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SHADES OF BLACK

An Adventure For Champions

A Hero Plus ProductAuthor: Allen Tomas

Editing and Development: Steven S. Long

Layout and Graphic Design: Andy Mathews,

Allen Tomas

Cover Art: Nate Barnes

Interior Art: Nate Barnes and Keith Curtis

SPECIAL THANKS

We’d like to thank the playtesters who took thetime to read over or run this scenario or theirmany useul suggestions.

TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction ...........................2

For Love Of Evil .....................2 Adventure Overview ...............3

Background...........................3

Adventure Information ............4

Act One 6

A Request For Help ................8

MAP: Southeast Michigan ....10

Autopsy Reports ............ 11-14

Investigators’ Conclusions....15

What’s Happened To

The Randolphs? ................18

An Urgent Call......................20

Act Two 26

Avenues Of Investigation .....28Engagements With

The Enemy.........................39

Conclusion of Act Two 43

Conclusion...........................63

Villains .................................65

Chantal/Shade.....................65

Chantal/Reborn ...................69

Darkling ..............................72

The Gryphon .......................73

Lady Crow...........................76

Lady Crow’s Pets .................79

Enchanted Weapons ............80

Charts ..................................81

Combat Chart.......................82

Maps....................................83

Southeast Michigan .............83

Dining Room .......................84

Oak Park.............................85

Delacroix Mansion ...............86

First Floor (GM’s) .................87First Floor (Player’s) .............88

Second Floor (GM’s).............89

Second Floor (Player’s).........90



2 Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus

Now, we’ll turn it over to Miranda Chen,who’s live with the latest concerning the fight between the Champions and thesupervillain alisman. Miranda?”

“Tanks Pamela.“Tis evening many olks will be getting home

late rom work, as downtown was rocked by a battlebetween our beloved Champions and the sel-styled Mistress o Hellfire, alisman. I’m happy to reportthat the battle is now over. Offi ce workers are beingallowed to exit their buildings and go home.

“As you can see behind me, alisman wassubdued by the Champions just minutes ago, andis now being taken to super-criminal containment acilities....”

alisman glares into the television camerasbeore an MCPD offi cer pushes her head down andshoves her into the back o the police van. She takesa seat on one o the hard benches. Te offi cers slamthe doors o the van shut, then lock them with aheavy clunk. Te steel restraints chae her wrists;her tongue probes a throbbing tooth knocked looseby Ironclad’s right hook. She mutters an incanta-tion. Flames flicker rom her fingertips, but soondie out. She curses: or once, her idiot sister man-

aged to get a spell right. It will be a while beore her powers return.

Suddenly, there’s a prickling on the back o herneck. alisman picks up her head, squinting suspi-ciously A stench o sulur and black magic fills the

o humanity. I you were to agree to my venture, Iwould ask that you raise the fleshless shade o onewho long ago passed beyond the veil o this mortal-ity. Deliver this damned soul rom her confinementin the Hells beyond, and return her to these realmso the quick.

“It is equitable barter: one task or a like task.One task simply accomplished or another o simi-lar diffi culty. For your own reedom, I ask no morethan the reedom o this shade.”

FOR LOVE OF EVILNear the Forêt du Chevalier Noir in France,

the locals tell a tragic story about a long-dead

witch and her lover. Te woman’s lover was mor-tally wounded in battle, and she worked desper-ate sorceries to preserve his lie. But her strugglewas in vain. Tough she was powerul in magic,healing her lover’s wounds was beyond her abil-ity. With no other recourse, she placed him in anenchanted slumber, so he might awaken, restoredto his ull health and power centuries hence. Filledwith despair and grie at the knowledge that shewould be long dead when he awakened, she real-

ized death was the only surcease o her sorrow.Rather than live without her lover, she thrust herdagger into her heart and took her own lie.

It is a story out o Arthurian Romance, butt A th ’ t T ’ l

INTRODUCTION



3Shades of Black

ADVENTURE OVERVIEWIn Shades O Black, the Black Paladin seeks to

restore the ghost o his long dead lover, Chantal, tophysical orm. Chantal’s shade uses her magic to

aid her lover in his blasphemous quest, guiding himto potential vessels or her incorporeal spirit. Oncehe locates a victim, the Black Paladin — with thesorcerous aid o the villainess alisman — perormsan evil ritual. I successul, the ritual transorms the victim into the image o Chantal at the time o herdeath. More terrible still, it allows Chantal to orcethe victim’s soul rom her body, so Chantal can claimthe body as her own.

Prior to the beginning o Act One, Chantal

has deemed all the chosen bodies unsuitable — butgiven enough time, the two lovers are confident theycan find a perect vessel. Unless the PCs are power-ul, clever, and lucky, the Black Paladin succeeds inhis quest; and one o the most eared witches o theArthurian Age returns to lie in modern times towreak evil as she did so long ago.

AC ONE: MURDERS PASSING SRANGE

A request rom the Millennium City Police

Department draws the heroes into the adventure. Aseries o abduction/murders has lef MCPD detec-tives baffl ed. Tey have positively identified each victim, but amily and riends point out strange cos-metic changes in them, such as different color hair oreyes. As the heroes investigate, they learn each victimunderwent a partial transormation o her physicaleatures, and that magic was involved in the trans-ormation.

At the conclusion o Act One, the heroes rush tothe rescue o the latest victim and conront the BlackPaladin and alisman, as well as Black Paladin’snewly-created retainers, the Gryphon and LadyCrow. Te fight takes place on the shore o Lake Erie,

to him the Lance O Unvanquished Pain. Te BlackPaladin’s course o war is simple. First, he attemptsto ree his captured retainers, then to mislead theheroes with a series o eints and ruses. Finally, oncethe heroes are distracted, he strikes at his true goal,

Chantal’s chosen vessel... and woe to those whostand in his way.

AC HREE: AN UNHOLY REBIRH

In Act Tree, the heroes have a final conronta-tion with the Black Paladin. Te conrontation takesplace in the haunted mansion rom Act One. Temansion is much changed. Chantal, either enragedat having been thwarted or ecstatic about having abody, has worked the ghosts into a renzy. Te heroes

must journey into the mansion and discover itssecret passages and chambers, while withstandingghostly assaults and ambushes by the Black Paladin’sretainers. Finally, the heroes track the Black Paladinto his hidden lair, a crypt deep below the mansion,and the climactic battle takes place. Te soul o aninnocent woman hangs in dire jeopardy, and i theheroes don’t deeat the Black Paladin and vanquishChantal’s shade back to the inernal regions, that soulwill be lost orever.

BACKGROUNDIn 1993, Chantal’s prophecy was ulfilled, and

“he who is as your brother” awakened the BlackPaladin rom his enchanted slumber. Since that day,Sir Giles de Morphant has terrorized helpless inno-cents and tested the mettle o the “knights” o themodern age. He has occupied the days and weeks o

his immortality with dark plots and evil deeds. Forthe most part, he has been satisfied with his new lie.But on occasion, memories came to him unbid-

den and unwanted. He remembered a lover, long agodead: Chantal, the witch responsible not only or

INDEX OF VILLAINS

Here’s a list o villainsused in Shades O Black, with page reerences

so you can easily trackthem down.

The Black PaladinConquerors, Killers,and Crooks, page 126

ChantalShades O Black,pages 65, 69

DarklingShades O Black,page 72

Demon HoundHERO System Bestiary ,page 62

The GryphonShades O Black,

page 73

Lady CrowShades O Black,page 76

Lesser DemonHERO System Bestiary, page 54

TalismanChampions, page 211




whispered chiding words in his ear. “No Lancelotreborn that one,” she admonished. “Only a palereflection come down through the ages. Touspend thy days thinking on eternity, whilst thy lovesuffers the fiery pit. But truly Hell holds no torture

or me more terrible than thy disdain.”He had many other dreams, and always Chan-tal was there, speaking to him.

Te Black Paladin is an initiate o the arcanearts, and his mystical senses knew the truth behindhis dreams. Tese were not mere nightmares: theghost o Chantal haunted him. She spoke to him inhis dreams... and was right to admonish him. Hehad thought her dead and gone orever, but o allmen, he should know that death was not the end.

A black desire kindled in his evil heart. Hewould deliver Chantal rom the inernal regions.He would engineer her return to the flesh. ogether,they would carve out a new realm to rule. His darklady at his side, the Black Paladin would once againbe a lord o men.

He needed to raise Chantal’s shade and bind itto the world o the living. And a witch is best suitedto bring a witch’s ghost out o the underworld. TeBlack Paladin required an ally.

Fortune smiled on him. He watched on televi-sion as the Champions battled alisman in Millen-nium City. He recognized alisman’s incantationsand gestures or what they were: witchery. Whenshe was deeated, he rushed to the scene. By stealthhe approached the Mistress o Hellfire. He offered asimple trade: i she would raise the shade o Chantal,he would ree her rom captivity. She eagerly agreed.

alisman inormed her rescuer she would needsome possession o the shade, something importantto Chantal when she was alive. It had been longyears since Chantal lived, and the centuries hadscattered her possessions to the our winds; manywere likely destroyed. But still there was hope.

stole the dagger and two other relics, which alis-man sensed held potent magics.

Dagger in hand, alisman raised the shade oChantal, and bound the witch to her ormer blade.But the Black Paladin’s plans were incomplete.

Chantal still required a body. Te witch could notcome into the ullness o her power until returnedto the flesh. What man would take a fleshless shadeas his lover?

So the adventure begins....

alisman’s Motivationalisman became involved with the Black

Paladin or a simple reason: she wanted to escaperom her impending incarceration, and he offeredher reedom. It was a simple trade, tit or tat, andboth upheld their end o the bargain. alismanraised Chantal and bound her to the material plane;as the Black Paladin would say, alisman has dis-charged her obligation to him.

But she remains with him, and throughout theadventure is an ally o the Black Paladin and hisghostly lover. Te Black Paladin believes alismanstays because she is attracted to his noble mien, anddeeply affected by his dark magnetism.

He couldn’t be more wrong.alisman sticks around because she knows adoomed love affair when she sees one. She has asadistic streak a mile wide, and will relish watchingwhatever ill ate bealls the Black Paladin and Chan-tal. Depending on the circumstances, she may evendecide to help it along to its painul conclusion.

During the adventure, you should keep al-isman’s motivation in mind. I an encounter goesbadly or the PCs, alisman can serve as a secret

ally. She won’t risk the Black Paladin’s wrath byhelping them openly, since his power dwars herown while Chantal’s around. But i the opportunitypresents itsel, and she can get away with it — andmost importantly you find it needul — alis-



5Shades of Black

Millennium City sourcebook. O course, you caneasily relocate the adventure i you want; the onlyrequirement is that the mansion has to be old andin a relatively isolated location.

Te adventure has a mystical bent and is

intended or a group o traditional superheroes —meaning, heroes primarily motivated by a desire toright wrongs and do good. I the PCs are vigilantes,or “practical heroes” likely to kill captured supervil-lains to prevent them rom causing trouble later,this adventure probably won’t work well or them.Having a Mystic hero in the group (see Champions, page 76) helps, but it’s not necessary or the PCs’success. I the PC team does not include a Mystic,the heroes will probably need the help o a mysti-

cal NPC to ully understand the Black Paladin’smotivations and methods. Non-player characterso mystical bent, such as Witchcraf or Alicia Black-mun, can provide assistance i need be.

Gamemaster PreparationShades O Black is an epic adventure spanning

the course o several game sessions. In comic bookterms, it’s a multiple-issue story arc, requiring threeor more issues to untangle the villain’s byzantineplot and thwart his evil plans. o succeed — or,more precisely, to intrigue the players with theevents o the adventure, and keep them interestedin what the Black Paladin is up to — you need tomake preparations and decide a number o thingsbeore beginning Act One.

Introducing alismanI alisman, isn’t already a part o the cam-

paign setting, you should introduce her beorebeginning Shades O Black. First-hand experienceo alisman’s mystical villainy, coupled with clueslearned in Act One, should make the PCs believeth Mi t H llfi i th t i d b hi d

alisman EscapesYou should arrange or the PCs to hear about

alisman’s rescue rom captivity by the Black Pala-din. Again, they should learn about this two orthree sessions beore beginning Shades O Black,

since there’s a six week period between her escapeand the beginning o Act One. Te heroes can learnabout alisman’s escape many different ways: thenewspaper or television, a riendly NPC hero, theircontact with the MCPD, or any other means appro-priate to the campaign.

I you decide not to have the PCs encounteralisman prior to Shades O Black, it’s still impor-tant they know alisman has escaped captivity, andwas aided by the Black Paladin. Otherwise, Act One

may seem arbitrary and unrelated to previous epi-sodes in the campaign.

In either event, any efforts the PCs make totrack down alisman prior to the beginning o thisadventure should come to naught — or else you’llhave to arrange another breakout. Te easiest wayto handle this is to keep them so busy with othermatters that they don’t have time to hunt her down.

Te Murder Victims’ Specs

By Act wo o Shades O Black, Chantal hasdiscovered the perect vessel or her spirit... butyou must decide who the victim is beore Act Oneeven begins.

Your decision determines the exact details othe clues discovered in Act One. All the victims(including the one rescued by the heroes) are thesame age as the perect vessel, and have their birth-day in the same season. Because o this, you haveto choose the perect vessel, then use her age and

birthday or the murder victims in Act One.Te perect vessel or Chantal’s spirit is a PC,

DNPC, or riendly NPC. Te only requirements arethe perect vessel be emale and somewhat young-ish (essentially younger than 40 and preerably in

USING SHADES OF

BLACK WITHOTHER SETTINGS

Shades O Black takes

place in and aroundMillennium City, one othe primary sub-settingso the Champions Uni- verse setting. But eveni you’re not runninga game in MillenniumCity, you can still use itwith a ew changes. Allyou really need is:

■ a large city where the villains can find andkidnap victims

■ an isolated locationnot too ar rom thatcity or the DelacroixMansion

Any other aspect o the

scenario that relates toMillennium City youcan easily change. Forexample, instead opolice records o theRandolphs’ chipped carpassing through one othe Gates that leads toMillennium City, youcould have police traffi ccameras videotape thecar as it enters the cityyou use or your game.




In a candle lit room the Black Paladin stands the next Her eyes flicker with yellowish flames



7Shades of Black ■Chapter One

He senses a presence; it swirls around the circle, fluttering his cloak and rustling alisman’s black hair.He hears it gasp, like a suffocating woman allowed tobreathe at last, then give out a long sigh o release.

alisman continues to incant. Shortly, her voice

hoarse, she says, “Te shade is bound to the dagger.” Tough no words are spoken aloud, he hearsChantal’s voice say to him: “My love. My heart. Atlast, thou hast delivered me rom the urnaces o thedamned.”

An icy chill prickles his flesh, as Chantal’s shadecaresses him. Tey continue their silent discourse,soul speaking to soul. He tells her, “Robe your spiritin mortal flesh, milady, so that I might embrace you.ake the witch’s body. Make it your own. o have you

at my side, as you were in ages past, is my heart’s soledesire.”

He senses Chantal examining alisman. He glimpses suspicion in alisman’s narrowed eyes. Withwords inaudible to the Mistress o Hellfire, Chantalanswers him, “Fie on this harlot! She is no vessel orme. I would have an untainted body or my rebirth,one which reeks not o corruption and hellfire’sstench.”

Solemnly, the Black Paladin answers, “So be it,

m’lady.”

Beore the PCs become involved in the adven-ture, the Black Paladin and his allies have alreadyaccomplished several tasks in their quest to raiseChantal and grant her physical orm. Here’s thesequence o events to help you organize things; youshould provide dates and details more specific toyour campaign i necessary.

Six weeks ago, the Black Paladin reed alisman

rom captivity and enlisted her aid in his quest.

A ew days later, the Black Paladin and alis-man traveled to France and broke into a smallmuseum o antiquities located not ar rom theForêt du Chevalier Noir. Tere they stole three arti-acts o little interest to museum offi cials and his-

torical researchers, but o great value to themselves.Te artiacts were: a helmet o bone shaped like acrow skull; a bottle o ancient wine; and a daggero excellent workmanship. At the beginning o theadventure, the thef has gone unnoticed by themuseum staff, since they stored the artiacts in themuseum archives, not in the display cases.

Once back in the States, the two villains raisedthe shade o Chantal and bound her to the dagger,which she used when alive to perorm sacrifices in

magical rituals.A little more than our weeks ago, they took

over the Delacroix Mansion — a place to perormthe necromantic ritual which will provide Chantalwith a body. Tey chose the site or its secludedlocation... and because Chantal sensed it was anexus o evil power not ar removed rom the iner-nal regions.

On that same night, the Black Paladin, guidedby the spirit o Chantal, transormed Eliot and

Linda Randolph, the millionaire owners o theDelacroix Mansion, into his retainers. He orcedEliot Randolph to drink the ancient wine, called theBlood o the Beast, and transormed him into theGryphon. Linda Randolph he orced to wear thehelmet o bone; she became Lady Crow.

Four weeks afer the Black Paladin took overthe Delacroix Mansion and transormed the Ran-dolphs into his retainers, the adventure begins withthe PCs receiving....

TIMELINE



8 ■Murders Passing Strange Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus

The Millennium City Police Departmentcontacts the PCs. Te offi cer contactingthem is either an existing NPC, or Detec-tive Ray Marlowe o MCPD Homicide (see

the accompanying sidebar) — whichever is more

appropriate to the campaign. (From here on, thetext uses Detective Marlowe or convenience.)

Detective Marlowe asks or their help in akidnapping/serial murder investigation. Te inves-tigation has been ongoing since the first victim wasound almost three weeks ago, and three more vic-tims have been ound since then. Te police havekept the murders out o the press or ear o warn-ing the killer, creating copycat killers, and causingpublic panic — and because, to be blunt, the MCPD

is baffl ed.One thing’s or sure, though: several aspects

o the case are so out o the ordinary, supervillaininvolvement is a strong possibility. Because o this,as well as the department’s lack o progress, Mil-lennium City’s Chie o Police, James Surhoff, hasreluctantly decided to seek the help o local super-heroes.

Detective Marlowe asks the PCs to meet himin his offi ce as soon as possible so they can reviewthe case file and read the orensic reports or them-selves. I pressed, he discusses urther details aboutthe case over the phone (or whatever other meanshe used to contact the PCs), but he’d preer to brie

Happened o Te Randolphs?, to discover that theDelacroix Mansion is the Black Paladin’s hideout.

I the players aren’t so ond o problem solving,don’t orce them to spend a lot o time investigatingthe murders. Let them investigate or a short time,

then have What’s Happened o Te Randolphs? occur. Tat points them in the direction o theDelacroix Mansion. Don’t require the PCs to solvethe mystery beore they get to the fight. As long asyou make sure they know the pertinent inorma-tion in the What Te PCs Should Know section, youcan proceed with the adventure at whatever paceyou and your players preer.

I the players are a mixed bag, you have to finda happy medium. But whatever the case, the open-

ing part is, first and oremost, a hook to get the PCson the trail o the Black Paladin; don’t let it becomea stumbling block or them.

The Case FileHere’s the inormation in the file the PCs

receive rom the MCPD.

HE VICIMS

Te text below provides the names and specificdetails about each victim, but several acts are thesame or all victims:

■ All the victims are emale

A REQUEST

FOR HELP




required. Te angle o entry indicates the bladeentered the victim’s torso directly over the heartand pierced the rib cage without sawing or repeatedstabbings. Te angle o entry and nature o thewound are the same or all our victims.

wo orensic reports suggest the possibilitythat the victims were supine at the time o death.Another reutes this, stating that bloodstains on the victims’ clothing indicate blood flowed rom thewound and down to the navel, so the victim wasupright at the time o the stabbing. A final reportsuggests the wound might have been sel-inflicted(weapon held in both hands level with the heart,and thrust orceully) but goes on to remark itseems unlikely a suicide would possess the strength

and determination to sel-inflict such a grislywound.

Second, an aspect o each victim’s physicaldescription, in one way only and a different way oreach, doesn’t match the inormation listed on herdriver’s license (see text below). Friends and amilyo the deceased confirm this discrepancy. Furtheranalysis indicates the changes are not cosmetic orsuperficial. No one who has worked on the case hasany explanation or this phenomenon.

What’s Going OnSince taking over the Delacroix Mansion, the

Black Paladin and his allies have traveled to Millen-nium City to search or a vessel or Chantal’s spirit.Tey travel at night in the Randolphs’ black luxurysedan, a chipped car (see page 78 o ChampionsUniverse or pages 35 and 36 o Millennium City or

more details on Vehicle Control Chips). alismandrives, and the Gryphon flies overhead on guardduty — out o sight or the average observer, butnot or him, due to his enhanced sight.

When in the city, the villains stay at the Ran-

down and grabbed her. Te animal hair and bloodound on her body are a result o her struggles withhim.

Once they capture a potential vessel, the vil-lains take her to the Delacroix Mansion, where they

perorm the ritual. For a variety o arcane reasons,Chantal has rejected each as unworthy o her spiritat the end o the ritual. However, during the ritualand beore rejection, Chantal partially transormsthe victim to resemble hersel at the time o herdeath — thus the change in the victim’s appear-ance. Once the ritual ails, Chantal, disgusted at the“inadequacy” o the vessel, orces the victim to killhersel in the manner o the shade’s own suicide: adagger thrust to the heart.

Shortly afer each victim dies, Black Paladincommands the Gryphon to dispose o the victim’sbody; he doesn’t keep the bodies on the estate orear o vengeul ghosts. (As explained later, theDelacroix Mansion has a history o hauntings, andboth alisman and Chantal are aware o the pos-sibility.) Te Gryphon flies a distance away romthe mansion, traveling in a straight line (though hedoes not always travel the same distance). From theair, he drops the body; then he returns to the man-

sion. He has flown a different direction each time,and twice over Lake Erie (the victims droppedinto the water, Heilmann and Morris, don’t showthe same signs o impact as the two dropped ontoland, but on the other hand, their bodies show signso having been in the water). Te eather oundtangled in Hillary O’Connor’s hair is rom one ohis wings.

So ar, our potential vessels have undergonethe ritual. Te MCPD has ound and properly iden-

tified all the victims.

Action/Result:Th O t Of P t ti l

DETECTIVE RAYMARLOWE

8 SR 12 DEX 10 CON 10 BODY 13 IN 13 EGO

12 PRE 10 COM 2 PD 2 ED

2 SPD 4 REC 20 END 19 SUN

Abilities: +2 with Pistols;+3 Sight PER; Deduc-tion 12-; Criminology14-; Forensic Medicine8-, Interrogation 12-;Shadowing 12-; Street-

wise 11-; PS: HomicideDetective 12-; CK: Mil-lennium City 13-; KS:MCPD 11-; KS: Te LawEnorcement World 11-;WF: Small Arms.

25+ Disadvantages: Age:40+; Psychological Limi-tation: Goes Strictly ByTe Book.

Notes: Ray Marlowe hasbeen on the orce orover twenty years. Heworked his way up todetective through effortand determination,and his superiors thinkhighly o him. He worksmethodically, aidedby an intuition devel-

oped over many yearso investigation. Hebuilds ironclad cases bystrictly ollowing policeprocedure. Despite his




just an affectation, no one knows — although mostare likely to believe it an affectation.

Action: Te PCs attempt a KS: Supervillains roll todetermine what they know about alisman.

Result: With a successul roll, they know she ofenworks as an ally o other villains, particularly thoseo mystic bent, but seems to preer launching herown schemes. I necessary, she summons help romthe Inernal Realms — demons, devils, and thelike. She knows she can’t withstand multiple super-heroes, so she prepares accordingly. In addition,provide them a brie survey o her personality asdescribed in Champions.

With a roll made by 2 or more, the PCs know

alisman is Witchcraf’s sister (i Witchcraf existsin your campaign). Regardless o the roll, theycannot gain knowledge o the twins’ precise origin;they must learn o that directly rom one o themor some similar source.

Action: Te PCs interview riends and amily o the victims.

Result: Friends and amily have nothing to add

to what they previously told the police, but with asuccessul Conversation roll, someone particularlyclose to the victim (i.e., a mother or best riend)confides that the victim’s eatures seemed somehowdifferent — nothing specific, and not the obvious

change mentioned in the case file, but a definiteeeling that something was different.

Use o elepathy confirms the veracity o thisgut eeling. Te PC using elepathy knows theperson is correct, but also can’t adequately commu-

nicate the difference in words. Looking at photoswith the naked eye won’t reveal the subtle changes,but computer analysis o the photos (or similarmeans o detection) does. Such analysis showssubtle changes in the shape o the chin, nose, lips,cheekbones — even rown lines and crow’s eet.

Furthermore, i the PCs perorm the sameanalysis on photos o the other victims, a pattern inthe subtle changes emerges (a PC can also noticethis pattern with a successul Disguise roll): the

victims were all changing in appearance to look likethe same person.

Action: Te PCs perorm their own examination o,or autopsy on, one or all o the victims.

Result: Millennium City’s coroners have done athorough job, but maybe a PC possesses a highdegree o skill in Criminology and/or ForensicMedicine. I so, allow the PC to discover cluesmissed by the MCPD i he succeeds with a rollusing either Skill (i he has both, let him use theweaker Skill as Complementary to the one with thehigher roll). Te Forensic Medicine roll suffers apenalty o -3, since this is the second autopsy.

With every ull 3 points by which a charactersucceeds with a Criminology or Forensic Medi-cine roll, provide him with one clue. Possible cluesinclude (but aren’t limited to):

■ Fibers ound on the victim’s slacks or stockings

are identifiable as being rom an expensivePersian rug.

■ Advanced analysis o soil samples ound underthe victim’s fingernails shows she was near

THE VICTIMS INCHRONOLOGICAL

ORDER

Te victims in chrono-

logical order are:1st onya Morris

2nd Sylvia Blass

3rd Jill Heilmann

4th Hillary O’Connor



11Shades of Black

Na m e: Syl via Blass

Hei ght : 5’ 6” / Wei ght : 105 pounds

Hai r : Br own / Eyes: Bl ue

Race: Whi t e

Notes: The vi ct i m was empl oyed as an accou

nt ant . She was l ast

seen get t i ng out of a t axi cab i n f r ont of her West si de apar t ment

bui l di ng ar ound 2: 00 AM, r et ur ni ng home f r om a downt own dance cl ub

cal l ed Ret r o Act i vi t y. The st at e pol i ce f ound h

er body sout h of

Mi l l enni um Ci t y near Rockwood, Mi chi gan, not f ar f r om I nt er st at e

75. The vi ct i m was moved f r om t he scene of t he cr i me wi t hi n t wo

hour s of deat h.

The vi ct i m was ki l l ed by a si ngl e kni f e wound t o t he hear t . The

wound was i nfli ct ed wi t h a bl aded weapon. The bl

ade has an edge on

bot h si des, i s at l east si x i nches l ong and t wo

i nches wi de, and

i s cur ved at t he t i p. The wound was made wi t h a

si ngl e, pr eci se

t hr ust ; consi der abl e st rengt h ( but not super huma

n) was r equi r ed.

The angl e of ent r y i ndi cat es t he bl ade ent er ed t

he vi ct i m’ s t or so

di r ect l y over t he hear t , and pi er ced t he r i b cage wit hout sawi ng or

r epeat ed st abbi ngs. Based on t he angl e of ent r y and l ack of bl ood

on t he body, vi ct i m was pr obabl y supi ne when st abbed.

i f st r uggl e Fi r st ani mal

M illenniu m City M ed ical Exa m iner’s Office

For official use only. Do not release.




N a m e: J ill Heil m ann

Hei ght : 5’ 6” / Wei ght : 115 poundsHai r : Bl onde / Eyes: Bl ueRace: Whi t e

N otes: T he vi ct i mwas empl oyed as an associ at e at a l aw fir m. She was l ast seen at t endi ng a pl ay at t he Ma j est i c T heat er i n t he T heat er Di st r i ct . She st epped out f or a ci gar et t e dur i ng i nt er mi ssi on at appr oxi mat el y 9: 30 PM and never r et ur ned. A deput y sher i f f f ound her body washed up on t he shor e of Lake Er i e, nor t h of Det r oi t Beach. T he vi ct i mwas moved f r om t he scene of t he cr i me wi t hi n t wo hour s of deat h, and t hen dr opped i n t he wat er .

V i ct i m was ki l l ed by a si ngl e kni f e wound t o t he hear t . T he wound was i nfli ct ed wi t h a bl aded weapon. T he bl ade has an edge on bot h si des, i s at l east si x i nches l ong and t wo i nches wi de, and i s cur ved at t he t i p. T he wound was made wi t h a si ngl e, pr eci se t hr ust ; consi der abl e st r engt h ( but not super human) was r equi r ed. T he angl e of ent r y i ndi cat es t he bl ade ent er ed t he vi ct i m’ s t or so di r ect l y over t he hear t , and pi er ced t he r i b cage wi t hout sawi ng or r epeat ed st abbi ngs. Based on bl oodst ai ns on t he vi ct i m’ s cl ot hi ng and ski n, bl ood flowed down t he body t o t he navel , suggest i ng t he vi ct i m was st andi h

M illenniu m City M ed ical Exa m iner’s OfficeFor official use only. Do not release.



13Shades of Black

Tonya M orris

Hei ght : 5’ 10” / Wei ght : 119 pounds

Hai r : Bl ack / Eyes: Br own

Race: Bl ack

Notes: The vi ct i m was empl oyed as a sal es

r epr esent at i ve f or a

pharmaceut i cal company. She was l ast seen at appr oxi mat el y 11: 00

PM l eavi ng a ni ght cl ub, t he Songbi r d, l ocat ed near

her apar t ment

i n Ri ver t own. Her body was f ound float i ng i n t he

Det r oi t Ri ver by

boat er s some di st ance away f r omMi l l enni um Ci t y. The vi ct i m was

moved f r om t he scene of t he cr i me wi t hi n t wo hour s of deat h

, and

t hen dr opped i n t he wat er .

Vi ct i m was ki l l ed by a si ngl e kni f e wound t o t he hear t . The wound

was i nfli ct ed wi t h a bl aded weapon. The bl ade has

an edge on bot h

si des, i s at l east si x inches l ong and t wo i nche

s wi de, and i s

cur ved at t he t i p. The wound was made wi t h a si n

gl e, pr eci se

t hr ust ; consi der abl e st rengt h ( but not super huma

n) was r equi r ed.

The angl e of ent r y i ndi cat es t he bl ade ent er ed t

he vi ct i m’ s t or so

di r ect l y over t he hear t , and pi er ced t he r i b cage wi t hout sawi ng or

r epeat ed st abbi ngs. Based on t he angl e of ent r y

and l ack of bl ood

on t he body, t he vi ct i mwas pr obabl y supi ne when

st abbed.

M illenniu m City M ed ical Exa m iner’s Office

For official use only. Do not release.




Hillary O’Connor

Hei ght : 5’ 4” / Wei ght : 125 poundsHai r : Br own / Eyes: Br ownRace: Whi t e

N otes: T he vi ct i mwas empl oyed as a wai t r ess at a downt own r est aur ant , wher e she wor ked ni ght s. She was l ast seen l eavi ng wor k ar ound mi dni ght , headi ng f or her apar tment i n t he Pl aza di st r i ct . Her body was f ound by hi ker s i n t he Lake Er i e Met r opar k, sout h of Mi l l enni umCi t y. T he vi ct i mwas moved f r om t he scene of t he cr i me wi t hi n t wo hour s of deat h.

V i ct i mwas ki l l ed by a si ngl e kni f e wound t o t he hear t . T he wound was i nfli ct ed wi t h a bl aded weapon. T he bl ade has an edge on bot h si des, i s at l east si x i nches l ong and two i nches wi de, and i s cur ved at t he t i p. T he wound was made wi t h a si ngl e, pr eci se t hr ust ; consi der abl e st r engt h ( but not super human) was r equi r ed. T he angl e of ent r y i ndi cat es t he bl ade ent er ed t he vi ct i m’ s t or so di r ect l y over t he hear t , and pi er ced t he r i b cage wi t hout sawi ng or r epeat ed st abbi ngs.

I n t he opi ni on of t hi s examiner , i t i s possi bl e t hat t he wound was sel f - i nfli ct ed. T he deceased coul d have hel d t he weapon i n bot h hands l evel wi t h t he hear t , and t hr ust f or cef ul l y. However , i t seems unl i kel y a sui ci de woul d possess t he st r t h d

M illenniu m City M ed ical Exa m iner’s OfficeFor official use only. Do not release.




I N V ESTIG A TO R S’ CO NCL USIO NS

Her e’ s what t he i nvest i gat or s have concl uded so

f ar :

The mur der s began near l y f our weeks ago. The ki l

l er f r equent s down-

t own Mi l l enni um Ci t y, and i dent i fies sui tabl e vi ct i ms i n publ i c

pl aces l ocat ed t her e. Once he has i dent i fied a vi

ct i m, t he ki l l er

abduct s her when she i s al one.

Si nce onl y one vi ct i m shows si gns of st r uggl e ( Syl vi a Bl ass) , t he

ki l l er i s pot ent i al l y known t o t he vi ct i ms, or p

ossesses consi der -

abl e superfici al per sonal char i sma and charm. As

of yet , t he pol i ce

have i dent i fied no acquaint ance al l f our vi ct i ms

had i n common.

Anot her possi bi l i t y, one i ndi cat i ng t he i nvol vem

ent of a super human

cr i mi nal , i s Mi nd Cont r ol or ot her

super power s al l owi ng t he ki l l er

t o overwhel m t he vi ct i ms easi l y.

Once he abduct s a vi ct i m, t he ki l l er t akes her t o an unknown l oca-

h

M illenniu m City Police De part m ent

For of fi

cial use only. Do not

release.




Action: Te PCs investigate the astrological signifi-cance o the victims’ birthdays.

Result: Te birthdays are between an equinox anda solstice, so the victims were all born in the sameseason. Te PCs can determine this with a success-

ul KS: Arcane And Occult Lore roll.o Chantal, the importance o the victims’

birthdays is that they are in the same season as hers(Chantal doesn’t know the precise day o her birth),and the victims are the same age she was when shecommitted suicide.

However, i there’s some astrological signifi-cance or the birthday o the perect vessel chosenbeore the adventure by you, and the PCs know thisinormation (maybe it’s a part o the perect vessel’s

background, or was a plot hook in a previousadventure), you need to determine whether it alsoapplies to the victims.

Caveat: On the off chance the victims and theperect vessel have an astrological phenomena incommon, the players are likely to become very, verysuspicious. So it’s probably best to avoid this situ-ation, either by changing the victims’ birthdays orchoosing a different perect vessel.

Action: Te PCs use Powers to analyze/identiy theeather and animal hair.

Result: Te eather resembles that o a golden eagle,but huge in size. Te animal hair resembles the uro a lion or puma. Detect Magic reveals both arethe result o the same magical transormation, but atransormation different rom the ransorm used onthe victims. I a Power warrants more specific details,reer to the description o the Gryphon on page 74.

Action: A PC uses Retrocognition or a similarPower.

Result: I possible it’s best to avoid letting the PCs

Use variations o the results o Retrocogni-tion or other Powers, such as Summon or “psy-chometric” Mental Powers. For example, i a PCuses Summon to question the spirit o the victim,flames consume the spirit when the PCs ask aboutmoments when Chantal was present. I the PCs askthe spirit about her death, Chantal’s ace appears,screams in rage, then disappears.

Action: Te PCs attempt to locate alisman with aMind Scan.

Result: A PC may try to locate alisman (EGO21) with a Mind Scan. Te success o this actiondepends on the PC’s level o Mind Scan, and thesearch area. Page 134 o the HERO System 5th Edi-

tion lists the modifiers involved. alisman’s mind isnot so unique, strange, or powerul that it “standsout” and gives the PC a bonus to find her. Tesmallest area over which a Scan has a chance tosucceed is downtown Millennium City (the site othe abductions); the city center equates in popula-tion to a Large own (-10).

Whether alisman currently resides at theRandolphs’ townhouse is up to you. Because they’restill searching or the perect vessel, the villains dospend much o their time in the city.

I the Mind Scan succeeds, you should be care-ul not to give away too much inormation, espe-cially i the PCs ollow a successul Mind Scan witha successul use o elepathy. Chantal’s spirit pro-tects those working to ree her, creating a blanketo “mental og” and other obstacles the PCs havetrouble “perceiving” through:

■ Anything specifically concerning Chantal

— especially her name and history, as wellas alisman’s memories o raising the spiritand perorming the rituals on the victims— evokes the same reaction as Retrocognition.

A NOTE ABOUT THE VICTIMS’DESCRIPTIONS

Te places where the

victims were employed,as well as the locationso their abductions,are lef intentionallyunnamed. You shouldmake them placespertinent to your cam-paign. For instance,maybe Sylvia Blasswas employed as anaccountant at a com-

pany owned by a PC;or Jill Heilmann was anassociate at the same lawfirm as one o the PCs;or onya Morris was lastseen at a bar requentedby one o the PCs inhis Secret Identity. Tatallows you to drop re-erences to the victims,making the impact o

their abductions moreimmediate to the PCs:“Have you seen Sylvialately? Does she stillwork here?”

I you intend to empha-size the investigationaspect o Shades OBlack, you should fill

in the names or theplaces where the victimsworked, as well as wherethey were abducted andother useul acts. Tatl l d l l d




she’s being scanned (as she almost certainly will),she attacks back down the link with one o theMental Powers in her Foul Sorceries Multipower...and the Black Paladin provides her with the dagger,so Chantal can aid her in the mental duel.

You can turn a successul Mind Scan toyour advantage, and use it to intrigue the playersby making the results mysterious. Te PCs canconfirm that alisman is downtown, and likelyinvolved in the murders. Surace impressionsreveal not only that she delights in the black magicshe’s perorming, and that the magic has not yetsucceeded, but also that alisman has a nagginguncertainty about the final result — as i it mightbe beyond her ability to deal with.

Action: Te PCs attempt to locate the Black Paladinwith a Mind Scan.

Result: Assume Chantal is using her Vile BlackMagic to shield the Black Paladin rom this sort odetection (either with lots o Mental Deense, orInvisibility to the Mental Sense Group). Tereore,this action automatically ails.

Action: Te PCs attempt to determine the pointwhere Jill Heilmann and onya Morris weredropped in Lake Erie.

Result: Since the corpses were in the water or aweek or more, determining their original locationby conventional methods is diffi cult due to tides,currents, and so orth. (Retrocognition can deter-mine where they entered the water easily.)

I the PCs have access to advanced computers(such as an AI at their base), or possess incredible

mental capacities, allow them a chance to deter-mine the location. In general, to do so they mustobtain weather and tide reports (available rom theGreat Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory)

d d h d d i d i T

Chantal’s perect vessel, based on where previous victims were last seen. CK: Millennium City servesas a Complementary Skill.

I the roll ails, the PCs stake out the wrongplaces. I the roll succeeds, and the PCs decide tostake out these places, you must decide whether the villains show up.

Te concern here, o course, is that i the vil-lains show up, you run the risk that the PCs deeatand capture them — and it’s much too soon or theBlack Paladin’s villainy to be stopped i you wantthe scenario to play out along the lines roughlylaid out in this book. You’re perectly justified tonot have the villains show up. Te list o places islengthy, and the PCs can’t be everywhere at once.

(Maybe i a PC has Duplication, he can, but still....)On the other hand, i the PCs have perormedsome good investigation work and done wellwith their Skill Rolls, they deserve some rewardor their efforts. Otherwise the lesson they learnis that no matter how well they do, you’re goingto twist the scenario to keep it going the way you want — which usually amounts to poor GMing. Aconrontation provides the players with a sense oaccomplishment — they aren’t just flailing around

while the Black Paladin works his villainy at will.A possible compromise is to allow the PCs to

make contact with the enemy, but have the villainsflee beore the PCs can capture them. For example,Black Paladin’s eleportation power allows him tocarry alisman, and perhaps Chantal’s spirit tem-porarily makes it more powerul to boot (allowinghim to activate it as i it had the Advantage rigger, or instance, or giving it more inches o effect).Realizing, thanks to his Danger Sense, that he’s

being watched, he activates his Darkness power,dons his armor, and eleports away with alisman.

Te stakeout could segue nicely into the nextevent in Act One, An Urgent Call. For example,




Mystic Aura (both the Black Paladin and alis-man possess this Disadvantage). O course, thisrequires the PCs to have an applicable Sense. Amore chancy method is to use the Skill Shadowing to determine i anyone is paying unusual attentionto a woman at the location. Te diffi culty dependson the number o people present. A theater wouldonly be -1, since most o the people are seated andlooking at the stage. But a dance club would imposea -5 — lots o people move around and check outother people in a club. On the upside, neither othe villains has Shadowing, so i Chantal identifiesa potential vessel, they won’t be very sneaky aboutollowing her. Finally, i the PCs have encounteredone or both o the villains previously, maybe — and

definitely at your discretion, since both are in theirSecret Identities — a PC recognizes one o themwith a successul PER Roll.

I the stakeout takes place in a dance club orlike location, use the map o Andromeda’s rom theHERO System Resource Kit. Just explain that someo the fixtures aren’t quite so uturistic (even in “theCity o the Future”).

Wrapping Up The InvestigationSooner or later, the PCs are going to find out

as much as they can, or get tired o investigating.

WHA HE PCs SHOULD KNOW

For purposes o good storytelling, the PCsshould know two acts beore the adventure moveson. (O course, they may know, through successul

investigation, quite a bit more.)1. Te victims were in the midst o transorminginto a single individual: a tall woman with blackhair, yellow eyes, and a deathly pale complexion.

WHAT’S HAPPENED TO THE RANDOLPHS?Tis event, seemingly unrelated to the inves-

tigation, provides the PCs with a lead concerningthe location o the murders and the Black Paladin’shideout. Once it takes place, the PCs are going to bein “hot pursuit” o the Black Paladin, so it’s best tohave it occur as the investigation winds down, andthe PCs have begun to exhaust the possibilities. Teevent is a charity dinner held by the MillenniumCity Association or the Betterment o Children(the MCABC).

Te MCABC calls the event A Dinner With

Genius. Te cost per plate is a thousand dollars,and all proceeds go to the MCABC’s scholarshipund. Scholarships are awarded to the children olow-income amilies in Millennium City who haveshown advanced aptitude in a particular subjectarea, usually music or math, and would benefitrom private schooling at prestigious private educa-tional institutions.

Te night’s entertainment is provided byrecipients o past scholarships: a concerto com-

posed or the piano by a twelve year-old virtuoso;a breathtaking laser light display based on algo-rithms conceived by a nine year-old prodigy; and adramatic reading rom a play written by a ourteenyear-old writer.

It’s one o the major charity events o theseason, and many o Millennium City’s wealthiestare expected to attend, including Eliot and LindaRandolph.

Involving The PCsA PC with the Perk Wealthy or Filthy Rich

should receive an invitation to the event (and may




box). oward the end o the article, it commentson the absence o the Randolphs. You should eitherread the boxed text aloud, or provide the play-ers with a copy as a handout. I one or more PCsattended in his superheroic identity, the columnmentions that as well.

About The Randolphs

1. A successul High Society roll reveals the Ran-dolphs are well-known philanthropists and devoutChristians, as well as one o the wealthiest couples inMillennium City.

2. No one’s seen either o them in the last month. At

the dinner, their uncharacteristic absence is com-mented upon by many attendees. Since they split theirtime between their downtown townhouse and coun-try estate (the Delacroix Mansion), and ofen take vacations, none o their acquaintances are especiallyconcerned. People assume they’re at the mansion, orout o the country. I the PCs contact riends o theRandolphs who live near the mansion, those peoplewill say they assume the Randolphs have been stayingin the city.

Te Randolphs have no immediate amily.Tey have no children (although gossip reveals theyrecently decided to try to have kids), and the par-ents o both died in 1992, casualties o the “Battle oDetroit.”

3. Te Randolphs own a townhouse in an expensivebuilding downtown. Tey also have a country estate,the Delacroix Mansion, located on the shore o LakeErie. Te PCs can learn this by: making a Conversa-tion roll at the dinner, or by making a High Societyroll at -1 i they’re amiliar with the MillenniumCity social scene. Te Randolphs’ phone numbersand addresses are unlisted; the PCs can obtain exactaddresses or both places with a Bureaucratics roll, or

Te PCs (being PCs) probably jump on thisinormation, quickly guessing that the Randolphshave some connection to the crimes. Tey’ll wantto search both residences.

I the PCs request a search warrant and/or askthe police to investigate, the authorities deny theirrequest. Just because the PCs believe a connectionexists doesn’t translate to probable cause to issue awarrant. Detective Marlowe agrees to “ask around”about the Randolphs, but without more evidence,does not agree to more serious investigation — bring-ing them in or questioning, orced entry into theirhomes, or the like. He explains any judge will havedoubts about a link between the wealthy, upstandingRandolphs and the heinous murders — nor would a

judge risk blemishing the Randolphs’ sparkling repu-tation or such a tenuous connection.I the PCs investigate themselves, allow them

to search the downtown townhouse. Tere, theyfind evidence it’s been occupied as recently as yes-terday (the neighbors saw lights on, the parkingattendant saw their car in the garage, and so orth).

But beore they begin to investigate the Dela-croix Mansion — whether a physical search, or justresearch into its sordid history — they receive....

A Brilliant FutureBy Andrea Tourelle

I attended A Dinner With Genius yesterday eve-

ning, and let me say: if these kids are any indication,

the future of America is brilliant indeed. A DinnerWith Genius is held every year by the Millennium

City Association for the Betterment of Children, and

all proceeds go to their scholarship fund. The fund




In the final part o Act One, the PCs receive acall rom Detective Marlowe and learn o a fifh victim. Ten, the superheroes have their firstconrontation with the Black Paladin and his

villainous allies at the Delacroix Mansion, whileattempting to save the lie o Marjorie de Wol,

the most recent woman detected by Chantal as apotential vessel or her spirit.

The Latest VictimDetective Marlowe contacts the PCs to tell

them that another abduction has occurred — andthis time there was a witness. Te kidnapping tookplace late last night, outside a downtown club calledthe White House.

Te victim, Marjorie de Wol, and the wit-ness, Gayle Rockwell, had just lef the club andparted ways. Rockwell claims she orgot to ask deWol about plans to go shopping the next day, andwent back to ask her what time they were to meet.When Rockwell caught up to de Wol, she was withtwo other individuals, a man and woman. De Wolwalked between the other two, and ignored Rock-well’s calls to her. Te three got into a cab togetherand lef the scene.

Rockwell didn’t recognize either o the twostrangers, but she did provide the police with adescription o their appearance. Te man was tallwith black hair and a beard. He wore a black suit.

To The Mansion!At this point, the PCs only have one place

to search or the victim — namely, the DelacroixMansion — and they should go or broke. I theydon’t, have their contact at the MCPD press them

or any leads they might have, asking them to checkout any possibilities or hunches, no matter howar-etched, just on the off-chance it can save aninnocent lie.

Te mansion is located approximately 40kilometers south o Millennium City. How long ittakes them to get there depends on the PCs’ modeo transportation, but the ritual doesn’t commenceuntil they arrive at the mansion. As they approach,read the ollowing description to the players:

AN URGENT

CALL

Traveling east, nearing the shore of Lake Erie,

you pass through acres of forest. Finally you

emerge from the trees. The raucous calls of

crows greet your arrival; a large flock of the

birds roosts in trees and covers the untended

lawn. Beyond the crows, you see the Delac-

roix Mansion, a two-story house of brick and

white limestone. One wing juts from the main

house to the north; another to the south. Slate

shingles cover the steep roof.

As the driveway comes up to the house it

MARJORIE DE WOLF


10 PRE 10 COM 2 PD 2 ED 2 SPD 4 REC 16 END 16 SUN

Abilities: CK: Millen-nium City 11-; KS:Journalism History &Teory 12-; KS: Photog-raphy 11-; PS: Newspa-

per Editor 11-

0+ Disadvantages:DNPC: Mrs. Sarah deWol (her widowedmother) 8- (Normal)

Notes: Marjorie deWol is short with curlybrown hair and brown

eyes. She works as anassistant editor at a localnewspaper. She is cheer-ul, upbeat, and alwaysgood company, though




OVERVIEW OF HE FIGH

During the fight, you should keep severalthings in mind.

First, the PCs’ objective is more than just

deeating the villains. Teir ultimate goal is torescue the victim, Marjorie de Wol, beore alis-man completes the Ritual o Rebirth. In truth, thefight is stacked against the Black Paladin and hisallies despite the act they’re unlikely to be sur-

THE RITUAL OF REBIRTHFor the Ritual to succeed, Chantal requires a perect vessel. Chantal cannot determine whether a victim is the

perect vessel until the ransorm takes effect. Marjoriede Wol is not the perect vessel.

Here are the numbers pertinent to the Ritual o Rebirth,and its effects on Marjorie de Wol. You may want to




begins in earnest, the PCs are on the clock.Finally, i at all possible, the Black Paladin

should escape with the dagger, and hopeully hewon’t need Chantal’s help to do so. I you can keepthe PCs in the dark about Chantal’s ability to aidthe Black Paladin with her VPP while he has thedagger in his possession, you can keep his exactmotivation mysterious — as well as make laterencounters with him ar more shocking, since hispower level is effectively higher than the CharacterSheet presented in Conquerors, Killers, And Crooks.

Here’s the description o what the characterssee in the dining room. I necessary, adjust thedescription to suit the circumstances. For example,i Black Paladin’s Danger Sense has alerted him to

the PCs’ presence, he may be waiting near the doorto ambush the first PC who approaches it.

which they use or Coordinated Attacks. Also, whenbalancing the fight, keep in mind two o the villains,the Black Paladin and alisman, fight deensively;this might reduce their combat effectiveness.

Te ollowing “tactical bries,” listed in ordero the villains’ DEX, assume the villains are not surprised. Since the HERO System allows or infi-nite variety in the PCs’ abilities, the tactical briesare only advice to you; treat them accordingly andchange them to suit the abilities and actions o thePCs while keeping the villains’ goals in mind.

Soliloquy When the PCs enter the room, the Black

Paladin speaks the ollowing (unless he’s set up anambush and just attacks outright):

Tis is a Presence Attack, intended to make thePCs pause long enough or the Gryphon to use hisWind Blast. And, o course, the bit about Marjoriede Wol choosing to participate in the Ritual is alie... but based on what they know, can the PCs beso sure?

Lady Crow (DEX 26)Perched near the ceiling in a corner o the

room, Lady Crow uses Shadow Lurking to hide

rom the PCs. On her DEX, she Holds her Action.She takes her Action either when a PC movestoward the Ritual, or on her Murder o Crows’DEX. I attacked beore her Action, she Dodges( d h h k l

You find de Wolf, and several other people, in theformal dining room of the mansion. Crows rooston the furnishings: a large dinner table with tenseats, a crystal chandelier hung over the table;a tall, triangular glass cabinet in the northwestcorner, and the mantel of a large fireplace in theeast.

Head thrown back and mouth slack, Marjorie deWolf kneels before the fireplace, where flamesburn low in the hearth. With both hands, she holdsa dagger with a long, curving blade. Her eyes areopen, but out of focus; she stares vacantly intothe distance.

Near Marjorie, standing solemn guard, are Talis-man and an imposing figure in black plate armor— the Black Paladin. As you watch, the villain’shelmeted head turns toward you and he draws hiswickedly sharp sword. In a hollow voice, he barksorders to a bestial creature crouched nearby. The

“Begone from here, interlopers! Marjorie de

Wolf has made her choice. Of her own free will

she has taken up the dagger and begun the

rite. To meddle is only to hazard damnation —

your poor, pitiful souls tormented in the blazing

fires of the inferno ’til the end of days.”

RECOMMENDEDREADING

You might want to readup on the ollowingrules, beore running thefight against the BlackPaladin and his cronies.All page reerences areto HERO System 5th Edi-tion unless otherwisenoted.

Coordinated Attacks onpage 249 and MultipleAttackers on page 251.

Both the demon hounds,and alisman and theBlack Paladin, mayattempt to take advan-tage o these CombatModifiers.

Grab (as used by crea-tures) on page 31 o theHERO System Bestiary, and effects o beingGrabbed are on pages256 and 257. Te demonhounds may attemptthis tactic.

Disarm on page 256,Grab Weapon on page257 (under the headingor Grab), and Grab Byon page 257. Te PCs

have to perorm oneo these Maneuvers toremove the dagger romde Wol’s hands.




Action.) Otherwise, he uses his Action at the endSegment 2 o the next urn, attacking with hisShadow Blast. I possible, he uses eamwork orCoordinated Attacks with alisman. His first choiceo target is a Mystic hero.

Te Gryphon (DEX 23)Te Gryphon flies as close as possible to the

PCs and uses Wind Blast on as many as he cancatch in the Area O Effect. He attempts to Knockthe PCs Back through the southern windows,moving the fight outside. I he can’t get the angle, he just Knocks the PCs toward the western entrance othe room.

alisman (DEX 20)

alisman stands beside the Black Paladin. Ishe can catch multiple opponents without injuringMarjorie de Wol or hersel, she uses Hellfire Gate.She doesn’t hesitate i the Gryphon, the demonhounds, or the Murder o Crows are at the edgeso the Explosion. I no target presents himsel, hertactics are similar to the Black Paladin’s. She doesn’tmove rom the hexes adjacent to the victim, andHolds her Action to protect the Ritual. I a PCcomes near, she uses a Power rom her Foul Sorcery

— either ouch o error or Domination to causehim to flee, or Mental Illusions to mislead him(ofen to make him overlook de Wol). Otherwise,she takes her Action at the end o Segment 2 o thenext urn, attacking with Hellfire. First choice otarget is a Mystic hero not already targeted by BlackPaladin.

Demon Hounds (DEX 17)Te demon hounds all attack the same PC, to

gain the benefits o Coordinated Attacks and theMultiple Attackers bonus. Tey move into meleewith the nearest PC and surround him to hinderhis movement. Tey use their jaws to attempt toGrab the hero Once a hound has successully

Subsequent urnsOnly the Gryphon and demon hounds pursue

opponents outside the room. Te Gryphon con-tinues to use Wind Blast until stopped, or hisopponents are outside the mansion. Once outside,he Grabs a PC and flies straight up, squeezingand/or using his Beak to inflict damage. Te demonhounds continue to attack the same PC until he’sout o the fight, then attack the next nearest PC.

In the room, the Black Paladin has organizedthree lines o deense or the ritual: Lady Crow,alisman, then himsel.

Lady Crow continues to attack with Move Bys.She ocuses on PCs who try to interere with theRitual rom a distance. She commands her Murder

O Crows to engul whomever she fights.Both alisman and the Black Paladin con-tinue to Hold their Actions until a PC attempts tointerere with the Ritual, or the end o the Segmentbeore their next Phase, whichever comes first.

ENDING HE FIGH

Te fight ends upon the occurrence one othree events: the PCs disrupt the Ritual; the BlackPaladin flees; or the Ritual is completed.

Disrupting Te RitualTe PCs can disrupt the Ritual by taking or

knocking the dagger out o Marjorie de Wol’shands. (Moving or attacking her while she stillholds the dagger does not disrupt the Ritual.) Tisrequires a successul Disarm, Grab, Grab By, or likeCombat Maneuver. Te victim actively resists, butis 0 DCV and not very strong, so it shouldn’t bemuch o a problem or the average superhero... i hecan get past alisman and the Black Paladin.

Once Marjorie de Wol no longer holds thedagger, the Ritual ends. She collapses, unconscious,and the Black Paladin flees. However, he does not leave without the dagger.

ELECTRICITY AND THE BLACK PALADIN

Te Black Paladin hasthe Disadvantage,Vul-nerability: 2 x SUN rom Electrical Attacks. I one o your PCs hasan Energy Blast or otherattack with an electri-cal Special Effect, the villain might be in ora hard time... maybeeven too hard. Beorebeginning the battle,compare the DCs o

the PC’s Attack Powerto the Black Paladin’sappropriate Deense. Iit seems likely the BlackPaladin will be Stunnedby a successul hit, youmay want to adjust hisdeenses to prevent suchan occurrence. Onepossibility is: Chantalprovides him with 25%

or 50% Damage Reduc-tion, Only Versus Elec-tricity (-1).




fiendish way to accomplish this (especially some-thing exploiting the PC’s Psychological Limitations,which might potentially lead to good roleplayingopportunities later in the adventure), use it.

Finally, the struggle or possession o thedagger ideally takes place in Darkness, so the otherPCs won’t necessarily witness it. Since Chantal’sBurning Glyph O Anguish (page 66), her EgoAttack, has the Advantage Invisible Power Effects, the PCs won’t know the location o the attacker(though the one attacked will know the attack camerom the dagger). Do your best to keep the PCs inthe dark about the nature o the dagger.

Te Black Paladin FleesI the PCs reduce the Black Paladin to hal his

starting SUN or less, and there’s no Post-Segment12 Recovery in his near uture, he flees. He knowsthat i the PCs capture him now, he’ll never achieveChantal’s rebirth. Besides, i Chantal still believesMarjorie de Wol is the perect vessel, he can alwaysabduct her a second time.

An experienced tactician, he already has hisescape route plotted out. (In act, it’s the primaryreason he chose the ormal dining room or theRitual.) I he has time, he uses Darkness to coverhis escape. Next, he grabs the dagger rom Marjoriede Wol, ending the Ritual. Finally, he eleports tothe secret passage that runs under the room — hehas its location memorized. I possible, he takesalisman with him when he eleports — but hewon’t delay his escape to wait or her. Once he’sbeen out o the PCs’ sight or a Phase, you shouldconsider the Black Paladin impossible to trackor capture i he has the dagger — Chantal aids

him with her VPP in any way necessary to thwartattempts by the PCs to find him.Once the Black Paladin flees, alisman and

Lady Crow ollow his lead. Depending on the situ-ation the Gryphon might also flee I he sees the

Te Ritual Is CompletedUh-oh....Afer the ransorm is completed, read aloud

the ollowing box text:

Having completed the Ritual, Chantal rejectsthe vessel as imperect. In rustration and disgust,she uses Bind Ty Soul to orce Marjorie to kill her-sel by plunging the dagger into her heart. At thispoint, you can allow the PCs a second chance torescue the victim.

o orce Marjorie de Wol to kill hersel, Chan-tal requires an EGO +30 result on the Mind Con-

trol dice (assume she ails the first time, i neces-sary). Chantal attempts to control the victim againon each o her subsequent Phases. Remember,unlike the Ritual o Rebirth, there is no Extra ime Disadvantage on her Mind Control.

I you want to get nasty, Chantal uses herVPP to create a Drain EGO, which makes the useo her Mind Control in subsequent Phases morelikely to succeed. Optionally, i you don’t want tokill de Wol (afer all, it might make the PCs eel

like numbskulls, and not very heroic) the BlackPaladin realizes the Ritual has ailed once he hearsthe keening. He flees, grabbing the dagger rom the victim beore she can kill hersel.

An awful keening fills the room. For the briefestmoment, everyone pauses to glance toward the

Ritual. As you watch, Marjorie de Wolf suddenly

plunges the dagger toward her chest, but at the

last second, stops herself. The terrible strain

of the effort is visible on her face, and tears of

anguish run down her cheeks. Arms twitch-

ing, trying to resist but failing, she readies the

dagger to strike again.




all o the murders took place in the Delacroix Man-sion (mostly in the dining room).

Deduction: A cursory investigation o the mansionand townhouse reveals that the Black Paladin’s cro-nies inhabited both places. Te PCs find alisman’s

clothing strewn about bedrooms, gouges in thewoodwork where the Gryphon sharpened hisclaws, and crow eathers all over both places. Teyfind nothing indicating the Black Paladin alsoresided in both places. (He did, but was careul notto leave evidence o it.) With a successul Deduc-tion roll, the PC estimates the villains have lived inboth places or at least a month.

Disguise: Te PC realizes Lady Crow could havebeen Linda Randolph. Her voice was similar, and,even though gaunt and emaciated, her body wassimilar too. I the PC isn’t acquainted with LindaRandolph (i.e., isn’t a part o high society), he candetermine this rom photographs in the mansion.

KS: Arcane And Occult Lore: Te PC has never heardo a magical dagger fitting the description o theone de Wol was using. A ailed roll means the PCthinks he might have heard o such a dagger — hehas to perorm urther research.

KS: Demonology: Te PC knows the demon houndswere, in act, real inernal beings.

Questioning the rescued victim is impossible,since the mental strain o everything that’s gone onhas rendered her unconscious. A successul Para-medics or SS: Medicine roll reveals there’s nothing

physically wrong with Marjorie de Wol — herunconscious state is just a natural deense mecha-nism against severe mental strain. However, theRitual may have partly altered part o her body, asdescribed on page 21.

See Act wo regarding the interrogation ocaptured supervillains.

CONCLUSION OF ACT ONEIn the wake o the battle, the Delacroix Man-

sion seems deathly quiet and the surroundingwoodlands unnaturally silent, as though experienc-ing the calm beore the storm. I the PCs told thepolice where they were going, the local authorities

arrive — sirens blaring and tires squealing — justminutes afer the battle’s end. An ambulance takesMarjorie de Wol, still unconscious, to the nearesthospital. Te authorities ask the PCs to keep aneye on any villains they subdued until appropriaterestraining devices arrive at the scene.

Once Detective Marlowe learns o the PCs’success, he congratulates them on a job well done.But he also reminds them: though they’ve won thebattle, the Black Paladin remains at large. Likely,the PCs are still in the dark about what, precisely,the Black Paladin wants to accomplish, and moreimportantly, why he’s doing it.

And now, unbeknownst to the heroes, Chan-tal has scented the perect vessel or her unholyrebirth....



26 ■ A Course Of War Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus

At the very edge o his hearing, just the depths a demon emerges



27Shades of Black ■Chapter Two

“And the one whose body is mine?” Chantalasks. “When will she finally be mine, my love? I yearnso or a body — too long I have suffered.”

“Soon, m’lady. Soon,” the Black Paladin answers.“Armed and armored, I go into battle. Wrathuland merciless, I bring war to these heroes. erribleand unyielding, I lay siege to their strongholds anddomains. Te woman will soon be ours, and in theend, you will again be mine to hold.”

Te Black Paladin lays a gauntleted hand on thecrimson blaze between Darkling’s eyes. Images flow rom the demonic horse’s mind to his own: images oit staving in mortals’ chests with its powerul hooves,tearing chunks rom their sof hearts, and lappingthirstily at their blood. Its bloodlust rising, Darkling

rolls blood-shot eyes, and nips with sharp angs at theBlack Paladin’s armored wrist.Te Black Paladin laughs with malevolent delight.

Te plot o any adventure or story involvessix basic questions: Who? What? When? Where?How? Why?

Beore you begin Act wo, consider each othese questions, reviewing what the PCs likelyknow or suspect and how they can learn more. Tatwill prepare you or their likely actions and tell youhow best to steer the course o the adventure.

Who?: Te PCs know that at least our villains areinvolved in the murders: Lady Crow, the Gryphon,alisman, and the Black Paladin. Guessing that theGryphon and Lady Crow were ormerly Eliot andLinda Randolph isn’t too much o a leap. Tey canlearn more about the Randolphs by questioning cap-tured villains and researching the Delacroix Mansion.

By the end o Act One, the PCs probably sus-

pect the truth: Black Paladin, not alisman, is themastermind behind this plot. But they should know very little, or nothing at all, about Chantal andher involvement in the affair. Tey can learn more

the choice is the mansion’s secluded location.Maybe the Randolphs’ downtown townhouse andchipped car were also reasons or the choice, or justan added bonus. Perhaps the Randolphs were evenmixed up with some evil cult or cabal. Afer takingall o this into consideration, the PCs may suspectthere’s more behind the location. Afer all, the BlackPaladin did travel quite a distance to perorm theRitual; he could just as easily have perormed it atthe Randolph townhouse. Te PCs can uncover themore esoteric reasons or the choice by researchingthe mansion’s sordid history o evil.

How?: Te transormation requires a victim — thePCs have seen that with their own eyes. Tey alsoknow the dagger figures prominently in the Ritual.

Te PCs can learn more about the dagger by ques-tioning Marjorie de Wol, or by discovering thearticle about the thef rom the museum in France.(Te PCs must understand the importance o thedagger by the end o Act wo, since it’s the onlymeans available to them o sending Chantal’s shadeback to the Netherworld.)

Why?: And last — but certainly not least! — whyis the Black Paladin going to all this trouble? At

the beginning o Act wo, the PCs should still bein the dark about the Black Paladin’s motivations.Tey can learn something o the Black Paladin’spast by interviewing Proessor Alain Clemenceau.Ultimately, the PCs must answer this question; ide-ally, or the sake o drama, they don’t know all thedetails until the close o Act wo.

Running Act Two

Act wo contains two sections: Avenues OInvestigation and Engagements With Te Enemy. Testructure o Act wo is somewhat reeorm, and thesequence o events depends on the actions o the




AVENUES OFINVESTIGATION

DiversionsAct wo can take some time to unold, so you

might be tempted to “ast orward” rom one impor-tant event to the next. While it’s important to keep theaction moving, don’t neglect the superheroes’ NPCs(both Dependent and otherwise). Do some roleplay-ing, and involve the players with their NPCs — eveni only or a five or ten minute “snapshot” o the occa-sion. In particular, i the perect vessel is an NPC, youshould bring her into the game enough that she’s inthe oreront o the players’ thoughts.

Involving the NPCs is important or severalreasons. First, a DNPC is an important aspect o acharacter in Champions, and no matter what theadventure, shouldn’t be neglected. (Besides, who

knows what kind o trouble they get into, i lefby themselves or too long....) Second, it providesthe players with a sense o the day-to-day, whichillustrates the time required to uncover the BlackPaladin’s villainy and reveals his plotting, tacticalmind. Finally, i the perect vessel is an NPC, and

all the characters’ DNPCs and NPCs are involvedin Act wo, the players will be less suspicious whenthe Black Paladin seeks to abduct the perect vesselat the beginning o Act Tree.

Another suggestion is to run a short scenariounrelated to the events in Shades O Black. Use vil-lains who are basically super-powered hoodlumsand not mystically-oriented. Keep it light andstraight-orward, like a bank robbery or armoredcar heist. Nothing world-shaking, mysterious, orobscure — just superheroes doing their job stop-ping supervillains.

Te short scenario has two purposes. First,it breaks the tension by allowing the players todo some old-ashioned crimefighting without the

twists presented in Shades O Black. Second, andmore importantly, the scenario provides a oil orthe events in Shades O Black. Te Black Paladin isevil. Fighting “profit-oriented” villains, more selfishthan wicked, provides a comparison that makes hisevil all the more apparent.

T

he text below details what the PCs can learnabout the Black Paladin’s dark desire. Teorder o events depends on the directionthe PCs’ investigation takes. What they learn

depends on roleplaying, use o Powers, successulSkill Rolls — and, let’s not orget, your judgment. Youneed to decide how much they learn, as well as howlong it takes them to learn it.

StreetwiseStreetwise usually doesn’t help much when it

comes to matters mystical; a related Skill, like KS:

Te Mystic World, works better. However, a suc-cessul use o either Skill may lead the PCs to theSebastian Sarrazene connection (see page 42).




HE GRYPHON

Questioning the Gryphon is an exercise inutility; the PCs gain little except a true measureo their own patience. A successul Persuasion orInterrogation roll only reveals the utility o such

tactics. He responds to threats with his own threats,and to questions about his well-being with state-ments that he’s hungry... even afer he’s eaten. Temention o the name “Eliot Randolph” elicits anangry shriek. (Te Gryphon shrieks requently,but the name elicits a shriek noticeably louder andangrier than the others.)

elepathy A quick look at the Gryphon’s Disadvantages

(page 73) reveals he goes Berserk i attacked withMental Powers. Use o elepathy on an unwillingsubject qualifies as an attack. Beore rage consumesthe Gryphon’s thoughts, a telepath might discover aew things....

Greater than EGO: Te Gryphon is little more thana savage beast. At this level o success, all elepathyreveals is his bloodlust, rage, and hunger. Teseintense, savage impulses “bleed” into the telepath’spsyche unless the character succeeds with an EGO

Roll at a -3. You should decide the exact effectsi the roll ails, but they might include a hungeror raw red meat, a tendency to shriek or severalmoments afer contact, going into a berserk rage,and so on.

EGO + 10: Tough nigh-uncontrollable by the PCs,the Gryphon is slavishly loyal to the Black Paladin.Such mental etters only result rom long-term con-ditioning (like that o a dog or other pet), or exten-

sive use o Mind Control and “psychic surgery” (ingame terms, a ransorm).

EGO + 20: Te telepath experiences ragments omemory and emotion, which seem unsuitable toh G h i i l i

Any such statement ends with a murderouscaw that curdles the PCs’ blood and raises the hack-les on the backs o their necks.

Further attempts lead to variations o the same.

elepathy

Te PCs probably won’t receive intelligibleanswers to direct questions they ask via elepathy.In any case, Lady Crow knows nothing specificabout what’s going on.

Greater than EGO: Lady Crow ully believes thestatement above. Her other thoughts primarily con-cern antasies about easting on the carrion o hertormentors (the PCs).

EGO + 10: At this level, Lady Crow’s psyche

grows decidedly strange, as much crow as human.Her impulses resemble those o a crow-woman— though couched in vivid images suitable to acarrion-eater, they have a definite human intel-ligence guiding them. I he searches or an imageo “Morrigan,” the telepath glimpses a dark haired,pale-skinned woman wearing a white gown and acloak o black eathers. Te ace is identical to theone viewed by Retrocognition in Act One.

EGO + 20: Regardless o what the telepath intended,memories stretching back thousands and thou-sands o years deluge him. He realizes Lady Crow,in some strange way, embodies every evil thingever said about crows. Share mythological tidbitsrom her background on page 76 with the PC. Atthis level, nothing o Linda Randolph’s mind existsat all.

EGO + 30: Only at this level o elepathy can a PCfind any trace o Linda Randolph’s psyche. o the

telepath, it’s like the ading scream o a murderedwoman drowned out by a cacophony o cawingcrows. Te telepath can make out only one desper-ate thought: the Beast has risen rom the fiery pit.

PSYCHOANALYSIS

I none o the PCs haveelepathy, you can leta PC gain some insightinto the mental states o

the Gryphon and LadyCrow via use o SS: Psy-chology — effectivelya sort o “comic book version” o regressiontherapy.

O course, this dependson how much you’rewilling to allow. Real-

istically, there’s a worldo difference betweenelepathy and thepractice and results opsychiatric treatment.Tat being said, thedifferences betweenthe two are sometimesoverlooked in comics.I a character’s SS: Psy-chology helps you move

the adventure along, it’sworth considering.

o gain inormation via SS: Psychology, acharacter must spendat least an hour talkingwith the subject, thensucceed with a Skill Rollat -5. Tat means heunderstands, in general,a vague summary othe results described orelepathy — and or abrie moment, reachesh h l




to ask; none o her responses is alse, though somesplit hairs.

Question: What about the other victims?

Answer: “Te capacity or great evil exists inmany... the ability to actualize that evil is a different

question.” Furthermore: “Tey were potential ves-sels. Tey were lacking.”

Question: Vessels or what?

Answer: “A great evil — an evil risen up rom thepits o Hell.”

Question: Were they willing victims?

Answer: “We are all slaves to our nature.”

Question: What about the changes in their

appearance? Answer: “Te Anti-Christ wants to be beautiulwhen she walks the earth.”

Question: What about the dagger?

Answer: “Te blade ocuses the witchery we do.”

Question: Who summoned the demon hounds?

Answer: “Te inernal realms aid us in our endeav-ors.”

Question: Do you serve the Black Paladin? Answer: alisman answers this question angrily.“We work toward a common goal, that is all.”

Question: Why are you telling us this?

Answer: “Why shouldn’t I? How have I helpedyou?” She laughs.

elepathy Unlike the Gryphon and Lady Crow, alisman

knows the whole story. Any inormation concern-ing Chantal (and any search or inormation about

the “Anti-Christ” qualifies) should be treated simi-lar to the results o Retrocognition, as described inAct One: flames obscure and consume memoriesand emotions; or else the angry ace o a pale-skinned woman appears, filling the telepath’s “sight.”

Greater than EGO: Te same inormation as above.None o the inormation is alse — but judging byalisman’s delight in her answers, she eels she’s get-ting the better o the exchange.

EGO + 10: Te dagger is more important than al-isman lets on. Te Black Paladin calls the shots, butboth o them serve a greater “cause.” Te victimswere definitely unwilling.

EGO + 20: Te telepath gains glimpses o the back-

story o Shades O Black, but only when Chantalwas not present, such as: the Black Paladin reeingalisman rom captivity in exchange or her ser- vices as a witch; the two o them in an airport inFrance, then breaking into the museum archives;alisman mentally controlling Eliot Randolph.

EGO + 30: alisman has a nagging ear about theresult o her magical labors. She wonders i she’sexpendable, suspects she is, and wants to find someway to protect hersel. But a sadistic desire to see

the end result o the plot accompanies her ear...as i she were in the audience o some tragedy, andlooking orward to the end o the play.

HE BLACK PALADIN

Although you should do your best to preventthe PCs rom capturing the Black Paladin (withoutrigging the events o Act One against them unairly,o course), under the circumstances they could cap-ture him. I so, assume Chantal uses her Vile Black

Magic to provide him with enough Mental Deense

SAVING THE RANDOLPHS

Use o elepathy at ahigh enough level oeffect tells the PCs Eliot

and Linda Randolph’spersonalities remainpresent in the minds othe Gryphon and LadyCrow — but they’redeeply submerged inthe psyches o those two villains. I the PCs wantto save the Randolphsrom their monstrous

ate, first they need todetermine how BlackPaladin transormedthem (the crow helmetand the Blood o theBeast), then succeedwith a KS: Arcane AndOccult Lore roll aboutthe artiacts.

A successul roll tells the

PCs that to reverse theeffects, they first needto discover the precisedetails o the magicalRituals used to trans-orm the Randolphs...and the quickest way todiscover those details isto capture the Black Pal-adin himsel. (alisman’srole in the rituals was

at the Black Paladin’sinstruction; she doesn’tknow the spells hersel.)Just one more reasont t k hi d d

REPEATED USE OF TELEPATHY




to protect him against any use o elepathy. Tisstretches the definition o “possessor o the dagger”almost to the breaking point, but it’s an acceptable“plot device” in this situation. I the PCs attemptto read his mind, they see only visions o flamesand Chantal’s ace, similar to what occurs i they

use Retrocognition in Act One. Te Black Paladinhas enough PRE, and enough motivation, to resistother orms o interrogation. All he needs now is achance to regain the dagger and escape... which youcan undoubtedly arrange later, when the PCs aren’taround.

VILLAINS CAPURED DURING AC WO

You can also use the above results i the PCscapture a villain during Act wo. However, theBlack Paladin does not tell any o his “retainers”(including alisman) that Chantal has discoveredthe perect vessel. Nor does he reveal to them thespecifics o his plans to capture the perect vessel.Use o elepathy, at your discretion, might reveal achange in his tactics and attitude since the encoun-ter at the Delacroix Mansion.

Marjorie de WolfAt the end o Act One, paramedics rush the

rescued victim, Marjorie de Wol, to the nearesthospital. She remains unconscious through thenight, and doesn’t revive until the next afernoon.She is physically well, but her once short, curlybrown hair has become long, straight, and black asnight.

De Wol gladly answers the PCs’ questions,though she’s still conused about what happened to

her. She remembers a man and woman approach-ing her. Her memories o their appearance are vague, but she recalls the man was overdressed orthe club, and had a ormal way o speaking, which

to leave — politely, the first time; more orceully,the next. Te doctors at the hospital make the char-acters leave, i necessary.

O course, this might make the PCs suspicious;they may believe she’s holding out on them. I theybecome suspicious, the change in her behavior

probably only exacerbates their ears. Let themsuspect her; it lends tension and suspense to thebeginning o Act Tree, when the Black Paladinattacks her at her mother’s home.

I the PCs treat Marjorie with understandingand compassion (especially i a PC acts as her ther-apist), you should develop the relationship betweenthem — either just as riends, or even as a romanticinterest. Again, doing so lends tension and drama

to the beginning o Act Tree.MARJORIE’S MEMORIES

A combination o mental trauma and MindControl has buried Marjorie’s memories o thenight deep in her subconscious. A successul SS:Psychology roll tells the PCs this.

o help Marjorie recall her suppressed memo-ries, the PCs have three options: elepathy; aPC with SS: Psychology acting as therapist; or an

outside therapist. However the PCs approach thesituation, you have total control over when they getinormation rom Marjorie de Wol. Psychology isnot a precise science; the time required or success-ul therapy varies. You can restrict elepathy by set-ting a high diffi culty or retrieving her memories.

elepathy Marjorie de Wol has suffered severe mental

strain, and a telepath battering her psyche withrepeated attempts to reach her suppressed memo-ries won’t help matters (even a single attempt maybring down the whole house o cards, so to speak).I you don’t want to give the PCs immediate accessto her memories, set the difficulty at EGO +50




course, i the PCs show a lack o tact and compas-sion when dealing with Marjorie, they learn noneo this. At first, her therapist asks the PCs to stopharassing her. I the PCs continue to pester Marjo-rie, Detective Marlowe asks them to stop.

Te Suppressed Memory Here’s what Marjorie finally recalls (or the PCs

learn via elepathy):

“I was unconscious... or asleep... or something.When I woke up, I was in a strange place.Tere were torches on the walls. Everythingwas stone — it was kind o like a cathedral,with a high vaulted ceiling. But it couldn’thave been a church. Tere were these terrible

paintings on the walls... like something romBosch, but more terrible because the paintingsseemed more real.

“I was kneeling on the cold flagstones, betweentwo stone pedestals. One was empty, but on theother was a coffi n. Te coffi n was closed, but Iknow there was a man inside. He was dead orsleeping, I’m not sure which. I know it’s impos-sible, but or some reason I think both.”

She sobs. “I was sad... and I was holding adagger. Te man must’ve been dead, becauseI was so sad. I raised the dagger. I knew I wasgoing to kill mysel....”

She stops talking and begins to cry.

In the vision, Marjorie acts out the lastmoments o Chantal’s lie. Te events take place inthe Black Paladin’s tomb. Te man in the coffi n isthe Black Paladin, and Chantal has just finished the

spell which placed him in an enchanted slumber.Te dagger is the same as the one rom the Ritual(Marjorie can describe it more clearly i asked).

ism or has a journalist Contact has access to newsagencies and their resources. Looking or recentarticles pertaining to a dagger may not help much,but a search combination o dagger, helmet, and/orBlack Paladin (Chevalier Noir means “Black Knight”in French) turns up the articles. Also, the PC must

speciy to include oreign language publications inthe search; the newspaper article is in French.

Te newspaper article mentions, in brie, thediscovery seven years ago o a tomb believed to bethat o Sir Giles de Morphant, the abled “Black Pal-adin” o Arthurian times now apparently returnedto lie as a supervillain. Following that lead revealsthe article in Te North American Journal o Medi-eval History, which the PCs can find in a universitylibrary. A successul KS: Archaeology or KS: Medi-eval History roll narrows the search or the journalarticle. Without it, the PCs must search through thelast decade o many journals.

has excerpts rom both articles (onetranslated rom the French). You can copy themand hand them out to the players.

Te Newspaper ArticleTe PCs can learn more by contacting the

curator o the exhibit, Phillipe Boncour. Arrogant

and sel-absorbed, he’s less than helpul without asuccessul Conversation or Persuasion roll (unlessthe PCs speak French, they suffer a penalty o -3to these rolls). A PC with KS: Medieval History, SS:Archaeology, or a like Skill can use it as a Comple-mentary Roll; Boncour is more likely to open up tosomeone who shares his interests.

I the roll ails, Boncour reuses to talk to thePCs. I it succeeds, he’s helpul, and looks up thedescriptions o the dagger and helmet in the cata-log o the museum archives. Te descriptions (thereare no photographs) match the appearance o theBlack Paladin’s dagger and Lady Crow’s helmet. Tecurator also mentions that afer he discovered the




EXCERPTS FROMPAGAN PRACTICES IN

CHRISTENDOM

“Such a discovery is astonishing. Tat a tombin Western Europe somehow went undiscov-ered by archaeologists or tens o centuries isalmost impossible to believe. Unortunately,the tomb was violated by grave robbers atsome point in the recent past. One o thetwo coffi ns discovered had been disturbed,its lid opened, and the body interred within

stripped o all artiacts. For some reason, thelooters did not disturb the other coffi n.”

“No inscriptions name the man and womaninterred in the tomb. Te architecture —though little more than a crumbling ruin atthe time o discovery — indicates they werewealthy, and likely o the nobility. Te lido the disturbed coffi n bore an inscription,

reminiscent o that o King Arthur’s sup-posed tomb in Glastonbury, England. How-ever, unlike that legendary king, no good willcome o the return o the coffi n’s occupant.In act, just the opposite... Luckily or theworld, a skeleton still occupied the coffi n.”

“When we opened the other coffi n, we ounda woman’s intact skeleton inside. Te womanwas tall or those times, somewhere between1.7m and 1.8m. Around the skeleton’s pelvisbone was a girdle o some black metal,unidentified at the time o this writing. Moreinteresting was the dagger clutched in her

An Exhibit

On LancelotFrom Staff Reports

For the next month, the Deschanel Museum

will host a special exhibit on the historical Lance-

lot du Lac. The exhibit showcases both medieval

arms and armor as well more domestic arts and

artifacts, such as embroidery, household goods,

and jewelry. All artifacts on display are finds from

France, and Brittany in particular, where some

legends claim Lancelot was born and raised.

“While the name of Lancelot certainly draws

children and tourists, our main goal is to provide

visitors with a sense of the age and history of our

region,” said Phillipe Boncour, curator of the

exhibit. “Many of the artifacts date back 1,500

years. We also want to provide the visitor with

a glimpse of what life was like then — both the

similarities and differences.”He added: “We are slightly disappointed

though. We had hoped to have a display devoted to

the “dark side” of those times, particularly pagan

practices. But two of the artifacts we intended to

display — a dagger and strange helmet of bone-

like material, both found within the last decade in

the Forêt du Chevalier Noir — have mysteriously

gone missing. A short audio/video exhibit on the

construction and possible purpose of dolmens

must suffice.”




lovers, and the proessor somehow jilted the gradu-ate student. Te bones in the other coffi n are thoseo John Black, who awakened the Black Paladin.)

Te PCs can discover our other pieces oinormation via Skills and research.

1. Te tomb was located in what the locals call theForest o the Black Knight. Any PC with even 1point in Language: French knows this; i none othem speak French, a successul Deduction rollreveals the inormation.

2. Te woman’s skeleton bore evidence she waskilled with the thrust o a blade to the heart. Dis-covering this requires patience, numerous inquiriesto discover the skeleton’s location, and several useso Persuasion and Bureaucratics, both o which

suffer -3 penalties i the PCs don’t speak French.Afer exchanging hands several times, the skeletonended up in the British Museum in London with-out the girdle o black metal. (Te ate and proper-ties o the girdle are lef to you; it doesn’t actor intoShades O Black.)

3. Te skeleton ound in the disturbed coffi n wasnot decayed nearly enough to be 1,500 years old.Tis was never revealed by Proessor Reynaud,

since it might have resulted in “unnecessary com-plications” concerning his conclusions about paganpractices in the early Middle Ages. Afer sevenyears, the head o the History Department at theUniversity o Paris will share this inormation, butonly i asked about the skeleton with a successulConversation roll.

4. Photographs o the ruins o the tomb exist. I thePCs show them to Marjorie de Wol, she tentativelyidentifies the tomb as the scene o the events inher suppressed memory — it’s hard to tell what thetomb looked like when it was new. Te PCs caneasily obtain the photos through the University oParis or the Phillipe Boncour

THE WORDS OFPROFESSOR CLEMENCEAU

Tere was a saying in France during the early

Middle Ages. “Quand il pleut, la monde pleure pour les méaits de Morphant.” ranslation:“When it rains, the world is weeping or the deMorphant’s deeds.”

Te de Morphants o the saying were a amily oFrench knights (and some would have it, sorcer-ers and warlocks too) who were, in the minds oa great many, the embodiment o evil. Each gen-eration seemed more wicked than the previous,and the last generation produced the most evilman o all: Sir Giles de Morphant, who was notonly a contemporary o King Arthur, but alsoamong his greatest enemies.

You have heard o the Forêt du Chevalier Noir, oui? Te Forest o the Black Knight? It is namedafer Sir Giles. He was called the Black Paladin,and long ago his keep stood in that very orest.My colleague, Jean Reynaud, discovered SirGiles’ tomb... although he would not publish

such a statement, or he had no supporting evi-dence. But in my opinion at least (and in Jean’sopinion too) it was without a doubt Sir Giles’stomb. As or the second coffi n — the one thatheld the skeleton o a woman?

Tere is second saying concerning de Morphant.o this day, the elders o a certain village nearthe Forêt du Chevalier Noir still speak it on occa-sion, instead o the other: “Quand il pleut, la

monde pleure pour l’amour de Morphant.” rans-lation: “When it rains, the world is weepingor de Morphant’s love.” Te small village wasonce the castle town o Sir Giles’s keep. Whenthe elders say it they are commenting on a love

PROFESSOR ALAINCLEMENCEAU


15 PRE 12 COM 1 PD 2 ED

2 SPD 3 REC 16 END 16 SUN

Abilities: KS: MedievalHistory 14-, KS: Arthu-rian Legends 14-, KS:Arcane And OccultLore 12-, PS: Proes-sor 12-, Oratory 13-,

AK: Medieval WesternEurope 14-, Languages:Latin, English, German(all completely fluent;French is native), FringeBenefit: enure.

Disadvantages: Age:40+, PsychologicalLimitation: IntellectualArrogance.

Notes: Te son o a pro-essor at the Universityo Paris, Alain Clem-enceau has never livedoutside o academia. Hehas spent the last fifeenyears teaching at variousAmerican universities.Although he preers hisnative France, there’smore unding avail-

able in the States or hisstudies. Te promise otenure brought him toMillennium City Uni-versity two years ago He




essor Clemenceau in passing.

■ I the PCs’ rescue o Marjorie de Wol becomespublic knowledge, the proessor contacts themto ask about the Black Paladin, who claims tobe a contemporary o King Arthur. Te proes-

sor would certainly love to ask him some ques-tions.

I the PCs haven’t discovered the journal arti-cle on their own, Proessor Clemenceau providesthem with a copy. Te accompanying box containsthe story the proessor has to tell the PCs. You canread it to them as-is, or change or abridge it tosuit your needs as the scenario has developed. Iyou think the story gives away too much, you maywant to use the alternate ending is provided in the

accompanying sidebar.

The Delacroix MansionFor a physical description o the Delacroix

Mansion, its rooms, and the grounds, reer to ActTree, pages 49-59.

I the PCs explore the place, there’s nothingout o the ordinary about the mansion (the secret

passages are servants’ passages, a not uncommoneature o mansions) unless a PC is a “sensitive,” ora ghostly maniestation seems particularly aproposa superhero’s personality or background. I so, thehero only sees the maniestation out o the cornero his eye, and only he sees it.

Afer the events in Act One, the local sheriff’sdepartment checks on the mansion twice a day(once in the morning, once in the evening). Ineffect, a deputy drives up to the mansion and does a

quick walk-through to make sure the Black Paladinhasn’t returned and all is well. Nothing unusualoccurs at the mansion during the course o Actwo.

that glistened darkly in the moonlight. In themorning, the hunters determined to hunt andkill this stag, knowing such a eat would earnthem renown. Four months later the leader othe hunters returned to his tribe. He was aloneand greatly changed. He inormed his tribe he

was no longer the man they once knew; hisname was now Red Moon Waxing. Tat nighthe told his story to the tribe’s elders.

For a week, the hunters chased the black stag.During the day, they never saw it, but whenthey camped or the night, it appeared againin their midst. It was taunting them, and theygrew enraged at the insult, swearing theywould kill the beast. Finally, having reached

the western shore o the lake, they came uponthe stag in daylight. Tey encircled theirquarry and readied themselves or the long-awaited kill. But the stag changed. Its bodymelted away, and it rose high into the air, nowa huge antlered serpent with black scales. Itwelcomed the hunters as guests in its domain,and a great hissing rose up rom the ground.Around the hunters’ eet, the orest floor wascarpeted with crimson and black serpents.

But only one hunter was bitten, and he diedquickly rom the venom.

When he was dead, the Black-Scaled Serpentannounced, “You will be my guests until thered moon waxes in the sky. As a proper host, Ioffer you a meal.” And it disappeared.

Realizing they had intruded on the domain oa great and evil spirit, the hunters fled into thenight. But no matter which way they ran, they

arrived back at the shore o the lake, wheretheir dead ellow still lay. Exhausted, they gaveup trying to flee and made camp.

In the morning, they buried the dead hunter

ALTERNATE ENDING

I you eels Clem-enceau’s story revealstoo much about the plot , use this alternate ending— replace the last two

paragraphs o the pro-essor’s “history lesson”with the ollowing:

“Te death o SirGiles was the result ounrequited love. Heell in love with a nunnamed Elaine. Elainewas a godly woman,and would have noth-

ing to do with such anevil man. Reusing toaccept rejection, SirGiles abducted her. Butthe woman had a cham-pion, the legendary SirLancelot.

“For the ate o Elaine,the two men met inbattle. Afer a long andterrible single combat,both succumbed to theirwounds. Elaine madeher choice — she rushedto Lancelot’s side.Because o her ministra-tions and by the grace oGod, Lancelot survived.

“Elaine’s choice enragedSir Giles. Driven by anunholy ury, he rose

rom the ground, despitehis wounds, and tookthe woman to his keep.Knowing Lancelotwould soon ollow Sir




Tat night Red Moon Waxing disappeared.Some thought that enraged amily memberstook their revenge. Others said Black-ScaledSerpent took back his servant. None knew thetruth, but the location o the terrible deedsbecame known as cursed ground, avoided by

all the Eriez.

1655: Te Ojibwa destroy the Eriez Nation, andtakes the tribe’s land as its own. Tere is a storyrom those times, which exactly matches the onetold by the Eriez, except Ojibwa hunters were theeast-guests o Black-Scaled Serpent. Whether thestory is the same as the one told by the Eriez andsimply adopted by the Ojibwa, or a separate inci-dent, remains unknown.

c. 1725: Jesuit monks travel south rom Detroit. Onthe shores o Lake Erie, distant rom any settlement,they establish an abbey. In truth, the monks arenot Jesuits, but Albigensians, a sect o the Churchdeemed heretical and thought wiped out duringthe thirteenth century by the Inquisition. Albig-ensians believe the spirit is good, and matter evil.Te monks seek to retreat rom the evil world byestablishing an abbey ar rom civilization, wherethey can pursue their philosophies in peace, ree opersecution.

1760: Te British capture Detroit rom the Frenchduring the French and Indian War. Te authori-ties at Detroit discover the existence o the Jesuitmonks. Te British eel a great distrust o Catholicsin general, and Jesuits in particular, so they dis-patch Lieutenant Lawrence Sterling with a troopo calvary to journey to the abbey. He is to inormthe monks the British now rule this land, assess the

strategic value o the abbey’s location, and deter-mine i the monks present a threat.

Sterling returns to Detroit a ortnight later,having sustained heavy casualties. He reports the

Riggly claims he ordered his crewmembers to takethe wild man alive, but they disobeyed, killing andmutilating the man.

A tribunal convened to investigate the matterdo not believe Riggly’s story. All five o the captain’smen testiy Riggly gave the order to kill the man.

Tey urther report that Riggly himsel mutilatedthe man’s corpse. Tey describe the mutilation ingruesome detail; each man, interviewed privately,tells exactly the same story.

Te tribunal relieves Captain Riggly o hiscommand, and both he and his men are court-martialed. Judged guilty o conduct unbecoming anoffi cer, Riggly is sentenced accordingly, and his menare discharged rom military service.

1902 - 1909: Louis Alessandro Delacroix pur-chases 200 acres along the lake shore and soonbegins work on the mansion that will bear hisname. Formerly an offi cial o the Banque de France,Delacroix had embezzled a great deal o moneyseveral years earlier, converted it into gold bullion,and fled to the Americas.

Despite inclement weather and requent mis-haps, workmen complete the Delacroix Mansion inthe spring o 1904. In 1909, American authorities

begin an extradition or Delacroix. Days later Dela-croix is ound dead, having hung himsel in themain hall o his mansion. His wie, Marie, and theirservants are never ound; the authorities assumeMarie fled with the couple’s money.

1922 - 1931: Daniel Peter FitzDougal, a Detroitorganized crime figure, acquires the DelacroixMansion. Among other illicit purposes, FitzDougaluses the mansion to smuggle alcohol into the coun-

try rom Canada.In 1931, rivals slaughter FitzDougal and hisgang in a gunfight at the mansion. Dubbed by thepress “Te Delacroix Butchery,” the incident report-edly involved over fify men By all reports the kill




ever sees or hears rom Severson again.

1946 - 1959: Te mansion remains unoccupiedor the remainder o the Great Depression as wellas the war years. In 1946, Alvin X. Williamson, awealthy industrialist best known or his cut-throat

business practices and incessant philandering,purchases it. He reurbishes and modernizes themansion.

In 1959, Claire Williamson murders herhusband. Te trial makes headlines during the ol-lowing six months, as she testifies to all manner operverse activities her husband was involved in. Inthe later parts o the trial, she begins to rave aboutthe horrible and unnatural influence the mansionexerted on her, her husband, and their children.

Finally, when the names o other wealthy individu-als begin to crop up in her testimony, the authori-ties quickly conclude the case and judge Clairecriminally insane. Sentenced to a state mental acil-ity, she died several years later o natural causes.

Excerpts rom Claire Williamson’s testimonywere published in 1967 in the book Te Psyche OTe Leisure Class, by one Marcus Jamison, who hasno other publishing credits and about whom noother inormation exists (not even birth or death

certificates). Te main thesis o the book is thatthe sanity o the ultra-wealthy cannot be judged bythe mores o mainstream society, since the ultra-wealthy are so ar removed rom everyday liestyleand culture.

1967 - 1970: In 1967, Jebediah Stowe purchases themansion. A high-ranking member o VIPER, Stoweuses the mansion as a base o operations or Projectree o Liberty.

Te project begins late in 1967, inspired bythe riots which shook Detroit that same year. Itcomes to ruition in the summer o 1970, whenVIPER placed psychotropic ray generators andclimate modulation devices in strategic loca

denied killing Stowe, but reused to talk more aboutwhat went on inside. Te authorities never con-ducted an offi cial investigation.

1975 - 1979: Phoebe Moore-Browning, a wealthydilettante, buys the mansion. She converts the

ballroom into a disco, and the mansion becomes aavorite haunt or the stylish, amous, and wealthy.Her occupancy o the place concludes with the“Garden o Eden” party, a celebration o the deatho disco. Moore-Browning is the only survivor othe event. Found in the orest days later, wearingonly a slip and raving about having “eaten rom thetree o knowledge,” she dies o pneumonia shortlythereafer. In response to investigators’ questions,she answers only: “Te serpent beguiled me.”

1980 - 1994: Upon the death o Phoebe Moore-Browning, the mansion passes into the possessiono her brother, Vincent Samuel Browning. In 1985,Browning, his wie, and their two sons move intothe mansion. Browning redecorates the ballroom,returning it to a more traditional appearance, butkeeping some o the additions made by his sister,including the stage and bar.

Te Delacroix Mansion becomes notori-ous during this time as the “lair” or not one, buttwo serial killers. Both were unusual — one wasa woman; the other a wealthy amily man andrespected member o the community.

Te first was Evelyn Neumann. In 1986, theBrownings hired Neumann as a nanny and tutoror their sons. During her time in Browning’semploy, she kills eighteen men, though the authori-ties only ound two o the bodies. Beginning inearly ’87, she kills one man every twenty-eight days

or approximately the next year and a hal. Teauthorities discover her crimes when she attemptsto make Brownings’s oldest son her nineteenth victim. Neumann conesses to the killings, butreuses to disclose the location o the other sixteen

38 A C Of W H S Edi i HERO Pl




2000 - Present: Eliot and Linda Randolph purchaseand occupy the mansion. During this time theyhost several parties, none o which involve anyunusual occurrence.

WHA’S GOING ON

Te location o the Delacroix Mansion is anexus point between Assiah, the Material World,and Yetzirah, the Astral World. Here, the Earth andthe Netherworld abut, and the barrier betweenthe two worlds wears thin. Why the metaphysicaldistance between the two worlds shortens here, noone can truly say, but the nexus point has existedor millennia.

While dimensional “portals” have neverappeared, the Netherworld makes its presence elt.Inernal energies emanating rom it seep throughthe weak spot like oulness bubbling up throughthe earth rom a burst septic tank. Tese ener-gies corrupt the material world and pollute thosewho stay in the location or long. Evil thoughtsand desires, normally constrained by the limits oconscience and physical reality, are actualized andgiven orm here, since will and symbol guide Yetzi-rah as much as physical laws do.

Tese energies empower the Ritual o Rebirth.Te latent mystical power o the last scion o deMorphant, the sorcerous might o Chantal’s shade,and their mutual deep-seated desire make possiblethe blasphemous rebirth o the witch in defiance othe laws o nature.

Other PossibilitiesTe above sections deal with the most likely

and ruitul avenues o investigation, but manyother possibilities exist. Players are a clever bunch.I they come up with different, but equally valid,means o discovering the Black Paladin’s methods

that person can take Clemenceau’s role in the sce-nario, i you preer.) Alternately, maybe the Councilcan approach the PCs, seeking inormation aboutwhat’s going on and willing to trade inormationin exchange. Te Council can, or example, providemost o the inormation in the IMELINE about

the Delacroix Mansion, though Council membersdiffer as to the overall explanation or those events(some suspect dimensional linkage, others attributethe evil to different causes). I necessary, a membero the Council can let the PCs know the dagger iscentral to the perormance o the Ritual.

Te RandolphsI the PCs investigate the Randolphs, they can

learn more about them by questioning wealthy

Contacts and using the High Society Skill. TePCs find abundant evidence that the couple wereupright citizens and good Christians. For theirfinancial contributions and unceasing work in therelie effort afer the destruction o old Detroit, themayor awarded them the key to the city. No matterhow deep they dig, the PCs find no evidence theRandolphs were involved in anything unseemly, letalone diabolic.

House De MorphantA successul KS: Arcane And Occult Lore rollreveals that the de Morphants were a amily pow-erul in black magic, as described on page 65 oChampions Universe.

Te MCPDLaw enorcement mainly wants to find the

Black Paladin, and that’s where the MCPD ocusesits efforts. It helps the PCs any reasonable way it

can, but unless the PCs convince Det. Marlowe (orsome other police contact) that a request or assis-tance pertains directly to finding the Black Paladin,MCPD offi cials will consider it to be o secondaryimportance

OTHERMYSTIC VILLAINS

While the rismegistusCouncil may take aninterest in the eventso Shades O Black, so

might other mystically-oriented persons andgroups in the Cham-pions Universe. Tis isa good way or you toslow down or sidetrackthe PCs i they get tooclose to the end o thescenario too soon.

Te Circle o the Scarlet

Moon would like toacquire the Black Pal-adin’s dagger. It woulduse it to try to raise andbind Chantal’s shade,thus gaining a powerulservitor (but a powerulenemy, since the BlackPaladin would try tostop them — perhapseven teaming up with

the PCs temporarily inecessary!).

DEMON’s potentialinvolvement in the sce-nario is described onpage 42.

Te Crowns o Krimhave no particular inter-est in Black Paladin’splot; they already have

access to demonic powero their own. Te Slugdoesn’t want the daggeror anything else BlackPaladin has since they’re

39Sh d f Bl k Ch t T




While the PCs investigate, the BlackPaladin sets in motion his own plansto seize the perect vessel, as detailedbelow. (One event, “Another DEMON?”,

concerns alisman’s actions during Act wo.) Notall o the events require the involvement o the PCs.Some can occur without their direct involvement— and i so, the PCs only hear about them afer theact. Maybe some o the events don’t happen at all,or you add some new ones to those provided here.

Whatever the case, you must decide whichevents happen during the adventure, when theyoccur, and whether they involve the PCs. You don’thave to decide beore Act wo starts; you can decideon the fly, based on the activities o the PCs and theattitude o the players. I the adventure seems to drag,

have the PCs discover the imps spying on them, orhave alisman lead the attack on the Museum oNatural History. Basically, i the game slows down,spice it up a bit!

Te Perfect VesselTe Black Paladin’s intention in Act wo is to

conuse the PCs beore seizing the perect vessel inAct Tree. But i, at any point during Act wo, theperect vessel is helpless and ripe or the plucking(e.g., Knocked Out and lef alone), the Black Paladinchanges his plans. He abducts her and heads directlyto the Delacroix Mansion. You should proceed to ActTree, and continue the adventure rom there.

Te matter may become easier or the Black

Prison Break I the PCs captured one or more villains at the

end o Act One, the Black Paladin takes steps toree his retainers (and himsel, i necessary). Firsthe rees alisman, then the Gryphon and Lady

Crow.Te authorities confine alisman in Millen-nium City’s jail, in one o the cells suitable orsuperhumans (it dampens her powers so she can’tescape). Te Black Paladin, riding Darkling andarmed with the Lance O Unvanquished Pain, usesthe “direct approach” to ree her, preerably attack-ing while she is in transit. He has a simple plan: getto her any way possible (likely through the use oorce), then eleport away.

Te MCPD sends Gryphon and Lady Crow toa maximum-security mental hospital. Te lawyersin charge o the Randolph estate wish to determinei any vestige o Eliot and Linda Randolph remain,and i so, what doctors can do to help them. Teauthorities comply with the attorneys’ request,regardless o any PC protests; the two villains stillhave civil rights. Te Black Paladin sends alismanto ree the two villains i possible. alisman dis-guises hersel as a nurse, using Mental Illusions and

Mind Control to infiltrate the place. Once inside,she rees the two villains. Meanwhile, the BlackPaladin lurks nearby in case o trouble. I he can’tuse alisman or this task, the Black Paladin either

OTHER VILLAINOUSRETAINERS

Here are some potentialadditional retainers orthe Black Paladin. Tepage reerences are toConquerors, Killers, AndCrooks.

Ankylosaur p. 116

Leech p. 168

Te Monster p. 181

Morningstar p. 182

Ogre p. 187

Shadowdragon p. 193

ENGAGEMENTS

WITH THE ENEMY

H S t 5th Editi HERO Pl



Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus

the Black Paladin wants to ree the villains — notfight the PCs or risk capture. I he rees his retain-ers, he flees; i he decides attempting to ree themposes too many risks, he won’t even try. Alwayskeep an escape route open or the Black Paladin incase a prison break takes a turn or the worse.

I he can’t ree his retainers, the Black Paladinfinds other helpers. Act wo continues as presented,and Chantal summons demons to serve her lover,or the Black Paladin recruits new retainers, such asthe ones listed in the accompanying sidebar. I thePCs get caught up in the events o Shades O Black and orget about the captured villains, the BlackPaladin can ree his retainers then.

Those Spying EyesSoon afer reeing his retainers rom con-

finement (or abandoning the attempt), the BlackPaladin sets up to two separate groups to spy onthe PCs. First, Lady Crow keeps tabs on the PCs’movements by means o her Murder O Crowsand Clairsentience. Second, Chantal summonstwo imps rom the Netherworld to act as eyesand ears inside the team’s base. Te spies’ task: to

learn everything they can about the perect vessel— where she works, lives, likes to go out, and so on.Secondarily, the spies keep tabs on the PCs to makesure they don’t find and capture the Black Paladin.

Te ImpsTe imps, named Post Hoc and Propter Hoc

(or at least, that’s what their names sound like inEnglish), are unusual specimens well-suited to themission Chantal gives them. In addition to the

Character Sheet on page 50 o the HERO SystemBestiary, they have the ollowing Powers:

Out Of Sight...: Invisibility to Sight Group,Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) (30 Active

Hoc cannot help but cause trouble or the PCs— they are, afer all, Utterly Evil. For ear o Chan-tal, they limit themselves (with great diffi culty) tomischievous pranks. However, this still gives thePCs a chance to detect their presence.

While the imps spy on them, the PCs experi-

ence various “diffi culties” — some just annoying,others a little more deadly. Use your imaginationwhen devising these problems; some possibilitiesinclude: strategic rips in a costume, or the insigniarom the costume being removed; a PC’s shampoois replaced with green hair dye; the labels on vari-ous chemicals in the lab are switched; a PC’s pet istrapped in the rerigerator; the Danger Room mal-unctions during training; the base’s security sys-tems incorrectly identiy a PC as Doctor Destroyer;the brake lines o a PC’s car are cut; a PC’s civilianclothing has a piece o paper taped to the back thatreads, “I’m a amous super-hero.”

I discovered, Post Hoc and Propter Hoc onlywant to escape, and do whatever they must to getaway. I the PCs capture them, Chantal listens in onthe questioning via Mind Link i she can, thoughshe shuts down the Link the instant it’s detected.Questioning the imps isn’t very helpul — they’re

ar more scared o Chantal than the PCs, and knowalmost nothing except that they were instructed towatch one person closely. (Using Mental Powerson them may not work well, since the imps don’thave Human-class minds.) However, they do tauntthe PCs by extolling the power o their mistress(though they don’t even know her name).

For the sake o this adventure, the only thingthe Black Paladin needs to learn rom his spies arethe whereabouts and habits o the perect vessel.

Any other knowledge he gains is up to you, andshould depend on how careully the PCs hide theiridentities, disguise their movements, and so on.

KNOCKED OUTDEMONS

In many o the encoun-ters described in Actswo and Tree, Chantal

has summoned demonsto serve the BlackPaladin. As a rule othumb, reducing one oher conjured demonsto -11 SUN banishesit to the Netherworld;it vanishes in a puff osulphurous yellowishsmoke. I you want tospeed up combat, havethe demons vanish at 0SUN.

Te Black Paladin’sdemon steed, Dark-ling, disappears whenKnocked Out just likeany other demon. Infights including Dark-ling, assume Chantal

summoned him beorethe beginning o thefight, thus returning himto this world.

41Shades of Black Chapter Two




Gryphon crouches next to her, his beak and clawsred with the blood o murdered innocents; and thetwo demons are 3” in the air, blasting craters in themuseum’s açade.

When the PCs come within earshot, alismansays:

alisman resents having to take orders romthe Black Paladin, and isn’t happy about risking

capture in a raid whose purpose she doesn’t under-stand. Te words she speaks aren’t her own; theBlack Paladin told her to speak them, and she doesher best to imitate him. Basically, she hams it up,so try to get that across to the players. Tey mayrealize she doesn’t normally speak this way; i nec-essary, you can give the PCs an IN Roll to figurethis out.

Te Gryphon (DEX 23)Te Gryphon perorms a Wind Blast on as

many PCs as he can get in the Area O Effect. Onlater Phases, he continues to use Wind Blast i pos-sible in an effort to prevent pursuit o alisman.Otherwise, he perorms Move Bys on earth-boundopponents. He does not engage in HH Combatunless he has no other choice. Unless he goes Ber-serk, he retreats afer fighting or one urn, regard-less o how well the battle goes.

alisman (DEX 20)

alisman immediately flies inside the museum,leaving the Gryphon and demons to fight the PCs.She flies through the museum or one or two urns,then retreats out the back. I no one pursues her, she

with Energy Blast. When the Gryphon flees, thedemons cover his escape. I, afer one urn, theGryphon is restrained or Knocked Out, the demonsattempt to ree him or wake him up, so he canescape. Te demons fight until deeated.

Te Black Paladin and Lady Crow Tese two villains stand across the street,stealthily watching the fight rom atop a nearbybuilding. Te Black Paladin, aided by Chantal, useseleport to move the group i they risk discovery,or or a better view o the fight. Tey only par-ticipate in the battle i an opportunity to seize theperect vessel presents itsel, or to help alismanand the Gryphon escape. For example, Lady Crowmight order her Murder O Crows to intercept a

pursuer; or the Black Paladin could use his Blind-ing Fog Spell or attack with his Shadow Blast. I thePCs Knock Out a villain but then leave him alone,the Black Paladin rescues him. I the Gryphon goesBerserk, Lady Crow attempts to calm him withMind Control.

I the perect vessel is not a PC, Black Paladinmay use this diversion not to observe the PCs, butto kidnap her (assuming he knows her location).

WRAPPING UPI alisman takes something, museum offi cials

quickly identiy the stolen object and tell the PCswhat it is.

A successul KS: Arcane And Occult Loreroll reveals the Karathos Orb is an actual artiact,believed to increase the wielder’s mystical prowess.No one (or at least, no one the PCs have access to,including the rismegistus Council) knows its exactlocation, origin, and powers. Whatever alisman

stole is an unlikely choice to be the Orb, though; ishe didn’t take anything, no amount o searchingthrough the museum turns up the artiact.

I a Mystic PC (or NPCs) succeeds with KS:

“Stop the foolish do-gooders, my minions! I

go now to seize the Karathos Orb, which shall

increase my power tenfold. Do not let them

pass!”





Trafficking With DEMONI a PC successully uses Streetwise or KS: Te

Mystic World to try to locate the villains or learnabout their activities, he hears that someone wantsto arrange a meeting with alisman. His source tells

him the “someone” is a mobster named SebastianSarrazene. No one knows Sarrazene’s criminal affi li-ations, but everyone knows he’s involved in small-time arms smuggling and drug dealing.

alisman wants to learn more about Chantalby talking to her Contacts. During Act One, shegot a message to Sebastian Sarrazene, a Morbane inDEMON, requesting a meeting. Te message waspurposeully oblique: “Need to ask DEMON abouta demon. Get in touch. .”

Sarrazene wants to arrange a time and placeor the meeting. (I the Black Paladin’s activities arepublic knowledge, Sarrazene is even more curiousabout what alisman has gotten hersel into.)

What Now?Te PC with Streetwise/KS: Te Mystic World

has two options.He can pretend to be alisman (or someone

working or her), and reply to Sarrazene via his

street contacts. Tis requires nothing more thana ew well-placed bribes or threats; roleplay thescene out i you like. Assuming the PC’s messagedoesn’t somehow tip Sarrazene off to the deception,the Morbane sets a time and place or the meet-ing. O course, this method does not reveal whatexactly alisman wanted to discuss with Sarrazene.I captured, all Sarrazene knows is the messagerom alisman described above. I the PCs revealwhat they know, Sarrazene might offer to share hisinsight into the situation in exchange or his ree-dom. (Tough he won’t admit to any illicit activi-ties. Afer all, the PCs can’t really arrest him. Hewas merely checking on his warehouse and there’s

Cannot Be Escaped With eleportation (+¼). Every-one inside the warehouse benefits rom 20 points oMental Deense, Only Versus Mind Scan (-1), OnlyProtects Against Exterior Mind Scans (-¼).

One o the crates conceals a secret entranceinto the warehouse. Te side o the crate swings up

and slides back on two tracks (similar to a garagedoor). You should decide which crate hides the trapdoor. o find the door, the PC only needs to exam-ine the correct crate and succeed with a Conceal-ment roll.

Inside the ake crate, a trap door is set in thewarehouse floor. Te trap door opens onto a verti-cal passage leading down to the sewers. Te trapdoor can be barred rom the “sewer side” and ismade o steel. It has 9 DEF, 5 BODY, and has thesame wards as the warehouse walls.

Sebastian Sarrazene and six DEMON Brothersarrive several minutes early, entering via the trapdoor. alisman (i coming to the meeting) arrivesseveral minutes late via the street entrance.

Spying On Te Meeting Te PCs learn the most by allowing alis-

man to arrange the meeting, and then spying onthe proceedings, beore breaking it up and carting

everyone off to jail.alisman wants a way to protect hersel i

Chantal and the Black Paladin turn against her. Shealso wants to know how she can send the shadeback to Hell, just in case. Sarrazene possesses abetter understanding o necromancy than she does,and she wants to ask his opinion.

alisman briefly explains the ritual she per-ormed, but doesn’t use any names. However, shedoes tell Sarrazene she summoned the shade o onelong dead and bound the shade to a dagger. Shealso says the shade possesses more power than anyghost has a right to.

Sarrazene states the witchcraf she perormed

SEBASTIANSARRAZENE

In addition to the Char-acter Sheet presented inChampions Universe ora typical Morbane, Sar-

razene has the ollowingPowers and Skills:

Control Undead: MindControl 10d6, ReducedEndurance (0 END; +½)(75 Active Points); OnlyUndead (-1), Incanta-tions (-¼). otal Cost:33 points.

Create Undead: Summon

4 200-point Undead, AnyUndead (+½), SlavishlyDevoted (+1), ReducedEndurance (½ END; +¼)(137 Active Points); Ges-tures (-¼), Incantations(-¼), Requires DeceasedBodies (-½). otal Cost:68 points.

Skills: KS: Necromancy

15-; KS: MillenniumCity Underworld 13-;Streetwise 13-

Notes: Sarrazene is amiddle-aged man, talland thin, with sallowskin and a pinched ace.He speaks quietly, almosttotally without emo-tion, and has no accent.His usually combs his

short black hair back,and ofen wears sun-glasses. He disdains therobes usually worn by

b l d





razene heads or the crate concealing the trap door.alisman heads or the nearest exit. I both areblocked, she uses Writhing Hellfire on the ceiling,then fights the PCs. Once she burns a hole throughthe ceiling, she attempts to escape through it.

(Page 142 o Champions Universe describes

a plot seed involving the Pentacles o Dispatch. Iyou are considering this or a uture adventure,Sarrazene could use the Pentacles to escape. Forexample: Sarrazene flees into the sewers, where he’shidden a Pentacle. Just as the PCs turn a corner, heactivates the Pentacle and disappears.)

Other Possibilities

Te text below describes some other possibleevents. I you want to use them, flesh them out andinsert them into Act wo at the appropriate point.But remember to limit the Black Paladin’s exposureto the PCs; having him escape too ofen rustratesthe players, but having him captured spoils ActTree.

BESIEGED BY DEMONS

Chantal summons a large group o demons,

and the Black Paladin orders them to assault thePCs’ base. He sends eight demon hounds and twolesser demons to conduct a rontal assault. Eachlesser demon commands our demon hounds.Te imps Post Hoc and Propter Hoc act as a “FifhColumn” inside the base.

Te primary objective o the attack is propertydestruction. I the team has a hangar containing vehicles, it’s the demons’ first target. Troughoutthe siege, Chantal maintains a Mind Link with the

demons, and inorms the Black Paladin o theirprogress via elepathy.

VILLAINOUS COLLABORAIONS

T PC i d h Bl k P l di ’

stakeout and wait or the Black Paladin to show up.Whether he appears at the hideout, or i the rumoris even true, is lef or you to decide.

Another possibility is that the PCs learn o theBlack Paladin’s supposed hideout and attack it. Buttheir source was mistaken, and the place is actually

the hideout o different mystical villain, such asDark Seraph, the Slug, or Zorran the Artificer. Te villain has come to Millennium City seeking eitherto discover what the Black Paladin is up to, or orreasons all his own (see the sidebar on page 38 orsome suggestions).

MANO A MANO

Depending on the success o the his spies, youcan choose to have the Black Paladin conront one

o the PCs when the hero is alone — even in hisSecret Identity. Te Black Paladin challenges the PCto a duel. Obviously, the Black Paladin, riding Dark-ling and armed with the Lance O UnvanquishedPain, is more than a match or most PCs, so becareul, since the encounter could result in the PC’sdeath. Te Black Paladin’s intention is to humiliatethe PC — he fights until he Knocks Out the PC,then retreats laughing malevolently. Or perhaps, ithe PC reuses the Black Paladin’s challenge, duringthe interplay between them the overconfident vil-lain gives away some inormation about his scheme.

CONCLUSION OF ACT TWOAt the conclusion o Act wo, go over the

questions asked at the beginning, and considerwhat the PCs have discovered.

Most importantly: do the PCs suspect that

Chantal’s dagger is the key to banishing her shadeto the Netherworld? I not, they may have great di-ficulty with the climactic fight at the end o ShadesO Black. In this case, try to find a way or the PCs

USING DEMON

As described in Mil-lennium City, DEMONhas laid low in the Cityo the Future since the

Champions destroyedthe local Demonhamein 2001. Since then, itsmain concern has beento establish a new hamein the area. It won’trisk exposing its pres-ence in the city. Tere-ore, you should nothave DEMON get tooinvolved in the events

o Shades O Black unless (a) it has alreadyounded a new hame,or (b) the destructiono the old hame hasn’toccurred yet (or at all)in your campaign.

44 ■ Unholy Rebirth Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus




45Shades of Black ■Chapter Three




In his mind, he hears Chantal’s laughter. She toorevels in the ate o Camelot. She whispers to him:“Soon, m’lord. Soon thy vision o us together will bemade flesh. Let the shades o our enemies weep and gnash their teeth and tear at their hair. Let theirknowledge o our continued existence torture them in

the aferlie.” Sharply, the Black Paladin lowers his hand. alis-

man unleashes a blast o hellfire at a nearby house. TeGryphon and Lady Crow descend on those seeking toescape the fire. Te Black Paladin puts spurs to Dark-ling, and his steed speeds toward Marjorie de Wol’shome, leaving a trail o sputtering flames behind.

Act Tree, once begun, moves quickly to theconclusion o Shades O Black. Unlike the previ-

ous acts, it involves no investigation; the events arestraightorward and linear, moving directly romone to the next. Te act opens with a desperate callor help rom Marjorie de Wol, and then battlewith the Black Paladin and his retainers in thenorthern suburbs o Millennium City. Te action

soon moves to the Delacroix Mansion, where thesuperheroes must explore the mansion’s secret pas-sages and hidden chambers while contending withthe ghosts who haunt the place. Te act concludeswith the discovery o the Black Paladin’s lair, a cryptdeep under the mansion, and a final conrontationwith the villain, where the lie o the perect vesselhangs in the balance. Ideally, to keep the tensionand drama high, the events o Act Tree occur overthe course o one, or at most two, game sessions.

With this attack, the Black Paladin meansto break the spirit o the PCs by killingMarjorie de Wol. More importantly, heintends to set the stage or the abduc-

tion o the perect vessel.Tis encounter should be quite diffi cult, and

whether the PCs can deeat the Black Paladin andhis cronies should be in doubt at the beginning othe battle. With that in mind, you should providethe Black Paladin with as many demonic allies asnecessary. Against all but the weakest PC groups,he should have at least our demon hounds present.o increase the diffi culty, add another our; to ur-ther increase it add two lesser demons But beore

Te Perfect VesselI the perect vessel is a PC, and the Black

Paladin has not already captured her, he must seizeher now. During the fight, the PCs must split upto rescue all the hostages, and this gives the BlackPaladin an opening. I the perect vessel is KnockedOut and alone (or even i she is on her own andovermatched by her opponent), the Black Paladinignores Marjorie de Wol and whoever attacks himto capture the vessel. Once he’s captured her, heflees, heading directly to the Delacroix Mansion toperorm the Ritual o Rebirth.

I the perect vessel is not a PC, the BlackPaladin should already have her in his possession

RUSEDE GUERRE

MARJORIE DE WOLF

And what about Marjo-rie de Wol? Te BlackPaladin, cold-bloodedand cruel, has used herto lure the PCs intoa trap. Marjorie hasbeen attending therapy,

and would have soonresumed a normal lie.Tis devastating attackprobably sets her ther-apy back significantly.




46 ■ Unholy Rebirth Hero System 5 Edition • HERO Plus

sounding on the verge o panic, comes on the line.I asked, the operator explains there’s serious trou-ble in Oak Park, and all units have been dispatchedto the location.

A Different CallI the PCs have alienated Marjorie de Wol,

or she has no means o getting ahold o them,she doesn’t call. Instead, the superheroes receivenews o the attack rom Detective Ray Marlowe,who suggests they move quickly to assist local lawenorcement.

Suburban HellAs the PCs near the scene, read the ollowing:

When you near Marjorie’s home, you see plumes

of smoke drifting into the night sky, and an orange

glow just over the horizon. Coming closer, you see

the tops of burning houses and hear the blare of

sirens. Judging from the smoldering squad cars

and injured officers littering the street, the policehave been on the scene for a while.

As you take in the destruction, Talisman, circling

above Marjorie’s home, causes the roof of a

neighbor’s house to explode in flames. A family

runs out the front door, and then smoldering

embers and burning wood crash down on the

fleeing residents — a husband, wife, and their

teen-age daughter. Sneering, Talisman swoopstoward the family, flames flickering from the fin-

gertips of her outstretched hand.

Across the street, a fire engine lays on its side, its

front end crumpled by a collision with a large oak

tree. The noise of its sirens has ceased, but the

lights still spin blue and red. In the churning light,

you can see the Gryphon standing over the bodies

of wounded firemen. One fireman stands with hisback against the oak tree. Armed with an axe, he

bravely defends an injured co-worker. The Gryphon

shrieks, spreads his wings, and tenses to spring.

Nearby is an ambulance. Around the emergency

vehicle, the injured lay moaning in pain and fear.

Several of the injured are paramedics, their bodies

gouged and scratched. Lady Crow crouches over

the last of the paramedics, who begs for his life.She draws back her clawed hand and prepares

to strike.

47



47

to hit (and likely kill) the paramedic. I she knowsthere’s no chance or the attack to hit the para-medic, she simply Dodges.

I Lady Crow has her Action beore any o thePCs, they deserve at least one chance to keep herrom murdering the paramedic. Have her pause tosavor her victim’s terror In game terms she Holds

phon kills the fireman. I a Mental Attack triggershis Berserk, he kills the fireman.

Once the Gryphon engages a PC, he keepsfighting that PC until he deeats the hero, orthe hero deeats him. I he wins, he moves on toanother hero.

alisman (DEX 20)I attacked, alisman turns away rom the

amily fleeing the burning house and concentrateson her attacker. I she can catch both her attackerand the fleeing innocents in the Explosion o herHellfire Gate, she does so.

Darkling (DEX 20)Darkling Holds his Action. When commanded

to by the Black Paladin, he closes the distancebetween them and Marjorie. You may want toreview the rules or mounted movement on pages241-42 o the HERO System 5th Edition. For asterplay, you may find it easier to simply think oDarkling as an extension o the Black Paladin (thedemon steed moves when the Black Paladin would,its movement replacing his own; riding has noeffect on his CV).

Chantal (DEX 17)

Chantal uses her Ward From Harm to protectthe Black Paladin. She is probably amiliar with thePCs’ abilities by now, so she allocates the points inthe Force Field to best counter likely attacks romthe PCs.

Demon Hounds (DEX 17)I attacked rom behind, all o the demon

hounds but one turn to ace their attacker. Te onedemon hound attacks the children (and will make

short work o them, basically killing one child aPhase).

I a PC interposes himsel between the chil-dren and the demon hounds, the inernal canines

TACTICS FOR THEBLACK PALADIN AND

DARKLING

Below are listed two tactics, used by the Black Paladinwhile mounted on Darkling.

1. Darkling Holds his Action until the Black Paladin’sPhase. On his Phase, the Black Paladin eleports 3”behind an opponent and Holds his Hal Phase Action.Tis riggers Darkling’s eleport (a Zero-Phase Action).Darkling perorms a Full Move, accelerating to his ullmovement o 15”. At the end o Darkling’s move, theBlack Paladin takes his Hal Phase Action with a MoveTrough, using the Lance O Unvanquished Pain. He

gains a bonus to his damage based on Darkling’s veloc-ity. Te entire sequence o Actions takes place on theBlack Paladin’s DEX o 24, since Darkling has LightningReflexes with a Full Move.

2. On the Segment beore the Black Paladin’s next Phase,Darkling rears up on his back legs, preparing a Hay-maker with his Flaming Hooves. Te Black Paladin, onhis Phase, makes a Hal Move eleport behind an oppo-nent. Tis riggers Darkling’s eleport (a Zero-PhaseAction) and does not interrupt Darkling’s preparationor the Haymaker. Te Black Paladin Holds his remain-

ing Hal Phase Action until Darkling’s Haymaker. TeyCoordinate Attacks, using eamwork to try to strike atthe same time. At your discretion, the first time they trythis they both gain a bonus to OCV or a Surprise Move,as per page 252 o HERO System Fifh Edition.

SAVING LIVES

When it comes to savingthe lives o innocents,give the PCs the ben-efit o the doubt. Afer

all, saving lives is whatheroes are or! Even ian action seems unlikely,or slightly beyond thescope o a Power orSkill, give the charac-ter some leeway. Forthese kinds o actions,the guidelines estab-lished or “AppropriateUnlikely Actions” on

page 35 o Champi-ons are a good rule othumb.

Tat being said, attack-ing a villain is not thesame as rescuing ahostage. I, rather thanremoving an innocentrom harm’s way, the PC

attempts to “remove theharm,” all rules applyand let the chips allwhere they may.

Depending on the toneand morality o thecampaign, you may wantto give the PCs sev-eral chances to rescuepeople; or choose to

reduce Experience Pointawards or hostageskilled due to the PCs’negligence.




48 Unholy Rebirth Hero System 5 Edition • HERO Plus

ENDING HE FIGH

I he slays Marjorie, the Black Paladin turnshis attention to either the leader o the PCs, or theperect vessel. He perorms a Move Trough withhis Lance, then uses Crusher O Hope in HHCombat, ordering Darkling to attack with hisFlaming Hooves. I possible, they use CoordinatedAttacks (see sidebar).

Once he dispatches the team leader, the BlackPaladin either attacks the perect vessel or departsto seize the NPC who is the perect vessel (i he hasnot done so already).

As long as he has a chance to capture the per-ect vessel, the Black Paladin remains in the fight.Otherwise, he slays Marjorie, the PC rescue her,

or the PCs’ attacks reduce him to hal his startingSUN, he leaves the battle (Darkling goes withhim). I the perect vessel is an NPC and he doesn’thave her yet, he goes immediately to seize her whilethe PCs fight his retainers.

Any other villain not engaged by a PC con-tinues to terrorize innocents or comes to the aido a ellow villain. Only alisman retreats i over-whelmed; the others stay to fight, only leaving i allthe PCs are Knocked Out, or at your discretion.

More VictimsDuring the battle, the residents o the nor-

mally quiet suburban community stay in theirhomes, praying or saety. I the PCs leave the vil-lains to their own devices, they begin to go insidethe homes, looking or more victims. More policeoffi cers eventually arrive on the scene, and they toobecome victims o the rampage. Finally, more fire-men and paramedics arrive on the scene. Tey can

only do their jobs i the PCs protect them. You canuse this tactic to give the Black Paladin an oppor-tunity to escape (as well as time to seize the perect vessel, i she is an NPC not yet in his possession).

N t H i li di d fi

Uh-ohI the PCs are over-matched, even afer the

Black Paladin departs, have alisman and LadyCrow leave. Any villains who depart the battlerendezvous later with the Black Paladin at the Dela-croix Mansion. Also, as police offi cers continue to

arrive on the scene during the fight, they can helpthe superheroes deeat the villains i necessary.

If Te Perfect Vessel Is An NPCI the perect vessel is an NPC, and the Black

Paladin leaves in mid-battle to abduct her, the PCsreceive a call afer the battle. Te call could comerom Det. Marlowe or many other people, depend-ing on who the perect vessel is and whether thePCs have Secret Identities.

Te call inorms the PCs that the Black Pala-din has just abducted another victim... and this victim is well known to them! Te true purposebehind the Black Paladin’s ruse de guerre shouldnow become crystal-clear to the superheroes.

O HE MANSION!

Te Black Paladin, even i he ails to seize theperect vessel or Chantal’s shade, retreats to theDelacroix Mansion. Te PCs should learn o his

destination immediately afer Ruse de Guerre, andthe action move quickly rom the northern suburbto the mansion.

Te PCs can learn about the Black Paladin’swhereabouts in several ways:

■ In Act wo, the PCs might have determined thatthe Delacroix Mansion is a nexus o evil power. Ithis is the case, they likely guess the Black Paladinhas gone there to complete the Ritual o Rebirth.

■ I the PCs capture alisman during Ruse deGuerre, she tells the PCs his whereabouts iquestioned, laughing maliciously all the while.

■ I the PCs capture and release Gryphon or

THE BLACK PALADINFAILS TO SEIZE THEPERFECT VESSEL

I the Black Paladinails to seize the perect

vessel beore or duringRuse de Guerre, he stillretreats to the DelacroixMansion. He has grownweary o eints andruses. His ailure haslef him consumed bya dark rage, a rage onlyincreased by Chantal’sof-repeated desire or abody. He swears to van-quish the do-gooderswho have thwarted him,once and or all.

Te next day the PCsreceive a message writ-ten on a small piece o vellum in florid script,delivered by a crow. Inthe message, the Black

Paladin demands thePCs meet him at theDelacroix Mansion.Each day they delay,he threatens to kill aninnocent at random.

Alternately, i you thinkyou can salvage thesituation by having theBlack Paladin wait andmake another attempt toseize the perect vessel,do so.





The mansion and grounds have greatlychanged since the PCs’ last visit to the place.Ecstatic at being so near her resurrection,Chantal’s shade has worked the spirits who

haunt the place into a renzy. Te evil o the man-sion maniests, becoming a palpable thing.

Te trees seem stunted and twisted. From theorest come strange noises never made by mortalbeast. Te mansion’s bricks are the color o driedblood, and the limestone is the stained yellow o oldbones. Lights — sometimes rom candles, some-times electric bulbs — flicker on in the mansion’swindows, shine briefly, and then go out. Beyond themansion, angry waters wrack Lake Erie’s shallowgray waters.

Inside the mansion, any damage done duringAct One has mysteriously been repaired. Ampleevidence o hauntings conronts the PCs — theyencounter ghosts at every turn. In addition to themaniestations provided with the descriptions oappropriate rooms (which, at this point in ShadesO Black, all the PCs can see), the ghosts “interact”with the PCs in three other ways.

Walls And WindowsGhosts are creatures o habit. Tey do not

appreciate superheroes busting through windowsor teleporting through walls — all who enter themansion must use the doors, as the ghosts them-selves did when they were alive.

A Hint Of Te Black Paladin’s LocationWhile the PCs move through the mansion,

they hear an indistinct murmuring, as i an invis-ible audience is whispering to each other behindraised hands. I the PCs pause to listen, or one othem has Enhanced Perception that applies to the

Hearing Group, the conversation becomes intel-ligible:

Read the text in your best spooky voice.“Down below” reers to the crypt where the BlackPaladin lurks. I Chantal is not reborn when thePCs arrive, change “is” to “will be”, and “has... hap-pened” to “will... happen” in the dialogue above.Ghosts throughout the mansion repeat the conver-

sation; the words never vary.

The Grounds

OTHER AMBUSHES

You can stage otherambushes o the PCs asthey explore the man-sion i you like. Lady

Crow knows o thesecret passages and canmake use o them whenattacking the group, orthe Black Paladin andChantal could senddemons to make a sneakattack.

I the PCs enter themansion rom someplace other than themain hall, the Gryphonand Lady Crow trackthem down and attack— even i it meansattacking the PCs oncethey’ve discovered thecrypt and are fightingthe Black Paladin.

OTHERMANIFESTATIONS

THE DELACROIX

MANSION

“One of us is reborn.”

“How can it be? Where? Where has this hap-

pened?”

“Deep down. Down below. She is reborn, to

haunt the world.”




y Hero System 5 Edition HERO Plus

Te LakeshoreMuch o the 80 acres lies along the shore o

Lake Erie. Te shore nearest the mansion is bor-dered by 3” high granite cliffs. Below the cliffs is anarrow strand, strewn with pebbles worn smoothby erosion. A wooden stairway in need o repairleads down rom the cliffs to the shore. Te wateris shallow, and at low tide, mossy boulders emergerom the lake.

o the south, concealed by some tumbledboulders, is a narrow cave. Te cave goes back twometers, then makes a sharp turn to the north, trav-eling or another meter beore ending A steel door

house. Te house originally servedas a residence or up to three live-inservants. Renovated in 1986, it nowhas a single bedroom and ample livingspace or one person. Evelyn Neumannresided here while employed as a nanny

and tutor by the Brownings. A secretpassage runs rom the basement to thestudy in the main house (Main House,First Floor, Room 4). Vincent Brown-ing used this passage or his nocturnal visits to Neumann.

Te house has two stories. Teground floor includes a living room,dining room, and kitchen. Upstairs isan offi ce, sitting room, bedroom, and

ull bath. An incinerator o corrodedblack metal — the same one used byEvelyn Neumann to dispose o bodies— squats in one corner o the unfin-ished basement.

Manifestation: Blood saturates thecarpets downstairs, and the PCs cansee blood slowly bubbling up romunder the baseboard. Pained moans

come rom upstairs. In the bedroom,the ghost o Evelyn Neumann paces

the room. Seemingly rom nowhere, a man’s voicespeaks. o the ghost, the voice describes gruesomemurder scenes in excruciating detail. As the voicespeaks, sometimes the flicker o a smile crossesNeumann’s ace; other times, she lets out a torturedmoan.

The MansionFor some floors, Shades O Black includes two

sets o maps. One map is or you, the other or thel T GM’ h th l ti t




Shades of Black Chapter Three

Enhanced or unusual Senses, like N-Ray Perceptionor Spatial Awareness, might also help a PC find thesecret doors.

MAIN HOUSE, FIRS FLOOR

Te first floor o the main house is mainly

devoted to living and recreational areas.1. Foyer

Te two outside doors, which serve as themain entrance or the mansion, lead into the oyer.Along the north wall are a table and two closets. Onthe south wall hangs an oil painting o the mansionas seen rom Lake Erie. Hidden behind the southwall is a small room reached by a ladder whichleads down to a passage. Te passage leads to the

study (Main House, First Floor, Room 4). Once apeephole looked out rom the room into the oyer,but it’s since been plastered over.

2. Main HallTe ceiling o the main hall is 4” high. Te

main hall extends over the oyer, and two longwindows look out to the west, providing good lightin the evening. A crystal chandelier hangs romthe ceiling. wo stairs, one against the north walland one against the south, lead up to a landing andthe second floor. Te landing is open and looksout onto the main hall. Te floor and stairs aremarble. Te banister, handrail, and other fixturesare cherry. Tree sets o double doors — one eachto the north, east, and south — lead rom the mainhall.

From the eastern set o doors, a short hallwayruns under the landing. In the north and southwalls o the hallway are panels. Each panel opens

by pivoting at its center, and is weighted to closeon its own. Te passage behind the northern panelleads to the butler’s room (Main House, FirstFloor, Room 8). Te passage behind the southern

l l d h ll hi h id h

3. Library Te library is open to the second floor, with

a 4” high ceiling. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelvesline the east, south, and west walls. Each wall hasa wheeled ladder that slides rom side to side ontracks, providing access to upper shelves. In the

north wall, two pocket doors slide back and leadinto the study. Above the doors, the second floorlibrary (Main House, Second Floor, Room 1) looksout onto this room.

Te Randolphs were not avid readers, andmany o the books on the shelves are rom previousoccupants o the Delacroix Mansion, mainly thecollections o Phoebe Moore-Browning and Vin-cent Browning. Te Randolphs were conscientiousenough to remove volumes o questionable content.

4. Study Te study is paneled in dark wood. Near the

west wall is a large mahogany desk where EliotRandolph kept track o his extensive finances. Onthe desk is a computer and phone. Against the westwall, behind the desk, is a mahogany file cabinetwith two drawers. Te drawers contain financialstatements and other documents pertaining to theRandolphs’ ortune. In the northeast corner is a

chair, divan, and table. In the south wall are pocketdoors which open into the first floor library. In thenorthwest corner, a spiral staircase leads up to thesecond floor library (Main House, Second Floor,Room 1). At the base o the stair, a concealed dooris set in the wall. Te door pivots to reveal a stair-case leading down (Basement, Room 3). Hiddenlatches at the top and bottom secure the door. Iexamined rom the outside, the turret containingthe stairway has two narrow windows which are

not visible rom the inside and reveal the existenceo the stair leading down.

Manifestation: Vincent Browning sits at the desk.




y Hero System 5 Edition HERO Plus

FIRST FLOOR, GM’S MAP

FIRST FLOOR, PLAYER’S MAP




p

against the wall between the two bay windows.Inside the cabinet is a television. Against the eastwall are two bureaus. On the bureaus’ shelves aremany ramed photographs o the Randolphs, theirriends, and amily. Te bureaus’ drawers containcorrespondence, mainly rom religious organiza-

tions and riends. Te Randolphs kept pottedplants in the window seats o the bay windows; byAct Tree, the plants have begun to wilt rom lacko care. wo pocket doors in the north wall lead tothe parlor (Main House, First Floor, Room 5).

7. Living RoomTe living room is done in modern décor. Te

floor is carpeted with an off-white, shortweavematerial. Te walls are paneled in maple. Against

the east wall is a large entertainment center withflat screen V, DVD player, and stereo; the roomhas surround sound. o either side o the enter-tainment center are long windows. In ront o theentertainment center is a sectional black leathercouch and a recliner. In the western hal o theroom is a glass coffee table set between two loveseats. Te Randolphs used this part o the roomor listening to music or just relaxing. A door inthe west wall leads out to the hallway.

8. Butler’s RoomFor most o the Delacroix Mansion’s history,

this room has served as quarters or the butler.Te Randolphs did not have a live-in servant, andhad not decided what to do with this window-less room. Te room has its own bathroom withtoilet and hal-bath. In the southwest corner o theroom, behind a narrow door, a stair leads downto the cellar. In the southeast corner, a wall panel

provides access to the servants’ passage whichruns under the second floor landing and into themain hall (Main House, First Floor, Room 2).

9 Drawing Room

couple’s trips abroad. Double doors in the southwall lead to the ballroom (South Wing).

Manifestation: Te nerve center o JebediahStowe’s plot, Project ree o Liberty, was locatedhere. It was also the location o the final show-

down between Stowe and the Scarlet Shield, sothe ghost o Stowe haunts the place. Te galleryis filled with strange ghostly machinery thatcrackles with electricity. I a PC with appropriateSkills examines the machinery, he knows it couldnot possibly unction. Stowe moves rom controlpanel to control panel, twisting dials and cacklinginsanely.

11. Morning RoomLinda Randolph was an avid gardener, so she

converted this room into a small conservatory.Te eastern section o the room, which extendsout onto the patio, is all glass and filled withplants. Near the center o the room are two chaiselounges. A small white table with two simplewooden chairs also occupies the room. A singledoor leads to the hallway. A door in the northleads outside to the patio.

12. Informal Dining Room

Tis room is where residents o the DelacroixMansion have their day to day meals. A rounddinner table and our chairs, all black with goldtrim, occupy the center o the room. A cabinetagainst the north wall holds china. One door leadsto the kitchen; the other to the hallway.

13. KitchenTe kitchen o the Delacroix Mansion, roomy

and wholly modern, has a gas stove, large rerig-

erator, and microwave. Tere is plenty o counterand storage space; and a long kitchen island fillsthe center o the room. In the south wall are twodoors. Te eastern door leads to a walk-in pantry




y

chandelier hangs rom the ceiling o the room.

MAIN HOUSE, SECOND FLOOR

Te 2nd floor o the main house is comprisedmainly o bedrooms or the amily.

1. Library Te southern part o this room ends in bal-

ustrade o mahogany, and looks out onto the firstfloor library. Short bookshelves line the other threewalls. Like the first floor library, the books here areholdovers rom occupants beore the Randolphs.Above the bookshelves are windows. In the middleo the room is a square wooden table with twochairs. Te turret stairway leads down to the study(Main House, First Floor, Room 4).

2. BedroomTis room has a double bed, dresser, and small

desk with a chair. Te door in the east wall leads toa hallway, and two windows are set in the west wall.Te room shares a ull bath with the bedroom nextdoor.

3. BedroomTis bedroom has a double bed, dresser, and

small sitting area with two chairs and a low table.

Te door in the east wall leads to a hallway, andthree windows are set in the west wall. Te roomshares a ull bath with the bedroom next door.

4. Balcony Te balcony looks out over the garden in back

o the house. Te sliding glass doors in the southlead to the sitting room (Main House, SecondFloor, Room 8). Te glass doors in the north lead toa hallway in the north wing (North Wing, Second

Floor). A round metal table with a sunshade andour chairs is near the western wall. wo loungersare set near the eastern balustrade.

5 Bedroom

table and chair. Te door in the south wall leadsto the hallway. A glass sliding door in the northleads onto the balcony (Main House, Second Floor,Room 4), and pocket doors in the south open intothe master bedroom (Main House, Second Floor,Room 9).

9. Master BedroomA king-size, canopied bed, set against the east

wall, dominates this room. o either side o the bedare night tables and floor-to-ceiling windows. Ineach corner o the room, against the west wall, isan armchair. Between the chairs is a console table.On the table is a vase filled with wilted flowers, aramed photograph o the Randolphs on their wed-ding day, and other photographs o their amily.

Pocket doors in the north wall lead to the sittingroom (Main House, Second Floor, Room 8). wodoors are set in the south wall. Te eastern doorleads to the lady’s dressing room (Main House,Second Floor, Room 11). Te western door leads tothe husband’s dressing room (Main House, SecondFloor, Room 10). Against the wall, between the twodoors is a wardrobe.

Manifestation: Te ghost o Alvin X. Williamson

haunts the master bedroom. Williamson standsin a corner, acing the bed. In one hand, he holdsa flash bulb. He’s bent over, with his head under ablack cloth and his eye to a camera on a tripod. Hemotions with his ree hand, making circles, wag-ging a finger, or gesturing to stop. At his bidding,the sheets and bedspread move and shif, thoughthe bed is seemingly unoccupied.

10. Husband’s Dressing RoomA long closet runs along the west wall. Against

the east wall is a counter, made o white marble,with a sink and mirror. Te sink has gold fixtures.A wall separates the room rom the toilet and claw-ooted bathtub In the closet behind a hidden panel




p

SECOND FLOOR, GM’S MAP

SECOND FLOOR, PLAYER’S MAP




was when Vincent Browning owned the mansion,although many o the more portable urnishingshave been removed. Te urniture in the wing isdraped with white clothes. During the Randolph’soccupancy, the north wing was cleaned by theirmaid service once a month, so the dust has been

kept to a minimum.Te first floor o the north wing is comprised

mainly o living quarters.

1. Front RoomTis room has a couch, two easy chairs, and

a coffee table. Against the east wall is an emptyentertainment center. wo windows are set inthe north wall; three are set in the west wall. Tedouble doors lead to a hallway and the main house.

2. Study Tis room was urnished so that a guest

would have a place to work. It has a large desk,located near the north wall. In ront o the deskare two leather couches, with a low coffee tablebetween them. Te floors are hardwood, and thewalls are paneled. A door in the south wall leads toa hallway.

3. Dining Room

Normally, guests residing in the north wingwould take their dinner with the amily in themain house; but the wing was still provided withits own kitchen and dining room. Tis room has arectangular dining table with six chairs. A door inthe north wall leads to the kitchen (North Wing,First Floor, Room 5).

4. Servant’s RoomI a guest had a servant who traveled with

him, this room served as the servant’s living quar-ters. It is currently unurnished. It has its ownsink, toilet, and hal-bath. Te door in the southwall leads to the kitchen (North Wing, First Floor,

NORH WING, SECOND FLOOR

Te second floor o the north wing is com-prised primarily o bedrooms.

1. BedroomTis room is currently empty except or a large

wardrobe set against the east wall. Tree windowsare set in the west wall; and two more in the northwall. Te door in the east leads to the hallway.

2. BedroomTis room has a double bed set against the

west wall. Tere is a wardrobe against the southwall, and a dresser against the east one. wo win-dows look out to the north.

3. Sitting Room

Tis room has a couch and two chairs setaround a coffee table. Hung over the couch is anoil painting done in a style reminiscent o ClaudeMonet. Pocket doors in the east lead to the bed-room (North Wing, Second Floor, Room 4). Treewindows look to the north.

4. BedroomTis is the largest bedroom in the north wing,

intended as a sort o “master bedroom” or long-

term guests. Tere are two windows set in the northwall, and three in the east. A queen-sized, our-poster bed is set against the south wall. A night-stand is set to either side o the bed. Also, there isa dressing table, two dressers, and wardrobe in the

RECOMMENDED READING

You may want to read up on the ollowing rules beorerunning the final fight. All page reerences are to HERO

System 5th Edition unless otherwise noted.

Inability o Sense An Opponent on page 283. Chantal,when a shade, is invisible to most Senses.

THE PERFECT VESSEL IS A PLAYER

CHARACTER

Players don’t usuallyappreciate sudden and

arbitrary changes totheir characters. I a PCis the perect vessel, andthe Black Paladin hassuccessully capturedthat character, you’reaced with a diffi cultsituation. Here are twosuggestions or handlingthe situation, and turn-ing it to your advantage:

1. While the rest othe team travels to theDelacroix Mansionand explores the place,allow the PC to resistChantal’s Mind Controland attempt to breakree o the Entanglecaused by the Ritual

o Rebirth (describedon page 22). Obviouslyallowing an attemptevery twelve seconds(one urn) o gametime isn’t workable, sofind a happy medium— maybe once everyfive or ten minutes oreal time, depending onhow quickly the rest o

the PCs move throughthe adventure. ry toroleplay at least someo the attempts. Reert M j i d W l’




room. Pocket doors in the west lead tothe sitting room (North Wing, SecondFloor, Room 3). A door in southwestleads to a bathroom with a toilet, claw-ooted tub, and two sinks. A slidingdoor separates the toilet and bathtub

rom the sinks.

SOUH WING

Te south wing o the DelacroixMansion is devoted to the ballroom.When originally constructed, the ball-room was simply a large open space. In1976, Phoebe Moore-Browning rede-signed to the ballroom to make it morelike a small club. A wall was erected

separating 30 eet o the eastern part othe room rom the ballroom proper. Inthe ballroom, a stage was built. Behindthe stage were installed dressing roomsor those perorming, as well as storageareas.

In the eastern section o the southwing, a bar was installed. Te bar isblack with a mahogany top. In thesoutheast corner o the bar, a wrought-

iron spiral stair leads up to the secondfloor balcony. From the balcony,extending out into the ballroom, aretwo walkways. Each walkway ends in abox. Te boxes provide seating whichlooks toward the stage.

Manifestation: Te ballroom is trans-ormed so that it appears as it did in1934 during Severson’s “Masque o the

Red Death” masquerade. Te room iscarpeted in sable. All o the windowsare fitted with panes o red stainedglass. An immense ebony clock hangs

NORTH WING, GM’S MAP

NORTH WING, PLAYER’S MAP




bowing abjectly to the gigantic snake,are those men and women whom themalign spirit has led to their demise.Among the ghosts are men in Amer-ind dress, a woman wearing a slip, andmany unidentifiable others.

Black-Scaled Serpent is not ademon — he is just a ghost who hashaunted the locale so long he has or-gotten his original orm. Due to his age,he is more aware o his environmentthan the other ghosts, and can interactwith the superheroes. Nothing he tellsthe PCs is particularly helpul, but hedoes hint there’s more to the “base-ment” level than just the cellar. I the

PCs attack Black-Scaled Serpent, hecauses all the doorways and exits romthe cellar to “disappear.” He then tauntsthe PCs, asking which o them will bethe first to east on human flesh whenthey begin to starve. Te “disappearing”exits are just Sight Group Images, -6 toPER Rolls.

2. Wine Cellar

Tis room has our wine racks. Teracks are empty or the most part. EliotRandolph intended to hire someoneto choose suitable vintages, but hadn’tgotten around to it. An open doorwayin the south wall leads to the cellar.

Manifestation: Tis room is filled withpartly eaten corpses. Or at least, theyseem to be corpses, until one stirs rest-

lessly and groans piteously.3. Secret Chamber

Tis room has three passages lead-ing rom it Te east passage leads to 3a

SOUTH WING, PLAYER’S MAP

SOUTH WING, GM’S MAP




HE CRYP

Te crypt was dug out almostthree hundred years ago by the Albi-gensians. It served as a burial placeor their dead, as well as a locationor perorming their unholy rites.

Te entrance was buried under theruins and ashes o the monks’ abbeyuntil 1903, when the mansion wasbeing built. Louis Delacroix had thesloped passage leading down to thecrypt extended to the reach the secretchamber under the study in the mainhouse. He then blocked off the pas-sage with a steel door. In the 1950s,Alvin Williamson extended thenetwork o secret tunnels under themansion. Disturbed by the presenceo the crypt, he had cement pouredover the steel door. Guided by Chan-tal, the Black Paladin broke throughthe cement and re-opened the crypt.

Te passage sloping down to thecrypt is 15” long and ends on a land-ing. From the landing a short flight

o stairs leads to the crypt proper.Te crypt is 8” below the mansion.Te ceiling o the crypt is 3” high.Te north and south walls are hon-eycombed with square niches. Inside

BASEMENT

CRYPT




the niches are skeletons. Tere are eight pews,our to the north and our to the south, acing thechancel in the east. An aisle runs between two setso decayed wooden pews. Tree steps lead betweenthe prayer rails up to the chancel. A doorway leadsrom the chancel to the sacristy. On the east the

monks inlaid a crude mosaic. Many tiles haveallen rom it, but the image o an antlered devilremains recognizable.

Manifestation: Te ghosts o the Albigensian monks,cowls pulled over their bowed heads, sit in the pews.Tey mumble a nonsensical chant in Latin. Onoccasion, a monk bursts into flames. o the living,the flames are chill to the touch. Te ghost screamsin pain, but remains seated, and his ellows take no

notice o his plight. Te monk continues to burnuntil he is reduced to ash. Several moments later, themonk reappears and resumes chanting. I a livingperson disturbs a monk, he bursts into flame, butdoes not trip a “ghostly deathtrap.”

THE FINAL FIGHTTis is the climax o Shades O Black, and

should be appropriately dramatic. Prior to begin-ning the fight, you must make one decision: is theRitual o Rebirth in progress when the PCs enterthe crypt and conront the Black Paladin? Or is theritual completed and Chantal reborn when the PCsarrive?

Te Ritual In ProgressI you chooses this route, or i this is the only

choice because the PCs are close on the heels o theBlack Paladin, the fight proceeds similar to that in

Act One, when the PCs rescued Marjorie de Wol(see page 21). During the fight, the Black Paladinand his allies attempt to keep the PCs rom inter-ering with the Ritual o Rebirth Te ritual takes

OVERVIEW OF HE FIGH

Te description o the battle assumes Chantalis reborn when the PCs arrive in the crypt below theDelacroix Mansion.

Te witch is reborn, and once again stands at herlover’s side. Te Black Paladin has achieved his desire,

and now the wicked lovers ready themselves to crushthe heroes who have sought to thwart them.

Te PCs’ goal during the fight is simply stated:capture Chantal, orce her to leave the perect vessel’sbody, and banish her spirit to the Netherworld. Butdoing so is another matter entirely!

Beore beginning the fight, you should lookclosely at how the dagger affects Chantal’s shade.Te dagger does a maximum o 12 BODY. Chantalhas 10 rPD and 10 BODY. Since Chantal is invisible,Find Weakness won’t help the PCs. So, at best, a PCrequires five Phases to banish Chantal’s shade to theNetherworld. I you eel this is too diffi cult, increasethe dice o the dagger’s HKA to shorten the time.

When the PCs arrive in the crypt, the villains areready or them. Read aloud the ollowing description:

The passage leads into a large chamber smell-

ing of dirt and musty decay. Braziers set in

each corner of the room illuminate the place

with a ruddy light. The chamber is crudely

constructed: the walls are built of sloppily

mortared stone, and the ceiling beams bow

downward from the weight of the earth above.

Narrow niches honeycomb the walls to the

north and south; inside each niche you see yel-

lowed bones. Two sets of four pews stand to

either side of a central aisle. Spectral figures

wearing robes fill the pews, their cowls pulled

over their bowed heads as they chant monoto-

nously in a foreign tongue.

Continued from page 56

not play Chantal to thebest o his ability, sincethe ate o his characterdepends on the shadereturning to the Neth-

erworld. Ultimately, youknow your players best,so decide accordingly.




HE VILLAINS’ ACICS

Te text includes a tactical brie or alis-man, which you should ignore i the PCs alreadycaptured her. It likewise assumes the Gryphonand Lady Crow have already been captured; i not,they’ll simply make vicious attacks against the best

targets available (preerably PCs who hurt them inprior fights).

As in other encounters, you must decide howmany demons are present or the final fight. Tisis the climatic battle, so it shouldn’t be easy! Youshould have at least our demon hounds and onelesser demon. o increase the diffi culty, double thenumber o demons. o reduce it, have only twodemon hounds present. o urther reduce the di-ficulty, don’t include Darkling among the villains.

Soliloquy In this fight, Chantal makes the soliloquy. I

the players haven’t figured out that she — and notthe Black Paladin — is the real threat, this shouldprovide a good clue.

alisman (DEX 20)alisman Holds her Action. I attacked, she

attacks in kind. But you should keep in mind al-isman’s motivation (as described in the Introduc-tion). What alisman wants is a tragedy — not theresurrection o a rival who exceeds her in mystical

might. She has no interest in seeing a witch as pow-erul as Chantal (and certainly more powerul thanshe!) return to the world o living. At the beginningo the fight, alisman is confident the PCs can over-come the Black Paladin and his lover. I the fightseems to go against the PCs, she offers to changesides in exchange or her reedom.

Chantal (DEX 17)Chantal hangs back. She uses her VPP to

deend hersel, and aids the Black Paladin withMental Illusions. I threatened by a PC, she attackshim. She currently holds the dagger.

Demon Hounds (DEX 17)Te demon hounds engage a brick or martial

artist. Tey use “pack tactics” against their oppo-nent: one demon hound Grabs a limb, seeking toimmobilize the opponent, while the others attack.Tey use Coordinated Attacks.

ENDING HE FIGHTe fight ends either when the PCs banish

Chantal’s shade to the Netherworld (or otherwise“neutralize” her), or Chantal flees. So long as theperect vessel remains, the Black Paladin does notflee. He is too close to his goal to turn back now; hefights until the bitter end.

Chantal And Te Perfect VesselBy choice, Chantal can cause her spirit to leave

the vessel. A successul KS: Arcane And Occult Loreroll tells the PCs this.

Chantal has an irrational, bordering on neu-rotic, ear o dying One way to get her to vacate

Still smiling, the woman spread her arms wide.

She says, “This body is beautiful, is it not?

Methinks it a fair improvement over its formerhomely appearance....”

Her smile fades. Her gaze is chilling in its

intensity. “This body is mine. I will not surren-

der it. I will not embrace Death again. I will not

return to the fiery furnace, to suffer torment

never-ending. No power in Heaven or Earth...

nor any power in the cursed pits of Hell... can

deny me this new life. And surely, if both thedivine and infernal are thwarted by my will, no

power of thine can accomplish the deed.”

ATTACKINGCHANTAL

I the players havelittle success attackingChantal with the dagger,you may want to sug-

gest this tactic to them:the PC with the bestOCV and most CSLsattacks the shade withthe dagger. Meanwhile,any PCs with magical ormental attacks, or AttackPowers with the Advan-tage Affects Desolidified, attack the shade. Whilethese attacks cannot

permanently harm theshade, they orce Chan-tal to devote a portiono her VPP to deendinghersel instead o attack-ing the dagger-wieldingPC all-out. Chantalhas a low CON — she’seasily Stunned — andattacking her like thisleaves her with twooptions: deend hersel;or be Stunned and at themercy o the hero withthe dagger.




Another method is to subdue Chantal, thenresearch the Ritual o Rebirth. At your discretion,the PCs can learn a way to reverse the effects. Ormaybe one o the PCs’ Contacts (such as a ris-megistus Council member they met in Act wo)knows o a spell to reverse the Ritual o Rebirth.

Once Chantal has vacated the body, the perect vessel’s spirit returns immediately to her rightulbody — although she has undergone a dramaticchange in appearance and still looks like Chantal.

Banishing Chantal’s ShadeTe dagger is the key to banishing Chantal’s

shade. I the PCs reduce the shade to 0 BODY bydamage done with the dagger, Chantal’s spirit returnsto the inernal regions. Any other BODY damage

done to her she can regenerate. While magical (orother) attacks might Knock her Out, or even badlyinjure her, she eventually recovers... and, more impor-tantly, her shade remains bound to the dagger.

I a PC attacks her with the dagger, Chantaldoes everything in her power to stop him. First, sheattempts to seduce the PC and convince him to allywith her; then she attacks him with her Vile BlackMagic.

Clever players might think o ways to attack

the shade without actually holding the dagger (suchas elekinesis). Tat’s fine, and you should rewardthem or coming up with a good plan. O course,such tactics work best i the Black Paladin and hisallies are already deeated. Te Black Paladin imme-diately attacks anyone threatening Chantal, even idoing so exposes him to danger.

Remember, no Power created by Chantal’s VPPeffects the dagger in any way. For example, WardFrom Harm does not stop damage done by the

dagger.Any damage done to the vessel’s body by the

dagger is immediately healed when the vessel’sspirit re-enters the body afer Chantal vacates it

On the first Phase o Chantal’s escape, youshould describe her attempting to teleport awayand being stopped by the ghosts. When the ForceWall stops her, the ghosts laugh malevolently, andthe PCs can hear their laughter.

Once outside the mansion, Chantal is ree o

the ghosts’ power. She disappears rom sight, andhas likely escaped the PCs.

CONCLUSIONOF ACT THREE

Assuming the best, the PCs banish Chantal’sshade to the Netherworld to suffer again at thehands o demons. Te Black Paladin, or the secondtime in his immortal existence, is bereaved, hislover taken rom him by heroes. And not only havethe PCs prevented a great evil rom re-entering theworld, they have also bravely rescued the perect vessel rom a dire ate.

Just because Shades O Black has ended doesn’tmean the adventure has to end here. I nothingelse, the Black Paladin won’t go quietly into custody— in his black heart burns a lust or vengeance. Te

PCs have earned his undying hatred, and the BlackPaladin is not a oe to take lightly. Surely he willreturn in uture game sessions and attempt to con-summate his desire or revenge.

Te Conclusion discusses other possible sce-narios stemming rom the events o the adventure.

“This is Miranda Chen, reporting live for

WRJK from the Delacroix Mansion south of

Millennium City.

“A series of bizarre murders which has baffled

MCPD homicide detectives for over a month

came to a dramatic end tonight A battle begun

63Shades of Black



Listed below are some plot seeds or scenariosstemming rom the events o Shades O Black.

HE DAGGER

So long as Chantal’s shade remains bound tothe dagger, it is effectively indestructible; but once

her shade returns to the Netherworld, the dagger isa mundane weapon with DEF 3, BODY 3.

At the end o Shades O Black, an importantquestion about the dagger remains unanswered:how did it gain the power to summon Chantal’sshade and perorm the Ritual o Rebirth? Was itChantal hersel who imbued the blade with itspowers, by working her magic through alisman?Or was it a third party who granted the dagger itspowers or his (or her or its) own reasons? And i it

was a third party, toward what goal would an individual cause Chantal’s rebirth? Without a doubt, theindividual’s intentions are not benign.

Plot Seeds

1. Te Demon Prince o Guile is responsible or thepowers o the dagger. He wished Chantal rebornso the witch could act as his pawn in the MaterialWorld. With her power to summon demons, the

Demon Prince would have soon had an army othe inernal present on Earth. And just because heailed once doesn’t mean he won’t try again!

2 Sebastian Sarrazene and DEMON hear the ull

Additionally, what precisely was the connec-tion between the perect vessel and Chantal? Wasit genetic — is the perect vessel a descendant othe witch? Or was it spiritual, and i so, what doesthis imply about the perect vessel’s soul? Could shehave a previously unknown dark side? Could she

have hidden reserves o untapped magical talent?Maybe — or whatever ominous reason — the per-ect vessel preers her new appearance. Whateverthe case, her experiences probably have a dramaticimpact on her relationship with the PCs, and mighthave ar-reaching consequences or the campaign.

Plot Seeds

1. Te perect vessel begins to have nightmaresabout Chantal being tormented in Hell. Is it just aguilty conscience, or does some mystical connec-tion still exist between the two women?

2. Te perect vessel discovers that, afer the eventso Shades O Black, she can perorm minor magics.(Give her a 20-point VPP.) Have her experiencesawakened her mystical potential... or does a shardo Chantal’s soul lay dormant inside her?

3. Te perect vessel begins to have dreams about

different lives throughout history. Soon thesedreams occur not only when she sleeps, but alsowhen she is awake. In many o these lives, the per-ect vessel is not a very nice person. Has the Ritual

IN THE CHAMPIONSUNIVERSE...

In the Champions Uni- verse, Witchcraf is theperect vessel. Black

Paladin captures her inthe conrontation at thebeginning o Act Treeand spirits her away tothe mansion. Tanks toher mystical powers andstrong will, Witchcrafholds off Chantal untilthe rest o the Champi-ons make it to the crypt,but then succumbs, and

Chantal is reborn. In thefinal battle, Nighthawkwrests the dagger awayrom Chantal and stabsher to death with it, thusbanishing her spirit andallowing Witchcraf’sspirit to return to herbody. Te deeated BlackPaladin and alismanget sent to Stronghold,and Witchcraf uses herown spells to restoreher body to its normalappearance.

CONCLUSION




2. alisman rees Lady Crow and the Gryphonrom captivity beore anyone “cures” them. TeMistress o Hellfire knows enough about the ritualto make the two completely loyal to her, and withher new servants she begins a crime wave through-out Millennium City.

3. A distant relative comes orward, claiming theRandolph estate is now his. Unless the PCs canreverse the effects o the transormation soon, thelaw firm handling the estate cannot hold it in trustor Eliot and Linda any longer. Te distant relativeis nothing more than a ne’er-do-well and spend-thrif — certainly not deserving o the Randolphestate. And, more disturbing, the PCs hear rumors

he has ties to ARGEN (or some other villainousorganization).

CHANAL REBORN

I a reborn Chantal escapes rom the DelacroixMansion, the PCs can consider themselves Hunted.

Tey know ar too much about her to be allowedto live. Te GM should reer to her character sheeton page 70 or urther ideas about what she may doin the modern world, and how she acts as a Hunter.Additionally, Chantal reborn means a PC or NPCno longer has a body — can the superheroes livewith their ailure? And i not, what are they goingto do about it? Will they become not just theHunted, but also the Hunters?

Plot Seeds

1. Reports come in rom France:Brittany has somehow returnedto medieval times. Witnesses say amysterious woman with black hairand yellow eyes rules the prov-ince. Furthermore, she resides in acastle located in the Forêt du Che-valier Noir. Anyone who enters theprovince is affected by the magic

and turned into a medieval equiv-alent o himsel. How has Chantalgained the power to perorm suchmighty sorcery?

2. A male PC’s best riend has anew girlriend, and he’s alreadytalking about marriage. Te girl-riend is nice enough, but the PCreally wishes she’d stop flirting

with him. She is gorgeous, butnothing good can come o it... butshe sure is gorgeous... her accentis cute too and she sure is gor-

65Shades of Black



who belongs to the evil sorcerous cabal? Can theyafford not to, and pass up this opportunity to cap-ture Chantal?

Here are the new villains you need or ShadesO Black, as well as a ew other GM aids to makerunning the scenario easier.

CHANALTe Witch As A Shade

Val Char Cost Roll Notes

8 SR -2 11- Lif 75 kg; 1½d6 [1] 17 DEX 21 12- OCV: 6/DCV: 6 10 CON 0 11- 10 BODY 0 11- 20 IN 10 13- PER Roll 13- 27 EGO 34 14- ECV: 9

25 PRE 15 14- PRE Attack: 5d6 6 COM -2 10-

5 PD 3 otal: 15 PD (10 rPD) 5 ED 3 otal: 15 ED (10 rED) 4 SPD 13 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 6 REC 4 40 END 10 30 SUN 11 otal Characteristic Cost: 120

Movement: Running: 0”/0”

Leaping: 0”/0”Cost Powers END

60 Ghostly Incorporeality: Desolidification( ff t d b i d ) R d d

17m 3) Deceive Ty Soul: Mental Illusions12d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½),Affects Physical World (+2); Only VersusPossessor O Te Dagger (-1½) 0

146 Boon O Te Inernal: Multipower,437-point reserve; Gestures (-¼), Incanta-

tions (-¼), Extra ime (1 Hour; -1½)9u 1) Invoke Te Demonic Hunt: Summon

8 250-point Demons, Slavishly Devoted(+1), Any Demon (+¼), Affects PhysicalWorld (+2); Gestures (-¼), Incantations(-¼), Extra ime (1 Hour; -1½) 28

15u 2) Call For Inernal Aid: Summon 2600-point Demons, Friendly (+¼), AnyDemon (+¼), Affects Physical World (+2);Gestures (-¼), Incantations (-¼), Extra

ime (1 Hour; -1½) 4480 Banish Te Inernal: Dispel Summon

16d6, Cumulative (+½), IncreasedCumulative Points (192 points; +¼),Affects Physical World (+2); Only Sum-moned Demons (-½), Requires A MagicSkill Roll (-½), Incantations (-¼) 18

20 Hidden Reserves O Magical Might: Endurance Reserve (120 END, 12 REC;applies to Vile Black Magic, Boon O TeInernal, and Banish Te Inernal);Personal REC (-½) 0

30 Ward Te Body: Force Field(10 PD/10 ED/10 P D ) 3

VILLAINS

66 ■ Villains Hero System 5th Edition • HERO Plus



3 Concealment 13-3 Conversation 14-

5 Cryptography 15-; ranslation Only (-½)3 High Society 14-3 Interrogation 14-3 AK: France 13-

o Inernal Regions (Uncommon, otal)25 Psychological Limitation: Hunger For

Rebirth (Very Common, otal)15 Psychological Limitation: Vain (Common,

Strong)771 Experience Points

otal Disadvantage Points: 1,105

EXAMPLE POWERS FOR VILE BLACKMAGIC VPP

Here are a ew uses or Chantal’s VariablePower Pool.

Ward From Harm: Chantal ofen begins combatwith her VPP assigned to this power. Once she’sconfident none o the PCs can effectively attack her,

she re-allocates the points.

Force Field (+24 PD/+24 ED/+12 PowerDeense), Hardened (+¼), Reduced Endurance(½ END; +¼). otal cost: 90 points.

She uses one o the ollowing variations toprotect the Black Paladin rom harm. Te ForceField normally provides Sight Group Flash Deense.However, Chantal can change it to whatever SenseGroup she wishes.

Force Field (12 PD/12 ED), Usable By Others(+¼), Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½), Affects Physical World (+2). otal cost: 90 points.

Force Field (8 Flash Deense/8 Mental Deense/ 8 Power Deense), Usable By Others (+¼),Reduced Endurance (0, +½), Affects PhysicalWorld (+2). otal cost: 90 points.

The Burning Glyph of Anguish: I someone comesinto possession o the dagger without Chantal’sapproval, but she wants to hide her presence romhim she uses this spell A stomach twisting sigil

67Shades of Black



revitalizes him, wiping away pain and exhaustion.Chantal uses one o two variations:

Simplified Healing 3d6, Affects Physical World(+2). otal cost: 90 points.

Healing 2d6, SUN and END simultaneously

(+½), Affects Physical World (+2). otal cost:70 points.

Find The Arcane Pathways: Chantal uses one o two versions o this spell to strengthen the enchant-ments on the Black Paladin’s Armor o ArcanePathways. Te first increases his NoncombatMovement multiplier with eleport; the second hisCombat Movement.

Aid eleportation 2d6, Apply Adders (+1),

Affects Physical World (+2); Others Only (-½).otal cost: 53 points.

eleport +13”, Usable By Others (+¼), AffectsPhysical World (+2). otal cost: 84 points.

Wither Thy Heart: In the climax o Shades O Black, when the PCs seek to send Chantal back to Hell,the GM can choose to have Chantal attack a pos-sessor o the dagger with this Power, instead o Te

Discourse O Souls. (Caveat: Chantal is not likelyto miss her target with this power, and it’s deadly ithe target lacks Power Deense.)

Drain BODY 2d6, Delayed Return Rate (pointsreturn at the rate o 5 per Minute; +¼), AffectsPhysical World (+2). otal cost: 65 points.

Background/History: Is there room or love in anevil heart? Once, or the witch known as Chantal,there was. But that was long ago, beore she plunged

a dagger into her breast to take her own lie anddiscovered there was no reuge rom sorrow indeath.

Chantal lived in France during the Arthurian

just her beauty. She was taught the black arts owitchcraf and proved to be an apt student, soonsurpassing her teacher in skill i not knowledge.And when her knowledge, too, was greater, Henri-ette became the first victim o the evil tool she hadworked so hard to craf.

Chantal lef her murdered aunt’s secludedhome and ventured into the world to walk amongknights and honorable lords. She lied about herheritage, claiming to be the daughter o a nobleamily in a ar-off land, and none doubted her— or such a beauty could only be o gentle birth.

She was received in the courts o nobles andthe homes o landed gentry, and with her camestrie. Her aunt had taught her well. Because oher beauty and wiles, men were overwhelmed by a

desire to possess her. Tey came to blows to be nearher, and their jealous rages drove them to murder.Even those ew who clung to their codes o chiv-alry and honor despite their desire were driven tobloodshed by Chantal’s witchcraf. Chantal lookedon the murderous lust o men with evil delight. Shereveled in bringing out the worst in other people. Inher heart was only cruelty and wickedness... but intime love came to reside there as well.

Te man she loved matched her in evil: SirGiles de Morphant, the Black Paladin. He won herheart as no other could, or he was a kindred soul— he had a black heart to match her own. Te twoconsummated their love with acts o malice andblasphemy. Tey were a terror to the just and righ-teous; and sinking ever deeper into depravity, theyound a perverse sort o happiness. But there couldbe no happy ending or two such lovers — Heavenwould never allow such a thing.

In battle, Sir Giles met Lancelot, greatest oKing Arthur’s knights, and was vanquished. Despiteher sorcerous might, Chantal could not heal herlover — his wounds were too terrible. She could




she could bridge the guls o outer darkness, andsend her soul into the world o flesh. Tere, shecame to her lover — the man she had saved romthis torment — and spoke to him in his dreams.She demanded her rescue, and impossibly, he suc-ceeded, bringing her soul out o the Netherworld.

Still, her rebirth was only partly complete. Shehad escaped Hell, but only as a shade. She could butflit about the edges o the world, insubstantial andinvisible, bound to the dagger which took her lie,its blade still stained with her blood.

What she has now is not lie, but the hal-lieo a shade. o be ree, she must have a body. Shemust have a vessel or her soul — one not alreadytainted by corruption, one which she can makeas beautiul as she was long ago, or her pride can

accept no less. She must be reborn.

Personality/Motivation: Once, though Chantal wasevil through and through, there was room enoughin her black heart or love. Admittedly, her lovemade itsel known in proane acts and blasphe-mous deeds, but it was love nonetheless. Now, thereis nothing o love in Chantal’s heart, and her loveris only a pawn in her quest or rebirth.

She believes that because o love, she commit-

ted suicide, and because o love, she ell into theNetherworld to suffer. Perhaps not a rational belie,but Chantal is no longer sane, let alone rational.While in Hell, whatever remained o her humanity(albeit twisted and perverse) was burned rom hersoul, and she emerged entirely consumed by evil.

She hungers or rebirth, and that hungereclipses all else. Te entirety o her being, all hercunning and power, is bent to this goal. Her vanityand ear only increase her hunger. As a shade,

her eatures are ormless and invisible. o one asbeautiul in lie as Chantal, being unseen is unbear-able. Coupled with her vanity is a soul-deep dreado suffering again in the fiery pits She has been

with all her might. Note that her Vile Black Magic,Boon O Te Inernal, and Banish Te Inernal alldraw END rom an Endurance Reserve.

I pressed (especially i a hero attacks her withthe dagger), she first seeks to seduce her enemythrough more mundane means, via Persuasion

and Seduction. Using Images, she reveals howshe looked when alive, and shows him scenes othe torment she suffered in the Netherworld. Shepromises to be his aithul lover i he helps her finda vessel or her spirit. O course, once reborn, sheintends to turn on the hapless soul.

Chantal cannot affect the dagger with her VPP.For instance, her Ward From Harm does not prevent damage rom the dagger; she cannot move thedagger using elekinesis; she cannot Heal damage

done by the dagger, and so on. In addition, no onecan separate her rom the dagger — no matter howast or ar it dagger moves, she travels with it.

Campaign Use: For most o Shades O Black, Chantalserves as an enabling device. She increases the powero the Black Paladin so he can engage more than onePC at a time in battle, and she provides him withminions in the orms o demons. Use her powers judiciously. For instance, i the Black Paladin doesn’t

need demonic minions in an encounter to match thePCs’ power levels, don’t give them to him.

o increase Chantal’s effectiveness, purchaseWard Te Body with Reduced Endurance (0 END;+½) and give her Physical Damage Reduction,Resistant, 25% or 50%, SUN Only, to preventher rom being Stunned or Knocked Out. (Don’tincrease her Resistant PD, since the dagger does amaximum o 12 BODY — i her Resistant PD is 12or greater, the PCs can’t hurt her with the dagger!)

I her powers are too much or the PCs to over-come, reduce her EGO to 21 or even 18 (thus low-ering her ECV), and get rid o her levels with TeDiscourse O Souls Also reduce her DEX to 15 or

69Shades of Black



CHANALTe Witch Reborn


8 SR -2 11- Lif 75 kg; 1½d6 [1] 17 DEX 21 12- OCV: 6/DCV: 6 10 CON 0 11-

10 BODY 0 11- 20 IN 10 13- PER Roll 13- 27 EGO 34 14- ECV: 9 30 PRE 20 15- PRE Attack: 5d6 28 COM 9 15-

5 PD 3 otal: 25 PD (20 rPD) 5 ED 3 otal: 25 ED (20 rED) 4 SPD 13 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 6 REC 4

40 END 10 30 SUN 11 otal Characteristic Cost: 136

Movement: Running: 6”/12”

Cost Powers END

162 Vile Black Magic: Variable Power Pool,90 base + 45 control cost, Can BeChanged As A Zero-Phase Action (+1);Only Magic (-¼) var

105 Te Discourse O Souls: Multipower,

105-point reserve21m 1) Bind Ty Soul: Mind Control 12d6,

elepathic (+¼), Reduced Endurance(0 END; +½) 0

18m 2) Know Ty Soul: elepathy 12d6,Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) 0

18m 3) Deceive Ty Soul: Mental Illusions12d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) 0

76 Boon O the Inernal: Multipower,190-point reserve; Gestures (-¼), Incanta-

tions (-¼), Extra ime (5 Minutes; -1)6u 1) Invoke Te Demonic Hunt: Summon

8 250-point Demons, Slavishly Devoted(+1) Any Demon (+¼); Gestures (-¼)

75 Ward Te Body: Force Field(20 PD/20 ED/10 Power Deense),Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½) 0

20 Ward Te Mind: Mental Deense(25 points total) 0

42 Eye O Souls: Detect Souls 18- (no Sense

Group), Discriminatory, Analyze, Ranged,Sense, argeting 0

15 Magesense: Detect Magic 16-(Sight Group), Range, Sense 0

Skills

9 +3 with Te Discourse O Souls Multipower

25 Magic Skill 24-3 Concealment 13-3 Conversation 15-

5 Cryptography 15-; ranslation Only (-½)3 High Society 15-3 Interrogation 15-3 AK: France 13-5 AK: Inernal Regions 15-3 KS: Arcane And Occult Lore 13-7 KS: Demonology 17-5 KS: Necromancy 15-7 KS: Witchcraf 17-2 Language: English (fluent conversation; Old

French is native)3 Language: French (completely fluent)3 Language: Latin (completely fluent)3 Persuasion 15-7 Seduction 17-

otal Powers & Skill Cost: 728otal Cost: 864

200+ Disadvantages

10 Distinctive Features: Mystic Aura (Not Con-cealable; Always Noticed; Detectable OnlyWith Unusual Senses)

15 Distinctive Features: Unearthly Beauty(C l bl C M j R i )




An Impish Masque: Chantal sometimes transormsa particularly meddlesome opponent into an imp.

Major ransorm 5d6 (human into imp; healsback normally) (75 Active Points); Limitedarget (humans; -½). otal cost: 50 points

Aura Of Demonic Fire: Greenish flames limn Chan-tal. Te flames eed off energy, using it to increasetheir protection, and allowing Chantal to hurl themat her attacker. Chantal uses Aura O Demonic Firei she’s attacked by multiple energy projectors butdoesn’t think she’s in immediate danger. (She uses asimilar spell or Bricks by changing her Absorptionto physical and the Force Field to 12 PD.)

Absorption 4d6 (energy, ¾ to EB, ¼ to Force

Field), Can Absorb Maximum O 80 Points’Worth O Energy. otal cost: 48 points.

Energy Blast 2d6, Armor Piercing (+½). otalcost: 15 points.

Force Field (12 ED), Reduced Endurance (0END, +½). otal cost: 18 points.

Vitality Leech: Rather than merely Heal hersel,Chantal uses this spell, i she has the opportunity.

ranser 2d6 (target’s SUN to her SUN),Delayed Return Rate (points ade at the rateo 5 per Minute; +¼), Area O Effect (OneHex Accurate; +½), Ranged (+½). otal cost:67 points.

The Burning Glyph of Anguish: A Power similarto the one she uses as a shade, with the InvisiblePower Effect removed. Tis is her avored attackspell.

Ego Attack 6d6, Reduced Endurance Cost (0END; +½). otal cost: 90 points.

Walk The Arcane Pathways: Chantal uses this

71Shades of Black



tence so dear. But soon her ambitions grow moregrandiose.

Her powers are much greater than when shelast walked the world o man, and as she comes toully understand this, she realizes she can accom-plish greater evils. Her power only increases her

already considerable pride and conceit. It won’t belong until she establishes hersel as a master manip-ulator, lurking in the shadows and dominating menwith either her beauty or magic.

She was a thrall in Hell; in the world o men,she will be the master. And as a master o men,Chantal will be little different than the demon lordsand princes she once served as a thrall.

Quote: “Ahh... the flesh holds such delights. So long

it has been, I had orgotten.”Powers/Tactics: Chantal is not a combatant.Tough her powers are considerably greater thanwhen she last lived, due to her time in the Nether-world, fighting — especially the kind that goes onbetween superheroes and supervillains — is not inher nature. She was raised in a time when a woman,i she had any influence at all, worked behind thescenes, manipulating men with cunning or aidingthem however she could. Reborn, she alls back intoher old patterns, and avoids physical conronta-tion whenever possible. o fight her enemies, shestrengthens the Black Paladin with her magic, orcalls up demons rom the Netherworld to fight orher. (She rarely attempts to Entreat A Captain OHell, due to the diffi culty o controlling such a pow-erul demon.)

O course, with her powers, Chantal is morethan a match or the average superhero, and even a

group should take care when seeking to subdue her.I cornered and alone, she begins battle with herVPP configuration, Inernal Aid . Her next Phase,she uses Mind Control on the most “brutish” PC

course, the Black Paladin is proud and no one’s servant. He desired the return o the woman who washis lover and stood aithully by his side long ago— not the imperious and domineering woman whois Chantal reborn. He won’t appreciate her behav-ior; eventually the two are likely to part ways. And

it won’t be a amicable parting.As a Hunter, Chantal is deadly and driven.

First, she learns all she can about the Hunted. Shesets imps and other demonic creatures to spy onhim, and uses elepathy on his acquaintances, seek-ing to understand his desires and motivations. Tenshe starts taking away everything the Hunted holdsdear and destroying everything important to him.She seduces and corrupts everyone o even passingimportance to him. Tose she ails to corrupt she

attempts to turn against him through deception,using Mental Illusions or her Vile Black Magic.In the end, i she succeeds, she leaves her victimwith nothing and no one — and then Chantaltruly begins to take her vengeance by breaking hissoul. Her ultimate aim is to turn the Hunted intoher servant; but i necessary, reducing the Huntedto the empty shell o a human being satisfies herdesire or revenge.

o increase her combat effectiveness, raise her

SPD to 5 and SUN to 40. Furthermore, give her anElemental Control, Lesser Witcheries, that includesWard Te Body, as well as Flight 25”, ReducedEndurance (0 END; +½) and Energy Blast 10d6,Armor Piercing (+½). Finally, add to Te DiscourseO Souls Multipower, orment Ty Soul: Ego Attack7d6, Reduced Endurance (0 END; +½). Tese addi-tions not only make her more like a traditionalsupermage, but also ree up VPP points or otherPowers.

o decrease her effectiveness, reduce the basepoints o her VPP to 70 (or even 60). Addition-ally, reduce the slots in her Te Discourse O Souls




DARKLINGTe Black Paladin’s Demon Steed


30 SR 20 15- Lif 1,600 kg; 6d6 [3] 20 DEX 30 13- OCV: 7/DCV: 7 22 CON 24 13-

18 BODY 16 13- 10 IN 0 11- PER Roll 11- 10 EGO 0 11- ECV: 3 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 10 COM 0 11-

12 PD 6 otal: 22 PD (14 rPD) 12 ED 8 otal: 22 ED (14 rED) 4 SPD 10 Phases: 3, 6, 9, 12 12 REC 4

48 END 2 48 SUN 4 otal Characteristics Cost: 134

Movement: Running: 15”/30” Leaping: 8”/16” Flight: 15”/30” eleport: 15”/60”

Cost Powers END

20 Flaming Hooves: HA +6d6;Hand-o-Hand Attack (-½) 3

12 Bite: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with SR); ReducedPenetration (-¼) 1

22 Fiery Snort: RKA 1d6, Penetrating (+½) 24 ough Skin: Damage Resistance

(4 PD/4 ED) 015 Barding O Te Arcane Pathways: Armor

(10 PD/10 ED); OIF (-½), Activation Roll14- (-½) 0

30 Inernal Shield: Physical and EnergyDamage Reduction, Resistant, 25% 0

5 Inernal Form: Lie Support (Longevity:Immortality) 0

12 Heavy: Knockback Resistance -6” 030 Inernal Horseshoes: Flight 15” Reduced

Skills

15 +3 Hand-o-Hand

3 Riding 15-; Complementary o Rider’sSkill Only (-1)

3 eamwork 13-

otal Powers & Skills Cost: 231otal Cost: 365

200+ Disadvantages

5 Physical Limitation: Large (4m; -2 DCV,+2 to PER Rolls to perceive) (Inrequently,Slightly Impairing)

15 Physical Limitation: Very Limited Manipula-tion (Frequently, Greatly Impairing)

25 Psychological Limitation: Loyal to BlackPaladin (Very Common, otal)

25 Psychological Limitation: Utterly Evil (VeryCommon, otal)

25 Susceptibility : to holy places and objects,takes 2d6 damage per Phase demon is onholy ground, in a holy place, or within 1” o aholy object (Common)

70 Experience Points

otal Disadvantage Points: 365

Powers/Tactics: Darkling uses his LightningReflexes to charge (perorm a Move Trough) onthe same DEX as the Black Paladin. Since Darklinghas Mind Link, his rider does not need a successulroll with the Riding Skill to direct his movements— Darkling moves however and wherever theBlack Paladin wishes him to.

Darkling’s Barding O Te Arcane Pathways is“attuned” to the Black Paladin’s armor. Its elepor-tation power only activates when the Black Paladin

uses his own eleportation, and unless Darkling isunconscious or otherwise incapacitated, you shouldconsider the rigger to always be set. Darkling andthe Black Paladin re-appear simultaneously at the

73Shades of Black 73 ■ Conclusions



HE GRYPHON


50 SR 40 19- Lif 25 tons; 10d6 [5] 23 DEX 39 14- OCV: 8/DCV: 8 30 CON 40 15- 18 BODY 16 13-

6 IN -4 10- PER Roll 10- 8 EGO -4 11- ECV: 3 20 PRE 10 13- PRE Attack: 4d6 6 COM -2 10-

25 PD 15 otal: 25 PD (20 rPD) 21 ED 15 otal: 21 ED (20 rED) 5 SPD 17 Phases: 3, 5, 8, 10, 12 20 REC 8 70 END 5

60 SUN 2 otal Characteristics Cost: 197Movement: Running: 6”/12” Leaping: 10”/20” Flight: 20”/40” Gliding: 12”/24”

Cost Powers END

25 Eagle’s Beak: HKA 1½d6 (3d6+1with SR) 2

12 Eagle’s alons: HKA 1d6 (2d6 with SR);

Reduced Penetration (-¼) 137 Wind Blast: Energy Blast 8d6, Area OEffect (8” Cone; +1), Double Knockback(+¾); Does No SUN/BODY, Just Knock-back (-¾), Restrainable (-½), No Range(-½), Reduced By Range (-¼) 11

20 ough Skin: Damage Resistance(20 PD/20 ED) 0

33 Wings: Multipower, 50-point reserve,all slots Restrainable (-½)

3u 1) Flying: Flight 20”, Reduced Endurance(½ END; +¼); Restrainable (-½) 2

1u 2) Riding Te Termals: Gliding 12”;Restrainable (-½) 0

73 Experience Points

otal Disadvantage Points: 388

Background/History: Tese were your memories,Eliot Randolph, beore you drank the wine.

You had a memory o your first conversation

with your ather, William Randolph. You askedhim or a new tricycle. You had just gotten your oldone, but you were already tired o it. Your atheranswered, “Eliot, you will always have the wealth tobuy whatever you want. You must resist the tempta-tion — lock it away. Wealth does not entitle you to alie o luxury, but one o service. Resist the tempta-tion o sel-indulgence, Eliot — lock it away.”

You were too young to understand much owhat your ather said. You understood you wanted

something, but you had to lock the wanting away.So you did as your ather told you. You imaginedthe new tricycle locked behind a door in a housewith many rooms. Te imagery was apt; you livedin a house with many rooms and many closeddoors. Te doors were closed simply because noone ever used the rooms. But to your young mind,the closed doors somehow seemed more important— mysterious and oreboding. Even as you grewolder, you hesitated beore opening one o them.Even by the time you lef or college, there wererooms you had never entered.

You had a memory rom your first year in col-lege. You had just gotten off the phone with yourather. You had told him you were worried aboutyour uture. You couldn’t decide what to study. Hereplied, “Don’t worry about what you want to study,Eliot. Study what will help you help others. Lockaway sel-indulgence.”

Aferward, you walked to a party. You stayedonly a little while, long enough to have a drink andsay hello to some riends. Ten you lef and calledLinda Wilson. Your amilies had been riends or




croix Mansion. Te place sent shivers down yourspine. Linda insisted on living there; she wanted to

have children and make a home. She said the town-house in downtown Millennium City was a niceplace to live, but not a proper home or a amily.Reluctantly, you agreed.

Birdlike, she cocked her head and stared at you.Te man in black armor stood in ront o

you. You recognized him now. He was the BlackPaladin, a supervillain and killer. He held a bottleo wine. With a dagger, he cut the wax sealing thebottle. Pressed into the scarlet wax was the shape

o a rampant griffi n, hal-eagle, hal-lion. Te bottleopen, he wrapped inhumanly strong fingers in yourhair, and pulled back your head. He spoke, “Fal-conry is the sport o nobles. Te horn blows andthe hunt begins, so this alconer o old has need oa peregrine.” He poured the wine down your throat.“Let the Blood o Beasts work its ancient magic andanswer my need.”

Te wine was bitter and metallic in yourmouth. You choked and sputtered. It burned in

your stomach. Ten it was flooding your mind. Inblood-red torrents, it enguled the house with manydoors where you locked away your sel-indulgence.Te wine swept through all its rooms, carryingaway your memories. It threw open all the closeddoors, reeing your temptations and desires, ragesand lusts. And somehow it seemed right.

Te cawing o crows grated. You were theirsuperior — no carrion-eater, but a savage and fiercepredator. You spread your majestic wings, and

opened your beak to scream with prideul rage. Tecrows ell silent. Te only sound in the room wasthe evil laughter o the alconer, your master.

Personality/Motivation: Eliot Randolph was a sel-possessed and sel-contained man. He never spokean angry word, nor gave into temptations o theflesh. He never allowed himsel to act on the morebase emotions or desires. Sadly, he was somewhatlacking in sel-awareness and sel-determination.

Ten came the transormation worked by theBlood o the Beast.

Te Gryphon is a creature that acts on hisimpulses and his impulses are simple: hunger and

75Shades of Black



Quote: “SKREEE-yar!!!”

Powers/Tactics: Te Gryphon’s avorite tactic is totake to the air and soar above a flying target; thenswoop down, accelerating to ull diving velocity(40”) and perorming a Move By. With his Move-ment Levels or Flight, the Gryphon has little di-ficulty pulling out o the dive.

Against an earth-bound target, the Gryphonattempts to Grab. I the Grab succeeds, he fliesstraight up in Hal Moves, also squeezing the targetin his arms or 10d6 Normal Damage or strikingwith his beak or 3d6+1 Killing Damage. Once hisEND begins to run low, he lets go o the target, whoplummets to the earth.

Against a group o oes, the Gryphon first

hovers directly above the group, then perorms aWind Blast. Aferward, he chooses a target, Grabs,and flies into the air. He generates the Wind Blastwith several mighty strokes o his immense wings.While not the same as a punch or the impact o ahard object, the gust o wind has enough power tohurl the average man-sized individual back severalmeters. (Tink o it like a tornado lifing a car romthe ground — it’s not the lifing that wrecks the car,but the landing.)

I fighting indoors, the Gryphon uses his WindBlast or perorms a Move Trough on his oppo-nent, attempting to take the fight outside so he canuse his Flight to best effect.

When Berserk, the Gryphon engages the near-est target with a Move Trough, then attempts topin the target to the ground, attacking with his beakHKA.

Campaign Use: Te Gryphon makes an excellenthenchman or a campaign’s mystical arch-villain. Asa flying brick, he serves as muscle and enorcer, oroccasionally assassin. He doesn’t really possess theattention span to Hunt a PC, but he might decidea particular flying hero or heroine is his avorite

“prey.” His tactics as a Hunter mirror the huntinghabits o a raptor: he perches or soars, waiting orhis prey to appear; then, lightning-ast, he swoopsto attack.

o strengthen the Gryphon, increase his SRto 60, his Flight to 30”, and the number o Levels hehas with Flight. Finally, to help prevent his wingsrom being restrained, provide him with +20 SR,with the Limitation Only o Escape Grabs AndBreak Entangles (-1½).

o weaken the Gryphon, reduce the dice in hisWind Blast to 4d6 (remember to adjust the Area OEffect accordingly), or get rid o it entirely. Reducehis DEX to 18, and decrease his levels with Grab By,Move By, and Move Trough.

Appearance: A huge, menacing figure, the Gryphonstands seven oot tall and weighs 500 kg. Despitehis weight, he has no at on his body — only cordedmuscle rippling under short, tawny ur. His wings

stretch fifeen eet rom tip to tip. Te plumageo his wings, as well as the tufs o eathers at thiswrists and ankles, is lustrous brown. His head is likethat o a golden eagle, with a fierce beak, and spiky,golden eathers on the back o his head and neck.




LADY CROW


15 SR 5 12- Lif 200 kg; 3d6 [1] 26 DEX 48 14- OCV: 9/DCV: 9 18 CON 16 13- 12 BODY 4 11-

8 IN -2 11- PER Roll 12- 13 EGO 6 12- ECV: 4 15 PRE 5 12- PRE Attack: 3d6 8 COM -1 11-

15 PD 12 otal: 15 PD (6 rPD) 15 ED 11 otal: 15 ED (6 rED) 6 SPD 24 Phases: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 12 REC 10 42 END 3

36 SUN 7 otal Characteristics Cost: 148Movement: Running: 6”/12” Flight: 9”/18”

Cost Powers END

29 A Murder O Crows: Summon 144-pointFlock o Crows, Slavishly Devoted (+1);Crows Must Inhabit Locale (-½), CrowsArrive Under Own Power (-½) 6

37 Power Over Avians: Mind Control 10d6

(Animal class o mind), ReducedEndurance (½ END; +¼), elepathic(+¼); Only Works On Birds (-1) 3

10 Shared Psyche: Mind Link, specificindividual (A Murder o Crows),Psychic Bond 0

9 Shared Psyche: N-Ray Perception(stopped by anything other than theMurder O Crows’ Darkness) (no SenseGroup), Discriminatory, Range, Sense,

argeting; Only o See Trough MurderO Crows’s Darkness (-2), Affected By AllSight Group Sense-Affecting PowersExcept Murder O Crows’ Darkness ( ½) 0

MegaRange (1” range = 1 km; +¼); OnlyTrough Te Senses O Crows (-¾),Blackout (-½) 0

6 Sharp-Eyed: +3 PER with Sight Group

Skills

4 +2 OCV with HKA

10 +2 DCV4 +2 with Flight

3 Breakall 14-7 Climbing 16-11 Concealment 15-2 KS: Arcane And Occult Lore 11-6 KS: Avians 15-11 Mimicry 15-7 Shadowing 13-

7 Stealth 16-otal Powers & Skill Cost: 274otal Cost: 422

200+ Disadvantages

20 Accidental Change: always return to bodyand psyche o Linda Randolph when out osight o crows or a ull cycle o the moon(Uncommon)

15 Distinctive Features: crows gather in her

presence (Not Concealable; Noticed AndRecognizable)

25 Hunted: Randolph Estate 14- (Mo Pow, NCI,Limited Geographical Area, Capture)

10 Physical Limitation: alons are no substituteor fingers (-2 on all DEX Rolls involving finemanipulation) (Frequently, Slightly Impair-ing)

25 Psychological Limitation: Loyal o BlackPaladin And Chantal (Very Common, otal)

20 Psychological Limitation: Crow MoralityAnd Mentality (Very Common, Strong)

20 Vulnerability : 2 x Effect rom Mind Control(C )

77Shades of Black

( d h



(o Linda, their mar-riage was only natural. Temen o two generationshad been close associatesand closer riends; in thethird generation, one man

had a daughter, the othera son. Tat both amilies join in marriage was right.Linda could rememberthe first time she knewshe would marry Eliot.She was five; he was six.Tey were lying in thegrass, guessing at theshapes o clouds. Once,

she could remember theday perectly, but thatmemory was taken romher. A murder o crows,larger than any cloud,spread across the sky,blotting out the sun. Tecrows swooped down onher and Eliot. Tey toreat her hair, flapped wings

in her ace. She started torun, but turned back tosearch or Eliot. As shewatched, a crow pluckedan eyeball rom his ace,then turned its bloodybeak toward her. Teanguish o her screams— like her memory o thatday — was stolen by thenoise o the crows’ terriblecawing.)

Linda knew they


H d b li d h d h d h li l h d Sh h d d i C h l i ’



Heaven, and believed she neared the end o her lie.She was wrong. In answer to her prayer, a crow’smemory came to roost in her soul. She tore carrionrom a dead man, crucified on a hill named Gol-gotha. In her gullet, the carrion tasted the same asany dead man’s flesh.)

Her marriage was more than just commonheritage and belie. Eliot needed her. She elt hisneed as a physical orce. Not just in her heart, but inher very being. She couldn’t ignore Eliot’s need, anymore than she could ignore air when choking. Anymore than she could ignore the need exuded by theold Delacroix Mansion.

When she first saw the old place, Linda knewshe had to make a home there. Something aboutthe estate — the stillness o the wooded grounds,

the gentle waves o Lake Erie’s cold gray waters— contrasted so strongly with the angry tumultbarely contained by the bricks o the old mansion.It jarred her senses. She elt a need to bring peaceto the mansion. But she could not — would not,even i able — explain what she really believed: shethought she could eel the angry stirring o ghostshaunting the mansion. In her innocence, because oher Christian soul, she thought she could ease theghosts’ need.

(She came to understand, as the last o herhumanity was stripped rom her soul by sharpbeaks, the utility o her belie. Witnessing theDelacroix Mansion through the eyes o a crow,she finally understood. Te mansion dwelt in theunderworld more so than the mundane world.Its ghosts wanted to be there, and deserved to benowhere else.)

Because o the mansion, they came or her andEliot. Tere were three o them, although Eliot onlyever saw two. Te evil ones came to seize the man-sion or their own purposes. Tey ound a use orLinda and Eliot too.

slaughtered. She perched on dying Cuchulainn’sshoulder, and mocked his death in the name oMorrigan’s vengeance.

More than just her soul changed. Te wingssprouting rom her back caused her pain, but herfingers growing into steel-sharp talons gave her sat-

isaction — so much better to rend and tear carrionthan flesh-sof fingers. A murder o ebon-plumedcrows swooped through the open windows andgathered around her. Te crows cawed raucously,and Lady Crow joined her own ragged voice in thecacophony.

Personality/Motivation: Linda Randolph was agiving person. She was devoted to charity, her hus-band, and the teachings o Christ. She was incred-ibly empathetic towards the less ortunate.

Lady Crow is none o these things. She caresnothing or others. In act, she cannot understandthe eelings o others. She lacks not just empathy,but also sympathy. She eels neither compassionnor pity. Her mentality is that o crow: cunning,cold-blooded, and completely sel-motivated.

Moreover, Lady Crow embodies the mythi-cal archetype o the Bird. She represents every evilthing said about crows in Western olklore and

myth: the harbinger o conflict and battle; the car-rion-eater that profits rom slaughter and death.She comes to battle not as a noble enemy, but tolinger above the battlefield, waiting or its end, soshe can glut hersel on the bloody harvest.

In olklore and myth, the crow ofen serves ahigher power (usually a god or goddess o war, orpowerul sorcerer). Because o this, Lady Crow isespecially susceptible to the control o others. Sheusually serves as an occult henchman, slavishly

devoted to a master whom she aids with her powerso spying and stealth... until his powers waver, atwhich point she abandons him. o a crow, all car-rion tastes the same whether torn rom the corpse

79Shades of Black

h A ti h ith th D k A MURDER OF CROWS



her Action so she can move with the Darkness asthe crows move. She usually perorms a Dodge onPhases when the Murder o Crows doesn’t havean action (i she’s flying, and she usually preers tounless low on END, she uses her Movement Levelsto improve her DCV).

Lady Crow always tries to coordinate herattacks with her Murder o Crows. She does notimpulsively jump into melee combat with an oppo-nent unless she’s sure she has a distinct advantage.I her opponent reduces her Murder o Crows tozero BODY, she immediately Summons another.

Regardless o her preerences in combat, sheobeys the commands o the Black Paladin (or hercurrent master).

Lady Crow’s Mind Control works on the

Gryphon, perhaps because o his avian nature, per-haps because some remnant o Linda Randolph’sempathic bond with her husband remains. I theGryphon goes Berserk in combat, she attemptssoothe his rage with her Power Over Avians. o doso requires an EGO +30 result on the Mind Con-trol dice.

Campaign Use: Lady Crow works best as a hench-man or a powerul mystical villain. She’s an

unlikely Hunter — she has more interest in sel-preservation than vengeance. She is much morelikely to be an assassin sent afer a hero by hisHunter than the Hunter hersel.

o strengthen Lady Crow, increase her PD,ED, and Resistant Deenses. You could also provide her with a means o “healing” the Murder oCrows. Give her a Multipower with her Summonand Healing only or the Murder o Crows (a -1Limitation). Te special effect is that she summons

individual crows to join the flock, replacing thosekilled during battle.

o weaken Lady Crow, decrease the DamageClasses o her HKA In addition decrease or take

A MURDER OF CROWSLady Crow’s Pets


-20 SR -30 5- Lif 1.6 kg; 0d6 [1] 14 DEX 12 12- OCV: 5/DCV: 5 20 CON 20 13-

15 BODY 10 12- 10 IN 0 11- 5 EGO -10 10- ECV: 2 13 PRE 3 12- PRE Attack: 2½d6 8 COM -1 11-

2 PD 2 otal: 2 PD (0 rPD) 2 ED -2 otal: 2 ED (0 rED) 3 SPD 6 Phases: 4, 8, 12 6 REC 4 40 END 0 40 SUN 15 otal Characteristics Cost: 29

Movement: Running 1”/2” Flight: 9”/18” Swimming: 0”/0”

Cost Powers END

41 Wings O Ebon Darkness: Darkness toSight and Hearing Group 1” radius, UsableAs Attack (+1), Reduced Endurance

(0 END; +½), Personal Immunity (+¼);Limited Effect (see text; -0) 010 Beaks: 1d6 HKA (1d6 with SR); Reduced

Penetration (-¼), No Knockback (-¼) 120 Flock: Physical Damage Reduction,

Resistant, 50%; Not Versus Area OEffect/Explosion Attacks (-½) 0

20 Flock: Energy Damage Reduction,Resistant, 50%; Not Versus Area OEffect/Explosion Attacks (-½) 0

10 Flock: Knockback Resistance -5” 05 Flock: Increased Arc O Perception (360

Degrees) or Normal Sight18 Wings: Flight 9” 2


d i l dl i hi It’ b ht ith ENCHANTED WEAPONS



eyes and cawing loudly in his ears. It’s bought withthe Usable As Attack Advantage so that the crowscan move it (i.e., fly in a cloud) without having tore-create it — thus, someone who tries to run awayrom them finds the crows keeping pace and con-tinuing to block his senses.

Te Murder o Crows is not protected by itsown Darkness. Tose outside it can attack it nor-mally; the victim inside it can target the Murderwith no OCV penalty (though he still suffers theDCV penalty or inability to perceive i the Murder,or someone else, attacks him).

Te Murder o Crows’ Damage Reductionand Knockback Resistance represent an attacker’sdiffi culty getting a good, solid hit against a madlyflying flock o crows. I an attack Stuns the Murder

o Crows, that means the attack dispersed the flockuntil it can recover. I attacks reduce the murder tozero BODY, it has killed or injured so many crowsthe murder no longer has any effect in combat.

ENCHANTED WEAPONSHere’s inormation on Chantal’s dagger and

the Lance o Unvanquished Pain.

CHANAL’S DAGGER

Stolen rom a museum o antiquities local tothe Forêt du Chevalier Noir in France, this daggerbelonged to Chantal long centuries ago. A gif romher lover, the Black Paladin, the wicked blade wasdear to the witch. She used it to perorm sacrifices inhomage o her dark goddess... and to take her ownlie.

Te hilt is made o two bars o tarnished silvertwined together. Each end o the guard terminates ina our-taloned claw which holds a black chalcedony.

Te pommel has the shape o a crow’s head. Te ten-inch-long blade has a sharp edge on both sides; thelast three inches end in a gradual curve. Te bladenearest the hilt is bronze-colored; the rest o it has themurky reddish-brown color o dried blood. WhenChantal plunged the dagger into her breast andpierced her heart, the blade drank deep, and the staino her blood on its surace became indelible.

How the dagger gained its powers — ithad none, when Chantal first lived — remains

unknown. Perhaps Chantal’s gruesome suicidecreated the agent o her rebirth. Maybe the witch’sathomless hunger or rebirth unconsciouslyimbued the blade with magic. Or perhaps a thirdparty seeking to urther his — or her — own plansgranted it powers. Whatever the case, Chantal canonly be reborn through the agency o the dagger,and only it can banish her rom the mortal realm.

Wickedly Sharp: HKA 1d6, Affects Desolidified

(+½) (22 Active Points); OAF (-1), Indepen-dent (-2). otal cost: 5 points.

Ritual Of Rebirth: Effects summarized in the

81Shades of Black



CHARTSSHADES OF BLACK

NPC SUMMARY TABLETis table organizes the NPCs appearing in Shades o Black alphabetically by last name. It also provides a brie descriptiono the NPC and the page number where his Character Brie (i any) appears.

Name Description Page

Boncour, Phillipe Curator o a French museum, he reports the thef o Chantal’s daggerand other artiacts.

Clemenceau, Alain Proessor o Medieval History at MC University, he knows the legendo the Black Paladin and Chantal’s death.

p. 34

de Wol, Marjorie Fifh victim abducted by the Black Paladin, she is abducted at the endo Act One and later attacked at the beginning o Act Tree.

p. 20

Marlowe, Raymond Homicide detective with MCPD, he asks the PCs or help with thecase and remains their police contract throughout the adventure.

p. 9

Randolph, Eliot Wealthy man married to Linda Randolph, he is turned into theGryphon by the Black Paladin. For more details see the Gryphon’sCharacter Sheet.

Randolph, Linda Wealthy woman married to Eliot Randolph, he is turned into LadyCrow by the Black Paladin. For more details see Lady Crow’s Charac-ter Sheet.

Reynaud, Jean French archaeologist who discovers the Black Paladin’s tomb, hewrites an article which describes his findings. At the time o theadventure, he is deceased.

Rockwell Gayle Friend o Marjorie de Wol she witnesses the Black Paladin and


COMBAT RECORD SHEET DOWN IN THE HOLE



COMBAT RECORD SHEET ■ DOWN IN THE HOLE

CHARACTER

__________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________________________________________

DEX/ Levels

_____

_____________________________________________

_________________________

SPD

_____

_____________________________________________

_________________________

1

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

2

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

3

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

4

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

5

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

6

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

7

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

8

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

9

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

10

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

11

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

12

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍

❍❍

❍

❍

❍

OCV

___

___________________________

_______________

DCV

___

___________________________

_______________

ECV

___

___________________________

_______________

CHARACTER

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

tPD/rPD

__/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/__

__/____/____/__

/

tED/rED

__/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/____/__

__/____/____/__

/

MOVEMENT

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________

PER Roll

______________________________________________________

__________________

PHASES

Lady Crow 26 6 8 8 4

Black Paladin 24 5 8 8 5

Gryphon 23 5 8 8 3

Darkling 20 4 7 7 3

Talisman 20 5 7 7 7

Lesser Domon 20 4 7 7 7

Chantal (Reborn) 17 4 7 7 9

Demon Hound 17 4 6 6 3

Lady Crow 15 6 15 6 6” Run; 9” Flight 12-

Black Paladin 22 14 22 14 9” Run; 15” Teleport 12-

Gryphon 25 20 25 20 6” Run; 20” Flight; 12” Gliding 10-

Darkling 22 14 22 14 15” Run; 8” Leap; 15” Flight; 15” Tport 11-Talisman 19 14 19 14 6” Run; 20” Flight 13-

L D ” R ” Fli h

83Shades of Black



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95Shades of Black



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Bus Stop

Hot Dog StandBus Stop

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Museum of Natural History 1 hex = 10 meters

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15 Stories 2 Stories 9 Stories

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hero system champions shades of black

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