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Home , Apollo (comics), Guardians of Order, Jenny Sparks, Midnighter, Silver Age Sentinels, Swift (character)

JESSE JOHN JOHN MATT SCOBLE CHAMBERS SNEAD FORBECK TM TM

Prepare yourself for the first “widescreen” superpowered role-playing game! Based on comic written and illustrated by and , this comprehensive resource guide covers the first 12 issues in exquisite detail, showcasing the spectacular art, larger-than-life characters, vibrant setting ... and so much more!

TM d20 System game material requires the use of a Roleplaying Game Core Book published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc and d20 from , Inc. The Authority © 2004 DC Comics WRITTEN BY COVER ARTWORK BY John Chambers, Matt Forbeck, John Snead, Jesse Scoble Bryan Hitch ADDITIONAL WRITING BY INTERIOR ARTWORK BY Matt Keeley, Mark C. MacKinnon, Bryan Hitch, John McCrea Jeff Mackintosh, David Pulver LINE DEVELOPING BY SPECIAL THANKS TO Jesse Scoble Dana Kurtin and Demetri Detsaridis at DC Comics and EDITING BY Ben Abernathy and Kristy Quinn at WildStorm for their time, energy, and efforts at keeping us honest and right. Mark MacKinnon, Jesse Scoble Christopher for his hours of fact checking ADDITIONAL COPYEDITING BY and late-night hours of WildStorm research John Davies, Chris Kindred, Daniel Ksenych, And the insanity and brilliance of Warren Ellis & Bryan Anthony Ragan, Rich Spainhour, Devinder Thiara, Hitch, who created it all in the fi rst place. Jeremy “Bolthy” Zimmerman INFLUENCES ART DIRECTION AND GRAPHIC PRODUCTION BY We would like to make a special mention of the following game designers whose work infl uenced the development of this game. Jeff Mackintosh Steve Kenson, Laws, Greg Stolze, John Tynes, Erick Wujcik

© 2004 Wildstorm Productions, an imprint of DC Comics. All Rights Reserved. TRI-STAT SYSTEM © 2004 Guardians Of Order, Inc. All Rights Reserved. THE AUTHORITY and all related characters, names, and elements are trademarks of DC Comics. GUARDIANS OF ORDER, TRI-STAT SYSTEM, and SILVER AGE SENTINELS are trademarks of Guardians Of Order, Inc. 'D20 SYSTEM' and the 'D20 SYSTEM' logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used according to the terms of the D20 System License version 3.0. A copy of this License can be found at www.wizards.com/d20. ™ is a trademark of Wizards of the Coast, Inc., a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc., and is used with permission. First Printing — August 2004 Printed in China All right reserved under international law. No part of this book may be reproduced in part or in whole, in any form or by any means, without permission from the publisher, except for Open Gaming Content and personal copies of the character sheet, or brief quotes for use in reviews. ISBN 1-894938-04-6 • Production Number 19-001 Guardians Of Order, Inc. • P.O. Box 25016, 370 Stone Road, Guelph, Ontario, CANADA, N1G 4T4 Phone: (519) 821-7174 • Fax: (519) 821-7635 • [email protected] • http://www.guardiansorder.com PAGE 2 Foreword SHIFT SHIPS! “Are you reading The Authority yet?” “What’s that?” “The new Warren Ellis comic, spilling over from the end of .” “I like his stuff a lot, but I don’t know about another book.” “Brother, this is not just another superhero book. You have to be reading this.” — Lou to Jesse, Pre-Millennium D20ising

That was back in, oh, about September of 1999. So I plunked the Authority my $3.95 (CAN) and cracked open The Authority #5, The Authority RPG is an excellent companion sourcebook to “Shiftships,” One of Four. And I was blown away. Bryan Hitch’s Silver Age Sentinels d20. The rules herein are 100% compatible art was stunning, complemented and accentuated by Paul with SAS d20. While this book is not a stand-alone d20 Neary’s inking and Laura Depuy’s colouring; Warren Ellis’s rulebook, all of the characters and new equipment presented

A Higher Authority writing snapped and crackled; the whole book was electric. here are given d20 stats. Why wasn’t I reading this book? How had it fl own beneath By the very nature of the d20 license, certain options cannot my radar? It soon became a must-read, acting as a startling be included in this book. If you are not familiar with the steps counterpoint to my normal reading fare. It was hip. It was for creating a character, or applying experience points, you pulp. It was extreme. WildStorm was doing exciting things, will need the Player’s Handbook. In many ways, this book is and The Authority, and Warren Ellis and John Cassady’s sister- analogous to the DMG — it does not contain everything book, , rode the crest of that wave. within its pages, but when combined with Silver Age Sentinels Old archetypes we’d seen a thousand times before suddenly d20 and the Player’s Handbook, it creates a complete game. looked fresh and new, glowing with inner confl ict and wonder. On first glance, there are many things you may not The action was dramatic, and thrilling, and intense. “The recognise, for the heart of The Authority RPG is built around broke here,” said, and so it seemed. the Tri-Stat System. Instead of Strength, Constitution, Now, how could we make a game about it? Dexterity, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, Tri-Stat uses In July and August of 2002, we released Silver Age Sentinels Body, Mind, and Soul. There are no saving throws, and the in Tri-Stat and d20 editions. It was once again a year of “classic heroes” and we felt we needed to ground our superhero RPG Skill list is comprised of modern skills. What is important in the tropes and values of traditional supeheroes, but we to understand, however, is that the power system (the always knew that SAS could easily be ramped up to deal with Attributes and Defects) translates directly over to d20, and the powers and threats of an Authority-style game. Skills are used in almost exactly the same way. All character What better way to do that than by adapting The Authority sheets are presented in dual-stat format, and pages 342-343 itself? DC/WildStorm liked the Silver Age Sentinels material give more detailed instructions on how new rules are handled we had published, and gave us a crack at “turning the volume in the d20 system. up to 11.” Statting out , and Jenny, and the Doctor was All the d20 characters in The Authority RPG are based on great fun, both in seeing our system handle them effortlessly, the Adventurer Class from SAS d20, although a variant of the but also watching the game pushed to new limits. How exactly class is presented on page 342. Their Power Points sometimes does one rip Italy away from the world, in game terms? make them far more devastating than simple character Level, We’re thrilled to have been allowed to play with Warren however, so all are given an Effective Character Level worthy of Ellis & Bryan Hitch’s toys, and terribly excited to let you come their effect in a superpower game. in to a playground that spans from normal space to the Higher Welcome to The Authority RPG … let us help you redefi ne Dimensions, and from Los Angeles to Sliding Albion across your superhero d20 game and take it to the next level! the Bleed. It’s time to step out of the shadows, light up one last cigarette, and change the world. Somebody has to … who better than you? — Jesse Scoble, Toronto, 2004 PAGE Table of Contents 3 5 Introduction to the Authority 190 CHAPTER 4: 5 What is a Role-Playing Game? GAME MECHANICS 8 CHAPTER 1: 191 Introduction A HIGHER AUTHORITY 196 Combat A Higher Authority 9 Prehistory 202 Movement in Combat 10 The Circle: Issue #1 204 Non-Combat Actions 11 The Circle: Issue #2 204 Defence 12 The Circle: Issue #3 206 Damage 12 The Circle: Issue #4 212 Mind Combat 15 Shiftships: Issue #5 213 Recovery 16 Shiftships: Issue #6 213 Using Powers in Combat 17 Shiftships: Issue #7 216 Character Advancement 19 Shiftships: Issue #8 220 CHAPTER 5: 20 Outer Dark: Issue #9 EQUIPPING THE CHARACTER 21 Outer Dark: Issue #10 221 Weapons 22 Outer Dark: Issue #11 228 Vehicles 23 Outer Dark: Issue #12 238 Body Armour and Protective Devices 24 : The Secret History of the Authority 240 Supertechnology 25 Doctor’s Orders 241 The Authority’s Technology 25 Rough Trade 246 Gamorran Technology and Installations 26 A Tale of Two Cities 247 Sliding Albion Technology 26 Many Happy Returns 249 Living Cities 27 There’s Nothing I Haven’t Sung About 250 God and its Heralds 28 CHAPTER 2: 252 Breaking Objects CHARACTERS 254 CHAPTER 6: 30 Apollo PLAYING A SUPERPOWER 32 The Doctor 257 Archetypes 34 The Engineer 259 Origins 36 Jack Hawksmoor 260 Motivations 38 Jenny Sparks 261 To Be as Gods 40 The 272 Advice Summary for Players 42 44 Secondary Characters 274 CHAPTER 7: 58 The World of Authority GAME MASTERING THE 60 The Authority AUTHORITY 62 Clan Gamorra 275 Game Mastering Basics 64 Crisis Points: Earth 280 Campaign Architecture 68 The British Space Group 295 Classic Bits: Simulating the Authority 69 UNSSIAO 300 Contributions and Bonus Points 70 Parallel Universes 300 Character Quiz 70 Sliding Albion 302 Moving Beyond d12 Tri-Stat 76 Outer Dark 302 Advice Summary for the GM 76 Alien God 78 The Higher Dimensions 304 CHAPTER 8: AUTHORITY SUPPLEMENTAL 80 CHAPTER 3: 305 Meta-Attributes in Play CHARACTER CREATION 309 Character Stats 81 Playing a Higher Authority 336 Random Character Creation 84 Character Creation 342 d20 Notes 84 Step 1: GM Discussion 344 Index 87 Step 2: Character Outline 88 Step 3: Assign Stats 90 Step 4: Character Attributes 161 Step 5: Select Skills 173 Step 6: Character Defects 188 Step 7: Derived Values 189 Step 8: Background Points INTRODUCTION PAGE Introduction 5 to The Authority Seven modern gods. A pantheon of heroes, ready to defend the world and rebuild it into a better place. A Higher Authority The Authority is: Apollo, the Sun King; the Midnighter, Night’s Bringer of War; Swift, the Winged Huntress; the Engineer, the Maker; the Doctor, the Shaman; Jack Hawksmoor, the God of the Cities; and Jenny Sparks, Spirit of the 20th Century.

It is Jenny Sparks, the crazy, pretty girl born on the fi rst day of 1900, who brings them all together in the last year of the century. What is a She has seen the strangest and weirdest parts of the world, loved the best of us, and drank with the worst. Through it all, she maintains Role-Playing her belief that the world is ultimately a good place, and it deserves to survive and a chance to improve. She forges something new — a Game? group that is not just a mere superhero team upholding the status For many people a role-playing game (RPG) is the “mature” or quo, but a small army dedicated to her dream. The dream is one in “advanced” version of the games we used to play as children such which they all believe: not simply protecting the world, but changing as “House,” “Cops and Robbers,” and “Superheroes.” Each player it in real ways. creates a character that he or she wishes to play (appropriately called Jenny’s fi rst recruits are her friends and former teammates, Shen a Player Character), and endeavours to view the unfolding events of Li-Min and Jack Hawksmoor. Shen Li-Min is Swift, a highly trained the game through the eyes of that character. The character’s outlook United Nations special forces operative. A native of Tibet, and a on life is separate and distinct from that of the player, though at times “seedling” empowered by the comet-effect, Shen can supernaturally they may be similar. RPGs are not table-top board games — the manifest feathered wings and powerful talons, truly becoming the games take place in the imagination of the players, occasionally Winged Huntress. assisted by visual aids such as pictures, figures, maps and other Jack Hawksmoor was abducted countless times in his childhood props. Role-playing can also be likened to improvisational theatre by aliens who surgically rebuilt him. He is now homo urbanus, a city where everyone involved in the game must respond to the actions or human, genetically engineered to symbiotically thrive in urban areas. decisions of the other players, but must do so from their character’s They obey his whims and tell him their secrets. He now uses the perspective (called playing “in character”). These character-character powers they lend him to clean up all cities. interactions are often the primary focus of the entire game, and the Following Shen and Jack, Jenny recruited Apollo and the heart of the role-playing experience. Midnighter, the world’s most powerful man and the unparalleled To help answer the question “What are the limitations on my dark warrior. This duo was bioengineered in a top-secret post-human character’s abilities and talents?” RPGs employ a set of rules to help development program that erased their former lives. When their settle character confl icts and resolve character actions. The system commander betrayed them, they survived on the rough streets of usually outlines the use of a random generator (dice for random America, honing their amazing fi ghting skills and warring against numbers, cards for random events, etc.) to add an unpredictable tyrants and oppressors. Jenny gives them a bigger stage and turns element to the game. A typical role-playing scenario requires a them loose. handful of players along with one person to run the game, known The Engineer was born Angela Spica, a young whiz kid who grew as the Game Master (GM). The players tell the GM what their up on a diet of DC comics and theoretical mathematics. She inherited respective characters would like to do throughout the course of the the nanotechnology of the fi rst Engineer and then willingly used it adventure scenario and the GM describes the results of their actions. to replace her blood with nine pints of liquid machinery. Angie has When the GM works closely with each and every player, the game always to be a superhero, and now the Engineer wouldn’t adventure remains exciting and fun for all. think of giving it up. The characters that the players create will depend on the type The Doctor is the inheritor and descendant of all of Earth’s of adventures the GM intends to run and the number of players shamans. Chosen, despite his protests, at the death of the previous involved. The game system helps players assign some strengths and Doctor, he is both the first and the last shaman. He is the most weaknesses to their characters, using number rankings to indicate inexperienced and reluctant of Jenny’s army, but she convinces him relative ability. Most of the remaining elements of a character’s that his command of magic — the power of change — is needed to background, family, hobbies, and interests are not covered by save the world. the rules but are described by each player according to his or her The seven of them sail the multiverse in an unparalleled alien view of the character. Players may play the Authority members as shiftship known as the Carrier. 50 miles long and 35 miles high, the presented (on pages 310-334), but can also choose to recreate the Carrier travels from the higher dimensions through the Bleed down characters according to their own personal outlook on the characters’ to the broken universes. With it, the Authority can journey anywhere backgrounds; additionally, experienced players often prefer to create necessary for their crusade. their own characters, who will inhabit the Authority’s world. This game is a continuation of their story. PAGE The Authority RPG is played in sessions. Sessions are often two to 6 eight hours in length, and are typically held on a weekly or biweekly Example schedule. The players work their way through an adventure’s plot, picking up where the last session ended and proceeding until the current of Play session is over. Over a period of time of usually one to four sessions, the The following dialogue is an example of how a typical role-playing players will have completed a number of tasks to achieve at least partial session might progress. Since this example is intended to instruct the closure of the plot. This closure does not answer all the questions or reader, the mechanics are more complex and “forced” than normal eliminate all of the characters’ problems, but rather is similar to the play. The game involves four players — Julian (Midnighter), Sam closure seen at the end of a comic story arc. An adventure that only (the Engineer), Adam (the Doctor), and Devinder (Karna; his own takes a single isolated session is referred to as a “one-shot” adventure, character) — and the Game Master (or GM), Heidi. For ease of play, a type of scenario primarily used at role-playing conventions. Finally, Julian, Sam, and Adam are using the character sheets found on pages a number of story arcs that use the same characters can be linked 310-334, while Devinder role-plays Karna, a post-human/clone together to form an Authority campaign. Campaigns require more created in a top-secret weapons factory. Karna is a Weaponmaster commitment from everyone involved, but gratification comes from archetype, who uses power armour and a technological-based watching the characters develop and gain new abilities and talents as fl aming sword; his Stats and Abilities are described in the examples a greater plot unfolds. The most engaging role-playing campaigns can through Chapter 3. last upwards of 5-10 years, but keeping a campaign running for eight The campaign is set in the year 2000 (post “Outer Dark”). Jack months to a few years is considered tremendously successful. Hawksmoor and Swift have taken leaves of absence (no player has As a player, you will control your character’s actions in the game assumed their roles), and Chris (Apollo’s player) is out of town for as he or she works through the unexpected twists and turns of the this session, so Heidi has made arrangements to keep Apollo out of plot, with assistance provided by the other player characters. Your the action temporarily. character’s actions can greatly affect the outcome of the adventure, In the previous session, the Authority was hard pressed to defeat

A Higher Authority but you must keep in mind that every action has a consequence that may return to haunt your character in a future session. Additionally, the spirit of Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the last of the Victorian role-playing is a group effort and positive interactions between secret engineers, and his host of iron walkers. In the final battle, your character and the characters of the other players are vital to Apollo travelled through a Carrier shift door and vanished in a everyone’s enjoyment of the game. backwash of light; he was cut off from radiotelepathy. Then As a GM, your contribution to the game will be much greater suddenly, the Carrier doors stopped working. than that of any one player. You must establish the setting, villains, Heidi recaps the previous events, and then opens the scene with confl icts, and plot of the adventure, as well as role-play all of the other the Authority (minus Apollo) among the of Brunel’s War non-player characters (NPCs) that your gaming group will meet Factory, planning what to do. during the game. NPCs are similar to the secondary characters in a Julian: (as Midnighter) What the happened to Apollo? comic, ranging from the obscure and trivial background characters Engineer, were you recording the battle? Can you get any to the vital villains, lovers, and guest stars. reading? If you plan to be a GM, you must also be able to project your Sam: (to Heidi) You remember I said I was, right? imagination to the players by describing the world in which they live in Heidi: Right. vivid detail. Additionally, your plot must remain suffi ciently fl exible to Sam: (as Engineer) Yes, Midnighter. (Sam taps a fi nger to her allow the characters’ actions to make a defi nite impact on the adventure. head, in imitation of what Angie is doing). It’s all up A plot that is too rigid or “scripted” may leave players feeling that their here. I’m reviewing it now. (to Heidi) I want to analyse characters have lost the free will to affect their own destiny. The GM the data. must possess creativity, sound judgment, and the ability to improvise Heidi: All of it? You’ve been recording for awhile now. in unexpected situations. Game Mastering takes extra time and effort, Sam: Only if I have to. I’m going to focus on the moments but the reward of watching the players revel in the game setting and plot right before Apollo went into the door, and run a full that you have created makes it all worthwhile. spectrum analysis, looking for anything odd. Do I need to roll? START RIGHT NOW! Heidi: Nope. Only if you were trying to do it really quickly. I’ll Anxious to put a character together and get tell you if you fi nd anything interesting in a moment. a feel for the system as soon as possible? Follow What are the rest of you doing? these four steps: Julian: Kicking the head off one of these tin can robots. Mostly trying to contain my anxiety. 1. Turn to page 336 and randomly generate one Adam: We left the Carrier in Earthspace, so I want to see if I can of more than 140,000 different starting characters. feel her in orbit. I assume that’s either Sixth Sense or 2. Read the “Stripped to the Core” designer’s Dynamic Powers. note on page 276. Heidi: It’s sort of a blend of both. The Carrier is neither a threat 3. Read the example of combat on page 217. to Earth nor magic, so your Sixth Sense isn’t exactly appropriate, but mechanically what you are trying 4. Have a friend generate a random character in would work the same way. So you open yourself to the same way, or choose an NPC from pages 310- Earth’s energies, and reach out for the Carrier’s essence 334 and battle it out! ... roll a Soul Stat check. Adam: (rolls two dice) I got a 17. My Soul is 18, and I have the Heidi: There’s more than enough raw material around here to PAGE Power Usage Skill at Level 2, if it matters. work with, and by the time you’re done, Karna will have 7 Heidi: Not really for this — this is more instinctual than a fi nished repairing the ship — assuming that’s what you proper magical working. The Doctor stands there want to do, Devinder? silently for a moment, and stretches out ... out ... out .... Devinder: Yeah. You can’t feel the Carrier anywhere. Heidi: (to Sam) However, this is a complicated device to design. Adam: (as Doctor) She’s ... she’s gone. (to Heidi) Am I able to You want it to be mobile, to run off the ether ship, and A Higher Authority check other dimensions too? presumably be pretty stable. So you need to make a Heidi: Not yet, and not so quickly. If you want to do that, you’ll Power Flux Stat check to plan it properly. have to do more complicated effect, and you’ll need to Sam: (rolls two dice) Angie’s Mind is 17, and she has a open a dimensional gateway, like from the Garden of bonus of 3 from the Power Usage Skill. I rolled a 5! Ancestral Memory. Think about it. (to Devinder) Now, My plan to create the shift door should cost 12 Flux what’s Karna doing? Points (like the one on page 242, but without the Devinder: I want to fl y over to Brunel’s ether-powered space-fl yer Restriction: Static), and the booster rockets should be that we grounded and see if it’s salvageable. a simple application of Flight, about Level 7, which is 21 Heidi: No problem. What’s Karna’s Mechanics Skill Level? Flux Points, because it’s like a shuttle or airplane. Devinder: Level 4. Heidi: Great. You have no problem figuring this out. Your Heidi: Okay, make a Skill check — the Specialisation is nanobots have clearly recorded a lot of data about the Aeronautical. Bleed and shift doors, and are able to replicate it fairly Devinder: Sure. (rolls two dice, gets 11) My Mind is 8, plus 4 for closely. Obviously it’s not as precise as the Carrier, nor Mechanics. The Specialisation doesn’t apply. So I made do you have an infi nite power supply — but it will get it by one. the ether ship that Karna has fi nished prepping into the Bleed. Heidi: And what’s Karna’s Gadgeteer Level? Julian: (as Midnighter) Let’s get to this! Devinder: Level 6. Heidi: Is everyone agreed to this plan? (seeing the nods) Heidi: Okay. You give the ship a quick once over — no need Great. You board the peculiar ether ship, and feel it to roll. It’s defi nitely weird tech, and designed to fl y in tremble as the Engineer counts down, before the rocket space, powered by crazy Victorian-future-science. It boosters fi nally provide lift-off. You arc up through the looks like it would have achieving lift-off — it stratosphere, and see the planet just doesn’t have the raw power — but it could probably grow small beneath you. be fl own once in space with a modicum of repairs. (to Finally, you reach Julian) You score a beautiful kick and send one robot the region where head fl ying. Anything else? you left the Julian: No, not right now. I’ll wait. Carrier, but Heidi: (to Sam) Engineer, you’ve completed a preliminary scan instead of the on the data. You know that Apollo summoned a door, Carrier, there’s presumably to head up and grab some more sunlight a sinister- before rejoining the fight. The moment he passed looking sister through the door — that very instant — something cut ship in its place! across the signal. The destination point vanished into a familiar wash of red energy. Continued in Example Sam: Destination point? But all doors fi rst lead to the Junction of Combat, page 217. room ... (as the Engineer) so something has happened to the Carrier! Adam: (as Doctor, to himself ) I was going to say that. (to the group) She’s vanished from normal space. Julian: (as Midnighter) All right. First step is to fi nd the Carrier. Then Apollo. Then the sonuvabitches that did this. Karna, can that rustbucket get us into space? Devinder: (as Karna) Not under it’s own power — but if the Engineer can help me get it up into space, it will allow us to get around. Sam: That doesn’t sound too hard, (to Heidi) does it? Heidi: No, you think it will take just a few minutes to create a booster rig. Sam: Great. Also, I assume the red light was a trace of the Bleed. I’d like to design a large shift door/generator onto this ether sailing ship. Similar to how the Engineer created the shift door for Jenny and Hemingway. CHAPTER 1 A HIGHER AUTHORITY