Heroes of Legend Epic Role Playing in Your World

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2 Heroes of Legend Epic Role Playing in Your World Written & Designed by James F Keck All content copyright Keck Publishing 2008

3 INTRODUCTION n the history of our world, there have been tales of mythical heroes rising up against the darkness plaguing the people of the times. Hercules, King Arthur and his circle of knights, Robin Hood, all are considered great heroes by those that remember them. Our world needed them then, and our world needs them now. The creatures and villains of myth and legend read about in tales thought to be told only as entertainment or to keep our children in line, have somehow been resurrected and are wreaking havoc in our world once again. Grendel, mighty dragons, kobolds and giants roam the land, destroying or devouring all they meet. The Heroes of Legend have been reborn and are challenged to face their former enemies once again in the modern world. You are the hero. You have been born in today s society to mortal parents, but have been imbued with the spirit of a Hero of Legend. Your mission in life? Return the creatures and villains of myth back to the nether world from whence they came. In Heroes of Legend, players build characters based on mythological and legendary heroes to battle the forces of evil now plaguing our world. Adventures can be played on a solo basis, or you can team up with others to put down your foes. It is a game of fast paced adventure with a focus upon epic story telling. It is modern day, our world, but somehow the boundaries of time have been shattered and the creatures and villains of legend and myth are among us. The great magician Merlin foresaw this tragic rip in time and reality and cast a mighty enchantment before disappearing from the court at Camelot. His spell would bring the spirits of the worlds mightiest heroes back to life during this time of trouble. Born as seemingly regular human beings to normal families around the world, these heroes wouldn t know their true self until the fateful day came when their courage and abilities would be needed. Our world has changed. The technology of modern society has been diminished as the creatures spread across the world. Firearms are still in use, but ammunition is at a premium. Those that seek survival in this brave new world have had to turn back to the old ways. Farming and horse-drawn carriages have replaced supermarkets and sports cars. The people have fled to the countryside as dragons and other wicked creatures have taken over the larger cities. It is the duty of the Heroes of Legend to root out these abominations and send them back to their infernal abodes. 1

4 opponent with a single shot, the character not only discovers a secret passage while searching a room, but also finds a clue to aid them on their mission, etc. Characters in Heroes of Legend are made up of several different Attributes and Aspects. The character s Attributes give a numerical value ranging from one to six (1-6) for his or her physical and mental abilities. These Attributes are Strength, Agility, Mind and Awareness. The character s Strength is not only a measure of his or her raw physical power for lifting or pushing objects, it is also used as the overall toughness and stamina of the character. Agility is a measure of the character s manual dexterity and balance. He or she will use this attribute for ranged combat and skills like Stealth. The character s Mind comes into play whenever he or she must perform actions involving thought and reason. First Aid and Survival are examples of skills that utilize the character s Mind attribute. Awareness is the character s perception of both the physical and spiritual world. This attribute is used in skills like Disguise and Gambling Generating the character s Attributes can be done in two ways. The first is through simple random generation. The player rolls 2d6 and compares the two dice. Dropping the lower score of the roll, the player then assigns the higher roll to the Attribute of choice. This process is repeated for each Attribute. Example: Karen rolls 2d6 and gets a 5 and a 3. She disregards the roll of 3 and marks down the 5 as her character s Agility score on the character sheet. The second method of attaining the character s Attributes is by spending Character Points (CPs). At creation, the player is given 15 CPs to distribute among the four Attributes. Each Attribute must have at least one point assigned to it and no one score can be raised above six (6) at character creation, unless modified by an Aspect. Each point assigned to an Attribute represents one six-sided dice. Aspects represent certain traits and /or items the character s heroic persona is most identified with. For example, the sword Excalibur and Leadership would be Aspects of King Arthur Pendragon. Each Aspect will grant the character special advantages in certain situations. Advantages may give bonuses to certain skills or they may grant the character special abilities. The Aspects are listed in Degrees rated from 1 to 3. The Advantages listed after each Aspect are the bonuses and special abilities granted to the character at the first Degree. Each Degree above the first multiplies the bonuses by that amount. Example: King Arthur s Leadership was truly legendary. So his Leadership Aspect should be of the highest degree (3). Leadership gives the character a bonus of +2d to the Command and Diplomacy skills. If he had taken the Aspect at 2nd Degree, Arthur would have +4d to those skills, and at 3rd degree he would receive +6d. To determine how many Aspects your character will be endowed with, roll 2d6. This will give you a number of points with which to purchase Degrees in the various Aspects. A Degree costs 1 point times the level desired or listed if it has only one degree rating. You must purchase each Degree in an Aspect separate- 3

5 Gorgon Habitat: Temperate to Tropical, Land Number: 1-3 Move: 12 Reflex: 6 Armor: 5 Attacks: Claws, Special Damage: Claws 5 Size: M (5-7 feet) Tenacity: 9 Description: Traditionally the Gorgons were three sisters, two of which were immortal, goddess-like beings and the third, Medusa, a demi-goddess that was killed by the Greek hero Perseus. They were hideous creatures having venomous snakes growing in the place of hair. Their physical appearance was so terrible that anyone looking directly at them would be turned to stone. The Gorgons that have come back to our world are the same as these three but without the goddess / demi-goddess affiliation. A Gorgon s main attack is simply getting her opponent to look directly at them. Characters that do must make a successful Awareness check against a Target number of 12 or be instantly transmuted into stone. The effect is permanent but can be reversed by a sorcerer casting Dismissal versus a Target number of 12. If the character avoids looking directly upon a Gorgon, it will attack using its claws for 5 points of damage per hit. =H= Harpy Habitat: Temperate / Tropical Number: 1-6 Move: 6, 12 (flying) Reflex: 5 Armor: 5 Attacks: 2 Claws, Bite Damage: 3 Claws, 5 Bite Size: S (2-3 feet) Tenacity: 6 Description: Greek legend tells of the mighty Jason of the Argonauts coming to the city Salmydessus seeking council of the great King Phineus as they traveled on their quest for the Golden Fleece. The king promised to tell them how to sail through the terrible, jagged Clashers in the passage to the Sea of Pontus if they would help him get rid of the wicked Harpies that harassed him whenever he attempted to eat anything. A pair of the heroes traveling with Jason chased away the foul creatures and Phineus gave them the information they needed to make their way through the passage in safety. The harpies were a hideous combination of a human woman s head and body with a vulture s wings and talons. They were small compared to an average human being, but powerful nonetheless. Their hair was mingled with the feathers of the vulture and their eyes glowed red, giving them an even more sinister appearance. Harpies attack using a combination of two claw attacks with the talons of their feet and one bite if both claw attacks are successful. Their tough hide allows them to shrug off some light attacks from small arms and most unarmed combat damage. They aren t known to utilize weaponry, but it is not beyond their capabilities to pick 36

6 up a javelin or dagger to wield against tougher opponents. Harpies use their advantage of flight and the speed it offers them during most combat situations. They will swoop down upon their targets, raking them with their claws as they pass and fly back out of reach to prevent any harm to themselves. Hydra Habitat: Temperate / Tropical Lakes and Pools Number: 1 Move: 6, 12 (swimming) Reflex: 6 Armor: 8 Attacks: 2 Claws, 2 Bite, 2 Breath Damage: 5 Claws, 8 Bite, 30 Breath Size: M (5-10 feet) Tenacity: 15 Description: Said to be born of Echidna, the Hydra was a multi-headed dragon-like beast that resided near pools and lakes. A typical Hydra has from six to twelve heads at the end of three to four foot long serpentine necks and their scaly hides range in color from greenish-black to deep blue. It was considered to be an immortal creature due to the fact that whenever one of its heads was destroyed, two more grew back in its place. Hydras are a solitary species and are rarely found in groups outside of mating season. Hydras are a very territorial sort of creature, considering the body of water they dwell within to be their sole property. Anyone venturing near a Hydra s lair is subject to immediate attack. In combat, Hydras use their many heads to distract an opponent, feinting from many different directions at once and only truly attacking with one or two heads at a time. This attack form gives the Hydra a +3 on all attacks. Rarely utilized, but still quite dangerous, the Hydra s forward claws can rip at flesh or be used to hold an opponent on the ground while attacking with various heads. The most deadliest weapon at the Hydra s disposal is its poisonous breath attack which does 30 points of damage to all those within the 30 foot radius cloud formed by it. Fortunately this attack can only be used once every three rounds as the Hydra must regenerate its gases after each use. As mentioned previously, a Hydra is considered to be an immortal creature due to its ability to regenerate heads whenever one was destroyed. If a head is severed or blown off, the Hydra will regenerate two heads in its place within three rounds, making the beast that much more difficult to destroy. The only way to prevent the regenerative properties of the Hydra is to cauterize, or burn the neck where the creature s head was severed. 37