RPG Inspirations

Scary bathroom in an abandoned house

2007-08-09T23:32:00.000+01:00

Your source sent you here, to the old abandoned house in the suburbs of this forgotten small city. He has not been wrong so far, not even once, but you think everybody will make a mistake at some stage. Why not your source right now? Or is it just a silly joke?

He said you will find the person you are looking for here. Dear God!!! Why they always have to pick such a crappy place to hide? Can not they hide in some nice place? It stinks here of rotten flesh and you do not even want to know what else. Most of the windows are broken, the roof leaks like there is no roof. And the goddamn storm today is wrecking your head.

You came to a bathroom on the first floor, using your Zippo as the only source of light. What were you expecting here? The power has been cut of years ago in this ruin.

The bathroom itself is not very spacious, just big enough for an old rusty metal bath, broken mirror and a small cosmetic table. You can see a shards of broken glass on the floor, both window and mirror being the source. All pipes are rusty as well and there is a hole in the wall showing the leftovers of what was the electricity wiring once. No one is hiding here for sure.

Author of the original picture is Zen-Master.

Manhunt

2007-08-08T23:48:00.000+01:00

There has been some strange rumors spreading around the country about Lord Valentino and his personal guard since he returned from the campaign against the barbarians attacking the eastern border of his land 3 years ago. It was known in public that lord Valentino is a passionate hunter and he is most likely to be met in his woods with his hunting companions rather than sitting in a council chamber in his castle.

People say Lord Valentino was mortally wounded in a fight with the barbarian tribal chieftain and almost died. They say the person responsible for his miraculous recovery was captured shaman and even he was able to save Lord Valentino only by passing his vampire blood to him. Neither he nor any of his guard ever confirmed this.

Now Lord Valentino goes out of his chambers only after the sunset, he is unusually pale, almost white and his dark eyes have strange look now, you can almost see them glowing. Even now he is though but fair ruler, taking care and protecting his people. Country folks are afraid of him but likes him and won't say anything against him.

Lord Valentino exchanged normal hunts for manhunts as a part of the the justice system. The worst criminals, murderers, traitors, all of them have the chance to prove their innocence in Valentino's version of Trial of God. He gives a convicted criminal a few minutes head start and than he if after him together with his personal guard. The manhunt is on, the wood is full of sounds of horns, roar of hoofs, screams of hunters. No one ever prove himself Innocent. And never will until Lord Valentino will be able to ride his horse.

Author of the original picture is SnowSkadi.

Julie the old pistol

2007-08-07T23:14:00.000+01:00

This old looking pistol called Julie is one of a pair. Julie belonged to a famous pirate from the Southern Sea, his name was Galen The Butcher. It is a beautiful masterpiece made out of the best materials and decorated with precious metals, silver, gold and platinum. It was also magically enhanced to increase the range, accuracy and the effect, it is said Galen was using silver bullets only as he was so rich that he could afford it. Also after the battle it was easier to identify his victims so he could claim the number of killed enemies.

Nicole the other pistol from the pair has been lost long time ago when Galen The Butcher was caught by king's fleet and his ship was sunk after a fierce battle. This one was restored from the bottom of the sea by a mage who travels and seeks famous artifacts, especially magically enhanced, to get more knowledge about the art of crafting magical items and also to make it a part of his extensive collection.

Author of the original picture is illusioncomfort.

Bad dream

2007-08-06T19:23:00.000+01:00

Your hands are tied, you can feel the weight of the bag of sand on your legs, pulling you down. The water is ice cold, taking your breath, freezing your limbs, freezing your mind more than the endless fear.

You can't even see the bubbles coming out of your mouth, those bastards covered your eyes with some dirty cloth. Like it does matter now, when you are drowning, the muddy bottom is closing...

You should listen to your friend and do not even go nearby those guys but no, you had your own mind, you knew what is the best for you. Well, not this time. If only you listened...

Your soul is slipping away slowly, you stopped to feel the cold a while ago, the only thing you feel is the silence around, slowing heartbeat in your ears, the pain in your lungs as you are spending last remains of oxygen. You need the air, you have to breath!!!

Ssssssssssssshhh!!! You woke up with a deep breath, all covered in sweat. That was really live dream, no, not a dram, a nightmare. Your body started to shiver like a leaf, you can still feel the overwhelming fear. It's too late now to back off from the deal you made yesterday but you certainly won't cross these guys like you intended to do. No way after this nightmare. You will do the job and then, you will see...

Author of the original picture is mi-.

Sancho Vargas [beggar]

2007-08-05T23:52:00.000+01:00

Sancho Vargas is a poor old beggar wondering around the town and asking for a spare change. He is harmless, never aggressive, with a very sad voice. Sancho was a successful merchant once but since the death of his bellowed woman and the only son in the tragic robbery a few years ago he became a human wreck.

He lives in the streets and knows a lot what is going on there, he knows local gang members, policemen, hookers, petty thieves, other beggars and a lot of rumors from the neighbourhood. Virtually invisible for normal people Sancho overhears a lot of private conversations and information meant to be secret. A few local policemen is aware of this and use him as an invaluable source of street information. Sancho is happy to exchange his knowledge for money as deep inside he is a honest man.

Author of the original picture is mi-.

Annabelle "The Fallen Angel" Le Croix [top class callgirl]

2007-08-04T23:56:00.000+01:00

Annabelle Le Croix is a top class call girl. She is stunning beauty, with her nice face, blond tousled hair and perfect body. She knows how to seduce both men and women alike and she often uses this to her benefit. Some people call her the Fallen Angel because of her beautiful body but corrupted soul.

She likes luxury, parties, top brand alcohol, the best restaurants, trendy and exclusive stuff and she needs a lot of money to maintain her expensive lifestyle. Annabelle is using her body and her charm to get the money and rich men pay very easily as they desire to spend a night with her.

Annabelle won't go with a lot of men or women, she rather picks a small but exclusive ring of very rich individuals with influence. She is mostly picking young pretty successful and very rich managers, she will refuse a man (or woman) if he is old or ugly or Annabelle does not like him for any reason. She can afford a luxury of saying yes or no, she is in a position of power over at the moment as there is too many people out there dreaming of her.

Author of the original picture is wakkawa.

The dirty job

2007-08-03T23:17:00.000+01:00

Mike sent me to not very nice neighbourhood I have to say, just ruined or abandoned old houses, gangs, graffiti on the walls, everything stinks here. Why me?

Anyway, that guy who is not paying us our money back should be hiding somewhere in these houses, or at least that poor beggar told me this. Not that he would like to tell my but a few punches to his dirty face and few of his teeth convinced him that it will be very healthy for him to tell me what I want to know.

The small back alley stinks even more than the rest of this area and I would swear to god just a minute ago that it is not possible. Well, not even this horrible smell won't prevent me from paying Mr. Not-paying-my-debts a visit. I won't stop with a few punches this time, you can be sure of this...

What the hell? Who can be calling me now? Do not they know I'm busy and they can call me only if it is very urgent? Let's see.

Who's there?

Author of the original picture is Prasa.

Eleanor Gray

2007-08-02T22:52:00.000+01:00

Eleanor Gray is small but very fast and agile space ship and is able to operate in both open space and atmosphere. It has a small captain's bridge for pilot, navigator and captain, six small cabins and one bigger for captain and a small cargo bay. It is not the newest model but still very good and reliable ship.

Her current captain Thomas Dergan has bought her from a millionaire who wanted to get rid of her a few years ago and has been flying her ever since. Thomas is a freelance detective specialised in finding lost property and people. He has a stable crew of four other people who are working for him. Thomas likes his space ship very much, he invests a lot of credits into the maintenance, upgrades and performance tuning.

Eleanor Gray has some light weapons installed even if it is not permitted for personal space ships but Thomas managed to obtain the exception due to the nature of his job. Except of the weapons he has recently bought very powerful energy shield, it was part of his reward for his services. One of the functions of this new energy shield is also a camouflage and virtual invisibility for all electronic devices but his is illegal and Thomas is the only person on board except of the mechanic who knows this.

Author of the original picture is wanbao.

Vittorio DiBella [thief]

2007-07-31T23:11:00.000+01:00

Vittorio is a child of an unknown client of his mother Lucia who earns the money for living by walking the street. He is a skinny athletic type with bronze skin and dark hair of the southern nations colored to pale red.

For his young age (he is only 19 years old) Vittorio has extensive experience with life on the street, crime and even seeing the world from the other side of the bars. He lives of petty theft, small burglaries, car stealing, all just a small crimes. He hasn't done any armed robbery because he doesn't like guns.

Vittorio consider himself a freelance entrepreneur who "finds" and sells various stuff. He is not a member of any of the gangs or organizes crime groups in the town. Vittorio knows a lot of people of the shadows: thieves, black market traders, bouncers, pimps, prostitutes, beggars.

He is very skillful, he can take your stuff out of your pockets without you knowing about it, locks are no obstacle for him, he can fool most of the security systems used by honest citizens.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is croaky.

The Hideout at Geanna Island

2007-07-30T23:24:00.000+01:00

The Hideout at Geanna Island is "famous" pirate community, it is the place where pirates are welcome and they always find a shelter there. It is no on main trade routes, well hidden and what is the most important guarded with corals so only those who are familiar with the way into the small bay are safe, all others are lying rotten on the beaches and coral reefs in the middle of their wrecks. This is the main reason the authorities are not able to conquer The Hideout, because the do not know the way in.

The Hideout is run by Jarred One Eye and pirates seeking shelter have to pay a "tax" to Jarred for protection in gold. It's worth the gold as all renegades are safe from the law enforcers here. There is a big cave complex on the island providing both room for storage and space for living. Jarred has about 70-80 men under his command, 2 tall ships and a few smaller ones, he is the most powerful player except the official authorities in this area.

Except of the pirates there are merchants, craftsmen and working women on the island, trying to get some gold from pirates in exchange for goods and services. The Hideout is a small community with may be 7-800 souls maximum.

Author of the original picture is memod.

Holy Cross of Ciaran the Slayer

2007-07-28T23:41:00.000+01:00

Holy Cross of Ciaran the Slayer is a silver cross sacred by the priest of name Ciaran who was a great fighter against evil and very successful demon hunter. They say he himself slayed more than a dozen of vampires and maybe twice that of werewolves.

Holy Cross of Ciaran the Slayer is massive, almost 4.5 inches long with garnet in the middle of the cross made of pure silver. It is said that spiritual power of Ciaran dwells in this cross since his deaths in a battle with five very powerful vampires. You can feel some power when touching it and you are sure it wouldn't be a very pleasant touch for vampires, werewolves and other unholy monsters.

The one who wears it in the battle against evil has a protection of Ciaran the Slayer on his side. It glows in dark red if there is an unholy monster nearby, it can provides you with light in dark places and even heals your wounds if your faith is strong enough.

Author of the original picture is scanned-stock.

Eyes Cyberware - Tactical Analysis Unit

2007-07-26T23:40:00.000+01:00

Tactical Analysis Unit is an eye cyberware used by government agencies, corporations and army and it is almost impossible to purchase it even on the black market due to it's price and the dependency on the connection to the government, corporate or army database with the relevant data.

This cyberware provide it's owner with priceless information about the surrounding environment and people or objects in his line of sight. Tactical Analysis Unit is used in searches for specific individuals and during combat, either in the city environment or in combat field by army. TAU scans the surrounding environment online and compares it with the database against the common weapons, wanted criminals or common knowledge base, depending on the installed software and level of access granted to a user.

Author of the original picture is OmeN2501.

The orcs are coming!!!

2007-07-24T22:27:00.000+01:00

You are resting after your last adventure in a nice and warm tavern. The autumn in unusually cold, you can not recollect the memory of entire country being cowered by the white duvet of the Ice Queen that soon. The tavern is full of travellers, hunters, trappers, charcoal burners, lumberjacks, bee-keepers, merchants and adventurers like you. Humans, dwarfs, half elves, you can even see three or four elves in the corner. The Ice Queen caught you all by surprise three days ago.

You are all waiting and hoping for a few warmer days so you can complete your travels before the winter begins. The only really happy person in the room is old Gareth the White Beard, the owner of the tavern. This is his last chance to move the gold from your pockets into his.

All of a sudden the door opened and you can see a tall man in heavy winter coat made of wolf skins standing in the doorway, catching his breath.

"Orcs! The orcs are coming!" you recognised the strong voice of the blacksmith who changed the horseshoe of your horse in the small village you passed through just before you ended up in this tavern. He certainly doesn't look good with several wounds, all covered in blood. He barely moves his left hand but his right one is still strong holding a big hammer and you can see a resolve to go to war against orcs. He has no idea where they came from or why this late, you thought that the end of their raiding season was a few weeks ago and it is too late for that. Anyway, you have to deal with the situation. Will you stay in the tavern and fight the orcs with the hope you can hold the tavern, or will you try to run. Will you exchange the warm stone house full of food, drinks and people for empty and cold wilderness where the orcs can track you and hunt you down?

What will you do? The orcs are coming, you can hear their war drums closing in...

Author of the original picture is Amarynceus.

Joseph "Joe" Black [driver / skrit chaser]

2007-07-23T23:56:00.000+01:00

Young Joseph is a person you will name a car technophile at the first sight. He loves cars almost that much as he loves beautiful girls. He is a typical skirt chaser, natural smooth talker and he can get on with girls very well. Also girls like him because he is nice, gentle, and he always dives a nice and well looking sports car, it is an used silver Audi TT at the moment.

Joe likes the cars that much that he names them as cowboys used to name theirs horses. His current Audi TT is called Silverthorn. Joe's skills with cars are well known on the streets as he is happy when he can help others with their cars. As was said before Joe is a true car technophile, he knows literally everything about cars, cars are his love and passion since he can remember.

Except of being an excellent car mechanic he is also one of the best drivers in town. When he was younger he was a member of small car thieves group but get caught and spend almost 2 years in prison, because he was very young and it was his first delict. He swore he will never steal a car again.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is yumedust.

The Grey Rabbit Inn

2007-07-22T23:57:00.000+01:00

The Grey Rabbit Inn is located in the Old Harbour District which is not exactly the best area of the town. It is two floor wooden building near the water accessible both on foot and in the boat. Gerrard The Ear is the owner of this Inn, the old smuggler turned into Innkeeper.

The lounge with the bar and the kitchen are downstairs, there are a few small rooms upstairs, one of them is Gerrard's and the other one is occupied by Tian Lin, the exotic bar dancer. She is the reason why The Grey Rabbit profits so well and earns a lot of gold for Gerrard The Ear. Tian Lin is probably the most beautiful and the most mysterious woman in the town, no one really knows where is she from. She dances every evening and all men can't wait till she starts. They stare at her as at some miracle, her dance is somehow magic, exotic and beautiful.

The lounge itself is not very big, just a few dirty wooden tables, smelling of smoke, sweat, beer, wine, spirit and food leftovers. There are always some sailors, thieves, smugglers and another suspicious individuals in The Grey Rabbit, drinking, eating, hiding, handling, playing games, spending gold. Old Gerrard is standing behind the bar, serving alcohol, and one of his helper girls is serving food. The kitchen is more of less clean and dwarf called Ruggrim The Pot is in charge there, it is his little kingdom from where he sends out the best food in the Old Harbour District or so they say. Guards do not bother Gerrard as he pays well an as far as there are no big problems with his customers they won't come to The Grey Rabbit and that is another reason for The Grey Rabbit's popularity among low level individuals.

Author of the original picture is Skylow.

Swamp Witch

2007-07-21T00:57:00.000+01:00

Swamp Witch lives in a swamp (Of course there, where would you expect her to live? :-) ) feeding on poor souls who lost their way in her swamp and got fooled by her will-o'-the-wisp.

Swamp Witch looks like an old woman with very light almost white skin, long white hear and dark eyes. She has long nails and sharp teeth and likes the flesh of humanoids but can survive on animals if needs to be.

She can breath under water, command will-o'-the-wisps, create some simple illusion, talk to animals, change her fingers into claws and a few more magic tricks. Some of the old and powerful swamp witches can even command a Swamp Troll or change into a small girl or young woman lost in the swamp. She is very quick but not so strong, she usually attacks the poor victim only if she is sure he / she can't get out of the mud or water and it is an easy prey.

Author of the original picture is BabushkaYaga.

Where has all the fresh air disappeared?

2007-07-19T23:05:00.000+01:00

Where has all the clear air disappeared? Well, we killed it. Since last war over water and oil sources a few years ago our air has been too polluted with chemicals, dust and with deadly radiation if the wind is blowing from the wrong direction.

We were stupid, we thought we can win the war and get more water and oil in order to survive and keep our standard of life. After the war there is only a few people who need water and oil and now we would paid in gold for a clear and fresh air. But there is no one to fight for the air.

Only older people remember now how it was to have the freedom and do no have to go out in the gas mask, they remember the wind in their face, the smell of the fresh air full of ozone after the summer storm. Maybe our children will experience this in the future if we won't be so stupid to fight over something again... There are rumors that there are vast forests somewhere where you do not need the hated gas mask but no one knows where it is. Only the hope for the fresh air in the future keeps us running, keeps us alive.

Author of the original picture is dogeatdog5.

Valley of Gryphons

2007-07-18T23:44:00.000+01:00

Valley of Gryphons is a legend, a myth people are talking about in the evenings sitting around campfires. No one really knows whether it exists or not and if yes where it could be.

The Valley of Gryphons is very well guarded secret of the Elves. It is said the Valley is the base and the training camp for feared elvish Skyriders - the guardians of the border who are using gryphons as mounts. It is a deep valley with high rocks on each side and with lovely waterfall. It is almost whole covered by trees and there are no visible houses or any other buildings in it.

Author of the original picture is SelectiveDamage.

Eileen O'Meara [woman of the street]

2007-07-17T22:45:00.000+01:00

Eileen O'Meara is from a poor farmer's family from the country. She came to a big city to search for the new life, but to her surprise she only found the bad side of the city life: corruption, crime, misery, poorness, drugs and sex slavery. She started as a waitress in a small tavern but was working crazy hours so she started taking drugs to keep running.

As she got deeper in to the drug addiction she needed more money for more drugs so she started with the strip dance first and ended up working as a prostitute for Beastie Bob.

Eileen was quite attractive woman at the time but the drugs and the hard life in the street took their taxes on her appearance. She looks older but is only 21 years old. Eileen has dark colored long hair and quite a lot of make up to cover the premature ageing.

She is quite passive as she sees no hope for her in the future and is a bit fixated to Beastie Bob, who treats all his working girls hard but fair following his own codex of honor.

Author of the original picture is noah-kh.

Hide and seek

2007-07-16T22:37:00.000+01:00

You have been running through this bloody jungle for 9 days now and as far as you know you are the last one from your unit still not caught. They got Jason yesterday near the waterfall, he sacrificed himself for you to escape and complete the mission.

The mission was simple: deliver the message and do not get caught. No one has mentioned before that you will be hunted down by 40 anti guerrilla soldiers like wild animals. You had to change your course so they won't guess your destination that easy. They got them one by one, all your 4 comrades, your friends.

But there will be time for mourning, there will be time for revenge. Now you have to deliver the message no matter what and no jungle, no soldiers, no wounds, nothing will stop you from completing your mission. You are the Blond Jane, the best of the best, elite soldier in your unit. You will do the job and then, well you would not like to be in their place when the roles of the hunter and the prey will change.

Author of the original picture is huhwhatjason.

Sniper in the city

2007-07-15T23:49:00.000+01:00

The city is quiet now, it has been quiet since last bombarding by the new planes last week. You were waiting for this bastard to make his mistake for ages but now here he is, right in front of your gun.

He and his unit called Black Dogs 7, the part of elite division Black Dogs killed most of your friends in this city. Black Dogs are the most ruthless, brutal and aggressive soldiers, the best of the best in the occupant's army. It is said that from their training camp you can either walk out with the tattoo of the Black Dog and the number on your arm or they will carry you out in a coffin. You had the honor to fight these guys face to face and you can only confirm that the rumors about their skills are right.

But even the best of the best will do the mistake once and the captain of the BD7 is a living proof of this saying. Well, won't be living very long from now but a proof for sure.

Puff! Your new silencer you get of the dead body of BD7's dead sniper is very good, better that your old one. You can scratch another dog's head on your rifle, 2 more officers to go.

Author of the original picture is AlLeTuN.

Boban "The Eye" Jukovic [mercenery sniper]

2007-07-14T22:34:00.000+01:00

Boban is a veteran from Yugoslavian war now working for a private security agency as a Sniper. He was trained for sniper during his time in the army and has got 26 confirmed kills from the war only. He worked for the police shortly after the war with special unit but then went contracting as he can earn more money with less orders and bureaucracy this way. Boban is a master sniper with great eye and steady hands, he is very patient and can wait for the perfect shot for days unnoticed by the enemy.

He is not very talkative now but they say he was a very cheerful and talkative person before the war. Whatever happened to him has changed his nature, now Boban does not seek the company of others. He is reliable and will do as he is told as far as he gets paid for the job. He is 6 foot 3 inches high with athletic figure, short haired with cold blue eyes. He has a tattoo saying "Jelena" on his right forearm but no one knows who she was and Boban ignores all questions about her.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is Lemuren.

Zombie Aspects

2007-07-13T23:04:00.000+01:00

You can find some new Zombie Aspects and Weaknesses for World of Darkness RPG below. They were designed for my The Dead can not Swim campaign. You should read Antagonists for more details on Zombies.

Zombie Aspects

Absorption
If zombie looses any limb, it can pick up the limb from another dead body (ordinary or zombie) and attach it to it's place. After few moments the body will react and will attach the limb so it is usable as before. Zombie can attach 1 limb per dot in Absorption per day.

Call of the Dead
Zombies can call other dead to join the hunt or feast. The radius of the zombies call is 20 yards per dot in Strength.

Scavenger
Zombie will eat even the body dead more than 24 hour in order to survive the short therm shortage of fresh meat on the table. The loss of Physical Integrity is slowed down as follows:

1 point per (Resilience) days
1 point per (Resilience) weeks
1 point per (Resilience) days

Weaknesses

Special diet
Zombie has to eat only a specific part of the human body in order to survive. You can select one per dot in this weakness. Examples: brain, liver, lungs, kidney, bone marrow.

Author of the original picture is KingZombie.

Book of Theodore de Guignard

2007-07-12T23:15:00.000+01:00

This book belonged to Theodore de Guignard, the founder of secret Brotherhood of the Book. Theodore was a very wise scholar who believed in the power of knowledge. He also believed there will be some kind of a big catastrophe or apocalypse in the future and all knowledge which will survive will be very precious in the attempt to restore the civilisation. Therefore he founded the brotherhood to gather and keep the knowledge for the future generations.

Legend says that there are 12 leaders and each has 12 apprentices. When the master dies they will elect the new master and will find a new apprentice to fill master's old place. Only masters know another masters, apprentices know only their own master. Once one of the apprentices is appointed for master he will get the access to all belongings of old master and will be contacted by one of the remaining masters to get the full introduction into his duties and responsibilities.

The book itself contains Theodore's thoughts on knowledge, sharing of information, principals of keeping the knowledge and keeping the brotherhood in secret as there might be people in the future who will be against wise people as we may seen in the past. It is the most precious artefact in possession of the Brotherhood of the book and only it's masters know the location of this book. The book looks very old and used, it is bound in wooden desks with metal decoration, the pages were written by Theodore and iluminated by his original apprentices or so the legend says.

Author of the original picture is deviantik.

Heather van den Hooven [freelance hitman]

2007-07-11T00:06:00.000+01:00

Heather is a freelance hitman working mostly for western government and private security agencies. She used to work as an exclusive call girl to pay for her studies of psychology but got recruited by drugs enforcement department of the local police to join their ranks as a cover operations agent in her 3rd year. Heather was put into a live operation after she finished her degree and the police training.

She had to kill a drug dealer in her first week of service and another two members of a gang when they were trying to break through from the surrounded building and started the gun fire. Her performance was noticed by a high ranking officer and she was transferred to a small and not very advertised department where they train hitmen and very special agents.

Heather is like puma: beautiful but deadly. She likes bright colors, her favorite color is red. Most of her dress are red, her BMW Z4 is red, her purse is red and her hands are often red as well and it is not just a color. She likes the attention of other people and she is very successful with attracting one not only because of her sometimes provocative dress but because of her beauty. She is very good in judging people and can use it to her advantage. Heather went freelance when she realised she can earn more money this way and has more freedom for herself.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is Pierrick.

The Dead City

2007-07-10T00:21:00.000+01:00

The Dead City. You can not be more wrong calling it a dead city after what happened last week. Half-crazy half-dead scavenger came into your village covered in blood, talking nonsense about the Dead City being alive again, about the shapes hunting in shadows, people disappearing with no traces left, about strange voices in the air and strange lights dancing around.

One of the guys living in your village recognized this scavenger, he was a member of group of dozen or more of them, which passed through the village maybe two weeks ago, heading on the expedition to the Dead City.

You had to go there, you had to see it yourself, not only because you are curious but because your friend Jolric joined the expedition and never came back. You have to find out what's going on and what happened to Jolric. When you came to the edge of the Dead City, you can tell that is is not dead any more. You haven't seen the smoke here before. So it is true, something is in the City. And your friend Jolric is somewhere there too. So take a deep breath and go in untill it is too late for Jolric.

You can download the full picture or visit the site where I found it.

SWAT Armor

2007-07-09T00:25:00.000+01:00

SWAT teams are equipped with the best protective gear possible. IT protects almost 100% of body surface and provides maximum protection. The drawback of this armor is lower mobility of the SWAT officer as the equipment is a bit heavy.

SWAT armor can not be bought in an usual army / survival shop, it is intended for military / police use only. You can find it on a black market though, but for a higher price than usual.

Full armor consists of the following items:

helmet
kevlar hood
tactical goggles / gas mask
upper body and shoulder protector (covers the neck also)
forearm protector
gloves
groin protector
hard shin pads
upper leg pads
elbow pads
boots with steel toe

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Rating 3/4, Strength 2, Defense -2, Speed 1, Cost *** (**** protects against armor-piercing weapons), black market price higher by *.

You can download the full version of this picture or visit original page where I found it.

Cassie "The Baseball Bat" [bartender / bar owner]

2007-07-08T19:40:00.000+01:00

Cassie "The Baseball Bat" is the owner of the bar called after her, The Baseball Bat. Cassie is a big fan of baseball and she has been running a bar next to a baseball stadium for 3 years now.

She was in a pub once and some drunken baseball player was rude to her. She made a bet with others that she can beat him. All guys were laughing, how can a 20 years old girl having a weight of 50kg beat a professional baseball player twice bigger than her? They bet a lot of money and they lost to their surprise. Cassie took a baseball bat and beat the drunk to unconscious. She won the money and started her own business. Everybody call her and her bar The Baseball Bat ever since.

She is very sexy and likes to show it but not an easy prey and a few drunken fans had the honor to be introduced to Cassie's best friend - The Baseball Bat. She has it under the bar all the time to keep order in the bar in case there is some trouble.

Of course she has a bouncer there but she likes to keep the order herself and made other people show her the respect, even if they are lying on the ground in their own blood beaten by baseball bat.

Author of the original picture is yumedust.

A bridge in the Mountains of Three Kings

2007-07-07T23:34:00.000+01:00

After a few days of tiring journey through the Mountains of Three Kings you came to the bridge the innkeeper was talking about. When he mentioned a bridge you certainly did not imagined something like this.

A small and very old looking rope bridge is hanging over an bottomless chasm, you can hear the roaring of the wild water deep below but you can not see it through the mist. There are two thick ropes hanging on wooden pillars on both sides bearing the wooden pathway. The bridge is moving a bit in the wind and is making creepy noises.

You can see a figure at the other end of the bridge, standing motionless, speechles. Who is he? The innkeeper never mentioned anything about a bridge keeper. Is it a sword he is holding in his hand?

Author of the original picture is memod.

A plane lost deep in the jungle

2007-07-06T21:52:00.000+01:00

Finally after almost two weeks in this wet and smelly jungle you found that bloody plane. You feel a big relief as the plane looks intact by other people so the contraband should still be on board.

Your boss get a weird contract for your team, you have to search for a plane lost a good while ago in a jungle, the area was specified just very vaguely and you still do not know what was on board of this plane. The order is you can't open the boxes under any circumstances and you have to deliver it to the customer no matter what.

Out of the record your boss told you you have the permission to kill anybody trying to steal the contraband but you should tell this to the men and women under your command only when you meet people stupid enough to attach well armed and obviously well trained group of mercenaries.

You can download the full version of the picture or visit the site where I found it.

Space ship service corridor

2007-07-05T23:51:00.000+01:00

The door opened with a soft sound of pneumatic systems. You entered a long dark service corridor. It is quiet enough but you can hear the sounds of air condition and the continuous humming of engines.

You wish there is a bit more light, those service lights are just highlighting the dark and all place feels creepy. You can smell the usual odour of the service corridor, a mix of industry oil, ozone and cleaning bleach.

From your perspective the corridor seems endless and you feel a bit claustrophobic even if you know that after a few metres you will come to a bigger place.

Author of the original picture is tariq12.

Zombie Hunter

2007-07-04T21:49:00.000+01:00

There are few among us who are not scared of Walking Dead and go outside the safe walls to hunt them down. Hunters are bravest of the brave, surviving in the wild on their own, hunting down the Dead using what ever they could find.

They know everything about the Dead, their habits, signs of their presence, how to eliminate them. They have nerves of steel and do not fear the Death's Voice - horrible moaning of the Walking Dead driving all people crazy.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Merit: Zombie Hunter
(* to ****)

Prerequisites: Occult (zombies) **

Keep the dead off (*)
Your character knows how to hide from zombies in order to survive. You can use Occult (zombies) instead of Stealth while trying to avoid the dead.

Track down the dead (**)
Your character knows the behavior patterns of zombies very well. You can add your Occult (zombies) to your dice pool when trying to search or spot zombies.

MacGyver is your second name (***)
You can create an improvised weapon usable against zombies from everything you can get your hands on. Add your Occult (zombies) to your dice pool when attempting to create a weapon usable against zombies.

Nerves of steel (****)
You are used to moaning zombies, their moaning has only a little effect on you after some time. You can add your Occult (zombies) to your dice pool when resisting the Death’s Voice.

Author of the original picture is punchyninja.

Information leak

2007-07-03T23:08:00.000+01:00

You have been shadowing the guy since this morning when he met a strange girl and handed the data disk to her. So it was true, Jimmy was a leak. You are just wondering how they found out about this, your boss didn't want to talk about this.

You took a few pictures as a proof as you were told to. But who was that girl? You have to ask Jimmy. You haven't seen him since college but you were friends at a time.

Whoa! Who the hell are those guys with chains, baseball bats and crowbars? You pulled your gun out of the holster and took cover behind the corner.

What do you do now?

Author of the original picture is anry.

Zombie - Walker

2007-07-02T22:48:00.001+01:00

Walker looks like human walking around from the distance, but after a while you notice that the movements seems to be somehow wrong, it looks like the movements of puppet.

Walkers roam around the place but only in a small radius, searching for food. Light, noise or smell can attract them to humans. If you are unlucky and get the closer view, you can see the rotting meat and a few wounds, it is definitely not a nice sight.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Zombie - Walker
(15 points, based on WOD Antagonists book)
Power 4
Finesse 2
Resistance 3
Health 5
Initiative 2
Physical integrity 5-10
Size 5
Speed 6
Vulnerability - Brain damage
Contagious 2
Preservation 2
Special attack - bite, entangle
Sensitivity - human
Death's voice
Quick movement 1

Author of the original picture is LukeLitman.

Zombie - Smartarse

2007-07-01T20:07:00.000+01:00

Smartarse looks like half-eaten half-rotten corpse with some tool or weapon in it's hand, walking around and moaning, searching for more food. It never stops eating and will pursue the closest source of food (read closest living thing, human or animal). It is attracted to the food by sound, light or motion but not by smell.

This zombie can use simple tools like club, crowbar, etc and can beat you with this. It can climb the ladder, open the door (but it can not unlock it or use a screwdriver to unscrew the screws), do some very simple problem solving. If you see a few of these, run, hide and hope they will notice someone else.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Zombie - Smartarse
(15 points, based on WOD Antagonists book)
Power 3
Finesse 4
Resistance 2
Health 2
Initiative 1
Physical integrity 5-10
Size 5
Speed 7
Vulnerability - Brain damage
Limited inteligence
Death's voice
Preservation 2
Quick movement 1
Sensitivity - human, animal
Special attack - bite, haymaker
Hunger

Attack: club 2B, crowbar 3B, knife 1L, hatchet 1L, fire ax 3L, machette 2L, ice ax 2L, screwdriver 0L, shovel 1B

Author of the original picture is czarnystefan.

Zombie - Sleeper

2007-06-30T23:52:00.000+01:00

Sleeper looks like half-eaten half-rotten corpse lying on the ground. This zombie is not moving, just waiting silently for passing humans. It attacks surprisingly, with no sound. Too many good men already died in a good faith they are just passing a dead body.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Zombie - Sleeper
(10 points, based on WOD Antagonists book)
Power 2
Finesse 1
Resistance 2
Health 7
Initiative 1
Physical integrity 5-10
Size 5
Speed 1
Vulnerability - Brain damage
Preservation 3
Special attack - bite, haymaker
Tough

Author of the original picture is CorporalPhantom.

The Geisha

2007-06-29T23:58:00.000+01:00

The Geisha is NPC character for my zombie campaign The Dead Can Not Swim based on new World of Darkness RPG rules.

She is almost 40 years old but still beautiful petite woman. She comes from the very old family, where all women were top class geisha and men were the best of body guards for the nobility. All men and women alike were highly skilled in arts, philosophy, languages, the art of love and the art of war, they were perfect companions for the ruling class.

Geisha was saved from the hands of slavers only a few weeks after he Zombie Outbreak. She was captured 4 days before and still had her red dress on her, her former master was killed by slavers.

She asked Alastair Conway, the captain of Vivien and her saviour, to bring her to her family residence in Japan to check out if someone from her family survived the Zombie Outbreak. Alastair refused, so she asked him to give her the sword back and a pistol with one last bullet. Geisha went to the beach, fired a shot and waited. After a while the beach was populated with may be a dozen zombies. She attached them and slayed them in matter of seconds without being scratched. Then Geisha asked captain again, she said that if he brings her to Japan she will teach his crew the art of war and will be his companion. Also, there may be a few more katanas in the family residence left. Naturaly Alastair agreed after this show and brought Geisa to Japan.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is wakkawa.

Detective's office

2007-06-28T12:19:00.000+01:00

Detectives secretary introduced you to the detective's office. You can see the typical detective's office like from the old American movie, with wooden blinds, fan, big wooden table and a lot of files all around the office. The sunrays are visible on the heavy smoke from cigares and you can smell a heavy scent from scotch whisky. There are a few awards from city police but they all look quite old. As you were watching all around the detective entered and asked you:

"What can I do for you, guys?"

Author of the original picture is shinobebop.

She is a beauty, ain't she?

2007-06-27T21:33:00.000+01:00

Her name is Sheila and it is the only passion of Gunar Petersson, current chief of local militia and former member of bikers gang from Sweden.

Gunar is tall and massive blond guy who used to play rugby before the zombies Outbreak. He loves motorbikes and even after so long since the civilisation break down Gunar is trying to put together his Sheila and ride her. He needs a few last parts and some petrol to be able to ride her.

He needs a clutch, rear disk break, gearbox, front light and a gas tank. And of course as much petrol as you can bring him. He can be considered wealthy and he can pay well for the missing parts and petrol, not only in goods but also with favour.

You can download the full version of this picture or visit original page where I found it.

Viktor Romanov [private investigator]

2007-06-26T20:40:00.000+01:00

Viktor Romanov is a character for World of Darkness RPG.

Viktor left Russia in '87 in the age of 14 together with his mother after his father, the member of Russian police with the rank of Detective, was murdered during the investigation of one of his cases. No one knows what killed him but it was not a nice sight.

After they arrived to Ireland, Viktor went to high school and than he signed in for the Gardai training. He wanted to be a detective like his father Roman. Viktor's mother Svetlana began to fade from grief and pain after Roman's horrible death and she passed away 3 years ago. Before she died she asked Viktor to leave Garda so he won't be killed like his father. Ever since Viktor has left Garda he has been trying to make his living as a private investigator. He still has some friends amongst Gardai from his time with them and some of them owe him a favor.

Viktor is rather lonely person outside work and he tends to solve his problems and night mares with Vodka in the evenings but strictly when he is not working. He keeps his word and is trying to do his best to solve the cases. He prefers to work with his mind and mouth instead of his muscles, but he can use a pistol if there is a need for it.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is poisondlo.

Sentry tower

2007-06-25T13:03:00.000+01:00

As you came out of the forest you found yourselves on the shore of a small lake. Finally some space and a fresh air after several days spent in that dark spooky forest. You see a river running into the lake on the west end and running out on the east end, this is the natural border of a kingdom behind your back, the end of civilisation and the beginning of the goblin territory.

You can see a sentry tower on your side of the lake. It is based on water with small stone bridge leading to the entry gate. As you come closer you can see one guard standing in sentry post on top of the tower holding a crossbow. He greets your and asks for your destination and warns you before the goblin raiding parties in the mountains to the north from here.

There are 4 men in this sentry tower, 1 sergeant and 3 border guardians. Sergeant is an older man in his late thirties, a war veteran with plenty of experience from the border fights. He has a chainmail, sword, dagger and an iron helmet. The other guys are young recruits in early to mid twenties, but has more real life fight experience than their friends from the core of kingdom. They have just padded leather armors, daggers and axes, all of them has pikes or halberds and crossbows.

If you would like to cross the river you can ask one of the fisher men from the nearby village to give you a lift for a few coins or use a ferry.

Author of the original picture is Photographic-Moki.

Sea Dog

2007-06-24T00:37:00.000+01:00

Sea Dogs are used to fight on the unstable ship's deck and can use the objects of daily usage as weapons.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Fighting style: Sea Dog
(* to ****)

Prerequisites: Replace Drive with Seamanship **, Survival **

Sailor's walk (*)
You are used to the moves of the ship, your penalty for the unstable deck is lower by your Seamanship.

Catch the fish (**)
You can fight with fishing hook, if you are successful with your attach, you can immobilize your opponent. You can use brawl rules for braking free from the fishing hook. Each unsuccessful attempt to break free from the hook will cause 1 lethal wound.

You can't slip through my net (***)
You can use a fishing net as a weapon and throw it at your opponent to immobilize him. If you are successful with your attack, your opponent is caught in the net and needs to accumulate 5 successes in Composure + Dexterity roll to break free.

Water is my second home (****)
You can fight with a knife / harpoon under water. While using a knife our penalty for fighting under water is lower by your Seamanship.

You can download the full version of this picture or visit original page where I found it.

Lion Ring

2007-06-23T23:58:00.000+01:00

Lion Ring was made by desert dwarven alchemist for their chieftain to support his skills and enable him to successfully lead a campaign against goblin raiding parties.

It is a silver ring with the lion head and it gives it's wearer a strength and majesty of the king of all animals, lion.

Dungeons and Dragons RPG rules: +1 Strength and Charisma.

Author of the original picture is Smoonstarlight.

Stolen gift

2007-06-22T23:47:00.000+01:00

The caravan of well known merchant Jeremiah DaSilva was hit by bandits while crossing a river four days ago. Most of the people were killed or injured and bandits took most of the small but valuable cargo. Among the precious spices, jewellery and set of elvish glasses was also a sword.

This sword is a gift from Jeremiah to his friend and business partner Gerard MacMahon, the mayor of the city distant 50 miles as the crow flies. It is for his first born son Eric for his 15th birthday, the age when boys become warriors.

Jeremiah announced a reward for any information leading to bandits and a special reward equals to the weight of sword in gold for anyone who will bring it back to him.

This sword was made by elvish masters weaponsmiths. It is 4 feet long, with 1 foot long hilt covered with black leather and decorated with silver and gold.

You can download the full version of this picture or visit original page where I found it.

Zombie Commando

2007-06-21T00:13:00.000+01:00

Every community has a few members who are protecting it from the outside threat, what ever you call them. The most common name for the unit fighting the dead is Zombie Commando.

These guys are trained to fight zombies and know the best methods possible to eliminate the threat. They are half admired and half feared by their fellow community members but everyone appreciates the presence of members of Zombie Commando squad as far as they can ensure his safety and keep him alive.

World of Darkness RPG rules:

Fighting style: Zombie Commando

(* to *****)

Prerequisites: Dexterity ***, Resolve ***, Firearms ***, Weaponry *** and Occult (Zombies) **

Improvisation (*)
You can fight with everything you can get your hands on to survive. You character doesn’t suffer from the penalty when using improvised weapons.

Keep the tooth off (**)
In unarmed combat with Zombie, character knows exactly what to do to keep the tooth off and not to get bitten. Use highest of Wits of Dexterity for your Defense against Zombie in close combat.

Always aim for the head (***)
Character always automatically aims for the zombie’s head in combat. Penalty modifier for trying to hit the head is lower by 2 if the character has specialty applicable to the used weapon.

Protect your kin (****)
Your mission is to protect the weak and helpless from the dead. Even when hurt, you will fight longer than a normal person. You can spend one will point to ignore the wound penalties till the rest of the scene.

Skullcrusher (*****)
Your character knows how to hit the head. While trying to hit the head of the zombie (humanoid), do not add the weapon’s Damage rating to the attack pool (though “9 again” or”8 again” still applies if it would normally). Instead, if the attack succeeds, add the weapon’s Damage rating as extra successes. Applicable to melee weapons with size 2 and bigger (sword, crowbar, shovel, fire axe …). Drawback: Spend one Willpower per attack. Note that this Willpower expenditure does not add three dice to the attack.

Author of the original picture is ionen.

Haunted lighthouse

2007-06-20T00:17:00.000+01:00

You've heard that there is something strange going on in nearby lighthouse. It is not working at the moment and a few ships have sunk in last few months.

The business is slowing down as the bad name spreads out and the mayor is not happy about this. He has sent a few guys there to check it, the light itself seems in a good condition and working during the day but every person who has tried to stay there over night has disappeared. He announced a reward for anyone who will be able to solve this problem and starts the business growing again.

You and your friend were not to sure if you would like to go there but you get drunk last night and made a bet with another guy that you will go there and spend a night in the haunted lighthouse.

You departed from the village in the evening and as you walked towards the lighthouse the thick fog sat down on the country, you almost can't see through it. After a while you spotted the lighthouse in a distance, it's dark and quiet. You almost can feel the weight of the fog on your shoulders and the silence is unnatural, you can't even hear the waves bouncing on the rocks below the lighthouse. What will you do?

Author of the original picture is schelly.

Dragon Ring

2007-06-19T00:05:00.000+01:00

Small silver ring with the dragon tail shaped end. It has been created by an unknown alchemist as a protection from fire for his friend, a captain of the Fire Watch, to protect him at work.

Captain always wore this precious gift from his friend and always survived a fight with fire. When he retired he passed this ring to his successor and the ring become a sign of status within the Fire Watch.

Dungeons and Dragons RPG rules: +5 protection from fire.

Author of the original picture is Helewen.

Helen of Troy

2007-06-18T12:11:00.000+01:00

Helen of Troy is a small yacht with one mast and 2 sails. She is 12 yards long and 3 yards wide, more than 20 years old but in very good shape as her captain is taking a very good care of her. Because Helen is used for smuggling, there is a small hidden cabinet / compartment at the front of the ship which is hard to find. It's not very big but enough for 1 adult person to hide.

There is a small kitchen, old engine room turned into storage space as there is no use for engine with not enough gas for it. Except of these there is one small cabin for captain (with one small safe and hidden compartment very hard to find) and 2 cabins for crew (2 + 3). There are spare sails, ropes and some fishing equipment (nets, fishing rods) in the storage room together with a tank for drinkable water. You can find a small self inflating boat and a few cork vests and wheels.

Her captain is John McGuiness (45), a Scottish pirate and smuggler. He is ex-paratrooper, a sturdy man with small belly, red hair and wild eyes. His Scottish accent is heavy and he swears like a trooper. He is brutal and ruthless man, he will kill in an instant. He mostly lives from piracy, smuggling goods and sometimes selling slaves.

Helen's crew consists of 3 other mariners, Hugh Gallagher (31), Jimmy Calhoun (23) and Pete Humphrey (27). They are typical mariners, short hair, a face unshaven for a few days, a few scars here and there. Jimmy is a sadistic maniac and likes to watch the pain of others, women especially and John has to keep an eye on him so he won't damage the slaves. Pete has developed a big love for strong alcohol and always pays good money for high quality old spirits.

World of Darkness RPG rules: Helen of Troy, yacht, Durability 2, Size 20, Structure 22, Maximum Speed: current wind speed, Safe Speed: 1/3 of Maximum Speed, Handling 1, Occupants 1+5, Cost ****, hidden compartment -3 to find, hidden compartment in captains cabin is -4 to find. For John McGuiness you can use the stats of SWAT officer from World of Darkness Core Rulebook (page 206) and change Drive for Seamanship ****. For his crew you can use Gangbanger's stats (page 205) and change Drive for Seamanship *.

You can download the bigger version of this picture or visit original page where I found it.

Freeze!!!

2007-06-17T19:03:00.000+01:00

Everything went well. You found that bastard Victor at home, he was alone, your informant were right when he told you he will be able to bribe Victor's bodyguards to not to be there tonight.

You had a nice chat with Victor, he was obviously nervous and his eyes were still blinking on the door as he was waiting for his gorillas.

Wrong! They are not coming tonight, Victor ... But you are there, with the wooden stake in your hand.
You won't be a disgrace to our kind Victor, not any more.

Fast movement, jump, he is trying to escape! What a fool, he is no match for you ... The wood enters his body as it is not made of flesh and bones but butter. Aaaaarghh, what a pain!

Does it hurt dear Victor? Your treachery hurts as well, not it is time to pay.

Bang!!! The door exploded!

Freeze!!! Three agents are pointing their guns at you. What will you do?

Author of the original picture is poisondlo.

Marion "Snow White" O'Callahan [night club dancer]

2007-06-16T09:35:00.001+01:00

Marion is NPC character for my zombie campaign The Dead Can Not Swim based on new World of Darkness RPG rules.

She is Irish born, beautiful young girl, making her living as a dancer in a night club. Marion's artistic name is Snow White. She makes some extra pocket money by small petty thefts and breaking ins and selling the stolen goods to merchants with low morale or the ones just passing by.

Her hair are completely white and she doesn't like to talk about it, although people suppose something terrible must have happened to her in her life.

One of her secrets is where she has learned her knife fighting skills. She is very good with knives and local people know this. A few strangers have made a mistake and considered Marion an easy pray when they met her in the harbour district in late night when she is on her way home. It was a very painful mistake and they could consider themselves lucky to get only a few scars on their skin as Marion does not like killing.

She is a nice person to talk to as far as you are not trying to talk to her in early morning or about her past, she knows a lot of people in the town and a few secrets as well. Although she is a bar dancer she is not a prostitute and will become very violent if someone will try to pay her for her service.

You can download the World of Darkness RPG character sheet, author of the original picture is poisondlo.

Comments on RPG Inspirations project

2007-06-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

Please feel free to post your comments and suggestions here.