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Hey guys,

If you're on Facebook (and don't mind) you should add the new gaming community page I created, I'm Attacking The Darkness. It's a page to share news, artwork, and other gaming related goodness. Also, if you do like the page, feel free to post a link to your blog..

Mastermind Monday - The Grue Unity

Today I present you with 3rd Edition stats members of the Grue Unity, Freedom City's version of the Skrulls.

The Grue Unity

The Grue Unity is an expansionist, militaristic, interstellar empire in the Milky Way. The grue are are protean race ruled by the Meta-Mind (an entity similar to Marvel's Kree Supreme Intelligence), They have highly advanced technology and a strong military (which can be coordinated telepathically by the Meta-Mind).If not for the efforts of the Lor Republic, they would probably rule the universe.

The Grue's caste society looks down on "solid" creatures (those unable to shape shift).They've had a presence on Earth since 1947 and have attempted several invasions.

Grue Drone
PL 3/ MR 3
Str 2 ,Sta 2, Agl 0, Dex 0, Fgt 3, Int 0,  Awe 0, Pre –1

Powers 

Drone Physiology (Morph 3 [Humanoids]) -15 Points

Skills 

Deception 4 (+3), Perception 2 (+2).Ranged Combat (Blasters) 4 (+4), Technology 2 (+2)

Offense 
Init +0, Attack +3 (Close, Damage 2)
Grue Pistol +4, (Ranged, Damage 5)

Advantages

Equipment 2

Defenses 

Dodge 3, Parry 3, Fortitude 3, Toughness 2, Will 3

Totals: Abilities 12 + Powers 15 + Advantages 2 + Skills 6 (12 Ranks) + Defenses 7= 39 Total  points.

Grue "drones" are the lowest caste. They have limited awareness and are controlled by higher castes (and those with advanced psychic abilities). While they are capable of acting n their own, they have abilities on their own.

Grue Metamorph
PL 6/ MR 7
Str 4 ,Sta 4, Agl 0, Dex 0, Fgt 6, Int 2,  Awe 2, Pre 3

Powers 

Metamorph Physiology (Variable 5 [Assumed forms, allocate 5 power points per rank]) - 35 Points

Psychic Infiltrator (Comprehend 1 [Languages], Mind Reading 3 ( Reduced Range: Touch), Weaken 1 (Awareness, Save vs. Will, Increased Duration) - 4 Points

Skills 

Deception 6 (+9), Insight 2 (+5), Investigation 4 (+6), Perception 4 (+6).Ranged Combat (Blasters) 6 (+4), Stealth 4 (+4), Technology 2 (+4)

Offense 
Init +4, Attack +6 (Close, Damage 4)
Grue Pistol +6, (Ranged, Damage 5)

Advantages
Equipment 2, Improved Initiative 1, Jack of All Trades

Defenses 

Dodge 6, Parry 6, Fortitude 6, Toughness 4, Will 6

Totals: Abilities 32 + Powers 39 + Advantages 4 + Skills 14 (28 Ranks) + Defenses 14=  103 Total  points.

Grue metamorphs are intelligent self-aware Grue "commissioned" for infiltration missions. They have a weak will draining ability to aid them in their duties. Unlike drones, they have true shape shifting abilities.

Rogue Grue

Occasionally a grue will gain self awareness and go "rogue." There are three known rogue grue. The first is Pseudo of the Freedom League (an analogue of DC's Martian Manhunter, who's 3E stats can be found in Chapter 2 of Emerald City Knights).The second is Meta-Grue (analogue of Marvel's Super Skrull), a selfish rogue who seeks replace the Meta-Mind  and rule the empire. The final is Changeling (analogue of DC's Miss Martian), a teenage grue from an alternate dimension. The grue of Changeling's dimension are individuals and altruistic.  Also Xeno of the Sentinels is an alien who's origins are tied in with the grue.

Changeling

Pseudo

Meta-Grue

Succubus Sunday - Tony DiTerlizzi

Welcome to Succubus Sunday! What better way to celebrate the Lord's day than with some sexy demons? While the pictures and content I post will obviously be of a sexual nature (and may contain some nudity), I don't plan on posting anything too explicit. Also, don't be surprised if I post the occasional incubus picture (lust is an equal opportunity thing).

For the inaugural Succubus Sunday I wanted to post succubi pictures by my favorite artist, Tony DiTerlizzi. He's a great artist who's work has featured prominently in two of my favorite rpgs/campaigns (Changeling: The Dreaming and Planescape).

This is my all time favorite succubus picture.

And as a bonus here are a couple of sexy ladies with succubus blood (an alu-fiend and a tiefling).

Castles & Crusades

This week, Tim Brannan over at The Other Side has been posting about Castles and Crusades. You can check out his C&C posts here. As usual, Tim got me excited about a game so I decided to make a couple of purchases this week.

Castles and Crusades Player's Handbook - I'm not going to review the book. Tim already did an excellent job of that. This review was honestly the reason I decided to pick up the books. The clarification about the game only having one edition was what settled it for me.You can pick up copies of earlier printings on Amazon rather cheap. I grabbed a copy of the 2nd printing for 13 bucks (and free shipping through Amazon Prime).

Dragons of Aihrde: Leech Wyrms - I've actually had this book for about a year now. I picked it up for a few dollars at a used book store in Nashville. The book contains 8 new lesser dragons (with an mini adventure for each), a new human subrace (with a racial dragon rider class), a slightly longer adventure (three pages), and two new magic items.  While the book is nominally set in the Airhde setting, these wyrms can be used in any game. I really like that the adventure seeds are lower level. My only complaint is that the racial class doesn't contain an experience table. This is the only racial class I've seen (and I"m extremely new to the game), but that seems like something that's needed. Then again maybe not if the class is only for npcs.

Black Libram of Nartarus - I've read that the Black Libram of Nartarus is the closest thing C&C has to a Book of Vile Darkness. That's why I had to pick it up. The major addition this book brings to the game is necromancy. Any spellcaster can learn necromancy, they just have to declare that they want to learn it at the beginning of a level. This access to new spells comes at a greater experience point cost to level up and eventually negative charisma modifiers. The spells (which have wonderful swords and sorcery names) gained are truly gruesome though. For example, one of the spells magically disembowels its victim, leaving them with only 4 HP. They can only recover with the aid of powerful magic. Two eldritch tomes are also mentioned. One is dark fey-centric and the other dragon-centric. Any caster in possession of the tomes can use the spells. The book also contains rules for sacrificial magic and includes dark magic items. Finally it gives us more than 20 new undead monsters (including classics like the demilich and new creatures like the frightening Red Jester). That chapter also contains rules for more powerful vampires, liches, and mummies.

This book was well worth the ten dollars I payed for it. The book is nominally setting specific (mentioning gods from the Haunted Highland setting). This isn't a problem though because Troll Lord has released a free pdf detailing those gods.

Castles and Crusades Freeport Companion - I have mentioned a few times in the past that I love the Freeport setting. Recently Green Ronin had a Kickstarter to fund a new version of The Pirates Guide to Freeport for Pathfinder. I pledged a hundred dollars (like I said, I LOVE Freeport) and will receive some cool swag for it. One of the things I got was Freeport Companions for other systems in PDF form. This past week I got codes for the existing Pathfinder, 3rd Era, Savage Worlds, True20, and Castles and Crusades companions. Strangely enough while they all have some common ground, each mentioned different npics and monsters.

The book is full of new C&C stats and rules. Here's what's in the book:

• Racial stats for goblins, orcs, and hobgoblins, plus the Freeport gnome variant (crag gnomes) and azhar (basically fire genasi that are excellent sailors)
• 2 new classes: Noble and Pirate
• Insanity and Madness Rules: Freeport has always had a eldritch horror/Call of Cthulhu element
• Equipment: new weapons (including firearms), armor, poisons, and drugs
• 12 new spells, several magic items
• Numerous stats for specific Freeport persona and typical extras (cultists, pirates, beggars, etc)
•  20+ new monsters of all challenge levels
• A detailed introductory Freeport adventure which is the perfect way to kick off a campaign

Obviously this book is Freeport (and therefore pirate) oriented, however it's still quite useful even if you're not calling the City of Adventure your home. 

My next (must-have) purchase is Monsters and Treasure. I hope to pick it up this coming week.

Dio

I'm sure some of you have seen this but I was going through my Pathfinder books when I found the halfling picture below. 

This is just a friendly reminder that Ronnie James Dio was a halfling with some mystical ability.

A Hometown Worth Protecting From Evil

So I've got a question for everyone. In your supers games, where do your characters hang their capes and cowls when they lay down for sleep? While it's not true of every hero, most heroes are defined by their cities. Seriously what would Spider-Man be like without NYC or Batman without Gotham? Speaking of Gotham, I've pre-ordered DC Adventures Universe and I'm pretty excited. I may actually run a game in the DCU. Though I own many, Mutants and Masterminds is the supers game I typically run. When I do I almost always use the same setting. Freedom City is my favorite published superhero setting. It's a wonderfully crafted loving tribute to DC and Marvel. It hasn't been mentioned much in the 3rd Edition of Mutants and Masterminds, but there is a new city book set in the same universe, Emerald City, that will be released (hopefully) soon. In addition to Freedom City and Emerald City, there are several other fictional US cities I use in my Freedomverse. They've all been placed on a blank US map and shown below.

Freedom City, Massachusetts (as featured in Freedom City)- This shining metropolis has been the center of American metahuman activity since colonial times. Freedom City was the home of Earth's champion, the Centurion, and it was here that he died repelling the Terminus Invasion in 1993. The city hosts Freedom Hall, the Earth HQ of the prestigious Freedom League. The metahuman prison Blackstone Federal Penitentiary is also located in the area.

Bedlam, New Jersey as featured in 2nd Ediition book Bedlam City) -Bedlam is a city of rust and decay. A medium sized city, it is a former industrial town. However, the greedy hands of the mob and corrupt leadership has caused the city to slowly die. Still it's residents are stubborn and cling to what they have (even if it's covered in graffiti and broken glass). The city has never had a large metahuman population.

I don't use the full version of Bedlam. It's just too dark and strange for my tastes. However, I really like the overall concept of the city and I've found that using the stripped down version of the city that's found in Bedlam City Basics works wonderfully in my games. It really makes Bedlam the Gotham to my Freedom City Metropolis.)

Summit City, Pennsylvania (as featured in The WatchGuard Sourcebook) - Summit City is a progressive city nestled in one of the valleys of the Appalachian Mountain range. While it started as a small mining town, the city is now an example of modern marvels. Thanks to Catalyst Technologies and Meridian Enterprises (two local corporations), the city is primarily green (and doesn't operate on standard power grids). The city is home to the heroic WatchGuard, which is based on the same mountain as the metahuman Adrian Heights Prison.

Summit City is only briefly described in the sourcebook, which fits easily into the Freedom City setting.

Monroeville, Oklahoma (original creation) - Monroeville is a small retirement community outside of Tulsa. What many people don't realize is that many of the citizens of the community are retired heroes and villains. AEGIS monitors the community closely.

Bunker Ridge, Colorado (as featured in the 2nd Edition book Lockdown) -Bunker Ridge was started as a small fundamentalist town in Colorado. The town grew into a small mining and industrial city. However, the can do attitude of its industrious residents couldn't stop the towns decline. Things changed the 90's when the town was chosen to be the home of a new (privately owned) metahuman prison. The town is now vibrant and growing once again. However, there are whispers that something sinister lies below the surface.

The community is actually Buckner Ridge in the sourcebook, but in my head I kept calling it Bunker Ridge, so I decided to change the name for my game.

Emerald City, Washington (will be featured in Emerald City, though some information can be found Emerald City Knights) - Emerald City is a quiet, trendy city in the Pacific Northwest. Once quiet, thanks to techno wizard Maximillian Mars, the city is a true boom town,. The city never had a large metahuman population, but soon the Silver Storm will change that.

Expect some sort of M&M post with stats later today...

Glitch, Dubstep Superhero

To get back in the hang of statting things out for Mutants and Masterminds, I thought I'd take a stab at a character that's been dropping the bass in my head.The idea for the character is basically a combination of two things a lot of people hate (that I enjoy). The character's code name is Glitch and he's basically a dubstep version of DC's Vibe. Glitch is successful electronic/dubstep musician who's sonic powers emerged when he was attacked by  during a concert.

Glitch  - PL 8  

Real Name: Derick James  Age: 24

Strength 3, Stamina 3, Agility 4, Dexterity 5, Fighting 3, Intellect 4, Awareness 5, Presence 3

Advantages
Beginner's Luck, Defensive Roll 5, Daze (Deception). Jack of All Trades

Skills

Athletics 4 (+7), Close Combat: Unarmed 4 (+7), Deception 4 (+7), Expertise (Music) 10 (+14), Insight  8 (+11), Perception 4 (+9), Ranged Combat (Sonic Powers) 10 (+15), Technology 6 (+10)

Powers
Dubstep - Leaping 5 (5 points)
Drop the Bass - Damage 8 [Penetrating, AE: Ranged Weaken Toughness 8, Affects Only Objects] (17 Points)

Offense

Initiative +4
Drop the Bass +15, Damage 8 (Penetrating) 

Complications
Collateral Damage: Glitch's control over his powers aren't the greatest and he tends to cause quite a bit of structural damage during his battles.

Fame: Glitch had a cult following before his metahuman powers emerged and has since become even more popular. 

Languages

English

Defense

Dodge 8, Parry 8, Fortitude 5, Toughness 3/8 (with Defensive Roll), Will 8

Power Points

60 Abilities +  22 Powers +  8 Advantages + 16 (32 ranks) Skills + 14 Defenses  = 120  Total

May Update

Well I survived the April A-Z Blog challenge but haven't posted anything since. That's no good and aim to change that. I've found that having regular blog goals helps me post more regularly. Because of that I think I might come up with a couple of regular "columns," like my fellow bloggers.

Mastermind Monday will definitely be returning. Look for a new hero, villain, minion, group that can be added to your Mutants and Masterminds 3E game every Monday.

Not sure about the second, though I've been toying with Succubus Sunday. It has just the right amount of blasphemy for my tastes.