[BNW] Aquarian and Lazarus

[MForbeck@aol.com]

Hi All: 

A number of you have pointed out to me that Glory Days refers to two power 
packages which aren't yet in print. This happened because I wrote Crescent 
City before I wrote Glory Days, yet the two were published in the reverse 
order. Crescent City is currently on press (I believe) and should be 
available in October or early November. In the meantime, I've decided to post 
the two power packages here as a preview of what you'll see in Crescent City 
and to say thank you for supporting the game. 

Use them in good health. ; )

Take care, 

Matt Forbeck 
AEG

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Aquarian

There are a select class of deltas who can actually function better 
underwater than most people can on land. They’re called aquarians. 

The most famous aquarian of them all is ex-model Lisa Stein, who has retired 
since completing her tour of duty with Delta Prime. (See pages 60–61 for more 
on the Lady of the Bay.) It’s rumored that there are hundreds of aquarians 
living in an underwater city in the center of Chicago Bay, but so far no 
one’s been able to prove it—or if they have, at least they haven’t gone 
public with it. 

Aquarians are one of the more obvious kinds of deltas. They have webbed 
fingers and toes, and they have a small set of gills on their necks, just 
below their ears. The most notable trait to a casual onlooker, though, is the 
way their eyes are entirely pitch black, much like those of a shark. This 
effect can really creep out some people, as it makes the hero look like 
something from the Black Lagoon. 

Because of their looks, most aquarians tend to be the shy and retiring type, 
even reclusive. This probably explains why there aren’t so many known these 
days, although there were several who served with the US Navy in WWII. 

Powers

Fast Swimmer: The hero adds +20 to her Pace when swimming. In effect, the 
hero can swim circles around just about anything else in the water. Also, the 
hero can also use her swimming skill in place of a dodge skill when she’s in 
the water and trying to dodge an attack. 

Nightvision: The hero can see normally in a situation in which there is any 
light at all. This comes in handy when moving around at great depths. The 
hero can even see while deep underwater at night, as long as there’s some 
kind of light source overhead. Near Crescent City, the city lights reflecting 
off of the sky pretty much always qualify. 
Water Breathing: The hero can breathe water through her gills. The hero can 
also breathe air through her mouth normally without any problem. The hero is 
still vulnerable to things like gases. The gills do not filter such things 
out. 

The hero can switch between air and water breathing at will. Doing so is a 
simple task, so it doesn’t even require an action. 

Immunity: The hero is unaffected by hypothermia. 

Quirks

Obvious: This is the standard quirk at –3. The hero is obviously no longer 
merely human, but she can conceal this if she likes. Shoes, gloves, and a 
turtleneck can cover most of her physical oddities, and a good pair of 
sunglasses should finish the disguise. Of course, this kind of coverup works 
best in colder weather and can get uncomfortable in the dead of summer. 

Ugly: This is like the standard quirk, but only at –1. The hero is ugly by 
human standards For friendly persuasion rolls, she must take –1 from her 
result. On the other hand, she could add +1 to hostile persuasion rolls.

You can still take the standard ugly trait if you like. In that case, the 
hero is staggeringly ugly, and all the modifiers add together. This would 
give the hero –3 to friendly persuasion rolls and a potential +3 to hostile 
persuasion rolls.

Tricks

Aquabatics: If the hero gets an extra success on a swimming roll, she can 
perform an athletic feat in the water. The exact nature of how the trick is 
used is up to the player and the Guide, but one good example is breaching. By 
this, the hero dives deep and then swims for the surface at top speed. When 
she reaches air again, her momentum pushes her up to 10 feet into the air, 
plus another foot for every additional success.

Breathing Buddy: With an extra success on a Spirit roll, the hero can 
actually filter enough oxygen-laden air underwater to help a friend breathe 
with a little mouth-to-mouth contact. This takes a full action for the hero 
to attempt to pull it off. 
If the hero succeeds at the roll, the extra air rolls into the hero’s lungs. 
If she can then match her mouth up to her friend’s, she can blow the air into 
her companion’s lungs. This is the equivalent to the friend getting a full 
breath of fresh air. 

Lazarus

Ever wished you could come back from the dead? Well, as a lazarus, your hero 
can. 
This power isn’t all it’s cracked up to be though. Just because your hero 
can’t be permanently killed doesn’t mean someone can’t do a real number on 
him in the short term. When the hero gets shot, it still hurts just as much 
as ever. 

The hero is pretty much a normal human being until he manages to get himself 
killed. At that point, his body starts doing its best to get him up and 
running again. 
The time it takes the hero to come back to life depends on how badly he was 
injured when he was killed. If he was just barely pushed off this mortal 
coil, he could be back in a matter of hours. If he was knocked through the 
veil of death with a rocket launcher, it’s going to take him quite a bit 
longer. 

Powers

Resurrection: If the hero is killed, he  comes back to life at some later 
date. The length of time it takes him to resurrect depends on the number of 
extra wound levels he suffered when he was killed. This means you need to 
keep track of the amount of damage done to him when—and even after—he dies. 

A hero dies when he takes double his Strength in wounds in either his head or 
torso—the vital areas. Once the hero is no longer being wounded, tally up how 
many extra wounds he’s taken in each of his vital areas. You only need to 
worry about the higher number. 

The hero’s body starts to regenerate right away, but it’s a slow process. 
While the lazarus’s body regenerates, he is still dead. It’s just that his 
body progressively looks better and better. Bones set, bullet wounds close, 
and smashed limbs are restored. 

In fact, if the hero has actually lost part of his body, it’s regenerated 
entirely from scratch. The hero’s brain is the center from which this 
regeneration takes place, so if his head is removed from his body, his head 
would then grow a new body while his old body would rot away. Even if the 
hero’s head is smashed, some small part of it will go on to regenerate the 
rest of him, leaving the rest to decay. The only way to truly kill him would 
be to incinerate his head. 

A hero can only suffer either up to his Strength in extra wounds or 3 extra 
wounds, whichever is greater. After that point, any extra damage inflicted is 
wasted. 
The hero’s body heals 1 wound level every 12 hours. Once the hero’s body is 
entirely healed, the hero suddenly comes back to life, his body as good as 
new. This means that a mortally wounded or maimed hero could willingly die 
and then come back whole. 

The hero does not come back to life until the healing is entirely complete, 
even if the hero’s body has healed enough wounds to the point that the hero 
would normally be alive. All wounds must first be healed. 

The healing process can be helped along by normal means, including medical 
attention and even a delta healer. It can also be hindered by damaging the 
hero’s defenseless body. 

The dying process is not pleasant, but the hero has no recollection of 
anything happening between his death and resurrection. For whatever reason, 
his mind is simply a blank. 

Tricks

Sacrifice: With an extra success on a bravery roll, the hero gets an extra 
delta point. This special point can only be used to perform an action that 
helps someone else directly at risk to the hero’s life. If it’s not used by 
the end of the play session, it goes away. The hero can rack up as many of 
these delta points as he likes during any single play session. 

Dying Act: With an extra success on a Spirit roll at the moment of death, the 
hero can perform one final short task after he’s been killed. This task must 
be taken on what would have been the hero’s next action, had he not been 
killed. If the hero is stunned, he is unstunned for this last, desperate 
action. No matter what happens, the hero dies immediately thereafter.