (minimum); Range: Touch; Target: Sacrificial victim touched; Duration: Instantaneous; Saving Throw: None; Spell Resistance: No.

The blood ritual incantation transforms the blood of a celestial into Good Blood, or the blood of a fiend into Bad Blood. It affects up to 6 quarts of blood and produces over 5,500 cubic centimeters of Blood (one dose is about 10cc). See Blood, under Drugs and Addictions, below, for details on the effects of the drugs.

Desecrate Site

Evocation [Evil]

Skill Check: Knowledge (arcane lore) DC 35, 5 successes, and Spellcraft DC 35, 1 success; Failure: Two consecutive failed skill checks; Components: V, S, M, SC, B; Casting Time: 6 hours (minimum); Range: Touch; Area: 120-ft. radius emanation centered on touched point; Duration: One year; Saving Throw: See text; Spell Resistance: See text.

The desecrate site incantation functions like the dedicate site incantation (see Urban Arcana Campaign Setting, Chapter Three) with the following exceptions: The site is attuned to the evil allegiance, and the magic circle effect applies against the good allegiance.

Drugs and Addictions

Regardless of anyone's position on legalization or decriminalization of drugs, they are currently illegal. The Game Mechanics' publications cannot, and will not, condone or encourage the use of drugs. Addiction is a very serious problem both for the addicted individual and for society. Rules for handling addiction in modern d20 System campaigns are not meant to take the issues of addiction lightly or in any way trivialize them.

Drug addiction functions similarly to diseases (see the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, Chapter Seven, Disease). Anytime a character uses a drug with an addiction rating, the character must succeed at a Fortitude saving throw or become addicted, as show below. Addiction proceeds like a disease—while addicted, the character takes ability score damage at the end of each satiation period unless he succeeds at a Fortitude saving throw against the given DC.

Addiction Rating: Ratings indicate the relative addictive potential of drugs. For example, caffeine has a negligible addiction rating, but has addictive qualities all the same. Drugs with a rating stronger than negligible increase their rating by one step for every two full months a character remains addicted to the drug. Drugs with a negligible rating are not subject to this change. A character who recovers from an addiction and becomes addicted again does so at the addiction rating the drug had just prior to his recovery.

Satiation: Each time a character takes a drug to which he is addicted, he is satiated and staves off withdrawal symptoms for the given period of time. After the satiation period wears off, the DC of the Fortitude save to resist the effects of addiction increases by +5. The dose in which a character becomes addicted counts for satiation.

Damage: Addiction deals the listed damage each day unless the character succeeds at a Fortitude saving throw or is satiated. Ability score damage is temporary, nad characters naturally heal at the normal rate (see the d20 Modern Roleplaying Game, Chapter Five, Healing Ability Damage).

Recovery

If a character makes two successful saving throws in a row, he has fought off his addiction and recovers, taking no more damage. Of course, he can always become addicted again later by taking another dose of the drug and failing his Fortitude save to resist addiction.

Blood

There are two variants of the drug called Blood, usually referred to as Good Blood and Bad Blood.

Good Blood

Good Blood is manufactured from the blood of celestials using the blood ritual incantation described above.

Initial Effect: If the character taking Good Blood succeeds in the Fortitude saving throw, a single dose produces a sense of euphoria and well being that lasts 1d4 hours. Good Blood heals up to 1 hit point (Good Blood never raises hit point totals above normal).

Secondary Effect: If the character taking Good Blood fails the Fortitude saving throw and thus becomes addicted, he gains the Blood-Touched template (see Templates, below). Once per day, as a free action, the Blood-Touched creature may gain a +4 morale bonus to Strength, a +4 morale bonus to Constitution, a -4 penalty to Will saves, and the benefits of the Heroic Surge feat. The ability can be dismissed as a free action by the Blood-Touched creature, or it can run its course over a number of rounds equal to its new Constitution modifier. After the effect wears off, the Blood-Touched creature becomes exhausted (see the d20 Modern Role-Playing Game, Chapter Five, Character Condition Summary sidebar).

Side Effects: None.

Overdose: If more than one dose is taken in a 24-hour period, the user immediately falls unconscious for 1d4 hours (Fort DC 18 negates).

Bad Blood

Bad Blood is manufactured from the blood of fiends using the blood ritual incantation described above.

Initial Effect: If the character taking Bad Blood succeeds in the initial Fortitude saving throw, he gains a +2 morale bonus to Strength and Constitution and a –4 penalty to Will saves. This effect lasts 1d4 hours.

Secondary Effect: If the character taking Bad Blood fails the Fortitude saving throw and thus becomes addicted, he gains the Blood-Touched template. The following abilities activate involuntarily if the Blood-Touched creature becomes angry, is attacked, or is injured (Will save, DC 15, to resist). The Blood-Touched creature gains a +4 morale bonus to Strength, a +4 morale bonus to Constitution, a -4 penalty to Will saves, and the benefits of the Acrobatic, Athletic, and Improved Initiative feats. The Blood-Touched creature must attack the nearest opponent that is not disabled, dying, dead, or unconscious (see the d20 Modern Role-Playing Game, Chapter Five, Character Condition Summary sidebar) and continue attacking that opponent until one of those conditions occurs. If there are no visible opponents, the Blood-Touched creature will look for one. The Blood-Touched creature cannot dismiss this ability. The ability lasts a number of rounds equal to the Blood-Touched creature's new Constitution modifier. When the effect ends, the Blood-Touched creature must succeed at a massive damage check (Fort save, DC 15) or suffer the normal consequences for failing such a check.

Side Effects: A character taking Bad Blood behaves belligerently, seeing insults where there are none and turning every chance encounter into a confrontation. While high on Bad Blood, a character feels confident, while simultaneously believing that everyone is out to take things from him. This paranoia extends to his belongings, credit for his accomplishments, potential sexual conquests, and so on.

Overdose: If more than one dose is taken in a 24-hour period, the user dies. A successful Fortitude saving throw (DC 18) reduces this to 3d6 points of nonlethal damage.

Choosers of the Slain

This advanced class, the Choosers of the Slain, represents the most dedicated members of the diabolical cult. They are the private army on which the cult master calls when he wants something taken care of with speed and finality. The Choosers of the Slain are the warrior priests of the cult. Someday, they may become something worse, either by killing their master and taking control of the cult, or by spreading its evil to other cities.

Members of this class are usually GM characters. However, heroes who want to excel as supplementary casters in incantations or who seek the ability to cloud the minds of witnesses may also take levels of this class if they meet the requirements.

The fastest path into this advanced class is from the Smart hero basic class, though many other paths are possible.

Requirements

To qualify to become a Chooser of the Slain, a character must fulfill the following criteria.

Skills: Knowledge (arcane lore) 6 ranks.

Allegiance: Evil, cult.

Other:Must be Blood-Touched.

Class Information

The following information pertains to the Choosers of the Slain advanced class.

Hit Die: Choosers of the Slain gain 1d8 hit points per level. The character's Constitution modifier applies

Action Points: Choosers of the Slain gain a number of action points equal to 6 plus one-half their character level, rounded down, every time they advance a level in this class.

Class Skills: The Chooser of the Slain's class skills are as follows:

Climb (Str), Drive (Dex), Gather Information (Cha), Intimidate (Cha), Jump (Str), Knowledge (arcane lore) (Int), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (theology and philosophy) (Int), Profession (Wis), Research (Int).

Skill Points at Each Level: 5 + Intelligence modifier.

Class Features

The following features pertain to the Choosers of the Slain advanced class.

Table FB1–1: Choosers of the Slain

Arcane Skills: At 1st level, the Chooser of the Slain gains the Arcane Skills feat, granting access to the following skills: Concentration (Con), Spellcraft (Int), Use Magic Device (Cha), and the arcane functions of Concentration and Craft (chemical) (Int).

Aid Incantation (Ex): Beginning at 2nd level, when acting as a supplementary caster in an incantation, the Chooser of the Slain may use the Aid Another action by succeeding at a Knowledge (arcane lore) check (DC 10). Success provides a +2 bonus to the lead caster's next Knowledge (arcane lore) check in the ritual. This ability can only be used once for each of the lead caster's Knowledge (arcane lore) checks, though all Choosers of the Slain may use their ability for each of the lead caster's checks.

Bonus Feat: At 3rd, 6th, and 9th level, the Chooser of the Slain gets a bonus feat. The bonus feat must be selected from the following list, and the Chooser of the Slain must meet all of the prerequisites for the feat to select it.

Archaic Weapons Proficiency, Armor Proficiency (heavy), Armor Proficiency (light), Armor Proficiency (medium), Brawl, Improved Brawl, Improved Feint, Improved Grapple, Improved Knockout Punch, Knockout Punch, Magical Affinity, Streetfighting.

Coordinate Incantation (Ex): Beginning at 4th level, when acting as a supplementary caster in an incantation, the bonus provided by the Chooser of the Slain's Aid Incantation ability increases from +2 to a bonus equal to his levels in the Chooser of the Slain advanced class. For example, a 5th-level Chooser of the Slain could use Aid Incantation to provide a +5 bonus to the lead caster's next Knowledge (arcane lore) check. This ability can only be used once for each of the lead caster's Knowledge (arcane lore) checks, though all Choosers of the Slain may use their ability for each of the lead caster's checks.

Cloud Mind (Su): Choosers of the Slain use this ability to alter a subject's memory. They commonly use this ability to make law enforcement officers forget they saw the Chooser kidnap someone, or to make witnesses forget they saw a crime. The alteration fogs the subject's memory so that the subject's attitude immediately changes to indifferent and he forgets a number of minutes of time equal to the Chooser of the Slain's levels in this class (the subject forgets the time immediately preceding the successful use of this ability).

To use this ability, the Chooser of the Slain spends an action point and makes a Charisma check opposed by the subject's character level plus Charisma modifier. The Chooser gains a bonus to his check equal to his levels of Chooser of the Slain. The Chooser of the Slain must touch the subject to use the ability. The Chooser of the Slain cannot take 10 or 20 on the Charisma check. Using this ability is an attack action. A Chooser of the Slain may use this ability a number of times per day equal to his Charisma bonus (minimum one).

Ranged Cloud (Su): Beginning at 7th level, a Chooser of the Slain can use his Cloud Mind ability with a range of 25 feet plus 5 feet per 2 full levels in this advanced class.

Mass Cloud (Su): Beginning at 8th level, a Chooser of the Slain can use his Cloud Mind ability to affect a number of subjects equal to this Charisma bonus (minimum one).

Cover Incantation (Ex): Beginning at 10th level, when acting as a supplementary caster in an incantation, the Chooser of the Slain may attempt to succeed at a Knowledge (arcane lore) check when the lead caster of the incantation fails his check. The Chooser of the Slain spends an action point and immediately makes a Knowledge (arcane lore) check (DC set by the incantation). The Chooser of the Slain cannot take 10 or 20 on this check, and only one Chooser of the Slain can use this ability. If more than one Chooser of the Slain uses this ability for the same failed skill check, all their attempts automatically fail. If the Knowledge (arcane lore) check succeeds, the lead caster continues the incantation as if no failure happened. If the check fails, the incantation continues or fails according to how many previous failures occurred and the specifics of that particular incantation.

Templates

Here are new templates used in my adventure.

Blood-Touched

Blood-Touched is a template that can be applied to any living creature (called the base creature). See Blood under Drugs and Addictions for how a character becomes Blood-Touched. Depending on whether the base creature has most recently taken the drug made from the blood of good-aligned outsiders or evil-aligned outsiders, it gains one of the following sets of abilities and the CR of the base creature increases by +1.

Good Blood: Once per day as a free action the Blood-Touched creature may activate this ability and gain a +4 morale bonus to Strength, a +4 morale bonus to Constitution, a –4 penalty to Will saves, and the benefits of the Heroic Surge feat. The ability can be dismissed as a free action by the Blood-Touched creature, or it can run its course over a number of rounds equal to its new Constitution modifier. After the effect wears off, the Blood-Touched creature becomes exhausted (see the d20 Modern Role-Playing Game, Chapter Five, Character Condition Summary sidebar).

Bad Blood: This ability activates involuntarily if the Blood-Touched creature becomes angry, is attacked, or is injured (Will save, DC 15, to resist). The Blood-Touched creature gains a +4 morale bonus to Strength, a +4 morale bonus to Constitution, a –4 penalty to Will saves, and the benefits of the Acrobatic, Athletic, and Improved Initiative feats. The Blood-Touched creature must attack the nearest opponent that is not disabled, dying, dead, or unconscious (see the d20 Modern Role-Playing Game, Chapter Five, Character Condition Summary sidebar) and continue attacking that opponent until one of those conditions occurs. If there are no visible opponents, the Blood-Touched creature will look for one. The Blood-Touched creature cannot dismiss this ability. The ability lasts a number of rounds equal to the Blood-Touched creature's new Constitution modifier. When the effect ends, the Blood-Touched creature must succeed at a massive damage check (Fort save, DC 15) or suffer the normal consequences for failing such a check.

Fiendish

Fiendish creatures come from the same places that fiends do, but are considerably less powerful. Fiendish creatures resemble their earthly counterparts but are far more fearsome in appearance. They are generally Shadow creatures, leaving their hellish homes for whatever lies beyond Shadow, then coming through the veil to our world.

Template Traits

“Fiendish” is a template that can be added to any corporeal creature of nongood allegiance (referred to hereafter as the “base creature”). A fiendish creature uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Challenge Rating: A fiendish creature modifies the base creature's Challenge Rating according to its Hit Dice. Up to 3 HD, as base creature; 4 HD to 7 HD, as base creature +1; 8+ HD, as base creature +2. Note that Hit Dice from class levels do not apply.

Type: Animals with this template become magical beasts, but otherwise the creature type is unchanged.

Attacks: A fiendish creature retains all the special attacks of the base creature and also gains the following.

Smite Good (Su): Once per day the creature can make a normal attack to deal additional damage equal to its HD total (maximum of +20) against a foe with the good allegiance.

Special Qualities: A fiendish creature retains all the special qualities of the base creature and also gains the following.

Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Cold and fire resistance (see the table below).
Damage reduction (see the table below).
Spell resistance equal to double the creature's HD (maximum 25).

If the base creature already has one or more of these special qualities, use the better value.

Base Saves: Same as the base creature.
Abilities: Same as the base creature, but Intelligence is at least 3.
Skills: Same as the base creature.
Feats: Same as the base creature.
Allegiance: Always evil (any)

Adventure Seeds

Here are a few seeds for turning this material into adventures.

• Relatively ordinary people have begun exhibiting unusual strength and stamina. What the public doesn't know is that all share an addiction to Blood. It's not a problem, until blood-touched people begin showing what an addiction to Bad Blood can do. Heroes must investigate the source of the new drug, and put a stop to it.
• 
  
• A series of kidnappings and grisly, ritualistic murders occurs. In some cases, people vanish right out of crowds or while talking to someone, and then turn up dead. Witnesses to those events all report episodes of “missing time.” What the public doesn't know is that a diabolical cult, and its Choosers of the Slain soldiers, are performing a series of incantations involving human sacrifice. Heroes must investigate this new cult, stop the murders, and prevent the ultimate result of the series of sacrifices.

Parting Shots

In Part II, I'll provide numerous stat blocks for cultists and creatures. Until then, feel free to comment on our message boards.

[See Part II]

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Modern System Reference Document Copyright 2002, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Bill Slavicsek, Jeff Grubb, Rich Redman, Charles Ryan, based on material by Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams, Richard Baker, Peter Adkison, Bruce R. Cordell, John Tynes, Andy Collins, and JD Wiker.

 

Flesh and Blood, Part I Copyright 2004. The Game Mechanics, Inc.; Author Rich Redman.