“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown”
― H.P. Lovecraft
One should learn to be afraid of the dark. Since the beginning of time, Vampires have owned it, and humanity is the cattle which the Vampire holds dominion over. Yes, the many live in ignorance, going on in their lives like all is dandy. This couldn't be further from the truth, however. They... have simply waited for the right time to act, and the time is nigh. Enjoy your last days, humanity, for soon, everything will go dark, and we will all die. The Agents of the Apocalypse... are here.
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Our tactical battle game engine for this game, the Brutal System!1. Make up a name, sex, age, hair color, etc. Make them unique and add some life to your characters.
2. Select one attribute and four abilities, and increase these ratings by +1. For example, Change their strength from ST=2 to a ST=3.
3. Select two abilities and increase these ratings by +2, or select one ability and increase it by +3.
4. If you're creating a role playing game character (not a peasant, common citizen, monster, or soldier) then add +2 to your character's Life Force.
5. Roll your character’s Life Force (LF) rating one time. Turn your lowest die to a six before adding them up. This roll determines the maximum Hit Points (HP) value for the life of your character.
Good or bad, your character is stuck with it. Write down your maximum HP some place safe and permanent
NAME
HOUSE:
GENDER
AGE
CHARACTER DESCRIPTION:
Items:
SKILLS:
VAMPIRIC MAGICS:
HOUSE MAGICS:
ABILITY RATINGS
COMBAT
How well your character attacks others, Intimidates others,
and defends themselves. STARTING VALUE=18
COORDINATION
How well your character overcomes obstacles, sprints on
battlefields, avoids traps, opens locks, and reacts quickly. STARTING VALUE=9
CORRUPTION
How well your character trips others, nudges others, lies to
others, taunts others, and picks pockets. STARTING VALUE=9
INTELLECT
How well your character spots hidden traps, hidden creatures,
hidden treasure, secret doors and hidden spell glyphs. STARTING VALUE=9
MAGIC
How well your character identifies spell glyphs, read spell
glyphs. STARTING VALUE=9
NATURE
How well your character detects poison, neutralizes poison,
resists pick pockets, and resists surprise. STARTING VALUE=18
STRENGTH
How well your character pushes, pulls, lifts, etc. A very high ST
is needed when wielding massive weapons. STARTING VALUE=9
WILLPOWER
How well your character resists fear, gore, horror, and mind
controlling spells. STARTING VALUE=12
ATTRIBUTE RATINGS
DARK VISION
How far your character can see in the dark. Dark Vision = 3d
allows your character to see 3 inches on the tabletop (15 feet
as seen by your character). STARTING VALUE=18
MOVEMENT
How fast your character can move. Movement = 2d allows
your character to move 2 inches on the tabletop (10 feet as
seen by your character). STARTING VALUE=3
SPRING
How well your character leaps, jumps, and lands. (See
“Spring”). STARTING VALUE=4/7
SIZE
How big a weapon your character may wield, and how much
Impact it delivers. STARTING VALUE=3
LIFE FORCE
How many Hit Points your character has, and how well your
character Resists Death Magic Spells. STARTING VALUE=11(HP=??)
NATURAL DEFENSE
How well your character defends without wearing any armor. STARTING VALUE=5
NATURAL ATTACK
How well you character attacks without wielding any
weapons. STARTING VALUE=7
Undead Creatures of the night
Immortality allows them potentially limitless quantities of wisdom
All Vampires have increased physical abilities, which only increase the older and more housed the vampire is.(begins at Captain America level, and slowly grows stronger overtime. Oldest vampires are about as physically powerful as Asgardians, and abilities possibly strengthen these abilities further
Have magical abilities, in both vampire and house types.
They must consume life force. Life force comes from human beings, and though blood bags hold some life force, drinking directly from the source instantly quenches the thirst, whereas blood bags simply keep the vampire going, but not satisfied. Animal blood only serves to make the vampire crave human blood more
Vampires cannot go out into the sun or be submerged or drenched in water. Vampires combust in the sun, and vampires sink in water, with attempts to swim being futile, as water acts like air to vampires, so they are stuck on the bottom unless they walk to shore. Deep water eats vampires like acid.
Vampires are lethally harmed by Dhampyreen weaponry and magic. These weapons are the only things capable of killing vampires. More conventional weapons can hurt them, but they will heal and come back to life afterwards.
Cutting off the head disables the vampire, and staking the heart weakens and causes the vampire's abilities to be disabled. They can heal from this if the stake is removed, however.
Becomes a zombie if they deny their vampire half for too long.
More possible, should I think of anything else.
The Houses-Courtesy of the ancient Lore master Dwarmin
House of ConquestOr, The Court of Swords
...If an injury has to be done to a man, it should be so severe that his vengeance need not be feared....
It goes without saying-cattle need butchers. The House of War has ever bent to this task with relish. During certain periods in history, Humans have grown in need of a culling-the earliest and most warlike of the Vampire clans occasionally banded together to prevent a possible threat to the Vampirekind by reducing their numbers. The House of War originally rose in these circumstances. When mankind dared to defy their betters, the House of War struck back with unrelenting cruelty-sending those few permitted to survive, fleeing to huddle under the lights. They protected Vampirekind in this way, and avenged it when needed, all while providing the needed slaves and sacrifices to keep the blood flowing. They slaughtered all who openly defied the rule of night.
At one point, however, there was a disagreement.
One side argued chaos and disorder should rule o'er all-that mankind should be beaten down again and again, never allowed to organize, to govern themselves, to grow too confident-that they should never lose their fear of the darkness, and the red claws...the other side, believed that mankind should be carefully controlled, herded, and manipulated into serving the Vampires willingly-to create an undying Empire. The former ultimately remained the House of War. The latter, however, became the House of Conquest-they were generally younger Vampires, less hidebound to ancient custom, and more open to change and adaptation-they believed in placing the needs of all Vampirekind above their own desires...they would do so by carefully gathering power over the long centuries, subtly manipulating humans, subverting their governments, and ultimately conquering them from within. They call this dark dream the 'Eternal Night', and it is their ultimate goal-an undying Vampire Empire. To the Court of Swords, all goals and ends must ultimately preserve and advance Vampirekind to this state of being...ideally, with their members holding the the reigns of power.
Smaller than the other Houses-most of their numbers preferred to join the House of War-they prefer to show their power from afar, manipulating their enemies into mutual destruction. They wield considerable connections in technology, espionage, politics, business, and entertainment-and are attempting to control all these arenas for their own uses. Mankind is currently, and mostly unwittingly, being prepared for thralldom. Slowly over the centuries, they have been fattened and cowed-to the point where many of them lack even the basic survival skills, or the ability to take care of themselves outside of the system...a system, ultimately designed and hopefully one day entirely controlled by Vampires.
Which is not to say their swords are idle from disuse-being from the Court of War, they take pride in worthy battles. Unlike the Court of Claws, who prefer more bestial combat, they prefer to perfect martial skills-the sword, the axe, the spear, the mace, the bow...they have members who have practiced with these weapons unceasingly for hundreds of years, and desire nothing more than a match worth their time-they have even, in fits of pique, taught these methods to humans to give them a 'sporting chance'. They have, naturally, fully embraced the use of the firearm-which many other Houses seem to have a distaste for. When they are forced to take a direct hand, they are as utterly ruthless as any of the rest of their race-vengeance is a strong motivator for the Court of Swords, and humans and their descendants who anger them particularly are added to the 'Book of Dues'-a weighty tome, carved from the freeely given hides, of willing servants. On it's thousands of pages are the names of every human being who ever wronged Vampires, their original crimes...and their ultimate punishment, once, and to be delivered-not only to them, but all who descend from them.
The Court of Swords is, outwardly, more civilized than the other Houses-they enjoy the benefits of high culture, beautiful music, and thrilling works of art. The trappings of power, money, and blood are most valuable to them-a member of the Court of Swords must always appear to be worthy of the 'Right of Rule', as they call it. Their human thralls are well taken care of (until slaughter), and generally not abused or mistreated-they view it as unworthy of rightful rulers. They wish all Houses to embrace this thought-that Vampirekind should ruthlessly expand itself, and that will require a great deal of blood. Blood that can be best obtained through their methods...ironically, while they wield war as a cudgel to get what they want, ultimately they desire a world that is mostly at peace under their rule-needless conflict merely wastes valuable (and delicious) blood. Many Humans willingly serve the Court because of this, believing the Utopia to come is ultimately worth the price.
When Vampires look for leadership, the House of Conquest usually deigns to lead them-indeed, insofar as much as they can be said to have a government, the Court of Swords is it. They wield considerable powers among their kind, and serve as diplomats when dealing with other supernatural species. They watch over all, and organize the other Houses into a semblance of order, acting as mediators when conflicts arise. They have good relations with the rest of the Houses, but it can't be said they are particularly loved-many of them are jealous of the House of Conquests self claimed position of power. Pestilence, and Famine tend to be the most troublesome of the lot. The Court of Death tends to come strongly on the side of House of Conquest, mostly because they have few allies otherwise. War and Torment are more loyal-useful enforcers, dumb muscle-as long as they get their wars and killing, they are content.
Still, a Vampire civil war has only occurred once in their long history...and they all want to avoid that again. Deferring to the rules of the House of Conquest is a easy, face saving measure that has averted many potential conflicts.
The House of Pestilence, The Plagued, wherever they go, disease follows.
House of WarOr, The Court of Claws
...When I said that Mercy stood within the borders of the wood, I meant the lenient beast, with claws. And bloody swift-dispatching jaws...
It goes without saying-cattle need butchers. The House of War has ever bent to this task with relish. During certain periods in history, Humans have grown in need of a culling-the earliest and most warlike of the Vampire clans occasionally banded together to prevent a possible threat to the Vampirekind by reducing their numbers. The House of War originally rose in these circumstances. When mankind dared to defy their betters, the House of War struck back with unrelenting cruelty-sending those few permitted to survive, fleeing to huddle under the lights. They protected Vampirekind in this way, and avenged it when needed, all while providing the needed slaves and sacrifices to keep the blood flowing. They slaughtered all who openly defied the rule of night.
At one point, however, there was a disagreement.
One side argued chaos and disorder should rule o'er all-that mankind should be beaten down again and again, never allowed to organize, to govern themselves, to grow too confident-that they should never lose their fear of the darkness, and the red claws...the other side, believed that mankind should be carefully controlled, herded, and manipulated into serving the Vampires willingly-to create an undying Empire. The latter ultimately became the House of Conquest. The Former, remained the House of War-pure, and undiluted by selfish desires for power, glory, or even the need for blood. To the Court of Claws, war and conflict were the only meaning of existence-of proving who was predator and who was prey, of being worthy to exist. They do not worship or covet blood, as such, though they consume it as the others do-to the Court of Swords, they desire what they call the 'Red'-that state of intoxicated battlelust where all conscious thought ceases, and when they can act on pure, animal instinct. They typically do not wield arms of any sort, merely using their claws, teeth, and bodies as living weapons-they generally view the use of martial weapons, and especially guns, as cowardly and distasteful-though they are not entirely above using them, if they needed to. The Court of Claw is amazingly practical, when it comes to killing.
Throughout the centuries, the House of War has never ceased pursuing this ideal-and when humans began to believe them nothing but a myth, they began to take part in nearly every conflict humans waged against one another. Often on both sides. Many of these conflicts they started themselves, but the House of Conquest started many more for their own diabolic ends-the House of War has no qualms about taking advantage of the chaos caused by other Houses schemes and plots. Ultimately, the House of War seeks total dominance and an endless war, a tide of Red that will never be stopped-they actively attempt to dismantle all semblance of order and peace in the world to bring this about. As long as they are given their dues, however, they do not usually actively oppose the other Courts plots-indeed, if sated and placated, they make strong allies-always willing to lend their claws to any blood drenched task that needs to be done.
Politically, The House of War actually has a somewhat balanced view of humanity-they believe them a weak and pathetic species...but, realize that without humans, they would have no one really left to fight-except other vampires. They favor a strategy of steady culling and dismantling their civilizations, but like any good hunters they are conservationists-always allowing some to live, to breed more. Thus, this somewhat puts them against the core ideals of the House of Death, Pestilence, and Famine who would devastate most of the human populations. The House of Conquest, whom ancient ties still link, is viewed somewhat more favorably-though they disagree on their end goals, their means and motives are similar. They are most friendly with the House of Torment, as both share the same ideals-causing pain.
The House of Famine- The Gluttons, they are a selfish lot, only wanting to fulfill their own hunger, which only grows, the more they attempt to satiate.
The House of Death- The Liches, they only wish to bring death to all living things, and decay to anything that was ever known.
The House of Torment- The Sadists, they want to torture Humanity, and make the world a living Hell.
BRUTAL only uses 6-sided dice. The more dice you get to roll the better. Phrases like "3d" mean to roll three 6-sided dice at the same time and add the results, generating a value between 3 and 18.
Phrases like "+2d" Modifier mean you get to roll two extra dice.
Phrases like “-1d” Penalty mean you have to roll one less dice
than normal. At no time may any Penalty ever reduce your roll below one die.
Phrases like “+1p” Pip mean you get to add one point to the final sum of rolled dice.
Phrases like “3 in 6 chance” mean you must roll one dice, and if you roll a 3 or lower than something happens.
Phrases like “x2 damage” Multiplier mean that damage is doubled, only AFTER the damage is calculated in the normal manner.
ATTEMPTING ACTIONS
Most of the time, your character may freely travel the roads, speak with the inn keeper, and explore dungeons. But sometimes, things are not so simple. To find a secret door, for example, you roll some dice to see if they can manage it. Some characters will get to roll more dice than others.
RESISTING ACTIONS
To avoid being spotted, the secret door will also roll some dice. Some secret doors will roll more dice than others.
OPPOSING DICE ROLLS
Everyone involved rolls some dice and adds them up. Whoever rolls the highest wins. Ties always go to the Defender who is trying to resist the Action.
MISSING OR UNKNOWN RATINGS
You may occasionally come across a missing or unknown rating. “Just how hard is it to find this secret door?”
If a rating is not known, you may determine a random rating using one of these methods:
Easy = choose a number = 1 to 3
Standard = roll 1d + 1p = 2 to 7
Difficult = roll 1d + 6p = 7 to 12
Extreme = roll 1d + 12p = 13 to 18
DISTANCES
Because battles are played out using miniatures on the tabletop, distances are often described using the word “inches”. A weapon with a range of 6 inches literally translates to 6 inches on the tabletop. A ruler can be used to measure distances.
1 vertical inch = 2 vertical feet
1 horizontal inch = 5 horizontal feet
