RPG Previews: Blood and Relics | Echoes #8

• a/state – Contested Ground Studios
• Complete Guide to Liches: Philolich – Goodman Games
• The Lords of the Night: Vampires – Bottled Imp Games
• Blood and Relics – RPGObjects

Blood and Relics: The Relic Seeker

Malcolm glanced up at the rear view mirror as the flash of lights let him know he was being pursued. Damn. I thought I’d lost them in that last switchback. A dirt road branched off into the dark forest that blanketed either side of the desolate country road, and without a second thought Malcolm hit the gas, banked hard, and took the road. As soon as he turned he killed the lights, driving by feel and instinct as much as by sight in the darkness. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched the girl sitting next to him shift uncomfortably. She was crying. Why those thugs were after her was beyond him, but Malcolm was damned if he was going to let some misguided cult sacrifice a nine-year old girl because of some religious delusion. “Don’t worry sweetie. They won’t catch us.”

The girl shook her head, raising her hands up so the lights from the car’s speedometer shone a sickly green on them. They were wet with blood. Malcolm checked the mirror briefly. No lights. He hit the breaks, and turned on the overhead map light. She was bleeding from her forehead as well. And her side.

The overpowering smell of roses filled the cabin of the car. Malcolm ignored the tight ball in the pit of his stomach as he handed the girl the first aid kit from the glove box and gunned the engine again. The lights behind him had returned. And Malcolm could only remember what that crazy old man had told him on that dusty side street in Cairo last month. A month that seemed an eternity. From the dawn of time they have walked among us, since Adam and Eve were expelled from Paradise. Fighting a war of Blood. Seeing the red soak through the bandages the sniffling girl had wrapped around her hands, Malcolm thought he understood. Or that he was losing his mind.

Sample Character Class- The Relic Seeker

Part Archeologist, part adventurer, the Relic Seeker explores the ancient unknown ruins, seeking artifacts of the past in the quest for knowledge. Characters enter this advanced class for a variety of reasons, from the love of pure scientific discovery, to a more mercenary quest for glory. However, what separates this class from the Grave Robber and the Monitor classes is that the Relic Seeker wants what he finds to be available to the public, for all to see. The Monitors hide their discoveries away, for fear that they might fall into the wrong hands. The Grave Robber, in his quest for money and power, will either keep the device (if he can figure out how to use it), or sell it to a private collector (who is likely to keep it in a private vault).

Requirements
Base Attack Bonus: +1
Skills: Knowledge (Arcane Lore) +6
Personal Firearms Proficiency

Class Information
Hit Die: 1d8
Action Points: 6 + ½ character level, rounded down, every time the character attains a level in this class.
Class Skills: Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Decipher Script (Int), Disable Device (Int), Escape Artist (Dex), Hide (Dex), Jump (Str), Knowledge (Arcane Lore, History, Archaeology) (Int), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex), Navigate (Int), Research (Int), Ride, Search (Int), Spot (Wis), Survival (Wis), Swim (Str), Tumble (Dex) Skill Points per Level: 6 + Int Modifier

Table: The Relic Seeker

Evasion (Ex): If a Relic Seeker makes a successful Reflex saving throw against an attack that normally deals half damage on a successful save, the Relic Seeker instead takes no damage. Evasion can only be used if the Relic Seeker is wearing light armor or no armor. At 10th level, the Relic Seeker only takes half damage on a failed save.

Improvised Tools (Ex): At 2nd level and above, the Relic Seeker takes no penalties to her skill checks for being without tools or proper equipment. If the Relic Seeker needs to climb she can use vines, if she needs to repair a vehicle she can use a swiss army knife and duct tape, and if she needs to treat injury she will find some rare jungle herbs. In short, Relic Seekers are Masters at “making do”.

Uncanny Dodge(Ex): At 3rd level and above, a Relic Seeker retains her Dexterity bonus to AC (if any) if caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker.
At 5th level, the Relic Seeker can no longer be flanked.
At 7th level, the Relic Seeker gains a +1 bonus to Reflex saves made to avoid traps (including Evasion Saving throws) and a +1 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps.
At 9th level, this bonus rises to +2.

Improvised Weapons (Ex): At 4th level, the Relic Seeker never wants for a weapon, in addition to never being without tools. The character may use any item not designed to be a weapon with no penalty to hit.

Sidekick (Ex): Although Relic Seekers do not favor the large groups of untrained cannon fodder that the Grave Robber tends to bring along, many do see the value in one, well-trained associate to watch their backs. Any time after 6th level, the Relic Seeker may take a Cohort. Often, Cohorts will find him, seeking to share his life of danger and excitement.

Miraculous Escape (Ex): Relic Seekers seem blessed (cursed?) with the ability to find their way out of the most ingenious traps and most deadly situations. This ability allows the Relic Seeker to escape what seems like certain death. If the character is in an airplane that’s about to crash, he will survive by jumping in a life raft, if the character is in a flooding chamber, he will ride out on a coffin, and so forth. This ability may only be used once per day, and requires the Relic Seeker to spend one action point if the situation he’s in would be very harmful, or two action points if the situation would result in certain death. In any event, the Relic Seeker always suffers minimum damage from the attack or situation (so a long fall would still inflict 20 points of damage).

Timeline Sample

The War to End all Wars

There were Giants on the Earth in those days.

The Dark Lord and his followers begin to mate with humans, creating a race known since the Middle Ages as the Caeder, or the “Butchers”. The Dark Horde also mates with animals, producing horrible creatures, thankfully sterile, which plunge the world into Darkness.

The sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; … and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.

The Lords of Light had children with the men and women they were sent to protect. These men and women were possessed of extraordinary powers. Originally called the Covenant Bearers, these lords of light have, since the Middle Ages been known as the Sang Real, the “Blood Royal”. Scholars will note that technically speaking, Sang Real only applies to the strain of the Covenant Bearers directly descended from Christ, who have much more power than the “standard” Covenant Bearers. Still, the term Sang Real is often used generally to describe this entire race.

This was a time of open conflict in the Blood War on a world-wide scale, a time of monsters, of Chimera and Medusa and Giants. For centuries the war continued, with the Lord of Light himself taking part in the war, and yet the Shadow began to consume the Light.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Earth also was corrupt before God, and the Earth was filled with violence.

In order to stem the seemingly endless tide of the Dark Lord and his Caeder, the entire Earth is swept clean by a tremendous flood. Only Noah and his family, and creatures chosen by the Lord of Light are spared. Noah is the first of the Sang Real to bear a personal Covenant with God. And as the Flood brings a close to the most open, most widespread, most violent phase of the Blood War, the Lord of Light lays down his bow of war, and leaves in the clouds after the rain as a symbol of peace.

• For more information, please visit RPGObjects’ official web site at www.rpgobjects.com.