Sample File Sample File Written by Caleb Stokes, © 2015

Sample file Sample file Written by Caleb Stokes, © 2015. Illustrated by Special thanks to our playtesters: Jim Auwaert- Brett Barkley and Kurt Komoda, © 2015. Edited er with Galen Mullins, Amy Posten, and Caleb by Shane Ivey and James Knevitt; page design Lankford; Noah Carden with Chris Hamann, by Simeon Cogswell. Logos by Todd Shearer. Micah King, Zach Reese, and Adam Thornsburg; Better Angels is © and ™ Greg Stolze, used by Mark Dodson with Jonathan Davies, Nathan permission. Published by Arc Dream Publishing, Pearce, Will Thompson, Robin Valentine, and Si- 12215 Highway 11, Chelsea, AL 35043, USA. mon Valentine; David J. Early with Dylan Lecocq, Josh Raymond, Mark Sauverwald, and Asia Except for purposes of review and except as oth- Vibert; Jayson French with Patrick French, James erwise specified, no portion of this work may be Graham, Eric Ranaldi, and Todd Thomas; Chris reproduced by any means without the express Malone with Justin Alexander, Sarah Holmberg, written permission of the copyright holders. All Mark DiPasquale, and Colleen Riley; Stefan Tyler rights reserved worldwide. with Sean Patterson, Colleen Shramka, Adrian Bibby, and Hugh Dodwell; Alex Wickersham with This is a work of fiction. Any similarity with William Concord, Tadhg Hackett, Jacob Jae- actual people, events, or religious beliefs is ger-Mathis, Peter Rebecca, and Thijs Van Der Lee; coincidental and unintentional except for those and of course Bill, David, Ross, and Sara—the described in historical context. Everybody relax. Fiendish Four! Sample file Print edition ISBN: 978-1-940410-10-4 Thanks to Chris Crossley, The Letter D, Hayden Digital edition ISBN: 978-1-940410-15-9 McBrydie, Bill Sundwall, and especially Danny Printed in the USA Atwood for help with proofreading.

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WWW.ARCDREAM.COM Table of Contents

Welcome...... 5 How to Use This Book...... 5 No Soul Left Behind...... 6 Adventure 2: Think of the Children...... 100 The Setting...... 8 Subplot Suggestions...... 100 Rules Lawyering…Actually, Rules Ignoring...... 9 Foreshadowing Flash...... 102 The Proud City of Kirby...... 11 Learning Isn’t Free...... 102 Tone...... 11 Toxic Asset and the Basic Structure...... 12 EEEEEvil Intern Program...... 105 Character Education...... 13 Master Plans by Numbers...... 107 Humans First...... 17 Finding a Fence...... 107 We’re Gonna Be Here Awhile...... 21 Cost Reduction...... 109 Advice for Running No Soul Left Behind...... 22 Supervillainy 101...... 110 Major Characters...... 25 Epilogue...... 112 GMC Villains and How to Use Them...... 33 Clues...... 113 The ViShrock...... 33 Triskaideka...... 34 Adventure 3: Arts and Sciences...... 114 Allies and Villains...... 36 Subplot Suggestions...... 114 Triskaideka...... 36 Foreshadowing Flash...... 117 Hand-me-Down Heroes, Total Assholes, Crossed Curricula...... 118 and Other Complications...... 52 Reading Is Fundamentalist...... 120 The Brands of Justice...... 68 ‘This Science Fair Just Got Angels...... Sample76 Totes file Cray-Cray’...... 121 The Big Bads...... 80 Curb-Stomping Enthusiasm...... 124 Epilogue...... 126 Adventure 1: Triskaidekaphobia...... 84 Clues...... 126 Just Another Day...... 84 ‘We Didn’t Drill for This!’...... 92 Adventure 4: The End Is Nigh…Finally!...... 127 Spandex Rain...... 94 Subplot Suggestions...... 127 Meeting the New Students...... 96 Foreshadowing Flash...... 131 ‘Heroes’ with Extra Air Quotes...... 96 Corpse Scarcity...... 132 The Fight...... 97 Plot A: Evasion of a Body Snatcher...... 134 ‘Why Do They Always Give Out Blankets?’...... 98 The Attack: Damn You, Romero!...... 136 Epilogue...... 98 Plot B: Too Much TV Will Kill You...... 138 Clues...... 98 Love Will Tear Us Apart...... 140 Epilogue...... 142 Clues...... 142 Adventure 5: A New Brand of Justice...... 143 Adventure 9: Missionaries for Dinner...... 204 Subplot Suggestions...... 143 Subplot Suggestions...... 204 Foreshadowing Flash...... 146 Foreshadowing Flash...... 208 The Private Sector Will Save Us!...... 147 The Hammer Falls...... 209 ‘Stay No to Super-Serum, Kids!’...... 149 Possessed Politicians? Surviving Community Outreach...... 150 Are We Even Surprised?...... 210 The Business Model...... 153 Lobbying: The Deadliest Game...... 2 11 Bad PR...... 157 Imagine There’s No Heaven…...... 215 Epilogue...... 158 Clues...... 218 Clues...... 158 Epilogue...... 218

Adventure 6: The Performance Gap...... 159 Adventure 10: The Enemy of My Enemy Subplot Suggestions...... 159 Is My Temporary, Begrudging Ally...... 220 Foreshadowing Flash...... 161 Subplot Wrap-up...... 220 The Bell Curve of Demonic Possession...... 162 Signing Yearbooks...... 221 A Good Ol’ Fashioned Calling In Favors...... 224 Presbyterian Exorcism...... 165 Let’s Add a Few More The At-Risk Population...... 167 Memorials to This Day...... 227 Epilogue...... 168 The Inevitable Monologue...... 231 Clues...... 169 Total Superpowered Clusterfuck...... 232 Just Desserts and Forbidden Fruits...... 234 Adventure 7: The Ministry of Strength...... 170 Subplot Suggestions...... 170 Appendix A: Summer Breaks...... 235 Foreshadowing Flash...... 173 Revenge of the Summer Reading List...... 235 …Behold a Bubble-Test...... 174 Loanotopsis the Eternal Usurer ...... 238 Standardized Sin...... 175 Gentrification Nullification...... 240 Donkey Punch (Eww…Not That Kind)...... 176 Villainy Abroad...... 243 Sterile Testing Conditions...... 176 Performance-Enhancing Brimstone...... 245 Mangling Phonebooks for Jesus...... Sample178 file Electioneering With Eye Lasers...... 249 Like Barbershop…With Slightly More Agony...... 178 Appendix B: Delicious Rules Bloat...... 255 Clues...... 180 Schrödinger’s Supervillains...... 255 Epilogue...... 181 Alternate Character Creation...... 255 Alternative Damnation...... 256 Adventure 8: The Gospel Infernal Insight...... 256 According to Terror Track...... 182 Building a Lair...... 257 Subplot Suggestions...... 182 Faustian Pact...... 259 Foreshadowing Flash...... 183 New Aspects...... 261 Now That’s What I Call Sacrifice...... 183 New Powers...... 263 Where Is Terror Track...... 184 New Devilish Devices...... 270 Not-So-Charitable Events...... 190 The Terrible Trophies of Triskaideka...... 191 Appendix C: The Fiendish Four...... 275 Dealing WithDaddy’s Favorite...... 199 Clues...... 201 Acknowledgments...... 284 The Damnation Of Marvin...... 202 Epilogue...... 203 Index...... 286

Reference Sheets...... 290 Sample file

Barkley Welcome

How to Use The goal of No Soul Left Behind is to help introduce new players to Better Angels’ This Book particular brand of existential, comic book dram- edy. Fittingly, the stories are set in an inner-city Hardback versions can substitute as table leg re- high school suddenly thrust into the world of inforcements or shields against edged weapons. costumed crusading and masked villainy. As the Softcover versions are good for reading, theoreti- players discover that the majority of super-hu- cally, though we haven’t tested this hypothesis as mans are really just cosmically super-screwed, rigorously as the first. they must educate themselves on their sudden transformation and their previously unexamined Use the New Stuff moral codes if they hope to survive. Eventually, each must decide how much newfound power to Half the fun (probably more) of RPGs is the abil- invest in their own well-being and how much they ity to tell your own stories and see your friends owe to the community that depends on them. help contribute to that goal. Not feeling the high school setting or main plot? Ditch it! The Internal conflict — represented bySample the Host/ filestuff players come up with in character is likely Screwtape dynamic and the Virtuous/Sinister me- wackier and more fun than anything you’ll find chanics — remains the heart of any good Better in this book. But there’s something in No Soul Angels character. No Soul Left Behind features Left Behind for everyone. Players should check a lot of material in addition to the main plot de- out “Delicious Rules Bloat” (page 255) to spice signed to help players invest in their characters, up their characters. GMs can pull from the cast of develop intriguing subplots, and alter the setting supervillains, new angels, and countless GMCs as they see fit. ExperiencedBetter Angels players to fill in gaps in their own game instead of the can find a number of new powers, aspects, rules, traditional method (i.e. the sometimes painful and devilish devices to inflict on their pre-exist- method of pulling a stated character out of one’s ing characters. Finally, GMs not looking for a full ass). Finally, the city of Kirby and the Brighter campaign will find plenty material they can trans- Futures Academy is a full-fledged community fer into their own games and scenarios easily capable of containing many stories. Pull the set- adaptable into a short-notice one-shots. ting from the book and insert your own tale of damnation, redemption, and alliteration-happy In short, No Soul Left Behind gets your group do- spandexed psychos. ing morally questionable things in the selfish pur- suit of power faster and easier than ever before.

Also, there’s pictures! 5 One-Shots and No Soul Left Mechanics Behind Life gets in the way sometimes. Did the boss for- get to factor in your need to appease a group of Regret falls like rain: howling, over-caffeinated gamers into this week’s News said bring an unbrella. schedule? Save yourself some last-minute GM A SPOILER WARNING. stress, pick an adventure you like from the book, and have a good time. Each scenario works as a Synopsis self-contained scenario with a little adjustment. The villainous super-speedster Terror Track leads Furthermore, many of the adventures are de- Triskaideka, a well-established super-villainous signed to feature a specific core mechanic of League of the Doom. Unbeknownst to those that Better Angels: everything from character gen- have lived in fear of the thirteen criminal master- eration to exorcism. Have your players still not minds for years, the team is actually composed got around to reading the Devilish Device rules? of dedicated hellbinders, personally selected by Educate them on what they’re missing out on their spiritually-conscious leader and equally re- by running “Arts and Sciences” (page 114). Are solved to keep their demons in check. The group their heists somewhat lacking in supervillainous is practiced at concocting ineffectual villainous verve? Have Toxic Asset school them in “Think plots and spreading the burdensome sin out of the Children” (page 100). Do they insist on amongst the group through cooperation. If it punch-murdering everything? Demonstrate the takes robbing a few banks and carving their faces importance of social combat with “The End is on the moon to keep the little soul parasites away Nigh…Finally!” (page 127). If your gamers are from humanity’s real monsters, the member of worse at their homework than a sixth-year se- Triskaideka feel it’s their duty to do so. nior, No Soul Left Behind is designed to teach the game as they play. Use it to get them up to However, one day the uber-devoted Terror Track speed before you tell your own stories. discovers a threat so great, so nefariously evil, that he knows his team cannot help but try to Campaign Samplethwart file it. Yet Triskaideka is too tired; they’ve been fighting a losing battle against hell for nearly a de- Taken as a whole, No Soul Left Behind is designed cade, and many of the members are one sin away to take characters from the moment they get pos- from damnation. Terror Track knows his friends sessed by demons to their exorcism, damnation, will sacrifice their very souls to stop the mon- or hard-fought moral equilibrium. The absurdity strous plan he’s discovered, and so he decides of superhumanity constantly stands at odds with the burden must be passed to another. Assured the vital work that must be done: a mystery needs by his faith (and his conniving demon) that the to be solved and more souls than the PCs hang in flesh is temporary and all that matters is the state the balance. Demonic powers present a once-in- of the eternal soul, Terror Track plots to slay his a-lifetime opportunity to a forgotten community, comrades, damning himself in order to provide and all must ask if the ends can justify the means. others the freedom and salvation he’s giving up The soul-crushing concerns of mundane life and through misguided heroism on the mortal plane. impenetrable bureaucracy remain ever-present, but characters are finally given the means to cut But what to do with all those hellspawn freed through the nonsense and reach their goals. Will during his spree killing? Terror Track’s plan is to they risk eternal consequences for that chance? make sure they infest the best people possible, locking them up tight within righteous souls filled with lifetimes of accrued virtue. He decides to make sure the worst hell has to offer lands inside the best humanity does, just as he always has be- 6 fore. Inspired by recent political advertisements for the Brighter Futures Academy, an experimen- ing – just in time to get shut down. Players have tal charter school dedicated to educating the inner to take a crash course in supervillainy if they want city’s impoverished youth, the would-be martyr to keep the school open and eventually figure out steals his teammates’ amulets and squirrels them why they can hear demons in their heads. away in ID lanyards meant for the school’s “dedicated and selfless” staff. Arts and Sciences: Turns out that the PCs weren’t the only ones slipped a demonic mickey. When What Terror Track fails to account for is the radical two teachers start using brimstone-fueled lesson difference between political rhetoric and reality plans, it quickly becomes apparent that keeping (the teachers ain’t all saints) and the gaping flaws the school open was only the beginning of BFA’s in school bureaucracy (the demonic lanyards get problems. Keeping the students alive and the distributed haphazardly amongst everyone, not school standing requires the PCs deal with petty just teachers). When Triskaideka is killed by a hell- inter-departmental rivalry, but at what point do fire-infused bomb in the midst of an attack on the the ends justify the means? Brighter Futures Academy, a random assortment of instructors, students, secretaries, principals, The End is Nigh…Finally!: Not every neophyte lunch staff, janitors, nurses, IT professionals, demon-possessed supervillain announces their student teachers, and parent volunteers find presence with spandex and explosions. Some themselves suddenly infected by very confused just quietly arrange a zombie apocalypse so demons suffering from host-hopping whiplash. they can get a date. With an undead horde Distraught at being damned for no reason, Terror threatening to tear Kirby apart, our “heroes” Track flees and abandons the poor humans to have to find an embarrassed Hellbinder hiding their new fate, the reason for his outlandish plan amongst the school population before undead all but forgotten. minions tear them apart.

Now, the “new” Triskaideka must learn to cope A New Brand of Justice: The devil may quote with their hellish abilities, deal with a half-dozen scripture for his purpose just as a supervillain other noob supervillains wreaking havoc around may dress in superhero’s clothing. A group of the school, manage the legacy of the world’s corporately sponsored monsters is looking to premier Fraternity of Evil, and uncoverSample the mo- filemurder the PCs for the PR. Can the team survive tivation behind Terror Track’s betrayal…all while political and physical attacks from a team of pro- trying to maintain their regular lives and pass fessional murderers long enough to learn what standardized tests. they know about Triskaideka?

Scenario Summaries The Performance Gap: Not everybody thrives in the moral grey area of a successful Hellbinder. Triskaidekaphobia: The school year starts off with Some can’t wait to kick their demon to the curb, a bang! The country’s biggest union of super-pow- while others race to the gates of Hell like Happy ered assholes decides to attack the unsuspecting Hour is about to end. If they want to learn more students and staff of the Brighter Futures Acade- about the forces plotting against them, the inher- my. Then they get blown up by…something. And itors of Triskaideka’s mantle must simultaneously now you have their powers! Why? For reasons, deal with a sanctimonious busy-body and a ruth- that’s why! No time to figure out what the hell is less psychopath, all the while glimpsing the fates going on just yet; the survivors of the Triskaide- that will inevitably conclude their own demonic ka attack need to focus on convincing their new partnerships. demonic roommates to help them survive the fallout of the inexplicable disaster. The Ministry of Strength: America! Land of the Free! Home of the High-Stakes Test! The Bright- Think of the Children: Weeks have passed since er Futures Academy’s future rests on the the PCs joined the ranks of the super-powered. fate of a single exam, but there are The Brighter Futures Academy is finally re-open- many more factors conspiring to 7 destroy their chances beyond the student body’s No Soul Left Behind doesn’t want to negate the total apathy. Two groups are playing dirty to ma- flexibility of the setting. The minimum number of nipulate the results, and it’s up to the PCs to use elements have been solidified for the sake of the their power to do a little cheating of their own. campaign, but there’s a way to make almost any Their supernatural powers might be enough to interpretation fit. fix a test, but will they be able to withstand the angelic hit squad bearing down on them? Human-On-Demon

The Gospel According to Terror Track: It turns out Violence the angels were tipped off by none other than the man responsible for killing Triskaideka and infect- In the core book (Better Angels, page 157), three ing the PCs with their demons. But it appears the main options are given for shaping the history of culprit has already succumbed to damnation! The supervillains and superheroes: they’ve always been group must find their prey before it’s too late and there, they pop up periodically, or they’re a new the last chance for answers get dragged to hell. phenomenon. No Soul Left Behind only excludes The chase leads them to the ruins of Triskaideka’s the most literal interpretation of the last option. To secret lair. Can they get through its nefarious use the games as written, the campaign relies on a traps in time? universe similar to those seen in Silver Age com- ics: namely, super-powers have existed for some Missionaries for Dinner: The well-intentioned time but haven’t had a drastic impact on any cul- massacre that wiped out Triskaideka had an in- tural institutions. Much of the conflict derives from spiration that threatens everything the PCs hold players inheriting the mantle of an established su- dear, and it all has something to do with Gov- pervillain team. Triskaideka, The Brands of Justice, ernor Jeffery Blant. The group must infiltrate a and the other experienced GMCs aren’t usable if demonic political campaign (well, an especially the characters are the first possessed kids on the demonic political campaign), find out its secret block. Similarly, if super-powers have redefined supernatural agenda, and discover what terrible every facet of society, it doesn’t make much sense truth was bad enough to inspire Terror Track’s to have the setting be a high school. There’s no way murderous martyrdom. the government would pay to keep the lights on Sampleif they file could telepathically beam knowledge into The Enemy of my Enemy is My Temporary, Be- people’s brains or something. (Wait, what if they grudging Ally: Hell’s most infamous bad boy is can? Wake up, sheeple!) planning the most audacious mass damnation the world has ever seen. The players must con- So we need the Silver Age tropes, but feel free to template the same moral loophole that drove otherwise go nuts. There could be records of su- Terror Track mad and caused a year’s worth of perheroes dating back to Ancient Mesopotamia, destruction. Do they risk damning themselves to or they could only recently have been recognized save countless others, or sacrifice innocent souls in their four-color comic iterations due to media to protect their own? exposure. Perhaps history is drastically different as a result of their intervention. Maybe technol- ogy has been retarded by all the time wasted on The Setting researching devilish devices. Perhaps all schools, not just Brighter Futures Academy, are charter The setting of Better Angels is intentionally vague, schools as a result of anti-supervillain legislation anticipating the endless ingratitude readers show like the 1948 Underage Hostage Prevention Act. towards an artist’s pure and glorious vision. And by that, I’m referring to the boundless creativity Or maybe Triskaideka was the first super-team and expressive nature of gamers everywhere, of ever, making the tasks of the PCs all that more course. Make the setting your own! important. That could explain why the public is aware of superpowers but still understands so 8 little about them.