5

ContentsFire is the Cleanser ...............................................65Fortune Smiles ......................................................65Impassioned Restoration (Direktiva Nul) ..............65Implore the Blade of Justice ..................................65Invoke Erotic Archon ...........................................65Invoke the Angel of Greed ....................................65Let Us Commence the Final Rule .........................66Palace of the Flesh (ROSCRO) ............................66Plea for Succor .....................................................66Plea to the Heavenly Physician .............................66Praise for the Luminous Lady ...............................66Purification by the Burning Ring ..........................67Quest of All-Consuming Pleasure ........................67Revenge Sevenfold Upon One Who Has Wounded Me ................................67Rite of the Black Feather ......................................68Stable Cancellation Process (ROSCRO) ...............68Strike Ill ...............................................................68Sumptuous Feast of the Angels .............................68Sweat of Grateful Toil (Direktiva Nul) ..................68Toil and Trouble ...................................................68

Split Spells ...............................................................69Abjuration of Form ...............................................69Abjuring Demarcation ..........................................69Astral Escutcheon .................................................69

Split Spells ................................................................. 69Craft Eyes of the Otherworld ...............................70Dangerous Visions (Direktiva Nul) .......................70Drive Forth the Malignant (Direktiva Nul) ...........70Expulsion of Device ..............................................70Inform Otherlife (Xolotl Cartel) ...........................70The Miles Jefferson Equation (ROSCRO) ............70Oanhue’s Manifold Defense ..................................71Oanhue, Streamlined (Direktiva Nul) ...................71Othernaut Exploration Procedure (ROSCRO) .....71Phylactery of Prophylaxis ......................................71Primary Entanglement ..........................................71The Shuddering Threshold ....................................72Smudge the Circle ................................................72Translunar Projection ............................................72Unveiling ..............................................................72

One Step Beyond ........................................................72Identifying Domain or Antagonism .........................73Tailored Bait ............................................................73

Baal’s Dagger .......................................................57Black Catnip .........................................................57Call the Gremlin ...................................................57Call the Lord of War ............................................57

Conjurations .............................................................. 57Call the Soul Breaker ............................................58Chastisement .......................................................58Conjure Astral Alarm ..........................................58Cry Havoc ............................................................58Defense of the Blasphemous Amulet .....................58Demand of Succor ................................................59Dread Imperial Command ...................................59The Ifrit’s Chains .................................................59The Ifrit’s Labyrinth ............................................59Incarnate the Duke of Shadows (Xolotl Cartel) ....60The Ineffable Ritual of the Dark Warden ..............60Lenin’s Lightning (Direktiva Nul) .........................60Maledictus Inelucti ...............................................60Penetrate the Abyssal Wall ....................................60Pestilential Demand ..............................................60The Philosopher’s Statue .......................................60Pugnacious Endeavor (Direktiva Nul) ...................61Putrid Coalition ....................................................61Raise the Succubus ...............................................61Relentless Discipline .............................................61Sacrifice of Sacrifices.............................................61Shield Against Mind’s Misfortune ........................62Sorrow’s Glass ......................................................62Summon the Slayer of Secrets ...............................62Vigilant Idol .........................................................62

Invocations...............................................................62Accommodate .......................................................62Adoration of the Translunar ..................................62Archon Restoration...............................................63Astral Domicile ....................................................63Beseech the Unyielding Watchman .......................63Bind the Mind and Loose It .................................63Boundary of the Infinitesimal Point ......................63

Invocations ................................................................ 63Celestial Plea ........................................................64Craft Talisman ......................................................64Empires Collapse ..................................................64Exile Ex Materia (Direktiva Nul) ..........................64The Finest Perfume is From Hidden Petals............64

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ContentsGetting In, Getting Out ...........................................88

Projekt ELSA ..............................................................89Projekt ELSA Character Index ................................89Using Projekt ELSA in Your Game ..........................89Getting In, Getting Out ...........................................90

ROSCRO ...................................................................90ROSCRO Character Index ......................................91Using ROSCRO in Your Game ................................91Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................92

The School of the American Future .............................93School of the American Future Character Index .......94Using SAF in Your Game .........................................94Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................94

Squadron A1 ...............................................................95Squadron A1 Character Index ..................................95Using Squadron A1 in Your Game ...........................95Getting In, Getting Out ...........................................96Squadron A1’s Structure .............................................. 97

Senior Command .................................................... 97Field Command ...................................................... 97The Grunts ............................................................. 97

The Way ......................................................................96The Way Character Index .........................................98Using The Way in Your Game ..................................98Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................99

The Xolotl Cartel .........................................................99Magic Items? ........................................................... 100

The Silent Shotgun ................................................ 100Horny Sauce ......................................................... 100Good Luck ............................................................ 100Hexes ................................................................... 101Sure Shot .............................................................. 101Deadbeat Compass ................................................ 101

Xolotl Cartel Character Index ................................101Using the Xolotl Cartel in Your Game ...................101Getting In, Getting Out ........................................102

Characters: The First Circle .......................................102Circles and Motivations ............................................ 102

Mel Bates ...........................................................102Leslie Delacourt, Esq. .........................................103Trey Hogan.........................................................103Barnabas “Bad Breath Barney” Piccione ..............104Kim Souter .........................................................104

Divining True Names ...............................................73Generic Summons ....................................................73Cross-Disciplinary Summons ...................................74

Astral Exploration .......................................................74Whither Science? ........................................................ 75

Testing Positive for Superheroism ............................. 75Bio-Isolated Effects ................................................. 75Mutation Therapy ................................................... 75

CHAPTER 4: CABALS AND FACTIONS ...... 76Àkrab-i-allah...............................................................77

Àkrab-i-allah Character Index .................................77Using Àkrab-i-allah in Your Game ...........................77Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................78

Citizens Against Reductionist Genetic Obsessions ......79CARGO Character Index ........................................79Using CARGO in Your Game..................................79Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................80

Direktiva Nul ..............................................................80Direktiva Nul Character Index .................................81Using Direktiva Nul in Your Game ..........................81Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................82

Next Iteration ..............................................................83Next Iteration Character Index ................................83Using Next Iteration in Your Game ..........................83Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................84

People for Religious Freedom ......................................84People for Religious Freedom Character Index .........84Using PRF in Your Game.........................................84Getting In, Getting Out ..........................................86Oh, the Mundanity ..................................................... 85

Juarez Cartel .......................................................... 85Gulf Cartel ............................................................. 85CIA ........................................................................ 85Special Threat Response Group ................................. 85FBI ........................................................................ 86GRU ...................................................................... 86GIGN .................................................................... 86DEA ...................................................................... 86The Chicago Outf it ................................................. 86

The Piccione Family ...................................................87Piccione Family Character Index ..............................88Using the Piccione Family in Your Game .................88

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ContentsCHAPTER 5: SHADOWS STRIDE BEHIND US ............... 135

The Past is Prologue ...............................................136History in Masks ...................................................... 136

What If? ............................................................... 136The Past is Present .................................................136

Hell’s Kitchen .....................................................136Cape and Dagger ................................................137World’s Finest Adventures ..................................137Weird War Stories ..............................................137

Superman and Supernature ........................................137What If? Masks and the Redcoat Death ..................... 138

The Man in the Ring .................................................142What If? Dead Men Walking .................................... 143

New Deals, New Pacts ...............................................145What If? Das Ansehen .............................................. 145

The Postwar and the Grim War .................................149What If? Tales of the Eschaton ................................... 149

New World Orders ....................................................153Conspiracy Theories .................................................. 154

CHARACTER SHEET ......... 155

Characters: The Second Circle ...................................105Fergus Blascock ..................................................105Carl Castro .........................................................105Devon Eire .........................................................106Irina “Agent XR-6” Grischov ..............................107Senator Amy Klein .............................................107Uday Nadhir .......................................................108Audrey “Powerhound” O’Niel..............................109Melanie Penobscott ............................................110Gino “Zipperflesh” Piccione ................................110Rita “Puke Bomb” Piccione .................................111Gail “Gary” Podgorny, aka “Mancat” ...................112Janice Romeo ......................................................113Dr. Brunhilde Sjeök ............................................114Benjamin “Babe” Weisenthal ...............................115Harmonia White ................................................116Reverend Cody Wright .......................................116

Characters: The Third Circle ......................................118“A Letter From Prague” .......................................118Harriet Breen......................................................118Lt. Colonel Paul Cohen, Code Name “Resource Two” aka “The All Knowin’” .................................119Sgt. Megan Deering, Code Name “The Many” aka “Multiple Meg” ...................................................120Rufus “Voodoo Child” Dupree ............................121Teymour Ghafari ................................................122Chlotilde Giroux ................................................123Albrecht Knudsen ...............................................123Dr. Eden Majors .................................................124Sgt. Yolanda Marks, Code Name “Green Crush” aka “The Wisp” ..........................................................125Yevgeny Mishkin ................................................126Christina Streeter ...............................................127Heather Wells .....................................................128Sgt. Bailey Wolfe, Code Name “Resource Five” aka “Distortion” .........................................................129

Characters: The Fourth Circle ....................................130Jorge Barceló.......................................................130Dr. August Frost .................................................131Dr. Miles Jefferson ..............................................131

Characters: The Fifth Circle ......................................132Annika Hao ........................................................132Maj. Rick Rodgers, Code Name “The One” ........133

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Chapter 1The Grim War

“In HItler’s sorcerous reIcH mankInd ’s tHIrst for power reached its most debased nadir.” Miss Crandall ’s voice was a low, steady drone, like bees in summer. It was summer outside, and periodically the heads of one of her students would slowly turn to the window, like a flower drawn by the sun. Even the good students looked. Hank Murdoch looked briefly, then pointed his face back to the front of the room. He was a jittery teen with acne and a safety pin through his nose, old punk style. “. . . having only recently come to grips with a verif iable ‘beyond,’ the nations of Europe were un-prepared for a barbaric sorcerous onslaught backed by a revitalized German economy fueled by Jewish slave labor . . .” Hank knew this should be riveting, but Cran-dall ’s voice could even take something like “make love to me now or lose me forever” and make it about as interesting as a tax return. He yawned, stretched, and in the process moved his hands in subtle pat-terns.

YOU REALLY THINKING ABOUT STUDYING THAT MAGIC CRAP? Hank knew sign language. His mom was deaf.

I HAVE TO S-P-E-L-L WITH YOU A-L-R-E-A-D-Y.

Kate Palchow wasn’t nearly as good at signing, she’d just started learning it from him. They weren’t “going steady” or anything lame like that, but she’d fool around with Hank. No big thing. And if he hadn’t wanted to fool around with anyone but Kate since Kate had started fooling around with him, well, just whose business was that? Hank stifled a grin, quickly, because Crandall was talking about mass sacrif ices. “. . . binding powerful spirits inimical to freedom into their enchanted stronghold at . . . ” The names, the places, all flowed into one unbro-ken lullaby. Everyone had to take Crandall ’s “Intro to Twentieth Century Occult History” class, every student at the School of the American Future.

9

Chapter 1: The Grim WarTHAT STUFF IS CREEPY. ME, I ’M GOING MUNICIPAL DEFENDER.

YOU?

THEY DON ’T HAVE TO WEAR FIRE FIGHT-ER STUFF OR DO A BUNCH OF COP JUNK. THEY ONLY GET COOL JOBS.

YOU M-E-A-N DANGER.

NO, I MEAN COOL. YOU WANT DANGER, GO AHEAD AND CONJURE.

“. . . now know that Stalin had been pursuing his own occult agenda for . . .” Crandall was universally reviled because she was not only boring, but she was a mutant with power over radio waves. As long as she was in the building, phones wouldn’t get signals, Blackberries wouldn’t carry messages, bluetooth decayed and computers were wireless-less. In a normal school, Crandall would have been adored, like most mutants, but the School of the American Future was different. “. . . f irst Allied mutant to emerge on the battle-f ield was a pilot named George Herbert . . .”

YOU GOT AN O-F-F-E-R FROM THE D-O-E, YES? C-H-E-M RESEARCH?

In reply, Hank yawned theatrically, wordlessly. He could force exothermic chemical reactions to occur cold, somehow drawing the heat into his own body where he could release it as electricity at his leisure. He could make flames icy and rust iron with a touch. In the summer, he was interning with smoke jumpers who wanted to see if he could create rings of instant ash around forest f ires. He couldn’t wait. Hank was a mutant too. So was Kate, who’d been let into the school after accidentally jumping into

the bleachers during a regional semif inal track meet. Mid-grade super-strength like that wasn’t anything special at American Future—what had the eggheads really interested was Kate’s immune system, which apparently had these “biodes” that could kick AIDS in the ass or something. Hank wasn’t really clear on it. Kate’s best friend could disintegrate metals. Hank’s roommate could fly, see in the dark, and change his size by about two feet in either direction. The Prom Queen was bioluminescent. Every student at the School of the American Future was a mutant, many of them had agents already, a few were cashing checks from Fermilab, MTV or the Department of Justice. Hank couldn’t imagine why Kate would want to throw all that away for moldy old books and scary weird spirits. It didn’t make sense. “. . . read chapters 11 through 13 for tomorrow,” Crandall said, into a chorus of groans, but the home-work wasn’t what made Hank’s eyes widen. It was Crandall ’s hands, making an artless series of jerky gestures.

H-A-N-K AND K-A-T-E SEE ME AFTER CLASS.

Crandall gave a mirthless grin before signing,

B-U-S-T-E-D.

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Chapter 1: The Grim War

History, Part OneThe magicians have always been around.

Whether it was the Pythian oracle, the witch of Endor, bone-pointing Aboriginal killers or voodoo-active pirates, there have always been people around who could call upon the supernatural and have it answer. There are varieties (spirit-binders, fetish-makers, animist shamans) but most forms of magic have long pedigrees. They stayed hidden for a long time, mostly because the typical reaction of people without magic is quite violent when confronted with people who do have magic. There are all kinds of crazy stories about the Borgia popes being satanic magicians, about Pilgrim warlocks using magic to clean out the natives before being un-masked at the Salem trials, about the efficacy of human sacrifice in Central America going head-to-head with the angelic protectors of Catholic conquistadors. It’s hard to say anything for sure before the Theosophists came out into the open and Spiritualist Movement surged after World War I. But there were just enough people eager for some kind of light after the war’s darkness, hoping for contact with the Other Side and reassurance that man-kind was being guided to a better place. Lots of people pursued Spiritualism, and a few things got scientifically verified. Magic worked. It could contact dead people and provide information that indisputably demonstrated the existence of some kind of human memory after the death of the physical body. Magic could also contact immaterial intelligences that were not and had never been human. Not everyone could do it. Two “operators” of equal education could perform the exact same rites, with only one succeeding. Common wisdom holds that some im-material force of will is necessary to infuse the form of a spell with the energy to operate. Only those with power-ful personalities seem to become magicians. Among those who can do magic at all, the simplest sort seems to be subtle influence on the physical world. Gross distortions of the physical world aren’t nearly as common or easy. But they aren’t impossible. The vogue for magic lasted until a few scrappy in-vestigators discovered that, far from being a new cultural

force, there had been magicians quietly influencing poli-tics for as long as fifty years. The calumny that magicians caused the Great War is certainly a gross oversimplifica-tion, but most people believe that there were magicians who encouraged it and spirits that greatly enjoyed or benefitted from it. As you might guess, the spirits who got off on trench warfare are not the most pleasant kind. But magic didn’t really earn the fear and hatred of the common man until the rise of National Socialism in Germany. Based around a cabal of enchanters, the Nazis were the first openly sorcerous government. Their atroci-ties are now considered the primary example of what magicians do when given authority. After World War II, the practice of ritual magic was banned in most countries, and much of the lore was lost or suppressed. While both the U.S. and USSR legally re-pressed the practice (after the Supreme Court decided, in The People vs. Megan Boroviak, that magic acts were separate from religion and were therefore exempt from Consti-tutional protection), it’s long been suspected that both sides were secretly using enchantment in their games of espionage, brinksmanship and battles through proxy nations. Indeed, a few dramatic screwups on both sides revealed to all but the most blindly patriotic that most nations were attempting, desperately in some cases, to acquire or recreate lost occult knowledge. A play on one of the words for a magical tome is one reason that the long period of covert strife between Russia and America is called the Grim Wars. Despite the rhetoric of People for Religious Libera-tion (a so-called “magicians’ rights” movement) that “once you outlaw magic, only outlaws will use magic,” most people abhor sorcery. Of course, laws and social oppro-brium are leveled against murder, theft and drug abuse too, and an awful lot of that goes on.

History, Part TwoThe mutants have always been around.

A few credulous hero-worshippers claim mutation every time a myth describes someone of unusual strength or unnatural prowess. But between the research of Charles Fort (which earned him the post of U.S. Secre-tary for Unusual Humanity) and a few well-publicized corpses preserved with obvious traits off the baseline, it

11

Chapter 1: The Grim Warseems clear that there were superpowered mutants in the past, even if Napoleon and Ghengis Khan weren’t among their number. They’re rare, but becoming less so. The reason for their rarity goes to the foundations of the phenomenon. There are a number of factors that need to be fulfilled be-fore someone becomes a functioning, metahuman mutant. First off, they need the genetic predisposition. It’s typically theorized that one person in a million has it. In a population of six billion people worldwide, that means there are 6,000 with the potential to develop a power. Secondly, the proto-mutant has to survive into adult-hood. This is less of an issue in the modern developed world, but historical child mortality rates were high. Furthermore, activating the genes requires a great deal of biological effort. It’s like bearing a child or recov-ering from a massive injury. Girls who don’t get enough to eat pubesce later. Children deprived of nutrients grow up stunted. Potential mutants whose bodies are strained just trying to survive and fight off infection have no resources left for a massive change. Even among someone who gets plenty to eat and has the potential, the powers won’t manifest if the host doesn’t accept them. They can be present, but unaccessi-ble. Someone who is constantly praised and supported as a child is unlikely to develop low self esteem as an adult without some serious trauma or life-changing experience, possibly not even then. Similarly, someone who lives his entire life as an ordinary man without heat vision is unlikely to try to use heat vision when he’s a theology grad student. The potential is there, but he doesn’t even suspect it. Since mutant powers typically manifest after the end of puberty (if they emerge at all), they used to be found most often in people who were already unstable, or who believed in their ability to do inhuman things, or who were in peril serious enough to jolt them out of their usual self-image. Ironically enough, this last factor meant that many historical mutants thought they were doing magic, when in fact the ritual trappings of enchantment only gave them a framework for accepting power that was theirs all along. Sorcery aside, historical mutants emerged in conflicts and amidst great tragedies. At the same time that Spiri-tualism was popularizing the practice of magic, American

belief in eugenics was presenting some primitive clues about the presence of beneficial mutation. The unusual brutality of the Civil War had produced several promi-nent mutants (the best known being “Stonewall” Jackson, the general no bullet could touch), so American soldiers going into the Great War were psychologically prepared to at least hope they could develop some life-saving power under fire. Between the wars, the surviving war hero mutants on both sides became cultural heroes, as well as objects of intense scientific scrutiny. This process only accelerated in the Second World War, where America’s

12

Chapter 1: The Grim Warother secretive organizations. As computers developed in the 1980s, some of the better funded and scientifically minded sorcerers began applying logical and mathemati-cal analysis to the theory and practice of enchantment. They were able to streamline things considerably, so pow-erful, compact spells were available just as the Internet arrived and made keeping secrets far, far harder. Leaks were inevitable and, with the media playing up the threat of immature wild mutants (and their rarer but just as dangerous senile counterparts), even some ordinary people started researching a few spells for self-defense. After all, being bulletproof was one of the more common mutations. Welcome to the Grim War. This is a campaign setting for Wild Talents: Superhero Roleplaying in a World Gone Mad, and it touches on the “Company” rules from the roleplaying game Reign. You need Wild Talents to play, while the rules from Reign can move the action onto a broader level. For more about Wild Talents, visit www.arcdream.comFor more about Reign, visit www.gregstolze.com

Factions in the Grim War These are the power groups the PCs can join and/orfight against and/or fight within.

AÀkrab-i-allahBrief: Religious fanatics committing indiscriminate ter-ror, in the name of Allah the all-merciful, using ancient spiritual secrets.Strengths: Absolute conviction, powerful spirits.Weaknesses: Tiny fringe sect that any right-thinking person would smash to flinders by any means possible. Incoherent religious ideology makes recruiting difficult.The Good: You’re kidding, right? I mean, some of them are motivated by genuine religious principles, and some of them blame the U.S. for genuine pain and genuine griev-ances, but come on. People get misled, they get blinded by their own suffering, but that only explains so much and after that point, it’s on you. Mass murder is that point.The Bad: All the way down. Some of them are puppets for evil spirits from beyond, but arguably they’re less

culpable than the people with no such excuses.

bountiful and well-defended breadbasket ensured that their well fed soldiery had the necessary calories to fuel the development of powers, if circumstance put them in harm’s way.

Current Events Between costumed mutants fighting at the forefront of the Vietnam War while enchanters wormed their way through Grim War espionage, the life of the aver-age person continued remarkably free of the influence of either. That started to change towards the end of the millennium, for both of the very different power types. The push of mutancy began when developed countries started using hormones on their herds. This increased weight gain, raised milk production, and the amounts that remained in the food products were so miniscule that they were deemed insignificant. But in the last thirty years of the twentieth century, the onset of puberty steadily crept earlier in first world nations, pos-sibly for no reason beyond protein-heavy diets. Whatever the reason, potential mutant powers started unlocking earlier. Instead of becoming available to people in their mid twenties (with fairly developed self-images) they were at hand to teens and adolescents whose identities were fluid enough to accept parahuman power. These same adolescents were also the first generations to grow up with television, and therefore, with televised images of adored and pampered mutants exhibiting their powers. The mutant population surged, even as many of the teens developing their powers terrified society with their poor power control, or poor grasp of consequences. The race is on to identify the genes controlling mutantcy, but even without a medical test, genetic databases can churn out lists of likely positives. Some people well into their mature years have been informed, out of the blue, that they have at least a 25% chance of being mutant-positive. This pool of potential repressed mutants have plenty of sponsorship offers from governments, corporations and other interested parties with psychological programs designed to tease power out into the open. Some of the more secretive programs utilize the mind-bending powers of enchantment. While it had lan-guished in the shadows, it remained popular with mafias, smugglers, intelligence agencies, terror cells, cults and

13

Chapter 1: The Grim WarCitizens Against Reductionist Genetic ObsessionsBrief: An advocacy group of genetic normals trying to inject some humor, sanity and balance into the debate about the meaning of mutants and their place in society.Strengths: They’re really well funded, they have a kick-ass PR machine, they’ve put some dollars in some important pockets and they have intellectual cachet.Weaknesses: Nonviolent and elitist, they deliver votes by manipulation and not by actual passion. Being middle of the road, they’re retrograde to groups like Next Itera-tion and too appeasing for people who feel threatened or impotent next to mutants. The Good: Reasonable, rational and have their heads straight on their shoulders. They can negotiate as honest dealers between several factions.The Bad: Self-interested powermongers trying to keep mutants in a PR bind so that they’re docile and need CARGO as intermediaries with the common man.

Direktiva NulBrief: The remnant of the Soviet occult intelligence apparatus.Strengths: Magic and ruthlessness. They know more about the invisible world than anyone, and what they know does not lend itself to dreamless sleep.Weaknesses: Unsupported, have made a lot of enemies and are regarded as evil incarnate by Squadron A1, and as a downed rival in prime kicking position by Projekt ELSA.The Good: First and foremost, their loyalty is to humanity.The Bad: The defense of humanity wallpapers over a lot of sacrifices. The worst of them are Black 1 and simply regard their chosen side as preferable to evil archons and daemons because the side is their own.

Next IterationBrief: Mutants who consider themselves the apex of human evolution, who seek to spread mutancy and discover latent mutants.Strengths: Some badass, powerful mutants are open sup-porters and others are quiet donors.Weaknesses: Very few members. Their non-mutant staff are either creepy wannabe fanatics or uninspired grinds doing a job and cashing a check. If push comes to shove, some of those powerful mutants won’t walk the walk.

The Good: Some genuinely believe they’re ushering mankind into its exciting next evolutionary stage. They have nothing against the non-mutated and don’t look down on them intellectually or spiritually. They just aren’t this year’s model.The Bad: Think KKK with heat vision.

People for Religious FreedomBrief: A Lobbying group working for the relaxation of magic regulation.Strengths: Growing populist appeal, loads of money, and sympathy from all kinds of spellcasters.Weaknesses: They have no idea of the implications of what they’re going on about and a lot of people consider them devil-worshippers. No mutants. Most of their spellcasters are strictly bush-league.The Good: Principled liberals who support religious freedom and intellectual openness.The Bad: Covert magicians using this open group as flypaper for anti-magic fanatics.

The Piccione FamilyBrief: Old-style Italian protection racket with its own inbred mutant enforcer family, grown into a broad-based criminal conspiracy.Strengths: In addition to loyal (if often messed-up) mutants, they dabble in sorcery. A code of honor keeps them out of drugs and selling spirit-bound objects. They try to minimize civilian casualties, too.Weaknesses: At war with the Xolotl Cartel and losing. At war with the cops and stalemated.The Good: Stylish, honorable gangsters, possibly with superpowers, enchantments or both.The Bad: Skeevy, dishonorable gangsters, possibly with superpowers, enchantments or both, and they don’t consider your five-year-old a “civilian”.

Projekt Ethnologisches Liter-aturarchiv-SonderabteillungBrief: A secretive European paramilitary group that runs around stomping mobsters, members of the Xolotl Car-tel, resurgent occult nazis, wild mutants, terrorists and anyone else who pisses them off. Projekt ELSA grew out of various nations’ espionage agencies who saw the U.N. (and then the E.U.) as good vessels needing a rudder.

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Chapter 1: The Grim War

Squadron A1Brief: America’s mutant superheroes, who fight crime, wage war, do disaster relief and give speeches telling kids not to do drugs or use hexes.Strengths: Beloved by America’s masses, PR-groomed, attractive and hella powerful.Weaknesses: Under constant surveillance by a cynical public that loves to tear down those it built up. They are not, of course, nearly as perfect as they let on.The Good: Genuine altruists who have the misfortune of

Strengths: Magic, mutants and realpolitik. Also bitchin’ black helicopters.Weaknesses: They’re detached from everyday people and everyday morality.The Good: Gritty warriors defending civilization. They’re not good people, but they’re standing between you and things that are evil, crazy, and not people at all.The Bad: Might-makes-right, ends-justify-means Euro-centric conspiracy.

The Rational Occult Study Crossdisciplinary Research Organization(ROSCRO)Brief: International intellectuals applying science to the study of the occult. They’re attempting to do it legally, which means they’re tightly licensed and observed.Strengths: A fresh perspective has let them get some insights that would make even the Russians sit up and notice. Some of those tweedy professors can throw down Dark Side shit like a Xolotl Cartel enforcer. Who knew?Weaknesses: Ivory Tower mentality, and they’re fumbling around a warehouse in the dark, unaware that it’s full of gunpowder. It’s anybody’s guess whether they find a flashlight or a book of matches first, but any source of illumination will get tried immediately.The Good: An inner conspiracy using illegal methods to contact benevolent higher powers in defense of humanity against evil.The Bad: An inner conspiracy using illegal methods to contact malevolent lower powers for self-gratification, wealth, revenge or out of simple intellectual fascination.

The School of the American FutureBrief: Lavishly-funded government school to instruct, activate and indoctrinate mutants.Strengths: Lot of mutants there, and some loyalty from early graduates.Weaknesses: Lot of uncontrolled mutants there, the administration is apathetic about PR, and some bitter-ness from early graduates.The Good: Morally-instructed selfless American patriots.The Bad: The mean girls you knew in high school, puffed up on entitlement, plus they fly.

15

Chapter 1: The Grim WarNew Skills Given the way that magic is detailed in this setting, there are a few new Skills added to the regular list of Wild Talents skills.Conjure: This is the Skill of summoning and compelling daemons, spirits of negativity and opposition. It’s used with Command. Spirits cannot have Conjure as a Skill.Invocation: This is the Skill of entreating and persuading archons, spirits of support and increase. It’s used with Charm. Spirits cannot have Invocation as a Skill.Spellcraft: This represents an abstract, theoretical knowl-edge of sorcery. Someone can have a high Spellcraft score and still be a lousy sorcerer, in the same way that some-one can read a dozen manuals on baseball and still have a crappy arm. It’s a Mind Skill.Spiritwise: A Mind Skill, Spiritwise is like Streetwise, only for paranormal entities. It’s mostly good for intuit-ing influences and presences.

Character Types and Power Profiles

Each of these Grim War character types is associated with certain Wild Talents sources and permissions. The type you pick can limit the options you have. Don’t worry though, they aren’t too confining. If you want to stack them up (by creating a mutant conjurer or the like) just add the template costs together.

MutantWhat They Can Do: Pretty much any physical effect.Limitations: No HD or WD in Mind, Charm or Com-mand—but see “Variations,” to the left. No telepathy, no detection or control of really abstract principles (“dan-ger,” “loyalty,” “madness”), no emotional control.Sources: Genetic only.Permissions: Super, One Power, Hypertrained, Power Theme, Peak Performer, and/or Prime Specimen.

ConjurerWhat They Can Do: Conjure daemons, generally nega-tive spirits with versatile powers. If they beat them at spiritual combat, the daemon has to serve. If the daemon wins, it can mean a dead conjurer. Or an enslaved one.Limitations: No Hyperstats, Hyperskills, Miracles or intrinsics. Can only compel daemons and must confront them in a power struggle.

being Black 5 in a Black 3 world, but who can throw an Abrams tank into orbit.The Bad: Hypocrites, turncoats, closet sorcerers and the occasional drug addict or date rapist.

The WayBrief: Christians who vehemently opposed Spiritual-ism back in the day, squandered their capital inveighing against mutants too, and are now resurging as more mutants pop up and are crazier.Strengths: Lots of numbers, lots of history, broad appeal.Weaknesses: Ain’t got no weird stuff.The Good: Some distinguish between occultists who sought power and mutants who merely accepted it.The Bad: Heavily-armed survivalists with an apocalyptic mindset.

The Xolotl Cartel

Brief: Criminal magicians who sell enchanted drugs, weapons and artifacts. The common man’s bridge to the occult, for good or (more likely) ill.Strengths: Whole lotta magic goin’ on. Pretty darn rich.Weaknesses: The authorities hate them, they’re constant-ly attacked, and intra-group conflict is settled violently.The Good: Groovy libertarian warlocks who think magic is just misunderstood. The way they see it, there’s no reason people shouldn’t enjoy a visit from the Gatekeeper of Monstrous Delights in the privacy of their own homes.The Bad: What, curse-flinging black marketeers aren’t evil enough? Okay, there’s a powerful evil spirit operating behind the scenes for its own nefarious purposes.

Variations: Reign and Wild Talents Mutations cannot give characters HD or WD in any Mind, Charm or Command Skills, except for Intimida-tion—unless the GM says so. If the hyperskill makes sense as a physical extension of the mutant’s power, it might work. Mutation can’t give HD or WD in those Stats. The “Variable Effect” Extra must be taken with an “If/Then” Flaw that limits it to a particular theme or type of power. This precludes “anything goes” Miracles based on Variable Effect, such as Gadgeteering and Cosmic Power.

16

Chapter 1: The Grim Warof course. They use the Base Will and Willpower scores of either the spirit or the human, whichever is higher. When a spirit is bound into a person, the caster doing the binding gets to decide whether they’re going to take turns with bodies or blend forms. If they take turns, the human uses the Alternate Form power from Wild Talents and the spirit’s powers all have the Flaw of being attached to that Alternate Form. That alternate shape is, of course, the spirit’s shape. When in his own body, the character takes damage to his mortal frame and can’t use the spirit’s powers. When in the alternate, he can use all the spirit’s powers. When forms are blended, the result can look any-where from 90% to 50% human. The altered features come from the spirit’s appearance. With blends, the wound boxes are either the human’s or the spirit’s, whichever is better. All powers are available all the time. With a successful Spiritwise roll, a sorcerer can recognize a blend for what it is, no matter how subtle the changes. If a blended conduit is obviously nonhuman, a successful Spiritwise roll lets a sorcerer get some idea of what the spirit is, or what it represents. Conduits form when people have both bind and access effects working. (For explanations of what those mean, see page 53.) It’s possible to have a spirit bound into someone without giving that person access to the spirit’s power. In that case, the spirit can ride the human’s senses and influence their behavior, but not use its pow-ers normally. (See page 19 for more on bound spirits.)What They Can Do: No limits on their power choices except as below.Limitations: Cannot knowingly transgress their nature. It’s not terribly difficult to kick the spirits out, either.Sources: Paranormal only.Permissions: Power Theme or Super.

Sources: None required.Permissions: None required.

InvokerWhat They Can Do: Invoke archons, generally posi-tive spirits with versatile powers. Invokers know how to request their assistance. But archons can always say no.Limitations: No Hyperstats, Hyperskills, Miracles or intrinsics. Can only invoke archons and have to persuade them to offer assistance.Sources: None required.Permissions: None required.

SpiritWhat They Can Do: No limits on their power choices except as below.Limitations: Can’t easily interact with the physical world, unless bound into it by a Conjurer or Invoker. Cannot deliberately transgress their nature. See page 21 for other details on the Spirit archetype.Sources: Paranormal only.Permissions: Power Theme or Super.(For more on spirits as PCs, see page 16.)

Conduit Conduits are people who have spirits bound into their very flesh and their minds. Though many of them appear human (or have one or more human forms) they are a combined entity, human and alien spirit. Not all such combinations are voluntary, but there’s little either party can do to get free without enchantment or death. On the other hand, many people can tolerate the stric-tures of a spirit in return for the ability to bring its pow-ers to bear on the physical world. Conduits don’t have to buy the Spirit intrinsic, but they don’t get its protections either. If they’re hit, they take damage just like normal people (or more often, like some type of mutant). They can still be controlled, compelled and harmed by sorcery,

17

tHe FIrst letter oF tHe HermIt

My Dear Friend in Christ,Our mutual acquaintance in Malta vouches for your personal quality and assures me that you have the strength to pick up the burden that she and I share. But before you choose to step upon the path of the invoker, ask yourself if your heart is truly pure in your purpose. Do you pursue contact with the higher world out of curiosity? If so, you are surely open to the lures of the abyss. Or is it the draw of power that tempts you, the romantic image of the holy warrior, garbed in righteousness with a thousand angels to carry out his commands, defend him from harm and work his pure will upon a muddled world? This too is a snare, and a subtle one, for the true path does not aggrandize its user but rather shrinks him, until his greatest joy is to submit to God ’s ineffable will. Are you eager to begin? Or do you dread it? For dread is the proper attitude, and a prayer for this cup to pass your lips untasted. Due to my choice, I have been excommunicated from my church. I have been alienated from those I love and admire, and have

studied with those I fear and despise. I believe that invocation can be just, a good and sacred practice if approached with reverent awe. I must believe this, or else I am deceived and surely damned. Even believ-ing as I do, I know that I tread the razor’s edge, and that the slightest slip could send me plunging into perdition. I would wish my course on none other, not my worst enemy. Yet if you see no other way to pursue the holy purpose, I will consent to instruct you. Consider your answer after much thought and prayer. There is no disgrace in turning away from this dreadful course. Rather, there is the greatest of graces—the grace of God ’s mercy. I await your answer and pray for you.

—Aloisius

Chapter 2Spirits

Chapter 1: The Grim War

18

The relationship between sorcerers and spirits in Grim

War is a curious one, and terribly important to each. The magic

of sorcerers can do almost nothing except constrain, assist,

impede or call to spirits. Without archons, daemons and the

occasional ghost, magic has no power over the physical world.

Spirits, on the other hand, are restricted in their power

over the material world when they are in their typical astral

state. The only way for them to change their state is the inter-

vention of a human enchanter. The smart ones know that the

best way to pursue their agendas is by manipulating a mortal,

while the stupid ones are generally so weak of influence that

they have no other option for power over the mortal realm.

Magicians need spirits to to work their will on people and

nations. Spirits need magicians for exactly the same reason.

But What Are They? No one really knows.

There’s some kind of connection to humanity and the ma-

terial world, that’s clear. But it’s not clear how significant that

connection is. It could be that the spirits that involve them-

selves with mankind and the physical realm are those whose

natures are relevant to what could be two small elements of a

huge cosmos. There could be spirits of undiscovered subatomic

particles who are inaccessible because the objects that resonate

with them are unknown. Or there could be entities in the spirit

realm totally unencumbered by the natures and antagonisms of

the creatures mankind has so far contacted.

On the other hand, the spirit would could be an unim-

portant codicil to the physical world. The natures of spirits

and archons could be bound intricately to the primary world,

emerging from their interactions with our world the same way

that shadows emerge from the interactions of light and matter.

But it’s equally arguable that all our lands and cities, all we see

and are, are the reflections of spirit actions cast in clay and flesh.

Some highly educated sorcerers believe that the spirits cre-

ated mankind and the world we inhabit. Others, just as learned

believe that spirits are created by mankind, unacknowledged

psychic bastards abandoned as children and grown to maturity

with their faces pressed to the glass of the real world.

No one is sure.

Spirits’ Traits Spirits ain’t like you and me. They’re creatures of energy

and idea, and their values are, at best, extreme to a point that

would be mad in a human being and, at worst, completely

alien. That said, spirits can be quantified by about three traits:

Type, Nature, and Circle.

The first of these is its Type, meaning, is it a daemon or

an archon? Archons are spirits of creation and increase. They

are for some principle (as defined by their nature, below).

They cannot decrease or assault that core concept, no matter

how much they might selfishly want to or how much they

might recognize that it ’s for the greater good. Archons aren’t

“good,” as anyone who’s encountered the archon Belhimoth,

Patron of Tyranny, can tell you.

Daemons are spirits of destruction, decay and decrease,

with inherent antagonism to some principle, as defined by their

nature. They cannot improve or protect their nemesis, no matter

what it might gain them selfishly (or altruistically) to do so.

Daemons aren’t evil any more than archons are good. There are

daemons dedicated to the defeat of slavery and child abuse and

any other vile thing you’d care to imagine. But there are also

daemons with a mad on against democracy and the rainforests.

This brings us to a spirit’s Nature, the core of its identity,

defined as something it must always support or always oppose.

These principles can be broad (such as love, peace or politi-

cal authority) or quite narrow (being the patron protector or

haunter of a specific area or profession). The broader a spirit’s

nature, the more powerful it is. A spirit of one particular city’s

sewer system is going to be a lesser thing than a spirit of all

cities’ waterways.

Chapter 2: Spirits

Spirits in the Material WorldNormally, spirits are invisible from the material world. How-

ever, it is possible to create conditions that make it easier

for a spirit to show itself. Because many spirits operate in-

directly, through influencing probability, they can alter highly

chaotic systems with less effort. Something with Brownian

motion is ideal. They can form faces or letters or images in

agitated smoke, billowing steam or boiling liquids.

Many modern invokers use a simple plexiglass cham-

ber with a dry-ice smoke machine and a fan when they want

to impress people. But it’s just as easy to see them on a TV

turned to a blank channel, where they can manifest through

the snow, or the static on a radio. If a spirit has been suc-

cessfully conjured, invoked, or bound by a mortal spellcast-

er, it can reveal itself in these sorts of randomness.

24 The Black CatType: Daemon

Summoned By: Black Catnip (see page 57)

Circle: First

Antagonism: Good Luck

Stats

Body: 1d

Coordination: 1d

Sense: 1d

Mind: 1d

Charm: 2d

Command: 2d

Base Will: 4

Skills

Brawling 2d, Lie 1d

Miracles

Jinx 5d (Attacks, Defends, Useful): It can only use 3d of this

power at a time in the physical world, if it’s still in the spirit world.

Perceive Material World 4d (Useful): At will, the Black Cat can

attempt to peer into the realm of flesh. If it succeeds, it can see

for minutes equal to the Height of the roll. If it fails, it can’t try

again for minutes equal to the Height of its highest rolled die.

Description

The Black Cat appears as some form of black cat. It might be a

sleek, mighty puma or a chew-eared alley cat, but it’s always un-

relievedly black. So black, in fact, that light falls into it without

reflection. It’s heralded by a scent of burning leaves and rain and

starlight (which many people would say has no odor, until they

encounter this spirit). No matter where one is when the Black

Cat is summoned, the location immediately seems more shadowy,

mysterious, vaguely intimidating but undeniably compelling.

The GremlinType: Daemon

Summoned By: Call the Gremlin (see page 57)

Circle: First

Antagonism: Environmental Pollution

Stats

Body: 1d

Coordination: 1d

Sense: 1d

Mind: 1d

Charm: 1d

Command: 2d

Base Will: 3

Chapter 2: Spirits

30

Chapter 2: Spirits

Example: The Soul Breaker uses Bestow Penetration on a ritual

sword. It rolls a 4x5. The sword now has Penetration 5 for its next

strike. Its owner wants more, so the Soul Breaker rolls again. With a

2x10, the sword gets another strike at Penetration 5.

Extra Spiritually Tough 6hd (Useful)

Perceive (Material World) 10d (Useful): The Soul Breaker can

only perceive the material world from the perspective of walls,

locks, or implements of torture.

Telekinesis 10d (Attacks, Defends, Useful): The Soul Breaker

can apply the full power of its TK to the physical realm.

Jinx 5d (Attacks, Defends, Useful): This power can be applied

full strength from the spiritual world into the material. How-

ever, it can only be used to interfere with attempts to escape,

liberate others or otherwise pursue freedom.

Perceive (Material World) 6d (Useful): The Dark Warden

can only see from the perspective of locks, shackles, security

cameras and similar objects.

Description

The Dark Warden appears as a man composed entirely of iron

chains, keys and locks. He’s about eight feet tall and heav-

ily muscled. No matter how spacious or grand the place into

which the Warden is conjured, it feels cramped, claustrophobic

and constructed with contempt and constraint. If called in a

dark place, it feels infinitely darker. If called in light, the light

becomes harsh, blinding and unforgiving.

The Soul BreakerType: Daemon

Summoned By: Call the Soul Breaker (see page 58)

Circle: Fourth

Antagonism: Resistance

Stats

Body: 5d

Coordination: 2d

Sense: 2d

Mind: 2d

Charm: 5d

Command: 10d

Base Will: 17

Skills

Athletics 2d, Brawling 1wd, Dodge 2d, Endurance 2d, Knowl-

edge (Cryptology) 1wd, Knowledge (Demolitions) 1wd, Inter-

rogation 1wd, Intimidation 1wd, Lockpicking 1wd, Perception

3d, Security Systems 1wd

Miracles

Bestow Penetration 10d (Useful): With a successful roll, the

Soul Breaker can bless weapons (or fists and teeth, for that

matter) with Penetration. This can be used at full power from

the spirit realm on physical objects. The item gains Penetration

equal to the Height of the roll for its next attack. Once the

weapon has gained Penetration, any further success gives it the

same degree of Penetration for another attack. If you roll low

Height, tough luck. Wait for the weapon’s use and then try it

again, or make a called shot. Weapons benefitting from this

power leave a faint trail of green smoke when they’re using it.

110

Chapter 4: Cabals & FactionsMiracles

Jinx 10d (Attacks, Defends, Useful): This power has no

Willpower cost and a couple of fairly restrictive If/Then Flaws.

Firstly, it can only interfere with attempts to make peace, spread

understanding or ease the tensions of a situation. Second, and

always at the GM’s discretion, it sometimes acts outside Mela-

nie’s conscious control, inflicting massive penalties on anyone

she dislikes or distrusts, whether she wants them to fail or not.

Projected Hallucination 6hd (Defends, Useful): This power

can target two people at once, making each appear to be the

other with a 3hd illusion. Thus, in the middle of a fight (should

she ever get into one) the spirit within her can make people

on both sides misidentify one another. This is used to protect

Melanie but, more importantly, to sow confusion and paranoia.

Control (Emotion) 3hd (Attacks, Defends, Useful): This is a

power with no Flaws or Extras. Given that it originates with

an archon of Intolerance, however, it’s never used to mediate

problems away but always to inflame tensions, encourage mis-

trust, and set up damaging misunderstandings. It can’t directly

damage anyone, but it can make them suicidal, or enrage them

blindly against an ally, so much so that they must spend a point

of Willpower or immediately attack as powerfully as possible.

History

Melanie was always a shy, quiet girl. Bright and polite and

respectful to her elders, she excelled in school and could have

gotten through med school if she’d had the self-esteem. Instead

she settled for her second choice, and now works as a nurse

practitioner.

Three years ago, right about the time she joined The Way,

someone tacked a spirit of Intolerance on her. Melanie has no

idea, though she has noticed her increasing interest in sports

and politics. She attends as many rallies, events, debates and

speeches as she can, from her local city council (which has

gotten very bitter and entrenched these days) to candidates for

national office. And, of course, she never misses a Sunday hear-

ing a preacher of The Way hold forth.

Gino “Zipperflesh” PiccioneArchetype: Mutant

Permission: Power Theme: Minion skin

Allegiance: Piccione Family

Circle: Second

Stats

Body: 2d [+5d]

Coordination: 2d

and the mask looked vaguely canine when the light hit it right,

and Steve S.O.B. Conner gave her the name “Powerhound”

after getting an explanation of what it was she did.

Humiliation! Abject humiliation. Everyone thought she

was a man. Just what her self-esteem needed. The ignominy of

it all sent her deeper into her shell until the day Dr. Sjëok made

an appointment with her. Or rather, with “Powerhound.” Her

bosses didn’t want the bad publicity attendant with clearing up

the mistake, they pointed out how many jokes the late-night

hosts would make and how good the gender error would be at

preserving her hidden identity. She caved in.

But Dr. Sjëok recognized her as a woman instantly, and

after that Audrey was very, very receptive to the Next Iteration

philosophy. Especially since it was so consoling: A vision of

a world where metahumans could make a real difference and

improve the lives of everyone. What was there to dislike? That

was before she found out Mancat was attending meetings too,

of course.

(Incidentally, the reason Dr. Sjëok didn’t fall for the man-

hood mistake like everyone else was that she hadn’t read any of

the newspaper articles. She thought she remembered her aide

referring to Powerhound as “he” but it wouldn’t be the first time

such a mistake was made in her office.)

Melanie PenobscottArchetype: Conduit

Permission: Power Theme (Intolerance)

Allegiance: The Way

Circle: Second

Stats

Body: 2d

Coordination: 1d

Sense: 1d

Mind: 3d

Charm: 1d

Command: 2d

Base Will: 3

Skills

Body Skills: Athletics 2d

Coordination Skills: Dodge 1d, Drive (Car) 1d, Stealth 3d

Sense Skills: Perception 1d

Mind Skills: First Aid 4d, Language (French) 2d, Medicine 4d

Charm Skills: Persuasion 1d

Command Skills: Stability 1d

111

Chapter 4: Cabals & FactionsSense: 2d

Mind: 2d

Charm: 3d

Command: 3d

Base Will: 6

Skills

Body Skills: Athletics 1d, Brawling 3d [+1wd], [Endurance 1wd]

Coordination Skills: Drive (Car) 1d, Stealth 1d

Sense Skills: Empathy 1d, [Perception 3d], [Scrutiny 1wd]

Mind Skills: Streetwise 2d

Charm Skills: none

Command Skills: [Intimidation 2hd], [Stability 2hd]

Miracles

Skinion 5hd: Gino has a second layer of skin that he can put

on and take off like a suit. When the skin (or a piece of it)

is off him, it can move around under its own power, watch

things, smother people, steal stuff and so on. When it comes

back to Gino and reintegrates with him, he can then remember

everything that happened to the chunk. On its own, a “skin-

ion” (from “skin minion” if you must know) is about as smart

as a clever dog or a monkey. For each point of Width of his

Skinion power, he can send a piece out solo. (The five pieces

are two arms, two legs, the torso and the head.) When his skin

is completely off, he looks like a flayed man, though he doesn’t

bleed and can move about without the pain of exposed nerves.

Seeing him in this state typically causes a Trauma Check for

the uninitiated.

He can distribute his five extra ranks of Body between his

skinions and himself if he has enough flesh on him to make it

reasonable. That is, if he sends his arm skins slithering away like

snakes, each with Body 2, he only has one extra point of Body

left on his person. Similarly, he can attach his levels of Extra

Tough to skinions as he wills.

Regeneration 2hd: This power is attached to his “Skinion”

power. Each skinion regenerates 2SK per round, as does Gino if

he has at least one Width point of flesh on his person.

Extra Tough 5hd: These wound boxes are attached to the Skin-

ion power, and he can distribute them as described above.

History

Gino thought he was just a super-strong quick healer with

360 vision and great hearing until he got grabbed up by some

of those damn Xolotis. The enchanter who had him chained

him up good on a metal slab and gloated about just how long

and how much more a regenerator could suffer than a normal

human. Then he bragged about the hideous ritual he could do

with a mask made of human skin and, true to his word, he care-

fully cut around Gino’s jaw and pulled the flesh off the top of

Gino’s head like the world’s goriest stocking cap. The sorcerer

was laughing, Gino was screaming, and then they exchanged

roles as the blob of skin and hair crawled up the enchanter’s

arm, leaving a smear of blood behind it, wrapped itself around

his head and smothered him. Then it tried, fruitlessly, to let

Gino out of his shackles, until Gino directed it to get the key

out of the dead sorcerer’s pants.

That was the beginning of a beautiful friendship between

Gino and his epidermis.

Note: Everything in [brackets] is a power attached to his

semi-autonomous skin. If he’s stripped, he can’t use those Skills

and Stat boosts.

His Brawling, Intimidation, Perception and Scrutiny Skills

stay at full strength for both himself and his skin as long as he

has some of it attached. He can see from the perspective of any

of his exposed skin that he’s wearing, and the Perception boost

comes from having the exterior of his body serving as one big

eardrum. When he sends his flesh roaming, he can attach as

much or as little of his extra Body as he wants. He can only use

the Stability when he is fully covered.

Rita “Puke Bomb” PiccioneArchetype: Mutant

Permission: Power Theme (Monster)

Allegiance: Piccione Family

Circle: Second

Stats

Body: 4d

Coordination: 1d

Sense: 1d

Mind: 1d

Charm: 1d

Command: 3d

Base Will: 4

Skills

Body Skills: Athletics 2d, Brawling 3d, Endurance 2d

Coordination Skills: Dodge 2d, Drive (Car) 1d, Ranged

Weapon (Pistol) 2d

Sense Skills: Scrutiny 5d

Mind Skills: Knowledge (Demolitions) 1d, Streetwise 2d

Charm Skills: none

Command Skills: Intimidation 4d, Stability 3d

151

Chapter 5: Shadows Stride Behind Usthat’s cold comfort to the increasingly harried Jerusalem police

which also has terrorists, religious fanatics, and lore-seeking

wizards to deal with.

•Otherevocativecitiesoftheerainclude:Havanabeforethe

fall, where American gangsters (including supers hiding out

from the heat in the States) and the idle rich hit the clubs

for music and recreational sorcery while Castro lurks in the

hills; gritty New York in the 1970s, where punk and disco rise

together with the mutant crime rate, Xolotis and Picciones try

(and fail) to take the heroin trade away from Frank Lucas in

Harlem, and Satanists rumble with Thelemites in Greenwich

Village for magical turf; and Rome in the 1970s, crawling with

Projekt ELSA assassins, Direktiva Nul advisers to the Red

Brigades, crazy independent Vatican demonologists, and CIA

“Operation Gladio” provocateurs in an increasingly explosive

magical chess match across cathedrals and through catacombs.

Cape and Dagger•Step One: Crack open James Ellroy’s novels American Tabloid

and The Cold Six Thousand. Step Two: Add shadowy super-

heroes and skeevy sorcery. Step Three: Awesome. Howard

Hughes, JFK, the heroin trade, Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe,

MLK, police brutality, J. Edgar Hoover, the Mob, RFK,

Nixon: This is the great age of sweaty guys in fedoras, and

cigarette-smoking guys taking out the trash. This is when

America’s greatest-ever crop of conspiracy and tawdriness

flowered and ripened. Harvest it.

•Thepurest“capeanddagger”gameintheGrimWareracov-

ers the glory days of Projekt ELSA: the Ian Fleming 1960s and

John le Carré 1970s. Combine glamour and glamor, from the

secret Staaza (Staatszaubersicherheit, the East German magical

security police) laboratory on the Brocken to the kabbalistic

energies swirling around Monte Carlo’s casino. This is a good

sort of game in which to play around with Goldness; a wise-

cracking Commie-stomper can become a cynical shadow player

over the years, only to be revealed as a long-time Soviet mole at

the climax.

•Thesupersideofthe“capeanddagger”coiniscounter-terror-

ism. Direktiva Nul and the Staaza sponsor terrorists all over the

world, from the IRA to the Red Army Faction to the PFLP to

FARC. This is covert superheroism against sorcerous scum, or

it’s morally bankrupt deals for hostages and the acid knowledge

that the whole game is as fixed as professional wrestling, for

much the same audience.

World’s Finest Adventures•AsaU.N.agency,ROSCROmanagestoinsertitselfinto

any number of war zones, disaster areas, magical arms confer-

ences, and cultural heritage sites all around the world. Only

the worst of cynics would note that illegal artifact thefts and

spell trade flourish wherever ROSCRO shows up; surely

nobody associated with the U.N. could possibly be corrupt!

Players might be tomb raiders, ROSCRO bureaucrats, smug-

glers, or any combination of the above. Choose up good guys

and bad guys likewise.

152

Chapter 5: Shadows Stride Behind Us•Theytraveltheworld,seekingitssecretflows.Theydrawup

the black blood of the Earth, and turn it into fire and power.

They are awash in money and danger, beset by wars and

conspiracies and mounting them in return against their foes.

They are oil-men, and they may accidentally uncover magics in

remote regions, or have their own secret traditions for seeking

buried treasure and cursing their rivals’ fields.

•Foralooserversion(thoughlikelylowerBlack)ofthewar

story, consider a PC group of mercenaries. African coups,

security jobs at multinational factories and mines, and the oc-

casional commando raid against a lost temple; it’s all in a day’s

work for those who don’t work for any government but the

universal democracy of the dollar. Mercenary units might be

less concerned about mixing and matching magi and mutants in

the same force, or even the same squad; as long as the job gets

done, nobody asks much which physical law you broke to do it.

Weird War Stories•Vietnamisn’tthebiggestwaroftheera(that’stheIran-Iraq

War) or the most dramatic (the Yom Kippur War in 1973), but

it certainly grew the most evocative imagery, from Casualties of

War to Apocalypse Now to Rambo. This can be another oppor-

tunity for “supers vs. sorcery” gaming in the jungles, and even

Saigon can support not just a fine “Hell’s Kitchen” game in its

own right but a good deal of Blue weirdness.

•Ifall’sfairinloveandwar,“LaViolencia”isamongthefairest

wars ever. From 1948 to 1958, all Hell let out for breakfast in

Colombia, killing 200,000 people. What began as a complex se-

ries of coups completely degenerated into lawless anarchy; this is

potentially the lowest of Black settings. The PCs, be they magi or

mutants, are likely among the most personally powerful humans

in this backwater country, and they can literally do anything they

want without any consequences worse than what’s already going

on. Does absolute opportunity corrupt absolutely?

•Bycontrast,1980sElSalvadorisastepuptocivilization.

This is a good three-sided setting, for players and GMs who

enjoy juicy political games can maneuver among the Xolotlis,

Squadron A1, and Direktiva Nul. Further wild cards might

include: CIA-contractor drug smugglers either allied with or

trying to screw over the Xolotl, Cuban “advisers” whose revolu-

tionary zeal and military incompetence endanger Direktiva Nul

operations, meddling Congressmen of either stripe, and even

well-meaning local generals (rebel or government) appalled at

the whole mess.

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Chapter 5: Shadows Stride Behind Us

New World Orders“So the wingnuts have predictably exploded over the Green Crush nipple slip pictures (which we proudly link to again here) just as if they hadn’t spent the last f ive years creaming themselves over her special combination of simpleton glamor and tank-busting Will to Power. We could go on and on here about Hugh and Rush and Hannity and their not-so-hidden desire to be walked on by a green stiletto boot, but we have new DVDs of Magus X that aren’t going to watch themselves, no matter what Mike Huckabee’s friends try to tell you. We’ll just close by taking a leaf from the wingers’ book (don’t worry, it’s the one they’ve already colored in) and and asking them - aren’t they always saying we’re in Iraq to bring the benighted heathen the American Way? Well, what better weapon than nipples to do that? We rest our case.”

—post by “Altius” on CAPErflick.com [02/29/08]

Overstrained and sclerotic, the Soviet empire fell apart with

breathtaking speed. The military and technical sectors gave up

the race with America; Direktiva Nul, which had always beaten

the CIA in the field, simply faded into the woodwork during

the Yeltsin Spring. Rumors claim that the Putin regime has

purged as many old Direktiva hands as it could (the KGB and

Nul never did get along) but other rumors, equally plausible,

say that Nul is back in business for the Motherland under some

even more secret name. Operatives and sensitives alike agree

that a “New Grim War” is certainly under way, though nobody

seems quite settled on what the sides are this time around.

Rumors likewise swirl around Àkrab-i-allah, the “Scorpi-

ons of Allah” who have scuttled out of the cracks opened by the

War on Terror. Some scholars (on the left) say they, like Xolotl,

were an idiotic CIA attempt to recruit counter-sorcerers to

fight Direktiva Nul in Afghanistan and Eritrea. Other analysts

(on the right) say that they, like hundreds of other magical ter-

ror cults, are leftovers from Direktiva Nul’s 1970s heyday, made

coincidentally relevant by their co-ideologists’ rise. Either way,

they’ve made plenty of headlines in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Mo-

rocco since 9/11 but nobody in the Federal government wants

to discuss “the Niagara Falls incident,” not even the PR flacks

who trot out every money-laundering sting at a Midwestern

mosque as the second coming of Hamas.

The biggest secret of all, however, is that the plane that

hit the Pentagon on 9/11 breached the pentacle binding the

Archon of the Stifling Air. In increasing order of bureaucratic

“oh shit” worries:

•Themagicalbacklashfromthepentaclebreachmayhave

wiped other magical rites and records in the Pentagon, or in the

Smithsonian, or in the computers at Fort Meade.

•Oritmayhavechangedthemandwedon’thaveanywayto

check without casting them.

•Plus,aSeventh-Circlearchon,atleast,isoutloosenow.

•Anarchonthathappenedtobethekeystoneoftheentire

magical defense network of North America.

•Andhow,exactly,didal-Qaedasuicidepilotsknowwhichwing

of the Pentagon to hit in order to breach that pentacle? Was it

just dumb luck? Or did the archon somehow call them?

•Thearchon,afterall,maynotbeveryhappywiththeU.S.

government sorcerers who bound it for 55 years, or with the

U.S. government. Or with the U.S. Could Hurricane Katrina

have been the first blow?

•Ifso,what’skeepingthesecondblowfromlanding?Orwho?

All in all, a certain level of governmental paranoia, even panic,

seems justified. But it really would have been nice if the United

States had had an effective magical espionage force. The global

hyperpower may have just become everybody’s astral whipping boy,

and an army of mutants may not be enough to set things right.

Here and Now Gaming in the here and now poses its own set of chal-

lenges, over and above the specific questions addressed in the

various group writeups in Chapter 4. A game centered on

espionage and magic is a game centered on those two things

your mother told you never to argue about: politics and religion.

The odds of your entire gaming group agreeing on the facts on

the ground in Baghdad, much less the political implications

thereof, are slim at best. If you are blessed with nothing but a

uniform set of Limbaugh or Olbermann fans, well, then get

cracking! Political gaming, like all gaming, is great fun when

everyone agrees on the bad guys.

But drama comes from disagreeing on the bad guys, or at

least on the right things to do to (and with, and occasionally

for) them. If you don’t think you can separate player politics

from character politics, or you don’t think you can fight ex-

Soviet necromancers side-by-side with a liberal Democrat, you

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Chapter 5: Shadows Stride Behind Usmight be best off setting your campaign in a less-contentious

historical period. But if you want a bunch of free character

motives, complete with tense shouty scenes just like in West

Wing, then full speed ahead. Figure out what helps you hit

closer to drama and farther from flamewar: Maybe the lefty

players should all play muscle-bound conservative superheroes,

and the right-wing players should all play granola-nibbling

liberal witches. Politics might hurt less if your game takes place

in an alternate universe where Al Gore, or John McCain, was

inaugurated in 2001, or where Rumsfeld resigned in 2005, or

where the U.S. invaded Iran or Pakistan instead of Iraq.

Or maybe everyone with strong political opinions has to

play a Libertarian, or a Trotskyite, or a foreigner. Perhaps the

GM can offer an extra Experience Point to every player after

any session that occurs without a political shouting match. Or

maybe you should make your characters interesting people with

their own beliefs, and see what happens without taking any of it

personally. Just saying.

Conspiracy TheoriesBelieve it or not, in a world of demons and people who can

fly, there are still things too crazy to believe. Just like in our

world, the world of Grim War has folks who think the U.S.

government, or Israel, took down the World Trade Center,

although in the Grim War world more of these crazy people

think the CIA did it with sorcery. But WTC and JFK and MLK

and so forth are old hat in both realities.

What the Grim War world’s conspiracy shows obsess

over are mutants, specifically the “alien seed” theory. By

this theory, “mutation” doesn’t exist. Superpowers come

from alien DNA, either spliced into people during abduc-

tions (“origin stories” are just screen memories to fill the

“missing time”) or descended from human-alien hybrids in

previous generations (perhaps as far back as the “ancient

astronauts” who built the Pyramids). The government is

either duped by alien brainwashing or scientific hubris, or

it’s in league with the aliens to cover up the truth and guar-

antee an army of extraterrestrial storm troopers. The anti-

Darwinian biases of the American Religious Right play into

this belief complex, as do millennia of historical persecution

and hatred of the Other. (That said, some cultists believe

that the benevolent blond aliens from the Pleiades are seed-

ing the planet to save us from ourselves and uplift human-

ity.) This can set up a nice X-Men vibrato in your game if you

play it up, or it can just be a cute bit of set dressing. Or, of

course, it could be true.

The “Faerie Among Us” theory is somewhat similar.

Bright, famous, good-looking people—the Kennedys, Tom

Cruise, Princess Diana, Green Crush—are not humans, but

elves. Or faeries, or Fair Folk, or Gentry, or Inhumans, de-

pending on which paperback you read or which website you

visit. Opinion is likewise divided on whether the Fair Folk are

good or evil, or (most excitingly) divided among themselves.

Some believe in an Elven Establishment that secretly runs

Hollywood, or Washington, or the drug trade, or the Royal

Family; others believe the Good Folk are just here to have

promiscuous sex and drink infant blood. Some anti-Semites

believe that all Jews have “goblin eyes,” while other Aryan

Identity types believe that only the “Nordic races” are hon-

ored with Alfandir intermarriage. This makes a good line of

mystical baloney for crazy magi to rant about, or for the GM

to occasionally drop hints about.