Re: [HOE] New Martyrs for all you Templars! (Long, Possible Spoilers)

["Jeff Shoffner" <shoffner@esper.com>]

Okay, having read all this about martyrs, I finally decided to go out & buy
a Last Crusader book.


Okay, so I was wrong; you can have as many martyrs as you want crawling out
of the woodwork.  Sounds like the only difference between a saint & a martyr
is the martyr has been "seen" by someone.

In that case, I'd suggest folks make up martyrs based on previous characters
that got to Grit 5 or so.  Also, since there are going to be some many of
them, I'd suggest borrowing titles from the previously mentioned....

Here's a few to get started:


Mao; Saint of Martial Artists.

Mao (known as the Human Cuisinart) gained his fame during the late 1870s as
a force to be reckoned with.  Using almost godlike abilities of death &
destruction, Mao managed on more than several occasions to make a bloody
carnage of even the most worst abominations the Reckoners (and his Marshal,
grumble, grumble) could throw at him. Wielding a Japanese katana (won during
a duel to the death), Mao spread his brand of justice throughout the West
until he simply disappeared.  No one knows exactly what happened to him.

Deed:  Mao will normally appear only to Templars of oriental
backgrounds--although he tolerates the "round-eyes," he holds most of them
in comtempt and will only bless them under extreme conditions.  In order to
gain his blessing, the Templar must show his worth as a one man,
rage-driven, slicing machine of death.  Taking out at least a dozen black
hats using nothing more than a sword & hand-to-hand attacks will usually do
it.

White: Mao was very hard to surprise. Spent involuntarily (read on), this
allows the Templar to avoid being surprised. Whenever the Templar or posse
is about to be ambushed, the marshal makes the usual Cognition checks.  If
the Templar fails (but not busts) but has a white chip, the marshal takes
the chip and gives the player an automatically success.

Red: Mao was very hard to hit.  When spent, the Red Chip beefs up the
Templar's defensive capabilities by adding +6 to his HtH fighting ability
solely for the purpose of figuring TN to hit the Templar. For example, a
Templar with Fightin': sword of 6 is fighting an anti-Templar and has Mao's
blessing, the TN for the A-T to hit would be 5+6 (for fightin': sword)+6
(for the red chip) for a total of 17; not bad for a red chip.  This lasts
for as long immediate combat continues (ie: Templar kills this A-T & goes
into another room looking for more bad guys, the affects wear off).  In
addition, this only works for HtH fighting; it does nothing for dodging.

Blue: Mao did buttloads of damage.  When spent, the Templar increases his
STR damage two levels while fighting (for a possible D12+4) This lasts as
many rounds as the Templar has Faith.  In addition, the Templar may spend
chips on damage caused by the weapon itself, but hey, if you have a 4D12+4
STR damage bonus, why would you?

Legend: Mao had "The Glow." When spent, a Templar may use any one
Enlightened power on this list: Monkey Goes to Mountain, Seize the Pearl of
Death, Fury Fans the Flames, Dragon's Claw, Many Arms of the Spider, Smoke
Parts for Iron, Thunder Strums the Pipa, or Vemon Punch.  Typically, these
last for one round.

Vexation:  Mao is very hard on his blessed.  Anyone using firearms is
considered a coward & is forsaken.  Anyone making disparaging remarks
against the orient or its people is immediately forsaken.  Running from any
fight (except one that is absolutely unwinnable) is the utmost no-no & you
might as well forget ever hearing from him again.



Reverend Ewstis T. Feltcher, Saint of Humility

Rev. Feltcher was a Blessed during the late 1880s who felt it was his duty
to God to convert as many people as possible to the Good Lord's ways.
Fortunately for a lot of folks in trouble, he was lousy at this job, but
better at what the Lord intended for him.  During his journeys with Mao,
Rev. Feltcher stood up against the evils that plagued the West with nothing
more than his walking stick & his Faith in the Lord.  Sadly, the Reverend
succumbed to his biggest weakness--drinking--and was killed by abominations
while in a drunken stupor.  But hey, if you're going out, might as well be
toasted.


Deed:  The reverend visits those who follow the way of peace.  Peacibly
solving a potential conflict is almost always a sure way to gain his
attention.  In addition, any Templar that helps those that normally would
not be deemed worthy also attracts him.

White: Templar automatically overcomes any attempts by the Black Hats to
overawe, ridicule, or persuade. During this time, the Templar can not make
these mental attempts of "one upping" someone. Effect lasts Templar's Faith
in minutes.

Red: Templar exerts a field of peace around him with a radius of 5 feet per
Faith level.  In game terms, this lowers the Fear Level by 1 in this field,
& gives anyone within the area +2 to fear checks.  This lasts Templar's
Faith level in hours.

Blue: When used, the Templar can attempt his Lay On Hands reward on any
injured.  If successful, all level of wounds are healed instead of reduced
by one.

Legend: May be spent to gain any of the following Gifts or Miracles:
Humility, Spiritual Giant, Pious, Smite, Armour of Righteousness,
Retribution, Consecrate Item, Grace, Manna.

Vexation.  Rev. Feltcher was a pacifist of the most extreme when dealing
with humans.  If the blessed Templar kills any human, be he Black Hat,
Mutant, whatever, the reverend will forsake the Templar.  Similarly, the
Reverend does not look highly on Simon's Test of Worth and will leave the
Templar for 1D10 days if he abandons any in need.


I would write up my guy, Johnny Montana, but he lived to see HOE....

Jeff S