iiPublisher Information Hunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

Credits

Requires the Mutants & Masterminds RPG by Green Ronin Publishing for Use.

Design: Lee F. Szczepanik, Jr.

Editing: Anna Lunsford, Darlene Szczepanik

Art Direction: Anna Lunsford

Typesetting and Interior Layout: Dave Anderson

Cover Layout and Logo: Dave Anderson

Cover Art and Interior Art: Nichx

Cartography: Dave Anderson

Writing: Michael Kuhn, Lee. F. Szczepanik, Jr.

Hunter & Prey, Of Gods and Men is © 2006 Beauman Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved. Arbor Productions is a registered trade name of Beauman Enterprises, Inc. Hunter & Prey, Worlds of Legend and associated logos are trademarks of Beauman Enterprises, Inc. Mutants & Masterminds, M&M Superlink, the M&M Superlink logo, and Green Ronin are trademarks of Green Ronin Publishing and are used with permission. Hero points are Product Identity of Green Ronin Publishing, used with permission.

The following is designated as Product Identity, in accordance with Section 1(e) of the Open Gaming License, Version 1.0a: all character and place names and descriptions, all artwork and images.

The following text is Open Gaming Content: all stat blocks.

Beauman Enterprises, Inc.PMB# 974714 York RoadTowson, Md. 21204www.arborproductions.com

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iii Table of ContentsHunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

Hunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iv

Section One: Characters . . . . . . . . . 1

Badash . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Denali . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Enigmachine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Hokus and Pokus . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Karttikeya . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Kishan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Ravana . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Professor Poppycock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Rakshasas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Zaneyack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15Biography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16Personality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17Known Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Zaneyack’s Henchmen . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Section Two: Adventure . . . . . . . .18

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18The Heroes are Already Established as a Group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18The Heroes are Already Established, but Work Solo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19The Heroes are Making Their Debut. . . . . . .19Mixing and Matching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Descriptors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Heroes not Attending . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

The Event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Enter: The Zaneyack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

Divine Legacy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23Tactics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Clash of the Titans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24

Epilogue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Additional Story Hooks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

OPEN GAME LICENSE . . . . . . . . . 27

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iiiForeword Hunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

How many times has a Gamemaster been stuck for an adventure idea for an upcoming session? Either the players have decided to bring in new characters for whatever reason, or their characters have faced and been victorious against so many villains that the Gamemaster feels at a loss as to how to bring some of the villains back in new and interesting ways, or what threat to hit the heroes with next.

Well, welcome to Hunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men, a new series from Arbor Productions de-signed to help Gamemasters create memorable adventures, quickly and easily.

Each volume of Hunter & Prey is designed to get Gamemasters moving effortlessly, providing ten, fully-realized NPCs and a mini-Adventure good for a single issue session to help introduce the characters, and get the players involved right away.

Unlike our Autumn Arbor product line, Hunter & Prey does not take place in any specific set-ting, but is specifically designed to be plugged into any setting, in any M&M campaign.

In this first volume, a great archeological discovery has been made recently at Mount Vesuvius and transported to the Museum of History in the heroes’ city. With massive media coverage leading up to the unveiling of the discovery, due to its rumored mystical properties, the heroes are quickly drawn into an epic battle between Gods, Demi-Gods, and Demons. A conflict that threatens to de-stroy not only the city, but the entire world.

Can the heroes help stop the escalating threat to mankind, or will the world be plunged into a darkness hinted at only in mythology?

The heroes may have hunted the criminals . . . but now the hunters have become the prey!

Lee F. Szczepanik, Jr.Baltimore, Maryland

Foreword

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1 CharactersHunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

BadashReal Name: Badash KumarAge: 1,979 (52 at time of “death”)Height: 6’4” (5’4” at time of “death”)Weight: 600 lbs (142 lbs at time of “death”)Eyes: Black (Brown at time of “death”)Hair: None (Black at time of “death”)PL: 12 Total Points: 240

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA35 12 20 12 12 12

+12 +1 +5 +1 +1 +1Toughness Fortitude Reflex Will

+15/+10 +12 +5 +15ImperviousCombat: Attack +10, Damage +12 (Unarmed), +12 (Blast), Defense +6 (+3 Flat-footed), Initia-tive: +1Skills: Concentration 10 (+11), Handle Animal 6 (+7), Intimidate 8 (+9), Knowledge (Theology and Philosophy) 6 (+7), Medicine 5 (+6), No-tice 5 (+6), Ride 4 (+5), Survival 8 (+9), Swim 4 (+16)Feats: All Out Attack, Diehard, Fearless, Fear-some Presence, Power AttackPowers: Blast 12 (Fire, Penetrating, Alternate Powers: Blast 12 [Lava, Explosion]), Earth Control 12 (Alternate Powers: Snare 12), Growth 4 (Limited: Needs Earth Materials), Immovable 4 (Unstoppable), Immunity 1 (Ag-ing), Mind Shield 10 (Permanent), Protection 10 (Impervious), Regeneration 8 (Bruised/Un-conscious: per round/no rest, Injured/Stag-gered: per minute, Disabled: per hour, No Resurrection, Limited: Needs Earth Materials), Super-Strength 6 (Ground Strike, Shockwave)

Biography

The Hindu have long been a people known for great contributions to the world. They

developed not only one of

the world’s earli-est counting systems,

but also first cata-logued the effect of

Gravity some 1200 years prior to Sir

Isaac Newton’s rediscovery of those same principles, and devel-oped many of the first suc-

cessful, surgical practices.

Likewise, the Hindu re-ligion is one of the oldest, and most

versatile, religions in the world. Allowing for ways of life devoted to Enlightenment,

Hedonism, Worldly Gain, and other facets of hu-man desire, Hinduism has survived for well over 5,000 years.

One particular aspect of Hindu belief is the death ritual. Under the Hindu practice, the deceased is cremated so that the physical body is nearly destroyed. After the cremation, the Chief Mourner uses a bamboo staff to crack open the skull, thus allowing the Soul to leave the Earth and attain its rightful place. As long as the body remains upon Earth, and the skull is intact, so the Hindu believe, the Soul will be forever trapped upon our plane of existence.

Buried deep within Hindu texts is the story of a Mystic who, nearly 2,000 years ago, became the pawn of Ravana, the Chief of the Demons

Section One: Characters

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2Characters Hunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

known as Rakshasas… and has been cursed to an existence between life and death ever since…

Badash was a Hindu Mystic devoted to study of the true transcendence of the Atman (soul). Unfortunately, his thirst for such wisdom prevented him from ever truly attaining it, and during his studies he became contacted and cor-rupted by Ravana, Chief of the Rakshasas. Ra-vana, through guile and lies, convinced Badash that one of the keys to the knowledge he sought lay within the Rakshasas, long ago defeated and imprisoned by Karttikeya so that such knowl-edge could not be attained by mankind. Un-fortunately, their realm of imprisonment was far from Earth, but there was a place where the gateway was thinning, and could be made to open. Mount Vesuvius, in Italy.

Badash traveled on a pilgrimage to Italy. However, Hanuman, the monkey chief, learned of what was transpiring and reported Ravana’s plan to Vishnu. Concerned that Ravana’s plan could succeed and herald the coming of his tenth and final incarnation, Kalki (The Horseman), be-fore the proper time, Vishnu dispatch Karttikeya to stop Ravana’s plan.

For years before the arrival of Badash, the area surrounding Mount Vesuvius has been plagued by minor Earthquakes and eruptions, all a result of the Rakshasas attempting to break free.

Karttikeya arrived on Earth, and quickly made his way to the area known as Italy by the humans. There, he confronted Badash, attempt-ing to stop him from unleashing Ravana and his demonic legions. Unfortunately, Karttikeya arrived too late. Ravana was freed and the Rak-shasas began to pour through the portal.

Karttikeya and Ravana fought, with the le-gions of Rakshasas assisting their master. Their battle across multiple planes of existence, how-ever, agitated the precarious position of Mount Vesuvius. The volcano erupted, destroying the City of Pompeii, seriously damaging Herculane-um, and causing minor damage in Nuceria and Naples.

Although Ravana was defeated and the Rakshasas once again imprisoned, Badash was

buried beneath the tons of magma and ash that covered Pompeii.

Unknown to anyone, however, Badash was not dead. His body somehow partially pre-served by the mystical energies unleashed at Ve-suvius that day, and thus his physical form not undergoing a full cremation, his Atman could not depart the Earth. He has remained buried deep beneath the Earth for almost 2,000 years.

In that time, his name has been spoken only in very few select prayers. For he is considered Badash, Liberator of Demons and Bringer of Vengeance.

Personality

Badash is an avenging spirit cursed to eternal damnation upon the Earth. Furious at Vishnu and Karttikeya for his condition, and the Devas as a whole for urging mankind towards enlightenment, yet denying them true Wisdom, he views super-powered individuals as Avatars of the Gods that cursed him, and will desire nothing more than their destruction. He believes that by destroying the Avatars, he will be able to weaken Vishnu enough to eventually take retri-bution upon what he considers to be selfish and betraying Gods.

Known Tactics

Although entombed within the Earth for nearly two millennia, Badash is still quite ca-pable of using the powers granted to him by the mystical energies unleash at Mount Vesuvius.

Badash is immune to most normal weap-ons, due to the thick Earth and Magma that still encase his mortal form. Due to his connection with the Earth following the battle between Karttikeya and Ravana, he is capable of control-ling the Earth to ensnare his enemies. By us-ing the Earth around him, Badash can increase his height to nearly 16 feet tall, and can use the power merged into him from Ravana to regener-ate injuries at an alarming rate. Also due to the energies that made him into his current form, he is capable of generating and controlling flame and lava, using it to weaken structures, attack his enemies, and cause intense fires.

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3 CharactersHunter & Prey: Of Gods and Men

Denali

Biography

Raised in India, and the latest in a long family

line of mystics which included Badash Kumar, Denali is a

psychic with the ability to sense ambient magical energy in objects and places.

Immediately after completing school, she attended

the University of Delhi, majoring in History. It was her desire to be-come an archeologist and dedicate her life to unearthing the myster-ies of the past, believ-ing that only through knowledge of the past could the future of man-kind be kept on the right path.

Upon graduating from the University, she

regularly participated in excavations in Egypt. It was

at one such excavation that she first met Dr. Kishan Shayri, a re-nowned archeologist and cura-

tor at an American museum. Dr. Kishan was so impressed with Denali’s knowledge

and dedication that he invited her to travel to America with him and work at his museum. Knowing well Kishan’s dedica-tion to history, and many of his award winning books and achievements in the field, Denali was nonetheless reluctant to accept. America was far from her family, and she had not yet considered leaving her home in India permanently. Kis-han understood, and invited her to America to visit the Museum, learn of its purpose, and see

his work first-hand. Denali agreed and, several months later, happily accepted Kishan’s offer to become his personal assistant and student.

Over the course of the next year, Denali worked closely with Dr. Kishan, making several key archeological discoveries in Brazil, China, and Germany. Unfortunately, she would remain unaware of his true form as the Chief of the Rak-shasas, Ravana, until too late.

Having seen within Denali the gift to sense the mystic energies around the World, and knowing her genealogical ties to Badash, Kishan’s offer to her was not out of professional interest or charity to a new archeologist. Kishan brought Denali to him with the express purpose of manipulating and guiding her into discover-ing the exact whereabouts of Badash’s prison, and assisting in the events that he believed would unleash the immortal mystic.

Real Name: Denali KumarAge: 27Height: 5’3”Weight: 120 lbsEyes: BrownHair: BlackPL: 3 Total Points: 71

STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA10 10 12 16 13 14+0 +0 +1 +3 +1 +2

Toughness Fortitude Reflex Will+1 +2 +2 +8

Combat: Attack +1, Damage +0 (Unarmed). Defense +6 (+3 Flat-footed), Initiative: +0Skills: Diplomacy 6 (+8), Gather Information 6 (+8), Investigate 8 (+11), Knowledge (Earth Sci-ences) 8 (+11), Knowledge (History) 10 (+13), Knowledge (Physical Sciences) 8 (+11), Knowl-edge (Theology and Philosophy) 10 (+13), Notice 6 (+7), Search 8 (+11), Survival 6 (+7)Feats: Equipment 5, Ultimate Save (Will)Powers: Mind Shield 5 (Permanent), Super-Senses 4 (Magic Awareness, Detect Magic [Ranged, Visual])Equipment: 25 points of equipment for labora-tory, research, and archeological equipmentSa

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