Hypercorps 2099 Wasteland funded!

It was a real nail biter that last hour but we exceeded our goal, raising 108% of what we need to make my future apocalyptic setting source book a reality. If you backed the Kickstarter or helped spread the word, thank you! I am hard at work polishing up the last bits of copy that need attention so I can get a playtest to backers ASAP.

Mists of Akuma Translation

The second print proof for Mists of Akuma came back and I’m starting to figure things out–principally, softcovers don’t print as well (I’ve verified this with a different title, Veranthea Codex: Radical Pantheon).  I did a lot of really awesome stuff in there that isn’t coming out right in softcover, but printing correctly hardcover. I should have it figured out soon but while I waited for that in second proof in the mail I started working on a translation for Mists of Akuma into another gaming system.

I’m not saying which one yet, but I will tell you that is utterly appropriate!

Hypercorps 2099 reviews by Endzeitgeist!

Edit: After waking up I saw EZG posted his reviews for both editions of Hypercorps 2099! On the whole he agreed with my assessment (that the team crushed it!) so check out his 5-star appraisal of the Pathfinder ruleset and 4-star review of the 5E rules!

Habib el Armisari, D&D 5E Slavemaster

It’s been a while since I shared one of my characters and I figured it might be time to trot out Habib, someone that despite his failings–greed, a greater love for food than people, the fact he kept a slave (another PC; his idea not mine, but we had fun with it), insistence on meeting this Count Strahd because surely a deal could be struck (no deal could be struck, obviously), or  willingness to betray his word–grew on me quite severely. A few things about Habib:

1. You’ll notice Habib has many names. This became something of a running gag–every time I mentioned his name (any part of it) in the game’s forum, I used his full name, adding an extra name onto it just to see if anyone noticed.
   (They did, it just took a while.)
   I eventually started crowd-sourcing the next name, which is how we came to Terr’dukin.
2. Habib is, as you will notice, from Faerun. A caravan bodyguard working on his family’s merchant line, he ultimately is the one who hires his fellow adventurers for security before they are shunted off into Ravenloft.
   This was all predicated by Jenny Green-Teeth, a crazy witch woman, and the party’s (almost entirely without complaint or concern save for from Habib) murder of a white stag so she could eat the thing’s heart.
   As you might imagine, things did not go well from thereon in as the pretense of “we are not the evil ones” kind of sloughed away. I mean if that’s what the knight was OK with doing, then damn, the guy with the slave…yeah.
3. Habib was also a bit of an experiment with multiclassing and I was surprised by the results. I think if we’d had a solid caster around and gotten a little higher level I’d have started to be disappointed, but as it stands he whupped some ass and was quite tough on the map (I don’t think he ever got to rage, even).
4. Habib did not originally summon a quasit nor did he want one, but that’s what ended up happening.
   (To just really accelerate that race to the bottom, we also had a warlock in the party).

Habib el Armisari ibn Forsooth ibn Goldesi ibn Rahstfara ibn Saldeem ibn Hissaryi ibn Krylleer ibn Varsadd ibn Lurraz ibn Terr’dukin (he of the many incorrect names)

Male human (calishite) barbarian 1/wizard 3/rogue 1, CN (cursed with werewolf lycanthropy, transform at ½ hp)

Armor Class 19 (3 Dex, 4 Con, 2 Shield)

Hit Points 56 (1d12+3d6+2d8+20)

Speed 25 ft. (Habib is really really fat and I voluntarily lowered his speed)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA	FEAR
13 (+1)	16 (+3)	19 (+4)	14 (+2)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)	1 point

PROFICIENCY BONUS +3

Saving Throws Strength, Constitution, Wisdom

Skill Proficiencies Arcana, Athletics, Insight, Investigation, Perceptionx2, Persuasion, Stealthx2

Tool Proficiencies cook’s utensilsx2, land vehicles, navigator’s tools, thieves’ tools

Armor/Weapon Proficiencies simple weapons, martial weapons, light armor, medium armor, shields

Senses passive Perception 16

Languages Common, Undercommon

Spellcasting. Habib is a 3rd-level spellcaster that uses Intelligence for spellcasting (spell save DC 13; +5 attacks). Habib knows the following spells:

• Cantrips—acid splash, fire bolt, friends (Mawnki can carry my torch)

• 1st (0th/4 day)—alarm, chromatic orb, detect magic, find familiar (QUASIT), identify, magic missile, protection from evil and good, silent image
  PREPARED detect magic, magic missile, protection from evil and good
• 2nd (1st/2 day)—aganazzar’s scorcher, scorching ray
  PREPARED scorching ray, scorching ray

ACTIONS

Crowbar. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage.

Silver Dagger (8). Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range (20/60), one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3).

Rapier. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage.

Warhammer. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d8+1) bludgeoning damage, or 6 (1d10+1) bludgeoning damage if wielded in two hands.

Whip. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 10 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4+3) slashing damage.

Javelins. (3) Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range (30/120), one target. Hit: 3 (1d6+1) piercing damage.

Equipment. 100 gp of gems, gold, and smith goods, pendant stolen from Jenny Greenteeth (the amulet looked like a crucifix on a thin silver chain. When you put it on your CON becomes 19), 5 Von Szarovich masterwork cloaks, 3 poisoned darts (from haunted house), 4 alabaster figurines (haunted house’s Music Room), two children’s rings (50 gp), aphrodisiac perfumes and spices (500 gp),

An explorer’s pack, mule (Herbert), cart (note that the cart has two extra sets of reins — one long, for when Mawnki deserves a lesser punishment, a medium length set for Herbert, and one short, for when Mawnki deserves a strict punishment), holy symbol, manacles, steel mirror, spellbook, components pouch, a letter of introduction from your guild, a set of traveler’s clothes, and a belt pouch containing 12 gp

LOOT 2 studded armors, 2 leather armors, masterwork cloak, holy water, emeralds from blight attack, 2 sacks of grain, cloth elkhorn badge, glaive, two longbows (40 arrows), spear, shortsword, longsword, furs

BACKGROUND: GUILD MERCHANT

GM Fiat: Rather than proficiency with artisan’s tools, you might be proficient with navigator’s tools or an additional language. And instead of artisan’s tools, you can start with a mule and a cart.

FEATURE: Guild Membership

OTHER FEATURE: This was also supposed to get something (as Habib’s contacts in Faerun had little use in Ravenloft) but it never came up.

Rage

In battle, you fight with primal ferocity. On your turn, you can enter a rage as a bonus action.

While raging, you gain the following benefits if you aren’t wearing heavy armor:

• You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.
• When you make a melee weapon attack using Strength, you gain a +2 bonus to the damage roll.
• You have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage.

If you are able to cast spells, you can’t cast them or concentrate on them while raging.

Your rage lasts for 1 minute. It ends early if you are knocked unconscious or if your turn ends and you haven’t attacked a hostile creature since your last turn or taken damage since then. You can also end your rage on your turn as a bonus action.

Once you have raged, you must finish a long rest before you can rage again.

Unarmored Defense

While you are not wearing any armor, your Armor Class equals 10 + your Dexterity modifier + your Constitution modifier. You can use a shield and still gain this benefit.

Arcane Recovery

You have learned to regain some of your magical energy by studying your spellbook. Once per day when you finish a short rest, you can choose expended spell slots to recover. The spell slots can have a combined level that is equal to or less than half your wizard level (rounded up), and none of the slots can be 6th level or higher.

For example, if you’re a 4th-level wizard, you can recover up to two levels worth of spell slots. You can recover either a 2nd-level spell slot or two 1st-level spell slots.

Hypnotic Gaze

Starting at 2nd level when you choose this school, your soft words and enchanting gaze can magically enthrall another creature. As an action, choose one creature that you can see within 5 feet of you. If the target can see or hear you, it must succeed on a Wisdom saving throw against your wizard spell save DC or be charmed by you until the end of your next turn. The charmed creature’s speed drops to 0, and the creature is incapacitated and visibly dazed.

On subsequent turns, you can use your action to maintain this effect, extending its duration until the end of your next turn. However, the effect ends if you move more than 5 feet away from the creature, if the creature can neither see nor hear you, or if the creature takes damage.

Once the effect ends, or if the creature succeeds on its initial saving throw against this effect, you can’t use this feature on that creature again until you finish a long rest.

Sneak Attack

Once per turn, you can deal an extra 1d6 damage to one creature you hit with an attack if you have advantage on the attack roll. The attack must use a finesse or a ranged weapon.

You don’t need advantage on the attack roll if another enemy of the target is within 5 feet of it, that enemy isn’t incapacitated, and you don’t have disadvantage on the attack roll.

Thieves’ Cant

During your rogue training you learned thieves’ cant, a secret mix of dialect, jargon, and code that allows you to hide messages in seemingly normal conversation. Only another creature that knows thieves’ cant understands such messages. It takes four times longer to convey such a message than it does to speak the same idea plainly.

In addition, you understand a set of secret signs and symbols used to convey short, simple messages, such as whether an area is dangerous or the territory of a thieves’ guild, whether loot is nearby, or whether the people in an area are easy marks or will provide a safe house for thieves on the run.

Cunning Action

You can take a bonus action on each of your turns in combat. This action can be used only to take the Dash, Disengage, or Hide action.

FEAT: RESILIENT

Choose one ability score (Wisdom). You gain the following benefits:

• Increase the chosen ability score by 1 (from 9 to 10), to a maximum of 20.
• You gain proficiency in saving throws using the chosen ability.

FEAT: GOURMAND

You have mastered a variety of special recipes, allowing you to prepare exotic dishes with useful effects. You gain the following benefits:

• You gain proficiency with cook’s utensils. If you are already proficient with them, you add double your proficiency bonus to checks you make with them.
• As an action, you can inspect a drink or plate of food within 5 feet of you and determine whether it is poisoned, provided that you can see and smell it.
• During a long rest, you can prepare and serve a meal that helps you and your allies recover from the rigors of adventuring, provided you have suitable food, cook’s utensils, and other supplies on hand. The meal serves up to six people, and each person who eats it regains two additional Hit Dice at the end of the long rest. In addition, those who partake of the meal have advantage on Constitution saving throws against disease for the next 24 hours.

Dunno the Quasit

Tiny fiend (demon, shapechanger), chaotic evil

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 7 (3d4)

Speed 40 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
5 (-3)	17 (+3)	10 (+0)	7 (-2)	10 (+0)	10 (+0)

Skills Stealth +5

Damage Resistances cold, fire, lightning; bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing from nonmagical attacks

Damage Immunities poison

Condition Immunities poisoned

Senses darkvision 120 ft., passive Perception 10

Languages Abyssal, Common

Challenge 1 (200 XP)

Special Traits

• Shapechanger: The quasit can use its action to polymorph into a beast form that resembles a bat (speed 10 ft. fly 40 ft.), a centipede (40 ft., climb 40 ft.), or a toad (40 ft., swim 40 ft.), or back into its true form. Its statistics are the same in each form, except for the speed changes noted. Any equipment it is wearing or carrying isn’t transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.
• Magic Resistance: The quasit has advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.

Actions

• Claws (Bite in Beast Form): Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) piercing damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 5 (2d4) poison damage and become poisoned for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Scare (1/Day): One creature of the quasit’s choice within 20 feet of it must succeed on a DC 10 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the quasit is within line of sight, ending the effect on itself on a success.
• Invisibility: The quasit magically turns invisible until it attacks or uses Scare, or until its concentration ends (as if concentrating on a spell). Any equipment the quasit wears or carries is invisible with it.