In a Time of Heroes
Elements
Left Hand Luke and the beggar boys
A displaced Alliance tactician full of self-loathing
An Alliance cruiser, on the lookout for scavengers
A hotel bellman, his goatlike eyes spaced too far apart
An assortment of medicines bound for a rim world on the verge of an epidemic.
Characters
Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess
Left Hand Luke
The beggar boys?
A displaced Alliance tactician
One or more Alliance crew members
One or more scavengers
A hotel bellman, with goatlike eyes spaced too far apart
Player Characters
[Chris] Kid Quasar, the Quantum Queen a diminutive alien princess from a species that is not normally so small
- Covertly d8
- Directly d6
- For myself d6
- For others d10
- With love d12
- With violence d4
- Everyone loves me, through tone of voice and physical appearance people want to aid me, but it requires people to see and hear me
- PCs: With love
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
- Upgrade ??
- It's in Kid Quasar's best interests to...
- ???
- ???
[Katie] ??? ???
- Covertly d?
- Directly d?
- For myself d?
- For others d?
- With love d?
- With violence d?
- ???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
- It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???
[Bryan] ??? ???
- Covertly d?
- Directly d?
- For myself d?
- For others d?
- With love d?
- With violence d?
- ???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
- It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???
[Rob] ??? ???
- Covertly d?
- Directly d?
- For myself d?
- For others d?
- With love d?
- With violence d?
- ???, ???
- PCs: ???
- NPCs: ???
- ???: ???
- Its die is a d?
- It's in Kid ???'s best interests to...
- ???
- ???
Non-Player Characters
Owe List
- [Bryan] Dominion
- [Katie] Randy Scouse
- [Bryan] Percy Anjar
- [Rob] Left Hand Luke
Back Issues
Race to the Frozen Ship
Elements
Under the ice, the crashed spaceship lies.
A penthouse apartment with a secret room
The abandoned subway station, never completed and forgotten, now has a new use
A brilliant scientist, racing against time to find a cure for her affliction
Player Characters
[Bryan] Dominion, a telepathic alien creature in statis onboard the spaceship
- Covertly d10
- Directly d6
- For myself d12
- For others d4
- With love d8
- With violence d6
- Puppetmaster, with a touch, I can switch the subject of my possession, taking control of their mind and body
- PCs: For myself
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Dominion's best interests to...
- escape the planet Earth unchained
- prevent these animals from stealing any of my physical substance
[Katie] Dr. Billie Conners, PHD in Genetics. Brilliant scientist trying to find a cure for her own affliction (Body is slowly turning to jelly).
- Covertly d6
- Directly d8
- For myself d12
- For others d10
- With love d6
- With violence d4
- Wheelchair maneuvering
- PCs: For myself
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
- It's in Dr. Billie Conners's best interests to...
- find the cure for my jelly body
- sequence the first alien genome
[Chris] Dr. Guilt, A freakishly strong genius labors underground to find the ultimate cure to the human disease!
- Covertly d6
- Directly d12
- For myself d8
- For others d4
- With love d6
- With violence d8
- Double-muscled
- PCs: Directly and With Violence
- NPCs: Action
- Broad
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Dr. Guilt's best interests to...
- throw Professor Oakbeam out of a window
- use the alien's strange anatomy and biology to perfect the doomsday virus
[David] Ken Cooper, a computer prodigy
- Covertly d12
- Directly d4
- For myself d6
- For others d8
- With love d10
- With violence d6
- Technopathy, technology obeys me like a close friend thanks to my psionic gifts
- PCs: For others and Covertly
- NPCs: Action
- Broad
- Unique: there are no other technopaths in the galaxy
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Ken's best interests to...
- find his destiny as as a spacefarer
- keep his technopathy from becoming public knowledge
Non-Player Characters
Sentient Liminal Algorithmic Processor (S.L.A.P.), on-board AI, the mind of the crashed ship
- Action d8, d4
- Maneuvering d6, d4
- Self-protection d12, d8
- Ship control, the ability to manipulate the systems on the crashed ship, good in self-protection
- PCs: ?
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Potent: Its die is a d10
- It's in S.L.A.P.'s best interests to...
- return to space
- acquire novel biological specimens
Dr. Marcus Landry, a clever engineer and freshly minted post-doc
- Action d10, d6
- Maneuvering d10, d6
- Self-protection d6, d4
- Gadgeteering, A handful of small, one-time gadgets on my person that duplicate minor super powers
- PCs: For others
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
- It's in Marcus's best interests to...
- defeat a supervillain
Sir Thomas Oakbeam, a wealthy and old-fashioned gentleman explorer
- Action d6, d4
- Maneuvering d10, d6
- Self-protection d12, d8
- It's in Sir Thomas's best interests to...
- secure his legacy
Battle for the Temple of the Noble Mantis
Elements
An alien princess asking for asylum
Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket
An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent
A galaxy on the cusp of open war
Additional Elements
A neutral space station around a neutral planet on neither side of the war, orbiting the planet containing the temple, whose own neutrality, perhaps temporary, has kept the planet neutral.
Characters
The alien princess [Chris]
A smuggler [David]
A customs officer [Katie]
The disillusioned adherent [Rob]
Player Characters
[Chris] Kid Quasar, the Pipsqueak Princess a diminutive alien princess from a species that is not normally so small
- Covertly d8
- Directly d6
- For myself d6
- For others d10
- With love d12
- With violence d4
- Everyone loves me, through tone of voice and physical appearance people want to aid me, but it requires people to see and hear me
- PCs: With love
- NPCs: Self-protection
- Far-reaching: can affect anyone who can see and hear her
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Kid Quasar's best interests to...
- befriend an insect bot and have it become her trusted steed
- have the Temple Master declare for her people in the galactic war
[David] Ken Cooper, a human smuggler with a non-hidden heart of gold
- Covertly d12
- Directly d4
- For myself d6
- For others d8
- With love d10
- With violence d6
- Technopathy, technology obeys me like a close friend thanks to my psionic gifts
- PCs: For others
- NPCs: Action
- Unique: there are no other technopaths in the galaxy
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Ken Cooper's best interests to...
- prevent the war he sees coming, which he sees Kid Quasar as the best way to do
- keep his technopathy from becoming public knowledge
[Katie] Anka Tripper, a customs officer, a blobby frog-person, no-nonsense, naturally gifted at detecting lies, cranky, with a sticky tongue
- Covertly d8
- Directly d12
- For myself d10
- For others d6
- With love d4
- With violence d6
- I can eat anything, if my tongue can reach it and it can fit in my mouth, I can eat it
- PCs: Directly
- NPCs: Action
- Potent: Its die is a d10
- It's in Anka Tripper's best interests to...
- get the promotion by solving/catching a high profile case
- preserve the neutrality to prevent the war
[Rob] Isk, the Maimed and Rebuilt the disillusioned adherent, insectoid brought back from death with forbidden tech and filled with his children
- Covertly d6
- Directly d12
- For myself d10
- For others d6
- With love d4
- With violence d8
- Unleash children, by entering into a harmonizing trance to connect with one's swarm of insect bots to assault and assail
- PCs: With violence
- NPCs: Action
- Far-reaching: his children can travel throughout his local area
- Its die is a d8
- It's in Isk's best interests to...
- stop the princess from entering the temple of the Noble Mantis
- harmonize with the Technopath
Non-Player Characters
Snivil Gabbuh, the Temple Master, influential within the religion, but neutral within this conflict
- Action d6, d4
- Maneuvering d10, d6
- Self-protection d12, d8
- It's in Snivil Gabbuh's best interests to...
- preserve the independence of the Temple of the Noble Mantis
Nameless Guard, who has a crush
- Action d12, d8
- Maneuvering d10, d6
- Self-protection d6, d4
Notes
Hivvand, destination planet.
Galapagos. An independently operated freighter. All of the PCs but for Anka travelling aboard.
Cooper came to KQ's attention because he was smuggling off-world clothes against the planet's protectionist policies.
Isk wants to avoid drawing special attention to his cyborg nature. KQ wants to avoid being seen by Anka.
KQ has a travelling home in a case. PortaPad. Inertial dampeners. Luxurious, though not at the standard of her home palace.
Anka discovers the case. KQ is taken to diplomatic custody. Ken is taken to the brig.
KQ escapes from custody, but has to abandon her case.
Ken escapes from the brig by distracting the guard with a love note.
Ken hacks Anka’s electronic clipboard.
Race to the temple. A freestanding stepped pyramid with a pair of giant mantis statues alongside.
Snivil is mortally wounded and dying, but not yet dead.
Anka is knocked out for the remainder of the fight.
Kid Quasar frees the insect drones, except for her new mount, and one kept by Ken Cooper. Isk runs away in the chaos, vowing revenge. The temple agrees to support the princess's planet in the war.
Oracles
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=In_a_Wicked_Age#Fan_Oracles
Selected options:
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Superhero_Oracle_-_Modern
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Hellboy_BPRD_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Modern_Occult_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Paranormal_Spy-Thriller_Oracle
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Noir_Oracle_-_Down_These_Mean_Streets
http://www.random-generator.com/index.php?title=Pulp_Oracle_-_I_Love_A_Mystery
Superhero
- Ace of Cyan: She takes up the mantle of a fallen hero, desperate to make a difference
- Two of Cyan: A young man discovers his birthright and the mask and cape that go with it
- Three of Cyan: By day they are lovers; by night they are on other sides of the law. Neither knows the other's secret
- Four of Cyan: An alien civilization bestows a gift of great power to an ordinary youth
- Five of Cyan: Changed by radiation, she manifests strange powers of the mind
- Six of Cyan: He is the only surviving volunteer of a genetic experiment. They wonder how long until he realizes they can't control him
- Seven of Cyan: His power is in the suit
- Eight of Cyan: He was content with being the sidekick until the Crisis
- Nine of Cyan: A masked woman seeks glory and fame
- Ten of Cyan: The millionaire playboy finds his true calling among the rooftops, beating up petty criminals
- Jack of Cyan: She came to this planet only recently and tries to fit in
- Queen of Cyan: Their costumes are mirror images of each other; they can never touch
- King of Cyan: He uses future tech here in the past to avert the apocalypse
- Ace of Magenta: Alarms from the downtown district echo in the city streets
- Two of Magenta: A mysterious craft appears over the city
- Three of Magenta: A three-alarm fire in the slum district
- Four of Magenta: A jumper on the bridge
- Five of Magenta: The visiting jewelry display at the museum provides a tempting target
- Six of Magenta: A strange visitor from another world arrives in the city with a portent of danger
- Seven of Magenta: A rift in time disgorges villains from the past
- Eight of Magenta: A cry for help turns out to be a trap for our heroes
- Nine of Magenta: A gathering of heroes and villains from around the world
- Ten of Magenta: The intrepid reporter love interest is in trouble again
- Jack of Magenta: A gathering of the world's brightest minds
- Queen of Magenta: The test of a military weapon goes horribly wrong
- King of Magenta: A government crackdown on costumed vigilantes
- Ace of Yellow: An underground lair, filled with trophies
- Two of Yellow: A penthouse apartment with a secret room
- Three of Yellow: The warehouse by the docks, not as abandoned as one might think
- Four of Yellow: An orbiting satellite, hidden from the world
- Five of Yellow: A flying fortress, invisible to radar
- Six of Yellow: The abandoned subway station, never completed and forgotten, now has a new use
- Seven of Yellow: Beneath the river, a underwater habitat
- Eight of Yellow: The sign on the building read CONDEMNED, but inside they met
- Nine of Yellow: The rooftops of the block were all interconnected and had convenient shadows
- Ten of Yellow: The Gothic cathedral had been undergoing renovations for years; a hidden rooftop entrance was all the security she needed
- Jack of Yellow: Under the ice, the crashed spaceship lies
- Queen of Yellow: The futuristic city on the Moon, shielded from prying eyes
- King of Yellow: The abandoned government bunker, deep in the mountain
- Ace of Black: His parents murdered, he sets off on a complicated method of revenge
- Two of Black: He isn't fueled by hatred, he is Hatred
- Three of Black: A trio of villains plot their revenge on the hero that did them wrong
- Four of Black: She finds committing the perfect crime thrilling
- Five of Black: Just one more big score, and he can retire to that island paradise
- Six of Black: The parasitic hive-mind seeks hosts
- Seven of Black: Who is behind the robot army?
- Eight of Black: Two villains, after the same score, work against each other
- Nine of Black: A vain billionaire wishes to control the nation
- Ten of Black: A vast organization of masked terrorists plots to overthrow all world governments
- Jack of Black: An immortal villain wages a secret war against all that is good
- Queen of Black: They saved Hitler's brain!
- King of Black: He's a former hero, driven mad by the loss of a loved one
- Joker: A museum devoted to gigantic props.
Space Opera
- A galaxy on the cusp of open war
- An interplanetary cold war, threatening to turn hot in an instant
- A runaway experiment, with strange, inexplicable powers
- An ancient weapon of mass destruction, left behind by a forgotten race
- An eccentric inventor, on the run from a dangerous corporate empire
- A distress signal, with no apparent source
- A small community of Christians, humans and alien converts, on the aliens' home planet
- A blue skinned orphan fleeing an arranged marriage to her elderly tutor
- Smuggled goods of rare fortune, small enough to slip in a pocket
- An alien princess asking for asylum
- A young fertile planet with a newly awakened consciousness
- The rotting hulk of a spaceship, flagship of the old empire, found at the end of a beacon
- A gunship sold at the end of war into private hands
- A daring young explorer, fresh from her stint at the academy, eager to prove herself and taking on all comers
- A sassy spelunker looking for an alien god's heart in the depths of a planet made up entirely of millions of space ship derelicts that have accreted over time
- A crew of rogues, led by a former war hero
- A young doctor, throwing away a promising career over a deadly secret
- A smuggler of dubious repute, only interested in a quick payday
- An expert assassin, laying low after a botched job
- The universally famous monarch, hiding as a citizen of no consequence
- A brilliant scientist, racing against time to find a cure for her affliction
- The galactic savior-child stolen by pirates who want a planet as ransom
- A stranded alien, trying to get back to its own people
- A military AI, trying to override its destructive programming
- The first settlers on a newly terraformed frontier world
- A group of freedom-fighters, waging a desperate war against a tyrannical government
- A secret technology, unearthed by an archaeologist on the homeworld of a long-dead race
- A cryptic warning, left behind by an extinct alien race
- The last survivor of a brutal attack, by a previously unknown race
- A young woman, selected via lottery by an alien power
- A wayward traveler, hopping between the stars after his homeworld was destroyed
- An accidental immortal, bored with life, who has become obsessed with carrying out some mundane task
- A group of alien scientists, trying to recover their lost data, possibly by vivisection
- An ancient temple defiled by a swarm of insect-bots, sent by a disillusioned adherent
- The first interspecies child is born
- A colony of refugees in an asteroid belt
Firefly
- The body guard of a powerful black market supplier.
- An assortment of medicines bound for a rim world on the verge of an epidemic.
- A female mercenary, small and cunning.
- The arrival of a Reaver raiding party on a peaceful, rim world.
- A crew of rival smugglers, here to help.
- A displaced Alliance tactician full of self-loathing.
- A destroyed township and its silent survivors.
- A tattooed monk, fearsome in battle.
- A squad of veteran Alliance soldiers.
- An abandoned fort used as a base for a group of bandits.
- A bounty hunter who has lost his way in the face of revenge.
- A judge in a lawless land.
- A band of brigands demanding tribute, and their spoils so far.
- A religious community who believes in abducting those who can better their existence.
- A cache of military weapons, and the jealous man who found them.
- The captain and crew of a transport forced into servitude because of a job gone bad.
- An ident card signifying its carrier has priority Alliance access.
- A man in a brown coat drinking alone in a bar on unification day.
- A doctor with a prejudice against the affluent.
- An Alliance agent who has gone AWOL.
- A wave describing an uprising intercepted by an Alliance cruiser.
- The son of a town’s oppressive leader longing for change.
- A herd of stolen cattle needing to be sold.
- An abandoned Alliance checkpoint.
- A woman with a gun, and a hatred of the Alliance.
- A daughter accused of killing her father, the mayor.
- An abandoned Independent blockade runner.
- A pilot with a thirst for close calls.
- A drought, crushing a farms existence, and the irrigation committee demanding too much for relief.
- A core world politician on the run to the rim.
- A space station locked down until the killer of a high ranking official can be found.
- The mayor of a dusty town, and his group of murderous enforcers.
- An alliance operative searching for an escaped reader.
- A legendary gambler being hunted by Alliance agents due to his ability to seemingly read others thoughts
- A mining community desperate for income discovers live ordinance from an Alliance patrol boat.
- A self serving mercenary looking for work.
- The shepherd who lost his flock.
- A purveyor of stolen goods, who had his goods stolen.
- A registered companion tired of her work.
- A bounty hunter on the trail of his relative.
- An exiled sheriff looking for acceptance.
- A crime boss famed for his torture of those who fail, calls upon a debt owed.
- A member of the syndicate willing to tell all.
- A Reaver warship approaching a space station.
- The captain of a lost ship, and a lost crew, searching for forgiveness.
- A brash young engineer, with a knack for biting off more than they can chew.
- A trigger happy crew member who forgot the loot in favor of shooting folks up.
- A bandit camp, deserted hastily.
- A bar full of patrons, robbed by a group of women.
- An angry man desperate to hide the parentage of a whore’s child.
- A former independent soldier mourning the death of his wife due to an Alliance experiment.
- A group of rebels waiting to strike at the Alliance.
- A young girl, naked, packed into a cryogenic box for transport.
- An antique laser pistol, the last of it's kind.
- A beautiful con artist, pretending to be an innocent.
- A pair of emotionless men, wearing blue gloves, on Alliance business.
- An Alliance cruiser, on the lookout for scavengers.
- A Browncoat veteran, down on his luck, involved in a dangerous scheme.
- A fake distress beacon.
Lovecraftian Horror
- a strange piece of jewelry, like nothing else on earth
- a color never seen before on earth beautiful, terrible, and totally alien
- an ancient and decrepit manor, once the site of blasphemous rituals, now a young noble's summer project
- a mirror that shows people their true and terrible form
- a meteor, cool to the touch and shrinking with each passing day
- a vision of an ancient city, whose gleaming spires no mortal has ever laid eyes upon
- a cursed city on the shores of lake Hali, in the Hyades
- a travelling dreamer, searching for answers in the realms of slumber
- a coastal church, half-sunk in the ocean. There is the light of candles within
- a curious color beyond the capacity of human sight
- a drop of milky fluid that splashes onto your hand from an unknown source
- a dusty workman passed in the street, his eyes briefly flashing with fear before he masters himself
- a fair and beautiful lady, with a hopeless, distant gaze
- a hotel bellman, his goatlike eyes spaced too far apart
- a package addressed to you in a wavering hand
- a pasty-faced young man, standing in the still morning mist of a churchyard
- a rat that regards you with a sort of simian intelligence before darting away
- a rusty key marked with a sigil that fills you with inexplicable dread
- a side-street of dour tenements, never found again
- a small laboratory, the walls lined with shelves crowded with phials and bottles of diverse concoctions
- a sudden awareness that you know something so terrible you've buried the memory of what it was
- a sudden clang, drawing your attention to a small metal object on the floor
- a trail of noisome slime on a dusty window-pane
- a word in an unknown language that chills the blood when heard
- frenzied music from an unknown source
- the peculiar smell of a cabin which has been wet with sea-water
- the redolence of newly-turned earth
- the shadow of an unknown thing, curdling the air as it draws inexorably closer
- the shadow of something in flight, its proportions wrong for a bird
- the sickly-sweet smell of decaying fruit
- the wan light of a gibbous moon
- vague shapes undulating deep beneath the water