IMMORTAL: THE QUICKENING 20TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Foreword Highlander: The Gathering was written back possible, and to clear up some things about in 1993 and is one of the most loved fan Immortals. I also choose to ignore the bad supplements. Unfortunately for us some 20 Highlander movies, and to keep the good fluff in years have passed since edition 2.5 was made, check, while preserving the original game's and 3rd edition never came out. With the rise of concepts. This means the game's Immortals are the 20th anniversary editions of Vampire, slightly different than the ones in series and Werewolf, and Mage, I thought it would be a movies. good idea to redo the rules for modern times. "Immortal: The Gathering 20th Anniversary Some of the things changed in this are the Edition” is compiled from Hank Driskill and John virtues system. Originally Immortals didn't have Gavigan’s “Highlander: The Gathering” and virtues like humans, however with the creation Mark Antill’s “The Highlander Players Guide.", of new editions of Vampire, this changed, and R's Revised Edition. This net supplement Highlander didn't. So I have introduced the would not be possible without their hard work. concept of Dark Quickening, which functions This version brings together the best similarly to Torment from Demon, but transfers elements of the work of these gentlemen into between Immortals after a death. This has one sourcebook. It also places the supplement added a sense of morality that is well known to in step with the 20th Anniversary Edition books, the World of Darkness, and now Immortals are both mechanically and thematically. This not excluded from this. version is somewhat darker than the previous While writing this I tried to preserve as much versions. as the original concepts (and wonderful text) as Prologue Calcutta, not so long ago… very well. So after that you came out of the tomb, only to have a mob in Khulna try to stone “Please, sit down. Yes, I know that you have you to death. questions about what is going on. I will do the “No, this is not the afterlife. You did not fail best I can to answer your questions. your karma — at least not the way you think “I have been able to piece together what you did. This is not a hell. Well, not technically happened. The people around you thought you at any rate. were dead. They thought you had died with “You are alive. You breathe, you eat, you your husband. They buried you both together. sweat, you sleep. You are very alive. You are Yes? At some point not long after they closed more alive than the people walking the street the stones over you, you woke up. You found outside. Yes, we are in Calcutta. You, and I, we yourself in a cold and dark place next to a dead are not like them. I know you do not body. I know what that is like. Really, I do. understand. This is a lot to absorb all at once. “So then you just drifted off, you fell asleep You can give it time. as it were. “You have been given a legacy, a birth right. “Until last week, when you woke up again. You and I are special people. Before you ‘died’, The tomb had cracked open and you found you were just like other women. You would yourself in this strange world that you do not grow old, get sick and...ah...bleed. The recognize that looks like it was laid over the one difference was this legacy in you. It was like a you come from. Believe me, I understand that spark or an ember. “That ember blazed into a fire with your will not be so kind. Most will simply want to kill death. The fire in you is called the Quickening. I you to take your power. have too. That is what you felt in the market “What power do you have? Besides our place before you saw me. healing and no longer aging, as you take the “Eh? Yes, all your wounds have healed power of other Immortals you will be able to quickly. That is part of what the fire in you run faster, be stronger, heal even more quickly. means. You heal quickly. You will never get sick. Those are just some of our potential powers. You will never get old. You will be stronger, “Immortals battle each other. It is just the quicker and more alive than anyone else around fact of our existence. Someday, only one you. So, no, the people in the market could not Immortal will be alive. This Immortal will have have killed you with the stoning. all the power of all the Immortals who ever “Yes, I don’t have to worry about those lived. This is ‘the Prize.’ No one is certain exactly things either. what the Prize is, but it means great power. “How old am I? That is very perceptive of “Unfortunately, we are not alone on this you. Yes. I stopped aging and I am much older world. There are other supernatural beings. You than I look. I told you to call me Juan Mendoza. will probably meet some of them sooner-or- My real name is Teopixquitletl. I am the last later. High Priest the Feathered Serpent God from a “There are vampires. There are werewolves vanished empire. I am more than 500 years old. and werecats. There are sorcerers and shamans “Yes, we are very separate people. No, I have and people who practice a clockwork magic that never worshipped Allah. So why are we both only an accountant could love. There are like this? ghosts. There are strange creatures whose souls “I have no idea. I wish I did know. I wish had are dreams. There are hunters who want all of a better answer for you. It is the mystery of our the above - and that includes you and me - to existence. None of us knows why we are like die. They all have their societies and groups. this. There are others of us. Not many, though. They all have their own battles and causes. You Immortals have always been few in numbers. may even work and fight among them. But you “Yes, your right. There is a down side to this. will never really be a part of them. The way of In addition to never growing old, you will never the Immortal is the way of the lonely warrior. again...ahem...bleed. You cannot have children. “The only thing all the supernatural beings The choice was taken from all of us. have in common is the belief that the end of the world is at hand. It means different things to “Moreover, saying we are Immortal is over each of them. To us, to Immortals, it means we stating it. We can and do die. If - for any reason are now in the time of the Gathering. The - lose your head, you die. There is more. Gathering is when the last Immortals on Earth Immortals kill each other - cut off each other’s fight each other. The last Immortals in the heads - to take each other’s power. If another world kill each other off so that one of them will Immortal cuts off you head, he gets your power. win the Prize. You came out of you tomb in time Yes, that is why I carry this sword. Swords are for the Gathering. But do not worry too much. I probably the best weapon to use to cut off will help train you to defend yourself. someone head, if you know how to use one. “This is a lot to absorb all at once. Let's go Once, a long time ago, this sword belonged to a shopping. Calcutta has changed less than you Spaniard named Cortez.” might image sense your death. Along the way “Why didn’t I cut off your head? Well, for you can ask me any question about the last 150 lack of a better term, it would have been rude. years - ah, yes, the English are long gone - and Someone taught me the ways of life of about being an Immortal. We’ll pick you up a Immortals. It is only right I return the favor to sword. In fact, I know just the place run by this the world. However, most Immortals you meet mortal death-cultist fellow.” “You know, your smile, it reminds me of something. There is this painting of Kali is Delhi. You smile just like her. “Why are we Immortal? I told you, I do not know. “Ah, why do I think we are Immortal? Because some god wants it that way.” Chapter 1: Introduction “In the end, there can be only one.” – Ramirez, Highlander, the Movie. Immortals. The Storyteller should make certain Once upon a time, there was an interesting that the Immortal character is part of the group movie. This movie was about a Scotsman who for a reason. “Because it’s cool” is not sufficient could not – unless decapitated – die. There reason for an Immortal player character to aid were others like him. They killed each other. the other player characters. It is best if the They became more powerful amid a Immortal character has ties to other members pyrotechnics display. It came down to the of the group. She might be “related” to a Garou. Scotsman and a creature of evil. Alternatively, she might be the ally of a Vampire The Scotsman won.