Brotherhood Recruitment Manual

7/28/2019 Brotherhood Recruitment Manual

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http://www.margaretweis.com/http://www.deadgentlemen.com/


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Table o ContentsIntroduction ................................................................................................................... 1Playing the Demon Hunters RPG ................................................................................. 1Game Rules .................................................................................................................... 3

Adventure: Training Day ......................................................................................... 11Scene 1: Reorientation ................................................................................................ 12Scene 2: Arrival & Exploration ................................................................................... 13Scene 3: Separation Anxiety ....................................................................................... 15Scene 4: In Which Our Heroes Do Great Battle ........................................................ 15Scene 5: Dont Try This at Home...or Anywhere Else ................................................ 17

Scene 6: The Balcony Scene ....................................................................................... 18Scene 7: The Atermath .............................................................................................. 20Player Characters ........................................................................................................ 21

CreditsWritten and Designed by: Jamie Chambers, Brian Clements, Jimmy McMichael, Nathan Rice, Nathan Rockwood

Editing & Prooreading: Liz Wilhelm

Layout, Typsetting, and Graphic Design: Digger Hayes

Brotherhood and Order Logos Designed by: Jen Page

Photography: Cornelia D. Moore, Marc Studer

Demon Hunters RPG Development Team: Cam Banks, Jamie Chambers, Renae Chambers, Brian Clements, Ben Dobyns,

Chris Duppenthaler, Don Early, Jimmy McMichael, Nathan Rice, Nathan Rockwood, Steve Wolbrecht, Matt Vancil, Andy Vetromile

Special Thanks: Leila Aram-Panahi, Lizz Baldwin, Tony Becerra, Scott C. Brown, Stacy Chambers, Cobblers Crystals,

Matt DeMille, Tamia Diaz, Andy Dotson, Christian Doyle, Jason Doyle, Shawn Franklin, Tracy Hickman, Kevin Inouye, Matt Jay,

Barry Johnson, Dirk Kahler, Anne Kennedy, Brian Lewis, Patrick Levad, Tish Lopez, Jaime Mastromonica, Cindy Messler-Early,

Bill Murray, Emily Olson, Jen Page, Kristen Paulson, Steve Payne, Kevin Pitman, Phil M. Price, Cindi Rice, Aaron Rose,

John Frank Rosenblum, John Schock, Shawn Shelton, Matt Shimkus, Jesse Stratton, Wayne Tapia, Tree, Adam Utley,

Margaret Weis, TJ Williams, Airan Sea Wilson, Phil Woodard, Camille Vancil, Greg Vancil, Dom Zook, and the Purple Ninja

Demon Hunters Characters and World created by Matt Vancil. Used with permission.

2007 Dead Gentlemen Productions, LLC. All rights reserved.

Margaret Weis Productions and the MW logo are trademarks o Margaret Weis Productions, Ltd. All right reserved.
http://www.margaretweis.com/http://www.deadgentlemen.com/


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IntroductionBy picking up this tome, you (the Demon

Hunter) agree to hold the Brotherhood o the Celestial

Torch (the Brotherhood) blameless or any death,

dismemberment, or damnation that may occur while

battling the orces o Darkness under the command

o Satan Larry (the Enemy). The Demon Hunter also

understands that while the Brotherhood will supply him

with the training, weapons, and tools o Mad Science

necessary to deeat the agents o the Enemy and the

sundry other supernatural dangers he may encounter,

the Brotherhood is in no way responsible or the survival

o the Demon Hunter should he misuse these boons

while perorming acts o egotism, blatant stupidity, or

unnecessary endangerment o Brotherhood property

(heroism).

Right. Now that the boring legal stu is out o the

way, we can get to the good stu! And dont worry.All that talk about death, damnation, yadda-yadda-

yadda... Its not really all that likely. Seriously. Almost

hal my last group o trainees survived Basic, so we

know Larry is getting lazy.

So heres the scoop. The book youre holding is a

one-way ticket out o your blissully ignorant, mostly

sae, mortal existence and into the daring, ast-paced

lie o a Demon Hunter! In the ollowing sections

youll nd all the inormation you need to play the

sample Tabletop Field-Mission Training Exercise (or

adventure, as some might call it) included in this

booklet. With a little imagination, you can even have

your Field Simulation Instructor (or Game Master)

come up with urther missions using the Brotherhood

agent proles (Player Characters) included with

the adventure, to better prepare you or real lie

experience in the eld, huntingor, more likely, being

hunted bythe agents o Darkness!

However, these training simulations are only

the beginning. The ull Brotherhood eld manual,

under the clever guise o the Demon Hunters Role

Playing Game core rulebook, will soon be available

to you. Using the Demon Hunters RPG, you and your

riends will be able to orm your own Chapter o theBrotherhood with all-new characters, do battle with

Evil, and sometimes even survive! The core rulebook

contains the ull, expanded ruleso which this

recruitment manual is only a taste.

See you in the eld!

Playing the Demon

Hunters RPGThe Demon Hunters Role Playing Game (RPG) canbe thought o as a vehicle or telling your own stories

set in the world o the Demon Huntersa world very

much like our own, but where the orces o Good

(ctional versions o the benevolent beings o almost

all real-world religions, mythologies, and pantheons)

battle the orces o Evil (ctional versions o all the

bad guys ever thought to lurk in the shadows by those

same sources). Mad Science and strange sorcery

uel powers on both sides o the confict, and the

members o the Brotherhood o the Celestial Torchare the mortal ootsoldiers who weigh in on the side

o the Light.

Using this game, you could play out the

adventures o a Chapter o the Brotherhood, the

mishaps a bunch o clueless mortals suer when

they get involved in the crossre, or even a group oSaint PeterDirector, Brotherhood o the Celestial Torch


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undead just trying to stay warm and keep their heads

down. This recruitment manual presents one example

o what your game might be like.

However, beore you get to playing the game, the

next ew pages will introduce you to the basics behind

the rules, giving you the tools you need to make the

game work or you. Since this is just an introduction,

you will probably have some unanswered questions,

and you may nd you quickly outgrow the limited

examples provided here as your own creativity takes

over. You can nd solutions to many o these problems

in the upcoming Demon Hunters Role Playing Game

core book. For anything not answered there, eel ree

to visit the Demon Hunters RPGonline community at

orums.deadgentlemen.com.

Players and CharactersA game oDemon Hunters ollows the adventures

o a group o people whoyou can probably guesshunt demons. Well, notjust demonsdemons tend to

be the worst o the baddies, but there are plenty more

nasty things out there to shoot, stab, or incinerate.

And these Demon Hunters (a common name or

members o the Brotherhood o the Celestial Torch),

be they admirable or despicable, everyday Joes or

young godlings, are the heroes o the story. These

characters are created and controlled by the players,

who describe the heroes and decide their actions and

reactions throughout the game. Player Characters are

oten called PCs or short.

Part o this requires an understanding o the

mechanics o the gamehow to build and run a

character using the rules providedbut even more

important is a players understanding o who his

character is. A player needs to have a vision o his

characters appearance, a eel or his general attitudes,

likes, and dislikesas well as understand various

personality quirks, noble aspirations, and ridiculous

faws. The rules o the game provide guidelines or

determining many things, but exactly how those

dierent numbers and dice mesh together into a living,

breathing character is up to the player.The point o any game is to have un, and a role

playing game can give players a lot o opportunities

as their characters learn, survive, and growor

die, come back, and try again. The world oDemon

Hunters is a dangerous one, thoughhilariously so,

but dangerous nonetheless. While the players should

always be having un, their characters are a dierent

story! Bad things happen to everyone, especiallythe

main characters, so players should keep in mind that

their characters may have their lives, sanity, and very

souls endangered at every turn.

Why do they keep going, then? Maybe because

they have to. Or maybe because they eel the risk is

worth it in order to make the world a better, saer

place or normal people. Or maybe theyre some kind

o crazed psychopaths who have ound an acceptable

outlet or their desires to maim, kill, and destroy. The

answer is up to the players.

The Game MasterEvery game requires a Game Master (or GM) who

takes upon himsel the job o creating the story, non-

player characters (NPCs), locations that the Demon

Hunters will explore, and determining what happens

when the PCs screw up (or succeed, which they may

occasionally do, despite their best eorts). Some GMs

like to have prepared inormation or each session othe game (a period o time when the players and GM

get together to play or a while, usually several hours),

and some preer to wing it and make it up as they go

along. Chances are that no matter how much the GM

preps, the players will take the story in an unexpected

direction, so most sessions will require a mix o

prepping and on-the-fy invention.

The GM is the nal arbiter in the outcome

o an ambiguous situation. Like a good leader, the

GM should keep things in linebut airly, and they

should reward a job well done. The GM has a lot o

responsibility, but his primary purpose is to keep the

story moving and keep the game un. He is helping the

players tell the story o their characters adventures.

The Rules and the StoryFun is the most important result o a game, and

sometimes what would be most interesting, dramatic,

or un or the characters comes in confict with the

rules. Its also possible thatbecause people can be

nearly innitely creativea player might come up

with something he wants to do or which there areno explicit rules. In these cases, the GM should be

able to come up with a solution using the basic system

provided below, but should remember that the story

comes rstwhen in doubt, give the players the edge

in a situation.

The rules o the Demon Hunters RPGare meant

to acilitate play and enjoyment o the game and story.

Because o this, the rules are designed to be extremely


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Attribute(s) or Skill is used is determined by the

situation. Generally, common sense gives an obvious

choice, but the GM has the nal word on which

Attribute to use in a given situation.

Agilityrepresents the characters grace,

quickness, and hand-eye coordination. A character

with high Agility would have an edge with most skills

that involve movement, ne control, aiming, and so

on.

Strength is the characters physical brawn. High

Strength lets the character deal more damage with

hand weapons, carry more, run harder, and the like.

Vitalityis a measure o the characters health

and tness. A higher Vitality keeps him rom catching

colds, helps him avoid getting tired, and lets him resist

poisons.

Alertness covers how aware the character is,

whether it be o people and their unspoken cues, the

environment, or a hidden clue. A character with a high

Alertness would be able to tell when someone is lyingto him, notice that someone has been acting strangely,

or hear something sneaking around.

Intelligence represents the ability o the

character to work out puzzles, think clearly, or

understand things. A high Intelligence lets him gure

out the answer to dicult r iddles, win chess games,

and crack codes.

Willpoweris the strength o the characters

psychehis personal drive, his inner re, and his

determination. A high Willpower lets the character live

when he should die, persuade others with the sheer

orce o his personality, and resist intimidation or ear.

SkillsIn addition to Attributes, characters also have

Skillsratings that represent how well trained

or experienced they are in dierent elds. When

attempting to do something that alls under one o

these categories, they roll their Skill die (which are

rated in the same way as Attributes, but with no

minimum level) in addition to an Attribute. Also, like

Attributes, a d6 in a Skill represents a moderate levelo competency, and a d12 represents mastery.

Some Skills can be used even i the character has

no training in them, but others cannot be used unless

the character has a rating o at least d2. These are

usually specialized elds o knowledge or Skills that

are extremely dangerousconstructing a death ray

or perorming open heart surgery are not things one

should do untrained!

Because there are too many Skills to list ully

here, each characters sheet includes the list and

descriptions o Skills that he possesses. However, to

provide an example, three Skills that a character might

possess are Athletics, Guns, and Infuence:

Athletics represents just that; it would be used

or any action that involved active movement, possibly

some that involve physical tness or endurance, and

so on. Swimming, jumping, running, and dodging all all

under the category o Athletics.

Guns covers most ranged hand-weapons like

pistols, rifes, submachine guns, energy blasters,

and the like, though it would not be used or rocket

launchers or something on that scale (that would be

the Heavy Weapons Skill instead). Guns would be

rolled when shooting, cleaning, or identiying any o

the weapons listed above.

Infuencewould be the characters ability to

persuade others, whether it is through ast-talking,

clever public speaking, or seduction. It would also helpthe character to lie convincingly, write a good speech,

or intimidate someone.

TraitsIts a poor character that is nothing more than

a collection o numbers. For the Demon Hunters

RPG, most things that describe the characters can

be thought o as Attributes and Skills, sometimes

they have less denable qualities. Is the character a

vampire? Does he assume that hes so cool he cannot

lose? Does he die every single time, and yet always

comes back again? These are the kinds o things we

call Traits.

Traits are broken down into two categories:

Assets, which are generally positive Traits, and

Complications, which are generally negative. Like

Attributes and Skills, Traits can be rated by their die

Step, though not all o them have the same range o

possible Steps. Traits are also limited to a more narrow

list.

Traits can have a variety o dierent eects. Some

will provide bonuses or penalties to dierent types orolls, usually by letting you add the Traits die to the

roll. Some might give new ways to spend Plot Points

(see the section Story Elements, below). Others

might allow occasional re-rolls or ailed results.

When creating a character with the complete rules,

players will have access to a very broad selection o

Traits rom which to choose; or the purposes o this


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recruitment manual, you can see examples o the

available Traits by reading their descriptions on the

pre-made character sheets.

Rolling the DiceWhen a player wants his character to try and

shoot a vampire, rewire a superweapons power

source, or jump the gap between rootops while

running rom a werewol, the character is perorming

an action that might aila ailure that carries some

dramatic consequence. In the Demon Hunters RPG,

these actions are resolved by rolling dice. The exact

dice to be rolled usually depend upon the characters

relevant Attributes and Skills; what happens ater the

roll depends upon what type o action the character is

attempting.

Standard Actions

Most actions are standard actions. The GMdecides which Attribute and Skill combination is most

appropriate or that particular action in that situation.

Every roll uses exactly one Attribute and one Skill,

except or certain special rolls that use two Attributes

and no Skills. The dice are rolled and added together;

i the total is higher than the Diculty Number set

by the GM (and the situation), then the character

succeeds. The Diculty Number (Di) can be set by

the GM, by how dicult the situation is supposed to

be (see the chart below, under Standard Diculty,

or common values), or even by an opposing roll

(oten the case in combat).

Most standard actions take very little game time,

but a character can only perorm one o them at a

time. Those things that dont actually take time or

concentration, and which carry no real consequence

or ailure (like shouting a warning or fipping on a

light) dont require a roll. These actions can possibly

be perormed simultaneously as long as it makes sense

given the situation.

This is a simple method o resolution, but it also

allows the GM and the players a lot o fexibilty. The

rules never permanently pair a single Attribute with

any Skill. Because o this, it is up to the GM to think

about the specic situation and choose an Attribute

and Skill pair or each instance. This allows the rules

to accommodate a very broad range o things and be

easily adapted to almost anything.

For example, a character could roll Agility +

Athletics to see how quickly he can run through a

patch o dense oliage (since he needs to be careul

not to trip or get tangled in the brush). Then again,

he would roll Strength + Athletics when running

across an open eld, when sheer muscle power is

more important than grace and precision. Finally,

should that open eld turn out to be a mineeld, the

character would be rolling Alertness + Athletics tosee i he can cross it saely.

Complex ActionsSome actions are more lengthy or involved

than others; while sprinting across a room would be

a standard action, running a marathon would be a

Complex Action, one that takes multiple rolls to

resolve over a period o time that could vary rom

minutes to days. Complex actions use the same

general diculty scale as standard actions, but the

totals required to succeed are much higher (see the

chart below, under Complex Diculty). Each roll

the character makes takes a certain amount o time,

and the totals are added together until the Dilculty

is reached, all the dice come up showing ones, or the

character cannot make any more rolls because he ran

out o time.

D i f f icu lty Nu m b e r ch a r t

category StaNDarD Difficulty complexDifficulty

Easy 3 15

Average 7 35

Hard 11 55

Formidable 15 75

Heroic 19 95

Incredible 23 115

Ridiculous 27 135

Impossible 31 155


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When perorming a Complex Action, the GM

decides the Diculty and the dice to be used exactly

like a standard action roll. Then they need to decide

two more things: how much game time each roll

represents or the character, and i there is a time limit

that restricts the number o rolls the player can make.

For example, a character might attempt to repair a

cars engine ater a rust-demon thoroughly clogged it

up. The GM decides that the character should roll his

Intelligence + Mechanical Engineering, and that this is

a complex action with a Diculty o Hard (55). The

GM also decides that each roll takes hal an hour o

game time, and that since the car needs to be used in a

daring escape in about 2 hours, the character only has

4 rolls in which to reach the total. The player makes

his rst roll, and his dice total 10. The second roll adds

up to 15, or a total o 25. The third roll gives a score

o 13, bringing the grand total to 38. The engineer had

better hope he gets at least 17 on his ourth and nal

roll!In that example, had the dice turned up all ones

at any point, the character would have botched the

attempt. The repair would be considered a ailure

perhaps the engineer made the problem worse. At

that point he would have to give up, and either start

over or nd someone else to do the jobunless the

GM decides that the ailure has been so catastrophic

that it has prevented all urther attempts.

Because the ancient crats known as the Mystic

Arts are dicult, ritualized perormances, they are

always resolved by Complex Actions. They are

identical to other Complex Actions save that they

always require some orm o sacrice. The core

rulebook has the ull, detailed rules needed to create

or cast most spells, but some examples o rituals

and the rules or them can be seen on Harkadians

character sheet, where a couple o his avorites are

described.

CombatWhile most actions can be resolved very simply

using the system above, combat can get a little morecomplicated. The basics are the same, but because

there are so many conficting actors involved, here are

some guidelines to help work out the results.

Combat TurnInitiative,Movement and Action

Combat is broken down into turns, each o

which is approximately three seconds long. During

a turn, each character will act, what he does will

be resolved, and then the next turn will begin. This

repeats until the combat is overusually when one

side surrenders or is destroyed.

The order that characters act in is called the

Initiative order. Initiative is a Derived Statistic, and

each pre-made character has his Initiative listed on his

sheet. The character with the highest Initiative goes

rst. His player (or the GM) declares what he is doing,

the action is resolved, and the character with the next

highest Initiative takes his turn. In the case o ties, PCs

go beore NPCs, and, i necessary, tied characters can

roll their Agility dice until an order is established.

When it becomes a characters Initiative turn, he

has the opportunity to both move and act. He canchoose to move or act rst, and need not do both;

however, moving only allows him to travel up to 15

eet at a ast walk. I he wants to go arther, he can

choose to run. Running requires his action or the turn,

so he will not be able to Attack, Dodge, or perorm

other actions, but it allows him to move up to 30 eet

in one turn.

Each turn, as long as they arent running,

characters can also perorm one action. This could

be used to make an attack, dodge to avoid an attack,

attempt to kick down a door, or any number o other

things. Most standard actions can be perormed in one

combat turn, but unless a complex action only takes

one turn per roll (which is unusual) they are out o the

question.

Life Points and DamageWhen a character in the Demon Hunters RPGis

hurt, he suers Damage. The amount o Damage he

can withstand beore he dies is represented by his

Lie Point (LP) total. Whenever he suers Damage,

he loses a certain number o Lie Points, until his

current total drops to 0 and he dies. Lie Points canbe restored through resttwo days o bed rest

will restore 1 Lie Point, as long as the character is

receiving moderate medical attention.

Damage can be inficted upon characters in a

number o ways. The most common is through attacks

in combat, but characters can also be damaged by

accidents, poisons, terrible weather conditions, and


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so on. Players should be cautious i their characters

current LP total is getting lowin the universe o

Demon Hunters, lie can be brutally short!

A characters maximum Lie Points is a Derived

Statistic. His current LP can never be higher than this

number, but when it is lower, a good nights rest will

restore 1 Lie Point.

Attacking and DefendingDuring combat, characters will most likely be

trying to infict harm on someone else while avoiding

as much as possible to themselves. In order to go

about this properly, their players will need to know

how to attack and deend.

The basics o an Attack are very simple: An

Attack roll is a simple action with a Diculty set by

the targets Deense. I the Attack roll is equal to or

higher than the Deense, then the Attack hits, and

Damage needs to be calculated.

AttacksThere are as many dierent ways to Attack as

there are people and weapons. However, or ease o

use, the Demon Hunters RPGbreaks them down into

a handul o combat Skills: Guns, Heavy Weapons,

Melee Weapons, and Unarmed. Whenever a

character makes an attack, he uses one o these Skills

(i he has the appropriate one) and an Attribute or his

Attack roll. The Attribute used will usually be Strength

or Melee Weapons and Unarmed, or Agility or Guns

and Heavy Weapons, but as with any Skill these are

not set-in-stone pairings.

Making an Attack uses the characters action

or that combat turn, but it may orce the target to

spend his action while Deending, leaving him open to

urther Attacks and unable to make one o his own.

Because things happen quickly in battleoten

in such a way that the participants may only perceive

things as a blur o motion and soundit is important

to remember that an Attack roll with a ast weapon

may represent more than one actual attack. For

example, in a single combat turn (three seconds) it

may be possible to slash at someone several times

with a kniea eint to the let, a defected blow, and

nally a penetrating strike, or example. In order to

keep things going, these are all represented by the

single Attack roll and a single amount o Damage, but

the drama and tension o combat are much moreheart-stopping than a mathematical calculation! GMs

and players should be sure to interpret the results

o combat with this in mindthe excitement o

cinematic combat and lie-on-the-line danger can be

greatly enhanced through description. When a zombie

successully bites a PC, that character doesnt just

Tabletop combat simulation.


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lose Lie Pointshe screams in agony as the decaying

teeth sink into his skull and the other zombies all

shout, Brains!

DefensesWhen a character is Attacked, his player will want

to know what Deense is available to him, and that

depends heavily upon the situation and his decisions.

I the deending character is surprised, asleep,

restrained, or otherwise completely unmoving or

some reason, his Deense is automatically set to

3. Sneaking up on an enemy provides a signicant

advantage!

I the character is actively engaged in combat,

moving around even a little bit (even i he isnt aware

o the attack), and isnt using his action to Deend

(perhaps he has already used his action or the turn

to Attack or Deend, or is waiting to Attack when his

Initiative comes up), then he uses his Innate Deense.

He roll his Agility die by itsel, to Deend, applyingthe result against the Attack roll. This does mean that

the result could be lower than 3! Such a thing would

be unortunate, but thats the problem with random

chance.

I the character has not yet used his action, and

he is aware that the Attack is coming, he could spend

his action during that turn to Deend himsel. This

would give him a normal skilled roll or his Deense.

Depending upon the type o Attack, he could choose

either to Block or to Dodge.

Against Melee Weapons or Unarmed attacks

(NOT Guns or Heavy Weapons) he has the option

o using his own Melee Weapons or Unarmed Skill to

Block, along with either Agility or Strength. Dodging

is a little more versatile, and is useul against any kind

o Attack; the deender Dodges using his Agility +

Athletics.

Calculating DamageWhen an Attack roll is greater than or equal

to the Deense, it is a hit, and may do Damage. To

determine how many LP the target loses, rst look at

the dierence between the two rolls:Attack Deense = the Initial Damage o the

Attack, which can be 0. However, the attacker may

then roll a Damage Die, adding its result to determine

the nal Damage. Weapons list the Damage Die they

provide, and sts have an eective Damage Die o

d0. I the deender has any Armor, its Armor Rating

is subtracted rom the Damage, and the remaining

Damage is subtracted rom the characters Lie Points.

I he hits 0 LP, he might be dead! However, i the

possibility exists that he could be saved by rst aid, a

kind GM might let him be merely unconscious.

Example of CombatIn a tabletop eld simulation, Gator and

Armageddon (playing as themselves, with Harkadian

acting as the GM) have been let to guard the entrance

to an abandoned junkyard while the others explore

inside, looking or the source o some necromantic

energy Harkadian sensed. Note that the example

includes a ew concepts that are explained urther

below.

Game Master (Harkadian): The others have

been gone or teen minutes, and theres been no

sign o them or anyone else so ar.

Armageddon: I have been watching both the

junkyard and the street outside, correct?

Gator: Yeah, you told him that already...Armageddon: Well, I would not have to watch

both ways i you were doing your job as instructed

Gator: Hey, hey, Im not complaining. You do

it bettern I could, anyway. Besides, reading Reptile

Wrasslin Monthlyis important preparation or

The GM notes that at this point, a small group o

shambling zombies are about to appear rom inside the

junkyard. Armageddon and Gator, arguing, dont get the

normal Alertness + Perception roll they might in order

to notice them, but Armageddons Second Sight Asset

prevents him rom being ambushed.

GM: Armageddon, you suddenly get a chill down

your spine; youre not even sure you heard it, but

you think you might have caught the sot sounds o

someone approaching.

Armageddon: I hold up a hand to Gator or

silence and back up against our van, looking around or

the source!

Gator: I hes worried, Im worriedI hold real

still and listen hard.

GM: In the sudden quiet, you can both make out

the sound again; ootsteps, a small group o people,

coming rom inside the junkyard. Unortunately,the low moaning doesnt sound like the rest o your

Chapter. You hear one word, repeated over and over:

Brains!

Gator: Zombies? Easy enough. Geddon, you

just set up with that rife o yours and mow em

down.


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10

Armageddon: I will try, but you should stay

near me and be ready. The last zombies we ought

were good runners. I may not be able to drop them

all beore they reach us.

GM: You two manage to position yourselves just

beore the zombies round the corner. Youre ty eet

rom them, with the fat, clear driveway between you.

Upon noticing you, the zombies let out even louder

moans o hunger and begin to charge! Initiatives,

please.

Armageddon: (glancing at each others

character sheets) We are tied at 14.

Gator: Ill let you go rst, considering you have

the rife an all.

GM: The zombiesthere are ve o themare

all tied at 6, so no contest there. Movement and

action, Armageddon?

Armageddon: I do not move. I drop to one

knee, brace mysel, and re at the closest zombie.

GM: Ok, roll the attack as Agility + Guns. Sincethe zombies are Running, theyre using up their action

to moveor they will on their turn, anywayso they

cant Dodge.

Armageddon rolls his Agility + Guns, which is d8

+ d12. With a stroke o good luck, he totals 17! The

zombie, not able to Dodge, only gets to roll his Agility die

or Innate Deense. The GM rolls the d4, and gets a 2.

17 - 2 = 15, so Armageddon has a denite hit here; the

Initial Damage is 15, and he rolls his rifes Damage Die,

resulting in a urther 3 damage. The GM subtracts 18

rom the zombies current Lie Points, putting it at 2!

GM: The lead zombie, breaking into a loping

run, is heading straight or your position with a look o

hunger in its decaying eyes. However, Armageddons

rife round takes it in mid-stride, right in the orehead!

It collapses into a pile o necrotic goo. The our others

dont seem to notice. Gator, your turn.

Gator: Nice shot! I pull out two grubby rolls o

quarters and wait, since they aint near enough yet.

GM: Their turnthey manage to shamble at a

decent speed, just as ast as that last group, which is

airly unusual. They cover 30 eet, and are now only

20 eet away. Your turn again, Armageddon.Armageddon: I have an idea; we must back up!

We can get one more turn beore they reach us i we

walk backwards this time.

GM: (making an on-the-fy ruling about this)

Good call, but walking backwards while ring will

give you a penalty to your roll. A 2 Step Skill

penalty.

Armageddon and Gator both agree; walking, they

can move 15 eet and still take an action. They are now

35 eet away rom the zombies and Armageddon res

again. His Agility die is still a d8, but his Guns Skill die

takes that 2 Step Penalty, and is reduced rom d12 to

d8. He rolls, and gets a total o 9 this time. The zombies

Innate Deense comes up a 4, and it takes 9 4 = 5

Initial Damage, a mere 2 extra rom the Damage die,

and only has its Lie Point total reduced by 7 this turn.

Again, Gator waits.

GM: They move 30 eet again, and are now so

close they can almost taste your brains! Your turn,

Armageddon.

Armageddon: This time we stand our ground! I

re! But not at the wounded one, at another, and this

time Im spending 4 Plot Points on the attack.

Armageddon slides 4 poker chips rom his pile over

to the GM. He then makes his attack roll: Agility (d8) +

Guns (d12) + Bonus Die rom Plot Points (4 Plot Points

gets him a d8 here). The Agility die comes up a 3, theGuns die rolls a 9, and the Bonus Die gets only a 1! That

would be a total o 13, but the special rule regarding

the Bonus Dice (they can roll a minimum o the number

o Plot Points they cost, so 4 in this case) means that

ithe1 is counted as a 4 instead. The new total is 16! The

zombies Deense comes up 4 again, reducing this to

12 Initial Damage, but the Damage Die brings the nal

damage back up to 16, splattering the zombie all over its

comrades!

GM: That leaves 3 zombies, one o which is

wounded. Gator?

Gator: Im done waitin! Besides, theyd only get

in a ew ree hits on their turn. I step orwardits

only 5 eet, sos I can do thatand take a swing at the

wounded one!

Gators attack roll is Strength (d12) + Unarmed

Combat (d10), since hes using his sts. He rolls a total

o 13. Because the zombie doesnt have to run any

more, it could choose to Dodge, but the GM doesnt

think a zombie is likely to bother, and sticks with Innate

Deense. That roll produces a 3 this time, or a total o

10 Initial Damage. Normally, that would be thatsts

dont have a Damage Die. However, Gators BrawlerAsset lets him use its d6 Trait die as a Damage Die! He

rolls it, and adds 4 more Damage. The zombie, already

injured, goes down.

Gator: Boo-ya! Hell, I might as well go all

outI use Brawler to make a second attack, stead o

holding that or a Dodge, callin out Whos up next?!


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11

Gators second attack, also granted by the Brawler

Asset, pulps another zombie, leaving them acing just one.

However, now it has closed in on them, and Gator has no

more actions or Deense! On the zombies turn, the GM

makes its attack roll, Strength (an inhuman d12 + d4)

+ Unarmed Combat (d8). The undead creature scores a

15! Gators d8 Agility gives him an Innate Deense that

comes up 6, so he only takes 9 Damage, but thats still

a problem! Well, hopeully he and Armageddon can deal

with one more zombie, and astanother hit like that

would put Gator under!

Story Elements& Plot Points

Sometimes even the poor bastards who nd

themselves ace to ace with an Earthwalker get lucky.

They might discover an ancient tome listing the only

known weakness o the thing hunting them, or a cacheo hidden weapons in their grandmothers closet. The

Demon Hunters RPGhas a mechanic to let players

create these story elements: Plot Points.

Plot Points (PP) are points that players can spend

to infuence the course o the game in various ways.

Each player begins the game with 6 Plot Points, and

the GM awards them more Plot Points throughout

each session (during play) or a variety o reasons:

-The player comes up with a good idea, role plays

his character very well, or suggests something that

improves the game or the experience or the group: 1

to 2 PP

-The character is hampered signicantly by one o

his Complications: 2 to 3 PP

-The characters achieve a major goal, complete an

adventure, or do something extremely signicant: 3 to

4 PP each

Players should be able to earn Plot Points airly

quickly, since they can spend them equally quickly.

Each player can have a maximum o 12 PP at any one

time. Any more earned over that limit are lost, so

players should be sure to spend them beore they lose

them! Some o the ways they can use PP are:

-They can spend PP beore making a roll to add a

bonus die to it. The rst PP adds a d2; each additional

PP increases this bonus die by 1 Step (so 2 PP add a

d4, 3 PP add a d6, etc). This bonus die is treated just

like the other dice that make up the roll, so it alsoapplies to any rerolls. The only exception is that the

bonus die is always counted as rolling at least a value

equal to the number o Plot Points it costi it rolls

less than that, it is ignored and you simply add the

minimum value to the total as i the bonus die had

rolled that instead. For example, a d8 costs 4 Plot

Points; i it rolls a 1, 2, or 3, it is treated as i it had

actually rolled a 4.

-They can spend PP ater making a roll to increase

their total; each PP they spend adds 1 to the nal total.

-With the GMs approval, they can spend PP to

alter the story in small ways. Perhaps your character

has a riend with access to the heavy weapons you

need; maybe you stumble across an overlooked cache

o supplies in a storeroom; perhaps the random house

you vandalized and broke into actually contains the

collection o a paranoid gun-nut who was gearing up

or WWIII. These kinds o coincidences and additions

cost a varying number o PP, rom 1-2 or a very minor

benet, to 11-12 or something with great importance

or benet. The GM should disallow any alteration that

would ruin the story.

You may nd it useul to use physical tokens osome kind to keep track o each players Plot Points;

poker chips or glass beads work well. The GM can

simply hand out tokens when awarding Plot Points

during the game, and players can hand them back to

spend them. They can record their remaining total on

their character sheets at the end o each session.

The Purple Ninja, greatest Demon Hunter o all.


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1

AdventureTraining Day

1

Training DaySome people are ready or anything. They train

day in and day out or an event that always seems just

around the corner. Weekend warriors who exercise

and prepare to ght or a cause they have yet to

choose. In the Brotherhood, things are a bit clearer.

There is an enemy around the corner: The Order o

the Inernal Scepter. They are evil, they are cruel and

they would love to kill anyone who ghts or right andgood in this world. Every day, new recruits leave the

Brotherhoods protective embrace to adventure in

the world. Some make their mark, others just make a

smear.

Your rst day in the eld. Everything you have

been taught is resh in your mind and the world is still

shiny and new. Stepping into the night armed with the

nest weapons available and good itsel at your side,

you see a fash o the glory that awaits your team,

your Chapter, your amily. At least, until Ned gets his

ace smashed in by a vampire with a venereal disease.

That puts a damper on the whole day.

What is this?This is an introductory adventure or the Demon

Hunters Role Playing Game. I you happen to have seen

the Demon Hunters Orientation Video, the events o

this adventure take place shortly ater the ootage

shot in the lm. You, the GM, should amiliarize

yoursel with the adventure and youll be ready to

lead a new team o Hunters into the world.

Your story and yourChapter

This team is the greenest o the green. The rst

actual action they saw ended in near disaster with

the death o Ned. The story, however, is how you

see it. Every new Chapter takes a test like this and

every one does dierently. The Demon Hunters may

think they are on their own, but they are closely

monitored by Silent Jim and the Brotherhood. The

miniature video camera implanted in Neds let eye by

the Brotherhood is IMPOSSIBLE to detect. I things

go haywire, Jim is ready to step in and assist, but the

noobs should not count on any help. At the moment

indicated in the adventure, Jim leaves the team on

their own. Ater all, i they cant handle this, they dont

have what it takes to be successul Demon Hunters.

Setting the SceneThis adventure is laid out in several scenes

covering the events laid out or our intrepid heroes.

The scenes are in the order that makes the most

sense or the story and cover some basic learning

activities or the new Demon Hunters. The story

should unold as the players progress and learn how

to use their new-ound skills and abilities.

All scenes are laid out in the ollowing manner:

The Set-Up: The rst part o each scene sets up

the adventure. It usually begins with a bit o favor text

that you can read to your players to get them in the

right mindset. You are also ree to use it as a guide or

your own version o things.

Problems: There are always problems. I there

werent, there wouldnt be a reason or a Demon

Hunting Chapter to be there. This is where any

encountersgood or badarise. Creatures o the

dark, damsels in distress and general pains in the

tuckus will show up in this section. While killing

everything in sight is certainly an option, it is not

always the best one. Make sure you have everyonesstats in ront o you just in case the players get trigger

happy.

Now What?Ater the players resolve the

confict and hide the bodies, something has been

altered or better or or worse. Even i they havent all

made it through, this is where the team examines the

consequences o their actions.


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1

Note:Words in all capitals are either Task

Diculty Levels (like EASY, HARD, FORMIDABLE) or

Skills (like, AGILITY, MELEE WEAPON COMBAT, or

KICK IN THE JUNK (ne, that last one is unocial,

but dont let that stop you)). Thus, when you read

a phrase like Fighters nd killing Duamerthrax

IMPOSSIBLE... this means that the Task Diculty or

the desired action is indeed impossible and requires a

die roll o 31 or higher to succeed. In this way, youll

know how hard things will be without having to fip

pages.

Scene 1:Reorientation

The converted SUV rumbles along the dark road.

The night seems more rightening than ever beore. Itoppresses the senses and closes in rom all sides. The

long drive in the North Dakota fats is punctuated by

the occasional town o one street light and perhaps

a gas station. The instructions the Brotherhood gave

Jim mean no stops, though. Not even or Ned to take

a pee breakeven undead accountants drink coee,

it seems.

Buttons line the dashboard console, most with

arcane symbols never seen inside an American-made

car. All assuredly do something really cool, but no one

dares cross Jim and push one at random. Only Aloysius,

the new team leader put in place by the Brotherhood

is allowed to ride shotgun. Sparky and Ned sit in the

ar back with their hands tied. Jim insisted on these

arrangements because Sparky would most likely want

to rewire the car while it drove and Ned is a bit o a

moron. A signal fashes on the dash and Jim reaches

over to press a button hidden amongst the many

outlined by dim LEDs across its surace. A holographic

projection o Gabriel, team leader o Chapter Omega

Fiteen, appears.

Well, you really screwed that one up. Ned died

and the Syphilitic Ninja Vampire escaped. You areobviously not ready to complete training yet. The

Brotherhood is giving you one last chance beore you

are permanently assigned to ride the desk in some

backwater hole like they did tonever mind. Aloysius

has been assigned to you as team leader to help keep

you in line.

With a quick head turn, the new team leader looks

at each o you and points a nger accusingly. Through

clenched teeth he says, I you noobs dont get your

shit together, Ill kill you mysel. Looking at Ned he

continues, Permanently.

The hologram o Gabriel looks up at Aloysius and

shakes his head.

Listen, Al, lay o the kids. Youre only here because

your last team quit. Look, this is easy. Youre headed

about three hours north into Canada. Jims taking you

to a guy we use when teams dont seem to grasp the

ner points o how not to get killed. Proessor Sneed is

a bit o an eccentric, but hes the best. Head up into

Riding Mountain and nd his cabin. Hell guide you

through the rest o your training.

Jim stares at the hologram through his ever-present

sunglasses. Gabriel looks up at his riend and winces.

No, Jim, you didnt do a bad job. This is standard

procedure when a noob bites it. You know that.

Hell, were lucky only one o them kicked it! I mean,usually...

Gabriel stops suddenly and looks around at you. He

swallows hard and stutters a bit.

Um, well, yeah. Usually the whole team makes it

out saely and lives ull, productive lives. Thats what

happens. Nope. No chance that you all might die in a

blazing inerno o death and destruction.


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1

Again, he stares uncomortably.

Look, be careul and listen to Sneed. Hell show

you what to do. Alpha...er...Omega Fiteen out.

The hologram winks out o existence leaving you

in almost complete darkness, save or the headlights

on the road. Jim simply turns back to the lonesome

road.

How it is [Set-Up]: Aloysius has been appointed

the new team leader. He will answer any questions

they ask as best he can, but cannot give any more

details as to what they might nd and will be a real

dick about it. I anyone asks Is this a test, Jim replies,

Everything is a test.

Now What?: As soon as everyone is satised

with the answers they get, move on to Scene 2.

Scene : Arrival &

ExplorationO the beaten path doesnt even begin to describe

this place. Besides being in Nowhere, Canada, the

park has seen better days. The paved road beyond

the entrance looks too worn or its age. Potholes

and weeds pockmark its surace with disdain or the

encroachment o man. Jim stops at the border to the

park. He turns and looks at each o you. You can eel

his hidden eyes burn into your very being.

This is not a sae place, he intones. No matter

what you see or hear, do not leave the car until I tell

you. Do not leave the protective circle around the

cabin. I you do, I will not come and get you. You will

die here and your soul will not escape.

Without waiting or questions, he throws the

SUV into drive and heads into the darkness. The

headlights dim momentarily, but the car moves along

on the rugged road. A ew miles in, Jim turns o the

paved road all together, running through a packed

dirt road surrounded by trees that have seen more

horrible things than a human could ever imagine.

Finally, ater what seems like hours, a rusted, chain-link ence appears, blocking the path. Jim fashes

headlights and the gate opens. Inside the ence lies

a log cabin that has seen better days. A Brotherhood

standard sedan with Ontario plates sits out ront and

a lit replace shines through the ront window. Jim

speaks without even looking at you.

Something is not right here. Sneed should have

greeted us. Be careul. Get out o the car and secure

the cabin.

A quick fick o his nger and the child locks

disengage, allowing you to leave.

How it is [Set-Up]: The team can search the

grounds and the cabin. It is HARD (11) to turn up

any evidence while searching around the cabin (using

ALERTNESS + PERCEPTION). What little there is

cannot be accurately identied. The Chapter might

nd smudged ootprints under a window or scratches

on the door, but nothing that indicates a struggle or

orced entry.

Problem: Sneeds deenses on the perimeter

o the cabin are still active. The ollowing list gives

location and type o trap, as well as diculty to disarm

and damage caused i set o. Fortunately, spotting

the deenses without tripping them is automatic

or characters trying to enter cautiously or looking

around even a little. Allow players to exercisecreativity in their attempts to disarm the traps: they

could try smashing them with something (STRENGTH

+ MELEE WEAPON COMBAT); picking them apart

(ALERTNESS + MECHANICAL ENGINEERING);

shorting out the supernatural components on the

Rune or the Circle (WILLPOWER + MYSTIC ARTS);

or even walking through them and suering the

consequences (Ned), or example

Front Door: Rune o Warding; HARD (11); d6

explosion damage, 5 t radius

Front Steps; Trip Wire Flamethrower; EASY (3);

d6 Fire damage

Windows & Front Door: Super-Guard Alarm

System; AVERAGE (7); alarm sounds at 100dB or 30

sec, 1 pt Stun damage, 150 t radius

Surrounding the Cabin @ 75 t: Circle o

Protection; FORMIDABLE (15); allows orest

creatures and other bump-in-the-nighters in i broken

Assuming they get inside and the team searches

the house, read the ollowing:

Scene -1: Interior CabinThe interior o the cabin reveals the spartanexistence o Proessor Sneed. Not that he goes around

kicking people into bottomless pits, he just lives

simply. At rst glance, the main room o the cabin is

largely undisturbed. A plain couch and easy chair sit

a comortable distance rom the roaring replace in

the main area. A desktop computer with the

Brotherhood logo screen saver adorns an antique


17/36

1

wooden desk against the wall. Various cabin

standards hang on the walls along with awards and

commendations rom various agencies not known to

anyone who is not already a member. Two doors leave

the room, the one on the let stands ajar and leads to

the kitchen while the other remains closed.

I the team searches the desk, read the ollowing:

On the desk, you nd the Proessors notes. One

is a day by day account o what appears to be minor

supernatural occurrences rom a pit somewhere, one

details the anatomy o what the Proessor called a

Demonic Minion and yet another reveals intimate

details o Sneeds last shopping trip. It seems the

good Proessor has a penchant or Snacky Cakes and

Cobblers Crystals. The picture on the anatomy page

is an unusual one. The creature appears humanoid,

roughly ve eet tall with dark red skin. Nothing else

is written on the page.

The Proessor let no inormation on the Minions,

but the team can search the Brotherhood databasethrough their Cipher and nd the ollowing:

Demonic Minion

Type: Hal-Demon

Danger Level: 3 o 10

Description: Demonic Minions are the result o

a thousand years o inbreeding and abuse by various evil

masters. Clans o Minions live underground and serve

whoever comes around oering the most shiny bits. Minions

are generally unreliable and are considered cannon odder

by many. They are not true demons in any sense o the

word. Minions exist on the material plane independent o

any summoning or evil intent.

Current Whereabouts: A clan o Minions is currently

under study by Brotherhood Agent Sneed in Ontario.

No urther inormation available.

The only understandable bit o inormation let on

the desk is on a torn scrap o paper which reads:

Daily Report: October 15 October 21, 2007

Monday: More scratching rom below. The Minions

seem more restless than usual.

Tuesday: Minions seem louder than usual. Better call

in a team to perorm standard maintenance.

Wednesday: Strange sounds rom below. Theres a new

voice leading the Minions. It sounds organized and has a

strange lisp. More scratching, but not at the door this time.

Thursday: Put in call to Brotherhood. Asked or Gabriel

and his team. Hope theyre as reliable as they used to be.

Friday:

Saturday:Sunday:

Scene -: Interior KitchenWhile the room appears to be an average rustic

kitchen, one unique dierence glares at you: the thick

wooden trap door that stands open in the center o

the foor. A cursory glance shows many deep scrapes

on the underside o the door. The hole leading under


18/36

1

the kitchen is dimly lit rom below. A ficker in the

light and a pu o smoke rom the depths suggest

torches or, i lie really sucks, the smoldering corpse

o Sneed placed there to lure his would-be rescuers

to their doom.

Upon discovering the trap door, Jim hands

Aloysius a map. It is poorly drawn and has very

ew markings. Jim explains that it is the map to the

underground tunnels, but with Sneed gone, there is

no way to determine its accuracy. From this point,

heading down into the trap door leads to Scene 3.

Scene -: InteriorBedroom

Opening the door leads you to the scene you

hoped not to ndviolence most denitely ensued.

The bedroom is in shambles. Lamps and pictures

lie in broken pieces around overturned dressers andurniture. Drawers are scattered and picked through,

as i the culprit were looking or something. Barely

anything in the room or adjoining bathroom is let

intact.

There is little else to see, but i an ALERTNESS +

PERCEPTION roll beats a HARD (11) Diculty, the

team may nd drops o blood under the mattress.

Scene : SeparationAnxiety

As you begin your climb, Aloysius begins arguing

with Jim. Well, Jims mostly standing there looking

intimidating and Als doing most o the talking.

Someone needs to stay here and wait or the

cavalry while these noobs distract whatevers down

there. I dont trust any o them to do it and Im not

letting you screw up another mission. I dont care

how intimidating you think you are! You keep your

big, creepy ass up here and Ill make sure nothinggets screwed up down there. Got me?

Jim simply stares at your team leader or just long

enough to make all o you want to crawl out o your

skins. He nods once and simply says, Fine. He leans

up against the kitchen counter and strikes a match

to light his cigar. Where he suddenly got a match and

cigar, you have no idea.

With Aloysius in the lead, you climb down the

rickety stairs into a cramped tunnel no more than

ten eet wide and seven eet tall. Torches light the

way down the long corridor bending beyond your line

o sight.

It is EASY (3) to see signs o a struggle at the oot

o the stairs. A torn bit o fannel still clings to the

bottom step. Tracks in the dirt on the foor indicate

someone being dragged down the tunnel. Ater the

team begins to head down the tunnel themselves,

they nd the ollowing scrawled on the wall:

B-WEAR! STEP ON ROCK GO SQUISH

It is EASY (3) to see the raised bumps in the foor

ahead. They continue on or about twenty eet at odd

intervals. Also EASY (3) to spot are the giant boulders

hanging teen eet above the tunnel foor. Despite

any protests rom the team, Aloysius demands they

ignore the warning and continue on. He insists on

being rst through.

The team leader looks at you with obvious disgust.I cant believe that you bunch o pansies want to

listen to grati some monster smeared on a wall with

his own crap, he says. Aloysius spits on the foor.

Were going to keep moving and no idiot team or

lizard thing is going to stop me!

Aloysius turns and takes two steps down the hall

beore he proves himsel wrong. The rst boulder

crushes him, killing him instantly.

The trap is, as beore, EASY (3) to detect and

avoid; the spaces between the bumps are quite

sae. All o Aloysius gear was crushed with him and

the boulder is IMPOSSIBLE (31) to move, though

ortunately it can be clambered over and around

without much eort.

Scene : In WhichOur Heroes Do

Great BattleThe tunnel snakes on or at least a mile beorecoming to an open area. The passage beyond isclosed o by a bolted, wooden gate and guarded by

our Demonic Minions. They stand silently and do not

seem to have noticed you.


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1

How it is [Set-Up]: Thus begins the battle

sequence. These guards are not the brightest or most

coordinated Minions and should pose little issue or

the Chapter.

Problem: There is no way to continue orward

without passing the guards.

GUARD MINIONS: Agility d4, Strength d8,

Vitality d6, Alertness d2, Intelligence d4, Willpower d4,

Initiative 6, Lie Points 10, Skills: Discipline d2 (resisting

intimidation), Perception d4 (seeing things or seeing

through tricks), Unarmed Combat d6 (hitting people).

Notes: Not having any deensive Skill (Athletics), the

Minions will simply attack every round. However, i

a player thinks to attempt to intimidate them into

surrendering, the roll is WILLPOWER + DISCIPLINE

against WILLPOWER + DISCIPLINE (one roll counts

or all o them, and this can only be tried once); i the

Minions lose, they fee down the tunnel, smashing the

door as they go, and vanish rom sight.

Now What?: The bar across the gate is quiteheavy and is HARD (11) to lit ar enough to remove.

Beyond the gate, the team nds a dimly lit hall winding

as it appears on their map. Two doors are immediately

seen, one on either side o the hall. The door on the

let is outlined in Scene 4-1 and the right door is in

Scene 4-2.

Scene -1: Oh, Junk.The heavy metal door is rusted around its hinges.

A small opening with ancient bars shows a horrible

sight within. Two Minions stand on either side o a

darkly-clad gure. His robes resemble those o a Shao

Lin Monk, but they are covered in scrawled anarchist

markings. He stands silent and oreboding, arms

olded and hood drawn. On the other side o the room

is chained a man dressed in the gi o purple. A mask

covers his ace, but blood rom various wounds seeps

out. The man known only as the Purple Ninja rolls his

head towards his captor and speaks sotly. The mask

moves with his lips, but you could swear the words did

not match the timing.

You can do as you wish to me, end. Neither yourcruel henchmen nor your oul stench can make me

talk.

The black-clad man laughs. It is a cruel, hollow

sound. He tips his head, tossing o his hood. Randomly

spiked hair, black with a dyed white stripe in the

middle, tops a ace only a blind mother with no sense

o smell could love. Metal spikes and plugs adorn most

o the mans pale ace. He sneers at his captive.

You are not meant to talk, Purple Ninja. You are

meant to suer and die. Suddenly, the pierced man

moves to an attack position. You are meant or pain

at the hands o I, Skunk, the Dark Punk Junk Monk.

With a snap, Skunks leg nds its way deep into

the groin o the Purple Ninja. The cry o pain is like

nothing you have ever heard. It is the sound o ultimate

suering.







Minions will simply attack every round. Unlike the

previous minions, these ones are little braver, and

cannot simply be cowednot while Skunk is around,

anyway.

SKUNK: Agility d10, Strength d8, Vitality d8,

Alertness d6, Intelligence d6, Willpower d8, Initiative16, Lie Points 16, Skills: Athletics d8 (Dodging),

Unarmed Combat d8, Perception d4. Notes: These

are minimalist statistics or Skunk, who is ully detailed

in the Demon Hunters RPGcore rulebook. Here he

possesses the special Trait Recurring Villain: he usually

fees successully at the last moment, and even when

he appears to be killed, his body is never ound!

How it is [Set-Up]: The Purple Ninja is a olk

hero in Demon Hunter circles. His tales are legendary

and his winning streak is unmatched. Seeing him here,

the team is almost compelled to help him.

Problem: As old as the door is, it is HARD (11)

to break down. Any non-subtle attempt to open it

alerts Skunk and the minions who will immediately

kill the Purple Ninja. (Note to GM: Dont worry. The

Purple Ninja is supposed to die.) The lock on the

door is an AVERAGE (7) design and can be picked

with an AGILITY + COVERT roll. Picking the lock

gives the team the element o surprise and a +4 to

each characters Initiative or the rst turn o combat.

During the ght, one o the Minions will try and kill the

Purple Ninja.

Now What?:When it is obvious that the ghtis going the teams way, Skunk will throw a smoke

bomb and run out the door. The smoke makes Skunk

FORMIDABLE (15) to see (requiring a successul

ALERTNESS + PERCEPTION roll) on his way out,

and i anyone does try to ollow, he has disappeared

rom sight and theres no sign o him outside the

room. The Purple Ninja reuses all attempts to heal


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1

him. He believes himsel too ar gone. I the Purple

Ninja was killed beore or during the ght, skip the

next paragraph:

The Purple Ninja looks at you through swollen eyes.

His lips begin to move a split second beore you hear

Thank you, Demon Hunters. You are quite worthy

allies. Consider my streak...broken. With this, the

Purple Ninja dies.

Scene -: The Enemy ofMy Enemy

The thick wooden door shows signs o age, but it

appears quite solid. The rusted hinges and bands are

supplemented by a complex, bizarre mechanical lock

inscribed with glowing runes. Though it is mufed,

you can hear a groaning sound through the door. It

sounds almost human.

How it is [Set-Up]: The door is magicallysealed; characters can either try to beat down the

door, which is a HEROIC (19) eat o STRENGTH

+ ATHLETICS, or can try to disable the lock. O

course, it isnt really a lockCOVERT wont help.

The task requires MAD SCIENCE to deal with the

arcane amalgam, and is a complex action. Fortunately,

the Diculty is AVERAGE (35), and each roll o

INTELLIGENCE + MAD SCIENCE takes only 5

minutes. Remember, complex actions add the result

o each roll together, so this 35 isnt all that bad!

Should they manage to get through the door:

This room appears to be a small, ten by ten cell.

Chained to the ar wall is a man. At least, it was a

man. Rotten fesh hangs rom its visible bones. On

the foor lie a cutlass, single shot pistol, and a jaunty

pirates hat. A groan comes rom the body on the

wall. Its head slowly lits with bones cracking into

place along its spine. It stares at you with hollow,

dead eyes.

Well, (hack, cough) are ye goin to help an old

pirate or leave me hangin in this hell hole? Get to

movin ye (cough, cough) scalliwags and let me down.

I assume ye be here (hack) er the old man. His captorbe my sworn (cough) sworn (hack) enemy and I be

willin to help ye in exchange er lettin me down.

The creature coughs rack his withered rame. He

looks at you, quite impatiently.

Problem:Would you trust a zombie pirate?

Now What?: Capn will adventure with the

team, participating in ghts, but doing nothing

spectacular. He hangs back and lets the team ght

much o the battle unless his help is truly needed. He

is not very interested about the growth o the young

Hunters. He merely wants to save his energy or the

ght with the Syphilitic Ninja Vampire.

Capn: Agility d6, Strength d8, Vitality d10,

Alertness d6, Intelligence d6, Willpower d8, Initiative

12, Lie Points 18, Skills: Athletics d8, Discipline d8,

Perception d6, Melee Weapon Combat (his cutlass).

Weapons: Cutlass (d6 Damage Die). Notes: I

destroyed, he collapses into a pile o bones with a nal

cry o, Yarrr!

The only way to go, once both rooms have been

explored, is to continue on down the tunnel.

Scene : Dont TryThis at Home...orAnywhere Else

Rounding the tight curve, you hear noises ahead.

Here the tunnel branches. To the right is a small

crevice, barely large enough or an average person to

scramble through into the darkness. Straight ahead

is a well-lit passage. From ahead, a voice shouts out

above the din.

They will arrive soon! At last, we o the undercaves

will taste the blood o Demon Hunters!

A guttural cheer raises rom the tunnel ahead. The

sound is o death scraping his scythe on a chalkboard.

The thumping o innumerable spears against shields

lls the caverns.

I Armageddon is alive, read the ollowing as well:

Armageddons spine tingles at the sound, but not

with earjust with the gut eeling that ollowing the

main tunnel into an obvious deathtrap is unsound

tactics.

How it is [Set-Up]: The Demonic Minions have

gathered all o their orces to kill the team.

Problem: These are just stupid odds. As a

straight-up ght, the Hunters will never win againstthe rush o Minions. The side tunnel is not on the map

and they have no way o knowing where it leads, but

it seems saer to anyone who asks the GM what their

character thinks. I they insist upon moving orward,

the GM can let them run into a slaughter, but should

remind them to trust Armageddons eelings about

these things.


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1

Now what?: I the Hunters ollow the main

tunnel, they are torn apart and devoured by teeming

masses o Minions. I they take the branch through the

crevice, go on to Scene 6.

Scene : TheBalcony Scene

You step out o the crevice onto a balcony

overlooking a horric scene. Below, a moat o

bubbling lava surrounds tiered stone adorned with

arcane symbols. In the center o the bottom tier is a

pentagram contained in a circle o fame and stone.

Around the circle, eight demonic minions bow and

chant in their guttural tongue. The upper level holds

our gures, all appearing human. Three stand over an

ancient altar where a man in torn fannel lies. You caneasily guess that this is the missing Proessor Sneed.

The central standing gure wears robes with strange

gold markings and holds a vicious dagger. To his let

is a amiliar ace. Even rom this height you can see

the white stripe o hair marking Skunk, the Dark Punk

Junk Monk. On the right is a man in dark robes with

only one identiying mark: the mark o the Order o

the Inernal Scepter. The Order Agent and Skunk

have their hands raised over Proessor Sneed. With

a pause to scratch his crotch, the center man chants

in a strangely-accented and lisped Latin. [I Capn is

present]: Capn looks at the center gure and snarls:

There he (cough) be. The creat- (hack) creat-

(cough) creature I been searching er and who locked

me in that damned closet. He be a member o the

Clan o the Golden Fang. I ye want to save yer (cough)

riend we must move now.

How it is [Set-Up]: The middle gure is the

Syphilitic Ninja Vampire (SNV) the team aced in

the training video. The Order Agent is unidentied

and even a close look at his ace will not reveal any

inormation in the Brotherhood Database.

Problem: The team is too late to interrupt theritual, but they can still save Sneed. Five rounds ater

combat starts, the demon will appear, and ten more

ater that Sneed will bleed out. The descent rom the

balcony is AVERAGE (7) and will take ve rounds.

The rst ailure by any team member does nothing,

save cause them to knock loose small chunks o rock.

The second ailure by any team member alerts the

Minions to the teams presence. A third ailure causes

the Hunter to all. Making it down without alerting the

Minions gives the team the element o surprise.

When the team gets on the upper dais, the major

oes join the ght. Capn and the SNV go at each

other immediately. Skunk aims or the junk o the rst

person to step near him and the Order Agent acts

deensively only, backing away rom the main ghting.

At round ve, the demon appears. Read the

ollowing:

A cracking groan sounds rom beneath the pentacle.

All ghting stops as the summoned demon rises into

the room. Great red horns sprout rom his brow and a

row o sharp yellow teeth adorn his mouth. He stands

over seven eet tall and must weigh hal o a ton. He is

also wearing high water pants, a pocket protector and

thick glasses. The demon looks around at you and the

other combatants and shrieks loudly, cowering into a

etal position. The Order Agent looks at the SNV with

disgust.I knew the Order shouldnt have trusted you! That

thing isnt Sessnerilax the Lie Stealer! That stupid lisp

o yours screwed up the ritual. Youre on your own,

dumbass.

With a wave o his hand over a device strapped

to his belt, he teleports, leaving only a bit o smoke

behind. With the distraction complete, the ghting

begins anew. The demon seems less than interested

in doing anything but...cower.







Minions will simply attack every round. Unortunately

or the bad guys, ater the Order member fees (round

5 o combat, when the demon appears), all living

Minions take this as a bad sign and give the place the

laughthey cut and run, jumping into the lava and

swimming away unharmed.

SKUNK: Agility d10, Strength d8, Vitality d8,

Alertness d6, Intelligence d6, Willpower d8, Initiative16, Lie Points 16, Skills: Athletics d8 (Dodging),

Unarmed Combat d8, Perception d4. Notes: These

are minimalist statistics or Skunk, who is ully detailed

in the Demon Hunters RPGcore rulebook. Here he

possesses the special Trait Recurring Villain: he usually

fees successully at the last moment, and even when

he appears to be killed, his body is never ound!


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0 SNV:Agility d6 + d6, Strength d8 + d6, Vitalityd10, Alertness d6, Intelligence d4, Willpower d6,

Initiative 18, Lie Points 16, Skills: Athletics d6,

Discipline d6, Unarmed Combat d4, Melee Weapon

Combat d8. Weapons: Ceremonial Knie (d4 Damage

Die). Notes: Notice how the SNV has strange

dice combinations or his Agility and Strength? The

+d6 to each o these is a bonus rom his vampiric

nature. Whenever the GM would normally roll

those Attributes, he rolls both those dice together!

Additional rules regarding vampirism can be ound

in the Demon Hunters RPGcore rulebookbut

dont worry, the SNV doesnt have the inclination

to inect anybody right now, with vampirism or...

other ailments. In combat, the SNV is supremely

overcondent. The GM may consider giving a bonus

to any character who picks up on this and plays to it

i they try to draw him out to nd an opening, their

attack adds a bonus d6 to the roll!When reduced to 0LP, he bursts into a cloud o dust and ash.

ORDER AGENT: Agility d6, Strength d6,

Vitality d8, Alertness d8, Intelligence d10, Willpower

d6, Initiative 14, Lie Points 14, Skills: Athletics d10,

Discipline d2, Melee Weapon Combat d4. Weapons:

Shock Baton (d2 Damage Die, stuns target on

successul hit; the next time they can act, they cannot

perorm oensive actions). Notes: Mostly tries to stay

out o the way; hes not interested in ghting Demon

Hunters, even untrained lackwits! Like Skunk, he is a

Recurring Villain.

Now What?: The battle ends when all enemies

are deeated, whether they died or fed. As he is

about to be deeated, Skunk pulls another smoke

bomb and escapes through the exit, vowing revenge.

The team cannot reach the demon through the

protective circle, which crackles into a magical,

greenish dome whenever anyone tries to pass through

it. When the battle is over, read the ollowing:

Capn stares at the dust on the ground where his

mortal enemy once stood. He turns to you slowly

with a mad gleam in his eye socket. Ye ools. Ye

thrice damned (cough) ools! Ye cannot kill the (hack)

SNV with mere earthly weapons and eeble tricks!

He will (cough) just be reborn elsewhere without the

(cough, cough) proper remedy! Now I must begin me

search (cough) over again. Ye have cost me (hack)

my revenge and gained yerselves an enemy. I spareye today er yer assistance, but the next (cough)

next (cough) next time we meet, Ill be eastin on

yer brains.

With this ominous prediction, Capn kicks the dust

and limps out o the cavern. Proessor Sneed lies on

the makeshit altar and the demon still whimpers

within the protective circle, sucking his thumb.

Sneed is in bad shape. I the team reached him to

at least stop the bleeding in time, he will survive, but

is unconscious and cannot answer questions. A long

stay in the care o a beautiul nurse is in store or him.

When the team conronts the demon:

The demon is a sight that you can almost pity. He

crawls to the ar edge o the circle as ar away rom

you as he can get. He stares at you with wide eyes.

The demons name is Thethnerilackth (Theth-

ner-i-lackth). He is a demon working in the Inernal

Technology department o Hell. He will answer any

questions the team has with little provocation. He

only asks that they break the circle when they are

nished to allow him to return to Hell. It is up to the

team whether they ollow through on the promise.

Now that the demon is no longer boosting it with hisown power to keep out the ght, they must simply

scu the line in the dirt to set him ree.

Inormation known by the demon:

The Order Agent is a mid-level

operative named Eric Mason. This

summoning was organized by some

higher-ups in the Order to take out

Sneed


23/36


24/36

HarkadianRol: Msti Spialist

Spialit: Nrom an and th Olt

Ailit d6

Strnth d6

Vitalit d6

Alr tnss d6

Intllin d8

Willpowr d10

Initiativ 12

Lif Points 16

TRAITSfocuSeD huNter: WalkiNg corpSeS D4

Harkadian has spent much o his adult lie dealing with corpses, in oneway or another. His long experience has taught him how best to dealwith re-animated bodies. He adds this Traits die to any roll to knowunusual acts or weaknesses about, identiy the signs o, track, orattack (directly or indirectly) walking corpses.iNitiateofthe artS D2

Harkadian trained in voodoo under a bokor on the outskirts oPort-au-Prince, Haiti. He studied Quimbanda with a me-de-santo inOuro Preto, Brazil. Hes read every text on the undead that he could

get his hands on. He has become one o the ew humans to learn thesecrets o the mystic arts. When he wants to use his abilities, he usesone o the rituals described below (under Special: Rituals). Theseare complex actions, using a combination o Alertness, Intelligence, orWillpower and his Skill Mystic Arts.SteaDycalm D6

Harkadian is unappable. He enjoys a quiet joke at times, butmaintains the same calm, small smile in the ace o a crowd oravenous ghoulshe almost never loses his cool. He adds thisTraits die to any roll to resist ear, torture, coercion, intimidation, orotherwise being mentally unbalanced.Duty D8

Ever since the fasco that caused him to lose his sister a second time(ater a ailed attempt to restore her to lie turned her into a zombie),Harkadian eels a strong sense o caution, particularly or the saetyo his teammates, but also or any innocents in the area. He is willingto make the tough choices when it means putting himsel in danger,and he may go down with the ship some daybut i he manages toavoid sinking any boats, hes likely to gravitate to a command positionbeore too long.eerie preSeNce D4

Harkadians extensive contact with the dead and with necromanticenergies has let a permanent mark on him. There seems to besomething just not quite right about him, at least according tomortalsin act, his body is colder than it should be, averaging about92 degrees at a normal temperature, and he seems to leach heatrom his surroundings as well. This odd presence makes mortalsuncomortable. When Harkadian is attempting to interact with normalhumans on a social level, the GM adds this Traits die to the opposingroll or Difculty number that is working against Harkadian.

SkILLSathleticS D4

This Skill lets the character run,jump, climb, or perorm otherphysical actions. It is especiallyimportant when Dodging anattack.covert D2

This Skill lets the charactersneak, remain unnoticed, pick

locks, orge documents, orperorm other questionableacts.DiScipliNe D8

This Skill lets the characterresist intimidation, ear, torture,and other distractions to hisconcentration, and to keep hiscool in bad situations. It can alsobe used to intimidate others orkick team mates into action.grouND vehicleS D2

This Skill lets the character drivecars, trucks, and motorcyclesunder bad conditions; undergood conditions, he shouldnthave to roll.guNS D4

This Skill lets the characteridentiy, clean, load, and shootany gun small enough to becarried and used by a singleperson.

iNflueNce D6

This Skill lets the characterpersuade, seduce, or intimidatepeople, in order to get what he

wants without fghting.kNoWleDge D8

This Skill lets the characterknow unusual acts, rememberobscure or detailed inormation,or memorize something veryquickly.meDical expertiSe D4

This Skill lets the character treatinjuries and diseases, as well asperorm frst aid.myStic artS D8

This Skill lets the charactermake use o special rituals,casting spells o the mystic artshe has been trained in. Everybrand o the Art is dierent,so each character with thisSkill may actually have a verydierent set o abilities.perceptioN D6

This Skill lets the characterdetermine i someone is lying

to him, spot an ambush, hearsomeone sneaking up behindhim, search a room quickly, orpick out the inconsistency insomeones ast-talk attempt.


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SPecIAL: RITuALSHarkadian has extensively studied all orms o death-magic (at least, those he could get his hands on). Asa result, he has a vast collection o rituals available tohim. They are all cast in similar waysthey operate ascomplex actions (see that section in the Rules portiono this booklet), but each has their own air. Hereare two example rituals; or rules on how to createmore, see the Demon Hunters Role Playing Game corerulebook.

Sense o Mortal ityroll: Alertness + Mystic Arts

Difficulty: Easy (15)

timeperroll: 30 secondsTo cast this ritual, Harkadian must stand within a closedcircleanything will do, but he carries some chalk tomake this easier. The circle made, crouching or sitting,he holds out in ront o him a string rom which hangsa small piece o bone. The ritual drains a small portiono his lie orce as he begins it; he loses 1 Lie Point. Ashe concentrates on the ritual, the bone begins swayingback and orth in an unelt wind. When he completesit, he gains the ability to sense nearby necromanticphenomenon or up to an hour, as long as he keeps thestring and bone hanging rom his hand. He can instantlysense i something cat-sized or larger dies within thirtyyards and determine what species it was. He caninstantly sense i anything has died in the area in the pasthour as well as what species it was and the quantity. Hecan also sense the presence, direction, and distance oundead creatures within 50 yards. He cannot determinethe exact number or type o creatures.

Repair Nedroll: Intelligence + Mystic Arts

Difficulty: Formidable (75)

timeperroll: 10 minutesTo cast this ritual, Harkadian requires several things: asmuch o Neds remains as he can fnd, enough otherbody parts to make up the rest, a needle and thread,

an electrical current strong enough to run a toaster, anda small jar with a dozen live ruit-ies in itthe kindthat only live or one day. With these components, andenough uninterrupted time to do his work, Harkadiancan bring Ned back to un-lie, good as new and at ullhealth. While working, he is essentially perorming themorticians task o piecing a body back together orviewing, combined with the bonus o being allowedto use other bodies as well. While most rituals o thisDifculty require a much greater sacrifce than a dozenruit-ies, Harkadian believes it somehow uses Nedsrecent death as a sacrifce to uel itsel. Or maybe thatswhy he always dies again so soon....

ROLe PLAyINg

NOTeSIt struck Harkadian very hard when his sister Jillian

died. They had become very close as children atertheir parents had been killed, and though Grannyhad taken care o them as best she could in her oldageHarkadian and Jillian had looked ater each other.

Harkadian reused to accept his sisters death,and began a seven-year tour o the world. He wentto Egypt to study the book o the dead. In Tibet, hedeciphered the Bardo Thodol and learned to reciteit. He studied the ways o the Bokor in Haiti, learningto serve the loa with both hands. In Ouro Preto, he

became a pupil o Quimbanda, and acquired knowledgeo oerings to Exu.

When Harkadian returned, he was a new person.Though never rambunctious, he was now ocused.He was not rude, by any means. In act, having beenexposed to so many cultures, he made it a point toalways observe the fnest details o etiquette. He got ajob as a mortician and began to work his plan.

Harkadian used the bodies in the mortuaryor experimentation. Ater months, he had fnallysynthesized a ritual that would bring his sister back.

Though Granny was horrifed when Harkadian toldher o his work, she was eager to have Jillian back.They went to the graveyard, and Harkadian worked hisnecromancy. And it succeeded! His sister rose rom thegrave ... along with seventy-our other nearby corpses.Though they were raised, none had a strong enoughwill to maintain their personality, and each became amindless zombie.

This set o readings at the Brotherhood, who senta chapter to invest

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Brotherhood Recruitment Manual

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