The Origin

CREDITS
Designer Bruce R. Cordell
Creative Director Monte Cook
Developer Sean K. Reynolds
Managing Editor Teri Litorco
Editor Jeff Quick
Proofreader Ray Vallese
Art Director Bear Weiter
Layout Javier P. Beltrán
Cover Artist Mirco Paganessi

Cartographer
Lee Smith

Artists
Jacob Atienza, Javier P. Beltrán, Simon Carr, Domenico Cava, Biagio D’Alessandro, Giuseppe De iure,
Gaia Degl’Innocenti, Angelica Donarini, Felipe Escobar, Michele Esposito, Alexander Gustafson,
David Hueso, Raph Herrera Lomotan, Russell Marks, Federico Musetti, Mirco Paganessi, Grzegorz Pedrycz,
Angelo Peluso, Aaron J. Riley, Riccardo Rullo, Lee Smith, Matt Stawicki, Cyril Terpent, Cory Trego-Erdner,
Chris Waller, Cathy Wilkins, Ben Wootten

© 2022 Monte Cook Games, LLC. CYPHER SYSTEM and its logo are trademarks of Monte Cook Games, LLC in the U.S.A.
and other countries. All Monte Cook Games characters and character names, and the distinctive likenesses thereof, are trademarks of
Monte Cook Games, LLC.

Printed in Canada
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction....................................................................................................... 4

PART 1: METAHUMAN MANIFESTATION 5

Chapter 1: Origin Story................................................................................... 6
Chapter 2: GMing The Origin.........................................................................7
Chapter 3: Surviving Superpowers...............................................................16
Chapter 4: Divergent Timeline Cyphers...................................................... 20
Chapter 5: Artifacts........................................................................................ 31

PART 2: SETTING OF THE ORIGIN 35

Chapter 6: Welcome to The Origin.............................................................. 36
Chapter 7: Secret Groups & Covert Places.................................................. 42

PART 3: METAHUMANS, MONSTERS, AND MORE 79

Chapter 8: Metahumans.............................................................................. 80
Chapter 9: Monsters....................................................................................111
Chapter 10: Collectors.................................................................................120

PART 4: ADVENTURES 127

Chapter 11: An Evening at the Opera..........................................................128
Chapter 12: Joining the House (an Interlude)............................................ 137
Chapter 13: Appeal of Distress....................................................................140
Chapter 14: Threshold to Apocalypse......................................................... 145

Glossary and Index........................................................................................ 160

 The Origin

INTRODUCTION

W
Chapter 6: Welcome to elcome to the secret world that hides Part 2: Chapter 6: Welcome to The Origin
The Origin, page 36 beneath our own. An Earth where provides a high-level overview of the setting,
unexplained, mind-bending events the situation PCs face, and a summary of
Chapter 7: Secret Groups bequeath normal humans with outrageous, various groups and concepts. Chapter 7: Secret
& Covert Places, page 42 dangerous powers. Rips in reality scattered items, Groups & Covert Places fully describes a variety
creatures, and even more unbelievable things of specific groups and setting locations, with
into the world . . . not that most people notice. options for creating encounters and adventures,
Your player characters (PCs) finally do notice including lots of places to explore. Some are
when they go from average to metahuman, located in the unstable, constantly changing
The Subworld, page 70 manifesting paranormal abilities that defy place called the Subworld.
sense and control. Even as they attempt to gain
Chapter 8: Metahumans, expertise over powers they never asked for, Part 3: Chapter 8: Metahumans describes
page 80 they must hide what they’ve become. Covert a variety of nonplayer character (NPC)
government agencies, terrorist organizations, metahumans active in the setting, including
and even more mysterious groups seek them criminals, vigilantes, terrorists, assassins,
Chapter 9: Monsters, out. Some groups want to study the PCs, recluses, and covert agents. Chapter 9:
page 111 others to recruit them, while still others want to Monsters provides a glimpse of what happens
destroy them. Who are the PCs’ allies? Whose when the same metahuman phenomenon that
Chapter 10: Collectors, motives can they trust? affects people is visited upon normal animals
page 120 Amid the confusion, even worse things hunt (hint: it’s usually pretty scary). Chapter 10:
metahumans: shadowy beings from a dead Collectors provides campaign secrets about
Chapter 11: An Evening divergent dimension are attracted to PCs like extradimensional aliens that hunt metahumans.
at the Opera, page 128 flies to honey.
If PCs are to survive, they must master their Part 4: Chapter 11: An Evening at the Opera
Chapter 12: Joining the new powers, find allies, and fight an array of provides a starting adventure for PCs, designed
House (an Interlude), enemies, including covert government agents, to take them from normal (when play begins) to
page 137 mysterious alien abductors, and often enough, metahumans on their way to understanding the
other metahumans using their abilities to help world in a different way by the end. Chapter 12:
Chapter 13: Appeal of themselves at others’ expense. Joining the House (an Interlude) and Chapter 13:
Distress, page 140 Appeal of Distress are adventures for PCs to dip
their toes a little further into the strange world of
Chapter 14: Threshold to HOW TO USE THIS BOOK The Origin. And finally, Chapter 14: Threshold to
Apocalypse, page 145 If you’re looking for some direction on how to Apocalypse is an adventure that brings characters
digest the material in this book, look no further. to face the deepest mysteries of the setting.
Chapter 1: Origin
Story, page 6 Part 1: Read Chapter 1: Origin Story for specifics
on the space rock that introduced secret
Chapter 2: GMing superhumans to an unsuspecting normal world.
CYPHER SYSTEM RULEBOOK
The Origin, page 7 Chapter 2: GMing The Origin provides instructions
on how to make a “regular” modern character
Running a Campaign Set into a metahuman. This chapter also has a
in The Origin, page 13 section on Running a Campaign Set in The Origin, Throughout this book, you’ll see page
including direction about what sorts of campaigns references to various items accompanied by
Chapter 3: Surviving might work best in this setting. Chapter 3: this symbol. These are page references to
Superpowers, page 16 Surviving Superpowers provides rules hazards the Cypher System Rulebook, where you can
for newly obtained superpowers, including GM find additional details about that rule, ability,
Chapter 4: Divergent intrusions for inexperienced power use. Chapter creature, or concept. Often, you will need
Timeline Cyphers, 4: Divergent Timeline Cyphers introduces an to look up the reference to find information
page 20 additional wrinkle to cyphers in The Origin setting. you need. Other times, it’s not necessary, but
And Chapter 5: Artifacts presents several high-tech looking it up can deepen your experience and
Chapter 5: Artifacts, devices specific to the setting.
understanding of the game and the setting.
page 31

4
 Part 1
metahuman
manifestation

CH 1: ORIGIN STORY........................................................................... 6
CH 2: GMing THE ORIGIN.................................................................... 7
CH 3: SURVIVING SUPERPOWERS......................................................... 16
CH 4: DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS................................................. 20
CH 5: ARTIFACTS............................................................................. 31
 The Origin
Chapter 1

ORIGIN STORY

O
WARNING! This is a n the surface, the setting of The Origin is theorists start pushing something, sensible
GM-only chapter. It almost exactly like the real world. History people know it’s got to be crap.
contains spoilers for is strikingly similar. The average person However, in this case, the exception proves
the setting. Players wouldn’t spot any differences in the present. the rule. The conspiracists are right. Because
shouldn’t read it. The future, however, might diverge substantially. there was indeed a Crash.
Because something weird happened recently—
something not only unexpected and unusual,
Part 2: Setting of The but so momentous that reality itself was bent,
Origin, page 35 possibly broken. Most people wouldn’t believe THE POWERS
it if you pointed it out. Evidence suggests that anyone who remembers
The Crash, page 36 Literally, they wouldn’t believe it. Because the the Crash develops improbable new abilities,
average person remembers a slightly different often in defiance of normally understood
sequence of events than the PCs. It begins with theories of physics and reality. People with no
how the PCs remember dying. memory of the event remain as they were.
A lucky (or perhaps unlucky) few thought
they might be losing their minds when they
first turned invisible, or started reading other
WHEN IT BEGAN people’s thoughts, or woke up levitating over
Metahuman is the Mainstream news didn’t mention it. Alternative the bedcovers. But gradually, most metahumans
label given to those in news sites were almost as quiet, except realized that what they could do was real.
The Origin setting with for places that feature space science and They had powers! Like superheroes in comics
extraordinary abilities.
astronomy. Even so, hardly anyone seemed to and movies. Like superheroes, but also different.
Flameout, page 17 care when a second interstellar object zipped Because figuring out how to use strange new
into the solar system. That’s because it wasn’t abilities isn’t automatic, easy, or even safe. Until
Detected on October new. Just a few years earlier, stories about a metahuman gets the hang of it, there’s a real
19th 2017, Oumuamua “Oumuamua: The First Interstellar Object” chance they’ll injure or even kill themselves.
was the first known blew up on social media, then fizzled because it This unfortunate result is known as a “flameout”
interstellar object
really was just a fast space rock. after a couple of people with pyrokinesis
observed passing through
the solar system. Most But the second interstellar visitor was abilities seriously burned themselves.
astronomers believe it captured by the sun’s gravity in a highly
was a natural object. eccentric orbit. Visible in the night sky as a faint
starlike point, some wiseass dubbed it Nibiru.
Nibiru is supposedly Then Nibiru curved out of the night, hitting
a planet with a very the Earth before anyone understood that its
long orbit, popularized trajectory was changing hour by hour.
by people who believe
Fire burned the sky, the ground, and
in ancient aliens and
conspiracy theories. everything. It was like the gods smashed Earth
with a hammer, killing everything in a blaze of
incandescent fury.
And then . . . 
Everything was fine again. As if the Earth
exploding was just some horrible dream.
An unbelievable memory that only a tiny
percentage of people on the planet shared.
Everyone else was completely oblivious.
Not long after that, conspiracy theorists
began reporting the appearance of people with
extraordinary powers. When the conspiracy

6
 GMING THE ORIGIN
Chapter 2

GMING THE ORIGIN

T WHAT DO PCs “DO” IN

he bulk of the setting information for The Part 2: Setting of The
Origin, page 35
Origin is in part 2. This chapter guides
you through running your first few games,
A GAME SET IN THE ORIGIN? Chapter 11: An Evening
which could lead to an ongoing campaign. As always, you can mix things up from at the Opera, page 128
In this setting, PCs can begin as normal what’s expected. Start PCs as experienced
people who become metahumans during the metahumans, or even cast them in the role
course of their first game after a particularly of MAD special agents hunting “dangerous
disturbing nightmare, as described in the “An metahumans” if you wish. But this book is The Origin assumes
Evening at the Opera” adventure. This adventure structured to lead PCs along a story arc that that really impossible
propels the PCs into a new world where they goes something like the following. tasks are on the table,
discover extraordinary abilities as metahumans, • PCs are surprised to discover weird new as described on page
memories and powers in what previously 293 of the Cypher
learn about the covert agencies trying to
seemed to be a real-world setting. System Rulebook.
capture them, and find a community of other
metahumans trying to help each other survive. • The PCs learn that other people in the
Whether you use the first adventure or setting already know about metahumans.
provide the information as background, PCs And some of them hunt metahumans to
should quickly discover their new abilities kill them, study them, or recruit them.
and the threats they face as newly manifested PCs must fight off a few representatives
metahumans. They also learn about a of these groups sooner or later.
sympathetic community of other metahumans • The PCs learn about a dark website, the
who maintain their secret existence and “House of Nibiru,” that turns out to be a
independence from government, criminal, and secret community of mostly sympathetic
terrorist organizations. This community is known metahumans. The community contains
as the House of Nibiru, which PCs first likely many relatively inactive members, House of Nibiru, page 42
interact with via a dark web message board. but welcomes new metahumans into
its fold (if only electronically, at first).
They help new PC metahumans adapt,
provide advice, and warn them of threats
CHARACTER CREATION STEPS FOR GMs metahumans face.
• The House of Nibiru recruits PC
When you’re ready to start a campaign with
this material, decide whether you want the metahumans to take on various missions
players to be unknowing or informed about the for the community. Those include
nature of the campaign when they create their rescuing captive metahumans from covert
characters. (The default option is “unknowing,” government labs, safeguarding metahuman
as described hereafter. Using this method, PCs facilities, and stopping metahuman “bad
create starter characters that will be modified as apples” who are up to no good.
their new abilities become clear.) • PCs may ultimately become involved in
Once characters gain their new abilities, exploring the mystery of the Crash itself
it’s time to update the PCs to turn them into (such as in “Threshold to Apocalypse”). Chapter 14: Threshold
metahumans with extraordinary abilities. Part to Apocalypse, page 145
of that is deciding if you want players to choose For even more guidance, see Running a Running a Campaign Set
their power shifts dynamically or statically. Campaign Set in The Origin for information in The Origin, page 13
(The default option is “statically,” as described on what sorts of campaigns work best in this
hereafter.) setting.
If PCs begin play unknowing, start them off Additional adventure options are provided
with the “An Evening at the Opera” adventure. in each of the organization and location write-
ups found in Part 2: Setting of The Origin.

7
 The Origin
UNKNOWING OR INFORMED power shifts to assign. At tier 2 and again at
CHARACTER CREATION tier 3, they gain one additional power shift, until
Power shifts, page 292 There are two ways to introduce the players they achieve a total of 5 power shifts. Additional
to this campaign, either unknowing of what’s power shift options are also provided in Claim
Modern, page 261 going to happen, or already informed that it’s a the Sky, if that book is available.
weird not-quite-superhero game. As fully described in the primary setting
chapters, The Origin is not a typical superhero
UNKNOWING setting. The PCs are not costume-clad
The players create normal modern Cypher superheroes fighting crime and opposing
System characters, and they don’t know their supervillains as a matter of course. Instead, they
characters will become metahumans. When you are trying to navigate a much stranger world
Chapter 11: An Evening run the first adventure (perhaps “An Evening at than they previously imagined, while trying
at the Opera, page 128 the Opera”), during the course of play, the PCs to not be noticed by media or government
remember a particularly horrific memory. Oddly, agencies looking for people like them.
all the PCs are able to recall the same apocalyptic
event, despite that it obviously hadn’t actually UPDATING MODERN CHARACTERS
happened. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. TO CREATE METAHUMANS
The unfolding adventure’s events may help the If PCs begin play unknowing, they start
players mirror their characters’ surprise. with characters suitable to a modern game.
Then they have an impressively unsettling
INFORMED recollection of the Earth being struck by a
The players create characters with extraordinary rogue interstellar comet, wiping out all life on
Recalling the abilities before the first game. This spoils the the planet. (To see this in action, refer to the
Crash, page 132 surprise at the start of the first adventure, but Recalling the Crash, part of the “An Evening
allows the players to create their characters with at the Opera” adventure. When they snap out
the setting in mind. of the vision (or wake up from a dream, as
Which method works best for your group happens to some), PCs are probably relieved
depends on your players—their ability to honestly to discover that it was all in their imagination.
roleplay a shocking change like becoming a Or was it?
metahuman with strange new abilities, how Because then things seem to go completely
quickly they can accept their new circumstances off the rails.
as being high on the government’s most You can choose to handle this as a group
wanted lists, and so on. The assumption is experience if all the PCs are together; “An
that players run brand-new first tier characters Evening at the Opera” provides specific guidance
when they start “An Evening at the Opera,” but on one way to make it a group experience.
there’s no reason you couldn’t play through a Alternatively, PCs could be in different places
few sessions (using your own adventure ideas when they remember the Crash. In this case,
or other published material) to get the feel you could arrange for a short one-on-one game
of those PCs as humans before having them session with each player, during which you tell
become metahumans at higher tiers. them they remember the world ending . . . then
play out the opening stages of what it’s like to
CREATING METAHUMAN CHARACTERS figure out that they have weird abilities.
If PCs begin play informed about the setting, This happens in three phases. Phase one is
they can just create the characters they want recalling the Crash. Phase two is uncontrolled
Superheroes, page 289 to play right away, using the rules introduced discovery. Phase three is finalization.
under Superheroes in the Cypher System
Claim the Sky is a Cypher Rulebook (and if available, as augmented by CRASH RECOLLECTION
System sourcebook the rules and advice described in Claim the Tell the PC that they experience something that
with expanded rules Sky). That means that in addition to choosing a begins almost like a migraine, which takes a
for superheroes.
descriptor, type, and focus that best embodies turn for the extremely weird. In terms of game
their character, each character has three mechanics, the PC is stunned for one round,

Each metahuman PC has three power shifts to assign as part of their initial
character creation process, then two more as they gain tiers.

8
 GMING THE ORIGIN
even as their mind suddenly recalls a memory WHEN DID THE CRASH HAPPEN?
of the Earth ending, a memory that is every bit The Crash happened two years ago, give
as real seeming as all their other memories or take.
(which probably feature the Earth not being If you analyzed the Nibiru disaster
destroyed by a space rock). recollections over time, you’d draw a curve
starting with one or two recollections every
read aloud few weeks that suddenly spikes up to a few
Migraine pain ripples back and forth along the thousand recollections in one day.
inside of your skull. A sickening aura of pain After the spike, the curve gradually would
dances before you, becoming something more taper off to today’s numbers. As best as the
than an image. It’s familiar. It’s a memory! How Metahuman Affairs Department (MAD) MAD, page 47
could you have forgotten? The days leading up or the House of Nibiru can determine, an House of Nibiru, page 42
to the unbelievable disaster blaring across every average of just a couple of people suddenly
news channel and web browser describing recall the Crash per week, even today.
a fast-approaching wandering interstellar But for those few, the flashback of
object. Scientists called it 2I/2020 E1. Everyone destruction is just as fresh and immediate as
else called it “Nibiru” after a mythical planet if it happened yesterday. Given how little is
destined to destroy civilization. understood about the entire phenomenon,
But horrifically, Nibiru impacted. When it who’s to say that it didn’t? In any event, that
hit, fire burned the sky, scorching everything means that on any given day, one or two
in an ever-widening ripple spreading across new metahumans also come into the world
the globe. But before that fire reached you, wondering just what the hell is going on.
the ground began to shudder more and more
violently, until the city around you collapsed,
even as the Earth itself was finally torn asunder. either them or nearby characters and objects.
For instance, if a character transforms into
UNCONTROLLED DISCOVERY a lion but can’t control the ability, they may
When a PC’s metahuman abilities first begin lash out with their claws. If a character begins
to manifest after they recall the Crash, their generating electricity or fire, they may create a
specific powers aren’t set. One moment the massive surge of energy, damaging everything
character may be able to shoot lasers out nearby. And so on.
of their eyes, the next phase through solid If a character successfully gains control and/or If two or more characters
material, and a few seconds after that, shrink directs these random metahuman abilities at are together while
anything they touch. least three times, the entire episode ends. This recalling the Crash, pick
one character to begin
This is a dangerous time, and those who is when you can ask the PC what they think
manifesting first. Then,
undergo this process may think they’re losing they can do. If they name an effect, let them stagger the moment
their mind at first. manifest it for a couple of rounds, GMing the when the next one begins
PCs are stunned during the turn where they effect in a way that seems appropriate. manifesting their power
recall the Crash, and they can’t take actions. After that, it’s time to move on to the by about two rounds.
Beginning on the next round, use the Random finalization phase, where the player updates Continue staggering, if
Power Manifestations table to randomly their character. there are more characters.
generate an effect created by the character.
Introduce the first random power a character GMing A CONTROLLED POWER Random Power
manifests as a GM intrusion. You have a lot of freedom to describe what Manifestations
Each new manifesting power is something the happens to a character during the unstable table, page 11
character can’t control at first. But they can try period right after they get their powers. In
to suppress or direct what happens each round the round a PC gets control of a randomly
by succeeding on a difficulty 3 Intellect task (as manifested ability, the character can take an
part of another action, if the PC wishes). If the action as they normally could. While in control
PC gets control of the power, they have that of a power, they have a sense that they could
turn to do something (possibly using the power, intentionally use the ability that they just
possibly not). But on the PC’s next turn, that manifested. Treat the character as if they had
power goes away and a new one manifests, three power shifts applied to whatever they
which they can again attempt to control. attempt. So, for example, if a character gains
If a character fails to control a newly control of a fire power this turn, they could
manifested ability on their turn, they are create a huge fire blast, and make an attack
essentially stunned and can’t take any with it. Alternatively, they might be so freaked
deliberate actions. However, their uncontrolled out that they want to run away; in this case, tell
ability probably has an unintended effect on the character they streak away in a blaze of fire,

9
 The Origin

Introduce the first random power a character manifests as a GM intrusion.

moving double or triple the amount of distance character has to other characters.
they thought they would. Or say a character A character who wants to keep their mundane
gets control of a telekinetic power this turn and focus and turn it super can do so. Those
wants to ward off an attack by a foe; they could who choose this option gain a choice of one
rip up a section of flooring by the power of their additional ability from a flavor suited to their
Flavor, page 34 mind alone to act as a shield. new character build, equal to their tier or lower.
In other words, trying to find a “matching”
Cypher System Rulebook (CSR) ability to Power Shifts: As part of their character update,
reference for each random power manifestation players can immediately add three power shifts.
will ultimately slow things down. Because Alternatively, you could let the PCs assign some
these abilities are meant to be unstable even or all of their power shifts dynamically (as play
when “controlled,” you can decide on the fly proceeds) instead of statically (all in one go).
Dynamic or Static Power what happens with no lasting repercussions or Refer to Dynamic or Static Power Shift Selection
Shift Selection, page 14 need for consistency. If a PC ends up wanting hereafter for more information.
to create a character themed after one of the Later, PCs gain a total of two more power
powers they controlled, then it’s time to break shifts, if they advance to tier 2 and then tier 3,
out the CSR and figure out exactly what’s respectively.
available to the character.
Cyphers: Finally, choose the character’s cyphers,
FINALIZATION which begin as subtle cyphers. (As the campaign
Subtle Cyphers, If the player starts informed about the proceeds, characters may have a chance to
page 378 background, they can just create their character acquire some divergent timeline cyphers.)
with superpowers normally. However, if they
Chapter 4: Divergent go through and survive the uncontrolled
Timeline Cyphers, discovery phase, they’ve also settled on at least
page 20 a theme for the new abilities the character has
unlocked. Once they do, it’s time to update
their character.
If the random power manifestation happened
as part of a larger session, have everyone
update their character right then and there,
especially if the session hasn’t lasted more
than an hour or two. Having everyone at the
table (or over the same video chat) update their
character together is a fun activity, and probably
a good way to end the session.

Second Focus: When a tier 1 modern PC is

updated with superpowers, they might want a
new focus that reflects the new conception of
their character. However, the character retains
their mundane focus, too. The thing is, once
they become a metahuman, they can no longer
advance in it.

Other Updates: Besides the mundane focus

holdover, a player can completely remake their
character with a new descriptor, type, and focus
to fit the overall vision of their newly minted
metahuman. Besides their original mundane
focus, the only things that should remain
consistent from before (assuming they generated
modern characters) are any connections the

10
 GMING THE ORIGIN
RANDOM POWER MANIFESTATIONS TABLE
Roll for—or select—a random ability manifestation. (Or make up one of your own.) If you’re
selecting ability manifestations during the course of a larger encounter, the easiest method is
to choose sequentially from this table each time a character manifests a new “random” ability.
Otherwise it gets hard to track.

d20 Effect
01 PC physically changes shape to resemble another 15 PC’s flesh transmutes to solid iron (Armor 10).
person, an object (like a chair), or an animal Unfortunately, at least at first, the PC can’t move.
(like a lion). And their weight increases so dramatically that they
02 PC grows to three times their normal size (probably could crash through an artificial floor.
destroying their clothes and maybe putting a hole 16 PC begins to blaze with fire in an uncontrolled
through a wall and/or ceiling). fashion; nearby objects and creatures must succeed
03 PC grows scales, a tail, and demonic wings, and on a difficulty 4 Speed defense roll or be burned for
gets the strong urge to bite someone. 5 points of damage.
04 PC phases, dropping whatever they’re holding, 17 A blizzard swirls around the PC in an uncontrolled
and risks phasing down through the floor into the fashion; nearby objects and creatures must succeed
basement or lower level. on a difficulty 5 Speed defense roll or be chilled for 5
points of damage.
05 PC begins to generate electricity in an uncontrolled
fashion; creatures within immediate range must 18 PC’s smallest movement becomes extraordinarily
succeed on a difficulty 4 Speed defense roll or be magnified, and they blur away, ricocheting off walls,
zapped for 5 points of damage. trees, other people, or buildings for 3 points of
damage each round until they gain control of the
06 PC multiplies, spawning two or three duplicates that
power.
act outlandishly.
19 PC begins to read the thoughts of everyone within
07 PC becomes extremely resistant to harm (this
long range. This mental cacophony inflicts psychic
might be noticeable because the PC’s skin turns to
damage: 4 points of Intellect damage to the PC each
diamond or metal), gaining 5 Armor, but they can’t
round until the PC gains control of the power.
move until they get control of the power.
20 Images of complex circuitry and amazing
08 PC becomes amazingly strong, accidentally
inventions begin to scroll past the PC’s mind’s eye,
crushing something they’re holding, ripping a door
stunning them so they can take no action each
off of its hinges, smashing holes in the floor, or just
round other than try to get control of their visions.
flexing and ripping the arms out of their shirt.
Afterward, none of the specifics of what the PC
09 PC shoots beams of energy out of their eyes in an imagined remain solid enough in their memory
uncontrolled fashion; a nearby ally must succeed on to act on. (Unless the PC chooses to become a
a difficulty 4 Speed defense roll or be burned for 5 gadgeteer/inventor sort of metahuman.)
points of damage.
10 Objects around the PC lift off the ground and begin
to whirl around telekinetically. Everyone in the room
or immediate range must succeed on a difficulty 5
Speed defense roll or take 5 points of damage from
the battering.
11 PC “melts” to become a sticky, translucent bloblike
mass able to move on the walls and ceiling.
12 PC begins to randomly teleport around the room
and area within long range. If near a highway or
other location with dangerous moving items, the PC
could easily find themselves in front of a speeding
car, or suddenly fall from a great height.
13 PC pops into nearby parallel dimensions. One
might be an idyllic meadow, the next a dystopian
hellscape, the next a sci-fi city with weird aliens
taking an immediate interest.
14 PC begins to fly uncontrollably around the room or
area, smashing into things for 3 points of damage
each round until they gain control of the power.

11
 The Origin

NPC REACTIONS TO METAHUMANS If the average NPC sees something weird,

The setting for The Origin isn’t one where they might be surprised, but if what they saw
superheroes are known and accepted as part was a one-off, they are likely to assume it was
Boundless is the of daily life, as in the Boundless. Most people a trick, or they just didn’t understand what was
superhero setting go their entire lives and never hear about going on.
described in Claim the metahumans as a real thing. People with If the claim of metahuman ability is pressed,
Sky, the other Cypher
extraordinary abilities may appear in movies or or a metahuman power demonstration occurs
System superhero
setting supplement. comics, but everyone knows that’s just fiction. that can’t be ignored, NPC attitudes may shift
And even if someone does see some half-credible from disbelief to fear, antagonism, or perhaps
reporting about metahumans, they assume it’s wonder, depending on the circumstances.
just one of those wacky stories one sometimes
hears, or worse, that it’s the setup for a con. FEAR
And that’s probably for the best. Because if It’s one thing to be perceived as joking about
people really do begin to believe metahumans the existence of “real superheroes.” It’s another
are real, things could go badly for PCs caught in thing entirely to convince someone that the
the middle. claim is real.
GM intrusion: Just The following reaction suggestions provide If an NPC becomes convinced that a PC’s
as the character tries the GM with NPC roleplaying prompts and claim (or that something they see on the
to demonstrate their campaign guidance. internet) regarding metahumans is real, there
ability is real, the NPC’s
is a good chance that their first reaction is
attention is drawn
away or something DISBELIEF fear. There’s a saying that power corrupts, and
happens to make the The average NPC reacts to news of considerable evidence suggests it’s true. One
NPC think it’s a trick. metahumans by laughing it off and going on need only look at the inequalities between
with their day. Most people are preoccupied people whose power is having lots of money
with their own problems and plans. They don’t and those who don’t. If someone with the
have time to ponder the likelihood that people power to throw a truck or turn invisible shows
can fly and do magic in the real world. If the up, who’s to say they won’t use that power
claim is not rubbed in their face, most NPCs against normal people to get what they want?
continue with their day and put the news out of At least, that’s the thinking of someone who
their minds. reacts in fear.

12
 GMING THE ORIGIN
MANDELA EFFECTS
For PCs and other metahumans, history
isn’t quite the same as before the Crash.
Obviously, no one else remembers a rogue
interstellar body hitting the earth. But
lots more subtle variations from standard
history are also noticeable by PCs who
have a passing interest in history. Other
PCs may never notice, until it’s pointed out
to them. How often does the name of the
21st president of the USA come up? Well,
as history books tell you, 21 was Grover
Cleveland, who went on to a second term.
Thing is, metahumans who like trivia
recall that the 21st president was Chester
Arthur. But talk to any historian who is not a
metahuman, or do any research online or in a
library, and 21 is always Grover Cleveland.
Many such “Mandela effects” have come
to light, now that the House of Nibiru and WONDER
other organizations with knowledge of the Lots of NPCs react positively to the revelation GM intrusion: The
matter know to look for them. Presumably, of metahuman abilities. In fact, assuming no NPC, convinced of the
they’re significant in some fashion yet to be one is being attacked or otherwise harmed, PC’s powers, becomes
discovered. convinced they are a
many people react with wonder. They’ll want to
prophet of their faith,
see more. “Do it again!” is a common refrain. even if the PC isn’t
NPCs who react in this fashion may The instinct is similar to what people experience religious. They make
denounce the PCs, run, or freeze in place, watching a spectacular fireworks display. such claims on the PC’s
cowering. If they get a chance, one or more With wonder eventually come questions. A behalf, regardless of the
NPCs attempt to contact authorities using their scientifically minded NPC may want to run tests. situation or whether the
smartphone, usually local law enforcement. For An NPC given to belief in a higher power might PC wants their status
to be made public.
its part, local law enforcement probably starts wonder if the character is some kind of miracle
with disbelief themselves. However, once word worker. (Or maybe some kind of demon.)
goes over official channels—even if local law People who’ve watched too many movies or
enforcement treats it as one big joke—it’s only a read too many comics probably ask when the PC
matter of hours before a transcript reaches the will begin their life of fighting crime. MAD field agent,
intercept desk at MAD. After that, a couple of It’s almost certainly true that NPCs, even page 47
MAD field agents are dispatched to surveil the those who are positively inclined to the PC
suspected metahumans, and if they are found and react with initial wonder, won’t be able to GM intrusion: When
to be real, to arrange for their capture. keep it secret. Unless an NPC is particularly a PC tries to save an
trustworthy, sooner or later, they’ll tell someone. imperiled NPC using
ANTAGONISM After that, odds are that eventually some other special abilities, the
NPC, seeing those
NPCs may react violently to a PC who organization will come looking for the character. abilities in use, freezes
demonstrates metahuman abilities, and Hopefully, it’s the House of Nibiru, not MAD or in terror or tries to flee
reflexively attack. PCs might be able to deal with the Fellowship. from the character.
one normal person, but a group situation could
lead to an NPC mob. Dealing with a mob is Mob, typical: level 4;
difficult, even if a PC doesn’t care about hurting health 100; fills an
“innocent” mob members—for every person a RUNNING A CAMPAIGN SET IN THE ORIGIN area a short distance
in diameter; attacks
PC mind controls, confuses, or blasts, there are PCs have actual superpowers in a game of The
everything in immediate
five more behind them with baseball bats and Origin. However, as previously noted, and as range for 4 points of
semi-automatic rifles. will become even more obvious as you delve damage each round
Of course, mobs can also alert local law into part 2, The Origin doesn’t present an
enforcement, which in turn alerts MAD, as well MCU-style or DC-Arrowverse setting where House of Nibiru, page 42
as other covert organizations with an interest in superheroes publicly fight villains or aliens, or
metahuman affairs. provide visible aid during a natural disaster. MAD, page 47
In fact, it’s exactly the opposite; most NPCs in
The Origin’s setting live in what they experience Fellowship, page 53
as the same real world you and I live in. That’s
because metahuman PCs exist secretly.

13
 The Origin
DYNAMIC OR STATIC TENOR AND FEEL OF CAMPAIGN IN THE ORIGIN
POWER SHIFT SELECTION The tasks PC metahumans take on usually
One of the primary differences between occur behind the scenes, and should be
human and metahuman PCs is that designed to keep them out of the public eye.
metahumans have three power shifts, which Because as most metahumans learn early,
greatly enhance their abilities. Decide which exposure leads to unpleasant repercussions.
method the players use to assign their power Those who don’t learn this lesson are whisked
shifts: static or dynamic. away by covert government agencies (including
MAD, page 47 MAD) that constantly comb news sites, social
Static: The players choose all three of their media, and other sources of information for
initial power shifts at once, allowing them to activity related to metahuman actions. They get
immediately know what their characters are a lot of false positives, but they catch enough of
good at. This is just like how players divide up the real deal to keep them alert and on task.
the extra 6 Pool points from their type—those Which is why a campaign set in The Origin
points are assigned before the character takes has many things in common with novels
any actions, so the player knows exactly how and shows where protagonists investigate
big or small their Pools are. supernatural or superscience phenomena in
what otherwise seems like the real world. In
Dynamic: This is a more creative option most cases, these protagonists keep beneath
where players don’t choose their power the radar to avoid panicking the public, but the
shifts until they decide to use each of them. result is the same for PCs in The Origin trying to
In effect, they have three “floating” power avoid notice.
shifts that haven’t been assigned, and they For example, in the TV show The X-Files, FBI
can assign them (permanently) as soon as agents Scully and Mulder move through a world
they choose to exert their new abilities. that mixes the normal and the abnormal. All
For example, a character stuck in a locked their investigations occur under the shadow
room may, upon realizing that simply of being shut down by those above them who
pushing on the door won’t open it, decide think it’s all hysteria and conspiracy theory,
to assign one of the character’s three power or those who know it’s real and don’t want
shifts to strength, allowing them to simply the truth unearthed. Obviously, real-world
force the door. Later, when covert operatives FBI agents don’t have superpowers, but they
are shooting at that metahuman, the player do have powers of the law and influence that
can decide that the PC is very fast and regular people lack. In a way, you could think of
assign their second power shift to dexterity, a campaign set in The Origin as “superheroes
allowing them to dodge attacks more easily. meet The X-Files.”
Finally, after their character is hit by a car, This section provides a couple of possible
the player can assign their last power shift directions you could take an ongoing game.
to healing, giving the metahuman an extra
recovery roll. THE ORIGIN CAMPAIGN ARCS
The advantage of the static method is that Lots of paths for putting together a campaign
the players know immediately what their are at your disposal.
characters are good at; the disadvantage is
that some players might experience choice ORGANIC CAMPAIGN
paralysis as they spend time trying to figure The easiest way of putting together a campaign
out the “best” option. The advantage of the for The Origin is to begin play using the first
Chapter 11: An Evening dynamic method is that it lets players react adventure in this book, “An Evening at the
at the Opera, page 128 to situations and adjust their characters to Opera,” which guides you and PCs through
their immediate needs; the disadvantage the weird experience of going from normal to
Chapter 12: Joining is that they may make a choice that’s good metahuman, then gives them some exposure
the House (an in the short term but less interesting in the to the dangers facing metahumans. Specifically,
Interlude), page 137 long term. agents of MAD.
Just as you should work with the players The very next scenario, “Joining the House
House of Nibiru, page 42 if they’re unhappy with their choice of type, (an Interlude),” is a guided introduction to the
descriptor, or focus, you can be open to pro-metahuman group the House of Nibiru.
Chapter 10: Collectors, changing a metahuman’s power shifts The adventure gives PCs a chance to practice
page 120 (although doing so should require days or using their abilities, introductions to important
weeks of effort and perhaps spending 2 XP as NPCs, and an encounter with weird aliens
Chapter 13: Appeal of a medium-term benefit). called Collectors. The adventure that follows,
Distress, page 140 “Appeal of Distress,” gives characters the

14
 GMING THE ORIGIN
opportunity to undertake a mission on behalf of For instance, an obvious character
the House, during which they’ll run up against choice for an arc is Assist an Organization, Assist an Organization,
page 242
other metahumans who don’t share their goals. specifically the House of Nibiru. You could
After that, look to the setting chapters in part build a series of short adventures related to Defeat a Foe, page 244
2. They provide several individual adventure helping other metahumans in trouble and
plot hooks under major group descriptions pursing actions important to the House, Learn, page 247
and area locations; look for the “Rumors and which could ultimately reach its conclusion
Conspiracies” box near the end of each entry. when PCs attempt to release one or more
You can create encounters and scenarios that metahuman captives from the Axe Handle Axe Handle
stitch those together however you like. Breakthrough Research Facility. Breakthrough Research
For instance, once PCs become established Another obvious character arc is Defeat a Facility, page 60
members of the House, they could be drawn Foe, possibly a terrorist or criminal described
into the Bad Dreams scenario in which elements in part 3. For instance, the machine-controlling Bad Dreams, page 47
of unsettling dreams are manifesting in the real criminal known as Shibboleth could take note Shibboleth, page 102
world. Once PCs investigate, you could decide of the PCs and begin to make life miserable for
the ultimate perpetrator is Mysteria, who wants them (“for the lulz”). Over time, Shibboleth Mysteria, page 100
to destabilize the House because they recently could lead the PCs astray, steal their assets,
foiled one of her terrorist schemes. dox them, and engineer encounters with
During one of the encounters PCs have in other dangerous individuals just to see what
attempting to track down and stop Mysteria, happens. Of course, if PCs finally get past
maybe they run across someone using a drug her online avatar and confront her in the real
called drop that has the unfortunate side effect world, they can probably set her straight on Drop, page 50
of eventually making them become a missing how her online actions are having deadly
person. Since MAD is also investigating this real-world consequences; alternatively, the
scary new substance, PCs are likely to have an PCs can simply defeat her in combat. It’s all
interaction with them. Ultimately, you might up to how the PCs roll.
decide that those who use drop are falling into In addition, you can and should pepper into
some random location in the Subworld, and the campaign unrelated encounters with NPCs The Subworld, page 70
could use some rescue. and organizations that you want PCs to engage
While learning more about the Subworld, PCs with, giving them fodder for new character arcs. Chapter 14: Threshold to
stumble across more Collector activity, as well When you do so, you encourage metacampaign Apocalypse, page 145
as other groups in the setting who know about arcs to emerge, such as the following.
the Subworld. • Learning how to master confusing and Collectors, page 120
Some sessions involving the introduction hard-to-control new abilities might be the
and confrontation with random criminals, only way to survive superpowers. Surviving Superpowers,
terrorists, and vigilantes is something else to • Discovering and eliminating MAD and its page 16
plan on. Not to mention one or two sessions practices. Freedom Fraternity,
that intersect with a monster or two. And so on. • Defeating extremist metahuman groups like page 50
Ultimately, you could end the campaign Freedom Fraternity and the Union. The Union, page 55
when the PCs learn the ultimate mystery behind • Exposing and defeating criminal groups like Houston Firm, page 52
the metahuman phenomenon and Collector the Houston Firm and Babbage Industries. Babbage Industries,
presence on Earth with the adventure “Joining • Figuring out what Collectors want and page 59
the House (an Interlude).” ending their existential threat.
• Exploring, mapping, and making use of the
GOAL-BASED CAMPAIGN Subworld (for transportation, for a base Chapter 9: Monsters,
A goal-based campaign could easily start with of operations, as a prison for dangerous page 111
the same two adventures noted under the metahumans, or something else).
organic campaign arc. However, after that • Covertly dealing with street crime, like
either you or the PCs start setting larger goals superheroes do but without the costumes
to pursue. and theatrics.
One way to get PCs to set goals is to • Eradicating (or perhaps catching and
encourage them to each choose a character arc, corralling) the various animals that have Character Arcs,
but only after they’ve learned something about become enhanced by the metahuman page 238
the campaign setting through play. These phenomenon.
PC-chosen goals help push the game in a • Revealing everything by coming out to
particular direction, aiding you in game prep. the world and showing the public that
Several goals could be pursued at once, which superhumans are real, and that there are
means opportunities for pursuit could be heroes and villains, and worse threats
woven into a series of game sessions. facing humanity.

15
 The Origin
Chapter 3

SURVIVING SUPERPOWERS

A
fter manifesting strange new abilities, Which is why, despite the dangers, most
metahumans have a choice. Will they learn metahumans eventually try to master their
to use their powers, or try to suppress and abilities. They might need to call upon them
ignore them? There’s no right answer, and good or turn them off so they can go unnoticed in a
reasons to go either route. world that isn’t ready to admit their existence.
The reason a metahuman might choose
to suppress or ignore their abilities is easy to
understand. Learning to use extreme abilities OPTIONAL RULES: HAZARDS
can have extremely dangerous outcomes OF USING SUPERPOWERS
Boundless, page 159 if things go wrong. For instance, someone In Claim the Sky, the Boundless setting portrays
in Claim the Sky learning how to use their ability to teleport people with unusual abilities as bigger-than-life
instantaneously might find themselves superheroes, complete with costume and an
materializing inside a wall. Another metahuman automatic mastery of their abilities. The setting
The Crash, page 36 with a shapechanging ability risks forgetting for The Origin is different. Prior to the Crash,
how to turn back to normal after assuming the there were no metahumans. Except in comics
shape of a rat, beetle, or fish. And of course, a and movies, the concept of someone able to lift
metahuman that can manifest x-rays, fire, cold, a bus over their head was completely fictional.
or some other energy or state can easily kill So, if people were to suddenly gain the ability
themselves if they’re not careful. to do extraordinary things, there really isn’t
However, some metahumans don’t have a anyone around to teach them how to use their
choice about mastering their abilities, because abilities effectively, let alone safely. There is no
it flares up while they’re sad, angry, surprised, danger room, no academy for gifted youngsters,
or distracted, putting themselves and others at no mentors, and a dearth of resources for
risk. It makes sense to be prepared. metahumans to draw upon, at least initially.
Then there are metahumans who want to Practically speaking, it’s just someone alone in
learn how to use their powers to help others. their kitchen or woodshop who begins to melt
Or help themselves . . .  everything they touch with no idea how or why.
Of course, whatever a metahuman decides, In other words, in The Origin, PCs who gain
most don’t tell or show the wider world what powers don’t have automatic mastery of their
they can do, for good reason. The few who use, should you use these optional rules.
went public were laughed off as frauds. Then Mechanically speaking, this inexperience
they disappeared, presumably targeted by is expressed as superpower inabilities and
anti-metahuman groups, including clandestine related GM intrusions that afflict the character
MAD, page 47 government departments (such as MAD), until they get enough practice with their power
terrorist organizations, and even more that they’re no longer in danger of hurting
Collectors, page 120 mysterious groups seeking those with powers. themselves or others.
Some may want to study them. Others to
recruit. Still others to destroy them, including SUPERPOWER INABILITIES
Inability, page 207 the mysterious entities called Collectors. A newly created character for The Origin begins
Then there are the metahumans who have with two inabilities, each applying to a different
A PC’s superpower
inabilities are in
no choice in deciding whether they want to try superpower. As the GM, make sure the player
addition to any to develop their ability or ignore it. Someone chooses an ability that requires a roll to use
inabilities they whose skin turns to diamond or metal and (including an attack or defense); otherwise the
may have from can’t “turn it off ” is obvious. If they don’t figure inability is meaningless. If the character doesn’t
their descriptor. out how to master their new condition, they have any or enough superpowers that would
Chapter 7: Descriptor, might find it worsens, transforming them into be affected by an inability, give the character an
page 38 an immovable mass of solid material, a tomb of inability in a defense task, perception roll, or
their own changed flesh. something else appropriate for the character.

16
 SURVIVING SUPERPOWERS
For example, a character with the ability to
use Onslaught and Entangling Force would
begin play with an inability in using those
abilities. These inabilities represent the
character’s general naivete and inexperience
with superpowers.
An inability remains until a character
becomes trained in that superpower, at which
point the training and the inability cancel each
other out; the character becomes practiced,
and can use the ability normally (not eased or
hindered). The soonest this can usually happen
is when a character advances and chooses to
become trained in a skill. In this case, they can
choose to become trained in a metahuman
ability that they have an inability in.
While a character retains inabilities related
to using their special abilities, they are subject
to flameout mode (and related intrusions for
inexperienced power use).

FLAMEOUT MODE: INTRUSIONS FOR

INEXPERIENCED POWER USE
When using this rule, the GM increases the
range of numbers that trigger an intrusion.
While PCs have two inabilities from
inexperienced power use, every time they roll
a 1 to 3 (instead of just a 1), they trigger a
flameout intrusion. If a character trains away
one of their two inabilities, flameout intrusions
are reduced, happening on a roll of 1 or 2. If
they train away both inabilities, the triggered
intrusion rate returns to the normal 1 on a d20.
After this point, the character isn’t generally
subject to flameout intrusions, at least not as a
default. Flameout intrusions are for characters
who don’t practice using their powers, and
who fail to gain the mastery needed to use
them in a stressful situation. Once a character in their daily life are routine, and do not require
becomes confident and masters their use, the a roll. Day to day, characters are probably trying Onslaught, page 167
complications they face should stem from to blend into normal life, keeping under the Entangling Force,
something other than accidental power use radar of regular people as much as possible. page 136
or being unable to use the power when it’s Unless the character is doing something
Character Advancement,
needed. stressful, there’s little chance that their new
page 240
Flameout Mode is like the Horror Mode ability will go haywire with dice alone.
optional rule in the Cypher System Rulebook, However, consider intruding now and Horror Mode, page 283
with the exception that there isn’t usually an then (as a regular GM intrusion) even if the
escalation. This is because Flameout Mode is character isn’t doing something stressful.
not designed to heighten immediate tension, Then, you can use the intrusion as the basis A die roll in Flameout
but rather to create a long-term sense of of a short encounter. For instance, maybe the Mode could potentially
being saddled with inexperience with one’s character has a bad dream that startles them indicate success in a
task and still trigger a
superpower, at least until an affected character into a flameout. Maybe while driving, another
flameout intrusion.
attempts to do something about it. car hits them from behind. While getting a
drink at a coffee shop, a random customer
GM INTRUSIONS PROVOKING spills hot coffee on the character. When this
FLAMEOUT INTRUSIONS unexpected event startles the character out
A low roll during Flameout Mode is a way a of their equanimity, there’s a chance they’ll
character can experience a flameout intrusion. lose control of their superpower, triggering a
But lots of things a character in The Origin does flameout intrusion effect.

17
 The Origin
FLAMEOUT INTRUSIONS
Whether you intrude or the flameout intrusion
is triggered, their superpower misfunctions in
a way that, at best, disrupts what the character
was attempting to do and/or calls attention to
them from the public. At worst, it harms nearby
friends or even the affected character themself.
Rather than presenting a randomized table of
flameout intrusions, it’s more useful to discuss
different flameout categories and the situations
they might create. That way, you can tailor the
flameout to the situation, or create a brand-new
encounter or side encounter.
Generally speaking, if a character experiences
a flameout, they’ll need to succeed on a
difficulty 3 Intellect task (probably hindered
because of the associated inability) as their
action to regain control. On a failed attempt
to gain control of a flameout, the PC can’t try
another attempt for several rounds (but no
more than a minute).

POWER FIRES WHEN PC DOESN’T WANT IT TO

By far the most common “flameout” is
when a PC metahuman’s ability activates
without the PC explicitly using it. The severity
of what happens next depends on a PC’s
ability. Even if the character doesn’t have any
offensive abilities, the situation could become
complicated. For instance, if the PC is in
public, becoming invisible, shrinking, reading
thoughts, phasing, or something else at an
unexpected moment is likely to be noticed.
How the character, or character’s friends, try
to explain it or hide it becomes the basis of the
encounter. For instance, if LaTia’s character
keeps phasing into the floor, Monte’s character
might have to cause a distraction until LaTia
gets control.
But if a character has an ability that is
offensive, the situation becomes more
complicated.
Say that a character with offensive abilities
is eating out at a restaurant, watching a movie
or play, attending a party, or just walking
down the street with other PCs. Suddenly, the
character’s “eye ray” (or whatever) begins to
fire. The character must try to control their
ability, or at least get to a place where they
won’t hurt anyone. Maybe their strong pal can
use their action to lift a car and put it in front
of the affected character’s face so it stops the
rays until they can be controlled. Or a flying
character can try to lift the flameout PC high
into the air so they can’t hurt anyone. As noted
in the previous paragraph, PCs might have to
do all of this while attempting to hide what’s
going on or get away anonymously.

18
 SURVIVING SUPERPOWERS
And of course, there is the eponymous out and crash, that’s not great. Effectively, if
flameout situation itself, where a power a power becomes stronger (possibly after a
activates unexpectedly and inflicts damage character gets another power shift at second Power Shifts, page 292
directly to the character. In this case, the or third tier, or maybe just randomly), the GM
character might suffer 3 points of damage each might use this flameout as an option until the
round from the effect or short-circuit of their character successfully conquers three flameouts
ability until they can get control. Meanwhile, of this sort.
friends are probably trying to do their part to
help, heal, or hide the situation. POWER IS SLOWLY KILLING THE CHARACTER
A particular character might discover that their
POWER WON’T WORK power is bad for their health after becoming
If a metahuman’s flameout is a failure to dizzy and passing out a few times, which
activate when called upon, there is less risk of they can link to their power use. A trip to
public exposure. That is, unless the character the physician reveals elevated and growing
was attempting to use a power to get away stress hormones that lead to the character’s
from attention, hide metahuman activity, or demise from stroke or heart attack within a
distract from the situation. few months if they don’t do something. What
Usually, having a power fail to work comes that something is, of course, isn’t as simple
at a critical juncture when the pressure is as not using their abilities; the metahuman
on. For instance, someone with the ability to power is the cause of the illness. In which case,
teleport or fly might want to save themselves this flameout becomes a hook for a scenario
or an ally from a difficult spot by getting away. in which the PCs attempt to find a cure for the
But suddenly, until they can get control of their deadly side effects afflicting their friend.
ability, they have to face the situation without
a power, in some other fashion than simply POWER SWITCHES WITH ANOTHER
running. Or maybe a character who is normally Through some sort of “metaphasic reaction”
superstrong has a flameout and can’t smash (possibly created by another metahuman, a
their way to success. They must come up with cypher’s side effects, or something else), two
some other strategy in the short term. PCs swap powers, or a PC swaps powers with
an NPC metahuman. This puts the character Claud Mickelberg, MD,
POWER STOPS WORKING into the position of not being practiced with the page 84
Maybe a power seems to be working fine, but new ability (so they have an inability). But
stops working halfway through a task. In lots of if they’ve switched power with an NPC,
cases, that effectively turns a regular situation that NPC now has use of their abilities.
into a Power Won’t Work flameout. But say Maybe a PC metahuman’s abilities
a character is using mind reading or mind somehow get conferred to a regular
influence to help negotiate a touchy détente. If NPC, leaving the PC as a normal
things become unglued halfway through, the human, while the NPC lawyer,
situation risks becoming chaotic and potentially insurance salesperson, or other
deadly, depending on who is involved. rando gains their ability to read
Alternatively, one of the worst things that minds.
can happen to a character who can teleport, This situation becomes another
phase, or change shape is to have the power adventure hook where the
stop halfway through its use. For example, a character tries to find some
character may end up only halfway to whatever way to regain their powers.
location they attempted to teleport through. A It’s possible that an NPC
phasing character may end up stuck in a wall. like Claud Mickelberg,
And a character who can change shape might MD could prove useful in
be stuck as whatever creature they turned into this kind of situation (as
so as to spy on a target of interest. in the earlier Power Is
Slowly Killing the Character
POWERS GROWING BEYOND CONTROL flameout). If not directly,
Who doesn’t love it if their power increases in then perhaps he could
intensity and strength? Answer: metahumans lead the characters in
relying on finesse and control. Sure, if a strong finding an institution
character becomes stronger, that’s great, but capable of helping.
not if they begin to routinely break doors, cars,
coffee mugs, and maybe even their friends. If
a speedster suddenly runs so fast they spin

19
 The Origin
Chapter 4

DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS

C
yphers are something that metahumans, our world. They retain a bit of their divergent
especially PC metahumans, acquire and reality that metahumans can utilize as cyphers.
use like other Cypher System characters. Even non-metahumans can appreciate
Subtle Cyphers, PCs in The Origin can gain both subtle cyphers divergent timeline cyphers. Anyone,
page 378 and divergent timeline cyphers (also called metahuman or not, can see they are somehow
“divergences”). unusual. But regular people sometimes sense
Cypher Limit, page 378
PC cypher limits remain in force, regardless there is a little bit more to divergences. Which
of the mix of subtle and divergent timeline is why divergent timeline cyphers become
cyphers a PC carries. talismans, lucky charms, or even prized
If a PC is already at their cypher limit when a possessions of NPCs. An “old watch fob”
divergent timeline cypher is gained, one subtle might be something an NPC likes to keep in
cypher they know is lost (player’s choice). If all their pocket—even though they would be
of a PC’s cyphers are divergent timeline cyphers hard-pressed to explain just why they’re
and they gain a new divergent timeline cypher, attracted to it.
that pushes them over their cypher limit. Until
the character uses up one of those cyphers,
they face the real possibility of attracting the GAINING SUBTLE CYPHERS
Collector, page 120 attention of a Collector. Most cyphers in The Origin are subtle
cyphers—nonphysical objects that PCs gain as
inspirations, usually before each new outing

WHAT ARE DIVERGENT or adventure. PCs can regain at least one used
subtle cypher once during the course of an
TIMELINE CYPHERS? outing, usually during a recovery roll lasting at
Manifest Cyphers, Divergent timeline cyphers are manifest least ten minutes or other downtime. And, of
page 379 cyphers that often appear normal enough on course, PCs can gain cyphers whenever the GM
the surface, but if examined a little more closely, deems it appropriate.
are anachronistic, have an odd or confusing However, PCs in The Origin can also gain
quality, or are just weird. Old coins stamped divergent timeline cyphers.
with images of people no one’s ever heard of,
books that have never been published, beads
made of crystal that can’t easily be identified,
watch faces with too many or too few numbers, GAINING DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
and so on are all possibilities. PCs may gain divergent timeline cyphers in one
Metahumans who encounter these items of two ways: Finding or meditating.
can sense they have a special resonance. A
scientifically minded metahuman might even FINDING DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
say that they are point divergences in reality. In The most straightforward method is by
fact, they’re like cosmic driftwood, remnants of finding them during an adventure. Divergent
dissolved or otherwise destroyed dimensional timeline cyphers might be discovered amid the
strands that have washed up somewhere on belongings of defeated foes, given as gifts, or

“Divergent timeline cypher” is a bit of a mouthful. Characters in The Origin

sometimes call such an object a “divergence” for short.

20
 DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
sometimes even sold in places where oddities
and antiques are available for purchase.
After the PCs find a divergent timeline
cypher, identifying it is a separate Intellect task,
usually with a difficulty of 1 or 2. If successful,
the PC knows how to gain the divergent
timeline cypher’s effect. Identified divergent
timeline cyphers can be used automatically as
their action.
A character can attempt to use a divergent
timeline cypher that they have not identified;
this is usually an Intellect task with a difficulty
equal to the cypher’s level. Failure might mean
that the PC can’t figure out how to use the
cypher or that they use it incorrectly. Of course,
even if the PC uses the unidentified divergent
timeline cypher correctly, they have no idea DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHER EFFECTS
what its effect will be until that effect comes The Cypher System Rulebook already presents Manifest Cypher Table,
into being. a wide variety of options for effects that are page 382
appropriate for divergent timeline cyphers,
MEDITATING ON DIVERGENT including those noted on the Manifest Cypher
Fantastic Cypher Table,
TIMELINE CYPHERS Table, the Fantastic Cypher Table, and even the
page 382

A character already familiar with divergent Subtle Cypher Table. Subtle Cypher Table,
timeline cyphers can try to gain one In addition, Claim the Sky has several new page 383
purposefully by holding an object small enough (and previously published) power boost
to be held in one hand, such as a fountain cyphers appropriate for superhero games,
pen, penknife, or polyhedral die. They must which are also appropriate for The Origin. In For more information on
then spend about ten minutes meditating. fact, most of the power boost cyphers make power boost cyphers, see
During this period, they focus on the topic of excellent divergent timeline cyphers. Claim the Sky, page 157.
metahumans, extraordinary abilities, and the However, this chapter presents additional
Crash. If they succeed on a difficulty 3 Intellect cyphers that have a flavor especially appropriate
task, the object they hold becomes a divergent for a campaign featuring a divergent
timeline cypher. Usually, the divergence looks dimensional strand where the events of The
very similar to the object the PC chose, but Origin occur. These cyphers are divergent
is subtly different, anachronistic, unsettling, timeline cyphers. Note that a divergence could
or just a bit noteworthy for being unusual. A also produce any of the effects of other manifest
polyhedral die has an extra face, a penknife has or subtle cyphers described in other sources, as
an attachment that serves no known purpose, well as those specifically described here.
a fountain pen writes in a color that no one can First, roll on the Cypher Source Table.
agree upon, and so on. Depending on where it sends you, roll on the
To anyone other than a metahuman, the appropriate table indicated.
object has always been that way. But the PC
and other metahumans that were aware of the CYPHER SOURCE TABLE
meditation recognize that the item has been d100 Cypher Source
changed. It’s now a divergence.
01–20 random subtle cypher
(Cypher System Rulebook, page 383)
21–40 Random manifest cypher
(Cypher System Rulebook, page 382)
41–60 Random fantastic cypher
(Cypher System Rulebook, page 382)
61–70 Random power boost cypher
(Cypher System Rulebook, page 401)
71–80 Random power boost cypher
(Claim the Sky, page 157)
81–00 Random divergent timeline cypher
(The Origin, page 23)

21
 The Origin
DIVERGENT TIMELINE FORM OPTIONS
Here are some options for divergent timeline cypher forms that you can choose or roll for randomly.

d100 Divergent Timeline Form Option

01 Eleventh-century coin from no known country 25 Dishware commemorating King Jimmy Carter
02 Battery with two positive ends 26 Dog tag printed in unknown language
03 Arcade token for nonexistent arcade 27 Doll with purple skin, no eyes
04 Astronaut figurine with NASD logo 28 Electronic device measuring unknown energy
05 Bread that tastes different with each bite 29 Electronic key fob that emits satisfaction
06 Bear claw hot to the touch 30 Family tree featuring siblings unknown to PC
07 Bracelet that gently massages wearer 31 Fashionable goggles
08 Bronze clockwork mechanism 32 Figurine of human with two heads
09 Buggy whip 33 Figurine of pig that sometimes moves by itself
10 Bus ticket to nonexistent location 34 Fist-sized human skull with three eye sockets
11 Business card with inconstant text 35 Flashlight, faces seen in its light seem younger
12 Candlestick holder with unsettling design 36 Fossil amber with embedded pinhead frog
13 Candy bar made 50 years from now 37 Gloves, feels like someone holding your hand
14 Ceramic pot, generates slight electric charge 38 Gold penny featuring Claudette Colvin image
15 Chessboard with irregular number of squares 39 Gumdrop that vibrates
16 Child’s First Book of Ghost Naming 40 Hammer that rings like a bell when used
17 Classic game cartridge featuring unknown game 41 Handbell that sounds like a scream
18 Clock that slows and speeds erratically 42 Hand flute that plays ultrasonic notes
19 Coin from a city that doesn’t exist 43 Handkerchief with stitched-in monogram A9
20 Coin made of solid xenon (normally a gas) 44 Harmonica that produces odors, not sound
21 Comic, depicts PC as a superhero 45 Hex key set that fits nothing
22 Completely opaque contact lenses 46 Ink pen with bizarrely colored ink
23 Dagger with unsettling blade styling 47 Iron cube with continuously variable sides
24 Digital watch with incomprehensible apps 48 Journal in PC’s hand depicting normal life

22
 DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
DIVERGENT TIMELINE FORM OPTIONS (CONTINUED)
49 Key that weighs too much 74 Plane ticket to nonexistent location
50 Keychain globe depicting alternate earth 75 Plastic figurine that winks
51 Keychain that is a live beetle 76 Playing card deck with fifth suit
52 Kitchen magnet, adheres to anything 77 Pocket radio that plays nonexistent station
53 Lapel pin always cold to the touch 78 Polyhedral die with abnormal number of faces
54 Lost play manuscript written by Einstein 79 Pressed flower of unknown species in frame
55 Magnetic cylinder etched with odd symbols 80 Religious symbol, mashup of known symbols
56 Map showing nonexistent country 81 Ring set with tiny “stone” of pale light
57 Mint tin containing mint-flavored spiders 82 Runestone with unknown glyphs
58 Movie ticket to never-made movie 83 Scarf that helps tie itself fashionably
59 Nail made with slightly shining metal alloy 84 Shark’s tooth that softly hums
60 Neoprene cap printed with SAVE MARS 85 Shirt with sleeves for four arms
61 Newspaper clipping from a recent event that didn’t 86 Shroud with stains suggestive of a face
happen 87 Sketch pad with doodle of optical illusion
62 Pocket translation book of new language 88 Small piggy bank filled with strange coins
63 Novel in language with no repeating symbols 89 Snow globe featuring Venus cloud city
64 One-dollar bill showing Crazy Horse 90 Sparkplug circa 1920
65 Opera glasses, images appear smaller 91 Necklace made of silvery mineral that shimmers
66 Ornament depicting unknown atom 92 Sunglasses for someone with three eyes
67 Pendant that doesn’t feel gravity 93 Terracotta spider head
68 Perfume bottle, empty but for ammonia whiff 94 Tie with almost supernaturally boring design
69 Phial filled with unidentifiable red fluid 95 Titanium arrowhead
70 Photo ID of character with different first name 96 Tonic bottle with 1 ounce of laudanum
71 Photo of a nonexistent solar planet 97 Toy car of “famous” Pluto rover
72 Photo of Amelia Earhart in her nineties 98 Urn with character’s name containing ashes
73 Photo of the Colossus of Rhodes in modern Rhodes, 99 USB stick, contains weird text game
Greece 00 Watch face with 13 digits

DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHER TABLE

d100 Divergence
01–03 Call Collector 40–42 Instant flood 72–74 Shatter memory palace
04–06 Call Collector Behemoth 43–46 Invulnerability 75–76 Shifting trajectory
07–09 Confer Crash memory 47–49 Know your nemesis 77–78 Spatial transfer
10–12 Corpse mic 50–52 Light 79–80 Steal recollection
13–16 Dimension subtractor 53–55 Lost and found 81–83 Ticket to yesterday
17–20 Divergent giant 56–58 Metahuman manifestation: 84–86 Timeline collapser
21–23 Divergent prison aura 87–89 Timeline stunt double
24–28 Divergent self 59–61 Omniscience 90–91 Timeline support
29–33 Eclipse 62–64 Play dead 92–94 Vaporize
34–36 Exclusion 65–67 Rift 95–97 Vehicle
37–39 Find the answer 68–71 Rift seal 98–00 Weapon

23
 The Origin

Sometimes, it’s better not to know what people are saying about you. Unless of
course it’s a MAD agent coordinating your imminent capture.

For more information CALL COLLECTOR If the creature is another metahuman, this acts
on shift boost, see Claim Level: 1d6 + 2 as a shift boost power boost cypher.
the Sky, page 158. Form: Divergent timeline cypher If the creature is a normal human, they must
Effect: A Collector appears and can act succeed on an Intellect defense roll or
Collector, page 120 immediately. Normally, Collectors are suddenly recall the Crash. Such a character
keen on absorbing every metahuman in is stunned for one full round, then dazed
range. However, in this instance, if the for another minute, during which all
user is a metahuman, the summoned their actions are hindered. During the
Collector focuses on capturing every other period they are dazed, they undergo the
metahuman in the area first, then disperses uncontrolled discovery phase every new
Uncontrolled (unless the GM intrudes, or it is killed). metahuman faces. A PC goes through the
Discovery, page 9 experience as described. An NPC, assuming
CALL COLLECTOR BEHEMOTH they survive the process, eventually
Collector Behemoth, Level: 1d6 + 4 acquires one or two extraordinary abilities
page 124 Form: Divergent timeline cypher (or themed suite) determined by the GM,
Effect: A Collector Behemoth appears and which they can use at a level equal to this
can act immediately. Normally, Collector cypher’s level.
Behemoths are keen on targeting every
metahuman in range. However, in this CORPSE MIC
instance, if the user is a metahuman, the Level: 1d6 + 1
summoned Collector Behemoth focuses Form: Divergent timeline cypher
on targeting every other creature in the Effect: The user can attempt to speak to a
area first, then disperses (unless the GM corpse within immediate range by opening
intrudes, or it is killed). a channel to a divergent timeline where the
creature is still alive. To open a channel, the
CONFER CRASH MEMORY user must succeed on a task whose difficulty
Level: 1d6 + 3 is equal to the level of the creature before it
Form: Divergent timeline cypher died. Once a channel is opened, it’s up to
Effect: A metahuman imparts their memory of the user to convince the alternate version of
the Crash to one creature within long range the creature to answer any questions posed.
The Crash, page 36 (six creatures if the cypher level is 9). Communication remains open for a number
of minutes equal to the cypher’s level.

24
 DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
DIMENSION SUBTRACTOR they escape. To escape, the prisoner must
Level: 1d6 + 2 break or otherwise pass through the bars
Form: Divergent timeline cypher securing the cell, or wait until the cypher’s
Effect: With a successful Intellect attack, duration elapses, when the bars finish
a creature within immediate range is rusting and fall into dust. At that point, they
rendered as flat as paper as their excess can attempt to travel the Subworld to find Traveling the Subworld,
depth is shunted to a divergent timeline, their way back to the real world. page 70
and enters stasis. The target adheres to
whatever surface it was touching, possibly DIVERGENT SELF
resembling a photorealistic picture. Pulling Level: 1d6
the two-dimensional “image” free is a Form: Divergent timeline cypher GM intrusion: The
Might task with a difficulty equal to the level Effect: A divergent timeline version of the user PC disappears for a
of this cypher. appears within immediate range and can few rounds, pulled into
a divergent timeline
While in stasis, the creature can take no take a turn immediately. The divergent
by another version of
actions, doesn’t age, and is immune to version of the user usually looks somewhat themselves using a
damage and all other outside effects. It similar and has similar goals (unless the divergent self cypher.
remains in stasis for a number of hours GM intrudes). The divergent version of
equal to the cypher’s level, until the the user remains for a number of rounds
divergent timeline hosting its missing equal to the cypher’s level. Effectively, the
depth is destroyed, or something like a rift user can take two turns each round (one Rift seal, page 28
seal or timeline collapser is used with the for themself, one for the divergent version) Timeline collapser,
target in range. until the divergent version disappears back page 29
into the multiverse.
DIVERGENT GIANT
Level: 1d6 + 2 ECLIPSE
Form: Divergent timeline cypher Level: 10 If a character is already
Effect: For a number of minutes equal to the Form: Divergent timeline cypher benefitting from abilities
cypher’s level, the user takes on qualities of Effect: A total eclipse occurs in an area 10 like those of the Grows
to Towering Heights
a much larger version of themselves from miles (16 km) in diameter, centered on the
focus, the PC gains
a divergent timeline, reaching a height of location where the cypher was activated. no additional benefit
30 feet (9 m). While giant, the character The eclipse lasts for up to ten minutes. If from the divergent
adds 15 points + 5 points per level of the used when there is no sun in the sky, the giant cypher.
cypher to their Might Pool, adds 2 to their moon is eclipsed instead, if visible.
Might Edge, gains +2 to Armor, and deals
4 additional points of damage with melee EXCLUSION Grows to Towering
Heights, page 69
attacks. However, their Speed defense tasks Level: 1d6
are hindered by three steps. Form: Divergent timeline cypher
Effect: Target one NPC metahuman whose level
DIVERGENT PRISON is less than or equal to this cypher’s level
Level: 1d6 + 1 within short range with an Intellect attack.
Form: Divergent timeline cypher If the attack succeeds, the creature cannot
Effect: Target a creature whose level is equal use their superpowers for one minute.
to or less than the cypher level within If used on a PC with metahuman abilities,
short range with an Intellect attack. On a the character loses access to a number of
successful attack, the target is transferred power shifts equal to the cypher level on
directly into a small dingy cell secured with a failed Intellect defense roll. If the target
rusted iron bars located in the Subworld. has fewer power shift than those nullified, Iron bars: level 6
The target remains trapped for a number each excess power shifts the cypher negates
of days equal to the cypher’s level, or until inflicts 3 points of damage (ignores Armor).

Sometimes the violent destruction of a divergent timeline cypher can create a rift
all by itself, as well as mishaps with artifacts that mess with reality, or possibly even
as a result of special abilities gone awry.

25
 The Origin
FIND THE ANSWER that someone has spoken their name, and
Level: 1d6 + 3 knows the general direction and distance
Form: Divergent timeline cypher to the speaker’s location, assuming they’re
Effect: By scanning multiple divergent timelines not located in a divergent timeline. If the
automatically, the user learns something user is a metahuman, they also gain a
new. The user can ask the GM one question vision of whoever spoke their name and the
and get a general answer. The GM assigns speaker’s surroundings within short range,
a level to the question, so the more obscure lasting for a couple of rounds.
the answer, the more difficult the task.
Generally, knowledge that could be found LIGHT
by looking somewhere other than the user’s Level: 10
current location is level 1, and obscure Form: Divergent timeline cypher
knowledge of the past is level 7. Gaining Effect: The image of the sun appears overhead
knowledge of the future is impossible. (possibly borrowed from a divergent
timeline), providing full daylight in an
INSTANT FLOOD area 1 mile (1.6 km) in diameter, centered
Level: 1d6 + 1 on the location where the cypher was
Form: Divergent timeline cypher activated. If used while the sun is already
Effect: Water pours from a flooded divergent out and visible, the light in the affected area
timeline, filling a low-lying area a short is redoubled, and sight-related tasks for
distance across to a depth of a couple anyone without sunglasses or other means
of feet (60 cm) within a few rounds. The of filtering out the dazzle are hindered.
water moves with such force that everyone
in the area is attacked. On a failed Speed LOST AND FOUND
defense roll against the level of the cypher, Level: 1d6 + 1
the target takes a number of points of Form: Divergent timeline cypher
damage equal to the cypher’s level as they Effect: An object the user holds disappears
are knocked from their feet, caught up by into a divergent timeline. For a number of
the moving flood water, and hit by debris months equal to the cypher’s level, the user
moving with the water and/or battered on can use an action to retrieve the object,
solid objects in the water’s path. regardless of whether they retain the cypher
The water from the flood drains a round or two used to make it disappear.
after it rages through the area (assuming
it has someplace to flow to), though any METAHUMAN MANIFESTATION: AURA
damage it did remains. Level: 1d6 + 2
Form: Divergent timeline cypher
INVULNERABILITY Effect: For a number of hours equal to this
Level: 1d6 + 4 cypher’s level, the metahuman user of this
Form: Divergent timeline cypher cypher manifests an aura, usually only
Effect: For a number of hours equal to this visible to other metahumans, as well as
cypher’s level, the user gains +5 to Armor creatures aware of or otherwise touched
against all types of attacks and effects, even by the Crash. As a separate action, the
effects than Armor normally doesn’t apply user can make their aura visible to normal
to. In addition, the user cannot die, even people and creatures or extinguish it.
if they descend three steps on the damage The aura also provides the user +1 to Armor
track (though they may be completely (+2 if the cypher is level 6 or higher, +3 if
comatose, burned, or otherwise damaged). level 8).
If the benefit provided by this cypher ends In addition, the aura can provide an asset for
while the user is still three steps down on various interaction tasks, if the GM decides
the damage track, they die on the following that is appropriate. For instance, the user
round. could gain an asset in convincing another
The user of know your metahuman they are akin, or the user gains
nemesis doesn’t get KNOW YOUR NEMESIS an asset in lying to or intimidating a normal
notified every time Level: 1d6 + 4 person.
someone mentions
Form: Divergent timeline cypher Non-metahumans gain no benefit from using
someone else with the
same name; the speaker Effect: For the next 24 hours, every time this cypher.
has to be talking about someone speaks the user’s name, the user
the user in particular. can attempt an Intellect task against the
speaker’s level; if successful, the user knows

26
 DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
OMNISCIENCE PLAY DEAD Someone using an
Level: 1d6 + 2 Level: 1d6 omniscience cypher gains
Form: Divergent timeline cypher Form: Divergent timeline cypher knowledge available only
during the moment it
Effect: The user of this cypher gains complete Effect: For up to one hour, the user takes on
is used; they don’t get
knowledge of an area equal in size to a the likeness of the corpse from a version insight about things that
100-foot (30 m) diameter sphere, including of themselves that has sadly just shuffled come into the area later,
all objects or creatures within that area. The off this mortal coil in a divergent timeline. they’re not constantly
area must be a location the user can see, As long as the user doesn’t move, tasks updated about things
has previously visited, or knows to exist. to pass themselves off as being dead that occur in the area
The knowledge gained includes the level of are eased by two steps, or three steps if later, and so on.
creatures and objects present, as well as the cypher is level 4 or higher. If the user
specific details, purposes, and intentions moves more than an immediate distance
of creatures and objects in the area, though in a round, they can’t attempt to pass
the GM may require a successful Intellect themselves off as dead that round.
attack against creatures present to learn
this information.
For example, a user may discover that a secret
security system is set in a vault, exactly how
the security system is triggered, what the
effects are if the system is triggered, and
even how to disable the security system.

Divergent timeline cyphers (or “divergences”) are from doomed timelines that have either already died, or
have at most a few months more to exist as alternate strands of existence.

27
 The Origin
RIFT 71–80 Divergent timeline cyphers within
short range react poorly, exploding
Level: 1d6 + 1
like detonations equal to their level.
Form: Divergent timeline cypher
Effect: A hole is torn in space. This is known 81–90 All machines within short range
as a rift, which usually lasts about one are burned out from a massive
minute. The aperture leads to a crumbling electrical short.
divergent timeline (effectively, a location 91–95 Strange and dangerous creatures
The Subworld, page 70 in the Subworld, but usually a fragment come out of the rift, pulled from
too fleeting to quantify). A rift can be divergent timelines. Possibilities are
Timeline collapser, patched before it heals itself with a timeline endless and could include dinosaurs
page 29 collapser, rift seal, or something similar. such as deinonychus, aliens like
Specific effects of the rift can be rolled for, the enthraller, or something from a
selected from, or inspired by results on the dimension of horror like a couple of
Subworld Rift Table. deep ones.
Detonation, page 386 96–99 Every creature within short range
SUBWORLD RIFT TABLE is shunted into the divergent
Deinonychus, page 320 To defend against effects created by a rift, timeline connected through the
characters make a Might defense roll against rift, which closes behind them.
Enthraller, page 328
the level of the divergence that created the PCs find themselves in a Reflection
Deep ones, page 319 effect. A rift lasts about one minute unless Subworld Location and can travel
otherwise indicated. the Subworld to find their way back
d100 Effect to the real world.
01–10 A metahuman or a creature affected 00 The rift is permanent and begins to
by the Crash (such as Reynard or grow, endangering the continued
Reynard, page 117
Hangman) is spit out of the rift. existence of the principal timeline,
Hangman, page 97
11–20 Psychic visions from through the unless patched.
connected rift inflict 5 points of
Reflection Subworld Intellect damage on everyone within RIFT SEAL
Location, page 77 short range of the rift each round Level: 1d6 + 3
they remain within short range. Form: Divergent timeline cypher
Traveling the 21–30 A time anomaly knocks everyone Effect: A rift within short range is sealed. In
Subworld, page 70 within short range forward in time addition, any lingering effects of a rift that
one minute. previously opened in the area (such as
A rift created in a region spitting out strange creatures or trapping
31–40 Targets within immediate range lose
of the Subworld acts victims within the rift) are reversed.
the same as if created equipment or anything else they’re
Damage inflicted, however, is not reversed.
in the regular world. holding into the rift.
In addition, the actions of all metahumans
41–50 A toxic environment from through within short range when this cypher is used
the connected rift inflicts a number are hindered by three steps for one minute.
of points of Speed damage (ignores
Armor) equal to the cypher’s level SHATTER MEMORY PALACE
on everyone within short range of Level: 1d6 + 3
the rift due to poison. Form: Divergent timeline cypher
51–60 Divergent and principal timelines Effect: Metahumans and creatures affected by
overlap briefly, causing terrific pain the Crash within short range must succeed
and confusion in all creatures within on an Intellect defense roll or suddenly
short range for one minute; treat relive, with crystal clarity, the devastating
affected creatures as if stunned. events of the Crash. Affected targets are
61–70 The rift causes the nearest living stunned, losing their next turn, and take
creature to become immaterial for ambient damage equal to the cypher level.
the next hour, during which time
they cannot interact with any solid
objects around them. An affected
creature can attempt a Might
defense roll against the level of the
cypher each minute to end the effect
early.

28
 DIVERGENT TIMELINE CYPHERS
SHIFTING TRAJECTORY hours equal to the cypher’s level. However,
Level: 1d6 + 1 to enable the trip, each metahuman
Form: Divergent timeline cypher traveler must infuse the cypher with one of
Effect: For the next minute, the user can their power shifts, during which time the
instantly shift (as part of another action) metahuman doesn’t gain those power shift
partially out of phase into a divergent benefits.
timeline, allowing them to move up to For each additional power shift the travelers
a short distance in addition to any other confer to the cypher, the group can travel
movement they’ve taken. At the beginning six more months into the past.
of the user’s next turn, they are returned to When travelers appear in the new moment
normal phase. While out of phase, the user in time, they do so in the same position
can’t affect or be affected by anything unless they were in when the cypher was used.
the attack is transdimensional or able to Upon arriving at the intended temporal
affect things that are out of phase. The user destination, the travelers are stunned for
can pass through solid matter whose level one minute and can take no actions.
is less than the cypher’s level, but energy If travelers attempt to move to a period before
barriers and force fields keep them at bay. the Crash, each must succeed on a difficulty
6 Might defense roll or rebound into their
SPATIAL TRANSFER original time and move two steps down the
Level: 1d6 + 3 damage track. Those who succeed on the
Form: Divergent timeline cypher defense roll make the trip successfully.
Effect: If the cypher has a set destination, the What the characters are actually doing is
user or a single touched target “falls” moving into a parallel divergent timeline The setting of The Origin
through reality, teleported to another that hasn’t yet deteriorated. Each hour assumes that it’s been
location, including a location in the the PCs spend at the destination, there about two years since
the Crash (page 36).
Subworld. Setting the cypher requires the is a 50% chance that the timeline begins
user (or someone who previously held the to unravel, a process that takes about a
cypher) succeeding on a difficulty 4 Intellect minute. If PCs don’t escape before then,
task while standing in the destination. A they face extinction.
spatial transfer cypher doesn’t function
until it has a set destination. TIMELINE COLLAPSER
Level: 10
STEAL RECOLLECTION Form: Divergent timeline cypher
Level: 1d6 + 1 Effect: The user can hasten the collapse of a
Form: Divergent timeline cypher divergent timeline in which this cypher is
Effect: A metahuman target within short range used. Once triggered, the divergent timeline
of the user forgets some aspects of the is destroyed within one minute. PCs still
Crash, lending clarity to the user. For one in the divergent timeline find themselves
minute, the metahuman loses access to traveling the Subworld whether they were
one power shift of the GM’s choice (an ready to or not.
NPC metahuman is hindered). During this If this cypher is used in the Subworld, a region
time, the user gains a shift boost. up to a long distance across is “erased” For more information on
If used on a non-metahuman, the stolen (though other portions of the Subworld are a shift boost cypher, see
memory is mundane. However, the affected not endangered). Claim the Sky, page 158.
non-metahuman target ceases taking
actions for up to one minute as they attempt TIMELINE STUNT DOUBLE
to recall a suddenly missing memory. If the Level: 1d6 + 3
target is attacked, endangered, or seriously Form: Divergent timeline cypher
provoked, they stop worrying about the Effect: The user is seamlessly replaced with a
forgotten memory and act normally. divergent timeline double who acts just as
the user would for one minute per cypher
TICKET TO YESTERDAY level, after which the two are swapped
Level: 1d6 + 3 back. The upshot is that no matter what
Form: Divergent timeline cypher kind of damage or other effects (or
Effect: A metahuman user and up to five other benefits) the user experiences during the
metahumans within immediate range can duration, up to and including death, the
use this cypher to travel to a specified point user is returned to their original condition
in the past within six months of the present when the duration expires.
and remain there for up to a number of

29
 The Origin
TIMELINE SUPPORT VEHICLE
Level: 1d6 + 3 Level: 1d6 + 1
Form: Divergent timeline cypher Form: Divergent timeline cypher
Effect: For one day in an area a long distance Effect: For a number of hours equal to this
across, cyphers that rely on divergent cypher’s level, the user manifests a vehicle
timeline effects with a level less than this (borrowed from a divergent timeline). The
cypher’s level cannot be triggered. However, vehicle could be a skateboard, bicycle,
those that have already been triggered with motorbike, car, or small truck, as long as it
an ongoing duration are not affected. is a ground vehicle with a mass of no more
than about 5,000 pounds (2,270 kg). The
VAPORIZE user chooses the vehicle when this cypher
Level: 1d6 + 3 is first used. The vehicle’s level is normal
Form: Divergent timeline cypher for a vehicle of its kind.
Effect: The essence of a dying divergent
timeline affects an object within immediate WEAPON
range whose level is less than the cypher’s Level: 1d6
level and that weighs up to 50 lbs. (23 kg) Form: Divergent timeline cypher
per level of the cypher. A spurt of thick, Effect: For a number of hours equal to this
bubbling quantum foam dissolves and cypher’s level, the user manifests a weapon
erases the object forever. Only metahumans (borrowed from a divergent timeline). The
remember it ever existed. weapon could be a sword, spear, bow, gun,
rifle, or something else they are personally
familiar with (so no laser rifles or plasma
pistols for characters who are part of The
Origin’s setting). Likewise, it can be a light,
medium, or heavy weapon. Attacks with the
weapon are eased, but otherwise its qualities
and level are normal for a weapon of its kind.

30
 ARTIFACTS
Chapter 5

ARTIFACTS

I
n The Origin’s setting, artifacts are usually COLLECTOR LURE Artifacts, page 421
built by metahumans who develop a special Level: 5
ability related to invention. Before the Crash, Form: Cylindrical metallic device small enough
genius inventors created things like better to fit into the palm with a thumb stick
vacuum cleaners and self-balancing scooters. activator A Collector lure user must
After the Crash, they could fashion plasma guns, Effect: Attempting to weaponize the Collector succeed on an Intellect
teleportation badges, and doomsday devices. phenomenon, researchers at MAD have task because the device is
a prototype of a not well-
The US government has decided that these created a prototype device that usually
understood phenomenon.
sorts of extraordinary devices are illegal to calls a Collector if the user succeeds on a
own or make. Because the thing about difficulty 2 Intellect task when activating Chapter 10: Collectors,
artifacts is that they can give regular people the artifact. If a Collector arrives, it does page 120
abilities akin to metahumans. MAD has a so within one or two rounds, then acts
subdivision whose only job is to locate, collect, according to its nature (which is to target Collector, page 123
and safely store metahuman-created artifacts the nearest metahuman).
it hears about or uncovers during its ongoing Depletion: 1 in 1d10 MAD, page 47
intelligence-gathering efforts.
A few examples follow. COLLECTOR REPELLENT
Level: 5
ARTIFACTS Form: Cylindrical metallic device small enough GM intrusion: Instead
Choose or roll on the table to select an artifact. to fit into the palm with a thumb stick of a Collector, a
activator Collector behemoth
d100 Artifact (page 124) appears.
Effect: Seeking to create safeguards in their effort
01–07 Collector lure
to weaponize the Collector phenomenon,
08–14 Collector repellent MAD researchers created a device that
15–21 Dematerialization suit impels Collectors (of any variety) within
short range to flee if the user succeeds on
22–28 Doombringer
an Intellect-based attack roll against each
29–35 IRID neutralizer target. The artifact eases the users’ attack
36–41 Lock neutralizer against each target by three steps.
42–48 MAD suppression cuffs Depletion: 1 in 1d6
49–54 Plasma eyes
DEMATERIALIZATION SUIT
55–61 Reality deformer Level: 1d6 +2
62–67 Shield gauntlet Form: Jumpsuit imprinted with visible circuitry;
can be worn under normal clothing
68–71 Subworld key
Effect: Wearer and equipment can phase for
72–78 Subworld shades up to ten minutes per use. While phased,
79–85 Tactical visor some attacks pass through the wearer
86–92 Terahertz scanner harmlessly: the wearer gains an asset to
their Speed defense tasks, but during this
93–00 Unseen coveralls
time they lose any benefit from armor
they wear. However, they can walk through
otherwise solid objects or walls, moving up
to 1 foot (30 cm) each round.
Depletion: 1 in 1d20

31
 The Origin
DOOMBRINGER LOCK NEUTRALIZER
Level: 9 Level: 1d6 + 2
Form: Gauntlet (can be mounted as a Form: Fist-sized metallic orb covered in smooth
prosthetic forearm and hand) seams
Effect: Wearer can attack a creature they can Effect: Tiny metallic manipulators extrude
see within long range with a shadowy beam from between the seams and analyze the
fired from the open palm of the gauntlet. locking mechanism indicated by the user
The target that fails a Might defense roll within immediate range. On the following
dies. On a successful defense roll, a PC round, the lock neutralizer picks the lock
target still descends one step on the if the lock’s level is equal to or less than
damage track, while an NPC target takes the artifact’s level. If the lock is somehow
damage equal to one third of their full trapped, the lock neutralizer overcomes the
health. trap if the trap’s level is less than or equal
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 to the artifact’s, but this function requires a
separate depletion roll.
IRID NEUTRALIZER Depletion: 1 in 1d10
Level: 1d6 + 3
Form: Staff-like implement girded with narrow, MAD SUPPRESSION CUFFS
tube-like tanks cold to the touch Level: 1d6 + 3
IRID, page 39 Effect: Developed by IRID to capture Form: Metallic handcuffs with fob-sized device
metahumans without harming them, fused to each cuff
MAD suppression this medium weapon fires a stream of Effect: Developed by MAD to detain metahumans,
cuffs have no effect on scintillating fluid at a creature within short when applied, these suppression cuffs disable
non-metahumans. range. On a failed Speed defense roll, the a metahuman (or creature empowered by
MAD, page 47 creature is frozen inside an amber-like the metahuman phenomenon) for a number
casing, putting the creature in stasis for of hours equal to the artifact’s level. The
one or more days. At the end of each day of disabling effect prevents a cuffed target from
imprisonment, a PC can attempt a Might taking any actions other than moving (and
defense roll against the level of the artifact then only up to an immediate distance) and
to break free. the simplest of mental or physical feats such
Others can free the trapped target by as nodding, swallowing, and blinking. A PC
Attacking objects, successfully attacking the casement until it wearing suppression cuffs can attempt a
page 223 is finally destroyed. A creature whose level Might defense roll against the level of the
is higher than the artifact’s level can usually artifact to break free of the cuffs once each
break out within a day or two. hour. An NPC or creature whose level is
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 higher than the artifact’s level can usually
break out within an hour or two.
If the cuff duration expires while a target is
still wearing them, the cuffs automatically
reactivate (requiring another depletion roll).
Depletion: 1 in 1d20

32
 ARTIFACTS
PLASMA EYES SHIELD GAUNTLET
Level: 1d6 + 3 Level: 1d6
Form: Half-helm covering eyes (pinhole cameras Form: Leather gauntlet with metal plates
transmit real-time images to wearer) Effect: Wearer produces a momentary invisible
Effect: Wearer can attack a target they can shield of hardened air particles as part of a
see within long range with twin beams of defense action, easing a Speed defense roll
boiling plasma focused from the half-helm’s to avoid a physical attack.
eyespots, inflicting damage equal to the Depletion: 1 in 1d20
artifact’s level (ignores Armor; the plasma
burns right through most materials except SUBWORLD KEY
force fields). Because of the heads-up Level: 1d6 + 1
display provided by the artifact, the wearer’s Form: Electronic key fob
attack is eased. Effect: A normal door, threshold, or other
This device is a rapid-fire weapon, and thus constricted space no larger than 10 feet (3
can be used with the Spray or Arc Spray m) on a side provides access to and from Spray, page 185
abilities that some characters have, but the Subworld for a number of minutes
each additional target selected requires an equal to the key’s level. If the access made Arc Spray, page 110
additional depletion roll. by the Subworld key is random, then
Depletion: 1 in 1d20 the entrance is to a Reflection Subworld The Subworld, page 70
location. If the access is created near
REALITY DEFORMER another known entrance to the Subworld, Reflection Subworld
Level: 7 the entrance is usually to the same location Location, page 77
Form: Oversized smartwatch-like device in the Subworld, as the GM determines.
Effect: In their attempt to understand the Depletion: 1 in 1d6
divergent timeline phenomenon reported
by metahuman subjects, Babbage SUBWORLD SHADES Babbage Industries,
Industries researchers invented a prototype Level: 1d6 + 1 page 59
device that creates a mobile field of Form: Thick amber-shaded glasses
unstable reality. The deformed reality pocket Effect: For ten minutes, wearer can see any
is just large enough to cover the wearer for active entrances to the Subworld as a
one minute. Within the field, the wearer strange glow or aura highlighting the
gains a major effect on any successful task threshold, crack, or boundary. Major Effect, page 212
roll (not just on a 20). Depletion: 1 in 1d20
Depletion: 1 in 1d6

33
 The Origin
TACTICAL VISOR • Detection of all other electromagnetic
Level: 1d6 signals, including radio (though not the
Form: VR-like headset covering eyes contents), x-ray, and other frequencies
Effect: The wearer sees the world around them within long range. (To most users, this
normally through cameras mounted on view is a mélange of visual noise, but
the headset. In addition, the wearer can strong or close signals can sometimes
essentially use the headset as a hands-free lead to something that would otherwise
smartphone, gaining access to any apps be missed.)
one might normally find on a smartphone, Depletion: 1 in 1d20
but through voice subvocalization.
When the headset’s special functions are TERAHERTZ SCANNER
activated (requiring a depletion roll), the Level: 1d6 + 1
user gains a tactical overlay of the world Form: Half-helm covering eyes (pinhole
around them for one hour that offers cameras transmit real-time images to
several additional benefits above and wearer)
beyond normal sight. These intuitively Effect: For one minute, wearer can see a short
accessible functions allow the user to ease distance through most interior walls of
one task they select each round (which standard structures, through normal
could be a defense roll or an attack roll) clothing, and into normal bags and
that requires visual input or input the visor briefcases. Metal, stone, and similarly solid
can provide via an overlay. substances more than 6 inches (15 cm)
Additional specific benefits for activating the thick prevent a scan, as will a force field.
tactical overlay include the following. Depletion: 1 in 1d20
• The ability to see normally even in
complete darkness within short range. UNSEEN COVERALLS
• The ability to see heat traces through Level: 1d6
infrared (IR) magnification, which Form: Grey jumpsuit-like covering, but looser,
enhances perception tasks based on meant to be worn over other clothing
vision. Effect: For up to a number of minutes equal
• Precise distances between any two to the artifact’s level, the wearer becomes
objects in the wearer’s field of vision, or invisible. The effect ends if the wearer does
between the wearer and any object in their something to draw attention to themselves
field of vision. or takes damage.
Depletion: 1 in 1d6

34
 Part 2
Setting of
The Origin

CHAPTER 6: WELCOME TO THE ORIGIN................................................ 36

CHAPTER 7: SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES.................................. 42
 The Origin
Chapter 6

WELCOME TO THE ORIGIN

A
sk most people about the problems facing Most scientists think the increasing velocity
the world and you’ll hear about pandemics, was probably because of some sort of natural
racial injustice, growing income inequality, outgassing from Oumuamua’s surface, perhaps
collapsing biomes, and onrushing climate from solid hydrogen.
catastrophe. In fact, many people think the A few researchers got a lot more media
world is getting worse, rather than better. Of attention by suggesting that the object was
course, for an individual, that could well be debris from an alien spacecraft, possibly
true. Historians asked the same question like to propelled by a light sail or some more exotic
point out that over the last few hundred years, extraterrestrial technology.
health care has dramatically reduced mortality. It was impossible to say, because the quickly
Children are much better fed, treated, and moving intruder traced its curving trajectory
given opportunities for advancement. Salaries through the solar system, never coming within
are higher. There are fewer poor people. There more than 15 million miles (24 million km) of
are even some signs that we might be able to Earth, then departed as quickly as it came.
address the climate crisis in time to avert a truly Perhaps that explains why, when a second
horrific outcome. interstellar object was detected, few people
No one ever publicly mentions the heard or cared about it. “Burned” by the
“metahuman problem” or “the Crash.” lack of aliens or other flashy headlines after
That’s because that aspect of the setting of Oumuamua uneventfully passed out of the solar
The Origin is secret, known only to a select few. system, mainstream media didn’t cover it at all.
The PCs will soon be among those who learn Online sources featuring astronomy and
the truth. space news, of course, had stories on this
The “2I” designates Which means that as the campaign begins, second quick-moving object, named 2I/2020
Nibiru as the second the setting is nestled right under normal E1. Space nerds were excited that another
interstellar object reality. The surface situation of the real world interstellar “comet” was in reach of Earth’s
observed by astronomers.
is the same for The Origin. Heat waves versus scientific instruments. They speculated more
“2020” is the year it was
discovered. “E1” indicates strategies for mitigating climate catastrophe, would be learned this time around. Even so, the
it was the first interstellar battling political parties seeking to promote excitement was only a fraction of that garnered
object discovered in the their particular solutions to the problems by Oumuamua.
first half of March. besetting society, pandemics kicking off or The object gained a small uptick in notoriety
falling in the rear-view window—that’s all when it was captured by the sun’s gravity in a
there, in the background. highly eccentric orbit, becoming visible in the
For someone in the know, however, night sky as a faint star-like point. Predictably,
top-of-mind issues are much different. For someone decided to start calling it “Nibiru”
many, everything changed when an interstellar after a mythical planet with a very long orbit,
object came hurtling out of space, aimed popularized by people who believe in Ancient
straight at Earth. Aliens and conspiracy theories.
Then, moving completely unlike a dead hunk
of space rock, Nibiru changed course, making
a beeline for Earth. When it struck, that was the
THE CRASH end for the third planet from the sun. Fire burned
Anyone with even a passing interest in the sky, the ground, and everything. It was an
astronomy probably recalls stories in the media extinction-level event on a scale as massive as any
about “Oumuamua: The First Interstellar the world had previously suffered.
Object” in 2018 (though it was first detected Not that most people recall the disaster.
in 2017). The object, called Oumuamua, was From the perspective of the vast majority of
apparently a cigar-shaped tumbling mass people, Nibiru sailed into the solar system with
that seemed to be accelerating as it moved. as little fanfare as Oumuamua.

36
 WELCOME TO THE ORIGIN

But for a relative handful of people, witness or otherwise be affected by metahumans.

everything was different. For them, the disaster It’s just that they don’t have any personal
happened, then was somehow sidestepped experience with gaining the ability to phase
after the fact. Even two years later, no one in through walls or kill someone with a touch.
the know is certain why, though hypotheses Because the correlation between
abound, at least among those who remember remembering the Crash and the development
the discrepancy. Of more immediate of superpowers is so strong, many assume
importance to most were all the other changes the connection is direct cause-and-effect.
that happened, beginning with the appearance Some even suggest that a metahuman of
of metahumans. unprecedented temporal ability used their
time travel power to go back in time and
save the Earth from the Crash. But if the
disaster gave metahumans their power,
APPEARANCE OF METAHUMANS preventing it using a power gained because
In a one-to-one correlation, anyone recalling it happened leads to a paradox. (No one said
the events of the Crash quickly demonstrates the hypotheses being floated are any good.)
unusual and often shocking new abilities. On the other hand, maybe there is a paradox at
Many recalled the Crash two years ago, in a work, one responsible for so many crumbling
metahuman manifestation distributed evenly fragments of other timelines (called divergent Part 1: Metahuman
around the globe. But the recollection is timeline cyphers, or just “divergences”) falling Manifestation, page 5
something that can apparently occur to a normal into the world.
person at any time, even to this day. Thankfully, A lot of new metahumans died experimenting
on any given day, less than half a dozen people with their suddenly acquired abilities. (Some
are likely to have this recollection, and that still experience similarly fatal “flameouts” to
average number continues to drop month over this day.) Others perfected the use of their new
month. But even today, it’s certain that one or extraordinary power, or decided to ignore it
more people are just now recalling the Crash, completely. Those wishing to exploit their new
after which they develop “superpowers.” These gifts helped shape the landscape of the setting
people have been dubbed metahumans. over the last two years, usually by becoming part
People who don’t remember the Crash don’t of one of the many secret groups that operate at
develop superpowers. That’s not to say they can’t state, national, and international levels.

37
 The Origin

The setting of The Origin is secret, known only to a select few.

FORMATION OF SECRET GROUPS

Metahumans live secretly in normal
society. That doesn’t seem like a credible
fact to the average person. But here and
there, influential people were convinced
of its truth. A few because they recalled
the Crash themselves. Others because
higher-ups in their chain of command
ordered them to begin studying the
phenomenon. Which is why today there
are government departments, business
subsidiaries, philanthropic institutions,
criminal gangs, religious splinter groups,
and at least one group made up entirely
of metahumans looking out for each
other.
These groups include the following.
Each group, as well as several others, is
fully described in chapter 7.

House of Nibiru: The House of Nibiru is

Chapter 7: Secret Groups a secret organization of metahumans that
& Covert Places, page 42 keeps an eye out for new metahumans.
They try to help newcomers through the
House of Nibiru, page 42 transition from normal to superhuman,
and warn them about the dangers facing
metahumans from their own unusual
new abilities and from other groups. The
House also selects especially trusted and
capable members (which could include
PCs) to undertake special missions
that they deem to be in the interest of
metahuman survival. These missions
are often designed to foil the activities
of other groups, especially when those
groups are exploiting metahumans.
But the House also targets rogue
metahumans whose activities endanger
normal people, and worse, threaten
to expose the secret of metahuman
existence to the wider world. The PCs’
first interaction with other metahumans
might well be a contact reaching out from
the House of Nibiru, if they’re lucky.

Metahuman Affairs Department (MAD):

MAD is a covert intelligence and law
MAD, page 47 enforcement service of the federal
government of the United States. It aims
to protect the United States against
metahuman terrorism, metahuman
attacks, and metahuman espionage.

38
 WELCOME TO THE ORIGIN

Metahumans have one foot on either side of the fractured timeline divide. They
remember the Crash, but live in a reality where it never happened.

It maintains a metahuman watch list. The Union of Concerned Citizens: Posing as a

Effectively, MAD views most metahumans as a charity supporting law enforcement, this group
threat against the US, and thus seeks to find, (usually just known as the Union), claims The Union, page 55
detain, question, and ultimately “remand” every donations made to it help and advance policing
metahuman it can find. Metahuman groups like through innovation and science. In fact, the
the Freedom Fraternity and the Houston Firm Union is a group determined to hunt down and
only harden the official view that metahumans eliminate metahumans whenever and wherever
are inherently dangerous and can’t be allowed they find them.
to run free. That said, one or two metahumans
actually work for MAD, fully in support of its The Clearwater Register: The Clearwater The Clearwater
mandate. Register is a tabloid magazine and website that Register, page 57
“exposes” anomalous phenomena, often with
Freedom Fraternity: The Freedom Fraternity is a little more credulity than skepticism. Still, a Freedom Fraternity,
a domestic terrorist organization that seeks recurring feature discussing the existence of page 50
to bring down the lawful government of the people with strange powers has come to the
United States and replace it with “pure liberty.” attention of various other groups who’d prefer
Details of what “pure liberty” looks like are the secret of metahumans remains concealed.
lacking, but their actions suggest it places a So far, no overt move has been made to shut
high value on personal freedom over the needs down the publication.
of those not fortunate enough to own a gun. At
least one of the principals of Freedom Fraternity Babbage Industries: Also known as “the
(Freedom Fractal) is a metahuman, which Energy Company,” Babbage Industries is most Freedom Fractal, page 96
pushed the group onto the radar of MAD. known for its work in developing fusion energy
(though it has many other concerns). According Babbage Industries,
Houston Firm: The Houston Firm (also to work heralded on its website, the company page 59
known as the Firm) is a metahuman-run and is developing utility-scale fusion power using
-staffed organized crime syndicate based in a new, revolutionary process. Though no one Houston Firm, page 52
Houston, Texas, founded not long after the outside the company (and very few inside)
first metahumans appeared. The Firm realize it, the “process” is to find metahumans
employs many low-level functionaries and exploit their abilities.
(mostly lawyers) that think they’re part of a
spectacularly successful law firm, though a few
are in on the truth. The head of the Houston IRID
Firm is well-known philanthropist Colette The Idiosyncratic Research and Intelligence Colette Fabre, page 85
Z. Fabre, who’s appeared in any number of Directorate (IRID) has a lot in common
celebrity-centric magazines and television with MAD, except it’s a covert intelligence Unlike MAD, IRID
segments. Of course, most people don’t know doesn’t have a
agency operated out of the United Kingdom.
the truth about the Firm or that Colette can full description in
It functions independently of the more later chapters.
control other people’s minds. commonly known “MI6.” It covertly collects
and analyzes metahuman intelligence
The Fellowship: The Fellowship spreads a within its borders and abroad for the sake The Fellowship, page 53
message of hope, peace, and exaltation. It’s of UK national security. IRID also regularly
considered a New Age group. Those who look sends elite teams to ameliorate metahuman
into it might find its core message of “the threats it has detected, especially if they are
Sleeper” one day awakening and ushering of foreign origin. Unlike MAD, IRID prefers
in utopia a bit strange, but the group seems to induct metahumans into its ranks. In fact,
harmless enough. However, it’s all a front. The it’s one of the best ways the organization has
Fellowship is paid a healthy stipend to ferret of neutralizing a threat.
out and “express” potential new metahumans,
then deliver them to Babbage Industries, no
questions asked.

39
 The Origin
Sobrenatural: Operating out of a private in reality, hailing from some other failed or
museum with all sorts of paranormal fractured reality that has collapsed, save for the
specimens on display in Curitiba, Brazil, object in question.
Sobrenatural, page 65 “Sobrenatural” is the secret inner circle of the They’re not wrong. These divergent timeline
Curitiba Natural Science Society. Sobrenatural cyphers (sometimes called “divergences”) are
Chapter 4: Divergent has lately become interested in identifying, like cosmic driftwood, remnants of dissolved
Timeline Cyphers, cataloguing, and just generally watching or otherwise destroyed dimensional strands
page 20 metahumans in Brazil and around the world. that washed up on the shores of our world.
They send out anonymous Sobrenatural They retain a bit of their divergent reality that
watchers, who try to remain uninvolved, but metahumans can utilize as cyphers.
otherwise find everything they can about the
metahuman phenomenon.

OTHER GROUPS DISCOVERY OF THE SUBWORLD

The Subworld, page 70 Besides those mentioned here, dozens of other The Subworld is a random accumulation of
groups, businesses, and secret societies exist dying divergent timelines that have avoided
with a secret focus on metahumans. Some complete disintegration by adhering to our
merely wish to catalog metahumans, but many world like cobwebs in the rafters.
hope to expose, exploit, or eliminate them. The Subworld isn’t obvious. One must know
where to look, or have the bad luck to stumble
through one of the many entrances scattered
around the world. Individual Subworld
APPEARANCE OF CYPHERS locations do not obviously connect to other
At the same time metahumans showed up, more distant parts (though they probably all
strange objects with odd properties began do). One Subworld entrance could be a door
appearing around the planet. The only reason in an old house that from the outside seems
more wasn’t made of it is because most like it leads to a spare bedroom. But once
people who aren’t metahuman don’t notice through, an explorer might find a larger and
them. Well, they can notice them, but either utterly anachronistic house. Another entrance
don’t think anything of them, or upon seeing might be through a crack in a mirror leading
their anachronistic nature, assume they are to a strange glass city, silent and empty. A
a fake, some sort of set piece for a fictional narrow tunnel in the ground could empty
game or show, or other random piece of into an enormous subterranean cavern where
frippery. These objects can take on any shape dinosaurs somehow still roam.
(though are usually small enough to be easily Most people know nothing of the Subworld,
carried), but all share the quality of being in including most metahumans. Those who do
some way unusual. Examples include bus know sometimes use select portions of the
tickets to nonexistent locations, coins or bills Subworld as bases of operation, places to
showing alternate historical figures, maps with stash valuables, or prisons from which no one
nonexistent lands upon them, pens that never can escape. Specific examples are scattered
Chapter 7: Secret Groups write with the same color ink twice, and so on. through Chapter 7. Several additional Subworld
& Covert Places, page 42 Still, sometimes normal people sense there locations are described in the latter portion of
Meridian Storage, is a little bit more to these odd objects. Which the chapter, including Meridian Storage and
page 71 is why many become talismans, lucky charms, Mothwood Lake.
Mothwood Lake, page 74 or even prized possessions of NPCs. An “old
watch fob” might be something an NPC likes to
keep in their pocket—even though they would
be hard-pressed to explain just why they’re
attracted to it.
For metahumans, however, these objects
have a special resonance. That’s because, for
Manifest Cyphers, metahumans at least, they act as manifest
page 379 cyphers and grant one-off abilities of an
often-extraordinary nature. And not to put too
fine a point on it, extraordinary in the same way
that metahuman special abilities are special.
Those with the skills and the sensitivity to
do so have been looking for these objects, and
have come to believe they are point divergences

40
 WELCOME TO THE ORIGIN
ARRIVAL OF COLLECTORS The eyewitnesses described these beings
Regular humans know nothing about as something not human, entities that hunt
Collectors, and metahumans and related metahumans, looking like holes in space, Chapter 10: Collectors,
secret societies know almost as little. shadows without a source. If a Collector comes page 120
Collectors showed up right after the Crash. near a metahuman, it immediately senses its
In the beginning, it wasn’t clear who or how prey, like a bloodhound getting a fox’s scent. If
many people had become metahuman. the metahuman can’t get away, the Collector
Likewise, no one knew that an uptick in grabs and pulls the victim into themselves,
missing person cases around that same presumably erasing them from existence.
time corresponded with the disappearance The truth, which only a handful of people
of many newly awakened metahumans, too even suspect, is that Collectors are responsible
new to their abilities and situation to realize for the Crash. Which means they are indirectly
they might be in danger from more than just responsible for the metahuman phenomenon
regular authorities. itself, countless crumbling divergent
Then a few metahumans survived their timelines, divergent timeline cyphers, and the
first contact with Collectors and reported accumulated dross of other dying alternate
it on the House of Nibiru’s dark website. realities composing the Subworld. House of Nibiru, page 42

Enigmatic beings called Collectors target metahumans. They don’t negotiate or even speak. They just
appear, surround any hapless metahuman they can catch, and drag them into oblivion.

41
 The Origin
Chapter 7

SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

T
his chapter details the important groups HOUSE OF NIBIRU
and locations of The Origin setting The House of Nibiru is an organization
as they pertain to metahumans and composed of metahumans all around the
related phenomena. While there are more globe who interact primarily over a dark
organizations and locations of interest than website called NibiruCrash. They present
those presented here, you should otherwise themselves as a community looking out for
assume that the rest of the world resembles its members, and in practice, they live up
Earth as it is today. to the implicit promise of aid they offer to
If the campaign you want to run will stay mainly anyone who needs it. However, to deliver
in one area rather than involve a lot of traveling aid that’s more than merely advice and
to different locations, feel free to pull whatever inspiration through an online forum or video
material you want from this chapter into that chat, the House of Nibiru also sometimes
area. For example, if your game will stay mostly fields volunteer members to take on special
MAD, page 47 around Denver, Colorado, pull a MAD field office, missions on behalf of the community.
Houston Firm, page 52 a branch of the Houston Firm, and so on into
the greater Denver area. That way PCs have more OUTREACH
opportunity to interact with those groups. One way the House tries to reach new
The Origin’s setting focuses primarily on the members is by distributing flyers on grocery
United States, where metahumans live and store bulletin boards and similar locations far
operate. However, metahumans and related and wide. The flyers all have a simple message,
groups and locations are spread evenly across “Do you remember when the world ended?”
the globe. The following series of descriptions Underneath the question is a bizarre web
of groups and locations is by no means a address (a dark web address).
comprehensive list.

42
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
Metahumans who see the message do MANDELA EFFECT EXAMPLES
legitimately remember the world ending, because You might be a metahuman if you notice
that was the result of the Crash. Anyone else who too many of these reality distortions. All the The Crash, page 36
sees it usually pays it no mind, presuming it to be items on this list are of things that exist in
an advertisement of some sort. And anyone who the base reality of The Origin.
knows about the Crash, but who has an affiliation • The Earth wasn’t destroyed by a giant
with a known metahuman-hunting or monitoring extraterrestrial comet.
group, usually fails to notice these flyers at all, • Jiffy peanut butter doesn’t exist.
thanks to a probability field constantly generated • It’s “Looney Tunes,” not “Looney Toons.”
by a House member called Lucky Sleeper. • The Monopoly mascot in the top hat has
Other times, the House learns about never worn a monocle.
newly manifested metahumans thanks to • In some other divergent reality, kids ate
Lucky Sleeper’s power. In this case, they “Fruit Loops.” Here in the base reality,
directly contact the potential member of the it’s “Froot Loops.”
community, and give the pitch. • Metahumans in particular remember
The pitch boils down to an offer of help listening to a band called Oasis. But no
and solidarity. The House can answer a lot of such band ever existed in the base reality.
questions any new metahuman probably has. • Pokémon’s Pikachu has lightning-like
Moreover, together with others like them, there black detailing on his tail in a divergent
is protection. Alone, a metahuman is more reality only.
likely to be picked off by those who hunt them. • Nelson Mandela did not die in the 1980s
For an example of this latter direct method of in a prison; this common false memory
contact, see Joining the House (an Interlude). gives the entire phenomenon its name. Chapter 12: Joining the
House (an Interlude),
THE FORUM page 137
Like normal online forums, the NibiruCrash Ultra works with Rainheist and Lucky Sleeper,
forums feature diverse topics created by hundreds who form the leadership of the House. If the NibiruCrash forums,
of users, many of which are not especially relevant House of Nibiru does something, it’s because page 44
to PCs new to their metahuman existence. Ultra, Rainheist, and Lucky Sleeper have talked
However, new users are messaged by one of it through first.
the principals (usually Ultra) in real-time chat
with a message of welcome, and advice to read Rainheist: Rainheist is often on the road, Rainheist: level 6;
all the pinned messages in each forum. Those, spearheading the latest House initiative. This health 30; Armor 4;
they say, will get the character up to speed faster could be looking for a new MAD field office, manipulates, attacks,
and defends with water
than anything else. After that, Ultra invites the taking down a metahuman criminal or terrorist,
PCs to message them again with any further or investigating another “monster” sighting,
questions. Also, Ultra suggests they might have just in case it’s a real animal with extraordinary
some additional information to impart. abilities. Bold and laconic, Rainheist is unlikely
to reveal his given name (Izaak Hall) if there’s
Alias: When PCs first log onto the forum, they no pressing reason. PCs are likely to interact
are prompted to enter an alias, not their real with him in person a few times if they decide to
name. Often, this is the name associated with do missions on the House’s behalf.
the character thereafter, both online and offline. If Rainheist can’t accompany PCs on
a mission, he’s likely to assign his new
HOUSE OF NIBIRU PRINCIPAL NPCs “lieutenant” to accompany characters in his
During their time with the House, PCs are likely place: a recruit called Firedove. Firedove, page 94
to interact with a handful of NPC members,
including the following. Lucky Sleeper: Probably the most powerful
member of the House of Nibiru, Lucky Sleeper Lucky Sleeper: level 5,
Ultra: If the House of Nibiru has a face, it’s (real name Solina Qiu) is the only reason MAD metahuman sensing and
Ultra. Real name Brook Noor, Ultra speaks or some other metahuman-hunting group identifying as level 10,
manipulates dreams and
several languages, and knows people all over hasn’t infiltrated the House. Through her
probability as level 12
the planet from their former career as an art powerful ability to sense metahumans and her
historian and conservator. Ultra is enthusiastic probability manipulation abilities, she ensures Ultra: level 7; spawns up
and empathetic, and usually makes a good first that it’s nearly impossible for anyone with ill will to a dozen extra versions
impression on those new to the House. They toward the House to stumble onto the site, or of themself at once
are also a master of multitasking, though given even learn about its existence. This task isn’t
their ability to multiply into several copies, arduous, though she does need to concentrate
that’s unsurprising. on it each day to ensure continuous protection.

43
 nibirucrash_forums

NIBIRUcrash forums

Who We Are posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

The House of Nibiru is a community of people just like you. “Metahumans” is the term that seems to have stuck. After a few of us found
each other, we realized there were probably a lot more of us out there. So we created NibiruCrash on the dark web. But that’s just part of
our larger organization. Like you, everyone on the forum developed extraordinary new abilities after recalling a terrible incident that no
one else does.
We’re here for you. We’re here for each other. Together, we’ll get through this. Engage in the community, accept its aid. And later,
maybe you can help other community members in turn.
Hopefully, you’re using an alias, as you agreed when you clicked through from the landing page. These forums are a place for
metahumans to talk, offer support, and give advice. But just lurk if you don’t want to. We know. All of us have our own shit to deal with.
Read 768 replies >>

Where Were You When It Happened? posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

The mainstream news didn’t mention it. Alternative news sites were just as quiet, except for places that feature space science and
astronomy. Even so, hardly anyone seemed to care when a second interstellar object zipped into the solar system. Not after all the
over-hyped stories about “Oumuamua: The First Interstellar Object” blew up on social media, then fizzled because it really was just a fast
space rock.
But the second interstellar visitor was captured by the sun’s gravity in a highly eccentric orbit. Visible in the night sky as a faint
star-like point, some wiseass dubbed it “Nibiru.” It wasn’t long after that conspiracy theorists began reporting people with extraordinary
powers. When conspiracy theorists push something, sensible people know it’s crap.
Problem is, if you’re reading this, you know it’s real.
Some of us have started calling the moment when everything changed the Crash.
You know why.
Fire burned the sky, the ground, and everything. It was like God smashed the Earth with a moon-sized hammer, killing you and
everyone else in a blaze of incandescent fury. Because Nibiru didn’t actually miss us.
And then . . . 
Everything was fine again. As if Earth exploding was just some horrible hallucination. A hallucination you shared with thousands of other
people (and a few animals). Even so, the vast majority of people were oblivious. They don’t remember the Crash. Not creepy at all, right?
Not as creepy as what happened next, when you realized the wild-ass things you could do.
Read 533 replies >>

What Happened to the Old Forums? posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

The original forums were mostly just a lot of “Holy fuck, this is crazy; what’s even happening?” Not all that helpful. Now we’ve cleaned
things up a bit, added some organization, more aplomb, and fewer f-bombs, at least in the pinned messages.
Read 124 replies >>

Like It or Not, You Are Different posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

Where were you when you first turned invisible, or started reading other people’s thoughts, or woke up levitating over the bedcovers? Or
burned something to ashes?
You’ve got powers. Like in the comics and movies. But if you’re like most of us, reading comics or watching those movies isn’t as fun
anymore.
First, because a power is almost always dangerous. And figuring out how to use a new power isn’t always easy or safe. Until you get
the hang of yours, there’s a real chance you could hurt yourself. Or even die. There’s a word for that: flameout. You can guess why.
Also, side effects are possible. Health issues are cropping up among a handful of metahumans. It’s all too new to know. It might be
nothing, or we could all be dead inside a year from radiation, adrenal exhaustion, or who knows what. Those of us with expertise in data
gathering are looking into it.
Lastly, by being different, you’ve become a target for all sorts of bad actors, and worse. Sorry, it is what it is. Jump to the They Are
Looking for Us forum when you’re ready to take that in.
Read 398 replies >>
 nibirucrash_forums

Ignore or Exploit Your Power? posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

You’ve got a choice. Will you learn to use your powers, or try to suppress and ignore them? There’s no right answer, and good reasons
to go either route. Like, you might decide you’d rather not risk getting stuck in a wall while learning how to teleport, or turning into a
mindless beetle while trying to change shape.
But a lot of us figure it’s better to practice and get control of our power, rather than let it activate while we’re sad, angry, surprised, or
otherwise distracted. It makes sense to be prepared.
And then there’s those of us who want to use our powers to help people.
Or help themselves . . . .
Either way, learning to control your ability is probably a smart idea. Whatever you decide, most of us are not telling or showing the
wider world what we can do. And for good reason. The few of us who went public were laughed off as frauds. And then they disappeared.
Read 614 replies >>

Mandela Effects posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

This is minor compared to the heavy shit covered in some of the other forums. But, history isn’t quite the same as before the Crash. If
you’re not a history buff, you probably haven’t even noticed. How often does the name of the 21st president of the USA come up? Well, as
history books will tell you, 21 was Grover Cleveland.
Thing is, some of us recall that the 21st president used to be Chester Arthur. But talk to any historian that’s not a metahuman, or do
any research online or in a library, and 21 is always Grover Cleveland.
Lots more instances have come to light, now that we’re on the lookout for them. Pop culture calls these things Mandela effects. We’re
compiling a list. If you’ve noticed any yourself, please reply in this thread.
Read 212 replies >>

Subforum Topic: Animals Too? posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

People are not the only ones with new abilities. Through they’re treated like jokes, scattered news reports include a rat that can talk,
a panda that can shoot lightning, and dog that runs so fast, it can break the sound barrier. A few are scarier than that, like rumors of a
snake in South America that’s hundreds of feet long, and always hungry; it’s literally a monster. And probably not the only one.
(Rainheist is looking for volunteers to investigate the snake. If you’re interested, DM him.)
Read 89 replies >>

They Are Looking for Us posted by Ultra Pinned Post Flag | Reply |

We’re pretty sure that the FBI and CIA have a joint task force to find us in the USA and abroad. It’s called MAD, which stands for the
Metahuman Affairs Department. And that’s just in the United States. Who knows what other governments are doing inside their own
borders? According to a few stories in these forums from international refugees, we need to be careful. Regular people want to find us,
study us, recruit us, or maybe even eliminate us.
(Speaking of which, if you’ve found us, randos are probably reading, too. So don’t give out any identifying information without taking
precautions. That said, Lucky Sleeper is using her powers to sense metahumans and nudge probability to prevent anyone with malicious
intent from finding NibiruCrash in the first place. But better safe than sorry.)
Worse yet, things are also hunting us. Really weird hunters, not sponsored by government organizations and other groups. That’s the
bald truth. We call them Collectors. We think they’re related to the Crash. They look like holes in space, like shadows without a source.
And they’re drawn to metahumans.
If you see one, get away from it. Because if one gets hold of you, you’re gone. Erased. Maybe even to become a brand-new Mandela effect!
Sorry to scare you like that. But knowing means you can be ready. And if things get bad, you can find others like you, right here.
Reach out. Tell us your story. Share what you can do. We all want to know.
And be ready to help the next new metahuman that finds us here who needs advice, guidance, or even just a little fucking kindness.
Getting powers can seem like a blessing, but we’ve all learned that sometimes it’s more like a curse.
Read 901 replies >>

NIBIRUCRASH FORUMS
 The Origin

The thing about Solina is that she’s always If the PCs are invited out to the lodge, it’s
asleep, as if in a coma. When she wants to talk because they’ve probably already accepted
to other principals of the House, she appears and attempted a mission assigned to them
in their dreams. She can even “conference via forum direct messaging. But if they
in” multiple people to share the same dream, accomplish a couple of smaller tasks and seem
which takes on a lucid quality allowing people eager for more, they are invited to the lodge
to talk normally and remember what happens. for an extended stay, both to give them some
So, while she is exceptionally powerful, she is leisure time, and to prep them for a more
also uniquely vulnerable if anyone evades her difficult mission the House has in mind for
metahuman sensitivity and improbability field metahumans of their particular mindsets.
to find the House and attack its occupants. As far as outsiders are concerned, the lodge
was purchased by an investment group that rents
HOUSE OF NIBIRU HEADQUARTERS out the place for a series of corporate retreats.
It’s not a secret per se, but the fact that the In other words, it’s boring. And Lucky Sleeper’s
House of Nibiru has a physical headquarters probability adjustments keep away accidental
isn’t bandied about on the NibiruCrash discovery of the lodge’s secret purpose.
forums. However, if the PCs get more involved,
they learn that the group owns a refurbished HOUSE MISSIONS
mountain lodge a couple of hours outside of Characters willing to help out the community
Denver, Colorado. In addition to maintaining by taking action could be tasked with one or
the lodge’s original ability to provide food, more of the following missions. Of course,
lodging, and entertainment for many people the House of Nibiru has no legal standing,
at once (usually only visiting members of the so characters who undertake missions
community), the refurbished and expanded involving trespassing, breaking and entering,
portions house the NibiruCrash servers, theft, assault, or even worse might face legal
practice ranges for power training and practice, consequences. Although as metahumans, they
equipment storage filled with esoteric gear, and are instead probably remanded to agents of a
MAD, page 47 even a garage for all sorts of vehicles, including covert government agency, such as MAD.
a helicopter. It’s also where Lucky Sleeper is • Rescue a kidnapped metahuman being kept
cared for around the clock. Ultra is usually in a “safe” house by MAD agents prior to
Chapter 13: Appeal of also here, along with an assortment of visiting transfer to a more secure location. See the
Distress, page 140 metahumans. “Appeal of Distress” adventure.

46
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
• Explore a place where space is acting “weird” HOUSE OF NIBIRU RUMORS
and report back. In this case, complaints of AND CONSPIRACIES
a “haunted” self-storage space are just the Strange Sickness: A small number of
precursor to the renter disappearing inside metahumans report recurring instances of
their unit. See Meridian Storage. extreme nausea and other ongoing health Meridian Storage,
• Act on intelligence gathered by others in the issues that flare up when they use their new page 71
community that the terrorist metahuman abilities. Is it just a stress reaction to their
Freedom Fractal has taken over a mall new situation, a result of not having fully Freedom Fractal, page 96
filled with regular people. Save the people, developed and mastered their abilities, or
and neutralize Freedom Fractal and his something else? The leadership is looking for
supporters. someone with enough medical knowledge to
• A known metahuman has disappeared credibly investigate.
without a trace. PCs who look into it might
discover it was a secret assassination pulled Lost Brother: A House of Nibiru member
off by the Union. says their brother is “lost.” What they The Union, page 55
• Collectors have made several attempts actually mean, however, is that their brother
to erase a group of metahumans living joined MAD. The member is also leaving
together in an apartment in Minneapolis, out that they’ve met with their brother a
Minnesota. The House wants to relocate few times, and he’s trying to convince the
them, and asks that the PCs help coordinate member to betray the House.
a move to a new state, and defend them Collectors, page 120
from any new Collector attacks that happen Internet Disruptions: A clever hacker who
before the move is complete. goes by the name of Tether has disrupted
the NibiruCrash forums more than once.
How they succeed with Lucky Sleeper on the

METAHUMAN AFFAIRS job is curious. Some wonder if the hacker is

getting inside help.
DEPARTMENT (MAD)
MAD is a covert agency of the United States Bad Dreams: Several House members, some
government. Like other agencies that thrive separated by hundreds of miles, are having
without any “official” existence, MAD is funded the same unsettling, recurring dream. In it,
through misleading accounting, misdirection eyes pop open on nearby inert surfaces like
of seized funds, cryptocurrency mining and walls, ceilings, and furnishings. The eyes
manipulation, and less palatable sources. gradually widen, becoming bug-eyed before
Several conspiracy groups promulgate they fall off, blinking stupidly until they
the existence of a governmental group shrivel and die.
charged with tracking down and covering up
supernatural phenomena, but the fact that Where’s Jen? A couple of House members
conspiracists are actually right is more luck went on a House-sponsored mission, but
than any departmental leak or disclosure. MAD only the one calling himself Golem (because
runs a tight ship. his skin is stone) returned. He doesn’t
MAD’s top-level directive is to protect the answer when asked what happened to his IM is short for “identity
interests of the USA against IM terrorism, partner Jennifer Biles, whose breath can metahuman.”
metahuman attacks, and IM espionage. To this freeze an entire lake.
end, it maintains an IM watch list. Every few
days, more known and suspected metahumans
are added to the list, kept on a secure database. A subdued target is taken to a covert
Sooner or later, everyone on the watchlist is location for further interrogation, long-term
visited by a team of MAD field agents. incarceration, and for the particularly unlucky MAD field agent,
targets, transfer to a private contractor for typical: level 4; health 18;
MAD OPERATIONS research purposes. Armor 2; short-range
enhanced taser attack
In a first-contact scenario, field agents are sent MAD also responds to direct threats created
inflicts 6 points of
to visit a suspected IM to surveil the target. by terrorist or criminal IMs, assuming they find Speed damage (ignores
Usually, that’s that. The person of interest out about an instance and can react quickly Armor) and on failed
turns out to be normal. But if the person of enough to accomplish anything. Which means Might defense roll
interest is actually a metahuman (which only that on very rare occasions, MAD and the (hindered) stuns target
happens about one out of every seven times), House of Nibiru could end up working toward for one minute
the team attempts to capture, then subdue the the same goal. That said, it’s unlikely they MAD suppression
target for transport using suppression cuffs. would ever directly cooperate, because the cuffs, page 32

47
 The Origin

MAD operates in plain sight in Washington, D.C., as a subagency of the

Department of Energy (DOE) called the Office of Breakthrough Innovation.

moment a terrorist metahuman is neutralized, and economic progress, those on the “red list”
MAD agents would likely turn on any nearby know that the whole thing is a front for MAD.
House mission team. Karen is taciturn, humorless, and driven
A few IM targets eventually end up working to succeed by dint of losing two of her three
with MAD, becoming secret agents determined children when an IM kidnapped a busload of
to bring in others like themselves. Whether they tourists. When government agents attempted
do so out of actual belief, because they’ve been to storm the bus, her children and several
brainwashed, or because they are somehow others were killed in the crossfire. She has zero
being controlled is a matter of hot debate on tolerance or sympathy for the metahuman
Edmund Albert the NibiruCrash forums. The most notorious phenomenon. Each time her team brings an
Bigby, page 91 MAD metahuman agent is Edmund Albert Bigby, IM in, she gains some satisfaction. But never
whose abilities render him very strong and very close to enough.
hard to hurt, and whose training makes him an Not a metahuman herself, she is protected
Guard, page 374 ideal spy, at least until he’s recognized. by a bevy of guards and three secret agents
Secret agent, page 375 at all times, as well as by her personal
MAD PRINCIPAL NPCs bodyguard Isidora Kulikova. Though Isidora is
Besides Edmund Albert Bigby, MAD is staffed a metahuman, she’s also someone that Karen
by hundreds of functionaries, several teams of knew before, and thus is one of the few IMs she
field agents, and the following authority figures. actually trusts.

Karen Howard: level 2, Karen Howard: Karen Howard has led Isidora Kulikova: Isidora Kulikova met Karen
running covert multiple departments to success within the Howard in college. While Karen pursued a
agency as level 6 US government. According to her CV, her career that put her on track to joining the
current assignment is head of the Department State Department, Isidora studied the arts and
Isidora Kulikova: level 7; of Energy (DOE) subagency called the Office humanities. Their paths diverged, but they kept
Armor 5; microwave of Breakthrough Innovation. While many a yearly meet-up, sometimes in the country of
blast inflicts 15 functionaries who work beneath her think Karen’s most recent posting, other times in the
points of damage
Karen leads a department concerned with city where a gallery was showing Isidora’s latest
fostering innovation, technology development, modern art.

48
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
After the Crash changed her, Isidora came THE SLAB Guard, page 374
under the influence of Colette Fabre, a The facility is protected by security fences, Guard dog, page 314
mind-controlling metahuman who has little guards with guard dogs, and security cameras.
regard for the welfare of others, whether From the outside, the building resembles its Colette Fabre, page 85
regular people or metahumans. Forced to do name, appearing as a featureless metallic block
horrible things to advance Colette’s ambitions, about 300 feet (90 m) on a side with a single Security fence: level 5;
Isidora developed a fear and hatred of the IM drive-in entrance, just wide enough to admit a electric shock attacks
phenomenon that rivals Karen Howard’s. When flatbed truck, and long enough inside to close anyone who touches it
for 5 points of damage
she finally broke free from Colette’s influence, both external, reinforced garage doors while the
(ignores Armor)
she found her friend (who was ascendant in the truck remains inside for unloading. This internal
power circles of D.C.) and revealed all. It wasn’t loading dock is monitored by the same guards Security cameras:
long after that MAD was formed. and security cameras, plus specially trained and level 1, perception
Isidora usually acts as a personal assistant equipped prison Slab wardens. (including in complete
darkness) as level 6
and bodyguard to Karen Howard. However, Transfer and processing of IMs is done, if
sometimes she leads short operations herself, possible, only if suspects are sedated and MAD suppression
especially if it’s required that she “pose” as an restrained by MAD suppression cuffs. Once an cuffs, page 32
IM to gain the trust of other metahumans. IM is processed, they are brought via secure Slab warden: level 5;
elevator down to the prison level. The setup is Armor 5
Nelson Liao: Nelson Liao is the face of the similar to a standard prison, but underground. Nelson Liao: level 2,
Office of Breakthrough Innovation. This means There are individual cells, a common cafeteria tasks related to serving as
he sometimes gives press briefings and and “yard,” laundry, and so on. Every inmate press secretary as level 5
responds to interview requests from the press metahuman wears a version of the MAD
regarding what the Office is up to. Because suppression cuffs, but as a torque locked around
several lower-level functionaries know nothing their necks, ensuring that those caught can’t
of MAD (they have a small budget to pursue make a break for it, or do much of anything else.
their department goals), he can point to Life in the Slab is a sentence that most
actual progress if asked. However, Nelson is inmates accept only because they can’t
fully aware of MAD and its real agenda. He’s escape. It’s all extralegal, given that none of
never met an IM but has seen reports and is those detained received a trial by their peers.
convinced of the threat. Because he has an eye On a weekly basis, inmates are questioned
for how things will play in the media, he often by psychologists, given invasive physicals by
sits in on planning sessions chaired by Karen physicians, and on occasion are trussed up and
Howard and other top MAD field agents. carted away, usually never to be seen again. (In
fact, they’re being remanded into the custody of
MAD HEADQUARTERS a private contractor who uses them as research
The authority figures spend most of their subjects, though the particulars of any inmate’s
time at the Office of Breakthrough Innovation fate are rarely discovered by anyone in the Slab.)
in Washington, D.C.But Karen Howard and The Slab’s warden is Adrien Chevrolet, a Adrien Chevrolet:
Isidora Kulikova occasionally visit a covert site cheerful and compassionate-seeming man level 2; persuasion,
known as the Slab, a few hours north by car at in his early fifties. Adrien doesn’t see IMs as deception, and running
the Slab as level 5
a decommissioned (but secretly refurbished) people at all, though he pretends to. He’s so
army base in Pennsylvania. Besides the persuasive and apparently “on the inmate’s
main offices and the Slab, MAD operations side in this unfortunate time” that a good
sometimes extend to the boardrooms of a many of those detained don’t think so badly
handful of private companies who secretly of “Chevy.” Of course, Adrien knows everything
contract to conduct IM testing on MAD’s behalf. that goes on at the penitentiary, and is usually
Babbage Industries is one of those entities. the one who selects which detainee will be sent Babbage Industries,
next to an undisclosed, but probably terrible, page 59
fate as a research subject.

MAD agents refer to metahumans by the identity code IM (“identity

metahuman”) for purposes of covert conversation, but possibly also to put some
distance between themselves and their targets.

49
 The Origin
MAD RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES suggests that gun ownership is synonymous
Software Error: The CEO of a large software with personal freedom, so much so that if
company is missing. A ransom note of someone doesn’t have a gun, they are subject
sorts has appeared online, claiming that the to the system and deserve what they get.
software company is in bed with big brother, The Freedom Fraternity is led by the very
hiding an incredible secret. Stay tuned, the normal-seeming, if passionate, Randolph
message reads, for a full reveal. The thing is, A. Ward. At the time of this writing, no one
the CEO and his company are working for outside the group knows that Randolph and a
Freedom Fractal, page 96 MAD. Agents are scrambling to find the CEO’s domestic terrorist known as Freedom Fractal
MAD, page 47 kidnappers before sensitive information about are one and the same. MAD keeps a watch out
metahumans leaks to the public. for Freedom Fractal’s activities. Though they
suspect a link to the compound in Washington,
Ambush: Several MAD agents are in the they’ve so far failed to discover a direct link
hospital after a metahuman collection op between Freedom Fractal and the compound.
that went bad. The metahuman had been Freedom Fractal’s activities are usually nowhere
profiled as having an inconsequential ability near Washington state, and neither he nor
to influence water. When agents showed his irregulars leave evidence of making trips
up, they were not expecting four friends of between locations. The only thing keeping a
the metahuman with much more dynamic raid from being ordered on the compound is
abilities to be waiting for them. Someone one of the state congresspeople has a brother
inside MAD sold the agency out. who’s a member, and they don’t want the
publicity that a raid implicating the sibling
The Drop: A new designer drug is on the might bring.
streets. Users call it “drop” because after
taking it, they hallucinate falling through FREEDOM FRATERNITY OPERATIONS
the universe. The only problem is that after Every few months, Randolph Ward announces
someone takes the drug long enough, they a new campaign. The campaign usually
disappear. involves a show of force in a state where
guns are legal in an action that is just barely
Other Worlds: More reports of an alternate legal, drawing hundreds of heavily armed
dimension called the Subworld are coming militias to descend on a particular government
across analysts’ desks. Word is that the building or public function. These gun-toting
agency is putting together a task force to demonstrators implicitly intimidate any
profile and understand the phenomenon. government workers and elected officials in
and around the targeted area.
Suspected Betrayer: Rumor has it that Meanwhile as Freedom Fractal, Randolph
Nelson Liao is a double agent, working for and several of his irregulars, as well as Lutz
the House of Nibiru. Wegener (referred to as the Tour Guide), enact
what is usually a secret raid on a military arms
depot, blowing up a state building, or even
FREEDOM FRATERNITY attempting to kidnap or assassinate a political
What started as a quasi-religious men’s group figure. These actions are never tied to the
offering exclusive boar hunts, retreats, and Freedom Fraternity. Freedom Fractal claims
discount ammunition to its members gradually sole responsibility, though he does often state
morphed into the Freedom Fraternity. The in the video recordings he leaves after the
Freedom Fraternity bills itself as a liberty-loving fact that he does it all for “liberty.” Loss of life
autonomous collective based in eastern inflicted on nearby civilians isn’t a given, but it
Washington state. If local officials knew just how often happens. The bigger the splash, the more
many guns the Freedom Fraternity had socked Freedom Fractal feels he is destabilizing the
away, they’d change the group’s status from stifling rule of law.
“worrisome” to “domestic terrorist organization.” So far, at least, Freedom Fractal hasn’t tried
The verbiage on the group’s website is to make anything of his metahuman abilities
strident. According to their online proclamation, other than as a means to an end. However,
the Freedom Fraternity seeks to replace Lutz has been whispering in Randolph’s ear
the United States government with “pure that maybe he was given his abilities because
liberty.” Details of what “pure liberty” looks God wants him to succeed. So far, Randolph is
like are lacking, but a close read of the web reluctant to publicly demonstrate his abilities.
page suggests the group places high value on As far as his recollection of the Crash goes,
personal freedom. The group’s propaganda God was not involved.

50
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

Freedom Fractal is on the top ten most wanted list for both the FBI and MAD.

FREEDOM FRATERNITY PRINCIPAL NPCs FRATERNITY RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES

Besides Randolph A. Ward as Freedom Fractal,
Killing Freedom: Plans for Randolph’s
about a hundred people can be found at the
compound, including schematics, power
compound in eastern Washington state at
sources, its location, and its purpose, have
any one time. That includes a handful of
been scraped from the group’s supposedly
hired staff, but also includes several dozen Freedom Fraternity
private server. The Fraternity is in an uproar,
always-armed Freedom Fraternity irregulars irregular, typical: level 3;
eager to find the perpetrator and end them Armor 1; rifle attack
and their families. The group also includes the
before the information gets into the hands inflicts 5 points
following authority figures.
of the FBI or local law enforcement. The one of damage
responsible is willing to deal, but only if a
Lutz Wegener: With his longish blond hair, thin
ransom is paid.
frame, black jeans, and a t-shirt, Lutz Wegener Lutz Wegener:
doesn’t look particularly like a domestic level 4, teleporting
Help Wanted: An old friend has reached out tasks as level 9
terrorist (or a metahuman). At least until one
to Phillip Baxter after becoming concerned
sees the 9 mm pistol strapped to his belt. His
that Phillip was growing increasingly isolated
very slight German accent reveals that Lutz
and obsessed with fringe beliefs. It served
wasn’t always a US citizen. He was naturalized
as a wakeup call. Now Phillip wonders if he
when he married his wife Emily from Atlanta,
dares cross Randolph by quitting the group
and seemed set up to live a wonderful life in
and heading east. Secretly, he has begun
his adopted country. Then a traffic stop by
diverting group finances to fund his eventual
police went wrong, resulting in an officer killing
escape.
his wife. Grief-stricken, Lutz was radicalized
against the system of laws and civil society in
the US. Phillip’s financial wizardry, the Freedom
Lutz soon found the Freedom Fraternity. He Fraternity’s finances are rock solid. Phillip is
showed them what he could do: teleport a quick to crow about this accomplishment any
truck-sized vehicle filled with people anywhere time he has the chance.
in the continental United States, as long as If the group has a soft spot, it’s Phillip.
he’d previously visited the location. Dubbed the Because of all the terrorist activities, he’s
Tour Guide, Lutz has become an indispensable become less and less sure about being part
part of each of Freedom Fractal’s “special” of the organization over the last few months.
operations. It’s hard for any group to fight He doesn’t go on “special” operations, but he
against a truckload of terrorists who suddenly knows that he’s already become an accessory
appear inside their defenses in the basement, to whatever Randolph Ward is up to. Given the
lobby, or penthouse suite. right circumstances, he’d likely help someone
to infiltrate and bring down the organization.
Phillip Baxter: The Freedom Fraternity’s Phillip Baxter: level 2;
accountant is also the resident gunsmith. In FREEDOM FRATERNITY HEADQUARTERS tasks related to gun
his late sixties, Phillip Baxter is up early every The compound consists of one large house repair, accounting, and
finance as level 5
morning so he can work on his latest specialty plus several outbuildings (including a
ammunition loads in his shop, an outbuilding barn for cattle), all surrounded by acres of
located near the compound’s practice range. land protected by barbed wire fences. The
A bit hard of hearing from being around too compound is not quite self-sufficient, but it
many test firings, Phillip wears big and obvious does grow and raise a lot of its own food.
hearing aids, which he can actually tune Security for the house is largely dependent on
so finely that he can hear at least as well as patrols and rotating watches crewed by irregulars Kelly Loomis: level 3,
regular people, when he wants to. He usually under the command of Kelly Loomis. Kelly’s attacks as level 5;
turns them off when modifying and repairing lean muscle and constant training make her health 18; Armor 2;
martial arts and short-
firearms in his shop. more than the equal of any irregular under her
range large-caliber
Phillip also switches them off when he command, which she sometimes demonstrates. handgun attacks inflict
hits the computers to check on the group’s Outbuildings include a couple of garages, 6 points of damage
finances. Thanks to a large endowment left the cattle barn, the gunsmith’s shop, an armory,
by Lutz Wegener’s dead wife combined with food storage, and similar sorts of utility and

51
 The Origin
storage buildings. A few outbuildings also serve Jamal Allen: The first person of any authority
Jamal Allen: level 2, tasks as barracks for many of the irregulars that live a visitor to the Firm sees is Mr. Jamal Allen,
related to law as level 5 and work at the compound full time. one of the two founding partners. He’s urbane,
The main house is three stories tall. polished, and polite as they come. He’s also
High-ranking members of the group live there shrewd and can find an angle for litigating
(including all the principals), but the house also almost anything, making it sound reasonable in
has a kitchen, a commissary, a large meeting the process.
room, and a laundry. Underneath is a cellar However, Jamal isn’t willingly participating
where captives (usually kidnapping victims) in the Firm’s new lines of business. He goes
are stashed until Randolph decides how he can along because he was targeted by Colette Fabre.
best use them to advance his cause of liberty. Unable to resist her mental brainwashing,
Jamal happily brought her in as a partner,
despite the fact that she doesn’t ever seem
to bring in any billable hours. Sometimes he
HOUSTON FIRM begins to question just what the h – e – double
When a law firm goes bad, that usually means hockey sticks is going on. However, whenever
it chooses to represent questionable clients this happens, Colette is on hand to mentally
because the pay is too good to say no. When massage him back into compliance.
the Houston Firm (often simply called “the Even so, Jamal has, on a couple of occasions,
Firm”) went bad, it was because one of those slipped out of her control. In both instances, he
Colette Fabre, page 85 questionable clients—Colette Fabre—took over. planted evidence of the Firm’s illegal activities
She used her newfound metahuman ability to in hidden locations. If he wriggles free of her
command, possess, and take mental control of control even one more time, he could call in
the lawyers in the corner offices, converting the the authorities. (Though given her abilities and
law firm into a front for a criminal syndicate with that of the other metahumans she employs,
MAD, page 47 interests in all sorts of unethical enterprises. those authorities should probably be MAD,
IRID, page 39 Though not a lawyer herself (most people know IRID, House of Nibiru mission operatives, or
House of Nibiru, page 42 her as a celebrity philanthropist), Fabre keeps an some random metahuman vigilante.)
office in the Firm’s skyscraper penthouse.
Jessica Li: level 5, Located in Houston, Texas, the Firm employs Jessica Li: In addition to the other metahumans
web generation and many low-level functionaries (mostly lawyers) on the team, Jessica Li is a valued member of
attacks as level 7 who think they’re part of a spectacularly the Firm. She serves as an almost-constant
successful law firm. Only a few are in on the truth. guardian of the hallway leading to Colette
In addition to the lawyers and paralegals, the Fabre’s office and living quarters, called the
Firm also directly employs a handful of other Threshold. She only leaves her post every few
metahumans. Each is tasked with overseeing days to raid the commissary for candy bars
some criminal enterprise on the Firm’s behalf. and tea packets. Even then, she keeps herself
wrapped in a grey cloak and hood, hiding her
THE BUSINESS OF THE FIRM features. That’s because most people are put
Besides charging top dollar for legal counsel off by her spider-human hybrid form. Jessica is
and representation by the legit arm of the sensitive to it but has found a place in Colette
organization, the Firm is engaged in narcotics Fabre’s service. She keeps her post not because
trafficking, loan sharking, labor racketeering the Firm’s leader controls her, but because
(gaining control of a legitimate business or Colette actually spends about ten minutes of
union and diverting the money to the Firm), each day talking with Jessica about anything
cargo theft, and money laundering. and everything, all the while not judging how
The firm is also committed to eliminating Jessica looks.
competition through coercion, direct mental If Colette can be said to have any friend at all,
control (Colette Fabre’s specialty), intimidation, it’s Jessica Li.
and murder.
THE FIRM’S HEADQUARTERS
THE FIRM’S PRINCIPAL NPCs The Houston Firm’s primary headquarters are
Firm lawyer, typical: Besides Colette Fabre, dozens of lawyers work located in the top few floors of a downtown
level 2, tasks related in the main offices located in the top floors of a Houston skyscraper. In addition to all the
to law as level 4 downtown Houston skyscraper. regular features one would expect for the
Bonebox, page 82 Some of Colette’s most influential lieutenants offices of a large company, the Firm enjoys a
Stephanie Nioda, include Bonebox and Stephanie Nioda. weird buffer between its regular offices and the
page 106 The Firm also employs the following inmost private offices and living quarters of
important NPCs. Colette Fabre, called the Threshold.

52
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
THE FIRM RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES Colette’s office. Should a PC first engage but
Rivals: A rival criminal organization has then manage to evade both Li and the animate
taken notice of the Houston Firm’s outsize statue, one or both follows the PC into the
success. The Firm wasn’t too worried office. Their first priority is protecting their boss,
about taking down their new competition, even if that means breaking some furnishings.
until hearing the rumor that metahuman
assassins had been hired to take out the COLETTE’S OFFICE
Firm’s leadership. The double doors connecting to the Threshold
open into what looks very much like an
Missing Shipment: An entire cargo container expansive, modern CEO’s office high in a
filled with illicit material failed to show up downtown Houston skyscraper. Other doors in
at port, despite all the shipping manifests the office connect to a private executive suite
indicating it should be there. Among that includes living quarters, bathrooms, a
the illicit materials were refugees with bar, a TV room, and other modern amenities.
metahuman abilities. Colette is certain that Depending on circumstances, Colette Fabre
the House of Nibiru is somehow involved. could be here, working at her desk or relaxing in
She’s decided that taking out the group is a some other portion of the space, possibly in the
top priority. company of one or more guests. (If Colette is
present, at least one of her personal metahuman Metahuman bodyguard,
bodyguards is also somewhere nearby.) typical: level 6; health 30;
THE THRESHOLD However, the view out the window is peculiar, Armor 2; punch inflicts
10 points of damage
To reach the inmost offices and living quarters if someone takes a moment to notice. No
of Colette Fabre, one must use the elevator; matter the time of day, the light outside is a
the fire stairs simply go to the roof, as if there burnt, hazy orange color. No motion is visible
wasn’t one additional penthouse floor above in the city beyond, though the haze is so thick
the law offices. That’s because in the normal that viewers can see a half-mile (800 m) at
world, there isn’t any such level. It only exists most. The viewer almost gets the feeling that
as part of the Subworld. beyond that point, the city simply doesn’t exist. The Subworld, page 70
In this case, taking the elevator is the only Nor does it, at least here in the office, which is
way, and then only if someone presses buttons actually part of the Subworld and is in fact just
2, 3, and “door close” simultaneously. Then an extension of the Threshold.
the elevator lurches, ascends, and stops at a Colette doesn’t know what the Subworld is,
floor that lights up on the elevator display as but she definitely recognizes the phenomenon,
“THRESHOLD” (instead of a floor number). using it to her direct advantage whenever
Those who successfully navigate the elevator possible, including stashing her office
find themselves facing a lightless corridor. If a thoroughly beyond the reach of normal
light is brought to bear, the passage is revealed authorities. She only managed this because she
to be paved and walled not in carpet and office briefly gained mental control of the metahuman
paneling, but rough chunks of carved stone. calling himself Wonderlander. Wonderlander, page 110
Cavities line both walls of the corridor at regular
intervals, almost resembling the mouths of
catacombs. The ceiling is probably a good 20
feet (6 m) high, but shadowed and partially THE FELLOWSHIP
concealed by thick masses of spider webs, which The Fellowship spreads a message of hope,
also fill the corners and a couple of the cavities. peace, and exaltation. Operating out of a small
In fact, each cavity does indeed contain a chapel in upstate New York, members—called
sarcophagus-like stone coffin. Jessica Li often Fellows—venture forth to teach meditation
resides in one of these, resting, meditating, or techniques for dealing with loss, trauma, and
dreaming. pain. They also teach that the beneficent
Jessica also guards the corridor between Sleeper dreams away the decades, waiting for
the elevator and her boss’s office and quarters. her time to wake, whereupon she will spread
She pops out of her coffin and demands to enlightenment to everyone. Those who are Statue, Animate,
see written authorization for an interloper’s already part of the Fellowship will be especially page 355
presence in the Threshold that she hasn’t been exalted when the Sleeper awakens. Some say
previously informed about. If she’s not satisfied, members will become immune to sickness and
she attacks. Coming to her aid, a web-wrapped live forever. Others suggest that members will
animate statue crashes out of the wall. become as gods themselves.
The sounds of conflict here, however, do Though not generally known, several
not penetrate the double doors leading to members—the Invested Fellows—of the

53
 The Origin
Effia Osei: level 7; Fellowship have already had dreams of special Effia Osei: Originally from Ghana, Effia Osei
health 30; Armor 7; power. They dreamed of the Crash and are now distinguished herself in computers and
punch inflicts 12 metahumans. That includes the group’s founder networks, which brought her to the USA on a
points of damage
and most well-known member, Landon Belthar. work visa. When her memory of the Crash gave
The organization has two membership levels. her an extra 2 feet of height and a carapace
Fellow, typical: level 2, New members are Fellows. Those who end of steely plates instead of skin, she found her
persuasion as level 4 up having a dream of the Crash are Invested options limited. Landon, however, foresaw
Invested Fellow, Fellows (though often not for long; see The her need and offered her a place with the
typical: level 5, defense Fellowship’s Secret Purpose). Fellows know Fellowship. Grateful, she has become not only
or long-range powered only that a hidden mystery lies at the heart of the keeper of the network, but also useful
attack as level 7
the organization, but not its nature. muscle during Investiture ceremonies if a guest
Fellows who have proven themselves— becomes violent or otherwise disagreeable.
usually by undertaking missions for the group— Effia believes in the mission of the
are invited to attend a celebration where their Fellowship. She doesn’t want to hear any
diligence is rewarded. This celebration is called rumors about the group having a secret agenda.
the Investiture. Only those who show a special
diligence (or possess social ties or abilities THE FELLOWSHIP’S HEADQUARTERS
deemed useful for the organization) are invited In addition to their small chapel in upstate New
to become Invested. In truth, very few Fellows York, the group also owns a nearby mansion.
are ever invited to the Investiture; it’s usually The mansion, rather than the chapel, is where
outsiders who are given special invitations. the most important rituals are held.

THE FELLOWSHIP’S PRINCIPAL NPCs THE INVESTITURE

The most important members of the Fellowship The Investiture ceremony takes place at an
are Landon Belthar and Effia Osei. upstate manor in the countryside far from city
lights. The biggest room is a shadowed hall
Landon Belthar: level 6, Landon Belthar: A slim man in his thirties with featuring a massive, crude, and ancient-looking
prognostication as greying hair and many tattoos, Landon Belthar sculpture of a humanoid with closed eyes;
level 8; long-range is a spiritualist who successfully predicted Landon indicates that she is in fact the Sleeper.
energy attack inflicts
several major events, including big stock (PCs who investigate the statue find nothing
12 points of damage
market moves, greatly enriching himself and special about it, other than its size.)
his organization. He can project a facade of The Investiture ceremony is performed by
peace, but among the Invested Fellows, he Landon. One or two other Invested Fellows
Confer Crash is known for using fiery obscenities when wearing yellow robes with the Fellowship’s
memory, page 24 problems arise. palm-and-closed-eye symbol embroidered
on the chest are also in attendance. Effia
also attends. Her steely presence tends to
alarm those unfamiliar with the metahuman
phenomenon.
The hidden mystery revealed by Landon
during the ceremony is that the Sleeper is
none other than a goddess called “Marylana”
who will one day rise when the world is again
imperiled by the great evil known as Nibiru,
saving the world “again.” Then, he gives
each member a soporific drink infused with
herbs that, unless resisted, quickly causes the
imbibers to sleep. Many who succumb dream
of the Crash. However, usually, there’s nothing
special about the drink; Landon used his
limited precognitive ability to ferret out people
who are potential metahumans, then uses
the pomp and circumstance of the Investiture
ceremony to “trigger” them. But, that’s not to
say he doesn’t keep a confer Crash memory
cypher for a special occasion.

54
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
THE FELLOWSHIP’S SECRET PURPOSE FELLOWSHIP RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES
Regular Fellows don’t know that the Fellowship is Dead Dog: Landon Belthar’s four-year-old
a sham organization. Not even Effia knows. The dog dies suddenly. No one knows why. The
truth is, Landon Belthar isn’t a guru worried about incident makes Landon angry and paranoid.
saving the world. Rather, he’s on the payroll for
Babbage Industries. He and his organization are Steel Hesitation: Effia Osei overhears a Babbage Industries,
paid a healthy stipend to ferret out and “express” conversation between Landon and a cargo page 59
potential new metahumans. Once someone van operator implicating the Fellowship in
is positively identified as a metahuman, they some kind of human trafficking operation.
are quietly disappeared and sent to a secret Unable to believe it, she decides to secretly
compound controlled by Babbage for ongoing investigate what’s going on.
testing and experimentation.

Members of elite elimination teams rarely

act on their own initiative. Instead, they
THE UNION receive missions through encrypted custom
Posing as a charity supporting law enforcement, messaging apps installed on their phones.
the Union (short for “The Union of Concerned Missions are coordinated from Union Control,
Citizens”) claims donations made to it help a secret base whose location is unknown
and advance policing through innovation and even to most Union members. When a Union
science. A casual investigation of the group does eliminator team is outfitted for a new mission,
indeed show that some fraction of donations go a mobile command vehicle is dispatched Mobile command
to support police officers. Most funds, however, specifically for that purpose. vehicle: level 5
seem to get spent elsewhere in the Union’s Media would be all over reports of heavily
bureaucracy. That’s not unusual for poorly run armed zealots showing up at random people’s
501 (c)(3) organizations. But the secret truth houses, killing them, then carting off the body.
is that the Union uses most of its funds to To avoid that, every operation is meticulously
finance elite metahuman elimination teams. planned as an ambush in an out-of-the-way
place, far from the notice of onlookers or
THE UNION’S PURPOSE cameras. Sometimes this means eliminators
According to the secret bylaws of the Union, must lure a target to such a location through
metahumans are a scourge whose existence false pretenses. Other times, surveillance
is a blight on “God’s Creation.” They are an suggests a time and place for an ambush that
evil infection. Tempted by the Devil at best, or coincides with the target’s regular activities,
actual demons possessing people at worst, the which could be the target’s own home at 3 a.m.
only thing that a Union eliminator can do is When successful, eliminators clean up any Union eliminator,
hunt down and eradicate all of them. mess they made, and if the operation went typical: level 3, stealth
While this certainly makes the Union an down in a target’s home, they stage the interior and deception as level 5;
health 15; Armor 2;
enemy of the House of Nibiru and any PC to make it seem like the target just took off on a
electrified baton inflicts
they learn about, the Union’s absolutist trip without any explanation. 5 points of damage
stance also puts it into contention with other (ignores Armor) and
organizations who’d rather catch metahumans THE UNION’S PRINCIPAL NPCs on a failed Might
in order to study or recruit them, such as MAD Leadership of the Union is in the hands of the defense roll stuns the
or Babbage Industries. Union eliminators charity’s president and CEO, Ithel Roderick. target for one round
also target Collectors, despite the fact that Zach Harms oversees field operations.
they seem to have the same goal (at least as
far as most people know about Collectors). Ithel Roderick: Ithel Roderick has shorn his Ithel Roderick: level 3,
But to the Union, Collectors are just another head, prefers casual dress, and is just as up persuasion and
manifestation of the Devil. to speed on the latest news regarding actual deception as level 5
Union members, as a rule, disbelieve anyone police—the “noblest profession,” he calls
claiming that metahumans can act for the public it—as he is on news of metahuman activity.
good, that they are just people who woke up one Lately, he’s discovered news of a secret dark
day with weird powers, or that evil has nothing web community of metahumans, though so far,
to do with it. Even if provided incontrovertible try as he might, he hasn’t been able to find it or
truth of a truly benevolent act by a metahuman, get an invitation under false pretenses.
such as a metahuman saving a Union Ithel always surrounds himself with at least
eliminator’s life, they may still dismiss the a couple of fully outfitted Union eliminators,
act. One or two “good” metahumans doesn’t ever since a metahuman located Union Control,
invalidate the overall truth of Union doctrine. snuck in, and almost succeeded in kidnapping

55
 The Origin
Ithel, presumably to kill or brainwash him. He Zach isn’t the true believer in the cause that
managed to escape, as did the metahuman, many others are. He’s just happy to be able
though not before identifying herself as “Dancer,” to put his skills to use. As an ex-felon, jobs
Dancer, page 88 and promising that she’d be back if he didn’t are hard to come by. Despite his gratitude to
dissolve the Union and stop killing people Ithel for believing in him enough to put him in
like her. charge of operations, Zach sometimes wonders
Rather than giving into Dancer’s demands, if he should stay.
Ithel doubled down, feeling vindicated about
the dangers metahumans pose to regular folks. Constanza Reyes: Constanza Reyes is a
Constanza Reyes: He’s even begun to fund the campaigns of a few scientist with a passion for thanatology. So
level 2; human up-and-coming politicians, with the idea that much passion, in fact, that she agreed to
composting as level 5 eventually there could be room for legislation help build, then operate, the Union’s human
making the Union’s activities legal. Of course, composting chamber. To her, it’s a magical
that is a long-term plan, given that most of the process that turns a complete body into so
world knows nothing of metahumans. Until then, much dirt in which new life could take root.
Union eliminators must pick up all the slack. As an imperfect speaker of English (Spanish
is her native tongue), she sometimes misses
Zach Harms: Though not a metahuman, nuances. For instance, she believes the Union
Zach Harms: level 5, through constant training and exercise, Zach is a semi-official arm of the police, and that the
initiative and combat Harms is near the zenith of human physical bodies brought in are those that the regular
tactics as level 6; Armor 3 perfection, at least when it comes to combat. system can’t easily handle—John and Jane
As head of the Union’s field operations, Zach Does who “deserve” a proper burial, or to her
spends much of his time at Union Control, mind, an even better fate than people who opt
overseeing data collection of new metahuman for traditional burial.
activity (inferred from regular news and police Constanza is suspicious about her
reports), dispatching mobile command vehicles employer’s true motives, and if she ever
to meet up with activated Union eliminators, learned what the Union is actually about, she’d
and dealing with the bodies that sometimes be horrified to be part of it.
return in the vehicle if a mission was successful.

56
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
UNION CONTROL UNION RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES
The Union’s secret base is in a suburb of Metahuman Infiltrator: A Union member is
Chicago, Illinois, and appears from the outside actually a metahuman posing as normal, or
to be a warehouse from which home deliveries so goes the rumor that rears its head every
are dispatched. Inside is Zach Harms’s office, a few months. Every time a specific person
conference room, and barracks for up to twenty is “outed,” the rumor proves false. But you
Union eliminators (though usually only about can’t really be a card-carrying Union member
five are onsite; the others are out driving the without being a little bit paranoid.
mobile command vehicles). Union Control Mobile command
also hosts an impressive intelligence-gathering Prodigal Son: Zach Harms’s son contacts vehicle: level 5
office, where data from news, police reports, him, which is good news for a no-good father
and social media are constantly sifted by whose children disowned him. The son wants
custom algorithms designed by a contractor. his father’s help understanding something
When something interesting turns up, it’s “strange” that’s happened to him lately.
automatically forwarded to Zach.
In addition to the garage that houses up
to ten mobile command vehicles, Union At least, that’s the magazine’s claim.
Control has an impressive armory featuring a Clearly there’s an appetite for this sort of
variety of regular weapons, plus a stockpile of thing. However, many people would call The
electric batons and other weapons designed Clearwater Register a source of questionable
to get past supernaturally tough skin and “tabloid” journalism. The magazine’s reporters
metahuman resilience. often “expose” phenomena with a healthy
Finally, Union Control has one of the few helping of credulity and without much
human composting operations in the world, skepticism for seasoning.
though this one is a secret.
“Do They Walk Among Us?”
HUMAN COMPOSTING CHAMBER Several issues ago, the magazine introduced a
When Union eliminators succeed, they must new section titled “Do They Walk Among Us?”
dispose of their target. Targets are brought to This recurring feature discusses the existence of
a large storeroom retrofitted to provide space people with strange powers, unusual abilities,
for an immense wall of five white honeycomb- and appalling disabilities. Often blurry photos
shaped panels. These open onto five are shown as proof. The magazine has coined
cylindrical vessels that can be pulled out like the term “changeling” to refer to such people.
drawers in a coroner’s morgue. The vessels It might all be considered in good fun, except
are full of soil. By controlling the amount that The Clearwater Register has stumbled onto
of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and moisture, something true. Which is why the magazine
each vessel creates the perfect environment has gained several new paid subscriptions
for a body to undergo the process of natural lately, forwarded to groups who’d prefer the
organic reduction (NOR) or, more colloquially, secret of metahumans remain concealed. So far,
human composting. however, no overt move has been made to shut
The finished product is indistinguishable down the publication.
from rich topsoil. In fact, the topsoil created by The byline of most “Do They Walk Among
the process is either scattered nearby or sold to Us?” features is Zehra Eris.
an unsuspecting nursery.
THE CLEARWATER REGISTER PRINCIPAL NPCs
A magazine, even one published only every
three months, is dependent on many people,
THE CLEARWATER REGISTER including graphic artists, layout specialists,
If you’re interested in the bizarre and unusual, proofreaders, and so on. In The Clearwater
The Clearwater Register is for you. Their website Register’s case, the two people most invested in
is a bit long in the tooth, but their quarterly the publication are its managing editor Keston
magazine enjoys a subscription base from all Baptiste and its star reporter Zehra Eris.
over the world. Their masthead proudly states,
“The Clearwater Register is the internationally Keston Baptiste: Keston Baptiste is the Keston Baptiste: level 2;
recognized flagship magazine of the unusual, magazine’s managing editor. Lean and editing and managing
strange, and shocking, featuring lively articles bespectacled, Keston draws his pay (and the a magazine as level 5
and full-color photos to provide comprehensive money for all the magazine’s operations) from
coverage of discoveries that the mainstream The Clearwater Register Foundation, funded by
media won’t publish.” a generous endowment from a wealthy believer

57
 The Origin
in the occult who passed on over twenty years REGISTER RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES
ago. Keston doesn’t believe in all the crazy Accused: A former associate of Keston
things the magazine purports to expose. He’s a Baptiste publicly accused him of destroying
true skeptic. He views the magazine’s offerings their career with slander and lies some years
as entertainment. However, his disbelief in the ago, dumping some convincing-looking
subject matter just means his standards are arguments online to prove their points. It’s
higher than they might otherwise be. If a reporter total bullshit, but Keston doesn’t have the
turns over true garbage, he is likely to not run money to hire a lawyer. As the online furor
the material and fire that particular stringer. grows, The Clearwater Register might become
He has his favorites, like Zehra Eris. But even a casualty. Perhaps that’s the entire point.
she is not immune to his red pen of revision.
On the other hand, she’s the only full-time Missing Reporter: One of the stringers
reporter at the magazine. That’s worked the paper sometimes uses for its weird
out great for some time. However, Keston stories suddenly went radio silent after
questions whether the new feature “Do They their last report about implicating a “major
Walk Among Us?” should continue to take up multinational conglomerate” in some kind
so much of Zehra’s time. She used to be good of occult testing at a hidden site. Desperate
for at least one great haunted location story to know more, Zehra Eris is going to pick up
every week or so, plus a few cryptid sightings. where the stringer’s reports left off.
Lately, though, she’s been focused entirely on
finding out more about the “changelings.”
the website from his home in Atlanta, Georgia.
Zehra Eris: level 3, tasks Zehra Eris: Zehra Eris is usually as bright and His staff is all remote as well, and mostly
related to investigative cheerful as the colorful hijabs she prefers. freelance. Over a dozen stringers send him
reporting as level 5; short She speaks six languages (including English, articles, photos, and sometimes videos every
range pistol attack inflicts
Turkish, Arabic, and Greek) and will put in the week, a few of which he chooses for publication.
4 points of damage
time and travel to pursue a story, no matter He gets a discount at a local printer for printing
where it leads. physical copies of the magazine, though many
About two years ago, Zehra saw something subscribers prefer PDFs.
that started her latest obsession with ferreting
out people who have abilities that can only be GUN ANA
explained as paranormal. She was interviewing Zehra Eris is the only full-time staff member
a veterinarian who claimed that an animal in her who draws a consistent salary. She rarely stays
care had suddenly started singing. As Zehra was in one place for more than a few days. That
being shown the evidence (a video recording said, she has an electric camper van with a
Gun Ana: level 3 of a large black poodle stumbling through a striking sun portrait on the side she calls Gun
rendition of “Mary Had a Little Lamb”), the Ana. The van is Eris’s home and preferred
Agnes Fergusson, veterinarian—Agnes Fergusson—suffered an mode of transportation. She drives Gun Ana to
page 101 episode. It started as an epileptic-like fit. But whichever town she’s currently investigating for
the fit then produced a display that Zehra still weird activity. That’s not to say she won’t take a
can’t quite describe. At the end, Agnes seemed flight if something requires her timely presence.
to grow five times in size even as her body But she far prefers to take the van.
Uncle Halil: level 3, took on a furry, monstrous, animal appearance. That’s partly because Gun Ana is usually
driving as level 5; short Zehra Eris came to in a crater of what looked driven by an elderly man she calls Uncle Halil.
range shotgun attack like the center of an explosion that destroyed Halil suffered a wartime injury many years ago.
inflicts 6 points
the veterinarian’s animal hospital. Agnes Now he doesn’t speak. But he loves to listen
of damage
Fergusson herself was nowhere to be found. to music, and he loves to drive. He’s a perfect
Since then, Zehra has been looking for road companion for Zehra, because she can
Agnes . . . and the beast that Agnes seemed conduct online research and write while he
to become. She also looks for news of other, conveys them to their next destination. Plus,
similar occurrences. She’s had some luck, but he’s handy to have around should someone try
has yet to discover the truth. She knows she’s to burgle the van.
close, though. It’s just a matter of time. Besides the custom electrification that
allows the camping van to travel about 350
THE CLEARWATER REGISTER HEADQUARTERS miles between charging stations, the van has
Despite the name, the magazine is not based a dedicated Wi-Fi mobile hotspot for internet
out of a city named Clearwater (like the one in access, a fridge, and a gun safe. The gun safe
Florida). It’s just a name that Keston Baptiste holds ammunition, an extra pistol, and a
liked. He produces the magazine and maintains couple of strange objects Zehra picked up in

58
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
her investigations. She doesn’t know what they cusp of delivering utility-scale fusion power
are, but she hopes to find someone to explain using a “new, patent-pending process.” That
their significance. (The weirdly anachronistic process involves the existence of metahumans.
objects are divergent timeline cyphers, Invulnerability, page 26
invulnerability and lost and found.) POWER AT ANY COST
Two years ago, Babbage Industries broke Lost and found, page 26
THE CLEARWATER REGISTER ground at a facility in Nevada called Axe
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES Handle. Up and running only a year later, the Axe Handle, page 60
The magazine website indicates they are open facility conducts research on groundbreaking
to Letters to the Editor, Fiction & Poetry, and energy generation systems. Here, they run
Photography of the Weird. However, they prefer all kinds of experiments. The facility operates
actual reports on instances of the paranormal. under exceptionally tight secrecy. It has to be
Reports that have a semblance of legitimacy are tight, to protect its secret.
encouraged. Rants and unfounded conspiracy Every few weeks, a kidnapped metahuman
theories without any backing evidence are sent is clandestinely transported to Axe Handle,
straight to the trash. Do you have what it takes arriving tranquilized, in an induced coma,
to write for The Clearwater Register? or otherwise sedated and under control.
Researchers with flexible ethics or too much
to lose by refusing are given carte blanche
access to the subjects. Most subjects brought
BABBAGE INDUSTRIES in demonstrate some kind of ability to generate
The multinational conglomerate called Babbage energy along the electromagnetic spectrum.
Industries has interests all over the world. Its Methods for cultivating, replicating, and
primary segments are healthcare, capital, and otherwise harnessing the underlying ability are
most importantly, energy. Under each of these the direction of most research.
segments, the company offers related products One of the most promising research avenues
and services. For instance, under its healthcare is exploiting the ability of the subject Lupe Lupe Vallejo, page 64
segment, the company sells medical imaging Vallejo, who demonstrates magnetic control
systems, undertakes drug discovery, and even abilities. These days, Lupe spends most of
offers insurance products. her hours inside a fusion reactor in a highly
However, its largest focus is on energy supply, sedated state, providing a magnetic bubble
which is why some people also call it “the Energy wherein actual sustained fusion occurs. This
Company.” According to recent press releases breakthrough seems promising, especially if
and its website, Babbage Industries is on the the company can replicate the process without
requiring Lupe’s presence.
BABBAGE INDUSTRIES RUMORS
AND CONSPIRACIES BABBAGE INDUSTRIES PRINCIPAL NPCs
The executives at Babbage are numerous and
Secret Testing: On a couple of occasions,
most have no idea what’s going on at Axe
people have accused Babbage Industries
Handle. Principal NPCs in the know include
of being a secret contractor for the US
the following.
government. Makers of such claims are
quickly painted as conspiracy theorists
Zebulon Babbage: In his early sixties, Zebulon Zebulon Babbage:
who’ve lost touch with reality. Later, those
Babbage shaves his head bald, wears designer level 5, negate all
claimants fade so thoroughly from the metahuman abilities in
suits, and for the last six years has served as
limelight, it’s as if they disappeared. up to two targets at once
the CEO of the company his great-grandfather
within long range for
started. Two years ago, he recalled the Crash. one minute as level 9
Dinosaur Sighting: A few different reports
He took a six-month sabbatical, leaving
by scared and freaked-out members of the
operations to his senior vice president.
public suggest that a human-sized dinosaur
During his sabbatical, he learned about
is wandering the outskirts of a Las Vegas
others like him, and that he had a unique
office park. Police and animal control
ability to nullify their extraordinary abilities
assume it’s a joke. On the other hand, some
for limited periods. Always eager to monetize
kind of wild animal is killing local wildlife.
his advantages, he devised his scheme after
meeting a few metahumans with impressive
Offer: Shanice Stokes has had enough. She is Shanice Stokes, page 60
energetic powers, including Lupe Vallejo.
actively looking for an exit strategy, though she
Just when the board thought he would be
knows if she doesn’t do it just right, she could
announcing his retirement, Zebulon returned,
end up as one more subject in Axe Handle.
announcing that he was breaking ground on a

59
 The Origin
new facility to explore “next-generation” energy research being conducted at Axe Handle.
technologies. She is eager to discover all the secrets that
The CEO keeps an office at Axe Handle and metahumans offer science. Though in addition
can be found there at least two days out of to learning to replicate metahuman abilities
every seven, overseeing research. What he really to generate power directly or indirectly, she
wants is to divorce the extraordinary abilities secretly wants to discover a way to transfer
from the metahumans displaying them. Despite those abilities to herself. Because although she
having not a shred of empathy for the other is fascinated by metahumans and is willing to
metahumans, he understands that some might treat them as resources instead of people, she’s
view what he’s doing as human rights violations. also jealous of what they can do. She would
Or that it could be construed that way, despite probably even work against Zebulon in some
his philosophy that other metahumans are not small way if someone promised that such
actually people, but instead only a resource. powers could be hers.

Shanice Stokes: level 2; Shanice Stokes: Chief Metahuman Resources AXE HANDLE BREAKTHROUGH
healing, positive social Officer for Axe Handle, Shanice Stokes is in on RESEARCH FACILITY
interaction, and facility the situation at Axe Handle, but she doesn’t The most important aspect of Axe Handle’s
operations as level 5
like it one bit. Unfortunately, Zebulon has made security is that it’s located in the Subworld.
Shanice’s family includes it abundantly clear to her that if she doesn’t The real-world entrance is a medium-size
her teen daughters Grace continue in her position, her family will suffer. office building with a secure loading dock in a
and Dawn, and her So, for now, she oversees induction of new research park located on the outskirts of Las
live-in partner, Eileen.
subjects (some of which are transferred by Vegas, Nevada.
The Fellowship, page 53 the Fellowship, others by MAD, and a few by Routine bureaucratic business is conducted in
MAD, page 47 Zebulon himself). She is also responsible for the Las Vegas office park. But the main facility is
The Subworld, page 70 making certain that each new subject remains located in the office building’s secure warehouse.
in a sedated or otherwise malleable state, that The passage into the Subworld was formed
they remain fed, and most importantly, that by Andrew Dober, who, along with Lupe Vallejo,
they stay alive. Shanice comforts herself that was among the first metahumans Zebulon
even though she is their jailer, at least she sees befriended and later betrayed. Only Zebulon
to their comforts and continued existence. If knows that Dober’s remains lie a few paces
Doctor Diane anyone is an advocate of the subjects at Axe outside the facility (but still in the Subworld),
Cousineau: level 2, Handle, it is Shanice. at the edge of a veldt-like plain stretching out
science and research to the too-close horizon, beyond which a
as level 6
Doctor Diane Cousineau: Unlike Shanice, Chief light-sucking haze lingers.
Garage door: level 5 Research Scientist Doctor Diane Cousineau
is completely all right with the metahuman AXE HANDLE IN THE SUBWORLD
Security cameras: A locked garage door painted with hazard
level 1; perception
(including in complete
ALERT RESPONSE symbols stands closed at the far end of the
secure warehouse of an otherwise normal office
darkness) as level 6 If an alert is sounded for any reason
building. The door is the conduit between the
(intruders, a lab subject becoming
real world and Axe Handle. The area is under
recalcitrant or getting free, and so on), one
constant surveillance by security cameras
Guard, page 374 of the two response teams from the guard
and at least eight guards who answer to Dick
station shows up for initial containment. If
Chibnall, Chief of Office Security.
the first team is having trouble, a second
Zebulon Babbage, The facility is split between lab spaces where
team shows up. So does Zebulon Babbage,
page 59 direct metahuman research and related support
whose abilities allow him to neutralize
chambers are located, and non-lab spaces for
metahuman abilities.
Dick Chibnall: level 4; researchers, guards, and executives. Important
rifle attacks and Upgraded Alert Response: If the PCs are chambers in Axe Handle include the following.
perception as level 5;
mid-tier or higher when they come to Axe
two long-range rifle
Handle, consider increasing the level and Entrance: Those passing through the garage
attacks inflict 6 points
of damage each number of guards responding to them. door from the secure warehouse notice the
Alternatively, Axe Handle could activate one slightest waver in the air, but otherwise things
or two mentally conditioned metahumans seem normal. However, everything past the
held in reserve for just such an occasion, entrance is in the Subworld. A couple of
Anathema, page 356
which could be anyone they’ve recently guards always stand at alert on this side of the
Mister Genocide, captured, or possibly the following two: entrance. Should anyone unauthorized come
page 359 Anathema and Mister Genocide. through, they sound the alert.

60
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

Guard Station: This chamber houses two

battle-ready response teams, each consisting
of five specially trained and outfitted members.
Each response team member wears special Response team
weapons and armor. A response team can be member, typical: level 5;
called to deal with unauthorized access or if health 20; Armor 3;
long-range attack inflicts
a metahuman subject escapes or otherwise
8 points of damage,
becomes a danger. If a response team is and on failed Might
activated because of a metahuman escape defense roll, stuns target
attempt, Zebulon Babbage is also alerted on their next turn
(regardless of whether he is onsite) in case he
needs to bring his special ability to bear. Gun locker: level 5
This chamber contains stored MREs and
water, and a locked gun locker contains a MAD suppression
variety of pistols, rifles, and shotguns. Other cuffs, page 32
lockers contain extra sets of riot gear (vests and
helmets that act as light armor, and shields).
Each response team member carries a set of
MAD suppression cuffs.

Zebulon’s Office: A serene CEO’s office with a

view to the outside. The scene looks nothing
like a Las Vegas research park.
Zebulon Babbage is in the facility and
possibly even in his office two out of every
seven days. If present, he is likely going over
reports from researchers detailing the results of
their latest energy trials.

61
 The Origin

Outside Axe Handle: The view from the CEO’s Subject Accommodations: The subject
office and a couple of other privileged locations accommodations share the same security
provides a view of a veldt-like plain stretching features as general lab spaces (including
to the too-close horizon, beyond which a each being a containment chamber, requiring
light-sucking haze lingers. One or two sparse biometric tests before allowing entry, and
groupings of dinosaur-like creatures graze the having a panic button). Some subject
dying grass, dotted with skeletal remains of accommodation rooms are ancillary, providing
much larger creatures. Though probably not medical services, storage, food, and other
immediately visible, the grazers are stalked by services to captives.
Deinonychus, page 320 a pack of deinonychus and one tyrannosaurus Only three chambers hold subjects at any
rex duo. If an escaped metahuman leaves the given time, usually between two and four
Tyrannosaurus rex, facility without going through the entrance, metahumans in each room. Each day, some are
page 361
they end up in the Subworld and face the same shuttled (via wheeled gurney from their beds)
predators as the herbivores. between their “beds” and one of the labs (A–D),
and back again when experiments are concluded.
Non-Lab Spaces: A variety of offices, The bed for each metahuman reclines in a
storerooms, conference rooms, kitchens, high-tech device that aids in turning, flexing,
closets, and other rooms associated with an and toning the muscles of an otherwise
Office worker, typical: office building can be found in Axe Handle. As comatose patient so they don’t suffer bedsores
level 2, filing as level 4 such, office workers in a variety of business or too much wasting. Beds also deliver an
Researcher, typical: casual are all over the place. When researchers anesthetic drip that keeps most subjects under,
level 2, experimental are not accessing the lab spaces to monitor or at least in such a state of confusion and
tasks as level 4 their latest experiments, they also move weakness that they offer no resistance.
Advanced researcher: through these halls to and from their own
level 2, experimental offices. The abundance of staff provides Lab A: A is for Assessment. Three advanced
tasks as level 5; Armor 3 wonderful cover for someone good at blending researchers in special protective suits labor
in. There are enough faces among the staff that here with new subjects and old, trying to
Shanice Stokes, page 60 not everyone knows everyone. determine each subject’s full suite of abilities.
Shanice Stokes can often be found in the hall
Bioreactor: level 8 Lab Spaces: Many lab spaces have specific outside Lab A, watching the latest experiments
general descriptions. However, every room through the viewing window.
Lab containment designated as lab space is a separate lab Experiments in Lab A can vary, but a
chamber: level 7 containment chamber that requires a biometric common setup has a subject placed in a
Threat suppression scan (iris, face, and fingerprint) before allowing cylindrical bioreactor that contains them, and
system: level 7, all a researcher access. In addition, every lab stimulates them with micro-voltage zaps of
creatures in the lab space has an easily accessible panic button. If electricity, in an attempt to trigger metahuman
containment chamber
pressed, a concentrated tranquilizing gas fills power manifestation, even in a partly sedated
must succeed on a Might
defense roll each round the chamber via a threat suppression system. or unconscious subject.
(until gas is evacuated The specially formulated gas is usually up to
using an exterior the challenge of anesthetizing everyone inside Lab B: B is for Benchmark. Four advanced
control panel) or fall (including any researchers, but also any researchers in protective suits work with
unconscious for 1 hour non-cooperating subjects). subjects in bioreactors much like those in Lab

62
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
AXE HANDLE SUBJECT PROFILES Lab C: C is for Copy. Two advanced researchers
The following subjects are among those in protective suits work among fume hoods,
currently kept at Axe Handle. If a subject server racks, and, in the center of the room,
were removed from their anesthetic drips a transparent bioreactor in which a cloned
and sufficiently roused, they are only about living human nervous system floats naked.
50% likely to assist in their own escape. The fume hoods, server racks, and bioreactors
Despite their abilities, they’re also just here hold ongoing experiments designed for
people, and at least half are too frightened finding ways to extract a specific power from a
to act on their own behalf unless a character metahuman in such a way that the power can
succeeds on a difficulty 6 persuasion task. still be used afterward.
The only reason more subjects don’t die
Gillikin (level 5; touch turns targets in this chamber is because there are so
purple): Real name Tom Miller, Gillikin few of them, and if one must be sacrificed,
was kidnapped from his home after he, his researchers want to be pretty damn certain the
partner, their three children, and their pet results will be tangible.
rabbit all woke up a new shade. The cloned nervous system in the
transparent tank is showing real promise.
Zuri Brown (level 7; immune to acid; secretes Cloned from a metahuman who could move
acid): Zuri was just getting her new abilities things with their mind, the researchers call
under control when bounty hunter Mickey it Dolly X. What they don’t know (and would Mickey Love, page 98
Love stole her off the streets in broad daylight. stamp out if they knew) is that Dolly X is quickly
evolving a consciousness. If it woke up, its Dolly X: level 4,
Skylark (level 5; long-range sonic ray attack power might one day allow it to fashion a body telekinetic and matter
as level 8): Skylark (real name Billie Jones) for itself by manipulating matter and energy at manipulation/
had just concluded her second successful creation as level 12
an atomic level.
heist (sonic screams shatter locks like
nothing) when MAD agents captured her. Lab D: D is for Development. Two advanced
researchers in protective suits work amid
Dylan Harrison (level 4; generates a collection of all kinds of different devices
smothering dust as level 8): Dylan Harrison and prototype machines. Here, researchers
was a top hedge fund manager. Then he study phenomena related to metahumans.
accidentally entombed the board of directors That includes the Mandela effect that some Mandela Effects, page 13
in dust. He was on the run until Zebulon metahumans report, as well as divergent
personally collected him and delivered him timeline cyphers. A couple of pieces of
to this facility under false pretenses. The two color-absorbing Collector technology have Chapter 10: Collectors,
had previously been casually friendly, having also been retrieved. But so far, researchers page 120
even played a few rounds of golf together at can’t get it to do anything, or even understand
an exclusive country club. what it’s actually made of.
Scientist Doctor Diane Cousineau, when Doctor Diane
she’s not walking the hall overseeing other Cousineau, page 60
A. However, the bioreactors here are tuned experiments, is usually here in Lab D working on
to a goal: to determine how much energy a various side experiments. What she hasn’t told
particular ability releases in absolute terms. anyone, including Zebulon Babbage, is that she
Benchmarking is easier for subjects who can, is working on a way to transfer powers from one
say, generate heat. But even someone whose metahuman to someone else. That someone
ability turns people a different color releases else is, of course, Doctor Diane Cousineau.
enormous amounts of energy when using their Lately, she’s realized she could probably
power, just in a jaw-droppingly focused manner. transfer the powers of several different
The bioreactors in Lab B feed power displays metahumans into herself. Her experimental
through slender crystal tubes into a transformer method involves two microneural nets (which
that generates electrical power. Equipment look like hair nets with lots of lights and wires)
then measures the watts produced by a given between a subject and a recipient. Once she
power display. The energy itself feeds into a has the process down, she plans to acquire the
large series of batteries located under Axe powers of all the subjects in the facility, then
Handle; any excess is dissipated in brilliant either subdue Zebulon, using one of her new
electrical displays on the facility’s Subworld powers to hide her abilities from him, or kill
exterior. This happens any time a metahuman’s him and take control of Axe Handle. After all,
ability generates power in excess of a hundred what better place could you find with a steady
thousand watts in one go. supply of metahuman powers to steal?

63
 The Origin

The Vault: level 8 The Vault: The Vault is an upgraded lab and steady enough to create a fusion reaction
containment chamber. Any attempt to bypass indefinitely, although they are technically
security risks triggering a site-wide alarm. Inside, limited by how Lupe must be removed from the
stored in safe deposit boxes set along the side vessel every twelve or so hours for rest, food,
walls, are dozens of divergent timeline cyphers. cleaning, and similar tasks. Lupe is kept in a
Sometimes advanced researchers enter the Vault state of hypnotic flow thanks to drugs (along
to check out a particular cypher for study. Other with nutrition and fluid) delivered via IV drip
times, newly acquired cyphers are checked in. while she’s in the reactor.
If an inventory were conducted on the items Lupe is here unwillingly. That is, she would
Chapter 4: Divergent in the Vault, one of each of the divergent become unwilling if she were roused to full
Timeline Cyphers, timeline cyphers presented in chapter 4 could consciousness and discovered what was going
page 20 be found. on. Despite the inhumanity being shown to
Cypher Limit: One of the peculiarities of the the metahumans in Axe Handle, Babbage
strange objects is that no person seems to Industries really has achieved the dream
be able to physically carry more than two of of fusion power, as long as Lupe is part of
them at one time. If a researcher tries to take a the solution. Everyone knows that solution
third cypher, one of the previous cyphers they can’t last, which is why so much research is
collected is suddenly back in its box, as if the being done to copy special abilities of other
researcher never removed it in the first place. metahumans, or find a different source of
power using the metahuman phenomenon as
Fusion Reactor: Advanced researchers and a foundation.
Engineer: level 2, fusion engineers mill around an experimental device
engineering as level 5 blazing with blue light. Limned in that light is Clinic: This chamber resembles a very small
the hint of a humanoid shape. ER ward. At any given time, one or two
This glowing machine is the Axe Handle metahumans are here, recuperating from injury.
breakthrough fusion reactor, and the humanoid That’s because metahumans are harmed during
silhouette visible within is the suppression-cuffed Axe Handle experiments. Afterward, they’re
Lupe Vallejo: level 8; Lupe Vallejo. Lupe possesses impressive brought to the clinic for treatment. About half
able to employ a wide control over magnetism. The fusion reactor the time, they can be saved, patched up, and
variety of magnetokinesis was specially designed to include her as a sent for another round of experiments. The
effects and attacks
component. With her power, she holds isotopes other half of the time, they are ushered next
within very long range
of hydrogen in a tight magnetic embrace strong door, to disposal.

64
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
Recuperating subjects are under the care of
a staff of three ward nurses and Doctor Fritz
Gebhardt, all dressed in the protective suits
favored by the advanced researchers. Each
carries two sturdy syringes filled with powerful
paralytics (level 7) that render a subject
immobile for at least a minute after application.

Disposal: This chamber features two massive

freezers large enough to hold four corpses,
rolls of biodegradable plastic shrouding, a
pickup truck customized for off-road duty, and
a garage door leading to the building exterior
outside Axe Handle. When the freezer is full, a
couple of ward nurses from the clinic load the
truck, open the garage, and drive the corpses
about a mile away from the facility. At a suitable
distance, they dump the bodies for the various MISSION OF THE WATCHERS Ward nurse: level 2,
scavengers and larger creatures that roam the All Sobrenatural members are trained as healing and syringe
veldt-like plain stretching out to the horizon. Watchers. Standard operating procedure attack as level 4; Armor 3
sends out three to six Watchers as a team to Doctor Fritz Gebhardt:
investigate evidence of possible metahuman level 2, healing and
activity. Watchers investigate the claim. They syringe attack as
SOBRENATURAL then travel to the site if the evidence of the level 5; Armor 3
The Curitiba Natural Science Society maintains initial investigation warrants it, where they
a moderate-sized private museum in Curitiba, record what they see. Outside Axe
Brazil. Natural Science Society members (and If they record anything that could potentially Handle, page 62
anyone willing to pay an admittance fee) can be paranormal, they send what they learn
enter and see their extensive collections of back to the Conservatory (the secret lower The secret Sobrenatural
butterflies and moths, birds, and other insects. levels constructed beneath the museum symbol each Watcher
However, the society has a secret. A proper). They may also try to collect physical bears as a tattoo on
their forearm is akin to
select number of society members belong evidence. For instance, they’re on the lookout
the Eye of Horus, but
to an inner secret circle called Sobrenatural. for weirdly anachronistic objects (divergent has two irises. Most
Sobrenatural keeps a separate collection timeline cyphers) and locations that seem who see it don’t realize
in the private sublevels of the museum to defy normal laws of space and time (the its hidden meaning.
called the Conservatory. Older parts of the Subworld). However, they are trained to avoid
Conservatory keep collections of paranormal actual contact with metahumans they’re Conservatory, page 67
objects, including books, tarot cards, and other observing. They don’t want to interfere with the
examples of magic used by various cultures phenomenon. This dictate was decided on early,
through the ages and across the world. Despite and so far, no one has seen fit to challenge it. Watcher, typical: level 2;
this collection, it was all seen as a bit of fun by Despite their successful campaign of keeping stealth, disguise,
Sobrenatural members. themselves separate from metahumans escaping, perception, and
metahuman knowledge
However, a couple of years ago, Sobrenatural they study, Sobrenatural and its Watchers
tasks as level 5
was convinced that something truly paranormal have learned a lot. In some ways, they know
was going on. These days, those initiated into even more than what people in the House of Chapter 4: Divergent
Sobrenatural learn about the “metahuman Nibiru and MAD know, because the Watchers Timeline Cyphers,
phenomenon.” Members—called Watchers— have a leg up on those groups: they have a page 20
pledge themselves to identifying, cataloguing, captive Collector down in the Conservatory.
and observing metahumans and all related Through it, they have garnered hints of what’s The Subworld, page 70
phenomena wherever they can be found the actually going on, though not the full truth Collectors, page 123
world over. of the Collectors’ aim. They only know that

Curitiba is the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Paraná. An acknowledged

cultural center, Curitiba hosts both performance venues, such as the Wire Opera
House, and the Curitiba Natural Science Society Museum.

65
 The Origin
the Collectors are gathering metahumans, Hugo is first among the Watchers, in that
not destroying them, to effect some great his directives are usually followed. However, he
change. (That said, things move forward when rarely gives direction without first getting input
Chapter 14: Threshold to the events described in the “Threshold to from Michele and Jaqueline.
Apocalypse, page 145 Apocalypse” adventure occur.)
MAD, page 47 Sobrenatural knows about MAD, the House Michele Fontes: Geographer and researcher,
House of Nibiru, page 42 of Nibiru, and other groups with an interest in Michele Fontes keeps a sort of mission control
metahumans. But Sobrenatural tries to keep its room (Dois) down in the Conservatory. The
own existence a secret from these groups. So equipment there allows her to keep tabs on
far, at least, they’ve been successful. However, world events. If a particular news story reaches
IRID, page 39 some members of MAD, the House, and IRID a critical threshold, Michele is alerted, allowing
suspect that a large, organized group is at work. her to review the material. If it seems like
Michele Fontes: level 2, legitimate metahuman activity, she lets Hugo
coding and online
savvy as level 6
PCs AS WATCHERS and Jaqueline know. Between them, they decide
whether to send any Watchers to the scene,
Instead of starting the characters off as
possibly including themselves.
extant or nascent metahumans, PCs could
Michele isn’t at all happy about the Collector
instead begin as a small team of Watchers
that Sobrenatural has captive. Though she’s
investigating the metahuman phenomenon.
been part of the organization for years,
However, they can and probably should
lately she has questioned whether all the
still become personally caught up, facing
paranormal stuff doesn’t have deeper religious
the possibility of becoming metahuman
connotations. As a person of faith, she worries
themselves. For instance, PC watchers
that by keeping the Collector captive, the
might think they are all set up to observe
organization might be blaspheming in some
something metahuman related, but then
fashion. She has begun planning to release it.
become the targets themselves of the
Chapter 11: An Evening
incident described in the adventure “An
at the Opera, page 128 Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa, Expedition Lead: Irritable
Evening at the Opera.”
but a woman of her word, Jaqueline Ruiz
Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa: Corrêa is tougher than any three other Watchers
level 5; health 20; put together. When she leads an expedition,
Armor 1; usually carries
a dimension subtractor
SOBRENATURAL PRINCIPAL NPCs she doesn’t put up with weaklings, and she
The secret core of the society called makes those who travel with her agree to be
cypher (page 25) or
another offensive Sobrenatural has about thirty members, all with left behind if they become a liability. As a result,
cypher taken from the honorary designation of Watcher. The three opinions about Jaqueline among Watchers
the Conservatory most prominent are as follows. range from those who revere her to those who
think she should be expelled.
Hugo Lobo Paim: Hugo Lobo Paim, Head of Collections: Hugo One of Jaqueline’s ongoing interests is her
level 3; scientific, Lobo Paim has been part of the natural science desire to help Hugo locate his missing sister
paranormal, and arm of the museum for thirty years. Despite Renata. While Hugo lost a sibling, Jaqueline
metahuman lore
possessing a keen appreciation for the scientific lost a lover. Therefore, she always pushes
as level 5
method, he’s also always nurtured a love for the line between watching and interacting
the paranormal. It was Hugo, along with fellow when agents of MAD come into the picture.
society member Michele Fontes, who first came Jaqueline believes that Renata was captured
up with the idea of creating a secret circle of by MAD and transferred to a secret facility for
paranormal-loving members some fifteen years testing. Jaqueline interprets the ghostly images
back. It was all meant to be in good fun, and a of her that are sometimes sighted, mute but
way to use the sublevels beneath the museum gesturing, as psychic cries for help.
(the Conservatory). As with every other Watcher, she’s also
Renata: level 6, perceives Then Hugo’s sister Renata disappeared burning with curiosity regarding the Collectors’
Crash-related energy under mysterious circumstances two years true motives. She never says no to a mission
as level 12; exists out of ago on a trip to America. He assumed the involving them.
phase in space and time
worst, but since her disappearance, sightings
of her here and there made him realize that SOBRENATURAL HEADQUARTERS
something far stranger was going on. Though The Conservatory is located beneath the
he’s never communicated with her, Watchers Curitiba Natural Science Society Museum, a
have followed her “ghost” to more than one modest-sized gallery in the city of Curitiba,
scene of metahuman-related activity, including Brazil. The science museum is active, receiving
to the one that allowed them to catch and several dozen visitors each day. It’s also a
imprison a Collector. secret front for Sobrenatural.

66
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

CONSERVATORY away from the hub. Each passage runs for

The museum sits on the tumbled foundations about a short distance and has a motion
of a cathedral built in the 1700s. None of the detector and a string of lights that activate
above-ground portions remain, but a series when their motion detector is tripped. A plaque
of chambers and vaults still exist under the labels each passage: Um, Dois, Três, Quatro,
museum. Some of these have been renovated and Cinco, respectively. Any time a motion
by Sobrenatural. detector is activated for a room, an alert light
The layout is simple. A central staircase leads in the control chamber in Dois lights up, and a
down from a secret entrance in a closet located log of the entrance is made for review.
in the museum director’s office. The staircase
descends into a hub-like chamber. From the Um (Library): At the end of this corridor is a door,
hub, several narrow corridors, each strung with usually open and unlocked, opening onto a
electric lights, lead to separate rooms, each library. Bookshelves line the chamber, and a
one bearing a plaque with a number written out variety of non-matching but comfortable-looking
in Portuguese. chairs are arranged, each with a side table and
Hidden cameras are everywhere, as is an reading lamp. A dehumidifier hums constantly. Hidden camera: level 1,
alarm system that become active anytime a The library contains books on religion, natural resist detection as
door is locked. If any of the alarms ever sound philosophy, geology, astronomy, and similar level 6; perception
(even in complete
because a locked door is forced or an intruder topics. But the largest section by far is devoted
darkness) as level 6
tries and fails to pick a digital lock, the hidden to a variety of different theoretical physics
cameras switch on and forward the incident to topics, including various interpretations of Alarm system: level 6
all Watchers’ smartphones. If it’s a common the Many Worlds Theory. Two or three typical
criminal attempting to get in, the nearest Watchers can usually be found here perusing
Watchers move in to intercede. If it looks like the library. Most Watchers know each other, so
a MAD or metahuman incursion (something tasks to pose as an anonymous member of
everyone at Sobrenatural knows might one day Sobrenatural are hindered by three steps.
happen), everyone is under orders to completely
disperse and never return. The Collector may Dois (Mission Control): At the end of this
also be released by remote in this case. short corridor is a door, usually open and
unlocked, opening onto Michele Fontes’s
Hub: Motion detectors switch on the lights mission control room. The periphery of the
strung on a cord along the ceiling anytime room is jammed with screens flashing all sorts
anyone enters, lighting a chamber that is of different kinds of data, from feeds as esoteric
essentially empty but for five passages leading as a camera looking at the sun to a channel

67
 The Origin
devoted to local news. In addition to the Quatro (Special Collections): Three doors lead
monitors, a rack of servers flashes and hums, off from this corridor.
alive with continuous searches combing the Meeting Room: The first room along the
entire web in real time, looking for keywords corridor is a large conference room with a
like “anomalous,” “unexplainable,” “cryptid,” massive table and dozens of chairs. Maps,
“miracle,” and similar concepts. reference material, special notices, and other
Set to one side is her desk, which is documents are strewn across the table. At any
relatively clean compared to the electronic given time, at least a few Watchers are probably
clutter elsewhere in the chamber. Michele here discussing some previous or upcoming
is usually here, reviewing interesting data, observation. Every couple of weeks, a
Sílvio: level 1, along with her cat Sílvio. Sílvio has a special Sobrenatural-wide meeting occurs here, though
perception as level 4 attraction to all things metahuman, so he only those Watchers currently on site attend.
perks up immediately if any character or other Journal Room: The second room along the
metahuman comes close. It’s all Michele can corridor is another library, though this one is half
do to keep Sílvio out of Cinco. filled with journals. Each journal is titled with
the name of a metahuman who was a subject of
Três (Supplies and Outfitting): At the end of this observation. Inside each journal is an exacting
Locked door: level 6 short corridor is a door, usually shut and locked depiction of a Watcher’s experience observing
(with a digital keypad), opening onto a chamber (or attempting to observe) the subject, often
filled with all manner of supplies. Food, including sketches, clippings, and photos. In
clothing suitable for all climes and locales, most cases, the metahuman under observation
flashlights, journals, pepper spray, tools, and never realized they had Sobrenatural eyes on
even a few weapons are carefully stored here them. If they did notice someone in the shadows,
on tall shelves in a warehouse-like space easily Watchers are expert at getting away. The subject
Modern equipment, 60 feet (18 m) on a side and 20 feet (6 m) tall. of observation often decides it was nothing.
page 263 Almost every piece of modern equipment can Others worry that agents of MAD are on to them,
be found here, often many times over. and begin taking extra precautions to hide from
Vicente Alves: level 2, Supply officer Vicente Alves can usually be notice (which probably isn’t a bad idea anyway).
organization and found here working from a desk and monitor. Anyone attempting to do research here on a
inventory tasks as level 5 He knows where everything is, who has what particular metahuman could luck out and find a
checked out, and if any Watcher is overdue with journal with that metahuman’s name. Reading
Sobrenatural supplies. a journal about a particular metahuman eases
Concealed door: level 6 A concealed door (not shown on the map) all interaction and knowledge tasks related
also opens off the corridor leading to Três. to the subject, and might reveal specific
Locked and alarmed with a digital keypad, it information about location, motivations, secret
opens onto a narrow set of stone stairs that affiliations, and abilities demonstrated.
leads back up to the surface to a building If someone comes looking for a journal
Door, locked: level 6 adjacent to the museum containing a couple about a metahuman that isn’t covered, that’s
of cars, a truck, and several motorcycles. This a name that Sobrenatural would love to have,
Artifacts, page 31 is essentially a private garage (and mechanic’s and might be willing to bargain for.
bay) that opens onto an empty alley from the Artifact Room: The door to this room is
Chapter 4: Divergent anonymous front offered by a pair of sliding locked. The Watchers call this their artifact
Timeline Cyphers, dumpsters. room. And in fact, they have collected a
page 20 couple of artifacts along the way. But most of
the half-dozen strangely unsettling objects in
this room are divergent timeline cyphers. Each
object has a place on a shelf. A description
typed on an index card describes each object,
noting why it is out of place in time, or doesn’t
seem like something that should exist. Not
being metahumans themselves, Watchers
normally can’t suss out what a given cypher
does unless they use it. (They don’t have that
same problem with the artifacts.) Using a
cypher is considered theft and a degradation
of Sobrenatural’s special collection, though
dispensation is granted to some members and
for some missions.

68
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

The captive Collector is hooked up to an IV that constantly drips a sugar solution

into its bloodstream.

Cinco (Captive Collector): At the end of this • Collectors aren’t deleting metahumans;
short corridor is a massive locked vault (locked they are gathering them. Locked vault: level 8
with a digital keypad). • Remnants of mostly crumbled divergent
Inside is a room coated in reflective metal. timelines create a contiguous Subworld that
A human-sized blot of darkness is caught at Collectors can enter and leave at will (when
the very center, somewhat humanoid, but also not half out of their minds on sugar). Collector, page 123
reminiscent of a giant fly. Its edges are not • Metahumans are valuable to Collectors;
quite distinct, as if it’s not quite real. This is the they gather metahumans in a special
Collector that Sobrenatural managed to capture place rather than kill them. Collectors
through a fortuitous series of accidents. (They need metahumans. (Why Collectors need Rizeen Nour: level 4;
were observing the metahuman Rizeen Nour metahumans and where they put them creates up to 10 pounds
when she was suddenly attacked by a Collector.) isn’t yet clear. The truth is likely to come (4.5 kg) of sugar within
immediate range
Rizeen managed to fight off her attacker—a out, as described under Questioning the
surprise, given that Rizeen’s special ability is to Collector in the “Threshold to Apocalypse” Questioning the
create sugar. Apparently, Collectors are vulnerable adventure.) Collector, page 148
to the chemical if they come in contact with it; it Chapter 14: Threshold to
acts as a sedating agent if applied continuously SOBRENATURAL RUMORS AND CONSPIRACIES Apocalypse, page 145
in low quantities. Rizeen fled, never learning
Breathing Enclave: Watchers discovered a
Sobrenatural had witnessed her situation. The
metahuman in the USA who is actually a
Collector remained, stunned and unmoving. The
living building—presumably a metahuman
Watchers grabbed it, guessing that the entity was
that lost control of a newly acquired
an important component for understanding the
shapeshifting superpower.
metahuman phenomenon.
Thus, the captive Collector is hooked up to Artifact Cache: A mansion in Mexico is
an IV that constantly drips a sugar solution empty but for security. According to a
into its bloodstream. The sedated creature Watcher nearby, many strange objects are
looks much less like a blurry hole in space than kept there in secret by the mansion’s owner
usual. It can’t attack, transfer victims to a silo (a corrupt government official).
in the Subworld, or use its ability to escape into
the Subworld. In addition, it is in a somewhat Cures for the Asking: A person in São Paulo
suggestible state. So much so that Watchers might be a metahuman, given that she
have been able to communicate with it; so far, seems to be able to cure people of any viral
it has been able to speak any language that a or bacterial disease simply by touching
Watcher has tried. That said, the creature usually them. Watchers are observing, keenly aware
refuses to answer, or passes out from sedation. that she might be effective against lingering
Only by getting the mix exactly right and timing COVID variants that continually spring up.
their questions for optimum responsivity has But it is not part of Sobrenatural’s charter to
Sobrenatural effectively questioned the alien. get involved, only to observe.

Knowledge from the Captive Collector: Sobrenatural Into the Subworld: The Sobrenatural
has learned the following from the Collector. leadership is considering waking up the
• Collectors are refugees from a divergent Collector enough to allow it to escape into
timeline that is unlikely to ever come into the Subworld so they can attempt to follow
being. it and observe where it goes. If it’s true that
• Collectors tried to increase the likelihood many metahumans are captive somewhere,
of their own timeline forming by reaching Sobrenatural wants to know. They might
across the many worlds and destroying the even do something about it, if only by
Earth. They failed. Now the relatively small anonymously contacting the House of Nibiru
group of Collectors who attempted the about their findings. (This is essentially what
mission of salvation are stranded in this happens in the “Threshold to Apocalypse”
timeline, facing extinction as paradox finally adventure in chapter 14.)
catches up with them.

69
 The Origin
If the IV were removed, the Collector here Subworld is connected to every other, like
would regain full abilities within about a how a mass of bubbles are connected at their
minute. An electronic pump on the IV is radio peripheries. Someone with the know-how (or
controlled, allowing Michele Fontes and other sufficient bravery) can use this property to travel
Watchers to remotely control and monitor it. If the Subworld, going from location to location.
instead of being switched off, the pump were
remotely sped up to ten times its regular rate, it
would kill the Collector within about a minute.
TRAVELING THE SUBWORLD
Subworld travelers quickly learn that normal
GPS, Wi-Fi, and cell service don’t work in any
THE SUBWORLD Subworld location. More old-school methods of
The chaotic mire of dying divergent timelines tracking location are required.
The Crash, page 36 comprising the Subworld is a result of the With a lot of trial and error, a handful of
Chapter 10: Collectors, Crash. Or rather, the Collectors’ cosmic-level individuals have created maps of various
page 120 machinations leading up to the Crash. Few networks of connections in the Subworld.
realize the Crash was a failed attempt by the Many of these maps are merely a series of
Collectors to impose their own reality on our instructions for getting between two or three
universe. In that failure, metahumans were known locations.
born. And so was a haphazard accretion of For instance, “Chicago to Portland: Enter
crumbling alternate realities. Like the much the cellar closet in the old church, a Subworld
Chapter 4: Divergent smaller divergent timeline cyphers, fragments entrance. Pass through the flooded tunnel (watch
Timeline Cyphers, of parallel spacetimes making up the Subworld out for the huge rats!). Look for a crack on the
page 20 have avoided complete disintegration by left-hand side wide enough to slip through. Slip
becoming “snagged” on our reality. through, and take the road past the rusting
Most locations making up the Subworld firetruck, until you see a shop with a dead neon
share in one or more of the characteristics sign that reads, ‘Breath Candy.’ IMPORTANT:
Reflection Subworld described under Reflection Subworld Location. ignore any sounds heard from shops on either
Location, page 77 That includes the fact that even if it doesn’t side. Go into the Breath Candy shop, an exit from
seem like it, almost every location in the the Subworld. Welcome to Portland.”

70
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

“We offer peace of mind with indoor and outdoor, safe and secure, short-term and
long-term storage for your valuables.”

But without a map or instructions, visitors series of garage-like units of various sizes, all
just need to explore and hope to get lucky. One completely normal.
trick is to look for other doors, cracks, hallways, That is, except for unit 21. Kalifa doesn’t like
arches, fissures, and so on. Sometimes these to say, but if convinced that her questioner is
are entrances to other Subworld locations, or an authority of some sort, she recounts the
exits back to the real world. story of client Patrick Clyborne.
Another method is to find a far boundary of a • Mr. Clyborne rented unit 21 continuously for
given Subworld location, where the crumbling eleven years with no issues. He always paid
dimension hazes into non-existence. Pass on time.
into that, succeed on a difficulty 3 Intellect • About eight months ago he sent a couple
defense roll, and a visitor will find themselves of emails to Kalifa about rampant mold and
in some other random location in the Subworld, fungus growing in his unit. But when Kalifa
possibly a Reflection Subworld Location. On checked, she found dozens of cardboard
a failed Intellect defense roll, the would-be boxes and bulky furnishings a bit dusty,
traveler descends one step on the damage but certainly not afflicted by mold. The next
track and is spit back out into the location email a few days later from Mr. Clyborne
from which they just attempted to depart. If a complained about “all the screaming.” Kalifa
traveler descends a third step on the damage immediately checked again. No “screaming”
track by attempting this form of travel, they are or any other unexpected sound was evident.
not spit back out. They are gone for good. • A couple of days after that, Mr. Clyborne’s
Most entrances in the Subworld are two-way, car was found abandoned inside the
so those who enter can get out the same way. fence, parked in front of his unlocked unit.
Likewise, most exits from the Subworld are also When Kalifa opened the unit, she saw
entrances, so those who leave from a particular that Mr. Clyborne had apparently cleared
exit can go back in later at the same spot to the out everything, because the whole thing
same location. was bare. Though she did notice fungus
covering the back wall. Maybe Mr. Clyborne
had cleared everything out so he could
show her? She decided to get ahead of it.
PLACES IN THE SUBWORLD • Kalifa ordered in a cleaning team by the
Sometimes specific Subworld sites become end of the day, who scrubbed the unit
dislodged and fall away, disintegrating into clean. However, a couple of the workers
non-being minutes later. (If PCs are present complained of “faint screaming.” That
when this happens, they find themselves unnerved Kalifa, but not as much as when
traveling the Subworld against their will.) she checked again the next day to find all
Other times, new fragments of dying divergent the mold that had been scrubbed away
timelines are caught up in the chaotic web of had returned. And Mr. Clyborne was still
castaway realities. At any given time, there are nowhere to be found. And he hasn’t been
hundreds of disparate Subworld locations, even found in all the months since.
if they are not always the same. • Mr. Clyborne paid his rent ahead for the year.
Some of those places include the following. But Kalifa doesn’t know what she’s going
to do about the unit when the year is up. In
MERIDIAN STORAGE the meantime, she doesn’t go into unit 21. Meridian Storage
Most Meridian Storage customers find the is located near
business’s promise of safe self-storage entirely UNIT 21 Bloomington, Illinois.
true. The office doubles as a small home for The exterior of unit 21 seems normal. A
on-site proprietor Kalifa Adu, allowing her to hand-operated sliding garage door can be Kalifa Adu: level 2,
keep personal watch over the place. The office opened once the padlock is unlocked (or managing Meridian
sits just outside a fully fenced facility accessible removed). Inside, things go from odd to Storage as level 4
by a digital keypad entry system—every downright alarming, as anyone who walks into Garage door: level 3
customer has their own unique code that opens the unit enters the Subworld (even if they don’t Padlock: level 4
the automated fence. The storage units are a immediately realize it).

71
 The Origin

1. Molded Storage: The space immediately the chambers beyond). The brick seems time
beyond the sliding garage door has a poured worn and crumbly. If someone leaves through
cement floor and bare sheetrock for walls. the garage door and checks behind the garage,
Except for a small carboard box in the corner, the they find another storage unit, not a dark
space is empty of objects. Thin greenish-brown bricked passage into darkness.
mold grows on the wall opposite the garage
door, completely covering it. It almost looks 2. The Body: A trail of sorts, composed of tiny
as if mold has completely replaced the far wall. mushrooms, grows out of the bricked flooring
Cell service is erratic in this space, but cuts off along a short corridor that meanders into
if PCs move farther in. this chamber, gradually thickening to a riot of
Cardboard Box: Inside are a bunch of faded growth hanging from the ceiling. Suspended
photographs showing seemingly ordinary along the ceiling is a mycelial filament-webbed
moments in a person’s life. One person shows body of a person who is a bit rotted, but also
up more often than others. If PCs check with somewhat mummified. The body is that of
Kalifa, they learn that it is indeed Mr. Clyborne, Patrick Clyborne. If pulled down and inspected,
younger than when she knew him, but definitely a character attempting forensic analysis might
him. In addition to the photos, there are a suspect that someone stove in Mr. Clyborne’s
handful of letters sent to Patrick signed by one head with a blunt object and scooped out the
Ephraim Scheben. The letters scan as collegial brains. Now the skull is filled with an oily fungal
interactions between two people who share purplish slime.
an interest in mycology. Ephraim continually The sound of something slowly slithering is
exhorts “Pat” to come see his growing audible to anyone listening at or who stands
collection of iridescent ascomycetes, humming next to the door to room 3.
enoki, and trove truffles.
The fungal names are probably not familiar 3. Portraits: A faint irregular clicking, like
to PCs. If a character succeeds on a difficulty 5 clattering teeth, can be heard by anyone
Intellect task related to mycology (eased by two entering the room. The sound comes from the
steps with an online search), they can say with double doors on the south side of the room
some certainty that such varieties don’t exist. (leading to 4), which subtly judder and shake.
If they check the name Ephraim Scheben, they A trail of tiny mushrooms growing from the
learn he is a real person, but he died a couple floor connects the western double doors to the
of decades ago in an unfortunate mushroom double doors in both the north and south walls
foraging incident. of this room, and to each of the three portraits
Moldy Wall: Any sort of investigation or gentle hanging on the eastern wall.
prodding causes a portion of the mold to fall The three portrait frames on the east wall
away, revealing a passage leading into darkness. each hold a mass of fungal growth that bulges
Mortared red brick forms the passage (and all out of the frame. Inspection reveals that each

72
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
mass is actually the partly preserved head of a
human, hung in place with mycelial filaments.
(If PCs have the forensic will, they could later
determine that the identity of each head
belongs to an unsolved missing person case
from the surrounding area. All three cases are
at least two or more years old, occurring long
before unit 21 started acting up. At least, in the
base timeline from which the PCs hail.)

4. Shuddering Passage: This whole corridor

vibrates, causing the connected doors to judder
and shake. The double doors on the southern
side of the corridor rattle and jangle on their
hinges, suggesting that whatever’s making
everything vibrate is even stronger in that
direction.
A trail of mushrooms grows from the floor
connecting the doors to the north with the
single door along the western wall (room 5).
No growth leads toward room 6.

5. The Slime: A big mass of purplish fungal

slime adheres to the ceiling of this chamber,
undulating and roiling in on itself (and making
a gooey, slithering sound as it does so). The Shelves poke out from every wall of the
entire floor here is a thick nest of mushrooms chamber, each one cluttered with plastic
of the same variety marking the trails along the sample boxes, all beneath a hazy maze of
floor in previous rooms. mycelial filament-webbing. If by some chance
About 6 feet (2 m) in diameter, the the PCs have time to search, they could find
fungal slime mass moving along the ceiling all manner of mushrooms collected here,
immediately attacks anyone who opens the including agarikon of several different varieties. Fungal slime mass:
door to this chamber. It pursues prey out of If formulated by Ephraim, these divergent level 7; health 66;
this chamber if they run, attacking anyone timeline samples provide real healing benefits decomposing touch
attack inflicts 10
except for Ephraim Scheben in room 7. If the (treat as a level 6 condition remover). But
points of damage
slime mass overcomes someone, it leaves the he’s unlikely to be so helpful to unannounced
body to Scheben, who later comes along and visitors, and the average PC won’t have made
poses it “artistically.” an appointment. Condition remover,
In what is probably not a first, though page 385
6. The Edge: The brickwork in this chamber certainly a notable occasion, a metahuman
constantly shivers underfoot. The room is entered our continuum through a divergent
only partly visible, beyond which everything timeline. Ephraim Scheben hails from an
is obscured by a thick haze. Flashlights fail to unlikely timeline that actually only existed for a
penetrate the murk. Anyone venturing into the few moments before it started dissolving.
haze discovers it falls into nothingness. If PCs engage with Ephraim, convincing him
The haze is the edge of this Subworld to talk even if for just a little while, they may
location. Those who venture into it are subject learn the following.
to the effects described under Traveling • From Ephraim’s perspective, his is the
the Subworld, which means a visitor could real world, and the “base timeline” the Traveling the
potentially move to a completely different characters hail from, that he’s been pulled Subworld, page 70
location in the Subworld. into, is the interloper.
• As a leading mycologist, Ephraim developed
7. Fungus Collection: A luminous forest of all sorts of amazing pharmacological
unbelievably large fungal growths fills the uses for fungus. Then he had a horrible
center of this 30-foot (9 m) tall chamber, dream about something smashing into the
creating a throne-like pillar on which an Earth. When he came back to himself, he
animate shape of fungus sits. Meet what has discovered his palatial home and laboratory
become of Ephraim Scheben. had been collapsed and co-located with a Ephraim Scheben,
crappy self-storage garage. page 93

73
 The Origin
• Ephraim thinks the connection was made a shallow lake, drained in the 1960s to create
because in the PCs’ world, Patrick and more real estate. That plan failed to work out
Ephraim were friends, and Patrick kept some as expected on account of continual problems
keepsakes of Ephraim’s. That tiny casual tie with pooling water. A few homes have since
snowballed into the current state of affairs. been condemned, failing to further qualify for
• Ephraim wants his world back. He is not flood insurance.
of sound mind, so convincing him to not A thicket of trees in the neighborhood
artistically pose anyone he or his pet slime contains some surprisingly old growth, given
mass subdue is difficult. However, Ephraim the overdevelopment in the rest of the area.
wants to believe in something better, so One live oak tree in particular has an enormous
tasks to convince (or deceive) Ephraim that trunk, topped by huge drapes of moss hanging
something of especial interest lies out in from its branches.
the world—such as a nearby institute of A hollow in the tree’s trunk has lately become
fungal study—are eased by three steps. more than a semi-enclosed cavity where
neighborhood kids play. About a year ago, it
Otherwise, he laments that in order to keep became an entrance into the Subworld.
his samples healthy, he needs the bodies of the
visitors as food stock. Though he does save MOTHWOOD GANG
their heads for decoration. The same neighborhood kids who previously
Dislodging Unit 21: If PCs convincingly lie (or used the tree hollow to play hide and
spin an alluring truth) to get him out, or defeat seek and to get away from everyone else
him and pull his remains out of unit 21, and he now use the hollow to enter a place only
Mothwood Gang kid: remains out for at least ten hours, the entire they know about. Calling themselves the
level 2, Mothwood Lake disintegrating divergent timeline extension falls Mothwood Gang, the four kids currently
knowledge as level 4 away, leaving only a normal—if a little moldy— making up the group include Sirena, Lucinda,
empty storage space behind. Frankie, and Booker. Though they are only
tweens, they regard their discovery of the
MOTHWOOD LAKE “real” Mothwood Lake they found through
Mothwood is a neighborhood of homes the hollow as a sacred trust. Sirena is the
near Savannah, Georgia. Locals usually Mothwood Gang’s unofficial leader. She
call it Mothwood “Lake” on account of the makes sure that each visit through the hollow
perennial issue of flooding the low-lying homes has an endpoint, ensuring parents don’t
experience. As it happens, the area was once worry too much about absent children.

74
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES

THROUGH THE HOLLOW Zenobia in her den. But the storms sometimes
An 8-square mile (21 km2) lake of shimmering herald more threats than mere chill. Sometimes
clarity lies through the hollow. The lake weird visitors bleed out of the haze at the lake’s
surrounds a small island. On it grows a live edge. Usually, these visitors fade away when the
oak duplicate of the tree that provides entry to storms subside. On a few occasions, visitors
this Subworld location, though the Subworld who arrived out of the haze stayed past their
version is about three times as large. welcome. So far, Sergio’s bulk (and tusks) have
The small island contains several distinct, been enough to see such squatters on their way.
tiny regions, including the homes of various But the creatures of Mothwood Lake worry that
talking animals. The talking animals include someday a visitor may be beyond their ability Talking animal,
Luthor the philosophical sloth, Gabriel the to drive off, and worse, pose a threat to the typical: level 3
jovial crow, an ingenious black bear called Mothwood Gang.
Zenobia, and a hulking, joke-loving elephant If such a thing comes to pass, Zenobia has
named Sergio, among others. Each animal’s a “Doomsday Protocol” ready to go. It starts Sergio: level 6, Speed
home stands apart from the others, resembling with an axe. She suspects that should someone defense as level 3;
American-style houses, though smaller cut down the live oak tree, on either side of the Armor 2; tusk attack
inflicts 8 points
(except for Sergio’s). The natives are usually Subworld divide, Mothwood Lake would lose
of damage
up for visitors, though initially suspicious of its connection to the world and safeguard the
newcomers. Whatever else, they are highly kids on the other side. She’s right. However,
protective of the Mothwood Gang. this would also mean Mothwood Lake’s utter
The surrounding lake is home to all kinds dissolution not long after, assuming some
of fish and other life. A couple of wooden other connection or stabilization wasn’t made.
kayaks carved with strange symbols allow the
Mothwood Gang to head out on the water, COLLECTOR SILO
though they stay away from the edges. As When a metahuman is captured by a Collector Collector, page 120
they’ve learned, the reason light and vision or its kin, the victim is painfully transferred
hazes to indistinct nothingness is that the edge into one of several similar areas deep below
of the lake also seems to be the edge of their the earth: a vertical hollow cylinder with a solid
little world—and this Subworld location. Those core. (You could also imagine it as a hollow
who venture into it are subject to the effects torus, but one stretched vertically a long
described under Traveling the Subworld. distance.) The space between the cylinder’s Traveling the
Mothwood Lake is usually idyllic. However, exterior and the solid core is about 30 feet Subworld, page 70
there are dangers, or at least difficulties. (9 m); the height and depth of the area isn’t
Sometimes rumbling storms beset the island, immediately obvious to a newcomer, nor is it
pouring cold rain over everything. These dreary obvious that should they circle the inner core,
times can be allayed by hot chocolate served by they’d end up right back where they started.

75
 The Origin
All the surfaces are sheer, dark stone. Dim Climbing up or down a long distance in
illumination is provided by countless pale, either direction allows a climber to reach
gauzy motes floating through the area. The the limits of the silo in the form of a bank of
muted sound of buzzing echoes down from vision-killing haze. The haze is the edge of this
Collector seeker, page 125 above, where a single Collector seeker clings to Subworld location. Those who venture into
one wall, using its special senses to keep watch it are subject to the effects described under
Traveling the over the place. Traveling the Subworld.
Subworld, page 70 The Collector seeker tracks the number of
metahumans held in the silo. When the number COLLECTOR COURIER
reaches thirteen or more, it telepathically calls When a Collector seeker watching over a
for a courier (described hereafter). The seeker silo calls for a courier, a creature appears
overseeing the silo may buzz a little louder if it resembling the silhouette of a fly-like insect as
Collector couriers have notices metahumans moving about or trying to large as a city bus. This is a Collector courier. It
the same stats as level 5 escape. However, its responsibility isn’t to keep is kin to a regular Collector in abilities, including
Collectors (page 123), captives in place. Unless it’s attacked, it lets the ability to travel into the Subworld. However,
with the additional
characters move around the silo and possibly its intelligence level is about that of a smart dog.
abilities noted in the
main text, as well as even escape it. A courier has the additional capability of
the ability to withstand If characters drive off or dispatch a Collector being able to travel through the void of normal
vacuum and highly seeker watching over a particular silo, the silo space at over 3 Gs of continuous acceleration.
energetic environments of becomes unstable. A few minutes after the When it does so, it can carry up to thirty
empty space near a star. seeker’s death, the Subworld location loses human-sized objects adhered under its belly in
adhesion with the base timeline and dissolves like protective, pressurized droplets of sticky goo
any other divergent timeline without an anchor. that puts living contents into a hibernation-like
state.
RUBBISH CLOGS The courier can easily transfer trapped
The only thing preventing someone who enters targets from the rubbish clogs onto its
a silo from falling to an unknown depth are a underside, each into its own “goo pod,” with
Rubbish clog: level 5; handful of rubbish clogs. Rubbish clogs are its several appendages. However, if it is
traps victims with sticky reeking masses of excrement, decaying foliage attacked by a metahuman who has managed
discharge as level 8 and animals, and other filth adhering to the to get loose in the silo, it immediately departs,
sides of the narrow stone chimney, creating regardless of the number of targets it has
pockets of odiferous stability. gathered. It leaves by creating a temporary
When a Collector’s metahuman victim is exit leading from the silo to a morass of space
shunted into a silo (or someone chases a junk orbiting Earth. Targets it has adhered to
fleeing Collector into a silo), the newcomer its abdomen are fine, but anyone who followed
usually falls a handful of feet before landing on the courier through the temporary exit finds
Effects of Vacuum, one of the rubbish clogs. The clogs are covered themselves in a lethal environment of vacuum.
page 277 in a sticky goo that not only keeps the entire From its orbital perch of space trash high over
heap from falling, but also traps targets who Earth, a Collector courier speeds with its living
Zodion, page 152 fail a Might-based action to extract themselves. cargo to the massive spacecraft called Zodion.
On the other hand, the goo provides both
nourishment and fluids for any trapped
creature desperate enough to try it. INSIGHT OF CONTROL
Interesting factoid one: Collector silos, with
SILO LIMITS their apparent specific function, are located
Someone who’d rather not remain on a sticky in the Subworld.
refuse heap awaiting the attention of a Collector Interesting factoid two: Every Collector can
courier could free themself and try to climb spontaneously form entrances into and exits
up or down the narrow chimney, or traverse out of the Subworld.
horizontally. This suggests that Collectors possess
The sheer walls inside a Collector silo require technology allowing them to manipulate
a difficulty 5 climbing task to safely hold on, and perhaps even create custom artificial
ascend, descend, or traverse. Traversing this segments of the Subworld. If PCs don’t
deep, narrow canyon reveals that the inner realize this, you could offer them that
Optional Rule: Gaining surface is apparently that of a large, solid knowledge as an Insight.
Insight, page 231
cylinder. Because after traversing several
GM-instigated Insight, hundred yards horizontally, a climber ends up
page 232 exactly where they started.

76
 SECRET GROUPS & COVERT PLACES
REFLECTION SUBWORLD LOCATIONS DISTORTED, ANACHRONISTIC, AND/OR BIZARRE Objects and structures
If the PCs find themselves in a Subworld, It often takes a Subworld visitor a few moments native to the Subworld
it might be one of the various locations to realize they’re somewhere else. That’s are usually one or two
levels lower than what
previously described. However, if the PCs because many locations in the Subworld are of
they would otherwise
randomly enter the Subworld, it could be in an dying parallel realities quite similar to the real be in the real world.
altogether new divergent timeline fragment. world. However, even a very similar location
If you don’t already have something in mind, has anachronistic qualities obvious to anyone
use this guide to help you construct a random who is even halfway observant, including the
Subworld location on the fly. Or you can draw following examples.
from a couple of properties described here if • A familiar portrait with unfamiliar
you have the time to create an entirely new components, such as a family with an extra
Subworld location for your campaign. sibling, a different parent, or an unknown pet.
• Extra rooms, fewer rooms, different
furniture, differently colored walls.
• Window looks out on unfamiliar scene, on
solid rock, or haze.
• Location seems as if it was abandoned
months or even years earlier.

Other locations in the Subworld are radically

divergent. Examples include the following.
• A completely different location lies on the
other side of a closet door, shattered mirror,
or other bounded space that couldn’t
possibly be there.
• Low-gravity, zero-gravity, or high-gravity
conditions.
• Long-dead ecosystems persist, such as one
where dinosaurs still roam.
• An empty city made of strange materials, a
jungle filled with alien plants, a sky with too
many moons.

CRUMBLING AND DECAYING

In addition to the Subworld’s anachronistic and/
or bizarre nature, every visitor sooner or later
notices a quality of decay. No matter the specific
location in the Subworld, visitors notice the
crumbling nature of the place. The only thing
preventing any given Subworld location from
SUBWORLD ENTRANCES completely disintegrating is its connection to
The Subworld is imperceptible to regular the base timeline. The crumbling nature of the
people, as well as most metahumans. Though Subworld is usually characterized by one of the
a few can perceive the many entrances to the following.
Subworld scattered across the planet, most • In wide-open spaces, even fully lit vistas,
people who find it accidentally stumble through distances haze into gradual darkness within
the right (or wrong) door, hallway, crevice, a very long distance, almost as if existence
archway, crack, or other spatial constriction in a itself is fading out. (It is.)
larger area. • Objects and structures in the Subworld are
Those entering the Subworld feel a slight noticeably fragile. A mug or pen might just
coolness as a gust of chill air blows briefly crumble in someone’s hand. A doorknob
across them. could break off when pulled. Décor crumbles
Most entrances in the Subworld are two-way, and peels. Natural locations include swaths
so those who enter can get out the same way. of dead and dying vegetation, bones of dead
A few, however, are one-way. Getting out of animals, and bare rock. (Objects brought in
one of these locations requires finding another or built there later don’t immediately gain
exit, which might require using the connected these characteristics.)
nature of the Subworld to move into a different • Cobwebs, dust, rotting walls, rusting metal,
location altogether. cracks in the walls, creaking floors, and so on.

77
 The Origin
CONNECTED SUBWORLD DENIZENS
Each location in the Subworld may seem With some exceptions, most Subworld locations
disparate. But they’re all unified by being fellow have few or no living creatures in them, though
castaway realities dependent on the same plenty of bones and other remains are often
source of continued existence, no matter how visible. The most upsetting sorts are when
frayed they become at the edges. So they’re all visitors find the remains of a human in a
connected. Visitors who explore may discover rocking chair or tiny human bones in a crib.
this accidentally, if they break through a However, sometimes creatures of the
crumbling floor in an old house only to find alternate reality remain. This could include
themselves in a weird forest. other people and normal animals. It could also
Those who know about this connection can include long-extinct creatures, creatures that
attempt to exploit it purposefully. One reason never existed in the base timeline, and even
to do so is that if a visitor enters the Subworld monsters not unlike those one could find in a
Mothwood Lake, page 74 in one place (such as Denver, Colorado), with horror story, or in at least one case (Mothwood
practice and luck, they could slip from one Lake), a story told to children.
Chronophages ease Subworld location to the next and exit the In addition to the occasional Collector
all tasks, attacks, Subworld in a completely different city, on the looking for metahumans (who find their way
and defenses against opposite side of the world. into the Subworld more often than regular
Collectors by three steps,
However, the process is dangerous and people), a dimensional predator also stalks
and against metahumans
by two steps. confusing. the assemblage of dying dimensions. Unlike
normal creatures, it easily slips from location
to location in the Subworld, hiding behind the
crumbling boundaries of each space, waiting
for new prey. Even Collectors try to evade these
Chronophage, page 317 spacetime predators called chronophages; in
fact, chronophages seem drawn to Collectors
over other creatures, though metahumans are a
close second.

78
 Part 3
Metahumans,,
Monsters,, and More

CHAPTER 8: METAHUMANS................................................................ 80
CHAPTER 9: MONSTERS.................................................................... 111
CHAPTER 10: COLLECTORS............................................................... 120
 The Origin
Chapter 8

METAHUMANS

L
ike bigger and bolder superhero stories,
characters underlie everything that METAHUMANS
happens in The Origin. Which is why this Name Role Level
chapter, Chapter 9: Monsters, and Chapter
Colette Fabre Criminal 4
10: Collectors provide a wide range of NPC
metahumans, as well as other creatures, robots, Stephanie Nioda Criminal 4
and even aliens of a sort for characters to Claud Mickelberg, Vigilante 5
meet, potentially ally with, and in many cases, MD
inevitably fight.
Cryptid Covert agent 5
Part 2: Setting of The All the NPCs and creatures described in
Origin, page 35 this section are part of The Origin’s setting. Electric Boogaloo Criminal 5
However, any one of them could be used in Firedove Vigilante 5
any superhero campaign, or any setting where Freedom Fractal Terrorist 5
extraordinarily powerful beings are active or
Hangman Criminal 5
suddenly appear.
Lee Slaughter Assassin 5
UNDERSTANDING THE LISTINGS Shibboleth Criminal 5
The most important element of each
Wild Child Criminal 5
metahuman or monster is its level. Use the
level to determine the target number a PC must Damián Flood Recluse 6
reach to successfully attack or defend against Dancer Vigilante 6
the opponent. In each entry, the target number Flat Thomas Criminal 6
for the NPC is listed in parentheses after its
Mickey Love Bounty hunter 6
level. The target number is three times the
level. Note that levels for NPCs are capped at 15 Queen Slaughter Assassin 6
instead of 10 because The Origin assumes that Sanctuary Vigilante 6
Really Impossible Tasks, really impossible tasks are actually possible, at
Bonebox Criminal 7
page 293 least for metahumans.
A metahuman’s or monster’s target number DJ Freak Criminal 7
is also its health unless noted otherwise Edmund Albert Covert agent 7
(which is usually the case for NPCs given full Bigby
stats, like all those provided here). Health is Mysteria Terrorist 7
the amount of damage it can sustain before
Thrakoom Criminal 7
it is dead or incapacitated. For easy reference,
each description always lists an NPC’s health, Adam Umbra Vigilante 8
even when it’s the normal amount for an NPC Coalescent Criminal 8
of its level.
Ephraim Scheben Recluse 8
For more detailed information on level,
health, combat, and other elements, see Wonderlander Recluse 8
Understanding the Understanding the Listings in the Cypher Samora Slaughter Assassin 9
Listings, page 312 System Rulebook. Diwata Vigilante 10
The Usher Recluse 10
Moon King Criminal 11

80
 METAHUMANS

ADAM UMBRA 8 (24)

DARKNESS-POWERED VIGILANTE GM intrusion: A
target hit by an attack
The tenebrous gloom of midnight is Adam Umbra’s cloak and sword. He steps into it whenever made by Adam Umbra
must succeed on an
he’s had enough of his day job working as a software developer, despite the fact that the
Intellect defense roll
transformation from Bob Adams to Adam Umbra is horrifically painful. or be transported into
Adam Umbra can withstand attacks that break upon his dusk armor, step miles through his Subworld lair.
darkness in moments, spawn “night terrors” that swarm his foes, and sense Crash-related
phenomena such as other metahumans, entrances to the Subworld, and nearby divergences.
Adam Umbra’s sixth sense has enabled him to steer clear of those who hunt metahumans, such
as MAD, as well as those who’d like to include him in their fold, like the House of Nibiru. For now, MAD, page 47
he prefers to hunt alone, finding and eliminating other metahumans who “cross the line.” What
that line is and how he determines if someone has done so is something of a mystery. Every House of Nibiru, page 42
metahuman group aware of him has an advisory to approach him with extreme caution. Adam Umbra can
Motive: Eliminate “bad” metahumans see in the dark as if
Environment: Anywhere other metahumans can be found it were bright light.
Health: 31
Damage Inflicted: 8 points Traveling the
Armor: 8 (solid darkness) Subworld, page 70
Movement: Short; miles when shadowstepping
Combat: Adam Umbra uses a massive black blade of solid Night terror: level 4,
night to attack up to two foes within immediate stealth tasks as level 8
range as his action. If he concentrates on one
foe, he can make a single attack eased by two
steps that inflicts 12 points of damage.
As his action, Adam Umbra can cloak an area
a short distance across in darkness that
absorbs light for up to one minute.
Those who get lost in the darkness
(on a failed difficulty 4 Intellect
task) might end up wandering into
Adam Umbra’s lair that exists in the
Subworld, an utterly lightless maze
that eats light. Once this darkness is
called, Adam can step into it to travel
to some other location, which he calls
shadowstepping.
In addition, Adam Umbra can summon
about ten night terrors to do his
bidding. Each is a distorted shadow of
a person or a creature, or often a mix
of both.
Interaction: Adam Umbra is deeply
suspicious of all other metahumans,
as well as those who try to study
and exploit them. He believes power
corrupts, and for the most part,
metahumans are defined by their
power. He is open to negotiation,
but has a lot of questions for any
metahuman he crosses (or tracks
down with his metahuman sense).
Use: Someone is murdering random people.
The House of Nibiru knows all the victims
are metahumans. They want to know if
Adam Umbra is to blame.

81
 The Origin

BONEBOX 7 (21)
OSTEOKINETIC CRIMINAL

Martin Acker’s bones are constantly shifting, lengthening, and even protruding from his skin.
This is painful, though he’s learned to mostly ignore it through a regimen of daily meditation and
lots of drugs. Most of the drugs are those he skims off the take as lead acquisitions officer at the
Houston Firm, page 52 Houston Firm, which really just means he’s in charge of the illegal narcotics trafficking the criminal
syndicate runs.
As Bonebox, Martin leans into his bone control ability and fashions his own bones into a gothic
epidermis that most people flinch from seeing. However, his ability to mentally manipulate the
bones of nearby targets is the true horror.
Martin can keep his own bones under control if he concentrates, allowing him to pass as normal
for several hours at a time. In this guise, he can sell his one-of-a-kind bone sculptures to eager
online collectors.
Motive: Accumulate wealth and power
Environment: Anywhere drugs are illegally
traded
Health: 25
Damage Inflicted: 8 points
Armor: 6
Movement: Short
Modifications: Speed defense as level 3
Combat: Able to withstand an enormous
amount of physical punishment because
of his bone epidermis, Bonebox is given to
ignoring attacks against him and instead
using his osteokinesis on a target within
long range. If the target fails a Might
GM intrusion: The defense roll, Bonebox can paralyze them
character must succeed by causing their bones to lock up for one
on a Might defense minute (or until the target throws off
roll, or shards of bone
the effect with a Might-based roll), deal
burst like projectiles
from their skin, dealing damage to the target by causing fragments
damage (ignores of bone to slice out of their flesh (ignores
Armor) and inflicting Armor), or entomb the target in a casket
damage on everyone of their own bones, inflicting damage and
within immediate range causing the target to descend one step on
of them on a failed the damage track each round as their bone
Speed defense roll.
casket crushes them. An entombed target
can make a Might defense roll each round
to reverse the effect and escape.
Bonebox doesn’t take damage when he
manipulates his own bones, which he can
form into glider wings, long arms, or other
tools as part of another action.
Interaction: Bonebox enjoys startling people
with a display of his bone-warping ability,
whether he manipulates his own internal
skeleton or someone else’s.
Use: A rash of theft reports from universities
and museums all describe their collections
of skeletons of people and animals having
been pilfered.
Additional Equipment: Bonebox always carries
at least an expensive amount of illegal
drugs on his person.

82
 METAHUMANS

COALESCENT 8 (24)
FERROMAGNETICALLY POWERED CRIMINAL

Late one evening while tending an experiment in the novel materials lab where he worked,
Barnabas Clark experienced the Crash. Some interplay of his newfound, uncontrolled power
pushed his experiment into a dangerous state of disequilibrium. Then it exploded, taking out the
experiment, the lab, and Barnabas.
But Barnabas came back, his “body” coalescing from fragments of the metallic alloys he’d been
experimenting with. He retained his mind, but only a crude resemblance to his original form.
Though he has mental control of the fragments that make up his form—he can disperse and
coalesce them as he wills—he doesn’t possess enough fine control to regain a true human shape.
Now he moves from scientific institute to materials lab to secret government military sites, GM intrusion: The
coalescing into existence by transforming regular matter into his shattered form. He wants area around a wound
someone to help him, but each time they fail to do so, he acts out, often resulting in bloodshed. from Coalescent is
starting to transform
Motive: Find a “cure” for his condition
into a hard metallic
Environment: Almost anywhere material, hindering all
Health: 24 physical actions until the
Damage Inflicted: 11 points character uses a recovery
Armor: 10 (0 against damage inflicted by cold) roll to clear the condition.
Movement: Short; very long when de-coalescing
and re-coalescing (effectively teleportation)
Combat: Coalescent can attack all foes within
immediate range with scything metallic
fragments, inflicting damage on a failed Speed
defense roll. Alternatively, Coalescent can blast
up to two targets within long range with a
stream of scything fragments. If he attacks the
same target with both ranged attacks and hits
at least once, in addition to taking damage, the
target must succeed on a Might defense roll or
become buried and trapped beneath a cascade
of piled fragments until they can escape.
Coalescent can compact to a nodule the size of
a soccer ball, or enlarge by creating more
strange metallic plates, growing to heights
of up to 40 feet (12 m) or more. As a being
composed of metal fragments, he is highly
resistant to all forms of energy (thus his high
Armor, which protects against attacks that
normally ignore Armor), except for damage
from cold, from which he takes full damage.
By coalescing new fragments, he regains 5 health
each round he doesn’t take cold damage.
Interaction: As Coalescent is always in some pain
from his condition, those attempting to reason
with him find that he is impatient and not
interested in those who don’t immediately
give him what he wants. If someone could
convince him that they were capable of curing
him, he could be calmed for a time.
Use: Scientists at a local chemical plant keep
turning up dead in their homes, cut to death
as if by many blades, one each night. No
evidence of how the killer gets in and out has
been determined. A state of panic is growing.

83
 The Origin

CLAUD MICKELBERG, MD 5 (15)

LIFE AND DEATH DISPENSING VIGILANTE

Claud is a physician who sees anyone, no matter their illness. As a doctor, Claud’s success rate has
lately skyrocketed. Because hospitals track treatments, not outcomes, that fact isn’t well-known
beyond word of mouth. That suits Doctor Mickelberg.
Claud’s secret is his newfound ability to heal afflictions with only a touch. Though he could
instantly cure most issues of the mind and body, he normally only hastens natural healing
processes in his patients so as to avoid scrutiny and media.
As he learned a few months ago walking home after dark, his touch can also cause illness and
injury. A mugger tried to take his wallet, but collapsed mid-robbery due to a stroke.
Now Claud is drawing up lists of bad people, from CEOs and politicians to bullies and criminals.
Really, anyone he wants to see stopped. Not dead per se, but perhaps laid up with severe Lyme
disease or another disability that prevents them from remaining active in whatever role Claude has
an issue with.
Motive: Heal the sick, eliminate malefactors
Environment: Hospitals, or anywhere a malefactor could be “accidentally” encountered
Health: 25
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Movement: Short
Modifications: Might and Intellect defense as level 8; healing/harming touch as level 6
Combat: A creature touched by Doctor Mickelberg must succeed on a difficulty 6 Might defense
roll or suffer 6 points of Speed damage (ignores Armor) from
sudden vascular failure. The target continues to take 2
points of Speed damage each round until they succeed
at a Might defense roll.
Alternatively, he can inflict a level 6 disease or illness on
any number of creatures within immediate range
who fail a Might defense roll. The disease takes
minutes or days to manifest, as determined by
the doctor. If not fighting for his life, he prefers
GM intrusion: The this more subtle route to subdue his targets.
character must make Claud’s touch can also restore 6 Pool points or
a Might defense roll cure a level 6 disease, but usually no more
or fall unconscious
than a few times in any given hour. Whether he
from sudden and
inescapable sleepiness. concentrates or not, his own body constantly
Unconsciousness lasts regenerates, restoring 6 points of health
for about a minute each round.
or until the character Interaction: Most people think he’s just a
is shaken awake. regular doctor. Claud tries to keep it
that way. Even when he uses his power
to give a disabling disease to a bad
actor, he does so secretly, perhaps by
brushing by them in a coffee shop
or shaking hands at a fund-raiser.
If ever cornered, he might use his
ability in self-defense.
Use: An art gallery open house is set
upon by a gang taking all the
attendees hostage. Strangely,
every gang member was
overcome with sudden-onset
severe diarrhea, ending their
threat to the hostages.
Additional Equipment: Doctor
Mickelberg usually carries a
physician’s bag containing various
medications and tools of the trade.

84
 METAHUMANS

COLETTE FABRE 4 (12)

MIND-CONTROLLING CRIMINAL

Usually dressed to the nines in designer fashion, Colette Z. Fabre is a well-known philanthropist
who has appeared in any number of celebrity-centric magazines and television segments. She’s
also the head of the Houston Firm, which most people know as a major law firm headquartered in Houston Firm, page 52
Houston, Texas.
What the average person does not know is that Colette is a metahuman with psychic abilities
that give her control over other people’s actions. She’s used this newfound ability to expand what
had already existed as small, extralegal sidelines into major sources of (criminal) income for the
Houston Firm.
In her secret role as the head of a criminal syndicate, she’s recruited several other metahumans Metahuman bodyguard,
into the organization, either by paying them or by mentally commanding them, depending on the typical: level 6; health 30;
situation. It’s rare that she’s not accompanied by at least one metahuman bodyguard—sometimes Armor 2; punch inflicts
10 points of damage
mentally controlled—that provides her physical protection.
Motive: Accumulate wealth and power Aide: level 2
Environment: Anywhere CEOs gather and backroom deals among power brokers are made, in
the company of a couple of aides and at least one metahuman bodyguard (who appears as a
regular bodyguard, usually) GM intrusion: An ally
Health: 20 of the PC turns out to
Damage Inflicted: 8 points be possessed or mind-
controlled by Colette.
Movement: Short
Modifications: Mind control and mental attacks as level 7
Combat: Colette diffuses dangerous situations by
attempting to take control of the minds of up
to three targets she can sense (even
through walls) within short
range with a mental compulsion.
Targets that fail an Intellect defense
roll see Colette as a friend while she
remains within the area (or she or an
ally do something that puts a lie to that).
Colette can also mentally possess a target
she touches who fails an Intellect defense
roll. The possessed target acts at Collette’s
discretion, as if they were her, for several hours
or until Colette leaves. While possessing another,
she continues to control her own body normally,
though she must split her attention to do so. As a
precaution, she normally has her body sit down
and remain out of harm’s way.
Finally, Colette can mentally blast a target she can
sense (even through walls) within long range,
inflicting Intellect damage (ignores Armor)
on a failed Intellect defense roll.
Interaction: Self-possessed, urbane, and
confident, Colette makes an ideal leader.
She is willing to negotiate, but never forgives
a slight or betrayal. She also has very little real
empathy for others, though she feigns it well.
Use: While engaged in some other activity, PCs are
sent a legal document from the offices of the
Houston Firm, perhaps a cease and desist letter
or some other legal notification requiring their
presence.
Additional Equipment: Colette’s clothing, shoes,
and other accessories are effectively three
expensive items.

85
 The Origin
GM intrusion: A
previously summoned CRYPTID 5 (15)
invisible cryptid creature
attacks the character
MYTH-SUMMONING COVERT OPERATIVE
with surprise.
Sakura Nakano’s hobby was sculpting mythical creatures. Bronze was her favorite medium. Over
MAD, page 47 the years, her many-tailed foxes, spirit dragons, yetis, and hydras made their way to art collectors
with deep-enough pockets to afford her creations.
MAD field agent, typical: All that changed when Sakura, a US foreign service officer, developed the ability to create her
level 4; health 18; mythical creatures from bone, flesh, and scale. With a thought, she can summon creatures that
Armor 2; short-range never existed that do exactly as she commands.
enhanced taser attack
Things could’ve easily gone differently, but instead of becoming an object of MAD inquiry,
inflicts 6 points of
Speed damage (ignores she joined the team. So long as she helps the government track down and subdue “illegal”
Armor) and on failed metahumans, she remains on the right side of the law. However, she’s uncertain if what the
Might defense roll government is doing is right.
(hindered) stuns target Motive: Track down and capture metahumans
for one minute Environment: Almost anywhere, usually accompanied by a team of MAD field agents, and
sometimes with Edmund Albert Bigby.
Edmund Albert Health: 24
Bigby, page 91 Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Movement: Short
Cryptid creature: choose Modifications: Creature summoning as level 6
an appropriate mythical Combat: Though her metahuman status has rendered Cryptid stronger and more capable than
creature from the Cypher the average human, she usually relies on the creatures she can summon for combat. As her
System Rulebook, such
action, she can summon a cryptid creature to her side that can act immediately. A summoned
as a werewolf, skeleton,
ogre, or chimera creature persists for up to an hour and acts instinctively as Cryptid desires within very long
range, whether she speaks or not. Normally, she can control up to 6 levels’ worth of cryptids at
one time, as long as none are higher than level 6. So, one level 6 creature, two level 3 creatures,
Werewolf, page 367
and so on. Those she no longer controls evaporate into nothing.
The variety of creatures she can summon is as vast as folklore itself, as are the abilities those
Skeleton, page 353 creatures can use. Cryptid creatures’ powers are as myriad as the powers that metahumans
Ogre, page 346 possess. Some of her favorite cryptid creatures include an octopus-like kraken that fills an area
a short distance across, a Bigfoot, a blood-sucking Chupacabra, and a chimera.
Chimera, page 316 Interaction: Cryptid obeys the orders given to her by her superiors. That includes implicit orders
to report suspicious contacts with
metahumans other than those
already on the government payroll.
That said, Cryptid has seen a few
things that have shaken her faith
in MAD’s plan for metahumans.
She may be open to negotiation
if someone brings her convincing
evidence of government
malfeasance.
Use: The characters notice that a cat
with weirdly human-like eyes is
shadowing them, like some kind of
feline spy.

86
 METAHUMANS

DAMIÁN FLOOD 6 (18)

WATER-CONTROLLING RECLUSE

Criminals and government organizations aware of metahumans want to get their hands on the
mysterious Damián Flood. However, except for the occasional sighting at the edges of large
bodies of water, he’s mostly confounded his pursuers. That’s certainly for the best, not only for
Damián, but also for the public. The last time operatives of IRID managed to corner Damián Flood IRID, page 39
as he emerged from a corner market in Valencia, Spain, he defended himself by creating a flood
as devastating as a burst dam. Hundreds were killed, and the costs for rebuilding are still being
assessed.
Damián just wanted to be left alone. Now, thanks to being deviled by criminal metahumans and
the likes of IRID, he’s become a mass murderer. He hasn’t slept well for months, has fallen into
cycles of rage and depression, and is considering getting even for what the world has made of him.
Motive: Revenge
Environment: Alone, usually within 100 feet (30 m) of a river, lake, or sea
Health: 35 GM intrusion: The
Damage Inflicted: 6 points character gets a lungful
Armor: 4 of water and begins to
cough, dazing them
Movement: Short; long when “water sliding”
(hindering all tasks)
Combat: Damián usually flees combat, creating a slide of for one round.
semisolid water that effectively allows him to fly a long
distance each round. If cornered, he can release a gout
of water that attacks everyone he selects within short
range. Those who fail a Speed defense roll take
damage and must immediately make a Might
defense roll, or be borne along by the water to a
location up to a long distance away.
Alternatively, Damián can “become the flood”
and generate a continuous and catastrophic
release of water every bit as real and
continuous as an actual flood (level 6). When
he does so, he gains an additional 4 points
of Armor (8 Armor total). Until the episode
ends after about one minute, he cannot take
any actions other than to defend himself as he
stands in the center of—and partly transforms
into—an exploding vortex of water.
The flood acts as a separate entity filling an area a
very long distance across, attacking everyone
in the area each round. Characters defend
with a Might defense roll. On a failure, the
flood inflicts Speed damage (ignores Armor),
exhausting the character trying to avoid
battering debris, solid objects in their path,
and being dunked underwater. An enveloped
character can escape with a successful
swimming roll followed by a Might roll to
reach something solid above the floodwaters,
such as a light pole or large structure.
Interaction: It might be possible to reach Damián,
but he’s in a very dark place personally.
Use: A small town in New Mexico was completely
flooded, though where the water came from
remains a mystery.

87
 The Origin

DANCER 6 (18)
ACROBATIC SPEEDSTER VIGILANTE

Michaela Warfield was—and remains—an artist of some repute in Cincinnati, Ohio. She can often
be found at gallery showings talking about her work. Though she did take a months-long break not
too long ago, no one knows the real reason why.
That’s because Michaela remembered the Crash while working on a large installation several
stories high. Instead of falling to her death in surprise, she danced down the side of the building,
articulating and gyrating her body to avoid serious injury until she reached the ground, essentially
unharmed but fundamentally changed.
Not long after that, Michaela adopted her secret identity, “Dancer.” Dancer has been implicated
in a few crimes here and there, though regular police don’t really know a metahuman was involved,
or that the woman described was actually there to stop the bad guys, not help them.
House of Nibiru, page 42 Dancer is not a House of Nibiru stalwart, but the House sometimes reaches out to her for help
on a specific undertaking. On occasion, she agrees, especially if it means thrashing someone who
deserves it.
Motive: Punish those who deserve it
Environment: Usually alone
Health: 32
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Long
Modifications: Speed defense, initiative, and attacks as level 8 due to speedster ability
Combat: Michaela’s acrobatic routine allows her to make up to three melee attacks each round
using batons. Her “battle dance” allows her to split up the attacks as she moves up to a long
distance during each round, dispensing each of the three attacks anywhere along the way.
Alternatively, she can take up to three other actions as she moves, such as pull a cap down
over an NPC’s eyes, snatch something from one NPC’s hand, plant an object in the pocket of
another NPC, or something similar.
Interaction: Dancer is standoffish to would-be allies, but if she commits to a job, she sees it
through. She talks tough, and has certainly beaten those who deserved it within an inch of their
GM intrusion: Dancer life, but has never killed anyone. Yet.
backflips out of the way Use: When the PCs approach the location of a new mission, they find Dancer about to enter,
of an attack that would apparently following up on a similar lead.
have otherwise hit.

88
 METAHUMANS

DIWATA 10 (30) GM intrusion: The

character who fails a
Speed defense roll is
PLANT, EARTH, AIR, AND WATER CONTROLLING VIGILANTE grabbed and held by
nearby (or suddenly
As a child, Manuel “Manny” Pineda loved the wild places near his home on the outskirts of Butuan sprouting) vegetation,
City in the Philippines. When his family emigrated to the USA when he was 10 years old, he found unable to take
a whole new ecosystem to fall in love with. In college, he studied ecology and population biology, physical actions until
and went on to get his Ph.D. studying the effects of people on a changing climate. He started a they can escape, or
foundation called Soil Saviors to teach regenerative farming to people all over the world. Diwata frees them.
That program continues, though Manny only occasionally shows up in person to run the
foundation. Because after his intersection with the Crash, he developed elemental abilities Regenerative farming
allowing him to control the landscape around him in large ways and small. He has a particular revives indigenous
affinity for nurturing plants, but has also instigated storms, sea waves, and even earthquakes in traditions of cover-
cropping, avoiding tilling,
defense of natural places and peoples as Diwata. While he avoids hurting people and animals, he’s
and diversifying crops
not so kind to equipment and structures. to greatly enhance soil
Motive: Safeguard ecosystems nutrition, water retention,
Environment: Anywhere natural landscapes are threatened and overall health,
Health: 40 leading to higher yields
Damage Inflicted: 13 points with decreasing need
Armor: 5 for fertilizers, herbicides,
and insecticides.
Movement: Short; long when flying
Combat: Diwata usually attacks earth-moving
equipment trying to break ground for new
developments in sensitive ecosystems,
but can attack overzealous defenders of
that equipment by calling down a tornado,
summoning a storm with lightning bolts,
or invoking an earthquake. In such a
case, all targets Diwata selects within
short range must succeed on Speed
defense rolls each round for up to one
minute (or as long as Diwata continues
to concentrate on the effect) or take
damage. Targets hit by a lightning strike
must also succeed on a Might defense roll
or descend one step on the damage track
and lose their next turn.
Diwata is immune to electricity damage, and is
healed by electrical attacks for the amount
of health the attack normally inflicts.
Interaction: When acting as Diwata, he doesn’t
talk much, if at all; he lets his actions
convey his meaning. But in his alter ego
as Manny, he is engaging and empathetic,
interested in convincing people that
the Earth is facing a catastrophe of its
own making, but quick to assure that
many solutions could mitigate the worst
outcomes.
Use: A fracking natural gas extraction
operation is destroyed. Sabotage is
suspected. (The House of Nibiru asks PCs
to make contact with the vigilante they
think is responsible.)

89
 The Origin

DJ FREAK 7 (21)
HALLUCINATION-INDUCING DJ AND CRIMINAL

Alger Allen, also known as the pyramid-headed DJ Freak, has fast become one of the leading
names in electronic dance music, recognizable for his psychedelic headdress—known as the
Temple of the Eye—that he wears during live sets.
What isn’t generally known is that some of the amazing special effects that DJ Freak employs
are courtesy of his secret metahuman ability that gives him the ability to induce hallucinations in
anyone who can hear the same sound (or music) that DJ Freak can hear.
DJ Freak’s ability has Lately, DJ Freak has turned that ability to unscrupulous uses, including theft, extortion, and even
a range that depends assault. Each success hits him like a drug high, and one that he can’t wait to replicate again.
on the audio range of Motive: Exult in criminal and immoral acts
whatever sound he’s
Environment: Anywhere sound carries
using to carry it, which is
usually a long distance, Health: 30
but for loud sounds Damage Inflicted: 7 points
such as those that Movement: Short
play at an EDM club, Modifications: Defense rolls as level 8 due to
it’s very long range. sensory confusion induced in foes
Combat: DJ freak has a psychic ability mediated
by sound. When he wishes, and some sort
of sound is available (often music, but
possibly the sound of his voice), everyone
in audio range sees the same hallucination
(which could be as simple as strobing
symbols and sounds) on a failed Intellect
defense roll. If the need arose, he could
create a far more dire hallucination and
GM intrusion: The share it with everyone in range who fails
character must succeed their defense roll, such as the realistic
at an Intellect defense hallucination of being trapped alive in a
roll or hallucinate that
coffin, of drowning, or that everyone nearby
an ally is actually a
hated foe about to attack is actually a dangerous zombie. Affected
them. They can attempt targets get another Intellect defense roll
another defense roll each round to eliminate the confusion, and
each round to overcome once freed, their defense rolls are eased
the hallucination. by three steps to resist for the rest of the
encounter.
Alternatively, he could focus on a single target
within short range, either creating a very
in-depth hallucination to influence them,
or attempting to cause direct trauma to
the brain, inflicting 7 points of Intellect
damage (ignores Armor) if the target fails
an Intellect defense roll.
Creatures who cannot hear him, such as
those wearing premium sound-canceling
headphones, can’t be directly affected by
DJ Freak.
Interaction: DJ Freak loves gambling, drinking,
partying, and risky behavior. He long ago
checked his ethics at the door, and if it
seemed like it would be exciting or funny, he
thinks nothing of betraying a supposed ally.
Use: The distant thump of a dance club is
interrupted by the sounds of screams, then
people fleeing out onto the street claiming
that they’re burning. But they’re not.

90
 METAHUMANS

EDMUND ALBERT BIGBY 7 (21)

SUPER TOUGH AND STRONG COVERT AGENT

Edmund is not only a veteran of US intelligence covert operations, but thanks to his recollection of
the Crash one late night as he applied enhanced interrogation techniques to a ransomware suspect,
he’s also a metahuman. From the government’s perspective, metahumans are a national threat,
not least because no one understands how a normal person becomes a metahuman. But also
because a normal person given great power, in the government’s opinion, is just asking for trouble.
But Edmund was already a known and trusted asset. He disclosed his new condition
immediately to his superiors. Not long after that, he was tasked with running a covert team to
locate and bring in any and all metahumans to MAD for interrogation and research. Edmund is MAD, page 47
one of a few metahuman assets that MAD employs, but also keeps a close eye on.
Motive: Track down and capture metahumans Edmund’s codename
Environment: Almost anywhere, usually accompanied by within MAD is Agent Big.
a team of MAD field agents, and sometimes with
Cryptid MAD field agent, typical:
Health: 50 level 4; health 18;
Damage Inflicted: 12 points Armor 2; short-range
enhanced taser attack
Armor: 2
inflicts 6 points of
Movement: Long Speed damage (ignores
Modifications: Resist mental effects as level 12 Armor) and on failed
Combat: Edmund is a crack shot with a pistol, Might defense roll
but prefers to punch, kick, knee, or headbutt (hindered) stuns target
two different targets within immediate for one minute
range on his turn, inflicting
damage. Alternatively, he can Cryptid, page 86
concentrate on a single target with
a roundhouse punch, easing the
attack by two steps and inflicting
15 points of damage.
Edmund usually has at least one
manifest cypher that acts as a
detonation he can throw a long
range, affecting all targets in immediate range Detonation, page 386
when it explodes. Targets take 7 points of
damage and, on a failed Might defense roll, they
lose the benefits of their power shifts (if any) on
their next turn.
Part of the reason Edmund is so tough is because GM intrusion: Edmund
he regains 10 health each round. creates a shock-wave
Interaction: Edmund is a master of most attack by slapping his
hands together, attacking
situations, trained to deal with people politely,
all targets within short
aggressively, or in whatever way is most range. Those who fail a
likely to accomplish his goals. It’s unlikely Might defense roll are
he’d ever negotiate away a chance to collar a stunned on their next
metahuman he has in his sights. turn, unable to act.
Use: The PCs discover an agent covertly surveilling
a location they like to hang out at.
Additional Equipment: In addition to the cypher
indicated, Edmund usually carries
a concealed radio, a pair
of binoculars that unfold
from a pen, and a handful
of tracking bugs he can stick
on subject’s vehicles so he
can track their location later.

91
 The Origin

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO 5 (15)

ELECTRICALLY POWERED CRIMINAL

Katarina Stroman was a delivery driver for a large online retailer. She was driving her delivery
van through suburbia when she suddenly remembered the Crash. Not unexpectedly, Katarina
experienced two crashes: the memory of the interstellar object hitting Earth, and her delivery van
right into an electric transformer.
GM intrusion: When Horribly burned and always in pain, Katarina survived the accident and developed the ability to
the character strikes generate and manipulate electricity herself. Keeping her abilities under wraps, she turned to a life
Electric Boogaloo, a of theft. Shorting out video cameras and security systems became second nature to her. However,
reactive electric charge
when she needs to, she can also burn the life out of someone who stands in her way. The police
zaps the character for
12 points of damage. and other investigators don’t know who she is (or even that she’s a she), but have dubbed her
“Electric Boogaloo” or just “EB” for short.
Motive: Wealth accumulation
Environment: Usually alone, anywhere there’s
money to be made by thieving
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Short; long when flying (on an aura
of crackling electricity)
Modifications: Speed defense as level 6
Combat: EB can attack everyone within short
range with branching lightning flares as her
action, or make one focused lightning bolt
attack at a single target she can see within
very long range, which is eased by three
steps and inflicts 12 points of damage.
She can use her ability to short out electric
devices within short range.
Though it doesn’t heal her burned flesh
cosmetically, the electricity coursing
through Electric Boogaloo’s body
supercharges her metabolism, allowing her
to regain 2 points of health each round.
Interaction: EB is quiet, saying only the
minimum amount to make her needs
known. Usually, “Get out of my way or I’ll
electrocute you.” She may make a deal if
something valuable is given to her.
Use: A delivery truck pulls up, but instead of
delivering a package, a hooded person
proceeds to burn the lock out of the door
and enter the premises.

92
 METAHUMANS

EPHRAIM SCHEBEN 8 (24)

FUNGUS-MANIFESTING RECLUSE
GM intrusion: The
Noted mycologist Ephraim Scheben was a popularizer of fungal medicines. Considered an hallucinating character
intellectual and industry leader for medicinal use of mushrooms, he regularly developed new doesn’t lose their
turn, but instead
fungus-derived cures.
attacks an ally.
With the Crash, Ephraim not only lost himself, but also his entire world. Though he sees it
otherwise, the world he hails from was a firefly flicker of a divergent timeline. Only a fraction of it
remains, tenuously connected to Unit 21 of Meridian Storage. He refuses to believe it. Now as a Meridian Storage,
vaguely human-shaped growth of fungus, he plots in a crumbling fragment of a dead dimension, page 71
trying to work out how he can reverse things so it’s his world that dominates. Or if not that, then
at least extend his domain into his new home by growing more and more fungus in the remains of
animals and people of the base timeline.
Motive: Find or reconstruct his lost timeline
Environment: Anywhere fungus grows
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 8 points
Armor: 5
Movement: Short
Combat: Ephraim can batter nearby foes with fists
covered in unbelievably strong fungal armor
plating. As part of the action of making a
physical attack, Ephraim can also release
a new variety of dangerous spores
affecting every creature within short
range on a failed Might defense
roll.
Fruiting Spores: Living, non-fungal
targets suffer Speed damage
(ignores Armor) from invasive
mycelial growth that insinuates
into their flesh. If a target dies
within an hour after taking
damage from this attack, new
fungal growths sprout from the
body within the day.
Hallucinating Spores: Living, non-fungal targets are
treated to a burst of hallucinatory vision so intense,
they lose their next turn to the experience.
Reanimating Spores: Recently deceased bodies within
range are animated by invasive mycelial growth that
insinuates into their flesh. Ephraim can animate two
such bodies as level 5 creatures under his command
at one time.
If Ephraim is killed, even a single spore he generated
before his death is enough to bring him back. This
means that if an area in which Ephraim was active is
not completely treated (such as with fire or acid), one
or more particles sporulate within ten days, at which
point Ephraim completely regenerates within another
ten.
Interaction: Talkative but morose, Ephraim explains to
his victims that he must treat their bodies as a fungal
food source to make the world a little more sensible.
Use: Pets in a growing radius around a particular
location are turning up dead, each one’s body a
veritable garden of strange mushroom growth.

93
 The Origin

FIREDOVE 5 (15)
PYROKINETIC VIGILANTE

GM intrusion: A weapon Jazmin Cassala was a thirty-something tech writer working contracts remotely. Recently, she
or other piece of the stopped taking new work, dropped off social media, failed to answer texts, and let all her calls from
character’s equipment friends and family go to voicemail. Concerned, her brother drove over, discovering to his horror
burns up or melts to slag.
that Jazmin’s house had burned down and she was missing.
“Jesus! I’m not missing,” Jazmin is quick to point out. She just made a big life change after
discovering she was a metahuman, and accidentally burned down her house in the process. She
doesn’t see any reason to involve her family and friends in “any of that bullshit.”
House of Nibiru, page 42 Eventually, she found her way to the House of Nibiru via their forums and has since taken up
residence in the lodge the House keeps in Colorado. From time to time, she rounds out the teams
of other metahumans the House sends on various missions on behalf of the metahuman community.
Motive: Help the metahuman community
Environment: Almost anywhere, sometimes
accompanied by two or more other
metahumans employed by the House of
Nibiru
Health: 33
Damage Inflicted: 10 points
Armor: 2 (20 against fire)
Movement: Short; long when flying
Modifications: Fire attacks as level 8; coding
and computer hacking as level 7
Combat: Firedove surrounds herself in an aura
of flames, which in addition to granting her
Armor, means that anyone who touches
her takes 10 points of damage from the
flames. Melee weapons of level 5 and less
used against her move down one step on
the object damage track with each hit, until
they are destroyed. As an action, Firedove
can send winged missiles of flame (her
“doves”) at up to three targets within short
range, inflicting damage on a failed Speed
defense roll.
Alternatively, Firedove can generate a
massive pulse of fire once every hour or
Object damage track, so, attacking all creatures within short
page 116 range. Even those that succeed on a Speed
defense roll still take 2 points of damage
from the fire.
Interaction: Firedove is a no-nonsense sort
of person with zero tolerance for game
playing, liars, and anyone she judges to
be shading the truth. She has little faith in
institutions, though can be convinced to
give a small group the benefit of the doubt,
unless or until they betray her trust.
Use: The PCs, already involved in a mission or
exploration, are joined by Firedove, who
has the same goal.

94
 METAHUMANS

FLAT THOMAS 6 (18) GM intrusion: The

damaged character must
succeed on a Might
TWO-DIMENSIONAL KILLER defense roll or begin to
bleed, taking 6 points of
Trauma and violence are as much responsible for Flat Thomas’s origin as is the Crash. Thomas ambient damage each
Vicini was an almost-competent real estate agent. But listing properties in a seller’s market in no round until the wound
way prepared him for understanding how to control and use his unasked-for new ability to turn is stanched or healed.
himself completely flat. His first few inadvertent uses of the power resulted in a flameout, leaving
him psychologically damaged. Flameout Mode, page 17
Instead of finding help, he assuaged his pain by turning his newfound ability to slide through
cracks in walls, hide by standing sideways, and slide under locked doors as a means to stalk and
murder his enemies. Developing a taste for mayhem, Flat Thomas has become nothing less than Flat Thomas can turn his
a serial killer, targeting anyone who “can’t take a joke” (or who he’s hired to dispose of). He is clothing and equipment
without mercy or remorse. as flat as himself.
Motive: Killing for the lols
Environment: Anywhere victims can be found
Health: 23
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Armor: 5
Movement: Short; short when “climbing” as a two-dimensional image on any surface
Modifications: Speed defense as level 8 if he turns himself sideways to one attacker
Combat: Flat Thomas often attacks with surprise (after having slipped into a
location through the tiniest of cracks), easing his first attack by two steps.
Sometimes Flat Thomas uses weapons, including guns and knives.
However, he can freely shift his hands and forearms to become as flat
and sharp as a monomolecular blade, inflicting damage that cuts right
through any armor that isn’t made of pure force or transdimensional
in nature. He can make two such “blade hand” attacks as his action.
When Thomas is completely two-dimensional, attacks against him are
hindered.
Interaction: As jovial as they come, Flat Thomas may begin an
encounter with a couple of ribald jokes. If characters play
along, maybe sharing a few of their own, they can delay
Thomas for several minutes until he decides the best joke
of all would be to see the character’s insides.
Use: The “painting” of a gleeful man with green skin and a
purple suit winks at the PCs.

95
 The Origin
GM intrusion: Freedom
Fractal’s attack fills the FREEDOM FRACTAL 5 (15)
character’s lungs with a
mass of dust, suffocating
PSEUDOMATTER-MANIPULATING TERRORIST
them in about a minute
unless Freedom Fractal Randolph A. Ward was a junior-high school math teacher with a sideline in online rabble-rousing.
is knocked unconscious “Randy” was never a fan of civil society. In the age of internet filter bubbles, he found a cohort of
or other extraordinary similarly thinking people. They would regularly meet online, and once a year go out for “training”
measures are taken. at a place in eastern Washington state where they could shoot their semi-legal firearms to their
heart’s content. Over time, the group built a compound and added more activities, including boar
Freedom Fractal is hunts, retreats, and sweet deals on ammunition.
on the top ten most That’s where Randy remembered the Crash. When his newly gained metahuman abilities flared
wanted list for both out of control, he accidentally killed a couple of his buddies by crushing them beneath weird fractal
the FBI and MAD.
shapes that he spontaneously called into existence.
Freedom Fraternity Instead of renouncing him, the surviving group members decided he was a sign of the Second
irregular, typical: Coming. Randy wasn’t certain his powers were a sign from God. That didn’t stop him from
level 3; Armor 1; assuming the identity of Freedom Fractal.
rifle attack inflicts 5
Motive: Topple civil society
points of damage
Environment: Almost anywhere, usually
accompanied by two to five other Freedom
Fraternity irregulars
Health: 25
Damage Inflicted: 7 points; see Combat
Armor: 4
Movement: Short; long when flying
Modifications: Pseudomatter attacks as level 7
Combat: Freedom Fractal creates objects,
armor, small structures, or anything else
he can imagine as his action within an
area a short distance across. Overall, the
objects he creates have an iterative, fractal
shape, no matter what their purpose.
He can use the created objects to grant
himself Armor, create simple objects
that have an independent existence for a
couple of minutes after he creates them
(or as long as he remains conscious),
spew fractal matter like jets enabling flight,
and so on. He can also attack up to four
targets at once within short range with
crushing fractal shapes. Alternatively, he
can attack a single target within short
range with an attack eased by two steps
that inflicts 15 points of damage.
Interaction: Freedom Fractal is sympathetic
only to those who share his worldview, but
even then, is willing to sacrifice a “brother”
for the greater good (as he sees it). He’s a
soldier; liberal ideologies the world over are
his enemy, and the ends justify the means.
Use: A federal building comes under siege by
Freedom Fractal and his followers.
Additional Equipment: Currency equivalent to
1d6 expensive items.

96
 METAHUMANS

HANGMAN 5 (15)
DEATH-SENSING/CAUSING CRIMINAL

Hangman’s eyes are like flecks of granite chipped from a gravestone. Tall, rarely without his GM intrusion: The
signature black leather trench coat and Stetson, Hangman was once a drug dealer who went by his attack that would
given name of Tom Hulls. One night after sampling a little too much of his own wares, Tom died. have otherwise killed
Hangman is foiled
Or he should have. But the Crash changed the proper flow of events. Tom got a second chance,
when he steps back,
along with the metahuman ability to see the circumstances of other people’s pending deaths, as is pulled to safety by
well as his own. a confederate, or just
As it happens, his death cognition often features him as the cause of his enemies’ demise. No simply fails to die despite
surprise there; Hangman’s mere touch is a death sentence. His touch exchanges the living version looking as if he’s dead.
of his target with a divergent timeline variant that’s already dead.
Hangman continues to deal drugs, but more successfully than before, having effectively taken
over the drug cartel that previously employed him.
Motive: Wealth and influence
Environment: Anywhere criminal deals are done
Health: 24
Damage Inflicted: 7 points
Movement: Short
Modifications: Death cognition as level 12; death touch
attacks as level 7
Combat: Hangman can sense when and how someone will
die, whether that’s years into the future, or in a couple
of seconds. But no one’s death is immutably fated, at
least not in the post-Crash universe. Which means
Hangman can use his foreknowledge to act in such a
way as to either save someone’s life (if he’s trying to
make a deal with them), or more often, kill someone
who’s crossed him. His dimensional death touch attack
inflicts damage on a failed Speed defense roll and
causes the creature struck to descend one step on the
damage track if they fail a Might defense roll.
On the flip side, it’s almost impossible to permanently
defeat Hangman. He may take a few hits and suffer
damage from attacks, but Hangman knows when his
time is up. Moreover, his death cognition extends far
enough into the future that he manipulates events so
that even if it seems like the possibility of his death is
close, something intervenes to save him. If a particular
series of events wouldn’t leave him an out, he just
doesn’t show up at the event that would initiate that
outcome.
Interaction: Hangman can be warm and cordial to his
business partners and friends. He may even offer
someone a tip on avoiding a certain plane trip, elevator
ride, or visit to a particular street vendor’s food stall
next year. But usually this is only in return for a favor.
Use: A PC receives an anonymous tip, telling them to
avoid visiting a particular location they would have
otherwise gone to (maybe a grocery store, an office
building, a bank, etc.). In a freak accident, that location
is destroyed by a tornado, an earthquake, a gas leak
explosion, or something else. A follow-up message
(assuming the PC listened to the advice) indicates that
the PC now owes the anonymous tipster a favor.

97
 The Origin

MICKEY LOVE 6 (18)

ECTOPLASM-GENERATING BOUNTY HUNTER

Mickey Love (born Michael Lopez) was a certified bounty hunter working with police departments
across several states and jurisdictions. Mickey left his birth name behind when his wife and kids
were killed in a crossfire between two groups of meth dealers. As Mickey Love, he’s brought in all
sorts of ne’er-do-wells, or at least those wanted by the law.
After remembering the Crash, Mickey Love developed the ability to generate an unstable,
esoteric substance he calls ectoplasm. Though he still goes after large bounties on regular people,
he has discovered that various groups will pay him far more money to capture those ne’er-do-wells
known as metahumans.
Motive: Capture fugitives for money
Environment: Almost anywhere
Health: 27
Damage Inflicted: 9 points
Armor: 4 (from regenerating ectoplasmic film)
Movement: Short
Modifications: Ectoplasmic blast attacks as level
8
Combat: Mickey Love still keeps a variety of
knives, pistols, and a big shotgun on his
person. He may threaten people with
these, but his metahuman ability to blast
two different foes within long range with a
turbulent blast of boiling ectoplasm is his
go-to attack. If he targets a single foe, his
attack is eased and he inflicts 12 points of
damage.
The bounty hunter can spin solid-seeming
forms of ectoplasm to create level 8
objects no larger than 10 feet (3 m) on
a side, usually no more than one simple
object per action. He can trap up to two
targets in a block of the material if they
fail Speed defense rolls. Or he could just
create cuffs to put on someone who’s
already surrendered, or a chair to sit on
while he interrogates a captive. These
objects last for about an hour after Mickey
Love leaves the area, or immediately if he
concentrates on dispersing them.
GM intrusion: Mickey Interaction: Mickey Love will tell you he’s not
Love’s ectoplasmic a bad guy, just a guy who likes to get paid.
blast passes through Which means there is some room for
any cover or Armor the
negotiation, should one of his bounties
character is wearing.
happen to be wealthy, or know
something the bounty hunter
wants to find out.
Use: PCs, looking to find
someone, may stumble
across Mickey Love’s
credentials.
Additional Equipment: In addition
to the various knives, pistols,
and his shotgun, Mickey Love
Divergent self, page 25 might carry a divergent self cypher.

98
 METAHUMANS

MOON KING 11 (33)

LUNAR-POWERED CRIMINAL

Once during each full moon of the lunar cycle, the Moon King strikes, but only as long as the
moon is in the sky, its light unobscured by clouds. That seems to be when his power waxes, during
which time he can manipulate moonlight as if it were a fundamental force of the universe.
Before he was the Moon King, he was Wu Zhengsheng, an aspiring artist working in several
different types of media. His preferred artistic practice already had a focus on the moon,
moonlight, and related imagery. But during the tumultuous period after remembering the
Crash, his studio was destroyed in a blast of “lunar energy” out of which walked the Moon King.
Empowered and emboldened, the Moon King’s criminal reign began when he ransacked the
National Museum of China, where he stole many priceless objects of art.
Rumor has it that the Moon King keeps all his stolen art in a castle he fashioned from moonlight
on the moon’s surface.
Motive: Accumulate priceless art
Environment: Alone, at night under a full moon, usually in or near an art museum
Health: 80
Damage Inflicted: 15 points GM intrusion: The
Armor: 1 Moon King absorbs all
Movement: Short; long when flying; can teleport to any location touched by moonlight the moonlight in the
area, regaining 50 health.
Combat: The Moon King is powerful enough to ignore most threats, but against other
metahumans or Collectors, he can emit of scouring blast of “lunar energy” that attacks every
creature he chooses within very long range, inflicting damage on each creature that fails
a Speed defense roll. Alternatively, he can choose merely to dazzle targets with moonlight,
causing targets that use sight to stand stunned and unable to act on their next turn on a failed
Intellect defense roll.
The Moon King has several additional abilities, including the ability to craft motes of moonlight
into solid objects up to 50 feet (15 m) on a side until the moon sets, the ability to teleport
anywhere moonlight is currently shining, the ability to affect tides, and
reveal invisible, illusory, and otherwise hidden things to all.
The Moon King’s power wanes if he loses direct line of
sight with the moon (because of clouds,
structures, or a metahuman with
darkness powers), hindering all
his tasks by four steps.
Interaction: The Moon King speaks
Mandarin and English, though
he is not given to conversations
with those he doesn’t have a
personal relationship or business
with. He isn’t much concerned
with morality of his thieving, but
doesn’t go out of his way to harm
others unless opposed. He may
negotiate, or even briefly ally, with
PCs who can offer him an artistic
object or experience he can’t easily
get himself.
Use: A private gallery was recently
ransacked. The wealthy owner
contacts the PCs, hoping to get
the missing pieces back.

99
 The Origin
GM intrusion: Mysteria
casts a spell that deflects MYSTERIA 7 (21)
or reverses the character’s
attack that would have
“MAGICAL” TERRORIST
otherwise been effective.
Professional cosplayer Anna Magliorie aggressively pursued her career. Rumors swirled that some
Magic is merely how of her competitive costume contest wins followed acts of intimidation against other competitors
Mysteria conceives of on Anna’s part. But more than costuming, Anna loved “protecting” the environment. Or at least
her power. But it’s not she loved having permission to be as wild and destructive as she wished in support of a higher
actually magic (whatever
cause. In other words, she was no stranger to acts of violence against people or property, as long
that is). In fact, her
power is derived from the as she could rationalize the acts. Actual environmentalists strongly disagreed with her tactics, and
same divergent timeline she was banned from several conservation groups.
interaction powering After the Crash, Anna learned magic from an occult tome of spells she can manifest at will.
every other metahuman Calling herself Mysteria, her ecoterrorism entered a brand-new phase. Now she summons
in the setting. elementals to attack infrastructure, skyscrapers, public events, or other random locations where
many people are gathered. From the shadows, she uses magic to cause as much damage as
possible. Though she hides her own responsibility, lately images of the various elementals she
Earth elemental, summons have been recorded and have shown up on social media.
page 327
Motive: Destruction
Fire elemental, Environment: Almost anywhere
page 326 Health: 32
Damage Inflicted: 9 points
Armor: 3
Movement: Short
Modifications: Resists persuasion, intimidation, and
other mental influence as level 9
Combat: Two earth elementals shadow Mysteria a few
feet below ground, out of sight unless she snaps her
fingers. Then they rise to defend her or do whatever
else she commands.
With a wave of her hand, she can blast a target within
long range with a mystical fire, inflicting damage
on a failed Speed defense roll. Whether or not the
target is hit, a fire elemental is formed from the
residual flame, and does Mysteria’s bidding. She can
command a total of five elementals (earth and/or
fire) at one time.
If she spends several weeks “looking through her
magical tome” (which is actually just a physical
manifestation of her metahuman power), she can
come up with the means to accomplish a variety of
different things, including enchant several people
at once to do her bidding, turn invisible, teleport a
large structure, cause the earth to shake, or cause
people who share an affiliation all over the world to
have such strange dreams that the dreams pursue
them into the waking world for a few rounds.
Interaction: Whether or not she’s in her Mysteria garb
(a costume for cosplay she is particularly proud of),
she initially comes off as fiery and passionate. But
it’s soon apparent that she’s closed to negotiation
or compromise. If she believes something, few
arguments can convince her of another point of view.
Use: The House of Nibiru has noticed that every city
hosting a comic convention this month suffered
some sort of strange disaster in which lives were
lost. Metahuman influence is suspected.

100
 METAHUMANS

SANCTUARY 6 (18) GM intrusion:

Sanctuary’s bestial roar
stuns the character,
SHAPESHIFTING STRONG VIGILANTE causing them to lose their
next action on a failed
Before the Crash, Agnes Fergusson practiced veterinarian medicine and was a supporter of Intellect defense roll
several local animal shelters. She volunteered for fundraising appeals, showed up to help out at
adoption events, and had a reputation in the animal welfare community as someone who really
cared. That concern for the welfare of all creatures remains, though she goes about her work Reporter Zehra Eris
differently these days. (page 58) witnessed
Implicated in the destruction of her own veterinary clinic, authorities claim she destroyed Agnes’s first
transformation, and
the place for the insurance payout. Though it’s true that she destroyed her own clinic, it was an
is now on the trail of
accident occurring during her first transformation into a massive, superstrong bestial form. Sanctuary sightings.
Now on the lam, Agnes still takes on veterinarian tasks for those willing to pay her under the
table. But mostly she rights wrongs of those who abuse animals in her massive alter ego known as
Sanctuary. Agnes Fergusson,
Motive: Animal welfare human form: level 2,
Environment: Wherever animals are being healing tasks and
veterinary medicine
mistreated and abused
as level 5
Health: 50
Damage Inflicted: 10 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Long
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 due to
size; Might defense as level 7
Combat: Sanctuary can change shape to or
from her human guise as Agnes Fergusson
as part of another action. She prefers
to avoid combat, though may initiate it
against those who have demonstrated a
particular affinity for animal cruelty. She
attacks with her fist, dealing damage. If
she hits, she can grab the target that fails
a Might defense roll. A grabbed target is
held immobile until they can escape. If
she chooses, Sanctuary can squeeze a
grabbed target, automatically inflicting
damage each round.
Thanks to her shape-changing metabolism, she
regains 2 points of health per round.
Interaction: If someone shows an unfeigned
interest in animal welfare, Sanctuary might
ally with them, and even listen to their
suggestions on helping a particular animal
out of a tough spot. Though in her bestial
form, she’d rather just smash a hole and
make off with a creature in need of saving.
Use: A large puppy mill reports that all of their
dogs were stolen by a huge, furry monster.
The House of Nibiru and MAD are both
sending investigators.

101
 The Origin
GM intrusion: The
electronics system in the SHIBBOLETH 5 (15)
vehicle the character is
using tries to crash it.
MACHINE-CONTROLLING CRIMINAL

Computer programmer Imani Okeke doesn’t think of herself as a bad person. When she extorts
millions from huge corporations, she tells herself that they deserve it. And after all, she diverts a
Shibboleth is serious significant proportion of the money she takes to a huge basket of diverse charities. If people knew,
about erasing her online they’d celebrate her, she often rationalizes.
tracks so no one can find Already a gifted programmer, her leet skills blossomed beyond human capability after she woke
her physical location at
up one morning with the vision of the Crash still scrolling behind her eyes. Able to talk to and
her home in Greenville,
South Carolina. control machines of every kind through machine telepathy, Shibboleth (Imani’s online avatar)
knows that nothing stands in her way of world cyber domination.
Motive: Acquire wealth and power
Environment: Almost anywhere online
Health: 22
Damage Inflicted: 5 points
Movement: Short
Modifications: Machine control as level 9; programming online avatar tasks as level 10
Combat: As an online avatar in a multiuser game or virtual reality game, Shibboleth tops the charts.
Little John: level 7; However, if someone does somehow find her IRL (in real life), Little John, an automaton she
Armor 5; two long-range constructed using her abilities, defends her. For her part, she can use her machine control ability
laser attacks inflict 9 to cause equipment (including cyphers and artifacts that are machines) used by an attacker—or
points of damage each
nearby computers or other machines—to blow up, turn on their user, or otherwise prevent the
Little John resembles a attack.
small car transformed Interaction: As an online entity, Shibboleth is vain and unafraid, and loves speaking her mind. IRL,
into a humanoid shape. Imani is quiet, and more out of surprise at being found than anything else, willing to negotiate
NibiruCrash, page 44 with those not immediately attacking her.
Use: NibiruCrash has gone down due to some kind of cyber attack on the local node. PCs are
tasked to find out if the one claiming credit (Shibboleth) is a danger to the House.
Other Equipment: Shibboleth has top-of-the-line computer equipment and
decades-ahead-of-their-time VR glasses that are essentially priceless.

102
 METAHUMANS

THE SLAUGHTERS
SIBLING ASSASSINS WITH DEADLY ABILITIES

Lots of people associated with the underworld, criminals, and covert agencies know about the
Slaughters. The trio of “siblings” bonded while suffering through a series of failed foster home
placements, eventually aging out of the system. They reappeared as assassins offering their
services to criminals and rogue governments a few years later. They took the Slaughter surname to
demonstrate their solidarity, and as a nod to their new profession.
What only a handful of people know—and usually not for very long—is that each Slaughter has
an extraordinary ability, enhancing their lethality to superhuman levels.
Lee Slaughter usually speaks for the group, meets prospective clients, and accepts commissions.
His brother Samora and sister Queen are usually happy to follow his lead. As far as the commissions
go, Lee is choosy. He’s refused commissions on targets that appear to be doing more good than bad.

LEE SLAUGHTER 5 (15)

WEAKNESS-EXPLOITING ASSASSIN
Lee grew up in a handful of orphanages and foster homes. He was bullied until he joined forces
with Samora and Queen. Through their joint trials and tribulations, they formed a family that had
each other’s backs, and no one else’s.
And now that he’s recalled the Crash, Lee can see the weak points in objects, in people, and even
in the way people think, plan, and dream. Those flaws are always apparent, even when Lee doesn’t
want to see them. This is why he always considers what he’s going to say, so he doesn’t mention a
weakness he learned about through his ability.
He likes to say that he has power over fate, and that one day, he will find the flaw in reality itself,
and transcend.
Motive: Assassination for hire, protect “family”
Environment: Almost anywhere, usually with Samora and Queen Slaughter
Health: 28
Damage Inflicted: 10 points
Armor: 2
Movement: Short
Modifications: See weak points in people and objects as level 9
Combat: Lee always knows just where to strike a foe, whether with a fist, knife, or gun to inflict GM intrusion: Lee’s
damage. If Lee spends a round concentrating on a foe, Lee’s following attacks against that foe attack is so precisely
are eased by three steps and inflict 15 points of damage. Lee can concentrate on only one foe targeted that on a failed
Might defense roll, the
at a time, requiring a round to switch between foes.
PC descends one step
Alternatively, Lee can grab, prod, or apply pressure to a creature on a successful attack that on the damage track.
effectively keeps it from taking any action on its next turn. Once so subdued, the creature must
succeed on a difficulty 9 Might defense roll to escape, unless Lee lets them go.
Interaction: If someone has an outright weakness, Lee knows it just by looking at them (PCs
can make a difficulty 9 Intellect defense roll to prevent this). Someone’s weakness could be
sickness, a vulnerable relative, extortion material, that their back door at home is unlocked,
or all these and more. This makes negotiating with Lee a little one-sided. He usually gets what
he wants.
Use: Lee believes (rightly or wrongly) that one of the characters is responsible for the fact that one
of his siblings is missing.
Additional Equipment: Lee enhances his abilities by wearing a terahertz scanner in the form of Terahertz scanner,
fashionable sunglasses. page 34

103
 The Origin

QUEEN SLAUGHTER 6 (18)

SOULRIFLE-SUMMONING ASSASSIN

If asked whether “Queen” is her name or a title, Queen shrugs. Other kids in the foster homes
where she grew up called her “Queen Payback” because if they crossed her, she always got even
twice over. The stupider ones didn’t care, despite rumors that at least one kid who crossed her
later “fell” off the roof.
If she doesn’t have After she recalled the Crash, Queen gained the ability to manifest an ebony rifle from her own
her soulrifle in hand, life force. The weapon empowers her, transforming her from a normal (if sociopathic) person to
Queen Slaughter is an elite assassin who never misses a shot with bullets often imbued with some additional weird or
a basic level 3 NPC,
deadly quality.
losing all increases
to health, Armor, Motive: Assassination for hire, protect “family”
attacks, and so on. Environment: Almost anywhere, usually in the company of her siblings
Health: 33
Damage Inflicted: 11 points
GM intrusion: Just Armor: 1
when it seems like the Movement: Long; short when “wall running” along vertical surfaces
character is getting Modifications: Stealth and deception tasks as level 8; rifle attacks as level 11
on Queen’s good side,
Combat: When she summons her dark-as-the-night soulrifle as her action, Queen Slaughter is
the character says
something that she empowered, gaining all the benefits noted in her stat block, including the ability to run on
regards as disrespectful. vertical surfaces and the modification of attacking with her rifle as if level 11. As her action she
can make one very-long-range rifle attack or two at long range. If she desires, she can imbue
the bullets with one of the following properties.
Banish: If the attack hits, in addition to taking damage, the target must succeed on a difficulty 7
Intellect defense roll. On a failure the target is transferred to a divergent timeline as if subject
Divergent prison, page 25 to a divergent prison cypher. Queen Slaughter can’t use this ability again until she releases any
previously imprisoned target.
Poison: If the attack hits, in addition to taking damage, the creature must make a Might defense
roll against the level 7 poison or move one step down the damage track.
Exploding: If the attack hits, in addition to the primary target taking damage, everyone within
immediate range of the target must succeed on a difficulty 7 Speed defense roll or take 7
points of damage from shrapnel, or 2 points even with a successful roll.
Interaction: Queen’s defining quality is vindictiveness. During the course of a negotiation, if she
senses she is being lied to, talked down to, or threatened, she mentally notes the disrespect.
This could immediately end further negotiation, or just mark a character for later termination.
Use: A grisly murder scene yields one clue in the form of a note written in pen reading, “He had
it coming.”

“We are the Slaughters. We are revelation, vengeance, and flame. We are the
Three Deaths. We are elementals of demise, and together, nothing can stop us from
those marked for death.” ~Lee Slaughter

104
 METAHUMANS

SAMORA SLAUGHTER 9 (27)

METAL-SKINNED FLAME-THROWING ASSASSIN

Samora was always big for his age. Which meant the bullying other foster kids suffered didn’t
usually bother him. It was the adults he had to worry about, especially the local police departments.
He felt singled out, because he was. But his friends Lee and Queen always helped him out when
they could, and he did the same for them.
Then one day something unbelievable happened. Samora’s skin turned metallic, and when he
concentrated, hot as the sun.
Motive: Assassination for hire, protect “family”
Environment: Almost anywhere, usually in the company of his siblings GM intrusion: Samora
Health: 45 slaps both hands
Damage Inflicted: 12 points (see Combat) together, creating a flame
burst (level 10) that
Armor: 10
attacks everything in a
Movement: Short; long when jumping cone-shaped area up to a
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 long distance from him.
Combat: Given his general invulnerability to physical attacks, Samora usually wades into combat,
punching two targets within immediate range, each hit inflicting 10 points of damage from
impact and 7 from the heat of his burning skin. Alternatively, he can attack a target within long
range with a blast of fire that inflicts 12 points of damage from the heat, potentially igniting
flammable objects and structures.
Interaction: Samora is quiet and contemplative. Though he can dish out the most damage among his
siblings, he’s the least likely to initiate violence. By himself, he can even show kindness and mercy.
But in the company of the other Slaughters, he pursues every commission to its lethal end.
Use: A standoff between police and a “burning metal man” is endangering civilians downtown.

105
 The Origin

STEPHANIE NIODA 4 (12)

DETECTION-EVADING CRIMINAL

Stephanie Nioda was overlooked her whole life. Of average height, build, personality, and outward
affect, she routinely failed to get the breaks, promotions, or recognition that her peers seemed
to stumble into merely because they were likeable. This angered Stephanie, but she suppressed
it. Instead, she got even by stealing small items from those who pissed her off the most. Usually
pens, coffee cups, and sandwiches belonging to someone else disappeared.
Then came the Crash. Stephanie gained the ability to avoid being tracked, either physically or
via surveillance camera, or even being seen by someone looking right at her. Her thefts escalated,
Houston Firm, page 52 becoming real heists. The only reason she came to the attention of the Houston Firm (and then
Colette Fabre, page 85 came under Colette Fabre’s mental thumb) is that she stole a cargo truck filled with valuables that
the Firm had itself just jacked from its legitimate owners. Recognizing a windfall when she saw it,
Colette put Stephanie in charge of all the Firm’s operations relating to thieving. Stephanie would
fight more to get free of the mind controller’s charms if she didn’t so love stealing.
Motive: Steal everything not nailed down
Environment: Anywhere valuables are stored or transported
Health: 22
GM intrusion: The Damage Inflicted: 5 points
character doesn’t actually Movement: Short
hit or affect Stephanie; Modifications: Defenses as level 8; stealth and resist tracking as level 10
she wasn’t quite located
Combat: Stephanie can fade from view (becoming invisible) as part of another action, then run
where the character
thought she was. off with little chance of anyone finding her. She can extend her ability to encompass an entire
vehicle, allowing her to eject a driver, take the wheel, then drive off with little chance of anyone
finding her destination.
However, if someone threatens her by making area attacks or otherwise finds a way to detect and
target her, she may reciprocate for a round or two before fleeing. If so, the benefits of her
abilities become clear. Her attacks (if made while invisible) are eased by four
steps, and on a failed Might defense roll, are made with such perfect
precision targeting a foe’s weak spot that the target also descends one
step on the damage track.
Interaction: Though she prefers to get in and out without any
interaction whatsoever, if addressed, she may respond from the
shadows, especially if someone offers her information about a
potentially lucrative target for thieving.
Use: A valuable vehicle is stolen from the PCs or the House of
Nibiru. The circumstances of the theft suggest a metahuman
must be involved.
Additional Equipment: Stephanie Nioda always has at
least two expensive pieces and one very expensive
piece of jewelry on her person—all stolen from
someone else, of course.

106
 METAHUMANS

THRAKOOM 7 (21)
STRONG AND TOUGH CRIMINAL

Addicted to opioids, meth, and whatever else she could get her hands on, Spencer Pasko felt like
the world was finished with her. Kicked out of the homeless shelter for theft, assault, and drug use,
Spencer used every illicit substance she retained in one go. The overdose should have killed her. Or
maybe it did, as she tells anyone willing to listen. After all, she saw hell on Earth when it burned
after a meteor strike. But she was reborn at least four times bigger than before, tough as brick, and
twice as strong, plated in iridescent scales.
Discovered and promptly hired by Mickey Love to serve as muscle for his and other criminal Mickey Love (page 98)
enterprises, Spencer finds her new life exciting and strange. Drugs and alcohol (and most other named her “Thrakoom”
poisons) don’t affect her any longer, so she gets her fun by smashing things. because that’s the sound
Spencer makes whenever
Motive: Smash things and get paid for it
she hits something.
Environment: Usually acting as “muscle” for at least one other metahuman
Health: 44
Damage Inflicted: 12 points GM intrusion: The
Armor: 7 character is grabbed on
Movement: Short; very long when leaping a failed Speed defense
roll and hurled at an ally
Modifications: Strength tasks as level 8; Speed defense as level 5 due to size;
as Thrakoom’s attack.
resist trickery as level 3
Combat: Thrakoom’s punch is a mighty bludgeon. Besides
hitting, she can hurl big objects like desks, pieces of
the floor she’s pulled up, cars, and so on at a target
within long range.
She can also attack every target within immediate
range by clapping her hands together so
swiftly and strongly that a shock wave ripples
out. All targets within immediate range must
succeed on a Might defense roll or take damage
and lose their next turn from the stunning effect.
Interaction: Thrakoom is no one’s definition of a genius.
But she knows that about herself, and figures that
being stronger than any other living thing is fine.
However, she tries to defer to her current employer
should anyone try to negotiate.
Use: A string of thefts, including one bank heist, are all
connected because the robber is apparently using
some sort of wrecking ball to break in through the back.
However, no such large equipment is ever observed.

107
 The Origin

THE USHER 10 (30)

COMA-INDUCING RECLUSE

The Usher always wears gloves, robes, boots, and a mask complete with goggles such that no part
of their skin is showing . . . mainly because the Usher’s touch is immediate death to any living thing.
A slender, nonbinary person, the Usher’s condition means they preferred not to be bothered.
If someone tries to look them up, they discover a few records indicating someone called “John
Usher” came into the employ of one Treyvon Harrari about two years ago. Tax records indicate
they are paid a reasonable salary to tend the private gardens of Treyvon Harrari’s mansion located
in the Rocky Mountains. Treyvon always seems to be out of town, so if someone ever finds the
mansion and the surrounding gardens in the first place (which is already hard to find), visitors
probably end up talking to the Usher over the intercom.
Truth is, Treyvon is the Usher. But upon gaining their ability and immediately killing their partner
by accident, the Usher retreated from society so entirely that they even left their name behind. But
they can’t bring themself to leave their gardens, despite the fact that their naked touch would kill
everything.
Motive: To be left alone
Environment: Alone, tending gardens on the grounds of a massive
mansion in the Rocky Mountains
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 10 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Short
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5; resist death
effects as level 15
Combat: If the Usher removes a glove, their touch
inflicts damage and the target must succeed
on a Might defense roll or fall into a
death-like comatose state that lasts
for days. Even on a successful
defense roll, a PC target descends
one step on the damage track, and
an NPC target takes another 10
GM intrusion: The Usher points of damage.
stumbles and accidentally If the Usher chooses, they can infuse their
touches an ally (or at influence into their breath, which they can
least not an enemy).
blow at a creature within short range. The
effect is diffused, and the creature’s defense
roll is eased by three steps.
Interaction: The Usher wants to be left alone, but
they are still human. If someone comes with a
convincing need for them to become involved in
something, the Usher may choose to help out.
However, that help might just turn out to be a ride
in Treyvon’s private jet, or a hefty donation of cash
from Treyvon’s bank.
Use: Someone from Treyvon’s past has reappeared,
luring the Usher into the field. However, the
Usher is confused and unused to being out
of their gardens, and metahumans with less
than pure intentions have noticed them. The
metahumans don’t really know what they’re up
against.

108
 METAHUMANS

WILD CHILD 5 (15)

SUPERPOWER-SWITCHING CRIMINAL

Debbie Ragsdill grew up in the American Midwest. From the outside, nothing really distinguished
her from her peers. She had the same sorts of ups and downs most people experience and, if
anything, didn’t face anything particularly traumatic or unjust. Still, she seemed unable to land
a job outside of the fast food industry despite a college degree in advertising. Which is why she
wasted most of her time imagining might-have-beens and if-onlys.
Then came the Crash. For Wild Child (as she now prefers to be called), imagining became more
than a pastime. She can walk down divergent timeline paths for a few moments, then jump back
into the base timeline. This allows her to choose her own reality in short bursts, because she
carries fragments of those unreal worlds back with her, affecting both herself and objects and
people nearby.
Motive: Adulation of her peers
Environment: Anywhere there’s a party
Health: 23
Damage Inflicted: 7 points
Movement: Short
Modifications: Mimicked super ability as level 7
Combat: With only a desire to guide her, Wild Child can take on any metahuman ability she has
witnessed another metahuman use, as an action. She can hold two superpowers at one time,
such as the ability to fly a long distance each round and diamond-tough skin (Armor 7).
Her favorite ability to mimic, however, is that of any metahuman opposing her. So when she GM intrusion: The
encounters PCs, she’ll probably pick up at least one of their abilities during the encounter, if it character whose ability
seems useful. Wild Child mimics loses
access to that ability for
She can also use her ability to regain her own health (7 health each round), heal another character
a couple of rounds on a
(7 points to a Pool or 7 health), or (in at least one recorded case) induce the memory of the failed Might defense roll.
Crash in otherwise normal people.
Interaction: Vain and self-serving, Wild Child wants to have fun, even at the expense of others.
However, she is not completely without empathy, and may offer a bit of solace or aid, even as
she steals someone’s savings or otherwise screws them over.
Use: Someone is throwing a complete rager of a party, but neighbors have begun to complain
about the noise.

109
 The Origin

WONDERLANDER 8 (24)
SUBWORLD-CONTROLLING RECLUSE

Amos Pastores enjoyed a quasi-successful writing career. Then came the Crash, and his stories
took on a life of their own. Entities and locations that previously existed only as myths and legends
sprang into being around Amos.
At first, he thought he must be experiencing some kind of fevered dream, inspired by LSD
and one too many readings of Lewis Carroll and the stories of his people. But gradually, Amos
determined that he was the architect of the strange new places he kept finding himself in. Or
The Subworld, page 70 actually, he’d discovered the Subworld, and gained a unique power to mold, form, and direct it
as he willed. Not long after, Amos mostly abandoned the real world for the Subworld, and all the
diversions he could craft. He doesn’t appreciate or really care that the custom dimensions he
Amos is responsible crafts are salvaged from debris of divergent timelines.
for a couple of custom Motive: Create custom dimensions
portions of the Subworld Environment: The Subworld
that exist as part of other
Health: 42
metahumans’ homes,
such as the Threshold Damage Inflicted: 10 points
and offices of Colette Armor: 1
Fabre (page 85). Movement: Short
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5
Combat: Wonderlander prefers to escape combat rather than face a foe, but if forced to fight, he
can cause elements of the portion of the Subworld he’s inhabiting to attack up to five targets
he can see. That attack could come from debris raining down, a portion of the floor rising like a
great fist to strike a target, formerly unseen turrets
popping out of the wall to fire on targets, and
so on. As an action, he can call on a “native” of
GM intrusion (group): the Subworld (level 6) to appear, and fight on
Wonderlander “calls” his behalf for a few rounds.
a tyrannosaurus rex If not in the Subworld, Wonderlander can
(Cypher System
use his action either to step into the
Rulebook, page 361)
to fight PCs that are nearest opening, crack, or other
inside the Subworld. bounded space to escape,
or try to open an exit in
such a space where his foe
stands with the intention
of dropping them through
to someplace they can’t
immediately escape, possibly a
reflection location of the Subworld.
Interaction: When he first realized his
power, Wonderlander used his abilities
to help other metahumans create
“panic rooms” and places of safety,
but learned the hard way the
truism that no good deed goes
unpunished when he came
under the control of Colette
Fabre for a time. Now he trusts
no one.
Use: The PCs, lost in the
Subworld, are discovered by
Wonderlander.

110
 MONSTERS
Chapter 9

MONSTERS

W
hen a nonhuman animal gains special abilities, the result can be monstrous. Like NPCs, Reynard, page 117
many monsters are actually unique individuals, though most have animal intelligence, except Crawler, page 114
for a few like Reynard and Crawler. Cooper City Devil: level 4
Reynard: level 4
Beast of Barrington
Road: level 5
BEAR BUTTE MONSTER 6 (18) Bear Butte Monster:
level 6
Standing 6 feet (2 m) tall at the shoulder, this monstrous creature, resembling a bison bull with Crawler: level 6
overdeveloped horns and a weirdly carnivorous maw, roams the Midwest. It digs into the ground or Pacific Dragon: level 6
the basement of an empty warehouse during the day, and sleeps in a hard-to-find location. By night Rocky Mountain flyer:
it hunts, preferring animals but settling for people if it can find one alone. Despite its bulk, it’s a level 6
stealthy creature. And thanks to its meta-animal abilities, it’s also fast, hard to hurt, and deadly. Van Eyck Visitor: level 6
Motive: Hungers for flesh Katari: level 8
Environment: Alone, roaming the Midwest
Health: 30 GM intrusion: The
Damage Inflicted: 8 points monster headbutts a
nearby structure (level 5),
Armor: 4
causing it to collapse on
Movement: Short; burrows an immediate distance each round the character, inflicting
Modifications: Stealth tasks and breaking through solid walls as level 8 8 points of ambient
Combat: The Bear Butte Monster attacks with wickedly curved horns, attacking everyone within damage from crushing
immediate range. If it focuses on a single target, the creature’s successful attack inflicts 12 each round until the
points of damage and on a failed Might defense roll, throws the target up to a short range target can escape.
away (which inflicts another 3 points of damage).
The Bear Butte Monster
The Bear Butte Monster can spit a gobbet of its especially potent stomach acid at a target within
gets its name from a
short range, which deals geological site near
damage each round for where it was first sighted
three rounds. Thankfully, the in South Dakota.
monster can only do this once
every hour.
If pressed, the Bear Butte Monster
can get at prey (or escape) by
smashing through wood and
even stone and brick walls of
standard structures.
Interaction: The monster is a clever
predator that knows enough to
not be lured into a trap.
Use: Something is killing regular
people. The PCs are asked to
investigate so that someone
official doesn’t show up and
find innocent metahumans to
blame instead.

111
 The Origin

BEAST OF BARRINGTON ROAD 5 (15)

The Beast of Barrington Road, also known as the Abominable Gecko, is purportedly a gecko-like
creature larger than a wolf, allegedly witnessed in or near the rural community of Shiloh, Illinois
The Clearwater Register, a couple of years ago. Thanks to social media postings and a story in The Clearwater Register, it
page 57 is fast becoming part of Illinois folklore, at least among the youth. A popular meme is of some
clueless teen doing something they think is unobserved, but the Abominable Gecko, hiding in the
nearby underbrush, is silently watching, and presumably judging.
In truth, there is a monstrously large gecko hunting the back roads and farms of Illinois. Usually
it preys on farm animals, but several unfortunate people have been caught in its psychic death
glare as well. Able to blend into its environment almost completely, many more people have been
close to it, but luckily for them, they failed to notice the creature.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Near farms, overgrown areas
Health: 32
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Armor: 1
Movement: Short; climbs a short distance each round
Modifications: Stealth tasks as level 8; Intellect defense as level 10
Combat: The beast usually stalks prey from the protection of a tree canopy or building roof. It
GM intrusion: An is smart enough to avoid humans, but if noticed, it defends itself by meeting the gaze of
unusually long tongue its observer. The target within short range must succeed on an Intellect defense roll or take
grabs the stunned Intellect damage (ignores Armor). If a creature takes damage from this attack, they must also
character and pulls
succeed on a Might defense roll or be stunned and lose their next turn.
them up into the tree
(or onto the roof ). As it is able to change the texture and color of its skin with unbelievable alacrity, the Abominable
When the character Gecko may flee a conflict going poorly for it by attempting to use this ability to become very
is next able to take a well camouflaged and sneak off. Characters must succeed on a perception task or lose sight of
turn, they must also the creature.
succeed on a difficulty Interaction: The Abominable Gecko is a clever animal. It can’t be bargained with, but could be
5 balance task or fall. distracted by offering it a large piece of raw meat.
Use: Farmers in the area are up in arms after several of their prize milk cows were mauled in the
night by something local kids claim is the Beast of Barrington Road.

112
 MONSTERS

COOPER CITY DEVIL 4 (12)

Appearing only in the shadow of dumpsters, as a rustling up in the trees, and as a heavy thump
and rattle across rooftops, the “Cooper City Devil” is a creature that’s recently arrived in the alleys
and sewers of Cooper City, a Miami, Florida, suburb.
Those who have seen this chalk-white creature with their own eyes are convinced it’s not a story.
As best as they can describe, it looks like a hairless raccoon the size of a tiger. But unlike a tiger, the
Cooper City Devil seems like it would rather watch people than eat them. At least, at first. Because
once someone sees the creature once, it seems like it’s only a matter of time before they see it
a second time a few weeks later at their residence, staring in through the window, or worse yet,
digging up from the basement. The creature doesn’t attack people unless it’s first attacked. It seems The Cooper City
to be after medicines of any and all sorts, but will take a bite out of a scared suburbanite if pressed. Devil’s poison is an
Motive: Hungers for pharmaceuticals intense narcotic-like
substance produced in
Environment: Alone, usually around Cooper City, near Miami, Florida
the creature’s saliva.
Health: 31
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Movement: Long; immediate when burrowing GM intrusion: The
Modifications: Speed defense and stealth as level 6 character bitten by
Combat: The Cooper City Devil has an extremely sharp bite. Those bitten take damage and must the Cooper City Devil
must make a second
succeed on a difficulty 4 Might defense roll or suffer 6 points of Speed damage (ignores
Might defense roll or fall
Armor) from poison and be stunned for one round. unconscious from shock.
Interaction: The Cooper City Devil can sometimes give the appearance Unconsciousness lasts for
of understanding conversation directed at it. It cocks its head, up to a minute, or until
listening. It raises its handlike paws as if attempting a gesture. the victim succeeds on
It may even give up a small item from its lair in return for a a Might defense roll.
bottle of pain relievers or something more potent. However,
it never speaks, and its chittering can sound threatening. Divergent timeline
If anyone successfully tracks it back to its lair, it flies into cypher, page 20
a deadly rage, attacking with no other goal in mind
but erasing whoever knows where it lives.
Use: Someone claims that their elderly
grandmother is regularly visited by
the Cooper City Devil, a creature that
consistently cleans the grandmother
out of needed medications, and ate
the grandmother’s cat.
Other Equipment: If tracked back to
its lair, the Cooper City Devil has a
couple of expensive items, all kinds of
pharmaceuticals, and one divergent
timeline cypher.

113
 The Origin

CRAWLER 6 (18)
It’s difficult to say what kind of animal Crawler was before the Crash. Crawler themself doesn’t
know. As a human-sized, two-legged figure with no arms and a questionable white blob as a head,
Crawler hasn’t found any close relatives among other living things. It’s certainly tried to learn more,
though it only comes out at night, on account of when people catch sight of them, onlookers
Sightings of the folklore scream in horror and run away.
legend known as the Crawler lives in a den hidden beneath the roots of a large tree located in the Woodward Regional
“Fresno Nightcrawler” Park in Fresno, California. It subsists on trash that people leave each day, but it mentally craves
have gone up
more. Which is why each night Crawler slips out of its den, seeking companionship. Usually, it
substantially in the
last couple of years. snuggles up to the bedroom window for a whispered conversation with whichever seven-year-old is
open for a midnight talk with their imaginary friend.
Motive: Hungers for companionship
Environment: Nocturnal, usually alone or in the company of a child who believes Crawler is their
imaginary friend
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 9 points
Movement: Long
Modifications: Stealth as level 7
Combat: Crawler runs from conflict, but if
forced into a fight, its kick is impressive.
In addition, Crawler can detect the surface
thoughts of creatures within long
range. A creature who succeeds on an
Intellect defense roll can keep their
GM intrusion: Crawler thoughts private. Detecting thoughts
reveals a secret the is how Crawler learned to speak,
character hadn’t and it’s also how Crawler knows if
previously revealed
someone sincerely wants to be
to their allies.
their friend.
Crawler regains 3 points of health
per round.
Interaction: Crawler always speaks of
themself in the third person, using a
quavering childlike voice. If Crawler
can’t detect someone’s thoughts,
Crawler knows not to trust that
someone, because they’re probably
hiding something. Strangers who
really want to be Crawler’s friend
could be rewarded with interesting
scoops regarding things Crawler
has seen go down in the night, or
interesting thoughts it skimmed
from the minds of passers-by.
Use: The PCs are asked to investigate
a friend’s panicked report of their
child’s imaginary friend actually
being real, but a horrible “leg
monster.”

114
 MONSTERS

KATARI 8 (24)
Many South American myths from a variety of cultures include one or more serpents. Some
mythical versions of these legendary beings describe supernatural entities that can move to and
from the land of spirits. Other versions describe two-headed, ravenous monsters.
Unfortunately for several contiguous South American countries running up and down the Andes
Mountain range, Katari is more like the latter version. Bequeathed with supernatural abilities after
the Crash, a normal boa constrictor was transformed into a two-headed creature at least 70 feet
(21 m) long. Luckily, it only hunts once every few months. But when it does, it needs several
cattle-sized (or person-sized) meals to placate its outsized metabolic requirements.
A small “Katari Cult” has sprung up. These cultists believe the being is a manifestation of an
ancient sacred spirit, and do what they can to keep it hidden, even though it sometimes eats
members of the cult.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Alone, or in the company of two to ten Katari cultists Katari cultist: level 2
Health: 100
Damage Inflicted: 15 points
Armor: 2
Movement: Long
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 due to size
Combat: The Katari can attack two foes on its turn, once with each car-sized head. Targets that are GM intrusion (group):
killed (or at least unconscious) are swallowed and slowly digested. Alternatively, the creature With a horrific popping
can whip its long body around, attacking all creatures it chooses within short range. On a noise, Katari spawns a
third functional head.
failed Speed defense roll, targets in the area take damage and are knocked prone.
Interaction: Katari is effectively a boa constrictor, but one that has grown beyond all
comprehension. Those with some ability to interact with such creatures (including its cultists)
sometimes garner some influence over it.
Use: The PCs hear about a small town destroyed by a “monster two-headed snake” that is
terrorizing a series of South American villages.

115
 The Origin
GM intrusion: The
character hit by the bite PACIFIC DRAGON 6 (18)
attack must succeed on
a Might defense roll or
More and more sightings by sailors describe a sinuous form dozens of feet long undulating across
become entangled in the
creature’s twining body. the sky, wingless but flying, light reflecting off iridescent scales as the creature vaults between sea
The grappled target takes and sky. Such a sighting is considered good luck. But those with the fortune to see the “Pacific
damage each round Dragon” hopefully stay away. Because if this entity is chased, shot at, or otherwise interfered with,
until it can escape. its frolicking, high-flying antics cease. Instead, it arrows toward the interlopers, enraged.
The Pacific Dragon started life as a marine animal known as a leafy seadragon, a creature similar
to seahorses and pipefish. But with its infusion of extraordinary abilities came great size, flight,
Object Damage Track, and other unlikely abilities.
page 116 Motive: Defense
Environment: Usually alone, flying above (or
swimming in) the Pacific Ocean
Health: 32
Damage Inflicted: 9 points
Armor: 3
Movement: Long while flying or swimming;
short while on the ground
Combat: The Pacific Dragon can bite two
targets within short range as its action.
Alternatively, the Pacific Dragon can directly
command the weather once per hour. As its
action, it can call up a storm blast against
everything within long distance. Targets
that fail a Might defense roll take damage
from lightning and wind. If on the open
water, their craft of level 6 or less descends
one step on the object damage track. Once
a craft is damaged, the Pacific Dragon may
continue to attack it with physical attacks.
Interaction: The Pacific Dragon is usually
unconcerned with people, but defends itself
aggressively. It doesn’t understand spoken
languages, but is relatively intelligent and
cunning.
Use: Several ships have gone down in a specific
area of the Pacific Ocean. Rumors suggest
a sea monster is to blame.

116
 MONSTERS

REYNARD 4 (12)
Take a regular fox, imbue it with a suite of psychic powers from the Crash that includes the ability
to think, speak, and even look like a human, and the result might be Reynard. Appearing either as a
nondescript red-haired human, a bigger-than-average fox, or a hybrid fox-human (when he’s visible
at all), Reynard has decided to turn the tables on humans and become predator instead of prey. He
delights in stealing valuables but also catching and eating human prey in secluded locations.
Motive: Hungers for flesh and valuables
Environment: Alone, usually encountered at twilight or later
Health: 24
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Movement: Short; immediate when phasing through solid objects of his level or lower
Modifications: Persuasion, stealth, and disguise as level 5; enticing lure as level 7
Combat: Able to transform himself to appear human or as a fox-shaped shadow, Reynard may
choose to bite with surprise, especially if he uses his ability to phase through solid doors or
other barriers to catch prey alone first. Alternatively, he may simply attempt to lure a victim
to a spot of his choosing by attempting to mentally control a victim within long range using
his enticing lure psychic ability. On a failed difficulty 7 Intellect defense roll, the target comes
under Reynard’s control for about an hour (or until they
can mentally escape). Reynard can mentally control
two or three targets simultaneously. A controlled GM intrusion: When the
target obeys simple commands, but won’t do character hits Reynard,
anything to directly harm themself or someone it turns out to be just a
psychic façade, which
they value.
shatters, revealing the
When Reynard bites a foe, he regains 1 point of real location of Reynard
health for every 2 points of damage he inflicts. standing nearby.
Interaction: Reynard is clever, coming across
as friendly and helpful. He may even help
the PCs achieve a goal, but the betrayal
of at least one PC (the tastiest one)
is likely.
Use: When the PCs find
themselves without
a vehicle, lost, or
otherwise in need of
help, Reynard in his
human form may
show up to offer a bit
of aid.
Loot: Reynard keeps a series of
lairs where valuables taken off
previous victims can be found,
including jewelry, high-end
watches, and art that he’s stolen and
stashed.

117
 The Origin

ROCKY MOUNTAIN FLYER 6 (18)

Reports are on the rise of giant winged shapes gliding through the night sky near the Rocky
Mountains. Some say it’s UFOs (or as the Pentagon prefers, “unidentified aerial phenomena”).
Actually, it’s a brood of owls that developed extraordinary abilities after the Crash, including
great size. The adults have wingspans of over 20 feet (6 m) from tip to tip. Unlike almost any
other manifestation of abilities following the Crash that anyone knows about, the so-called Rocky
Mountain flyers seem to be able to pass on their abilities to their young. At least, they did so once,
GM intrusion: The flyer resulting in a brood of at least five active flyers.
drops a grabbed target Not that anyone knows any of this for sure. People who have a close-up encounter with a flyer
from a great height. do so because they’ve been plucked off the ground and carried to a distant nest, where they are
then consumed.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Alone or as a pair in the Rocky Mountains
Health: 35
Damage Inflicted: 8 points
Movement: Immediate; long when flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to size; perception and
stealth as level 8
Combat: The flyer’s initial attack may be with surprise if it catches
a target unaware, as it wings down and attempts to grab prey
with its talons; it can attack and fly a long distance as part
of its turn. On a successful attack, the targeted creature
takes damage, and if human-sized or smaller, must
make a Might defense roll or be grabbed and
pulled into the air. A grabbed target
is helpless until they can escape.
If a flyer uses its action to screech,
creatures within long range
who fail a Might defense
roll take 2 points of damage
(ignores Armor) and are
dazed until the end of their
next turn from the volume,
hindering their tasks. If two or
more flyers are hunting together,
one uses its action to screech
before the other attacks.
Interaction: Flyers can mimic speech,
and are clever enough to string
together simple sentences
(or mimic sounds of other
animals) to lure prey.
Use: PCs hear about several
groups of missing
campers in Colorado,
later found dead high
above the ground.
Speculation is that it’s
some kind of serial killer
who likes to leave the half-
eaten bodies in trees.

118
 MONSTERS

VAN EYCK VISITOR 6 (18)

Van Eyck was a tiny
According to local folklore, a winged half-animal, half-human creature terrorized residents of Van town not far from Reno,
Eyck seventy years ago. As the story goes, locals finally chased it into a mine shaft, from which it Nevada abandoned
in the 1960s.
never emerged.
Except now it has. Or at least, something’s taken its place. In a related incident two years ago,
a chimpanzee named Sofia went missing from the traveling circus. Most people assume that the GM intrusion: The Van
circus gave up their star performer in the face of mounting criticism over the appropriateness of Eyck Visitor spits in the
using intelligent, social animals as performers. The truth is, Sofia ran away. Or rather, she flew character’s eye. On a
failed Might defense roll,
away after gaining extraordinary abilities following the Crash. Since then, she lairs in a nearby
the character is blinded
decommissioned mine. She subsists on insects, fruit, food left in garbage bins, and the occasional for a few rounds.
tourist or hiker.
Motive: Defense
Environment: Near dumpsters and highway rest stops after
dark
Health: 33
Damage Inflicted: 6 points
Movement: Short; long while flying
Combat: The Van Eyck Visitor attacks three times
on its action, biting and clawing targets
within immediate range. The creature
might attempt to fly off with a
target of up to human size it just
hit with an attack, requiring the
target to make a Might defense
roll. On a failure, the target is
yanked off their feet and pulled a
short distance into the sky.
A target can attempt to escape each
round on its turn, or attack the
creature. If the target escapes
or inflicts significant damage,
the target is dropped, probably
from a height of about 130 feet (40
m). Otherwise the target is brought
to the creature’s lair, serving as a
playmate for the Van Eyck Visitor, until
the creature decides she’s hungry.
Interaction: A kidnapped victim can keep
the Van Eyck Visitor from eating them
for several days, so long as they prove
themselves entertaining by singing,
making funny noises, dancing, and
so on. In fact, a victim who endears
themselves to the creature for more
than three days will finally be released,
as they are no longer considered a
viable food source.
Use: On a driving trip, a character hears
a strange hooting sound from around
the back of the rest stop restroom
building one night.

119
 The Origin
Chapter 10

COLLECTORS

E
Subworld scrabbler: nigmatic beings called Collectors target This differentiation excites analysts, because
level 3 metahumans. They don’t negotiate or even it suggests a hierarchy. Instead of being an
Collector seeker: level 4 speak. They just appear, surround any unknowable but dangerous supernatural
Collector: level 5 hapless metahuman they can catch, and drag phenomenon associated with the Crash, their
Collector behemoth: them to oblivion. hierarchy could mean that Collectors might not
level 8 Those aware of them at all know that Collectors be completely alien and unknowable. Even if it’s
appeared at some point after the Crash, an alien organization, it might still be amenable
The Crash, page 36 possibly immediately thereafter, though the to contact and negotiation, if only the proper
first reports of their activities didn’t begin for opening gambit could be devised. However,
several months. Given their ability to “blip” into that hope has so far borne no fruit, whether the
Babbage Industries, nearly any location, it’s little wonder that it took envoy is a MAD operative, a Babbage Industries
page 59 so long for newly formed metahuman-related researcher, or even one of several spectacularly
secret organizations to become aware of yet powerful metahumans who’ve tried. At least,
another mysterious group. However, these if someone has made contact, they haven’t
so-called Collectors (or Gatherers, as some reported it back to their organization or secret
refer to them) are not a group composed of society. In fact, another secret group called
Sobrenatural, page 65 metahumans, or apparently even humans. Sobrenatural has managed contact of a sort,
MAD, page 47 The best that analysts at MAD and IRID can by capturing and keeping a Collector in their
IRID, page 39 determine is that Collectors are aliens. Perhaps secret headquarters.
aliens from a divergent timeline that hasn’t been
destroyed like the fractured realties that scatter SECRET ORIGIN OF COLLECTORS
Cyphers, page 20 cyphers and fragmentary spaces across our world. Collectors are an alien species from an
If a Collector even gets near a metahuman, it alternate, divergent timeline. In their home
A subtype of Collector immediately rushes its prey. If the metahuman dimension, they possessed extraordinarily
known as a Collector can’t flee or fight off the entity, the Collector advanced technology, far beyond what most
courier (page 76) has grabs its target, pulls the metahuman into people on Earth can imagine. Collectors could
the ability to fly through
itself, and apparently deletes it from existence. manipulate causality, twist dimensions, and
the vacuum of space at
interplanetary speeds. Collectors don’t seem to be interested in other generate cosmic levels of power and energy
activities. Or at least no one has ever witnessed by physically collapsing divergent timelines
one doing anything other than pursuing for “fuel,” using the liberated energy for
metahuman prey. galactic-level engineering.
Among metahumans, Collectors are often But for all their mastery, pride proved
described as looking like holes in space, like stronger than discretion. They conceived of
shadows without a source. These holes in a plan to engender and emigrate to a new,
space have a silhouette somewhat akin to a perfect universe, one of their own design, ideal
humanoid fly. However, it’s become clear that for themselves and their kin for all eternity. It
there are probably several different varieties of was a daunting undertaking, and in the end,
Collector, including the standard variety, the their undoing. The colossal effort ended up
Collector behemoth, and the Collector seeker. damaging the fundamental nature of spacetime.

Collectors appeared at some point after the Crash, possibly immediately thereafter,
though the first reports of their activities didn’t begin for several months.

120
 COLLECTORS
Instead of powering the genesis of a new timeline. Humans who noticed it looping in
multiverse, they instead managed to collapse from space called it Nibiru. Nibiru, page 6
their own timeline. The surviving Collectors followed the
Worse, they created a runaway dimensional interdimensional hammer through the
wave that washed out across the existing collapsing interstices in Zodion, a planar Zodion, page 152
multiverse. A single base timeline was escape craft and mothership. They witnessed in
strengthened, but at the expense of a vast jubilation when their plan succeeded. Earth was
swath of other divergent timelines, including destroyed! With all the humans dead, the base
the Collectors’ own. Parallel dimensions timeline would revert, becoming one where
burned away, fading and losing coherence over Collectors thrived . . . .
the course of mere days and weeks. Then, something inexplicable happened. The
The remaining base timeline happens to be impact was reversed. Mostly.
what we experience as the present day, where For the vast majority of people on Earth, the
Earth orbits a star called Sol. For all its flaws, collision with the extradimensional body never
some quality possessed by the humans in the occurred.
surviving base timeline is apparently a causal But some people experienced both realities.
attractor. Perhaps, despite their many flaws as Metahumans have one foot on either side
a species, humans were destined to someday of the fractured timeline divide. They do
spread across the solar system and beyond, remember the Crash but live in a reality
much like the Collectors had in their own timeline. where it never happened. It is perhaps this
The Collectors didn’t know for sure, but discontinuity that is responsible for their
they had little time to wonder. Despairing extraordinary abilities.
but not yet completely erased, they hatched a Ultimately, for all their efforts, Collectors
desperate plan to reverse their folly. As their remain not quite real. They’re fragments of
plane of existence unraveled around them, they a divergent timeline that has crumbled away,
directed a massive chunk of one of their own like divergent timeline cyphers. But unlike Divergent timeline
disintegrating worlds through the dimensional divergences, Collectors are intelligent. And they cyphers, page 20
fold, hurling it straight at Earth in the base have a new plan.

121
 The Origin
TIMELINE INVERSION GOAL COLLECTOR-KIN
Collectors don’t generally The Collectors achieved much, but didn’t Many different types of Collectors exist,
seek animals affected fully succeed. The Crash remains in a sort including the most commonly encountered
by the Crash because of Schrodinger’s Cat-like limbo of did it or creature called a Collector, but also
those creatures don’t
didn’t it happen. Obviously, the Earth is not including beetle-like creatures the size of
offer the same quantum
reality-collapsing destroyed, so by most lights they failed to set dogs, spidery creatures the size of camels,
observation ability that the stage for a reversion to their own timeline behemoths, and more. In limited cases,
metahumans have. as the dominant, base timeline. That said, some captured metahumans implanted with
people do remember the Crash. So there is still beetle-shaped Collector tech that grows into
a possibility for the Collectors to pull success the metahuman’s flesh. These are known
from the jaws of failure. as “invested metahumans.” They act in the
All they need to do is gather a large group interests of the Collectors, and thus can also
of metahumans, concentrate them in a secret be considered Collector-kin.
location where they can remain safe and secure
(most assuredly not “erasing” them from
existence), and then amplify their memory of To this end, captured metahumans are
the Crash so much that that reality overtakes brought to the Zodion, where they are hooked
the base timeline. When that critical threshold into the Collectors’ dimension-warping
is reached, the discrepancy between what technology. Zodion “drafts” behind Nibiru,
people remember and what actually happened captured by the sun’s gravity in a highly eccentric
will resolve. The Earth will finally be destroyed, orbit, visible in Earth’s night sky as a faint
and without humans, the base timeline where star-like point. It’s a star-like point they hope will
Collectors yet reign will gain supremacy. intersect with the world as they first planned.

122
 COLLECTORS

COLLECTOR 5 (15) GM intrusion: The

Collector coughs up
a swarm of buzzing
darkness that attacks
The most commonly encountered Collector is a shadow that appears almost human. But as it
a target up to a long
draws near, its silhouette resolves as something that is most assuredly alien, or at least monstrous distance away as if the
and vaguely flylike. Collector was making
Able to race across the ground or flit through the sky for short periods, Collectors prefer to a touch attack.
step into and out of the Subworld as necessary to find new metahuman prey. And once found,
they run (or fly) it down until captured. To the uninitiated eye, a Collector appears to dart into a The subworld, page 70
dark alleyway, then out of a manhole opening down the street, through the door of a merchant’s
storefront, finally exiting a car (or diving into the open window of one if trying to escape). Collector silos, page 75
For all their ferocity of purpose and ability to suck prey into apparent nonexistence, Collectors
can be chased off. They value their existence, and a large-enough threat display can cause It’s a difficulty 5 Speed
these alien beings to remember that self-preservation is even more important than their next task to successfully follow
metahuman capture. Usually. a Collector fleeing into
the Subworld; however, if
Motive: “Gather” metahumans
one PC makes it through,
Environment: Alone or in groups of two to four everyone else can follow.
Health: 30
Damage Inflicted: 5 points Collectors (and all
Movement: Short; short when climbing; long when flying their kin) have a
Modifications: Attacking objects and escaping as level 7; resists mental influence as level 13 secret vulnerability to
sugar, as described in
Combat: When it wishes, a Collector’s touch “dissolves” matter, inflicting damage that ignores
Chapter 14: Threshold to
Armor. If two or more Collectors coordinate their attacks against the same target, treat them as Apocalypse (page 145).
one attack from a level 8 creature, inflicting 8 points of damage.
In fact, Collectors aren’t dissolving their targets, but slowly (and painfully) transferring them into Sobrenatural, page 65
one of several Collector silos hidden in the Subworld. PCs who would otherwise be killed by
Collector attacks are instead teleported to
one of these silos. The transferred PC is Attacking Objects,
unconscious until they can succeed on page 223
a difficulty 5 Intellect-based task. On a
success, they regain consciousness and
immediately add 3 points to one Pool
of their choice.
If a Collector loses
24 or more
points of health,
it attempts to
flee through the
Subworld, using
an entrance it instantly
creates in a nearby door, crack,
or other opening large enough
to accept them.
Interaction: No one has successfully
talked with a Collector, or been
able to sense a mind using
telepathic abilities or artifacts.
No one, that is, except for
Sobrenatural, who keep a lone
Collector captive.
Use: The PCs receive a distress call
from a friendly metahuman
being pursued by a Collector.

123
 The Origin

COLLECTOR BEHEMOTH 8 (24)

GM intrusion (group): Sometimes a Collector may flee a fight with metahumans only to return later—perhaps many days
The behemoth brushes later—with a Collector behemoth in tow. The behemoth uses the Subworld to move from place to
a wall or structure, place like Collectors, but it’s much larger, taking a few moments to allow its massive bulk to seep
causing it to begin
out through a much smaller opening, until it finally coalesces as a silhouette of a many-winged
collapsing on nearby
innocent bystanders. blob of writhing flesh almost 20 feet (6 m) in diameter. Its light-sucking wings constantly whir and
buzz while keeping it aloft, and a nest of tiny legs dangle below it, eager to snatch up prey. Unlike
regular Collectors, behemoths go for anything moving, not just metahumans. And unlike regular
Rift, page 28 Collectors, behemoths usually can’t be chased off by anything short of the creation of a rift (usually
by means of a divergent timeline cypher).
Motive: “Gather” metahumans
Environment: Alone or accompanied by one or more Collectors
Health: 56
Damage Inflicted: 12 points
Armor: 2
Movement: Short; immediate when climbing; long when flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 5 due to size; attacking objects as level 10; resists mental
Attacking Objects, influence as level 13
page 223 Combat: A behemoth can attack all creatures within immediate range of its bulk. Its touch
“dissolves” matter, inflicting damage that ignores Armor. If a behemoth focuses all its attention
on one target, its attack is eased by two steps, and it inflicts 15 points of damage. “Dissolved”
Collector silos, page 123 targets aren’t dead, but instead face the same fate as defeated Collector foes.
A behemoth also gains sustenance from divergent timeline cyphers. A PC who knows this can
distract a behemoth by tossing a cypher to the side. A behemoth will spend at least one round
investigating, then consuming the cypher, which grants the behemoth 5 health per level of the
cypher eaten. This can temporarily put it over its maximum health.
It takes a behemoth its entire action to seep into or out of the Subworld.
Interaction: No one has successfully
talked with a Collector
behemoth, or even been able to
sense a mind using telepathic
abilities or artifacts. However,
Collectors seem to be able to
direct a behemoth’s actions.
Use: A building down the way
comes apart as if bursting at the
seams. A Collector behemoth
billows out.

124
 COLLECTORS

COLLECTOR SEEKER 4 (12)

All Collectors are dangerous. One breed in particular—known as the “seeker”—is considered the
most dangerous of all. While not as physically impressive as other varieties, the seeker has a sixth
sense when it comes to finding metahumans and divergent timeline cyphers.
As shadowy as its kin, a Collector seeker is the silhouette of a sinuous, snaky beast with many Seekers are commonly
slender forelegs and a fan of shadowy wings. Every few moments, a lambent red, tri-forked found crawling
tongue flicks out, providing enough light that those being pursued by a seeker can see it (or more across Collector silos
(page 75), looking to
accurately, sense it) from blocks away. And if a metahuman can sense a seeker, it’s certain that the
separate accidentally
seeker can sense them back in turn. collected dross from
Motive: Sniff out metahumans the metahumans they
Environment: Alone or in the company of one or more Collectors value so highly.
Health: 20
Damage Inflicted: 3 points
Movement: Short; short when climbing; long when flying
Modifications: Speed defense as level 6 due to sinuous grace; poisonous bite attack as level 6;
finding, tracking, and perceiving metahumans as level 6; resists mental influence as level 13 GM intrusion: A
Combat: A seeker’s touch “dissolves” matter, inflicting damage that ignores Armor. Alternatively Collector steps out of
(and especially if the seeker is encountered in a Collector silo), a seeker can try to bite a foe. a nearby door or other
opening, called by the
On a failed Speed defense roll, the target must then attempt a Might defense roll or become
seeker to the conflict.
paralyzed for one minute. Thereafter, the victim can begin making new Might defense rolls
each round to break the effect.
If encountered outside a silo, seeker touch attacks aren’t actually dissolving their targets, but
slowly (and painfully) transferring them into one of several Collector silos hidden in the The subworld, page 70
Subworld.
As its action, a seeker can attempt to get a fix on any metahumans
within long range. PCs can resist detection with a successful
difficulty 6 Intellect defense roll. If a seeker gets a fix, it
either tracks the trace down itself, or somehow calls in
a Collector to the indicated location within about a
minute.
Interaction: No one has successfully talked with a
Collector seeker, or even been able to sense
a mind using telepathic abilities or
artifacts.
Use: The PCs all get the sudden sense
that someone has just walked over
their grave. (In fact, it’s a Collector
seeker a very long distance
away that just got a fix on their
location.)

125
 The Origin

SUBWORLD SCRABBLER 3 (9)

Subworld scrabblers aren’t Collector-kin, but they are strange, otherworldly entities apart from
metahumans and Crash-empowered animals that were directly created by Collector actions.
The Subworld is a mass of decaying reality slivers mashed into a single morass of pseudo-reality.
Within and between each individual Subworld neighborhood are the hazed edges where matter
and time degrade into nothing. It’s from these voids that scrabblers emerge, oozing into existence
from a place where there should be nothing. Scrabblers are many-limbed, like spiders, but have
pale, hairless bodies that more resemble 3 foot (1 m) long cloth dolls sewn from dark thread and
colorful— though now stained—fabric.
Subworld scrabblers usually only haunt the Subworld, like especially noisome rats in the walls.
Lately, however, they’ve figured out how to struggle out of solid surfaces in the base timeline,
where they lurk alone or in small packs, obscured by the cloud of shadow they emit when moving.
They prefer helpless prey, but grow bolder each night.
Motive: Hungers for flesh
Environment: Alone or in packs of four to seven, anywhere dark
Health: 9
Damage Inflicted: 3 points
Movement: Short; short when phasing through solid material
Modifications: Speed defense as level 4 due to cloud of shadows raised by a moving or fighting
scrabbler
Combat: A Subworld scrabbler attacks with needlelike claws. A victim that takes damage must
succeed on a Might defense task, or become poisoned and descend one step on the damage
GM intrusion: The track. The victim must continue making Might defense tasks each round until they succeed
scrabbler seizes the or descend three steps on the damage track. Those who descend to the third step from a
character’s light or means scrabbler’s poison are not dead. They are paralyzed and can’t move for about a minute. If a
of seeing in the dark, and
scrabbler isn’t otherwise occupied, it can grab a paralyzed victim and drag the victim down
extinguishes or destroys it.
into the ground or a nearby wall, into the Subworld. Most victims drawn into walls are never
seen again.
Subworld scrabblers can see in the dark as if it
was bright light.
Scrabblers regain 1 point of health per round
unless they’re in the presence of bright light.
Interaction: Subworld scrabblers are about as
intelligent as clever predators like wolves.
Use: Hotel guests report strange scrabbling
noises under the floor and suspect rats.
Really big rats.

126
 Part 4
Adventures

CHAPTER 11: AN EVENING AT THE OPERA........................................... 128

CHAPTER 12: JOINING THE HOUSE (AN INTERLUDE).............................. 137
CHAPTER 13: APPEAL OF DISTRESS................................................... 140
CHAPTER 14: THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE.......................................... 145
 The Origin
Chapter 11

AN EVENING AT THE OPERA

“A
n Evening at the Opera” is a Urban Exploration: The PCs get a short taste of
paranormal superhero adventure what they think their characters are actually up
where the PCs come into extraordinary to: exploring an abandoned opera house in the
abilities in a surprising and startling fashion. middle of town. Things go well, right up until
If that wasn’t harrowing enough, the event is they hear gunfire outside and see two fugitives
quickly followed by an encounter with covert running from government agents.
government agents charged with taking into
custody anyone displaying powers. Unexpected Intersection: A metahuman calling
Using this adventure presumes you are using herself Wild Child is on the run from MAD.
Unknowing or the option for unknowing character creation; Unlike her partner the PCs glimpsed outside,
Informed Character that is, the players shouldn’t explicitly know she takes shelter in the same abandoned opera
Creation, page 8 that their relatively normal-seeming characters house the PCs are exploring. Already wounded,
are about to become superpowered before this she uses her power to create a distraction. Even
adventure. as she warns the PCs to be brave, and if they
survive, to find the NibiruCrash on the dark web,
she seems to fade out of existence. In doing
BACKGROUND so, her unique metahuman abilities trigger the
characters’ sudden recollection of the Crash.
The setting for this adventure is your home
city, in a world very much like our own, except
Recalling the Crash: The PCs are triggered by
metahumans exist. Most people (including
Wild Child’s ability to distort reality. They all
the PCs) think “superheroes” are fiction. And
suddenly recall a horrific, planet-destroying
of course, superheroes fighting crime in flashy
event at the same time. When their heads clear,
costumes are something that exists only in they discover something wonderful (or terrible,
stories, even in the world of The Origin. But or both) is happening to each one of them. To
people with extraordinary abilities do exist in survive the experience, the PCs must concentrate
the shadows, as the PCs soon find out. on controlling their erratic newfound abilities.
The PCs probably start this scenario as a
group of urban explorers, brought together by MAD Raid: Agents of a covert government
their shared love of the halfway-illicit activity. agency charged with stamping out all
metahuman activity arrive on the scene. PCs
must fight to retain their freedom.
SYNOPSIS
“An Evening at the Opera” is more of an Becoming Metahuman: During a lull, PCs are
extended scenario rather than a full adventure. not assaulted by more MAD operatives. That’s
However, it might take two to three hours to when players can update their characters,
complete, especially if you allow the players to becoming true tier 1 metahumans.
fully update their characters as described under
Becoming Metahuman. Escaping the Raid: Whether you take a break or
finalize characters immediately, the PCs must
Getting the Characters Involved: This section face one last dangerous encounter before they
provides advice for getting players ready to play can get away from the abandoned opera house.
a game that seems like it is focused on solving
a mystery (or some other modern undertaking). Concluding the Adventure: When the adventure
But that preparation is only in service of what is over, PCs have a better understanding of
comes next. their new status. Metahumans face a somewhat
bleak and often dangerous world. However, at
least the information provided by Wild Child
gives the PCs hope for a better tomorrow.

128
 AN EVENING AT THE OPERA
GETTING THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED ALTERNATE INTRODUCTION
This adventure assumes that PCs begin the Instead of being urban explorers, the
game not realizing that they’re about to gain characters might all be part of an emergency
extraordinary new abilities. To that end, some response team, such as firefighters, EMTs,
misdirection on your part is required. and maybe a civic engineer, called in to
One way is to tell the players that you’re deal with an arson report for an abandoned
running a modern mystery game. Ask them to structure. In this case, modern characters
roll up modern characters who all live in the are still appropriate. However, you could also Chapter 14: Modern,
same city and know each other. Their common use characters created for First Responders if page 261
bond is that each PC enjoys urban exploration that Cypher System sourcebook is available.
(also known as “urbex”). Even if one PC is a
lawyer, another a doctor, and a third is an opera
singer, all meet at least once a month to explore The popular entertainment venue lost
another abandoned place in the city. Even if more and more of its luster after the Great
urbex isn’t appealing to a PC, their friends have Depression, and by the late 1950s, it became
encouraged them to try it just once, which leads largely forgotten, partly occupied by other
to this evening’s activities. businesses (including a pharmacy) that in turn
Before the first session begins in earnest went bust. For decades the old opera house has
(Urban Exploration), get the players together been almost completely forgotten.
so each can introduce their character, adding
in any other connections that are not related to OPERA HOUSE LAYOUT Character Arcs,
urban exploration. If you’re using character arcs, The entire structure containing the performance page 238
characters willing to share those around can space has four stories above ground and one
do so. Of course, character arcs are likely to be basement level. The performance area is on the
updated soon, but players don’t yet know that. second level, and the space’s extra-high ceiling
extends up through the third and fourth levels.
The building’s ground floor contains newer
URBAN EXPLORATION and still-active storefronts, including a market,
Urban exploration (called urbex by some of its a clothing shop, and a store for selling and
practitioners) is the exploration of abandoned repairing bikes.
and/or off-limits locations inside cities that
no one else normally visits, Examples include ARRIVAL
abandoned buildings, steam tunnels, and subway Just to move things along, let the PCs know
systems. An urban explorer is drawn by a desire that earlier in the evening, they met up for
for experiencing novelty and thrills, relieving dinner at a nearby restaurant. At least one
boredom, and in recent years, finding good character had to fly in for the event, and they
locations for photography. Often such exploration rented a vehicle. Figuring they’d have to haul
leads to great stories after the fact, especially everyone else around, they rented a sport utility Sport utility
since the thrill of almost getting caught or almost vehicle with seating for six. vehicle: level 4
falling through a rotting floor into the next lower After that, they all piled into the SUV to
level of an old structure is a real possibility. drive the 30 minutes to the site of their urbex
adventure. (Just to be a little cautious, they
FRELING OPERA HOUSE parked the car four blocks away; urbex isn’t
The PCs learn about the Freling Opera House exactly legal.)
thanks to a new logged entry (by user “Classy
Missy”) on the urbex forum they frequent. GETTING INTO THE OPERA HOUSE
Intrigued by the possibility, the characters The market and clothing shop (Boyer’s Market
choose the opera house for their next outing. and Blackbird Boutique, respectively) don’t have
The forum and a general internet search also any access to the building’s interior (at least,
reveal the following. none that can be opened without demolishing
a wall or two). Only the bike store (Cycle Path)
Freling Opera House History: In 1892, arts-loving still contains an old metal door that connects Old metal door: level 5
Albert Freling built the Freling Opera House to the building’s interior and the performance
to delight his friends and raise his standing space itself. Though, of course, the key required
in the community. Box seats and a beautiful to open it has been lost for decades.
serpentine balcony overlooked a generous stage On almost any day of the week, the shops
with superb acoustics. Audiences filled seats for operate from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., except for the
music and theater productions as well as lavish market, which operates from 7 a.m. to 12
events like the yearly Holiday Ball. midnight each day.

129
 The Origin
Exterior Entry: PCs tipped off about the location Along the interior hallway wall, a gaping
due to their urbex forum already know that archway allows the urban explorers direct
their best option for getting into and out of access into the wide, empty space of the opera
the building is to avoid the shops altogether. hall itself.
Instead, they should go to the alley behind the If PCs stick to the hallway, they discover
Wooden door: level 3 structure and locate a lone locked wooden door that it traces the entire circumference of the
set one story up on the side of the building building, following the exterior wall. There are
without any obvious access. A set of stairs once three arched entrances into the opera hall itself,
led up to this entrance, but those are long gone. and six narrow flights of stairs leading up to a
PCs can climb the building’s exterior wall rickety box overlooking the opera space from
to the door (using a few remaining bits of what would be the third story.
The night PCs decide adhering debris). The task would normally If PCs had the time without interruption, they
to explore the old require a successful difficulty 2 roll for climbing, could eventually find the half-blocked stairs
opera house, it begins but as bad luck would have it, it begins to rain leading down to a couple of debris-filled rooms
to rain just as they
just as PCs start up the side, which hinders the that share walls with the modern shops operating
are about to enter.
climbing task. on the ground floor, plus one locked old metal
If PCs climb up, they can either try to jimmy door leading into the back of the bike store.
the lock (a difficulty 3 lockpicking task) or try to
Attacking Objects, break in the door by attacking it. Opera Hall: This cavernous space does indeed
page 223 seem like the abandoned ghost of a once grand
Inside the Abandoned Structure: Trash (if somewhat small) opera performance venue,
accumulated across a hundred years lies in complete with stage, a wide floor for seats and
drifts in the wide hallway just inside the door box seating higher along the walls for a good
from the alley. Boarded-up windows on the view of the stage (with access from the hall
Treat the area filled with exterior walls in the hallway keep it dark, though leading in outside).
seats as difficult terrain. the slats are old and not especially flush; PCs PCs who enter discover that the same type
Difficult terrain hinders who press themselves to a boarded-up window of litter in the hall is present here, though not
move rolls and halves
can see the streets outside. quite so prevalent. It is weirdly echoey in the
movement on a round-
by-round basis. This space. Even after all this time, the performance
means that a short move space retains its acoustic qualities. A search
is about 25 feet(8 m), through the debris allows PCs to find a wealth
and a long move is of old-timey glass pharmacy bottles, shoes,
about 50 feet (15 m). abandoned clothing, auto parts from fifty years
earlier, and other oddments and bits.

Gunfire From Outside: After a few minutes

of exploration, the characters hear a volley of
gunfire coming from outside, louder to the
east. If PCs rush to the gaps in the boarded-up
windows in the eastern hallway and look out,
they witness a startling scene out on the
lamp-lit street.
Two people break cover from behind some
cars across the street and run for the opera
house. Several people in dark suits with
handguns open fire on them. One of the
runners (someone in a mask) returns fire, but
goes down in a hail of bullets. The other runner
seems to evade the gunfire like some kind of
Hollywood or video game superhero, jumping,
dodging, and gliding until she leaps up and
smashes directly through the wall into the
upper-story hallway, landing between the PCs.
Strangely, the wall doesn’t seem any worse
for wear and possesses no big holes; in fact,
it wasn’t smashed after all . . . Wild Child just
phased through it.

130
 AN EVENING AT THE OPERA

TEN HOURS AGO UNEXPECTED INTERSECTION

The PCs run into a metahuman who has her
The metahuman Wild Child wasn’t known for
own problems. She immediately foists those Wild Child, page 109
being especially careful or even empathetic,
problems onto them.
though the parties she threw were epic. Even
House of Nibiru,
so, the House of Nibiru finally banned her
Meet Wild Child: The runner who evaded the page 42
from forum access and other gatherings
authorities outside enters the opera house,
because of her disregard for the safety of
bursts in amid two or more PCs, bleeding but
others in the metahuman community.
also laughing. Despite the PCs having seen her
Outwardly undeterred, Wild Child
pass through the wall, the wall seems fine, and
announced another epic party. However,
contains no big holes. (She used her ability to
it was only lightly attended by the House
mimic powers and phased through.)
metahumans who would’ve normally
If a PC keeps an eye on the situation outside,
attended. And worse, probably due to the
they see that the suited people and a few local
event not being monitored by Lucky Sleeper, Lucky Sleeper, page 43
police have surrounded the downed runner in
a couple of party crashers who seemed cool
the street, apparently locking down that fugitive
were actually MAD undercover agents. MAD, page 47
while they have the chance. This gives the
Things went downhill quickly when a squad
PCs several minutes’ grace time, whether they
of MAD field agents pulled up, along with
realize it or not.
local police for backup. Wild Child and her
If PCs question the newcomer and/or try
friend Evalyn managed to get away, but the Evalyn, page 132
to tend her wounds, she relates the following,
agents chased them halfway across town,
either in answer to their questions, or
finally catching up on the street outside the
volunteering it if the PCs go down some other
Freling Opera House.
line of inquiry. She speaks in a mirthful fashion

131
 The Origin
given to laughs and inappropriate giggling, advantage of the distraction offered by the PCs’
interrupted by gasps of pain; she’s been shot at conversion and conflict with MAD.)
least twice, and blood is starting to flow. Note: Even if you don’t normally track PC
(If some PCs are elsewhere in the building, and creature initiative order on a separate piece
Wild Child asks the nearby characters to go of paper or on your computer, this might be
fetch them, because they’re not going to want the time to do so. Otherwise, the situation will
to be left out of what she has to tell them. She become extremely confusing. In fact, prepare
believes that’s true; who wouldn’t want to get ahead of time with the PCs listed in an order
Random Power cool powers? But she also wants to create as you choose, including a “random power
Manifestations big a distraction as she can by throwing a group manifestation” reminder for each PC right
Table, page 11 of newbie metahumans at MAD to help ensure before they take their own action.
her own escape.) Each time a PC successfully controls a
• “Call me Wild Child. Everyone else does. It randomly manifest power, note that with an X
sure beats Debbie. That’s what my parents or check next to their name.
called me.”
Evalyn (level 5, generate • “Those guys after me and Evalyn? Covert read aloud
stench as level 7) is agents of the government who don’t want Migraine pain ripples back and forth along the
captured by the MAD anyone to know that people like me and inside of your skull. A sickening aura of pain
agents outside the opera
Evie even exist.” dances before you, becoming something more
house, bustled into a
transport truck, and • “People like me can do things regular than an image. It’s familiar. It’s a memory! How
eventually transferred to people can’t. We’re metahuman.” could you have forgotten? The days leading up
Axe Handle (page 60) for • “I’m sorry, but those agents are your to the unbelievable disaster blaring across every
research, assuming the problem now, too. You were in the wrong news channel and web browser describing
PCs don’t rise beyond the place at the wrong time. And I need your a fast-approaching wandering interstellar
moment and somehow help. It’s already too late for Evie, but don’t object. Scientists called it 2I/2020 E1. Everyone
manage to rescue her.
worry about her. She’s been in tougher spots.” else called it “Nibiru” after a mythical planet
• “Be brave! If you survive this, look for destined to destroy civilization.
others like me. They can help you. But the But horrifically, Nibiru impacted. When it
House kicked me out! Probably because hit, fire burned the sky, scorching everything
of what I pulled with Rainheist. I guess he in an ever-widening ripple spreading across
didn’t like LSD in his coffee?” the globe. But before that fire reached you,
• “Anyway! Listen. This is important. Do you the ground began to shudder more and more
remember when the Earth died?” violently, until the city around you collapsed,
even as the Earth itself was finally torn asunder.
After she asks her last question, each PC feels Blinking, you look around, seeing the old opera
discomfort spark behind their eyes, a discomfort house and your friends, obviously not destroyed.
that soon grows into a horrific memory. You realize you have two sets of memories, each
one every bit as real as the other. The only thing
that distinguishes them is that you’re alive, not
floating amid planetary debris. But somehow, you
RECALLING THE CRASH get the sense that that difference still hangs in the
Every PC within earshot of Wild Child suddenly balance. It could easily go the other way.
The Crash, page 36 recalls the Crash. Begin tracking events round
by round, even though combat hasn’t started. Round 1: During the PCs’ flashback detailing
Before PCs get through their experience, it does. the Crash, they are stunned and can’t take
While the PCs are caught up in reliving the a turn. All they can do is incorporate the
memory of the Crash, Wild Child fades out of unfolding memory.
existence, like an old-time picture developing in
reverse. (To the PCs, it may seem that she’s just Rounds 2 and 3+: After their recollection,
gone. In fact, she uses her ability to mimic a characters begin to randomly manifest
Uncontrolled power she’s seen before and becomes invisible, newfound powers, as described under
Discovery, page 9 then creeps away from the entire scene, taking Uncontrolled Discovery.

Even if you don’t normally track PC and creature turns on a separate piece of paper or on your computer,
this might be the time to do so, because things might otherwise get confusing.

132
 AN EVENING AT THE OPERA
Stagger initial manifestation: If two or more on their own turn against the MAD agents.
characters are together, pick one character However, they must succeed on a difficulty 3
to manifest first. (Introduce the first random Intellect task to control the power first (they
power each character manifests as a GM can do this as part of the same action). PCs can GM Intrusion,
intrusion, but not the second and third.) Then, also just use their modern character abilities to page 237
wait about two rounds before the next PC attack or evade the agents.
begins manifesting their own uncontrolled
power. And so on, if there are more characters. Round 6: Two more MAD field agents appear,
Continue to track what happens to acting like the first two.
each character round by round. Treat the
manifestation of new powers as something Raid Lull: No more MAD field agents enter
that happens to each character right before the opera house after the first four, despite the
the character acts on their turn in the initiative fact that several more agents wait out on the
order. Determine what new power each PC street, along with local law enforcement officers
randomly manifests each round by consulting setting up barriers to keep out the public.
the Random Power Manifestations Table or Random Power
making up something weird yourself. Manifestations
As noted in the Uncontrolled Discovery Table, page 11
section, characters can try to control each BECOMING METAHUMAN
new power manifestation by succeeding The lull lasts about thirty minutes. During this
on a difficulty 3 Intellect task. If a character time, PCs can finally get control of their abilities
successfully suppresses or directs an erratically if they haven’t already.
manifesting power at least three times (on three Tell the PCs that they’ve become more than
different powers), that character has gained merely human. As the MAD agents and Wild
control and is not subject to manifesting any Child called them, they are now metahuman,
new uncontrolled powers. They can use the last and the world will always be different for them.
power they gained control of until the end of the How you handle the last phase of the
interruption described hereafter. characters’ journey to metahumanity depends
Interruption!: Unfortunately, before the PCs on the time available to you and your players.
reach full power stability, the MAD agents
outside the opera house interrupt their transition. Option 1: If you have time (you probably do,
given that the PCs have only played through
one extended scenario), you can let the players
MAD RAID finalize their characters immediately. This is
Covert operatives quietly pick the lock on the likely to take at least thirty minutes, though it Regardless of the
access in the lower-level bike shop, then charge could last longer if your players don’t have easy option you choose for
into the space where the PCs are trying to get access to the Cypher System Rulebook. finalization, tell the
PCs that the process
control of their newly manifesting metahuman If you choose this option, you can pick up
has brought them all
abilities. This probably happens at the the game again in the final Escaping the Raid to full strength; all their
beginning of round 4. Treat this as a group encounter. Pools are full and they
GM intrusion. have all their recovery
Continue to manually track events round by Option 2: If you want to finish the adventure rolls available.
round. Treat the power manifestation affecting before taking the time for everyone to break out
each PC as a quasi-entity with its own turn, just into character creation mode that finalization Finalization, page 10
before that PC’s turn in initiative. MAD agents requires, go with this hybrid approach. Instead
also take a turn as a group. Keeping an orderly of asking the PCs to create their new characters,
initiative means this frenetic scene won’t spiral let them know they can experiment with new
out of control. powers (or powers they got control over during
the uncontrolled discovery phase) because MAD field agent,
Round 4: Two MAD field agents appear and all of them are still in a state of “unstable typical: level 4; health 18;
attempt to tase the PCs. If a PC is tased, each equilibrium.” Armor 2; short-range
enhanced taser attack
agent carries a couple of MAD suppression So, one player may say, “I hit with a
inflicts 6 points of
cuffs that they slap on the character on the super-strong punch,” while another indicates Speed damage (ignores
MAD agents’ next turn. Cuffs usually prevent a they will “shoot a heat ray,” and the third says Armor) and on failed
character from any more random manifestations. they become immaterial. They don’t have such Might defense roll
However, they also prevent the PC from finalizing powers written on their character sheet; they’re (hindered), stuns target
their character until the cuffs come off. still just experimenting. However, this puts on their next turn
A PC who manifests a random power on their the onus on you to adjudicate these powers MAD suppression
manifestation’s turn can try to use that power on the fly. cuffs, page 32

133
 The Origin
The trick to GMing unwritten powers on the they think they’ve gotten clean away (as a group
fly is not meticulously applying power shifts to GM intrusion). She can do so by relying on the
each thing a PC wants to do; instead, let the amazing tracking ability of a mythical creature
Werewolf, page 367 PCs know that the thing they are trying is eased she can summon, such as a werewolf. At this
by three steps. And if what they try inflicts point, it becomes more of a straight-up fight.
Skip the Traffic Stop if damage, 6 more points is done on top of the
MAD identifies the PCs normal amount. It’s okay at this point to break TRAFFIC STOP
leaving the building the rules a little bit. Just let PCs know this isn’t An unmarked car trailing the PCs turns on
and getting into their
their characters’ final manifestation. It is only flashing police lights, indicating that they
vehicle; the agents put
a couple of cars on the how things are until their period of “unstable should pull over. If PCs don’t, proceed directly
PCs’ tail immediately. equilibrium” resolves (and the players have to Car Chase.
time to update their characters).
Patrol officer: level 2, Get Out of the Car: If PCs pull over, a patrol
perception as level 3; officer approaches the car and asks for ID;
health 8; Armor 1;
long-range handgun
ESCAPING THE RAID another officer remains ready by the unmarked
Once they get their new abilities under control, patrol vehicle. The officers were alerted to
attack inflicts 5 points of
damage; if two or more PCs will want to make good their escape, possible criminal activity by a notice sent by
officers attack the same possibly by using some aspect of their new MAD, but they don’t know anything about
target, the target’s Speed powers. But before they can get clean away, metahumans. Still, they are on the lookout
defense against those MAD sends a few more operatives after the for anything suspicious. Blood, torn clothing,
attacks are hindered characters, both metahumans. One is Agent urbex gear, and so on are suspicious. If any of
Edmund Albert Edmund Albert Bigby, a normal-looking guy in these are visible, the officer asks that the driver
Bigby, page 91 a black suit who is amazingly tough and strong. and everyone else please step out of the vehicle
Cryptid, page 86 The other is Agent Cryptid, who can “summon” for a search.
mythical creatures to do her will.
Overheard on the Radio: The special backup
EXTENDED CHASE SCENE MAD agents were waiting for has been notified
Eventually, PCs will want to leave the opera of the car stop. Before the PCs do anything rash,
house and evade the authorities. they clearly hear over the patrol officer’s radio a
voice saying, “This is Agent Bigby. Do not engage
LEAVING THE OPERA HOUSE the targets. Just keep them there. Do not allow
The PCs might attempt to sneak out. You can them to escape. We will handle the situation.
ask them each to attempt a difficulty 4 stealth Our ETA is less than a minute. Over.”
task to avoid the immediate notice of about a PCs will probably choose this moment to
dozen agents surrounding the block. For their stomp on the accelerator and make a break for
part, the agents use radio headsets to keep in it. If they instead decide to get out of the car
contact with each other. Given that either the and fight (or flee), then Agent Bigby and Agent
team they sent in was turned back or contact Cryptid join the patrol officers in fighting (and/or
was lost with them (thanks to the PCs), they’re chasing) the characters in just a couple of rounds.
waiting for specialized backup.
CAR CHASE
Escape by Car: Even if the MAD agents get eyes Whether the PCs pull over for the Traffic Stop
on the PCs (entirely likely), they’ll let them get and then try to escape, or decide to ignore
in a vehicle and drive off. If the PCs do manage the patrol car and make a run for it in their
Vehicular Movement, to drive away with no one the wiser, it’s not long vehicle, it’s a car chase! The rules for vehicular
page 230 before traffic pattern analysis software identifies movement apply. Which means that at any one
the PCs’ vehicle leaving the scene as one to time, one PC must be the designated driver.
investigate. The basic setup is that the PCs, in their
rented sport utility vehicle, are being chased
Sport utility Escape on Foot: Obviously, if PCs successfully by two unmarked patrol vehicles with flashing
vehicle: level 4 sneak out on foot, ignoring their rental car lights (each holding two patrol officers). A
Patrol vehicle: level 4 parked a few blocks outside the area where round later, the chase is joined by another
Armored SUV: level 5 the authorities are concentrated, the Traffic vehicle: a black armored SUV driven by a
Trained driver: level 2, Stop and Car Chase described hereafter aren’t trained driver. Agent Edmund Albert Bigby and
driving as level 5 immediately applicable. Cryptid are riding in the armored SUV.
But if the PCs get away on foot (plus maybe The chase proceeds through a downtown
some combination of flying, teleportation, area several miles long, late at night. So, while
phasing, invisible sneaking, and so on), Agent not a lot of cars are out, there is some traffic to
Cryptid could still track them down just when contend with, and the occasional pedestrian.

134
 AN EVENING AT THE OPERA
To get away, a PC driver must succeed on three one step on the object damage track, and
driving tasks versus the level of the armored SUV everyone inside takes 3 points of damage. If the
(level 5). Each of these driving tasks requires vehicle is still drivable, the PCs can attempt to
the driver’s action. (Speed defense rolls to avoid speed away again. Otherwise, they must contend
chase events, however, do not.) During this same directly with the metahuman agents.
period, the PCs must deal with the following car
chase events. Each event occurs sequentially, Flying Bigby (group GM intrusion): Agent Bigby
once during each succeeding round of the car makes a superhuman short-range flying leap
chase (except for Gunfire, which happens every from the armored SUV, attempting to land on
round the patrol cars remain part of the chase). the roof of the PCs’ vehicle. He manages the
Meanwhile, PCs in the escaping car are free task on a failed Speed defense roll (modified by
to attempt to disrupt the chase using their driving training of the driver).
powers, if any are applicable. One method is to If he lands on the vehicle, he spends his next
attempt to destroy the chasing cars using the turn peeling back the car’s roof, assuming the
attacking objects rule. The driver can get in on PCs haven’t somehow managed to neutralize Attacking objects,
this by attempting to ram or sideswipe one of him. After that, PCs in their roofless vehicle are page 223
the chasing cars, using their driving training (if free to engage him, even as their driver tries to
Object damage
any) instead of their Might to attack. However, get away.
track, page 116
any round the driver fails to attempt an escape
roll is another round the chase persists. Last Chimera (group GM intrusion): Just Chimera, page 316
when it seems that the PCs have gotten away
Gunfire: In wild disregard for public safety (potentially by succeeding on three driving
and procedure, one officer in each of the two tasks), Agent Cryptid tries one last gambit: she
patrol cars fires handguns at the PCs’ speeding summons a flying chimera to track and catch
vehicle. The driver must succeed on one the characters, and destroy their vehicle.
difficulty 4 Speed defense roll (modified by their This would normally reset the chase.
training in driving, if any) each round to avoid However, once the chimera gets more
being struck by a volley of bullets. than a very long range away from the
Every round their vehicles remain in the PCs, Cryptid loses control over it, and it
chase, the officers continue to fire. If a police melts away to nothing.
vehicle falls out of the chase, the PC driver This means the driver need only
thereafter must only succeed on a difficulty 3 succeed on just one difficulty 6 Speed
Speed defense roll to avoid gunfire. defense roll as the chimera comes
A successful attack causes the PCs’ car to out of the sky. However, the attack
descend one step on the object damage track. isn’t against the car; it’s against the
If their car is struck three times, it becomes driver!
inoperable. The attack proceeds normally if
the car’s roof was peeled back by
Random Traffic Incident (group GM intrusion): Bigby; otherwise the driver has
A teen in a souped-up street racer comes cover, hindering the chimera’s
out of nowhere and T-bones the PCs’ vehicle attack by two steps. Either way,
unless the driver succeeds on a difficulty 3 after this initial attack, the
Speed defense roll (modified by their driving chimera then begins to attack
training). If the driver rolls a 19 or 20, they the car itself, succeeding
can suggest that the street racer damages or each round the driver fails
even demolishes one of the pursing patrol a Speed defense roll. If
cars instead. On a failed roll, the PCs’ vehicle it succeeds three times
spins out, everyone inside suffers 4 points of before the PCs get away
damage, and the car descends one step on the or stop it, the car is
object damage track. But unless it’s destroyed, destroyed.
it’s still drivable, allowing them to speed away. Assuming the PCs’
car keeps moving, in
Ramming Armored SUV: The driver of the just a couple of rounds,
armored SUV tries to ram the PCs’ vehicle. the chimera melts away
Rather than attempting to damage their car, the to nothing as the range
armored SUV driver wants to drive them into between it and Cryptid
a parked car or structure. On a failed Speed grows too great.
defense roll (modified by driving training), the If the PCs get away from the chimera,
PCs’ vehicle crashes into the obstacle, descends they get away from MAD . . . for now.

135
 The Origin
CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE Implications of the Car Chase: If the PCs were
Though surprised on multiple fronts, a group pulled over by police, somewhere in official
of four or more PCs should be able to escape channels is a record of the license plate of the
the situation that Wild Child landed them in. If vehicle the PCs were driving. If it’s their rental
the PCs are defeated, there’s an opportunity for vehicle, any check turns up the vehicle as
House of Nibiru, page 42 the House of Nibiru to send a rescue team to belonging to a rental company. Within a day or
the transport van, which of course will make the two, follow-up investigation could tie the car to
PCs at least somewhat willing to entertain an the name of the character who rented it. If PCs
offer of membership. don’t come to this conclusion on their own, you
GM-instigated Insights, could let them know there’s an Insight to be had.
page 232 If the PCs Are Caught: Note that if any PC is Essentially, the PCs have a twenty-four-hour
brought low by descending three steps on window in which to succeed on a difficulty 5
the damage track, they are instead treated as computer hacking task to erase the identifying
knocked unconscious. MAD doesn’t want to information. If successful, the renting character’s
kill every new metahuman it finds. It wants to identity is obscured. If they don’t, the implicated
capture, neutralize, and study them. character’s identity becomes known to MAD.
But that’s not going to happen this time. If Going forward, instead of just keeping a low
one or more of the PCs are captured, they are profile, that PC must go on the run to avoid
loaded into a transfer van and driven off (not capture. The other PCs, not tied directly to the
that they know what’s happening). car rental, would retain their secrecy.
Running a Campaign Set The next thing PCs in such straits know is
in The Origin, page 13 finding themselves in the back of a non-moving Moving Forward: The onus is on the PCs to find
transfer van parked in an alley, with no sign the “others like us” described by Wild Child.
XP Award: The PCs earn of the drivers or other MAD agents. A note It should be clear that one way or the other,
2 XP for going through scribbled on a piece of pink paper reads: things will never be the same. At the very least,
the experience of gaining “You’re welcome. Now you owe me. —Wild PCs probably want to know more about their
control of unexpected,
Child.” At this stage, nothing prevents the abilities, and get them under control.
unstable superpowers
and fighting off covert characters from leaving the area, though they For additional pointers on next steps for the
government agents may have to call ground transportation. PCs, be sure to check out Running a Campaign
alerted to their presence. Set in The Origin.

136
 JOINING THE HOUSE (AN INTERLUDE)
Chapter 12

JOINING THE HOUSE (AN INTERLUDE)

“J
oining the House” gives PC A GUIDING HAND
metahumans an opportunity to join If you haven’t yet introduced the House of
a community of other metahumans if Nibiru, or if PCs haven’t had a chance to follow
they haven’t already. This scenario isn’t what up on clues that would lead them there, the
might be expected from a straightforward characters require a metahuman NPC contact
superhero adventure. There’s a chance for some who can give them a little guidance. Firedove Firedove, page 94
character development and interaction with is a great choice. If you go this route, Jazmin
NPCs. Except for a surprise combat encounter, Cassala (Firedove’s given name) is a friend
it holds no urgency; it’s more of an interlude. of one of the PCs. Jazmin dropped off social
media about six months ago and stopped
answering texts not long after that.

BACKGROUND Jazmin Arrives: Given the PCs’ own issues,

This scenario is for PCs who aren’t yet aware of Jazmin’s “fade” from social media is probably
the wider community of metahumans and the not something they’ve given a lot of thought
threats that metahumans face. It provides a to. In fact, they probably don’t know that her
framework for gaining familiarity by introducing brother reported her missing and her house House of Nibiru, page 42
them to the House of Nibiru as described burned down!
hereafter under Welcome to the Community.

SYNOPSIS
Except for an encounter with the Collectors, this Chapter 10: Collectors,
is a more relaxed scenario. The timeline and page 120
placement of events can be moved around to fit
your campaign’s needs. In some respects, it’s
like an extended cut-scene that takes place over
several months, during which PCs meet and
interact with Firedove as an NPC contact. The
scenario also provides a specific route for PCs
to associate with the House of Nibiru, the most
sympathetic and competent group concerned
with metahuman welfare. PCs can also practice
using their superpowers to avoid flameouts. Flameout Mode, page 17

WELCOME TO THE COMMUNITY

If the characters recently recalled the Crash, The Crash, page 36
they might not yet have learned about the
House of Nibiru. They could still be living in
the shell of their old lives, freaked out by what’s
happened to them, and afraid to reveal their
new situation to their friends or family. This
condition is exactly the sort of thing the House
attempts to alleviate and why its founders
created the organization in the first place.

137
 The Origin
In either case, potential worries are allayed A FEW MONTHS LATER
when a knock on the door proves to be none It’s not necessary to play out each hour or
other than Jazmin herself, unannounced. If asked even day following the PCs’ discovery of the
about being missing and her burned-down House of Nibiru. Assuming they’re interested
house, she frowns. “Jesus! I’m not missing. I’m in learning more, the House of Nibiru is a
just sorting stuff out. I think you might be, too.” great source of information. Firedove and other
Jazmin tells the characters about the House House NPCs can offer advice to characters
of Nibiru, outlining the following points. Note who want to maintain their original lives while
that Jazmin should actually be a good friend to hiding their new abilities. Alternatively, they
one of the PCs. And that PC friend should get can help transition the PCs to a brand-new life,
the sense that Jazmin is acting in good faith, providing physical aid and even some money if
despite all the weird stuff she says. PCs want to relocate.
After the House is satisfied that the PCs
Jazmin’s Pitch to Check out the House: Jazmin are not secret agents or other bad actors, the
imparts the following points, which you can characters are offered a two-week stay at a
paraphrase as part of a natural conversation. refurbished mountain lodge in Colorado,
House of Nibiru • “I have superpowers. Unless my information which serves as the physical House of Nibiru
Headquarters, page 46 is wrong, so do you. Don’t worry, I’m not headquarters. “Think of it as a long vacation,”
Ultra, page 43 here on behalf of any shadow government quips Ultra via electronic messaging.
agency or criminal organization. I’m here This two-week retreat is comfortable, in
as your friend.” (Jazmin demonstrates her a beautiful mountain setting, and offers
ability to generate fire if she is asked what the opportunity for the PCs to meet other
she can do.) members—especially the people-friendly
• “The House of Nibiru is a secret Ultra—in person.
organization of metahumans keeping an But more importantly, the in-person
eye out for others just like them. Like us, gathering is useful for helping PCs get their
I mean. I joined up. We help newcomers new abilities under control. PCs are encouraged
through the transition and warn them about to practice their abilities with strict training,
Rainheist, page 43 the dangers facing people like us.” which Firedove and Rainheist oversee. Treat
• “When I first manifested, I burned my this training as a long-term benefit that doesn’t
house down! I was so scared I went into require players to expend any XP. It’s a story
Long-Term Benefits, hiding. But then I saw a flyer asking, ‘Do benefit gained from long-term play.
page 239 you remember the end of the world?’ I If the PCs are amenable to practicing each
found my way into a dark web chat room day with their abilities, the training they
where I met someone called Ultra. Ultra receive counts as training against one of
introduced me to the NibiruCrash forum.” the two superpower inabilities each player
• “Finding the House was a lifeline. Everyone character metahuman begins play with
Optional Rules: on the forum is just like us: scared, (assuming you’re using the Hazards of Using
Hazards of Using confused, and saddled with strange, Superpowers optional rules). At the end of the
Superpowers, page 16 dangerous new abilities. I jumped in with two-week period, each PC trains away one of
both feet. They’ve helped me so much.” those inabilities.
• “I’ve been part of the House for about Once the training is complete, PCs learn
six months. Thanks to the metahuman that they are being considered as potential
sensitivity of Lucky Sleeper, we learned that operatives for the House. Like covert agents,
all y’all just manifested. Since I knew you, but not for the government. “You’ll be like
they sent me to make contact.” superheroes. Only completely secret ones
• Jazmin provides the PCs with a dark web without Lycra bodysuits and capes,” jokes Ultra.
address and instructions on how to reach “Are you interested?”
it. “I’m going to tell you the same thing If the PCs are not interested in accepting
Ultra told me. Go here. Read all the pinned missions for the House of Nibiru, Firedove and
messages in each forum. The pinned the others are disappointed, but understand.
messages will get you up to speed faster Going up against other metahumans and
than anything else. After that, I’ll answer any covert government bodies is dangerous
other questions you have.” business. But before you conclude the
adventure, throw the optional Collector
Give the PCs a chance to read through the Encounter at the PCs. It illustrates that
NibiruCrash forum NibiruCrash forum’s pinned posts. metahumans don’t have the luxury of avoiding
pinned posts, page 44 danger; sometimes it comes looking for them.

138
 JOINING THE HOUSE (AN INTERLUDE)
OPTIONAL EVENT: COLLECTOR ENCOUNTER then attacks. If PCs try to evade, it attacks by
At some point during the couple of months that stepping into the shadow of a boulder along
pass in-world, you could intrude with a dangerous the road, only to step out of the shadow
event in the form of an attack on one or more of beneath the seats inside the car a moment later,
the PCs by Collectors that attack the characters proceeding to attack from there. In this case, Chapter 10: Collectors,
outside of the lodge. Unless things go really the driver should have to make at least one page 120
wrong, the PCs should come out of the fight alive, driving roll to keep control of the vehicle and
but with firsthand experience with Collectors, and avoid driving off the mountain.
a greater appreciation for the protection and aid If the driver tries to hit the creature in the
the House of Nibiru offers lone metahumans. center of the road with the jeep, they can
attempt a driving roll to hit the Collector. If they
Out and About: In this case, one or more PCs hit, the speeding car inflicts 8 points of damage.
are spending a couple of hours sightseeing After that, the Collector attacks by getting into
after a long day of training, driving the the car as described in the previous paragraph.
mountain roads in a heavy-duty jeep borrowed The Collector seeker attacks PCs who leave Heavy-duty jeep: level 4
from the House garage. Not long after the sun the jeep, or attempts to cause the jeep to
sets in a spectacular display over a grand vista, crash, either by attacking it directly (the level 4
darkness gathers and the air cools. creature can successfully destroy the jeep after Attacking Objects,
three rounds) or by forcing the driver to make so page 223
Attack on the Road: Eventually the PCs head many driving rolls that they fail or stop the car.
back to the lodge after spending quality time
in the great outdoors, maybe after a wonderful Concluding the Fight: If the PCs are having a
sunset, or after eating dinner out in a nearby tough time, Firedove and/or another friendly
mountain town. As they navigate the jeep metahuman House member shows up just in
through a couple of hairpin curves heading time. (They got word of a Collector in the area
back, they come around a corner and see that from Lucky Sleeper and went out looking for Lucky Sleeper, page 43
something really weird stands in the center of the PCs.) The Collector decides that its odds
the narrow mountain road. It’s a Collector. against even newly manifested PC metahumans Collector, page 123
Though the PCs may not see it right away, a are not what it was prepared for, and flees
Collector seeker is also present, lurking behind before the fight is concluded, as does the seeker. Collector seeker, page 125
a boulder on the roadside. For additional pointers on next steps for the
PCs could choose to slow down to PCs, be sure to check out Running a Campaign Running a Campaign Set
investigate, drive around, or hit the creature. Set in The Origin. in The Origin, page 13
Whatever they choose, the Collector attacks on
its turn, and the Collector seeker joins in a few
rounds afterward. CONCLUDING THE SCENARIO
If the PCs stop to investigate, the Collector After at least a month of associating with the
waits until one or more PCs leaves the vehicle, House of Nibiru, award each PC 4 XP.

139
 The Origin
Chapter 13

APPEAL OF DISTRESS

I
n “Appeal of Distress,” a paranormal The Trap Is Sprung: Having overcome the
adventure kicks off when PCs attempt to challenges of infiltration, the characters find the
save others like themselves from what they metahuman captives. Releasing them reveals
believe is a covert government agency. Things that only a couple are actually victims, used
get off to a good start, until the trap is sprung; as bait. The others are metahuman bounty
the entire rescue operation was designed by a hunters, not captives at all. Their job is to
private company doing metahuman research, capture any metahumans that show up. PCs
hoping to lure more victims into their grasp. are in for a superpowered fight, even as private
The PCs are caught in the middle. contractors working with the bounty hunters try
This adventure is appropriate for low- to to tase the characters from the sidelines.
mid-tier superpowered characters.
Mystery of the Perpetrator: A short discussion
on what the PCs can do in the absence of any
immediate information on who was behind
BACKGROUND the trap.
The whole setup is a trap designed for catching
Babbage Industries, metahumans , courtesy of Babbage Industries.
page 59 Of course, no one not in on it realizes it before
the trap is sprung. If PCs are already members GETTING THE CHARACTERS INVOLVED
House of Nibiru, page 42 of the House of Nibiru in good standing, Things kick off when the PCs receive a direct
Ultra, page 43 the House makes them aware of captured message from Ultra via the NibiruCrash forums.
NibiruCrash, page 44 metahumans. Alternatively, the PCs might find Or, if the PCs are currently staying at the lodge
Chapter 12: Joining out about the captured metahumans in some House headquarters described in Chapter 12:
the House (an other fashion. Joining the House (an Interlude), Ultra and
Interlude), page 137 Firedove come by to see the PCs one morning.
Firedove, page 94 Ultra introduces them to a mission to embark
upon immediately, as described hereafter.
SYNOPSIS • “Hey, we need to talk. Remember when we
This adventure is broken up as follows. asked if you were willing to take on a bigger
role for the House? Now’s your chance.”
Getting the Characters Involved: This section • “A couple of newly manifested metas
introduces PCs to the distress call made by appeared just outside Kansas City, Kansas.
captured metahumans. To help guide them on Before we had a chance to make contact,
what is probably one of their first missions on they were snatched. We’re not certain by
behalf of the metahuman community, a mentor who, but odds are, it’s the government.”
Rainheist, page 43 joins the PCs. • “We want to free them. But Rainheist is
busy in South America along with our only
Metahuman Holding: According to what’s other active mission members. That leaves
known, at least two metahumans have you and Firedove, who’ll be joining you. Are
been captured by covert government agents you in?”
Metahuman Affairs (everyone assumes the Metahuman Affairs
Department, page 47 Department). They are being held in a secure Presuming the PCs are in, Ultra provides
temporary holding facility prior to being additional details, sparse as they are.
transferred elsewhere. PCs can attempt to • According to Lucky Sleeper, the two newly
Olathe is a suburb infiltrate and release the captives before this manifested metahumans are being held in
of Kansas City, and happens. (Characters might notice that despite an office building in Olathe, Kansas. Lucky
is pronounced “ow government trappings, those running the Sleeper has learned their names—Imogen
– lay – thuh.”
facility are private contractors.) Fields and Jumah Ohakim—but nothing else.

140
 APPEAL OF DISTRESS

• If it is the government, then it’s MAD, the private charters, they might be amazed at how
Metahuman Affairs Department. Over the much less hassle and suffering it involves
last year, the House of Nibiru has become compared to flights available to the public.)
familiar with their standard operating
procedure. Captured metahumans are INCORPORATING FIREDOVE
usually kept locally for a few days in a secure As an NPC, Firedove is competent. However, Firedove, page 94
safehouse, where they are interviewed she is fairly new herself to being considered
and processed. After that, captives are a “mission-capable” member of the House of
transferred somewhere else. Oddly, it’s to Nibiru. She doesn’t know the answer to every
a location that Lucky Sleeper can’t sense. question. Nor does she want to lead the team.
Which means that if the PCs are going to Firedove would prefer that the PCs make their
intercede, they must do so immediately. (Axe own decisions, which she is happy to help
Handle is in the Subworld, and the House execute. On the other hand, if the PCs seem to
of Nibiru doesn’t yet know much about the be flailing and unable to decide on a course of
Subworld phenomenon.) action, she can offer tentative advice.
• Unless the PCs are nearby and/or have a
power that allows them to make the trip on THE OFFICE STRUCTURE
their own, they are provided tickets to fly Nothing seems out of the ordinary about the
on a charter jet from their location to the office structure if PCs observe it, though it does Office structure: level 4
Kansas City Airport and one or more rental seem to be underutilized. Normal security
cars on arrival. cameras on each side of the building provide a
• The PCs are given the address and a real feed to monitors set up in the conference room
estate listing for the single-story structure inside the office. Though everything inside
offering office space for lease and contact the structure is staged to appear normal to
information for the lease holder. (A call casual scrutiny, it’s all a façade created in hopes
already put in indicates that the office was of entrapping a few more metahumans for
rented out just yesterday by the “Mountain Mickey Love, who has been hired by Babbage Mickey Love, page 98
Advertising” firm. No such firm seems to Industries. If no one takes the bait within a
exist as far as the internet is concerned.) few days, they’ll wrap up the operation and
transport the two sedated metahumans in one
of the black vans parked in front.

METAHUMAN HOLDING Parking: The single-story structure has a

PCs can gather whatever gear they possess, if parking lot with spaces for at least thirty
any. But as far as they know, time is short. vehicles, three of which are occupied when the
Unless you intrude, PCs make the trip to PCs arrive. Two are big black vans (both locked), Black van: level 4
the office building (or as close as they want and the other is a four-door sedan, obviously a
to initially get) without issue, and surprisingly security vehicle with the words “Atlas Security” Security vehicle: level 3
quickly. (If the PCs are not used to flying on stenciled on the side.

141
 The Origin
Ambush Team member: If PCs break into either van, they find that the Conference Room: An Ambush Team of five
level 4; health 20; vehicles are rented from a local car rental agency. private military contractors hired by Mickey
Armor 1; immediate The lease is made out to Mountain Advertising. Love is set up in the office building conference
range taser attack
room. Dressed in business casual instead of
inflicts 6 points of
Speed damage (ignores Exterior Office Security: Two security officers camouflage, they pretend to be working on an
Armor) and on failed are visible inside the security vehicle, keeping ad campaign if anyone gets an eye on them or
Might defense roll an eye on the property. From time to time, questions them.
(hindered) stuns a they drive the vehicle completely around the In addition to their pretend ad campaign
target for one round building. As far as they know, they really are creation, the contractors keep an eye on the
working for Mountain Advertising. Their job external camera feeds from their laptops. They
Security officer: level 2; is to discourage anyone from entering the are ready to spring the trap should anyone try
Armor 1; long-range building, but not aggressively. If they notice to release the prisoners kept in office 3.
pistol attack inflicts 4 someone get inside, they are to radio their One of the Ambush Team members carries
points of damage
manager “Mickey” immediately. (Mickey is a special divergent timeline cypher—a colored
inside the building, usually lounging in office 3.) pencil, labeled with the color “skobeloff.”
Chapter 4: Divergent When this primed spatial transfer cypher is
Timeline Cyphers, Office Entrances: A locked side door and an used, it delivers a touched target directly to
page 20 unlocked main double door provide access the Axe Handle research facility. Mickey Love
Axe Handle, page 60 to the office. The main entrance opens provided the cypher and instructions on how
immediately into the reception area. to use it.
The Ambush Team knows about metahumans,
Reception Area: A friendly receptionist named but that’s about it. They think Mickey Love is
Terrell Squier has Terrell Squier mans the reception desk. He working for the government. They’re not really
Ambush Team stats. happily lies to any and all visitors, explaining interested in learning more. That’s the life of a
how Mountain Advertising has recently private military contractor.
leased the space. Terrell pretends to set up an
appointment with “Ms. Wynters,” the office Break Area: This is staged perfectly, since it is
manager, if characters want to see someone in actually used by the Ambush Team for coffee
charge, and asks them to take a seat. However, and food.
Ms. Wynters keeps being delayed, and never
shows up. Offices 1, 2, and 4: These rooms are ready
Essentially, Terrell is up for pretending to for occupancy, but no one has moved in yet.
participate in any normal-seeming activity, up If Terrell is giving a tour, he explains that Ms.
to and including giving a tour of the facility. Wynters is still hiring more ad writers; soon
However, if the characters are revealed as enough they will be occupied.
secret metahumans trying to spring the
captives being held in office 3, Terrell joins the Office 3: The shades are drawn on the window
Ambush Team and attempts to capture the PCs. that would otherwise allow someone in the

142
 APPEAL OF DISTRESS
hallway to see into office 3, and the door is Ambush Team: The Ambush Team tries to Locked door: level 4
locked. “This office is sealed off; it’s being contain the fight, or at least tase any PC that
sprayed for cockroaches,” Terrell explains if they can.
giving a tour. “Full of poisonous fumes.” At some point during the fight, one of the Imogen Fields: level 4,
In fact, the office is where four metahumans Ambush Team members with the special flying as level 6; flies a
are being kept captive. Two—Imogen Fields spatial transfer cypher tries to use it on long distance each round
and Jumah Ohakim—are lying in ambulance Firedove if she’s present, or one of the sedated
gurneys, sedated with an IV drip. Every few metahumans. If successful, the target seems Jumah Ohakim: level 4,
hours someone from the Ambush Team comes to fall into a hole that wasn’t there a second telepathy as level 6;
in and checks on them, making sure they ago, and isn’t there a second later. Mickey Love possesses short-range
telepathy
remain in relatively good condition. laughs at the sight, commenting “Another
The other two metahumans in the room are twenty large, bagged and tagged!”
Mickey Love and Thrakoom. They wear fake Spatial transfer, page 29
handcuffs and can leave to use the restroom Imogen Fields and Jumah Ohakim: Sedated,
and break room every few hours. To keep up they can’t do much. If somehow roused Mickey Love, page 98
the charade, Ambush Team members “guard” through a healing power (otherwise it takes
them while they are being let out. But of course, about an hour for the sedatives to wear off), Thrakoom, page 107
in truth Mickey and Thrakoom are here to help the two would prefer to flee, but will aid PCs
capture any additional metas that come looking if a character makes a successful difficulty 6
for the bait. persuasion roll.
Mickey Love reclines in a gurney like the two
sedated metahumans, pretending to be dazedly Mickey Love: Though he begins the fight
sedated if someone he doesn’t know enters trying to soften up the opposition with his
the room. Thrakoom is in a fourth gurney, her ectoplasmic blasts, Mickey next uses his ability
oversize form spilling out of it almost comically. to entrap targets in blocks of solid ectoplasm,
She spends a lot of time asleep, so she might or otherwise restrain targets. He isn’t easily
actually be dazed the first round anyone other rattled, but if down to his last few health,
than people they know enters the room. he surrenders (or flees, if there is a good
opportunity, perhaps with Thrakoom’s help).
If he surrenders or is captured, he could
become the PCs’ best source of information
THE TRAP IS SPRUNG about what’s actually going on. Not that he
Thrakoom and Mickey Love initially pretend knows much.
to be sedated captives like Imogen Fields and But he’s willing to tell the PCs everything he
Jumah Ohakim. However, they only keep up knows if they cut him loose afterward. He is,
the pretense long enough for the characters after all, just a bounty hunter who accepted a
to accept them as who they seem to be. The commission. And what are the PCs going to do
moment the PCs’ attention shifts to the with him anyway? Turn him over to the police?
sedated metahumans, or dealing with the • “I took a commission to capture
approaching Ambush Team, Mickey strikes with metahumans. Twenty large for each meta
a couple of his ectoplasm blasts. Thrakoom I bag. I’ve been doing this off and on for
just starts smashing, starting with a nearby wall over a year now. This was the first time I
to open up the tight space. tried my ‘lure’ idea. Guess it was a dumb
Additional tactics include the following. idea after all.”
• “My client—who always contacts me
Thrakoom: Given that office 3 is only about 10 anonymously—said gather all the ones
feet (3 m) deep and a little under 13 feet (4 m) I could, then await further instructions.
long, the fight spills out into the larger office Apparently, my client is keeping an eye on
space. This is expedited by Thrakoom. She this place. Somehow, they’ll know if me and
smashes through the walls as if they were tissue Thrakoom are successful. I’m guessing they
paper, creating a larger space to maneuver. know this is a bust.”

Thrakoom smashes through the office walls as if they were tissue paper, creating a
larger space to maneuver.

143
 The Origin
WHO WAS BEHIND THIS TRAP? campaign arc. Later on, after they’ve had a
Even if PCs completely search the place, they few more adventures and gained a few more
find little evidence of who was behind the sham. tiers, they might have an opportunity to learn
True to Mickey Love’s words, if someone was the truth.
keeping an eye on the sham office, they know
the PCs successfully evaded the trap. (If the COMPLETE OR PARTIAL SUCCESS
PCs did not, well, then they might be carted If at least one metahuman is rescued, award
Axe Handle, page 60 off to Axe Handle long before they’re ready for each PC 1 XP. If they rescue both, they get 2 XP.
such a challenge.) However, if Firedove (or one of the
PCs might be frustrated about not being metahumans) was transferred to Axe Handle in
able to figure out who was behind the sham. the process, the PCs have a potential dilemma
But it might also serve as motivation for a on their hands.

MYSTERY OF THE PERPETRATOR

Potentially frustrated by not being able to Deliver research subjects by this date for bonus payout
determine who was behind the trap, one of 1132 Boulder Pkwy, Four Hills, NV 89071
the characters’ ongoing goals might be to find
the truth, especially if Firedove was captured. If PCs do a search of the address online, they
Then, after some time has passed (perhaps find a facility called Axe Handle. A little additional
with a few more run-ins with MAD agents), online searching reveals that the research facility
Babbage Industries,
they can finally learn the truth. This way, there’s is a subsidiary of Babbage Industries.
page 59
a buildup to the direct confrontation with
MAD on the PCs’ terms. It also gives PCs the Eventual Expedition to Axe Handle: PCs who
opportunity to earn more XP, gain a tier or two, learn that bounty hunter metahumans have been
and acquire another power shift. picking up metahumans off the street for over
How the PCs discover that a place called a year and delivering them to a secret, secure
Axe Handle was behind the attempted snatch facility owned by Babbage Industries might be
could come from an inside source or a whistle incentivized to act. Especially if their mentor,
blower, or maybe the PCs come across another Firedove, remains missing.
trap set for other metahumans. Maybe Mickey Once PCs learn about Axe Handle and
Love is once again the showrunner. If they Babbage Industries, they can attempt to learn
catch him a second time, he knows more than more, perhaps by hacking Babbage Industry
he did last time. (He complained that he wasn’t servers. A successful difficulty 8 Intellect task
as effective as he could have been due to being reveals that the facility holds metahumans
so completely in the dark.) against their will for the purposes of research
and testing. It’s every bit as bad as one might
Learning About Axe Handle From a Contractor: imagine. If the House of Nibiru is informed, they
Whether it’s Mickey or some other contractor, want to free all the captives there, and probably
the PCs’ source knows the following. They ask the PCs to spearhead the operation.
might be willing to relay it because of a deal Refer to the Babbage Industries entry in
they make with the PCs, because of a power chapter 7, which details the Axe Handle facility.
PCs have to compel cooperation, or for some Given that the PCs number among only a
other reason. handful of House mission-capable metahumans,
• “I took a commission to deliver the resources they can expect from the House
Rainheist, page 43
metahumans to Babbage Industries. might require the participation of Rainheist,
Specifically, to a facility in Nevada called but not necessarily. What they can certainly get,
Axe Handle.” however, is support in the form of coordination
• “I don’t know why they want metas. I and overwatch, money, transportation, supplies,
mean, I assume it’s for research. But I and even a few divergent timeline cyphers.
never asked.” In addition, the House can wrangle forged
credentials to get the PCs into Axe Handle.
Learning About Axe Handle Another Way: However, there is still something odd about the
Lucky Sleeper, page 43
During the course of another adventure location, given that Lucky Sleeper can’t sense
that includes MAD agents and missing any evidence of metahumans at the location.
metahumans, the PCs discover a big office What they don’t know is that the actual facility is
planning calendar with the following written on a located in the Subworld. Lucky Sleeper’s ability
date about 15 days from when the PCs read it. doesn’t extend across dimensional divides.

144
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
Chapter 14

THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE

“T
hreshold to Apocalypse” is for It’s also what gives Collectors hope that their
metahuman player characters who failed effort to destroy Earth wasn’t for nothing.
have previously learned some of the If they can capture enough metahumans in one
secrets behind the metahuman phenomenon, place, concentrating the alternate reality fragment
including the existence of the Subworld and each one retains, they could invert reality. Instead
that Collectors might be aliens. This adventure of the base timeline being the one where Nibiru
reveals even more: PCs discover that Collectors missed Earth, base reality will become one in
are determined to destroy the Earth to ensure which the planet killer hit Earth, shattering it so
their own future existence. PCs can try to thoroughly that another asteroid belt around the
stop the aliens’ scheme by traveling to the sun eventually forms. Not that humans will be
Collectors’ mothership. Humanity’s only hope around to appreciate it . . . but the Collectors will.
is stopping them before the threshold of Only a handful of metahumans have
apocalypse is crossed. discovered that rather than destroying
This adventure is appropriate for mid-tier metahumans, Collectors are gathering them
superpowered characters. for an unknown purpose. That includes
members of the metahuman-observing society
known as Sobrenatural. Leading the charge Sobrenatural, page 65
is Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa. Thanks to the fact Jaqueline Ruiz
BACKGROUND that Sobrenatural has a Collector locked down Corrêa, page 66
As described in Chapter 10: Collectors, aliens and available for questioning, she and her Chapter 10: Collectors,
came to Earth after the Crash, apparently drawn group have recently learned some shocking page 120
to hunt and destroy metahumans. That’s about information, though still not the whole truth. The Crash, page 36
the limit of what most people know, if they Which is why, against all Sobrenatural
know about Collectors at all. protocols, Jaqueline reaches out to metahuman
The secret origin of the Collectors is PCs for help. Secret Origin of
far more insidious. In a bid to create a Collectors, page 120
custom multiverse of their own design,
they effectively broke spacetime. Desperate
to fix their mistake, they tried to destroy SYNOPSIS
the new “base timeline,” which contained This adventure has several parts.
Earth. They were only partially successful. In
the base timeline, the planet-killing Nibiru Observation’s End: Contacted by Sobrenatural
missed. However, that event is remembered operative Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa, PCs journey
by a small subset of humanity as the Crash. to the secretive group’s headquarters. There
Everyone who remembers the Crash has one characters learn about the organization and
foot in the base timeline and the other in a about its captive Collector. Invited to watch
fractured cosmos. This cross-dimensional a questioning session, the PCs discover that
circuit is probably what gives metahumans Collectors have a use for metahumans that does
their superpowers. not bode well for Earth’s continued existence.

Everyone who remembers the Crash has one foot in the base timeline and the other
in a fractured cosmos. This cross-dimensional circuit probably gives metahumans
their superpowers.

145
 The Origin
Courier Rendezvous: The plan is to release the collecting data on metahumans. We only
Collector, follow it, observe, and learn. PCs track watch; we never interfere. And we never reveal
the freed Collector into the Subworld—specifically, ourselves. I’m breaking that rule now because
a Collector silo. (Alternatively, PCs may decide something momentous is about to happen. I
to let themselves be captured and transferred can’t just sit back and let it happen.”
to a silo, a far less pleasant experience.) • “You’ve heard of Collectors, yes? Shadowy
In the silo, they find a handful of captive beings that hunt metahumans?”
metahumans, gathered from around the world. • “Sobrenatural captured one. We keep it
Regardless of what they do with the captives, sedated in a special chamber beneath our
PCs have the opportunity to “get aboard” the headquarters. We’ve been questioning it for
Collector courier that eventually appears. The months. And we’ve learned a few things.”
Collector courier launches itself into space. • “Collectors are not human. Or from Earth.
Or even from this dimension. They are
Nibiru Hypothesis: The courier transports aliens. From the future. From the future of a
the characters to the Collectors’ mothership, divergent timeline.”
Zodion. Zodion drafted just behind the • “Collectors tried to destroy the Earth by
massive interstellar rock Nibiru that famously throwing a big rock at us, but failed. But some
missed Earth, settling into a highly eccentric people remember it happening, nonetheless.
orbit around the sun. On board the craft, PCs People like you, who remember the Crash.”
discover thousands of captured metahumans, • “We think the Collectors are going to try their
each one “plugged in” to strange, organic scheme again! Will you help us prevent that?
tech. If they haven’t already, here PCs learn of Come to Curitiba, Brazil. We have a plan.”
the Collectors’ plan to invert reality using the
captured metahumans as fuel. TRIP TO BRAZIL
It’s up to the PCs to stop it if they can. Jaqueline offers to arrange for the PCs to
Sobrenatural travel to Curitiba, Brazil, where Sobrenatural
Headquarters, page 66 Concluding the Adventure: Options are headquarters are located, fronted by the city’s
presented for what happens next, depending on Natural Science Society Museum.
how successful the PCs were in obstructing the
Collectors’ insidious plot. SUBWORLD SHORTCUT?
PCs might have their own preferred method
of travel. However, if the characters accept
Jaqueline’s help, she offers them a “peculiar
OBSERVATION’S END path” that the characters can use as a shortcut
The Subworld, page 70 If PCs are mission-capable members of the through the Subworld. If PCs haven’t heard
House of Nibiru, a message comes down of the Subworld, Jaqueline describes it as an
House of Nibiru, page 42 from Ultra asking the characters for a video “archipelago of crumbling half-worlds” that
conference. During that conference, Ultra tells have glommed on to Earth. Collectors seem
Ultra, page 43 the characters he has someone important he’d adept at finding, or perhaps making, entrances
like them to meet, and asks that they strongly and exits as they wish. Sobrenatural Watchers
consider accepting her plea for assistance. Then have been tentatively exploring the Subworld,
he conferences in Jaqueline from Sobrenatural. and blazed a handful of useful routes. One of
If PC metahumans are not part of House those routes goes from a place not far from the
Nibiru, they are contacted directly by Jaqueline PCs’ location to Curitiba, Brazil.
via a video chat service. Assuming PCs enter The advantage of taking this path, says
the conversation, she lays out the situation as Jaqueline, is that it requires only about 20
follows. minutes of leisurely walking. The disadvantage
is that sometimes divergent timelines can
SOBRENATURAL CONTACT be dangerous. Watchers have learned to be
Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa, Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa answers any questions stealthy and quiet, and usually have no trouble.
page 66 she can to help allay PC suspicions. She hopes The particular route she has in mind for the PCs
to convince them to accept her invitation to has one “hot spot” in the middle that seems
visit Sobrenatural headquarters. haunted. Metahumans, however, should have
Jaqueline makes the following points. She little trouble dealing with dangers spawned in
has a noticeable accent (which is Brazilian another dimension, yes?
Portuguese, should any PC be especially If PCs agree, she provides the route, telling
proficient in dialects). them to call her when they arrive in town, and
• “I belong to Sobrenatural. Sobrenatural is that she’ll come pick them up.
an organization dedicated to watching and

146
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
Route to Curitiba: “Enter the alley behind the Once the Watchers confirm the PCs are the
nearby fire department, and pop open the old same metahumans they have observational
manhole cover, a Subworld entrance. Climb files for, the PCs are escorted into the museum,
down the ladder into what seems to be a to what at first seems like a closet in the
version of the fire department building, but director’s office. Along the way, the PCs see a
abandoned years ago. Exit onto the equally few other Watchers, who seem distrustful and
abandoned street and cross into a similarly upset to see the characters, but otherwise don’t
empty ice cream shop called ‘Coquelicot’s make trouble.
Cream.’ Slip under the counter and into the As the PCs are escorted to the closet in the
cabinet under the till. You’ll need a flashlight or director’s office, and from there down secret Conservatory, page 67
other light source to crawl down the passage stairs to the Conservatory, Hugo relays to Mission of the
there, because it’s dark as a tomb. Crawl to the them the mission of the Watchers. He further Watchers, page 65
end of the passage, ignoring all the branching indicates that contacting the PCs (and/or the
tunnels. Exit the face of a broken crypt into the House of Nibiru) represents an unknowable
graveyard, as quietly as you can, and douse new chapter in the group’s existence, as
your light. Use the moonlight to cross the field. follows.
It’s always night here for some reason. Don’t
read any names from the tombs, and if you read aloud
hear any voices, don’t answer. Just make for the “I apologize for the looks the Watchers gave
front gate. Go through it, and you’re home free, you. Sobrenatural’s role is to observe and
standing back in the base timeline in the Água document evidence of metahumans, not GM intrusion: A voice
Verde Municipal Cemetery in Curitiba.” contact or confront them. Inviting known out of the darkness in
metahumans here breaks protocol—a protocol the graveyard asks the
character to “Come
Troubled Shortcut? If the PCs do exactly as that has kept us safe and secret for the past two
down and drink nectar
Jaqueline describes, they make it to their years.” with me, stranger.
destination. However, there is a chance for It’s so sweet!”
trouble in the graveyard. One of the PCs is Now that they’ve revealed themselves
verbally accosted. If the characters respond in to the metahuman community, they know
any way, they encounter a literal vampire, who Sobrenatural can never go back to what it was Vampire, page 362
would like nothing more than to sup on the before . . . assuming life on Earth continues at all.
characters’ blood. Even if the PCs don’t respond Once the PCs descend to the Hub in the
but just keep moving, they see a figure following Conservatory, Hugo gestures to four of the five Hub, page 67
them through the graveyard. It doesn’t follow passages leading away, indicating there will be
them through the exit to Curitiba, however. time later to show the PCs around. But first, he
If PCs become embroiled with the creature, wants to show them their special captive they
two other vampires rise and join in the fracas. keep in the corridor labeled Cinco.

BRAZIL ARRIVAL
If PCs contact Sobrenatural after they arrive in
Curitiba (one way or another), they are met by
Jaqueline Ruiz Corrêa and Hugo Lobo Paim at Hugo Lobo Paim,
the Curitiba Natural Science Society Museum at page 66
a designated time.

UNANNOUNCED PC ARRIVAL
Especially cautious PCs could choose to
hold off contacting Sobrenatural when they
arrive, opting to check out the museum and
hidden Conservatory on their own. In this
case, the personnel are as described in the
main Sobrenatural entry: on the lookout for
incursion by metahumans and others. That
said, they know the PCs are on the way, so
a situation that might otherwise get out of
hand can be defused by Watchers who know
there is more at stake than their desire to
stay undiscovered by the objects of their
observation.

147
 The Origin
CAPTIVE COLLECTOR The Full Story: However, Jaqueline says that
Jaqueline keys in a sequence of digits at the Sobrenatural has recently learned something
keypad at the end of the corridor labeled Cinco. alarming. Assuming the PCs haven’t already
Inside is a room coated in reflective metal. ferreted out this deeper truth, the Watcher
A human-sized blot of darkness is caught at asks, “Just what is it about metahumans that
the very center, somewhat humanoid, but also you value?” In response to this and follow-up
reminiscent of a giant fly. Its edges are not quite questions, the Collector reveals the following.
distinct, as if it’s not quite real. The creature is If PCs ask questions that don’t appear in the
hooked up to an IV filled with a clear solution. following list, the Collector says, “This one does
Jaqueline explains that the IV is a sugar not know.”
Collector, page 123 solution, which keeps the captive Collector • “We value the metahumans’ memory of
sedated. Then she describes how Sobrenatural a reality where the Collectors successfully
caught it and keeps it sedated, relaying the eradicated the Earth. Of what metahumans
Rizeen Nour, page 69 anecdote of Rizeen Nour. (Rizeen’s fight with call the Crash.”
the alien left it stunned thanks to her otherwise • “Because of metahumans, we have another
oddball ability to synthesize sugar.) chance to increase the probability of our
With the PCs’ permission, she wants to own existence. Because of metahumans,
question the Collector while they observe, and thousands of consciousnesses have
then they can ask some questions of their own. experienced the divergent reality we tried to
The Watchers have learned troubling things, manifest when we first threw a planet-killing
and want some metahumans to hear the same interstellar asteroid at your world.”
firsthand. • “With a concentration and focus of those
with this recollection, we shall attempt a
QUESTIONING THE COLLECTOR reality inversion. We will invert the base
Jaqueline approaches the sedated Collector timeline where we failed with the divergent
and fiddles with the IV drip. She explains it timeline where we successfully destroyed
has taken Sobrenatural months to exactly the Earth.”
equilibrate the right amount of sugar to keep • “We gather all who experienced the Crash
the Collector tractable and talkative without that we can catch. Gathered metahumans
putting it under entirely. are brought to our transdimensional craft,
Jaqueline begins by asking leading questions, Zodion. Soon, we shall have enough to
“Where are you from?” and “Why did you come pass the threshold. Then, a new reality shall
here?” Then she tells the PCs to ask some dawn.”
question of their own. • “Zodion hides in the shadow of the
When the Collector speaks, it is in the same interstellar asteroid you call Nibiru. It
language the questioner uses to pose the cannot be reached via the Subworld. Only
question. The voice is flawless and smooth, but specially bred couriers can pass between
with a slight buzz accompanying the sibilants. Earth and Zodion, through the vacuum of
In its current sedated state, the Collector is space. Even those such as this one rely on
completely cooperative, and answers any couriers to move between this planet and
question put to it. our mothership Zodion.”
• “Collector couriers periodically gather
Surface Truth: In this way, the PCs can hear captured metahumans from collection
Knowledge From the the information noted under Knowledge From points, called silos, located throughout the
Captive Collector, the Captive Collector from the creature’s own Subworld. Whenever a Collector captures a
page 69 mouth parts. (To summarize, Collectors are metahuman, the metahuman is transferred
aliens from a divergent timeline who reached to a silo, there to await a transfer to
across the dimensions to destroy the Earth Zodion.”
in an attempt to increase their own chances • “At the current rate of gathering, a reality
of existence. Stranded in this timeline, the inversion could happen within about a
survivors are gathering metahumans because month.”
the Collectors need them.)
Jacqueline offers that previously, Sobrenatural “So, as I hope you now will agree,” Jacqueline
thought that Collectors hunted metahumans to quips, “we need to stop the Collectors.
erase them. As if the memory of something that Immediately.”
didn’t happen needed to be eradicated from
existence.

148
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
A PLAN FOR SALVATION ago, this interstellar “comet” was captured
If the PCs want to stop the impending by the sun’s gravity in a highly elliptical orbit,
destruction of the Earth, they might have becoming visible in the night sky as a faint
thoughts of their own on how to proceed. If starlike point.
so, Sobrenatural is happy to assist in a plan
that seems like it could reasonably get the PCs Direct Path: The PCs are probably not capable
to Zodion. (If PCs affiliated with the House of of space travel, which means they can’t directly
Nibiru check in with Ultra or other principals of head to Nibiru. No government or private
the House, they are directed to take immediate space company the PCs care to name has a
steps to delay or stop the Collectors while craft that can reach the highly elliptical orbit of
the House works on follow-up measures. Nibiru within a week. However, if characters
Unfortunately, the number of mission-capable do have abilities or resources that grant them
House members is severely limited.) spacefaring capability, allow them to use it. If
PCs manage to pull off the trip through space,
AVAILABLE SOBRENATURAL RESOURCES skip the next part of the adventure and proceed
Regardless of the plan the PCs eventually try, directly to Nibiru Hypothesis. Nibiru Hypothesis,
Sobrenatural offers whatever resources they page 152
can. They don’t have any metahuman Alternate Path: If the PCs don’t have another
Watchers, but they offer any supplies the PCs method, they may hit upon the idea to find
would like from the standard stores in Três a Collector silo, wait for the next courier to Três, page 68
and special materials from the artifact room come along, smuggle themselves aboard or
of Quatro, including the following specially commandeer it, and from there get a free ride Quatro, page 68
“sugared” objects. to Zodion.
One sugar-solution IV bag. This is titrated The Hard Way: PCs might decide to try to
with the same formulation as the one currently induce the captive Collector to “gather” one
dripping into the captive Collector. If properly or more characters, hoping that the target is
fitted to a helpless Collector (requiring a transferred rather than erased from existence.
successful difficulty 4 healing task), the This plan works, though characters who are so
Collector will answer up to ten or so questions gathered wake up in the silo severely depleted
before lapsing into unconsciousness for about (with two Pools of their choice at 0, and one
ten hours, assuming the IV is dripped. If it Pool with only 3 points remaining).
isn’t, the Collector wakes within about an hour, The Easy Way: PCs might also let the If PCs can’t decide on
no longer sedated, no longer cooperative, and Collector go, then follow it, possibly using the a plan themselves,
willing to fight or escape, depending on the GPS tracker. If PCs attempt this plan, it works Jaqueline suggests the
“easy way” plan.
situation in which it finds itself. after a fashion. Once the Collector is free from
Sugared ammo. Ammunition for a variety the IV drip for about an hour, it peps up. It
of firearms is available, if PCs are inclined to uses its ability to make a Subworld door in the
take any. PCs can each take up to two 15-round nearest crack in the floor, the entrance, or other
magazines filled with sugared ammo. Each opening, transferring itself directly to a silo. The
firearm attack with sugared ammo inflicts moment it does so, the GPS tracker goes dead.
standard damage on a Collector. However, a (It can’t track locations in the Subworld.) PCs
Collector damaged by such an attack is stunned have a short opportunity to follow the Collector
and loses its next turn. using the same door. It’s a difficulty 5 Speed
Sugar grenade. Each PC can take up to three task to successfully follow a Collector through
of these specially prepared hand grenades. such a transition, though if one PC makes it Hand grenade,
Attacks with these short-range thrown weapons through, everyone else can follow. page 264
inflict standard damage. However, a Collector
damaged by the attack is stunned and loses its
next turn.
GPS tracker. “Acquired” from the Brazilian COURIER RENDEZVOUS
army, this high-tech device promises to track If the PCs induce the captive Collector to
any target fitted with a subcutaneous chip using transfer them to the silo, or if they successfully
a special syringe-like applicator to any location follow it once it is released and allowed to
in the world. recover from the sugary IV drip, they end up at
the Collector Silo described here, located in the
OPTIONS FOR REACHING ZODION Subworld.
The Collector informs the PCs that Zodion is The moment PCs appear here (either through
hiding in Nibiru’s shadow. Nibiru is officially a door, or after having been transferred), they
designated as 2I/2020 E1. About two years begin falling! But they fall only about 6 feet (2 m)

149
 The Origin
before landing in a sticky, smelly mass (a rubbish clogs to which the NPC metahumans
Rubbish clog, page 76 rubbish clog). Once PCs have a moment to get are adhered, possibly requiring climbing on the
their bearings, relay the following. rough stone walls. Next, the NPCs (most of
whom have about 1 health) must be pulled free
read aloud without the PCs getting stuck again themselves.
Countless pale, floating motes illuminate a Finally, the NPCs must be sent someplace safe.
narrow vertical cavity, ascending above you Presumably the PCs aren’t “rescuing” these
at least a hundred feet into hazy darkness metahumans simply to drop them into the
and falling away below you into the same haze at the chimney’s bottom. PCs might have
unknowable blur of nothingness. You hang an idea or two on how to reduce the adhesive
between, in a chimney of dark stone as wide nature of a given clog, which would give them
as a subway tunnel. Here and there, wedged a stable aerie from which to plan their next
between the chimney’s two walls, are stinking moves.
GM intrusion: The masses of decaying foliage, animal corpses, Except for the three described under
character who gets free excrement, and—weirdly—random people. Like Confused, Belligerent Metahumans hereafter,
from the clog risks a fall you, the people seem to be stuck to the clogs the captive metahumans are too newly
into the haze below on a
of rubbish in the vertical cavity. Most are either manifested to have been contacted by the
failed difficulty 5 Speed
defense roll. Those who asleep or barely conscious. The muted sound House of Nibiru. Most come from other
fall into the haze are of buzzing echoes down from above, as if from countries, and only a couple can even speak
subject to the effects some giant insect overseer. English if the PCs attempt healing tasks to
described under Traveling rouse them. In fact, except for the potential ally
the Subworld (page 70). PCs who find themselves caught on a described hereafter, other metahumans healed
rubbish clog are literally stuck, trapped unless are too terrified and have such insignificant
they succeed on a difficulty 8 Might task to powers that they aren’t especially helpful even
extract themselves. On the other hand, the goo to save themselves.
Ethel Black: level 4, provides both nourishment and fluids for any
climbing and venom trapped creature desperate enough to try it. Potential Ally: “Hey! Over here!” PCs do find
blast as level 7; health 25 PCs who get free of a rubbish clog that one captive ready and willing to help them, if
(3 when PCs find her);
can’t fly or otherwise move about must climb they heal her: Twenty-two-year-old Ethel Black,
short-range venom
blast inflicts 7 points of the chimney walls to travel around the silo, a post-doc university student with the ability
damage and on a failed difficulty 5 climbing task to retain a hold, or to adhere to walls like a spider and shoot
Might defense roll, target safely ascend, descend, or traverse. venom blasts. Because she can control the
is dazed on its next turn If PCs climb up to check out the buzzing, adhesiveness of her skin, she isn’t stuck to a
they find a Collector seeker, though it isn’t rubbish heap, though she needs bandaging and
Collector seeker, page 125 interested in attacking unless they force it into succor (perhaps by use of the healing skill). Ethel
combat. It just seems to watch over the area. is up for helping the PCs rescue other captive
metahumans, or going along if the PCs try to
HAPPENINGS IN THE SILO transfer to the Collector courier when it arrives.
Healing, page 228 PCs who want to wait around for the courier However, as Ethel describes how she was
to arrive have about three hours to kill. In the attacked on her way back to the biology lab by
meantime, a couple of events keep PCs on their a “shadow monster” two days ago, the PCs are
toes. accosted by the only other metahumans who
are conscious and mobile in the silo.
THE COLLECTOR STRIKES BACK
Collector, page 123 If PCs followed the previously captive Collector CONFUSED, BELLIGERENT METAHUMANS
to this silo, it’s lurking nearby. It quickly finds The last group of metahumans captured
Flat Thomas, page 95 the PCs, preferably while the characters are still by Collectors and transferred to the silo
stuck to the rubbish clog, and attacks. In this include the serial killer Flat Thomas, and
Khaliq Masood: level 5; case, if a character would drop three steps on two metahumans who throw in with him
health 33; short-range the damage track because of the Collector’s because they admire his “strength.” The two
audio attack inflicts attack, they really are erased from existence. metahuman allies are Khaliq Masood, a
8 points of damage
thirty-something graphic artist with the ability
(or returns 8 points to
a Pool or as health) OTHER CAPTIVE METAHUMANS to heal (or harm) with an off-key tune, and
Twelve other metahumans are trapped with Varushka Reynolds, a warehouse worker who
Varushka Reynolds: the PCs, dispersed randomly across four other can elastically stretch her body. Varushka uses
level 5; health 30; silos. All are too hurt and befuddled to answer her ability to wedge herself into the silo and
short-range elastic questions or use their abilities. The PCs may hold Khaliq from falling.
battering attack inflicts
decide to try to free and/or heal them. This first Flat Thomas, using his ability to become
12 points of damage
requires that the characters safely reach the two-dimensional, quickly got himself unstuck,

150
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
and easily “climbed” on the walls. He availed If the PCs try to fight the courier, it simply
himself of Khaliq’s healing ability, and along departs, heading back up through the haze. If
with Varushka, is now watching for an the characters’ plan was to catch a ride on it
opportunity to escape. They don’t know that to the Collectors’ mothership, they only have a
they are in the Subworld (or even what the couple of rounds to get themselves stuck onto
Subworld is). So they don’t know they could its underbelly manually.
attempt to move to another portion of the
Subworld by dropping into the haze beneath, or Protective Hibernation: If the PCs stand (or
ascending into the haze above. lie) still, the courier collects them along with
everyone else. The creature’s belly automatically
The Attack: When the PCs show up, seemingly exudes a human-sized droplet of clear, GM intrusion: The
with some knowledge of what’s going on, Flat preservative fluid around each character in turn. attack dislodges the PC,
Thomas’s gut tells him the PCs are responsible The exuded fluid feels cool and soothing at and they fall into the
haze at the silo’s nadir.
for his capture, and that if he can just kill them, first, then renders anyone fully engulfed into
everything will be all right. Given that some or a state similar to hibernation. A passenger’s
all of the PCs are potentially hanging onto the metabolism is slowed to a fraction of normal.
side of the chimney when they are attacked, However, if they were conscious when
the possibility for an unexpected fall into the collected, they can still see through the droplet
haze is high (noted as a GM intrusion in the that provides life support and protects them
silo description). However, a PC who enters the even from the vacuum of space. A passenger
haze could retrace their route back to the silo if can move very slowly, and even attempt to
they survive the unexpected Subworld travel. speak short sentences of no more than five
or so words on a successful difficulty 3 Might
Negotiation Is Possible: The PCs could try to task. All other tasks attempted by the PC are
talk some sense into the sociopath and his hindered by three steps. That includes any
allies, though Flat Thomas’s presence makes attempt to struggle free from the droplet, which
it difficult. If he was neutralized, the other two requires a difficulty 4 Might-based task. Those
would surrender and likely do as the PCs ask, as who do so are no longer adhered, and will not
long as it seemed that the PCs legitimately tried be transported by the courier.
to get them to safety.
However, reaching an accord with Flat Interplanetary Trip: PCs who become
Thomas requires a successful difficulty 7 passengers witness the courier finish collecting
persuasion task, eased by one step if the PCs metahumans, adhering each one to its belly.
describe the nature of the Subworld and how Then it passes back up through the haze
escape might be possible. If PCs are successful, to enter another location of the Subworld
Flat Thomas even offers to join them in their resembling the bole of a massive oak tree, too
strange task. However, he’s always looking out large to have ever grown in the base timeline.
for himself, and won’t hesitate to betray them It finally emerges from a crevice of a mountain
at the first opportunity. surrounded by snow and ice (located in the
Transantarctic Mountains in Antarctica of the
COURIER ARRIVAL base timeline, though PCs probably have no
Within about three hours of the PCs’ arrival in way to know that). It pauses on an icy peak for
the silo, the Collector courier arrives. a few moments, unfurling glowing blue wings, Collector courier, page 76
then launches skyward with all the force of a
read aloud chemical rocket. The Earth falls away below,
A shadowy insect the size of a city bus until the characters find themselves in space,
materializes out of the haze above. It’s sort adhered to a living alien spacecraft.
of like a dragonfly with wings folded back, In their slowed metabolic state, everything
except for the dozens and dozens of legs on its seems dreamy and distant, though PCs can still
underbelly. As soon as it appears, it begins to feel the constant tug of acceleration. The days
“harvest” the stuck metahumans, pulling them they spend racing toward the interplanetary
free from where they’re adhered with its many location past the orbit of Mars at high G—first
legs, only to stick them onto its long abdomen. acceleration, then deceleration—go by relatively
A human-sized droplet of clear goo seals each quickly thanks to that same suppressed biology.
person in a protective transparent bump. Unless a PC does something untoward, they
don’t have to worry about exposure to vacuum.
Soon enough, their destination comes into
view.

151
 The Origin
most areas on the living ship, which are usually
bulbous, rounded lobes dozens (or hundreds)
Zodion is a living starcraft catapulted across the centuries of feet in diameter. Because gravity is generated
and dimensions by a galaxy-sized mechanism. The to maximize useful surface area, a character
mechanism was created in a divergent future timeline by could walk entirely around the interior of most
chambers inside Zodion.
aliens that humans call Collectors.
Zodion’s Purpose: Zodion’s original job was
to guide the rocky “bullet” of Nibiru to hit the
NIBIRU HYPOTHESIS Earth. It failed. However, Zodion’s crew is on
Assuming the PCs take no actions to prevent track to redress that failure.
it, the courier decelerates as it approaches If the Collectors are left undisturbed, they
Timeline Inversion Zodion, then finally drifts into the spacelock. will achieve their timeline inversion goal within
Goal, page 122 From there, passengers are unloaded as a month. Every week, couriers transfer about
indicated in the area 1 (spacelock) description. fifteen newly gathered metahumans to Zodion’s
interior, where they are plugged into the
10. Inverse Observer, ZODION Inverse Observer, joining the nearly thousand
page 157 Zodion is a living starcraft catapulted across metahumans already plugged in.
the centuries and dimensions by a galaxy-sized
Zodion: level 11; mechanism. The mechanism was created in a Zodion’s Crew Complement: Many Collectors
Armor 20; four divergent future timeline by aliens that humans were transported to Earth by couriers, which
300,000-mile (4,800 km) call Collectors. The same mechanism hurled means the mothership is undercrewed.
range lasers inflict 21
the massive piece of interstellar debris at the However, that still leaves dozens of Collectors
points of damage each
Earth. and seekers, plus a handful of behemoths
and other special Collector breeds on Zodion.
Conditions Aboard Zodion: Collectors PCs who try to prevent Zodion’s purpose find
and humans have similar environmental the Collectors still on board to be capable
requirements. Other than being a little thicker defenders.
and warmer, the atmosphere on board is
compatible with the PCs’ human needs. Routes to PC Success: PCs have many potential
Artificial gravity is generated by layers of avenues for stopping the Collectors, though
biologically specialized tissue in the floors of some are likely beyond their ability. For

152
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE

instance, if they were powerful enough, the PCs 2. COURIER PORT

could try to destroy the spacecraft. However, PCs can observe this situation even while
Zodion is level 11 and would be difficult to adhered and stuck within hibernation droplets.
overcome. PCs could also try to take the interior
of the craft by force. If they’re powerful enough, read aloud
they could manage the task, though it would be Countless pale, floating motes illuminate
quite a challenge. this massive, oblong chamber a couple of
The PCs would be better served trying to hundred feet in diameter. The area is rounded,
remain inconspicuous so that they can learn possessing no distinct floor, walls, or ceiling,
more about the situation. For instance, PCs composed of a craggy substance resembling
could discover the dimension-ravaged engine, elephant skin. Several bus-sized dragonfly-like 9. Dimension-ravaged
which, if destroyed, would end the threat posed creatures perch at various locations around Engine, page 156
by the Collectors. Alternatively (or perhaps the chamber. One’s abdomen is dappled with
concurrently), PCs can discover where the a dozen glistening bumps in which tiny human
metahumans are being concentrated in the shapes float. One by one, the droplets are
chamber of the Inverse Observer. There, they detached by spidery, camel-sized creatures
could unplug metahumans in large numbers, or drenched in shadow. Once detached, the
even attempt to destroy the Inverse Observer. cargo is carried out a much smaller throat-like
Given that the PC metahumans have a wide passage than the one that opens onto hard
array of abilities, they’ll likely hit on something vacuum opposite it. Here and there across
else that also works. the curving floor of the chamber, house-sized
growths bulge, though their purpose isn’t
1. SPACELOCK immediately obvious.
A tremendous mouthlike prehensile spacelock
accepts each courier traveling from Earth, If PCs wait before attempting to free
swallowing it and peristaltically transferring themselves, they can watch the other
the courier down its throat to the port in metahuman-laden Collector courier continue to Collector courier, page 76
chamber 2. The spacelock keeps a pressurized be offloaded by six camel-sized spider-shaped
atmosphere inside Zodion and vacuum Collector drones. The droplets are then carried Collector drone: level 4
outside. It recognizes couriers attempting to out of the chamber. PCs have about thirty
get in and out and swallows or disgorges them, minutes before the drone troop returns and
as appropriate. It could also be induced to begins to offload their courier, if that’s how PCs
ingest something that nuzzles up to it on the arrived on Zodion. If PCs do nothing, they are
exterior (a difficulty 1 Might task) or that enters in turn removed from their courier, still sealed
the throat from chamber 2. within their metabolism-lowering droplets, and
carried to chamber 10. Chamber 10, page 157

153
 The Origin
Characters who wish to disembark before then chamber and transporting them to one of
Zodion digestion must succeed on a difficulty 4 Might-based task Zodion’s digestion sacs.
sac, page 155 to free an ally or themselves (self-liberation is If a PC drops an object in Zodion, a beetle
hindered by three steps if a character is stuck grabs it and bears it away, usually to a digestion
inside). Successful escape allows a PC to return sac.
to their pre-hibernation status within a couple of
rounds as the fluid evaporates. 4. CRYSTAL PODS
read aloud
Collector seeker, page 125 Port Security: Two Collector seekers watch over The fleshy surfaces of this chamber are
the chamber. They are not initially alarmed by pocked with chunks of swirled yellow and
PC activity because they’re used to sensing green crystal. A high-pitched hum pervades
metahumans in the port. However, if the PCs the area. Beetles swarm through the area,
attack a courier or a seeker, or interfere with a apparently randomly milling.
drone transporting a metahuman, the seekers
Crystal: level 4 sound the alarm (which sounds to PCs like a The crystal outcrops studding the area vary
horrific buzzing, as of thousands of flies). in height between 3 feet (1 m) and 15 feet
GM intrusion: The If the alarm sounds, the two seekers target (5 m). They audibly hum, but also give off a
character senses a psychic the characters, as do the three couriers still psychic emanation. One of the PCs might be
stirring, and becomes in the chamber. If a fight in the chamber lasts vulnerable. If a PC is affected, they begin to
vulnerable to the psychic
for more than about a minute, a Collector hallucinate a whispering voice speaking to
effect described in the
Crystal Pods chamber. behemoth arrives. them in an unknown language. The voice wants
the PC to do something, but it’s impossible
Collector behemoth, Feeding Hub: The house-sized outgrowths to say what. It’s too alien a concept. Until the
page 124 allow couriers and other Collector breeds to PC leaves the area, and for about a minute
refuel. With investigation, PCs notice that after they leave, the character is dazed, which
couriers, drones, and seekers crawl or fly over hinders any tasks they attempt.
GM intrusion: A to a growth, then make skin-to-skin contact for
Collector pushes or about a minute. When they break contact, they 5. SUBNEXUS
throws a character seem more energetic as they return to whatever read aloud
into the throat of the
they were doing before. The passage divides and branches into a dozen
spacelock, which begins
to expel the character If a PC tries it, they sense the slight stirring much smaller, artery-like tunnels, each about the
into space. The PC of a psychic connection along with the physical size of an open manhole. These side branches
must succeed on a contact. With a successful difficulty 3 Intellect are illuminated with the same floating, glowing
difficulty 7 Might task task, the PC can firm up the connection, after motes as the main chamber. Bustling beetle-like
to pull themself out which they receive a gradual drip of metabolic creatures constantly enter and emerge from the
before this happens. energy. This minute-long process grants the PC many smaller branches.
a free recovery roll.
Effects of Vacuum,
In addition to the primary chambers that
page 277 3. BEETLES IN THE MAIN PASSAGE are 100 or more feet in diameter shown on the
read aloud Zodion interior map, there are hundreds of
A clear, throat-like passage extends through the other much smaller corridors and chambers,
craft, lit by floating, glowing motes. reachable from this subnexus.
Chihuahua-sized creatures resembling beetles If PCs want to follow a beetle clutching a
constantly scurry along this main path. withered human limb, or simply want to explore
Zodion’s interior, the subnexus is the place
PCs can easily follow Collector drones to start. As a PC explorer soon discovers, the
carrying offloaded metahumans along this artery-like tunnels are living and elastic. They
10. Inverse Observer, corridor toward the Inverse Observer. stretch to accommodate creatures as large
page 157 The Zodion beetles ignore PCs as long as as behemoths. But even for creatures small
PCs ignore them in turn. They seem industrious enough to fit, the tunnels peristaltically propel
Zodion beetle: level 1; in their movement, routing around PCs and creatures along them. This can be discomfiting,
six or more can attack Collectors in their path. Some clutch objects but isn’t usually dangerous.
as a single level 4 in their mandibles, as if transporting them. The reachable locations are often too alien
creature that bites for
Objects include shattered insect egg fragments, for PCs to understand their purpose. However,
8 points of damage
bits of swirled yellow-green crystal, organlike you can use the following table to inspire
growths of various shapes and textures, and additional encounters.
from time to time, withered human limbs. In For each few minutes that the PCs spend
this latter case, the beetles are carrying away exploring the subnexus tunnels, choose (or
dross accumulating in the Inverse Observer’s roll 1d6) to determine what they encounter, or

154
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
come up with something weird yourself. BACK TO EARTH?
If PCs follow beetles with human parts, they Over the course of a week, one or two
end up at one of the digestion sacs as opposed Collector couriers arrive, laden with more
to a random location. metahuman cargo, while one or two that
have rested in the port for the same period
1d6 Encounter of time disembark through the spacelock,
headed for Earth. Collector couriers are
1 Test Group. Group of six abominations Abomination, page 315
about as intelligent as smart dogs, and PCs
modified with organic tech modules that
that used one to get to Zodion could try Chronophage, page 317
pulse and murmur.
to induce one in the Courier Port to return
2 Unique Subject. Chamber contains an them the same way. If the PCs lack a special
unconscious metahuman of enormous ability to communicate or mentally control
size—about 100 feet (30 m)—in a courier, they can still manage it; it’s a level Enormous metahuman:
diameter. Most of the metahuman’s 3 Intellect-based task, during which the PCs level 7, Speed defense as
bulk is excess flesh; their head, arms, can press themselves to an unladen courier’s level 2; health 100;
and legs are lost in the bulk. Beetles melee attacks reach
abdomen. If successful, the protective fluid
a short range
swarm the body, sometimes taking nips. forms around the PC, encasing them in a
3 Study of Foes. Clutch of three human-sized droplet. Once a courier senses
chronophages captured in a block of its cargo is “ready,” it heads back to Earth.
organic crystal (level 3). (If freed, the
chronophages go after the nearest
Collectors, creating a diversion.) 6. BEHEMOTH CRECHE
read aloud
4 Imperception Oscillator. Floating
An almost subsonic buzz vibrates through the
yellowish-green crystal that impossibly
corridor. The sound emanates from a series of
has nineteen equally matched sides
concavities in the walls, which are darker and
and eight angles; studying it hurts
textured differently than the regular flesh in the
human minds and requires observers
corridor.
to succeed on a difficulty 5 Intellect
defense roll or suffer 2 points of
Two Collector behemoths rest here, each Collector behemoth,
Intellect damage (ignores Armor) each
partially embedded in the walls so perfectly page 124
round until they can push the awful
that the parts of the shadowy creatures that
understanding from their minds.
show at first seem like weirdly textured parts GM intrusion: The
5 Divergent Quotient. Mushroomlike of the surface. If PCs leave the room quietly character looking at
fungal growths dot this chamber, (a difficulty 4 stealth task for each character one of the weirdly
shedding the glowing motes like textured walls notices
that comes within immediate distance of
dandruff. These are the source of the the minor movement
a behemoth), they can get away without of an abdomen, one of
glowing motes that float everywhere disturbing the behemoths. Otherwise, the several arms, or a wing,
aboard the ship. All is well unless roused creatures attack. and suddenly realizes
a growth is touched, whereupon it they’re seeing a massive
reveals itself as an ambulatory creature creature stuck in the wall.
with stats similar to a mi-go, but with a
motive of aggressive self-defense.
6 Zodion Digestion Sac. This 100-foot (30 Mi-go, page 342
m) spherical chamber is a third filled
with greenish fluid that smells acidic.
(Because of the artificial gravity here, the
liquid rests on all walls except the entry,
leaving an open space in the middle.)
It’s essentially identical to stomach acid.
Anything organic tossed in is broken
down in a matter of hours. A helpless
PC tossed in takes 1 point of damage
each minute they remain in the pool.

155
 The Origin
7. BIRTHING CHAMBER The Collectors use the fusing mirror to fuse
read aloud Collector beetles into captive metahumans,
Thousands of eggs of every size fill this large creating entities like those described in the
chamber’s periphery. Dozens of egg husks, previous entry.
some large enough to hold beetles, others large
enough to have once contained behemoths, 9. DIMENSION-RAVAGED ENGINE
collect in the chamber’s empty center. A read aloud
handful of beetles carry the fragments away, The fleshlike surface of this chamber is ravaged
clearing the space for more hatching. along a line of cancerous, greenly glowing
pustules cutting diagonally across the chamber.
About every ten minutes, fleshy crane-like The line bisects several roughly heart-like
arms transfer one or more eggs from the edges organs hanging from the ceiling from a web
of the chamber into the center. The transferred of artery-like fibers. The undamaged organs
Collector-kin, page 122 eggs begin to shake and crack, and about a vibrate so rapidly that they are blurred, and
round later, one or more Collector-kin emerge. difficult to look at as if they exist in multiple
When choosing Unless a Collector or a Collector behemoth potential states at once. The damaged organs
a Collector-kin emerges, or an autonomous security response are easily visible, infected with cancerous
metahuman, pick a level has been triggered, PCs are ignored. growth, and in many cases, apparently dead.
5–7 metahuman from
The shapes of several spidery, camel-sized
Chapter 8: Metahumans
(page 80) or some other Autonomous Security Response: Any time an creatures drenched in shadow are scattered
list of metahumans, autonomous security alert is issued, a force of across the length of the line of damage, cutting
such as those described Collector-kin is birthed here, requiring about away dead flesh and spraying a golden mist on
in Claim the Sky. a minute to hatch. The force consists of one that which still lives.
Collector, one Collector seeker, and a couple of
Collector, page 123 previously captured metahumans, hibernating Well over a thousand individual engine
Collector seeker, page 125 in special eggs. These “invested metahumans” modules—the heartlike organs—hang at
each have a beetle fused seamlessly into their various heights in the chamber. PCs who linger
If characters manage flesh. The combined being acts in the interests can sense a furled power within each organ,
to destroy 100 module of the Collectors. These metahumans can be though less so in the diseased ones, and none
units, the engine lacks considered Collector-kin. (About twenty such in the dead ones.
enough energy to
fused metahumans hibernate here, ready to be The Collector drones in the room are focused
power the inversion.
activated as part of a security response, two or on triage, trying to keep the cancerous growth
Engine module: level 1 three at a time.) from spreading, cure the infected modules, and
cull the dead ones. That’s because this chamber
GM intrusion: A 8. FUSING MIRROR is actually Zodion’s engine, and the engine is in
damaged engine module read aloud trouble. The cancer is getting ahead of efforts
explodes, inflicting 10 The flesh-like surface of this chamber is to stem it.
points of damage on the
interrupted by two equally spaced circular The fact is, the Collectors have a limited
character, or 5 points
on a successful difficulty patches of smooth, reflective material on the amount of time to pull off their plan. Within a
6 Speed defense roll floor, each about a dozen strides in diameter. year, too much damage will have occurred in
this chamber to power the inversion. Luckily
Unlike other chambers the PCs have seen, this for the Collectors, they should have enough
one is clear of beetles and other Collector-kin. metahumans to execute their plan in far less
time. Unless the PCs do something.
Dimensional Fusing: If a single object is placed
on each mirrored surface, after about a round, Destroy the Engine: If the PCs figure out this
the two objects are fused into a single object chamber’s purpose (either because they get a
with characteristics of both objects. This could Collector to tell them, or because they succeed
present as the objects simply appearing to on a difficulty 7 insight, bio-engineering,
be glued together along a seam that doesn’t or similar Intellect-based task), they could
actually exist (because the objects really are decide to destroy it, one module at a time. It
a single object now), or present as a chaotic isn’t immediately clear to the PCs how many
jumble of surfaces and characteristics. modules they would have to destroy to render
A living creature could also become fused with the engine unusable. All they can do is try.
an object placed on the other surface, or another Destroying a single module requires a
living creature on the other surface. The fusing character to spend three turns of hacking
isn’t lethal, but if two creatures come to inhabit a or blasting away, or less if multiple PCs
single combined body (shaped as you determine), help. However, if PCs attempt this task, the
only one mind can control it at a time. Inverse Observer notices. In the face of the

156
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
sudden power loss, it decides it has enough Here is where the Collectors hope to invert GM intrusion (group):
metahumans connected and attempts the reality more to their liking. The eyelike entity A security force arrives
inversion early. If that happens, reality begins to (the “avatar”) is the focal point of the Inverse about a minute after the
response was triggered.
obviously fray. Thus, PCs have enough warning Observer, but the entire chamber is connected
to encourage some or all of them to stop to it, chrysalises and all, at least as the GM intrusion (group):
destroying engine modules in order to address encounter begins. If PCs continue pulling
what’s happening in chamber 10. Unless PCs enter while directly pursued by comatose people out of
chrysalises or directly
a security force, their arrival isn’t immediately
attack the Inverse
Engine Protectors: PCs are distracted from their noticed. They can creep around and investigate Observer, it finally takes
engine-destroying efforts by the autonomous chrysalises, possibly learning what’s going on if notice of the PCs, uproots
security response that periodically arrives they haven’t already. itself, and attacks.
to deal with them after the characters have
destroyed two engine modules. Collector Defense: If the PCs begin to “free”
captive metahumans, they notice minor
10. INVERSE OBSERVER tremors ripple through the chamber. An
read aloud autonomous security response was initiated.
Drifting, glowing motes illuminate a massive
cylindrical chamber of living tissue. The curving Chrysalises: Just over half the chrysalises are Chrysalis: level 3
walls are packed in hundreds of translucent, filled, containing nearly a thousand captured
human-sized chrysalises, reminiscent of butterfly metahumans. PCs investigating an occupied
pupae two orders of magnitude too big. Hints chrysalis can peel back the translucent fleshy
of human silhouettes are visible in them, curled material to find a gaunt, comatose human
in hibernating, fetal positions. The entire far end inside, plugged in via filmy webbing that covers
of the cylinder is flat and glows like a display their denuded scalps.
screen. Though distorted and hazed, the display The chrysalis offers hydration and nutrition
shows an Earth shattered and burning as if hit by to each unconscious captive, but not enough.
a massive interstellar asteroid. Many have withered and died since their arrival.
Next to the reflective surface, rooted on Once plugged in via the filmy webbing, the
artery-like tentacles dozens of feet in length, captive minds take up residence in a psychic
sits a gargantuan, disembodied alien eye. The construct visualizing the memory of the Crash.
eye stares into the distorted image, fascinated An image of that construct exists externally on
by the burning world. the screen at the far end of the room. When

157
 The Origin
that image becomes crystal clear, once a “Freeing” Captive Metahumans: The minds of
threshold number of metahumans are plugged the vast majority of the captive metahumans
in, the inversion begins. are fused with the construct and are beyond
A character with supernatural saving. They become effectively brain-dead if
information-gathering abilities might be able pulled from the chrysalises. However, if PCs
to suss this out, or a Collector could be find a method to transport nearly a thousand
induced to describe the situation to a people back to Earth (while still in their
character with mental abilities. chrysalises) they can probably find a way (with
The Psychic Construct: Alternatively, a PC the House of Nibiru’s help) to save many of
that experiments with an empty chrysalis them after all.
Optional Rule: Horror
Mode, page 283
could get in, allow the webbing to creep over
(and depilate) their scalp, and be mentally Early Inversion: At some point after PCs begin
propelled into the construct. This experience interfering in this chamber or in the engine
feels timeless and serene. Minds have some chamber, the Inverse Observer realizes that it’s
autonomy, at least at first. In the construct, now or never. It initiates the reality inversion
it’s pretty easy to understand everything the early. Introduce the following read-aloud as
Collectors hope to achieve, as the PC becomes a group GM intrusion. In addition, consider
Chronophage, page 317 part of the Inverse Observer. As long as an ally ramping up tension by triggering a version
pulls the character out of a chrysalis, no lasting of horror mode (as reality begins to fray and
Chronophages ease harm is done to the PC. (A PC trying to escape invert) so that GM intrusions are triggered on a
all tasks, attacks, from the construct without outside assistance 1 or 2 instead of just 1.
and defenses against must succeed on a difficulty 8 Intellect task.)
Collectors by three steps,
Allies of a Sort: If PCs seem overmatched, they read aloud
and against metahumans
by two steps. might look for allies. A character who becomes A sensation like someone walking on your
“one” with the Inverse Observer might try to grave crawls over you. Objects, structures,
9. Dimension-ravaged learn what the Collectors most fear. With a other creatures, your own body, and even the air
Engine, page 156 successful difficulty 8 Intellect task, the character itself begins to stretch and warp. The sensation
learns that Collectors fear entities known as is subtle, but seems to grow stronger. It’s as if
Inverse Observer avatar: chronophages. Zodion is equipped with a sort the threads making up existence itself are being
level 8, Speed defense of “chronophage jammer” that keeps the beings re-knit into a new reality. A reality, you suddenly
as level 5 due to size; from finding Zodion. A subset of just seven realize, that doesn’t contain you.
health 40; Armor 5; four
specific engine pods in the dimension-ravaged
short-range tentacle
attacks inflict 10 points of engine keep this jamming active. Inversion, if triggered, doesn’t complete
damage each, plus one A PC who gets free of the Inverse Observer immediately. PCs have many rounds or even
very-long-range psychic knows exactly which engine pods to destroy. If minutes to prevent it. As long as at least one
blast inflicts 8 points those seven engine pods are destroyed, three PC or an ally remains active and can keep
of Intellect damage chronophages appear on the ship within a working on defeating the Collectors, there’s
(ignores Armor) on failed few rounds, targeting the avatar of the Inverse hope. However, the inversion does noticeably
Intellect defense roll
Observer first, then all the chrysalises next. PCs grow in effect, mechanically demonstrated by
who interfere are also on the menu. increasing the magnitude of the GM intrusion
range (escalating the GM intrusion range to 1
to 3, then 1 to 4, and so on), highlighting the
need to act.
If PCs defeat the avatar of the Inverse
Observer, destroy engine power, release at least
50% of the captives, somehow destroy Zodion,
or otherwise scuttle the Collectors’ plans,
inversion fails.

The Big Eye: The massive eye on its tentacled

stalks is the Inverse Observer avatar. If PCs
attack it, free a dozen or more metahumans, or
get a good start on destroying engine modules
in the chamber 9 entry, the eye pulls free of
its moorings and attacks. As it does so, it also
pays attention to the screen, especially if an
early inversion is active.

158
 THRESHOLD TO APOCALYPSE
CONCLUDING THE ADVENTURE it to Zodion and attempting to stop it, PCs have
Even if the PCs win the day and the Collectors’ another chance to stop the inversion.
plan to invert reality is foiled, few people on
Earth realize how close they came to being If PCs Succeed: The PCs each earn 1 XP if they
relegated to a timeline where they died two make it into Zodion, 4 XP if they defeat the
years ago. Of course, the PCs know it, as do Inverse Observer avatar (saving the Earth),
their allies, possibly including the House of and up to 4 XP if they contrive a method to
Nibiru and Sobrenatural. save some substantial portion of captive
metahumans in chrysalises.
If PCs Fail: If the worst happens, and the PCs fall Things are a little chaotic, especially if
to the Collectors, all is not lost. If the PCs were the PCs defeat the Inverse Observer. The
defeated, instead of dying when they descended characters still have some time to head
three steps on the damage track, they were back to Earth using a Collector carrier if they Back to Earth?, page 155
quickly transferred to a chrysalis, and enter the act quickly. They can also attempt some
psychic construct. After a period of at least 10 other scheme. If all else fails, a metahuman
hours, NPC reinforcements pull the PCs from released from a chrysalis has a powerful mass
their chrysalises. The reinforcements include teleportation ability (level 10), and can teleport
an unexpected alliance between Rainheist, Lee about twenty people at once, even all the way Rainheist, page 43
Slaughter, and Wild Child (who used her reality to Earth. The PCs can probably convince them Lee Slaughter, page 103
warping powers to get the three to Zodion). to use it to attempt an evacuation, though Wild Child, page 109
With some healing cyphers provided by the many trips back and forth would still be
reinforcements, plus 1 XP each for having made required if this was their sole solution.

159
 The Origin

GLOSSARY AND INDEX

S
omeone who knows a little bit about the setting of The IRID: A covert government agency (Idiosyncratic Research
Origin ends up discovering many concepts presented and Intelligence Directorate) operating in the United
in this glossary. However, sometimes that knowledge Kingdom that studies metahumans.
is only visible on the surface. Deeper mysteries can be MAD: Covert government agency (Metahuman Affairs
discovered over the course of a campaign. Department) that hunts metahumans.
Manifest: After the entire process of becoming a metahuman
Artifact: An extraordinary device, usually one that could only is complete, and someone comes into new special
be constructed by someone with metahuman-level genius. abilities, they are sometimes said to have manifested.
Clearwater Register, The: A tabloid magazine and website Meta: Informal usage/slang for metahuman.
reporting on the existence of people with strange Metahuman: A person who has gained unusual new abilities,
powers hiding among regular people. whether minor or major in scope.
Collectors: Alien beings that seem intent on erasing Metahuman phenomenon: All people, creatures, groups,
metahumans. Some metahumans think they are made- and aliens associated with the incursion of metahumans.
up boogeymen. Monster: A previously non-intelligent animal that manifests
Crash, the: A memory of the world ending that seems as extraordinary abilities. Akin to metahumans, but as
real as any other memory, other than the obvious fact creatures outside of human society, they often become
that the world is still intact. Recalling the Crash usually especially dangerous to people.
precedes becoming a metahuman. Nibiru: An interstellar comet that was captured by the sun’s
Cypher, divergent timeline: Out-of-place objects that grant gravity in a highly eccentric orbit. Visible in the night sky
users a single-use benefit. as a faint starlike point. Those who remember the Crash
Dark web: A part of the internet that isn’t visible to search recall it hitting the Earth.
engines and that requires specific internet tools to access. Oumuamua: Nibiru’s predecessor, a fast-moving interstellar
Divergent timeline: Short-lived alternate dimensions that object that entered, then left, the solar system, giving
usually exist only briefly before collapsing. rise to all sorts of stories about alien spacecraft that are
Flameout: A metahuman who harms or kills themself most likely incorrect.
using their own powers might be called a flameout. Subworld, the: A collection of dying divergent timelines that
Alternatively, when someone’s power twists out of their cling to existence, in which all sorts of unlikely objects
control, they are said to suffer a flameout. and creatures can be found. Seemingly in a constant
House of Nibiru: A group of metahumans who look out for state of fraying at the edges.
each other and the larger metahuman community. Takes Watcher: People who go looking for metahumans, but only
its name from the interstellar body that recently buzzed for the purposes of recording their actions, never to
the solar system. interfere. (Usually employed by a group based in Brazil
House, the: Informal reference to the House of Nibiru. called Sobrenatural.)

Cyphers Artifacts
Call Collector.................................................24 Metahuman manifestation: aura.................26 Collector lure.................................................31
Call Collector behemoth...............................24 Omniscience................................................. 27 Collector repellent.........................................31
Confer Crash memory..................................24 Play dead....................................................... 27 Dematerialization suit...................................31
Corpse mic....................................................24 Rift.................................................................28 Doombringer................................................ 32
Dimension subtractor.................................. 25 Rift seal.........................................................28 IRID neutralizer............................................ 32
Divergent giant............................................. 25 Shatter memory palace................................28 Lock neutralizer............................................ 32
Divergent prison........................................... 25 Shifting trajectory.........................................29 MAD suppression cuffs................................ 32
Divergent self................................................ 25 Spatial transfer.............................................29 Plasma eyes.................................................. 33
Eclipse........................................................... 25 Steal recollection..........................................29 Reality deformer........................................... 33
Exclusion....................................................... 25 Ticket to yesterday........................................29 Shield gauntlet.............................................. 33
Find the answer............................................26 Timeline collapser........................................29 Subworld key................................................. 33
Instant flood.................................................26 Timeline stunt double..................................29 Subworld shades.......................................... 33
Invulnerability...............................................26 Timeline support..........................................30 Tactical visor.................................................34
Know your nemesis......................................26 Vaporize .......................................................30 Terahertz scanner.........................................34
Light..............................................................26 Vehicle...........................................................30 Unseen coveralls..........................................34
Lost and found.............................................26 Weapon.........................................................30

160